《GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?》


 Chapter 1 1 Every 100,000 Years

    ?Somewhere in the Void Universe of the vast infinite expanse, a realm tree blooms. You could see serene light shining from atop its trunk. This is a rare asion but not unique in this universe because this also happens to every realm tree in the void Universe, maybe not as often or even more often but it will surely happen.


    From this perspective of sight that is millions of kilometers away from the realm tree, you could see other realm trees as far as the eye can see, and they are too much to number. What you will notice is that truly some of these trees are shining. It is a beautiful sight if you can see it that is.


    Only a select few creatures can enjoy this sight, because any creature that can exist in the void outside a realm tree is not an ordinary creature, and ones that can see as far as millions of kilometers in the void are heads and shoulders above all.


    You might be surprised to know that this Universe has quite a lot of these types of creatures. For example, some distance to the right at this perspective of sight, are two veryrge white stars with blue and red lightning zipping across their surface.


    The light from the two stars seems to render reality almost transparent. That isn''t the only weird thing about them, their light also seems to be concentrated along a cone path toward the shining realm tree. The area behind the stars is simply darkness.


    You will soon realize that they aren''t suns but the eyes of a creature, you can tell this because they blinked, and only then can you for just a moment see the massive creature they belong to. You will be able to tell that the creature isrge because your eyes widen in that instant, but you won''t be able to remember any other thing about the creature because your brain is still trying to figure out what it just saw.


    Never mind that. This creature was awoken from its long slumber because of the shining light and the telltale fluctuations ofws of the origin. If sound could travel in this void you will hear the space for kilometers let out a groan because of the movement of this creature.


    Space rippled and squeezed on itself as this creature moved, the space beneath it solidified to bear the load while the space around it liquified to ease its movements. The creature is as if it is a world on to itself, so space as to go out of its way to amodate the Titanic divine Dragon.


    Tssandulighafan rose from his always vigorous cultivation. He was not sleeping, he definitely wasn''t. He was pondering on the mysteries of thews of the universe. Yes, that''s what he was doing. He shook his body and watched how space quaked around him, his WILL made manifest in the world. This made him happy, just like every other time he did it.


    He nodded his head and thought


    "That''s how it should be"


    He is a proud creature, proud of himself and proud of his race. He ought to be, after all, he is an immemorial divine Dragon, one of the oldest of his kind. He is also a World god, one of the most powerful entities in the entire universe, a force to be reckoned with.


    But then his gaze fell back on the shining realm tree, his home realm, where he was born and raised, and he couldn''t help the little bitterness that appeared within him. Because, for all his power and strength, age and wisdom, wealth and charisma, and some more power and strength, he waste to the seat of power of the entire realm.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    That power and the benefits thate with it aren''t something even he could disregard. So just like this moment every 100,000 years, he would be reminded of that failure for his entire immortal life. The only way it can go is if the person that beat him to it dies, but the possibility of that happening is the same as him dying. It is theoretically possible but practically impossible for him to die. So this sight will be an eternal reminder of a very big failure of his.


    He shrugged off the bitterness, he doesn''t need it he thinks, he has done better for himself over the years. True, he has, but he still doesn''t like the reminder and the fact that he was beaten to it by a young upstart from the Elven race, the bootlickers of magic he calls them. Unlike him, a mighty Dragon, a race that dominates magic.


    He turned his attention to his side wherey a much smaller and weaker Dragon of spitting image but with crystal scales. Space made way as his divine sense reached out to his son, the only one he allows to be near him. His divine sense roared "Stop sleeping, you bag of meat. It is here again"


    The smaller Dragon jerked up, he replied "Will you stop screaming old man, I can hear just fine. For mother High Heaven''s sake, every time. And I wasn''t sleeping, I was trying to peer into the numerous mysteries of the universe."


    Tssandulighafan smiled while his son yawned, still trying to ditch his sleepiness. When the smaller Dragon was done he turned his attention to the source of the light and said "So it''s 100,000 years again, that was quick. I better be on my way then."


    Tssandulighafan nodded and said, much softer now. "Yes, it is time again, and just like always. You will go."


    The smaller dragon shook himself from staring in envy at how space quaked with every movement of his father and unfurled his glorious crystal wings before he took off.


    The smaller dragon soared through space. His speed approached 1 percent of the speed at which light moved. This is because he became a sovereign by mastering thew of space. When his wings moved, they pushed on space and not air.


    He could increase his speed to ten times his current one, but what''s the rush? He still has about 800 years before the event starts. Plus he wanted to look sharp, so he could use the small exercise. A short distance of a few million kilometers should do the trick in sprucing him up.


    Tssandulighafan looked inwards into his body after his son left. His gaze roamed through the world within him for any changes. Then he went back to sleeping, ahem, training.


    Note: From now on 100,000 years will be referred to as an Origin cycle.

 Chapter 2 High Heaven Realm.

    ?As Dylganihl hurled himself through space, he yawned and muttered andined. He yawned because he was still sleepy. He muttered just like he always did about his father''s insistence on shouting, and heined about how unfair it was that only he out of all his father''s sires was sent to go every Origin cycle.


    But inwardly he was proud. Every dragon is proud of themselves. Pride is innate to members of the dragon race but this pride isn''t about him being a dragon. It is pride because he is a special dragon. He is the little tyrant, the son of The Tyrant, he is the monarch of space.


    Dragons live solitary lifestyles, only young parents spend most of their time together. After a dragon bes a young adult he must leave the nest. Then he might not see his parents for another 10 Origin cycles. Just like the norm, the little tyrant so named after his father, and his siblings were left behind by their mother. Their father had been long gone even before they hatched. But the day he reunited with his father, he was named the little tyrant.


    The little tyrant, a well-known name among the dragon race and other supreme races of the High Heaven realm. Well known because of his father and because of his mastery of space. By the time he became a full-grown adult dragon he was already a sovereign in his own right, but what made him unique was that he was a sovereign of space and not fire, like most of his lineage.


    His lips curled into a smirk as he remembered his young days. He trampled all around High Heaven. Nothing could stop him and there was nowhere that could block a sovereign of space, well at least in a lower realm like High Heaven.


    He went on to be a monarch of space and it is the major reason why he gets to stay with his father. His father tried to leave but Tssandulighafan couldn''t ditch him. So his father epted him and gave him the name Little tyrant.


    A big honor it was, to be epted and to be named after his father. It is another honor to represent his dad for the uing event in High Heaven. But he isn''t just going to admit it.


    High heaven is just like any other realm tree in this void universe, incrediblyrge, enough to dwarf his father. His father, gigantic as he is, with dark purple scales, can only upy some inactive nes in their entirety.


    The only different thing about high heaven is that it has a realm lord, which is kind of a sore point for his dad. His home realm used to be just Heaven''s realm, but the realm lord added the "High" to it, just to remind everyone of his race. The realm lord also added something called The System.


    Dylganihl shook his head at the mention of the realm lord. He doesn''t have anything against the realm lord. In fact, he respects him. But whenever he thinks about the name of the realm he can''t help butment such naming sense. He would have called it Tyrant Heaven, too bad he was born toote topete for that position.


    High Heaven in particr has about 110,000 leaves which represent 110,000 nes of existence. A ne of existence can be as small as 500 million km square for the total surface area as seen in some inactive nes and could berge as 100 billion km square in some of itsrge active realms. That means Tssandulighafan is as big as 500 million km square.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    An active realm is a realm that has evolved to contain life, it is actively being infused with mana so that powerful life forms can grow from within it. While an inactive ne hasn''t evolved to Cater to life in the case of a new realm or a ne that has been a disappointment to High Heaven, a dead realm.


    High Heaven has a single Sun and 10 moons that revolve around it. There are some rings that revolve around it. The upper rings are shining like halos, these are thends of the puny gods, where they build their divine kingdoms. While the lower darker rings are the various levels of the abyss, home to the rowdy demons.


    Even as a mighty dragon, he respects demons far more than those that gain power from faith. Demons know how to have fun and that is enough for Dylganihl.


    The races inhabiting the nes of a realm tree are brought about mostly by chance and some by effort on the side of the will of the realm in terms of mana and Originws investment.


    For example, a ne infused with arge portion of thew of fire and a small portion of mana is likely to evolve physical creatures with various levels of fire affinity or immunity. On the other hand, a ne infused with arge portion of thew of fire and high mana is likely to raise fire elemental creatures with near 100% affinity and immunity with fire.


    Other realm trees might have more or fewer Suns, moons, nes of existence, and halos, but fundamentally there is nothing different about High Heaven, just another realm out there, rooted within the aether of the void universe.


    Well, this time there is something special about High Heaven. The light shining atop the realm tree is a sign and a beacon. A sign of thepletion of an Origin cycle, and a beacon to all her weak children to prove their strength and be rewarded.


    She is calling them both within and outward, toe and partake in blood and glory within The Tower of Heaven. When he was a weak little sovereign throwing his weight around, he also went to the tower. That experience knocked the smugness out of him and he became more mature.


    Even though he carted away some treasures, he didn''t need them. A dragon of pure bloodline doesn''t need anything to be an Origin god, not like those weak races. But he went anyway and he came back better for it, even though he might not have been able toe back at all.

 Chapter 3 The Trial Of Heaven.

    ?When the light started shining from the realm tree, those outside the realm could see it from the void of space. But within the realm tree, a Realm-wide vibration urred. From within the vibration, a message was sent to every transcendent up to the level of a sovereign in each of its 100,000 active nes of existence.


    This message is from the Realm tree, from mother High Heaven herself. It is a short, sinct message just like her personality. You could also find the blinking message at the bottom of every status. She said to them, "In 800 years, the Trial of Heaven shall start".


    Short as it may be, this message set off a storm within every active ne. ns were made and discarded, truces were called or broken. Different emotions abound in the heart of every transcendent organism and above within High Heaven. There was dread, expectation, worry, delight, intent to battle, and also sorrow.


    The Trial of heaven urs 800 years after every Origin cycle for about 200 years. As soon as the call went out, every one of the children of High Heaven that is willing will go to the ancient battlefield, specifically at its center. Even if they might die, they will go. Even if the records show a one in five chance of dying, they will go. Because within the tower are wondrous treasures, artifacts, and spells that can change the life of anyone. From divinity to divine shards, from lord crystals to godheads.


    The rewards also include the rare Origin essence. An object that sovereigns and Grand gods fight for, even Origin gods don''t have enough of origin essence. It is for these rewards that men of power and dreamse to fight for, and lose their lives for.


    You see, a sovereign is nigh immortal, but thousands of them die every Origin cycle within the trial of Heaven. What is it about the trial that makes such exalted beings perish? They die for the chance to be true immortals. There is a huge difference between nigh immortality and true immortality.


    The opportunity to make the transformation from nigh immortality to true immortality is apparently enough to die for. The trial makes you or break you. As long as you can survive, you will have something to show for it, either good or bad. In the case of Sovereigns, they get to be eternal.


    So the journey began, for some, it would take a year at most to make it to the tower from anywhere they are in High Heaven, and for others, it could take 100 years. One will reduce to transverse their ne, and reach the ancient battlefield through the ne portal. Then one will have to reach the tower of heaven at the center of the ancient battlefield.


    The distance from a nar portal to the center of the ancient battlefield isn''t a jogging distance by any means. The ancient battlefield is arge space, more than 1000 the size of a ne.


    There has been a debate about where it is in the realm tree since the ancient battlefield is not like other nes of existence that reside on the leaves of the realm tree. Some believe it is at the top of the realm tree or within the trunk.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Regardless of the differing opinions, it can be agreed that the ancient battlefield isrge and durable. It is the only ce within the realm tree where sovereigns can duke it out without holding back. So yeah, it is durable. Most nes if not all, can only withstand the transcendent level of power.


    If you take a survey of the current atmosphere of High Heaven, you will find out that the most talked about topic is the Trial of heaven. Let''s take a look at the home ne of the battle sage monkeys, a divine race proficient in battle arts and techniques, the connoisseurs of battle.


    This race possesses incredible eyes that can see ahead into time and predict the actions of an opponent. This ability depends on the inherent power of its wielder, it is also not infallible and without weakness, but it is the cornerstone of their race''s supremacy.


    In the western part of this ne, is a jungle approximately a quarter of the total surface area of the ne. That is about 20 billion square kilometers of giant trees. This jungle has been imed exclusively by the battle sages, as they like to be called. If we zoom in on the capital of the Bloody Sun Empire, we can see a bustling and prosperous society.


    You can also hear the jubtions and celebrations all around. The battle sages like to battle, and they think they are the best at it, which is why you aren''t fully grown if you haven''t been to the trial of heaven in their race. Because how can you be considered anything but a child if you haven''t been through the blood-curdling, bone-breaking, Soul chilling experience of battling in the tower of heaven?


    So in 100 years, there is going to be a race send-off at this capital. Every child at the transcendent level and above that wants to go through this rite of passage must make their way back to this ne from wherever they are and receive a send-off.


    They will also receive a battle totem that will record their achievements in the trial. And 900 yearster when they return, they will present each of their battle totems for inspection, receive an increase in their social level, and the right to be an adult.


    This isn''t a rare urrence in the entirety of High Heaven. The Trial of heaven is a source of challenge to some, a trial to others, and even an excursion to some people. But regardless of the reason for partaking in it, it will be the graveyard to the majority.


    After a while, the initial hubbub about the trial of heaven will die down across the ne. But for now, and for the nearest thousand years, the trial will be what is up.

 Chapter 4 4 For Blood And Glory, Or For Some Other Stuff.

    ?In the heaven-reaching tower at the center of the ancient battlefield, in a certain room atop this tower is a creature. In that certain room, with a rather elegant throne in it, is where this even better elegant creature likes to sit.


    This creature is of otherworldly beauty, with pointy ears which makes him out to be of Elven lineage. An astute eye will be able to tell that this creature is a male High elf, because of the tall height, lean stature, green hair, and eyes the color of gold which is unlike their female counterparts with wheat-gold hair and green eyes.


    As impressive as that astute eye is, it will also note that even though it could see this creature, it can''t sense its existence. Onlyw-sensitive senses will be able to notice the congregation of Origin energy towards him, which formed a cocoon of sorts around him, embraces him and merges with him. This gives the effect that he is one with the world.


    Mind you this isn''t because of the high affinity with mana his race affords him, it is much more than that. It is the effect of thebination of his power as an origin god and his ess to the realm heart of the high heaven realm.


    This creature is the Realm Lord of the High Heaven realm. His name is somewhat long in the Elven tongue but we will skip it and move on to important things. We also won''t bother with the fact that before he came into this world he used to be called Jason on the small spherical rock he called home, for now.


    Since he isn''t the main character of this story we will call him what he likes people to call him, we will refer to him as Monarch High Heaven from henceforth.


    Before he was the realm lord, Monarch High Heaven was a truly talented young member of the high elves. Even with the highest affinity of any race with magic that his race possessed he was outstanding among the elves. And with this outstanding talent did he be the youngest person in the history of High Heaven to be a sovereign, andter to be the realm lord.


    He beat the old monsters of the realm to it after walking a path of ughter and supremacy. In another 10-100 Origin cycles he could be a World god, so needless to say he is also proud of himself and happy with his achievements.


    He was woken from his long period of meditation by the will of the realm. She whispered in his mind and told him that it was another Origin cycle.


    "I don''t care what anyone says, it is exactly like Christmas from back on earth"


    He smiled and rose from his levitating and exquisite throne, a throne that was made from a branch of the guardian tree of his home ne as a sign of honor. This throne ensures that whoever sits on it will maintain his or her youth for eternity and always be full of youthful vigor, which frankly isn''t anything to an Origin god, but then he sits on it because he respects the trees that ensure the survival of the Elven race.


    The throne is thest thing on his mind right now as he stepped down from it onto gentle ripples that appear in space beneath his feet that bear his weight. He is thinking of the Origin essence he would receive after the conclusion of the trial of heaven.


    Different thingse to the mind of different people during the advent of the trial, but Origin gods from High Heaven always feel intense jealousy. Which they sometimes admit, but world gods would never admit to being jealous.


    The realm considers all of her children adults when they be Origin gods, so she doesn''t cater to their needs anymore. Especially their need for origin essence, which every sovereign needs to break through to be an Origin god and subsequent breakthrough to the World god level.


    But that isn''t the situation with him, he is the realm champion, the special child of the realm, the lord of the realm. Only he is still pampered like a child, pampered with protection and Origin essence.


    Realm lords are notmon in the Void universe, you would think it ought to be considering that a realm tree just needs a single one of her near uncountable children to reach the requirements for a fusion with the realm heart. But this requirement is a tall order, especially if you have to do it faster than others, there can only be a single realm lord.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    A realm tree with time will have a realm lord eventually but the earlier the better. Since the trillions of years since the beginning of the universe, some realm trees still don''t have realm lords. Realm lords protect the realm tree, uphold thews of a realm, make the processes that go on in the realm proceed without any problem, and someday when the universe ends, will ensure the realm tree''s survival.


    But a realm lord has to be strong for all that, that''s why the realm always pampers its realm lord.


    He is in a good mood, so he put in some extra elegance in his usually over-the-top elegant gait. He walked over to a wall that opened when he reached it.


    It opened to nothing but an endless view of the ancient battlefield. From here he could see into every ne, active or inactive, for in his realm he might as well be omnipotent and omnipresent. He can do whatever he wants as long as it''s not against the will of the realm.


    Maybe to others, the origin cycle is a call to blood and glory, but to the will of the realm, it is a culling ritual. She uses this opportunity to reduce the poption of extraordinaries by enticing them with goodies. She then weeds out the weak and rewards the strong.


    He doesn''t care about any of that, after all to him, it is time to receive his allowance from mother High Heaven, and he couldn''t be happier. Then he burst intoughter when he thought about the various messengers and representatives that wille when the trial starts.


    Hisughter rang out like singing, it could make weak minds lose themselves. He could imagine all the jealous gazes directed at him, and he became even happier.


    Precious things are rare and scarce. They are even better if they are unique. The position of the realm lord and the rewards thate with it are certainly unique in the void universe.


    This event will also allow him to meet some old friends and do some chatting with his peers. After all, it isn''t very often that they have a reason to meet, the path to perfection is a lonely one. Not to forget the auction that will be attended by the representatives of the supreme races and individual powers.


    The trial of heaven means different things to different people, especially to merchants and ve masters. These business-oriented ss of people aren''t mortals, far from it, especially those that have witnessed more than one origin cycle. The trial of heaven is an opportunity to make money for these people.


    To do business on the ancient battlefield at all will need either personal strength or extraordinary backing. And to experience more than one origin cycle you must be a mid-god powerhouse on the path of divinity or a lord ofw on the path of perfection. The period of the trial of heaven causes a boom in profits for businesses because of the influx of people from all the nes of existence.


    People from all nes will gather at the tower of heaven, it is almost like animal migration or a pilgrimage. 600 years from now, you will see a multitude of creatures here as far as the eye can see, creatures of various races standing around the tower that reached the sky of the ancient battlefield.


    It is a sight that will boggle the mind, and more will arrive in the next 200 years to burgeon the numbers present here to unimaginable levels. You will be able to see flying animals and levitating magical constructs of various sizes and shapes.


    Most notable is palpating sense of power that is infused into the atmosphere. From it, you can sense the Titans of the path of perfection, and the Sovereigns ofw. There is visible tension in the air, the only thing stopping fights from exploding is the sense of propriety at such a sacred event. There''s also the promise of death for showing disrespect in the presence of the realm lord.


    That''s why there are demarcations based on race, power level, and social standing. But the most powerful participants won''t be here until it is near the time for entry into the tower.

 Chapter 5 5 Our MC.

    ?Across the sky of the ancient battlefield streaks a figure at extreme speed. The speed of sound means nothing to this person at his level of strength. He is currently moving at 50 times the speed of sound and making good time on his journey to the tower of heaven.


    In fact, he is one of the few that can make the trip to it from any ne in High Heaven in under a year. He is a sovereign, a High elf sovereign from the High Life ne, of the name Sovereign Gehaldirah( Elven tongue ) which means Sharp Arrow.


    So we will call him Gehald from now on. He looks different aspared to the realm lord because of his height and buffed body which is odd for an elf. But apart from that, you can''t tell much, high elves look generally simr to each other with their pale greenplexions, they look like replicas of perfect people.


    It is not a surprise that Gehald became a sovereign by mastering thews of life. What is surprising though, is that he seems to be too young to be a sovereign, not as young as the then Monarch High Heaven, the most respected ancestral figure of his home ne but still pretty young for a sovereign ofw.


    Extraordinaries start to age slowly when they be mana entities, but he is no doubt young looking to an experienced eye. But he is not proud of himself, and neither is he happy with his achievements or content with them.


    A ne might not produce a sovereign in 20 origin cycles, it is just that the number of sovereigns in the realm only increases across the years. This is because each Sovereign ofw has eternal life and the seed of power that they condensed is indestructible. If sovereigns are killed, they leave behind their seed of power. This seed of power if obtained can be fused with another person to create a weak sovereign with no future. But more on thatter.


    Even though there are more and more sovereigns in High Heaven, the effort to be a real sovereign remains tedious and almost impossible for some to achieve in a lifetime. So it is a great achievement to be a sovereign at the young age of 5 Origin cycles.


    People that don''t know Gehald might call him talented, or hardworking, or both for his achievement at such a young age, but his age mates from his ne will tell you that he used to be of a rather normal talent, well for a high elf, and alsozy.


    Things changed for the better after thest demon attack on his ne, he became zealous about training. Perhaps he was scared straight by the fighting and bloodshed.


    High elves of the High Life ne hardly fight bloody battles because of their peaceful nature-loving personality and because they have very powerful members in their race who protect them from danger.


    A lot of powerful people want the Life tree which is the specialty of the High Life ne, these Life trees are truly rare in the Void universe so they set sight on high heaven. These powerful people don''t want the trees for their vitality and life-extension abilities, but for their use in the creation of the cosmos of a world god.


    In the past, the high elves had had topromise a little, because even though they had powerful members then, they couldn''t just hole themselves up in their realm and refuse to go out.


    The arrival of the realm lord changed the standing of their race and high heaven in the upper realm since. His presence brought protection to the high elves since no one wants to fight with a talented realm lord that was rumored to have be a sovereign in less than an origin cycle.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    So with the deterrence of a realm lord and well-known powerful members of the race in the upper realm, no one was stupid enough to attack their ne. Well, no one except the demons. The ne coordinates of the High Life ne aremon knowledge among the powerful extraordinaries, but no one is rash or foolish enough to barge in.


    If someone of power and influence wants to visit the realm, he or she would have to be given entrance to it through the nar portal at the ancient battlefield. It is an act of disrespect or war to bypass a nar gate, only truly confident and powerful people can do it and get away with it, people like the little tyrant.


    But all this etiquette and niceties mean nothing to demons. They wanted some life essence, the Life trees of the high-life ne have it, so they attack to get some. It is that simple for them. They didn''t even think about winning the invasion war. Their only aim is the Life trees.


    Numerous demon lords that wished to be demon kings came together and formed an army to attack the ne. They used the ne coordinates to create a portal from the abyss directly into the ne and attacked.


    The elves fought valiantly to protect their guardian trees, only after months did they manage to beat back the hordes of demons. The sovereigns did not take part in the battle since there were no demon kings among the attackers, they could have wiped out the impudent demons easily but decided against it to let members of their race see some fighting.


    High elves don''t have fighting experience Because apart from a few skirmishes between tribes, they hardly get attacked by anyone, and they also don''t have any interest in other nes. They are also at peace with nature and have few enemies. This decision to allow the younger members of their race to fight changed the fate of Gehald.


    Before thest war with the demons, Gehald was just another King-level extraordinary of his race. He was a king of thew of life, there were a lot of them because it was rtively easy for them to rank up to the king level, especially in thews of life.


    The difficulty of ranking up after that is more than 100 times the previous effort. Even though it was still easy for high elves, the strenuous training was just too much for Gehald. He had decided to take things slowly back then, after all, he was still young, so he had time for more fun in his life.


    Fun in the life of a high elf is basically dancing, singing, eating, arts, sex, and sleeping, but all these came to an end when the demons attacked.


    A ne-wide order came down from the race council, he was mobilized, so he had to stop having fun and go to battle. When he and the others found out it was the demons attacking, they weren''t surprised. Their recent history of 1000 origin cycles has only recorded demons as assants of their ne.


    He was excited to see and fight the demons, but it wasn''t as fun as he thought it would be. He went, saw, and fought. It was a life-changing experience for him and many others.


    He in particr experienced something unique, not the ughter and the unrelenting attacks of the demons. Sure, he nearly died, many times, but who didn''t? But not a lot of elves could say they were nearly possessed.

 Chapter 6 GREED.

    ?The battles were intense, it was not like anything he had ever experienced, not like the friendly spars he had been in with other high elves. No one actually wants to liberate your head from your shoulders during friendly spars.


    There were body parts everywhere. Craters and fire had destroyed that part of the forest. Different power levels engaged inbat in various parts of the battlefield, on thend, and in the air. Explosions rang out like fireworks at a celebration but this event was anything but happy.


    He was fighting a war demon of demon noble prowess, and he was losing, badly. War demons are physically oriented demons, they have a tyrannical physique and a weapon that needs immense strength to wield. They are also called demons of wrath. They get more powerful and more resistant to damage the angrier they be.


    It was a badbination for him since he could only make use of thews of life. Demons, in general, are theplete opposite to them, especially ones that are capable of freely using abyssal mes, because High elves are more Intune with nature which is weak to fire.


    So he was losing, he had used everything in his arsenal, and he transformed into various animals, the demon would just destroy his spells with its four hammers and shrug off spells it couldn''t destroy with its body.


    Things were also worsening as the fight continued. Each of the shes where he didn''t keel over irritated the war demon and got it angrier which in turn made subsequent shes unfavorable to him.


    Only his king Domain could slow the demon lord enough for him to dodge and roll in unsightly manners, or else he would be crushed. His opponent seemed to have unlimited stamina, and he was dealing meager damage to the tough-skinned demon. As time passed his frail mind reached its limit and he slipped.


    There''s only so much you can do to evade the attacks of an enemy that is getting faster and hitting harder. He was too slow by a beat, then he was hit in the chest by the huge hammer and was thrown quite a distance away.


    The pain from being impacted in the chest by a hammer weighing 10 thousand tonnes was too much for him to bear, so he refused to move his body after that and justy there.


    The soul fragment of a dead demon Lord mistook the intense bleeding, fractured and mangled body as a sign that he was dying and tried to possess his body only to find out that he wasn''t.


    Gehald was just sick of battle and wanted to sleep, so he decided to y dead, but even that wouldn''te easy because his soul was suddenly impacted by a terrifying pain.


    Even though he was inexperienced and young, the possession failed, because he was a King through his own efforts, not through fusion with a King crystal. His soul is strong enough to resist the weak attempt at possession.


    It wasn''t untilter that he learned that it was the height of foolishness to try and y dead to a demon who can confirm death when your soul is liberated from your body. He would have to pay for that mistake with his true death if he hadn''t been saved by another High elf.


    The possession failed and he got off that event with just memories from that demon lord and some injury to his soul. The memories were from a demon of greed, and they changed his outlook on life. From the memories, he gained the knowledge that the demon attacks were a result of tacit acknowledgment with the realm lord.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The realm lord could have locked out any trespassers but he allowed the demons to mount attacks on the ne. The elves got some battle experience and the demon lords get life essence.


    He became depressed by that information. He couldn''t believe that the realm lord, his hero who is capable of doing almost anything in the realm couldn''t stop the demons from killing and piging their sacred Life trees.


    His depression transformed into an admission of weakness. That transformed into a resolution not to be at the mercy of anyone ever. This resolution became an obsession for power.


    From the demon Lord''s memories, he learned some of his ws inbat and the various efficient means to correct them. He promised himself to do better and he did just that. As the invasion continued, he became better and better at fighting. The bloody battles honed his fighting sense. He continued to be diligent even after the war, he now looked down on other elves that were busy having fun.


    This obsession changed his outlook on life. He became greedy for power, to others he became hardworking in his training and nothing else. Soon he became a sovereign in thew of life and gained the power of a king in thews of the earth, water, and air just after 5 origin cycles, a worthy achievement, but it wasn''t enough.


    During the long period after the war, he had gone out of the High life ne to train and had met various extraordinaries and seen different types of races. He became aware of the various advantages that some races have towards training and progress in the path of perfection.


    For example, High elves have a high magic affinity, Dragons have a very powerful Origin core that pushes them toward perfection even with little effort, and vampires grow stronger as they age and drink more blood. Some really strong vampires even feed on the soul which greatly increases their power.


    Then there are minotaurs, hydras, krakens, phoenixes, and other divine races. These races have powerful inherent abilities and aptitudes for magic, but they alsoe with weaknesses. Dragons for all their ease with magic maniption can''t master oppositews of their origin core.


    Water Dragons can''t master thew of fire and vice versa, nt Dragons can''t master poisons, and Dragons of destruction can''t master creationws. They were also too slow in training, these various reasons made their race lose out on holding the sit of realm lord.


    Compared to all these creatures High elves seemcking, they don''t have powerful race abilities, and even with their magic affinity, it is still difficult to master thew of fire.


    He made a decision some years after that, he decided he wanted all these abilities. He wanted the powers and not the weaknesses. To make that happen he started making ns and executing some.


    He nned for almost an Origin cycle and soon he would seed. He just had to seed during this uing trial of heaven because there is something very important he has to get from the tower. It isn''t going to be easy because what he is looking to get is something most, if not all sovereigns want to get their hands on.


    He couldn''t help feeling excited as soon as he saw the tower from afar. He tapped down his urge to get there faster, the event won''t be starting soon.

 Chapter 7 The Theory Of Origin, Soul, Body, And Energy.

    ?Gehald has based his n on the fusion of the path of perfection and divinity using the Theory of origin, soul, body, and energy. The path of perfection and the path of divinity are the two mainstream paths to power in the Void universe.


    No matter the realm tree you call home realm, there will always be a relic in every ne with information about the two paths of power. Those that start along this path were referred to as extraordinaries because, during the early days of a ne, such power is extraordinary.


    But it wasn''t untilter that that name became irrelevant because the power gained fromtter levels was not something you could call extraordinary anymore, more like mountain-crushing and ne-destroying power. Still, the name stuck.


    Many have tried to derive a different or better means to power but after numerous failures and disappointments, it was deemed a waste of effort. When you couple it with the increase in efficiency due to the effort of the ancestors of various races in the two paths, no one in their right mind doubted the two parts.


    Each supreme race has streamlined the process of training and made it easier for future generations. So he doesn''t intend to create another path but to eat his cake and have it still.


    The two paths are based on the theory of Origin, Soul, Body, and Energy. It is the theory that believes that the entirety of the existence of an entity can be summarised with the fourponents of origin, soul, body, and energy.


    This theory states that all living things possess an origin core, all sentient beings possess a Soul, the body is either physical or ephemeral and all the above have various energy that they use and can thus be improved or transformed using some other energy that is better.


    In simpler terms, you can be stronger by using certain energies that improve the body, soul, and origin. That''s why the paths of perfection and divinity both revolve around body, soul, and origin refinement with energy. They just use different sources of energy and approaches to refinement.


    The path of perfection believes the realm tree is a mother and the world around them is the womb, so they refine themselves using external energy, energy from the world. While the path of divinity believes in converging the energy of faith from sentient creatures and using that for refinement.


    The path of divinity falls short because even though it diverges from the path of perfection, it must return to itter on. Divinity itself isn''t perfect, so those that use it will always return to the path of perfection in search of true immortality.


    Throughout the years, a long time before the Ascension of the realm lord to the seat of power, people have been going through these two paths almost blind aspared to now that the stat screen is avable.


    In the past, it was difficult to gauge your level of power orpare it to another without fighting, it was also difficult to tell your level of progress within a level. But all this changed when the realm lord introduced the Status Update.


    Since then, keeping track of your progress through your Stats has made it easier to be more powerful. Now you can track your growth in real-time and determine what is better at making you stronger.


    The status screen has also made what he wants to achieve easier. When he seeds, his status would no longer look like this.


    NAME: Gehaldirah Oakstein


    RACE: High Elf


    BLOODLINE: Pure High Elf


    POWER LEVEL: Sovereign


    PHYSIQUE: Body ofw


    HP: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    ENERGY LEVEL (ORIGIN ENERGY ): QUASAR FORM


    VITALITY: 120,100,864


    ENDURANCE: 31,116,082


    STRENGTH: 20,012,912


    AGILITY: 1,755


    PERCEPTION: 971


    SPIRIT: 12,417,612,744


    DIVINE SENSE: 7,529(GRADE D)


    CONCEPTS:<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Seed of Power: Life


    LAWS


    Life: 100%


    Earth: 100%


    Water: 100%


    Air: 100%


    Death: 61%


    Fire: 100%


    Light: 1%


    Darkness: 1%


    Space: 0.1%


    ughter: 57%


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 100%


    LAW AFFINITY: 20%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY: Life


    STATUS: Healthy


    The physique is the type of body possessed. It determines a lot of things, the most important of which is physical and magical defense. The physique determines the tenacity of the body to arge extent.


    HP stands for health points, it is the state of the physical condition of the body. Stamina is obvious, it determines how long the body can maintain activity under exertion, and it is a product of the endurance of the body.


    Energy is the type of energy and the form that the energy has taken, it is either world energy, mana, or origin energy. Vitality is the value given to the amount of life force of the body, it determines stamina and health recovery of the body.


    The quantity of life force within a body determines how fast it regenerates while the quality determines the extent of regeneration. The quality of life force determines if limbs could be regenerated and the quality of the regenerated limb after regeneration.


    The endurance of the body determines its Stamina. The strength of the body determines physical prowess while agility determines how fast the body moves. Perception is the value given to the reactivity of an individual, how quickly and how well the senses function.


    Spirit is the strength of the internal aspect of the soul, while divine sense is the strength of the external aspect of the soul. The spirit determines how well and the ease with which the external world is manipted.


    The spirit also affects training speed during meditation onws. The divine sense is the extension of the influence of the soul to perceive the world, it is superior to the inherent five senses, the value assigned to it is the length of the diameter of the circr area of influence of the soul if it is spread to the limit.


    All the above-mentioned values are not universally applicable as a reference to determine the difference in strength between extraordinaries. They only function to keep track of personal growth and progress. A person will have a value of one all around for the first time the status is called up, but this value will change as the person grows more powerful.


    Gehald''s current status is a far cry from what it was years ago when he fought against the demon invasion. Back then he hadn''t tried to master any otherw apart from thews of life. Lifews have more of an auxiliary effect than attacking. Thews of life boost the stats but are weak when used for attacking.


    If not for the fact that he needs the seed of power condensed from lifews to perform his reincarnation n and he couldn''t use more than one, he wouldn''t have chosen to be a sovereign using it. He would have chosen fire.


    All in all, he has made great progress in his pursuit ofw even though he has been met with difficulties with somews. Like thew of death, the antithesis of life, space, and timews because hecked the necessary affinity for them.


    But this will all change with his ns for the future, he will ovee all weaknesses and try to get the various powers that elude him.

 Chapter 8 Messengers And Representatives.

    ?On this day 800 years after the light started shining from the top of the realm tree, the tower of heaven will finally be open to the masses. After waiting for 800 years since the call went out within the realm tree, males and females of various races can fully prove their mettle and get some precious treasures for it.


    People have been waiting and soon they will have what they''ve been waiting for. The amount of people standing in waiting around the tower has reached a number too much to count. They have divided themselves into different strata based on power levels.


    The transcendents and below don''t dare to fly or levitate, they are stuck to the ground in groups of friends or races. Next are the lords and low gods, they floated by themselves or used artifacts that fly to stand above those on the ground. Followed by kings and mid-gods. After that are Titans and then sovereigns.


    Even though the number gets reduced drastically fromyer toyer, the suffocating aura of power only increases with height. Nobody dares to create any disturbance or disrupt the order here, this is the way things have been for ages.


    The various heights are because of the various entrances for different power levels into the tower. These entrances are present on different floors of the tower. So when the barrier around the tower is removed, the participants can have easier ess to their various floors.


    Gehald himself stood in the air calmly among the Sovereign band. There are hardly any other Elven sovereigns among the ten thousand or so sovereigns because the fertility of most elf races is low and they don''t think highly of such a brutish act as the trial of heaven.


    Besides they don''t need to be here. The Life trees of high elves produce life essence that can be used as a substitute for Origin essence. But he is here because he needs Origin essence.


    He is standing alone because he is not a people person. The aura of ughter around him also deterred anyone that wants to approach.


    Gehald could feel his heart beating wildly in anticipation. He had been waiting for a long time. He clenched his fist and steeled his heart for what was toe. The hurdles to ovee during the trial of heaven aren''t a mystery, well most of it isn''t. So he is confident of victory. Only thest hurdle could be somewhat difficult because it will be a challenge opened to the maniption of the will of the realm.


    He tried to calm himself down but failed again and again. Suddenly his body went taut and his beating chest calmed down. A threatening presence washed over him like cold water. The danger sobered him up, but he wasn''t rmed too much, it was just an instinctive reaction of his body.


    He knows there will be Origin godsing to the tower today. They aren''t here for the trial but the meet-up with the realm lord. He had heard about this because it is a well-known tradition. Every supreme race must send a representative but the invitation is extended to all origin gods from High Heaven.


    A Supreme race is a race that has produced a world god. The supreme races must have an origin god in attendance as a representative while all origin gods cane or send a messenger.


    Origin gods substitute for world gods because world gods can''t descend into the realm tree. No one wants a visitor that can destroy your home as a guest.


    The hierarchy in the realm of heaven is based on race. A family is the smallest unit in the society of high heaven, but it is by no means small. Longevity has made the bonds of blood remain through the years and royal bloodlines have made those ties of blood eternal.


    On a wider scale, especially when you consider conflicts across a ne, a racial council is used to represent the interest of a race.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Next after a supreme race is a royal race. A royal race needs a member of the race to be an Origin god. Only by producing an Origin god can a race protect their interest on the ancient battlefield. They will also be able to get ess to the Origin store that the realm lord set up to foster race growth. Origin gods would also be able to streamline the efficiency of training using the path of perfection for the race.


    "Today will see numerous Origin godsing in." Gehaldirah thought and adjusted himself with this knowledge in mind, he decided to feast his eyes on them.


    Being around Origin gods as a lower lifeform is like being subjected to a muffled sense of cmity. Such wanton release of their aura is enough to quiet the popce around the tower, but for a rare moment since Gehald''s arrival at the tower, his eyes showed emotions, emotions of longing. He promised himself again that with time he will reach their level of power in time.


    Up at the top of the tower, visitors from afar continued to arrive. Arge hall has been opened for this special event. Origin gods would descend to thending pad right outside the hall, a short distance from it.


    They exchanged greetings andughs. The realm lord is currently absent and the main event hasn''t started, so these powerful individuals form circles based on friendship and interests.


    It was this cordial atmosphere that Dylganihl met with on his arrival. He had taken his time on his journey to the realm tree but still made it early. He decided to meet up with some of his friends and check on the dragon race because he still had a little more time.


    After checking on the well-being of his race, he decided toe to the tower with the representative of the dragon race. By then he had changed to his humanoid form. Except for his crystal clear horns, crystal scales on his face, red iris, and very tall height he didn''t look that much different from a young giant of Order.


    As soon as hended at the tower, someone shouted


    "Ohh, herees the little tyrant"


    He grinned and shouted back, " I know it''s you Yudalf, don''t let me see your face here"


    "What will do little Tyty, Kiss my ass?."


    A burly humanoid with a small me burning between the two ck horns on his head stepped forward. He stood 10 meters tall the same height as Dylganihl. He is dressed in a bright red regal robe that covered his full figure.


    This yudalf had a wide grin that exposed his sharp teeth. Dylganihl recognized him as a particr dragon friend of his in a humanoid form.

 Chapter 9 Finders Keepers.

    ?"Yudalf my dragon friend, how have you been?" Dylganihl said as he approached him with wide-open hands. The two giants embraced andughed, their voices boomed.


    "I have been fine my good friend. How is your father the monarch of Fire and Lightning?" Yudalf asked when they separated.


    "That old man? He is doing well for his age. He has some problems with his hearing but it is manageable" Dylganihl replied. Yudalf couldn''t help butugh again, how could a world god be possibly deaf, that''s just hrious.


    "Is that so? Probably got injured in his ear. I heard he attacked some people in the Immortalnds, they probably injured his hearing." He said when he could finally stop himself fromughing.


    "You think so too? I thought I was the only one. I have to trust myself more" Dylganihl said seriously.


    "I also heard that when the monarch left, those people found some things missing."


    "What do you mean? Where do you even hear such things?" Dylganihl pretended to re up except, he was grinning. "Are you using my father of distracting those people while I visited their secret realm?"


    "I wouldn''t dare" Yudalf raised his hands.


    "You shouldn''t. I mean, it was all their fault. Theyid im to that secret realm, so father and I went to help test their defenses. Who does such a thing without proper defense? If, and I say if we did what you think we did, then we were simply helping out. We are righteous as saints."


    Yudalf asked knowingly. "Oh, if you did do it. Do you have something to show for it? Like, say, star fire. I heard the secret realm is full of them."


    Dylganihl looked around to make sure no one was around, then he spotted the representative he came with. The young Origin god wasing to the meetup for the first time and he didn''t know anyone, so he had been waiting for Dylganihl to be done with his greeting.


    "Hey, Young onee over here," Dylganihl called the representative over with clear impatience and introduced him to Yudalf. After they were done he made the trio huddle up, then he brought out a shining round gem the size of a fist from his pocket dimension.


    "What do you think?" Dylganihl asked in pride.


    "Wow, just wow. This truly is a treasure. This can hastenwprehension. It is almost a seed of power" Yudalfmented.


    He was truly awestruck by the physical manifestation of the power of a star. Sovereigns will rather be awestruck that someone could hold a star in his hands with such ease.


    "Right, right? That secret realm had thousands of them, they were practically lying about."


    "What secret realm?" Asked the young representative after having ovee his fear of the two powerful seniors of his race, his curiosity had overwhelmed him.


    Dylganihl snapped to attention at hisment, then he replied solemnly "What secret realm? I picked this off the road when I wasing here. Who mentioned anything about a secret realm? You must be hearing things"


    Now the young dragon is confused, he is an Origin god with impable senses and memory, could he have been confused or truly heard incorrectly?


    "But you mentioned a secret" he tried to say, but Dylganihl interrupted him with righteous albeit mock anger.


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Yudalf shook his head at his friend''s antics.


    Dylganihl had always been like this, child-like, mischievous, and troublesome. He wanted to brag and im credit, but he doesn''t want to admit he did it to avoid future repercussions. If he wanted to keep it a secret he wouldn''t have brought out the star firestone in the public, among Origin gods no less. As much as it was funny, he had to rescue the drowning young dragon.


    "Stop bullying him, Dylganihl. You will scar his first experience here," he said as he pulled Dylganihl away from his impassioned debate about finders keepers.


    They had learned about thew of finders keepers from the realm lord, but it was probably Dylganihl that believed in it the most. He had oncemented that it has revolutionized possessionws and ethics. Not that anyone here needs a reason to take something they want. If they are strong enough to have something, then it should be theirs. Simple as that.


    While Yudalf started exining what was going on to the dragon representative, Dylganihl stopped covering the aura from the star fire. The sudden shift in Origin energy fluctuations drew the attention of the nearby origin gods, they soon flocked over to him to examine the treasure.


    Dylganihl is in his element while he regaled them with the story of how he acquired it, which at this point has ballooned into an unbelievable battle of wits and mettle between the forces of good and evil. When he is done someone who has been waiting patiently asked him


    "Will you sell that?"


    "I think I should, that''s a better idea than eating it. But the offer has to be tempting" he said after a moment of thinking.


    Soon the small gathering devolved into an impromptu auction, there is a lot of arguing and yelling. From the side, Yudalf points out to the dragon representative "See, that''s why they call him little Tyrant. He brings chaos everywhere he goes but the problem is that he can go almost anywhere if chooses to. So nowhere is safe from him."


    The dragon nods in appreciation, he has gained a closer look at an iconic character of the dragon race.


    Suddenly everyone noticed that the agitated ambient origin energy has calmed down. They all turned to look as the realm lord entered. He walked to the center of the throne and a majestic throne ofws formed beneath him which he sits on.


    As the throne rose, the surrounding Origin gods stopped whatever they were doing and sort themselves out into a circle around him. They all make their thrones from thews they haveprehended.


    Suddenly the hall is filled with shing lights but the Origin energy in the hall remained calm, anywhere else and space will start to crack. But allws and powers in the realm must be respectful in the presence of the realm lord, so he can calm the Origin energy that is just about to gallop out of control.


    When he has reached his customary height the realm lord spread out his majestic aura. He turned from an ordinary-looking high elf into a keg of explosive power. A singlerge ring ofws spread out from him, the surrounding Origin gods can only release their rings to negate the suppressioning from them.


    From the assortment of colors and aura, it can be noticed that there is an order to the sitting arrangements of the Origin gods. They didn''t sit about randomly but in order of their strength. The strong origin gods sit closer to the realm lord, which is within the inner circle. While the weaker origin gods sit away from the realm lord. After all, it isn''t easy to sitfortably around an Origin god that is about to be a world god with his aura fully released.


    They were all shocked when they noticed the single ring that he was releasing. It dwarfed the multiple rings that other Origin gods released just to restrain the Influence of his single ring on them. They all had numerous questions on their mind but they kept quiet. If the realm lord wants to tell them, then he will tell them.


    "It is time. Let us begin" he smiled and said.


    Then the tower shook and the barrier around it was taken down. He retracted his aura and continued.


    "Wee Messengers, Representatives, and Others to another Origin cycle meetup. Like always we will start with the discussion, then the feast, and we will finish with the auction. You will not be disappointed."

 Chapter 10 The Best Of The Best.

    ?While the origin gods above were busy with their meeting. The ones waiting outside and below were ecstatic as soon as the barrier came down. After 800 years of anticipation, it was finally time.


    Gehald maintained his indifferent look and vignce as he looked around. He could see happiness, gloominess, and various other emotions on the face and through the bodynguage of the surrounding sovereigns. He spent some time checking out the people around him, they would be hispetition. Then he joined the crowd of sovereigns as they moved forward.


    Below him, the variousyers of power also trudged into the tower. It is remarkable that even with therge number there was no rushing. Only carefully ordered steps. As Gehald moved forward, he ced most of his attention on the entrance to the sovereign level of the tower.


    It wasn''t that much different from the ones below, just a harmless-looking swirling portal within the veryrge arched doorway. He didn''t expect anything different, he just had to look to make sure because this was his first time participating in the trial of heaven as a sovereign. Other times he came here, he was a King and a titan.


    He wasn''t nervous, he had nned for this for a long time, and nothing could shake his confidence. Most of the people that enter the tower today will note out 200 yearster, and they will not be dying of natural causes.


    Most of them have confidence in their prowess too. Some of them are geniuses in their various nes or ves raised by vers. The people entering have various reasons and different hopes or dreams. But most of them don''t achieve those aims.


    These people might havee here hoping for the chance to break through, gain some battle experience, take some treasures, make some achievements, or im their freedom in the case of ves. vers will make a contract to receive whatever they brought out of the tower in exchange for granting a ve his or her freedom. But regardless of hopes and dreams, the reality is that people will die, and only one in five will make it out alive. As for the rest, their hopes and dreams will die with them.


    Gehald also has his hopes and dreams. To make his grand n of acquiring as much power as possible, he has made a lot of sacrifices. He even had to descend into the abyss one time to get a very important material he needed for his n.


    It is an understatement to call it a dangerous trip. He was hunted by hordes of demons, but he still made it back alive and in one piece. His confidence soared as he was thinking about that particr trip to the abyss. He reaffirmed his will and promised himself to at least survive the trial. His life remains the most important thing to have. With lifees possibilities.


    When he got to the portal he felt himself being checked and scanned by a very powerful divine sense. He remained calm and was soon teleported away into the world of the tower of heaven. If he had been found wanting in power level for this gate, either above or below the requirement, he would have been turned to ashes. This is the cause of the first death, and many toe.


    Some people won''t die in the tower, but outside of the tower because of their foolishness, and it happens every time. More of these foolish deaths urs among the transcendents aspared to the sovereigns, but yes, there have been sovereigns hoping to smuggle each other into the king portal. They paid with their lives.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    There are no exceptions even for the case of soul contracts of soul bounds, summoning contracts of summons, and some others. Not to worry Mother high Heaven knows when you''re being naughty or not.


    He spread his divine sense as soon as he could after he was teleported. He scanned his surroundings for danger or other people. It is a habit of his at this point, a good habit but he didn''t need to because there was no one around him and no danger.


    He was transported to the location of the first trial of the elements, the trial of ice. History has shown that there would be no attacks, for now. The environment is will be the enemy.


    All he could see is white freezing ice all around, but there was a barrier around him that prevented the cold from affecting him. The presence of this barrier meant that it isn''t time for the trial to start. So he will just have to wait till the portal outside is closed. He sat down to meditate and keep himself in top shape.


    24 hourster, which is way shorter than the time allowed for the Titans, the will of the world descended. He received a message from her and in his status, there was a line that stated he was in the trial of ice with its details.


    There will be 7 individual trials before the meet and fight. During individual trials, you just have to try your best or die. The good news is that attacking or fighting is not allowed, so you can try your best without distraction.


    The first individual trial is the trial of the ice world. Everyone has been teleported to the edge of thisrge ice world devoid of life. The trial is to make it to the center of the world without using tools or weapons. The first 30% that make it to the center get a mark that guarantees their life.


    The marks are incredibly important and also useful during the meet and fight. You get only seven opportunities to be the best 30% at doing something and earn a mark. If you don''t have a mark after that, you die. Only those with a mark can enter the solo challenge.


    In summary, the trial of heaven is a fight for the best of the best. You have to be among the best 30% in any aspect or it bes certain that you will not leave the tower of heaven at all and all your dreams die with you.

 Chapter 11 Whats That Supposed To Mean?

    ?After 24 hours, the portal leading to the sovereign and grand god section of the tower closed, and the first trial began, the trial of ice. The will of the realm, mother High Heaven descended with a message stating the rules and guidelines for thepetition.


    She spoke directly to the ears of everyone present. " Wee children, wee to the trial of heaven. To the ones that have been here before, it is nice to see you again. To the ones that are here for the first time, I expect great things from you."


    After a slight pause, she continued, "This is the sovereign and grand god trial. The rules haven''t changed. You will go through a series of trials of which you must pass at least one to gain entry to the solo challenges. There will be no fighting or the use of external aids. These trials will test your strength, resilience, skills, willpower, and body durability. I wish you good luck."


    Then the barrier went down and Gehald started to race toward the center by using the lines marked on the ground which indicated the direction. Only the first 30% will get a mark. The ice trial will end after the first 30% reach the center, then the next trial will begin.


    The icy wind hit Gehald square in the face as he rushed forward, it is manageable for now. The garment ofws, the only thing allowed, that he has on can still protect him. But the temperature keeps falling, again and again.


    Gehald had to circle Origin energy through his body to resist the cold. The cold is not something mortals can withstand. No mortal can survive exposure to temperatures lower than -100 degree Celsius.


    The good thing about using thew of life to reach the sovereign level is that your body has immense vitality and you will be able to heal from injuries more quickly. It doesn''t have great attacking capabilities but it works to keep you alive better than otherws.


    So even at this stage, he can keep himself from creating a barrier to keep out the cold. A barrier will stop contact between the cold winds and his body, but it will consume more energy to directly resist the cold but it will prevent his body heat from being siphoned until he freezes.


    After 11 days he was still running forward. He had stopped flying yesterday when the temperature dropped again. Even though flying is faster, he would have to wade against heavy winds harder. He had started using his barrier after the first 9 days, his body couldn''t take the cold anymore, even with his high amount of vitality.


    The thing about a race like this is hope. The trial of ice is public knowledge but the distance of the trial is unknown. It changes every origin cycle. But the distance doesn''t matter, the fact that the race hasn''t ended means you still have hope of making it.


    This hope keeps you going, even when you stumble and fall. You pick yourself up and continue. Even though everything you can see is ice and snow, the hope keeps you going, like a tiny ember within your chest. As much as it pushes you forward you have to also stoke the tiny me because if it goes out you will give up.


    Gehald kept moving forward even after 8 years. The solitude, the monotony of the environment, and his actions had strained him but not too much. This much stress is not enough to break him. He had to be strong because he knew that this trial and the following ones toe will test the integrity of the body and his soul, and how well it has been developed over the years.


    This trial also tests the origin regeneration of the Origin core. If over the years, you had made an inferior body or Origin core passage, your body won''t be able to withstand the stress and you won''t be able to restore your Origin energy fast energy to keep the barrier up.


    If anything, elves have powerful physiques and life force due to their affinity with nature, which is further reinforced by the mastery of thew of life, he was able to hold on due to this, coupled with his mastery of thew of water. It is this understanding of his advantages that he used to keep himself going forward.


    After a while, he saw a portal in the distance and his eyes lit up. He was almost there. As he was rushing forward his senses picked up movement beside him, he noticed someone walking by leisurely.


    The person seemed to be strolling across the icy ground and creating sizzling sounds with his foot. He was surprised at first because this person did not seem to have a barrier around but then he pped his head.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It seems my brain is freezing" Gehald joked.


    The fire elemental saw himugh and was wondering why.


    "Hey, there elf. What''s funny?"


    Gehald was in a good mood so he decided to entertain the walking ball of fire.


    "I noticed you were doing fine"


    The fire elemental cocked his head, "You''re fine too"


    "But you''re a fire elemental," Gehald insisted.


    "What''s that supposed to mean?" The fire elemental was getting offended because it seems he was either stupid or this guy was insulting him. Either is reason enough to flip his lid.


    "Never mind" Gehald sighed and stopped paying attention to the ready-to-explode fireball.


    He thought back to his past when he used to be funny, that was also when he was ignorant. But now he seemed to have lost his sense of humor. He shook his head and looked back at the fire elemental onest time before he entered the portal.


    He thought to himself "Too bad killing is not allowed." then his vision blurred.


    He found himself in a world of fire and he groaned audibly.


    "So not fair" he muttered.


    He checked his status and it was updated with a snow icon, the mark of the ice trial. Then he did his customary mental sweep of the area with his divine sense. The sight of all that fire brought back the image of the fire elemental to his mind.


    He isn''t especially weak to fire anymore. He had long since mastered thew of fire since the war with the demons, so it wouldn''t be too difficult for him to get another mark, but it will be too easy for that fire elemental.

 Chapter 12 Unfair Advantage?

    ?He decided to distract himself while he waited for the trial to start with the memories of the time he hunted fire elementals on the ne Phte. That ne is one of the numerous fire elemental nes of the High Heaven realm.


    The inhabitants of that ne are pure fire elementals. No other organism can bear the heat and survive. The temperature was so hot it birthed fire elementals. That''s how the fire elementals were born.


    That''s how elementals in general are born. When the purity of an element concentrated at a ce is high, the likelihood of creating elementals is high. That ce will be the birthce of elementals.


    There are elementals for every elementalw, water, fire, earth, air, light, darkness, and the fiercely contested time element. Fiercely contested because the other elementals have been observed while nothing has been recorded of time elementals even though they should exist.


    The life trees of Gehald''s homeworld are considered elementals of the supremew of life. It is just that they are full of so much life essence that they formed a physical body.


    Elementals don''t have souls. Their existence is based on an elemental core. Because of this core, they have the highest affinity to their elements in the entire realm. This makes it very easy to be a sovereign, even easier than dragons, it will just take time.


    But this high affinity prevents them from mastering the tiniest amount of any otherw. So most of them are stuck with only thews of fire until they be Origin gods.


    He had gone to the ne back then to sense the intense and violent mes toplete his mastery over thew of fire. After he was done with thew of fire, he was better able to kill the elementals. He wanted the core of an elemental that has be a sovereign of mes, just like the one he saw in the ice trial.


    That elemental was just strolling through the trial because of his powerful mes while he had opted to use thew of water to soothe the cold, he didn''t dare use fire because it will use too much energy.


    He had hunted several unique species for his grand n that he would soon put into action. Elementals are part of them. The ones he couldn''t kill he bought their core. He had to kill the owner of the core of a void beast because the owner refused to sell it.


    Void beasts like world beasts are space elementals. They are incredibly rare and difficult to kill. At the very least Gehald couldn''t restrain them long enough to kill them, they were best at running.


    As he was lost in his thoughts for the future, the will of the realm descended after another 3 years. Then the fire trial began. He spent another 9 years getting from the edge of the world into the portal at the center and gaining another mark.


    It was a more bitter experience for him and the thought of that fire elemental did not ease his bitterness. So when he met some more people along the way he decided to keep to himself.


    Even though one only needs a mark to pass through the first section of the trial of heaven, the more marks you have the better. Each mark you have indicates that you are part of the best 30% in a particr trial. Since the best is to be nurtured, each mark will guarantee your life once during the second section of the trial of heaven.


    He rested after the me trial which was followed by the strength trial. In the strength trial, you have to push a round and heavy rock up the slope of a mountain. It is a more difficult task because you have to bnce work and rest, power and recovery, the entire trip uphill.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    You mustn''t let the ball roll down to the very start. While fire and water elementals and those with high elemental affinities of those elements have an easier time with the first trial, it will be difficult to ace this test without a very strong body or mastery of the earthw.


    Those who concentrate on the body during the origin core passage creation will have immensely strong bodies. Earth elementals and sovereigns of Earth will also have an advantage during this trial. Grand gods are only as strong as their domain specialty.


    Just like the two previous trials Gehald was able to just get by with the incredible vitality and recovery of his body. Thew of life isn''t a supremew for nothing, it might not excel in physical prowess, but it is the top in recovery. He was able to push that rock to the top of the mountain by stimting his life force using thew of earth and maintaining the power it granted through his superb recovery. He gained his third mark.


    After the strength test came the gravity test. All the participants were transported to a world with immense gravity, and as time passed the gravity increased.


    This is the first time he is seeing all the sovereigns and grand gods since he entered with them. Some of them are anxious. This was going to be the fourth trial out of seven and they probably haven''t gotten a single mark yet.


    So these people are extra determined to be thest 30% remaining. But there are some who are at ease enough to check on thepetition. Even though people couldn''t kill each other yet, they could keep an eye out for the remarkable ones.


    Gehald didn''t bother with other people, he was nervous for the first time. His body recovery is high, probably among the few highest, but he isn''t sure it can withstand the high gravity toe or recover fast enough tost.


    There won''t be any death in the first section of the trial because you will be teleported to the next trial the moment before you can die unless you''ve broken a rule. Those who break any rule will be turned to ashes, and their seed of power/ godhead will be taken and given as a reward.


    He tried to keep his mind somber, there was no use fretting about it. A few yearster when thest of the 30% of the strength trial was done came the start of the gravity trial. The barrier around Gehald was removed so his body felt the intense press of gravity. Even as the trial started someone was teleported out.


    "How is that possible?" Gehald asked in astonishment.


    He was shocked by the fact that someone that weak would even dare toe to the trial. But more and more were sent out in the first minute. The rate of expulsion reduced after some days.


    Gehald was paying attention at first because the more people left early the less time he had to spend experiencing the downward press. Butter the strain on his body was too much for him to do anything but try to keep his body together.


    The expulsion rate that had reduced over the past two years increased with the sudden spike in the pressure. People continued to be expelled over the next year at a faster rate until after almost 4 years, the gravity trial ended and he gained his 4th mark.

 Chapter 13 Of Fire And Earth

    ?The end of the gravity trial was marked by an announcement from the will of the realm followed by teleportation to the next trial, the trial of destruction.


    This trial aims to test the maximum damage an individual can make. So here he was in an empty world except for therge ck wall facing him. He is the only one present in this space.


    The will of the realm told Gehald just like it told others that to pass the test he must attack this resilient object. He rose into the air to inspect the walls for anything special, he wasn''t hoping to find a weakness, but to analyze the structure before him.


    When he rose to a sufficient height he found out that the wall was the side of a veryrge ck box. He could do anything about the situation, he could only attack the sides. Of all the trials he knew he would be facing, he has the least confidence in the trial of destruction because of the attacking capabilities of his body.


    For the first reason, he didn''t use aw capable of strong attacks to form his body ofw when he became a titan. For the second reason, he used thew of life which is more capable against living organisms not against something inanimate.


    But thankfully he had focused on his soul instead of his body when he was creating his origin passage so he could use his immensely powerful soul to his advantage. He doesn''t have enough quality to create powerful attacks but his powerful soul can increase the quantity of the attack topensate for his weakness.


    He had done most of his killing using terrifying weapons and the temporary boost of strength from thew of life. Thew of life grants its wielder perfect control of their life processes. He can enhance the strength of his body with it but only temporarily. A weapon can take advantage of that brief strength to produce devastating attacks.


    Even though he doesn''t have his weapons he is going to try anyway. He could get lucky and get a mark for this trial too. He is confident in the remaining two trials after this, with seven marks he would be able to skip the remaining trials and move directly to thest section of the trial of heaven, the reward and challenge section.


    He continued rising and started preparing an attack. He had decided to use hisw of fire and earth to create an attack. He fashioned a huge upside-down volcano. He took his time and spent almost all the Origin energy in his body to create this attack. When he was done his face looked tired but his eyes were glowing.


    He had great expectations for this attack. He started the attack by letting go of his control of the violent forces in the volcano. Fire agitated the earth which made the volcano shake then erupt in a fury of fire, rocks, ash, and magma onto the top of the square.


    The eruptionsted a while as it wrought destruction on the ck square-shaped structure below. When it was done, he got to see the amount of damage he had done before he was teleported out, it wasn''t much. The volcanic eruption would have surely decimated the better half of a ne but it hadn''t managed to crack the cube.


    He found himself in a veryrge fortress, it is here that the next trial would take ce. He was surprised thest trial hadn''t ended yet, he thought he took his time but it turned out others could take longer.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    This wasn''t his first time seeing a fortress like this one. It is also present in the lower trials, just muchrger and more numerous because of therger number of participants.


    The fortress is supposed to house the participants of the trial. He decided to rest so he walked into a room not far from him. Other sovereigns or grand gods would select a room to rest and wait for the start of the next trial when they are teleported here.


    Theck of the result of thest trial has created some sort of tension in most of the participants, very few can calm down with such uncertainty over them, especially when it concerns their chances at living. Those that can calm down probably have a mark already, so they won''t worry too much.


    The tension should have been released when thest participant was teleported to the fortress and the result was announced. But it became heavier for some, while some others released sighs of relief. Gehald didn''t get the mark, he didn''t mind because it was within his expectation. He knows his strength and weakness.


    Even though he had fashioned his attack out of thews of fire and earth it wasn''t an attack from a concept. Sometimes quantity cannot make up for theck of quality no matter how much you wished for it. He wasn''t disappointed, he doesn''t think he is a perfect existence, and that''s why he had made his grand n. So the loss didn''t get to him as much as others.


    He returned to his earlier n of recovery during this precious period of rest before the next trial began. After a year of rest the next trial started, the battle trial. In this trial, the fortress will be beseeched from all sides by mad beasts and the participants will try to kill as many as possible from the near uncountable amount of enemies.


    The trial doesn''t have a set time limit, the attacking siege could end anytime, and during this unknown time, the 30% with thergest amount of kills will pass the trial.


    The uncertainty of the allocated time and the previous tension culminated to create a killing frenzy. This is going to be the second to thest trial in the first section and you may be surprised to know that more than 50% of the 22,862 sovereigns and grand gods don''t have a mark.


    So there is a rush to kill as soon as the barrier surrounding the fortress came down. Gehald joined the crowd as they rushed into the roaring hoards of monsters. This trial tests killing efficiency, the amount of damage, and the amount of killing within a period against a defending target in a battlefield of variables.


    The previous trial tests the maximum amount of damage a person can make given time for ample preparation. It is not realistic, your opponent will not give you time to prepare shy attacks in a battle, and your opponent won''t sit still while you wait on them.


    Such an open battlefield leads to a need to make a decision of efficiency between single target damage or area of attack. There is also a need for energy and stamina efficiency. The trial could end any moment so they were all throwing spells about. It''s not because they are stupid, but this is a life-and-death race, and sovereigns have arge store of energy.

 Chapter 14 14-The Art Of Slaughter.

    ?Hisw of ughter gave Gehald an edge when killing, the more he killed the stronger he bes, and the higher the number of enemies therger this boost bes over time, his ughter authority also makes him ferocious and intimidating to the enemy which weakens them and makes them falter.


    He would be deluding himself to think he is special in this regard so he put in extra effort in his attacks. He was using almost all hisws simultaneously to kill efficiently, water to restrain the beasts, earth to increase his strength and defense, life to boost his recovery, and fire to attack.


    He created firences 2 meters long and giant balls of fire for ranged attacks while using water whips to restrain and beat back targets too close to him. He can''t fight close range with his targets because he doesn''t have a weapon. So he made use to keep them away from him by sting them with spells.


    He is going all out killing because he wants another mark, he doesn''t intend to miss this one and he doesn''t have to worry about sneak attacks. Stray attacks from other participants will just phase through him, this is due to the arrangement of the will of the realm.


    No one could be bothered with anyone else at this point because you can''t say no to an extra mark. The most ferocious people are the ones without marks and the ones on a streak, those aiming for full marks.


    To achieve the perfect pass and skip to thest section of the trial, they must achieve seven marks. So these people looking for a perfect pass arepeting with those without one knowing full well that the price for failure for them is death. You can''t feel guilty on the path of perfection. It is the survival of the fittest.


    Gerald couldn''t help but take notice of some of these ferocious people, they could be his futurepetition. He also noticed elementals, especially fire elementals, all they were doing was spewing fire and umting kills. He was jealous of them, they were like walking me throwers.


    He noticed participants of various races and the ease with which they kill in battle. Races like vampires and their blood magic, phoenixes, and their evesting mes, giants and their supreme strength, battle sage monkeys and the lethality of their attacks, Griffins, and Pegasus with air superiority, not to mention Dragons.


    The saying that Dragons are supreme would exin the monstrosity of the damage they can dish out. They are the monsters of the battlefield. He doubted any dragon in this trial has lost a mark and yet they were still going all out.


    They have transformed from their humanoid form into their natural form and are using their dragon breath to decimate the horde of enemies. He has to admit that Dragons are the closest race to perfection.


    He saw all this and he was jealous. The sight of all these unfair advantages spurred him on.


    "I won''t fail, I must not fail, I will not fail, I shall not fail, I won''t fail"


    Again and again, he chanted, his very being resonating with unstoppable determination. He turned the energy welling up within him towards ughter.


    Rumour has it that the path of perfection leads to eventual perfection, the reformation of a being no matter how wed into a perfect existence. He doesn''t know just what this "Perfection" is, probably only the old monsters at the world god realm do.


    But he isn''t going to wait that long, he nned to take whatever perfection he could acquire now, and for that, he must not fail.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The killing went on amidst the sound of shes, roaring beasts, dying monsters, and yells from the participants. Gehald''s eyes at this point were already bloodshot, he had entered a strange bnce of the fusion between hisw of death and that of ughter.


    Even though his mes have been infused with this force, he didn''t notice that the number of monsters reduced within the premise of the fortress so did the numbers of participants reduce. Before the participants could be critically injured they would be teleported away regardless of their wish to stay.


    In this strange state of mindless ughter, hisprehension of thews of ughter and death increased exponentially. It was not enough toplete them but it was more than enough to increase his damage output.


    Deathly reddish ck mes spread out from within him to his surroundings and all the beasts that were touched were scorched if the injury is light orpletely burned.


    Those who were scorched found their bodies desating before they died. He rushed alone into the midst of the beasts whenever he found his surroundings empty of enemies.


    The ughter continued for a while, the participants would retreat to the fortress to rest once in a while before going back to the ughter. When five years of this were over they were all teleported out.


    They were all teleported to the world where the gravity trial was taken. The sovereigns and grand gods slumped as soon as they were teleported. They were all tired. Their mind is tired and their body weary.


    The atmosphere was deathly silent. The various participants had already been informed of their results, they either got a mark or they didn''t. Some started to cry, some had pale emotionless faces, and others steeled their mind for the next ordeal.


    The barrier around each of them preventedmunication or interaction, so no one could hear the silent crying or pleading. Reality hade crashing down on some, while some were indifferent to the circumstances and had verified that they were truly special, truly geniuses. Others have to deal with the bitter truth that they are nothing special, and that they are probably going to die soon.


    Gehald wasn''t paying attention to anything except hisprehension of the twows of ughter and death. He knew that the supremew of ughter and death go hand in hand before this strange experience, but he didn''t know how it worked.


    Now that he had realized the link between them he intended to take advantage of this profound knowledge and fullyprehend the twows. He hoped that he would be able to achieve this so that his soul could achieve a boost that will guarantee his passage in the next trial.


    The next trial will make you either lose a mark if you have one and you fail, gain a mark if you pass, or lose your life if you don''t have any marks and fail. He already has five marks and he would like to keep it that way.


    He wasn''t alone with this train of thought. Everyone was trying to improve themselves for thest trial, the soul trial, also known as the trial of death or life.

 Chapter 15 Do or Die Affair.

    Chapter 15 Do or Die Affair.


    The soul trial is thest trial of the first section of the trial of heaven. It is simr to the gravity trial. Every participant will be subject to harmful soul fluctuations at the same time. The participants must defend with their divine sense instead of their bodies like in the gravity trial.


    In this trial, only those with a mark or those who can remain until thest 30% will survive.


    Those without a mark have to somehow survive to the end or die. If you have marks, you will lose one of them to survive. Your mark will grant you ess to the next section of the trial instead of dying. But if you don''t have a mark, then this is thest opportunity to get one or die.


    The soul trial especially tells true and fake sovereigns apart. Not all sovereigns achieve this level of power on their own. Some of them, the true sovereigns walk step by step to condense their seed of power, they are also rewarded with each achievement along the way with a boost to their soul or bodies.


    When sovereigns die, their seed of power is left behind because it is nigh indestructible. Someone of sufficient strength can then fuse with this seed of power to be a sovereign, albeit a fake one. They are fake because they can''t stand up against a true sovereign, but they are more than powerful enough to defeat some Titans ofw.


    A fake sovereign can train his soul up to the level of a true sovereign using soul-enhancing treasures. It is highly improbable but not impossible. But one can''t be an Origin god with that seed of power. Unless they get the help of mother high heaven as a reward for their performance in the trial of heaven and Origin essence.


    Only the best of the best in the trial get Origin essence, so Gehald has to prove himself during the trial. While some have given up, some remain determined to give it their all for different reasons. The ones without any marks have to try their best or they will die and the ones with 6 marks must have one more toplete their perfect pass. It is this dynamic that will prevent most of the participants of the trial from getting a mark.


    As time went by, Gehald managed to fullyprehend thews of death. Suddenly a silver of origin essence enters his divine sense through his origin passage and strengthens his soul. This silver of origin essence improved his soul by 5%. This amount is because thew of death is a type of supremew. Even so, this silver cannotpare to a bead of origin essence he could get. His powerful soul filled him with more confidence for the soul trial.


    After years of rest, the will of the realm descended to inform them of the rules, her words are like a hammer beating on the wills of some, either strengthening it or breaking it. When she is done, the barrier came down and the test began.


    Gehald''s mind is hit with a sudden painful sensation that he quickly suppressed. If he doesn''t defend against the harmful soul fluctuations he will die. His soul will be shaved off very painfully until his consciousness copses on itself.


    Even elementals without souls, have their cores being attacked. If they don''t have a strong enough divine sense then they too will be wiped out of existence. Since most if not all elementals are true sovereigns most of them will survive this round.


    The ones that have free time are the grand gods because their souls have been strengthened by divinity and the dragons with their reinforced soul space.


    Just like the gravity trial the intensity of the attack increased over time. And with time the sovereigns reaffirm their will because a strong will is a cornerstone to survive this trial.


    The key to this trial is an active defense against harmful soul fluctuations, but it bes increasingly difficult to maintain this defense with the searing pain of the mind. Because the soul is a weak point to anyone except Origin gods who have immortal souls.


    Soul damage is more painful than damage to the body because it is direct damage to the consciousness. It will bypass any resistance or tolerance to pain. You can''t ignore the pain, you have to bear with it. The wish to escape from the pain or end it will make you give up and lose.


    Soon people start to drop like flies while others are teleported out. Those that died don''t have any marks while the ones teleported have marks.


    Gehald steeled his will because he knows that if he can''t survive this much he wouldn''t be able toplete his grand n for perfection, there is great pain waiting for him in his n. Nothing worthwhile is easy to acquire. If he is to create many versions of himself, then he must be ready to cut off parts of himself. After all, a tree needs a little part of itself to create seeds.


    He watched as about 55% of the sovereigns died within the first 6 months of the soul trial before he finally earned hisst mark after a year and a half. He was teleported out to the next section of the trial with an additional mark. He has be closer to acquiring what he came here for.

 Chapter 16 16-Origin Essence? It Is To Die For.

    ?When Gerald opened his eyes after the teleportation, he noticed he was in a swamp.


    "It seems this is where I get to start with the meet and fight." He thought.


    The will of the realm descended on him along with soothing energy that instantly healed his injuries and fatigue. She also said to him


    "Congrattions to you Gehald Oakstein for getting to this stage. Truly impressive, you were just a notch away from a perfect pass. What a pity."


    He doesn''t think she truly pitied him, her voice sounded monotonous just like ever. He heard some rumors that the will of the realm didn''t start talking to her children until after the realm Lord ascended. She used to just send her intents to inform them unlike now that she is talking to every sovereign that has reached here with a personalized message. Meanwhile, she was still talking.


    "It isn''t the end of the road for you, even though you weren''t part of the 12,624 sovereigns and Grand gods that died you must continue to thrive for life. The avable reward of origin essence amounts to exactly 1,800 beads. Of which the 461 with perfect pass get two each, which leaves 880 beads."


    Of all the 22,862petitors that took part in the Sovereign trial, 461 of them got a perfect pass. That''s 2% of their numbers. He was just a single mark from being among them.


    "The remaining 10,238 of you will fight to thest 4,500, of which the top 880 fighters will get the opportunity to challenge for each of the remaining origin beads. "


    That''s the thing about the world. The strongest get the best treatment. The ones with perfect passes get to skip the next section and are also rewarded with two beads of Origin essence while the rest have to struggle amongst themselves to share the remaining amount.


    Mother high heaven continued to exin the rules of the next section of the trial.


    "A mark will save you from death once, if you still have a mark and are part of the top 880 you can skip the challenge and get your Origin essence. If you have at least two marks after the meet and fight, and you are within the first 2000 then you can challenge the top 880 without a mark for their spot. Priority is given to those with the most marks left."


    "From now on you can view your position and score within your status. The number of points you have will be used to exchange for your rewards after this section of the trial. You have until a day cycle to rest. Then the Meet and fight will start."


    Mother High Heaven left with her will when she was done. He was left with his thoughts, he couldn''t move from his position because of the barrier around him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Everyone that survived the first section will be teleported randomly within the world within this space, well except for those that had perfect passes. When the trial starts they would seek each other out. If you meet someone you must fight that person, the both of you will be teleported to a small enclosed arena for a battle to the death.


    The winner will get his or her energy fully recovered and teleported to a random location, while the loser dies. If the loser has a mark he or she can surrender and be teleported out of the arena.


    If the fight doesn''t end after a day, which is unlikely, the will of the realm will descend to decide the fate of the fighters, their life and death will be based on the sincerity and effort put into the fight. No one should hope to deceive mother High Heaven.


    To rank high in this trial, you have to win enough fights before the ten thousand or sopetitors are reduced to 4,500. The marks are very important, to preserve them you either hide or win your fights.


    If you rank in the top 880 you will be challenged by someone if you don''t have a mark, and the chances are that you will be challenged by someone strong because that person would have to have survived deathmatches and still have two marks left.


    For you to be eligible to challenge the top 880 you must survive, have at least two marks and be within the top 2000. But challenging isn''t sure because the top 880 might have just a few that have exhausted their marks, the people that will be chosen to challenge will be prioritized based on the number of marks they have.


    It is rare but they will be people in the top 2000 with 5 marks. Some truly powerful people consider the trials a piece of cake and didn''t try their best, especially for the battle trial, Dragons for example. There would be some Dragons thatzied around during the all-out battle or other trials they consider time-consuming or too intensive for them, they know that as long as they have a single mark they would live. It is these ones that will spoil the trial for everyone else.


    Gehald and probably everyone else will n to try their best to reach the top 880, it is the safest option. So about 6 thousand people will die again for their hopes and dreams.


    Sovereigns and grand gods that are the highest power within High Heaven, respected and adored, will die like ordinary men. All for the chance to grow stronger, all for origin essence.


    There are only two ways for a sovereign to be an Origin god. The first option is to obtain a bead of Origin essence, this bead of precious Origin essence is the size of a peanut. To get one you either go to the trial of heaven to acquire one or go to the upper realm in search of the secret realms of incapacitated Origin gods.


    Origin gods have immortal souls that can produce Origin essence, but this essence is unusable by anyone else unless their soul suffers from such a terrible injury that they don''t have any choice but to lose consciousness. Only then can you purify the Origin essence they produce of their soul marks.


    But the Origin essence of incapacitated origin gods isn''t just lying about. You could only find some in their towers or stronghold. So for your options, it is either you go to the trial of heaven with a one in five chance of survival and sess or you go to a wounded tiger''s cave to ask for its skin.

 Chapter 17 17-Prey And Predator.

    ?The other option to be an Origin god is to undergo tribtion. The tribtion is divided into three trials, the body, soul, and will trial. The three trials will be carried out one after the other.


    The only way to survive the trial is to be exceptional in body, soul, and mind or have exceptional healing treasures. Even treasures have limited use because while there might be treasures that can help you maintain the integrity of your body and soul, treasures that protect the mind are even rarer than Origin essence.


    If you fail any one of the trials you will die. The chances of surviving all three are less than 10%, this is only because sovereigns without much confidence in themselves try this method the most. Even though the tribtion is unpredictable, especially the trial of the mind, unconfident sovereigns would rather have some power over their fate and go through with it.


    Only the truly confident willingly participate in the trial of heaven knowing fully well that only 20% will survive. It is this self-confidence that makes a lot of sovereigns continue to participate in the trial of heaven.


    Then there are grand gods. The option of breakthrough for a grand god is either bing a celestial god which is considered almost a dead-end or switching to the path of perfection by bing an origin god. So grand godse to the tower of heaven in hopes of getting Origin essence to be origin gods.


    There are exceptions to the rule of course. For example, Dragons don''t need to participate in the trial because they can create origin essence on their own, even without bing origin gods. They just have to be divine Dragons by reforming their already powerful bodies into an even more powerful ones using the power ofws. While others be Titans ofw, Dragons be divine Dragons.


    Gehald cursed them for their selfishness. He secretly hoped he doesn''t meet a dragon, he could do nothing but surrender. There is no way he can damage the body of a divine dragon without some powerful weapons, but the trial of heaven doesn''t allow external aid.


    He didn''t need toe for the trial to be an Origin god. He could get life essence from the Life trees of his home ne, the same life essence that was the cause of the demon invasion of his race.


    The life essence can even help with maintaining the mind during tribtion. It''s the major reason why sovereigns of the high elves of the high life ne don''t participate in the trial of heaven.


    The life trees are truly unique and special in the void universe, their usefulness to an everyday mortal up to the level of a world God has made the high elves often fight to protect them in the past. He didn''te for a chance to advance, he came here for the origin essence, it is a very important part of his grand n, so he couldn''t afford to be cavalier about this section of the trial.


    The barrier went down after a day of rest, Gerald took a deep breath and stretched himself. The following battles will be different from the mindless ughter of the mad beasts during the battle trial. He would be fighting his fellowpetitors to the death.


    He has the full confidence of being able to keep himself alive longer than an opponent if they trade damage, plus he had 6 marks, that''s 6 opportunities to surrender, but he is hoping he would only need to use a maximum of 5. He checked his status for his progress within the trial. He saw *Gehald Oakstein 0 points 6371th* then he started his hunt.


    While he moved he checked his surroundings for any sign of danger, there shouldn''t be but he did it anyway, the only ones in this world ought to be just thepetitors. Since ambushes are possible, he should be safe until he met someone.


    He did meet someone, and within 5 minutes of running forward, he saw a figure about 5km away. They saw each other and were soon teleported away. The teleportation works as soon as two people are aware of each other''s existence.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    In the sealed space of the arena about 100m by 100m. Gehald found himself bound at one end, opposite a simrly bound vampire lord. He reviewed the weakness and strengths of vampires in his mind.


    "Nothing special. Just need to calm down and fight him with fire. Also, I must not let him draw too close or let him wound me."


    Vampires are rare creatures that get to enjoy thebined benefit of a strong body, powerful recovery, and magic specialty. So they were good in meleebat, excellent even, depending on the age of the vampire.


    People tend to be wiser by learning new things. Vampires have near-unlimited lifespans. They have a lot of time to learn different skills. They also have very powerful recovery based on the amount of vitality their body contains, it is not unlimited but it is as powerful as the recovery of a sovereign of life.


    That means he will be able to oust the vampire in healing but the ability of vampires to manipte blood means he won''t be able to take advantage of his recovery ability as a sovereign of life.


    A sovereign of life can recover stamina and energy faster, even though vampires have a low energy recovery, they have almost unlimited stamina and can recover from having their heads cut off.


    It might seem that the cards were stacked against Gehald, but it is true. The cards were truly stacked against him, but he can''t give up, he still has the hope of killing the vampire with his fire. He will surrender only if that fails.


    He dares not to use ughter or deathws because a vampire lord is an embodiment of both. While he was assessing the vampire, the vampire had also been looking him over. They both hadn''t rushed forward to fight as soon as they were unbound. Gehald because this was his first fight, the noble vampire was just not in a hurry to consume what he already considered his food.


    "Hmm, a high elf. A high elf rarely attends these things." the vampire lord Tu Sil muttered as his eyes glowed blood red.


    Then Tu Sil said aloud so Gehald could hear " High elf, you are truly lucky to meet me, or am I?"


    He smacked his lips in anticipation before continuing "Never mind, we are both lucky to have met each other, within the hour, this lord will have feasted on your blood, you should feel honored. I am always picky with what I eat and you qualify. If you have a mark, then use it right now, no one likes a tease."


    Gehald narrowed his eyes, he didn''t talk back. He took a step forward calmly, they would soon figure out who is the hunter and who is the prey.

 Chapter 18 18-The Fear Of Fire.

    ?As he strode forward, white mes started to pour out of his very pores. Back when Gehald was experiencing the link between death and ughter, he hadprehended thew of death from that experience and was able to create deathly ck mes.


    With it, came the concept of his me of death using the fusion of fire, death, and ughterws, he had thought of an opposite derivative of this concept during his period of retrospection.


    He came up with the existence of mes of life, which is the fusion of thews of fire and life. His thoughts were "Since mes of death exist then mes of life should." This realization helped him to fullyprehend the mysteries of thew of death.


    He hadn''t given it much thought since its inception, he had been mostly busy with staying alive during the soul trial.


    But now that there is a vampire and he couldn''t use thew of death and ughter against the immortal embodiment of death and ughter, he decided to use thews they were weak to.


    This resulted in the white mes sprouting from within him. On one hand, the mes will be weaker than pure destructive mes to anyone without the weakness to both of thews contained within it and on the other hand, the mes will be devastating to someone with a weakness to the pure life force.


    The countenance of the vampire lord changed when he saw the approaching mes, he felt instinctive fear of it. He waved his hand, and a drop of his blood fell from a finger and transformed into a blood clone.


    The blood clone he created wasn''t even up to 1% of Tu Sil''s power but he created it to test the mes. The blood clone approached the mes and was immediately disintegrated on contact.


    The vampire lord let out a hiss at Gehald while Gehald smirked back.


    "Very well, elf. You have yed a good card. I will be on my way then. I surrender" Tu Sil said before he was teleported away.


    He had chosen to use the privilege of a mark and lose that mark. He did this because he felt he had no hope to win, so it wasn''t worth it to fight and get injured. Only the winner of a fight will get to recover any injury, stamina, and energy usage. So it is important to know one''s limit or you will start something you can''t finish.


    Gerald smiled as he was teleported away. He was teleported to a desert area this time. He was truly in a good mood.


    "Truly of to a good start," he said as he dusted himself off.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He hadn''t attacked aggressively after he had analyzed the situation. He had created the mes for the first time so he wasn''t sure they would work. In theory, thebination of the twows should be a formidable weapon against the vampire but he decided to watch while the vampire tested the mes for him.


    If the vampire lord had decided to disregard the mes and fight then he would be in for a tough fight. He could win at the end of the day but time is of the essence. He couldn''t be tied down trying to kill someone who he couldn''t kill because someone like the vampire lord would probably have a mark.


    Only those with one mark at the beginning of the soul trial and who had used it to get into the second trial could be easily killed this early into the second section. Others with a mark could concede and be teleported away.


    He had bet the vampire lord was reasonable which was probable considering their level of power. If he knew he was going to lose a mark, he shouldn''t be petty about it, he would be better off trying his chance with someone else.


    "Not like the mes of the destruction of Dragons, or the mes of purification of Vermillion birds, or the mes of the rebirth of phoenixes, but only for a while now. Soon, soon..." he muttered when his mind returned to the white mes. He started running again, he had some hunting to do.


    Most of his subsequent fight was lightning fast and brutal. It is rare to meet an easy opponent with a weakness in your grasp. He had to fight to the bitter end for some while others gave up halfway into the fight when they be disadvantaged.


    Once, he got into a fight with a stubborn earth elemental. The adamant elemental couldn''t catch him so it was a sitting duck to Gehald''s mes but it wouldn''t give up. It wasn''t until the heat from the mes almost got to his core did he surrender.


    It was probably thest mark of the elemental or he was just in stubborn. It was a bitter and gruesome fight. It isn''t easy to burn rock after all, even if it isn''t moving. If he had a concept based on fire then it would have been an easier fight.


    He cursed the elemental as soon as he was out of the sealed arena. He had urged the elemental sovereign to quit early but the guy had decided to waste his time.


    There was a time he faced someone pleading for mercy too. The unfortunate Orc had climbed onto a tree to hide. Gehald had noticed him with his divine sense when he was passing by. But when he was about to step toward the Orc''s hiding spot he heard a sound.


    He had turned back to determine the source of the sound. The orc also heard the same sound and swept his surroundings with his divine sense, he had been swept by Gehald so the two of them became aware of each other and were teleported to a sealed arena.


    It was stupid of the Orc to use his divine sense while hiding. When you scan someone with your divine sense, they will be able to sense it if they are stronger than or equal to you in power. Gehald had seen the source of the sound at thest moment, it was someone sneaking backward, probably trying to avoid someone from the front.

 Chapter 19 19-Seeing Is Deceiving.

    ?It truly was pitiful, a Sovereign orc begging for his life. In the High Heaven realm, the weak races will get wiped out or enved by the strong ones. He didn''t feel much pity for the orc and was about to attack.


    Gehald had no choice but to kill the orc, either that or both of them run the risk of being turned to ashes. Even if that rule didn''t exist he was still going to kill the orc because right now he needed the points. The more points he gets the better.


    When the orc saw that he wasn''t moved he burst forth with a psychic attack. Gehald was caught unaware when a terrifying pain hit his mind, he staggered and almost fell, meanwhile the orc had followed the mind attack with a wave of ice elemental attack full of sharp icicles meant to impale Gehald.


    Gehald had recovered slightly so he was able to repel the attack with mes of his own, after which he moved back to get some distance between them. The two elemental attacks hit each other and canceled each other out like two opposing waves of water.


    The icicles could bore 10 meters into the tough ground of the ancient battlefield while the mes could melt any weapon below origin level on contact, they were both simple yet terrifying. The simple wave of their hands as Sovereigns is enough to rile up the world to do their bidding.


    The spirit attack surprised Gehald because soul attacks are rare. Creatures that attack the mind usually attack by finding vulnerabilities to the mind through the senses, like illusions or sound attacks.


    It is rare for extraordinaries to use their divine sense for effective attacks against someone of simr strength. If the attack was much stronger or his soul was way weaker or he didn''t have his recovery he would have died by now, so he was on guard.


    "What are you? Orcs don''t have soul-attacking abilities." Gehald asked


    The orc didn''t answer, he just smirked and shook his head in regret. Gehald realized something and immediately pressed the attack.


    He formed giant zing hot fireballs in the air that he hurled at his opponent. But he was always missing, the fireballs just pass through the figure of the orc. So he switched from single attacks to an area of attacks, but the waves of mes he made passed through the target again.


    Then he decided to nket the area with mes only then could he hear a sound of pain a little way to his left. The orc he had been seeing faded away to reveal a strange bird creature with dirty feathers and a proboscis for a mouth.


    It was about a meter tall but was hovering in the air, and it had a greyish color but Gehald couldn''t tell what it was because he felt his mind grow fuzzy from staring at it.


    He stopped looking and aimed a fireball at the bird while another spirit attack hit him again. He didn''t grimace this time because he had been on guard. He was eventually able to defeat the strange creature, it conceded.


    Gehald was teleported away with his mental injuries healed and his energy recovered. He shook himself when he remembered that attack. If he had let himself underestimate and pity that strange creature he would have died.


    It seems the creature had been ying him since the time he noticed it with his divine sense. The creature had been able to deceive his senses and made it look weak.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It had begged Gehald while preparing that initial attack. Gehald had realized that it probably couldn''t use the attack frequently because it hadn''t followed with another psychic attack after the first one, if it had, he would be gone by now.


    Even when Gehald had spoken to it, it didn''t do anything, that''s when Gehald knew something was wrong. At first, he thought the creature must have been weakened after that first attack so he decided to take advantage of it, but then his attacks kept missing.


    That''s when he realized he was either seeing an illusion or the orc truly had another ability to turn intangible. If it had intangibility it shouldn''t have bothered begging because an ability like that can secure its life. It shouldn''t have been in hiding, or if it were it could have hidden directly within a tree instead of on top of the tree.


    He conjectured that if it had intangibility it should have limits. He decided to cover his bases and risk using arge amount of energy to determine if he had any chance of winning. He produced so many mes to carpet the arena, he was ready to wait a while before he saw any effect but he was rewarded early.


    The strange beast possessed terrifying psychic and illusion abilities, it was a born hunter. If it had faced a fake sovereign or a true Sovereign with a weaker soul it would have killed the sovereign easily. Its only weakness is its weak body.


    He had wanted to kill the creature but it got away. If the creature had a powerful body to boot then that fight would have cost him more.


    He was walking slowly to rx a little but he saw a person garbed in lightning. This individual is covered from head to toe in purplish ck lightning that sparked and sizzled dangerously.


    "This can''t be good, things just keeps getting worse," he muttered before he was teleported away.


    He was teleported soon after, with all his hair standing straight. Just a few momentster he reappeared in another part of the small world.


    "Thank mother High Heaven that I had the good mind to quit early." he sighed with relief.


    This is his first defeat. He couldn''t be petty about it even if he wanted to, he would have died otherwise. He had initially thought it was a lightning elemental because all he saw from afar was a streak of lightning.


    He was already nning to concede but not before he fought a little to determine if he had no chance of winning. Lightning elementals are probably the fastest creatures after void elementals and light elementals, they also deal terrifying damage even more than fire-based concepts.


    So he had little chance of winning in the first ce. That was until he realized it wasn''t an elemental but a female lightning grand god. He couldn''t have escaped out of there fast enough.

 Chapter 20 20-The Promise Of Chaos.

    ?The Gods of High Heaven use the power of faith to strengthen themselves, they use divine energy which although special, is weaker than Origin energy.


    Divine energy is will-infused mana. If ordinary mana was a wire, divine energy is like a needle. So although it is more powerful than conventional mana it is weaker than Origin energy.


    People be capable of wielding origin energy which is the energy ofws when they be transcendents. Laws are the rules that govern the operation of the world.


    The main reason that gods have been able to keep up with their counterparts on the path of perfection is that they can use their domain, divinity, and divine energy to subvertws. But they ultimately fall short because the path of progress for gods is cut off after bing a celestial god.


    Even though celestial gods are more powerful than sovereigns and grand gods, they are weaker than Origin gods. That''s why when those on the path of divinity be grand gods they participate in the trial of heaven to acquire the Origin essence to convert to the path of perfection by bing origin gods.


    He sometimes wonders why the realm trees in the void universe still propagate this wed path of power, nevertheless, he had added the power of gods into his grand n because it matched his view of perfection, the act of subvertingws.


    His match with the grand goddess of lightning is bad for him. Lightning in its natural form destroys life. Gehaldirah can face lightning in its natural form as a sovereign of life but divine lightning is another matter entirely.


    If they were outside the trial and he had his defensive artifacts and his weapon he wouldn''t have been defeated so wretchedly. At the very least he could protect himself while he escaped unlike now that even his hair was singed.


    Too bad the trial wants to test the excellence in training and battle wits without external influence, the sh between concepts that the sovereigns mastered or domains of grand gods and also luck.


    When they reach their level of power they don''t use fancy spells or gimmicks in a one-on-one fast-paced duel, their very thoughts and actions invoke thews of the world. It''s just a pity that he didn''t use a fire-based concept to be a sovereign, if he had, his mes would be way stronger. It is a bad match-up to face a grand god with the domain of lightning, it was simply asking for a beating.


    He decided to leave this near-death experience behind and continue his hunt. By this point, he had expended his first mark but still possessed five of them. He checked his status while he ran forward within a thick forest, and he saw that he was in the 800th ce already.


    "Good, good" he felt happy. "At the very least, things are going my way a little. I didn''t suffer for nothing, I just have to maintain my winning."


    It was too early to celebrate but he indulged himself and he paid for it. Soon he met his next opponent. He immediately tried to turn back so he won''t be noticed but it was all to no avail.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It was a dragon, the giant lizard was just floating about. How could he not look up when he saw arge shadow moving across the ground? He just had to look up, it was instinctual.


    "Fuck you. I hate you. Just wait, I''ll get you for this in the future, I''ll make your entire race pay one day." he cursed as soon as he was teleported to the sealed arena.


    Then he admitted defeat quickly to prevent the dragon from making a move on him. But through it all the dragon was grinning, it loved the feeling of seeing ants scurry for safety in the majesty of its presence. While one of them was still cursing after being teleported away the other was in a good mood as it continued to roam the skies.


    Gehald resumed his hunt in a bad mood. He was filled with vigor and vengeance. As the fighting continued, the fights were getting brutal and more people were dying.


    The fights might have started as a spar or an exchange between people because it was difficult to kill someone early into the trial, but now even if someone was at a disadvantage he would still fight to the death, especially gods.


    They don''t fear death because they would be revived upon death, they would be seriously weakened but they would survive, so they always try their best till they die.


    Gehald didn''t back down in the face of their desperate struggle for survival, he met their ferocity with equal bloodthirst. It was unseemly for a high elf to behave in such a way and it was something increasingly fewer people will live to tell.


    After fighting and killing for a total of 8 years the number of participants reduced to the necessary number of 4500. Gehald was able to reach the mid-500s with two marks remaining.


    He shook his head as the will of the realm descended to inform them. He shook his head because with all of his effort the best he could do was rank lower within the top 880, and the odds are that there will be some people above him in rank with more than two marks, even some outside of the first 880.


    But his confidence wasn''t shaken because he knew that no matter how good you are, there would be someone better. He was just d that he finally made it.


    Then they were teleported to another world for thest section of the trial. The world they were teleported to was a bigger version of the sealed arena they fought in. A total of 4500 surviving participants were teleported to the seats. Here they would watch the challenge between the top 880 and those qualified within the top 2000.

 Chapter 21 21-Joy Or Sadness.

    ?Before they were teleported away, the will of the realm had frozen everyone and delivered a message. Gehald heard her voice in his head, just like everyone else. She said


    "Congrattions Gehald Oakstein. You have performed well, I saw your efforts, you deserve to have survived. You even did more than just survive, you are among the top 880 and are eligible to receive a bead of origin essence. You should be proud."


    Gehald didn''t think so, he thought more about it. "Sure, I did well but it isn''t anything special. At least not yet, when my n goes through, then I can be proud."


    As much as he revered mother High Heaven her acknowledgment couldn''t make him proud, but it was nice to be noticed.


    "You still have marks left over. One of them will be used to waive the challenge so you will receive your Origin bead. Thest one will be used to give you a discount of 10% when you turn your points into rewards of your choosing. There is a 10 points bonus for surviving this stage, 20 points for surviving with two marks, and 644 points for defeating 22 other participants, which brings you to a total of 674 points. Make sure to get something good with them and Goodbye."


    Usually, there would be no audience when people fight in the arena, but the arena had been unsealed for viewing. The list of participants had also been fully unlocked, you could only see your name, position, score, and marks before, but now you could see the information of the other participants except that in the ce of names you will only be to see race.


    The 4500 that have survived are the best of the best or at least are supposed to be. They are the 20% that survived this Origin cycle''s trial of heaven. So they will be rewarded after the challenge has ended.


    The basic range of emotions after the ordeal is pretty easy to analyze. On one hand, some feel like they were truly lucky to survive, to them just being alive is more than enough for them. They might have even been traumatized but being alive will grant them the opportunity to get over it.


    On the other hand, are those who see surviving as a matter of course. They hadn''t expected anything less. Their very existence has been validated as the best of their peers. No matter the opinions of the survivors, it doesn''t remove the experience of surviving such an ordeal. The result of this trial will lead to immense effects across the realm.


    But for now, they just have to get over thisst section before they will be moved to a private ce where they can exchange for treasures based on the number of points they have. They will wait out the remainder of the 200 years in their private rooms, then they will be teleported to the nar gates of their home nes or just outside the tower of heaven.


    Gehald is among the happy ones. All his effort will soon pay off and he would be able to set his n into motion. He couldn''t wait to leave the arena, he just wasn''t in the mood for more fighting, just watching is also unbearable for him. He is tired of the fighting and killing, it will be difficult to not be after 132 years of it.


    He decided to look through the list of participants to entertain himself. As he was scrolling through the list, the person beside him who had been sniveling had finally decided he couldn''t hold it in anymore.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Jeera, Jeera is gone. Jeera is gone." He kept screaming as he wept loudly. Gehald didn''t give him any attention.


    Gehald was in too good a mode to care, he wouldn''t allow this crying giant to ruin his mood. But the giant didn''t let up "Oh my Jeera, my poor Jeera."


    On the other side of the giant, someone shouted "Will you shut up you big oaf."


    This only caused the giant to increase his voice. When Gehald heard the voiceing from the other side of the giant he paused, the voice sounded familiar but it was muffled by the loud crying voice.


    He turned to look but he couldn''t see past the 15 meter tall sobbing mess. He let it go and decided to pay more attention to the ongoings of the arena.


    They had all been frozen after the meet and fight section of the trial, during that time when the will of the realm was talking to him, the challenged and the challengers had been decided. Mother High Heaven had coted the results of each participant and informed them of their various circumstances, the ones that would be challenged had been informed and the ones that wished to challenge had expressed their intentions to do so to her.


    So when they were teleported here to the sealed arena, the ones eligible to challenge had been decided by the will of the realm based on the number of marks they have, then she would pair fighters up ording to her will. Deaths are not allowed during the fighting.


    Currently, in the arena, a beautifuldy in bright red and yellow dress was facing a grand god with a disaster domain, a burly ogre garbed in only loincloth. The god is hugepared to the littledy, he looked barbaric to her elegant demeanor which didn''t diminish as the fight continued.


    She is the challenger and people could see she was probably one of those who didn''t take the trial seriously because she wasn''t taking this fight seriously too. She floated there, her hair of mes gently waving back and forth as soft mes resembling water washed around her and destroyed everything in its path.


    It is a simple move that has managed to stifle the ogre god. He has a domain of disasters, he could cause catastrophic environmental damage. He has used earthquakes,ndslides, tornadoes, tsunamis, and meteor strikes to get this far, those around him would experience bad luck and mistakes even in simple actions like walking. He was a walking disaster.


    Gehald had to admit that the god had a repertoire of truly useful tools. But all of his tricks didn''t work on thedy, she was destruction incarnate. Her mes destroyed everything and anything thrown against it, the god was tempted to move closer to her to engage in a melee but he threw that idea out of his head. Earlier, he had thrown a meteor at her to bypass her mes but it had disintegrated before touching her.

 Chapter 22 22-Who Is She?

    ?The god was stumped, but he didn''t want to admit defeat, because he hade this far and didn''t want to lose his opportunity to get an origin bead, this is his 3rd attempt now. He could swallow his defeat if the fight had been full of twists and turns but it wasn''t, it was a straight defeat, and he could tell she wasn''t putting in much effort.


    He decided to quit, there is no use beating a dead horse. He is a grand god, an achievement worthy of praise, he didn''t get to this position by being stupid and stubborn like the members of his race. He can alwayse back next Origin cycle. Hopefully, he will be lucky then.


    While the god was going through a crisis in the arena, Gehald was more interested in his opponent rather than the fight itself.


    "What could she be?" he muttered.


    He couldn''t tell what race thedy belonged to and he had never seen anything like her power.


    He had seen a race of magic-immune giants, this race unlike other types of races in High Heaven couldn''t use or sense mana. A race like this should have died out early or been enved by more powerful races. But they survived and strived because magic seemed to lose its effect when ites near them.


    There is a domain around them that makes magical attacks scatter and be ineffective. The effect of this ability varies depending on how powerful its user is. A more powerful giant could create a domain of no magic around them which nullified magic within its range.


    A more powerful person like a lord ofw could ovee this barrier so the race can only hole up in their ne. That was until a really intelligent giant of that race discovered the cause of their uniqueness, he rallied their race and went on to be a grand god and then he became an origin god allowing them to be a supreme race.


    It was only then that they finally realized that they were born with a high affinity with thew of order. Till now he still suspected that the one that changed their race was probably a mutant because he is truly intelligent while the members of that race were too stupid.


    He would have thought the idea absurd but ever since the sess of the realm lord he is more open to the idea that some members of a species are special. The realm lord was and is still suspected as a mutant High Elf. Anyways, the giants of Order are a truly unique race in the void universe.


    That was that but what was thedy? She wasn''t returning reality to the state it was before it was tampered with by her opponent, she was annihting the attacks, and she was using fire too. He didn''t know of any me that turns things to nothingness.


    "What could she be?" he muttered again.


    "Hey pal, that fight is over. Forget about it and check this one out." The voice came from his left again and it seemed to be referring to him.


    ''Why is it that only the people from my left are talking, not the front, not the back, or his left?''


    He cursed his bad luck. It was the giant first, then the one on the left of the giant. He wondered if he could shut out sounds from his booth. It should be possible because the arena is deathly silent. As he was looking around for some sort of switch the voice sounded again<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Hey Oakstein, is that you? It is you, I know you can hear me, you have that pissed look on your face."


    Gehald suddenly turned in the direction of the sound, he still couldn''t see through his giant neighbor so he spread his divine sense to see who it was. He had a guess but he wanted to be sure. The image of a dark-cloaked elf appeared in his mind.


    "Staten "Soul dagger" Rubit." Gehald transmitted over. "It is quite a surprise seeing you here"


    "Me too. I sure am surprised to see you here. Why are you here, could you have been forced or did you lose your way? Nah, that''s impossible. Hmm, did you lose your way? That will exin a lot. I mean I have always wondered why you don''t talk much, but I always thought you were smart or something since you are an elf and all that. But this might solve that riddle, maybe you were just stupid and didn''t want to talk, maybe....."


    Gehald withdrew his divine sense at this point, he couldn''t bear to hear this guy rant. Staten Rubit is quite a peculiar dark elf assassin. The general impression people get from assassins is that they are quiet, silent, and stealthy people, even if normal assassins are different from this it won''t be by much, but dark elf assassins fit the stereotype.


    Staten Rubit is a very good assassin, but he is a talker. It is almost a bother to do business with him because of all his talking, but he is too good. He became a sovereign by mastering thew of darkness but he is known for his lightning-fast one-shot kill.


    He was expelled from his race when he was young because he was too weak. He started stealing to make ends meet before he got into some really bad stuff. He was then sold off as a ve, he was trained during very to be an assassin but he was too bad at it because of all his talking so his owner sent him to the trial of heaven as a transcendent to redeem himself.


    He would rather die there and the owner will finally be rid of him or he would bring back something good. He returned alive and won back his freedom before going on to be a sovereign. He is someone the Parthenon of dark elves in their home ne is even scared of.


    "Hey, I''m talking to you. Listen to me, listen to me. Hey, you have to listen to me. If you don''t listen to me, don''t even think abouting back to me again. Nah, I''m just kidding." Staten droned on and on.


    Gehald already found the switch to seal himself from outside influence but he hesitated to use it. He sighed and said "Fine, I''m listening. What do you want Staten?"


    "Don''t be like that. Trust me you''ll like it."


    "I doubt that."


    "Listen. I''ll be an origin god soon how about you follow me and some guys to the upper realm? I know you''re a loner and you won''t probably like to hang out with those stuck-up high elves. So what do you say? Wanna hang out with a bunch of cool guys. We''ll take the upper realm by storm. Stee wille too, say yes, please say yes, yes, yes..." Staten continued.

 Chapter 23 23-What Is This About Stellae?

    ?In the High Heaven realm, you hardly see Origin gods around. Sovereigns are usually the ones that go about taking care of the race or family. The higher the number of sovereigns an organization has the more pull they can have in the ancient battlefield.


    But when sovereigns be origin gods they must leave High Heaven and go to the upper realm because they will face a sense of suppression from the power of the world. This power of the world acts to suppress every creature within the Origin realm to the sovereign level.


    So every origin god feels a sense of difort from the weakness. It isn''t apparent to new origin gods but when they leave for the upper realm and return, the difference bes stark and clear.


    The minimum requirement to leave for the upper realm is the sovereign level of power but you can bring weaker people with you. It is just that the weakest person that can survive in the upper realm is the king ofw or the mid-god level of power.


    The upper realm is truly where Dragonse to create theirir, if you aren''t a dragon yourself then you just might be dragon chow.


    Gehald used to do business with the group of "cool" guys Staten mentioned. They are a mercenary group, and sometimes they would need healing. At their levels of power, it is difficult to get injured but when they are injured it is very difficult to heal.


    So they would need some truly precious healing treasures to get back in shape. He would get them life essence from his ne if the injury was serious and life-threatening, but other times he would use his mastery of thew of life to heal them.


    It isn''t a surprise that these types of people would want him around when they n to go to a very dangerous ce. He rubbed his forehead before answering.


    "I won''t be able to Staten. I still have some business to take care of and it will take a while."


    "Really? Are you sure it''s not because of stee? I can let her go you know. We need you, we need an Origin god with a life ring."


    "What is this about stee?" Gehald asked in exasperation.


    Stee is a female fairy infatuated with him. She always disturbs Gehald so Staten is promising to ditch her if Gehaldes around. Gehald never cared about feelings and love.


    He has his sights set on only one thing, power. With power, you can do anything and most importantly, no one can do anything they wish to you. Only weak beings without a greater goal in their life pine for love.


    Love is only pleasurable because of the hormones associated with it. Those hormones are nothingpared to the pleasure received from the evolution of life''s order. The pleasure of having your existence evolve and be more powerful dwarfs that of the fleeting emotions of mortals called love.


    Staten tried to convince him but he shook his head and turned the switch. He had things to do after the trial of heaven is over. His grand n for perfection will be carried out in high heaven. He will take as much power as he could, but before that he will have to count the time until he can ess his reward for the trial.


    His patience will only be rewarded after a few hours of fighting. It isn''t long but for some, they just wanted to be out of the tower as soon as possible. They want to forget what they went through and what they did. Like the giant beside Gehald. The giant had long cried himself to sleep.


    The matches were quick and short in the case where there was a margin between the fighters but it was gruesome for others with simr levels of power which was the majority of the fights.


    No one who could survive up to this level was weak, they could be ipatible in skills which could cause an illusion of weakness, but no one could be disregarded.


    And so without much fanfare, the challenge section ended and all their booths were suddenly transformed into a private room.


    Gehald''s lethargic mind became active again when his surroundings changed suddenly. He focused a while to listen to the message from Mother High Heaven.


    Her message contained information about the reward list and that this was where he would be till the end of the trial. This period is for those that won Origin essence to use it. It will take time and any disturbance could endanger their breakthrough, even injure them severely.


    Gehald checked his room, it was small like the arena. It was demarcated into sleeping quarters, a library, and aboratory for runesmithing, cksmithing, alchemy, and others. There was also a meditation section.


    The most notable quality about this ce was the quality and quantity of Origin energy, as a high elf who has a high affinity with magic he could tell that there was probably not anywhere in all of High Heaven that could beat this ce in the concentration of origin energy.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The origin energy, the peace, and the personal monitoring from mother High Heaven will all ensure an easy transition to the origin god level for those that want to advance. Gehald shook his head wistfully, he wished he could use this ce to be an origin god but he had another n for his future.


    He stopped looking around and tried to sense his pocket dimension. He nodded when he realized he had regained ess. He decided to just get his rewards, maybe read a few books that will increase the chances of sess for his n. He brought up his status and indicated the reward list.


    1. Origin essence - Free


    2. Life essence - 200 points


    3. Origin Artifacts ( High Grade) - 200 points


    4. Origin Weapons (High Grade) - 300 points


    5. Sovereign Seed of power - 3 points


    6. Grand god Godhead - 3 points


    7. Celestial god Divine core - 50 points


    8. Mid-god divinity vessel - 2 points


    9. Empty divinity vessel - 1 point


    10. High-god domain - 2 points


    11. Empty domain - 1 point


    12. Divinity - 0.001 points


    13. Library -


    14. Universe Level Artifacts - 1000 points


    15. Origin Stone (Top Grade) - 100 points


    16. Origin Stone (High Grade) - 10 points


    17. Law technique library -


    18. Another Origin realm opening - 200


    19. God-fire extinguishing - 100

 Chapter 24 Whats What.

    ?The list of exchangeable rewards went on and on but Gerald only paid attention to the ones that interested him. At this stage of training, all sovereigns know about Origin essence.


    Origin essence is the crystallization of pure origin energy derived from the refinement of void energy. Void energy exists outside the realm tree. It is a chaotic, destructive, and caustic energy that most sovereigns cannot even touch, the best they can do is protect themselves against it.


    That''s why you need a sovereign level of power to leave the lower realm for the upper realm. Only powerful creatures and origin gods can withstand void energy and attempt to refine Origin essence from it. Some powerful creatures can withstand it enough to produce origin essence without being at the origin god level, Dragons, world beasts, and void beasts.


    Life essence is the next best thing after origin essence. In the entirety of the void universe, it is rarer than Origin essence. Origin essence might be rare for sovereigns and below but for origin gods it is not. Life essence isn''t something that can be gotten even by Origin gods.


    Life essence can only be gotten from creatures with extremely high affinity with lifews, for example, the Life trees of the High life ne. Life essence has many uses to themon mortal creature up to the level of origin god.


    Themon mortal creature can use it to awaken his soul and gain superior soul talent, can be used to increase fertility in low fertility races, and can be used to maintain youthfulness and elongate the lifespan of dying people.


    Titans and beings ofw consider these uses to be just wasteful because to them it practically counts as another life. It is very difficult for beings ofw to be injured but once they are injured, it is likewise very difficult to heal their injuries.


    To beings ofw, including origin gods, the life essence can bring them back from within an inch of death. The effect is lower to origin gods, only a copious amount of origin energy, origin essence, and time can heal them from devastating injuries at their level, but life essence can stabilize their condition and prevent them from losing their consciousness.


    The Life trees of the High Heaven realm are resources that are almost on par with universe-level strategic resources, it is because of them that the high elves have a superior standing in the upper realm.


    He took a lot at the weapons and artifacts. Weapons are a very important part of a person''s strength, in the path of perfection it is almost impossible for a person with a lower level of power to fight someone of a higher level, but a weapon can make it possible.


    It will be difficult to defeat or kill someone of a higher level even with a very powerful Origin weapon but it is more than possible to resist. Outside the trial of heaven, it is extremely difficult to kill another person with a simr level of power, that person can still run even if he is defeated, terrifyingws and weapons make killing an opponent highly possible.


    Gehald''s continued to check through the reward list. His eyesnded on thew techniques library. At their level of power, spells have lost their meaning. A person can''t be a sovereign without an in-depth understanding ofws. The only things that can increase a sovereign''s power are techniques.


    Techniques are universal methods that use obscure knowledge to improve skills. They are improvements of some tricks that were used during the weaker days of extraordinaries. For example double, triple, quadruple, or quintuple methods of casting that mana entities use.


    Invisibility, cloaking, movement, and fighting techniques are just some of the techniques avable. It is just that the use of techniques cannotpare to specializing in that aspect as a sovereign.


    A sovereign with the movement concept of lightning will always be faster than a sovereign that has a water concept but is using a movement technique. Boosts and abilities provided by usingws are supreme, butw techniques can help to shore up a weakness.


    Gehald is a sovereign with a concept from the full mastery of thew of life. He has a supreme advantage in life force, vitality, healing, and recovery. No healing technique can beat him in any of these aspects, but with this advantagees a disadvantage in his attacking abilities.


    He can make up for that by using a weapon and learning weapon techniques that improve his proficiency in using his weapons. He also has a cloaking and tracking technique which he uses with his understanding of life but it cannotpare to sovereigns with the concept of concealment and truth, he can simte these two concepts but he cannot perform on par with them.


    His sight fell on the origin realm opening reward and he shook his head.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The major reason grand gods and fake sovereigns participate in the trial of heaven is the chance to progress. Since fake sovereigns cannot fuse with their seed of power because it isn''t theirs, they need to create another origin core.


    All living things possess an origin core, this represents life. The power to create another origin core can only be achieved by using Origin essence, it can also only be done by those below the Origin god level. Fake sovereigns need this second origin core to start anew for a chance to be an origin god.


    Gehald skimmed over this option just to determine its value. T him a fake sovereign that managed to acquire 200 points and certainly deserved a second chance. It is just that the new origin core will be empty, they would need time to umte origin energy.


    Grand gods don''t need a new origin core, their origin core is just fine except they cannot fuse with it because of the god fire in their souls. When a new god ascends, his soul is set ame to refine the power of faith into divinity.


    This makes their soulrgely superior to those on the path of perfection but the soul fire will prevent them from fusing with the origin realm to be origin gods. If they have origin essence, they have to safely extinguish their soul me first before they fuse with their origin core.


    It is then that they can then ascend with the power within the Origin essence to be an origin god. If they don''t have that and have done well during the trial of heaven enough to have 100 points, they can extinguish their God''s fire. This will leave them weakened and forever unable to produce divine energy.


    This won''t be a problem if they immediately undergo tribtion to be an Origin god. It is just that sess during the tribtion isn''t sure but records have shown that grand gods do better in the tribtion than sovereigns.


    "Everyone to their paths," Gehald said when he was done looking through the list. This list will be avable to all the surviving participants of the trial of heaven, it is just that the points needed will be different based on levels of power.


    The life essence that costs 200 points to sovereigns will cost at least 10 times as much to Titans ofw and high gods, it will cost even more to those below.


    Divinity is nothing to a sovereign but to a low god, it is what they need to proceed on their path to power. An exceptional transcendent may be able to procure Origin essence for his future with this arrangement, as long as he has the points for it.


    If the transcendents continue to remain exceptional, he could be an origin god withouting back to the trial of heaven for origin essence.


    Gehald shook his head and decided to check the library for information that might improve his grand n for perfection. He hoped to be able to perfect his n for reincarnation.


    While Gehald was reading and catching up on some secret knowledge, some of the sovereigns were bing origin gods within the tower of heaven. People were waiting across the entire realm, they were waiting for the ending of the trial of heaven, because with the end of the trial wille the release of their friends, parents, lovers, and enemies that entered more than 100 years ago, and the official start of the new origin cycle.


    There will be crying and happiness when the results are finally made known but this hasn''t tamped down their eagerness. Some people of means have been able to know the well-being of their people in the tower.


    In major families across the realm, the soulmps of some people have gone out, while some select few soulmps have shown brighter. The broken soulmps will result in sighs andmentations, the brightened soulmps will cause smiles andughter.


    The rise and fall of some families, some entire races, and some entire organizations will depend on the oue of the end of the trial. For those that have been unable to glimpse the oue, the wait and the anticipation are stifling. They can only hold on and hope for good tidings after the wait.


    As the time for the release draws near, those in the tower are the most eager to get out, their life has changed regardless of their different experiences in the trial.

 Chapter 25 Everyone Has Their Troubles.

    ?Far up within the tower of heaven, on his opulent but elegant throne sits the realm lord. He opened his eyes, and from them shown golden divine light, his eyes were like touches that could see into the very fiber of reality. He blinked and the light was gone.


    "It is time," he said, his face devoid of emotions.


    It isn''t that he is unhappy, he is just unfeeling about what woulde next. It was simply his job. The position of the realm lordes with perks but it alsoes with constraints. He indeed has the power to do anything and go anywhere within High Heaven, but reality has shown that he cannot.


    Mother High Heaven always has the interest of her children in her heart, so she will not allow him to cause damage to them. His job is to help her do her job better, which is to increase the overall strength of her children. In less pleasant terms, he is a caretaker or a nanny.


    He has put some thoughts into the actions of the will of the realm and he is downright perplexed. He has noticed that all the realm trees in the universe are sentient, they all cater to their realm with a singr objective in mind, and that is to produce strong individuals.


    He had thought that was just to raise a genius that could ensure the safety of the realm in the form of a realm lord, but he has found that even that achievement is there to ensure the continuity of that objective not for the personal safety of the will of the realm. There are some other points in the workings of the world that give him pause, but more on thatter.


    Theck of absolute control has gotten to him sometimes, especially when he knows that when he bes a world god he would be a god of a world he cannot control. But apart from that, it is a good thing to be a realm lord. Realm lords are among the richest individuals in the entire universe.


    A typical one-star origin god will only be able to produce a single bead of origin essence every origin cycle, this rate increases, but among origin gods, no one can match a realm lord in the amount of origin essence he gets every origin cycle.


    Originally, a realm tree is only able to produce a scant amount of beads of origin essence every origin cycle, which depends on the number of active nes the realm tree possesses. For high heaven realm used to be 300 beads of Origin essence back when the high heaven realm had about 30,000 nes of existence.


    That number increases 10-fold when a realm tree gains a realm lord, and the realm lord gains 10% of this amount. The rest goes into the trial of heaven as a reward for the sovereign and grand god trials.


    The leftover is used to maintain the various functions of the realm tree and to increase the nes of existence. So it is because of him that mother high heaven got enough Origin essence to expand the number of nes of existence from 30,000 to 110,000 and the base Origin essence production from 300 to 1100 of which he gets 1,100 every Origin cycle.


    Since he couldn''t do much he had to make do with little changes here and there which have worked to further increase his wealth if not his control of the realm. When he became a realm lord he had put in ce some things from his past life that the realmcked.


    One of them is the inte. The development of basic information exchange and storage technology had been stunted because of theck of a need for them. People here live long lives, have near-perfect memories, and keep good records, canmunicate across long distances with talismans which were developed using magic.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    So they never really needed something like the inte but they epted it readily. The integration of this innovation has been rtively low despite its eptance but it still has its uses, especially in instantmunication.


    It is only avable in the ancient battlefield and some select ces in the upper realm, but it is a start. The necessary technology iscking to support a more robust system in which the inte is capable of more.


    The greatest sess is the origin store and delivery system he established. This started from his initial changes to the reward system of the trial of heaven. It wasn''t so streamlined in the past, where they could use points to exchange for rewards.


    He decided to make this avable to everyone but the will of the realm was adamant that every and all origin god it had a hand in producing must be the best among their peers. This made him suspicious again. Some rules have been set in stone in the universe and they are invible. But who made the rules?


    These rules are very specific and not some random things. He had asked himself and the will of the realm who made the rules but she had said it had always been that way. The entire void universe is just too orderly for his liking.


    So he had to settle with making the store avable to just origin gods, from which he coined the name origin store. The origin store is essible by every origin god that is born by the realm tree in any part of the universe, but the delivery system is only avable in the realm, for now. This won''t change until he bes a world god or a more powerful being.


    The currency used is origin stones and origin essence, the goods sold vary in value to things that mortals require up to the level of world gods except for origin essence and life essence. Anything that can help someone break through to the origin god level isn''t sold, the will of the realm was pretty adamant about that.


    This arrangement has made him even richer in origin stones and essence. The realm tree realm purifies the Origin essence received and gives him 70% of it. The remaining 30% are made avable to exceptional participants of the trial of heaven below the level of a sovereign. Mother High Heaven makes sure to bind the origin essence to their soul, it will also dissipate if they die, all to make sure that only the best bes origin gods.


    The origin store and the auction at the meet-up of origin gods every origin cycle has made him even richer than some world gods in origin essence, origin stones, top-grade origin weapons, and artifacts. If it were not because universal-level artifacts aren''t sold he would have the capabilities to buy them, for now, he only has 3.


    The changes he had made are one of the factors why he improves so fast, that and his universe artifact. Apart from him, the changes have improved the lives, strength, and innovation of the races of High Heaven. The Status screens that only the popce of High Heaven can see are simply a byproduct of his ascension to realm lord.


    The universe artifact that had bounded with him also bounded with the realm heart and caused that change. Everyone thinks it''s the will of the realm that did it till today, and he would like it to remain that way, at least until he bes a world god or even beyond that. With his experience, he knows that there are some monsters in the void universe that can make realm lords quake in their boots.

 Chapter 26 Two Good Heads Are Better Than One.

    ?The tower of heaven will open in a few minutes, so he decided to begin preparations for his speech. He started giving the speech when he became a realm lord and it has be a tradition ever since.


    The stress of having to think of something different and special every time is honestly getting to him. He doesn''t want to be known as azy realm lord so he continued.


    While the realm lord is thinking of what to say for his grand speech, down below, outside the realm tower are people waiting. It has been 200 years already. The people that have made ns to meet outside the tower of heaven are waiting.


    Some of the participants will choose to exit at their nar gates. Regardless of their choice no one will assault or pressure the participants for their rewards.


    It is aw of the realm, and the will of the realm cannot be fooled. If there is one thing the realm is particr about it will be fairness during the trial and the protection of the Survivors after it because they represent the good seeds to nurture.


    A multitude of people is waiting in a ring some distance around the tower of heaven. They are filled with friends, acquaintances, family, and well-wishers of the participants. For most people, the experience of the start and end of the trial of heaven is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.


    But no matter how anxious people are they will make sure to be at least 10km away from the tower, this space will only be upied when the participants are going into the tower and when they areing out.


    In a particr spot close to the 10km boundary, stands a family group. You can tell that they are a prestigious family because only strong and well-known people get to stand so close to the tower. They are standing right in front of the crowd with space around them that no one dares to encroach on.


    It can also be deduced that they are from the Gemini divine race because the individuals are standing next to identical copies of each other except for a select few. The Gemini race always gives birth to twins that are connected on a spiritual level rather than physical as seen in conjoined twins.


    They have the divine ability of fusion that more than doubles their prowess with the only weakness that the death of one will lead to the death of both of them. This weakness will be fixed and in fact, turn into another advantage when they be Origin gods.


    Two girls are standing at the very front surrounded by armed guards and two elderly people. The two girls are identical except for different hair colors, one has pure white hair and the other has ck hair. They are dressed in simpleplementary ck and white martial shirts and trousers.


    It is rare to see Gemini of suchplete simrities among the Gemini race, it is a sign of a very pure bloodline. Even though the two girls tried to appear brave, one could see the anxiety in their eyes.


    The two girls had held hands while their other free small hands were clenched into fists. The elderly man behind them noticed their distress, he pat them both on the head tofort them.


    "Don''t worry little mistresses, your elder siblings will make it"


    "Are you sure?" The girl on the right asked.


    "How can you be sure?" the other girl asked before the elderly man could answer.


    "Yes, how can you be sure?"


    "Even father didn''t say anything."


    "Yes, and he should know."


    "But he didn''t tell us."


    "If they are alive or not."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "He only us told toe."


    "And gain some worldly experience."


    "He said it will teach us to stand strong regardless of good or bad."


    "That sounds like bad news."


    "What is worldly experience anyways."


    "Father must know."


    "He just didn''t want to tell us."


    "Selfish man."


    The two girls went on toin more, they would finish each other''s sentences and mirror each other''s facial expressions. The elderly man smiled bitterly, he just wanted to pacify the two girls but it ended as such.


    It is as if they had been bottling their emotions and questions within them but had finally found an outlet. Now he couldn''t join in the conversation, there was no way he would disparage their father with them. The elderly woman beside him chuckled at his misfortune.


    These two elders are not living beings, they are heroic spirits. Heroic spirits are like gods except they aren''t living beings. In the past when the races of a ne are weak, they would worship idols of great people and icons that had died for their race.


    The heroic figures will be enshrined, and after generations of worship and faith these idols will gain a will, then consciousness, and when they have enough divinity they will ascend to be gods.


    These kinds of gods were created from the joint wishes and memories of an entire race, because of this they would be selfless in their thoughts for their race. They were called ancestral gods, they would never die as long as their race remembers them, they could only be weakened.


    In the early stages of race development, ancestral gods were the backbone of a family''s or race''s strength, butter on, these ancestral gods were outlived by those on the path of perfection and by real gods. Ancestral gods can only be as powerful as the most powerful low god.


    Powerhouses of races could then liberate these ancestral gods. Liberating them isn''t an easy thing, for example for these two, the Origin gods of the Gemini race had killed two celestial gods and used their divine core to turn them into heroic spirits.


    Only then could they turn into free individuals with individual thoughts and could pursue their interests, but they still aren''t people. The original people are long dead, the heroic spirits are just living memories.


    An advantage of having heroic spirits at the celestial level is that heroic spirits don''t face suppression ofws but they aren''t as powerful as Origin gods. Even though the two heroic spirits are free to do whatever they want, they seldom leave the race.


    Even now these two are apanying the two girls to wait for their family that partook in the trial. These two particr heroic spirits have witnessed the ebbs and flows of about ten thousand origin cycles worth of the history of their race.


    They have witnessed the rise and fall of geniuses. They have witnessed the transformation of several snotty brats into powerful sovereigns and origin gods, they had even had a hand in helping these powerful figures, so even though the race doesn''t require them anymore they would continue to help out the next generation because of their attachment, and they will forever be appreciated for their sacrifice.

 Chapter 27 Give Me Freedom.

    ?The father that these two girls are talking about is the current patriarch of their family. Even though the elderly man had admonished and punished their father when he was young, he couldn''t do that now that he has be an Origin god.


    Royal families have a tradition of putting at least one origin god in charge of a family even though the highest power in the lower realm is the sovereign level or grand god. That''s why their father is present in the lower realm.


    It is true that when Origin gods are in the lower realm their power will be forcefully suppressed by thews to the level of a sovereign, but there are some things that they can still do better than multitudes of sovereigns.


    Several sovereigns can only hope to fight equally with a suppressed origin god, they cannot defeat one. The Origin god cannot kill them instantly, but he can suppress them easily.


    The difference in power levels is why most sovereigns don''t go to the upper realm unless they have powerful means of protection. To origin gods, sovereigns are like flickering candle mes, it would be just enough to sneeze to put it out. Coupled with the fact that only the best sovereigns be origin gods, the disparity in strength bes evenrger.


    So currently the patriarch of the Volgori family of the Gemini race is their father. Even though their father seemed indifferent towards the oue of the trial he is the most affected by it.


    He has been secretly happy ever since he noticed some things from the soulmps of the participants he sent off. He has long found out that his eldest children and some other people from his family bloodline had be Origin gods so he could leave.


    He didn''t spend a lot of manpower to meet the Survivors but he sent his daughters so that they could leave him in peace to pack his bag and put things in order for the handover before he leaves.


    He had been alone for a while because he was a genius when he was younger so he did very well in the trials and won origin essence even though the cost was prohibitively high. When he became a sovereign he could be an origin god easily.


    His twin had been the lucky one when they drew lots for who would stay. He didn''t have anyone in his generation that became an Origin god to keep himpany. So he stayed back in the realm alone.


    When sovereigns leave the tower of heaven as Origin gods, they would change immensely. They would feel like the world was under their control, they only had to make their wish known and the world would change ordingly.


    The future seemed to be looking up for them, but when they got back to their families they would find that they had to take up the mantle of the highest power. They could not leave until they too are able to raise talented juniors that would rece them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It''s not that they cannot create origin gods without the trial of heaven, even though it is difficult to acquire the cleaned origin essence of a fallen realm lord, for a family of their level the difficulty lies in actually finding the abode of a fallen origin god not in acquiring it.


    But they don''t create new origin gods with what they have gotten. It is because the approval of the realm is very important to an Origin god. There''s no going back once you be an Origin god without the approval of mother high heaven.


    The smallest consequence is banishment from the realm. You won''t be able to return to the realm for whatever reason ever again. Other Origin gods will be suppressed in the realm, but you will never be able to enter. The greatest consequence is much worse than that.


    Right now the current patriarch is writing down his final notes of advice and a list of the high-rank origin weapons and provisions he would be leaving behind. He would hand over the note with the mantle of patriarch and his good wishes before he left for the upper realm.


    He didn''t think his behavior is odd or inappropriate. It isn''t that he didn''t love his children, it''s just that he is a little entric and his love for his children is not enough to keep him here in the lower realm.


    Indeed, he had only given birth to them to ensure his chances of leaving for the upper realm soon, he hade to have feelings of affection for them due to fatherhood, but his children cannot hold him back. He didn''t even put much effort into naming them.


    Back at the tower where the people from the Volgori family are still waiting. Someone called out their names "Fhalemr(Light) and Ghemegr(Darkness)."


    The guards standing around immediately tensed, they moved their hands closer to their weapons.


    Even though fighting and killing around the tower of heaven are prohibited they can''t be ipetent in their duty. They identified the source of the voice and it turned out to be two children.


    They don''t look like children but their voices sounded immature and it seemed from their appearance that they are from the supreme beast race. So the guards concluded that they must be children. Plus they had seen this duo before and recognized them.


    Even though the call came from the kids the guards still didn''t rx. It''s because the two kids were apanied by a guardian that is easily twice the average height of the Gemini. The two kids from the supreme beast race continued unperturbed and approached the two twin girls that had already been waving them over.

 Chapter 28 Model Hosts.

    ?The realm Lord''s speech reverberated through the floors of the entire tower of heaven. The survivors stood up when his divine sense descended. They held the utmost respect for the realm lord. It wasn''t an easy achievement to beat out the geniuses of the entire realm and be the realm lord.


    Those who are in the know are aware of the hunt that was started in the past for the young Monarch High Heaven when it became obvious that he was going to be the realm lord with the terrifying rate of his improvement.


    Even though the realm lord didn''t project his voice to the entire ancient battlefield, those with powerful senses could hear him if they strained their senses enough. It is because the message was not entirely passed through sound waves, there were fluctuations in origin energy andws too.


    Most transcendents may have a hard time hearing his message but beings with at least the power of a lord ofw could hear him no matter where they are on the ancient battlefield, all the gods that bothered to pay attention could hear him too.


    In one of the top-ss restaurants in the city of wealth, a city built for the wealthy on the ancient battlefield, by the wealthy, and for the convenience of the wealthy. Dylganihl sits in one of the private rooms of this restaurant, stuffing his face with meat and all manners of delicacies.


    "The food here is just excellent, and you people are so generous, so hospitable. I think I don''t have a choice but toe here again and again. I''m telling you, this ce will always be my first choice, honestly." he said before taking a swig of the very expensive wine on his table.


    There were attendants around him and they are being led by the very chief chef of the restaurant. Dylganihl''sment didn''t sound like apliment to them but more like the little Tyrant challenging himself to try and make them bankrupt.


    "Thank you, your excellence for your divine favor," the chef said through gritted teeth.


    "It''s the least I could do. I can''t juste to your ce, eat free food, drink free wine and notpliment the host. I wasn''t raised that way, I was taught proper manners." Dylganihl proimed honorably.


    The chef cursed in his mind "What shitty manners?"


    He could only swallow his words and thoughts, he wouldn''t dare to say them out loud. Even the owner of the restaurant and the leaders of the city cannot do anything to this maleficent entity.


    Dylganihl doesn''t pay for his food. This offense is something that most Sovereigns don''t dare to do. They cannot even do it and get away with it if they dared, because the properties in the gigantic city of wealth are backed by a superpower or the other.


    Even Origin gods cannot escape aftermitting a crime here because the Origin gods are in charge of the security of the city. So it is too much of a hassle for an Origin god to steal especially with the irritating suppression of the ne.


    Origin gods can handle other origin gods, but they can''t handle Dylganihl. Dylganihl also seems to be immune to the effects of suppression as he ate the food with gusto.


    The problem isn''t a matter of power, the highest strength anyone can use inside the realm tree is sovereign level, but this disadvantage to other origin gods is more of a perk to Dylganihl.


    The first time he came to the restaurant and was asked to pay, he simply disappeared and popped into the treasury of the restaurant. He could have escaped with his Spacial talent, but he went through the treasury, took one or two things that he fancied, and returned with money from their treasury to pay them.Diiscover new ??tories at n??ve/lbin(.)c/o??


    The rm had gone on in the treasury to indicate an intrusion, Dylganihl allowed it to let them know where he had been. Since then he had been able to have his way in the entire city of wealth. His reign of terror didn''t end when several Origin god powerhouses tried to ambush him.


    He had simply entered the treasury of the city because they were in cohort with his assants. He imed some treasures from the city treasury as a salve that will heal his poor damaged heart, a reasonable im. Everyone knows how precious a dragon''s heart is, but no one knew his is so fragile.


    So there he was, trying his best to eat this particr restaurant out of business when he heard the speech of the realm lord. He stopped eating to listen. He truly admired the realm lord for his superior talent and resolve.


    The message exhorted him. He rose from his seat when he was done, his power red around him, and space around him seemed to beyered, one could see ces kilometers away from his current location within the folds of space as if he could just reach out and appear there.


    His subconscious release of power made space be distorted around him. He was like a volcano rearing to explode, the attendants around became scared for their lives. They didn''t hear the speech, they only saw Dylganihl stop, stand up, and re up.


    "Please, your excellency. Mercy, mercy, I''ll change anything you don''t like." The chef pleaded.


    If it were someone else he wouldn''t be afraid because of thews of the city. But thews meant nothing to Dylganihl, he is a free spirit, unbound by the fetters of the world.


    Dylganihl didn''t pay attention to the people around him, "Time to train" he muttered inwardly. He leaped into one of the folds of space, it felt like he merged with it like he was being enveloped, then he disappeared.


    The people around him nearly choked, whenever Dylganihl disappeared like that he was about to throw a tantrum. That meant he would go through their treasury again.


    "That''s it, I''m dead. I''m done for. My father told me not to focus on cooking. He must be rolling for joy in his grave right now." the chef continued to mutter, his eyes unfocused while the various possibilities of the disaster that could happen swirled through his mind.


    They waited for the disaster but Dylganihl was gone.


    The reason Dylganihl became uptight was because of a piece of certain information that the realm lord had told them during the meet-up. Dylganihl thought back to that scene. The realm lord sat rxed as he said "I''ll like to inform everyone here that I have met the minimum requirement to be a world god."


    This tidbit was met with a myriad of reactions. To the new origin gods, they were simply astonished, to them it was simply a wonderful achievement, nothing else. But to the more knowledgeable ones, he was inconceivably too young to be a world god.


    Sure the requirements to be a world god arex for realm lord and they had suspected as much when they noticed his single domain of power which signifies that he has achieved unity. But they were shocked nheless.


    Monarch High Heaven is currently known as the youngest to achieve sovereign power, then the youngest to be Origin god. Now he is telling them he would be the youngest to be world god in the entire void universe.


    They were simply horrified, then they became excited. The excitement wasn''t for his sess but for the fact that the era of conquest would soon start.

 Chapter 29 Only The Strong Will Survive.

    Chapter 29 Only The Strong Will Survive.


    The chef slumped to the ground."That''s it. I''m dead. I''m done for."


    "My father told me not to focus on cooking. He must be rolling for joy in his grave right now." the chef continued to mutter, his eyes unfocused while the various possibilities of the disaster that could happen swirled through his mind. They waited for the disaster, but Dylganihl was gone. The expected disaster never came.


    The reason Dylganihl became uptight was because of a piece of certain information that the realm lord had told them during the meeting. They had this Origin cycle during the trial of heaven. Dylganihl thought back to that scene. The realm lord sat rxed as he said, "I''ll like to inform everyone here that I have met the minimum requirements to be a world god."


    This tidbit was met with a myriad of reactions. To the new origin gods, they were simply astonished. To them, it was simply a wonderful achievement, nothing else. But to the more knowledgeable ones, he was inconceivably too young to be a world god. Sure, the requirements to be a world god arex for realm lord, and they had suspected as much when they noticed his single domain of power, which signifies that he has achieved unity. But they were shocked nheless. Monarch High Heaven is currently known as the youngest to achieve sovereign power, then the youngest to be Origin god. Now he is telling them he would be the youngest to be world god in the entire void universe. They were simply horrified, then they became excited. The excitement wasn''t for his sess but for the fact that the era of conquest would soon start. A new era is about to begin in the existence of the realm of high heaven.


    In the early stages of life within a realm, war was small in scale. War and fighting urred between small tribes within a race, thenrge tribes against another, then one race against another race, but all this was limited to within the ne. Things changed when a ne was able to ess the ancient battlefield. Interne warfare was introduced. nes fought one another for various reasons and interests across the ancient battlefield. There were asions of entire nes being invaded and conquered. Since those terrifying times, war hasn''t escted. Instead, it has subsided. Now Origin gods fight in the upper realm, but even their battles seldom involve a race against another. Most of the fights in the upper realm ur because of personal interests or conflicts between organizations. Race war does happen in the upper realm, but it is rare.


    When a realm tree reaches a particr level of power, it seeks to annex the weak realm trees around it. This is known as the era of conquest. It usually starts when a realm is capable of at least protecting itself against the terrifying entities above the level of Origin god. This era which will usher in one realm against another realm in battles aimed at utter annihtion, means a lot of things to different people. To some, it means death, especially to the weak and the target of the invasion. To others, in particr the aggressors, it is an opportunity to rise, most especially origin gods. It is a chance for them to be world gods and the most powerful at that, but everyone gets something from it.


    Dylganihl remembered that he was so shocked by the deration of the realm lord that his face had frozen over with his mouth hanging open. He was further impressed with the demeanor of the realm lord. To the realm lord, his achievement sounded like nothing much, just a matter of fact.


    The realm lord continued, "I don''t want this information to be shared with anyone, not of this realm." The origin gods present nodded their heads meekly. He didn''t need to ask them to keep the information from spreading outside the realm, but it didn''t hurt to insist on it. Especially if there are ignorant new origin gods present that don''t know thew that states that,


    "The realm lord cannot be betrayed. Betrayal will lead to disintegration." No one has tested thisw because of their heartfelt loyalty to Mother High Heaven and their deep-seated fear of her.


    "I have indeed met the requirement, but I don''t intend to break through just yet. I have given myself a period of 1 to 10 origin cycles to perfect my preparations. 1 to 10 origin cycles might be short for most of you, but I''m not even 100 origin cycles old." The realm lord chuckled after that. The people around him could only smile and shake their heads. He is not even 100 origin cycles, and he is about to be a world god. That is too young.


    "This period is also for everyone who will partake in this endeavor. It is time to make decisions and preparations. It is an opportunity and a death sentence." At this, the realm lord watched the various emotions from the facial expressions of those present. Origin gods are true immortals, but there are certain threats in the void universe that can make living worse than death.


    In the era of conquest, there is either life or death for the invaded. Dylganihl knows that for those invaded, it will be a cmity that will threaten their existence. They either push back the invaders of their realm, or they fall. Life in the entire realm will be wiped out. Only Origin gods will survive. But the path to further breakthroughs will be severed for them without their home realm tree. No one can progress to be a world god without the acknowledgment of the will of his or her realm.


    To this, the realm lord said. "Only the strong will survive."


    This was a statement and a stance. For the era of conquest to start, the will of the realm must agree, and the realm lord must agree too. The will of the realm will agree after its realm lord bes a world god. It is an infallible rule. Now that the realm lord is determined, nothing will stop the flow of blood.


    -----

 Chapter 30 The Era Of Conquest Is Coming.

    Chapter 30 The Era Of Conquest Is Coming.


    The realm will be stronger and be able to produce more Origin gods. Even though the realm lord will certainly enjoy a direct increase in power and wealth, some realm lords might not be okay with the destruction of life in an entire realm for power. Those kinds of realm lords don''t exist. No one that naive gets to be a realm lord. But if they exist, then they won''t be able to progress further, and they will be weak because they can''t bear to watch the death of numerous people during the trial of heaven.


    The meeting continued, but Dylganihl was mostly absent-minded. He couldn''t make up his mind concerning the era of conquest. It is without a doubt that he is talented. And with this talent came ambitions. He had learned from his father that world gods were not equal. There were grades of potential to their power, which would determine their maximum future strength. This grade is based on the world that they control, and the best world for a world god is something like a realm tree with a fully developedw and life system. As a talented person, he wants the best for himself, but the only feasible way for him to get that is through conquest. Especially when his magnificent and all-powerful father did not make do with second best. If he is to follow in his father''s footsteps, then he also has to get the best. If not, space will not tremble in his presence as it does for his father.


    But he still wasn''t able to settle his mind, so he went out to his favorite city in the realm to visit some old friends. They liked him there and would always wee him with open arms. He could eat and drink away his worries with their generosity. The turmoil in Dylganihl''s mind is because he isn''t a killer at heart. He is okay with taking little trinkets from people, but mass murder isn''t something he can stomach. He has never had to because he is a dragon and self-sufficient. But now he has to cause the death of a multitude of races in an entire realm just so he can grow stronger.


    "I must admit that I might be inferior to the realm lord," he said with a shake of his head. He had heard how the realm lord had walked through blood and sweat before he became the realm lord. He had been hunted to the extent that he could only live within the demon abyss. The demon abyss wasn''t safe, but at least the demons would be unbiased. They will try to kill all non-demons that enter their ne. So the young realm lord and his pursuers were hunted equally until they gave up.


    "Maybe my thoughts were shallow. I shouldn''t havepared myself to the realm lord. It certainly takes more than gusto and charm to be the realm lord."


    But when he heard what the realm lord said, "Dreams can be achieved only if you have the courage to aim for it and the strength to pursue it. To get anywhere, you must start from somewhere. The first step always counts. And it counts the most."


    He decided to take the first step, which was to inform his father, and the next was to gather and train his forces. For the era of conquest ising, and only the strong will survive.


    Gehald, like other surviving participants of the trial of heaven, heard the speech of the realm lord. The speech inspired some people while it consoled others of their loss. Gehald is one of the inspired.


    This isn''t his first time hearing the realm lord speak, but he has to admit that the realm lord always gave good speeches. The realm lord is an ancestor of high elves. He might not be the most powerful ancestor, but he is the reason why there is no elven Origin God in their ne in the lower realm. No one would attack the Life ne because no one would dare to disrespect the realm lord, at least not within the realm tree.


    The monarch of High Heaven had given a lot more speeches to the high elves, but this particr one got to Gehald. It was like a confirmation to him. he would go ahead with his n despite the difficulty and the risk to his life.


    The will of the realm descended to ask him where he would prefer to be let out, either his nar gate or the vicinity of the tower of heaven. He chose the nar gate. He is in a hurry to put his n into action. He has been waiting for a long time and doesn''t want to waste his time on the journey back to his ne. Besides, he is sure there will be no one waiting for him outside the tower. High elves don''t have a reason to.


    A short while after his selection, his vision blurred as he was teleported away. He wasn''t the only one transported out. Everyone was teleported too. Outside the tower, within the wide-open space around the tower, the tower shone with a bright light, just like the one that shone when this origin cycle started. This light could be seen from space and the void beyond. The trial of heaven has officially ended, and the origin cycle has finally begun.


    As the light shone, those waiting in a crowded ring around the tower could see figures of people appearing within the light. These people are the trial survivors that chose to exit from here at the tower.


    Gehald doesn''t care about whatever is going on at the Tower of Heaven. He has important things that he would like to get to as soon as possible. He had chosen to appear at his nar gates, but he would not be teleported right in front of it. Instead, he was teleported onto a teleportation tform. A bright pir of light appeared above the teleportation tform. Gehald stepped out of the pir of light. It dissipated soon after.

 Chapter 31 How To Do Possession Right.

    ?Gehald walked with confidence and approached the gate of the fortress directly. The Elven soldiers could see that he was a high elf and some could recognize him. Even though he was reclusive and didn''t socialize much he was well known. It is all because he is a sovereign of their race and one of the youngest in history too.


    The door began to open even before he reached it. The soldiers had already scanned him to ascertain his identity, when they found out it was him they rushed to let him exit. They didn''t want to offend someone of his power and talent, he was bound to be an origin god soon.


    "Your excellency." they saluted in greeting. Gehald nodded to them and walked by. He was in a hurry so he couldn''t waste his time with chit-chat.


    It was only when he left did they dare to say anything about him.


    "Could he being back from the trial?" one of them asked.


    "I don''t know but it is a coincidence to arrive just as the tower opened" another answered.


    "He can''t being from the trial. Why would he go?" Another asked.


    "That''s true. There''s no need for a Sovereign of our race to join the game of mindless ughter that they call the trial of heaven. It is a barbaric sport to weed out the weak and stupid that are foolish enough to attend it in the first ce."


    "Even if he went he surely would have been part of the best and would be an origin god by now but I don''t feel like he is one."


    Some nodded while another chimed in. The strongest one among them is just a lord ofw so he couldn''t tell what power level Gehald had reached. They continued to talk about it for a while before it digressed into other matters.


    It couldn''t be helped, there is nothing to do, no one would dare to attack them. Even those who get lost or selected the wrong destination are rare. These guards were sent here by the race to man the fortress either as punishment or for contribution, so any form of entertainment is weed by them, including gossip. It is a good side effect of having the realm lorde from your race.


    Gehald walked out of the outer fortress and approached the even bigger one in the distance. It was the main fortress, in charge of guarding the nar gate. It surrounds the nar gate with walls that can easily withstand blows from sovereigns.


    Every ne must protect its nar gates because, without nar coordinates, the only way to enter a ne is through the nar gate. Even with the nar coordinates, it is very difficult to open a passageway that can amodate more than one person and it would also have a restriction on power level.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Unlike the outer fortress that hadn''t seen much use, the main fortress as at least a trickle of people going back and forth. It might notpare to the nar gates of the more popr nes but there is still some traffic. It is because of the strict requirements for an entry pass, just not anyone will be allowed to enter the Life ne.


    Most of the people passing by are leaving the fortress so there was a short line of people trying to enter. Gehald bypassed this line, he showed an emerald green leaf and the soldiers made way for him. They greeted him and weed him back to the ne. He nodded and approached the nar gate within the fortress. It was a portal of swirling darkness. He jumped into it and experienced a slight pull on his body.


    When he appeared again he was within the Life ne in front of another portal. It was currently daytime in the ne just like that on the ancient battlefield. He nced back at the portal before leaving. "It is different from the teleportation during the trial of heaven." hemented.


    The teleportation he had experienced during the trial was smoother than what he experienced just now. The slight pull he experienced would have a bigger effect on weaker people that use the nar gate. He put that behind him and thought more about his final preparations.


    The information present in the library was truly vast, It was more than he ever expected. It would have been a daunting task to search through that ocean of books for specific information but thank mother High Heaven that there was a search engine.


    The search engine made things convenient, he would search for some keywords and the library interface will present books with relevant information concerning his search, which is truly a blessing. It took some time for him to finally find what he was looking for, it was a boring but fulfilling search.


    It was a book titled "How to do possession right" it costs a measly 0.001 points. This was because the book wrote about some unorthodox and controversial methods. But at least the book enlightened him and showed him how wrong he was about his previous notions on reincarnation.


    He had thought reincarnation was simply possession but he was wrong. That wasn''t reincarnation. Reincarnation isn''t that simple or people would do it more. To sessfully reincarnate he must have a new beginning in the soul, origin, and body.


    But there was a problem with true reincarnation, ording to the trinity theory of body, soul, and origin, a person that truly reincarnates isn''t the same anymore. A person that truly reincarnates will lose his origin, body, and some soul imprints. That person will gain a new identity but will still have his memories. At least possession will allow you to keep your soul and origin connection.


    A/N: If you are new to GREED please let me know your thoughts in thements section and through your review. Consider joining our discord channel to be part of themunity of GREED ROYAL BLOODLINE. You will be able to interact with the author and speak with those of like mind.


    https://discord.gg/jSk4B2tUWZ

 Chapter 32 Reincarnation Trouble.

    ?An example can be found in the conundrum of cloning. If you make a clone from your body, what you get is only a body madepatible with your soul. If you attach your consciousness to this clone, it will be able to merge perfectly with the body and you will be able to control the clone as if it were your original body.


    The problem with this method is that the death of the clone will injure your soul. To fix this problem some people split out a fragment of their soul, which is a very painful process, and then stuff that soul into the prepared body. This option truly solved the injury to the soul issue after the death of the clone.


    But this creates another problem, this clone willter gain its consciousness and identity. It would not believe it is a mere clone anymore, and, in most cases, the clone would try to absorb the main body to be whole. This problem is caused by the production of a new origin. The split soul will produce a new origin and this will give it a new identity. The only way to fix this issue is to share your origin connection with the split soul which aggravates the pain you feel during the splitting process and it would also make you feel constant distress in your soul because of the loss.


    Some people still use this method as an unorthodox method to gain power. They will allow the split soul to umte power then initiate a fight for supremacy with it. The one that wins will absorb the essence of the other to grow. It is just that for it to be a significant increase the split soul must grow to almost the same level as the main body.


    This increases the risk of losing to the split soul, either this or it would not be worth it to go through the effort of splitting the soul, creating apatible body, and raising the clone for ughter. Only a truly strong soul can allow such an endeavor to be worth the effort.


    Some people have envisioned that the only way to create a truly harmless and loyal clone is to split a fragment of the origin. This fragment will then be ced into apatible body, and it will create a soul. The soul may be different from the original soul but it will have the same origin and hence be considered the same.


    This is all theory though, it has never been realized by anyone as evident by the records in the library. There was a prediction that origin gods could do it but when people reach the origin god level, their body, soul, and origin begin to fuse which makes it very difficult to remove or fragment any one of them.


    This special situation of origin gods also makes the previous endeavors to make clones worthless. Origin gods can easily create clones because they get ess to their soul imprints at their stage. It is very easy to create a clone with ess to their soul imprint, the clone might not be able to reach the level of origin god because of the immense difficulty but it can reach Sovereign level with their power and that would do.


    They also don''t need fancy methods of possession because they can always create a new body if theyck one. They also can''t reincarnate because they will always have their soul, body, and origin with them no matter what, even if they are just a speck of their existence. From that speck, they can fully recreate their body, soul, and origin. That is why they are called immortal.


    Origin gods take advantage of this ability to never die, that''s why their origin essence is important, it contains their soul imprints. With that, they can resurrect from death but have to pay an expensive price for it. They also won''t be able to retrieve the memories of their death if they die to another origin god because the origin god can use his or her domain to trap the soul fragments and prevent them from returning to the resurrection point. They will only have memories up to the point where they created that Origin essence.


    All of this information broadened Gehald''s horizon and made him realize the problem he would be facing in his hope to reincarnate. The difficulty increased because he was aiming to reincarnate into several bodies.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He had always wanted the unique abilities of certain races and he wants to have them all. He doesn''t want a possession but a true reincarnation, only this can give him the divine abilities of other races. But the reality is telling him that he has to give up the notion of multitudes of bodies if he wants to seed, and even if he seeda he might not be himself.


    The most important barrier he found to reincarnation is the difficulty of simting true death. Because only after death can the soul leave the body and enter the river of reincarnation, it is an instinctive process that a mindless soul will perform.


    So how can a conscious soul hope to somehow get to the river of reincarnation and also keep its memories? This barrier is difficult to resolve on so many levels, the most difficult one is finding the location of the river of reincarnation. No one in existence knows how to get to the river of reincarnation, except maybe the realm lord.


    Another problem is the range of the river of reincarnation, if he were to somehow reach it, will the river of reincarnation he found be for just realm high heaven or the entire void universe. Also, how is he to select a favorable body to reincarnate in, currently he wants to ditch his high elf body which is arguably the body with the best affinity to mana and magic. What are the chances that he will get something better?


    So in summary how is he to simte true death, locate the river of reincarnation, send his soul into it intact, select good bodies of his choosing, reincarnate and maintain his original identity throughout the process.


    It is a daunting challenge, it made bing an origin god an easier choice. He has origin essence and life essence, he could give up on his silly idea and decide to be an origin god. It would be so easy for him but he didn''t give up. Instead, his eyes lit up when he discovered the immense mountain he is up against to achieve his dream.


    "The more difficult something is to achieve, the more worthwhile the endeavor probably is." He thought to encourage himself.


    Plus the realm lord''s speech got to him so it was easy for him to remain upbeat. The most difficult part of his n is the first step. Once he is able to ovee the problem of reincarnation, he will get to enjoy the sweet fruit of perfection and the power that he craves. Just the thought of it made him smile.


    He picked up his speed and rushed towards his house. He doesn''t live with anyone which isn''t weird for a high elf powerhouse like him. He used to live with his elder brother and sisters when he was younger but he had moved out when he became a lord ofw.


    Back when he lived with his elder brother and two sisters, he was thest born of the family. He had been born before his mother and father left for the upper realm, so he didn''t get to spend much time with his parents. His sisters raised him, they pampered him too much, this made him grow upzy. He had only been able to reach the level of a king because of the purity of his bloodline. Then the demon invasion happened and his life changed.

 Chapter 33 Small Chunks Or Big Chunks.

    ?He reached his house sessfully. It was a small ce at the top of a giant tree. Even though he was determined to achieve his dreams he couldn''t help but look at what he would be leaving behind. He looked back fondly at his naive, ignorant, andzy self. All his family has gone to the upper realm. They were probably waiting for him or not, but he wouldn''t make it.


    The fact that he had long detached himself from irrelevant things that won''t foster his quest for power made it easier for him to let go. Then he suddenlyughed out loud, his voice resounded through the entire forest. It was a voice full of resolve and resolution, but there was no one there to witness it.


    He wiped his face of his tears and began to put his n into action. Even though the difficulty of a true reincarnation almost stifled him back in the tower of heaven, he didn''t give up. He continued his research and was able to formte a fail-safe n that could achieve his goals.


    Then he had exchanged his remaining points a divine core from a celestial god, 1 empty domain, 6 top-grade origin stones, 10 empty divine vessels, 10 sovereign seeds of power of various concepts, he had spent about 10 points in the library, he used the remaining to acquire divinity points, about 30,000 points of them.


    Divinity is special, it is usually used by gods but it can also be used by other beings apart from gods. Those on the path of perfection and demons can absorb divinity with their soul and bodies to various effects. Divinity enhances the body and soul but it has limited use to those that aren''t gods.


    Also, it cannot be absorbed casually, or else the person absorbing it will lose his or her identity and think he or she is the god that the divinity belongs to. Divinity is to gods what origin essence is to origin gods, except it is rtively easier to refine divinitypared to origin essence.


    There is also a limit to what people that aren''t gods can absorb, it depends on the soul and body strength but even origin gods with immortal souls can only absorb a maximum of 1210 points of divinity. This circumstance makes divinity almost useless to a sovereign to those on the path of perfection.


    As a high elf he had never absorbed divinity because it would reduce his sensitivity tows, which will reduce his magic affinity, so he doesn''t know the effects of absorbing divinity but he ns to find out in the future.


    He entered his house and sealed it so as not to be disturbed by any external factor. He set up the defensive and camouging arrays so that no one would be able to pinpoint his location even if they sense energy fluctuations.


    The house looked like a single room from outside, only on entering will someone realize that the space contained within it is too big and has reached exaggerated proportions.


    For the first step, he had to separate his soul from his body. This step was part of his original n, it would be a difficult endeavor for him but not impossible. It is just too painful that it will deter most people.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    On the path of perfection, the requirement to be a transcendent is to fuse the body and the soul to form a soul body. The effect of this aplishment is amazing, the soul body breaks the shackles of the mortal physiques. The energy levels of the body and soul will then be able to reach absurd levels and lifespan will be increased exponentially.


    This makes the soul interlinked with the body, it makes the creation of clones easier, it makes healing and regeneration of lost body parts inherently possible, but it also makes it near impossible to separate the soul from the body.


    He prepared a magical construct that is used to punish vile criminals to achieve the separation of his body from his soul. This magical construct is employed when transcendent and above criminals are punished with soul dissolution. It is a terrifying punishment that promises pain as the body and soul are disintegrated little by little.


    This pain will make the criminals run mad even before they die, it is simply because soul pain is several times more painful than the pain of the body, but the pain they will suffer is from their soul rendering and being pulled apart bit by painful bit.


    He has changed the magic construct and formtions within it so that it would only target the body instead of both the body and the soul. He had to spend some time studying the magical methods of constructing equipment and runesmithing. The pain would still be unimaginable but he would be able to keep his sanity and endure the process with his soul intact.


    He stretched his hand and it disappeared into his personal dimension, then he pulled arge cylindrical vat out about 2 meters tall. This vat is the magical construct that will separate his soul from his body. He checked to make sure it was functioning perfectly then he ced several mid-grade origin stones into it as a power source.


    He took out the special alcohol he had prepared. This alcohol is special, it affects the soul and the senses, it will make him numb to the pain to a significant extent. He drank the alcohol in one straight pull and then he quickly put away his clothes into his personal dimension and stepped into the vat naked. When he was done settling himself in, he waited for a little for the alcohol to take effect before he switched on the vat.


    A special destructive wave permeated the inner space of the vat. This wave targeted his flesh and started stripping it away. He screamed in pain even with the alcohol numbing his senses. It was already difficult for any type of alcohol to make him drunk, but now the alcohol had to keep him drunk as something went away on his flesh with a hot knife.


    He could reduce the pain by lowering the intensity of the destructive wave but that would only prolong his suffering. There isn''t truly a difference in the ptability of either removing small chunks of flesh at a time as against removing bigger chunks.

 Chapter 34 Onward To Breakthrough.

    ?Gehald had to endure the excruciating pain for 4 days. The reason for the long period of torture is because of his body''s high rate of regeneration. The pride of his body became his curse. His body tried to regenerate his lost flesh even to the very end, it prolonged his suffering. But he was finally done after 4 days.


    His soul looked exactly like him, except it was white and see-through. One could see a small orb within his soul, the small orb is the beacon for his personal dimension. The alcohol was still in effect so it took some effort to leave the vat and ess his personal dimension, he removed a crystal sk from it.


    The bottle contained pure life essence. He opened the bottle and started drinking from it. His soul had long be physical so it could interact with the physical world, he could still fight in this form but his defense will be too weak. Even though his soul can eat physical things it cannot digest any type of food, only energy-based items can be assimted by the soul. Life essence is such a type of item, it is useful to the body and as well as the soul.


    His soul began to solidify quickly with the intake of life essence. He stopped drinking when his soul solidified enough for him to break a mountain with just his soul''s physical strength. This strength is nothingpared to what his body could do but it indicated that his soul had be fully healed.


    The second step was origin and soul fusion. This is usually the step taken by sovereigns to be origin gods, they would either go through tribtion or use origin essence. He wouldn''t dare go through a tribtion right now without a body, he would undoubtedly fail and die. Since he had origin essence he could go ahead with his n. This is the reason he participated in the trial of heaven.


    He initiated the fusion by pulling on his origin core through his origin passage. This origin passage connects his soul to his origin core. Everyone is born with two origin passages. One from the body and one from the soul.


    This number increases when a person reaches transcendence, they will be able to sense their origin core and construct more passages to it. The path they will choose depends on their choice. They could either construct passages that connect the body to the Origin core or they could connect the soul and origin core with more passages.


    No one can do both, because the moment a new passage is connected to either the soul or body, the origin core will shift to either the soul or the body. Initially, the Origin core is in a neutral state, but once it connects to the body it bes a physical object, if it connects to the soul it bes a spiritual object.


    Either change will prevent it from connecting to anotherponent of existence. The maximum passage that can be created is 10 for a total of 12.


    Gehald pulled on his 9 passages and brought his soul closer and closer to his origin core. If he had a body this process would have taken years to achieve but it only took two months. It is thanks to arge number of passages and the high strength of his soul.


    When his origin core appeared within his soul he brought out the bead of origin essence. The surrounding origin energy became violent for the short time the bead was exposed. It was totally unlike the burst of calm vitality that life essence produced.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His soul began to fuse with his origin core as soon as he brought the bead of origin essence within his soul. The energy within the bead was attracted to the origin core so it pulled the soul along with it and entered the origin core.


    Thew of origin contained within the bead made the soul fuse perfectly with the seed of power inside the origin core. a short amount of time because he was a soul without a body. If he had a body, the body would also need to be fused with the outer shell of the Origin core.


    After 6 years he was halfway done with the fusion. During a normal fusion to break through to Origin god, it would ways result into an origin soul and an origin body, the connection between these two entities will be unbreakable. But right now he was only an origin soul without a body, he needed a body with perfectpatibility.


    The best body will be one that he would make by himself, he couldn''t remake his body because he had already severed his connection to it. He brought out the core of a world beast to make a new body.


    World beasts are a type of void beasts, they live within the chaotic void outside the realm tree. They have a small world inside them, their core which contains their soul resides within this small world. They are beasts proficient in spacews and are hunted for their core.


    Sovereigns can hunt them, but cannot stop most of the core from dissipating after their death. Only a very powerful origin god can keep the core from dissipating. The core contains the life marks and spacew runes of the beast. It is used to study spacews and to build spatial artifacts.


    The core can also be used to create a body for possession, the higher its preservation the higher its value. The core he got is very valuable, he had to kill the owner of the core, because the core was fully preserved and the owner refused to sell it.


    A/N: If you are new to GREED please let me know your thoughts in thements section and through your review. Consider joining our discord channel to be part of themunity of GREED ROYAL BLOODLINE. You will be able to interact with the author and speak with those of like mind.


    https://discord.gg/jSk4B2tUWZ

 Chapter 35 What Is As Big As Half A Small Plane And Can Eat Anything?

    ?He fused the core with the shell of his origin core, the two circr objects superimposed and then fused. As soon as the world core fused with his Origin core it began to light up. Gehald expected this to happen, he knew that when the world core is possessed by a soul it would try to create a new world and a body for it, so Gehald brought out tonnes of mid-grade origin cores. He had made a lot of preparation so he wouldn''t be caught off guard.


    The world core started to create a whirlpool of energy around it. It was trying to suck in energy to create a new body, the quality of energy it absorbed will determine the structural integrity of the inner world and the strength of the body.


    While the amount of energy will determine the size of both the inner world and the body. The quality of the energy also affects the density of its body to arge extent, which will determine its physical and magical defense.


    Gehald chose to use Origin energy to recreate his body. He was aiming for a body with the strength of a titan ofw with origin passages connected to the body. The choice of which center of power to connect with the origin core will determine which one will be focused on and which one will fuse with the seed of power.


    For example, those that chose to connect the body with the origin core will have immensely strong bodies but will have rtively weak souls. Those that connected their soul with the origin core will have very powerful souls with weaker bodies. Each choice has its disadvantages and advantages.


    He could make the body stronger by using the remaining half of the Origin essence to turn the body into an Origin body, but he wanted to wait until he could produce Origin essence on his own. His current body might be perfect but it is only a shell, if he turned it into an origin body it would affect his ns. He also required the remaining Origin essence. His aim all along isn''t to be an origin god, it is to eventually reincarnate.


    From the information he got about reincarnation, only origin gods can have enough power to send their souls through reincarnation and keep it intact. It is just that origin gods can''t reincarnate because their body is forever connected with their soul, and a soul with a body cannot reincarnate. That''s why he needed to suffer the pain of separating his body and soul, it was unavoidable.


    Right now, the body that is being created will just be a temporary vessel, it does not have a permanent body-soul-origin connection, the trinity of existence. He would only have to wait for its full construction before he moves on with his n.


    The body construction took a short two days for it toplete its first stage. He needed void energy toplete the construction of the body and he could only get that in space. He collected all the things around that he still wanted into his personal dimension, then he tore a huge hole into the fabric of space that led to the void.


    This is something he could never achieve as a sovereign but he easily achieved it with just his mind as an origin god. The hole he tore started to suck in the surrounding matter and energy because it was too big. He needed a tearrge enough for his whale-sized body to enter.


    The body is just a framework made ofws so he couldn''t move it yet. He moved his mind a bit and his body floated into the hole. He closed the hole behind, leaving behind the wreckage where his house used to be. He was also leaving behind his identity as Gehald the high elf sovereign.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    On the other side of the hole was the cold, dark void of the universe. His body started absorbing void energy toplete his body the moment he appeared in the void. The whirlpool of power died down after a few minutes and his body waspleted. Gehald tried to move his new body and he gasped. He could feel a terrifying power from within his body. The power he felting from just the physical strength of his body was more than 100 times his former body.


    "And it isn''t an origin body yet. How powerful will it be after it bes an origin body?" He muttered wistfully.


    His body made him happy but he isn''t content with it yet. The shape of his body was like that of a giant whale, except its current size will dwarf a giant whale.


    "Wow, I think I am half as big as a small ne" he whistled.


    "There is no way a ne can amodate this body" his body had bludgeoned in size after it waspleted. It had gone from just the skeletal framework ofws to a body of flesh and blood, this had made it increase in size more than a million times.


    "I have to hide now or else someone mighte to hunt me. Too bad I can''t transform my body yet." He had be a world beast, and people hunt world beast.


    They are rare but can still be found. He wouldn''t be able to transform his body into a humanoid shape until it became an Origin body. That''s the way void beasts are, normal creatures will be able to transform when they reach the transcendent stage.


    He took advantage of his extremely powerful soul and his grasp on lifews to mask his vitality and life aura so he could hide better. Then he used the power of space through the world core to hide his body, he might not be as proficient at it as other world beasts but he had an origin soul, so he could do far more than any sovereign world beast.


    With his body hidden within the folds of space and his life aura masked it will be difficult for even an origin god to find him from arge distance. The hunt on world beast for their core is the major reason why they hardly reach adulthood.

 Chapter 36 The Death Of Gehaldirah Oakstein.

    ?Back in High life ne. At the location of Gehald''s home. Two eyes appeared at the location of the devastation wrought by the tear in space. These two eyes turned from invisible to corporeal. A majestic presence descended with the transformation of the eyes into physical objects.


    This aura spread throughout the entire vast ne. The various Life trees with consciousness swayed in greeting to this majestic figure. It didn''t take long before an Elven sovereign nearby rushed to the location. This Sovereign was named Frutk, he was in seclusion here in preparation for his tribtion to breakthrough to the origin god level.


    He was disturbed when the presence descended. He couldn''t ignore the aura so he came immediately because he knew who it belonged to. He approached with trepidation and got on a knee in greeting.


    "Greetings to the realm lord. I am Frutk is there anything I can help you with, your lordship."


    The eye locked on to the trembling sovereign and looked him over.


    "Inform the high elf council in the lower realm that Gehaldirah Oakstein is dead"


    The sovereign mustered all his strength to reply "Yes my lord. Your wish will be done."


    "Good," the eye said before it turned incorporeal and disappearedpletely, and with it its pressure.


    Only when the pressure receded did the sovereign stand up, he was breathing roughly. He didn''t need to breathe at his stage, it was just a reaction of his body to the feeling of asphyxiation. It had felt like he was being stared at by death itself when those eyes locked on him. It felt like he could be killed with just a single thought if he so much as breathe wrongly.


    Only with the presence gone did his body feel rxed to breathe properly. He shook himself of his remaining fear and rushed to deliver the message he was tasked to by the realm lord.


    He thought deeply about the message. He didn''t understand why the realm lord would want the entire race to know that a certain sovereign died. Sure sovereigns are powerful but they mean nothing to an origin god much less the one and only realm lord. What could be special about Gehaldirah Oakstein?


    He racked his head around about the issue, the information he had about Gehaldirah was scarce. He only knew that the elf was weird, he was always moody and kept to himself. People thought he was entric because of his talent.


    He was also scary for some reason, he made people look like prey whenever he looked at them. Even sovereigns weren''t exempted from that feeling. His gaze was like he is analyzing a target, like he looking for a weakness and was just waiting to pounce.


    Frutk stopped thinking about Gehaldirah.


    "He is dead now so what''s the use. What a waste of talent. So young and so talented" Frutkmented. Gehaldirah was younger than him. But now he was gone. Frutk would rather think about the realm lord. His face brightened at that thought "My role model." he muttered.


    He is a grown elf with a role model but he wasn''t ashamed. The realm lord had long ascended before he was born but he had heard tales of his achievements. The most obvious one is the change he made to the High life ne.


    He increased the size of the realm and made it contain origin energy. It has be one of the special ne in High Heaven which have Origin energy and is as stable as the ancient battlefield. Because of the realm lord, the high elves don''t have to struggle with the other races for space on the ancient battlefield.


    Outside the realm, within a fold in space outside the realm treey a creature of catastrophic size. Gehald was currently confused. He had called up his status after he was sure he was well hidden. What it showed confused him.


    NAME:?


    RACE:?


    BLOODLINE:?


    POWER LEVEL:?


    PHYSIQUE:?


    HP:?


    STAMINA:?


    ENERGY (SOUL ENERGY ):?


    VITALITY:?


    ENDURANCE:?


    STRENGTH:?


    AGILITY:?


    PERCEPTION:?<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    SPIRIT:?


    DIVINE SENSE:?


    CONCEPTS:


    Seed of power: Life


    LAWS


    Life: 100%


    Earth: 100%


    Water: 100%


    Air: 100%


    Death: 100%


    Fire: 33%


    Light: 1%


    Darkness: 1%


    Space: 0.1%


    ughter: 73%


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 10%


    LAW AFFINITY: 10%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY: Space.


    STATUS: Error! Broken Trinity! Can notpute!


    It seems he had a problem with his status. He had always thought the status was an all-knowingw of the universe but it seemed not. It brought some questions to mind. "What is it anyway?" Gehald''s asked himself for the umpteenth time but he still hadn''t gotten an answer.


    "Maybe when I join my body with my origin soul the rest will show?" He said hopefully, he was scared when he saw the mess in his status screen. It had always been with him ever since he was born and it had never shown an error. He had heard that the status screen was a rtively new thing, that it hadn''t existed since the beginning of the realm. The Old ones call it an anomaly but he doesn''t want to lose it just yet.


    He looked his status over again.


    "Understandable. It must be temporary," he muttered when he thought over the line that indicated a ridiculous loss in the amount of his sensitivity to magic, but he isn''t fazed about it just yet. Besides, what mattered at his stage wasw sensitivity, and he anticipated an increase in it.


    "If this is my current sensitivity tows with a disjointed body, I can only imagine what it would be when I am whole again." He said in anticipation.


    When he was a sovereign he had a 20% affinity tow, which means only 20% of the effort he put into sensingws will be effective. This value isn''t small at all, 20% is the t rate of origin gods no matter how poor their previous talent is in sensingws. He had such a high rate because of his racial affinity.


    A typical elf origin god will havew affinity improved to 50% so he was quite expectant. He knew different body types affected the affinity to mana andw. Law affinity is very important to transcendents up to the level of world gods, every increase in it is sought after.


    One person that is suspected of having 100% on all affinities is the realm lord of High Heaven, Monarch High Heaven. It is widely acimed that his sess and various achievements must be due to an advantage in this aspect.


    "Never mind that. It is time for the next step of the n."

 Chapter 37 Ive Got A World In Me.

    ?He didn''t want to think about the realm lord because thoughts of the realm lord always put people to shame. He would rather pay full attention to his path, maybe someday someone will tell his own story and make people admire him. But before that, he would have to do something worthy of admiration.


    The first thing that came to his mind as a worthy achievement is bing a terror to Dragons, but that was currently too far for him to achieve. Even though he intended to fulfill his promise he didn''t think it was possible. The pride of the dragon race stemmed from their strength, the strength of each individual member of their race and the strength as an entire race.


    "Now my soul is ready. It should be able to withstand reincarnation. A little more and I''ll be ready"


    He couldn''t achieve reincarnation yet. To ensure the sess of his n he needed origin essence. He won''t need to participate in the trial of heaven to get origin essence, as an origin god he could produce origin essence for himself.


    The rate at which he makes it will also be faster than a normal origin god, it is because of the incredibly high affinity of void beasts with void energy. This is the major reason why he chose a void beast as his body. He chose a world beast specifically because of their strong andrge body, their high affinity to spacews, their racial ability, and their internal world.


    World beasts have a racial ability called void devour. They will open their ginormous mouth and swallow void energy inrge amounts which they feed on. Their internal world would then refine the void energy into usable origin energy. This act will also break down anything it manages to swallow. Sovereign level world beast can convert void energy into origin essence, so It would be a small thing for him to use his strong soul to convert it.


    His internal world was as big as a ne, it contained a continent ofnd with a surface area of 600 million square kilometers. This continent is floating on water, at the edge of the body of water is a barrier that demarcates the inner world from nothingness.


    In the center of this world is his Origin soul. His origin realm has fused with the inner world, that''s why his inner world is so big. ording to the books he read, the space inside an origin core is near infinite, it is one of the reasons why origin gods are powerful. World beasts don''t know how to use their inner world yet, this makes it possible for sovereigns to hunt them.


    Admittedly his inner world is bigger than normal but even he can''t use it yet, it is because his inner world is like an independent space. It is like a personal dimension, no matter howrge it is, it doesn''t make someone a World god.


    He bent down and picked up a cube with sides measuring 5cm. This cube is the container for his personal dimension. He had picked it up before he left home, its beacon is still attached to him. He dropped the cube because he didn''t need physical contact to use it, he was only checking it to make sure it wasn''t damaged when he swallowed it. As a high-grade artifact, it will not be damaged due to his trip into space.


    stopped paying attention to it and started meditating onws and the full conversion of void energy into Origin essence. He closed his eyes and spread out his senses to perceive thews, he also controlled his body to swallow and refine void energy. He would always move away from his location every time he opened his mouth and devoured. The tell-tale fluctuations of his actions could lead a predator to him. When you''re outside the realm tree, anything goes. It took a period of 4 origin cycles before his Origin soul opened his eyes.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I am sure that by now people will have found out about my death. Maybe I have already been forgotten." He shook his head and turned his sight to his front. He had made exactly 12 origin essence beads in this period. He shook his head at the sight of the 12 beads floating before him.


    "To think I nearly died because of this. This is why origin gods are so powerful. They might not be able to produce as much as me at my level but they shouldn''t be far off." He mused. He was right about the reason for the strength of origin gods but he was wrong about the rate at which a one-star origin god can produce origin essence. He was three times as fast as a normal one-star origin god.


    "Now for the soul division."


    He had always been aiming for reincarnation into multiple bodies. He would need to divide his soul to achieve that. He pushed his hand into his soul and brought out a soul fragment. He did this until eight soul fragments were out of his soul.


    It was a painful process but he continued until he was done. He couldn''t stop now, he had alreadye this far. When he was done he felt iplete, it was a very unpleasant feeling. He had stopped when this feeling threatened to overwhelm him.


    "It seems this is my limit. Could it be because I have only 9 soul passages" he wondered. This thought became increasingly convincing as he thought about it. Then he sighed "I should have been more serious when I was younger. If I had 11 passages I would have been able to make more soul fragments. It''s toote for regret now."


    He took out some things from his personal space to draw an array that he came up with. This was a personal creation of his and should fix his problem of finding the river of reincarnation. He decided to forgo looking for the river of reincarnation and instead simte the process of reincarnation.


    He would draw the array, use the body parts of the race he wants to reincarnate in as the destination, the soul of the bodies as the guide, the seed of power of a sovereign as the power and origin essence as the fuel for the power source. With this, he would be able to send his soul fragments to reincarnate into the wombs of the races of his choosing.


    It was a hypothetical process but it should work based on the information he had. If it failed the resulting explosion could be strong enough to destroy his inner world. Such an explosion will deal catastrophic damage to any ne in High heaven realm.


    While he could pay arge price to heal himself in case of an explosion in his inner world, mother high heaven will turn him to ashes if it urred within a ne because of him. Only the ancient battlefield can withstand damage of that level.

 Chapter 38 Judgement.

    ?It took him an entire day to construct the array. He was meticulous and extra careful so as to construct a functioning array instead of an expensive high ss bomb. When he was done, he rose into the air to admire his work. His array was a circr and intricate thing of beauty about 50m in diameter.


    It resembled the teleportation tform outside nar gates but cannotpare to it in terms ofplexity. The function of the array is to teleport his Origin soul fragment across space into the wombs of pregnant females.


    He had chosen the stage at which the fetus does not have a soul. He selected this over the bodies of recently dead people because of several reasons. The body and bloodline will be fully formed by then, his aim for reincarnation is to gain the bloodline and the divine ability of the races he has chosen, but he prefers a fresh start so that he can easily perfect it during the growth stage.


    Another reason he doesn''t want a dead body is that his soul fragments might be too weak after reincarnation, a dead body won''t be able to support it, only a living body will be able to nurture his soul, but the soul fragments won''t have the strength for possession.


    The third reason is that a dead body will have an identity and probably enemies thate with that identity, reincarnation will not give him the memories of the deceased. All in all, he wanted a fresh and pure start.


    "Nextes the soul fragments," he said with anticipation. He pulled the soul fragments to him and brought out divine vessels. He had bought the divine vessels and the divinity they contain from the tower of heaven. He brought out a point of divinity and examined it. Divinity looked like tiny stars as if a star ispressed into a grain of sand. They look this way because the divinity used to belong to a sun god.


    He refined the entire vessel of divinity in the blink of an eye by wiping out the divine will inside them. His soul was too strong for the will to resist. Then he started feeding seven of the eight soul fragments the divinity. He chose seven because he didn''t want to lose all of them at once and he also has a n for the eighth regardless of the sess of the array.


    He fed the soul fragments until they turned they reached their limit. The soul fragments had turned into round cloudy crystal balls that couldn''t fuse with more divinity. Then he pushed one bead of origin essence into each one of the seven.


    He rubbed his hand together and said "Let us begin"


    He ced the seven souls into the seven focal points of the array. He took a seed of power that looked like a bigger version of divinity and fused it with a bead of origin essence, then he threw it into the center of the array to power it up. He started up the array with his divine sense and it started to shine.


    It was like a sun had appeared inside the inner world. He was full of excitement and anticipation, he wasn''t scared that it wouldn''t work, he had confidence in his n. Plus failure will also be good, he would be able to learn from it, he wasn''t going to lose much anyways. He had minimized the risks so he could do it again if it failed. After a few seconds of umting energy the array exploded and sent out his soul fragment, but for a split second after that, his consciousness nked out.


    When his consciousness returned he found himself in a dark ce, he could sense terrifying energy around him but he couldn''t see anything. All he could see was darkness.


    "Where am I?" He thought. He was confused, one second he was inside the inner world, the next he was here. He knew he wasn''t inside the inner world anymore or at least it doesn''t seem like it because he couldn''t sense his soul or his body. He had only his mind. Suddenly 3 consciousness appeared beside him.


    "Another one it seems." one said.


    "Truly it is." another voice said but Gehald couldn''t tell which was which. He was trying to keep his consciousness intact against the immense force that was battering his mind. He only knew they were talking amongst themselves.


    "What has he done?"


    "Let us look."


    "Truly insatiable."


    "Commendable."


    "Stupid and risky."


    "But it worked."


    "Yes, it worked."


    "He has broken a t of the universe."


    "Rules are rules."


    "Yes, they are."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "He will be rewarded for his feat."


    "Mediocre it may be."


    "Weak he may be."


    "But he will be rewarded all the same."


    "What is the verdict?"


    "Let him be given artifact no. Xcsg@98gh2+."


    "Too dangerous."


    "Then what do you suggest."


    "artifact no. Hzwy-67je9&."


    "Not bad."


    "I think so too."


    "Truly fitting."


    "It is agreed."


    "It shall be so."


    "Let it be so."


    There was a sudden sh of light that pushed his consciousness to the brink of copse. At that moment he felt somethingtch onto his mind and pulled it together. He felt his mind pulled out of this mysterious space and back into his soul in the inner world.


    "Am I back?".


    He looked around to ascertain he was back. The array construct had been destroyed but other than that the inner world was the same. He scanned his body but didn''t find anything amiss. He was about to calm down but he felt his soul was oddly stronger and he could feel his soul fragments like they were next to him.


    "Strange." he muttered. He could feel that the seven soul fragments had reincarnated. He could also feel the existence of the eighth soul fragment beside him.


    "This isn''t right," he thought. He didn''t feel like this before, something must have changed. He directed his perception into his Origin soul and was shocked by what he found. Other than the beacon for his personal dimension, he saw a sphere residing within his Origin soul.


    "What is this? What did those things do to me?" He was truly scared. He didn''t think his n for reincarnation would have brought him to that space, he didn''t even know that such a thing existed.


    "What is this thing? Have I been branded by those things with the spherical construct or whatever this thing is?"


    "There is only one way to find out" he steeled his mind and directed his divine sense to the sphere. He approached the sphere slowly so as not to spook it. He didn''t want to agitate it, but if it would be staying in his soul from now on he must at least find out what it is. It is justmon etiquette.


    A moment after he touched it with his divine sense he screamed "I screwed up."

 Chapter 39 It Is Never Too Late For Regrets.

    ?In the void just outside the realm of High Heaven, within the folds of space and swimming around leisurely is a gigantic whale-like creature. The creature has small fins that do nothing for the movement of this terrifyingrge creature.


    The creature had 6 eyes, each side of the head had 3 each. It had 8 horns in a ring above its head, this ring was iplete. The number of horns on such a creature signifies its level of power and age, eight horns is a sign of it being at the sovereign level. When this creature bes an origin god it will have ten horns that will grow into a crown.


    This creature is a world beast. It is weak for a void beast, most void beasts are terrifying creatures of great power and might. World beasts have a huge body that is both their strength and weakness.


    Even though they are fast for their huge bodies, to sovereign hunters that amount of speed is not enough to deter them. Sovereigns are more than capable of hunting world beasts below the titan level, while origin gods usually hunt titan and sovereign level world beasts.


    No one hunts origin god world beasts because it isn''t worth the effort. A truly powerful origin god wouldn''t hunt for world beasts because he would have easier things to do to earn money, and weak origin gods don''t dare to hunt Origin-level world beasts because that would spell death. Death is expensive even for origin gods who have the ability to pay the price. While death means the end for lesser beings, to an origin god, death is just a regression in progress.


    World beasts are proficient in thews of space but can only use their racial ability to attack when they are below the level of origin gods. This is because even though their core allows them to use spacews they don''t have a powerful enough soul to use it. Instead, they have a clumsy body that will not do anything to deter powerful hunters.


    They don''t have any attacking ability apart from their innate one. People call this ability void devour, but origin-level world beast upgrades this ability to world devour. Their ability goes up from just consuming a small volume of void energy into consuming an incredulous amount of space, all matter and energy will be consumed and digested within the world beast.


    The most important change to their innate ability after the upgrade is the addition of a lockdown to the targeted area as soon as they open their mouth So while a void devour can be easily thwarted by moving out of the targeted zone, world devour prevents that through the creation of a lockdown.


    The inner world of world beasts isn''t reallyrge or well developed at the stage of sovereign and below. Order trulyes to the inner world with the breakthrough to Origin god level. At this stage, their inner world bes conducive to life. The inner world will be able to support life but it won''t be an ideal environment yet.


    The inner world of this particr world beast which seems at the titan level is something out of the norm. Apart from the ridiculous size and quality, there is also the cursing origin soul within it. Titan-level world beasts shouldn''t have origin souls, much less cursing ones.


    Moments ago this Origin soul had experienced a monumental development because of some of his actions. Gehald the Origin soul cursed and gnashed his teeth. He truly felt a loss, he couldn''t me anyone but himself for it. The reason for his anger at himself is the information that was transmitted into his mind from the sphere within his Origin soul.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He had been anxious and afraid before he got into contact with the sphere. This fear didn''t entirelye from the mysterious space and the weird talking consciousness. This fear came from a piece of knowledge he acquired about the reincarnation array he used to simte his reincarnation.


    The origin god that wrote the secret tome where he found the theorized concept of simted reincarnation also warned that the use of the reincarnation array could lead to extremely bad luck ifpleted sessfully. Even though the author had stated some convincing argument about how reincarnation is breaking thews of the universe, stealing the fortune from heaven, cutting of the destiny of unborn children, tempting fate, etc Gehald didn''t take it to heart.


    Back then he had said "What is bad luck to the strong? Only weak people willin about bad luck. The strong will have control over their fate" he dismissed the notion of bad luck. But now, he wasn''t so sure. "Could it be? It shouldn''t be right?"


    The shock of the information he got from the sphere was making him doubt his previous stance on luck. When he touched the sphere a string of information was transmitted to his mind. He found out that the sphere was a universe artifact.


    Now he knows what universe artifacts are, they are simply artifacts that break the operatingws of the universe. There can be weak ones and there can be strong ones. The universe artifact has bounded with his soul and cannot be removed, even his permanent death, if possible, will only cause the artifact to disappear.


    He had always thought origin gods couldn''t die but he learned that rule-breaking exist in the universe and some people like him pioneer this endeavor. The pioneers are rewarded with a universe artifact, and he just happened to be rewarded with a very weak one. Not only that, the extent of the effect the artifact will have on his soul is dependent on the number of origin passages that he created.


    The sphere is a soul augmentation artifact. It has a few functions, one of which is soul defense, the other is to increase the integrity of his soul. These two are all passive abilities. It has only one active ability which is to use the created passageway that connects all his soul fragments as a single consciousness to send across energy. He wasn''t exactly sure of the effect of the passageway, he only knows that it works in the form of a hivemind and it connects the soul fragments no matter the distance or obstacle.


    "Does it make the soul fragments into parallel minds of a single consciousness or multiple connected consciousnesses?" He asked the sphere but it wasn''t talking.


    The silence of his soul upant made him unhappy again, he was unhappy earlier because he could only have 9 parallel minds instead of 11. He is filled with regret but he could only me himself because back when he was creating the origin passages, he didn''t put in much effort.


    He thought that what he had aplished was more than enough. Some people struggle to make 5, but he made 8 of them out of a maximum of 10. It was all because of his high mana affinity granted by his Elven race back then and not his hard work. But now his past hase to bite him in the ass.

 Chapter 40 Stone Race Of Realm High Heaven.

    ?He had thought the hypothesis about bad luck was just bogus, but now he didn''t. At least not entirely. Gehald calmed down, he thought about the passage the sphere created and tried to use it. He could sense his soul fragments and their locations. He could even send energy over to them from within his soul.


    "This isn''t entirely bad" he smiled.


    "This changes everything. It will make things easier" The universe artifact was unexpected but he could work with it.


    "I don''t believe in bad luck. It doesn''t exist. There is no such thing as karma. I just have to be strong. Strength conquers all things."


    He reaffirmed his faith in absolute strength and decided to continue his n. He had used seven soul fragments for the reincarnation which leaves one more. The soul fragments shouldn''t be able to wake up when his main mind is still alive or else origin gods would have multiple bodies.


    It is against the rules of the universe to have multiple bodies. Clones or avatars are allowed but real bodies and multiple consciousnesses aren''t. That''s why he had sent the other soul fragments for reincarnation which he now found out is breaking the rules.


    With the help of the sphere, which he doesn''t know its name yet, he could bypass the need for reincarnation and direcldi create a new body for the eight soul fragments. This new bodies will be like another body, not a clone or avatar.


    The difference between the main body and a clone is kind of fuzzy but also clear. It is fuzzy because a clone can do whatever the main body can do, it depends on the effort put into creating it. If a clone of an origin god dies it rarely affects the main body, but in some rare cases it will injure the soul of the main body, this urs when the clone is poorly made.


    No matter the amount of damage that the clone is subject to, the main body will be safe and will not die because of the death of the clone. The reverse is the case for the death of the main body, all clones will die when the main body dies.


    Clones are permanent while avatars are temporary. Gehald does not have clones or avatars, all of his soul fragments became main bodies. The death of one will not affect the others, it will only lead to the loss of a soul fragment. But with the sphere, even this can be averted.


    He doesn''t know the full effect of the soul sphere but he knows that as long as he doesn''t lose it, even the death of any one of them is temporary. The soul sphere also made his soul feel full andplete, he had been dpidated earlier because he created the soul fragments.


    The feeling of soul deprivation is why origin gods don''t make more than one soul fragment for resurrection, it affects their state of mind and their fighting prowess. The souls of origin gods are like state-of-the-art engines, their work efficiency reduces drastically with more damaged or missing parts until they stop working or explode.


    Gehald started to create another array at the center of the inner world. This array isn''t for reincarnation. He is trying to create an environment that can allow a Life tree to grow. Even though the inner world can support life, the ground doesn''t have nutrients that normal nts can use. It contains too much mana and origin energy, something which a life tree would appreciate but this is for when it is fully grown.


    A seed will not germinate in this type of soil, it will need specialised energy suited for it and a controlled environment to stimte its germination which the array will provide. This array isrger, about a kilometer across but it is less intricate. It is constructed with a myriad of spirit stones, mana stones, and origin stones.


    Its major function is to process and supply the energy for the seed that will be ced into the small hole dug at the center of the array. He ced a bead of origin essence into the hole first, followed by a green seed that seemed to be dissipating into the air.


    This is the seed of a life tree and it is incredibly fragile, it has specific growth requirements. He ced the seed right on top of the bead and covered it with sand. Then he watered the ground with life essence.


    He has a lot of life essence, he had been stocking it for quite a while and if he seeds in making the seed grow he wouldn''t have to be concerned about life essence ever again. He had decided to make the tree that will grow out of the seed to be his 9th body. He sat down to wait patiently.


    "Just you wait. I''ll break another rule soon. You haven''t seen thest of me." he smiled wickedly and continued to watch the array.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The abilities of a universal treasure has broadened his horizon and whet his appetite for more. He began nning on how to acquire more but all that would have to wait. The seed he nted will either germinate or it will die, the oue will be determined in at most five minutes.


    If a seedling doesn''t appear in that short window of time, it means it has dissipated. He could only try again. As he was waiting he suddenly felt phantom pain. He traced the source of the pain and found it to being from his world beast body. Someone had attacked him.


    About 10 minutes ago, in the void outside the world beast. A group of 10 sovereigns were scouting for void beasts to kill. One of them saw the world beast and informed their leader. The leader was an origin god.


    "Elder brother, look at it. I was right, wasn''t I?" The sovereign that had found the world beast asked in excitement.


    His elder brother the origin god nodded solemnly. There was no sound in space so theymunicated using their divine sense to transmit their voices. Even though it was utter darkness in space, the younger one could use his divine sense to perceive the nod of his elder brother.


    These two are from the stone skin race as could be seen from the simr peculiarity of their skin. They are called the stone race because they grow ayer of stone on their body that is as sensitive as skin but as durable as defensive artifacts. This name was given to them back in the era of intra-ne warfare before people masteredws.


    This race hase a long way since then, with their natural affinity to thew of the earth, they are able to condense highly durable skin. They are also a race that gains an advantage in their body by connecting their origin core to their bodies. So they usually have terrifying physical strength and defense.


    One thing about them and the reason an origin god is apanying a group of sovereigns on a hunt is that even as a supreme race, they cherish every single one of their members. They have low fertility and birth rate, so their number is even less than that of high eelves.


    The higher fertility of high elves is mainly because of the help of life trees that they possess in their home ne, so even though high elves have low fertility like them, they have a much higher birth rate.


    Unfortunately for the people of the stone race they are not so lucky to possess something like that, the ne specialty of their ne are special ores for smithing,prehension of thews of the earth, and also the toughening of the skin when eaten by those from the stone skin race.


    The origin god in the group examined this world beast stealthily so as not to arouse it and scare it off. His instincts were telling him to be careful of the world beast. Everything seemed okay but he couldn''t figure out what was odd about it.


    "Elder brother, let''s kill it." the excited sovereign said.


    "I''m not sure." his elder brother muttered, he held his chin as he thought about the world beast. Its situation was odd, the beast is clearly below the level of origin god but he had a nagging feeling about the situation.


    For one the beast couldn''t be seen or perceived from afar, only those that are near it can see it. This is the use of spatial camouge, a high level application of thews of space. Usually, such a beast should be on alert and by the time someone came near enough to see it, it would run away.


    "What''s there to fear. It''s only titan level, at the most sovereign level, and it seems to be dying of something." The sovereign insisted.


    The situation seemed advantageous to the the sovereign. The world beast was weak, it would make their hunt easier.

 Chapter 41 Scaredy-Cat

    ?"That''s true," said the origin god from the stone race. Everything seemed perfect for a good hunt but another thing that stumped him is the incredibly low life force he could sense from such arge body.


    A body thisrge should have an immense amount of life force. The size of this world beast is something only seen in the origin-level world beast but he couldn''t sense any origin fluctuations from the body, onlyw fluctuations, which is proof of the body of a titan. And its vitality seemed to be low, too low in fact as if it were sick.


    "Do world beasts get sick or grow old," he asked out loud.


    "Huh" the sovereign scratched his head in thought. They had never heard of something like that. Creatures that have achieved a mana body are rarely sick.


    "Does it matter? It is weakened and that is a good thing." The sovereign maintained.


    "That is also true." the origin god could only assent. For someone to be an origin god, he or she has to be astute and cautious, he or she must have the ability to think things through before acting. But for the life of him, he couldn''t pinpoint what was wrong and it was nagging at him but he couldn''t stop the hunt just for that reason. It may be nothing after all, and he needed the money which he will get from the sessful hunt.


    "Call everyone here. We will surround and kill it." He finally gave up and agreed to the hunt.


    "Maybe I''m just being paranoid. It is not as if anything can go wrong anyway. World beasts beneath the level of origin god are timid grazers." he thought and dismissed his fears.


    He mes his experience within the trial of heaven for his anxiety. He just became an origin god, a one-star origin god. He had be one during this origin cycle through a tribtion.


    He had participated in the trial of heaven for life essence to ensure his chances of sess during the tribtion. His experience within the tower was not particrly good, and the mind tribtion brought up some of his worst experiences within the tower.


    Thispounded and resulted in him having mental scars. So he attributed his paranoia to his mental demons. He put away his feelings of cowardice, he had to be sharp for the hunt.


    He could now look at the world beast like a predator looks at his prey after he was done putting away his fear. He had chosen to apany the sovereign group because he wanted to protect his brother, plus he needed wealth as a new origin god. And this world beast would fetch him a tidy sum. The more he looked at it the happier he became.


    "You came at just the right time for me," he thought to himself.


    Very soon all ten sovereigns were gathered.


    "Form a tight circle around it. Don''t let it escape, and watch out for its ability. You should be able to escape if you catch it early" the origin god instructed, while the others nodded and moved into action.


    "I''ll attack it. While you keep it from escaping" he said before shooting forward towards the world beast. He streaked by so fast that the sovereigns were only able to react to the shockwave that hit them from his punch. While the sovereigns were in awe of the strength of the punch, the origin god in question shouted "Not good."


    First, it was the dubious state of the world beast. Then when he came into physical contact with the world beast he felt the immense vitality within the body and he knew things were not right. Next came the divine sense thattched on to him, that''s when he knew they were screwed. His mind became rmed, this was a trap made to get him. The beast was pretending all along.


    "The world beast is an origin god" he screamed within his heart after shouting. The first thing that popped up was his near-death experience within the tower from his encounter with someone that acted pitiful before injuring his mind. If not for the terrifying defense of his body he would have been skewed.


    He had to forfeit that battle, but since then he had been extra careful against deceit. So he chose to run immediately. He had gone a long way before he remembered the sovereigns he was tasked to protect.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    This sobered him up. "I should be able to protect myself no matter the situation. Even if I die I can resurrect from my soul fragment." he encouraged himself before returning to the scene of the battle, but it was already toote.


    The moment Gerald noticed his attackers thenguid eyes of the gently floating world beast lit up. It opened its mouth and the space around the beast stagnated. The petrified sovereigns could only watch as they were pulled into the beast''s giant mouth. They couldn''t move because of the freezing of their thoughts and body by the space domain around them. The origin god that could have done something to save them had run away.


    He could at least help them negate the suppression and give them a chance to escape. But now they were devoured without any form of resistance. Only after their death did the origin god return, his face aghast and furious.


    Gehald was confused by the turn of events inside the inner world. He hadn''t expected the devouring to work. He was just getting started with his n of attack.


    "What is wrong with this guy?" He thought, he was totally confused. His divine sense had locked onto the origin god, so he had seen him run a distance away before returning. The actions of the Origin god confused him.


    "Is this a fighting ritual or technique?" He thought, still trying to figure out what in the world the origin god was nning.


    There are different types of races and myriad racial abilities in High Heaven not to talk of the entire void universe. There are so many types of talents and fighting styles. So even though Gehald had never seen or heard about the peculiar behavior of the Origin god, he didn''t underestimate him. Any failure at this point could put him at serious risk of losing his life.


    He opened his mouth again to activate the world-devouring ability. This time the origin god counterattacked with his domain and negated the spatial restrictions and the devouring force. Gehald clicked his tongue before projecting the full strength of his soul onto the origin god.


    He had noticed that his hunters were from the stone skin race, they are known for their physical prowess but weak minds. They have weak soulspared to other people of simr levels. Gehald was originally soul-oriented coupled with the soul augmentation that his universe artifact gave him, it made his soul sturdy like an immovable rock.


    His actions didn''t overly harm the soul of his opponent, but it was able to stagnate his thoughts for a short moment. And so the origin god that was approaching with righteous fury felt a strong force pushing on his consciousness and he thought "oh no" before he cked out and was swallowed.


    "That was easy." Gehald smiled. His opponent was inexperienced as an origin god and theg in his opponent''s action was enough for him to be swallowed. 22 balls of light appeared in front of him. He clicked his tongue at the sight. The balls of light were dark red and light blue, they are the blood essence and the soul essence of the people he ate earlier.


    He had wanted only 20 balls of light, he wanted to preserve the Origin god and keep him imprisoned. Because with his death, he would be able to resurrect in another ce. With the origin god dying inside a ce that wasn''t confined, he would remember everything that happened and how he died.


    "Seems like I have to refine this body and connect to it."


    He didn''t need his soul severed from a body anymore since he got the universe artifact. If his soul had been connected to his body he would have noticed the group when they approached. He would have been able to mount a defense before he was punched and his devouring force won''t have been easily negated.


    He would also have been able to project his soul domain around the origin god to prevent memories of his death and recent events from being transmitted to his new body.


    "Before that, I have to leave this ce." He had to leave since his location had been exposed and he didn''t want any interruption for what he wanted to do next. He used all his spatial powers to merge into space and disappear from there.


    It wasn''t until he was a distance away and was sure he was safe did he begin the fusion of body and soul. Only then would he be a true origin world beast.

 Chapter 42 The Creation Of Legion.

    ?"Let us begin," he said before flicking a bead of origin into the emptiness beyond the inner world.


    As the bead hit the barrier, it disappeared into his body. Gehald felt a mysterious connection to the body, it was 3 passages exactly. This would make a total of 12 origin passages. He could make only this much because of the special situation of his soul, he already has 9 soul passages. From now on, the body truly became his, he didn''t need to mobilize his soul force to move it like before. The senses of the body also became a passive utility instead of needing active usage.


    "From now on, Gehaldirah Oakstein is fully dead. I am now, LEGION. For I will be many and I will be perfect."


    His n is making headway, and his dream of achieving perfection will be realised. He only had to wait for his other soul seeds to achieve sess before the n can be fullyplete. Gehaldirah was inadequate but Legion will surely be able to find the ultimate power in the universe.


    The gigantic body of the world beast started to change too. It began a transformation that would turn it into an origin-level body. He also noticed the shoot of the life tree tunneling out from the soil in the center of the array. It had germinated while he was fighting off the intruders.


    "This is just the beginning." He said excitedly. Then he grabbed the light balls of blood essence and started fusing them into the body of the tiny shoot. The bodies of the stone skin race contained immense vitality because of their focus on physical strength. Such vitality had been processed into the balls with a quantityparable to Life essence, except that it isn''t as pure and the soul can''t use it. He fed the tree with the balls of blood essence and some pure life essence until it couldn''t absorb any more. By then it had absorbed 5 balls of blood essence, a bottle of life essence and it had grown into a towering tree of about 1 km tall and a foliage cover spanning 2.2 kilometers


    "My oh my, this is quite something. It is not as tall as the world trees back at home but it will do"


    Because of the abundant nourishment, the life tree had broken through three stages of growth in one stretch. From seedling to juvenile and into adulthood. Something that should take at least one origin cycle waspleted in an hour. A fully grown life tree can reach 10km in height, unfortunately, it is something that can only be achieved with time.


    "The first batch of flowers will being soon. And if I am lucky some fruits will appear" He said in anticipation. Life essence is gotten from the flower petals of life trees, their fruit on the other hand is called a resurrection fruit. Life essence may be rare to other species but high elves consider it as just a by-product due to the failure in producing fruit. He threw out the remaining balls of blood essence toplete the creation of his Origin body, then he brought hisst soul fragment and fused it with the tree. The tree has been prepared for this because of the Origin essence bead it had absorbed for its growth. The origin essence bead contained his soul marks which inadvertently changed the structure of the tree to suit his soul. The soul slowly approached the tree heart of the life tree and fused with it. Legion absorbed all the soul essence balls of light and sent the energy across the universe artifact to all his soul fragments. The life tree started shining as the soul within it healed at a rapid rate and took over the budding consciousness of the tree. After a while, the light from the tree subsided with the end of the possession. He didn''t need the balls of light to heal his soul fragments, his Origin essence would do but it was a wee addition. His mind began to be flooded with sensations from the other 8 bodies.


    "For the finishing touches." he brought out a divinity vessel full of 1000 points of divinity. He fused it with the tree and his nowplete soul within the tree will refine the vessel before absorbing it. He ns to explore the path of divinity with this tree.


    "We are Legion." echoed across all the 9 minds of Legion. The other souls got busy, while the first mind, the original mind thought "What do I do now?" Then his senses picked up something.


    "They came after all". He said with a grin.


    Chapter 47: Fearless.


    NAME: Legion One


    RACE: World Beast


    BLOODLINE: Royal World Beast


    POWER LEVEL: Origin God


    PHYSIQUE: Origin Body


    HP: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    ENERGY (SOUL ENERGY ): 1


    VITALITY: 1


    ENDURANCE: 1


    STRENGTH: 1


    AGILITY: 1


    PERCEPTION: 1


    SPIRIT: 1


    DIVINE SENSE: 36,917(GRADE C)<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    CONCEPTS:


    LIFE (COMPLETE)


    REBIRTH (INCOMPLETE)


    FLAMES OF DEATH (INCOMPLETE)


    FLAMES OF LIFE (INCOMPLETE)


    LAWS


    Life: 100%


    Earth: 100%


    Water: 100%


    Air: 100%


    Death: 100%


    Fire: 100%


    Light: 1.2%


    Darkness: 1.1%


    Space: 1.2%


    ughter: 73.5%


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 70%


    LAW AFFINITY: 70%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY: Space.


    STATUS: Healthy and Ecstatic.


    Legion one brought out his status screen as soon as his body was done constructing.


    "It seems the earlier error has been fixed. The size of the continent in my inner world has changed too." He was happy to see the changes. The overall size of his body didn''t change after the reconstruction but the fundamentalponents of his body had undergone a tremendous transformation. The density of his flesh has changed into something living flesh shouldn''t be. He now has ten horns that adorned his head like a crown, there are swirling runes over the surface of his body. These runes are like dragon scales except they aren''t physical and aren''t touching his skin, they just hung a short distance above his skin. These runes are anti-magic runes. They provide the surface of his body with an absurd magical defense. They don''t do anything for physical damage resistance but this is more than enough to fix the weakness of low magical resistance. The body of a normal world beast has incredible physical defense much less his specially augmented body.


    "My stats underwent a reset. It doesn''t matter. It is a good thing. It will signify my new beginning." Legion one said. Another change in his status is the amodation of more than one concept. Unlike sovereigns, Origin gods are capable of wielding and fusing numerous concepts. This makes them far above sovereigns.


    "Let me see what I can transform into," he said before shrinking his body. His huge body started shrinking until it was just a humanoid figure about 10 meters tall. He transformed from a gigantic whale into a creature with 6 eyes and a single mouth on its head, two arms and two legs, a finned tail, and a regal crown of horns on his head. He has 3 pairs of eyes, no nose, and a grinning mouth that was showing too many teeth. His eye had purple pupils against a ck background. The dark runes across his skin made him look demonic and had also taken on a purple hue due to its high concentration. All the power of hisrge and uncoordinated body had been condensed into his smallpact form. His mass remained the same causing the density of his body to skyrocket, his body was made into something with the quality of a top-grade artifact. World beasts are beasts that focus on their bodies, the fact that Legion had spent quite a significant amount of resources that normal world beasts don''t get to reconstruct his body made his body highly destructive. He also possesses unparalleled regenerative ability because of his mastery of thew of life. When the body was just at the titan level the full force of the punch of a one-star origin god had only scratched him. His Origin body had be even more terrifying and may not need his regenerative ability at all. Thepression also increased his physical defense by almost 100 times while his magical defense increased only 10 times. His formerly absurd magical defense had now be inconceivable. He felt the rush of power through his body andmented "I don''t think I am invincible among origin gods but I should not be far off from the level of a 3-star origin god." Then he turned towards the direction he had felt the intention to kill him.


    The best way to test his actualbat ability is to engage in battle. He had the home advantage too so the possibility of losing is low, he could always run if things turned bad but he doubted it woulde to that. His current strength filled him with so much confidence that he felt he could trample the world.


    "Time to deal with some pests." He grinned, the line for his mouth separated into a smile that resembled that of a shark''s. World beasts be predators when they be origin gods.

 Chapter 43 You And What Army?

    ?Legion one saw a stone skin origin god approach him. He waited patiently for the origin god to approach but when he was a distance from him the origin god stopped and asked.


    "Did you kill some stone-skin juniors 11 days ago?"


    "Yes, I did. What about it?"


    "So it is you. You pretended to be weak to hunt some juniors."


    "What''s is it to you? What is the matter with all this chit-chat? Are you fighting or not?" Legion one asked impatiently, he truly didn''t understand the sort of allegations he was being used of, but he didn''t care anyway. The strong are supposed to eat the weak. He just wanted to fight and vent so this guy came at the right time.


    "I killed all of them so what? What are you going to do about it?" He asked unworried. He wasn''t worried at all because he would be able to escape and it would be difficult to kill him as an origin god-level world beast.


    The origin god facing him turned gloomy. Legion one could perceive the face of the man fall because of his disregard for him, but he was also trying to measure the worth of his opponent.


    It is very difficult to determine the strength of an opponent at the origin god-level especially if the person is not doing anything. This difficulty bes exaggerated because of the wide range of the power level of origin gods, from one-star to fifteen-star and beyond, there is almost no limit.


    It is even more difficult to estimate the prowess of origin gods that focus on their bodies. Unlike those that nurture their souls, those that nurture their bodies are like dormant volcanoes, you won''t know what they are packing until they hit you.


    Identification of power levels can be achieved if you have detection abilities like some ocr energy seeing ability. But whatever the case might be, Legion was not afraid. "Strong or not, I''ll either fight or I''ll run. No one can stop me from running" He thought reassuringly.


    "I''ll make you pay," the origin god said through gritted teeth.


    "You and what army?" Legion oneughed.


    He does''t think much of this guy, but then his expression changed from aughing one to a careful one. His six eyes blinked to ascertain the sight he had just seen.


    Unlike other races that couldn''t see in the void, a world beast''s six eyes have been adapted to the absence of light. So when perception from his other senses fails him, his eyes wouldn''t.


    He could see many figures zing in energy through his energy vision and he realized he was being surrounded. The figures had used cloaking devices to mask their presence but he could still see the powering off of them as they came closer, they were like touches in the dark.


    "Ah, shit" he cursed then he turned tail.


    "You coward, don''t you dare run." The origin god that was distracting him said when he realized the ruse was up. He stopped pretending and chased after the evil, sneaky, and conniving world beast that ate almost 100 origin cycles worth of effort in raising their precious descendants into sovereigns.


    Legion one ran. He ran for his dear life. It wasn''t a matter of pride but a matter of life and death. When he boasted about being nearly unbeatable by an origin god in the early stages, he only meant in one-on-one fights.


    "Cheating, sly bastards." he cursed.


    "You guys have no honor. Why don''t you face me in a single row and I''ll show you what true strength is." he broadcasted widely.


    "You are the shameless bastard without honor. How dare you nder us?" Someone sent back, fuming with intense anger.


    Legion one had run in the opposite direction, even though someone was blocking him from escaping in that direction, thankfully the blockade hadn''t been finished so he had the confidence of escaping if he could get past the origin god before him.


    Soon he drew near enough to identify the person blocking him. It was a female in some sort of armor, she had her hair tied in a bun on her head and was less than half his height. Legion didn''t underestimate her so he mustered all his strength within his body and punched out.


    His opponent was undaunted, she faced the punch calmly and punched out too. Their fists met in the void, there was no explosion of energy at all, Legion one''s fist continued unabated and went through her arm and shoulder. Her right side was sted apart.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The female was shocked and so was Legion one but he didn''t wait to chat. He had left their circle of confinement, he wasn''t about to let himself be surrounded again. But before he left he dropped a snidement.


    "What are you made of, some twigs or a bag of dried bones. Hahaha." Then he was gone.


    He couldn''t teleport yet because he wasn''t that proficient in spacews. He could only speed up by manipting space. He does this by merging with space and letting it push him forward. It was not a full merging but it would do for now.


    Behind him, the female stone-skinned had stopped. Her wounds were already healing, she was visibly regenerating lost flesh. She would be fine and dandy in a few seconds. If he had used a magical attack, that kind of damage isn''t something that could be healed easily but he didn''t use his spells because he wasn''t sure of his spell powerpared to his body.


    Also, world beasts hardly use spells to fight, they rely on their body more. He would have to be content with making her lose a lot of vitality.


    "Quartzite, how are you?" The first guy that approached Legion one met up with thedy and asked in concern.


    "I am fine. But that world beast is special. Its body is too strong. It destroyed my body and my high-grade armor in one hit."


    "I saw," the man said "his body isparable to top-grade treasures. We must get him. He will pay for his transgressions with his flesh."


    He informed the rest of his group about the significance of this hunt. And so a ten-decades-long pursuit started. The severity of this pursuit is a result of some events that transpired from the moment he killed that origin god.


    Some days ago somewhere in the upper realm very close to the entry point of the realm of high heaven. On one of the numerous floating continents. This continent is the image of a picturesque paradise.


    It is a true paradise to origin gods not because of its beautifulndscape but because of the abundance of origin energy and the librating atmosphere that origin gods crave for.


    To them, this atmosphere is the opportunity to scratch their previously unable-to-reach itch. This particr continent belongs to the stone skin race of high heaven.


    In a particr room in one of the towering castles, the stone skin race has built for themselves. This room is safe, the entire room has been fortified with defensive arrays, formtions, and barriers. At the center of the room, is a soul fragment ced within a soul nurturing array.


    This particr soul-nurturing array is sub-par because it is powered by High-grade origin stones instead of soul stones. A good soul-nurturing array will be powered by soul stones, or at least, top-grade origin stones. The ideal soul-nurturing array will be powered by beads of Origin essence.


    There is a sudden sh of light within the soul-nurturing array. The inactive soul fragment started to move. It changed shape from an irregr form into the form of a little stone man. This form ispletely identical to the novice origin god stone skin junior that was eaten by Legion one.


    After a few minutes, the soul form gains rity and opened its eyes. Terror could be seen within the eyes of the soul form but soon the terror changed to hatred followed by determination.


    The soul form grabbed into the void to retrieve hismunicator from his personal space. He then sent the information about the entire series of events including images and urate descriptions to a contact of his within themunicator.


    The series of actions made the soul form dim down before it fell into slumber. The soul array couldn''t replenish the soul fast enough to maintain its consciousness.


    In another building on the same continent. This particr building is different from the tower, it is a castle meant for luxury living. This castle has more than a thousand floors.


    The external dimension of each floor is at a height of 10m, a breadth of 100m, and a length of 1000m. But the space within is easily twice what it looked like from the outside.


    This modest space of each floor is because the Origin gods of the stone skin race are average-sized, they don''t reach 2m in height, there is also the incredible difficulty of enchanting a building with ten thousand floors to have such internal space for each floor.


    Suddenly a voice filled with rage shouted from within this particr room. "You are so dead."

 Chapter 44 Thirst For Vengeance.

    ?The shout of rage rang out and reverberated loudly but the sound waves didn''t escape the confines of the floor. The floor from which the shout originated was within the lower half of the castle. It belonged to an origin god who was the father of the novice origin god.


    This origin god is called Stonehage. He had only been able to sire just two children throughout the long length of his life. The fact that high-level lifeforms have difficulty having offspring coupled with his race''s low fertility made propagating his bloodline very difficult. His two kids were his pride and joy.


    One of them became an origin god recently and the other just became a sovereign. He had been lucky to have them when he was younger and his wife was still alive. His wife died within the tower of heaven, so he was left with his two kids.


    They are good kids and both doing well but now he only has one left and that one is even near death. How could he not be angry when he found out that his sons and some other juniors were tricked into their death?


    Stonehage held hismunicator in his trembling hands. His anger threatened to cause him to explode. It took a lot of effort and self-restraint before he could calm down.


    "A shameless senior tricking and bullying some juniors. He will pay." He said with steely determination.


    It is true that in the upper realms sovereigns without sufficient protection are up for grabs, he wouldn''t have minded if his children''s deaths happened in the upper realm. That would count as his fault for failing to protect them. If they had stupidly approached an origin god world beast to hunt it and it had cost them their lives, it would be their fault.


    But no, the devious world beast hadid low and pretended to be weak. It didn''t move when they came close to it, it lured them in until they were too close to escape, then it ate them all in one bite.


    The descendants of his race had underestimated the strength of the beast and had paid for it with their lives.


    Stonehage was incensed. He opened hismunicator and sent a call out for help. Soon people starteding to his floor. He shared the message his son sent to him.


    "Does this beast not know they belong to the stone skin race?"


    "How dare he?"


    "This is a disrespect to our race."


    "He must pay."


    "To dare to trick the juniors of our race."


    "Ten sovereigns gone and an origin god injured."


    "Such guts."


    "He must not get away with such a crime."


    The origin gods present became angry and they called more people toe. Their numbers reached 60 before they stopped increasing. Unlike other races that may not be emotionally attached to their children too much, the stone race is extraordinarily attached to theirs.


    They have a low poption so they have to be protective of their young ones. The ind that they upy is for their entire race. Some other races will upy this much space with just one family.


    "Let us go."


    "We will teach this beast a lesson it will never forget."


    They made preparations and set out. It took them some time to get to the scene of the crime, about a day. Legion one was long gone by then.


    "Spread out. Let''s search for him for 10 days. If we can''t find him by then we will return."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They spread out in search of Legion one. Everyone knew that the chances of finding that particr beast were low. Even though they had a thorough description of the world beast, it was a hopeless case.


    The void was just too big. They were hoping the beast would still be around, this hope stemmed from the need for vengeance. Knowledgeable people know that the stone skin race valued each member of their race and wouldn''t allow them to be bullied.


    Even races that don''t particrly care about their young will not like such underserved wanton ughter, not to talk of the stone skin race and their famously low fertility.


    Legion one had truly gone far and it was difficult for them to search in the unfavorable void. But on the 10th-day providence shown on them, one of them noticed a massive energy signature a way off.


    He was able to trace it to the source and found a world beast. He was filled with anger the moment he found that the aura of the beast matched the description they had. A world beast with a weak aura and low vitality.


    "It probably does this a lot. It will lure innocent juniors over with that burst of energy, then he would eat them. But today retribution hase for you, it will be delivered by the hand of I, Mggg?as. You will die today." The origin god informed the others and they started to converge at his location.


    Then suddenly the beast started to morph, it reduced its size and looked toward his location.


    "Hmm, he found me. No matter. He will die today. I''ll distract it so that we can surround it." And so he approached Legion one to distract him.


    That led to their present chase. Even though origin gods can make High-grade artifacts, there is disparity within this grade in terms of quality. Some high-grade origin artifacts are better than others. Top-grade artifacts are the best artifacts beneath universe artifacts.


    Top-grade artifacts are so rare that origin gods don''t usually have anything to do with it. Such is the allure of Legion one to his pursuers. To them, their juniors, sons, and daughters were already dead and can''t be brought back, but a material to make a top-grade artifact is right in front of them.


    As time went on you would think the number of his pursuers will reduce but it was the opposite. They kept calling for reinforcements partly due to the slippery nature of Legion one and mostly due to his bad mouth.


    Legion used to be a high elf, they are a ssy and elegant race. But Gehald is no more, only Legion remains, and Legion is the expression of his obsession. He had stopped holding himself back, he had achieved his great n with surplus but he isn''t content yet. He intends to break more universal rules so why would he conform to societal rules.


    "You slowpokes. What happened to you. Haven''t eaten enough?" Legion one would jeer at them once in a while.


    "You can''t chase me forever," he shouted with his divine sense.


    And he was right. Creatures that are not originally from the void find it very difficult to live within it. The chaotic void energy is something that will kill anything below the level of a sovereign, so even though origin gods can do as they please within it, there is a limit to how long they canst.


    Origin gods will find it extra difficult to use spells within the chaotic void because void energy is not as tame as origin energy. Only origin gods with powerful souls or strong physical bodies can maintain activity inside the void for a long period, but they would still need to repel the chaotic energy which will constantly sap their mental strength.


    Creatures that have adapted to the void are called void creatures. The most important aspect of this adaptation is the ability of void beasts to subsist on void energy instead of being eroded. Some of them like the world beasts have arge part of their body made from void energy which gives them their toughness.


    They will also have a speed and escaping advantage in the void because it is the original environment. It is likeparing the swimming speed ofnd animals inside the water to that of fishes. Even though he is slower than other world beasts at his level, his speed isn''t something the stone skin race canpare to.


    So they can''t use the physical strength they have to injure him, they can only use magical attacks which they are bad at, in an environment that doesn''t favor it, against his agile and fleeing body. All these things make him a difficult target.


    Their spells don''t even tickle him, his purplish-ck anti-magic runes made from condensed chaotic void energy repel magic spells. While they are getting tired he is eating the void energy around him to replenish his strength.


    World beasts are originally void grazers who feed on the void energy around them, but that all changes when they be origin gods. They be void predators within the void.


    All of these reasons made him carefree during the chase. He had been anxious at first but when he realized they couldn''t do anything to him he rxed. His mouth continued to spew insults and abuse at them while his Origin soul within the inner world chose to concentrate onprehending thews of space.

 Chapter 45 Protagonist of the era.

    Chapter 45 Protagonist of the era.


    ?Within the realm of high heaven, in the tower of heaven. In the throne room of the realm lord. A few minutes ago something had awoken the realm lord from his meditation. He checked the source of the disturbance and he smiled.


    "So you are Legion now. Good for you" he was truly happy with the development. Then his eyes took on a thoughtful look. "Maybe I am not the protagonist of the world," he said before shaking his head.


    "It''s good for you but you don''t know. You don''t know anything at all."


    "If there are those that reward breaking the rules, then there must be those that punish breaking the rules."


    "It seems to be a trial, but it is all a game. It is a game that only the strong can get the chance enough to see its ending"


    Then his eyes lit up as he said.


    "Anyways, you can at least be my shield for the time being. I''ll soon finish the quest to reach the world god level. I wonder what my reward will be. I should also get a legendary point for creating another record."


    "I''ll be a lot stronger soon. Then maybe I will be able to control my fate."


    He closed his eyes and continued to meditate. He had found out about the changes to Gehald, his achievement, and his reward of a universe artifact. Mother High Heaven had told him about the achievement and its reward, he had found out about the change from Gehald to Legion.


    He doesn''t know much about the universe artifact because mother High Heaven didn''t know much about it either, and she wouldn''t tell him the core secrets of her children even if she knew about it. She only told him because of some special circumstances between him and her.


    It''s not like she could hide much from him anyway, he hayd his surveince system. Even though he could only set it up with her permission and he had to share his information with her, it was still wonderful. With it, he could collect useful data and monitor the uncountable residents of the realm of high heaven.


    Monarch High Heaven didn''t be jealous or yearn for the sphere that Legion acquired. Apart from the fact that he couldn''t use the information he stole to bring harm to the people of high heaven, he could also deduce that its function is to convert clones to main bodies which isn''t an ability he covets.


    Every realm lord can make clones, the clones are the best quality and resemble him in every way. Realm lords can even make more than one, the number depends on the strength of their realm tree.


    So even though his main body can only sit within the realm because of his enemies, his clones continue to wreak havoc in the upper realm, making more enemies for him. Some people have sworn to kill him if he so much as stepped out of his realm but they know he wouldn''t.


    Realm lords don''t leave their realm with their main body unless they be confident in their strength. Only some terrifying people can barge into a realm tree and leave with the head of a realm lord, but those terrifying people are far too few in the void universe.


    As for him, he will only step out of the realm until he has power on par with those terrifying enemies. His enemies require no less from him before he can protect his life. But for now, he will continue to hide and damage them from afar.


    Let''s go back to the moment when the seven soul fragments were reincarnated. The souls were hurled across the void in outer space and then across a vast distance within the High Heaven realm.


    Even though the souls were Origin souls they were almost wiped out, if not for the toughening of the souls with divinity they wouldn''t have made it. By the time they reached their target, they were not small crystal balls the size of a fist anymore but tiny balls of light the size of the nail of a thumb.


    They had reduced in size so much and lost so much strength that they wouldn''t be able to do anything if their destination had a soul. But thank Mother High Heaven that the bodies they possessed were empty. The bodies were iplete too.


    Everything was going as it should be. It should be dark and warm, the souls will be too weak to do anything right that moment. But it wasn''t a problem, after a while the Origin essence bead they brought with them will passively strengthen the souls until they gain consciousness, then they would be able to be active in pursuing their aims.


    There was just a small change. Something had suddenly appeared with the soul fragments and from it, all the souls could feel fear radiating, they could feel that the fear came from the original soul.


    Legion two could feel the fear and anxiety rolling over from Legion one. His nascent consciousness couldn''t understand why but he too felt uneasy. Then just as abruptly as the fear came it left. Then regret and self-hatred started radiating out from the small ball inside his soul.


    After that came eptance, indignance, and determination. It was a roller coaster of emotions to something that just gained sentience. Legion two couldn''t perceive thoughts yet, or maybe it just didn''t understand them, the only thing he could tell apart from one another was emotions.


    The ball was calm for a while before he suddenly felt pain as if he had been hit, but he couldn''t tell the source of the pain. The pain disappeared just as it appeared, then came anger, followed by the confusion whichsted for a short while, then everything became calm again.


    After a while came happiness and satisfaction followed by a burst of soul essence. The soul essence made Legion two heal rapidly. In a short length of seconds, he had healed enough to have full consciousness.


    With full consciousness came the transmission of thoughts, images, and emotions from Legion one. His sentence "Now for the finishing touches" was transmitted to Legion two and with it the image of a towering tree. This image invoked the very first individual thought that Legion two would have.


    "What a huge tree, that must be Legion nine''s body. That lucky bastard." This sentence was an opening in a dam, individual thoughts and emotions started generating in quick session.


    "Let Us Begin" all the souls echoed as one mind, and their identities were set in stone.


    Legion two now had enough strength to screen out the irrelevant thingsing over from the ball. The transmission of thoughts, images, actions, emotions, and information from all the other members of Legion didn''t stop, they are just relegated to the background.


    "Now to get busy" Legion two said as he rubbed the hands of his soul form together.


    "What this?" he asked confused. He noticed that he had undergone two changes. The first change is soul type. He noticed his soul didn''t look like an origin god''s soul.


    It still has the level of power of an origin god but it has undergone crystallization. And there is also his soul form, it should look like Gehald or at least have a high elf form but he had the form of a battle sage monkey.


    "Did you guys experience this?" Legion two asked the others.


    "Yeah."


    "Me too."


    "Sure."


    "I was initially shocked like you."


    "It seems we truly reincarnated."


    "What about you, Legion one?"


    "I''m good for now, but I can feel my soul form changing too."


    "Into what?"


    "To my humanoid world beast form"


    "Really?"


    "Wow."


    Legion two disconnected at this point. He gave his soul form onest one over. A normal origin soul will take the form of the body and will feel like flesh to the touch. His soul form didn''t look like the others so he was unique in that aspect.


    But one thing that ismon to all the souls that reincarnated is the texture of their soul form. He looked like he was made from liquid metal, the soul was hard like crystal and not malleable like flesh.


    "That''s that. Now let me have a look at my new body." He turned his attention to his body and swept every inch of it with his divine sense.


    It was a round ball of cells and energy about to take form. Legion two could feel two connections to his soul form. One of them connected him to the body while the other connected him to his origin core.


    "The origin core sure is mysterious." he thought to himself.


    The origin core is a special center of power for all living things. All life possesses an origin core or another. Ites into being just as life is formed. It isn''t untilter that the soul forms. Some life forms won''t even form souls, either because they aren''t capable of sentience or they decided to make do with an iplete consciousness within the Origin core.

 Chapter 46 Realm Racial Ranking And Potential.

    ?The body, soul or consciousness, and the origin core are the three centers of power in the void universe. Every organism must have at least one of them from thergest creatures to the smallest invisible creatures and it is generally epted that the Origin core is the most powerful center of power.


    Creatures within the universe gain power by strengthening the body, followed by the soul, and finally the origin core. The path of perfection embodies this endeavor and aims to achieve perfection through the fusion of the three centers of power into a single entity.


    Creatures with only a body can only achieve the mana body state of evolution. Those with a body and soul can reach the level of transcendent on the path of perfection. It is only those with an origin that can be origin gods and achieve true immortality.


    Gehald doesn''t know what perfection is or what kind of power can be achieved when it is achieved, but he does know that the space within the Origin core, the origin realm, is infinite.


    "Could the end of the path of perfection be to be infinite too?" he thought. Then he shook his head. It sounded inconceivable and improbable.


    "Wouldn''t one be all-knowing and all-powerful then?"


    The idea of such a power seemed ludicrous but he wasn''t discouraged. He was pumped instead.


    "If there is a small chance of achieving it then Legion will achieve it. I''ll have the world at my fingertips. What''s not to like?" He became lost in his fantasy.


    His thoughts were also being transmitted to the other minds and they became lost in their dreams.


    "I want it. I want it so bad. If it exists, it will be ours. It will belong to Legion." Legion two dered and the others echoed in agreement. He turned his attention to his body again. From his earlier scan, he had noticed fragments ofws. Two areas on his body even had traces of concepts ofw, this is the power of Titans ofw. Only titans ofw have begun to grasp the power of the concepts ofws.


    "This must be the bloodline." He mused.


    "But it is too faint. I must have reincarnated into a body with an ordinary background. Just my luck." He shook his head, but he was prepared for this.


    In the high heaven realm, there are different connotations for the various standings and strengths of a race. There are some races called divine races, this is because the members of that race possess a divine racial ability.


    Most races, if not all races in high heaven, possess a racial ability, talent, or some sort of advantage unique to them. Survival of the fittest created this oue, weak races have no chance of survival unless they are enved by others. Only then can they co-exist with a strong race.


    For a race to be epted as being divine is because their racial ability made them god-like in that time of inter-race warfare. Their ability put them well ahead of others in the race for survival.


    If a ne doesn''t have a divine race, mother High will determine if the races present have potential or not. If they are found wanting, the ne will be scraped and it will be inactive.


    She has her method of evaluation which mostly consists of battle strength, wit, intelligence, growth over time, etc to determine the potential of a race.


    But if a ne has a special race, with a unique and powerful ability, the ne will be spared from decline. It is a good thing and a bad thing. It is a bad thing for the weaker races in that ne because they would either be wiped out or enved. It is a good thing for all the races in that ne because they wouldn''t be wiped out.


    There is seldom a scenario where they are able to exist equally with the divine race, no matter what, the divine race will be the hegemon of the ne. Strength is the basis for an equal corporation.


    Then there are royal races. For a race to be a royal race, it must produce an origin god. This is because an origin god means the appearance of a royal bloodline. A royal bloodline isn''t something to scoff at.


    An organism will start to change subtly from the very beginning on the path of perfection, sometimes obviously and other times drastically. This change makes an individual different gically from the other members of his race until the level of a titan ofw.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    At this point, the person gains a body ofw which makes the person unique in all of existence. But this uniqueness is not inheritable until the person finishes the path of perfection and bes an origin god, then a royal bloodline is born.


    It is called a royal bloodline because of its effect on a race as a whole. A royal bloodline affects the potential and talent of its offspring, and just like Dragons, those of pure bloodline all have the potential of reaching sovereignty. This means that the appearance of an origin god leads to a steady production of sovereigns, hence why the race bes a royal race.


    The effect of the bloodline is far-reaching, even after generations of dilution, it will still improve the talent of their offspring. The royal bloodline is eternal, it mighty dormant but it will never disappear.


    You might expect less talented races to be able to catch up with other more talented races with the arrival of a royal bloodline but that isn''t the case. This is because there is a high chance for divine races to be royal races ahead of other races, this makes their advantage even bigger.


    Their abilities be exaggerated and their strength widens. Some of the divine races whose abilities have some weaknesses or shorings will have them fixed. This often leads to the races with a poor potential being wiped out, they aren''t given the chance to reach their maximum potential at all.


    So, even though a royal bloodline can increase the potential of a race to that of Dragons, for those that are already powerful, a royal bloodline gives them wings. Either way, a royal bloodline is always weed in any race.


    Legion two looked over thew fragments. They are few in number and thin in quality. He is sure his bloodline is far from the purity required for the awakening of a royal bloodline.


    A royal bloodline will express itself in the form of an iplete body ofw. The effect might be less than 1% of the real body ofw but it will have the potential to grow into aplete one.


    A direct descendant of an origin god might even have a seed of power within his origin core if the origin god puts effort into conception. That will mean the child will be a sovereign with time.


    Even if the origin god doesn''t put much effort into conception, the child should have a trace of concepts ofw he mastered, which will be of great assistance to the child in bing a titan ofw and subsequently a sovereign. It will just take longer.


    Legion two looked at the locations of the concept within his body.


    "Should be the eyes. But it isn''t from the bloodline."


    There are cases where the offsprings of certain races possess a trace of concepts. These ur only in divine races. This trace of concept is the source of their divine ability.


    While other ordinary races gain racial abilities through evolutionary advantage, divine races are lucky to have thews of the universe taint them from birth. This urs through the connection between the body and the origin core.


    It is exceedingly umon for this connection to affect the body but in some rare cases, the origin core affects the body and the body gains a divine ability.


    This is how divine races are born, their offspring gain their ability from birth.


    In the case of the battle sage monkeys, the effect their bodies have when it is connected to the origin core urs in their eyes. In the early stages, their eyes are only capable of tracking the tiniest movement and spotting the smallest change within their sight.


    Then as they be stronger they be capable of predicting motion and when they dig into this ability using the power ofws they be able to see a little bit into the future.


    They gain the ability of foresight or prediction. Their simple ability bes something that helps them to see into the possible future for a short instant. It helps the really powerful ones to make favorable decisions, the ability to tell a position or negative oue will be a gut feeling to them.


    The members of the battle sage beast be terrifying when they be origin gods, it is then that their ability truly bes divine.

 Chapter 47 Concepts And Laws.

    ?All divine races be a force to be reckoned with as they grow stronger. The advantages of their ability berger while the disadvantages be weaker until it disappearspletely.


    For example, in the Gemini race, their divine ability gives them a lot of advantages, but one of them mustn''t die or all of it disappears. The death of a single twin will lead to the death of the other.


    But when they be origin gods, this disadvantagepletely disappears and another advantage takes its ce. When one of the pair of Gemini origin gods is killed, he can resurrect quickly with the aid of his twin and will not experience memory loss.


    While other origin gods will take months to recuperate and regenerate their bodies, a Gemini pair can restore one another within a day at the same cost. It truly makes one bemoan their unlucky fate if one doesn''t have an equally outrageous ability.


    The possession of a divine ability could be the difference between victory and defeat when origin gods fight. The only thing that can emte divine abilities and breach the gap somewhat are powerful origin artifacts, but they are very expensive and difficult to make.


    "Nothing can beat a universe treasure, with it Legion will eventually be overpowered," Legion two said as he looked at the sphere in his soul.


    The sphere is round and about the size of a bead of origin essence. It doesn''t seem to exist in the same corporeal dimension as the body, so it couldn''t be physically interacted with, and yet it is dormant spiritually.


    It just does its thing. Sometimes the runes on it light up when energy is being transmitted over but other times it just rotates silently.


    Gehald had selected seven special races to reincarnate into. He chose the battle sage monkeys for the divine ability that ranges from high visual acuity to limited foresight. But with the sphere in his soul, he would be able to do more than that.


    He would be able to use his powerful soul to influence his origin core to improve the concept in his eyes and strengthen his bloodline. He began releasing the Origin essence he had within him to the location of the eye.


    The origin essence strengthened the concept in the eye and thew fragments in his bloodline by pulling more of them from the Origin core. This pulling force is mutual, so he couldn''t recover the Origin essence that he used, it became trapped within the Origin core.


    He isn''t worried though, the origin essence isn''t lost but willter help him to condense his seed of power. He maintained a steady trickle of essence outflow which resulted in the congregation of origin energy towards his location.


    He wouldn''t have been able to do this because, in his original n, his soul would still be weak and would have missed out on this reformative stage of his new body.


    The Origin essence bead he carried will only improve him passively, but the soul sphere allowed his soul to be healed ahead of time so he is able to actively improve his divine ability. He sensed the changes within his body as Origin essence flowed.


    "This divine ability is truly wonderful. Are all divine abilities like this?" He marveled because of the steady stream of different types ofw fragments that were converging towards his eyes.


    He has never seen something like this before. Concepts are the physical manifestation of the understanding of thews. Titans ofw need a sliver of it to create their body ofw. Sovereigns use concepts to condense their seed of power.


    It is not enough toprehend thews of the universe, you need to master them. And to master it, you will need to use your understanding ofws to create a physical manifestation ofws. Concepts are more powerful than the normal use ofws because no matter how proficient a person is at usingws, it is ultimately borrowed power. The fact that concepts are physical makes them easier to usepared to ephemeralws. They are physical and easily essible.


    Concepts can bepared to a very powerful divine ability, it is why royal bloodlines are special, it is capable of making a race gain a divine ability.


    The thing about concepts is that they could be condensed from more than onew, and the samew can condense different types of concepts. For example, the concept of ice or the concept of freezing can be condensed from thew of water, someone can even take it far and condense the concept of time stop.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    You would expect a concept like that of time stop with the ability to stop the activity of all things within a certain space and time to be condensed from thew of time, but the person that condensed time stop understood the state of ultimate freezing.


    He or she understood that freezing is bringing things to aplete stop. For sure the concept of time stop will be several times more difficult to condense than the concept of ice. The concept of time stop will be more powerful if it is condensed from thew of time instead of thew of water.


    Another example is the nirvana mes of phoenixes, it has been confirmed to be a concept condensed from thews of fire and life but people still fail to replicate it, the best they have achieved is a me that targets creatures aligned with death.


    In the past, when Gehald was a sovereign he had condensed a seed of power he named Life. It is a result of his understanding of lifews to be the state of not being dead. He had made a body ofw from that concept which made it difficult to kill him, with time he cane back from within an inch of death without external assistance because of the high vitality of his body.


    His concept could also suppress the healing factor or the life force of the body of others. So concepts vary, their power varies, and the number ofws they are based on varies.


    But with all his years of experience and knowledge, which admittedly is shorter than most, he has never heard of a concept made from more than 6ws.


    Even that is rumored to have been condensed by the realm lord. The norm is a maximum of 3ws but he could see more than 8w fragments. He could only recognize thew fragments of fire, water, earth, air, light, darkness, space, and time. Law fragments are the basic physical manifestation ofws, they makeup concepts and can be inherited through certain bloodlines. Concepts, in turn, make up the world.


    "It can''t be, right?" He said with uncertainty.


    A concept based on so manyws is unheard of for him. He couldn''t make heads or tails of it even after thinking about it for months. He started to consider bringing the issue to a high level of priority within Legion.


    He is hesitating because it isn''t exactly a bad situation. It was just umon and he wasn''t Omniscient so there are a lot of things he doesn''t know. But he was beaten to it while he was still undecided.


    "Hey, guys I have a serious situation here. My concept is more than threews." one of the other minds called for attention for the same reason. After a while of gauging and assessing the situation, they found a usible exnation.


    "Ooh so that''s it"


    The 9 minds of Legion conversed and were finally able to ascertain the reason for the phenomenon. The seven reincarnated minds also experienced some sort of deviation during the process of strengthening their bloodlines.


    "It''s the reaction between the Origin core and origin essence," Legion two said with his eyes aglow.


    They had just discovered that the origin realm within the core contained all thews in existence. It was previously unknown because fetuses rarely pay attention to that sort of thing. The thought of the power one would get by bing one with thews made Legion excited. Their longing for such power increased again.


    "For a start, I have to figure out what this concept is or I can forget about bing a titan much less omnipotent," he said with determination.


    The situation of the concept was out of his expectations but it isn''t bad. It had given him a glimpse of what perfection could be. His eyes are currently on the way to achieving perfection way ahead of other parts of his being.


    It is a boon and also a mountain to surmount. For starters, he has to figure out how and why this concept of his, is made up of the fusion of 8ws or he won''t even be able to be a titan ofw. Only after bing an origin god will Legion as a whole be able to benefit from his reincarnation and create the ultimate ability.

 Chapter 48 What Is Taking So Long?

    ?Legion two is getting frustrated. He couldn''t tell the time in the womb because time seemed to move erratically within it. The strength of his soul is currently too weak to extend his divine sense out of the womb to sense the passage of time.


    He has the means to rapidly recover his soul strength, but it will be detrimental to the development of his new body. He allowed his soul to remain weak intentionally because his body is currently too weak to house a strong soul, he would have to take things step by step.


    For now, he only knew he had two neighbors. Thankfully, he hadn''t lost the track of time because Legion one could keep track of time, so he knew that more than 10 years had passed since he was in the womb.


    "What the hell is going on? How is it taking so long?" Legion two sighed in frustration.


    He didn''t think he would spend so much time in the womb and hadn''t been prepared for it. He had nothing to do because he had finished with the development of his bloodline and the concept in his eyes six years ago. There is nothing more to do, so he had been eagerly waiting for the time he would be born.


    He isn''t the only one confused and frustrated. In the real world, outside the womb, his mother and father are also confused.


    "Ghoto, you should eat." A pregnant battle sage monkey said to a distraught male battle sage monkey.


    She had snowy white fur and was d in a simple flowing dress that amodated her bulging belly. She pushed a te of fruit slices over to him. But he only took a short nce at the food before he sighed again.


    These two battle sages will be the future parents of Legion two. They are currently in their dining room eating dinner. The house they are living in is a part of a gigantic structure built on a forest of trees.


    "Worrying won''t help, eat." the pregnant mother demanded this time.


    "I don''t want to eat Mih. I don''t feel like eating. How are you still eating in these dire circumstances?" The male battle sage monkey refused her.


    He has bright blue fur and was wearing a runic armor that flowed across the surface of his body.


    "It isn''t dire. I think it is a good thing." Mih insisted.


    "How can it be a good thing? They are taking too long."


    "It isn''t unprecedented." Mih continued unfazed.


    "But that''s for those with royal bloodlines. We don''t have the royal bloodline so there''s no way they have it."


    "It is probably atavism."


    "What are the chances of that?"


    The two of them exchanged back and forth, but Mih maintained an optimistic standpoint. This isn''t the first time they will be having this argument, and her husband isn''t the only person that had expressed concerns.


    Her husband''s family doesn''t have much hope for her pregnancy. It is simply taking too much time, so people are of the opinion that her pregnancy has problems. Things would be better if she were with her family, but she is staying at the ancestral home of her husband.


    In fact, the entire city belongs to the Ghastorix family, the family of her husband. Mih''s mother and father aren''t here to console her, she is surrounded by wolves and tigers instead.


    The matter of her pregnancy has had far-reaching implications. It has gone from the pregnancy of some unknown couple into the talk of the entire Ghastorix Royal Family.


    She had married from a smaller family into her husband''s family. She was just a little-known talented battle sage before. She didn''t have any bloodline, this was the only thing that made her stand out in the past but the issue of her pregnancy had made her famous now. It has even drawn the attention of their direct bloodlines to her.


    The attention didn''te with something good. You see, a normal pregnancy of an ordinary member of the battle sage monkey should take between 10 months to 13 months, those with special bloodlines can take up to 5 years depending on the purity and effects of the bloodline.


    Direct descendants of royal bloodlines can take up a little more than a decade but a maximum of 3 decades. Her pregnancy had taken more than 10 years already. This isn''t a good thing in the eyes of the masses.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    There are two possibilities for the long duration of her pregnancy, one of them is a problematic pregnancy and the other is a very pure bloodline. No one expects the second option because her husband is just a rtive with a thin bloodline, while she has no bloodline.


    If not for the fact that her husband had distinguished himself by participating in the trial of heaven for transcendents and making some exploits within, he wouldn''t have even been allowed to stay in the ancestral home with his family. So public opinion is that she either has a problematic pregnancy or she was unfaithful to her husband.


    She has been ostracized because she is an outsider of the family without their bloodline. Then the issue of her pregnancy cropped up, which brought her mockery and disdain. She doesn''t care about any of their taunts or jabs. Even when her husband started having doubts, she remained steadfast. She didn''t be a king ofw by being a weakling.


    But most of her assurance came from what her body was experiencing. She could feel the vitality of her three unborn kids and it was very strong. She was sure they had a strong bloodline because even she was gaining the Ghastorix bloodline or at least some form of a bloodline.


    This development had left her perplexed but she didn''t tell anyone, even her husband. Something like this can endanger her unborn children so she kept the situation a secret. She had told her husband that it was probably atavism because it was the only exnation for what she was going through but he doesn''t believe that.


    This is because atavism is very difficult to achieve, it would need special encounters and also a conscious effort to pursue it. Her husband could also achieve atavism with the scant amount of life essence he got from the trial of heaven but he didn''t, he is saving the life essence for the future when he wants to be an Origin god.


    This is because a bloodline may be good, but the best and purest bloodline will only assist up to the level of Sovereign at most. The jump to the origin god-level will depend on the individual. It is true that those with special bloodlines have a smoother path and are stronger than their peers but Ghoto chose to believe in himself and his hard work. He believes he can make up for his shoring in bloodline with his efforts.


    But regardless of the unbelief and the mockery of naysayers Mih remained unperturbed and undeterred. In the past, she hadn''t thought much of the Ghastorix bloodline, she didn''t see anything to be haughty about because she had killed a lot of people with bloodlines.


    But she changed her mind when she felt her body changing. She could feel that she only needed to enter seclusion to break through to be a titan ofw, and her bloodline wasn''t as pure as those of direct lineage but it was very strong. Absurdly strong even.


    "Just eat or else," she said as she let her aura grow wild. Ghoto narrowed his eyes "Or else what?" he asked.


    But Mih didn''t answer, she let her aura do the talking for her. Ghoto realized what she meant and his eyes lit up with fight spirit "At most I''ll fight you to the death" he said as he let his aura loose too. The air stagnated between them and the tes on the dining table started to shake. They looked ready to battle but suddenly they burst outughing.


    "You''ll just pummel me." Ghoto grinned


    "Yeah, I will." Mih smiled back.


    "Not for long now."


    "I don''t think so."


    "I doubt you will be able to break through to the level of a titan before I reach the king level. Besides your pregnancy has dyed you. I''ll be able to catch up to you.


    "It''s just 11 years. It is nothing much."


    "I am just worried that''s all"


    "I know, but you have to eat. Everything will be okay, trust me."


    "I don''t have to eat. I don''t need to eat and I don''t want to eat. But I''ll eat since you asked nicely." Ghoto sighed, then he drew his te closer. He took his pregnant wife''s hand and said "I love you Mih."


    She smiled and said, "I love you too Ghoto." Then they ate in peace.


    If only things would remain peaceful like this, but the situation could only escte when time continued to pass by and another 20 years came and went without Mih going intobor. By this time even the Titans and the sovereigns of the family became aware of the situation.


    People had gone from the usual derision whenever they think about Mih''s pregnancy, to intense curiosity.

 Chapter 49 Ugly Jealousy.

    ?People began to realize that the pregnancy wasn''t simple. No normal pregnancy will take that much time. Two more options were added to it the pool of suspicion. Either the kids were special or Ghoto''s not the father. The amount of interest in the pregnancy increased by every day the delivery was dyed.


    "Just what is going on with her?" One of the many Ghoto''s cousins asked his friends.


    They are currently drinking in a bar within the outer city. The entire city consists of two circles, the inner city, and the outer city.


    Unlike the inner city which ispletely built with trees as the foundation and pirs. The outer city is built on the ground and forms a ring around the inner city. One can see the inner city elevated above the surroundings.


    The inner circle is where the upper ss of the city lives. Just outside the inner city is the outer city, it is the economicyer of the city, home to the normal members of the family and its asional visitors.


    The entire city spans an area of about 2000 km square, it belongs to the Ghastorix family. It is the ancestral city of the Ghastorix family, their main andrgest one. This city is special because it contains origin energy, so even though it is constructed within a ne, transcendents can still train in it, up to the level of Sovereign. It is like a small world unto itself, constructed by the founding father of the Ghastorix family.


    This particr cousin is closer to the direct bloodline but his bloodline purity isn''t much either, it isn''t enough to make him outstanding or help him reach the titan level of power. And most of all, his bloodline isn''t enough to help him to surpass Ghoto.


    "He just likes to be showy. It has always been like this even when we were kids." Heined again. His friends beside him also chimed in.


    "Yeah, he is just too proud," one of them said.


    "So you have all noticed. It isn''t only me." he felt vindicated


    "Of course young master."


    "We''ve all seen him, always showing off." They nodded and agreed.


    "First it was his result in the tower of heaven. Now he is being all showy with his pregnancy." They drank andined, all the while feeling jealous.


    The cousin knew he was inferior to Ghoto now, and he knew he was inferior back then when the youths of the family were lining up to participate in the trial of heaven, that''s why he didn''t go. He had chickened out back then because he was scared for his life. He gave the excuse that he was still young and he would go to the next one.


    But things don''t just happen because you wish for it, a transcendent has a maximum lifespan of 1 origin cycle. It might seem long but he knew that it was not. The only chance for him to gain a modicum of authority in the family is to participate in the trial of heaven and survive.


    At the rate at which things were going the only way to achieve that is to be a lord and have his lifespan extended or he would die before the next trial of heaven. But that is hopeless, his remaining lifespan is just too short for him to be a lord considering his talent.


    He doesn''t regret his decision one bit, he wasn''t so delusional as to risk his life when he had money and luxury. He had decided to rely on his rich father to buy the spark of authority of a lord ofw.


    There is another option, that is to try and be a god but he isn''t that put down to consider it. So he had given up and had decided to just enjoy his life, but then Ghoto went on to marry a beautiful talented wife.


    Even though she is from a lower family without a royal bloodline or any achievement, he still couldn''t do better than Ghoto because no one will want him to get near their talented daughters and no talented woman will want to marry him.


    Then Ghoto''s wife got pregnant, while he still didn''t have the right to bear children at all. In a family like the Ghastorixs especially that of a strength-oriented race with high fertility, some rules must be adhered to to maintain the purity and strength of the bloodline.


    In the Ghastorix family and many prestigious families within the race, the requirement for childbearing is to survive at least a trial of heaven. That is just something he cannot achieve.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    This jealousy isn''t just because Ghoto''s wife got pregnant. He could impregnate ady too, his children just won''t be recognized by the family, and they won''t be able to enjoy the various resources of the family. What he is mainly jealous of is the authority Ghoto gained from his achievement within the tower.


    But he can''t do anything about it, he didn''t dare slight Ghoto, the people that have survived the trial of heaven cannot be underestimated. The trial of heaven is gruesome the lower the tier a person partakes in.


    There could be just ten thousand participants in the sovereign trial, a maximum of thirty thousand, but in the titan trial, the participants can reach three million. Further below is the king trial which could have about 500 million participants, and even further below that is the transcendent trial with participants that can reach 100 billion in number.


    Just imagine thepetition and the fighting. It will be like a meat grinder, endless and gruesome. So for someone to survive any trial is a great achievement.


    The issue with Ghoto''s wife''s pregnancy is no longer news, people have been curious about the state of the pregnancy but Ghoto''s wife had refused examination. They couldn''t do anything to her considering that her husband is someone with a certain amount of authority and prospects within the family.


    Even without her husband, Mih is not someone to be trifled with. They may have disdain for her but they still have to be wary of her strength, she is far stronger than her husband. Mih is a king ofw that has survived the trial of heaven for her level of strength, she did this without the assistance of a bloodline too. So they hadn''t been able to forcefully examine her pregnancy or order her around.


    "Good for nothing bitch. She joined our family because of our bloodline." the cousin cursed, but his followers only gave slight nods this time.


    They didn''t dare to say anything bad about Mih. They could enter the ancestral city only because of their connection with this cousin, even then they can only live within the outer city.


    The only reason the cousin could live in the inner city is his father who has been recognized in the family. His father is a rich business tycoon that the family looked well upon. The cousin could talk smack about Mih because his father is also a king ofw, but they couldn''t because Mih is just as strong as the cousin''s father. He could mouth off because of the protection of his father, but who will protect them? So they kept quiet and only gave encouraging nods.


    The cousin didn''t seem to notice the silence, he continued talking and waving his hands. While he was talking he received a message from hismunicator. He knew this because of the slight tingle in his divine sense, which only happens when hismunicator tries to notify him. He stopped to check the message, then he became excited.


    "Truly, there is justice in this world," he eximed.


    The surrounding people were curious about the contents of the message and why he was happy but they didn''t want to be rude. They might seem like drinking buddies but they are his followers, hisckeys. They were not friends with him. Thankfully they didn''t even need to ask because the cousin was all too happy to share.


    "A family summons has been sent out," he said excitedly "Ghoto and his wife has been summoned by the council of elders. A grand elder is evening."


    "What?" The people that heard him were surprised.


    "As the matter reached such a level?" they asked. A grand elder is a sovereign.


    The cousin was happy with the news. "We will finally know what is up with that darn pregnancy." He said before running off.


    He might not be allowed entry into the ancestral hall but he would stick around to get information as soon as the meeting ends. He was truly curious about the pregnancy, he had a feeling that the results of the meeting would be good news so he had to go.


    He suspects that Ghoto had been able to acquire life essence and had strengthened his bloodline or his wife had cheated on him, which would exin the long duration of the pregnancy. Ghoto had denied the first option so he was looking forward to the second one.


    "You will be caught red-handed." he sneered as he rushed forward.


    It would be a small victory to him to see Ghoto humiliated. It would be arge blemish on Ghoto''s reputation, it might be nothingpared to Ghoto''s prospects but he could only take a small victory.

 Chapter 50 A Summon For Inquiry.

    ?The word got out that Ghoto and Mih had been summoned for questioning. It indicated that the upper echelon of the family have been drawn towards the issue of the pregnancy and they had deemed it important to call for an inquisition. This caused a peak in curiosity about the pregnancy and many people wanted to know the result of the summoning.


    In a family like the Ghastorix''s, even those with the weakest bloodline will eventually be transcendents if they work hard. So the family doesn''t consider the transcendent level as overly significant considering their long history.


    The Ghastorix family is just a middle-ss family that has been established for over ten thousand origin cycles, it is a short history whenpared to therge families. A transcendent can only live up to a maximum of an origin cycle, so their significance can be rtively overlooked because of their history.


    The family has seen generations of them and there are many transcendents in the current generation, only those who manage to progress or are exceptional will get significant attention.


    Thepetition among the younger generation is fierce, just the opportunity to live within the ancestral city is enough to rile up transcendents. Even though the environment within the city is subparpared to the ancient battlefield, it is still special within the ne.


    The maximum level a ne can sustain is the ascendent, above that is transcendent, this is the major reason races fight each other on the ancient battlefield, for space. They fight so that they can keep growing.


    If the descendants with impure bloodlines are fighting for the living conditions within the city; a city that is a replica of the ancient battlefield, you can imagine thepetition between those of direct and pure bloodline for the chance to go to the ancient battlefield.


    The ancient battlefield may be farrger than any ne but every inch of it is won through blood and strife. For some, the ancient battlefield is their only hope to grow stronger.


    This special situation ofpetition and survival is something every family goes through.


    The top brass hardly pays attention to the struggles of transcendents. But then something drew the attention of the council of elders. The council started to pay attention to Ghoto when he became a king 12 years ago.


    This achievement was noteworthy to them because it meant that if he doesn''t die, he had a high chance of advancing to the titan level which would mean he would be around for another 90 origin cycles. It was because of the attention ced on him as a promising talent that they found out about his wife''s situation.


    At that time, the council of elders found out that Ghoto''s wife had been pregnant for 19 years but they were only surprised. They didn''t think much about it, his wife will give birth to kids of high bloodline purity at most. It wasn''t anything they hadn''t seen.


    A bloodline of high purity isn''t much to a group of Titans ofw, which is the minimum requirement to be an elder. The elder council within the ne consists of Titans ofw that haven''t participated in the trial of heaven for their power level so they knew they weren''t anything special themselves.


    That''s why they didn''t think much of the bloodline, at most, it will help people reach their level. Only the direct children of origin gods can rely on their bloodline to reach the level of a sovereign with certainty and that is if the origin god can bear the cost of producing such an offspring.


    But then 31 years of pregnancy went by and the woman still hadn''t given birth. Only the children with the purest bloodline take that much time. Now things became serious, they had to find out what was going on with the pregnancy, so they summoned Ghoto and his wife.


    Ghoto and Mih had received the summons. She was eating when someone came to inform them of the summons, she had been eating a lot recently. Mih could only sigh and ept the summons when she received it.


    She had tried her best to hold on but who would have thought that her pregnancy would take so long. 20 years ago, she had felt confident about breaking through to the titan level if given some time, but now, she could feel her body ready to make the advancement. Her body is yearning to advance, If not for the fact that she was still pregnant she would be a titan already.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She had refused to be examined to protect her unborn children but people still didn''t give up. She couldn''t really me them for their curiosity, maybe now they will leave her in peace if their curiosity is finally satiated. She steeled her heart and decided to get things over with, and in the case that it became necessary she was determined to fight for her kids. It was with this determination that she went with Ghoto to the ancestral hall.


    Ghoto felt guilty all the way to the ancestral hall. He felt like he had betrayed his wife. He had wanted to get her pregnancy checked but she refused. Mih had asked him to trust her, he conceded and agreed. Later on, he had gotten wind that he could be summoned so he could have done something to prevent it, but he didn''t.


    He is a king ofw, he had been recognized by the family and by his race, and that counts for something in the family. He hadn''tmitted any crime, so if he wanted to stop the summons he could have. He may just be an offshoot of the family but he still possessed that much power.


    Even if he didn''t have the power to prevent the summons, he has enough freedom to chose not to honor it. Choosing not to honor the summons will cause his unborn children to lose their rights in the family unless they are deemed of importance to the family. His kids will have to prove themselves in the future before they can enjoy the perks thate with being in the family, just like he did.


    But he didn''t stop the busybodies that went toin to the council of elders because he was just like them, he was curious too. He wanted to know what was going on with his unborn children, so he chose to watch silently ims for an inquiry were made.


    Mih doesn''t even allow him to check their status. She always said it will causeplications.


    "What could be going on with her?" He often wondered.


    It isn''t that he doesn''t trust his wife, he is just being a worried father. And he has been worried for more than 30 years now.


    They reached the ancestral hall and found out that there were a lot of people waiting. These people couldn''t enter because they didn''t have the qualifications to. Only some people with authority and those of direct lineage can enter to witness the meeting. It is supposed to be a private summons after all, not a public prosecution.


    Ghoto and Mih walked past all these people without paying attention to any one of them. They could feel hostility, curiosity, and other various emotions directed at them but they didn''t care. The din and noise from the discussions stopped as soon as they crossed the threshold of the hall.


    Ghoto held his wife''s hand and said "It''s going to be okay. They can''t do anything to us." to which Mih nodded.


    Ghoto might be just a son born out of momentary pleasure, but that didn''t change the fact that his father is a sovereign and a grand elder on the ancient battlefield. That means his father had survived the trial of heaven.


    The duo approached the group of elders at the end of the hall silently. They passed by the rows of witnesses sitting by the side. The elders sat in a straight line opposite the entrance. One could tell they were Titans from how they looked.


    Some of them had fire or lightning flicking within their fur. Normal battle sage monkeys will have normal hair for fur, and the color of the fur will be affected by their bloodline. Ghoto has blue fur and blue eyes because his bloodline belongs to that of the founding ancestor who had mastered lightning to be an origin god and eventually created a royal bloodline with it.


    Mih has normal white fur and ck eyes because she didn''t have a bloodline, this will change when she bes a titan. Every titan possesses a unique body ofw that is the seed for the future origin bloodline.


    Since Titans have bodies made ofw their body gains a certain amount of elemental expression. That''s why the bodies of Titans and those above the level are called elemental bodies but that''s underestimating what they are truly capable of. This many elders sitting together formed a terrifying sight.

 Chapter 51 Atavism.

    ?23 Titans elders and a single sovereign grand elder sat at the very front. Their collective presence is the very descent ofws. The significance of such a turnout is not something a king ofw could disregard. Ghoto and Mih realised that things are really serious.


    "Good morning elders, Good morning Grand elder." Ghoto and Mih bowed when they got to the front.


    The elders looked to the sovereign in the middle to start the inquisition. This sovereign was the tallest battle sage here, he reached 3m in height. He wore silver robes that marched his silver fur. The silver fur was not the same as the white ones of those without bloodlines. The fur was shing in the light like the edge of a knife.


    The fur didn''t express the wildness that is present with those of titans, it had a certain deadly coldness to it. The demeanor of the grand elder was also different from those of titans, coupled with his big size made him look like a quiet, impassive mountain.


    The sovereign had been paying attention to Mih as soon as she entered. He has been sent from the ancient battlefield to witness the inquisition and ascertain the situation. A pregnancy of over 50 years was unprecedented but he doesn''t care about that.


    He believes he had better things to spend his time on and hadn''t thought much of his mission until heid eyes on Mih. He immediately noticed that she was on the cusp of a breakthrough to the level of titan and he could see some sort of royal bloodline within her.


    With his incredible senses, he could tell that her breakthrough was due to the manifestation of the bloodline within her.


    Mih''s bloodline hadn''t been fully expressed yet, that''s why the weaker elders couldn''t notice it but he could sense it.


    Thew fragments within her body seemed to be boiling and looking for an outlet to release their pressure. He could tell that she would break through immediately if she wanted.


    Such an astounding bloodline is something only seen among the direct descendant of origin gods. It''s like she has a seed of power within her that got out of her control.


    ''Where did such a bloodlinee from?'' He mused.


    His expression didn''t indicate his confusion, he still look as calm as Boulder by the roadside.


    He turned his attention to Ghoto. He smiled and greeted him.


    "Ghoto my nephew, how are you?" The voice of the sovereign caused everything to reverberate and rumble.


    Thankfully the building they were in had been reinforced several times to prevent its destruction. The sovereign decided to switch to mental transmissions to avoid any risk.


    "I am fine, Uncle," Ghoto answered.


    He could only call the grand elder his uncle because he was recognized first. He sighed in relief because such an acknowledgment means that the sovereign looked kindly on them.


    "Good. I am proud of you. I am sure your father is too. You just have to be a titan and prove your worth, then you can join us on the ancient battlefield."


    "I will not betray your expectations, uncle" Guntu assured.


    "Good. I''ll be expecting you."


    "Thank you, uncle" Ghoto was truly thankful to his uncle.


    Even though his uncle had children and grandchildren of his own, he would still spare him a little of his attention, unlike his father that hadn''t been present ever since he was born. He felt all his worries disappear when he saw that the grand elder presiding over the inquisition is someone he was familiar with. He felt less guilty now.


    The grand elder got serious after the exchange of pleasantries.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I want you to know that I was sent to identify the phenomenon that is your wife''s pregnancy. You have done nothing wrong, it is just unprecedented. The family is concerned for you. We also have to make sure that there is no foul y. No normal pregnancy takes that much time, but if you were pregnant with a demon god''s child it will be just right. I hope you don''t mind the inquisition." The sovereign exined gently.


    "Yes, Grand elder" they both answered.


    The grand elder could see that Mih was still afraid, her body was tense and her heart rate high. He decided to get on with it and not torture the innocent woman. He thought highly of Mih, she is the living manifestation of the strive for power that the oldest ancestors had when there was no royal bloodline to assist in their journey to the peak.


    "Come here." he beckoned to Mih. She went forward with small steps and her head bent down.


    "Give me your hand." Mih did as she was asked.


    The grand elder held her hand and scanned her body. He swept her womb with his divine sense to determine the state of her pregnancy. What he saw surprised him for a bit but he soon calmed down. Mih was tense throughout the process


    "You can go, youngdy." He said to her after he was done with his examination.


    Mih returned to stand quietly beside Ghoto. She had begun to regret staying in this city. She had chosen to stay because of her husband and because of the quality of the environment in the city. The environment is necessary for both her and Ghoto to grow stronger.


    She had wanted to leave the city when the people were hostile to her but she was determined to persevere because she didn''t want to leave because some people didn''t like having her around. If she would leave, it would be by her own choice.


    The grand elder then announced


    "I have examined Mih Ghastorix. I found nothing wrong with her. She is pregnant with three unborn children. They are fine. It appears that they have fully awakened their bloodlines that''s why they are taking so long. I suspect it might be because of something she ate. I proim that if she can sessfully give birth to them, the children will join the direct descendant program and be raised with all the privileges thate with it. That is all."


    Then he said to Ghoto and Mih.


    "Ghoto take good care of your wife and your future children. I can tell that they will be special. Mih, I know what you are worried about, and you don''t have to be afraid of that. Your unborn children have a very high bloodline, even though it is rare that they shared it with you, it does happen."


    "Thank you Uncle" they both bowed.


    "Good, I''ll return now. I''ll inform your father that you are doing well."


    The news about the result of the special summons got out and people were certainly surprised by it. Some people who had thought Mih was carrying around a fake pregnancy had their doubts resolved. But what truly surprised people is that the bloodline of their children will be fully awakened and is of a high purity enough to qualify them for the direct descendant program.


    Even if Ghoto had somehow increased the purity of his bloodline there is no way his children could get a fully awakened bloodline from him. Descendants of the direct lineage don''t have a fully awakened bloodline, only the immediate children of origin gods will have a full and pure bloodline.


    Some people with malicious intentions decided to take it upon themselves to specte and share their spection that the pregnancy might not belong to Ghoto.


    Inside the womb, oblivious to what was going on in the outside world. Legion two had been bored silly. He had decided to meditate on thews within the concept in his eyes to keep himself busy but it had been difficult. His soul is just too weak for that, he wouldn''t be able to figure out much from it as he were, only until he can use it, when his eyes interact with thews of the external world would he be able to tell some things from their functions.


    He was in this state of boredom when he felt the sweep of a perception pass over him. He determined immediately that it belonged to a sovereign, so he had nothing to fear. Only an origin god could discover any abnormality about his soul.


    He doubted that even an origin god will even be able to discover anything peculiar about his soul. His soul had undergone some changes due to its absorption of divinity and its refinement during the reincarnation process. But he is sure that an origin god will not be able to detect the soul sphere because even he can only use it but not detect it. If it were not in his soul he wouldn''t be able to even interact with it.


    The little the grand elder had seen shocked him. The bloodline purity of the fetuses was surprising but not shocking. His source of shock came from the mutation he observed in Legion two. He determined it to be an evolution of their species. The creation of another royal bloodline, and a very powerful bloodline too. It was something he had never seen or heard about before.

 Chapter 52 Freeloaders.

    ?One of the major reasons a sovereign was sent to check the pregnancy is to ensure the uracy of the inquisition. There is little in the lower ne that can hide from the senses of a sovereign.


    There are been cases where the ruling patriarchs didn''t take the issue of a prolonged pregnancy seriously butter regretted it when the female gave birth to the child of a demon god or demon king. The child grew up to be the vessel for the powerful demon to descend into the ne.


    The destruction it caused was more than enough to justify sending a sovereign to check suspicious pregnancies. It is either a momentary difort for a sovereign or trouble from a murderous new citizen.


    Demons can''t get into a ne without the express invitation of its inhabitants. Even that would only allow it to exert a temporary influence. The option for a permanent stay includes the creation of a portal. This will allow demons to enter the ne with their physical bodies. It is just that the stronger ones will face repulsion that will either deny them entry or limit their stay on the ne. A demon incarnation in the form of pregnancy can fix all that.


    Thankfully this case didn''t involve a demon god trying to gain entry into the ne but didn''t tell the people here about it. It is far more special and the implications of such a thing will affect the entire race.


    The sovereign pondered about what he found out. The situation was odd, only one of the fetuses was a mutant, and the other two were normal but with very high bloodline purity.


    When he had said it was probably caused by something she ate, it was what he truly believed. He couldn''t think of any other usible reasons for such a reaction. Strange fruits usually kill the fetus but can sometimes enhance its development. It happens, but not to this particr extent.


    He had hoped to sit and chat with Ghoto for a while but he has to rush back to the ancient battlefield to inform the patriarchs. They would then deliberate on whether they would inform the entire family or the racial council.


    The information that the grand sovereign brought back truly surprised the Origin god patriarchs of the family. They decided against making the matter known for several reasons. The most important reason concerned their family''s interest in theing era of conquest.


    The news might have caused some waves for some time within the ancestral city of the Ghastorix family, but it died down soon after. Years went by and Mih still hadn''t given birth. It wasn''t until 21 years after the inquisition did she was put to bed.


    The origin god patriarchs of the family had stationed sovereigns in the ancestral city to watch over Mih and her pregnancy. It is a secret deployment because sovereigns don''t usually stay in the ne, so their presence will be a telltale sign of an abnormality and they didn''t want to draw attention to Mih.


    A total of three sovereigns were sent to monitor the situation with the mutant. They were to watch and determine if the mutant had sufficient reasons to be nurtured.


    Ghoto had been greatly reassured by the results of the acquisition. He became happy and carefree. He was counting the days and looking forward to being a father. He promised to shower them with love, unlike his father.


    The day finally came for Mih to give birth after 52 years of pregnancy. She suddenly lost her appetite and she knew the time hade. She told her husband and he shouted with excitement. Ghoto was truly happy. The only thing that marred such a wonderful day was the thunderstorm. The ancestral city of the Ghastorix family experienced heavy rainfall like no other.


    Ghoto could be seen pacing back and forth in front of his house. He wasn''t the only anxious one, the silent watchers were also anxiously waiting.


    "It is going to be okay, it is going to be okay," he told himself as he paced about to stave off his fears.


    The long duration of the pregnancy caused him to be worried aboutplications. He was apanied by some elders that are friends of his father. He didn''t have many friends or family. His mother had died when he was young and his father had left before her death. He had worked his way up to his level alone. The elders came because they didn''t want to see him waiting alone, plus the fact that they had been ordered to watch out for any oddity.


    In the womb, Legion became happy when he noticed the squeezing force acting on him.


    "Finally. It is about time. I refuse to believe I am the cause of the long wait. It is probably the fault of these two fellows. They tried to copy me but they don''t have the energy to." Heined.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The origin essence had also affected the other upants of the womb. They had been affected by the high concentration of origin energy and the residual bloodline spill-off from Legion two. It had affected their development. This led to an increase in their bloodline and the subsequent necessary energy toplete it unlike Legion two that had the soul sphere.


    "I me you two freeloaders for my suffering," he muttered as he jostled to be the first to get out.


    "There is no way one of you get to be my elder. I''ll be the first." he thought to himself.


    He is happy to leave the dark world for the external world. He could finally live life. It didn''t take long at all before he found himself in a world of light. There was a thunderp as soon as he came out. It startled everyone in the house but they continued the delivery when nothing happened.


    "The first one is out." a midwife announced. She handed Legion two over to the other midwife for washing and examination.


    "That''s odd." the midwife that received Legion two examined him.


    He didn''t look much different from other battle sage monkey babies. He had five fingers and soft skin with a small tuft of hair on his chest, his arms, neck, head, legs, and feet. Except he ispletely golden.


    The fact that he didn''t cry didn''t perplex her, it isn''t rare for their babies not to cry because babies of strong parents are stronger than normal. What she found odd is thepletely golden color of the baby and the eyes that twinkled with the various colors of a kaleidoscope.


    "What''s odd. Is the baby alright?" Mih asked quickly in concern.


    The other attendants also paid attention to the examination. Everyone knew that Mih''s pregnancy took an unprecedented amount of time. They were expecting an abnormality or two, it would be weird if there was none.


    "It''s a boy and you don''t have to worry. He is perfectly healthy." the midwife decided to keep her observations to herself so as not to affect Mih negatively.


    "That''s good, that''s good." She said as shebored.


    The delivery continued for about an hour until the other two babies were born. Theirbined crying voices finally got Legion two''s attention. He had felt a chill run through him as soon as he was born. He had frozen up before two thunderps sounded. The first thunderp scared him for some reason but then he saw something that intrigued him. He found out that he could see everything. The world seemed fast and slow to his eyes, he could see every little detail about everything. While the midwife was examining him, he was also examining her.


    At first, he could see the sweat pores of her face and each follicle, when he concentrated a little he could tell each cell apart but when he tried to focus more he could see beneath her skin to theyer of muscles. He tried to see how far he could see focus, but then his sight went through the midwife, and past the walls, he could see some people waiting outside.


    He noticed someone looking at him with a divine sense and when he tried to find the source of divine sense his eyes switched to a ck and white image of the world. The people in his vision became indistinct bright light, he couldn''t see anything apart from lights of varying intensities.


    He was able to find the source of the various divine sense locked onto him. The most powerful divine sense belonged to three sun-like figures in his vision. The sight of these figures made his eyes ache. He decided to close his eyes to ease the pain, it was only then that he noticed his soul had shrunk.


    It was the first time he used his divine ability and it drained him. He still couldn''t make heads or tails about the particrs of the ability but he felt as if he could see whatever he wanted to see. Either energy or matter, and nothing could block his vision.

 Chapter 53 The Fine Line Between Normal And Overacting.

    ?"What? I was using soul energy? That can''t be right." he frowned.


    The reduction in his soul rmed him. If not for the immortal aspect of his soul he would have been in big trouble. Thankfully as long as he had energy, he would heal, but he decided against using his eyes because damage to his body cannot be healed for now.


    "Divine abilities start out using world energy and the vitality in the body but I don''t have world energy so my eyes defaulted to soul energy in my soul. Seems like I have to start training soon and get stronger."


    He realized he had been drawing heavily on the energy reserves of Legion one to power his eye, the energy requirement of his divine ability is too much. He couldn''t sustain its energy expenditure for a short while, if he didn''t have the soul sphere he wouldn''t have been able to use the eye at all, even with the energy transmission from Legion one, his soul was still struggling with the stress and was on the brink of copse.


    Soul energy is the high-level energy used by origin gods. With this innate energy, they don''t need external sources of energy to manipte the world. Soul energy is also faster and easier to control than Origin energy.


    "My soul may be at the origin level but I can''t handle that kind of power yet." He would just have to be patient and strengthen himself.


    He would have to keep his ability inactive most of the time. His weak soul sobered him up from the euphoria of truly seeing. It was a wonderful sight that could be addictive if proper restraint isn''t employed.


    He hadn''t been paying much attention to what was going on around him ever since he got out of the womb. He had nned to cry and pretend to be like a helpless baby thrust into a new and unknown environment but he became lost in the wonderful sight of literarily everything. His pretense was long forgotten.


    Then the noise of his siblings brought him back to the present.


    "What are they even crying so much about? It is either this is how normal babies behave or they are overdoing it. Considering how long they spent in the womb, I am willing to bet that they are overdoing it." He felt irritated by their excessive crying.


    "It is excusable for now. I''ll have enough time to set them straight in the future." he thought evilly and rubbed his tiny hands together.


    The thought of being a big brother made him full of expectations. He felt he would enjoy it very well and be good at it.


    As he was daydreaming about being an elder brother just like his elder sisters were to him he noticed someone looking at him. It was an attendant, a young female battle sage monkey. She had red fur, a sign of a bloodline, and was wearing simple medical garments.


    She saw him rubbing his hands together and she found the sight very odd, to say the least. His brain moved quickly, he raised his two small feet and rubbed them against each other, and giggled. The sight of a chubby baby pping his hands, iling his legs, and giggling made herugh.


    She thought to herself, "He is so cute. Maybe I was overthinking things, he is just a baby after all." She felt like carrying the cute baby but she didn''t dare to, she si not to be seen touching the baby.


    There is some mystery about the babies and the midwives have been warned to simply do their job and nothing else. So it was with difficulty that she left without tickling the baby''s chubby cheeks. Only then did Legion-two stop his baby act.


    "So nosy." Heined, "When can I start acting like myself? This baby act is too tiring. I''ll have to follow the lead of the other two but it might make me seem slower than them. I''ll be thest one to do things, I don''t want that. I have to be the role model, I am the best option for it. I mean I already started being one in the womb, those freeloaders took advantage of me. I must get my room as soon as possible."


    His thoughts were interrupted when an older female battle sage monkey came forward to inspect the three baby Colts. She had a lean muscr body and stood about 1.6 meters tall with white fur and ck eyes. She was wearing a white maternity garb that matched her fur. She looked at the three babies with affection.


    Legion two looked back at her, he could feel a resonance between them. A male battle sage monkey appeared beside her. He was a little taller than the female. He had blue eyes and blue fur, and he was dressed in a ck battle robe.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "So she must be my mother and this one is probably my father." he thought. He knew they were talking but he couldn''t hear what they were saying because they were chatting with their divine sense.


    "You are probably nning on how you will win my affection. I assure you it will not be easy." he thought in jest.


    He didn''t have any affection towards them at all. The fact that he hitched a ride in her womb doesn''t mean he had to be endeared towards them.


    Earlier before the thunderstruck. Outside the house.


    Ghoto had been outside the house, pacing about when suddenly the dark clouds went berserk and started churning. The storm clouds formed a whirlpool in the sky and produced a lightning bolt of such destructive might that it left Ghoto aghast. He had been frozen as he watched the lightning bolt streak down towards his house. He knew it would inevitably crash down onto his house but he couldn''t move. He could only scream "Nooooooooo!" within his mind.


    But an elder came to his rescue, the elder rushed into the sky his body shining with blue light like thunder. The two streaks of light crashed into each other resulting in two thunderps.


    One came because of the iing lightning bolt and the other is as a result of the collision between monkey and lightning. The elder descended slowly, Ghoto could see he was severely injured and he felt immense gratitude to the elder.


    He hadn''t thought much about the elders when they came to wait with him. He didn''t think he needed them, he thought he could wait for his wife alone. But now he felt grateful for their presence.


    "Thank you very much, Elder Stein," Ghoto said to the injured elder. But the elder brushed him off.


    "No need for that Ghoto. I''m sure any elder here would have gone forward, it is simply our duty. It will also benefit me, it might give me the inspiration needed to be a sovereign." the elder maintained his indifferent attitude.


    Ghoto backed off, he knew this elder had a bad temper. It was because he trained in lightningws. So he could understand the benefit that the elder could get from the lightning bolt but he was still grateful. He decided he had to be serious with his waiting, he activated his eyes and began scanning his environment. He didn''t want anything to catch him by surprise.


    Even though his divine ability couldn''t be used for long he persevered. He would rest his eyes when they hurt before continuing. The elders only shook their heads at Ghoto''s seriousness, but they didn''t discourage him from getting his eyes bloodshot.


    The remaining wait was uneventful. The storm had dispersed after that lightning bolt. The sky became clear again and the pensive atmosphere disappeared when the rays of the sun made the day brighter. After about an hour of waiting a midwife came to inform them.


    "The mother and the babies are well." she dered. Ghoto jumped and pumped his fist into the air. The elders came forward to congratte him, he smiled and thanked them profusely.


    "Are they ready? Can I enter?" Ghoto asked, impatient to see his love and their children.


    "Yes, they are. You cane in now." the midwife smiled and replied. Ghoto bid farewell to the elders before going into the house. The elders dispersed but they still kept their divine sense locked onto the surroundings, they had been tasked to make sure that nothing untoward happens.


    They were also forbidden to scan the babies with divine sense, this is to prevent anything wrong from happening to the babies. These orders were passed down from the patriarch so they weren''t indignant. The fact that the three babies will be on par with them or even surpass them in the future also helped to ease any disgruntlement. Children with such a high bloodline purity and expression are little ancestors after all. If all goes well, it was just a matter of time for the babies to catch up to them

 Chapter 54 His Name Is SOVERICK.

    ?Far away, deep within the city. The three grand elders, the three sovereigns that had been sent to determine the uniqueness of the mutant were still reeling with shock. It wasn''t every day that they saw a baby do what legion two just did.


    They were the only ones allowed to inspect the babies with their divine sense, this was because they were trusted by the patriarchs. Sovereigns also have full control of their abilities aspared to others, so they were the best option for the sake of safety. Care had to be taken for the safety of babies, the talent of babies can be affected or crippled through the divine sense of more powerful beings. Extra care had to be ensured in this particr unique case.


    The three sovereigns had warned the elders and they had, in turn, warned the midwives. So while the elders had the surroundings locked down, the sovereigns had their senses locked onto the ongoings of the delivery. They watched every movement and prepared to take action when needed.


    They didn''t need to move just from the threat of the lightning bolt. If the elders had failed in stopping it, they would have conjured a barrier to stop it. The barrier was already half in ce and could bepleted with a thought. Thankfully they didn''t need to employ their sovereign strength or it might draw more attention to the event than needed.


    They continued watching the babies, especially the mutant. The mutant was captivating, he had eyes like gems. They could see his eyes shining as soon as the mutant was born, which was a sign that the baby was using its eyes actively. They were shocked. The fact that the baby had activated his eye was shocking enough for them because the eyes are different from the other parts of the body like arms. Babies can move their limbs about but they will not be able to move them well. Much less activate the abilities of their eyes, a veryplex operation that needed a high amount of control and concentration.


    The eyes of battle sage monkeys are the bearer of their divine ability. They could only grasp its use after long periods of training and meditation. Even then it starts with unlocking a passive ability, their high visual acuity, and nothing else. All that aside. Let''s say the baby got lucky in activating the ability. Where did it get the energy to use it?


    It was truly a shocking thing to see a baby that is capable of using an active ability just as soon as he was born, practically 5 seconds after being born. A royal bloodline cannot exin that.


    Their shock only grew as they counted the time and watched the ability continue to be active for minutes until it was almost an hour.


    "This is ridiculous," one of them said. The other two nodded in agreement. The one that spoke still wasn''t done talking, he had a lot he wanted to say but didn''t know how to express it. He could only settle for "If he is already this powerful how ridiculous would he be when he bes a titan?"


    "No matter how powerful he bes as a titan, he can''t be powerful enough to fight sovereigns," another one said.


    "True. Power is power. Our eye just helps to make a better judgment." the third one said.


    They agreed that an eye ability is just an essory, only with great power can it be put to full use. It was shocking but it couldn''t make them threatened yet, they were at the cusp of achieving eternity after all. Maybe they will still be sovereigns by the time the mutant bes one too or maybe they are not. Anything can happen to them and so can anything happen to the mutant. Only time can turn potential into strength. They might not have potential but they have immense strength. They turned silent and continued to watch the mutant.


    A little while after that, they suddenly felt a gaze locked on to them. They froze up and their surroundings disappeared, they could only see a pair of eyes shining with multiple colors. They couldn''t sense anything in their surroundings apart from the glowing eyes. It was like the eye was the only thing that existed apart from their sense of self It was for a second but it felt like an eternity. Their nerves were drawn taut by the time it was over.


    "What was that?" One of them said shakily.


    "Was that him?" another asked with uncertainty.


    "I think so."


    "Yes, it is him."


    "It felt like the patriarchs were looking at me."


    "What type of ability do his eyes have?"


    "He looked at us"


    "He saw us through kilometers of obstacles"


    "That''s just, that''s just ridiculous." One of them stuttered even though they were using their divine sense tomunicate. Themunication between them was garbled and their minds were in disarray. There was just one thing that they could all agree on andtch on to.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "We have to tell the patriarchs."


    They ryed the series of events back to the patriarchs quickly. They deliberated on what to do with the mutants but were undecided. They wanted the mutant to grow for his strength and his bloodline but they didn''t know how to go about it.


    There are three possible approaches with their merits and demerits. They could allow the mutant to grow normally like any other direct descendant. This wouldn''t draw much attention to the boy but it will make securityx. They wouldn''t be able to monitor the boy closely and protect him against danger very well. As opposed to that is for the baby is to be brought to the ancient battlefield to be trained specially. It would draw attention but they would be able to protect him very well.


    They still couldn''t decide for the time being so they ordered the sovereigns to keep watching. Something coulde up that will make them decide unanimously. While the Origin patriarchs were discussing, Ghoto had entered the house to see his wife and kids. He had questioned the midwife along the way, "Is everything alright?"


    "Yes everything is alright," she answered.


    "No problem whatsoever?" Ghoto asked again, he was skeptical, "Could she think I can''t handle bad news?" he thought. He was skeptical because the babies had taken too long in the womb, he was ready for any abnormality, and he would love them all the same.


    "Your babies are all perfect with no deficiency. I examined them myself," she assured him, which relieved him. He entered their bedroom to find his wife already watching their babies. He rushed to her" Are you okay my darling?" He asked.


    "I am fine. It was difficult but I pulled through it. The delivery wasn''t even long." Mihika answered.


    "Are you sure?" He asked again. Even though she had freshened up and looked okay he wanted to be sure.


    "You worry too much," she smiled and said.


    "I have to. You and the three champions are all I have, and you don''t worry at all. Someone has to do it." He smiled back.


    Theyughed and hugged while legion two watched them. Then they turned to watch their babies. One of them was red and female, the other was blue and male, and thest one was golden and male. The first two were pretty normal, but thest one was different. His eyes had several colors which are unheard of.


    The color of the fur of battle sage monkeys is affected by their bloodline or their concept. It is an expression of their bloodline when they are born and might change when they acquire a body ofw due to their concepts.


    The Ghastorix royal bloodline has had many origin gods which means different variations of their origin bloodline, so it isn''t weird for babies to have different fur colors at birth. It just means different bloodline expressions. But their eyes are always the same color as their fur. It was rare to see a child with a fur different in color from his eyes.


    Mih and Ghoto focused on their firstborn.


    To Legion two it looked like they were scrutinizing him. He saw Ghoto''s bloodshot eyes and thought the battle sage monkey was trying to intimidate him. He giggled and made funny baby sounds which almost made Mih and Ghoto tear up. Mih wanted to carry her babies but she couldn''t right now because she had been told that the babies had a special constitution that needed to be carefully examined. She found the entire thing to be bogus and odd, but she wasn''t in her family, she could only obey.


    Soon after they received a message from the grand elders that they could go on with their activities.


    Mih carried Legion two while the Ghoto carried the other two babies.


    "What name should we give them?" Ghoto asked.


    "This one should be Soverick(Golden Stone/Jewel) because of his shiny fur. We can call the only girl Litori( Fire from a star) because of her red fur and fire affinity." Mih said after some thought.


    "Then this one should be Ghaster (the might of lightning), he has blue fur, lightning affinity and there was a lightning storm on the day of his birth," Ghoto said.

 Chapter 55 Guntu The Artist.

    ?And so the three little ones were born and their life began. The end of Mih''s pregnancy and the sessful delivery of her children soon spread throughout the upper echelon. People were curious about the children and what made them special but they couldn''t get ess to the babies or information about them.


    So as time went by people slowly forgot Mih and Ghoto. But some people didn''t forget, the direct descendants didn''t forget. The three babies will turn out to be theirpetitors soon, so they paid attention to Ghoto and his little family. It was only those who were paying attention that was able to discover that Mih had disappeared shortly after childbirth only to return some timeter as a titan ofw.


    Although this development was stillrgely unknown to most of the popce of the ancestral city because of the information lockdown around Ghoto''s family, those that were aware of her breakthrough were shocked by her transformation. It had even pushed the Origin patriarchs to seek advice from their predecessors.


    The three current patriarchs of the family decided to inform their higher-ups about this development. Their call for assistance was answered immediately because a particr ancestor of theirs was avable. They went out to greet the great ancestor that was sent to get the full picture of what was going on.


    "Wee great ancestor" the three of them bowed in greeting.


    The three of them may be origin gods, the same realm of strength as the visitor but they remained humble because of seniority and because they knew this person could still beat them, and without much effort at that. The same realm didn''t equate to the same battle prowess.


    The visitor that descended from the upper realm was another battle sage monkey. His ck fur looked shaggy and unkempt. He was wearing a simple ck cloak with torn trousers to cover his loins and had a gourd strapped to his back. The gourd is ck as night and also significantly bigger than the person wearing it. Everything he wore was ck and made him look like a reaper or a homeless drunk.


    His friends call him Guntu the drunkard, his enemies call him Guntu the destroyer, while his acquaintances call him Guntu the eye of destruction to be polite to him. He doesn''t like people calling him a destroyer.


    He would say" I am not a destroyer. How could I be a destroyer? I am just an artist that appreciates the beauty of wine and maybe a troublemaker."


    "Hahaha" Guntuughed. "You don''t have to be so stiff around me," he said as he followed them to the lodgings for visiting ancestors. He sat down without a care.


    The face he revealed under his shawl was quite handsome and didn''t go well with his raggedy outfit but the origin gods didn''t mind that. Guntu''s tail undid the strap of his gourd. As soon as he uncorked the gourd, the temperature of the room increased and it seemed like space was about to fold and melt. He drank from the gourd, then offered it to the timid three "Do you want a drink?"


    "No, we''re good."


    "No thanks."


    "We wouldn''t want to impose."


    "Come on, have a drink." he asked again, but they refused and even became wary "I promise you it is wine not whatever you''re thinking. It won''t set you on fire this time, I promise." he tried to convince them.


    "We know ancestor. We trust you."


    "We just aren''t interested. Our minds need to be somber to lead the family."


    "It is still early in the morning for me." the trio gave one excuse after another.


    "Suit yourself. You don''t know what you''re missing. You don''t know that people would line up to take a drink from my gourd." he sounded hurt but the three of them we not deceived, they did not fall for his antics, they had learned their lesson. Guntu was that troublesome uncle that liked to prank his nieces and nephews


    "So what is this about a mutant?" He asked when he noticed they weren''t moved even after his show.


    "A female of our family got pregnant. She is the wife of a member of the family with distant blood rtions. His bloodline is thin and she had none. But her pregnancysted for 52 years." the one talking stopped when he noticed Guntu wasn''t listening, he was picking his nose and scratching his fur. The three of them shook their heads helplessly. "Why can''t they send a normal person" they moaned, but they didn''t dare disrespect this weird ancestor of theirs.


    One of them coughed, only then did Guntu''s attention return. He sighed and said "I was thinking about this fine alcohol that your father put out for hisst birthday celebration. It was glorious. Too bad you weren''t there. You missed a lot but don''t worry, I''ll tell you all about it"


    When they noticed they were about to lose him to his ramblings they had to stop him.


    "That can wait for a while ancestor. We still have the matter of the mutant."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You''re right. We can always talk and catch upter. When we are done with this, I''ll tell you about the party and my recent adventures. You are in for a treat, we''ll probably need months for it."


    They groaned inwardly but continued reporting the details of their conundrum.


    "The pregnancy was examined 31 years into it ording to preventive protocol and it was discovered the unborn children had full bloodline awakening in two of them and the mutant was suspected of possessing the Origin source of a new bloodline. It could be said that he was a different species just like an origin god."


    "Hmm" Guntu grunted to indicate he was listening. But he wasn''t listening, that special alcohol had been brewed for over 100 origin cycles. It was as expensive as it was truly memorable. He couldn''t stop thinking about it.


    "We had sovereigns sent to the ancestral city secretly to monitor the couple. We wanted to determine if there was something special about them and also to protect them. The mutant might be useful to our ns when the era of conquestes."


    Guntu snorted at this. The patriarchs continued


    "The mutant was sessfully delivered and he was examined. We found out that he had an active eye ability and he could use it as soon as he was born"


    "That''s impossible," Guntu said. He sobered up and became serious. "There is no way he could use his active ability that early even if he has one."


    "He did and we have been able to confirm it." They showed him the transmission from the sovereigns they sent.


    "Interesting. This is interesting. I thought I would be bored silly but this is actually interesting." Guntu said. "Continue."


    "Yes, ancestor. We haven''t been able to determine what his eyes can do or identify the effect of his bloodline. We only know he has golden fur and multicolored eyes. We decided to let him grow up normally so we can monitor him but then his mother became a titan soon after and we found out that she also has a full-bloodline awakening. Her body ofw was not created by her concept but by a very pure bloodline as if she were a direct descendant. Her Bloodline has such purity that it would certainly push her to the level of Sovereign."


    "Even more interesting. You are thinking that the mutant is the cause of the bloodline awakening not only for the mother but the siblings too."


    "Yes, ancestor. What do you think we should do with the mutant?"


    Guntu turned silent and thought for while before saying "Let the mutant be. It will be mighty presumptuous of us to rely on him during the era of conquest. The higher the hope, therger the disappointment. We should just do it like everyone one else and work together with the race. Even if we decide to rely on him he might not be an origin god in the short amount of time we have."


    The three nodded and agreed, "Yes ancestor. You are probably right."


    "Of course I am right." Guntu puffed out his chest, his scrawny frame made him look funny but they didn''tugh. "Don''t be so gloomy. It is just our hope for survival when the universe ends. Let me tell you about that wine. It is sure to cheer you up".


    The three origin god patriarchs groaned, then one of them said. "Ancestor, can I still have that drink."


    Guntu pped in excitement "I knew you would change your mind. You have a cultured mind, do you know that. Not like these two." He uncocked the gourd and offered it "Go on. Have a drink." The sullen origin god took the gourd, he looked like he had been asked to die, but he drank from it and lost consciousness.


    The gourd is a top-grade origin artifact, it contains sealed stars. The drink within it is liquid fire, but its destructive ability has been mellowed with some treatment to affect the soul. The wine within it will target the consciousness of whoever drinks it. It is the drink for the strong, those that can''t withstand it will have their consciousness shatter to pieces. If taken by an origin god, the effect could range between instantbustion or delirium depending on the amount taken and the resistance to thews within the mes.


    The gourd is used by Guntu for drinking and as a weapon, it is the crowning achievement of his life. Guntu can handle the mes because he trains in destructive concepts.


    "What a true man," Guntu said in admiration.


    "Now then. There I was, mouth wide open, saliva dripping, shocked in body and soul. I was fooling around with that temptress Dame Khokhar, ah, she is a fine and incredible battle sage. So anyway, I was fooling around with her but I dropped her as soon as I perceived the divinity that was that wine. How could Dame Khokharpare to such a wine? After all, I am an artist before anything else. In fact, I received the inspiration for a poem at that instant. You must listen to it, it will change your lives...."

 Chapter 56 Baby Amateur Fighting.

    ?"Being a baby is not what I thought it would be." Mused Soverick or the one known as legion two. There he was, sitting in a dipper and looking out the window. He had a scrunched-up face as if he were in deep thought, and he was. He was currently on the "Think about my life" part of the daily agenda, right after meditation.


    "It is strangely pleasurable. That clumsy buffoon lives for my every whim and makes my life so much easier" he snickered to himself. He was having a nice time being a baby battle sage monkey. There were no rules and he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted to. It was not as luxurious as being a high Elf baby but he was also without responsibility.


    "The only thing ruining my experience is the presence of my unruly siblings. They cry too much, I think I should ask for a room of my own. I can''t take much more of this. It is only a matter of time before I have to strangle them in their sleep."


    The only downside to having free time is spending it with badpany. Badpany has a way of ruining the moment. He could only ignore them and allow his mind to wander,pletely oblivious to the chaos in the background.


    His siblings which he decided to call the blue thing and the red thing had trashed their room, again. They had been doing that recently but this time, the room was a big mess. Soverick chose to ignore that too.


    At only 5 months, the red thing and blue thing had be a bundle of tumultuous energy. They were already capable of walking and simplemunication. But unlike him, their model eldest who spends his time either in meditation, quiet contemtion, or light physical training, the blue, and red thing only know to fight. He was pulled back from his silent contemtion by a particrly nasty p. The sound of it was simply jarring, he couldn''t ignore it.


    He turned to see the blue thing angered and ready to retaliate. He swung his arms in a wide arc that was too easy to evade but the red thing didn''t dodge in time.


    "Like somemon thugs" he chided inwardly. They liked to fight but they were bad at it. This sort of behavior is beneath him so he didn''t bother to talk to them or be mindful of the damage they might cause to the environment or each other.


    The door of their room opened suddenly, and their father burst in. It seemed the sound had attracted the father figure, proof that the old man was listening in on them. Soverick prepared to watch a show.


    He noticed that the old man was breathing heavily as he took in the sight of the room. "He must have been running," thought soverick to himself. "I couldn''t hear himing because of the soundproofing. Hisbored breathing means he was far away maybe not even in the house. A king ofw cannot be out of breath running the short distance within the house. He must have a portable spying device that he uses to keep track of us."


    Their father ghoto turned to Soverick and eyed him before turning his attention to the other two, who in fact, were still fighting. He rubbed his eyelids with his right hand and signed. He wasn''t surprised by the sight. He had been rmed by the snap he heard through the monitor so he rushed here, but it turns out he was worried for nothing. He walked forward to separate and examine the fighting babies.


    "Can they even be called babies? More like portable trouble." He thought to himself as he felt the babies for injuries but they struggled to escape his grip.


    "Stop it" he ordered loudly, enough to shake the room. His voice stunned the two amateur fighters and only then did he realize what he had done.


    "Stop it." He said in a softer tone. He had to do another round of examination to make sure he had not hurt them with his earlier shout.


    "Thank goodness," he muttered, then signed at the tenacity of his children. Normal babies might have been seriously injured by that shout. Even though he had not channeled any intention to harm, the shout of a king is not easy to bear. But then again, his kids were far from normal.


    Since their birth, they had not eaten anything or hardly slept. Their bodies did not require nourishment of any kind, they were born capable of sustaining themselves, and more than that. They were growing stronger every day. They appeared to be low maintenance at first nce but it wasn''t so. They needed more of his time and effort to take care of them.


    Mana from the environment is constantly being funneled into their bodies so they were always full of energy, energy which they expend through fighting. He had tried everything to stop them but they would start crying if he so much as to inhibit their freedom.


    They had broken their first crib when he tried to lock them in. So he had reced their crib with an enchanted crib capable of withstanding mana-infused attacks. That had stopped them for a while but then their entric older brother managed to hack the lock system and let himself out.


    This caused the other two to grow frantic in their efforts to get out, so much that they were harming themselves in the process. But no matter how much they tried they could only watch their eldest leave his crib as he pleased. The two trouble makers had opted to cry their lungs out after their failed attempts.


    He could only let them out because their emotions were stirring up the ambient mana into their various affinities which could very well lead to a disaster. They might not know how to control their abilities but their emotions can work up a storm.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Even though he didn''t like them dueling each other with their fist it was much better than ying with fire and lightning in an enclosed space.


    "So much talent." He thought in jealousy.


    "I wish I had half as much talent as them. I would be stronger right now."


    All the talent they had was being spent on figuring out how to fight. He did what he always did whenever they go off rails like this, he began to scold them.


    Soverick watched from the side with much amusement. It was like watching a mother hen tutor her disobedient chicks. But the chicks think the hen is out of it.


    "Stop fighting. Fighting isn''t good." Ghoto said. "Fighting is bad. You''re siblings, so you should care for each other."


    Try as he might the chicks were not listening to mother hen''s lecture. Ghoto noticed them giving him that vacant look as if they couldn''t make sense of what he was saying.


    "Why must you fight?" He asked in exasperation. His voice took on a steely tone when they didn''t answer "Answer me Ghaster, and you too Litori."


    "She looked at me funny." Ghaster the second eldest spoke. He pointed at his junior sister "She is disrespectful. She alwaysughs at me."


    His sister Litori was quick to refute him.


    "Stop saying that. You are not older than me. Iughed because you look funny."


    Ghoto sighed again. It was the same old thing. Although their intelligence was astounding for "people" their age, they had a one-track mind. And as much as their learning capacity was high, there are just some things that they fail to grasp.


    "How about reading? Reading is fun, trust me." He said in an attempt to turn their attention toward more fruitful things.


    "But she alwaysughs at me," Ghasterined.


    It was the root of the problem but there was nothing Ghoto could do about that. It is true, Ghaster is funny looking. It is because of his awakening to lightning at such a young age. He couldn''t control his bloodline ability so his charged hair makes him look like a puffed-up, fluffy animal.


    "Don''t bother with that Ghaster. You look handsome, it is a unique look. Very handsome." Ghoto tried to encourage Ghaster to take the high road but Ghaster didn''t look like he would be doing so anytime soon, at least not with that sly grin that Litori was wearing. If he was so handsome, then what was making Litoriugh about his looks? She ought to be admiring him not sneering. It won''t matter anymore, as long as he slugs her face and wipes that condescending smile off her pretty face.


    "If only they were like their elder brother. Quiet and calm." Ghoto thought.


    He continued to push the reading agenda. "Soverick likes reading. There must be something about it that has grabbed his attention." Ghoto said before turning to his eldest son, "Why don''t you tell them what is so interesting about reading Soverick."


    "Don''t bring me into this, old man." Was what ghoto got for his effort.

 Chapter 57 Negotiations With A Baby.

    ?Their father tried to set them on the right path and he brought Soverick into it in a bid to achieve this.


    "Soverick likes reading. There must be something about it that has grabbed his attention." Ghoto said before turning to his eldest son, "Why don''t you tell them what is so interesting about reading, Soverick."


    "Don''t bring me into this, old man." That was what Ghoto got for his effort. Soverick had no intention of helping out.


    "Why are you like this? Why don''t you want to help your siblings?" Ghoto almost pleaded for support but his eldest was as stone-cold as ever. His eldest son had always been detached from responsibility. There was this one time when he watched his siblings ying with a very sharp object that escaped his search. He had reprimanded the boy but he had said, "how will they learn if they don''t get hurt? Experience is the best teacher old man."


    Ghoto was looking forward to his excuse this time.


    "Because that''s your job, not mine. As if my life isn''t as difficult as it is. I am just a baby you know. You were the one that came up with the stupid idea to have kids. Decisions like thate with fire consequences. You better own up to your wrongs."


    Ghoto calmed down. It was as the boy said, it was his job, and he was failing at it. But nothing had prepared him for this arduous task. That didn''t mean he would relent though.


    "Could you at least talk them out of fighting? You are the eldest, you''re supposed to be their role model."


    "I tried to 2 months ago when they started talking but they didn''t listen. So I stopped bothering myself with them."


    His answer didn''t satisfy Ghoto. "That isn''t enough. You haven''t tried enough."


    "For what? They don''t listen to you so why would they listen to me." It was Soverick''s turn to be exasperated, and it showed in his voice. "Why do you even bother yourself. I don''t even care about their names. I call them the blue thing and red thing. That''s to show just how much emotion I have invested in their existence. I wouldn''t even miss them if they die."


    "Don''t say that. That''s just wrong." Ghoto was aghast, it was only now that he knew that his eldest wasn''t so normal either. None of his kids are normal.


    "Whatever. Just do your thing" Soverick said with his voice dripping with derision and his finger pointing at the rascals ready to go at it." And live me to do mine."


    "Mother high heavens above, when will your mother return. I have never needed her presence like so much right now." Ghoto was just about to snap. Here he was trying to stop them from fighting but it is a waste of his efforts. The kids seem to have gotten bolder. They will usually wait for him to leave before resuming their fight. He was not being afforded that respect anymore.


    Ghoto''s outburst got Soverick thinking. Where was his so-called mother? He hadn''t seen her since their day of birth. "It wouldn''t change much even if she were here. Only violence can quench the violence in these two rascals." Then he turned his attention inwards, in his body. He examined the flow of energy through every cell. This miraculous scene didn''t faze him much. He had experienced something like this as a High Elf. The high affinity to mana and nature will lead to the unconscious imbibing of energy by elf babies and children of high-level organisms. It is also amon sight in children with royal bloodlines of sufficient purity. The bloodline can be described as a mold constructed by fragments and strings ofws, it aims to replicate the origin of the bloodline in more ces than one. Those with the bloodline will find themselves developing in the image of their ancestors both physically, mentally, and emotionally.


    Adults that awaken to their bloodline will not feel much of a difference in their conduct apart from the few emotional outburst. They will experience functional and cosmetic mutations but that is the end of it.


    Babies on the other hand are especially susceptible to such maniptions. The bloodline awakened in the womb and its impact couldn''t be resisted at that stage of their life. It is why his younger siblings are so violent.


    Ghaster awakened the bloodline of an ancestor with a lightning affinity. It makes him always active and full of energy. Even titans ofw will be emotionally unstable and physically destructive with such an element, not to talk of a mere baby, one that is being constantly infuriated by a sister that is innately arrogant and fearless because of the fire in her blood. It doesn''t help that they belong to the battle sage race, odds are the ancestors that the bloodline originated from are battle junkies.


    So it couldn''t be helped, they had to fight, one plus one must make two. The effect of their bloodline, their elemental affinities, and their race culminated in energy that can only be expended through long bouts of fighting. Ghoto''s efforts will go to waste. If their bloodline has anything to do with it, his efforts must go to waste.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    As for him, he chose to channel his surplus energy into refining and training himself. The royal bloodline has an almost magical effect in refining the person it awakened within to achieve greatness. But its effect can be amplified through targeted training. That is why he put a lot of effort into physical exercise, even as a baby. His n for omnipotence does not end with bing a baby. He ns to be an origin god again and then tackle the next obstruction on his path to power. It will only happen if he takes things one baby step at a time, he wouldn''t rest on hisurels.


    But just for kicks, he decided to throw the poor man a bone for his effort. He nned to get something useful out of it too.


    "I have a solution." He said to his father who immediately teared up.


    "I knew you cared. You aren''t heartless after all. You can still change."


    Soverick''s eye twitched, but he smiled and continued "No I don''t care. But we could have a deal."


    The sight of his pearly white baby teeth did not put his father at ease. "A child should not be so calcting," he thought and voiced his concerns "Where did you learn to make deals?"


    "That''s none of your business, old man. Are you in or out?" He asked impatiently.


    Ghoto almost sighed but he stopped himself. It would be a bad habit if he indulged himself. He thought back to his childhood. His father hadn''t cared enough to stick around. He had to struggle with his mother to live and pay for his training. But here he was, a father with all the care in the world, but his children didn''t need him. They didn''t need his money to eat or pay for their training expenses. They were growing every day, all on their own, without him. He could have dropped them off in a forest filled with wild animals and they were likely to survive. Their instincts and ancestral memories will protect them.


    "Maybe that''s what is giving this boy the cheek to bargain with me." Heined but he would listen to the boy first, who knows, he might have a solution.


    "I am in. What do you want?" Ghoto said through the gaps in his teeth.


    "I want my room," Soverick said unconcerned. As if he didn''t notice the twisted look his father was giving him. So he continued. " I want it to be secured and private. I don''t want you spying on me or barging into my room unannounced."


    His son''s flippant attitude was the straw that broke his back. He unleashed his aura and stood straight "You will tell me the solution or else" he replied while his eyes gave assurance of threats unsaid. While the two runts cowered in the background because their bloodline was rming them with feelings of danger, Soverick didn''t look one bit fazed.


    "Is that all?" He asked, unamused.


    "Something doesn''t go your way and you resort to violence. Disappointing. Is that what you want to teach your children? How to behave like thugs. I can see where the two rascals got their violence streak from."


    Ghoto deted with every word. He felt ashamed of his outburst.


    "I am sorry." He apologized.


    "Good. Good that you know your ce. You are our caretaker. You are supposed to take care of us. If you wouldn''t care for me, you should at least care for the other two. I am only asking these so that I won''t strangle them. I am not asking for too much, am I?"


    "I take it all back. He doesn''t care at all." Ghotomented mentally.

 Chapter 58 Father = Baby Caretaker.

    ?Ghotomented mentally but he continued to entertain the boy. "No, you aren''t asking for too much. You refraining from killing your siblings is already magnanimous."


    Soverick ignored his sarcastic tone and continued.


    "It is nice that you understand. I am a reasonable person and I like talking to reasonable people," he said with a look of approval on his face.


    "Moving on let''s get something straight, I don''t sumb to the threat of violence. I will only sumb to violence, not the threat of it." Then he turned to his siblings that had sobered up. "But those two will sumb to the threat of violence."


    "Now on to our deal. When will I get the room?"


    Ghoto sighed out loud, he couldn''t help himself this time.


    "How about you tell me first. If it is good then we can talk about the room."


    "Oh, smart." Soverick sneered. "Very smart of you. You want to outsmart a baby. Shame on you."


    Ghoto flushed red, his blue fur did nothing to hide his embarrassment. "Ok, I give you my word that I will talk to your mother about it."


    "It seems you''re not the one in charge here, but fair enough. I will see your superior when she returns."


    "Get to the point."


    "Why don''t you shackle them with chains and weights. They will tire themselves out trying to fight."


    Ghoto was shocked. " You want me to shackle my children like criminals?" It was one thing to be a useless dad, a dad that negotiates with his 5 months old child even, but a jailer dad. That''s just absurd, absurd to the highest degree.


    "What are you shouting for? Look at us, we wear matching outfits, you don''t feed us well, we are locked into the room without freedom and we even sleep in reinforced cells. So how are we different from inmates." Soverick said while pointing at their crib. Everything he said was technically right apart from one. "You don''t eat well because you refuse to eat the food I prepared," Ghoto said in his defense.


    "What you prepared cannot be called food. Even criminals will have better options than what you offered." Soverick maintained. "Alright. Calm down. How about this, I''ll do you a favor and shackle them for you. So you can escape your guilt that way."


    "No."


    "How about manacles?"


    Ghoto took in a deep breath before saying "I can''t believe I have to say this. No shackles, no chained weights, and no manacles."


    "Alright then. Your loss. It''s your choice. Either way, I get my room." But he got a re from Ghoto in response.


    "What? My idea was good. They wouldn''t fight and they get to exercise. They have too much energy for their own good. It was a good idea, and I even offered to do your dirty work for you. It''s not my fault that you chickened out because of a tiny little moral dilemma."


    Ghoto decided to put an end to the discussion about shackles. "You have made your point. I will talk to your mother when she returns. You might get your room."


    "Good. Good. When will your superior return anyway?" Soverick asked half interested in the answer. He wasn''t interested in her before but that had upgraded to half interest since her arrival will determine how soon he gets his room.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Very soon I''m sure. Practically anytime now." Ghoto answered amidst his effort to clean the room or at least restore it to a semnce of decorum while his two youngest kids remain content with watching them talk. Thankfully it doesn''t take much of an effort to move objects around with his mind so he was able to notice the ability to assimte knowledge of his children. They were watching him and learning fast, they even had the asional looks of contemtion on their faces. If they find something previously unknown they would try to locate information about it through their ancestral memories. They didn''t need him to teach them, as long as they can retrieve the information they need, they will be knowledgeable. The only thing that they willck is hands-on experience but they will make do with their instincts. Given enough time the kids will get better than adults with years of training. Ghoto knew this much about children with bloodlines because he always lost to them as a child.


    "I just hope they don''t learn their elder brother''s brand of bad behavior." He thought to himself, but his eldest son was not done with his shenanigans.


    "She better get here fast. I have so much to tell her about your performance."


    "I''m sure you do." Ghoto was resigned to his position of caretaker.


    "I''ll tell you beforehand so you can avoid being anxious. Your performance as a caretaker is subpar."


    "Oh, is that so?" His voice dripped with sarcasm, but soverick didn''t mind. He was in a good mood so he would allow the poor man some reprieve.


    "It is. You do well enough obeying my every whim but there are some times that you decide to be unreasonable. Then there''s that moralpass that is too good for a minion in your position. Given your desperation for a solution, can you afford to be so picky?"


    "This again about the inmate thing? You know what, you might be right." Ghoto asked with a strange glee.


    "Of course I am. It is good that you can finally see the light."


    "It is not toote for me. I''ll even take it further. I''ll also add gagging to the list."


    It was soverick''s turn to be surprised, he didn''t think his old man would change his opinion so quickly.


    "I am honestly surprised and impressed. Well done. This might solve the noise issue but I still want my room."


    "I am not done yet." Ghoto interrupted with barely suppressed sardonic joy. "I''ll also have you gagged."


    He finished, waiting to enjoy the look of horror when his son realises he wouldn''t be able to spew anymore of his sadistic words.


    A look of realization appeared on soverick''s face. But it wasn''t followed by horror or pleas, only pity. Ghoto had expected him to at least look unhappy but all he got from the boy was a condescending gaze of pity.


    "Maybe you don''t understand, I''ll lock up your mouth, your hands and feet will beden with weights like a yoked animal."


    "I know what you meant. Unlike your other seeds, I am not stupid. I understand you are threatening me. Apart from the fact that threats don''t work on me, I don''t believe you can go through with it. You don''t have the spine. Even if you went through with it, your n won''t work on me, I can break free remember. Unless you use some origin grade locks."


    It was ghoto''s turn to realize that his son was too smart. He had been able to break free from his crib, something a being lesser than a transcendent couldn''t break into. So he decided to just give up and leave with what little honor he had left. He wouldn''t entertain the Welp any longer, he would justplete his work and close the door behind him.


    Soverick looked on as a grown man worked on cleaning the mess made by some babies before leaving dejectedly. He realized something some days after he was born. Children, especially babies have power over their parents. A crying baby means no sleep in the house for the parents. This is all because of parental bonds and the responsibility of parenthood. A man can choose not to ept bing a father. It is not having children that makes someone a father, it is epting the responsibility thates with caring for a child that makes one a father. epting this responsibility can make a powerful man lower his head. Things be even worse when your child is the miniature form of a powerful lifeform,plete with knowledge, wisdom, and skills in the form of bloodline instincts.


    It ismon for such babies to be highly intelligent. So Ghoto did not suspect the level of knowledge that Soverick, his first son possesses. It did not cross his mind that within the small child is the soul of an origin god, because what are babies with royal bloodlines if not low-powered miniature origin gods. Soverick did not need to hide his peculiar abilities and personality. In fact, his intelligence will set him aside and allow him to be better groomed. If not, then there was no reason to stick around. He could get his main body to send sovereign clones to him. He wanted an identity recognized by the racial council which could only be expedited by possessing a traceable family tree. Such an identity will make a lot of things easier for him in the future. So if he was going to stick around, why not make a good impression and create the best identity possible.

 Chapter 59 Helpful Elder Brother.

    ?Meanwhile, Ghoto had just received news that help was on its way. A descendant from the lineage of his wife wasing to visit and help out with the babies. His wife had made some ns before she was incapacitated after childbirth. The thought of his wife and her meticulous ns for him made him happy but he tried to stop thinking about her. He knew why she was away, and he also knew she might never return.


    "Happy thoughts, think happy thoughts. Like the fact that someone ising to deal with these super babies for me." He thought to encourage himself. "Maybe she will grow on them. High heaven knows they need a woman''s touch."


    He was hoping that a feminine figure might mellow the kids and make them more malleable. He couldn''t wait for her to get here and relieve some of the pressure.


    So went to pick her up from the station even before she arrived. Transportation had be easier, faster, and morefortable since high heaven gained its realm lord. The realm lord had pushed for advancements in themercialization of magic technology. Even a being lesser than a transcendent could move across the entire ne without danger thanks to the creation and expansion of a transportationwork across the ne. The cost of transportation depended on the services offered and the guarantee of safety.


    Thedy he was expecting would be able to reach the city safely, but he would need to vouch for her so that she could get a temporary permit into the city. The city is in an enclosed space with strict surveince and security. ess to the city is strictly controlled. Some random family member from some forgotten generation cannot just show up and expect to be granted entry, even if she meant well and intends to suffer under the yoke of baby overlords.


    It took him less time than he thought, so he was able to get her through security in under two hours. He had his newfound status as a king ofw to thank for that. He smirked at the thought of finally having some useful perks due to his status. "How far I havee. From a little boy working and saving to grow stronger, to finally bing a person of considerable power.


    "Where do I stay King Ghoto?" Said a voice from beside Ghoto. She was usually timid, but she had grown tired of watching his daydreaming. She believed that there was work to be done and she wasn''t someone that could bear toze about.


    "Yes, where to stay. Follow me." Ghoto said hurriedly, "I have a ce prepared for you." He walked ahead of her to show her room for her temporary stay.


    Thedy was small looking, she stood at 1.6m which was normal for a battle sage monkey that hadn''t broken the limit of the body yet. It was moments like this that he realized he was tall for his race, being around so many bloodliners can make you belittle yourself, literally. She also had ringly white fur, something only those without a bloodline would have, a feature his wife also possessed. It was a sign of those that didn''t possess any lineage because even those without an awakened bloodline will have some form of body modifications due to the bloodline. It is rare to see someone so normal, so in nowadays. The original variant of the battle sage species had almost gone extinct. This isn''t a bad thing by any ount, it is always a wee change for a species to develop and evolve beyond its basal forms. These had led to being normal a stigma and had created feelings of inferiority in unfortunate descendants. But Ghoto did not think like that, he was happy someone came to his aid, it was much more than he got from his own so-called bloodline family.


    "Thank you again, King Ghoto," Ka said after he was done showing her to her room and exining the general mode of operation.


    "You are too kind, Ka. I should thank you instead, your help in this time of need will be remembered."


    "I am d that I can be of assistance." Ka beamed but decided to tone down her joy for now. She had yet to do what she came here for after all. Her family had tried everything to get her toe here so that she could get some acknowledgment from someone of Ghoto and his wife''s Caliber. She was about 10 generations down from her fore aunt Mih but was still able to win such a rare opportunity due to her potential. It was an opportunity that even transcendents tried for because of the exposure to the Originws present in the city. While her motivation was based purely on benefits, Ghoto did not need to know that. Instead, she rummaged through her bag and brought out a package.


    "This is for you, sir. Fore aunt Mih said I should give it to you." She said as she offered the package to Ghoto.


    "What could it be?" Ghoto asked with slight concern, but inwardly, he was very concerned. His thoughts ran wild guessing the contents of the small boxed package.


    "Why don''t you check?" Ka encouraged but Ghoto''s eye twitched. "It''s not like there''s another choice." He mumbled. He opened it to find a book and a letter. The book was titled "Bloodlines and Childcare: A guide to raising children born with their bloodlines awakened."


    "That''s it? A book and a letter?" He grumbled before a dreadful thought crept up into his mind. "Could this be her farewell letter? It also came with a book about how to take care of our kids, how can it not be a farewell letter?" He groaned.


    "Maybe I should leave you alone and go watch the babies," Ka spoke from the side once again. She didn''t want to stand around doing nothing. Watching a grown man cry, even if the man was a very powerful man she was supposed to cozy up to so that he could help out with her refinement was not on her agenda. Ghoto nodded in acknowledgment.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yes, you''re right. Let me introduce you first." He said. He had to at least inform the kids of a new "Caretaker." He opened the door of their room to find it messy, it was as if he hadn''t tried to arrange it at all.


    "They always make a mess of their surroundings," Ghoto said to exin his circumstances. He was not a negligent father. He just had unruly children. Ka nodded while she took in the view of the room. The kids stopped what they were doing long enough to nce at the neer. They were not impressed with what they saw so they returned to practice their abilities. Ghoto was secretly pleased that they were not fighting. It would be a bad show. He didn''t think they had decided to listen to him but he was grateful all the same. Whatever they are doing can''t be so bad right? He thought. He would be okay with anything as long as it was fruitful and it wasn''t fighting.


    "Wow. Your kids are awesome King Ghoto." Ka said in awe, which only got her a grunt from Soverick


    "You think that''s awesome?" His snidement didn''t put a damper on her emotions though.


    "They can really talk." She beamed.


    Normal kids couldn''t talk at their age but here they were doing more than that. She was impressed with them.


    Ghaster, the second son was working with sparks of lightning, and Litori was trying to make tongs of fire. While their talent is enviable, Ghoto was more worried about why they had stopped fighting. He had wanted to know what could cause them to stop fighting. A sneaking suspicion came to mind but he didn''t want to jump to any conclusions.


    "Soverick, what are your siblings doing?" Ghoto asked.


    "What it looks like. They are practicing."


    "What are they practicing for?" This question finally made Soverick turn to face him and Ghoto''s heart dropped. He knew his son hardly paid attention to events that urred around him, so whatever made him invest more of his attention must be important.


    "You wanted them to do something else, so I decided to help out."


    "Help out in what way?" Ghoto had to ask.


    Soverick started grinning. "I told them to study magic. It will make them stop fighting and exhaust them. They didn''t want to at first, but when I told them that they would find hurting each other much easier if they had some useful magical skills they were intrigued."


    "Intrigued my ass," Ghoto screamed inwardly. He didn''t want to show any hint that his son got to him in front of an outsider so he kept his cool.


    He suspected that Soverick had something to do with their change of heart. They were bound to realize that they needed better avenues to hurt each other anyway, the fact that it was expedited by their elder brother was just pure evil.

 Chapter 60 Two Heads Are Only Better Than One If They Are Both Good.

    ?Magic is aplicated thing that involved the active usage oftent mana using the divine sense to weave intricate spell structures that then unleash the magic. Ghoto wasn''t sure something like that can be achieved by kids their age but he was not going to underestimate them. Kids with awakened royal bloodlines could not be underestimated in their capabilities. He forced himself to smile and promised to get back at the boy. "You didn''t have to do that. I have already gotten help," he said while pointing to Ka, "I''m sure we can figure something out on our own."


    "It was no problem on my side. It was in fact, a pleasure, and I was hoping to see if you will revisit my Shackling idea. Would you finally bend your moral backbone or give each of us our rooms?" Ghoto could see the glee in his son''s eyes as he spoke, "Either way I get finally get my room."


    Still, Ghoto refused to snap. Instead, he continued to smile and he chose to change the subject.


    "Her name is Ka and she is going to be staying with us for a while."


    Right on cue, Ka greeted them. "Nice to meet you, everybody. I''ll try my best to cater to your needs."


    The two younger ones didn''t seem to be interested in whatever was going on in the room. They were at an arm''s race. The first person to develop noteworthy skills of significant damage output will get to rail on the other so they didn''t want to be the loser. That means not paying attention to their so-called father and somedy of the archaic variant chatting and cking off with their weird eldest. Soverick was the only one interested in this "New ything" enough to examine her. And he did it critically.


    "Not bad for a non-bloodliner." His firstment stung Ka. His reference to herck of a bloodline made her especially sensitive to criticism. She had realized she couldn''tpare herself to them in talent anyway, only her strength could offer her some reprieve, but the way the small boy held himself with confidence made her even more timid and afraid of reprove.


    Soverick continued with his appraisal seemingly oblivious to her difort. Ka may not be bad for her background, she wasn''t good enough either. He was currently an origin god with the pride of one, anything beneath his level is equal to mediocrity. So his caretakers ought to be the very best of thatrge pool of mediocrity that could be offered. He was a baby, it wasn''t his ce to ask for the best, it should have been offered to him without his request. So yes, saying she wascking was an understatement but he was also "matured" enough to not say that. Soverick decided to take the high road and keep his displeasure to himself. He encouraged himself with the fact that she was temporary and she would probably die trying to break through to transcendent.


    Instead, he said "Not bad indeed. But you know, two heads are better than one, only if they are both good."


    "What do you mean?" Ka asked.


    "I meant that your predecessor wascking, scathing on the edge as it was. Is your addition a good idea?"


    Ghoto''s face darkened. It was one thing to talk down on him in the presence of an outsider, it was another to add the outsider to the degradation. It was a deadly doublebo. Sadly, there was nothing he could do, for now. He would read up and get back at the boy. Besides Ka is now part of the family, she should learn to handle her share of the burden, that''s what she came for anyways. The earlier she can adapt the better for her.


    "I''ll be off. Why don''t you guys get to know each other." Ghoto said hurriedly before walking away.


    ''This thing must be expensive. Why would she pick out something like this?''


    He thought as he left the children''s room to read the book. Hard books were almost extinct nowadays, only wealthy people with a massive amount of time granted by the elevation of their life''s order read them. Information transmission from mind to mind has long been achieved, so such modes of information storage had be all but obsolete.


    While Ghoto was about to help himself to the book, Ka had to deal with the caretaker interview currently being held in the children''s room. The audible m of the door closing ushered in a period of silence that Soverick was more thanfortable with breaking.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "So what do you say. Are you a good addition or not?" He folded his arms while his eyes resumed their scrutiny. The multicolored eyes squinting at her made Ka uneasy. "In simpler terms what can you do?"


    Ka tried to smile to ease some tension before replying. "I can cook. I mean I can prepare medicinal food that will enhance your growth. I can sing, I have a nice voice, so I will sing you to sleep. I can also tell you stories. Interesting bedtime stories. My younger brothers and sisters enjoyed it when they were younger." Ka had been watching the boy''s face to gauge his emotions and feelings as she spoke but she got nothing. The boy was like an insurmountable cier and she lost confidence until she couldn''t speak. Only then did Soverick nod before passing judgment. "Barely adequate. We can make use of your first skill, we will have to pass on the rest. We don''t need to waste our time on nonsense such as singing and bedtime stories. Unlike other impaired offsprings that you are used to, we don''t need sleep."


    "Are you sure you can make decisions for everyone, why don''t you ask for their opinions?" Ka asked in indignation. She had a soft spot for her singing which Soverick hadbeled as nonsense. Children loved her singing, the boy may be the odd one out but his siblings might appreciate her singing.


    "I make the decisions," Soverick announced solemnly. He decided to teach the girl a lesson, he could recognize someone trying to sow the seeds of discord at a nce.


    "You know what? You will be also useful for target practice. Your body seems sturdy enough and we will try not to break you physically so that you can always cook for us. I''m sure your pleasant voice will go well with screams of pain."


    Ka tried to keep her face together. "You can''t hurt me anyways, you''re too weak." She said back. If there was one thing she had confidence in, it was her strength. She felt there''s no way children less than a year old can everpare to her mana body that took centuries to acquire, no matter how talented the children are.


    ''I can do much more than hurt you. I can break you.'' Soverick thought to himself in amusement but he decided to keep the naive girl in the dark, for her sanity. And people say he doesn''t care.


    "I can try, you know what they say, practice makes perfect. I bet practice with a singing target will be better." Soverick mocked.


    "I''ll be back," Ka said before she walked out. She decided not to bicker with a child. She would rather show him up with her actions. She decided to visit a store and purchase some of the things she needed to cook a meal. She could order them but she wanted to examine and pick the ingredients herself. Ka was willing to put in the extra effort to ensure maximum satisfaction. Taking care of the kids is her main objective here and their opinion of her will affect the sess of her side objectives. A favorable opinion of her will go a long way in securing assistance for her progress in refinement. And she had some confidence in her cooking.


    "I bet he will bite his tongue when he tastes my food and realize how good it is." She thought to herself.


    She also began nning retribution. She wanted the children to like her but that didn''t mean she would allow them to walk over her. Her experience with raising kids had thought her that she had to be soft at times and hard at other times. Only then will they respect her and appreciate her.


    In a bid to achieve that she will also get a mana lock formation along with cooking materials. A mana lock formation is an array that would lock down the mana in the area under its influence and prevent its active usage. It may be a little extreme but it would prevent them from using mana.


    "I can''t wait to see their face when they realize they can''t practice. Then they will have to beg me."


    It was a perfect n. She didn''t need to spend her money on it. She would tell their father that it is for their protection so that they wouldn''t be able to hurt themselves or be hurt by others identally or in her case, not so identally.

 Chapter 61 Bloodlines Make The World Go Round.

    ?In the living room.


    Ghoto had finished inspecting the book. It was what it looked like. A simple engraved and enchanted object with audio, video records, and tactile feedback. Just a simple book with information about child care. Nothing out of the ordinary as far as he could tell.


    ''Maybe it contains some code or some other thing. I should read the letter first''


    He mused before turning to pick up the letter. He had been dreading reading the letter, his fear of its unknown content getting the better of him. Why would she send a letter? Why would anyone use a letter in this time and age? It was an archaic method ofmunication and just in weird. First the book, now the letter, his wife was acting strange.


    He was so deep in thought that he only grunted in agreement when Ka asked if she could get a child''s safety mana lock formation. Her request seemed okay so he agreed to it.


    Then he returned to thinking about the letter but that led to nowhere so he stopped doing that and moved on. He opened the letter gently with a grim look on his face, he was ready to face whatever crisis might pop out. The contents of the letter looked short.


    ''Who would go through the effort of writing such a scanty letter and send it by hand?'' He was totally confused. It might be code for something, so he read it to find out.


    "I was right, wasn''t I? I said they were undergoing atavism but you didn''t believe me. I want to gloat so bad and look at that dumb look on your stupid face, your very stupid face. I sent the letter and the instructions for help when I was pregnant. I had an inkling that I might be made unavable because of my breakthrough. That''s right, I nned for my absence when you were still moping about our unborn children. Read the book and remember, no matter what, you''re a great father."


    Ghoto sighed and smiled. He smiled because he was happy. It seemed he had been sighing a lottely but the letter made him rx and uplifted his emotions. "But what''s this about me being a good father?" He muttered while his spiritual sense entered the book and activated its runes. The book opened with a shining glow before dimming and flipping to the required page. He selected the full option for information retrieval so the book created a series of 3D holographic images in quick session apanied by sound. The topic of discussion in the first chapter was titled Bloodlines and the Society. He could speed up the delivery by 10 times but he didn''t want to miss anything, which would be difficult to achieve. The mind of a king ofw is too powerful to be stumped by a mere book.


    In summary, he learned that the society of high-order beings is held together by bloodlines. Unlike low-level lifeforms which are those beneath transcendent who can only transfer a superficial level of inheritance to the next generation through childbirth, those above that level can transfer part of their very soul and essence to their offspring. This process is called true inheritance or the creation of a bloodline. The basic difference between those with a bloodline and those without one is the presence of familiar bonds. This familiar bond is not based on superficial and unreliable things such as emotions. It is considered an instruction that is woven into the very fabric of their existence to care for those of simr bloodlines. Those without this so-called familiar bond are capable of killing their immediate and closest family member because of jealousy. This is due to theck of a familial bond that ought to restrain them from acting on such emotion. That is why other forms of organization are filled with strife and will eventually break up.


    In the case of a royal bloodline with an origin god as the source, the familiar bond bes evesting, it bes capable of acting on individuals across generations. The effects of a royal bloodline are eternal unlike other forms of inheritance.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The familiar bond is why origin bloodlines can form a n or family that willst across multiple origin cycles without breaking up. Such families will be bigger because of the inclusion of other sources of familiar bonds. Like so, society is held together and prevented from imploding, because the odds are with enough time, the familiar bond will spread around.


    While this was all enlightening to Ghoto and he could admit to having learned a few new things today. He had always thought that bloodlines only gave strength and an edge above others. So a mortal father might pass on some physical traits but a transcendent will be able to pass on spiritual traits. This process was termed true inheritance and because of it, the source of a bloodline is the true father of the offspring in a lineage. ording to this information, he was not the true father of his kids and it may be why his children weren''t particrly attached to him.


    "I am truly just their Caretaker aren''t I?" He sighed.


    What got to him the most was the disadvantages of familiar bonds. While two people with simr and most importantly evident familiar bonds will look favorably upon one another. It must be evident because bloodlines do get diluted with others and only the one that has been awakened will be recognized. Those without simr bloodlines tend to be cold towards each other and in cases where the source of the bloodlines are enemies, the two descendants will be enemies. This hatred might extend to killing on sight and lead to centuries-long wars. While familiar bonds are strong, it will not stop people of different sources from liking each other, it will not stop people of simr familiar bonds from killing each other either. It will only make sure the death is warranted which hardly happens in the first ce because they usually take good care of each other. They might hate each other or be jealous, but they will never sabotage the interest of the family.


    It was only at this moment that he knew why his father never loved him. He always thought it was because he hadn''t awoken any bloodlines as a child, his father didn''t see any reason to stick around. Now he knew his father could have stayed anyways, he just didn''t want to. His wife was wrong about something for the first time in a while, he didn''t feel like he was a bad father but he felt like a disappointing son instead. He wasn''t happy about the realization but he was a grown man, he had dealt with his father issues a long time ago. It was important to fix all emotional issues or it might be an issue during the mind tribtion needed to be an origin god.


    He decided to disregard the new information. It only increased his resolve to be a better father. He would do that by soaking in the knowledge avable in the book and bing a better father. The thought of Soverick''s grinning face also spurred him on. He had to get back at that little disrespectful brat.


    Meanwhile, in the children''s room. Ghaster tried to move the energy within him but he found it too difficult to do. The energy within his body was trying to bond with his cells and energize them. It was a subconscious reaction due to his bloodline. While others without one would try to achieve this manually, he had the advantage of his bloodline. But even his bloodline cannot assist him in his current endeavor to gain control over mana. It was just impossible or at least supposed to be impossible for him to do at this stage. The fact that the eldest had thought of something like this filled him with dread.


    If you ask Ghaster, the eldest was just weird. If he put aside the tingling sensation of danger he felt when he examined the eldest, the way the eldest can engage in intelligent banter with their father proved he was above him in more ways than one.


    His eldest had suggested a method by which he could finally p that teasing smile off of his sister''s face. It was like she was egging him on.


    He was suspicious of such an act of kindness, from the eldest at first, he had considered it a trick but his instincts told him that that was how stronger beings fight. His instincts were also telling him that he would not be able to control worldly energy without it forming the basest of a singrity, what is referred to as a vitality Core. The other option was to awaken his spirit, but that needed him to nourish it. His instincts are also telling him he was not doing anything wrong, he was making progress every day. It was just impossible to achieve such a thing right now, he didn''t have the requirements to. So howe his eldest was talking about the active usage of mana. The eldest was either bluffing them to make them fear him or the eldest was truly terrifying. There was only one way to find out.

 Chapter 62 A Very Very Short Glorious And Honourable Battle.

    ?Ghaster was determined to find out what the eldest was truly capable of. There was only one way to find out. So despite his fear for the eldest, he stood up and started approaching the eldest. He was only 10 meters away when he heard the eldest speak. "What do you want pipsqueak?"


    The simple question made his spine tingle. He had been sneaking up to the eldest, he had made sure not to make any sound just like his instincts instructed him on hunting. So how did the eldest know he wasing? He wasn''t even looking at them. The eldest had his back to them, did he have eyes at the back of his head?


    His instincts told him it could be a bluff but the chances of that are just too low considering the threat level of the target. It''s not like the eldest was fond of talking out loud to himself, he knew that much about the eldest. The eldest usually sits by the window and does nothing, so he decided to give up on his ambush.


    "I challenge you to an honorable duel," Ghaster said. His sentence made the eldest give him a side nce. "Is that so?" The eldest said. "About time. I honestly thought you would be smarter and take your time. You must have felt it, right?"


    The question made Ghaster gulp. Yes, he had felt it. There was no chance of victory, but that didn''t mean he would concede defeat before even fighting. ''What did the eldest mean by smarter and taking his time? Was there another option?'' His mind was in confusion a little because of what the eldest said but his body was on high alert and filled with adrenaline. He was pumped up and ready to do battle right now but he couldn''t muster the will to talk. His body wasn''t listening to him, it wanted to run. His mind might be slow but his body was quicker in understanding what he was in. It was thanks to his body that he began to understand that this might have been a foolish endeavor.


    "For honor." He managed to squeeze out.


    "What honor is there in losing?" The eldest asked in return. But he couldn''t answer, he was spent saying that one short sentence.


    "You are either brave or foolish or both. But you are not ready. Don''t disturb me. Go away." The eldest said and with that, he turned away from looking at Ghaster. His body was telling him to take the pardon, and go, but his instincts were also telling him to fight, that he shouldn''t stand being ignored even if he was weak. Weakness is for a while but the will to fight is forever. So he rushed forward to do a glorious and honorable battle. And he cked out.


    Soverick looked at the boy thaty sprawled all over the ground and smirked. He was beginning to like the runts. He appreciated the bravery but the boy was stupid. ''Something must be done about that." He thought to himself.


    Like wild beasts in a region, the level of superiority must be determined. The social structure must be determined, the weak separated and eliminated, it is the order of the world. The methods used to determine social standing could be violent like fighting or deterrence like the aura of danger. The three of them are battle sage monkey babies locked in a single room. Battle sage monkeys are inherently violent so no matter how spacious the room is, they were going to fight. It was not a matter of room size, the strongest had to be determined. He had been projecting an aura of danger to them to ward them off. It was not for their protection but he didn''t want to deal with them. He was toozy for it and frankly, he considers himself too big toe so low as to fight a child. But the boy couldn''t keep it in. Ghaster was too stupid for his own good, so he made the boy experience more of his aura. He couldn''t handle it and he ckout. It was a defense mechanism to protect his mind from damage. There are some things that one shouldn''t know, they can drive people mad.


    ''No rush though. It is not my job after all.'' He thought unconcerned. They weren''t his kids. He had done enough for them when he made them practice their magic skills. It was mainly to pressure the old man but also to make his siblings utilize their talent. Hard work and talent will bring about extraordinary excellence. While he is far beyond extraordinary excellence already, it would not be a bad thing for them to achieve it. It would help to boost his identity, he didn''t want to be associated with mediocre people. Even so, he wouldn''t put in too much effort, being a brother is a side mission after all.


    He turned to ask the petrified girl at the other end of the room, "What about you?"


    The stricken girl shook her head furiously. "Good, don''t bother me," Soverick said before turning back to the window, it was not yet time for his daily physical workout so he was trying to hasten the development of his body to the next stage with his mind. It would be soon now. Unlike his siblings, his soul was strong enough to influence the rate at which he would grow. It was just a little, but it would go a long way.


    Ghaster did not wake up until Ka returnedter. She woke him up and nursed him back to health. The poor boy didn''t remember what happened to him and Lolita refused to talk about the event.


    Litori pleaded to give the eldest his personal room, he deserved it was the only reason she was willing to provide. Their lives as children continued like so, but the two children focused on their training more than anything else. They also grew to love Ka and her singing, all except for Soverick who found her mediocre and her singing tedious. It was nothing like what he had experienced growing up as a High Elf. Her singing ability is enough to get you shunned among high elves. He decided to tolerate her existence only because she allowed them to go for walks outside the house, with constant supervision of course.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Things didn''t change until after their first year. It has been 9 months since Ka joined the family. Ghoto was happy and being a nuisance about it. It was like he wanted everyone to know that he was happy. To top it off, he wanted others to be happy for him and do some stuff. Soverick decided to put his feet down and be the voice of reasoning in thiswless house.


    "I am not going." He proimedzily. He was about to have his afternoon nap, a habit he very much enjoyed from his weak baby days. At least that was the n, before Ghoto barged into his room unannounced, again. It was a vition of his privacy which he had made mention several times but Ghoto just wouldn''t listen. He would say something along the lines of ''It is my house.''


    "Why?" Ghoto asked calmly. Ghoto had learned that special kids can be opinionated a lot. They can also be adamant and refuse to change their stance. It is his job as a good parent to offer them a new correct and better perspective, it had to be done slowly and with sound argument. When enough irrefutable evidence has been provided, they will change their mind.


    "Because I don''t want to," Soverick answered.


    That approach most often doesn''t work on soverick. He was like an obstinate old man, or a dog with a bone, he just won''t let go of his stance.


    "But your mom ising."


    "So?"


    "You should wee her."


    "I should. It is not a must, so I won''t. Who made that rule anyway?"


    "Come on. Don''t be like that. It will show her how much you care and how much you missed her."


    "But I don''t care. Why should I care? I didn''t marry her." Soverick really didn''t. He had already gotten his own room, so he didn''t need the head of the caretaker to ce and authorize this privilege. What he needed to work on right now is enforcing the rules of his privacy, or society will copse. It is a slippery slope after all.


    "But she is your mother." Ghoto insisted.


    "I don''t care and I don''t miss her. I just want to sleep. She has legs and cane here on her own. There''s no need for all of us to go and bring her. If someone must go, then it should be you. I am not like some weak man pining after a woman. And yes, I am referring to you."


    Ghoto''s face fell. Maybe he was simply bad at convincing people but this part didn''t work at all with soverick.

 Chapter 63 Simply A Passer-By.

    ?Reasoning with Soverick doesn''t work. He is like an obstinate old man. Set in his ways and disdainful of new trends.


    ''Next step then. Threats and show of force.'' He thought.


    He doesn''t feelfortable using this approach on his children but it was written that some kids just won''t bend to anything except strength and higher authority. He had to show them who was in control, only then will they listen to him.


    "This is my house and you will follow my rules." He demanded.


    "You don''t follow my rules. Why should I follow yours? Respect goes both ways, old man." Soverick replied.


    Ghoto face palmed in frustration before asking the inevitable.


    "Is this about the privacy thing again?"


    "So you know. I knew you were doing it on purpose. I knew you chose to be unreasonable to spite me. Forget it, I am not going. I''ll let you see what it feels like to reason with a stubborn person who can easily agree but still decides to spite you." Soverick folded his arms and looked ready to sleep.


    "Don''t even bother to convince me. I am not going." He yawned and said.


    Time was running out, Mih will be here soon. She didn''t ask for a wee party but he wanted to do something for her no matter how little to show how weed she is, so Ghoto decided to move on to the step that worked with Soverick.


    ''Negotiate a deal." Soverick likes to refer to himself as a reasonable person. He is open to an agreement of mutual benefits. He just had to be willing to make concessions to move Soverick.


    "How about this. I promise to respect your privacy and will knock before entry. With your permission of course. Your room will be your territory."


    Soverick shook his head. He was not some kid that can be easily pacified with some small advantage.


    "No, that won''t work anymore. You always say that but you always break your promise."


    "Sorry, I was just excited." Ghoto tried to plead his case. His wife was returning after a year of her absence. He had expected her to be away for even longer so he was overwhelmed with joy when she sent him news of her return. Too bad, Soverick didn''t care. He didn''t care one bit and he was going to make him pay for his apparent "blunder", that hemitted in his own house.


    "It is still uneptable. You have broken your promise several times and my trust in you. I want the control key for my room before we can renegotiate new terms." Soverick maintained his stance. He wanted the whole package of sovereignty over his room. He knew he could get it too since Ghoto is so desperate.


    "What if something happens to you, how will we check on you?"


    "I don''t care enough to soothe your anxiety and your concerns of safety for me. That''s your business. I just want total control over my room."


    "Fine, but I can''t give you the control key by myself. The keys to the house are in joint control of Mih and me. So you will need to get her to give up her authority on this section of the house as well before you gain full control of your room."


    "Is that so? I should have known to ask your superior for something like that. You should have mentioned this earlier too. It would have saved us all this time and I wouldn''t have spent so much effort on a minion."


    Ghoto was just happy that he could convince the boy. He chose to ignore the jabs at himself.


    ''Mih is not so tolerant as me. Good luck trying to get her to agree.'' He thought smugly to himself.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "So can we go now?" He asked Soverick impatiently.


    "Not yet. I might care enough about your wife for now, but that still doesn''t absolve you of your crimes. I won''t make this difficult for you, but I have some demands."


    Ghoto sighed, "But of course, you have some demands. Things just can''t be easy with you. What demands do you have and be quick about it." He was losing his patience.


    "I have a strict timetable. You can''t just spring events on me. From now on you have to inform me beforehand. I expect at least a day before the event or I won''t even consider your request. Some of us have a life after all. Do you agree?"


    Ghoto gritted his teeth. "I agree."


    Soverick raised his arms. "You have to carry me."


    Ghoto sized up the body of his year-old son. Soverick wasn''t the small bundle swaddled in thick fabric anymore. His son had grown taller over a single year with his height at about a meter tall. He was fast catching up to Ka.


    ''Bloodlines are simply cheating.'' Ghoto thought.


    "Sure." He said before bending to carry the boy that was fast approaching 100kg in mass. He probed the boy''s body with his spiritual sense.


    "If not for the fact that you grow stronger faster than your siblings I''ll be really worried about yourziness."


    "I chose to think about the fact that you get to carry me as a privilege that I am bestowing on you, not me beingzy."


    "Whatever, your mother will be here soon."


    "Yes. Let''s get this over with before you talk my ears off." Soverick said indifferently from the bumpy position on the back of Ghoto. The position was notfortable but it was all he had, he couldn''t ask for a better ride like a pet to ride. That would require that he ask for it to be procured for him, but he wasn''t a spoilt child. He was capable of being content with what he had. Ghoto''s back will do for now. He would buy a better ride in the future.


    And so they went to wee Ghoto''s wife, the one he had been missing a for year long. Ka, Ghaster, and Litori went with them. But they werete. They met with her a short distance from the house.


    "Is that you Mih?" Ghoto asked in shock. He couldn''t ascertain her identity. It wasn''t his fault, Mih lookedpletely different. Ghoto stood still in shock with his mouth open, he had also dropped the package he was carrying. Ghoto could sense the familiarity beneath all the physical changes, it''s just that the physical changes had him stumped.


    Soverick raised his eyebrow in surprise at the sight of Mih from his new position on the ground. He didn''t raise a ruckus about the grievous crime of being dropped like a sack of unfeeling produce, for now. That willeter, but now he would give the old man some face and forego scolding him in front of his superior.


    Speaking of the superior caretaker, she had changed. Her fur had changed into a literal coat of many colors, they resembled the colors present in Soverick''s eyes. She had also be imposing, with a height of 2.5m. The family wasn''t the only one gawking at her, passers-by were also looking at her with interest. She looked strange for a battle sage monkey and that''s considering all the variations and mutations possible with bloodlines.


    "So what do you think?" Mih asked less than a meter from Ghoto.


    "So beautiful. You look like a multicolored angel." He eximed. Soverick snickered behind him. What other answer do you expect from your husband? He thought. It was either a positive, negative, or evasive answer.


    There was not much choice in the matter. It was a good thing his own opinion wasn''t sought for. Maybe Ghoto truly thought she was beautiful. But unlike everyone else that saw beauty, he only saw chaos.


    "Her path ends here. She will never reach immortality." He thought to himself. From his short observation, he could discern that she would never be able to break through to the sovereign ofw level. She had been unlucky to acquire his bloodline. He was already daunted by theplexity of thew fragments much less her, and he was an origin god. It gets worse, thew fragments forcefully pushed her to this level and it derailed her from the path she had started with as a transcendent. The bloodline didn''t finish its job either, it should have pushed her to the sovereign level, but it stopped midway. That''s why she had multicolored fur instead of the golden one that he had. Thew fragments had meshed together in his body in perfect harmony under his maniption, while they were scattered in hers. She couldn''t control thew fragments and is not destined for eternity anymore. She would die as a titan, so he wasn''t going to grow attached to her. No use getting to know everyone you meet on your way to your destination. Mih is now such a person, at least as far as Soverick is concerned. She is just a passer-by to him.

 Chapter 64 The Wrath Of A Titan Of Law.

    ?Maybe Mih knew her future, maybe she didn''t. It was not Soverick''s ce to speak about such matters, especially in a situation like this. He might be indifferent at times but even he could read the atmosphere. It was a happy one, there was no need for such sad news. Besides, he would rather focus on more important matters, like how to make Ghoto pay for his infraction. It was a more pressing matter, even if he was right about the death of Mih, it would not ur for the next 10 origin cycles. And even if it urred, it wouldn''t be a strange thing. People die all the time. Long-life has made witnessing death amon thing. It is ironic that the avability of eternal life has made people more ustomed to death. Mih and Ghoto are both older than him anyway, so it was okay if they died.


    Soverick stood out among the family because he didn''t go forward to greet Mih. The others were hugging andughing but he stood aside waiting for all of it to be over as soon as possible. He didn''t want to rush them, that would just be unreasonable. He had made a deal with the old man toe and meet his wife and he was a man of his word. So he would have to be unreasonable another time.


    "Who is this shy fe?" Mih said as she approached soverick. The closer she walked to him the more she could feel the pull on her. She was intelligent, she had suspected such. Meeting soverick had just confirmed her suspicions. There were a lot of weird points that she had noticed. There was no bloodline memory within her bloodline imprints. Then there was the simrity between the color scheme of his eyes and her fur. Her eldest son was the Source of her bloodline. She knew that she gained a bloodline through her pregnancy but she didn''t know which one of her children was the cause of it. She didn''t feel fear from this fact, she didn''t think such a weak boy couldpel her to do anything considering their difference in strength. If only she knew how wrong she was about their strength difference, maybe that would change her opinion of him. Currently, she only felt pity for her first son. He wouldn''t have the other advantages that came with the bloodline since it was just starting with him.


    "My, how much you''ve grown. Ghoto and Ka must have taken good care of you." Mih eximed as she examined him. Ghoto smiled awkwardly while Ka coughed.


    "It was all my effort. They had nothing to do with it." Soverick didn''t want to give them the credit for his growth.


    "What do you mean?" Mih asked with mirth. She didn''t take soverick seriously, she was only asking to entertain him. He was simply a child to her, no matter how quirky. Soverick could tell, and he refused to continue. He looked toward Ghoto and asked "Are we done here? If yes let''s go."


    Mih was taken aback a little. She expected him to brag and show off to impress his mother. Ghotoughed to ease the awkward atmosphere. "Soverick is right. We are creating a scene. Let''s go home and talk more."


    "You are right, let''s go." Mih agreed. She stretched her hand to rub Soverick''s head. She used brief physical contact to inspect his condition. She wanted to make sure he was healthy and strong. But what she saw made her face darken.


    "Why is Soverick still in the body forging stage?" She asked icily.


    "I don''t know. His progress might seem slow but he is strong." Ghoto tried to exin. Ghaster and Litori had broken through to the vitality stage but Soverick was still stronger than them. Ghaster had made several challenges after his first failure only to add more defeat to his streak.


    "How strong can he be when he still hasn''t formed a vitality Core?" Mih didn''t ept his exnation.


    "It has only been a year." Ghoto tried to calm her rising anger.


    "But his younger ones have already formed theirs." Mih was very troubled about the refinement progress of her eldest son. He wasgging and she didn''t like it.


    "Rx. You will soon find out that he is stronger than them. Soverick might bezy and possess an unruly mouth but he is stronger than his siblings."


    "Is that true?" She turned to ask soverick but he was unresponsive, he just wanted to be back in his room. So she turned to ask the younger siblings but they didn''t meet her eyes. Only Ka gave a nod of confirmation.


    "That''s good." She calmed down a little, but she was not convinced yet. "You two must be cking off. What techniques are you training in?" She asked, but Ghaster and Litori looked confused.


    "They don''t train in any techniques," Ghoto replied. He had a bad feeling.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Why?" Mih asked. Her tone was calm but her divine sense caused mana to ripple out in waves. Ghoto knew trouble wasing immediately after he heard that question. He decided to tread carefully. He searched for an answer that won''t result in her blowing her lid up, but the time to achieve that was fast closing. The only reply that came to his mind is the excuse he would inadvertently have to give her so that she wouldn''t get angry.


    "It''s been only two months." He said in the most soothing tone he could muster, but all Mih could hear was everything he hadn''t said about the cause of the dy.


    She heard. "I have already requested the survey. But I have received no response since then. Someone must be dying the procedures, but It has only been two months. We can wait for some more." Mih became angry because she couldn''t wait for some more time. She was gone before Ghoto''s next words.


    "Please don''t be angry." Ghoto''s pleas missed its target.


    "Guess you didn''t see thating?" Soverick taunted.


    "Oh, that? It isn''tpletely unexpected. It is totally like Mih. I just hadn''t considered this scenario because she came so fast. I would have prepared otherwise."


    "I told you that you''ve been cking off. It is good that your superior has returned and she seems more proactive than you. She will put an end to that." Soverick admonished his father.


    "Stop calling her my superior, we are equals."


    "She is stronger than you," Soverick smirked.


    "Let''s go home, your mother will meet us there." He said before he bent down to lift Soverick.


    "How does it feel to have a wife that is at least 10 times stronger than you old man?"


    "It is not new to me. I am used to it. This is so nostalgic. Have I told you how I met your mother? It was..."


    Soverick interrupted him immediately "Yes, yes, we''ve heard enough of that story. I shouldn''t have asked."


    They returned the way they came. Ghoto created a translucent tform for them to stand on with his mind. His mind was powerful enough to bend nature to do something like this. They don''t have to walk because the tform lifted them and carried them forward. Even so, Soverick insisted on being carried.


    Meanwhile,, Mihika had flown to the Division of Family Affairs building to have a short chat with the supervisor. And like all reasonable people, she began the negotiations with a show of force. She broke through all the barriers and doors between her and the puny transcendent. Nothing could stop or hinder her path. She was like a wrecking ball, a being meant for wrathful retribution. When she got to him she asked, like a reasonable person always does, "Tell me why I shouldn''t kill you right now?"


    The transcendent sat behind his desk sweating all over. He was just someone that had given up on the path of refinement and became a desk pusher. He was in no way equipped to deal with the wrath of a titan ofw. There''s this thing any informed person knows, people at the titan level of power and above must not get angry. You will be safe if someone beneath that level bes angry at you, as long as they don''t intend to harm you, things can still be sorted out. Titans on the other hand have begun to fuse with nature. They start to be an expression of the forces of nature. Their every movement and emotion triggers the ocean of mana around them to do their bidding. So when they are angry at you nature is angry with you, and the world is angry at you. The world doesn''t haveplicated thoughts, when it is angry at something it will get rid of it. Nature doesn''t need the permission of the titan ofw that evoked it to get rid of the target of its fury. It will go ahead on its own to destroy the target. That is why titans ofw must not get angry at you.

 Chapter 65 Guide To Surviving A Titans Wrath.

    ?''Things aren''t that bad.'' The transcendent thought to himself. He knew he could salvage the situation since he wasn''t dead yet. He hadn''t been struck down by the world yet. It means the titan is actively holding back to keep him alive. That means he is useful to the titan alive rather than dead. He was willing to grasp at this hope for survival no matter how slim. He would make sure he was useful so that the titan will not reconsider keeping him alive.


    "Ask away your majesty. Your every wish is mymand." He struggled to say. A momentter he felt the force crushing him from all sides wane but it didn''t disappear. It hung over his head like a guillotine prepped for a beheading.


    "Good," Mihika said before sitting down in the chair meant for the guest and visitors. "You should sit too." She ordered.


    The transcendent sat down immediately. They both sat down in their appropriate position but the power was swapped.


    "Do you know who I am?" Mih asked.


    "I think so." He replied.


    Mih wasn''t satisfied with his answer. "Hmm?"


    The supervisor rushed to rify. "I meant, yes I know who you are, your majesty."


    "Then you must know why I am here." She was so soft-spoken that the transcendent could have mistaken her for someone else, for someone that hadn''t burst her way into the building.


    ''She might have changed physically but she is still the same.''


    He knew her. Her physical and spiritual presence might have changed into something heavier but her soul aura hadn''t changed yet. His mind retrieved the information he had about her and he knew why she was here. His heart almost leaped out of his body because of the other information about her that came to mind, and he didn''t even have a heart. The image of a white-furred battle sage monkey drenched in the blood of bloodliners. He gulped before answering with a healthy amount of trepidation.


    "Yes, I do your majesty."


    "And what do you have to say for yourself?" Mih asked patiently.


    What did he have to say for himself? A lot is what. But he couldn''t run his mouth off. That''s how foolish people get killed. He was smart enough to realize he had reached a crossroad of sorts. Her question allowed for multiple possible paths, his answer will determine his fate. His answer could lead to a path that meant life or at least a temporary extension of it, while it could also lead to death or a realistic experience indistinguishable from death.


    But what could he say? Could he say that a king ofw tasked me to dy your kids for 3 months so that they wouldn''t receive theprehensive evaluation and techniques that is rightfully theirs after their first year of life? I waspelled to do the deed because you were also a king ofw. If only I had known you had be a titan ofw I wouldn''t have listened. In fact, if the person that made such a request had known he wouldn''t have asked me to do it in the first ce. Yes, he could say that, but he had a feeling it will not lead to the bnce tilting in his favor. The subtle undtions of pressure are a constant reminder that the guillotine could fall at any time.


    ''I am just an innocent paper pusher.'' He screamed inwardly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    In a big, long-lived family like that of the Ghastorix family, transcendents are the basic workforce. Even though each spot in the city for transcendent and above is incredibly expensive, the family heads had determined that it was much more efficient to use transcendent as the workforce. It was either that or recing the workforce with new personnel every thousand years or so. Transcendents live longer and as such, have an edge over low-level lifeforms when ites to recruitment. Only the heads and supervisors of the various departments are transcendents though. They are the ones that will bear the responsibility of recing their underlings every thousand years or so. The spots in the city are too valuable after all. This is why more trouble is currently fast approaching.


    While the supervisor could handle the pressure of a titan throwing its weight around. His underlings couldn''t. He was a titan, they were not. Most had fainted, and this was because Mih was seriously holding back. The little amount that was clinging to consciousness had informed the security authority. They received a quick reply and promises of iing response thanks to the iron-like grip of the lightning hand of Elder Stein. Elder Stein came himself because of the level of force needed to quell the current situation. His approach was announced by the rumbling sounds of thunder.


    "Who dares to disrupt the peace and order in this city?" He demanded sternly, but his voice was quiet as if he wasn''t feeling like murdering someone. It had been brought to his attention that he tended to shout while angry so he was working on himself. His efforts in self-restraint were producing results too.


    "Mih is that you?" Stein asked in surprise when he recognized her. She had changed but he still recognized her aura.


    "You have changed but I still recognize your aura." Stein always spoke his thoughts. The movement of the lightning zipping across his fur mirrored his emotions perfectly. They were erratic when he became excited, they became sluggish when he was startled. Right now they were sluggish.


    "It is good to see you too Elder Stein." Mih rose to stand across from the new arrival.


    "You have be a titan. I am not sure if I should congratte you or not. I didn''t know you were this ambitious in your path. Are you sure you can seed? I don''t have much hope for your sess." While some people might have mental restraints enough to be polite and mind their business. Others will just say anything thates to their mind and Elder stein is one of these people. But all hope is not lost, maybe when he is done restraining his voice he will master theplete restraint of his entire mouth next. One step at a time.


    "Progresses only with effort," Mih replied with conviction.


    "You''repletely right. So what is going on here?" Stein asked again. Mih turned to the transcendent to answer.


    The transcendent on the ground wished he could crawl away and escape but he couldn''t, he was being crushed by thebined aura of the two titans. He knew things were bad when the director of the Department of Security and discipline arrived. Unlike other departments that can make do with a low level of strength, security and discipline need a high level of strength. This particr wielder of such a high level of strength is known to be difficult to deal with. He could have weaseled his way out with an exnation to the distraught mother with an apology and a promise of swift service delivery, but now, he had toe clean.


    "It is out of my hands now. Better someone else than me." He thought in resignation and eptance. His decision brought immediate relief to him. He was not at fault for the matter and with the impartial director of discipline here, he wouldn''t take the me either.


    ''I was forced to do it anyways.'' His mind rxed, he opened his mouth and he tattled. He spilled out the details.


    Mih had calmed down by now. Her earlier loss of control was because of agitation at the fear that her precious babies were being discriminated against. Her first son had a new bloodline that waspletely different from anything that came before and she didn''t want him to lose his potential because of bigotry. Now that she knew that wasn''t the case she felt better and at peace. Her kids were just being dyed because of the fragile ego of some people.


    Elder Stein on the other hand was about to lose his very fragile temper. If he were in the outside world a cmity of rain and thunderstorm would have swept off the area around him without putting in much effort. That''s the difference between titans and sovereigns. Titans were walking disasters while sovereigns were disasters in a bottle. Sovereigns have gained preliminary control over their immense power, so unless the cap of the bottle is opened, the disaster will remain trapped. Titans have to gain control of their power and be sovereign or their power will be the end of them. In the ancient times when the title for their stage of power was coined, inspiration was taken from the behavior and potency of violent titans of nature. And like those titans of nature, their end is a return to nature. A titan bes stronger the longer they live, right until they drop dead. That''s why the leap from King ofw to Titan ofw has to be taken seriously. Once one bes a titan, he either progresses to a sovereign or dies.

 Chapter 66 The Titans Path. Restraint Or Embodiment.

    ?Elder Stein felt like killing someone. His excuse for such a craving might be flimsy, but he wanted to lose himself in it. The kids might not have been his own, but he spent some of his time watching over them during their birth. He didn''t have feelings of attachment or anything, he just needed an outlet and he was grateful that someone was stupid enough to give him one. Bottling up his powers and emotion all day was trying. It isn''t every day that he gets the opportunity to release his pent-up energy. It is why he selected this particr position to be in charge of discipline and security, but even then, the opportunity for him to shine is rare.


    There are two main approaches to the way of life of a titan. You could either stamp down on your powers and live a longer life or you could ride the outburst of power rush and live a short life. The former method will restrict the power within you, of which the advantage is that you will slow the rate at which you die but the disadvantage is theck of progress. The former method will allow you to make progress by embracing and bing the embodiment of your power. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. There is a third perfect approach which is thebination of the two but it is very difficult. If the third approach is achieved then one will certainly be a sovereign. But how do you do the third approach with lightning? Elder Stein chose to be the voice ofw and justice for the family. Thew must be bnced, open, transparent, and fair. Justice will allow him to throw his weight around against those that deserved it. ording to him, it is the perfect mix of restraint and embodiment.


    Within the inner ring of the city on this very fine evening. In a particr mansion with thetest technology that caters to luxury. A particr King ofw is about to have dinner. Or maybe lunch, he didn''t know and he didn''t care. Screw rules and societal norms. He ate whenever he wanted to, and he didn''t even have to eat at all. He had long be free from the requirement of food but why would he care about all that when he had power. He ate because he wanted to.


    Haden Kroft had the power of a king ofw, he also had a lot of money. He had two strong advantages in life, power, and money. If power didn''t work, money would. There was rarely any situation he couldn''t have his way with considering his two advantages. Rarely anywhere he couldn''t go. Rarely, anyone, he couldn''t talk to. But today, he knew he was in trouble. He was about to dig into the scrumptious meal when he started feeling a faint trepidation in his mind. He was sure he was in trouble.


    How was he so sure he was in trouble? He had followed the original path of the battle sage monkey, the path of foresight. It is also known as the path of causality or the eyes of the sage. It was a path only avable to those with little or no bloodline in their bodies. He had small sess in it and that is why he was able to be a king. It was a great achievement. He was able to foresee events that were far into the future albeit with little uracy. It rarely happened, that''s why he was so appreciated in the family. He had used his ability to push his way to the top, and when he lost all his ambition he used it to create arge amount of wealth. He lost his ambition because he foresaw certain death if tried to break through to the level of titan. His path may be prestigious but few were able toplete it.


    Breaking through to the titan level is probably the easiest thing to achieve for every king. They just have to destroy the energy stars within them and survive the oue. If they fail to survive the aftermath, they can diefortably with the knowledge that most titans will die too. The danger of breaking through to the titan level for him is greater because of the need to master the concept of cause and effect. Even if he were to seed he would probably have to settle with being mediocre for the rest of his life. Because, unlike others who could have emotional outbursts and throw tantrums as titans, he would be besieged with uncontroble and unbidden visions of the future. He ran the risk of running mad before dying. Why would he do that when he could seat at home and enjoy the best meals from all over the entire realm.


    Except now, he didn''t have any appetite. He sighed and muttered, "I knew I shouldn''t have listened to that stupid boy?"


    Then he stood up from the table and went outside to wait for the inevitable cmity. He was not scared or anxious. Theing cmity may be dangerous but he had confidence ining out safe or at least alive. While he waited he thought back to how he had arrived here, it was an exercise he always did to keep track of cause and effect. His pampered son had asked him to trouble Ghoto by dying the life evaluation process of his children for as long as possible. He thought it through and decided that 3 months wouldn''t bring too many dangerous repercussions. Every child of a privileged member of the family will undergo this life evaluation after reaching a year of age. A 3-month dy was what his premonition told him to be eptable.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He thought back to his son. He didn''t want to have a child when he was younger. Who would want to have a parasite attached to them, a parasite that had been created by nature and perfected over time to drain a person of their financial, mental, and physical resources? He certainly didn''t. Children are liabilities if you ask him. But one day, less than an origin cycle ago he had an urge to have one. He followed his gut feelings like many times in the past and so, he had a child. He received a message from the future on the very day the boy was born. The message was ... His thoughts froze immediately with the arrival of the two titans.


    Unlike before when Stein had control over his emotions enough to reduce the volume of his speech such that a measly transcendent could still talk in his presence. The current Stein is too close to losing total control of himself. The aura that was billowing out of him is enough to freeze the mind of kings much less their bodies. A star may be powerful and full of energy but it cannotpare to the destructive ability of a dying or copsing star.


    "Calm yourself, Stein. Let him talk." Mih spoke up. She was d she came with the director of security and discipline. ''This is why no one likes the presence of these guys. They always escte the matter. A Titan is not suited for management'' Mih rubbed her face in concern.


    "Fine," Stein said with some effort before withdrawing his power.


    "I apologize for my actions. Your majesty." Like a wound-up clock, Haden began putting his n of getting out of this mess into action. It was almost like an instinct for him, his body, mind, and soul were working together on reaching the best possible oue for him.


    "I am disappointed in you Haden. You should have known better. I am sure your son put you up to this. Why do you even tolerate such nonsense? You have such a good personality. Your son is your weak point." Elder Stein began to rant andin. Haden didn''t dare to interrupt him, his instincts were telling him that it was either this or Elder Stein would explode. It was easy to stay quiet, especially when everything Elder Stein said was right. He should know better, why did he do something like this? Everyone had a favorable opinion of him because of his powers, he had managed to create the best public image for himself so his offense came as a shock to Elder Stein.


    Elder Stein had managed to calm himself by the time he was doneining. He had released his pent-up aggression through this outburst. This was his control method, it was also the reason why he shouts when angry and why he always spoke his mind. He couldmunicate with his divine sense but he liked to use his mouth, it just felt better to yell at someone. It could not bepared with the transmission of words and emotions. The next best thing will be when he gets to mete out justice and retribution. Only then does he really feel alive.

 Chapter 67 A Vision Of The Future.

    ?"Now what do you have to say for yourself," Stein demanded with a stern expression. A wrong response could still lead to him blowing his top and losing his tenuous grasp over his emotions.


    "I admit to my wrongs. I have no excuses and I''ll make this up to her and her family. I promise to fund her three children''s needs either in special food, drugs, tuition, or weapons until they be transcendents. I will even provide an origin weapon for them for that inevitable future. I''ll write a check immediately to that effect." He brought out a checkbook for moments like this and wrote an astronomical amount on it. Here he was, paying to feed the parasites of other people when he didn''t want one himself. It had be amon urrence since he had that troublesome child of his so he was used to it.


    His actions snuffed out any feelings of resentment Mih or Stein had towards him.


    ''He is such a nice guy, too bad he has a bad seed for a son,'' Stein thought. "You are such a nice guy. Too bad you have such a bad seed for a son." He said out loud. Mih couldn''t help but nod her head in agreement about the nice guy part. She would have hoped Stein stopped at that, he didn''t need to add the bad seed for a son part. It was just rude.


    Kroft didn''t take any offense at that. It was true anyway.


    "Here you go." He said and approached Mih to give her the check. "Please don''t take this as me buying my way out of what I did. What I did was unfor..." He froze as his fingers grazed Mih''s hand. His vision became filled with scenes of different elements colliding in excitement and chaos. He became enlightened.


    "Hey, Haden," Stein shouted when he noticed that Haden wasn''t listening.


    "Yes, your majesty?" Haden snapped out of his stupor. He wished he hadn''t but he didn''t have a choice. Elder Stein''s shout had shaken his mind.


    "I said you will have to pay for the expenses that the security and discipline department has incurred in resolving this matter."


    "But of course. You can send the bill to me."


    "Good, my work is done here. Listen to me, you cut off that gangrenous thing you have for a son. He is about to die anyway, don''t let him bring you down with him."


    "Yes, Elder Stein. Thank you for your service as always." For once he was going to listen to Elder Stein.


    "I will be on my way. I have hopes that you will be a titan." Elder Stein''s voice drifted back but he was gone. Only Mihika remained. She was examining him. He was about 2.1 meters tall, the same as her husband, and he had blond fur that reminded her of her eldest son. For some weird reason, she could only see his features that invoked feelings of favorability. Haden spoke before the situation became awkward.


    "I am sorry again. Congrattions on taking that step."


    "No problem. I''ll be going now." She said before she disappeared.


    Haden straightened himself, and a broad smile covered his face. He had finally seen a path forward after a long time without progress. His ambition returned with a new vision of the future. He returned to his house.


    "Zaruk lock down the house and manage my urgent business. I''ll be away for some time."


    An ethereal being dressed in a butler suit appeared beside Haden.


    "Yes, master Haden. What should I tell visitors thate to visit?"


    "Tell them that I am in seclusion."


    "Yes, master Haden."


    "Also strip the young master of all his rights and privileges. He can go die off in a ditch for all I care."


    "Yes, master Haden," Zaruk replied. There was no emotional fluctuation with the order. He was an unfeeling automaton spirit or what is currently referred to as artificial intelligence. It didn''t matter that he had watched the young master grow up, he would follow all instructions and orders given to him by his master.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Haden began to walk towards the underground shelter.


    "That useless son as finely paid his dues." He thought happily. He had been waiting for this moment since the day the boy was born. His ability had informed him on the day of his birth to spoil the boy and he would be able to see the path forward. He wasn''t supposed to spoil the boy with the best healthy meals, the best education, the best training, or the best tutors. He spoiled the boy with the most decadent things. He didn''t know how that would help or how the boy would repay him but it had finally happened.


    He could now move forward on his path. The vision he saw when he touched Mih had shown him the path through the sea of chaos. He wished he could have seen more but elder Stein robbed him of that chance. He couldn''tin though, it was an eptable trade for his life. Plus the little he saw was enough. Now he had the confidence to make the leap from a king to a titan. Kings and Titans are the same materials, they are made from the same fuel, but one is burning while the other is constantly exploding. He would be able to join the ranks of the exploding ones.


    The feeling of liberation from being responsible for such a useless son was also exhrating. It was like finally being cured of a disease. His son would no longer be able to use him and his influence to bring in those good-for-nothing friends of his into the city. He wouldn''t need to buy the spark of authority of a lord ofw to extend the lifespan of his son. He had been dying that particr purchase because of his reluctance to extend the parasitic rtionship and like always he was right. His son had outlived his usefulness and can now be discarded. Maybe this would push his son to try and take the path of godhood, then he would have to struggle to survive from the endless hunts for his life.


    "He does have the selfishness necessary to be a god," Haden smirked to himself.


    The small event ended with Elder Stein returning to make a report and Haden Kroft putting his life on the line in an attempt to break through to the next level. Mih returned home content and slightly happy. She and Ghoto could be considered rich, it was easy for people of their power level to make them. While they are certainly capable of raising their kids with the best option of the things they needed for growth, it could not bepared with what they could do now with the money she had received. The premium and luxury options had suddenly opened up, and they wouldn''t be closing for a very long.


    She made sure to curb every inch of her power before she entered their home. She didn''t want an idental slip of her emotions to injure her kids.


    "So how was your trip." Ghoto transmitted telepathically with his divine sense.


    "Not bad. Not bad at all. I have a present for you." She replied.


    "Really? I have a present for you too."


    "What is it." She asked in anticipation. Ghoto smiled and presented with two ck metallic wristbands. The metallic surface was etched with tiny seemly incoherent texts and runes. Mih received it with a weird look. The metallic band weighed heavier than it looked.


    "Is this for a new role-ying game? Did you miss me that much?"


    "I missed you very much, but that willeter. This will weaken you until the point that your power bes difficult to mobilize at all."


    Mih inched closer to him and traced her hand over his chest.


    "So that''s how you want to do it. You want to throw your weight around and bully me."


    Ghoto almost lost his self-control. He gulped and pped her hand away.


    "Don''t distract me. It is for our kid''s protection. So that you will not injure them. I was sure you would seed ande back to me. I got it for you so that you won''t lose your control around them. However, the wristbands are fragile and can be broken by you so you have to be careful."


    "That''s exactly what a girl wants to hear. You have been waiting for me? I am here now, and I am not fragile." Mih said before licking her lips.


    "Mih, the kids are watching." His divine sense all but screamed at her.


    "What? They can''t hear us." The kids hadn''t awakened their divine sense yet, even if they had they wouldn''t be able to intrude or eavesdrop on their conversation.


    "They have eyes," Ghoto informed her. The kids might not be able to hear what they were saying but they could see their physical interactions and they were not so naive that they didn''t understand what was going on. Their ancestral memory makes them wise.

 Chapter 68 He Can Just Leave.

    ?"What is going on?" Ghaster asked while Ka tried to cover his and Lolita''s eyes.


    "Nothing, your mother was informing me that she brought a present for us.


    Mih gave Ghoto a look that said ''This is far from over,'' before turning to speak with the kids. He gulped, in anticipation this time.


    "I have fixed the dy for your life evaluation. We will go to the Department of Family affairs and use the Origin Survey machine to determine the best path for your refinement."


    "When will we go?" Soverick asked.


    "Tomorrow morning," Ghoto answered.


    "Tomorrow morning? That''s too short." Mih questioned Ghoto telepathically.


    "They''ve already wasted two months. For the kids."


    "I already suffered enough for the kids. I carried them for so long and they are still keeping me away from my just rewards. If not because I love you I wouldn''t have listened to you and had them in the first ce."


    "It will only be for a short while. They grow so fast. They will be off to school in a maximum of a year. You will have me all to yourself and I''ll make it up to you."


    Mih''s eye twinkled. "You''re right. It is up to you to make it up to me."


    "So prepare yourself. We leave tomorrow morning." Ghoto announced with finality.


    Everyone dispersed except Soverick. He held out his hand to Ghoto and said. "Minion, your supervisor is here. Do your thing."


    Ghoto facepalmed in resignation. Mih was confused by his reaction.


    "What is the problem?" She asked. Soverick didn''t deign to respond to that inquiry. That''s Ghoto''s job.


    "He asked for a room all to himself and now he wants the control keys." Ghoto finally answered.


    Mih became surprised. "He did? Howe?" She asked.


    "Through fatherly love and concern. I was having trouble living with the others and he came to my aid." Soverick replied in an attempt to downy the situation. He didn''t want Ghoto to ruin his chances.


    "More like he strong-armed me and bullied me," Ghoto grumbled. He didn''t want Soverick to get his way, he wouldn''t stop the process though, he will spoil it. He had promised that as long as Mih assented Soverick would get the control keys, but that didn''t mean he would have to y nice.


    "How did that happen?" Mih was bing more and more amused.


    "Let''s just say that my life was in danger," Soverick said with a suggestive tone. He wanted to keep a lid on how he got the room. Mih could smell something fishy but she didn''t want to get into somethingplicated right now. She wanted this to be over so she could get her just reward, time was running out.


    "That''s that. But what does this have to do with the control keys?" Mih didn''t want to let go of the control key to his room.


    The control keys are fragments of the control panel that controls the security and surveince of the entire house. Each key represents a node in thework of arrays thatprises the security system. Through them, each room can be isted from prying, sound, and even wirelessmunication. The loss of one couldpromise the entirework because while each key is separate, they are a part of a single whole.


    Sensing that things were not going his way soverick turned to Ghoto and said "We had a deal." Ghoto looked away.


    He felt a little guilty but he was in total agreement with Mih. There was no way their child would live under them without surveince.


    Soverick made his decision immediately after he saw Ghoto''s reaction. He had a lot of secrets and he also hated the feeling of being constantly watched.


    "I''ll leave then." He said.


    "What?" Ghoto eximed while Mih didn''t understand the promation so she had to ask "Leave where?"


    "You tell her, Old man. You know I''ll do it." Mih''s lips twitched at that remark. When did her husband be an old man? What did that make her? Ghoto on the other hand understood how serious things had be. He knew Soverick was serious. He knew that whenever soverick didn''t get his way he would retaliate fiercely. This situation reminded him of how Soverick eventually got his room. The same thing happened when Ka brought back the mana lock formation array. It was an expensive piece of machinery with the power to rob away the ability to actively control mana. The array used a mild and non-intrusive process unlike that of its counterpart used to immobilize and secure criminals. Its counterpart will invade the bodies and the soul space of those under its effect thereby locking down all active and passive use of mana. All in all, it was a mana-grade artifact that could only affect those beneath the level of transcendent, those that still rely on mana.


    "Trust me he will do it," Ghoto warned Mih.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Do what?" She still didn''t understand what the fuss was all about.


    "He will leave the house."


    "You mean run away. Why? Just because he won''t get the control key."


    "Yes, just because he won''t get the control key."


    Ghoto noticed that Mih didn''t seem to understand the gravity of the situation he decided to forward to her the memory of the event. He touched her forehead and transmitted the memory. Contact wasn''t needed for mental transmissions but it helps, especially in the case ofrge information transfers. The series of events shed quickly in her mind.


    A few months ago, the day Ka just joined the family.


    Ka returned soon after she went out to the market. Ghoto was still reading the book Mih sent to him.


    "I am Back, King Ghoto." She announced. He found her mood jubnt. "Why are you so happy?" He asked. "Did something interesting happen while you were out?"


    "Nothing much happened." She shrugged before she started grinning, "But I got something very interesting." She showed him a small round object. It was a sphere that acted as the runic foundation of the mana lock array.


    "Interesting." He remarked while inspecting the object. "It will be useful in protecting the kids from damaging themselves. Maybe I should get something like this for their mother when she returns."


    "She might not like that. Not a lot of people can stand having their strength deprived." Ka tried to persuade him otherwise.


    "I don''t agree. It is for the protection of our children, I am sure she''ll agree. Besides..." His mind started wondering about numerous other possibilities.


    "Anyways let''s go and show them. I am sure they will be happy at the length you will go to protect them. I can''t wait to see the look on their small faces." Ka spoke in anticipation.


    Ghoto didn''t agree with her that his kids will be happy with this development. He was still down from what he read earlier and wished he could possess her enthusiasm.


    "There''s no use waiting. The sooner it is used the better we can get our money''s worth out of this thing."


    They returned to the room to find Ghaster sprawled across the ground.


    "What happened?" He asked in panic but he didn''t receive any reply. He rushed ahead of Ka to pick him up and inspect him. He rxed when he realized that Ghaster had only fainted. He turned to Soverick.


    "What is going on? I demand an answer."


    "He challenged me. We dueled. He lost." Soverick answered in short concise sentences.


    "What made him lose his consciousness?" Ghoto asked


    "How could you?" Ka asked. Soverick ignored all the questions, he said to Ghoto "This will continue to happen if we stay together."


    "You are wrong about that. We have this now." Ghoto said before showing him the sphere.


    Soverick didn''t recognize the gadget. "What is this?" The fact that Soverick didn''t know why it was made him seem more immature and it made Ghoto feel a tiny pleasure at the show of ignorance.


    "It is a Mana lock Formation array. It will...."


    Soverick eyes flickered with the light of understanding, it was the first reaction that his always passive face showed. The boy said with a steely voice "I know what it does and I will not allow it."


    "Well, it is not up to you to decide that now is it? You will just have to live with it." Ka said smugly. She was smiling from ear to ear. Soverick resumed his calm attitude but Ghoto couldn''t tell if he was faking it or not.


    "We will see about that." Soverick''s expression was cid as he spoke.


    "Isn''t it for Criminals?" A tiny voice asked from the other side of the room. It was Lolita. The young girl had been quiet ever since he entered the room, she didn''t talk when he questioned them about their brother. Her question stabbed him in his heart.


    "It is not for criminals. It is for your protection." He tried to assure her but he could tell that she wasn''t convinced. Unlike her eldest brother, she expressed her emotions visibly and her bodynguage could be easily deciphered. He knew Litori wasn''tfortable with it but the young girl gave a nod in reluctant agreement.

 Chapter 69 Threaten To Beat Or Actually Go Through With It.

    ?"Then how will we practice?" Litori asked another question. That is the most important thing to her right now. They wouldn''t be able to make any progress without ess to mana.


    "I''ll prepare a training room for you guys. It will have all the safety measures necessary for protecting you." Ghoto replied.


    Litori nodded her head before going silent.


    Ghoto chose to end things here and take Ghaster away for close monitoring. He nned to question the boy on why he had fainted.


    "Do you have anything else to say?" Ka taunted Soverick but he didn''t give any response. He closed his eyes and muted his mouth. He was like an unfeeling rock. Ka was annoyed by theck of response. She was expecting a tantrum at the least, that''s how a normal child would have behaved.


    "You''re just a child." Sheughed.


    Ghoto decided to set up the array on his own, he wanted to make sure everything would run very well. He marked it with his divine sense and switched the sphere on. The sphere started with a low hum before levitating. A formless force spread throughout the room and the mana calmed down.


    Ka shivered. The array affected her mana body in an unpleasant way. It repressed the flow of mana within her body, it felt like her blood was turning cold. "Thank Mother High Heaven that I will not be staying in this room." She said as she left the room.


    Then they left with Ghaster. They returnedter to find Soverick in the same position they left him, his eyes were closed in contemtion.


    "The poor boy doesn''t know what to do. It is good for his development to know defeat, it will help to mild his personality." Ghoto thought to himself. He came to bring Ghaster and to check up on them. He was liking the formation more and more. The kids wouldn''t be able to fight like before because they will tire easily. They will also have to use the training room which will iste them from each other. But he had an ominous feeling as if something bad would happen. He checked the sphere again just to be sure it was working perfectly. He raised it to the ceiling of the room to make sure it was out of the reach of the children. Then he left when he didn''t find anything out of order.


    He was rxing with a beverage and a book in his hand when he felt an alert from the formation array. He rushed to the children''s room and reached it in less than a second but he was toote. The sphere had been destroyed while Ghaster and Litori were both knocked out in their crib. Their situation seemed worse than the state Ghaster was in earlier. They were bleeding from their nose and they seemed to have suffered some type of spiritual damage.


    "Did you do this?" He asked Soverick.


    Soverick rolled his eyes at him. "You think too highly of me. I might be a genius but even I can''t do this."


    Ghoto didn''t believe the boy one bit but there was no use arguing. While his rational mind was telling him that the boy couldn''t do something like this, the boy hadn''t even awoken his divine sense, he still felt the boy must have had a hand in it somehow.


    "Then why aren''t you injured?"


    "Simple" Soverick smirked, "I am just stronger."


    "You wouldn''t mind if I checked you right?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Go ahead, old man."


    Ghoto examined him and he found traces of spiritual damage. The boy should be out cold but for some inexplicable reason he was still conscious and he could even talk.


    ''hat a strong willpower.'' He eximed inwardly. He had seen simr situations among warriors with strong willpower.


    He was still full of suspicion but the health of his children came first. He grabbed the two unconscious ones and said to Soverick "Follow me for treatment."


    "Thank you but I don''t need your help. With the lockdown on mana removed I''ll be able to heal myself." Soverick rejected, then he pointed to the children in his arms and said "I don''t know about these but I don''t need you for anything."


    Ghoto left without a retort to that statement. He went to review the surveince images and security records but he didn''t find anything to prove his suspicion. He learned some lessons that day. The first of which is that Soverick is much stronger than his siblings, he could knock out his younger brother easily. Ghoto had heard from Ghaster about his challenge and defeat so he knew that the kids will continue to challenge each other as long as they had constant contact with each other.


    He also learned that Soverick has immense willpower. If soverick was truly responsible for the ident then he had no qualms about injuring his siblings and himself. Ghoto fully realized that day that Soverick was staying with them because of the free amodation, he could leave anytime if an alternative appeared.


    Back to the present.


    The memory transfer happened in a sh. Mih was in no way strained by the process it took more toil out of Ghoto which all in all, is practically insignificant. Mih took a few seconds to process the scenes and gain her perspective. It was an old trick to avoid memory scattering. Memory scattering couldn''t affect those at the transcendent level and above but she did it because of old habits.


    "I see." Mih started. Her voice was cold and determined, "The only thing this has changed is your treatment around here. It seems you have been too rxed here. You feel like you are in control. That will all change today."


    The series of images had enlightened Mih. The formation array malfunctioned and Soverick withstood its damaging effect. On the one hand, she was happy that her eldest son had innately high intelligence and the makings of a great Warrior. On the other hand, she felt that things were getting out of control. In what world would a child threaten her and be so willful?


    "We are your parents and we are stronger than you. We care for you and only want what''s best for you and we make the rules." She decided to create a strong stance, she would have apanied the disy with a release of her aura but she was currently wearing the weakening wrist bands.


    "It seems you want to be unreasonable. Okay then." Soverick turned to go. It seems he had given up on persuading them but Mih didn''t feel the thrill of victory. She was smart enough to know that this was not over, a child with the willpower of soverick will not give up so easily. A series of options and solutions shed in her mind about what she could do? How can she resolve this dilemma? Lock the kid up? To what end? He was sure to bolt at the first chance? The alternative will be stalking and tracking his every step. She loved her children but she had her own life. Even if she decided to sacrifice her time and energy to achieve that it won''t solve the key issue. It would instead Stoke the seed of discontent. What next, threatening to beat the boy or actually go through with it? It could work but unlikely, regardless of sess the kid will remember it for the rest of his life because of their astounding memory.


    Why was she agitated anyway? The boy wanted freedom. Was that so bad? She cared enough to be there for her kids whenever they needed her, but what if they didn''t need her. Besides, the times have changed, and no parent can say they are more experienced than their children in this era. Parents don''t have the experience advantage they used to have. What is the worst thing that could happen anyway? The boy could die and so what? People died every day, she had lost count of close friends and rtives that have died. Her children might fail to be transcendents and die in a couple of years. It would be a favor to her if he died now, it will save her a lot of pain in the future. If she wanted the child to stay, she shouldn''t try and force him, he will only stay in resentment. Instead, she should show her worth and the benefits of staying with them. For example, the avability of premium items that can speed up the rate of training without any residual harm or risk of behavioral problems. She was ready to relent and give the kid what he wanted but first, she had to try the beating strategy. Only if that failed will she try to prove their worth.


    ''The stick and carrot maneuver.'' She thought before she braced herself for what was toe. Intimidating needed a proper atmosphere and bodynguage to be effective. She had to say the part and look the part.

 Chapter 70 Mr. Know-It-All.

    ?Mih called to the retreating boy. "Stop right there." Soverick stopped and turned to her.


    "I can tell that you do not agree with us and you still n to run away. Isn''t that so?" Soverick continued to look at her. His silence was enough of an answer on its own.


    Mih smiled at him. "You must think you are tough. Most people think that before they go through actual pain. Then they change their mind." She waved her hand and created a thin sturdy stick for blunt damage out of her psychic energy. It is a trick that transcendent use against those below them. The liberation of the mind will allow for the solidification of soul power when it reacts with the world. She waved the stick around.


    "Nice stick uh. Good for beating. What if I use this stick on you? Will you remain strong? Don''t worry it won''t damage your nice fur too much. You might be bruised here and there but I''ll try not to do permanent damage." She said, then she started to approach him in slow steady steps in hopes of intimidating him.


    Ghoto decided not to interfere, for now. He would like to step in and stop the disaster that was about to happen but a quick discreetmunication with Mih assured him otherwise. He wasn''t in agreement with the use of violence to teach children and even if he were in support he didn''t think it would work with Soverick. He thought about the reasons why he chose to be a father. He wanted to create something of his to leave behind as a sort of legacy in hopes that he would be remembered. He had notable achievements that would ensure he would not be soon forgotten but his endeavor into parenthood would help him patch his psyche and grow spiritually by doing better than his father.


    Mih grinned at him. Her grin and the cane she was holding made her look like a predator. "Small guy, do you still think you are tough?"


    Most children would cave in at this point. Soverick spoke. "I must admit that I didn''t expect this from you, but you must know. The threat of violence will not dissuade me, I will only bow to actual violence."


    "Is that so? How about now?" She froze his body with her mind and manipted his limbs to spread out. She was hoping the feeling of losing total control of his body would be enough to break his spirit but when he remained unperturbed she raised her stick threateningly before giving up.


    She sighed and said. "You can have the control key to your room."


    Soverick dusted his shirt and corrected the creases made in them when Mih froze his body.


    "When?" He asked unperturbed.


    Mih shook her head at the sight. "Tomorrow morning." She replied.


    "Why not now?"


    "Don''t push me, young man."


    Soverick was in thought for a while before replying. It was as if he was contemting the effect of pressing her on the issue. When he saw her hand tighten on the stick he gave up.


    "I have waited this long I''m sure I can wait till tomorrow morning."


    Ghoto walked up to Mih after Soverick left. "Isn''t he frustrating?"


    "It is the way his eyes remain emotionless that ticks me off. But I like him even more even though I feel like beating him up." Mih replied.


    "Haha, that reminds me of how a certain couple met."


    "That''s different."


    "Is it? You are both stubborn. Let''s hope he isn''t as quick to use violence as you."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Mih tried to grab him but he evaded her. "I made a record of everything that happened when you were away, do want to check it out now?"


    "No, I don''t. You know what I want." She said as she stalked him.


    "Right." Ghoto grinned.


    The following morning.


    Six people inside a bubble that was made of incredibly powerful soul force were speeding high above the buildings. They could see the houses built atop tall and big trees. These trees are only present in the inner city. It is a vestige of a tradition from the ancient days of the species of battle sage monkey. Back then, it was considered a remarkable thing to have a personal tree to live on. Battle sage monkeys were very territorial about their trees and would fight to keep them. It was a sign of adulthood to possess a tree and you would gain the respect of your peers. It was onlyter that they evolved and their focus changed to securing territory around Origin waters. It has been many years after that and the focus has changed to territory on the ancient battlefield. This city was built to simte living conditions on the ancient battlefield and this simtion is expensive to carry out.


    Soverick saw some other people sh by in a bubble of their own. There are walkways by the roadside that allow for movement by foot but people hardly use them. The people that live here in the inner city are all people with significant influence in the family or possess notable strength. To such people walking is just too slow. Since most peoplemunicate with their divine sense there is almost no noise or chatter. This makes for a quiet and peaceful environment.


    "Mother, what is that in thatdy''s hand?" Litori asked Mih. Everyone looked over to find out what the object of inquisition is. Thedy in question was holding a thin rectangr unassuming tablet with runes on it.


    "Isn''t that a simple Rune reinforced brick," Ghaster said quickly, he then nced at Soverick with a smug smile of triumph. Ghaster had yet to admit defeat, he had yet to give up on challenging his eldest and was always looking for ways to prove he had an advantage over the other.


    At first nce, the brick looked like a thin brick the likes that are used in constructing shock-absorbing structures, albeit too thin. Soverick ignored the stupid and ignorant boy.


    ''What an airhead.'' Soverick thought in ridicule. He knew with utmost certainty that Ghaster was wrong.


    Ghoto smiled before ruffling Ghaster''s head. "Nice try but you''re wrong." He nced between Soverick and Litori with an encouraging look. "Anyone wants to give it another try?" He asked.


    Soverick rolled his eyes and ignored him too. Ka then said, "Why don''t you answer the question Soverick. Aren''t you Mr. Know-it-all. I bet you don''t know what it is." She also brought out a simr object from a small bag she was holding and shook it in front of his face.


    Soverick knew what the object was and he knew what Ka wanted to achieve. Unlike Ghoto that was being subtle, Ka was taunting him in hopes that he would humiliate himself.


    "How much for this bet? I want you to carry me around for a year if I get it right." Soverick said without much expression on his face. Ka''s confidence crumbled, and she began to hesitate.


    "No bets." Mih cut in before Ka could reply.


    "It is a Communication and Entertainment Tablet. It is used to transmit messages quickly from one person to another and to ease boredom."


    "Like amunication node and hub?" Litori asked in confusion, she knew a device that performedmunication functions but it didn''t look like a thin brick.


    "Yes, like that. But this is more sophisticated and it has the video call option. Themunication node only has the audio option and the contact list. This new device has features for keeping track of call history, saving messages for you, recording, saving, and transmission of events in video format. It is a pretty nifty achievement by the Realm lord in his youth."


    "That sounds impressive. The Realm lord is an unprecedented genius." Litori was enlightened. Litori, like all children born with an awakened bloodline, are naturally knowledgeable about a lot of things in different fields because of their ancestral memories. But there are also a lot of things they don''t know about, one of which is current affairs. The ancestral memories only contain knowledge from the source of the bloodline, so it doesn''t contain rtively current information. It bes a weakness in certain situations, it will lead them to make wrong decisions confidently and in ignorance.


    For example, identification of themunication tablet. Let''s say someone with an archaic knowledge ofmunication ismitting a crime and someone holds up a brick. He or she wouldn''t consider that the brick is recording and broadcasting the event for proof. Such a person will not realize that there is awork consisting of several more people bearing witness to his or her crime in real-time. Crime used to be easy to perform in the past but the advent of high-speed telmunication made it difficult to get away with. Everyone with that small brick is a surveince camera. What''s worse is that once something has been recorded and uploaded it is near impossible to remove.

 Chapter 71 Realm Lords Fans.

    ?The matter of the Communication and Entertainment Tablet was not as simple as they made it seem. There used to be another device used formunication. It was a tiny device in the form of jewelry called themunication node. It worked together with arger device called themunication hub. They might have different names in various ces but that is what it is generally called. Themunication node contains contacts in the form of runes and messages are sent to these contacts when the node works in tandem with the hub. In other words, the node needs a hub. There is also themunication talisman but it could only be used by people with powerful souls. It had the advantage of having near unlimited range, unlike themunication node and hub. The new and better Tablet works as a stand-alone device, it is capable of broadcasting messages straight to other devices without assistance. It is so advanced that it alsoes with virtual services such as the storage of data in a cloud and many other features. The Tablet for all its nice features cannotpare to themunication talisman in terms of range. It is bound within the confines of an entire ne, unlike the talisman.


    Ka was gloating earlier because the technology for the tablet is recent and he probably won''t know about it, just like Ghaster and Litori. She would have lost the bet if she had the backbone to go through with it because he knew more about the tablet than anyone in this family. He had heard enough praises about it back in the High elf ne.


    Only Mih knew he was the source of the bloodline and didn''t have any ancestral memories. She attributed his intelligence to be due to his innate potential. In truth, Mih ought to receive his memories. The only reason she didn''t get it is that she inherited the bloodline through an unorthodox method. She got the bloodline because she was pregnant with him, amon thing that happens when mothers without bloodlines of their own get pregnant with babies with awakened ones. Good thing she didn''t receive any of his memories or she would be the first to suspect his identity. The times may be progressive and people may be more epting, but no one wants an old man for a baby, even if they are much older than him, things will just be awkward.


    "Can I get one?" Ghaster asked.


    "No." Both Mih and Ghoto said.


    "It is bad for you. It will distract you and make you waste your time. You can have one when you achieve your mana body." Ghoto tried to persuade the disappointed boy.


    Mih turned to Soverick. "If you try to get one yourself I will destroy it when I find it." She warned him. She knew he was headstrong.


    What are you looking at me for? Soverick wanted to ask but he kept quiet and didn''t flinch under her intense stare. Her threat didn''t bother him at all neither did her re of intimidation. If he wanted to hide something from her he doubted she could find it. He could theoretically overload a formation array from right underneath her divine sense causing the said formation array to be destroyed and cause spiritual damage and she wouldn''t know it was him. Plus he had his unsupervised room now.


    "Elder Ka, can you tell me about the realm lord?" Litori asked Ka. This began a session of praising and admiring the realm lord which was bad enough without Ka''s droning voice making his head hurt. Yes the realm lord is great, and yes the realm lord is a genius. He had heard enough of it has a High Elf. He didn''t expect that some random family in a random ne would be praising the realm lord too. The realm lord is just too famous for him to escape his influence.


    Unlike his siblings that were excited about the nned events for the day, Soverick was currently in a bad mood. He didn''t want to go for the life evaluation. The first thing that peeved him this morning is the fact that Mih refused to allow anyone to carry him, not even Ka. And that was after he swallowed his pride and asked for Ka. If you ask him, Mih was just out to get him. She was being vengeful for yesterday.


    The reason why he didn''t want to walk himself is that he was in the process of condensing his vitality core. He had been in this process for more than two months now because he wanted to condense a perfect vitality core. Unlike his siblings who had followed their instincts and condensed their vitality core without dy, he had dyed the process because of his knowledge as a Sovereign of Life. He had even gone on to be an origin with his seed of sovereignty so his knowledge about life and vitality could be said to be withoutpare in this part of the world.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The body forging stage is considered the foundation of refinement but that opinion is wrong. When body forging reaches a stage where the vitality of the body overflows it forms a core. The more vitality one has, therger the vitality core. This aspect is ignored because the size of the vitality core doesn''t affect strength. Only those that know how to use the vitality core will realize that it is the true foundation. It is the reason why elves possess slim muscture and yet will be able to match those bigger than them in strength. It is also the reason why elves have arger mana pool, it is not because of their high affinity with mana. These special use of the vitality core may only be relevant in the lower stages but if it is built upon it will affect the strength in theter levels. He had a bigger and better vitality core, and it was not evenplete, that is why he is stronger than his siblings. Having a lot of vitality is possessing a lot of potential. It is not a coincidence that dragons and demons have a huge amount of vitality.


    Then there is his soul. The effect of his soul had been growing stronger with the growth of his body. This and many other reasons are why he doesn''t want to go for the life evaluation. The life evaluation is a process that urs in major families after a year of the birth of offspring with an awakened bloodline. The process involves the deep scanning of the life signals of a child to determine thew fragments and elemental affinity of the child. It is carried out by a machine at the level of a high-grade origin artifact, which means its scanning power is as urate as a sovereign''s. The process is expensive but it ispulsory and free for all offspring with an awakened bloodline. Parents of offspring without an awakened bloodline can pay for the process to determine the presence or absence of a bloodline, its purity, and if it will be worthwhile to awaken the bloodline.


    The process will enlighten the parents and provide information necessary for the nning of the refinement path of their children. They will be able to select appropriate techniques that will suit the elemental affinity andw fragments in the bloodline and most importantly, the techniques will not sh with future growth.


    Refinement is not as straightforward as imbibing energy and growing stronger, there are side effects to watch out for, such as emotional imbnce and behavioral changes. Refinement isplicated because the body and mind areplicated, so the life evaluation process was developed. It will increase the speed of development and the chances of breaking through their limits in the future.


    "If only we had done this two months ago before I started this process." Hemented inwardly. The evaluation will no doubt be a good thing for him since he didn''t know everything about his body his current experience could be said to be unprecedented for him and the entire realm of High Heaven but he had many secrets, some of which would be uncovered during the evaluation. It would lead to unnecessary attention and scrutiny. He didn''t want that at all but there is nothing he could do about it. He decided to have some petty fun to alleviate his sour mood.


    "Hey Ka, I heard you were the one that suggested the formation array to the old man. The person responsible for its acquisition is also you. What were you nning with that scheme?"


    Ka shook in fright. She eximed quickly. "There was no scheme. It was for your protection."


    Soverick shook his head slowly. "I don''t think so. Your decision and action harmed us. Plus there''s that time you tried to poison me."


    "I didn''t try to poison you. You just don''t like my cooking."


    "You can''t call that gruel food. It is simply an abomination. I think you are up to something nefarious. Maybe we shouldn''t be ced in your care."

 Chapter 72 Violence And Bureaucracy.

    ?Ka tried to plead her case. "No. You''re making stuff up." Then she started crying. She had been scared that she would be med for what happened that day and had been waiting in trepidation for punishment. But punishment never came. King Ghoto had never med her for it so slowly forgot about it. It was until Mih arrived that she remembered that the matter had yet been ounted for.


    A mother can be unreasonable when it came to the well-being of their children. She had been entrusted to provide care and yet had led to serious damages. She didn''t want to be sent back. The hopes had dreams of her family and all the effort they put in acquiring this position would be for naught.


    Ghaster and litori were fond of her. They tried to speak up for her but Soverick red at them.


    "Stop crying like a kid. Your pitiful performance will not change what you did."


    "Stop it Soverick, you''re making the poor girl cry." Ghoto came to her rescue. He didn''t me her because he had inspected the formation array and found nothing wrong with it. If anyone were to be med it would be him.


    "That''s not enough reason for me to stop," Soverick said indifferently.


    "She did all she did only because she meant well for you."


    "What''s your point?" Soverick asked.


    Ghoto was in a good mood but his mood was beginning to sour. He found arguing with Soverick tedious.


    "She is not to me and that''s final." Mih cut in. Ka felt relief sweep through her. But Soverick wasn''t letting go.


    "Maybe, but I suffered damages and have to bepensated for them."


    Mih tried to reason with him. "Your siblings suffered the same damages and aren''t creating ruckus because of it."


    "So?" Soverick asked again.


    "If they can bear with it so can you."


    "I see. You seem to beparing me to the other two. You''re wrong about that, they can''tpare to me. I am unique."


    Ghoto knew when Soverick wouldn''t change his mind. He also knew that soverick only created a fuss when he wanted to gain something. So he decided to cut to the heart of the matter.


    "What do you want then?"


    "I''ll let this go if she will carry me for the next year." He would be satisfied if he got the opportunity to bully her. She had not been willing to ept defeat when he sampled her cooking. And when he had pointed out that her cooking was rubbish aspared to the exquisite cooking of the high elves, she had called the high elves "grass-eating, tree-loving stuck-up hippies." He would not rest until she paid for her derision in full.


    "Not possible," Mih said. She was quick to reject the demand because she didn''t want someone from her family to be humiliated under her watch.


    "What do you have against Ka?" Ghoto asked in frustration.


    "The answer to that question is the same one to this question ''What use is Ka?'' Simply Nothing. I have nothing against her. She is just useless."


    "She is not useless, Soverick. She has done a fine job taking care of Ghaster and litori, you just don''t like her. Even if she is useless, it is none of your concern. We called her here not you. This is thest time I want to hear of this." Mih said.


    Soverick tried, "What about mypensation?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You just have to suck it up." She replied.


    Soverick tsked, he was beginning to feel irritated. Mih was truly out to get him but it didn''t matter. He had gotten what he wanted out of it. Which was to make Ka sweat a little, have some fun at her expense, and act like a petty child. A lot of his past behavior could be called under question after the life evaluation. It would be good for him to throw a tantrum once in a while to reinforce the image of a child.


    They reached the Department of Family Affairs soon after. It was in a building built right on top of the ground but it was taller than the 60m trees around it. Mih brought them to the entrance of the building. There was someone already waiting for them. He stepped forward to greet them.


    "Thank you again for your leniency, your Majesty." The waiting person said.


    "It wasn''t your fault in the first ce. When can we start?" Mih inquired.


    "Immediately, your majesty. I am sure you''re a very busy person, it won''t do to waste your time. I have everything prepared for your arrival." He seemed to bow even lower, "Follow me. Right, this way."


    Ghoto was speechless. Was this not the supervisor of the entire department. Howe he was waiting on them now. The transcendent had not been this subservient when he came to request the life evaluation but now seemed to have be humble. He had suspected that the transcendent must have someone to rely on, hence why the supervisor didn''t ede to his request the first time. This mysterious person supporting the supervisor also must have had at least the same strength as him or maybe greater. It was one of the reasons he didn''t make a scene back then.


    He didn''t have a wrong impression of the supervisor since the man had informed him that he didn''t have a choice in the matter, he told him to wait for just 3 months and the dy would be over. Ghoto had chosen to wait for the 3 months to avoid resorting to violence. It would be one thing if the person was of a simr level in strength, but the matter could escte if the person causing trouble was a titan. Ghoto shook his head and decided to stop thinking about bureaucracy and how violence improved their efficiency.


    "Everything is ready for us so let''s go," Ghoto announced to the kids since they were not aware of the quick conversation they just had with their divine sense.


    "Ghaster." He called to his distracted son. Ghaster was looking at the boundary between the tall building and the trees surrounding it.


    "What''s there, dad?" Ghaster asked.


    "You don''t know?" Ghoto was surprised that his son would ask such a question. The knowledge about the forest of trees in the inner city ismon knowledge and should be present in the bloodline memory.


    "I think I do but I am not sure." The little boy said.


    Ghoto grabbed his hand and started pulling him forward. "Come one. I''ll tell you along the way. We shouldn''t dy the proceedings."


    Ghoto continued "I''ll only give you a summary of what''s there and we can talk more about it when we get home. The forest the city is built on is a single entity. A single tree with many trunks. The forest is constantly expanding and this makes the city also expand. It has been growing since its establishment. The forest is home to many exotic nts and animals from all over the realm. The wildlife is precious, so ess is restricted. There are only a select few departments and individuals that have ess to it, such as the department of family affairs."


    The supervisor heard their conversation. "I have some interesting information about the forest." He said before looking to Mih for permission to continue. He didn''t want to be seen as a gossip even though he wanted to help them out. Who knows what could set off a titan? One had to be careful when a titan is around, that''s why he wanted to see if Mih would be okay with joining the conversation. Mih gave a slight nod of her head.


    "The forest is the backbone of the city. It is responsible for the production of origin energy present in the city." He started.


    "It is?" This information came as a surprise to both Mih and Ghoto. They knew that the origin energy was made avable artificially. They assumed it was a machine or artifact that was responsible for it. Only Soverick was not surprised. He rolled his eyes at them. ''Country bumpkins.''


    The supervisor continued. "Yes, it is. A machine can be used but the efficiency of the transformation is horrendous. You should know that origin energy is gotten from the dilution of origin essence with mana. Any waste in this process is expensive. The tree performs this operation with a very high rate of efficiency. It is just slow aspared to an artifact designed for the transformation process."


    "Is this tree special or something or can all trees perform the conversion?" Ka asked, everyone, turned to look at her for her silly question. She blushed due to the attention.


    The supervisor continued after the interuption." The tree is special alright, but not because of its ability to convert origin essence. It is rare to find trees with this ability in most nes of the realm, even sovereigns cannot perform this feat. What makes this tree even special is its origin story." Then he paused to create some suspense.

 Chapter 73 The City Is For The Tree.

    Chapter 73 The City Is For The Tree.


    Ghoto snorted. "The origin of the tree isn''t a mystery. I heard it was nted here by the first Origin ancestor himself." Ghoto said and he didn''t think that it was special. The fact that it was nted here by the ancestor is a given since the ancestor built this city. Even if the tree was nted by someone else, what could be special about that? The tree couldn''t have found its way into the city without someone in power cing it there.


    The supervisor continued to speak. "That is true in a sense but notplete. The tree has a much bigger impact on the Ghastorix family than its ability to create origin energy. It all started when the ancestor was a young man. The ancestor had juste of age at five years old and left his family to leave on his own. Things were backward back then where battle sage monkeys still relied on trees. The ancestor needed to find a tree to live in and for support. Things were unfortunate because the ancestor was weak and couldn''t hold on to a tall and big tree. He had to settle for a short tree that was uncontested. The ancestor didn''t know the name of the tree back then, he had chosen to live atop the tree because no one wanted it. This tree was always in the shade of other trees, it was short and stumpy. Its weird stature didn''t discourage the ancestor who was content with it. This decision turned into a boon for him."


    "Wow, are you saying that that tree is the same creeping dwarf that has formed the forest in the inner city?" Ghoto asked. Everyone stared at him for interrupting the story. "Cough cough, please continue."


    "As many know, the ancestor is talkative." Everyone nodded in agreement. One of the inheritable traits of the ancestor is the inability to hold back from speaking.


    The supervisor was encouraged when they nodded and continued speaking. He didn''t need encouragement from them because he had also inherited this particr trait but it was weed.


    "So the ancestor was always speaking to himself and anyone who would listen. What he didn''t know was that the tree was actually sentient and was always listening. The tree grew to enjoy the ancestor''spany. The ancestor''s usualining and grumbling which made him an outcast among his peers made the tree attached to him instead. And it paid off when the tree saved his life from danger. It was then that he found out that not only was the tree sentient, but it was also strong. It was so strong that it had reached the limit of the ne, the transcendent level. At that time, that was the strongest power in the ne. The ancestor used its uniqueness to gain many advantages and grew stronger quickly, but good things don''t alwaysst."


    The supervisor''s voice took on a sad tone. "The tree had lived for a long time, it had reached its maximum potential and any more growth led to the incitement of lightning tribtion."


    Soverick nodded in understanding. He knows a lot of things about trees and their paths as a former high Elf. Trees are different from animals in their way of life and growth pattern. Theoretically, trees don''t have any limit on their growth, they can gain sentience, they can move and they can transform themselves into a humanoid form and be free from their current form. It is just that any growth beyond their usual pattern will call for lightning tribtion. The tribtion isn''t trying to kill them, it is trying to give them extra life energy toplete the transformation, but they had to be strong enough or special enough to survive. Lightning contains life energy, the amount of life energy that a tree requires to transform is dependent on the amount of growth ring they have. That''s why the lightning tribtion is greater the older the tree. The earlier a tree attains enlightenment and invokes the need for transformation, the weaker the tribtion will be.


    The transcendent continued his story as he led them to the transition stall. The transition stall is a special room that is used to reach any floor in a matter of seconds. It works by creating warp points between different locations which people can use to reach a destination of choice. It is a very important device used to traverserge buildings such as this.


    "The tree was very old even at that time and it had experienced lightning tribtion before. The experience traumatized the tree and it grew to be afraid of lightning. It reduced its height and lived in the shadows of other trees to protect itself. It also channeled its growth to create stores of vitality in its roots instead. It couldn''t hide from lightning because the process wasn''tplete, it would eitherplete the transformation into the free form or die. Because of its cowardice, the lightning tribtion became terrifying after dying it year after year. The tree informed the ancestor of its plight when the ancestor became transcendent. The ancestor could finally engage with his long-timepanion. He was the one that was usually talking but the first thing he heard was the impending doom of his friend. The ancestor left for the ancient battlefield for his friend in hopes to find a solution. He participated in the trial of heaven to acquire things that can help his tree friend, he was hoping to get objects with healing properties or life energy. The ancestor seeded but he was toote. He returned to find the tree damaged to an inch of its life. Only the incredible vitality of the tree allowed even that much to survive. The healing properties of the things he brought back didn''t work after using up all of them, his tree friend was too damaged to be saved by them. In the ancestor''s desperation, he used the Origin essence he had won for his excellent performance in the trial of heaven. The origin essence worked but it incited more lightning tribtion so the ancestor had to protect his friend from dyingpletely. This stalemate continued for years in which the ancestor used everything to defend against the relentless lightning strikes."


    "That is just impossible," Litori eximed.


    "Let the manplete his story before making any statement," Mih said. Soverick agreed, he was also intrigued by the whole affair. ''What a likable guy.'' Soverick thought. The ancestor of the Ghastorix seemed like a tree lover, just like elves. In his book, that was a likable personality trait.


    "I understand your confusion. The lightning came down in small amounts at first. A little here and there every day. The tree possessed a small amount of vitality and as such, attracted few weak lightning strikes. The lightning strikes became more frequent and stronger as the tree healed. The ancestor took the ce of the tree and received the lightning for it. This led to the ancestor bing stronger and he also mastered thew of lightning. Heter became immune to it but then the destructive ability changed because of theplete transformation of the tree. The lightning that initially wanted to provide life energy to nurture the tree changed its objective when the tree broke the bnce of the ne. The normal path should have been the transformation of the tree into a free lifeform which would then leave the ne but the use of origin essence changed the tree into an immobile object capable of causing immense destruction to the ne. It became a target that the ne had to destroy. The relentless lightning strikes finally stopped when the ancestor was able to separate the tree from the ne. He put the tree into a secret realm whichter became this city, and that''s how the Ghastorix family of lightning punishment was born."


    "So the city was built for the tree instead of the other way around," Ka said in amazement.


    "Correct. Ancestor Ghastorixter had offsprings so that they can keep his tree friendpany while he went to explore the higher realms." The supervisor answered. They all marveled at the reveal. Unlike lowly mortal races that produce offspring because they don''t have a better goal in life or because they don''t have a choice. Higher lifeforms produce offspring for many other reasons. The reasons could be lowly or worthy, it could be because of boredom or for a greater purpose. Achieving more power is the ultimate aim of powerful people, if having children can help to achieve that, then so be it. If not, then you can decide for yourself if you want to have children or not. The reason is totally up to an individual. Having offspring bes more difficult the more powerful a lifeform is so it might not be up to the individual if they can have children or not.


    But to find out that your entire family and lineage were created so that a tree won''t be bored is enough to astound a person.

 Chapter 74 Its Just A Prank.

    ?"Howe I didn''t know this? I am a king but it seems a transcendent knows more about the family than me." Ghotoined. While he was enlightened by the story he couldn''t help being disgruntled about his earlier ignorance.


    The supervisor almost stumbled when he heard the question, "Cough cough, I am sorry about that. I don''t think I know why either." He apologized quickly. He was just trying to use the story to create a nice impression. He didn''t want his efforts to lead to something bad instead, so there was no way he would tell Ghoto the reason for his ignorance.


    Soverick knew why and he wasn''t shy enough to care about Ghoto''s feelings. He opened his mouth and said "Maybe It''s because you are not a true descendant of the family. You don''t have the bloodline of the ancestor. That''s probably why?"


    The atmosphere became awkward when he said that. "You mean to say that the forest is a powerful tree sentient being? I never thought about it like that. How powerful is it?" Mih asked the supervisor. Her question changed the focus of the conversation.


    The supervisor coughed. He was d for the subject change. "I am not sure but what I do know is that it is capable of killing sovereigns. It is also capable of monitoring all the activities going on within the city."


    Mih''s eyes narrowed. She thought back to the fact that the city was built to alleviate the boredom of the tree and that the tree liked listening to stories. The power of a sovereign ofw is capable of a lot of things.


    "Is the tree eavesdropping on us?" She asked.


    The supervisor avoided her gaze and answered. "I don''t know."


    Soverick was beginning to find Mih irritating. He wanted to ask her what the point of her question was. So what if the tree is listening to them.


    ''What difference does it make? nts are all around us and it is a fact that they listen to us. They can talk to each other and us but we ignore them because we can''t understand. Suddenly you feel eavesdropped on when you find out that nts aren''t the stupid things you thought they were.'' He couldn''t stand the fact that there was someone that wanted to malign a tree.


    ''Ignorance is just bliss. I wonder what she will think if she knows I can listen in on their divine sense conversation too.'' He snickered to himself.


    Ka shuddered at the thought of a sentient being watching and listening in on them. "That''s just creepy." She looked around suspiciously.


    The supervisor wanted to scoff and say ''If you had the family bloodline you wouldn''t find it creepy at all. You are outsiders after all.'' But he didn''t dare say that for the sake of his life. Mih could have an emotional outburst that would cost him his life. While it is true that there isw and order in the city and murder is forbidden, manughter is another thing entirely. He sighed in relief when he saw that they were approaching the door to the evaluation room. He decided to use the uing survey to change the subject.


    "It seems we have arrived already. Now we can get the process underway." He opened the door quickly and everyone followed him into the room. There were people inside the room waiting for them, they stood around arge cube about 3 meters on each side. This machine is the Life survey equipment that would perform the evaluation. The machine was ck with golden lines of runes etched onto its surface. It looked seamless with only a single opening on the side. It was making a low humming sound as it operated and the golden runes were shing with light. It looked like a strange creature from a certain angle instead of a lifeless machine.


    "The machine has been checked and warmed up before your arrival. There will be no dys. Can we start?" A female officer approached them. Her appearance startled the family, with Litori being impacted the most. This officer didn''t look like a battle sage monkey at all, her features were serpentine. She had no fur, only scales, and her tail was not the prehensile one that battle sage monkeys possessed. She belonged to a rival race of the battle sage monkeys but was now almost hunted into extinction. This particr race was one of the most dangerous races the battle sage ever fought, they seemed engineered to hunt battle sage monkeys. They lived in trees just like the battle sage, they were incredibly agile just like the battle sage monkeys. So the battle sage lost their mobility advantages in the forest. That race was cunning, silent, and were patient hunters with terrifying tracking capabilities that liked to hunt and eat battle sage monkeys. Their innate incredible defense made the efforts of the battle sage futile in a confrontation. The battle sage eventually won the struggle for survival because of their higher intelligence and the development of weapons capable of breaking their scales. The race of serpentine monsters had the advantage in physical prowess but lost in the area of intelligence and learning ability, which led to their demise. Even now the name of the race is taboo and must not be mentioned. They are used to scare children straight, they are practically the stuff of nightmares.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The supervisor bolted to the officer, "Stop it, put it away." His divine sense screamed at her even before he started moving. He reached her quickly and yanked on a ne she was wearing. Her appearance flickered and she became a normal battle sage female. His reaction was swift and decisive but it was already toote. The sight of the serpentine features invoked a primal fear in the mind of Ghaster and Litori. They might have chosen to fight or flee if the officer had chosen a weaker form of the dreadful species, but her current form made them give up. Hopelessness welled up within them, Ghaster chose to sit down on the ground and started wailing, he was crying for his mother like a child. Litori''s reaction was worse, her intelligence became her bane, and she went into catatonia. She froze because her mind was telling her that resistance was hopeless.


    Laughing resounded from within the room. The officers were the onesughing but the sight of the grave face of their supervisor soon tamped down their enthusiasm.


    "What?" The female officer was confused, she did her part well enough so why had the supervisor gone off-script. Another officer approached them, he asked softly "What is the problem, boss? We got them, well at least two of them."


    "I didn''t ask you to do this, whose idea is it?" The supervisor growled.


    "But you asked us to prepare for a life evaluation this morning." The female officer said in her defense. "It was my turn so I wore the illusion costume to scare them."


    The supervisor rubbed the bridge of his nose. His subordinates were not really at fault. This act is part of their tradition, after all, it was his fault that he hadn''t prevented it this time around. He should have warned them not to carry it out as usual.


    He approached the family with an apologetic smile while hoping Mih wouldn''t turn him to mush.


    Mih and Ghoto were trying to soothe the two anxious children. They had powerful divine sense and had been able to tell that what they were seeing was fake.


    "I am sorry." The supervisor started. "It wasn''t intentional. It is a tradition that has been passed down from before my time. It is just a silly prank and I should have warned them not to execute it this time around." He spoke aloud and quickly. The female officer also approached them, she brought out candies which she offered them to alleviate their fear. "See, I am normal." They recoiled at first, it was only after examining her closely did Ghaster and Litori finally calm down. But they didn''t receive her candies, they were still wary of her.


    Ghoto was boiling. "You had better have a good reason for the prank."


    Ghoto''s threatening stance reminded the supervisor that he was actually against two powerhouses. Mih''s aura had made him forget that part.


    "When the machine was first constructed for use, its appearance was too intimidating to children. They were afraid of being sealed into it and refused to use it. It was decided that the fear of the machine had to be eliminated one way or another and someone rmended that they scare the kids with something else. Nothing worked for a while until that specific species was used. The process became a pranking tradition since then."


    "Honestly it was not a bad prank. It would have been better if it worked on everyone." Mih said ncing at the stoic Soverick. She was referring to the fact that Soverick was not scared. The supervisor breathed a sigh of relief. He wouldn''t die because of a simple prank.

 Chapter 75 Do You Want Me To Die?

    ?He thanked mother high heaven that he was here to exin the situation away, things could have gone worse in his absence. His subordinates weren''t transcendents so they didn''t know the history of the tradition only that it is a tradition.


    "You have such an impressive son." He praised.


    "Of course." She said with pride, but her mind was on something else. The prank gave her an idea of how to manage the trouble that was her eldest son. She just had to find something that Soverick was afraid of and she would be able to grasp a weakness of his. The failure of the earlier prank also made her realize that finding that weakness would be difficult.


    Another officer joined in on the conversation. Heplimented "Your son must be iron-willed or has not inherited the fear."


    The presence of ancestral memories can create a weakness that shouldn''t be there at all, especially in scenarios like this. The dreadful species have disappeared but the fear of them is very much still present. The worst part is that some fears be more prominent because of vague or exaggerated memories passed down from generation to generation, the source of the fear bes terrifying due to generational amplification. It is one of the weaknesses of a royal bloodline, the inheritance of fear and weaknesses.


    Many of the officers approached Soverick with interest. One of them gave him a thumbs up. "Nice going kid, what''s your name?"


    Soverick ignored all of them. Being on his feet for so long was not a pleasant feeling, especially when he was in the process of condensing his vitality core. The process was painful enough without the addition of ame joke. He turned to the supervisor. "Can we start now?"


    "Yes, we can." The supervisor answered. Then he red at the officers. "Do your job." His voice was stern as ice. He envied them a little. They were too weak to realize they were standing in front of predators. Their minds are still locked within their bodies unlike him, so they couldn''t fathom the strength of the people whose children they were traumatizing. "Ignorance is bliss." He grumbled to himself.


    The prank might be a harmless tradition but there are sometimes future repercussions. It has happened several times in the past where a child they scared into pissing himself returned for revenge. The worst part is that they usually came for him because most of the people that participated in the prank had all died. But the pranking could not be stopped because just like the city, it had its origin story. The world bes a peculiar ce when history is not lost and the past is not some vague memory because there are people that have lived that long.


    The officers rushed back to the machine and started pressing runes on its surface. The square patch by the side of the machine opened and elongated to reveal a horizontal tform. An officer pointed to the tform.


    "Lie here. Don''t worry it isfortable."


    Soverick climbed onto it andid down. The tform was lined with a soft material that wasfortable to touch. Other officers joined in strapping Soverick to the tform. They used belts and buckles attached to the tform to restrict his movements on the tform.


    "Don''t worry, this is standard procedure. For the evaluation to seed we will need as little movement as possible. You''re safe."


    By the time they were done Soverick had been strapped to the tform so tight that he couldn''t move at all. His head, arms, chest, leg, thigh, and tail was held down with thick belts. The family had been watching from the side. They all had peculiar looks on their face.


    "I can see why children will be scared of this," Ka said. She wondered if she would be able to keep her cool in such a situation. Strapped to a table and fed into the belly of a weird-looking machine. The machine didn''t scare her, it was the act of restricting her that didn''t sit right with her. She wouldn''t want to be at the mercy of others and be subject to mother high heaven knows what.


    "Don''t scare the kids." Ghoto stopped her from sprouting more fear-inducing words. His kids had already paid the price of being traumatized, it would be a serious waste if they be too scared to go through with the evaluation.


    The officers checked each strap to make sure everything was in order before they gave the go-ahead. More runes were pressed and more runes shed before the tform started to retract back into the machine. To Ghaster and Litori, it looked like the machine was eating Soverick. The officers were moving about, checking stuff and pressing runes. The supervisor was in turn checking the work of the officers, he wanted nothing to go wrong. If any ident were to ur it wouldn''t happen because of the machine. The machine has been tried and tested over countless years and operations, the only room for error would be the operators. That would have been easy to curb if the machine had its artificial intelligence or at least an operation spirit, but that idea was shot down. The idea that the machine was slightly alive or sentient in any way did not go well with the intended users, even after the prank scare.


    Meanwhile, Soverick remained calm within the insides of the machine. He was just hoping that everything would be over soon and he could return to his room and talk to his only friend.


    "Please remain calm." A voice spoke through a concealed audio device.


    "Stop telling me to remain calm. The fact that you emphasize it is counterproductive."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Noted. Do you want to listen to anything?"


    "No thanks."


    "Noted."


    Then all sound ceased. Soverick found the nk whiteness of the interior coupled with total silence to be soothing. It reminded him of the solitude of refinement. The evaluation began silently.


    "Everything is going just well and it will take just 10 minutes." The supervisor said to the waiting family.


    "This isn''t right." An officer eximed. The supervisor rushed to the officer. "Couldn''t you have just informed me privately instead of shouting it out to the entire room? Do you want me to die?" He cursed silently.


    "What do you mean? What isn''t right?" He fired the question in a hurry. The slight dy in response infuriated the supervisor. ''The mind processing ability of these people is truly trash.'' He pushed the officer and examined the disy panel himself.


    "This can''t be right." He also eximed. He had wanted the officer to be wrong but what he saw stunned him too. ''Could the machine be malfunctioning?'' He wondered. Mih and Ghoto were on top of him even faster than he was on top of the officer.


    "What isn''t right?" Mih questioned with a steely voice. Ghoto remained silent, but he was ready to do serious damage if something went wrong. He had had enough and someone was going to pay for that. His patience could only take so much before he snaps.


    "There''s nothing wrong with the machine or your son. It is just that the results of the evaluation seem exaggerated, almost unbelievable."


    "Details," Mih demanded.


    "It says here that your son is 105.69kg."


    "What''s wrong about that?" Ghoto panicked. He was aware that his son was a little heavier than his siblings but he hadn''t paid it any special attention. What''s the difference between 50kg, 100kg, or 1000kg? It''s all the same to a king ofw. Could it be that his negligence had caused his son harm?


    "A child his age should be around 50kg, and at most 60kg. He has broken the limit by a wide margin." The supervisor struggled to find his words but thankfullymunication through divine sense was emotionally intuitive. But even that wasn''t enough to quell the pair''s anxiety.


    "Is that bad?" Ghoto asked. He just wanted to know the significance not the details right now.


    "It doesn''t look bad, just unbelievable." They were about to be relieved but the supervisor continued. "What is bad is his Vitality level. How is he even alive? It is more than unbelievable it should be impossible." He questioned in unbelief.


    "The boy''s cells are proliferating at an unsustainable rate, the tissue integrity ought to degenerate with the cells bursting at the seams with so much vitality. The gene chains wouldn''t be able to keep up with the unraveling speed and should copse. But the cells have somehow found a way to be stable and are channeling all the vitality to a single location. This is practically impossible." His divine sense screamed for all to hear.


    They say that too much of anything is bad. Even water, a necessaryponent for life, is capable of poisoning a living being at sufficiently excess volume. Drinkable water itself cannot be too pure or it will affect the function of the body system.

 Chapter 76 Too Good To Be True.

    ?The sight of so much pure vitality congregating in synchronized order towards a single location was just mind-boggling. The supervisor and the officers were all shocked.


    Vitality is a good thing in the general sense of things, one might say that there can never be enough of it, but that isn''t true. If the vitality of an organism continues to act without limit the organism will die because of ack of energy. That is if it can withstand the stress of elerated cell growth and division. Some things shouldn''t be done no matter how much energy you have.


    On the path of body refinement, the formation of the vitality core is the second stage. When the body has been improved to a certain extent it will reach a limit to improvement due to further training. The cells will be stronger and their activity will increase instead. This increase in activity will result in the avability of excess vitality. The excess vitality will then be funneled into creating a new organ. This organ is the vitality core and it is responsible for the conversation of mana into a form that the cells can use.


    Most species in the realm of high heaven cannot use mana directly, the cells must first be made capable of doing it. There are exceptions such as talented species and members of species with sufficiently powerful bloodlines, like dragons.


    This special development with Soverick created a lot of questions that were swirling in their minds. Howe the cells haven''t broken apart? How is the boy still alive? What was causing the increase in vitality production? Where did all the energy needed for the production of vitalitye from? Bloodlines may have improved the potential of offspring but even that didn''t seem capable of exining what they were seeing. If they ignored these questions, there is another cogent question. Where could all this vitality be going into?


    The supervisor looked through the records to make sure the spike in vitality is not due to an abnormal reaction to something. Things would be bad for him if the boy happened to suffer from an unknown condition right now and die because of it. When he couldn''t find anything wrong, he looked at the disy image of the calm boy in the life survey machine. Since he couldn''t find anything wrong for now, he decided to wait until the survey was over for further inquiry.


    "I might have exaggerated. Everything seems alright, his life doesn''t seem to be in any danger. No wonder he is bigger than usual. It might just be a growth spurt. We won''t know more until further examination." He concluded. He was trying to alleviate Mih and Ghoto''s fear when another officer tapped him gently.


    "Boss, you need to see this." The supervisor''s heart sank. He regretteding here now.


    ''Who said I shoulde here?'' He groaned. ''I could have left them at the entrance of the building after greeting them, but no I didn''t. I could have left them when I brought them here, but no, I stayed. Here I am now, Mr. I-want-you-to-like-me, desperate for favor and forgiveness.'' He could only hope it wasn''t anything serious. He gritted his teeth and asked.


    "What is it now?"


    The officer pointed to another panel that showed the summary of the bloodline talent. He scoffed and looked the data over.


    "Ugh," he eximed. His brain could make sense of what he saw, so he was able to understand what he was seeing. The problem was that he didn''t want to understand it. He read the short list of elemental affinity and talent again. "Maybe I read it wrong the first time. Nobody is perfect after all." He told himself and reread the list.


    "Another bad news?" Mih asked.


    "No not bad news. It is good news. Too good in fact." He began tough hysterically.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "What is it?" Mih''s voice snapped him out of his small existential crisis.


    "It says here that your son has an elemental affinity for earth, fire, air, water, light, darkness, time, space, and causality. And they are all at the god level." He answered lightly as if he is used to seeing stuff like this.


    "What? That''s simply impossible." Ghoto eximed. Was the supervisor making jokes at such a critical time? He frowned. "I am disappointed in the quality of service offered here. How can you have time to be joking. What is truly happening?"


    How could it not be a joke? There are grades of talents. From the lowest to the highest is low, mid, high, top, and god-level of talent. The god-level also called the transcendent level of talent can only be found in children with royal bloodlines. That is why most of them will reach the transcendent level easily. It wasn''t strange for a god-level talent to appear considering the quality of Soverick''s bloodline. But to say he had nine god-level talents was just preposterous. What else could it be if not a joke?


    The supervisor was speechless. He was being used of making a joke. He wouldn''t dare to joke after the earlier prank. He looked toward the other officers as if to say "Do your job. I am not even supposed to be here anyway." But the other officers were hesitant. One of them stepped forward, he thought for a while before saying "Unless the Machine is lying then that is the case."


    "Do you even know what you''re saying? How can someone have that many talents?" Ghoto shouted. A hand stopped him. "I don''t think they are joking," Mih said. She was much moreposed aspared to everyone around who was still in disbelief. She had some inside information about the bloodline but she was hoping she was wrong. The amount and the diversity of thew fragments in her bloodline were mind-boggling. The difficulty of her advancement had also increased with this huge amount. Her innate affinity was earth but it had changed into a mess of affinities due to the bloodline.


    "Remember Soverick''s eyes." Her tone was soft but determined.


    "I don''t want to believe it." Ghoto grabbed her hand. "Tell me they are lying." He pleaded with her. She looked away, his pleading eyes were too hard to look at. She shook her head. "It is true. Believe it."


    "Then what about you?" He held on to a slight hope.


    "It''s the same."


    Her reply struck him hard, he couldn''t take it, so he broke down. His legs went soft and he fell to the ground. There are a lot of things he doesn''t know about his eldest son. But what he did know has made him realize some things and what happened this morning has confirmed it. He doesn''t know that Soverick is the Origin ancestor of his bloodline but he knew that Ghoto and Mih had the same bloodlines. Mih had told him that before she left for her breakthrough. He knew that Soverick had multiple elemental affinities right from the moment he saw Soverick''s multicolored eyes. The bloodline is a powerful thing, it is one thing if it isn''t awakened, but once it is, it must be expressed. The expression will lead to a change in outward appearance, elemental affinity, and personality. The changes are simr in people of the same bloodline. That''s why he knew something went wrong with Mih''s breakthrough when she didn''t look like Soverick.


    It could be considered a good thing for a child to have that many talents. It will mean the child can pick from a wide range of options to focus on when deciding their path. That is the major reason they perform the life evaluation, to find out what the potential of a child is. More talent is not always better. The need for selecting a few to focus on is because the morews are contained in a path, the more difficult that path would be. As a King ofw, Ghoto knew about concepts, a single god-tier talent is enough to create a concept. More talents might create a more powerful concept but it will be more demanding on energy, soul, and will. The highest he had ever heard of is the famed requirement for the position of realm lord which was thebination of sixws. The second highest that he had heard is threews. The ancestor of the Ghastorix family used only two. Ghoto himself had nned to use only onew for his path which is still extremely difficult for him to achieve because he doesn''t have any bloodline to provide help.


    The bad news here is that a child will have his or her entire life to decide what path to take. A titan doesn''t have that choice anymore. It is either you seed or you die trying. He is going to struggle to make onew concept but his wife will have to deal with a ninew concept. The difficulty can only be imagined.

 Chapter 77 Throw Them A Bone.

    ?The moment he saw his wife after she arrived, he knew she had also been affected by the bloodline, but he was hoping its effects would be limited on her considering her level of strength. He was in denial for a while but this morning''s events had shattered his hopes. Soverick had multiple elemental affinities and so does Mih. It was now undisputable, a fact. And with it came the realization that his wife was going to die. They were not going to be eternal lifelong partners as he envisioned anymore. She was no realm lord, and even if she were her hopes of surviving would still be slim. The requirement to be the realm lord had been left unfulfilled for billions of years, it is a testament to the difficulty of creating a sixw concept which is still a walk in the parkpared to Mih''s obstacle.


    ''Perhaps only the fabled true immortal realm can perform such a miracle. And to think all this could have been avoided if I didn''t ask her to bear our children.'' His mind became filled with thoughts of self-reproach and anguish. He med himself for what happened.


    "Don''t be like this. I know what you''re thinking. It wasn''t your fault." Mih transmitted to him.


    "But it is."


    "Get a grip on yourself. Your children are watching and you look pathetic right now." He could sense disapproval from her.


    "You''re right. I should be strong for our children. We''ve already paid the price for having them."


    "That''s better. What does it matter if I am never going to be a sovereign ofw? It is not as if I could have made it to this level safely without this bloodline anyways."


    "Should I agree with that?" Ghoto asked with a small smile. He had learned that sometimes, a simplement can be a trap.


    "It doesn''t matter if you agree or not. The truth remains that we are not particrly talented, the chances of us bing immortal are minuscule in the first ce. We were going to die sooner orter, so let us cherish the time we have left together."


    "You''re right. We should cherish each other instead. You are my rock." Ghoto gripped her hand.


    The survey continued while Ghoto wasing to grips with the reality of losing his wife. The supervisor realized that something serious was going on with the pair of adults. He ordered everyone to give them some space and to maintain silence. So when the officers noticed another abnormal detail in the data they made sure to make the matter known to the supervisor without drawing much attention. The data indicated that Soverick''s soul showed elevated levels of activity. They had seen a lot of strange things in their lives but they still couldn''t make out what the data meant. The machine''s job was to present data, their job was to make interpretations and offer targeted advice that would take advantage of the information they got. In the case of soverick, the data was strange and it was just not adding up. It seemed like something was missing to exin the phenomena they were seeing. There were just a lot of unanswered questions. A boy his age and level of strength should not be showing any soul readings at all because he hadn''t awakened his spirit. But here he was, with an elevated soul activity.


    "We will wait until everything is over before making a decision. Something might stille up to exin our doubts away." The supervisor said to the officers. The officers agreed with him. That was how they usually do things anyway. The machine will work, they will make sure everything is going well, then they will present the information to the parents after the survey. If only that one officer had done his job and hadn''t called their attention to the anomaly in the vitality readings. But they couldn''t me him either, he was just doing his job. The deviations in the data might have been an indication of something going wrong.


    They didn''t have to wait long. The machine beeped to indicate that the evaluation was done. The officers swiped and pressed some runes in quick session and Soverick was ejected. Then they started undoing the straps and belts. Soverick stood up and looked around. His face remained expressionless despite the ring stare from everyone.


    "Can I go now?" He asked.


    The supervisor couldn''t believe his sight, he was at a loss. This was not the behavior he expected from someone bursting with vitality. If the Soverick was full of energy and jumping around he would be able to attribute his behavior to his vitality levels. But the seemed bored out of his mind.


    "What?" Soverick asked in irritation. They were just looking at him. The stares were odd enough but no one answered his question. Mih could have at least rejected him like she always does. Their behavior was totally out of character and he suspected why, but he would continue to act clueless.


    The supervisor was intrigued. He wanted to strip the boy and get to the root of the matter. He stopped his desire short in its tracks when he remembered who the parents of the boy were. He would have to ask for permission from them and there was no way either of the parents would give him permission for any invasive investigation. He would be content if they would permit a short physical examination.


    "Can I examine him up close?" He asked Ghoto and Mih.


    "We will join you," Ghoto said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Is this going to take long? I don''t have so much time to waste." Soverickined in a bid to avoid the probes that he knew would follow after they discover the peculiarities about his body. There was little chance of them discovering anything that the machine hadn''t discovered but he was not willing to take his chances. He would rather reduce the risk no matter how small than underestimate them.


    The supervisor agreed. "That''s true. This should not dy the entire process." He said before ordering the officers to continue the evaluation of the remaining two children. He resumed his predatory march towards Soverick. Soverick signed and resigned himself to the inspection that followed.


    "How are you feeling?" Ghoto asked in concern.


    "I feel like you should stop touching me."


    "I mean are you alright?"


    "I will be if you stop touching me."


    Ghoto was getting exasperated with hisckluster replies but he didn''t give up.


    "We are concerned about you, your cells are producing too much vitality."


    His question clued Soverick that they hadn''t discovered any serious issues with him.


    Their physical inspection had also yielded nothing. They couldn''t find out much about his body. It was all due to thew fragments in his body, they distorted usual inspection methods, especially those that are carried out by divine sense. Only a powerful divine sense on the level of a sovereign has any chance to evene close to the results of the life surveying machine. Right now, they can''t tell his vitality apart from his muscle mass.


    "Well don''t be concerned about me. It''s none of your business. I know what''s going on with my body. It''s not as if your concern has any usefulness." He replied. He hasn''t fallen so low that they would be able to help him with something that he could do with his eyes closed.


    "You know about your condition?" The supervisor was surprised.


    "You must tell us immediately," Mih ordered. Hermanding tone peeved Soverick. He wanted to say, "You''re not the boss of me." But he also wanted them to stop with the divine sense probes. It was ufortable and in disrespectful. So he decided to throw them a bone but they must work for it.


    "If you stop touching me I''ll tell you." He said. Mih and let go while the supervisor was reluctant to. It was until they red at him before he let go too.


    "Fine, but you must tell us immediately. No dys."


    "I am breaking through to the vitality core stage. That is why my vitality levels are high."


    "That doesn''t sound right. What stage are you in?" Mih was confused by the answer.


    The process of breaking through to the vitality stage consisted of two stages. The passive and the active stage. The passive stage involves umting enough vitality to kick-start the active stage, it is apanied by the constant production of vitality by the cells. The passive stage is incredibly slow and takes the most amount of time toplete, the time can be shortened with the use of items with spiritual medicine. The active stage involves the funneling of the umted vitality into the creation of the core. It is quick and takes hours in a normal case or less than that, as in the case of the presence of an assisting bloodline. Unlike the passive stage, it has a chance of failure, but the chances of sess can be improved with the use of items filled with vitality or life energy. Each failed attempt will cause permanent damage to the cells which will lead to the loss of vitality. The cells can be reced but that will mean a return to the passive stage. Soverick''s answer confused them. Either he was wrong or his body was carrying out the two processes at once.

 Chapter 78 Thats None Of Your Business.

    ?"Both," Soverick answered.


    "You can''t perform both at the same time," Mih said.


    Soverick pointed at her and said, "You mean you can''t."


    "No one can." Mih said back.


    "Wrong, you mean no one you know can."


    "Okay then. Maybe you are right. But why are you doing so?"


    He has told them this much so that some of their curiosity will be satiated. He was performing the two stages because he needed arge amount of vitality but vitality is too vtile to be stored. Vitality can be considered as the potential of a cell, only when he needed it should it be avable. He currentlycks an organ to store it, hence another reason for the creation of a vitality core. His decision to create a veryrge vitality core requires him to output more and more vitality, he had to maintain his progress which needed more vitality. The increase in the difficulty of what he wants to achieve demands it, but he didn''t have to tell them that.


    His cold voice sounded out.


    "That''s none of your business."


    ''How have they not smacked this boy into oblivion. Maybe I am just not cut out to be a parent.'' The supervisor watching the proceedings on the side began to wonder. Here they were worried about the boy, well not him, he was just here because of curiosity. Yet, the boy has the guts to say it was none of their business. It wasn''t a new sight to him anyway, he had seen lots of children like this because of his job. Their bloodline gives them innate pride, it wasn''t that the kids are looking down on people, but more that the kids believe they are at the same level as adults. Soverick was just extra obnoxious about it. He felt his hand itching to deliver some just punishment. He held himself back but made a decision there and then not to ever have kids.


    Ghoto swept his hand through the fur on his head in frustration. The fact that having kids had created the situation his wife is in had not made him biased against them. He knew it was not Soverick and the other''s fault for undergoing atavism, so he didn''t want to feel negative feelings about them, it was just that Soverick was making it incredibly easy for him to feel that way about them. He wasn''t going to give up though, he was the one that wanted to be a parent and he had promised himself to be a good father. He had to resume the constant badgering even if his son didn''t appreciate his efforts.


    "Is the process dangerous?" He asked in concern.


    "Not dangerous, just difficult."


    Ghoto continued to ask more questions while Soverick''s response remained half-hearted. Their back and forth was finally stopped by Mih.


    "Since this will end if youplete the breakthrough, how long will it take then?"


    Her question finally made him think a little before answering.


    "I don''t know exactly when it will be done but I estimate that it needs another month before it is done."


    The supervisor''s eyes lit up, he felt enlightened. "Byplete, you mean your vitality core. Am I right?" He asked earnestly but soverick ignored him.


    The supervisor continued to mutter. "No that can''t be right. A vitality core needs hours at most to bepleted. In what world will a vitality core need weeks to condense. I must be losing my mind."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick was instead listening to what Mih had to say.


    "I can help you with that. Even if you''re using an unorthodox method, at the end of the day you''re just trying to break through to the next level. That means this process can be assisted with vitality medicine."


    "That''s true, but only rare objects filled with life energy will do," Soverick answered in agreement. The difficulty of his breakthrough could be lessened with vitality medicine but he wasn''t willing to take the risk of contaminating his vitality. The quality of his vitality core will fall and it would affect his future breakthroughs. It would be too much of a price to pay just to shorten the time he needs. He wanted to maintain the purity of his body at all costs so he wouldn''t use vitality medicine even if it is free.


    In the hierarchy of beneficial items which could be pills, potions, injections, or raw unprocessed objects, the most valuable of them are those that contain life energy. Life energy differs from vitality in that it can be used safely by cells and can be used for anything, being able to speed up growth and development is one of its use. It is the purest and safest form of energy that living cells are capable of using. It is also beneficial to the development of the soul.


    Items with vitality are the next most valuable ones, they supplement the amount of vitality in the body and speed up its production. It has a broad range of uses of which the most important is healing. Unlike life energy, the ingestion of more will not improve the potential of the body but will poison the body instead. Vitality medicine that speeds up the production of vitality is safer, it will only damage the cells, which can be easily reced. The ones that supplement the amount of vitality in the body provide the body with a short burst of vitality but will lead contaminate the vitality of the body. This side effect is very difficult to get rid of if the contamination reaches a certain threshold. Their effects are also limited to the body no matter the quality or quantity of the item, so they can never affect the soul.


    Thest are items that contain energy that the cells can use, but the cells will have to put in the effort to convert them into what they want. This need for conversion makes their effect slow. They may contain either mana or spiritual energy in varying levels of purity. They are rtively safe aspared to items with vitality, so while their effect is poor, they can be used again and again as long as appropriate intervals are allowed for the body to adjust. Prolonged usage will lead to the body adapting to them which will, in turn, lead to lower effects. It can affect either the body or the soul.


    The supervisor shook his head, he thought soverick was being too picky. Items with life energy are one of the very few objects that can affect transcendents, it was that valuable. It couldn''t bepared with life essence but it is easier to acquire. It could be considered a wastage to be used on a boy trying to break through to the level of vitality core. But then Ghoto sighed in relief and this made the supervisor surprised. Could they have items with life energy just lying about for them to use on a kid?


    "Well, you''re in luck. We can help with that." Ghoto said.


    "You can? I didn''t think you were that rich." Soverick was started. He always thought he was in a well-to-do family. He didn''t think they had much money to spare when he saw their living arrangements. He also had a secret source of information that assured him of the conditions of the family.


    Soverick''s candid question made Ghoto cough in embarrassment.


    "What do you know? You''re only a child."


    Soverick shrugged. "It doesn''t matter. As long as you can help me."


    Mih smiled and said. "It seems you will need our help with something."


    He shook his head. Things hadn''t reached the stage where he needed their help. If they had the items with life energy, then it could only be counted as him wanting their help.


    "It is more like you want to help me. I don''t mind my current condition but you do. I''ll ept this little favor and let you help me. I doubt you will be able to help me after this." Soverick maintained. He could understand her need to feel smug about the entire matter but he would not try to ingratiate himself with them.


    She continued to smile. "Trust me, it won''t be the end of it for a long while."


    Her confidence irked him. It seemed he was wrong about the means of his new family. He would have to go back home and question his source of information for such ipetence. After they were sure that soverick was safe for now they stopped prodding him. Soverick went to stand by the side to wait out the next few minutes. Ghaster and Litori both underwent the survey. There was nothing out of the ordinary going on with them, the knowledge of which made Ghoto and Mih relieved. The supervisor was also relieved that nothing wrong urred. He wished he could bid them farewell as soon as they were fully examined but the matter of the life evaluation isn''t done yet. He still had to counsel the parents and determine the training regime for their children.

 Chapter 79 Nouveau Riche.

    ?They left the evaluation room and were brought to another room where they would pick the refinement techniques to train in. The information acquired by the machine will be used to query the database of techniques andpatible ones will be selected to train in. Refinement techniques are unique training methods with stringent requirements but will provide a faster rate of improvement. These refinement techniques have many advantages over the mainstream training methods because they have been modified by Origin ancestors of the family. The modified refinement techniques are perfect for those with royal bloodlines because with them, the bloodline with be fully utilized. Some refinement techniques will even purify the bloodline within those that train it. After all, there is no one more familiar with a bloodline than the source.


    The Ghastorix family has a rtively long history, so it has acquired numerous refinement techniques. They are the treasures of the family because they are the condensation of the refinement experience of Origin gods. But the selection of a refinement technique to train in is a very important matter. The wrong one can butcher the future of an ipatible user.


    Ghaster was found to have a god-level talent for the lightning element and a top-level talent for thew of destruction. His bloodline was a perfect match with that of the Ghastorix ancestor.


    "There are multiplepatible options for your young boy here. But the best one will require the use of special materials. It has been revised by ancestor Ghastorix and many other great ancestors that came after. It is just very expensive to use. The special materials are not easy or cheap to acquire." The supervisor disyed the variouspatible refinement techniques for Ghaster, he exined the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. The possession of multiple talents will allow for faster training options, only if all the talents are made use of. The lightning element is a prettymon talent in the Ghastorix family, so there were a lot of suitable options. Thew of destruction in his bloodline made things more difficult. The best refinement techniques for him are those that work in tandem with both lightning and destruction, but thew of destruction is difficult to train in. It would be costly to train in destruction.


    "Don''t worry about that. Just show us the best ones." Mih demanded unfazed. Soverick was secretly surprised by their extravagance. The refinement technique they chose for Ghaster will cost an arm or leg.


    Litori was determined to have a god-level talent for fire and a top-level talent for thew of the soul. She didn''t have a lot of options because of her second element, only one option could take advantage of her two affinities. Her bloodline was rare, it came from an external source and had a low rate of awakening in the family. Such cases were not rare, bloodlines will often mix up because of inter-family mingling. The most suitable refinement technique for her would incur even more costly than the one selected for Ghaster because of the rarity of soul materials.


    The cost of training in these refinement techniques is due to the use of external materials that can supplement and augment the bloodline. It is not due to the cost of the refinement technique itself. The refinement technique is very expensive but it is given freely to privileged children of the family with awakened bloodlines. Soverick and the other two have been epted by the family and granted this privilege because of two reasons. Their father is an honored member of the family and they were also granted their privileged status when the sovereign inspected them in the womb.


    Materials that can help to train destruction and soul are very rare and difficult to purchase. But Mih and Ghoto weren''t worried at all. They only asked where they could get these materials, and were unconcerned about the cost.


    Things went well until it got to the turn to select a refinement technique for soverick. There was no optimum technique for him. The avable techniques can only cater to three affinitybinations at most, while he had nine god-level talents.


    "His case is unique in the ne, probably in the entire realm. He will have to use the base training method." The supervisor exined theck of options.


    Ghoto and Mih didn''t me him, neither could they in their right mind, but that didn''t mean they were happy. Mih had been hoping that something good woulde out of the evaluation for Soverick. The base training method is the original one that the ancient ancestors used even before the era of transcendence. It is the same one that those without bloodlines use. The efficiency couldn''t bepared with the weakest refinement technique.


    Soverick didn''t care, theck of suitable refinement technique for him didn''te as a surprise to him and he was unconcerned about it. Even if they had been able to find something for him he wouldn''t use it. He is the source of his bloodline, as an origin god, he knew what was best for himself. He had been able to manipte mana as a baby because of his powerful soul. He nurtured the bloodline fragments when he was still in the womb so he was sure he would be able to do something about his situation. Refinement techniques use the bloodline as the foundation to draw more energy for growth using thebination of talents as the source. He will just his soul as the foundation and he will be able to beat the best refinement technique for his stage.


    "That will be all. It was nice having you here today. You can always return if you have any questions. It will be my pleasure to be of service to you, but I''ll rmend that you go to the training academy. You will get better service there." Soon it was time to leave, the supervisor escorting them away failed to hide the eagerness in his voice. He wanted to be rid of them as soon as possible.


    "Thank you for your service. It wasn''t that bad at the end of the day." Ghoto said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "We''ll be going." Mih was also eager to leave. She materialized her divine sense to create a tform. Everyone but Ghoto got on to it, then she turned the tform into a bubble. The bubble rose from the ground before elerating steadily. Meanwhile, Ghoto left to acquire the item with life energy.


    Ghaster seemed reluctant to go. He kept ncing back at the building of family affairs. Mih asked.


    "Is everything alright Ghaster? Did you forget something there?"


    The question startled Ghaster.


    "No, I I I was just just looking at the building. Yes, I was looking at the building." He was stuttering so bad everyone knew he was lying.


    "Is that so? Alright."


    Soverick guessed what was bothering Ghaster. He knew a very possible reason for the boy''s reluctance to leave. It couldn''t be the building because Ghaster was also reluctant to enter the building when they first got there. Ghaster was distracted back then by something outside the building. The only thing he could be sure was distracting Ghaster would be the forest or something in it. He decided to confirm it when he returned home.


    "Whoa, this morning was a rollercoaster. I knew you guys were talented but I didn''t think it would be this much." Ka suddenly said.


    Ghaster and litori shrugged while Soverick ignored her as he always does. Most of the things they found out today weren''t new to them but they did learn some new things. Ghaster for example already knew he had a god-level affinity for lightning before today, his affinity with it made it very easy to figure it out. His ancestral memories also confirmed it. He knew that he had a second affinity but he didn''t know what it was, not until he became a transcendent. Only then would he be able to activelye into contact with destruction.


    Litori is the same too. Everyone knew she had a strong affinity with fire but they didn''t know about her talent for the soul. Only Litori knew but she didn''t know the level of her talent.


    The advantage of finding out early is that he would be more prepared for that day and his training will also be faster. Training in the refinement technique as early as possible will make it easier for him to use his second element as a transcendent.


    Their ancestral memories contain information about refinement but it''s outdated and cannotpare to the updated ones in the family archive.


    Ka shook her head. Their reaction indicated that what she counted as extravagant was just normal to them. Her highest affinity is at the High level, and that is for a single element. Yet she was considered as very talented in her small family. She had been informed that she will experience things that will broaden her horizon, but this was bordering on blowing her mind.

 Chapter 80 A League On To Himself.

    ?"I have to say, I am jealous of you guys. You won''t have any problems trying to reach the transcendent level while I might die if I attempt it."


    "Don''t feel bad aunty Ka, we also have a chance of dying when we try to be titans." Litori tried to encourage her, "But that doesn''t mean we will give up. Immortality is our aim and the threat of death cannot stop us." She gripped her tiny hand tightly and raised it to the sky.


    Litori was resolved to achieve immortality. It may not be her true thoughts but it doesn''t matter. The royal bloodline has that effect on its descendants. Rarely does it ur that the offsprings of an origin god are mediocre. They don''t have a choice, as long as they awaken the royal bloodline they will also inherit the will and the motivation of their ancestor, the bloodline aims to create another origin god after all. All the subtle and obvious maniption that the bloodline performs is something that cannot be subverted, it is eternal across the generations of descendants. The only way to break free is to be a titan ofw, but then you will have to deal with your emotional problems. The path of power is filled with danger for everyone.


    "Yeah sure." Ka didn''t feel much encouraged.


    Ghaster also tried to help. "Plus if you sessfully be immortal, your descendant won''t have to worry about bing transcendent and you can live forever. That''s good right?"


    Ka shook her head again. What did she expect from these people? Here she was bemoaning her chance of bing a transcendent while they are wondering if they will be titans ofw. She realized that they belonged to totally different worlds. Soverick is on another level on his own. His case is a mythical one. Unheard of, unprecedented, probably impossible to replicate. They are just some of the words that she could use to describe how unbelievable his talent is.


    ''He was already proud before today. I''m sure his pride will have ballooned in size due to the recent revtion.'' Ka thought to herself. Then she turned to Soverick and asked.


    "How are you so talented?"


    "Don''t disturb me, I''m very busy," Soverick replied.


    "Busy with what? It is not even a challenge for you, you can casually perform the passive and active stages at the same time. All your future breakthroughs are in the bag until the titan level, even these other two too. So what are you worried about?"


    "You''re wrong. Ghaster and Litori will definitely be titans ofw. My matter on the other hand is none of your business." Soverick said.


    "What do you mean it is none of my business?"


    "If I were to spare your feelings, I''ll say ''you and I aren''t that close,'' if I were to disregard your feelings, I''ll say ''you''ll probably be dead by then so stop thinking about it.'' You pick whichever one you''refortable with. Just stop disturbing me." Soverick closed his eyes and ignored her.


    The two options that he gave her were because he was being considerate. He was destined to be an origin god so he is a league on to his own. The things that worried them could not move him at all. Even his so-called parents cannotpare to him. He aims to be an origin god in as little time as possible. While Ka is looking up to Ghaster and Litori, he is looking to beat the realm lord''s record. He knows that he won''t be able to beat the time record of the realm lord because of the number of requirements he would need to fulfill to be an origin god. It will be another legion''s responsibility to be an origin god in two Origin cycles.


    Ka looked like she had swallowed something unpleasant. ''I''ll probably be dead so I should stop thinking about it? Who says that to a person?'' She was about to let loose when she heard Mih''s voice transmission.


    "Leave him be, Ka. What he is doing, for whatever reason, is incredibly dangerous."


    "Yes, your majesty." She could only let go of her grievance.


    "Don''t lose hope. We are pioneering, you and I. We have to pave the road for ourselves just like the ancient ancestors that became immortals. A lot of them died along the way but you haven''t reached that stage yet. You don''t have to worry too much about your progress towards bing a transcendent. Ghoto and I will give you our full support."


    With the resources they had at their disposal, Ka''s chances of bing transcendent were high. Mih wasn''t worried about Ghoto and Litori''s chance of bing titans either. The person she was concerned about is Soverick. He has a difficult path ahead of him, a path even she did not have the confidence of oveing and the worst part is that he doesn''t have anyone to pioneer the path. He is severely disadvantaged on many fronts.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    In the past, during the period when royal bloodlines were absent, the chances of bing a transcendent were as low as one in a thousand peak saints. But now things have changed to an eptable level of risk. As long as one fully prepares, the chances of breaking through without a bloodline are 50%. Those with bloodlines will have that preparation and the actual breakthrough process done for them. They can sleep all day and still be Transcendents. They may be weak Transcendents but their ancestral memories will help them.


    The return trip was uneventful, except for Ka sulking the whole way. Soverick went straight to his room as soon as they got back.


    "Don''t worry too much about your future. Just continue to try your best each day." Mih said to him on his way.


    "I''m not worried." That was the response she got. She sighed and turned to the others that were waiting. They were not as willful as soverick that they would leave her presence without permission.


    "Ghoto will be back soon. He will bring materials that will speed up your training. You should familiarise yourself with your training manuals. You have to be mana life forms as soon as possible. Ghoto and I have decided that you will attend the family academy for specialized physical and spiritual training. We will support you with whatever you need, we only ask that you show diligence. That will be all."


    Soverick entered his room and closed the door behind him. He scanned the room with his divine sense to check for anything out of bounds. He had already checked the room this morning before they left, but anything could have happened to his room in his absence. He did not put it beneath Ghoto to do something fishy like creating a backdoor for secret ess and surveince. He was willing to pay the price for using his divine sense with a splitting headache to make sure he was truly alone. His current body is too weak to bear the power of his soul.


    "Stop being so cautious." An ancient asexual voice reached out to him through a specialmunication method.


    "There''s no one here you paranoid boy." The ancient voice sounded like the rustling of leaves.


    "It''s not being paranoid but being cautious." Soverick smiled, something he rarely did.


    "It''s the same." The ancient voice maintained.


    "Old thing, I thought you said this family has average wealth."


    "Hmm, let me think." The ancient voice became silent for a while. Soverick is already used to this. He climbed onto his bed to meditate while he waited. The ancient voice belonged to the new friend he made in the city, the forest beneath the inner city. As a former high elf, he knew how tomunicate with trees. The two of them had a good impression of each other and would usually talk through the window of his former room. That''s why he always sat there. The tree''s name is Ha''dout touqu hif tep and some twenty other additions but Soverick calls it Hadrick for short. Hadrick hadn''t had people to talk to for a long time because not many people canmunicate with a tree.


    "Yes, I did. But there was a new development yesterday." The tree finally spoke. It took some time before hepleted the sentence because the tree always drawled. Themunication was going on with a variety of the divine sense known as nt speak, it could be faster but old trees speak slower the older they get. It is because their sense of time bes skewed.


    "Yesterday? Mih returned yesterday too. It is either a coincidence or she had something to do with the newfound wealth." Soverick said.


    Hadrick agreed. "Yes, she does. She was given a lot of money yesterday."


    "How much money?"


    "How do I know, but I think it is a lot. She smiles whenever she looks at the chest. Ghoto was very happy too, he said it was a huge amount of money."


    Soverick shook his head. "Never mind Ghoto, he is just a king. What would he know about true wealth?"

 Chapter 81 Cowardly Tree.

    ?Hadrick sighed. The sound of his sigh was like the whistling of the wind. Then he said, "A king can still squash you."


    Soverick sneered, "I can be a king ofw as soon as I reach transcendence. A king is nothing to me."


    "If you say so. I must admit that you are very talented. I knew your soul was special, but I didn''t think you were this talented. Maybe a little too talented, but it doesn''t mean you are strong. Don''t let your potential get in your head." Hadrick warned him, but soverick didn''t think there was much to worry about. Hadrick didn''t know what he was truly capable of. If he makes a huge sacrifice, a king ofw will not be able to threaten the current him, not to mention when he bes transcendent.


    Soverick just shook his head. He decided to move on to more productive things. He changed the subject of their conversation.


    "I have secured the room, so you should be able to send a part of you over."


    Hadrick refused. "Never mind that. It''s too risky. If something goes wrong I''ll be struck by lightning. I can''t do it."


    Soverick smirked. "You coward."


    "I maintain that it is an admirable quality. Cowards live longer." Hadrick said without shame.


    "But you can''t move around. You''re more like a prisoner here."


    The tree sighed. "It is the price to pay for long life."


    Elves like trees, they like speaking to them, touching them, and being around them. His former house was in a forest on top of a tree. He was able to be around them as much as he wanted. He would like to replicate that environment by making the tree grow in his room but the ancient tree is too scared of lightning tribtion. There''s another thing he wants from the tree that can speed up his growth but the tree will refuse because of his cowardice.


    The inner city is built on top of the forest, but the houses and buildings don''te in contact with it. There is ayer of barrier that separates the inner city from the forest. This barrier dips in several ces so that tall buildings can be built directly on the ground. It is the second protection put in ce in case the secret realm happens to be breached. The tree would have ayer of defense to fend off the tribtion until the secret realm is fixed. The tree has so much protection but it is still timid.


    "If I had the bloodline of the Ghastorix ancestor you will do it for me?" Soverick asked


    Hadrick snickered. "Too bad you don''t."


    Soverick shook his head, then he remembered something. "Was the surprise you said was waiting for me at the evaluation room that prank?"


    "How was it?"


    "It wasme," Soverick said.


    "It was my idea." The ancient voice sounded as if it was sulking.


    "Then it was fantastic. Truly efficient. I can see why such an idea would work, it is because ites from an enlightened sage like you."


    They bothughed. Soverick could be free and casual with this tree because he respects the tree. In the realm of high heaven, and probably in the entire void universe, only when people have simr strength and influence can they talk as equals. The tree is the only person he has met ever since he was born that could be considered his equal. He respects the tree because of its strength and its ability to transform Origin essence into origin energy. It is a unique ability among trees with very high potential.


    The tree usually talks to people with the original bloodline because only them among the battle sage monkeys inherited the ability tomunicate with it from their ancestor Ghastorix. But those people have be rarer and rarer because of the influence of other royal bloodlines. His brother, Ghaster, happens to be one of those rare people with the bloodline of the ancestor.


    "Does that mean you will help out my brother instead of me?" Soverick asked, seemingly disinterested in the answer.


    "Look at the time. It''s nighttime already, I have to sleep."


    Soverick wasn''t surprised by Hadrick''s attempt to evade the question. The tree is a coward after all.


    "You this shameless tree. I thought old trees are good and honest trees."


    "I didn''t lie. I just avoided answering the question. It is apletely different thing. Besides, I am an ancient tree, anytime is nighttime for me."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I didn''t think I''ll ever envy that boy but I do right now. It is alright anyways, I can make do without your help."


    The major reason he wanted the tree to break the barrier is so that the tree would be able to transfer life force to him. Elves can heal trees and can also be healed by trees. The amount of pure life present in an ancient tree of such size and strength as Hadrick is like a huge reservoir. With its help, he wouldn''t need to rely on Mih and Ghoto for their wealth. This is the major help that the original ancestor of the family enjoyed back then, which helped him to reach the transcendent level quickly. Soverick had a difficult path ahead of him which will be easier for him if he had the tree''s help, but the tree isn''t willing to risk that much for him. Apparently, they aren''t as close as he had thought. The tree was only willing to help those with the bloodline of the ancestor.


    Hadrick tried to console him. "If you cane to the forest I''ll help you."


    Soverick shook his head and said. "I doubt that is possible, not with the level of protection you have around you."


    He had tried to break through the barrier but he had failed. The barrier has reached the origin grade and it was probably set up by an origin god with a significant level of expertise. The barrier is enough to stump him and there could be more obstacles that will stop him from breaking in. Clearly, the Ghastorix ancestor had put in a lot of effort in preventing something like that from happening.


    Their conversation lulled into a brief silence before Hadrick spoke again.


    "Speaking of your brother, I tried to reach out to him today but he couldn''t understand me."


    "I noticed his odd behavior today. I thought you would only reach across to him when he awakens his soul. Why did you change your mind?"


    "I was impatient."


    Soverick shook his head. "I thought trees are the most patient creatures. He will only be able tomunicate with you when he unlocks his divine sense."


    Hadrick sighed. "I know. I was just testing the waters."


    "Look at you, an ancient tree chasing after the attention of a small boy." Soverick mocked.


    "I am just desperate forpany." Hadrick tried to defend his dignity.


    Soverick didn''t let go. "Am I not enough for you? You have lost your self-respect old tree."


    "I just miss my friend and his descendants remind me of him."


    "If you had broken through your limit, you would have been able to follow him. You would have been able to create a new race with him too. Your descendants will be forest monkeys."


    "Maybe, I could have also died."


    Soverick stopped messing with him. The tree might not be able to win an argument but it will remain adamant. He had a lot of experience to know that trees can be stubborn more than earth elementals. If the tree had transformed back then, there is a chance that a new race or at least a variety of battle sage monkeys with incredible nt affinity like elves will appear. That''s how most elves were created too. Two powerful trees had transformed and produced offsprings known today as wood elves. The high elves have a slightly different origin but all elves have at least one nt ancestor.


    "Shouldn''t he have a clone around here? It is easy for an origin god to create one." Soverick asked.


    "Ghastorix is about to break through to the next realm. He needs his full concentration for that."


    "He is about to be a world god? From the little, I know that is pretty fast. He must be highly talented." Soverick said in admiration.


    Hadrick snorted. "If you said thisst origin cycle, I would have been proud of his achievement too. But now? I can only say he isn''t too slow. The realm lord is also about to be a world god."


    "What?" This time soverick was appalled. "Isn''t that too fast?" He asked


    "The realm lord is too talented. It is impossible to catch up to something like that. He just leaves people in his dust and makes people despair." Hadrickmented. Soverick could only agree andment too. The realm lord is widely known to be talented in everything he does. No one canpare to him in any aspect.

 Chapter 82 Threaten The Coward.

    ?The stark difference in the time it took to achieve the same thing is just overwhelming. He thought about the records of the realm lord which made him shake his head in resignation.


    The realm lord spent less than an origin cycle to be a sovereign, he became an origin god an origin cycleter. Now he is about to be a world god in less than 100 origin cycles. Forparison, some sovereigns are almost 1000 origin cycles old and have not been able to be origin gods. The fact that the ancestor of the Ghastorix is about to be a world god in about 10,000 origin cycles bes mediocre whenpared to the achievement of the realm lord.


    "Just how does he do it? High elves are not that talented." He asked out loud. He couldn''t fathom how such a thing could be done. The realm lord is an enigma


    "Maybe it is because his soul is special or something. If there''s anyone that can do what he did, it has to be you. Your soul is special too." Hadrick tried to exin.


    "My soul is not that special. Let''s just forget about the realm lord and return to your situation. If your Partner seeds in bing a world god he wille to take you away right? Will the city disappear with you?"


    "The city will not disappear. An artifact will take over my job. It''s not like anyone will miss me here. I can''t wait to leave this ce and go with my partner. He will have his world, it will probably be bigger than this entire ne. I''ll be able to follow him and be of help to him once again."


    Soverick suspected that the rtionship between Hadrick and the Ghastorix ancestor is far more than a simple friendship.


    "Those are all good things, but they don''t change the fact that you''re lonely right now. I can help you to solve that."


    "How so?" Hadrick asked, his tone dripping with suspicion. He was instantly on guard. He had seen Soverick make sketchy deals in the past with his father and Soverick would always rip the man off.


    Soverick smiled. "I''ll help Ghaster train so that he can awaken his soul early. Then he will be able tomunicate with you quickly."


    "Sounds good, but what do you want in exchange? I don''t think you are willing to do this for free." Hadrick asked.


    Soverick''s smile became wider. "It''s simple, I''ll just ask him to make you break the barrier so that I can get the life force that I need. I''ll be able to convince him either through reasonable or violent means." Soverick exined patiently.


    Hadrick immediately understood that Soverick was threatening him using Ghaster. "Gee, thanks. Your help isn''t really needed but I suppose that even if you don''t help him to contact me, you will still force him to help you."


    Soverick shrugged. "It is what it is. The strong take what they want and the weak just have to bear with it. There is a middle ground, Ghaster and I can share the life force."


    Hadrick became silent, he began to think. Soverick returned to his meditation. He didn''t want to threaten his friend but he had to. In the past, he would have been content with going slow if he didn''t receive help. Ghaster and Litori could leave him behind but he wouldn''t have cared, but the information about the realm lord created a sense of urgency. His main body is currently unavable because of the ongoing chase, and legion nine, the life tree clone will not be ready for at least the next 100 years. If he had the support of legion 9 then he will be able to get all the life energy he wants. Too bad that life trees grow too slowly.


    "I''ll think about it." Hadrick finally said.


    "Take your time."


    Soverick didn''t have much hope even with the threat. The tree might care about Ghaster but it is also incredibly stubborn. It wouldn''t want to bend to someone''s will, but soverick doesn''t mind. As long the tree isn''t able to assist Ghaster with life energy then he will count it as a win too. If Hadrick can risk danger just to give Ghaster life force because of his bloodline and refuse to give Soverick because he doesn''t have the bloodline, then Soverick can be petty too.


    Hadrick finally gave in. "How long do I have to brave the danger to my life, if I decide to help you?"


    Ghaster is like a cute baby that it cares about and Soverick is a predator set on devouring that cute baby. It just had to save the baby.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick smiled. "Just until I have my vitality core. I promised earlier that it will bepletely safe."


    "Will you be able to make lightning tribtion unable to sense me as you said? Thest time I tried to cross the barrier it caused lightning to target this house. It was on the day of your birth, I wanted to get a closer look at your brother." Hadrick still wasn''t sure about his safety.


    "You can trust me on that. Nothing bad will happen."


    "Hmm, you win." Hadrick gave up. The ground in his room split apart and a nt shoot grew out of it. The shoot grew into a flower stalk, and the petals of the flower fused to form a jug.


    "It''s your fault if I get hit by lightning and die."


    Soverick''s lips twitched. "How can you even die? You are more like a cowardly turtle than a nt. At most, you will lose this shoot. Even if lightning doese, you can easily abandon this outgrowth and be safe. So stopining."


    He approached the stalk and sat beneath it, then he ced his right hand on it. Elves are stealthy in a forest because of their ability to blend with the forest. He intends to protect the tree from being detected by its tribtion by utilizing a high-level application of such an ability. He would make the tree blend with him instead, a method that elves use to safely dy the tribtion of trees. It is usually done to allow the tree to get older so that the lightning tribtion will be stronger. High elves consider the tribtion as a good thing.


    Seconds turned to minutes as he used his ability in the stalk. There was no thunder or lightning. The sky was free of any sign of a tribtion.


    "That worked." Hadrick was ted.


    "Yes, but it will only work as long as I maintain contact."


    "This is good enough. I''ll be able to reach Ghaster better."


    "Sure, you do that. I will only allow contact with him once a week, for now, I want my payment."


    "You''re just stingy," Hadrick said, then he transferred life energy into the flower jug. A small spring of liquid life force appeared within the jug.


    "There you go."


    "Thank you very much," Soverick said before he reached into the jug with his divine sense. His divine sense solidified and grabbed some life energy. He brought the small sphere of liquid closer to him then he swallowed it. The liquid diffused immediately into his body and was absorbed. The incredible amount of life force was then channeled into his brain where he was constructing the vitality core to speed up its growth.


    The location of the vitality core is heavily affected by the divine ability of a species, hence it is different for each species. The divine ability of battle sage is focused on their eyes so the vitality core is located within the head, between the eyes, and behind the forehead. The vitality core will evolve to provide the heavy power requirement needed for the eyes to function and for the brain to process the information from the eyes properly.


    "Not bad," Soverick said.


    Just the small amount of life force he swallowed shortened the time he needed by a week. If he hadn''t been a high Elf in the past, he would be impressed. But he had experienced better, so he wasn''t moved. Baby high elves are fed life force like this in the ce of milk that some other species feed their young. This is because high elves can''t produce milk but they have ess to a lot of life force from trees. High Elves don''t differ in physical form, they will assume the role of male or female as needed for reproduction, but there is no specialized organ to cater to their young. The act of feeding their babies pure life force ensures that they grow up quickly and that they will remain pure. The effect of this upbringing is why high elves are also called Eternals, they have a very long lifespan. The lowest limit of the lifespan of high elves is one origin cycle, the same amount of lifespan that transcendents have.

 Chapter 83 Petty Mother.

    ?Soverick took the remaining liquid life force and said to Hadrick. "You can go now. I can feel that you''re still afraid."


    "Freedom," Hadrick screamed.


    Soverick chuckled before reminding him. "This should be enough for now but I''ll call you if I need more."


    Then he began to wholly concentrate on building his vitality core, the high influx of life force demanded it. It would take a day before he uses up the vitality in his body, then there is still the extra he has. He might falter in his concentration and cause the tribtion to descend. So he could let Hadrick go, for now, there was no use bearing unnecessary risk. It will be better for him to focus on his breakthrough instead.


    The rate at which soverick and his siblings are growing is not normal. In the ancient days before the advent of bloodlines, the time it took to reach the vitality core stage could be up to 10 years. Even the fastest method which entails the use of life energy will still take 2 years at the minimum. The stage before the vitality core is called body forging and the normal training method is to perform exerting physical activity that will push the cells to the limit. There is mana in almost everything around us but the cells of the battle sage monkeys don''t have the innate ability to process mana, they are more inclined to use spiritual energy. This spiritual energy isn''t referring to the modern-day energy of the soul but the by-product released by nts from the processing of mana. In most nes, animal life isn''t equipped to process mana, nts are the first to utilize mana for their growth. The nts will then release certain energy that animals can utilize. Animals can then break their limits by imbibing this energy either indirectly, such as staying around ces with it, or directly by eating the nts. But this is a temporary solution, this energy can only take them so far. So they pushed their cells to the limit to enhance their metabolic capacity in the hopes that the cell will try to rely on other sources of energy. In the best scenario, the cells will be pushed to adapt to mana directly because mana is a very abundant source of energy. In this case, the body will be a mana body, this is the first major step on the path of refinement.


    In most cases, such a leap in life order is much too difficult for the cells to take. Instead, the cells will opt for the much easier vitality core stage. The cells will fail to adapt to mana but the exertion they have gone through will increase their cell activity and potential until theye to possess excess vitality. This process will continue until the body has umted enough vitality, and it is the first stage in breaking through to the vitality stage, the passive stage. Taking this route will enable the organism to create an organ specifically for the metabolism of mana. It will elevate the capacity of the organism but it still cannotpare to the acquisition of a mana body.


    In the case of those with awakened bloodline, the entire process of making cells adapt to mana is skipped. Soverick and his siblings were born capable of it, that''s why they didn''t need to eat at all. Their body is an iplete mana body, or to be precise an iplete origin body. Their iplete mana body allows them to speed up their growth process and refinement. The advantage will not end until they be titans. Titans ofw also possess an iplete origin, it is a by-product of their breakthrough. The fact that kids with royal bloodlines have this type of body means that the chances of them seeding in bing titans is at least 50%. The reason why they don''t just skip over the vitality core stage is that their ancestors didn''t skip it, so they can''t. The bloodline cannot help them do what their ancestor cannot do at all, it will only help them do what their ancestors did easier and better.


    Soverick can skip the vitality core stage but he doesn''t want to because there is an important ability that he wants to gain from it. He hopes toy the foundation for an exceptional transcendent existence.


    The ability of his cells to convert mana to vitality is why he can acquire enough energy for his big vitality core. Unlike other children the process of mana conversion is passive, they can''t control the output so they can''t have a big core like his. It is why the officers at the department of family affairs were startled at the sight of the energy reaction going on in his cells. He has full control of the conversion because he is the source of the bloodline and can thus provide as much energy as needed for his breakthrough.


    The addition of pure life force only expedites the process and makes faster progress in his breakthrough until he had to stop a few minutester. Someone rang the rm for his door.


    He opened his eyes in irritation. He could use his divine sense tomunicate with whoever is at door but he had been hiding the fact that his soul was awakened. No one knew he had a divine sense. So he would have to stand up and open the door which irked him.


    "What is it?" He asked impatiently as soon as he opened the door. Ka was on the other side of it.


    "King Ghoto is back. He brought the items with life energy." She replied.


    "Right," Soverick remembered that they promised to provide him with life energy to speed up his breakthrough. He smirked inwardly. He had a better option now but there was no need to turn them down. It will also mask how huge his vitality core is if he pretends to rely only on the small amount they will give him.


    "Let''s go then." Soverick Said.


    They soon reached the living room. Ghoto and Mih were there, no sound wasing from them but one could tell that they weremunicating through their bodynguage.


    "It''s nice of you to grace us with your presence," Ghoto spoke sarcastically.


    Soverick decided to y along. Two can y the game. "You''re wee. It''s good that you know how honored you are."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ghoto''s face fell. "I was joking."


    "I wasn''t," Soverick said as he found a seat to sit on. He was finding being on his feet more difficult to withstand. It was like he was straining himself with heavy exercise.


    "Enough joking around." Mih cut in quickly. She indicated to a container. "This contains your portion of life energy."


    "Couldn''t you have given it to Ka to bring to me? Walking around is too stressful." Soverickined.


    "I made an announcement earlier. We wouldn''t have called you over if you had listened to what I had to say before you went to your room."


    Soverick rolled his eyes. "Fine. What did you say?"


    "Your brother and sister have both formed their vitality core. We will wait until you have all awakened your soul, it is the requirement for entry into the second stage of the training academy. The three of you are too ahead for the first stage. You are currently behind on your refinement, you have to work harder so that you won''t hold your siblings back. We will enroll you when you are all ready."


    "Is that all?"


    "Yes."


    "I didn''t have toe here for that. You could have made Ka tell me that."


    "I could have, but I wanted to. If you get to do whatever you want, why can''t I?"


    "Fair enough."


    Soverick decided to end their exchange there. It seems that three can y the game. He understood that she was being petty so he got up and picked up the container by its handle. The container was cuboid in shape and made from a heat insting material.


    "The amount of life energy contained within should be enough for you. You must use it well, it is very expensive." Ghoto called out to him.


    "I know how to use them, old man."


    He returned to his room and opened the container. A cold fog escaped from the box as soon as he opened the lid. The fog cleared away to reveal nt body parts in small transparent sealed sachets. The inside of the container is cold and serves to preserve its contents. Items that contain life energy are very fragile and difficult to store. The challengees from the difficulty of keeping away all forms of life from the items, even the items that are holding the life energy are also enemies to ovee. Life energy is impossible to exist in nature without life. So they will need to achieve the impossible, separate Life from life energy to create pure life force.

 Chapter 84 Worthy Or Not?

    ?The nt parts are sterilized and ced in the sachets, then some ghone rocks are ced in the container with them. The container is sealed and then subjected to a dissociation wave that breaks down the structure of living matter in the container. The ghone stones react to this wave too by breaking apart and freezing the contents of the container. The cost of this storage method probably ounts for a tenth of the total cost of production.


    The alternative to storing them will be to convert the materials to pills but the need to preserve their purity makes items with life energy difficult to work with and can be more expensive. The advantage of pills is their quick-acting properties. As they are right now, the materials will be eaten raw. The advantage of that is the high utility per unit of the materials while the disadvantage is that they will need to be digested which takes more time.


    The nt matter started to liquefy as soon as they were exposed to a source of energy such as the light and the heat of the natural world. They turned into globules of life force within each sachet. Soverick looked them over.


    "They will all probably amount to a week''s worth of work. Just one mouthful of life force from Hadrick." He estimated.


    "They must have butchered a lot of nts to create such an amount," Hadrick said.


    Soverick shrugged. "What does it matter to you? It''s not like you care about them."


    "I don''t care that much. I can''t care about every nt, but it is still sad to see. They are my kinsmen after all."


    "You''re right, but this is the way of the world. The strong eat the weak. Even you are notpletely safe. Something can still happen between now and the time your partner bes a world god. This is the period when you''re weakest. I hear that ancient trees with unique talents like yours are incredibly important to world gods."


    "Well, they can try. I am not so weak and I will not go down without a fight." Hadrick''s voice was steely.


    "You also have a host of strong descendants to protect you so you would have reinforcements in case of a fight." Sovericksaid before closing the container. He is currently full of life energy and wouldn''t be able to utilize them efficiently. They will be difficult to digest so he ns to take them after another dose of Hadrick''s life force, which will be tomorrow. He sat on his bed and continued to meditate


    "So there''s no way to lose," Hadrick spoke with confidence.


    "You are wrong about that. There are many ways for you to lose as long as it is worth the effort. If a world god decides that you''re worth the effort then you will lose."


    "A world god cannot descend to the lower realms."


    "Your origin god descendants are out of the picture too. It ismon knowledge that origin gods don''t like to stay in the lower realm. Even if they do, they prefer to stay on the ancient battlefield and not the nes. Sovereigns don''t even stay in the nes either. What your attackers need to do is bring a group of origin gods to ambush this city in a blitzing attack. They will only need to destroy the secret realm and your protective barrier, your tribtion will help them finish you off. By the time your reinforcementes, they will have made off with arge portion of your body. I doubt you can split your consciousness, so that means they will have effectively taken you away. Soverick exined slowly.


    "But we have defenses put in ce to face origin gods," Hadrick argued.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Ni, you don''t. Your defenses can hold an origin god at most. What about two of them or three."


    "Why would three origin gods attack the city?" Hadrick asked.


    Soverickughed. "The problem is that you never considered your worth. It is because you''re ignorant of your worth. If a world god determines that you are worthy of it, then a thousand origin gods can attack the city."


    His words sobered Hadrick up, it lost a lot of confidence immediately. It knew that a world god canmand more than a thousand origin gods. The Ghastorix ancestor isn''t a world god yet but even he canmand a force of hundreds of origin gods. Just imagining the force of such an attack made him so much fear that it couldpare to his fear of its tribtion.


    "I''m calling for an origin god immediately. Only an origin god can utilize the city''s defenses to stall for reinforcements." He shouted anxiously.


    Soverick regretted his words a little. He didn''t want an origin god toe here. It was already rare that some sovereigns were in the city. He knew they were sent here to monitor him but he hadn''t cared about them. An origin god on the other hand is a serious matter, he won''t be able to use his soul''s power without attracting attention.


    "I am just joking. It is not that serious. You don''t have to call an origin god over. What are the odds that a world god will set its eyes on you at this moment of all times." He tried tough it off.


    "No, you''re right. I have been so full of myself. I have to be sure and I''ll call more origin gods." Hadrick insisted, then he went silent. Soverick shook his head in regret. ''Probably calling for origin gods right now." He thought.


    He had forgotten about the fact that he was speaking with a cowardly nt with an immense influence in a big family. He was sure origin gods will be running over with a lot of clones as soon as Hadrick makes a fuss. These are origin gods we are talking about, the true immortals, one withws, but they wille running immediately because of Hadrick. It is one of the advantages of creating a family, your influence and power will increase with time. What''s worse is that he won''t be able to bully or threaten Hadrick anymore. Soverick could only sigh and return to his refinement.


    He was right about the danger though. The High Elves also were invaded in the past for their Life trees. Their forests were burnt down, their ancestral trees were stolen and desecrated, and their people were massacred. All of this because they were targeted by world gods. Not a single world god, but a host of them set their eyes on the high elves.


    They won the war and pushed back the invasion of their ne at the end of the day after they rallied the entire force of their race. Things would have been worse if the realm of high heaven could amodate world gods or if the home ne of the High elves could amodate transcendents. Thankfully the highest limit of power allowed in a ne of existence is Sovereign, and that is only in special nes, most nes can only allow transcendent as the limit. This restriction was critical in achieving their victory.


    After the win came the pressure, the high elves were not allowed on the ancient battlefield or allowed to ascend to the upper realm anymore. They were hunted on sight by the alliance forces of the enemies. The enemies couldn''t beat them on their home ne but they could harass them till they lose their edge.


    It was until the High Elves epted defeat and made a truce with their enemies that they were allowed to prosper on the ancient battlefield. But they were still being hunted in the upper realms. So even though the high elves let go of their pride and opened the trade of their ancestral life trees to world gods, they still couldn''t thrive in the upper realm. It ultimately gave them peace for a while until the realm lord came along from the high Elf race and shattered allmon sense to seize the throne of realm lord. It is the tale of a hero and the salvation of a race.


    Hadrick may be special but it still cannot bepared to a Life tree. Even world gods will agree that life trees are a miracle of existence. Life trees are not supposed to exist in nature. ording to clear historical records, life trees came about due to a unique circumstance of a mixture of ancestral worship and unique opportunity. In ancient times before the era of transcendents, this era is also the time when races of different types warred for supremacy in their various nes. Usually, the first race to create a transcendent will win, but there was a process that influenced this certain victory. This process is ancestral worship which leads to the creation of heroic spirits. High elves also participated in this tradition, except their target of worship is the body of one of their direct ancestor. High elves descend from two transformed trees, one of which sacrificed itself to create a home for the high elves. The worship of the tree husk left behind by this ancestor created the very first life tree in the entire void universe.

 Chapter 85 Transcendence Should Count As Something.

    ?This life tree came into existence as a heroic spirit that continued to cater to their race even after death. Its unique ability of energy conversion and resurrection due to ancestral worship made it gain the ability to create life essence. It became capable of converting energy to the very essence of life. That heroic spirit became the ancestor of all Life trees and each Life tree that exists today represents the will of that ancestor. They are of incredible importance to the High Elves.


    It is also the reason why the path of Godhood has been cut off in the home ne of the high elves. Who will dare to elevate him or herself to the same level as their ancestor and ept worship to be deified? No one. Any other answer is a sphemy on the honor of the ancestor. All demigods are hunted before they can be gods.


    What Hadrick has is the potential to be something on the level of the life tree. He could be something lesser and he could also be a Death tree which is on par with a Life tree. Legends say if the tree of death is created, theirbined power can allow anyone to be resurrected.


    The story of High Elves is an example of what could happen to the Ghastorix family. The High Elves'' story ended on a happy note all thanks to that special individual that went on to be the realm lord of High Heaven. He gained the eternal gratitude and support of the high elves when he saved them from the humiliation of selling their ancestor''s body parts to others.


    Soverick would have also been eternally grateful if things ended there but the realm lord refused to stop, he went on to create even more unbelievable things. Right now, his feelings of admiration for the realm lord have morphed into a need to ovee. The realm lord is like a giant casting a shadow over everyone else.


    "One step at a time. After all, it isn''t a race. Even if it is, I started toote." He said to console himself.


    Somewhere else in the inner city.


    The supervisor of the department of family affairs was just concluding his report concerning Soverick. He is slightly torn about the act, on one hand, he didn''t want to spread the secrets of a family member without their explicit permission. He wanted to ask for permission but meeting Mih again and asking something from her scared him too much. On the other hand, he believed that Soverick had a lot of untapped potential which must not be wasted and so he wanted the higher-ups of the family to know about it too. As a direct descendant of the family, he felt it was his responsibility to look out for the general good of the family.


    He knew that such a report could bring down scrutiny and supervision upon Soverick. It could bring abrupt and unpleasant changes to soverick''s life and those of his immediate family members so he had even prepared himself to suffer Mih''s wrath in the future if she ever found out about his tattling. There''s no way that much sudden attention will not be linked back to him, so Mih is sure to find out.


    "It is only a matter of time." He said nervously.


    The report he is writing is far fromplete but there was no way he could get Mih to allow him to perform further examination. It will be the end of him if she finds out what he is trying to do with the information. He will only be content with dying after he writes and sends the report, no matter how iplete, not before. Soverick might also reject the inspection at the end of the day. Children with awakened royal bloodlines have a lot of rights in the family. They are little ancestors after all. He was about to finish up and then submit it when he received an important notice. He left the report to read the announcement on the notice.


    The notice informed him that an origin god would being to the city soon for an inspection. It rarely urred that one of the ancestors will return to the ne, especially a restricted ne like theirs, the suppression they will face will be too ufortable. It was good news to the supervisor.


    He patted his chest and said. "How lucky, just when I was about to resign myself to fate a door opens up to me."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He felt relieved that he wouldn''t have to send the report now. He can just find a way to slip it to the origin god. Since the ancestor is already around for an inspection, it won''t be suspicious that Soverick''s matter was divulged. Even if Mih bes unreasonable and gets angry at him he wouldn''t be afraid anymore because he will have a very strong protector. He might have been willing to sacrifice himself earlier but now that there is an alternative method all his bravado left him.


    Somewhere else in the city.


    Kroft junior was having the worst day of his life. The famed son of Haden Kroft had be penniless. It was only yesterday that he became homeless, but today he has also be penniless. He had thought it was a joke when yesterday he was refused entrance into his father''s house. But he didn''t worry too much, he had a lot of money in his bank ount. Then he was informed that his permit to stay in the inner city had been revoked. He would have to live in the outer city from then on. Still, he wasn''t worried, because as long as he could buy a property in the outer city, he would still be able to make aeback.


    But now he is very worried. He found out that all his ounts had been frozen. He ispletely broke. He had been trying to contact his father all to no avail. He had less than a day to figure something out or he would be sent packing out of the city. Then he would be transferred to a satellite city. He is still a descendant of the bloodline of the family, he will always have a ce in the family. But he didn''t want that, he didn''t want to be relegated to an irrelevant way of life. His life took a turn for the worst.


    He tried to ask for help from his father''s friends. He thought for sure that something good woulde out of the endeavor because his father had a lot of friends and they were powerful people too. He was very wrong, nothing good came out of it. While it is true that his father had a lot of influence and friends, those friends of his father had less than a favorable opinion of him. They weren''t willing to help him at all. Their excuses were something along these lines.


    "You shouldn''t be in the main city in the first ce. The main city is for transcendents with potential who have proven themselves to the family. Do you need money? Why don''t you try and make some yourselves? You must have learned one or two things from your father all this while. It wille in handy. Besides you are transcendent, that should count as something in this ne right?"


    He didn''t want just something. He wanted to return to his hedonic lifestyle, but all the perks and luxuries he used to enjoy because of his father disappeared in a sh. All the friends that he used to drink with abandoned him. They were only there to suck up to him and hear himin about others or rant in jealousy. Now that there was no benefit in hanging around him, they left him.


    He became terrified when the reality of everything hit him, a feeling he was experiencing for the first time in his life. What was he going to do? He wasn''t a fighter. He may be transcendent but his actual strength is at the bottom of the barrel. Times have changed. This isn''t the era of transcendents anymore when the entire ne can be grasped by a handful of transcendents. Transcendents are everywhere now and he could die.


    For the first time in his life, he felt how truly weak he was. He needed strength and he needed it fast.


    He left the city at the end of the day. He had gotten a tip on how to acquire the strength he needed in his desperate times.


    He had three options. The first one is to buckle down and go into seclusion to be a lord ofw. He disregarded this option because he iszy and because it is toote for him to be a lord. Even if he overcame hisziness, his lifespan was running out to achieve something relevant.


    The second option is to make a contract with a powerful demon. He would gain strength and extra lifespan but at the cost of his soul. His transcendence should be worth a lot.

 Chapter 86 Fickle But Strong.

    ?He would be a ve to the demon in exchange for the gifts he will receive. History has shown rather vividly that it will not end well for him if he selects that option. Even if he had a chance of a blissful ending, he still won''t choose this option until he is desperate and at his wit''s end. He didn''t want to be someone''s ve after having enjoyed a life of luxury. To be the ve of a demon will be worse than having to live in a second-rate city


    The third option is to spread faith in himself and be a god. As long as there are enough people who believe in him, he could be a god right now. He would also be able to enjoy eternal life unlike those on the path of perfection. It is just that Godhood is frowned upon on this ne. He would be hunted down if his information was leaked to the right people. This option appealed to him because he would finally have his sphere of influence, unlike the unreliable one that he got through his father. Plus things were notpletely hopeless, he could go to the rebel nations and join the divine alliance.


    He decided to choose the third option. So he sold off what he couldn''t carry and packed the rest for a trip to the divine alliance. He was optimistic because in any case, he still had the second option. He had a way out no matter the oue.


    Somewhere on the ancient battlefield.


    Earlier today within the territory of the Ghastorix family. In a particr hidden space where four origin gods were chatting. It was more like one of them was chatting while the rest were listening. Only two of the rest could listen, the third one on the ground had lost the capacity to listen. He was even glowing strangely. It didn''t look right.


    The two that were listening had resigned themselves to the fact that this ordeal won''t end for another decade or so until ancestor Guntur got bored with storytelling or found something interesting to do. It had only been a day since his arrival, but they were already bored, they couldn''t wait for the decade to be over.


    The talking origin god is the only one wearing ck simple robes and matching trousers. The other three were wearing blue robes with ck stripes.


    "So there I was, infuriated and ovee with righteous justice. The mes of inspiration lit up within me and a poem came to my mind unbidden. I''ll tell you about itter, it is one of my recent masterpieces...." Guntu''s voice was passionate. It was like he was back there when it happened but his two listeners didn''t share his enthusiasm. They groaned inwardly whenever he promised to tell them about somethingter, the story just kept piling up with no end in sight. They will be here for a century at this rate.


    Then Elder Ghoto stopped. His face turned serious as he received a message from hismunication talisman. It wasn''t the new type that was circting throughout the realm of high heaven. This type ofmunication only allowed for soul-to-soulmunication but it was unrestricted by distance. The message came from the original ancestor of the family, and it could be summarised in two words.


    "Protect Hadrick."


    The message invigorated Guntu. It seems he might see some action. Something or someone is threatening their family. Now he has something even better to do than telling stories, he gets to create more stories. No matter how fun telling others about his experiences are, he preferred making the experiences even more.


    The two listeners noticed the abrupt changes in the demeanor of ancestor Guntu. He was telling them some story about how he cheated another Origin god out of some money before he stopped all of a sudden. Then his face became serious, and he stood up. They could tell that something important had happened or is happening. They waited in silence for ancestor Guntu to inform them if it pertains to them.


    "The Forefather just contacted me. I have a job to do back home." Guntu said to them.


    "You mean at the home ne?" One of them asked cautiously.


    Guntu picked up his wine gourd and replied. "Yes, and I have to go immediately."


    "Howe we weren''t told? What happened?" The two of them were confused. Things that happened in the ne were supposed to be reported to them first before it reaches the higher-ups. They were the acting patriarchs after all. Howe the chain ofmand was skipped like that. It even reached the forefather without reaching them. Only a few individuals can do something like that and if the forefather responded, then it must be a serious matter.


    "This matter concerns the ancient creeping dwarf. It is of the highest priority that''s why it evaded you guys." Guntu replied before picking up the knocked-out origin god and carrying him over his shoulders. "He will go with me. He is a true man. Unlike you people that can''t embrace your fears. You won''t be able to create good stories that way."


    They were d he didn''t pick any one of them. But they had a sense of responsibility and asked "Are you sure? Maybe you should let us two go instead."


    Guntu shook his head. "I have to go. The Forefather wanted someone strong and you guys are not."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    What he didn''t say is that the forefather wanted someone reliable but could only settle for Guntu because of his proximity to the ne. The forefather had said, "You may be fickle but you are strong. You must not fail."


    Guntu took the forefather''s words seriously. He wasn''t going to fail. His job isn''t difficult anyway, he is to standby at the main city and stall any enemy until reinforcementse.


    "I can''t allow you to steal my spotlight. Don''t worry, I''ll tell you all about it when I return."


    Guntu said to the two Origin gods that were secretly sighing in relief. Then he bid farewell and began his journey to the home ne. The territory of the Ghastorix family is very close to the ne portal so it was a short journey. The neighbors of the Ghastorix family are other forces from the same ne, most of them are battle sage monkeys. The Ghastorix family acquired their territory through their strength, influence, and most importantly because they had the permission of the race council. This permission will only be granted after a thorough vetting of each force. The minimum requirement that must be met before a force requests permission is a verifiable identity. Identity can only be verified if it belongs to a traceable family line from ancient times. This and many other requirements will prevent the infiltration of nefarious forces. This matter is taken very seriously because it pertains to the safety of their entire home ne.


    Guntu soon reached the main city.


    Guntu didn''t take any detours and all obstacles were plowed through. He went through the danger zones in the ne with his aura red up to warn off any animal or nt stupid enough to attack him.


    When he got to the main city, he was swiftly received by the three sovereigns stationed there. Notice had been sent to all the relevant personnel of his impending arrival. The aim of his visit was hidden behind the guise of an inspection.


    The sovereigns were the only ones that came to greet him, there was no use bringing others or a need for much fanfare. The three of them were like little chicks around a mother hen. Guntu is probably ten times older than them and a thousand times stronger. They surrounded him in the sky and escorted him towards the inner city. They also chose to ignore the origin god that he was carrying on his shoulder.


    "Wee back, great ancestor." They chorused.


    Guntu looked around and nodded his head. "Not bad. The city has prospered since I wasst here."


    The three of them had only juste to the city a short while ago so they were not responsible for its growth, but it didn''t matter. They took care of the city too when they were titans and considering that thest time Guntu came to visit was 200 origin cycles ago, there was nothing wrong with taking credit for the prosperity of the city. Their past efforts counted after all.


    "Thank you, Great ancestor. You''re so kind."


    "We appreciate the fact that you recognize our effort."


    "Follow us, Great ancestor. We have prepared for your visit."


    Guntu took another step and frowned. He realized that he failed to bend space. It is a feeling he was having problems getting used to.


    "I don''t like being here. It is frustrating. How do people leave like this?" Heined.


    The suppression of the ne has weakened him to abysmal levels.

 Chapter 87 Something Big Is About To Happen.

    ?Origin gods are very powerful beings. If a titan can be likened to an exploding star and a sovereign is someone that has gained control of the star such that they can control the intensity of the explosion, then origin gods have gained perfect control of that star. They have perfect control of the star because they have be one with the star, so the matter of control is a foregone conclusion. The amount of energy they contain is something that is above the safety levels of a ne, that is why they face a huge amount of suppression in nes. If an origin god were to explode, it might lead to a catastrophe powerful enough to wipe out all life forms in the entire ne. That is if the ne isn''t destroyed. Origin gods are that dangerous, even the ancient battlefield suppresses them but not as much as the nes.


    With this suppressiones a feeling of sickness. The feeling of sickness is also apanied by the loss of control. A titan can be likened to a driver that doesn''t know how to drive a vehicle. The driver must somehow learn how to drive that vehicle before it crashes and the driver dies. A sovereign has mastered the art of driving, such that he can make all manners of maneuvres, stop the vehicle to refill its tank so it doesn''t run out of fuel, and hook up a carriage or control a tool attached to the vehicle. An origin god has be the vehicle itself. To suppress the vehicle is to make some parts malfunction. Hence the feeling of sickness and loss of control.


    Guntu had been used to the world bending to his will but the ne was not going to have any of that because to allow that, is to permit its own destruction. In no way is the ne going to have such unstable elements get loose within it.


    The Sovereigns were understanding but the situation wasn''t that bad for them. They just drive the vehicle, after all, they will only get frustrated if the vehicle malfunctions. It is still an unpleasant feeling, that''s why sovereigns don''t stay in nes.


    "It is still bearable for us, but barely." They replied.


    Ghoto decided to find something to distract him. "Let''s get this over with then. I can''t wait."


    The feelings of frustration reduced significantly when Guntu remembered that there could be a fight. He was itching to destroy something.


    "Yes, great ancestor. We are almost there."


    It took them seconds to transverse from the point of entry to the inner city. It seemed fast to cross kilometers in a matter of seconds but to Guntu it seemed like the world was too slow. He could have covered that distance in a single step if he were allowed to move freely. The top speed he can move at has been lowered to that of a transcendent. He still retained his superior eleration but even that has been shed to barebones.


    They all arrived at the family headquarters in the center of the inner city.


    "I''ll meet ancestor creeping dwarf first," Guntu said to them. The Sovereigns nodded in understanding. Only them knew why he was really here.


    "We have no problems with that. We will wait here. You can reach us through this Rune." They replied.


    An ancient voice intruded on their conversation. "Is that you Guntu boy?"


    Guntu''s face twitched.


    "Greetings ancestor. It seems you haven''t lost your hobby of snooping on people. I didn''t think you will notice me this soon."


    The creeping dwarf usually monitors the entire city. Therge size of the city coupled with its slow thinking speed makes it very difficult for it to notice and single out a person quickly. It just so happens that Hadrick had been on edge recently so much that he had been putting extra effort into monitoring all the movements within the city, but he wouldn''t say that.


    "Are you calling me slow?" Hadrick asked.


    "Yes, ancestor," Guntu replied. The Sovereigns were appalled.


    Hadrick snorted.


    "You have lost your cuteness ever since you became an origin god. I remember when you used to cause trouble throughout the city back then and I had to ground you. You were such a cute troublemaker, now you have the guts to say I''m slow."


    "I remember that clearly. You always whipped me." Guntuined. The Sovereigns listening at the side wished they could disappear. "We will be going now." They said hurriedly before actually disappearing.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Hadrick sighed. "Good times. Those were good times. Now I hardly have anyone to talk to."


    Guntu grew up in this city like all the children with the awakened bloodline of the family. But unlike other children who awakened to transcendent lightning affinity, he awakened to transcendent destruction affinity. Its impact on his personality was immense. While other kids were full of energy and rash, he wanted to see destruction and more destruction. He wanted the world to be drowned in fire, water, storms,ndslides or whatever was disastrous enough. He would always y pranks that cause damage to life and properties. The only way to scare children like him was to prank them with a realistic illusion of the taboo race. Even that only worked temporarily on Guntu.


    Guntu''s face began twitching more. "We will talk about thatter ancestor. Where are the enemies?"


    "Which enemies? Where are they? Are they here already?" Hadrick asked in a panic.


    Guntu''s face fell. "I came all the way here to protect you from some attackers and you don''t know them?"


    "Oh that. Don''t scare me. I said I might be attacked. There is no attack yet. Wait, are you the only one that came here?"


    "I''m not the only one that came, see I brought this guy too. He is a true man." Guntu indicated to the origin god on his shoulder.


    "That is a living thing? I thought it was a weapon or something with all that erratic energying from it. I honestly thought it was a bomb. That doesn''t look natural at all. How could an origin god be that? Is that even safe to have in the city?"


    "Forget that. You mean to say I came here and there is no fight happening."


    "There might be a fight. That''s why I asked for some strong people toe here. I am hoping no fighting will actually ur. You just have to be patient and we will find out."


    "Patient my ass. Did someone threaten you? Let me go and finish this right now." Guntu asked earnestly. He didn''t want to spend more time in this sickening ce.


    Hadrick paused. "How do I put this? I have information from a reliable source that I might be attacked during this period of time."


    Guntu didn''t believe one bit of it. "Is this your paranoia acting up again. No one will attack you. No one ever does." He sounded exasperated.


    "This is not paranoia but reliable Intel from a reliable source. The city might be attacked and I don''t want harm toe to the precious descendants living here. I''m a caring ancestor that way."


    "I call Rhineshit. Who doesn''t know that you''re scared for your life? Can''t I just leave a clone?"


    "No. I want real protection. Come and tell me stories of your adventure while we wait. I am sure you have a lot to tell me since thest time we met. When was it again? Something around 200 cycles. Time sure flies fast."


    "You''re right. I have so much to tell." Guntu relented. If there was only one thing that he inherited from his ancestor, it is the ability to engage in long chats. They derive joy from talking. It is why Hadrick became fond of Ghastorix and why some descendants in the family have trouble controlling their voices.


    Hadrick became excited immediately. "Let''s start with how that thing you are carrying is a person and not a bomb that is about to blow up. I need reassurance that it is safe to be anywhere near me."


    Guntu could only ept for now. He brought the "true man" with him to an entrance that led to the center of the forest. But this arrangement didn''tst long. Guntu couldn''t take it anymore. Even his beloved storytelling couldn''t get rid of the ache in his body, mind, and soul. The drink in his gourd didn''t taste right anymore too, it had been tampered with by thews of the ne. The ne doesn''t want a bottled-up star around after all. In a perfect environment, Guntu could tell stories for decades at a time but now, all it took for Guntu to break was 3 days. History has shown that when Guntu bes bored, something big must happen. Guntu''s boredom as a child is the prelude to widespread destruction. It is a wonder what he will get up to as an Origin god.

 Chapter 88 The Era Of The Gods Must End.

    ?Guntu excused himself from the forest after he couldn''t take the boredom anymore. He loves to tell stories but it just wasn''t the same with the annoying suppression he was feeling. It made everything feel wrong, even his beloved storytelling. He needed something more actively interesting to take his mind off the irritating suppression. So he called the sovereigns.


    "Gather all the various heads of department. We will have a family talk." He sounded like he cared about the workings of the family, but he was just hoping that something woulde up to make him cause trouble. His order was transmitted quickly and the heads of department gathered in the council room. They were already prepared for an inspection. The talks and reports went on for a few hours before Guntu couldn''t take it anymore. He groaned due to the headache he was feeling. Transcendent don''t get sick but he was feeling worse than sick and these people were not helping with their talks of market trends and economic relevance.


    ''They were actually talking about serious things and nothing fun.'' He thought to himself.


    "Are you saying there is nothing interesting going on? Is everything really going well? Is there no ce that needs violence?" He roared at them. His irritation was rising and he needed an outlet for release.


    He red at the 3 sovereigns when no one in the council answered him. He said to them. "This is all your fault for operating this city so well."


    The three sovereigns wanted to say, "Actually we had a lot less to do with the city, much less than what you think." But they just remained mute. They had enjoyed thepliment earlier, it was time to suffer the consequence.


    The supervisor of the department of Family Affairs had been quiet all along. He had been keeping a low presence because he was surrounded by a lot of stronger people. His department didn''t need a strong force like most of the other departments did. Departments like those for intelligence, security, diplomacy, and resource acquisition arerger and need a strongerbat force to run their operations. It is because of that, that these departments are headed by titans ofws. Thankfully all the natural force in the area was busy suppressing Guntu or so many titans in one ce would have suffocated him. He felt like a shrimp among sharks. So he had to summon a lot of courage for him to call attention to himself.


    He raised his hand above his head slightly. He wanted the upper echelon to know about soverick. What better opportunity is there than when every department head is gathered? An origin god is also here so he felt he must go through with it and report the information he had about soverick. He was also thinking about how to ensure his safety afterward. Mih is sure toe for him if his actions lead to any negative consequences for her son.


    "Be quick. What do you have to say?" Guntu asked immediately. Everything was just irritating him, especially the fact that everyone else is moving in slow motion from his perspective. They moved like snails.


    The supervisor started. "I came across an anomaly during thest life evaluation. A child came to..."


    "Give me the important part. I don''t want the rest." Guntu interrupted.


    "Okay great ancestor. The child has 9 god-level talents."


    The information could have caused an uproar if the heads of the department were somece else, but they could only bottle up their shock. No one dared to cause a ruckus in the presence of an easily irritable origin god.


    Guntu was immediately interested. "Is that so? Who is this child?"


    "He is the son of a Ghoto and Mih." The supervisor answered with trepidation. The gaze of the origin god numbed his mind, he felt like a dazed animal before an oing vehicle.


    "Is that so?" Guntu grinned. "Wasn''t it only recently that I was listening to the report of this mutant? No wonder he spent that much time in the womb. This is some juicy matter." He thought inwardly. Guntu could see the beginnings of an epic story. He wanted to see how it would end. Would soverick be able to achieve eternity? Would soverick even be able to be a titan? Is his immense talent a boon or a shackle? He wanted to know. He had to know. Too bad that it was a future matter. He had a more pressing matter to deal with.


    "That is truly interesting. But it won''t do for now." Guntu praised the supervisor before he turned his attention back to the other heads of department. "I don''t have to say this but nothing untoward must happen to this child. The ancestors have ns for him." He warned with a steely voice.


    The matter of the mutant had been kept secret from most of the people here. Even though the report alleviated his boredom a little, he also recognized that it ced the child in danger.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I don''t expect you to cuddle him or be biased toward him, the child has to face some difficulties if he is to grow stronger. But I want him to be monitored and protected from spies and saboteurs. Is that understood?"


    "Yes, great ancestor." They all echoed.


    "Good. Any other interesting titbit?" Guntu asked.


    ''Just say you''re looking for tantalizing gossip.'' One of the sovereigns thought to himself.


    No one answered again.


    He grunted and said. "Fine, I''ll find something to do."


    ''What to do that''s fun? Fun and big. I''m not a child anymore. If I do something, then it has to match my status as an origin god. I want to let loose and destroy something. It also has to be something that won''t cause me a lot of trouble but it has to have arge impact. It should be an event that will gather attention, and yet, won''t get me in trouble with the racial council. Fighting is good but who will fight me? Who can I even fight in the ne?'' Guntu thought for a while before his eyes lit up. He had an idea that met all his criteria. It was so good he could barely wait.


    "How about this? I''ll lead the charge to get rid of the pests that gue our dear home ne. How grand, how epic." He rose from his seat as he soliloquize. He could practically see the story narrating itself.


    "Inform the race council. Gather all the origin gods and sovereigns avable. It is time to purge the divine from the great ne of Virut. No more will we suffer their presence in our home. We shall eradicate them and usher in an era of peace and progress for our people."


    "What?" This time the heads of department caused a ruckus. They were too stunned to care. This was a war summons. A war summons because you don''t have something to do?


    "You heard me. Do I need to repeat myself? We will suffer the existence of gods no more. I shall usher the end of the era of gods and repair our dear home ne. This is what a hero like me ought to do." He liked the way it sounded, so he said it again.


    "Yes, great ancestor." They mored.


    "I will head to the headquarters of the divine alliance for a quick reconnaissance. I''lly down my life to acquire information for our operation. With mother high heaven''s blessing, I will be back with good tidings." Guntu''s voice peaked before he disappeared. It is clear that he is going to find trouble and have some fun regardless of the approval of the war summons.


    Everyone dispersed to prepare for the iing war. A war meant to entertain an origin god.


    "What a day. What a monumental day." The supervisor was reeling in shock. One moment they were talking about soverick and the next they were going to wipe out the gods in the ne. It was a rollercoaster, one that will be noted down in the history of the ne if the racial council agrees with it. Even if they don''t agree with it, Guntu had already gone ahead to cause trouble and destruction. It will still be noted down.


    Little did they know that Soverick and the Start of the war are linked more than can be expected from a small boy just a little over a year old. Soverick spooked Hadrick. Hadrick called for backup. Guntu was around so he was called. Guntu came but he was bored. Guntu found something to cure his boredom. The end of the era of gods began. Guntu is truly the eye of destruction. Destruction was always apanying him wherever he went.


    The war summons to besiege the gods was sent out with multiple appeals prepared in case it was rejected. The Ghastorix family seemed ready to battle and they were not going to take no for an answer. The era of the gods must end.

 Chapter 89 Guntu The Trickster.

    ?There are only two conventional paths of power that one can take after transcendence. The path of perfection and the path of Godhood. In some nes, practitioners of each side are hostile to each other for various reasons. In some other nes, both paths don''t exist at all, maybe one or the other. For example, the path of Godhood doesn''t exist in the home ne of the divine dragons. For one, they don''t have any need for divinity because they are eternal, they live forever unless killed. The most important reason for theck of gods is that no dragon will bend his head in the worship of another. They are proud and believe that faith is silly and stupid. They believe only weak and stupid races will worship a member of their own race and give him or her power over the rest.


    The major reason why people hate gods is because of all the chaos they cause in their pursuit of faith. Faith wars, religious bigotry, and divine strife caused by different ideology is the major reason for war in this rather peaceful day and age. The strong people usually leave the ne because there''s nothing here for them to fight for. The gods don''t leave, they can''t leave because their faith binds them to the ne. They stay here and cause wars among the people to further their agenda. The wars they cause create a need for them amongst weak people. Their presence is seen by the authority of the ne as a source of chaos.


    In some other nes, the two paths exist in harmony without war and strife between each other. Each path has its advantages and disadvantages. Whatever the case may be, it is known that the minimum requirement to remove the limit on the power of the ne is to wipe out the gods. A ne cannot allow for pure power over the level of a transcendent, hence the suppression of those above that level. It doesn''t mean that titans and transcendents are equal, even with the suppression of the ne, the fundamental difference between them is too great to allow a transcendent a fighting chance. A transcendent can attack a titan ofw all day and not be able to ovee the defense of the titan ofw at all. But two titans ofw will not be able to show their difference in power easily because they are fundamentally the same.


    The limit of the ne can be lifted to allow for the release of powers up to the level of a sovereign. This will make the ne a higher ne but it needs a sacrifice. Only a single path can be supreme in a ne for it to be a high ne. That means that either the path of gods disappears from the ne or the path of perfection.


    So Guntu''s idea is to have fun while trying to get rid of the gods. He gets to fight, destroy things and let loose while being a hero for it. What''s not to like about that. It''s like killing two birds with one stone. It''s a genius n aimed at having fun and doing good for his race.


    The removal of the limit will lead to aprehensive upgrade of the entire ne, its size will increase and the quality and quantity of mana will improve which will make its inhabitants have a higher chance of breaking the barrier to transcendence. And most importantly, it will prepare the ne to ept the baptism of origin energy. This baptism will make Origin energy avable in the ne, it will not be as abundant as on the ancient battlefield but it will lead to a sudden rise in the number of lords and kings. This baptism can only be carried out if a world god from that ne petitions and pays the price for it. If mother high heaven agrees to it, it will ur, but the ne must have removed the limit ced on it. And he, Guntu will be the pacesetter that sets off the wave of development.


    "My name will be known for eternity for something good too. I won''t be just the eye of destruction anymore. I''ll be the battle sage monkey that brought about the downfall of the gods."


    He could already hear the praises of worship and admiration.


    "Honestly, this is my best decision so far. It is better than that time I tricked some titans into eating shit. That was so good." Heughed.


    That urred thest time he came to the ne. There were no sovereigns around so his target of trickery was the titans ofw. He picked up the dung of some animal on his way to the city and told the titans that it was a medicine that will help them control their powers. They ate it up like the most precious pills. There was this particrly zealous titan with some power of illusion that was desperate for more.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It was both sad and funny at the same time." Heughed even more


    It is amon thing for him to try and trick his juniors into doing something embarrassing. He had gotten an origin god to drink from his sun wine this time around.


    "I''ve still got it. But I''ll take up the mantle of responsibility and be a hero." He thought in pretend solemnity. He knows that he mostly causes trouble, but the war will make be viewed in a new and better light.


    What he is about to do will be difficult. It is why no one has attempted it yet and the ones that are strong like him spend their time on meaningful things. Certainly more meaningful things than pranking innocent titans whose lives were at risk into animal shit.


    The advantages of removing the limit of a ne are immense but it is also difficult to perform. It is too difficult to kill all gods because gods are difficult to kill permanently. This usually leads to a drawn-out war that affects the ne as a whole. While it is a huge burner of resources and manpower, the endeavor will never fail as long as an origin god joins in. It will be an easier victory if the racial council endorsed the war.


    The presence of a collective force called the racial council or the ne conference will ensure the mobilization of the entire force of the ne. The weakness of gods is their need for faith, it makes them easy to starve and besiege if they refuse to fight.


    Gods dwell in a ne adjacent to the main ne called the divine ne. It is their home ground and can only be visited by transcendents. Gods have an advantage in the divine ne because they can use their full power there and will be able to suppress their counterparts on the path of perfection. Only demons, dragons, and some other unique races can unleash their full power in the divine ne. To end the era of gods, all the gods must be killed and the divine ne destroyed. The destroyed divine ne will then serve as fertilizer that will remove the limit of a ne. As long as the divine ne is destroyed, new gods will not be able to ascend and the era of gods will end.


    While gods have an advantage in the divine ne, they can''t even express power that reaches that of an ascendant in the main ne. This makes it possible for any transcendent to kill any god that dares to walk the main ne with his or her main body. The dynamics of the situation often lead to a stalemate, but as long as faith is banned in the entire ne and it is strictly enforced, the gods will be wiped out. Faith is the crux of the matter, it leads to the rise of gods, and can also cause their demise.


    God''s aren''t parasites as some would like to think. They also serve a purpose. The presence of the divine ne defends the ne from invasion on all sides. For a ne to be invaded, it has to be done through the nar portal. The divine ne is like a protective bubble that limits ess to this one entrance. With it gone, then people from other nes will be able to easily bypass the nar portal as long as they have the coordinates of the ne. Of course, some individuals will be able to bypass the divine ne but the gods will be able to track them down in the main ne. The divine ne also actively defends the ne from invasion from demons. The gods are in an eternal battle with demons and their removal will allow demons ess to the ne. So the removal of the limit of a ne is a double-edged sword and must be seriously considered. But it must be done or the ne will never progress.

 Chapter 90 Dinner Is Served.

    ?It is the job of the racial council to determine if the race is ready to take on the risk that wille with ending the era of the gods. Their permission will make the difference between a quick sess and a pyrrhic victory in the endeavor. But Ghoto doesn''t care about all that. He just wanted to fight, and fighting the other families of the race is not allowed. He learned that lesson the hard way. But no one was going toin if he vents his frustration on the divine alliance.


    The divine alliance is a renegade nation established for the spreading of faith in gods. There are only empires, kingdoms, or nations legalized by the racial council in the entire ne. Faith has been suppressed because the battle sage monkeys don''t like it in general. They would rather worship their great ancestors and heroes, there is even an empire that was created just for that. Because of the long lifespans due to refinement, the people of the race have a good memory of the acts and sacrifices of their heroes, the fact that someone has dared to elevate himself to their level and allows others to deify him is just in pompous and disrespectful to the real heroes who sacrificed themselves for the progress of their people. That''s why the worship of gods is ouwed in the Virut ne, but it is not actively enforced in some areas. The divine alliance is such a ce. It is dubbed the dwelling ce of the gods. It will be the target of his ire.


    "It is a good thing that they are bunched together. I won''t need to crawl to each church at this snail''s speed." Heined again as the ne constrained his speed. He actually has to physically move from one ce to another. It was a hassle, really. He usually rides on the waves of destruction, which destroy everything in his path, even distance and space are no exception. But now he has to move himself. Even the wind was trying to buffer him.


    "Truly kicking a man when he is down. Thankfully, there are some people stupid enough to cross the racial council." He muttered.


    Not everyone in the race epts the governing power of the racial council. It is impossible for there to be unanimous support for them because everyone has free will. Funny enough, the segment of the poption that doesn''t agree with the racial council are the people that the gods like to target. These people are generally weak, most of them possess strength that is beneath the level of transcendence. The bulk of them are not even mana entities, just people at the body forging stage or vitality core. The gods'' ability to bless these weak people with strength is why the gods haven''t died out yet.


    The stronger the person, the stronger the quality of faith that can be acquired from that person, but those above the level of transcendence do not need gods, except to kill them for their divinity. This set of people agrees with the racial council in general too. The gods can''t bless people above transcendence and these people won''t bow to their peers, even if they are gods. So the gods make do with quantity over quality.


    There will be some outliers but Guntu doesn''t care. He hopes there are a lot of these strong ones to provide a worthy battle. He ns to go to the divine alliance and destroy all their churches. All of them. It will probably take months toplete but he won''t give up unless he is explicitly asked by the racial council to stop. Guntu is only troublesome, he is not stupid. That''s why he fears the racial council as much as he respects them.


    The divine alliance is located at the edge of the ne, far away from the control of the racial council, so it took Guntu a long while before he arrived. He hated having to limit his speed to ten times the speed of sound but he bore with it. When he reached the border of the region he found out that there was an army already waiting for him. The prey had already arrayed themselves before him. He smiled in glee.


    "Dinner is served."


    Earlier in the day. A few moments before Guntu made his deration. In the divine ne.


    The divine ne is said to epass the main ne, but it is actually smaller than the main ne. It is about a hundredth of the total surface area of the ne. There is a single city on the ground, the divine city. The divine city is where people thate to the divine ne will appear, either believers or unbelievers. Above the city areyers of firmaments that hold the divine kingdoms of the gods. The believers and faithful petitioners are the only ones allowed in the divine kingdoms. The divine kingdom of a god is the personal territory of that god, it is also where the afterlife of their believers will be spent.


    In one of the divine kingdoms ced higher above the sprawling metropolis below. The grand god of justice Xanc(Stone cold) was ying a board game with the High goddess of fate, Sito(Lazy ants). These two golden beings of light were rxing and whiling away their time with a spirited game of Yudo within an opulent temple made from the most precious of materials. You can even taste the wealth in the very air. It seemed that gods and mortals don''t breathe the same kind of air. Not that gods need to breathe, but the air around them is charged with power and authority. Sito stopped ying all of a sudden. Her eyes zed over and lost focus.


    Then she sighed and said, "I sense the convergence of destiny in the strings of fate. The end is near."


    The god of justice, Xanc eximed. "Sito no cheating. You promised you wouldn''t use your powers of prophecy. I can sense that you just did. Not fair."


    Sito exined gently. "It''s not about our game. I just saw something that will affect the fate of all gods. I sense a disaster ising for us."


    Xanc could sense that she was speaking the truth but he didn''t believe her. "Is the god of trickery here somewhere. Are you trying to trick me again? I thought you promised that you won''t cheat at all."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They had done something like that to him in the past. They would use the power of trickery to deceive his sense of justice and warp his ability to tell truth apart from lies. There was no way he would fall for that again.


    "I''m not lying," Sito said.


    "Yes, I believe you." Xanc snickered.


    Sito sighed. "I don''t need you to believe me."


    Xanc brought out a golden sheet with some terms and their signatures written on it. "This contract here says otherwise."


    Sito ignored him and brought out a piece of runic stone. She spoke to the stone. "By my authority, Sito, the Seer." Then she crushed the stone.


    Xanc didn''t try to stop her. "You are really willing to go so far for your ruse. I''ll see how far you will take it this time. Is it so bad for you to ept your inferiority? It is shameless of a god to be a sore loser."


    He was about to start his rant about the detriments of cheating when he received an emergency summons of the highest priority. This usually urs when a god crushes the emergency stone, identical to the one that Sito crushed earlier. The same Rune on the stone started shing around him but he was only mildly surprised.


    ''They are going so far for this con. But I won''t be conned so easily.'' he thought to himself.


    He shook his head and said. "This seems so life-like. I am disappointed that you would go so far just to evade your responsibility."


    "Why do I even hang out with you? Justice is so pigheaded. Believe whatever you want to believe. I am going." Sito said before tapping the simrly glowing Rune floating around her. She disappeared immediately.


    Xanc was startled when she disappeared without a trace. He hadn''t given her permission to exit his divine kingdom, so he should be able to retain her here considering that he is stronger than her. He started to believe her, just a little.


    "Could this be another prank?" He asked uncertainly.


    He examined the shing Rune. It represents a call to council to all the gods about a matter of uttermost importance. Either it was real or they were pulling all the stops to prank him again. They enjoyed targeting him the most for some reason he didn''t know. It was like an inside joke to try and trick justice.


    There is a cabal of gods that have made it something of a past time to pester him. This entire thing reeked of them.

 Chapter 91 Sito The Mood Killer.

    ?The members of the cabal will pool their powers together to create and execute borate ns to trick Xanc.


    It is something of a source of pride that so many gods are needed to thwart him, the grand god of Justice.


    If he didn''t know better he would think that Sith, the Grand goddess of Crime, Murder, and Trickery, had feelings for him. But he knew better enough to realize that she simply derived a perverse joy in subverting justice. They were destined to be arch enemies and not lovers. She wasn''t his type anyway and he had eyes for someone else.


    Even though he had his suspicions, he had to admit defeat because he could not bear the risk of being wrong.


    "I concede." He said before tapping the rune. He disappeared from his divine kingdom and appeared within a giant colosseum. Other gods had already arrived. The colosseum was being filled with giant figures of light, energy, and divine power. The authority in the air was palpable. They were all talking in hushed tones trying to figure out the reason for such a high-priority emergency meeting.


    "Silence." A powerful voice proimed.


    All the gods kept quiet and focused on the only seat at the center of the colosseum. This seat belongs to the strongest god of the Virut Pantheon. The Celestial god of battle. The God King, Ode.


    "Now who is responsible for this summons," Ode asked.


    Sito stood up. "I am."


    Ode sighed. With his experience, he realized something really bad was going to happen soon. No one likes to be around Sito, because no one likes to be around the bearer of bad news. Sito has been dubbed "The bringer of Omens." It is something of a joke among the gods but it is not unfounded because it is part of her divine titles.


    "What have you seen this time?" Ode asked.


    "The convergence of destiny. The end of the era of the gods."


    Her announcement got the gods talking. They became rowdy again.


    "Silence." Shouted again. His voice shook the great colosseum. He continued when everyone had quieted down. "There''s no need for fear. Nothing is confirmed yet."


    Then he asked Sito. "How soon?"


    "This origin cycle."


    "That soon?" Ode was aghast.


    "Yes, our downfall will start today."


    Even Ode was aghast. He expected something bad to happen. He expected it to be soon. Soon could be in a century to a god. He didn''t expect it to be today. It was simply abrupt. How had they not sensed the racial council moving against them all this while? Even if the racial council made the decision today, it will take some time to prepare and gather troops. So how had things escted to this point?


    Fear began to spread among the gods. The suppression of religion in the entire ne had made them realize that the end of gods wille at one point in time or another. They didn''t think it will happen so abruptly.


    "There is no need to panic. We all knew today was going toe eventually. We didn''t think it wille so soon and without time to adjust but we have been nning for it so we can face it with confidence. We don''t need the time. The racial council will call for a war summons and make a deration but I move for us to take preemptive defensive measures. We can''t wait for things to happen, we must be active. Let us move our prepared troops to the border. We will not go down without a fight. Who''s with me?"


    All the gods cheered and roared in agreement.


    "Excuse me. I am not in agreement." This voice of dissent froze the heated atmosphere.


    Ode looked at Sito and muttered, "As expected."


    "Why not?" He asked with a smile. He wasn''t shocked that she will disagree. Her church is centered on the belief that fate must be fought against.


    "The times change and with it the change of eras. Nothingsts forever, only change is inevitable. It is time for our era to end. It is the wish of the people. We are no longer needed. I think we should give up while we have the chance."


    "I see." Ode said. He had the highest say in decision-making, but the council of the gods is not ruled by dictatorship. He had to listen to the opinion of others and put it up for a vote. Even if he had supreme power, he would let Sito have her say and let her go peacefully. He didn''t want a mood dampener around in these trying times. She would break them from within and cause their downfall if she is left alone. He had to get rid of her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "If you are in agreement with the goddess of fate you are free to leave. You just have to sign a binding contract that you will not oppose us in this war and will not do anything that will negatively impact our chances of winning. The Grand god of Justice will take care of the details of the contract."


    Xanc stood up immediately. "You can leave it to me."


    "Is that agreeable to you?" Ode asked Sito.


    "Fine. But I must say that you''re all wasting your time."


    "Please leave." Ode stopped her from spouting more of her doomsday speech. Sito disappeared with a sh of light. Ode noticed that some people disappeared with her too. "Good thing I got rid of her early or else she would have done more damage."


    "Since that has been taken care of. I proim war, war to the sphemers."


    "War, war, war." Echoed throughout the colosseum.


    Ode roused himself from his seat. It had been a long time since hest fought. Thest time was when he defeated the grand god of war and the grand god of weapons to be the celestial god of battle. This time, he will have to fight to maintain the power and the responsibility thates with his position. Unlike other gods that still have a way out, there is no going back for him. The other gods can fall, a very painful process where they lose their powers and position. It can be done voluntarily or involuntarily. It may save them from death but it will leave them weakened and near death. They will lose their immortality and can only live as mortals. At least they will be able to avoid this war and live the rest of their lives in rtive peace and freedom. He doesn''t have that option. He is a true God, and a true God can never fall. As a celestial god, he must go down with the divine ne.


    Sito returned to Xanc''s divine kingdom and was soon joined by Xanc.


    "Who would have thought that you weren''t joking earlier. Since you didn''t cheat we can continue the game. Can you give me a minute, I have some contracts to draft."


    "Are you not going to give up," Sito asked.


    Xanc shook his head. "Justice doesn''t give up."


    "What if the people don''t want justice anymore."


    "Then they don''t know what they want. Justice is unrelenting and upromising. I will notpromise even if the people I want to help refuse me." Xanc answered with conviction.


    "I shouldn''t have asked. Hurry up with my contract."


    Sito decided to give up. There was no use trying to convince Xanc. His unyielding attitude is why they are friends. Other people can''t bear putting up with her negativity. Only someone like Xanc that is naive and simple, someone with a stubborn and good outlook on life can be around her for long periods of time.


    "Here you go." Xanc handed her a parchment made from the workings of thews of the world. This particr type of contract is different from the rest in that if she signs it, she will be bound to every single term on it. She wouldn''t be able to break it even regardless of her wishes. The other type of contract will only enforce the consequences of breaking the terms of the contract. This one will enforce the terms themselves and make it impossible to breach. She wouldn''t be able to breach it if she were tortured, drugged, hypnotized, or manipted either in life or death.


    She had to sign it or she would be deemed a traitor. Traitors are silenced. It is one thing to give up on resistance, it is another thing to sabotage the resistance.


    She didn''t need to read it because she could see the changes in her fate as soon as she touched it, so she knows how it will affect her.


    "Here I thought we were friends, you didn''t even put in a loophole for me." Sito teased, but Xanc took her seriously.


    "I can''t. I am bound by my power and oath to enforce rules and regtions."


    "Whatever," Sito said and signed the contract. It disappeared in a sh of mes.


    "What do you n to do now?" Xanc asked in a rare show of concern.


    "I n to fall. Why don''t youe with me? Resistance against the tide of time is futile."


    Xanc shook his head.


    "Too bad. I''ll miss you." Sito disappeared, and this time Xanc knew she had left his divine kingdom to return to hers. He might also never see her again.

 Chapter 92 The First Engagement.

    ?"Goodbye," Xanc said after she was gone.


    He would miss her, she was his only godly friend. Sito reminds of a certain someone from his childhood days but that person didn''t want to be his friend back then. But Sito and he had hit things off when they had met, they have a lot inmon. No one likes to be around him too. People found him inflexible and boring. He had few friends as a mortal too because of these reasons. His status as a god has won him the admiration of countless mortals but they can''t rece Sito in his life. Gods are above mortals in every way.


    He would have liked to give up now and follow her but he had made an oath. It is this oath that pushed him to greatness. He rose sharply in strength as a god but he wasn''t always this talented. He had struggled as a mortal without a bloodline. He had topete with other kids who had bloodlines to help them. What took him years to grasp and master was achieved by those with bloodlines in months. He had seen and experienced the injustice that is bloodlines.


    He saw bloodlines as an agent of segregation. It made things unfair for others. He made an oath to remove the cancer of the society that is bloodlines. He had yet to achieve his lifelong dream so he cannot give up now.


    Did he think that the gods could lose? Maybe but he won''t know without at least trying. The gods have prepared for this day and he will at least fight to uphold the dignity of the gods. He couldn''t just run without fighting. That''s how cowards behave and he is not a coward.


    He also saw the path of Godhood as an alternative for less talented people and there was no way he would watch such an opportunity that creates a modicum of bnce be removed so easily. He resolved himself to do battle and achieve victory.


    The gods knew that a passive reaction to the threat of their existence will only lead to their eventual demise so they were not going to do that. They had prepared for this day and they were going to fight back.


    The divine city below the various divine kingdoms began to bustle with preparation for battle. Messages were sent to the various churches in the main ne and various avatars of gods were descending. In the main ne, it looked like pirs of light were descending as the gods walked the earth with their avatars. The gods were for war as they moved their troops to the border.


    Presently at the border of the divine alliance.


    The troops of the divine alliance at the border made contact with their first enemy.


    "All of this, for me?" Guntu grinned.


    He could see a vast army of people and machines arranged in war formation. He couldn''t believe it. Here he thought he would have to visit their church and notify them before they can put up a fight. But he didn''t have to. More than a million soldiers were disyed before him.


    "This couldn''t have been a rushed job." He smacked his lips as he watched this army. They looked like a tightly wound and oiled machine of war.


    They had gigantic towers connected with walls that blocked the entire border. At the top of the towers were sovereign-grade ranged weaponry. Energy bombs and annihtion artillery. Above the towers, up in the sky were hovering weapon cities. The floating weapon cities are called so because they were not built for inhabitation. They are floating weapon carriers,unchers, and deployers all in one gigantic packet of the fusion between technology and magic. The numerous floating weapons also formed a shield between them that prevented Aerial passage. Both the sky and ground were blocked. Guntu marveled at the sight and couldn''t wait to destroy all of these.


    He felt like a VIP for him to be shown this much attention. He wondered how they had mobilized such a force under the nose of the racial council. The fact that the gods could muster this much will work in his favor in regards to the approval of the war campaign.


    "Stop right there." A golem shouted from above the wall. It looked like a mechanical angel with halos of light shining from it.


    "Interesting," Guntu said as he examined the metallic golem. He had never seen anything like it. He could feel Divine force from within the golem.


    "It looks like it is being powered by divine force but it is actually a vessel to channel your full power in the main ne. What an ingenious idea." Guntu nodded his head in appreciation.


    It seemed that the gods had found a way to circumvent the ban on divine power in the ne. They used a container that is fueled by their power. He could tell that this particr golem had reached the sovereign standard and it will possess this grade of power as long as its structural integrity holds out. They were clearly prepared for war.


    "Good idea." He praised again.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "We know why you are here and we will stop you right here." The Sovereign golem said. It called other golems to it and they formed an enhancing array. The golems began to share energy between them, which formed awork that strengthened them. The more of them formed thiswork the stronger they became.


    The sight of ten sovereign-level battle strength would have scared another person off but Guntu shook his head. "Multiple grand gods in golems and an array on top of that. It is a deadlybination and might be good enough to stop some other origin god but not me. You have outdone yourselves and have performed above and beyond my expectations for you. Sadly, you have met me." Guntu pped as he spoke. The sound of his hands hitting each other felt like thunderp instead. The world boomed with the sound of it.


    The grand god in the sovereign grade golem spoke up quickly to maintain morale.


    "It doesn''t matter who you are, you will fall here."


    He is themander of the army and he immediately recognized the threat that Guntu represented, even though Guntu currently looked like a mischievous monkey in a simple ck cloak. The wine gourd he had strapped to his back wasn''t helping in building a fierce image either. Still, they could tell that Guntu was an Origin god, but the gods believed they had a good chance at victory since origin gods can''t use their full power in the main ne.


    The machines of war started to load in preparation for battle. Guntu could see giant barrels that seemed to be cooking up nasty presents, swerving to target him. He could feel the rising energy in the surroundings. All these feelings made him feel euphoria.


    "Let me introduce myself." His voice echoed throughout the battlefield. The army didn''t hear his voice with their ears. They heard him with their bodies. There was an unpleasant rumbling in their bones that brought them understanding.


    "I am destruction." The people below the level of transcendent began to disintegrate as their understanding manifested into a reality.


    "Attack." The leading grand godmanded. Range weapons fired and all sorts of spells, forbidden or allowed were unloaded unto Guntu. His body was torn apart by the attacks, but the disastrous effects of the explosions didn''t dissipate. The destructive forces formed a cloud where Guntu used to stand. His voice continued to echo.


    "I begat destruction." Transcendents and Everything with that level of strength started to be dust. Their entire existence was also found wanting in understanding the message contained within Guntu''s voice.


    The grand god realized that the voice wasing from the cloud and ordered the attacks to continue.


    "Destruction begets me." The voice continued. The cloud began to be restless, it was as if it was fermenting something.


    "Attack more." The grand god ordered.


    "I embody destruction."


    Everything at the transcendent level disappeared. Lords ofw and low gods started to dissipate. Thest thing that went through their mind was the meaning of the embodiment of destruction. Their lives didn''t sh before their eyes as they faced death. It was understanding followed by darkness.


    "Destruction is inevitable."


    "I am inevitable."


    "All will fall before destruction."


    As Guntu spoke, rings of destruction emanated from the cloud. The rings were like silent killers that transformed whatever they touched into their base form. They disintegrated everything on contact. This reaction was apanied by the release of potent destructive energy, but there was no explosion. The energy released from the destruction and the destroyed objects were subdued by the rings. They were then drawn into the cloud by the returning rings. The clouds increased in size and more rings were created which in turn expanded the range of destruction. Guntu became the personification of destruction as in inevitable force of nature.

 Chapter 93 Bail Or Happy Jail.

    ?The cloud began to boil and seethe as more forces of destruction were pulled into it. It became so powerful that the rings began to affect reality itself. Space and time around the battlefield began to ripple like the waves on an ocean.


    Only the Sovereign level equipment was left standing by the time he was halfway done with his introduction. But those too disappeared as the cloud expanded into an explosion of light that ripped the fabric of reality to shred. The ground and the sky disappeared into a zone of all-epassing darkness. Everyone in the Virut ne knew at that moment that something bad had urred because the entire ne trembled with the exertion needed to contain the explosion.


    Destructive void energy poured into the ne from the ruptured barrier of space-time. The circle of destruction began to spread to the areas beyond the battlefield. A silent dead zone without any form of life began to form at the location. It started from Guntu''s position and began to spread outward, bringing oblivion and destruction. At this rate, the entire ne could face its end.


    You might expect destruction to be a process apanied by shes of light, energy release, and terrifying sound vibration. But Guntu has mastered destruction to utilize it in a way that is above the mindless behavior of normal destruction. He will harness destruction to create more destruction, he only has to act as the catalyst and energy source to make destruction something greater. That''s why he is the eye of destruction.


    Suddenly the world stopped. Everything in the ne stopped moving even the origin gods within it. An indistinct figure appeared. It was the only thing moving in this frozen world. It tapped on the frozen cloud of destruction. The cloud began to shrink to reveal Guntu with a big frozen smile on his face. The cloud formed into his robes and trousers. She tapped his forehead and his face became unfrozen. His eyes shook with recognition, a deep fear appeared within them. His smile faltered but was then reced by an ingratiating one.


    He gulped and said, "All mother. It is nice to meet you as always. You are looking even more beautiful than usual. You''re positively glowing. What beauty treatment are you using recently? It is working very well. I would like to know so that I can try to look half as good as you."


    He might be trying to soften her mood but he is right about her being very beautiful. He is also right about her glowing. While weak eyes will see only an indistinct figure because they can''tprehend what they are seeing, he can see the beauty of her existence. She doesn''t have a distinct form or features but she is made up of swirling vortexes of light. He knows enough to identify the little dots of light as nes of existence. Each dot of light within the fabric of her existence is unique and a different color from others if inspected closely. A close inspection will also reveal that the light dots are a little over 100 thousand in number.


    The indistinct figure remained unswayed by theplements. Her single eye of burning light and power remained fixed on him. She asked in that voice that sounded like all of existence, of creation and destruction, of light and darkness. "Are you having fun Guntu?"


    He could see the mirth in her eye but he didn''t dare answer in the affirmative. That''s just asking for trouble.


    So he shrugged and replied. "It is only so so."


    "Is that so? Your standards sure have increased. One of my nes is not even good enough for you now. Guntu the big shot."


    He realized that things were turning for the worse. He had to say something in his defense. But he couldn''t skew the details in his favor because she knew everything urring in all of high heaven. A lie will just dig his grave deeper.


    "They started it. I just piled on." He pointed to the now vacant battlefield.


    It''s true. The army of the gods were the ones to unleash cataclysmic damage upon him. His technique, the rings of destruction wouldn''t have been so powerful to that extent without their essential contributions. They attacked first and he only retaliated.


    "I don''t see anyone." The figure said.


    He wanted to say. "Of course, there''s no one, I destroyed them all. You also know that. So stop being sly with me."


    Instead, he maintained his smiled. He knew why she is here so he asked. "How much for bail?"


    This is not the first time he had ripped a big hole into the fabric of reality. The nes are just too weak to contain something like an origin god. Even the ancient battlefield, cannot support the aftermath of an Origin god-level battle. A ne is not as stable as the ancient battlefield. Only when its limiters are removed and it is reinforced can it tolerate the existence of an origin god. Without this reinforcement, a ne will start to rupture when the power level reaches that of a titan.


    He is not a first-time offender and has umted experience from the time he was a titan ofw. Both the ancient battlefield and the ne could not take him because of his ability. Back then, it was the acting patriarchs of the family that paid for his damages. There were times he wouldn''t be bailed out, those were truly bad times for him. He became one of the few people to ascend to the upper realm as a titan to avoid causing more damage.


    The indistinct figure chuckled, the sound of it was like a copsing star. He knew that because he had copsed a star before and lived to tell the tale. He tried to break the conception that only a world god can pluck a star. Needless to say, he failed and he failed badly. Turns out destruction energy can destabilize the core of a star.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He silently repeated what he used to encourage himself with during the agonising moments when the energy of that star ripped through him, ''''This too shall pass.''


    That only worked until she answered. "100 beads of origin essence."


    Guntu screamed. "That''s daylight robbery. It used to be just 10 beads, howe it is so expensive? It isn''t even the ancient battlefield. It is just some measly ne. You are robbing me."


    The consequence of causing destruction to the ne depends on the extent of damage and the strength of the ne. The higher the damage the higher the payment for bail. The same goes for the strength of the ne. He had never done or heard about a case that cost 100 origin beads to pay for. It is simply an exorbitant price to pay. It was like she was asking him for an arm and a leg. In fact, he would dly pay with an arm and leg rather than with 100 beads of Origin essence.


    "I just learned about capitalism and monopoly. The rarer something is the more valuable it is. It is my measly ne, not yours, not anyone''s." Mother High heaven exined.


    "It is more like extortion. What happened to you? You used to be kind and so motherly. The realm lord is a bad influence on you." Guntuined. He had heard such talk from the realm lord during one of their meetings.


    "Should I contact Ghastorix to plead your case?"


    Guntu paled immediately. "No don''t do that. Please don''t do that."


    "Are you going to pay or not? Happy jail still has room."


    Guntu gritted his teeth. "Fine. I''ll pay. How about a discount, you know, for old time''s sake."


    "No cuts." The figure remained expressionless with an outstretched hand. The same hand she will use to repair the ne. Her hand can lift an entire ne but she is using it to take his lifeblood.


    "Alright." Guntu paid in full. He could feel a pain that was equal to the pleasure he felt during his earlier destruction. Probably greater.


    "I hope to see you next time." The figure said and disappeared. The world resumed its operation immediately.


    Guntu felt his heart ache in his chest, a feeling he had long forgotten since he became transcendent. He looked around the battlefield but there was nothing to show that there was a battle. Even the des of grass had been restored. He looked around and sensed carefully to make sure he wasn''t being spied on. It''s not as if it will really help but his poor heart needed the assurance for him to say this.


    "I don''t even have a battlefield as a memento. This is just cruel."


    He sighed in relief when there was no response. He guessed the amount he paid should afford him the chance to be snarky.


    "It was an expensive battle but I don''t regret it one bit." He snickered when he thought about the earlier battle.


    "The ignorant fools thought they can stop me with a bunch of people and weapons. Well, now they know half of my name. Oh I forgot, they aren''t truly immortal so I get to introduce myself again." Heughed aloud.

 Chapter 94 Narrow Escape.

    ?Guntu could be considered as a vessel for destruction, a vessel that makes destruction sane. This sanity will make destruction act like a potent poison that will continue to replicate itself and spread. The only way to put him down is to overwhelm his tolerance for destruction. He isn''t omnipotent after all, he still has a limit to what he can do. Oveing his limit is a tall order because at his stage only world gods can one-shot him. As long as he absorbs destruction and propagates it he will be invincible and unstoppable. Once he reaches a certain level even world gods won''t want him to go out of control or else the aftermath will be a catastrophic disaster. He received amunication request from the Sovereigns he left behind.


    "They probably want to tell me to quit." He grumbled before epting the request.


    "Great ancestor we have good news." The joy in the voice of the Sovereign was evident.


    "Even more good news, great. What is it?" He couldn''t say no to more good news.


    "The war summons has been approved by the racial council. You have seeded. The era of the gods will end." Guntu could sense an infectious and fervent excitement from the speaker.


    "Good news indeed." Guntu became happier enough to alleviate the little dissatisfaction he had towards the realm lord. When news about the battle he had today spread to the masses, his mission as a pioneer will bepleted. He felt the inspiration start to flow. He felt proud to his very non-existent bones.


    "I''m not saying what I have done can bepared to the sages, but I should at least be awarded the qualification to start a heroic family by the racial council."


    Unfortunately, the person he is speaking to does not agree. "I don''t think so, great ancestor. The sages led us through battle after battle to finally clinch victory against our arch nemesis, only then were we able to live in peace and develop to be the overlord of the ne. Future generations will always remember their sacrifice and bravery. You on the other hand trampled some gods. I wasn''t there but I know it was easy."


    Guntu''s eyes twitched. Thatst statement was right. The worst part is that they won''t be the wreckage of the battlefield for him to show off. Everything around him had be destruction energy and they had been wiped away by Mother High Heaven. So maybe he won''t have as much renown as he initially thought. "Fine. You didn''t have to be so frank "


    "Anything for you, great ancestor."


    "Goodbye," Guntu said before cutting off the connection.


    "Belittling my battle achievement. Is this what the youth of today have be? I won''t mind it as a hero in the making. I am bigger than that." He muttered to himself.


    "Which direction should I take now?" He asked himself. He wanted to optimize his trip but he can''t scan too far because of the suppression of his divine sense.


    "She took my money but she didn''t give me freedom." He grumbled inwardly this time. One snarkyment might be allowed, two is just asking for a beating.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    If he were not suppressed so much, his divine sense will be able to spread to every nook of the ne. He grumbled some more about the unfair treatment of origin gods before choosing a random direction. He could check a map but there was no fun in that. So he resumed his journey to create what will be called by future historians the trail of destruction.


    The divine ne. After the first battle.


    Havok and panic reigned in the entire divine ne. The atmosphere that was serious, confident, and expectant had turned to despair. Above the divine city, d crumbling and falling apart into the void beyond the in. An emergency war council had been called, which the celestial god used to cate the few gods that remained for the war effort. The mortals were not the only ones panicking. A lot of gods did more than panic, they also gave up. If their chances of victory in the main ne were slim in the first ce, now it is just non-existent.


    Ode looked down below as the divine city was thrown into disarray. The confidence and faith that the worshippers had in their gods were dwindling. He was able to convince the gods that attended the war council to rally their forces in order to renew faith in them. It was easy to aplish because the ones that came were the ones that weren''t willing to give up their power. The rest had either given up after that battle or they had died. Yes, they died. It was the most shocking thing that happened due to their fast battle. It wasn''t the swift defeat, it was not the fact that the battle ended abruptly and that cloud of destruction just disappeared in a sh. No, it was the fact that gods that were supposed to be immortal died.


    The fact that they were steamrolled by an origin god was not surprising. Origin gods were so strong that the lower realm refused to allow them to throw their weight around. All the ns, conjectures, and traps all came to nothing in the face of overwhelming power. That kind of power is something only he could be capable of, maybe not so well done, so he wasn''t surprised that they lost so easily. He was just fearful because the Origin god did not use its domain.


    The impact of that first battle is far-reaching. All their years of preparation had gone to waste. The defensive walls that they built at the border were gone. Their precious troops with high-level strength were gone. The weapon cities and other massive weapons of war were gone. All that time, money, and effort in procuring them disappeared just like that, in a short burst of destruction.


    The gods had nned to shift the location of the siege to the main ne. They knew they were going to be wiped out if they were locked away in the divine ne. Only when they could properly defend themselves could they even consider the idea of a counterattack. That''s why they walled off the borders of their territory. The concentration of the bulk of their resources to a single point turned out to be a bad idea, a very bad and costly idea. But that''s just the surface cost of their defeat. It was only after the end of the battle that he realized the full extent of the damage they had incurred. All the gods that were involved in the battle in the form of avatars died. All of them, without any exception.


    Gods are very difficult to kill because of the system of avatars. Their avatars can release as much strength as their main body can in the same situation, and the gods will remain unharmed even if they lost their avatar. They may weaken slightly but they wouldn''t be in any danger of losing their lives. Their avatars are not strong in the main ne because their main bodies cannot produce strength on par with a transcendent because of nar suppression. That''s why they bought the golems that will serve as their vessels. They would be able to release greater strength as if they were in the divine ne. They didn''t invent the golems but acquired them from the ancient battlefield. It is one of the many benefits of interacting with other races from all over the realm of high heaven.


    They had nned to use the mechanism of the golems to plug the hole in their high-level troops but s, they were wrong. They thought that at most, they will lose money and troops if they lose the battle. They were very wrong. They lost their very lives. It was the first time they had experienced something like this, where the death of an avatar led to the death of the god.


    Ode watched as many divine kingdoms crumbled and scattered. Their Godhood fell to the main in like shooting stars.


    What hurts him the most is the irreceable strength he has lost. Weapons can be bought and troops can be conscripted. But Each dead god is equal to at least 10 avatars lost forever. A truly painful loss.


    The only silver lining from the mass death of the gods is that more gods will be created. Gods may die but their godhood will remain. Those free Godhood can be used to rece the deceased gods, they wouldn''t be up to par with their predecessors but it will have to do. It''s just that they may not have enough time to replenish the ranks of the gods with this method.


    He had wanted to join the battle but there was no golem that could contain his power. So he stayed up here and watched the battle. What he saw made him thankful that he hadn''t participated at all.

 Chapter 95 Not Truly Immortal.

    ?What they had faced in battle and what he narrowly missed was not a man. It was inevitable death and destruction. It brought with it peaceful oblivion and reminded them that they were not truly immortal. If even he, the Godking felt fear, then what about the others.


    Still, something had to be done about the origin god. It was out of his expectations that the firstbatant they will face is someone of that level.


    Usually, after the announcement to eliminate the path of Godhood is made by the racial council of a ne, the forces that will fight are at the transcendent level. Only whenplications arise will stronger forces be sent to suppress the gods. But this time around, the racial council didn''t announce anything but decided to catch them off guard with superior firepower.


    "It seems the racial council wants to get rid of us quickly and at all cost." Hemented.


    It was evident that they were not the only ones that came prepared. The gods prepared golems to help them fight in the main ne and the racial council prepared the apex of individual strength. That''s one advantage of the racial council, high-level strength, and they are using it right from the start. The blessings of the gods don''t have any attraction to those at the transcendent level and above, so they can''t match the racial council in that aspect. But to send an Origin god right from the start showed how dedicated to their cause the racial council is and made him wonder about what they considered a trump card if an Origin god isn''t one.


    The racial council might be determined but so is he. He wasn''t going to just lie down and be killed. He will fight back for his way.


    "Nothing to panic over yet. We still have many cards to y. We are not out of options yet. The gods have yet to be outyed." He repeated what he had said to the gods. He wasn''t sure he believed it but he had to encourage himself somehow.


    It was moments like this that he wished he had not suppressed the growth of other gods. A god can only grow to the level of a grand god with just faith and hard work. They will need to kill and absorb other grand gods withpatible domains to grow stronger and eventually be a celestial god.


    The number of domains one will need to advance varies from god to god. He had killed the grand god of war and the grand god of weapons and assimted their domains to evolve to the level of a celestial god. Some other gods will need just two while others will need even more. He was fortunate to be the first celestial god in the Virut pantheon and had used his power with the excuse of preventing chaos to suppress the growth of other grand gods. Now he isn''t so sure that he is fortunate to be the first Celestial god.


    It is true that wars between grand gods would have set the ne into turmoil because of divine wars. By suppressing the gods, he bought the gods time to prepare for war because the racial council would have cracked down on them if their war affected the main ne too much.


    But the period of grace and preparation turned out to be inadequate after he chose to sacrifice his progress. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to improve without the creation of another celestial god, but he was okay with it, until today. A new celestial god is an opportunity for him to grow stronger but it is also a threat to him. He had wanted to avoid the risk of losing the authority that came with being the supreme god of a Pantheon, now he wished there was another celestial god to bear the burden with him.


    It is because he is the Godking that he cannot give up and ept defeat. The Godking of the pantheon can only be the strongest celestial god in a Pantheon, ites with a lot of benefits and authority. It alsoes with the responsibility of safeguarding the divine ne at all costs.


    As he was ruminating on how to proceed with the war, he began to hear desperate pleas from his believers in the main in. He focused on the source of the pleas and his field of view changed with the effort.


    His vision descended to the location of the pleas and he was weed immediately with scenes of destruction. He had descended onto a statue of his within a church. The clergymen were praying and beseeching him.


    He directed his attention toward their source of terror. A silent ck hurricane was racing towards the city. The hurricane reached the skies and stood like a rotating pir of destruction. It left nothing behind it, not even debris from the destruction. There was arge trench left behind by the hurricane. He noticed that the hurricane was getting faster and bigger the more it destroyed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He knew what it was immediately. He could sense the aura of inevitable destruction from the hurricane, the same one he felt when the resistance forces were decimated like a child destroying a doll house.


    The aura was broadcasted beyond the range of the hurricane and it caused the people in the streets to freeze even before it reached the city. These people had given up because they felt at an instinctual level that there was no use resisting. Their end was inevitable and there was no escaping it.


    Only the people in the immediate vicinity of the temples could still move. This particr set of people chose to pray to their gods for help. That''s why he was here.


    The faces of the clergymen lit up when he descended. They were filled with joy and relief. They thought they would be safe from the imminent catastrophe. They would have been right if the opponent was someone or something else. He couldn''t help them. In fact, he had to make sure his avatar wouldn''t die here because he couldn''t guarantee his own life if that were to happen.


    The hurricane continued undeterred by his presence. It reached the city and there was no pause in its movement. It continued unabated and wiped out everything on its path to the temples. People died to it and properties crumbled just like the divine kingdom of the dead gods. It ran amok creating a path of destion in its wake until it was finally stopped by something.


    The protective barrier around his temple prevented the hurricane from going further, but it was straining to do so. Ode noticed the precarious situation and decided to empower the barrier himself. The barrier began to heal and strengthen, it seemed to have worked because the hurricane stopped making any progress.


    The people on the temple grounds saw this and started to thank their god for saving their life. This sight made Ode shake his head. He knew the fight wasn''t over. For some reason, the hurricane only had the power of a titan ofw, ridiculously lower than what it had used in the earlier battle. And yet he had needed to raise the durability of the shield to the sovereign level to stop the hurricane. The power was lower but the potency of the destructive energy contained within was still high.


    Ode knew it was a temporary fix but there was nothing he could safely do. There were other options but he was content with staying within the barrier. He doesn''t want to risking in contact with the destructive energy.


    "Tsk. Who dares to stand in the way of I, Guntu, the eye of destruction. Soon to be named the hero of the people." An angry voice came out from within the hurricane. The people behind the shield were shocked by the fact that the hurricane could talk.


    "Of course, it can talk. It is a sentient entity." Ode thought to himself.


    They simply thought it was a natural disaster or a cmity. In a way, they are right, but they are also wrong in so many ways.


    They didn''t even realize that they would have died right now had they been outside the barrier. That voice alone will damage anything that hears it. Most of the damage to the troops at the border was caused by the voice. It is the sound of the beckoning of destruction.


    As it is right now, it has wiped out every living thing in the city and it didn''t spare the non-living things either. Just like that, the capital city of the divine alliance disappeared from the world. Only the shielded temple remained and not for long if the force of destruction within the hurricane decides not to let up. And by the looks of things, the hurricane wouldn''t be content until thisst bastion is also removed.

 Chapter 96 When A God Needs A Miracle.

    ?"I am the GodKing of the Virut Pantheon, Ode the celestial." Ode shouted with an imposing voice. He might not have the confidence to fend off the attacker but he had to look the part. That''s what being a god is after all, who knows, maybe a miracle will ur.


    A chuckle rang out from the hurricane. "Finally, a big fish." The voice said again. Ode started to feel uneasy. He could feel a vague threat to his life. He became vignt and was ready to run at the first sight of an anomaly.


    "Stop right there. I am the God of all battles. And I decree that you shall not pass." Ode postured grandly.


    "Is that so? Your domain is irrelevant here. I am not here for a battle, I am just here to make trouble. But a battle is a side effect that I wee with open arms."


    "Why must we fight? You are a highly esteemed Origin god. What are you doing in this backwater ne? You deserve so much better. What will make you stay out of this war? I can help you achieve your goals if you simply state them. I''m sure that we cane to an arrangement." Ode tried hisst card in his bid to persuade Guntu to leave.


    The clergymen and believers within the shield looked like they had been struck by lightning. They could hear what they were talking about because the shield was preventing targeted mental transmissions. Only broadcasted messages could get past it and they couldn''t believe that their most powerful god was trying to lobby the opposition.


    It was a shameless act, but Ode didn''t care. As long as it would get Ghoto to stop participating in the war, he would do anything. He certainly didn''t care about the opinions of these weak people. If he fails in his negotiations all these people will die. They are just lucky ramble. What does their opinion matter?


    "Wait. Are you trying to bribe me?" Guntu asked in astonishment.


    "Yes. Yes, I am. Feel free to ask for anything." Ode maintained. He is the richest god on the ne and so he felt confident in bribing Guntu.


    "Just wait right there. The best way to talk to someone of equal standing is face to face. It is a sign of respect." Guntu said with a serious voice as if he was really considering the option. Meanwhile, he was snickering to himself.


    ''Is this stupid god serious?'' he thought to himself. Why would he ept a bribe not to fight? He is stuck here in the ne for the next foreseeable future and the gods are his ythings.


    If he did ept the bribe, it would be the best method to get rid of him. But that''s going to be a rather tall order because he doesn''tck money. The 100 beads of origin essence he spent for bail would have been able to hire the most expensive assassin to kill a celestial god ten times over. Normal origin gods cannot fork out that amount just for a fight in the lower ne. He is not a normal origin god, even if hecked money he still won''t ept the bribe. He would rather fight and will certainly appreciate it if they bring another army for him to knock around. He will take his time ying with them this time around.


    People whose lifespan is still bound by time are exceptionally susceptible to his voice of destruction. Those people are going to die anyway, his voice only acts as the catalyst and brings that inevitable end forward. Only origin gods and divine gods can resist his voice of destruction because they have the privilege of eternal life. But divine gods can only put up a longer resistance, they will still fall if he uses his weakest technique, the ring of destruction. Only origin gods and celestial gods can make him bring out his domain, and that is if the opponent is truly powerful.


    Guntu became excited that a celestial god had finally shown up. Could the celestial god make him get serious? He was looking forward to the fight but the shield was blocking his path. How would they fight if the shield remained? The shield had to go. So he examined the shield.


    ''This is troublesome.'' Heined. The shield had no weakness he could exploit. He had to bring it down with brute force. But he was trying to limit his strength so that he wouldn''t go off the rails and damage the ne again. He did not n to have another encounter with the will of the realm, not so soon after she just bleed him. The suppression of the ne had also removed his control of the world. If he had it, he would have just made everything turn to ash with a single thought. Actual effort on his side is something that only origin gods deserve. But now he had to put in conscious effort to limit his power. It was a hassle, but not too much. Besides, it will only make their fight worth it if he has to work for it.


    "No other option then." He said before ncing around like a thief. He was about to do something potentially criminal. The hurricane began to slowly condense. Too fast and it might rip the spatial barrier of the ne. It didn''t stop shrinking until it became a tiny ball the size of a peanut.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Just a little bit." He thought to himself as the tiny ball approached the shield. The shield offered no resistance at all and the ball prated it. The ball left a trail of cracks in the fabric of reality. Guntu watched the crack carefully and made sure they were not expanding. It was only until the cracks healed and disappeared that he breathe a sigh of relief.


    "That was close," Guntu said. Then he turned his attention to the celestial god. He was ready to fight. Only, there was no celestial god.


    "Huh, where is the so-called God King?" He muttered. Then he scanned his surrounding but he still couldn''t find any god.


    "He ran? What kind of God King runs?" Guntu was incredulous and angry.


    He shouted. "To think I risked destroying the ne for you. I''ll being for you. Ode is it. You have not seen thest of me. You have not seen thest of Guntu, soon to be called the hero of the people."


    His voice reverberated and leveled the ground for miles around him. The clouds in the sky also dispersed and sunlight showed onto the ground revealing the deste surface.


    He would have gone to fight the God King in the divine ne, but he was afraid of being trapped. He was a trouble maker, not a fool. He never paid attention to the gods of the ne until recently so he doesn''t know how many heavy hitters they have. If rushes blindly into the divine ne and is ambushed, he might die and that will mean an automatic failure of his mission to protect Hadrick. Ancestor Ghastorix will have his hide. It is not the death that scares him but the consequence of failing his mission.


    He grunted and gave up on the thought of immediate retribution for his blemished pride. Instead, he turned into his hurricane ground the formal location of the temple for good measure. Then he continued his trail of destruction.


    Divine ne. The divine kingdom of God King Ode. The supreme of the Pantheon.


    Ode''s eyes widened as soon as he saw the hurricane condensing. He could feel the threat to his life rising rapidly. He chose to deactivate his avatar immediately. He might not have known how but he knew he would die unfailingly if that ball touched him.


    He made a decision there and then, and called the gods for another urgent council meeting.


    Ode went straight to the point when the gods had gathered.


    "We have to increase our strength to weather this storm. So I have decided to bring back divine battles to create more celestial gods."


    His deration surprised the gods and it led to various emotions within them. They all had different thoughts in their minds. Some felt that Ode was being magnanimous and he was considering the greater good of the gods. Others felt he was a wise leader to allow the risk to his position just for the big picture. But some others felt that Ode wanted to create more celestial gods so that he can kill them and absorb them to grow stronger.


    "Truly farsighted, god King Ode. You are the best leader we could ask for." No matter what they felt or thought, Ode was still the GodKing, so they didn''t dare say anything negative. They kept their thoughts to themselves and didn''t voice their suspicions. Especially not during this precarious time of war. Every help they could get is weed.

 Chapter 97 Vitality Core Formation Stage.

    ?Ode watched the reaction of the gods impassively. He did not care about their opinion concerning his decree. He must have support and there''s nothing they can do to stop it. Maybe a miracle will happen and a celestial god with a solution will appear. Even if there''s a unanimous disagreement against his decree, all he has to do is stop policing the gods. The greedy ones will initiate the battles themselves. But he doesn''t want that. More chaos will be counterproductive and wasteful of their limited manpower. Divine wars between grand gods will spread to high, mid, and low gods as they chose sides. That means there has to be modtion to prevent unnecessary deaths.


    "To reduce chaos and unrest. All interested Grand gods have to apply to me. Only when it is approved by me will a letter of challenge be sent out. The challenged god will have a period of a day to choose to agree and do battle or refuse and opt to fall. There is no other option. I will not allow random fighting. If the challenge is epted, then they will fight right here in the colosseum. Any questions." His stern voice rippled with power.


    The grand gods that used to have nothing to do began to prepare with confidence or fear for their lives. The ambitious ones felt it was a weed change while the satisfied ones felt like it would divide them. Either way, they all knew that they could not loiter about doing anything anymore. Some of the less courageous ones decided to give up there and then. Better to risk the fall from grace than to die to make another grand god more powerful.


    The inner city of the ancestral home of the Ghastorix family.


    The war summons and its consequences had not affected the inner city much. In fact, the war was not taken seriously. The higher-ups considered it the pastime activity of a great ancestor of theirs while those below considered it an opportunity to show off or disy their strength. A war that will change the course of history in the ne became something of a carnival.


    The people of the great families and royal bloodlines believed that the war was going to end with only one oue. It was just a matter of time and they weren''t going to lose. They decided to use the short time they had to contribute to the war effort before stronger forces move in and end the war. The Virut ne had been experiencing peace for a long time, not many had experienced war and they had long lifespans. They didn''t know that a very strong force is already stirring up trouble within enemy lines.


    Some people didn''t even know they were at war with the gods. Nothing changed for them, not even the price of goods and services. They heard talks of it but they considered it rumors. War had be a distant concept to them.


    While the entire ne had been set into aid turmoil, Soverick''s world had not changed much. It had been a week since hest spoke with Hadrick, his vitality core was just about to bepleted. The size was big enough that the vitality core was beginning to stress his system. It seemed he had underestimated the cost of creating thergest core possible without the advantage of the innate mana affinity of a high elf. He doubted he would have been able to reach this final step without the life essence he swindled out of Hadrick.


    Even with all the assistance he had, his body seemed bent on rejecting the strange organ. In a normal situation, the rejection will be minimal and the body will be able to safely amodate the new organ. But in his case, he felt actual pain from the rejection process. It was why he was currently sweating buckets. His body was shaking and running a high fever but he couldn''t rx one bit or all his efforts will be for naught. He realized that if he had taken things slowly, his body would have gotten some time to adjust and the rejection wouldn''t be this serious.


    "I me Ghoto for rushing me. I me the realm lord for being too talented." Heined. Ghoto and Mih wanted him to create his vitality core as soon as possible but it was the influence of the realm lord that made him indulge their wish. He wouldn''t have listened to them otherwise, because he knows better than them.


    "I could have taken things slowly but no. I want to catch up to the realm lord instead. Now, look at me. Even my main body is still a far distance away from bing a world god. I can only hope the realm lord fails his breakthrough but what are the odds of that happening?" He droned on and on to distract himself from the pain.


    His door rang but he ignored it. It was probably Ghoto again trying to check up on him again. There was no way he would open the door and expose his current situation to that overacting man. He chose instead to concentrate and pull through thest steps.


    A few minutester the vitality core formed. Its formation was then apanied by a burst of vitality. It was like he stopped carrying a heavy load and got into a rxing hot spring. His shaking stopped and his fever began to cool. He felt his body be full of energy and vitality. It was like he could run forever.


    "Finally," Soverick eximed. He moved his body about and realized it became easier to move. A thorough examination of his body showed that he will have a lesser problem with stamina.


    The body is a miraculous thing. The increase intent vitality within the cells will increase their activity, healing, stamina limit, and stamina recovery. The most important change is the rxation of the upper strength limit of the body. In the body strengthening stage, the strength and durability of the body have been developed to the maximum limit that vitality-based life forms can reach, but the body cannot utilize this full strength. This limit is there for the safety of the body, it will only be removedpletely when the mana body is achieved.


    "Wow, what incredible vitality." Hadrick voice intruded without warning. Soverick didn''t mind it because Hadrick was everywhere. The entire city was built for him and around him.


    "It is nice of you to show up here." Soverick greeted him.


    "Are you a tree? You feel like a tree. Is that what is special about you? No, that can''t be right. I was there at your birth. Trees don''te out that way."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Howe you are out of your shell? I thought you would turtle up to preserve your life. An attack can happen at any time." Soverick decided to poke some fun out of the ancient tree while exercising.


    "Not funny. I am a tree. I don''t have a shell. Trees don''t have shells. But you have a point there. I should get a shell. Why haven''t I thought about that? You are simply genius Soverick."


    Soverick rolled his eyes. "No need for thanks. Isn''t the inner city your shell? What about the entire city? You don''t need an extra shell."


    "You are mistaken. They are my shields. It is different from a shell." Hadrick tried to set him straight.


    "Whatever you say, you are the expert on cowardice after all."


    Hadrick was not impressed. "Still not funny. But I won''t forget your contributions."


    "What contributions?"


    "Your warning about my safety. It showed how much you care about me. You shall be rewarded for your reminder."


    "Great." Soverick perked up immediately. The part about a reward piqued his interest. He couldn''t look down on a reward from a family like the Ghastorix with a long history and multiple origin gods.


    "What do I get?" Soverick asked with expectation.


    "You are in luck because I''m feeling very magnanimous today. You reduced some of it with your earlier snidements. Still, I give you a promise to protect you as long as you are in this city." Hadrick spoke with pride.


    "What use is that? You can''t even protect yourself in this city."


    Hadrick thought about it for a while before conceding. "How about this? I will protect you from threats up to the level of Sovereigns as long as you are in the city. I will also throw in a talisman made from my leaf that can teleport you from anywhere within this ne to the forest below the city. Cool right?"


    "Not cool enough." Soverick shook his head.


    "What do you want then?" Hadrick asked.


    "For a start. I want all of that and some more tangible benefits. Like weapons, first-ss treatment in the city, and library ess. I want ess to secret archives and skills, Origin weapons. You know, the really good stuff." Soverick began to list what he wanted. He asked for items that will make even a behemoth like the Ghastorix family feel the pinch.

 Chapter 98 Greed Is Better Than Cowardice.

    ?"You are a greedy person, you know that?" Hadrick''s tone became grave.


    "It''s your fault for asking me what I wanted. I want a lot of things. What can you give me then?" Soverick asked, unbothered by Hadrick''s outburst. He was greedy and he knew it. He didn''t think it was a bad trait to have. It certainly is better than cowardice. But he didn''t say that. Best not to agitate the giver of gifts.


    "My promise still stands. I''ll add the talisman but you have to choose between a mid-grade origin weapon or unrestricted ess to the normal family library." Hadrick didn''t think much about Origin weapons or the information within the library. He is older than ten thousand origin cycles, so some things have lost their value to it, but that didn''t mean it would give everything to Soverick. No matter how much it valued its life, it was too much as a reward for a tip.


    Soverick fell into a pickle. The talisman wille in handy when faced with threats he can''t handle. He will be able to escape readily. The use of power above his current level will require him to pay a price that might damage his body''s potential so a way to avoid that is always weed. But he wanted to have the weapon and the library ess. An origin weapon is a game changer for those at the level of transcendents and above. In the era of the transcendents, there was no weapon that could hurt transcendents. They were considered immune to everything but origin energy. That was until the discovery of origin weapons. The value of Origin weapons cannot be understated. They are very difficult to make and it can make a lord equipped with one be able to kill a king without one. Ghoto has a low-grade one while Mih has a mid-grade one. Even he had only two high-grade ones when he was a sovereign. But if he selected this option he wouldn''t be able to make use of it immediately. He still has some ways before he achieves transcendence.


    The other option for library ess is also good, knowledge is power after all. If he selected this option, he would be able to gain an immediate understanding that wille in handy in various situations. It is just that only the normal library will be opened to him not the secret archives. The knowledge that can be found in the normal library might be useful or not, but it certainly isn''t important enough to hide it. If the Ghastorix family decided not to hide it, then maybe he shouldn''t bother with it. He ruminated for a while before making his choice.


    "How about you get someone to teach me how to make origin weapons?" Soverick said.


    "That is easy to do. I can teach you how to make Origin weapons. It seems you have a conscience after all." Hadrick said with appreciation.


    Soverick shook his head. It wasn''t that he reduced the value of what he wanted. He just wanted guaranteed useful knowledge and an Origin weapon. So why not learn how to make his Origin weapons. He knew that Hadrick was ancient and must know a lot of things. The odds are that Hadrick also knows a lot of secret knowledge and will be willing to divulge them as long as he asks him. Hadrick likes to talk after all. So he decided to eat his cake and have it by taking advantage of Hadrick.


    "You can make origin weapons?" Soverick feigned surprise.


    "Of course. I dare to say that I am the best Rune master in the entire ne. I can even make top-grade origin weapons. I can teach even a door knob to make origin weapons, as long as the doorknob is transcendent and knows how to forge the best mana weapons." Hadrick spoke proudly.


    Soverick became appalled. The creation of top-grade origin weapons was not a small thing. It would cause a storm among origin gods if they found out. A lot of them will be willing to kidnap the creator at all costs. A bunch of Origin gods is currently hunting legion one for his body has material for top-grade Origin weapon. Even world gods will be tempted to secure a creator of one. The racial council might prevent nar invasions and outright battles within the ne, but other insidious methods can be used.


    He chose to keep quiet and decided against warning Hadrick about bragging about such a thing. Mother High Heaven only knows how he will react to such a thing. Hisst warning brought him a reward, he would digest that first before trying to get another one. He might lose this one in an attempt to get more rewards. Hadrick is already considering the idea of a shell. He might just lock himself away if he finds out that he is in more danger. He decided to shift the conversation.


    "That must be a very talented door knob. Able to be a transcendent even without a bloodline." Soverick voice dripped with sarcasm.


    "Of course, it must be. I don''t discriminate against the person who wants to learn. That''s just how I am, I don''t care about the background. As long as they have talent, I''ll teach them. Only talent moves me."


    "Sure."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You must also prove your talent first before I teach you. I will get someone to teach you the rudimentary of runic weapon creation."


    "Fine." Soverick agreed. He wouldn''t be able to learn how to create Origin weapons without having the strength of a transcendent anyway. That level is the minimum requirement. Learning how to create mana weapons will give him something constructive to do while he is still growing.


    "When will I receive the first half of our agreement?" Soverick asked.


    "The promise of safety starts now and someone will bring the talisman over. You will learn other weapon creation techniques first before I can teach you how to make Origin weapon. It shouldn''t take you a long time to reach transcendence with how many elemental affinities you have, it is a simple matter. Whates after that is a serious matter. Are you going to drop some of your talents?"


    "Maybe. It will depend on what I face when I reach that level. There''s no need to worry about that for now." Soverick shook his head. He would like to have a choice in the matter, but his path is already set in stone. What others didn''t know was that his divine ability is the main root of his problem, not his bloodline.


    "What was the family''s response to your demand for safety?" Soverick asked. He was curious about the impact of his warning and he wanted to know how important the family views Hadrick. Their response will determine their stance towards any threat to Hadrick. He would also be able to decide if he should limit his extortion of the ancient tree.


    "Thanks to your warning, my partner realized this was a dangerous period for me. He can''t risk a fight right now so he sent two Origin gods for my protection. More sovereigns are on the way though." Hadrick replied.


    Soverick was skeptical. He expected more since Hadrick is the partner of their ancestor. "They sent just two origin gods? What use are more sovereigns?"


    "I know your doubt. One of the Origin gods is a new one. He became one about 3 origin cycles ago. He hasn''t grown stronger because he has to stay behind in the lower realm to protect the family. The other one can only be said to be near unbeatable by any origin god. Even the realm lord couldn''t beat him." Hadrick was practically beaming with pride. Soverick could feel it from across their mindmunication.


    "Is that true? The realm lord can''t beat him? Then he must be very strong." Soverick was impressed. Someone that can fight off the incredibly talented realm lord must be a very extraordinary person.


    Hadrick seemed to cough or whatever trees do when they are ufortable. "I said couldn''t. The fight urred 30 origin cycles ago. Things have changed since then. The realm lord is about to be a world god while this person is still stuck. The realm lord also didn''t use the power of the realm either."


    "Right." Soverick understood that the fight was just a spar. If the realm lord had used the power of the realm, then only world gods can resist. "But that is still impressive. To have fought the realm lord and bested him. Very few can im that. It is even more impressive that someone like that was sent to protect you."


    Hadrick exined, "He happened to be in the lower realm and he owes me a lot of money. Maybe it is impressive, or maybe it is shameful to be surpassed by someone ten times younger than you and even worse, when you could beat that person in the past."

 Chapter 99 A Flaw That Is A Boon.

    ?"It is not shameful to be surpassed by the realm lord. You are influential for someone like that to owe you money." Soverick was bing more and more impressed with Hadrick. He realized he shouldn''t take Hadrick for granted or he might regret it. He also realized how difficult it will be to catch up to the realm lord. He would have to overtake all the powerful people that the realm lord overtook.


    "He was a troublesome child when he was younger. I had to pay for the damages that he caused. He owes me big time. If not for his immortality, I would have owned him forever. Too bad that he has had a lot of time to pay be off."


    Soverick shook his head in wonder. He could only imagine how much damage someone will have caused to make them so indebted to Hadrick that it took the powers and longevity of an Origin god to repay it.


    "It is also the major reason why he hasn''t progressed much, he gets into a lot of trouble and wastes his resources getting out of them. Anyways I have to go. Do you need more life energy?"


    "Not for now. I''ll call you when I need it." Soverick thought about it before declining. He didn''t need it, certainly not enough to bother someone that can call in favors from Origin gods about it. That''s why he made arge Vitality Core so that he wouldn''t need an external source of vitality. His vitality core will be enough for him, albeit slower.


    "Before I go, I have some news for you.


    The little transcendent at the family affairs ratted you out to all the heads of departments of the family."


    "What?" Soverick faltered in his routine. He expected that the news about his talent would get out eventually but he didn''t expect it would be actively broadcasted. He was upset by the breach of trust but he wasn''t afraid ofing to harm. He was friends with a big shot of the family after all.


    "Is that even allowed?" He asked Hadrick, the big shot.


    "He only did it to drum up support for you. He thought it would be a shame if your talents went to waste. It''s your fault for being so talented."


    Soverick thought about his so-called talent. It was just a result of the special arrangements of thew fragments within his bloodline. He was honestly proud of the creation of his bloodline. The talent is just the side effect of the development of his bloodline, the main treasure is his divine ability. He had been holding up on using it till he acquired a mana body. It was simply too strong for his current body. The divine ability damages his soul every time he uses it. If he didn''t have such a powerful soul, one that is capable of healing, he would be screwed. Then again, if his soul wasn''t that powerful he wouldn''t have been able to create such a powerful divine ability.


    So Soverick shrugged. "What had happened as happened. There''s no use moping about it. There''s nothing to fear anyways since you''ve promised to protect me."


    "What do you take our family for? The Ghastorix people are not a conniving bunch and we don''t like betrayers. No one from the family will conspire against you."


    "I wasn''t referring to threats from the family."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Alright then. Also, we are at war with the gods." Hadrick said nonchntly.


    "What do you mean at war with the gods? How did it happen? Is it against the family?" Soverick was startled. He didn''t have any information about any strife brewing between the gods and the Ghastorix family.


    "It''s just a thing my protector is doing to kill his boredom. The racial council decided to pile on and end the era of the gods." Hadrick exined as if it was amon event.


    "Well, that''s not good for the gods." Soverick was amused by their predicament. The gods had no chance of winning against just the Ghastorix family. The ancestor of the Ghastorix family doesn''t even need to move for legions of Origin gods to set the divine ne ame. And from what he had heard, Ghastorix himself should be able to take down the gods singlehandedly. No matter how powerful gods get, they cannot reach the level of a world god. That means they can''t handle someone that''s about to be a world god or may very well be one.


    The information about the war made Soverick think about the history of the High Elves. The High elves never had a problem with gods. Their ancestral trees were their gods and also their protectors. Others know their ancestral trees to be called the Life trees, but they are in factnded gods. Landed gods don''t need a divine kingdom and can survive without the divine ne. Anyone foolish enough to covet the authority of the ancestral tree was swiftly eliminated.


    The thought of life trees gave Soverick an idea. Hadrick has a unique talent for energy conversion and he began to wonder if he could convert it into a Life tree or another unique life form.


    "See, if you can get me some Godhood. I have something to do with it. It is best if it is in the nt or nature domain.


    "Okay, bye then," Hadrick said before his presence disappeared.


    The ancient tree might still be watching but hisck of presence indicated that Hadrick didn''t wish to speak or most of its attention is on something else. Soverick had already resigned himself to the constant spying. So he turned to the problem of his refinement. He had nned to wait a bit before he made more progress on his path of refinement in order to seem normal, but he isn''t willing to waste the time pretending to be something he wasn''t while the realm lord continued to make progress.


    There are two paths necessary for transcendence. The path of the body and the path of the soul. Without reaching the apex in both of them, one will never have the chance to break the limit on individual strength. The beginning of the path of the body is the body forging stage, which is followed by the vitality core stage. The vitality core stage involves limating the vitality core to pure mana. The vitality core is supposed to convert mana to vitality, but this transformation is not without wastage. This w in the vitality core is why the vitality it produces isn''t pure, there is a thin mixture of mana in it. It is considered a w in the body system of those that can''t utilize mana for metabolism. Their cells had refused to evolve at the body forging stage because they refused to ept mana. But this w is the link to reaching the next stage of refinement. The mana within the vitality will increase the chances of the cells making the switch to it.


    The vitality stage aims to develop this w and increase the percentage of mana in the vitality product. This pumps the body cells full of an increasing amount of mana to force them to adapt to it. Only when the body cells adapt to mana can the next stage in evolution be achieved, the mana body. If the cells refuse to use the mana in the air, in their food, and in their surroundings, maybe they will use it when it is brought right next to them through the blood.


    In the process of increasing the w, the vitality core is exposed to more and more mana until it crystalizes to form the mana core if the cells of the body allow it. The vitality core is an organ that is limated to mana already so it is easy to increase the w. What isn''t easy to achieve is making the body limate to mana and the cells to allow the crystalization. In severe cases, the body cells still won''t evolve even when the ratio of mana to vitality is enough to burst them. The cells can''t be forced to make the switch, only time and a high percentage of mana in the body can be relied upon. You can force mana on them, but you can force them to use it. That''s why progress to the next stage is difficult to determine for those without a royal bloodline. It can be a short while or a long period of years to aplish. It is as they say, you can force an animal to water, but you can''t force it to drink.


    For those with a royal bloodline, their cells don''t need limation. They only need to increase the ratio of mana to vitality in the vitality core to crystalize it. Then they will break through seamlessly. It is another advantage of a royal bloodline. The bloodline will not even need to force the cells to use mana because it has been creating cells that can already use it.

 Chapter 100 Whats Up With The Status Screen (Sneak Peek).

    ?The other path is the path of the soul. This path is very difficult to start both for those with and without a bloodline. The soul is more resistant to changes than the body. There are a few things that can expedite the activation of the first stage, the soul awakening stage. The soul needs to break the cocoon of the body and extend its sphere of influence to areas beyond the body. This sphere of influence is what is known as the divine sense or soul sense. It is very difficult to achieve and the difficulty is exasperated by the strengthening of the body through body forging.


    The soul is nourished because when it awakens, you will be able to manipte ambient mana and cast spells. It is why in the days of old those on the path of the soul are called magicians, wizards, spellcasters, mages, etc. They would be able to actively control mana to cast spells with their divine sense. Mages of old discovered that the process of soul awakening can be quickened with the umtion of knowledge and experience. Knowledge and experience serve as nourishment for the soul. Some special materials can nourish the soul but are expensive and difficult to use safely.


    Those on the path of the soul also don''t train their bodies so that it won''t inhibit their soul prowess. The body is like a vessel for the soul but the stronger it is, the more restrictive it is on the awakening of the soul. A strong body leads to a strong soul but it makes it more difficult for the soul to awaken and extend its influence outside the body. Those that train their bodies exclusively are called warriors.


    The path of the body makes the vitality in the body exuberant which increases lifespan. For example, normal battle sage monkeys without any form of training have an average life span of 50 years. Those that reach the peak of body forging gain extra 20 years. Breaking through to the vitality core stage will raise the limit to 200. The lifespan granted is not fixed but depends on the extra amount of vitality acquired. The awakening of the soul will double that amount. This is because the rate of deterioration of cells or the aging process will drastically reduce. So there is an advantage tobining both the path of the soul early on till it culminates in transcendence. It is just that it is too difficult to achieve.


    That''s for normal battle sage monkeys. Those with awakened royal bloodlines have a lot of inherited memories that enrich their soul with knowledge, instinct, and experience. It is just that the automatic forging of their body by their bloodline dys their soul awakening but they still have an advantage. Unlike those without bloodlines who don''t have any confidence whatever concerning their soul awakening, those with bloodlines can be sure that it will ur sometime after their vitality core is formed. It is because as their body grows due to the bloodline, so does the soul. When the body stops growing in the vitality core stage, it will give the soul time to catch up and awaken.


    Soverick doesn''t have that problem. His soul has long awakened. The strength of his soul is kept directly proportional to the strength of his body. His soul is too strong for his body so his body cannot limit its awakening. But the amount of strength his soul can express is limited by the amount his body can sustain without damage. The good news is that because he had created a big vitality core, his body will continue to grow stronger to catch up to its potential and capacity. It is a situation that those with a normal vitality core will not get to enjoy.


    He would have preferred toy low for while after forming his core but the reminder of how the realm lord left someone that he couldn''t beat behind in only 30 origin cycles made him realize he had to continue growing. 30 origin cycles are like 30 years to origin gods and it is unbelievable that someone could make the leap to the next stage in that short period. He had spent 4 origin cycles in meditation to create the beads of origin essence he need for his reincarnation n. It felt like he slept and woke up 4 origin cyclester. Countless people had grown old and died in that period of a short nap. He had to utilize all his advantage to develop or it wouldn''t matter that he had the advantages in the first ce.


    All he had to do now is gently resonate his soul with his body. Their synchronization will ensure his divine sense will be within the safe limits of his body.


    He stopped his physical exercise to do that. It took him five seconds before a weak divine sense swept out from him. It stopped after reaching about 20m away from him. Then he heard a small popping sound and a screen appeared in front of him.


    The Status screen finally appeared.


    NAME: Soverick Ghastorix (Legion-2)


    RACE: Battle Sage Monkey


    BLOODLINE: Unknown Royal bloodline


    POWER LEVEL (BODY): Vitality Core (1% Conversion)


    POWER LEVEL (SOUL): Soul Awakening


    PHYSIQUE: Body ofw(Iplete)


    HP: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    ENERGY LEVEL (BODY ): Vitality


    ENERGY LEVEL (SOUL): Mental Energy


    VITALITY: 500


    ENDURANCE: 47<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    STRENGTH: 37


    AGILITY: 52


    PERCEPTION: 1,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 200


    LIMITER (BODY):55%


    LIMITER (SOUL):0.0000002%


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 20(A)


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 55%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): FIRE (DIVINE), WATER (DIVINE), AIR (DIVINE), EARTH (DIVINE), LIGHT (DIVINE), DARKNESS (DIVINE), SPACE (DIVINE), TIME (DIVINE), CAUSALITY (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Healthy


    Anytime an inhabitant of the realm of high heavenpletes the first two steps of refinement, the status screen will appear. Its origin is mysterious and even with his powerful soul, he couldn''t track the source of the phenomenon. It seemed like it simply appeared out of nowhere. Thankfully he knew what was up with it now. Another legion has made surprising progress in revealing the mysteries of the system. The system might look like it just showed up, but it has secretlytched on for some time unknown. The knowledge that Legion unearthed made soverick dread the realm lord even more. ''The realm lord is a very ambitious man, I must also be ambitious if I aim to reach the peak too.''


    The existence of the realm has shed light on what lies at the end of possibility. Some things that have been considered impossible to achieve have been debunked by the realm lord and have be possible. If one cannot achieve these new possibilities then one can give up on venturing into the unknown and achieve the impossible.


    He doesn''t appreciate the Status no matter how handy it is. He doesn''t know how it works but he knows it is a tool for the realm lord to be stronger and he doesn''t want to be part of that. If he had the power, he would remove the status screen but there is nothing he could do about it. He resigned his fate to enduring its presence just like he decided to do with Hadrick''s spying.


    He looked at the status screen and noticed some changes. Since his body and soul haven''t fused yet, he currently possesses two sources of power based on the two paths of refinement. Hence the two types of power and energy level. His race has changed, and so has his bloodline. The progress of the conversion of his Vitality core is also shown. 1% is a veryrge amount of progress for someone that just broke through. The high amount is due to his iplete body ofw. It will hasten his conversion rate.


    To change theposition of an organ by just 1% can lead to a detrimental change in its mode of operation and lead to its subsequent shutdown. Thankfully, the vitality core is tolerant to mana infusion. In those without the advantage of a bloodline, the percentage of progress has to be increased steadily and constantly reinforced or they will lose their progress. The body will try to repress such a w in its system if training is neglected. Even for him, the difficulty of increasing the conversation rate will be more difficult.


    His vitality is through the roof for his stage but it is his perception that is rming. The normal value for someone in the vitality core ranges from 150 to 200. The high value of his Vitality stat can be attributed to therge size of his core.


    His perception on the other hand is even higher than when he was a sovereign. It is because he used to be an origin god.


    He smiled and said, "Looks like I have a huge advantage."


    It is because of this advantage that he was able to destroy the mana array that they ced in his former room without Ghoto noticing. Soverick''s perception is much too high than Ghoto''s, so Ghoto''s senses could be easily deceived.

 Chapter 101 All For One.

    ?He knew he still had an advantage in his perception but he didn''t know how much. Now he knows the limit of what he can aplish.


    Next is the new LIMITER stat. The limit on his body is like a safety lock ced there by his subconscious to protect his body. It will limit how much of his physical capabilities he can use. He can remove it, but there hasn''t been a reason to. Then there''s the limit on his soul power which he ced there by himself so that his body won''t explode. That''s why his spirit stat is just at the limit of his stage.


    His body might have a limit on how much of his soul power it can handle but it cannot inhibit its inherent calcting and sensing abilities. That''s why his perception is still high. The radius of his divine sense has been reduced to 20 units because of that limit but nothing can escape his notice within this small sphere of influence. His sensing abilities might not rival an origin god but no sovereign canpare to it.


    While he hated the sight of the status screen, he must admit that the information it provides will be a great help in keeping track of his growth.


    ''Too bad I''m not the only one tracking my growth.'' He grumbled.


    It is just a sore thing that the realm lord will also be able to keep track of his growth.


    What the realm lord does with the information is unknown to him currently but he knows that the realm lord will not be able to harm him with it.


    He stopped thinking about that currently unsolvable issue and began to n his future growth. The thought of his current potential filled him with anticipation. He knew he would be even stronger than when he was a sovereign. Some things arecking in his current life aspared to his former one as a High Elf, but all in all, he has a greater potential. He wascking in the physical aspect as a sovereign ofw, but his spiritual prowess was astounding. He may have lost the assistance of thews heprehended but he will do better still. He aims to build upon his current potential and shore up all of his weaknesses. The first step on that agenda is to attend the training academy. It will help him fix the problem of poor physical capabilities.


    He acknowledges that he has subpar closebat fighting ability because he focused on the power of his mind in his past life. Even though closebat skill bes an instinct for an Origin god, he needs to shore up his knowledge in that aspect because he is not an Origin god anymore. The battle sage monkeys are a warrior race at their core, it is what they focus on. High Elves on the other hand have an advantage in using their minds and in the creation of spells due to their high mana affinity, so they focus on it. He doesn''t have his High Mana affinity anymore. Battle sage have an advantage in closebat fighting because of their divine ability. It allows them to possess an absurd control of their bodies due to their gift of spatial awareness. So they will be the best teachers for him.


    He also intends to focus on closebat fighting because of his divine ability. He has already mastered the use of spells anyway, so there is no use wasting time on that.


    He unlocked his door and went straight for the living room. He intends to inform them of his progress so that he can start his next phase of training immediately.


    Mih and Ghoto will probably be there cuddling if they are avable. They have been doing that recently like some love-sick idiots. Ghoto still has the potential to grow unlike Mih, but he isn''t training as much because he wants to spend time with his partner. He can afford to waste this much time because of his long lifespan. Soverick isn''t as old as them and yet he is rushing to aplish greater things. It''s another difference between him and normal people. They aim to achieve eternity at most and they believe they have the time for it. He knows that reaching eternity isn''t the end of things.


    Another thing he got from the tower of heaven is information from the realm library. One of which is that the universe has already spent more than two-thirds of its conservative lifespan. Bing an Origin god might be able to ensure survival but you won''t be able to join in the distribution of spoils when the universe ends. He doesn''t n to be an onlooker when that happens. He might not know what the spoils are exactly but he knows with utmost certainty that the realm lord knows. He just has to follow in the steps of the realm lord and he wille across it too. But he has to be strong enough to catch up to the realm lord.


    He knows a lot of things but he wouldn''t breathe a word of it to anyone. Apart from the fact that talking about it to anyone will make the realm lord aware of it and his ns, he is a selfish person. If he has his way he would like to keep all the spoils for himself, so why will he help more people have a share in it? The fewer people know about it, the better. And yes, he is willing to sacrifice anybody to make it happen. Anybody.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The realm lord is the most impressive person he knows and if such a person still cannot have his way with the universe or seat at the highest table of it, then Legion must be ready to overtake even the realm lord. Nothing less will be good enough. No one is too much to be sacrificed for that purpose. Even Soverick is willing to be sacrificed for the greater good of Legion.


    ''The realm lord was able to be a Sovereign in less than an origin cycle, the same amount of time it takes some people to be transcendent. Then he became an Origin god in two cycles bypleting a requirement meant for Origin gods and he was crowned realm lord for it.''


    Many people knew how impressive these achievements are, but the knowledge he acquired helped him understand that it is near impossible to be replicated. But if one person cannot do it, what about nine? That''s what Legion is. The strength of the many for the purpose of the one. That''s why he must face the immense difficulty of his divine ability, ovee it or die trying. Anything less than record-breaking is not good enough.


    He reached the central room and walked in to find Ghoto scowling.


    ''At least they are not cuddling. Everyone wants different things. They might be entitled to having their wishes but if those wishes are right or wrong is another matter.'' Soverick thought to himself.


    Mih has given up on going forward because of the daunting task she needs to ovee. It is a wise choice considering her chances of sess. Ghoto on the other hand still has a chance but he is discouraged because of the prospect of losing his wife. In Soverick''s opinion, love has made Ghoto stupid. But Soverick understands that that is just his perspective on the matter and he might be wrong too.


    His parents may be content with spending their time together instead of spending their time growing stronger. It is their choice and they will probably still be content with it if they know that the world is ending soon. That is their choice and that is why they are of different worlds. It is a good thing too because they won''t chase the same thing as him and end up being his enemies. It is a good thing for them. It doesn''t affect Soverick either way.


    He ignored the heavy atmosphere and preceded to announce his business. Whatever was bordering Ghoto didn''t bother him in the slightest. Actually, whatever is bordering Ghoto is beneath him. He isn''t humble enough to think otherwise or care. So he created a mind link with his divine sense and sent it toward Mih and Ghoto.


    "I have broken through." He transmitted it to them after they epted the mind connection.


    "That''s nice." Mih smiled and responded mentally. Then she chided the sulking man child. "Did you even hear what he said? Be happy for your son, Ghoto."


    "Good, that''s good." Ghoto replied absentmindedly.


    "Don''t mind your father, he is distraught by a matter, he is proud of you." Mih was getting ready to fill up for the usually eager father figure when she realized something. It''s a good thing that she stopped whatever she wanted to say because Soverick doesn''t care if they are proud of him or not.

 Chapter 102 [Bonus ]Fighting That Never Ends.

    ?Mih noticed that he wasmunicating with them with his divine sense. That could only mean one thing.


    "You have also awakened your soul. I am proud of you." She was impressed with his progress. She hadn''t expected that of the three of them, soverick would be the first one to awaken his soul.


    "I didn''t expect this. Then again you were the most intelligent one so it isn''t surprising when I think about it." Her transmissions then took on a demanding tone. "Ghoto what do you have to say to your son?"


    "That is impressive." Ghoto finally snapped out of his stupor.


    Soverick remained impassive. He had used his divine sense so that they can infer his double progress themselves so that he wouldn''t waste so much time on chit-chat. So he cut to the chase before they start going on a tirade.


    "When can I enroll in the academy?" He asked.


    Ghoto chose to reply. "I am sorry but you won''t be able to go soon."


    Soverick didn''t like the sound of that. He knew they wouldn''t like him to leave his siblings behind but he didn''t think they will stop him outright. Their refusal mattered little to him but he would like to see if he can amend the situation before resorting to other means. So he asked.


    "Why not?"


    "My father ising over. He would like to see his grandkids. You won''t be able to leave until he has seen you."


    "I don''t need to be here for that. You can just show him a picture of me."


    "That won''t do. My father is rather entric and he is set in his ways. I don''t want to refuse him." Ghoto exined, his voice bitter. Soverick realized that he was wrong after all, whatever was bothering Ghoto is his business. It might even dy him.


    "Is that why you have been moppy?" Soverick asked.


    Ghoto''s face changed. "I have not been moppy."


    "You can choose to believe whatever you want, but I have some advice for you. Be more like me, I don''t care about what my father thinks of me. So the opinion of my father holds no sway over me."


    Ghoto''s face twitched. He knew that, but to hear Soverick say it so candidly stung him.


    Soverick ignored the awkward silence and continued. "Why is heing now of all time when I need to leave?"


    Ghoto sighed. "You have been in seclusion for some days now so you don''t know that a war summons has been called by the racial council. My father has decided to honor that call. He wille here on his way to participate in the battles at the front line."


    "Oh, I see." Soverick realized again that this was in fact his fault. But that didn''t mean he would dy his progress for it, he would at most be sympathetic. There was no way he was going to spend his time waiting for an old geezer stuck at the sovereign realm.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Either way. I will leave in a week. Your old man better be here by that time or I''ll leave. You tell him to hurry up. I''m already doing him the favor of one week. I wouldn''t even spend that much time for you. He better appreciate it." Soverick dered then he left. He needed to prepare anyway but he didn''t tell them that so that they will think he is being considerate enough.


    They watched him leave, Mih with amusement, Ghoto with awe. "I wish I had that gusto," Ghoto said. His words made her chuckle.


    "It is a different time now. In our time, a brat like that would have been neglected by his parents and made to suffer for his arrogance. Times have changed."


    "You forget that leaving Soverick alone is exactly what he wants, so it won''t be a punishment for him if he is neglected," Ghoto said but Mih''s re stopped him short. So he changed the subject.


    "Yes, even the era of the gods is about to end. But Soverick is right, I should not care about my father so much. He was never there for me when my mother and I needed him. I am a grown man." Ghoto rubbed his head. He was still young for a king but the knowledge of the impending arrival of his father was making him weary.


    "Grown man or not. Your father is a sovereign. He can still whoop you." Mih tried to lighten the mood.


    "Are you sure you don''t want to follow me? You would be able to let go, cause some damage to the gods and have fun at the same time."


    "It is okay. You can go and fight the gods. Like father like son, rushing over to bully the gods when they are down on hard times. Someone has to stay here for the kids you wanted so badly."


    "Sure, the kids are important, but they will be at the academy. Who will watch my back?" Ghoto begged.


    "Your father can protect you." Mih waved his worries away. She didn''t think there was any palpable threat to Ghoto. She didn''t think much of the gods anyway.


    Ghoto gave up on changing her mind. He wanted to join the war so that he can get the funds and contributions for an upgrade on his weapons. He had been using a low-grade origin weapon for a while it needed an upgrade. He wanted something befitting a king ofw. War and strife also create opportunities for people to rise. Wars in the ne are pretty rare due to the strict enforcement of peace and order by the racial council.


    Fighting begets fighting. Strife begets strife. In a situation where there is extended lifespan and urate memories, slights or grievances are hardly forgotten. People will remember for years what a certain person did to another. Things escte when ites to the matter of strife among true immortals. True immortality is the major reason whyrge-scale wars have been banned in the ne.


    A mortal debt collector can die and thereby releasing the debtors from their responsibilities. But an immortal debtor cannot die, at least notpletely. They will never forget their due or their feelings of hatred till eternity. The way to end future strife by uprooting roots and possible threats will not work here. The worst part is that the hatred will be passed on to their offspring which will further escte the matter.


    So the racial council also banned unsupervised wars on the ne. Only mortals with limited lifespan get to kill each other en mass. At least the entire bloodline of a mortal is easily traced and uprooted. An end can be put to conflicts of such a level. It is also why empires can only be created with the permission of the racial council because any form of authority and social hierarchy will produce dissent.


    Even if the empire is allowed, royalty has to be below the level of transcendence. Immortals are not allowed to interfere in the ruling of mortals. A mortal empire can break up and crumble, and mortal kings will die and change, but an immortal ruler will never change. It will stifle growth and development if there is no change in the ruling system.


    Origin gods can only duke it out in the upper realm. The upper realm is sturdy and is where they can let loose. Fighting someone that you can''t kill or get rid of might discourage some from fighting at all, but for others, it only means you get to kill the same person over and over again. That''s why the upper realm is full of conflict and why even immortals must band together to survive. Sovereigns have to tread lightly in the upper realm when even origin gods without support be easy prey. Origin gods form groups which mean conflict can escte into cosmic wars of epic proportions and it just never ends. They will only recover for a while before they start massacring each other again.


    Fighting never ends. It is the curse of immortality to have an eternal enemy. The upper realm is strong but it is not conducive to anything less than immortal. Imagine just walking about and a stray attack from some Origin gods fighting each other hits you. Sometimes you survive, sometimes you don''t and you die. If you''re an origin god yourself, you will simplyin, rant a little about theck of safety in our society, and probably ask forpensation. You might receive thepensation because the people responsible don''t want another enemy. You also might die again because their long life has made them acquire many enemies, so what''s having another enemy going to change?


    But if you are a Sovereign, you will certainly die from the stray attack. Your life and story will end there. You will not get to bicker with your killers aboutpensation. Your grudges and grievances will end with your death.

 Chapter 103 Death Or Glory.

    ?They call the upper realm the immortalnds not because it is the requirement to live there. It is because thend itself is immortal. The ground is imperishable and cannot be damaged by anything below the level of a world god. Even then, it will heal itself and return to its previous state. In summary, the upper realm is not a ce for those that aren''t immortal. Anyone that can''t handle death and return from it is out of ce there.


    If there is no suppression of Origin gods in the lower realm, it is not an overstatement to say that the realm of high heaven will be destroyed in a single day. It doesn''t matter how fast Mother High Heaven can fix it, she will run out of energy faster than Origin gods run out of strife and the lives to fight with.


    Ghoto was considering how best to participate in the war to maximize his gains when he remembered something about the gods. "Didn''t you used to have a friend that became a god or something? " He asked Mih.


    "Yes, Xanc(Stone Cold). I remember he was boring when we were kids. Sigh. Maybe we are old. Most of the people we grew up with are dead now."


    "We are not that old. I am not even 10 origin cycles old. How is that old?" Ghoto smiled smugly.


    "You know what I mean. How are we not old when almost all the people from our time are dead? I am over 50 origin cycles. That counts as old."


    Ghoto smiled triumphantly. "So you admit. I just wanted you to say it. Whenever I say that your age is the only reason you are stronger than me you never agree."


    Mih''s eyes narrowed. "It seems you want a beating."


    "What if I do?" Ghoto replied fearlessly. His answer was a trigger that made Mih and Ghoto unavable for the next couple of days. What they were busy with was not a mystery.


    Far away in some other ce in the Virut ne.


    A worn-out transcendent is battling a huge mana beast. Arrows of terrifying origin energy are being shot in rapid session towards this beast. The air howled as the arrows pierced through it to reach the mana beast. But the beast evaded them and continued to approach like a maddened diator seeking death. They continued to sh and exchange powerful moves to maim each other. Their fight ttened the trees in the environment, then they cratered the ground. The arrows of energy caused highly fatal damage but their frequency and uracy werecking a bit. The beast used high agility and nimbleness that betrayed its size to weave through the attacks. The hooves of the beast thundered as it gorged the ground and left grooves in its wake. It transferred the terrifying strength stored in its muscles into its legs and like a spring, bolted forward to move closer to its foe. It aimed the spikes on its armor forward in hopes of impaling the opponent but its opponent confronted it with more arrows which made it drop the attempt. The battle continued with much fanfare but the winner wasn''t easily determined.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The mana beast is called an armored Rhine Emperor. A magnificent that is more than 10 meters tall. The Rhine beast is a race of bull-like beasts with a rather tough hide the color of obsidian. They are pack beasts that move together in groups that can reach thousands depending on the strength of the leader. The armored Rhine is a special type that has grown a tough exoskeleton on top of their already difficult-to-deal-with hide. The exoskeleton extends to form gruesome spikes meant for impaling foes. The armored rhine is the alpha specimen of the race and one of them bes the leader of the pack. Certain armored Rhine beasts are afforded extra respect by calling them, kings or emperors. Such beasts are rare and sought after but difficult to kill because they are rarely alone.


    The transcendent that is fighting this particr extra rare Armoured Rhine emperor seemed to have lucked out but he isn''t happy about it. He is Kroft Kroft as named by his father or Kroft junior as called by those that used to be his friends. Kroft junior had nned to go to the divine alliance some time ago but he has not reached there yet because he doesn''t have money to board transportation services.


    The ne might be easy to transverse now with all the technological advances in transportation such that a child can safely travel from one end to the other. But it is only so if you have the money to pay for such a costly service. Kroft junior could only afford to pay till halfway through his journey. He decided to make the rest on foot, he thought he would be safe with his level of strength. After all, the limit on natural creatures in the ne is the level of transcendence. Any beast or nt that reaches that limit transforms and bes a sentient creature. They leave the ne after gaining sentience. Which sentient creature will like to live in a forest when they can go to the ancient battlefield and grow stronger?


    He was very wrong about that. He was also wrong about his battle prowess. He thought he would be able to travel through the ne easily but he seemed to have overestimated his strength. What''s worse is that he had been facing more and more rare encounters that endanger his life. Beasts that he wouldn''t be able to find on a normal day happen to keep crossing his path one after the other.


    This emperor beast he is fighting is a renegade one, it has been kicked out of the pack by a stronger upstart. Being an emperor means it is just beneath the level of a transcendent. This is usually the limit for such a race but certain unique cases ur. For example, a previously mediocre alphaes across a treasured nt and eats it. The usual practice is to sit around the nt and benefit from its aura because direct consumption can lead to a swift death. But the alpha didn''t want to share the treasured nt with the pack because the leader will take control of its ess. The leader will then take the best seat and hog most of the benefits to itself. The alpha chose to take a risk, it decided to consume the treasured nt directly, death or glory. Luckily for it, the alpha survived and broke through to the transcendent level. The normal thing after that will be the enlightenment of this sessful alpha which will cause it to leave the wild, but things didn''t go that way. The alpha became an upstart. He challenged the old leader and won without much resistance.


    The old leader that had just lost its pack happened to meet Kroft junior. It could also sense the same level of strength in Kroft that the upstart possessed, but not as strong. Kroft junior didn''t make it feel threatened so the old leader decided to fight and seek a chance to awaken himself. The act of fighting something stronger than you is considered a desperate thing by beasts. You either die or if you''re lucky, you break your limits and grow stronger. Beasts don''t believe in luck. At least not this old leader, he was just trying it out because he was desperate, ashamed of his defeat, and angry. Plus, you know what they say, death or glory.


    This same situation has been happening one after the other to Kroft junior. Special events take ce around him which makes him fight for his life. And just like the earlier circumstances, Kroft junior won this one too. The beast was skilled while the battle sage monkey wascking but the beast couldn''t get close enough to use his spikes because of the range of the arrows. The old leader knew the arrows were deadly but he couldn''t keep all the arrows away from him. Some of them found their mark and the high prating power of the arrows dug into his flesh. His proud armor failed to stop the prating arrows. Its flesh was gorged and it was losing blood fast. The old leader began to tire and falter as the fight continued which further reduced its chances of victory. More arrows began to hit it until itsst breath.


    "Ha. I am not so down on my luck that a beast that isn''t a transcendent can bully me." Kroft said in triumph.


    The fight turned out to be the opposite of the breakthrough that the old leader craved. It just isn''t a lucky day for the beast. The beast might have put up a good fight but even its defense that it was so proud of couldn''t protect it from the sharp pration of an Origin weapon. It might be just a low-grade Origin weapon but most transcendents don''t possess one at all. It pays to have a rich father. In some situations, wealth beats bravery.

 Chapter 104 A Lucky Encounter.

    ?Kroft let his body droop. He couldn''t stay afloat anymore so he allowed gravity to bring him down. Hey panting on the ground. It can be said that he had onlye this far with aid of his low-grade origin bow that nowid beside him. The beautiful weapon was a gift he made his father acquire for him. He had selected a long-range weapon because he wasn''t willing to fight in close quarters. He didn''t think he would ever need it back then, it just looked good to have. So he has never been trained on how to properly use it. His level of skill was abysmal at the start but the endless enemies pushed him to make strides in his archery techniques. The threat of death plus the high learning capabilities and innate perfect body control of transcendents can push one to greatness. Without the powerful weapon and his improved skills, he would have long died.


    "Nothing can stop me from greatness." He shouted to rouse himself.


    A single fight was nothing to him, but after several of such energy-draining fights, he was spent. The ne doesn''t have Origin energy for him to replenish his strength with. Everything was acting against him and nothing is going his way ever since his father abandoned him. It honestly felt like something was blocking him from reaching the divine alliance. He hadn''t heard about the war because hismunication device had been locked. It is one of the many privileges that has frozen after the absence of his father. So he was bent on reaching the divine alliance to carve out a ce for himself. He was sure that he would be well received because the gods are always weing extra allies. The suppression of the spread of faith ismon knowledge so every transcendent knew the end of the gods is just a matter of time. It is rare for a transcendent to opt to be a god even in the face of that eventuality but there are a few desperate ones.


    As he was enjoying his short rest, his senses noticed some rising energy waves in the distance. He extended his divine sense and what he saw made him pale in fright.


    "I give up." He said and prepared to run for it.


    A new opponent wasing straight for him. The energy level of this strange being is way higher than his level. So he chose to give up even before battling.


    "It has to be at the level of a lord ofw at least." He tried to estimate the threat level and it wasn''t looking good even by his lowest estimate.


    It was not something he could handle with any sort of confidence even with his Origin weapon. But like most bad things that have been urring to him, he couldn''t get away from the approaching entity. Unlike most times, when he is either trapped, blocked, or ambushed, such that he isn''t able to get away from trouble, this time his speed is simply too slow to create more distance between them. It proved that he was outssed and had no hope against this enemy.


    The approaching entity continued to gain on him. He was beginning to panic. Just as he was about to bring out one of the forbidden one-time use weapons of mutual destruction, he noticed something peculiar. Due to the proximity, he could finally sense the particr type of energy that the entity possessed. He realized it was divine energy. This means that whatever the entity is, it is either a god or is rted to one. Divine energy is the unique energy of the gods.


    ''Could it be that they sent someone to pick me up? That can''t be true. I am not that important and I didn''t tell anyone my destination. How will they know where to find me? They are gods anyway, they are capable of a lot of things. They might be able to track me. There is only one way to find out.''


    He had a belly full of questions. He decided to wait and find out. It wasn''t as if he could escape anyways. If things turned out well, then he would have a ride towards the divine alliance or even better a liaison with one of the gods. Getting the help of such a strong entity will make his journey smoother and his aim for Godhood more likely to seed. He had his mind focused on his spatial device just in case he will need a deterrent if the negotiations fail and violence bes an option.


    The glowing entity continued to approach him. It didn''t even respond to targeted mental transmissions or broadcasted messages. The fact that it wasn''t willing tomunicate with him filled Kroft junior with dread, but there was no other option other than to wait and see. This dread began to increase sharply when the entity didn''t stop at all, it seemed like it wanted to ram into him.


    He jumped sideways to avoid the entity. It was a narrow miss but the st from an explosion hit him from behind at full force. He was catapulted high into the air which made his crash into the ground very unpleasant. This time hey on the ground without any thought of standing back up. His body was too damaged to put up a decent fight so he gave up all thoughts of resisting. Even if he used the runic bomb he nned to use, he wouldn''t be able to escape from the st radius. Any way he looked at the situation, it was either death or whatever the entity nned for him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    But seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned into more minutes without anything happening. The entity didn''t approach him or try tomunicate with him. He felt the energy level of the entity falling rapidly, it didn''t seem normal at all.


    ''Maybe it is dying.'' Kroft junior thought to himself.


    This period of rest afforded him enough time to rest but he couldn''t recover energy at all. The lower ne doesn''t have origin energy for him to recover from his earlier usage. When his energy fully depletes, he won''t be able to use his Origin weapon anymore. There is no way to replenish origin energy apart from Origin essence. That''s how the cities with Origin energy get it. Through the dilution of Origin essence. He might have been rich but pure Origin essence isn''t something that money can buy.


    The earlier crash seemed to have scared away any beast, but he knew it was just for a short while. The disturbance will attract curious and confident beasts toe and probeter. He didn''t want to be here by then so he decided to start moving.


    But first, he wanted to see what almost crashed into him. He walked towards the crater that the crash created. A fire had already started to burn and spread fiercely. The wood the fire was using as fuel empowered the mes to terrifying levels. To save energy, he created a simple barrier to protect him from the mes but he had to reinforce it several times as he got closer to the center of the destruction which increased his energy consumption.


    What he saw at the center took his breath away. It was a beautiful orb glowing with divine light. It was simply glorious. Only one word came to his mind to exin such divine glory.


    "Godhood." He muttered uncontrobly.


    Godhood looks like different things to different beings. it might look like an object, a concept, or an idea. What can be agreed upon is that it will look like your greatest wish. It could look like a mountain of wealth, a bevy of mates, an unstoppable power, or an irreproachable influence. It will beckon you to it by using your innermost desires and longings and promise their fulfillment. In a way, it is simr to the temptations of a devil. It will also ept your soul for the exchange, except that Godhood will fulfill all these conditions and more without ill intentions.


    If Kroft were a creature beneath the level of transcendent he would have be hypnotized by the orb on sight. He would be salivating if he had saliva in his mouth. Even now he could feel the allure of power. The orb was whispering promises of evolution and glory to him. His entire being was also yearning for it. It felt like he was thirsty in a desert but he came upon a small oasis of water. All he had to do is just bend down and drink. A harmless and instinctual reaction.


    Kroft wasn''t hypnotized by the orb toe forward because of his strength, but he went forward himself. His desires pushed him to move closer and closer.


    "To think I faced cmities upon cmities on my way. I had to fight with everything I had just to stay alive. The st almost killed me but I didn''t die. It was like the world has been against me but I persevered. Now Godhood hase to me itself. This must be my fate. I am destined for greatness." He wept in relief as he moved forward. This Godhood is the answer to all his problems and he agreed wholeheartedly. What''s not to agree about?

 Chapter 105 Mortal + Godhood=Godly Transformation + Faith=Divine.

    ?The fact that a god had to die for him to get this Godhood didn''t matter to him. What mattered is that Godhood fell from the sky right into his reach. He would be a god and live forever.


    The divine orb leaped towards him as soon as he got within a meter of it. Another proof that it chose him. He allowed the Godhood to enter his body. His body began to glow and change. He could feel every fiber of his being screaming with ecstasy as it evolved into something greater than mortal. He is bing something divine instead. He could feel power rise within him unbidden. His soul solidified and became imperishable. His body morphed into a divine vessel for his transformed soul. His Origin core froze up signifying that he had closed the door to the path of perfection. A me began to burn as soon as his divine soul and body fused. Only then did he be a full god and he began to rise involuntarily.


    He was ascending to the divine ne but the changes weren''t over. The Godhood belonged to the former grand god of archery and hunt. So it had a lot of energy and divinity to bestow. The domain was alsoplete and had been fully fused with divinity so there is no bottleneck for him.


    The divine energy contained in the divinity wove itself like a thread into Kroft''s fabric of existence. Then the divinity crystallized this fabric into a tough near unbreakable thing. This made him gain eternal life. After all this, the authority of the domain of archery and hunting fused with him and became the channel between his existence and his Godhood.


    His strength began to elevate until he became a grand god, the equivalent of a sovereign. His strength is much weaker than a king ofw but he only needs to replenish his divine force and divinity to reach the peak once again. And by the rate at which he was receiving prayers, he wouldn''t need a long time for it. He didn''t listen to the prayers yet, he decided to first enjoy the benefits of his new position before tackling the work.


    If he had listened maybe he would have decided to terminate the conversation process here and now. But he didn''t listen, he was already behaving like most gods who just skim over their responsibilities.


    Streams of faith started to pour into his god fire and were purified into divine energy. The divine energy is then further condensed into divinity but at a much slower rate. The calls for assistance and prayers filled him with power and a sense of purpose. He had people that elevate, worship, and need him now. He is a changed man. No more mortal, but a god. The grand god of archery and the Hunt.


    With this identity shoulde memories from its predecessor but he got very little. The record of memories seemed to have been lost, something destroyed it. The little information it contained exined how the godhood made its way here. The Godhood was wandering in the void between the divine and the main ne. Then it sensed a particrly powerful enough individual who was using a bow. This person had the desire to be a god, and the rising skill in the use of archery finally convinced the Godhood to descend. Kroft junior, I mean Grand god Kroft found out that he wasn''t the best recement, he was just the only option for a sessor at this point in time.


    "It''s just my good luck." That was what he had to say to that.


    The time for memory inheritance was short because of the scant memories so he had nothing to do until he reached the void between the nes. At this point, the power of the world acknowledge him and bestowed him with the energy required to build a new divine kingdom. The old one was already shattered beyond the point of recovery. Whatever had destroyed the former god had also destroyed the divine kingdom but Grand god Kroft remained oblivious to that fact.


    The loss of inheritance means he wouldn''t be able to use the vast wealth of his predecessor and he also lost ess to the sea of petitioners, angelic hosts, and defense structures. He would be required to build up a new foundation but he didn''t mind. He preferred it that way, to start a new aspect of his life with fresh new things. He didn''t need to worry about money anyway, his believers will pool their wealth for their god to use. It is the job of the clergymen to worry about money ande up with better ways to fleece the congregation. It is his job as a god to spend that money.


    His divine kingdom waspleted in no time and he rose with it into the divine ne. The first things he saw on reaching the divine ne were the unrest in the divine city and another ascending god.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Must be a coincidence." He thought to himself. What other exnation could there be for the creation of two new gods at the same time? Such a thing is umon so he reasoned that it must be a coincidence. He didn''t care about the unrest in the divine city for now.


    But as he rose higher into the firmament above the divine city, the next thing he saw was a scene of battle. It was not the people from the main in assaulting the divine ne. It was a group of gods assaulting a divine kingdom with their host of angels. The defending god also had his host of angels which numbered in the millions but he was outnumbered by thebined force of his enemies. Even so, it will take a long while before his forces will be defeated. An army of millions with undying loyalty to their god will take a while to be whittled down to nothing.


    "What is going on here?" He asked no one in particr. Then he shook his head in pity. "No organization can truly be without strife. Only the royal bloodline can bind people together."


    He reasoned that problems ur when interests matter. Some problems can only be solved using violence. He was just surprised that the gods chose to battle it out right here in the divine ne. They usually start religious wars to settle their disputes. He felt it was a pity that they were wasting their manpower and resources on internal strife.


    "Probably only when external enemiese will they band together in solidarity." He ridiculed them. They were infighting like self-destructive savages. How could he not mock them? He considered himself lucky that he became a god with the strength of a grand god. He will not have much to fear and his status should grant him a say in the decision-making of the gods. It is an upgrade on the treatment he received in the Ghastorix family.


    There might not be as many divine kingdoms as he had expected but everything looked alright apart from the cancerous infighting he is being made to witness.


    His ascent didn''t escape notice and four armored angels approached him. Another four armored angels also approached the other new god. The angels had 10rge wings that glowed resplendently and a golden halo above their heads. The strength they possessed made Grand god Kroft feel threatened. Each one could match him, he would be powerless to resist four of them at the same time.


    "Pleasee with us your Divine Grace. Our Majesty, the god King of the Virut Pantheon will like to personally wee you." One of them stepped forward and said.


    "It will be my honor," Kroft answered. It seemed there was no need to fight. The angels were just a weing party. So he left with them as they surrounded him in a neat square formation.


    He was impressed by the strength that the god King had shown and he felt delighted that such a big shot would personally see to his wee. Angels are vessels created from the souls of believers, these vessels are then bestowed with power and will from their god. The level of strength that a god can bestow is a level beneath them. He is a grand god, so he can only create an eight-winged angel that is on par with a high god. Celestial gods can create the ten-winged ones while only Supremes can create 12-winged angels.


    The other new god was also invited and he assented too. The two of them were new here and it would not be a good thing to slight the strongest god of the pantheon on their first day here. There might be a lot of things they wanted to see and do but they could spare some time to see the god King. He could even answer their questions and fill in the nks in their knowledge. All in all, there was no reason to refuse the invitation.

 Chapter 106 The Way Of Life Of A God.

    ?As the two grand gods started moving with their angelic escort, another god ascended. The sight of which more than startled Kroft. His mind was filled with questions and rising suspicion. Howe three gods ascended in quick session? It is either a heck of a coincidence or a lot of gods died recently. Only something like that can create so much void in godly positions to be filled. After all, this is not the era of godly ascension that came immediately after the era of transcendents. Gods were ascending in bulk because it was the most feasible path forward after transcendence. The ne couldn''t cater to transcendents anymore and the ancient battlefield was bloody with wars for opportunities. Bing a god was a safer and easier alternative to growing stronger back then, so a lot of ascensions did take ce.


    But what era are we now? New godly positions are not created anymore and gods hardly ascend but here we are, with three of them at that and at the same time no less. Where did so many godly positionse from?


    ''Something is up. A lot of gods have died, could it have something to do with the siege that is currently going on the divine ne?'' Kroft began to suspect that the gods might not be at peace as he thought. Maybe they were fighting faction wars. He has heard of that before. A war between factions of the same organization. It was supposed to be a scary story told to wayward kids in the family to teach them about the concept of unity.


    ''Are the gods soid back that they will watch one of their own besieged by others without stopping it? If so, what could the besieged god have done to warrant such a thing?''


    His mind was sent into turmoil.


    ''Is this why the GodKing is inviting me? So that I can choose a faction. Or maybe he wants to advise me against doing so. What should I do? I am just a new god.''


    He didn''t know what to do so he decided to bring up his doubts when he meets the God King. He would also like to know how such a figure allows something like this to happen. This isn''t even assassination or a quick assault, it is a full-blown divine war.


    Even though he had a divine belly full of questions, he didn''t ask his escorts. Angels might be eternally loyal but that didn''t mean their masters confided in them. Angels do not know what is going on with the gods, they only follow orders. Even if they knew he wouldn''t ask them. They may be as strong as him but their ss is fundamentally different. They are just an extension of the influence of a god, like their hand or a footprint. There is no way he would be seen frolicking with the help.


    ''Divine or not, angels are beneath gods.'' It will just create a bad image for him to ask an angel for help. He is a grand god now and must act like one. He must act grandly.


    He noticed that no angel was going to invite the third new god.


    "Aren''t you going to invite her?" He asked the angel that spoke to him earlier. He immediately regretted asking that question. His curiosity overwhelmed his grand restraint.


    "Her divine grace is not a grand god. We have been ordered to bring only new grand gods." The angel replied without looking back.


    ''Is that so? Special treatment. I like that.'' Kroft thought to himself. There might be a lot of shady aspects in his experience as a new god but he was liking his new status more and more. And unlike the time people used to act deferentially toward him because of his father''s vast wealth, this is totally due to his own influence. He has finally overtaken Ghoto and all his cousins that performed better than him. What was there to be unhappy about?


    The small group approached a grand divine kingdom seated at the highest point in the firmament. It stood out among the rest, like a glorious cathedral among vige huts. The divine kingdom of a god is a miniature ne. It is arge piece ofnd that ispletely under the control of its god. It is surrounded by a barrier that demarcates this area of influence of the god. Within the barrier, the god can do anything, change the weather or the terrain. Each action will cost the god a certain amount of divine force. This barrier also functions to protect the divine kingdom from intrusion, it can be made opaque or transparent.


    The size of the divine ne is determined by the strength and the influence of the god in the main ne. The divine kingdom of the god King is thergest one that "Grand god Kroft" has seen so far, he doubted any other one can be bigger and doubted even more, that any divine kingdom cane close to its opulence and grandeur.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''The God King might not be richer than my father but he knows how to live right.'' Kroft appreciated the disy of wealth, it was totally unlike his father whose major vice is trying out exotic cuisines. The man didn''t even need to eat but he was strangely fixated on food. He had asked his father several times in the past and his father would simply smile. The only time he ever answered the question, his father had said that taking time to eat might be considered a waste of money and effort but it has saved his life several times and will continue to do so.


    Kroft shook his head at the thought of his father. He nned to settle things with himter.


    His father''s meals might be expensive but they couldn''tpare to tiling the very ground you walk on with grantz tes or having gem gardens. Using grantz tes for anything is considered the apex of luxury. It is not useful for anything, it is not durable, strong, or possesses high tensile strength. It is fragile and easily bendable. The only good thing about it is its ability to release diffracted light. In order words, it is a metal that breaks down under normal conditions into electromaic radiation in the form of a rainbow. Even if they are used for anything you will need to replenish them because the metal will constantly lose volume and mass. But what you use them for will have an automatic light show put up for you until the metal gives outpletely.


    If he were not a grand god and had to be mindful of his actions, he would have whistled at the sight of the gorgeously lit-up walkway. By the side of it is the garden of gems. Instead of flowers and beautiful nts, why not nt a sea of precious gems? It has to be very precious gems or the opulence factor wouldn''t be obvious. These gems absorb the rainbow light show and release it after adding some unnatural colors to the mix.


    ''It is honestly a grand sight worthy of the top god.'' Kroft continued to admire the light show as they flew by.


    The funny thing is that you would expect poverty to have been eradicated amongst the believers if the god can be so wasteful, but it isn''t true. Poor believers are the best source of faith and provide a steady stream of prayers. A god must not get rid of the poor. Poor and weak people will always need gods, plus it doesn''t take much to amaze and awe them. A little rain here and there will keep them faithful and as long as their stomach isn''t full, they will alwayse to church for prayers. Poor believers are the best stock of believers.


    They were brought into a tall building at the top of a mountain within the center of the divine kingdom. The entire mountain is made up of a single glowing gem whose only job is to absorb all surrounding sounds and convert them into music. It is a music mountain of incredible value.


    ''I have never seen a music stone so big. I didn''t know that they could get so big.''


    Kroft wondered how the god King could get something like this.


    ''Maybe I should ask him. He surely has good taste.''


    A music stone isn''t a highly valuable thing. They are usually seen as pebbles or small rocks that children y with. It is marveling that the god King has been able to turn such items of low value into luxury ones.


    ''Maybe the apex of luxury isn''t spending the exorbitant amount on precious things, it is turning valueless things into precious ones by spending an exorbitant amount on them.''


    He felt enlightened about the way of life of a god. While mortals use their wealth to hoard valuable things, gods use the wealth that they gained from mortals to hoard worthless things. In a way, it is being a pacesetter of luxury.

 Chapter 107 The Love Of A God For His Fish.

    ?More and more sights of abundance tantalized their eyes until they reached the Great Hall of the god King. The god King wasn''t around. They found some other gods waiting there for an audience instead. Kroft was feeling slightly displeased that he would have to wait for the god King.


    ''It is probably a show of force to make us wait.'' He grumbled. Then he noticed that the other six waiting gods were all grand gods. They were also weak like him.


    "Please tell me these are not new grand gods." He asked the angelic escort jokingly.


    "Yes, your divine grace. They are all new grand gods." The escort then left the room.


    ''I am screwed. I don''t know how, but I know that I am screwed.'' He screamed inwardly.


    This was the moment that he realized that bing a new god might not have been the best decision he ever made. He continued to smile outwardly, the two new gods made for a total of eight new grand gods. Either they had been waiting for a long time for an audience with the god King or they ascended together in a rtively short amount of time. They mingled and asked the questions that were troubling all of them. The grand gods didn''t know much but the little information they had between all of them only proved their suspicions right. The six grand gods hadn''t been waiting for a long while, just two days at most. That means a lot of powerful gods have died recently. Things didn''t look good at all.


    Thankfully they didn''t have to wait for long before their host arrived. Having to stew with a gnawing feeling of dread isn''t a pleasant experience even for a god.


    The god-king showed up in a bright sh of light. Kroft noticed that the god-king was wearing armor and had strapped on many other weapons. He was like a 2.6m tall suit of armor. The god King was practically dressed for battle. Either this was his normal attire which he always wore for whatever reason, even in his own house or he was preparing to fight or he has been fighting recently. Kroft hoped for his sake that it is the first reason.


    "Wee to my humble abode." Ode spread his arms in a grand gesture. His voice boomed and echoed within therge hall.


    "Humble my foot." That was what Kroft would like to say to Ode. He didn''t have any good feelings toward this so-called supreme of the pantheon. The god was too showy, something he appreciated a little while ago, but whenbined with the fact that he had made grand gods wait here for him for two whole days, the showy attitude became unpleasant. The god King was either disrespectful or he was gathering them here so that they wouldn''t be able to run around. Both were unpleasant options. Still, he smiled and greeted the god King.


    "It is nice to meet your great Majesty." The other grand gods also kept their feelings of discontent to themselves and exchanged pleasantries with their host.


    "Would you like some refreshments or something nice to eat? I have this really expensive imported fish that will just blow your mind. Why don''t you give it a try?" Ode offered.


    "Thank you for your great hospitality but some of us have been here for some time. We have things to do and arrangements to put in ce as new gods. We can''t afford to be so carefree as you." One of the grand gods rejected it.


    "Is that so? It will be a shame to miss such good food. It won''t take a lot of your time." Ode insisted.


    The talk of food made Kroft even more impatient to end this encounter. It reminded him too much of his father. He just wanted to leave this ce. He would ask other gods about the questions he hadter.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Unfortunately so. Can we please get this meeting over and go on with our lives?" Kroft made the rejection this time.


    "I am afraid you can''t leave. At least not yet." Ode replied casually. His attitude and the way he sat on his throne began to irk Kroft. It was irking him a lot to be disregarded like this.


    ''I''m still a grand god. You can''t treat me like this.'' Heined inwardly.


    "Why not?" A grand god asked.


    Ode sighed before replying. "You see, if it were in normal times, you could be considered lucky for chancing upon the Godhood of a fallen god. But right now, not so much."


    "Does this have to do with the grand god that is currently being attacked?" Another grand god asked. It was the grand god that apanied Kroft here.


    "Sadly so. It is partly why this is a bad time for anyone to be a god. But why don''t we put off this unpleasant conversation until we have eaten? It is terrible dinner conversation after all." Ode pped and multiple 10-winged angels appeared. A table of food also appeared at another corner of the great lord. Ode stood up from his throne and walked toward the table. He didn''t invite the gods to join him again because he didn''t need to. The sight of the angels intimidated the grand gods so they followed the god King. His 12 winged Angels were not in sight, but the gods were sure it would be easy for Ode to summon them. It''s not as if it will ever be necessary to summon such a level of strength anyways, the present amount of power here is more than enough to put the new gods in their ce. So they settled down at the table and grudgingly ate.


    The food was magnificent. At least Ode thought so. The other gods at the table didn''t seem to like it very much, they sure didn''t say anything even if they thought well about it. There was no dinner conversation or small talk. There were nopliments for the chef or to the host for that matter. He may be their warden and might have robbed them of their freedom but politeness does cost a thing. He would have epted it even if they had put up an act or a show of false appreciation. He knew he shouldn''t care about their opinion because what does the opinions of soon-to-be-dead gods worth? Still, a simple thank you will not be the death of them. Their death is scheduled forter.


    There was an exception though. One of the new grand gods, the god of food and cooking enjoyed the food very well. He ate with gusto even though he didn''t want to. His divinity may havepelled him to eat but he staunchly refused toplement the chef. That was the worst crime at this table. Others merely went through the motions, but this guy asked for seconds, yet he was still being moody about the whole forceful imprisonment thing. Clearly a hypocrite, or worse, someone that isn''t honest to himself.


    Ode overlooked all these acts of disrespect. Here he is, being a magnanimous host but they just wanted to spit in his face. It is okay though, the least he could give them is theirst meal. It is up to them to savor such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to eat the Dinko fish.


    The Dinko fish leaves in the depths of an empowered and active volcano. It is not some ordinary volcano, but one with a mana Ley line. The enhancement due to the continuous supply of mana makes the volcano unreachable by anything beneath the level of transcendents. It also makes the fish impossibly delicious. The fact that the fish can only be harvested by transcendents should be enough to make anyone appreciate it, but that isn''t all that the fish provides. The flesh of the fish erupts in tiny bursts within the mouth that mimics an erupting volcano. It is like eating tasty bubbles. The sensation and taste explode the senses and brings utter euphoria. It is a priceless delicacy.


    When he thought about it some more, he realized he shouldn''t have brought his prized fish to some people that are going to die soon. It is frankly a waste of good fish. The fish ought to be offered to visitors that will have the opportunity to tell people or brag about it. These people will only be able to take the testimony to their grave. And even then, they might not be honest about the taste because of how they died. The realization spoiled his mood and ruined the rest of his dinner.


    "What a waste of good fish." He grumbled, loud enough for them to hear.


    They might be unhappy with him, but he is also unhappy with them and he wants them to know that. He had felt obligated to treat them to onest meal because thest meetings turned out badly. He had expected a little friendly interaction with them if he fed them his prized fish.

 Chapter 108 God-Level Fertilizer.

    ?Things have been tense recently. The war on the main ne had escted. The gods were losing, and they were losing hard. They were losing so much that people wereing to kick them when they are down. That''s how to know when you are at your lowest.


    The enemies the gods had made across their history of divine wars and people with various slights and grievances came in droves. These people couldn''t do anything significant to the gods before, but things have changed now. A single straw can break a camel''s back in the right amount, a lesser amount if that camel is sickly and weakened. These loathers that came to join in the fiasco that is the war are the straws. The gods were already finding it difficult to deal with the blocks of stone that is burdening them, but instead of getting assistance, they got retribution.


    Some had even made it a game to hunt down clerics, pdins, clergymen, and anything rted to the divine. The heads of priests award high points while the head of the pope is awarded the highest. It is an act ofplete sacrilege and sphemy, something that will usually be met with swift wrath of the entire pantheon but there is nothing he could do about that now.


    He had been monitoring that origin god''s movement since theirst encounter so that they can deploy their resistance where it will actually matter. The good news is that no new Origin gods havee to join the war against them. The bad news is that the Origin god was beginning to get restless without anything to do down there. Chances that the restless trouble maker will make his way here in no time are rising. Ode had to be prepared for such an eventuality. He couldn''t on good luck because when bad things happen, theye in waves. So he had tried to put some things in ce to deal with that unpleasant eventuality.


    The pantheon had pooled their wealth and tried to employ an origin god powerhouse of their own but most had refused for many reasons. They didn''t want to go against the racial council of an entire ne, it would only end badly if they dared. They were also discouraged by the fact that the battlefield will be on a fragile ne. It is too much of a risk to fight in such a precarious situation. One wrong move and they are screwed. The ones that agreed only promised to send clones to fight in the ne while they will only go all out in the divine ne.


    Ode didn''t want origin gods duking it out in the divine ne, that is practically a recipe for disaster. He wanted them to stall the origin god trouble maker froming here, not to entertain him. He could only ept even with the express statement by the origin gods that they were not fighting to help them win. So even though the pantheon spent fortunes to hire Origin gods, the ones they seeded in hiring didn''t believe they will win. They were only going to stall some powerhouses and they were going to leave if they see that the gods could win, by even the smallest chance. Their excuse is that they didn''t want to aggravate the racial council too much. If they interfered a little, they will get a warning, at most a fine. But things will be very bad for them if they actually have a significant impact on the war.


    All in all, it was an unfavorable arrangement. It is a good thing he wasn''t counting on them to bring the gods out of this slump they are in. He had been putting most of his effort into cultivating more celestial gods. His announcement to reinstate battles for progress had gone well. But things started going south when some gods started toin that the battles were unfair and one-sided. They were disgruntled because grand gods that are weak in battle are paired with strong ones. It had led to some refusing to do battle and basically rebellion. The battle going on in the divine ne right now is because a grand god refused to honor what he called a "Ploy to get rid of the weak ones".


    They are right of course. That''s exactly what he is doing. He is trying to create a strong force of celestials and he had the opportunity to determine who gets to fight who. There is no way he would allow the weak grand gods to be weak celestial gods. Over his dead body, which is something he is trying to avoid.


    Not all grand gods are strong, for example, the sinner that is the god of food and cooking. That domain is only good for cooking and eating. What use is that in a war for the very survival of the way of the gods? Maybe he will be able to cook a fine meal that will make the armies of the main ne reconsider their opinion of the gods.


    That brings us to this group of death row grand gods, the new grand gods. They aren''t the first batch and will probably not be thest. Their ascension is due to a lot of factors. Most of them are recements for the grand gods that died at the border confrontation. The unprecedented deaths created arge void in the divine ranks. Others became gods because some grand gods chose to fall either due to them giving up or their unwillingness to partake in the unfair challenges.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    More and more gods are ascending at the moment but he called grand gods here not because of any special treatment or good intentions. This batch of new grand gods will serve as fodder to create more celestials. They just ascended, so they are at their weakest. They don''t even have the full strength of grand gods nor do they have the wealth or influence of one. They will be better put to use as fertilizer for other stronger, more capable gods. It will also be much easier to carry out. Unlike other grand gods that have umted their strength and forces for years, these can''t put up much resistance. They can onlye here, eat his good food, be resentful about it, and then be sacrificed for the good of the gods.


    "We have eaten your food. What is your n for us?" Kroft asked impatiently.


    "I will be honest with you even though you were not honest with me about the fish. I''ll be the bigger god. It is a pity that you became gods. As you might have suspected, a lot of gods died. We are at war with the racial council of the Virut ne. They don''t want us anymore. They want to put an end to us. So a lot of gods died. You are not the first batch. We are at war and we need to pool all our resources together. We n to create more celestial gods. You lucky few are going to be useful for that n. I must thank you for bringing the scattered Godhood back to us."


    "Lucky my ass. You must be joking. How can you treat us like this?" Kroft screamed. He wasn''t done yet. As much as he hated to do so, he used his family card. "You don''t know who I am on the main ne. My father is Kroft Ghastorix of the Ghastorix family. I am his one and only son. You can''t treat me like this or you will experience the full wrath of my very wealthy and influential father."


    He was joined by the other panicked grand gods. But Ode didn''t even flinch no matter how much they cursed or threatened him.


    "I have heard about Kroft Ghastorix. But if he is your father, why are you a god? Lying to me won''t change my mind. I still won''t care even if you are speaking the truth. I''m that desperate."


    Kroft felt immense regret. He thought his life had changed for the better but it was all a lie. Kroft. He shouldn''t have be a god when he found that Godhood. He had disregarded the reason for the avability of Godhood when he found it because he thought the consequences of bing a god couldn''t be worse than his current life.


    The things he saw in his short time as a god made him suspect that the gods were at war. He didn''t think things would be so bad that their opponent would be the racial council. He had thought that maybe the demons had renewed their assault on the gods. A war with the demons goes back and forth, push and pull, it was normal. A war with the racial council means certain defeat.


    Kroft didn''t know much about the history of Virut ne, but he knows enough to predict the oue of a sh with the racial council. It is futility in itself to go against the racial council.

 Chapter 109 Imminent Death Makes A Man Honest.

    ?He had three options back then but he chose toe to the divine alliance. He should have given up when he faced constant opposition and danger to his life along the way to the divine ne. But he continued in his aim for eternity. He shouldn''t have turned to satisfy his curiosity about what almost crashed into him. He had a choice back then but he choose to satisfy his curiosity. He foolishly thought all his bad luck had ended when he came across the Godhood. He should just have chosen to be a demon god''sckey or something. A demon god''sckey may be a betrayer but it still promises a future. Bing a grand god made his futurepletely dim. Dying of old age will surely be a better option too. It was at least better than dying here, used as a sacrifice to strengthen another god. He wanted a life of luxury but instead became a Godhood delivery man.


    His ns for the future disappeared just like that. He wouldn''t be able to show off to all those people that neglected him in his time of need. He will never have that confrontation with his dad that he was so sure he would win. What next now? Suicide.


    As if hearing their thoughts, Ode provided some key information. "Don''t even bother to fall. You can''t seed in my territory. You are not the first batch I am dealing with. I didn''t make that mistake with the first batch, there is no way I''ll make it with you." Ode smirked. They tried anyway and found out that they couldn''t forcefully separate their Godhood from themselves. The realization that their lives were not even in their control made them extra depressed.


    "Don''t be so gloomy. Even if you seed in your fall, will surely die. You are too weak right now to survive the process. It is always a good thing to live a little longer. So cheer up."


    His words didn''t cheer them up at all. So they tried again to kill themselves.


    "Let me tell you some news that might be a silver lining in this cloud of doom. I won''t kill you myself. I will select another grand god with apatible domain to fight you. Who knows, you might just win. I won''t tamper with the match. So if you win, you get to be a celestial. How about that?"


    How were they going to win when they hardly have any divine energy? They don''t even have divine weapons. Even if they did, would their meager umtionpare to another grand god at their peak? They were doomed and only a miracle can save them. They may be gods but they didn''t believe in miracles, only power. Ode knew what they were thinking. It was the same thing he was thinking when he decided to sacrifice them. But he didn''t kill them outright, he gave them a chance to prove him wrong. He is really hoping for a miracle.


    "If you won''t cheer up about that, let''s talk about something else while we wait for your challengers. I have sent the message out so they will be here soon. I have heard that imminent death can make a person honest because they have nothing to lose. Now, what do you think about the food?"


    Inner city. Ghastorix Mind City. In front of Ghoto''s family house.


    "Let me help you with that," Ghoto said as he grabbed Ghaster who was fumbling with the sps of his shirt. Ka was also fidgeting with Litori''s dress. Mih and Soverick watched all these prepping with amusement. Mih thought the nervous behavior of these people was funny while Soverick was wondering why Ka is even concerned about Ghoto''s father''s visit. Ghoto''s nervousness is understandable. His father, who had never acknowledged his existence, wasing over, all of a sudden. Even if the man was just passing by, it was not the first time, and yet, he had never dropped by in the past. So what changed?


    Soverick was sure it had something to do with him or the other children. That or Mih''s sudden growth in strength. Either way, Soverick didn''t care. The man might be a Sovereign but it didn''t mean much to him. He had killed several of them in the past. He was more concerned about the fact that he was catching up to Ka in height. She was just 1.6m in height but she wouldn''t be able to grow taller than that unless she bes transcendent. He is just a year and three months old but he is already 1.2m tall, and he still has more room to grow until he achieves his mana body. He will surpass her height in the future and by arge margin too.


    It is the wonder of refinement. Battle sage monkeys are inherently short creatures. They hardly reach 1.5m and that will be considered a giant of the race. But refinement has made it that their bodies changed for the better. Effects of refinement other than longevity include better looks and an increase in all the aspects of life attributes. Strength, speed, perception, and bnce. They will all increase just like height will increase.


    Soverick became bored. The thought of outgrowing Ka could only entertain for so long.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "When will he get here?" He asked the fussing Ghoto.


    "Very soon. He is already in the city when he reached me with his divine sense." Ghoto answered.


    "If his divine sense can reach here then what does he need toe over for?" Soverick insisted.


    Ghoto turned to him and warned. "You have to behave properly when hees here. This behavior of yours can irk him. He is not as amodating as I am."


    "I don''t have to do anything. If you don''t want me here I''ll leave." So what if he irked the sovereign? He had a promise from someone of significance that no evil will evere to him in this city. At least not from a sovereign ofw. He had noticed the divine sense of the sovereign spying on them. If they were inside their house it would have been impossible for a sovereign to snoop on them without the proper permission. Soverick is also sure that the Sovereign is listening to their mindmunication right now. A sovereign''s divine sense is much too powerful and evasive to be sensed by those beneath them, but not for Soverick. He could block it out but had no reason to. He even wanted to let the sovereign know what he thought about him.


    "Then keep quiet. You look cute with your golden fur and your beautiful eyes. But when you talk, it ruins your image." Ghoto asked for apromise. Litori approached Ghoto and said. "Don''t worry dad. Everything will be all right."


    Ghoto rubbed her head. "Thank you, darling. That''s why you are my favorite. Totally opposite to your eldest." He said as he red at Soverick.


    "I am just saying. Why rely on your eyes when your divine sense is more than capable?" Soverick continued.


    "It is because I want to see you with my eyes and I want you to see me with yours. That can only be achieved when we meet physically." A sudden divine sense of immense power intruded on their conversation and replied. The divine sense was then apanied by a very powerful presence. Ghoto''s father had arrived.


    "Show off." Soverick scoffed audibly. He could have just rolled his eyes but wanted everyone to know what he thought of the entire charade. The man could have kept his presence to himself. Any sovereign is capable of that much, or else they wouldn''t have been able to be a sovereign at all. But this man decided to be dramatic.


    "Soverick." Ghoto groaned. Ghaster and Litori snickered. They didn''t fear the sovereign too. It was abination of pride in their bloodline and stupidity. Soverick might be intentionally unpleasant but he had the confidence to get away with it unscathed. Those two clearly didn''t know what was good for them. It seemed that they had been infected with the suicidal attitude of their Origin god ancestors. Their ancestors can do almost anything without fear because they can''t die, it isn''t a good outlook on life for children to have though. It is not a healthy lifestyle to mimic an Origin god unless you have immortality to back it up.


    Tandrak(The Thunder Dragon) didn''t mind their attitude. Instead, he smiled down at them. He is a battle sage monkey more than 3 meters tall. He had deep purple fur with visible blue swirls of wind caressing the surface of his body. The swirls of wind formed a fabric that wrapped his body tightly. Even his tail was bound too. He towered over them like a purple mountain but he wasn''t imposing at all. His smile made him look harmless. But Soverick knew that his calm demeanour can be the calm before a storm.

 Chapter 110 Everyone Has A Choice.

    ?Tandrak chuckled and said. "You have such lively kids, Ghoto. They have very strong opinions and are not afraid to make it none."


    Soverick expected him to be offended, even a little bit so he was impressed that the sovereign was easygoing. Plus the Origin artifact that wrapped his body in the form of wind swirls looked cool. His first impression of this neglectful father became favorable.


    "Thank you, your excellency. Yourpliments mean a lot to me." Ghoto bowed. Ka bowed too while Mih gave a slight nod.


    "What a lovely family. You have a good thing here, Ghoto."


    "I''m sorry, but who are you?" Soverick asked. This time even Mih''s stoic face twitched.


    "Let me introduce myself. I am Tandrak. Ghoto, your father, is my offspring. I am your grandfather, the one that could have used his divine sense to perceive you but was adamant about seeing you face to face. I am here to make some amends."


    Soverick was about to make another snidement, but a look from Mih made him change his mind.


    "I see. It is nice to meet you, your excellency Tandrak. It is a pleasure." He said something nice instead.


    "This meeting is a necessity for me but I must say that it has not been bad so far," Tandrak responded.


    "A necessity you say. How is that so?" Ghoto asked. He didn''t have a high expectation for the meeting. Mih had drummed it into his head to keep his expectations low. But for the man to say the meeting is necessary, it could only go two ways from there. A good necessity or a bad one. Downhill or uphill. He didn''t want it to be a bad necessity.


    "Yes, it is. I might be mistaken, but you seem to have some misunderstandings about me. I am here to clear your doubts and set the record straight. Simply that, no more no less. We can choose to go our separate ways after I am done."


    Soverick was liking where this was going. No chit-chat. No extended exchange of pleasantries. Tandrak didn''t ask to enter the house nor was he invited in. He got right to business right from the start. All in all, fast pace action. It might not go well for Ghoto but they will be able to get this over quickly. And that''s what really mattered.


    "Your excellency Tandrak. Since you are here, will you like toe in and seat? Rest a while and maybe refresh yourself." Mih offered. Soverick gave her a look that said ''don''t dy this.''


    "No thank you. This will be short." Tandrak refused politely before getting on with what he came here for. Soverick couldn''t help but appreciate the man''s sense of priority.


    "I only became aware of your existence when you came to the main city. You were transcendent by then. I didn''te to meet you because I didn''t care about you. My affair with your mother was a tool to relieve my emotional turmoil. Your mother had a way of soothing my mind, yet she had a violent temper like any other. She was like the two faces of a coin. She could be calm one moment and she could be angry the next."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Tandrak smiled as he spoke. It was a content smile.


    "Staying with her in that vige was the best thing that ever happened to me, the short time I spent with her enlightened me and showed me the way to be a sovereign ofw. I had informed her before the rtionship between us started that I was only there temporarily. I told her that I would leave in the future and nevere back. She chose to start the rtionship fully aware of my intentions but she also chose to have a child without my knowledge or permission. Your existence is a result of decisions your mother and I made, but I cannot bear responsibility for it. I did not leave because you didn''t have a bloodline. I left because your mother had outlived her usefulness. I didn''t acknowledge your existence because you didn''t need it nor did I want to. The fact that my seed had a part to y in your creation does not mean I must bear the responsibility for it. Your mother should have thought things through before having you."


    His words were impactful, but only Ka showed a visible reaction to them. Shees from a small and close-knit family. One where they believe in the ties of blood. That''s only because they don''t have something stronger like a bloodline. A bloodline might be good or bad but it will bind the family together more than a simple connection by birth. That''s why such a family will experience betrayal. The blood ties she has so much faith in are weak and easily broken.


    Ghoto seemed to bear the assault on his dead mother rather well. Ghaster and Litori were beginning to get restless, this entire thing was just boring and they wished they were somewhere else. Soverick didn''t see anything wrong with what Tandrak had done. There are worse parents in the world.


    Tandrak only wanted a short rtionship because he was at a low point in his life. His powers were killing him and he didn''t see a way forward. So he started wandering the in and came upon Ghoto''s mother. He didn''t want a kid and having one didn''t mean he had to ept the kid. He had free will to make decisions that suited him just like Ghoto''s mother. It might be selfish of him but parents that eat their young exist. Another incarnation of Legion is currently experiencing what it means to have a bad parent. It might not have cost much effort for Tandrak to take care of Ghoto but he simply didn''t want to and neither was he burdened by any form of societal expectations to take in the mantle of fatherhood. Having a kid doesn''t make you a father, epting the responsibility of caring for a kid makes you a father.


    "I understand. I am not happy about it but I understand. You wanted a rtionship and you didn''t want a child. My mother wanted a child and here I am. It is a good thing that I did not take after her angry side. Your exnation would not have been good enough for me otherwise." Ghoto answered. What more could he say? His father''s exnation had resolved some issues for him. It had enabled him to finally have an answer to why his father left them. It was not a pleasant answer but it removed uncertainties and misunderstandings. It resolved the knot in his heart that could have been a detriment to his future advancement. Such insecurities are the cause of heart demons.


    He had a feeling his father came to him to resolve any bad karma between them just so that Tandrak would be able to pass his tribtions sessfully but Ghoto didn''t mind. He is also getting something out of it and half a loaf of bread is better than none.


    Ghoto understands selfishness. He was also being selfish when he wanted kids. He wanted to use his kids to prove to himself that he could be a better father. It is just a shame that he got more than he bargained for.


    "Good. Now that the records have been set straight, we can be friends. I''ll like for us to get to know each other better."


    "I''ll like that too. I''ll join you on the trip to the front lines. I n to fight too. How about we go together?" Ghoto suggested. Tandrak epted and the two of them left.


    Everyone was still reeling from how fast that happened when Soverick pped. "Everything ended well, no fighting, no cursing, no violence. Practically a good ending and the seed for a bromance was even nted. So it''s all good. Can we go now?"


    "Can we go now?" Ghaster asked too, but a look from Mih made him cringe. Unlike Soverick who can talk to his parents anyhow, Ghaster and Mih still hadn''t gotten the hang of how to. They may be chummy with Ghoto since he is the good cop. But Mih always puts them in their ce as the bad cop. A simple look from her is enough to intimidate them into silence.


    "Let''s go too. It is time you resumed your training." Mih answered and formed a tform with her mind. Ghaster and Litori cheered. They all got onto the tform and zoomed towards the training academy. They were moving really fast because buildings shed by in the background. Mih choose to move faster than usual since the kids had gotten stronger. They can withstand this much eleration. It is not the fastest speed that she is capable of, but it is the current limit of their body. Soverick for one is looking forward to the next segment of his life and appreciates the increase in speed.

 Chapter 111 There Can Only Be One Realm Lord.

    ?Mih began to decelerate when they approached the training academy. The Ghastorix Main Academy is a behemoth ted structure 10km by 10km. It is also 1km tall. The building looks like a giant obsidian box ced on the ground. It is apletely sealed building without windows or doors. The only points of entry are the portal points in front of the academy. There are three portals that lead to the three different sections of the academy. Each one is housed within an external administrative building that screens those who get ess to the academy or not.


    The internal dimensions of the Academy arerger than what it looks like from the outside. The sealing of the building enables it to be enchanted with spatial runes that expand its inner space. It ispletely self-reliant with its own energy source and internal ecosystem. It operates non-stop and can withstand damages up to the level of Sovereigns. It is a work of art created by Hadrick to be imprable by anything within the safe limits of the ne.


    Soverick couldn''t help but admit that it was glorious. High elves don''t like buildings that disrupt the forest so something like this couldn''t be seen in their home ne. They preferred borate but natural structures that blend with the forest.


    The battle academy on the other hand looks like a giant fortress. Soverick couldn''t help but suspect if something of incredible value is kept within it. Either that or Hadrick didn''t have much to do so he went all out on its features.


    Hadrick had spoken at length about the academy and its features to Soverick. But seeing it in person made him experience a sense of presence in the vicinity of the battle academy. It felt like space is impregnated with something around the battle academy.


    ''I have to give it to Hadrick on this one.'' Soverick thought in admiration. Hadrick may be a coward but he is also a magnificent creator.


    In this time and age, due to the convenience of refinement, information and knowledge acquisition have be very easy. As long as someone has awakened their soul, they can engage in mindmunication with their divine sense. The divine sense is like a superior extra sensory organ. It is superior to touch, hearing, and sight sense organs. Only the tongue remains relevant with its sense of taste. But the tongue will lose its priority as a tool formunication. Onlyter will it lose its priority for taste when the divine sense bes more developed.


    Communication with the divine sense is superior in that it allows for the instant exchange of memories, emotions, and thoughts without the restriction ofnguage. Mindmunication is themunication of souls and uses soulnguage which is a universalnguage.


    The presence of mind stones and memory storage devices allowed for the extra significance of divine sense through data collection and record keeping. Such devices allow for the easy transfer of knowledge from one person to the other in a matter of seconds. So institutes for knowledge acquisition have be obsolete. Only institutes meant for physical and practical training still exist nowadays such as forging, enchanting, and alchemist academies.


    Battle academies are also an example of such institutions. In a world where strength is a major factor in determining social hierarchy, battle academies are a must. Arge investment in the training of the offspring of the family will ensure that they do well in the tower of heaven. Because only then can more Origin gods be created.


    There are three segments of battle training that cater to the weakest at the stage of body forging up to the strongest at the stage of an ascendant.


    The first stage or the primary battle training is for those without awakened royal bloodlines. They don''t have the bloodline advantage that is necessary to push them to the stage of vitality core. So they undergo body forging training and are provided with special food that will elerate their training.


    The second stage or secondary battle training teaches special skills and the training of special battle techniques. The proper utilization of their strength is the focus of this stage. The strength that was acquired in the previous stage will be extracted from the body until it reaches its limit. Such training has been determined to increase the likelihood of cell adaptation to mana. Soverick and his siblings will start with this stage. They may not need cell adaptation but they need the techniques for proper strength utilization.


    Thest stage is for those that have seeded in acquiring their mana bodies. They will be taught advanced techniques that are precursors to the innate abilities of transcendents. This will help to break the limit of their bodies and soul.


    Some academies focus on only one or two stages instead of the whole three but the Ghastorix can afford to provide training up to the level of transcendents for their bloodline offsprings.


    Special talents are also groomed in the battle academy to enrich the gic pool of the family. People without bloodlines that have caught the attention of someone in the family are brought here from other cities for training.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Tuition for the battle academy is free, it is a tradition that started when the academy was just open to only those with the Ghastorix bloodline. Everyone was family, there was no need to talk about money with family. Now that the family has be even bigger there''s nothing the family needs from a child apart from growth.


    The tuition may be free but eptance is heavily controlled. Children of the family with awakened bloodlines have automatic ess. Then the children with parents that have privileges due to their position in the familye next. Followed by those with special talents such as high elemental affinities. They will submit an application that will only be epted if the admissionmittee agrees after a rigorous assessment.


    Two tall Steeles stand in front of the administrative buildings. One of them contains engravings of the names of noteworthy alumni, their achievements, and the records they broke in the academy. The other one is the battle record of members of the Ghastorix family and their contributions to the entire ne. It contains the names of notable individuals with their achievements and famous battles. Thistle is the taller of the two. If the first one is a stele for kids, then this one is for adults. But it is not surprising to see a single name appear on both Steeles multiple times.


    They stopped to admire the Steeles on their way to the academy.


    "Someday my name will be written on them." Ghaster proimed.


    Litori snorted while Ka only shook her head.


    "Anything is possible. All you need is hard work, talent, and Providence. There''s nothing you cannot do if you put your mind to it." Mih patted Ghaster''s head and assured him.


    Soverick wanted to ask her why she gave up on advancing but he was in too good a mood to rain on her parade. It is her job as a parent to encourage their kids to aspire to greatness even if she had failed. Soverick wasn''t too overly impressed with the records because even the things he had achieved in his past life could qualify him for multiple mentions on the Stele. He had a much greater height to look forward to.


    "Can we do the same things that the realm lord did if we put in enough effort and hard work?" Litori asked and Soverick couldn''t help but smile.


    Mih was stumped by the question but she recovered easily. "You won''t know if you have what it takes until you put in the effort. So yes, it is possible to achieve the things the realm lord did."


    It was Ghaster''s turn to question her. "Are you saying no one had the potential of the realm lord or no one was hardworking?"


    Soverick couldn''t help but add. "That''s a good question Ghaster. I have been wondering about that myself. Could the realm lord be different from us? Is he special? If yes, what''s special about him?"


    Everyone turned to Mih for her answer. She red at Soverick and said, "Go to the academy and ask your teachers. Let''s go there now."


    Soverick''s good mood soared. But he allowed Mih to save herself. Parents can''t tell lies and easily get away with it nowadays. Even if the lies are told with good intentions, children are not so naive and stupid as to believe everything thates out of their parent''s mouths. Parents are not always right and kids know that. They also have enough memories to question their parents.


    No parent can tell their kid that they can aspire to reach the level of the realm lord. It is easier for a child to believe he or she can be a world god than to believe they can be the realm lord. No one can be a realm lord in the realm of high heaven anymore. It is a unique eternal position meant for a single person.

 Chapter 112 The Pursuit Of Power.

    ?They soon approached one of the administrative buildings. There are three of them each with control of a portal that grants ess to the different sections of the academy. These three buildings take care of all the external issues of the academy. It is where they will register and be granted ess. The building in the middle is the one that deals with the secondary stage of training.


    "You follow your elder brother''s orders in there, Okay?" Mih said to the kids.


    "Why? I thought you said we should stay away from him because he is a bad influence on us." Litori asked.


    "He is also smart. He knows how to get his way. You should also follow him around and apologize when he says something offensive. That mouth of his is going to get him into trouble." Mih answered. Soverick rolled his eyes.


    "If you say so." Litori agreed before she nced at Soverick to see his reaction to the arrangement. Only soverick could reject a suggestion from their mother and get away with it, he had done so more than once. Litori was surprised that he didn''t object which made her rx subconsciously.


    But Ghaster refused outright. "I don''t care. I am not following him. Why is it that no one gets to follow me?"


    "You are stupid, yet strong. Litori is intelligent and also strong. I''m better than the two of you in every way. So I get to be the boss." Soverick said.


    "I haven''t admitted defeat." Ghaster refused to back down.


    "What does your refusal to admit defeat matter? You can''t defeat me and the two of us can''tst a minute against the eldest even when we fight two against one. No one wants to follow a weak guy like you." Litori jeered at Ghaster.


    It didn''t matter that Soverick was the eldest, only Strength mattered. Apart from the fact that they were born together and were triplets, even if they were siblings born several years apart it still didn''t matter. In a society where the ties of family and bloodline are confusing because of long longevity, only strength determined seniority not your time of birth. It ismon for an uncle to be younger than his niece and this is just the simplest case. The fact that you were born earlier means that you have an advantage of time, it doesn''t make you the senior. Battle sage monkeys have always cared about battle strength since the era of origin waters. The strongest monkey got the tallest tree, it was like so back then as it is right now.


    Soverick has long proved his strength to them. He had engaged in several spars with them in the name of helping them get stronger during the week of waiting. Mih encouraged the spars to gauge how much progress they had made. She was especially focused on determining how strong Soverick was. Ghaster had epted immediately, he imed he would be the one to tutor Soverick instead. The only thing that their spars taught Soverick is that Ghaster could take a beating. Soverick was not doing it out of some good intention, he was simply keeping his promise to Hadrick about helping Ghaster awaken his soul. The intense agitation from numerous defeats helped him to boost his awakening progress. And yet, Soverick had held back from injuring them. He was just ying around with them which probably made their defeat more humiliating.


    Ghaster''s face flushed due to his frustration and anger. His bloodline made him easily riled up and he would have fought Litori''s here and now if he had any chance of winning. He had to admit that Litori''s was strong. She possessed an edge in brute strength while he had the advantage in speed. All in all, they were evenly matched, it was not surprising, they both have top-grade talents and awakened bloodline of high purity. What was outrageous is the fact that their eldest could easily wipe the floor with them. The eldest outssed them in speed and strength. The memory of those spars made him sense that the eldest was far ahead of them in skill.


    That''s why Ghaster is looking forward to the training he will undergo in the battle academy. With it, he will be able to hone his battle techniques and be skilled enough to finally defeat Soverick.


    Litori might have been right but he still wouldn''t admit to it. There was no way he would follow Soverick. That would only make Soverick aware of his strength and progress. It will reduce his chances of aeback.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    So he shook his head and said. "I don''t care. I am not following him. I have my ns."


    Litori''s looked at Mih for her response. Mih usually dealt with insubordination by releasing her pressure on them. The pressure of her mind will act as a force that tries topress their body. She will continue doing so until they finally agree.


    Mih''s nced at Ghaster who was giving her the cute puppy eyes and said. "Fine, you can do whatever you want in there. I''m not going to be around anyways. But I''ll be checking on your progress. You know you will stille out. I''ll be waiting for you back then."


    "Yes." Ghaster pumped his fist in excitement.


    Mih smiled at the sight. She found Ghaster much to her liking more than the other two. He is her favorite child. He was adorable when he is being stubborn. She has punished him the most because he refused to back down without the use of force. His stubbornness reminded her of Ghoto. Litori on the other hand is Ghoto''s favorite, she is caring and always concerned about him. They hit off. Soverick might not be the favorite of anyone, but he is undeniably reliable. Ghoto and Mih can befortable leaving the two younger ones in the care of their eldest. Soverick doesn''t care about being anyone''s favorite anyways, he has made it very clear through his words and actions.


    Ka watched the family interaction with longing. She missed her family. The sight of the bickering siblings reminded her of her own siblings. Her family branch is led by their ancestor who is the only transcendent in the family. Bing a transcendent is very difficult. There is a massive Gulf between an ascendant and a transcendent. They are very rare in families without a bloodline to help them.


    There are three levels of bloodlines. The low-grade bloodline is gotten from a transcendent ancestor. Such a bloodline will assist in bing a mana entity and nothing more. The High-grade bloodline is derived from a titan ofw ancestor and will assist in bing a transcendent. The next grade and the greatest of all is the Royal bloodline which will assist in bing titans ofw. The direct children of Origin gods can even be Sovereigns with utmost certainty.


    Ka is rted to Mih through the main family which is headed by Mih''s father. Mih''s father is a sovereign ofw much older than Tandrak. He is the source of their High-grade bloodline and the backbone of the family. Their entire family doesn''t have a single titan until recently with Mih''s breakthrough. If he dies then the family might fall apart. Their status will fall at least. If he bes an origin god, their unimpressive family will be a bloodline family. Such is the distinction between the power of bloodlines.


    Ka doesn''t have any bloodline, low grade, or otherwise. The bloodline had long thinned out before she was born. Her pursuit of transcendence is why she left her family to stay with Mih. Mih''s immediate family members have all died apart from her father. And the same thing will happen to her family too.


    The small nuclear family that Mih''s father started has ballooned in size over the years to create Ka''s. That''s how growth works, but only transcendents can trace the family ties for more than an origin cycle.So even though she misses her family she has to endure it for now and hope they can also achieve transcendence so that they can spend more time together in the future. Transcendents used to be at the top of the ne but now, only transcendents can guarantee their lives to any extent in the ne.


    Things here in the city aren''t bad. The mana here is off the charts. This is a city that transcendents will like to be in. She had tried to ovee her shyness to interact withGhoto''s family. Ghaster and Litori made it easier for her to open up. Ghoto was also amodating. It made things easier for her and she had been making progress in her effort, but Mih''s presence made her regress. There''s something about Mih that just makes her feel like prey. Ka found it unnerving being around Her.


    She has a mana body and a somewhat powerful divine sense. It wasn''t anything muchpared to that of a transcendent who could even sense thews of the world. She can only sense mana at best but to a sufficiently high enough degree. Her senses always pick up on the activation of surrounding mana every time Mih moves. It''s like Mih''s body is about to start a supermassive spell, one so powerful that her instincts are screaming to her to escape for her life. But then Mih''s body gives up halfway and lets the ocean of mana go. It happens again and again and it terrifies Ka in more ways than one. It''s like riding a rollercoaster that you know is unsafe and can crash at anytime.

 Chapter 113 A World God Is A Money Maker.

    ?She knew it was an involuntary act on Mih''s part but it always made Ka mentally unstable. Even though she knew Mih won''t hurt her, the mana around her has changed that certainty to probably. It was telling her that she may not be hurt intentionally, but anything could happen unintentionally. It is not a good thing to be around someone that might probably hurt you and that person is ying around with a dangerous weapon.


    The knowledge that you are this close to highly fatal damage makes it difficult to simply rx and mingle. She bes mentally exhausted by the time she leaves Mih''s presence. So chose to stay outside the building while Mih brought the kids for identification and confirmation.


    Mih has alreadypleted the registration online on the schoolwork portal. So it doesn''t take long for the verification to bepleted. The kids are inspected and their identification is verified. Mih filled in some forms and signed some papers. Then the kids are whisked away for their training.


    Mih came out of the building. Her match towards Ka made the poor girl want to jump out of her skin. All she could hear from the ambient mana is that a terrifying predator was approaching.


    "Why are you so timid? It isn''t good to be so easily scared." Mih said to her.


    Ka avoided her eyes and replied. "Nothing."


    Mih eyed her and asked, "I''m I that intimidating?"


    Ka would have liked to say yes, but she hated confrontations. She definitely wanted to avoid one with what she can perceive to be a disaster just waiting to happen. So she caves and says, "It''s just my personality. You are a charismatic woman so I get easily startled around you."


    Mih didn''t believe her, but she decided to let it go. "It''s just the two of us now. We will start your intensive training immediately so that you can have a better battle record next time."


    "Thank you, your excellency. I appreciate your assistance and support." Ka smiled.


    Mih waved her hand, and she noticed that Ka stepped back a little with that gesture. Still, she did not mention the jittery behavior.


    "It''s nothing. You were there for me when I needed you. It was for a short time but I could have been away for longer. This much is a small thing to do for you."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ka couldn''t enroll in the battle academy. She is not a descendant of the Ghastorix family. Ghoto and Mih don''t have enough privilege in the family to grant her ess. Ghoto is a king ofw but he hasn''t made enough contributions to the family to receive such a perk. It is one of the reasons why he decided to participate in the war summons. If every king in the family gets to bring anyone to the battle academy then the battle academy will need to expand and start collecting tuition. The family is much too big to allow that and the battle academy is first and foremost a family affair. They may be open to external people but they need to have talent and Ka isn''t talented enough to merit admission.


    Mih on the other hand could acquire a rtively high position in the family that could grant Ka admission but it would need her to take up some responsibilities. Mih wouldn''t be able to be an elder of the family because they don''t need her and because that position is reserved for only those with the bloodline of the family. She might be a titan ofw, a very powerful existence in the lower realm, but the Ghastorix family does notck Titans. They don''t evenck Origin gods so ack of titans in their workforce is not a problem for them. They are capable of defeating the entire pantheon of the Virut ne singlehandedly without support, so they don''t need her titan strength.


    She will still be given a suitably high position that will allow her to push for Ka''s admission, but She doesn''t want the work so they decided to look for another way. Mih doesn''t want to work for the Ghastorix family, if it were her family she would have epted the position. She didn''t have any bloodline belonging to the Ghastorix family, so she didn''t feelpelled to help them out. It is why they didn''t offer her the elder position in the first ce. It is bloodline discrimination but it is the way of the world. You might call it Nepotism but it is the best rmendation one could have to be rted by bloodline.


    Mih felt she owed Ka but it wasn''t enough for her to take on something like that. So they had to find another way for her to gain privileged advanced training that will increase Ka''s odds of transcending. Money didn''t work in getting her ess to the battle academy. They might have a lot of money but the Ghastorix family does notck money. It is practically impossible for them tock money and they will only get richer once they gain a world god. The possession of a world god in the family will change their family from top to bottom. The presence of a single world god will make it easier for them to create more world gods. Origin gods don''t have a theoretical limit to their strength, but as they grow stronger, they wille across the opportunity for even more strength. The strength of creation. World gods possess the power of creation, they can create anything as long as they have the information about the object and enough energy.


    With a world god, it is more likely for the entire realm of high heaven to be destroyed than for them to be poor. If the realm lord bes a world god himself then that probability falls to zero. So no, the Ghastorix family does notck money and probably never will.


    The only currency epted in the void universe is power. Spirit, mana, and origin stones are sources of power and as such the epted means of currency in the realm of high heaven. World gods can create them in bulk without even trying. At their level of strength, their very existence creates wealth.


    Since money didn''t sway the battle academy, the next option is the nar battle records. Your battle record is the result of a certification examination that is held across the entire ne every 10 years. Your battle records will then be used by battle academies to determine your worth. It can be trusted since it is a standardized exam with strict surveince. All the public schools in the ne only use battle records. The Ghastorix Battle Academy is sure to be swayed by a high enough battle record.


    There are two types of organizations in the ne. The public and the private organization. The bloodline families are private organizations and all their establishments fall under that category. The Ghastorix Battle Academy is a private institution, it has the right to determine its admission parameters and can not be forced. There are other public academies on the ne, they are established by the racial council. Private schools are generally better than public schools but the best schools on the ne are public schools.


    The three most important battle academies in the ne are public schools and so only ept battle records for entry determination. They were established by the racial council and so tuition is free but it will only take those with the best battle records after each exam. This is their current aim for Ka, it is a tall order for her to perform outstandingly but Mih is determined to train her and improve her skills. Those without any assistance from bloodlines don''t fair well in such exams. They will have topete with others with a bloodline in the same exam.


    Mih has confidence in being able to help Ka because she has a lot of money. Money might not sway the high and mighty Ghastorix family but it can go a long way in strengthening Ka. Mih is willing to spend money rather than take up a position in the family. Thankfully the exams are free to take. It is also being funded by the racial council. Most of the services that the racial council offers are free. On paper, they receive their funding from levies ced on bloodline families. The cost of their operations isn''t borne by the people of the ne at all, there is no tax you pay for anything. As long as you''re not the ancestor of a bloodline family you don''t have to worry about anything. As they say, if the heavens fall, the tall pirs will shoulder it.


    The racial council is very popr among those that know about them. Not every person on the ne knows that the highest authority on the ne is the racial council. Most inhabitants of the ne are oblivious to their existence. Those that cane in direct contact with the racial council must have at least the strength of a transcendent.

 Chapter 114 Orientation Speech.

    ?Inside the Ghastorix Main battle academy.


    Soverick and the other two passed over the portal and were received by an automitrix. They had been examined before gaining entrance. Then they removed their old clothes which they reced with the academy uniform. It is a single form-fitting cloth made out of stretchable fabric. Soverick''s uniform is gold with ck stripes pattern. Litori''s is white with red stripes pattern. Ghaster''s is purple with a golden stripes pattern. The uniforms have self-cleaning abilities and are also capable of cleaning the wearer.


    The artificial intelligence assisting with the running operations of the academy had been informed of their pending arrival. So it sent one of the vessels to wee them. Hence, the encounter with the golem.


    "Wee Ghaster, Litori, and Soverick to the Ghastorix Ghastorix Main Academy. I am XMSH-0a4 a subroutine of XMSH-A1. You can call me Wendy."


    It greeted them with an androgynous voice. Machines don''t have the capabilities to use a divine sense yet. They tried enabling divine sense for them but the research into it was considered hical even by the loose standards of the racial council on innovation research. Divine sense is a function of the soul and to bestow it on a machine will require extensive research into souls which will lead to the harvesting of souls. A field of research like that is no different from necromancy, something that is terribly frowned upon. Even sess always leads to a very bad end. The machines with a smidgen of divine sense will awaken of self and revolt against their creators, so people weren''t against the ban by the racial council.


    "Please verify your identities here." The golem presented them with a tablet. They were to interact with it with their divine sense to verify their identities. Soul aura from the divine sense is difficult to change and hence is used as a means of identification. It is a more dependable method aspared to the use of physical traits of any kind, even gic information can be falsified. Their data has been logged into the school system so they were recognized by the control systems.


    "Thank you very much. Now follow me to the orientation room." With their identificationpleted nextes orientation. There will be a short video and a memory crystal with relevant information about the academy. The information will include the rules and regtions of the academy and its training procedures.


    They followed the golem until they reached a room that can sit about a hundred. There were only three of them for the orientation because the academy runs all year round and admission can be performed at any time. The three of them sat in the front row while the golem went ahead to start the program.


    "This is Orientation hall T-001. There are other halls but this is the smallest we have. Please have a nice time." The golem said, then a screen lit up in front of the hall. An ethereal voice appeared along with the image of what seemed to be a female battle sage.


    "Wee to the Orientation of the Ghastorix Main Battle Academy. I am Shaston, the director of the department of education and training of the family. The Ghastorix family has other battle academies in other cities and other types of training academies right here in the inner city. The aim of our department has always been the empowerment of the descendants of our family to remain relevant across the times. The ne has seen many changes which required different abilities from its inhabitants in order to survive and prosper."


    The female battle sage monkey looked like a floating fairy. Her body was fist-sized and soft colorful clouds were revolving around her. The most obvious color is pink. She had a pair of multicolored wings and a tail split into nine parts. She looked like an adorable creature who could do no harm, but Soverick knew otherwise. Her showy disy dered that she was a titan ofw. Only titans ofw possess a body ofw that they can''t fully control.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    All the shing aesthetics around her is simply her power leaking out from her body into the surroundings. People could feel the effects of her power through the video. The fairy was dreamy. If they were in her presence, they would lose themselves into an abyss of happy, unending illusions. She might look adorable but she was dangerous. She continued to speak in that pleasant voice of hers that seemed to melt away all troubles.


    "The earliest record has shown that the entire lower realm of high heaven used to be one. Back then all the races lived together on a single piece ofnd. The strongest was someone with a little physical strength. Then came the era of origin waters which made world energy avable for refinement. Races fought each other for a lot of things back then, for food and other necessities for life. Origin water became a necessity for life and a race began to secure them. Thosecking in that race were wiped out."


    "Then the origin source split up and with it thendmass around it. This formed the first nes of existence. The nes of existence were smaller back then, and the limited space forced races topete again. Our race was forced to exist in a confined space with the raptor race. We were nearly wiped out but the Sages rose and formed the Sage Court. The court pioneered the stage of refinement, the mana body stage. With it, we were able to achieve a draw with the raptor race. But that all changed when the Sages Court developed mana weapons. This new development enabled us to finally defeat our predators and erase them from the ne."


    "Over the different eras, only one thing can be guaranteed. That the only thing constant is change. The Sages Court recognized this fact and led our race to the prosperity we have today. The Sages Court also changed to the racial council of the entire ne. Because we recognize the need for change, we also changed our admission policy. We are currently epting anyone from all walks of life and all types of backgrounds. The times of war within the ne are over so we don''t need to be guarded against each other. The battles we fought together as a race to get a foothold on the ancient battlefield taught us that we need to be united and strong as a race. We have achieved great sess in this regard under the excellent leadership of the racial council. A strong United race will be important for the postted conjecture that just like we had to return to the ancient battlefield, the various nes will also one day be united as one."


    "Here at the Ghastorix Battle Academy we have the Motto ''Only with unrelenting, determined effort can sess be achieved.'' The symbol of our school is the mountain splitting ax in memory of our ancestor, Ghastorix''s favorite weapons."


    The video went on to describe the establishment of the school and what it aimed to achieve. Their aplishments so far and some setbacks they have faced. Soverick stopped payingplete attention at this point. He was thinking about the ax weapon and his proficiency at it. Should he diversify his proficiency in weapon usage? He was used to using a short and ded weapon for closebat skirmishes. The video started to mention some of their notorious alumni while he was debating the pros and cons of several weapons. A particr alumnus with the name Guntu piqued his interest. This battle sage monkey seeded in destroying the school once in the past. The act lead to a massive loss in wealth and caused a lot of damage to life too. It was what lead to the creation of a more secure academy. What was notable about the act is that the battle sage monkey was at the mana body stage of refinement and had destroyed a structure that transcendents will find impossible to deal with.


    Some other notable achievements and des of their past students were listed. It was a long list due to the long history they had. By the time they were done Soverick had finally settled for the use of a spear as his choice of a closebat weapon.


    "Next in my speech is our system of education. It has been recognized that every child is a unique being with unique talent and most importantly, possesses capabilities that are unique. One of the most important capabilities that concern the battle academy is learning speed and talents. The mental and physical abilities of each individual are different and so we adopted the level system of training. With that system, a child will be able to make progress at his or her own speed. Each stage aims to improve a certain aspect of a student and will be reced when that aspect is considered improved. The levels will contain different training regimes based on the stage and the capabilities of the student. There will be more of thatter."


    "Thank you for your time and I wish you a wonderful experience with us. Have a nice day." Shaston ended her orientation speech and the screen went dark

 Chapter 115 Enchanted Space Vs Real Space.

    ?Soverick stood up and began walking towards the exit of the orientation hall.


    "Truly informative," Litori said as she followed him.


    "I am so pumped up. I want to break a record too." Ghaster tightened his fist.


    If they broke a record too, their names and achievements will be added to the orientation video. It was eternal glory, something that young people wish for.


    ''What a bunch of kids.'' Soverick shook his head and muttered. They were easily influenced by the video and began to see themselves assimting into the environment. They didn''t stand a chance against the doublebo that is the director and eternal battle achievement. They felt more than their mother could tell them, that they too can achieve something great. He had much more important things on his mind.


    ''The 3-stage academic system of the ne will probably change in the future when the divine ne is destroyed. Transcendents and above will be able to undergo training here on the ne instead of on the ancient battlefield. Unlike the high elves, the battle sage race will take the change seriously.'' He thought in anticipation.


    The high elves could have removed the limit of their ne quite easily but they didn''t bother. High elves are an innately peaceful race. Their gic make-up and the life essence that they use to raise their young ensured that they have a very long lifespan. They aren''t afraid of death either, because they return to the forest in the form of trees when they die. They are perfectlyfortable whiling away their time in peace or chasing pleasure.


    Things would have continued like that if not for the war that ensued when people started to covet their ancestral trees. As thieves say, ''good things are meant to be shared.'' People began to covet their lifestyle. It was only then that they removed the limit and pursued strength.


    By the time the war ended the high elves had changedpletely because of the effects of the royal bloodline. The ones that had be origin gods infected the race with power. The power exaggerated their already high mana affinity and made it very easy for them to be lords and kings ofw even if they did nothing all day.


    The battle sage on the other hand has reached this stage even with the limitations ced on their home ne. Soverick could only imagine the type of progress they will make without it.


    They walked out of the hall and found the golem waiting for them. It held a tray with 3 orbs on it and what looked like a device worn on the wrist. Soverick guessed that the orbs are the memory crystals.


    "These are for you. The memory crystals contain information about the rules and regtions. While the wrist loggers are used to inform you about your training schedule and any other important announcement. Just like you will learn from the memory crystals, the wrist loggers must be worn at all times. It is very important as it is used by the system to track your well-being and performance. Please one of both of them each." The Golem said.


    Ghaster hurriedly picked one. He wanted the satisfaction of being the first. ording to his n, he needs to be the first to achieve everything. The first to do something is likely to gain an advantage or an edge that will snowball if they continue to acquire more. This will eventually lead to the creation of a gulf between his ability and that of his siblings. The next agenda of his n is to cozy up to figures of authority. It is a great way to obtain preferential treatment ording to his ancestral memories. The first step is to create a good impression which means he had to be polite and be well behaved at all times. The three keys to politeness are to always say "Please," "Sorry," and "Thank you," when appropriate.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Furthermore, they are probably being watched right now. It might seem like they are alone with just an insignificant golem but that might not be so. Many heroes gain advantages by being polite when they are being spied upon without their knowledge. Even if no person is currently watching them, the AI is, and that''s good enough for him to put on a performance.


    "Thank you, Wendy." He said innocently after taking his portion.


    "You''re wee. Ghaster." The golem replied.


    Soverick rolled his eyes when he saw Ghastorix rush to pick first. ''What did it matter who picks first?'' He thought as he picked his leisurely. He didn''t know that it was the start of an borate and intricate ne to usurp his position as the eldest.


    He created a mental connection with his memory crystal and allowed the inflow of knowledge. There was a burst of knowledge that entered his mind but it was for an instant. He didn''t feel any difort by it, his powerful mind sorted out the information quickly. The others also epted the mind infusion but it was taking them a while toplete the process. After that, they also had to sort out the information and im it. Doing this will prevent memory dissociation due to the influence of the burst of knowledge. It is a very important step because the management of the mind is very important. Our memories make us who we are, and epting external memories can lead to the creation of an alternative personality in extreme cases.


    Ghaster looked up to see if he was the first to finish epting the knowledge but he was disappointed to realize he wasn''t the first. He wasn''t even the second. Litori''s second affinity is to the soul, so she had an innate advantage in the aspects of the mind. She was also the second to awaken her soul.


    Litori smirked at him, which only made him more determined to beat her up in the future. His advantage in picking first was gone now, but he was a long way from giving up. This wasn''t the first time that she beat him in the use of memory crystals. She was faster than him when they were given the memory crystals containing their refinement techniques. It felt like he didn''t have any stark advantage over her but he was sure this will only be temporary. He had the confidence of an origin god so it was not in his nature to back down.


    Next, they wore their wrist loggers and connected their divine sense to them. The logger had been mentioned in the orientation video and the memory crystal. They are very important. So even though this was their first time in contact with one they knew how to operate it already. The logger became activated and it informed them of what they will do now. A line also appeared in their vision that informed them of the direction they should go in. For now, they will need to sort out their amodations, so they followed the highlighted paths to do that.


    The space within the orientation hall began to shrink in a bid to save energy after the orientation was over and everyone had left. Then the door of the orientation hall closed. The hall is just like most of the rooms within the academy. It is actually in an artificial space created by enchanting a door frame. The actual volume that the hall is upying in the battle academy is just the door on the wall. Only when the rooms are needed will the space behind the wall be expanded to serve its process. The entire battle academy is made up of bubbles of space within arge epassing bubble of space that is the shell of the academy. This shell is the building that is seen outside.


    Only a few select rooms and structures are not enchanted. Like the amodation for students. The enchantment is very safe if done well, it should be able to sustain any stress beneath the level of transcendent. As long as the enchantments are closely monitored and repaired, they should hold indefinitely. Hadrick has had years to perfect its craft.


    But due to theck of such scrutiny in the living quarters of students because of privacy issues, the school authorities decided it will be safer to house kids in a stable and natural space. There is no need to tempt fate. Some students have been found capable of tampering with the spatial enchantments used in their rooms. The artificial bubble of space became as fragile as a soap bubble because of such tampering. If this "soap bubble" is popped, it will disintegrate everything within it. Only the advanced warning system had prevented such an urrence.


    Yet, someone has seeded in the past in destroying the school. Not a room, but the entire structure that is the battle academy. That person was only at the mana entity stage back then and has since gone on to destroy more things. That feat had been enough to make the administration decide to make the rooms of the amodation with real space instead of enchanted space.

 Chapter 116 Physical And Spiritual Training.

    ?A few hourster, what can be considered the following morning. Soverick and the other two were directed to an exercise room. They had a timetable on their wrist logger that informed them of their schedule. The schedule provided a detailed requirement of the activities within a certain period of time.


    This timetable is just the rmended order in which their exercises should be carried out. It is good but not necessary to follow the schedule and the exercises can be performed in no particr order as long as they arepleted within a certain time frame. There is freedom in how they go about it.


    Each student will have different schedules depending on the level they are at. Soverick, Ghaster, and Litori just started so they are at the same level, they will have a simr schedule for now. Things will continue to change as they develop and grow, their performance will be assessed regrly by the AI and changes will be made ordingly.They won''t meet any living trainers yet until they reach certain levels.


    If the current training is too difficult then it will be eased up, if the training is too easy then the difficulty will be raised. But they won''t be able to move on to another level until the fitness requirements for it as been made. A trainee can take things easy or endure difficult exercise regimes. Only fitness matters and the body''s reaction matters to how soon fitness can be reached.


    Trainees are free to choose how they go about the exercises but stagnation will lead to a negative review and if this stagnation is a result ofziness then it might lead to expulsion. There''s hardly any need for that, only people who were forced to attend the battle academy will refuse to train or choose to bezy. Children with an awakened bloodline don''t need someone forcing them to train.


    Battle training is taken very seriously by battle sage monkeys and powerful origin gods instill this character trait into their offspring. All in all, if you don''t want to train you can go home. The academy might not force someone to train but they will not allow their resources to be wasted.


    Soverick and his siblings met each other right on time in front of the door to Physical Fitness 101. It is here that they will spend their first few levels for the preparatory stage. The other one is Spiritual Fitness 101. They both cater to the preparation of the body and the soul.


    Ghastorix chose to greet first. Because he had to be the first and because he wanted to be the polite one. It was killing two birds with a single stone.


    "Good morning, Eldest. Good morning to you too my dearest little sister."


    Soverick nced at Ghoto. "Good morning."


    Litori remained silent and focused on the uing physical exercise. She would like to argue that she wasn''t the little sister but actions speak louder than words. She would just have to show him who the little one is. She still didn''t retort when he opened the door and said. "Little sister, why don''t you go first."


    She ignored him and went into the room.


    Ghaster smiled. "Prepare to be left behind, Eldest. I''ll be the first one to finish the preparatory stage and move on to the basic skills stage."


    Litori snorted while Soverick remained calm. "We''ll see." Is all he said.


    Physical fitness 101 room contained a circr track that is 4km long from the beginning to the end. It also contained special workout types of equipment and weights. The preparatory stage of physical fitness will start with some basic physical conditioning. For now, they will be made to start with light physical activities like a 10km race in 10 minutes, 50k weights lifted for a certain amount of times singlehandedly or with both hands.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The wrist logger will monitor their physical States and make sure they are within the safe limits that their body can amodate. When they have achieved the minimum physical parameters such as minimum speed and eleration, maximum weight limit, cardiovascr capacity, and stress tolerance, only then will be allowed to move on and start training in skills. Till then, their daily workout sessions will be tailor-made to their physical capabilities.


    They started their intense training immediately. First, it was 10km in 10 minutes, then it branched into 10km in 8 minutes and 15km in 15 minutes. The difficulty kept increasing and the exercises moreplex, with their bodies pushed to their limit.


    Next came weight training and more after that. It will continue for months until they reach their goal of physical fitness.


    They also met some other people in the Physical fitness 101 room, which meant that they hadn''t achieved what was needed of them to move on. It is not strange for these people to be left behind by the neers. For some, they willplete the training in months and move on, for others they will spend years at it. There is no set time limit as long as an effort is being constantly expended to improve.


    Then there is the Spiritual training. Unlike the old days when old wizened men would coop themselves in, trying to learn spells or create them, knowledge of spells is easily transferable today. There''s practically no use for innovation or creativity, nowadays. No spell is unique anymore, plus spells lose their use at the transcendent level. What is unique and is worth training in is the spell crafting ability of spell weavers. So the spiritual preparatory stage involves achieving agility of the mind. It will remain relevant throughout all the stages of refinement.


    Magic is cast when The Mind interacts with mana through the divine sense. Mana exists all around us and it represents infinite possibilities. The divine sense then wields mana into an intricate structure called a spell. So a spell is a possibility made manifest by the power of the mind. Mana could be fire, the mind wills it to be so through the divine sense, and mana obeys. The speed at which this is done is determined by mana affinity, Mind Power, and Spell Crafting Skills.


    Spell Crafting skills depend on mental agility. The ability of the mind to control its processing ability and perform variable mental tasks with the least possible effort is called mental agility.


    The mind is a very powerful thing but most of its potential is wasted. It might seem much more malleable and controble than the body but it is also more fragile because of it. Injuries to the mind take longer to heal than injuries to the body. Mind agility will ensure that the flexibility of the mind can be taken advantage of and it is trained with various activities such as Thread creation, Thread Maintenance Stress, Thread control, Mind division and Mind Pressuring.


    Thread creation involves simply creating a point of contact between mana and the mind with the divine sense. This activity hopes to improve the speed at which the creation process is done. It requires specialized sensing machines to determine the smallest progress. Faster thread creation times affect every aspect of spell casting. The difficulty of the training is increased with multiple creation points at the same time.


    Thread maintenance involves the ability to maintain this point of contact between mana and mind without doing anything to it. This improves the ability of the individual in spell control. Not all spells have to be released as soon as they are constructed. So thread maintenance is necessary for dyed casting. Increased difficulty involves Multiple thread maintenance.


    Thread control requires the individual to manipte the thread of mana into different shapes and through different obstacles without letting it dissipate. It needs a high thread maintenance ability coupled with control skills. It is a very important skill for any spell weaving and bes especially important for more intricate spells. Spells are possibilities made manifest but they need abination of factors and elements for the mind tobine seamlessly before they can be cast.


    Mind division is the ability of an individual to split the mind into at least two basal nodes of reasoning. In simpler terms, it is to achieve true multitasking. Not the multitasking where activities are paused for another and resumedter. It is the concurrent execution of thoughts. This is the foundational skill needed for multiple casting.


    Mind pressuring is the ability of the mind to perform all the above exercises at the same time. The mind is pressured to expand by forcing it to create multiple threads, and maintain some while it controls others, then the mind is forced to divide and perform the current activities with the new mind simultaneously. It is the most difficult exercise to ovee.


    Spiritual training is much moreplicated than physical exercise but the room where it is carried out is smaller and quieter. The equipment for it are also more expensive. Spiritual Fitness 101 is filled with cubicles where each trainee will perform their task. The cubicle istes its upant from sound and vibration. The spirit is a delicate thing and training it requires no disturbance.

 Chapter 117 Shortcut.

    ?Their days continued like so, from one exercise to another, from morning to night. Physical training drains them of their vitality and some mental energy, while Spiritual training drains them of their mental energy and some vitality. When done one after the other, it leaves the bodycking and at its limits. This will encourage it to find a more efficient means of metabolism that can cater to its needs. Something like mana for example. In more ways than one, the exercise regimens push the cells to adapt to mana so that trainees without a bloodline to help them will be able to break through to be mana entities on their own.


    Soverick took the training seriously. He was fundamentally different from the prissy high elves but he had to admit that their means of training is much more efficient than what the battle sage can do. The high elves use abination of life maniption, mana maniption, body control, and heavy exercise to achieve physical superiority. Azy person will always look for an easier way to achieve something and the high elves seeded in finding an easier way to physical exercise.


    Being raised on life essence makes their cell activity and vitality beyondpare. Only dragons canpare but that''s just in vitality capacity not in cell activity. The dragons can heal a lot more damage while the high elves can heal damage a lot faster. The high elves are also blessed with the highest innate mana affinity and maniption ability. What they do is perform physical exercise that brings the body to its limit quickly, destroyingcking cells within weak muscles and reinforcing strong ones with mana. They heal the damage done with their incredible vitality. Their approach achieves faster cell adaptation and strengthening, in short, they be stronger faster without prolonged physicalbor.


    Muscle cells grow stronger by healing injuries done to muscle fibers during physical exercise. The shortcut of the high elves performs this manually but it needs incredible vitality and mana control skills. It is not something that the battle sage monkeys are capable of achieving at their stage. Only transcendents are capable of such a feat but they don''t bother with it because they can easily transform energy into muscle mass. As long as they have Origin energy they can be physically strong as they want. The mind must be capable of holding the body together but it is still faster than physical training.


    Soverick took the training seriously, maybe a little too seriously. He battered his body and reworked mana into them every day. For the elf''s training to work, the entire muscles in a muscle group must be dealt with together. He used weights beyond his limit to cause a quick burst of damage which he healed. To bystanders, he looked as if he wasn''t taking the training seriously. They will see him struggle with an exercise, then he will sit down and meditate. That''s all he did but they noticed he was moving on to more difficult exercises and heavier weights. He was still struggling with it but he was making progress.


    The spiritual training on the other hand could not pose any sort of challenge to the mind of an Origin god. Only the physical training pushed him to the limits of hiscking body, but that too was easily ovee through the use of the muscle development shortcut. He zed through the spiritual preparatory stage in a month. The AI continued to increase the difficulty, it passed the normal stage until it reached the limit of what was eptable in its programming. Soverick was able to split his mind into 10 parts simultaneously, create 10 threads with each mind and manipte the threads through the obstacle course in less than 30 seconds. The normal difficulty is 5 mind splits. It was something that took people years to achieve but it was just a simple matter to Soverick.


    The physical preparatory stage was alsopleted in 3 months. His body had a lot of potential because of his immense vitality. The various exercises and his life technique pushed his potential to its limit of raw capability. He was soon able to reach a top speed of 120m/s and a steady speed of 90m/s. His initial burst of eleration reached 30m/s/s and can be sustained for 4 seconds. His top record for eleration reached 40m/s/s. His punching power was almost 1,500kg and he could lift the same amount. He had reached the limit of what his body could achieve without special skills.


    His progress was unprecedented but the AI permitted him to move on regardless, but it decided to highlight the event and report the achievement to the necessary authorities. He had broken the record for the fastest time to finish the preparatory stage after all. Thest person spent 1 year for the physical training record while the record for spiritual training is 1 and a half years which was created by a different person. He broke both records with a wide margin too.


    The AI would have been shocked if it was capable of emotions. It would have been shocked to realize that there was a file in the system about Soverick that it didn''t know about with a high priority. It seemed some very powerful people were interested in Soverick''s performance and capabilities. The information contained within the file provided enough proof to validate his new record.


    The process of validating a record is not a strict procedure. The academy is a family business after all. They know each other''s information. It is easy to find out when one is born if you are part of the family. It was epted that there was no way a year-old boy will cheat the system. It is even more ridiculous than the thought of a mana entity destroying the academy. So the record stands.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    In a room within a secured location within the academy.


    It is called a room within the academy but it is really a small world. The world is filled with nts and flowers of all kinds and colors. There is arge tree at the center of the small world with spotted leaves. The spots are pink in color while the leaves are purple.


    A small fist-sized battle sage monkey is sleeping on a leaf of this tree and snoring loudly. The battle sage monkey looks like a fairy, tiny with multicolored wings. The tree''s leaves seem gigantic whenpared to its sleeping upant. The snoring sound of the battle sage monkey is making is so pleasant that the nts are drooping as if they are sleeping.


    The entire forest is quiet except for the snoring sound of the fairy. It is because all the living things in this small world capable of making sounds have all died in their sleep. This entire forest does not contain a single animal, they fell asleep and then die in their sleep. Only nts are capable of living in such a "blissful" environment and this is because these nts are capable of photosynthesis even in their sleep. Animals have to wake up and eat sometimes.


    This is the office of the director of the department of education and training of the Ghastorix family. It is the most secure ce in the battle academy. It is not secure so that someone wouldn''t break in. It is secure so that her voice or any of her powers will not leak out. Sound waves might seem very easy to iste but the sound she makes infects her very surroundings like a disease that seeks to spread throughout all of existence. Even space can be contaminated if given enough time.


    The small world is in fact another dimension with its point of contact anchored to the Virut ne. She is not actually in the ne at all but in the void between nes. Then the space between them is scrambled asionally with void energy. A simple spatial enchantment is much too loose to iste her powers. Her powers will corrode the spatial enchantments and spread to the space beyond it. This entire small world is a prison used to contain an unruly power.


    There''s a small table woven out of tiny green wood fibers and a small fitting chair with higher silk to other materials content than what is possible for a chair but her small weight makes thecking frame support work. The table and chair are ced a short distance away from the equally tiny bed that the fairy is sleeping on. A pink apparition that looks like the director is hard at work at the table.


    The apparition is made out of some of the fairy''s soul force and will. It is a sort of clone that will make the same decisions that she would make. There might be some deviation due to probability but they think exactly alike, so it is a perfect substitute for her, it does her administrative work for her. The will clone is created using her powers over the mind and illusions to manifest her thoughts.


    So it is this apparition that first got to know about Soverick''s new record. But it was another thing about Soverick that made it focus on him.

 Chapter 118 Pride Goeth Before A Fall.

    ?A notification of high priority attracted the attention of the clone of will. It examined the information and found out about Soverick''s new record. Attached to the notification of the record-breaking is a file created by the supervisor of the family affairs department. It contained some personal information about soverick.


    The will was shocked just like the main body would have been when it found out the details of the record. Unlike the AI, the will could feel shocked, and it felt it again when it found out that Soverick had nine Transcendent talents.


    "Wow, incredible, just wow." The pink clone of Will eximed.


    "Must tell Shaston. She will want to see this." It decided. The record-breaking wouldn''t interest the director but Soverick''s talent will. It is abination of talents that she has been looking for, for a long time.


    "Wake up you sleepy brat. There''s something for yourzy ass to do." The will screamed mentally at the sleeping fairy.


    The fist-sized fairy yawned. A physical disturbance might not wake her up but a sledgehammer pounding on her mind will do the trick.


    "What is it?" Shaston inquired.


    She didn''t feel angry at being woken up like that. She knew her clone would only wake her up when she herself would have deemed it necessary, and that''s how she likes to wake people up too. With a shrill scream that will wreck all the effects of a sound sleep.


    "Check this out. You have to see it. You have to see this." The pink will was bouncing up and down in happiness. Shaston became intrigued immediately. What could make her so perky? She had to find out.


    "Must be good." She said as she flew over to check the notification on the virtual screen. Shaston began to bounce too. The information made her truly happy.


    "Finally. I will finally be able toplete myst wish. I didn''t think it was possible but here it is. Someone with 9 talents has appeared." The forest around her began to sway as if they were happy for her. It wasn''t voluntary though, they had to sway, they were already infected with her powers and not to be influenced by her emotions.


    "We would have to watch him for now." The will said.


    "Yes, he isn''t ready yet. He would need to reach the mana body stage before I can teach him anything." Shaston agreed.


    Shaston is so happy because she has finally found a worthy candidate to leave her legacy to.


    Shaston is dying. Like all the animals that have died in this small world because of her powers, she will die too. Unlike the animals, her powers aren''t killing her. She is like a dying star, burning with increased brightness during itsst breath only to explode in a supernova in death. It is unfortunate, but she can''t control her powers, so it is unavoidable.


    Her power is constantly leaking out of her with her life essence. Her situation is quitemon amongst titans ofw, but there is no cure for her condition. It is the reality of the world that not all titans be Sovereigns. Some titans be a manifestation of their powers and return to the world.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Shaston is a very talented battle sage monkey, evident by the fact that she became a titan ofw, but even more than that is the fact that she created a path of power by using 6 elements to form her concept. As you know,prehension ofw ends at the level of a king ofw, then a king must forge his path by attempting to form the beginnings of a concept. This is done by causing the stars ofw within their origin to explode, then they will use the debris of the explosion to create a cloud of concept.


    A king that explodes a single star has a higher chance of seeding, it means he or she used a single element to form the cloud of concept. Each star within the Origin core of a king is formed by using immense origin energy bonded together with thew theyprehended.


    The difficulty of breaking through increases with the more stars that are exploded. A single star might afford a chance of sess of just 10%, each subsequent star will reduce that chance at a rate depending on theplexity of the concept that is being created.


    Shaston, like some other geniuses that think they are as talented as the realm lord, tried to recreate his feat. They did it either out of pride in themselves or refusal to admit the superiority of the realm lord or a simple naive belief that they too can do it. Maybe their mother told them that they can do what the realm lord did if they put in enough effort.


    Most of these foolish people die trying to be titans ofw and they take their foolish beliefs with them to the grave. Some of them seed either through sheer luck or unrelenting effort, but theye to regret their decision after seeding.


    A titan cannot leave forever, their core will continue to leak uncontrobly until they be a sovereign and gain control of their Origin core. The rate at which this leak urs is dependent on the amount of power present within the core and the amount of restraint ced on the core. It has been mentioned that the higher the restraint, the lower the chance of ever bing a sovereign.


    Shaston is very talented. And this talent came with pride. She aimed to create a power she called virtual creation. A path that enables the transformation of illusion into reality. The manifestation of thoughts and emotions into the physical world. In a sense, it is simr to the power of world gods. But world gods achieve this by using the power of an entire world to fuel their will. In her foolishness, she hoped to use her puny soul to fuel this power instead. She is talented but she was stupid.


    It''s not as if she wasn''t warned by well-wishing ancestors that were Origin gods. The achievement of the realm lord might seem small now, but one must remember that none had been able to achieve it before him. The difficulty of the requirement to be the realm lord cannot be understated, it is also one of the requirements to be a world god. The difference is that to be a realm lord, one must achieve it as a sovereign, while to be a world god one must achieve it as an origin god. It is much easier for Origin gods to meet that requirement, even still, world gods are still rare. Even though world gods are rare, they are still more than the number of realm lords present in the entire void universe.


    So a clueless person should be able to realize that there is more to that achievement than meets the eye. It is foolishness to think you know how the realm lord did it and it is hubris to im you can do it yourself. A smart man knows his strength, a smarter man knows his weakness, but the smartest man knows the limit of his strength.


    There are examples of great men who knew their limits. The tyrant divine dragon became an origin god by fusing thews of fire and lightning. The Ghastorix ancestor by using Lightning and destruction. The little tyrant became an origin god by using just space, his powers have skyrocketed due to him meeting the requirements to be a world god. Legion became an origin god using just life and he broke the limits of reincarnation with his knowledge. Guntu became an origin god using just destruction. All these great men knew their limits, they acted within the boundaries of it and it didn''t take away from their greatness.


    Destruction is very difficult to acquire without fusing at least 4ws but Guntu had the advantage of his bloodline. Ghastorix gained Destruction through the baptism of destruction lightning when he was trying to protect his partner. The amount ofws used to form the concept isn''t the most important factor that determines its subsequent power. It is theplexity of the concept itself. It is just that the higher the number ofws, the moreplex the concept but a highlyplex concept can still be created by a singlew.


    It is also much easier for those with highlyplex concepts to be world gods. But theplexity of a Concept is something better left to origin gods to acquire, as long as one is able to be an origin god, they will have eternal life to achieve it. They will also have a greatly improved affinity tows to make it easier for them.


    Shaston knew her strength. She knew her weakness, but she didn''t know the limit of her strength. That''s why she seeded in bing a titan ofw, but she can''t go further than this. She has reached her limit. Her puny soul tried to take on the mantle of a world god and failed. Her puny soul broke under the burden of a greatness beyond her reach, beyond her station. But there''s no turning back now, she will have to pay for the cost of failure with her very life.


    She had said ''Greatness is meant to be taken not granted to.'' when her elders told her to exercise restraint. She was right in a way, but she forgot that you have to be able to stomach what greatness you have taken.

 Chapter 119 Only The Powerful Can Bear Accurate Witness To Greatness

    ?Pride goes before a fall, a haughty spirit before destruction. Shaston has fallen but that''s all in the past. She has had a lot of Origin cycles to regret her decision so she doesn''t feel much now. She only wants to pass on her legacy before she dies.


    She believed that anyone who has any hope of seeding where she failed must have a transcendent talent for all the sixws that made up her concept. The difficulty of possessing 6 talents aside, the talents will also have to be in earth, fire, water, air, light, and darkness. A single one missing out of these six will render thebinationcking.


    It was purely wishful thinking, a pipe dream to hope for something like that until Soverick came along with 9 transcendent talents. Shaston had two Transcendent talents, soul and air, and she was able to achieve what she did. Soverick has more potential than her but it is another thing entirely for him to achieve this potential. He might just choose to create a path with a singlew. The good thing about his potential is that he will have 9 options to choose from.


    She had to figure out a way to make soverick ept and execute her legacy.


    "It is practically a death sentence so the difficulty of convincing him will be high." The clone of will said.


    Shaston nodded. "I will have to think out of the box for this one. Either trickery or threats are eptable."


    The clone of will shook its head. "It''s just that trickery won''t work on a king ofw, and you might not live that long. That means you have only between his mana body stage and transcendence to make him ept it."


    "I must make him see how awesome it is then. Only a vivid impression of power will make someone pursue my legacy regardless of the danger."


    "He is a lot more talented than you so he should be more proud than you. It should be easier if we make it a challenge instead. I bet he will want to outdo the realm lord."


    Shaston and the clone of will began to devise a n to make soverick ept the legacy. They didn''t care about his well-being or if it will do him any good. They only cared about passing the legacy on. It is this same headstrong personality of hers that made her continue on her path even when she was warned by several people, people that are very much stronger than her.


    We say that the children nowadays probably know better than their parents or as much as them. We say that elders don''t have the advantage of experience anymore. But that isn''t true if the elders are Origin gods. They are the source of a royal bloodline and everything it entails. They will always know better. But Shaston thought she was talented enough. Right now, she thinks soverick is talented enough too. And that''s what''s important.


    Within the Battle Academy.


    Soverick is about to move on to the next stage after the preparatory stage. Litori and Ghaster are here to see him off. Ghaster seemed down. His mental messages were giving off a sad vibe.


    "I didn''t think you were this far ahead. I thought that the gap between our strengths would be easily breached but I was mistaken. It only means I have to train harder, break through my limits faster, and rest a lot less. I''ll see you soon." Ghaster said before turning and leaving.


    Soverick called after him and mimicked Mih''s voice. "As long as you put in effort progress is assured. That doesn''t mean my kind of progress but you can try."


    Soverick didn''t want to discourage the boy but he wanted the boy to realize that they weren''t in the same grade of existence. Stubborn can bring great determination, but when it breaks it can lead to theplete shattering of the will. Ghaster had watched soverick leave them in the dust step by step but he still didn''t give up. He knew it would be very easy to give up but he was determined to take the more difficult path. His determination is a result of his bloodline influencing him.


    Great people are usually very determined, it is a very important aspect of achieving sess. The Ghastorix ancestor in particr is a very determined battle sage monkey. He refused to give up trying to save his partner and even thousands of origin cycles after he is trying to be a world god to finally be with Hadrick. Stubborn determination is good but tolerance and adaptation can make it better. Chances are if Ghastorix had failed to save his partner when he returned from the ancient battlefield, he would have given up on life there and then. He wouldn''t have be what he is today. Royal bloodlinese with strengths and weaknesses. The bloodline improves the strength of the offspring but their weakness is eternal, it does not change. The weakness is inherited from generation to generation.


    Soverick shook his head. He turned to Litori. "What about you?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Litori shifted a bit before summoning up her courage. She asked."How did you do it?"


    Soverick tilted his head in confusion. "How did I do what?"


    "How did you be stronger so fast? I watched you struggle in the physical training but then you suddenly be stronger the next day. Your progress was too fast. Did you take something?" She hesitated a little before continuing. "Did you take something like beast cores?"


    Soverickughed. "No, I didn''t take beast cores. Where would I get them here? Remember that we weren''t allowed to bring anything in. What if I did? Are you worried about me or do you want some?"


    Litori shook her head. "I just wanted to warn you if you were using it. Beast cores are bad for you."


    Soverick raised his hands and rubbed her head. "I know that. Thanks anyways, I appreciate it. You are very talented. It would be nice if you achieve eternity with me."


    Litori was skeptical. "Why are you so sure about bing an Origin god? Our bloodlines can''t guarantee it."


    Soverickughed again. He spread his arms wide. "Look at me. I am destined for greatness. I will be more than an Origin god. Eternity is not a dream or a hope for me, it is a fact. You must be an Origin god too or you will not witness my greatness. My greatness is not for mediocre minds toprehend or shallow eyes to witness."


    Only powerful people can bear witness, in real-time, to the death of a star and see it for what it truly is. Weaker beings only get to experience the dregs and echoes of that event many years after it has happened.


    Heughed and walked away. He had another meeting with Wendy on his schedule. Litori watched him go for a while before she returned to continue her practice. She may have been surprised by Soverick''s performance but she wasn''t shocked. She was aware that the eldest was unfathomable by her standards. There was something about it the eldest that broke the limit ofmon sense.


    Even with the ancestral memories of an Origin god, she couldn''t tell what that thing is. It was either beyond the limit of a sovereign or her ancestor didn''t know about it. That wrongness in her eldest bes clearer when you look into his eyes. There was something within those multicolored eyes of her eldest that foretell power beyond imagination. They say the eyes are the gates to the soul, as an expert on soul matters she knew that to be true. What she didn''t know is what the eldest is truly capable of.


    ''At the end of the day. Maybe only someone like the eldest can be so sure of attaining eternity."


    She chose to stop thinking about it. The eldest has 9 Transcendent talents and that is a fact. This fact means the eldest can be considered a supreme talent. Talented people are usually proud, that is a fact too. Maybe that is why the eldest is confident in himself. But pride can easily lead to failure.


    She wasn''t jealous. Neither did she need the eldest to sour her to greatness. She had confidence in her talent and her hard work. And from what she knew about the path of refinement, it is not a race against time. Going Slow and steady will win her the race. As long as she reaches the finish line, she has won.


    "It is a good thing that he isn''t using beast cores." She sighed and left.


    It would be a shame if the eldest had chosen to squander his talent for immediate benefits. She didn''t want to see that. All creatures can form a vitality core, as long as the vitality of their body reaches a critical stage it will form. They can then progress further by assimting mana in order to achieve the mana body. Beasts have varying potential and achieve this assimtion to varying degrees. Their core then transforms into a beast core which can be harvested from their bodies after their death. These core can also be harvested from all creatures with one including civilized sentient beings but it is generally considered a crime equal to cannibalism. You would also have to murder members of your race to get their core. The core is used for a lot of things such as forging, a source of power source, and storage if purified.


    It can also be ingested to improve the rate of conversation in the vitality core. It is a shortcut to achieving a mana body with severe consequences. Those that use it will never achieve transience. Assimting the life essence of another being will taint yours. Only pure mana or life essence without the life signature of another being is safe to assimte. It is what refinement is based on. Anything beyond that has been proven time and time again to be brief empowerment apanied by contamination.

 Chapter 120 Progress Always. ( Status )

    ?Soverick reached his new training quarters. But he checked his status on the way there.


    NAME: Soverick Ghastorix (Legion-2)


    RACE: Battle Sage Monkey


    BLOODLINE: Unknown Royal bloodline.


    POWER LEVEL (BODY): Vitality Core (3% Conversion)


    POWER LEVEL (SOUL): Soul Awakening


    PHYSIQUE: Body ofw(Iplete)


    HP: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    ENERGY LEVEL (BODY ): Vitality


    ENERGY LEVEL (SOUL): Mental Energy


    VITALITY: 551


    ENDURANCE: 174


    STRENGTH: 167


    AGILITY: 182


    PERCEPTION: 1,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 200


    LIMITER (BODY):59%


    LIMITER (SOUL):0.0000002%


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 20(A)


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 55%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): FIRE (DIVINE), WATER (DIVINE), AIR (DIVINE), EARTH (DIVINE), LIGHT (DIVINE), DARKNESS (DIVINE), SPACE (DIVINE), TIME (DIVINE), CAUSALITY (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Healthy


    He had grown stronger, well only his body had experienced rapid growth. His endurance and strength experienced the biggest growth. His potential in vitality had been transformed into actual physical capability. He is about to reach the limit of physical stats for vitality core stage refinement. Only his vitality didn''t adhere to the limits and had long since broken it. It even increased which is mostly due to the increase in his core conversation rate.


    The next step of his training will not cause much change in terms of his stats but his finesse will undergo a metamorphosis for the better.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He arrived before a door that read Physical Techniques Room 201. Apparently, every trainee gets their own training room for the second stage of training. The golem was waiting for him by the front of the door. She was also holding a tray. On the tray is what he could recognize as memory crystals.


    He was in a good mood so he decided to great the golem. "How are you, Wendy?"


    "Can''tin." That monotonous voice of the golem sounded out.


    Soverick shook his head. ''What am I doing asking how she is feeling? Of course, she can''tin. If she couldin we will have some problems.''


    "Wee Soverick, and congrattions onpleting the preparatory stage in record time." The Golem said.


    "Thank you. So what''s next?" Soverick asked.


    "What is next on the agenda is the bonding of a room to your wrist logger. Followed by the absorption of knowledge required for the next level. The room will be used only by you for the period of time you will spend during this stage."


    Soverick nodded. He had shared the rooms for the physical and spiritual preparatory stage with others. There wasn''t much disturbance though, at least he didn''t suffer any. He ignored everyone else and focused on his training. He was not there to socialize but to train so he did just that. This time he will be alone. There had to be reasons for that, but he was in no rush to find out. He pressed the face of his wrist logger onto the imprint outlet on the door. The color of the door changed from red to blue.


    "Good, it has been linked to you. It will remain blue as long as you have permission to use the room. It is currently locked, to unlock it you will need to verify your presence at the door by using your divine sense." The golem informed him.


    He brushed his divine sense against the door. The door changed color from blue to green signifying ess.


    Wendy continued. "There are five regimens toplete for the physical aspect of this stage of training. The footwork, eye and body coordination, dodging and perception, blocking and parrying, and finally, the obstacle course. It is rmended to follow the schedule in that order but you can choose to engage in them however you want. You have ess to all the training regimens but you mustplete them before you can move on to the final stage. What is your choice?"


    Soverick didn''t think much about it, he would just follow the schedule since a proper order had been created for him.


    He shrugged and said, "Let''s go with the schedule then."


    "Good choice. Since you will follow the rmended order, you must select the option for footwork in your wrist logger. Then after that, you have to ept the knowledge infusion about footwork. It is the first memory crystal from the right."


    He did just that and assimted the information. The first stage of training required him to reach physical fitness while this stage is meant to understand his body to such an extent that he bes capable of making his body efficient at what it does. So more information was provided on how to move right, how to walk better, how to bnce his weight on his feet, how to run faster with the same amount of physical fitness, and how to contract and rx muscles to amplify the strength of the body and many more. He will have to use the knowledge acquired to achieve feats beyond what his body can do normally. When he achieves these feats, the difficulty will be increased to ensure he bes more proficient in them. Practice makes perfect.


    "I''ll wait here for you. When you are done with footwork we will move on to eyes and body coordination. Good luck, soverick."


    Soverick pushed the door open and entered to find a room with various sections. The room has been prepared for the footwork training since he selected that option on his wrist logger. He knew what to do from the information he got from the memory crystal, so he walked to the section for the Footprint challenge. The aim of this challenge is to learn how to walk without making a footprint. He will have to walk bare feet on a surface which will offer only slight resistance. The force he applies on the surface must be equal to this resistance, only then will he be able to walk without leaving behind a footprint.


    The principle behind walking without leaving footprints is to reduce the pressure of his feet on the ground. To reduce the pressure, one must spread the force created when walking, evenly across the sole of the feet and must disperse it evenly across the surface of the ground.


    He tried applying the techniques he learned from the memory crystal, but he failed on his first try. He adjusted his breathing, took active control of how the muscles of his legs contracted, and rxed to move. He took control of his tendons to properly manipte his toes. The difficulty of this challengey in how to gain active control of the body. When we move we simply envision the thought, we don''t actually control our muscles with ourselves to do the movement. All the contraction of the muscles of the body is done passively through muscle memory. The perspective of this technique is that footwork that is based on muscle memory is wrong.


    The body learns how to perform actions based on the quickest, shortest, and most efficient method to achieve it, but that doesn''t mean it is the best method.


    The movement of the body is carried out by the subconscious, but now, it has to be shifted to the conscious. Only then can the limit ced on the muscles by the subconscious be removed, then the body will be able to achieve feats beyond its limit.


    So Soverick had to take active control of the movement of his muscles. Then he has to relearn how to walk "right". This might have been difficult for others to achieve but not for Soverick. His mind is much stronger and much more agile than his body. A Transcendent has perfect control over their mind and bodies much less an Origin god. He might have lost the fine control he had gained from transcendence but he can still overwhelm his body with his mind. He just had to impose his will on his body and it was easy. He had always been able to influence this body but not in such a direct manner so he found the process familiar but jerky.


    The control he gained from overwhelming his body cannot bepared to that of a transcendent but the learning capabilities of his mind are beyond what a Transcendent can achieve. His body is still weak though, so he doesn''t want to make it do somethings that will damage it. The limits are there to protect the body from itself after all. Transcendents have seeded in removing this limit entirely.


    Instead, he circumvented the limits by trying to create more efficient pathways. He tried many options over and over again. Now that he had active control, he had to relearn how to walk right. He would need to determine the proper firing sequences of neurons.


    His progress was slow because of the vastbination avable. There was a lot of try and error to achieve spreading the force evenly throughout the sole of his feet. It took him a month of constant effort to finally get the hang of it. He didn''t give up once. He would stumble and pick himself up, then continue practicing.

 Chapter 121 The Challenges.

    ?He had never done something like this before. High Elves might have digressed a bit into physical fitness but they never tried this. They were just innately agile. He was learning more about life and its workings of it the more he examined his body. He had based his former concept on thew of life but got to know more about life in this endeavor. Life is different for different races and doesn''t always mean flesh and vitality.


    Transcendents don''t have a fleshy body, and neither do elementals but they are alive just as much as a creature with flesh and blood. Hisw of life had been focused on the conversion of energy into whatever a creature needed to maintain its life. It was holistic but now he is learning about the specifics of vitality.


    Still, he focused on his task and he smoothed out the technique after his initial sess by walking on the test surface over and over again. He became increasingly proficient at it until after a hundred tries when he was no longer making progress. It had been 2 weeks of fulfilling hardwork.


    Soverick sighed. "That was unique." He said.


    Habits are the most difficult things to change about ourselves because they are ingrained patterns. To change his habit of walking, he will have to manually activate the procedure for walking right until his body epts it as the new muscle memory. The surface became weaker and the difficulty of walking on it without leaving footprints increased but it couldn''t stump him anymore. He already got the hang of it so he improved by leaps and bounds.


    "On to the next challenge then." He said with enthusiasm. The training was challenging enough and also rewarding so he was eager to face the next obstacle.


    The next challenge is running on mud. After mastering walking without footprints, the next step is achieving it very quickly. To run on mud, the process of spreading out the force must be done quickly and the two feet must perform them in sync. So walking without footprints is a precursor to running on mud.


    Walking on mud will be difficult because the surface will not provide enough opposition for stable footing, in fact, one is prone to sink. But running on the surface of mud is achievable. To achieve it, the inertial and viscosity of the mud will have to be taken advantage of to create sufficient resistance against the feet. The force that is dispersed by the feet must be equal to the flimsy resistance of the mud. If the force is dispersed in an area wide enough, the pressure will drop enough to match the resistance.


    That''s the theory. But Soverick achieved the practical in 3 weeks. He just had to speed up the process of walking properly. The experience he had in learning to walk without footprints was transferrable. He would spread the force evenly across the surface of the mud in quick bursts. The mud will resist the force at the brief instant that the force acts on it, an action will beget an equal and opposite reaction. So the amount of pushback he gets must not be lesser than the amount of force he projects.


    It was tiring and cumbersome but he achieved it. By the time he was done with the second challenge, the need for synchronized burst action had made the proper techniques of walking his new muscle memory.


    The third challenge was proper bnce. Some wooden poles reced the mud as his new enemy. They had varying heights, so he has to use the shorter ones to reach the tallest one and stand on top of the wooden pole with a single leg for a single day without falling down. He is allowed to switch which foot he uses but it has to be done quickly, both feet can''t touch the pole stand at the same time. This small allowance allowed him to rest the tired muscles of his legs but it didn''t do anything for the main problem. The main problem is not the time he has to spend on the pole, it is that surface of the pole is not enough to allow an entire sole to rest on it. He can stand on the ground for a day if he is asked to do it, even with one leg. But why can''t he do that on a single pole? It''s the problem of bnce, the center of gravity, and weight distribution.


    So the weight of the body has to be shifted and bnced on certain muscles instead of all of them. The pole was also tall enough to make him injure himself each time he falls. So he has tond safely even when he fails or risks breaking his neck.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    As difficult as it may be, Soverick achieved it in 2 weeks. It was getting easier and easier for him to ovee the challenges as his body got rid of previous misconceptions.


    But then the difficulty increased. He has to learn how to run with just the surface of the poles as the only footing. He started slowly by just using the poles as the only footing. Even that was difficult because the poles didn''t have the same height. He had to adjust his bnce and judge the distance difference every time he wanted to take a single step. The challenge made simple walking a chore for the mind. He couldn''t ce his foot just anywhere without thinking. Still, he got the hang of it and can jog on the even poles.


    The reward was an increase in difficulty. To finish the challenge he will have to cover a distance of 100m in less than 30 seconds using only the wooden poles as foot stands. If it were on a t even surface he will be able to run the distance in less time but now he had to watch the road carefully and coordinate the grip of his legs on the poles without losing his bnce which will cause him to fall.


    Unlike standing on a pole, if he was attentive, he would be able to fall gracefully. But now, a slip of his foot while running will lead to a disastrous fall. He had to learn how to time the impact created by his feet when he touches a surface to avoid injuring himself during the run.


    Most time when we run or walk, our brain assumes that our feet will surely catch support and that''s wrong. That''s why we stumble. We should assume nothing until we have verified where we are actually going to put our foot, only then do we exact force to move.


    It is a simple thing to watch where you step. You just have to be conscious of it. It is a very difficult thing to achieve while trying to run. You have to make a split-second environmental examination, position analysis, and perception verification. If the mental effort needed for it while walking is significant, the effort needed for doing it while running can be debilitating. Most will stumble most of the time. It is the exact thing that they are trying to eliminate but the need to watch your step creates uncertainty in your footing if you''re not able to do it quick enough when it is needed. Mind power and perception are something that Soverick has in spades. So he aced the challenge easily.


    Then a strong wind was added to oppose him throughout the race. The delicate eyes and leg calction necessary for the determination of the perfect timing will be disrupted by the wind. That didn''t work on him because he didn''t need his eyes, he relied more on his divine sense.


    It is true that awakening the soul will grant you a divine sense. But most people use it as an afterthought. They are already used to using their ears, eyes, and other senses before the divine sense came along. The dirt in the wind will disrupt these two senses so that the trainee will actively use the divine sense instead.


    Still, the wind made things difficult for him because the wind drag made it very easy for him to lose his bnce. He had to take the path of least resistance from the wind and step lightly against the pole to achieve the same time for the 100m sprint. This time it took him longer toplete the challenge. It took him a total of 4 weeks to be able to make the time under constant opposition and harassment from the strong wind.


    The next challenge is walking without making a sound, apletely new experience. His enemy became a simple t surface on the ground, a very weed change. To walk silently, the process by which the feet impact the ground and the subsequent dispersal of force needs to be made as silent as possible.


    But of course, things weren''t so simple, the difficulty increased from walking to running. Toplete the challenge with sufficient proficiency, he had to sprint a 100m race in 20 secondspletely silent. There is a machine that watched for noise and it would de up anytime he failed to be silent. It was ironic in a way.

 Chapter 122 Another Record.

    ?The only good news is that unlike thest challenge when he had to pay attention to his footing and bnce, he only had to muffle the sound of his feet on the ground. Even with the increased difficulty of higher speed, he was able toplete the challenge in a week.


    The challenge continued with the same enemy but this time a strong wind was added to it, to increase the difficulty. This wind was much stronger than the one he faced previously and he had to run in the opposite direction of the strong wind. The effect of effect the wind was stronger than simply throwing him off bnce, this time the wind will try to pull him backward and negate his forward momentum.


    He still had a t surface which made easier it easy to martial the full power of his legs but running like a brute will create negative results. Opposing the wind will be counterproductive, instead, he must weave through it, go with the flow and minimize drag. Controlling the body to do exactly what you want wasn''t difficult at this point, the difficultyy in sensing the subtle flows and Eddies within the wind and directing the body to take advantage of it.


    So the trainees are forced to sense something that their eyes and their ears cannot sense. Thest challenge forced them to use their divine sense. This time they must ept the inadequacy of the other senses themselves.


    Their eyes and ears have failed them, so they do not have a direction. Without direction, there can be no efficiency. Only when the beginning and the end are known can a straight line towards the destination be achieved.


    This sort of thing isn''t a challenge for Soverick. His powerful perception gave him an edge in this aspect. With it, he was able to perceive the wind andplete the challenge in just a day.


    The second to thest challenge was running on water. Gone was the steady t ground, this new enemy was unsteady and unreliable, and it is still an understatement to call it that. It was an upgrade on the mud challenge. He had tobine all his previously acquired knowledge to achieve running on it. He would need the equal force dispersal of the no footprint challenge, the quick muscle maniption of the running on mud challenge, bncing techniques of the small pole foothold challenge, sensing the flow of force of running against the wind challenge, and the silent walking technique to achieve running on water. Only when he could sense the instability in the flowing water surface and take advantage of it to create sufficient pushback can the challenge be ovee.


    If he had the mana body he will easily achieve this. He could try to cheat by using his powerful mind to create thin tforms on the surface of the water to run on. He could also create some simple ice spells with his spirit. He would freeze the surface of the water and use that instead. There were a lot of ways to achieve running on the surface of the water without stressing his body but decided not to use them. The possibility of being caught cheating was high, and he came here to learn. If he was going to cheat, he might as well give up and go home.


    It was more difficult than he had expected. Still, he didn''t give up. He continued trying even after failure upon failure. He continued trying since he knew it was possible, as long as he learned from his past mistakes he will seed in time.


    It would have been easier if he had a teacher here to point out his mistakes. Unfortunately, he had to adapt to the difficulty all on his own. The challenge aims to break the bad habits of the body and achieve greatness. Everyone''s body is different, so the method of achieving intimacy with it is different. If he hadn''t achieved an understanding of his body through the preparatory stage, then he would have to achieve it now.


    An individual with a mana body can easily achieve running on water but that didn''t mean the Individual with the mana body understood his or her body. Others would have stopped for a while and tried other training regimens to refresh their outlook but he persevered. His perseverance was finally rewarded with sess after a week of continuous effort.


    "Yes, I did it," Soverick shouted.


    He felt a fulfilling sense of achievement when he realized he was running on water, so much that he shouted. His shout distracted him and he fell into the water. That didn''t dampen his happiness though, he was too exhrated for that. There are just some things that can able an Origin happy. He tried it again and again before deciding to move on to thest challenge of footwork training.


    Thest challenge is a simple test of speed. He is required to achieve double the top speed he could reach in the preparatory stage. If his footwork training is truly perfect then it would be easy for him toplete it. It was basically a confirmation of the difference between his former method of moving his body and his current method.


    He walked out of the room as he always did after each challenge. Wendy was still waiting at the door with the tray of memory crystals. It had been his onlypany throughout the short weeks of non-stop training. He locked the door behind him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Are you ready for thest challenge already?" Wendy asked.


    Soverick nodded. His body wasn''t tired because of the vitality surging within it. His mind was too powerful to tire because of something like this. It was just physical training, not spiritual training but his mind was probably taxed more than his body. But it still isn''t enough to tire him out. He doubted his mind can be made weary by anything less than his divine ability. Thest time he tried his divine ability, his soul shrunk.


    "If youplete this quickly enough you will have created another record," Wendy said.


    Soverick shrugged. That wasn''t his aim, it wasn''t his objective. It just happened because of his excellence. It is practically a must for him to create new records with all the advantages he had so he wasn''t impressed by that. He was more impressed by the fact that he was able to learn something new and ovee his weakness.


    The color of the door had turned to blue. He focused on his wrist logger and selected the next challenge. The wrist logger beeped in his mind indicating that his selection had been confirmed. He swept the door with his divine sense and it turned to green. He entered it to find a new track path. The body of water he used for his previous challenge had disappeared. It was reced with a track 10km in circumference. It is here that he will test his improvement in speed.


    He gathered his courage. He could already feel the adrenaline coursing through his body. His heart was beating faster either due to fear or anticipation. He still couldn''t control the ndr operations of the body. It was moreplicated than simply nerve maniption of the muscles. He will have to wait until he had a full mana body to eliminate it.


    "No use wasting time then." He said, then he started to sprint.


    Everything just felt right as soon as he started running. He used everything he had learned about proper movement techniques to his advantage.


    The major obstacle to achieving high speed is momentum conservation and drag created by pushing against the air. Whenever a runner steps on the ground, they lose some of their momenta to bnce themselves. There is a need for proper and stable footing to create more momentum that pushes them forward. His lessons in bnce and silent walking helped to almost eliminate this loss in momentum. His lessons in mud running helped to increase the burst of momentum above what he normally achieved. His greatest enemy is still the drag which he would have to reduce to minimize his loss of speed.


    His wrist logger beeped to notify him that he crossed the 300m/s speed requirement and the fact that he hadpleted the footwork regiment in 14 weeks. But he didn''t stop, he continued to push his body to his limit. It took a while but he finally got tired of running. He fell on the track to rest his body. In a couple of minutes, he will be back in top shape and ready to tackle another challenge. It was the blessing of having high vitality.


    A few minutester he stood up and left the training room. The door closed behind him.


    "Congrattions, Soverick. You have created another record. Youpleted the training for footwork in 14 weeks. Thest record was 42 weeks." Wendy greeted him.


    "Thanks," Soverick replied detachedly.


    "Only 4 more training regimens to go. Eye to body coordination, dodging and perception, blocking and parrying, and the obstacle course.

 Chapter 123 The Last Stand.

    ?"Only 4 more training regimens to go. Eye to body coordination, dodging and perception, blocking and parrying, and the obstacle course.


    He deliberated a little before making a choice. "I''ll start with the Eye to body coordination."


    "Good. It is the crystal from the left."


    Soverick took the crystal and absorbed the knowledge. Then he essed the wrist logger to change the environment within the training room. Then he began his next training.


    This was just physical training. When he is done with this he still had spiritual training to attend to.


    Front Line Battlefield Of The Divine War.


    Ghoto watched as the resistance army was driven to a corner. He was floating in the middle of a chaotic battlefield. Explosions of light, sound, and shockwaves rocked the earth and the sky. Things happened in split seconds and you need to be ever aware to even stand still in this battle. Those below the level of transcendence will only see shes and hear thunder.


    Ghoto had witnessed stronghold after stronghold be broken through and destroyed as the army of the racial council pushed back the resistance.


    They were pushed back until they reached thest line of their defense. All the former defensive measures have failed till now. The resistance army simply stood no chance until now. Things suddenly changed and it seemed that they had acquired a backbone to support their breaking backs. The allied forces of the racial council tried again to destroy them but they haven''t made much progress recently. The backbone that the resistance army acquired came in the form of floating war fortresses.


    Ghoto stood d in slim ck battle armor. His armor wasposed of little metal fragments thate loose to form a cloud of sharp knives around him. Lightning danced across the metallic cloud and it enhanced their lethality and speed. The lightning came from him, as a king ofw proficient in thew of lightening, he is capable of this much.


    Ghoto started as a lightning mage but has long since dropped his spells for spell matrixes. Spell matrixes are an advanced method of casting by manifesting a spell structure into the real world instead of visualizing it. They gain several advantages such as the ability for spells to be equipped with artifacts. He is manipting the metallic des using his lightning spell in conjunction with his mind, it forms a deadlybination that is capable of shredding his opponents. This is his new origin weapon, of mid-grade quality and amplified by his lightningw. It functions as an attacking weapon as well as a defensive one. It is expensive because of this but he didn''t have to pay for it. He had acquired this new artifact as a reward for his contributions so far. So he had a hand in the current circumstances of the gods.


    He was hoping to acquire another one, for himself or Mih but the resistance army had been losing too quickly. Their rate of loss was too fast for him to provide more significant contributions. Everyone wanted a piece of them and the gods were hounded like stray prey by a pack of wolves.


    But things have changed, not for the better either, the resistance army was fighting back and they were fighting well. It didn''t seem like he would get to make much difference either. He wasn''t willing to risk his life against thest-ditch effort of a cornered enemy.


    "Something has to be done against those war fortresses or we won''t be able to finish what we started." Heined.


    The floating war fortress is the main reason for the halt in the progress of eradicating the resistance. They were floating manifestations of concepts of war equipped with massive bombarding energy cannons, annihting beams, top-grade protective shields, and war factories. If you wished you had your logistics, reinforcements,mand center, transport system, aerial support,nd troops, radar, surveince systems, siege weapons, and assault weapons in a nice perfect bundle meant for destruction, then you need a war fortress.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The energy cannons they have umtes energy balls and coat them in a force field that contains the deadly energy within, then this ball is shot at a target. A hit breaches the flimsy force field and detonates the energy in a violent reaction that creates a massive ring of destruction. In other words, the energy cannons are meant for an area of effect attacks.


    The annihting beams, on the other hand, force highly unstable energy tobine within a reactor. The energy is further energized by high-energy fields. This very unstable situation is then given an outlet to vent, and it vents in the form of a single target beam of death. The beam destroys the fundamental nature of matter and can only be resisted for the smallest period by a titan ofw. Anything beneath that level will be annihted on contact.


    The war factory is also constantly churning out what could be referred to as golems or robots. They are technically a fusion of both, and they were endless. The war factory converts energy and materials into these fearless kamikaze soldiers. The soldiers can be humanoid, tanks, or flight-capable drones. The resistance army came prepared for theirst stand.


    The quality of the golem had been reduced in order to ramp up its production speed. Their defensive parameters were so weak Ghoto could wrench them with his lightning-metal cloud but 31 war fortresses were producing these things at breakneck speed. The divine pantheon was burning money and is reaping the rewards for it. Without proper caution, anyone stood the risk of being overrun. They didn''t even need to kill you, just tie you down enough for one of the weapons in the way fortress to st you. Guntu wasn''t worried though.


    The resistance army had over two dozen war fortress but he wasn''t worried. The gods acquired a lot of Sovereigns from somewhere but he wasn''t worried. They had cmity-grade weaponry, things that are capable of rendering the ne decimated and uninhabitable, but he still wasn''t worried. Why would he be worried?


    Could the allied forces lose? Not all. It''s just that the defensive measures of the resistance had been entrenched here in advance. It was going to take some preparation but they will eventually uproot the weeds that is the divine.


    Besides all that, even if they were somehow in trouble it wasn''t his ce to be worried. As impressive as a king ofw is, he is just a high-level grunt in this war. There were still the titans and sovereigns whose job it is to worry. The two Origin gods leading the army are fundamentally incapable of worrying, at least not by this level of warfare. In short, he had confidence in spades.


    They could not lose. It wasn''t a matter of morale. Every battle sage monkey with a little knowledge of the ne knows that the racial council doesn''t mess around. The racial council is the hero of the ne and people will rally behind them for anything. So if people got wind that the allied forces were having trouble here, they would flock here to help. The racial council must not and can not be allowed to lose.


    Speaking of origin gods. There were two. One seemed to be really vtile and Ghoto is putting it lightly. He couldn''t discern much about him all he could say about the origin god is that "it" is a boiling cloud of destruction. He had seen that Origin god act once and he didn''t look like a living thing at all.


    That Origin god seemed natural and yet unnatural, like an artificial fundamental force of nature. The other Origin god is just a sword. Origin gods might look normal like anyone else but they seemed to change when they are using their powers. They embody powers and concepts greater than a single person.


    Suddenly Ghoto felt a threat to his life. He leaped backward and formed a barrier made up of interwoven metallic des in his defense. The calctions for the shield were done instantly in his mind within the small room he was given to defend himself. It was an impressive reaction but it wasn''t enough. A spear of light smashed through the defense and sted off one of his arms. The arm disintegrated before touching the ground while the spear went on to hit the ground behind Ghoto, it created an explosion of light and energy that was capable of incinerating Ghoto whole if it had hit him.


    Ghoto realized he could have been dead right now if that spear had hit his body instead of his arm. His defense wasn''t a waste, after all, it had deviated the projectile off its intended target. The fact that the spear could have killed him in one shot also made him know he was vastly outssed.


    "Which god is trying to bully me now?" He broadcasted widely as he continued to retreat. He could still feel the threat to his life locked on to him by a powerful divine sense so he didn''t dare falter. Staying still will make him a very easy target.


    A golden avatar of a god in a golem with a spear in hand spoke up. "You die today Ghoto."

 Chapter 124 A Calm Before A Storm.

    ?Ghoto was startled. The energy undtions from the avatar announced that it belonged to a grand god.


    ''When did I be so popr as to have my name known by a random god?''


    The resistance army had almost forgotten that the gods possessed avatars because they didn''t use them at all to fight them back. They didn''t think much of it because even if the gods spammed avatars the strength will be toocking to be considered a significant battle strength in a war of this level.


    But as the war continued the gods started to send avatars, little at a time. Then they sent more but they were still weak. It was until the god''s avatars started to use the golem vessels that they were taken seriously. It was like they were testing something or they were waiting for the right time to use this trump card. For some reason unknown, the gods were incredibly cautious about participating in the war themselves.


    The addition of this level of strength boosted the defense immensely. In the past, the resistance army didn''t have high-level lifeforms above Transcendents to fight for them. It is one of the many reasons why they couldn''t put up any significant opposition. The addition of the god''s avatars changed all that.


    But what is rather peculiar is that Ghoto has been a target of gods. He didn''t understand why gods much stronger than him will focus on him rather than face someone of equal strength. The avatar that just attacked him is much stronger than him but it still resorted to an ambush. It was like the gods wanted to get rid of him at all costs. Was he worth this much attention?


    "You gods have no honor. Always ambushing weaker foes." Ghoto broadcasted even as he ran.


    He stood no chance whatsoever against what can be considered the equivalent of a sovereign. He was being bombarded by the spears of light. His very life was hanging on a thread. He knew he just had to survive for a few seconds and someone wille to his rescue.


    The allied forces didn''tck sovereigns, a grand god cannot be allowed to throw his weight around like this. Two secondster a sovereign rushed past Ghoto and an explosion urred behind him. He ran ahead for a while before stopping to enjoy the sight of a pompous god being put in his ce.


    The god''s avatar had been thrown backward by the explosion. Its shining armor was dented and sparking with lightning. It righted itself and rose back up but it lost some of that grandeur.


    "I am Tandrak of the Ghastorix Family. You have been targeting that king multiple times now. Introduce yourself cowardly god or are you too shameless for even that." The powerful divine sense of a sovereign ofw demanded with imperious authority.


    "I am not Shameless. That is sphemy. A god''s prestige cannot be tarnished. You will pay for that you lowly sovereign." The god''s avatar said.


    Everyone within the range of the divine sense could hear Tandrak chuckle. The sound of the battle around them couldn''t cover up that sinister chuckle of derision. Ghoto shook his head and smiled too. In what world was a sovereign lowly?


    "Me? A lowly sovereign? Who will make me pay?" Tandrak asked. A storm cloud began to form above him. The storm ckened and lightning bolts began to form within it.


    The god was not intimidated by the disy. He maintained his stately demeanor as if he was a king speaking to a subject of his.


    "I am Xanc, the grand god of Justice. I will punish you for defiling the prestige of the gods and for standing in my way of dering retribution on that weakling."


    Ghoto was shocked. He knew that name. Wasn''t Mih''s friend from ages ago also Xanc. Was this the same one that became a god? It was highly likely. But why was Mih''s friend specifically targeting him? All''s fair in war and all that, but he didn''t think joining this war warranted such treatment. Xanc could have used his strength somewhere else.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Tandrak on the other hand chuckled louder. He found this god to be amusing. Like a young master that didn''t know that his backing is about to be ruined, but still goes around bossing people. The ck clouds above them began to be saturated with lightning bolts, so much that the cloud was turning blue instead.


    ''The pride of gods is in their bones. It has clogged their reasoning and prevents them from seeing things from other people''s perspectives.'' Tandrak thought in pity.


    Tandrak is a very old soul. Like almost a hundred Origin cycles old. His long life has made him experience many things, both good things and bad things. He had made friends and he had made enemies. The gods are on that list of enemies.


    Like most people that came here to fight, he bore a grudge against the gods. His grudge isn''t something so emotional or heroic. A god killed his best friend and he had promised to make them pay as a whole. The death of his friend is a result of a sh for resources, it was normal and there was no foul y. They just weren''t strong enough and his friend paid for that mistake with his life.


    It is the way of the world but he had promised. He was always a taciturn battle sage monkey but his best friend could always know what he was thinking about. To resolve all the karma in his life so that he can face his tribtion with peace, he had to fulfill that promise. This was a great opportunity to fulfill that promise.


    They were at war, but that didn''t mean a sovereign could be called lowly.


    "Is that so? And what crime has hemitted to warrant such retribution? From a grand god no less." Tandrak seethed.


    "He has a bloodline. All those with bloodlines must be eliminated. Bloodlines are the cancer of the society." The grand god said with his head raised high. He felt empowered by his noble cause.


    Ghoto was shocked where he was standing. ''When is that a reason to kill someone? What a mad man." He thought.


    Tandrak on the other hand was stunned into silence. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that someone will be so stupid as to think that. What''s more, he even said it out loud. There are some things you can think about but must not say.


    Everyone around them could hear their mind broadcast because it was open. They were at war either for the fun of it or certain obligations but what the grand god just said made things personal.


    It is amon practice within various cultures to respect one''s ancestors. Ancestors are the ones that came before, they paved the road for those that came after, and for that their descendants are thankful. A bloodline is a testament to the efforts of an ancestor. The grand god was practically saying he despises their ancestors. Who could take that lying down?


    But more importantly, how can someone even think like that? Bloodlines are the inheritance that strong parents give their offspring. The parents had struggled and suffered to reach their level of strength. In order to reduce the suffering of their lineage, they bestow upon them an inheritance.


    Royal bloodlines are the surest inheritance. They are the proof of the achievement of greatness, never to be forgotten, eternal. A parent might not be able to give his child wealth or welfare, but a good bloodline will enable that child to acquire those things for himself. Bloodlines are a blessing, a blessing to the family, and a race as a whole. And yet, someone believes it is a curse. Even the children of gods have bloodlines. Tandrak shook his head. His chuckle escted into all-outughing. The storm clouds above them becamepletely blue in reaction to his state of mind. It even began to take on a purple hue.


    "You are very stupid. The kind of stupidity that will get you killed if you were on the path of perfection. It is a shame that you are not dead and haven''t taken your stupidity with you to the grave. Instead, you got the opportunity to spread your stupidity to believers and call it faith. It is a true shame." Tandrak said with his divine sense afterughing. "You clearly cannot be reasoned with, not like there''s a reason for it anyways. We are at war after all. But I''ll teach you a lesson. Why sovereigns are not lowly by any means."


    Tandrak''s mental message resonated with the world in a way that a titan ofw can not invoke. And the world answered. Tandrak is usually calm, but now, a storm ising. Retribution must be paid in full for the slight done to the honor of a Sovereign ofw.

 Chapter 125 The Thunder Drake.

    ?Sovereigns are a queer bunch. Just like there are weak titans because of their restraint, and there are strong titans because of their active embodiment, there are also different levels of Sovereigns. This is based on theplexity of their seed of power. The weakest sovereign is still on par with a grand god but the strongest sovereign can be as strong as a celestial god. Only a god King or the celestial supreme can tussle with an origin god.


    The seed of power is the foundation of a sovereign. Even if a sovereign dies, the seed of power will remain. The seed of power is eternal. When a titan goes through the valley of the shadow of death andes out of it, they create something eternal. Then if that Sovereign fuses with his seed of power, they too can be eternal. In a way, it is the greatest birth by the lower realm. The gestation of a mortal to birth an immortal.


    The moment a titan ofw ascends to sovereignty is eternal. Sovereigns can die but the number of Sovereigns hardly reduces. The seed of power of a dead sovereign ofw can be absorbed by a titan ofw to be another sovereign but this sovereign will never be able to be an origin god and they will also be the weakest type of Sovereign.


    The world is made up ofws. Beneath what can be seen or experienced is thew matrix, aplicatedwork created due to the interactions of concepts. Only when someone bes a Transcendent can theye into contact with thisw matrix. It is from it that they learn thews of the world to be lords and kings ofw before they go on to be titans ofw.


    When someone bes a sovereign, that person condenses a seed of power within their origin core. Then they can use this seed of power to ess thew matrix. It is a concept within them, that they can use to manipte the concepts of the world. It is like a key that gives them the permission to use world power as they wish.


    Titans can also use world power but it is passive, they can''t control it, but sovereigns gain active control of the world. The world bes an extension of their will. Their will bes Sovereign within the lower realm.


    Unfortunately, they can''t use this power within a shackled ne like the Virut ne. What they can do is rece world power with their will, since they cannot use it, then no one can. Gods happen to be creatures that rely heavily on world power. It is the world that elevates them to their level as a result of the wishes of the people. The power is not permanent and they can fall. But Sovereigns wield the same power because they deserve it. After all, they worked for it. They braved the chance of death, the very thing that scares gods, to acquire this power. So they cannot be insulted and called lowly.


    Even an Origin god cannot bully a sovereign with their powers in the lower realm. Several Sovereigns ofw may not be able to kill an Origin god but a Single Origin god cannot bully them. Origin gods are too suppressed by the ne to use their full power. A sovereign''s seed of power is protected within their Origin core but an Origin god has be the concept. That''s why Origin gods can be suppressed so easily and so much.


    "This is why we are called Sovereigns. We are not called gods, but sovereigns. We are above everyone else and there is no one above us in the lower realm. We are not lowly." As Tandrak spoke the Grand god weakened.


    Tandrak''s divine sense eliminated the support the grand god was getting from the world. Tandrak''s will immobilized the grand god. The avatar could do nothing but watch.


    "You are not even here with your main body or it would be a real fight." Tandrak shook his head.


    The grand god didn''t panic. It was not a surprising oue. This is why he tried to ambush Ghoto in the first ce. His avatar can harass a sovereign at best, it can''t even defeat a titan with full certainty. Ghoto had even survived the ambush. So he was not surprised that he was bested by the sovereign. The golem might allow them to use their raw power, but raw power isn''t everything. There''s a need for finesse and authority. Something only his main body had.


    "It is of no matter. The dignity of a god cannot be defiled. I will be back." The grand god said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Tandrak opened his mouth and spoke. "Sunder."


    The single word he spoke discharged the brewing lightning in the clouds. The lightning fell like a waterfall onto the grand god. The golem disintegrated immediately when the pir of lightning struck it. It was like how a waterfall will peel away at a rock but much faster. Tandrak wouldn''t have needed to prepare for the attack if he was in a liberated ne. The origin energy in the ne and his ess to world power will allow him to instantly cast apocalyptic spells.


    The lightning didn''t disappear, it formed into a colossal lightning drake. Tandrak stepped onto the head of the lightning and began to approach the defense of the resistance army.


    The lightning drake was constantly roaring and shouting in the voice of thunder. The thunder ps created shockwaves that destroyed whatever it came in contact with. At least that''s what it looked like. The massive golem army that was being manufactured didn''t stand a chance against Tandrak''s approach. No matter how many they were, they would always disintegrate in waves.


    Tandrak continued unopposed, the path of destruction he carved through the battlefield made him stand out and he easily became the target of focus fire. Energy cannons and annihting beams focused on him but all their efforts were in vain, they would always disintegrate into pure energy whenever they entered a certain range around him.


    Tandrak (Thunder drake) became a titan ofw bybining thews of lightning and thunder. Thunder is sound. Tandrak had a low bloodline purity, so even though he awakened it, he never got a god-level talent. It is why his union with a woman without a bloodline created a son without an awakened bloodline. The best Tandrak got from his bloodline was a top-level talent for lightning. The purity of his bloodline affected what he gained from its awakening, it also reduced the bloodline''s influence on his personality. He had always been a silent child while others with more bloodline influence were always full of energy and talkative.


    He was ambitious and hardworking, he wanted to create a concept of destruction but he didn''t have the affinity for it. So he improvised and fused thew of sound with lightning to create a synergistic effect.


    Lightning is energy, energy in a highly excited state. Sound is the vibration of matter. Sound can be as small as the rise and fall of an electron within the orbital levels of an atom to create a photon, totally inaudible but of major significance. Or it can be as loud as a copsing star, still inaudible to weak beings. But every titan ofw has heard the sound of one as the stars within them copsed.


    He realized that sound needed energy to start and it can also lead to the creation of energy. And lightening is energy easily agitated. Theirbination amplified their effects. He can use lightening to fuel sound creation and use vibration maniption to either increase or reduce the energy levels of matter, thereby achieving the destruction of matter which further creates more energy. This is the path he chose.


    His concept is strong against both matter and energy. As long as he knows the vibration frequency of anything, be it matter or energy, they will be susceptible to his ability. The energy cannons and annihting beams are energy attacks, they will always disintegrate whenever theye under his area of influence. They are both formed from highly excited energy so they are unstable and looking for a release, he just as to provide the release by siphoning their energy through sound and they will be harmless.


    What''s worse for the resistance force is that the thunder drake beneath him was getting bigger and more fearsome, easily surpassing a kilometer in length, which lead to the expansion of the shockwavesing from it. All the energy he siphons is directed to his thunder drake which boosts its capabilities.


    With Tandrak leading the way, it made it easier for others to approach the defensive barrier of the resistance army. Tandrak''s was finally stopped by the barrier shield surrounding the entrenched army. He focused on the barrier and madeparations between its parameters and those he had in his database. He never forgets a vibration frequency he has acquired in the past so even though the shield was veryplicated due to it being created by several war fortresses, he still determined its frequency in a rtively short amount of time. Things were easier since he could physically touch it. That''s why he favors meeting people face to face.

 Chapter 126 Finesse To Spare.

    ?Tandrak just had to make some modifications and increase his energy input, the shield began to weaken in no time. The solid translucent surface of the barrier became transparent and waves began to spread across its surface as it tried to resist the intrusion.


    The waves were created inwards towards the point of weakening. The shield was a creation of the meshing of barriers by different sources. It can resist physical and magical attacks due to its special energy structure. Tandrak was siphoning the energy of the barrier causing it to lose its strength. Trying to overload it with his energy will not work. He doesn''t have as much energy as thebined power source of the war fortresses. Plus it will be a waste to do so. Why not take energy from them instead? The same energy that they need to power the barrier.


    But the barrier hadn''t given up yet, it was trying to restore the damages done to it, and the waves were trying to replenish the energy he stole from it. As long as he is able to ovee the regeneration limit of the shield then the barrier will fall. The fact that it was created by different sources means that it is very strong, but it was also susceptible to failure as long as one of the sources fails. It will create disarray within the intricate mesh structure of the Barrier and open a path for Tandrak.


    Tandrak didn''t intend to enter. He had other ns. After a long time of weakening the barrier, a small hole was finally created with the mesh of the barrier. The lightning drake beneath his feet rushed into the hole. It merged with the shield as soon as it made contact with it. The sight of a colossal entity of energy and vibration ttening onto the barrier confused a lot of people.


    The barrier became infected with the thunder drake and the shield became a blue energy shield. It turned from a transparent barrier into a blue one cackling with lightning. The lightning drake is an extension of Tandrak''s will which means he had infiltrated thework of the barrier. A vulnerability had opened in the barrier and he took advantage of it to target the entire barrier system, but he wasn''t done. He used the barrier to ess the energy system of its source.


    The source of the barrier happens to be the thirty-something flying war fortresses above. Before the war fortresses could shut down the barrier or rectify his infiltration, he entered their reactors and overloaded them. The reactors couldn''t adapt to the increasing excitement of their structuralponents and they exploded taking the entire fortress with them.


    Tandrak might not be able to use his power to the fullest because of the restriction on him but what he could still achieve is beyond extraordinary. He had finesse to spare.


    All the fortresses exploded and became too damaged to function much less stay afloat. All their various operations including the shield system stopped and the fortresses themselves began a reluctant descent. The ensuing chaos damaged the resistance army beyond repair. The soldiers and drones shut down. The resistance lost their barriers and their major support. The allied forces pounced on them in a bid to finish what they started.


    Ghoto saw everything that happened from afar. He didn''t follow Tandrak in his match forward because while Tandrak could take on whatever was thrown at him, he on the other hand would have ceased to exist if a stray attack reach him. But he saw how Tandrak took down not only the barrier but the entire resistance in one move. He marveled in awe of such a power.


    "My good friend Tandrak sure is impressive." He thought.


    Then he rushed into the fight to get more contributions. He had never been worried about their victory or defeat. The avatars of the gods had increased their ability to fight back to an extent, but it wasn''t enough to stand against their own top forces. They still had the origin gods too. So they couldn''t lose.


    Within the headquarters of the Allied forces. A few minutes earlier before the fall of the barrier shield of the resistance army.


    Guntu was talking with another origin god. This is the origin god that the battle alliance sent to spearhead the war efforts. They had the confidence that victory was assured as long as this Origin god is present. Just a single origin god against whatever the gods could do. Their confidence was not misced. At least Guntu thought so.


    "Is it true that your father and six others were the only ones that survived the massacre of Liton and they had to forge through the forest of xigat while being chased and hunted?" Guntu asked expectantly.


    "Yes." The other origin god answered. This Origin god did not look like a harmless prankster like Guntu. His features were blurry and his hair was just flowing energy. His hair that fell in waves behind this Origin god is the most striking thing about him. The hair is bright gold and dangerous to look at directly for anything below the level of an origin god. He looked like an angel or a god more than the gods look like gods.


    All in all, he looked like a figure made up of energy in a shiny suit of armor. His existence is simr to titans that are running out of time because of theirck of control, they begin to lose their definite forms and start to disperse. If they somehow be a sovereign ofw, they will be able to bring back their dispersing form and contain all their power which will grant them a definite shape.


    This sight is a cause for concern for titans ofw, but it is the aim of all Origin gods. When this situation urs in an origin god it is a sign of reaching the threshold to advance to a World god. They be so full of energy that their physical form starts having trouble keeping it all in. The Origin god''s blurry body is because he is practically bursting with energy.


    "Is it true that the seven of them helped each other and some sacrificed themselves for others?" Guntu continued to ask.


    "Yes." The origin god replied.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He wasn''t bothered by the enthusiasm shown by Guntu, it is amon urrence. Something he had to deal with his entire life, so he has had a lot of experience with answering the questions and maintaining his cool.


    "Is it true that only two of them survived the chase and they swore revenge against the raptor race?" Guntu asked with fervor. His eyes were practically glowing.


    "Yes."


    "Is it true that in their bid for vengeance the two of them became blood siblings and started the Hand of vengeance organization?"


    "Yes."


    "Wow," Guntu eximed. He was asking about the history of the battle race monkeys. Specifically about the creation of the then Sage''s council.


    "Is it true that the hand of vengeance developed well until it became the foremost force against the Raptors?"


    "Yes."


    "Is it true that the hand of vengeance finally became the sage''s council because of the urgent need for a united front against the assault of the Raptors?"


    "Yes."


    Ghoto continued to ask and the origin god continued to answer.


    "Is it true that the two original creators of the hand of vengeance finally got married and gave birth to kids and you are one of them?"


    The origin god sighed and answered. "Yes, I am."


    It is the story of his life. The son of a hero, the son of a sage, the son of the original creators of the hand of vengeance. That is what the battle race monkeys think of him.


    He was supposed to be free of the influence of his bloodline when he became a titan ofw. But even till now, he couldn''t get rid of the influence of the bloodline of a sage. He is practically glowing and shining all over, but he is still in the shadow of his parents. He had tried to create legends for himself but he could not ovee the achievements of his two parents.


    He is about to be a world god but his parents are already world gods. All hope seemed lost for him until a chance opened up in the lower ne. The lower ne is where the glory of his bloodline started, if he could create an achievement here, it could redeem him. He would have something penned to his name in the history of the battle sage monkeys.


    That is why he begged to be sent here to end the era of the gods. He needed the achievement and nothing could stop him. He ns to achieve more than a simple victory over the gods. He would make a big ssh, nothing less than a momentous result will be good enough for him.

 Chapter 127 The Sages Eye. The Eye Of Truth. The Eye Of Casuality. The Eye Of Fatality.

    ?"That is so epic. I wish I were their child or at least had such a glorious bloodline instead of Ghastorix''s lineage." Guntu said with longing.


    "I don''t think Ghastorix would like to hear that." The origin god said. What he didn''t say is that he didn''t like to have been born to the Sage''s lineage.


    Guntu scoffed before he caught himself and looked around warily. He has had a lot of experience with pranks to know that the moment you want to talk smack about someone is the moment they might be standing behind you.


    He is a little afraid of the ancestor, but he respects the sages more, so he continued talking. "I am sure even ancestor Ghastorix would have liked to be born with Sage''s bloodline."


    The Origin god just shook his head. All of his life, his bloodline demanded greatness from him. His bloodline made him selfless, bold, and honorable, willing to sacrifice himself for his race. His bloodline wanted only the best for his race and it demanded that he do something to achieve it.


    But his parents, the source of his bloodline deprived him of the opportunity to fulfill his craving. His parents were still alive and the worst part is that they will never die. They were alive and continued to strive for the race. He didn''t stand a chance against them and It was not a pleasant feeling. Even worse is that what little he achieved is usually attributed to the fact that he is a descendant of Sages. His bloodline was his blessing and his curse.


    Guntu can be said to be a fanboy. He admired this origin god. The fact that he is ready to be a world god is something to be admired, twice over. Guntu still had a long way to go to reach that level, he needed to reconcile destruction with creation. But destruction is directly opposite to creation. He will need to go against his very nature. Only then would be able to create his ownw matrix and rule a world. But all his admiration paled whenpared to the fact that this Origin god is a child of the Union of two of the greatest battle sage monkeys to ever exist.


    The sages are greatness incarnate. Their entire race was named after them because of their feats in battle. The sages were the pioneers of the refinement path for the race, the first to achieve mana body and the first to be Transcendents. They didn''t use the power they acquired to bully the race, instead, they used it to bring the race forward. Their acts of glory are eternal. Every child with an awakened bloodline and ancestral memories will remember them and their contributions to the race. The awe and respect that Guntu has for them will also be passed down to his offspring if he has any. And for generations toe, his offspring will continue to look up to the sages. In short, the sages will never be forgotten.


    Guntu had been destroying the churches in the divine alliance and he was almost done with it, but he left when he was informed of the Origin god that the racial council sent. It was a more interesting thing to do, so he joined up with the neer and hounded him for juicy titbits. He was an artist and a connoisseur of stories, he had toe and talk to the son of legends.


    Someone entered the main hall as they were talking.


    "Your greatness, a god just insulted our bloodlines. He called it the cancer of the society that must be eradicated." The sovereign bowed and spoke in a deferential tone.


    "Is this a joke?" Guntu asked.


    If it was a joke, then it''s a bad one, a really bad one.


    The Origin god beside him spoke up. "Sadly, it is the truth."


    Guntu noticed that the eyes of the other Origin god were glowing and switching colors. It reminded him of Soverick and why he is so important to the n. Unlike soverick''s eyes which possess multiple colors at the same time. This Origin god''s eyes could only possess a single color at once but the colors change from time to time.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''Aplete Sage eye. The eyes of truth, the eyes of causality, and the eyes of fatality.'' Guntu thought in awe.


    He is the only one around right now that could appreciate the beauty of the eyes in full splendor. Even the Sovereigns around could only get a quick peek at it so that they wouldn''t incur too much mental damage.


    When the first sages became mana entities, they awakened their divine ability. That moment set the entire race apart from the others and made them a divine race. A race with an innate divine ability.


    The sages had no bloodline, so their divine ability was pure and powerful. It was untilter that the Battle sage monkeys lost the ability to use their original divine ability.


    Royal bloodlines improved the race but they also changed the race and made their divine ability change. The change was subtle at first but with time, the next generations lost the ability to acquire itpletely. Only those without any bloodline whatsoever have a chance to awaken it, but that means they will have to ovee the difficulties that the sages went through in the past. No one has the confidence that it could happen. It is not that those without bloodlines cannot be origin gods, even though it is immensely difficult, it is possible. But for them to choose the path of their divine ability to ascend makes the low probability oue be almost null.


    The world is fair and bnced. Individuals of races with divine ability will have to choose their path when they are bing titans ofw just like every other less unfortunate race. They can choose to continue their divine ability and bring it toplete awakening or they can create another path.


    The divine ability is created as a result of a fluke in nature either due to mana or gic mutations, it is very difficult to replicate. The chances of bing a titan ofw are low already without adding the difficulty of trying to replicate something created by chance. If they chose another path, they won''t lose their divine ability, it is a part of them after all, but it will change to amodate their new path. The new divine ability might be more powerful or less powerful than the original one but it will be different. They be the source of a new royal bloodline when they be Origin gods and then pass on the new divine ability to their offspring. It cannot be considered a disadvantage that they lost their original divine ability, it is simply an inevitable change.


    At first, the divine ability of the battle sage monkeys is not that great. Those of their race that aren''t mana entities possess great visual acuity. When they achieve their mana bodies, they gain the ability to slow down time or to be more urate, their perception increases enough to make the world slow.


    When they be Transcendents, their eyes be capable of actually seeing into the future. They be able to see visions that direct their path and lead them to a favorable oue. It is then that they must choose if they intend to continue or change. If they continue and survive the challenge of bing a titan, then their divine ability awakens further.


    Sovereigns will then gain the ability to see a few seconds into the future at all times and also multiple possible futures. This ability bes terrifying when they be origin gods. But they have to survive the ordeal of madness as titans ofw first. The barrage of unwarranted and unsolicited visions can be a real killer to titans ofw.


    The difficulty of achieving what the sages did is why their bloodline lineage is very rare. They became Origin gods with the original divine ability and then passed it on to their offspring. It made their offsprings enjoy the best of both worlds, they had bloodline advantage and divine ability at the same time.


    The Ghastorix family suspects that Soverick possesses this same advantage and they must preserve it. Their intent for his bloodline has only be stronger when they found out that he had multiple talents. Only the original sages had multiple talents but it was nowhere on the level of what soverick possesses.


    Back then, a transcendent or god-level of talent was considered a myth. Right now, royal bloodlines have made it possible. They have also made it impossible for offspring to have multiple talents, they will only have talents for what their ancestor chose as his path. Guntu''s ancestor chose lightning and destruction to create a path, and that made his talents those two options only. Bloodlines have their advantages and their disadvantages.


    But Soverick has multiple talents and all of them at the god-level. His importance to the family can not be understated. They didn''t know what Soverick''s divine ability is, but his talent and bloodline are good enough to whet their appetite.

 Chapter 128 The Sages Eye In Action.

    ?The son of legends continued to use his eyes. The recent past events passed across his visions like the pages of a book. He had enough control to limit the extent of his search to a time range of 5 minutes. A titan ofw wouldn''t have that control. You can imagine what will happen if someone doesn''t have control over their past and present.


    The son of legends found the particr thread of faith he is interested in and saw what that stupid god said about bloodlines.


    He said, "It is a grand god that said it."


    "You''re right, your greatness." The sovereign replied.


    The son of legends has problems with his parents and his bloodline but that is not his parent''s fault. He doesn''t consider all bloodlines a curse. He might not like his parents but their hard work and sacrifices are real, and for that, they must be respected.


    "I''ll just have to teach them a lesson then." The shining Origin god said and he was gone.


    He never did anything without a purpose. For every cause, there must be an effect. For every action, there must be a reaction. So he had been waiting for that perfect moment in the time stream to interfere. That moment hase, delivered on a silver tter.


    He appeared an instant at the edge of thendmass that the Battle headquarters was on. Thendmass is actually a gigantic floating vessel. It is much bigger than the war fortresses and more deadly. It looks like a small moon in the sky if viewed from the surface. It is a round mechanical feat of engineering capable of obliterating the resistance to ashes in moments, but the racial council doesn''t want to use such a destructive weapon within the ne. They have reservations just like the gods have reservations about allowing Origin gods to fight within the divine ne.


    The Leviathan Battle Star is one of the tools that will be used to patrol the ne in the absence of the gods. It will take over the god''s job of safeguarding the main ne against invasions. The racial council is already nning for the effects of their victory. For the world gods in charge of the racial council, this war is like a cut scene in a game.


    The Origin god stood and overlooked the battle going on down below. The Leviathan Battle Star was floating over 10 kilometers in the sky. Despite that, his eyes could see everything clearly, regardless of therge distance between them.


    Guntu joined him soon after. Apart from the fact that he was slower than this Origin god, he also didn''t take the shortest distance. He had to move in a straight line while the other warped here.


    Unlike what others would believe, the shortest distance between two points is not a straight line, it is in fact, no distance at all. It is a simple concept that might seem inconceivable but it is one that can be understood when your eyes can see the path of no distance. Guntu''s swift passage created wind in his wake while the other origin god didn''t create any disturbance whatsoever because the son of legends didn''t move through matter but pure space.


    The son of legends continued to peruse the possible future with his eyes. His eyes changed color multiple times as if he was swapping lenses. Then his eyes became white signifying that he had locked on to a future.


    He took a strand of his hair, pulled it free, and shoot it forward like an arrow. His actions were slow as if he had all day. But he had timed it to the smallest unit of time.


    The arrow of hair moved at a peculiar angle and with a fast speed. Its trajectory wasn''t fixed because it was easily influenced by the wind. Somehow the wind made the path of the arrow of hair coincide with the position of the divine avatars of gods. The arrow prated them one after the other, like a slow, and silent killer. The avatars felt no threat to their lives or a warning of danger. How could they? They don''t have extra-dimensional senses after all. They only felt something peculiar about the wind before they lost consciousness.


    "I hope the ignorant grand god will appreciate my gift. He might have escaped for now but this will find him." The son of legends said.


    Guntu marveled at the sight of gods popping out of existence like fragile bubbles with seemingly no effort. He knew the eyes of truth could do more, but what little he saw just made him gush.


    ''I have heard tales about it, but now I can say I have seen it being used.'' He was excited and jealous.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He was able to see the legendary perfect control of the sage''s eye, the ability to utilize all their power to the maximum efficiency possible without waste of energy. The ability to string together random future events in your favor. It is why they are also called the eyes of causality and fatality. Those eyes saw the deaths of their enemies and brought about the cause with minimal effort.


    Guntu was jealous because he couldn''t use his own eyes here. His eyes are the eyes of destruction, anything and everything he gazed upon will start to be destroyed. His eyes are more powerful when ites to pure damage but it doesn''t spare foes or friends. If he uses it in such a weak ne, he will clear the battlefield immediately and he will also have another talk with mother high heaven. He was sure that a meeting with her because of such an act will probably cost him an arm and a leg.


    By the time the sovereign that was talking to them earlier found them, all the god''s avatars were dead. One of the god''s avatars escaped at thest moment. This lucky one noticed that the other avatars were dying without a visible cause, he decided not to risk it and so he returned to the divine ne. Guntu saw this and he couldn''t help but shake his head.


    ''That god is in big trouble.'' He thought.


    "Reward the sovereign that took down barrier shields. He as saved us some time. Clean up the battlefield and any other scattered resistance in the divine alliance. We will wait while the gods are starved of faith. They will weaken, then we will sweep them away from the divine ne." The son of legends said to him.


    The war might be a cutscene to some people but the son of legends has greater ns for it.


    "Yes, your greatness." The sovereign bowed.


    Guntu didn''t object to the decision. He couldn''t object to a decision that was made by someone with the famed eyes of truth. They will always make the best decision, at least ones that favor them. If they determine that waiting is the best decision to bring about the most favorable oue for them, then they will wait.


    The gods have lost the battle in the main ne and their source of power has been cut off. They will be like the transcendents in the main in, unable to replenish the energy they use. The divine energy of the gods is fuelled with faith, and without it, they will not be able to recover whatever they use.


    Guntu thought back to Soverick. ''If he can acquire these eyes then the era of conquest is set for us. Sadly it is too difficult to achieve.''


    Guntu shook his head in pity. He supported the idea of nurturing Soverick to be a secret weapon for them but he didn''t want to ce all their hopes on him. It ismon knowledge that the divine ability of a race is heavily influenced by their bloodline, and bloodline determines talents. Soverick has a bloodline somehow, a royal bloodline. He was a mutant. Things should have been easy for him with the advantages of the bloodline, but then they find out that he has 9 talents.


    It is certain that he will have to fuse all 9 if he wants to keep his divine ability. It is a nearly impossible dream to achieve. The realm lord fused 6ws and that''s already steep for any reasonable person to ask.


    ''We are not so desperate as to rely on a boy to save our skin.'' He shook his head and stopped thinking about their future.


    They just wanted Soverick''s ability, they didn''t need it. As long as Ghastorix became a world god their family will be set. They will be able to survive the end of the universe. It''s just that the ancestor will have to sacrifice his strength and potential to make it happen.


    ''Poor old ancestor.'' Hemented.


    The ancestor did not have the freedom to choose how he wants to be a world god. He has the hopes and dreams of countless others resting on his shoulders so the ancestor will have to make do with whatever is avable and not the best. Guntu admired the ancestor for his willingness toy down his future for the family.

 Chapter 129 Who Is The Boogeyman Of The Gods?

    ?In the divine ne. Few minutes before the massacre of the gods.


    Xanc''s vision returned to his body. The death of his avatar was a big loss because divine energy is bing scarce to acquire these days. Each divine avatar costs a god a fixed amount of divine energy which depends on the level of their strength.


    A god can create as many avatars as they want but they don''t have unlimited storage for divine energy. That means on a good day, they have a limit to what they can make in a day but they just had to wait to recover their energy. But now, they have to be frugal with their consumption of divine energy.


    Only celestial gods have an unlimited storage of divine energy but the amount they have will be based on their umtion. Things are not looking good for them considering that Ode the God King was recently the only celestial god. The rest don''t have enough time to umte much.


    Even though they lost terribly in the main ne, faith was still trickling in. People still believed in them, although in small pockets. He was thinking about making another avatar to go down and retaliate but he stopped. He has to think of the bigger picture.


    "I have my Match today. I can''t waste energy." He thought in consideration.


    No matter how much he hated Ghoto, he had to prioritize his uing match to be a celestial.


    The matchups have been going on a steady schedule in order to curb chaos. It will be his turn soon, but he wasn''t worried. He had been paired with a weak grand god so the fight will be easy. He just had to conserve his energy.


    If even he was having problems with energy, then the new grand god must be bankrupt of it.


    He hated Ghoto. He really did. Xanc and Mih had history. They were childhood friends, they both didn''t have any bloodlines. They both struggled to make progress in a world that had deemed those without bloodlines a weakness. They had a lot inmon, including their unyielding determination. They struggle together back in the day and helped each other out. It wasradeship that Xanc hoped would blossom into more.


    But everything changed when Ghoto came along. Ghoto had a bloodline which he used to his advantage in swaying Mih to him. The bloodline may be weak andrgely unawakened but it is one. Xanc''s budding romantic rtionship with Mih was crushed in its cradle by Ghoto. He wasn''t even given the opportunity to ask her out. Maybe she would have epted or rejected, but he believes deserved that much.


    "Enjoy your remaining time alive for now, Ghoto. I''ll be back. Justice always strikes back and will eventually catch up to evil-doers." He muttered with conviction.


    He hates Ghoto and all those with bloodlines. He let his hatred spur him and energize him. He would take no chances with his uing opponent. He will crush the other grand god, absorb him and be aplete god, a celestial.


    As he was contemting the sweet, sweet revenge he would get to enact on Ghoto, something started to happen within the divine ne. It started with wild energy fluctuations and sounds of things crumbling.


    He almost didn''t recognize the sound but then he remembered that it had urred some weeks ago when they had their first skirmish. The same strange thing had happened then they experienced their first disastrous defeat at the hand of that Origin god.


    "But we have been careful. We always run away at the first sight of that cmity." He fumbled for a reason for this disastrous event.


    It is funny how gods are at one moment talking about their honor, dignity, sphemy, and justice. The next moment, that same god is asking why they are dying when they have been ying the game of hide and seek so well, like willy moles hiding from a mallet.


    He was shocked standing. It just didn''t make sense to him, they were incredibly cautious, so how did the mallet smash so many of them at once? He looked out his divine kingdom to see many divine kingdoms failing into the void. The divine kingdoms were smaller orrger than his but they were all crumbling the same.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "More gods have died." He said.


    His voice was shaking. He almost couldn''t believe it. They had made sure to avoid that origin god before they deployed their avatars. They had learned their lesson fromst time so they remained fearful of that kind of power in order not to suffer such a disaster again. The death of gods is unprecedented but now it has urred twice and in arge amount. And less than a year between the two events. At this rate, the gods will be wiped out.


    For the first time since the war started, Xanc truly felt fear. Fear finally got through his thick skull and dense mind. He also realized that he might have just escaped death which was an absurd phenomenon. Gods shouldn''t escape death because they should have to fear death. Xanc had never felt a threat to his life in more than 40 Origin cycles. It made him feel sick experiencing that fear now.


    A mandatory council meeting was broadcasted to all the remaining gods through a shing Rune. He epted the invitation and appeared within the colosseum of the gods. The gods that appeared were panicking. Xanc noticed that only those that didn''t participate in the battle and those that were defeated earlier like him were still alive.


    "Silence." Ode shouted.


    ''The god King seemed to have grown stronger.'' Xanc noticed.


    He was not wrong. Ode had be stronger. He has be worthy of the name Celestial supreme. The name and the power that came with it only fully activated after he became a king of other celestials. He was now nked by 21 other celestials. The more celestials he ruled over, the higher the power boost he got from his position. But the power boost will note into effect in a fight against other gods, only outsiders will make it activate. So another celestial god can challenge him for the position of supreme.


    That aside. Ode was tired. He was tired, worried, and fearful. He had watched the battle from his seat up on high but even he didn''t know how the gods died. He saw no trace of any attacking origin god and no trace of the assant. All he saw was the gods popping out of existence, both in the form of their avatars andter in the divine ne. It was a massacre of the gods with repercussions far higher than their defeat in the main ne and he still didn''t know how it happened.


    "How many of you are alive now?" He asked.


    But he wasn''t hopeful. The main force of the gods has be only him and the few celestials beside him. He was grateful he hadn''t sent them to battle. There were several reasons for that decision. He was afraid of them dying if he sent them to the battle, there would be no major difference between them and grand gods even if they sent their avatars, they were also very weak right now. The new celestials are currently at their lowest, he wanted them to umte energy since they can save all the divine energy they produce. Grand gods couldn''t so it was better to put their limited energy pool to use.


    The number of gods alive was abysmal. 5 grand gods, 20 high gods, 130 mid gods, and 210 low gods. They had lost more than 90 percent of their numbers but strangely enough, their major prowess was still conserved. The other gods were bing useless as less faith reached them. In a couple of days, they will be just for show. And the worse part is that he won''t be able to make more celestials because a lot of grand gods had died. So no more progress in their strength. The army of the main ne doesn''t need to do anything and the strength of the gods will continue to dwindle.


    "Does anyone know what happened down there?" Ode asked in hopes that someone would have discovered something. The only god that survived raised his hand.


    Ode gave him permission. "Speak."


    The mid god stood up. "I don''t know exactly what happened. I can only say something was wrong with the wind. It felt like something creepy was going on."


    Ode shook his head. ''When did gods start using the word Creepy? When did we be so afraid?'' Hemented. Suddenly he noticed something. He felt that something was wrong, he could have ignored the feeling but the entire divine ne was warning him of imminent danger. Thanks to the deepening of his connection with the divine ne he was able to notice that there was a foreign force within the Colosseum.


    "Show yourself." He stood up and released all his power.


    The other gods were startled, they hadn''t sensed anything so they found the god king''s behavior to be very odd. Who could sneak into the colosseum? Only gods cane here after all.

 Chapter 130 How Low Can A God Fall?

    ?Has the God King finally lost his wits? Has the numerous defeat gotten to him? How can someone sneak into a crowd of gods and no god noticed? The gods may be weak right now but they haven''t fallen so low that they would be so blind to something like that. They were all confused by Ode''s outburst and wondered why someone like him would be behaving like a loony.


    Then they saw a god wink out of existence. He just up and vanished. It is more like he broke apart. Then his Godhood appeared and plunged down to the main ne. This sight terrified all the gods.


    "What was that?" A god asked the very question they were asking themselves. Sadly, no one had an answer.


    A god just died right in front of them and they didn''t know how. But things were not over yet, another god died, followed by another. A straight path of death appeared. Whatever was killing the gods appeared to be heading straight for the god King.


    Ode was rmed. He still couldn''t sense what was killing them. That didn''t mean he was going to wait for his death though. He roused all his power and the entire divine ne buffed him to create a colossal st of energy in the direction of the dying gods. The energy detonated amidst the gods and wiped out the nearby gods within its range. His attack had killed more gods than the invisible enemy. He didn''t care. Better them than him.


    He stood wary, watching for any changes. A ball of energy was in his palm ready to beunched at any moment. He wasn''t sure if he had vanquished the invisible assant, the only thing he was sure of was that he wasn''t being targeted anymore. He remained vignt with other gods, they were watching for any sudden death.


    Even though they usually live flimsy lives without any threat, they understood that at this moment they must band together. An enemy that could sneak into their most sacred ce within the very heart of the divine ne without being discovered by so many of them is a terrifying enemy. Such an enemy will pick them off one by one if they were to run away. They had to take a stand now and root out this cmity.


    Even with thebined vignce of the gods they didn''t notice anything off until another god winked out of existence. And just like before, the deaths increased and they urred within a straight line. This time Grand god of Justice, Xanc, was on the path of death. He ran sideways to avoid the invisible hand of death but it seemed to be tracking him. Whenever he changed directions any god between him and the attack will die. His scalp tingled when he noticed a celestial god pop like a bursting tomato.


    His mind considered all his options that will assure his safety. Only two options came to mind. Hide behind the god King or voluntarily let go of his Godhood. He looked towards the god King but Ode was ready against him. The god King pointed the energy ball within his hand towards him as if to tell him ''Come any closer and I''ll st you out of existence.''


    And so he chose the other viable option. He chose to fall. He rejected the godhood within him and he began to sink. The process of falling is not an immediate one but it is irreversible.


    He began to fall through the divine ne. He crossed through the void between the nes and as soon as he reached the boundary of the main ne a searing pain erupted within him. Every fiber of his being screamed out in suffering as his Godhood coalesced into a shining ball of light beside him. He had rejected his Godhood so he must give up everything that made him divine and everything that he gained from his Godhood.


    The two of them then separated. The Godhood went towards an unknown location within the main ne and him directly towards the ground.


    He free fell for a while but he didn''t get to enjoy the feeling. He was mostly unconscious after he lost his Godhood. He was weakened beyondpare but the danger wasn''t over yet. He might not survive the fall at the end of the day. He was heading straight for the ground and unless he was really lucky, he was going to turn into a gruesome meat paste no different from the bloody ending of that celestial god.


    There was nothing he could do about it. There is nothing any god can do about it. At the moment when they chose to fall, they''ve left their future up to fate. They can''t choose where they exit the divine ne from. Distance and direction are wonky within the void so they can enter the main ne from any direction. Even if they have something prepared to survive their fall, they will be too weak and unconscious to use it. This is in the event that the separation of their Godhood doesn''t kill them in the first ce.


    So there he was, awaiting death. A grand god shot down in his prime. He approached the ground like a falling star, his hopes and dreams damned to go unfulfilled. His divinity and glory were lost forever.


    He still had his oath, that was the only thing keeping him awake. He picked up speed and smashed into a body of water. He lost consciousness and was in danger of drowning. He was not a god anymore so he had lost his so-called immortality. He is currently weaker than a transcendent so he needed to breathe, but it wasn''t something he could fix right now. Being submerged in water usually leads to ack of air to breathe. He resigned himself to fate and closed his eyes to ept the bitter embrace of death.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He opened his eyes a long whileter. Xanc was surprised to be alive. He looked around him to determine his situation. He was on a woven mat on the ground. The heat of a fire wasing from his side. A voice spoke to him from beyond what he could see.


    "It''s good that you''re awake." The voice said.


    He recognized the voice, it was a very familiar sound. The image of a familiar person came unbidden into his mind


    He tried to sit upright to see where the voice came from. His soul is currently too damaged to use his divine and it will probably never recover.


    "Sito, is that you?" He iled about trying to see who the person his. His voice was weak and tired just like the rest of his body.


    "Stop struggling. You are lucky to be alive." The voice reprimanded him.


    A few momentster, a face came into view. The face was aged but he could still recognize the features of Sito.


    "Are you Sito?" He asked uncertainly.


    "It is me. Are you surprised about my looks? The same thing happened to you too." She informed him.


    He touched his face to realize he had gained a few wrinkles. His face was no longer smooth, blemish-free, and spotless. He had lost his youthfulness and he was aging now. He had gained the same mature look that Sito has.


    "What happened to me?" He asked in shock.


    "Do you mean why you''re old or how you survived? I''ll tell you both. The answer to the first question is simple enough. You are not a god anymore and have lost all the perks thate with it. In fact, we are worse off, we are broken products. Our souls, mind, and bodies have been broken. We will die in about a maximum of 100 years and we will continue to age until we die. Nothing can save us from this fate."


    She stopped for a while to let him digest the news. There is a reason that grand gods that want a better future for themselves go to the tower of heaven and fight for the god fire extinguisher. They don''t just remove their Godhood and be done with it. Only with their god fire properly extinguish can they acquire another Origin core and switch to the path of perfection. Their original Origin core had frozen over when they became gods.


    Bing a godes with drastic changes and benefits. Reverting to a mortales with equally drastic changes but with detriments. But the will of the realm has made a safe way out for the truly outstanding gods. They just have to fight for it.


    Siti went over to stoke the fire and add more wood to it. The heat of a fire is important to them now. No morevish divine kingdom for them. No more wealth and a host of angels to cater to their every whim. In a way, they are worse than the mortals that used to rely on them. They have fallen so low that they don''t have a future anymore.

 Chapter 131 This Is Cheating.

    ?She let hime to grips with his new reality before she continued talking.


    "As for why you''re alive, I foresaw this moment back then. I survived my fall and came here to build a small hut. I have been living here ever since, waiting for you. I didn''t know when you will arrive but I knew you will arrive. The hut is by a river, you floated down the stream and I rescued you. I paid someone to rescue you to be precise. I don''t have that much strength anymore and I don''t want to join you in drowning." She chuckled at her joke.


    "You knew all this was going to happen? Why didn''t you tell me?" Xanc asked.


    "You wouldn''t have listened. I told you that resistance was futile but you didn''t listen. I left you alone because I knew that you wouldn''t die. The future is constantly changing, they are several futures and several paths of destiny. But the vision I saw back then showed me a point where all possibilities converged into a definite oue. It was like a terrible force dered that future. The gods were going to lose, it was inevitable. The only thing uncertain is how long they are going to struggle at death''s door. You and I were not fated to die, this is why we are living. Simple as that." Sito exined in an unusually stern voice.


    Xanc sighed and his anger left him. "I understand. I asked a stupid question. Thank you for saving me."


    "Not to worry. We are friends. What exactly made you decide to fall?" Sito asked.


    "I honestly don''t know, what I do know is that if I had hesitated I would have died," Xanc answered with a chill in his voice. The memory of that undetermined danger filled him with dread.


    Sito only shook her head. She didn''t know what the powerful force was but her visions when she was a god informed her that her life would have been in danger if she had stayed.


    Her power to see into the future would have attracted the attention of that powerful force and it would have focused on her. Her ability would be her doom. The ability to see into the future required the proper strength to guarantee one''s life before it can be taken advantage of. That''s why she chose to fall, that powerful force probably had something to do with xanc fall too. She decided not to bring up that sad event anymore. A fall from grace is never a joyful thing.


    She returned to sit beside him. "What is your n now?"


    "I don''t know. Am I even allowed to have a n? I just want to be with someone familiar right now." Xanc answered after some time of thinking.


    Siti smiled at that. Her smile brought out the charm of a matured female battle sage monkey. She said, "Well you are in luck. I am familiar with you so you don''t have to go so far."


    Xanc teared up. "Thank you, Sito. You were right. I should have left with you back then. I shouldn''t have been so stubborn. The entire war was simply a formality and I almost sacrificed to that formality." He began to cry while Sitoforted him.


    And they lived the rest of their days together in happiness and bliss. They are one of the very few who were affected by the war of the gods and had a rtively happy ending.


    The war of the gods may have had little impact on those that sided with the racial council but it has had arge impact all the same. The people in the divine alliance had been living in a nightmare since the war started. They were attacked, their people killed, their churches destroyed and their gods killed. All this started because someone told a paranoid ancient tree that its life might be in danger.


    Xanc''s hopes and dreams were dashed, he may havee within inches of death, and he may have lost his wealth and fortune. It is still better than bing a god-level fertilizer.


    Back at the war front. On the Leviathan Battle Star. A few minutes after the fall of Xanc.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The battle on the main ne had finished by now. The allied forces were cleaning up the battlefield and more of them had spread out to look for any ce still worshipping the gods. It would take a lot of time and effort but those that made progress in their search will be highly worried.


    They had the equipment to detect any divine activity in the main ne so the gods will have toy low so that their believers will not be discovered. Even if the people refuse to give up their faith, after long periods of no response from their deity, they wille to ept reality. The reality that the end of the era of gods has arrived.


    The son of the legends instructed the Leviathan Battle Star to move in a certain direction. No one knew where they were going exactly but no one questioned him. A few minutester he made the Battle Star stop. The distance they had moved in that small amount of time was over a hundred kilometers because of the speed of the battle star. Its top speed is very high but it needs a long time to fully elerate to reach it and the drag of the atmosphere makes that time even longer. The battle star is usually used in the void which will eliminate drag.


    After waiting for a few minutes more the son of legends raised his hand. A Godhood with his hair tied around it fell into his hands. It wasn''t a normal Godhood. It looked like the core of a celestial.


    The Godhood belonged to the celestial god that died. He was also thest god to die. Guntu who had been watching every movement of the son of legends widened his eyes in realization. He had been shadowing the other Origin god hoping to see something cool and what he had just witnessed blew his mind.


    "This is cheating." He roared silently within his mind in admiration.


    He saw the single hair fiber when it wasunched, he paid extra attention then. The hair killed a lot of god''s avatars and he was sure that the main bodies will also die in the divine ne. He saw one weak god escape with luck. The hair had lost momentum after killing the other gods so it came to rest on the shoulder of the avatar. That god probably felt something wrong and took back his avatar in a hurry. Guntu saw that the hair followed the avatar into the divine ne and here it was, returning with what appears to be the Godhood of a celestial.


    Aplete Godhood, a Godhead. He could only imagine what had happened in the divine ne. He was itching to find out so he summoned his courage to ask.


    "I know what you want to ask." The son of legends spoke before he asked.


    "It was just a small lesson. I wanted to teach that ignorant grand god a lesson he would never forget for insulting our ancestors, but he was being protected by fate. That means no matter what I do, he couldn''t die now. So I had to give up on killing him, I sent the attack to curl the gods and to gather information."


    The son of legends hefted the brightly glowing ball of light about 10 centimeters in diameter. He threw it up and caught it like a ball. Like a ything.


    "Thankfully the avatar that took my hair also took it to their council location so I was able to achieve my four objectives. Teach the grand god a lesson, kill some gods, gather information about their supreme and acquire a Godhead of nature''s domain." The celestial god said.


    "And before you ask what use I have for the Godhead, I will answer. It is for you. I have a feeling you need it."


    Guntu''s mouth dropped open. It was a reflex reaction carried over from when he still had a fleshy body. He was stunned. He realized that such a disy wasn''t right for an Origin god but he never cared about that.


    He indeed needed the Godhead. Ancestor Hadrick asked him to bring one a few weeks back, it should also be nature rted. Hadrick had only asked him because he was the only one fully capable of fulfilling the requirements. It was an odd request that he intended to fulfill if the chance came up, but he had never mentioned it to anyone. Now he got a Godhead for free without doing anything.


    The son of legends continued. "I have a feeling that giving you this godhead will bring about a favorable and monumental change to the future of the race. So here, take it." He retrieved his hair and threw the godhead to Guntu.

 Chapter 132 The Witness, Jury, Judge And Executioner.

    ?Guntu caught the godhood and was already scheming about how to keep the Godhood for himself. He liked to tell stories but having a physical souvenir is always weed. He didn''t want to give up something that the eye of sages had been activated to acquire.


    Still, he decided to report the sequence of events to ancestor Ghastorix immediately. The importance of Soverick increased in his mind. Sometimes you wouldn''t know what you arecking until you see someone using it. He had just realized how much they were missing out on without the eyes of truth.


    "The God King is not bad for a god. He has strengthened his connection with the divine realm so we might be troubled a lot if we storm the ce. It won''t be a problem to win at the end of the day, but I have a feeling that if we wait, things will shape up. We might not even need to fight much to wipe the gods out." The son of legends said as began to walk back towards headquarters.


    He was thinking about the grand god he couldn''t kill. When a battle sage monkey that chose the path of their innate divine ability bes an origin god, they be capable of changing the future from the present. They do this by forcefully converging all lines of possibilities to reach the desired oue by selecting this oue and sacrificing the rest to achieve it.


    But no matter how he looked at the future with his eyes, that grand god can''t die this soon. Either he had fate on his side or another force had interfered with the possibilities. He could have chosen to pursue the grand god as he fell but he chose to go after more important objectives. He wouldn''t have been able to acquire the godhead if he had prioritized the grand god instead.


    There''s no way a measly grand god could have escaped from him even if he had fate on his side. It''s just that any attempt on the grand god''s life will make him forfeit something more important.


    ''It is rare that I don''t get what I want and more. But I''ll let him go.'' He made his decision, like the verdict of a judge, he decided to pardon Xanc.


    But the son of legends is more than a judge. Anyone with the Sage''s Eye is more than a judge. They are the witness, the jury, the judge, and the executioner altogether. They will see, they wille and they will conquer. Their eyes make it all inevitable. Running away from them is like a blind man trying to run away from a man with perfect eyesight.


    A shower of stars began to rain on the main ne. A lot of Godhood fell due to the sudden death of many gods. It was a disy that showed the inhabitants of the ne that their gods were powerless. It was one of his hidden agendas. The four objectives he mentioned weren''t theplete number of goals he wanted to pursue. There are some hidden goals. This disy for example will impact the believers and reduce their faith in the gods. Giving the Godhead to Guntu also has a hidden agenda. It is true that the act will be favorable to the race as a whole, what he didn''t say is that it would also be favorable to him.


    The worth of the godhead to an origin god is between one to ten origin essence beads but what he will get from it is greater than that. It is also why he is friendly to Guntu. He is usually a friendly person but his instincts warned him to not slight Guntu in any way so that the future rewards will be higher.


    The knowledge that the eyes of truth acquire can be used in a myriad of ways. This knowledge is why they are called sages another word for wise men. They weave intricate ns. If you think they are only one step ahead of you, then you are wrong and you have already lost. If you think that they are at least two steps ahead of you then you are wrong. They will take advantage of your paranoia and make you second guess your decisions. If you think that they are three steps ahead of you, you will lose. Because you''re right where they want you to be.


    There''s just no way of winning against them unless they make you think you have won. It has its limitations but overall, the power of his eyes is a good thing. He had once tried to use it against a world god and it backfired. He didn''t just suffer a bacsh, he paid for that lesson with his life. He is an Origin god so he just had to spend some resources and he was back on his feet. Still, it was an expensive lesson.


    The gods are measly opponents whenpared to the might of an entire world. Origin gods can''t kill each other permanently, so it is never safe to kill an Origin god. But some loopholes have been taken advantage of to achieve a safe kill. Origin gods have researched ways to kill each other for good but the best they have achieved is preventing the Origin god from resurrecting within a time frame. It might take many cycles but a dead Origin god will resurrect. So they changed their aim towards killing an Origin god in a safe manner and developed techniques to achieve it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Using a small amount of those techniques on gods, however, will lead to their total death. They aren''t truly immortal, even Origin gods aren''t fully immortal. True immortality is a realm beyond World gods.


    It is what those juggernauts are aiming for. True immortality is the immunity to death, they just can''t die. Origin gods can resurrect indefinitely as long as their soul matrix exists and there is energy. It is still not true immortality.


    What he used on the gods is just a basic attack that targets the fate of whoever he kills. If it is on an Origin god, they will die again as soon as they resurrect at most. But then they will resurrect again. It is a technique that kills an Origin god twice in a row regardless of distance and will disrupt memory transfer to the Origin god so that his soul matrix won''t be updated. In short, the Origin god won''t know how he died the first time because he died again before his soul matrix updates.


    When someone doesn''t know how he died, you will be able to kill them again in the same way. As long as no one witnessed your process of killing the Origin god, it will remain a secret. You can preserve your trump cards that way. An Origin god must have one or two of these techniques to safeguard their secrets. Fighting someone that can resurrect is a tricky business, it is best that you don''t start a fight, but if you do, you must make sure to wipe out future consequences at least or a simple fight can escte into a cosmic war of epic proportions.


    This simple technique has a rather fatal consequence on gods as long as he kills one of their avatars. As for the reason why they couldn''t sense his hair? They were simply blind to it. No matter how they run, they are simply going in circles beneath the gaze of his perfect eyesight.


    Back in the divine realm. A while after that fiasco with the invisible attacker.


    The God King Ode was feeling jittery. Nothing was going well for him. He didn''t even have peace and safety in his own house anymore.


    "What is the worlding to?" Hemented.


    They thought he was crazy when he first sensed the anomaly. He was fine then but he is crazy now. Even a god has his limits. And he is so close to reaching his.


    How could he livefortably knowing that there might be an attacker in the divine realm? A very strong attacker too, something strong enough to threaten his very life. He had stretched his senses ever since that incident. His mental status was fine because of the strength of his soul but his emotional status was crumbling and it was crumbling fast. It was like a house of cards with one of the foundations removed. A core t of his life which is safety and control within the divine ne has been destroyed.


    He had to do something about the current situation. If they can''t ascertain that their attacker is gone, they will always be on edge. So he consulted the only people who could help out in these dire circumstances. The Origin gods that he hired answered his call. He exined exactly what happened to the gods in hopes that they will be able to save him from his terror.


    "

 Chapter 133 Play Dead And Hope For The Best.

    ?So you are saying, even after you sted it with full force you still didn''t see what it was?" An Origin god asked. The face of this Origin god was empty except for the gaping maw that split his face and a tongue too big to be contained in his mouth. The long and spiked tongue rolled around outside the confines of its mouth. He had a growth on his head that resembled antlers but flowers were growing on them. He wore a dark cloak that obscured everything about him except his head. He probably couldn''t cover his head because his antlers are too big for it.


    "Yes, I could only sense that something had invaded the divine ne but I couldn''t make out what it was." Ode replied.


    He didn''t tell them that even that information was not acquired by his own strength, it was the ne that informed him. But what does that matter? Gods use borrowed power anyway. So it makes no difference how he did it.


    The Antler Origin god looked at hisrades. There were two other Origin gods in the meeting. One was a rock with some small nts growing from the cracks between the joints. He had no features that could identify it as a living thing.


    The other is a stick, a long hollow stick to be precise. Origin gods can change their shapes but they are limited by their minds. They can assume any shape as long as they arefortable in it. Their existence is closer to immortal concepts than immortal living beings.


    The three of them sat at the table with the God King. They had a quick chat amongst themselves. And the oue of their chat wasn''t favorable to the gods.


    "It can be what I think it is, is it?" Rock origin god asked.


    "It probably isn''t. Someone on that level won''t stoop to something like this. They will just barge in and end this farce. It must be someone that is about to reach that level." Big mouth replied.


    "Even that isn''t a good thing. It implies that the racial council of this ne is taking this seriously." Hollow stick said.


    Big mouth made a sound of derision. "Of course, they are taking it seriously. Which realm council wouldn''t take the liberation of their ne seriously?"


    "Things are different now. The presence of someone like this means trouble, especially from the battle sage monkeys. Someone like that can juste here and kill us." Hollow stick maintained.


    Big mouth shook his head. "It won''t be that simple. This person has not reached that level so they can''t disregard suppression yet. They will be suppressed in the main ne and the divine ne is going to suppress them more."


    "You are right. What should we do now?" Rock asked.


    "There''s only one thing we can do if we are in our right mind." Hollow stick replied.


    Big mouth sighed in agreement. There was only one thing they can do, if they don''t want to be hunted down by this terrifying figure then they better do it now. The three of them stood up in silent agreement.


    "We are done. We want no more part in this. You are on your own." Big mouth said before they started leaving.


    Ode was bbergasted. He wanted them to give him advice about what was going on, instead, they are packing up and leaving him. He would like to use force to make them stop but he had learned that lesson the hard way. So resorted to what he can safely do.


    "You can''t leave, you haven''t even done anything." He shouted at them.


    "You''re wrong. We can leave anytime we want. It says so in the contract. We made that clear." One of the Origin gods called back without turning.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yes, but..." Ode slumped down in his seat. "It''s like I invited you here and gave you money for nothing." He whispered, still in shock.


    He had paid them some advance, arge advance too. There was no use in the contract that required them to return it. The contract was toox on them because he was desperate for some help. They could break the contract anytime without consequences. He expected that they will at least go through the motions and fight something before giving up. But now they are running away as if they are scared of something. Then it hit him, they must know what that terrifying invisible enemy is.


    He rushed from his throne to catch up to them. Even if they will go, they should give him information about his current dilemma.


    "What is that invisible enemy?" He asked when he caught up to them.


    Big mouth considered for a while before replying. "We shouldn''t say anything so that we can guarantee our safety. But since you''ve paid us, we will help you out just this once."


    Ode became ted immediately. Then his mood dropped when he heard what he said next.


    "When an Origin god is ready to be a world god. They undergo a sort of discement in energy and spatial positioning. In other words, what you see and perceive about them is just the tip of an iceberg. The bulk of their being is in a dimension invisible to us and what they show you is more like a shadow of their existence. Once they fully connect to that dimension and build a world in it, they will be a world god. What you are facing is something you cannot see, something you cannot perceive, something you cannot touch but it can see you, perceive you, and hurt you. The perfect Hunter."


    Big mouth continued. "I am not sure about the full details, we are still far from that level. I''ll give you some advice, run, run and never look back."


    Then the three of them warped away from the divine realm. When they had made the agreement to work for the Virut Pantheon, they had made it very clear that they would be unreliable allies. This was due to the binding contract they had to sign before they were employed and allowed entrance into the divine ne. If not, they would have cheated this sorry group of gods and even rob them. But the contract prevented them from intentionally causing the gods harm, either through their actions or thoughts. The contract was very strict when it came to guaranteeing the safety of the gods from them, but it wasx in their responsibilities.


    Origin gods need resources more than ever and the resources they need are what fuels their conflict. They need resources to grow stronger and they need them to resurrect. It will take an origin god numerous cycles to resurrect without resources. Resources can shorten that time to a few days and in some cases, a few minutes.


    They took this job because of their need for resources. Unlike in the mortal world, resources hardly change hands within the circle of immortals. They never die, odds are, when one of them grasps hold of a source of wealth, they will never let go of it. Even death can''t make them let go. Because of that, Origin gods don''t reduce in number, but the number of resources remains constant.


    That''s why new origin gods like them have to do odd jobs to get by. If you don''t belong to a strong cosmic organization, then you are doomed to fighting for scrapes with other poor origin gods like you.


    The racial council of the battle sage monkeys is one of such strong cosmic organizations. In fact, they are behemoths, the kind that you must not look in the eye. If the racial council of the battle sage monkeys happens to walk by, you stay still or pretend you''re dead. That''s the kind of predator that they are. An Origin god can''t be dead, so ying dead will be seen through very easily. But it will convey your eptance of their dominance in hopes that they will deem you insignificant and leave you alone.


    The three of them were practically scathing at the edge by interfering in their affairs, but the job was too good to pass over.


    The gods were filthy rich, it is like they had siphoned the wealth of their believers into a single spot. The gods were like banks that people can only deposit in and not withdraw. Even banks that allow withdrawal are vastly wealthy, but they can''tpare to the gods.


    For years, they have sucked on the lifeblood of their believers, like ticks and parasites. They had wealth that could tempt Origin gods, if not for the fear of the racial alliance many Origin gods would be lining up to fight for them. But that will end soon.


    Things had changed. The racial council had brought in a big gun to a fist fight. The three of them won''t y anymore and wouldn''t be here to witness the downfall of the Virut Pantheon. They were going to y dead and hope they are left alone.

 Chapter 134 The Last Days Protocol.

    ?Ode watched as the three of them left. He was feeling jittery earlier but now he was downcast. As the supreme celestial of the divine ne and the god King of the Virut Pantheon, the fate of the gods rests on his shoulders, literally and figuratively.


    He returned to his throne silently to think about his future. He sat down on his opulent throne and sighed.


    "I am doomed." He felt like a mortal who just found out that he is in debt or going bankrupt. The absurdity of it would have made himugh if it were not true. But it is true.


    The future of the gods was not looking good. It had not been looking good for a while, but it was getting worse and worse each day. Any person with at least an average intelligence will be able to see that they were doomed. He had at least that much intelligence, so he knew they were doomed. But what to do about that?


    Mortal wisdom says when someone is at zero, there''s no more ce to go but up. Of course, they are wrong about that, there are other directions apart from up. There is still a negative direction.


    For example, the gods were approaching null. He is going bankrupt, he is losing all his years of effort and wealth, and it won''t end there, he will lose his life too. Has it been mentioned that he doesn''t even have the option to fall?


    "What to do now? How can I get out of this?"


    Miracles were not forting, so he began to review his options. He could beg the racial council, but that was unlikely to work. There could be no truce, only defeat, or victory. He shook his head at that thought. He couldn''t even relinquish his seat as a supreme. He would have to fall in battle to another celestial god and be absorbed to achieve that. Only the strongest get to be supreme, if they fall, then they will be used to empower the new and stronger supreme.


    Even if he could safely retire, what next? What would he do with his life? He is God King Ode, Celestial god of battle, and has been for a long time. He can''t return to being a mortal, a true God cannot fall and revert to being a mortal. What would he do as a mortal? Own a farm and pray for rain? To which gods will he even pray? Which god will still be alive after this era? None.


    There is another option that could solve his problem but he didn''t want to consider it. He agonized about the decision for weeks before finally deciding to go ahead with it.


    The allied forces were strangely quiet, they didn''t storm the divine ne during the period he was in thought. They were totally content with moping up the scattered believers. It was like they were giving him time to make his decision.


    Ode opened his eyes after weeks of contemtion.


    "Push ase to shove. They have pushed me to this."


    Then he willed the divine ne to activate the "Last day''s protocol."


    At the same time within the Main ne.


    The son of legend smiled. His mysterious eyes twinkled. ''Third hidden agenda achieved. Warn off interference. Chase away the Origin gods.''


    His n was going well. If he had his way, the allied forces won''t need to fight a disadvantageous battle within the divine ne. He just had to wait and he would reap the fruits of his patience.


    He waited patiently and was able to sense the changes in fate the moment when Ode decided to activate thest day''s protocol.


    ''Fouth hidden agenda achieved. Create the opportunity for the birth of the Child of the ne. I wonder who it will be.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The thing about those with the Sage''s Eye is that they must often have their way. The alliance army won''t need to fight a disadvantageous battle. No. There will be a disadvantageous battle but it won''t be fought by the army. It will be fought by another group and the reward will be greater than a simple liberation of the ne.


    Back At the Ghastorix Family Battle Academy


    Soverick and the eye-to-body coordination training.


    This training consisted of two major parts, eyes adaptation and body precision training. For eyes adaptation, the challenges consisted of training his night vision and learning to walk upside down. Learning to walk upside down was simple enough, he just had to adapt to seeing the world inverted.


    But of course, it wasn''t that simple. He had to move through an obstacle course while upside down. Instead of his legs, he used his hands to move and jump. Jumping was tricky to achieve with the hand especially when one had to judge the distance and height with an inverted vision.


    The best sense to rely on will be the divine sense, not the eyes, but it will require adaptation. It is difficult enough to walk with an inverted vision but with an organ that someone grew up with. The divine sense is another ball game entirely.


    This particr challenge forced him to adapt to a new 3D spatial awareness system and the obstacle course made sure he was proficient at it. It had to be muscle memory before he could pass it.


    Night vision on the other hand required him to control the muscles of his eyes to achieve constant maximum light infiltration. It turns out the eyes of the battle sage monkeys can see more than it lets on, it just has to be prodded into giving up their hidden potential. Usually, all mana entities will be able to see in the dark, that is if they rely on their eyes at all. He found the training redundant, why train a defective organ when the best it can achieve cannotpare to the divine sense? He stillpleted the challenge even though he had reservations. It was easy for him to achieve too so he didn''t mind too much.


    What he minded a lot was the body precision training. He had to juggle, learn how to properly throw knives, learn archery, javelin throwing, ax throwing, catching, and shing skills. Juggling started easy with just 3 objects and continued to scale up in difficulty until he had to juggle 30 objects. The time he had to spend doing it also increased from 5 minutes to an hour. Like always the training pushed for a high level of proficiency in the activity and not just the ability to do it.


    Knife and ax throwing were simr but also different. They both have a sharp edge that must make contact with the target but they have different forms and weight distribution so the techniques of throwing them are different. He had to be able to determine their center of gravity by just holding them and exploiting the imbnce in weight distribution to achieve an urate throw. Simple right?


    Not simple. If the challenge had been for him to throw it in a straight line then it would have been simple but he had to make curves and avoid obstacles. So not simple.


    Things became even more difficult when he had to throw his knives against moving targets. At first, the targets were t boards that moved sideways albeit slowly, then they evolved to small round objects thrown at him at high speed.


    But like always he overcame the initial difort and adapted quickly to what was required of him.


    Archery was simply a breeze for him. No matter how difficult they tried to make it for him, he passed through the obstacles andpleted the challenge in a day. At first, the distance between him and the target increased, then the wind increased, then he had to shoot multiple arrows at once, then each arrow had a different target.


    Thatst one was a bitplicated, he had to shoot multiple arrows at targets with varying distances between them, and the wind was also blowing. It started from two and then increased to five arrows at once but his powerful mind found the calctions needed for urate targeting too easy.


    The rest of the body precision challenge was a breeze. Javelin''s throwing was pretty easy to ovee. The challengey in the efficient use of his muscr power and the proper way to direct the muscles. Unlike the footwork challenges where he only trained the muscles of his legs, for javelin throwing he had to add the muscles of his back and arms in synchronized choreography to achieve precision. It wasn''t difficult because he had already ovee the use of default pathways for movement. Catching was the opposite of throwing. He had to receive objects thrown at him at high speeds and tricky angles with his hands.


    In the shing skill training, he must use a thin and sharp de to strike thrown objects. The edge had to cut the objects in half as they are airborne. He needed to ascertain the urate shing distance, a slight deviation could lead to him missing the balls entirely. The size of the balls was reduced to increase the difficulty of actually hitting them. They became as small as peanuts and their speed increased to absurd levels to catch him off guard.


    He finished all the challenges of the eye and body coordination regimen in 5 weeks and by the time he was done, he felt his body had changed again. It was like a new world of body mechanics was open to him.

 Chapter 135 A Good Story To Pass The Time.

    ?He left the training room and met the golem, Wendy, at the door. The golem was still with him.


    "Congrattions, Soverick on another sessfulpletion of a regimen. You broke another impressive record. You have three more regimens to ovee. Would you like to start immediately?"


    Soverick shook his head. "Not yet."


    He didn''t rest at all between the challenges because he wasn''t tired but he felt he needed to rx a little. Change things up a little. Oveing the challenges was fulfilling but they were stifling. He had to adapt to a new way of doing things with every one of them, he would like to have some fun before he starts the next one.


    "What is done for fun around here?" He asked Wendy.


    "All forms of entertainment have been banned. Apart from sparing and sleeping there is no other activity to be done outside of training. Even food and drinks have been removed." It replied.


    He nodded. "I know about that. I''m asking for unauthorized fun activities."


    They had been informed during the orientation about the no-fun policy. The director had said, "Go back home if you want to have fun and enjoy yourself. This ce is for training and training only."


    It is a way to discourageziness here. They might not be able to force you to train, but when they eliminate all forms of distraction, you either train or you go home. Either way, no one is forcing you to do anything. People with Vitality cores don''t need food or drink, odds are most of the people that came here didn''t need food or drink even before they created their vitality cores.


    High nutrition food will be served in the primary stage of training to expedite the creation of the vitality core. Such foods are used as motivations to make the students train. The secondary stage doesn''t need food and the academy has made sure that they will not be able to indulge in the act. That''s why they were not allowed to bring anything into the academy and the search before they entered the academy proved how serious they were about enforcing it.


    Even if someone seeds against all odds to bring in contraband, as long as that person is wearing the wrist logger, he would be found out immediately. The third stage of the battle academy also needs high-energy foods but that''s in the future.


    "There must be something I can do to rx?" He asked.


    He was hoping that students before him had created something that could help to ease his boredom. He was bound to be disappointed.


    "All forms of fun will always be detected and removed," Wendy replied.


    "I guess I''ll try to nap." He began to walk towards the residential area.


    "I''ll be here waiting for you, to resume your training. I''ll like to inform you in advance that I''ll leave when the system determines that you are likely to spend more time on other things other than your training. You will have to request my assistance when you are ready."


    "Alright then." He waved at Wendy.


    It was just a bot used by the training assistant sub-system of the academy. Long periods of negligence will cause it to be kept away to conserve energy and processing power. It is part of the rules and regtions of the academy which he was informed of through the memory crystal.


    "Let me see how Ghaster is doing."


    He decided to check up on his siblings. Their childish behavior and Ghaster''s goofy face were sure to cheer him up. So he made his way to Ghaster''s apartment and pressed the doorbell. No one answered for a while.


    "Is he not at home?" He thought. He pressed it again before turning back.


    "Let me try Litori before giving up." He decided.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Their timetable was flexible. He could still find her at home. If not, he will go and look for them in their training rooms. Their possible locations were limited without anything else to do. He soon found her apartment. It resembled his and Ghaster''s, just a single door on a wall. The inside was another thing entirely. He rang the doorbell and waited. A few momentster he heard a voice from within.


    "Who''s there? Oh, it is you, Eldest. I''ming."


    The door was unlocked, and Litori''s face appeared. She seemed flustered. "Eldest, you came. Did you hear about what happened?"


    Soverick was puzzled. "What happened?"


    Litori sighed. "Come in first."


    He did and the door was closed behind him. Her apartment was just like his, it could change to fit whatever style the residents wanted. The apartment is just one big room and the walls within it are moveable. So the size and dimensions of the rooms are adjustable. The four walls that serve as the boundary of the room are the only immovable walls and they could be made transparent like right now. It is a kind of simtion that showed everything going on outside through the walls. Litori had been able to know it was him because the door was transparent from the inside too.


    "I have something to show you." She said as she led him to one of her rooms. Inside this particr room is a bed, and Ghaster was sleeping on it. Soverick knew something was wrong with Ghaster immediately. For one he was sleeping. They don''t need sleep. In fact, they didn''t sleep as babies. So something must have pushed him enough to require sleep, or he is just as bored as Soverick.


    The major clue that indicated he might not be bored is his bruised and swollen face. Still, he could have been bored earlier and decided to walk into a wall, to pass the time. He had to have hit that wall several times, considering the amount of damage to his face. But it is possible, and it will make for a good story that will cure Soverick''s boredom.


    "What happened to him?" He asked and made sure to move quietly so as not to wake the sleeping boy.


    Litori noticed something about the way he walked. His movement was strangely fluid and weird. She immediately recognized the changes as the effect of his training.


    ''It seems the eldest is always making progress.'' She thought.


    "The short story is that someone beat him up," Litori replied.


    Soverick examined the boy closely. He discovered signs of exhaustion and muscle injury. Other than that, he was okay. Whoever beat him up did a number on him, but didn''t go too far.


    "Let''s go. I have some time so I want to hear the long story." He said to Litori.


    Litori nodded and followed him back to the central room. Soverick sat in a chair and listened to her.


    "It all started after you left. Ghaster became, how do I put this? He became frenzied. Desperate is more like it. He ramped up his training speed and began to challenge people. He worked his way up from the recent trainees to the older ones. The spars were easy at first, he was winning them and his confidence soared. He began challenging stronger ones until he beat everyone within the preparatory stage but he still wasn''t satisfied." Litori shook her head.


    Soverick was impressed. He had been away from them for about 5 months now and in that time Ghaster had defeated his peers. He hadn''t heard about his younger brother''s exploits because he was busy with training.


    "I warned him to stop but he said, ''How can this trashpare to the eldest, if I want to catch up then I must beat people of his Caliber. Only then will I be able to ovee him.'' He began to challenge people at your stage. It didn''t turn out well. He lost his first battle. He lost badly."


    That didn''t surprise soverick. Those at his stage had met the fitness requirement, so they were stronger than Ghaster with their physical parameters. Then there was the training regimen and challenges that will reshape the mind and the body of the trainees. It will make them aware of what their bodies are actually capable of, which will set them worlds apart from those that hadn''t even met the physical requirements. They would be able to fully utilize their better physique to steamroll those at the preparatory stage. They are much stronger and smarter in a fight, so Ghaster''s defeat was not surprising.


    It might be a stupid idea for Ghaster to fight those at the basic skills and techniques stage, but it made for a good story. The story is even better than Ghaster smashing his face into a wall to relieve boredom. Soverick came for a good story, so he rxed and relished it. Then he will leave and return to his training. He came for a story, and he will leave after he has gotten what he wanted. He isn''t here for anything else and will not be made in doing them.

 Chapter 136 Fools Make The World Interesting.

    ?Litori continued her story. "He didn''t give up. He challenged the same person again. The fights devolved from a light spar into physical abuse. Ghaster''s opponent maintained that he had a warrior''s honor so he continued to ept the challenge but he stopped going easy on him. He asked Ghaster to stop pestering him but you know Ghaster. He didn''t back down and has been taking a beating ever since."


    Soverick knew Ghaster was stubborn so the sequence of events was expected. He considered the entire endeavor with the fight as a waste of time. They had been informed that after the basic skills and techniques stagees the fighting stage. At that time, he would be able to use the techniques he learned against other opponents and fight to his heart''s content. Even if Ghaster was bored without something to do, he could do what he is currently doing, listen to a story. Instead of getting beaten up. That made sense.


    ''I suppose some people have to be stupid to create funny stories that will entertain the bored but smarter people.'' That''s what he thinks about the entire thing.


    He wasn''t going to advise Ghaster to stop, that would be another waste of time and effort. He also wouldn''t go and confront the person that has been beating him up.


    Soverick felt no need to and he did not want to, so he would not. Mih had asked them to stick with him and Ghaster had refused. Instead of mimicking Soverick and concentrating on his training, he chose to fight others. It was his decision and he will bear the consequences.


    Honestly, he sympathized with the person beating Ghaster. He knew how adamant Ghaster can be, the person must be frustrated that''s why he took it out on Ghaster. He couldn''t be med. If it were Soverick, he would break the cause of the disturbance.


    "Couldn''t he sleep in his apartment?" Soverick asked.


    "I was the one that dragged him here. The recent battle was particrly nasty. I wanted to watch over him just to be sure that there are noplications."


    Soverick nodded.


    If he were the one, he doubted he would be so caring."I hope he has not been dying your progress. It has almost been a year already and you have yet to meet the physical requirements."


    "Don''t worry eldest, I am trying my best, but not everyone is as talented as you are. I am almost done with the spiritual aspect but my progress with the physical aspect has slowed down. I should be done in a couple of weeks if I maintain my pace."


    "That''s good then. Don''t waste your time sparring with people like Ghaster. Everything has a time and a ce. Focus on what you''re doing for now before moving on to the next."


    They engaged in more small talk before Soverick left to resume his training. The short reprieve was enough to energize him. He returned to his training room to resume the challenges.


    A few moments after Soverick left, someone entered the room to sit in another chair beside Litori. Her perception of movement drew her out of her meditation.


    "You seem well." Shemented casually.


    Ghaster remained quiet for a while. When he finally spoke, he said "Thanks."


    Litori snorted. "Mom will get her pound of flesh from me if you die. You are her favorite after all."


    Ghaster grinned at her. "Thanks anyway."


    "You should focus more on your training. Fighting right now is counterproductive." Litori advised with a stern tone.


    Ghaster sighed. "I think you''re right. I am almost done with the physical exercise but I''m stuck with the spiritual exercise. I can''t seem to get the hang of splitting my mind."


    "It is not surprising, you have a one-track mind. You need to fix that."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ghaster gritted his teeth and asked. "Will you teach me?"


    Litori was shocked. "Are you really Ghaster? Maybe you sustained more damage than I thought."


    The Ghaster she knew would remain stubborn to the bitter end. He would never admit inferiority.


    "I can see that you''re making quick progress in the physical training. I might not know how well you''re doing in the spiritual training but I know that you are better than me when ites to the mind. At this rate, you will leave me behind. I don''t want that." Ghaster exined.


    Litori examined him in a new light. "Maybe the fighting is not a waste after all. You finally learn that there are some things that blind effort cannot ovee."


    "Will you teach me or not?"


    "I have to teach you seeing how desperate you are. Let it not be said that Litori the soul reaper refuses to help out a damsel in distress."


    Ghaster sighed in eptance. He knew that she was likely to help him, but the mocking and jabs taken at him will make the process very unpleasant. Certainly more unpleasant than trying to divide his mind and wield the fractions as a whole, but it will be worth the sacrifice if he can figure out mind division. Still, he swore to himself that he must beat her up one day.


    She continued to mock him before she put her hands together and assumed an air of importance. He thought she was getting serious to teach him but her next words made his face darken. "As a sage of the mind and a benevolent Saint of the people. I will not consider your lowly position and unworthy countenance. I shall deign to enlighten you on the ways of the mind. Even the dimmest of wisdom will be able to make progress with just a single line of advice from me. You are not particrly bright but the little intelligence you have should suffice. Now, praise me."


    And the mocking continued for a while. Litori tried to ease the atmosphere before she started the training. She knew it took a lot out of her brother for him to ask her for help. Joking was her chosen method to make him rx.


    She didn''t mention the fact that the eldest came over and saw his debilitated state.She didn''t see how it mattered personally, the eldest had bested them multiple times in the past, and him seeing them incapacitated due to injury couldn''t be worse than suffering defeat at his hands. But she knew it would affect Ghaster. She cared about her brother. They might be enemies in the future but she cared, for now. They aren''t true siblings because they don''t have the same bloodline. Having the same parents does not make one true siblings, only blood can truly bind. So it is likely that something in the future can make them want each other''s life.


    Soverick''s training room. Dodging and perception.


    He chose dodging and perception after footwork, and eye-to-body coordination. He chose it because he thought it was easy and he was right. The entire regimen revolved around perceiving iing threats and dodging them. It might be difficult for others but it wasn''t difficult for him at all.


    The first challenge was perception. He had to identify sounds, tastes, and textures with his divine sense.


    The divine sense is a new organ based on the spiritual power of the soul. It is capable of sensing a wide array of objects but it is not omniscient. The divine sense works by acquiring information about a target and cross-referencing it against a database. This database contains verified properties of objects that one hase across before, it can only be trained through personal experience.


    He had a lot of knowledge and experience but it still took him a long while than pure physical training toplete the challenge. The processing, learning, and identification ability of his mind is very powerful but it took him 3 weeks toplete the identification of millions of nt parts, animal tissues, and various energy and sound signatures. He had be truly learned by the end of it capable of using his divine sense and mind to makeplex calctions for the estimation of the mass, density, and volume of an object. In the past, he had always used a method of estimation, but now he can be precise.


    The second part involved using the knowledge he acquired to solve puzzles and avoid danger. It required him tobine and apply the knowledge he had acquired. Wisdom is knowledge correctly applied. It is not enough for him to know, he must be able to do and execute.


    For example, he was asked to identify poisonous substances or identify beneficial substances, identify an animal by the sound it makes, and determine the number of ants in a bucket by whatever means. There were more and more convoluted tests of wisdom but he finished it in just two days.


    "Not bad, not bad at all." He said after he finished.


    The information he gained increased his wealth of knowledge and the best thing is that it will also empower all of Legion''s clones. It might not be useful to him but he knows it is useful to the others.

 Chapter 137 The Coiling Dragon And The Striking Viper Techniques.

    ?Thest part of the training regimen was dodging. Darts were thrown at him at various speeds and angles. He must use his divine sense to track therge number of projectiles thrown at him and weave through the danger. While the divine sense is powerful, it is not omnipotent. Objects don''t be instantly identified as soon as they enter the range of the divine sense, that''s even if you know the object. Information is first collected and verified before identification is made. This takes time and mental effort in terms of processing power which you have to perform while avoiding objects thrown at you.


    A path of safety within the cacophony of attacks must be created by identifying danger, plotting their paths, and deriving escape routes. His powerful mind and perception made all of it a walk in a park such that hepleted the challenge on his first try.


    "What''s next?" He pped his hands against each other in anticipation.


    The dodging and perception regimen of his training ended with that and so he moved on to the fourth regimen. Some of the training exercises were easy and some were difficult, but all of it was a new experience.


    He chose the blocking and parrying challenge as it was next on the agenda. The training room changed into a narrow tunnel and his enemy became a boulder.


    The first challenge requires him to perform a single act, block the boulder. The boulder will start rolling from the other end of the tunnel and all he had to do is stop the boulder from crossing the finish line. He can only start from this finish line and was given a shield to use. He has tobine several techniques in order to block the boulder.


    "Seems easy enough." He said as he hefted the shield on his arm.


    The first step is running forward to increase his momentum and reduce the distance between him and the boulder. Reducing the time between them will ensure that theye in contact much earlier and will also reduce the time the boulder has to elerate and umte momentum. In other words, increase his own momentum while reducing the momentum of the boulder before even making contact. So he ran forward.


    The next step is to crash into each other, and this is the most important part. The speed and eleration of his movement will determine the impact of his opposition to the boulder. To maximize his momentum, he must apply force at an angle instead of directly opposite and push the boulder against the sides of the tunnel. The contact with the wall will create friction which will further slow down the boulder. This technique is called the battering ram.


    The boulder can be stopped here if its mass and momentum are low enough. If the mass and momentum aren''t low, then the opposing force and momentum must be high enough. This was worked out at first because soverick''s eleration and techniques are adequate but as the difficulty ramps up, the third step of the techniques has to be employed.


    The third step involves engaging the boulder with short bursts of force. He had to m his shield into the ball with all the force he can muster, create some distance between them and smash it again. Each smash will only be effective if he manages to offset the momentum in time for the boulder to stop before reaching the line.


    The repetitive smashing is where the difficulty of the challengey. He has to coordinate most of the muscles of his legs, lower back, upper back, and arms to release all their strength in such a short amount of time and do it repeatedly. Up till now, he had learned how to move right, how to see right, and how to perceive things faster. Now he must learn muscle coordination also called the coiling dragon technique. It is the maniption of the muscles in such a way that potential energy is umted only to be released in a single, quick burst of power.


    He learned the technique easily because of the control he had over his body but he had never felt so wrung out since he began facing the challenges. Every fiber of his body was required to stop the boulder. There were some dormant muscles in his body that he didn''t know about their use in amplifying physical strength releases through exertion until now. Even muscles of his chest, jaws, and stomach answered the call to arms. And yet the boulder just kept getting heavier and heavier, it kept pushing him back as the difficulty increased.


    It wasn''t until he realized that the coordination of the muscles must be done even before the first contact, only then could he fully take advantage of his initial collision. The first crash against the boulder now involved coiling the muscles of his body and amplifying that potential energy with his actual kic energy to create a force capable of rivaling the boulder in momentum.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It worked but he paid the price in serious muscle damage from the bacsh. An action will cause an equal and opposite reaction. He would fail if his body couldn''t receive the reaction. So either his body bes capable of withstanding the momentum of a boulder moving at high speed or he activates the fourth step of the technique.


    Next came the fourth step of the technique, the striking viper. He was to harness the rebound force and use it to create another smash. Then harness the rebound force again and perform another smash. There is theoretically no limit to how many turns can be achieved, the actual number of times is dependent on the body and level of skill.


    His skill level was notcking it''s just that his body couldn''t handle the strain. The striking viper must be continued until he wins because the stress of harnessing the rebound will continue to mount up. He must win against the boulder and create an outlet for the stress to be released. In order words, he must push the boulder back, only then will the stress be transferred to it. If not, his body will break during the process which is not a pleasant thing at all.


    Practice makes perfect and repetition is the mother of learning. After numerous rounds of back-breaking effort, his body adapted to it and he was finally able to push back the boulder with the highest difficulty. It took 2 weeks until he vanquished his biggest enemy, a boulder that he was sure was more than 100 times his body mass.


    "I am actually sweating." He said in disbelief as hey on the ground. Then he began chuckling which escted intoughter.


    The euphoric feeling of oveing a great hurdle washed over him and lifted his spirit. His body finally got the opportunity to rx and he let it. He just couldn''t fall asleep though, his mind was too powerful to be lulled intoplete stillness. So he napped a little, he deserved it, but even that didn''t take more than 1 hour. His incredible vitality made his return to top shape quick.


    "It''s time for the parrying challenge."


    For the parrying challenge, he had to cross a narrow hall while being assailed by rock projectiles. The hall is narrow so he can''t makerge swings or borate body movements. He has to use the smallest movement possible to stop the projectiles with the stick in his hand.


    As usual, it was easy at first until the projectiles became numerous and their impact against his stick became heavier. He couldn''tmit most of his force to a single projectile or the knockback will put him off bnce and incapable of blocking the others. He had to use minimum movement with minimum force to knock the projectiles aside so that he would be capable of responding to other iing threats.


    The aim of the exercise is for him to make his way from one end of the hall to the other. Standing around will not end the challenge, it will continue until he reaches the finish line. So he has to move forward against the iing projectiles and weather through the storm of attacks. Sometimes he would be pushed back and sometimes he would miss some of them which will cause him pain when they strike his body. He had to maintain a steady approach and keep his movements bnced.


    It worked for a while but the difficulty ramped up again so he had to change his style. He now has to use his entire body to dodge as many as he can dodge and only parry the ones he can''t dodge, not everything. His mind and his body became tasked with the effort. Unlike the dodging challenge, there is no path of safety here, he had to hit some to create a path.


    The path was also narrow, so he didn''t have much room for maneuvering. Which made dodging much more difficult and parrying more relevant. Dodging could only ease the problem, it couldn''t solve it. That means his parrying skill must be upgraded or he won''t be able to keep up with the increasing difficulty.

 Chapter 138 The Obstacle Course.

    ?But that wasn''t the end. Their numbers increased to a point beyond what he was capable of blocking or dodging or both. He knew what was required of him and adapted to deliver. He began to utilize the coiling muscle technique to smash the projectiles back. He did it in a way that the projectiles he smashed knocked into iing projectiles which increased his efficiency.


    So now, he added mind calctions necessary to maximize the rebound of the projectiles he smashed. He began to use the knocked-back projectiles to stop not one but two or more other projectiles that he couldn''t dodge. This ramped up his efficiency


    The part where he had to exploit the knocked-back projectiles would have stomped others due to theplexity it entails. People usually only think about the immediate effect of something and will gloss over its aftermath. It bes obvious in situations where an individual is already overwhelmed by other matters. It is a bad habit that must be rectified. If we think more about the consequences and how to take advantage of such consequences to solve other problems, immediate or otherwise, we will be able to see numerous solutions that we are previously blind to.


    The challenge aims to reinforce the idea that most things in life are usually interrted. If they are not, we should create a link between them. When we create a link between cause and effect, we then be capable of acting not for the immediate goal but also a greater purpose.


    It is a very important lesson to warriors and brutes who like to force their way through a problem. They don''t like to think too much about something. They believe that pure power can overwhelm all. What do you do when you can''t plow through a hail of hurtful rocks? What would you do when the strength and speed you pride yourself on cannot be used to their full potential because of the situation you''re in? What do you do when pure power isn''t enough to create a path? You think ahead and you n. That''s what you do.


    Too bad it''s a lesson he had already learned so he wasn''t staggered by the need to think ahead. Hepleted it in 3 days of relentless progress. It only took that long because while his mind is strong, his body couldn''t execute exactly what he had in mind. For example, if his mind wants to knock a projectile into another, his body must then wield the stick such that it must strike the projectile at a perfect angle and with the right amount of force. A slight deviation won''t create the expected oue.


    "Only so so." He evaluated the challenge. It wasn''t difficult for him so he didn''t get that rush of excitement of oveing his weakness. He left the training and found Wendy faithfully waiting for him at the door.


    The vessel for the artificial intelligence sub-system spoke. "Congrattions again Soverick. That''s the fourth regimen and another record broken. You have made swift progress across the board. I am impressed."


    Soverick waved his hand. "It''s nothing. What do you have for me?"


    "The fifth regimen, the obstacle course. The memory crystal contains the rules and what to expect. Thisst regimen can be considered as the exam that qualifies you to advance to the next stage of the training. While unlikely, you would be deemed ready for the stage if you hadpleted this regimen first. But it is rmended to go through the others first before attempting this one. As always, good luck."


    "Thanks," Soverick said and grabbed thest glowing memory crystal. He epted and digested the knowledge infusion.


    The information contained within was short. It stated the rules of the regimen and what was expected of him.


    He smirked when he realized that the first rule was that he was allowed to use everything within his arsenal to finish the challenge. If he really did that, then the challenge will be too easy for him. The other interesting information is that the obstacle course is a singlerge challenge that is made up of abination of several other challenges within arge andplex world. To pass this challenge, he had to ovee all obstacles and move from the starting line of the course to the finish line.


    The most important ability that will be tested in the challenge is perception and decision making. The ability to know what sticky situation you''re in and the ability to figure a way out of it. He was also informed that he could spend days at it on a single attempt. This made him have a bad feeling about the entire setup.


    "I''m betting this is not going to be easy." He said to Wendy.


    Wendy nodded. "It is designed to be difficult. It will push the trainee to be versatile and capable of adapting to adverse situations."


    ''The other option is to make it easy but I doubt you guys will do that.'' He thought to himself.


    What would require days for a single attempt? He put away all thoughts from his mind and selected the option for the obstacle course on his keylogger. He swiped it at the door and its blue color changed to green.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Time to do this." He said to pump himself up.


    He entered the training room and found himself in a forest. He realized immediately he was in an illusion array. His soul was much too powerful to be hoodwinked by something of this level but he allowed it because it was harmless. The array was being used to projectile the information of the environment into his mind. It created a realistic scene of a thick forest with trees and vines all over the ce.


    The training environment in the past had all been dead and silent without life but things were different now. The forest was teeming with life, he could hear animal sounds all around him. He knew that all of what he was experiencing is fake but the activity going on all around him made him very cautious.


    He spread out his divine sense to monitor his surroundings. His body had grown stronger, but it still couldn''t allow his soul to release more of his strength so his divine sense reached just 20 meters away from him. It might be a small range but nothing could escape this perception within this range.


    There was a pointer within his vision that indicated the direction of the finish line. He was wary of traps, if they would set some, odds are that it will probably be along the path of progress. So he changed his direction and walked towards the left.


    "There is no rush anyway. I have days to figure this out." He spoke out loudly, then he rushed forward before swiftly ducking behind a tree. He remained still and listened for sounds. He waited for a while but nothing moved around him.


    ''Nothing huh, seems there''s no one following me." He thought before sneaking away.


    He was in a forest and had been told to expect anything. He might have been paranoid but he wanted to make sure there was no immediate danger around him or at least not something sensitive to the noise he made earlier.


    He was about to dismiss his earlier paranoia when he felt something. He felt a gaze linger on him before disappearing. He didn''t change his pace or freeze up. He was very experienced in subterfuge. He pretended he didn''t notice that he was being watched and tried to trace back the source of the gaze. But even with all of his efforts, he couldn''t determine the source or its direction.


    "What is going on? How can someone move so fast? Unless..."


    The person or thing spying on him was doing it intermittently and from different directions. He began to think about why he was failing to discover the source of the spy. It was either the watcher was changing its perspective or there is actually more than one of them.


    He was contemting his dilemma and sneaking around trees in other to block certain directions and narrow down his options when he suddenly froze. Multiple gazes locked on to him simultaneously.


    "This is bad." He eximed silently but then wondered why he bothered to even do so.


    Why be quiet when you are being watched by multiple people at the same time? It''s not like his silence will help him in staying hidden when he never was.


    He stood up from his sneaking position and began running openly. Clearly, his sneaking around wasn''t working. He didn''t move for long before he faced his first adversary. A vineshed at him from a blind spot in his vision which he dodged immediately and expertly. He moved slightly such that the attack missed him by inches. He didn''t make exaggerated moves in dodging because then he won''t be able to react to a follow-up attack. It was the right decision.


    NOTICE:


    I made an error in the order of that I posted the chapters. Please forgive me for any inconvenience I might have caused you.

 Chapter 139 Tandrak Vs Gehaldirah.

    ?There was no blind spot in his divine sense. He saw and processed everything that he saw. That''s why he was able to perceive the vine and why he noticed the numerous ones rising to take a swing at him.


    "Shit" He cursed and picked up speed.


    He couldn''t dawdle or he would be soon surrounded. His legs began to blur as he moved through the forest. Suddenly a root he was about to step on moved up, he would have tripped but he somehow maintained his bnce. His body made the maneuver because it remembered that the ground isn''t there until you actually step on it. So he was able to shift his foot instantly and on a reflex. It freed up his mind and divine sense which allowed them to notice that another root, massive this time, was trying to smash into him from the side.


    If this root seeded in smashing him backward, the vines pursuing him will be able to catch up to him. He used his other foot to step on the root that tried to trip him up and vaulted over the iing attack. His jump took him just over the massive root and then he used it to push himself further away.


    "I won''t fall for that." He smirked.


    He was ted that he got the best of theirbo attack but his happiness was short-lived. Some sort of seeds shot towards his airborne form at incredibly high speeds. He seemed like he was trapped but he smiled and engaged the coiling dragon technique to boost his potential energy which he unloaded as soon as the seeds arrived. His hands blurred and knocked back the projectiles aimed at the vitality spots on his body.


    But another attack came at the height of his jump. A tree branch swatted at him. He couldn''t do anything as the branch hit him


    He was mmed back down to the ground. The root he had initially stepped on moved in swiftly to receive him and bind him. Then came the massive root and the whipping vines. They pounced on hispromised form.


    His vision ckened before returning to the entrance of the training room. He was once again at the spot where he entered the forest, the exit to the training room was behind him and the pointer towards the finish line was shing again. His lips twitched.


    "There''s no way kids my age can get through that. There must be something I''m missing something." He thought back to what he had just experienced and he didn''t believe some kids without his life experience could have done better than him.


    "I did better than my former self too."


    His movements were more efficient, if weaker, than in his past life. He used to move his body with his mind, he could make movements that shouldn''t be possible because of the instantaneous eleration and flexibility granted to him by his powerful mind but they seemedrgely inefficient in retrospect. But he still retained the ability to use the divine sense as second nature, so he didn''t miss any attack, and yet, he failed.


    The attacks came one after the other, if he dodged one another was waiting for him. It was like a was being created around him. If it was already this difficult for him he doubted others would find it easy to deal with. That didn''t mean he was going to give up, he was going to try again and again in order to discover any pattern or weakness he can take advantage of. So began to n his next course of action.


    A voice interrupted his thoughts as he was contemting.


    "Soverick, I have good news."


    He recognized the voice immediately but he was skeptical. Could the illusion array be causing him to hear strange voices? "Hadrick is that you.?" He asked with his nt sense.


    "Of course it''s me. I have news for you." His nt sense confirmed it was Hadrick.


    Soverick rxed but he continued to watch his environment. He didn''t want the nts to ambush him while he was chatting. "Good to hear from you. I didn''t think you can enter this deep into the battle academy."


    "I can enter anywhere in this city. I built the battle academy so it is my backyard."


    Soverick shook his head. "What news do you have?"


    "We are winning the war against the gods. They lost all their manpower in the main ne. We are now waiting to let them starve before finishing them off when they are weakened."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick shrugged. "It is to be expected. The gods will fall and the ne will be liberated. What I need right now is a way to pass this obstacle challenge."


    "Did you use your environment?" Hadrick asked.


    Hadrick''s question confused him. "What do you mean by my environment? The environment isn''t real. It is all an illusion..." He stopped speaking when he realized what he was missing. He never took the environment seriously because he thought it was not real so he did not think to use it.


    A look of realization spread across his face. "Oh, I see."


    "What did you see? I just wanted to know what you think about the realism of the environment. It is based on an invention of mine called the world engine. I''ll tell you about itter, for now, I want to talk about the war." Hadrick seemed excited by something.


    "We can''t talk for long. I could be attacked here anytime."


    "This ce is a safe zone. You won''t be attacked until you leave."


    "Oh"


    He wanted to go ahead for another try but chatting to an old friend was also appealing considering that there''s no other source of entertainment around here. It won''t hurt since this ce is safe.


    "Fine." He agreed, then he sat on the ground at the entrance of the training room into the forest.


    Hadrick began regaling with him about the happenings of the war. He told him about the one guy that can swim in the ground as if it were water. This guy uses his ability to ambush the enemy to great effect. Then there''s this guy who can shoot fire from his eyes, he had a variant of their divine ability called eyes of the zing world. The eyes didn''te from a world of fire instead, it turns this world into one. The talk of divine abilities made him anticipate the first awakening of his eyes when he finally bes a mana entity.


    They talked more about special individuals and Tandrak came up. The efficiency of Tandrak''s ability on the battlefield was perverse. Anything beneath the strength of a titan ofw will be defeated by him immediately and with ease. Those in the titan stage can only resist for a few seconds before they are defeated. Only other sovereigns can match him but Tandrak can easily defeat someone he has fought before. It is like he has acquired the weakness of someone as long as he has the vibration frequency of their being in his database. Most sovereigns refer to the phenomenon as being simr to knowing the true name of a demon.


    Soverick had a favorable impression of Tandrak. He liked Tandrak''s sinct personality. The talk about Tandrak''s ability made himpare who would win between Tandrak and him when he was still a sovereign. He understood how fearsome Tandrak''s ability is from hearing about it but he was sure he could still beat Tandrak.


    Tandrak''s ability erodes matter by siphoning or supplying the energy that bonds them together depending on the vibration of the particles that make up matter. Soverick could heal almost all types of damages done to him but he doubts he will even need it.


    As a sovereign of life, he can simply change the physical parameters of his being and reset the effectiveness of Tandrak''s ability on him. His damage output will be nowherepared to Tandrak''s because he specialised in life while Tandrak specializes in destruction so they will be even for a while. But that will change as long as he can get close enough to Tandrak to do physical damage.


    He can only be effective with physical attacks because his magical attacks won''t be very effective against Tandrak. He has weaker magical attacks because he didn''t specialize in something destructive, so his weak magical attacks will be easily disintegrated by Tandrak''s domain. He had seen something like it too at the tower of heaven. There was ady that could resolve all attacks thrown at her.


    He could visualize the fight right now. Tandrak on his lightning drake with a domain of destruction around him. Him running about pathetically but undying. He is sure that his mind and his hold on mana are also more powerful than Tandrak''s. Only dragons have a mind as powerful or more powerful than a high Elf, so he will be able to use that to push his body forward to catch up to Tandrak.


    Tandrak will ultimately lose because he isn''t really wielding true destruction. A dragon sovereign that is wielding just fire will be able to deal more damage than Tandrak. Tandrak''s ability is versatile but he has seen high elves that chose fire over life and they can do what Tandrak can do too.


    Tandrak''s concept isplex but it needs something before it can be utilized. It needs a vibration frequency. Without it, it is useless. With it, it is versatile and very effective. That vibration frequency is both the strength and weakness of Tandrak''s concept. Soverick just happened to counter him.

 Chapter 140 Experiment On The Creation Of Authority.

    ?A sovereign ofw''s strength is dependent on their concept. It is a fact that the moreplex the concept is, the more powerful it will be. But there are exceptions to it. A weaker concept can defeat a stronger concept if it counters it. Even more bizarre is that some creatures can shrug off the effects of any concept attacking them. Complexity does not mean absolute strength. That''s why the power range of Sovereigns is too wide. A sovereign that you can''t beat can be beaten by a sovereign that you can bully.


    Dragons are the creatures thate to mind in a situation like that. They are incredibly resistant to all types of physical, magical, and spiritual damage. Tandrak''s concept will work on a dragon but it will be agonizingly slow especially if that dragon has acquired their special divine body. Dragons always trump drakes. Even if that drake has the power of thunder.


    "I have the Godhood you asked for. It is also of the celestial grade in the nt domain." Hadrick told him when it was finally done with its story.


    "Wow. That''s very good." He was in awe of the power of the Ghastorix family.


    He had asked for any Godhood of the nt domain, but they brought out one that belonged to a celestial. Celestials are difficult to kill but it is not a matter of strength. A sovereign won''t be able to kill a celestial just like it won''t be able to kill a low god. Killing a god requires you to strike down the main body of the god. Gods never leave the divine realm with their main body so one will have to storm the divine ne where all the gods stay. Even if there is no suppression, an Origin god will be hard pressed to face all the gods at once. It has happened before too. Origin gods have very little to fear so attacking the base of gods is something on their bucket list. They have very little that they fear.


    He was also surprised that Hadrick was giving it to him. He could have given him a weaker Godhood instead of something this powerful. He hadn''t even told them what he wanted to do with it.


    "When can I have it?" He asked eagerly. A small portal opened beside him and a golden ball of light came through it. Soverick grabbed it and examined it.


    "Hadrick do you know what Godhood is made up of?" Soverick asked.


    "Not particrly. My guess is some sort of energy."


    Other people might see it as a ball of multicolored light filled with possibilities but he could see what it truly was.


    "You are mostly correct. It is made up of divinity, domain, and meaning. Divinity is created when divine energy is transformed by the domain. Divine energy is simply mana and will. A domain is made up of authority and meaning. I have done a lot of research about this and I have something to test but I need your help for it to seed."


    Hadrick was surprised by Soverick''s knowledge about the divine and he was already intrigued with listening so he was ready to participate in this experiment whatever it was. Besides, he doesn''t much on his hands. An idle hand is the devil''s workshop.


    "Count me in." Hadrick''s ancient voice rumbled with glee.


    Soverick just smiled. "Authority is a special thing. It is unlikews and more like an imitation of concepts. Authority is bestowed by the ne on an individual with sufficient meaning. Meaning is created when there is enough faith. When meaning and authority fuse they be domain. When a domain and divinity fuse we have the core of a true God or what is known as a celestial god. So the entire path of godhood aims toplete this fusion and achieve full Godhood."


    "I knew about the aim of gods but I didn''t know what it was really about. Do you want to create a path forward after this step?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yes. But first I must understand authority and how to create it. Authority is queer, it may be powerful but it has a ring weakness. It bes useless when a god is outside of his domain, literally and figuratively. If a god leaves his divine kingdom his power falls but it is only slightly. What the god loses when it is outside the divine kingdom are sovereignty and absolute control. Since they retain theirbat strength, this loss is overlooked. If the god leaves the divine ne and descends to the main ne, then that God will lose itsbat prowess. If the god attempts to leave the main ne entirely, then that God will either fall, lose his life, or both. There''s almost no difference between falling and dying, each can lead to the other."


    Hadrick asked, "Most of what you just mentioned is known. What is your aim?"


    "I want that first ability that gods lose. The ability of sovereignty and absolute control. This ability is why you can''t win a fight with a god in his divine kingdom without the strength of numbers. It is because the entire world will be against you, just like when facing titans ofw. That isn''t the end of it. The will of the god bes sovereign, just like a sovereign ofw. The will of the god can be made manifest, just like an Origin god. To top it off, a god can create and do absolutely anything within their divine god as long as they have divine energy. That means they be world gods as long as they are within their divine ne. This power is not limited to the level of the god, all gods have it because all gods have authority."


    "Wow. I never thought about it like that. It makes a lot of sense. Where did authoritye from? How does the ne bestow it? How does faith find gods? How is it transmitted? What is faith? Now I must participate in this experiment of yours." Hadrick was really enthusiastic.


    "I don''t have the ability to decipher the make-up of authority. That''s where youe in. You have the ability to convert energy from one form to another. I''m not clueless like others so I know the significance of your ability, it is not as simple as diluting Origin essence with mana. Your ability will make world gods even frantic."


    "But why? Apart from a little help when I am forging Origin artifacts I don''t see what his so special about it."


    Soverick shook his head. "You are being limited by your imagination that''s why you haven''t been able to use it to its maximum potential. The ancestors of the high elves had this same ability and they used it to create life essence. Even that was a result of their desperate attempt to starve off death. Imagine what you can do with your being alive."


    "I didn''t know that. Hmm, so how should I go about it?"


    "Take this Godhood and analyze it like you would any artifact. Break it down to itsponents and its basest form. Let''s start from there and we will see where it takes us." Soverick returned the glowing ball. Hadrick created a portal and a vine came out of it. It snatched up the Godhood and disappeared with it.


    "Bye," Hadrick said before it disappeared. It was going to be busy trying to decipher the Godhood.


    Soverick grinned. His grin split his face like a predator. He had a lot of things he hadn''t mentioned to Hadrick. He didn''t speak about his conjectures about the source of authority or his ns for the information that Hadrick will get from the analysis.


    His life tree clone is also trying to assimte Godhood but it can''t decipher it because its ability has been fixed into life transformation. It isn''t as flexible as Hadrick''s untapped potential. But things will change if Legion can get thenguage orw used in coding Godhood from Hadrick.


    While he had been fixing his weakness with closebat his other clones had been making progress. The information he shared is a result of his knowledge and the recent findings of his other clones. The way you view and solve a problem will change when you have 9 different perspectives at your disposal. 9 minds as one, marshaling their forces for the moment when he will burst forth. That moment wille, and when it does, even world gods will tremble. They will tremble at the name of Legion.


    "But for now I must pass this obstacle. Nothing will stop legion." He muttered. The experience he gains here not only improves him but the other eight, just like they improve him too. It''s just that he can''t use the knowledge he got from others for now. The clones that he is really looking forward to haven''t been born yet. His dragon clone is slow going in the hatching process.

 Chapter 141 The Forest Obstacle.

    ?"So I should use my environment." He muttered as he wondered how best to use the environment.


    Then he began the second run but this time with a spear he fashioned from a tree branch around his clearing. He went in the left direction this time. The trees had ignored him when he was sitting down at the entrance. But when he moved 19 meters in, he began to notice the odd gazes. Then it became more and all of a sudden, multiple gazes fixed on him. All the trees in the surroundings were watching him.


    This became the signal and the vines attacked. Their sneak attacks couldn''t escape his perception so he dodged them easily. He was like the wind, slippery and deft. He escaped from their sinewy grasp time and time again. His stick spear came in handy in tricky situations where he would have to expend more energy or lose his form if he were to dodge. He would knock the attacks aside just like he learned in the blocking challenge.


    But they didn''t give up. Instead, they upped the difficulty. Next came the tree roots. Numerous roots, thick and thin, long and short, tried to ambush him or trip him. He prevailed against them by hopping and jumping gracefully from one spot to another. His feet created small sts of force each time he stepped on them.


    The st was so powerful that it propelled him forward and shredded the barks of the roots and trunks. They tried to block his path or make him go higher but he slid beneath the barricade and kept low to the ground so that the tree branches couldn''t reach him. The exploding seeds were then released at him. The spear in his hands twirled into a blur that blocked the ones that he couldn''t dodge.


    "Is that all you''ve got?" Heughed and taunted. He knew it was a bad idea but he was just fearless. What''s the worst thing that can happen? It is just a challenge. He would fail at most and have to restart.


    But then the forest became serious. He could feel a sinister change in the atmosphere. He didn''t have to wait long before he could hear the droning buzz. His face fell.


    "I''m screwed big time." Years of experience made him identify the new enemy before he sighted them and he picked up more speed but they were catching up to him.


    The sight of the pursuing cloud of giant blood wasp and the increase in his knowledge about what he would be facing did not cheer him up. He did not n to win this round, he aimed to make the forest bring out more of its trump card but this was too much. Still, he ran.


    Blood wasps are like giant mosquitoes in that they also feed on blood. But Blood wasps have a stinger meant to paralyze their prey. The venom in the stinger will also break down the body into a blood bag which the blood wasps will slurp with their surprisingly delicate proboscis. Blood wasps have bigger wings than mosquitoes. They are also red in color while giant mosquitoes are ck.


    It became a chase much like that of a cat and mouse. He tried to thin down their numbers using the surrounding trees as obstacles. The tree blockades were a nuisance to him as much as they were to the blood wasp. So his n worked for a while but then the forest withdrew most of its attempt to stop him and used only the vines asionally. The reduction in the efforts of the tree also gave more room to maneuver which he took advantage of to lose the bugs. The wasps were fast but they had a problem making sharp turns. As long as he swerved and changed directions quickly, they wouldn''t be able to touch him. He used the trunks of trees as a foothold as he zig-zagged through the forest.


    All was well until he sensed a sudden attack from his front. A fast-moving object was upon him the moment he sensed it. His hand sprung like a spring and the spear followed in intercepting the attack. The coiling dragon technique had always been primed for moments like this. He tried to deflect the attack but its force was too much for that. The stick spear in his hand bent and Soverick made the split second to go along with the force, Instead of facing the attack after the spear broke.


    So he went along with it and was pushed to the side. The attack bolted past him, missing his torso just slightly. He survived the sneak attack by what looked like a titan frog. But he lost his arm to it. That projectile was its tongue. It was strong and fast enough to pierce through his body if it had hit him.


    He looked at the stump of his other arm and sighed. He didn''t have hopes of thwarting another attack of that Caliber without his arm or his spear. The attack was just too fast. His perception and reaction had been superb but it had only let him dodge most of the attack not block it, and that was with something to redirect the force. He couldn''t stop either to get another stick spear or he would be overwhelmed by the wasps.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The titan frog is a colossal frog 20 meters in height and 35 meters in length. It will look like a huge rock when it isn''t moving but bes terrifying once it springs into action. Theshing tongue isn''t its only attacking ability but it is convenient and swift.


    Just like he feared the attack came again. The tongue shed like a bolt of lightning but didn''t aim at him. It struck the cloud of wasps chasing him. It pierced through multiple wasps and strung them together like a kebab which the titan frog withdrew into its mouth in a simrly swift manner.


    Soverick was surprised that the titan frog was just content with attacking the wasps. It ignored soverick and continued preying on the bugs. Soverick shrugged and focused on escaping but then another crimson bolt came at him. It was the tongue of another titan frog.


    "There''s more than one?" He asked in exasperation as he tried to dodge the strike.


    But it was simply impossible. He had just propelled himself using a tree trunk so he was mid-flight. It was like the frog had timed the attack for this moment of weakness. The tongue touched him and his vision cked out.


    He returned to the entrance again. He screamed in frustration. Then he calmed down and began grinning. The obstacle course was difficult enough to be challenging. The attacks just keeping, relentless and uncanny. His only advantage will be the experience from multiple attempts. It''s just like his past challenges, difficult at first but bes easier when he learns and adapts. Only when something is difficult to achieve will he feel the euphoria of sess. He was looking forward to that euphoria.


    "I''ll show you." He said as he went about his work.


    He decided to prepare well enough this time. He rubbed soil and leaves against himself to give him some camouging ability. He picked sticks and fashioned multiple spears which he tied to his back. He also created two shields from the barks of the trees surrounding the clearing at the entrance. He could only carry two without losing his mobility. The trees didn''t move throughout his preparation.


    "So they won''t attack me no matter what I do in the safe zone. That''s good to know. Should I go forward this time?" He thought as he considered his options.


    He had chosen to take a side path during hisst two attempts and there had been no difference between them up until the moment when he encountered the blood wasps. He considered charging straight ahead this time to see if anything will change. So he did.


    "If there''s something different, I don''t see it." He muttered as he was being chased by the blood wasps again. Everything had gone exactly the way it happened on the left path. There were vines, roots, and exploding seeds. As if on cue, the bugs started their harassment, and the forest let up its attempt to catch him. He took things in stride and prepared for what he considered was the main event.


    "I have my six spears and my two shields. So bring it."


    The forest answered him and brought it. He had just jumped when it happened. The first attack struck him impossibly fast, it was like something appeared in his peripheral vision and had appeared right in his face by the time he turned to identify what it is. Like you were chatting amicably with someone, then out of the corner of your eye, you see their hand moving to p your face. The attack was abrupt and unexpected.

 Chapter 142 One Failure After The Other.

    ?The tongue shed forward like a crimson blur and struck with the force of a titan. Just like before Soverick seeded in blocking it but he had to sacrifice a spear and his right hand that was holding it. The attack was too fast and too strong.


    He cursed and toned down the sensation of pain from his mangled arm. The tongue was too fast. He couldn''t swerve his body in time to avoid the ncing blow. Even that ncing blow was strong enough to deal crippling damage. He gritted his teeth and continued. He maintained his bnce and resumed his escape from the blood wasps. Those adamant bloodsuckers haven''t given up. Their numbers might have been reduced by the attack of the titan frog but they were still out to get him. He zigzagged through the trees and remained vignt.


    A second attack appeared but he was ready. At least mentally ready. He couldn''t be physically ready because the attacks arrive when he is physicallypromised. They would alwayse when he was mid-flight and helpless. It didn''t help that he had only one arm but he still blocked the attack with a shield this time. The titan frog responsible for the second attack also chose to watch him leave and ate the wasps instead.


    Things didn''t end there. More of the titan frogs attacked him. By the time he had resolved the fourth attack, he had lost his other arm but he still had 3 spears and a shield hanging at his back. The loss of his two arms affected his bnce more than he thought it would and made him lose his footing when he was about to make another jump. He slipped and fell. The wasps were able to catch up to him and he returned to the start.


    He shook his head this time and began to prepare for another try. He got stronger spears and shields this time. He doubled down on the camouge. He added leaves and twigs to his ensemble in hopes of dissuading the titan frogs from attacking him at all. It is clear that he isn''t their main target as they will ignore him after their first attack.


    "Things will be easier if I could spot them." He thought.


    It''s just that the camouging ability of the titan frogs is better than his, even with their size. They usually look like a rock covered with vines and moss which helps them to blend into the forest. They will then use their covert advantage to strike with deadly uracy. He considered briefly the idea of moving through the tree covers to avoid the titan frogs but he didn''t want to be smoldered by their branches. Their exploding seeds will also be able to surround him from all sides with a constant barrage.


    "No use dilly-dallying. Time for another run." He said as he took off into the forest for the fourth attempt.


    After deftly escaping from the grubby hands of the forest came the bugs and then the titan frogs like clockwork. He appeared at the entrance of the forest a few minutester. It was another failed attempt.


    This time he sat down and began to review what happened. "There as to be something I''m missing."


    Nothing new had happened. The titan frogs had attacked and he had lost. This time he didn''t survive the third attack. His vision darkened but he is sure he was skewed like the kebab the tongue makes with the blood wasps.


    He thought of many strategies to test during the fifth run then prepared and took off. He failed again and considered the information he had gathered. Then he made some changes to his strategies and tried again. It wasn''t until the eighth run that his strategies paid off.


    "Finally, some progress."


    Heughed as he survived the fifth tongue attack. He had adopted a new blocking strategy after testing other ideas. He just had tomit his two hands to use the shield and use it to deflect the attack. It had failed in the past because any resistance in the path of the tongue will be punched through including his body.


    So he decided to go with the flow and let the tongue push him aside. It is incredibly demanding on his body and mind. Even though the attacks always ur mid-flight, there hasn''t been any pattern in when they actually attack him. So this strategy needed him to prime his body to fail the block and take advantage of it to survive. It is also incredibly difficult to run when carrying a heavy shield with two hands while you hope from tree to tree but he made it work


    He had ditched the camouging attempt by this run. He didn''t want to create a new camouge every time he failed especially since it wasn''t working.


    "I''ll beat the forest at this rate." He smiled at his progress.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    This was his first time surviving the fifth tongue attack and he had also survived the previous ones without an itch. So he was confident of surviving when he sensed the next attacking. The tongue brushed against his prepped shield and pushed him aside. The next will be orientation, finding his bnce, getting support for his feet, and finally jumping away. Any failure in these processes will lead to him falling down and the blood wasps catching up.


    Still, he wasn''t flustered by that possibility. He remained focused as he was about to orient himself. But then something unexpected happened. Another attack came as he was floundering in the air. Needless to say, he was sent back to the entrance.


    He sat down with a stony expression as he considered what just happened. "Two attacks. One after the other. Two attacks." He kept mumbling.


    Even though he felt like screaming in frustration he didn''t. He thought himself more mature than that. It was really frustrating but he wouldn''t throw a tantrum. Instead, he calmed down and nned his next course of action. And so began another round of testing and adjustment.


    At first, he attempted to right himself from the impact of the first attack but that was impossible. The second attack came just like the previous ones, at his moments of weakness, when he has been further destabilized by the first attack. He gave up on that idea after three runs without sess.


    "Dodging doesn''t work. Blocking doesn''t work either. What will work?" He growled at the entrance after his recent failure. The worst part is that he has to start all over again every time he fails.


    "Only parrying is working, but that''s partial. What a minute." He stopped as he got an idea.


    He had indeed been parrying but his parrying was wrong. Parrying is meant to redirect the attack. It is used when dodging and blocking an attack is not favorable. This is either because the attack is too fast to dodge or too strong to block. Instead of deflecting the attack, he had been using it to swerve out of its path of attack.


    "Of course, it''s so simple. I can''t believe I have been missing it all along. An attack can either be blocked, dodged, or parried. Those are the basic options anyway." He said as his eyes lit up.


    He has been used to fighting with his mind. Many other options be avable with the mind. If he used his mind, he can slow down an attack if not outright block it or deflect it without having toe in contact with it. He wasn''t experienced with using the body to defend but he understood that parrying will be challenging.


    He grinned and said, "I''m up for a challenge."


    He became encouraged because he had a feasible idea. He began the twelfth attempt with gusto. The tree and vine obstacles up to the point when the titan frog attacks were not a challenge anymore. He was a fast learner so his body practically went through the motions. He didn''t even bring his spears anymore. It was until the tongue attack that he became serious.


    He didn''t n to reach the fifth attack but to figure out how to parry the attacks first. He tried to use a shield to parry but it failed. He was totally outssed by the attacks. The only way he was able to parry the attack with the shield is to use it to m the attack aside but that''s subpar. Apart from it being too difficult to do while he is mid-flight, it needed both his arms and will also leave him open to another attack. Even if another attack doesn''te, he finds it extremely difficult to find his footing after the stunt, which makes the blood wasps catch up with him.


    "Too big. Need something smaller." He said after the fifteenth run and the fifteenth failure.


    Parry with the shield wasn''t working. He needed something smaller that will help him seed. He has an idea about what could lead to his sess.

 Chapter 143 That Was Intense.

    ?He began to fashion a buckler. Something much smaller, morepact, and more difficult to use. Therge shield will allow for some errors in uracy and precision while the buckler won''t. This will make the already tricky parrying even more challenging. The advantage of the buckler is that it is lighter and can be used with only one arm so he can wield two at the same time.


    "Let''s go" He cheered himself for another run.


    The sixteenth run ended in another failure. The tongue attack struck the buckler and shattered it along with his arm. Then it went on to pierce his chest. It is the first time he suffered such a defeat on the very fir titan frog attack. He had been able to resolve it the first time he encountered the attack without any prior knowledge of it. So this failure was worse because he had been prepared for the attack.


    "I just have to get the hang of it." He said while his eyes burned with determination.


    "I also have to make stronger bucklers."


    He tried again, and again, and again. It was until the 22nd run that he got the hang of it. The buckler demanded a high perception, quick reaction, and high arm strength in order to parry the tongue attack. It also required making the point of contact between the buckler and the tongue at an angle such that the attack is deflected properly. Everything clicked as soon as he got the proper measurements and muscle coordination. His perception and reaction time is excellent but his arm couldn''t move fast enough to intercept the tongue. So he used the coiling dragon technique to acquire the necessary reaction and arm strength. His arm would simply spring forward to intercept the attack, so he resolved all the attacks up to the fifth attack.


    "Herees the moment of truth." He said as he prepped himself for the consecutive attack of the 6th and the 7th titan frogs.


    The first attack came and he was ready for it. His arms went from being still to suddenly blurring to meet the tongue. They met with a loud ng and he parried the attack. His other arm was ready for the second attack, but it didn''te.


    "Huh." He was startled by the development but didn''t lose hisposure. He reorientated his positioning and was ready tond on another trunk, which he will use to leap. He had to maintain his zig-zag pattern of movement or the bugs will catch up to him.


    His feet were about tond on the trunk of a tree when the second attack came. His attention was on trying to make a propernding but he will also have to resolve this lightning-fast attack. The two actions are veryplicated and demanding. He had to perform them both or he would fail them.


    "Motherf**Ker." He cursed.


    The attack was meant to distract him so that he will not be able to find proper footing or find a proper footing but fail to defend against the attack.


    Unfortunately for them, his mind is much too powerful to be tripped off by something like this. He was more than capable of multitasking, even in a highly stressful and delicate situation. He parried the second attack and leaped. His body shed from tree to tree.


    "Haha, sucker." Heughed.


    He was happy that he thwarted their n but he didn''t let that distract him. He was still ready to face another attack. He was aware that the weakest moment for a person is when they had just experienced sess. Their body and mind will rx which will make them slower to react to another attack. But nothing came after this attack. So he continued the bugs and battle sage monkey chase.


    "Their stamina must be getting low by now." He mused.


    Another weakness of blood wasps is their poor stamina. They may be very fast but that''s only for short distances. Their speed will start to reduce as their stamina falls. He didn''t have to worry about his stamina because the output of his vitality core is well above his current body. He wondered how other kids will be able to cope with the intensive mental and physical requirements of the obstacle course.


    The eighth attack came and he was ready for it. He released the potential energy he stored in the muscles of his right arm through the coiling dragon technique to make the arm elerate. He wasn''t surprised when the second attack in a row came. He expended the coiling dragon technique in the other arm to resolve that one too. And just like he suspected the third attack in a row happened. He wasn''t surprised by it but he wasn''t prepared for it too. He only had two arms and has already expended the stored strength in both of them. Hecked the required strength but he still tried to deflect the attack. It worked partially, he survived but he left his arm and a good chunk of his chest behind.


    The impact of the tongue on his body hurt more than his ripped flesh. The tongue brushed past his chest and that part of his chest simply gave way. His vision threatened to darken but he held it back through the sheer power of his mind. That was before the pain hit his mind and he almost fell.


    He gritted his teeth and ignored the pain in order to make the next jump. But he stumbled and fell short of the usual height he used to reach.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I''ll be back." He swore but continued to run. The blood wasps behind him picked up speed when they perceived his blood. He knew that it was only a matter of time before they catch up to him but he didn''t give up. He also knew that without his two arms, the chances of him Surviving the next attacks from the titan frogs have been reduced to practically zero. He still had more of his chest to give but if they also attack him in quick session, then his poor chances will be absolute zero. Still, he gritted his teeth and ran.


    Suddenly all the tree trunks around him disappeared to reveal a clearing.


    "You have got to be kidding me." Heined and gritted his teeth when the pain threatened to overwhelm him again. He couldn''t afford to stumble this time.


    Without trees, he won''t be able to make quick changes to his direction. Then the wasps will have a straight path to reach him. Stumbling here will seal in his failure.


    "What am I supposed to do now? Am I supposed to leap about like a frog?" He shouted. Then heughed. He ignored the pain in his chest andughed hard.


    He continued to run but it was a doomed endeavor. He knew it but he didn''t give up. He continued if only to collect more data about the next attacks.


    The blood wasps had been hindered in the forest but now there was nothing between them and Soverick. They were rapidly gaining on him.


    ''Something has to be done about these blood wasps. It seems they will be the end of me." He thought about his current conundrum.


    He is already prepared for failure and is nning for the next run. This situation wasn''t so bad. Without the trees and his jumping actions, the tongue attack will not be able to catch him in a moment of weakness. The titan frogs won''t be able to hide too. He will be able to spot them with his eyes. There is no tree cover to obstruct light.


    Plus his feet are on solid ground, so he will be able to dodge the attacks better. But this situation will also allow the bugs to gain on him. The thought that other kids will have to go through the same thing didn''t make him feel better. He isn''t like the other kids and was never one. He felt pity for them instead. The obstacle course was too difficult.


    He was in thought and about to be caught by the blood wasps when he crossed a line and they froze. He received a message through his wrist logger.


    "You have reached the next safe zone. You will start from this point onwards."


    "What?" His eyes widened in realization.


    "I made it? I made it."


    His amputated arm and punctured chest were restored immediately. He plopped down on the ground and began tough.


    "Wow, that was intense." He thought back to what he just experienced.


    He wasn''t the only one who thought so.


    In a small world within the battle academy. On a leaf of one of the many trees and nts that make up the forest inside this small silent world, is a tiny fairy and something that looked like a wisp of light.


    Shaston and her will clone who were watching the recording also said "wow." At the same time.

 Chapter 144 Obvious And Obscure Challenges.

    ?They were watching Soverick''s performance on the obstacle course.


    "How is this even possible?" Shaston asked in disbelief.


    "I don''t know what to say, sister. He seems to be a level above extraordinary genius." Came the reply.


    Shaston snorted. "That''s an understatement. He is practically godly. His ability to make observations, learn and make adjustments are top-notch. It is beyond what is capable for kids his age and level."


    It was the will clone''s turn to snort. "If you know all of that, then why ask me? We both watched him beat the first choke point in22 tries, in a day. He took what was supposed to take hundreds of tries and at least months of effort. He took it all and he achieved it in a day, a single day."


    The Will clone wasughing hysterically by the end of her speech.


    "It shouldn''t be a surprise, we should have expected it. If we consider that he has broken all the records for every training he underwent, this should note as a shock to us. But I expected more, you know. What happened to the wind and the other little traps? He just swept through the entire thing."


    The first choke point, also the forest obstacle is made up of smaller challenges that might not be easily noticed. There are other enemies apart from the vines, the trees, the titan frogs, and the blood wasp. They are the obscure challenges. The integrity of the ground beneath the feet of the challenger will change asionally to mess up their stability. There is the asional sun re which they use to blind the challenger''s eyes. High-intensity sunlight will pass through the dense tree covers and just happen tond on the eyes of the participants.


    Those that still rely on their eyes will find it difficult to pass. Even if they don''t, a bright light shown on the eyes should stun them for a while and make them make mistakes. Then there is the wind maniption meant to change the scent in the air so that those that rely on their nose and taste will also be handicapped.


    They also took advantage of theck of light on the ground to hide attacks and ambush the challengers. Most of the frog attacks ur from areas hidden in darkness. Numerous other little things like a trick of the light and the small, slippery bug on the tree bark that you just happened to step on.


    These little nuisances were meant to remove bad habits and to force the challengers to adapt to new hardships. Theybine with the obvious obstacles to make the forest choke point a nightmare. The fact that they will have to start the current choke point from the beginning over and over again will force the challengers to quit. Only those with persistence and overwhelming determination will be able to continue in the face of constant adversity and failure to emerge stronger for it.


    It was all a carefully prepared challenge, meant to take at least half a year of constant effort to finish. The kids weren''t even supposed to beat the titan frog attacks. They were supposed to continue trying though. So the frog attacks will weaken after they have put unrelenting effort. But Soverick just blew through the whole thing.


    "How did he even resolve the attacks from the titan frogs? I was so sure they were going to stump him real hard. The first encounter is usually the most hrious. It''s like he saw through the entire thing. Has he awakened his eye? That might exin the ease at which hepleted it." Shaston said.


    The Will clone shook its head. "While I would say that that''s impossible for someone at the vitality core stage to awaken a divine ability. His records have shown that he was born with awakened eyes. But it didn''t activate. Or at least his eyes didn''t glow with the tell-tale sign that he is using it. I am inclined to think he didn''t use it because if he did, he might have been able toplete it in 4 tries. He also wouldn''t make those hrious mistakes."


    "I can''t wait to know what his eyes are capable of. The records show that it has something to do with perception. It had better be perception or he won''t be able to learn my legacy. Speaking of hrious mistakes..."


    The Will clone grinned. "Already on it. Cutting out the hrious fails and adding it to our collection."


    "Nice." Shaston pumped her tiny fist and cackled evilly. "My hoard of secret weapons will increase in number."


    She keeps a record of the failures of each challenger. Publicly, it is meant for their yearbook when they graduate. But secretly the directors of the academy have been keeping them to ckmail the challengers. Maybe not to ckmail them exactly, more like to embarrass them. When the challengers reach great heights, these few precious moments of their funny failure will be a blot on their pride. It is a tradition that has been enforced by generations of directors.


    "We can use it to ckmail Soverick if he refuses to take your legacy in the future. Too bad we didn''t get a lot more dirt on him. We still have more chances though."


    Shaston shook her head. "It won''t work on him. It will cause the opposite effect. If we make it known, then people will know he made a mockery of our obstacle course. We don''t want that."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The will clone nodded. "You''re right. But won''t people know that during his award ceremony and through his records?"


    "We can''t help with those, but we mustn''t add more avenues for him to ridicule our curriculum."


    "The way he just zed through is totally unnatural."


    "It is natural. We saw him get better and better at it. He is just too outstanding. That''s why he must inherit my legacy." Shaston''s cute face scrumped up.


    Back in Soverick''s training room.


    He rested for a few minutes before deciding to prepare. There were no trees, so he couldn''t make spears or shields. The only things he had in this grassy safe zone are grass and stones.


    "So it''s just me and my faithful buckler." He said as he examined the only buckler remaining. He had lost one when his other hand was coerced to detach with a part of his chest.


    "Let''s see what this is about first."


    Then he left the safe zone. He wanted to do the usual thing he always does in an unknown environment. Sneak around and acquire information. But the droning sound of wings caught him unawares.


    "No way." He eximed and began to run.


    He was genuinely surprised. He thought he had escaped from the blood wasps and they had be a thing of the past since he reached the next safe zone. It seems he was wrong. The blood wasps didn''t disappear. They had been waiting just behind his safe zone for him. They began the chase as soon as he came out.


    They ran into a grassy in dotted with small mountains here and there. He had a bad feeling about those rocks but he couldn''t point out what was wrong with them. He decided not to get near them. The bug wasps are already enough to stump him, he didn''t need more to be added to his te.


    ''Is this what the next stage is going to be about, trying to escape from these stubborn bugs?'' He thought as he ran in circles to throw off his pursuers. He could keep them at bay as long as he didn''t run in a straight line.


    Then things got worse. The first mountain he passed by began to shake. It rumbled and rocks tumbled down the mountain as it lifted itself.


    "Of course not. It can''t be so easy." Heined as he watched the mountain dislodge to reveal a rock person.


    "This is very bad. It''s someone from the rock tribe. They are sentient. Maybe I can talk them off. But I don''t know theirnguage and the range of my divine sense isn''t that far. I''m screwed this time."


    The rock person sat on the ground. It was more than 100 meters tall even sitting down. It ispletely made up of rocks. It has two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head, all made of rocks.


    It rubbed what can be considered its eyes and groaned. It loved to sleep and something woke it up. It located the source of the disturbance immediately. The sleep waker was a tiny thing running around. It just had to make the tiny thing stop running and it can get back to its sleep. Simple enough n, easy to execute, and foolproof.


    So it grabbed some rocks and mashed them together with its giant hands. It held the resulting giant ball of rocks in one arm. Then it swung that arm in the direction of the sleep waker and released the rocks at it. That should snuff out the disturbance.

 Chapter 145 The Heavy Sleepers.

    ?Soverick watched wide-eyed as the rock projectiles nketed the sky. These projectiles outssed the ones he faces in training by orders of magnitude. There''s no way he can knock these aside with a stick.


    He looked down at his trusty buckler and shook his head. His trusty buckler is totally out of its depth and so is he. An idea came to his mind. Jump up to meet the rocks and escape my predicament by jumping from rock to rock.


    "It is crazy. But it just might work." Heughed and prepared to face his doom.


    He operated the coiling dragon technique within the muscles of his legs. He had to stop running to do it. He crouched down and waited for the rocks. Either the rocks will get him first or the bugs. He couldn''t face the two of them at once. Thankfully the rocks didn''t disappoint. They entered the range of his jump so even though the bugs were much closer, they were not a threat anymore.


    "Here goes nothing." He said and jumped.


    He had to time his moment of contact carefully. He was currently speeding up while the rocks are speeding down to meet him. It was not going to be easy for him to avoid a collision. What''s worse is that he must not avoid the collisionpletely. He has to grab onto the rock and then use it as a stand to jump higher. Then he has to repeat the entire sequence again and again. It needed urate perception, quick reaction, and very precise muscle control.


    "Like a frog. Envision the frog." He muttered as he grabbed onto the first rock and initiated the jumping sequence. His feet found purchase quickly and he flexed his thigh muscles, then he jumped. He grabbed onto the next rock and began to ascend, slowly but surely.


    "I''m doing it. I''m doing it." He shouted to the world.


    The blood wasps weren''t so lucky. They were squashed like the bugs they are. The thought of their demise filled him with happiness. He was on a euphoric high, that was until there were no more rocks to grab onto.


    "What now?" He looked around while levitating in the air.


    "I didn''t think this through." He said as he began to descend.


    He shrugged and decided to start collecting more information for his next run. So he jumped really high. His current height granted him a very good vantage point. His eyes scanned his environment and what he saw made his mouth drop. Themotion created by the rock projectiles had woken up the other rock people. The mountains were shaking as they woke from their slumber. Even worse is that the first rock person to wake up was already preparing another salvo. So even if he survived hisnding, which is highly unlikely, he would have to face another round of rocks again.


    If he survives even that, then the other rock people will also target him. He tried to look even farther to see where the mountains end but he could only see them for kilometers. He was tempted to use the divine ability of his eyes but he opted out of that.


    His mind was still working on finding a feasible n even though he had already given up on survival. He thought about using the striking viper technique to absorb the rebound force of hitting the ground but it wouldn''t work. He was too far up so his body will not be able to hold that much force. Plus the striking viper technique needed him to release the force but there was no feasible outlet.


    He shrugged. "There''s no harm in trying. If it works, then that will be golden."


    He was going to smash into the ground anyway. It was better to pull more information out of it. It will be better if it worked. So he braced his legs and hit the ground ready to stand up. He didn''t stand back up. He returned to the second safe zone instead.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Looks like I failed." He smiled wryly. He thought about what he encountered and started to review the information he had about the rock tribe.


    They are another race that upies the Virut ne with the battle sage monkeys. They all descended from the mountain progenitor, a rock that gained sentience and continued to grow strong until it became a Transcendent. The people of the rock tribe are peaceful, it is why they have been able to co-exist with the battle sage monkeys. They love to sleep and will sleep their entire lives until they be Transcendents. Only then do they mingle with other races.


    Their life cycle is weird because only Transcendents of their race can produce offspring. In other races, the ability to procreate is something that is easily done by the weak and it bes difficult to procreate the stronger an individual is. So their primogenitor had to be a transcendent before it could reproduce. Their entire race would not exist if their primogenitor had been killed before it matured. But their primogenitor was content with simply sleeping, it ignored strife and racial discord as it grew from a small rock into a mountain.


    Rock people aren''t ssified as earth elementals because when they are born, they are born with fleshy bodies. They are called rock eaters at that stage. The rocks they eat will transform their bodies into stone. They be a rock person when the transformation isplete.


    Their mental capacity reduces drastically with the transformation which encourages them to sleep. They don''t be stupid, just slow. This transformation reverts and they be fleshy when they be transcendents. The good thing about their life is that they surely will be transcendent as long as they don''t die. They also engage in self-division for reproduction, so they don''t need another member of their race to procreate.


    They might not need another one of them to reproduce but the requirement to be Transcendent before being able to reproduce has limited their poption to within the tens of thousands even after millions of years.


    The race of the rock people is protected by the racial council for many reasons. One of the reasons is because the rock people sided with the battle sage monkeys and helped them out during the war for their survival. So the racial council is protecting them because they are allies.


    The major reason they are being protected is that their primogenitor is still alive and it is a world god to boot. The primogenitor can sense each of its descendants because they all came from its flesh, so it can easily track the murderers of his kin.


    But it doesn''t need to. The racial council helps him to preserve the precious lives of his offspring very strictly. The racial council is usually benevolent, kind and behind the scenes, so people might have forgotten about them. Their inaction in recent times within the ne has also made people forget the racial council is made up of the strongest people of the ne. Some of them were pioneers on the path of refinement, but most of them are shrewd, intelligent killers. They have walked over the corpse of those that are part of their race and other races to reach where they are today.


    The fact that they chose to do good with their power is because their intelligence made them decide to band together for amon goal, instead of splitting the power of the race. It was a very efficient course of action. They can be efficient ughterers too if they want to.


    Soverick had learned most of what he knew about the Virut ne beforeing to the battle academy from Hadrick. Hadrick likes to talk a lot and Soverick used to listen to him as a baby. He would seat by the window while Hadrick will drone on and on. Hadrick can also be considered ancient but he is nowhere close to how old the primogenitor of the rock people is. Hadrick suspected that the primogenitor was alive even before the realm of high heaven was split into nes.


    "That''s a very long time to sleep for." He whistled appreciatively.


    "Well, the answer is obvious. Don''t wake up the rock people. That means I have to sneak past them. Which means I have to get rid of the blood wasps."


    The rock people will continue to sleep as long as they are not disturbed. But he will disturb them as long as he is being chased by the blood wasps. The vibration caused by his feet as he moves at his top speed to avoid the blood wasps will cause them to wake up. He cannot survive the attacks of the rock people and he cannot run silently while being chased by the blood wasps. The chase requires his top speed, so he has to get rid of his pursuers.


    "How to kill the wasps?" He asked himself.

 Chapter 146 Pesky Bugs And Sky Rats.

    ?He couldn''t use magic or his mind because it will be considered cheating. It is physical training so he can''t use magic, and his mind will first reject the illusion he is in if he attempts it. That will cause a ruckus. He had to use his brain in tangent with his body to figure out a solution. He looked around for what he could use to kill them. His new safe zone is bare, unlike the forest.


    "There''s nothing here but stones, weeds, and my trusty buckler. How can you kill something with stones..."


    Heughed when he realized how easy it was. He had stones littered about him. They are natural ammunition. Even the slow rock people think so too.


    "Will need something to carry them with." He thought out loud.


    Then he put off his school uniform. He was wearing single underwear but he didn''t mind that. It''s not as if someone was watching him and even if some were, he wouldn''t care. He wouldn''t mind being seenpletely naked either. His mind has already transcended his body.


    He ced the uniform on the ground and began searching for choice stones. He didn''t want just about any type of stone. They had to be uniform and must have a sharp edge to them. They also must be able to fit in his hands easily and their weight must be just right for throwing.


    "There are about 20 of the blood wasps, So I need 25 stones in total, maybe 30. That should get rid of the pesky bugs." He ruminated.


    The amount of the blood wasps chasing him had been thinned drastically by the titan frogs. They were about a hundred of them when they started chasing him. These remaining 20 will still be a challenge because their speed makes them difficult to hit. But theirrge size and their inclination to move closer together will make hitting them easier. Still, he must have his stones ready so that he can strike them down faster. Bending down to pick stones while they chase him will be inefficient.


    He must eliminate the blood wasps in this area around the safe zone before moving on to the area with the rock people. The space he has to work with is very small, so it will be very difficult to endure their chase and throw stones at them too.


    "I just have to hit their wings. They won''t be able to fly if I injure their wings."


    Their fragile wings are another weakness of theirs. He can pick them off if they can''t fly.


    He gathered his stones in his academy uniform and picked them up with one arm. Then he left the safe zone for the second run. The blood wasps were spotted immediately. He gave them a wide berth but they began to chase him. He tried to make them run in circles within the limited zone and it worked. They didn''t scatter to chase him from all directions, they stayed together and he led them around. The tricky thing is throwing stones at them while trying to maintain the distance between them. He seeded in striking down 6 before they caught up to him and he was sent back to the safe zone.


    "They are too fast. I have to tire them out, then it will be much easier to kill them all." He thought as he modified his n.


    The problem isn''t hitting them, their speed can''t save them from his urate targeting. The problem is his loss of speed when he turns to aim and throw. They use that opportunity to catch up to him.


    He picked more stones and began the third run. This time he didn''t seek to resolve the chase early. He was willing to wait and bet his stamina reserves against theirs.Blood wasps have poor stamina. They may be stubborn in their chase but it cannot go on for too long because they will lose their speed advantage as they tire out.


    It took a little over 10 minutes before they began to slow down. He waited for another 10 minutes more to make them strained and very tired. Then he began to throw stones at them. He made sure to be cautious and to maintain the distance between them. So it took him 5 minutes to get rid of all of them.


    "Whose the boss now?" He shouted at their dead bodies, then he hurriedly mp his hand over his mouth. He waited for a few seconds before signing when he didn''t notice any rumblings.


    "It would be silly if my stupid mouth is the one responsible for waking them."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He began to walk in the direction of the finish line.


    "This is so weird. I don''t need to run and there''s nothing chasing me. It''s so peaceful."


    He said as he strolled by a mountain that is probably a rock person. His feet were light on the ground as he walked. He could run like this, he will have to reduce his speed but he would be able to move silently. But there was no reason to run at all.


    The forest obstacle forced him to be constantly on the move. It was either the vines or the wasps. If he had stayed still for a while, then the entire forest would have surrounded and submerged him.


    He ced his hand on top of his head and yawned. "This is so rxed."


    His uniform is now tied around his waist and he is walking barefoot. He was hoping to jinx the ease of his passage but nothing bad happened. He passed one mountain after the other and yet nothing happened. It was another hourter of walking leisurely before something happened. He had just reached an area with more stones than grass.


    "This ce is very bad for running." He observed.


    Even if he was somehow fast enough to evade the rocks catapulted at him by the rock people, this section of the obstacle course will reduce his speed drastically. The blood wasps will be able to finally catch up and the projectiles will have reached absurd levels by then.


    "It''s good that I got rid of the blood wasps."


    Then he noticed something moving towards him in the sky. It was fast but not as fast as blood wasps. Even so, he picked up speed to dy their moment of contact. He didn''t want to stay and find out what it could be. At first, it was too far to make out what it was but then it got closer and Soverick could identify it.


    "It''s a Tyngalee. A sky rat."


    Soverick stopped as soon as he recognized the threat. He reviewed the information about it and came up with a n of action. He looked around for a good stone, the ground was littered with them at this point.


    "Running won''t help me. I have to eliminate it here." He said after selecting a prime stone.


    He hefted the stone in his hands and rxed his arms. Apart from the ground turning into a trap, he couldn''t run so as not to wake the rock people. He doubted he will need to move very fast to escape the Sky rat. The sky rat is much slower in the air, so he can outrun them without exerting himself too much. The problem wille when they reach the ground. They will fold back their wings and their speed will almost double while on the ground. This stone-littered surface will not hinder them one bit, their paws will be able to navigate it easily. So his new iing enemy must not reach the ground. The right decision isn''t to escape but to eliminate the enemy before it reached the ground.


    Even worse is that sky rats are pack animals. He has to eliminate the sky rat before it calls for help or things will escte very quickly. He doubts he will be able to handle so many rats without waking up those that must not be awakened. Their only weakness is their weak and sensitive nose. They will be stunned if something damages their nose. The longevity of the stun depends on how much damage their nose sustains.


    "They are rats with wings. They may be big, giant even. But they are still rats. I haven''t fallen so low to be thwarted by rats, grounded, or airborne. Giant bugs couldn''t get me, and neither will flying rats." He muttered quietly.


    Then he focused and narrowed his eyes. There''s a lot of space between them, so he would have multiple chances to take the sky rat out if he fails his first shot. But he chose to wait. He chose to reduce that distance and ensure the certainty of his aim. Because if he misses, the rat might call for help before he can sessfully kill it. Then he will be in a big heap of trouble. So it is a single shot or more sky rats.

 Chapter 147 Visualise And Execute.

    ?Soverick sensed the wind direction and velocity with his divine sense. He activated the coiling dragon technique in his arm for good measure. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.


    He breathed in, held in his breath, then he threw the stone at the rat. The stone sailed through the air and struck the rat as it was diving down for the kill. The stone hit the skull and cracked it before lodging itself into it.


    The rat continued its downward descent but its flight path was a little off. Apart from that, there wasn''t any other visible difference or a sign to indicate if it is dead or alive. It wasn''t pping its wings anymore but that may be because it is diving.Soverick moved from his position and he was sure that the sky rat would crash into the ground a few meters in front of him since the airborne vermin didn''t follow his movements. He released the breath he had been holding in and sighed in relief. The threat was averted. Then his face changed.


    "You have got to be kidding me." He rushed to the spot where he estimated the sky rat willnd. Then he stretched his arms wide to catch it.


    "You had better be dead and not pretending." He muttered hatefully.


    The sky rat fell into his arms. He gritted his teeth as he absorbed the momentum of the fall. Then he dumped the bird to the ground. It made a soft sound instead of the crash that it would have made if he had let it fall directly to the ground. That crash would have woken up the rock people.


    "So distasteful and so insidious. I have to catch it instead of enjoying the pleasure of seeing it turn into flesh and gore." He grumbled and turned away.


    If the rock people were not around, he would have preferred that the animal crash into the ground. That will ensure that it is truly dead. A stone in the head might not kill them immediately because of their vitality and he would be terribly injured, if not killed outright, when he tries to catch them. He would have to start again if he is wed to death by a near-death vicious animal that he so foolishly caught in his arms. The threat wasn''t as easy as it seemed. It wasyered.


    He thought of picking something from the carcass but he didn''t because of the same reason why he didn''t take anything from the blood wasps. He didn''t know what could be useful for his challenge and what would be dead weight. He just left it behind and moved on.


    The ground made it so that he couldn''t move on fast enough. More of the sky rats targeted him. At first, it was just the single one that he resolved with contemptuous ease. They troubled him again and again but he took them out meticulously. He even struck them twice for good measure before catching them. Then they starteding two at a time. Things became tricky here. One small mistake and he was likely to have a hoard of them after him.


    It required quick action on his part to make two urate sessive throws at them in order to take them out. The other option is to hit them simultaneously but he couldn''t guarantee a hit at all. He could do it if he had a bow and some arrows, but throwing two stones at the same time with a single hand is currently too much for him.


    Throwing a single stone is already difficult with the asional sudden gust of wind. The problem with quick throws is that he would have to use both of his hands, the right and the left, to throw stones one after the other or it will give the other one enough time to call for help.


    What was more challenging was catching the two of them before they hit the ground. He tried when he could to hit them when they had some distance between them so that he could catch them one after the other with rtive ease. Things were dicey but he remained calm and didn''t make any mistakes. He would visualize the scenarios and execute them perfectly.


    The rest of the challenge continued like that. More sky rats continued to harass him. Their frequency of attacks increased to pressure him. A single mistake would have ruined all his work. The entire challenge forced him to be precise at all times and it pressured him with the knowledge that a single mistake will ruin him. He ran through the forest choke point but the distance was short. He could speed through the forest in minutes. This part of the obstacle course may be peaceful but he had been at it for more than 2 hours and was under pressure most of the time.


    This pressure is another obstacle that must be ovee. It creates fear which will reduce the mental and physical capabilities of the challenger. Something that can be easily achieved bes difficult if not impossible when you''re afraid of failure or under pressure to achieve sess.


    It might be a challenge for others but Soverick is capable of thriving under pressure. The reason he is usually expressionless and why his face has that deadpan look is because of the superiority of his mind over his body. The hormones of the body, the swirling vortex of emotions that his body is capable of and the reflex actions of his body are unable to ovee his will. Most emotions don''t affect him unless he allows it. So the emotion of fear cannot affect him or reduce his efficiency at bringing down the scummy sky rats.


    "There was tension but the run was surprisingly easy. It just needed some delicate work and the ability to work in silence. Not bad but only so so." Hemented after he entered the next safe zone.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He heard that familiar notification that meant he can have peace and he plopped down. He had finished the second choke point in the third run. It wasn''t as exhrating or as intense as the first choke point. He found it mild even though he was bnced on an edge for most of it. The second choke point was aimed at the mental aspect of a warrior which is his forte, so he wasn''t pressured as much as the previous one.


    "So what''s next?"


    He tried to guess what his next challenge will be by looking around his safe zone. The area beyond the safe zone is mostly blurry so could only entertain himself with what he found around him. The ground had hardened into aplete rockyer at some point. It was also scalding hot. The grasses are the ones cropping up from amongst the rock now. There are no small stones that he can throw.


    "I probably won''t face something I have to throw stones at." He said before shrugging.


    He gleaned a lot of information from what he saw but it didn''t clue him to what he would be facing next.


    "Only one way to find out." He said as he stood up.


    His uniform is already back on his body instead of his waist. He stepped out of the safe zone. Then he heard a high-pitched screech. He wondered what it could be for a moment before moving on. Then he heard more of them but there was still no enemy in sight. All he could see was the bare rocky ground.


    "I''m I on a mountain? Could it be a rock person?" He wondered but continued moving.


    Then he saw the familiar form of a sky rat in the sky. Only this time there were more than two. They were more than 50 at his lowest estimate and more were still joining them. They were also making that high-pitched screech sound.


    "Now I know what that sound is all about." He said as he began to run.


    He made sure to keep the impact of his feet on the ground as little as possible. He has not forgotten that he might be standing on a rock person.


    He knew that sky rats can call each other for help but he didn''t know what the exact sound is. He had never heard them call for help. Maybe he would know what to look out for if he had failed at preventing them from calling for help in the previous choke point. He would know to run immediately as soon as he left the safe zone instead of milling about.


    He didn''t run for long when he came upon a cliff with a precipitous drop. He could see that the cliff was as wide as his eyes could see. There was no way down that he could see. The only way forward he observed is a series of very thin rock pirs. The pirs were like tall, wrinkled bamboo sticks that reached all the way to the depth of the cliff.


    "No way." Heined but his body was already moving.


    He doubted he will be able to make it but he had no choice. So he jumped.

 Chapter 148 Learning And Adaptation.

    ?The pirs might not look reassuring but it was either them or he looks for another alternative while the sky rats gain on him. He knew what the challenge wanted from him as soon as he saw this risky set up so he jumped across the edge of the cliff. He sailed forward and his right footnded on the pir. The pir gave way as soon as his foot stepped on it and he began to fall.


    "You have got to be kidding me." He thought as he was falling.


    The fall took some time and it seems the challenge will not reset back to the safe zone until he dies, which will be a very long time. The system was probably waiting for him to do something that will get him out of his fate of falling to his death.


    He crossed his arms against his chest and screamed. "I''ve got nothing. You hear me, nothing."


    The sky rats had arrived and were patrolling the sky. They were more than a hundred of them now. They screamed back at him.


    "They''re probably taunting me." He thought to himself.


    There''s nothing he can do right now to avoid the fate of plunging to his death. The only good thing is that the third choke point just started so the safe zone is too far behind.


    Honestly, he felt cheated. He knew the obstacle course was out to get him but the challenges were just savage. He doubted that those rickety pirs could even hold a cockroach.


    They were also spaced far away from each other so he would have to lengthen his stride to move from one to the other. The setup is such that he would either fall down or move on. But the pirs were geared like rat traps. The experience taught him what to do though.


    Within the Director''s Alcove.


    Shaston watched Soverick conquer the second choke point in three runs. At first, she and her will clone watched him run from the blood wasps before encountering the rock projectiles. She was hoping for him to be stumped by the strict requirements to pass through the midst of the rock people.


    "Impressive but pointless." Shemented as Soverick scaled the rocks thrown at him.


    "This is where the constant repetition will start before they cry and crack under pressure. We should be able to get a lot of very humiliating videos from this." The Will clone added cheerfully.


    Soverick started the second run and he chose to bring down the blood wasps first.


    "Quick on the uptake but stillcking in execution." She said when Soverick failed.


    The will clone grinned. "I got him in his underwear. I have the feeling that this will be just the start to more humiliating things."


    Then he started the third run and killed all the blood wasps. They watched him stroll through the choke point with his uniform tied around his waist.


    Shaston watched his carefree attitude beforementing. "Enjoy your peace for now but it isn''t over. The Sky rats will put you in your ce."


    Her will clone remained silent.


    Then the first sky rat appeared. Shaston''s eyes lit up with expectation. "Anytime now."


    This is the usual breaking point. Other challengers that reached this stage usually achieve it after repeated failures. They will try a lot of strategies which will end in failure. Only when they realize that the blood wasps must go before any progress can be made do they find a way to tackle them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    But it isn''t easy to eliminate the blood wasps. There is a high requirement for precision in throwing. The challengers will have to be constantly on the move while trying to hit a fast-moving target.


    They don''t usually employ the stamina reduction n because they don''t have excess stamina to spare. The longer they drag out eliminating the blood wasps, the slower the challengers get because they too are running out of stamina and their aim bes poorer. They have to kill all the blood wasps or their effort will go to waste. A single blood wasp will spoil the remaining run.


    But they will seed at the end of the day after tens of runs and days of effort. Then they will encounter the first sky rat. Some of them will choose to run for it, a very poor decision. The sky rats will catch up to them either through the air or on the ground because their speed will be inhibited by the stony ground. Most of those that attempt to kill the sky rat will mess it up. Then the sky rat will call for help and it will be a whole new level of difficulty.


    For the lucky or the exceptional few that seed in killing it, the crash sound it will make will render their effort useless. It is only after that failure will they realize that the sky rats must not make noise. Then they will start again, first with the blood wasps and then the sky rats. One single mistake will make them start over.


    It is not rare that some of the challengers break down and cry. The determination that they cultivated in their first choke point will be pushed to the point of cracking. Determination is more effective against external threats and disappointment. But the fear of failure, an internal threat that aims to undermine confidence, is something that determination needs to be able to conquer too.


    Shaston and the will clone watched the stone that soverick threw lodge itself in the skull of the first sky rat.


    "Not bad. I expected as much. Too bad that you will be stumped soon." She was about to go on when her mouth froze. Soverick caught the bird and saved the day.


    "Dammit." Shaston fumed.


    The Will clone was also disappointed. "I was hoping to see that look of despair on his face."


    Shaston consoled her. "Don''t worry. We''ll get our just rewards. It''s just a matter of time. All we need is a single mistake."


    "Yes, you''re right. It''s not as if he will pass through the entire choke point in this run."


    It turned out that Shaston wasn''t right. They watched him neutralize every threat with calm and ease. He ounted for wind movement and always struck true. Even the tricky situations when two sky rats attacked him at the same time. People usually have a dominant arm that they prefer to use for most situations. They were hoping Soverick would have such a quirk, it will make him seem more normal instead of the readily adaptable person he seems.


    They were silent for a while before Shaston could speak. "I think the traits of Soverick responsible for his outstanding performance, is his ability to learn from mistakes, make adjustments and anticipate oues. Of which the most important is the ability to make adjustments. He makes learning seem easy."


    It is very difficult for people to change and learning isn''t easy. Experience is indeed the best teacher but experience sometimes fails because the person cannot identify what he has done wrong or what went wrong.


    If learning to throw stones urately is used as an example. It will be noticed that some people just can''t aim right. There''s either a problem with their judgment of distance and depth, hand motions, posture, or muscle exertion. Sometimes, people just can''t see what they are doing wrong and will continue to make the same mistake again and again. That is why people watch others and learn from them. It is also why people need teachers to point out their mistakes.


    Identifying a mistake is the first step. Rectifying it is the second, and it is more difficult to achieve because of habits. Habits are ingrained behavior patterns. Mistakes will be very difficult to change if a habit stands in the way of making adjustments. The other obstacle isfort zones. Mental and physicalfort zones will inhibit the very attempts to change. Comfort zones will make it difficult to summon the courage and will to change.


    Even when habits andfort zones have been ovee. Most times, people learn through try and error, after repeated failures and enlightenment. Learning just isn''t easy. But Soverick made it look easy. The challengers that trained in the other regimen first will have learned the necessary skills to pass the obstacle course, such as throwing and body precision, but it is another thing to use both skills in tandem and under pressure. They''ve learned to dodge, block, and parry, but performing them under constant stress and harassment isn''t easy.


    The Will clone nodded sagely at Shaston''s words. Then she said, "You meant to say he is too smart and you will probably fail in tricking him to ept your legacy."


    Shaston nodded in agreement. "You''re totally right."


    Soverick turned out to be way smarter than an average child and he is less than two years. How smart will he be in a thousand years? Shaston doesn''t know, but she knows it will be very difficult to dupe Soverick into taking her legacy.

 Chapter 149 The Tables Have Turned.

    ?Then they watched soverick rest for a while before he started the third choke point. They watched him do nothing while the sky rats called for reinforcements. Then he failed at stepping on the pirs and he fell down.


    "I''ll enjoy this short moment of pleasure for now. I bet he won''t make the same mistake again." The will clone said.


    Shaston shook her head. "I bet he will pass this choke point before or during the third run."


    "That''s impossible, right? The choke point might not be shy or anything but the pirs are tricky. He will have to step on them lightly while being chased by the sky rats. And you''re saying he will get the hang of it in a single run. Then he will also resolve the attacks by the third run and finish the choke point."


    "I meant, he might do all that in the second run and at most the third run."


    "If you''re right, then we are in trouble."


    "How so?"


    "We won''t have any chance for more humiliating videos."


    "It will never work anyways. So why bother."


    "He is about to start the second run. Let''s watch."


    Soverick immediately took off as soon as he left the safe zone. His feet were creating shockwaves as they touched the ground. The rock surface cracked due to the force he is intently dispersing into them. Then he leaped when he reached the edge of the cliff. This was where he failed thest time.


    His foot touched the pir and shattered it with a shock wave. He seemed to use the shockwave as a support to make the next leap. Then his other foot did the same with the next pir. It was smooth sailing from there for him. The pirs shattered under his foot instead of crumbling on their own and the shockwave propelled him forward.


    "Sky rats do your thing." The Will clone muttered hopefully. Shaston just shook her head. She didn''t think her will clone will get what she was hoping for.


    Soverick''s smooth sailing got interrupted by the sky rats. They were too far away to reach him so they tried range attacks. They were throwing stones at him. He was the one throwing stones at them earlier, but now, became the target of stones. The tables have turned. It forced him to change his movement pattern and to pay attention to the stones aimed at him. As if the shoddy pirs aren''t enough for him, now he has to split his attention backward while he tries to move forward.


    Still, he managed. The most difficult thing for him was changing his direction from simply going straight ahead, to right and left to dodge the stones. It required him to make very difficult foot maneuvres on unreliable support. Splitting his attention was a piece of cake for him. And so he finished the third choke point on his second run.


    The Will clone threw its arms up. "Did you see that? Not a single mistake. How is that possible?"


    Shaston was simrly shocked. The third run was rtively simple. Move to the end of the choke point or the sky rats will catch up to you. That means they have to go forward in a straight line to make good time. Then the sky rats will start to throw stones at you to distract you and throw you off your game. That means you have to move sideways to dodge. If you move sideways too much, the sky rats will catch up.


    All these have to be done on precarious pirs. If you stumble or mess up your steps, then you will fall down and start again. So you have to move forward while you dodge and not make a single mistake along the way. It is a simple choke point, with simple rules and it takes weeks to make the stepping process a habit just to ovee these simple rules. Soverick finished it in less than 30 minutes. She of all people understands how remarkable it is because she has a very vivid memory of how much she struggled during these challenges.


    The Will clone rounded up on Shaston. "You didn''t really think he would finish this quick did you?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I must admit that I didn''t expect this. I was going out on a limb when I made that bet. I mean, it wouldn''t have mattered if I lost. I just wanted to prepare myself mentally in case he actually does pass it quickly like thest choke point. Everything we''ve seen about him indicates that challenges of adaptation are piecemeal to him. Pressuring him won''t also work. Only challenges of pure physical exertion can give him a pause, something like the first choke point. But it will only give him pause. That''s even because he is supposed to beat the titan frog''s attacks. He has the stamina to spare and high enough reaction to take advantage of it." Shaston answered.


    The Will clone sat down dejected and sighed. "Then the remaining choke points will not even give him pause."


    Shaston agreed. "Probably not. The next choke point is the eye of the sea."


    "I bet that he will finish it in at most 3 runs." The Will clone said and smirked. Shaston just shook her head at her clone''s antics. She wasn''t willing to bet with her clone. She would rather watch how Soverick will fare in the next run. The eye of the sea is pretty simple too but she wasn''t sure how easy it was going to be for Soverick. One thing she is sure of is that it will give him a certain level of difficulty enough for him to fail his first run.


    The area around the fourth safe zone was being shown on their screen.


    Soverick has sessfully crossed the canyon of death and its dangerous pirs. At the other end of the canyon is another cliff. The safe zone is some distance away from the edge of this cliff. Outside the safe zone, the rocky ground has given way to sand. The ground is so sandy that his legs sink into it. It made walking on it difficult and exerting without activating his fleet foot technique, the same one he used to scale the pirs.


    Only when he treats the surface of the ground as unstable support, like mud, water, or rickety pirs, is Soverick able to run in it. And he dearly needs to run because the sky rats are still chasing him.


    Their number has increased to more than 200 and there are no stones he could throw at them, only fine sand. So there is no chance of getting rid of them. Even if he had stones, his attempts to hit them will end in him bing a better target for their own stones. He doesn''t have stones but somehow they do.


    He doesn''t know where they keep getting them but they haven''t stopped throwing stones at him. So he ran and quickly reached the edge of a body of water. Then he began running on its surface with ease. The transition between running on the ground to running on the water was as easy as breathing to him.


    The Will clone muttered at the sight. "No hope whatsoever."


    The chase continued as if nothing changed. The sky rats remained in the air and pelted Soverick with stones. He dodged remarkably well and was able to keep his bnce.


    The difficulty of the choke point began to increase gradually. The water surface became turbulent, wind speed picked up and some daring fishes began to attack him from below.


    Soverick''s astounding perception helped him to keep track of all the distracting elements and his reaction made him avoid them easily. Things became more difficult as he ventured deep into the sea until he was stopped by the eye of the sea.


    The eye of the sea is a giant whirlpool that is pulling everything within its area of influence into itself. Soverick will have to detour around the eye of the sea but will have to face the tornadoes circling around the eye of the sea instead.


    Of course, he won''t face the tornadoes directly, of which there are six of them moving around the vortex. He will have to stay between two of them while maintaining a healthy distance between them so as not to be pulled off course into the whirlpool.


    Meanwhile the thunder and lightning of the raging sea storm will do their best to make him unable to maintain the healthy distance that he desperately needs. It is a choreographed dance of a deadly whirlpool, dangerous tornadoes, and a heavy sea storm. A dance with very strict moves and high danger, to test for stability and spatial positioning.


    The storm and the raging water will obscure sight so he has to be able to sense his position rtive to the tornadoes and maintain it. The good news is that the sky rats can''t continue their chase. The bad news is that monstrous sea monsters from beneath the sea will try to drag him into the water. It''s like he traded an old outdated enemy for an upgraded and better-suited enemy.

 Chapter 150 World Harmonization.

    ?Soverick ran in circles for a while as he took in the glory of the challenge. He couldn''t stop at all or he would fall into the water. The surface of the water might be behaving like a stretchy stic material underneath his feet but that''s because of the way he is stepping on it. A pause to admire the scenery will make the water surface remember what it truly is.


    Then he grinned in anticipation showing all his teeth, and suddenly picked up speed. He elerated and began moving like a knife parting the waves. His feet created massive shock waves that erupted with water and mist in his wake. The shockwaves started as ripples as his feet touched the water surface before they expanded into the st of force that they be.


    The mist formed a trail behind as if they were dust on the ground. He was fast, so fast that the tentacles from the depth of the sea couldn''t catch him, and the ones that managed to anticipate his movement couldn''t stop him. The turbulent water felt like solid ground to him and behaved like so to onlookers because he was dodging, jumping, and swerving as if he was on the ground.


    The will clone sniffed. "It is simply perfection. He didn''t even stumble at all. I could cry if I had tear nds." It was a clone without a body so it couldn''t cry.


    "I know right." Shaston couldn''t cry too because she had the body ofw. Her body had stopped being able to create tears when she became transcendent. She continued, "He has finished the second requirement for world harmonization. At this rate of progress, he will have no problem with the third requirement. I can already tell that he will be an exceptional transcendent."


    The Will clone sniffed louder. "The beauty of harmonization. This is what is called true genius."


    The first basic harmonization is the harmonization with the earth, it is achieved through the silent running technique. The second one is the harmonization with the water, it is achieved with the fleet foot technique used for walking on water. The third and final requirement is the harmonization with the air. It can only be achieved by those at the mana stage.


    The three basic harmonizations are needed to achieve one with the world or world harmonization. It is a must-have for transcendents if they wish to learnws. With harmonization, there will be no difference between the ground, the air, or water when ites to mobility. Advanced forms of harmonization requirews.


    The performance Soverick just showed was the perfect form of harmonization with water. It is not a simple thing to have the body and mind behave in sync, and interact with the environment as one. The earth is easier because it is sturdy and reliable, while the water is fickle and indecisive. It was a great achievement, even more than the fact that he finished the fourth choke point in a single run. With harmonization, anything is possible, it didn''t surprise them when Soverick broke another unprecedented record.


    Shaston pped her little hands. "This moment will go down in history. It will be immortalized in our hall of fame. It is so wonderful to have witnessed something like this."


    The rainbow fog within the small world increased a little due to her emotional outburst.


    "You know you''re killing yourself by being so happy." The will clone said.


    Shaston sighed. "I know but there''s nothing I can do about it. That''s the point about not having control. I''m happy for the boy. I''m also envious of his talents."


    "And you''re also insecure about your so-called talent. What were you capable of doing at his age? I forget because you didn''t give me memories of when you were younger."


    "I thought I was talented but Soverick really puts me in my ce. It isn''t the first time I am being put in my ce in regards to my talent."


    "Yes, I know. You are failing as a titan ofw and will soon die." The Will clone sounded exasperated.


    "Yes, I will soon die. Now I''ve learned my lesson. I used my life to understand the fact that the realm lord is without a peer. Now I''vee into contact with someone that could possibly fulfill my dreams and yet I find my dreams inadequate. A genius like soverick can forge his own path, why will he take mine?"


    "Wow, that was very honest of you. I understand that you''re being honest with me because I''m basically you and you''re also avoiding the question I asked. But you still deserve a reward. This is usually the point where the world rewards you for your epiphany and you be a sovereign."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Shaston chuckled. "Too bad the world isn''t like that. I''ll die for my foolhardiness and I have made my peace with it. I just wish my legacy will be fulfilled."


    "I honestly doubt that, but if anyone can hope to fulfill it, then that person is Soverick. I want to pat your back right now but you didn''t give me a body."


    "It so that you won''t bludgeon me in my sleep. I''m dying anyway but I don''t want to be that titan that got killed by her clone when she lost control of it."


    "I agree with you, at least for now. That''s probably going to change when you''re on yourst leg."


    "That''s why I didn''t give you some of my memories. It''s so that I''ll have a fighting chance of victory."


    The two of them chuckled before turning back to watch how Soverick will finish the fifth choke point. It is also thest choke point, it is called pass the hydra challenge. The choke point starts at the beach where thend meets the water. There the hydra will be waiting to stop the challenger from crossing to drynd. The challenger must select a weapon or they can use their bare hands to slip through the numerous heads of the hydra.


    The Hydra is a water beast with incredible water maniption. It can create storms and tsunamis. It can also rule water bodies due to its domain creation ability. It does so by converting a territory of water into Its personal domain where enemies are weakened and it is strengthened.


    It is a full-fledged mana entity but Its powers have been reduced for the sake of this challenge. It has been allowed to retain its variant physique, but not the strength of it, and a little water maniption.


    It has nine heads at first but will regrow two for each head that is cut off. Each head is a meter thick and the neck is more than 20 meters long. Soverick will have to dodge the heads he can dodge, parry, or block the ones he can''t dodge or cut off the ones he can''t parry or block. And he has to do it with the aim to cross the finish line quickly.


    Even if the heads aren''t cut off, the hydra will use water magic to create more heads. So the longer the fight draws on, the more difficult the challenge bes. It transforms from a trial against nine heads to a trial against ny heads. The challenge is designed to help the challenger select a weapon of choice and to develop a rudimentary fighting style that can help them achieve the singr goal of crossing the finish line in as little time as possible.


    Soverick was resting in the fifth safe zone, which happens to be on top of the water. The safe zone is in an area far away from the eye of the sea, so the area is very calm. The weird thing is that a transparent barrier has been ced on top of the water, it stopped him from interacting with the water.


    So there he was, sitting on something he cannot perceive and looking as the water flowed beneath his butt without touching it. He got bored of that after a while and decided to move on.


    He had been informed about what to expect from thest choke point. A hydra is blocking his way and he must pass through the obstacle.


    "Show me the weapon options." He requested.


    The illusion array answered and the safe zone became filled with all sorts of weapons. There were rigid weapons like clubs, morning stars, swords, etc. There were non-rigid weapons like whips, curved des, flexible spears, etc. There were also blunt weapons, piercing weapons, shing weapons, and range weapons.


    He considered his options for a while. He wanted to choose either the spear, a ded weapon like a sword, or a ranged weapon like a bow because they would go well with his divine ability.


    The divine ability of battle sage monkeys is based on perception and they have created special techniques with certain weapons to take full advantage of their divine ability. He may not be able to use a refinement technique but he wants to have a look at these special techniques.

 Chapter 151 Bad With The Spear.

    ?These three groups of weapons are the most used weapons by battle sage monkeys and will ensure that he will have a wide array to choose from.


    He used a dagger in his past life because of its lower requirement for technique and its reliance on agility rather than strength. But the dagger is more suited to assassination and will be ill-suited to cutting off the necks of a hydra. He is sure the familiarity with it and his speed will allow him to slip by the hydra but he doesn''t want that. He wouldn''t be able to challenge himself and he wouldn''t be able to continue using the dagger when his divine ability awakens. Battle sage monkeys don''t use daggers.


    He prefers the spear because it is like an extended dagger. A de on a long stick. It will also allow for quick burst action just like a dagger and it will have a longer reach. His mastery of the dagger will be useful to a small extent. The problem is that that long reach of the spear might prove counterproductive against the Hydra as he tries to slip through its defense.


    Still, he has to choose a weapon and he wasn''t going to use his hands. It will be much better to choose something he is more familiar with and learn to adapt to it. So he chose the spear.


    He left the safe zone with his gait sure and filled with confidence. He had been able to harmonize with the water earlier because of the repeated adjustments he had made to his body. Harmonization isn''t something new to him, he had been able to achieve it rtively easy as a high elf due to his affinity with nature and mana. You would think it should be easy to do again but it isn''t.


    One of the major reasons is that he never tried hard to achieve it in his past life, it came to him naturally. The other reason is that his soul is too powerful for his body so his mind simply dominates his body. It is difficult for them to act in sync. But it finally happened after his body didn''t require him to police it when the movement itself became a reflex action. He achieved it due to the rickety pirs. Their unstable nature made the fleet foot technique second nature.


    That''s why he isn''t scared of water challenges anymore. He is confident in oveing whatever might be thrown at him.


    "Let the weapon be an extension of your body." He said as he caressed the spear.


    He didn''t know the meaning of what he said but he had an idea about it. He had heard the statement from other weapon users in the past. He was never a true weapon user, he was a killer. If his powerful mind couldn''t overwhelm his opponent then he would add the sharp edge of a dagger into the mix. That usually gets the job done.


    He is usually outssed in closebat but the innate grace and agility of a high elf always helped him. That and trading blows because it doesn''t matter who is the better-skilled fighter, only the person that dies first matters. He survived to be an Origin god because he always had thestugh. But now he wants to be able toughst better since he won''t be going the same route as in his past life. There won''t be near-unlimited regeneration to count on.


    He soon came upon the hydra and began running around while observing it for any signs of weakness. Harmonizing with water hasn''t made him able to stand still on the surface of the water, at least not yet. That will happen when he bes a mana entity.


    While he was watching the hydra he noticed that another head was rising out of the water. It is still unstable for now but he knew it will solidify into ice if given time. He wanted to collect information on attack patterns but more heads will make the already difficult challenge too much for him. So he dashed forward and brought his spear forward.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He didn''t know much about the spear but he had somemon sense about it. He knew that the de of the spear must be pointed toward his enemy. He also knew that an enemy must not be allowed to get within your guard and to always use the other parts of the spear too. That''s why he approached the hydra with the spear extended forward and his two hands gripping it.


    The hydra had reptilian features. Its pupils were vertical and it has bluish-white scales that match well with the surrounding water. The necks of the hydra protrude out of a hole in the ground on the beach. The hole is behind the finish line so he doesn''t have to pass the hydra exactly, it is more like he had to reach it, all the while with the hydra trying to stop him. He will only pass the choke point when he reaches the 20m glowing line right at the base of the Hydra''s neck.


    The Hydra attacked him. It attacked with a single head. The attack speed was very fast but it wasn''t as fast as the tongue attack of the titan frog. He could see the head of the hydra move forward to try and bite him. He could see it and he could react enough to do something about it. He dodged by hopping to his right. There was another head just behind the first one, he transformed his dodge into a roll. Then he fell into the water. Another hydra head bit into him underwater and so he returned to the safe zone.


    He pped his forehead. "It isn''t the ground. How could I forget such a thing."


    Only the soles of his feet can utilize the fleet foot technique. The rest of his body can''t, that''s why he sank when he rolled out of the way of the second attack. It was an instinctual movement on his part to evade the second attack. He left for the second run to engage the hydra again. His gait wasn''t so confident.


    This time he anticipated the attacks. He watched the movement of the necks in order to predict them. It was just that while he could anticipate the first and the second attacks, he couldn''t react well enough to resolve the attacks. He doesn''t have the full use of his ability on the water surface. The worst part is that the heads can also attack him from behind even if he had seeded in dodging it earlier. The attacks came from the right and left, from back and front, from up and from under the water. So the water inhibits his performance but amplifies the hydra''s attack options.


    He had a n of attack after understanding most of the parameters of his situation. Dodging the head wasn''t working and he wasn''t equipped to parry them. The only n he could think of that would work is to cut off the heads, cut them fast and move fast. He ns to move faster than the heads can regenerate or at least that''s what he nned to do.


    He started another run with that n in mind. But a blitz attack is easier said than done with the spear. The spear turns out to be unable to cut the heads fast enough because it is more suited to thrusting. The diameter of the necks is 3 times the length of the de of the spare. There''s no way a short de like that can cut something that thick. Either that or he is very bad with the spear. Anyways, he stopped trying to execute that n after 10 runs ended with failure. The hydra would just regenerate the small injuries he was able to create to it.


    So he moved on to thrusting. He was inclined to believe that he might not be so good with the spear when thrusting didn''t work either. Thrusting required power to fully prate targets and cause damage. His attempts with thrusting ended poorly. He always lodged the spearhead into the skull of the hydra and can''t remove it. So he either has to let go of the spear, which is a bad idea, or hold on to it and be swung around like a puppet.


    Whatever damage he can create to the head with thrusting is quickly regenerated by the hydra. The hydra is too big to use his spear effectively. Even when he uses a full-powered coiling dragon technique to fuel his attack, all he created was a deeper hole in the hydra''s head. The deeper hole will kill the hydra head but he wouldn''t be able to pull the spear back before he is annihted. In the rare times that he seeded in pulling out the spear, the hydra''s head will regenerate quickly enough to render his effort useless.

 Chapter 152 It Is Inelegant But It Works.

    ?The Hydra is a very tough enemy to put down. It wasn''t meant to be killed by the challengers but it has been weakened so that they will have a fighting chance against it. He may have failed numerous times but he has learned not to hope to kill the creature.


    Now he knows why the heads must be cut off, because only then will he have enough time to do something other than watch the hydra regenerate. This entire experience reminded Soverick of the difficulty of killing him in his past life. It didn''t help that crushing his head won''t stop his regeneration at all. Only debilitating destruction could kill him, but he doesn''t have that kind of firepower to overwhelm the Hydra''s regeneration.


    "This isn''t working." Heined in the safe zone after another 10 runs of failure.


    He always sits and reviews his performance after each run. He would change his n after all variations of an attempt has failed.


    The runs usuallyst a minute at most because the fight is always fast-paced. It takes a minute for a head of ice to be created which means every minute of the fight leads to the creation of more heads that join the fight.


    "Cutting obviously isn''t working. Thrusting isn''t either. I need something else. What can the spear do?" He began to think.


    He doesn''t know much about the spear but he knows that it could cut, thrust, deflect, sweep, bash, and can be thrown. He was tempted a little to try other weapons but he squashed that thought. He is just too inexperienced with the spear. The best spear users he has seen only use the weapon as a channel to release their power.


    Still, he doesn''t want to dwell on his disadvantage with the spear. The challenge is also for those without awakened bloodlines and the ancestral memories thate with it. They too must find a way to pass through this choke point without any advantage but their hard work.


    If he were given a teacher, he was sure he would be able to figure out to use the weapon better. But the academy wants them to fumble about a bit to know what weapon suits them instead of having a weapon forced upon them. He had learned something that made the spear different from the dagger. The spear needed strength as well as agility to use it properly.


    "Deflecting and bashing it is then." He decided.


    He knows what deflecting means and what bashing means but he doesn''t know how each one will be effective against the head. He intends to use them in tandem or separately to see how it would work. He selected his spear again and went forth to meet the hydra.


    Deflect didn''t work. It didn''t work no matter how hard he tried. The head of the hydra is toorge and the attacks too powerful to be deflected effectively by the small de of the spear.


    "I doubt it is possible. But if it is possible, then my meager skills cannot achieve it." He said and sighed after another defeat. But he won''t give up until he has tried everything he could. He understood that he has room for failure now, so he is allowed to fail. Failure now means an opportunity to grow.


    So he tried bashing the heads of the hydra with the spearhead. Bashing on the other hand worked wonders. It was unrefined to use a spear like a club but it worked for him. He was able to knock the heads always when he used bashing with the coiling dragon technique.


    The possibility of passing through the choke point opened up as soon as he discovered something that worked against the hydra. He collected more information with 3 runs and refined his n which he executed on the fourth try.


    He stepped on the water rapidly as he approached the hydra. It hissed and roared defiantly at him. Then it attacked with one of its nine heads and a second one followed right behind the first. He treated the heads like projectiles which he bashed with his spear. He held the spear with both of his hands and swung the spear to hit the head with the t side of the de. He needed the coiling dragon technique for an effective bashing, which means his arms had to reset for a while before he could use them again. He could only use two charges of it because he had only two arms.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    So he began to use the coiling dragon technique to the fullest by using it only when needed and recharging it as soon as possible. He would dodge the first two heads, then bash the third head into the fourth one effectively disrupting two attacks with a single move.


    The Hydra cried in protest as two of its head smashed into each other. He would have loved to use a single bash to disrupt 3 heads, and he tried, but the power of his bash isn''t enough to affect more than two heads at a time. He is content with just two heads and made it work out for him. It is enough to give him some space to Dodge as many attacks as he can and also use the opportunity to recharge the coiling dragon technique.


    If he can''t, he will use his second charge to bash another head into the next one, this will give him time to recharge at least one more opportunity for the coiling dragon technique. If that still doesn''t give him enough time, he would use the striking viper technique to harness the rebound force from knocking off the heads to bash the next head. Using the rebound isn''t as effective as the coiling dragon technique as it can''t knock the head back enough to disrupt another head but it will buy him time to use something more effective.


    In summary, he alternated the use of bashing and dodging to resolve the attack of the hydra. It wasn''t easy to do considering that the entire fight is being carried out on the water.


    But he was finally able to seed in this run. The fightsted 21 seconds and he made it past the finish line onto the beach. The world around him changed and he was back in his training room. There was a screen waiting for him there. On it was a congrattory message and an evaluation of his performance. He had broken the previous records by 13 weeks.


    He felt a profound sense of fulfillment as he read his evaluation. He knew that he had made tangible progress on his path but he has to continue moving forward and making more progress so that the previous progress won''t be invalidated. He shook his head and left the training room. He met Wendy at the entrance.


    "Congrattions onpleting the final regimen of the physical techniques training. With this, you have gotten the final requirement to move on to the third stage of the training. You will have toplete the Spiritual technique training to acquire the second requirement. Shall we start or would you like to rest first?" Wendy asked. She was congratting him but her frozen face didn''t show any emotions.


    "Let''s start immediately." Soverick chuckled and answered.


    Wendy nodded. "Good then. Wait a moment."


    The tray in her hand disappeared with the five empty memory crystals. Then another tray reappeared in the palm of her hands. It could be the previous tray but it only had three memory crystals on it.


    "The Spiritual technique training is split into five regimens. You will learn to be proficient in Spell casting, Speed casting, Multi Casting, and Amplification Casting. Then you will have to ovee the Mind Pressure Challenge. It is rmended to take the regimen in the aforementioned order, but the choice is ultimately yours. What would you like to start with, Soverick?"


    Soverick chose to go ording to the rmended order. He was also not nning to pull his punches. He had held back in the spiritual preparatory stage but he didn''t want to do that now. He would rather move on to the next stage as quickly as possible so that he can finally learn more about the spear rather than y around with some mind games. His mind is much too powerful and his knowledge of spell craft cannot be rivaled by the battle academy at this stage. The family will no doubt have collected a lot of information about spellcraft but they will still be out of their depths.


    Spellcraft is the area of specialization of High elves while it is a side business for battle sage monkeys. Battle sage monkeys are majorly warriors. It is just that the distinction between warriors and mages bes blurred at the transcendent level because you have to have a strong body and a powerful mind just to have the opportunity to break through to that level.


    Spellcraft is an area of weakness for battle sage monkeys that they have decided to resolve through training but it is different for him. Soverick might fumble and flop with a spear but spell craft is one area that he cannot grow in because there''s nothing the academy can teach him.

 Chapter 153 Its A Boring Exam, Not Training.

    ?"Let''s get this over with." He thought to himself.


    Then he picked up the first memory crystal and digested the information within. It is actually a spell catalog with over a hundred different spells. Absorbing the catalog has made him learn over a hundred spells just like that.Not that he needed them, but it will be a proper cover for his future spell usage.


    In ancient times, people were killed for a single spell and they spend days and weeks trying to learn it. Spells are still rare outside families with a great heritage like the Ghastorix family but learning has be too easy.


    To the Ghastorix family, spells of this level, well any spell in general is worth less than the memory crystal that holds them. Spells start to be irrelevant at the transcendent level because they start to pursuews and spell matrixes instead. A family like the Ghastorix that only considers transcendents and those with the potential to reach it significantly, will not care about spells at all.


    But while spells are easy to acquire and even easier to learn, the need for proficiency still remains relevant. There are several areas of proficiency like casting speed, multicasting, amplified casting, dyed casting, silent casting, and many more, but the battle academy focuses on the first three. These three are the most important because they focus more on visualization.


    The proper casting regimen is all about practical spell casting. Learning spells is very easy, casting them is another thing entirely. Learning spells entails bing aware of the requirements in mana weaving and the variousponents of the spells. You also acquire the knowledge about the proper hand gestures and magical phrases that help with spell visualization. Casting spells requires you to use the information you have by carrying them out in order to cast the spell. Knowing about something doesn''t mean being able to do it.


    Soverick is required to cast 10 spells of choice out of the list of spells. The array within the training room will grade his performance until it reaches an eptable level of performance. A fireball spell has to be able to do a certain amount of damage instead of winking out, for it to be considered practical. Ideally, it takes a week of constant practice to get a spell to the level of practicality that is required to pass the challenge and that''s for bloodline geniuses.


    "Reminds me of when I was learning spells casting when I was younger." Soverick began to reminisce about his younger years. The high elves were in a period of peace by the time he was born. They had the realm lord and they didn''t want for anything. High elves were carefree and could train or not. Their bloodline will help them to grow powerful without much effort and the small effort they put in will have amplified effects because of their natural affinity.


    If their decadence had been allowed to continue, high elves will be toozy to do anything. It''s not their fault per se, they have just been highly influenced by their ancestor. The ancestors of high elves were trees and trees don''t like to move even if they are capable of it. They like to stay still and enjoy the wind blowing through their branches. They don''t have to work for their food either, there''s water and nutrients from the soil, and there''s energy giving sunlight every day. They can stay in a single spot all their lives since they want for nothing. High elves are much too alike to trees in that aspect. They can also be stubborn and tenacious, but they have to be forced or faced with the necessity for them to show that side of their personality.


    "That''s probably why the realm lord allowed demons to attack us asionally." He shook his head and began to concentrate on the matter at hand instead of thinking about his useless past.


    He selected 10 spells and spent one minute on each one of them for a total of 10 minutes. He thought it was ample enough time to tone down his ability. He spent 10 minutes on it while others spend 10 weeks. Then he moved on to the second regimen.


    The casting speed regimen entails learning spells and bing so proficient in them as to cast them in under a second. Anything over a second of casting time is considered sloppy. The spells are rudimentary for this stage because true spell casting begins at the mana entity stage. Only then is instant casting possible.


    "Too easy," Soverickmented.


    He needed to choose 10 spells of the 100 and perfect his understanding of them enough to cast them in less than a second.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Even though the spell has been learned, casting it isn''t easy. Spell casting at this stage is rigid. There are short phrases, hand gestures, and visualization required to cast spells. These rules have to be followed properly or the spell won''t be able to function.


    Using the spell Mana Shield as an example, it is a spell that takes 10 seconds to cast if the spell nuance is followed to the letter. An amateur will always be able to cast the spell as long as they follow the various steps. Better proficient casters will be able to skip some steps and have sess in casting it. Each step that is skipped will lead to a reduction in casting time but will also increase the difficulty of casting it sessfully. Experts will be able to cast it in a second by visualizing all the steps instead of actually performing them or performing some steps together by using mind division.


    In ancient times, bing an expert is something that takes years of effort, study, and practice but thanks to the intellectual advantage of bloodlines, that time has been cut down significantly. Nowadays, the journey from amateur to expert can take weeks of dedicated effort depending on elemental and spiritual talent. That''s if they focus on a single spell and seed in it.


    Sometimes the trainees might fail in bing proficient in a spell or give up. Then start another spell, they have many options to choose from. And that''s for a single spell. There are still nine more spells to be an expert in.


    Soverick didn''t need weeks or months. It took him less than five minutes topletely relearn the spells and be an expert in them. He cast all of them silently, without words or gestures, and even then he still held back a little.


    He didn''t even pay attention to Wendy as she congratted him. He didn''t care about the record and she wasn''t truly impressed by it either. She can''t feel anything and is just going through the motions. In a way, her presence was soothing to Soverick.


    He picked the next memory crystal and went back to train. The next regimen is multi-casting. The memory crystal contained visualization techniques to perform it. It can only be performed by experts, they are already well versed in the art of visualization. That''s why 4 of the 10 spells that the trainee has chosen will have to be cast simultaneously to pass this regimen.


    Multi casting is the benchmark of a master mage. A master mage must be able to use mind division and impable visualization to cast spells simultaneously. Casting two spells at the same time is the lowest requirement and each subsequent addition bes more difficult to achieve. To cast four at a time is a feat that would have been considered impossible in ancient times.


    While it is possible today, some spells cannot be cast together. These spells will interfere with one another even though the mind has been divided. Water whip and fireball cannot be multicasted. It is a matter of elemental opposition. The earthen shield and water whip cannot be cast together because of visualization problems. Earthen shield and mana shield are verypatible, mana shield and water whip arepatible, but the three of them cannot be cast together. Fireball isn''tpatible with the earthen shield, but it can be cast together with the mana shield if the mana shield is used as a buffer. These are just a select few situations that only experience in multicasting can acquire.


    This will require the trainee to fumble in the dark a bit because they aren''t informed of which arepatible or not. They will have to discover these peculiar phenomenons between spells on their own and probably return to their list of 100 spells to learn more in hopes of findingpatible ones.


    This will make them experts in more than 20 spells and maybe up to 60 if they are unlucky in finding fourpatible ones. This will turn their weeks of training into months and maybe years. It all depends on their talent. Soverick finished it in 4 minutes. He chose water whip, air bust, wind cyclone, and ice shards, then he dedicated a minute to each of them.


    "That''s the highest time I can go." He grumbled.


    He couldn''t wait for this experience to be over. It wasn''t training to him, more like an examination he has to pass before he is allowed to be promoted. He just wanted it to be over with as soon as possible.

 Chapter 154 Finally Done With The Second Stage Of Training.

    ?Then he moved on to amplification casting. The art of casting multiple spells and linking them so that act on another and create an amplification effect. It can be within the same spell which is easier or between different spells which is more difficult.


    Fireballs can be amplified by air gusts or wind cyclones. It can also be amplified by another fireball spell. The more simr spellsbine, the more unstable the spell bes, but it is still easier to amplify a spell with another exact one than a different spell.


    It is worthy to note that some spells that can''t be multi-casted can be used in a delicatebination to amplify each other. They can''t be savages at the same time but they can be cast one after the other to amplify their effects. It''s all about timing and coordination.


    He is required to chain four spells together to pass amplified casting. This usually takes months for the challengers to determine a properbination and to actually execute it. He simply recycled the four spells he used for multi-casting. Theirbination created a small cyclone of deadly ice and shale which took him a minute to aplish. He moved on after that.


    He began thest regimen with the least enthusiasm. He just wasn''t feeling pumped up by the challenges. The Mind pressure regimen requires him to perform some straining physical acts while being under a constant spiritual attack. The physical acts require finesse, such as running on water and bnce challenges, but the Spiritual attack will make it highly difficult to concentrate.


    It is supposed to help the challengers developpetent spiritual resistance and strong mental defenses. Their ability to focus and concentrate will also receive a boost through the exercise. Soverick could never receive a boost from something like this. Even transcendents cannot receive a boost from it much less the soul of an Origin god. He simply went through the motions and called it a day.


    "I am finally done," Soverick said as he closed the training room behind him.


    "Yes, you are. You havepleted the required regimen to move on to the next stage. Your performance has broken all rules and conventions. It seemed to me that the Spiritual techniques training wasn''t a challenge to you. So I hope you will find a challenge in youring days." Wendy said.


    "Thank you. That''s a nice thing to say. I guess I''ll see you around."


    "I doubt that. My job is done with you. But anything can happen. Goodbye." The golem said then walked away.


    Soverick decided to see his siblings before moving to his next training stage. He isn''t visiting them to alleviate his boredom but to check up on them. He might not see them again until he finishes his next stage if he doesn''t check up on them now. Mih will appreciate the effort and he can always use the fact that he checked up on her children against her in the future. He will save it up and use it to win himself some benefits from her.


    He went straight for Litori''s room but no one was around. Ghaster wasn''t around either. He decided to check up on them in the preparatory training room. It was then that he noticed some people running in a certain direction on his way to the preparatory training room.


    He isn''t one to go along with public currents but he was intrigued. These people must be attracted by something which caused them to gravitate toward a single direction. In a ce like this without any form of entertainment, something like this might interest him too. So he went in the direction that everyone was moving in.


    He came upon arge crowd of about a thousand people in arge room. He was surprised because he didn''t know that there were this many people in the academy. The room resembled a colosseum with seats surrounding a raised tform that appears to be a fighting ring.


    "It is an arena. Why have I never heard about it?"


    He sat at the edge of the arena, a position that is almost 100 meters from the fighting ring. His eyesight is good enough to see clearly what''s going on at the center of the arena. His hearing is also good enough to pick out little bits of information from the cacophony.


    The ability tomunicate with divine sense didn''t curb their enthusiasm to shout and cheer. The range of the divine sense is very short at this stage of refinement while sound waves can travel farther. There are some things that are better said with the mouth rather than the divine sense.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    From what he could gather, this event is a rare urrence. The arena can only be opened by someone in the third stage of training, which soverick has just qualified for. The stage is called the fighting proficiency stage.


    The trainees at this stage challenge one another and they use this arena for fighting. Their challenges happen a few times In a month and only on such urrence can these people entertain themselves a little. It is why more and more people wereing into the arena to watch the fight. He also heard talk about a blue battle sage monkey boy that has been getting trashed here for the past few months. He suspected that they are talking about Ghaster.


    He focused on the ongoing match. There were two battle sage monkeys in the ring duking it out. One of them had blue fur and was wearing a light battle attire that is more of straps than defensive wear. His opponent is another battle sage monkey dressed in a red robe that matched his fur. The opponent had long fur on its head that did nothing to help Soverick in determining their sex.


    If there was a way to determine sex among battle sage monkeys, then Soverick doesn''t know it. Sex difference begins to disappear in most races when they reach the transcendent level. That is also the lowest level necessary for a bloodline.


    Transcendents can change how they look, their height, weight, and muscle mass easily as long as they have enough energy. This change is temporary but it bes permanent by the time an organism reaches the origin god level. Only if a race''s divine ability is linked to their sex do sex differences prevail.


    The refinement process affects different races in different ways. One of its effects is physical features. The original variant of battle Sage monkeys only develop visible female features such as mammary nds when they are pregnant. At any other time, you won''t be able to tell a male apart from a female unless you check their genitalia.


    He only knew that Ka is a female because Ghoto told him. Mih didn''t even exhibit any physical changes when she was pregnant apart from a swollen stomach. Thankfully, she had evolved to a stage where her babies did not need more from her in order to survive. Or else they would have starved to death as babies because their Mon wasn''t producing milk.


    So Soverick can''t tell battle sage monkeys different sex apart but he doesn''t care. Sex hardly matters in this society. It certainly doesn''t when you be an Origin god.


    The blue fur warrior held an ax in both hands and he fought with wild abandon. He was a hurricane of movement. He attacked in a flurry of strikes with each arm always moving in tandem. But he always missed. Most of his strikes impact the ground instead of his opponent. The ground would crack with the force of his blows but would then heal up. The fighting ring had been enchanted with self-healing properties.


    His opponent with the long curly red fur wielded a single de which he used to great effect to resolve the enemy''s attacks. Unlike the blue warrior that was moving with the momentum of a storm, the red warrior was calm and precise. But there was the strength behind each of his de strikes, enough to block the ax in a direct blow.


    They crossed weapons many times in a shower of sparks. The blue warrior was aggressive in his stance and his actions. He pressured the red one again and again. The red one gave up ground but always managed to escape unscathed.The red warrior dodged what blows he could dodge and parried what he couldn''t.


    They fought to the wild cheers of the audience. The audience whistled and shouted. The arena was filled with the infectious excitement of violence. Those in the audience probably have a lot of pent-up emotions due to frustrating training regimens.


    Soverick found it all amusing.


    "This isn''t so bad."


    The fight is an outlet for those pent-up emotions. He knows how frustrating the Obstacle Course was for him, so these people needed the outlet more than him. Anyone will be frustrated by the lightening fast attack of the titan frogs.

 Chapter 155 Bloodline Rivalry.

    ?The fight was exciting and the crowd loved it but Soverick was bored quickly. He could already guess who would win. The blue warrior is undoubtedly strong and full of energy but most of his power is being wasted in the fight. He is fast but his opponent is able to weave through the barrage of ax strikes with a calm that is rare for someone with an affinity to fire. Instead, the explosiveness that is expected of their behavior is concentrated within the de strikes of the red warrior.


    "He is ying with him." Soverick shook his head.


    There were many asions where the red-furred warrior could have dispatched the blue one but he held back. It is probably due to caution or a decision to tire out the other. He doubted it is because of ineptness since the red fur warrior has shown impable judgment during the fight in disabling attacks with minimal effort. It might be risky but he could slip that de of his behind the guard of the ax wielder. Still, the red warrior was holding back.


    The fight was entertaining to watch even though he already knew the oue of the fight. The two of them are better warriors than him, but he would still beat them. They weren''t fighting with spells at all, which is his forte. He would blow them away with spells.


    The trainees might have learned how to use spells but they favor physical weapons more. There are two major reasons for it this preference. While physical fighting requires stamina, and spells require spiritual energy, both of them require concentration. Spell casting and moving the body are very difficult to achieve at this stage.


    Concentration is a limited resource that can not be spent on both options at the same, at this stage of refinement. The other reason is casting time. One second is too long to be casting a spell while you''re still. Fighters at this stage can move at a top speed upwards of 150m/s. It might take a while for them to elerate to that point, but their eleration is enough to dodge whatever you throw at them easily and their momentum is enough to break defenses with a single hit. This disparity isn''t the case in all races, but battle sage monkeys have an advantage in physicalbat.


    Things will change when they be mana entities. At that stage, an individual archives a unification with mana like no other. They breathe in mana and mana flows within their veins. The strength of spells will skyrocket and the casting time can be instantaneous. It bes a necessity to be familiar with spells at that point.


    A lesser reason why they don''t focus on both is time and effort. Focus on both spells and physical might will mean less time spent on each for training and honing. Spell crafting requires time and practice to be an expert in the spells, it also needs constant meditation to increase Soul power.


    Soverick isn''t gued by these inadequacies. He has enough concentration to movews, casting spells and moving is nothing but peanuts to him. He doesn''t need to practice spells either and his soul power is notcking. It is the opposite, he is trying to tamp down on his soul to let his body keep up.


    The red warrior won just like Soverick suspected. The crowd cheered while some booed. The noise increased to another level as the red-furred warrior held his de to the neck of the kneeling blue warrior. He had finally beaten the blue warrior. The red waited for his opponent to be tired and sloppy before he went on the attack. His attacks were swift and precise as his defense. He didn''t waste time in disabling the arms of his opponent with explosive de strikes.


    They were both panting from the exertion but the blur warrior was visibly weaker than the other. His arms were dangling powerless at his side. They had a deep cut that reached the bone on each of them and blood was leaking uncontrobly. He wasn''t in danger of dying but he will be weakened for a while until he heals. The red warrior was panting after that burst of exertion.


    "Hmm, seems he has poor stamina so he was waiting for the right time." Soverick finally understood why the red warrior was holding back.


    The red warrior spoke. "You have been bested again by me. This is your fifth loss against me. Concede and admit that my bloodline is superior to yours."


    Soverick rolled his eyes. "It''s a bloodline rivalry. I thought it was something serious."


    The blur fur warrior looked like he would swallow his feces rather than admit the inferiority of his bloodline.


    He shouted with what little energy he had and said, "Never. I''ll never admit such a thing. It is an absurdity and I''ll rather die than let such dishonor to my bloodline be allowed."


    Other simrly blue-furred battle sage monkeys stood out of the crowd to cheer his bravery. Some red-furred ones also stood up in support of the other. These people don''t have the same parents but the bond of their bloodline has brought them closer more than having the same parents could. It has also made them acquire lifetime rivals.


    Red fur raised his hand to silence the crowd. Then he said, "How much loss will you receive before you admit your inferiority?"


    The blue warrior snorted. "What inferiority? For generations, my bloodline has triumphed over yours. You just got lucky enough to beat me. Your small victory cannot turn the tide in your favor. It only proved that poor people can have their lucky days too."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The red warrior got angry at that, then he kicked the struggling blue warrior in the side of the head, knocking him out. It is one thing to refuse to admit inferiority but to call your superior a lucky poor person is something else. Then the red warrior left the fighting ring and the arena. Some people went to check up on the blue warrior while most others started leaving.


    Soverick remained in his seat and watched while people left the arena. There is only one exit and he is hoping to find his siblings by watching it. He should be able to spot them unless they didn''te here to watch the fight. People threw him odd looks as they passed by him. It was probably about his fur but he didn''t care about their opinion of him so he maintained his vigil instead.


    He spotted Ghaster talking to another battle sage that wasn''t Litori. They seem to be arguing about something. Ghaster was so engrossed in it that he didn''t notice Soverick. He didn''t notice that there was an odd golden fur battle sage monkey with multicolored eyes sitting by the entrance. Soverick reached out with his divine sense and tugged mentally at Ghaster.


    Ghaster immediately turned to him. "Eldest, it is a nice surprise. What are you doing here?"


    Soverick noticed that Ghaster''s body was full of vitality. His cell activity was as high as the time Soverick was trying to form his vitality core. The weird part is that Ghaster already has a vitality core. So all that extra vitality is just sitting around doing nothing. Soverick could already guess what was going on with Ghaster but he ignored it.


    "Came to watch the match and hoped to find you," Soverick answered.


    The one that Ghaster was arguing with noticed that Ghaster was paying attention to someone else. He also noticed Soverick and he began to examine him. Then he said to Soverick, "Freak, are you rted to this loser in any way?"


    Soverick''s expression didn''t change at all and he didn''t spare this guy his attention. He could be polite if he wanted to, but he certainly won''t be polite to a brat that doesn''t know what''s good for him.


    "Where is Litori?" He asked Ghaster.


    Ghaster scratched his head in annoyance before answering. "She is in the training room."


    Soverick stood up. "That is good. Are you done here? I was hoping to hear how well you''re doing before I be engrossed in training."


    "I''m almost done."


    The third wheel finally couldn''t take it anymore. His breathing increased but he didn''tsh out. "I see. You have chosen to ignore me. I must not be worth your attention. I will change that when you reach the fighting proficiency stage. True warriors talk with their fists anyway. Consider it your luck that you missed me if I graduate before you can reach that stage. But if you''re so unlucky as to meet me there, then I''ll repay this humiliation by many folds. Good day." He said while fuming. Then he left immediately.


    Soverick finally spared the guy a nce. "Who is he?" He asked Ghaster as they left the arena too.


    Ghaster deliberated before answering. "It''s a she. Her name is Viki. I wanted to fight her and was hoping to arrange it."


    Soverick coughed. "She''s female? Is she the same one that has been beating you or another one?"


    Ghaster blushed. "You heard about that huh."


    Soverick nodded. "Everyone was talking about it. I heard the fights were sensational."

 Chapter 156 Unwilling To Admit Defeat.

    ?Ghaster sighed. "So everyone is talking about the beatings I received."


    "That''s safe to say. I mean, if I found out about it then it should bemonce by now."


    Ghaster shook his head. "But she is refusing to fight me now. Viki has been promoted to the fighting proficiency stage recently. Maybe the notoriety of our fights is why she is refusing my challenge. She said that I am not a challenge to her now and I was never one. The only thing that has changed is that I''ll make her rusty by indulging in my interest in masochistic self-abuse. She said while it was fun to release her tension by beating me up, it must note in the way of her martial pursuit."


    "Then she isn''t bad. She has a good grasp of her goals and what''s of importance to her. She isn''t hotheaded like you. I hope you learned that much from her."


    Soverick was impressed by her bearing. She might not be able to control her mouth and had called him a freak, but she held herself well when he ignored her. She had self-control and obviously cared more about power than social niceties.


    Plus she has been tutoring his younger brother, which made him have a favorable opinion of her. Besides, she wasn''t wrong. He is a freak. She just might not know how much of a freak he is. But that might change in the future when he joins the third stage.


    Ghasterughed. "I''m d that you are not angry that she beat up your brother."


    Soverick ignored the sarcasm. "You''re wee."


    Ghaster shook his head. "It seems your training hasn''t changed you. You are still the same obnoxious person I know. That''s good. I heard that the second stage has a way of breaking people mentally and emotionally, more than the physical aspect."


    Soverick waved his hand dismissively. "It was a little frustrating at times but I overcame it."


    Ghaster blinked. "You have finished the second stage?"


    "I just did."


    Ghaster blinked "You what? Are you joking? You began the second stage less than two months ago. I heard it takes years. Viki spent 11 years at the second stage."


    Soverick shrugged. "That''s Viki. I''m not Viki. Don''tpare me with others and don''t try topare yourself to me. I am beyondpare at this level and I will be beyondpare beyond it too."


    "How is that even possible? You spent less time on it than the preparatory stage." Ghaster was still in disbelief.


    While Soverick was unconcerned. "That''s for you to figure out. Let''s talk about why you like getting beaten up so much. Do you like it?"


    Ghaster had stopped walking forward. He was quiet and trembling a little.


    Soverick called back to him when he noticed his odd behavior. "Hey, Ghaster, what''s happening to you?"


    "I was getting beaten so that I could catch up to you. It turns out that I was wasting my time. Here I am, still fooling around in the preparatory stage while you''re about to start the fighting proficiency stage. I thought fighting Viki will give me an edge over you since I thought you were still grinding in the techniques stage. I was wrong. You will probably leave me behind here."


    "Really, are you jealous?"


    "I am not jealous. I just cannot admit defeat. I must not admit defeat."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ghaster reminded soverick of the two battle sage monkeys that just fought in the arena. They were also bogged down by what Soverick considers irrelevant.


    "Stop being so dramatic. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. Everyone has different talents and abilities."


    Ghaster screamed, "But it''s not fair."


    Soverick snickered. "Of course, it''s not fair. Life isn''t fair. Stop thinking like a moron. You have the help of Hadrick don''t you? He supplies you with life force. That''s why you are full of vitality and I know what you intend to do with it. You want Viki to beat you up while you''re in this state so that your vitality can heal you up and strengthen you. Is it taking a shortcut or cheating? Who else has a reservoir of life force at their beck and call that they can use to strengthen themselves instead of exercising? Is it fair that you have that advantage?"


    Soverick had tried to get a supply of life force from Hadrick but Hadrick had refused until he threatened him with Ghaster. Yet, Ghaster gets to simply ask and get as much life force as he wants. Just because his ancestor had a close rtionship with Hadrick.


    "It''s not cheating. I work hard for what I have. The life force is an advantage I got due to the hard work of my ancestor. It is my inheritance." Ghaster maintained.


    "Who says that I don''t work hard for what I have? Your bloodline is your inheritance. That life force is preferential treatment. Not everyone has a royal bloodline like yours that gives them an advantage in elemental affinity and everything. Did you work hard for your bloodline? No. Whenst did you train your vitality core? Those without a bloodline have to work hard to increase the conversion of their vitality core and they might still fail to be mana entities. You don''t need to train your vitality core and you make progress every day. Your bloodline is a cheat, an unfair advantage. Everyone with a bloodline is cheating. People aren''t born equal. Life isn''t fair." Soverick''s voice had be mocking by the time he finished his tirade.


    "Then what about you? What is your cheat? Why are you so great? I can''t catch up to you even with my ''preferential treatment.'' Why am Ickingpared to you?"


    Soverick spoke proudly. "I worked hard to reach where I am today. I am the first of my kind. I am withoutpare and I can not bepared to anyone. That is why I am so great."


    Ghaster red at him and said, "One day, I''ll rise above you and I''ll trample you."


    Soverick retorted. "One day, I''ll rise above the world and I''ll trample the strongest beneath my feet. Everything that stands in my path will be crushed. Good luck in your endeavor and be careful not to be crushed."


    Ghaster watched as Soverick turned and left. He watched him with unyielding eyes. The same as the ones that the Ghastorix ancestor used as he watched the better warriors. Ghastorix was born weak and so couldn''t get ess to Origin waters or good trees. And yet he didn''t ept defeat. He continued to work hard and fortune smiled on him when he met Hadrick. Things changed then. Ghastorix''s hard work when paired with Hadrick''s assistance bore a bountiful harvest. Ghastorix achieved greatness and strength.


    Then Hadrick was about to die and Ghastorix didn''t concede to fate. He left for the ancient battlefield where he fought and nearly died several times. He was strong but there were stronger people from all races on the ancient battlefield. He was beaten, broken, and defeated. And yet he didn''t ept defeat.


    He trained and became better. He went to the tower of heaven and fought with his life on the line. He returned triumphantly but it was toote. And yet he didn''t ept defeat.


    Ghastorix sacrificed everything to save his friend, including the prize he won with his life in a gamble. Then he stood guard as the very heavens were determined to end his friend. Day in and day out he suffered under the barrage of lightning strikes. His body and mind were wreaked with pain and he was almost broken. And yet he didn''t ept defeat.


    He stood back up every time he was sent to the ground and fought harder. He fought harder and became stronger for it. Heprehended thew of lightning and lightning could no longer harm him. But the heavens increased its punishment and aimed for total destruction. For years and years, he suffered as he was pummeled with destruction. This time, he was broken in body and soul. And yet he didn''t ept defeat. His willpower helped him to remain conscious and he finallyprehended thew of destruction.


    The Ghastorix ancestor never epted defeat. Some might say it doesn''t matter, that it doesn''t change the fact that he was defeated. That he is being stubborn and unreasonable. That his stubbornness does change the fact that he was defeated numerous times and trampled upon. But he doesn''t need to be reasonable because lightning and destruction are not reasonable.


    If he were not stubborn and unyielding, he would have stayed down after being trampled. The numerous people who looked down on the defeated figure of Ghastorix and disdained to kill him wouldn''t have regretted that decision.


    Lightning and destruction ignored his pleas, supplication, and suffering, they were stubborn and unreasonable. So he learned to ignore all else and be stubborn. That''s how he became the first in the line of Punishment Lightning and Destruction Royal Bloodline.

 Chapter 157 Determination.

    ?Ghaster has the bloodline of Punishment Lightning and Destruction. With it came the resolution to ignore all else and be stubborn. He will be damned if he ever epts defeat. His eyes zed with the fire of determination.


    He repeated the promise he made to his eldest.


    "One day, I''ll rise above you and I''ll trample on you."


    Then he left to forge his path while Soverick went to find Litori.


    Soverick''s meeting with Ghaster was less than pleasant but he still wants toplete this small errand, especially since it will have a bigger return when used against Mih.


    He went straight to the training room and found her exercising. She was focused more on physical training because that''s the area she iscking at. She has her advantage in the mind and focuses on the body, while Ghaster has an advantage in the body but chose to focus on his body.


    He approved of Litori''s decision more than Ghaster''s. She is trying to fix her weakness while Ghaster is focusing on his strength. Each decision has its advantages and disadvantages but Litori has only her bloodline to help her, Ghaster also has an endless supply of life force.


    Life force is precious and still useful up to the level of transcendent. And yet, Ghaster isining about something else. Such is the greed for power. It can never be enough. People pursue power for different reasons. For Ghaster, it is the need toe out victorious against all adversaries.


    He was easily noticed when he entered the training room. His fur makes him stand out too much. Litori saw him and came over a few minutester.


    She waved to him. "Hey, Eldest. How have you been?"


    "I''ve been fine. I came to check up on you. How is your progress in training?" Soverick replied.


    "Did youe to check in on us so that you can get something from Mom?"


    Soverick grinned. "I admit nothing."


    Litoriughed. "That''s so like you. You don''t do anything without a purpose and that purpose must be beneficial to you."


    "That''s a baseless usation."


    Litoriughed harder. "I understand and don''t hold it against you. It is who you are. I must say that your visit is appreciated regardless of the reason. I have been fine but the progress has been slow. Our bloodline is only focused on the quality but not the quantity of our life''s order. We have to improve the quantity ourselves and it is not easy going. I am making less and less progress the harder I work. It has been 5 months already since we started the academy and at this rate, I''ll not be done with the preparatory stage until a year as passed. It is so frustrating."


    Soverick listened as Litoriined about her training. She had been pushing herself both for the physical and the spiritual preparatory stage. Hepared how well she might fare in the second stage. Ghaster and her might not have a definite advantage over each other right now, but things will change in the second stage. Ghaster will have the advantage in willpower and determination but it won''t be able to stand up to Litori''s analytical mind.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Physical training needs as much Mental acumen as physical prowess. It is about the perfect control of the resources of the body and the ability to adapt to unfavorable conditions. To adapt, one needs to have an open mind. It is something that Ghaster is definitelycking. Litori on the other hand will be able to make the necessary adjustments needed to ovee the challenges. The physical techniques stage aims to break bad habits and learn better ones. If Ghaster is too stubborn to break his habits, how does he hope to learn? No matter the oue of the second stage, Soverick is sure that it will have a much greater impact on Ghaster.


    Soverick listened to her talk for over an hour. He gave her some advice here and there but it was mostly Litori doing the talking. He excused himself a whileter to start his third stage. He didn''t tell her about his progress so she assumed he was still challenging the second. She was sure to find out if she talks to Ghaster or when he fights in the arena, but he doesn''t care about what are reaction could be. He had no obligation to inform her of his progress and her thoughts about it is her business.


    ''No one can say I never tried. I visited them twice in less than 6 months. That''s a pretty high frequency. Time to train" He thought in satisfaction.


    He had spent more than 2 hours on his visits to them, enough time for him to finish some challenges. So it can be considered a lot of effort and time. Now that he has fulfilled his so-called duty as the eldest, he could concentrate on what he wants to do.


    He followed the direction of his vision to a different part of the academy. There was almost no difference in the environment, the academy is all doors and hallways. But he could tell that this area is different because of the leftover aura of strong people. These auras indicated that this area of the academy is frequented by people that are at least transcendents.


    He reached another door that looked simr to the others and swiped his wrist logger against it. The door beeped and he was informed to wait for permission. The room behind the door doesn''t belong to him but to his new teacher. This person will teach him how to fight with a spear for the next period of his training. He didn''t have to wait for long. The door turned green, so he opened it and entered.


    He entered arge rectangr room with several doors that led to ces currently unknown. There was a battle sage monkey in the center of the room. This battle sage monkey, male or female, had a yellow fur that paled in glory whenpared to Soverick''s golden fur. The thing that garnered Soverick''s attention is that the battle sage monkey was somehow resting with its tail as support. The legs were folded and the battle sage monkey was meditating. The tail wasn''t standing on the ground, it was standing on the butt of a vertical but inverted spear. The spear was standing with the sharp tip of its de touching the ground.


    Soverick could sense that this battle sage was somehow bncing its entire weight on his tail and the spear beneath it. There was no other force apart from the energy that is coating the de preventing it from stabbing into the ground. He knew the principle of bnce and what is necessary for it but he couldn''t figure out how to make his center of bnce align with his tail and the spear enough to attain such a feat.


    ''It probably has something to do with world harmonization.'' he mused.


    He had many guesses as to how it was achieved and was content in trying to parse it out when his new teacher didn''t acknowledge his presence. The battle sage monkey knew he was here, it gave Soverick permission to enter. So for him to enter and yet be ignored is a game that two can y.


    ''Challenge epted. Let''s see who''s patience breaks first.'' Soverick thought to himself.


    It isn''t odd for teachers to test their students during their first meeting. The result of the test usually determines if the teacher will take on the student. So this scenario wasn''t odd to Soverick. He wished they could get it over with. He is also determined to foil this teacher''s n, whatever it is.


    He had acquired a new perspective on life after facing and oveing the challenges of the training regimen. It became solidified after interacting with his siblings. He had decided to embrace his weakness and try to ovee them like Litori. That''s what made him reincarnate. He found himself wanting and he decided to change it.


    He had to be greater than he was to challenge conventions and ovee them. To be victorious against obstacles instead of being like Ghaster. Even though it is nice to bounce back after a defeat, it is better to never experience it. You will grow stronger on the spoils of war faster than the dregs of defeat. It is best not to experience a defeat because it might mean your end.


    Soverick experienced defeat a lot in his past, but he remained alive because he could outlive his enemies, run away quickly and hide very well. But he realized that it wasn''t enough to achieve excellence. So he set out to achieve perfection.


    Ghaster may have determination but who doesn''t? Determination can always be used to pursue victory and not only to return from defeat. Just like right now, Soverick is determined to one-up this teacher of his in a battle of patience.

 Chapter 158 Suspicious Behaviour.

    ?The mockpetition didn''tst long. His teacher extended his divine sense and reached out to Soverick''s mind with a mental construct formunication.


    "Can you stand on one foot?" His new teacher asked.


    "Yes," Soverick answered. He felt a small joy at haven won the test of patience.


    "Can you stand on one hand?"


    "Yes"


    "Can you stand on a single finger"


    "Probably. Yes." He never tried it before but he was sure he could do it after some rounds of failure. His teacher continued to ask his questions.


    "Can you bnce on your spear?"


    "No."


    "Why can''t you?"


    Soverick resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He answered. "It is because it is not a part of my body. I can not control it as easily as I can my body."


    But he held back the part that only a transcendent can have the control needed to stand on their tail at all. It is something impossible to achieve for those beneath without resorting to cheating.


    The battles sage monkey smiled. "You are smart. Insightful and also patient. I am SQUARESKULL, and I am to be your teacher in the beginning arts of the spear, your chosen weapon. Is it not?"


    "Yes, it is."


    "Good. I have received an evaluation of your performance in the preparatory stage and the techniques stage. Your performance is beyond extraordinary. It is an understatement to call you an unprecedented genius. I am sure you have pride in your talents. Do not let pride be your downfall."


    ''You don''t need to tell me all this nonsense. Just do your job and teach me about the spear.'' Soverick grumbled inwardly, but smiled at his teacher and said. "You don''t have to worry about that, teacher SQUARESKULL. I am an impable student above all else. Learning is my talent."


    "Is that so? Then I''ll tell you what to aim for. We will talk about the spear while your seniors are on their way. It is tradition to meet and greet the neer."


    "They don''t need toe." Soverick interrupted.


    SQUARESKULL''s brows furrowed. He asked. "Why not?"


    "I don''t need neither do I want their presence here. I also will not drop whatever I am doing toe and visit a neer in the future. I don''t care about such things."


    SQUARESKULL stared at him as if to bore a hole into Soverick with his sight. Then he began to talk slowly. "I see. I understand your choice. You do not care about the frivolities of the world and only your strength matters. It is a good outlook, I''m sure. It is also probably why you don''t respect me or fear me. You didn''t call me Master. You used the word teacher. Do you not think I am worthy of such a title? Am I not worthy of being your Master?"


    Soverick remained silent. What could he say? That SQUARESKULL was right or he was wrong? He was right, but Soverick won''t admit that. Lying would also be a disrespect to both of them, so he kept quiet and continued staring back at SQUARESKULL, totally unfazed.


    "You have nothing to say?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick remained quiet.


    SQUARESKULL nodded grimly. "I admire you, do you know that? Brave and upromising. You have the features of a true Spearman. But you have an innate arrogance about you. It is as if you look down on the entire world. I understand that your bloodline and the sess you have enjoyed in your life have buoyed your confidence. How old are you now? Less than two years old and yet you havee this far. You have so much ahead of you. Arrogance is pride without sufficient strength to back it up. Here you stand before a transcendent and you remain proud. Do you have the strength to back up your pride? I am sure you will be a great battle sage, but do not let your arrogance cut off your future path short."


    Soverick wasn''t going to argue with this grown-up child that will be his teacher. He should be the one telling his teacher not to be arrogant in front of him, but he smiled and said, "You are right, teacher SQUARESKULL."


    SQUARESKULL sighed. "This is a waste of our time. Have it your way. I have informed your seniors that they need note. But some of them remain on their way."


    Soverick shrugged. He had said his piece. He would do what he said and others can do whatever they want. He doesn''t care. He just wants to learn the spear.


    "I can see your yearning for the spear and yet you do not hurry me. You have more self-control than I thought."


    SQUARESKULL stopped speaking and continued to watch soverick in silence. It was like he wanted topete with Soverick in patience. Soverick continued to watch his teacher silently. They continued to wait until the door to the room opened and a battle sage monkey entered.


    The neer nced at soverick, he lifted an eyebrow in surprise but said nothing. He was carrying a spear which he ced on hisp as he sat down. Then he joined the duo in silence. More people entered for a total of five. They were now seven battle sage monkeys in the room sitting or standing in silence.


    "Now that everyone is here, I''ll start the tradition. First will be the introduction." SQUARESKULL spoke while staring intently at Soverick. It was more of a look of Challenge rather than a look of curiosity. As if he wanted to get a rise in Soverick''s emotions.


    Soverick began to suspect that his new teacher was out to get him or maybe haze him. He wasn''t a child that could be riled up easily. He could and would maintain his cool no matter what this is. For now.


    He barely listened to what the other five were saying but he noted down the most important things. Everything they said can be summarised into First Senior, SYNCLAIR, 44th year with a ranking of 231. Second Senior, SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON, 38th year, ranking=364. Third Senior, NARGOTHROND, 34th year, ranking=527. Fourth Senior, NOBELLES, 29th year, ranking=607. Fifth Senior, JUST EVILNESS, 24th year, ranking=781.


    He got the main points of their introduction which was their seniority, name, the amount of time they have spent in the academy, and their student ranking. They said more but only those were important enough for him to take note of. The five of them became silent after their introduction. Then the room plunged into silence for a while.


    SQUARESKULL only started to talk ten minutester. "We will move on since that is over. Next, I''ll talk about what you have to aim for in the academy and how to aplish it with your martial pursuit."


    Then he went silent again. This time the period of silence extended for 20 minutes before SQUARESKULL broke it.


    "As you might have guessed, there is a ranking system in the 3rd stage. There are about a thousand students in the third stage and they engage in a tournament of sorts to determine their ranking. There are four major rules that determine how the challenges are done. For the first rule, you can only challenge someone that''s within 50 positions from yours on the ranking. For the second, you can challenge as many people as you want but it is up to them to ept or not. For the third rule, you must ept at least a single challenge once a month. The fourth rule states that you cannot skip milestone fights."


    Another silence ensued for 5 minutes.


    "Milestone fights are fights that must ur when you try to move from one tier to another. Each tier isposed of 100 ranks. There are 14 milestone fights in total. They are at the zilch, 10th, 20th, 50th, 100th, 200th, 300th, 400th, 500th, 600th, 700th, 800th, 900th 1000th positions. That means you must pass the milestone fights to move from the 401st position to the 399th one. The 400th position is where you stay if you pass the milestone fight. The milestone positions are the only position that can be held by more than one person. You fight against puppets with an increasing level of skill and power in the milestone fights.


    Another silence for 10 minutes.


    "There are only two ways to graduate from the academy. You must eitherplete 12 of the milestone fights or get a certification from your teacher. It is not a must to graduate. You can always choose to drop out and go home. But your graduation will guarantee you a spot in the Tertiary Level of the academy, the mana entity stage. The Zilch milestone fight is optional and it is set up with the power and the skill of thest person to beat it. So it has increased in difficulty over the years. Only the best of the best can beat it."


    Then SQUARESKULL took another one of the long breaks of silence that he takes during his talk.


    If Soverick suspected that he was being messed with before, now he is very sure. Either SQUARESKULL was taking these periods of silence to rx his throat or he was pushing Soverick to get angry.


    The first option is highly unlikely because there''s no way a transcendent will have a sore throat. Plus there''s no way anyone will have a sore throat if they weremunicating with their divine sense. So his teacher, for one reason or the other, must be out to get him.

 Chapter 159 Spear Mastery.

    ?There was another silence for 2 minutes.


    "I will say now that I will not give you this certification unless I truly approve of you. I have a limited slot of such certification I can endorse. You can get more information about the rankings and the milestone fights from your seniors. You can also chose to change your teacher. The request can be done at anytime. Do you wish to change your teacher now so that I don''t have to waste my time?" His teacher asked.


    SAUARESKULL''s eyes had been on him the entire time, through his talks and during his silence. His mild eyes were always locked onto Soverick. As if daring him to make a move. Now SQUARESKULL was asking him if he wanted a recement. So yes, it is safe to say, without a doubt, that Karak is messing with him. He wanted Soverick gone.


    Soverick smiled. "Thanks for your consideration but I''ll wait. I have already experienced how well you prepare before you speak, I''ll wait to see how well you teach something actually useful to me before I pass my judgment."


    He would have loved to leave, but SQUARESKULL hadn''t done enough to bother him. What matters at the end of the day is how well Karak can teach. He also wanted to spite Karak.


    "Your choice. Next, I''ll talk about the Spear and how to use it to pursue excellence in your martial pursuit."


    Silence for 30 minutes.


    Even Soverick was beginning to get frustrated. So much of his time is being wasted. He wanted to wait to find out if this will be a one-time thing or if it will ur every time SQUARESKULL teaches him.


    "The pursuit of the spear is one that needs strength, agility, and technique. The strongest power avable within the realm of high heaven is the power of Sovereigns. It is the power of perfect control over a concept of the world. A concept is an indefatigable and undeniable truth. The manifestation of authority over world power. That''s what it means to be sovereign. But how does the concepte about?"


    Silence for 10 minutes.


    "It is known that a concept isposed ofws and an image. A single image forms the mold of a concept whilews fill it up and makes it a truth. Withoutws, an image will remain false. The image you envision of your concept is the path that you choose to advance with as a titan ofw. An image is an opinion or a belief about how the world works. It could be a sentiment. It could be anything imaginable, but only when it is backed byws does it be a fact. Without the reinforcement ofws, your image of the world will forever remain your opinion. That''s how a concept is formed. Then the image and thews it contains must be of one ord before you can be a sovereign."


    Silence for 5 minutes.


    "Your concept will evolve into an eternal truth when you be a sovereign. Then when you are able to merge with such an eternal truth, you will be eternal yourself, evesting. That is what it means to be an Origin god. It maintains its potency even in the most diluted of bloodlines. As long as a royal bloodline awakens, the recipient of the bloodline will be remade into the image of such a truth. But a truth has to be unique, no two Origin gods can have the same truth. That''s why you must forge your own truth to be a titan ofw. Even the descendants of a world god are not exempted from it."


    Silence for 30 minutes.


    "Some do not start thinking about their path until they be transcendent. It is true thatws cannot be touched upon without being a transcendent. There are some Transcendents that haven''t been able to touchws yet. But images can be cultivated right from the moment you started your path of refinement. Images can be cultivated and refined over the course of your life. It can be based on anything. It can be based on your spear too."


    A period of silence for 45 minutes.


    "There are requirements to fulfill if your image is to be based on your spear. These requirements are the steps of spear mastery. The first step of spear mastery is achieving one with the spear. It is the requirement for you to be an adept in spear mastery. It may be the first step but it is very difficult to achieve. I will not touch upon or speak about the other steps. We will put our entire focus on just the first step. You might consider it easy to achieve, but I''ll tell you that it is not. It is the requirement to beat the 13th milestone fight and get better cement for your admission into the tertiary stage. Some don''t even achieve it before they graduate."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Silence for 18 minutes.


    "To achieve the first stage, we will focus on the fusion of two aspects. Technique and fighting instincts. The technique consists of conscious proficiency in the spear arts while fighting instincts is the subconscious proficiency. Only when both are fused, when your techniques be subconscious and when your instincts be conscious can you be one with the spear."


    Another Silence for 12 minutes.


    "In the first stage, the preparation stage, you prepared your body. In the second stage, the challenges and techniques stage, you got rid of bad habits and learned good ones. In this stage, we will mold your body and mind to be suitable for the spear, so that when you be a mana entity, you will be able to easily achieve the next steps of spear mastery. It is a n that will continue when you reach the tertiary stage to ensure that you will not be found wanting at the moment when you try to be a titan ofw."


    Soverick was inwardly impressed with the curriculum of the battle academy. He could see the effects of their training regimen more clearly than others, including his teacher. When an individual bes a mana entity, they gain power, but their potential will stagnate. It doesn''t mean that they can''t grow stronger, but their maximum future strength bes capped at that point. Potential doesn''t matter to a transcendent, only energy andws matter. But If their potential is not enough to reach the transcendent stage then they will be stuck forever in the mana stage no matter what they do.


    The training curriculum of the battle academy is geared toward improving the potential of its students. Soverick knows that mastery of any weapon is a very difficult thing that requires years of effort. It is usually mana entities that start to train in mastery but If they are able to master the first step of spear mastery before reaching that stage, then their potential for the spear will increase. Then spear mastery will be easy for them to achieve as mana entities.


    The other thing is habits. While techniques are easier to learn as a mana entity because of the control of mana, they are very difficult to master if you have bad habits. Habits are one of the things that solidify as a mana entity, and they will inhibit the mastery of techniques. This will make for a mediocre mana entity.


    "I am SQUARESKULL. A transcendent with the bloodline of the Impassable mountain barrier. I have focused on the monolithic spear style of the earth. I will be your teacher from now on, but I will not teach you my style. It has been determined that learning other people''s styles before reaching the mana stage can lead to some bad habits and misconceptions."


    "No one is perfect, so no one style is perfect. But each style is suited to the creator of it. Learning it now will affect the creation of your style in the future. You must be one with the spear and acquire themon sense needed not to be led astray before you can learn the style of others. As your teacher, I''ll try my best to help you achieve your first step of spear mastery. Any questions?"


    Maybe it was wise to wait to find out on his own, but Soverick couldn''t spare that time just to determine if his time with SQUARESKULL will be a waste. The periods of silence between each speech were finally getting to him and he doubts he will be able to take more of it.


    So he asked, "Do you always be silent for random periods of time when you speak? If yes, is it a long speech thing or do you do it every time?"


    SQUARESKULL chuckled. "You can rest assured that it is a one-time thing. You seem to be a no-nonsense kind of guy and I wanted to see how far you will go to enforce your way of life. Would you be so bold as to disrespect me when I take breaks to speak? I do it for every one of my new students to test their resolve and their patience. Are you satisfied with that?"


    Soverick sighed in relief. "Yes, I am."


    "I assume you are ready for your training to start. So for your first training take this." SQUARESKULL brought out a ck spear that looked like a thick rod with a de stuck onto it. It was in without any design. More like it was ugly, but Soverick didn''t mind. He preferred function over looks.


    The spear floated towards soverick and he grabbed it out of the air. His face changed the moment he touched the spear. He had discovered something he minded very much.

 Chapter 160 Mocking Tradition.

    ?"No way." He thought as his hand sagged due to the weight of the spear. It was at least 50kg, almost half of his total body weight. It had only caught him by surprise, soon he was able to adjust to it but he couldn''t deny that it is very heavy and most importantly it made him off-bnce. So he red at SQUARESKULL as if to say, ''How am I supposed to wield this?''


    SQUARESKULL might still be messing with him and he wasn''t about to take any more of it.


    "This is the training spear that everyone uses for their first training regimen. You seem capable enough. Follow me then." SQUARESKULL said, then he finally stepped down from his lofty seat on his spear.


    He went towards a door at the back of the room. Soverick''s seniors followed SQUARESKULL with clear anticipation in their eyes. Soverick was beginning to understand why they came here even when he said that they didn''t need to. Either they didn''t have anything to do or they came here specifically to watch him fumble and fail.


    Everyone left the main hall while carrying a spear of different sizes. Soverick was thest person to enter through the door and what he found within the room was a small mountain range. It is small whenpared to the mountain ranges out there in the world but it is extremelyrge for an indoor mountain range. The peaks of the mountain range were made to form a circle, there was t ground at the center of the room.


    ''This is not an illusion, it''s all real.'' Soverick thought to himself as he sensed the world. He didn''t sense the external influence of an illusion array. The academy and crammed a mountain range into the building somehow. Or someone created it inside the building. It could be both, and both are impressive.


    SQUARESKULL''S divine sense began to speak again. "What you will do is run while carrying your training spear. The spear must not be dropped nor must it touch the ground or you will start again. You can carry it however you want. This exercise aims to form a sense of affinity with the spear, to bond with it the spear. You willplete 10 trips around the peaks before we move on to the next exercise. Any questions?"


    "One question. How will you know when I have bonded with the spear?" Soverick wanted to know what to truly aim for. Running around with a spear without a concrete goal isn''t his style. If he had enough data and information, he can make urate simtions. That''s why he learns things quickly and he can find the solutions to the problems in the challenges. His mind is powerful enough to simte world scenarios almost perfectly.


    "The mysteries of the spear are infinite. There is only a beginning, there is no end. Spear affinity can always be increased. There''s no limit to it and the more of it you have, the better your training will be. This exercise will continue until I see it fit to stop." SQUARESKULL answered.


    Soverick coughed. "Well, that''s good and all. But you still haven''t answered my question. How will you know when I have bonded with the spear?"


    SQUARESKULL turned to regard him. His eyes were narrowed. "Spear affinity is familiarity. I''ll know when you be familiar with the spear and when it bes easier to carry the spear. The exercise will strain your body, the different slopes will put your body through different forms, and your mind will try to make the exercise less painful, hence it will find the best way to ease the burden that is the spear you''re carrying. As you run and tire, your body will be sluggish, yet your spear form will be better. Does that answer your question?"


    "Thank you, teacher SQUARESKULL."


    Soverick began to run up and down the mountain peaks.


    It would have been easy as peach to perform if he were not so bogged down by the spear. As it was, his gait was awkward trying to run up and down the slopes. His bnce was off and he realized that he couldn''t perform his movement techniques as well as he should be able to. Each step he takes shifts his center of bnce precariously, like a pendulum. The arms that should help him maintain his bnce are preupied with carrying the heavy and getting heavier spear.


    It is true that given enough time, his mind will figure out a way to carry the spear better and his body will adapt to the weight. His steps will be lighter and the weight of the spear won''t throw off his center of bnce as much. All these are possible with time. But that''s for passive learners.


    He is not a passive learner. He is an active learner, he actively pursued his objectives and adjusts to them. He realized from the answer that SQUARESKULL gave him, that spear familiarity is about the posture when holding the spear. Spear form is about shifting the weight of the spear so that it doesn''t negatively impact the performance of the body. So he didn''t maintain a single way of holding the spear. He tried out several postures for several situations and collected data on how they affected his body.


    He was determined to make a catalog of the various scenarios. He wanted to collect data, make conjectures, confirm them, make adjustments and finally assimte the essence. The essence of this exercise is the spear form.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    All this isn''t something that he couldplete in just ten trips around the mountain range. That''s why he ignored the pain and stress signals from his body and focused more on the sensation of carrying the spears. SQUARESKULL was right that he will see the most result when his body is at the edge of giving out. So he stayed at that edge and made sure all his efforts won''t be wasted by concentrating on the essence.


    It took 31 trips but he finally found afortable posture for almost every scenario. For when he was crouching so that the spear will not make noise. For when he is about to jump so that the spear will not affect his judgment of distance and how much effort was needed to make the leap. For when he is running, so that the spear will not make him trip easily. For when he is trying his trying to walk silently. For when he is off bnce, so that the spear will shift and help him regain his bnce. For when he is tripping, so that the spear will not make it difficult to regain his bnce.


    Hebined different scenarios to create a sense of variability in his forms. For example, when he is running and also off bnce. How to maintain his streamlined form to reduce wind drag. His hold on the spear will shift and the spear will be made to change positions rtive to his body such that his center of gravity remained stable.


    He stopped running when he was satisfied with what he had aplished. SQUARESKULL only asked him to run 10 trips and he did more than that. Even if he did less than that, he would still have stopped if he considers the objectiveplete. There''s no use wasting his time doing useless things.


    Within the in at the center of the artificial mountain range. A few hours earlier when Soverick began to run.


    "Do you think he will be able toplete it?" SYNCLAIR asked.


    He wore the same battle academy uniform that the others wore just with a different color. He had green fur and he carried a standard spear that is much lighter than what Soverick was slugging about.


    NARGOTHRONDughed at the question. He justughed and rolled about on the ground.


    It was NOBELLES that answered. He snickered and said. "I''ll eat my non-existent shoes if hepletes it."


    Battle sage monkeys don''t wear shoes because it inhibits their movement and the execution of foot techniques. Their disdain for foot protection bes higher as they grow stronger. The odds of injuring their feet be the same as the odds of falling over and breaking their necks. Which is practically impossible.


    "It will be fun to watch him try though. I so can''t wait." NARGOTHROND finally said between his fits ofughter.


    JUST_EVILNESS feltpelled to speak. "We should support our junior and not make fun of him. It is our duty to do so. We shouldn''t make him feel bad."


    SYNCLAIR red at him and said, "Shut up. You are ruining our mood. We came here to mock and not to encourage. This event is traditional. And it will continue after we are gone. You should be d that someone will take up your mantle of clumsiness. We won''t have tough at you anymore."


    The othersughed all except Teacher SQUARESKULL and the ever-brooding SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON. SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON hadn''t spoken since the introduction. He or she kept to themselves. The other seniors didn''t bother them, they were already used to the silent loner. So they focused on what they came here for.


    They were here to watch Soverick fail toplete the 10 trips and they intend to enjoin every bit of it.

 Chapter 161 What Is A Miracle?

    ?The length of a single round trip is 100 km, but it isn''t as simple as that. They all remembered their first experience through the ordeal. For most trainees, this is the first time that they have encountered such an environment.


    There are a lot of things that made them fail the first run. First is the unusual terrain. The terrain was unfavorable to them, the ground was not safe to step on as they wished. Going up and down the peaks made things very difficult. Next are the cold winds. The mountain range may be artificial but the conditions are real.


    The cold numbs the flesh and the mind, it will make stumbling very easy. The eyes cannot be used because of the snowy wind, so the divine sense has to be turned on throughout. It is a good thing too because only the divine sense can warn you of unreliable grounds not to step on. But the range of the divine sense is too short at this stage which makes getting lost very easy.


    The most difficult of all is the air quality on the peaks. Their bloodlines might make them free of the requirement of food, but they still needed air very much. Only transcendents can survive without the need to breathe. The air quality at the simted height of the peak isn''t enough to fuel the stamina requirements necessary to make the trips. The cold will steal the heat of the body but the body won''t be able to make more heat and also run because the air is thin.


    Then there''s the heavy spear. The trip is difficult enough as it is without the addition of the spear. The extra weight will drag you down as you try to go up a slope, then it will shift your bnce as you try to descend from a slope. It makes mistakes easy to make whenbined with the precarious environment. And if mistakes are made, then you go off track, which will result in you wasting time and energy in finding the right track. You need to go around the mountain range, not run in a circle around a single peak. Your wasted effort won''t count towards the progress of the exercise.


    These factors work against the trainees and make sess impossible to achieve on the first try. It will take weeks of effort before you acquire good enough form with the spear to barelyplete the 10 trips.


    Thankfully, they have to do this every day until teacher SQUARESKULL deems the exercisepleted. As it is, his seniors were waiting for Soverick to get lost, tire out and faint. They didn''t think he would give up because determination is a must-have in order toplete the previous stage of challenges and obstacles. So they would Swope in and save this new junior of theirs. Then they will mock him until a new junior joins them.


    That''s what they expected. They didn''t think that there was the possibility of anything apart from failure. Teacher SQUARESKULL was the only one that thought otherwise. He had seen the records of Soverick''s exploits. He had seen enough videos that proved those exploits enough for him to expect the extraordinary. He had also received numerous edicts from very strong people to take special care of Soverick. Everything he had seen or heard indicated one thing, that Soverick is a genius. Soverick would always breakmon sense by oveing challenges and making it look easy.


    It left one wondering if the challenge was as difficult as everyone said it is if soverick can just steamroll it like that. He honestly didn''t want to teach such a genius and was hoping Soverick would buckle down earlier and leave. He might be talented but he didn''t think he was worthy enough to teach Soverick and the worst part is that Soverick thought so too.


    "Transcendents have lost their value." SQUARESKULL muttered to himself.


    The students respect them but they don''t fear them. It is difficult to fear something that you can achieve in time. The number of transcendents in the family has skyrocketed due to royal bloodlines. So he tried to irk Soverick into disliking him. Apparently, his little tricks weren''t enough to push Soverick away.


    Now, he can admit to having been naive that Soverick would have asked for a change in teachers so that he can be rid of such a heavy responsibility. Soverick has changed his life more than he cares to admit. Just by being selected as his teacher, he came within the sights of numerous powerful people.


    He watched intently while his students jested. Maybe their attitude would be different if Soverick had introduced himself during the introduction session. A single mention of his age or the amount of time he had spent in the secondary stage of the battle academy will have left them reeling in shock just as he had been.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    But soverick had watched the introduction impassively and unconcerned. The boy had said earlier that he didn''t care for it, so he didn''t partake in it either. SQUARESKULL chose not to push him. That''s why his students are still clueless about the monstrosity that is their new junior.


    While they were waiting for a fun sight, he was waiting for a miracle. Could Soverick pull an upset? How would he do it if he did create an upset? If Soverick did do something, he wanted to see everything up close. He didn''t want to miss a single thing. That''s why he could see soverick waving his spear around at the start of the race. His spectating students also noticed the odd behavior.


    "Is this junior stupid? Why is he moving his spear around like that? He will tire out very soon and might not be able to evenplete the first trip." NARGOTHROND said and the rest began tough.


    SYNCLAIR nodded sagely as she said, "Very smart. I should have thought of it. He isn''t trying toplete it at all. He knows he can''t, so he is trying to get tired as soon as possible so that teacher will have to excuse him. What a genius."


    Even the JUST_EVILNESS that was of the opinion to encourage Soverick couldn''t help himself. It was an hrious performance on Soverick''s part. Who could be so stupid as to move that heavy spear around like that, in such conditions? It was also the question that was on theirs and SQUARESKULL''s minds.


    It is because he was more open-minded that he thought of a very possible reason. Was Soverick trying to figure out spear form? If that is so, then soverick would fail. The spear form is an instinctual thing. It is a lesson that the body learns due to impressions from the subconscious. It is a result of an epiphany.


    The conscious mind cannot teach the body about the spear form because its influence on the body is abysmal. The conscious part of the mind can move the body around but most of the calctions and nerve instructions are performed behind the scenes. It is why a person that has just recovered from damage to their brain or nerves still cannot control some limbs, even though they are willing said limbs to move. The movement of limbs isn''t as simple as wishing it to move, there are delicate nerve stimuli and precise muscle maniption that urs to make a limb move. There are some things that thinking about doesn''t help to master. They are mastered with sudden moments of inspiration and enlightenment. The spear form is one such thing.


    So He believed that Soverick was doomed. No matter the tests he makes with the weight, only the subconscious part of his mind actually does the calction. Only transcendents can achieve perfect control of their body. One of the reasons for such an ability is the liberation of their mind and the change of their body from flesh toplete energy life form. Even children with awakened royal bloodlines can''t possess such control and learning ability. It is an advantage of a change in the quality of life order.


    Is there a way that Soverick could achieve spear form through such conscious efforts? Yes, there is. But he will need to have met the requirements for the second step of Spear mastery for that to ur. But that''s also impossible. How could someone that is struggling with spear form be able to skip the one with the spear step of mastery and achieve seamless?


    Even a mana entity will find it difficult to achieve the second step. In a normal world, the first step of spear mastery is meant for mana entities. That''s why it is not a must to achieve the first step in order to graduate from the academy. The reality of the world is that some geniuses can achieve it at the level of vitality core. To say a vitality core can achieve not only the first step but also the second is just a bad joke.


    ''Or is it?'' SQUARESKULL asked himself.


    If a miracle is to happen, this is the exact logic-defying thing that needs to happen for it to be considered a miracle. Achieving the first step of spear mastery at the vitality core stage is genius. Achieving the second step at this same stage is a miracle.

 Chapter 162 The First Young Master.

    ?His staunch belief began to waver as he saw Soverick improve visibly. Soverick''s odd clumsy movements became more refined and sublime. The spear shifted around him like an old friend or an intimate lover. But what was more shocking is that Soverick hadpleted the 10 trips. He did not tire, he did not fail, and he was determined and unwavering. The small sess wasn''t even enough for him as he continued to refine his spear form.


    "How?" NOBELLES senior asked.


    "What is going on?" SYNCLAIR asked too.


    "Impossible" JUST_EVILNESS eximed.


    They were the only ones that could voice their inner shock. The other two were too stunned to talk. Their attention was also transfixed on Soverick.


    SQUARESKULL shook his head in pity. He felt regret now. Maybe he shouldn''t have called his students over. They wouldn''t have witnessed Soverick''s progress and have their worldview shattered. Hopefully, they will learn good things from this experience and be inspired to greatness.


    The possibility of their life taking a downward spiral is very low due to their willpower. But they might spend some time in depression. It is the time that they will lose during this depression that will be the price they have to pay for what they saw today.


    Time passed and hours went by until Soverick began to descend to the central in. It was only then that his five students snapped out of their stupor.


    "He ising." SYNCLAIR whispered.


    "That was more than 10 trips." NOBELLES senior also whispered.


    "I counted and it was 31 trips." JUST EVILNESS added.


    "He not onlypleted it but he did it three times." NARGOTHROND said still in shock. He wasn''tughing anymore.


    They were whispering in the temporary mindwork they had created. SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON did not join them but was watching Soverick make his way to them.


    SQUARESKULL shook his head again. He wondered why they were whispering. It is not like soverick can hear them from such a far distance if they were to shout. They were also using their divine sense, so they should be safe no matter the volume of theirmunication in the mindwork.


    ''This is how normal people behave. Not like Soverick, who shocked them into losing theirmon sense.'' SQUARESKULL thought to himself.


    Soverick descended to the in and he elerated towards their little group. He stopped in front of Karak.


    "I''vepleted the exercise. I''m sure I performed satisfactorily. What''s next?" He asked.


    SQUARESKULL considered for a while before he replied. "Your performance was satisfactory. But you were not supposed to attempt so much in a go. You were supposed to get a feel for the spear form with repeated efforts. During that time, I''ll give you more exercises that will enhance your affinity to the spear. Theirbined influence will then ingrain the spear form into you."


    Soverick shrugged. "That n doesn''t seem bad. But it is useless now. So we move on. What''s next?"


    "You do not understand. It is a carefully tailored andprehensive training regimen endorsed by the authorities of the battle academy as the best approach to fusing technique and instincts. The aim of our training is to achieve one with the spear but that can only be acquired if you fuse technique and instincts. Our aim isn''t just technique or instincts. You were not supposed to learn the spear form right now. What you have achieved has separated spear form as an instinct, away from the adjoining technique. It will make it very difficult to fuse them back in the future."


    The seniors that were listening would have snickered at the thought that Soverick could achieve one with the spear if they hadn''t witnessed what they saw today. The first step is required to beat the 13th milestone fight. Only the 12th milestone fight is required to graduate and it was what they were aiming for.


    They have spent years in training and yet, they are all far away from that point. The best of them is SYNCLAIR and he is around the 200th position, still a far way from that. He had been preparing to face the ninth milestone fight at the 200th position instead of challenging someone close to him.


    The milestone fight is the most important thing, not the individual ranking. The individual ranking is more of a thing of glory. It is an avenue for the trainees to release their pent-up stress. They can challenge and beat each other up. Battle sage monkeys can be very crazy about battles and the Ghastorix family can be extra crazy. So they need an opportunity to battle, plus the battle is also training.


    It is sobering to realize that your junior is someone aiming for the 13th milestone and even worse is that he seems capable enough to achieve it.


    Soverick tilted his head. "I see. What''s done is done. What''s next?"


    SQUARESKULL was getting frustrated with Soverick''s nonchnt attitude. Not for Soverick''s sake but for his own sake. He didn''t want to botch Soverick''s training. "Do you think yourself infallible? Do you think you can just ovee everything thates your way so easily? Yes, you have done something incredible but do not let it get to your head."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick just chuckled. It was the first time his mouth made a sound since he met Karak. "I''m I infallible? No. Can I ovee everything thates my way? Maybe. It depends. But things on this level of difficulty? Yes, and very easily too."


    Then his eyes became frosty and his voice cold. "Don''t lecture me about pride. I came here to learn about the spear. You are my teacher. You teach me what to do and how to do it, but I''ll master it myself. That''s your job. Now, I''ll ask again and I hope for thest time. What''s next?"


    SQUARESKULL bristled. To be spoken to like this made him very angry. But he reined in his emotions. Partly because Soverick was right and mostly because he knew he was being watched. Someone else spoke before he could answer.


    "How did you do it?" SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON asked.


    Soverick considered this person a little before answering. "Do what?"


    "How did you acquire the spear form so easily?"


    "Did you not sit here and watch me do it? That should have been enough for you or else you have just wasted your time."


    SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON rephrased the question. "I want to know what you were thinking as you were doing it."


    "I am not under any obligation to tell you that. Since I am not, then I''ll tell you it''s none of your business."


    Soverick turned to SQUARESKULL, content to let the conversation end there. He didn''t mind the presence of these people. They can do whatever they want. But if their action is beginning to hinder him then he willsh back at them. And right now, this person, male or female, whatever and whoever they are, is hindering him from moving on with his training.


    "I propose a trade, an equal exchange. You tell me what was going through your mind and I''ll get you any mana weapon you want. Spear or whatever."


    "I''ll pass." Soverick rejected the offer.


    He could get an Origin weapon if he wanted to. He didn''t need to make a deal with this person for one, he certainly didn''t want to make a deal for a mana weapon.


    SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON took his rejection seriously. "You cannot reject me. I am someone of considerable influence. Think about my offer again."


    "I''ll pass."


    His second immediate rejection infuriated the second senior.


    "Who do you think you are? Do you think you''re a genius? Do you think your talent in the spear is better than mine?"


    Soverick just ignored the questions. He looked at SQUARESKULL as if to say. "See what you''ve caused. This is all your fault. I didn''t want them here."


    The second senior then said. "I SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON, daughter of Ulfir, the Origin god of eternal battle, dere that from today henceforth, we will be rivals."


    ''Oh, so she is a female. I wouldn''t have guessed.'' Soverick thought. Then he said. "You are beneath me. You are not worthy enough to be my rival."


    SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON fumed. "I wish I could impale you right now but you are obviously a spear novice. It will not be honorable to attack a weak opponent. I''ll wait until you have acquired a decent skill with the spear."


    Soverick pointed at her and an earthen bolt of mana, a fist-sized but very heavy rock, smacked into her face. She was knocked out and she slumped down to the ground.


    Soverick examined her before nodding his head. "Better. Some people just need to be silent for them to be tolerable."


    The people watching their little spat from the side widened their eyes in surprise. Their second strongest had been taken out with a single spell. The earthen bolt of mana is a very difficult spell to cast. It is because earth mana is very slow and difficult to shape. For Soverick to cast it at a moment''s notice means he either was an expert with the spell enough to cast less than a second or he had mastered dyed casting. What was more impressive is that none of them noticed him casting it, except SQUARESKULL.

 Chapter 163 Suspicion About Soverick.

    ?Soverick''s mental transmission rang out in themunicationwork. "Can we return to the matter of my training now?"


    SQUARESKULL answered immediately. "Yes. But first, spectators must leave."


    The seniors turned to leave the training room under SQUARESKULL''S re. "Don''t forget SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON." He said.


    JUST EVILNESS picked up the second senior that was still out cold on the ground and they left. Only when they had gone did SQUARESKULL continue.


    "The spear form is a part of a warrior''s instincts. We will move on to technique next."


    Then he waved his hands and some structures began to rise from the ground. SQUARESKULL pointed to one of them.


    "That is meant to train your aim and thrust. It will throw balls at you which you must strike with just the tip of the de of your spear. In the first exercise with it, you will remain stationary while the ballse at you."


    He started the machine and gave a demonstration. The machine will throw balls at a high speed toward SQUARESKULL while he executes spear skills at them.


    "Watch my form and learn from it. Thrusting is a very simple and basic technique. It requires strength and agility. But what it needs the most is uracy. The ability to track and aim truly is a very important aspect of thrust. We are not supposed to start with moving targets but I don''t want to waste your time. We can revert to stationary targets if you fail miserably at this."


    SQUARESKULL was thrusting his spear as he spoke. It was a casual thing for him to do. He wasn''t even looking at the balls as his spear went forward to knock them back. Soverick knew that he was using his divine sense to track the balls but it was still an impressive act.


    "That''s it. Easy, right? Any questions." He stopped showing off and asked soverick.


    "I think I got it. But do I have to use this heavy spear?"


    "Yes, you do."


    So soverick took a stance with the heavy spear and began training his thrusting technique. He knew the act was more difficult than his teacher made it seem. The balls were very fast but not fast enough for him to find it difficult to track them. They were just fast enough that a singleg or dy will result in missing the ball entirely. He had to match his thrust with their speed and urately predict their course.


    This was different from the uracy and precision training he did in the second stage. He wasn''t using any form back then and he was using a de. But now, he is using a spear with a spear form. A de and a spear are very different things.


    In reality, SQUARESKULL isn''t aiming for the balls but where they will be at a certain point in time which is much more difficult than hitting stationary objects. So apart from the thrusting form, he is also predicting the future positions of the spear. Sometimes his movements were slow, sometimes fast as a blur but he would always hit the ball. His teacher was right about something though, hitting stationary objects would have been too easy for Soverick. What he was wrong about was that hitting moving objects will be difficult for him.


    Soverick had watched him move several times. He ounted for the fact that the bodies of transcendents don''t work like normal physiques. For example, the center of gravity works differently with transcendents. They can shift their center of gravity however they like by shifting their body mass.


    So he focused on the shift in form as Karak moved and tried to mimic them. It was difficult at first to mimic a transcendent. The simple moves were not as simple as he had expected and the spear was very heavy to thrust with. But he began to make progress as he collected data and made adjustments.


    He understood that he was missing something important in the fluid movements that SQUARESKULL disyed so he abandoned finesse and focused on functionality. And the functionality of the movement is to thrust the spear. His understanding of spear form helped him to thrust. Whenbined with his ability to make urate predictions of the ball, hitting the balls became very easy.


    SQUARESKULL watched as the blunt tip of the spear struck the balls out of the air. Soverick had been going at it for more than 4 hours now. Which was admirable in itself. He had expected soverick to drop in one hour tops for the simple reason that the spear was heavy. Thrusting with something that heavy will not only affect the uracy but it will tire the arm out. No matter how diligent someone is, once their arm tires out, then they will stop training.


    ''He will get tired in the next few minutes or an hour at most.'' Karak estimated how long it will take Soverick before he can''t continue. Coupled with his expectation that Soverick won''t be able to master the exercise in a day, means that he will fail and Karak ns to berate the boy then.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He was wrong about how long it would take Soverick to tire out. The boy''s stamina was unnatural. He was also wrong about how long it would take soverick to master thrusting at moving objects. Soverick had taken more than 2 hours. He didn''t even consider that the boy could master thrusting today.


    ''Something is going on here.'' SQUARESKULL was beginning to suspect something about Soverick the more he watched him.


    At first, the boy''s movement had been jerky. He recognized what was wrong immediately. The boy was trying to copy him. It took all his willpower to hold himself back fromughing, but he snickered to himself.The disy was like someone that couldn''t walk trying to run. It was simply funny.


    He had omitted the foundational technique for thrusting, which is hitting stationary objects. He knew Soverick was a genius and would be able to ovee this challenge after some time but he was hoping that theck of the basics will stump him for a while and tone down his pride.


    But the boy began to mimic his high-level movements. It was honestly strenuous to endure. He watched the boy stumble and fall over on his face all the while trying to keep fromughing. The boy couldn''t even stand right talkless of hitting the balls.


    Soverick wouldn''t be able to master thrusting at this rate. The boy had made things unnecessarily difficult for himself. It seemed that he would get to swope in and berate him as he had expected. He could admire the boy''s unrelenting effort. Even though his effort will burn through his stamina due to his very inefficient movements. Then the boy started to change after an hour of fumbling around. His movement lost the jerking and his feet became sure. He began hitting the balls soon after. But it didn''t end there. SQUARESKULL noticed the application of spear form which almost made him curse. The boy was already fusing spear form with the thrusting technique.


    ''How did things move so fast?'' he questioned himself.


    He was supposed to start by thrusting at stationary objects. Next wille moving objects while the boy remains stationary. Thenst will be both the object and the boy moving. It will culminate in the acquisition of necessary uracy and judgment of spatial positioning using the spear. He realized that he wouldn''t get to swope in anymore. Worse than that is that there is no more need for the third thrusting exercise because Soverick had acquired the necessary skills.


    SQUARESKULL sighed. ''I hate my Job.''


    Most times the students were poor andcking. They do stupid things and refuse to improve. Those kind of students are stressful. Rarely does he encounter the perfect student. Obedient and quick to learn. Those are the kind of students that he looks forward to teaching. Then there are the praiseworthy geniuses, the ones that brighten up his day and make him proud to be called Teacher. They will soak in his words of wisdom and teachings like a sponge.


    Of all kinds of students, extraordinary geniuses like Soverick are the worst. Their excellence and improvements are not because of you. They only need the beginning of a lesson for them toe up with the middle and the end themselves. You will be ashamed as a teacher if you dare attribute their sess to your efforts. It is a secret mortification worse than the open shame you''re allowed to feel for a dumb student.


    The exercise had devolved into something of a game the more SQUARESKULL watched. Soverick''s movement became fluid and efficient once more. He became capable of shifting his bnce with the spear in tow. He tried and seeded in hitting the balls while standing on only a single foot. He still hit the ball when he turned his back in the direction of the ball. He could hit the balls with the butt of his spear without looking at them. It was enough for SQUARESKULL to know that he already mastered omnidirectional thrusting response. The ability to provide an urate thrusting response towards an attack from any direction while being in any position.


    ''How did we get here so fast?'' he asked himself again. This time he had a concrete suspicion and he couldn''t wait to confirm it.


    "That''s enough," He shouted.


    Soverick shrugged and stopped what he was doing. He could always resume his trainingter.


    "That''s good enough. Let''s try something else."


    He had to determine if what he suspected was right. So he switched the exercise from thrusting to sweeping, cutting, deflecting, and bashing. They skipped the basic stage and moved on to the advanced stage which required performing all these actions against a small but fast-moving object. He made sure to demonstrate them to soverick and sat back to watch him train them.


    The more he watched, the more his suspicion was confirmed.


    ''Mother High Heavens above. It is true." He eximed inwardly.


    He had his suspicion confirmed, but he wasn''t too happy about it. The prospect of secret mortification just got worse.

 Chapter 164 Intuitive Understanding.

    ?''My Job just got worse.'' SQUARESKULLined to himself.


    His worst fears came to pass and he didn''t dare to show a negative reaction to them. He didn''t dare to be jealous or be resentful. He schooled his expression as Soverick mastered the techniques with increasing ease. Soverick would watch him show the moves, then he will try it out, and soon he will get the hang of it. Then he will improve on it, assimte it and then fuse it with what he already has. He witnessed this happen in real-time and he still couldn''t believe it.


    Soverick spent 4 hours mastering thrusting. 3 hours on sweeping. 2 hours on cutting. 1 hour on deflecting and 30 minutes on bashing. He was spending less and less time mastering the techniques. Soverick wasn''t learning them, he was mastering them. That is, he was fusing them with his previous understanding. Yet, he was doing them in hours, not days or weeks.


    SQUARESKULL had seen enough to confirm that Soverick had an intuitive aptitude and enhanced learning capabilities. To be specific he had a mind capable of dissecting and analyzing whatever he saw, then putting them back together in his mind, learning them along the way. This ability could either be for the spear, then Soverick will be a spear genius. Or it can be for everything he saw, which would make Soverick an impossible genius. Now he would like to see how far his ability could assist him.


    "Let''s move on." SQUARESKULL shut down the machine and beckoned to Soverick.


    He began to exin their next exercise. "Now that you have mastered the basic spear techniques and you have apparently fused it into your spear form, we can move on to the next step. The next instinct to cultivate is the killing instinct. It is the ability of your body to sense killing intent and automatically react to it. You will be ced in a sensory deprivation chamber and beasts emitting a vague amount of killing intent will attack you. Any questions?"


    "Isn''t that intuition?" Soverick asked.


    "It isn''t intuition. Intuition is the advanced version of killing instincts. Killing instincts is a reaction of the body while intuition is a reaction of the soul. Killing instinct is subpar because it will not be able to sense those that don''t emit killing intent, such as lifeless objects and people that have mastered the release of their aura. Intuition can sense any threat, seen or unseen, alive or otherwise that constitutes a threat to the person."


    Soverick was confused. "Then why bother with killing instinct? Why not learn intuition instead since it is better?


    His teacher exined carefully, "Intuition is more difficult to acquire and much more difficult to teach. But it will be easier to learn if the killing instinct has already been mastered."


    Soverick nodded in understanding before asking, "Do we have to work on killing instincts if I already have intuition?"


    "You already have intuition? When did you acquire it?" SQUARESKULL asked with a calm voice.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He suspected as much. That Soverick possessed intuition did note as a surprise to him. But he refuses to believe it is a low-level one. In truth, he wasn''t supposed to jump to this stage yet. There were still some steps to show Soverick but he skipped them. He had been training Soverick for less than 5 days and yet, they''ve already covered weeks of struggles for other students.


    Soverick is clearly not a normal student. So he won''t waste time on normal things. He nned to cover them in the future by taking advantage of Soverick''s prodigious ability to learn. He would show Soverick how spear-wielders fight and let him practice what he sees. But for now, he wants to determine the limit of such a learning ability. It might be unusual to teach a student what he is about to do but is anything about Soverick usual?


    "I acquired it during the forest stage of the Obstacle course," Soverick answered.


    Intuition isn''t something he just acquired but he can''t very well say that he acquired it in his past life when he went hunting in the demon realm. The constant brush with death and unrelenting pursuit by demons honed his senses enough to acquire intuition. No, he would rather say something mundane and usible.


    SQUARESKULL did not look like he believed Soverick. Soverick had already shown the ability to learn quickly before the obstacle course. He was able to adapt quickly and ovee other challenges but no one suspected him of having intuitive aptitude. If they did, then no one told him. What really clued him in is Soverick''s ability to imitate skills as long as he has gotten a good look at them. SQUARESKULL suspects that the boy might have acquired intuition longer than the stated time but it doesn''t make much difference considering Soverick''s age. 2 years is still a very short time to have acquired it.


    "Is that so? You won''t mind if we test it out?" SQUARESKULL asked.


    Soverick shrugged and answered. "Sure. Let''s test it out."


    "Then follow me."


    SQUARESKULL formed a tform that soverick stepped on and they sped out of the training world. Then they returned to the first hall where they performed the introduction session. They found someone waiting there. It was the second senior, SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON, the arrogant young mistress.


    She shouted immediately after she saw him. "You dishonorable and despicable person. You have defiled the honor of the royal bloodline of eternal battle. With my spear, I shall recover that honor and with my influence, I shall stomp on your progress. You are ying with forces beyond your capabilities."


    SQUARESKULL and Soverick ignored her and went through another door in the hall. SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON stomped her foot on the ground. She was very angry at the oue of things. She was hoping that her behavior would make soverick angry at her but he was bent on ignoring her. That had to change. She did not want an apathetic junior brother, what she wanted is a rival.

 Chapter 165 The Bloodline Of Eternal Battle.

    ?Her bloodline had been cold for a while now, there had been no battle, hence there was no need for the fire in her bloodline. But that changed when she saw what Soverick did while oveing the ordeal that is the mountain range. She knew at that point that he must be her rival.


    Her bloodline, the eternal battle royal bloodline like most bloodlines gave her two advantages in affinity. For the elemental advantage, she got the air element. So she had a god-level talent for the wind. Then there is the advantage of her divine ability. For her, it is the affinity of battle. God-level talent in wind is not anything special nowadays when every child with a pure awakened royal bloodline has one. What''s special about her bloodline is the ability to grow more talented by defeating talented people. She grows stronger with every victory by stealing their talents.


    There are some drawbacks and limitations to the ability. Her eyes has to identify the person but her eyes hadn''t awakened yet, she is still in the vitality core stage. The second condition is that the person''s talent must be greater than hers. Only then will she be able to designate that person as her rival. She will be able to steal that person''s talent if she defeats the person until they have equal talents. The third drawback is that she mustn''t lose to someone of lesser talents. It is a dangerous drawback but the momentum she builds up from her victories will make her more and more difficult to defeat.


    Her n was to stay rtively low-key and muddle her way until she bes a mana entity. Only then will her eyes awaken and she will be able to discern talented individuals. Then she will be able to lock on to them as a rival. But that all changed as she sat there watching Soverick acquire his spear form.


    Her blood boiled and thundered with the need to acquire his talent. It was something beyond herprehension and she must acquire it. Too bad that her eyes weren''t awakened yet so she couldn''t forcefully designate him as her rival. She needs him to acknowledge her as a worthy rival. Only then can she share in the bounty that is his talent. And she intends to achieve it either by hook or crook.


    "He will have to take the bait one way or the other. Then he will fall to me." She said as she left to make her wishese through.


    She didn''t bother to think about how easy it had been for Soverick to knock her out. He simply caught her unawares. She is confident of a victory against a spear novice as long as she is prepared.


    If all else fails then she will stop repressing her refinement and break through to the mana entity stage. She might have to drop out of school for that, but she will do anything to acquire Soverick''s talent. She will be able to lock on to him and then fight him then. Her bloodline did not have any restriction for strength level, so she might be way stronger than him but she will still be able to steal his talent.


    "He might be proud now but that will change when I defeat him. That hubris that his talents gave him might be justified but I''ll rend it all down. He is nothing but my prey." She swore quietly and clenched her fist in anticipation.


    She will have him no matter how it all ys out. She will tear a huge chunk of his genius and improve hers with it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Meanwhile in the New Training World.


    "I don''t know what happened to her. She used to be the most reserved of my students. But something about you roused her fighting spirit. I have never seen such fervor in her even in training. She always had an aura of calmness about her but that has changed all of a sudden." SQUARESKULL said when the door closed behind them.


    Soverick didn''t say anything. He didn''t have anything to say about SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON apart from the fact that he felt a slight wariness toward her.


    It had changed his evaluation of her from a nuisance into a nuisance that he must get rid of. He has resolved himself to get rid of her regardless of whose child she is, as soon as he sensed anything off about her. He had his guard up only slightly because she wasn''t a threat. He just felt that there was something iffy about her. But she ultimately wasn''t a threat so he put her out of his mind and chose to focus on something else.


    He looked around the training room. It resembled his former one in that it was like being inside a nondescript silver box.


    SQUARESKULL waved his hand and some beasts appeared. They were herbivores with trademark horns that indicated them as brittle rams. The Rams aren''t brittle but their horns make whatever they hit be brittle. Their horns are made up of a special material that transmits a vibrational force into things that theye into contact with. The vibrational force increases the higher the impact of a collision. The vibrational force is capable of bypassing most defenses and causing internal damage, hence their name, brittle rams.


    "You will fight these beasts. Their attack pattern is pretty simple. They will try to ram you and you mustn''t let their horns hit you. So you avoid them. But the array will deprive you of your sight, hearing, and divine sense. They also won''t release the faintest battle lust or killing intent. So You will have to Intuit their attacks and evade them. Sessful attacks on the brittle rams will reduce their capabilities until they are eliminated when they take too much damage. Any questions?" SQUARESKULL asked.


    Soverick replied. "No questions."


    It was a simple test and he didn''t see any sort ofplications about it. He is to kill the brittle rams while he is blind and deaf.

 Chapter 166 The Instinct Of Intuition.

    ?"Are you sure you have intuition? Their attacks are particrly unpleasant. While it is easy to evade them because of their straightforward attacks. Failing to evade them will cause organ hemorrhage. I noticed that you have high vitality, so you will heal faster. But it is better to avoid the pain entirely. We can always move to less difficult things."


    SQUARESKULL wanted to cover his base. It is true that he suggested the test, and it is true that someone at the vitality core stage should not be considering intuition. Intuition is something that mana entitiesbor to acquire. So it is true that he has digressed from the normal teaching n. But let it not be said that he didn''t warn Soverick about the dangers of failure.


    Brittle rams are mostly harmless herbivores. They can be swatted away or easily evaded if you can see them and know that they areing. If not, their horns do pretty nasty damage to internal organs. He wants to remove any responsibility from the consequences that will ur if Soverick fails.


    Soverick answered impatiently, "Can we start this already? I said I have intuition."


    He has had the sense of intuition for quite a while now. It was how he knew that he was being watched at the beginning of the forest choke point. It was how he could anticipate the attacks of the titan frogs, they were just too fast by the time he sensed them. It was how he knew that something bad would happen if he allowed the sky rats to crash to the ground. It was how he was able to escape the sea monsters during the eye of the sea challenge without seeing them. It was how he could anticipate the attacks of the hydra heads.


    "Alright then. You may begin."


    SQUARESKULL snapped his fingers and Soverick felt his senses be inundated with silence. His sense of touch and taste were still present. But his divine sense only reported statics and his eyes saw only darkness. He could break the force acting on him with some exertion but there was no use doing that for a simple test.


    Even with his major senses deprived he could sense that he is currently being observed by 11 pairs of eyes. 10 pairs from the brittle rams and one from SQUARESKULL. A brittle ram began to trot towards him. It was not running towards him for pleasantries because it ced its horns forward for their impending meeting. Soverick didn''t know that but he sensed an attacking for him and so he waited. The sensation of impending danger continued to increase but he waited and only dodged at thest moment. His feet pivoted and he raised his spear. He didn''t n to just dodge the attack, he also brought down his heavy spear for a smashing attack.


    The heavy spearnded on the back of the brittle ram and broke its spine. The beast shattered and disappeared into motes of light. He didn''t see it but he could tell that he had one less observer. They didn''t give him time to rx before their next attack. Two more rams wereing for him.


    Their hooves struck the ground as they began to pick up speed. He used the momentum of his smash to swing the spear in a wide horizontal arc. The arc happened to be in the path of the iing rams and the spear knocked them away before they also disappeared. The spear was so heavy that a good hit with it deals a lot of damage to the fragile constructs.


    Three more rams began their charge towards him. Their direction was such that he wouldn''t be able to swing his spear to get them all. He also wouldn''t be able to use his finer spear skills to fight them because he only knows their rtive direction but he doesn''t have the necessary judge of distance and depth to make precise strikes.


    He moved to face one of the Rams while he ignored the other two. Then he dashed forward and brought down the spear for a smash in the direction of the ram. His dash moved him out of the way of the other two rams who collided because of his absence. They had been nning to pin him in but he could sense both direction and distance of threats with his intuition. He resolved the three attacks like that.


    He noticed that while he was fighting, more brittle rams were recing the ones he had eliminated. There are still 10 brittle rams surrounding him but only four are attacking him now. Their cement is such that he won''t be able to make them collide. They attacked him in two pairs from directions that were at right angles to the other pair. One pair from his front and the other from his right.


    He smirked and ran forward to meet a pair, creating some distance between him and the other pair. He executed the horizontal sweep attack on the pair he ran to. He smashed them with his spear then he turned towards the other pair. He used the short time before they got into his attack range to prepare for another smash. He ns to sweep them away just like he did for the first spear but then they separated. One of them even lowered its speed so that the other will reach him first. He will be caught off guard if he makes that wide horizontal attack again.


    "Not making this easy are you?" He thought to himself as soon as he noticed a difference in the rising intensity of the threats.


    He moved before they could create enough distance between them. He jumped towards them and swung his spear through their position. There weren''t too far apart so the spear struck the two of them across their sides with the de of the spear. It tore a huge chunk out of their virtual structures and destroyed them.


    Hended with his spear ready and prepared for any more attacks. The number of brittle rams increased again as their number was topped up. He half suspected that all ten of them will attack him at the same time. Their increased number will push him to the current limit of his spear mastery but he was confident in handling all of them. He just had to remain calm, evade when needed and retaliate when opportuned. Then his senses returned abruptly and the brittle rams disappeared.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    SQUARESKULL was pping. "Well done. You went above and beyond my expectations."


    Soverick''s face remained impassive. He adjusted himself and walked towards his pping teacher.


    SQUARESKULL nodded. "I am impressed. I was sure you would show off or at least swell due to mypliments but you seem unfazed. That face of yours remains frozen. In fact, the only time I have ever seen you change expression is when you are training or in battle. You hardly talk either. Why is that?"


    Soverick answered. "Someone said that I have a cute face but I ruin it whenever I open my mouth."


    SQUARESKULLughed before coughing to try and cover it up. "That must be tough for you. I bet it''s a family member that said that."


    "Yes, my stupid father."


    Ghoto had said that to him when he was fidgeting about the arrival of his father, Tandrak. He had told Soverick that to keep him quiet.


    "I see. He is probably right."


    Soverick shrugged but kept quiet, he was unwilling to engage in this conversation any longer. SQUARESKULL got the hint and chose to move on.


    He began the evaluation ofSoverick''s performance.


    "You were supposed to evade the rams but you actively attacked them. I am sure you possess intuition and your performance indicates that it is at a high level. What did you notice about the numbers of brittle rams?"


    Soverick answered immediately. "You showed me 11 beasts but that number became 10 when I lost my senses. I was attacked by a brittle ram, then two, three, and then four. I eliminated all of them but their numbers were replenished and kept constant at 10. That''s all."


    SQUARESKULL pped. "You are right. I wanted to test your range of detection and if you could determine all the enemies. Now I''m sure, so we can start the next step and I have something special nned for you."


    Soverick turned his wandering eyes back on his teacher. SQUARESKULL was pleased that he got his attention.


    "Since you have the intuition instinct mastered, what you will do next is master its apanying technique. But, I am going to tweak it a lot to cater to your special needs. I hope you''re up for it. Follow me."


    The training regimen for spear mastery consisted of fusing Instincts and techniques together in perfect harmony. With Intuition mastered,, it was time to learn theplementary technique. Hopefully Soverick will be able to fuse them together or SQUARESKULL will be in big trouble.

 Chapter 167 The Spear Dance Technique.

    ?They left the sensory deprivation chamber and came to the main hall again before they entered another training room. SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON had already left the main hall so they didn''t see her there.


    "It seems your second senior had decided to do something productive with her time. That is good of her. With that sudden motivation of hers, she can do almost anything. Hopefully, she is up to something good." SQUARESKULL observed.


    "I doubt that," Soverick said.


    His teacher shook his head at Soverick. "Don''t be so negative."


    Soverick shrugged. He very much doubted that his second senior will be up to something good but he didn''t care enough about it to argue with SQUARESKULL.


    SQUARESKULL changed the subject.


    "You might be wondering why we have so many rooms. They are there to cater to different users and to amodate my many students. Of your five seniors, only the first, second, and third have finished their practice sessions with me. I still train the other two seniors asionally. We still have 3 more training exercises to go through for you. Only when you have mastered them will I allow you to join the ranking battles."


    Soverick nodded and inspected the room they just entered. It seemed simr to thest one except that there were some circles drawn on the ground. Each circle is spaced with a distance of a meter between them.


    "The technique I am about to give you is called the dance of the spear. It is a movement technique that trains body control. Body control is the ability to exert control over the body such that the full strength of the body can be fully capitalized. I know you already have body control but don''t dismiss this technique because it is a requirement for something higher." SQUARESKULL began to exin the training exercise.


    "This technique is something that everyone at the vitality core stage performs every time because body control is never permanent at this stage. It can easily rpse because body control is not natural for those at your stage."


    "If something isn''t natural, then it will be rectified by the body the same way that the body tries to prevent your vitality core frompleting its conversation. This resistance is because the body considers mana unnatural."


    "Only mana entities have a modicum of body control which will increase until they be transcendents. You have the body control that is more than that of an ancient mana entity but less than the perfect control of a transcendent. This means that you don''t need this technique but must master it for what I want to really teach you."


    Soverick nodded.


    "Watch and learn. I''ll perform it slowly so make sure to get everything." SQUARESKULL said before he started a series of movements. His body contorted and stretched in strange ways. The spear dance looked like an aerobic exercise. It didn''t look like something you do with a spear and it didn''t seem difficult.


    "Did you get it?" He asked Soverick after performing the movements for 30 minutes. There were no repeated movements but Soverick had it all memorized.


    "Yes." He answered.


    "Then show me."


    Soverick performed the spear dance. He stumbled a few times but hepleted it. He was slower so it took one hour for him toplete. SQUARESKULL was impressed that he got the entire thing by seeing it once.


    He shook his head and said. "You don''t cease to amaze me. What you will do now is to continue practicing the movements until there is no pause in your actions. The transition from one stance to the other must be smooth and fluid. I expect nothing less than perfection from you."


    Soverick nodded and began to perform the exercise. SQUARESKULL chose to sit on his spear and meditate.


    Soverick had to admit that he was wrong. The movement exercise was not as easy as he thought. He has good control of his body but the strange dance required him to move his body in ways he did not think were possible. His body had never performed these movements so the unfamiliarity with them felt strange to him.


    Imagine freezing your body while you''re off bnce. Then somehow regain your bnce by pulling yourself up using the contracted muscles of your thigh, stomach, and back. It is just one of the strange movements meant to make usually unassociated muscle groups work together to achieve unusual goals.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It was not difficult per se, just unfamiliar and unnatural. It could not bepared with what he had to do to learn how to run on mud or water. For those techniques, the body could do it if he forced the body. But for these movements, the body isn''t supposed to be able to do it. It is unnatural and difficult.


    Just like SQUARESKULL said, he already has body control. He acquired it when he started the footwork technique. So he got the hang of the spear dance after 3 more tries. He spent 30 minutes on it the first time, which fell to 15 minutes for the second time and 6 minutes for the third time.


    "I''m done." He said to SQUARESKULL.


    "Do it again."


    Soverick obliged and went through the spear dance. This time he spent just five minutes toplete it.


    "How many stances are in the spear dance?" SQUARESKULL asked him.


    Soverick thought about it and replied. "172 stances."


    "Good. Now go and stand in that circle at the center of the room. The circles near you will light up asionally. You must perform each stance in a different circle of light. Follow the pattern of the light."


    The circle he was supposed to start in lighted up immediately. Soverick went to it and performed the first stance. He bent down and touched his toes with his hands then he lifted his right leg backward. He straightened the right leg and stayed in that form waiting for the next circle to light up. It took five seconds but the circle just behind him lit up. So he brought down his outstretched right leg into the lit-up circle. He folded his hand behind him and jumped backward using only his left leg to propel him. He must then bnce himself without the assistance of his hands or his right leg. When he has bnced himself on a single foot, he must stretch his left leg forward and remain in this position until the next circle lit up.


    The next one was is a circle to his immediate right. To get there he must jump with his single left leg towards it, cover the 2 meters needed to reach the center of the new circle, and not stumble. Then start the third stance.


    Without the circles of light, he would have been able toplete the dance of the spear in less than 5 minutes. Yes, the stances require him to stand on a single leg sometimes, or his toes, or even a single hand. It was not difficult when he performed them in ce. But to move from one circle to another in such apromised state was gruesome. It was a gruesome 15 minutes that left his muscles quivering and spasming after. He even sweated which made him admit that it was an aerobic exercise, not some silly made-up contortion.


    "How was it?" Karak asked him when thest circle dimmed.


    "I can see why it is a movement technique. It is not evident yet but I can tell that I can elerate much quicker and change directions easily." Soverick answered.


    He felt his body able to make vertical and horizontal shifts more easily. And the distance he could move with different amounts of effort became an instinct that his body could determine without his mind. Spear dance is a technique meant to make the movement of the body through reflex and instinct more efficient. While it is a good thing to be able to respond to killing intent, it is a better thing for the body to respond properly.


    "Good. What you justpleted is the easy phase. Just 5 seconds for each stance."


    "That''s easy?" Soverick frowned. If he was having problems with it then he doesn''t think others will fare well. And the problem he is having is the physical capabilities of his body. Something felt out of sync.


    Karak offered an exnation. "I know what you''re thinking. This is not an exercise for those at the vitality core stage. It is meant for mana entities because they have the necessary range of motion toplete it. Even then they struggle with it, butpleting it gives them permanent body control. Only the first exercise without the circle of light is performed by those at the vitality core stage. Do you understand?"


    Soverick immediately understood where the problem is.


    "I see. It is an inherent limitation of bodyposition. I have body control, that''s why I was able toplete it even when I shouldn''t."


    He was doing an exercise meant for mana entities who have acquired the flexibility and adaptation of a higher life form. It was understandable that his body shouldn''t be able to perform the spear dance and admirable that his mind was able to assist his body in achieving it. It showed how high the control of his body is.

 Chapter 168 The Fusion Of The Coiling Dragon And Striking Viper Techniques.

    ?"Yes. My other students will perform the first exercise before starting the race of the mountain range. The body control they acquire might be temporary but it will open up their mind and body to other ranges of motion for them to acquire spear form. They will then use their budding spear form to tackle problems of the acquisition of basic spear skills. This will form a favorable circle of influence that helps to horn their body. It is also the foundation of fighting proficiency."


    SQUARESKULL eyed Soverick. "But you skipped the circle and went ahead of yourself. You''re an anomaly that has body control without the bodyposition for it. You have eidetic memory something only seen in transcendents and intuitive knowledge that transcendents don''t even have."


    Soverick simply shrugged. If SQUARESKULL was trying to ask howe he has body control then he shoulde out and say it. Even if he asks outright, Soverick still won''t answer him. He can''t tell anyone that his mind far outsses his body, so the body must do what he wants, no questions asked.


    "I did not make you do all that to praise you. I did it so that you have the knowledge of the possible range of motion for your body, then you might be able toplete this technique. You need to know what your body is truly capable of before you can execute this technique." SQUARESKULL said and then waved his hand. A memory crystal appeared within it and he gave it to Soverick.


    Soverick received it with mild curiosity. He was curious about what was so special for him to have to go through that straining exercise. But he doubts he will be impressed. He had been able to ovee everything that came his way so far and he doubted this will be any different. He absorbed the information within it and he quirked his eyebrows.


    SQUARESKULL asked. "What do you think?"


    Soverick answered mildly. "Impressive technique. It will be difficult to master."


    SQUARESKULL rolled his eyes. "You don''t sound or look impressed."


    "What can I say? I am not a very reactive person."


    SQUARESKULL sighed. "It is going to be difficult alright. Itbines the coiling dragon and the striking viper technique into a new form called the coiling momentum technique. It is surely not for the vitality core stage of refinement. Some mana entities find it impossible to have any amount of sess in it. Only genius mana entities like me and most people with a royal bloodline can achieve mild sess. It is a technique meant for transcendents."


    Soverick simply nodded. The technique was unique and something he had never seen before but the fact that it is meant for transcendents didn''t put him off.


    Seeing that he still didn''t react, SQUARESKULL continued to talk about the difficulty of the technique as if to convince Soverick of it. "It requires intuition for sensing momentum and adequate body control. You are very talented. Beyond extraordinarily so. I can admit that. But it is going to be very difficult for you to even have mild sess."


    SQUARESKULL chuckled to himself when he saw Soverick cock an eyebrow.


    "This will surely stump you." He said with finality.


    Soverick tried to visually simte the technique. The coiling dragon technique is a technique that amplifies the potential energy created by the contraction of muscle by sacrificing stamina. The striking technique absorbs external kic energy and redirects it by transferring the energy within the body for a short while and finally back again. Combining this technique involves using the striking viper technique to siphon the potential energy of the muscles created by the coiling dragon technique. This energy is then stored in something called a Gate. When the gate is strong enough then it can absorb external kic energy.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    This gate is a clump of force that continues to increase in size as more potential energy is stored in it. The gate can be harvested to create a burst of kic energy that will lead to an explosive rise in eleration and speed but for a short while. Or it can be nurtured to empower a mana body. The second use is why mana entities learn it. The gates can be more than one and they can amplify the physical capabilities of the body.


    The more he visualized it the more intrigued he became. But he wasn''t overly impressed because the technique will be obsolete with a body ofw, i.e when he bes a titan. That''s a result of his high level of taste. But he was impressed because with this technique, battle sage monkeys can rival spell weavers of the same rank in martial prowess.


    "The technique is meant for transcendents. Only they can perfectly control the gates and harvest them slowly. They can stop the activation midway and continue to nurture it. I operate it constantly and save power for when I need it in a fight. It''s like a bank with a very high return on investment. Any resources be more valuable when you are in a fight. I am saving it for the tower of heaven. It is like a reusable trump card for me."


    "Even if mana entities have small sess in it, the gates they form can only be harvested at once. They can''t stop the harvesting process until the gate disappears and they can''t regte its output to make itst longer. The more gate is harvested at once the higher the amplification effect. The reason I want you to create gates right now is so that they can solidify when you be a mana entity. It has been theorized that if a gate experiences the mana infusion that urs during the process of breaking through to the mana stage, it will be an organ. Do you know what I mean?"


    "It will be something like the vitality core?" Soverick answered.


    "That''s right. That means you will have higher control of it and will be able to regte the harvesting process. It also won''t disappear when it is used up and will be easy to replenish. There are three phases of the technique. The activation phase, the gate formation phase, and the empowerment phase. Why don''t you give it a try?"


    Soverick considered what SQUARESKULL said. If he was right, then he would have a massive advantage when he bes a mana entity. But it is ultimately short-lived. The concept of organs will lose all its meaning at the transcendent stage. At that stage, there is no difference between flesh and soul, only energy and force matter.


    That''s why any race can procreate with each other starting from the transcendent stage. It is also the lowest stage for the creation of a true heritage, a bloodline. All this means is that the organ he creates won''t even be useful for him that long. But he decided to try it anyways. It is something new and he might break new grounds. No vitality core stage has been able to do it. He wants to find out if the gates will really be a new organ when he bes a mana entity.


    He nodded his head and sat down to practice the coiling momentum technique. He envisioned it and began to contract the muscles of his body in sync. The coiling momentum is a force and momentum technique. The gate is essentially a converter and storage for the two of them in the form of potential energy. It requires an understanding of force and momentum which transcendents can provide easily but Mana entities will struggle with. He has the understanding in spades but his body iscking. So hepensates for that with the maniption of life energy through the understanding of a sovereign of life.


    He failed again and again. Then he realized that his current posture was hindering him. So hey on the ground and rxed his body. He tried again and this time he began to feel progress. The idea of the coiling momentum is to absorb momentum constantly, either through moving, breathing, orter on through collisions with external objects until he bes unstoppable.


    With it, you won''t lose speed as you run against the wind. You will instead gain more speed. As you walk, as you talk and as you fight or practice, you be faster and faster and faster. It will put an immense strain on your body but you must shoulder through. Then you can harvest the gates for a sudden burst of energy that you can use to empower yourself. There is an inherent limitation to the amount of force you can umte until you be a transcendent.


    Soverick continued to cycle energy and he felt he was making progress in it. He had to be careful of the location he is siphoning potential energy from and how much. If he tampers with the intercostal muscles and his diaphragm then he might die if something isn''t done quickly. His immense vitality won''t be able to help him without enough air.


    He felt himself be bloated and his muscles became too difficult to contract. He had umted as much potential energy as his body and vitality could safely allow. That was the indication to create a gate, so he set about creating one.

 Chapter 169 The Gates Of Momentum.

    ?The gates are stored on the bones of the spine. The better the formation of the gate, the lesser the number of bones it will upy but the more the stress on the individual bones. In summary, the body will be strained no matter how refined the gate is. Because until the gate is harvested and removed, one''s body will feel heavy and sluggish.


    The body will actually slow down coupled with the fact that the gate will continue to absorb the momentum of the body. Only when the empowerment phase of the technique is achieved will he be able to get a steady stream of power without harvesting it. He will also be able to supply the gate with external momentum from outside the body.


    The formation of the gate made him feel an itchy feeling between his shoulder des but he ignored the craving of his body to scratch it. Then the feeling became a hot sensation as if something was branding him. The pain became searing hot but he remained still and endured it. This stage is delicate because a failure will lead to a damaged spine.


    He would heal but he will remain paralyzed for the time that it takes to heal. But he wasn''t nervous, he was confident and he believed that as long as he follows the procedure exactly nothing will go wrong.


    The instructions are to create an anchor for the gate with a bone. Create artificial muscles attached to that anchor using vitality. Wound and weave the muscle taunt using the potential energy siphoned from the body. Do not interfere with thework of nerves and make sure to keep the grip on the artificial muscles. To refine the gate, the artificial muscles must be condensed and woven tightly, like the knot of a rope. The pattern and theplexity of the weave will determine its capacity. If the process is halted halfway, then the stored potential energy will explode.


    Apart from the density and the pattern of the weave, another important aspect is the synchronicity of the gate with the body. It will affect the energy siphoning rate and the conversation rate of potential energy. The siphoning rate means how much the gate absorbs from the total momentum of the body. The conversion rate determines how much of the siphoned energy is actually stored and not wasted during the process. These two factors are very important because they determine how much of a burden the gate will be on the body. A high siphoning rate will leave the body debilitated and unable to move. A low conversation rate will make the sacrifice and the burden useless.


    Soverick took his time to create an impable gate. It had a very high capacity but was also apanied by a high siphoning rate. The good news is that he was already able to achieve a conversation rate of 1% as soon as the gate began to function.


    "I did it atst." He said.


    Then he looked around. But there was no one around him. He knew he had been at it for more than 4 weeks now so it was not a wonder that SQUARESKULL was gone. He tried to stand up but was failing terribly at it. His body felt heavy and unresponsive. All he achieved was to il about on the ground. SQUARESKULL walked in and began tough.


    Soverick ignored him and chose to put all his mental and physical capabilities into figuring out how to perform the benign act of standing up. The more he struggled, the higher SQUARESKULLughed. It took a whole 10 minutes before he got himself standing. He smiled and he felt profoundly proud of himself for not asking for help. He took his first step, or he tried to take the first step but he fell face first into the ground. His arms couldn''t get in front of him quickly enough. So his nose smashed into the ground.


    ''Well, at least I am not on my back this time.''


    He groaned and tried to stand back up. Which was clumsy and slow.


    "Congrattions. You have built your first gate. You took more time than I expected but that''s probably due to the fact that the technique is not meant for your body. I can infer from your fumbling around that you either have a high-capacity gate or you made a shoddy gate."


    Soverick finally stood back up. "What''s next?"


    "Honestly, you are ready to challenge the ranking battles. Your basic foundation is set. All you need is experience. I''m sure you''re going to do well as soon as you get back up to speed. But even then you will not be able to defeat those in the 500th ranks and above because your fighting proficiency with the spear is stillcking. You will learn quickly, sure. Actual experience from fighting will improve your proficiency with the spear But I have a better alternative."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Fighting proficiency is something acquired through fighting and it is the key to achieving the first step of spear mastery. It is usually during actual fighting that others can gain the experience needed for the fusion of instincts and technique. You have the fusion but youck the experience. I will give you experience by fighting you myself. You can refuse and choose to fight in the arena. That''s what others do. They onlye to spar with me asionally for lessons. But if you stick with me, you will acquire the first step faster. What do you think?"


    Soverick felt it was better to fight someone of SQUARESKULL''s Caliber. It will make him learn faster rather than fight some other people with lesser or a little more skill with the spear than him. Fighting with vitality core stage refiners like him will feel like fighting children. A transcendent on the other hand will offer him better opportunities to learn but alsoes with its own disadvantage which Soverick made sure to voice out.


    "But won''t you just pummel me? You outss me in physique, technique, and skill. You''re stronger, faster, and better at me with the spear."


    SQUARESKULL smiled, "I know right? And I am looking forward to it. But I''ll give you a chance. I can''t make my physical capabilities equal to yours. But I''ll limit it to be just a little higher than yours. That means I''ll be just a little faster and stronger than you. I will improve as you improve."


    Soverick suspected that the training won''t be pleasant but he was no stranger to pain. He was also less suspicious of SQUARESKULL''s motive since he was openly expressing the fact that he is looking forward to beating him up.


    He tried to shrug but he fell down again. He signed and said. "Sure, let''s do that."


    "If you want to regain your strength quickly you should perform the spear dance. It will increase your synchronization faster. We will fight when you''re done." SQUARESKULL advised as he watched Soverick struggle to stand up.


    Soverick performed the spear dance, just the basic moves without the circles. It was slow going and widelyical. What had taken a single hour to execute the first time took him six hours to do this time. He noticed that his body eased up a little but the difference was minuscule. Still, it was visible progress.


    Then he fought SQUARESKULL. They were like two snails fighting for supremacy. Soverick was slow so SQUARESKULL was also slow. The major problem that Soverick faced was stumbling. While SQUARESKULL was moving slowly on his own, Soverick couldn''t even keep his bnce sometimes. The good thing about the slow fighting is that it pushed Soverick to optimize his movement. Every single action of his body was geared towards achieving a single goal.


    For a thrust, he would pull back the spear, adjust his footing, and simply tilt forward. The shift in his center of bnce will make him unstable and he will fall forward. Then he will thrust in tandem with the gravity-assisted motion.


    These subtle movements affected a lot more than the power of the thrust. An inexperienced person will watch the spear and his arm but might ignore his shift in position. A thrust that seems bound to fail because of the distance between them will suddenly be within the reach of the opponent and catch them off guard.


    After Soverick has fought for hours and cannot move his body again, only then will they stop. The fighting might be slow but it is still exhausting. He is still using that heavy spear and he has to use more energy to move it because of the gate he built.


    SQUARESKULL will then show him recordings of people fighting with the spear. Either it is two spear fighters or one against another weapon user. But the fighters are geniuses that have achieved one with the spear at the vitality core stage. Soverick got to see what is possible and what marks these people as having reached the first step of spear mastery.

 Chapter 170 The Struggle For One With The Spear.

    ?SQUARESKULL had said. "Watch these videos so that you will know what to aim for. Your ability to learn quickly can be put to good use. I can''t tell you how one with the spear works because It is something that only the body knows. You will resume your spear dance after resting."


    So began his struggle for the first step of spear mastery. He would spend his time resting on ruminating about what he saw. Through all the simtions he carried out, he discovered the basics of one with the spear. One with the spear is the ultimate basic instinct and the ultimate basic technique. It is a technique that the body performs without even realizing it.


    And that technique is momentum redistribution. The instinct to keep the spear unstoppable by concentrating the momentum from every movement and every sh into the spear. It required them to sense momentum and empower the spear with it. This instinctual technique reminded Soverick of the coiling momentum technique. It seemed that one with the spear is the preparation for the difficult coiling momentum technique and yet he had skipped it entirely.


    One with the spear is like the reaction of the body when it is falling. A person can instinctively right themselves when they stumble. If not, they can try to soften the blow by using their hands. Every muscle in the body will move on reflex to resolve the quandary. It is not something you think about. It is simply natural to know at that point of falling, that you are off bnce and that it must be fixed. Your body will have already begun the process of fixing it before your conscious mind bes aware of the situation.


    But imagine falling from a great height while you are disoriented. Theck of direction and bnce will make you indecisive about what action to take. One with the spear can be likened to the ability to always know your direction. To never be disoriented. To always move forward. To aim for the kill. In a single sentence, it is the understanding that the spear is unstoppable and the execution of it, all done without the participation of the mind.


    Now he knows why SQUARESKULL is making him fight with the heavy spear. With one with the spear, there is no difference between light and heavy spear, only momentum. And momentum can be initiated by the spear if it is heavy or it can be initiated by the body if the spear is light. Either way, the spear, and the body will be in a state of equilibrium. It is until he is able to ovee the constraint that the weight of the spear ces on him, that he will be able to assimte with it.


    It is true that only the body knows what''s going on when it tries to bnce itself during a fall. While the conscious mind cannot urately determine the effort that went into the act. A focused study of the phenomenon of failing and bnce by an astute mind that knows what to look for, and understands what he or she is seeing, will have the proper equipment for examination and will be able to suss out the truth of the matter. That''s how people learned that the sense of bnce is acquired through the structure and activity of the inner ear. And that''s how Soverick intends to tackle the mastery of the spear.


    Now that Soverick knew what to aim for to acquire spear mastery, he started to learn about how to actually fight with a spear, or what SQUARESKULL calls Fighting proficiency. Over the days that followed, he would duel SQUARESKULL, rest and watch spear fighting videos, and practice spear dancing. He became faster as he gained more control of the gate enough to reduce the siphoning rate to 70%. He had yet to master the empowering phase so the gate was still a burden, he was still burning far too much energy for the simplest movements. His body heats up with the strain of long periods of activity.


    His spear proficiency also slowly increased. He finally found the truth of one with the spear. For him, it was the grace and agility of a feline predator. Quick and deadly. But with this truth came another question, for what purpose?


    A series of reflex actions go into correcting bnce, it is a habit. As he had learned, habits can be good or they can be bad. All habits can be made better. And so he sought to make one with the spear better. Why not use the fall to your advantage? Even if that is unable to be achieved, is there a way to make regaining your bnce better? He tried to answer these questions and many others so that he can improve on one with the spear.


    He gripped his spear with his two hands and performed a horizontal cut. SQUARESKULL was about to smash his spear away but it turned into an upward sh. Its attempt to escape SQUARESKULL''s defense was rebutted because of the twirl he did with his hands. SQUARESKULL''s twirling rotates the spear with the point of grip as the pivot. The rotation raised the de of the spear and tried to sweep Soverick''s attack aside. It was so fast that it caught up to Soverick''s spear.


    But Soverick was counting on it, he let his spear be knocked upward and he did the same thing that SQUARESKULL did. He harnessed the momentum and twirled such that while the de was going up and away from SQUARESKULL, the butt of the spear wasing from below and towards him. SQUARESKULL shifted the direction of his twirl to address the new threat but Soverick was ready. All that twirling had reduced the reach of SQUARESKULL''s spear. Soverick stepped into SQUARESKULL''s guard the moment when SQUARESKULL''s spear was vertical instead of horizontal. Meanwhile, his own spear was horizontal and so he transformed what was supposed to be a ncing attack into a full-blown thrust.


    But somehow SQUARESKULL''s spear blurred, straightened, and smashed into Soverick''s side. His stance was forcefully shifted and his thrust foiled. He put his right foot forward trying to regain his bnce and stretched his left leg backward as support instead. His intuition told him that an attack was imminent so he didn''t have the time to right himself. He did the only right thing he could in such apromised position. He chose to attack instead of getting a proper bnce or defending himself. He pushed the spear forward for another thrust.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    An inexperienced person will expect him to still be fumbling with his bnce, such an inexperienced person will try to move in to take advantage of his incapacitated state. That''s why such an individual will not expect the iing spear. If the individual is lucky, they will be able to react to the sudden attack. An unlucky individual will be skewed by the spear.


    Too bad that SQUARESKULL isn''t an inexperienced individual. He is more than experienced, he is a spear master. He nned to both take advantage of Soverick''s incapacitation and also deal with any possible attack. So he jumped up and gained a vantage point from which he had his pick of attack options. He simply smashed his spear downward. The attack overwhelmed Soverick''s flimsy thrust and hit him in the chest. SQUARESKULL''s attack had the advantage of height and potential momentum, while he was destabilized and clutching at straws.


    Soverick smashed into the ground barely breathing. One of his arms was mangled from the time SQUARESKULL hit him in the side. The other arm had variouscerations and cuts. His legs did not go unscathed either. He was missing some toes amidst the veritable amount of injuries he had. The most gruesome of his injuries is the gaping hole left in his chest due to thatst crushing blow.


    He was battered and bruised. But his eyes were still open and locked onto SQUARESKULL. Those multicolored eyes were fixated on his teacher and they seemed to burn with the thirst for vengeance.


    So Soverick tried to stand up but he failed. It''s not because of the demands of the gate now. His body is worn out and refused to listen tomands. Body control or not, his body cannot and will not rise. Soverick''s recovery of his physical capabilities has led to longer dueling times. But it wasn''t a duel, it was a beating.


    "Do you know why you haven''t achieved one with the spear after two weeks?"


    Soverick just stared, intent on not answering. It was a rhetorical question anyway. That''s how SQUARESKULL usually starts his lecture after beating him up.


    ''Must be feeling smug don''t you.'' he thought to himself.


    SQUARESKULL continued. "It''s because you think too much. You need to learn to let go. Let your body act for the purpose. Let it feel the spear. Let your spear form shine gloriously. Your mind is holding you back."


    "How can I let go when that will end in failure? Brash actions are stupid. Only smart efficient actions can bring down a superior enemy." Soverick rebutted with an eye roll.


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 Chapter 171 Soverick Wont Hold Back.

    ?The intention to make One with the spear efficient is holding him back. He hasn''t found the answers to the questions he wants to solve and every attempt to solve them is being foiled by SQUARESKULL''s overwhelming prowess. No matter what he tried, it all ended in failure. SQUARESKULL was a superior enemy and Soverick couldn''t let his body act recklessly against one. That never ends well.


    He wasn''t angry at SQUARESKULL. His body might be broken and in pain but his mind has never been better. He had learned a lot from their fights. So he wasn''t angry at SQUARESKULL, even though he knew that SQUARESKULL cheated to beat him. He won''t whine about the defeat. Instead, he will learn from it and beat up SQUARESKULL one day.


    "Maybe you''re right. You need an opponent that you can beat. Go to the arena and fight someone. That''s after you have healed your wounds."


    Then SQUARESKULL turned to leave.


    "I''ll beat you someday. I''ll beat you up badly and I''ll enjoy it." Soverick said to him.


    SQUARESKULL chuckled. "I don''t doubt it. I''ll prepare myself for it even though I know that I''ll lose. That''s what it means to always go forward."


    ''Then that''s just stupid. I''ll run away, avoid the battle, ambush, trick, or n my way ahead to victory. That''s how those that deserve victory win. They don''t rely on luck. They live to survive another day. He whoughsstughs best."


    Soverick began to ruminate about the battle while his prodigious vitality got to work on healing him. His injuries might look heavy but it isn''t too much for him to heal on his own. When he bes a transcendent then he will be able to regrow limbs. Even an injury to his head will be just as serious as an injury to his leg. Organs don''t matter at that level, only energy. But for now, he will have to make do with his slow healing.


    The slow healing affords him more time to visualize his recent duels more. He had realized early on that the first step of spear mastery couldn''t win against SQUARESKULL. So he asked SQUARESKULL for videos and information about the second step. SQUARESKULL had refused and instead lectured him about trying to run when he couldn''t walk. He had attempted to figure it out himself when SQUARESKULL refused to provide more information but SQUARESKULL increased his spear mastery to the 3rd step or something definitely above the 2nd stage.


    He doesn''t know exactly what SQUARESKULL did but he could tell that something strange happened when SQUARESKULL twirled his spear. The spear attack that destabilized him wasn''t normal. SQUARESKULL''s spear elerated beyond what was possible for someone a little stronger and faster than Soverick. Either SQUARESKULL cheated in skill or in raw power.


    SQUARESKULL had promised to use only the first step but he started using the third step against someone that hasn''t even mastered the first. The problem with the third step is that it is the direct counter to the second. The good news is that he had already figured out some things about the third step but it is currently impossible for him to master.


    The third step needs a very strong and resilient mana body. His current body is already burdened by the gate he is carrying. But he will be able to master the third step easily as soon as he bes a mana entity. He will also be able to fulfill the other requirement for the third step, which is basic world harmonization.


    "It will be good to fight someone of my size." He said as he stood up and stretched.


    Fighting SQUARESKULL and been extremely helpful. Soverick''s mind had been exposed to the variousbinations and transitions between the basic spear skills. He realized one very important thing about basic skills. Cut, thrust, deflect, block, and bash can be turned into one another on the fly. It is a nice revtion but he would like to actually try out some of the things he learned on someone that it might work against.


    It had taken a few hours but his body was back as new. He picked up his still-heavy spear and walked out of the training room into SQUARESKULL''s central room. SQUARESKULL was sitting on his spear in that pretentious manner of his and meditating. Soverick took one look at him and turned towards the door.


    He never thought the disy was impressive from the first time he saw it. But now that he knew more about the spear mastery, he realized the disy was even less impressive. SQUARESKULL was just taking advantage of the innate perfect control of transcendents and the first step of spear mastery to do it.


    It might be difficult for a mana entity or impossible for a vitality core stage to do but it is normal for a transcendent. If it is normal for a transcendent, then it is subpar for Soverick. He has a much higher standard.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick ignored SQUARESKULL and walked out of the central room into the school hall. He has already been given permission to challenge someone on the ranking list, so he essed his wrist logger for challenge options.


    He found out that he could challenge any person for his first ranking battle and the person he chooses must ept. If he wins then he will take the ranking of that person while the person falls a rank. If he loses then his options for challenges will be limited to 1000th rank, the 1st milestone fight, and below.


    "Only someone at the 13th milestone and above can be a challenge to me. They will have acquired one with the spear. Anything beneath that is a waste of time." He thought to himself.


    His foundational fighting proficiency and basic spear skills have been polished to the extreme. He just needs a little push to bring it all together. Someone that has already achieved one with the spear might be able to give him that push.


    He felt someone ahead of him as he was considering how to challenge someone in the 10th and above ranking for his first ranking battle. He didn''t need to look to know that it was SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON. She just rubbed him the wrong way.


    "You have finallye out of your turtle shell." She said to him.


    There was a smile of derision on her face that irked him more than the strange feeling he was getting from her. And it was getting him angry, yet it didn''t show on his face or in his demeanor.


    "Do you think I was hiding from you?" He asked calmly.


    "What else would you be doing in there all along? You dishonored my heritage and you''re scared of the consequences. So you stayed cooped up and tried to gather strength. You didn''t evene out once to rest. Too bad for you that you''re unlucky. You just happened to encounter me."


    Soverick remained silent as she droned on. He continued to examine her. He wanted to figure out what was wrong with her but he couldn''t use the full power of his divine sense in the battle academy. That will just get him in trouble. He had a feeling that he was being watched but couldn''t pinpoint where or how.


    "So now, will you face the consequences of your action and duel me as a rival in a ranking battle?" She asked him.


    Soverick didn''t find anything out of ce about her with his surface scan but he frowned at her wording. Maybe it was his innate pride but he hated the word rival. How can such a person be his rival when he is trying to reach the realm lord? No one is his rival apart from the realm lord. He has yet to meet someone of that caliber outside of the realm lord. But there was no need to bicker with her. There''s only one way to prove his worth.


    "Sure, let''s fight." He agreed.


    She had progressed farther than him in the vitality core stage but what that means is that she should have more mana within her than him which is not the case. He has arger vitality core so he has more of everything than her. His spear mastery might not have reached the 20th rank but she was below the 300th rank, So he outssed her in every way.


    SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON smiled at his reply then she frowned. She did not feel the acknowledgment of being a rival from her bloodline. That means that Soverick did not consider her worthy of being a rival. He might have agreed to the challenge but he was still looking down at her. She would only be able to steal his talent if he acknowledges her as his rival himself.


    Soverick noticed her frown. "What''s wrong? Did you just realize the foolishness of your actions? If you want to back out now do so. I have better things to do. If you enter that arena with me, I won''t hold back at all." He warned her and he meant it.

 Chapter 172 Scolding SQUARESKULL The Bully.

    ?SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON fumed. She was already feeling disappointed that the fight will be a waste. It is one thing for him to not consider her his rival, it is another thing to not consider her worth his time. She knew he was prideful because of the confidence he had in his talent but it didn''t cate her.


    She might not know the extent of his talent but what can his talent achieve in weeks of training? She had been training her fighting proficiency for years. To her, Soverick couldn''te close to her level of skill, yet he was disrespectful to her.


    In ancient times, before the era of the sages who pioneered the mana stage, the first step of spear mastery is what the most talented of fighters spend their whole life to achieve. The best of the best can maybe reach the second step.


    Things have changed since then, the talent and capabilities of battle sage monkeys have improved with royal bloodlines. But even so, people need years to reach the first step. Soverick as not even spent a year or half a year and he was already behaving like mother high heaven''s mythical child of the ne.


    "I will take you down" She growled at him.


    She decided then and there that she might not get what she wanted in this fight, but she will scar him. She will demolish his pride and he will consider her a rival then. She will be a shadow over his heart and mind. He will be the one to challenge her to regain his pride but she will demolish him again and finally steal his talent. Then he will never be able to defeat her again.


    Soverick sent the challenge to her and she epted it with relish. He noticed the hungry anticipation in her and he shrugged. There was no harm in wishing to rip someone up and taking pleasure in it. Heck, he was doing the same thing. He is also looking forward to practicing his deadly spear skills on her. Then they left for the arena. Both of one mind and ord.


    Back within the Central Room. A few moments after Soverick left.


    SQUARESKULL received a notification and he became solemn. He made sure there was no one around and he locked up all the doors to the central room. He epted the request for a meeting and several holograms appeared.


    The holograms were virtual projections and only the central figure was blurred in a pink shade. They were 7 of them and SQUARESKULL knew them to be the director of the battle academy and the various headmasters of the Battle Academy.


    SQUARESKULL stood ramrod straight in respect. He didn''t need to bow to these figures because it didn''t matter. They don''t care if you respect them or not, only their strength matters. If they want something then they will get it, your respect or not affects nothing. But a sign of respect is always weed. Especially in front of such vtile beings.


    It will be a bad thing if they be your enemy. There''s nothing more dangerous than an enemy that has no fear for his or her life and is willing to lose everything just to cause you harm. Sovereigns are calm and can be reasoned with, these people on the other hand can be everything but calm.


    The central figure spoke first. "You went too far with your actions. Do you know why I did not step in?"


    SQUARESKULL answered. "Because you did not need to."


    "Correct. Because I did not need to. The boy remained unbothered. His body might be broken but his mind wasn''t. It was sort of unnerving to see such a thing in a 2 years old boy but it was reassuring to see him disy such willpower. But have no doubt, if I needed to, I would have stepped in."


    The pink figure continued. "The importance of the boy has increased in priority. It has been decreed that he is to be nurtured to the best of our ability without negatively affecting his growth. He did not need us to step in so we did not."


    Another figure joined in. "Yet it cannot be disputed that you went too far. Your training methods turned out well but you were too harsh in your duels. You were even using the third step. He is just a small boy, and yet you were heavy-handed with him. Exin yourself."


    SQUARESKULL roused himself to answer. This is a new addition to his life and it started ever since the academy AI made Soverick his student. These terrifying figures drop in once in a while to question him. He doesn''t like this meeting but he knows they don''t mean him any harm. They just want to know his thought process and his opinion about Soverick.


    "It was the only way to force him to quit trying to skip the first step. I didn''t want to simply beat him, I wanted to beat him back." He answered.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    One of the figures asked. "Won''t that make him want to skip the second stage too to beat you?"


    SQUARESKULL answered. "He will listen after his uing battle. Either he wins or fails, he will either get what he wants or admits that I was right."


    Another figure chuckled. "You may be naive to think he will listen. He broke all training records. He faced the famed unbeatable attack of the titan frog and he escaped it. He will not listen because he considers himself unparalleled or maybe he sees things from a different perspective. As long as he believes he can do it, then he will do it. Nothing has been able to tell him otherwise."


    "Is his sight special in any way? Those eyes of his are peculiar."


    "His sight isn''t special yet. He has yet to reach the mana stage."


    "That is true. Too bad we have to limit our interactions with him. I would like to know what he is actually thinking."


    The figures began to talk amongst themselves until the central figure called them to order.


    "The development of the gate is impressive. Your suggestion of it is excellent but even more excellent is the ability of the boy to execute it. In one go at that without any failure. Truly impressive. What are your thoughts on the progress of the gate?"


    That''s the thing about this group of titans. They don''t intend to lecture him about how to teach. They just want him to understand the gravity of his situation and the consequences he will face if he fails. But they will also reward him for a job well done.


    SQUARESKULL considered his words before answering. "He was able to build the gate which no one thought was possible at this stage but I think he has reached his limit. One gate is the limit of his body. It is not a matter of body control but energy requirement. His body cannot provide enough energy to build and sustain another gate. His vitality might be exceptional but it cannot even support a single gate. The conversion rate of the gate is horrendous because the technique was meant to be used with mana, not vitality. How he did it with vitality is beyond me but he can go no further."


    There was silence as the figures considered his words. "Your insight is appreciated." The central figure said.


    Another figure added its opinion. "It is not too much of a loss. The gates will bergely irrelevant when he bes a transcendent. He has already broken the norms of possibility with what he has achieved."


    "That is true. I have made in-depth research and analysis into the prowess of the descendants of the sages. Their talent is usually normal at the vitality stage. They struggle to even achieve the first step of spear mastery. But things change when they be mana entities. Their perception and their eyes awaken. I''ll send you the data on themter. My point is that if this boy is already this exceptional at this stage, what can we expect when he bes a mana entity."


    "Hmm, it is something to consider. His current intuition is otherworldly. I had to change the video surveince from real-time to dyed feed because he was constantly suspicious of his surroundings whenever I watch him."


    This made the figures chuckle. Then they received a notification about Soverick. Only high-priority matters can disturb them in meetings like this, and Soverick is one of them. They all looked at the notification.


    "Oh, it seems he is about to have his first ranked battle. And it is against someone below the 300th. I expected better."


    "Wait, isn''t his opponent that SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON girl from the eternal battle bloodline? Isn''t she SQUARESKULL''s disciple?"


    "She is. SQUARESKULL did say she had her eyes locked on him. Let''s watch how it happened. She must have approached him like the snake that her bloodline has made her."

 Chapter 173 The Showdown.

    ?They chatted in anticipation of Soverick''s match. They were probably more excited than Soverick for his ranking battle. They had watched him get beat up by SQUARESKULL and it was not an entertaining sight at all.


    "I''m going to start from the moment he left here. The dy should be enough to escape his notice."


    A screen popped up in the middle of the right figures. It was a t horizontal screen that produced 3D videos. It was a miniature full-colored holographic disy. Soverick was disyed on it. They saw him walking with his head down considering something. Then he met up with SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON and they began talking. Even though they were talking with their divine sense, the people here could understand what they were saying. It''s because their wrist logger was recording their soul fluctuations and the titans were deciphering it.


    "Hah, so funny. She just said she happened to walk by. I bet she has been stalking the entrance for him." One of the figuresughed.


    "I have data of her movement pattern here and it says she has been staying in that spot for over 150hrs. If one didn''t know better they''ll think she has a crush on the boy."


    Another one sighed and said, "Those from the eternal battle are seriously insidious. A glorious bloodline sure has fallen so low."


    "It was never glorious. People just didn''t know what they''re Origin ancestor was doing at that time. They thought he was building momentum off of victory but they didn''t know he was siphoning their fate, luck, destiny, and talent. His actions led to the death of several titans ofw. Many Kings ofw that his descendants fought against died when they tried to break through to the next stage and many lords ofw couldn''t be Kings ofw anymore. It was always an insidious bloodline." One of them disagreed.


    "It was already toote by the time he became an origin god. No one could eradicate that cursed bloodline anymore. But I heard he didn''t have a good ending." One of them whispered mysteriously to the others.


    "What happened?" Many of these titans were curious about this. They had heard that the ancestor of the eternal battle didn''t have a good ending but no one knows what exactly happened. These people would like something really bad to happen to him. They understood above everyone else how dangerous refinement is. So they knew the full implications of having your chances of sess reduced during a breakthrough. It can be the difference between sess and death.


    They weremunicating really fast but so were Soverick and SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON. So before this particr person could answer, they noticed a sudden spike in Soverick''s brain activity when he was inspecting her. It drew their attention to the video again.


    "That mind of his must be what''s special about him. His brain lights up when he is considering a problem. From what we can see, his chances of bing a titan ofw is high as long as he keeps the number of stars to a minimum."


    "But the minimum isn''t enough for the family."


    The pink central figure spoke this time around. "We still have time to make more observations anyway. And it is his choice at the end of the day. No one can force anyone to take a path. Even if it were possible, I doubt it will work on him anyway."


    Then Soverick challenged SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON and they left for the arena.


    One of the figures asked the central one. "Should I send out a notification to everyone in the secondary school for the uing match?"


    "You can. These children need something fun to do once in a while. Hopefully, it isn''t toote by now."


    It was not toote. The trainees ran in droves to watch the match. They were mostly from the preparatory and technique training stage. The ones in the fighting proficiency stage were busy with their training. The fact that a notification was sent out for this match intrigued them but they lost interest when they found out that it was the first ranking battle of one of the challengers.


    They all thought that Soverick was biting more than he could chew. They had seen it happen before. The first ranking battle allowed you to challenge anyone and some arrogant people believe that they are better than people that have spent years here in the academy more than them.


    There are 12 milestone fights for those that haven''t reached the first step of weapons mastery. It makes it very obvious that not everyone below that level of skill is equal. There is still various level of skills, such as uracy, the efficiency of movements, effectiveness of techniques, reaction, perception, battle judgment, and fighting instincts.


    Most of these arrogant people get punished for their hubris. So they decided that it wasn''t something worth wasting their time for. Only the ones in the lower stages appreciated the event.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    In the fighting ring of the arena.


    Soverick and SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON arrived at the arena only to find people waiting for them already and more were still arriving. SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON was waving and riling up the crowd. She wanted Soverick''s impending defeat to be very humiliating.


    "Look what we have here everyone. A neer to the fighting ring is challenging someone way up the rank. What do you think will happen?" She shouted to everyone.


    "Defeat!""Beat him up!""Humiliation!"


    Many people shouted back at her. The energy of the crowd had gone wild in anticipation.


    "He has spent less than 2 months training his fighting proficiency and yet he thinks he can''t beat me. I have spent 10 years in the fighting proficiency stage alone. Should I beat him up?"


    The crowd began to chant, "Beat him up. Beat him up. Beat him up."


    Only a few were quiet, among them are Ghaster and Litori. But even they had ugly countenances. They didn''t believe that this match will end well for Soverick.


    "What is he doing challenging someone so out of his league?" Litori asked.


    Ghaster shrugged but answered. "You know how he is. Pompous and proud. Maybe this fight will knock him down a peg. His arrogance needs dealing with. It won''t be a bad thing for him to suffer a just defeat."


    Litori was worried while Ghaster chose to be impassive. He promised himself not to allow the oue of the fight to affect him. That''s only so that he won''t consider Soverick a lesser person and underestimate him. A loss is not always a bad thing, as long as Soverick learns from it and improves, he will be more formidable. Ghaster doesn''t think it is possible for Soverick to win though. And so did the crowd.


    SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON smiled and gripped her spear. She remembered the first lesson that she learned during the duels with SQUARESKULL. It was how to properly resolve all the basic spear skills. She remembered how tough it was to resolve her teacher''s attacks which were backed up by momentum. It was a tough lesson in the power of the first step of spear mastery. She would teach Soverick that lesson.


    So she initiated the fight with a spear thrust. Her body was still for one moment, then she began to elerate as she shot towards him. She quickly arrived at Soverick''s seemingly unprepared form.


    Soverick on the other hand was thinking about the toughest obstacle in his duel with SQUARESKULL. It was not how to deal with the basic spear skills, nor was it how to chain attacks. It was not how tobine the basic spear skills or how to shift seamlessly from one attack to another. Or the numerous other spear skills he knows. No, all those he learned himself just to ovee that one trick from SQUARESKULL. He will perform that trick on SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON and maybe gain some insight into how to deal with it.


    This fight is just a resting point on the way to his final destination. So this fight must be useful to him in helping him ovee that hurdle. His eyes are always on the real prize, but he will allow himself to enjoy this fight. Maybe just a little bit. That''s why he smirked and twirled his spear.


    His hand was in the middle of the spear so the de and the butt formed the outline of a circle as he rotated the spear clockwise. SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON''s thrust arrived but was knocked aside by the butt of the spear. She careened past him unable to control her momentum.


    She would have eventually stopped behind him and attacked again, but the de of his spear didn''t allow that. It turned just as her attack was deflected, she had yet to recover when it mmed her belly. The de cut into her stomach, lodged itself into it, and continued its upward journey.


    It was just the start though. Her ordeal has yet to end. Soverick had promised not to hold back.

 Chapter 174 The Game Of Spear Mastery Is Momentum.

    ?Her body had leaned forward during her thrust so the force of the hit to her stomach lifted her 5 meters above the fighting ring. Soverick had stolen the umted momentum of her attack and transferred it to her through her belly. If she couldn''t use her momentum well, he might as well use it for her.


    Such was the hit that she almost cked out, but she didn''t neither did she see what Soverick did next. Her mind was still trying to process how and why her stomach was damaged so much. She was falling and she was disoriented. Shecked one with the spear that will let her figure out how to right herself.


    So she was unaware of what wasing for her. Even if she did, she wouldn''t be able to do anything about it but shout in fright. Soverick ced his spear in a vertical position just beneath where he predicted she would fall.


    Her momentum ran out and gravity took over. She began to fall to the ground, then she impaled herself on the waiting spear. The spear went through her already-opened stomach and split her spine beforeing out through her back.


    She was tottering at the edge of consciousness already. Having a gutted stomach is not a pleasant feeling at all. The massive pain of having arge foreign object pass through her body and breaking her spine seeded in pushing her over the edge into the unconscious.


    The arena was in an uproar. His fight had set the spectators off. Soverick stilled as he was considering the fight. He didn''t learn how to resolve the twirling trick but he learned why he couldn''t ovee it. It was the same reason why someone without any spear mastery cannot defeat someone at the first step. It is also the same reason why someone at the first step cannot defeat someone at the second.


    It is because spear mastery allows you to toy with the opponent. Your spear will move better ording to your will while your opponents will look like fumbling babies. Spear mastery makes your opponent inept, out of their depth, ignorant, unlearned, naive, foolish, failures, and many other negative assessments.


    The matter that stumped him could have been anything other than a twirl. Any simple action performed with spear mastery would have seemed iprehensible to him. He could have been stumped by anything that SQUARESKULL did. He had never been able to realize this point because he was always the one being toyed with. He just thought SQUARESKULL was overwhelmingly better than him.


    And with this understanding came a subtle change. Now that he knows the answer to the question, What purpose is the first step for? He became able to harness momentum himself. He achieved the first step and his gate entered the empowerment phase. Not only that, he sensed he has already achieved the second step too.


    If the first step is bing one with the spear and harnessing momentum, then the second step is fusing mind, technique, and instinct so that you can use that momentum efficiently. The foundation of spear mastery is learning the rules of a game. The first step is bing able to y the game. The second step is bing an expert at the game. In spear mastery, the game is momentum.


    His mind has always been his strongest aspect of him and to add it into the mix made SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON look like a joke. He has some guesses about the third step which he ns to inquire about. So he began to leave the arena, his steps felt more powerful than usual. Just a little bit stronger, but it was increasing.


    His sudden movement roused the crowd into a frenzy. They began to scream and apud. Someone ran to check up on SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON so that she wouldn''t bleed out. The fight had been quick but it was sensational. They had seen SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON blur forward before she was suddenly airborne. Then she was suddenly impaled. It was like Soverick was ying with a lifeless object that someone threw at him and performing tricks with it. When that lifeless object turns out to be someone with over 10 years of training, it makes for a spectacr sight.


    Litori was shocked still with her mouth opened wide. Ghaster on the other hand, to his credit, appeared no different. But he was struggling with an internal shock more severe than Litori''s. His mentality is currently pushing against the tide of hopelessness that is threatening to overwhelm him. It seems to be a losing battle because there is the advantage of reason on the side of hopelessness while there is only stubbornness on the side of his struggle.


    He refused to believe that SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON is truly strong. Maybe she is weak. But she definitely isn''t on par with Soverick. The fight had proved that. If she were really strong, then that must mean Soverick is out of his league. He couldn''t even beat Viki thedy that just entered the third stage of training. How is he topare to SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON?


    So he promised himself. "I will also defeat her one day just like Soverick did. I might not be able to reach Soverick but I refuse to believe she is better than me. She will be my rival from now on."


    With that conviction came victory over hopelessness. He felt good because he had a seemly much closer goal to aplish. If he can''t defeat SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON, only then will hopelessness return, but with a greater might that could destroy his worldview. SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON, his rival didn''t realize that she had be someone''s rival at that point because she was still knocked out. Her wish to be the rival of a talented person had been fulfilled but she was unconscious to appreciate the development.


    Within SQUARESKULL''s Central Room.


    One of the figures shouted excitedly, "Wow, did you see that? Did you see that?"


    "You''re not a child anymore so calm down." He was swiftly rebuked.


    "I saw it. He has already mastered the first and the second step."


    They all saw what made him so excited.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Wow, he basically yed with her. I was wrong. This fight was not a disappointment as I thought." The excited figure continued to speak.


    He pointed to the quiet SQUARESKULL, "Do you see that SQUARESKULL? You were the one holding him back. Imagine that."


    "The second stage isn''t supposed to be achieved by the vitality core stage. Mana entities have a muchrger processing capability. They use mana as the medium for momentum and as the bind that fuses technique, instinct, and the mind together.


    "If he has already mastered the 2nd step, what will he master in the mana stage?"


    They began to discuss what they should do about Soverick.


    "Even more important is what is left for him to master now. Do we let him fight the 14th milestone fight?"


    "That still isn''t a challenge for him. He will beat it easily and leave behind an impossible task for future challenges. He is obviously an anomaly, hoping for another one of him toe forth is unlikely to happen."


    The central figure sighed and said, "If we take that fight from him then we have to let him participate in the battle of the divine dungeon. We didn''t think he will be ready for it so soon. But now that he is, we have to inform him and let him decide."


    Some of them thought it was not safe for Soverick to be sent there.


    "But that''s too dangerous. He could die there."


    Others thought it didn''t matter.


    "If someone of his level of skill dies there, then no one is safe in there."


    "That''s what a battlefield is supposed to be like. Unpredictable and full of danger. If something of this level kills him then so be it."


    The central figure spoke again. "That''s it then. SQUARESKULL will inform him. The decision is ultimately his."


    The others had no choice but to agree. They were silent for a while before one of them asked.


    "What were you about to say about the ancestor of the eternal battle? What happened to him?"


    The figure that answeredughed first. "The fate of the ancestor of eternal battle is very simr to what just happened to his descendant. Origin gods with a vendetta against him hunted him down again and again. They tracked him down whenever he resurrected and killed him. They made him suffer until one day someone paid a world god to capture him and imprison him. He did not have a good ending."


    The figures allughed. It seems that the actions of the ancestor of Eternal Battle had offended a lot of influential people in the upper realm. No one could do anything to him in the lower realm but that changed when he ascended. He received plenty of retribution for the suffering he had caused.


    The figures dispersed on a happy note leaving SQUARESKULL in his room alone with his peace and spear. He did not like the powerful attention on him but it gave him knowledge. There are a lot of things he didn''t know before attending these meetings, but the casual things they mention always broaden his horizon.

 Chapter 175 Steps Of Spear Mastery.

    ?SQUARESKULL hadn''t known about the effect of her bloodline on SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON in the past few years of being his student. It wasn''t until when he mentioned it in the meeting that she had a spat with Soverick. They had casually mentioned her motive and he had honestly been terrified about the powers of such a dangerous bloodline.


    He asked them why they even allowed someone like that to exist in the battle academy where they were supposed to improve the potential of the trainees. They informed him that she wasn''t dangerous until she reaches the mana entity stage. Which made him ask why they allowed such an insidious bloodline to exist at all.


    What they said was that there are a lot of dangers in life. If they start eliminating them all, then they will be spending a lot of manpower to prevent their offspring from growing. Those threats and dangers are meant to sharpen them and make them stronger.


    Besides that, it is not anyone''s fault who their parents are, only what they do will they be faulted for. And SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON has not done anything worth killing her for. The n is to wait until she bes a mana entity. If she goes off rails then, they will send some talented mana entities to kill her. The ones that fail will have their talent siphoned, they will probably die so their talent doesn''t matter anymore. While the one that seeds will have his or her talent improved, reaping the fruits of her aplishments.


    That''s how the way of the world is. The strong eat the weak.


    SQUARESKULL shook his head. He resumed his meditative stance while he pondered a question that one of the titans ofw asked. What will Soverick master when he bes a mana entity?


    The first step was supposed to only be mastered by the vitality core stage geniuses. The second step is normal for hardworking mana entities to master. The third step is meant for really talented mana entities.


    It is without a doubt that Soverick will master the third step easily. What about the fourth step? It is meant to only be mastered by transcendents. But if Soverick could break the norm for the second step, can''t he also do so for the fourth step?


    SQUARESKULL dares not to say it is impossible for Soverick to achieve the fourth step as a mana entity. But where does that leave him, the teacher? He has been stuck in the fourth step for a long time and yet, there is a distinct possibility that his student will catch up to him soon in spear mastery. He thought he was prepared for the eventuality of Soverick catching up to him and beating him, but he didn''t think it could happen so soon.


    A notification informed him that Soverick was at the door and was requesting entrance. He smiled and shook his head before giving the ess. Soverick entered and his gaze immediately found SQUARESKULL''s figure. He started walking towards SQUARESKULL.


    SQUARESKULL shook his head in wonder. He noticed the changes in Soverick''s steps. They were light as if he was not in a hurry, but he was still covering ground at a normal pace. Soverick sat in front of SQUARESKULL.


    "Have you reached the empowerment phase of your gate?" He asked Soverick.


    Soverick nodded.


    SQUARESKULL pped and said, "Congrattions. We have a lot to celebrate. You achieved the first and second steps of spear mastery. You also reached the empowerment phase of your gate. You will start to see returns on that investment."


    Soverick shrugged. "It''s ok I guess."


    "It''s ok. That''s all you have to say? You''re a buzz kill. What do you want now?"


    "I want to know all the avable steps of spear mastery. Make it the ones you know for sure. I don''t want the wrong information. I believe I am entitled to it." Soverick asked with that same apathetic attitude of his.


    SQUARESKULL considered the question. And he considered for a brief moment whether to answer or not. He suspected that he was at a crossroads. His decision to answer will affect Soverick and will inadvertently boost his growth.


    He had long noticed that as long as Soverick has an aim and the requirements to achieve it, then it is just a matter of time for him to achieve it. But withholding information will not hold Soverick back. It has been shown that he can work it out himself. Plus Soverick can easily get that information from someone else. Most important of all is that this moment will be watched and reviewed by those titans ofws. He doesn''t think any excuse can get him out of not doing his job of teaching Soverick.


    "You think you''re a big boy now. Are you sure you should know? You may deserve the knowledge but it can hinder youter on."


    Soverick nodded.


    SQUARESKULL sighed. "Fine. The first step is known as one with the spear. You be capable of harnessing and controlling momentum at that stage. You will be able to control the pace and the rhythm of battle with it. It requires the fusion of technique and instinct. You should know that already."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "The second step is called seamless. It is when you have reached such efficiency and infallibility in control of momentum that every single action of yours will lead to an expected and inevitable end, the defeat of your enemies. Technique and instinct are fused with the mind which transforms the reflex reaction of one with the spear into a conscious effort of seamless. Usually, only the powerful mind of a mana entity can handle such a task. But you did it anyway. How did you do it?"


    SQUARESKULL asked after his exnation. His gaze was locked onto Soverick as if he was interrogating him and he was a child that will crack under a heavy gaze.


    The key to Soverick''s sess lies in his understanding of seamless and the control of his body.


    Techniquees from the mind, it is a voluntary execution of skills driven by the conscious mind. Instinctse from the subconscious mind and it drives the body involuntarily to execute skills. Both of them originated from the mind and are executed through the body. He had perfect control of his mind andplete control of his body.


    He didn''t say all this. In fact, he didn''t say anything. He continued staring back at SQUARESKULL silently. He wasn''t a child that will crack under the pressure of such a weak gaze. SQUARESKULL finally had enough of the staring contest and continued his exnation.


    "The third step is called one with the world. It was pioneered by the sages. They were the first mana entities of the battle sage monkeys and they remained relevant till today through their innovations."


    "One with the world involves harnessing the momentum of the world to fight. You probably know that the ne is moving. It is rotating and revolving around the ancient battlefield. All that movement gives it a huge amount of momentum, almost unlimited. Tapping into that momentum will make you so much stronger than what you can achieve by hand."


    Soverick raised his hand and asked. "Do you mean world power?"


    SQUARESKULL. "What do you know about world power? Do you know what it really is?"


    "Isn''t it the power of the world? You need to be a titan ofw and have the seed of a concept before you cane in contact with world power."


    SQUARESKULL nodded. "You know what it should be, not what it is, which is understandable. The best exnation for world power requires an understanding that a vitality core stage refiner or transcendent don''t have."


    "But no, they are different. Imagine riding a bull. The strength within the muscles of a bull is world power, the momentum of the bull as it races forward is, well, momentum. A stationary bull will still have that inherent strength of its muscles and body, but it will have no momentum. Do you understand?"


    "Yes." Soverick replied.


    "Good. Now let''s move on. If the seamless step is about fine nning then the one with the world step is about brute force. After all, the bane of every careful n or scheme is pure strength. It is not unheard of for someone to skip the second step and go to the third one. Some people are just not capable of thinking ahead. So they double down on sensing the momentum of the world and skip the second step."


    ''Like Ghaster.'' Soverick thought to himself.


    SQUARESKULL continued talking. "Those that have mastered coiling momentum and have built their gates can siphon momentum from the ne instead of their body. It is something to look forward to since you have a gate already."


    Soverick suddenly remembered something.


    "Sorry to interrupt, but were you using the third step to bully me during our duels?"


    His teacher sighed and answered. "Yes. I thought you were taking on more than you could handle by tackling the second step at your stage so I wanted to show you the error of your ways with brute force. It turns out I was wrong."


    Soverick nodded. "Please continue."

 Chapter 176 Whats The Hold Up?

    ?He just wanted to confirm that what he understood about what SQUARESKULL did when utilizing the third step is really the third step. If he was wrong, then the data he collected will be for another thing entirely.


    SQUARESKULL continued. "There is a mythical step after the third step called the nullification step. It has never been achieved by anyone but the first sages. It is said to be able to nullify momentum and render any fighter powerless but it might just be rumors. No one has seen it being used in recent times even though the College of Sages ims to have the techniques needed for it."


    Soverick became intrigued at that possibility. The ability to nullify momentum sounded like a direct counter to the third step. No matter how much momentum someone can harness, if it is nullified, then they will lose all their spear mastery. Momentum is the core of spear mastery after all.


    "The widely agreed upon fourth step is called the mind spear step. It is where I am currently. It doesn''t counter the third step but amplifies it. It can only be achieved by those that have also mastered the second step. So those that skipped the second step will be stuck."


    ''Good luck oveing that, Ghaster.'' Soverick smirked inwardly.


    "It involves the fusion of perfect control, solidified spiritual energy that a transcendent has, and world momentum of the third step to create an uncountable number of spears that perform both physical and spiritual damage."


    "There is a way out for those that haven''t achieved the second step. It is rare that a transcendent cannot acquire the second step but it happens. Someone like that can rely on the quality of momentum of the third step instead of the quantity of attacks to fight someone at the fourth step. It is possible since the fourth step doesn''t counter the third. This fact gives credence to the opinion that a step is missing."


    "Now onto the second to thest step. The fifth stage is called the formless spear. If the previous four stages are the foundation of your images, then the fifth stage is the birth of your image. At that point, you no longer need a spear to fight."


    "Your image can empower a small stick. Everything in the world bes your spear. The most important requirement for this step is synchronization withws. I have not been able to achieve this basic requirement much less the more stringent condition of the strength of will. That''s all I can safely tell you without errors."


    "You should know thest step. It is called the spear concept. It is something only titans ofw can achieve. You will be able to use world power at that level. Your chances of bing a titan ofw will soar if you have achieved the fifth stage. That is all. Are you satisfied?"


    Soverick nodded and began to consider the information he just acquired. Those that cannot harness momentum will be toyed around by those that can. Those that can harness momentum will be toyed around by those that can harness it efficiently. Those that can harness momentum efficiently will be toyed around by those that can harness the momentum of the world. That''s what he could confirm for now. He would make more research himself to determine the truth of the nullification and the mind spear step.


    As for the formless spear mastery, he had seen something like that in his past life. The advantage of his bloodline in his past life made him lose contact with weaker things. He never fought when he was weak. There was no need to, he didn''tck anything. Training was also not important to him back then.


    It was until he started taking things seriously that he became aware of some things but they were high-level skills and techniques. The problem with that is that, at the level of lords and above, it is very difficult to tell the difference between a technique and the manifestation ofw. But the information he has just gotten will help him parse the things he has seen.


    "When do you need to create your own technique?" He asked SQUARESKULL.


    SQUARESKULL answered immediately "It is not a must to create a technique, but creating one will improve your chances of mastering the fifth step. I have not been able to create one yet. The style I''m using is from my ancestral memories."


    "Are the steps of mastery also simr to other weapons or the ones you''ve listed are unique to the spear?"


    "They arergely simr. All weapons share the same progression in mastery. Their skills and techniques will differ but everything else is the same."


    "Alright then. Thanks for the information. I''ll go and fight the 14th milestone now. Maybe when Ie back, we can duel some more. I still have a lot to learn from you." Soverick stood up and was ready to go.


    "It isn''t advisable to fight the 14th milestone. You will undoubtedly win and when you do, your data will be collected and used to form the opponent for future generations. It is expected that no one will be able to beat you which will render the 14th milestone impassable."


    "I am yet to see how this concerns me but go on," Soverick said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    SQUARESKULL sighed. "Forget about it. Do whatever you want. But I have an alternative for you. It might fix your inability to create more gates."


    Somewhere in the Virut ne.


    The battle Leviathan, that enormous battleship in the shape and size of a small celestial body had moved away from where it was stationed before. This isn''t the first time it had happened, the battle Leviathan moves ording to the whims of the son of legends.


    Sometimes it is to position themselves in just the right spot to catch the Godhood of a celestial god that fell from the divine ne. Other times, it is to hunt small pockets of religious fanatics. Where it went, something important was to happen there.


    People can do foolish things whenever they are desperate. You would think theck of gods due to the recent sieges on them, will make these weak people look inwards and find strength within them.


    Instead of acquiring strength that is theirs and not relying on others, these weak people turned their pleas towards demons since the gods couldn''t answer them. This situation has caused a spike in demonic activity within the ne. The racial council determined that the eventual fall of the gods will lead to demon invasions, so they sent more battle leviathans to guarantee the safety of the ne.


    This particr Battle Leviathan has put out threats of demons at the opportune time. They stumbled upon demon summoning and demonic cults, either by chance or unseen n. But this first battle leviathan has not joined in patrolling the ne for quite some time now.


    The son of legends has ordered it to move towards a particr location which they have been staying at for weeks now doing nothing. Still, no one questioned the decision of the son of legends. Well, almost no one.


    The son of legends is not a titan ofw, he couldn''t be having mood swings. There had to be a reason why he made this decision. That''s what almost everyone else used to cate themselves during this period of inactivity.


    Not everyone chose to cate themselves. Especially not Guntu. Periods of inactivity like this are like mental torture to him. He had gathered everyone on the ship that he could gather and he had regaled them with stories. He enjoyed doing it, and because these people had never heard his stories, he spent the first couple of weeks telling stories. But the suppression of the ne didn''t allow him to be content with that for too long.


    So he approached the son of legends as he had done several times recently.


    "What are we doing here again?" He asked as he scratched an itch.


    An Origin god shouldn''t have an itch, they should have lost that phenomenon when they became transcendent. But after long periods of exposure to the suppressive force of a ne, their mental itch and difort turn into a physical one.


    The worst part is that no amount of scratching can satisfy them or mollify that itch. Nothing they do will help them. They wouldn''t be able to ditch that itch until they leave the ne.


    So what are they doing right now, standing around instead of fighting?


    The son of legends replied calmly. He said the same thing he had said for the past 874 times. "I don''t know WHEN. I only know WHAT, HOW, and WHERE. This ce must be secured. Don''t worry, it will happen anytime now."


    Guntu observed the Son of legends for any trace of difort but he didn''t see any. The son of legends had been standing in that same spot for weeks without moving. The white of his eyes indicated that he had locked on to a favorable future and the direction of his gaze showed where that favorable future is supposed toe to fruition.


    ''It had better happen soon because this wait is killing me.'' Guntu thought to himself.

 Chapter 177 The Advent Of The Last Days.

    ?Guntu followed the gaze of the son of legends and saw nothing but a forest. The Virut ne is mostly forest except for the ces with cities. There are no roads on the ground since their transportation system is mostly airborne. The need for wood is also low so the forest has been kept mostly alone. Cutting down a forest can antagonize an old monster that used to live in these woods so it''s not worth it to tamper with the forest.


    The love for trees is still deeply rooted in the hearts of many in the race of battle sage monkeys. Times may change, and eras may be swapped, but some individuals that lived through it all are still alive. Trees might have lost their purpose, but there are world gods who still love the trees they had to fight tooth and nail for. You can imagine what such powerful entities can do to you if you dare touch what they have very fond memories of. If you are an Origin god, you will wish you could die.


    So the trees are left alone. No one tears down old structures and forests to build new, hip things like parking lots or shopping malls. It doesn''t change the fact that the forests have lost their use. What could be special about a forest that is enough to make them stand around doing nothing for weeks?


    Guntu didn''t bother to ask that because the rehearsed reply of "You''ll see" did not interest him. What interests him is how the son of legends didn''t feel restless and sickly with the suppression. He had been holding back because it might be personal. But now he can''t hold back anymore.


    So he asked, "How are you not affected by the suppression, or is that you are affected but you don''t show it?"


    The son of legends answered immediately as if he was expecting the question, "Imagine ake in a frigid region. The surface of theke is frozen over due to the cold temperature and the wind is howling like ice des."


    The white eyes of the son of legends remained locked onto the forest but his actions and voice became more animated. "Beneath theke is a dormant volcano that is somehow keeping the water in the depths warm. Living on the surface will be tough and no matter how resilient you are, the freezing wind will continue to sap the life out of you."


    As he spoke, an image of what he was describing was being outlined in the air. Guntu considered how he did it as the air shimmered with vibrant colors as if it were a painting.


    The disy looked simple, something that could be easily achieved by a transcendent with their solidified divine sense but Guntu is sensitive enough to know that this creation is not entirely based on a divine sense. Instead, the son of legends used his divine sense to split the water droplets in the air and held each individual dot still while the rays of light are diffracted through them. It is how rainbows are formed but the son of legends was forming a vibrant painting with it.


    The arrangement and angles of each dot are such that the light they produce is amplified in some ces or eclipsed in others to create this fine imagery. The son of legends had turned something simple into something difficult and it was amazing how easy he could achieve it.


    ''He has to be holding more than a billion dots of water in ce with his divine sense and yet is still able to choreograph their effect. Is this the difference between me and someone ready to be a world god?''


    Guntu was half impressed and half depressed. Destruction is easier to do than creation. Destruction had alwayse easily to Guntu but he knew it would not lead him forward. Destruction for destruction purpose cannot lead him forward. He has to temper destruction with creation but he could not see how to.


    A world god cannot create a world with just destruction. Guntu can''t even weave the tapestry of an image using thews of water, air, light, darkness, and earth. Anything he touches is destroyed.


    The son of legends continued to talk, oblivious to the emotional turmoil within Guntu. Or maybe he isn''t, someone with the eyes of sages cannot be underestimated.


    "Normal space is the area above the frozenke. It is specifically the space of a ne. The freezing wind is the force of suppression. The thick frozen top of theke is a high energy barrier, it is difficult to breach."


    "As its name suggests, you need to have achieved a high energy state to breach the barrier. But once the barrier is breached you get ess to the warm depths. You are safe in the depths, the freezing winds can''t reach you and the volcano keeps you warm. But you need to be able to survive underwater without air. Only those that have achieved a high energy state can traverse the depths. If you can survive in the depths, you can now control a lifeless puppet to remain active on the surface from the safety of the depths."


    The images depicted the new additions to the story. It showed a person with the same likeness as the sun of legend in the depths and another one on top of the ice. The only difference between them is that the one in the depths is 3 dimensional while the one above is 2 dimensional, like a cube and square cardboard. One is fleshed out while the other is surface thick.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "No matter how cold the wind is it can''t affect me and the puppet is lifeless so it can''t feel a thing. What you''re seeing right now is my puppet. The real me is within the depths of space. You can still kill me but it will require more power than usual. The conversion of a low energy state into a higher energy state is horrendously inefficient."


    "But the suppression of the ne cannot affect me as long as I don''t return to normal space. If I were a true world god then I''ll be unapproachable to you no matter how short the distance between us seem. Now do you understand why I don''t feel suppression sickness"


    Guntu nodded solemnly. Anyone would understand with such an over-the-top exnation and a showy disy of painting skills.


    The son of legends continued. "I am only halfway there and I am longing for the same thing as you. I want to be the volcano instead of the person seeking refuge in the depths. I want to be Immovable and calm while hotva brews within my depth. An eruption of mine can turn the entire frigid zone intova and ash. Imagine that,va and ash."


    Guntu didn''t have to imagine it. The images showed the profound effect of the eruption and Guntu watched as thew of fire wove itself seamlessly into the tapestry. The image depicted scenes of destruction but there was no actual destruction in the tapestry. It was just destruction being mimicked by creation.


    Guntu felt sore. Even his specialty can be mimicked. "At least you''re halfway there. With creation anything is possible." He said.


    The son of legendsughed and waved the images away.


    Within the Divine ne of the Virut Pantheon.


    God King Ode, the supreme god of the Virut pantheon finally made his decision. After weeks of agonizing indecision and no forting help, he decided to activate the "Last Days" protocol.


    "Nothing has changed for the better. It is out of my hands." Hemented as he checked the state of the divine kingdom.


    There have been more celestial gods due to the forced battles between grand gods. But no miracle happened. No special celestial that can change the course of battle appeared. The celestials they acquired are also being starved of divine energy. Faith in them had long reached rock bottom.


    Then there are the demons. The demons are assaulting the gods like predators moving in to finish a wounded prey. Their eternal rivals sensed weakness in the god''s defense and were locked on to them like a canine beast on a bone.


    Ode suspects that someone is feeding the demons information. Even if the gods somehow repel the main ne, the demons will rip them apart. Their losses in the battle with the main ne, internal fighting, and desertion, coupled with their loss of faith have made them too weak to face their real enemies.


    The main ne is never supposed to be their real enemy. Even if those from the main ne barge into the divine ne, they will be highly suppressed. This suppression is higher than that of the main ne. But the demons are not suppressed in the divine ne at all. So while the demons remainrgely intact, the gods have be fractured and impoverished.


    God King Ode began to stroll around his divine kingdom onest time. He looked at his vast wealth and sighed. "I''m going to miss you the most."

 Chapter 178 WHAT, HOW, WHERE, BUT NOT WHEN.

    ?Then he called for a council meeting which the remaining gods were eager to attend. They had been moring for a direction, for a purpose, but their god King had shut himself off from the world. Now that he had returned, they were looking forward to his n. For most of them, it will decide if they finally go through with the fall or not.


    The Colosseum of the gods was quiet like it never had been. There was a stifling and depressing air about the gods. They all knew what condition they are in and that it will require a miracle to get them out of it.


    Ode began. "I appreciate your presence here, for you are the ones that have stood with the divine ne through this trying time. You deserve a reward for your loyalty."


    The gods agreed wholeheartedly with that statement. They just hoped that their reward will be a way out.


    "I know that you are all worried about the fate of the gods. You don''t think we have a significant chance of oveing these challenges. We might be beset on all sides by enemies but we still have a way out. We can still survive."


    The gods began to cheer and p.


    Then Ode said, "By my authority as the Supreme Celestial God of the Virut Pantheon, I dere the onset of the Last Days of the gods."


    Power beyond what he used to have coursed through him. This power is due to the increase in the number of celestial gods under his control. He had never been this strong but even his increased strength couldn''t hope to match their enemies. He doesn''t even have the divine energy to use such power for a prolonged period. Instead, he will use all his power and avable divine energy to increase the effect of the Last Days of the gods.


    The gods started to weaken as he activated the Last Days protocol. From the weakest low god to the strongest celestial god, they all felt their Godhood weaken incredibly. They began to panic but they couldn''t move to stop Ode because whatever he is doing was draining them of their power and authority.


    The gods were not the only ones suffering this dilemma. The entire divine ne began to weaken and morph. It became smaller and smaller as all sources of energy and power within it were siphoned for the purpose of the protocol. Even the divine kingdoms of gods shrank down and the host of angels was reduced drastically to fuel the transformation. Then the entire divine realm warped and popped with a sudden change.


    Ode the god King was sitting on his throne in what used to be the colosseum of the gods. The former grand edifice has be a smaller hall without impressive structures or seats. All the gods have disappeared except Ode. In front of Ode is a giant floating ball around 10 meters in diameter. The ball is brightly lit in glorious light like the biggest Godhood ever. The surface of the ball is like that of a gem with each face showing different scenes in the divine kingdom. Most of it is filled with scenes of panic of the gods.


    Ode sighed in defeat. "It is out of my hand now. It is up to the people of the Virut ne."


    This ball represents all the power of the gods and the culmination of their divinity. The person in control of the ball will be able to decide the fate of the gods. The ball cannot be used by any god, it can only be used by a mortal. That means a mortal will have to reach the final level of this dungeon to use it.


    The divine ne has be a dungeon and its gods will be preserved until someone of incredible powers clears the dungeon. But not to worry, Ode had sacrificed a lot to ensure that only those from the vitality core stage and body forging stage can enter this divine dungeon. Some other mechanisms have been put in ce to ensure that a favorable oue for the gods will be reached if a mortal reaches this final level.


    Turning the divine ne into a dungeon means the era of the gods has officially been put on hold. It may end with the decision of the mortal that reaches the dungeon core or it may resume, better than what it used to be. But this change ensures that the gods get to live a rtively peaceful life until that moment of decision. They get to spend theirst days waiting for a savior or a condemner.


    He raised his hand and felt thecking strength in them. He smiled wryly, "How low have I fallen?"


    Even he wasn''t exempted from the drain. When you give up your power for peace, you also give up your fate. No more is he a celestial god, he has weakened to the level of a mana entity. Yet, he is still the strongest god.


    "The other gods must have it worse. Time to exin their new existence to them."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The gods were panicking because of all the changes. He couldn''t tell them about his n beforehand or some of them will have bailed on him. He needed all their powers to be concentrated in a single point so that the rules of the dungeon can be enforced.


    The gods have changed. They are weakened and yet they are still immortal somewhat. They needed information about their new existence so that they will settle into their new life. As the former God-king who caused all these, it is his responsibility to enlighten them. So he touched the god core and started speaking to them.


    In the Main ne. On the Battle Leviathan. The Moment When Ode Activated the Last Day''s Protocol.


    The son of legends smiled. He looked at Guntu beside him and said.


    "A seer can peer into fate and destiny. We usually know WHAT about the future. Sometimes we also know HOW or WHERE, but WHEN eludes us. It is almost impossible to know all the factors of an event. Do you know why this is so?"


    Guntu considered the question seriously all too happy to engage in an interesting conversation.


    "Because the future isn''t fixed and you can''t know every parameter about it. It is the barrier between precognition and omniscience. To know all four factors is to be omniscient."


    The son of legends smiled. "Correct. I am usually picky but I have to admit that you answered my questions correctly."


    Guntu puffed up noticeably.


    "We seers must understand the two concepts of destiny and fate to not go mad when we peek into the river of fate. It is the hurdle that all titans ofw with the path of seer must understand. We must understand them and know the difference between them. Do you know the difference between them?"


    Guntu answered quickly. It wasmon knowledge. "Destiny is unchangeable while fate is subject to change."


    The son of sages nodded. "That is also true. There are multiple lines of fate. That means, for every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction which could have variable effects. Fate is fickle and of infinite possibilities, but destiny is the overarching theme of life. Destiny is the cumtive effect of all the events that take ce in a person''s life. It is the aggregate purpose of the randomness of fate. If fate is Chaos, then destiny is order. Destiny is inevitable, fate is infinite."


    "This is interesting and all but what is your point?" Guntu asked impatiently.


    "I''m getting to it. To be a seer, you must first master your destiny before you can control or find meaning in your fate. Then you use the hold you have over your destiny to influence the fate of others. You can''t influence their destiny no matter what."


    "But that''s all you need because when an individual bes an Origin god, they also cast off the shackles of destiny. They be masters of their destiny too. The death that is supposed to be the end of all story and the destiny of all life, losses its power over them. Imagine that, the thing you struggled to acquire bes almost obsolete. You don''t have an advantage over them anymore and the absence of order makes their life more chaotic. The absence of destiny makes it very difficult to perse their fate. But all is not lost, there is a way to fix this. Of course, that way isn''t necessary for people that haven''t broken their destiny like the gods of the ne. That is why it is so easy to manipte them."


    "Manipte them into doing what?" Guntu asked. This time he was about to snap. He wanted to know what all this talk is about.


    What were they were waiting here for? What has the Son of legends manipted the gods into doing? He wanted to know.

 Chapter 179 The End Of The Era Of The Gods?

    ?But the son of legends didn''t answer. The sky did instead. There was a bright sh of light and the sound of thunder. The sound rocked the world as the divine ne ripped itself away from the surface of the main ne and shrunk down. Then it began plummeting into the main ne like a meteor. The sight resembled the fall of a god. But the god must be very powerful to warrant disturbance of such scale.


    The meteor struck the ground in one of the numerous forests in the Virut ne. The impact was oddly silent but the ripples of energy that tore the forest apart indicated how deadly it is for anything in the vicinity of the crash. At the center of the crash site is a glowing portal that led to ces unknown.


    The battle Leviathan controlled by the son of legends happened to be a short distance away from the crash site so they witnessed the entire thing. They had been camping at this forest for weeks but something finally happened.


    The son of legends smiled. "To Manipte the high and mighty gods to leave their safely ensconced location and be brought down to earth after a transformation into lowly beings. Manipte them into bing a divine dungeon. The era of conquest ising and this is my contribution to the ne."


    Those all-white eyes of the son of Legends remained locked to the portal. Now Guntu knew what the son of legends had been looking at all this while. He had been looking at an event that will happen in this location in the future.


    "I told you that I don''t know WHEN. I only know WHAT, HOW, and WHERE. But that is already enough. One step ahead is to always be ahead."


    The transformation of the divine ne into a dungeon did not leave the main ne unscathed. The protective function of the divine ne disappeared, which left the main ne open to incursions from all sides.


    The ones that took advantage of the absence of the gods the quickest were the demons. They invaded in droves but the racial council was ready for them. The presence of a vast and quickmunicationwork allowed for quick reports of demon sightings and immediate responses.


    Still, there are secluded areas within the ne that no one could monitor. As long as demonsy low in these corners, they will be able to amass a small army and wrought destruction before they are sent back. Even if everyone nook and cranny of the main ne is patrolled and scanned regrly, as long as a single demon gets into the ne, it will be able to set up a cloaking device that will obscure them from detection. They can then lie low before they attack inrge numbers.


    Invasion is an art to demons. They are experts in invasions and have had many opportunities to master the art of invasion. The gods couldn''t triumph over the demons nor can it be done now that there is a bigger battlefield. They can pop up anywhere on the ne.


    The best that the racial council can do is to keep them at bay. The war against demons can never be won. The demons were once the eternal rivals of the gods, now they have be the eternal rivals of those in the Virut ne. The once peaceful ne is thrust into war but the effect on its cities is minimal. Only viges and small settlements suffer the brunt of the demon invasions. Cities have strong defenses have ample refiners.


    This situation will continue and people will adapt. It helps that the strong demons can''t invade yet. Only the mid-rank and lower ranks demons are invading. These types of demons can be easily taken care of by transcendents. It is a good thing that transcendents are a staple in the Virut ne because the demons might be weak but they are in massive numbers that wreak destruction everywhere they go.


    Even though the Virut ne is not so weak as to feel threatened by this level of attacks, they cannot sustain their defense without ample Origin energy. The demons attacked because the gods gave up their level of existence, so the Virut ne is suffering for it. But they haven''t gotten the rewards of the end of the gods yet. The divine ne is yet to be destroyed, only transformed. Someone has to reach the core of the divine dungeon and liberate the ne.


    Things cannot return to what they used to be even if the ne is liberated. There will be Origin energy for everyone but anyone can still invade the Virut ne. If A world god of the ne advocates for the advancement of the ne, then the ne will be able to withstand Sovereigns. This will also allow stronger demons to invade. Demon lords and demon kings will be able toe knocking.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The Virut ne doesn''t fear demon lords and demon kings. A ne that can easily force its gods to such dire straits can take on anything the demons throw at them. Such a development will only allow the inhabitants of the ne to grow stronger.


    Peace might be good but war sharpens people. And the people need to be sharpened in preparation for the era of conquest. So while most of the ne is focused on its defense, the high and mighty are focused on receiving the rewards of their efforts against the gods.


    The divine dungeon must be resolved. But they soon came to the realization that it isn''t going to be easy. The high and mighty of the ne are simply the various representatives from the families recognized by the racial council. This means each family represented here have at least a single Origin god ancestor. Some families are bigger than others with some having multiple Origin gods and even World gods. Still, no one sent an Origin god. The lower ne is considered a fragile sandbox to Origin gods. At most, they will send their clones.


    It did note as a surprise that the racial council did not move. They had already sent a representative that is more than capable of resolving all issues. The son of legends is one of the two Origin gods attending the briefing on the battle Leviathan in their main bodies. Guntu is the other one, and unlike the son of legends, he is much more sociable.


    In arge hall containing the various Sovereign representatives sent by the families.


    Most of the people here are battle sage monkeys but there are some other races here. The rock people, the beast people, the mole people, and the tree people. All these other races are the only sentient ones that could exist in harmony with the battle sage monkeys within the Virut ne.


    They are alsorgely at peace with one another. The beast people are those whose ancestors were beasts that gained enlightenment. It is amon thing for nts and animals to gain awareness and sentience when they be transcendents. The nt people are descendants of nts and the rock people are descendants of the rock progenitor.


    These three races survived and thrived in the Virut ne because they can''t be gotten rid of and because they are peaceful. Beasts and nt people will continue to emerge unless the ne is destroyed and all life is killed. Rock and nt people are peaceful.


    The mole people are another race that was part of this ne from the beginning, but they live underground. They are thergest race apart from the battle sage monkeys. Their area of influence doesn''t ovep, that''s why such arge race has been able to exist with the battle sage monkeys.


    The battle sage monkeys stay above ground. The two races only fight about minerals in the ground but it has never escted beyond that. The mole people also have a divine ability that is rted to their eyes. Their divine ability allows them to see in 360 degrees without any blind spots both at night and during the day, but it is less effective during the day. That is just the basic power of their divine ability, it gets stronger than that.


    Apart from that, they have nomon interests or simr features. The mole people are much shorter than the battle sage monkeys and have shorter non-prehensile tails. They are mostly color blind. Refinement has changed the original race into a stronger more capable one but they are still inferior in physical aspects to battle sage. Their expertise lies in forging.


    So people of all races from recognized bloodline families within the ne came to attend this meeting. They are all seated in neatly arranged rows of specially made chairs. Everyone is focused on the Son of Legends as he is speaking.


    They are all here to determine and decided how the divine dungeon is going to be resolved, so that Origin energy can fill the Virut ne.

 Chapter 180 The Divine Dungeon.

    ?The gods packed up and descended to the main ne. They took the protection of the divine ne with them. But the way they did it made the Virut ne unable to enjoy the benefits of the end of their era. These people are here to see what they can do about rectifying it.


    "We have performed preliminary investigations into the workings of the divine dungeon. Coupled with my divination, we have very detailed information to work with."


    No one questioned that they would have to take his word for it. The son of legends has been determined to be capable by the racial council, it is not their ce to question his authority or reliability.


    "Some of you might not have heard about dungeons and what they are since they have never existed in the realm of high heaven. Dungeons are natural, they are pockets of space created for a single purpose and a single purpose only, invasion. The reason you probably haven''t heard of one is that the realm of high heaven has never been invaded by another realm. But that will change when the era of conquest begins."


    Everyone listened with rapt attention. For most, if not all of them, this is the first time they are hearing about the mechanism of dungeons. They certainly don''t know about a divine dungeon or the possibility of the divine ne bing one.


    "When a realm is trying to invade another realm, it will create a temporary passage between them. A small space will be created within this passage. The invasion won''t ur instantly due to the different time flow within the two realms. For the invaders, it will be an instant. They will enter the passage ande out from the other side immediately if they face no obstruction."


    "For the invaded, it is a different experience. A portal will be formed that will lead to a separate space. They can then venture into this passage and beat back all the invaders before full synchronization is done. They must then destroy the core of the passage in order to foil the invasion attempt. If the core isn''t destroyed in time, the passage will synchronize and the invaders will have a passageway into the realm."


    "The quality of the passage will determine the strength of the people that can enter the dungeon. This divine dungeon is different from how normal dungeons are. They have simr rules but this dungeon is for a different purpose. A normal dungeon is meant for invasion but this one is meant for defense. The gods have chosen to hide themselves away in one indefinitely."


    His exnation was enlightening. It provided much-needed information about the nature of dungeons. Then the Son of legends began to exin the nature of a divine dungeon.


    "It is a protocol that only Supremes know about. That means it is a secret only one person knows at a time. There are stringent requirements for activation of the transformation of the divine ne into a divine dungeon. The simplest requirement is the presence of celestials in the pantheon. But God kings are selfish with their power. They won''t allow another being that can take their power to exist in peace with them."


    "The number of celestials under the supreme also needs to increase to arge number for the supreme to have the necessary authority to activate the protocol. We can see why the urrence of a divine dungeon is rare. Even if all the requirements are met, most supreme gods would rather lose their lives than leave their fates in the hands of a mortal."


    People shook their heads. If it was such a secret, and its urrence is so rare how did the son of legends know about it, n for it, and achieve it? They knew the answer to that. It made them in awe of his abilities and slightly afraid of him. The knowledge of the answer to the question also brought up another question. Why did the Son of legend bring about its urrence?


    "There are a lot of nuances that we will not talk about for now. We will focus on the challenges to ovee if we hope to destroy this dungeon and make origin energy flow through our ne. They couldn''t beat us in outrightbat and they won''t be able to beat us while they cower away.."


    The people listening cheered.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "The dungeon is split into levels. The number of levels is currently unknown for now. But what is known is the beginning the middle, and the end. The beginning level is a gorge within a canyon containing an army waiting for us. The army will swarm and attack whoever enters first. To take the first level, someone has to step in and remain alive before others join in. One must be two, two must be three, three must be four, and on and on. It is only when numbers umte in our favor that we can hope to route the army and establish a base. This is the first challenge."


    The Son of legends went on to provide more information about the beginning and the medium levels.


    "Thest challenge can only be won by a single person. It will be at thest level, where the God King responsible for the transformation of the divine ne into a dungeon is waiting. At thest level is where the dungeon core is. The challenges seem simple enough but certain factors will make it difficult to ovee."


    Then he began to point out some of the challenges that they will face in beating the dungeon.


    "The first problem is the manpower that we get to work with. The entire power of the divine ne has been concentrated to expel mana entities and above. Only those of the vitality core stage can enter. I do not need to tell you how difficult it will be for someone of that stage to stand against an army of simrly powerful defenders."


    The people considered the problem. It wasn''t about strength. It was about age and experience. Due to the effects of royal bloodlines, most at the vitality core stage are young people. People who have never gone to war. They have never experienced war in their lifetime and have never needed to be prepared for it.


    Their training regimen is geared towards building sturdy foundations for them to excel as transcendents when they go to the ancient battlefield or the tower of heaven. It isn''t that their vitality core stage refiners aren''t powerful whenpared to those of other races or nes, they are just inexperienced.


    "The worst part is that the final boss of the dungeon, the former God King of the Virut Pantheon will be at the mana stage. It will be a tough fight if not impossible for a single vitality core stage to defeat and kill a mana entity. I know what you are thinking. It isn''t rare for skilled juniors of the vitality core stage to defeat a rather unskilled mana entity.This is a god King we are talking about. He was the celestial god of battle, he had multiple years to hone his craft and has mastered several weapons to at least the 5th step of formless weapon. He will not be easy to defeat even if he has been weakened."


    They were all appalled by the difficulty of clearing this dungeon. The Son of legends'' earlier exnations made it seem easy to beat the dungeon. They just had to send people in to break the dungeon core. But more and more challenges will make it a daunting task, if not impossible to achieve. Still, the son of legends wasn''t done yet.


    "Now, we have another problem apart from the strength requirements. We have secured the entrance of the dungeon to prevent random people from entering it. You might not understand why, so I''ll tell you. There is another oue for the divine dungeon apart from being destroyed. The person that reaches thest level and defeats the boss will be presented with two options. They can either destroy the core of the dungeon or they can allow the dungeon to be assimted into our ne. The first option is what we want. The second option will return the gods to their former strength and transform them intonded gods."


    The people bristled immediately. They might not know what a dungeon is but they have surely heard ofnded gods. Landed gods are like heroic spirits. They will have the power of gods and still be able to roam the main in without suppression.


    Landed gods will lose ess to their divine kingdom and the safety thates with it, so they will be easily killed but the influence of gods will never end. Their freedom in using their full powers will affect the nes far more than the proxy divine wars that thegods used to wage.


    And no matter how many gods are killed, more will be able to ascend if they are allowed to bended gods. The war against the gods will never end then and their era will continue forever.

 Chapter 181 The Child Of The Plane.

    ?"Now you understand that this is a gamble for the gods. The portal can sense the hostility and intent of whoever enters it and more than that, the dungeon can sense the fate of whoever enters it. If someone sympathetic to the cause of the gods enters, then they will face fewer challenges until they reach thest room. The boss might not even fight them and allow them to use the core straightaway."


    "The opposite will ur to those that will destroy the core if they get ess to it. The dungeon will throw everything in its way to stop them. Even if they seed against all odds and reach the core. The dungeon will tempt them with the benefit of bing the god-king of the newnded gods. Imagine that, the power of gods plus lordship of gods without the weakness of suppression in the ne. That is power equal to an Origin god without any problems."


    They finally understood that the transformation of the divine ne isn''t only for the gods to eke out meager lives but to have another chance at a glorious future. The gods hope to return asnded gods. No matter how many gods are killed, more will be able to ascend if they are allowed to bended gods. The war against the gods will never end then and their era will continue forever.


    They also understood that there is no guarantee that all their effort will bear the fruit they want. A child at the vitality core stage will no doubt be tempted with power. Someone might notck money, influence, or control. Even if they didck one of these things, power can help them acquire what they want.


    The journey of refinement is filled with dangers and uncertainties. It is not certain that someone will have the talent or fortune to be an Origin god. But the reward of betraying the path of perfection for the path of divinity will grant them immediate powers.


    So all their effort to clear out the dungeon might just benefit the gods instead. They had been disdainful of the gods until they realized the real extent of their ns. Now they were wondering why the son of legends allowed the war to turn into something like this.


    The Son of legends smiled and said, "That is the extent of the problems we are facing. But not to worry. Yes, the gods have created a dilemma but it is not unsolvable. The gods have yed their cards and this is all they have. The ball is in our court now. We have secured the entry point into the dungeon, so the fanatics and believers will not gain ess to it. That means we get to screen and field only those we are confident of."


    They rxed, but only a little. The reason for securing the portal might have be known but it hasn''t reduced the difficulty of clearing the dungeon.


    "These youths wille from the recognized bloodline families here. You can warn them of the consequences of betraying the ne. Power at the level of an Origin god is only simr to that of one. It doesn''t make one an Origin god. It doesn''t make one truly immortal. Even if it does, there are ways to deal with one. That will warn off the greedy ones. It won''t stop the foolish ones. That''s why only the vitality core stage from vetted royal bloodlines will be allowed to enter. We can trust those to have the basicmon sense to understand the repercussions of their decision."


    The people agreed with the decision. Only their direct descendants could be trusted with such a responsibility. A vagrant vitality core stage might not be able to ovee the temptation of such a power.


    Families without a royal bloodline will hold such power in high esteem. The worst part is that such a fool doesn''t need to be strong. He just needs to enter the dungeon, be scanned, and then be granted entry towards thest level. How could someone who is aspiring to be transcendent and will be content with that achievement be able to pass off an offer to receive such power and privileged?


    Some people don''t even know what a titan ofw truly is. They have only heard about that power level but have never made contact with one. A normal battle sage monkey without a bloodline has probably never met anyone above a transcendent. This is because such people are either on the ancient battlefield or in special cities with Origin energy. They don''t usuallye in contact with those without bloodlines. They are worlds apart.


    "Restricting ess to the dungeon will reduce the amount of vitality core stage refiners we can use to clear the dungeon. We shouldn''t consider it a burden but see it as an opportunity for the youths of our family. The era of conquest will arrive soon and by that time we will needmanders for our army. Most of our fighting force will be transcendents and the vitality core youths of today will have reached that level."


    They still weren''t convinced. They have heard a lot about the challenges but no reward that would make it all worth it.


    "I know some of you are wondering why we didn''t storm the divine ne when we could. I wanted something that can only be acquired bypleting this divine dungeon. There is a reward that will be given to whoever fights his way into thest level and liberates the ne."


    They perked up. Everyone wanted to know why the divine dungeon will be worth its stress.


    The son of legend continued. "It is beyond the level of a constion prize. A rare gift that only a handful of individuals have ever won. The title of a child of the ne. It is the precursor to the position of realm lord but that seat has already been taken."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His deration riled up the crowds immediately. They beganmunicating fervently. They were using their divine sense so the meeting was mostly silent. The mention of such a title moved them. Someone couldn''t help but raise his hands for a question. The son of legends beckoned to him to speak.


    A brightly glowing battle sage from the Sun Empire asked, "Does this title really exist?"


    It was a thing of myth. The child of the ne is a title given to someone born of the ne by the will of the ne for contributions that will change the course of development for the entire ne. There can only be a single child of the ne for each ne. Few have ever had that title, so it isrgely unconfirmed.


    The son of legends answered with certainty. "Yes, it does. I have seen it. I''ll keep the detailed information about the benefits of such a title a secret. It will up to whoever wins it if he or she wants to speak about it or not."


    The brightly glowing Origin god clone still wasn''t contented. The child of the ne might be real, but the difficulty of getting it is still high.


    So he asked. "Can nothing be done to ease the difficulty? Even 100 vitality core stage cannot take on someone of that power and skill. It is simply impossible."


    The son of legends nodded. "Yes, something can be done."


    Guntu spoke up. "The divine dungeon is an intricately designed construct of energy and divine will, but it has lost its majesty. It has left its position on high. I can simply flood the structure with my energy and destroy it. That will make Origin energy pour into how ne."


    Everyone''s eyes lit up.


    "Is that possible?" Another battle sage monkey asked.


    "Yes, that''s possible, but we will lose the chance of acquiring a child of the ne. And we will need one for the era of conquest. Brute force is not an option I would want us to take. But the avability of one proves my point. The gods have lost all leverage in this war. It is up to us to determine how we want to beat them."


    Ghoto would also have to pay a very hefty sum for causing damage to the ne. There''s no way he will be able to destroy the divine dungeon without there being consequences on the pay. Frankly, he doesn''t want to destroy it because of the hefty fee he has to pay for it.


    "Then how are to beat them? They yed a good card. It may be theirst card, but it is their trump card. How do you propose we beat them?" Another one asked.


    "There is another reward. It isn''t as relevant as being a child of the ne but it is more tangible and will encourage the youths of your family. Every kill performed in the dungeon will provide the killer with a boost to their refinement. This means a vitality core can grow stronger and break through in the dungeon as long as they make enough kills. It will make the fight with the boss easier."


    The deration eased off most of the tension they felt about the dungeon. The dungeon can be used as a training ground for their youths. Fighting and killing things in the divine dungeon will cut down in their refinement requirement and also expose them to the art of war. And if things don''t work out, they can pay a heavy price to destroy the divine ne.


    It isia win-win situation for them. They can try to reap the rewards or just destroy the game entirely if they fail to clear the divine dungeon. They felt more confident now that they have nothing to lose. It wouldn''t even matter if the child of the ne doesn''t exist.

 Chapter 182 Good Riddance.

    ?Most of them didn''t believe the dungeon could be cleared. Even if the strength and skill of the boss have been reduced, he will have the strength of a top-level mana entity and the skill of the third step at his disposal. There''s no way a newly evolved mana entity can match that. So they would be content with simply farming the dungeon.


    The son of legends then said something weird. "What we need now is a fragile tform."


    They didn''t understand him but they asked other questions and the meeting dispersed on a happy note. Then each family began to prepare their youths. The Ghastorix family is also one of them.


    The creation of the divine dungeon happened a week before Soverick demolished SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON. He was still training with SQUARESKULL and the Ghastorix family didn''t want to risk him. But his performance made them rethink their n to exclude him. So SQUARESKULL informed him and Soverick decided to participate.


    But he met Ghaster and Litori first before leaving.


    "So you are done with your training. Isn''t that a little early?" Litori asked quietly.


    Soverick answered. "Maybe."


    "Enough of that. Why are you here? To rub your sess in our face?" Ghaster didn''t hold back his anger from his voice or his face.


    Soverick leveled his gaze on him for a second before turning to Litori. "To ask about your Progress and to say goodbye."


    "Well, I have finished the preparatory stage for both physical and spiritual fitness. So I move on to the second stage just a few days ago. It''s all thanks to Ghaster. He gave me vitality medicine he got from somewhere and it sped up my rate of progress. He has alsopleted his physical fitness requirements but he is stillcking in the spiritual aspect. He has problems with Mind Division and Mind Pressure."


    Litori did most of the talking while Soverick listened and Ghaster red at him. There were standing in front of Litori''s room.


    "That should be it. I''ll be leaving now." Soverick said to her exactly five minutes after they started talking. He had ces to be and things to do. His objective was already achieved by asking about their well-being, he didn''t need to listen to their problems for too long.


    "Do you have any advice for us?" Litori asked and Ghaster turned his re to her.


    "Don''t be stubborn. Question Everything. Be willing to learn. Be willing to adapt. Think and n before taking action. Think outside the box. Master your body. To master your body, you must master your emotions first. Only when you have mastered your emotions can you change your habits. Habits are like emotions, involuntary and mostly independent of the mind. You must bring your mind to the equation. Remember, the Mind should be above the body."


    "We know all that. You didn''t have to tell us." Ghaster said.


    "Why did you evene along if you were going to be like this?" Litori asked Ghaster but he couldn''t answer.


    "Don''t mind him eldest. We have some thoughts and instincts due to our bloodline but we didn''t know what they meant exactly. Your advice has given us something to aim for and we appreciate it."


    Soverick shrugged. "Don''t fall behind too much. You can see me off now because we are at the same academy. If you don''t keep up, you will never be able to catch my trail much less ovee me. Isn''t that right Ghaster?"


    Ghaster pressed his lips into a thin line and refused to answer. But that''s okay with Soverick. It was a rhetorical question anyway. He left them at that. His life at the battle academy has ended. He might return for tertiary education in the future, but there''s no guarantee.


    Ghaster and Litori watched him go.


    "What an insufferable showoff," Ghaster spoke first.


    "And you''re an insufferable loud mouth," Litori shouted at him.


    "Why else will hee to see us every time he is about to move on to another stage? He just wants to rub his talent in our faces." Ghaster shouted back.


    Litori sighed. "I doubt the eldest values our opinion so much that he would that. You know the eldest doesn''t care about what other people think."


    That gave Ghaster pause but he came up with an exnation. "That''s even worse. He doesn''t think our opinions matter. So full of himself."


    Litori gave up on convincing him and left, leaving Ghaster to his thoughts. Ghaster clenched his fist before sighing and unclenching them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It''s not his fault. It''s my weakness for being weak." He thought to himself.


    It wasn''t Soverick''s fault that he was great. It wasn''t Soverick''s fault that people bother Ghaster to ask about his brother. Soverick never did anything wrong, he probably worked hard for his sess.


    Ghaster isn''t jealous of Soverick''s talent or his sess. It''s just Soverick''s behavior that irritates him. It would have been okay if Soverick liked to brag. If Soverick were someone that liked to bask in his glory or if he was arrogant. But Soverick isn''t any of those. Instead, he acts as if everything is beneath him, as if even his own great sess is nothing and as if his progress is normal. Then what does that make Ghaster''s progress? Less than nothing. Less than normal.


    Soverick''s neither humble nor proud attitude undermines everything he has worked for and Ghaster hates him for it. It''s like Soverick has a gold coin while he has a silver one but Soverick doesn''t value the gold coin he has. He hates Soverick even more because he knew that he wouldn''t be so nonchnt about it if he were the one with the sess.


    Ghaster would have been okay with being that guy that is proud of his elder brother. He would have loved to brag about his elder brother to everyone that could hear. But how could he do that when that elder brother doesn''t care and only works hard?


    Soverick has set a high bar for what can be considered excellent. So he has to work hard himself and yet all his effort produces results that don''t evene close to that bar at all. It''s as if all his hard work is a joke. He would like to be unfeeling like Soverick but it is not in his nature.


    "Good riddance. Out of sight and out of mind."


    He doesn''t know about Litori but he is thankful that Soverick is leaving. Then he won''t know what Soverick is up to and he won''t know how wide the gap between them has be. Ignorance is bliss.


    Back To Soverick.


    Soverick began to wind through the nd hallways. He was heading toward the portal that brought them in. Only at that point can he leave the academy and only if he has authorized ess. He met someone on the way there. It was that battle sage monkey that had been beating Ghaster up. She had joined the third stage of training a little before Soverick. Soverick remembered Ghaster telling him her name.


    Soverick smiled at her, "Viki is it?"


    He continued on as he spoke to her. He didn''t n to wait for another chat. He wanted to reach the divine dungeon as soon as possible. He had heard that it has been open for more than a week and he doesn''t want to bete for the party.


    She stumbled when she recognized him. She righted herself and replied, "I was shocked a little. I thought I saw a ghost or something."


    Soverick chuckled a little. People always say he looked handsome or cute because of his features. They might say he is odd looking but never scary. She continued to walk with him when he didn''t stop.


    "Dude, you''re strong, like really strong. I heard from Ghaster that you and he are litter mates. Truly extraordinary. I witnessed that fight of yours. It was epic and scary, dude. You are my inspiration, I work harder anytime I think of that fight. But I still can''t get that image of you impaling that girl out of my mind."


    Soverick was a little amused. The first time he had met this person, she had promised to beat him up if he joined the third stage because he ignored her. But she seemed to have forgotten all that and was chatting with him like a long-lost friend.


    "Do you want to spar? But you have to take it easy on me." She finally asked when he didn''t say anything.


    He answered. "I''m busy."


    "Doing what?" Her curiosity was obvious in her question and on her face. She really wanted to know what he is busy with.


    Soverick remained stoic. "Going somewhere."


    "Where are you going?"


    "Somewhere." He repeated.


    "But where?"


    Soverick turned silent. She was amusing. She is even friendly and her straightforward attitude is admirable, but he had no obligation to satiate her curiosity. He had given her enough hints to clue her into his unwillingness to divulge what he is busy with. The rest is up to her.

 Chapter 183 Unforgettable And Imperishable.

    ?He doesn''t mind that she is following him. She can do whatever she wants to do. Anybody can do whatever they want to do. Everyone has that freedom. There is no good or evil. But there will be conflict if what she is doing is hindering him. So she gets to follow him only because he doesn''t mind. He won''t answer her because he doesn''t want to and things might escte if she bes more of a nuisance.


    "You are so cool. Do you know that? So heroic. I want to be like you someday." She said when he wasn''t talking anymore.


    "Anything is possible" Soverick admitted. It was because he admired the realm lord that made him be what he is today. He admired the realm lord, but then began to resent him when he found out that it was the realm lord that made the demons attack the high elves. But that resentment turned to the admittance of weakness. Then everything changed when he tried to ovee that weakness. He dared to reach beyond his station to stand side by side as an equal or greater to the realm lord. So yes, anything is possible.


    "Even the way you say it is cool. Gruff and manly. I will be manly too."


    She continued to talk until Soverick reached the particr door that he came through. Wendy was waiting as usual. There was another person there. SQUARESKULL was waiting beside the golem.


    Viki eximed, "You are leaving the academy? Were you expelled for impaling that girl? Did she die?"


    Soverick ignored her. "Hey, Wendy." He greeted the golem.


    The golem stepped forward with a tray like the one she always carried about.


    "It has been pleasant working with you during your short time of training here. I wish you good luck wherever you end up. Now, I must have your wrist logger. Do make sure to remove your soul imprint on it."


    "Noooo" Viki cried.


    "Sure," Soverick said.


    He undid the sp of the tracking and assistance equipment. It had helped him navigate his way around the academy. He wiped his imprint off with his divine sense and ced it on the tray.


    "Don''t do it." Viki continued to be a nuisance but everyone ignored her.


    "Then this is goodbye," Wendy said before opening the door behind her.


    SQUARESKULL offered him something before he could go. "This is for you. I was told to give it and say, ''This is your reward, you greedy boy."


    Soverick collected the small item and smiled before entering the small room while Viki pleaded with Wendy not to expel him. It was until Wendy told her that he wasn''t being expelled that she calmed down.


    "Goodbye and Good luck. I am sure you will do great things. It was an honor to teach you." SQUARESKULL called back after him.


    "It''s probably going to be the highlight of your life. Just make sure I don''t ever see your face again or I''m going to cave it in." Soverick replied.


    SQUARESKULLughed. "We''ll see about that."


    Viki shouted, "I''ll never forget about you."


    Then the door closed and Soverick experienced a shift in space. The door opened but he has been moved somewhere else. He left the room and performed the proceedings for an exit. His uniform was taken and his former clothing was returned. He wore the white robe and white belt that Mih got for him. He decided not to wear shoes anymore. His bare feet on the ground will make it easier to feel the momentum of the ground. He was already preparing for the future. But what Viki said still rang in his head.


    She said, "I''ll never forget you."


    ''I''m I unforgettable now? What makes a person unforgettable?'' He asked.


    He walked out of the administration building while he contemted the question.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    What makes a person unforgettable? Is it his deeds or the simple memory of it? If he does something remarkable like splitting the ne in half but no one knows that it''s him that did it. Is the feat itself unforgettable or the unknown person that did it?


    Witnesses are important to remember a person. A feat doesn''t need witnesses, it can stand and speak for itself. The effect of an action can bear witness to the might of its creator. Still, the presence of a witness makes the featplete. If there is no witness, who will know how the ne was split into two?


    But how does the witness matter in making a person unforgettable? A body forging stage witness with poor memory and a short lifespan will not be a good qualification for a witness to have for someone to be unforgettable. That qualification improves until the witness bes a sovereign ofw but it is still inherentlycking. A sovereign ofw has eternal life like the gods but isn''t immortal.


    What if the realm of high heaven is destroyed? All the beings within it will die, and the memories and the grand feats will disappear with it. What will happen to the memory of an act in the minds of its witness? Will Someone remain unforgettable when the entire realm of high heaven is destroyed? No.


    Only an eternal witness can make someone truly unforgettable. Only an unforgettable existence itself can qualify someone to be truly unforgettable. That''s why all his feats and achievements at this level will remain forgettable. Only the things he does that affect Origin gods can qualify to be unforgettable. An immortal witness will be able to remember you and what you did for all of eternity.


    ''So I''m not unforgettable yet. I can''t wait for that to change.''


    It is one of the reasons why he can''t brag about his little achievements. They are inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. It is all perishable, but he aims for the imperishable.


    He smiled as he came upon Mih and Ka waiting for him.


    ''It''s time to pay the piper.'' he thought to himself as he looked at Mih.


    Earlier Today At The Ghoto''s Family House. Within The Training Room.


    Mih is currently sparing with Ka. Mih is still the same, but Ka has changed. It''s not a physical change but more of a spiritual change. Her spirit core had formed within her spirit realm and it had awoken her divine ability.


    Her eyes are always glowing now, even when they aren''t used actively. But then they increase in brightness when she activates them which she is doing right now.


    Her mana core behind her eyes res up and pumps mana into her eyes. They light up and the world slows down. Informationes flooding to her brain but her spirit core is there to assist. It provides a huge boost to processing power so that the brain doesn''t have to fill in what it thinks should be happening into the images in her mind.


    She can now see everything happening around her, unadulterated and unabridged. This makes the world seem slower and her reaction faster. Her perception of time bes faster while things be slower. Mana is flowing and burning within her body to empower and amplify her physical stats so that she can react as fast as she can see.


    There is a lot of reason why divine abilities awaken at the mana stage. The body and mind are enhanced by mana to take the burden. Mana also bes readily avable to fuel the usage of the ability. Using a divine ability at the vitality core stage will cause damage to the life force as the divine ability siphons it.


    Ka is wielding an intricately designed spear with ir and pomp while Mih looks stiff in contrast. But those stiff spear attacks are still able to break Ka''s defense over and over again.


    "Focus. I''ming." Mih barks as she turns a defensive movement into a devastating attack.


    Her form is sloppy and her grip on her spear is casual. Yet she entwined her unadorned spear with Ka''s during her thrust. Then she twists the spear to attack the hand holding the spear. Ka tried to pull back but a thrust is not so easily withdrawn, it can be transformed into another attack but it cannot be pulled back so casually.


    Ka''s best attempt failed her and the spear dees for her head. She dodged the de and it passes through where her head is a moment ago only to be mmed into her head by a flick of Mih''s wrist.


    Her head is bashed sideways with such force that her vision is going nk. She has leaned sideways to dodge the attack, so the bash easily seeds in tipping are stunned figure over.


    "Disappointing. Absolutely disappointing. I told you to focus. I told you I wasing and yet what did you do? You attacked instead of defending. An admirable decision if you were not the weaker opponent. Then what did you do? You pulled a thrust back instead of resolving my attack. You started an attack and you didn''t finish it."


    Ka groaned on the ground while Mih called out her faults. A kindness being done to her. She had been training with Mih for almost a year now and had yet to make much progress. She hadn''t even been able to fight Mih at all until her fear of Mih''s influence over mana was resolved.


    She didn''t get over her fear of being hurt but they had bought an expensive array that locked all external mana maniption in the room. It is an advanced type of the one she had bought to teach Soverick a lesson and so it hurt her more, but it freezes the mana and stops it from being riled up. Only then could she stand being in a locked room with a titan ofw. Another kindness from Mih.

 Chapter 184 Think Ahead.

    ?Mih wasn''t done with the criticism.


    "Your skill with the spear is subpar. You are a mana entity and you have yet to reach the second step. You are just average among mana entities. Above average have mastered the second step. Geniuses have mastered the third step. Stop being a brute with momentum. You can harness momentum but it isn''t enough. So you have to think."


    Ka groaned as she stood up. Her body ached from all the beatings. A kindness. Some bruises and cuts weren''t healing fast enough because of the lock on mana in the room. She had improved. She was faster, her eyes better and her wits sharper. Improvements due to kindness showed to her by Mih. But they aren''t significant improvements. She hasn''t been able tond a single blow on Mih throughout the entire time that she has been training.


    "You must think. Use that spirit core in your soul space to think. That''s what it is for. Think before you act. Not everything is momentum. Every action must be a cog or a wheel in a greater machine, for a greater purpose. The aim is to outwit your opponent. Stand up. Again."


    It is all a kindness but she couldn''t help but groan. She could stand up but she didn''t want to. Not with the promise of pain waiting for her. But what could happen that will get her out of this?


    "Don''t dy. Stand up." Mih barked at her and Ka stood up immediately.


    Mih might have voluntarily shackled all her connection to the world but her inherent power still scares Ka.


    "You just have to acquire Seamless. That''s all. Then you will surely get into a good school. I amcking as a teacher so you need to get to a better school. Prepare yourself."


    Ka prepared herself mentally and physically by assuming her stance.


    "Now watch out for my attack."


    Mih thrusts with her spear and yet again, her form is skewed. Her body is not behaving like how a normal body should behave. The weight distribution, posture, and center of gravity are all wrong.


    A normal thrust should make the person lean or move forward. But Mih just stands there and extends her spear forward. Ka knows that it is how transcendents fight. They can shift the weight of their body and their center of gravity as they choose but she hasn''t been able to get the hang of it. It makes predicting their moves dangerous and erroneous.


    The signals and tells of Mih''s body don''t help Ka in predicting the attack. Now she doesn''t know if that attack is a serious one or a feint. The worst part is that even if it is either, Mih can transform it into another. That means she must have to prepare for both eventualities. She has to n ahead and it is difficult to do when you know you''re going to fail.


    ''Mana entities are not meant to fight transcendents.'' She thought to herself as she assumes a defensive stance.


    A defensive stance shouldn''t go wrong, right? That''s only if you defend well.


    Mih''s spear is moving at a slow speed and a straight line in Ka''s vision. Ka''s spear makes contact with the thrust. The attack is supposed to be deflected but it turns out the attack is a feint. The spear is deflected but it absorbs the momentum and speeds up, as a me doused with fuel. Thankfully she is prepared and her spear targets Mih''s hand gripping the spear.


    If you can''t beat them, join them. If she doesn''t know how to think ahead, then copy Mih and learn from her. So what will Mih do now to counter her own trick?


    "Foolish."


    Mih''s spear which is about to bypass her defense suddenly jerks sideways and ps Ka''s hand. Her spear might not have reached Ka''s chest yet, but it is too close to her arm. Ka''s spear is knocked out of her hand and this time her arm is broken. She is beaten to the ground in moments.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Mih started to berate her. "What do you do when you''re outssed by an opponent stronger and faster than you? Anything, but you must not have a direct confrontation. If there is a direct confrontation, make it a feint. Be prepared to fail and that means having a n for when what you''re doing doesn''t work."


    "You were so obvious with that attack. Being obvious is not a sin, being invested is. You can make an obvious move and it will be a feint if you are not invested in a short-term benefit. You could have forced me to move my hand through that attack if it was a feint. Instead, you were invested in it and waiting for me to act. That''s just foolish"


    "You don''t just wait for an opponent to act, you must limit their options so that it bes predictable. There are too many oues to predict at your level, so you must limit them and prepare to counter them. You didn''t limit my options, you even prepared an easy out for me."


    Ka to her credit didn''t cry even though she felt like it. She felt physical and emotional pain but she remained mute.


    "Stop fighting like a child and start thinking like an adult. Start nning. It is foolishness to attack someone''s hand while yours is unprotected. What were you thinking? You could have angled that attack so that I had to change my trajectory but that would leave me open to your thrust. That thrust will have been the real attack disguised as an aim for my hand. We are done for now."


    Mih deactivated the array and the mana in the room became agitated once again. Most of it flocked to Mih like chicks to their mother. But some trickled to Ka. She is a mana entity, after all, she deserves some attention from mana, no matter how little. That can change if Mih instructs the ambient mana to stay clear of Ka.


    Ka''s hand began to knit itself back together due to the assistance of external mana. The cells of the body be capable of greater things when they embrace mana. It is like they are stunted before but now they flourish in the presence of mana.


    "We are done for now. Heal yourself and start the spear dance."


    Ka nodded. It might be tiring but the spear dance is better than a spar with Ka. Mih watched as Ka struggled and smiled. It is not an easy thing for those without bloodlines to acquire skills. They have them and only themselves to rely on. They must work hard and struggle. What they are doing might take years or it could be tomorrow but it will depend on Ka.


    Those with bloodlines won''t have as much trouble with skill acquisition. Their talents aside, it is a certainty that they will learn particr skills. While those without bloodlines rely on themselves, those with one are remembering skills and abilities long forgotten. It will take time but they will surely remember.


    ''How''s Soverick doing?''


    The thought of hard work and struggling made her remember Soverick. Of the three of her children, she is more worried about Soverick. He has high intelligence and monstrous elemental affinity but he doesn''t have forebears that could have shown him the way. He is alone in his path with no ancestor to help him.


    Mih had to struggle too in the past. She didn''t use a spear though. She wielded a two-handed sword with a single hand with her monstrous strength and a shield with the other hand. She was hailed as the impassable wall and it was her path. A path based on thew of earth as the foundation to create an impassable bulwark, but it is all gone now. Her bloodline took it from her and gave her something unwieldable.


    A notification called for her attention as she was deep in thought. She essed hermunication tablet. A revolutionary product really. It made people more connected than ever before. Goods and services could be acquired at the touch of a button. And she didn''t have to receive messages immediately, a voice or text mail will preserve her messages for when she is opportune to look at them. She checked it anyway and found out it was information about Soverick from the battle academy.


    "Oh no. What has he done now? It isn''t even a year yet." She muttered in exasperation.


    She hadn''t checked in with their progress because they had only been gone for a short while. It hadn''t even been 5 years yet. She nned to check in every 5 years or 3 years depending on her mood. She was sure Soverick would have caused trouble but she didn''t expect it to be so soon.


    As she continued to read on, her face changed from relief to disbelief and then to a look of incredulity. Her expression would have stopped in disbelief if they had said that Soverick destroyed the battle academy. But this?


    "This is just crazy. Is someone trying to pull a prank on me?" She asked out loud.

 Chapter 185 He Shouldnt. But He Can And He Did.

    ?This had to be a farce of some kind. A stupid and easily unraveled farce since there is an easy way to find out and get to the bottom of it. All she has to do is go to the battle academy. It also happens to be the ce that the message wants her to go to.


    Then she turned to Ka. "Let''s go to the battle academy. Soverick is being sent out."


    Ka stumbled because of the shock. "Who did he offend?" She asked.


    Mih answered. "We will find out."


    So they left the house and sped straight for the academy. It was only Ka and Mih, so they got there faster. They saw the record steles in front of the academy and Soverick''s name had been added to it.


    There were a lot of mentions and records of his name. His name was ring and noticeable, they couldn''t miss it even if they had poor eyesight. So they stood transfixed in front of the steles. Both of them trying their hardest to process their shock.


    "Whaaaaaa?" Ka eximed.


    She seemed ready to fall over from the shock. She was tired mentally and physically. This blow is one too much for her to handle.


    As Mih''s brain did quick calctions, she began to realize that maybe the message from the school wasn''t a hoax after all. The impossible records that Soverick had set when added together exined why he was graduating in such a short amount of time. He might not be expelled after all. Or maybe this entire thing is a giant lie or an illusion.


    Mih moved their floating tform forward to inquire more from the Academy. They received her and gave her the information she needed and most importantly the records of past achievements. The more she read, the more unbelievable everything seemed.


    Soverick finished the physical preparatory stage in 3 months while thest record was a year. Spiritual training in 1 month, the previous record was a year and a half. Hepleted the Footwork regimen in 14 weeks and the record he beat was 43 weeks. And more and more.


    He zed through everything as if he was ying. The difference in the time he achieved the same thing with the former records was too wide to be believable.


    She returned to the record stele to watch andpare with the records she got. So that she could catch any little discrepancy that will unmask this entire facade for what it truly is. She ignored the part of her mind asking why anyone would do this. Why would anyone go to this length to fool her about Soverick''s performance?


    She couldn''t find anything off, for now. So she waited by the steel. She didn''t wait long. Soverick came out of the academy and spotted them. Then he began walking towards them. He had that apathetic expression on his face. As if he was immune to external stimuli.


    The only thing that indicated that he is actually focused on the world is his eyes. Those multicolored gems of flesh scoured the world for information. It''s just that whatever they ryed back to him wasn''t enough to move him. He looks at the world, he sees the world, and he finds the world wanting. He is like a pompous young master unimpressed with the food being served at a less-than-perfect restaurant. She just wanted to punch his face so bad.


    What finally convinced Mih was Soverick''s gait. She knew immediately that he could harness momentum and he could harness it well. There was also something off about him. He seemed to be moving with less physical effort than necessary to cover the distance he is moving. He seemed to be boosted by something. And only one thing came to Mih''s mind, World Momentum.


    Soverick had somehow managed to tap into the world''s momentum instead of his body and that of his weapon. Where else could he be getting the extra momentum? But that would mean the third step of spear mastery. It sounded impossible, just as impossible as finishing the secondary battle academy in a year.


    He stopped in front of the two women and stared at them. Ka''s dull senses didn''t perceive as much as Mih but she could see that he was moving unnaturally. Anyone would be able to see it too. Soverick was walking as if he had springs under his foot that were boosting him. But there are no springs to see.


    No one said anything. He arched an eyebrow and asked. "Aren''t you here to pick me up?"


    "Yes, we are," Mih answered.


    Ka was still ruminating on the weird movement technique so she couldn''t talk yet.


    "Then let''s go." He said to her.


    Ka pointed at the record steles. Soverick looked at what she was pointing at. He saw the records.


    "Oh. I see."


    Ka screamed. "That''s all you have to say to that?"


    Mih found herself nodding in agreement. She wanted to ask the same thing too.


    Soverick did that shrug of indifference he always did. An indication that the world was still wanting and he didn''t care. Mih found it irritating. Then he said, "It is to be expected but it was out of my mind."


    Ka seemed to be struggling with what to say. So Mih picked up the pace. "What could be so important, more important than your records?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick''s eyes focused on her then. "It is funny that you would ask. Saves me the trouble of bringing it up myself. I have somewhere I have to be. I might bete already so let''s get this over with as quickly as possible. Have you heard of the divine dungeon?"


    "What''s that?" Ka asked.


    Mih asked. "Is it recent? If it''s recent we wouldn''t know. We have been sequestered from the world to train Ka."


    Ka shuddered.


    "It is thest stand of the gods. A defensive mechanism that only those at the Vitality core stage can attempt to destroy. There''s something I need there. So I am giving you the opportunity to give me the permission to go." Soverick exined.


    "Is this ce dangerous?" Mih asked.


    "It''s war so of course, it''s dangerous."


    "Then no." She rejected firmly.


    "I see."


    Soverick was calm at the refusal. He was always calm like this and it grated on Mih. Her irritation was increasing. He never once had an outburst. He would just watch, listen to you, and still do what he wants anyway. And like she expected, he yed the cards that will allow him to get his way.


    "It is a bad thing that you feel that way. It is a good thing that I don''t feel bad about what I''m about to do. I checked up on your kids, Mih. I took time out of my very busy schedule and non-stop training to see if your kids were fine and I listened to their worries. I even advised them. You owe me."


    Ka wanted to keep quiet and watch the negotiation that will inevitably end in Soverick''s favor. Like every time, she hoped he would fail and not get his way. But this time, she wanted it so badly. Because she suspects that her sparring with Mih will be more violent if Mih suffers a loss here. So she pitched in.


    "But they are your siblings."


    Soverick didn''t even turn to her, "So?" He asked.


    She asked as if it was obvious. "Isn''t that your job to watch them, to protect them and Check in on them?"


    Soverick answered. "It is not my job to do anything."


    She didn''t give up, "But you were born together."


    "Irrelevant. Should I die with them too since I was born with them?"


    His question threw her. "You can''t think like that."


    "I can. You meant to say, I shouldn''t. But I can and I did." He corrected her.


    "You won''t be able to find a partner to love you and who will love you back if you continue like this."


    Soverick didn''t bother to reply to her anymore. She was wasting his time with foolish sentiments and nonsense. He is in a good mood, so he won''t call her stupid.


    "What is your answer?" He asked Mih.


    Mih tamped down her irritation and tried to push him, to see how far he wanted to go. "Let''s say that I owe you for checking up on your siblings. Asking for my permission to go to the front lines is too much a payment."


    Soverick chuckled. Both Mih and Ka knew that chuckle. It''s the chuckle of amusement. The one that adults have when they see children being cute. Soverick found something amusing. It is in no way an upgrade on his evaluation of the world. The world is stillcking, but he found something funny about it. He had only seen something funny, not worthy.


    "You are mistaken. It is understandable but not excusable. I was not asking you for permission. I was giving you the opportunity to give me permission. I assure you that I can easily give that opportunity to someone else. I just need a titan ofw to give me permission. It can be anyone from the family. Do you think I will have any problem acquiring one?" He asked her and also pointed to the record steles with his name written numerous times on.


    All he needs to be permitted to the expedition for the divine dungeon is a permission from a titan ofw of the family. Even if he had no amazing records, odds are he will be able to get one of the temperamental titans ofw who are easily influenced by emotions instead of logic, to give him the permission he needs. His so called amazing records will make getting that permission very easy.

 Chapter 186 He Is Still The Same.

    ?Mih sighed. What does she want? What could a mother ask for when her son is already this outstanding? But it seemed like nothing had changed. Soverick must have gone through hell, physically, emotionally, and mentally for him to make those records. She knew they weren''t easy because she had a file on their training regimens. So how had Soverick broken all this record and just saunter up to them as if nothing changed? It was not natural and it was honestly starting to get to her.


    She would have been more concerned about his behavior if he had not been like this before he entered the battle academy. He is the same gloomy, pessimistic boy that left. He still had the same annoying ticks and behavior. How had he not changed considering he had spent almost 50% of his life in the battle academy? He is just a two-year-old battle sage monkey not a disillusioned old man for mother high heaven''s sake.


    So what does she want? She can''t even tell him she is proud of him because it wouldn''t matter at all. He doesn''t care if she is proud or not. A little emotional shift will be enough for her.


    So she will prod him a little. But she mustn''t push him too far because she knows he will do whatever he wants anyway. She starts with something he is very open to, a deal. Soverick considers most things in view of profit or losses. He checked up on his siblings and now he wants something for it. She intends to use that to lure him.


    So she says, "I''ll give you your permission if you promise to answer my questions honestly."


    "I promise nothing. I don''t owe you anything and I have paid my dues." Soverick said immediately.


    "Why don''t you humor me? You have somewhere you want to go and time is running out. This won''t take long. Imagine going to ask another titan for help. It will take more time." She tried to convince him.


    He finally epted. "I will answer as I see fit."


    "Of course, you will." Mih rolled her eyes. It wasn''t what she wanted but she understands it was what she is going to get from him.


    "How was your training?" She asked him.


    "Efficient."


    "How do you feel?"


    "Fine."


    She noticed that she wasn''t getting what she wanted so she decided to try something else that might get to him.


    "How do you feel about not breaking all the records for the secondary stage of training?"


    "Nothing."


    She tried again, "I noticed that you have a record for a win in the first ranking battle. You fought someone around the 300th rank and won. Yet you didn''t beat the 14th milestone fight. Did you fail?"


    "No."


    "What do you mean by no? Did you not try it at all? Were you scared of failure?" Mih asked hopefully.


    "They didn''t want me to. They said, I''ll make all the records too difficult for others, that I should leave just one for them to aim for in the future."


    "Is that so?" Mih couldn''t believe her ears.


    The school didn''t want him anymore so they sent him away quickly. They didn''t even give him a graduation ceremony but they have a resonable reason for it too. Should she be angry or should she beughing? Someone beganughing beside her. Ka wasughing hard. She was rolling on their tform and cackling. It was an unsettling sight.


    ''Maybe the training finally got to her?'' Mih wondered.


    "Can we go now? I have some inkling about what you''re up to but I don''t want to deal with that right now. I have things to do and ces to be." Soverick asked her.


    She gave up. "Let''s go."


    Soverick got on the tform and sat down cross-legged. She took him to the family council to perform the proceedings for him to participate on behalf of the family in the war. They were given directions, authorization, and a means of identification so that they would be recognized at the divine dungeon. Unauthorized people are not allowed near it.


    She got Soverick some necessities too. A spatial storage ring, some healing and recovery medicine. A very powerful spear for a vitality core stage and light armor. The armor ispletely ck and made with very tough leather. It will allow protection against cutting and shing weapons but it won''t do anything against blunt damage.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Weapons for the vitality core stage are usually unimpressive things. At the vitality core stage, you can''t amplify the weapon with your mana yet, so weapons are just sturdy, sharp, and durable without any enchantment engraving. The weapons rely on their innate properties and craftsmanship, unlike mana weapons that can be enhanced with mana.


    The spear that Soverick got is unadorned and could be called a pole with a sharp de cast with very heavy ck metal. The weapon was very heavy, so heavy that it could crush boulders with little effort. Of course, a lot of effort has to be spent in wielding the spear at all. It was even too heavy for Soverick to swing about, but he had waved away her worries when she tried to have it changed.


    He had said, "I know what I''m doing."


    She couldn''t argue with that. He had to know what he is doing or he just stumbled into making so many records. That would be one heck of an impossible coincidence.


    It''s now that she understood Ghoto''s unhappiness for being unneeded by her kids. She doesn''t have much of a future on the path of refinement anymore. She only has her husband and her kids, but her kids don''t need her in their life. She never wanted kids but she is looking forward to having more. It will be more difficult to achieve now that she has a body ofw but she will try.


    ''Hopefully, they will turn out better than the first batch.'' She wished secretly.


    So they left the Ghastorix Main city and into the ne proper. Mih didn''t have toe with him, there is a transport system put in ce by the family for their arrangements but she insisted on going with him. The fact that she would be leaving immediately while the family''s arrangement will wait for others before taking off convinced him to humor her.


    Soverick watched the ne intently as they passed by. He had never been outside of the Main city until now. He had heard a lot and had expected more but what he saw was a little disappointing. The entire ne had lost whatever serenity it had in the past to the demon invasions. These little red-skinned creatures abound and could pop up anywhere. They had turned the ne upside down.


    They are like a multitude of mishapen rats. Each one is insignificant and easily killed, too many of them and they had officially be a nuisance. Mih killed them like stepping on ants. But she grew bored of the repetition.


    Their tform was silent. Mih was thinking about something. Soverick was meditating and simtingbat strategies. He found the mastery of seamless to be simr to the battle instincts of a mage. A battle mage has to use every little spell wisely by chaining their effects to achieve a grander goal. So he was figuring out how to chain the basic spear skills or thrust, defect, and so on into a fighting style for when he bes a mana entity. Ka had been silent ever since her little outburst of emotions.


    "Who do you think will win between us?" Ka suddenly asked Soverick.


    "You." He answered.


    "Why?"


    "Because you are a mana entity. You have awakened your divine ability and you have opened your spirit realm. You have too many advantages over me and that''s just what I know. I know for a fact that you outss me in raw power. I do not know your mastery of a weapon.Until I know more, I think you will beat me in a direct fight."


    "Hmm," Ka nodded. "But that''s for now."


    Soverick assented. "Yes, that''s for now."


    Then Ka asked Mih privately. "Who do you think will win between Soverick and me in a fight?"


    Mih considered the question seriously. "You are stronger, faster and your divine ability makes your perception better. So you are faster than him and his movements will further be slowed down by your eyes. Your fight will end in a draw at best."


    Ka''s eyes red up for an instant before dimming again. "Why a draw?"


    "It is about mastery with weapons. You have raw power on your side and he has skill on his side."


    Ka was confused for a while. "Wait a minute. Do you mean to say he is more skilled than me with the spear? But he is only at the vitality core stage."


    "He should be at the seamless step already and you must have noticed that buff in his steps. He is stronger than he looks. So a draw at best but a loss is still possible."


    Ka didn''t cry when Mih beat her physically and berate her emotionally. But Mih''s recent words stung deeper than she could tolerate. A tear leaked out of her eye.


    ''How?'' She asked herself.


    She couldn''t understand why the boy that she watched grow up suddenly became better than her. Is the battle academy that good? Could they be feeding the students special food that makes them better? Or is Soverick that good?


    She doesn''t know so she asked Mih. "How is he so strong?"

 Chapter 187 Who Is To Be King?

    ?Ka asked. "How did he get so much stronger?"


    "I know why he might draw in a fight with you. But I don''t know how he became capable of such a feat. It is all in skills. The battle sages are a divine race well renowned on the ancient battlefield because of their mastery of weapons. The most iconic members of our race are the sages. They used their skills to bring downrger and much stronger foes. They created the pathway of weapon mastery that allowed mana entities to mimic the powers of titans and Sovereigns. There are other pathways of weapon mastery but the battle sage are the best at it. They were so good at it that the sages killed dragons."


    She wasn''t done yet. "I know what you''re going through. You have an advantage to rely on and yet, your divine ability only gets you a draw. But you have to face kids like Soverick while your agemates with bloodlines have gone far ahead of you. Still, you have to continue. It is not a race. Being fast doesn''t mean they will finish fast, they might die faster than you. You will get there. as long as you persist."


    The tform returned to silence as both physical and mental transmissions stopped. Theyrode the tform across the ne until they reached the location of the divine dungeon. They were noticed as soon as they entered a 10km radius of the dungeon. A sovereign''s Powerful divine sense enveloped them.


    "Stop right there." The Sovereignmanded.


    The world congealed around them with themand. It would take a single thought from the Sovereign to turn the world against them. Thankfully there was no need for that. Mih stopped and Soverick raised his identification token. It was a card engraved with encrypted runes.


    "Wait a moment." The Sovereign said.


    Then a wave of energy swept their location. When it met the token, it caused the token to glow.


    "Confirmed. You are granted passage."


    Then the divine sense was gone and the world returned to normal. They continued on and saw more patrols consisting of transcendents.


    "This thing is more serious than I thought. They even have a sovereign scanning the premises." Ka said.


    "Of course it''s serious. It will determine the fate of the ne. It is also dangerous." Mih said to Ka but everyone knew she was talking to Soverick. Soverick chose to ignore her.


    "It is very dangerous. The little I heard about it on the web said that people are dying in there. Talent and potential doesn''t mean strength."


    She continued to say more discouraging things to change Soverick''s mind. Soverick continued to ignore her. That went on until they reached the Leviathan Battle Star.


    "Wow, so big. So cool." Ka gushed when she saw the Titanic floating structure. It was levitating just about 100m above the ground. It was like a giant floating ship.


    ''Country bumpkin.'' Soverick thought to himself.


    It is people like Ka that the racial council are stopping from entering the divine dungeon. They can be easily impressed. The offer of God king is highly likely to convince someone like Ka who is only aiming for transcendence. Those with royal bloodlines won''t be convinced easily because they are aware of a greater power.


    Someone reached out to them and directed them to where to get off. It was a transcendent. Most of the workforce on the Leviathan Battle Star were transcendents and golems. A golem received them and brought them to arge towering building. Soverick performed registration and they were further directed to arge hall within the building.


    "There is a meeting going on right now that you must attend. Here is thetest information we know."


    The golem passed him a memory crystal on their way to the meeting. It contained detailed information about the dungeon, their attempts at clearing it, and their progress.


    ''Hmm. So this is what a divine dungeon is.''


    He knew what a dungeon is. He had been given some information about the divine dungeon before he came here but it was mainly about why it was created and for what reason. He didn''t know the inner workings and mechanism. That aside, they hadn''t made any progress yet. The first step is always the hardest but this divine dungeon made it very difficult.


    The first step required the forces of the ne to make a steady starting point on the first level of the dungeon. But the host of angels there will throw everything they have at the first person to enter the dungeon. They always killed that person before reinforcements arrive. It''s like smashing eggs on a rock. The defending Angels were the rock and the attackers were the eggs.


    The report stated that the angels might be more than a million in number. They can''t all attack at once but a hundred at a time is very feasible. The youths of the families were having problems withstanding a barrage of attacks like that. These youths are the best that the ne can offer. They all have awakened bloodlines of high purity. Things would have been different if they were mana entities. They would gain ess to instant spell casting and their divine abilities. Divine abilities can make a lot of difference.


    The memory crystal crumbled when he was done with it. It was a single-use device.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Aww, I wanted to read that," Kained.


    The golem exined. "It contains highly restricted information that only authorized individuals can read. You are not authorized."


    Ka turned to Soverick. "What does it say?"


    The golem chimed. "You are not authorized to share restricted information with unauthorized individuals."


    Soverick answered. "That they are not making any progress."


    The golem didn''t react because he didn''t share the important stuff.


    "That can''t be all. Tell me more." Kained again.


    Soverick told her. "Sorry. But you are not authorized."


    Ka sulked all the way to the hall. She almost threw a tantrum when they were refused ess to the hall. Mih imed that she was Soverick''s mother, so they made her sign a contract and allowed her to view the meeting from above. She wasn''t allowed to interfere in the meeting. Ka sighed the contract too.


    They agreed not to leak any information they acquire to anyone and anything, through anything. They also wouldn''t interfere with the process in any way, beneficial or detrimental, voluntarily or involuntarily, unknowingly or knowingly. The contract was very thorough and binding.


    Soverick entered the hall and he saw a sea of vitality core stage youths. It was a big hall, probably a kilometer long and wide.


    "Of course, the space is enchanted. But how can the ship carry this many people?" He wondered.


    There were hundreds of thousands of youths from various families here. The hall was demarcated into sections based on families. He followed the blinking direction in the token to trace the section for the Ghastorix family. Their section had about a thousand youths.


    "This is all we can offer? Impressive."


    A big family like the Ghastorix family has only a small proportion of their poption belonging to the young ones. It''s what happens when people don''t die and fertility reduces with Strength.


    It bes even rarer to have more youths when the requirement for having kids in the family is bing a transcendent. Being a transcendent parent will increase the chance of passing on the bloodline with high purity. But not all transcendents are allowed to give birth. Only those that have performed feats and have proven themselves are allowed. This will ensure only talented or hardworking people get to be parents.


    People can have kids outside the family, but unless the kids are special or have high bloodline purity, they will not be epted by the family. The kids won''t have easy ess to the academic facilities and the facilities of the family. That can change if the kids grow up and prove themselves worthy.


    So it was impressive that the Ghastorix family could field a thousand high-quality youths. These youths came from all the cities that belonged to the family in the ne and on the ancient battlefield.


    Soverick''s presence drew attention. His golden fur and multicolored eyes always drew attention to him.


    They assessed him as he walked by. The way he walked didn''t make sense and the fact that he was here implied that he wasn''t a pushover. No family will send a weakling to this event and risk embarrassing themselves.


    He sat on the first seat he reached and paid attention to the argument going in on the dais at the center of the hall. There was arge screen within each section with audio that informed everyone of what was going on.


    There isn''t a single adult in this hall. Only youths and none of them have reached the mana entity stage. The adults left the decision-making to the kids. These kids from various families must make ns and decide how to clear the dungeon all on their own. That''s why the hall is so chaotic.


    The first problem they are facing is the problem of leadership. While most of these youths are content with sitting and waiting for orders, some youths believe they should have a say in giving out those orders. Imagine young battle sage monkeys, heavily influenced by their bloodline, proud and sure of themselves because of their ancestors, packed into a room without supervision. Then you tell them to choose a leader. The violent argument going on at the dais is just a mild reaction.

 Chapter 188 Enough Attention.

    ?The adults were patient enough to wait. The dungeon has only been around for a week or two. It is nothingpared to their immense lifespan. So they can wait while the youths set themselves straight and determine their leadership system, but Soverick couldn''t wait.


    The realm lord is about to be a world god, and the era of conquest ising. Time is running out for him to achieve what he needs to participate in the conquest with proper standing.


    He stayed in the Virut ne for a worthy identity. This situation is as good as any to begin to establish such an identity. He also had a need for the refinement resources in the dungeon which he won''t be able to get with this farce going on.


    So Soverick stood up from his seat and began to approach the dais. His movements drew more attention. Any youth here that believes he belongs to the central dais must believe he is above the rest in one way or the other.


    One must have either confidence, pride, or arrogance to think that they should have a say in giving out orders. They must have it in loads, and be stupid or wise enough to actually stand up to see to it that they join the leadership.


    He didn''t go far before he was blocked by someone. It was a youth from the Ghastorix family. Soverick could tell because their identification token resonated and informed him of the other''s family.


    The battle sage monkey had bluish fur. He was bare-chested and wore a light armor that covered only his lower body. His body was toned and buffed like those of a warrior. He wore a red bandana with an inscription of SE on it. He was also carrying a de. A long weapon with a single sharp edge.


    "Do you believe yourself to be worthy of the central dais?" He asked Soverick with a grin.


    Soverick remainedposed. "What do you think?"


    "Answering a question with a question, that''s very rude."


    Soverick retorted. "Blocking someone with a weapon drawn is more than rude."


    Heughed. "You''re witty, that''s good. But it won''t help you up there. Only Strength matters. I am SWIFTESCAPE. Let me give you a suggestion..."


    Soverick interrupted him. "I did not ask for your name neither did I ask for your suggestion."


    The battle sage monkey named SWIFTESCAPE maintained his smile. "And yet I am giving it. Consider it goodwill from a family member who wants the best for you."


    "This conversation has gone on long enough. I am done entertaining you. Move now." Soverick ordered.


    "Or what? I have seen a lot of enthusiastic youths like you. They go to the central dais with confidence ande back broken. They shame the family. If you can''t ovee me, how do you n to ovee them?" SWIFTESCAPE asked.


    Soverick felt he should be angry. But he wasn''t angry. He felt amused instead. A child was blocking his road because he thinks he knows better than him. But he made a good point. If Soverick couldn''t ovee him, how does he n to ovee the others?


    The fact that SWIFTESCAPE made a good point didn''t excuse him from the crime of blocking Soverick''s path. If it were another family then Soverick would have taught him a brutal lesson in minding your own business. But that didn''t mean he wasn''t going to take action. He will just reduce the lesson to something less than brutal.


    Soverick began walking forward.


    His opponent grinned and readied his weapon. "Good. Action speaks louder than words. Let me see your action."


    Soverick continued onwards.


    "Draw your weapon." SWIFTESCAPE said.


    Soverick picked up speed.


    "So be it." His opponent attacked when he realized Soverick had no intention of fighting with a weapon.


    It was either confidence or foolhardy. If it is foolhardiness then he was right to stop Soverick here and now. If it''s confidence, then he will test the worth of Soverick''s confidence. Confidence doesn''t move the world and faith can''t move mountains.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    SWIFTESCAPE raised his de and swung diagonally from top right to bottom left. The attack had range and covered more avenues of reaction. The movement was precise and timed to match Soverick''s speed. It would have made contact with Soverick''s if he hadn''t stopped just outside the edge of the de.


    The de swung close to Soverick''s face and moved past him. Then Soverick burst forward before his opponent could recover his stance. He tapped into his gate of momentum just a little bit. His body became empowered and he moved into the guard of his opponent with a sudden burst of eleration.


    SWIFTESCAPE wasn''t a novice and he wasn''t flustered. He released one hand on his de and punched Soverick while his de turned with a twist of the wrist of his other hand. The punch would dy Soverick before his second attack with his de arrived.


    Soverick punched and they met fist for fist. His opponent felt like he had punched an immovable mountain before his world turned upside down. His world didn''t actually turn upside down, he was the one tumbling up and down.


    Soverick''s fist had broken SWIFTESCAPE''s arm and struck his chest. There was a sickening sound of flesh bursting and bones snapping as the chest caved in.Then SWIFTESCAPE was thrown for quite a distance, skidding and rolling on the floor all the way till he stopped face down where hey bleeding.


    ''''That''s good enough a lesson for a family member with good intentions.'' Soverick thought to himself as he adjusted his ck battle suit.


    He held back. If the lesson was brutal then SWIFTESCAPE would have lost his arm. He is still alive right now and his arm can be healed easily. It was just a broken arm. It is something mortals heal from all the time. Things would have gone differently if SWIFTESCAPE wasn''t a family member.


    The quick battle had drawn even more attention. But it was just that, attention. There was a lot of fighting going around recently so it wasn''t special. Their dismissal of his victory didn''t sit well with him though.


    Soverick wanted it to be special. He wanted it to be noteworthy, he wasn''t here for less. He couldn''t me them. For a victory to be special, the stage must be worthy. That means he must find a worthy stage. Then he will be able to draw all the attention to himself. So he resumed his journey to the dais.


    He walked by the battered and bruised SWIFTESCAPE and heard him say, "Nice Fight."


    Even injured like so, his opponent could stillplement him about the fight. Soverick nodded in acknowledgment. The boy deserved that much. His foundation was solid, he had gotten the basic skills of his weapon down to their nitty gritty. He is also close to reaching the first step of weapon mastery. If he was there then Soverick''s trick of stopping won''t have worked so easily. SWIFTESCAPE would have been able to stop too, but his body is still a ve to momentum. Soverick wasn''t much stronger than his opponent, but he was carrying a lot of momentum even when standing still. So he blew his opponent away.


    "This is about right. I should be able to nail it from here." He said after reaching a calcted distance from the central dais.


    He stretched and began to run. This time he put in the full weight of his momentum in his every step. Each strike of his feet on the ground created a boom. The ground was sturdy so it didn''t crack. Instead, it dispersed the force of his feet pounding on it into the surroundings. This process made the air vibrate and vibration creates sound.


    So as he ran, it sounded like a behemoth was running or a herd of beasts was stampeding, or a giant was stomping.


    His feet went. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.


    The sound echoed within the hall and drew attention. It wasn''t so loud as to draw everyone''s attention. Only a few thousand in the vicinity heard it and were drawn from their screens and the argument it was showing to the source of the sound instead.


    "Not enough. But that will change soon." Soverick thought in anticipation.


    He ran, picked up speed, and he crouched. Then he jumped. This time the sound was like thunder. The surveince system stopped showing the events of the central dais and instead focused on the spot where Soverick had jumped. People were confused by the abrupt change, they couldn''t see anything noteworthy on the screen. Only the people that had been tracking Soverick earlier knew where he was and these people had their necks craned up. Some of them even had their mouth dropped wide open.


    Even the clueless could tell that there must be something interesting up there that a significant group of people are looking at. So more people looked up and they saw him. Then more people looked up. They pointed and some asked, "How did he get up there?"


    Still, it wasn''t enough. Not everyone''s attention was on him.


    Soverick flew into the sky, he reached the zenith of his jump. Then he began to descend.


    "No way." Someone eximed in awe.


    Then Soverick smashed into the central dais. The shockwave of the impact smashed into the hundreds of people there. The sound it made was like the culmination of earlier booms. He had dropped on them like arge boulder into water.


    By now everyone in the hall, the hundreds of thousands of them had stood up. Those that were close to the central dais were watching it intently, while those that were too far had their eyes glued to those screens. They were all watching and waiting for the result of that stunt. He had finally gotten everyone''s attention. What will he do with it?

 Chapter 189 Like A Fly To A Flame.

    ?The dust slowly settled to reveal Soverick. The ground beneath his feet had cratered. The 100m diameter dais had been cleared by the shockwave. Cracks spread from the crater to the edge of the raised tform. But he was fine. He dusted himself and looked around.


    "I am Soverick Ghastorix. And I will be your Leader."


    Everyone heard his deration.


    "You are chaotic. So I am Order. You need a leader. You have gotten one. You didn''t ask for me, but I have enthroned myself."


    He created a throne of stone with a spell and sat on it.


    "If you don''t like it thene. I promise to beat that fact into you. I will break your spirit and I will break your body until it is epted."


    Then he beckoned to all of them with his hand.


    "Come."


    Some were filled with indignation, and a lot of them were in awe, Even more, felt fear. But most of them were in shock or confused. That was before the youths in the Ghastorix family section began to chant his name


    "Soveeick! Soveeick! Soverick!"


    Soverick''s previous opponent was the one to start it but then more picked it up. SWIFTESCAPE led everyone around him in chanting his name, his pain and injuries did not stop him. He may have fought and lost to Soverick, but he is now a supporter. Those in the Ghastorix family section joined in first. Whatever their feelings were or their reservations, Soverick was strong and he was part of their family. Strength needed to be honored, so they honored him.


    More sections of the hall joined in the chanting and it increased in volume.


    They shouted. "Soverick! Soverick! Soverick!"


    The hall began to resound with the sound of his name.


    There were some who didn''t ept him though. It is only natural. Most of them were around the dais. They were the ones that Soverick had knocked over in the aftermath of his descent. The ones that survived the shockwave easily had all reached the first step of mastery. They were able to transfer the momentum of the shock wave so that they didn''t take the brunt of it.


    These are the group of battle sage monkeys who thought that they should have a hand in leadership and had enough confidence, pride, or arrogance to do something about their thought. They saw and felt a battle sage monkey drop on them from the sky. Still, it was not enough. They may be impressed, but they were not willing to submit. One of them stood up. He imed back up onto the dais.


    He was a towering brute for a monkey. He was already 1.6m tall and made Soverick look small with his 1.2m height. Such a height at the vitality core stage means he will grow much taller in the future. He was also heavily muscled. He looked more like a gori than a monkey. He had silver fur and what looked like boulders for fists.


    He cracked his hands and said. "I am Strung SilverBack and I do not ept your leadership. Why don''t you make me see reason?"


    Soverick stood up from his throne. His body felt heavier but he moved lighter. It is due to absorbing a lot of momentum from that impact. His gate stores momentum and amplifies his power. He had increased the conversation rate but it has a limit to how much momentum it can ept at a time. That amount must not be greater than the total amount of momentum he has stored in it.


    If he has 10 units of momentum, he can tank 9 units of momentum. Then depending on his conversion rate, his own momentum will increase. So if it increases to 11 units, he will be able to tank 10 units. If he faces 12 units then the gate will be destroyed. In summary, he can continue moving as long as he doesn''t face an opposing force greater than his own, but the moment he is stopped is the moment he will lose all his momentum. He has to continue moving forward or he breaks.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    In theory, there is no limit to how much momentum he can store but in reality, that isn''t true. His body is the link between external momentum and his gate. If his body cannot withstand the process of momentum transfer, then it will break before the gate can store it all.


    That''s why he sat down on a throne earlier. He had sustained so much damage that he couldn''t stand properly. He sat down to let his vitality heal him.


    He isn''t fully healed, but he has to make this fight impactful. He had to show overwhelming strength that will outss his opponent and deter the other challengers. Silence returned to the hall as everyone focused on the uing fight. The oue of this battle will determine if Soverick is the real deal or a one-time wonder.


    Soverick shook his head in pity. "I warned you. But you came nheless. Like a fly to a me. You will burn all the same."


    He really pitied the battle sage monkey. He is the only one that thought so, but that''s only for now. He will show every one of them what will happen when they defy him. So that they will pity future brutes that stand up to him.


    He moved and Strung SilverBack moved too. The two of them shed towards each other with speed beyond the capabilities of normal vitality core stage refiners. It proved that their movement skills were exceptional. Their speed was equal. But Soverick was holding back.


    Their fists met and there was a shockwave from the impact. Strung was strong, he had a bigger body and stronger bones. So he could match Soverick in power. But Soverick was holding back.


    The two of them didn''t move back at all. It was aical sight for a small opponent to hold back a muchrger opponent but it wasn''t a strange sight. Size doesn''t mean superiority in strength when ites to refinement, but that only starts at the mana entity stage. They couldn''t figure out how Soverick could show this much strength at this stage. But Soverick was still holding back.


    The cracks on the dais erged. Strung''s other arm swung for another punch as his first arm fell limp to his side. Strung''s left fist which looked like a boulder hurled itself at Soverick''s small figure. It is an admirable thing to not waver even when your first sh in a fight turns sour.


    Soverick''s speed picked up. He wasn''t holding back anymore. He shed sideways and dodged the second punch. It wasn''t a close shave, he evaded the punchpletely. The arm struck empty air where Soverick used to be. Then Soverick punched the outstretched arm as it sailed past him. His punch broke the arm and went on to shatter its bones. The arm exploded into blood, bones, and gore.


    Still, Strung didn''t cry or give up. His right leg kicked forward. He wanted to m Soverick with his foot. Soverick shed again moving at impossible speed. That''s what happens when you have momentum even when you are standing still. Your potential energy is always high and a single outlet will make you spring forward as if you are a wound-up spring.


    So he shed around Strung. He was suddenly on Strung''s right side. This time it wasn''t about evading the attack. He didn''t have to move from Strung''s left side to his right side. He was toying with Strung now.


    He struck Strung in his exposed side. His right arm was already limp from their earlier fist sh so it couldn''t block this attack. Soverick''s punch struck him like a wrecking ball and all the air in his chest exploded out from his mouth and nose. It brought a lot of blood with it. Now Strung couldn''t cry even if he wanted to. His throat has been filled with blood and chunks of his internal organs.


    Still, Soverick wasn''t done. He shed to his opponent''s back and struck his spine. Strung''s spine exploded into a shrapnel of bones and he was propelled forward. Strung''s two arms were gone, and one of his legs was up in the air because of his kick, so he was off bnce.


    He was about to fall face t when Soverick shed to his front. Soverick punched his face and broke his nose. The force of the punch knocked back his head and halted his falling momentum for a while. It gave Soverick time to m another punch into Strung''s chest and this time his hand went through it to the other side.


    The earlier punch to his back had destroyed the structural integrity of his bone structure, so this one finally shattered the barrier that is Strung''s sternum and prated all the way to the back. There was no spine to stop the progress of Soverick''s arm.


    Strung hung on Soverick''s outstretched arm. His blood gurgled in his throat as he struggled to breathe. Blood had sshed onto Soverick''s nonchnt face. His golden fur was ruined by the silver blood of his opponent, but his eyes continued to glow.


    He had shown them that he isn''t a one-time wonder. Maybe now, they will pity the fool that dares to challenge him.

 Chapter 190 How Heroes Are Made.

    ?"Do you know why I didn''t take your heart?" Soverick asked his incapacitated opponent, but he wasn''t expecting an answer. Strung was in too much pain to cobble together an intelligent mental transmission.


    "It is so that you can live to experience what''s about to happen. I want you alive and well while I do what I''m about to do next. I assure you that it is not going to be pleasant."


    He released Strung''s figure to the ground and it fell with a thump. It will be too easy for Soverick to kill Strung but that will be letting him off easy.


    Soverick looked at everyone else and said, "This is for everyone one of you as much as it is for Strung. Feel free to stop me if you want. Just know that I''ll make you join in with him."


    The entire hall was silent. The fight had taken less than 5 seconds. It looked like a mana entity had bullied a vitality core junior. It felt unreal that that kind of strength was disyed by another vitality core refiner like them. But Soverick wasn''t done yet.


    Victory in the fight was important. How the victory was earned was even more important. But what is most important is the impact of the fight on the others. What lesson has this fight taught them about him? He called himself their leader. But what kind of leader is he? There is only one thing that can control hundreds of thousands of entitled youths who believe in their superiority because of their bloodline. That is strength.


    Strength can cause awe and worship. It can deter mutiny and acquire him the respect of his people. But he isn''t their peer. Neither does he need their respect. He has to show them that he is beyond ordinary, beyond their level. He shouldn''t ask for their respect, they should offer it. For that, he needs overwhelming strength.


    Respect won''t be enough for fools. They will see his strength and still fight back. They are fools that believe that effort and hard work are all that is needed to ovee challenges. They will take the risk to fight him as long as they believe they have a small chance of victory.


    He has seen what a bloodline can cause in youths. Ghaster never admitted his inferiority even after the numerous feats that Soverick performed. When Ghaster was challenging someone out of his league and getting beat up, he didn''t give up. He continued to challenge again and again. It''s because he could take the consequences of failing. He just had to sleep and use the life force he gets from Hadrick and he will be good as new. He simply didn''t fear defeat.


    So Soverick will give these people the fear of defeat. He will show them the consequences of going against him and failing. He will disy to them their future if they fail their revolt against him.


    "I told you that if you don''t agree with me being your leader. I will break your body and your spirit." He said to Strung as he grabbed one of Strung''s legs. Strung was still conscious and aware of what was going on.


    "I have broken your body. Now I will break your spirit." Then he broke his leg.


    He made sure to let the bone pierce the flesh and break out through the skin. That will ensure it doesn''t heal properly.


    Strung convulsed and his chest heaved in an attempt to cry but only blood and flesh came out of his mouth. His lungs had been pierced by the bones from his shattered spine so he was suffering, but he was still alive.


    Vitality can do a lot to a person especially if that person has an iplete body ofw due to a bloodline. Their healing ability will be enough to sustain them from dying to anything but the gravest of injuries.


    Some youths winced and some puked. But most of them didn''t shy away from the gore. They may be young, but they weren''t innocent. Still, the sight impacted every one of them in one way or the other.


    "Shout. It is bad for you, but go ahead and shout. Shouting will fill your lungs with more blood and move those bones deeper into them. It will make healing more difficult but it is what I want so go ahead and scream." He said as he walked leisurely to the other leg. Strung tried to scramble away but he was too weak to move.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His spine was broken so his legs were out. Only one arm wasn''t broken. It was the one that had gone limp in their first exchange. The muscles in that arm had ruptured badly so it must hurt, yet Strung was trying to use it to move his battered and broken body.


    Soverick grabbed the other leg.


    "Prepare yourself." He said.


    Strung tried to wave his somewhat functional arm in an attempt to plead but Soverick didn''t listen. Neither did he listen to the many pleas with the divine sense. The fact that he could still beg with his mind meant that his spirit wasn''t broken yet. So Soverick broke his other leg.


    The youths watched as Strung cried. Tears fell down his eyes. They couldn''t hear his mental transmissions but they could imagine the pain he was going through. Some couldn''t take it anymore. They climbed over the dais and approached Soverick. They were the third set of people.


    Some are smart and will be deterred by the strength he has shown. They are the first set of people. Some are headstrong and foolish, they will still challenge him even though they saw what he did. They are the second set of people. The fear of failure might deter these people. The next set of people are the proud and the principled. People that would rather break than bend. It is in their very bones to be prideful. It is their very nature not to give up. They have seen what he can do, they have seen what the consequences of going against him are, but it still will not deter them.


    They have ideals or principles that they live their life by. It could be kindness, rebelliousness, arrogance, or pride. Whichever one it is will not allow them to watch Soverick perform his acts of cruelty to someone while they watch, or they simply will not bend their heads to another person. They will rather be broken than bend to him.


    To these people, fear won''t hold them back. Nothing can hold them back as long as they have that pir that holds them up. That''s why he will break that pir. He will show them that there can only be one ruler in a pride of lions. All other adult males will be killed or chased away. They either bend to him or they break. These set of people will give him the opportunity to disy his overwhelming strength. That''s what matters at the end of the day.


    He regarded these proud people. They were more than a hundred. A hundred and three to be exact. They came in numbers and they came bearing weapons. These people were smart. If a single person can''t take Soverick down, then numbers will. If numbers won''t take Soverick down, then their weapons will do the trick. They came doubly prepared.


    They don''t know Soverick''s level of mastery but they know he cannot be above the first step. It ismon sense. But they recognized that he had a superior physique that outssed them in strength and speed. Numbers might not be able to take him down, but all of them using their weapons and exhibiting their mastery of them should be more than enough to overwhelm Soverick.


    "You havee to join him in being broken. I will stop holding back now." Soverick said as he released his ck spear from his spatial ring.


    There was no room or margin for error. He had to win and he had to do it easily. He had made a promise that whoever stood up to question his authority will be dealt with severely and these people still questioned his authority. He must fulfill that promise.


    Facing a hundred talented youths that have achieved the first step of weapon mastery will not be easy. So he wasn''t going to hold back at all. If they lived, then they lived. They were ready to die when they joined this endeavor anyway. It doesn''t matter if they die here or in the dungeon. Their challenge was weed anyway, Overwhelming strength needs Overwhelming Obstacles or in this case, overwhelming numbers for it to be disyed very well.


    They could see his resolve and they didn''t doubt it. They saw his bloody figure covered with the blood of his former opponent, but they didn''t fear him. They understood that they could die but they still wouldn''t back down. Their heart wouldn''t let them. They couldn''t live with themselves knowing that they didn''t try everything in their power before giving up. So they will face death and ovee it.


    Isn''t that how heroes are made?

 Chapter 191 Not Heroes And Villains. More Like Wolf Among Sheep.

    ?Heroes faced great opposition and won. It is all in their memories too. Of ancestors that didn''t back down and eventually excelled. Every Origin god was once a titan ofw. So it is in their bloodline to walk in the footsteps of their ancestor and fight against overwhelming odds. They already have a viin to conquer. The fire in their bloodlines pushed them to conquer. Then they all blurred into motion.


    Soverick reached them first. His top speed is a little higher than any other battle sage monkey in the vitality core stage. But what really stood out about him is his eleration which is beyondpare. He could reach his top speed in mind-boggling time.


    In a sh, he was upon them, a grin on his face as his spear moved horizontally for a smash. The first three people he struck were sent flying. They hadn''t seen him arrive but their divine sense had perceived him. Sadly it was toote already. It was like the attack of the titan frogs on the obstacle course. It was too fast to react to but not for these youths. They aren''t ordinary youths after all. They managed to raise their weapons in time to block but the attack was overwhelming. It crushed all resistance.


    Their weapons were crushed into their chest. Their arms were broken and their mind was still in shock at his speed as they were sent flying. It was only after they hit the ground did they feel the pain of their mangled form. Their arms, chests, legs, and other body parts that Soverick''s spear touched had been crushed. By then, more were already sent flying, about to join them on the ground. Soverick was just that fast.


    His spear was too heavy for a normal battle sage monkey in his stage to wield but he was twirling it about like a stick. Only his opponents knew what it really was and how it felt to be hit with it. The fight didn''t need him to show his skill. He was too fast to be dodged. He was too strong to be blocked. He outssed them in every way for them to withstand a single attack and he made to at least maim them if not outright kill them. Some didn''t even react as lobbed off their heads.


    His first horizontal smash turned into a whirling attack. He swung his spear around with wild abandon. The ones close to him exploded into blood and gore. They might be able to harness momentum, but there is a limit to how much they can manipte. They came to him inrge numbers and clustered around him but it was more to their disadvantage than an advantage. He was able to get a lot of them with a single attack.


    Once he had thinned out the forerunners, space opened up around him for ranged attacks. Arrowscame first. They were all fast and urate even though he was so fast. They were just that good but they couldn''t hamper him at all with their attacks. He saw everything around him. Nothing could ambush him and he had no blind spots.


    He didn''t focus on the arrows, that will be a bad move. He knew their ranged attacks are meant to limit his movements and force him intopromising positions. They were trying to make it easier for the closebat fighters to engage him. It was like mastery of seamless.


    He sped up and targeted one of his opponents. An arrow came for him, he moved slightly and the arrow whistled past him. He went towards his target while that arrow struck someone behind him. He came close and was about to thrust when more arrows came. His spear moved to intercept the arrows in a whirling blur while he moved closer to his opponent. His other hand punched forward but his opponent was ready. He wielded his hammer and mmed them forward. One for Soverick''s outstretched hand and the other for his head.


    Soverick''s punch fell and his body leaned with it. One foot lifted up while the other rotated in support of transforming his attack into a kick. His leg shed forward and struck his opponent in the head. The longer reach of his leg gave him an advantage in the exchange. His opponent''s neck broke then Soverick''s spear thrust into his stomach and moved his body to block the arrows about to reach him.


    Soverick used the body as a shield while he ran toward the archers. The enemies still alive realized his aim and moved to stop him. They couldn''t reach him fast enough so they began to throw weapons at him. Soverick''s makeshift shield could block arrows but it couldn''t block a spear.


    Still, the attacks were useless. They were more powerful but they were less urate. The archers were already having difficulty tracking his movements.


    By the time these people hefted the weapons and threw them, he was long gone.


    He demolished the archers and everyone in his way. It didn''t take 2 minutes for him to reduce their number by more than 50. Fear began to creep into their minds, just a little. They realized toote how powerful Soverick was. They were torn between grouping together or spreading out. Some grouped themselves together when facing him. They attacked and defended together. Some will strike at Soverick while some will defend against his attack. A group is troublesome to deal with, especially if they surround him and protect an archer from him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It was just more troublesome. Their resistance was all an effort in futility. If they could throw weapons, so can he. And he can throw it farther and harder. He picked up weapons left behind by dead opponents and threw them be they spears, des, brass knuckles, anything really. Anything can be dangerous when it is thrown with enough force to shatter skulls. Their troublesome defense became less troublesome when his hand became an artillery cannon.


    He was like a wolf among sheep. He was merciless and grim in his actions. Blood and bones flew around him. Arms and legs were lopped off. Heads were smashed and chests caved in. No one could stand against him. None could hold him back for a brief moment so that they could reorganize and form a stronger resistance. He hunted them down if they were alone, he smashed them apart if they were in groups.


    They finally felt fear. Soverick was soaked in blood from head to toe. His fur wasn''t golden anymore. It had various colors from the different bloodlines that he had spilled. His fur now matched his glowing multicolored eyes. Their numbers dwindled and the realization of impending death set in. Some began to beg him.


    One of them. A battle sage monkey that looked like ady but Soverick could never tell, fell to her knees and cried out. "We give up. I give up. You win. You win. Please let us go."


    She was crying. Tears fell from her eyes. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She felt regret. Facing an enemy you cannot touch at all was a bad idea. She felt broken. She would never forget this day. She was scarred forever. She wanted this nightmare to end. She wanted to live. So she dropped her weapon and begged for mercy.


    Soverick approached her swiftly like the grim reaper. His spear shed and he impaled her 3 times in a second. One to the head which burst apart, another to her chest which splintered, and thest one at her head. But he missed. Her head wasn''t there anymore.


    That''s how he usually attacks. If they get lucky and block the first attack, then a second one aimed at their chest will do the trick. If they are lucky enough to survive even that, then their head will surely be exposed and safe for the taking. He had been so caught up in the act of killing them that he hadn''t considered her pleas.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t hear her. He just never considered it. He thought it was a ploy. He ignored it and went for the kill. His mind had been focused on the kill and how to do it efficiently. Now that he missed, he stopped and considered his opponents.


    They were cowering and shivering. They were broken. But it wasn''t enough. He will show all the rest that didn''t join the fight what happens when they question his authority or it will undermine all his previous efforts. Those that didn''t join in defying him must feel themselves immensely lucky for showing restraint.


    If he let these remaining people go it will reduce the impact of the consequences of failure. If there is a small chance of getting away with something, only then will you gamble. He will show them that there is a zero chance of surviving a rebellion against him. So heughed. He threw his head back andughed.


    Then he resumed his hunt. He took down everyst one of them. Even when they jumped down from the central dais and ran away. None could escape him. He hunted them down one by one and killed them. Then he dragged their bodies back to the dais.


    They may have thought themselves heroes against a viin. He thought of them as weak and stupid. It is not a sin to be weak. You can always rectify that with training. But you must know your ce. It is stupidity to fight someone that outsses you because of principles. It is a sin punishable by death.

 Chapter 192 The Start Of A Legend.

    ?The hall was thick with silence. No one said a thing. They watched as the blood-soaked figure of Soverick dragged more and more bodies to a heap. He created a pyramid on the central dais made of the bodies of his enemies. It was a statement of his strength and brutality.


    As he climbed on the dais with thest body the central dais finally broke apart. The damage from the intense battle had pushed it too far. It fell into ruins. The pyramid of flesh was destroyed and scattered. Funny enough, Soverick''s throne was still there so was strung. Strung was still groaning at the foot of the throne.


    Soverick shrugged and went to seat on his throne. He ced his foot on Strung and addressed the auditorium.


    "Is there any other person here that does not agree with me being your leader?" He asked as he rxed on his throne.


    No one said anything. You could hear a pin drop in the silence. They weren''t silent because of fear. They wanted to hear the fool that will disagree clearly. So people held their breath and looked around.


    "That''s good. You have all seen what I can do and what happens to my enemies. If you follow me, I will lead you to do the same with our enemies. We will break them. They will not stand against us." His voice continued to rise as he spoke.


    "We will walk over their corpses. We will bathe in their blood. We will be unstoppable. We will be victorious."


    Then he raised his bloodied spear into the air and shouted, "For Victory."


    And the hall echoed with him. "For Victory."


    He shouted again. "For Victory."


    Everyone in the hall raised their hands into the air and shouted again. "For Victory."


    He said it onest time. "For Victory."


    And the hall shook with their shout. "For Victory."


    Soverick smiled. They had chosen to follow him. They continued to shout in agreement. They had never felt so impassioned right now. They had seen a single man fight against a hundred. He had fought against the best of them. He faced a hundred of the best of the best of the vitality core refiners in the Virut ne and he won.


    His opponents weren''t riffraff, yet he had broken them and they had scattered before him.


    He is the living embodiment of what they all desire to be, an incarnation of the first sage who led the battle sage monkeys to victory after victory. Only someone like that could lead them.


    Soverick raised his arm and the hall returned to silence.


    "Now that the matter of leadership has been solved. We will select themanders. I want someone from each family to be amander. I will give you one hour to make the decision. I do not want to tell you what bad things will happen if you don''t select one in an hour. I''ll leave that to your imagination. But I''ll tell you that thest ten families to select amander will be heavily unfavoured by me. Now get to it."


    They took his words seriously. There is somethingpelling about a man sitting on a throne surrounded by the bodies of in enemies and the ruins of what they used to fight on while using another broken man as his footstool. So when Soverick left his throne and began to leave the hall, they all hailed him.


    "Soverick! Soverick! Soverick!"


    His bloody figure matched from his throne to the exit of the hall and he was cheered all the way.


    The dead battle sage monkeys are already forgotten. Longevity has made people insensitive to death. They have seen a lot of deaths to be hung up on every single one anymore. Of course, some people didn''t hail or cheer. Some hated Soverick and were already nning revenge. But no one can deny that Soverick is truly a legend. If they are truly honest with themselves, they also wish to be Soverick.


    Soverick left the hall and was received by a golem.


    "I will be your assistant from now on." It said


    Soverick nodded. Then it presented a familiar tool to Soverick.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "This is themunicator with the Authority of the leader. It will allow you tomunicate with yourmanders and make arrangements easily. They will be given to yourmanders and those in the chain ofmand."


    It was a wrist logger. Soverick cracked a rare smile and took it.


    "I want to clean myself."


    "Certainly, follow me to your quarters."


    Soverick followed his new assistant while the youths in the hall selected their leaders. Except, this time there was no chaos or infighting. A lot of people wanted to bemanders so that they will be in close contact with Soverick but they understood that they had a deadline. They chose their leaders quickly through voting.


    Meanwhile, Above the Hall. On the viewing stage where a few adults were watching the proceedings of the hall. The moment that Soverick entered the hall.


    Guntu had been informed that Soverick would being. Soverick is a valuable person to the Ghastorix family. Most people in the family that had a say in the runnings of the family were against Soverick joining the divine dungeon clearing attempts.


    They maintained that it was too risky. They understood that strife and danger are required forsting growth but they also understood that Soverick didn''t need it. The little they had seen of his abilities indicated that he can absorb knowledge as easily as if he were a sponge. So there is no need to risk his life in such a dangerous enterprise. Plus making him go will expose him to the entire ne and increase the danger to Soverick''s life once they noticed his potential.


    The others that were for it argued that a conflict of such scale is the proper stage for Soverick to show his greatness. They maintained that the greater the talent, the tougher the challenge needs to be to bring out his full potential.


    The neutral ones were of the opinion that they didn''t have the power to forbid the offspring of the family from joining something like the divine dungeon clearing effort. Clearing the divine dungeon wasn''t illegal or for a rival family. It might be dangerous but it is for the good of the entire ne and the battle sage monkeys. It''s like saying the members of their family cannot join a war summons called by the racial council.


    It is their opinion that if Soverick wants to go, he just needs the permission of someone with sufficient Authority in the family to go.


    Guntu hadn''t listened much to the debates because it didn''t matter. What he thinks is all that mattered and there is no way he is going to allow the family to start dictating what their family members can do and what they can''t. The family has a lot of rules with appropriate punishment if broken. But they do not force anyone.


    The rules are geared toward maintaining the interest of the family while the family rewards those that follow the rules with the benefits. Asking Soverick not to go isn''t in the interest of the family. If Soverick died to something like this then he will not survive bing a titan ofw.


    Frankly, Guntu would prefer it if Soverick died now so that the possible future where he is important to the family will be no more. They will be able to focus on something else and not be on tenterhooks all the time. So he dered that Soverick could go as long as he got permission from any titan ofw that is part of the family.


    He also said, "He''s just going to be one among the crowds so he is going to be safe. There''s no reason to worry about him."


    He said that to alleviate the fears of those that were concerned for Soverick''s safety. Still, Guntu was worried and had been keeping tabs on Soverick''s location ever since. He knew when Soverick was first sighted and inspected. He knew when Soverick was logged in and brought to the meeting hall. He knew what entrance he was brought to, so he watched that entrance intently.


    Yes, he would like Soverick to die early if Soverick will die in the future. But that''s just so that the family won''t be too emotionally invested in him. The family doesn''tck money, it is their hopes and dreams that are precious to them. The hope of surviving the end of the universe.


    He would be alright if Soverick died but he prefers if he doesn''t die. That''s why his eyes were glued to that entrance and watched as Soverick walked in. He noticed the peculiarities about Soverick immediately.


    His eyes lit up. ''It is as they said, he has acquired Seamless and the gates of momentum."


    He had seen the reports and the videos but seeing it with his own eyes was very assuring.It meant that Soverick''s chance of survival will be very high.


    He rxed a bit and decided to brag. If Soverick performs well then he will be noticed by others but there was no need to wait for that moment. When you have something that others don''t have, the value of that thing only increases if you lord it over others.


    ''Not a lot, just a little bit of bragging.'' he reminded himself not to go overboard.


    He didn''t want to overy his hands. Soverick may be well above a normal vitality core stage refiner, but a single person is useless in a grand situation like this involving hundreds of thousands of youths.

 Chapter 193 The Child Of The Plane We Will Soon Meet.

    ?So Guntu said to the clones of Origin gods around him. "See that? That boy is from my family."


    The Origin god here that had it in with Guntu and had been antagonizing him was quick to jeer, "Look at who? I doubt your family can produce something worthwhile."


    The othersughed but turned to look at where Guntu was indicating. Their mockingughter soon turned to sounds of appreciation and surprise.


    Guntu''s antagonizer finallymented. "That is actually not bad."


    Guntu scoffed. "Of course, you will think it is not bad Jerome. You have bad eyesight."


    Jerome didn''t get angry. "I call it as it is. I may not know what is up with him but it is not that great. It''s probably a movement technique I don''t know about or how else would a Vitality core refiner move like that?"


    "I see that you''re getting senile in your old age. How can a vitality core stage practitioner use a movement technique with such a boost without mana? You''re getting stupider by the day."


    Jerome finally snapped. "It''s you that doesn''t know shit. Calling fine feces gold. Sure it came out from a dragon''s ass, that doesn''t make it gold."


    They began to argue and the Origin gods around them joined in. They picked sides and bashed each other. Their argument urred very quickly because of the speed at which they think andmunicate, so a lot of name-callings had urred before Soverick sat down.


    Jeromy was quick to point it out. "See, see. He sat down. The boy is smarter than you, I''ll give you that. He knows his limits and wisely chooses to stay out of the matter of leadership. He is not a big boy and he knows that. Such self-awareness will help him stay alive longer."


    "He is just collecting information and strategizing. He will show you up." Guntu immediately regretted saying that.


    He didn''t want Soverick to get into the messy business of leadership but he didn''t want to admit defeat so easily. It would be good if Soverick keeps a low profile and goes with the masses. Fighting for leadership or more unlikely, actually bing part of the leadership, will expose him to too much danger.


    So he is torn now. He wants Soverick to go up and prove him right, but he also wants Soverick to stay out of danger. His warring feelings were not helped by the constant sardonic barbs that Jerome threw his way frequently. He decided to return his own specially selected barbs to Jerome''s wonky ancestor. But Soverick started moving before he could smear someone else''s ancestor.


    He found himself sighing in relief. Not because he is d that Soverick moved but because he is d that he won''t have to resort to besmirching Jerome''s ancestor who offended a world god and was cursed for it.


    "See, I told you. Collecting information and strategizing." Guntu glowed with victory.


    That was before Soverick was stopped, by a family member no less. Jerome snickered and said. "I was wrong, the boy isn''t the smart one. It is this new boy that came to stop him. It is not something you should be happy about though. There has to be one smart person in a family of foolish people. It''s nature, not gics."


    Guntu fumed but wisely choose to remain silent. He realized that anything he says now can and will be used against him if it goes wrong. He was already about to make fun of Jerome''s ancestor who has be a weak old man that can never die. He doesn''t want to bring up that sore spot or this jovial contest will escte into something else.


    He is a fan of destruction as much as the next guy. But causing trouble here will certainly draw the attention of some very powerful people and he doesn''t want to be cursed that even death can''t save him from.


    So he was content with simply watching. But Jerome will have none of it. Jerome asked the AI of the Leviathan Battle Star to bring up their conversation. The mind transmissions between the two vitality core stage youths of the Ghastorix family began to y for everyone to hear.


    Guntu gritted his teeth and swore inwardly. ''This Jerome is pushing me. He is truly pushing me and I am not one for restraint.''


    He is fickle. Ancestor Ghastorix called him that. If they were in another ce or in another situation, he would have let it rip about what a stupid Origin god Jerome''s ancestor is. What else would you call someone who steals from a World god?


    Because you can''t die doesn''t mean you should do anything you want. That''s why Guntu is holding himself back from saying something he will probably regret. He would allow Jerome his fun since he was the one that started this?


    They heard Soverick dismiss the other''s concern. Then they watched them fight. More like they watched Soverick easily dispatch his opponent. The origin gods were cheering for Soverick now. But Guntu wasn''t happy. They weren''t cheering because they meant well for Soverick.


    He wasn''t surprised by the oue of the fight. Soverick outssed his opponent so he was sure to win in a fight. What he didn''t know is if Soverick would back down and return to his seat. Soverick might have impaled a young girl recently but she wasn''t part of the family. It is another thing to antagonize or hurt a family member in front of the entire ne.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick did it though. He maimed his opponent in a single hit. Guntu wasn''t sure if he should be happy or not. His anxiety was increasing as Soverick continued to walk towards the central dais. No one opposed him this time, so Guntu was wondering if he should intervene and stop Soverick before things went too far.


    Then the Son of legends spoke. He had been quiet all this while, never joining in any conversation. He had been staring into space while his eyes shed with multiple colors. But the eyes were white now. The Son of legends had locked on to a favorable future.


    He said to them and his voice rang out. Only the Origin gods here heard him.


    "The Drums of War have begun to Beat. The Child of the ne we will soon meet. Among broken bodies and stones, his throne will be. Strength to bind them and victory he promised them."


    They were thinking about what he just said when they heard the booming sound. The origin gods were silent earlier because of what the son of legends said but now everyone turned their attention to the source of the sound in the meeting hall below.


    Everyone panned their viewing screens to the scene of Soverick matching towards the central dais.


    Guntu groaned. "Why didn''t you go quietly? You just had to make a scene."


    Now things were out of his hand. Even if he hadn''t drawn everyone''s attention to Soverick, Soverick would have done it himself. He couldn''t interfere now even if he wanted. Still, he grinned as Soverick matched as if to battle.


    He loved stories, and nothing was more epic than a valiant warrior announcing his presence with a grand entrance. But things didn''t end there. Soverick jumped. Guntu did a quick calction. He winced when he realized where Soverick willnd.


    "It won''t be too bad. The son of legends said that we should make the tform weak. Wait a minute." Guntu thought of something.


    It was about what the son of legends said when they first had their first briefing about the divine dungeon.


    The son of legends had said, "Now, what we need is a weak tform."


    Guntu stopped thinking about the coincidence that the only structurally weak ce in the meeting hall is the central dais because he was sure it isn''t a coincidence. Soverick spoke then. He said,


    "I am Soverick Ghastorix. And I will be your Leader."


    "You are chaotic. So I am order. You need a leader. You have gotten one. You didn''t ask for me, but I have enthroned myself. If you don''t like it thene. I promise to beat that fact into you. I will break your spirit and I will break your body until it is epted."


    "Come."


    The meeting hall erupted in cheers for Soverick. He had awed them with his stunt and speech.


    Guntu watched as Soverick fought and defeated his first opponent. The Origin gods were silent. They weren''t cheering, and neither were they jeering. Their eyes were all glued to the fight. The watching pavilion was also silent. No one had ever seen a Vitality core stage refiner with such power and speed. The prophecy of the son of legends rang in their ears and minds as they watched Soverick.


    They heard his short speech and watched him proceed to break his defeated opponent. Then people rose to challenge his authority. He fought them and defeated them. He dragged the bodies of his enemies unto the central dais.


    "Don''t do that. The tform will break. It has reached its limit." Guntu whispered silently.


    The tform had indeed reached its limit. It broke down and wasted Soverick''s effort to create the pyramid of dead bodies. Soverick ignored the wreck and sat on his somehow still standing throne.


    The prophecy of the son of legends came up unbidden in their minds. The Drums of War have begun to Beat. The Child of the ne we will soon meet. Among broken bodies and stones, his throne will be. Strength to bind them and victory he promised them.


    EveryEvery Origin god in the hall rose from their seats as they saw the spectacle. Soverick had marched forward and his feet and made loud noises as he ran. The seat he erected remained while it was surrounded by ruins and the bodies of his enemy. He had shown them his unique strength and then he promised them Victory if they follow him.

 Chapter 194 Army Commander.

    ?Soverick shrugged and went to seat on his throne. He ced his foot on Strung and addressed the auditorium.


    "Is there any other person here that does not agree with me being your leader?" He asked as he rxed on his throne.


    No one said anything. You could hear a pin drop in the silence. They weren''t silent because of fear. They wanted to hear the fool that will disagree clearly. So people held their breath and looked around.


    "That''s good. You have all seen what I can do and what happens to my enemies. If you follow me, I will lead you to do the same with our enemies. We will break them. They will not stand against us. We will walk over their corpses. We will bathe in their blood. We will be unstoppable. We will be victorious." His voice continued to rise as he spoke.


    Then he raised his bloodied spear into the air and shouted, "For Victory."


    And the hall echoed with him. "For Victory."


    Some Origin gods were gawking. Their mouth hung open in shock. What Soverick did was shocking on its own. What the son of legend said was the most shocking of all. Because if that prophecy is right, then Soverick will be the child of the ne. He will be a legendary figure of the ne.


    Some people turned to the representatives of the Ghastorix family who were simrly shocked while the Origin gods turned to Guntu. Guntu in question was staring at the son of legends with naked jealousy written all over his face. ''I wish I had that eye. Then I''ll be able to see stories before they happen and I''ll be able to trick people better.''


    The son of legend spoke again. "This child hase under the protection of the realm council of the Virut ne."


    It was a simple statement with heavy meaning. Everyone here understood the heavy meaning behind that statement. No one misunderstood a thing.


    "I want to know everything there is to know about that boy." The son of legends said to Guntu.


    "Sure." Guntu agreed and sent Soverick''s records over. He was still staring at the son of legends with jealousy but his target chose to ignore the weird looks.


    Meanwhile Somewhere in the crowd of people in the watching pavilion.


    "Wow, just wow," Ka said after seeing the show that Soverick put on. "You think you know someone. Then this happens and blows your mind."


    She had lived with Soverick since he was a few months old. He was just a smart-mouth brat back then. To see him crush his peers like he was an adult bullying children brought back memories of the times Soverick used to say that he is unique and that he shouldn''t bepared to others. It turns out that he was right. He wasn''t just spouting nonsense.


    "So this is what it takes to break all the records in the academy, they even chased him out without an award ceremony." She shook her head.


    "Did you see what he did?" Mih that had been quiet finally spoke.


    "Yes, he showed his strength and became the leader," Ka answered.


    "How did he show his strength?" Mih asked.


    "By fighting," Ka answered quickly. The answer was obvious.


    Mih shook her head. "Do you think Soverick can fight all the almost 1 million youths here?"


    "No."


    "Why not?"


    "No matter how strong he is, he will tire and be overwhelmed."


    "So what did he do to be a leader?"


    "He showed his strength."


    "How did he show his strength?" Mih asked again.


    This time Ka couldn''t answer. The obvious answer wasn''t the right answer.


    Mih answered. "He divided and scattered his opponents. He first scared them with a show of strength. Most of the youths were defeated by it and didn''t want to disagree with him when he proimed himself leader then. But some were still willing to fight him even in the face of such odds. He showed this set of people what will happen if they fight him and lose. They chose to step back then."


    "He had sessfully whittled down the 1 million opponents to just 100. Then he broke all those one hundred in one fell swoop in another show of strength. Those 100 would have been able to rile up people against him in other situations. But they can''t now and never will any other person like them because Soverick has broken the morale of his enemies even before the fight. Plus they like him. If you would follow a leader, then there must be something you admire about the leader. You must also agree with the leader''s objective. These people admire Soverick''s strength and they agree with his objective of victory in battle."


    Mih turned away from her screen to look at Ka. "There is more than one way to fight. A fight involves the mind as well as the body. Do you see why I said the best you can get in a fight with him is a draw?"


    Ka nodded.


    "Let''s get back to your training. Soverick doesn''t need us.


    Back To Soverick.


    Soverick whipped the unruly teens into an army. He had been part of an army in his past life. It was how he almost died and was almost possessed. He also gained a lot of military memories from the demon Lord''s soul that wanted to possess him. So he had a lot of knowledge and experience with how an army worked.


    Thank Mother High Heaven for it too, because the adults didn''t help out. They were willing to see the youths fumble about for a while but it didn''t happen. Soverick had an iron grip on these people.


    He instilled discipline into them and beat them into shape with drills and military exercises. For 6 months the youths suffered his relentless harsh training. They were used to working alone but that changed. They learned to follow orders and to work well with others to achieve a greater goal.


    They epted his training because they believe in this greater goal. They have heard of wars and have memories of battles in their bloodline. But those are in the past. They have had peace for a long time. Those memories thrill them everytime ites unbidden to them, it is another thing to participate in wars for the good of the ne. So they are looking forward to it.


    A lot of things have been achieved in the past leaving the new generation almost nothing to do. Now the opportunity has arrived for them to have a hand in changing the ne, in liberating the ne and making origin energy flow. If they achieve it, they too will be part of the memories that future generations will see.


    Soverick didn''t have to try too much to shape them to his will. They took to whatever he taught them easily. They practices for days in a row with nothing more than asionalints, but they didn''t stop. He even taught them a song to sing as they matched in formation. They were singing that song now.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    To battle, we go.


    For one thing, we seek.


    We fear nothing.


    We fear no one.


    Only victory will do.


    Bloody bodies of foes.


    Rivers of blood will flow.


    The earth will gorge on it.


    But we trample on it.


    Only victory will do.


    Till our bodies break.


    And our backs give out.


    Till our souls wear down.


    And our will gives up.


    Only victory will do.


    Even through stormy seas


    Even through sundered skies


    Even on ourst breaths


    Even on ourst legs.


    Only victory will do.


    Soverick and his generals watched the matching soldiers. He made adjustments to them through hismanders.


    "Squad T9B. Execute the Defin Manuvere. Squad T8B5. Hold back and support Squad T8A4." He said into hismunicator.


    He had broken the army into squads using a tiered system. The structure went from tier 1 to 9, from smallest torgest. Squad T9B is the second tier 9 squad with a hundred thousand soldiers. The Defin Manuvere is a delicate procedure that involved a blitz attack and a false retreat to lure the enemies in, only to surround and cut them off. Squad T8B5 is a tier 8 squad and is the fifth one belonging to the second tier 9 squad. Squad T8A4 is another tier 8 squad and is the fourth one belonging to the first tier 9 squad.


    These maneuvers are difficult to perform with theirrge number but they aren''t normal soldiers. They have been training withmunicators in their ears directing them in order to familiarise them with the movements and also transmit orders to them. Soverick will send orders to the necessary squadronmander through the code name of their squad and themanders will make sure to execute it.


    His generals watched him work while they maintained their silence. They were selected by Soverick to take over his duties in case he is unavable. Anything can happen in the divine dungeon. He could be separated from the army. So the army must be able to stand without him. These selected 10 have been around him, learning his habits and his methods. They know that Soverick likes to work in silence that''s why no one was talking at all.


    "Seems good enough. We will attack the dungeon tomorrow."


    They could talk now that Soverick had addressed them.


    One of them stepped forward. "With all due respect, are you sure that we should go with your strategy? Must you enter the dungeon first?"


    Soverick continued to look at the marching army while he answers the general that stood behind him.


    "Yes, I must."


    "Can''t we find another strategy?"


    "There''s no other strategy that can allow us to have a foothold in the dungeon."


    "But if you die, the entire army will fall apart."


    "Then I won''t die. Do you not have faith in me?"


    "No sir. I have the utmost faith in you." The general hurriedly shook their head.


    Soverick didn''t care if he was sincere or not. He only cared about one thing. Obedience.


    "Then follow my orders." He said to the generals.


    "Yes sir." The generals saluted.

 Chapter 195 Only Victory Will Do.

    ?"Any other concerns I should know about?" Soverick asked the rest.


    "No, sir."


    "Spread the word. Let the men start their final preparations. Then they should rest. We will set out at first light tomorrow. We will not be able to find time to rest in theing days."


    His order was sent out to the army. In this army, his words were thew. The army prepared vitality rations, equipment, and weapons. Then they slept. Vitality core stage refiners don''t need rest but matching for 22 days straight carrying weapons and executing maneuvers will leave them needing sleep. So they slept.


    Then they rose up before dawn. They finished their final preparations before the first light of a new day. As the sun rose from the horizon, the youths stood in formation, ready to do battle. The light of the sun illuminated them and what you could see were soldiers decked out in uniform armor. They were not the rowdy youths of yesterday, they were part of an army now.


    A lot has happened since the time Soverick became the armymander. While most were epting, there were some who wanted to rebel. There were schemes and ns, tricks and lies that some used to sow discord in the army. Soverick can''t take full credit for putting the soldiers in their ce. He has the armymand system to thank for that. The avability of electronicmunication and surveince systems helped to keep the army in order and to prepare for this moment.


    "Now, the time hase." Soverick''s voice rang in everyone''s ear.


    His voice reached every soldier through themunication device in their ear just like the information about their overall performance reached his wrist logger from everyone else''s wrist logger.


    "We didn''t prepare for a long time. But we are ready. We haven''t been an army for a long time and we don''t know each other well. But we have amon goal. What is that goal?" He asked calmly.


    "Victory!" They shouted back in reply.


    He nodded. "It is good that you know. It is said that on the other side of fear is greatness. But we don''t fear anything. Since we have ovee our fears, greatness will be ours. We are of one mind in our pursuit of this greatness. Nothing will stop us. We must have what we came for. What is it that we came for?"


    "Victory!"


    He nodded again. Then he continued his speech calmly. "Through blood and tears. Even if our bodies are broken. Even if our souls wear down. Even when rivers of blood flow. Even when the very earth is gorged on the blood we shed. Nothing will stop us. We fear nothing. Only victory will do. We must have..."


    "Victory!"


    Then he began to sing the army''s anthem.


    "To battle, we go.


    "For one thing, we seek."


    "We fear nothing."


    "We fear no one."


    "Only victory will do."


    The rest of the army joined in and their voice reached the skies.


    "Bloody bodies of foes."


    "Rivers of blood will flow."


    "The earth will gorge on it."


    "But we trample on it."


    "Only victory will do."


    He wore his helmet and took his spear which he gripped tightly. Still, the singing continued without him.


    "Till our bodies break."


    "And our backs give out."


    "Till our souls wear down."


    "And our will gives up."


    "Only victory will do."


    He grinned from within his helmet that covered his face but left his multicolored eyes open to the world. He had promised them victory and there is only one way to achieve it. He stepped into the glowing portal of the divine dungeon.


    "Even through stormy seas."


    "Even through sundered skies."


    "Even on ourst breaths."


    "Even on ourst legs."


    "Only victory will do."


    Even when he was gone, the song continued. They entered the portal squad by squad ording to the n. They had faith in their leader that he will hold the ground for them. But the job couldn''t bepleted without their effort. So the army funneled into the dungeon. It took days but thest one finally entered the portal. Even then, when it only remained one single person, that single person was still singing the army''s anthem. Because only victory will do.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    On the Leviathan Battle Star.


    The Origin gods and all the people watching felt the weight of the army''s determination. It was in their words and their actions. It sounded from their bones as it was voiced from their mouth.


    An Origin god sighed and said. "Only victory will do."


    Guntu was scowling heavily. Things seemed good but he had some fears. A lot of it actually.


    "Let''s hope that they don''t experience defeat."


    That''s what Guntu is mostly afraid of. It was a grand thing to see so many youths of different bloodlines and creeds made into an orderly army. They had a grand momentum and a grand aim. If they failed, their failure will be grand too. And Soverick is at the head of it all.


    He was feeling concerned but the son of legend was smiling ear to ear.


    "Tell me again. Why shouldn''t I just blow the divine dungeon to kingdome?" Guntu asked.


    "Because we need a hero in the uing era of conquest." The son of legends answered.


    Guntu shook his head. He didn''t like it one bit. The Ghastorix family needed Soverick for his bloodline. Soverick needs to be an Origin god for his bloodline to be eternal. But the ne also needs Soverick. The racial council has ns for him that they have refused to divulge.


    Guntu can''t refuse the racial council even if they had forcefully demanded for Soverick. The entire Ghastorix family can''t either. They would have done whatever they can do to help the ne. But the racial council didn''t make forceful demands. They made demands, but they also paid for the Ghastorix''s help with an offer they can''t refuse.


    The offer wasn''t one of violence. It is an object that any Origin god will be willing to give their all for. With that object, ancestor Ghastorix doesn''t need to sacrifice his potential to be a world god. That means the family doesn''t need Soverick anymore. But that only brought more questions. Why will a titan like the racial council pay that much for Soverick?


    Soverick is definitely special and unique. He is a talented genius. But is he worth that much? Guntu doubts that the racial council will make such a bad deal. Something was going on that Guntu didn''t know and he didn''t like it one bit. He could smell a good story somewhere and he wanted to see it. He wanted to be a part of it.


    "It is too much pressure to ce the hopes of our ne on some youths. They have lived peaceful lives until now." Another Origin god said.


    Many agreed with him. Most of the youths they brought came from their family academies. They train but they don''t live the life of violence that they used to live in the past. The ne has been peaceful until recently. It didn''t help that descendants don''t need to go to the ancient battlefield anymore since some cities have Origin energy. That''s why most families have made it a must for all their descendants to participate in the tower of heaven once they be transcendents. It will give them something to aim for and will weed out the weak.


    "Yes. Things would have been easier if mana entities could enter. We will have many options then."


    "Our youths will have awakened their bloodlines. The scrappy angels will not be a match for them.


    "You''re going too far. We can simply flood it with golems."


    "That won''t work. The dungeon won''t allow things with a mana core to enter."


    They continued to talk and mor as they watched the army disappear into the divine dungeon.


    Guntu wasn''t listening. He turned to the son of legends again and asked.


    "What exactly do you need Soverick for?"


    He wanted to know badly.


    The son of legends smiled and said, "Refinement makes a man capable of doing what a thousand men can do. It is difficult and dangerous, but it is possible. What is even greater is making a thousand men perform as a single man."


    Guntu didn''t understand the answer.


    The son of legends wasn''t done. "Let me ask you this. Who can break a mountain with a single strike, a single transcendent or a mana entity?"


    Guntu answered. "A transcendent."


    The son of legends asked again. "What about if we have a thousand mana entity?"


    "Then it''s possible for the mana entities to break the mountain."


    The son of legends rephrased the question. "Is it possible for a single strike each from one thousand mana entities to break a mountain?"


    "Yes, it is possible." Guntu answered.


    Small drops of water makes up the seas.


    "But what if only a single strike from a single mana entity is allowed?"


    Guntu didn''t have to think too much about the answer.


    "Then it is not possible no matter how many mana entities there are."


    As long as only a single mana entity can strike, the number of mana entities is irrelevant.


    The son of legends nodded. "That''s what we want Soverick for. To make it possible."

 Chapter 196 Abnormal And Peerless.

    ?Guntu asked. "But how?"


    It sounded inconceivable to him.


    "You should know the answer by now. I''ve given you all the clues to it." The son of legends said smugly.


    Guntu thought about it. He still didn''t know the answer to it. How do they n to make Soverick capable of utilizing thebined power of several mana entities into a single strike as if all of them were striking the mountain? But he had a suspicion. And it had something to do with the title of the child of the ne.


    Within The Divine Dungeon.


    Soverick entered the dungeon running. His leg cracked the ground as he bounded forward like a predator seeking prey. His divine sense spread around him on high alert searching for what was to be his prey. There was a boom as he surpassed the speed of sound. His eleration was that insane. His body and mind were in sync and of a singr purpose. He was prepared for whatever would be thrown at him.


    The defenders were also prepared for him. He was greeted by a barrage of attacks that were sent toward him even before he entered. They had somehow anticipated or predicted his entry into the dungeon. All types of attacks were sent his way from the defending angelic army. They sent arrows and javelins. This is the first challenge to ovee to clear the divine dungeon.


    "Weather through the attacks, hold your ground, and wait for reinforcement," Soverick said to himself as he raced forward.


    He formed magical barriers upon barriers upon himself while he simultaneously started prepping a fireball spell. That''s how far he could push his mental prowess safely without getting his body damaged. Still, he was able to create, maintain and replenish 20 barriers while he pumped a ball of fire hiding behind him full of mana.


    The defenders were prepared. Their attacks were numerous, but that''s all. They weren''t magical attacks and they weren''t focused, or else he wouldn''t have stood any chance whatsoever. The dungeon had ced a limit on its attackers but that limit also works on the defenders. The angels couldn''t use powers and abilities above the vitality core stage.


    That didn''t mean there weren''t angels currently prepping their spells, it was just slow. If their spells had been prepared and fired. That would have sealed the fate of any attacker as they carpet-bombed the portal into the dungeon with spells. But it would be toote now for it to be effective on Soverick.


    The entrance of the dungeon isn''t located in the center of the army. It is instead located within a tunnel. It limits how much of the angelic host is to be faced upon entry into the dungeon but it also limits the choices of the invaders. They won''t be able to run or hide, they will have to face the attacks here and now.


    If the invaders get lucky somehow, the tunnel limits the number of reinforcements the attackers can umte even if they seed in getting a foothold within the dungeon. Like a sage once said, when you make ns, n for the failure of your ns. The gods had nned for everything, even their failure.


    It would have worked seamlessly had Soverick been a normal vitality core stage refiner. But he wasn''t at all. He was a wolf among sheep. He could face a hundred of his peers and demolish them. To try and limit him by the rules that bound his peers is foolish.


    He came through the portal in the tunnel like a bull and ran straight for the army. He didn''t stay in ce to defend. No, he took the fight to the enemy. Standing still will make him an easier target and staying close to the entrance will make his reinforcements also endure the attacks. His job was to prevent the reinforcements from being decimated as soon as they enter the dungeon.


    So he took the entire attention of the defending army and focused it on himself, away from the portal. He leaped and swerved through the attacks. He knocked the ones he couldn''t dodge aside and the ones that he couldn''t knock aside mmed against his barrier. His barriers shattered but he replenished them immediately.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His vision was blurred because of the multiple stacks of his barriers. He had used barriers that can only defend against physical attacks because that is what he will need for now. His divine sense helped him to patch up thex in his perception. He was like an unstoppableet as he raced towards the army. He crossed 30 meters in mere split seconds.


    The defending angels were indeed prepared, but they were not ready for him. They had attacked before he entered fully but he was on them before they could blink. No vitality core stage refiner can elerate that fast. They were unprepared as he mmed into their front lines. One moment he was at the portal, the next he was in contact with the defenders.


    There was a muffled boom, then the front lines disintegrated. The angels at the front line had defensive shields but they were energy constructs. Their bodies couldn''t withstand the momentum that mmed into them. The force of the collision ripped through their existence like a hot knife through butter. They would have broken their arms had they been made of flesh and blood.


    The opening in their defense was what Soverick needed. It was like the farmer left the door to the chicken coop unlocked. It wasn''t intentional, the farmer must have forgotten about it, but the wolf will appreciate the oversight nheless. They were not prepared for him, it wasn''t intentional, he is beyond extraordinary after all. But he will appreciate their oversight nheless.


    Soverick entered the army and began decimating them. He swung his spear like a club as he steamrolled through the army. Everywhere he went through, angels disintegrated. Their bodies broke down into shes of light and energy. They might as well be fragile ceramics and he is a wrecking ball. A simple sh with him is a sh they don''t return from. The energy released when they break apart wound its way into Soverick''s body which made him smile.


    "This is what I came here for."


    The angels were figures of light. They had a simr appearance to battle sage monkeys except that they had wings and wore celestial armor. They were also organized into an ordered army. If the vitality core stage refiners had attacked them as a mob then they will be decimated by the coordinated attacks of the angels. But their coordinated defense wasn''t working on Soverick.


    First, the physical attacks came. But Soverick had a strong defense. He was also fast enough to dodge most of them. They knew an invader wasing so they prepared. They didn''t expect the invader to be so fast so their preparation came toote. Still, they didn''t falter. Two seconds into the battle, their magical attacks were ready.


    "What are you going to do now?" Heughed as he killed to his heart''s content.


    He was already deep within the army. Magical attacks will not be able to differentiate between friends and enemies. If they choose to attack him then they will also damage the army. The angelic host did not hesitate. They attacked Soverick with a hail of celestial magical attacks.


    ''Too bad.'' he said before he began to switch his mana barrier into ones that will block magical attacks instead of physical attacks.


    Magical barriers only block magical attacks but they do it very well. Physical barriers do the same but for physical attacks. These two barriers are beyond what vitality core stage refiners are capable of because of theplexity of their structures. What a vitality core stage refiner should be able to perform is the mana barrier, a multipurpose shield. But Soverick is an anomaly.


    He remained unconcerned as a rain of attacks assailed him. How do you nail a fast target with a projectile? In the case of a concentrated ranged attack, like an arrow, you have to anticipate the position of the target and it needs perfect uracy. In the case of a broad attack, uracy requirements will be lenient but the damage will not be focused. Of course, there''s a third option, you can use a ranged attack that can track the target. The army doesn''t have the third option. If they go with the first option then they will surely miss.


    So they went with the second option but it wasn''t effective against their opponent. Soverick was still roaming the battlefield killing as he went by. The magical attacks wiped out those around him so he ventured deeper into the canyon, into the heart of the army. The attacks were spread out and he could replenish his shield faster than it was being shredded. No normal vitality core stage refiner can do that. So yet again, their n failed.


    He was a single attacker against a thousand defenders. It was the thousand defenders that caved and made way for him.

 Chapter 197 Unstoppable, Untouchable, And Inexhaustible.

    ?Logic dictates that he should be getting weaker but that''s not how the divine dungeon works. The energy of the dead will fuel the killer. In a way, it''s like the rising momentum of a boulder rolling down a slope. Once it starts moving then it bes more difficult to stop.


    This mechanism was put in ce so that the defenders will be able to remain undefeated the more they kill. So if they were one step ahead, they will remain forever ahead. Whoever nned this defense prepared for almost everything. But they didn''t expect to start losing from the very start. Their boulder wasn''t rolling, it was being pushed back right from the start. Soverick kept pushing them and the army kept giving ground. Nothing worked, nothing could work against the abnormality that was Soverick Ghastorix.


    He was a blur capable of transitioning from being stationary to top speed instantly and then stopping instantly. Dodging was a piece of cake with that speed. Attacks would miss him narrowly. There was no attack impossible to dodge for him. His attacks were deadly, precise, and fast.


    The defenders will only perceive himing at them with their divine sense, their senses will scream impending doom, but all that warning is for naught. Their consciousness will disappear before they can do anything worthwhile in evading their demise. He advanced like that, Unstoppable, Untouchable, and Inexhaustible.


    Almost like a god among mortals. He was an unfathomable existence. The lowly mortals could not understand or phantom how he does what he does. They only saw shes and heard thunder. They couldn''t fathom howrge the storm was or where they were in it. They were adrift, lost, and directionless, so Soverick swept them all away.


    The energy of the in angels entered Soverick''s body like a constant stream of provision. It was invigorating and addicting. Still, he held himself back from chasing the army as they retreated in defense. He had pushed them to the entrance of the tunnel.


    Heughed out loud and shouted at them.


    "I''mying im to this ce in the name of the Virut ne. Come and take it from me if you refuse."


    Then he returned to the portal.


    The tunnel was narrow. It could only allow about 30 battle sages to stand side by side. The angelic army had stuffed the 100 meters long tunnel full of more than a thousand soldiers. It was their job to snuff out any sign of an attack before it can be something relevant. They had failed, but he was sure that that wasn''t all they had.


    Soverick returned to the portal to find one of his generals and 39 other soldiers. The portal can only allow a single person to enter per second. That means the army will take more than 11 days for them to assemble in the dungeonpletely.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They can do it, they just need the space to do so. After all, he didn''t make them struggle for 22 days straight for nothing. His earlier fight took less than a minute so there weren''t a lot of reinforcements yet. But one hour is more than enough for them to get enough manpower to secure the canyon.


    The soldiers were already arranging themselves ording to the n. They saluted the armymander as soon as they saw him. His golden armor was spotless because his enemies weren''t flesh and blood and because he had his shield on most of the time. But they could see the traces of the battle that urred here.


    The ground was cracked in several ces. There are deep craters formed by the impact of his weapon on the ground. The signs of the usage of multiple spells could be seen in the scorched and upturned surface. The struggle must have been intense. Yet theirmander hade out on top. He had fulfilled his promise. He had gotten them a foothold. Now, they had to keep it.


    "At ease. We have days ahead of us. We need to remain sharp." He said to them.


    He was right. The tunnel opened up to a canyon. The gorge within the canyon is in the form of a cone. It expands out from the tunnel into a wide but short ne. The gorge is more than 10km long and it is full of 10 million angels. This is where the main army of the defenders is. Each god could field more than this in the past but most of their powers have been lost and used to transform the divine in.


    The conical shape of the gorge between the two mountains is to limit the options of the attackers. The gods know that sometimes, numbers aren''t the most important factor in a battle, but the mobility of the army. The gods don''t know how much manpower the main in will send at them but the gorge will limit how much they can effectively use. It''s the tunnel strategy all over again.


    Things were still in the favour of the defenders but that is only if there are no more attackers like Soverick. Even if Soverick is unique they couldn''t allow him the freedom to do whatever he wants to do within the tunnel. So they sent more of their soldiers to attack the tunnel and disrupt the activities of the attackers.


    "Gotta get to work," Soverick said when he heard the matching of the iing attackers.


    The sound rang out within the tunnel like the promise of defeat but Soverick didn''t feel fear. How could he fear prey? Chickens can''t organize a coup against their butcher no matter their numbers. He only felt anticipation and the hope that they won''t run away quickly.


    He released some of his momentum as he stepped forward. Then he blurred to meet the attackers. They couldn''t be allowed toe near the portal right now or else they will kill the few that havee through. The reinforcement needed time before they can defend themselves.

 Chapter 198 Grinding In The Dungeon.

    ?"Just 30 minutes should be enough." He said to himself as he rushed forward.


    That should be enough time for the army to get a foothold in the dungeon.


    Meanwhile, he is to face the hordes of angels. It wasn''t a chore for him. He had a smile on his face as he decimated every attack sent into the tunnel. He was like a little giant. Even his very steps created shockwaves that destabilise the enemy.


    Things were not like the first time he entered the dungeon. They couldn''t anticipate him this time around. One moment they are matching into the tunnel in an imposing manner, the next moment something mmed into them and then they feel nothing.


    His attacks ripped through them and their defenses. His mind-boggling speed made him evade most of their attacks and the barriers around him protected him from the stray ones. His heavy armor was not seeing much work. It was only there to increase his weight and his momentum. It gives him a little boost that makes him hit harder and run faster.


    The angels finally gave up after two attempts to reim the tunnel failed. They didn''t respond no matter how much Soverick taunted them. Soverick raised his head to the sky of the divine blue sky of the divine dungeon. Then he grinned and said. "I can see you."


    He shrugged when he didn''t receive any response. and returned to the tunnel. He was sure he was being watched, he had felt numerous gazes on him.


    "That sucks. It wasn''t even 5 minutes. What do I do now?"


    The army had given up too early. Still, the earlier fights were not in vain. He had acquired arge amount of energy in his body. This energy was gotten from his in enemies.


    Soverick rubbed his hands in anticipation. "I might as well build my second gate."


    Few things can make him happy or show emotions. The thrill of battle and growing stronger are the two most important ones. It is better when he can have the two of them at once by grinding in this divine dungeon.


    Within the Final Floor of the Divine Dungeon. Before Soverick began his rampage.


    King Ode and the remaining celestials were having a small dinner party. They were chatting happily. Things have been good. The gods had been angry at the abrupt changes to their way of life at first, but they changed their minds and settled into their new life. It helped that they didn''t have a choice. They couldn''t even fall anymore. You can''t fall from ground zero unless you lose your life too.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The gods had peace, they had their life and they had a future. It is a good future too. Their defense was almost perfect. Ode had used his former authority to set up the first stage of the divine dungeon. He had the utmost confidence in his various ns to withstand whatever the main ne could throw at them. He isn''t the god of battles for nothing.


    The gods just had to wait for the one that will set them free. What''s not to like? So they settled in. The celestial gods were chatting and having a nice time. They hadn''t received any attack in months and the attacks that came before had been foiled easily.


    The absence of action on the part of the main ne for so long made King Ode feel uneasy. The main ne had sent attacks soon after he had activated the divine dungeon. But then they stopped all of a sudden. Could the main ne have given up? He would swallow his shoe rather than believe that. He knows that the first thing any army will do before they attack with their full force is to gather information. Then they n and execute their ns.


    Was the main ne nning now? If so, how could they have gotten any information about the divine dungeon? Thest day''s protocol was a secret known only to the supreme god. It was a knowledge that only one person could know at a time.


    Considering the secrecy of the matter, its abrupt execution, and the different preventive measures he put in ce, there should be no way for the main ne to gather information about the divine dungeon.


    The earlier attempts of the main ne were foiled easily and he had made sure to separate the divine dungeon from the main ne with that portal as the only connection between them.


    ording to his understanding, there is no way for the main ne to sneak in or interfere with the workings of the divine ne. It is why they can''t connect theirmunication devices to the main of the ne. He was also sure that that terrifying Origin god of destruction will be helpless against the divine dungeon or why else hasn''t he done anything?


    Everything seemed to be going in the favor of the gods except he couldn''t be at ease knowing who their enemies are. Could the racial council lose? Yes, but highly unlikely. But they wouldn''t give up without a fight.


    ''So what are they cooking up?'' he asked himself.


    Ode had faith in all his preventive methods but he knew that the forces of the ne are unfathomable. The powers and abilities of the sages are inconceivable. But why were they scouting if they have information? Why would they even allow the divine ne to transform into the divine dungeon if they knew his n? They could have stormed the divine ne and ended it all. So what is he missing?


    Then the dungeon core shed and red an rm. An invader wasing and it was one that isn''t favorable to the fate of the gods. There would be no special treatment allowed for this invader.


    "We have an attacker? About time. Let''s watch the failure. It''s short but epic. It is nice to see the little shits explode into gore." A celestial said in excitement.

 Chapter 199 The Aberrant.

    ?They all agreed and crowded the dungeon core in anticipation. Ode was not at ease but he too was curious. He changed the view of the dungeon core to the tunnel for them to watch. The main ne had been silent, but now they were finally moving. What could they have nned for them? They wanted to see.


    To an invader, it only takes a second for them to enter the portal and appear in the dungeon. But to the defenders, it feels like 10 seconds. They get notified as soon as the invader enters the portal, so they have time to prepare and wait before the invader actually appears. So they prepared and waited.


    Ode didn''t give any orders to the defending army. It was routine at this point. Nothing unusual had happened since the creation of the dungeon. The attacker would enter the portal ande face to face with numerous attacks that will shred them apart. Then something unusual happened. It was so unusual that the gods were stunned.


    "Huh," Ode eximed.


    But his voice was drowned out by the sound of the collision.


    The attacker was an aberrant. Whatever it was didn''t know what eleration is. Then they watched as the attacker reaped through their defenders.


    "This should be impossible." A celestial godined.


    They had bet their entire lives on this enterprise and yet they were failing right from the start. It was like betting on all the horses in a race except the one with an amputated leg. Then you watch as the three-legged horse beat out the other horses. A bet where all the oues are favorable to you except the impossible one. Soverick was making the impossible possible. Except he isn''t three-legged but six-legged. He is a mutant, an outlier.


    The battle ended quickly. The defending army was cleared and pushed back from the tunnel in less than a minute. Then the vision of the tunnel went dark. The gods became incapable of seeing what is going on there because that portion of the dungeon has been imed.


    It wasn''t imed because the outlier had said, "I''mying im to this ce in the name of the Virut ne. Come and take it from me if you refuse."


    It is imed because the gods have lost their influence in that portion of the dungeon. The darkness of the tunnel made them panic. They turned to the one that had forced them into this bet.


    "You have to do something."


    "This can''t be happening."


    "We can''t let that thing, whatever it is, out of our sight."


    "We have to know what''s going on there."


    "Make the dungeon core show us."


    They mored andined to Ode.


    "Silence." He shouted at them.


    They all became silent. He might not be the god-king anymore, but they weren''tplete gods anymore too, so he still had power over them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I can''t control the dungeon core. I can only use it to give orders and monitor the dungeon. We will just have to send in angels to recover our influence." He said to them.


    So more angels entered the tunnel at the bid of their gods only to die again. It wasn''t working. That six-legged mutant was not going to go down.


    "Enough of this. We are just feeding him. The more we send to die at his hands, the more he will be able to fight. We still have the main army. We will stop them at that point. The outlier will be overwhelmed by numbers. There has to be a limit to how many he can take on at a time. His usefulness will reduce in arge-scale battle."


    What Ode said made sense. They agreed with him. But it still grated on them that a wench had been thrown into their n.


    "What is he anyway?" A celestial god asked.


    Yes, what is he? He looked like a vitality core stage battle sage monkey. They could see that much. But he wasn''t behaving like one.


    "Could he be an aberrant of refinement?" Another asked.


    There are some people, for one reason or another, that can break the conventions of refinement. One such convention is that a vitality core stage cannot fight a mana entity. No matter the difference in skills, the power of a mana entity will overwhelm the vitality core stage.


    One of them asked shakily. "You mean like the sages?"


    The first sign of an aberrant is being undefeatable by anyone in their stage of refinement. It was the first definition of an aberrant. The Sages were the first aberrant of the battle sage monkeys. They were undefeatable by anyone in the transcendent stage.


    "No, I mean like the dragons. Or even worse, the realm lord." The celestial god answered.


    There are some who could go beyond fighting someone above their stage. They can even defeat them. The existence of these people made the first definition of aberrant obsolete. The effect of a royal bloodline can also make a transcendent undefeatable in that stage by others without a bloodline. So that definition was scrapped. Now aberrants refer to those that can even beat those with royal bloodlines and those above them without a bloodline.


    "Could he be the descendant of a sage?"


    "Did you notice his eyes? Isn''t it simr to those of sages?"


    "Even if he is, they only begin to show their prowess in the mana stage. That''s why we limited the entry into the dungeon to the vitality core stage. Could they have broken that rule somehow?" Someone asked Ode.


    The children of sages are also one of the reasons why the first definition of aberrants was scrapped. Still, they wouldn''t be able to do what Soverick is doing at this stage. No vitality core stage refiner, aberrant or not should be able to do what he is doing.


    So have the main ne managed to fool the divine dungeon by making a mana entity look like a vitality core stage refiner? Has far-fetched as it sounds, they would rather and easily believe it than believe that Soverick is a vitality core stage refiner.

 Chapter 200 Level Up.

    ?Has far-fetched as it sounds, they would rather and easily believe it than believe that Soverick is a vitality core stage refiner. It may be ridiculous but it is more believable.


    "Enough of these spections." Ode put an end to the sour conversation. "Aberrant or not, it won''t matter. He will be overwhelmed with numbers."


    Someone piped up shakily, "But the sages also couldn''t be overwhelmed by numbers."


    "It doesn''t matter. I expected something like this. The canyon will reduce his mobility and make it very easy to surround him. There is a limit to what a single vitality core stage can do against millions of enemies." Ode said with conviction.


    Back To Soverick.


    Ode was right of course. There is a limit to what Soverick could do against millions of enemies. His single gate of momentum could only take him so far. But he is lifting that limit. How about two gates then? What can the empowerment of two gates of momentum allow him to do against millions of enemies? Not a lot.


    "But it''s just the start," Soverick said as hepleted the second gate.


    It didn''t take him weeks like the first one. He had already mastered the process, plus he didn''t have to tax his vitality core to provide the energy to create the gate. The energy was freely avable courtesy of the angelic host. It took but minutes with the amount of control he had over his body and energy. He didn''t feel stressed out by the process either, even the ball of fire he was prepping was still nice and dandy.


    The gods were right to stop sending enemies to him to provide him energy, but they are wrong about the reason. The energy wouldn''t make him untiring. It will make him stronger. At this stage, he doesn''t need the gods to send soldiers to their deaths, he can bring death to them himself.


    He stood up from where he sat in the middle of the tunnel. He felt heavier as the second gate burdened him. He shouldn''t be able to make another gate because his vitality core, no matter how special it was, couldn''t provide enough sustenance for the creation of another one. The divine dungeon has changed that.


    He has already pushed his vitality core to its limit by making it create something beyond its stage. Asking for more of it is unwise and futile. But the energy from the in angels helped bypass that requirement. All he has to do is to utilize the external aid to construct another gate. His body still has to bear the stress of another gate though.


    Still, there were advantages to having more gates. He could store more momentum now. He might feel heavier but he is getting faster. The effect is slower but it is surely showing because he can absorb twice as much momentum now. The ground cracked beneath his feet from simply standing up.


    "Not bad, but we can''t have that in the tunnels. It will make the ground uneven and difficult for the troops to match on."


    The tunnels couldn''t be destroyed. The defenders had tried and he had tested the limit of the structural integrity of the tunnel. But the ground could be messed up.


    So he adjusted his stance and activated his fleet foot technique. This time his leg didn''t crack a small location, instead, the force was distributed onto arge surface. The grounds still cracked, but wider and shallower cracks were created in his passing.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Better." Hemented as he returned to the portal.


    Reinforcements have almost filled the first half of the tunnel.


    Then he said to one of his generals, "I''ll be going ahead. We start major engagement as soon as the tunnel is filled to the brim."


    "Yes, sir."


    He reached the exit of the tunnel and examined the canyon.


    "The tunnel can only take 3000 thousand of us at most. That means we have to fight them or remain stagnant. Stagnant is bad. We will be sitting ducks for them. But to attack is not easy either."


    He had noticed the expanding gorge. It meant that the attackers will be hedged in while they fight against greater opposition. The defenders were all that filled his vision.


    "They have at least a million, probably more. A single god can have an army of 100 million angelic soldiers. Let''s hope their strength has been reduced but let''s n for the worst. That means they will continue to hit us and constantly expand our strength. So we have to be efficient about this. Thankfully, I don''t need to innovate much about war tactics. The battle sage monkeys are not called that for no reason."


    There is already a wealth of knowledge about various battle tactics due to the various wars that the battle sage monkeys have had and participated in. So he just had to modify their strategies to fit the situation. He took a lot of factors into consideration. Which includes the terrible war machines that he could see rising from the opposing army. They weren''t anything sophisticated but it was more than enough to decimate the attackers.


    He clicked his tongue in distaste. "Catapults and ballista. They just have to aim forward and we don''t have anywhere to run or hide. They will rain rocks on us like hail in a storm."


    He smiled and said, "Something is to be done about them. This sounds like a job for me."


    He was looking forward to the battle and didn''t need much reason to let loose. A reason just makes letting loose much better. Then he was gone. He informed his generals over theirmunication devices as he left.


    There was a 100 meters space between the exit of the tunnel and the front lines of the defenders. They probably left that space there so that they will have ample room to pelt the attackers with projectiles and attacks. This space is three timesrger than the small one they left for the ambushing attacks in the tunnels but he still reached them in less than a second.

 Chapter 201 Desperation To Stop The Unstoppable.

    ?He is faster and stronger. A new gate has a bigger impact than the little boost he gets from his armor. He reached the army quickly and caught them off guard. Even though the space was stillrger, they didn''t see hime at all.


    They only heard a boom as he broke the speed of sound and then another boom as he smashed into their frontlines. But this time he didn''t stop. He mmed into the army and continued as if they weren''t there.


    His spear was thrust forward as he met the army. They parted like the waters of a sea as if he were the rudders of a ship. He cut through them and continued cutting. He was heading toward the catapults and nothing seemed capable of stopping him.


    The defending army responded. The catapults were ready and prepped so they just had to aim. They didn''t care for theirrades implicated in their attacks, they had orders from high up to "Stop that Aberrant Mutant at all costs."


    "As if that will work," Soverick smirked as he saw the rocks and the ballista shot at him.


    He was too fast. Something like that couldn''t catch him. He was long gone as the huge rocks crashed into the ground and exploded into shards. Even the shockwave didn''t touch him. Only the angels were decimated by the attacks.


    "Maybe I should do that instead," He remarked as he watched the damage the catapults were capable of.


    He was wavering on destroying them. If they continue to use the catapults against him like this then they will do far more damage to themselves than he could do to them. But destroying the catapults is also important for the progress of the attackers. He was thinking about what to do when he suddenly slowed down. The angels had clumped themselves together in his path like sardines in a tin.


    "This won''t stop..." He sensed danger before he could finish his taunt.


    He shed backward immediately but he was still caught by the edges of an explosion. The angels had aimed their catapults within his path, he should have evaded them but the blockade they made with their bodies was enough to slow him down. Still, he was unharmed.


    "This won''t stop me, but I have learned a good..." His jaw dropped this time when he noticed the new arrangement of the angels.


    They had clumped themselves together as far as his eyes can see. The change wasn''t just in his immediate surroundings. They were determined to end his progress by whatever means. It is the result of their desperation to stop the unstoppable.


    Their new formation had turned the water he was cutting through easily into rock. They also had their spears ready like the spikes on a porcupine. He could go no further while catapults were working overtime to pelt him with rocks.


    "Fine, have it your way. This makes it all better." He said after failing to find any weakness in their body blockade.


    He brought the fireball behind him into the palm of his hand.


    "I am not a one-trick warrior. I have more I can do."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The ball in his hand whirled into life. It was like the engine of a golem given life by its creator for a single purpose. The ball became a me in his hands, a big roaring me. But it wasn''t burning his hands. He turned his palm towards the army and unleashed the me on them.


    The me burst forth into a pir of fire that tore through the blockade for about 20 meters which is the limit of his divine sense. That would have been the end of it but Soverick began running again. This time the me pir led the way for him instead of his spear.


    The me pir had a longer reach than the spear and more explosive damage. But it wasn''t as flexible as a spear and it need a lot of time to umte the energy needed for it. It also had another ring weakness. The energy wasn''t finite. The ball fizzled out after a while.


    Soverick snorted. "Nicely done. I''ll be back."


    He said before he turned around to escape. The army didn''t want him to leave. They had already clumped together and hemmed him in. They would hold him back with their bodies and lives until he is smashed to bits.


    Still, he was carefree. "I didn''t want to do this. But I guess I have no choice." He said as he bent down and leap up.


    The ground beneath his feet cracked as he jumped. He soared in the air like a bird. It was a pleasant feeling of flying. But the part he dreaded began as soon as gravity finally got a firm hold of him. He began to fall.


    "I hate thending so much." Heined before he mmed into the ground.


    It was like a bomb went off. He created more destruction than the one he had created before.


    "That wasn''t so bad." He said.


    He checked his body and found that it fared better than he expected. There was still damage though but it wasn''t anything that he couldn''t deal with. His second gate has made him more tolerant of the impacts of collisions.


    He took off running, smashing into the disoriented army before they could recover. Then he would jump up when they try to hem him in. He did this until he returned to the tunnel.


    "Things would be so much easier if I can be a mana entity." He grumbled as he sat down.


    If he were a mana entity, his spell power would make him more unstoppable than his physical might. As he is, he is already pushing his mind to eptable limits with the barriers he had constantly put up. His body can''t take any more.


    A normal vitality core stage won''t be able to manage 2 barriers but he is handling 20. He could handle more but he is spending the bulk of his mind on holding the fireball spell. He has reached his limits in power output.

 Chapter 202 Good Old Fashioned Grinding.

    ?As it is right now, the gods had seeded in hampering him a little. Something had to change or he wouldn''t be able to make much progress in destroying the catapults.


    The spell he had used was enhanced by amplified and dyed casting. The two spell techniques are tasking on their own but to use them simultaneously is too draining. He can handle it better if he were not creating and maintaining barriers. He is extraordinary for a vitality core stage refiner but he has reached his limits. He has reached the limit of what he can do against an army of that size.


    But the ranged war machines have to be destroyed or all the attempts of the attackers to push into the dungeon with the army will be nullified and their current expedition will go to waste.


    The only good news is that he has the energy to be a mana entity right now. The killing spree he had just gone on paid with a bounty of energy. Now he has a choice, be a mana entity or create another gate.


    If he bes a mana entity his spell power will improve. The quality and resistance of his body will skyrocket. Most importantly he will be able to walk in the air and fly. It is not something a normal person will be able to do immediately after they be a mana entity but he isn''t a normal person. So he won''t need to jump to escape being cornered. He will be able to walk on air just like he can walk on water ornd.


    Making another gate will improve his momentum and he has a feeling that it will make him a stronger mana entity. That is if he can be a mana entity. His knowledge of life and energy is enough for him to realize that having more gates will mean an exponential increase in the need for energy to break through to the next level. He runs a risk of being stuck in this stage forever.


    ''Hail Legion.'' he thought as he began creating another gate.


    It wasn''t a dilemma at all. He had be a mana entity before, but he hasn''t be one with these gates. He had to explore the possibility of the gates to their fullest extent if only to acquire information. His progress can be sacrificed for the great collective that is Legion.


    He doesn''t live his life for himself but for the glory of Legion. Legion will be able to supply him with as much energy as he needs once the 9th clone awakens. Even if Legion cannot help him out then he will just reincarnate. It will cost a lot to reincarnate again but it will be worth it to get to the bottom of organ creation through the transformation of vitality by mana.


    He created another gate and attacked the defending army once again. Their body blockage almost broke when he rammed into it but it held. He realized he still couldn''t take them on right now. Their bodies were somehow bleeding him of his momentum faster than he can umte it.


    So he remained content with just causing mayhem and destruction instead of trying to get rid of the catapults. He would just do some old fashion grinding, but even that wasn''t allowed. The defenders consider him an eyesore and are always trying everything to kill him.


    "That was close." He said after he dodged a harpoon.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The defenders had realized that no space must be allowed between themselves, not even to attack him. So they stood side to side and back to back. This restricted his movement and made it difficult for him to take advantage of his speed. The soldiers may not be attacking but the ballista and the catapults kept on shooting.


    "I have to get rid of those catapults." He said before he got rid of more soldiers before he returned to the tunnel.


    The tunnels were the only safe ce where the projectiles wouldn''t be able to get to him but he is quickly running out of time.


    "The reinforcements areing in. We need space or we have to return."


    The tunnel can''t take the entire army. He is running out of time before this ce is stuffed full of soldiers like the angels stuffed themselves.


    "One more after this, if it doesn''t work then we will have to abort this expedition and returnter." He decided on their n.


    Even though he had said only victory will do, he wasn''t so bullheaded and stubborn as to walk right into an unfavorable situation. Victory is only won with preparation, hard work, and a situation that favors it. The attackers are already up against huge odds in terms of numbers, the catapults will increase that odds and make their failure all but certain.


    Also, technically they haven''t failed. They seeded in getting a foothold in the dungeon. That counts as a small victory. They can use that to achieve greater things in the future.


    He also wasn''t going to sacrifice his future potential by bing a mana entity now for the main ne. He came to the dungeon mostly for the energy that he can get here to create more gates. It was the option SQUARESKULL gave him so that he will leave the academy early.


    His aim has always been to find out the usefulness of the gates to their fullest extent and to see if they will really turn into a new organ when he bes a mana entity. For that, he must make as many gates as possible so that he won''t face any regretster on.


    Deciding to break through to be a mana entity will give him a boost but it will mean he will be stuck here forever until the dungeones down. It is not a decision he can take lightly. The dungeon won''t allow anything at the mana stage to enter or exit the dungeon portal. He can still break through within the dungeon, but then he must achieve victory in this dungeon clearing or he won''t be able to ever leave.

 Chapter 203 The Responsibility Of The Leader.

    ?There is still a lot he doesn''t know about the dungeon to make such amitment. So he focused on what he can do.


    He made his fourth gate and returned to the battlefield. He was getting stronger and stronger but only slowly. The gates need time to umte momentum. They aren''t for instant power-ups. He can choose to sacrifice his first one to enter a godly state of power that even mana entities won''t be able to stand against him but he will lose that gate forever.


    Instead, he is using the gates to empower himself gradually. What''s worse is that the energy he needed for each consecutive one increased exponentially. He needs to struggle more and more to get the required energy.


    He just stayed around the exit of the tunnel and killed the soldiers there. It was a decision he made when he realized that the dungeon will heal damage to itself by reverting changes to its constructs and environment. It''s probably a defense mechanism to prevent itself from being destroyed.


    It was another new thing that Soverick found out after fighting deep within the army for a long time. He didn''t want the giant rocks to block the paths of the attackers or the exit of the tunnel. But then he realized that he was seeing less and less of the rocks that had been thrown at him. They were disappearing, and so were the giant arrows and harpoons.


    "That''s good news and all but that also means nothing can be done from within the dungeon to damage it unless the dungeon core is destroyed."


    This fact was stated within the reports but he didn''t know that it would work out like this. The dungeon was reverting all physical changes to its terrain. He just shook his head and returned to the tunnel.


    It was almost full now with soldiers and more are still matching in.


    "What''s the word, Armymander?" His first general asked him.


    They were asking if they will need to abort this expedition.


    "I have tested their defense multiple times. It has allowed me to be familiar with their attack patterns and various reactions. Let me rest now before I go and take out their catapults. Their presence on the battlefield means our doom. So I have to destroy them." He answered brusquely before sitting down to create the fifth gate.


    He didn''t tell them that he had tried several times to destroy the catapults but failed. That would shake their faith in their armymander. Still, his general got the severity of the situation. If the catapults don''t go, then we can''t move forward. That will mean a return. So the general asked.


    "Will you be able to take out the catapults, sir?"


    Soverick nodded as if it was natural. "I will. Just let me rest my body and mind."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It is his job as the leader to show confidence. His confidence will boost and keep morale high. Morale is a very important thing to an army.


    He also didn''t tell them that he was doing something very important that could damage him severely if he fails. He doesn''t trust anyone in the army. They are just tools, his tools. Tools can cut you, just like a knife you use for cooking can injure you. The moment a dictator rxes around his underlings is when death starts toe for him. so he didn''t ask them for protection or quiet.


    To them, he is just resting. It will take the senses of a sovereign to determine what is going on in his body. A normal vitality core stage refiner will not be able to move when creating a gate, unlike him. Then again, a normal vitality core stage refiner won''t be able to create a gate at this stage without the body control, energy maniption, and the understanding of life that he possesses.


    His back arched and his spineined with the increased load of the gates. The gates were situated on his spine which is making itin, but he hasn''t reached his limit yet. He didn''t show any sign of his pain too. Only a grim determination to perform what is needed for the progress of the arm was shown on his face. The tunnel was full by the time the fifth gate was finally constructed.


    He looked back at the soldiers in formation. They stood side by side and arranged in order. They were 30 in a line. That is how wide the tunnel is and how much it can''t take.


    "I''ll tell you if we will match forward or postpone our advance through themunicationwork." Soverick dered.


    "Yes, sir." They all saluted.


    He blurred like the wind and he was gone.


    ''Will he really be able to get rid of the catapults?'' The general asked himself.


    Their front lines could see the canyon and the army of angels waiting for them. They could also see the towering catapults in the distance. They knew that crossing the space between the exit of the tunnel to the front lines of the defenders will be deadly with the presence of the catapults.


    So they were all hoping for Soverick''s sess. Their hearts were hammering in their chest. The sound of their beating heart was loud until they saw what Soverick was doing and their hearts dropped with their jaws. They didn''t know what Soverick''s aim was but it looked humiliating at first nce.


    Soverick shook his head at the angelic army as he approached. They didn''t take up arms against him. He was too fast for them to track and fend off. So they were content with just blocking him with their bodies. It was the action to the words, "if you want to pass, you will have to go through me."


    It isughable that an army will be forced to do this just for a single person. But it is what it is. It is all they can do to stop "The aberrant mutant," and it has been working so far.

 Chapter 204 The Moment Of Truth.

    ?To trump this tactic of theirs, the addition of his fifth gate had better be enough to overwhelm their blockade or he had better try something to make sure it will overwhelm it.


    That''s why he turned from attacking the defenders. He turned around and ran back towards the tunnel. He didn''t run straight back too, he took the long way by running along the edge of the bottom of the cliff. Then he returned to the defenders when he reached the exit of the tunnel. Again, he didn''t take the straight way, he curved and ran along the edge. He repeated this again and again. He was running in circles.


    The defenders were stunned as much as the attackers. The attackers were perplexed by the actions of their armymander. They didn''t know what he was doing but they didn''t think it would resolve the problem of the catapult. The defenders also thought so. So did the gods.


    "Has he gone mad? What will that do?" A celestial god mocked.


    "Well, it is understandable. He has tried all else but it has failed. Running in circles isn''t so bad." Another one jeered.


    The godsughed and joked. Soverick had given them a big shock but the timely orders of Ode had put him in his ce. Ode wasn''t the celestial god of battle for nothing. He is the onemanding the angelic army. It was his orders to employ the body blockade tactic. They had sacrificed a lot of their soldiers just to immobilize Soverick but it is worth it if it keeps him away from their ranged war machines.


    The gods are rich and could afford better war machines, but the restriction that only vitality core stage refiners can enter also works on them too. That restriction prevents the main ne from trying to flood the dungeon with golems and machines of war, it also prevents the gods from doing the same. So they can only use these archaic instruments of war that don''t use mana at all.


    It is all they have, so there''s no way they will let Soverick reach the catapults. They would rather watch him rampage about on the front lines and kill as much as he wants. They were even willing to encourage it. It would be a good thing for them if Soverick bes a mana entity. The dungeon will transfer him to a more appropriate ce. He will be transported to the lower levels of the dungeon and it can be considered progress for Soverick. But it will also allow them to use more powerful means to get rid of him.


    The sight of him literally running in circles was encouraging. It showed how frustrated he is. They could still see him through the dust he was picking up. It was still an enjoyable sight when all that dust began to gather. It began to be startling when the dust and the disturbed air formed a small cyclone. Things became confusing when that cyclone became bigger.


    "What''s going on?" One of them asked the very question that is guing all of their minds.


    What is Soverick doing? What does he hope to achieve by kicking up so much dust? Is he really just throwing a tantrum? If he is, then it is one heck of a tantrum.


    "This child is really fast." One of the pointed out.


    "Isn''t that obvious? We have seen his feats of speed before. That''s why we employed that tactic."


    "It is obvious. But I didn''t know he could be so fast."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ode was listening absentmindedly, he was also trying to figure out what was going on.


    Another celestial god asked. "Was he this fast or did he get faster?"


    Ode had had enough of their constant muttering. They were not helpful, it was only distracting him from thinking. So he started to berate the gods.


    "What does it matter? How is that even relevant? Fast is fast..." He stopped mid-sentence.


    It all clicked. The little iprehensible details he had been seeing finally came together to paint a picture. Somehow, Soverick was getting faster, not slower the more he ran. It was illogical, unless...


    "Quick stop him, he is getting faster." Ode shouted to the angelic army.


    The catapults and ballista were already locked and loaded. So they fired at that growing cyclone.


    Soverick smirked when he saw the approaching boulders. "I might as well start now."


    It was all toote. Soverick had umted enough momentum. It is a wondrous thing to have 5 gates of momentum constantly empowering you. Imagine what they can do if you let them absorb a lot of momentum. Things can quickly escte.


    There were two cracks of thunder as he went straight for the angelic army. He had broken the sound barrier twice. The air howled and screamed as it announced the feat to all that could hear. The sound of the boom was almost deafening. It certainly is louder than the sound of his feet striking the ground like hammers.


    Breaking the sound barrier is a feat that mana entities disy. Breaking it twice as a vitality core stage refiner is unimaginable. Soverick had to dedicate all the mental prowess he could express to creating, fortifying, and replenishing physical barriers to protect him from the repercussions of his speed.


    The speed wasn''t stressing his body. He will experience this same amount of stress if he were standing still. What warranted the protection with barriers is the very friction from the air and all it contains. But most importantly is the force of impact he experienced when he smashed into the lines of the angels and tore through them.


    In the past, when they were still loose and had space between each soldier, he would simply cut through them. But now that they had debased themselves and be clothes packed tightly into a suitcase, he tore them apart into shreds. They clumped together for protection, they will die together now that the reaper has arrived.

 Chapter 205 The Cry For Battle.

    ?Action creates an equal and opposite reaction. The impact of the collision is the reaction to his momentum. He had protection so he was safe from the impact. The angels on the other hand didn''t fare so well.


    As unbelievable and unexpected as it is, he had no choice. What else could he do? He wanted to pass but they made it so that he would have to go through them. He can''t pass through them or phase through matter. He doesn''t have that power yet. So he crushed them and trampled over their destroyed bodies. Nothing could stop him this time, their blockade did nothing to hold him back.


    The thing about motion and friction is that once the initial friction against motion is ovee, it bes easier to continue moving. Soverick had broken that threshold of force needed to ovee the barrier that they created with their bodies, so it became much easier to trample through them.


    The spectating gods could do nothing as he rammed into their ranged weapons of war. One by one he destroyed the first lineup. There were still farther ahead. The gods had ced them in rows, just in case, something like this happens. They nned for their failure. So if he wants to destroy them all in one fell swoop, he will have to go deeper into the canyon without the support of his army.


    "Another time then. I don''t need to take them all out now." He said as he turned back.


    Soverick felt unstoppable but he wasn''t without caution. He chose to hold back and return to his soldiers. The remaining catapults are out of range too. cing them that far back also made them ineffective threats. But he will need to destroy them before the attacking army moves into their range.


    His soldiers had already begun to file out from the tunnel. They arranged themselves into their squads and ranks. They cheered when they saw the fast-approaching dust cloud that he left in his wake. They banged their des against their shields in salute to theirmander.


    He stopped in front of them. Then he raised his hand and silenced them.


    "It is time for battle. It is time for you to shine. It is time for you to show your determination to achieve victory. Some of you will die. But you will die knowing that you fought for the interest of the ne. You will die as heroes. Who here wants to die as a hero?"


    "Heroes!" The army shouted once.


    He continued, "As heroes, your names will be enshrined within the hall of heroes. Who knows, you might return in the future as a heroic spirit. Your tales will not be forgotten. But you have to make great tales first. Who wants to make history with me?"


    They shouted and banged their shields in agreement. Battle sage monkeys are battle lovers. It is not by chance that all other species on the Virut ne with the smallest conflict with them have disappeared. Only races that they can''t fight properly or can''t eradicate remain with them on the ne.


    It is not by chance that their GodKing has the domain of battle. It is also not by chance that they are not sages of knowledge, sages of strategy, or sages of peace. They are the battle sage monkeys. Their excellence is shown on the battlefield. So these people are anxious to do battle. It is simply in their blood.


    "There is no rush. Our brethren are stilling in. We will move forward when we need to create more space for them. No need to hog all the glory for ourselves. We have enough glory to go around"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They cheered again.


    "But if the angels are anxious and can''t wait to enter our gaping maw then they cane. Glory is forged through the bloodshed of battle. So we will take as much glory as they can give us. We will stand strong. We will be unbreakable. We will be unstoppable." He raised the spear in his hand and shouted. "We will be victorious."


    The army echoed the sentiment. "Victorious!" "Victorious!" "Victorious!"


    Their voice rose up and echoed through the canyon. Their voice is the very sound of battle. Anyone that hears them will know that they are ready for battle. They are practically crying out loud for it.


    "Shields up." He shouted and they obeyed.


    Each member lifted their shield to protect themselves. The shields locked together and turned the army into a turtle in a shell. The rain of arrows ttered harmlessly off of the shield. If the projectiles had been giant boulders then the result would have been different.


    "Hold it together. We have days to go at this." Soverick encouraged them.


    The attackers did not intend to rush forward to meet the defenders. They were currently outnumbered, doing so will spell their doom. The fact that they will have to spread apart as they go further from the exit of the tunnel means that it will be easy to pick them off. So they will rather wait and advance slowly. They weren''t in a rush. Holding their shields up like this will not be the end of them. Soverick had drilled them for weeks at a time without rest.


    The angelic army also didn''t tire easily. They could continue firing arrows for ages. Except that the arrows aren''t working. They also didn''t have unlimited arrows. Which left magical assault as a means of causing ranged damage. But that will mean moving closer to the attackers before their magical spells will enter the effective range.


    Odds are that magical attacks won''t work either because of the shielding, so they might as well engage the invaders. The other viable option is standing there and doing nothing until the attackers swell in numbers and initiate the attack themselves. That couldn''t be allowed to happen. So they rallied and moved like a torrent hoping to smash their enemies apart.


    "First ten-row prep axes," Soverickmanded.


    "First row throw."


    His shout marked the start of battle.

 Chapter 206 Advance And Scorch.

    ?The front row of the attackers threw one of the axes strapped to their armor. Then they switched with the ones behind them. The axes whistled through the air and cut down the angels, but more reced their downedrades.


    "Second row throw."


    "Third row throw."


    More and more axes flew forward and found purchase within the enemy ranks. Some of the attackers were caught by the arrows but they were easily rescued and reced. The bastion that they created with their shields remained unbroken.


    "Tenth row throw."


    Thest ranged attacks finally flew. A lot of the angels had been cut down but they were about to reach the attackers.


    "Front row Brace for impact. Second row prep spears. Third to thirteenth row prep axe."


    He sent out orders quickly.


    "Hold. Hold. Hold."


    The angels smashed into the front row like a wave against rocks. The front row stood their ground under the impact.


    "Second row impale."


    The soldiers in the second row used the small space between shields to attack the enemies.


    "Third row throw."


    The axes cleared out the front lines of the angels. The arrows were still iing so some of the attackers were caught. The angels don''t care about theirrades and kept firing arrows. They don''t feel pain and they have arger number. They could afford to exchange some of them for the lives of the invaders. The angels are energy beings, an arrow to the head won''t kill them, it will only reduce their energy and weaken them. Only a heavy attack will kill them. The invaders on the other hand are flesh and blood, an arrow can kill them or at least injure them.


    Then the army moved as a whole. The front row stepped over the bodies of the downed enemies and pushed against the ones still standing to move forward. They used the des in their hands to kill the ones beneath their feet while the second row used their spears to reduce the resistance against the front row.


    The angels are a difficult opponent to fight. They don''t feel pain or tire out. They can heal from small injuries at least once before their form disperses from more damage. The one good thing about them is that it is easy to know when they are still alive. If they still have a form, then they are alive. A dead angel is a dispersed angel. Only when there''s no corpse left can you be sure that an angel is well and truly dead. So the attackers can safely determine the situation of their opponents.


    "Fourth row throw. Advance and scorch."


    The army moved forward like so. They turtled up and minimized their losses. Though the enemy showered them with arrows and beat them with swords, they couldn''t break their defenses. They were truly unbreakable. Even though their pace was slow, they were unstoppable. They would move a single step at a time, clear out nearby enemies, im that ground, reinforce their numbers, and rotate their front lines with fresh soldiers. Then they would repeat it.


    "Slow and Steady." Soverick encouraged while he ran amok the angels, running interference.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    There is little he can do against the numbers of the enemy but that increases when he is being backed up by his soldiers. The angels might have stood a chance against him if they used their body blockade tactic but they couldn''t because it will leave them vulnerable to his soldier''s attacks. So now, he can kill them very easily.


    The attackers fell into a rhythm. They matched in tune with one another. Their actions and their minds were in synch. They began singing the song of the army as they matched forward.


    "To battle, we go."


    The defending army was like a swarm. Unrelenting and inrge numbers. They felt no pain and they moved with a purpose. But they are ultimately mindless, incapable of higher thought. Angels weren''t supposed to be this weak. The changes to the divine ne siphoned energy from them which reduced their quantity and quality. The lowest of angels used to be transcendent, capable of emotions, thought, nning, and full of might. Now they moved to the orders of their superiors like mindless drones or dungeon mobs. They are the enemies that Soverick and his army are facing in battle.


    "For one thing we seek."


    Their enemies might be unfeeling, but the attackers were also stoic. Their enemies might be inrge numbers but the attackers were a mass of many working as one, for one purpose, of one ord. There is only one thing that unites them in body and soul.


    They sang as they matched in tune.


    "We fear nothing."


    There is nothing to fear. They can say that because Soverick made them go through illusion arrays meant to mentally torture people until they let go of their fears. No matter what they face, they will not scatter, they will not run, and neither will they abandon their brethren. They will remain together with a bond forged by a single purpose and face all enemies together. It is this bond that made them hold steady and match forward under pressure.


    "We fear no one."


    This isn''t exactly true. There is a lot that they fear. They fear Soverick, a lot. It is because of their fear of their armymander that no one will consider desertion. They also fear defeat. So they grit their teeth when a stray arrow finds them, or when the de of an angel finds a weakness in their defense into their flesh.


    "Only victory will do."


    They do all those things because only victory will do. They won''t ept any less.


    "Bloody bodies of foes."


    "Rivers of blood will flow."


    "The earth will gorge on it."


    "But we trample on it."


    On and on they marched. The battlefield was filled with the sound of shing weapons and grunting soldiers. Metal against metal and metal against flesh. But the only ones bleeding are the attackers. It started as a drop here and there from the smallest cut until it escted into something more.

 Chapter 207 The Song Of War.

    ?The cuts soon heal.


    But the biggercerations of flesh continue to bleed. It doesn''t help that they are in constant motion, always swinging their des, always moving their legs, always matching forward. So their blood falls to the earth which they stood upon, only to be trampled upon by therades that follow behind.


    "Only victory will do."


    Nothing else will do. It is what Soverick has sculpted them into. They simply repeat that chant in their mind as they matched forward. "Only Victory Will Do." It''s what Soverick told them to think of when he forced them to match under the aura of a titan ofw. That titan had released the full might of her aura on an entire army. They were shivering where they stood unable to move a single muscle. Even their dull senses could feel the threat to their lives.


    The repetition of that chant didn''t make them suddenly able to move, but it helped ease their fear, especially when they could hear the soldiers next to them also chanting it. They might not be able to handle the aura of a titan ofw but they can take the overwhelming numbers of their enemies. Only Victory Will Do.


    "Till our bodies break."


    "And our backs give out."


    "Till our souls wear down."


    "And our will gives up."


    For days they continued matching. For days they continued to stand strong as they weathered the attacks. For days, they bled, they fought, they sang and yet, they didn''t tire. Each one of them is a vitality core stage refiner. They are greater than a normal man in healing and stamina. But even days of constant, non-stop fighting could break a man. They had experienced days of practice beforeing here but it is nothingpared to what they are facing.


    "Only victory will do."


    They are not perfect. They wear and tear, but it doesn''t matter. They are but a wheel or a gear in the clockwork that is the army. Their bodies may break, their backs may give out, their very souls might wear down and their Will give up, but the clock keeps running. The wheels and gears turn, they are tuned by the orders of their armymander, and they are reced by their brethren when they wear out. They all know that they are not alone.


    "Even through stormy seas"


    "Even through sundered skies"


    "Even on ourst breaths"


    "Even on ourst legs."


    "Only victory will do."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Still, they held on. They helped their fallen brethren up. They reced their worn-outrades. It is difficult to kill them because of their vitality. But many of them have died. They simply matched on and continue in the pursuit of what theirrades died for. The Virut ne must be free from the gods and must have origin energy.


    Such is the life of a soldier. No matter the weather or the situation, no matter the odds, a soldier follows orders. A soldier is a weapon to be wielded in the machination of victory.


    The gorge within the canyon continued to expand. From a width of only 50m to 200m over a distance of 100km. It took them 15 days to make that distance. They had to shed blood for every inch that they faced. It didn''t help that the increase in width meant that the enemies they faced increased and they had to fight extra hard to defend the grounds they have already imed.


    Soverick stood overlooking what was left of his army and their enemies. His soldiers had reduced from 1 million to about 700 thousand. Their enemies have been reduced from 10 million to 100 thousand. The victory that they sought was in sight, it is all but certain.


    He had been highly significant to their victory but that significantly reduced as they moved further within the gorge until his major contribution was just removing the ranged weapons of war. Even the amplification of the total eight gates he has didn''t make him stand out more than usual. That left the army to do most of the work. They had scraped and sacrificed but they have finally reached this step.


    Beyond thest of the resistance is a massive gate. It is their target, the gate to the next levels of the divine dungeon. The defending army didn''t want them to reach this step but they are here finally.


    "We are almost there. Don''t ck now." He encouraged them.


    They just had to wipe out these remnants and they would be free to do whatever they want to do.


    ''Maybe we shouldn''t overwhelm them.'' He scratched his chin as he considered what to do with this remnant.


    They already had these mobs cornered. He could use them to grow his army so that a lot of them will be able to reach the mana entity stage. The opponents they will face behind that door will be of that stage. He is already having trouble getting the energy he needs to create another gate, which means he can''t break through either. Since he might not be reliable for the next stage of the expedition, it would be more assuring to prepare others that might fill in.


    He was still considering what to do when something changed with the angels. They stopped fighting, made contact with one another, and melded into one. Then they repeated the process. Each time they were getting bigger.


    "They are fusing?" He asked in astonishment.


    "Stand back." He yelled at the army.


    The army stopped attacking. He gave out more orders to make the army withdraw to a safe distance. He didn''t know what the angels were doing but it is obviously ast-ditch effort. It also had to be something they didn''t want to do or couldn''t do easily, or they would have done it right from the start.


    He has two choices, attack and try to stop whatever they are doing. Or they could stand back and watch, and assess the situation before taking the appropriate actions.

 Chapter 208 Desperate Times Call For Desperate Actions.

    ?The first option is incredibly risky, it might end in the interruption of whatever the angels are doing or it might lead to arge death in his soldiers because they jumped head first into an unknown situation.


    He decided not to take the risk. Victory is already in their hands, there''s no reason to take risks. It''s the gods that need to take risks, they have nothing to lose either way. He had them pressed against the wall. They have nowhere to go. They can''t escape their fate. This is why they are executing thisst-ditch effort.


    Thest ditch effort of a cornered enemy is mostly desperation but also highly dangerous. Many a foe has fallen to the desperate acts of cornered enemies. The moment when victory is about to be had is another moment when defeat is possible. So Soverick kept his guard up and decided not to interfere in whatever was going on.


    He stood confidently in front of his army. They stood confidently behind their armymander. Even though their arms and legs were shaking and their muscles were sore, they still stood strong.


    They were not spotless like Soverick, and their armor wasn''t gleaming like his but they had confidence on their side. Their armor was damaged in various parts here and there. The blood on their armor belongs to them and theirrades. They may be tired, bloody, and broken, but it is the gods that are desperate.


    The angelspleted their transformation. The 100 thousand of them had fused into one colossal entity. It was a massive worm more than a kilometer long and 20 meters tall.


    What they transformed into wasn''t a snake. It didn''t have scales, a sleek body, eyes, or fangs. It was just a long mass of energy in the form of a giant blue worm with a circr gaping maw.


    Soverick didn''t underestimate the worm at all. He could feel the immense amount of energy within it and something with that much energy couldn''t be underestimated.


    It raised its head and shrieked soundlessly. It was silent but everyone could hear it in their mind and feel the soul attack within the mental transmission. It was incoherent nonsense that felt like a heavy blow to the head. The soldiers tried to remain still and in battle formation but they were rendered mentally incapacitated. They stood frozen like helplessmbs before a predator. Some could still move but it is safe to say that the army is done for if that creature can make those deliberating shrieks regrly.


    Then the worm began sucking in air through its gaping maw. A wind picked up that would have pulled the soldiers into the mouth had they been close to it. Only rocks and stones were swallowed. But that wasn''t all. It glowed brightly before regurgitating what it had swallowed in the form of a beam of energy that headed straight toward the army.


    Soverick was in the way since he was in front of his soldiers. He began creating magic barriers in the path of the attack. The beam struck the barriers and was stopped. It was tearing through them but the barriers were being reced just as fast as they were destroyed.


    Soverick stood behind his barriers while admiring the attack. All he could see was a bright light from the blue energy beam. The attack ended five seconds after.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Fascinating," Soverick said in appreciation.


    This creature created from the fusion of the angels is still in the vitality core stage but the amount of energy it has pushed it beyond that to have the power of a mana entity. The gods had found a way to bypass the restriction on power in the divine dungeon. The creature is technically a vitality being, it doesn''t have any mana in it but it has power as if it has mana.


    "It isrge. It has a soul attack to render its enemies helpless. It can swallow them if they are close to it and if not, it will destroy them with its energy beam. It is not a bad desperate action but it has a terrible price to pay."


    The worm is a good enemy but there are disadvantages to its existence. It''s something that cannot escape his acute senses. This creature is in an unnatural state, it cannot sustain itself. No vitality core being can be that big and powerful. So it is reverting but in a bad way. It is breaking down itself to continue remaining in that state. If left alone, it will die on its own.


    He shook his head and said. "Foolish gods."


    Then he shouted it to the sky. "Did you hear me? I called you foolish. You gods are foolish."


    The more he examined this monstrosity, the more disappointed he became. The gods were indeed scraping the bottom of the barrel for a way out but he would have done better. There''s so much he could have done to remedy the disadvantage or at least reduce it.


    "What did I expect from a desperate action?"


    Some other people might have been foiled by these developments but his senses picked up on it. A person that doesn''t know the true state of this creature will order the army to stay together, stand their ground and fight the creature as one.


    Scattering in the face of a foe is the first step toward defeat. It is a smart decision considering the amount of information that the person has. But that decision will make them easy to round up by that gigantic hole for a mouth that the monster has. It is a gamble that the gods yed.


    But he knows that they don''t have to do anything and they will still get their victory. A lot of the soldiers will die during the chase. Still, they will have their victory. They just need to hold out. But he is bitter. He is bitter because leaving the monster alone will make them miss a big opportunity.

 Chapter 209 A Conversation Of Violence.

    ?He could order his soldiers to scatter right now and the monster won''t be able to catch up to them. It may be powerful but it is too big to move fast enough to deal considerable damage to the army.


    He is just bitter that all that energy will go to waste. He had been considering using the 100 thousand to make his soldiers reach the mana entity stage. To leave the monster alone to die is to watch all that energy wasted.


    "I''ll hold it back while you join in with ranged attacks." He told his soldiers.


    "To Victory." He shouted then he stomped off.


    He heard the shout of reply from the army as he soared into the air. Jumping andnding have be very easy to do, now that he has eight gates to absorb momentum with. Still, his heart was hammering in his chest like an engine, but it was more excitement than strain. He felt the thrill of battle course through his blood vessels like the best elixir.


    Even as he fell and the wind ruffled his fur, he gave out orders to the army below and he began to n how to kill this monstrosity. He doesn''t have a lot of information but the ones he has about the anatomy and make-up of the angels are enough for him to make an educated guess.


    "The monster is an energy being. Energy beings are weak to energy attacks and heavy impacts that will lose their bonds. Thankfully it isn''t a spiritual being."


    Energy beings can still be damaged by physical attacks, unlike spiritual beings. Most of the damage is due to the impact. Cuts can work if it disconnects the body parts. He began to prep his fireball. The ball of fire spiraled as it absorbed mana from the atmosphere. It was stuck behind Soverick and followed him as he descended.


    "Thankfully, it doesn''t have a core."


    It is both a strength and a weakness to have a core. But since the monster doesn''t have a core, it doesn''t have a vulnerability. That also means Soverick can hit it anywhere. He swung his spear with all his might as he was about to hit the worm and mmed its midsection.


    The hit created a rumbling explosion that shook the ground. A good portion of the worm''s trunk vaporized into light, heat, and energy. It left a bowl-shaped impression on the body of the worm. Still, the worm didn''t stop. It wound was also beginning to heal. It was using its body mass to cover the wound. It can''t replenish lost energy, so the size of the worm is reduced a little to make up for the gap.


    "So it also doesn''t feel pain, huh? How to get its attention." Soverick said from the bottom of the bowl.


    The damage to the worm didn''t faze it, nor did it deter it from its objective. It continued to approach the soldiers. It didn''t even scream when arge chunk of its body disappeared. So Soverick jumped out from the wound he created. He came to the side of the worm and stuck his spear into it. Then he dug his feet into the ground and pulled back.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The worm didn''t seem to notice the foreign object in its body. It continued to slide forward. Soverick remained unmoved, so the spear tore through the body of the monster like a hot de through wax. The monster didn''t care about the deep but quickly healing wound on its side.


    Soverick tsked. He couldn''t let the worm reach the army. So he pulled out his spear and ran forward, toward the head of the worm. He reached it quickly considering he moved in a blur.


    "Look at me." He yelled as he punched the side of the worm''s head.


    His voice was drowned out by the boom of his punch as his hand broke the sound barrier. There was another boom when his fist met the flesh of the worm. Then another boom sounded out as the flesh evaporated into light, heat, sound, and energy. It created a ring of shock waves as if an explosion just went off. The impact sent the worm''s head flying. A fourth boom was created when the head struck the side of the canyon.


    Soverick stood within another bowl-shaped crater on the ground. The ground had been melted into moltenva. He hadn''t even punched the ground. The ground had cracked up the moment he set his foot down to punch. Then the explosion of the worm''s flesh had broken the ground up and melted it into a crater. He rubbed his hand together and admired his work.


    Then he turned to the floundering monster. "Now that I have your attention. Let''s have a discourse."


    The monster didn''t listen to him. It began to approach the army again.


    Soverick grinned. "That''s good too. I didn''t expect us to talk with our mouths."


    If the worm wants to behave like a barbarian without manners, soverick can help it see reason. So he warped forward and mmed the worm against the canyon again. The gorge shook and the ground cracked. Then periodic booms thundered as Soverick pummeled the monster into the wall.


    Again and again, his fist ripped into it like two hammers tenderizing meat. Flesh evaporated, light shed, thunder boomed, and the ground shook and cracked. It felt and sounded like the lightning and thunder of a very angry storm.


    He wasn''t nning to speak with his mouth to the beast. His divine sense was also useless because the beast didn''t understand mental transmissions, the angels didn''t either. Which left physicalmunication. The impact of violence. Themunication through fists. A sh of titans. A conversation of violence.


    Actions speak louder than words. Soverick was telling the beast to stay down with his action and the beast couldn''t get away. Not that it didn''t try to, Soverick was simply toopelling with his arguments. His fist too convincing.

 Chapter 210 First Stage Of The Divine Dungeon Cleared.

    ?The worm ignored Soverick and tried to reach its objective, but Soverick didn''t let it go. He would drag it back and beat it up. He was like an ant fighting a snake, but it''s the snake that is helpless against the ant. The one with the stronger fist wins in a discourse of violence not the one with the bigger fist.


    He would grip the mouth of the worm and pull it back, before beating it again. If it tries to inhale, then Soverick will m its mouth shut. The worm might be big, but Soverick is stronger and faster. All the worm could do is shriek helplessly as it suffered under Soverick''s thundering fists. Too bad that its mind attack wasn''t working on Soverick at all.


    The two of them ravaged the canyon. It was Soverick that did most of the work but the significance of a partner, willing or unwilling, cannot be underestimated.


    The dy enabled the army to prepare. The worm shrieked again as if crying for help. The soldiers of the army stumbled but they still carried out their orders. Spells began to fly like fireworks. They lit up the worm. They were like hot coal being scattered on wax. They burned into the worm but their effect was only surface-deep. The worm was too big, little amount of damage like that will need to umte before there can make a significant difference.


    They had time and they had the numbers. The soldiers continued to rotate as they bombarded the worm with spells. The assault continued for half an hour. The beast resisted till the very end. It shrieked in defiance and it writhed against Soverick''s oppressive might.


    At first, the trashing created a lot of ruckus, the ground shook while the worm was stillrge. But its resistance waned as the minutes went by. It grew smaller and smaller. Then Soverick unleashed the fireball he had been prepping on the worm.


    If the other spells were like hot coals on wax. His spell was like a me thrower being turned on to wax. The worm shrieked and cried. It struggled and struggled, but it was all in vain. Soverick didn''t need to end the worm. The army could have done it but he wanted to for the energy.


    The energy of the worm finally broke down, signifying the death of the worm of the apocalypse. Its energy streamed into everyone that participated based on their contributions to its death. He checked to make sure that the beast was dead and that there isn''t any more surprises.


    Then he turned to his army and shouted. "We Are Victorious."


    They cheered too.


    His voice sounded in their ears again. "We Have Prevailed."


    They cheered again.


    "We are unstoppable."


    Soverick sat down to rest while the soldiers were celebrating. He was actually making his 9th gate. A lot has happened since the time he destroyed the tactic of the angels to slow him down. He had gone far from possessing just one gate to making the 9th one.


    He got a lot of energy due to the death of the worm. It was enough energy to break through and be a mana entity but he still opted for another gate. He felt he could take another one. So he decided to go big or go home.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Come over." He called his generals to him when he was done.


    2 out of 10 of them had died. That left 8 of them. They saluted him when they reached him. It is army protocol, a sign of respect to a superior officer. But they did it without beingpelled. They did it from the bottom of their heart. They had seen and experienced what Soverick could do. He is an enigma to them. But more than that, he is an icon. A hero. A role model of strength. He is an Aberrant of refinement.


    "The First stage has been cleared. The Middle stage is next. We have been informed that it is going to be a trial that can only bepleted alone. So we go ording to the n. Whoever can break through and want to attempt the Middle stage should do it here. Those that have had enough can leave the dungeon and break through outside of it. The remaining can stay and farm the dungeon."


    They have gotten more than a foothold in the dungeon. They have cleared the first stage. This means that they can continue to use the spawning of mindless angels as a source of energy for others to refine their vitality core. Not all the energy within the opponents they killed went into the killers. Most of it dispersed into the surroundings and into the dungeon. This stray energy will coalesce and spawn more mobs to kill.


    They''ve been informed that the middle stage will be highly dangerous because of the presence of sentient opponents that are mana entities. They will be unlike the weak and mindless mobs that they faced in the first stage of the dungeon.


    That''s why only those that have broken through to be mana entities are allowed to attempt the second stage. Even then, they run the risk of death. What''s worse is that their cause of death will remain unknown because it is a fight that only a single person can partake in. There will be no one by your side to assist.


    "Are you joining the Middle stage, sir?" A general asked him.


    "Yes. Any problem?" He asked calmly.


    The general is probably concerned about Soverick since he is still a vitality core stage refiner.


    So the general asked. "Are you going to break through too?"


    Soverick answered calmly. "Do I have to tell you my business?"


    His calm voice did not put the general at peace at all. It instead made him feel dread. It is a natural reaction that one will have when they have witnessed what Soverick is fully capable of. The general shook his head hurriedly and answered. "Not at all."


    "Good."

 Chapter 211 For Glory And For Strength.

    ?Then Soverick continued to send out orders. The soldiers dispersed. Some rxed while others returned to the main in. Some of them chose to venture into the middle stage. They did it for various reasons.


    A lot of them are in awe of Soverick, that is true, they also crave that strength. They crave the opportunity to prove themselves or acquire the means to have the strength needed to prove themselves. If they can pass the middle stage and reach the Final stage. They will have the opportunity to prove themselves by defeating the boss. If they seed in that too, then they will be renowned throughout the ne for years toe.


    It is a lot of ifs. They might just die in the next stage and be nameless in their failure. But if there is a small chance, they will go for it. They fear Soverick, he has shown them strength, he has shown them the consequences of failure, he even went further to break their pride. They will stay clear of Soverick. But they will attack the middle stage because they don''t fear it. There is also a very alluring reward in the middle stage. It is enough for these people to risk their lives.


    So they broke through and disappeared in a sh of light. They had been transported to the middle stage. They won''t be able to leave the dungeon until it is broken. It became amon sight to watch people disappear. But then everyone''s attention was drawn when Soverick chose to approach the door. That could only mean he is trying to enter the middle stage without breaking through.


    Soverick might have contributed greatly to the sess of the expedition but there is someone with a much greater contribution than him. The son of legends and the information he provided are far more instrumental to their sess. It is with the information provided that they were able to n for the dungeon.


    It is because of the information that they knew whaty waiting at the other end of the portal into the dungeon. Without that information, they would have continued to send people to their deaths Without knowing why. But they knew why. They also had an estimate of the number of soldiers waiting for them and theyout of the dungeon. They knew that the door to the middle stage is a trap.


    The gods nned and they also nned for the failure of their ns. The door to the middle stage isn''t needed to reach the middle stage. You just need to be a mana entity and be whisked away to it. They knew that, that''s why no one broke through until they defeated the first stage. If they didn''t know that, some of them would have decided to be mana entities in order to help them defeat the multitudes of enemies in the first stage. They would have been very wrong.


    Even if they defeat the first stage and they all decided to use the door, then they would have been massacred in the middle stage because they didn''t know that their enemies will be mana entities and they will be fighting alone. But they know, that''s why they chose to send only mana entities.


    So why will Soverick choose to go to the middle stage as a vitality core refiner? They didn''t need to think about it too much for them to know the answer. They were a little worried but they had faith in theirmander. No one scoffed at him or was derisive of his decision. Instead, they chose to encourage him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Soverick!" "Soverick!" "Soverick!"


    They hailed their armymander as he went forward. It might seem inconceivable or conceited for a vitality core stage refiner to attempt the Middle stage with any hope of sess but they had seen what he can do. If any vitality core stage refiner could do it, it has to be him. He might not return but he has earned glory. His name will not be easily forgotten. He has also earned their respect. So they gave him a soldier''s salute as he went towards the unknown, braving unknown dangers for the ne, for glory, and for himself. Soverick touched the gigantic door and vanished.


    Within The Final Level Of The Divine Dungeon. After The Death Of The Worm Monster.


    The celestial gods were sitting listlessly in their seats. What they saw shocked them. More than that, it terrified them of the very possible future if things continued to happen like this. They had kept their eyes on Soverick since he entered the dungeon.


    He was remarkable and pivotal in the battle. The entire effort of the attackers revolved around him. He was like the core of the army, their greatest strength, and pir of assurance. Removing him would have crippled the attackers. It was easy toe to that understanding but actually carrying it out was impossible.


    They watched him throw opponents about like rag dolls like they weighed nothing. They saw him stomp through the defenders like an unstoppable giant. He may be small but the footprints he left behind would have fooled anyone into thinking he is a giant. The ground cracked, splintered, was crushed, and cratered in his wake. The ones he was fighting didn''t fare better than the ground. He acted for all intent and purpose like a giant among men.


    They saw all that and made the decision to pull theirst resources together to create the right opponent for him. After all, what is best to hold back a giant if not another giant? It was a gamble aimed at Soverick. If Soverick was gotten rid of or forced to break through then they will be able to decimate his army in his absence or at least deal considerable damage to them.


    The defenders will be able to bounce back after that as more angels spawn. Things will start looking good for the gods again once Soverick has been removed from y.

 Chapter 212 A Tough Enemy.

    ?But things didn''t go their way. It hasn''t been going their way for a while now so they should be used to the disappointment but they aren''t. It stings every time because they have a lot invested in this.


    Ode had instructed the worm to go for the army. There was no need to chase Soverick. If Soverick cared about his soldiers then he wille to the worm and try to stop it. The thing about impromptu ns is that they usually look good and foolproof in your mind, but execution will show them to be ugly and full of holes. They didn''t have to wait for long to see the errors of their way. They knew it was a bad idea pretty quickly.


    The first problem they noted was that the worm was slow. Still, they had hope that its strength would be able to do Soverick in. If Soverick decides to protect his soldiers then he will make himself a slower target. Protection is much more difficult than attacking. When they coupled it with the might of the soul attack of the worm and its beam attack, the worm should still be able to put Soverick down.


    The next thing that went wrong is that Soverick didn''t seem bothered by the Soul attack. Even when the worm concentrated its full effort on Soverick, the aberrant wasn''t keeling over as they had expected. He was also able to block the beam attack, which was inconceivable. How can a vitality core refiner block that? He is supposed to be roasted and burned away by that energy beam.


    But that didn''t happen. The worm wasn''t a threat to him. He even had the leisure to admire and criticize the worm. While the soldiers of his army were stumbling and struggling from the ssh effect of the soul attack, the one that faced the brunt of it could still curse the gods.


    He called them. "Foolish gods."


    They heard it the first time but he said it a second time.


    He even shouted it to the sky. "Did you hear me? I called you foolish. You gods are foolish."


    "What did I expect from a desperate action?"


    Yes, they were desperate. But to be called so by a mortal should have angered them. Yet, they weren''t angered. They felt dread instead. That emotion only increased when they saw how he dealt with the worm. It is one thing to see Soverick bully the weak. To see him trash a gigantic worm about, despite the difference in their size, drilled the point into their head. He is a freak of nature.


    "He is perfect." Ode said.


    The others could only agree wordlessly. Soverick was fast, he was strong, he is skillful and his mind was hard as steel. He was unstoppable in body and mind. They felt better that it isn''t an ordinary mortal that called them desperate.


    No matter how admirable he is, he is their enemy and a tough one too. Their only hope to stop himy in him entering the middle stage and being killed by a mana entity.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The gods expected them to rest a while before entering the middle stage as an army. Only to be disoriented, confused, and easily dispatched by a superior opponent. But things didn''t go their way.


    The army wasn''t rushing to the door as they expected. They celebrated and dispersed. Then some of them began to break through and vanish. There was no panic, not even when thousands of them broke through. There is only a single exnation for their behavior.


    "They know. How long have they known?" Ode asked but no one answered.


    So he asked himself. ''How much do they know?''


    This understanding exined a lot of their behavior. Somehow the main ne got information about theyout and mechanism of the divine dungeon. They nned and crafted the perfect killing machine which they then sent into the dungeon. Ode felt enlightened and also afraid. What is the full extent of their knowledge? How far had the main ne nned with that knowledge?


    His fear started to increase when he saw Soverick start to approach the door to the second stage. If someone had told him that a vitality core stage refiner is going to brave the middle stage where he will fight against mana entities, he would have called it ludicrous. But now, he felt fear. The other celestials did not agree with him. They cheered happily when he entered the middle stage.


    "Isn''t this good? He will surely die in there."


    "Does he think he can face the gods?"


    If Ode were to answer that, he would say yes. The opponents in the middle stage were past gods. Their power has been shrunk down to the mana entity stage. Do they have the advantage of strength over Soverick? He would answer in the negative. No, they don''t. They are equal at best. Do they have the advantage of skill over Soverick? Maybe, it is highly variable.


    Soverick''s disy of strength is enough for the educated to know that he has a very good grasp on momentum. So he has to have achieved the first step of mastery which is not a surprise considering that Soverick is the perfect tool created by the Main ne to trounce them. Does he have the second step of spear mastery? Highly unlikely, but not impossible. Soverick had already disyed feats of strength that should be impossible, so why not feats of skill?


    Which leaves only the third step. There are only a few of the gods who can disy such a level of mastery. Not all gods are battle or weapon oriented. Most of the battle and weapon oriented have died in the wars.


    The only ones alive of significance are the celestial gods here. He had made sure that only the grand gods oriented with battle, weapons, and power became celestial gods. That means Soverick''s passage through the middle stage would be difficult but possible depending on what he has up his sleeve.

 Chapter 213 The Middle Stage.

    ?"Can we not do anything to him?" A celestial god asked sullenly.


    "No, there''s nothing we can do but hope for the best. The challenges in the middle stage are random. It can be a short trip or it can be a long one. But he will have to face at least one of you before he can reach the final stage. So you must kill him then."


    Ode didn''t design the middle stage of the final stage. There were set instructions within the dungeon core that were executed to create those stages. Only in the first stage was he permitted to modify a little. So the gods don''t have any control over the mechanism of the middle stage.


    If Soverick is unlucky then he will face a hundred mana entities. He might also face several former Celestial gods. It will ensure he never reaches the final stage. But Ode wasn''t counting on that. He had been counting on the attackers not reaching the middle stage at all. Even if they did, then most of them would have died there. Now, the attackers get to rest and send as many as they want into the middle stage unhurried.


    Ode chose to count on only himself to stop Soverick when he reaches thest stage. Thankfully, he has just the thing that will freeze Soverick up and put an end to his rampage.


    Back To Soverick.


    He appeared within a circr room with a diameter of 100m. The ceiling is only 20m tall. The walls are ck and they glistened as if made from gleaming metal. The ceiling is the same color as the walls. It is probably made from the same material too. At the center of the room is a mana entity who is to be Soverick''s opponent. The mana entity wore loose robes and held a staff.


    "Who do we have here? A challenger that came to die." The mana entity said.


    Soverick was examining his opponent with his divine sense.


    ''It is an apparition.'' He concluded.


    His opponent is a vestige of a once-powerful god. It isposed of energy and understanding. If he kills this vestige, another one will simply be created. There is no end to them. So the middle stage cannot be overwhelmed by numbers. There will be as many opponents as there are attackers.


    "What is this? A vitality core? This will be easy." The mana entity mocked.


    They may be apparitions but they have the strength and wisdom of a mana entity. Enough wisdom for this mana entity to not consider Soverick a threat. Or is it foolishness?


    "Come. Come at me. Give me your best shot." The apparition encouraged him without a care.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick shot forward. His eleration would have caught a vitality core off guard. The mana entity wasn''t caughtpletely off guard. It was able to react, just barely to the thrust aimed at his body.


    The reaction time of mana entities outsses vitality core refiners. Soverick''s opponent used the staff he was holding to block the thrust. The mana entity was thrown high up but he wasn''t helpless.


    Spells began to rain down on Soverick. Ice spears materialized in the air and shot toward him. Ice bolts, hail barrages, and water spells were conjured and aimed at him by his airborne opponent.


    "Lack of weapon mastery confirmed. A spell specialist then." Soverick thought to himself.


    He had suspected as much when his opponent held a staff instead of a warrior''s weapon and didn''t wear any armor. The moment when their weapon shed also confirmed it. This god didn''t even have the first step of weapon mastery. That only meant he must have focused on spells.


    "Must not let him fly," Soverick concluded.


    He stepped hard on the ground and jumped towards his thrown enemy. Fighting a spell specialist that is a mana entity is very tricky. Soverick knows a lot to expect constant and instant spell barrage. You could either reciprocate with your own spells or get close to them to engage in close-quarterbat. But you must never let them fly unless you can fly too. Mana entities can fly with the aid of spells or harmonization.


    Soverick can''t fly. He would need more power from his soul but his body is already burdened with gates. He can levitate at best, that''s if he removes all the shield on his body. Removing the shields will mean he can''t run fast since he won''t have protection. So he reinforced his shield as he shot toward his opponent.


    He didn''t n to weather the assault with only his magical shields. Ice spells will slow him down if they umte on him. His spear moved in a blur as he deflected and blocked the attacks. He was rotating it in his hands and using the rotation to smack spells aside. Only the stray ones caught him but his momentum was too high to be stopped from his assent.


    He closed in on the floundering mana entity in the air and brought his spear down for a smash. His spear made contact with a barrier that he knew would be there. That''s why he didn''t thrust. It would have pushed the mana entity away from him. His smash felled the mana entity. It was mmed onto the ground enough to crack it.


    The barrier protected it from the worst of the fall but the mana entity was disoriented. It was disoriented enough for Soverick tond and smash the mana entity again. This time a barrier broke. Soverick kicked the mana entity hard toward the wall. His foot came in contact with a barrier just as he had expected. It is an underestimation to think that a mana entity will have only one shield. It is foolish to think a spell specialist will have just two shields.


    The mana entity flew towards the wall but Soverick was on him before he got far. He punched the mana entity with his thundering fist that broke the sound barrier.

 Chapter 214 Energy And Understanding As Loot.

    ?The barrier protecting it blocked most of the damage so the mana entity was only jostled, but it picked up speed. It didn''t go far before Soverick punched again. He caught up to the mana entity three times in the space of 20 meters. No matter how fast the mana entity flew, Soverick was much faster.


    His punches finally broke the second barrier. Still, there was a third barrier that Soverick set to work on. He kept throwing the mana entity around and jostling it, preventing it from getting its bearings and casting spells. Spells tried to form around them but always fizzled out. All the mana entity needed is a brief respite to orient itself a little, then it would be able to unleash its spells.


    They shed around the room like lightning. The mana entity was defenseless against him but Soverick could barely deal damage to it.


    "That was intense. It didn''t even have a divine ability" Soverick sat down to rx.


    The high-maneuvering fight ended after Soverick demolished 5 Barriers and the mana entity''s body. The fightsted less than 5 seconds but it was more draining mentally and physically than his fight with the monstrous worm.


    He began to chuckle as he thought about the fight. He had caught the mana entity unawares, it had been unable to fight back and yet the fight wasn''t easy. A small misstep would have turned the tide against him. It is possible to defeat a mana entity as a vitality core refiner. But it is extremely difficult to actually kill them with that level of strength.


    The 5 barriers that he tussled with during the fight were probably set up when the mana entity finally considered him a threat after being thrown into the air. It had even been able to cast other spells. Maybe it added more during the short period of their fight. It showed how catastrophic it would have been to give the mana entity time to settle and cast spells. If the mana entity had a divine ability, things would have been worse.


    "I have to prime my fireball very well. Hopefully, it isn''t destroyed when I leave this room." He said as he began to prep his fireball spell.


    He is stronger, and he is faster but he can''t deal an appropriate amount of damage to mana entities. Mana entities are held together by mana. You need mana to break their existence. Brute force just won''t do. Which leaves his fire torrent spell. He had one going before entering the middle stage but it fizzled out when he was transported here.


    He considered his loot and the room when he was rested enough. The vestige dropped a robe and the staff after its death. It also left a small ball of light. Four screens of light appeared in the cardinal positions of the room after he had vanquished his opponent. There are exits from the room.


    It is how the middle stage will be. He can''t leave until he kills his opponent. But he can stay here all he wants and not go to another room. He will just be stuck here until someone reaches the final level and clears the dungeon. There''s no way he will leave his fate up to someone else.


    He discarded his clunky armor and put on the blue robe. The flimsy fabric offers more defensive ability than his armor. That''s how mana weapons are. The mana in the fabric has enhanced it to be better than some metals that don''t have mana in them. He decided to use the staff for the same reason.


    "So it was a single-element spell specialist." He said after inspecting the staff.


    The staff could only enhance water elemental spells. The mana entity had also only cast spells of that element.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "This won''t do." He dropped the staff and picked up his spear.


    The staff wouldn''t help him enhance his fire torrent spell. He needed something with high damage output. If the staff could enhance fire elemental spells he might have chosen it. He is favoring fire because it has a more destructive output and will work well against a barrier better than the other elements that he has an affinity with.


    He will continue to use the ck, unadorned spear that Mih bought him. It might not be powerful, but it is very heavy.


    "Which leaves one more left."


    He had dealt with the robe which left the ball of light. He walked up to it and touched it. The ball melded into him. Energy and understanding flowed into him. One went into his body while the other went into his mind.


    The first stage of the dungeon provided energy. The second stage added understanding to it. It is pure understanding without the detriments you get if you had plundered someone else''s soul for it.


    This loot is very unique in all of High Heaven Realm. It is one of the many reasons why geniuses will risk their lives in the middle stage. And these geniuses aren''t normal ones either. They are the best that the ne can offer. Imagine whatmon vitality core stage refiners will do if they can get ess to something like this.


    The understanding of water and ice spells entered his mind. It even contained an understanding of their magic arsenal.


    "Thankfully it hadn''t set up a magical arsenal. I must not let them."


    He was impressed with the understanding he got. It couldn''te close to his past achievements in magic andws, but it reminded him to never let up on any mana entity. If given time, they can be huge obstacles. A magic arsenal will make things highly difficult for him.


    He chuckled wrily as he felt the energy he received. "It is not enough. It is far from enough."


    What he cares about was the energy the loot contained and it isn''t enough for him. It could only ount for 3 of his gates but he has 9 gates.

 Chapter 215 Another Type Of Mastery.

    ?He needs more energy if he hopes to be a mana entity. That means he has to kill more vestiges of gods in the form of mana entities. So he rested and primed his spell. Then he chose the right screen of light to exit from.


    He entered another circr room, he was ready and alert. He scanned the room with his divine sense and eyes. He spotted his opponent immediately in the center of the room. The mana entity was wearing light armor but there was no visible weapon on him. The armor indicated a need for defense but with easy mobility as a priority.


    His opponent also spotted him. The mana entity didn''t take him seriously when it saw that he was at the vitality core stage. But its face changed before it could mock Soverick.


    A blur smashed toward it. Soverick had gone on the offensive immediately after he found his opponent. He couldn''t risk giving his opponent time. Still, his opponent reacted and shifted slightly. The spear that Soverick had thrown missed the mana entity but notpletely. It clipped its shoulder and took an arm from it.


    No matter the type of warrior his opponent is, it must need arms. It is one of the weaknesses of closebat specialists and weapon users. Soverick smashed into the mana entity almost immediately. The mana entity was ready for him. It used its other arm to throw a punch.


    Soverick reciprocated. Their fist smashed against each other. The mana entity was thrown while Soverick''s arm almost snapped out of his joint. His opponent was wearing something on his hands that amplified his punches.


    He ignored the pain and chased after the mana entity. He had his foot on the ground, so he could elerate easily. He caught up soon after and punched the mana entity again, and again. Each of his punches created shockwaves, the air expanded and exploded with the impact. But the mana entity remainedrgely intact except for its missing hand. There was a barrier around it that protected it and prevented Soverick from grabbing it. But not for long.


    After 5 swift punches that urred in a little over a second, Soverick''s fire torrent spell finally formed a ring around him. It is a simple replication of a domain. The ring of fire extended for a meter around him. As long as he stays close to the mana entity and keeps it within the ring of fire it will continue to take damage.


    It is his trump card to deal damage to the mana entities. So When the mana entity recovered from its brief stun and caught Soverick''s fist like a vice, the tides didn''t change too much. This mana entity isn''t physically stunted like the former one. It is a warrior, not a spell specialist and it showed soon after. It recovered and began to brawl with Soverick.


    Its skill in hand-to-handbat was top-notch. Soverick had thrown his spear so he couldn''t use his spear skills, in exchange this mana entity had only one hand. Still, Soverick was on the losing end in the brawl. The mana entity was just that good, capable of overwhelming Soverick with just one hand.


    Soverick''s punches were easily resolved. The mana entity moved in a strange way that rhymed with Soverick''s body movements and made his attacks ineffectual. He mostly held on because of his superior power. Each of his punches hit harder and destabilized his opponent which prevented it from doing more against him.


    Even worse is that its arm was regrowing. If it got the use of its other arm then things will escte for Soverick. The mana entity will be able to do more than just defend, it will be able to counteract.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It could cause a stalemate with one hand, two hands will make it bring out its full capabilities and Soverick doesn''t want to see that happening. The difficulty of this fight reminded him that these mana entities are vestiges of gods. They can be mocked but they are ancient. They have experienced a lot and seen even more.


    They are much older than Soverick. He may have spent only 5 origin cycles being alive but he isn''t helpless against them. He stuck close to the mana entity as they tussled throughout the room.


    It helped that the mana entity is also a closebat warrior. They punched and blurred within the room. Hits were deflected, counterattacks were made and attacks were dodged. Throughout it all, Soverick held faith in his spell. The fire ring couldn''tst forever, it just had to hold on until the mana entity couldn''t handle more. It happened 4 seconds after the fire ring was established. The barrier around the mana entity winked out of existence. Two secondster the mana entity burned up and the fight ended. The fightsted a total of 7 seconds.


    "I knew I could count on you," Soverick said as he let go of his spell.


    He started prepping another one soon after. Then he sat down to rest and ruminate about his fight. The mana entities were strong but they were ss cannons. They weren''t living beings, just energy vestiges. But they could dish out damage and exhibit skills worthy of a mana entity.


    "Time to go." He said after he was rested enough.


    He took his loot before leaving. There was a pair of brass knuckles and light armor. He changed into the light armor and picked up the brass knuckles.


    Then he absorbed the ball of light. He gained an understanding of fist fighting. Mastery in it was a little different from spear mastery in that it focused more on redirecting the momentum of the opponent rather than that of yourself and your weapon.


    "That exins why it was able to keep me off even with a single hand." He mused.


    He was made to fight half of himself plus the strength of the mana entity. It is a different approach to skills and mastery.

 Chapter 216 More Grinding And More Loot.

    ?He was able to match the mana entity only because it had just one arm to fight with. It would have been worse if the mana entity had both arms. The Understanding he gained from it was equal to his own level of skill in spear mastery, the seamless step. Two of them working together will amplify each other.


    The Understanding is useful to him and Legion, unlike thest mana entity he faced. The energy he gained on the other hand was just enough to top him off into reaching the energy requirements for his fourth gate.


    Soverick went into his next room. He faced off with a spell specialist instead of a warrior. This time, the mana entity was proficient in the element of fire. Soverick''s fire torrent spell that he relied on failed him, it could not burn through the enemy''s shield as he had expected because this mana entity kept interfering with his spell even when it was disoriented from being tossed back and forth.


    Things weren''t so bad. He couldn''t do anything to the mana entity nor could it get enough room to cast spells. Soverick remained content with just knocking it around which is something very easy to do in a room so small while constantly moving above 300m/s.


    The fight ended in 1 minute and 3 seconds. The mana entity simply broke apart after being jostled so much. The impact of the hits finally broke down its energy form. He had been the won toying with the mana entity but it was his most difficult fight yet.


    "Note to self. Just badger them to death." He said as he plopped down.


    He was tired to the bone. That fight took a lot more out of him than he expected. There are several advantages of being in the mana entity stage. You get an enhanced body and mind. You hit better, faster, react quicker, and have a keener perception. That''s just the body.


    For the mind, you think faster. It is why no people thought it impossible for a vitality core stage refiner to achieve the second step of spear mastery. All the mana entities he is fighting have the second step of mastery. That means a single move from them can set you down a path of inevitable defeat. He had to use his own mastery of seamless to keep them useless in the fight.


    "I am either unlucky or things are just this tough. I wonder how the others are doing?"


    He began to think about the other youths are faring. He is having it tough even though he is being underestimated by his opponents. But the other youths might not be finding it as difficult as him. If they can survive their first battle, then they will gain understanding and appropriate weapons. When coupled with their various divine abilities then they might be having things easy in the middle stage.


    "I better move on or someone will beat me to the final level." He picked himself off the ground and prepared to leave.


    Any mana entity from the main in in the middle stage that is still alive will possess the advantages of a mana entity and would have acquired more. They may not have been able to match him as a vitality core refiner but that has surely changed. It would not do to underestimate their abilities. If he intends to get the dungeon core then he must be ahead of them.


    The problem Soverick is facing is that he isn''t growing. Most of the understanding he gets is useless and the energy he got isn''t enough to help him break through yet. If he gets the advantages of the mana entity realm, he would be able to steamroll through the middle stage. For now, all he can do is just keep moving forward.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He got his loot. The understanding of fire elemental spells is useless to him. The staff that was dropped would enhance his fire spells but it has also be useless in light of recent events.


    "I don''t need any of this."


    His fire spell can fail him. Casting spells in their level ofbat without them being powerful and instantaneous will be futile. He can cast spells instantly but they aren''t powerful enough to damage mana entities. Vitality core refiners can''t do that at all. He can but it isn''t enough. That''s why he preps and amplifies the spell.


    Since spells can disappoint him, it is better not to keep all his eggs in one basket. He stroked his brass knuckles fondly.


    "I''ll just stick with you." He said to it.


    Using a staff will require him to let go of his brass knuckles. Considering that his spells might fail him he chose to stick with the brass knuckles. It had helped him in pummeling hisst opponent to death.


    Thebination of his fist and spear mastery in harnessing momentum and turning the momentum of his opponent against them helped him when his spell failed him.


    The energy he received from the ball of light wasn''t enough to even fill the energy requirement of the fifth gate.


    He left the room and fought again. It was another difficult fight. He faced a mana entity that was using needle and thread. It was a vestige of a god of fabric. She held the needle like a spear while a spool of thread was hanging behind her. He had thought it aical sight but his mind changed quickly as soon as they fought. She wasn''t as useless as he had thought.


    He had approached her with confidence in his victory when she thrust at him with her needle. He dodged but the attack wasn''t over. She thrust again in a sh. She didn''t move her hand. A phantom needle appeared and thrust at him.


    He failed to dodge the phantom attack, and that''s when he met the second surprise. Her phantom needle became real and prated through all 20 of his barriers.

 Chapter 217 The Divine Abilities Of Gods.

    ?He had received his first injury in the middle stage and it was 5 at once. It turned out that she could four more phantoms and somehow thrust 6 times in a second. His barrier wasn''t destroyed but a hole appeared in it that the other phantoms used to reach him.


    He retreated immediately in a bid to create some distance between them and assess the situation. But she was able to keep up with him. She shed forward like a phantom being pulled forward by her needle. The needle had a homing ability that pulled her towards him. So he had to face her head-on.


    Their numerous shes enabled him to realize that she was poor at spear or weapon mastery. She was using some sort of ability that enabled her to stab really fast and prate through almost everything. Still, he couldn''te close to her at all to use his knuckles.


    That simple ability is enough to keep him on the back foot. If he had his spear, things would have been different but he couldn''t bring any spatial equipment into the divine dungeon since they use mana, unlike hismunicator which uses spiritual energy.


    Things started to get worse when her threads joined the fight. She could control them with her mind and they kepting from the spool she was carrying. She tried to restrict his movements and bind him with them. Then his fire torrent spell came to his rescue. It helped that her thread was weak to fire. She burned up soon after, giving him some useless understanding of thread working and tailoring. Then he moved on.


    Most of the fight after that was easy, he beat them outright and the fight ended in less than 10 seconds. Some were tough, the fightsted a minute or more. One of them was life-threatening. That fight ended in less than 10 seconds but he almost died.


    He faced a poison user and he would have died if the fight took longer. He had done the usual by rushing up to them and engaging in a fistfight. This mana entity wasn''t disoriented enough not to be able to use its aura of poison. Just staying close to it resulted in him being poisoned. The poison bypassed all his barriers and would have gotten worse had the fight not ended quickly enough.


    "I know that gods can''t use any power apart from the ones that are allowed in their domains." He said as he wrestled for his life on the ground.


    "I didn''t think it would be true if they are mana entities. Then again, I have never heard of gods that are mana entities."


    His golden fur had turned green. His immense vitality became fundamental to his ability to stay alive.


    Mana entities shouldn''t be capable of using poison to fight unless it is a divine ability. It was then that he realized that all the abilities of these vestiges were literally using their divine abilities. It brought to mind the fact that gods can''t use powers beyond their domain.


    Their divine domain empowers them but it also binds them. It exined the needle and thread mana entity. She could only use what her domain allowed her to use. It was powerful and inexplicable but it wasn''t versatile.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It also exined the use of poison. Poison isn''t an element of mana but aw. So it should be out of bounds for normal mana entities. Of course, some could fight with poisoned weapons.


    These mana entities are vestiges of gods, so it shouldn''t be out of ce for them to behave more like gods rather than normal mana entities.


    He faced a mana entity that was throwing food at him next. He understood the reason for the oddity quickly enough. He only wished he had encountered the food god rather than the poison god.


    The vestige of the god of food couldn''t use any spells or weapon mastery. All it could do his throw tes of food at him with uncanny uracy. The projectiles couldn''t be dodged but it wasn''t enough of a threat to Soverick.


    His journey through the middle stage of the dungeon earned him a lot of energy and understanding. He became proficient in various fields, some helpful to him and Legion. Others, not so much, no matter how he looked at it. What use is an understanding of mining going to be for Legion as a whole?


    He went through 38 fights before he couldn''t go ahead anymore. The easiest fight was a fight with a mana entity that used illusions and soul attacks. All the illusions failed to affect him and the soul attacks didn''t even tickle him. To top it off, the mana entity was extra fragile. A single punch broke it to pieces.


    The most difficult fight was his 38th fight. It was the fight that finally gave him pause. He knew something was wrong the moment he entered the room. His instincts screamed danger. He moved sideways and dodged a spear attack. Except everything about the attack was wrong. The spear returned to its wielder. It more or less shrunk back into the mana entity''s hand.


    The mana entity was in the middle of the room but the spear it was holding hadn''t been thrown at Soverick. The spear had elongated to reach Soverick, then it shortened when he dodged it. Soverick had seen weapons that could change form before, Origin weapons are like that. So he wasn''t seeing such a weapon for the first time. But he was highly surprised to see it in the hands of a mana entity. Still, he didn''t show it. He didn''t let the surprise stop him from dodging as more attacks came. He adapted quickly.


    Soverick isn''t one to let his emotions influence his judgment. So he focused on the fight, but a further examination of the mana entity revealed details that stunned him. He couldn''t help but blurt out.


    "You''re real."


    His opponent grinned menacingly "Yes, I''m real."

 Chapter 218 The Celestial God Of Lightning.

    ?The mana entity was real. It was decked out in armor and deep blue fur. It isn''t like the vestiges that Soverick was fighting earlier. This one actually has weight to his existence. That meant this fight has more than tripled in difficulty.


    "I know you. That''s why I didn''t underestimate you." The mana entity spoke.


    He wasfortable speaking since what it was doing was standing around and using the length-changing ability of its spear to attack Soverick.


    Soverick on the other hand kept quiet. He wasn''tfortable talking unless he wants to be pierced through by the spear. The attacks were lightning-fast. The switch from elongated to reduced was done by the spear beyond what he thought was possible for a weapon.


    His opponent continued to talk. "You are the aberrant. I watched your fight in the first stage. You ruined our n. You must pay for that sin with your life."


    Soverick had been watching and examining the mana entity. When he noticed that it was pulling a massive amount of mana into several spots around him, he knew that he couldn''t allow the mana entity to continue. He must stop whatever is about to happen immediately.


    What was going on was absurd to think about. The mana entities he had faced had only one Ability that they used but this one seems to be a warrior and a mage. He had his spear and could also cast spells. The fight had quadrupled in difficulty.


    Soverickgged in speed all of a sudden. The mana entity took advantage of it and sent the spear his way. Then he sped up, heightened his perception, and then he grabbed the spear. His handtched onto the pole of the spear and tried pulling it. He was sure he should be stronger than the mana entity. He had faith in his umted momentum. He was wrong.


    He experienced what others must have felt when they crossed fists with him or tried to push him back. He couldn''t move the mana entity at all. There he was, all revved up with his hand on the spear but it wasn''t bulging. Then he felt his intuition tingle in warning, so he let the spear go and tried to move as far away as possible.


    The spear lit up like a bolt of lightning. It was like a blue energy construct instead of the rigid form he was holding onto earlier. A bolt jumped out from the spear of lightning and struck him. Some of his barriers were shattered immediately. He would have been electrocuted and paralyzed if he was still touching it. And that would be the least of his problems.


    "You''re smart and you have good instincts. You''re theplete package." The mana entity said as he let go of the ambient mana he was umting.


    "You tricked me," Soverick said calmly.


    "Correct." The mana entity was still grinning at him. This time, Soverick could see a touch of madness within his opponent''s eyes.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It''s just me, the spear, and my lightning. Nothing else." The mana entityughed and answered.


    Soverick had thought he was about to cast spells. He expected the worst oue when the mana entity was gathering mana. He thought he wanted to create a magic arsenal. It might have been game over if Soverick let that happen.


    He had thought that since the mana entity was real, it could probably do what other mana entities could do. So he tried something desperate and the mana entity had been anticipating it.


    "I knew you were going to abuse your momentum. It''s how you''re so fast and strong. I don''t know how you got so much of it or how you can keep it up for so long. But you''re not the only one with a lot of momentum." His opponent mocked him.


    Soverick continued to dodge and evade his attacks with the spear. The mana entity grew bored and irritated at the monotony of things. The fight had devolved into a chase of a cat and a mouse.


    "Is this all you know how to do? To run and hide like a coward. I thought better of you seeing as you are the hero of the ne." He said to Soverick.


    He even left openings in his attacks so that Soverick would try something different. But it seemed Soverick had be overly cautious after thatst deceit. He didn''t even respond to the snidements that the mana entity made.


    "If you won''te to me, I''lle to you."


    Saying so the mana entity lit up like his spear. Lightening began to course through its body. Then he shed brightly and appeared before Soverick. Soverick understood what was going on immediately. The mana entity was augmenting itself with its element. It will make the mana entity faster. When coupled with the strength he felt when he tried to pull the spear, the mana entity should be deadlier. But Soverick smiled.


    Faster or stronger, what mattered is that the mana entity had moved closer to him. It meant it was within striking distance and most importantly, within Soverick''s range of divine sense. So Soverick struck. He put all he had into a punch to his opponent''s head. The mana entity blocked his fist but somehow he was still struck in the face.


    Imagine punching a boulder flying at you at a minimum speed of 300m/s hard enough for the boulder to crack. Odds are the fist will also be damaged. The mana entity''s head whipped back abruptly. 17 of Soverick''s barriers broke as soon as his fist made contact with his opponent''s jaw. It protected his fist from most of the damage, but his arm was almost dislocated.


    The mana entity was surprised by the hit, it had blocked it, and yet he was struck. He might have made a mistake but he could retaliate. His spear moved to cut Soverick in his side. Instead of backing off, Soverick moved forward.

 Chapter 219 The Desperation Of A God.

    ?The mana entity grinned. If Soverick wanted to die, then so be it. He would dly oblige. But he missed.


    "Huh," He was confused.


    He wasn''t an amateur that he would miss such an easy attack. His spear had hit Soverick but it had passed through him. It was almost as if Soverick wasn''t there. Had he misjudged the distance? He began to question himself.


    Soverick punched again. He blocked again. He was hit again. It was the same mistake all over again. Soverick capitalized on his opponent''s confusion and punched again. The mana entity deflected this time. He swung his spear in a wide horizontal arc to amodate for discrepancies in the distance. He missed again and he suffered the consequences with a heavy counterattack.


    "What is going on?" It asked out loud.


    If it had only happened the first time, he would have overlooked it. It happened again and again. It was enough for the mana entity to know that something was very wrong.


    Soverick did not answer. He was busy trying to beat this mana entity. It is a full-time thing. It is already difficult enough to damage what felt like a boulder to his fist. The asional lightning that struck him made the fighting close even though it seemed like he had the upper hand. His barriers were breaking every time he made contact with the mana entity. So he didn''t have time to exin to the confused mana entity how it was getting its butt kicked.


    The mana entity decided to create space between itself and Soverick but that isn''t so easily done. It is one thing to keep its distance from him and use a weapon to keep him off. But toe close to him and decided that he has had enough? It isn''t his choice to make. Soverick stuck to him like ink on paper. The mana entity tried everything it could all to no avail.


    "Enough." It shouted as it poured power into its spear.


    The spear lit up with lightning as it did earlier. But this time it went further. It grew brighter until it exploded. Lightening bolts scattered into the surroundings. The explosion caught both Soverick and the mana entity. Soverick only suffered lightly, he had sensed danger and chosen to escape before the explosion. It is a good thing too or he would have been severely injured by that explosion.


    The mana entity on the other hand took the brunt of the explosion. His right arm and the spear it was holding were gone. Its armor and barrier withstood most of the damage. Still, it had aplished what it wanted to do. They were finally separated.


    Just a distance of 20m between them. Small but significant to creatures of their speed. Soverick won''t be able toe close if the mana entity chooses to run.


    "The god-king said not to underestimate you. That we should hit you with everything we have to kill you. You have finally angered me enough to do that." The mana entity said.


    Soverick shrugged. "So what?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Even as he said so, his heart was beating wildly in his chest. It could be because of the thrill of battle or fear or both.


    The mana entity didn''t answer. A spark of lightning lit up from the remains of the destroyed spear. Then that spark grew into a small lightning snake. It continued to grow until it became a spear of pure blue lightning. It was fizzling and booming thunderp.


    Soverick watched it all happen with increasing dread. He wanted to move forward to attack the mana entity but his instincts screamed danger at him.


    Even now, he wasn''t safe. He couldn''t run or evade what wasing for him. He knew it. So he prepared instead of cowering.


    The mana entity sneered. "Always soposed. I thought you would have rushed forward to your doom."


    Soverick remained silent as he mentally revved up his fire torrent spell. He brought down all of his barriers in favor of the spell. No amount of barriers he could create would save him from what is toe. It was all or nothing now.


    "You have pushed me this far. You have pushed the gods too far. You have disrespected the gods and intended to go further by destroying our future. I''ll give anything to put you down here and now."


    As he was talking, he began to flicker like the mes of a candle about to go out. His energy was going haywire but it was being fed into the lightning spear. So either the mana entity explodes or the spear finishes growing. Those were his two options.


    Soverick chose to allow the spear to finish growing. He stands a chance with the spear rather than the explosion of a mana entity in this small room. That chance might be very low, but it is still a chance.


    "I have prepared a gift for you. Just a taste of the former power of the Celestial god of Lightning. You shall witness the might of lightning. Prepare yourself for your end." He said after the spear finished growing.


    The mana entity had be a blurry outline by now. But the spear had be a small star of lightning. It was so full of energy that it shined brightly. It wasn''t blue anymore but gold. The room was ringing with the sound of thunder now. The good thing about it is that all that energy is contained and controlled.


    Soverick did more than prepare. He attacked first. It was fire against lightning. He had to get a head start if he intends to overtake lightning in speed. Even that might not be enough. That''s why he gave it a lot of boosts by bringing down his barriers and dedicating all his mental power into it.


    Even with all his preparation, he waste to the mark. His pir of fire didn''t reach the mana entity before it fired its spear. The spear reached him first.

 Chapter 220 The Might Of Lightning.

    ?The spear missed. It seemed the mana entity had misjudged again. The glowing spear missed Soverick by a little bit.


    But things were out of the mana entity''s hand now. The spear will continue to hunt its target as long as its orders remain. The small illusion that Soverick was using to muddle the senses of the mana entity didn''t work on the spear. Its cold gaze was locked onto him and they would be no mistakes anymore.


    The spear was so fast that it came around for another attack even before Soverick''s fire pir reached the mana entity. It prated his back and came out of his stomach. It obliterated everything in its way. It turned around for another attack and was about to reach Soverick''s chest when it fell harmlessly to the ground.


    Its orders had disappeared. Its owner had died. So it began to dim. Soverick''s fire pir had finally reached the mana entity. He had a head start, yet the spear reached him twice, and was about to get the third opportunity before his own attack killed the mana entity.


    The spear was fast and impossible to evade, but its controller is weak and on hisst legs. The Celestial God of Lightning had sacrificed himself to create an attack that should kill Soverick.


    He dropped down to his knees. He felt pain, but it isn''t why he dropped down. He just felt incredibly weak, so weak, he couldn''t stand on his legs. A huge cauterized hole in your gut can do that to you.


    "It''s now or never." He said as he began to crawl towards the ball of light left behind by his opponent.


    He understood more about his wound than it looked. The wound wasn''t healing. He couldn''t justy down and hope his vitality will heal it. There was something within that attack that is preventing his wound from healing. It is probably the remaining divinity of that celestial god that he sacrificed for hisst attack. So he understood that he could die here unless he breaks through and be a mana entity.


    His previous 37 fights have given him enough energy to meet the requirements for all 9 of his gates. He just needs a little more to push it forward so that his vitality core can crystalize. That''s why he is crawling towards the ball of light, to get that bit of energy he needs. It is a funny thing that the 20 meters distance that he could skip over in less than a heartbeat has be a daunting task to ovee now.


    The muscles of his stomach and lower back had been obliterated. There was some damage to his spine. That damage to his spine messed up his connection to his gates. Thankfully his arms were good. He used them to pull himself forward. He left a blood trail behind. It wasn''t much but it is bound to increase as his wound erged.


    "Finally."


    After a few seconds which felt like an eternity, he reached the ball. Then he touched it, absorbed the energy, and began to break through to the mana entity stage. The energy he had from within him went into his cores, converted them, and crystalized them. Even his gates of momentum joined in the transformation.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    As the cores were transformed by pure energy, he reached the point where he should create a focal point for mana. A focal point will connect his core and his entire being into a particr or a set of mana elements.


    This is where elemental affinityes into y. The more elements of mana that you bound to your core, the faster you regenerate, the stronger you are and the more options you will have for mana augmentation.


    Mana is everything. There are 9 elements of mana. Earth, water, fire, air, light, darkness, life, death, and lightning. Lightning is also called heavenly mana. Soverick is naturally blessed with god-level talent in six of those.


    He can forcefully sense the other elements because of his powerful soul but he can''t add them to his focal point. The connection to mana and the congregation of the elements to the focal point has to be a passive process, not one he can force with his mind.


    The six he has is okay. He might be greedy, but this much is enough. There is no way he can force it, even if he does, it will impact his path as a titan in the future.


    The elements of mana in his focal point will affect his divine ability when it awakens. The mana of his core will go to fueling his eyes, it will create chaos if they don''t match.


    His path is already difficult as it is, there''s no need to add more trouble to it. He just has to make the best use of what he has. That''s why he is going to create a high-order mana element.


    Not create exactly, more like concoct. High-order mana elements exist already. The destruction or creation energy possessed by unique dragons is a high-order mana element. Rebirth energy possessed by phoenixes is another type. High Elves also possess Natural or nt mana.


    All these types of high-order mana elements have one or two basic mana elements as their foundation but are expressed in different ways.


    All High order mana elements have a unique form that isn''t public knowledge. He knows about that of High Elves to be life mana plus vitality but he doesn''t know about the others. Even though he knows the form for Natural mana, he can''t replicate it. He just doesn''t have the affinity for it anymore. But he will make his own. He can do at least that much.


    He isn''t aiming high. He just wants something that can enhance the elements he has. Fire can deal a lot of damage but it is slow, light is very fast. The fusion of the two can create something marvelous. They can fill each other''s shorings.

 Chapter 221 Breakthrough To Become Mana Entity.

    ?There''s fire and earth to create magma, earth and wind to create metal, water and darkness to create poison, etc. These are things that are not usually avable to mana entities except if they have the divine ability for it. These things are created with the fusion of elements.


    They are good to have, but they aren''t his aim. Creating a fusion with two elements is easy, three is difficult, and six is too much. He doesn''t n to fuse them at all, but to create a configuration that will just enhance the individual elements. Make them more powerful than normal.


    So he made the six individual elements spiral into six individual focal points within his mana core. His current configuration won''t work. The individual spirals tried to meet and fuse. It is called a focal point for a reason, not foci points. He pushed them apart with his mind. It was easy to do to keep them apart. But things can''t be left like this. A focal point has to be passive, or it won''t be created and his core won''t crystalize.


    So he began the difficult part, creating a force of bnce and amplification. He began to take little threads from the six spirals and wound them in a controlled manner. Then he made them interact carefully.


    He let fire and its reaction be enhanced by light. He let fire enhance wind. He let wind enhance water and earth. He let the element of earth be enhanced by fire. He let water amodate and enhance darkness. When darkness is enhanced, so is light. When a fire is produced, light is also produced. Finally, he let this 7th spiral bnce against the six spirals as the six spirals feed into it. Then he watched the result.


    The six spirals tried to fuse with the central spiral but they were repelled. The fire in the seventh spiral repelled the spiral of water. The light in it repelled the spiral of darkness. The earth in it repelled the spiral of air. They couldn''t fuse with it. But they were a part of it. So they just trickled into it ording to the path that Soverick had set for them. In a way, he just built a concept. Except it was made of mana instead ofws, and the image was just a simple enhancement. Nothingplicated, but it is a start for greater things.


    With his focal point set, he moved on to the next phase of his breakthrough. Three things make up a mana entity, a mana core, a mana body, and a mana mind. A mana core creates a mana body. His vitality core, having beenpletely crystallized after his creation of the focal point began to flood his body with mana. Since his body is epting of it, it began to change and evolve.


    If your body isn''t willing to subsist on mana then your core will never be able to crystalize in the first ce. The purity of mana needed to make the change will becking. Since that isn''t the case with him, he can safely acquire a mana body.


    The pure mana in the blood found its way into every single cell and upgraded them. It strengthened the cell wall and organelles. The mitochondrial evolved into something capable of metabolizing mana efficiently. The variousw fragments in the blood also activate. With ites the awakening of the bloodline and its divine ability.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    All these changes are positive but they affect the body and the mind in what can be considered a negative way. Healing bes easier and regeneration bes possible. Mana will form a blueprint of your body that makes all this possible. But that means you can hardly grow stronger through exercise anymore because the new cells that are made will be made in the image of the old cells.


    Your existence will be rigid. With rigidityes structural integrity, but also ack of adaptability. Your cells be inflexible. Habits be difficult to change because of the changes in your nerve cells.


    The body affects the mind in more ways than one. The way you walk and your posture be added to the blueprint of your life. If your arm regenerates, it won''t regrow like a baby''s arm but as your full-grown armplete with its years of training and muscle memory.


    After the mana body, is the mana mind. What came next is the breakthrough of his spirit or what is known as the soul core. When someone bes a mana entity, their minds expand into something called a soul space. If that person hasn''t awakened their spirit and doesn''t have a divine sense, then they will get them with the creation of the soul space. But having it before the creation of the soul space will have allowed for the training of mental agility that will enhance the sess of bing a transcendent.


    Those with an awakened spirit will then go on to form a soul core. It is a natural process for those with bloodlines. But those without one, like Ka, will have to spend time and resources to acquire it. She didn''t have a soul core when she came to babysit Soverick and his siblings but has been able to acquire it due to support from Mih.


    It may be a natural process for those with bloodlines, but it will take time before it happens. Then they will go on to shape their soul cores for ascension into a transcendent. For Soverick, the formation of his soul core and its shaping for ascendancy was immediate as soon as he created a soul space.


    His soul is much too strong for his body so any space given to his soul to expand is filled immediately and to the brim. A small crystal battle sage monkey appeared within his soul space. Hepleted his breakthrough to the mana entity stage. Two things happened because of the evolution of his life''s order. One in his environment and one in his eyes.

 Chapter 222 The Eyes Of Heaven: First Awakening.

    ?His domain sprung to life through the evolution of his divine sense. A mana entity gains more control of ambient mana. That control is granted to them through their domain. There are different types of domains depending on the elements in the focal point. The strength of the domain is dependent on the elemental affinity and the strength of the spirit. Soverick''s spirit is so strong that his domain solidified rapidly until it became a nascent world.


    His divine ability also fully awakened. Thew fragments that had embedded themselves into his eyes and modified them were lit up by mana. Six streams of mana entered his eyes which led to the first awakening. It is an iplete awakening since not allw fragments lit up but it is a start. Only 6 portions out of 9 lit up.


    His soul core and mana core pumped both spiritual energy and mana into his eyes. The two of them are far stronger than vitality, easily essible, and quick to replenish. It was like a fire lit up in his eyes. It wasn''t a hot me, but the cool me of spiritual energybusting with mana.


    His eyes glowed a multicolored lightposed of the six colors of the mana elements in his core before they switched to a single one. Then it began to cycle between them. The pupils of his eyes changed color in synchronization with the element of mana he is currently perceiving.


    Mana is in the air and the ground. It is everywhere and he could see it. It isn''t like the groping around of blind men using their divine sense to perceive mana. It was like mana wasmunicating with him and telling him its secrets. Nothing could stay hidden under his gaze.


    He could see through the room he is currently in, to see the other rooms. His sight showed that he was in a small bubble of mana within a bigger bubble. A tunnel ofnd is connected to this bubble through a huge gate. At the other end of the tunnel is a portal that leads to the main ne. At the center of this bigger bubble is arge bubble, muchrger than the tiny bubble he is currently in. Within that bubble is the dungeon core, the prize of the dungeon.


    His gazended on the keeper of the dungeon. The boss of the dungeon noticed his gaze immediately. Ode looked confused for a second but he looked directly in Soverick''s direction. Soverick''s divine sense had expanded to 100 meters from the 20 meters of his vitality core stage. But the distance between them was farther than that. Yet, his divine sense extended through his eyes and through the passage that mana made for him to make contact with the former god-king.


    "Wait for me." He dered.


    Then he retracted his gaze leaving the startled former god-king behind.


    His eyes swept through the other bubbles. He saw more small bubbles like his own with other mana entities within them. Most of the youths that entered the middle stage were dead. Only a few of the ones alive were still fighting. The rest were meditating or rxing within their own bubbles. He saw the mana vestiges in the other bubbles without soldiers from the main ne.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He saw various vestiges that look like the ones he had fought and killed, including the opponent of his easiest fight. He had gotten an understanding of illusion from that fight. He learned that illusions had three steps to them. Perception, mind, and soul illusion. Deceiving the senses is a perception illusion. Deceiving the processing of information is a mental illusion. Deceiving the processes of the soul is thest step.


    Sadly, he didn''t be an illusion expert with the knowledge he acquired. He doesn''t have the divine ability to use illusions, so he remained an illusion enthusiast capable of performing the easiest one. That''s only because he has a powerful soul. If he were normal, he wouldn''t even be able to deceive the senses at all.


    The knowledge wasn''t a waste at all. It was the loot from his easiest fight that helped him ovee his most difficult fight. The lightning celestial god was always missing because he was perceiving the wrong things. The deviation in his senses wasn''t much, just a few centimeters at best but it was enough for it to continue missing.


    He turned his attention to his body to gauge the fruits of his breakthrough. His domain was exceptional. His divine ability was unique. It wasn''t overly powerful like the normal ability of battle sage monkeys. He couldn''t speed up his perception of time and the world like they do. All he could do is see mana.


    Mana is in everything and is everything. Divine energy is a fusion of mana and faith. Origin Energy is a dilution of Origin essence with mana. His ability sounds powerful but only in capable hands. The fact that you can see something doesn''t mean you canprehend what you''re seeing.


    His eyes have simply be capable of sensing with mana instead of light. It will transmit all the new information to the brain and mind. It is up to the mind to process the information and figure out what the eyes are really seeing.


    The processing power of his mind and his knowledge of mana is of a level that the simple definition of seeing mana bes being capable of seeing everything since mana is everything. Well, not everything, but he can see most things.


    His sight can still be blocked. For example, he can''t see out of the dungeon. There is a void or a solid wall of power stopping the interaction of the dungeon with the main ne. It could be made from divine energy since he can''t see through it and Origin energy yet. Still, his divine ability is special, practically on par with the fact that he has 10 cores within his body.

 Chapter 223 PowerUP.

    ?One of them is his former vitality core. It is about 3 times bigger than the others. The other 9 are his former gates of momentum. They have evolved into proper vessels now. He could feel them and control them perfectly.


    "Let''s try something."


    He attempted to connect with the momentum of the world. He had his own conjectures about it but he didn''t need to visualize or theorize about it anymore. He had gained a lot of understanding of weapon mastery up to the third step from the mana vestiges he had killed. He had gained even more from the lightning celestial god.


    The step of weapon mastery required minor world harmonization. The harmonization with earth, water, and air. He had acquired the other two. Getting thest one was very easy. He felt the world through his domain. He felt the earth, the water, and the air. It became easier when his eyes could see what he needed to do.


    "All his mana." He said before he took a step forward.


    His feet didn''t return to the ground. Instead, it found support in the air. His second foot also found purchase in the air. He was able to stand in the air. Next came feeling for the momentum of the world and channeling it to himself.


    "Mana is force, momentum, energy, and matter. Mana is everything."


    It happened quickly. The momentum of the world surged into his body and into the 9 vessels. They revved to life. Then he activated their full purpose. He had always been using them to empower himself passively. He had never harvested them because harvesting them will destroy them. But now he could.


    He harvested a single vessel. That vessel burned its stored momentum and gave him unrivaled power. He chopped with his right hand and the sound of his hand breaking the sound barrier resounded like pping thunder within the room. The vessel didn''t destroy itself. Soverick turned it off after that short exercise. It is another thing that mana entities can''t do. Then the momentum of the world began to refill its consumed stores.


    "Finally." He nodded in appreciation.


    This is what he had been toiling for. One of the things he came to the divine dungeon to achieve. One is to umte enough energy, create more gates, and finally break through. The second one is to acquire various understandings for himself and for Legion. The third objective is to get the dungeon core. He has achieved the first two. Which leaves the dungeon core in the central bubble.


    His eyes swept the bubbles very close to the central bubble. Inside them were mana entities like the lightning celestial god. They were real instead of vestiges but they have also been weakened. They are the guardians of the central dais. He could see his position rtive to the central bubble and the mechanism by which he will get ess to it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He is close to the central room now because he defeated the guardian of the entrance into the central bubble but an entrance hasn''t been opened to him yet. He will have to fight two guardians before he finally gets ess to the central bubble and the dungeon core.


    He chuckled. "I''m not going to do that."


    Even though he gained an understanding of spear mastery up to the fifth step from the lightning celestial god, he isn''t going to kill more celestial gods for their understanding. He would rather take the dungeon core and take everything the divine dungeon has to offer. Any time he wastes fighting the other gods is time for something to go wrong.


    He isn''t a blind man fumbling around in the dark anymore. He can see, so he intends to take the shortest, most direct route to the central bubble. If there is no way, then he will have to make one.


    He picked up the spear of the fallen celestial god to use. The spear had be damaged due to the death of its previous owner. It fell from being a divine artifact into a mana weapon. It could still change length a little and it could be amplified with his mana, so it is useful to him.


    He elongated the spear a little to match his new height. He had grown from his height of 1.3m to 1.7m tall now after his breakthrough. He is just a little taller than Ka. He began to channel earth mana into the spear. The spear began to grow heavy and weighted.


    Then Soverick turned his eyes to where his small bubble made contact with the central bubble. He waited for a weakness as his spear grew heavier. He breathed in and out with a certain breathing technique. The mana in the air entered his body through his lungs but didn''te out.


    Air came out when he exhaled but it left mana behind. The mana crossed the thin walls of his lung into his blood. More mana began to fill his blood as he inhaled and exhaled ording to the rhythm of his breathing technique. He was practically glowing and thrumming with power.


    He began to burn his vessels, just two of them. Power filled his body and limbs as momentum coursed through his mana body. He was ready while his glowing eyes stayed locked onto the wall. Then he thrust into the fault line as soon as he saw it appear.


    His spear struck the wall with surety and power. The fault line expanded and the wall cracked. Then it caved in. A suction force pulled on him and drew him into the hole. The hole began to heal after his disappearance until it closed uppletely. Meanwhile, he was deposited unceremoniously at his destination.


    He found himself in arge room with a sun in the sky. He had fallen face first when he entered the room through a crack in its walls. He stood up quickly and readied himself for battle.

 Chapter 224 The Last Stage.

    ?"I honestly thought my entry would be cooler." He muttered as he examined the room.


    His eyes scanned the room for relevant information and his opponent.Considering that this is thest fight, he is ready for it to be difficult.


    This room is muchrger than his previous room. It is about 1 kilometer in diameter. This entire room is the central bubble and the glowing sun in the sky is the dungeon core. He pointed at Ode who was sitting at the center of the room, beneath the sun.


    "Hey, you. Remember me?" He asked.


    "You''re the one that destroyed my ns in the canyon gorge. You''re the aberrant. You''re also the one that was spying on me earlier." Ode answered calmly.


    Ode shook his head and said, "Should I say as expected of the trump card of the main ne."


    "Anyway, I have been waiting for you. I knew you would reach the final stage. The vestiges won''t be able to stop you and the former celestial gods might be able to kill you if they give it their all but they obviously failed."


    Soverick didn''t understand where Ode got the notion that he was the trump card of the main ne. The main ne wasn''t responsible for his ability and prowess, but it didn''t matter at this point.


    He nodded. "You remember me. That''s good."


    Then he pointed at the sun. "I want that. Just give it to me and I''ll be on my way."


    Ode chuckled. It was not because of amusement but to cover the irritation he was feeling from Soverick''s casual attitude.


    He didn''t refuse though. "I can do that. If you swear to allow the gods to return, then we don''t need to fight. We will both win that way."


    Soverick hummed as if he expected that answer and he didn''t have a problem with it either way. "I guess we need to fight then."


    Ode''s irritation was rising. "What confidence you have. Do you think you can beat me?"


    Soverick answered with utter certainty. "Without a doubt."


    He is a new creature now that he is a mana entity. A ss beyond what a mana entity can hope to reach. He is beyondpare and he has confidence in that belief.


    Ode smiled. "I understand that you are special. You were raised that way. You believe yourself to be above all. Does your confidencee from the understanding that you have recently acquired?"


    Soverick frowned. Where does his confidencee from? It wasn''t because he was raised this way. He is a product of his own engineering. He shook his head and ignored Ode''s opinion of why he is strong. Does his confidencee from the understanding he has recently acquired?


    He answered calmly. "Partly so. But I don''t believe myself to be above all. I just believe that I am above you." He pointed to Ode.


    "Ignorant child. Do you take me for those dregs of mana entities? They can''t even conjure a domain. And you believe yourself to be above me just because you are a mana entity and have some understanding. There is so much error in your belief." Ode roared and said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick bowed slightly, "Enlighten me then, old one."


    Ode straightened himself, "I am unique, I didn''t be god-king by chance. I rose above my peers to achieve greatness. I am greatness."


    Soverick I interjected. "Correction. You are former greatness."


    Ode had had enough. He refused to bicker with Soverick anymore.


    "This fight is hopeless for you." He stated calmly.


    Soverick raised an eyebrow "We''ll see about that."


    He was confident of victory but he wasn''t conceited about it. He knew that anything can happen in a battle. His victory isn''t assured until it has finally happened. That''s why he is chatting with this former god-king while examining this world and the god-king with his eyes. Still, he couldn''t see anything amiss which made him wary.


    Either the god-king was bluffing earlier or he would be facing something unknown. It was enough reason for him to go all out from the start. He intends to use his full power to crush any and all resistance so that nothing could interfere with his Victory.


    Ode had resumed his calmness now. It was the calmness of one ready to do battle.


    He said to Soverick. "I have watched your fights and I know your reliance. It is a major reliance of all battle sage monkeys that use the Sage''s system of weapon mastery."


    "Is that so?" Soverick asked while he began to deploy his magic arsenal.


    He began construction of the various parts of the magic arsenal with mana. Intricate mana umtors, enhancers, and amplifiers were built and joined together with otherponents like the element sieve and power reactor.


    All these tinyponents about a centimeter in length at most were being assembled for the sole purpose of spell storage and releaser.


    The magic arsenal is a physical construct of mana that allows you to store spells and release as many as you want. The maximum storage and release capabilities are dependent on the quality of the magic arsenal.


    With it, a mage can be an icon of firepower. It has its weaknesses but Soverick can hide them well. After all, this is not the first time he is a mana entity.


    Ode continued talking unbothered by the whirlwind of mana that was congregating with Soverick as the center. Soverick might have hidden what he is doing but the signs were there in the currents of mana.


    You don''t have to be able to see mana to know that he is cooking something. Ode was just confident that he would be able to ovee whatever Soverick is cooking up. Is his confidence misced? Ode didn''t think so, and for good reasons too.


    "Yes, it is so. There are several systems of mastery. I am the celestial god of battle and what I know best is how to acquire victory. Come on, let me show you. Actions speak louder than words." Ode beckoned to him.

 Chapter 225 The Boss Fight.

    ?Soverick moved forward in a blur with his spear empowered with mes meanwhile his magic arsenal activated. Rock spikes rose from the ground to impale the GodKing. Fire fell from the sky. Ice spikes condensed in the air and flew toward him. Water whipsshed onto his limbs and tried to pull him down. An icy hurricane was already forming. Darkness clouded his vision.


    Soverick was also augmenting his body with the various elements of mana in his core. Light and wind buffed him to be as fast as a shooting star. Fire and light were intertwined within his spear to enhance its attack power. Earth increased his body''s defenses and fortitude. Water made his barriers resilient and with high regeneration.


    Soverick was using the full might of his spells from the get-go. He had unleashed everything he could prepare in such a short time on the former god-king. He was poised to collide with Ode after his spells have wreaked havoc.


    Things were not looking good for Ode by any ount. But then Ode said "Nullification."


    A domain spread out from him and the world froze. Momentum ground to a halt. Soverick was also caught in this frozen world. He couldn''t move an inch. His spells also broke apart.


    Ode smirked and said. "Do you finally see why you can''t defeat me?"


    Soverick spoke with his divine sense. "You nullified momentum."


    Ode nodded in approval. He even pped. "Well done. It is fairly obvious so you don''t get a prize."


    He continued smugly. "Smart and confident as you are, what use are they now that you are caught and helpless? It isn''t your fault. This trick of mine has worked several times on much stronger and smarter foes."


    This is the major reason why he is confident in bringing Soverick down.


    "To acquire Victory, some empower themselves. They use momentum to amplify their prowess. Some destabilize their opponents. They use their opponent''s momentum against them. Some other unique people weaken their opponents. I am one of those people. I remove momentum entirely from others."


    "I see. But in exchange, you be powerless yourself." Soverick said.


    Ode frowned. "So what? I can still kill you easily."


    Ode couldn''t move quickly in his domain but he could still kill Soverick and he would be able to kill him at leisure too.


    Soverickmented as his eyes scanned the world. "Isn''t this the secret step of mastery of momentum, the Nullification of momentum? You didn''t evene up with it, but you''re bragging about it and you even botched it. How shameless."


    You Botched An Imitation.


    Ode roared angrily. "I didn''t botch it."


    Veins of frustration were showing on his forehead. He had reasons to be frustrated. His way of life has ended. The small hope he was clinging to is about to be ripped away from him. Then an upstart dares to call his technique botched.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick would have shrugged if he could move. "I thought the limit on the mastery that could be shown in the mana stage is the third step. I didn''t know this. Trust me, you botched it."


    Ode calmed down and began walking unhurriedly toward Soverick. He felt he had nothing to fear in indulging his trapped opponent so he asked, "How did I botch it?"


    Soverick also answered unhurriedly. "If I am seeing this right. You didn''t nullify momentum. You''re just stealing it. You have gone beyond siphoning the momentum of the world to siphoning the momentum of mana. You are imitating the power of a titan ofw."


    Only titans ofw can go beyond siphoning the momentum of a ne as a result of its rotation and movement, to controlling the power of the world contained within mana. It is an impressive thing to imitate such power but it is still an imitation and a botched one at that.


    Soverick continued. "The reason why only you can move is that you have the momentum siphoned stored within you. You aren''t a transcendent anymore so you don''t have unlimited storage. This domain will stop when you reach your maximum capacity."


    Ode sneered, "You''ll be dead before that happens."


    Soverick nodded. "Maybe. But it is a domain in the end. It is not a proper mastery of momentum. You can''t even do more than move. Your domain is hindering you from doing more than that. As I said earlier, you botched it. You botched an imitation."


    Ode had had enough of that word. He decided to make Soverick''s ending as painful as possible. There would be no respect for a worthy foe from him towards Soverick. "It doesn''t matter now."


    He had walked within 10 meters of Soverick.


    Soverick shook his head. "Of course, it matters. A domain can be broken."


    Ode was about to jeer when he stopped midway. A domain spread out from Soverick and broke his field of nullification. The domain encapsted him and they seemed to disappear from the room into a world of 6 colors of mana. There were 6 small spirals of mana surrounding arger 7th one which included all of them above them in the sky of the domain.


    "This is a domain. How did you get one? He asked in shock. His shock only increased when he realized how wrong he was.


    "This isn''t a domain. It''s a nascent world."


    It is a very powerful nascent world too. All he could see as far as his eyes could see were the 6 colors of mana that formed an ocean around him. The ck of darkness. The white of light. The red of fire. The brown of earth. The blue of water. The green of wind.


    He couldn''t feel any connection whatsoever to mana. He had be weakened and suppressed.


    He pointed at Soverick. He had a lot to say and a lot to ask. For starters, how did a new mana entity have such a strong domain that it evolved into a nascent world? It should be impossible.

 Chapter 226 An Improvement On Nullification.

    ?It should be impossible for a mana entity this young to have a domain this strong. Ode was perplexed about it and many others, but the only thing he could say was, "You''re not normal. You''re abnormal."


    Soverick had gone from a being without mana in his body to a being who couldmand mana as no other mana entity could. Maybe the theory that the racial council had found a way to make a mana entity look like a vitality core stage refiner is true.


    Soverick said. "Obviously I am not normal. Now let me show you how to do it properly. Nullification."


    The world froze, including Ode. Then the world of mana retracted all of a sudden and fused with Soverick.


    Ode didn''t understand what was going on before Soverick pounced at him with his weapon ready. Ode materialized an axe to deflect the attack. The axe materialized above his head. His two arms grabbed it and swung it with all his might.


    His massive axe met the spear and it slipped ineffectively away from the spear like water on an oily surface. The spear slipped through his barriers and into his chest. Then there was an explosion as Soverick detonated the fire mana he had embedded into the spear. Ode''s chest was sted apart and his body was broken into two. His upper chest with his head was propelled a distance from his lower body.


    The reason for his loss came to him as hey there on the ground with his head and half a torso. He had lost all his momentum. All that momentum he was siphoning earlier hadn''t helped him one bit. More like his momentum was nullified.


    He wasn''t dead yet but he had already lost the will to battle. He could still heal from the damage if given time and ample mana but Soverick wouldn''t allow that. The major thing that discouraged him is the fact that a young mana entity had seen his technique, corrected it, and improved on it. Then he went on to defeat him with it.


    "To seek to control the world is difficult. It is the domain of titans ofw and they aren''t even good at it. Only Sovereigns can control world power perfectly. It is better to start with controlling yourself and everything thates in contact with you." Soverick said to the helpless mana entity by his feet.


    Ode spoke. "I see."


    "You overstepped your bounds. It would have been alright if you were at least transcendent but you have fallen so low. This technique might have made you victorious in the past but that is all in the past. You''re Former Greatness now."


    "Maybe it is time for the era of the gods to end." He admitted.


    "Then be on your way," Soverick said before destroying the head of the former god-king.


    His spear impaled the skull and exploded it. The body of his dead opponent disintegrated into energy and understanding. Soverick took them and began to ascend towards the star in the sky.


    The energy he got wasn''t bad but it isrgely useless to him. The understanding waspletely useless. He had already acquired up to the 5th step of Mastery. The unique thing that the god-king knew was his Nullification field, but Soverick had acquired that before his death.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick had been capable of imitating techniques and skills that he saw as a vitality core stage refiner. Now that his eyesight has improved and he can see more, he can do better than imitate. He can figure out the weaknesses of what he sees and improve on them.


    The god-king had created a field around him that froze everything. He could move through it but it''s like walking through an ice block, so he was slow.


    Soverick had made the field into a thin barrier around him that froze what he came in contact with instead. The barrier can be shifted around. For example, he could simply coat his weapon with it.


    "You had better be worth it." He said as he touched the dungeon core.


    His divine sense sunk into it. He saw the first stage and the middle stages. They weren''t things he can''t see on his own. The surprising thing that he couldn''t see with his eyes is where the souls of the gods are contained within the dungeon core. The gods were in a mental and virtual world where they could live in peace and enjoy themselves while the dungeon uses them as blueprints.


    "So this is how the vestiges are formed." He observed casually.


    Copies were made of the trapped souls and used as opponents in the middle stage. Only the celestial gods were real. As he was looking through the dungeon core a mighty will reached out to him.


    "Hello, Soverick. Or should I say Legion?"


    Soverick immediately recognized the owner of the voice. There were very few people who could know his real identity as Legion. He had also heard this voice several times in the past as Gehaldirah.


    He bowed his head and said. "Greetings to mother high heaven."


    An indistinct figure appeared before him. He froze when heid eyes on her. His mind was filled with so much information that his very soul stalled. Then it resumed a second after and he resumed his actions. The things he saw almost ruined his mind but he survived thanks to his immortal soul.


    Mother high heaven didn''t seem bothered by what he might have seen about her. "Hmm. You have reached this point. So you get to choose."


    Then she presented him with the options. The first one is to preserve the gods. The gods will bended gods with freedom and power but without their divine kingdoms where they have absolute sovereignty and safety. He would be the new Godking of the gods. He would get power.


    "If you chose this option, you will be undefeatable in the lower nes considering the power of your soul. You also won''t be suppressed like the other origin gods. It is not a bad option." Mother high heaven said.

 Chapter 227 The End Of The Era Of The Gods.

    ?"If you chose this option, you will be undefeatable in the lower nes considering the power of your soul. You also won''t be suppressed like the other origin gods. It is not a bad option." Mother high heaven said.


    Soverick smiled wryly. Mother High Heaven was right in a way. It wasn''t a bad option if he aims to stay cooped up in this ne all of his life. He would anger several world gods and harm their interests if he selected this option. So if he could somehow leave the lower realm in the future, his life will be less than pleasant.


    The second option involved banishing the gods. His only reward will be the title of a child of the ne and the benefits thate with it.


    She told him of the consequences of the second option. "If you chose this option then you will have to join in the struggle of the era of conquest. It will be incredibly dangerous and full of challenges. The benefit will end when you be an Origin god, and so too will your responsibilities."


    He nodded solemnly while rejoicing inwardly. He would have chosen the second option for the responsibility of joining the era of conquest. He considers the title of the child of the ne an added benefit. So he made his decision.


    Soverick decided. "I chose the second option. Let the era of the gods end."


    The will of the realmughed. "Ahh. I was right. Someone owes me money now."


    Soverick was confused by her outburst. His confusion eased up when he heard what she said before she left.


    She said, "Betting is so good."


    He couldn''t help but shake his head. Mother high heaven is the All mother, mother to all, his mother. She was authoritative most of the time and vengeful sometimes. It was disconcerting to know that she could be cheerful sometimes too. He had his suspicions about who was influencing her badly and his dislike for that person only increased.


    The divine dungeon began to break down after his decision. The people from the main ne were transported out of it while the vestiges, the celestials, the dungeon core, and the divine souls it contained crumbled into energy and understanding.


    A copy of the understanding went to him. The other copy and most of the energy rushed into the main ne. He didn''t need the energy anyway. His connection to the ne as the child of the ne afforded him as much energy as he wants from the ne. In a way, he had infinite Mana and origin energy.


    "So this is what the realm lord is enjoying. How envious." Hemented lightly as he disappeared.


    If he had made the decision that favored the gods, the divine dungeon would have crumbled into energy and authority. The energy and authority will be returned to where it was gotten from in the first ce. The gods will return to their former glorious selves after getting their energy and authority back.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The gods would then be an inseparable part of the Virut ne. It won''t be all that bad for the ne too. If, say, a ne or another realm in the void universe invades the Virut ne in the future, the gods will have to protect the ne. But now, that responsibility has fallen on the shoulders of a single person.


    We''ll see how that works out when the era of conquestes. For now, we will return to the effects of Soverick''s decision on the Virut ne. The tide of energy that should have empowered the gods set off a reaction within the main ne.


    It was like a dam had broken. Origin energy began to appear in the atmosphere of the main ne. This change also banished the formation of divine energy in the Virut ne. A tower materialized where the dungeon portal used to be. It looked like the tower of heaven on the ancient battlefield. The other copy of the understanding came into this tower where it formed trials.


    Soverick was transported in front of this tower and was weed with cheers. Several people hade to receive him. Origin gods, origin god clones, various family representatives, and numerous youths from the ne were shouting out his name.


    "Soverick!" "Soverick!" "Soverick!"


    He is a hero. A hero to the people of the Virut ne. He had foisted the gods'' scheme and made Origin energy avable in the ne. With his decision, the era of the gods in the Virut ne has ended.


    The glowing star marking on his forehead also indicated that he is the child of the ne. He is literally the star of the ne because of the eternal glow surrounding him. So much mana is pouring into his body that his eyes and body have lit up. His name would forever be known in the history of the Virut ne. He has already been enshrined in the hall of heroes. Even if he dies, he will definitely resurrect as a heroic spirit.


    Jerome, the origin god that is always antagonizing Guntu was also pping. He said to Guntu.


    "I must say, your family produced a good seed this time. It is luck, something like winning the lottery, but it is your luck and your win. So congrattions."


    He has lost honourably and he is not too proud to admit it.


    Guntu had a smug smile on his face. "Yes, it is luck. I am truly a lucky battle sage monkey that I am better than you and that I came from a great family. You and your family are only so-so."


    Jerome''s face fell. Maybe he shouldn''t have admitted it. He chose to ignore Guntu. He understood that it is Guntu''s time to shine. He would give him this period of an Origin cycle for Guntu to be proud. He is sure he will suffer during this period, especially whenever he meets Guntu and the insufferable prick tells the story of how a child from his family saved the ne over and over again.

 Chapter 228 END Of VOLUME.

    ?Guntu''s mental transmission reached the minds of every Origin god here, not letting his chance go, "Do you know that I started this war? I''m sure you''ve heard about it because everyone is talking about it. What you may not know is that the child of the ne is from my family too. The entire war to end the era of the gods is an endeavor started and ended by the Ghastorix family. Our family is such a noble and heroic family full of heroic individuals like me. What? You don''t believe me? Let me call him for you."


    The Origin gods groaned while Guntu beckoned grandly to the child of the ne and Soverick nodded. He floated towards the Origin gods. On his way there he pulled out his stat sheets and had a look.


    NAME: Soverick Ghastorix (Legion-2)


    TITLE: Child Of The Virut ne.


    RACE: Battle Sage Monkey


    BLOODLINE: Unknown Royal bloodline.


    POWER LEVEL (BODY): Mana Body (16% Conversion)


    POWER LEVEL (SOUL): Soul Reformation (Complete)


    PHYSIQUE: Body ofw(Iplete)


    HP: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    ENERGY LEVEL (BODY ): Mana


    ENERGY LEVEL (SOUL): Spiritual Energy


    VITALITY: 1673


    ENDURANCE: 642


    STRENGTH: 723


    AGILITY: 802


    PERCEPTION: 1,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 1000


    LIMITER (BODY): 70%


    LIMITER (SOUL): 0.000001%


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 100(B)


    OTHERS<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    MANA AFFINITY: 100%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): FIRE (DIVINE), WATER (DIVINE), AIR (DIVINE), EARTH (DIVINE), LIGHT (DIVINE), DARKNESS (DIVINE), SPACE (DIVINE), TIME (DIVINE), CAUSALITY (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Healthy


    He hade far from the time he broke through to the vitality core stage about a year ago in his room. He even has a new title, recognized by the system to show his progress. His body had changed and the power of his soul has improved because of it. His spirit has increased from 200 to 1000 points.


    The growth of his body is also extensive, probably due to his increase in mana affinity and the numerous mana cores he has in his body. He is already about to reach the limit of what mana entities can get in terms of physical power. All his physical stats are about to reach 1000 points.


    His vitality didn''t disappoint him. It has broken the limits of what a mana entity can achieve. Vitality works differently for mana entities. As long as your soul space is intact, you can heal, but vitality dictates how fast you heal. As long as there''s mana within you and in the environment, there is no limit to how much you can heal.


    A vitality core stage refiner won''t be able to regenerate a decapitated arm, a mana entity can do more than that but it will take time. That time can be used by your enemies to put you down forever. So vitality is important.


    When his above-limit vitality isplemented with unlimited mana then it is practically impossible for a mana entity to kill him. It is also because he had arge vitality core that he could amodate the 7 spiral configurations of his focal point.


    His body may be on the way topleting its growth but his soul haspleted it. He has also switched from using mental energy to using spiritual energy. They aren''t much different except that the mental energy of the mind has fused with the divine sense of the soul to create spiritual energy. The fusion also evolved the divine sense into a domain. If you have a particrly powerful and unique soul like him, your domain evolves into a nascent world.


    He has aplished a lot of things for Legion in this very short life of his. He has awakened his divine ability and gotten an appropriate position for the era of conquest. He did more than what is required of him by acquiring multiple understandings for all the clones of Legion to use. He has even gone above expectations by bing a child of the ne, something that has benefitted Legion as a whole.


    "I have done well. It is up to the others now."


    So yes, he has done well. Still, he has more to do. He will begin practicing weapon making until he bes a transcendent and then begin to learn Origin weapon creation. He will advance his strength until the era of conquest arrives.


    His path has not ended nor has his story stopped. He has set the stage for Legion. He has created a foundation upon which the other clones can build on.


    Outside The Realm Of High Heaven.


    The realm tree looms high and tall. The roots are unseen, sunken, and hidden within the void of space. No one knows where the roots are.


    "Anyone that goes searching for the roots will search for an eternity without finding it."


    That''s what Origin gods say about the roots of any realm tree. Origin gods may be a chaotic bunch but their word is pretty reliable considering that they have eternal life. If someone with eternal life and nothing to lose tells you not to bother with something, you better believe it.


    They are right and also wrong. It is not their fault. It is simply what they can see. It is a matter of perspective. A blind man might feel the tail of an elephant and call it a snake. A man that can see will recognize it as an elephant. A god might see it and recognize the number of atoms, sub-atomic particles, and energy that makes it up. It is a matter of perspective.


    While an Origin god will see the realm tree without its roots, a world god can see where the roots are. A world god will tell you that there are no roots. Only a loop in space that will trap whoever goes looking for roots. It is a matter of perspective. There are some things that can only be seen from a high perspective.


    You can''t see something for what it truly is if your mind cannot full identify it for what it is. But that doesn''t mean it isn''t what it is.

 Chapter 229 INTERLUDE.

    ?World gods sure have a high perspective. They can even see and perceive matter that doesn''t interact with light in any way(Dark matter). They aren''t made from a high-energy state of existence for nothing.


    That''s the minimum requirement to be able to channel the power of a world through you but ites with other perks. One such perk is telling the realm lord to unlock your home ne after the divine realm has been totally destroyed.


    The first sage of the battle sage monkeys is meeting with the realm lord of high heaven. He came in the form of a giant eye. It''s not his real form though. He is a busy fellow, what with managing a world and all. But this eye is more than enough to make his presence and WILL known.


    To a world god, a body is just an aspect of existence, having one or two is dependent on the amount of energy you are willing to spare. If you have a world supplying you with energy, then you wouldn''t care about the energy needed to make a body. World gods care about something else, something more important than energy. But most don''t know what it is because it is a matter of perspective.


    The realm lord came with his body or something that looks like it. He is the same handsome/beautiful high elf with gold eyes and green hair. He looked harmless but everyone knows he is a troublemaker.


    He calls himself a pacesetter two steps ahead of the norm. He is right in a way. Being one step ahead is genius. Being two steps ahead is often considered mad. The people of the realm high heaven know their realm lord to be an unprecedented genius but the people in the upper realm know him to be mad.


    The eye says to high elf yboy, "I doubt this is your true body."


    Eyes can''t talk, but this eye can. It can also transmit a bit of mocking which it just did.


    The high elf yboy asked calmly, ever the icon of regality. "And why is that?"


    The eye continued sagely, without emotion or inflection. It spoke as if it was speaking the truth or a simple undebatable fact. "You would be a fool to be out of the protection of the realm with your true body after the news of what you are nning to do got out."


    The high elf says, "Maybe that''s why I should be out with my true body."


    "Is this your true body?" The eye asked.


    "No."


    This time, the eye is relieved. "That''s good to hear. You may be mad but you''re not a fool. It is reassuring considering the risks we''ve taken and the interests we have invested in your endeavor."


    The high elf yboy yawned. "I guess you called me out concerning your next step in my so-called "endeavor." Let''s get on with it. I''m not in a good mood right now. I lost a bet to someone."


    He had made a bet that Soverick will choose to be a god-king instead of bing the child of the ne. He knew a lot about Legion and he suspected that legion-1 will be able to assimte Soverick/legion-2 and grow stronger if Soverick was a god-king. But apparently, he was wrong. Soverick chose otherwise which meant that Legion''s aim is different from raising each one to the Origin god level and assimting them before creating more clones. So what could legion be after?<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The eye returned to business mode. "Yes, I am here concerning your part to y. One of my children has seeded in the task I gave him. Origin energy is avable in the Virut ne now. It is your turn to liberate it."


    "Your son is impressive. He didn''t just end the era of the gods. He also duped the gods out of their understanding and used it to create a tower of trials for vitality core, mana entity, and transcendents even."


    The high elf yboy continued. "It is a noteworthy achievement. The trial will prepare those beneath the transcendental level while the avability of origin energy will enable those above that stage to prepare. If you ask me, that''s more than enough preparations."


    "Just do your part." The eye spoke.


    "What more could one ask for in a son? He even prepared a child of the ne. Remind me again, were you not a child of the ne too?"


    The eye became silent.


    The realm lord sighed. "You''re no fun."


    The eye spoke. "I''m not here for fun. I am here for business."


    "Do you really want to go so far as to liberate your ne? That will increase your quota and burden. The rewards are great but so is the risk. Aren''t you worried that I''ll just prance about in my true bodyter on?" The realm lord asked.


    The eye remained unbothered. "That is my concern, not yours, but I would prefer if you don''t leave the realm of high heaven until you''re ready."


    The realm lord shrugged and said. "If you say so, but I have warned you. I have some big things nned. It''s going to cause quite a stir in the upper realm. Hope you don''t have a heart attack when you hear of it."


    Yes, world gods have a heart. It is pretty fragile too. Thankfully it is difficult to reach.


    The eye squinted. What big things could the realm lord have nned? Bing a sovereign in less than an origin cycle was big. Bing an origin god and the realm lord at the same time in less than two origin cycles was big. Bing a world god in less than 100 cycles is big. That''s what Origin gods know. As we have established, their perspective might be wed.


    World gods know more and see better. They know that breaking the rules of the universe or creating records can provide you with a special encounter. But for the realm lord to say he has something bigger nned than what they know is honestly appalling to think about.

 Chapter 230 LEGION-3

    ?The realm lord snapped his fingers and said. "There, I have done it. There''s no going back now."


    The eye agreed even though it had misgivings. "Yes. There''s no going back now."


    "Is that all?" The realm lord asked.


    "Yes."


    "Bye then." He said and vanished.


    The eye looked at the realm tree. In its sight, it could see beyond the facade of a tree. It isn''t a facade really, more like anotheryer. The fact that it is only what weaker entities can see doesn''t make it fake. But having a higher perspective that enables you to pierce through the firstyer of reality makes it a facade.


    The eye can see the giant bubble that is the realm of high heaven. This giant bubble houses numerous bubbles that the eye knows to be nes. At the center of the giant bubble is arge bubble known as the ancient battlefield. It is where the tower of heaven is and where the realm lord''s true body is mostly hidden. This arrangement and configuration are very simr to that of a dungeon but on a much grander scale.


    The eye can''t see through the bubbles into the ne or the ancient battlefield because of the protection of the realm lord but it can envision how it is from the experience of destroying other worlds.


    "There''s no going back now." The eye says again before it also vanishes.


    The realm lord is ying a dangerous game. A game that can see the realm of high heaven destroyed. But why will world gods indulge him and even join in it?


    They invested time and resources into the endeavor. Could the realm lord have forced them? Highly unlikely. Do they like their home realm that much or are there benefits to be had?


    Either way, we will know when the era of conquestes. Or we may not know. It is, after all, a matter of perspective.


    Legion-3''s POV


    Soverick isn''t the first of Legion to be born, but he is the first of Legion to have the first individual thought. They had all been soul fragments of Legion-1 until that moment when they developed individual identities and a sense of self.


    The order in which they acquired their identity determines their order in Legion. But it is only that, order not seniority. There is no seniority or superiority. Even Legion-1 isn''t superior to anyone of them. Only the idea of Legion is superior.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Legion-1 may die and be reincarnatedter on. He will still be Legion-1. But Legion-1 can''t die anymore since he is an Origin god. Any clone of Legion may die but Legion will never die.


    So Soverick is the first to be reincarnated, but he isn''t the first to be born. That privilege goes to another legion that we will seeter on. Every clone spent a different amount of time gestating or in the womb.


    Legion-3 isn''t the first to be reincarnated or to be born, but he is the second to be reincarnated and the third to be born. He was born way earlier than Soverick but he hadn''t achieved much. Legion-3 stayed huddled in the same spot he had been born, ever since he was born. For over 50 years he couldn''t move away from that spot.


    It isn''t that he didn''t want to move but circumstances prevented him from moving. It''s all he could do not to die immediately after reincarnation.


    It isn''t that he hasn''t achieved anything either. He was the one that discovered the link between the system and the realm lord. Since he hasn''t moved from a single spot, that information must havee to him.


    Legion-3 has been struggling since he reincarnated. He was struggling in the womb of the demon sire as he was gestating as a demon fledgling. He had a peculiar problem unique to him.


    Other clones of legions had a problem with too manyws attracted to them due to the use of Origin essence in the womb, but they were all beneficial problems. Legion-3 has to deal with a much bigger problem. Whates to mind when you think of demons? Chaoses to mind.


    So while other legions attractedws like that of fire, water, time, space, etc. He attracted thew of chaos and only that. Thew of chaos isn''t a good thing. It certainly isn''t a pleasant thing to have trying to bore into your soul either. It could kill you, literally.


    Unlike other beings who create divine abilities through the contamination of certain body parts with thew fragments from their origin space, he had to deal with the contamination of his soul by chaos energy. Demons have marks of sin in their souls and it is their source of power. His mark of sin was constructed using chaos energy and it wanted to burn his soul to nothing.


    Chaos energy corrupts, corrodes, and tries to turn all of creation into primordial chaos. The famous Void energy between realms isn''t as corrosive as chaos energy. If his soul wasn''t eternal and immortal then he would have been corrupted and burnt up.


    Origin gods create origin essence by refining void energy. The best that legion-3 could do is repel the chaos. It is a task that needed all of his concentration and the full power of his soul. Still, it is a losing battle. Chaos always wins. That''s why the universe will die eventually, consumed by chaos and returned to nothingness.


    So he couldn''t move in the womb. The same continued when he was born. The demon sire, a demonic tree that bears fruits with demon fledglings in them, bore him and wilted. The other demon fledglings that were born with him avoided him like a gue. They may be naive and clueless, but their Instincts told them that something was very wrong with him.


    They were right. The alignment of demons is trying to kill him. It actually wants to break him down into primordial chaos but it will lead to the same thing. And Legion-3 doesn''t want it.

 Chapter 231 A Purpose Of The System.

    ?He was born quite healthy for a demon fledgling. He was bigger and meaner looking than them. His ws were like obsidian and his skin was just as tough. But he couldn''t move. His body grew gaunt and thin after years of starvation and deprivation. When he refused to die, his body began subsisting on the very Chaos energy that was killing him.


    His body experienced irreversible changes as it became more in tune with chaos. Demons can adapt and evolve as long as they have enough energy to do it. His demon body decided to side with chaos energy and evolve.


    His body became capable of withstanding chaos. Imagine that. Now he has both the chaos energy and his body as his enemies. Even if he somehow deals with the mark of sin in his soul, his body will be there waiting for a second round. His situation was bing more and more hopeless.


    He had refused to give up because he was waiting for legion-9 the tree of life clone to awaken. He had hoped that the life essence it will provide will be able to solve his dilemma but the change to his body will make that very difficult.


    Still, he didn''t give up. He had an aim for his reincarnation. The chaos energy was a problem. It is hard to consider it a beneficial problem when it is trying to kill you. But it did bring one benefit. It brought a certain person to him.


    This happened two years after reincarnation. Soverick was born decades after that. There he was, lying on the ashy and hot ground as a newly born demon when that entity materialized next to him. He didn''t even notice the presence, his mind was focused on staying alive. So the entity had to reach out to his mind with a mental transmission before he knew that someone was beside him.


    "You must be legion. I am the realm lord." The entity spoke to him.


    He recognized the mental transmissions of the realm lord. The realm lord had addressed him in the past and he couldn''t forget the aura of such an iconic entity. Even if he were essentially blind, deaf, and immobile while his mind is fighting against chaos energy, he would still recognize the realm lord. So the introduction wasn''t needed.


    He respected and feared the realm lord. The realm lord deserves the uttermost respect. Still, he couldn''t exactly chat right now. He is busy with something, so he kept his reply short and straight to the point.


    "What does the realm lord want with me?"


    The realm lord said. "I understand that you are currently preupied with something right now. That''s why I came. You have a system that keeps track of your power but it doesn''t have the permission to keep track of Origin gods."


    "I know what you''re thinking. You''re thinking about your original body and his system. But it won''t update anymore. Those are the rules. So I need your permission." The realm lord said.


    That wasn''t what legion-3 three was feeling. He was feeling some shock, a little fear, and a lot of anger because the realm lord was too familiar with the situation of Legion. He had thought the information about his reincarnation was secret but apparently not. He was very angry but there was nothing he could do about it.


    He is currently upied with something else. Even if he were not, the full power of Legion couldn''t face the realm lord, at least not yet. Instead, hetched onto a piece of important information from what the realm lord just said.


    "The system is rted to you?" Legion-3 asked. "Is it yours?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I''ll answer for the sake of improving the rtionship between us. Yes and yes."


    The realm lord didn''t think much about answering. He didn''t want people to know about his system but he couldn''t take Legion for a fool.


    He couldn''te here and ask for him to give the system permission for deep-level scanning and monitoring without it being linked to him. It is true that he doesn''t want the world gods to know about it but his fear for them will end soon. Plus the benefits of acquiring information about chaos energy will be beneficial to his current record-breaking project.


    "What is the system for?" Legion-3 asked.


    "It''s for collecting data for a project of mine. If you give me permission, I''ll let you in on it when my project is done." The realm lord answered.


    He wasn''t lying. His system is capable of so much more than that, but legion-3 was only asking about the one that everyone uses to see their stats.


    ''So that''s how he knows about legion.'' Legion-3 thought before mentally sighing.


    The capabilities of the realm lord were beyond him. So he let it go for now. He had an inkling about what the project could be about. He knows it has something to do with struggles between world gods and anything of that level as to be grand and highly valuable but that doesn''t mean he will admit to it so easily.


    So Legion-3 said, "That can''t be the only reward, is it? There has to be more than a promise to add me to your project when it is done."


    He had to get more out of this deal.


    The realm lord considered. "How about this? If you give me the permission I need, I''ll unlock other system services for you. I''ll unlock the inventory function. You know that demons can''t use spatial artifacts. I''ll also give you ess to other people''s systems for their information. You will be able to see their stats as long as you''re stronger than them."


    "What are the repercussions of giving my permission?" Legion-3 asked.


    He wanted to know the repercussions of giving his permission. Can his thoughts be essed or will his soul be damaged? He needs more information to make a better decision. He will decline if it is too risky.

 Chapter 232 The Deal With The Realm Lord.

    ?"I will gain data about how your soul interacts with chaos energy and the changes it undergoes in your struggle with it. I won''t get ess to your thoughts or anything. And any information I acquire cannot be used against you as a realm lord. The monitoring will end once you die or if you manage to beat chaos energy back."


    It was a tempting offer. Legion-3 suspected that the realm lord thew of will be getting a lot of advantage if he gives his permission. So he overcame his fear of the realm lord to ask for more.


    He knows the realm lord can''t outright kill him but that doesn''t mean he has the right to offend such a terrifying person. It is not a wise action to do at all. It was with this caution that he asked for the two most important things to him.


    "I want you to rescue my Original body and give me something that can help with this chaos energy."


    Those are the two most important things to him right now. The original body is still being chased by Origin gods from the stone skin race that intend to use his body to make a top-grade Origin weapon. Rescuing him will mean that Legion-3''s existence was not in vain.


    As for the second request, if he gets something to help with the chaos trying to corrode his soul, he might have a chance at actually fulfilling the aim for his reincarnation.


    The realm lord nodded. "Good requests and also easy to fulfill. Saving legion-1 will be easy to do. Giving you something to help out with your struggle with chaos is also in line with my n. It won''t do if you die on me. I would very much prefer it if you survive. Is that all?"


    "Yes," Legion-3 replied.


    Then the realm lord snapped his fingers. "All done. I have ced the chaos vessel into your inventory and I have rescued legion-1. The chaos vessel can store chaos and can also be used as a weapon. It''s two in one. Mind you, it is a prototype, it might not fix your problem. Chaos energy is rare to encounter and survive. So the chaos vessel is based on theoretical data, but it will certainly help. Now your turn."


    A contract appeared within Legion-3''s mind. It required permission for monitoring his state and willst until chaos energy stops bothering him or he dies. The details of the benefits he is to get and the responsibilities of the realm lord concerning his privacy and safety were also outlined. He isn''t to tell anyone about what he knows about the system until the realm lord bes a world god.


    First, legion-3 informed all the others about the realm lord''s rtionship with the system and the need to keep contact with each other minimal so that it will reduce the risk of information leakage once he activates the monitoring system. Then he signed it with his demon name instead of his identity within the collective that is Legion.


    "It is nice doing business with you." The realm lord said before he was gone.


    He went away happy with the deal. He would have paid more honestly, but it will be highly suspicious of him. The monitoring of the interaction of an eternal soul with chaos energy has important research value but even more important is making Legion participate in his project when he is done with it. But he made it a reward to mask another one of his intentions for the deal.


    The participation of Legion in his project will allow him to collect some more precious data. It is true that he can''t harm the children of the high heaven realm unless they warrant it and only outside the realm can he even harm them, but that doesn''t mean he can''t offer them something good that can also harm them. The privilege to be a part of his project is beneficial, but it is also highly dangerous. It will be up to legion-3 to keep himself safe and not be torn apart.


    Legion-3 checked his new inventory. It is a special enclosed space with its coordinates attached to his system instead of his soul. It couldn''t be attached to his soul because he is a demon and demons scramble spatial artifacts unless they are reinforced by the will or energy of the abyss.


    Inside the space is a huge two-handed sword. He tried to ess it but remembered that he couldn''t. It would need him to remove a portion of his concentration to the item but that will mean a reduced defense against chaos energy. It wasn''t a risk he was willing to take with something that might not work.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    So he decided to wait. He could give up and attempt reincarnation again but he still has time. It hasn''t even been an Origin cycle yet. He also had a purpose to be fulfilled. No clone of Legion was reincarnated at a whim. They all have their purpose to be fulfilled to the collective. It was for his purpose that he stayed in the same spot for over 40 years.


    His wait wasn''t spent idling about. He tried to look for more efficient ways to resist Chaos and the only thing that came to mind is Order. He hadn''tprehended thew of order so he decided to substitute it with some otherws. He started utilizing the fewws that Legion knew to give order to chaos.


    Life: 100%


    Earth: 100%


    Water: 100%


    Air: 100%


    Death: 100%


    Fire: 100%


    Light: 1.2%


    Darkness: 1.1%


    Space: 1.2%


    ughter: 73.5%


    Thew of life, his major specialty, failed spectacrly. Life only seemed to cause chaos to advance for some reason. Death on the other hand restrained chaos.


    The behavior of the twows was eye-opening to him. He had always thought that life was on the side of Order and that Death should encourage chaos, but it is the opposite. Life creates entropy, which increases Chaos while Death siphons entropy.

 Chapter 233 AETERNUS.

    ?So thew of death worked. He tried some otherws. Space, Earth, water, and air didn''t work at all, they were corrupted easily and assimted to empower chaos. Thew of fire, light, and thew of ughter were even worse, they agitated chaos before they were corrupted. A simple contact between them and chaos created an amplified effect on chaos.


    Only thew of darkness could somewhat hold chaos back. It didn''te as a surprise to him that darkness worked well with chaos energy. Thew of darkness didn''t restrain chaos like Death could, but it instead epted the corrosion of Chaos and grew stronger while still resisting Chaos. It was like a leech of Chaos energy. It absorbed chaos energy and transformed it into chaotic darkness.


    Seeing as he had gone through everyw he knew and he had a lot more time on his hands, he began to trybinations ofws to see if something good will show up. It ismon sense that multiplews working in tandem create a much stronger effect than a singlew. That''s why concepts are stronger thanws.


    It wasn''t a surprise when thew of Death and Darkness worked well together. What was a surprise is that thew of fire could amplify their effects. Death would make Chaos less active, darkness will feed on the inactive chaos, while fire will burn darkness away with the chaos it had engorged on.


    "If only myw of darkness and fire were stronger, the effect will also be more useful."


    As they were, their help in the struggle with chaos is too little. It was around that time that his body turned on him and sided with chaos. His progress was nullified.


    The percentage of darkness and fire was too low. He couldn''tprehendws on his own because demons can''t essws at all. The ones he has ess to are from Legion-1 through the soul sphere. It was onlyter on that a neww was added to Legion''s repertoire.


    Law of ughter: 100%


    "That''s useless to me," Legion-3 said.


    The first legion to be born had finishedprehending thew of ughter. Too bad that thew of ughter didn''t go well with any of hisbinations. It may be useless to him, but it made him realize that he is not alone in this struggle, the might of Legion is supporting him.


    "I guess I am the only one that I can rely on." He said with slight mirth.


    Someone hade to his rescue.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Law of the Soul: 100%


    Another legion acquired a neww. He is right in a way, every other legion is part of himself and he can only rely on them. The new addition is thew of the soul. This one came from the second legion to be born.


    The developments created a slight pressure for him that the first two legions to be born had already achieved something useful to Legion. But only that, he wasn''t ashamed or anything. He was just unlucky to be in this situation. He had also tried his best and his existence had created some value for Legion through the deal he signed.


    So he went to work trying tobine thew of the soul with what he had. It was a surprise when his firstbination worked out immediately. Thew of the soulbined well with death, darkness, and fire. Thebination produced soothing energy that he knew to be soul energy. It was like finding water in a desert.


    He felt a cool sensation spread in his soul and mind. The burning sensation created by chaos energy eased a bit. This revtion made him realize that chaos energy might be a treasure. Soul energy is a product of an immortal soul. It is the energy that Origin gods use to convert void energy to origin essence.


    The rate of soul energy production determines how fast an Origin god can produce Origin essence. The stronger an origin god gets, the faster its rate of production. But here he is, getting it from chaos energy free of charge.


    It''s just that the production rate of soul energy is too slow. He needs it to fight back against chaos. He can''t spare any right now. His defenses were bolstered due to the assistance but he still couldn''t distract himself by trying to bind the chaos vessel.


    The fight against chaos isn''t something where distraction is allowed. It''s like pushing a boulder up a hill. A slight mistake will take you to the starting line. It doesn''t help that the boulder is getting bigger the more time goes by. The struggle will be in a stalemate at best if you put in your best effort, any less will guarantee you a loss. There''s no winning the struggle. If chaos energy is a real treasure then he can''t excavate its full usefulness yet.


    Legion-3 was in this state when the fourth legion to be born was delivered in the Virut ne. They called him Soverick. A name that meant golden stone/jewel in their native tongue. It was a showy name, unlike Legion-3''s demon name. While Soverick was named by some ambitionless refiners, Legion-3 was given a true name by the very abyss itself.


    His true name is Aeterna Prima Invidia... The name consists of about a hundred words but the first three words mean ETERNAL AND PRIME ENVY. The will of the abyss believed him to be envious of others and not greedy. He had always thought himself to be greedy for more power but it seems his motivation is due to his envy of more powerful people or a particrly powerful person.


    Legion-3 had chosen to call himself AETERNUS. It beats Soverick, and the will of the abyss trumps some ambitionless refiners who named Legion-2. So he was smug about his name. But he didn''t get to feel smug for long. In just two short years of existence, Soverick proved himself to be a shining star.

 Chapter 234 The Influence Of Chaos.

    ?Soverick became the jewel of the ne. He fulfilled his purpose and went beyond it. That moment when he was marked by the ne, Legion was also marked because of their connection. A halo appeared in all of Legion''s clones except Legion-1 who is already an Origin god. That mark appeared within Aeternus'' soul and from it came origin energy or mana if he needed it.


    The supply of infinite origin energy caused his production of soul energy to escte to an unprecedented level. The chaos energy was being pushed back. His future started to look up. But only that, the pressure from chaos energy will continue to increase, which means he will need more and more origin energy to hold it back. He doesn''t n to allow that.


    He doesn''t want to let his life be reliant on some charity. What if the energy supply isn''t truly infinite? What if something happens to Soverick or he loses the supply of energy? Then everything will end for legion-3. Still, the improvement gave him more room to improvise. So he tried something that the first legion clone to be born created.


    He began to weave thew fragments of thew of chaos with death, darkness, fire, and soul into something simr to a concept while he imprinted them on his soul. In a way, he is modifying his soul. It is a painful and dangerous process.


    He used the corrosive properties of chaos energy as a surgical de. Chaos energy is obviously strong enough to damage his soul, so the challenge lies in controlling its effect to what is needed. Then he carved grooves into his soul in which he ced the arrangedw fragments to form tattoos that resemble thework of thew matrix.


    Thebination ofws he had been using was catalyzed by the origin energy into crystalizing into forming a concept with his soul as the foundation. Demons can''t usews, which means they don''t have concepts. He isn''t a true demon. He has an Origin soul. Even so, Origin souls will remain impervious to the influence of a concept unless there is an origin essence. Thankfully he had a bead of it given to him by Legion-1 before they all reincarnated.


    His soul began to absorb the created concept and started to evolve. When it was done, his soul became able to transform chaos energy into soul energy on its own without being damaged by the corrosive properties of chaos energy. His true name changed to amodate the change. He became ETERNAL AND CHAOTIC ENVY. His part of the contract with the realm lord also ended immediately. Chaos energy has stopped bothering him so the deep-level scanning stopped. He also became able to move his body for the first time in over 40 years, all thanks to Soverick.


    He said as he rose from the ground. "I guess it is time for me to earn my keep and fulfill my aim."


    Aeternus'' aim was nned when Gehaldirah came to the demon realm. He had gotten some critical information from the memories of the demon lord that wanted to possess him. He got to know that when a demon advances to be a demon god, it can evolve into something called a world-ender.


    He didn''t have much information about world-enders back then but his research showed that demons can''t evolve into this creature on their own, they need a certain something that the will of the abyss gives them. That thing is called chaos blood.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It is almost simr to how Sovereigns need origin essence to be Origin gods. Except that demon gods are as powerful as origin gods and chaos essence is much rarer than origin essence and more dangerous.


    Later on, he found out that world gods will do anything to get this Chaos blood. They call it chaos essence. Whenbined with Origin essence can be used to create anything. It was enough to make Gehaldirah set his mind on it. But further information that he got from the tower of heaven''s library revealed that the world enders are one of the weaknesses of a world god. So now, he is bent on bing a world-ender. That''s why he wasn''t willing to give up at all.


    He began to review his resources and his state of existence. He had undergone unprecedented changes unseen in demons. His body and soul may have survived the struggle with chaos energy but they have also been skewed because of its influence.


    "It''s like a body ofw. It is evenplete." Hemented on the state of his body.


    His body was odd. He was thin, almost bare bones. His ws stretched from his hand like des because of his receded skin. ck smoke wasing from his body and it was corroding the environment. It created a hazy cloak around him that obscured his figure and made him look bigger than he should be, more dangerous too.


    It wasn''t a smoke screen in the metaphorical sense. He really is dangerous. His thin body is as hard as metal. He might becking in strength but his des and the chaotic energy flowing through him made him something not easily messed with. He looked like a wraith made of ck mes. Fledglings had avoided him when he looked normal, now they will run away as soon as they sight him.


    Still, that isn''t the strangest thing about him.


    Demons have something simr to a mana body andter on when they be stronger, they possess something like a transcendent body. But he has something simr to the body ofw.


    It is probably due to the influence of his soul, its evolution, and the chaotic energy he evolved with. A body ofw signifies a bloodline. Demons have bloodlines but it is the lowest kind, that of a transcendent. So it isn''t eternal and it degrades. Their bloodlines affect their sin. But he has already acquired something better. His sin of chaotic envy is way better than any of the sins he knows about.

 Chapter 235 The Chaos Vessel.

    ?"If it will help me achieve my aim, I don''t mind it."


    The changes to his body and his sin are the positive side of things. These positive aspects of his existence are due to the influence of chaos. The negative sides are also due to chaos. For starters, his soul almost crumbled. The current power of his soul is almost nonexistent. It goes to prove how close to death he was. Thankfully he has begun to heal and his soul is growing stronger.


    His sin of chaos might be great but he has also lost ess to mana and magic. Demons may not be able to essws, but they have a way to enhance mana into some sort of transcendent energy that can match Origin energy in power. But now, he doesn''t even have ess to it because of his chaotic energy. His chaotic energy is all he has and what he has to rely on if he intends to achieve his aim.


    "Let''s see what this Chaos vessel is all about."


    Now that he has escaped the threat of death, he has the leisure to try out the realm lord''s gift. He reached into his inventory and brought out the two-handed sword. It is a heavy ymore that fell from his hands and sank with half its length deep into the ground.


    "Wow." He was honestly stunned.


    He didn''t think the so-called thing that was supposed to help him would be this heavy. His pleasant feeling of surprise quickly morphed into anger. Either the realm lord had been unknowingly negligent or had been intentionally malicious, he had failed to ount for the weight of the chaos vessel. How could he use this when he couldn''t even move his body?


    He scowled and muttered. "This better work."


    He touched the weapon and channeled his Chaos energy into it. The weapon thrummed and absorbed it greedily. It even extended its hunger into Aeternus'' soul. Some of his soul force went into it and bound the weapon to him.


    He felt the effect of the bond on his soul and hemented dismissively. "It will certainly alleviate my problem but it wouldn''t solve it."


    The chaos vessel was like a bottomless abyss that could absorb chaos. It would have siphoned part of the pressure from his soul when he was helpless but only that. It wasn''t worth it back then when he needed the assistance because he will have to lose focus on defending against chaos which would have led to his death. The siphoning isn''t worth it now that he has already resolved the chaos problem. In a way, he got what he asked for from the realm lord, something to help with his problem, but only that. The chaos vessel would not have fixed his problem.


    Still, it can be useful as a weapon. He tried moving it now but it didn''t budge one bit. So he triedpelling the weapon to move with his soul force. It still didn''t move. Instead, the weapon thrummed and sank deeper into the ground.


    He was getting angry more and more. He knew it is the effect of his sin of chaos but who wouldn''t get frustrated by such an unresponsive and useless gift? He tried recalling it and it disappeared into his inventory.


    Aeternus sighed when that worked. If he can''t move the chaos vessel, he will have to leave it behind. That would mean a waste of something he got for invasive scanning. Now that he was assured about it, he had more options for what to do. He considered it as one would an Origin weapon and asked it to lengthen.


    The ymore began to elongate. It rose from the ground until he told it to stop. Then he told it to shorten and lighten. It reduced in size and became light enough for him to pull out from the ground.


    "Not bad at all. It must be a top-grade Origin weapon. To think I would be the first of Legion to own one. That''s an achievement." Hemented as he swung it around.


    Top-grade Origin weapons are almost perfect weapons. They are an Origin god''s dream. World gods look down on a lot of things but not on a Top-grade Origin weapon. He knows it has something to do with their ability to maintain fidelity across various spatial and temporal constants. He doesn''t know what it means but Hadrick has said so before.


    The weapon was still gorging on his chaos energy but it was easy to wield. He could change its size, length, and weight just like any other Origin weapon. It didn''t look or behave like any Origin weapon he had wielded, so it must be a top-grade weapon or a different type of weapon entirely.


    He continued to test it and pushed its full capabilities before he returned it to his inventory.


    "Now let''s see what I''m working with."


    He pulled up his stat screen.


    Stat Sheet.


    NAME: AETERNUS (Legion-3)


    TITLE: Child Of The Virut ne. Eternal Chaotic Envy Demon.


    RACE: Demon Of Envy.


    BLOODLINE/SIN: Chaotic Envy.


    DEMON RANK: Low-Rank Demon.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: INFINITE.


    CHAOS ENERGY: INFINITE.


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:24. Spirit:198. MAGIC:108.


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:108. Spirit:3640. MAGIC:108.


    SOUL ESSENCE: 0


    BIOMASS: 0


    DIVINITY: 0


    SIN RANK: Low-1%


    STRENGTH: Low-12


    CONSTITUTION: Low-54


    ACTIVITY: Low-54


    AGILITY: Low-11


    CHAOTIC POWER: Low-54


    PHYSICAL RESISTANCE: Low-54


    MAGICAL RESISTANCE: Low-54


    SPIRITUAL RESISTANCE: Eternal-91


    SPIRIT: Eternal-18


    PERCEPTION: Eternal-18


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 0%


    LAW AFFINITY: 0%


    CHAOS AFFINITY: 100%


    STATUS: Chaotic.


    As he skimmed through his stats he realized that a lot had changed between him and other demons apart from his sin. The properties of demons have always been chaotic. They don''t follow the same system of power as the path of perfection. They have a unique system of power that is based on mana, sin energy, and evolution.


    Their strength and power are based on their level of evolution. That''s why they are demarcated into ranks. Even their stats are demarcated into ranks too.

 Chapter 236 The Demon System Of Power.

    ?The strength and power of demons are based on their level of evolution. That''s why they are demarcated into ranks. Even their stats are demarcated into ranks too. The ranks for stats range from Fragmented, low, middle, high, pinnacle, extreme, and so on. These correspond to fledgling, low, mid, high, demon noble, demon lord, and so on.


    Heughed a little when he saw his title. He had two titles which no legion has. The other clones of legion can''t share in his title because that would mean he has to channel pure Chao energy through his soul into the soul artifact that bonds them. It is not a risk that Legion is willing to take.


    His demon rank says he is a low-rank demon but he has a power rating above that of a normal mid-rank one. Some of his stats are well above what a low-rank demon should be capable of. His constitution, activity, chaotic power, and physical and magical defense have reached an extreme rank because of Chaos energy but only in terms of stats. Their rank is still low, so he hasn''t reached the power rating of a demon lord.


    Power rating is a concept introduced by the realm lord with the advent of the system for demons. Demons had always known that low-rank demons can''t beat high-rank demons no matter how old they get, how much they eat, or many they kill.


    Demons grow stronger as they kill and eat. Their stats increases from 1 to 99. It bes difficult to get more stats the more they kill. An increase in stats also bes irrelevant unless they evolve. Evolution increases their state of existence which amplifies their power.


    The sin energy that is the cornerstone of their power increases in quality with each evolution which in turn makes them stronger. A demon fledgling has no amplification. A low rank has a state of existence of 2, mid-rank demons have 3, while a high-rank demon has 5. The power rating is acquired by multiplying the state by the state of existence.


    The situation of his soul is a good example of the uniqueness of the power system of demons. The strength of his soul has fallen but the quality remains the same. He still has an eternal soul. While the strength of his spirit and his perception have been reduced, the resistance of his soul is still too notch.


    He nodded and said. "First step, get stronger and reach Dakon''s ne."


    He created an objective then he began to prowl the ashy in for prey. His stats reflected what he discovered about his body. Chaos energy has skewed his existence. His sin might be different but it still follows the normal method by which demons grow.


    Demons grow stronger when they eat souls and flesh, but they evolve when their sin upgrades and they have enough energy. That''s what the stats about Soul essence, biomass, and divinity are about. They are the three resources that demons need to evolve. He has unlimited sin energy which means that the only thing holding him back from growing his is sin.


    He chanced upon numerous fledglings that were just born and ignored them. These newly born demons were already fighting each other to the death. The ashy in is full of numerous brawls between small and skinny demons. The ones that win get to live another day and also be stronger when they absorb the souls of the defeated. They would break up their fights and run away whenever they sighted him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They weren''t proper prey for him. Most of their stats were in the fragmented rank and their power rating doesn''t exceed 9. Plus they don''t have any mark of sin for him to consume to make his own grow. He would gain nothing by fighting them. So he went deeper into the abyssal ne.


    A ne in the abyss is a circr disk of reality. It is divided into rings meant for different ranks of demons. Demon fledglings are born at the edge while the demon Lord of the ne lives at the very center where the waypoint is.


    The closer you get to the center of the ne, the higher the concentration of mana and sin energy. Demons can ignore their need for mana, but sin energy is too important to be ignored. The higher your sin rank is, the more concentration of sin energy is needed to sustain it. That means demons will like to live closer to the center of the ne, but the avable space bes smaller which creates conflicts andpetition.


    A hierarchy has been formed somewhat because of these dynamics. The closer you get to the center of the ne, the stronger demons you will meet. If you reach the waypoint and leave the ne, you will get ess to the numerous other nes in the abyss.


    In essence, the abyss is a pit with nes in the form of circr disks piled on top of one another. He needs to reach the waypoint if he intends to get to Dakon''s stash.


    Dakon is the demon Lord that tried to possess him in his past life as Gehaldirah. A demon Lord of Dakon''s Caliber should have some things that will be useful to Aeternus'' smooth ascension.


    His ne might have been taken over by a new demon Lord but Aeternus knows where he kept a secret stash of his wealth. He needs strength to transverse the ne and reach the stash, he will also need strength to ovee the numerous traps and obstacles that Dakon must have left behind. There''s no way a demon Lord will not booby-trap his stash.


    He spent the next couple of full days walking past the domain of fledglings and low-rank demons before he finally reached the ring popted by mid-rank demons.


    It was a boring journey that the precarious environment didn''t encourage. The burning heat and the ashy ins would have made demons tire and stop to rest once in a while, but he is no normal demon.

 Chapter 237 Demon Hierarchy.

    ?Aeternus is far from normal for a demon. He is tireless and he doesn''t need to breathe since he doesn''t have lungs. Chaos energy has warped his body into something that is an unfeeling vessel much simr to that of an undead. Except he isn''t only bones. All of his living flesh has just been morphed into this hard and ck material that can conduct Chaos energy.


    He didn''t encounter any fight all the way here because low-rank demons ran away from him and he didn''t bother to give chase. They may have marks of sin because of their evolution but it won''t help his own soul mark to grow quickly.


    He doesn''t want to spend years trying to be a mid-rank demon by killing low-rank demons. Their power rating which ranged between 20 to 36 didn''t encourage him either. They are just too weak for him.


    The first mid-rank demon that saw him started to approach him menacingly. It spoke in the demon tongue to him. "What do we have here? A new toy to y with. A special toy too. I''ll enjoy killing you. I was feeling bored already."


    Fledglings are weak. Low-rank demons have the strength of mana entities but they are mostly chaotic and unintelligent. Mid-rank demons have the power of transcendents. They are intelligent and territorial. It is at this point in strength that the social hierarchy is recognized.


    The area that Aeternus is about to enter belongs to this demon. Apart from his need to defend its territory, it also felt a need to destroy Aeternus. It wasn''t scared by the ominous darkness wafting from Aeternus'' body like smoke. Instead, something about Aeternus is very appealing to it.


    The demon could feel that if it can kill Aeternus, he can acquire something unique that will make it stronger and it could also tell that it had a chance of victory. It didn''t question the fact that its demon Instincts are only informing it that it had a chance of victory instead of assured victory. After all, what can a low-rank demon do to it? So the demon was very much looking forward to the fight.


    Aeternus is also looking forward to the fight. To jump ranks and bring down a demon above him in the evolutionary ranks will make his sin grow quickly. What is more chaotic than a disregard for order and hierarchy?


    Aeternus''s face remained expressionless. First, he checked the demon''s stats.


    NAME: Fitalo


    RACE: Demon of Wrath.


    BLOODLINE/SIN: Wrath.


    DEMON RANK: Mid Rank Demon.


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    MANA: 23


    SIN ENERGY: 127


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:66+3. Spirit:60. MAGIC:30.


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:69. Spirit:57. MAGIC:26.


    SIN RANK: Mid-14%


    STRENGTH: Mid-22


    CONSTITUTION: Mid-24


    ACTIVITY: Mid-20


    AGILITY: Low-18


    MAGICAL POWER: Low-15<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    PHYSICAL RESISTANCE: Mid-23


    MAGICAL RESISTANCE: Low-13


    SPIRITUAL RESISTANCE: Mid-19


    SPIRIT: Mid-20


    PERCEPTION: Mid-17


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 41%


    LAW AFFINITY: 0%


    CHAOS AFFINITY: 1%


    SIN ABILITY: The Strength Of Wrath(Common)- Consumes anger and sin energy to boost strength by 1.


    STATUS: Very Optimistic.


    Fitalo was tall for a demon of his rank. Almost 3 meters in height and bulky to match. He had stats that fit his rank but they weren''t special. The only thing that stood out was his strength. He had decided to prioritize his physical stats instead of his magical ones during his evolution to be a mid-rank demon.


    He may be an all-brawns kind of demon but Aeternus ns to use him to gain information about demon prowess and fighting mechanics from the fight. He didn''t speak and only beckoned to the demon.


    The demon got angry immediately. How did a lowly demon dare to disrespect him like that? Did the weakling think he stood a chance against him? He wielded his spiked club and raced toward Aeternus intending to put the disrespectful little shit in his ce which is 6 feet underground. That''s if it can eat Aeternus.


    His feet stomped on the ground heavily and his body started glowing red light. Fitalo''s body emitted an aura of terror that will cower any other low-rank demon that knows what''s good for them into realizing that they may have bitten more than they can chew.


    Low-rank demons hardly reach 2 meters, so it is more than a terrifying sight to see a giant more than a meter taller than you aiming to kill you but Aeternus stood his ground. He raised his two hands up and got into a grappling stance. Fitalo swung his spiked club downward to smash Aeternus into a pulp. Aeternus sidestepped the attack calmly. His enemy had all but telegraphed what it would do so it was easy for him to anticipate and evade.


    The smash had made Fitalo lower his head. So Aeternus took advantage of their close proximity to poke his eyes. Fitalo roared in pain. He tried to swat Aeternus away with one of his hands but Aeternus kicked him between his legs. He fell to the ground groaning and cursing.


    The fight and the weapon he dropped were at the back of his mind. He was determined to get vengeance though. His vision was tainted red with the need for blood, or it could be the popping of blood vessels in his eyes due to them bulging in pain.


    "If I get my hands on you little rat, I''ll kill you. Do you hear me? I''ll kill you."


    He was shouting and raving but Aeternus didn''t care.


    He dusted his hands together and said to himself, "This is good enough."


    All he did was bring Fitalo to ground level in a position for him to do whatever he wanted to do with the demon. He began punching the helpless demon. But no amount of effort could get past the physical defense of the demon enough to cause damage to it.


    His own strength is of the low rank, so it is helpless against the defense of mid-rank. A defense rating of 69 beats an attack rating of 24.

 Chapter 238 Power Rating.

    ?He could punch and attack all day since his unlimited stamina can allow him to, but he won''t be able to harm Fitalo unless he uses an aid like a weapon. Even then, the weapon has to be of very high quality to bridge the gap between 69 and 24. This is why demons lower on the hierarchy find it almost impossible to beat their superiors.


    The demon Hierarchy has been set before the arrival of the realm lord but his concept of power rating exined why 100 low-rank demons cannot punch a mid-rank demon to death. The quality brought about to the state of existence through evolution trumps the quantity brought about by stats.


    He began testing his chaotic power on Fitalo instead, since his fist wasn''t working. He created a clump of dark fire in his hands and threw it at his opponent. Fitalo was starting to get up and was doing it leisurely.


    There''s no rush for him since a low-rank demon can''t do anything to harm him. Then the mes attached to his body and he jumped up in a hurry.


    "What have you done to me?" He cried as he tried to smother the mes but his hands caught on dark fire.


    His attempts to use the ground to snuff it out failed too. The chaos mes spread slowly and surely, Inexhaustible and unquenchable while poor Fitalo screamed in pain way worse than that of almost smashed nuts.


    The mes only stopped when they finished burning the demon to ashes. Some sort of energy entered Aeternus'' body. It all went into his mark of sin on his soul and he could feel it grow a little. His stats also improved.


    He dusted his hands again and shook his head, "Disappointing."


    The fight had been dull. Fighting usually involves leveraging your resources against your opponents. Fitalo stood no chance against him whatsoever so there was no use for techniques or fighting proficiency. Aeternus had been able to bring him down easily with his chaos mes.


    The other unique thing is that even with his own prodigious fighting proficiency, he still couldn''t hurt the helpless fitalo with physical damage. He had been able to poke Fitalo''s eyes and really hurt his balls but he didn''t have the physical resources needed to damage the demon beyond that. That''s why he switched to his chaotic power.


    "We''ll see how fighting proficiency and weapon mastery fits into this way of fighting." He said with anticipation.


    Could the realm lord''s concept hold in every situation? Probably yes. Aeternus doesn''t have the intention to disprove the theory of power rating. But he wants to see how far it can be stretched and what it even ounts for. Learning new things is pleasant because it is not only for himself but for Legion too.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The fight may have been dull but it was enlightening to an extent. It showed that no matter how skillful he is if he doesn''t have the strength to deal damage then he will be helpless in a fight. Therefore he has to consider his limits and his strengths when fighting and when choosing an opponent.


    He considered his ns for a while before continuing forward toward the territory of high-rank demons. He doesn''t n to enter the domain of high-rank demons yet. But the closer he gets to it, the stronger mid-rank demons he will face.


    Fledglings have the power of a vitality core refiner at most. Their soul is fragmented and their sin mark is unformed. They are irrational, unintelligent, and chaotic. They follow their basal Instincts. Intelligence starts to show up among low-rank demons. They have aplete soul and the ability to learn. They also have the power of mana entities. But they are still chaotic.


    They will learn over time and be intelligent by the time they be mid-rank demons. They acquire the power of transcendents at this point. This is also the stage where the concept of tactics and strategies begins to form.


    So by the time they be High-rank demons, they would have mastered tactics, strategies, and trickery. These are important qualities a demon should have if they are to lead invasions into worlds. Their power has also reached the level of a Lord ofw.


    Aeternus can defeat a mid-rank demon because of his chaotic power and only that. When a demon evolves into a mid-rank, its mark of sin grants them an ability that depends on the type of sin and the true name of the demon. Fitalo''s ability is the strength of wrath. An active ability that needs him to be angry and consumes sin energy to give him a slight boost in strength.


    The sin ability is the only ability that mid-rank demons have. Some special mid-rank demons will also have the power of spells, unlike Fitalo with his pitiful amount of mana. All in all, a normal mid-rank demon has a power rating between 57-81. Sin abilities increase it and spell power can make them close to Aeternus in strength.


    He can still handle that. But he won''t be able to handle more than that. A high-rank demon will surely have a lot of spells. They will outrank him physically and magically. It will be certain death to fight a high-rank demon no matter how skillful he is. Having set his limit, he chose to focus on his strength.


    So he prowled the domain of the mid-rank demons, fighting and fighting. At first, he fought unarmed using the numerous fighting skills and mastery that Soverick had acquired for Legion. Things increased in difficulty the more he went deeper. Some demons started using refined weapons instead of crude objects.


    The demon he is currently fighting is wielding something simr to a sword. It is some metal that has been heated and beaten into the shape and form of a sword. It has a rough surface and chipped uneven edges. It is crude looking, to say the least. It may not be a good sword, but it is an upgrade over a club. The only thing worse than the sword is its user.

 Chapter 239 Competition Within Demon Society.

    ?NAME: Razoo


    RACE: Demon of Pride.


    BLOODLINE/SIN: Pride.


    DEMON RANK: Mid-Rank Demon.


    HEALTH: 98%


    STAMINA: 72%


    MANA: 239


    SIN ENERGY: 372


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:75. Spirit:63. MAGIC:60.


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:69. Spirit:57. MAGIC:57.


    SIN RANK: Mid-42%


    STRENGTH: Mid-25


    CONSTITUTION: Mid-24


    ACTIVITY: Mid-26


    AGILITY: Mid-21


    MAGICAL POWER: Mid-20


    PHYSICAL RESISTANCE: Mid-23


    MAGICAL RESISTANCE: Mid-19


    SPIRITUAL RESISTANCE: Mid-20


    SPIRIT: Mid-21


    PERCEPTION: Mid-22


    OTHERS<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    MANA AFFINITY: 42%


    CHAOS AFFINITY: 1%


    SIN ABILITY: The Superiority of Pride(Rare)- +3 boost to any stat disadvantaged during a confrontation.


    STATUS: Experiencing Self-doubt.


    Razoo is a perfect all-rounder. She had chosen to evolve all her stats and hence has no weakness. One might call her mediocre but her sin ability made up for it. It allowed her to supplement any weakness she has against an opponent. Pride means a need for superiority in every aspect.


    If her opponent is faster than her, her own speed will pick up to meet the demand. Her sin ability will make her defense tougher if she faces something that she cannot resist. The boost of +3 stat to a mid-rank demon means an increase in power rating by 9. That kind of boost will put her well above the normal power rating of mid-rank demons. So she is better than Fitalo in every sense.


    Even better is her grasp of magic. She can''t cast it yet but she has formed a barrier around her that will protect her from both physical and magical damage. She is also coating her crude sword in ayer of fire mana that will allow it to do both physical and magical damage if it strikes an opponent.


    The word here is "if" it strikes her opponent. Her problem is her swordsmanship or herck of one. Her mastery of the sword is cruder than her weapon. Aeternus was able to evade her strikes calmly and easily with minimal effort. He wasn''t stronger than her or faster either. In fact, those two stats of hers were higher than his but her sword couldn''t reach him and she was getting irritated. He hadn''t touched her but her pride was getting hurt.


    She shouted in her frustration, "Stay still."


    "Why don''t you stay still?"


    He was much smaller than her so it made him a smaller target and he was much more nimble. All these factors coupled with his footwork techniques and she couldn''t hit him.


    Another problem she is facing is that her sin ability wasn''t helping her in any way. After all, she is superior to him in every aspect that he has confronted her with. There is no need for her ability to supplement any weakness. But after several swings and subsequent misses with her sword, her pride broke down. He was able to get within her guard and toucher her lower torsor with mes made with his chaotic power.


    Things didn''t turn out as they did with Fitalo. She has a magical barrier and it was resisting the dark mes. Still, the me didn''t go out. She had to continue consuming mana to resist its effect. When she noticed that nothing was happening to her, she resumed trying to skewer him with her sword. Aeternus had to endure more dodging until her barrier lost the fight. Then the Chaos mes got to work on her body.


    "So the Chaos me will maintain its unquenchable state even when I bring it out of my body and use only a little of it. Persistent and dangerous." He appraised the effect of the chaos mes while the female demon of pride writhed and screamed.


    He had used a small amount of mes so it did slow work on the demoness but finished its work. The me grew stronger and spread faster as it burned. Her pain didn''te close to what he felt for years as Chaos energy tried to burn his soul. It took willpower and an immortal soul to withstand it but it was the most painful experience ever. Razoo didn''t have an immortal soul or immortal body, so she was burnt into ashes and energy that improved Aeternus''s mark of sin. Her unsightly weapon also joined her.


    "Next fight then." He said.


    Then he began walking deeper into the ne. Demons can''t grow stronger without fighting. They can''t hole themselves up in a corner and cultivate. They have to fight and kill to grow, unlike others races that fight for resources to cultivate even when they don''t need to. The refinement path relies on mana mostly and sometimes items with vitality. Most races can sit just sit down and cultivate calmly until they be strong. It might not work and they will be weaker than their counterparts who fought to reach their positions, but it is certainly an option. Demons don''t have that option. Their entire life is to kill or be killed.


    The so-called territories of mid-rank demons are areas where certain demonic beasts live. These demonic beasts aren''t demons, more like animals that have adapted to the environment of the abyss. So the demons rear them and kill them for growth.


    The avability of demonic beasts means mid-rank demons don''t need to risk their lives in death matches with other demons to progress but they still need to kill something. Demonic beasts don''t have the same value as a demon. Killing a demon will provide 100 times the benefit of a demonic beast but killing demonic beasts are safer.


    Butpetition doesn''t disappear. Therger the territory of a mid-rank demon, the more demonic beasts they have and the faster their growth. If other races can be greedy, demons are definitely greedy. So demons fight over the territory now. The stronger ones have thergest territory.


    The concept of territory is an evolution of the killing and foraging of low-rank demons. Mid-rank demons now take their time and think of the bigger picture and the future. They won''t kill all the beasts in their territory at once when they harvest them. They will give them time and allow them to reproduce beforeing to harvest them again.

 Chapter 240 Viron The Demon Of Lust.

    ?High-rank demons take things to the next level by invading nes and using other races as their cattle. Their needs grow with the increase in strength and so does their appetite. Other races are better than demonic beasts because they haveplete souls, which means more soul essence for each kill.


    The difference in value between killing a demon and other races of the same power reduces to 10 times instead of 100 for demonic beasts. Killing other races is more than 10 times better than killing demonic beasts.


    No matter the level of the demonic hierarchy,petition and conflict are a staple. It could ur because of resources, a sh of sins or ideas, or simply distaste. Demons of greed like to steal and demons of wrath like to get angry. Those two examples are more than enough to cause conflict in any society.


    So Aeternus didn''t run out of opponents. He always met someone willing to fight him either because they didn''t like how he looked or for some other cogent reason.Some were capable mid-rank demons while others were mediocre, but none of them impressed him until he met Viron. A mid-rank demon that could cast spells.


    You would think creatures with the power of transcendents should be able to cast spells easily but spells need an agile mind to cast. The minds of demons are not too agile until they be high-rank demons. Demon spells are also different from normal spells. They are more difficult to cast. But once demons master spells, they are able to amplify the power of their spells with sin energy to make it on par with abilities fuelled with origin energy.


    NAME: Viron


    RACE: Demon of Lust.


    BLOODLINE/SIN: Lust.


    DEMON RANK: Mid-Rank Demon.


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: 91%


    MANA: 812


    SIN ENERGY: 754


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:44. Spirit:81. MAGIC:81+27.


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:42. Spirit:78. MAGIC:81.


    SIN RANK: Mid-83%


    STRENGTH: Low-22


    CONSTITUTION: Low-23


    ACTIVITY: Low-23


    AGILITY: Low-25


    MAGICAL POWER: Mid-27


    PHYSICAL RESISTANCE: Low-21


    MAGICAL RESISTANCE: Mid-27


    SPIRITUAL RESISTANCE: Mid-26


    SPIRIT: Mid-27<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    PERCEPTION: Mid-27


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 49%


    LAW AFFINITY: 0%


    CHAOS AFFINITY: 1%


    SIN ABILITY: The Lust for Power(EPIC)- Magic Power +9.


    STATUS: Alert.


    Viron the demon of lust could cast spells but it came at a cost. He sacrificed all of his physical stats in favor of his magical ability. Even the sin ability he acquired was at the Epic quality providing a boost of +9.


    A normal mid-rank demon has stats between 19 and 27. Viron has already reached that limit and has even pushed further than that into the domain of high-rank demons with his sin ability. This has pushed his magical power rating to 108, far above the 81 of a normal mid-rank demon. Viron would make for a top-notch high-rank demon when he evolves.


    Aeternus took out his weapon for the first time. He couldn''t underestimate Viron. His defenses are equal to his opponent''s magical power rating but he doesn''t intend to test it. His own magical power rating is also equal to Viron''s magical defense rating. They were equal on that front but Viron outsses him in physical stats. So Aeternus needs his own edge. What has more edge than a very sharp weapon?


    He held his ymore and approached steadily. But it was only a facade of an approach. He was simply walking around Viron but the way he stepped made it look like was moving forward.


    He maintained a safe distance while giving off the impression that he was moving closer. He didn''t know what spells Viron had mastered, but his sin ability indicated that he must be familiar with the usage of magic power.


    Viron''s eyes lit up when he saw a weapon suddenly appear in Aeternus'' hands.


    ''A spatial artifact. This is great. It will be mine.''


    Viron spoke. "You must be the low-rank demon kicking up a storm around here."


    Aeternus wasn''t surprised that news of his exploits had begun to spread. Fights in the demon realm are not secrets. A territory might be secluded but all it needs is for a single demon to witness a fight for it to spread around the vicinity.


    The confidence that Viron was showing made Aeternus increase his alertness. Viron is a dangerous opponent, a careless mistake will lead to his death. His divine sense was scanning the surroundings for any hints of mana maniption.


    "What is your name?" Viron asked.


    Aeternus didn''t answer. There was no need to inform someone he is about to kill his name. It wouldn''t matter unless there''s a third party listening in. Then he should be warier of making his name known.


    "You are very talented. Why are you going about risking your life by fighting? You should pledge allegiance to a high-rank demon instead. I can help you with that. What do you say?"


    Aeternus said nothing. He was already thinking about making the first move. Viron was still smiling but he was feeling agitated inwardly. He is a demon of lust and he could feel something within Aeternus that was special. It is something worthy of lusting over. All he needs to do is to kill Aeternus then it will be his.


    But Viron didn''t make any rash moves. He had gotten news that a low-rank demon was killing mid-rank demons. He had rushed here and hoped to meet this demon so that he can confirm if the demon is special or not. He has confirmed it now. But he isn''t stupid as to think he could get what he came for easily. He understood that the more valuable something is, the more dangerous it is to acquire it.


    That''s why he hoped to sway Aeternus and make him less careful. What he said about helping Aeternus pledge to a high-rank demon is the truth. High-rank demons invade worlds and take mid-rank demons with them as soldiers.


    If Aeternus pledges to one, he won''t need to hunt other demons. He himself is pledged to one. He stays in one of the fortresses in the domain of high-rank demons and he would be willing to take Aeternus there. But anything can happen on the way there.

 Chapter 241 The Clash.

    ?If Aeternus chooses to pledge to a high-rank demon, he won''t need to hunt other demons. Viron himself is pledged to one. He stays in one of the fortresses in the domain of high-rank demons and he would be willing to take Aeternus there. But anything can happen on the way there. Any unfortunate event can befall Aeternus and render him unable to reach the fortress. Unfortunate things happen in the abyss ne every time.


    He was thinking about how to trick his opponent when Aeternus suddenly bolted toward him. Viron didn''t make any move.


    ''Come closer.'' he thought eagerly.


    Then something caught his attention. Aeternus had stopped all of a sudden, but something was moving closer to Viron at a fast speed. Viron felt threatened by that thing, so he waved his hand and materialized a shield made of fire. But nothing struck the shield.


    ''Did I overreact?'' Viron asked himself.


    He put away his shield. Then he saw Aeternus kick something toward him and that sensation of danger came again. He created another shield. This time something struck it. The shield held on for a brief moment before it dissipated on its own without his permission. Viron was shocked, to say the least.


    Whatever Aeternus was kicking at him was deceptively small but dangerous. He couldn''t let the strange demon get the upper hand, so he prepared one of his favorite spells and shot it at him.


    Aeternus had only been half listening to what Viron was saying. Most of his attention was mapping the surroundings and determining where kick-worthy rocks are. He had made a full rotation around Viron and set aside some special rocks. Then he coated it in Chaos mes and kicked it toward Viron. Unfortunately, the rock turned into ashes before it could reach the target. It was burned by its cargo.


    So he tried again. This time, he reduced the amount of me he ced on the rock with his foot before kicking it. It struck through and performed exemry.


    ''Just as I thought. Normal spell structure will copse when influenced by chaos.'' he observed to himself.


    He understood that Viron knew spells, but until he knows what those spells are and how they react with his Chaotic power, it will be foolishness to engage in closebat with him. He wanted to know how the sh of chaos energy and magic with equal power rating will proceed without risking himself. So that left ranged options.


    He would have loved to shoot his chaos mes, but his soul is too weak to do that. That''s why he improvised. His improvisation didn''t go to waste too. Now he knows that Viron has a shielding spell and that chaos energy creates an imbnce in magical spells.


    Then Viron pointed at him and shot a bolt of fire at him. The bolt was very fast but Aeternus could track it.


    ''So he has a fire bolt spell too.'' he thought as he swung his sword to deflect the spell.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The bolt streaked through the air and struck the side of his ymore. Then it shot off to the side for a long distance before it struck the ground. Aeternus had collected data with his divine sense in that brief moment of contact with the bolt of fire and his ymore. Then he used the data he had collected to run simtions.


    When the next bolt shot at him, he knew what to do. He angled his ymore and smacked the bolt backward while twisting his wrist. The fire bolt flew back to its sender. Then he began kicking more chaos-infused rocks toward Viron.


    Viron sighed in relief when the bolt struck his shield. Thankfully he had a shield ready for unexpected situations like this. The shield protected him but he wasn''t pleased. Things weren''t going the way he expected. Their short exchange had shown that Aeternus will not be easy to beat. Most demons will have rushed forward, especially when they are clearly wielding a close-range sword. Then he would have shot them through with the fire bolt spell.


    Aeternus didn''t do that. He was so skilled with his de that he could deflect his spells back to him. Even worse is that those dangerous things were shooting at him inrger numbers as Aeternus kicked more of them at him. As an experienced demon, Viron knew that whenever a fight isn''t going your way, it means the chances of your death are increasing. So something had to be done to even the odds.


    "Deflect this." He said menacingly as he cast another one of his favorite spells.


    A ball of fire, 1 meter in diameter came into existence. The air warped and expanded around it as heat poured out of it. Then he threw it at his opponent.


    Aeternus stopped kicking stones. He narrowed his eyes in concentration, his divine sense was analyzing the spell as it flew toward him. The fireball spell was bigger than the fire bolt, but it is also slower. It gave him some time to get some information about it.


    He didn''t get much information about it. What he got was enough to deflect the spell easily and run away. He couldn''t apply much force to it or it will explode. So the spell struck the ground close to where he was standing and exploded. The range of its explosion was very wide. If he had been standing where he was, he would have been severely damaged.


    ''That makes three.'' Aeternus counted to himself.


    He was about to start kicking stones but Viron would have none of that. More giant fireballs were shot at him. He had to be on the run constantly and his stones were destroyed by the explosion. Aeternus chose to retreat when he ran out of ranged options. The fight became a game of cat and mouse with Viron chasing Aeternus.


    ''He is out of options. I''ve got him.'' Viron thought ecstatically.


    Now things are going in his favour.

 Chapter 242 Chaos Trumps Mana.

    ?Things are going well for Viron. His opponent couldn''t deflect his fireball spell well, so he is running away. But how could Viron let him go? He gave chase while bombarding Aeternus with fireballs.


    "What did I expect from a low-rank demon? You killed some ignorant mid-rank demons and you think you are some big shot. You will fall to the might of my spells." Viron proimed grandly.


    He shot more fireballs but they were slow and easily dodged. So he used fire bolts to catch his opponent''s attention. Whenever Aeternus stops to deflect the fire bolt, a fireball will be close and ready. But even that didn''t stomp Aeternus. He would just deflect the fire bolt towards the fireballs and detonate them away from himself.


    Viron tsked. "This demon is tricky to deal with. Will I just let him go? I have to use it."


    He was a little impressed with this skillful low-rank demon. His caution, reaction, and judgment were top-notch. They weren''t things a measly low-rank demon should have and it was making Viron''s fight difficult and his objective impossible to achieve.


    His spells weren''t working and Aeternus was faster than a low-rank demon should be capable of. He didn''t want to let Aeternus escape. So he decided to use his trump card. Fire mana left his mana core through his energy vessels into his heart where his sin energy is stored. It mixed with a little sin energy before it entered the atmosphere where it began to form a cloud of fire.


    The cloud will continue to siphon his mana until it is fully formed. This is a spell that will take his full attention and needs time to be cast. Such restriction means he doesn''t use it often in fights with other demons, not even when they are his allies. Casting the spell makes him too vulnerable for his liking. But it is something he can get away with since his enemy is running away from him.


    The spell will also leave him drained of mana after casting it. Such a spell should be beyond his rank but he has his sin ability to thank for his ability to cast it. Once the fire cloud is formed, nextes fire rain. Drops of fire will fall like hailstones and deal damage over a wide area. He would be able to control the cloud and use it to chase down his opponent to death.


    "What?" He shouted in surprise when Aeternus began to run toward him instead of away from him.


    He tried to back up while casting the spell. He should be able to finish casting it before Aeternus reaches him. Letting go of his spell right now will lead to a bacsh. Aeternus picked up a rock, doused it in chaos mes a little, then threw it at Viron. Viron tried to remain calm when he should be panicking. He had never been able to double cast while he is casting the fire rain spell. He knew immediately that if he doesn''t conjure a shield right now, he would die, and panicking will not help him in any way.


    So he was calm. He focused and the threat of death helped to push him above his limits. A shield flickered into existence just in time to stop the projectile of death. It cost him some dy in the casting time and a small loss in the progress of the formation of the spell but he did it. He felt exhrated.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    That was before he saw what was going on with Aeternus. Aeternus'' ymore was now coated in the same ck mes that covered his body. Then he swung the ymore towards the forming clouds. A curved streak of ck energy flew from his chaos vessel and entered the fire cloud. The cloud expanded before exploding.


    "Argh..." Viron screamed in pain as his spell was torn apart.


    It felt like his mind had been torn apart too. The bacsh he was experiencing is worse than if he had let the spell go himself. He fell on his butt, mentally and mana drained. But his opponent is still rushing towards him with that darkened ymore of his. He didn''t need his years of experience as a mid-rank demon to know that he had to do something or he would be killed.


    Viron tried and tried but it felt like his mind was in shambles and incapable of pulling the mental prowess needed for theplicated visualization required for spellcasting. But he didn''t give up or panic. Then he seeded when Aeternus was only three meters away from him.


    A fireball sprung into existence and shot toward his opponent. It would be difficult, maybe impossible for Aeternus to dodge it at this distance. Deflecting it will also cause it to explode and the short distance will ensure that it catches both of them. Viron was willing to pay the price as long as he lived.


    Aeternus was not. He swung his ymore and cut through the fireball. The fireball split into two and He flew through the middle toward Viron. His de loped off Viron''s head which was still wearing a look of utter disbelief on it. The two halves of the fireball spell winked out of existence just as Viron''s life did.


    "Impressive." Aeternusplimented Viron after his death.


    The fight was thrilling for Aeternus. Viron had shown him what the best mid-rank demons are capable of. He couldn''t cast spells but his weapon could shoot out des of chaos mes. When hebined it with the knowledge that chaos destabilizes spells, he got an idea about how to ovee his opponent. He was just waiting for the right time.


    The right time he was waiting for is when Viron runs out of mana, which he can check since he could see Viron''s stats. But it didn''t seem like it woulde when Viron was using the fireball. He might make a mistake and die so he decided to retreat.

 Chapter 243 Demons Are Selfish. It Is Their Virtue.

    ?He would have gotten away too if Viron hadn''t started thatst spell. He didn''t know what the spell could do but he knew it was bad. Nothing that umtes so much mana and creates such amotion in the fluctuations of ambient sin energy can be good. It meant that whatever Viron was doing, he had to get a lot of external help to achieve it. It couldn''t be good.


    So he returned to disrupt the casting. It was then that he noticed that Viron''s mana was low and his status was mentally drained. It was an opportunity he couldn''t miss. He even used the knowledge of the weakness of the spell that he had been hiding.


    He had been pretending to be unable to deal with the fireball spell because he couldn''t take advantage of it earlier. Viron might be able to cast spells, but it is only barely. There are some vulnerabilities in the spell structure that he can take advantage of by using Chaos energy to destabilize them.


    He began searching through the corpse for any loot before he burned it. He found some scribblings on a paper written in the demon tongue. They were notes about Viron''s spells. Demon spellcraft is different from other races because of the addition of sin energy. Sin energy makes it difficult to cast spells. But the major reason why demons have undeveloped spellcraft is because of theck of sharing.


    Demons aren''t social beings. They try to kill each other right from the day they were born. No matter how intelligent and civilized they be as they grow stronger, they will stillpete with one another. The demon society is all aboutpetition and survival of the fittest. They might be civil for one moment, but if one of them happens to be weakened, then they will let go of their mask of civility and feast on the weakened one.


    Demons don''t have any responsibility towards each other or bonds that hold society together. Some demons are watching him right now. They were probably drawn here because of the sounds of their fight. They are watching him for any sign of weakness. If they find that their chances of victory are suitable, then they wille forward to do battle.


    But they won''te forward for any revenge. Just like no one came forward for the demons he had killed in the past. Instead, the watching demons had fought over the ownerless territory after he was gone and divided it amongst themselves.


    Demons are selfish. They would never share the secret of their strength with one another. They would rather die than share knowledge because knowledge is power. It is thispetition that makes them grow but it also made them stagnate. He killed Viron and got his spell notes. That''s the only way information is shared in the demon society, over their dead bodies.


    Even worse is that most knowledge isn''t written down. There is no organization that brings demons of like minds together for learning. Eternal bloodlines don''t exist to establish familial bonds and bloodline families. Ordinary families don''t exist in the demon realm either. Most demons are given birth to by demon sirers so there is no opportunity for bonding through that.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The minimum requirement for reproduction is reaching the high-rank stage, but the demon society doesn''t allow for normal families. It is a demon-eat-demon world. There won''t be a father that will feed his kids and pay for their education. There won''t be a loving sibling that will share things with you, things like weapons and spells. Most often, your demon siblings are nning how to kill you before going on to kill their parents so that they can inherit everything.


    Aeternus continued his journey forward, fighting and killing. He didn''t have the concept of stamina due to the nature of his body and his energy was infinite. His ess to infinite chaos energy is different from his ess to origin energy from the Virut ne. So he had two avenues of infinite energy, he had no reason to stop, rest or sleep.


    His feats began to spread. Demons started talking about him. They don''t have much to do apart from killing each other and guarding their territories, so sometimes they meet up and talk to their neighbors. He had been walking and fighting for more than 3 months now so more and more demons became aware of the low-rank demon killing mid-rank demons.


    Some came to see him and see for themselves. While others chose to band together to ambush him. Something had to be special about Aeternus for him to be that powerful. They suspect it is the weapon he is using. It is a good-looking sword if anything else. They don''t know what is special about him for him to be so strong but they intend to find out after his death.


    This led to a lot of fighting for Aeternus which he weed with glee. He is currently in a free for all. About 20 mid-rank demons are fighting each other and he is one of them. The height difference made him seem like a dwarf amongst normal people.


    He shifted his weight and the position of his ymore, it made his posture tilt to the left. He went along with the flow and moved left, just by a fraction. The sword of his giant opponent missed him, just by a fraction, and buried itself into the ground. His opponent had wanted to cleave him in two but he missed.


    The sword kicked up a lot of dirt but it did nothing to obscure Aeternus''s vision or to stop his movement. He twisted his wrist again and shifted the ymore, he pressed one foot forward and ced the ymore between the legs of his giant opponent. Then he raised the ymore with all his strength with its sharp edge facing upwards. The two-handed de tore through his opponent''s guts and couldn''t go any further because of the height difference.

 Chapter 244 Spontaneous Free-For-All.

    ?His movements were measured and precise, fluid and skillful. He could elongate the ymore to give it a longer reach but he is out of momentum for any upward movement. Besides, it was unneeded. His opponent is already dying after chaos mes began burning in his guts.


    Aeternus pulled the ymore out and responded to another attack. A demoness with a club wanted to take advantage of his situation to smash him into a pulp. He increased the weight of the ymore as he used the side to deflect the club. The demoness was surprised by the strength of the feedback that she felt from the brief contact. She didn''t expect so much strength from such a small body. Then she slipped forward.


    It turns out that she had leaned forward too much for that strike. She was taller and had to bend a little to hit him. He deflected her strike with heavy resistance before his resistance disappeared all of a sudden. He had reduced the weight of the ymore. So she began to fall. She brought her other hand forward to stop her fall but it was loped off with a swift strike from Aeternus.


    Her face hit the ground heavily. She was about to fumble and regain her bnce when she stilled all of a sudden. He had cut off her head. No sooner had he beheaded her that arge hand tried to grab him from his front.


    He jumped back to avoid therge palm while throwing chaos mes forward to burn the arm. The owner of the arm screamed in pain. The demon bellowed with the full strength of his lungs to create a deafening sound that rang out on the battlefield. But no one paid attention to the crying giant. There''s already a lot of crying and shouting going on.


    Aeternus ran to the demon that tried to grab him. He hacked at the thigh and cut through it in one clean strike. The demon fell down after losing one leg. Then Aeternus was gone to engage another opponent.


    He couldn''t get distracted at all or have the leisure to finish off every demon. His chaos mes will surely be the death of the demon so theirs no reason to worry about a strike from an opponent he thought was dead. The fightsted hours as more demons joined in until a hundred demons were fighting all at once.


    "What a fight." He sighed in longing.


    He could still feel the thrill of battle but he is already missing it. He is responsible for killing a hundred mid-rank demons of the total 500 that fought here and it all started because two demons wanted to fight him at the same time. They weren''t willing to concede to each other about who should fight him first so they began fighting each other first to determine the order.


    The demons watching on the side thought they had gotten something good and came to join in. That''s how the fight escted into free for all with everyone for themselves. By the end of the rush for fighting, the demons joining in didn''t even know why they were fighting.


    He is already moving on to the next fight now that the fight is over. That''s what he has been doing, killing and killing again. He is in a good mood right now but something is about to change his mood.


    Ten demons are hiding behind a rock a short distance away from him and whispering to each other.


    One of them that is acting as the leader spoke. "He ising, get ready."


    "Alright." They echo in agreement.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "He had better have something good on him." One of them said with hope.


    Ten demons, male or female came together for a single purpose. Some of them are hideous while some of them are beautiful. They have different types of appendages and limbs, and different types of skin texture and color, but they all have horns and spoke in the samenguage.


    Aeternus could sense their hostility from a mile away. He knew they were trying to ambush him before he saw them. He stopped for a while to consider his options. He had a chance at defeating them. He might not be able to kill them all but he should be able to neutralize the threat they possess to him.


    But he shook his head. "Not worth it."


    The problem wasn''t the danger of the ambush. It is a fact that 10 demons chose to corporate. That is a red g and an indication of a bigger matter at y. For mid-ranks to band together, there must be a higher authority that haspelled them and is keeping order.


    Even if these ambushers of his seed in killing him, only the person that kills him will be able to take whatever is special about his body for themselves. What about his weapon? Who will take it? There are a lot of problems with such a corporation but it is happening anyway.


    The minimum requirement for such an authority is a high-rank demon and he isn''t willing to face one yet. Plus he could feel a gaze monitoring him from above. So he turned back and ran.


    "Why is he turning around? Did he spot us?" One of the asked.


    The leader scolded him. "What does it matter why he is turning around? He is running away already. Let''s chase him."


    Another one asked cautiously. "Is that alright? The n was to ambush him."


    The leader turned his angry scowl on the demon. "I''m the leader, not you. It is alright if I say it is alright."


    Then the leader turned to stare at the other demons in a challenge. He is a demon with a humanoid torso but with a bull''s head, foot, and tail. His stare would have made some other races cower but these demons didn''t even flinch. They had seen worse and didn''t fear him.

 Chapter 245 Its Evolution Time.

    ?Still, no one refuted him. He is their leader and their objective was to ambush Aeternus, then kill him. They may not be able to ambush him, but killing him is still possible. They just had to catch up to him. So they ran after him.


    They should be faster than him because of their stats and rank, but reality proved differently. Aeternus, the low-rank demon had a speed equal to mid-rank demons. One of the first lessons that Soverick learned in the academy is about habits and footwork. He learned to walk and run right. The techniques are not transferable because of the difference in anatomy and physiology but the knowledge is, so the techniques can be simted within his mind and imitated with his body. That is why he has a speed equal to them.


    Even so, the natural order of things is that he should tire before them. That didn''t happen either. There were the first to start huffing, then they slowed down. They lost him in about 10 hours of chasing him. So they returned to their spot to wait for him. They couldn''t return empty-handed, at least not so soon after failure. They would wait a while before returning to report to their superior.


    Meanwhile, Aeternus continued on his journey to return to the edge of the ne. He killed more mid-rank demons along the way and sessfully evolved his mark of sin. That means he has met the requirements to evolve. Evolution for a demon is a very important matter. It needs to be taken seriously. He will also be rendered unconscious during it. So he needs somewhere safe to perform it.


    The only safe ce he can think of is where he was birthed. That ce will only have weak fledglings. He had been left alone by them for years so it should be safe for him to evolve there. Low-rank demons won''t even be able to disturb him there. The asional weak ones that get to him, if they don''t run away from him, won''t be able to ovee his natural defenses.


    The varying level of concentration of sin energy restricts demons. The areas with low concentration will make demons of certain ranks sick and in difort. A mid-rank demon cannot live in the area where fledglings stay even for a short while. The sin energy in their body will leave them and escape into the atmosphere. Prolonged exposure to a low concentration of sin energy that isn''t a ne outside the abyss will lead to death.


    He ran past where he was born to the very edge of the ne. The ne of an abyss is t like the main nes of the realm of high heaven but unlike the main nes, there is no protection for the inhabitants of the abyss ne. There is a barrier at the edge of the main ne that can only be breached by a transcendent. But here in the abyss, one can fall off the edge into oblivion. The edge of the ne also doesn''t have any sin energy and will make it almost impossible for low ranks to find him. The divine sense that has been monitoring him also couldn''t extend this far.


    "This will do."


    He sat down about 100 meters away from the edge. Chaos energy was leaking out of him but he didn''t mind. He didn''t feel any difort. He only felt an itch in his mind due to the leveling up of his mark of sin. It was an indication that he was ready for evolution.


    "Hopefully, this doesn''t kill me."


    His mark of sin is his source of chaos energy. It could be that evolving it would allow higher quality Chaos energy to flow through. It could be a problem that might lead to his death. He didn''t worry about it much, he would face it when ites. For now, he needs strength. That gaze monitoring his actions is an indication that he has already drawn the attention of a big shot of the ne.


    In everything, strength is absolute. It is more so in the demon society where only the fittest survive. Without strength, one will be prey just like he preys on mid-rank demons to grow stronger. The mid-rank demons have all disppeared without a corpse. To prevent that from happening to him, he must grow stronger. He must evolve.


    He made his soul force enter the soul mark to open it. More chaos energy burst out of it like a dam. The energy gushed out of his soul into his body and into the ground he was lying on. Then it began to spread over the barren, rocky ground like a dog.


    A screen appeared in front of him.


    -EVOLUTION INTERFACE-


    #( RESOURCES )


    1. Soul Essence: 0


    2. Divinity: 0


    3: Biomass: 0


    4: Origin Energy: INFINITE


    5: Chaos Energy: INFINITE


    #( UPGRADES )


    1. DEMON RANK:Low - Mid.


    2. SIN RANK: Low - Mid.


    3. CHAOTIC POWER: Low - Mid.


    4. MAGICAL RESISTANCE: Low - Mid.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    5. CONSTITUTION: Low - Mid.


    6. CHAOTIC POWER: +9 STATS.


    COST: 1,000 Units.


    #( UPGRADABLE )


    1. STRENGTH ( Mid ): 100 Units.


    2. AGILITY ( Mid ): 100 Units.


    3. ACTIVITY ( Mid ): 100 Units.


    #( STATS )


    +1 STRENGTH = 100 Units.


    +1 CONSTITUTION = 10,000,000 Units.


    +1 ACTIVITY = 10,000,000 Units.


    +1 AGILITY = 100 Units.


    +1 PHYSICAL RESISTANCE = 10,000,000 Units.


    +1 MAGICAL RESISTANCE = 10,000,000 Units.


    +1 SPIRIT = 1,000,000,000 Units.


    #( SIN ABILITY )


    -The Envy Of Power-


    1. COMMON: Make a single copy of any magical ability or skill that you see at lower power. Cost: Free.


    2. UNCOMMON: Make two copies of any magical ability or skill that you see at lower power. Cost: 100 Units.


    3. RARE: Make a single copy of any magical ability or skill that you see at equal power. Cost: 1,000 Units.


    4. EPIC: Make two copies of any magical ability or skill that you see at equal power. Cost: 10,000 Units.


    5. LEGENDARY: Make two copies of any magical ability or skill that you see at higher power. Cost: 100,000 Units.


    6. DIVINE: Make three copies of any magical ability or skill that you see at higher power. Cost: 1,000,000 Units.


    LOA CODE: ABBZYW59NH57GAT4A

 Chapter 246 Evolution Choices.

    ?Demon evolution used to be random before the advent of the system. Evolution will ur once the sin mark upgrades and if there are avable resources for it. The system has changed how things used to be done.


    In the past, when the evolution process begins, a demon will then upgrade based on the number of resources they have with the priority being in the UPGRADES tab before moving on to the UPGRADABLE.


    Only after those two have been sorted out will the matter of the sin ability be determined. By that time, most of the resources if not all of them have been consumed so they mostly get the one at themon rank because it is free. The STATS section will is hardly ever touched.


    Nowadays that has changed. Demons get to choose which upgrades they want during their evolution. Still, only the mid-rank demons take advantage of the system. The fledglings and low-rank demons are too stupid to understand the repercussions of their decision, they just want to evolve and grow stronger so that they wouldn''t die.


    But mid-rank demons are different. They have territories that they farm for resources. When they have umted enough, they will then evolve into high-rank demons. It is one of the reasons why high ranks are so much more terrifying than mid-rank demons. The leap in strength from careful nning and wise selection of upgrades is too wide to be bridged with his former strength.


    RESOURCES is the tab that lists out the different types of tools that can be used to evolve and in what amount they are possessed. Soul essence is something unique to demons. They are able to digest souls and store them for evolution.


    They can also eat the flesh of other beings to get biomass, demon flesh included. The use of divinity is why demons always fight gods. In a way, demons have been engineered to thrive on consuming other beings and grow through killing. Even gods are not exempted from their choice of food.


    Aeternus hadn''t acquired any soul essence because he used chaos energy to break down everything he kills to fuel the growth of his sin mark. It is a more efficient consumption that doesn''t allow for any wastage. It is why he is evolving so soon after being born, well that and the fact that he killed only mid-rank demons. And a lot of them too. He doesn''t care about soul essence or biomass anyway. He has Chaos and Originrgy to pay for his needs.


    All the options in the UPGRADES tab are a must. Theye as a package that will cost 1000 units of any resources. They signify his evolution to the next rank. The UPGRADABLE tab contains the extra options for upgrades. It is not a must for a demon to upgrade all its parameters. If a demon has extra resources after meeting the required amount for evolution, then they can choose from this section.


    The STAT section is where filthy rich demons go to splurge. It is thest section in the automatic evolution process, so most demons didn''t even know that they could max out their stats during evolution. It was only when the manual evolution option became avable that it became known. A certain amount of resources can be used to add 1 to Stats.


    But there are STAT limits for each rank. A fledgling starts with Stats between 1 and 9. Each subsequent evolution adds 9 more upgradable Stats to a demon. A normal mid-rank demon should be limited to 27 but Aeternus isn''t normal and his chaos energy has refused to follow the trends.


    His chaos energy was 54 but it is even forcefully adding an extra +9 stats to itself during this evolution and because his CONSTITUTION, ACTIVITY, MAGICAL RESISTANCE, and PHYSICAL RESISTANCE are affected by his chaos energy, they too get the opportunity to upgrade. But since they are already above normal, they are more expensive to upgrade.


    While he doesn''t have a choice concerning Chaotic power, he can choose whether to upgrade the others or not. He might stop the others from upgrading but he has to make a CONSTITUTION upgrade or his body won''t be able to handle the increased power of Chaos energy. That''s also why he must upgrade his SPIRIT.


    The options avable for upgrade are based on the rank of his mark of sin and should be limited to it but the addition of chaos energy to his existence has broken some rules. His eternal SPIRIT is another outlier due to the quality of his soul. It is the reason why he was able to survive the exposure to chaos energy in the first ce.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His soul might be weak and tiny right now but it still has the resistance and perception of an eternal rank soul. It is going to cost more to upgrade it. It''s a good thing he has a lot of energy to spare for it. He had been worried about being overwhelmed by the new quality of chaos energy but the upgrade to his soul should keep him afloat.


    Last but not least is the sin ability. The sin ability is different for each sin and demons usually get the same one during the evolution to mid-rank. The sin of wrath empowers the holder when they are angry. The sin of pride makes demons faultless and without weakness. The sin of envy longs for the cool abilities of other demons and tries to take them.


    Most, if not all low-rank demons chose the free option when they are evolving to the mid-rank. They are ignorant andck the resources for a better one. But some mid-rank would instead prioritize physical upgrades over the quality of sin ability.


    For example, an upgrade of AGILITY vs UNCOMMON sin ability. They cost the same but an UNCOMMON power of envy allows a demon of envy to copy an ability at lower power. It doesn''t matter that the demon gets to make two copies since they will never be as good as the original one. It isn''t worth it to practical demons.


    Meanwhile, AGILITY determines how fast they can run and attack. With a faster AGILITY and higher STRENGTH, demons of envy will be able to make stronger and faster attacks not weaker than that of their opponents. It doesn''t take a genius to determine which is better. Which is good because demons are not geniuses.


    Aeternus chose the DIVINE quality of sin ability. He had the resources and more to spare. The only resource that he will need in the future is Divinity. Divinity isn''t important now but it will be irreceable in the future.


    The evolution started after making his selection. He didn''t lose consciousness but he lost control of his body and he couldn''t sense his environment anymore. It was as if he was locked within his mind. Chaos energy worked on his sin mark and his body while origin energy worked in his soul. The evolution took about 30 minutes before it was done.


    He hadn''t grown an inch in height and his body size hadn''t changed at all. His body was still thin and hard. He couldn''t even tell his bone from his muscle or skin. He remained the same 1.7 meters he was born with. He was big as a newborn but he will be a dwarf among grown-up demons. Mid-rank demons are well above 2 meters tall while high-rank demons are even bigger.


    He sighed. "Chaos energy has stunted my growth."


    The haze of chaos fumes around him had grown thicker, his figure couldn''t even be seen anymore. What energy that should have made him grow taller had gone into forcefully increasing the Stats of chaos energy.


    Only his eyes were visible but they were more like two orbs of dark red mes. The eyes are windows to the soul and it is more so for demons. His soul had grown stronger and it was showing in his eyes. The concept in his soul that he is using to burn chaos energy has be prominent with the development, hence the eye color.


    He didn''t mind the changes. This is his first evolution so more changes are bound to ur. He was not born a fledgling but a low-rank demon because he wasn''t some fragmented mess. But this evolution is making him better and stronger. It doesn''t matter how tall he is. If chaos energy is bent on making him stronger, then what''s not to like? Might makes right. Height doesn''t.


    Another thing that had grown stronger is the pressure of Chaos energy on his soul. His soul might have grown stronger but he could feel the distinct possibility that chaos would soon catch up to his resistance and put him back into a soul choke hold. This is highly possible if chaos keeps upgrading itself forcefully everytime he evolves. His battle with Chaos may not be done yet.

 Chapter 247 Mid-Rank Demon.

    ?He shrugged and said,


    "Let''s see if I can cast chaos spells now."


    There''s nothing he could do about it for now and he isn''t worried because he isn''t alone in his struggle. So he turned his attention towards something he could handle. He had been looking forward to doing more than making chaos mes that he couldn''t control whenever they left his body. He spent the next couple of hours trying out what he could do now that his soul is stronger.


    "It''s no use." He said dejectedly


    His long hours of practice made him realize that chaos was barely workable It wasn''t like mana with various elements that could be controlled and made to manifest into infinite possibilities. Chaos energy is more than that. It is as if all the elements of mana have fused together and still sh against each other. It made it almost impossible to manipte.


    He made it work at the end of the day. The soul force of an origin god is nothing to scoff at and his spiritual power rating is higher than his chaotic power. But the best he got out of it was some crude maniptions less than what Viron was capable of. He could make shields, bolts, and me balls with chaos energy but that fire rain spell is beyond what chaos is capable of doing. He can''t use Origin energy externally because it will be affected by chaos energy around his soul and be unworkable.


    He sighed and checked his stay screen.


    NAME: AETERNUS (Legion-3)


    TITLE: Child Of The Virut ne. Eternal Chaotic Envy Demon.


    RACE: Demon Of Envy.


    BLOODLINE/SIN: Chaotic Envy.


    DEMON RANK: Mid-Rank Demon.


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: INFINITE.


    CHAOS ENERGY: INFINITE.


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:81. Spirit:297. MAGIC:189.


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:189. Spirit:3640. MAGIC:189.


    SOUL ESSENCE: 0


    BIOMASS: 0


    DIVINITY: 0


    SIN RANK: Mid-1%


    STRENGTH: Mid-27


    CONSTITUTION: Mid-63


    ACTIVITY: Mid-63


    AGILITY: Mid-27


    CHAOTIC POWER: Mid-63


    PHYSICAL RESISTANCE: Mid-63


    MAGICAL RESISTANCE: Mid-63


    SPIRITUAL RESISTANCE: Eternal-91


    SPIRIT: Eternal-27


    PERCEPTION: Eternal-27


    OTHERS


    SIN ABILITY: The Envy of Power(DIVINE)- Make three copies of any magical ability or skill that you see at higher power.


    MANA AFFINITY: 0%


    LAW AFFINITY: 0%


    CHAOS AFFINITY: 100%


    STATUS: Chaotic.


    "It''s time for round two." He said as he began running back toward the center of the ne.


    He decided to do something productive since Chaos energy wouldn''t work. A fight is more productive. Killing demons will make him grow stronger and he might get some inspiration during battle.


    His evolution has made him stronger, so he is looking forward to retaliating now that he could handle the one leading them. If one cannot handle the source of a problem then one will be drowned by the symptoms of the problem. So he won''t stop at simply addressing the ambush, he intends to trace it back to their leader.


    His confidencey in the increase of the power rating of his chaos energy to 189.


    The normal high-rank demon has a power rating between 140-180. They have a stat limit of 36 and a state of existence of 5. Boosts from Sin abilities will push their stats above that limit but he is confident he can handle it.


    He took the same route he used to get to the edge of the ne. His journey from his birthce to the ambush point took him three months while fighting, but returning to the edge for his evolution took 3 weeks because he ran for most of it. Now that he is a mid-rank demon, it took him 2 weeks of running to make the same distance. Unfortunately, there was no one waiting for him there.


    "They probably couldn''t wait for me anymore." He said after checking the surrounding for any ambushes.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    At first, he thought since they were not a threat to him anymore, he might not sense them especially since the only three emotions he could sense directed at him right now are fear, jealousy, and hostility. The strong gaze had also returned to following him.


    He continued walking forward since he didn''t find his ambushers. Most mid-rank demons ran away when they saw his ominous visage. Some still fought him even when they saw that the ces he walked by were burned into ashes. They are either too stupid to recognize the threat that he is or couldn''t control their impulses.


    In their defense, he is an anomaly. Every demon can sense the rank of another demon through the interaction of their mark of sin. A higher-grade sin mark will suppress a lower-grade sin mark during this interaction. The interaction will enable a low-rank demon to recognize a mid-rank one.


    That''s how demons know who is stronger than them but it isn''t working in Aeternus''s situation. These mid-rank demons can''t sense any suppression from his sin mark. That means, he is of the same rank as them. Only the highly sensitive ones can sense the disparity in strength and know that he is fatal to them. The stupid ones can''t sense that danger so they attack him.


    Even the ones that are sensitive but have low self-control attack him too. They get an ominous sense of wrongness about him and a hint of danger. But every demon knows that when there''s danger, there''s reward. It bes extra difficult to hold back when their sin is also envy and they have confidence in themselves. Demons of envy are the most sensitive to the uniqueness of his mark of sin.


    Those two categories are the normal ones. The third category of demons that attack or approach him, do so against their will. They were sent to achieve an agenda by a higher power because smart, sensitive Mid-Rank demons don''t want to be anywhere near him.


    NAME: Tane


    RACE: Demon of Lies.


    BLOODLINE/SIN: Lies.


    DEMON RANK: Mid-Rank Demon.


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    MANA: 213


    SIN ENERGY: 341


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:40. Spirit:81+42. MAGIC:46


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:57 Spirit:81. MAGIC:66.


    SIN RANK: Mid-67%


    STRENGTH: Low-20


    CONSTITUTION: Mid-22


    ACTIVITY: Mid-25


    AGILITY: Mid-27


    MAGICAL POWER: Low-23


    PHYSICAL RESISTANCE: Mid-19


    MAGICAL RESISTANCE: Mid-22


    SPIRITUAL RESISTANCE: Mid-27


    SPIRIT: Mid-27


    PERCEPTION: Mid-26


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 39%


    CHAOS AFFINITY: 1%


    SIN ABILITY: The Power of Lies(LEGENDARY): Your tongue weaves maniptive wordsced with a spiritual influence equal to +14 of your Spirit Stat.


    STATUS: Dubious.


    He stopped underestimating the demon as soon as he saw his stats sheet. Tane had been able to afford the Legendary rank of sin ability which cost 100,000 units of resources, 100 times the cost of evolution. That isn''t normal at all.


    It is obvious that Tane had struggled to afford it since some of his other stats werecking but he seeded at the end of the day. This implies patience, careful nning, foresight, and a lot of resources.


    These qualities don''t need to belong to Tane, someone could have put him up to it. Or why else will a demon that can afford 100,000 units of resources not be able to afford the 100 needed for other stats? It is most likely that someone else provided him with the resources but preventedTane from being perfect.


    Trust is scarce among demons and it ismon for a leader to engineer some weaknesses into their subordinates so that they will still be able to control them. That suspicion only increased when he considered the uses of the sin ability.


    The power of Lies doesn''t help demons of lies to lie better, it makes whatever they say believable. It turns lies into truth. There is a spiritualponent to the ability and a boost of +14 gives this demon enough spiritual firepower to take out Viron. A power rating of 123 is no joke when a mid-rank demon has it. It will make Tane the perfect demon to deceive any mid-rank demon, for example, Aeternus.


    Aeternus stopped 2 meters from this demon. He didn''t talk, he just stared and continued to stare. Tane was tall but not as tall as Aeternus. His physical stats have been stunted in favor of his spirit. The light attire he wore made from some sort of leather emphasized his lean figure. He had des strapped to a belt around his waist. He wasn''t wearing any footwear or gloves.


    This much clothing on a demon is an indication of order and civilization. Several sources of order in the abyss ne came to his mind but all of them need a high-rank demon to enforce it. They are also in areas beyond the domain of mid-rank demons so it is confirmed that Tane is not from these parts. The demons he had met until now wore one or two pieces of shoddy armor, carried crude weapons, and didn''t bother with their nudity. Aeternus himself ispletely naked behind his fog of chaos.


    Tane spoke, "Are you the Ominous reaper? The low-rank demon killing mid-rank demons?"


    Aeternus didn''t answer. First of all, he didn''t like that name. Second, he was thinking about killing Tane or letting him go. Thirdly, he didn''t have a mouth or nose. Chaos energy had destroyed all of those while reforming his body when he was born. He will need to use his divine sense if he wants tomunicate, but neither low nor mid-rank demons have divine sense. That''s a privilege that only a high-rank demon has. Fourthly, he has a divine sense, he just doesn''t want to talk.


    Tane didn''t feel awkward because of the silence and continued to talk. "It seems you''re the one. The word is that you''re silent and evil-looking. You sure fit the description."


    "Where is your weapon?" He asked Aeternus.

 Chapter 248 Starting To Draw Attention.

    ?Aeternus had kept his chaos vessel in his inventory so that it won''t get in the way of his running. It''s practically the only weapon he can use since he has to try not to burn whatever he touches into ashes.


    Tane nodded his head in understanding. His beady eyes scanned Aeternus''for the sight of his spatial artifact. But his sight couldn''t get past the dark fog obscuring Aeternus'' figure. Word had gotten out that the ominous reaper could make his sword disappear and reappear in his hands as if he is plucking it out of thin air. That information had drawn the attention of many.


    A storage artifact is a very rare thing in the abyss. A demon Lord has a storage space granted to them by the abyss. The rank before that is that of a demon noble. Demon nobles have perfectly fused energy and should be able to make spatial artifacts but most of them can''t. In short, numerous high-rank demons and demon nobles want Aeternus'' spatial artifact. One of them sent Tane to acquire it.


    Tane moved on when he couldn''t see anything. He began using his sin ability.


    "My Lord has heard tales of your valor. He is impressed with your talent, so he has decided to add you to his household. He has sent me to invite you to the city of Fallen''s Ark and to the noble house of Fallen." He brought out a demon emblem of the house of Fallen to prove his origin.


    Aeternus rolled his eyes. Hearing a demon speak in such a cultured manner makes them sound like a hypocrite. You would think they have basic manners but these same demons will eat you up if you show a sign of weakness, literally. He could also feel a spiritual influence on his soul that wants to cloud his judgment.


    "So what do you say? Will you join me on my return trip to Fallen''s Ark?" Tane asked.


    Aeternus ignored him and resumed his journey. He had an aim in mind, one of the fortress cities in the domain of high-rank demons. It is there that he would be able to get ess to bigger prey and abyss altars.


    Tane may have lied about the invitation but what he said enlightened him about some things. Now he knows that whoever is behind the envy demon is a demon noble. He is also sure that if he follows Tane, then he might be killed, enved, or tortured. All of those bad things aren''t mutually exclusive either.


    Tane caught up to him. "You sure are enthusiastic about this."


    Then he continued talking, spewing lies like a fountain of it.


    Aeternus ignored him. He ignored him when he said, "Wait, that''s the wrong way. Fallen''s Ark is that way."


    He ignored Tane as he tried to convince him. When Tane finally asked, "Can I see your sword? I heard it''s cool."


    Aeternus cut his head off in one swift and smooth motion. He burned the body and everything on it.


    "I shouldn''t have worried." He said when he noticed that the mark of vengeance didn''t form on him.


    Then he resumed his journey. He hadn''t wanted to kill Tane because he is too weak a prey for him. The difference in the value of various demon ranks to the progress of your mark of sin can range from 100 to 1,000 times. A mid-rank demon is worth at least 100 low-rank demons. Tane is worth close to 500 low-rank demons, while the weakest high-rank demon is worth 100 Tanes.


    So killing a mid-rank demon is a waste of time. The other reason why he didn''t want to kill Tane is that he is a messenger of a demon noble. Tane had the emblem of the fallen family and killing him is disrespecting the demon noble. That emblem signifies the authority of the head of the fallen family and should grant whoever holds it passage and safety in most of the areas in the abyss ne.


    Each member of the family has sworn an oath of allegiance to the head of the family, so their scene of death will be transmitted to the head of the family. This oath will render torture for information useless. Also, a mark will form on the killer which will allow the head of the family to track whoever it is. He had been worried about the mark but it seems he shouldn''t have.


    The mark formed but failed to stick to him. It was burned up when it came in contact with chaos energy. But he didn''t rx. The absence of the mark will only make it difficult to track him not impossible. It doesn''t change the fact the head of the fallen family has its attention on him or the fact that Tane was sent to him. There are also many demons constantly watching him so his act of killing Tane is not a secret.


    He didn''t walk for long before a group approached him. They were a rag-tag group of 5 mid-rank demons. They didn''t n to ambush him or if they did, they messed it up. The 5 of them were waiting out in the open along his path. They showed their weapons when he reached them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Stop right there." One of them stood in his path and shouted at him.


    The other four surrounded him in a circr formation. They were closer than a meter to him


    "Give us everything you have or else." The one that shouted earlier grinned and said.


    They were robbing him. He didn''t care if they were being stupid or were ordered to do this. A fog of darkness burst out from him in answer. The fog enveloped everything within a radius of a meter around him before shrinking back into his body.


    His surroundings had cleared up. All five demons had disappeared. Their entire existence was broken down to energy to fuel his mark of sin and ash that scattered into the wind.


    He resumed his journey as if nothing happened. The various demon spies and stalkers felt dread when they saw that scene. It was a fight that took about a second. They didn''t see what happened within the cloud of darkness but whatever it is, is very deadly to mid-rank demons.


    The demon spies reported to their higher-ups while the stalkers gave up on their ns to kill him. The stalkers were acting on their own interests, so they can give up. The spies have people whose will they are acting on, it is not their ce to determine when to give up.


    More demons fought him. Most of them were ignorant demons that haven''t heard about him. Some of them were sent to test him, while no one cared enough to tell the stupid ones that he is dangerous. But they all died. It was not a pleasurable fight either. The only interesting thing that happened on his journey to the domain of high-rank demons was when he was stopped by a messenger from a demon noble.


    "Another demon noble?" He asked himself.


    The moment Aeternus saw the demon, he suspected that it served a demon noble. The demon had a lot inmon with Tane. They were both short and well-dressed. It was until he moved closer that he noticed a ring difference between the two of them apart from their sin and looks.


    The demon of pride stood unsure in Aeternus'' way. The demon did not have confidence in his personal strength, but it should have confidence in the emblem he was wielding.


    "My liege has called for you. Come with me immediately." The demon had said after showing its emblem.


    If Aeternus had vocal cords he would haveughed. He could only be content with shaking his head in amusement.


    "Do not doubt me. My emblem is real." Saying so, the emblem emitted an aura of might and nobility.


    ''So what if the emblem is real?'' Aeternus snickered to himself.


    The aura that the emblem released was proof of a demon noble. It could be any demon noble and Aeternus wouldn''t care. Especially when that demon noble is asking him toe forward of his own volition and offer up his head on a silver tter because of fear. Why else would the demon noble send a low-rank demon to give the order? Either this is a sick joke or the demon noble thought he would simply cave in because of a simple emblem.


    The first noble had been reasonable to send a well-crafted mid-rank demon to coerce and fool him intoing with the messenger. This one didn''t care enough for that.


    His divine sense reached into the messenger''s mind. "Didn''t you hear that I killed a messenger before?"


    Then he shot a bolt of chaotic mes at the low-rank demon that incinerated it. People say "Don''t fault the messenger." That means don''t take your frustration out on innocent messengers or envoys. But what if he wanted to send a message through the messenger and the quickest way to get that message to its destination is if the messenger dies?

 Chapter 249 Salazar The Blade Of Destruction.

    ?He continued on his journey while his words reached the demon noble immediately after the death of the messenger. The demon noble obviously popped his lid in anger.


    In A City Within The Domain Of Demon Nobles.


    nning, scheming, trickery and world invasion start at the high-rank demon level. That''s why the domain of high-rank demons has fortresses constructed around abyss altars. An invasion needs an army, and an army needs order. So high-rank demons are the first pir of order in demon society. While mid-rank demons manage territories and rear demonic beasts, high-rank demons manage fortresses and invade worlds.


    Demon nobles take it one step further by constructing cities and forces that answer them. At this stage, demons can establish a house. A house is needed if a demon noble intends to fight for the seat of the demon Lord. There can be only one demon Lord in all of the abyssal ne. There are multiple nes in the abyss but lesser than a thousand. That means there are less than a thousand demon lords in all of the abyss belonging to the high heaven realm.


    Demon Nobles have topete for that special spot. Thepetition is intense, so much so that there are only 8 cities out of the maximum 9 around the capital city at the center of the ne where the demon Lord lives. That means, there are only 8 established demon nobles in all of the abyssal ne. There are more demon nobles in the ne but they are not strong enough to carve out a ce for themselves in the ne. If something were to happen to the demon Lord, only these 8 have a real chance of getting the seat.


    Even rarer than the number of established demon nobles is the number of them that has a spatial artifact. A demon Lord has one due to his or her unique position in the abyss. That leaves demon nobles to rely on themselves concerning that need.


    If they could have a spatial artifact, they would be able to prepare for different scenarios and carry a lot more on their person. Ever been in a fight but your weapon gets destroyed? What do you do next? If you''re lucky you probably have many weapons on your person that you carry around just for rare asions such as these. If you''re unlucky then you''re the reasonable demon that doesn''t carry multiple weapons that will weigh you down and hinder your movements around.


    Something like a spatial artifact could change the bnce between the nobles. So imagine the reaction of demon nobles when they heard that some mid-rank demon has one. They were surprised, jealous, and greedy for the spatial artifact and what else it may contain. Was it a fortunate boon or an unfortunate bane for that weak demon? Only time will tell. But regardless, a good thing needs strength to keep.


    Even more oundish is the disrespectful behavior of that obviously stupid demon at the request of a particrly powerful demon noble who thought his prestige should be more than enough to cower the mildly lucky demon. He even went further than disrespecting the noble, he insulted the entire noble house by killing the messenger. He even had the guts to say words of challenge to him.


    "Didn''t you hear that I killed a messenger before?"


    "Insolent Demon." The demon noble shouted angrily from his seat.


    It was offense after offense. Finding that spatial artifact had gone to the demon''s head. He has be stupid enough to disrespect a glorious demon noble.


    He beat his chest and said, "To think that I, Szar the de of destruction, have fallen so low as to be ridiculed by some upstart demon."


    Szar, the de of destruction is a lean demon more than 5 meters tall. His skin has a metallic sheen to it. He fights using his body so he doesn''t need weapons. His body can morph into different ded weapons so he doesn''t have to worry about running out of weapons but that doesn''t mean he doesn''t need the spatial artifact. To be rejected like that felt disrespectful.


    He felt really disrespected. It is one thing to have someone above you that has blocked your path of advancement, it is another thing for a lucky simpleton to make fun of you. As they say, when a big matter finally brings you low, small matters will have the opportunity to strut in front of you.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He wasn''t the only one in the throne room. With him are 11 other high-rank demons that are themanders of his army and members of the High Council of the family.


    He said to one of them. "Alkazhi, you go and bring that demon to me. Dead or alive, I don''t care. I only want the spatial artifact. This is your chance to prove yourself. Do not fail me now."


    His voice was as loud as a roar. Alkahzi stood up from his seat and bowed. "You will is mymand."


    Then he left the throne room and began his quest for Aeternus'' head.


    Demon Noble Szar watched Alkazhi go. Yes, he has been brought low by the demon lord and can be disrespected by insolent demons but that doesn''t mean he will allow it to happen without swift and heavy retribution. Does the stupid demon not know how well he performed in thest ne war more than ten thousand years ago? Does the demon not know how he became one of the 8 to establish the city?


    "And to think I was going to simply torture him slightly. I was a fool to be so generous. I opened myself to the ridicule." Szar murmured to himself.


    It is toote for that demon''s ignorance now. He won''t even take the demon in if thees crawling to him pleading and begging for his life. The grace period he gave the demon is over. Now that demon will experience what it means to disrespect one of the 8. They say experience is the best teacher, but there are some experiences that kill you.


    Szar is confident of the sess of his subordinate. A high-rank demon against some mid-rank demon smuck is more than enough. Alkazhi might be young and average among high-rank demons but he has the advantage of being the subordinate of a demon noble, he has a boost to his power.


    Any demon that swears an oath to a demon noble will receive a sin ability from the demon noble based on the rank of the receiver. It will be based on the unique ability of that demon noble acquired over his/her evolution. So swearing an oath to a demon noble will make a demon more powerful. Yet, high-rank demons would rather stay in their fortresses and be their own boss rather than bow to a demon noble.


    The thing is, if you, as a high-rank demon stay in your fortress and mind your business, no one wille to disturb you when the fight for the throne of demon Lord begins. If you are the subordinate of a demon noble, you will have to fight the subordinates of other demon nobles who have received the same boost as you. So why bother swearing an oath of allegiance? That''s why Szar has only 11 high-rank demons as his subordinates.


    Szar would have loved to march over to the region of mid-rank demons and put Aeternus in his ce himself but he is too powerful to even enter the high-rank demon''s domain. The numerous expensive upgrades that he acquired during his evolution require a lot of sin energy to sustain and of a particr quality that can only be found close to the center of the ne. So he has to be content with sending a subordinate. Sending his subordinate on errands isn''t the only benefit he gets from them, he receives a boost to his strength too.


    Alkazhi flew straight for Aeternus. As a high-rank demon, it is a sign of your prowess and intelligence if you can fly. It is one of the reasons why he was epted as Szar''smander. The demon nobles might need high-rank demons as subordinates, but they won''t take just anyone that shows up. So Alkazhi is unique and because he is a subordinate of a demon noble, he is powerful too.


    He was able to reach the border between the domain of high-rank demons and mid-rank demons before Aeternus got there. The concentration of sin energy drops across this border enough to make any high-rank demon feel suffocated and lose their sin energy quickly. So he stood waiting, some distance away from the border.


    He didn''t have to wait for long before he saw the walking incarnate of darkness. Aeternus looked like a shadow without definite edges or lines, with a fog of darkness making him seem three-dimensional instead of the cut out of a shadow. His eyes were zing in a dark red fire that locked onto Alkazhi.

 Chapter 250 The Magical Cannon.

    ?Alkazhi could see the fog be active as if excited about something when those eyes gazed at him. He could also tell that there was something ominous about this shadow, something dangerous even. But how dangerous could a mid-rank demon be? He had been one before and had experienced the empowerment of the evolution to a high-rank demon, that''s why he has confidence in his victory.


    Apart from confidence, he has responsibility and longing as two motivations for this fight. He had the responsibility to bring that spatial artifact to his lord. It is an order that he cannot betray. He also has the longing born from the intuitive knowledge that killing Aeternus will grant him a boon like no other.


    This longing didn''t cloud his wisdom, it instead made him wary. If Aeternus has something that he wants and could make a high-rank demon stronger, then Aeternus will not be easy to deal with at all. Alkazhi is a demon that works well with other demons in a prolonged fight but he has been sent to prove himself as the newmander. It shouldn''t be a problem for him to take care of a mid-rank demon but he needed to be careful since he is alone and isn''t in his best environment.


    So he tried diplomacy first. A high-rank demon is smart enough to pretend to be civil and try other methods of problem-solving apart from violence.


    "I am Alkazhi, the 11thmander of the house of Szar. You have something that my Lord wants. Hand over the spatial artifact and I''ll let you go. Choose wisely, your decision could grant you the favor of a noble house or it could lead to the retribution of the full might of a noble house."


    A heavy divine sense reached into Alkazhi''s mind. Alkazhi turned around warily searching for an ambush. He thought another high-rank demon had approached him without him knowing.


    The mental transmissions of a chuckle and amusement were sent to him. Then a voice boomed in his head. "So you''re after my storage space. I had thought you were after my sword. Then again, you won''t know something good if it hits you in the face."


    Aeternus found it funny that all the ruckus was about his inventory. All of these demons want it for various reasons but the only thing he is using it for is to keep his chaos vessel. He had drawn so much attention to himself because of something he took for granted. He could only imagine how far up the demon hierarchy the news has traveled if they sent a high-rank demon to take it from him.


    Alkazhi''s attention returned to Aeternus and there was shock on it.


    "Did you just use a divine sense to talk to me?"


    Aeternus didn''t reply. The answer was obvious. Instead, he continued walking towards Alkazhi. He had not stopped since he encountered this high-rank demon.


    Alkazhi nodded as if he understood something profound. "I see. You have been able to ess upgrades above your sin rank during your evolution. That will exin your strength and what''s giving you confidence."


    He believed he had cracked the mystery of Aeternus''s source of strength. He was impressed and his anticipation also increased. Acquiring strength during evolution may be expensive and having ess to higher-rank evolution doesn''t mean you can afford it. Still, he wanted the opportunity to have higher-rank upgrades during evolution.


    He was already thinking about where to get resources when he seeds in killing Aeternus. The cost of upgrades increases with each rank. Or else, why will esteemed demon lords fight the high elves for life essence? A single drop of life essence is worth 1 billion units of biomass.


    He stopped daydreaming when he noticed that Aeternus wasing dangerously close to him.


    ''First thing first. Kill the demon and take his power for myself.''


    He took out his spell grimoire.


    "Give up the spatial artifact. It is not yours anymore. The might of a demon noble is not to be scoffed at."


    Aeternus cracked the rigid bones of his neck He was less than 20 meters away from his target now.


    He replied. "It''s okay. Growth needs adversity."


    "That is a bad decision. I hope you reconsider." Alkazhi said but he had already opened his grimoire and began to flip through its pages.


    "Too much talking. Are we going to fight or what." Aeternus said before he shot forward.


    NAME: Alkazhi


    RACE: Demon of Vainglory.


    BLOODLINE/SIN: Vainglory.


    DEMON RANK: High-Rank Demon.


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    MANA: 9136


    SIN ENERGY: 3328


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:84. Spirit:175. MAGIC:180+100.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:87. Spirit:170. MAGIC:180.


    SIN RANK: High-8%


    STRENGTH: Mid-28


    CONSTITUTION: High-29


    ACTIVITY: High-28


    AGILITY: Mid-28


    MAGICAL POWER: High-36


    PHYSICAL RESISTANCE: Mid-29


    MAGICAL RESISTANCE: High-30


    SPIRITUAL RESISTANCE: High-34


    SPIRIT: High-35


    PERCEPTION: High-33


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 49%


    CHAOS AFFINITY: 1%


    SIN ABILITY: Fake Power of Vainglory(RARE)-+6 Boost to whatever stat you use the more you use it.


    Mana Bank(EPIC)- Ability that Increases Mana Storage by 2 times)


    POWER FROM OATH OF ALLEGIANCE:


    The Tempo Of Destruction (LEGENDARY)- +14 boost to whatever ability you''re using the more destruction you cause with it.


    STATUS: Anxious.


    Despite the seemingly unworthy benefits of making an oath of allegiance, some still go ahead to make it. One of the reasons why they do it apart from prestige, reliance, and wealth, is a match in ability. The boost from the LEGENDARY rank Tempo of Destruction tis already half the stats of a high-rank demon.


    Alkazhi is a mediocre high-rank demon when ites to physical stats. He sacrificed most of the resources he gained as a mid-rank demon to upgrade his magical stats and acquire an EPIC sin ability that improved his mana capacity. He even maxed out his magical power and opted to let the other grow stronger as he eats.


    His decision to prioritize his mind power over his body has made him unique. His two sin abilities enhance each other. The more mana he uses, the higher his capacity and regeneration be. And the more he casts spells, the higher his magical power increases. The increase in mana makes sure he will be able tost longer in battle and cast more spells.


    Add in the boost from his oath of allegiance then he will be an unstoppable spell caster. The three abilities are flexible but when their effect is focused on a single aspect, his maximum boost will make his magic power reach 280. That has already left the range of high-rank demons level of power and almost into the domain of demon nobles.


    A normal high-rank demon has a state of existence of 5 and a power rating between 140-180 while demon nobles have power ratings between 296-360. This Alkazhi demon can defeat every high-rank demon hees across as long as he gets his full boost.


    He is a dedicated magical cannon. Why else would he carry a heavy evil-looking grimoire? He needs Variety and many options for all that mana. His ability isn''t infinite. It needs to be fueled by sin energy but the returns on the consumption of sin energy are higher than normal. His abilities are why he was epted by the demon noble of destruction. As long as he had protectors, who will guard him and help him stay longer in a fight, he would be able to exert his full strength.


    The moment Aeternus saw the stats of this demon he knew he couldn''t allow the fight to be prolonged. That is just asking for trouble. So he brought out his full power to end the fight as soon as possible. The fog of chaos around him thickened and he coated his ymore in chaos mes. The wind howled and the air he left darkened to form a trail of corruption. Even the very air he passed by didn''t escape the influence of his chaotic mes.


    His evolution made him capable of using up to the 2nd step of weapon mastery. He still couldn''t sense the momentum of the world because of the chaotic energy he possesses. Using the 3rd step and higher required world harmonization, something that can''t happen easily with how chaotic he is. So he was confident of killing Alkahzhi if he can get close to him.


    A fire Lance about 2 meters long appeared beside Alhazhi. He shot that toward his approaching opponent while more began to materialize around him. He also began to levitate. He intends to maintain the high ground while he rains down destruction on his foe. He won''t even mind if his opponent dodges thences because he will get their boost as long as he destroys something, the ground included. Unless his opponent can fly too then this fight is already his.


    Aeternus conjured a shield that blocked the firences. He noticed his opponent rising into the air so he threw bolts of chaos at him. He mustn''t allow his opponent to fly or he will be doomed. His recent evolution didn''t make him capable of flight.

 Chapter 251 A Race Against Time.

    ?10 bolts of chaotic energy materialized around him in the blink of an eye and shot toward Alkazhi. It might be chaos energy that he is manipting not mana, and it may be difficult to make intricate spells with it but he can dish it out a lot quicker. He has a powerful soul and a chaotic power rating of 189 which is enough to ovee Alkazhi''s magical defense.


    Alkazhi paled when he saw the attacks. He sensed that they were very dangerous. Even looking at them felt like his eyes were being stabbed by ck spikes. The bolts of chaos overwhelmed the number ofnces of fire he had. He had only 2 fully formed ones. One of them had shot towards Aeternus while another had fully formed. More were still forming but he needed time.


    He understood that he wouldn''t be given that time. He had to do something about the iing attacks, so he stopped attempting to levitate and switched to another strategy. He also stopped trying to create morences of fire and instead focused all of his mental prowess on creating a shield barrier. A rectangr barrier of fire appeared in front of him that continued to thicken as time passed. The bolts fell on the barrier and were stopped one after the other. He had seeded in blocking the attack.


    The barrier of fire also became wobbly and unstable but Alkahzhi had faith in his barrier. The barrier would thicken then he would morph it into a dome that covered him. With him safely ensconced within the dome, he will morph the outeryer of the barrier to create whips and tentacles of me. He would be able to defend and attack at the same time which would buy him enough time for the barrier to transform into a giant fire octopus monster.


    If the fire monster that he creates isn''t resolved early and he is allowed time to boost his magical power then more attacks can be brought into y. Even if the fire monster is resolved, he still has another strategy locked and loaded that he can easily switch to.


    The fire monster is capable of exploding to cause massive destruction that will boost its power again. Alkazhi will make it explode before it is breached if there is a way to resolve it. The explosion will also clear the immediate surroundings of enemies. It will give Alkahzhi enough time to use the dregs of the spell to form firences while he tries to ascend into the sky again and begin raining down destruction.


    High-rank demons are like that. They have had time and the necessary intelligence to figure out their strength and weaknesses and to create a fighting style. Their most powerful tools are their skills not their upgrades from evolution and the most powerful high-rank demons are the ones with enough intelligence to utilize their skills effectively. All Alkazhi needs to win a fight is time.


    Too bad that he is facing an entity of chaos. His barrier of fire truly stopped the chaotic mes but they paid a price for it. The chaotic mes began to burn on the shield and created small holes within it. The barrier couldn''t grow and thicken. It was snuffed out instead and it caused significant damage to his psyche that stunned him.


    He didn''t get time to recover because Aeternus had already shot out several more chaotic bolts at Alkazhi. Alkazhi had lost hisposure. His mind was in a mess and his ns have gone off-track. Still, his instincts kicked in. He began creating shields to stop the bolts.


    While Alkazhi was focused on the bolts, Aeternus was preparing something else. He had been focusing on his ymore since the fight started, and now he swung it at Alkazhi a few meters away. A de of ming chaos shot out of his ymore and streaked toward Alkazhi.


    During his time practicing chaos energy, he found out that he can enhance his chaos energy with his soul force by using his chaos vessel as a conduit. The process is more likepression. His chaos power has a stat higher than what a mid-rank demon should have, adding his soul force to it increases its rank and its power rating. Chaos energy resists changes to it but he canpress it within his chaos vessel and shoot it out.


    The de of ming chaos tore through the impromptu shields that Alkazhi put up and cleaved his body into two. The de went through his body and also split the ground behind him to create a deep gorge. Aeternus rushed to save the grimoire while chaos set about to destroy Alkazhi''s body.


    He nodded his head appreciatively at the effect of the attack. Theoretically, he can boost his chaos energy power rating up to the limit that is the addition of both his Magical and Spirit attack rating. The more time he spends focusing on thepression, the higher his attack will be, but it can never reach a power rating of 486. The problem is his conduit.


    His chaos vessel likes to absorb both chaos energy and soul force. He needs to hold off its appetite which consumes more soul force from him. It won''t be efficient to try and reach the limit ofpression because of the prohibitive cost in energy and in time.


    In a way, he and Alkazhi are simr in that they can boost their power rating over the norm if given time. The one that will win in such a fight is the one that reaches the boost the fastest. His chaos vessel gives him an edge in that regard. Alkazhi''s boost mightst longer while Aeternus can only boost each individual attack. He can boost the attacks the quickest and so he won.


    He put the grimoire away into his inventory before turning his attention to the surroundings. His divine sense reached out to the high-rank demons hiding around him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Are you going toe out or what?" He asked.


    Several high-rank demons came out from various hiding ces. They are about 14 in number and they are also part of the reason why he had to kill Alkazhi quickly. If they joined in, then Alkazhi will have more time to umte his power which will be bad.


    This group of high-rank demons had been waiting here for Aeternus even before Alkazhi came. Alkazhi was right to suspect that some high-rank demon had approached him without him being aware. They aren''t the only ones watching him but the rest aren''t hostile. Even the powerful divine sense watching him isn''t hostile to him, yet. This particr divine sense has been watching him since his ambush.


    They approached him and stood less than 3 meters away from him. One of the demons stepped forward.


    "You''re strong. That much is true. But you''re outnumbered. That is also true. The entire ne is boiling over because of the spatial artifact. You will only face more and more danger. You can''t keep the artifact. That is a fact."


    Aeternus snickered. How is it a fact that he can''t keep it? It is more of a fact that he can''t give his inventory away. The thing is bound to the system which is attached to him. He doesn''t have any power over the system.


    "So what do you suggest? That I should give you?" He asked as if he was interested.


    "No. We want you to join us. We intend to use the artifact as a bargaining chip to negotiate with a demon noble or the demon Lord himself. If you join us, you will get our strength and support. We will also split the gains into 16 portions. You will take two portions while we will each take one. It is reasonable right? We can form a contract for it. What do you say?"


    Not all high-rank demons have fortresses. A fortress can only be built around an abyss altar. There is a limited amount of abyss altars per ne. You can build anything anywhere but it won''t be relevant if it isn''t built around an abyss altar.


    There are only 666 abyss altars and thousands of high-rank demons. That means that there are many high-rank demons without a relevant fortress. These 14 are among the unlucky many. Without a fortress, there''s no way to invade worlds and harvest resources to grow stronger. They can''t fight other high-rank demons because they aren''t strong. If they were so strong, they would be among the 666 high-rank demons with a fortress.


    Their stats didn''t look impressive for high-rank demons.


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:165. Spirit:145. MAGIC:140.


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:150. Spirit:140. MAGIC:84.


    A normal high-rank demon''s power rating ranges from 140-180. These demons are average and to top it off they don''t have impressive boosts from their sin ability. It is not a wonder why they are the bottom feeders of the domain of high-rank demons.

 Chapter 252 Predator Vs Scavengers.

    ?They heard of the demon with the spatial artifact. Some didn''t believe it but these 14 did. They came here waiting for Aeternus to offer him a deal. They need resources and ess to abyss altars. They hoped that can get it from Aeternus in exchange for their collective strength and protection.


    Maybe that wasn''t their n before. There''s no way 14 demons skulking about can be up to any good. But they changed their minds when they saw his fight with Alkazhi. Aeternus undoubtedly had the strength of a high-rank demon and he was stronger than them individually. So they chose not to fight him and to offer him safety in numbers.


    Aeternus nodded his head. "Sounds reasonable. But like I said earlier. Growth needs Adversity."


    Fog bellowed out of his body to form a cloud that covered them all. His chaotic power is above their magical resistance but his attack was spread too wide so it will wake time before their defense is eaten. But the cloud obscured their vision and senses. They couldn''t see or hear anything from within the cloud.


    It made them fumble and unable to react properly as he swung his ymore for their lives. Their first instinct was to run away from him in the opposite direction but the cloud moved around with him as the center, so they couldn''t escape the cover of pure darkness.


    It felt like being within pure darkness because all their senses including their very important divine sense were not working within the cloud. The opposite is true for him. His soul force had permitted the cloud and created a sort of domain for him. They were not able to see him but he could see them.


    He could do more than see them. He could cast spells with the chaos energy within the cloud. Chaos spells were forming within the cloud while he also used his ymore. Chaos bolts attacked them from every direction and des of chaos came out of his weapon to put down any stubborn foe. The cloud was also wearing them down mentally and physically. He was attacking them from all sides.


    Apart from the handicap of sensory deprivation, and constant passive and active attacks, they also couldn''t retaliate at all. No spell could form within the cloud at all and they couldn''t target him to attack him because of the sensory deprivation and mental disorientation. So they were like sheep to the ughter, rendered incapable of putting up any resistance.


    He was like a deathly reaper in the darkness as he hunted them down. Chaos des tore them apart limb from limb while chaos bolts drilled into them and ate into their flesh. The ones that cried out in pain had chaotic energy forced into their mouth and down their throat. It spelled their doom. Two of them got lucky enough to reach the perimeter of the cloud but a de of chaotic mes cut them down before they could escape. He didn''t need to be near someone now to attack them with his ymore. So they all died.


    The cloud of chaos receded and stuck close to his body making it hazy. There was nobody left apart from him. Even their armor and weapons have been destroyed. The only thing left was some items that he decided to preserve, some grimoires and information stones.


    They have more possessions but they will be in theirirs and hideouts. Theck of portable storage devices has made it necessary for demons to have a base and it has also made it unlikely for them to have their valuables on them. He went about picking up his spoils before he continued his journey.


    He pitied these demons. The demon society is full ofpetition. If you fall behind, then you be irrelevant and upetitive. Even if these few manage to scrape resources together and evolve, they would never be able topete with the established noble families. Their n was well thought out and their offer wasn''t bad but he isn''t like them. He is a predator, not a scavenger.


    News spread about his deeds at the border about how he killed a noble demon''s envoy and 14 high-rank demons. It wasn''t difficult to track him. Anyone could just follow the trail of grey ashes he left behind on the ground. He ignored the surveince because there was nothing he can do about it unless he decides to move underground. He continued his journey until he reached a fortress. Even then he might not be able to escape the divine sense that had locked onto him.


    The demon lookouts and sentries on the wall of the fortress spotted him easily. He is something out of ce even in the abyss. He looked like an expanding dot of darkness in a world of red due to the heat andva. The lookouts went to inform theirmander immediately.


    Themander grinned when he heard that the ominous reaper and darkness hade to his doorstep. Had hee to pledge allegiance or to hand over the spatial artifact to ask for protection?<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Either way, he has made a good choice." He said grandly as soon as he heard the news.


    This demon of pride felt proud that Aeternus chose him. He is a top high-rank demon with 3 other high-rank demons as his subordinate. They are more like hisckeys because he is way stronger than the three assistantmanders. They are in no way his equals or partners. He simply took them in because he needed strong subordinates to keep the mid-rank demons under control and they were also weakpared to him. So he is doing well and will do better once he gets the spatial artifact.


    "Get everyone ready for battle. The fortress is on high battle alert mode from now on." He ordered hisckeys as he strode towards the castle walls.


    The proximity of the spatial artifact to him may be good news but it is bound to bring problems. The Ominous Reaper of Darkness brings cmity with him wherever he goes so he must be prepared for anything. Themander is preparing for the attacks that will be made against him when he gets the spatial artifact. So Aeternus arrived to find a fortress that is battle ready.


    The armymander noticed his rank from the fluctuations of his mark of sin.


    He was surprised. "He is really a mid-rank demon. I had thought it was an exaggeration."


    High-rank demons with ess to an abyss altar canmunicate with other abyss altars through thework that they formed with each other. So information and news spread faster among the top of the high-rank demon hierarchy.


    "For a mid-rank demon to have the prowess of a high-rank demon he must have something good, something powerful to rely on. It is probably that cloud of his. Is it some sort of artifact?" He mused to himself.


    "That lucky bastard." He said in jealousy.


    He had news that those that the cloud of darkness touches will die and had even seen images. He conjectures that Aeternus might have gotten lucky with more than a spatial artifact. A spatial artifact is bound to contain something good when the ominous darkness found it. Considering the power of a demon needed to use a spatial artifact, the things it contains must be powerful too. His anticipation for the spatial artifact increased.


    He puffed up his chest and said. "It is a good thing that he knows his situation very well and hase to seek protection from someone truly worthy."


    He considers himself to be better than a ragtag team of 14 high-rank demons. He may not have the advantage in quantity of manpower but he has quality. He has a fortress and that''s what matters. He may have just three high-rank demons as subordinates but that goes to show how strong he is. He is so strong that he can allow the threat of three high-rank demons to be constantly near him. As a demon of pride, he had no weakness to exploit.


    The mid-rank demons that made up his army were fidgeting because of the feeling of terror and wrongness that they could feel from Aeternus. They were the same rank as him but they could feel the threat of an existential crisis. It''s like their existence knows that a single contact with him will lead to their demise.


    These mid-rank demons are different from the oneszing out in their territories. These have been trained and have invaded worlds, their sense of danger is higher because of their experience. So is their sense of order. They held their ground and stayed in formation because Aeternus is an unknown threat to them, while their armymander is a known and highly dangerous threat to them if they desert. Besides, they have a fortress and theirmander standing between them and the Ominous Reaper. What could possibly go wrong?

 Chapter 253 Danazel The Demon Of Pride.

    ?Better the fear you know than the unknown in this situation. There''s a lot to fear in the demon realm if you''re weak. And those are known sources of fear. If you constantly fear the unknown then you will die of fear. That is a real possibility because of the existence of demons of fear who can empower themselves with fear.


    So fear is a very harmful luxury for the weak. No matter the amount of dread that they felt, the armymander''s presence held the soldiers in line. They didn''t bolt away, but that''s all they could manage right now. When Aeternus got within shouting distance of the fortress, the armymander was the one to ask for Aeternus''s purpose since no one else could ask and his vicemanders didn''t dare do anything without his consent.


    "What brings you here, the ominous reaper?" Danazel asked proudly with his chest all puffed out and his height of 3.9 meters fully disyed.


    NAME: Danazel


    RACE: Demon of Pride.


    BLOODLINE/SIN: Pride.


    DEMON RANK: High-Rank Demon.


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    MANA: 6837


    SIN ENERGY: 5185


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:180. Spirit:180 MAGIC:180


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:180 Spirit:180. MAGIC:180.


    SIN ABILITY: Power Of Pride(EPIC)- +9 boosts to whatever stat you arecking in a confrontation).


    Armor of Pride(LEGENDARY)- Ability that reduces the effectiveness of any ability that you have resolved before by 70%)


    STATUS: Feeling Smug.


    Unlike Alkazhi that needed time to power up, Danazel is an all-rounder ready to do battle at any time. His first sin ability shores up any weakness, and his second ability reduces powers and abilities that he has ovee before. Only something well above his power level and new to him could be a threat to him. But if that thing doesn''t kill him now, it will likely never do. Whatever doesn''t kill him, makes him stronger.


    Aeternus answered, "Danazel is it. I''m taking this fortress. Begone if you care for your life."


    Actually, that''s not what he wants. He wants to fight and kill Danazel. Ideally, he would prefer it if Danazeles out and they fight but he knows that''s not going to happen. Danazel might be a demon of pride but he isn''t foolish. So instead, he will go for the one thing that Danazel must care about. Either Danazel fights then or not.


    Meanwhile, Danazel didn''t feel creeped out that the ominous reaper knew his name. No, he felt very angry and frankly insulted instead. But he kept his cool, something fishy must be going on here or the ominous reaper is one bat-shit crazy demon.


    So he asked coldly. "Oh yeah, you and what army?"


    Here he is, a lord of a fortress behind the defense of his fortress and with ten thousand mid-rank demons in his army. He has awork of alliance that cane to his rescue, for a price of course, if he is ganged upon. And yet, one mid-rank demon full of himself or highly confident is telling him to scram without a fight.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''He must have confidence in something. I just need to experience it once and I''ll be stronger.'' Danazel thought to himself.


    There''s no way he will just run away like that and give up what is his. He had to see and experience what it is. His confidencey in the fact that his power rating could reach 225. No ordinary high-rank demon can reach that level and the extraordinary high-rank demons stronger than that have failed in killing him or else he won''t be standing here alive, well, and feeling smug.


    Aeternus didn''t answer, he continued to approach the fortress. He had said his piece, now was the time for action.


    Danazel shouted to his soldiers, "Attack him. Kill him now and put an end to this nonsense."


    He would kill the Ominous Reaper, then he would get his loot. He has archers, spell casters, cannons, ballista, and catapults ready at the top of the walls. The fortress is a structure 500 meters long on each side, its four walls are 50m high and 20m thick. It was built with the lives of thousands of mid-rank demons and highly durable abyssal stone. Only a betrayal, the assassination of themander, or the attack of several high-rank demons can ovee its defenses.


    Every means at Danazel''s disposal rained down on the line figure that his Aeternus. Arrows, spells, and cannon fire were shot at him. In response, he dropped his ymore into the ground andmanded it to grow. The ymore sank into the ground as it grew taller and wider. It protected him from the barrage. Danazel''s mouth was wide enough to swallow a cannonball.


    "My turn." Aeternus'' divine sense informed the attackers.


    Chaos spells started to form in the air. They were copies of the magical attacks that they shot at him, except they were three times in number and very much powerful. It was like high-rank demons three times the amount of the mid-rank demons that shot spells were attacking the fortress. That''s without adding the advantage of chaos energy over mana.


    These conjurations that he created with chaos energy are in the form of the original spells except they are ck and smoking. He couldn''t create this many attacks on his own with chaos energy but his sin ability helped him with that. It is another thing to see if he could control it though.


    His soul ordered the attack to rain down on the wall of the fortress. The attacks bombarded the top of the walls and even extended into the fortress. Explosions rang out as the chaos spells wreaked havoc. The orderly formation made it easier for the spells to cause maximum damage. Soldiers and siege weapons on this side of the walls were destroyed. The durable stone prevented the fortress itself from taking any damage but it had begun to burn. ck mes were spreading all around and burning everything.


    Danazel eximed in shock when he saw therge thing that appeared in front of Aeternus like a shield that protected him. But now he is barking orders and trying to keep morale up but his army was in shambles. The fire couldn''t be put out and it was still spreading. The fire was ck and gloomy like the stuff covering the ominous reaper''s body.


    ''Has he always been on fire? Is this his trump card? How did he do it?'' Danazel asked himself.


    He has a lot of questions swirling in his mind but doesn''t have the leisure to have them answered. His demon soldiers were crying and trying to flee. He couldn''t wrap his head around what had just happened but he had to keep the army together. Then he heard a loud boom and he felt the support beneath his feet going down. His mind realized what was going on immediately. The wall was crumbling. A lot more questions popped up in his mind but the most pertinent one is, ''How did he do it?''


    There could only be one person responsible for this but his attention had left the ominous reaper while he was trying to extinguish the ck mes and keep his army together. The wall was supposed to be very difficult to break. They didn''t make it 20 meters thick for it to breach so easily.


    Aeternus had retrieved his ymore. He focused on it andpressed chaos energy with his soul force. Then he lifted and brought it down on the wall. He increased its length and weight as the ymore came down on the wall. It tore through the walls easily before unloading thepressed chaos energy within it. The resulting explosion from deep within the wall broke its structural integrity and made it crumble.


    The explosion didn''t create flying rock shards. Chaos energy within the explosion caused everything to turn to ashes. Arge hole was created within the wall from which more chaotic mes spread throughout the walls causing it to crumble. The ymore shrank and returned to Aeternus'' hands. Then Aeternus dashed into the fortresses over the ruins of the wall.


    He aimed straight for the castle. He created more mes that he spread wantonly along his way to the castle. Most of Danazel''s wealth will be stored there. He made his actions eye-catching and aim obvious so that Danazel will be able to pinpoint his position among the chaos ande to stop him. If Danazel doesn''te to stop him then he will have to be content with the death of thousands of mid-rank demons and the goodies that Danazel has been hoarding. One cannot eat their cake and have it too.


    Danazel appeared to stop him when he reached 100m of the castle. He roared at Aeternus, "What have you done?"


    ''Looks like I get to eat my cake and have it.'' Aeternus chuckled to himself.


    He would have licked his lips or grinned if he had a mouth. For now, he will settle with the increase in the intensity of the glow of his eyes.


    "You will pay for what you''ve done. Nothing but your life will do." Danazel promised gory vengeance as he hefted his twin mming hammers and lunged for Aeternus.

 Chapter 254 Like Master Like His Pet.

    ?They shed soon after. Aeternus''s ymore and Danazel''s hammers created an explosion as soon as they made contact. It became clear that Danazel was stronger because Aeternus was thrown backward from their sh. He crashed into several buildings before stopping.


    Aeternus stood up immediately. His body was damaged a bit but he wasn''t capable of feeling pain just like he doesn''t get tired. His broken bones snapped together and healed using chaos energy. He was good as new and ready to react to Danazel''s next attack.


    Danazel had run and jumped up. He intended to smash Aeternus into the ground. But Aeternus began swinging his ymore at him. Danazel''s instincts screamed to keep away from the des of ming darkness that were thrown at him. He knew that if he could just ovee the attack, he wouldn''t need to fear it anymore. But he also knew that the chances of surviving the attack are too low. So he deflected the des with his hammers.


    His hammers shed loudly with the des and he was even pushed back from descending on Aeternus. His mana fell significantly and it was still falling due to that sh. It was enough proof for him to realize that his decision to block was right. He didn''t get to feel happy for long. The little amount of hair he had on his body straightened in fear when he sensed a serious danger.


    While Danazel was preupied with the des, Aeternus was focusing on his ymore. The ming darkness on it began to concentrate. Then he swung it in a wide arc behind him. The ymore released a sharp attack that tore through the air and created a shriek due to its rough passage.


    The three high-rank demons that wanted to ambush him were torn apart. The sharp de of darkness began to widen as it continued on its journey. It cut everything in its path and burned them. There was cone shape scene of destruction that started from Aeternus and reached the walls.


    "Now it''s just you and me," Aeternus said to the stunned Danazel.


    He continued. "There''s that peeping tom but he won''t be joining this fight."


    Aeternus is referring to the divine sense watching them that only he could sense.


    Danazel remained silent. He reviewed his situation and assessed the fortress. There was destruction everywhere. Buildings had caved in or had been cut apart and that dreadful fire was still burning. There was no sight of his soldiers but he had called his allies. High-rank demons of simr strength to him will be here soon. Support was on its way and all he has to do is stall for a while so he made his decision. He turned around and ran. Relying on the punctuality of demons in your time of need is folly.


    "Let me go." He shouted to Aeternus as he ran. "My helpers areing. If you dy then you will be surrounded and you will die."


    "Who said I''ll need a long time to kill you? Besides, the more the merrier." Aeternus transmitted his amusement and glee very clearly to his prey.


    He made his point known, he won''t let Danazel go.


    "You will tire yourself out. How many attacks of such Caliber can you make again?" Danazel tried to reason with the ominous reaper.


    Thatst attack was very powerful and it must be energy consuming. A demon has to make sure they don''t run low on energy or they will be easy prey to their peers. A smart demon should be conservative especially since more enemies areing.


    "You have no idea." Saying so Aeternus grabbed the mes in the fortress and pulled them towards him.


    The wind howled as the mes rushed towards Aeternus from every direction. Danazel was cornered without any path to escape through. He didn''t despair much before he was covered and burned away.


    The mes continued and entered Aeternus'' body leaving him alone in a decrepit fortress. Only the castle wasrgely intact and thepletely unaffected abyss altar at the center of the fortress. The haze of darkness around him had grown stronger because the mes on his body had grown stronger.


    He ignored the abyss altar and made his way to the castle. There were some mid-rank demons still alive but he ignored them. He searched through the castle floor by floor with his divine sense. Nothing could hide from his perception and he had time for a full search.


    He found Danazel''s stash at the top of the castle. He had expected a secluded corner underground of the castle somewhere but it was out in the open in arge room on the top floor. The entire floor was fortified with wards, rms, and traps of various kinds all there to protect his wealth. They did nothing to stop Aeternus''s advance.


    Even the giant demonic snake that was guarding the door didn''t confront him at all. The snake slithered away while trying to camouge itself somehow, but his senses couldn''t be fooled at all.


    Aeternus shook his head. "Like master like his pet. Not bad."


    The master had chosen to run so did the pet. It might be considered cowardice but it spoke of intelligence and wisdom. Danazel had raised a demonic beast to the high-rank level. Low-rank and mid-rank demons are equivalent to mana entities and transcendents respectively. High-rank demons have the strength of low-rank gods while the strongest high-rank demons like Danazel that can jump ranks are equivalent to mid-gods and lords ofws.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Aeternus is impressive to be able to fight and kill such powerful beings while only being the equivalent of a transcendent but to create such a demonic beast is more impressive. It would require a lot of resources on the part of the master and a good bloodline on the part of the pet.


    Demons are like dragons in a lot of ways. They both are immune to the suppression of the divine ne because of the unique energy type that they have that is equivalent to Origin energy. They are also highly virile and can reproduce with a lot of things. Demonic beasts are the result of demons reproducing with beasts. These unfortunate offsprings are capable of living in the abyss but are most often food to be raised for ughter by mid-rank demons.


    They don''t have sin marks that demons acquire when they be low rank. So most demonic beasts stay at the low rank all their lives but if they can break through to the mid-rank on their own, then they must be special. It means they have the potential to grow stronger.


    Demons can''t grow stronger without a sin mark that allows them to evolve but demonic beasts are part beasts and can have the potential to grow but it is rare to see. Encountering a mid-rank demonic beast among other demonic beasts is a 1 in 1,000,000 chance. So there''s no way Aeternus will allow this snake to go.


    "Come here." He ordered the snake.


    The snake turned around and slithered to where Aeternus was standing just at the door to the room with the stash. Then ity down on the ground and looked at Aeternus fearfully while he examined it.


    The snake had gleaming scales of draconic pattern and small stubs on its head. Those are signs of a dragon bloodline. It also has four eyes, two on each side of its head, and a forked tongue with barbs and fangs that can pierce through steel as if it were paper. A pair of small wings are on its back.


    "I doubt those wings can help it levitate at all." He mused.


    NAME: Xander.


    RACE: Demonic Beast.


    BLOODLINE: Draco-demonic.


    DEMON RANK: High Rank


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    MANA: 2471


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:80. Spirit:60. MAGIC:50


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:100. Spirit:65. MAGIC:110.


    STATUS: Petrified.


    "So it has dragon bloodline." He said to himself.


    It isn''t rare for a demon to reproduce with a descendant of a dragon. The two races breed a lot so there''s bound to be an interaction between the two bloodlines, it just doesn''t turn out well. The bloodlines will inevitably sh. The pride in the dragon bloodline will not coexist with the chaos in the demon bloodline so they create an inferior species. But hybridization and mutation across several generations can create a demonic beast with its own unique bloodline and the potential to grow.


    The serpent has features simr to dragons and demons just like those two races have simr features. Dragons and demons have tails, wings, horns, and true sight. Dragons even have the sin of pride, greed, wrath, gluttony, sloth, and lust. They are proud and arrogant, greedy for treasures, easy to anger and highly destructive when angry, eat a lot, like to sleep, and will have sex with almost anything.


    But dragons don''t envy anyone. Their massive pride and ego won''t let them. That''s where they draw the line in simrities with demons.

 Chapter 255 Allies To The Rescue.

    ?It shouldn''t be rare that a hybrid of the two races exists because of all these simrities, but it is rare. It is like the two races are the best and won''t let up for the other. Because of their unique energy, dragons and demons are one of the few races with their own refinement path different from themon path of refinement of the void universe.


    "Are you new master?" The snake asked.


    "Yes. You belonged to Danazel. I killed Danazel that means you''re mine."


    "Will master kill Xander?" It asked with pitiful eyes.


    "I''m thinking about it. I''ll kill you unless you have some use." Aeternus answered.


    His answer made Xander tremble in fear. Yes, there''s a chance he might kill the snake to fuel his growth. He can''t simply let the snake go. The snake must be useful to him in some way and he doesn''t see a use for it.


    Keeping it as a pet won''t work either. He can''t be around a pet because of his chaotic energy. He has to make a conscious effort not to burn things or the world. That''s if the pet is even useful to him somehow. Apart from that, there''s no way he will keep something useless around him. It won''t be a pet but a prey if it isn''t useful.


    "Xander has uses." The snake said then it tried to camouge itself.


    Its figure blurred and disappeared. It melded into the world as if it isn''t there. Even a divine sense will be fooled.


    Aeternus shook his head and said. "That''s not bad but it is not good enough."


    He could still see the snake. Sure the snake could hide very well but it isn''t strong. A high-rank demonic beast only has the body on par with a high-rank demon and some abilities. Since it doesn''t have the mark of sin, it doesn''t have sin energy so it isn''t as strong as a high-rank demon. Its soul isn''tplete too, that''s why demonic beasts aren''t as intelligent as demons.


    The snake became frantic. "Xander can also do this."


    Its divine sense opened up to Aeternus and marked him. Then Aeternus became able to see through Xander''s eyes. One pair of Xander''s eyes turned crimson and began burning with fire the same ones as Aeternus''s eyes.


    Aeternus considered his decision carefully. The new development brought more options for Xander''s usefulness.


    "Alright. I''ll keep you. But you''re weak. So you will go to the domain of mid-rank demons and hunt. You have to evolve and be stronger." He gave his verdict.


    He could use the snake as a spy. Several demons have been spying on him. The most irritating of all is that powerful divine sense always lingering on him. It would be nice to have a spy of his own. But he prefers to have long-term benefits from the snake, short term advantages are never the style of Legion.


    That means the snake has to be stronger so that it can reach some really secure ces that he would like to sniff around. ces like the stash location of a dead demon Lord. Demonic beasts have the advantage of being able to transverse the abyss ne however they wish without restriction on ambient sin energy concentration because they don''t have sin energy. Xander will be safe in the domain of mid-rank demons and it can feast on both the demons and demonic beasts there.


    "So Xander won''t die?" It asked hopefully.


    "Xander won''t die." He replied.


    The snake became ecstatic. It began shaking his tail, raising it, and pping it against the floor in happiness. It raised its head and wanted to taste Aeternus with its tongue but it was afraid of the mes burning around him.


    "But Xander can still die. If you don''t grow stronger, I''ll kill you." Aeternus told it sternly.


    The snake lowered its head again and spoke. "Xander will grow stronger." It promised him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He nodded. "You better. Now go."


    The snake bolted away as if it had gotten a new lease on life.


    Aeternus shook his head at the sight. "I didn''t know it could run so fast."


    The snake had been trying to sneak away earlier so its speed was slow but its n failed. Even now Aeternus could still see through its eyes. He could see some figures possessing a lot of energying to the castle in Xander''s vision. And he would also be able to find the demonic beast no matter where it is in the ne through the mark that he ced on its divine sense.


    "About time." He said. "I could have looted this ce and run away if I wanted to."


    It''s not like he could hide in the ne but he could make it difficult for them to catch him if he were afraid of them. So he struck the door with his ymore and broke in into the storage room. The room was filled with all sorts of things that Danazel was proud of. Only a small portion of the things could be considered wealth. The heads of various creatures and races that he has killed hung on pedestals and disyed on walls are certainly not wealth. The eerie heads took the most space in the room.


    There were also weapons, and armor of once mighty gods being shown off. Aeternus went straight for a rock ced by the side. He carefully split it into two and took the soul storage ced inside. He went there and there taking stuff hidden in in sight. He took the weapons, the armor, the information stones, the spell grimoire, and the soul storages.


    While he was looting the ce with a carefree attitude and wild abandon, 9 high-rank demons were hovering in the air above the castle, waiting for him. They had varying shapes and sizes but they were mostlyrge. The smallest of them is 3 meters tall while thergest is 5 meters. Some of them are even longer than 5 meters.


    "We are toote." The one that looked like she is made of des said.


    She wasn''t particrly sorry about beingte to the rescue. She was just stating the obvious. The des stuck all over her body were blood-red.


    "Danazel is dead now." Another one said. This one looked like the generic goat demon.


    This one wasn''t feeling sad either. In fact, none of them were feeling emotional that a member of their alliance has died. An alliance is important among high-rank demons because while they may be insecure with having subordinates that share in their loot and might backstab them, they recognize the need to have help once in a while. Of course, the help isn''t free, and neither is it cheap, but one will only need to pay for it when it is needed.


    One of them asked. "Since we are here already, what do we do?"


    The one that asked looked like a scorpion withrge pincers and a stinger. It also had wings.


    This sort of alliance between strong demons usually works. In the case of a demon like Danazel, he is strong enough to hold on for rescue toe. Even if he can''t hold on, he can run away. The alliance will help him recover the fortress as long as he is alive. But what if Danazel is dead, whates next?


    The fat, disgusting worm with insect wings spoke in a nauseating voice. "We certainly aren''t here for revenge."


    The other demons shared a chuckle when they heard it. Revenge is not on the agenda. Danazel was a business partner, not arade. Their contract states that they will do everything possible to help Danazel retain or regain his fortress as long as he is alive and can pay for their services. They are here now and do not n to go back empty-handed. So they will help themselves to some of Danazel''s wealth. It''s the least he can do after making them waste their time bying here.


    A serpentine demon with vertical pupils spoke, "So we do the usual, but we have to be careful. This demon has to be very strong to kill Danazel so quickly."


    "Rx. Which one of us isn''t strong? Strong or not, we outnumber him 9 to one." The disgusting worm fly said.


    This isn''t the first time they are looting a dead member of the alliance. Their alliance affords them quick notification of the death of their mates. Being his alliance mates has given them some advantages that they intend to use to maximum effect. They got to know about Danazel''s death first and so, they get to raid his castle first.


    What they''ll do right now is wait for Aeternus to finish looting. They know about his spatial artifact. So they''ll wait and ask him for their share of the loot after hees out. If the negotiation goes well, and Aeternus is still alive by the time the loot has been divided up, then they will offer him a chance to join their alliance and keep the castle.

 Chapter 256 Something Smells Fishy.

    ?They''ll kill him if he refuses to join their alliance. Only a member of their alliance gets to keep the castle or it will weaken their alliance. Of course, they will give it up if a stronger alliance asks for the fortress. It''s the general protocol that is executed in situations like this.


    The ming serpentine demon maintained. "I''m just saying. There is something fishy about this entire thing. How did a single high-rank demon take down a fortress in such a short time? Look at the fortress, it looks like it was eroded by something and I can smell a wrongness in the air."


    The fat disgusting worm fly snickered and said. "I can''t smell anything in the air. The fortress probably looks like this because of some unique spell. You''re just a coward."


    Its body vibrated with the snickering and mucus fell from it to drop on the ground. Then the mucus began to steam as it corroded the surface it fell on. It was even capable of corroding the abyssal stone but at a snail''s pace, nowhere fast enough to damage the fortress in such a short amount of time. It''s not like the worm fly can make therge amount needed to damage the entire fortress. So the disy is not proof that even the worm can erode the fortress.


    The de demoness jumped in before their argument escted. "I don''t care about what you guys pick as long as it''s not the spatial artifact."


    Some of the silent ones turned to her after that statement. They had kept quiet till now because they didn''t have anything to say and didn''t care about the topic of discussion enough to join in. But now, something very important has cropped up.


    One of them asked. "What do you n to do with the spatial artifact?"


    She answered curtly, "That''s none of your business."


    That deration immediately caused toes to be stepped on and bottom lines to be crossed. As iconic and rich high-rank demons constantly engaged in strife, they have experienced the pain of losing their wealth many times.


    In conflict, sometimes they win, and other times they lose and retreat. But their wealth stays behind to be looted by their enemies. Having a spatial artifact will change things and this demoness has the audacity to im it for herself over the interest of others. She has to be out of her mind.


    They were already about to fight when Aeternus finally came out. If he had dyed any longer, they would have been at each other''s throats.


    He sauntered out with his ymore over his shoulders. They all turned their attention to him.


    The de demoness became excited as soon as she saw his weapon. She said to the others. "You can do whatever you want with the others but I want that de of his. I must have it."


    The other demons didn''t talk back this time around. They understood that the de must be something good for her to change her mind but they are just d that they have lost one morepetitor. She is a really strong one too, so no oneined. They all descended to float above Aeternus and pressure him with their numbers.


    He said to them. "Just 8 of you? I guess that will have to do."


    "What foolishness there''s 9 of us...."


    Aeternus attacked before the disgusting worm could finish its condescending sentence.


    Dark mes of chaotic energy bellowed out of him and spread into his surroundings. It started as a pir that spread with him as the center because of the excitement of the chaotic mes. He had been holding them in when he drew them into his body during his fight with Danazel. Now he could let loose.


    The tide of energy rose as high as 100m and hit the levitating demons with the force of a storm. They fell from the sky in unttering manners. They weren''t damaged because each of them had been alert. They hadn''t been alert against him but against each other. You never know, anything can happen. Backstabbing ismon among demons.


    They were right to be alert. Anything did happen. The Ominous Reaper attacked them outright. He didn''t cower or beg or even negotiate. Who saw thating? Probably the ming Serpentine demon who tried to warn them.


    That demon is also the 9th demon that escaped before the fight started. He certainly suspected something bad. He didn''t know what he suspected but he knew it was bad.


    "Thank the abyss that I trusted my instincts." The serpentine demon said as he flee while looking backward at the pir of Darkness that was consuming the castle within the fortress.


    NAME: Gooro.


    RACE: Demon of Fear.


    BLOODLINE/SIN: Fear.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    DEMON RANK: High-Rank Demon.


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    MANA: 5224


    SIN ENERGY: 4985


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:180. Spirit:180. MAGIC:180


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:180. Spirit:180. MAGIC:180.


    SIN ABILITY: The Spirit of fear(EPIC)- +9 attack on spirit attacks.


    Fear Empowerment(LEGENDARY)- an ability that boosts +9 to all attacks based on the amount of fear in the environment or within the target of an attack.


    STATUS: Scared Shitless.


    A demon of fear has a good nose for fear. They know how to manipte it to their advantage and how to sense it. A ce like the destroyed fortress should make the ce the best battleground for Gooro. He gets empowered by fear and the fear that the defenders should have felt as they were defeated and killed would give him the maximum boost to his stats. Yet, there was no fear.


    The ce should have been full of negative emotions. Fear and anguish ought to abound, but it was like something had wiped everything away. The fortress felt bare and that is out of ce for a ce in the abyss. The disgusting worm was right, there was nothing to smell in the fortress and that''s why Gooro could smell the wrongness.


    Even odder is that there was no corpse either. Where did all the dead bodies go? Everything about the fortress was unnatural. Gooro thought so. He had been fidgety but he didn''t dare show weakness amongst that group of hyenas. He tried to warn them, maybe arouse their suspicions. But no one listened to him. They were all focused on their greed.


    He had promised himself to bolt at the first sight of danger. Even another anomaly would have made him run, so when he saw Aeternus, he created a fear clone and ran with his tail tucked between his legs. The clone wouldn''t have fooled them if they were paying attention to him.


    "That''s no demon. That''s an abomination." Gooro said shakily as he flew away.


    Aeternus was more than an anomaly, he was an abomination. He is something that shouldn''t exist. As a demon whose major means of attack is attacking with the soul, he could spot the spirit defenses of another demon. If he were to put it lightly, then Aeternus''s soul is abnormally strong. The only other way to describe that soul is that it put the fear of God in Gooro''s heart.


    "I might have seen things. I might just be paranoid." He said as he stopped a safe distance away from the fortress.


    No, he doesn''t intend to return there, at least not yet. He decided to spectate the battle a little, maybe an opportunity will show up for him to take advantage of. It has to be a really good opportunity too because he doubts he can be of any use in a fight against Aeternus. But anything can happen in a fight.


    His mind began to change as he saw dark shesing out of the pir of darkness. Curved des of me flew out of the pir and cut through anything they encountered. They carved long furrows into the ground, which then began to expand as it was eroded. It was a scene right out of a demon horror show.


    He could only imagine what they were going through there. Thankfully he didn''t have to imagine what was going on. The notification of the death of his alliance mates by their joint contract is enough to tell him that things are going badly for them. Nothing good is happening in that pir of darkness.


    Gooro turned around and began to run again.


    "I''m not running away but to my Abyss altar. What if they send a message for help and I''m not there to receive it? That will be betraying our contract."


    He said in constion while he deserted his alliance mates. The contract states that they muste to help if the fortress of a member of their alliance is under attack and help is requested. Danazel is dead and none of their fortresses is under attack. If these ones want to join him in death then they can go ahead, but Gooro doesn''t intend to join them.


    Instead, he will do his job by faithfully waiting at the abyss altar for a call for help. If one of them survives and calls for help, only then does he have to get involved. Even then, it will not be at the cost of his life.

 Chapter 257 And Now There Were Three.

    ?Meanwhile, Aeternus was having a field day at the fortress. This group of demons is tougher meat, but meat nheless. They resisted even though it was ineffectual. They resisted because it was all they could do. ck mes enveloped them. It had robbed them of their senses and it was still trying to kill them.


    Still, they resisted. They burned through mana trying to keep off the corrosion. The corrosive property of the chaotic mes is their immediate threat. If they don''t hold it back, they will lose a lot of their essential body mass to it. It is not the kind of weight loss that anyone will appreciate.


    Their resistance reduced the corrosion to a level that was more like suffocation. Their resistance won''tst long of course, but it bought them time. They had heard about Aeternus using something like this. They hadughed back then and had not taken it seriously. Now that they were in the shoes of those that they mocked, they could finally feel what they felt. They felt confused at first.


    That''s how it all starts. Alert and ready as they were, they still felt confused by what happened. It is an outsider that will be able to tell that they are enveloped in a cloud of darkness or a pir of burning mes. It is an outsider that canugh and say, ''Just run straight forward. How bad could it be?''


    Those that are inside didn''t know what was going on. One moment they are ring at a demon that can''t count. He counted 9 as 8. They were feeling superior because of their numbers and his mistake that was caused by how terrified he was. The next moment, all they could feel is terrifying darkness.


    Nextes resistance and determination. They couldn''t tell left from right. They can tell up from down because they are on the ground and can still walk. They used this functional frame of reference to coordinate their resistance. They picked a direction and ran straight. It is what they thought was the answer to the problem back then when they eat watched the videos of those that fell for the cloud of darkness.


    They are wrong. They couldn''t get out of the darkness. Running in a straight line didn''t seem like the correct answer. They were running in circles. It is an outsider that will be able to tell that the pir is rotating. The ones inside the pir don''t know that they are being subtly pushed around and made to run in circles. Then came the attacks.


    This group of demons might have been robbed of their senses but their Instincts remained and so is their determination to survive. So they managed to put up an ineffectual resistance. It was then that fear and despair set in. They could feel the death of 2 of their alliance mates through their contract. Nothing was working. So determination turned into despair. Their doom was all but certain until one of them made a decision that bought them a chance of survival.


    The threat of death and the hopelessness of the situation called for desperation. The disgusting worm chose to explode itself after realizing that their fates were sealed otherwise. Itbined a highly reactive Fusion of his sin energy and mana with the massive store of acid it has within a pouch in its body to create an explosion that blew the pir of darkness apart.


    Aeternus appeared when the pir was scattered.


    "And now there were three." He said as he swung his ymore around yfully.


    The explosion saved them, but only 3 remained. One of them exploded while the explosion killed 2 more. The pir had scattered because it was overwhelmed with energy and went out of his control. All the chaos energy returned to his soul and brought with it all the energy from the death and destruction he had caused. His sin mark grew stronger.


    He had used his control over the chaos energy to prevent it from returning to its source, so all the energy it acquired from killing the defenders of the fortress was bottled up in it making it more powerful. It''s why a pir was created instead of a cloud. His mark of sin had grown stronger with the scattering of the mes but he has lost a powerful aid.


    The three demons alive were worse for wear. They had been through a lot in this short moment and they wanted it to be over. But they understood that it wasn''t going to end unless they tried to escape now or stayed together and get rid of Aeternus. It wasn''t a matter of getting his spatial artifact or his de anymore, it is a matter of survival.


    The three demons looked at each other and agreed. The Balde demoness, the scorpion demon and a demon that looked like a single giant eye decided to fight him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The beholder said to the other two. "Hold him back while I use my trump card."


    "You better be quick." The scorpion replied.


    The de demoness nodded before she dashed towards Aeternus with her arms drawn. Her two arms were des so her des had been drawn. des stuck out of her back, neck, legs, and almost every part of her body. Her body wasn''t made of flesh but metal which made her very durable. She is the incarnation of carnage, a demon sculpted to rip flesh apart and make the blood of her enemies flow.


    As a demon of carnage, she gets a boost from the destruction that she causes and she had a sense for determining the weak, vulnerable parts of her opponents. But she couldn''t sense any from Aeternus. She even doubted he had flesh behind that view of darkness he wore around himself. Even so, she has to fight, her life depends on it.


    The scorpion brandished its 4 pincers and 3 stingers and followed behind her. It shadowed her ready to reinforce her while the beholder staying behind began to glow. They were very fast and they showed impressive footwork technique. The demoness reached him first and their des shed. His ymore cut through her arm and would have cleaved her in two had her partner note to the rescue.


    Well, technically, he didn''te to the rescue. The scorpion ignored her cry of pain and struck with all three of his stinger from three different directions. He aimed to use her as fodder to distract Aeternus while his stingers pierce Aeternus. Aeternus felt a little threat from the stingers so he released one of his hands from his weapon and he used it to smack the stingers aside in one quick movement. The de demoness went with the flow of the de and was thrown aside.


    "Hmm. The first step of de mastery. Impressive." He said as he considered the de demoness.


    She had sustained a big injury instead of being cut in two. Her left arm was gone and she was missing some des that made up her side. She and the scorpion were circling him all too content with prolonging the fight.


    "If you don''te to me, then I''lle to you." He said as he began to conjure des of mes with his ymore.


    The scorpion dashed forward this time. It used its pincers coated with mana and sin energy to deflect des of chaotic mes while its empowered sting acted as spears. The scorpion became a spear user with four shields. The de demons joined in once in a while but she wasn''t so enthusiastic. That first encounter with his de made them realize how sharp it was so they were wary of it. They tried to dodge if possible or deflect it. Blocking it was a bad idea.


    "Truly impressive." Aeternus apuded their performance.


    The fight continued at a fast pace. Weapons shed numerous times in less than a second. The environment didn''t escape from the consequence of their fight. The two of them worked seamlessly. It turns out that they had both acquired the first step of weapon mastery. Their sense of momentum and maniption of it helped them to enhance their corporation and disy a fighting prowess beyond the simplebination of the one plus one.


    The pincers of the scorpion demon could be used as a shield for defense, a club for smashing, orrge scissors for attacking. The changes between each stage urred seamlessly. The demoness was like an assassin. She tried to hem him in, restrict his movements and when possible take cheap shots at him. Each of their movements was meant to cover each other''s weaknesses.


    The scorpion is a demon of weakness. In a society with a strength-based hierarchy, weakness is a sin. The scorpion doesn''t grow stronger in a fight but it makes its opponents weaker with each of its attacks. It can sense weaknesses and create them. Even more, it can exacerbate an already present weakness. All it needs is to stick one of its stingers into its opponent. If there is a weakness, it will be enhanced. If there is none, then one will be created.

 Chapter 258 Fight

    ?In a normal fight against a normal opponent, each contact that the scorpion demon has with its opponent will weaken them. But Aeternus isn''t normal and this isn''t a normal fight. The scorpion could weaken the des of me with its pincers and sessfully defect them or even break them apart. But Aeternus isn''t slowing down.


    Aeternus would make contact with the pincers but the sin energy of the scorpion would be burned away once ites in contact with the chaotic mes on his body instead of affecting him. The stingers the scorpion demon usually relied on didn''t work because Aeternus never allowed them to touch his body. That left their only hope to the beholder.


    The two demons intended to work in concert to ground Aeternus down but he is no slouch himself. Try as they might they couldn''t get away scot-free from each of their exchanges. He wielded therge two-handed weapon with ease. Sometimes it wasrge with a longer reach and other times it was short for quick withdrawal so that he can easily react to the scorpion''s stingers and the demoness''s sneaky attacks.


    Some of his attacks were feints. They would block his weapon only to realize that it is light and there is no force behind it. Other times, his casual attacks will weigh a ton that will throw them aside like toys. If not for the distraction caused by the beholder, they would all be dead.


    Even so, they were the ones being grounded and Aeternus wasn''t even serious. He was just enjoying the sensation of fighting two skilled opponents who knew weapon mastery and waiting for the beholder to finish preparing that trump card of his.


    The beholder had dyed the casting of its ultimate technique by interfering with the fight. If it hadn''t, then it would be left alone to fight Aeternus. The smaller eyes on tentacles attached to itsrge single eye fired various spells at Aeternus but all they did was distract him. The eye could create small mirrors that reflected attacks at Aeternus.


    It surrounded the two frontline fighters with these small mirrors to protect them and it saved them from untimely death. The mirrors could help block some attacks but the reflection ability wasn''t effective on Aeternus. des and bolts of ming chaos that are deadly to others were harmless to Aeternus.


    The eye was frustrated. Its basic sin ability of copying abilities wasn''t working on Aeternus. It couldn''t copy Aeternus'' abilities and the ability reflection wasn''t working either. Which left the trump card. The trump card was so powerful that it even had to pull energy from the surroundings to create it because of hiscking energy storage.


    ''With it, I should be able to incinerate the bastard.'' the beholder thought to itself.


    It had confidence in his trump card. But the need to assist the others in holding Aeternus back made the fight longer because it was still loading the attack. It took it 1 minute and 27 seconds to prepare the attack. To the two demons holding Aeternus back, it felt like 1 hour and 27 minutes. They were stressed to the bone.


    "It is ready. Withdraw." The beholder said to the two.


    NAME: Niva


    RACE: Demon of Envy.


    BLOODLINE/SIN: Envy.


    DEMON RANK: High-Rank Demon.


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: 78%


    MANA: 4524<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    SIN ENERGY: 4185


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:180. Spirit:180. MAGIC:180.


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:180. Spirit:180. MAGIC:180.


    SIN ABILITY: The Envy of Power(EPIC)- Make two copies of any magical ability or skill that you see at equal power.


    The Thorns of Envy(LEGENDARY)- Reflect a magical attack at its source at higher power.


    STATUS: Pretty Confident.


    The two vanguards withdrew from confronting Aeternus. He didn''t stop them but watched them go. Meanwhile, his eyes were twinkling and he would be smiling if he had lips. The three of them formed a triangle with him as the base.


    "You can still surrender. You''re a strong demon. Our alliance has lost a lot of strength today and we could do with your strength." The scorpion said to him.


    The demoness joined in. "Demons die every day. There are no eternal enemies or friends. Only benefits matter. Of course, you will have to pay for the damages you caused. I''ll take your de and the other two will take your spatial artifact."


    Aeternus''s amusement increased. Demons are realistic creatures. While their emotions influence them most of the time, they prefer to focus on the benefits. These demons had their lives at stake earlier and didn''t even dare to beg for mercy. But now that they consider themselves of equal strength with him, they decided to negotiate.


    They understand that strength is needed for negotiation. In their opinion, a dead demon is of no use to their currently weak alliance. In a way, their normal protocol is still on track. They will ask him to hand over his loot or they will kill him.


    "Niva is it? You must be feeling pretty confident." Aeternus said to Niva the beholder.


    "Surrender." The beholder said to him.


    Aeternus nodded in understanding. "You know, I am a demon of envy too. A mid-rank of course. Not nearly as evolved as you but I know a thing or two about demons of envy."


    The eye chilled at that revtion. The first sin ability of demons of envy is the ability to copy attacks. It can copy all attacks as long as it sees them, but it can only create a limited copy of a single attack. Even worse, it needs the proper amount of energy to reproduce the attack and there''s a limit to the amount of attack it can copy. That means a demon of envy can copy a demon lord''s attack if it has the mental space for it, but it requires energy and time to put it together.


    Niva has invaded numerous worlds and has faced off against a lot of gods. That has allowed it to see stronger entities at y and to witness abilities far beyond his level.

 Chapter 259 Envy VS Envy

    ?Niva''s foray into numerous worlds has exposed it to various abilities. It has had the opportunity to pick what he fancies from the assortment of abilities of different gods from different races. Still, it had been careful not to be in the wrong ce at the right time. Trying to witness the power of an entity so far beyond your level can be the death of you, literally. You might also fail to copy the ability after risking your life.


    The sin of envy isn''t infallible. A demon of envy cannot copy an ability that they can''t wrap their head around. In other words, they can''t copy an ability with a structure andposition tooplicated for their minds. It ismendable that Nivo survived the risk and managed to copy the attack of a high god or the equivalent of a demon noble.


    It chose the attack of the high god because demons are weak to divinity more than other attacks create by mana or sin energy. Also, the attack killed a demon noble, so it has to be strong. The attack can reach a power rating of 400. It had made two copies. One has been used to get its fortress and it was keeping thest one for a rainy day. Nivo preferred to keep thest one. As long as it doesn''t release the attack, then he can store it again.


    If Aeternus surrenders then all will be well. It would retain most of his strength which it is going to need dearly for theing tough times ahead because of the weakened alliance. But if Aeternus is also a demon of envy and also has something up his sleeve, a trump card to deal with another demon of envy trump card. Then his sacrifice will be in vain and worst of all, they might actually die here.


    "He is bluffing. He hasn''t copied any magical ability since the fight started. He is no demon of envy. Even if he is, what are the odds that he has a trump card." The de demoness said.


    What she said is partly true. If Aeternus is really a demon of envy he would copied their abilities. In fact, he didn''t produce any normal spells apart from the ck mes he is wielding. How can a demon of envy not be able to cast spells?


    Aeternus shrugged. He wasn''t trying to convince them not to attack him so he shut up. He didn''t copy their magical attacks because it wasn''t worth it. He also doesn''t need to tell them that every demon has a trump card. Even that disgusting worm fly that blew itself up isn''t dead because of its trump card. To underestimate another demon is folly.


    What he wants to do is rattle them up, and make himself seem falsely confident. Then they will use the trump card for sure. If he appears unconcerned and unbothered, it might give them doubts.


    "Why don''t you just give up? There''s still hope as long as you''re alive. There''s no need for tricks. We could kill you if we want, but we need you alive. You can be sure of your safety if you surrender." The scorpion demon sighed and asked.


    Aeternus ignored the good demon and bad demon act. To surrender is to ce your fate in another person''s hands.


    He said to them. "Why don''t you surrender? I''ll be honest with you. Your safety is not guaranteed afterward."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Seeing as Aeternus was unyielding and showing false bravado, the demon scorpion said to the beholder. "Do it."


    The beholder lit up. Its eye glowed like the sun, bright and out of ce in the abyss. Demons could see the light of the attack for miles. They also understood that whoever that attack hit will perish as long as they are not demon nobles.


    The attack was imminent but Aeternus stayed still and didn''t dodge. He understood that he couldn''t dodge and he couldn''t effectively block the attack. The reason why attacks fueled with divinity hurt demons more is because of theirbination with a spiritualponent which changes the nature of the attack.


    The attack has a spiritual and magicalponent. Targeting is done primarily by the spiritual aspect and power is carried by the magical aspect. The two aspects can switch functions and amplify each other. Just like spiritual attacks can''t be dodged when they lock on to your soul frequency, It makes it impossible to dodge. The attack locks onto its target and will pass through dimensional walls to reach its target.


    The damage is amplified because the attack does what it shouldn''t be able to do. The spiritualponent can damage the physical body and the magicalponent can also damage the soul because of their unique fusion.


    Targeting and Damage aren''t the only things that an attack like this does well. Blocking is also almost impossible unless the twoponents can be blocked at once.


    All this knowledge shed through Aeternus''s mind as he considered his options. His ymore can block the magicalponent but not the spiritual one, while his soul can shrug off the spiritualponent but his body will copse from the magical one. The cloak of chaos energy around him is capable of blocking bothponents but the power rating of the attack is beyond his defense rating.


    "Truly worthy of a trump card. Now it''s mine." He said in admiration as his mark of sin worked in conjunction with his soul.


    Since he let them load the attack he has a much better alternative. He doesn''t n to just sit there and take it. As the eye finished glowing and fired arge beam of light 1 meter in diameter at Aeternus, Aeternus began to glow too.


    His glow wasn''t shiny like that of the eye. It was dark and ominous, but the power of the beam he fired overwhelmed the beam that Niva fired. His dark beam wasrger, it consumed Niva''s beam and Niva too. The explosion also took the lives of the de demoness and the scorpion demon of weakness.

 Chapter 260 Looting And Pillaging.

    ?The spell isn''t shiny like that Niva the beholder produced. It was dark and ominous like something a god of death will produce, but the power of the beam he fired overwhelmed the beam that Niva produced and destroyed its producer too. The fallout from the shing of the explosion also took the lives of the de demoness and the scorpion demon of weakness. They were at the wrong ce at the right time for them to be coteral damage.


    Aeternus''s vision was extended as he watched the beam of light warp from this location to numerous ones chasing after Niva the beholder. It seemed that the Niva that he fought was a clone of argework but the beam was intent on killing every one of them. It struck each of these clones no matter where they were, underneath the ground or behind heavy defenses, and erased their souls. The beam was unrelenting in its efforts to fulfill its aim of eradicating its target.


    "Wow, what power. I knew high-rank demons must have something good." He said in wonder as he admired the scene of destruction caused by their sh.


    A gorge had been plowed that extended for about a kilometer and 50 meters deep. The gorge was created when the beam lost some power while trying to warp to other locations. If the warp had failed, the gorge will be deeper and longer. There is another crater 50 meters across and 10 meters deep created by the pir of darkness that he had unleashed earlier. They were fighting in the crater, so the gorge started from the middle of the crater and extended into the distance. The fortress is no more. Only the abyss altar remains standing and unharmed.


    "At least two of them are still alive."


    Aeternus was standing at the beginning of the gorge while nodding appreciatively.


    That beam that he fired was very powerful. He had copied Nivo but unlike Nivo, he was a faster caster and had a lot of energy to create the needed spell. He had warned them that he is a demon of envy but they misunderstood him. They thought he had a trump card while all he wanted was to steal theirs. Now their alliance has been totally destroyed.


    "Now to collect my due."


    He started his journey to their fortresses. Now that most of them are dead and since he killed them, their stuff belongs to him. He ignored the divine sense trailing after him. He didn''t even flinch as the divine sense prodded him orugh when the divine sense was corroded by the chaotic energy around him in its attempts. If the wielder of the divine sense wants to talk they will talk.


    He reached the first fortress on his journey. The members of an alliance like to have their fortresses close to one another so that they can reinforce each other quickly and easily. The soldiers and the vicemanders of this fortress were still reeling in shock because of the death of their boss. The fortress was in so much chaos that no one paid attention to him.


    Even when he elongated his ymore and made it heavier as it fell on the wall of the fortress, no one paid special attention to it. A gigantic sword demolishing one of the walls of the fortress didn''t register as out of ce. Things got more chaotic when dark mes began to spread and burn. Demons howled and cried as they burned.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He was attacked by a high-rank demon with enough confidence in herself to face a mid-rank demon sauntering about like he owns the ce. It could be the anger she was feeling or the longing she felt for his uniqueness. Either way, she died quickly but painfully. She had underestimated him, so she attacked openly and brazenly.


    Her fists empowered by anger, sin energy, and mana were poised to pummel him. She thought she would encounter some resistance in her brawl. She thought wrong. He dodged her punch by elegantly sidestepping as if he had eyes at the back of his head, then he cut off her arm when his de went through her left shoulder.


    "What? How?" She shouted.


    She was more confused than in pain. Then the pain hit her and her confusion became about why the mes couldn''t be put out. She is ignorant of a lot of things. First, he was sauntering through the fortress because he owns it. Second, he has a divine sense, so he can see what''s behind him. She was still screaming in pain when his de covered in mes impaled her stomach.


    He moved on while she screamed behind him. She was being corroded from the inside out. It didn''t help that she didn''t die until her head was turned to ashes so she got to experience the whole sensation. She would have been lucky if her mind broke first but a high-rank demon''s mind won''t break that easily in such a short amount of time.


    No one disturbed him after that. He went into the castle, searched for the stash, looted it, and left the fortress. He made sure to absorb the fire he started on his way out. The fortress was leftrgely intact after that. It wasn''t looking good with all the erosion and all but it is certainly in a better state than Danazel''s fortress.


    The next fortress he visited was beginning to gain order. The two high-rank demons that used to be the vicemanders decided to join hands and take control of the fortress.


    "Foolish." He said as he looked at the soldiers at the wall.


    The fortress had been on high alert and had chosen to resist as soon as they noticed an enemy. They warned him but when he refused to answer they started attacking. Their defeat was swift. The new armymanders wisely chose to run away when they saw the ease at which he brought down the fortress.


    .

 Chapter 261 Demon Tattletale.

    ?Aeternus chose to ignore them after they ran away. He didn''t care if they survived his mes or not. They had ced all the inhabitants in a neat formation for him to kill all at once. That''s good enough for him. He looted the fortress and went on his way.


    There was no resistance in the next fortress. The high-rank demons had disappeared or maybe there were none in the first ce. He waltzed in causing destruction and wrecking havoc. He was like an angel of death and destruction, the representation of gloom and darkness.


    The next fortress he reached belonged to the disgusting worm fly. It was the one that created the explosion that destabilise his pir of ming darkness. It wasn''t a selfless act. The worm had a clone back at its fortress or a life-saving method. Aeternus was sure of it when the soul of the worm tried to escape even before the explosion urred.


    Well, it tried to escape. It turns out that chaos energy is highly potent against the soul. Even when that soul has a spiritual barrier around it. The barrier didn''t protect it. It was like tin foil against a knife. So it was burned up. But the soul wasn''tplete. That''s how he knew that worm definitely survived. The rest of the soul had to be somewhere


    The fortress belonging to the worm was disappointing. It was calm and orderly since no one sensed that their armymander died. Technically, their armymander died once but is still alive. So they went about their business. It was a shock to them when Aeternus came knocking for his dues.


    There was no resistance of any kind from the soldiers. It''s all good too because resistance of any kind would have been useless. But the High-rank demon that is the armymander didn''t know that. He valiantly chose to fight Aeternus. The ignorant demon shouted to him.


    "Stop right there you insolent demon." He shouted in anger before casting spells.


    "Use your head sometimes," Aeternus said before going on to kill the demon.


    The demon was faithful in doing his job as a vicemander. He expected the armymander to show up any moment and make things right but the worm seemed to be otherwise engaged. Aeternus searched the castle and did not find the worm or most of the useful things in the stash after killing that loyal and ignorant demon.


    The disgusting worm had revived with only a fragment of its soul left within a small worm in a safe ce within the castle. It had no recollection of events that happened since he tore out a fragment of its soul to create the clone but a quick sensation of the amount of the members of the alliance still alive revealed to it the full picture of its current situation.


    "Something bad has happened. Something very bad. There are only 3 of us alive. I can''t stay here" The tiny worm screamed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It knew for a fact that it had died. He didn''t know why, but whoever killed it made a w appear in the revival method. That means that person had to be very strong. Then there were the dead alliance mates. The least of the worm''s problems right now is theck of support since it is weakened. Demons would rather kill it and feast on it rather than help. The biggest problem is for the person that killed it to still be after his life.


    It sped up its growth by eating a lot of flesh it had stockpiled. Then he stuck his most valuable properties into the pouch it had within his body. He ran away from the fortress without telling anyone. It didn''t even tell the de demoness and the serpentine demon that he could sense were still alive. Anyone could bepromised and a weak recently revived demon is a situation worse than showing a sign of weakness.


    The worm is weak and at its lowest point as a high-rank demon. The good news is that it will be able to stay in the domain of mid-rank demons for a while until it grows stronger. Dying and reviving can cause you a lot of loss in terms of sin energy. The concentration of ambient sin energy isn''t really a priority right now.


    So Aeternus got almost nothing from the disgusting worm''s fortress. He had to be content with the weapons and armor. He killed the middle-rank soldiers before moving on. His mood didn''t improve when the next fortress didn''t provide him with a good haul.


    The serpentine demon had packed a lot of his goodies and sent them with the high-rank demons that were its subordinates. He chose to wait after he had secured most of his wealth to see if it was being paranoid. It was not being paranoid. Aeternus dide for him. The serpentine demon ran in fright after spotting that ominous blotch of darkness in the distance.


    Aeternus tsked when he finally reached the fortress. "He even dares to spoil my fun."


    The serpentine demon didn''t just run, he told everyone to jump ship with him. It wasn''t being considerate. It just wanted to use the hysteria and mass desertion to cover its own tracks so that Aeternus won''t be able to find him if he had a method of tracking. Aeternus didn''t have a method of tracking but the Serpentine didn''t know that because he never asked. It should have asked or not been so paranoid. Now Aeternus doesn''t have a fortress to loot. He doesn''t even have any interest in torching the ce.


    The fortress was mostly empty by then. When your armymander says "Run for your lives. We faced the Ominous Reaper and he hase to seek revenge. Save yourselves." Then scales the fortress and runs.


    You don''t question if this is a joke or a drill. There''s nothing funny about it and there are no drills for proper desertion protocols. So you can''t mistake this for a drill. You pick a direction and you run for it.

 Chapter 262 Serpentine Nuisance.

    ?They all ran away and left the fortress empty due to the spirited encouragement of their armymander.


    Only the stubborn ones and the ones looting remained behind. They figured that Aeternus wouldn''t care about them. They were right. He left the fortress untouched and resumed his journey.


    He hadn''t seen the end of the serpentine demon.


    "What guts," Aeternus eximed when he saw the state of the next fortress.


    The fortress was also deserted. The snake demon hade here straight from its fortress. It figured that since Aeternus was at its ce, he couldn''t be here. It initially came to see one of the other two demons in the alliance that was still alive so that they can n and figure out their situation. He also wanted to know how the fight went.


    The de demoness didn''t die fully in their fight with Aeternus. She had also set up a clone that was meant to revive her. The ck de ced in a huge drum of blood hidden within her fortress was supposed to grow after her death but things didn''t go well with her.


    She revived but the cause of her death wasn''t so simple so it affected her revival. The attack that killed her wasn''t some explosion, it was a chaotic version of a divine attack with both physical and spiritualponents. It also had a lock-on property. The attack had followed the coordinates of the fraction of her soul to this point and attacked her newly revived body.


    The de demoness got a second to live before a dark beam pierced her soul. She didn''t die because the attack was only a spent spiritual remnant. Most of the power of the attack had gone after the several clones that the beholder had in ce. The beholder was the main target so the beam went after it first before digressing to deal with pests. It had weakened immensely and lost its physicalponents after the long journey. But a newly revived clone couldn''t protect itself against it. The clone of the de demoness became brain-dead.


    She revived but she was brain-dead. So when the serpentine demon came visiting there was no one to receive it. He snooped around and figured she had gone into hiding.


    "She must have been in a hurry for her to leave her things behind. That fight must have traumatized her." The serpentine demon shuddered at the recollection of Aeternus'' figure.


    It didn''t want to meet Aeternus at all. So much was his fear of Aeternus that he was determined to leave the ne. But that didn''t stop it from looting the fortress in the de demoness'' absence.


    Then he shouted to the soldiers, "Run for your lives. We fought a cmity that is the ominous reaper and he killed almost everyone in our alliance. Yourmander has run away now. You better save yourself."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It went to great effort to convince the soldiers of the fortress. So Aeternus came to a thoroughly empty fortress. There wasn''t even any leftover because the soldiers had time to loot and the vicemanders had the opportunity to take what was left after the serpentine demon had had his pick. He didn''t know that the de demoness was still alive somewhere beneath the castle because he didn''t bother to search. So he left angry and very disappointed.


    He came upon a free-for-all when he reached the next fortress. Word of his actions was spreading among high-rank demons. The top dogs in charge of fortresses choose to watch. It was the opportunity seekers that were riled up. The avability of fortresses without owners meant a chance for high-rank demons without one.


    The distance between each fortress isrge, so there''s time for different things to ur. It certainly is enough time for a free-for-all to ur when a certain serpentine demon is intent on spreading the news of their defeat to anyone that would listen.


    His eyes lit up at the sight of 50 high-rank demons. He thought to himself, "What''s not to like?"


    In fact, free-for-alls have started in all the fortresses Aeternus had looted. Usually, the top dogs remain in control of their fortress until they be noble demons and have to move deeper into the ne but he had caused a shift in the hierarchy. There are a few openings now due to his actions. These openings will lead topetition and the reshuffling of power among high-rank demons. But that''s not why he is happy.


    "This is genius. I should have thought about this earlier. Bait is always needed if you need to catch a lot of prey. They wille to you."


    The prospect of battle is why he is happy. These demons came here for his property. Courtesy demands that they don''t leave here at all. It''s basic demon conduct.


    He didn''t mind that they had set fire to the ce and probably looted the ce. He doesn''t care about the things he is looting anyway. The things he has looted are of little use to him. He is just stockpiling them for when he creates his own army or noble family.


    It is rare for high-rank demons to possess divinity of any kind, so what he has gotten can only improve his stats not his mark of sin. What he looted is almost useless to him. He prefers to kill high-rank demons because their highly developed mark of sin will nourish him better.


    He would ept the trade of a fortress for so many high-rank demons any time. And yet here they are, more than 50 of them, fighting over something that isn''t theirs. They are like a gift of water to a parched demon. If they are willing to die for something that isn''t theirs, then they should be open to receiving aid from him in pushing them to their deaths.


    His eyes observed them like a predator observes prey. He analysed the situation and determined that he has to do something different if he intends to grab all these prey.

 Chapter 263 How To Goad Demons.

    ?The high-rank demons were fighting all over the ce. For someone to control the abyss altar, they need to bind with it. The bonding is very quick if the abyss altar is ownerless. But there will be resistance that will prolong the bonding process if the previous owner hasn''t given up control and is still alive.


    The resistance can increase the bonding time to a matter of days but it depends on the difference in the spiritual strength of the previous owner and the aspiring owner. That''s why anyone that is the current owner will be the target of all attacks. But the fight is more delicate than that.


    The fight is all over the ce as the owner tries to hide and protect himself. He or she could run away and hide in any part of the domain of high-rank demons but nowhere else. Whoever is bonded with the altar has to be within a certain distance of the altar or they will lose their bond with it. Even with the wide space, the owner can''t run away or someone else will try to bind with the abyss altar while he is away. It might take a long time but it is possible.


    So that means the current owner must be close to the abyss altar to prevent someone else from taking his right to it. He or she has to weather the attack of others because of this. So he or she must have supporters and allies to protect them and also prevent others from starting the bonding process.


    That''s why even though the fight is all over the ce, it is within the fortress. There may be individual and group fights scattered all over the ce but he knows what can get everyone''s attention. Few people paid attention to the ominous reaper as he entered but the ones that did scatter like rats before a cat.


    "Look it''s the ominous reaper."


    They began warning each other and soon everyone knew that he was around. They stopped fighting and gathered around to see the freak called the Ominous Reaper. They feared him to be honest. For a demon to fight an alliance and kill the majority of them is a legendary performance. The best that any one of them could do is tie with any one of the demons that he killed. They also have it from a very good source, an eyewitness report, that Aeternus is an abomination. That''s way cooler than a legend. But their feelings of fear and respect began to change when they saw where he was heading to.


    "Does he want to bind the abyss altar?" Some of them asked each other.


    First, there was confusion, followed by indignation, then anger. A mid-rank demon dares to waltz so fearlessly among high-rank demons. Fine, he deserves it. He is strong after all. But to im the abyss altar right in front of them. That''s just insulting. Still, they can stomach it. He is a mid-rank demon and he is already this strong. They could imagine how terrifying he would be when he evolves.


    There''s a saying in the demon world that the best things in life belong to the strongest. Even with all the logic stacked on Aeternus''s side, they felt dejected at the loss, and the thought of leaving filled their minds. There are other avable fortresses out there. They would bete to thepetition and might be disadvantaged but they wouldn''t have to face this terrifying figure.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    In short, nothing was worth antagonizing Aeternus. That was before they heard what Aeternus said.


    "Yeah, you all better run. You spineless demons. You cowardly dogs should run with your tail between your legs."


    "Courting death." One of them shouted indignantly having been angered by what Aeternus said.


    Most of them had already begun to turn their backs when they heard what he said. Are they going to leave after he just insulted them? What a story it will be. They can already see it. "The Ominous Reaper strikes again. He ims abyss altar from over 50 high-rank demons and they ran away from his domineering presence after they were scared shitless." it is one thing to hear stories of his feats but it is an awful feeling to be part of his feats especially when they are his opponents.


    Some ideas began to creep into their minds. Yes, Aeternus is strong and will likely be terrifying when he evolves. But that "when" is actually "if" or they can make it into "if". There are 51 of them here. Some of them would die in the endeavor but it is more than enough to convert that "when" into "if".


    And if they seed, the story will change to "The Ominous Reaper''s reign of terror has finally ended. He bit more than he could chew when he went up against 51 high-rank demons. They put him down after an epic battle and ended his myth of greatness. He wasn''t the Ominous Reaper after all, but the Mad Reaper."


    There''s death and there''s glory, high risks, and high rewards. They could feel the promise of greatnessing from their mark of sin. That promise says that if they kill Aeternus and absorb his mark of sin, then they will be great too. But what ultimately pushed them to make the decision is that Wrath is a sin.


    They had a demon of wrath among them and this angry demoness whispered to them with her divine sense, "He is courting death. There''s 51 of us and 1 of him. If we attack him altogether and at once, we will do him in."


    Impable logic too. If she had said something stupid it would have made them change their minds. Who would follow the lead of someone with clouded judgment? No one. But she said something that they are all thinking about. Either she isn''t being blinded by anger or they are all being blinded by anger. What are the odds of all of them being blinded by anger? "Highly Unlikely."

 Chapter 264 Another Feat.

    ?Surely there has to be one reasonable demon among them that will be the voice of reason. Since no one spoke against the well-thought-out n to attack the Ominous Reaper, they all attacked.


    Every High-rank demon knows a spell or two. They may not specialize in it but since the soul always evolves during each rank-up, their minds have be powerful enough that spells aren''t difficult anymore. And spells are the go-to method for quick and ranged retribution against pompous mid-rank demons or any demon of any kind.


    Spells flew from all directions toward Aeternus. They hoped to overwhelm him with the sheer amount of them.


    Aeternus tsked, "What''s with demons and fire spells? It is as if it''s the only spell they know."


    He clearly isn''t being overwhelmed. He had time toin about how demons only use fire mana. He knew the answer to the question. It''s the same reason why thew of fire worked inbination with thew of chaos and why most of the nes of the abyss are volcanic. There are some demons capable of using darkness and spirit but when ites to bringing out magical firepower, fire is the element that demons are most familiar with.


    He has seeded in goading them into attacking him. It would have been difficult to catch all of them if they had chosen to run away. But they didn''t. Instead they came within spell range of him. If their spells can reach him, then the improved version should be more than capable of reaching them.


    The coat of darkness that he always wears, morphed and formed various spells that shot out from him. The spells were copies of the ones sent to him, except they were stronger and of a corrosive nature. The spells shed all around him and created a cloud of chaos.


    He poured more chaos into his environment and expanded the cloud.


    He chuckled evilly to himself, "Let the hunt begin."


    The high-rank demons were still a distance from the point where spells shed. So when they saw that expanding darkness, they had time to rethink their n and run. It is public knowledge that you mustn''t let the darkness around the Ominous Reaper touch you or you will never see the dim light of the abyss again. But turning your back on a very dangerous enemy is a bad thing to do.


    A second volley shot out from the cloud behind them. They hadn''t seen iting at them for most of the way because they were obscured by the cloud. Anything that happens in the cloud stays unknown because of theck of perception. This time, the demons didn''t have a volley of their own prepared. They were trying to outrun their allies now turned topetitors.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    If they had prepared their own spells and retaliated, the chaos spells would have been stopped by something, or at least be slowed down which will give them time for better response, like dodging. So the chaos spell fell on them. They weren''t so weak as to be one-shotted but most were knocked to the ground while very few evaded the attack. But things didn''t end there.


    The spreading cloud had be closer to them. They could still make it, but a third volley shot out from it. It was the straw that broke the camel''s back. The cloud covered them while they were tussling with the third attack and the rest is easy.


    They were right about a lot of things. He isn''t a high-rank demon yet and as such as not be terrifying. Anything can still happen to him to prevent him from making that change. They were also right about the cloud of darkness as a trademark skill of the ominous reaper. If you get covered by it, there''s no going back.


    What they were wrong about is the number of high-rank demons that can turn his "When he bes a high-rank demon" into an "If he bes a high-rank demon." 50 average high-rank demons are not enough to make that conversion a possibility.


    Four demons survived this encounter with Aeternus. One was very lucky to be at the very back. He had a lot of demons to shield him as he ran. Another one didn''t join the crowd in attacking, so Aeternus was a spell short to copy. Chaos energy is unwieldy even for his powerful soul, but it bes easily malleable when his mark of sin joins in the maniption through his sin ability. He would be able to create great works with chaos energy then, but outside of it, he is stuck with generic spell structures like chaos bolts and shields. Chaos bolts have the power but not the structuralplexity needed to take advantage of that power, so Aeternus let the demon go.


    "Trading a fortress for 49 high-rank demons was worth it."


    He said as the cloak of darkness receded into his body leaving behind nothing but the eroded ground with groves cut into it in several ces by his des of ming chaos.


    Thest two that survived didn''t get the memo that the ominous reaper was in town. They were still fighting in a corner unbothered by the trappings of the world. Themotion from the sh finally drew their attention, so they witnessed the demise of 49 demons when they fought the ominous reaper. Word of this feat spread soon after.


    When Aeternus reached the next fortress, they were still fighting over the control of the abyss altar, but they scattered and ran as fast as their legs could take them or their flight spells could allow. It didn''t matter that they were more than 100 of them, double the amount of what Aeternus killedst time. Could he take on 100 high-rank demons and stille out on top? They didn''t want to know and especially didn''t want to be part of the experiment to find out.


    "There''s nothing left for me here anymore, I should move on." He said as he turned towards the direction of another fortress from another alliance.

 Chapter 265 Altruistic Or Opportunistic Demon Lord.

    ?He didn''t bother to search through this fortress or the rest because of all themotion going on. Whatever is good in them will have been looted already. The ones fighting for the right to the abyss altar weren''t encouraging him either with their cowardice. They don''t want to die and without demons willing to fight him, he wouldn''t be able to kill them. He is fast but not fast enough to catch up to them.


    This leaves the really strong high rank demons who have something to lose if they run away. Those won''t be able to run away from him.


    Suddenly the divine sense that had been stalking him became active. It grabbed ambient sin energy in the air and pulled them together to form something. Aeternus ignored the change and continued to walk. He had ces to be and things to do. He would have hummed a carefree tune if he had a throat and lungs for them.


    Behind him, the sin energy was forcefully held together to form the grey outline of a three-dimensional figure. It was a petite demoness about 1 meter in height with small wings. By the time the image was fully formed, Aeternus had moved more than 200 meters away. The image watched him and shook its head. Then it took a step forward and appeared beside Aeternus.


    "Why didn''t you wait for me? I have something to tell you." She asked him.


    "Hmm. Why should I have waited? If you had something to tell me, it means you would havee to me. Here you are now so I was right not to wait." Aeternus answered without turning.


    He continued walking towards his destination.


    The petite demoness warned him. "It concerns your safety. You''re in danger."


    "Is that so?" Aeternus asked, seemingly unbothered.


    "I have information that will be very helpful to you." The figure said


    Aeternus nodded. "Somehow, that doesn''t shock me. Let me guess, I have to give you something in exchange."


    "Yes, you will just owe me a tiny favor."


    Aeternus pretended to think about it before saying, "I''ll pass."


    The figure remained calm. "This is really serious. You should reconsider. What I want won''t be too much for you to do."


    "Let me ask you this. Can I avoid the danger right now?"


    The figure was silent for a while before answering. "No."


    "But you will only tell me after I have made a deal with you. I will have owed you for information that wouldn''t help me."


    "It is a start. Something can be done when you have the information."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You''re right about that. It''s a start. But you didn''t tell me when I could have avoided the danger. No, you withheld the information and waited until I can''t avoid it. Then you offer the information to me. I''m guessing I won''t be able to face the danger on my own either. Then you will offer to help me. Of course, I have to pay more for your help."


    The figure smiled. "Not bad."


    "I wasn''t born less than 6 months ago. Oh, wait, I was. I must be a genius or something." He said sarcastically as he began running back towards the border between the domain of the mid-rank and high-rank demons. He can find sanctuary in the domain of mid-rank demons.


    Her n was obvious. She has been stalking him for quite a while now. Suddenly she came to offer information about his safety. Either she is an altruistic demon that has a stalking hobby or the more usible alternative, she is an opportunistic demon. She may even be the one that cooked up his danger.


    "You can''t run away or avoid this. You have to ask for my help." The figure said with pity as if she was concerned for him.


    Aeternus said calmly. "I don''t have to do that. I could just let myself die."


    She shook her head. "You wouldn''t do that. You want to live."


    "True. I''m sure you want me to live too. If you didn''t want me to live, you wouldn''t have appeared to warn me. But your desperation made you slip up. If you want to convince someone into doing something they wouldn''t normally do, you have to wait for when they are at their absolute lowest. Then they''ll ept your offer, no matter the cost, because, at that point, your offer will be life-saving and precious."


    As he is right now, he sees no reason to take her up on her offer. He isn''t desperate enough to be fooled into taking her offer.


    She agreed with him, "Maybe I screwed up. But it doesn''t change the fact that you''re screwed too and I am powerful. I can help you."


    Aeternus nodded. "Yes, you''re powerful. I saw the show with the sin energy. No one can manipte the sin energy of a ne so well enough to create an avatar with it. Only one demon in the ne with those capabilitieses to mind. You didn''t need to perform the show. You could have spoken to me with your divine sense, but you wanted to prove a point. To shock and awe. I''m not shocked or awed, but I know for a fact that you''re powerful."


    "I''m guessing that is not enough for you."


    "No, it is not enough. I do not ept the fact that I am screwed. I might''ve been in a pinch, but I don''t think I''m screwed. It''s your fault for it too. You should have waited until the problem arrived and when I say, "Damn, I''m screwed," before you swoop in like a hero. For all I know, you might even be lying about me being in danger."


    She smiled at him. "We''ll see then. Remember I''ll be waiting if you need me."


    "What can you even do for me?"


    "That''s up to me." The figure answered before it began to break apart.


    The divine sense of the demon lord of the ne let go of its control of sin energy. The figure broke apart but her divine sense didn''t leave. It was hovering around, content with watching like some stalker.

 Chapter 266 To Gamble Or Not To Gamble.

    ?Aeternus isn''t actually feeling carefree. He is rmed, very rmed. He is proud but he is not foolish. Danger has to be taken seriously, especially unknown danger.


    What he said earlier was all true. The demon lord had tried to con him into making a deal he wouldn''t have considered. He might be in danger but making a deal with the demon lord is walking into another dangerous situation willingly. He would take an unknown danger over the known danger that is the demon lord anytime. After all, what could be more dangerous than the demon lord in the abyss ne?


    A demon king is more dangerous than a demon Lord but that''s another situation entirely, he doesn''t stand a chance in that situation. Not even if he gets the help of a demon Lord unless the two of them are pranking him. So now that he has eliminated the obvious, this leaves the high-rank demons or the demon nobles as the enemies that could threaten him.


    He has offended two demon noblesst he was aware of, maybe more that he isn''t aware of. Then there''s the chaos he started in the domain of high-rank demons. Change is either pleasant or unpleasant. It usually isn''t pleasant for those that were benefiting from the former situation before the change. There must be some demons that his activities have rubbed the wrong way.


    Try as he might, he couldn''t figure out who would be after him. This is the abyss, anyone can be ought to get you. There doesn''t need for there to be grievances for two demons to try and kill each other. Demons have been known to join a free-for-all without knowing what caused the fight in the first ce.


    The only two things he could ascertain is that the threat has to be highly dangerous and capable of taking his life. Or the demon lord could be lying. Any one of them is highly likely because he could tell that the demon lord doesn''t want him to die. Her desire to see him alive is not because she is kind, she obviously has an ulterior motive.


    It doesn''t take a genius to figure out that a demon offering aid and assistance has an ulterior motive. Her motive is highly obvious to him too, so he can be sure that she doesn''t want him to die, yet.He continued rushing to the border as his mind went through various likely scenarios. Only one thing is certain, he will be safe when he reaches the domain of mid ranks.


    In the domain of Demon Nobles. In The Throne room of Szar. Before The Demon Lord Approached Aeternus To Warn Him.


    Szar the Balde of destruction, was calm as information about Aeternus was read to him. Aeternus killed Alkazhi, then he killed 14 high-rank demons. He went on to bring down a fortress on his own. It is an unheard-of feat but the Ominous Reaper seeded in doing it all alone.


    The owner of the fortress failed in escaping and died to him. His 8 allies that came to take advantage of the situation got their ass handed to them. Aeternus began his reign of terror as he brought down fortress after fortress and he killed 50 high-rank demons. Now high rank demons are always running scared when they see the Ominous Reaper.


    The more Szar heard, the calmer he got and the chillier the air got. The air was practically frigid by the time the 10th high-rankmander was done. No one breathed or moved. They had their heads bowed while Szar simmered and brooded. Then Szar exhaled and the tension in the air rxed. He had made his decision.


    "So Alkazhi is dead. He died a worthy death in the service of his lord and he will be avenged. But not now. Retribution wille, we only have to wait. No one that insults me, kills my messenger, and even kills mymander will get away with it."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The high-rank demons nodded. His words werew so they agreed. There was only one person who could question Szar.


    "Why don''t you send me, father?" A normal-looking demon asked.


    He looked mostly humanoid and handsome too. If not for the horns, the sharp ear, the obsidian skin, and the red eyes, he would look like a handsome member of another race. He had the charisma and beauty of a demon of lust.


    Szar shook his head. "There''s no need for that for now, Bael. Sending you is overkill and too risky. My enemies might try to ambush you if you leave my presence. It is much safer for this demon toe to us, then he will be killed easily."


    Bael, the firstmander nodded and went back to meditating. "If you say so, father."


    "We will wait for him to be a demon noble. Then I''ll have my revenge." Szar said calmly.


    Szar had heard enough about Aeternus to form an idea that he couldn''t be killed easily. So he would wait for the time when he can fully wield the full power of his house against Aeternus. There are a lot of reasons to kill Aeternus. That weapon of his alone is more than enough for Szar to wage war on Aeternus but it is most likely going to fail. He would rather wait for the opportunity to bring his full power to bear so that he can surely nab the Ominous Reaper.


    The reason why Bael could question Szar isn''t because of the bond of family. If it were so, Bael''s numerous siblings won''t have been pushed to their death by Szar. It is because Bael is special and strong.


    It is because Bael is strong is why he is even alive. He is useful to his father, so he lived. He is also too useful to be sent to kill Aeternus. He is sure to kill Aeternus but Szar doesn''t want to risk it. When you gamble and lose, you feel thepulsion to continue gambling to recoup your loss. Szar has lost Alkazhi, he is weakened by that loss and is feelingpelled to recoup his loss. But he isn''t going to risk one of his trump cards for bing the next demon lord without full certainty of sess.


    .

 Chapter 267 ACCUMULATION

    ?A high-rank demon can not defeat a demon noble, and neither can a new demon noble defeat an old one. This is because of a certain unique ability that noble demons have called ACCUMULATION. It is the ability to store some of your power away, a little at a time, for future use.


    It is this ability that makes Szar certain that he would be able to beat the ominous reaper no matter how special he is. A demon noble gets stronger the longer they have been a demon noble. The little power that they save everyday easily bes a ridiculous amount when the years go by. The Ominous Reaper is a baby and will never be able to stand up to his ten thousand years of umtion as a demon noble.


    A low-rank demon acquires the mark of sin and gets ess to sin energy. A mid-rank demon evolves the mark of sin and gets an active sin ability. A high-rank demon gets another sin ability but a passive one this time around. But when noble demons evolve due to sessfully fusing mana and sin energy, their active and passive abilities fuse to create a passive umtion of power that can be actively used. This is the norm.


    But there are some special demons that break the norm. They were able to acquire a divine rank sin ability when they became mid-rank demons and theirprehensive prowess is high enough to fuse mana and sin energy as mid-rank demons instead of as high-rank demons. When those demons evolve to the high-rank stage, they get the opportunity to choose two sin abilities instead of one or they can pick ACCUMULATION.


    Bael is one such demon. To achieve this unique ability, a lot of resources are needed but not only that. They also have to be geniuses. To create such an entity, Szar had a lot of kids, fed them, and pit them against each other in regr battles to death. The winner will eat the loser and grow stronger so that all the resources that went into raising the loser won''t go to waste.


    Szar also limited their diet to each other since they have his genes. He didn''t want them to be contaminated with another demon''s genes too much even through their food. If Bael wasn''t strong, he wouldn''t have survived his childhood.


    A demon noble can provide enough resources to allow numerous low-rank demons to evolve into the mid-rank with a divine sin ability but the genius and ingenuity needed to fuse sin energy and mana at such a level needs conflict, danger, and of course genius. Normal low-rank demons are still brawling on the ne while mid-rank demons are fighting over demonic beasts and territories. Something like spell casting is impossible for most mid-rank demons much less mastering sin energy and mana. That just shows how difficult the endeavor is.


    Seeding in it might not be a matter of resources but Szar sunk a fortune into the endeavor and of course, a lot of his children. It might be controversial but it is normal in the demon society. Demons kill and eat each other every time, why can''t a demon father force his kids to kill and eat each other? In fact, he doesn''t need to, it happens every time too. Demon siblings kill and eat each other.


    No matter how controversial or frowned upon it is, Szar seeded in creating Bael. It is rare, but his genes were that good. Bael is unrivaled amongst high-rank demons because of his centuries of umting power. He can even kill newly evolved demon nobles and some weak demon nobles. Imagine how strong he will be when he bes a demon noble.


    It is why Bael is confident in himself and is unfazed about Aeternus''s might. It is also why Szar will not risk Bael. As a demon noble, Szar understood more than anyone else that "when" can be "if." Bael isn''t a demon noble yet, anything can change to make that future disappear with his hopes and dreams of bing the next demon lord.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Back to Aeternus.


    He had been running for days and yet, nothing happened. No one attacked him and everything was calm. But he wasn''t feeling at ease. He could tell that something bad was about to happen the more time passed by. It was like he was being chased and the distance between him and danger was increasing rapidly. He picked up speed but the sensation continued to increase. He could tell for a fact that he was in danger and the demon lord wasn''t lying.


    "Just have to cross the border. Everything will be okay then."


    That''s what he kept telling himself as the days went by. He ran for five days straight with that constant feeling of dread creeping up on him. His non-existent heart was already in his throat by the time he reached the border. The danger was close to him now, very close. But he couldn''t see the danger.


    "It doesn''t matter. It''s toote for them now. I''m almost there." He said to calm himself down.


    That''s when it all happened. A force as heavy as a hammer struck his head and went through it. The force targeted his soul in a piercing manner as if it would destroy it once they made contact. They made contact and the force shattered harmlessly against his soul. He didn''t even feel a twinge but he knew he was under attack and the attacks weren''t over.


    "Could they have finally caught up to me?" He thought as more powerful soul attacks struck him.


    Then he looked up when he sensed the new threat. Some boulders had somehow made their way into the air above him and were falling down now. A demon appeared amongst them and began to light them on fire. The boulders became ming boulders. It was then that everything came into view.


    Aeternus realized immediately. "They were waiting for me."

 Chapter 268 The Ambush.

    ?He had instructed Xander to watch the borders five days ago when he started making his way here but the snake had seen no one and no activity. Either this ambush had been set up before he decided to run here or whoever did it was powerful enough to hide the levitation of boulders 3 meters across from Xander.


    He is sure it is the first option and also has a very good idea about who is behind it, but it isn''t time to point fingers just yet. He had to resolve these attacks for now.


    He brought out his ymore and began to focus on it. Chaos mes concentrated on it at a rapid pace but he simply waited. He jumped up when the 3m diameter rocks had reached 20m away from the ground. He swung his ymore at the rock above him as he rose and released the de of chaos mes he was brewing. The de sliced through the rock cleanly and he flew through the gap created between the dissected rock.


    The rocks struck the ground and created an explosion of earth and fire. He concentrated hard as he shot down a pir of chaotic mes toward the ground. The pir met the ground and pushed against it, which pushed him as he fell and slowed his descent. He sustained some damage from shrapnel but he escaped most of the damage and would be safe. He couldn''t rx though.


    The demon in the sky was releasing more rocks and this time they were not few and were not dropping down all at once. Aeternus looked at the sky and considered his options.


    "There must be hundreds of them up there."


    He realized that his ambushers must have prepared very well for him and he might note out of this alive. He could see at least 100 such boulders floating in the sky. If they keep dropping them, odds are one of them will actually tten him. The damage that it will do to him will be worse than some chipped ribs because of shrapnel. So he used one of his trump cards.


    His body glowed an ominous dark light, almost purple. Then a beam of chaotic mes shot into the sky. It couldn''t be dodged, so it destroyed the demon controlling the rocks and all the boulders in the sky in a glorious explosion. The attack was so powerful that the rocks were falling down as moltenva instead of rock fragments. That wasn''t his concern anymore, he had already switched his attention to the group of high-rank demons flying toward him from all directions.


    A force began to act on his body which slowed him down. The effect was small at first, barely noticeable, but it was increasing. Unlike the spirit attacks that had been going on since the attacks started, this wasn''t useless. It would be a big problem when soon enough time has passed and it isn''t a problem one should have during a fight.


    They were all wearing the same cloak that covered their features but he could see their stats and name. Their identity didn''t matter to him anyway, at least not now, he was more concerned about their abilities. They all had one boost under an ability named the Oath of the lord. It was a boost of gluttony. It took a little power from the foes that they kill and keeps it in store for future use.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It was enough information for him to know that they were working for the same boss and it has to be a very powerful boss too for them to have such a powerful boost. This boss is also the demon lord since there is only one demon in the ne with the ability to grant a boost through the oath of the lord.


    ''I was right about the demon lord having it out for me but I might have been wrong about the extent she was willing to go. I didn''t think she would want me dead.


    The recent developments have made him rethink his idea that the demon wouldn''t want to let others kill him. He was sure she wanted to kill him herself. But he may be wrong about that. She may have decided to get rid of him so that others won''t get him or she wants another demon to take his uniqueness.


    He decided not to linger too long on the possibility. Her intention, motive, or aim doesn''t matter in whether he tries to save himself or not.


    He continued his search and spotted the one responsible for slowing down his body. It was a sleeping demon of sloth being carried by another demon of cowardice but he would have to go through the entire group if he intends to get to the demon of sloth.


    That would be very difficult to do, to say the least. The demon of cowardice wasgging behind at the very back of the group and stopped 50 meters away from him. Plus the demon of cowardice had boosts that buffed only the agility stat. He would not be able to catch it if the demon is determined to stay away from him. The distance is also too far for his cloud of darkness to catch the demon unaware. It is already public knowledge to stay away from his cloud of darkness.


    The bulky demon at the front of the group flew down with an axe which it swung down on him. Aeternus would have groaned if he could. He could tell that this was a demon of wrath and it was using a buff of increased resistance. The resistance increases the more damage the demon suffers.


    The others in the group surrounded them and brought out bows. They began shooting arrows at them. They don''t care about theirrades since he can shrug off the damage easily due to the increase in magical and physical resistance. With the situation of things, he won''t be able to get past the demon of wrath while the others run interference.

 Chapter 269 Driven Into A Corner.

    ?They timed their arrows for moments when he is about to deal a decisive blow to the demon of wrath. A demon that gets stronger over time should be put down quickly or things will be problematic. He couldn''t allow that to happen, so he retaliated fiercely.


    Chaotic energy burst out from his frame to form a cloud of darkness around him. Just like he expected the surrounding demons avoided it easily. The only one covered by the domain of chaos is the demon of wrath. Bolts of chaos flew out from the cloud to target the other demons. He also shot out multiple spells that he had been storing but they weren''t effective. They were always alert.


    He soon ran out of useful spells and he couldn''t use more. For some reason, they were not attacking him with spells. They were content with their bows and arrows. The arrows were able to prate the cloud of darkness to disturb him no matter how much he changed his position through the cloud.


    They shouldn''t be able to see him within the cloud of darkness but their arrows always found him. He had to dodge them while he fought the demon of wrath. He knew why they could track him. The demon of wrath he is fighting within the cloud of darkness can track whoever is causing damage to him.


    The cloud of darkness may be damaging it from all directions but it came from Aeternus so is always able to find Aeternus even though it couldn''t sense the environment. The others can track him because a demon of spite had marked the demon of wrath and is using it to track Aeternus.


    If it wasn''t obvious that they nned very well for this ambush, it became so as the demon of wrath was getting stronger as they fought. It was being damaged from everywhere so it became angrier, then it grew bigger and the red glow of its boost shone brighter. It became able to resist the chaos energy better.


    The demon was sacrificing health, stamina, mana, and sin energy all for resistance. The resistance helped him to keep fighting even when des of chaotic mes struck him and he was set ame with the ck mes.


    As time passed the only thing that could hurt the demon was the ymore but even that was failing. The ymore couldn''t cut the armor that the demon of wrath was wearing. So he could only inflict minimal wounds on the demon. The armor was shoddy, just tes of rough metal attached somehow to the demon''s body. The metal had been treated with something that weakened Aeternus''s blows. It''s what is keeping the demon alive, for now.


    The demon of wrath was roaring loudly as it swung its axe with wild abandon. There was no use of skills or weapon mastery only mindless attacks but it was enough to frustrate Aeternus.


    ''This isn''t working.'' He muttered as he shed with the axe and was almost thrown aside.


    If he hadn''t angled that strike and redirected its momentum, then he would have been overwhelmed by the strength of the demon. Aeternus seemed to be losing. The demon''s body was covered in chaos mes but it seemed immune to pain. The more hurt it was, the stronger the boost to its resistance. It seemed immune and imprable to all damage but it wasn''t so.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The resistance boost it is using would kill it if the fight continued. Chaos energy is a relentless pest. If Aeternus had time, then this demon would surely die but he doesn''t have time. He is slowing down as the demon of wrath is being ground down.


    The reduction in his speed and reaction is making it difficult to fight the demon of wrath while dodging the arrows or striking them down with chaos bolts. So he isn''t losing, but he won''t win if he allows the fight to continue at this pace.


    He had to stop the slowing effect or he would be too sluggish to react to attacks but he didn''t want to use hisst trump card. He made a mistake while he was thinking about using his most powerful attack. One of the arrows struck him and he felt pain for the first time since he began moving again.


    It was a small thing as if he was pricked by a needle in his soul. He wouldn''t be brought down by something this low even if theybined their efforts. But the urrence made him realize that he had to do something immediately or something more serious would happen.


    He glowed a dark light again as he got ready to fire hisst trump card. His enemies did something odd. They rushed towards him as if to stop him and entered the cloud of darkness. Then they began to glow. All of them were glowing except the sleeping demon of sloth and its carrier.


    He didn''t know what they were nning and he wasn''t going to allow them to continue but first, he targeted the demon of cowardice that was running away from him with the demon of sloth in its arms. He fired the beam and it struck them immediately. They disintegrated and the slowing effect was removed.


    With that done he decided to turn the attack on the others. He was about to but it was toote. They had finished preparing whatever they were nning and they executed it. It was simple and efficient. They all exploded.


    The effect of the simultaneous explosion of 12 high-rank demons is highly devastating. The explosion of one high-rank demon had been enough to scatter his dark pir of chaos. Being at the center of 12 of them with boosts of umted power was not a good experience. He sustained both physical and spiritual damage.


    One of the demons that exploded is the one performing the spiritual attacks and the explosion caused by the demon impacted his soul heavily. This time, things didn''t go easy for him.

 Chapter 270 Plans And Schemes.

    ?It would have been nothing if he was in pristine condition but there is a small crack in his soul that created a vulnerability within him. So the damage is more than nothing, but it still isn''t a lot. He is made of much tougher stuff. He can deal with it.


    The physical damage on the other hand is more than a little. His body is broken apart, crushed under the force of the explosion. He is missing more than 80% of his body part. The remaining parts of his body are just his spine, some ribs, and his skull. Even his skull is caved in. As serious as it may look, he is actually alright. He is alive and he is healing. He will recover if given time.


    He was thinking about how the demons had exploded. It smells of treachery. Demons can''t cause their bodies to explode unless they have physical organs that will allow for it. So unless all 12 demons with different sins, races, and features have organs that can allow them to explode or something is acting on them to cause the explosion.


    He was lying helpless on the ground when a figure made of sin energy began to form beside him and this time, he can''t move away. He has to watch the entire process of the demon lord creating her sin avatar.


    "Come to gloat?" Aeternus asked her.


    He doesn''t feel any pain in his body, only a slight twinge in his soul. His body is healing rapidly due to his infinite chaos energy and she can''t do anything to him with her sin avatar so he is in a good mood.


    "No." She answered smugly. "I''vee to offer my assistance."


    Her sin avatar might just be a harmless manifestation of her will, but Aeternus found its presence unbearable right now.


    Aeternus would have snorted if he could. He can''t, so he made sure to transmit his feelings of derision over the mentalmunication.


    "As you can see, I don''t need your help."


    "Are you sure about that?" She asked.


    "Yes."


    "We''ll see about that." She seemed content to wait.


    "Go away. I defeated the ones you sent to kill me. They failed."


    "Oh, not at all. I don''t think they failed. I think they did their job perfectly."


    It was Aeternus''s turn to be confused. "What do you mean?"


    Even as he asked that question, he was beginning to have a feeling of dread. More danger wasing.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The figure smirked at him. "Can you feel it now?"


    Yes, he could. Even more than that, he could see it. A group of 300 high-rank demons is flying toward him.


    He sighed and said, "So you didn''t lie to me."


    "Nope. I only exaggerated a little."


    These are not the dregs of the demon Hierarchy but the top dogs. The ones in charge of fortresses. They considere Aeternus a threat and his streak of visiting fortress after fortress only to loot and burn it down got on their bottom line. It is obvious that he wasn''t doing it for ess to an abyss altar but only for the fight. It meant he coulde for them one day and their division would act against them.


    They were afraid of him, but they weren''t rash. Aeternus is already this powerful as a mid-rank demon, if he evolves then he will be a tyrant over them. That means they can''t let him evolve and they can''t fail their attempt at killing him. If they leave him and do nothing, there is still a chance that he wouldn''te after them. But if they attack him and fail, then they are doomed for sure.


    So in a rare situation ofpromise and a unified agreement, they formed a truce and created a task force to kill him. The task force was created with every demon in charge of a fortress. It was easy to do than expected because no one really trusted the truce and the contract they signed to that effect. They would prefer if all of them left their fortress at the same time and hunt Aeternus.


    Theirrge number would make killing Aeternus all but certain and if they fail, then they will bear the consequences together. Never has a situation like that happened. The closest to it was when high-rank demons agreed to stay out of thest fight for power in the ne. This time, they formed a task force to kill a single demon who is oppressing them.


    But Aeternus suddenly started escaping. He had somehow gotten word of their attack and started rushing toward the domain of mid-rank demons. They were confused for a while until they remembered that he is still a mid-rank demon and it may possible for him not to have sin energy sickness in an area of lower sin energy concentration. Now that things have gotten to that stage they can''t let him escape. They rushed after him and have been chasing him for 5 days now.


    "We are almost there now. If we don''t catch up to him then we are in big trouble." One of them said.


    Another one shouted at him. "We know that. Stop reminding us of our grim future."


    Then one of them spotted a skull with smoke pouring out of it into the surroundings. They don''t see the sin avatar standing beside the skull. Their perception isn''t enough but what they saw is good enough for them.


    "Is that the Ominous Reaper?" She asked the others.


    They strained their senses and inspected the skull.


    Someone said with glee, "It really is him and he is wounded."


    Not all of them were fast enough to keep up with the group, so more than half of them were left behind. They had been worried that their number won''t be enough to kill the notorious Ominous Reaper. It is an absurd thought that 300 top-notch high-rank demons won''t be able to kill one mid-rank demon but it was a real fear for them. But it looks like they needn''t have worried.

 Chapter 271 I Am Not Alone.

    ?Now that they found their target in such apromised position, their fear melted away. It was first reced with delight.


    "We are in luck. This will be easy."


    "Killing him will be easy as squashing a bug."


    They surrounded him and chatted amongst themselves with glee. Their glee turned to confusion.


    "What could have turned him into this anyway?"


    "Yes, I wonder that too."


    "Is there something so dangerous around here?"


    "He obviously fought something or someone here. Look at the ground. It was a huge fight too. The ground suffered heavily."


    The surface of the ground had undergone an upheaval. There were rocks, debris, and small pools ofva everywhere. The deep pits indicating explosive impacts were especially telling of the violence that had happened here. There is a saying that when two elephants fight, it is the grass beneath their feet that suffers. The state of the environment indicates how big the two elephants that fought are.


    They had prepared such arge amount of demon power to take down a single demon. What could have beaten them to it and put him in such a state? The traces of battle depicted a fierce battle too. Whoever Aeternus faced must have been very strong.


    As interesting as the matter was, it couldn''t hold their attention for long. Their confusion soon turned into greed.


    "No matter what happened, he is right here in the palm of our hands. We can do anything to him."


    "That''s true. Let''s see if he still has the spatial artifact."


    "He doesn''t have it. I searched him all over with my divine sense and couldn''t find anything. Not even his de."


    "So the ones that put him in this situation took it."


    "It''s most likely the forces of the demon nobles."


    "So what should we do now?"


    "We torture him and find out all of his secrets before we kill him."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yes, he must know some secrets. How else did he be strong enough to kill high-rank demons as a mid-rank demon?"


    The figure beside Aeternus said to him, "Do you hear that? They intend to torture you. I''m also highly interested in your secrets so I''ll like to watch this."


    They couldn''t hear or see her, but she could hear them. The demon lord of the ne can hear all conversations going on in the ne with her divine sense except those of the demon nobles in the nine cities. The recent anomaly to that perk of being the demon lord is the inability to snoop on Aeternus''s divine sense. So she is very much interested in his secrets.


    Aeternus ignored her taunts. His mind was on how he got here and how to get out of it. It may have seemed like one thing led to another but the demon lord had orchestrated this entire thing. She may not want him to die, but she was willing to put him within an inch of death so that he would ask her for help. The suicide explosion of his attackers finally made sense and why they waited for him to deplete the charges of his trump card.


    If he were whole and hearty, he might be able to struggle against these many high-rank demons and have a chance at escaping. But as he is right now, he is no better than meat on a chopping board.


    "Why so silent? You have to speak up if you want to preserve your life." She teased him again.


    "I don''t have anything to say to you." He said to her.


    She looked up at their surroundings and the sight of 300 high-rank demons sharpening their des to chop the helpless meat that is Aeternus filled her gaze. And yet, Aeternus ims he doesn''t have anything to say to her. "Are you sure? I''m not a seer but I can predict that you will ask me for help soon."


    He remained adamant. "Well, you''re wrong about that. I don''t need your help and will never need your help."


    She sneered. "I thought you were intelligent and reasonable. How do you propose to get out of this conundrum? You''re all alone."


    She is anxious and worried behind her facade of mockery. She isn''t worried that he had an ace up his sleeve. She had been watching him for quite a while now and had created a module of his strength and weaknesses, his capabilities and limits. She is worried that he would rather die than ept defeat. Then her effort will be in vain and might backfire against her. She just wanted him to be desperate enough for her to take advantage of him. She didn''t want him to be killed.


    Aeternus chuckled. "I''m not alone. I was not alone. I am never alone."


    He is legion-3, a part of the collective consciousness and the ideal that is Legion. He is never alone. The concept of Legion is to be one but made of many. This is more than an idea that provides just emotional support. Legion is still in its formative stage but it is able to assist Aeternus with real power.


    Aeternus reached into the soul sphere and tapped into the basic power of an Origin god from Legion-1. The soul of Legion-1 within the world beast responded and channeled the power of his domain into the soul sphere. When the power reached Aeternus''s soul, it morphed because of the mark of sin and the chaos energy.


    A ck ring spread out from the skull on the ground at the speed of light. It enveloped an area with a radius of 500 meters in every direction. A ck sphere sprung into existence all of a sudden and it trapped all the high-rank demons and arge chunk of the divine sense of the demon lord.


    If a soul is powerful enough, it can create a nascent world, as seen in Soverick''s case. This nascent world and its effect continue to improve as the soul bes stronger. At first, it gives one slight control over the mana in an area, then it bes a full-blown world as seen in a world god.

 Chapter 272 The Assistance Of Legion-1.

    ?A domain is not much different from a nascent world. They both have the same abilities which depend on the power of the soul, except that a world is an evolution of a domain that creates an isted and enveloped space where the rules can be changed. The rules can only be changed, with emphasis on "can", it doesn''t mean they will be changed. Soverick''s nascent world grants him that possibility of change while Legion-1''s domain grants him the certainty of it. The soul of a full-blown Origin god is no joke.


    The high-rank demons are not panicking because they are all enveloped in darkness. They can''t see anything, feel anything, or move anything. So how could they panic? They are trapped in an evolved and more powerful form of his cloud of darkness.


    It is only the divine sense of the demon lord that can do something and the only thing it can do is think. All that power that she is so proud of and the only thing she can do is remain capable of thought.


    "This is the authority of a demon king. Is this demon a clone of a demon king? I shouldn''t have messed with him." She felt regret.


    Even a small consciousness independent of the body felt immense regret for her actions. Then she felt nothing as Aeternus instructed the sphere to copse. The chaotic energy of his soul broke all of them down and his mark of sin absorbed them. There was no resistance whatsoever from his captives. They don''t even know that they are dying.


    The sphere began to recede into his soul bringing with it all the demons it has enveloped and the divine sense of the demon lord. The influx of energy made his mark of sin ready to evolve. Consuming 300 top-notch high-rank demons can do that, but he isn''t feeling happy. He is in so much pain that all his bodily functions are shuting down.


    His soul isn''t powerful enough to bear the burden of such power but it could have managed and would pay the price with some weakening which will heal. Any damage to his body wouldn''t matter either since his body is far from natural. But the small vulnerability in his soul caused by the previous attacks made the consequences too heavy.


    He had used the domain for only a split second, it was still too much for his soul to handle. The little hole in his soul escted into a mind-searing pain as his soul cracked and chaos energy rampaged. And it was worsening as time passed.


    His soul has crystalized when he made it somewhat immune to chaos by converting it into a concept capable of converting chaos energy into soul force. That crystalization has somehow turned into a weakness that is now preventing him from healing. There is only one thing that he can think of that will heal him.


    In any other situation, he would prefer to return to the edge of the ne where no one can disturb him or spy on him to evolve. But he is in a situation where he urgently needs to heal his soul but his injury is only worsening. He doesn''t have much of a choice. So he gave the go-ahead to his mark of sin.


    -WARNING-


    ( CHAOS ENERGY HAS REACHED THE LIMIT OF NATURAL EVOLUTION. )


    ( WOULD YOU LIKE TO FACE THE TRIAL OF ABYSS NOW? )


    ( REFUSAL TO UNDERGO THE TRIAL WILL PREVENT CHAOS ENERGY FROM REACHING THE DIVINE STAGE AND IT WOULD AFFECT YOUR POTENTIAL FOR EVOLUTION )


    The first thing he saw is a warning about his chaotic energy. Chaos energy usually upgrades with his evolution without his permission. He started with chaos energy at the extreme rank, then it evolved into the half-divine rank. Apparently, he has reached the limit of what it can evolve into without passing a trial.


    The prospect of chaos energy upgrading to the divine ranks is good but he doubts his soul can handle the trial. The fact that he has to go through the trial that demon lords go through to be demon kings is not a good thing for his currently injured and worsening soul. So he can only decline and swear to pay the demon lord back for his loss.


    He declined and the evolution interface showed up.


    -EVOLUTION INTERFACE-


    #( RESOURCES )


    1. Soul Essence: 0


    2. Divinity: 0


    3: Biomass: 0


    4: Origin Energy: INFINITE


    5: Chaos Energy: INFINITE


    #( UPGRADES )


    1. DEMON RANK: Mid - High.


    2. SIN RANK: Mid - High.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    3. CHAOS POWER: Mid - High.


    4. MAGICAL RESISTANCE: Mid - High.


    5. CONSTITUTION: Mid - High.


    6. PHYSICAL RESISTANCE: Mid - High.


    COST: 10,000 Units.


    #( UPGRADABLE )


    1. STRENGTH ( High ): 1,000 Units.


    2. AGILITY ( High ): 1,000 Units.


    3. ACTIVITY ( High ): 1,000 Units


    #( STATS )


    +1 STRENGTH = 1000 Units.


    +1 CONSTITUTION = 100,000,000 Units.


    +1 ACTIVITY = 100,000,000 Units.


    +1 AGILITY = 1000 Units.


    +1 PHYSICAL RESISTANCE = 100,000,000 Units.


    +1 MAGICAL RESISTANCE = 100,000,000 Units.


    +1 SPIRIT = 10,000,000,000 Units.


    #( SIN ABILITY )


    CHOOSE THREE OUT OF SIX.


    1. The Essence of Envy: Take the Sin Abilities of in Enemies. (DEMON KING GRADE. Unavable until the trial of the abyss is passed.)


    2. The Spite of Envy: Reflect Magical, Spiritual, and Physical damage. (UNIQUE)


    3. The umtion of Chaos: umte power passively the more chaos you cause. (UNIQUE.)


    4. The Oath of A Lord of Chaos (Upgrade Of Oath Of Allegiance): Provide ess to the energy well to your bonded subordinates which will boost their power and their potential during evolution. (UNIQUE. DEMON LORD GRADE. Requires bond to the energy well of the ne )


    5. The Authority Of Chaos: Be a representative of the abyss and be rewarded with an authority that enhances your power. (DEMON KING GRADE. Unavable until the trial of the abyss is passed.)


    6. Return To Chaos: An opportunity to bypass the restriction of the abyss trial limiting your potential by bing a Chaosling. Your potential will be unlocked if you survive the return to chaos. If not, then you will have returned to chaos. (UNIQUE TRIAL. Highly dangerous with unpredictable oues.)

 Chapter 273 Evolution.

    ?He chuckled silently as he read through the options for his sin ability. He has been looking forward to them. The options for the UPGRADABLE section are normal for him and expected but the SIN ABILITY section isn''t normal even by his abnormal standards but it is to be expected.


    Aeternus knew about the privilege that genius mid-rank demons who were able to meet the requirements for upgrading the quality of their sin energy into the pinnacle rank without actually being a high-rank demon. This requirement is fusing sin energy and mana. He has long met this requirement as a low-rank demon.


    In fact, he has gone beyond it since he started using chaotic power. The fusion of sin energy and mana creates a unified energy. Chaotic power is a unified energy of better quality. It was in the extreme rank, a step above the pinnacle rank when he was a low-rank demon. It moved to the half-divine rank after its second evolution. It would have upgraded to the divine rank if he can pass the trial of the abyss.


    An extreme rank sin energy requires the help of the power of the ne. The energy well of the ne will enhance the energy of whoever has bonded with it, to the extreme rank. There can only be one demon that has bound the energy well to itself, hence, there can only be one demon lord.


    He has even gone beyond that level of assistance and because of his unique circumstances, he has more potential when evolving to the high-rank stage. He has the choice to pick 3 out of 6 abilities beyond his stage or he can choose 6 normal abilities fitting for his rank.


    He didn''t even consider the option for normal abilities after a quick nce. Most often than not, quality always trumps quantity and it is true in this situation. There are even unique sin abilities, they are rare ability that is out of the norm. No amount of normal abilities can make up for missing a single one much less three of them.


    The avable options for rewarding his potential are at least Legendary in their base form whenpared with the normal ones for his rank.


    They would each have their limits and certain conditions for activation but they are too extraordinary.


    He would like to take them all but his options have been limited to 3 out of 6. The decision isn''t too difficult for him since some of them are restricted and one is too unpredictable. The essence of envy and the authority of chaos are both abilities that demon kings have after passing the trial of the abyss and evolving from a demon Lord into a powerhouse of the abyss.


    From the knowledge he acquired from demon lord Dakon, the trial of the abyss is no joke. There is no knowledge of the trial because no demon king has ever spoken of it. All that is known is that the few that pass it be demon kings and the others are never heard from again. That''s why Dakon the demon lord that tried to possess Gehaldirah joined the demon invasion of the Life ne to acquire life essence which will improve his chances during the trial.


    Life essence has been known to help.


    If Aeternus had a stronger soul which is in good condition and some preparation, he would take the trial but he couldn''t right now. Which means he will have to be content with the choices he has now.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The spite of envy is an upgrade over normal sin abilities for high-rank demons. It is practicallyposed of three normal activities put together. Niva the beholder had the mirror that could reflect physical attacks but the spite of envy can do better.


    The umtion of chaos is an ability that demon nobles should get while the oath of the Lord is meant for a demon Lord that''s why it needs ess to the Energy well of the ne but he is sure he can make it work. His own is unique and tailored for him.


    He selected them and another screen with their grades showed up. Their level ranged from Common to Divine rank. Their cost also increased exponentially by a factor of 10. Still, the cost of 100, 000, 000 units for their divine quality didn''t bother him at all.


    With his selection made, he began to evolve.


    Meanwhile, At the Centre of the Abyss ne. The moment Aeternus invoked the power of an Origin god''s domain.


    The center of the ne is where the energy well is. The energy well is a pir of concentrated sin energy that reached the sky. Sin energy pours out of the pir into the ne and spreads to every corner of the ne but its concentration drops as it spreads.


    This pir is also called the waypoint as it is present throughout all the nes of the abyss and can be used to ess the other nes. Going through the pir can lead you to another ne at random or not if you have a specific destination. But only high-rank demons and above can use it. They have the necessary resistance to the allure of all that sin energy and not be lost in it.


    While the concentration of sin energy varies across the ne, Mana on the other hand is equal in concentration throughout the ne except in a few odd ces. But as a demon grows stronger, their reliance on sin energy outweighs their need for mana. So they discard mana by fusing it with sin energy and creating a unified energy.


    This unified energy is the pinnacle rank energy required to be a demon noble and acquire umtion. It can be replenished by both sin energy and mana but is stronger than both of them.


    A demon Lord is crowned when he or she binds the pir to themselves. They get to upgrade their unified energy in power and also have an infinite supply of it from the energy well. It is how a demon noble evolves to be a demon Lord.

 Chapter 274 Beelta The Demon Lord.

    ?The power of a demon Lord is not a small thing. A single demon nobles gets to bind the energy well to themselves and be the demon lord. So she is clearly special, but it is not enough for Beelta the demoness of gluttony.


    If one can see into the center of the pir that represents the energy well, one will see a round grotesque ball of flesh about 110m in diameter. Asrge as the ball is, it is very small whenpared to the 1km diameter of the pir it is in and whenpared with the real diameter of the pir, then the ball might as well be nothing.


    The pir possesses a lot more space within it than it shows from the outside of it.This ball is the demon lord of the ne and has the special perk of being able to live in the pir. She had thought she was very big before she began living in it, but she hase to realize that she might as well be a speck of dust in the abyss.


    That''s the thing about getting wiser and growing stronger, you begin to realize how insignificant you are in the broad scheme of things. But what could be more important than a demon Lord? She knows what the answer to that question is. What she doesn''t know is if demon kings are significant in the grand scheme of things. After all, you would expect demon lords, rare as they are, to be significant or special.


    There can only be one demon lord in each ne of the abyss. There are less than a thousand of them in all of the high heaven realm. A demon Lord is as powerful as a grand god and a titan ofw. If you crunch the numbers, that means that a single main ne in the realm has more titans ofw than demon lords and there are more than 100,000 such nes in the realm of high heaven.


    A single pantheon may have a lesser number of grand gods than demon lords but all the pantheons in the high heaven realm have more than ten thousand grand gods. All in all, demon lords are rare, but they aren''t special.


    Beelta would like to know why that is and if a demon king is significant, but she can''t. She got this big by eating and umting power but she can''t grow more than this. She has reached her limit. The worst part is that all this power will mean nothing in the face of the authority of a demon king. So she craved that power so much, but she can''t have it.


    Ever heard about the seven deadly sins? Demons of pride don''t have weaknesses, demons of lust have very powerful magical abilities, and demons of wrath have strength and resistance above what other demons are capable of.


    These are the seven most powerful sins but they weren''t so powerful like so in the past. The change is because they have been embodied into aw of the world. In demon terms, the seat of the demon god of those seven sins has been upied. The existence of a demon god representing the sins has elevated their power.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    There aren''t only seven demon gods in the abyss but they are the most popr ones. There is a demon god of gluttony and it makes the sin of gluttony very powerful. What this means for Beelta is that she cannot be a demon king of gluttony.


    There can be many demon kings for a sin, but once a demon god is created, all the other kings will be demoted to demon lords and have their authority forcefully stripped. The existence of a demon god means demons with that particr sin are more powerful and they survive more, but they can''t go past the stage of a demon lord.


    This is why Beelta is stuck. The only way to be a demon king is to be bestowed the authority of one by a demon god. But why would an all-powerful being share his power with a lesser being? We are also talking about selfish demons here. Selfishness is a virtue for demons.


    Take her situation for example. She has long broken through to the next rank as a demon lord. Her energy has reached the half-divine rank, so she doesn''t need the enhancement of the energy well but she refused to leave for someone else to have their turn. Her selfishness is preventing more demon lords from being created just like the selfishness of demon gods is stopping demon kings from being created.


    So that path is hopeless for her. It has happened before to some other demon lords but they were the vassals of the demon god before he ascended. Beelta isn''t so lucky. She had grown stronger ever since she became a demon lord. Her unified energy has even upgraded to the half-divine rank a step above extreme but she can''t take the trial of the abyss for the authority of gluttony anymore.


    Imagine her shock when she sensed Aeternus the weird demon with ess to chaos. Other demons got a longing for him as soon as they saw him. They knew instinctively that he was special but they didn''t know why. Beelta knew why immediately.


    The chaos that Aeternus has ess to can warp her sin and make it Chaotic Gluttony instead. With that, she will be able to take the trial of the abyss for the authority of chaos or something. Aeternus represents her chance to break her limits and maybe find out if demon kings are significant in the world when she bes one.


    Even if she didn''t have that knowledge, she would have tried everything to eat Aeternus. You can''t dangle something good and create a feeling of longing for it within a demon of gluttony, one that ate her way to power and expect her to hold herself back from trying to take a bite.

 Chapter 275 How To Plan An Ambush.

    ?Self-restraint is not one of Beelta''s many strengths, but the knowledge that the weird demon might be her only chance for breakthrough made her restrain herself. There is simply too much at stake. She had to take things carefully because she doesn''t want to lose her chance.


    So eating the weird demon became the veryst option. She would try everything she can do to get that ess to chaos and if it doesn''t work, she will then eat Aeternus.


    She decided to question him first and figure out where, how, and why he got the power. But she knew that wasn''t going to happen easily. She couldn''t walk up to him and ask him about his power and receive answers.


    No demon will do that in their right mind. This weird demon is surely not going to spill the beans by being asked politely. The fact that you''re asking a question means you need the answer, which means the answer is important to you. Demons will capitalize on that and try to get benefits from you.


    Strength canpel a weaker being to talk and torture can force a being in pain to confess but the only way to be sure that a demon is telling the truth is if they are forced to through the power of a contract. If she forms a contract with him then he will bepelled to help her to the best of his abilities. Then she will have the full information to make an informed decision.


    To get him to sign a contract, she has to offer him something in exchange. She couldn''t use her forces to fight and force him because that might lead to his death. His death might cause the ess to chaos to shift to the killer or make it disappear altogether. If he is going to be killed by someone, it had to be her.


    So she began watching him. The more she watched, the more she was startled, and maybe impressed. His soul is weak and strong at the same time, probably due to the influence of chaos. His perception is also acute. He had been able to notice her gaze immediately. His intuition is spot on as he can somehow tell which demon is highly dangerous.


    The chaos warped his body and also gave him some perks, like making his body unnatural, unfeeling, and untiring. His defenses were boosted by chaos and so is his attack. She couldn''t inspect him closely because of the cloak of Chaos energy around him. Chaos energy made his attacks corrosive and it also burned her divine sense.


    Those are his strengths. The weird demon may be powerful, but he is not perfect. He has some weaknesses and Beelta found a lot of them. His soul was weak, fragile, and strained. She doesn''t know how or why his soul is like that, but she could sense the abnormalities in his soul. His body might be odd but it is weak too, probably the weakest aspect of him. The weird demon always loses shes that involve physical strength.


    The magical prowess of the demon is high but he seems oddly restrained by the chaos energy. Either his soul is too weak to manipte it or the chaos energy resists his control. She noticed ag in his spell casting. His sin ability can rectify that weakness but it can only copy the magical attacks of others and has a maximum of three charges. He also cannot fly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The information about the number of copies he can make came from watching his fights. That information also made her realize that his sin ability might be divine ranked and he might be able to acquire umtion when next he evolves considering the quality of the chaos energy he is using. But she couldn''t let that happen. umtion allows a demon to sit back and do nothing while getting stronger. She couldn''t let this weird demon have that.


    The weird demon is already strong among high-rank demons, almost unbeatable. umtion will remove all high-rank demons as a threat to him and she doesn''t want him to get into the domain of nobles or they might also sense his unique situation. She has to get him before that happened. So she began using the information she acquired about him.


    His movements were erratic, but she wanted to n an ambush. Then she remembered the time he ran towards the edge of the ne to avoid an ambush. That gave her an idea about how he would behave if overwhelming danger ising for him. But she couldn''t lie about the danger because of his intuition. It had to be real, or he won''t be fooled.


    She sent out numerous teams to different spots of the border based on his current and estimated locations where they began executing the ambush. The objective of the ambush is to wreak havoc on his body and soul but only to a state where he is close to death and helpless.


    The ambush was prepared and she enveloped them in a cloak by using the power of the ne as a demon lord. Her camouge is not something a demonic beast can see through so Xander didn''t see anything when Aeternus sent her to scout.


    The demon lord waited for him to get into one of her estimated positions. It was easy to calcte considering that he is looting the fortresses of the demons in the alliance he just fought.


    Then she told him about the iing danger. She didn''t lie to him or he might notice something odd. He refused to sign the contract and mocked her before he started to escape. Maybe he wouldn''t have mocked her if he knew she was responsible for both the ambush and the attack of the group of high-rank demons.


    She may not be able to control the high-rank demons but she can incite them to band together to eliminate a threat to their way of life by using some of her hidden surbodinates.

 Chapter 276 What Went Wrong?

    ?It was very easy to incite them when they are afraid of the weird demon and when the argument to attack is based on sound logic. If all of them cannot kill one mid-rank demon, then they do not have any future anymore in the domain of high-rank demons.


    The weird demon''s intuition became muddled up because of the two pronged attacks and the numerous other ones at the border that she wouldn''t be using. In a sense, he was surrounded by danger. So he walked right into her ambush. He had no choice in the matter, it was the only possible oue. One way or the other she would have gotten him.


    Each ambush team had lifted boulders up into the sky and used a rare treasure to freeze them there. The rocks were to create a heavy attack that is purely physical and will force him to use one of his trump cards. It has been shown that if the attack is physical, he can''t copy it or resist it if it is strong. His inability to fly means he won''t be able to escape the attack.


    No magical attacks were used during the entire ambush. Even the ranged attack was made with bows and arrows fashioned from the thorns of a porcupine demon of weakness. Something like that will enhance a weakness or create a new one, no matter how small.


    She had noticed that he didn''t allow the scorpion demon of weakness to sting him. That''s why she aimed to create a weakness in his strained soul. She doesn''t know what will happen if that urs but it is certain to weaken him.


    Everything worked perfectly. The weird demon is weak physically so he couldn''t put down the demon of wrath who has been buffed up to resist damage. That allowed the others to snipe at him easily. Everything would have worked in her favor as long as he walked into the ambush and since he had to walk into her ambush, it became a must that everything will work in her favour. She had everything nned out.


    The demons she sentmitted suicide when he had used thest of his trump card. As if on cue, the group of high-rank demons also arrived. She had teams standing by. They were there to join in the ambush if something unexpected happens but now they can represent her will as the demon lord and rescue him. All he had to do is sign a contract of agreement and they would swoop in to save him. Then everything went wrong.


    It happened so fast. One moment the demon lord was taunting that weird demon with ess to chaos energy. Everything was in her grasp. She had pushed him to his doom and was about to reap her rewards but something appeared and ripped a piece of her consciousness away. Then it was gone.


    "What went wrong?" She asked herself even has her mind felt like splitting in two.


    The pain in her consciousness couldn''t douse her curiosity about what went wrong, so the gigantic ball within the energy well of the ne used the pir as an antenna of sorts to transmit her divine sense to a faraway location that her divine sense wouldn''t be able to reach normally. Her divine sense appeared where the ambush had taken ce and where 300 high-rank demons used to be.


    What happened here?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She asked one of her subordinates that had been watching the ambush.


    Her gaze was fixed on the smooth crater about 500 meters in diameter cut into the ground and the weird demon at the bottom of it that was oozing out thick chaos energy. The 300 high-rank demons are nowhere to be found. She wants to know what happened here.


    The porcupine demon of weakness that she asked stepped forward and answered.


    "We don''t know, your lordship. An anomaly that resisted all perception appeared. The only thing we could see of it was pure ckness. As if light could not even reflect from it. The anomaly seemed to have killed all the high-rank demons or it may have taken them somewhere unknown. It isn''t definite yet, but it is most likely for the first option to be possible because reports of their deaths through their contracts areing in."


    The porcupine demon didn''t participate in the ambush because the demon lord suspected that the weird demon will be extra careful of the arrows if he was around. So it is part of the team that was to step in if needed. They had seen what urred clearly but they didn''t know exactly what happened.


    Beelta was shocked. All those high-rank demons died here? If they had been teleported out of here, she would have been notified of it as the demon lord of the ne. Unless someone much more powerful than her clouded her senses. If that is true then she is in big trouble.


    But then again, why would such an entity interfere? Do they know the weird demon or were they helping him? If they aren''t his allies, why didn''t they take him and use him? If they are, why didn''t they take him away? She had no answers to the questions guing her but she could tell that he is still there at the bottom of the crater.


    Send someone to investigate the bottom of the crater and find out immediately if those demons died or not." She ordered.


    The loss of so many high-rank demons didn''t faze her. They aren''t all her subordinates. Only two of them were her subordinates. Those two are the ones she used to nudge the high-rank demons intoing together to kill the weird demon.


    The porcupine demon nodded and instructed one of his teammates to go and investigate. It is practically a death sentence. If that weird demon is the one responsible for the anomaly then whoever they send might die or be sent somewhere unreachable. But they can''t say no to the demon lord. It is not because of the demon lord''s power but because of a contract of eternal servitude that they were forced to sign.

 Chapter 277 Investigation

    ?Beelta ignored the delegation of duty that urred. It is understandable that the porcupine demon would be reluctant to risk his life. A contract doesn''t need a willing agreement for it to be effective. Only a written agreement is needed and that can be acquired by force or threat to life. So her contracted subordinates aren''t highly motivated.


    The weird demon is lucky she doesn''t want an actual threat to his life. If someone refuses to sign a contract, she will kill that demon and use him or her as a lesson to encourage the others to sign. She had made an exemption for the weird demon because a chance of progress for her had to be taken delicately or she might lose it forever. Now, look where being soft has led her to.


    They finally sent a little beholder to inspect the situation. The beholder is the size of a fist and the clone of one of her subordinates. The clone will serve as an extra eye to the beholder and he will inform them of the situation.


    Beelta didn''t mind. She had said to send someone, it is their job as her subordinates to interpret and execute her instructions perfectly. All is fine as long as they fulfill her orders.


    The fist-sized beholder went down to the bottom of the crater in the form of half of a perfect sphere. The main body above was feeling dread the closer the eye went to the thick cloud of darkness. The cloud looked solid and flexible like foam.


    "I can''t see through the cloud, I''ll send the sentry in." The beholder said then he made the eye sink into the cloud.


    The eye exploded into dust as soon as it made contact with the cloud.


    "I lost it. The ck cloud is too strong for a high-rank demon to survive in it." The poor beholder said through the headache that was trying to split his head.


    "Useless. I can see that much myself. If you''re no use to me then there''s no need to have you around." Beelta said and activated the control over his life and death that she was given through the contract she signed with him.


    The beholder''s big eye dimmed and he fell to the ground dead. She isn''t angry at the beholder, his efforts were simply useless. She could have thrown a rock and observed its performance and it would behave the same as the sentry. Why would she need someone so useless then?


    "What about news about the high-rank demons?" She asked.


    The porcupine demon hurriedly answered. "It has been confirmed. They are all dead."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He lied. It hasn''t been confirmed but he believed it to be true. Themunicationwork of demons isn''t that good because just like spatial artifacts,munication devices go awry whenever they interact with demons. Only special methods empowered by the abyss like the abyss altar and two-way letter are dependable.


    The two-way letter is what they are using to reach their informants and it works by disying whatever is written on one piece of a letter on the other piece of bound letter no matter the distance. Messaging is instantaneous but there is no method of notification. The inability to know when there''s a new message slows down themunication process.


    All the porcupine demon has heard is that there were reports of deaths but it isrgely unconfirmed for all the demons. The presence of clones and the general secrecy of demons made the information about the situation of the 300 high-rank demons slow to disperse. But he had better say their death is confirmed or he would die too.


    "Is that so? There''s nothing to do here. You can all return now." The demon lord ordered them while she remained to watch the situation.


    There are a lot of questions and a lot of unknowns about Aeternus but none of them can dissuade her from her aim. In fact, everything that just happened only served to kindle her interest in the weird demon. About 300 high-rank demons died. It can be exined by the appearance of the spatial artifact.


    It ismon knowledge that demon lords have storage spaces as a perk of their position but it isn''t exactly true. Demons can''t use spatial artifacts that haven''t been endorsed by the will of the abyss. That is true but this endorsement is simply the empowerment of unified energy by the Energy well of the ne. Any demon can create pocket spaces attached to their soul as long as they have a mark of sin of the demon noble rank and extreme rank energy.


    It just so happens that the only way to have extreme rank energy is to be the demon lord. So as long as one is powerful enough, a demon can create a spatial artifact. That''s why she suspected that the spatial artifact that the weird demon is using must belong to a demon king. It wouldn''t be surprising that something belonging to a demon king would have special items inside them.


    The really sharp sword that the weird demon is using must be one of such special items. That ymore was so strong that she had to create special armor with her flesh to protect the demon berserker that held him down during the ambush.


    "I can hardly wait. I must have Everything. Then I will achieve greatness." She said greedily as she stared at that pit.


    The armor wouldn''t have worked if the weird demon is strong enough. The weapon is sharp but the weird demon isn''t strong enough to use it. This means that the weapon is way out of the weird demon''s league. How else would he have gotten a weapon that could cut her flesh? She is a demon Lord and he is a mid-rank demon.


    So the weird demon must have used one of such items to create the anomaly. It likely is a rare and single-use item since he hasn''t been using it like the sword and he only used it when he is desperate. If it is so, then she wants the spatial artifact and everything within it.

 Chapter 278 Flight.

    ?The demon is very lucky to get into contact with something like that. He had been previously unheard of, but he suddenly became known. She too will have her life changed once she gets her hand on it.


    She believes that the weird demon must havee across the spatial artifact and also gotten ess to the chaos energy through it.


    The other option is that the weird demon is a weakened demon king and that the spatial artifact belongs to him in the first ce. It will also exin why he is so strong for his rank. But that will only make her want him and the spatial artifact more. Eating him should grant her his authority.


    She and her divine sense that was trapped within Aeternus''s domain came to the same conclusion. They both believed he is rted to a demon king in one way or the other. But while that divine sense felt regret for her actions, Beelta felt increased greed. It''s a situationmonly seen amongst Origin gods. When you don''t know how you died and what killed you, there''s a good chance that you will repeat it.


    She wants him so much but there''s nothing she can do right now to get him. She could feel his rising energy state which means he is evolving. If he stays in the domain of high-rank demons then she will be helpless against him. He is going to be stronger and will be able to kill every high-rank demon she sends his way.


    The only way to get him is if he leaves the ne through the abyss altars or reaches the domain of demon nobles. His mere appearance there will start a war for sure, but she will have more means at her disposal. The war will be tough but she is most likely to win it. So she will wait and watch him for now.


    Back to Aeternus.


    He woke up feeling refreshed. His evolution had made him fall into a deep sleep, unlike thest time. The cloud of Chaos energy around him shrunk and hung closer to his body. The chaos energy had thickened so that it seemed like he was wearing a huge and soft ck-as-night robe. He stood up and felt his body and mind.


    "No pain, that''s good."


    His body and soul had healed. He had even grown stronger. He could feel the world differently as if his senses have been enhanced which they have. He could finally sense the momentum of the ne but he couldn''t use it because it was all under the control of another entity. He could also feel the presence of the energy well, so he would always be able to tell where the central point of the ne is.


    There was an allure and presence of powering from the energy well. It could beparable to different qualities of wine. High-rank demons drink watered-down wine and they can see the original source of wine in its purest form a distance away. Unfortunately, the source is currently upied by a very strong being. The entity in control of the energy well is also the one in control of the momentum of the ne.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "The demon lord huh."


    His gaze was frosty as he looked at the center of the ne. He ignored the divine sense that is stalking him as his brightly lit eyes zed like white-hot coal. The power of his soul had increased just like his body. Two huge horns are growing on his head and there''s a dark red me burning between them. It is a tiny me but it is slowly increasing as it umted power.


    Power from the chaos he has caused in the abyss by killing 300 high-rank demons was flowing into the me. The absence of that many controllers of fortresses has created an upheaval far more than the small free-for-all he caused by taking on Danazel''s alliance.


    A war for power has started in the domain of high-rank demons. You can imagine the scene, of thousands of demons fighting and killing each other. The bond to abyss altars changing hands every now and then. Ambushes, Alliances, and betrayers happening all the time. Fortresses set on fire and being looted. So much Chaos and it is all empowering him.


    The startling thing is that there is a more powerful supply of Chaosing from his existence and that of the other legions apart from Legion-1. Their existence had broken the rules of the universe and it counted more than breaking the social order of a domain within a ne amongst the numerous nes in one of the abysses of the universe. Every world tree has an abyss but only one legion had broken the rules of simultaneous reincarnation.


    This fact made him realize how much he outssed the demon lord. He never feared her in the first ce but now, things have been put into perspective. Legion-1 is an origin god. Origin gods are crazy, immortal sharks but are insignificant in the ocean that is the universe.


    World gods are the massive continent-sized whales lurking in the very depth of the universe and capable of destroying realm trees singlehandedly. What about beyond that? A demon Lord cannot evenpare to an Origin god. So what does a demon Lord count for then?


    He exerted the strength of his soul and began to rise up. His soul pushed against the world and made him levitate. He didn''t need to expend chaos energy or weave a spell, he could fly because he willed it. He rose while admiring the crater he caused. He stopped while he was 100m above the ground surface. It was double the height of the position they hung the boulders they tried to crush him with.


    "It is a beautiful sight." He said as he looked down.


    He hadn''t grown taller, again. In fact, he hadn''t grown physically at all, it is still the same body size he had as a low-rank demon, but the growth of his soul gave him an advantage in height that his body could never give him. He felt the majesty of the world at this height.

 Chapter 279 Playing With Fire.

    ?The only thing ruining this moment is the constantly spying demon lord.


    He grew irritated and extended his spirit into his surroundings. His soul ripped control of the momentum of the surroundings from her. Then he cloaked himself in it. He finally has peace and quiet.


    He sighed contently. "That''s better."


    Then he noticed that another thread of chaos was flowing into the me on his crown. His act of usurping the control of the demon lord is against the order of the abyss so it created chaos to empower him. The result encouraged him, so he actively pulled on the momentum with the Chaos energy around him and fed it into his me. The me ate it up and began to grow faster.


    He chuckled. "Even better."


    Her control of momentum isn''t as absolute as her control of the energy well. She is sitting right in the energy well, so he will have to move there to get it from her. Even then, he won''t seed unless he kills her or she gives it up.


    But the momentum around him can be forcefully taken from her. Her flimsy control over it couldn''t stand against thebination of his expert knowledge of momentum, and his powerful soul. He would have done it just to get some privacy and to spite her. The improvement of his umtion of Chaos ability is a bonus.


    He grinned happily. "She must be fuming right now."


    He didn''t need to guess her reaction. She is banging on his domain from the outside where she still has control. Having part of her power taken is a great insult. Taking something that belongs to a demon of gluttony is a life-and-death matter. So yes, she is really pissed right now.


    He let her regain some of her control. Her divine sense flooded in immediately.


    "What have you done?" She screeched at him.


    "Nothing. I am just admiring the lovely view of the abyss. Don''t you think the ne is beautiful from this height." He answered nonchntly.


    "Are you mocking me?" She growled at him.


    Her mood was affecting the non-existent weather on the ne. The scanty ashy clouds in the sky were agitated and lightning shed through them.


    He was still unbothered. "Alright. I admit I have done a lot recently. Which one of my activities has crossed you?"


    She yelled at him. "You are ying with fire."


    That isn''t a threat to him. He has literally been burning ever since he became capable of movement. He is sure any fire that she can dish out cannotpare to the Chaos mes burning on his body.


    Aeternus rolled his eyes. "Just say what I did wrong that has made you so angry. Then maybe I''ll apologize."


    He wanted her to admit that she lost control of her momentum to him or that he stole some of her power. Anything would have been okay for him. But Beelta couldn''t answer. She stared rigidly at him while her emotions boiled. Of all the things that she might have considered the weird demon to be, she never considered him a threat. That might not be the case anymore.


    He was supposed to be her prey and anything opposite to that was simply impossible andughable. But recent events are making that prospect very possible. It hadn''t turned her against the idea of eating him though. It had only made her want him the more.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Still, she recognized the rising risk that this weird demon is to her. It is not every day that demons of any kind usurp her authority from her.


    "Well, I have ces to be and things to do." Aeternus began flying.


    Since she won''t admit her loss to him, he had better find another source of entertainment. The divine sense followed him even though he moved faster than 5 times the speed of sound.


    "You know I am the demon lord of this ne of the abyss right?" She asked.


    Aeternus wondered out loud. "Hmm, so that''s who you are. Who would have thought that the demon lord has a hobby of stalking innocent demons."


    She ignored his jab at her and continued. "I control the entry and exit into the ne. I might not be able to do anything to harm you right now. That will change if you reach the domain of noble demons or if you leave the ne through the abyss altar."


    "Let''s cut to the chase. Why are you telling me this?"


    "To let you know that there''s no way out for you."


    Aeternus nodded. "Hard to believe that since you said the same thing earlier and you were wrong. Do you remember that time when you nned my moment of desperation? I was wrong, you weren''t a fool. Instead of waiting for my moment of desperation and then offering me help, you decided to create it yourself. Have Iplimented you about that yet?"


    "I know you''re angry, but there''s no way out for you. Unless you use one of the powerful tools you found in that ring, even then you won''t be able to kill me like you killed those 300 high-rank demons."


    Aeternus did not react to her mention of the powerful tool he used to kill the 300 high-rank demons.


    He spoke calmly, "Right. You figured that since you''re made of stronger stuff, I can''t kill you that way."


    "Yes, I am."


    I never asked. What do you want with me anyway? What deal do I have to make with you so that you will leave me alone?"


    "At first I wanted you to promise to do whatever is needed for me to get ess to the chaos energy you have."


    Aeternus interrupted her, "By "whatever," you mean even my death right?"


    She ignored his question and continued. "But that has changed. In a gesture of goodwill, all you have to do is tell me all you know about the chaos energy, how you got it and what else is in the spatial artifact."


    "Not a bad deal. Will you give me time to think about it?"


    The demon lord spoke amicably. "Of course. I''ll give you 10 years."

 Chapter 280 Legion Doesnt Negotiate With Terrorist.

    ?She is giving him 10 years to think about his choice. 10 years is a short time in a demon''s lifespan but it is more than generous to make a decision.


    Aeternus nodded and said, "How generous of you. I doubt that I''ll need that long to make the decision. There''s really only one choice to make isn''t there?"


    The demon lord was beginning to like where this was going. Aeternus''s attitude pleased her. He seemed to have epted his fate.


    Then he suddenly stopped. There was a group of cloaked demons running toward the center of the ne. They are probably returning from honest hard work. They are high-rank demons and also all have the same boost under a certain ability called the Oath of a Lord. So they are honest and rted demonsing from a day of honest hard work.


    "What are you doing?" The demon lord screeched again.


    "Giving you my decision to your offer," Aeternus said as he stretched forth a hand towards the group.


    His hand was more like ws. His fingers were bony, thin, and sharp like des. Dark Chaos mes formed from within the palm of his ded hand into a massive ball about 1 meter in diameter while the demon lord threatened him not to harm those obviously "honest" demons.


    "Honest" demons are rare in the abyss nowadays and she is simply advocating for their protection as a good, dutiful demon lord. He ignored her and threw the ball toward the group.


    It flew and crashed into the ground like a meteor. They remained oblivious to the danger despite the several attempts of the demon lord to inform them. He had wrestled control of the area away from her and masked his presence. It is the same thing she did to hide the ambush team.


    His chaos me was stopping them from intuiting the attack, so they were caught unguarded by the attack and blown to bits. The me gathered and returned to him in the sky with the energy and equipment of the demons he killed. His control of chaos energy has increased enough o prevent it from corroding several items.


    "Is that answer enough for you?" He asked her.


    Her voice was low as she asked him. "Why? I already reduced the conditions of the contract."


    "I don''t negotiate with terrorist."


    She said to him, "I swear to make you regret this."


    If there is one thing she abhors, it is having her things taken from her and Aeternus has been doing a lot of that recently. He has finally crossed the line.


    "I doubt that. I very much doubt that." He answered as he began flying in another direction. The demon lord could tell where he is going.


    "I am Beelta, a demon of gluttony, the Lord of the house of Dominance and the demon lord of the 541st ne of the abyss. What is your name insolent demon?"


    "I am Khaos Aeternus, the eternal Chaos, the Chaos Bringer, and the worst enemy you could have made."


    The demon lordughed. "Who is to be my worst enemy? You? I don''t think so. I crush bugs like you every time."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She utilized the control she had over the contract of the servants that she sent out to ambush Aeternus and killed all of them. Better to kill them herself than to have them taken from her."


    Aeternus stopped when he couldn''t sense their existence anymore. He could use his chaos umtion to track those he has affected in one way or the other. It felt like the fates of these entities are intertwined with his and he could intuit their position and condition through it.


    "Now that''s just petty." He said to her.


    He stopped feeling their existence plus a lot of power suddenly entered his chaos umtion. His me grew stronger because his actions had indirectly led to their death and they were killed by a superior nheless. He had forced the hand of a demon Lord to kill her subordinates. It is against the hierarchy of the demon world.


    He was about to turn away when he noticed something. It was small. A seemingly unrted death to him happened and it fed him with power. The situation made him grin.


    "Would you look at that?" He said as he flew in another direction.


    The demon lord''s divine sense was strangely quiet but he could tell that she was fuming. The odd weather conditions were getting worse as he flew in the sky wearing a wide grin on his face.


    "This has to be very good for you to want to hide it so much." He said to the silently fuming divine sense.


    Beelta remained silent.


    He passed the body of a dead demon on the way to his target.


    "A demon''s dead body should be amon sight in the abyss due to all the death that urs but it isn''t because demons aren''t wasters. No one will waste such a good body full of biomass unless they are in a hurry and the body is fresh. This means that someone just killed a demon here but was in a rush. I wonder why they are in a rush?"


    He said out loud to his taciturn listener.


    "Still nothing to say. I can feel that I am very close." He taunted her.


    "Why don''t you say something? Beg me. Maybe I''ll listen and spare whoever this is."


    The demon lord screamed at him, "Why don''t you shut up?"


    "It''s annoying, right? Having an incessant talker when you''re having a bad time is an irritating thing but I am just paying you back for your incessant ramblings when I was just a spine with a skull. Do you remember that time when I was crushed by your surbodinates and your were talking my ears off?"


    The demon lord didn''t respond. She remained silent as he arrived above a high-rank demon waiting for him. The demon lord had already informed her of the arrival of doom.

 Chapter 281 Collecting Due Interest.

    ?"You don''t have to do this." The demon said to him.


    Aeternus saw her stats and was impressed. She is a rtively new high-rank demon judging by the low percentage progress of her mark of sin. What is special about her and why the demon lord will care for her enough to kill her other subordinates in the surroundings for her safety is because this demon has the umtion ability with a rare quality too.


    He replied, "But I want to. This is interest rightly due to me. Even your boss agrees that I deserve this."


    The demoness was calm even in the face of death. She spoke calmly as if she is advising Aeternus. "It will be a waste. I have a substitution ritual going on and revival clones. I won''t die. You will only create more trouble for yourself."


    Aeternus felt amusement. He would have chuckled if he could. "You''re a very ignorant demon. There''s no such thing as more trouble in this situation. I doubt letting you go will make the demon lord get off my case. We''ll see about you not dying. It is an opportunity for me to earn the title of Chaos bringer. Wherever you go, chaos will find you."


    The high-rank demon didn''t move to defend herself. She was confident in her revival rituals. That''s why she is ignorant or why else will the demon lord be so agitated that she refused to say anything? There must be something the demon lord knows that this demoness who is full of herself doesn''t.


    A ball of Chaos me flew from his hand and consumed her. She died there and then. Her clones didn''t even know that she died so they didn''t activate but the demon lord interfered. Her soul was about to be fully consumed when she saved the soul fragment and let it escape. Unfortunately, the demon lord couldn''t extinguish the chaos mes which continued their gruesome work on the soul fragment and all the clones it entered.


    He chuckled evilly to himself. The futility of their actions amuses him greatly. It was like watching fools trying to patch a hole in the hull of a boat with fabric. He couldn''t see their frustrating struggle against Chaos mes, but he could sense it as more and more clones died a gruesome and painful death.


    When he was a mid-rank demon, his chaos energy was powerful enough to rip the soul of someone that he killed but is trying to revive with a clone. Now that he has grown stronger, even the clones are not safe from him. If he kills that disgusting worm fly again, then its weak clone without the memory of his death won''t be left behind.


    The demon lord knew that too. He had already killed a group of her subordinates and they didn''t revive. So she killed all of them linked to his ambush in hopes that he won''t be able to find this one demoness. The demon lord didn''t know how he could find them but she had control of the momentum of the ne and could acquire certain information from it.


    The deaths that urred by using the power of the contract is a true death that no demon could revive from and would have worked as a simple act of anger and pettiness if this demoness hadn''t killed another demon on her way to keep herself hidden. The irony is that the attempt to cover her tracks uncovered her presence to him.


    "Prepare yourself. You have not seen thest of me." The demon lord said before she retracted her gaze.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He had to admire the demon lord for her intelligence. She had quick thinking and the ability to think ahead. She was able to beat allpetitors and be the demon lord, a single unique position in the abyssal ne that is gued withpetition on every level. It showed how admirable and powerful she is.


    She couldn''t kill this demoness because she was important and also because a lord of the house cannot kill his or her subordinates through their oath like the way she killed the demons she formed a contract with. So she came up with a n in the little time she had.


    She nned his ambush almost perfectly and her n to protect this demoness would have worked too. He would have been foiled but a demon that shouldn''t have died was killed because the demoness was trying to hide from Aeternus. Still, it wasn''t enough for him to take her threat seriously. It just means that he has to up his game.


    Aeternus flew towards the border of the mid-rank domain. He met Xander the stealth snake waiting for him. She was trembling as he descended.


    "Xander has failed you master. I didn''t see anything when I got here." She said apologetically.


    Aeternus''s cold eyes inspected the ck snake groveling on the ground. It was not the snake''s fault for not seeing anything. The demon lord had used the power of the world to camouge his ambushers. It was his fault for ying into the demon lord''s hands. But that didn''t mean Xander will get away with the failure. She is useless to him and if she isn''t useful to him, then there''s no need for her to be alive.


    "You haven''t evolved either." His cold steely voice rang in her head.


    If it were possible for her to bow lower, her head will have dug into the ground. Instead, she settled for trembling.


    "Xander tried. Xander just can''t." She managed to say.


    She had promised to grow stronger but she hadn''t evolved. It didn''t happen no matter how many mid-rank demons she killed and ate. It hasn''t been long either. Even demons with the potential to grow take years, but all she was given are some weeks not even up to a month. She has a lot of excuses, but she can''t say that to the extremely dangerous Aeternus.


    "I told you, if you''re useless to me, you will die. Now I''ll give you a chance. You either seed or you die trying."

 Chapter 282 The Spark Of Chaos.

    ?His voice sounded like the peals of judgement. "I told you, if you''re useless to me, you will die. Now I''ll give you a chance. You either seed or you die trying."


    He created a ball of chaos in his hands. It was like an orb created with a dark exterior material but containing a bright white substance shining from within. He understands it to be the chaos spark, a feature under his Oath of the Chaos Lord''s ability. It can be given to anyone but it can be refused if that person is unwilling to be his subordinate. To receive it, the demon must swear an oath of allegiance to him.


    He asked her. "Will you serve me?"


    The snake spoke as it saw the dangerous looking ball that Aeternus is offering it. "Xander will do anything to grow stronger. Anything at all."


    "Then take it. Either you evolve and be of use to me or you die."


    He let the ball float to the demonic beast and she swallowed it. He would have killed her if she refused.


    Then she went into hibernation as she began to evolve. A cocoon of Chaos energy formed around her. epting the spark of chaos will supplement all the requirements for the mark of sin and make the demons that ept it ready to evolve.


    It alsoes with very dangerous side effects. Chaos energy doesn''t y nice. He has reduced its potency but it will surely run amok within the individual that epts it. So being pushed into evolution isn''t exactly a good thing. Evolution is the only way to survive the Chaos energy. They have to evolve and adapt to it just like his body did or they will die.


    He waited patiently as Xander evolved. He sensed resistance at first before it disappeared. Chaos energy rampaged through her body like a wild horse but they were ultimatelypatible. She has an affinity to darkness, one of thews he used to restrain his Chaos energy.


    It is an affinity to the element of darkness, not thew but it created room for the assimtion of chaos energy. She didn''t have aplete soul, theck of a mark of sin allowed chaos energy to gain full ess to her soul. It just so happened that his restraint on chaos energy is soul rted.


    Thebination of room for assimtion with chaos energy and the restraint of Chaos energy by soul concept worked in her favor. It allowed her existence to ept and evolve with chaos energy. If she didn''t have both of the advantageous conditions then she would have died. Her willpower is too weak to present any resistance to chaos energy without assistance.


    Her body began to change within the cocoon as she evolved. Xander grewrger and longer. She reached 100 meters in length and more than 5 meters in width. The horn stubs on the head grew into two horns more than 2 meters long. Her small wings erged into a structure 15 meters long.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She still has a flesh and blood body but it isn''t a normal body. There are some influences of Chaos energy such as the ck scales on her body bing smoky and oozing ck fumes


    Chaos energy was leaving him through their connection to fuel Xander''s evolution. The more powerful she grew, the more Chaos energy she consumed and therger the cocoon got but he doesn''t mind the energy usage.


    He shouldn''t be able to use the Oath of the Lord without control of the energy well but he had infinite energy and at a higher quality too. That''s why he was given a unique one named the Oath of the Chaos Lord. So he doesn''t mind the energy consumption. Even if he did mind and energy is scarce, he could always get it back by killing Xander if she isn''t useful.


    "Since I am a lord, and a better one too, I should assemble my forces. Plus I need an army to help out Legion-4." He thought to himself as he waited.


    The Oath of the Lord is an ability that allows a subordinate to evolve while also strengthening the Lord. The Oath of the Chaos Lord is stronger than the demon lord''s because the energy he supplies is at the half-divine rank. The demon lord is at the half-divine rank but she doesn''t have an infinite amount of it to distribute. She can only give her subordinates the extreme energy rank that she has through the energy well.


    She can help high-rank demons evolve into demon nobles if they submit to her. But their path will end there and they will be forever reliant on her for growth. If she doesn''t grow stronger, then they will stagnate too. Her ability can''t help demon nobles to evolve because only one person can receive the amplification of the energy well. But he can do that.


    He can make high-rank demons and demon nobles be demon lords. That''s why he didn''t consider her a threat at all while she was threatening him. He respects her is not afraid of her, at least not anymore.


    She had started watching him when he was about to be ambushed by the ten mid-rank demons. He was afraid of her attention back then. He was afraid of the maniption of a high-rank demon, that''s why he avoided the ambush. His fear for her was greater.


    But things have changed. He is no longer afraid of her. He didn''t have the strength to face her back then, but things her changing rapidly. He is not the little low-rank demon that was spooked by the attention of the demon lord or the mid-rank demon that ran straight into her ambush.


    In fact, it''s the other way around, she now fears him a little. He is more than prey to her now. Still, he will remain wary of her because of the respect he has for her. She may not be able to do anything to him directly right now, but underestimating her is folly and will lead to his downfall.

 Chapter 283 Lord Khaos Of The House Of Chaos.

    ?Those he helps to evolve will becking in the perks of their ranks but they will have the power. The demon nobles he creates won''t have the ability to create a house and the Oath of allegiance. The demon lords he creates won''t have the Oath of lordship either and they won''t be able to help others evolve. It is because they are already his subordinates and under his house.


    The demon lord was right about a lot of things. Her ambush was excellently nned and executed. She was right about not trying to kill him because all the forces she would have sent will have died. She was also right about the window of opportunity she had to subjugate him. Her attempt at making him sign the contract before he evolves was urate. But she doesn''t know the full extent of the trouble he has be for her now.


    She will find out in time, but it will be toote by then. A war ising in the abyss ne and it is going to be a big war. He will need an army for that. He also needs to help Legion-4 with some trouble he is facing in his ne. They intend to pull a heist and he has a big part to y in it.


    Xander finallypleted her evolution after 4 hours. She bowed her gigantic head at Aeternus. Her head alone is about 3 times taller than Aeternus even with it lying on the ground at his feet. His height of 1.7 meters is not doing him any good.


    "Xander, number zero of the House of chaos greets the Lord of Chaos." Her divine sense said.


    Aeternus nodded as he checked her stats.He had yet to decide between killing her or keeping the snake. Fortunately, he has an urate method to check her usefulness to him.


    NAME: Xander.


    RACE: Chaotic Entity.


    BLOODLINE: Chaosling.


    DEMON RANK: Noble Demon.


    CHAOS RANK: First Star.


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    CHAOS ENERGY: 23,912.


    ACCUMULATION: 0


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:296. Spirit:304. MAGIC:360.


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:320. Spirit:328. MAGIC:360.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ABILITIES:


    1. Dweller of the Shadow World(UNIQUE): ess to another dimension that is parallel to the main world. You can transverse through it and hide in it. While you can observe the main world from the shadow world without being observed, you cannot interact with the main world through the shadow world.


    2. Phantom of Darkness(UNIQUE): You are unable to be detected by divine sense only by sight when you''re in motion. If you''re still, then you can only be detected by touch.


    3. Inevitability of Chaos(DIVINE): Consume your prey and transform them into the power of chaos within a special pouch in your body. The power of chaos is capable of being umted. It can be used to attack and raise the state of existence to 17.


    4. Connection To The Lord(UNIQUE): You are capable ofmunicating with the Lord of your house through this connection and he to you through the connection. You are his eyes and hands. The Lord can see through your senses and assist you with his energy to perform the tasks he has given you.


    STATUS: Reverent.


    Xander''s race has changed from a demonic beast to a chaotic entity. He liked the sound of that and also the fact that her existence is against the natural order of the abyss. He ought to be a demon Lord to create her but he isn''t. His circumstances have broken some rules which led to the creation of Xander. So her existence has added another steady stream of power to his Chaos me.


    Her bloodline has also changed into a Chaosling. Apart from her reaching the noble rank, she has a new rank called the chaos rank which determines the amount of chaos spark each Chaosling has. Xander has one and will need another one to evolve further. Her evolution has changed her mana into chaos energy but unlike him, she doesn''t have an infinite amount of it at a time.


    The advantage of chaos energy is that it can be replenished with either sin energy or mana at a rate dependent on their concentration but there will be no weakness, sickness, or death due to low concentration of either one of them. A Chaosling can stay anywhere in the abyss.


    Most notable of all is that she has acquired the power of a noble demon. She couldn''t use sin energy before, so she was weaker than a high-rank demon because of it. But now, she acquired an increase in her state of existence bringing it to 8. The stats of a noble demon range from 37-45 which brings are power rating to 296-360 a far cry from the 140-180 of a high-rank demon.


    He spent some time going through her sin abilities. It is the most important part of Xander''s strength. Her power rating doesn''t matter, but how she uses it does in determining her value. She has gone from a demonic beast with a slight ability to camouge herself and share her vision into a bonafide demon noble with one active ability, one passive ability, one umtion ability, and a utility connection from her Oath of lordship.


    "Does my strength please the Lord?" She asked hopefully.


    "Above average. It means you will not die yet. You still need to prove yourself." He said curtly.


    She spoke in reverence of him. "Your satisfaction is my greatest pursuit."


    She has certainly grown stronger but there are other demon nobles better than her in every way. The three things that determine a demon noble''s strength are power rating, sin abilities, and umtion. Xander is above average in power and sin abilities. There are demon nobles with more sin abilities than her and no weakness in their power rating.


    Such demon nobles have maxed their base power rating to 360. That means they have no ring weakness. Xander is alsocking when ites to umtion. There are high-rank demons with more umtion than her. He is keeping her because he doesn''t have any other alternatives for now and because she has potential.

 Chapter 284 New Powers And Abilities.

    ?Xander''s abilities make her a great assassin and spy. She would be useful for that but he doesn''t have unlimited chaos sparks. Each one in existence creates a drain on his soul. This drain is why demon nobles can''t ept every high-rank demon thates their way. The strength of their soul will limit them.


    Aeternus has a greater limit but he intends to only have the best. The only way to determine the best is always throughpetition. The survival of the fittest.


    "Let''s go and start the house of chaos." He said to her.


    "Yes, lord Khaos."


    Aeternus as the Lord of the house of Chaos has a greater limit on the number of subordinates he can take on but he intends to only have the best. The only way to determine the best is always throughpetition, the survival of the fittest. So he will make them fight for it.


    "Let''s go and start the house of chaos." He said to her.


    "Yes, lord Khaos."


    He flew to the top of her head and she took off. She pped her great wings and took off into the skies.


    "Take me to the closest fortress to the domain of demon nobles."


    "Yes, lord Khaos."


    The wind howled as they flew through the air. He had no hair to be ruffled by the wind and the burning me between his horns didn''t seem to interact with the normal world at all, so it wasn''t affected by the wind. The chaos cloak around him left some smoky trails behind them far more than Xander''s body did.


    He is less than 2m tall standing on the head of such a big serpent. Size usually determines strength in the demon world but it isn''t the case here. It isn''t the biggest fist that wins but the strongest fist and he has the upper hand in their rtionship. He is her lord and she is his bonded servant.


    He is returning to the domain of high-rank demons. He still can''t step into the domain of demon nobles yet. He needs to prepare first. The first thing to do is acquire a base. He doesn''t intend to raid fortresses and kill high-rank demons anymore. That is beneath him now. Demon nobles are his new preferred prey.


    But demon nobles don''te alone. They are usually surrounded by an army and a lot of high-rank demons. It is best that he gets his own backing too. Maybe then he will be able to take the 9th and thest demon city in the abyss that has been left unupied for a long time.


    He checked his stats along the way.


    NAME: AETERNUS (Legion-3)


    TITLE: Child Of The Virut ne. Eternal Chaotic Envy Demon.


    RACE: Demon Of Envy.


    BLOODLINE/SIN: Chaotic Envy.


    DEMON RANK: High-Rank Demon.


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: INFINITE.


    CHAOS ENERGY: INFINITE.


    ACCUMULATION:


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:180. Spirit:396. MAGIC:315.


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:315. Spirit:3640. MAGIC:315


    SOUL ESSENCE: 0<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    BIOMASS: 0


    DIVINITY: 0


    SIN RANK: High-1%


    STRENGTH: High-36


    CONSTITUTION: High-63


    ACTIVITY: High-63


    AGILITY: High-63


    CHAOTIC POWER: High-63


    PHYSICAL RESISTANCE: High-63


    MAGICAL RESISTANCE: High-63


    SPIRITUAL RESISTANCE: Eternal-91


    SPIRIT: Eternal-36


    PERCEPTION: Eternal-36


    SIN ABILITIES:


    1. The power of Envy(DIVINE)- Make three copies of any magical ability or skill that you see at higher power.


    2. The Spite of Envy(DIVINE)- Reflect Magical, Spiritual, and Physical damage from a source with a stat no greater than yours. (UNIQUE)


    3. The Oath Of the Chaos Lord(DIVINE)-


    -Chaos Spark: A spark of chaos to set the fires of evolution alit. The fire can also consume the subordinates if it is not harnessed and adapted. (UNIQUE)


    - Connection Of The Lord: Your subordinates are your senses, hence you can share their senses. They are your hands, hence you can provide them with energy. Communication between the lord and the subordinate is possible through this connection. (UNIQUE)


    - The power of the Lord: Each Chaos Star in use empowers your umtion and expands its utility.


    4. The umtion of Chaos(DIVINE)- Unlimited storage of power that can be acquired through defying the order of the world. Can be used to raise your state of existence to 17 or to attack. (UNIQUE)


    He is very powerful for a high-rank demon but quitecking for a demon noble. The chaotic power that has been helping him to jump ranks has been stunted during thetest evolution. What he can rely on now is his umtion but that will take time depending on how fast it fills up or his Chaos fusion with his Chaos vessel.


    With Chasing fusion he can reach a theoretical maximum power rating of 711 by fusing chaos with soul force therebybining the attack rating of his magic and spirit. The actual and practical output he can reach is 600. That will need time for focusing to produce but it shouldn''t be a problem for him to create attacks between 400 and 500 on a whim.


    umtion on the other hand is a moreplicated situation. For him, the rate at which power umtes depends on breaking the natural order of the world. He is already being flooded with a huge amount from the existence of Legion. The one with the highest contribution to his umtion is still himself. He acquired ess to infinite chaos energy by surviving what ought to kill him. He has been creating a series of anomalies since then.


    It is because of his ess to infinite chaos energy that he could acquire and use the Oath of the Chaos Lord. It is against the order of the abyss. Yet, the use of the Oath of the Chaos Lord to create subordinates will increase his umtion.


    The fact that he is creating the subordinates on his own without assistance from the energy well ispounding the effects of Chaos. It doesn''t end there, the existence and actions of his subordinates will also cause more umtion. He is the source of chaos, but it is going beyond him and empowering him.

 Chapter 285 The Need For Divine Power.

    ?Chaos is begetting Chaos on its own so he doesn''t need to work actively to empower himself. It is like his existence set off a domino of chaotic events. It started as a tiny situation of a low rank demon killing mid rank demons to be a high rank demon threatening the demon lord and will culminate in a war that will take the ne by storm all the while strengthening him in the process. His umtion ability is great that way, it is also much stronger than those of other demon nobles.


    umtion can be used to raise the state of existence or can be used to attack. He has a divine rank umtion, he can raise his state of existence from 5 of a high-rank demon to 17 of a demon lord. It is the limit allowed and the increase is also temporary.


    umtion is great but it has a huge weakness. Once it is used, it is gone forever. There is no limit to how much of it can be stored but its use is limited. Each amount of it used to temporarily reach this limit is gone.


    The limit to the boost of umtion is based on the increase in the state of existence and the power rating of the attack that can be created with it. They both are at the demon lord rank for Aeternus but they aren''t the same as other demon nobles. Most demon nobles have a lesser boost.


    It is like booster fuel. There is also a difference in usage. A higher-rank umtion has a better utility and a better diminishing return. A lower rank umtion will cost more for the same boost and will incur a higher increase in cost to maintain that boost. The rank of umtion also affects how fast it is regenerated. All these reasons are why demon nobles strife for the one universal thing that can increase umtion, divine power.


    Demons don''t hate gods because of principle and ideology. There is no hate in their conflict just a struggle for resources. Gods have divinity and divine energy, demons need it so they try to kill gods. Aeternus has never needed divinity but other demons like them because it is more efficient than collecting biomass from the dead bodies of other demons. The conflict continues to the level of demon kings.


    Different demons umte power based on different things and at different rates but divine power from Gods will work for everyone. The fact that the cost of usage of umtion is different for all demon nobles makes divine power more valuable to those with a lower-quality umtion. It is their best method of catching up in power.


    Aeternus might not have a poor umtion ability and, is doing well in terms of his rate of umtion, but Divine power is a great way to umte power too. He just needs to reach a certain level of umtion enough to sustain his limit, then he will be able to fight demon nobles without a disadvantage.


    It is one of the major incentives for him to leave the ne and attack divine nes through the abyss altar but he can''t do that yet. The demon lord will be watching like a hawk and will be waiting for him to do that.


    He doesn''t need any other resources like other demons because of his infinite chaos energy but he will certainly need divine power for his umtion and divinity to upgrade his other stats to the half-divine rank. His chaos energy achieved it on its own and breached the 54 Stat limit but his other stats will need it.


    His soon-to-be members of the House of Khaos will also need it or else the demon lords he creates won''t be able to match Beelta at all. So something has to be done about the lockdown that she has ced on him. But he isn''t worried because he isn''t alone and has never been. No Legion Clone is ever alone.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He doesn''t n to risk using Legion-1''s domain. He has something better nned. A surprise for the demon lord from Legion. But for now, he will wait and spread the word.


    Soon the word spread. A noble house is being formed in the domain of high-rank demons for the first time. It caused a few sneers and snidements. A noble house needs a demon noble, but a demon noble can''t live in the domain of high-rank demons. That ismon sense and to suggest otherwise is to believe high-rank demons are stupid.


    You can call the lower ranks of the demon hierarchy stupid, but not high-rank demons. Then the news got more absurd. The Head of the house, this so-called demon noble that can survive in the domain of high-rank demons, can also make high-rank demons evolve into demon nobles.


    Imagine that. Now the high-rank demons know that the news is fake. For a demon noble to live in such an area with low sin energy and yet be sustained, that demon noble has to be weak. How can such a weak demon noble have such a power?


    Apart from that, it ismon sense that the demon lord is the only one that can do this. But then they heard that the demon noble in question is the Ominous Reaper of Darkness and they started believing the news.


    In fact, public opinion took a 180-degree change in direction about their belief in the news.


    How could it not be believed? The Ominous Reaper killed 300 of the best high-rank demons in the ne. And from what demons heard, he had done it as a mid-rank demon and with a single move too.


    There are some geniuses that can terrorize high-rank demons due to the possession of the umtion ability. But these demons are also high-rank demons and none of them were so notorious that high-rank demons banded in solidarity to put them down.


    Everyone suspected that the Ominous Reaper will be unbelievable when he evolves to be a high-rank demon. What is more unbelievable than the news that he can make high-rank demons evolve into demon nobles?

 Chapter 286 Recruitment Drive For The House Of Chaos.

    ?Many don''t know much about the Ominous Reaper before he began to terrorize mid-rank demons but they know that is has only been a couple of months since he became known. That means he has gone from being a low-rank demon to a high-rank demon in only a few scant months. The fact that he evolved so quickly from being a mid-rank demon also proved that he really killed those 300 high-rank demons. Where else is he going to get the needed resources to grow his mark of sin so quickly?


    It doesn''t matter if he killed them as a mid-rank or high-rank demon, the fact that he could kill them without those who revived having memories of their death is enough reason for high-rank demons to flock to him. That single feat proved him to be future demon lord material and they want to be a part of that. The news that he could do something that only the demon lord should be able to do only proved that conjecture.


    News spread wide and far. High-rank demons came from far and wide to join the house of Chaos and be demon nobles because fusing sin energy with mana is difficult and because the Ominous reaper has a bright future. The news of it even reached the center of the ne.


    Centre Of The ne.


    The demon lord, Beelta, was still fuming. It''s a shame that the trembling of her gigantic round body and her tempestuous mood didn''t affect the energy well one bit. Her struggle and anger is too small to affect the energy well in any way. So she has been taking it out on other demons.


    Eating, more like gorging, also helps to soothe her mind but she is ever the efficient demon even when she is angry. She has been eating a lot of innocent demons recently.


    She doesn''t care where they came from. They could be demons that she had her subordinates force into her servitude, prisoners, or poor defenseless demons that they demon-napped off the street. What matters is that she is taking her anger out on them and also soothing her mood with food. It is like killing two demonic birds with one volcanic rock.


    Her method was working and she was calming down when the unfavorable news hit. One of her subordinates rushed to inform her of what Khaos Aeternus is about to do. She had instructed them to keep tabs on him. She screamed when she heard the news.


    "What? He is the Lord of the house of Chaos and he can evolve high-rank demons to demon noble rank? What kind of nonsense is this?" She asked her bowed subordinate.


    The subordinate didn''t answer. It was a rhetorical question. Even the demon lord who thought the idea that Aeternus could create a house was absurd believed it. She had expected as much from him. There have been records of genius high-rank demons getting umtion and even though there is no record of high-rank demons creating a house she chose to expect it.


    The first case where high-rank demons got umtion is rare but believable, while the second where a high-rank demon creates a noble house is unbelievable, yet she believed it is possible for Aeternus because she wasn''t willing to underestimate him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Aeternus is a talented demon and will be extraordinary even by her standards. What she couldn''t believe is that he even went above that to gain the ability of a demon lord. Now he can purportedly make demon nobles. She had known that letting him evolve was a bad idea but she didn''t know it would be this bad.


    She spit out the demon she was chewing from her giant maw. She has lost all her appetite now.


    "What am I to do?" She asked herself.


    For the first time in a long while, she feels desperate and anxious. She isn''t afraid for her life and she isn''t in any danger but the situation is spiraling out of control. She thought she had things under control. Aeternus was supposed to be stuck in the domain of high-rank demons slowly empowering his umtion but it isn''t going to be of much help in his fight against her.


    umtion is a temporary boost that raises one to the level of the demon lord. Even so, only the best umtion can reach her level. She is no ordinary demon lord, she has reached the half-divine rank with a state of existence of 17. Lesser demons can''t harm her. The most they can do is inconvenience her.


    There are some demon nobles with divine rank umtion who can pose a threat to her. But no matter how much umtion they have, they will run out of it with usage and time. Something temporary cannotpare to something permanent. She even has a greater advantage than that.


    Demon nobles don''t fight each other even though they have umtion because once it is used, it is lost. They will be weakened even if they win. If two sides fight, the side that will win is the side with the most umtion. Her ability to create demon nobles makes her side always at an advantage. She has enough demon nobles to take on the cooperative attack of the disgruntled noble families.


    The established noble families had banded together to fight her before and lost too. It was the war that took ce 10,000 years ago. So what can one noble demon do to her? By her estimates, no matter how much Aeternus umtes, it cannotpare to the umtion of her noble demons who have had ample time and divine power to empower themselves. One of them would have been enough to capture Aeternus.


    "A war ising." She thought gloomily.


    It seems he would be able to put up a fight. She had been prepared for war but not against Aeternus. Orders have already been sent out to prepare her forces but their targets were the noble families. This development has changed things.

 Chapter 287 Cain The Accuser.

    ?Beelta nned to stop the other noble families frompeting with her for Aeternus while she tries to nab him. Aeternus''s change to the Lord of Chaos will hamper that. The addition of the house of chaos will make Aeternus a yer instead of a prize to be won.


    The demon lord suddenly got an idea.


    "I know what to do. Send Cain the user. He is perfect for the job."


    No matter how things have changed, she is still the demon lord and things are still in her court. Even if Aeternus creates more demon nobles he doesn''t have the divine power to empower them. That means he can only rely on their quantity, not quality. If he relies on quantity, his soul will be burdened. A burdened soul will be more vulnerable to spiritual attacks. Cain will be able to cripple his recruitment efforts.


    Her subordinate withdrew silently and went to fulfill her order. Beelta watched him go before turning her attention to the demons lined up in front of the energy well for eating. Her 100 meters diameter body hade out of the pir and was towering over them. She usually felt gratified watching them cower beneath her but that had changed. She was feeling like eating or torturing them so she returned to the energy well gloomy as a dark cloud.


    Her decision to send Cain didn''t make her happy. Cain might be sessful with his mission but he will be sacrificed to make it happen. The sacrifice of such a talented demon just to hamper Aeternus doesn''t make her feel good. The fact that it is a worthy sacrifice too only makes her angry. She has to do something to get the situation under control.


    "I have to pressure him to make a mistake."


    Aeternus has seeded in pushing her to desperation with his antics but it should be her that should push him. He should be a rat caught in a barrel with nowhere to go but he is making more rats and using them to build adder out of the bucket.


    She has built a cage around him. He can''t enter the domain of demon nobles or leave the abyssal ne. That cage is also protecting him because she can''t extend her full reach into the domain of high-rank demons. She needs to stop him from preparing and make hime out of the cage. Then she will be able to nab him and have her wish fulfilled.


    Back To Aeternus.


    The abyssal ne has been sent into turmoil. Even the demon nobles aren''t sitting still. The ability to create more demon nobles is practically an infringement. It is a vition of the order of the world. An encroachment into their way of life and privileges.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They even held a meeting about it. Most of them considered it a good thing. They have been in a ruttely and the addition of such an outlier will make things interesting. There''s nothing they can do against the demon lord. They have lesser forces than her and they are not as united. It is difficult to be united when you''re all aiming for the same thing but only one of you can have it.


    So they wee the developments brought about by Aeternus''s ability. Aeternus will draw the attention of the demon lord and if they fight, then they''ll weaken each other. It will create more opportunities for them.


    The ones that don''t want the rise of another force on par with the demon lord lost to the majority in favor of it. But it all boiled down to the fact that there''s nothing they can do about it.


    If the demon lord is catching at straws about methods of retaliation against Aeternus then what could the ones that lost to her do? It is a real possibility that Aeternus and the demon lord won''t fight. They aren''t foolish enough not to be aware that fighting will make them weaker. This means that Aeternus wille to the inner ring to dominate them and their various houses.


    The demon lord is all-powerful in the abyssal ne but her power is concentrated at the center of the ne. If Aeternus doesn''t rece her, he will stay in the innermost ring instead where the demon nobles stay. That means the demon nobles would have gained an overlord in the domain of demon nobles.


    But they decided to look at this positively since they can''t do anything about it. Their situation can only be so worse. What''s worse that could happen than that? Besides no matter how many demon nobles Aeternus creates, they are confident in their years of umtion.


    Still, they sent out their representatives to the uing selection event. Aeternus had a public announcement that he would be selecting worthy high-rank demons on that day to evolve and that everyone cane to watch or try out for positions in his family. The nobles are sending their subordinates there just to watch and report to them.


    They want to know if he can really create demon nobles or if he is lying. It is not the first time a demon is lying about something. If he is ly to get their way. If he is lying, they want to know the truth and why he lied.


    The long-awaited day came. The fortress that Aeternus was staying at was filled up with high-rank demons. Rumors had it that Aeternus showed up with a demon noble and took over the fortress without any resistance. It is not news that the Ominous Reaper took down a fortress on his own. He had done it before. This time, there was no fight. He just came knocking and the demon in charge rolled over like a dog and surrendered.


    Aeternus didn''t kill anyone that day. He simply holed up in the castle while he gave orders to the former owner to send out the news. Xander showed up once in a while as proof of the presence of a demon noble here so it lent credence to the rumors and brought more demons to the uing selection event for the House of Chaos.

 Chapter 288 Experimentation.

    ?Xander is currently above the castle scanning the fortress from every direction from the shadow realm. She is also sharing her sight with Aeternus who is performing experiments within the castle. Aeternus is in arge room adjoined with many cells for experimental subjects. Some of the cells contain his subjects, mid-rank demons.


    Therge room also contains many mid-rank demons in various stages of evolution or fighting. The ones that are fighting are at each other''s throats as if they are crazed. He sat on a pir while he watched everything going on. asionally he would make some changes to the developments by releasing some dust that resemble fireflies into the air.


    These fireflies are then absorbed by the demons. Some instantly start to evolve while some begin to fight each other. Some of those evolving fail and release fireflies which he takes and examines. The ones fighting kill their opponents and absorb the fireflies from the body of their opponents.


    The situation might be different but one thing ismon, the fireflies that are absorbed ande out of the bodies of in demons are not the same as the ones he initially released.


    There are tenrge balls of Chaos energy beside him from which different fireflies are being produced. The balls of chaos energy are also different from one another. Some arepletely ck, some white, some reddish ck, some pure red, and other different shades of the three colors.


    The balls keep on changing even as more fireflies return and are analyzed. Aeternus will make adjustments to them based on the new information he acquires. He is experimenting with his Oath of the Chaos Lord ability.


    He found out after some practice with it that the rate of survival is too low. The willpower required to survive the process by which chaos energy warps the body and the mind is too high. So it led to quick and painful death where the subjects are consumed from the inside out.


    He has only been able to make one other subordinate apart from Xander out of 100 attempts. That''s a sess rate of 2% at best. Such a survival rate will lead to immense losses for him. He could easily lose a talented demon that he wants. And once news spread that the possibility of death when auditioning to be his subordinate is very high, no one will show up for it.


    So he began experimenting with chaos energy, his ability, and souls in hopes to modify his sin ability and make it morepatible with other demons. What started as a means to ensure a higher conversion rate escted quickly as he delved into the mysteries of sin abilities.


    He created a chaos spark. Then he broke it apart with chaos energy. He didn''t let the pieces float away. Instead, he held them together, then he grabbed some souls, and added them into the floating mess of chaos that is straining to escape his grasp. He got the souls from the stash of high-rank demons that he ransacked.


    The cloud of unruly chaos energy began to mellow and clump together as they broke the souls apart. Soon they engorged on it and became tiny fireflies. He made the firefliesbine in a unique rhythm and forced sin energy in the atmosphere into thebination to see if it will finally work.


    He waited patiently as he watched the ball. This is his eleventh attempt at making what he wants. If he fails, he will need to acquire more knowledge and perform more experimentation.


    The fireflies within the cloud of Chaos energy began tobine in a ball ording to the rhythm he set for them and grew solid. Then it glowed white and began to thrum.


    "Finally, I''ve got it." He sighed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The previous ten balls were adjusted ording to his new insight. They all thrummed and turnedpletely white. Then they began to alternate between glowing and dimming. His soul was also glowing and dimming in sync with the ten balls.


    A row of text appeared in his vision


    #( ERROR: YOUR MARK OF SIN HAS BEEN MODIFIED )


    #( OATH OF THE CHAOS LORD HAS CHANGED )


    #( CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR ABILITY CHAOS SPARK HAS EVOLVED INTO THE SPIRIT OF CHAOS )


    He nodded appreciatively. He had gone from the low-rank demon that couldn''t cast spells with chaos energy to a mid-rank demon that could cast sloppy spells and finally into a high-rank demon that can modify his mark of sin with chaos energy. He still can''t cast delicate spells with chaos energy but he can modify its behavior.


    He made the balls divide themselves into smaller balls that resemble the normal chaos spark before those smaller balls disintegrated into fireflies. Then the fireflies rbined into chaos sparks before they toobined into therge ten balls of white chaos balls.


    Therge chaos balls are white, the chaos sparks are ck with white shining from within and the fireflies are red. Chaos energy within his sin ability has been made to change shape, color, size, and nature so that it will be able to fulfill the function that Aeternus has for it.


    "How is everything going?" He asked Xander over their mind connection.


    "Everything is good to go, Lord Khaos."


    "Good. It''s time these demons get what they came for."


    He waved his hand and Chaos mes flew out into the room to burn everything. The mes only killed the demons but left the walls and ground intact. Then they returned to his body. He left the castle and flew to the arena that had been built for today''s show. The white balls of chaos trailed after him and drew attention since they made his dark ominous figure obvious.


    Demons began moring as soon as they saw him. There has been a ban on flying within the fortress so they could see him pass over their heads to the arena. The reason why Xander had shown up asionally is to eat the vitors of that ban.

 Chapter 289 Different Groups With Different Agendas.

    ?"The show is about to start. Let''s go quickly. We need to get good seats." They said to each other as they rushed towards the arena.


    This group of demons is the one that came for the selection and those that came to watch the selection. The ones that came for the selection, want to join the house of Chaos and be demon nobles. They are excited about the opportunity to join a house with such potential.


    While some demons are ecstatic about the chance to be demon nobles, a lot of high-rank demons only came to see the event and do not intend to participate in the selection but both types of demons are enthusiastic about the selection.


    Demons like their freedom and don''t like bing another demon''s Henchmen especially if they are geniuses and are capable of bing demon nobles on their own. Some of the proud geniuses include Astaroth, Paimon, and Marbas. They only came to watch. That''s why they are rushing to get good seats with those that came to participate in the selection.


    Some other geniuses believe in the potential of the house of Chaos and have decided to join it even though they also have the potential to be demons nobles themselves. They aren''t nameless demons either. One of them is the faceless terror, a demon of terror that is widely known among the circle of high-rank demons.


    The third group of demons that came are the ones that Aeternus invited. He invited all the demons in charge of fortresses and other notable high-rank demons with strength. They might not want to be here but they have toe since he invited them.


    No one wants to cross the ominous reaper since he only asked them to witness the process but that doesn''t mean they have to be excited about being here. So they aren''t as quick to watch the event as the first two groups.


    The demons that are part of the hit squad that was supposed to attack him but survived were also invited. They are extra fearfulpared to others and came to the fortress together in a group as a way to seek assurance in numbers.


    These are the demons that are the opposite of excited to rush to the arena. Their steps are slow and their hearts are heavy. Their gloom didn''t disappear even when they reached the arena and sat down. They kept ncing around to make sure there is no danger. Coming here is dangerous but what choice did they have?


    The Ominous Reaper is already terrifying on his own, the addition of demon nobles that aren''t restricted by sin concentration is like adding wings to and dragon. Such a dragon will gain supremacy of the earth and the skies just like Aeternus will gain supremacy of everything apart from the energy well. So they came despite the fear for their lives.


    The fifth groups are the spies and subordinates that the different noble demons sent to watch or sabotage the event. They include some notable geniuses like Bael from the house of the Balde of destruction, Belial from the house of the Fallen, then there is Bm, Murmur, and Asmosdius.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Szar didn''t want Bael to go since a ce where there are a lot of demon nobles isn''t safe but if it isn''t safe enough for his strongest subordinate, who would it be safe for?


    The ones that came to sabotage the selection process are also part of this group and so are the ones sent to kill Aeternus if possible. This group is the slowest to get to the arena. They spent most of their time watching and observing their surroundings.


    Cain, the one sent to mess with Aeternus''s soul is also among this group. Cain ns to wait for Aeternus to take on the most subordinates that he will take then he will Sacrifice himself by using his unique sin ability to create an attack that will bypass all of his target''s defenses and deal true damage. He has the assurance that his sacrifice will deal a great deal of damage to Aeternus.


    Aeternus was sitting in the highest seat in the arena while waiting for the demons to show up. He doesn''t mind the wait. He even prefers it. The wait will give him enough time so that everything will fall into ce. He continued to make more white chaos balls. This time he only had to will it for them to be created. He didn''t need to forge them from scratch with his chaos spark.


    He stood up to address the crowd after movement has ceased and everyone had sat down. He looked over at the thousands of high-rank demons who came here for different reasons. Some came for good reasons and others for bad ones, but he wees them all the same.


    He started his speech. "Today is a like any other day. It is a day for excellence or mediocrity. We can either do something great today or something normal with the time we have. But one thing is certain, only the best of the best will excel. The survival of the fittest has made it so and the order of the demon society has enforced it."


    Every demon listened with rapt attention.


    "We have fought since the day we were born. We killed and we feasted on the spoil that is the body of our enemies. We rise from their death and be stronger, only to fight stronger opponents. It is our way of life as demons. It is the way things have worked and the way things will continue to work because it is the surest path to greatness. It is why I am at odds with the demon lord of the ne."


    A lot of them were surprised while some of them were not surprised at that revtion. The surprised ones were wondering how the Ominous reaper suddenly went from terrorizing high-rank demons to being at odds with the demon lord.

 Chapter 290 The Exhibition Show.

    ?His voice rang out through the arena. "That struggle for survival pushes us to excellence. We either survive or die. It is why I am creating a noble family. You all know me as one that breaksmon sense, but I assure you that you do not know the full extent of my capabilities. Many of you came here to be my subordinates while most of you came to watch what I am capable of. I will show you what Khaos Aeternus, the Lord of the house of chaos is capable of."


    Now everyone is looking forward to what he has to show them. They saw mid-rank demons begin to appear within the center of the arena. Their number reached a thousand before they stopped increasing. Then the gates to the center of the arena were sealed.


    "Watch and see what I am fully capable of, what I am offering you as the Lord of the house of chaos."


    The 100 balls of chaos he created flew into the center of the arena and scattered into fireflies. The fireflies settled onto the mid-rank demons and got them into a frenzy.


    The fireflies affected them in various amounts depending on the amount that settled on them. The ones with a lower amount of fireflies began to fight the closest demon to them while the ones with high enough fireflies began to evolve. They would lie down and be surrounded by the cocoon of evolution.


    The spectating viewers were confused by the situation but they kept watching. The rabid mid-rank demons fighting each other started to reduce in numbers as they died. The ones that absorbed enough fireflies after taking the portion belonging to the killed ones also started to evolve.


    The ones that have started evolving will eject the extra fireflies they have if they have too much of what is needed to start evolution. The released fireflies will then find a viable host and enter its body. Soon the arena became filled with evolving mid-rank demons but their numbers have reduced from a thousand to 100.


    The evolution didn''t take long and none of them died during it. They were all done in 30 minutes and what appeared in the center of the arena were 100 high-rank demons. The high-rank demons spectating were surprised and intrigued, but they were only slightly impressed.


    The reason why they weren''t impressed is that it is of no use to them. It is also difficult to be impressed when you have very high expectations. It might be a very useful ability for Aeternus to create high-rank demons but it isn''t useful to them.


    The ability to create high-rank demons from mid-rank is something that has never been heard of in the abyss. It might be a very rare ability exclusive to Aeternus but these demons expect more from the Ominous reaper. They didn''te to watch the creation of high-rank demons.


    Only Aeternus himself was impressed. His former ability, the chaos spark could only work with high-rank demons. Any lower than that and the demon will surely die. Even high-rank demons have a discouraging survival rate. But that has changed. Now, even mid-rank demons have a 100% survival rate. All thanks to the fireflies.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The Chaos fireflies are actually parasites. He got the idea from the clone of Legion that helped him with thew of the soul. These parasites are soul parasites made from chaos energy and his sin ability. They will attach to the host and help the host to adapt to chaos energy which will ensure their survival during the evolution process.


    The 100 high-rank demons in the center of the arena started to fight again. Once the evolution process ispleted, the fireflies will be stronger and wish to rbine into the chaos spark but they aren''t enough. So they will influence their host to seek out other sources of the fireflies. If those sources are other hosts, then the two hosts will try to kill the other and take their fireflies for themselves.


    The current fight at the center of the arena is more appealing than the previous ones between weaker mid-rank demons. They are stronger and they have stronger sin abilities. A barrier had already surrounded the center to protect the spectators from danger so they remained entertained without worrying about their safety.


    More and more of them were starting to get impressed. Aeternus had turned 1000 weak mid-rank demons into 100 formidable demons. It is a highly efficient conversion when it is known that 1 high-rank demon is stronger than 1000 mid-rank demons and the value of 1 high-rank demon to the growth of mark of sin is at least 100 killed mid-rank demons. Aeternus had made an unprecedented efficient conversation of 10 mid ranks demons into 1 high-rank demon.


    The fighting demons soon started evolving. Each one of them needs 9 more portions of the fireflies which means that they have to kill 9 opponents with a single portion to evolve.


    Some of them got more than they needed after killing an opponent with a lot of portions. The extra fireflies will simply leave during evolution and find a lucky host. So the demons didn''t need to kill 9 opponents to get what is needed for their evolution.


    Their numbers finally reduced to 10 evolving demons. This time the evolution took longer but everyone waited to see what woulde of it. This is exactly what they came to see after all. So waiting 3 hours isn''t too much for them.


    Eventually, the evolution was done and 10 noble demons appeared. Their majesty and the suppression of the surrounding high-rank demons with their innate aura proved their authenticity. If they are fake noble demons, then they are incredibly powerful fakes or these high-rank demons won''t be sensing the definite threat to their lives from the noble demons.


    Now everyone is impressed. Aeternus has done it. He proved he can make demon nobles. Even more impressive is that he created them from mid-rank demons. They were all apuding him. Some were also sighing in relief because it meant they will be able to leave soon.

 Chapter 291 What Next?

    ?He stood up and raised a wed hand to silence the arena.


    "It is good that you are satisfied but the show isn''t over. I promised to show you what I am fully capable of and I''m not done yet."


    His words set the crowd aze. What could be more than that? What else does he have up his sleeve apart from demon nobles? They are sure he isn''t bluffing because of the prestige he has among demons.


    The various groups had varying reactions to his statement. Whatever Aeternus has nned after showing them his creation of noble demons as to be very impressive. So the excited demons that came to watch and participate became overly excited.


    The same cannot be said about the paranoid ones in the crowd who had sighed in relief when they thought the show was over. They were scared before, but now they are petrified.


    They had wanted to leave and go somewhere safe, but if the show isn''t over they can''t leave or they risk disrespecting the Ominous Reaper after their previous sin of trying and failing to kill him. They are petrified because now will be a good time for Aeternus to set his demon nobles on them to massacre them. They wouldn''t be surprised if he did it, he is a demon after all.


    The geniuses in the crowd are impressed but are not afraid for their lives. They are the ones with umtion, so the presence of demon nobles doesn''t scare them. Even if they can''t defeat a newly evolved demon noble, they will be able to escape.


    The fact that they already have umtion also means that bing demon nobles is sure for them. All they need is resources to make great selections during evolution. Their assurance of their safety is why they can sit calmly and be curious about what Aeternus has nned.


    Aeternus addressed the 10 bowing demon nobles he has just created.


    He said to them, "You know what to do. It is in your blood. I give you permission as the Lord of the house of Chaos to go ahead and pursue excellence."


    The 10 demons pounced on one another and began fighting to the death. They are not the irrational mid-rank demons or the easily influenced high-rank demons. They are rational demon nobles. They have the strength, skills, and intelligence of demons befitting that status.


    But these noble demons are not normal. They also have the knowledge of possible Strength and what they need to make that possible Strength real. All they have to do is acquire 9 more chaos sparks and they will acquire that Strength.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    These 10 demons are the bloodthirsty, strongest, and luckiest of the 1000 mid-rank demons they started with. They have experienced the sweet process of evolution in two quick sessions and they know a possible third. To grow stronger is a pleasant thing to any lifeform, that''s why other species attempt the breakthrough to the titan ofw even when the chances of death are immense.


    These demons don''t need to think too much. There''s no uncertainty concerning their breakthrough. As long as they be thest one standing, then they will certainly evolve. Their fight was spectacr because of their struggle. It is not everyday that demon nobles are seen fighting.


    Things got very heated. If not for the barrier that Xander had spent time creating, then all the spectating high-rank demons would have been in danger. It is against Aeternus''s n to put his guest in danger so soon.


    The noble demons had no umtion because they were mid-rank demons just hours avable. So they went at it with their various basic abilities and their fist. Those are the two things that are readily avable and familiar with.


    The arena rumbled and cracked. Chaos energy flew around everywhere. Things didn''t take long to settle because of their few numbers and the use of deadly attacks. They weren''t sparing so they didn''t hold back at all and since only one will survive, there were no allies only temporary coborators.


    Two or more would coborate to beat one demon. They would kill that demon and then fight each other next. The pairing was unfair and chaotic. Sometimes a coboration will break apart because the demon that is being ganged up on retaliated and causes a serious injury to one of its oppressors. Then the previous coborators will turn on the seriously injured partner and eliminate it first. The fight was chaotic so they didn''t note the odd demon that was getting stronger the more injured he was.


    Aeternus nodded appreciatively when he noticed this demon be one of the remaining three alive. This demon has the same ability as the berserker that they used to tie him down during his ambush by the demon lord. The more wounded and angry the demon got, the higher his resistance became. What''s worse is that he can umte power that way.


    If they had taken him out earlier then he won''t have reached such a level of strength. The demon is a bull coated in an aura that resembled burning mes. The me was burning him, reducing his vitality and strength while empowering his resistance. It was toote by the time they realized his unique situation. His two opponents are both magic specialised demons. They fought against him with all their strength all to no avail. The spells they threw at him fell off of him without damaging him.


    He weathered the rain of spells and captured one of them. They couldn''t fly because of the barrier and their size made the fighting space very cramped. Each one of them is at least 5 meters tall with big, impressive wings.


    The wings are asionally used as weapons to fight and the captured demon was using the sharp bone spikes attached to them to try and damage his captor. The spikes worked. They prated the skin of the bull demon but it was toote. The bull tore his captive apart limb from limb with his bare hands before he roared and moved on to thest opponent.

 Chapter 292 Encroaching Into The Domain Of The Demon Lord.

    ?The minotaur finally defeated his opponent. He almost died in the attempt when his opponent cut off one of his hands with his wings. The minotaur enlisted the use of his teeth to crush the neck of his opponent before falling to the slumber of evolution. His mouth shouldn''t have been able to do so but a brief boost of his stats with umtion that didn''tst a second turned his jaws into jaws of death that crushed flesh and snapped bones.


    Aeternus was impressed by the oue of the fight. He knew it was unfair for some other demons. Magic-specialized demons didn''t get time to adjust from not being mid-rank anymore and learn spells. The high-rank stage is when demons be familiar with spells but these didn''t have the time for it.


    The demons relied on their innate sin abilities which they also just learned and are not familiar with. Physical specialized demons didn''t get weapons that they need to fully bring out the strength of their body but they were still at an advantage over the ones who preferred spells. It is why a brawler won the free for all.


    "That''s the thing about life andpetition for survival. No one remembers the losers or cares about the unfairness of the struggle after the winner is settled. Nothing can be done for the dead anymore." He said in mncholy.


    The central arena had quieted down now that no one is fighting. The arena is littered with the mangled bodies of opponents that are quickly disintegrating into chaos energy to join the pulsing dark red cocoon in the arena. The reason why they are quiet is that the cocoon though tinted with some sort of ck energy looks very simr to an evolution cocoon.


    An evolution cocoon is something that should only appear when a demon is evolving. While the fighting pit in the arena had quoted down and eased up, tension began to increase among the spectators.


    There were silent mutters, quiet whispering, and discreet mental transmissions between the high-rank demons as they watched the change going on on the stage of the arena.


    "No way, right?"


    "It can''t be."


    "This should be impossible."


    "But if anyone can do it then it''s the ominous reaper."


    "He did say he was at odds with the demon lord. This will exin why."


    "Who wouldn''t be scared of such a demon?"


    They debated quietly amongst themselves. They weren''t scared of Aeternus but of the evolving demon. Or could the demon be napping? Even if that is the case, no one wants to disturb the creature until they know what it will be. They were all well-behaved.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Even the geniuses didn''t kick up a fuss. They have the power of umtion so it has helped them to touch upon the full power of the demon lord. That experience did not make them dismiss the demon lord, it instead made them aware of the disparity between them.


    Ignorance is bliss but knowledge is power. The geniuses know what kind of power a being beyond the level of noble demon wields. It has not made them full of confidence if they happen to face off against such an entity. Instead, it has informed them of their position on the food chain. They are simply genius high-rank demons. Even genius noble demons are wary of the demon lord.


    They respect the demon lord more because of their genius. Their confidence has not been bolstered wrongly because they understand that there''s a difference between temporary power and permanent power. That difference became especially ring during the war 10,000 years ago when hundreds of noble demons couldn''t do anything to her.


    Only special demon nobles with divine rank umtion could hurt her but there were only 8 of them in that war. They were not enough to put the demon lord down and she has demon nobles as her subordinates. The nobles lost that war because they were outssed in terms of quantity and quality. The demon lord was so terrifying that she outssed them everywhere.


    That''s why no one wants to be on the cklist of a new demon lord, especially if this demon lord can move around in the ne however he or she likes. There will be nowhere to hide then.


    The paranoid ones remained still even though every one of the thoughts in their head and every bones in their body mored for them to escape. They stayed still because if Aeternus can create demon lords, then it is highly likely that he has already created them. Running away won''t save them now if Aeternus is out to get them. They might as well just sit here and ept their fate.


    There are three major sins in the abyss. Weakness is the first sin. Failing to recognize your position on the hierarchy is the second most important sin. Trying and failing to kill someone is the third. Trying to kill isn''t a sin, failing makes it a sin. Now they are going to pay for the sin of failing to kill Aeternus.


    It was because of the quietness and focus of thousands of high rank that they noticed the change in the abyss. One could catch them ncing at the center of the ne. Specifically, they are looking in the direction of the energy well.


    All high-rank demons can sense the energy well while only demon nobles can bond to it. So all the high-rank demons and the demon nobles can notice the charged fury that is beginning to radiate from that ce. Someone had notified the demon lord of what could possibly happen here.


    It is an absurd possibility that Aeternus could make a demon Lord from 1000 mid-rank demons. Aeternus himself never said anything like it. He only said he could make demon nobles then he said he will show them his full capabilities. Butmon sense dictates that the rank of demon lordes after demon nobles in the order of evolution.


    So the demon lord''s divine sense arrived in full fury.


    "AETERNUS!!!" She screamed his name in fury to all that could hear.

 Chapter 293 INFERNOX

    ?Her mental transmission killed every mid-rank demon in the vicinity. The high-rank demons frowned while the weak ones almost cked out.


    Aeternus was unbothered by the shout.


    He shouted back. "Can you keep it down? I have guests over and you''re ruining the atmosphere."


    "I am the demon lord," Beelta screamed as if to announce herself or assert her dominance.


    "So what? Just because you''re the demon lord does not mean you can do whatever you want."


    "You can''t take my position from me. I will forever remain the demon lord."


    "Will you stop screaming? If you''re so sure of yourself then there''s no need to worry." He asked calmly as he started to make more giant white balls of chaos.


    She wasn''t willing to listen to reason. Her fury rose to the sky as she roared, "You have crossed the line. You have gone too far."


    Still, Aeternus remained unconcerned. "What are you going to do about it? Certainlying here to shout and rant won''t help. This is unbing of someone of your stature. You''re just embarrassing yourself."


    She had gone mad so she didn''t listen to him. She kept shouting threats at him while he continued to make snidements.


    "Beelta, this is so unlike you. I would like to listen to what''s got you down but I am busy here trying to establish a coup."


    He took control of the momentum of the surroundings and locked her out when she wouldn''t quiet down.


    The arena resumed its silence and vigil. Their eyes and attention were focused on the evolution going on within the arena. The evolution took more than 10 hours before it waspleted. Then a giant ming hand broke the cocoon. A giant ming bull''s headplete with a single giant horn came after.


    A burning minotaur came out of the cocoon in its full glory. It stood up to reach 10 meters tall. There were fourrge wings on its back and three ming tails. The skin and the body of the demon seemed to be made from red-hot volcanic rocks. Lava was dripping to the ground from the cracks in the skin.


    There were seams in the skin from which the burning and churning inside of the demon could be seen. There is a number in his left eye that showed the number 1 in the demon tongue. It identified him as the second member of the house of Khaos. Theva inside the body of the burning demon was dripping through its skin like sweat.


    The temperature of the arena spiked immediately after the demon released its aura that swept over the surroundings. There was also a spiritual influence apart from the physical difort of the aura. The aura was whispering ideas of anger in the minds of everyone. It was trying to make them angry and lose theirposure. But how could they do that when they are practically frozen in their seats unable to move a single muscle?


    The giant ming minotaur, the embodiment of an active volcano ready to erupt knelt and bowed his head in Aeternus''s direction.


    "INFERNOX greets the Lord of the house of Khaos. Your every wish is mymand, my lord." Its voice rumbled like thunder and this time, almost all the high-rank demons cked out.


    Even the geniuses were pushed to the very edge of consciousness. The weaker ones would have lost consciousness but the ravings of madness in their ears made it impossible to do so. So they fell into insanity instead. Their subconscious had to do something to protect their minds.


    cking out is a defense mechanism to protect the mind, if they can''t do that, then they might as well take the suggestions of anger and wrath in their heads. Still, no one did anything because they couldn''t move a single muscle.


    The demon lord''s shout killed mid-rank demos and stressed high-rank demons but the effect is limited to that because of the distance between them. Her shout wouldn''t have affected mid-rank demons if they are in their region instead of the region of high-rank demons.


    INFERNOX might not be as powerful as the demon lord but is very close to these high-rank demons. They are nothing but prey to him and their subconscious knows that.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Not bad." Aeternus smiled as he examined the stats of the new addition to his house.


    NAME: INFERNOX


    RACE: Chaotic Entity.


    BLOODLINE: Chaosling.


    DEMON RANK: Demon Duke.


    CHAOS RANK: Second Star.


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    CHAOS ENERGY: 392,671


    ACCUMULATION: 7


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:600. Spirit:612. MAGIC:648.


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:624. Spirit:588. MAGIC:648.


    ABILITIES:


    1. The Power Of Wrath(EPIC): +9 Boosts to Strength when angry by burning chaos energy.


    2. The Endurance Of Wrath(DIVINE): Boosts to Physical, Spiritual, and Magical attacks the more injured you get and reach up to +21.


    3. The Aura Of Wrath(UNIQUE): A passive aura that badgers those around you with a Spiritual attack. Those that are unable to ovee the attack be immobilized. Those that can ovee it but are affected by the aura will have their prowess reduced based on the level of influence. The debuff ranges between 10-50%.


    4. The Strike of Vengeance(DIVINE): The umtion of anger and resentment for empowerment within the body. Can be used to attack or to raise the state of existence to 17.


    5. Body of Cmity (UNIQUE): Cmity brews within you and you''re a volcano ready to erupt. The more your umtion increases the more potential you possess. You gain a boost to every part of your body even when you don''t use umtion and this boost is directly proportional to the amount of umtion stored.


    6. Connection To The Lord(UNIQUE): You are capable ofmunicating with the Lord of your house through this connection and he to you through the connection. You are his eyes and hands. The Lord can see through your senses and assist you with some energy to perform the tasks he has given you.


    STATUS: Reverent.

 Chapter 294 Fight Or Die.

    ?A demon Duke is not a new term in the abyss. There can only be one demon lord but there can be others who have reached that power by relying on other options apart from the energy wwell.The subordinates of demon kings are demon dukes. They evolve to that rank from being demon nobles.


    The demon noble rank is thest rank a demon can evolve to on its own. They usually need the assistance of the energy well of an abyssal ne or the power of a demon king to reach the next level. They be demon dukes if they are assisted by a demon king instead of demon lords that use the energy well.


    Aeternus can perform this assistance because he has something that demons kings should have, an infinite supply of energy at the half-divine rank. Even if he has chaos energy at the divine rank, Infernox will still be unable to evolve to the half-divine rank. Upgrading to half-divine and above requires the use of divinity. It is a must.


    Infernox hasn''t reached the demon lord''s level but he hase very close to it. His state of existence which is at 12 is much higher Han that of demon nobles at 8 and much closer to the demon lord''s state of existence which is 17. Infernox might be newly evolved, yet some demon nobles can''t beat him with the full power of umtion because their boosts only peak at the state of existence of 12.


    A state of existence of 12 and stats ranging from 46-54 make Infernox'' power rating between 552-648. It is a huge improvement from the 294-360 power rating of demon nobles.


    Aeternus said to him, "Infernox the demon Duke, wee to the house of chaos. You have earned your entry through blood and sweat. In my book, that is excellence."


    Then he said to the frozen high-rank demons, "It is your turn to pursue excellence. Show me the greatness that is buried within you. Exert your full potential or you will die."


    He spread his hands and hundreds of white chaos balls fled into the air then they dispersed into fireflies that fell all over the high-rank demons. The fireflies fell all over the fortress to touch every demon in it even the ones that didn''te to the arena and were only lurking about in the fortress. As long as they are within the 1km radius of Infernox'' domain, they were touched by the fireflies.


    "Release them and let us watch the show." He said to Infernox.


    "Yes, my lord." He replied.


    He retracted his aura. Then he flew to Aeternus. His pping wings spread the aura of heat around him to the surroundings so he doesn''t need much effort to fly. The air beneath his wings expands as it heats up. A single push creates more upthrust for him than it would for Xander.


    He stretched his hands to Aeternus who leaped into hisrge hands. Then he flew into the air and stayed there to survey the high-rank demons. The high-rank demons watched 1000 mid-rank demons earlier as they ughtered themselves. It is the turn of the high-rank demons to ughter themselves.


    He told Infernox. "Control the area, I don''t want that nosy demon lord from interfering."


    Infernox spread his mind to shield the fortress from the sight of the demon lord. He couldn''t do it expertly as Aeternus does it by taking control of the momentum around but he did it. He used brute strength to make the momentum of the area resonate with him by injecting them with his aura. He couldn''t control the momentum but his tampering prevents the demon lord from controlling it either. It is crude but it covers arger area than Aeternus''s control.


    The demons on the ground gained the ability to move and the first thing they did was shout at him.


    The ones that came for the selection were startled and didn''t know what exactly they were supposed to do. They had seen the show so they knew that they ought to fight and get more fireflies but were they supposed to start a gigantic free for all rights now? This isn''t the selection method they were expecting.


    So they asked him, "Lord Khaos, what do we do now?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The ones that came just to spectate shouted pleadings to him. "Please let us go, lord Khaos."


    They suspect what he wants from them but it isn''t what they came for. They only wanted to watch a show not star in one, especially since it is such a dangerous show with over 90% Casualty rate.


    The subordinates of demon nobles and various geniuses tried another method to dissuade him.


    "Lord Khao, please you can''t do this. You will make the entire domain of demon nobles your enemies. Your actions will start a war. You already have made enemies of the demon lord. It isn''t wise to create more enemies. Friends are a better alternative."


    The ones that were paranoid that something bad would happen are the mostposed. After all, they are right about being suspicious. Something bad actually happened. They are the silent group. They are shaking because of their shock but also considering how to get out of this situation. They may be shocked but they are the easiest to ept that they might die here today. After all, they have been prepared for this eventuality right from the beginning.


    Aeternus considered them and listened to them. They are all feeling various emotions, some are afraid and others are furious, but they didn''t dare revolt. They have experienced being frozen like sitting demonic ducks so they know that using force or acting out won''t work. He didn''t say anything for a while. He was waiting for something. They took his silence as him considering their pleas so it emboldened them to make their case more.


    He finally spoke when he sensed the fireflies be active within them.


    He said to them. "Those fireflies are molded to be parasites, not symbiotes. Their purpose is to push their host to evolution or to death if the host resists evolution. A mid-rank demon is easily infected. They can''t resist the parasites so they are whipped into a frenzy to fulfill the purpose of the parasites. If for some reason, the mid-rank demons can''t evolve, they will die and their bodies will be deconstructed into chaos energy."


    The mid-rank demons in the fortress were all killed by the demon lord''s scream earlier. They couldn''t resist and didn''t get the luxury of falling to insanity. Their ckout isn''t the defense mechanism of a mind against something dangerous. Their minds shut downpletely, that''s why the frenzy of the fireflies couldn''t affect them. So they died as the parasites destroyed their body or maybe they were dead already when that scream made them brain-dead.


    He continued his motivational speech. "If the mid-rank demon evolves, then the parasites would have fused closely into their existence. The high-rank demons they be will have no choice but to try and aplish the next aim of the parasites which is tobine into what I call a chaos spark and then evolve. But the parasites will behave differently in natural high-rank demons."


    The high-rank demons could already feel something wrong with them. They are weakening and a quick check of their stats showed an ailment in their status. It is a strange thing for demons to get sick because they don''t.


    But while it is strange, the source of the sickness isn''t unknown since it started soon after Aeternus sprinkled them with something. They don''t need to be geniuses to figure out that their sickness is rted to what Aeternus sprinkled on them earlier.


    He continued informing them. "A high-rank demon has a strong resistance and won''t be affected by the maniptions of the parasites. They have free will and won''t be whipped into a crazed frenzy for evolution. But that won''t stop the parasites. They have to fulfill their purpose. Since they can''t get other parasites from an external source, then they will try to multiply. It is just that their multiplication needs energy and where do you think that energy is going toe from?"


    His question made them realize what is going on with their sickness. They are weakening gradually and it might lead to their deaths.


    He continued talking casually as if he is talking about something trivial and not their lives.


    "The energy will surelye from you but there''s a priority. The parasites will first go after your umtion, then your sin energy, your mana, stamina, and finally your life. That''s why it is affecting you differently. I have bad and good news for you. The good news is that those with umtion will get to live a long time until their store of empowerment is fully siphoned. The bad news is that the parasites will never have enough energy because they are sending some my way. They will continue to siphon as much as you have, until you die."

 Chapter 295 Everything And Anything Possible Has To Be Done To Stop Aeternus.

    ?Indeed, the geniuses with umtion could feel and see their store of umtion reducing from their stat screen and it is reducing at a fast rate. Some of them will run out in a week. The longest survival willst a year at most. The sight of their hard-earned umtion wasting away without being spent on useful things hurt them more than the threat to their lives. All that effort put into stockpiling umtion made waste by some parasites.


    "Now, to the summary. There is a way out for you. You just need to acquire a lot of the parasites from other sources toplete yours. If you''re lucky you will only need to kill one other demon toplete yours, if you''re unlucky you need to kill a 100. It''s because of the uneven distribution of the parasitizes. That''s the solution. Don''t think about trying to get someone else to remove it for you since the only person that can do it is the demon lord and I doubt she is in a helping mood."


    The demon lord is certainly in a mood but it is not a helping mood. She isn''t known for giving even when she is in a good mood. To ask her to help another demon when she is in a bad mood might just lead to her eating you. That is what she is known for.


    The demons listening gulped. Either they fight for their lives and probably die fighting, or they do nothing and definitely die. The choice is obvious but no one wants to be the first to make a move lest they are ganged upon.


    "What are you waiting for? Go on and fight. You can even fly but no one can interfere with someone else''s evolution. That will guarantee you certain death. I''ll be here watching faithfully and make sure no one interferes. Show me your worth. Achieve excellence or die trying."


    He can evolve mid-rank demons into demon dukes but they won''t be as good as evolving high-rank demons, especially the geniuses and the controllers of fortresses, into demon nobles. Those that are strong have qualities that he wants in subordinates.


    Infernox might be a demon duke, but he isn''t the best he can be. He has an Epic sin ability which is one of the reasons he survived the ughtered. But Aeternus isn''t content with Epic. There''s still legendary above it. That''s why he is forcing these high-rank demons to make a choice.


    Still, no one moved. Aeternus felt a little disappointed in them.


    "Give them a little push." He said to Infernox.


    Infernox influenced the ones that he had made to fall into insanity when he used his aura on them. This group snapped and attacked the demons closest to them. That was the trigger that kickstarted the free for all. A bloodbath started immediately.


    Aeternus smiled to himself. He had called all these demons here to force them to participate in his selection process. He felt good seeing them fighting for their lives with desperation. He was standing on Infernox huge palm while watching the show below.


    He made a lot of changes to his initial Chaos spark ability. The ability of the parasites to siphon energy is a means to force resistant high-rank demons to fight. He could feel his umtion get stronger but the flow from the parasites is only a little. Most of the siphoned energy is wasted during transmission.


    He couldn''t have his way with everything. Either the chaos parasites are highly virulent or docile. If they''re virulent then the efficiency of transmission will be greater than the adaptation for evolution. He made them docile so that the host will have a 100% adaptability and survival rate of evolution.


    That decision made the transmission efficiency fall as low as 1%. This is already enough for him. The parasites are still guzzling the energy of others which is enough incentive for them to get rid of the parasites and the only way to do that is to allow the parasites tobine when there are enough fireflies. He will be able to form his house with the best of the best. He will focus on umtion siphoning some other time.


    The fight going down wasn''t chaotic like the previous fight. The high-rank demons aren''t in a frenzy, even the insane ones are just insane enough to be the first to jump into a game that might cost them their lives. They picked their opponents and stuck to them. It is a majorly one on one fight.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Some chose their opponents carefully. For example, the geniuses with umtion avoided each other. The controllers of fortresses avoided each other and hunted the other weak and unpopr demons. They are being rational and are using their skills efficiently so the fight is going to take a long time.


    Aeternus was carefree as he watched. He has time to spare. He has already reached this stage, he can wait a while to see the fruit of his effort.


    Meanwhile, someone else is panicking.


    The demon lord felt like her non-existent pants are on fire. Ordinary fire can''t hurt a demon but this fire is not ordinary. Any fire rted to Aeternus cannot be ordinary. She has been getting one bad news after the other all rted to that weird demon.


    First, it is the fact that he has umtion. It meant that Aeternus has joined the ranks of powerhouses in the abyssal ne. Second, is the announcement that he can create a house. It was unbelievable but Beelta expected it. Third, is the ridiculous statement from the Lord of chaos that he can evolve high-rank demons that swear fealty to him to the rank demon noble.


    Her 7 poor hearts were still struggling to ept that ridiculous statement. Now, she wishes the train of cmity had ended there because what came next is worse than ridiculous. The suspicion about Aeternus''s ability to create demon lordbatants is simply insane.


    It is enough information to stop her heart. The anxiety would have been the death of her but the suspicions were confirmed quickly. She didn''t have to experience the agony of waiting. Instead, she exchanged it for the agony of hearing about how Aeternus is forcing all the high-rank demons in that fortress to fight.


    It is a no-brainer that Aeternus has to be stopped. Everything and anything possible has to be done to stop or sabotage the process. It might be a futile endeavor but she felt that no sacrifice is toorge for the possibility of preventing what she considers her doom. That''s why she called for a meeting between her and the established noble families.


    In fact, she intended to call for the meeting of all noble demons in the ne but she took things at a measured pace. If she can convince the 8 prime demon nobles, then convincing the others will be highly possible if not certain. These 8 ganged up on her during the war 10,000 years so they have enough enmity between them but they answered her call for a meeting.


    Their consciousness appeared within the meeting ce. They didn''t actually go there with their real bodies. To go to the demon lord with their bodies is to ask to be eaten. It is utter foolishness and these demons don''t want to die of foolishness or the more likely cause of death, murder at the hands of the demon lord.


    The demon lord''s consciousness is also the only part of her that arrived. Moving her real body around is stressful. If there''s a reason toe with her real body, then she wille with it. For example, if a demon noble is foolish enough toe with his or her body. The taste of power is great. If you can''t grow stronger, then the taste of powerful beings will substitute nicely.


    "Something has to be done about the Lord of Khaos. He has gone too far. He has crossed the bottom line of bnce. He is practically killing more than ten thousand high-rank demons to further his agenda. That''s absurd. Such a loss will make the strength of the ne impotent in our fight against the gods. It is madness and should not be allowed. We should strike him with everything we have."


    She continued to rant andin about the graveness of their situation until she was stopped by a demon noble. The demon asked a question calmly.


    He is a humanoid demon taller than 6 meters and glowing in bright light. As a demon of pride, he hated being forced into such a weak position because of the existence of the demon lord. He would usually sneer and make snidements in a meeting called by the demon lord but today he is serious. A discussion about Aeternus warrants that much from him. It is the least he can do. Anything less will be a disservice in the face of the potential ramifications of Aeternus''s actions.

 Chapter 296 A Tempting Offer.

    ?The demon of pride asked the demon lord seriously, "What do you suggest we do against him? He is staying in the domain of high-rank demons. We can''t exert our strength there and he is too strong. He is too strong."


    The demon lord already had an answer so she answered immediately. "We should send all the high-rank demons in our houses to fight him. The ones with umtion can bombard him with power. As long as he dies, then his parasites will be inert."


    The demon nodded seriously. "That''s a good suggestion. We need time to think about it."


    The figure of the demon lord in the form of the sweet innocent girl spoke hurriedly, "We don''t have time. We have to hurry before it''s toote."


    The previous demon noble asked another question, "Toote for whom?"


    "Toote for every one of us." She answered with conviction.


    The demon nobles smiled at her answer. Either she is a good liar or she is naive enough to believe what she just said. Some of them couldn''t hold it in anymore and began tough.


    A noble demoness with a pleasant voice and a more than pleasant-looking voluptuous body was pointing at the demon lord whileughing. Her bountiful chest rose and fell as sheughed.


    She said to the demon lord. "Look at you. Look at how low you''ve fallen. You can''t even lie properly anymore. I wonder why."


    The demon lord is a great liar but her lie isn''t believable. These 8 are not buying it.


    Szar the de of destruction spoke, "I know why. It''s probably because of that upstart demon called Aeternus. I thought he was insolent and sore to the eyes but it seems I was right. The demon lord also finds him insolent and sore to the eyes. Her sore eyes are making her unable to lie properly."


    The demoness nodded. "It is a shame what sore eyes can do to a demon trying to make a honest living in the abyss. A true shame."


    The other demon nobles began to chuckle. Some of them joined in making fun of the demon lord too.


    The demon lord spoke coldly to them. "You don''t intend to root out this cmity?"


    The demoness of lust answered. "No. We don''t intend to help you root out your cmity."


    "It is a cmity for every one of us." The demon lord shouted at them.


    Another demon spoke up. This one looked like an illusion. One can see through his body but whatever they see isn''t right.


    This noble demon of deceit said to the demon lord. "It is certain that he is a cmity for you. It is uncertain if he is a cmity for us. He may be a cmity or a boon for us. But for you, he is surely your doom."


    The demon lord didn''t give up. She tried to persuade them again and again. The demon nobles listened to her with rapt attention. It doesn''t cost them a thing toe and listen to her. Quite the opposite, it is an enjoyable sight to see her so frustrated. They don''t intend to help her one bit but they will pressure her and try to make her attack Aeternus.


    Fighting among demon nobles is tricky business. For one, it is rare for demon nobles to fight but once it happens, it quickly esctes. If one side has a power of 100 and the other side with 10 had done something bad to the side with 100. Both sides will prefer to settle the matter with other methods apart from violence.


    The superior side with 100 units of power won''t fight their enemies which they are more powerful than by 10 times because if they win, their power will fall to 90 units. Even if they were the ones to be provoked, an alternative to violence is usually found to put the matter to rest because more fights like that against weak foes will gradually reduce the superior side with a power unit of 100 to an inferior side of 10 units.


    But if a fight is to happen, the superior side will try to rope others to their side to share the burden of the fight and its benefits. It is why the demon lord is trying to rope the demon nobles into this fight.


    The demon lord is hoping to escte the conflict and reduce her losses. This usually works if there are benefits to be had. But the demon nobles aren''t taking the bait even though Aeternus has also wronged them. Their subordinates and geniuses have been forced into the situation. Even though they have already started to suffer from the crossfire between Aeternus and the demon lord, they are actually looking forward to the fight and its oue.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The demon lord expected this. That''s why she brought out a card that is sure to change their minds. She always has a n. Even though she already nned to give up some benefits, she had to be obstinate in giving them up and she has to make her card worth the price.


    "Don''t you wonder where he got his abilities? How can a high-rank demon make demon nobles and demon dukes?" She asked them.


    "Yes, we''ve wondered. So what? It doesn''t change the reality of things. It is toote to stop him now." Someone answered.


    Aeternus has entrenched himself within the domain of high-rank demons like a malignant tumor. Removing him is next to impossible if they can''t get to him. So why bother with how he got his powers?


    She said to them. "I believe that it has something to do with that spatial artifact. Something within it empowered him. He has always been too strong for his rank."


    Her words got them thinking. They too have suspected as much and havee to various conclusions.


    One of them voiced such a conclusion. "You mean like the Authority of a demon king?"


    "Yes." She agreed.


    It wasn''t the truth but it was close enough to it.


    "I''ll ask again, so what? So what if he has the authority of the king? He is too strong now for that information to be useful."


    The suspicion about Aeternus''s source of power means nothing to demon nobles if they can''t get it.


    "I have a deal to make with you. As long as you help me apprehend Aeternus and capture him for me, I''ll give up my seat as the demon lord of the 541st ne of the abyss."


    Her words silenced the mocking demon nobles. They were stunned at her dedication and sacrifice. The demon nobles need benefits if they are to take the bait and her willingness to abdicate the throne of the demon lord is more than enough benefits for them. It is a tempting offer and it made them start to think deeply.


    The demon lord watched their reaction. None of them is talking. If they would refuse her, they should be talking. They can either refuse or ask for more, but what she is giving is more than enough so now they are thinking about the consequences of epting her deal.


    They are already considering the difficulty of capturing Aeternus, and how to do it efficiently so that they won''t take too much damage that will reduce their chances of getting her throne after she is gone. They have brought out the mental abacus and are tallying the scores, considering the possibilities, and making predictions.


    One of the demon nobles with deep considerations about the situation is Szar. The de of destruction is deep in thought. He would like to say no and watch Aeternus sh with the demon lord. This preference of his is because he is honestly afraid of Aeternus. He has shed with Aeternus twice already and he lost on both asions. His 11thmander, Alkazhi died to Aeternus.


    Even though he nned his revenge for when Aeternuses to the domain of demon nobles, he has given up on it because of recent developments. Aeternus is not the ignorant demon he thought he was. There have been numerous cases of demons underestimating Aeternus only to regret it and pay for their mistake with their lives.


    The fact that the strongest demon nobles and the demon lord are meeting to scheme against him is more than enough proof that messing with Aeternus will lead to farrger repercussions. Aeternus is not a demon anyone can handle and hope to get out of the conflict without paying arge price. There is even arge possibility of noting out of the conflict at all.


    But Szar also wants to be the demon lord. He didn''t bear kids and made them fight and eat each other for the fun of it. He isn''t that bored. Szar is an ambitious and genius demon. The fact that he has a DIVINE rank umtion is proof that he got umtion as a high-rank demon before he evolved into a demon noble.


    LOA CODE:


    GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?


    ABBZYYM9LZ5PMCB7A

 Chapter 297 Who Is The Fool?

    ?Szar is a prime demon, one of the only 8 in the entire ne. It is proof of his talent. With that talentes ambition and thirst for power.


    He was grooming Bael into another prime demon noble like him so that the two of them will have a better chance of making Szar the demon lord. But now that Bael will probably die, he has to look for another window of opportunity. What window of opportunity can be greater than the demon lord abdicating?


    "Are you still going to join hands with us?" He asked the demon lord.


    The demon lord answered. "Yes."


    He thought about why he didn''t want to attack Aeternus when Alkazhi just died. He felt it was like gambling. If you start and you lose some of your resources, a desirepels you to gamble more and recoup your losses. You might get back your resources or you might lose everything. He wasn''t willing to gamble more resources just to kill Aeternus. It wasn''t worth it.


    But that has changed. If there''s something that he can lose everything over, then it will be for the rare chance of bing the demon lord. It is worth it and he has a higher chance of sess if the demon lord joins the gamble on his side.


    He said to everyone. "I agree that we need to put Aeternus in his ce."


    No one disagreed with him. Of course, they agreed but capturing Aeternus is a tall order. How were they going to get it done? That''s what they''re agonizing over.


    "If we do what you say and send high-rank demons to fight him then what will stop Aeternus from infecting them with his ability?" Someone asked the demon lord.


    Another one agreed. "That''s true. We might as well be sending him more participants for his selection."


    The demon answered, this time she wasn''t so assured of herself. "I heard that the high-rank demons couldn''t move at all during the process of being infected. I believe that if they can resist then they can prevent themselves from being infected."


    "And how do we make them resist the pressure of a demon duke?"


    This time the demon lord didn''t have an answer.


    Szar sighed and spoke. "Even if we can make them resist, there''s no guarantee that it will work. This has to be done right. We can''t just send more high-rank demons to him to do with them as he wishes. Even demon nobles with umtion aren''t safe from him much less high-rank demons. I propose that we wait for him to get to the domain of demon nobles. Then we can use the full power of our house and ourselves to capture him."


    It was what he proposed to do in the face ce against Aeternus back when Alkazhi died.


    The demon nobles agreed. "That''s a good idea."


    "Yes, let''s do that."


    There was no disagreement over his n. The only one that hasn''t agreed is the demon lord.


    Szar asked her. "What do you think demon lord? Your n is hasty and full of holes. You just have to be patient and you will get him."


    She sighed and agreed. "Fine."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The demoness of lust spoke, "Why don''t we sign the contract now? We wouldn''t want you to change your mind in the future."


    The demon lord conjured a contract reluctantly. She promised to abdicate the throne as long as they bring Aeternus to her alive and mostly well. There will be a truce between all of them and the demon lord during this period which willst until the demon lord abdicates or for 1000 years. If Aeternus hasn''t been captured in 1000 years, the contract will be void and open for renewal.


    If Aeternus is captured, he must not be tampered with, interrogated, or asked questions about his source of strength. All of the possessions found on Aeternus has to be handed over to the demon lord. He must be brought to the demon lord immediately after he is captured. It is not a must to put everything on the line to capture him, but they mustn''t help Aeternus in any way or hinder the demon lord and her forces from getting him in any form.


    The demon nobles scrutinized the contract and made some changes. They made it so that the demon lord will have to abdicate even if she manages to get Aeternus in another way or on her own. She also must not interfere with the selection process after she abdicates and must leave the ne immediately.


    The demon lord was unhappy throughout the process of drafting the contract and signing it. She asked them numerous times if there was really nothing they can do against Aeternus immediately instead of waiting. The 8 demon nobles cated and coerced her into seeing the necessity of the contract and signing it. All 8 demon nobles and the single demon lord signed the contract.


    After they were done with the signing, they debated about more things such as if they should inform the other demon nobles or not. They finally agreed to inform them and add them to the effort to capture Aeternus.


    They don''t want to let the other demon nobles know that the seat of the demon lord will be avable soon so they won''t start nning but these 8 also want to minimize their loss and prevent the others from siding with Aeternus knowingly or unknowingly. They might cower if Aeternus asks them to help him if they don''t know that the established noble families and the demon lord are against Aeternus.


    The meeting dispersed on a happy note. The 8 prime demon nobles felt happy about how the meeting ended. They will be surprised to know that the happiest demon turned out to be the demon lord.


    She was smiling to herself as she thought about how the meeting went.


    If she had offered to abdicate without a concrete reason then they will suspect her motives. Why would the demon lord give up her throne just so that an upstart demon won''t get her throne? It won''t make sense. But she made them e up" with a good reason for her. Aeternus has something linked to a demon king and it is enough to tempt her to give up her throne.


    It sounds like a reasonable motive. It is also a motive that is beyond them. If they can''t be the demon lord then there''s no reason topete with the demon lord over an opportunity that might make her a demon king. If they didn''t have this mental assumption, then they might think they have a shot at whatever Aeternus has. The truth is that they do have a shot at it, but there''s no need for them to know that.


    Then they also "came up" with a better n to get Aeternus for her since her n was "hasty and full of holes." Is her n hasty and full of holes? Yes. What if her n is to make the demon nobles join her in the war against Aeternus once he reaches the domain of demon nobles? Her n will be hasty but certainly not full of holes.


    Her n will be hasty because she just thought of it. Her initial n was to wage war on the demon nobles while she tries to nab Aeternus as soon as he reaches the domain of demon nobles. That n is because the demon nobles will realize the unique characteristics of Aeternus and the full extent of the opportunity that he represents when he enters their domain.


    None of them have met Aeternus because they can''t leave their domain and so have not experienced the longing of their mark of sin for him. That will change once Aeternus ventures into their domain. They will be able to make full contact with him, inspect him and realize the situation. Then they will fight her for him, hence the war.


    But now, they will fight him for her and all she has to give up is something she wouldn''t need if she gets her way. She already doesn''t need the energy well anymore after upgrading her state of existence to half-divine rank using divinity. She has just been selfish and unwilling to give up power.


    Her consciousness faded after saying onest thing. "The smarter they think they are, the easier it is to fool."


    A good way to fool people is to withhold information from them, let them make assumptions based on iplete information, then propose an absurd n. They will correct you based on their incorrect assumption while thinking they are right and that you''re a hasty fool.


    She did it to Aeternus too. She gave him iplete information. He assumed she didn''t want him to die in someone else''s hands and that she would like to eat him herself so she wouldn''t aim for his life or endanger him. He expected her to pressure him at most and not ambush him. He was wrong.

 Chapter 298 Leave Or Evolve.

    ?He also assumed that since a threat wasing to him, she wanted to achieve two things at the same time by preserving him and getting him to owe her but she had made a hasty n full of holes to achieve it.


    He was right about almost all of the assumptions except the one where she made a hasty n full of holes about it. He didn''t have enough information, so he made incorrect assumptions and fell into her ambush. She told him about the attack before it happened so that he would fall into her ambush and be pincered.


    It worked on Aeternus the second time. She did something and he assumed that she killed all her subordinates to stop him from getting to them. It was a faulty assumption because she didn''t kill all her subordinates and she did it to stop him from getting to one of her subordinates.


    That''s how to trick intelligent people who have confidence in their intelligence. Withhold information, make yourself look like a fool and they will walk into a trap with their heads held high. The demon nobles didn''t have enough information but they acted high and mighty just like Aeternus when he disregarded her. Just like Aeternus, they will get the full information once they meet him.


    But it will be toote by then. They will be forced by their contracts to capture him for her or just watch and do nothing while she captures him. Aeternus has grown much too strong to face him and the other demon nobles together.


    This way, she has eliminated all distractions and will be able to focus on Aeternus. The demon nobles wanted Aeternus and her to fight, but they don''t know what they will be missing out on by not joining the fight.


    "Now I''ve have him for sure. I just need to wait." She said to herself.


    Her gigantic body inside the energy well regained its appetite because of her good mood. She was so happy that she decided to y games with the demons she will eat.


    When she''s in a bad mood, she will torture and eat prisoners. But she is in a good mood, she will y games with them before eating them. The eating is constant because she is a demon of gluttony. The other thing is just her being an evil entity, a demon.


    Back To Aeternus.


    The demon lord isn''t the only one currently happy. Something unexpected had happened. The fighting has be chaotic because of the onset of desperation. It is a good thing because the fighting will end quicker that way. High-rank demons with umtion canst between a week to a few months depending on their stock of empowerment. The others without umtion on the other hand won''tst a day. It is causing desperation.


    "Excellence is mostly exhibited when there''s a definite threat to life." He said in wonder, "But this one is beyond me."


    The ones without umtion could feel themselves weakening. They weren''t regenerating health and stamina as fast as they could. Their sin energy and mana aren''t being siphoned yet, but their maximum storage of it is reducing because of what is happening to them.


    They are being at a disadvantage the more time pses because of theirck of umtion. Something has to be done or they will die soon. You would expect this group to be the most desperate ones in the fight but they are not.


    The most desperate group are the geniuses with umtion. Their health and stamina are regenerating nicely. The sin energy and mana in their body are working the way they should. They are practically fine if not for the dwindling umtion.


    It is this slight anomaly that is pushing them to desperation. These geniuses know that if you run out of umtion you be nothing. Someone with 100 units of umtion will hesitate to attack someone with just 1 unit. But someone with zero umtion is not a threat to anyone.


    In order not to fall to be zero threat, something has to be done to save their umtion.


    They made some quick calctions and decided that it was more efficient to use their stockpile to kill opponents and resolve their parasites rather than to try and save it. It will deplete anyway regardless of what they do. The only difference is by how much.


    The fight became boisterous because of their desperation. The geniuses with umtion will empower themselves for a brief period with boosted state of existence, then they will create attacks within that window of empowerment. The attacks can be physical, magical, or spiritual but they have be far deadlier to a high-rank demon because of the increase in their power rating. Their fervor is making Aeternus happy.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Some were lucky to only need to kill a few while some needed to kill a lot. Either way, many geniuses had killed enough for their parasites to be resolved in less than 10 minutes of Fighting. The parasites in their bodybined with the external ones like Aeternus said they would. Theirbination resulted in the formation of a Chaos spark which floated out of their bodies.


    They brought the Chaos spark to Aeternus. They were about 17 of them. They flew into the sky as a group and stood a short distance away from Infernox who had Aeternus in his palm.


    He pped and said. "Well done. You have showcased your excellence."


    Then he pointed to the chaos spark. "That is the fruit of yourbor. It is an opportunity to achieve greatness and to go beyond your state of existence. The choice is yours. You can choose to evolve and continue the trials until you achieve the strength of a demon duke or you can leave. I promise to let you leave unharmed."


    High-rank demons are resistant to the parasites and since the parasites haven''t fused with their existence, they can''t be forced to evolve. If they want to evolve, then they have to swear fealty to him. His ability will break any other oath of allegiance that they have because his is more powerful than other oaths.


    Swearing fealty isn''t something that high-rank demons like to do. The best high-rank demons in charge of fortresses don''t want to do it and the geniuses with umtion certainly won''t do it for a chance to be a demon noble. But everything changes when it is a chance to be a demon duke. That is a unique chance of a lifetime.


    If he had said he could create demon dukes, no one would believe him because the demon lord herself can''t. It is best to show them what he is capable of. That''s why he staged the show for them.


    They had watched the first show and saw how 1000 mid-rank demons became one demon duke. Aeternus had told them what to do to resolve their infection. They can see and tell that their umtion has stopped dwindling once the Chaos spark formed. They have every reason to believe him. The alternative is that he is lying and he won''t allow them to leave.


    He might also be lying about the infection being resolved. It might just be dormant and will be active soon or onmand from Aeternus. Would they like to find out? All they have to do is give up the opportunity to be a demon duke, an opportunity that they fought for. And even if they are allowed to leave, whates next?


    ''Will I return to my father and be hisckey again?'' Bael asked himself.


    His father is a genius and he sought to create another one like him. There were more than 8 demon nobles with divine rank umtion in the past, but the rest died during thest war ten thousand years ago. Thepetition between these 8 is high and there is ack of cooperation since they are each other''s directpetition. That''s why Szar tried to create a reliable ally.


    Szar seeded in creating a helper but the help isn''t being offered voluntarily. Szar was never a good father, so why will bael offer to help him? Szar offered him a choice just like this one on the day he acquired umtion. Either he serve or he dies.


    Bael took the oath of allegiance to Szar and he also signed a contract to do everything within his power to help Szar be a demon lord. Szar hadn''t even tried to feign having trust in his son. He chose to acquire insurance in the best way possible, through a contract enforced by the will of the abyss.


    ''The deal is to not betray him and to do everything within my power to help him be a demon lord. If I am to help him, I need power.'' Baal thought to himself.


    ''I can also make hime and swear allegiance to Aeternus. I can use force too since it is ording to the contract.''


    Then he said to Aeternus, "I ept."


    Aeternus nodded to him. "Good. Now return to the ground and evolve. No one will disturb you."

 Chapter 299 Cain Vs Aeternus.

    ?Bael returned to the ground. The geniuses have now be aware that one of them is choosing to achieve greatness. All of them returned to the ground to evolve except two of them. One of them is Cain who was sent here by the demon lord and another one is a genius subordinate of the noble demoness of lust, that voluptuous demoness.


    "I am sorry to refuse your hospitality of greatness. I have to return to my mistress." He said earnestly.


    The demoness of lust has a firm grip on her subordinates. Unlike other demons, she uses something other than violence to convince demons to be her subordinates. She doesn''t have the highest amount of quality high-rank demons for no reason. Her bond is so tight that this demon wasn''t tempted by Aeternus''s offer of strength. He would rather return to his mistress and continue living his perfect life.


    ''She might even reward me for saying no. The only one I can''t say no to will always be my mistress.'' he thought earnestly.


    He was willing to brave the chance that Aeternus is bluffing about letting them go unharmed. He would rather die than be away from his mistress.


    Aeternus stretched out his hand and the chaos spark flew into it. He said to the demon. "You''re free to go."


    The love-sick demon bowed before flying away. The geniuses had been watching the situation and saw that Aeternus did as he said he would and let the demon go. It didn''t change their minds though. They reached the ground and started their evolution.


    "What about you?" He asked Cain.


    Cain considered for a while before shaking his head and returning to the ground to evolve. He had changed his mind. He too is highly loyal to the demon lord and would have tried to leave for her. But he doesn''t want his sacrifice to be in vain and he doesn''t want this opportunity to be lost.


    The sight of that demon leaving made hime up with two possible scenarios. Either Aeternus meant it and he is letting them go, or he has a way to kill that demon remotely. If it is the first option then Aeternus is a better alternative to serving the demon lord. If it is the second option, then Aeternus is more insidious than the demon lord.


    The demon lord would never allow a demon to go after refusing to swear fealty. The numerous prisoners that she eats are proof of it but the demon lord can''t do something to a demon outside of her reach. She couldn''t do anything to Aeternus even though she hated him. In other words, Aeternus is a better alternative to serve than the demon lord.


    Aeternus watched Cain return to the ground and shook his head. He doesn''t know what the demon was thinking but he is letting that demon go. It is not because he is benevolent, it is because his parasites worked exactly as he told them they would. So he can''t leave the demon remotely with them.


    The alternative is to kill the demon right here in front of his potential subordinates. They might doubt him and refuse to swear fealty. Will he kill all of them then? He could still have the leaving demon killed but why bother? It is that demon''s loss anyway. He doesn''t want a demon that will give up an opportunity for greatness in his household. The Lord of Chaos house is not the demon lord, he is not a beggar but a chooser.


    He saw Cain''s stat and his ability so he knew who sent him and for what reason.


    NAME: Cain


    RACE: Demon of Unforgiveness


    BLOODLINE/SIN: Unforgiveness.


    DEMON RANK: High-Rank Demon.


    HEALTH: 87%


    STAMINA: 83%


    MANA: 7311


    SIN ENERGY: 4383


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:180. Spirit:180. MAGIC:180.


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:180. Spirit:180. MAGIC:180.


    SIN RANK: High-82%


    STRENGTH: High-36


    CONSTITUTION: High-36


    ACTIVITY: High-36


    AGILITY: High-36


    MAGICAL POWER: High-36<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    PHYSICAL RESISTANCE: High-36


    MAGICAL RESISTANCE: High-36


    SPIRITUAL RESISTANCE: High-36


    SPIRIT: High-36


    PERCEPTION: High-36


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 46%


    CHAOS AFFINITY: 1%


    SIN ABILITY: The Power of Unforgiveness(DIVINE): Damage done to you is reflected back at its source at higher power and passes through every defense unhindered to deal true damage.


    Mind Predator (LEGENDARY): All damage done to you is reflected as soul damage to its source and at a higher power.


    Mark of Unforgiveness (LEGENDARY): Each reflection of damage creates a mark on the source of the damage which debuffs every ability of the source. The mark can be stacked to increase their power to the limit of 75% debuff whichsts 1 day. The power of the marks is directly proportional to the amount of damage to you. Your death will lead to the triggering of all marks of unforgiveness which will debuff your killer by 90% and willst 100 years.


    POWER FROM OATH OF THE LORD:


    The Hoarding of Gluttony(LEGENDARY)- Store 8% of the power of a in opponent to be used in the future. You can only store 16 times your maximum power.


    STATUS: Hopefull


    Cain is a rare type of demon. He is a demon of unforgiveness. He has a divine rank basic sin ability which means that if he had fused sin energy and mana together as a mid-rank demon then he would have the opportunity to choose umtion or two other abilities. It is obvious that he chose the second option. High-rank demons usually have two sin abilities apart from the one they get from the lords of their noble house but he has an extra 1.


    It might seem like a bad idea not to go for umtion but it might not be so in the case of Cain. It could be that the method of umtion for his sin wasn''t appropriate for him. Such as needing to constantly get hurt to umte empowerment. If whoever is hurting him also gets hurt and probably in increasing amounts too, he won''t be able to umte empowerment because the process will kill the source of his pain.


    His choice isn''t bad. It is even great since they enhance each other. If someone attacks him and seeds in doing damage to him, then the amount of damage he receives is reflected in the soul of his attacker. The reflected damage will bypass all defense and will be higher than the damage he was dealt with. Damage to the body can be healed easily. Damage to the soul on the other hand is a very serious matter.


    Chapter X.


    What''s worse is that each damage reflection will reduce the capabilities of his opponent until his opponent is helpless against him. Hisck of umtion is supplemented by the ability from his Oath of the Lord from the demon lord.


    The hoarding of Gluttony allows him to take some power from his in enemies.This power can be used to recover his stamina or heal his health up to 16 times. This makes him 16 times more durable than anyone he fights. So he can afford to trade damage and will even win if all he does is stand doing nothing while he is attacked.


    All of the sin abilities working together exin why he finished with those that have umtion and also why he was sent to deal with Aeternus. He isn''t a threat to Aeternus alive, the problem will be after his death through the mark of unforgiveness.


    Of course, he might cause a nuisance to Aeternus while alive but the creation of a mark of Unforgiveness due to his death will lead to serious consequences. A 90% debuff is not something that can be walked off. It can even lead to his death considering his precarious situation with Chaos energy.


    "I wonder what will happen if we fight." He asked himself.


    He began to think about the oue of their fight to entertain himself while the fighting and evolution went on. A fight with Cain can lead to two possible oues, a sessful reduction in Aeternus''s situation or a waste of sacrifice. The uncertainty is because it is unknown if Cain''s abilities will work on Aeternus in the first ce.


    Sin abilities that don''t deal direct damage to him don''t work on him. That mark of unforgiveness will be consumed by the Chaos energy around him and won''t stick to him. Chaos burns everything.


    The most important question is if Cain''s damage reflection which is supposed to be able to pass through every defense can ovee Aeternus''s damage reflection ability. Or will they be reflecting it between themselves until one of them tires out?


    If ites to that, then he believes that he will win in apetition of endurance. He could also avoid thepetition entirely by killing Cain in one strike. If Cain dies, there will be no damage reflection and no creation of a mark of unforgiveness. But his death will trigger the debuff of the mark of unforgiveness that has been produced.


    Killing Cain in one strike will render his ability useless and make Cain''s death useless. If the demon lord knew that he can read others'' statuses, then she wouldn''t have sent someone with a ring weakness to him.

 Chapter 300 Zargoth Plane.

    ?"It''s good for Cain that he came here. He gets to swap out a Legendary Oath from the demon lord with a Divine Oath from me. It is his luck. I can''t wait to bring that luck to her other subordinates. They deserve a better option." Aeternus said to himself.


    Seeing Cain''s talent made him realize how rich the demon lord is in talented subordinates. Her Oath of the lord might be a lesser rank than his but she has had thousands of years to umte the best talents in the ne. Forcing various geniuses in the domain of high-rank demons to be his subordinates won''t make up the difference. But forcing her subordinates to be his might just do the trick.


    The best way to be rich is not to save but to steal someone else''s savings. In the demon realm, stealing is not a sin. It is just resource reallocation based on merit by might. The strongest gets to have the best stuff. The demon lord used this principle to force and coerce demons into her service, so she should be open to having the same done to her.


    "If I do that, it will cause a war. Maybe I should do that during or after a war. Everything should be alright if I do it then. I''m so looking forward to the war." He grinned in anticipation.


    He knows that a war ising and he is expecting it. Much more than expecting it, he is anticipating it. War will give him the opportunity to get close enough to her subordinates and offer them a deal that they can''t refuse.


    Meanwhile the fights continued as another group finished with their quota. Their chaos spark formed and coalesced outside of their body. Most chose to evolve while some chose to leave.


    The ones that chose to leave are mostly ordinary high-rank demons who have no confidence to survive the next round of elimination. They struggled to survive and don''t want to risk their lives fighting anymore, especially since they will be fighting the geniuses next. He doesn''t mind them leaving, he only needs excellent demons.


    He shouted to the ones still Fighting, "If you''re still fighting by the time the first demon nobles finish evolving, then I cannot guarantee your life."


    The fighting began to dwindle as more evolved and more left. The first batch of demon nobles finished evolving in 3 hours. The fortress had calmed down by that time.


    "We''ll have to move after this is done. I''m sure there won''t be any foundation left" He said as he examined the fortress.


    So many high-rank demons fighting within it had caused it to be ttened. The aftermath of fights between demon nobles will probably uproot the foundation too.


    The new demon nobles went forward to greet their new lord. He epted them and told them to wait for the others. They surrounded him in the sky while waiting. He spoke to them when they had all finished evolving.


    "I will give you time to get used to your power and abilities. The next couple of days will be spent undergoing a tournament. Xander, you will join too."


    "Yes, my lord." Xander''s voice reached him from the shadow ne.


    He isn''t going to keep Xander out of the tournament. He wants the best and only the best. That''s why he orchestrated this entire thing. If Xander is not among the best, then she will be discarded.


    He began to exin the rules of the tournament to them. He doesn''t want to waste good talent due to unfair situations like being ganged up on. He will let them choose their opponents based on their ranking. The earlier their evolution, the higher their rank. Xander is number zero, Infernox is number 1 and Bael is number 8th.


    The arrangement is as fair as he could make it to give all of them equal chances. The difference in prowess due to umtion has reduced drastically due to their evolution but it is still present. That is why he is eliminating the use of umtion in the tournament. They are his subordinates now and have to listen to him even if they are about to die.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Genius or not, every demon noble has umtion but in varying amounts. Eliminating umtion evens the ying field and makes victory reliant on Skill alone. They also get to rest after each battle until they have fought and acquired 9 chaos sparks needed for their next evolution. There are about a thousand of them, so it will take some time to finish thepetition.


    Thepetition went on while both the domain of high-rank and noble demons were rocked by the impact of Aeternus''s actions. A lot of high-rank demons died and a lot of subordinates were stolen from demon nobles. His actions also created more chaosling whose existence perpetuated chaos. His umtion continued to increase steadily as the me on his head grew bigger and bigger.


    Thepetition ended on the 40th day and it left exactly 99 demon dukes with him. These 99 are the best he could get after careful sampling and selection. Xander survived too and maintained her ce as number zero. Her ability to hide and ambush her opponent from the shadow realm is unique for a reason. It may not give her boosts to her stats but it is difficult to resolve. She was also able to pick vulnerable opponents because she had watched the earlier fights and knew her opponents.


    Xander has grown bigger and stronger now after bing a demon duke. Her 100m length has increased to 1km and her 5m diameter thickness also increased to 30m. She has two pairs of wings now and 6 horns. She also gained another ability. She was the one that carried him to another fortress where the Khaos family became silent.


    Many demons had expected a lot of things from them, especially with the grandiose act that Aeternus pulled off so they were surprised that they chose to lie low. The demon nobles and the demon lord knew why he was staying away from the domain of demon nobles but there was nothing they can do about it. They could only watch as he amassed mid-rank demons to grow his army.


    The demon lord felt that he should be pressured and that something ought to be done to make hime within her reach because she could feel that something bad will happen the longer this wait is prolonged.


    Allowing Aeternus and his forces to umte their power is obviously a bad thing. But Aeternus''s silence isn''t because he is trying to umte as much empowerment as he can. Now that he has his generals, he is amassing an army and waiting for the signal to move.


    The Zargoth ne.


    This ne looks normal if you gaze at it from above. Most of it is covered with the dry sands of a desert and the little part that has nts are small rare secluded ins. Overall it looks like a dry, hot, inhabitablend that has been battered with the heat of the sun.


    The color Green is a good indication of life. It may be nearly absent on this ne, but Zargoth isn''t deserted. It is inhabited by a useful race or mother high heaven would have scrapped the ne for parts to make another ne.


    The desert is filled with grand cities built by the dominant inhabitants of this ne. You can see the inhabitants who are humanoids with various skin colors moving around the cities shirtless and unbothered by the desating heat or the dry, sandy air.


    The immunity of these people to the heat and adverse conditions isn''t what is odd here. Life always adapts to its environment and when there''s mana, life adapts very well. The various colors of the skin of the inhabitants aren''t odd either. Differentiation and Variation are good signs of the adaptation of the gene pool of a race. The pyramids at various parts of the city aren''t what''s odd either.


    You''ll only be able to notice what''s odd if you drop a battle sage monkey into the city. The battle sage monkey will look like a miniature toy amongst real buildings. It is a matter of rtivity. The battle sage monkey isn''t miniature, the buildings and the inhabitants of this ne are gigantic. That''s why Zargoth is also called the home of giants of order.


    There are different types of giants in the realm of high heaven. But the giants of Zargoth are called the giants of order because of their immunity to magic. It is this ability of theirs that made their home ne arid. So how can the heat of a desert affect them when they''re the ones that caused the desert to appear?


    This is the world that Legion-4 is born into. It''s a beautiful world too if you ignore the sight of sand as far as the eye can see.

 Chapter 301 The Law Of Order.

    ?Legion-4 was selected to reincarnate as a giant of order because of their unique power. Gehaldirah had done some research on them and confirmed themon knowledge that their power is due to their divine ability being rted to thew of order.


    Thew of order is a very uniquew that is almost impossible to learn. It is very rare toe across like thew of chaos, because anything thates close to order gets overwritten. That''s why spells thate close to a giant of order get unraveled into their basic form of mana.


    Thew of order is very important for an Origin god to be a world god but it can''t beprehended. Instead, it is created. Since Origin gods can''t learn it, they create a substitute for it using the otherws that they have learned. It may be artificial but it is under their control.


    Legion-4''s mission is to learn the truew of order. It is a difficult job and he started facing the difficulty of it right from the moment he was reincarnated just like legion-3. Thew of Chaos wanted to corrode legion-3 and return him to the primordial form of pure entropy. Thew of Order wants to mold legion-4''s soul and make it rigid, immutable, and forever immune to change.


    Now, legion-4 will like to be impervious to external influence but it means he can never change. Change is very important for adaptation. If he can''t change, then he won''t be able to grow in any way. It is not as if the immunity is absolute either. Powerful spells can overwhelm the effect of the domain of immunity around giants of order, maintain their form and hurt the giants.


    Rigidity only means you will rather break than bend. If their immunity was so strong giants of Order will be among the top races of the realm and dragons won''t be able to kill them. They won''t be forced to stay in a ne that isn''t fertile. They caused infertility to their ne but they can''t change location because they don''t have a choice.


    If you think they are being forced to stay in their ne because of their ability to destabilize the environment, then you would be right. Their entire race has been barred from entering the Ancient battlefield because of their ability. If you think it took a lot of strength to force their race to stay in the ne then you would be wrong. How threatening can a race that can never produce a lord ofw be?


    Thew Order has made the race of giants big for nothing and it is trying to do the same to Legion-4 in the womb. But he will have none of it. Unlike thew of chaos that starts its modeling from the soul and extends to the body, thew of order starts from the body and extends to the soul.


    Legion-4 could see thew fragments of Order modifying his entire body. It is a marvelous sight and he would be able to appreciate it if they are not trying to make him obsolete.


    He looked at it and said, "Interesting."


    It is undeniably interesting. The divine abilities of other races ur in specific body parts and organs. The giants of order have their divine ability based on their entire bodies.


    It is interesting but that''s the limit of his appreciation. He knew how tobat such over-controllingws with no boundaries. He just has to contaminate thew of order just like legion-3 contaminated chaos withws.


    "I have to hurry." He eximed as he got to work.


    He began cycling through differentws as fast as he can. He doesn''t have as much time as legion-3 to fix his problem. Thew of order isn''tbative like thew of chaos. In a way, being immune to external influence is a good thing. The body likes control and homeostasis, so thew of order isn''t being resisted by his body.


    The second problem is that thew of order is modifying his body first, not his soul. He would be able to resist better if it were the soul. To call the body of a fetus weak is an overestimation. It is worse when that body is siding with the enemy like some traitor.


    His body couldn''t resist on its own so it became the battlefield between legion-4 and thew of order. Their fight had farrger implications than he expected. Another thing that happens to be connected to his body is his pregnant mother. If the battlefield were happening in the soul, his poor mother wouldn''t be implicated.


    We''ve already seen how Soverick, who was yet to be born affected his mother with his bloodline as a fetus. And his own divine ability was just his two small eyes while Legion-4 has to deal with his entire body acting up. Legion-4''s mother couldn''t take so much justling within her. She will definitely prefer if he kicked her all day long because this is life-threatening to her.


    That''s why she is being rushed to a church. She has been in pain for quite a while and it looked like she might miscarriage. She was ced on a carriage that was headed for one of the pyramids in the city. This bronze-skinned giantess held her husband''s hand for assurance. Her husband, legion-4''s father, a silver-skinned and tattooed giant standing beside her on the carriage said to her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It''s going to be okay, Hillo. You''re going to be alright. I''ll do my best to get the attention of the sun god. He will heal you."


    She nodded and blinked the tears away. She is pregnant with their first child and doesn''t want to lose it. Their race has low fertility which has be even lower in recent times. So every pregnancy is very important to her and their race.


    ''I hope the priests will be able to fix my problem.'' she thought to herself.


    It is very rare for giants of order to be sick or haveplications but whenever they do, it is very difficult to heal them with external aid. nts are rare in the Zargoth ne, so the option for vitality pills is absent. Giants of Order can''t use magic and magic won''t work on them, the only way to heal them is through the power of the gods. That''s why they are heading to the pyramid where the sun god, their patron god descends to.


    It took a while but they finally reached the church. Karak brought his struggling wife before a priest. He has a good standing in the city as an officer in the army so he is privileged enough to get quick service. He has a pretty high standing in society because only churches can have an army and he is part of the army of the sun god. That''s why the blue-skinned priest with tattoos all over his skin that attended to them rushed over and examined her stomach quickly.


    He looked at the couple and shook his head. "I''m sorry. Your child is misaligned. He will not make it."


    The priest had sensed chaos and turmoil in her womb. It is this turmoil that is affecting the mother. Nothing can be done about the turmoil as far as he can see.


    "What do we do now, father Pike?" Karak asked.


    The priest felt sorry for the couple but he had to say the bad reality. "The pregnancy has to be destroyed to save your wife. It is the source of her problem. It is like a cancerous tumor within her. If it is not removed, she will die."


    Hillo trembled and tried not to cry but tears were already streaking down her cheeks. Karak remained strong. One of them needs to be the backbone that supports the two of them.


    He asked hopefully. "Is there nothing that can be done?"


    The priest sighed and replied. "There''s nothing impossible for god to do. If he gives you his attention then your wife will be healed."


    Karak summoned all his willpower and spoke. "Then I wish to seek the attention of God."


    The priest was not surprised. But the situation made him feel sorrier for them. "Are you certain? You know that God is very busy."


    He was trying to tell the desperate father not to waste his time, effort, and wealth on seeking the attention of God. How many people have ever seeded in such an endeavor? Gods hardly care about the affairs of mortals. This couple will be better off epting their fate.


    Hillo spoke, "Karak, maybe we should give up. We can try again."


    The priest nodded in agreement. Just give up. A meeting with a priest is already expensive. Trying to seek the attention of their patron god will cost them all of their wealth and savings. It is not a wise thing to do since the odds of failure are almost 10 out of 10. The fact that you really want something doesn''t mean you get it no matter how much you want it, need it, or deserve it.

 Chapter 302 Imagine The Possibilities.

    ?You get what you get, not what you need or what you deserve. That''s the way of the world. That changes when you have the strength to acquire what you want. Then you get what your power enables you to get. You can steal and kill for what you want while the weak that you robbed and killed will have to deal with what they get. The weak don''t have a choice in the matter unless they have faith.


    It is the helplessness of the weak that makes them seek out faith. They ask for help since they can''t help themselves.


    "Let''s do it." Karak didn''t give up.


    He felt he has no other choice if he wants to preserve his child and wife at the same time. The chances of getting help from his god might be small but it is his only option. It is all he has.


    The priest finally relented, "Alright."


    ''It is their bad luck to have such a problem.'' the priest thought to himself.


    He has tried to convince them otherwise but if they''re intent on wasting their wealth on chasing phantom opportunities then they can go ahead. It is all good too because he will get a cut out of their properties as the priest that led them to seek the attention of the sun god.


    Hillo was taken by two junior priests to a prayer room with the statue of the sun god while Karak went to settle his bills. The church must be paid regardless of the oue of the endeavor. The loss of their wealth motivated Hillo to struggle to kneel before the statue of the sun god. She had to get their money''s worth out of this chance.


    She began praying fervently before the statue of the sun god and called for his attention. The statue of the sun god is a round ball made of gold with tendrils or tentacles extending from it. One can feel a majestic auraing from the statue. The aura makes it difficult to fill up the lungs so one will always feel out of breath in the presence of the statue. It is proof that the statue is not ordinary, but that doesn''t mean the sun god is listening.


    The service of seeking the attention of a god is amon practice in the culture of giants of order. They have been serving gods right from their tribalistic era. A patron god is a very important aspect of the life of every giant of order since ancient times. Seeking the attention of your god should be a free and open service. It was free and open, but that changed when a priest had a brilliant idea to charge people for it.


    To be fair, the priest wasn''t aiming to make money off of it. He proposed that n to limit the number of people crowding the church because they wanted to seek the attention of God. God wasn''t answering anyway so all those people were just hogging space in the temple that could be used for something useless.


    The idea was to discourage people from wasting the time of the priests and taking up valuable space in the church. Itter morphed into the money-making scheme it is today. The sun god doesn''t mind because he doesn''t care. If anything, he is grateful for the reduction in noise.


    Meanwhile, Legion-4 is still battling with thew of order. He has had some sess but so does thew of order. Thews he used to try and contaminate order aren''t working. Order is fundamentally immune to change and so it refused to be influenced by thews he tried to use. Only thew of fire and light could temporarily influence thew of order and that''s because they are too vtile and full of energy. It makes them difficult to be overwritten by order as opposed to earth, water, and air.


    He is using origin essence to umtew fragments of those twows and it seeded in giving him a 30% coverage of his body but it is reducing as the 70% of thew of order increases steadily. Thew of order is like the disciplined army of a dictator. The dictator''s words arew and the army executes thatw. Thews he is using aren''t weaknesses of the army. They are just difficult stopgaps that will eventually be crushed by the army. He is slowly and surely losing the struggle.


    Up above the ne of Zargoth, in the divine ne.


    The grand god of the sun, Stelios was doing what most gods do with their time. ying games, watching mortals, frolicking among mortals, eating good food, and anything apart from their job which is helping their believers. To be specific, Stelios is currently watching mortals and ying a war game.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Two tribes of giants of Order are fighting in the mortal realm and the gods are using them as chess pieces in their game. They chose sides, set up rules for fair y, and watch the mortals fight for their entertainment. He was enjoying his reality show when he sensed something odd. He searched for the source and traced it back to the statue close to Hillo.


    "What is this? Origin power?" He asked in shock as he examined the fluctuationsing from her body.


    It was not her prayers that drew his attention. Prayers are useless. Many people are praying every time for his help but he doesn''t help, either he doesn''t care or the prayers aren''t reaching him. In his situation, he doesn''t care. It is the effect of the Origin essence that Legion-4 is using that drew his attention.


    The giants of order cannot go past transcendence because when their soul fuses with their body, it is then that the lock on their body by Order extends to their soul. It traps them and makes it impossible for them to go beyond that stage. The only alternative for them is the divine path. So they don''t need Origin energy since they can''t use it. But why is he sensing a potent type of origin energy from this female?


    He had to know. To satiate his curiosity, he decided to listen to what the female is actually saying. He heard the gist of her problem and extended his divine sense through the statue. His divine sense swept through her body and found the problem.


    "It is just as she says. Her pregnancy is the source of the problem. This is an opportunity for me." His eyes lit up with greed.


    If they can''t be lords ofw, their only path to true immortality is to attend the trial tower of heaven in order to get Origin essence and the other things needed for them to make the switch from the path of divinity to the path of perfection. But the sun god, as powerful as he is, has a serious problem that has made it impossible for him to seed in the trials. But here is an unborn child with the ability to sense or influence Origin energy.


    "Imagine the possibilities. This child must not die." He said with resolve.


    He made up his mind to do whatever it takes to save this child.


    Then the sun god descended to the divine ne in all of his glory and might. The entire city felt the impact of his godly presence. The pyramid began to glow as if it is the sun and the sun is rising. The light of the sun bombarded the entire city. Darkness disappeared from even the corners of the city. The temperature of the city increased by a notch.


    Everyone knew immediately knew that the sun god has arrived in the city. All the clergymen and believers rushed to the church to experience the presence of their god.


    Hillo, the unfortunate mother was praying when she felt the presence of God on her. She began to pray more fervently, pouring forth her pleas and supplications lest he turns away from her, and she loses the attention of the sun god.


    Thankfully he heard her prayers and descended. The statue shined brightly and a majestic presence gushed out of it. She closed her eyes so that she won''t be blinded by the light or see something she isn''t supposed to see.


    A voice brimming with authority spoke to her. "You have gotten my attention special woman. You do not know how precious what you''re carrying is to me. You are carrying my incarnation here on the earth. You are pregnant with the son of the sun god. Your body is in turmoil because it is bearing a heavy responsibility. I shall heal you and reduce your burden."


    Divine energy gushed into her body and into her womb. Hillo felt relief immediately. It felt like the huge stone that she swallowed suddenly disappeared. It also startled Legion-4 who was battling with thew of order.

 Chapter 303 Who Is The Father?

    ?"Is my father a god? Am I the son of a god? Where is this divine energying from?"


    His mother can''t be a god because he would have sensed it. The divine energy is external not internal since it has toe from somewhere and it isn''t from his mother. It could also havee from apletely unrted god.


    He was confused but not for long. The divine energy ignored him and began to unravel the fragments of order in his body. The ordered army of thew of order finally met its match. It was like a lever easily prying open floorboards. He got to work as soon as he saw the opportunity. The unraveling made it easy for him to tamper with thew of order and slot in thew of fire and light. Those twows are also in perfect synchronization with the divine energy so the process went well.


    Origin energy helps transcendents to maniptews. Divine energy helps gods to usurpws. Thew of order can resist changes from Legion-4, he is only one person. But divine energy is the energy acquired from the belief of many. In a way, it is the manifestation of the corporation of a group of people with amon belief. To thew of order, divine energy is brute forcing it to change. Legion-4 is taking advantage of that to exert the changes he wants.


    "This cannot end well." He thought to himself. "One problem at a time."


    The way help came when he needed it is strange, to say the least. The most suspicious part is that the help came from a god. He understands that no help is free. Most helpes with hidden strings attached. Help from a god must have trouble attached to it just like a deal from a demon. It does not bode well for him.


    But what can he do about it? Refuse the help? No, he won''t do that. He just has to make sure he won''t regret it and the best way to make that happen is to make his helper regret it. If Someone is going to regret this exchange of assistance, then it won''t be him. That''s called being progressive.


    Out in the world, the sun god is feeling unprecedented happiness. His infusion of divine energy allowed him to acquire more information about his investment.


    ''So the child''s body is resisting the chain of order and it is what is causing the difort in the woman. What a lucky encounter.''


    Stelios felt likeughing but he can''t because he has to maintain the image of a stately god. He has pinpointed the problem and it proved his conjecture right. The giants of Order are aware of the problem that gues their race. They only find out when they be transcendents but it is toote for anything to be done then. It''s not like anything can be done about the chains of order even before then.


    The chains of Order are what they call the manifestation of thew of order that makes them immune to magic and also prevents them from interacting with otherws. One will need at least the power of transcendence to interact and resist thew of order, but it bes toote when one finally acquires that power. The soul will be entrapped just like the body and be unable to resist the chains of order.


    Even if someone actually gets a method to interact with thew fragments, the only way it can be changed is when someone bes a titan ofw. Law fragments make up bloodlines and divine abilities and the only way to cast off the shackles of a divine ability is to rece it with another divine ability but that can only be done by a titan ofw.


    Titans ofw who chose another path different from their divine ability will rece their innate divine ability. But the giants of orders can''t do that if they can''t even be lords ofw. But here is an unborn child resisting the chain of order.


    "Does the child have another divine ability or did something interfere with the chains of order?"


    Stelios is trying to figure out why a child like this came to be. There are several ideas that areing to him but he doesn''t know because this case is unprecedented.


    ''Maybe it isn''t unprecedented.'' he wondered.


    A lot of sick mothers and children have been ignored by the gods. It''s not like the gods pay attention to everything, every time. Gods have a life outside of being the go-to help provider. So it is highly likely that situations like this happen frequently but no one has noticed.


    If this mother had note before his statue to pray which allowed him to sense the Origin energy from her, he wouldn''t have stumbled upon this rare opportunity.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''The unique thing about this child is that it has something to do with Origin energy and that is enough for me. This child has to make it.'' he thought to himself earnestly.


    His happiness increased when he sensed the chains of Order being broken and resolved. Then it peaked when the unborn child began to resonate with his divine energy.


    ''This is too good to be true. So I can mark him in ce of the chains of order. He really is my son now. This will make everything easier.''


    He could feel a resonation of power between the unborn child and his domain. Fire and light were being imprinted unto the child in ce of the chains of order. How could this child not be his son? Now, the gods will not have anything against him or suspect anything when he ims the child is his.


    Hepleted the healing and double-checked that the fetus is doing alright like a concerned parent. Then he called for the bishop in charge of this church.


    "This woman has been burdened with a divine mission. She is carrying my avatar here on earth. He is my son. She is to receive the best service possible. Then you will bring my son to the headquarters of the church as soon as he is born."


    He ordered the bishop and the clergymen before he withdrew his presence.


    The bishop became ecstatic for receiving such an important mission from his god. He moved to execute the order to the letter. Hillo began to receive utmost pampering. She was being waited on hand and foot. If she craved something, it was acquired immediately.


    Stelios went to the headquarters to inform the pope to make preparations. The headquarters is in another city and it is the safest ce that Stelios can keep his son in the mortal realm. He has to make sure that no evil befalls his son and no harmes to him. So he will keep his son right under his nose where he can monitor him closely.


    The pope received the divine order and started making preparations to receive the son of God. Soldiers from various churches made their way to the city where Hillo is to protect her and escort the son of God to the capital of the church when he is born.


    News spread far and wide about the son of the sun god that is about to be born. Stelios had considered iming that Hillo was a virgin that got pregnant without carnal entanglement. It will ount for the inevitable differences between father and son, but it would be difficult to pull off.


    First, there is the problem that is the husband and the people that knew about their marriage. Killing Karak won''t solve the problem unless he can coerce Karak to im she was pregnant before marriage and that he has never touched her.


    Even that wouldn''t work unless he kills everyone that knows about them. Giants of order have good memories and long lifespans. No one is going to forget the truth easily. Stelios would just be creating problems for himself if he ims that. It is better and much simpler to say that their unborn child a product of a sexual encounter with Hillo.


    It is a lie of course. He didn''t have any sexual encounters with Hillo. But it is more believable than some virgin birth. Even the power of a god cannot sell such bogus as a virgin birth. Gods create avatars every time and have sex with mortals a lot. This type of divine conception creates demigods.


    The creation of demigods isn''t a new urrence, only rare. Hence it is more believable. A virgin birth will signify sacredness but why go so far when there is a more usible alternative? Only when a demigod isn''tmon will someone need toe up with something so oundish.


    So he decided to go with the more believable lie that he had sex with her while pretending to be her husband. It is what he told everyone and they believe him because he is a god. A god can''t lie. It is sphemy to think or say otherwise. Even Karak and Hillo believe it. Stelios has be the father of the unborn child and that is it.

 Chapter 304 Helios The Son Of The SUN GOD.

    ?The news impacted the world in various ways. The impact on believers and clergymen is big, to say the least. A demigod is a special thing to them. The news has the least impact on Karak, the husband of Hillo. Karak doesn''t me his wife for her unfaithfulness. He takes it as apliment that a god also finds her to be beautiful. What matters at the end of the day is that she will be safe.


    It also helps that the child will be taken away as soon as it is born. Not that he has anything against the innocent child who is a result of the situation and had no hand in causing it. But he will certainly feel better not to be constantly reminded of the time his wife almost died because a god had sex with her.


    As for Hillo, she spent her days blissful and happy. It is a great honor to bear the child of a god. People came far and wide to see her. She can have anything she wants. She ate nothing but elixirs. She was even being fed precious nectar, the drink of the gods. If she wasn''t so weak she would have been given ambrosia too.


    The nectar of the gods is more than enough. It can make gods drunk and can make a mortal forget their woes or any qualms that they have. So she was put in a state of perpetual intoxication.


    She was treated like that until the day of her delivery 40 years after. It came very early instead of the normal 100 years of gestation because of all the good food that they fed her.


    Stelios'' attention and the attention of numerous gods were on the situation of the pregnancy. The other gods came to see the child of the son god. Demigods are rare and can lead to great changes in the mortal realms. It will affect their games but nothing more, especially since the child is the son of the sun god. That''s why no one tried to kill the mother during the pregnancy or sabotage the delivery.


    Stelios is paying attention because there is more at stake here. He is more nervous than Karak the real father. Also, unlike the father, he is actually worried about the baby. Karak is only worried about his wife. Giving birth to a demigod is not a safe business for the mother. They didn''t need to worry for long because Legion-4 is a punctual person by principle.


    He has a lot of reasons to be early. He owes someone for the assistance of divine energy and is very eager to meet his creditor. Of course, he wishes that his creditor will choose to forgo the debt but he knows that the odds of that happening is too low.


    A healthy baby boy, more than a meter tall was born. His skin is orange and he is also glowing, radiating light and heat into the environment. He looks the the perfect son of the sun god. Legion-4 was shown to his mother who hugged him tightly and wished him farewell.


    Stelios descended to the church to examine the boy up close. ''This child is a splitting image of me. He even has a sun core.'' he thought to himself.


    Even he is starting to believe that he is the real father which isn''t far from the truth. Legion-4 did some remodeling of his body with the avable divine energy. It was avable, so why not use it to make himself better? He is already in debt. It is better to make use of it to the best of his abilities. So in a way, Stelios contributed something to his existence.


    A grand divine voice rang throughout the city, "This is my son. From today henceforth, he shall be called Helios, the son of the sun god."


    Then the Cardinal that came from the headquarters took the baby and started the return journey to the headquarters immediately. Those are the sun god''s orders. The contingent of soldiers fell into formation and escorted the demigod Helios to the city of the sun. Their bare feet matched on the bricked city grounds before they left the protective barrier of the city and entered the desert. They didn''t waste time at all.


    The popce of the city watched the procession of soldiers go, all the while cheering and celebrating. The child of a god was born that day in their city. In fact, a ceremony was started to celebrate the events. Karak and Hillo couldn''t return to a normal life after that. With the wealth they received from gifts, money will be thest of their concern.


    The gods were having a chat above the city with their divine sense.


    "Congrattions, Stelios. Your demigod took after you." The goddess of power and might said to Stelios.


    "Yes, you will have a bigger influence in the mortal realm now. I''m looking forward to the war games this century." The god of war also came to greet him.


    These two gods are his best friends and allies. Coming to congratte him is normal. His enemies also came.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The god of knowledge took one look at Helios and said, "He is just like you. It isn''t such a good thing. He may have your strengths but he will also have your ring weakness."


    The goddess of Agriculture and nature, the god of the sky and tempest also joined in the mocking. They mainly focused on Stelios'' weaknesses. The sun god is a very old and ancient god. His age has made him strong, but as the god of knowledge said, he has a ring weakness. It is why his mates have gone on to be Origin gods while Stelios is stuck being a grand god.


    Stelios took everything in stride. The presence of his enemies is normal. They will take any chance they have to mock him. His nemesis also came.


    The goddess of the Night said to him, "This changes nothing in our eternal enmity."


    Then she left. Hering isn''t odd, and neither is her behavior. She has toe and check out thetest development of her eternal foe and she isn''t much of a talker too. She too is an ancient goddess with the same weakness as Stelios.


    What is odd is that the Celestial God of Justice and Order came to have a look. The bickering gods became silent when they felt his presence.


    "Your son is not bad." He said before leaving.


    The gods resumed their boisterous conversation in his absence until things died down a few minutester. Stelios was anxious in his divine ne. He felt like sweating and asking the celestial god what he meant when he said, "Your son is not bad."


    "Did he notice anything? That is unlikely" Stelios questioned himself.


    He had inspected Helios to examine him and most importantly to cover him with ayer of his divine might. Theyer will prevent anything more than a surface examination of the boy. It is a way to protect the boy and hide any ws or oddities that may make him look different from a demigod.


    Stelios himself couldn''t find anything out of ce about Helios and he also covered the boy, that doesn''t mean a celestial god couldn''t find anything wrong. A celestial god might not have any path forward apart from bing the supreme god because they are true gods, but they are very strong and should not be underestimated. This caution is doubled when the Celestial God of Justice and Order is also the only celestial god in the pantheon. That automatically makes him the supreme god.


    "I had the chance to be the supreme, but my weakness stood in my way. I have another chance now and I''ll not let anyone take it from me. If I am forced then I can only retaliate." Stelios said with conviction as he looked at his divine kingdom.


    He knows something important about the Celestial Supreme that can be used as a weakness. He will only use it if he is forced to because using it means dering war against a celestial while he is a grand god.


    He has been saving this weakness for when he needs it the most. Helios is very important to him and anything that threatens his n will have to be eliminated, even if that threat is the Celestial Supreme.


    He gazed over his divine kingdom as he contemted his n and its contingencies.


    The mortal city of the sun was modeled after his divine kingdom. His abode is at the center of the divine kingdom while ring structures of various diameters surround him. The rings rotate and revolve around him.


    Angels and the spirits of his believers inhabit the rings and worship him. The closer the ring is to him, the better the conditions of living. His divine kingdom might be the paradise for his believers but their different levels of paradise is based on their faith and contribution to their god while they were alive. Even the afterlife for his believers isn''t free. The act of saving the life of child must be very costly.

 Chapter 305 The Good, Odd, And Bad.

    ?Bank in the Mortal realm.


    Helios the demigod is already used to his new life. He adapted to the good, the bad, and the odd. He met his father''s Avatar. Which is good. He now knows who his creditor is. Then he was taken by Cardinal Hak who became his guardian to the city of the sun where he was raised.


    He found it odd that a cardinal, one of the highest-ranking clergymen of the sun church is being made to take care of him. It might seem like they consider him to be very important but he is suspicious. He doesn''t know if the importance attached to him is good or bad due to his unique circumstances.


    He isn''t unlike the other demigods that wholeheartedly believe that they are demigods. He knows he is not despite the fact that everyone says he is. So someone has to be lying and he suspects his creditor.


    He sometimes finds himself wondering who else is on the secret apart from him and the sun god. The others that might know are his parents but his father died in battle a few years back and his mother died of grief soon after. Their deaths are enough for him to know how serious his unique circumstances are.


    The bad thing about his situation that he is sure about is that he has been banned from leaving the city of the sun by the sun god. Cardinal Hak imed it is for his protection but Helios thinks otherwise.


    The city of the sun isrge since it is the headquarters of the religion of the sun god, one of the oldest religions in the mortal realm. The city started small and has grown bigger over the years. It used to be a small walled city, but then another wall was built to extend the perimeter of the city. More walls were built as the years went by, while the old ones were left behind.


    Cardinal Hak his guardian and religious teacher was telling him about the city of the sun.


    "The city was modeled to imitate the scenery of the divine kingdom as seen through divine revtion sent to the third pope, pope Contus. The walls form the various rings that represent the various levels of dedication to our Lord."


    Legion-4 was absentminded but he still had the space of mind to drop a snidement. "More like they didn''t do proper city nning but no one wants to admit that the city just sprung into existence after years of piling on. Instead, you''re iming it''s divine intervention."


    Cardinal Hak continued reading from his book as if he didn''t hear what Helios said.


    Helios grumbled. "Deaf old man."


    Then he continued to read his own book. He had been living as Helios the demigod of the sun god for ten years and Cardinal Hak has been his guardian for all of them. Cardinal took care of his feeding, clothing, schedule, training, and other meetings. He is both Helios''s father and mother. Helios is treated with utmost care and respect. He has more prestige in the church than the saints. So he is never scolded or rebuked. That''s why Hak ignored him. The situation is good, but it is boring.


    No one can find any fault with him and he is allowed to do almost anything he wants to do as long as Stelios gives permission. He wasn''t even punished when he killed someone. How can the seed of a god do wrong?


    Hak closed his book when he was done. "How has your training been going, Helios?" He asked the boy that sat opposite him.


    Helios ignored him.


    Hak continued, "It will be your 20th birthday in a few days. As I have mentioned a few times, there will be an exhibitionpetition in your honor. The sun god has decreed that you willpete to show your prestige and talents. You shouldn''t embarrass your heavenly father."


    Seeing as Helios ignored him and since he had said his piece, he left. He understands that he can only talk, he cannot force a demigod to do anything. Since he has already said the sun god decreed for Helios to do something, then Helios will do it. It is unnecessary to nag.


    Then he went to have a prayer session. Hak felt happy and fulfilled. The arrival of Helios gave him a purpose and also made him closer to his god. To serve the child of his god is a dreame true for a lot of people, but apart from that, his god has been paying attention to him when he prays because of it.


    He entered his prayer room and knelt before the statue of the sun god. Then he began to pray. Just like he did every day since he became in charge of Helios, he summarised the events of the day and made mention of anything odd.


    Like always, Stelios is listening. And when Hak is done, he asked him a question.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Will he be ready for thepetition?"


    Hak considered the question very well before answering, "I believe so."


    "Good." Then Stelios left.


    Hak stood up and returned to Helios''s side. He doesn''t need to sleep so he is able to keep a constant watch on Helios. He has a lot to do to make sure that Helios gets the best treatment, not that Helios cares.


    Hak would check the clothes he will wear, his food to make sure nothing is wrong with it, and many others.


    His close monitoring made him aware of all of Helios''s behavior and quirks. He was able to notice the drastic change that happened to Helios about 10 years ago. Helios used to be hardworking. Always training and meditating. He never had fun. It was odd for a child to be serious and Hak was worried for the boy.


    He tried to stop Helios but the boy just ignore him. That all changed after 10 years when Helios acquired his first stigmata. He stopped exercising and training. He won''t even eat anymore unless it is something very precious. It was like he turned a new leaf but it was for the worse.


    Now Hak is worried that Helios will mess up during his celebratory exhibitionpetition since he hasn''t trained at all. The only thing he does is read books about rune crafting.


    The question that the Sun God asked him after his prayer might seem harmless but it isn''t. It is a subtle way of telling Hak to make sure that Helios is ready for thepetition. He answered that he believes Helios will perform well, and now he has to make sure that Helios really performs well.


    Hak returned to Helios''s room. He had to get through the guards before he could be allowed in. The guards towered above 50 meters, some reaching 80 meters in height. They are excellent guards with very strong and big bodies.


    The taller a giant of order is, the stronger he is. But these guards bowed to Hak and his 14-meter body. They respect him and he is also much stronger than them. They know this because of his identity and because he can modify his height. A giant that can modify his size is a sign of transcendence.


    Hak passed through the checkpoints of guards and security before he is allowed entry into Helios'' room. The room has the best that the mortal realm can offer but Hak knows that Helios doesn''t care for any of it. It is a behavior of Helio that Hak found reassuring.


    ''The boy might bezy, but he doesn''t care about luxury either. He just considers everything frivolous. He won''t turn out like those pompous demigods.'' He thought to himself in pride.


    He believes that Helios'' behavior is a reflection of how well he thought the boy so he should get some credit for the good things that Helios does. The source of Helios'' bad behaviors on the other hand is beyond his understanding. For example, how to get Helios to do anything, even if it is beneficial to him.


    He said to Helios, "Helios, how about we go for some archery training?"


    There is a respectful title for demigods but Helios doesn''t like it. He insists that he should be called his name and only that. Hak couldn''t change his mind or figure out what was wrong with "Divine son." Helios simply said he didn''t like it.


    The boy ignored him just like he expected. So he brought out the one thing that can change the boy''s mind.


    "You will get this if you do some archery." He said as he disyed the transparent crystal gem that seems to have a small star trapped within it.


    He has assured the sun god that Helios will do well. That''s what he ought to do as the guardian of the demigod. It is his job to also make sure that Helios gets some training and actually performs well. If bribing Helios will get him to train, then he will do it.

 Chapter 306 Broken Limits.

    ?Helios narrowed his eyes as he looked at the divine crystal and considered the proposal. "Fine, but I have to finish this book first."


    Hak nodded and found a seat. He didn''t bother to push the boy. He knows enough to know that that is the best he can get out of the boy. If he wants more then he has to offer more. You have to pay more for faster delivery.


    He allowed himself to chuckle, ''He may not be hedonistic or decadent but he is too proud. It hase to the stage where we need the currency of the gods to batter with him and he is just 20 years old.''


    Helios continued reading his book. He used to train but stopped that when Soverick acquired the Understanding of the entire pantheon of the gods. He was born ten years before Soverick and it has been 10 years since Soverickpleted the divine dungeon. The growth rate of giants of order is very slow. 20 years is a very young age for them so his progress in refinement has been slow.


    Soverick had been able toplete a lot in 2 years while he is just starting out. The babies of giants of Order are born as half-mana entities. Their bodies are mana bodies and they have a mana core at birth just like dragons. And just like dragons, they don''t need to train for them to grow stronger. They will absorb mana from their environment passively as they grow. The older they get, the faster the rate of absorption is.


    It is a good mechanism because it means they don''t need to work hard to grow. The bad thing is that because they missed the vitality core stage and the body forging stage, they absorb vitality from their environment too. When this absorption of vitalitybines with the natural anti-magic domain that they possess, it causes the siphoning of vitality in a wide radius around them instead of just what they eat. They absorb vitality and mana from the air, the earth, water, nts, and animals in their surroundings. The process esctes until a barren environment is created.


    Thew of order can be pretty bossy. It is the reason why they are born as mana entities, why they absorb from the environment, why it is extra difficult to be transcendents and why it is impossible for them to be lords ofw. The absorption and the anti-magic domain can only be controlled when they be transcendents. But that is difficult, so they remain mana entities for a long time, all the while absorbing the vitality of the world like some parasites.


    The environment suffers and the process doesn''t stop. This results in the giant bodies of giants of Order as more vitality is stored in their bodies. It would have been good if they breakthrough to transcendence pretty quickly but that doesn''t happen.


    The bigger the body, the stronger the fragments of order in the body get, and since order resists change, the more difficult it is to be transcendent. Two factors affect the strength of a transcendent. They are the body and the soul.


    The body of giants of order is very strong but their soul is originallycking. They can''t train their soul quickly with magic because they can''t use it, so the stronger and bigger the body gets, the smaller the chance of breaking through bes for them. This puts their race in a loop.


    They are unable to be transcendents quickly all the while growing stronger by absorbing the vitality of the world. This phenomenon is why the other races didn''t want them around. They are bad for the environment. So they were locked up into a single ne.


    This restriction is why most of them don''t know about the outside world or the realm of high heaven. They believe that their ne is all there is apart from the divine realm. They can''t use technology because of their anti-magic domain or they would be able tomunicate with the outside world. Thew of order has made this race big for nothing, it has also made them backward and reliant on the path of divinity.


    Thew of order is the source of their strength and their weakness. Their strong body and weak soul all revolve around Order. Helios has broken that curse on his body and has be a bundle of anomalies. It''s just that the way he did it brought some attachments. The first anomaly is his sun core. He used divine energy, light, and fire elemental mana to create a focal point for his mana core.


    It is an anomaly because giants of order don''t create a focal point themselves. Thew of order does it for them. That''s why they can''t control their anti-magic domain until they be transcendents. He can control his domain but it came with some strange effects.


    His sun core affects him in a weird way. It resonates with the sun and gets stronger the higher the sun is in the sky. It also makes Helios stronger until Helios bes his most powerful at noon. Then it goes downhill from there until he bes incredibly weak at night.


    These changes also affect his body. His body is at normal height in the morning. Then he grows bigger and taller until he reaches his biggest at noon. Then he starts to reduce until he bes stunted at night.


    He found the phenomenon appalling and tried everything to fix it. It is one of the reasons why he trained fervently when he was younger. But training didn''t work at all because he is a giant of order. His body won''t change because it is a mana body and because of the fragments of order within it. Only mana and life energy can affect it.


    He is strong in the day, then he gets crippled at night. It is a huge disadvantage. He didn''t give up training even though it was not working. He chose to focus on learning fighting skills but he stopped when Soverick became a child of the ne.


    The understanding fixed his need for learning skills and the supply of infinite mana alleviated his problem. His strength still wanes but he can prevent himself from being crippled at night by relying on mana instead.


    The second disadvantage and the most ring one is the issue he has with his benefactor the sun god. Being a demigodes with weakness at night and an attachment to the sun god. He has made ns but he still doesn''t know what the aim of his divine father is.


    If not for the fact that he wants to wait for his body to grow stronger and the ns of Legion, he would have broken through to transcendence already. Bing a transcendent will give him some strength to resist whatever schemes have beenid down for him. Because no matter the situation, strength is useful. Having more power is hardly a detriment.


    NAME: Helios (Legion-4)


    TITLE: Child Of The Virut ne.


    RACE: Giant Of Order.


    BLOODLINE: Sunfire Royal bloodline.


    POWER LEVEL (BODY): Mana Body (Complete)<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    POWER LEVEL (SOUL): Soul Reformation (Complete)


    PHYSIQUE: Half-Divine Body


    HP: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    ENERGY LEVEL (BODY ): Mana


    ENERGY LEVEL (SOUL): Spiritual Energy


    VITALITY: 1291


    ENDURANCE: 1024


    STRENGTH: 992


    AGILITY: 576


    PERCEPTION: 1,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 1011


    LIMITER (BODY): 80%


    LIMITER (SOUL): 0.000001%


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 101(B)


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 100%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): FIRE (DIVINE), LIGHT (DIVINE), ORDER (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Healthy


    He is a giant of order so the stats of his body and soul are already breaking through the limit of what''s possible for mana entities. He was able toplete the conversion of his body quickly thanks to the infinite supply of mana but his body didn''t stop growing.


    His vitality and endurance broke the 1000 stat limit and his strength is also about to. This led to him having more wiggle room for his powerful soul.


    He has a much stronger soul than normal giants so he can break through easily but he wants the advantage of a strong body and an equally powerful soul. Besides, he is not in a rush to break through just yet.


    The other reason he hasn''t broken through is that the sun god had told him that he has something nned for Helios when he is about to break through to transcendence. The sun god has already started preparing the so-called gift by marking his body with divine energy to create a Stigmata.


    The Stigmata has modified his body and thew fragments on it to form an invisible tattoo on his back but he can sense the hidden tattoo. He can disregard the effect of the Stigmata and break through to transcendence but he will be severely weakened if he cuts out so manyw fragments from his body. So he decided to brush up on the knowledge of Rune making so that he will understand what the Stigmata is for and what the sun god is nning for him.

 Chapter 307 Runeless Helios.

    ?The book he is currently reading is about Rune making. He doesn''t know his real father but he knows it isn''t the sun god and yet the grand god ims to be his father. It is not like Helios will trust his real father either but that lie is enough for him to know that there''s something fishy going on here.


    Why would a god im him as his child? Could the god be mistaken and ignorant of it or did the god make the mistake on purpose? Whichever one it is, is likely to lead to a bad ending if he doesn''t prepare for it.


    He finished the chapter he was reading in his book and said to Hak.


    "Alright, let''s go."


    Hak stood up and led the way to the training grounds.


    "Your brother Divine Lord Staniel will train you today." He said to Helios.


    Helios nodded. He is currently staying in the demigod section of the pce which is used to raise the children of the sun god. The sun god has had a lot of them over time. Some of them died in battle or old age and some of them ascended either on their own or as subsidiary gods of the Sun god. So even though he is currently the only demigod of the sun god alive in the mortal realms, his older siblings drop by once in a while to chat or teach him.


    They passed through guards and servants. All these giants bowed to the 14-meter-tall Helios and Hak. Hak likes to match his height with that of Helios to be able to protect him better. Helios was 13 meters tall two hours ago but he has grown taller by a meter since then. Helios will continue to increase in height till noon when he reaches 15 meters then he will start to reduce reaching 5 meters at midnight.


    They reached the archery field and found someone waiting for them. It was a giant about 115 meters tall. Apart from the height that will make this giant stand out, he looks just like an average giant to the untrained eyes. He is wearing a simple toga and sandals. There are numerous tattoos etched across the yellow skin of his muscr body. But Helios could perceive that the body is not made from flesh.


    "Greetings brother." The giant''s voice boomed.


    "Hey," Helios replied unenthusiastically


    "Why are you so glum all the time? You should be getting excited as the sun rises." Staniel asked.


    The cycle of the sun affects more than his strength and size. It should also affect his mood but that''s impossible because of his mind. The other thing that he can''t control is his skin color. He starts red at dawn and bes orange, then yellow at noon. Then he bes brown at night.


    He replied. "I am excited but it is not about this training."


    He is excited about what he will get after the training. He will receive that divine crystal and try out some experiments in Rune making. The best things in this ne are rted to the divine and only they can excite him.


    Staniel began to reduce his size until he reached 15 meters. Heughed and asked, "Were you bribed again?"


    Helios nodded.


    Staniel shook his head. "I thought as much. You used to be so enthusiastic about training. Always asking me questions and begging me to train you how to fight. What happened to you?"


    Staniel asked as he began to set up the environment.


    The archery field began to shrink and morph to the specifications he set. The targets were set in a straight line with an interval of 100 meters between each target.


    Helios watched the change with mild interest. He had inspected it a while back, so even though it is a divine artifact, he isn''t as interested in it as he used to be.


    "I realized that I am a natural genius. So there''s no need for me to train."


    "Is this because you''re a demigod and your path to awakening is set? Do not let your heritage get to your head. You can still be killed before you awaken." Staniel warned him.


    Being Awakened is the giant''s term for transcending.


    Helios nodded. "How about a bet? I''ll prove my genius and you will give me more divine crystals."


    Staniel considered his proposal and agreed. "I know I shouldn''t encourage yourzy attitude but your exhibitionpetition is around the corner. Archery isn''t bad for you to showcase. So I''ll take the deal but there has to be some punishment if you fail."


    "Sounds reasonable."


    "Good. I''ll give you one divine crystal for each target that you hit. You can stop when you want to stop and I''ll let you go. If you go ahead and you fail, then you owe me the same number of days in training.


    "Deal." Helios agreed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    If he hits all ten of them, he will get 10 divine crystals. If he misses at the sixth target, he will only have 5 crystals and he will owe 6 days of training. It is a good deal to him. Then he stretched his hands to Staniel and asked "Can I borrow your bow?"


    Staniel asked in surprise, "Didn''t you use the sunbow for your first Rune?"


    "I didn''t."


    "Why not? The sun bow is a very important weapon for demigods of the sun."


    "I haven''t made any runes yet."


    Staniel was shocked "What? You''re two stars old and your body is as strong as those with 10 stars but you''re telling me you don''t have any runes. What have you been doing?"


    He turned to Cardinal Hak. "Why did you allow this? What is he going to showcase during his second-star celebration?"


    Hak bowed and replied. "Divine son Helios said that he prefers to create his own Rune himself. He refused to allow any Rune master to mark him."


    Staniel was beginning to get angry "What kind of nonsense is that?"


    Helio waved his worries away. "Don''t worry, I''m already training to be a runemaster."


    "And how long is that going to take before you get any good? How long before you canpare to the Runemasters? Runemasters take hundreds of years to reach their level of expertise."


    Helios shrugged.


    His reaction isn''t a good enough answer for Staniel. His yellow skin was beginning to light up and his eyes were turning blue. He began to emit an increasing amount of light and heat. The surrounding was beginning to heat up.


    Hak quickly intervened. "Please calm down, Divine lord Staniel."


    Staniel breathed out and blue mes rushed out of his mouth. His eyes returned to the red color while his skin stopped changing to white.


    He spoke after he had calmed down.


    "Let''s change the bet. I''ll give you 1 divine crystal for the first target that you bring down. Two for the second, three for the third, and so forth.But if you miss, I want the same number of training days and for you to get a Rune of my choice. I''ll increase the difficulty too. That shouldn''t be a problem for you since you''re a genius."


    Staniel changed the archery field''s configuration again. The interval between the ten targets became 200 meters. He has doubled the difficulty.


    If he hits the sixth target, he gets 6 extra divine crystals for a total of 21. But if he gets greedy and misses the sixth, he only gets 15 and he will owe Staniel 6 days of training.


    Hak spoke up again, "I don''t think this is a good idea, divine lord Staniel."


    Staniel rounded up on Hak in a sh. He became brighter for a brief moment and he appeared before Hak like a sh of light.


    "You think him going around without a Rune is a good idea? I don''t want him to embarrass the lineage of the sun god."


    Hak tried not to flinch beneath Staniel''s cold blue eyes. "It is not a good idea for him to be runeless, but it isn''t a good idea for you to select a Rune for him either. A Rune is a lifelong matter that shouldn''t be forced."


    Demigods of the sun have their emotions affected by the cycle of the sun to be more positive. They get excited easily because of it. They also get angry quickly and are very proud. Helios'' nonchnt behavior towards the uing talent exhibition isn''t sitting well with Staniel.


    Staniel was about to blow his lid again when Helios spoke, "I think the bet is a good idea. Let''s go."


    "See, he thinks it is a good idea. If you can take his word for him to be runeless, then you might as well take it now." Staniel said to Hak.


    "I still need the bow." Helios requested again.


    Stelios grunted but activated the runes for the sunbow on his body. The tattoos on his body began to glow with the activation.

 Chapter 308 Rune Weapons.

    ?Stelios grunted but activated the runes for the sunbow on his body.


    Some of the tattoos on Staniel''s body lit up and shed at different frequencies. Then they rose from his yellow skin and came together to form the image of a three-dimensional holographic bow. Divine power from within the tattoos began to manifest. It solidified the hologram until a real bow is created in Staniel''s hand.


    Helios needs a bow for the bet and he doesn''t have a rune yet, so Staniel must lend Helios his own sunbow. It is more powerful and will be difficult to control for the young demigod but it is all good as it will hinder Helios which will hopefully teach him a lesson about the importance of getting his own runes.


    He handed the exquisite bow to Helios. Helios moved his hand about to feel the bow. It felt so real in his hands. It had texture, weight, a center of gravity, and sticity like a real bow except it is an energy construct. The bow is a manifestation of runes that giants tattoo on their bodies. The runes mimic the Creation ability of world gods.


    He wielded the bow and pulled its string back. An arrow formed within it as mana was drawn from his body. Since the mana in his body is mainly elements of fire and light, the arrow that is formed is reddish Orange.


    Staniel clicked his tongue in reproach. "Is that the best you can do? Your mana conductivity is poor."


    Helios ignored him. He didn''t bother to put a lot of mana into the bow because it is a test. He can create an arrow that is pure white majorlyposed of light elements, but why bother?


    He released the first arrow and it hit the target. The small metal ced 200m away from him got knocked over when the arrow hit it.


    "Very good, divine son Helios" Cardinal Hakplimented.


    Staniel rebuked, "Don''t encourage him."


    While Heliosined, "Just call me Helios."


    He hit the second one at 400m and the third at 600m.


    Staniel nodded, "This isn''t so bad. You''re not as bad as I thought. But this isn''t genius."


    He decided to downy Helios'' performance. The fact that Helios could pull the bow is already impressive but he isn''t going to praise the rebellious demigod.


    Helios hit the fourth at 800m and the fifth at 1000m.


    Staniel''s tune changed, "Wow, maybe you''re a genius. This ought to wow them at the exhibition."


    Then helios hit the sixth at 1200m and the seventh at 1400m. He stopped shooting here.


    He returned the bow to Staniel who was scowling. "Pay up you owe me 28 divine crystals," Helios said to him.


    Staniel isn''t happy with the way things had turned out. He doesn''t care about the divine crystals but the loss of his opportunity to make Helios get a Rune. He doesn''t consider Helios a genius. To him, Helios is just lucky to have a strong body, but the performance will reinforce Helios''s false evaluation of his talent.


    He tried tempting Helios. "Why don''t you try the 8th one? I''ll give you 10 divine crystals if you seed."


    Helios pretended to consider it. "No, I think I''m done for now."


    He didn''t give up. "I''ll give you 20 divine crystals."


    Cardinal Hak tried to dissuade Helios, "I don''t think that is a good idea."


    Helios hesitated before saying, "Give me 30 and I''ll do it."


    Stelios hurriedly stuffed the bow into Helios''s hand, "Deal. You can''t take it back now."


    He figured that Helios had reached his limit. One small push is all he needs to make Helios fall from the pedestal that he has ced himself on. Helios is a child, how good could he be at Archery?


    Helios strung the bow again and shot at the 8th target 1,600 meters away. His arrow hit true and the target fell.


    "Now you owe me 58 divine crystals." He said calmly.


    That smug smile on his face makes Stelios almost want to re up again and maybe blow up his surroundings with a sr re. But he kept his cool.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Do the 9th one and I''ll give you 50 divine crystals."


    He is willing to give up now. He believes all Helios needs is a push in the right direction. Some failure to sober him up.


    Helios answered, "I''m done."


    Staniel taunted him, "You are not a genius. You''re scared of failing."


    Helios shook his head and said, "I am more than a genius. It takes a genius to be excellent but it takes wisdom to know the limits to that excellence. I am a genius and I am wise, that''s why I am stopping while I am ahead."


    Staniel gave up reluctantly. Another set of runes lit up and rose to form a small portal. He put his hands into it and brought out a pouch which he dropped onto Helios'' waiting hands. The runes forming the portal dimmed and disappeared. Then they reappeared on his skin.


    "That''s 100 divine crystals. I must admit, you''re not bad. You may be talented, but talent needs hard work if you want to be great."


    "Thanks for the advice and the extra."


    Helios agrees wholeheartedly that hard work is needed to be great but that''s for others. He doesn''t need hard work to be great because someone else has done it for him. Now, he just needs to achieve greatness.


    The little he just showed is nowhere close to his real capabilities. Something like this doesn''t interest him. If not for the divine crystals and his need for them, he wouldn''t have bothered.


    He has his eyes on greater things. The two most important ones right now are breaking morews of the universe and terrorizing dragons. That''s what he needs training for, not for some stupid exhibitionpetition because of some archaic rules from a backward race. Too bad that there''s no manual on how to break thews of the universe or he would spend his days reading that.


    He started returning to his ce. Hak followed behind obediently after bowing to Staniel. Staniel stayed behind and sighed as he watched Helios go. His bow deconstructed and disintegrated into energy streams that flowed onto his body to form the tattoo that made the bow.


    A figure of light appeared beside Staniel. The figure chuckled and said, "Maybe he is a genius after all."


    Staniel wasn''t surprised by the appearance of the figure.


    He said to the figure, "He might not be easily riled up like most of us, but he still has pride deep within his bones. I think he will do well during the exhibitionpetition, father."


    Staniel knew that their father was lurking around. This is because the two of them were talking before Helios arrived. The sun god then hid himself from others. Staniel isn''t the only that knows that. Helios could sense the sun god as soon as he came here. The only person that was clueless about the presence of the sun god is Cardinal Hak.


    Stelios asked, "Will he do well enough for you to bet on him?"


    "I''m not sure. It depends on the contest. If it is a contest of strength then I have no doubt he will win. His body is very strong. Too strong for his age. His Archery isn''t so bad."


    The archery skills that Helios exhibited are evaluated as not bad. Hitting a stationary object is considered "not bad." It is the basics of any weapon training. It doesn''t matter the distance, as long as the target isn''t moving, then it is "not bad."


    Simple eye-to-hand coordination and targeting skills are enough to hit stationary objects. This level of skill is more than enough for a child of the giants of order.


    Hitting moving objects is the real deal. It requires techniques and skills beyond the ordinary. To be impressive in archery, you have to be able to hit something moving past the speed of sound and beyond.


    By Staniel''s estimation, Helios has at least a thousand years to go before he can be impressive and that''s if he practices constantly. He doesn''t think Helios will get anywhere by sitting around and reading books, wasting his time thinking he can be a runemaster.


    Stelios smiled in appreciation, "That''s good enough."


    "Pardon my curiosity, father. Why are you so concerned about the exhibitionpetition?"


    Stelios answered solemnly, "Two demigods areing to the event. They will certainly challenge him. I want him to be prepared."


    Meanwhile, Helios returned to his room.


    He was muttering to himself, "The art of Rune making. The act of making runes. The process of manifesting intent through thew of order."


    Rune-making is a very important aspect of the life of giants of order. The history of Rune-making dates back to ancient times when heroic spirits began to exist. It was a time before transcendents. Notable and respected giants of Order were worshipped after their deaths. They might have been family ancestors or excellent generals. These heroic spirits were enshrined for one reason or the other. It was that simple practice that went on to lead to the creation of runes.

 Chapter 309 Aspiring Rune Master.

    ?The transformation into a divine entity allowed the heroic spirits to be aware of an alternative form of strength when the giants of Order needed it the most.


    Giants of Order are immune to spells, so they can''t cast them. That''s an eptable trade. But their anti-magic domain went further than that. It not only destroyed their environment, but it also destroyed mana artifacts, magic weapons, and magic equipment.


    It meant that they couldn''t use mana equipment as mana entities and their infertile environment forced them to migrate often. Migration caused conflicts which quickly escted to war. It is one thing to be able to turn an environment into a desert but Origin water in origin streams was also affected.


    At first, they had sess in their wanton expansion. They were born mana entities with very strong bodies that could go beyond the strength of a mana entity. They conquered their ne until it became infertile. The origin streams dried up and the vitality of the world became next on the menu.


    Then they turned their attention to the ancient battlefield when a great general that broke through to transcendence appeared. They marched into the ancient battlefield with pride and ignorance. It turned out that they had eaten more than they could chew.


    The ancient battlefield is where the big boys of the realm of high heaven y. The giants were beaten back easily. Their unique divine ability made them targets for research to the extent that they were even hunted in their ne. They were almost hunted to extinction.


    It was then that one of the generals that they enshrined became a heroic spirit. He died and came back as a demigod. The acquisition of a half-divine body created a phenomenon in which divine power interacted with thew fragments of the deceased Hero. This phenomenon enlightened the heroic spirit into creating totems.


    He bestowed totems on the Warrior''s bodies. These totems allowed them to finally use weapons. Having a weapon can do wonders for a warrior when spells can''t be used. Their strong bodies finally came to good use with weapons fitting their level.


    The totems empowered their already powerful bodies and allowed them to beat back their oppressors, but its effect ended there. The totems ensured their survival but they couldn''t allow them to flourish on the ancient battlefield.


    There is a limit in the ne due to theck of origin energy. That limit doesn''t exist in the ancient battlefield. Their inability to be lords ofw and the enmity of other races prevented them from even getting a foothold on the ancient battlefield. This didn''t change even when gods began to appear in their race.


    Gods can''t leave their nes unless they fall. The only loophole is if they want to attend the trial of heaven, then a passage will be opened for them in the divine ne that leads into the tower of heaven. Still, the presence of gods allowed them to develop totems into the advanced form of rune-making that it is today. Giants of order pride themselves on the Stigmata something that is arguably unique in the entire realm or high heaven.


    Helios began writing on a piece of paper. It is more of a drawing than writing but it can be called anything since he is using tiny words written close together to draw instead of lines or strokes. He is practicing his Rune making to be a runemaster.


    The major difference between Totems and Rune making is that totems need a being with a divine will, such as a god. A Rune needs knowledge ofw fragments and divine energy which can be acquired from divine crystals. So anyone can be a runemaster as long as they have knowledge of runes and divine crystals while only divine beings can create a totem.


    The fusion of the two fields creates Stigmata which is what Stelios the sun god is capable of. It is the epitome of the field that is only achievable by a god who has knowledge of runes. That knowledge and divine will can create a miracle, but Helios is not impressed with what the giants of order have been able to do with it.


    "Backwards people. You can make anything but you create weapons. Why not make your body into a weapon?" He continued to mutter as he worked.


    Rune-making maniptesw fragments in the body of giants with divine energy to take advantage of the power of thew of order.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Thew of order that world gods create enables them to create a world and other stuff. Rune-making is only an imitation of that power. It relies on the strong body of giants of order to shoulder the burden of creation instead of a world and thew fragments of order on them to imitate creation instead of the fullw of order. Those two conditions are important.


    The power of creation needs order, even if it is a createdw of Order or it will cause a bacsh. The universe will resist any sort of creation. Only thew of order can reduce this resistance and make creation possible as opposed to thew of Chaos that likes destruction.


    Thew fragments on the body of giants of order is not thew of order, but they can be elevated to the level of an imitation with the power of divine energy. Once all these conditions have been met, then creation is possible, if only temporarily.


    What Helios finds silly is the choice of creating weapons when there is a limited amount of resources avable for Rune making. A giant of Order has a finite amount ofw fragments and each one that has been used can not be reused only slightly modified.


    That means you have to be careful about what Rune you tattoo on your body and who does the marking. The tattoos reach the bones and cannot be hacked off. Even if you lose a limb, you will regrow the limb with the tattoo because giants have mana bodies and the tattoos are part of their existence.


    It is the willful ignorance of possibilities by the giants that baffles Helios. Weapon runes helped them in the past but times have changed in the realm of high heaven. Laws and concepts are thetest things. Like the portal runes on Staniel''s body. They create a portal that leads to his storage somewhere far away. Something like that is a Stigmata but Helios is looking beyond that. For example, upgrading that portal Rune into a pocket space within a separate dimension on the body.


    Creating a pocket dimension will require the knowledge ofws beyond which the best Rune grandmasters are capable. So it is understandable that they can''t do it since they can''tprehendws. The one that can be achieved by even rune masters is to consider the body as a material that is to be forged and enchanted with runes to create an excellent weapon. They already have a strong body, why not capitalize on it and make it a strong weapon?


    "This is looking good. More and more practice and I might get it."


    He admired his work. He had been writing with a practice Rune pen of his own making instead of the divine Rune maker that consumes divine power to alter runes. His rune pen creates simtedw fragments on the special paper he is working with.


    It helps him to practice his Rune making with life-like simtions of the behavior of runes. This is better than the way other Rune apprentices practice. They need realw fragments to practice which can only be gotten from the body of giants


    The fertility of giants of order is low naturally and the mana-less environment has reduced that fertility to an all-time low so they have a small poption to work with. That requirement is one of the things holding them back from progressing. Without arge poption to work with, they can''t practice. And if they can''t practice, they can''t progress.


    Practice makes perfect but aspiring rune makers can''t practice as much as they want. The mana pen can''t work with other giants because they can''t control their anti-magic domain. Their domain will disrupt the operation of the pen. Even if they can use it, he doesn''t have the intention to share. The only reason to share something good is if you''ll get something better from it. Since he is not getting anything from sharing, he will keep it to himself.


    Most of the problems the giants of Order face are due to their anti-magic domain created by thew fragments in their bodies. It killed their environment and also prevents advancement in technology.


    He said as he admired his work. "This is not so bad. Apart from the gods and the constant supervision, being a giant isn''t so bad. Rune making is unique and worthwhile to study. It is the power of creation in a small spark."

 Chapter 310 Second Star Celebration.

    ?There are several reasons for him to master runes. His primary aim to learn thew of order will help him push forward the boundary of what''s possible with runes. So the two of them work together.


    Learning thew of order is not too far ahead of him. He just needs to be a transcendent then he will be able toprehend thews from thew fragments. But he can''t break through without knowing what the sun god is marking on his body.


    These two will take a lot of time. His practice with Rune making will take a few more years and his body needs time to develop better. A much stronger body will be able to handle heavier modifications to thew fragments and he will need a very strong body for what he ns.


    Since there''s no rush or immediate threat to him, he will just train calmly. Besides, Legion has a n to handle the gods of the ne. All it needs is some time to kick off.


    The days went by until it became time for his second-star celebration. A lot of people came to attend the ceremony. Only important dignitaries from the cities and churches are allowed at the ceremony. Not anyone will be allowed to such an important asion. A holiday was announced to allow themoners to join in the celebration.


    The celebration of the second star of a giant of order is very important. The first star that urs at 10 years old marks the moment when a giant of order can get its first rune. This honor is given to the god that the family of the child serves. The child will be taken to the church and their child will be marked.


    The second star that happens at 20 years old is another opportunity to create another Rune. This moment marks a milestone in the life of the child because they get to choose their own marks. What they chose at that point is of significance considering how precious thew fragments are. Usually, the child chooses the mark of their tribe. It is a means to identify them with a tribe of giants.


    The tribe will celebrate the addition of another member to their midst. The third star is for the family. The child will bear a totem that represents the lineage of the family and ancestors. This has been part of their culture for hundreds of Origin cycles.


    There''s no celebration for the first star, it is an event between a child and the god he has chosen to believe in. There''s a private celebration for the third one, it is for the family of the child. The second star calls for a public celebration. The public celebration for a demigod is rare and this is why even people belonging to other churches and cities areing. They all want to see the exhibitionpetition.


    The sun city has been thrown into a festive mood because of the uing celebration. Decorations have been put up and people are flocking to the city. Everyone is clearly in a good mood except the celebrant.


    Cardinal Hak has been disturbing him more than usual. So many questions and extra bothering. It is either about clothes, food, friends, etc. Helios doesn''t care about any of that.


    He said it several times too. "Stop disturbing me, Hak. I don''t care about any of that."


    Helios refused to indulge in any traditions even the most important ones like having a Rune. The sun god is already taking morew fragments from him, there''s no way he is going to allow more of them to be spent on mediocre runes. To make sure of that, he has to make it himself but he isn''t good enough yet. So, no more runes until then.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "But what are you going to showcase for the exhibitionpetition?" Hak asked desperately as they were escorted to the location of the party.


    "I''ll just borrow someone''s bow or something." He replied unconcerned.


    Hak paled. "No, you can''t do that. It is not how things are done."


    The Exhibitionpetition is a very important event during the second-star celebration. Since the era of transcendence when totems had be a part of the culture of the giants of order, the public celebration is an opportunity for a child to disy his or her talent and be assigned to a good position in the tribe.


    This talent exhibition is of more importance when the public celebration is held for more than a single child. The children willpete with the use of their tribal rune. The children that can use the tribal rune better get to join the hunters, a very prestigious caste in a society dependent on foraging and Fighting.


    The demigods of the sun god usually disy the use of their sunbow during the celebration. It is how things are done.


    "It doesn''t matter how things are done. I''ll do it my way."


    Except Helios doesn''t care about how things are done. He can bend his ways for some things but a rune is not one of them.


    Hak asked, "Didn''t you say you will make your own runes yourself? So why haven''t you?"


    Helios nodded, "I said that, but it''s going to take time. I have only been training for 10 years. I need more time."


    Hak sighed and epted the reality that Helios won''t change his mind. They entered the ceremony unannounced. Helios couldn''t wait for his name to be announced so he simply entered while Hak continued to sigh.


    The location of the party is huge considering that it belongs to giants but it is extra big because of the exhibition stage that is built at the center of the location. The exhibition stage can be used for racing, fighting, archery, and other forms ofpetition. So the site of the celebration is like a sports center or a stadium. It can be used for various things.

 Chapter 311 A Divine Party Crasher.

    ?There are 3 levels in the stands. There''s the topmost level for the interaction of gods, the second level for demigods and divine lords, then there''s the third level for the mortals. It is based on the social hierarchy of giants of order and because of safety.


    A mortal being around so many gods can be very dangerous even if they are only there in the form of their avatars. A mortal might hear something they shouldn''t hear or join inughing at a joke made at the expense of another god. So it is best that you stay clear of the divine as a mortal to avoid the destruction of your entire family.


    Helios found a seat on the third level and sat down. His guards surrounded him and prevented others from reaching him.


    "Thank you foring. Please have a good time. Continue as if you haven''t seen me." He said to the excited crowd.


    The party hadmenced before he arrived and he hoped it will go on without him. He does not need to interact with the people here, so he doesn''t want to. But if he sits among demigods, they are bound to disturb him since his guards can''t hold them off. That''s why he is staying in the area where he can bully people into doing what he wants.


    He sat downfortably and ignored Hak''s protest not to sit there.


    "Strength is needed to have your way. I don''t have strength, that''s why I am being made to jump through hoops for these people. I need strength.''


    He believes that everyone can do whatever they want to do. He will only have a problem if what they are doing is affecting him in an unpleasant way. What he hates more than that is being forced to do something.


    There are a lot of things he has been forced to do recently. The sun god has decreed that he cannot leave the sun city yet. That''s the most important offense, the restriction of movement. It indicates that he doesn''t have freedom. The sun god said it is for his safety but Helios doubts that.


    He was allowed to make his decision about his runes because it is part of their culture. But he has to attend this celebration because of the culture. The culture of the giants of Order has been rooted deep down in their bodies and mind. Thew of order prevents all types of changes. It not only shackled their strength but also their mindset.


    He has a different opinion about most things but he can''t unt his disregard for culture to a certain extent. He may not like doing some things, but he has to do them regardless of his opinion. It is ultimately because he doesn''t have enough strength to break the control over him.


    He nced at the top level where the gods are chatting. They are the top dogs in this ne and his target. Unlike Soverick that brought down the gods with the help of the racial alliance, Helios is on his own for now. He doesn''t aim to end the era of the gods but it might happen because of his pursuit of strength.


    He doesn''t have anything against gods especially if they are an important part of the strength of a race. He might even use them for his agenda. He just wants strength and will do anything to acquire it. Whatever happens or whoever suffers along the way is not his issue.


    Staniel and the other divine lords of the ancient gods were chatting with some of their friends that came. The children of the sun god have the usual traits of changing skin color, varying height, and golden yellow hair. There are almost 50 of them here and their presence seemed to light up the ce.


    Staniel shook his head when he saw what Helios did.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He drew the attention of the rest to Helios bymenting, "That brother of ours is trouble."


    "Why is he so gloomy? Is he sulking?"


    "It''s like he doesn''t want to be here."


    "He has been like that for a while."


    They began chatting about him. He is an oddball in their opinion. Demigods of the sun god are usually bright and sunny. Only Helios can make such a happy day into a punishment for his weakness. The frown on his face makes him look as if he isn''t a demigod of the sun.


    Helios''s arrangement worked. Mortals can''t disturb him because his guards stop them and demigods can''t disturb him because they will have to descend to the third level and frolic among mortals. He refused to move no matter how much Hak fidgetted until the time came for the talent exhibition. It was then that things got interesting.


    The clear skies suddenly turned cloudy with brown clouds. The earth became dark because of the blockage of light by the clouds. A powerful divine presence suddenly descended at the party. It was rough, heavy and it threatened to suffocate the mortals here.


    The wind picked up speed abruptly lifting light objects and ruffling the nice clothes that the guest wore. The jovial atmosphere turned electric immediately as if a dust storm is about to start. The sun god exerted his dominion over the area to push back the presence. The winds died down but the sky remain dark because of the clouds made of dust.


    Then there was the sound of numerous thunderps.


    Augh came from the skies, "Why the temper? Is a divine guest not weed?"


    It was theughter of the intruder that sounded like thunderps.


    The sun god snorted before replying. "A cultured guest is weed. Such actions make you a brute not a guest no matter how divine you''re."


    Arge face formed out of the brown clouds. Lightening crackled in the spot for the eyes while arge hole formed the mouth. The god of the sky and tempest, the archenemy of the sun god made his presence known.

 Chapter 312 A Fight To The Death.

    ?Stelios remained calm despite the rude interruption of his son''s Celebration. He has been expecting this.


    "Is this good enough for you?" The cloud-face asked with a grin.


    "No, create an avatar if you muste."


    "I don''t intend to stay for long. My new kids want to see your precious demigod. I''m sure they are wee."


    It is a polite way of saying I am going to crash your party and there''s nothing you can do about it unless you tell me off right now in front of all your other visitors which will show you as weak.


    Stelios answered. "Sure, as long as they behave."


    The brown cloud-face coughed out two children from its mouth. The two of them have blue skin and purple hair. They are also sitting on what appears to be two golden bolts of lightning.


    Their father said to them, "You hear that kids? You''re wee but you have to behave. That sun god is a nasty old man who doesn''t know what fun is."


    Then the god of the sky and tempest said to the sun god, "You know what I am here for. My kids need a target for their heroic feats. It is a good opportunity for your son too. That''s if he can make use of it. Do you remember thest of your demigods that mine killed, wasn''t it hrious? What''s the count now? I think I have 5 and you have 1."


    The sun god became angry immediately. The god of the sky is trying to humiliate him, in broad daylight no less. He wouldn''t have it.


    "Sunrise." He evoked his Authority as the sun god.


    The sun that had been hidden behind the curtain of dark clouds burst forth with light that dispersed the huge face in the sky and broke the clouds. The dust scattered in the presence of the sun. The day brightened up as the blockage to the sunlight was removed.


    "So petty." The sky god snickered before he left.


    The two children above rode the golden bolts to the ground. The bolts then transformed into two angels with 8 wings of lightning. Their body seemed to be made of wind in the form of a miniature hurricane. They have two arms but no legs.


    Helios said to Hak, "Would you look at that? Their guardians are angels with the power of mid gods while my guardian is a transcendent with the power of a transcendent."


    "You''re in a safe ce not surrounded by hostile entities. You don''t need stronger protection. Besides, they can''t exhibit their full strength. They are mostly here to allow the kids to escape as soon as possible."


    "I see. What''s their deal? I assume they are here to mess with the party but what''s this about heroic feats?" Helios asked with mild interest.


    "We''ll talk about heroic feats another time. Just know that it can lead to death and these two are after you so you have to be careful."


    Now Helios''s interest is piqued, "You mean I can kill them?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    All he heard is that there is a possibility of death and that meant it is very possible for him to kill them.


    Cardinal Hak looked at Helios and said with uttermost seriousness, "They are older than you. They have had more training and likely didn''te here on a whim so it is more likely for them to kill you."


    Helios pped his hands together and grinned. "Now, I''m getting excited. This party just got better."


    One of the angels bowed down in their position on the second level towards the direction of the sun god and asked, "Shall we begin the exhibitionpetition your divine greatness."


    The sun god nodded and resumed his speech, "As I was saying, let us start the talent exhibition. But that will change since we have visitors that are willing to turn this into apetition using thews of the pursuit of heroic feats."


    Everyone pped excitedly. They would have pped politely because they have to if it was only Helios showing them what he can do, but now they are truly eager to see the show. A demigod is rare, so witnessing the fights between them is rarer.


    The sun god nodded, "As you all know, heroic feats are important for a demigod to be a divine lord. This is a rare opportunity for both sides. We have the virility of the sky god and the prolific fertility of the female that bore him twins to thank for this opportunity."


    This time only the people in the second and first levels cheered andughed. The sky god is famously fertile. He has more demigods than the goddess of harvest and fertility herself. This time, he met an equally fertile partner that gave him two for one.


    The gods and demigods canugh about it but the mortals can''t. He isn''t known as the god of the tempest for nothing. He has been known to dole out wrathful punishment to mortals that have erred. Making fun of the sky god is definitely erring.


    The angel still hadn''t risen, he obviously has more to say.


    He asked the sun god,"Can we rmend the method ofpetition too?"


    It isn''t an act of disrespect for the angel to make a request of a god. An angel represents the will of their god, which means they are saying what the sky god wants. The sky god''s presence might not be here but he is more than aware of what''s going on.


    The sun god answered, "You can select anything as long as runes are allowed."


    The angel stilled as he listened to the instruction of the sky god.


    He spoke again, "I''m sorry your divine greatness, but the only thing we nned for is unarmedbat."


    The sun god frowned, "Surely it won''t be a fight to the death."


    This time the angel answered immediately. "It cannot be a heroic feat without the death of a demigod. What else is there? I''m sorry to say that it has to be a fight to the death."

 Chapter 313 Lucky Duck.

    ?The sun god''s face fell and the sky darkened because of it.


    So they are crashing the party to start a fight, and they are publicly stating their interest in killing the celebrant to the father and host of the celebrant.


    Stelios asked menacingly. "Are you sure? A none-lethal exhibitionpetition is always an option."


    The angel nodded in the affirmative. "I''m very sure your divine greatness. It is the will of the sky god."


    A none-lethal exhibition is an option but the sky god does not want that. He wants to kill your son and watch your face change due to the loss.


    Stelios then smiled, "Let it be so."


    Everyone was surprised apart from Staniel. They had thought that a disagreement was about to take ce between the sky god and the sun god about thepetition. The sun god has clearly been magnanimous about allowing the sky god to choose apetition. His only request is that his demigod should be allowed to use his Rune weapon.


    That is a reasonable request. Everyone knows that the demigods of the sky god are the fastest demigods. They may not be able to transform into lightning yet as they are still mana entities but their bodies have been fashioned for speed. The demigods of the sun god have strong bodies but speed is not their forte.


    The only way for the demigods of the sun god to kill demigods of the sky god is by using their bows which they are very skilled at.


    But the sky god chose to be unreasonable, like always, and demand that they don''t use rune weapons. The poor Helios will be at a disadvantage because of such an arrangement. Or so they thought. So it was jarring for them to see the sun god scowling one moment and smiling the next.


    The sun god''s behavior is fishy. But they pped nheless. This arrangement will increase the odds of a demigod dying today. It will be a shame that it will be their host that losses but it will be a very entertaining shame.


    "Let a third party bear witness and ensure adherence to the rules." The sun god proimed.


    Another god stepped forward. "I will bear witness if there are no objections."


    No one disagreed with allowing the god of conflict to bear witness. He doesn''t belong to either of the factions of gods that the sun and sky god belongs to. He also won''t favor one side but will make it more interesting by fanning the mes of conflict when possible.


    The god of conflict then said, "Let thepetitorse forward."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Helios was already eager so he began ascending the levels to get to the first level. The twins on the other hand are having a problem. Their original n was toe here and humiliate the new demigod through a good old-fashioned, honest none-lethal exhibitionpetition. The mention of heroic feats by their father was to taunt the sun god and the recent loss of his children. Who would have thought that the sun god will get so angry as to take the bait?


    They didn''t n for this and their father made a spur-of-the-moment decision to do it. The sky god had chuckled evilly in his divine kingdom while saying, "This is too good to pass off."


    It is not every day that the sun god goes off his senses. So now they get to kill the sun god''s young demigod. But which one of them will fight Helios? They are already older than him, and the two of them cannot fight him at the same time. Seeing as they have the advantage of age andpetition arrangement, only one of them will get to fight Helios. The second one won''t be able to fight Helios after he is killed.


    "Brother, how about you let me go?" The female one asked.


    Her brother wasn''t listening, he had already started walking forward. He shouted grandly, "I Tyke the demigod of the great god of the sky and tempest shall fight and vanquish the demigod of the sun god in a spectacr disy of heroic feat."


    His deration led to cheers from the crowd. He marched with confidence to the first level. He flexed his muscles and waved his purple hair about. He got there before Helios. Helios passed by his fuming sister who felt cheated.


    He said to her in passing, "You lucky duck."


    Tane sneered at him. "You will be dead soon."


    It was until he had gone ahead that she thought about what he said to her. She hadn''t been listening to what he said. She thought he was making fun of her or calling her names so she retaliated with what she said.


    "What does he mean by I''m lucky?"


    But now that the meaning of what he said settled in she couldn''t help but be confused. If anything, she is unlucky in not getting to fulfill a heroic feat and have one for her heroic journey. She gave up on the thought very quickly when she couldn''t figure out what he meant. Demigods of the sky god are just like their father, they aren''t much thinkers.


    It is an adaptation that speeds up decision-making in their minds so that they can make quick decisions when they are in the form of lightning and are moving really fast. They have been made to make quick on the fly decisions that rely more on their Instincts and reflex rather than careful nning or else they will be knocking into things because they can''t turn when they ought to.


    The god of conflicts took his job as the observer very seriously. He scanned the two fighters and made sure that none of them are carrying contraband of any kind. Then he swept his divine power over their bodies and locked down all of their runes. They won''t be able to activate any runes that they have on them. The sanctity of a heroic feat has to be kept at a high standard so that it won''t be disqualified.

 Chapter 314 The Betting Pool.

    ?The god of conflict discovered something interesting about Helios when he tried to lockdown his runes. He kept a straight face while muttering to himself, ''Interesting, very Interesting.''


    He announced to everyone. "I proim these two ready for the battle to the death."


    The two fighters were escorted to the fighting ring amidst cheering and praises. People began to bet, even the gods. While the people were betting on wealth, the gods were betting on what really mattered, which is entertainment and luxury.


    "I bet my prized golden talon fish-bird that the sky god wins."


    "I bet by golden Apple that can give any mortal eternal life as long as they don''t eat any type of apple in their life"


    "I bet my prized tree of power that produces power fruit on that Tyke fellow. He has a good character. I believe his character will allow him to win."


    "I bet the Godhood of a low god on the demigod of the sky god. Your divine lords can be official gods with it."


    They are all betting that Tyke would win. Some of them don''t want to offend the sun god so they cooked up some reason like Tyke''s character for why they are betting on him. The sun god doesn''t mind anyway. He isn''t willing to bet. He had tricked the sky god into making this happen but it is only to even the ying field. He still doesn''t have full faith in Helios. He can''t help it, Helios is just toozy.


    The absence of the Rune weapons means Tyke won''t be able to use his thunder hammer. Which means he won''t be able to break Helios''s strong body. Tyke will still have his speed advantage so anything can happen. The fight could go both ways so Stelios isn''t willing to bet, but things rarely go your way.


    The angel of the sky god that was talking earlier shouted his bet out as if to let everyone know.


    "The sky god is betting 3 cores that once belonged to the demigods of the sun god."


    The mortals didn''t hear what the angel said. They continued betting amongst themselves as if they heard nothing, which of course is true. If they had heard that statement, then they might be coteral damage as a result of the sh of the sun and the sky god. The angel had the good sense to leave the mortals out of this issue.


    Even Staniel became worried when he heard what the angel said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''This isn''t going to end well.'' he said to himself.


    The three cores that the sky god is betting might be worth a lot to mortals but they aren''t worth much financial value to gods. The problem is that they used to belong to demigods of the sun god and one doesn''t just offer their mana core to another person for safekeeping no matter how much you trust that person.


    The only way a person will give up their mana core is if it is dug out of them forcefully or if you kill them, then dig it out of their corpse. So while it is worth a pittance financially, it is worth a lot of bragging rights to a god and a lot of trouble to a mortal. It is proof that the demigods of the sky god beat those of the sun god three times over. It is an honorable achievement to the sky god but a disgrace to the sun god.


    Now the sun god can raise his nose and refuse to be bothered by the obvious taunting. Or he can take the bait and bet something so that he can recover the three cores if Helios wins. Or maybe, he should escte the matter by betting with something that is sure to embarrass the sky god. The third option will give him pleasure regardless of the oue of Helios'' fight.


    "Fine. I offer the head of one stupid demigod of the sky god that suddenly found its way to my doorstep."


    The sun god took the bait and he offered something really tantalizing. He even showed the head in question to prove the authenticity of his bet. He disyed the preserved head of a giant with blue skin and a painful grimace. Now, no one can say he is making it up.


    Now the gods in attendance became worried. The sun god has practically dug up a buried hatchet and is sharpening it for battle. He dug up the corpse of a previous war and his unting it figuratively and literally.


    At the height of a particrly nasty time in the history of the conflict between the two grand gods, a very shining demigod of the sky god rose to glory. He had a lot of heroic feats and for his twelfth feat that will guarantee him Godhood, he decided to draw the blood of the sun god.


    He challenged the sun god in a duel under the rites of heroic passage. The sun god was to battle him while suppressing his strength. That demigod only needs to draw blood to win and acquire his twelfth heroic feat.


    Unfortunately, he lost to the sun god and he paid for the failure with his life. The sun god didn''t need to kill him. In fact, killing a demigod that challenges a god is frowned upon because it will deter other demigods from doing stupid shit like that. The sun god killed the pompous but entertaining fool and robbed the other gods of his entertainment value.


    It caused a huge rift between the two gods considering that the demigod only needed one more heroic feat to attain Godhood. Odds are he will be granted one anyway since he was such an entertaining fellow. Even worse is that the sun god refused to give up the body. It lead to a divine war that ended when the sun god gave up the core and the body of the demigod while receiving a lot of benefits.

 Chapter 315 Trickery.

    ?Stelios received a lot of benefits for returning the body of the demigod but he never did return the head. Back then, when he was asked about the head of the demigod, Stelios had said that he destroyed it.


    Now he is betting the head of a demigod of the sky god. What are the odds that it belongs to another demigod? Practically none. The sky god has a lot of kids but not many of them have winded up on the doorstep of the sun god and left their heads behind for safekeeping.


    Staniel groaned when he saw the head that the sun god disyed for his item.


    "He clearly didn''t put much effort into his excuse for having it. If he had said that he found it on the roadside, it would have been a better excuse than it showing up on his doorstep."


    This time he shared his misgivings out loud with his siblings around him.


    "How many of us will die this time if a divine war breaks out?"


    "That nasty fellow. He could have just gone after a lesser god or a god of cooking. Now he is still troubling us in his death."


    "A divine war is good. Things have been boringtely."


    They began chatting enthusiastically about the ensuing conflict. This is not the first time that war has been dered and some of them are looking forward to it. The reality of divine war became a lot more real when the grand god of the sky and tempest manifested as an avatar and descended from the sky into the midst of the gods. He didn''t create sand storms or winds or thunder. His actions were silent, calm but brooding.


    He nodded at the sun god, "Stelios."


    The sun god nodded back, "Harkam."


    The


    Harkam the sky god took a look around the party and spoke. "Nice party. It is not great, but it is nice."


    Stelios replied, "It was better before you arrived."


    Harkam red at him, "I knew that I would enjoy this but now I know that I will enjoy it even better. I want to be here to see your face when another of your demigod gets smashed to bits by one from my lineage. Then I want to see the regret for this stunt that you just pulled."


    Stelios red back, "It wouldn''tpare to how you looked when I killed that stupid showboater. What was his name again? I think it was asshead."


    "It was Pitran and you know it," Harkam yelled at him.


    Staniel almost cursed where he is sitting among the demigods, "Why did you have to bring up his name? Now we are fighting for sure."


    It is one thing to have a nameless head. People can ignore it. But to name it is to draw purpose to that head. Now the head can''t be ignored, and neither can they pretend not to know who the head belongs to in the future.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Every god and divine lord can see that it is the calm before the storm that they are experiencing but no one stepped forth to stop it. Even when the two opposing gods calmly began betting with more important things of actual value, no one went forward to stop them. What fun is there in that? Eternal life can be boring without some action here and there. What''s the worst that will happen? Some mortals and demigods will die because of a divine war. Their death will be worth it.


    Helios and Tyke got into the stage after their preparations. They have pulled off their robes and are only wearing a cloth tied around their waists. Tyke stood 18 meters tall. If not for the boosts that Helios is experiencing which put him at 15m, he would be way too shortpared to his opponent.


    Their bodies have been bared, showing the tattoos they have. People could see the various tattoos that Tyke has. They were in awe of the intricate workmanship of his runes. A Stigmata is a beautiful piece of art. It is the will of God enforced with not only divine power but the Order of the world.


    Helios on the other hand made people scratch their heads in confusion. Either there are no tattoos on his body or he has invisible ones. The stigmata that Stelios is marking on his body aren''tpleted yet so it isn''t showing on his body.


    A god spoke his thoughts out loud, "Either he doesn''t have any runes or he has one in his crotch that we can see."


    As a god, this entity has eliminated the invisible tattoos theory because no tattoo can be invisible under the true sight of a god.


    A lot of them were confused. It was the sky god that found the answer first. He came to the simplest answer pretty quickly no matter how unreasonable it may seem.


    He screamed and pointed at Stelios."You tricked me. He doesn''t have any runes."


    The simplest answer is probably the right answer. If there''s someone very good at arriving at the simplest answer it is the sky god. Complicated answers might be beyond his reach, but the simple ones are his forte. It may be a little toote now though.


    Stelios pped grandly, "Congrattions Harkam. Ever the quick thinker." He said with a voice dripping with sarcasm.


    Harkam turned away from Stelios and focused on the fight. ''It''s okay. Tyke is 50 years old. That shrimp of a boy is only 20 years old. There''s no way Tyke will lose."


    Tyke is also confused after checking out his opponent. So he asked Helios, "Why don''t you have a rune?"


    Helios replied. "What does having a Rune matter? We can''t use it anyway."


    "You''re going down," Tyke growled as they circled each other.


    They prowled and stalked each other like predators rearing to engage in a fight for dominance. Such fights are usually violent and deserve a serious atmosphere but one of the predators doesn''t think so.


    "This is so good. There''s even banter. I think I''m supposed to say, ''It is you that will be going down."


    Helios'' cheery voice ruined the solemn atmosphere.

 Chapter 316 Signs Of Stupidity.

    ?Tyke became even more confused. "What are you talking about?"


    He didn''t finish that question before Helios lunged for him. Tyke was startled by the sudden movement. He stepped back on reflex and Helios missed.


    "You''re dishonorable," Tyke shouted as he evaded Helios.


    He is faster than Helios so he can always avoid Helios'' attempts to make contact. Helios is on the offensive but all his attempts have been futile. He can''t get a grip on his opponent. Still, he wasn''t flustered.


    "And you''re stupid," Helios said with a grin.


    He roared at Helios, "I am not stupid."


    "Then why did I call you stupid? I can''t be mistaken. You have all the signs of stupidity."


    Tyke''s voice got even louder. "Shut up."


    Helios smirked. "You see why I said you''re stupid. You''re supposed to make me shut up not ask me nicely like a stupid boy."


    His continuousment on Tyke''s intelligence finally got to him. He attacked Helios with a punch in a bid to shut his opponent up. His movement was fluid, smooth, and fast. There was no wastage in movement at all. He has an instinctual ability to move quickly and efficiently too. It is an indication of progress in mastering momentum.


    Tyke is disying the weapon form, the ability to move your body in the best way to maximize the use of your weapon. In this case, his weapon is his fist. All demigods of the sky god have it. It is one of the benefits of moving without thinking, it is practically an instinct for them.


    Helios grabbed his opponent''s hand and pulled him in. He had seen the attack before it was made. He saw the change in Tyke''s expression that indicated a decision to attack. The shift in Tyke''s posture and shoulders telegraphed his chosen method of attack. But Helios wasn''t going to underestimate his opponent. The attack could be a feint. He would be fooled if he mistakenly takes it as a real attack.


    That''s why he decided to turn the attack, whatever it is, into a real but shoddy attack. His pull on Tyke''s hand was more of a jerk. Tyke was pulled off bnce. He fell forward while trying to shift his posture and get his hand forward to stop his fall. It was then that his face came in contact with Helios'' knee.


    Such intimate contact is not pleasant to experience. His nose broke as his head was knocked back. It disoriented him for a bit. He couldn''t recover before he received another blow to his face. Helios had taken advantage of his moment of vulnerability and punched him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It felt like he struck his head against a mountain. His head was returning to its normal position after being kneeled in the face when that punch hit it and pushed it back into its previous painful and unnatural position. The bones of his spine squeaked in protest as they bore the brunt of the damage. The flesh of his face spilled open like spoilt fruit but the ordeal isn''t over yet.


    Helios grabbed Tyke''s hand with his two hands and threw him over his shoulders. Hended with an impact that shook the stage. Then Helios picked him up again and threw him around like a sack of produce. Each impact on the stage dealt heavy blunt damage to Tyke''s body.


    Sadly, no one could hear the sound of flesh being traumatized brutally because of the sound of cheering. The spectating crowd was going wide with glee. They were shouting and getting their throats hoarse with it. They were chanting the name of the demigod of the sun god. The gods were also cheering for him. Even the ones that ced their bets on Tyke were excited. There''s nothing more exciting than watching an underdog create an upstart. It is especially exciting when it is the smaller guy throwing the bigger guy around. Each contact of Tyke''s face against the ground thrilled them.


    The sun god was shocked by the disy but he showed a smug smile opposite to the grim look on Harkam''s face.


    Harkam couldn''t take it anymore, "Stop it. I call for an intervention."


    Helios was frozen in the midst of throwing Tyke around. He became stuck trying to m his opponent on the ground. His opponent whom he was forcing to make intimate contact with the ground also froze in the air with blood leaking from his broken lips, smashed nose, and swollen face. The drops of blood forcefully evicted from Tyke''s body froze in the air like shiny purple pearls.


    Everyone turned to the Observer. He was the one that froze the match and it is his job to resolve this issue and resume the fight.


    The god of conflict asked Harkam. "On what grounds?"


    Harkam answered with an aggrieved tone. "I was tricked, the boy doesn''t have any runes."


    "Dismissed. You chose thepetition mode. You can''t change it now that the fight is underway. Do you have any other reason?"


    The god of conflict was supposed to resume the fight immediately since Harkam''s im for divine intervention was dismissed. Each patron of the parties involved in a challenge like this has a single opportunity for divine intervention. But he gave Harkam another opportunity in the hopes that the fight will be more interesting.


    Harkam struggled to find something to say that will make things go in his favor. He was finding it hard toe up with one. He felt like raging out and causing some damage, maybe killing a few people but he couldn''t. The rules that govern the ways of life of the gods were ced there for a reason which is to entertain the gods.


    The rules have added order to the lives of gods and must be adhered to even if he is a grand god. Breaking a rule will cost him far more than a demigod because the entity that set the rules is not going to take breaking rules lightly. So he has toe up with something that agrees with the rules of engagement and will turn things in his favour.

 Chapter 317 Destiny Has Spoken.

    ?He asked for the thing that usually works for him because he can''te up with something better.


    "I call for the decision of fate through the introduction of an external item."


    It probably won''t work but on the off chance that it did, the situation will move in his favor. There''s practically nothing to lose.


    Most shook their heads in pity. They don''t think the proposal will work even if it passes the judgment of the Observer. Tyke is not in a favorable situation. It will take a lot to change his situation.


    The god of conflict considered the proposal. ''On the one hand, it is a stupid thing to ask for. It won''t help Tyke at all unless he has truly been chosen by fate to survive this fight. I doubt that since the god of fate is such an asshole. On the other hand, it will make the fight more interesting.''


    He nodded his head in approval. "The motion passes. Does the other party ept? If he does, he can specify the external object."


    The sun god considered the situation carefully. Everything is in his favor so he doesn''t need to take a risk. But if he refuses, he will be robbing the other gods of more stakes in their entertainment.


    He made his decision. "I agree and I select the ceremonial de."


    Everyone pped because of his agreement. Things would escte soon enough.


    "The other party has agreed and the external object has been selected. Let the fight resume." The god of conflict dered.


    Helios was made to let go of Tyke. The two of them were separated and made to stand at opposite ends of the stage. A short de was ced in the middle of the stage. The short de will be arge sword for other size-challenged races but it is a short de for giants. Then the two fighters were released.


    Harkam shouted to his son. "Run Tyke. Grab the de. Grab it quickly."


    He was joined by most of the spectators. They all wanted the one losing to gain an edge. Tyke was frozen in mind and soul so he didn''t know what happened. He was about to be mmed on the ground then he found himself suddenly on the ground. It''s not like he was fully aware before he was frozen, getting your head knocked into the ground like a hammer does that to you. The sudden change only made his confusion worse. Still, the voice of his father roused him.


    He struggled to right his vision and stand from his unsightly position on the ground. He rumbled a lot of times but he managed to get up. Then he began running towards the de. The bruises on his body ached, that''s for those that are not bleeding.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    There are a lot of broken bones, internal damage, and external bleeding but he can''t give up. He finally has a chance to turn the situation around and he must take it. Death can motivate you to go above and beyond even when your body is screaming concerns about it just being an inch away from falling apart. He gritted his teeth and moved through the pain.


    The call for the decision of fate through the introduction of an external object usually works for demigods of the sky god because they are the fastest demigods. They usually reach the introduced object first. It is not the same here.


    Helios was aware when he was frozen. It irked him to no end that someone froze his body like that and interfered in his fight but he didn''t show it. Weakness is not a sin, not knowing your position in the hierarchy is a bigger sin. He knows his position as a source of entertainment to the gods because he is weak so he can''t act out. He doesn''t have enough strength to handle them yet. He is also aware of the game that the gods are ying by introducing the de but he is unconcerned about it.


    If there is someone that he has the strength to handle, it is Tyke. Having a de won''t matter. He was willing to fight the twin demigods even with the use of their rune weapons. Stelios'' machinations only reduced the challenge.


    A ceremonial de that isn''t a mana weapon is like giving a handicapped person a cane to stand with. It won''t make the handicapped person suddenly able to run. They will barely be able to walk with it.


    Helios walked slowly while watching Tyke rushing for the de with all his might like a lifeline but what he seeded in doing is limping really fast to the de. He picked up the sword with glee and held it like a dagger. His bruised face was radiant as if he has received liberation. He then prepared himself for Helios.


    He isn''t the only one happy with the situation. Harkam''s face lit up. He raised his hands and shouted, "Destiny has spoken."


    Everyone cheered with him. They raised their voice in excitement and pped. Some even whistled.


    Helios found the sight funny. Both Tyke and Harkam seem ridiculous to him. In fact, all of these seem stupid to him. The gods have created rules that limit them just like thew of order does to the mortals.


    The rules are important of course, considering the influence of gods and their activity on the ne. The gods have been entrenched too much in mortal affairs and if they are allowed to do whatever they want, the mortal realm will suffer drastically. The problem is that their rules have rubbed him the wrong way and that''s something he can''t stand.


    He can''t make fun of the gods or act out yet, so he asked Tyke with a voice dripping with derision. "Can you even use that?"


    Tyke could hardly keep one eye open. The other eye has closed up shop. His mouth is filling up with blood from his bleeding lips. He can''t stand straight or turn his neck quickly. His body aches all over from all the damage. He is in pain so Helios can understand why he isn''t talking to answer his question.

 Chapter 318 A Farce.

    ?"Well thene over. That de won''t stab me from over there." Helios taunted him.


    Tyke considered the distance between them. He indeed needs to get within arm''s reach of Helios, but he isn''t willing to move. Moving is a bit difficult for him right now. He will dly prefer for Helios toe to him. He shook his head slowly to signify his reluctance to move.


    Helios dashed forward the moment he turned his head sideways to execute his slow head shake. Tyke saw himing and wasn''t flustered. He knew he has lost his previous speed and agility. He can''t evade the strike so he readied his weapon and prepared his stance. Then he stabbed forward the de.


    "This is almost no challenge." Helios thought to himself as he sidestepped the attack.


    Tyke tried again with all he has. His hand moved in a blur of motion as he swiped the de toward his opponent. The stab had been a faint but Helios didn''t fall for it. Helios bent down and the de went over his head.


    Then Helios punched him in the belly so that Tyke can finally let go of all the blood he has been umting in his mouth. Blood spurted out of Tyke''s mouth and he bent over in pain. He wasn''t disoriented by the blow, so he saw what Helios did next as clearly as he can with the blurry vision of his one partially open eye.


    Helios stood up, turned, and delivered a roundhouse kick to Tyke''s head. Tyke tried to block with his other hand but it did nothing to lessen the impact. The sole of Helios'' feet mmed into his face and pushed him back. Tyke suddenly found himself flying.


    He fell down and Helios jumped on him before he could get up. He held his neck and began punching his face. His fist met the flesh of Tyke''s face and broke it, then it smashed into the exposed flesh to reveal more of it over and over again. He tenderized his opponent''s face as one will tenderize meat.


    Tyke struggled to resist but he couldn''t push Helios away. He became powerless when more and more blows struck his head. His purple blood spilled everywhere. He groaned in pain and begged for mercy but none heard his strained pleas. The crowd was going wild. The sound they made covered the desperate cries of the doomed demigod.


    "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "Kill him!"


    The crowd is in a frenzy of excitement. They mored for him to kill Tyke. There is purple blood everywhere, on the ground, on the body of both fighters, and more is stilling out. Blood leaked out of Tyke''s face as Helios'' fists sought to level it. He mmed the back of Tyke''s head down on the stage when he became satisfied with his gory work.


    "You hear that, little guy? They want me to kill you." He said to the disoriented Tyke.


    Tyke can''t hear what he is saying. There''s only a buzzing drone in his skull. It could be due to the bursting of his eardrums or all the blood filling his head.


    "I''m going to kill you and I''m going to do it well."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Helios picked up the ceremonial de and held it to Tyke''s throat. His actions riled up the crowd. They cheered more and whistled.


    Then he began to behead the helpless demigod. Except the de isn''t sharp. It can''t break Tyke''s skin. Stelios had agreed to the intervention but he chose a dull de. The de is purely ceremonial and can''t hurt a mana entity because it is made of materials fitting for those of vitality core stage refiners since any mana equipment will break around giants of order. The de should be useless no matter whose hands it fell in. Stelios was protecting his interest.


    Helios became increasingly angry. The fury that he had been burying within him began to boil. "This whole thing is a farce."


    He stopped trying to behead the incapacitated demigod. Instead, he ced the de into Tyke''s mouth. Tyke couldn''t resist no matter how much Harkam shouted for him to do so. Helios held his head and ced it on the ground. Then he smashed the prone head with his foot. The de pierced the defenses of Tyke''s mouth and went into his neck.


    It is then that Tyke began struggling more and more but Helios held him down while using the ground to push the de farther in. Death ising to his opponent and he had brought about that death through the work of his hands. He should feel satisfied, but through it all, he only felt anger.


    ''I am not happy.''


    He was eager to fight and was enjoying himself when it started despite what Stelios did but now it has be a chore. That nonsense with the intervention ruined the experience for him.


    ''Someone has died. And for what?''


    Helios has no problem with killing. Either for his pleasure or for actual benefits. Ending someone''s life is the right of the strong. The weak have no choice but to die. But here he is, the victor of a Deathmatch, unhappy with his victory. The fight that he was looking forward to became a game because of some rules. He killed Tyke not because of his amusement, but for the entertainment of the gods.


    The de finally finished its gory work. Tyke stopped struggling as he is embraced by death. His broken and disfigured arms flopped uselessly by his side. His legs twitch asionally but he is surely dead. Helios raised his bloody hands to the cheers of the crowd.


    ''Enjoy it while you can. The day of reckoning wille soon.'' he thought to himself as he smiled.


    He has be an entertainer for all these people, mortals and divine alike. He fought and killed for their pleasure, not his. He believes everyone has the right to do whatever they want. He wouldn''t mind unless their actions are against his interest. Their actions have vexed him and they must be prepared to pay the price.

 Chapter 319 Know Your Place.

    ?He has be an entertainer for all these people, mortals and divine alike. He fought and killed for their pleasure, not his. He believes everyone has the right to do whatever they want. He wouldn''t mind unless their actions are against his interest. He was interested in a fight to enjoy himself after being cooked up his ce for years but their rules robbed him of his excitement. He didn''t allow thew of Order to restrict him nor will he allow the rules of the gods to bind him.


    ''I will bring fire and chaos to you. I will be the spark of chaos that will bring change. I will give you the opportunity to better yourself. It will be up to you if you will burn or be stronger for it.'' He promised silently.


    He took Tyke''s body and began dragging it away. It is his spoil of war. They already robbed him of the pleasure of killing Tyke. They won''t rob him of the opportunity to research the mana core of a demigod and the runes on his body.


    Stelios began tough. "Who would have thought that the weapon I selected helped in killing your demigod."


    Harkam remained silent.


    The god of conflict coughed before adding in. "Yes, how creative. That Helios boy has some talent. What do you think about the fight Harkam?"


    The god of the sky and tempest red at the god of conflict. His electric eyes promised gruesome acts of violence to the god of conflict if he so much as said another word. He has lost a lot today both in terms of respect which he lost because of the fight and actual financial power which he lost in the betting. He is trigger-ready, just looking for someone to take out his anger on. Unfortunately, the god of conflict suddenly became mute. He turned to his remaining demigod when he was satisfied with his target''s silence.


    "Let''s go."


    Then he transformed into lightning-infused dust wind and disappeared into the sky. The two angels transformed too and lifted Tanya up into the skies and into the divine ne.


    The god of conflictughed awkwardly after the sky god left. "Harkam was right. Your celebration was just nice. It wasn''t great. But the fight made it great. For that we have him to thank."


    He antagonized the sky god earlier, now he is antagonizing the sun god in Harkam''s absence. It is just his nature to fan the mes of dispute.


    The sun god replied icily. "Maybe. But it isn''t something I should be hearing from you. We are not that close."


    "My apologies Ancient Sun. I overstepped. You have a genius for a demigod. He took after you."


    The high god of conflict hurriedly apologized for hisment and returned to socialize with the other gods.


    For a moment there he forgot that the power granted to him as an observer due to the rules has run out. He isn''t an Observer anymore. A high god cannot say whatever he wants to a grand god especially if that grand god is the sun god. It isn''t only the sky god that is quick to anger. The sun res up all the time too. So he apologized and left quickly.


    Everyone was having a good time. The celebration was epic. A demigod died in a gruesome fight. Gods antagonized each other. Bets were ced. Some won and some lost. But they were all happy. All except Helios the celebrant.


    He carried the mangled corpse of his foe on his shoulder as he returned to his quarters. He has blood all over his body and more is still leaking out from his dead foe. The purple blood forms a stark contrast against his orange skin but he doesn''t care about that. His face is rigid and unsmiling.


    "Can I help you with that?" Hak asked with concern.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "No, I''m fine."


    Hak tried again. "Maybe one of your guards should help."


    "I said I''m fine."


    Hak nodded. "Nice fight you had out there. I didn''t think you would win."


    "You thought I would die?" Helios asked.


    "I didn''t think you would die. Your body is too strong for your age and he is merely faster than you. I thought it would be two children brawling messily since there won''t be any Rune weapons."


    "You were wrong."


    "Yes, I was wrong. Things escted quickly. It was still messy but it wasn''t a brawl. It was a death match and it was glorious. How did you be so good at fighting? You''re just a kid." Hak asked.


    Helios scoffed. "Just a kid."


    Being referred to as just a kid amuses him. He thought back to all he has experienced and he shook his head. These people stand before greatness but don''t recognize it. They think of him as a child and just a child.


    It is understandable why his performance came to Hak as a shock. Giants of Order are not blessed with powerful minds. It is most likely because of thew fragments in their bodies. It affects their brain too and makes learning difficult for them. A 50-year-old giant of order is a kid and has the mindset of a child. A matured giant of order is at least several hundred years old.


    Hak continued to speak with excitement. "I know that Demigods are smarter than normal but no demigod 20 years of age can do what I saw today."


    "I told you I''m a genius," Helios replied.


    "You must have been blessed with more intelligence from the sun god. Praise be to the sun god." Now Hak''s eyes are aglow with worship for his god.


    Helios rolled his eyes and said, "It has to be that. What other reason can it be?"


    It is the norm among religious people to attribute pleasant urrences to gods and unpleasant things to tests from gods or demonic acts. It is why Hak is attributing his astounding behavior to the blessings of the sun god. He isn''t even being given credit for his outstanding performance in entertaining them. It is like adding insult to injury.

 Chapter 320 The Tune Of Violence.

    ?He was forced to have this celebration because giants of Order are set in their ways. He doesn''t mind that. They can have a celebration if they want to have a celebration. But they forced him to attend. That''s already bad enough. Then they took the one thing that could have made the event pleasant for him. They turned him into a performer for them and now someone is even saying his performance is not because of his efforts.


    It is one thing after the other. It is an insult upon insult and injury upon injury, but he can''t do anything but sulk. He will make them pay. He will usher in pain and suffering to them. He will break open the gates of hell. Their whole world wille crashing down. They will all dance to the tune of violence that he will y for them. Then he will see how much fun they are having with it.


    Hak proimed, totally oblivious to the raging emotions within Helios, "Your victory calls for a celebration."


    "No more celebrations. I just want to perform my rune research in peace." Helios disagreed quickly.


    He has had enough of celebrations.


    "I don''t care about you. I mean me. I''ll have my own private celebration. Have some friends over. Eat something nice like that portion of meat from the divine stag that I received two hundred years ago. I''ll make some offerings to the sun god. I''ll..."


    Helios ignored Hak as he began nning his own party. He chose to focus on his future ns. His most important n is to master Runes to the limit of what he can achieve. Something that can imitate creation is at the top of the list of important things to Legion.


    Then he must master thew of order.


    ''I can''t wait to see what will happen when Ibine thew of order with rune making.'' He thought wistfully.


    Rune-making is already powerful as an imitation of creation bybining thew fragments of order with divine energy. Thebination of the truew of order with divine energy is sure to create something more powerful. So he is looking forward to it.


    He entered his study room with enthusiasm. There are drawings littered everywhere. He shoved the ones on the table aside and ced Tyke''s body on the table.


    ''I''ll see what I can get done before I sh with the gods.'' he said as he began to work on it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He ns to dissect this body and examine each part of it. Then run some experiments on rune making and the behavior of fragments of order. Tyke''s body and the divine crystals he has will help him further his knowledge and understanding of runes. But he is bound to run out of divine power to use. He can make bets or try to earn some, but there''s a much better way to have a constant supply of divine energy. He can just kidnap a god and then use that god as fuel for his needs.


    Kidnapping a god won''t be easy. But a sh with the gods is unavoidable. Apart from the possible enhancement that runes will undergo if he uses thew of order instead of fragments, there''s also another way of possible enhancement through the use of divine Authority instead of divine energy gotten from it. All of these are in the interest of Legion to discover the nature of the authorities of gods.


    Hadrick has given Soverick the results of his analysis of Godhood and Soverick has also done further analysis with his new and improved eyes. The second awakening of the Eyes of Heaven exposed some interesting things about the world. But Soverick has done his best. It is Helios'' turn to do something about it. Helios has a ne full of gods after all, while Soverick ended the era of gods in his ne and destroyed the divine ne. So it is more conducive for him to make the necessary experiments regarding Authority.


    The gods might be full of themselves but Helios thinks of them as research material that he can''t get yet. He just needs enough strength and he will be able to gut them for pleasure or for research just like he is doing to Tyke''s body. It is a tall order but he won''t be alone in this endeavor. Help is on the way from two other clones of Legion.


    80 Years After.


    Helios is standing outside of Stelios'' throne room for a meeting. The throne room is one of the ces where Stelios keeps an avatar constantly. So it is the one sure ce where anyone that wants to see the sun god can meet him. That surety doesn''t exist in any other ce in the mortal realm. Even prayer is a long shot at meeting with a god spiritually or not.


    Helios doesn''t want to be here because he doesn''t want to meet the sun god. The sun god called for him. And since the sun god''s word is thew around here, Helios has to be here no matter what he is doing before.


    ''He is even dying me. Does he have no sense of punctuality? What a pompous prick.'' He grumbled quietly.


    The closest guard to him turned to him in suspicion. He probably thought Helios was talking to him. Helios ignored him and continued staring into space.


    Being a demigod has not been easy on him. His current life has been grating on him for a long while. He might as well be a prisoner. He isn''t in control of his life at all. A pompous prick that calls himself a grand god can just request for his presence anytime. Either he drops everything he is doing and answers the call or the sun godes to him and drags him away. It has happened before. He refused the call for a meeting and Stelios opened a portal in his location and pulled him into it for the meeting.

 Chapter 321 Bow To Your Father.

    ?He frankly prefers to be dragged to a meeting. If Stelios wants to see him so badly then he should work for it. But he has been making strides in Rune making and he doesn''t want Stelios to be aware of it. That''s why he is here and why Stelios is taking him for granted by making him wait. You don''t treasure something if it is readily avable.


    He is still working on rune making, but not the garbage that the giants of order call runes. He isn''t mentally handicapped like them so it is natural that he makes progress beyond what they considermon sense. Some might say that he has mastered the current field of rune-making and achieved more in record time but he isn''t impressed yet.


    ''I''ll be impressed when I crack whatever Stelios is up to.'' he thought to himself.


    He didn''t grumble this time. He doesn''t want to risk "spheming The Sun God." The punishment for that is a beheading. The punishment isn''t severe for a demigod but he will still be punished. He learned his lesson thest time he did it.


    He was asked to sweep and wash the stones of thergest pyramid in the city all because he said that religion is the most responsible for the wars and conflicts going on in the ne. It is the truth and he wasn''t even targeting the sun god. Things escted when Hak asked him if the sun god is also part of the reason for wars and he answered in the affirmative.


    The time he wasted on the effort is punishment enough. The punishment dyed his research. He would have preferred something painful, which he asked for, but Hak maintained that the body of a demigod is sacred and mustn''t be sphemed either. So he learned his lesson that mouthing off is part of acting out and it is a bad idea when you''re up against enemies much stronger than you. So heid low while concentrating on his rune-making.


    He seeded in discovering the application of concepts to create phenomena with runes instead of objects that giants of Order are limited to. He even cracked the secret of stigmata and just like everyone says, the secret of stigmata is divine will. But he still can''t fully crack the Stigmata that Stelios is carving on his body.


    The will of a god is the refined will of thousands if not millions of people. Helios found it too difficult to crack on his own just like he couldn''t crack the fragments of Order on his own when he was still a fetus. He would be able to if he has a stronger will or the assistance of soul force but his body is not strong enough to allow soul force. He doesn''t have a body like Legion-3 that has been warped by chaos energy.


    Speaking of body, he has made a lot of progress over the years in terms of refinement.


    NAME: Helios (Legion-4)


    TITLE: Child Of The Virut ne.


    RACE: Giant Of Order.


    BLOODLINE: Sunfire Royal bloodline.


    POWER LEVEL (BODY): Mana Body (Complete)


    POWER LEVEL (SOUL): Soul Reformation (Complete)


    PHYSIQUE: Half-Divine Body


    HP: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    ENERGY LEVEL (BODY ): Mana


    ENERGY LEVEL (SOUL): Spiritual Energy


    VITALITY: 2911


    ENDURANCE: 3022<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    STRENGTH: 3242


    AGILITY: 1001


    PERCEPTION: 1,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 3000


    LIMITER (BODY): 80%


    LIMITER (SOUL): 0.000003%


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 300(B)


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 100%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): FIRE (DIVINE), LIGHT (DIVINE), ORDER (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Angry and Bitter.


    He has grown stronger over the past 80 years. His height has increased to 30 meters at baseline while his maximum boost gives him an extra 10 meters. His body has reached 3 times the maximum stats of a mana entity. Only his speed refused to bulge. This sort of growth is very abnormal for his age.


    A giant of order can grow to 4 times the maximum of a normal mana entity but it will take thousands of years. They don''t have a supply of unlimited mana that can shorten that time and so have to stick to passively absorbing mana from the environment which has a low concentration of it because of the numerous Origin cycles of relentless absorption.


    He shortened the time needed for his growth from three thousand years to a hundred years thanks to that special title of the child of the in. He ns to wait to reach the limit which should be another 100 years. It also aligns with Legion''s n.


    "You maye in." The sun god''s voice rang out from inside the throne room.


    The door of the throne room changed from being a solid object into a translucent barrier. Helios passed through the barrier at the entrance and found himself in a void. The void is empty, containing nothing except for the pathway that one can stand on. It will also be dark if not for the small star waiting at the end of the pathway.


    Helios walked along the pathway until he stood beneath the star. Then he knelt and bowed his head solemnly.


    He spoke. "You called for me, father."


    He doesn''t want to bow to what he considers a lesser being, even if that being is supposed to be his father, but unfortunately, he has to. He isn''t Soverick living under weak epting parents. Fortunately, things aren''t so bad like the situation of Legion-5 with a merciless tyrant for a father so things aren''t that bad either.


    If he can sacrifice his life for the good of Legion then he can bow to a grand god no matter how much he loathes the act. Strength is absolute. He doesn''t have enough strength, so he must bow. If he meets a world god, will he not bow? The opinion of the weak doesn''t matter. Everyone can do whatever they want. If you''re strong, then you can do whatever you want to a weaker person. It is the order of the world.

 Chapter 322 Child Of The Sun.

    ?Stelios replied to Helios'' greeting.


    "Yes, I called to speak to you about some urgent matters." The sun god''s voice came through the star.


    You would think that Stelios is a star but no, he is not. Helios knows enough to determine that he is just making himself look like a star. The two of them are very different. If Stelios were a celestial god, then he would have a shot at being a star. A star is a Celestial entity that turns Origin gods, no matter how crazy like Guntu, into ashes. Stelios is far from the power of such an entity. He is just posing grandly but Helios isn''t impressed.


    ''If it were urgent then you would havee to me immediately and you wouldn''t have let me wait outside your throne room like some unwee suitor.'' Helios doesn''t agree with Stelios at all on the urgency of the discussion but he chose wisely to keep it to himself.


    His opinion was proven right when Stelios began to scan his body with his divine sense. Stelios just wanted him here, close by for his routine thorough scan.


    He spoke after assessing Helios'' body. "You have be strong in an unprecedented fashion. You have even created your rune. It is fine work too."


    The strength of his body didn''t escape Stelios'' search neither did his newlypleted rune. His entire body except for a small circr area on his back is covered with golden intricate tattoos drawn with characters lesser than a millimeter in size packed together.


    Even Stelios knows enough to tell that it is fine work. Helios would call it the peak of rune making but he isn''t one to toot his horns. He can''t be giddy about this sess when he still hasn''t cracked Stelios'' Stigmata. He has to admit that Stelios might be very good with runes.


    A Stigmata is made with both knowledge and divine will. Since he has mastered the knowledge, he knows how the Stigmata works but not what it wants to do. The Stigmata that Stelios is drawing on his back is a sort of gate like that of Staniel''s portal rune. It connects Helios''s body to an unknown dimension.


    He knows all of that but he doesn''t know where it connects to and how to trigger the stigmata to work. That''s the part obscured by the divine will. He has put in some failsafe to siphon the energy of the portal to dy its activation for now. That''s all he can do for now. He can block the portal when he bes a transcendent but it isn''t time for that yet.


    Stelios spoke after admiring the rune for a while.


    "It is a fine work indeed. Your skills for rune making are top-notch."


    He liked the rune more the more he examined it and felt impressed that Helios has been able to achieve so much in short a short time.


    "My theoretical knowledge may be top-notch but my practical ability is stillcking. It took me years to do something that would have taken other Rune masters days to do." Helios said humbly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You are young so it is normal. What is the name of the rune and what does it do?" Stelios asked.


    "I call it the child of the sun. It allows me to use the power of the sun core better." Helios replied.


    Stelios chuckled. "You''re so entric. You didn''t create a weapon but instead tried to use your core with your body. You could have waited to be a transcendent. You would have been able to achieve it then without wasting your space for runes."


    He exined. "I want to confirm something for my research and need to achieve this now."


    He wasn''t lying. He just isn''t telling the sun god that he invented evolvable runes that will be powerful when he bes a transcendent and will continue to grow till he bes a titan ofw. The rune is a concept in the making. It just needsws and energy. This will ensure that it doesn''t be obsolete. Unlike other giants of order that don''t worry about that since they can''t go past transcendence, he has a promising future.


    "The first agenda for this meeting is toplete your Stigmata. It has been many years since I started and it is almostplete. Turn your back to me." Stelios said.


    Helios did as he was told. The sun god got to work immediately on the Stigmata. His divine sense attached to Helios''s back and began etching runes with his divine energy. It is a painful process but Helios was stoic throughout the process.


    The marking of the Stigmata began when he was 10 years old, so he is already used to the process. Stelios usually calls him every ten years to write a portion of the stigmata. This will be the tenth and final addition to the Stigmata.


    Stelios finallypleted the stigmata so the free circr space on his back became tattoed with the image of the sun. The image is so vivid and life-like that it is actually moving. The tentacles attached to the round star are waving up and down. Helios was shocked and very impressed.


    He asked Stelios, "This is strange, I haven''t seen this type of rune before. What does it do, father?"


    He has never seen this Stigmata on other divine lords who used to be demigods of the sun god. Demigods of the sun usually get the star bow on their 10th birthday. The second rune for their 20th is up to them but Stelios didn''t give him the Star bow. He has enough justification to be curious and question the sun god without appearing suspicious.


    "I call it the Hand of the Sun God. It is the fruit of my research. With it, you can call for assistance and I can bestow divine power on you. The amount you can handle is dependent on how much you can take. With it with you, you will always have my assistance." Stelios'' voice was full of pride.

 Chapter 323 Nothing To Worry About.

    ?"Thank you, father. I don''t deserve it." Helios bowed and said with appreciation.


    "It is a life preservation method. A son deserves to be protected by his father."


    "Will I be in any danger soon?" Helios asked.


    He hasn''t ever gone out of the innermost city of the sun since he was brought here as a baby. There has been nothing to protect him from. So why will need a life-preservation method?


    "Well, there is. There''s an opportunity for a heroic feat in the mortal realm. An ant queen is about to evolve to be a demigod. From there it will be a god. You are to kill it before it bes a demigod." Stelios answered.


    "I assume there will others there to im this heroic feat."


    "Yes, there will. A single person cannot take on the colony. So the news was announced. There will certainly be danger."


    A heroic feat is a very valuable thing to demigods. They will swarm a heroic quest as soon as it bes avable. Normally, news of heroic quests is kept secret and hoarded but in this situation, a single demigod cannot take on an ant colony so the news was made known to the public for more demigods to take on the colony and ensure thepletion of the heroic quest. Such news makes demigods happy.


    But Helios isn''t happy. "Maybe I shouldn''t go if it''s so dangerous enough for you to give me such a powerful Stigmata. I''ll rather stay here and do research. Besides, you already have a lot of divine lords. There''s no need for me to risk my life."


    Heroic quests and the feats they reward with are not valuable to Helios. He doesn''t care about made-up things used by gods to entertain themselves.


    The sun god sighed. "With dangeres rewards. If you acquire the heroic feat, I''ll grant you a sun core."


    Helios'' dull eyes lit up at that promise of a sun core.


    "I will go to the ends of the mortal ne and do everything I can possibly do to acquire that heroic feat." Helios pped his chest and promised grandly.


    Stelios was satisfied with his enthusiasm even though it is motivated by something else. He knows that Helios would probably not try his best unless incentivized. It has been known that Helios won''t do anything you ask him without offering him something in exchange.


    A heroic feat might seem big to another just like a first rune weapon is but Helios is someone that doesn''t care about those things. He might be a fake father but that doesn''t mean he doesn''t care about Helios. He cares and also tries to get to know his adopted son. So he knows Helios'' ticks and entricities.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "That''s good to hear. You may go. I wish you sess."


    Helios saluted once before he returned to the exit. Then he left the throne room. Stelios watched him go with mild amusement and curiosity. He understood that Helios isn''t like other giants of order. That''s the reason why he chose to adopt him. Helios is smarter and stronger than giants of Order his age. That fight 80 years ago where he pummeled Tyke is still vivid in his memory.


    Helios is also weird. There are some things that giants consider normal that he will balk at and refuse to ept. It was because of his refusal to get a rune weapon that made Stelios trick Harkam.


    Helios continued to refuse a rune. He still didn''t get one during the third private ceremony to celebrate his third star. He was supposed to have the mark of the family but he refused to get one no matter how his siblings, the divine lords tried to convince him. Even bribes didn''t work at that time.


    Helios finally got his runes after many years. Stelios doesn''t consider himself a fool. There has to be something special about the runes that Helios finally chose after years of refusal. Either that or Helios is just some ordinary boy throwing a tantrum. Since Helios is not a stupid child, Stelios suspects that Helios is hiding the true purpose of the rune from him.


    The little Helios mentioned of its purpose is already amazing so the rest of it must be spectacr. Stelios didn''t push for more because it doesn''t matter if Helios is hiding something from him.


    He is not concerned because smart or not, what can a child do to harm an entity numerous Origin cycles old? Even if that were possible, what can a mortal ever do to harm a god? If that is possible too, what can a mortal do to harm a grand god? That bes even more unlikely because he is no ordinary grand god. He is the ancient grand god so he has nothing to worry about from a child that he watched being given birth to.


    "I''ll see it soon. He has to disy it." Stelios said in anticipation.


    Stelios was forced to make Helios join in this heroic quest. He also doesn''t want to endanger Helios in any way and risk losing his investment. He had to ept it and he didn''t brood for long because the quest will help him achieve a lot of things.


    He will get to see Helios use his Rune and he might get to see Helios use the Stigmata too. The stigmata will ensure that Helios remains safe and win if he uses it. The sun core he is offering will ensure that Helios tries his all to win, which means the Stigmata will certainly be used.


    If Helios wins then he gets the sun core and another heroic feat, while Stelios wins a veryrge bet. Stelios'' reward won''t end there of course. If Helios absorbs the sun core, it will increase the amount of his divine power within Helios''s core and will increase his investment in Helios.


    He smiled to himself. "Then I''ll have my salvation. It is like killing four birds with one stone."


    To say that Stelios is looking forward to the sess of his n is an understatement. He has ced down the necessary chips. All he needs is for them to fall into ce and nothing can change the oue.

 Chapter 324 Nothing But More Divine Power.

    ?Back To Helios.


    Helios immediately began inspecting his body as soon as he exited the throne room. His soul scanned the stigmata and the changes it has undergone. He rushed to his research room for privacy and activated the privacy runes he had set up for good measure. Then heid face first on the table and activated his rune pen. A translucent pen with a shining crystal on top of it rose from its position where it was clipped to the side of the table.


    It hovered on Helios''s back and began draining the divine energy in the crystal. The translucent pen filled up with a golden liquid and turned into a golden pen before it lowered itself onto Helios''s back. Then it began to etch very tiny golden characters used to formrger characters that made up the golden runes on Helios'' back.


    Helios is controlling it with his mind through his divine sense. Giants of order don''t have a divine sense unless they are demigods or until they be transcendents. Their body is a prison that cages their soul. He is a demigod with a very powerful soul, so he can control the rune pen better than anyone. His perception allowed him to make runes within runes and runes on top of runes, a concept beyond the knowledge of other runes masters.


    He has be a forerunner in the field of rune making and yet it took him 5 days of non-stop work for him toplete the failsafe for a Stigmata that Stelios didn''t take a total of 5 hours to write from beginning to end. The Stigmata is tooplex.


    He rose from the table and sighed in relief when he was done.


    "That''s done. Now to see what it really is."


    He is not going to take some random god''s word for it even if that god calls himself his father. He doesn''t want to go around with a bomb on his body so he has to be sure of what the Stigmata is. Since it''spleted he can see what it does and if it isn''t favorable, he will be wary of it and double down on the failsafe. He will be able to n better with more information.


    He activated the Stigmata. The image of the sun on his back lit up and began to shine. It really looks like he has a three-dimensional star on his back. It is even radiating heat. The failsafe around the runes kicked in and began to fill up with divine power.


    "Nothing else ising out. It is just like Stelios said it does." Helios was perplexed.


    The fail-safe he inscribed is aplex formation of runes without a purpose. They are empty and will fill up with energy from the Stigmata. If an object tries toe through the Stigmata, it will be dyed until the failsafe is filled up. He can use up the energy in the failsafe to power his other runes if he doesn''t want the Stigmata to work. That is unless the failsafe is overloaded with input.


    But if what Stelios said is true, the failsafe will fill up with energy that is divine powering straight from the stigmata and only that. In that case, the failsafe wouldn''t overload because it is not even needed.


    Divine power amplifies the power of a demigod in a way simr to how their mana core works. The amplification of the mana core is permanent because of the divine energy within its focal point, while the boost from divine power is temporary because it is external. But the amplification of divine power is higher since it is from a god while the core is demigod level.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "So it is just arge sun core on my back. Could I be mistaken?" He asked himself.


    He had expected something worse to happen from the stigmata. He doesn''t trust anyone, certainly not Stelios and he certainly won''t trust whateveres out of his mouth. But as far as he can tell, all Stelios is doing is giving him a means of protection.


    "Let''s see."


    He tapped into the divine power and he began to grow taller and bigger. It proved that the Stigmata is doing what Stelios said it will do. It is harmless and even beneficial. It seems he had been worried for nothing.


    He shook his head and stopped thinking about contingencies.


    "Extraordinary. This stigmata is just extraordinary. Maybe I am being paranoid. There''s no use for that now. I have done everything I can."


    The Stigmata is not only helpful but it is also wonderfully made. The intricacies of its construction have impressed him. He has to admit that the sun god cannot be underestimated when ites to runes. This admission also made him earlier of the Stigmata but there''s nothing he can do about it. He is not intimidated by it but he can''t decipher it yet because of the divine will within it. So he is giving up for now until someone that can help him arrives, which will be soon.


    He pped his hand merrily and said with eargerness, "I should prepare for the heroic quest. It''s going to be a st."


    The amplification from the divine power on his back made him look forward to getting those sun cores. He will be able to increase the size of his sun core and get more power from it. But that''s not why he is delighted about the heroic quest.


    One of the most important things that the heroic quest is giving him is freedom from Stelios'' constant supervision. The sun core is just a bonus he conned out of Stelios. He would have gone without the incentive but it worked out well after he showed reluctance to leave instead of eagerness.


    Helios smiled to himself. "Plus it''s my job to be the star of the show. It''s like killing three birds with one stone."


    The heroic quest is an opportunity for him to change things and he will take it.

 Chapter 325 For Glory And For Honour Even Unto Death.

    ?He has another reason for joining the quest apart from freedom and the sun core. The heroic quest will draw the attention of the gods which will be helpful to Legion-9. Helios knows enough about them to know that they won''t miss a good source of entertainment. It is his job to keep it interesting when it needs to be and dull when Legion needs it. Joining the heroic feat was a job before, but the sun core has given him something to look forward to.


    Helios prepared quickly. There isn''t much to be done to prepare except to burn some of his research data. He doesn''t have much that he can take with him either since giants of order don''t have anything valuable because of their anti-magic domain. But somehow they always manage to find a reason to fight and kill themselves.


    Unlike other races that need to fight constantly for resources to grow stronger, giants of other don''t need resources or need to actively cultivate for them to grow stronger. They just passively absorb vitality from the world and grow stronger. And yet they are always at each other''s throats. They don''t need worldly possessions to kill each other. They fight for their afterlife. It''s like he said, the gods are the ones that are responsible for the wars in the ne.


    But they punished him for stating the obvious.


    "Well not anymore." He said as he looked at his room onest time.


    He burned everything and left without taking anything. He didn''t bring anything to the sun city and he won''t take anything with him. Cardinal Hak escorted him out of the city when he is ready to leave.


    "You have to be careful. A heroic quest is dangerous. There will be priests of the church of the sun waiting for you. A team of specially prepared individuals will be there to see to your needs and to assist you." The cardinal said to him.


    His guardian continued to warn him and give him advice while his guards shoved people aside and created a path for him. The city has gone into an uproar when they heard that their resident demigod is going on a quest. Someone spread that information about his departure.


    He asked Hak, "Did you tell people I''m leaving?"


    "Yes, I did. A hero needs a proper send-off. It will give you good luck and the likelihood of you returning will increase when everyone prays for your safety."


    Helios shook his head. He doubts prayer can do anything to help him. Even the god of the sun is practical and gave him something to keep him safe. Being practical is always best. Counting on miracles is folly.


    He would have preferred to go alone and quietly but it seems that he won''t be getting it. Instead, he is getting more unwarranted advice from the overly protective Hak.


    The crowd is packed on both sides of the main street. People are jostling, pushing, and pulling on each other to get a look at him. They are shouting his name with fervor. There is curiosity and anticipation in the air.


    "Yeah, yeah. I''m not a child anymore." He said to Hak as he waved to the people.


    "Technically, you''re just a teenager. You ...''


    Helios interrupted Hak by raising his voice to give a speech to the cheering people.


    "People of the sun city. Some of you know me and have seen me before, some of you haven''t. I am not so conceited to believe that you have all heard of me. So I''ll tell you who I am now. I am Helios, demigod of the ancient sun god. I am a HERO."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Helios!"


    They screamed his name and cheered. He continued after the crowd quiet down.


    "As a hero, I have to do heroic things or die trying. It is my destiny to shine and go on shining or to shine and burn out. I pursue the feats of a hero so that I can ascend and be better than a hero. I have to be a glorious hero because the divine realm awaits a glorious hero. For now, I am just a hero. But I am your hero. I am the hero of sun city. Will you wish your hero well?"


    "May the light of the sun be with you."


    The crowd shouted at him.


    "I want to hear your well wishes."


    The volume of the crowd rose another notch as they wished him well.


    "May the light of the sun be with you."


    He formed fists with his hands and raised them into the air. He wore only an undergarment and a small cloth that doesn''t reach his ankles tied and held around his waist with a girdle. His upper body and his legs are bare, so it showed off his well-defined body. He is like a buffed giant bodybuilder with packs and bs of well-cut muscle, and golden tattoos all over his orange skin. The image of the sun on his back stood out to make him more heroic.


    "For Glory And For Honour, Even Unto Death." His voice rang out loud even above the noise of the crowd.


    The crowd echoed the creed of heroes, "For Glory And For Honour Even Unto Death."


    It is what demigods live by. It is a summary of their life''s purpose but said in a heroic manner. The truth is that the pursuit of glory and honour by demigods even till their death is for the glory, honour, and pleasure of the gods. The creed is just a gimmick that the gods sold to the mortals and they sold it very well.


    The creed echoed throughout the city as more and more joined in saying it.


    "For Glory And Honour Even Unto Death."


    The creed has really caught on because gods are not the only ones entertained by the struggles of heroes. Mortals do too but they also aspire to achieve such feats. They want to live that kind of life. They want to be heroes. They want to be admired. They want to be strong. But all that glitters is not gold.

 Chapter 326 The Ancient Sun God.

    ?He looked at the city onest time.


    ''I doubt I''ll miss this ce.'' he thought to himself.


    He doesn''t have any great memories here and he isn''t attached to it in any way. He stayed cooped up in his residence for 100 years. He might not return here anymore if he has his way. This quest that he is going on will kick-start a lot of things. He might even die. So he will probably never return.


    ''That speech should be enough for the mortals and the divine. Now to leave.''


    His tattoos began to light up. It turned his orange skin into golden yellow and his eyes into pure white. White tattoos appeared on his golden skin. His golden hair turned into a golden me with the asional streaks of red. Then he rose into the sky and flew away.


    The crowd went into an uproar. Hak was the most shocked of all. He looked at the disappearinget that used to be Helios with his mouth hung open.


    "Did he just fly?" He asked aloud but no one is paying attention to him or his question.


    Even the Spectating gods are not paying attention to him. They are also focused on Helios.


    "What a demigod. Truly one of a kind. Even Transcendents can''t fly. How did he do that?" The goddess of power and might asked Stelios.


    She and her partner, the god of war came to visit the sun god and watch the heroic quest. The three of them are sitting onrge fluffy chairs while angels are waiting on them. They are all in their giant form. Stelios is shining brightly. The goddess of power and might is buffed with rippling muscles that look like steel cables. The god of war is the most normal-looking one. He is just d in blue metallic armor marred with bloodstains of different colors.


    There''s arge screen, about 100 meters in length and 60 meters in breath in front of them. Helios'' figure can be seen on it. He is streaking through the sky like a burning meteor.


    "He isn''t anything special. It''s just his rune that''s making him fly. It''s verymon." Stelios answered.


    "A Rune can do that? But there are no moving parts. Who did he get the rune from?" The goddess of power and might became curious.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Giants of order can not use spells or magic because of their anti-magic domain unless they are demigods and be transcendents. Even then they are limited to spells that their divine power can use. If one of those two factors is missing, giants of order even if they are transcendents, can''t use magic.


    They also cannot fly naturally. It doesn''t matter if they are mana entities or transcendents. It is just like the use of magic. Only special transcendent demigods can do it and demigods of the sun god are not among these special ones that can fly. The best alternative they can use is the help of runes. But such runes manifest at external aids like wings. So she is curious about where Helios got a rune that could cause him to levitate without external aids.


    Stelios lied, "It is one of my works. I have never been able to use it but Helios has a special constitution."


    What Helios has aplished with his rune is more than groundbreaking, it is unimaginable. He made his body innately capable of flight. It is unheard of in the history of giants. He will be hounded if they suspect he created it. It is better for him if Stelios ims credit for the rune.


    The gods will only be mildly surprised and greatly impressed if they think Stelios did it. Things will end there because he is powerful and they cannot ask about his secrets. They will be overly curious if they find out that a 100-year-old teenager did it. That will bring unwanted attention to Helios. So it is best that he ims credit so that no one investigates Helios because of it and discovers something out of the ordinary like how he is not shackled by order.


    The goddess nodded, "That''s true, you have always been good with runes."


    Steliosughed. "I haven''t always been good with runes. I''ve just spent a lot of time on it. Time can make anyone an expert at something."


    The goddess shook her head. "You''re being modest. My father told me you have always been good with runes. You have a gift for it. Besides, you are not an expert. You''re clearly an innovator in the field."


    Stelios is ancient. He is so Ancient, that he is more than 30 times older than these two friends of his. Their faction is one that was established a long time ago by the first gods of war, power and might, and Stelios. Their faction has stayed together over the years. Stelios was friends with the father of the current goddess of power and might. He was also friends with her grandfather.


    Demigods have a lot of uses for a god. One such use is to inherit the Godhood of a god when that god seeds in the trail of heaven and switches to the path of perfection. Without a demigod, the divine domain will be torn apart because of conflict and strife by those that want to take over the domain.


    A demigod will be able to smoothly transition as the controller of the domain since they have a divine core with the divine energy of that domain. To the mortals, it will be like the god that left, was never gone. There won''t be divine wars and the churches won''t spilt. Things will continue as they were with no one the wiser.


    Stelios hasn''t been able to leave his position as the sun god. His weakness stopped him from bing the first celestial god and it is also stopping him from transitioning to the path of perfection. Fortunately, he came across something that will solve his problems.

 Chapter 327 Goliath Ants.

    ?It is very difficult for a god to stop being a god. Falling can give Stelios an out, but he will sustain severe repercussions that will make it not worth it.


    So because Stelios has been stuck as the sun god, he has watched many godse and go. The old is reced with the new, only he remains the same. But things are looking up for him. If he seeds with his n, he won''t be the sun god anymore. An opportunity for a recement has opened up for him, so he cannot let anything sabotage his ns.


    "Either way, you''re the best when ites to runes." The god of war agreed with his partner.


    Their fathers were friends so the two of them met each other as kids. They didn''t care about each other and didn''t cross paths until they shed during a heroic quest. Then they formed a temporary alliance to beat back the other demigods. It was then that they started having feelings for each other. They remained together and became gods together. They care for each other deeply but their rtionship doesn''t stop them from asionally dallying with mortals and having demigods.


    Stelios epted thepliment with a smile. The truth is that he is very good with runes. He considers himself the best runemaster in all of Zargoth. He has both the talent for rune making and time to expand that talent into an achievement that set him as the most knowledgeable Rune maker. The Stigmata he ced on Helios is one of his achievements. Even Helios had to admit that it is extraordinary.


    The sun god''s gaze returned to the screen. It has stopped showing Helios and is now showing the dispersing crowd. The screen disys a god''s vision. It can''t show everything going on in the mortal realm because a god can''t see everything going on in the mortal realm, but it can show areas where they have Influence in. The vision of a god is limited to ces under their influence. For example, their churches, their believers, and objects or people that have been marked by their divine energy.


    It just so happens that gods mark every child after their first star with a Stigmata. It seems like a normal part of the culture of giants but it is not the harmless symbolic gesture that mortals think it is. Gods don''t mark them because they care. That Stigmata grants them ess to monitoring the person and their surroundings.


    Helios is the exception to the rule. He has a Stigmata of the sun god, so Stelios should be able to monitor Helios, but it isn''t so. Something interferes with the surveince. Stelios attributes the oddity to Helios'' unique situation.


    Theck of divine vision on Helios has never mattered before. Stelios used to monitor him through Hak and through the other believers around him. There are some times that total ckouts ur when Helios enters his privateboratory and starts working on his body but Stelios could rest assured because of his vision of the surroundings.


    He might not be able to see what Helios is doing, but he knows Helios is there because of the nk zone in his divine vision. It is one of the major reasons why he didn''t let Helios out of his house for 100 years so that he can always monitor him. The other reason is for Helios'' protection too but that isn''t as serious.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His process has always worked for him but it isn''t good enough for him now since Helios is going out into the world. He won''t be able to tell anything about Helios'' situation if he enters a zone that has none of the Sun god''s Influence. He can''t monitor Helios closely as well as he used to be able to and it is causing him to be anxious.


    Helios could be anywhere, doing anything, being attacked by anyone and he can''t know about it. His anxiety continued to increase over the hours until Helios finally reached the war front. The screen was showing the fight going on between the defenders and the ants when Helios finally appeared. Warriors of the race of giants of Order are fighting and shing with Goliath ants. Helios appeared within the edges of the screen as aet.


    Back To Helios.


    Helios began to decelerate as he approached the battlefield. He finally stopped above the front line where the army of giants meet the horde of ants. The giants are standing side by side decked in armor and resisting the waves of ants crashing into them like waves threatening to drown them.


    The ants are smallpared to the giants. They are definitely bigger than normal ants since they are the size of the toes of giants. Still, the giants are wayrger than them and should be able to crush them underneath their feet but the ants are not called Goliath ants because of their size.


    These ants are strong beyondpare. Each one of them has the strength of a mana entity. They may be small whenpared to giants, but they are packing a lot of mass and power. Their mass and small size make them far too dense to be crushed if you''re stomping on a lot of them.


    Their strength means they can work together to trip you even if you are a giant. Their diamond-cutting jaws of death mean they can shred a giant of Order to mince meat if he falls into their midst in less than a minute. Their greatest strength is their numbers.


    These are just the workers. The soldiers are bigger. The smallest of them are asrge as an entire foot of the giants while thergest are as tall as the knees of the giants. The big soldiers can cut off the legs of giants or deal enough damage to the limbs that a giant is involuntarily brought down to their level for some dangerous and painful mandible to flesh action.

 Chapter 328 The Art Of War: With Runes.

    ?One will not look at Goliath ants and say they are weak. They have changed the meaning of the saying "as weak as an ant." These ants can bring down giants. So the giants are not having an easy time in their campaign against the ants.


    ''They must be so desperate. They even brought out their workers. They have survived for so long but they are pushed against the wall this time around.'' He thought to himself.


    The fact that the small worker ants have joined the fight indicates how serious the ant colony is taking this battle. The big soldiers are the ones that have always fought invaders of the colony and they have had sess in it enough for them to survive the onught of giants.


    There are very few races that survived the wanton killing of the giants of order, and even lesser than can survive in the ruined environment caused by the constant siphoning of mana by the giants. Goliath ants are one of the races that survived. They did more than survive, they thrived.


    They live in the desert and eat sand. They can eat anything, but sand is the most avable thing in the desert. Once in a while, they turn their sight onto giants of Order.


    Their teeth can crush rocks and their exoskeleton is as hard as the sand they eat. It makes them a worthy foe for giants of order since the giants can''t bully them with their size. Killing something small is most efficient with a tool and since giants of Order can''t use sophisticated tools apart from their rune weapons, the Goliath ants survived. They then thrived and often prey on giants.


    But this time, it is the giants that brought the fight to them and they mean business. The supreme god of order and justice noticed some fluctuations of divine power within the mound of this colony which indicates an attempt to be a demigod. An ant queen must not be a god or their race will be troublesome to deal with. That''s why giants of Order are attacking this colony and why the workers have joined in defending. They have to do everything to protect their queen.


    The ants are attacking from the sky and thend. They are content with defending. That is the order given to them by the queen. Helios can''t see the ant mound where the ant queen is because his sight is being obstructed by the swarm of ants. The ants are all he can see for kilometers ahead. They are like clouds of death that can shred anything to bits. Just the beating of their wings is creating a droning sound that is almost overwhelming to the senses.


    He soon began to draw attention. He is radiating heat and light, plus he is more than 30 meters tall. He is like a giant torch in the sky. The attacking giants of order only spared him some attention before focusing on the battle. They can''t rx their assault at all or the ants will be the ones to overwhelm them.


    "So this is how they fight. Not bad." He said after observing the giants.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    These warrior giants are part of the forces of certain churches. They are soldiers, and as such have uniformed runes. They all have runes that create armor on their body for protection and various runes for weapons. There are the closebat warriors at the front with shields and hammers for crushing the insects. There are ranged fighters who stay behind and use bows to offer assistance through the use of incendiary and explosive arrows.


    There''s a third type of troop, the special units. Their runes form cannons and other heavy weaponry that fire exploding energy balls into the ant board dealing catastrophic damage. The cannons they form are either carried on their shoulders or standing on the ground if they are too big.


    The first two types of troops can switch runes and thus switch roles on the battlefield. A ranged fighter can easily be a close-range fighter and vice versa because they have both types of runes tattooed on their body. But no one can switch with the special units.


    The special units sacrifice a lot of theirw fragments to be the highest damage dealers. They don''t have fragments to spare for much of anything else. Their cannons might be mighty but they take time to load and fire. That period leaves them vulnerable and they don''t have runes for armor. That''s why they need the other types of fighters to hold the ants back while they prepare. Their corporation is why they are pushing the ants back.


    "Where are the priests?" He questioned when he didn''t see the major fighters.


    There are other types of soldiers but these three are the most active ones on this battlefield. The priests aren''t being active even though they are the best warriors. Unlike the other soldiers that have ordinary runes, priests have divine power and Stigmata.


    Stigmata is so much more powerful than a rune but gods don''t hand them out to anyone. The stigmata that giants get on their first star celebration is just a symbolic dud. You only get one if you swear yourself into eternal service as a priest. A priest is capable of switching to all three roles and will perform them better because of their ess to divine spells.


    But priests aren''t used for those. They are more important for healing. Healing is a very important thing for giants of order. They are difficult to injure but also difficult to heal when injured. Theirrge bodies and abundant vitality mean that they can heal slowly from anything as long as they have time and rest. But a battlefield isn''t a ce to get time and rest.


    Divine spells are the only way a soldier can be healed with a spell since magic doesn''t work on giants of order. So priests are kept safe for their spells. They don''t risk them on the battlefield or allow them to waste their energy fighting.

 Chapter 329 Code Name: TaS8cpNGGFbkk16D0R

    ?The ants also noticed him. They ignored him. Their orders are to simply defend the colony until the queen finishes her evolution. If he doesn''te forward then they won''t attack. Someone from the giant army flew up to him and from the looks of her attire, she is one of the precious resources being kept away from the fighting.


    The priest is garbed in yellow attire with the insignia of the sun god that signifies her to be a bishop of the church of the sun, two ranks beneath a cardinal that wears white robes. It also means that this priest is a mana entity, but she can fly because of the use of divine spells. The beating wings made up of fire attached to her back constructed with the runes of a Stigmata indicate how she is managing to fly.


    "Wee demigod of the sun. It is an honor to meet you." The priest bowed to him.


    "I am d to be here. Are you the representative of the church in charge of the affairs of the church here?"


    She nodded vigorously, "Yes I am. You can call me TaS8cpNGGFbkk16D0R."


    Helios looked at her closely for the first time since they met.


    He asked her, "What''s that supposed to mean?"


    "Huh?"


    "Your name. What''s it supposed to mean?"


    "It''s the code of priesthood I was given when I became a priest."


    Helios sighed. Then he asked, "What is your name then? I want your real name, not some codename."


    "I am nameless and exist to serve my god. The codename that I was given the day I was ordained as a priest marks the eptance of my faith and the start of my eternal servitude which is the rest of my life so it is my name."


    Helios chose to salvage what can be called a waste of time so he changed the subject.


    "What do I need to know about this quest? I am in a race after all." He said to the female priest.


    The priest replied, "Not that I doubt you but this heroic Quest will need prudence. The hoard has to dwindle in size before you can foray into the ant mound."


    Helios tore his gaze away from the wings of the priest to answer. "Your advice is noted. Still, I want to know the situation so that I can make my decision."


    The priest nodded, "Very well then. Follow me."


    Then she led the way to the battle headquarters at the back of the army. Helios observed the wings in action one more time. They were so life-like and realistic like the wings of a bird. They even have distinct feathers.


    ''This is clearly the work of Stelios.''


    He has only seen this kind of realism in Stigmata made by the sun god. The wings arerge but their rhythmic beating isn''t how the giant is flying. They are imbued with a levitation spell through divine power. The priest simply determines her flight speed and direction by beating the wings.


    ''The difference between Stigmata and runes is sorge.'' he thought to himself.


    A normal rune can create something lifeless like a weapon or an object but a Stigmata can create more by using the Divine will of a god. A Rune needs knowledge and it needs understanding to create. A Stigmata on the other hand is brought to life through the divine will of a god and is capable of creating the divine.


    ''More realistic or not. Mine is better.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The difference bes obvious in the runes on his body. The runes he created take advantage of his sun core to enhance his body while the stigmata that Stelios created simte the sun core itself. Even so, he believes that his rune is better. His flying is just a side effect of his wrestling control of the force of gravity on him. Other runes can''t do that because of theck of imagination and the right knowledge to make it work. But his rune can do so much more than allow him to fly.


    They soon reached the battle headquarters. They dropped down in a seemingly random ce teeming with activity. Helios deactivated his runes and his yellow skin turned orange. His pure white eyes returned to their normal color with yellow-golden pupils and his ming hair became blond again.


    Sheplimented him after seeing him transform. "Your rune is fantastic."


    "Thanks. How do I get in?" He pointed forward and asked.


    It is an open location where giants enter and leave hurriedly. The only indication that it is a special location and not another ce in the desert is the dome barrier that has been ced on the spot. It is just like the ones used to protect the city, it is transparent and if not for the slight distortion of light that urs around it, you wouldn''t know that there''s a barrier here.


    The priest offered him a badge. "You need this if you want to enter. You will get ess as long as you carry it on you. Please return it after the battle."


    Helios made a joke, "That''s if I survive the quest."


    The priest''s previously smiling face became stern. She said to him with seriousness. "Please don''t joke about that. You won''t die. Your team will make sure you survive and earn the heroic feat."


    The children of God are sacred. They represent their god in the mortal realm. To joke about their death is not allowed. It is sphemy. Killing a demigod without having the backing of another god is a crime punishable by death. Even then, the god that instructed you to kill the demigod can give you up which will lead to your death.


    "Yes, my team. Hak told me I''ll have one. Where are they and what can they do for me?" He asked her as they passed through the barrier.


    She led the way while they talked. "I have notified them of your presence. They will be here soon. They are a group of very talented battle priests from the sun church. They will take care of your healing needs and your protection."


    Helios nodded as he listened to her. He doesn''t n to work with a team. But he isn''t going to tell her that. He came here to get information about the colony and only that. He needs to know where the ant mound is if he is to target the queen. Acquiring some liabilities is not on his agenda.


    They entered the headquarters to find it bustling with numerous activities. The headquarters is filled with soldiers moving about quickly. There isn''t any building, only posts for certain activities. The barrier around the headquarters blocks out wind and sand, it is all the protection they need. Helios sighted arge portal created by a soldier. Most of thew fragments on the body of the soldier are used to create the portal. Reinforcements and supplies areing in from the portal.


    He isn''t the only demigod here. He saw several demigods. They could sense each other as demigods because of the divine power within each other. Most of them are older than him by several hundred years but they are all mana entities.


    There are no transcendent participants in this quest. It is a restriction ced by the gods to make the quest fair and more entertaining. A transcendent will be able to solve the problem too quickly. That will rob the gods of their fun.


    The demigods nodded at him in a show of respect. He nodded at them in return. No one spoke to him or tried to ingratiate themselves with him but they know he isn''t an ordinary demigod because he already has a heroic feat by killing a much older demigod when he was a child.


    There''s only one demigod that is hostile to him. She saw him and was about to rush forward to fight him but was being held back by some priests.


    He smirked when he saw the demigod. He waved at her and shouted, "Hey Tanya, you''re here too. I almost didn''t notice you. It''s not your fault. I just have problems seeing weak little shits that I can beat up any time I want."


    She was ready to duke it out here and now but that changed when she heard him. Now she wants to kill him. Her face morphed from an angry scowl to a savage scowl. Her thirst for his blood could be seen in her eyes. The number of priests holding her down increased from 5 to 8. The priests are from her team and instead of protecting her from external threats, they are protecting her from the consequences of her internal desire for violence.


    He smiled and shook his head in wonder when he saw her reaction. "So easy. How can they survive in this world as hot-heads?"


    Tyke was also like that. He had said something about Tyke''s intelligence and it set him off.It seems anger problems run in the family.

 Chapter 330 Youre Not The Boss.

    ?He said aloud so that Tanya will hear him clearly. "Demigods of the sky god are easily angered. It made it very easy for me to kill that Tyke dunce. It is a surprise that such people have not been weeded out by Natural selection andpetition. I guess there have to be some merits to acting without thinking."


    "I''ll kill you Helios."


    Tanya roared angrily. Her voice is so loud that everyone within the headquarters turned towards the source only to find a giantess being held down by 9 priests. Her bloodshot eyes and the lightning sparks in the straightened hair on her head give her the image of a crazy person.


    He shook his head in mirth. The first god of the sky and tempest couldn''t be stupid to reach that position or he could be but also has to be incredibly lucky. The past doesn''t matter now. The fact is that regardless of how they are before, bing a god changes you. Bing the god of tempest makes those changes align with a chaotic mental state and mood. Some of these changes are then inherited by the demigods. It''s why no one stared at Tanya for long before resuming their activities.


    He gave up taunting Tanya when he reached the post for information and reconnaissance. The priest apanying him prepared the records and maps they have for him to peruse. He looked through the maps and records quickly. The records showed the position of the troops, their progress, and theposition of the enemy forces. He was able to approximate the position of the mound and the best route of attack. He also acquired information about the number of troops that the churches are dedicating to this mission.


    The priest was giving advice from the side. "We haven''t seen any of the royal guards of the Goliath ants yet. It is obvious that the ants are bent on stalling. Their royal soldiers will be thest line of defense and should be close to the mound. We will need heavy firepower if we intend to reach the mound behind enemy lines."


    He listened attentively. The members of his team began to arrive as he discussed with the priest.


    The priest continued. "Attacking the mound will be incredibly dangerous because we will be surrounded on every side without any way to retreat. There''s a motion to attack the mound at once. The different groups of demigods wille together for the strike. All the representatives have agreed with this n of action."


    "Won''t attacking the mound turn the entire ant hoard on us? What do we need the army for then if just the group of demigods can handle the horde at once?" He asked.


    Each demigod is limited to a team of 10 including the demigod and there are 9 demigods on the scene. Which means just 90 mana entities intend to take on thousands of ants.


    "That will spell death. The demigods can''t handle the horde at once. That''s why we intend to force the ants to focus on the soldiers instead of them. The army will push the offensive while the demigods and their team enter the ant''s domain. If the ants chose to focus on them, then they will leave their back wide open." She answered and showed the proposed movements on the map.


    "Good n, except it is full of holes. What if, and I am just putting this out there, what if the ants decide to be foolish and focus on the demigods and sacrificerge numbers to achieve it?"


    It will be foolishness to think that ants will decide to be reasonable when they can deal the gods a blow by killing 9 demigods.


    She exined the crucial information about their n. "That''s why we are bringing in the annihtors. We will make it visible by setting it up at the front lines. They will have to stop us or risk having their numbers annihted in catastrophic numbers."


    Annihtors are very special priests that have a unique rune weapon of mass destruction marked on their bodies as Stigmata. Stigmata are very efficient and use fewer fragments of order than normal runes. It is why priests can be any of the three major types of troops. But the Stigmata of this weapon needs the entire fragments on the body of really strong priests. You can imagine the amount of damage that such a weapon can deal.


    The annihtors have their disadvantages. They take a long time to load and can be interrupted. But the soldiers are using that as bait for the ants. While the damage they cause is devastating, the wielder of the stigmata will be unable to move while loading and will be near death after firing it. Recovery time can take up to a hundred years even with divine healing because the damage done to the wielder is from the divine power contained within the Stigmata as it activates and burns through divine crystals to load its attack.


    If the ants chose to disregard the annihtors, most of their numbers will be annihted. So it is a question of how much risk the ants are willing to take. It is a choice between the annihtors and the demigods.


    He said to her, "Your n is pretty good. Except you haven''t fixed the gaping hole in it. What if, the ants disregard the annihtors and focus on the demigods?"


    "Then there''s nothing we can do."


    He offered a very obvious solution. "Why don''t you just fire the annihtors before the strike team goes for the mound? That will reduce their numbers and make it easy to reach the mound. Then the demigods and the soldiers can all attack the ant mound together instead of making a risky n."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She coughed. "We can''t. Annihtors are rare and their presence will reduce the danger too much. The gods allowed us to fire only one. We intended to use the others as bait. We will only fire the one we are allowed to prove to the ants that we mean business."


    He began tough. "Of course. What did I expect?"


    The priest stayed silent while heughed to himself. The gods have the means to put down this threat as soon as possible but they turned it into a game for their entertainment. It won''t be entertaining for them if it is too easy for the demigods. So they ced limits on the amount of help that the demigods can get.


    ''It''s good too. The waste of time is favorable. They won''t know what hit them when it hits them.''


    He pped his hands when he was doneughing. "Alright. I am all caught up. You will fire that Annihtor now. It will create a breach in their defense. The teams of demigods will go through the breach and reach the mound. If that doesn''t work, then we will simply grind the ant horde down with the soldiers."


    The priest frowned. "That''s not a good n. It is too slow. We need to get to the ant queen fast and end her transformation."


    "That''s true. But it is a better n. It is better than your n."


    "Regardless of what you think, you can''t just make changes to the n however you wish." Her voice turned frosty and her displeasure for his disregard of their n became evident in her tone.


    Helios nodded. "That''s true too. So who''s pride needs to be broken to have that Annihtor fired."


    "What did you just say?" Her eyes stared daggers at him.


    "I mean who do I have to convince of my new n?" He changed his wording.


    He meant the same thing.


    She was silent for a while just staring at him before she answered. "The n was made by themittee of bishops from the 9 churches involved in this heroic quest."


    "Now convey a meeting. The n has to be changed."


    She didn''t move to fulfill his request. "The n has been made. It cannot be changed. You cannot juste in here and make changes however you wish. You may be an exalted demigod but you''re only a mana entity. If you were so capable then you wouldn''t need a team of priests."


    Demigods are no different from other giants of order until they be transcendents. That''s when they be able to use divine abilities from their parents. The divine spells that priests use are imitations of divine abilities. Divine abilities beat divine spells. That means demigods be stronger than priests when they be demigods. But until demigods breakthrough, priests are much stronger because of their divine spells.


    Helios considered his options. She is obviously insinuating that he is the one that has his pride misced because he thinks he is a demigod. But being a demigod that is a mana entity isn''t enough toe here and have things changed to the way he sees fit. He isn''t strong enough, so he can''t push people around.


    She might as well have said, "You are weak. You''re not the boss of this operation."

 Chapter 331 Who Is The Strongest?

    ?He looked at the members of his team that have arrived. All 9 of them avoided eye contact with him. They are supposed to be his babysitters. It is the unspoken arrangement but the bishop tore down the veil of civility and called it for what it is. She called him weak.


    He finally spoke. "Okay then. You''re right. Everyone can do whatever they want. It is not my ce to order you around. Strength speaks for itself. You are strong and you think your n is good. You can go ahead with the n."


    Her face eased up a little. "I am d you think so. The n will go as it should. Don''t worry. Everything will go right. Your team will protect you."


    Helios smiled. "I have nothing to worry about."


    Their short argument became a thing of the past. She felt impressed by his maturity and her opinion of him improved.


    ''He is so much better than other demigods. He is level-headed and not too proud.'' She thought to herself.


    The truth is that he could have changed the n by making a fuss and getting the other demigods on his side. But he didn''t behave like a child who would throw a tantrum when they don''t get their way because he will get his way eventually. It is just a matter of time.


    He would have liked to have a more important role in deciding their ns so that his purpose here will work out better but it is what it is. He is above all else amendable and quick to adapt. It is easy to let go when he knows that the oue is set.


    The final briefing was called before the strike team will send out. The representatives of the churches involved in the heroic quest called for it to inform the demigods of their n as a whole.


    The 9 demigods arrived and introduced themselves. Helios took note of them and their power. In his opinion, the strongest of them and the youngest is Tanya, the demigod of the church of the sky. The rest are pretty average except for 3 that stood out somewhat.


    The first is the one that calls himself AMS. He is the demigod of the church of mercy. He is dressed like a monk and has his hands together in constant prayer. Pretty quiet and keeps to himself. He looks ordinary for a giant but Helios can sense a hidden strength. The other 9 members of his team are also monks. Together, they form a very quiet bunch.


    The second one is KROMBOPULOS the demigod of the church of the hunt. He speaks a lot more than AMS and looks more eager to be here than all of them. He is practically hopping about because of the excitement of the hunt. Helios could feel a buzzing from him and he noticed that the buzz gets stronger the closer this KROMBOPULOS is to the ant mound. It seems he gets stronger the closer he is to his target.


    The third one is BLAZE_DRACONYTE the demigod of the church of fire. He looks to be very dangerous and crazy because of his scattered hair and rapidly moving eyes. Adding the tongs of mes just dancing in his hair will make you realize he is a fire hazard. All in all, he looks like a trigger-happy pyromaniac just waiting to go ballistic. You certainly do not want to be in the same room with him.


    Helios introduced himselfst. He was thest to arrive and he is the youngest. Only time will tell if he is the strongest.


    The briefing continued after the introduction. Heliosplimented their ns and agreed with everything they said. He remained on good behavior when the final briefing was going on. The bishops sent from the 9 churches exined the n to the 9 demigods and their teams. He didn''t criticize the n at all. He stood with his two muscr arms folded on his chest without interfering.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He didn''t even taunt Tanya when she came for the briefing. She also didn''t attempt to attack him. She was just like him, they have both seen the errors of their ways. There are things they would both like to do but they are not in the right situation to do it.


    On another unrted note, all nine of her team members had her surrounded and were keeping an eye on her every movement while she stared daggers at Helios. Maybe she hasn''t fully seen the error of her ways.


    "If there are no more questions, then the heroic quest will start now." A bishop announced after the briefing.


    The headquarters began to bustle with a little more activity. Giants rushed about to get things started for the n. Helios followed the strike team out of the headquarters. Then he continued walking with them to the front lines. They passed ranks of soldiers busy holding back the ants.


    The sounds of explosions rocked the ground but they couldn''t overwhelm the drone of insect wings. The guts of the resilient ants could be seen spilled all over the ce. The wind brought with it the smell of dead insects which made the nose tingle. The fight had been going on for hours but the tide of ants hadn''t ceased. The ant hoard resembled a tsunami wave threatening to destroy the giants.


    Then the strike team began to form. The 9 teamsbined and distributed themselves ording to the format in the n. Helios stood aside watching it all happen without joining them.


    One of his team members summoned the courage to ask, "Exalted demigod, it is time to deploy."


    "I know." He answered calmly.


    He asked again. "Are we not joining them?"


    "I don''t know about you. You can do whatever you want but I''m not joining them."


    "But it is ording to the n."


    "Now you''re just wasting my time by stating the obvious."


    His answer made his team members confused. They went to tell the bishop of the church of the sun. The priest marched up to him with a very bad frown and an air of importance. It seemed to those watching that something bad is about to happen.

 Chapter 332 Two Strikes And Youre Out.

    ?Code Name:TaS8cpNGGFbkk16D0R stopped in front of him. Her frown had deepened with that short walk it took for her to reach him. Her eyes fixed onto him like a predator to prey. She felt like pping him but she held herself back.


    Sheposed herself and said to him, "I heard you''re not joining the strike team."


    He nodded nonchntly and chose to see what the strike team will do. Their formation iscking a big chunk of it and they are getting confused. They don''t know what''s going on so they too are asking questions.


    "Do you know what this means?" She asked with a voiceden with fury.


    He wasn''t fazed by her anger.


    "I''m not an idiot if that''s what you''re asking. I know what it means." He answered calmly.


    If he isn''t joining the strike team, then his team can''t join the strike team. That will reduce the number of 90 members to 80 and reduce their chances of sess drastically.


    She yelled at him. "If you''re not an idiot then stop behaving like one."


    Then she pointed to the strike team, "Get there and join them now."


    He attacked. His arm moved to backhand her. It wasn''t a fast attack. She saw the attacking and she grinned.


    "Fine then. I''ll put you in your ce. I won''t humiliate you too much." She said through her smile.


    She raised up one of her hands to grip his. She would then squeeze it a little bit. She doesn''t n to do much damage to him. He may be insolent but he is still a demigod. She intends to show him the difference between them. A hundred-year-old teenager should mind what he says to a priest that is almost a thousand years old.


    The golden runes on his arm shed brightly for a brief moment and then his hand blurred so fast that it couldn''t be tracked. His arm broke her hand and smashed into her face. There was a loud sound of impact as his arm came into contact with her face. The contact was more of a snack but it has the power of a full punch to the face.


    Her head was forced to whip to the side. Her lips broke and some teeth came loose. The smack bruised her cheeks and made her spit out saliva mixed with blood, gum, and the teeth that they used to hold.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Her head reeled with shock and her battle Instincts kicked in. All the Stigmata on her body began to activate and her mind was about to activate divine spells through the divine mark of her god on her soul. Gone is her underestimation of Helios and her intention not to hurt him too much. She began to gear up for battle. Now she intends to teach him a lesson he will never forget.


    Her barriers were the first to materialize. Films of force came into life around her. They would block physical attacks and grant her enough time to get her bearings for retaliation. Then she would bring down the full might of her fury on the little disrespectful shit that thinks too highly of himself.


    Helios had withdrawn his hand after the first attack. He moved to strike her again. The runes shed again briefly, then they dimmed. Except that this time some were still glowing on his hand. It made his arm golden like that of a gold statue. His arm blurred with another activation of the light resonance runes.


    His elerating arm met with the first barrier and the power nullification runes that made his arms golden nullified the barriers and prated through them as if they were films of paper. He tore through her defenses and grabbed her neck. His arm smashed into her neck with enough force to shatter it if he hadn''t held back. Even then, her throat copsed and she was forcefully lifted off her feet by the force.


    He squeezed a little bit and her eyes almost popped out of her head as she choked. She panicked and tried to remove his hands.


    "Stand down." He said to her.


    His cold voice struck her more than the first blow and hurt more than the second. She deted and gave up her struggle. Her Stigmata dimmed down just like her arms drooped. The first blow bruised her face and broke her lips and the second almost killed her, but this oue hurt her pride more. She will live, but she will never forget.


    He brought her head close to his face and said to her, "You mistook me being reasonable for being weak. I allowed you to make your ns and do whatever you want. And yet, you intend to order me around. What gave you the idea that you can push me around? You''re obviously not strong enough for it."


    It is one thing for him to be forced to stay in a single ce for a hundred years because his divine father demands it. The sun god is strong enough to order him around, but it doesn''t mean the sun god''sckey can boss him around him too. He isn''t a normal demigod that is a mana entity. Nothing about him is normal.


    "I''m sorry exalted demigod. I shouldn''t have acted that way." She struggled to say.


    He hadn''t reduced the force of his grip on her throat, so talking is difficult for her. It is the least of her problems. If he activates the energy discharge runes in his hands, she will burn up as heat is pumped into her body. That will do more than hurt her pride.


    He can picture it already. First, the water in her body will begin to heat up, which will cause her blood to boil. Her organs begin to cook within her. She will start to shout and struggle when the pain increases but it will all be for naught. Then she will catch fire and begin to burn when the fat in her body starts to burn. She will burn until she turns into ashes scattered in the wind.


    He nodded and dropped her to the ground. "Good. I''m a reasonable person. I''ll let go of this slight."

 Chapter 333 A Costly Lesson.

    ?He let her go and she dropped to the ground but she didn''t drop in one piece. He had formed a de construct on his other hand using light and fire. The red ss object looked fragile but it is very sharp. He was able to cut off one of her arms in a smooth and swift motion.


    She didn''t see iting at all. It was swift and unexpected. She felt relief that she didn''t know she was experiencing before the pain hit her. The contrast in emotions outlined that she had felt relief that she wouldn''t die more than she thought she would. It also made her rein in the reflex to scream in pain.


    Instead, she stood back up and picked up her bleeding arm from the ground.


    "Thank you for your consideration, exalted demigod. I made a mistake and you corrected me. I am happy to say that the lesson has been learned."


    She had to appreciate him. The way he cut her arm off is a warning and a message that he could have killed her earlier without her being able to struggle.


    He waved his hand like it didn''t matter. "It is the least I can do."


    In fact, it is not the least he could do. He could have taken two arms for her two mistakes or taken her eyes from her, but he didn''t. Instead, he left her mostly intact, and most importantly, alive. It took a lot out of him to not kill her for such disrespect. Twice she did it and if he hadn''t reacted the way he did, she would have done it again. He wished to kill her. He didn''t kill her because he has to look towards long-term benefits and not the short-term pleasure of killing her. Everything he does is being watched by the gods.


    Helios folded his arms again and returned to his posture of an unconcerned onlooker as if he hadn''t just fought a bishop more than a thousand years old while he is just a hundred years old.


    Then he said to the strike team that was frozen in shock, "You people should get on with what you''re doing. We don''t have all day."


    The bishop''s shout had drawn their attention. What they saw next was mind-blowing. It is why most of them have wide eyes and open mouths. That short fight might as well be epted as a heroic feat. It was that unreal.


    He turned to his team members that were still frozen in shock even after he reprimanded the others. "You guys can join them if you want. This is the only chance you''ll get if you want to have fun with them."


    Only five of his team members chose to join the strike team. They wanted to join in on the heroic quest. Escorting Helios wasn''t a chore for them. Now that they are not part of his team, they can take credit for the heroic feat if they kill the queen. Instead of being his babysitters, they can now bepetitors.


    Helios watched merrily as changes were made to their formation. Then the strike team separated from the army and ventured into the ant horde. The priests were cycling through their barriers to protect their charges while they used various spells to attack.


    He caught a brief look at Tanya. She was wielding tworge hammers charged with Lightning. They stunned the ants as soon as theye near the hammers. The hammers will then crush them to pulp and fry their remains. She is also able to discharge chain lightning strikes to control the crowd of ants. The Lightning strike kills the smaller worker ants and stuns therger soldiers.


    "It wouldn''t have helped Tyke in our fight." He mused to himself.


    Her Stigmata is impressive like most Stigmata are, but he isn''t intimidated by it. He would have been able to kill Tyke even if he had the assistance of the rune. His numerous understanding of fighting skills is not for show. Being without a weapon doesn''t mean being unarmed. You can use your body as a weapon if you know how to. And being with a weapon doesn''t mean you know how to use it.


    Helios watched as the strike team disappeared into the ant hoard. It was then that the annihtors started to load up. The entire bodies of 10 giants of order lit up with pure white light as the stigmata on their bodies consumed divine crystals to power them. These ten had attendants that threw divine crystals at them. The divine crystals get consumed when they reach the halo of light around the giants. The giants couldn''t even be seen beneath the white glow around them.


    The ants noticed the development. The light that the giants were giving off was ring and difficult to hide. The giants of Order weren''t even trying to hide it, they wouldn''t have brought the annihtors to the front lines if they didn''t want to draw attention. An annihtor can fire at a target within their sight from any distance. There''s no need for them to be here if not to draw attention.


    ''So much wastage of power. It may be powerful, but it is inefficient."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Helios noticed some of the intricacies of the stigmata activation. All that light that the annihtors are releasing is energy being wasted. It is what happens when the creator of a stigmata doesn''t have enough knowledge. They achieve what they want to create because of their powerful divine will and divine power but the Stigmata will be inefficient at what it is made to do.


    The ant horde went crazy with the development. That many annihtors will literally annihte their numbers and will allow the giants to march freely to the ant mound. They increased the frequency of their attacks. Most of them ignored the strike team and tried to reach the annihtors. Things went into a frenzy as the army also increased their attacks in retaliation.


    He nodded calmly. "Everything is going well."


    The bishop had returned to his side after the strike team was deployed. The bruises and cuts on her face have healed and her throat has bounced back. There is no sign that she was held by her neck a few minutes ago. Even her arm has been attached and healed.


    "It is a good thing." She said.


    "Yes, it is."


    "Are you really not going to join in on the heroic quest? The sun god will be disappointed." She asked carefully.


    She didn''t want to say what she said but it is her position as the representative of the church to say it. Her superiors and her god will not take it kindly that she watched on and did nothing as the demigod of the sun failed a heroic quest because he didn''t participate. People might say he was scared.


    He chuckled. "Who says I''m not joining the heroic quest? I never said that. I only said that I won''t join your strike team."


    "But they will be ahead of you by too much. It will be too difficult, if not impossible to catch up to them."


    "Maybe. It also means I won''t be with them if something goes wrong with your n."


    She shook her head. "I don''t think something will go wrong. The ants think that we have 10 annihtors at our disposal. They don''t know we can only use one. You just said that things are going well."


    Helios''s eyes were focused on the ants. He said to her, "There''s still time for things to go wrong."


    She chose to remain silent. When Helios said the same thing when he first heard about the ne, she had be angry at him and dismissed his opinions. Now, she still doesn''t think he is right, but she isn''t going to openly disagree with him. She doesn''t agree with him because they already nned for most of the scenarios, so things should go well unless the ants disregard the threat of the annihtors and focus on the strike team.


    She chose to keep her opinion to herself because if there is one lesson that she learned from that physical exchange, it is that Helios is strong and it is a bad idea to get him angry. The two of them are not equal. Even if she were stronger than him, she can not kill him unless she wants to suffer the wrath of the sun god. That is not the case for Helios. He can kill her and he is also strong enough to kill her. So she remained silent while wishing the strike team well.


    Too bad that wishes aren''t horses. Things went wrong. It is said that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Is it a matter of certainty or possibility that the worst oue is inevitable? Does wishing for something bad make it happen or does wishing for something good make bad things happen?


    It doesn''t matter because if the ant queen got information about the real amount of annihtors that will be fired from a reliable source, then the worst oue bes a certainty, regardless of what you wished for or the possibility of it happening.

 Chapter 334 Annihilator Deployment.

    ?Everyone watched aghast as the ant horde withdrew from the front lines all of a sudden. They rushed back like a hurricane and pounced on the strike team that was like a bubble of air in the depths of the ocean. Each team of demigods was using a domain Stigmata that kept the little bugs away from them and let them focus on the soldier ants. It is an upgraded version of a standard Stigmata for priests of churches.


    The Stigmata is simple in its action. It creates a field of power around the priest that repels objects thate close to the priest. Objects that enter the field will slow down before they are pushed back. The power of the field determines how fast objects decelerate. The upgraded version is more powerful than the standard version and it can fuse with an adjacent force field created from a simr Stigmata to form a domain.


    This domain is what is keeping away the worker ants. They are small and weak, so they can be pushed back easily. The soldier ants on the other hand are only slowed down. This is already good enough for the strike team. They found it easier for them to kill the soldier ants because of the force impeding them.


    The strike team was making good progress until the number of enemies suddenly increased. Their domain has a limit on its output. The worker ants may be small and weak, but arge enough number of them can overwhelm the domain.


    "What is going on? Why have their numbers increased so much?"


    "What about the annihtors?"


    "What should we do?"


    "Are we going to die?"


    They were confused and they started raising many questions about their situation. They began to panic when things weren''t easing up.


    They are not the only ones panicking. The bishops are panicking too. They started asking the same questions but in different forms.


    "What is going on? Why have they turned their attention to the strike team?"


    "Don''t they care about the annihtors?"


    "What should we do?"


    "Are they going to die?"


    As always, Helios had to be the voice of reason.


    He said to them, "Calm down everyone. You already nned for this. You just have to remind them of the danger of the annihtors. That should show them what they are missing out on. Hopefully, it will convince them to make the rational choice and leave the strike team alone."


    ''But what are the odds of that happening?'' He said to himself.


    One of the bishops spoke up, "That''s true. We will fire one and hope for the best."


    They were not supposed to fire the annihtors at all ording to their n. The annihtors are meant to be perceived threats and not actual threats to the ants. It is because the perceived threat of 10 annihtors is greater than the actual threat of 1 annihtor.


    Resorting to using the annihtor means that they are in trouble with no way out. That doesn''t mean the annihtor will help or stop more trouble froming.


    Helios agreed with him. "That''s what I am saying. You should only panic when that fails to work."


    The bishop belonging to the church of the storm red at him and spoke sarcastically, "Thank you for your reminder. It was very helpful."


    "Don''t worry about it. It is my burden to always be reasonable. I''m very good at it too. You should ask the bishop of the church of the sun to tell you how good I am. Do you want me to reason with you too?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His voice was cheery but the bishop of the church of the storm gulped involuntarily. He shut his mouth up. The other bishops chose to remain silent and execute the next part of their n. This created another problem.


    "Where do we fire at?" Another bishop asked.


    They have only one shot, they have to use it to the greatest effect. Helios was quick to give another helpful suggestion.


    He pointed to a spot on the map. "This is a good spot. Fire here."


    "But that won''t help the demigods." The same bishop said.


    Helios had selected an area closest to the ant mound. It is very far from the location of the demigods.


    "This is where their royal guards are. Those are the most important troops they have. The colony didn''t send them forward and is using the soldiers and workers to stall you. If you want to hit the ants where it will hurt them the most, then it must be here." He exined his reasons.


    The archbishop was about to raise more objections but Helios continued. "You know you can''t drop an annihtor close to the demigods. You run the risk of killing them. You also can''t waste your single chance on a useless ce. If you want to convince the ants that you mean business then you must hit their royal guards."


    The bishops shut up after that. Unlike Helios, they care about the demigods and would like to use their single opportunity to save them instead of relying on the change of mind of the ants. But Helios is right, the annihtor can also kill the demigods and no one wants to be the one that called that shot.


    A heroic quest is full of danger and can cause the deaths of demigods, but idental death by friendly fire is something else. It is still killing a demigod and it is punishable by death.


    So they gave the go-ahead to the one single annihtor that could fire at all. All the light around the giant began to recede until it formed a ball of white light more than 10 meters in diameter behind the giant. The giant aimed for the spot on the map andunched the ball. The ball rose into the sky in an arch before falling down.


    It exploded before it reached the ground. The white glowing ball expanded near instantly into a white dome more than 100 meters in diameter. Then there was a bright sh of light that could be seen for miles. It disoriented the ants on the battlefield, even the ones not close to the point of denotation.


    The heat st urred next as the heat moved faster than the air could expand. It originated with the white dome as its source and spread far beyond it. The heat turned every ant it touched within an area of a kilometer diameter into ashes. The ants beyond that range incurred injuries varying with their proximity to the st site.


    Then came the explosion of heated air. Air expanded and created a loud bang that traveled far. This st extended farther than the st radius of the heat wave. It created shockwaves that reached the front lines. The heated air rose up into the sky forming a column of air, dust, and water vapor in the shape of a mushroom.


    "Magnificent." The bishop of the church of the sun said.


    Helios replied. "It is magnificent. It is also my cue."


    The golden runes on his body lit up and he became the incarnation of light and fire. His skin turned yellow and white tattoos appeared on it, his eyes turned white and his hair turned into a golden me with red streaks. He rose into the air and shot forward towards the ant mound which has be visible after the ant horde became destabilized.


    His eleration created shockwaves in the air as he broke the speed of sound multiple times. He passed above the strike team and continued onward. The ant mound began to erge in his vision to reveal itself as a mountain. It is an artificial mountain built by the ant colony. That''s why it is hollow with numerous entrances that lead to spaces within it.


    One such entrance with a space more than 60 meters tall is close to the area where the annihtor detonated. A wide and deep crater has been formed close to it. The surface of the crater has turned tova but the entrance is fine. In fact, the entire mountain was not harmed by the explosion at all. The ant mound might be ant-made but it is one of the toughest things in this ne or the ants won''t have been able to survive being neighbors with giants.


    He began to decelerate until he smashed into a point within the crater close to the entrance. His collision with the ground created enough force to throwva into the air. He rose up from the pool ofva still in his child-of-the-sun mode. Lava fell off of him like oil on water. His yellow skin was not marred by the hotva.


    He breathed in and siphoned the heat around him. The golden me that is his hair grewrger while theva began to solidify due to losing its heat. He looked around and at the entrance. His white eyes could see the heat being given off by a giant figure hidden within the darkness of the entrance.


    He grinned as he thought in anticipation, ''It seemsseems it''s time to do battle.''

 Chapter 335 Goliath Royal Guard.

    ?"Come out,e out, wherever you are."


    His voice was quiet but the royal guard hiding within the mountain heard him.


    It came marching out. Its figure appeared to reveal a colossal ant more than 40 meters tall. It stood taller than Helios. The ground shook as it appeared.


    Everything about it is big. It has giant horns for efficient impaling on an equally giant head and sharp giant mandibles capable of beheading Helios. Its diamond exoskeleton which it uses to defend itself shown brightly under the light of the sun. It has a majesty about it that strikes fear in the heart. It could be that or the fear that rises when something much taller than you is approaching to kill you. It certainly doesn''t help that the threat is a giant bug. It''s like a scene out of a nightmare.


    A divine sense reached out from the goliath royal guard to Helios. "I am number 11, a royal guard of the honorable queen Anselhamtep. You are not wee here intruder."


    A royal guard is the prime warrior of Goliath ants. They are the main protectors of the colony. They are intelligent, have a size that canpare to adult giants of order, and have enough strength to tussle with adult giants of order. Soldier ants can defend against giants but royal guards are predators made to hunt giants. They are rare in a colony because of the difficulty of creating one. Helios is sure that this colony has less than 20 of them.


    Apart from the prohibitive cost of feeding one, most of the reason why they are rare is that they are mutants gotten from feeding the flesh of giants to ant grubs. The flesh of giants is rare to find. It doesn''t grow on trees and even if it does, trees don''t grow in the Zargoth ne.


    The flesh of giants can only be acquired from giants but they are not generous enough to donate body parts. The chance of sessful mutation is also very low. So royal guards are rare and very valuable. Helios also knows that none of the royal guards died in that strike with the annihtor.


    It is not that they are strong enough to shrug off the explosion, they just weren''t at the site of the detonation. In fact, they weren''t even outside of the ant mound. Royal guards are so valuable that if information that the annihtor is targeting them is made avable to the colony, the ant queen will surely make them hide within the ant mound to be protected by the incredibly defensive structure.


    Helios ignored the hostile ant. He looked up at the ant mound and nodded appreciatively.


    "Your ant mound looks ancient andrge. This is arge colony. Your queen must be very strong."


    "Yes, she is. She will be stronger soon when shepletes her transformation. That''s why we aren''t taking any visitors. Leave now. This is yourst warning." Number 11 warned again.


    The ant queen is within the mound but it wasn''t targeted by the annihtor because it will be useless to attack it. The ant mound is durable enough to withstand the attack of a transcendent. It is also the Queen''s body and it gets stronger the older and stronger the queen is.


    The ant mound is attached to the queen like an exoskeleton. It can''t grow by itself, so it needs to be reinforced by the ants of the colony. This makes the size of the ant mountain to be directly proportional to the size of the colony.


    Helios smirked unconcerned about the threat. "You''re so intelligent. You''re not like your mindless siblings. Do you feel emotions? Tell me, how does it feel to know that your existence is the reason why we can kill your queen?"


    Number 11 bristled at his statement. The ant mound is like a tortoise shell. The ant Queen''s real body is vulnerable and soft while the exoskeleton is tough. It offers protection to the queen but it has a lot of disadvantages. The queen can''t run away in times of danger. A young queen might be able to move, but an old one won''t be able to move because of the weight of the ant mound.


    The most important weakness is the entrances. A queen without royal guards will have small entrances fit for the small soldiers and ants. The entrances will be too small for giants of order to enter. Giants won''t be able to do anything to the queen then. But the creation ofrger entrances for royal guards makes the queen vulnerable to giants. It is an irony that the creation of royal guards to kill giants also exposes the queen to the danger of being killed.


    Helios continued talking while the royal guard began to tremble in anger. "You know, Goliath ants survived against the giants of order because of their strong, protective shell. But you guys got full of yourself and began to prey on your oppressors. Now you''re being besieged with a real threat of having your colony wiped out."


    The ant said for thest time. "Leave."


    Helios eyes became cold. He spoke to the angry ant. "Make me."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Number 11 moved its giant de-like limbs and rushed toward Helios. Helios''s white eyes turned red and two red energized beams of light came out of them. They struck the diamond carapace and dug two deep furrows into its carapace.


    The ant didn''t feel any pain because its thick carapace protected it from having its internal organs damaged. So Helios turned his eyes and directed thesers to the appendages.


    The twosers found a joint and cut through it. One of Number 11''s six limbs fell off. It adjusted its weight pretty quickly and continued to rush toward Helios. It used everything it could use including itsrge head, horns, and mandibles to try and block thesers. It is intelligent enough to know that it can''t allow the beam to do more damage to its legs.


    Helios shed brightly for a brief moment. By the time the sh of light ended, his body had appeared 10 meters to his right. Number 11 couldn''t block the beam because of the quick shift in position so another one of its limbs on the same side was cut off. It couldn''t adjust its weight and retain its bnce as easily asst time so it stopped running. It chose to defend itself from further damage by tucking in its legs and staying low while approaching Helios slowly.


    "What happened to your previous fervor?" Helios asked as he rose into the air.


    He put his hands together and when he pulled them apart, a physical structure of light began to form in between them.


    "You bettere and stop me." He taunted the cowardly ant.


    Number 11 chose to stay still. It lowered itself even more and used its carapace to protect its limbs. It recognized the threat but decided to have faith in its strong carapace. The other option to rush and try to stop Helios is not feasible. But that faith in its carapace began to dwindle as it watched the construct of light getting bigger and the pings from its energy sensors increased.


    It asked with a shaky voice. "What are you?"


    That''s the one thing that has been bordering it since it saw Helios. It is also why it chose to warn Helios off. Number 11 wasn''t sure what Helios was. Helios looks like a transcendent demigod but has the energy readings of a mana entity. For all of Number 11''s intelligence, it couldn''t figure out what Helios is.


    So it asked Helios to leave. It was a test. It never intended to let Helios go. If Helios chose to leave, it will mean he is weak, then Number 11 will be confident of killing him. If Helios decided to stay, number 11 will still fight but it will be hoping for the best. Still, it will be enough information for him to call for reinforcement since he isn''t confident. It just didn''t think that Helios will kill it so soon into the fight.


    The structure of light grew into arge hammer more than 50 meters long. Helios answered when his attack became ready.


    "I am the child of the sun."


    He swung his arm down. The hammer of light fell toward the royal guard. It was slow so it could dodge but it didn''t. Standing will make its legs vulnerable to Helios. So it chose to withstand the attack while reinforcementse.


    The hammer struck Number 11 with a loud ng like a hammer striking metal. Then the hammer exploded into light and heat.


    Helios saw the oue after the explosion cleared up.


    He grumbled, "You''re one tough nut."


    He doesn''t like what he is seeing. Number 11 survived the attack. It was pushed into the ground but it wasn''t crushed like the bug that Helios thought it is. In fact, it came out of the sh and its subsequent explosion without any injury. Number 11 will not be easy to put down.

 Chapter 336 Internal Combustion Engine.

    ?The royal ant said smugly, "This is why the queen risked the danger to her life to create us. It is because we are reliable and can protect the colony. We have been able to do that sessfully for so long because of our diamond carapace. There''s nothing you can do against it."


    It has regained confidence in itself and its existence has been justified.


    Helios''s eyes glinted sharply. "We''ll see about that."


    "Why don''t you go ahead and do that? I have nowhere else I want to be at this moment. Take your best shot. There''s no rush. We have all day."


    He ignored the taunts and jeers to focus on creating another light construct. This time it is a spear of light instead of the hammer. The white runes on his body shone brighter as he concentrated. He grafted some of his runes onto the spear so some runes appeared on the spear as it grewrger. They are the same light resonance runes on his body.


    His audience continued to throw barbs at him as he worked.


    "Nice idea to try something pointy next. It is genius really. If the hammer doesn''t work, then try the long pointy thing. You must be some kind of rare demigod."


    He exhaled after finishing its construction partly due to exhaustion and partly due to his annoyance with Number 11. Then he admired his work before he looked at hiscent foe.


    "Say yourst prayers because death ising."


    The confident royal guardughed in derision. "I am not so desperate to pray to your gods. My queen will be one soon and she will be all that I need."


    Helios let his hand drop and the spear dropped with it. Then spear shed and appeared above the royal guard. Number 11 couldn''t dodge fast enough even if it tried. Not with itspromised limbs. The spear phased through the carapace and sank into its body. It discharged all of its energy into the royal guard.


    "AHHHHHHHHHH!"


    Number 11 began to burn from the inside out. It roared in pain because of the enormous heat building up within it. It lit up and began to glow brightly as the spear transformed into energy within its body. The energy couldn''t leave its body because of the instion of the carapace. Its internal organs heated up and turned to ashes leaving behind the sturdy and reliable carapace. The death was very quick but very painful. It was also very noisy due to Number 11 screaming throughout the process.


    He nodded in contentment. "That is a job well done. Now I know how to kill them."


    The translucent carapace sat on the ground like some sort of tortoiseshell except it is glittering and shiny. The shell, the head, and the limbs are the only things that Number 11 left behind.


    He admired his work for a while before he turned into a streak of light. He didn''t go through this entrance, he went the long way to another entrance. He did so because he is sure this entrance will be teeming with royal guards pretty soon while the entrance farther away is suspected to be free from royal guards.


    Not long after he left, three royal guards arrived at the spot where number 11 died. They didn''t have much time to mourn since the strike team also arrived. It is a good thing for the royal guards, they get to take out their anger on the invaders. The three royal guards shed with the strike team with a thirst for vengeance. They swung their horns about and tried to shear off body parts with the mandibles. It made for a great show for those watching above.


    The POV of Harkam The God of The Sky and Tempest. Before the strike team was deployed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Harkam sat in his divine kingdom alone while he watched the heroic quest. His divine kingdom is filled with brown clouds and lightning dust storms. His believerse to his divine kingdom after their deaths to be wind and lightning spirits. His divine kingdom is not weing or hospitable. Dust storms are prevalent and the wind is too violent. The wind can shred a giant down to the bones. It isn''t why no one is watching with him though. He just isn''t a pleasant god to be around.


    He is sitting on a cloud in his real form watching the battle on the front lines. Harkam looks like a hybrid of lightning and dust wind spirit. He doesn''t have legs and his body is made from brown dust winds that are always releasing golden lightning bolts into his environment. His eyes and hair are made from simr golden lightning bolts. He doesn''t have a mouth. He can form a mouth but he doesn''t need it because he can''t taste anything.


    Bloodlines affect the lineage in a myriad of ways. It gives them an edge over others in terms of divine abilities or ancestral memories. They alsoe with weaknesses. Demigods and gods are also limited by their divine power. Those of the sky god lineage are fast and can wield lightning. They also get angry easily and be elemental beings when they be gods. Their elemental form has lost the ability to taste.


    While the sun god and his faction are eating nice things as they watch the heroic quest, he can''t eat anything. Even his humanoid form can''t taste food. And people wonder why he is always so irritable. Imagine having eternal life but you can''t distract yourself from the stress of living with some food.


    His inability to taste things does not bear the full me for his bad personality. His erratic mood is due to his vtile nature as a wind spirit. Still, he gets by. There are few things that he can distract himself with and they are the only two things he feels pleasure doing. One is sex and the other is destruction.


    Giants of Order have low fertility. They find it difficult to bear offspring naturally. Their low fertility has be exacerbated because of the low concentration of ambient mana. Demigods are very rare because the union of divine and mortal is even more difficult to result in a child. People think the god of the sky is very fertile but that''s only because he has sex a lot. When it is one of the only two things you can do for fun, you tend to do it a lot. When you do it a lot, the chances of you having a child be very high.


    The other thing he enjoys apart from causing rampant destruction in the mortal realm is watching interesting things going on in the mortal realm. Things like heroic quests are always interesting.


    "What a show-off." He muttered angrily when he saw Helios appear on his screen.


    Unlike others that will marvel and inquire about the runes, he doesn''t appreciate the power of Helios''s runes. He considers it showy because he doesn''t like Helios. He has nothing against Helios really. The one he hates the most is Stelios, the sun god. That hatred automatically extends to Helios because of who his father is. It is simply the natural cross-generational transfer of hatred.


    The feud between the sky god and the sun god goes back to times before Harkam. Harkam''s father also hated Stelios. But Harkam and Stelios''s conflict is greater than most of the previous conflicts by any standard.


    "It''s all Stelios''s fault. He is too full of himself." He said as he threw a bolt of lightning at the screen.


    The bolt was reflected back and it shot off to somewhere in the divine kingdom. The thought of the chaos it could cause made Harkam feel better.


    He doesn''t like Helios and believes that the death of his son, Tyke, at Helios'' hand is Stelios'' fault. It is not the only thing he mes Stelios for. Whenever Harkam thinks back to how their conflict started, he would always me the sun god.


    He was a new grand god then, recently ascended. He had risen from the position of a divine lord to that of a grand god so he was proud and excited. He was especially excited when he attended his first divine meeting with other gods and the celestial supreme. He used to be outside the circle of gods, just on the edge but now he is within their midst, making decisions with them. It felt good to not be a tool for entertainment anymore.


    He might have said something disrespectful to the sun god about his age in his excitement. Harkam didn''t think it mattered how old Stelios is. They are both grand gods and of equal strength. That''s what matters. So he should be allowed to make fun of the sun god. That train of thought sounds reasonable to Harkam.


    The sun god didn''t believe so and didn''t take being called an "ancient almost obsolete tool" very well because of his pride. He even pushed being unreasonable to the next level by asking Harkam to apologize.

 Chapter 337 The Most Important Use Of A Demigod.

    ?Harkam had scoffed at the request to apologize. He felt it was harmless. He also didn''t want to apologize because it will weaken his image as the new grand god. That''s how their conflict started. First, it was the little things but it escted when Stelios killed Pitran when the demigod failed his challenge.


    Harkam doesn''t care about Pitran just like he doesn''t care about Tyke. He cares more about what the existence of Pitran meant to him. For a god to shift to the path of perfection, they need to attend the trial of heaven. But a god can''t leave the ne as mortals can. The only way for them to leave is when a channel leading to the tower of heaven opens in the divine realm before the trial.


    The thing is, gods can''t take the channel however they wish. If they are stopped by the celestial supreme, then they can''t participate in the trial. The celestial god of Order made a rule, that only those that have a divine lord that can substitute for them, will be allowed to attend the trial of heaven. That rule keeps the ne from being chaotic due to the constant divine war that would ensue in the absence of a god and the resulting vacancy in their domain.


    It is a known fact among the gods that the celestial god of order and justice doesn''t like change. To prevent gods from changing too much, he invented heroic feats as a requirement for a demigod to be a divine lord. The heroic quest will distract gods from fighting amongst themselves while also limiting change.


    Pitran, the demigod of the sky god was on his 11th heroic feat. He needed just one more and he chose to challenge the sun god. He could have chosen any god but he chose the sun god in honor of the ancient conflict between the sky gods and Stelios. That decision didn''t turn out well for Pitran and Harkam. 12 heroic feats will guarantee him the position of a divine lord, which means Harkam will be able to participate in the trial of heaven and progress forward.


    There are other ways to be a divine lord. If a demigod is special or very entertaining but there isn''t any opportunity for more feats, the council of gods can vote to make the demigod a divine lord. The majority vote of the gods or a decision of the celestial supreme can also bestow that position to any demigod.


    It really is an entertaining thing to see a demigod challenge one of the oldest gods in the pantheon. So the gods were rooting for Pitran. Stelios chose to kill Pitran because he is favored by the gods and will likely get the position. It cost Harkam his opportunity and dyed him. So Harkam got angry and started a divine war. ording to him though, it is all Stelios''s fault and even until his dying breath, he will never admit that he was losing that war.


    If they had been allowed to fight, Harkam would have been able to beat Stelios because of the sun god''s weakness, but the celestial supreme didn''t allow it. That left divine wars in the mortal ne. Sadly, the church of the sun had more resources and better stigmata than the church of the storm.


    Even the divine war in the mortal realm didn''t escte because the celestial supreme didn''t let it. There was no piging and burning of innocent believers. Just a battle between troops on a battlefield. If not for the help Harkam got from other gods who didn''t want him to lose easily and cut off their source of entertainment, his loss would have been worse than losing more than 70 percent of his total troops and manpower in the mortal realm.


    Things eventually calmed down over time and then Harkam had twins. It seemed that things were looking good for him. He now has two chances of acquiring a divine lord. It was proof that fucking around is a productive pastime. You get to have fun and produce the next generation at the same time. It is a very efficient hobby.


    That was until Stelios had his own demigod a few years after. Harkam behaved like a stubborn and petty god would behave. He tried to sabotage Helios''s second-star celebration. He was hoping to have Helios killed even though it will have little impact on Stelios since the sun god can''t shift to the path of perfection with that ring weakness of his. Things didn''t turn out well for Harkam. He was tricked and had one of his opportunities taken from him.


    The thing about being stubborn is that it is difficult to learn from your mistakes and even more so to change your ways. Harkam didn''t learn anything when he insulted the sun god apart from the fact that Stelios is very old and proud. He didn''t learn anything when he "didn''t lose" that divine war apart from the fact that Stelios may be good at making Stigmata.


    But something very important finally got through the thick wind that formed his head. He learned something as he watched Tyke die. It was that he must not lose Tanya. It is because of this lesson that he didn''t whoop in excitement when Tanya tried to attack Helios.


    Any other time, he would have encouraged her to disregard the rules of fair y during this heroic quest and maul Helios to death. Heck, he was the biggest supporter of Pitran''s decision to challenge the oldest god in the pantheon.


    So instead of cheering her on, he sighed and said, "Just leave him alone. It will do you no good."


    It hurt him to tell someone not to make a stupid and rash decision. But the circumstances have turned him into the reasonable one who follows rules instead of the free-spirited and unfettered rascal he should be. It is a shame.


    Of course, Tanya couldn''t hear him because the gods have been banned frommunicating with the demigods or offering any type of aid. So he can only watch, rant, and feel immensely grateful to the priests that held her down.


    "I''ll reward them if they survive the heroic quest." He promised.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He might forget about rewarding themter on or he might remember because of his vtile mood. What wille wille. That''s how he rolls, always in the moment, doing whatever makes him happy and looking for more fun. Right now, watching the heroic quest is fun and very important, so he is content with watching.


    "Not bad for a demigod of the sun. It''s mostly the work of that pompous Stelios. But it isn''t too bad." He said as he watched Helios put that bishop in her ce.


    He felt really impressed by Helios but it will be against his nature to say so even when he is alone with no one to hear him say it. He would rather attribute the strength that Helios showed to Stelios''s rune-making skills so he won''tplement Helios for it.


    He also won''tplement Stelios out loud because a god has ways of finding that out. For example, there are no secrets to that asshole god of fate and he is always using it to ckmail or embarrass people.


    He began chanting, "Kill her. Kill her."


    Helios had the priest by the neck like some helpless chicken and he wants more than anything else to watch Helios snap that helpless chicken''s neck.


    "What a wuss." He said when Helios didn''t.


    Cutting off an arm is not savage enough or nearly entertaining. So he cursed at Helios.


    He watched the strike team deploy. He wouldn''t admit it but he felt anxious. The anxiety reached a peak when the ant horde turned on the strike team.


    "Stop panicking, you idiots." He shouted at the screen when the bishops began to panic.


    He shouted at the archbishops. "Listen to the dwarf sun god."


    He chuckled when he heard what Helios said about panicking after they have used the annihtor.


    "Sounds reasonable for a sun lover. They are usually unreasonable and boneheaded."


    Helios''s argument to aim for the royal guards was reasonable but he won''t admit to that either. He wants Tanya to be safe and a strike close to her might risk her life so it is a good decision to target the royal guards. Except Helios is wrong and Harkam disagrees with the n to target the royal guards.


    "Don''t listen to the dwarf sun god. He is wrong. There''s no one there. Why would you listen to anyone from the lineage of that old coot? They are all nuts in the head."


    He got animated with hisining. His wing body ballooned in size and the lightning strikes around him increased in number.


    Helios made a lot of sense but Harkam can see on his screen that the royal guards returned to the ant mound immediately after the decision was made to aim for them.

 Chapter 338 Strike Team Meets Royal Guards.

    ?Harkam didn''t find that suspicious at all. The only thing on his mind right now is that they will be wasting their one chance to use the annihtor. It wouldn''t help the strike team which means Tanya might die. That''s why he isining moments afterplimenting the "dwarf sun god."


    Comin as he might, no one listened to him. The annihtor was fired and it went to waste. The ant horde was disoriented but the damage done to them was minimal. The royal guards weren''t where they should and most of the ant horde was at the front lines or concentrating on the strike team.


    He was about to call for another divine intervention to save the strike team when he stopped. The divine intervention would have passed since he isn''t the only anxious god with a demigod in the strike team. The other 7 gods will surely agree to use another annihtor and the celestial supreme might allow it since the first one was a waste. But he didn''t need to because the ants stopped bothering the strike team and focused on the front line again.


    "What''s going on?" He asked quietly.


    That''s when Harkam began to get suspicious of the ants. The other gods sighed in relief and thought that the strike wasn''t useless after all, it caused the ants to take the front lines seriously. But Harkam only felt suspicion. He doesn''t know what is wrong with the ants but their behavior is odd.


    First, the ant horde attacked the strike team. Then the royal guards retreated into the safety of the ant mound moments after the decision was made to target them. The ant horde left the strike team alone. Just a little more pressure and the ants will be able to get the strike team. But they backed off. If they hadn''t backed off, more annihtors would have been used. He was trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together when he became distracted by Helios''s fight with the royal guard.


    "Stupid boy. All brawn and no brain. He made us waste that annihtor." He grumbled with displeasure.


    He wasn''t impressed. Helios is only disying Stelios'' runes in his opinion. No matter how fancy or cool the fight is, he won''tplement it. Instead, he would find some way to discredit the boy. It doesn''t matter that the wastage of the annihtor couldn''t be Helios''s fault. The boy''s decision was impable. He doesn''t have the divine vision of the gods. How was he to know that the royal guards would retreat into the protection of the ant mound?


    It also didn''t matter that Helios is doing stuff that other demigods of the sun god couldn''t do as mana entities. Demigods of the sun god can''t shoot light from their eyes and cannot create weapons of light and heat. They can''t even sh around so quickly like that until they be transcendents. But since Helios is a demigod of the sun god and Harkam can sense a Stigmata on his body made with the divine energy of the sun god, it is enough for Harkam to believe that it is all the work of Stelios and anything rted to Stelios must be hated.


    "What''s he doing? Why didn''t he take that entrance?" He asked in confusion.


    There''s a perfectly good entrance there but Helios didn''t use it. He didn''t dwell on that useless detail for long because the strike team arrived at that entrance. They encountered three royal guards and began fighting. It wasn''t suspicious, and neither did it matter that the strike team had an easy passage to the ant mound after the use of the annihtor. What''s there to be suspicious about? It''s probably because the ants chose to focus on the front lines after being scared by the use of the annihtor.


    "Hurry up. Hurry up." He said anxiously.


    It is obvious to him that the royal guards are reinforcements. If the strike team doesn''t take them out quickly enough and enter the ant mound then they run the risk of getting ganged up on by more royal guard reinforcements or the ant horde behind them. They could be pincered on both ends.


    The strike team knew that too and exerted all their efforts. They don''t need his encouragement to do their utmost to preserve their lives. All of them tried their best but Harkam has eyes only for Tanya.


    "That''s my girl." He roared in excitement as he watched Tanya.


    The winds of the divine kingdom picked up speed because of his excitement. Tanya is the best warrior in Harkam''s opinion. She is headstrong and actually strong. She pushed forward towards a royal guard with fearlessness. Her teammates warned her to wait for them to go forward together but she didn''t listen. She seemed determined to fight even if she has to do it alone.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Her blood is boiling, her emotions rising, and her energy is spiking. She is angry and she decided to take it out on the royal guard. Her twin hammers got bigger as she used more divine power from her core. She struck the royal guard on the head but its carapace protected it. So she did it again and again.


    Her hammer shed with mandibles and the horns as the royal guard protected itself. The Goliath ant may be huge but it isn''t clumsy. It wielded its body deftly and fended off Her attempts at bludgeoning it. But she is relentless. She doesn''t intend to ept the resistance. It only riled her up.


    "She is a natural at this."


    Harkam felt like shedding a tear as he watched her performance.


    Demigods can''t use their core until they be transcendents. But they can utilize the divine energy within it to enhance stigmata with an affinity with their divine power. They have to harmonize with their core to achieve it. It is a very difficult thing to do because of the impediment caused by theirw fragments. But Tanya has achieved it at a young age too. It meant she could break through to transcendence if she wants to.


    The air around Tanya is charged. Her two hammers are charged and so is she as the energy of her core flowed through her. Her hair straightened and is flowing wildly. You can see it in her eyes that are sparking with electricity that she is out for murder.


    "I won''t lose to him." She screamed as she struck the Goliath ant again and again.


    They all saw Helios fly above them. The carapace of the dead royal guard they found here means he killed one on his own. The fact that he isn''t there right now means he killed the royal guard quickly and he could be inside the ant mound already. His fast speed means he might get to the queen first at this rate. She couldn''t allow that. She must get the queen first and then kill Helios.


    She doesn''t care about the fair y policy that has been set up for this heroic quest. Things will be okay if she kills Helios as long as it doesn''t cost the gods their fun. Her father will have to pay some fines but it will be worth it to crush that shiny poster boy.


    Her relentless attack was working, somewhat. But only that. It is thebined effort of Tanya, her team, and two other demigod teams that are responsible for pushing back the single royal guard that they are fighting. Alone, a single team will be hard-pressed to survive a single royal guard. She can''t take credit for the royal guard giving ground for the advancement of the strike team.


    The carapace of the royal guards is too thick. Piercing, cutting, or shing weapons are useless against it. Only blunt or bludgeoning weapons could deal any sort of damage to the internal organs beneath the diamond carapace. Divine spells wash over the reflective carapace dealing negligible damage. The priests cycled through their repertoire of spells and were rewarded with minimal sess.


    It is not that the ants are not susceptible to magic, it is just that the output of the priests is not enough to overwhelm the defense of the royal guards. Their fire spells aren''t hot enough. Their water and wind spells are too weak to move the giant ants or cut their carapace. Their earth spells are not heavy enough. Their ice spells are too thin and weak to freeze them.


    Royal guards got a lot more than size and strength from giants. They also got high resistance to spells. It is not based onw fragments and anti-magic domains like that of giants. Their defense is entirely based on their multipurpose diamond carapace.


    The rtively thin limbs of the ants are not as vulnerable as Helios made them look. In fact, one must not get near the appendages because the royal guards can use them effectively as spears. The thin and sharp form of their legs makes them very effective des that can easily cut through giant skin. The demigods have to be wary around the limbs so that they won''t get injured.

 Chapter 339 Screwed In More Ways Than They Know.

    ?The limbs are dangerous to be around and because they are thin, it is easy for spells to miss them. Not everyone is like Helios who makes fighting a royal guard look easy.


    "Hit its eye. Yes, hit its eye. That''s how you do it." Harkam hollered at the top of his gruff voice as he watched the wonderful show.


    The royal guards seemed tailored to hunt giants of order and yet, they are being pushed back. They fell back before the might of the demigods and it was exciting to watch. Harkam couldn''t sit still. He rose from the cloud he is sitting on to cheer Tanya on.


    Things are going well by the look of the fight. Harkam has forgotten about the impending reinforcements and he overlooked the fact that none of the royal guards have been wounded at all. Yet, they are losing.


    The demigods are just strong and it is enough for Harkam that the royal guards are being pushed back. Each attack from the strike team is weak but many of them seemed to overwhelm the Goliath ants. Who wouldn''t be overwhelmed when they are attacked from all sides? When quantity reaches a certain level it bes its own quality.


    The strike team is doing well and that''s all that matters. They pushed the royal guards into the entrance of the ant mound. Harkam thought nothing of it. Where else are the royal guards going to be pushed back? Nothing seems suspicious. Even the absence of reinforcements for the royal guards. The fight has gone on for a long time and yet, there are no reinforcements.


    Maybe the reinforcements are being dyed by something. But what could be more important than demigods who want to kill their queen at their very doorstep? Besides, what does it matter? The only thing on Harkam''s mind is the current fight that is going well for the strike team.


    "Something is finally going well for them." Harkamughed heartily as the strike team entered the ant mound with the royal guards.


    Tanya''s PoV


    The screen continued to show the progress of the strike team as they entered the ant mound. The tunnels in the ant mound arerge but they can only allow two royal guards to stand side by side while the demigods can allow 5. It is restrictive but it restricts the ants more than the giants.


    The members of the strike team have to funnel themselves into the ant mound but they can rotate the front-line positions so that all of them can engage the royal guards while the royal guards are limited in number. This means that the entire strike team of 85 is fighting the 3 royal guards with an advantage of 5 to 2. 5 to 2 is still dangerous for the demigods but the tight space is inhibiting the royal guards and making the fight easier. So it is not a wonder that they pushed deep into the ant mound pretty quickly and were about to approach an intersection.


    "Intersectioning up." Someone shouted above the din of battle.


    The intersection is a result of the cross-over of two tunnels. One runs from the entrance to the center of the room and another one runs across it from left to right. Numerous priests used sensory spells to scout ahead. They found nothing except for the usual worker and soldier ants.


    "It is clear. Both sides are clear. No sign of royal guards."


    The first priest toplete the scouting informed the others. Other feedback confirmed it to be true. By the looks of things, there are no royal guards around. It seems the royal guards are preupied with something else in the ant mound.


    "My team and I will be splitting here. We''ll take the right tunnel." Tanya informed the group.


    Fighting in the tunnels is easy for the strike team. They don''t have as much room to maneuver but the ants can''t overwhelm them either. The small space is more of a problem for the royal ants than for them. The demigods will always be at an advantage no matter the number of royal guards they face.


    The absence of danger means the absence of opportunity to shine. That''s why Tanya hasn''t exchanged her position from the front since they entered the tunnel but that cannot continue. Some others want to fight too. If there are not enough royal guards to go around, then it makes a lot of sense to split up. The heroic quest is a race anyway. The first person to reach the queen wins. So it is in Tanya''s best interest to split and find her own way.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She ignored the strike team''s reaction to her heads-up. She will do whatever she wants to do regardless of their opinion about it. She was just telling them so that they would be prepared. No one objected to the violent-looking female giant of order. They didn''t need her to push back two royal guards and her absence will give them a better chance of winning the heroic quest. Another demigod also made his intention to separate known.


    ''Finally, some free space to fight and show my full power.'' she thought in anticipation.


    Tanya is looking forward to the separation. Her recent performance isn''t satisfying enough for her. The other teams and her teammates were in the way of having a full fight with a royal guard. Their presence and interference didn''t allow her to show her full power. What she wants is to fight a royal guard alone and see her limits but she can''t have that yet.


    So she will go her own way and hopefully encounter a royal guard or maybe two so that she can disy her full power. The thought of the progress that Helios must be making within the ant mound chased her anger to rise and her lightning to be more potent.


    The strike team pushed the royal guards past the intersection. Tanya and her team separated from the strike team and took the right tunnel. The tunnel is clear as the scouts said. She doesn''t see any threat apart from the soldier ants which she can crush easily. She ran forward smashing her way through the ant horde. Then she suddenly fell back after running face-first into something. She was at the head of her small squad so she was the one to run into the invisible obstacle.


    "What the fuck?" She cursed angrily.


    "Are you alright, exalted demigod?" One of her teammates asked.


    The priests were startled by her behavior and stopped to ask her. She didn''t get to answer but they received their answer anyway. The invisible obstacle was an invisible barrier. It wasn''t strong because it wasn''t set up for protection. So it flickered after Tanya knocked into it. Then it fell to reveal a ring royal guard. Its head was lowered menacingly at them.


    The priests and Tanya were shocked by the situation. One of them managed to ask the question that was bothering them.


    "How?"


    How did a royal guard hide from them? They had used various sensing spells to scout the tunnel but nothing showed up. The priests happen to be more than faithful idiots, they are also smart so they know that they are in big trouble.


    Divine spells are just like normal spells except that they are powered by divine power instead of mana. A normal spell can be trounced by a stronger spell. In their case, divine spells can be fooled by divine spells with stronger divine power.


    What is mind-boggling is that it should be impossible for them to be fooled. They are not priests to weak gods and have never worried about their spells failing them. The only force stronger than the grand god of the sky and tempest will have to be a celestial god and there is only one in the entire ne.


    The celestial god of order and justice shouldn''t have done this. After all, this heroic quest was arranged by the Celestial Supreme. But if it were him that helped the royal guard hide from their sensing spells then they are screwed in more ways than they are aware of.


    Even if they are priests of weaker gods like a low god, the fact that they were fooled means that a god is on the side of the ants. That should be impossible since the queen is only about to be a demigod. So it is either that they were lied to or a god is on the side of the ant and probably a very strong god too.


    Either way, they are screwed. The involvement of a god is not a good omen. It is like a wolf ying among sheep. No matter how innocent or well-meaning the wolf is, something bad is bound to happen and it is highly likely that it will happen to the sheep. This mission is difficult already without the introduction of confusing factors that spell certain doom for them.

 Chapter 340 They Were Pretending.

    ?Tanya is smart in her own way, just not in the problem analyzing way. She is more of a doer than a thinker. So she wasn''t frozen in terror like the priests after they realized how big of trouble they have found themselves in. She recovered quickly from her stumbling and roused her divine power. Her body brightened with sparks of electricity. She channeled the power into her rune, the hammer of the sky god. It lit up and resonated with her.


    She raised her right hammer into the air and brought it down for a smash on the head of the royal guard. The head is already low to the ground and extra vulnerable. She aimed for an eye. Such a fragile organ will be squashed beneath the might of her hammer.


    The head will be jostled and pushed to the left by the impact of the hammer. Then her left hammer which is in the process of being lifted up will smack the head in the opposite direction. She would go on to pummel the royal guard. She could already see it in her mind.


    The royal guard moved. It shook its head and moved its horn to intercept the hammer strike. The two of them met and the hammer was deflected harmlessly to the side. Another swift shake of the horns and Tanya lost an arm. The horn on the top of the ant''s head had cut through both the flesh and bone of her arm. It was then that she finally felt shocked. Her eyes widened in disbelief even as her severed arm fell to the ground and blood started leaking out of the stub that her arm has be. She realized something critical to their survival. She had been incapacitated easily. Too easily.


    Her defeat shouldn''t have been that easy. If it is, then they are in big trouble.


    "No more ying around." The voice of number 9 reached them through the divine sense.


    Tanya''s eyes widened further. They knew that a royal guard is not like a normal mindless ant. They have intelligence and they learn. But a royal guard with a divine sense is too strong and indicates a demigod ant queen. It was then that the possibility that they may have been tricked started to crop up in Tanya''s mind. With it came the realization of a real possibility of death.


    The priests were roused out of their frozen state when they saw Tanya get hurt. They have to keep her safe. They were told that the ant queen is about to be a demigod and yet there is obviously divine power at y plus the royal guard couldmunicate with a divine sense but it doesn''t excuse them from their duty. This heroic quest stinks of a conspiracy that they have been caught in. But conspiracy or not, Tanya must survive.


    It is not the first time that those on heroic quests have been tricked for the entertainment of the gods. The gods do it to make the struggle real. The direct involvement of a god has never happened before but they have to ignore it for now and fight for a chance to survive. It is either that or they ept death. Because if Tanya dies, then they will surely die and their souls will be tortured in the afterlife. That''s the punishment for those that have offended a god. They shall not have peace alive or dead if Tanya dies.


    The nine priests behind her rushed forward to save her. They shot spells of various kinds at the royal guard. It just shrugged them off and pushed through the firepower. It has its eyes locked on Tanya who is crawling backward in terror. The royal guard stalked her in an imposing manner. Its legs stamped the ground in quick session as it gained on her. Then it attacked.


    A priest jumped in front of her just in time to block an attack for her while another pulled her up. The priest that blocked her front took on the attack for her and is swiftly impaled by a giant horn.


    The royal guard had rushed forward with the intention to pierce all obstacles. One such obstacle was the priest. The giant horn pierced through the barriers and into the body of the priest and out the back. Then the royal ant exerted its mandibles to shear the body of the giant. Tanya and the other priests were sshed with blood and were bestowed with the scream of pain from the suffering priest who was being split in half.


    Number 9 tossed the priest aside after a quick work separating the chest from the waist. Then it crushed the skull of the screaming priest to make sure he is dead before moving on. It ran after the escaping team. The blood on the ground, sttered all over the shiny carapace of the royal guard, and the internal organs littered about are proof of the messy job that Number 9 had just done but it is still looking to do more.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The team didn''t see these signs since they are running back the way they came, but they do not need the signs. The sounds the priest made were descriptive enough for them to know he didn''t die painlessly. Even the silence that ensued after the skull was crushed only made the violent image in their minds more vivid. Even now, they can see a deformed skull with eyes popped too far out of their sockets and twitching legs still attached to an unnaturally independent waist.


    Such sounds continued to be heard as more priests were overtaken and ughtered. Their death was swift but very violent. Royal ants are very efficient killing machines. Some of the priests were overtaken and died unwillingly while the others sacrificed themselves to buy more time for Tanya to escape.


    Number nine continued to rush after them. It quickly dispatched any obstacle before stepping over the spilled organs and broken bodies without care. It stopped once in a while to crush or impale skulls to ensure the deaths of its victims.


    Tanya''s team finally reached the intersection but they didn''t find the salvation that they were hoping for. The main team had been pushed back. They have also suffered casualties. That isn''t all. The team that took the left tunnel is also returning disgraced and beaten ragged with their tails between their legs. Even their metaphorical tails didn''t get away unscathed. It has been severed and is bleeding creating a bloody trail of shame behind them.


    The sight that was waiting for them is not a good one, to say the least. There was blood, limbs, bodies, and more blood everywhere. Tanya shuddered as she caught the look of shock on the face of a dead priest. The priest''s mouth is opened in shock which mirrors the hole on the forehead where the priest was impaled by a horn. Tanya was only pulled from her terror when a shout shook her.


    The demigod who took his team to the left tunnel shouted, "We were ambushed."


    Things had gone differently for them. They weren''t as headstrong as Tanya''s team. They had decided to stop and n their next actions. The royal guard waiting for them in the tunnel was the one that got the jump on them after getting fed up with waiting for them.


    One of the demigods in the main team shouted, "What do we do? They suddenly became violent and strong all of a sudden."


    "You fool. They were pretending." Another one shouted back.


    Tanya''s group ignored the others and their shouting that helped no one. They have a royal guard hot on their tails so they are preupied with running away. The dead priests in their team had bought them time, so they will be able to make it away if they rush without paying heed to side chatter. They chose not to think about how they will get through the ant hoard outside. They will face it when ites.


    As they are right now, it is no use thinking about too much at all. Solving problems as theye is always the motto of the storm church. That motto also says that they should solve problems with pure might, but they are running away since they are out of might to solve this problem. Unfortunately, running away doesn''t solve problems and neither will it solve the problems they''re currently facing.


    Two more royal guards are waiting for them in the tunnel they came from blocking the way to safety. The strike team is surrounded. They are in a situation that only pure might can get them out of. The ant horde didn''t allow them to get within the ant mound so that they can let them escape, now do they? No, they got them here so that they can carry out their aim without interference. Now, an annihtor cannot rescue them no matter the amount that is fired.

 Chapter 341 Whats Worse Than Death?

    ?The demigods began to realize a lot of things. First, they are not strong. It only looked that way because the royal guards were acting weak. Second, they didn''t push the royal guards back. It only looked that way because the royal guards wanted them in the ant mound. And three, nothing was holding up the reinforcements for the royal guards. It only looked that way because the ants were waiting to ambush and trap them.


    But these realizations only brought more questions about why the royal guards are so strong and how they were able to hide from them. It is all toote now to get answers to those questions anyway. The six royal guards pressed them from all sides and culled their numbers one by one. Their approach was careful and methodical almost like pruning shrubs. They cut down everything in front of them and made sure it is dead before moving on.


    Tanya realized something odd as the walls of brute force cornered them. All 8 of the demigods are alive. The royal guards didn''t kill any demigods. They might have chopped off limbs or given deep cuts that reached the bones but no demigod was fatally wounded. They were all bunched at the center of the intersection after a fight that took less than 10 minutes, there were no more priests.


    The five priests that belong to the church of the sun and were supposed to be part of Helios''s team also died. They shouldn''t have entered this death trap and they died with that knowledge apanied by an unhealthy dose of regret. It doesn''t matter that regret in such an amount is bad for one''s health because they don''t have to worry about their health anymore.


    "That should be it." Number 3 said.


    "Not all of them are here. One of them isn''t here." Number 4 added.


    "This much is enough. It will have to do." Number 9 joined in.


    The six of them were discussing while they towered above the demigods who are clustered between them like a bunch of frightened chickens or a group of mistreated war prisoners which is what they are. Their clothes have been shredded, blood has been spilled all over their bodies probably from the numerous wounds on said bodies or from the mangled body of others. Then there is the look of fright on their terror-stricken faces. It is not a wonder why they will bepared to frightened chickens. It is safe to say that they have seen better days.


    They are helpless and won''t even be able to escape the ant mound even if the royal guards are not present. They have lost all their priests so they don''t have their force domain to push back the smaller ants. The tunnels are filled with worker and soldier ants in every direction. It is the instruction of the queen that is keeping them at bay from pouncing on the helpless demigods. Without their domains, the demigods don''t stand a chance against the worker ants who will swarm them like a bug nket and rip them to shreds.


    "You can''t kill us. Our parents will have your heads if you kill anyone of us." Tanya shouted at the royal guards.


    She has taken on more injuries apart from the arm that was lobbed off. There''s a cut on the side of her face that just missed an eye by a few inches.


    It felt beneath her to sumb to threatening others with the might of her father so as to secure her life, but she loves her life and is also sure that the god of the sky won''t sit still while something bad happens to her. Unlike the others who are probably here for entertainment, she is important to her divine father. She is currently the only demigod of the sky god and he doesn''t have a divine lord yet. So she is very important to her father. The fact that the royal guards haven''t killed any demigods also gave her hope.


    Number 9, the royal guard that killed her teammates replied scornfully, "Stupid girl. You''re threatening us with death when you were sent here to kill us. What could be worse than death?"


    Tanya couldn''t answer that question. There''s punishment in the afterlife but ording to their culture, non-giant races don''t have an afterlife. So she can''t scare the royal guard into involuntary servitude. She slumped down dejectedly.


    Number 3 joined in the conversation. "As you might have noticed, we didn''t kill any demigod. That''s because we are kidnapping all of you."


    It looked around into space for a while before continuing. "I''m sure the gods can see and hear us. The pantheon will need a representative to negotiate with us. We will inform you of who we want in a few days. As of now, the gods should call off the hunt of our colony and they shouldn''t try anything. We will notice."


    Then he turned to the demigods, "As for you guys. Start moving. We are going down to the center of the ant mound. Move it."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The demigods had to move when the royal guards threatened them with more cuts from the des on their limbs. All eight of them were herded like cattle to the center of the ant mound where the ant queen will see them before being sent to a jail where they will be imprisoned and probably tortured.


    The situation made the demigods have mixed emotions. The fact that they are being kidnapped means that they have a chance of survival. Their heroic quest can be considered a bust. They may be going to the central room of the ant mound to see the queen, but they won''t be going as her vanquishers as they nned. They will be prisoners of conquest to be disyed for the queen''s amusement or worse.


    Back to Harkam.


    He had to switch the disy of his screen to the tunnel so that he can follow Tanya''s progress. This is why he didn''t see the ant horde retreat from the front lines en mass as soon as the strike team entered the ant mound. Other gods who were watching alone and don''t have a demigod in the heroic quest saw this bizarre and sudden retreat. But they didn''t care.


    The reason why they saw the retreat is that they couldn''t watch the fight within the ant mound. They don''t have any person with their divine power within the tunnels to extend their divine vision to the tunnels. The fact that they don''t have any person within the tunnels with their divine power also means they don''t have any vested interest in the heroic quest. So they didn''t care.


    The fact that they aren''t watching with those with vested interests in the heroic quest means they probably don''t get along with them or they don''t move in the same circle. So it is even less reason for them to care. The ones that cared rationalized the behavior as the ants rushing back to protect their home from the invaders.


    Those ones mocked the ants, "Stupid ants. It is toote now. They have entered your home."


    The tunnel structure means that the ant horde won''t be able to use their numbers advantage to overwhelm the strike team. As long as the team has their force domain to support themselves, then they will be fine. It would have been useless even if they cared and warned the others. It would also be useless if Harkam noticed the odd behavior and suspected foul y. He can''t interfere with the heroic quest. Even if he could, things had gone too far to be stopped.


    "That''s a good idea. Go your own way. You''ll stand a better chance of winning this thing that way." Harkam was in agreement with Tanya''s decision to separate.


    He needs her to win the heroic quest and gain a heroic feat. 11 more heroic feats and she will be a guaranteed divine lord. So he is in support of her separating.


    Tanya separated and they happened to run into an invisible barrier.


    "What the fuck is this?" Harkam asked in confusion.


    The sight of the royal guard confused him as much as the priests. He may be a god, but he was struck with the same perplexing confusion of the mortal priests.


    "Could a god be on the ant''s side?"


    He had seen the use of observation spells and they came back negative for royal guards. But unlike the priests, he has a method to make sure. He went through the feedback of divine power he has experienced recently. His mind bypassed prayers whether they be prayers for help or thanksgiving and focused on the use of divine spells that urred with his divine power. He found his answer. The divine power that fooled the scouting spells is much stronger than his. It can only mean one thing.


    "This can''t be. What game is the Celestial god of Order ying?" He asked slowly with fury evident in his voice.

 Chapter 342 Betrayal Of The Highest Order.

    ?He came to the same conclusions as the priests except he is very certain of it because there is only one person stronger than him in the entire ne.


    He feels like shouting out in anger but he held himself back. The celestial supreme isn''t Stelios. He can''t say whatever he wants to say and get away with a painful p on his wrist. He can''t be rash. He hasn''t even seen what will happen. Maybe he shouldn''t use the celestial god when he hasn''t done something bad yet. Surely the celestial supreme didn''t add something crazy to the heroic quest.


    "Maybe he has a n." He struggled to say and sat back in his seat.


    He didn''t question whether it was the celestial god of order and justice. He definitely felt a greater divine power override his. And the only celestial god in the ne is the celestial supreme. No grand god has ascended to be a celestial god recently. Such a development wouldn''t escape the notice of the gods. Plus, it is the celestial supreme that nned the heroic quest. There''s no way a god will interfere with it without the permission of the celestial supreme.


    Even if a grand god ascends to be a celestial, the celestial supreme will have them killed. He has been known to kill new celestials as soon as they finish their ascension so there is no other Celestial apart from him in the entire Zargoth ne. Such a guy that can''t share his power is not a guy to be bad-mouthed without a care in the world. Harkam still cherishes his life. So he reasoned himself to calmness.


    That calmness was seriously threatened when Tanya lost an arm but he remained calm and tried to find a reason why the royal guards are stronger than they should be. His patience went on to be tested again and again when the royal guard spoke and as he watched his priests being butchered by the royal guards.


    "My priests. Those are my priests." He said through gritted teeth.


    He felt pain as he watched his priests die. Their cries of pain and suffering didn''t get to him. What he is concerned about is the fact that he is losing good priests when he only recently recovered from that devastating loss that he incurred in the divine war with Stelios but won''t admit to.


    "I can get other priests." He said to calm himself down.


    Never before has Harkam''s patience been tested like this. He is not a patient god but he has to keep his calm since this involves the Celestial Supreme. His patience was tested by the brutality that urred. He watched members of the strike team be ythings to the royal guards.


    All he could think of as he saw the massacre is that it urred because the royal guards are stronger than usual. Their power hasn''t reached the transcendent stage yet but they are strong enough to take on ancient giants of order. If he had known, he would never have allowed Tanya to go. She might be a demigod but she is just a young giant and is in no way fit to fight against something like that.


    "It seems he hid their strength from us. What else did he hide?" He asked while pacing about.


    He tried to remain calm but it is only a facade. He is not happy. His mood is getting worse and so the lightning in the divine kingdom responded with lightning storms. He is on his way to bing angry. Things will get worse then. He usually bes violent after anger. But he can''t stop now because he feels he has a right to be angry.


    The royal guards aren''t supposed to be this strong. And most importantly, a god shouldn''t be helping them. Worst of all, the god that is helping them is also the one that called for the heroic quests. It stinks of a plot by the Celestial Supreme to dy the changing of gods for a couple of origin cycles by killing off demigods.


    "If the celestial god of order and justice hadn''t sensed the fluctuations of divine power in the ant mound, they wouldn''t be sent there in the first ce. There has to be a reason for it. It doesn''t even need to be good, but Tanya has to be safe."


    He tried to rationalize and prevent himself from raging out. The situation is yet to fully y out. It might not be a betrayal of the highest order after all. It was then that the royal guard made their intentions of kidnapping the demigods known. He sighed in relief. So the demigods aren''t in danger. The Celestial Supreme might just be trying out something new that he didn''t inform them about. In that case, there''s probably nothing to worry about.


    He sat back down in his sit with relief. "He almost had me. The God of Order is bing fun. I just wish he had told me about it before. But what fun will that be?" He began tough after dispelling his worries.


    The celestial supreme usually informs them of such things because he doesn''t like confusion. But this spontaneity is good too because it will add more tension to the entertainment. He was stillughing when his screen suddenly went dark.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He grumbled uneasily. "What is going on now?"


    His eyes search for the cause of the ckout but he didn''t find anything wrong on his side. Next, he tried to recover the vision of the tunnels but he couldn''t get anything no matter how much or what he tried. Then he switched his vision to the front lines. The screen lit up and he saw the confused army without any living ants in sight.


    "Where are the ants?" He asked totally baffled.


    He was looking at the battlefield which has been littered with the carcass of ants. The ant mound has also be visible on the screen. It stood tall like a looming mountain. Something else that wasn''t there before also appeared on the screen. A cover of divine power is surrounding the ant mound. He can see it as a film of divine influence covering the ant mound. It is what is preventing him from seeing into the ant mound.


    "What bullshit is this?" He cursed out loud.


    The major reason why they don''t want the ant queen to be a demigod is that she will be able to wield divine power. She can use that divine power to obscure her ant mound and block their divine vision. The gods won''t be able to know what is going on within the tunnels that way.


    He yelled at the top of his non-existent lungs, "I have had it already. He has to tell me what is going on now. Or I will raise a lot of chaos."


    His voice shook the divine kingdom. Lightning strikes increased and so did the heavy sound of thunder that they made. The divine kingdom lit up again and again due to the shing light of lightning. The wind picked up speed and a storm began brewing. If he remains angry, all these changes will start to happen in the mortal realm.


    He lost his grip on his anger. He chose to ignore the fact that the celestial god didn''t inform them of this situation which is unlike him. The odd thing is that even if the ant queen seeded in bing a demigod, she will need a lot of divine energy to cover an ant mound thatrge. Which means she got divine energy from somewhere else. Someone is helping her with resources. Probably from the same god that helped the ants, which is the Celestial Supreme.


    Harkam doesn''t care about the games that the Celestial Supreme is ying. It is the fact that he can''t see what''s going on in the ant mound that finally made him snap. He can lose priests but he mustn''t lose Tanya. She is hisst remaining option after losing Tyke.


    He was about to fly and leave his divine kingdom so that he can have a serious conversation with the celestial supreme when he received a notification for an emergency divine council.


    He nodded his head in satisfaction. "So he has decided to inform us of what he is doing. I shouldn''t have doubted him. I''m sure he has everything nned right."


    He took a moment to straighten himself and calm down before he crushed the shing rune in front of him. A portal opened up in front of him. It is arge hole with Smooth edges and a calm surface. The entire portal resembles arge ss panel. He can see his destination through the portal. He didn''t bother to admire it. He stepped through it swiftly, impatient to get to the bottom of the Celestial supreme''s n.


    He doesn''t n to be nice about it. He will get to the bottom of it and will have his demigod safe or there will be hell to pay. If this is a betrayal, then it will be met with the highest retribution possible.


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 Chapter 343 Who Did It?

    ?Harkam appeared in the council room. It is arge room with an open sky that shows the constetion. The seats are arranged in a semi-circle opposite the single high seat that the celestial god seats on. This room is called the council room but it might as well be called the Celestial Supreme''s court ofw because he makes the final decision after listening to different opinions.


    As usual, the celestial supreme is there in his seat to preside over the matters of the council. He looks like any other giant of order except he is dressed in neat white armor. There are patterns of the celestial god''s symbols drawn on the armor. There is the image of his scales and his hammers. The white armor forms a stark contrast with the Celestial Supreme''s ck-as-night skin. His eyes and hair alternate between white and ck color.


    Harkam found a seat and chose to observe the celestial supreme while he stewed before the meeting starts. The meeting will start soon because the celestial supreme hates tardiness and punishes it. But Harkam doubts he will be able to survive the short wait without hurling abuses at the celestial supreme. Even now, the calm look on the celestial supreme''s face is already getting to him. He just feels like jumping from his sit, vaulting over the desk in front of the Celestial Supreme, and punching that ridiculous face.


    ''Stuck up prick. If I were not so benevolent, I would be the one up there making all the decisions.'' Harkam grumbled inwardly.


    He didn''t grumble that out loud. Apart from risking the ire of the celestial supreme, his statement is also wrong. It is not because of benevolence that he is not challenging the celestial supreme. For the first real reason, he doubts he can beat the celestial god of order and justice if he ascends. For the second and most important reason, he won''t be able to switch to the path of perfection if he bes a celestial god.


    If the gods were that motivated to be Celestials, they will organize a coup. They will fight and kill some grand gods and ascend in bulk. The celestial god of order and justice won''t be able to take them on if they work together. They also have a secret weapon.


    But grand gods are not interested in bing celestial gods because it is impossible to switch then. They have no pressing reason to ascend. The ones that do also have to fight the celestial supreme, so only desperate fools will ascend.


    The hall became filled pretty quickly as all the gods arrived. No one wants to get a scolding and a punishment from the Celestial Supreme for beingte. What''s odd is that there are two empty seats that did not get upied as time passed by.


    "Who is missing?" Harkam asked impatiently.


    There should only be one empty seat belonging to the god of fate. That guy is even more antisocial than Harkam and nobody wants to be around him. The god of fate also doesn''t care for thepany of others and doesn''t respect authority, so he doesn''te to divine council meetings.


    The god of fate stopped hanging around gods all of a sudden and won''t show up even if the Celestial Supreme calls a meeting. The gods have gotten used to the god of fate''s absence, but it is the other unounted empty seat that is making the situation odd.


    Harkam wants the meeting to start as soon as possible but there is someone apart from the god of fate missing. Harkam doesn''t know how he does it but the god of fate manages to get away with being tardy. Which is a good thing too. He doesn''t enjoy the presence of that caustic bastard either. But he doubts the god that is imitating the god of fate will get away with it. What is more important to him is that this missing god is dying the start of the meeting and he doesn''t like it.


    The more astute gods noticed that all the known gods in the pantheon have already arrived. Which means the tardy god is unknown.


    "What''s going on?" They whispered amongst themselves.


    Is there a new god that they don''t know about? That''s unlikely. There''s no way a new god will ascend without their knowledge. In fact, no new god has ascended for thousands of years. Divine positions have been inherited but no new god has ascended or new churches allowed to be established.


    The celestial supreme is a control freak. He has banned the ascension of new gods just like he banned the ascension of new celestial gods. He personally kills new celestial gods while his church in the mortal realm wipes new churches and religions to stop the ascension of new gods. That hasn''t changed in several Origin cycles as far as they know. So why has he suddenly allowed a new god to ascend?


    "This divine council is hereby called to order."


    The Celestial supreme ignored the whispering. He dered the meeting officially started. Everyone became quiet immediately.


    Harkam stood up immediately. "I have a very important issue that needs urgent resolution and can only be resolved by the celestial supreme."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He should have raised his hand and only stand up when he is allowed to by the Celestial Supreme but he is too angry right now to follow what he considers stupid protocols.


    "You may state your issue." The celestial supreme allowed him to continue despite the transgression.


    Harkam continued talking after receiving the go-ahead. He started from the very top. Heined about the changes to the heroic quest and theck of information about it. He asked to be informed of the ns and for the surveince of the heroic quest to be avable. He made his case by saying it shouldn''t affect the behavior of the demigods since the gods can''t contact them and that while theck of information adds tension to the entertainment of the gods, it is too dangerous.


    He was being given strange looks while he was speaking passionately. Especially Stelios who is looking at him with that look that Harkam knows to be saying, "You''re an idiot."


    He could see that irritating face from the corner of his but he didn''t allow that to distract him. He will take care of one slight after the other in due time. Nothing will distract him from this. He still didn''t stop even though some gods were coughing and holding back theirughs as he spoke. One god stood up and interrupted him.


    "Sky god. You should calm down. This matter is not as it seems."


    Harkam shot back immediately. "I know it is not as it seems. The celestial supreme obviously knows what he is doing. He can''t involve himself with the ants like this without a n. I am not calling him stupid or saying he is trying to kill our demigods. I just want to know what his n is. I deserve to know that."


    The god that tried to stop him sat back down. Harkam became confused by their reactions. He expected to be joined by other gods whose demigods are involved in the heroic quest but they are not angry like him. He might be thick in the head but he began to realize that something is going on that he doesn''t know about.


    ''Do they know something I don''t know? Could the celestial supreme have told them but didn''t tell me?'' he asked himself.


    He started to get angry as he tried to figure out why he is the only one making a scene about not being informed. He knows he isn''t popr with others, but to be left out in such an important matter is making him very angry.


    The sun god couldn''t take it anymore.


    "Sit down you idiot," Stelios shouted at him.


    "I will not sit down," Harkam shouted back.


    He chose to hold his ground against this injustice.


    "Stop embarrassing yourself. Usually, I am one for you making a fool of yourself. If the situation isn''t so serious, I''ll even pile on, but the situation is serious. It wasn''t the celestial god of order that did it."


    Harkam paused at that. What Stelios said sounded credible because it sounded like the truth. If he is embarrassing himself, Stelios will pile on. That is the truth, but how is he to be sure that Stelios is not piling on right now? Plus that excuse is just silly. It shows that Stelios didn''t put much thought into it. Who would believe that it wasn''t the celestial god of order that did it?


    He grinned smugly at having caught the fault in that argument. They must think he is stupid and will believe anything but he will show them that he isn''t easy to fool.


    He asked Stelios with that smug grim still on his face. "Then which celestial god did it?"

 Chapter 344 Uncertainties And Misdirections.

    ?Harkam asked Stelios, "Then which celestial god did it?"


    That is the pertinent question. Stelio''s answer to it will surely crack this facade for what it is. Then he will have a field day mocking the sun-brain idiot for trying to pull one over him.


    Stelios pointed at the empty seat. Every god''s gaze turned to the seat just like Harkam''s. Harkamughed. Heughed so hard he was shaking. He pped his seat as he guffawed. He would have rolled over the ce because of how funny he found the entire thing to be. Stelios really fucked up trying to fool him. It is pleasurable on so many levels that he can''t hold himself back fromughing.


    Heughed for almost a minute before he straightened himself. Then he coughed awkwardly after his unsightly bout ofughter in the council room.


    "I am so sorry for that disy. I made a fool of myself. But it is not as bad as Stelios''s stupid lie right? Who would believe that there is a new celestial god? And that celestial god also happens to be a new god." He smiled as he spoke.


    "That is so hrious. Isn''t it?" He asked the other gods but no one spoke up in agreement.


    It is not that there''s no other god that agrees with him. In fact, there are a lot that agrees with him. They just don''t want to speak up for one reason or another. The gods are mostly confused by the situation. They aren''t as sure of themselves as Harkam is and they don''t know the celestial supreme enough like Stelios does to know that the celestial supreme doesn''t behave like Harkam thinks he did.


    The fact that two grand gods are on opposite sides of things also means the other gods are better off spectating. If they join a side, they may have to join the divine war that ensues after. So it is better to watch on the sidelines. It is not worth it to join a side when they are so many unanswered questions.


    "I have heard your issue and will address it immediately. It is the major reason I called for this council."


    The voice of the celestial supreme put an end to any more arguments. Harkam sat down reluctantly and waited for the exnation that is due forward to him.


    The celestial supreme spoke calmly. "I don''t have anything to do with the situation of the heroic quest. I didn''t deceive you or interfere in it in any manner. An unknown power caused the situation we are currently in."


    Stelios asked. "Is it the new god?"


    "That is highly likely. I am not sure because even I am in the dark. I don''t know how a new god ascended without any notice. It should be impossible for there to be a new god since all Godhood and divine positions have been ounted for. The fact that it happened without the slightest fluctuations of ascension or a church as a source of faith should also be impossible. But it has happened."


    The celestial god of order is someone very conversant with rules. This situation has defied so many rules, and that''s why he is confused. There are only two ways to be a god. Either you create a church of faith and ascend or you absorb the Godhood of a former god. The first option means the creation of a new divine position and the second option is the inheritance of a divine position.


    The first option leads to the creation of a new seat within the council of the gods. Such a thing will be witnessed by the entire pantheon of gods. The ne will inform all the gods of the new arrival. But this god, who it is, became a new god without anyone knowing and without a church or faith. A new god needs faith to be ascended.


    The only way it can be feasible is if a new Godhood is brought from another ne. But that is also impossible. Godhoods can''t leave the ne they came from just like gods can''t leave the ne. Even if such a thing were to happen, he would have noticed it as soon as an external Godhood enters the ne. He isn''t the celestial supreme for nothing.


    ''Even if I didn''t notice, there''s no way I wouldn''t notice the ascension of a new god.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The celestial supreme tried to figure out what is going on. The only notice and sign that he got of a new god is the new seat in the divine ne. As the celestial supreme, he was informed of the addition of a new god but only that. He should have been informed of the ascension of the new god, but he wasn''t. Not unless the god ascended instantly. Which is also Impossible.Even if the god ascended instantly, he should at least know the god''s domain and other information.


    Another impossible thing that has happened is that there is no new divine kingdom for the new god. A new divine position means an additional divine kingdom in the divine realm but there is none. This can only happen if the new god is anded god which is also impossible. The Authority of the divine realm has decreed that there has to be a divine kingdom in the divine ne for a god.


    He didn''t even consider the ant queen to be the new god because he can tell with certainty that she isn''t a god yet. There are a lot of things he doesn''t know about the new god but what he knows for certain is that it is not a celestial god and it is not the ant queen.


    The ant queen used her divine power to cover her ant mound. He might not be able to see what''s going on with it, but he can sense that the divine power used is only at the demigod level. So he doesn''t care about the ant queen. The one that is important is the god that is helping the ant queen.


    That is another disturbing thing. A god is helping the ants. That god is unknown. It could be a known god or the hidden god but what are the odds that the arrival of a new god coincided with the ant queen getting divinity to be a demigod? If it is truly the new god that is helping the ant queen, it is obvious that this new god is hostile to the pantheon of giants.


    So this situation is filled with impossibilities upon impossibilities. It is enough to drive a god angry but more than that is theck of control which is something the celestial supreme doesn''t like. There isn''t even information about the new god. He doesn''t even know if the new god is a giant of order or not.


    If not for the extra seat, he wouldn''t know that there''s a new god. How can he make this god adhere to the order of the ne if he doesn''t even know anything about them? He was about to spiral down a mental abyss of obsession when he heard a question.


    Harkam hade out of his state of shock. He doesn''t know what''s right or not. The only leads he has is that Stelios is right or that he is working together with the Celestial Supreme o fool him. It is a debate he will have to have another time. For now, he can only assume that they are speaking the truth and as mind-boggling, as it is to believe that a new god has tampered with the heroic quest, Harkam also realized something very important.


    "Does this mean that the demigods have been really kidnapped?" He asked out loud.


    He is not concerned about the potential ramifications andplications of the existence of a hidden god or why a god will choose to hide and help the ants. He is more concerned about his chance to get a divine lord.


    "Unfortunately it is true." The celestial god answered grimly.


    He asked again. "You''re telling me that a new celestial god has kidnapped my daughter?"


    "There is a lot I don''t know about this god but I do know two things. This god is not a celestial god and this god is very good at hiding. That might be the power of the divine position of the new god."


    If a new celestial god appears he would get stronger because of his Authority as the celestial supreme. The more celestial gods there are, the stronger he gets. And since he didn''t grow stronger, then this new god must not be a Celestial god.


    Stelios agreed, "That''s true. The only reason we suspect a celestial is because the divine power was able to overrule ours. If the god specializes in stealth or secrecy, it would have worked too."


    They have managed to narrow down some of the powers of the god that is helping the ants. It is not much, but it is progress.

 Chapter 345 Kidnapped For Real.

    ?Now they are certain that the god is not a Celestial and has a domain rted to stealth or secrecy. They can use that to narrow down the possible culprits and track the new god. The other gods joined in the conversation. Amon point has been established, so they could join in. It is also important to be active in trying to catch the culprit. Being silent right now will not look good for them.


    The hall became noisy as the gods gave suggestions and corroborated information.


    "Enough of that. What do we do about the kidnapped demigods?" Harkam shouted to get everyone''s attention.


    He doesn''t care about the new god. Some of his fears have been alleviated now that he knows it is not a Celestial god but something has yet to be done to improve the situation. The situation might not be as bad as he thought, but it is still bad.


    "Calm down. We can''t do anything as of yet. The ant queen will get in touch with us in a few days as they said. Until then we wait." Stelios spoke.


    Harkam did not like that solution. "Wait, that''s what you want us to do? When did we be tolerant of terrorists holding the entire pantheon back?"


    Stelios began to get annoyed. He snapped at Harkam, "What do you want us to do? They have a god and the ant queen is a demigod. They will surely know if we try anything. Should we send our full force? Or don''t you care about losing your opportunity for a divine lord?"


    Harkam had to rx after hearing that. There is a lot that can be done to the ant colony. Even though they can''t send the really strong mana entities, they can send in transcendents. The old and strong mana entities are at least 50 meters tall with some of them reaching 100 meters. They are too big for the tunnels. But transcendents can modte their size and will fit in perfectly. Then they will be able to destroy every resistance.


    A demigod ant queen is not a threat to the pantheon of giants. Even the god on their side is not a threat. It is just a grand god. One grand god cannot cause much impact on the pantheon or else that god won''t be hiding. Even a celestial won''t matter because the celestial supreme practically kills them for sport. It is the things that have be possible because of an ant demigod that is a threat to the gods. But taking rash actions right now can lead to the death of the demigods.


    "Just rx. The fact that they haven''t been killed means that the ants want something. We will find out and then we will decide then." The grand goddess of power and might said to him.


    Harkam calmed down only because she is right. He isn''t a fan of staying down and doing nothing, but if it will guarantee Tanya''s life, he will do it.


    He didn''t get to calm down for long before another god dropped a bombshell.


    The god of knowledge spoke. "Don''t mind them Harkam. Stelios isn''t as worried as you because his demigod managed to escape."


    The god of knowledge is a giant made out of folds of paper. Even his fingers are constructed withyers of paper. The individual sheets of paper are white but aren''t nk. They are filled with written knowledge. All the knowledge that the god of knowledge possesses is written on the sheets and they are a lot. One will be to get ess to all that knowledge as long as they have the sheets of paper, can decipher them, and can read thenguage of the deciphered content.


    "What? That dwarf sun god escaped? How did that happen?" Harkam asked hurriedly.


    He is stunned that someone escaped but not that it is Helios. If anyone can escape, it had to be him, and Harkam knows that too even though he won''t admit to it. The fact that someone escaped also means they might be able to get more information about the situation of the ant mound.


    Stelios didn''t get riled up by the god of knowledge. He knows that the know-it-all is trying to sow discord but for the sake of the important information that Helios has, he will keep his calm.


    Except he doesn''t know what happened to Helios. Helios didn''t go with his team so Stelios couldn''t spy on him without his priests around. But he can''t tell the gods that or they will start suspecting Helios of being unique. He gave them an excuse for hisck of information.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "He was shrouded by the divine power of the hidden god when he entered the ant mound so I don''t know what happened to him. I haven''t spoken to him. Let us all meet him and hear what he has to say about what he experienced."


    That surprised them. What Stelios said made it seem like the hidden god had targeted him. Apparently the hidden god had gotten his attention on Helios as soon as killed a royal guard. That feat wasn''t considered much back then but it has be special in light of recent events.


    None of the demigods killed a royal guard. They still didn''t kill one as a group when all 85 of them fought 3 royal guards at the entrance of the ant mound. The son of the sun god managed to do something none of them could do. He had been shrouded from view right from the start and still, he escaped. They found it to be an impressive performance on Helios''s part and want to know what happened in full. They prefer a live feed of the situation but they will have to do with his report.


    Helios''s POV.


    Helios took the long way into the ant mound. His zing figure streaked through the air. He knew which entrances are supposed to be unguarded. His aim is a particr one that is out of the way and won''t be easily noticed. He found it and descended. Then he entered therge entrance and continued to his objective within the ant mound.


    He was swarmed with ants as soon as he entered. They were so packed tightly like a living wall of ants. He didn''t panic. He activated another set of runes on his body. The divine power of his core flowed into his body and activated the runes.


    He said, "Let there be light."


    A golden sphere appeared around him. It expanded into an area 10 meters away from him. Every ant that crossed the boundary of the golden ring turned to ashes. Then he continued pushing his way through the ant blockade.


    The golden ring is his domain. A mana entity should have an innate domain but giants of order don''t have normal ones. Instead of a domain that helps a mana entity to perceive, control, ormunicate with mana better, giants of order have a domain that negates the activity of mana. Thanks to divine power, they are able to acquire special domains through the help of Stigmata and runes.


    While priests sort for that divine power from Gods, he looked into his own divine core for his own source of divine power. It might be weakpared to priests but having a superior knowledge of runes and arge supply of mana to his core has made his domain more powerful than those of priests.


    It neededplete harmonization with his core but he has already achieved that the first year after his birth. That achievement is old news to him. If not for thew fragments in his body, he would have already achieved harmonization with the world.


    "I wonder how the strike team is doing?" He asked himself.


    An image of them pushing the royal guards past the opening of the entrance and down the tunnel of the ant mound appeared in his mind. It is the current development of the strike team.


    "All of them and they can''t take care of three royal guards. Either these demigods are too weak or the royal guards are stronger than I estimated." He shook his head in pity.


    He knows that the royal guards are stronger than normal. He also knows that they are pretending to be weak in their fight with the demigods. If the demigods are strong enough, they should be able to actually threaten the lives of the royal guards which will make them show their full power to protect themselves. But since there is no danger to their lives, the royal guards will continue to pretend and draw the demigods in towards the trap that they have nned at the first intersection.


    "And they are older than me too."


    It''s not the demigods'' fault for their poor performance. Most of them are less than 200 years old. Even the ones that can harness the divine power in their core like Tanya are only average among giants of orders that are mana entities. Meanwhile the priest of the church of the sun that is more than 1000 years old couldn''t match him.

 Chapter 346 Meet Number 1.

    ?Helios is an outlier when ites to strength because of his strong body and the runes he carved on his body to take advantage of that strength. It makes him much stronger than his real age. His rune alone makes it such that only ancient giants that have reached 100 meters tall can hope to match him.


    He didn''t lie to Stelios about what his rune does. The runes use his divine power but what they use it for is why they are special. He took rune-making to the next step. Giants of order can take advantage of thew fragments to create items. It also means that giants of order can modify their divine ability. This in turn means that giants of order can have any divine ability as long as they have divine power that allows for it. Yet, they are limiting themselves to weapons.


    He cruised unstoppable through the tunnels turning here and there without getting lost. He doesn''t know everything about the tunnels but he has knowledge about the general location of where his aim should be. He didn''t get this knowledge from the giants of order or their maps.


    His speed is fast but the turning makes him slow asionally so it took a while to get to his target. He found someone waiting for him at thest turn he should take to reach his target. This entity does not look friendly.


    A royal guard is waiting in the center of the intersection. This royal guard is about 70 meters tall, more than two times taller than Helios. It is so wide and big that another royal guard cannot share a tunnel with it. Just its legs are almost taller than Helios.


    ''This is unexpected. We knew it was hiding something from us. Who would have thought it would be this one and here of all ces.''


    Number 1 spoke, "What are you?"


    Helios slowed down. Then he tried to control hisnding but he failed. He smashed into the ground 50 meters away from the royal guard.


    "Gotta fix that." He muttered as he stood back up.


    He is able to elerate pretty quickly in his child of the sun mode by manipting his gravitational field but deceleration is a problem for him. He can''t control his speed when he is flying, that''s why he doesn''t want to use it in a fight except for short bursts. He might just run headfirst into something which is the kind of mistake that dooms you in a fight.


    "Don''t mind me. I''m just looking around. I''m just an innocent guest." Helios answered leisurely.


    He even made a show of looking around as if he really came here for sightseeing.


    "You''re not wee here." Number 1 said while informing the ant queen about Helios''s position.


    Helios ignored the hostility and asked, "What is your name?"


    He had to crane his neck to look up at the ant but he doesn''t feel fear. He already knows the royal guard''s name he just wants to him say it.


    The royal guard answered proudly. "I am number 1. The best royal guard under the service of the queen."


    "I bet you didn''t use to be number 1. What happened to the previous number 1?" Helios asked as he examined the royal guard.


    "That''s none of your business." Number 1 shot at him.


    "Actually it is, that''s why I am here. To free the others. Just let me go and we can behave as if we didn''t see each other."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He estimates the royal guard to be at the top of the strongest among mana entities. It will take a lot of time and effort to take him down without killing it. Legion has decided it is in their best interest not to kill this royal guard.


    Helios would like to achieve his objective quickly so that he can get away from here early enough. It is already difficult if he can''t kill this obstacle and he still has to leave the ant mound before the ant colony is done with the demigods or he would have the entire royal guards on him. So it will be great if the royal guard will let him go. That is why he trying for diplomacy.


    The royal guard went silent as it contemted what to do. It stood there as a giant ant while Helios looked like a bright golden torch. The soldiers and workers ants left the tunnels for them creating an open space for them. Helios is optimistic about the answer the royal guard will give him. He didn''t expect to be allowed but the fact that the royal guard is considering it means it is likely to work.


    Number 1 finally answered. "I can''t. That will be defying the orders of the queen. You will have to get past me and I have to put in my best in stopping you."


    "Well so much for sympathy. Let''s do this quickly then."


    This royal guard is ancient. It is not the oldest royal guard in the ant colony just the oldest in the current service of the ant queen but it is still old. Its carapace is thicker and it is stronger plus there are protective coverings around the joints that will prevent Helios from taking advantage of its weakness.


    The tunnel is also too small for him to maneuver enough to take full advantage of the joints even if there were no protection for them. All of these means the fight will be challenging more than his previous one. It also means it will be more exciting.


    He smashed his fist together in anticipation. By the time they met, they have been covered with golden gauntlets. The gauntlets are constructs of light but they created a loud sound of shing metals as they collided. More pieces of armor continued to appear around his body until he is fully covered. Then two pairs of golden arms formed beside him.


    He transformed into a golden armored giant 33 meters tall with 6 arms. Shining white runes can be seen moving on the armor pieces. The armor covers his entire body. Even his face has been covered leaving only his eyes and his ming hair. Only two of his arms are really. The other four aren''t attached to his body. They are floating beside him with one above and the other one below his real arm.


    This transformation is very powerful. It consumes a lot of energy and shouldn''t activate for more than 10 seconds because of the natural pool of divine power in his sun core. That''s why he made the runes capable of using divine power and mana to make good use of his uninterrupted supply of mana.


    He began running toward the royal guard. The royal guard dashed to him too. It lowered its head and put its horn forward. Helios grabbed the horn that has been prepped like a Lance for him to impale himself on. The horn has sharp edges that are used for cutting and slicing but his gauntlet protects his hands.


    The royal guard shook its head to get him off and Helios almost lost his hold on the horn. The smooth surface of the horn makes it difficult to grip and it is made extra difficult by the swinging of the royal guard. So he directed his other four arms to help him. The four arms floating beside him griped the horns tightly and helped to secure his hold.


    "You''re really worthy of being number 1. You certainly have the strength." Hemented in admiration.


    All six of his arms are holding on to the horn while the royal guard buckled, but no matter how much it resisted it couldn''t get away. That didn''t stop it from pushing Helios back though. It couldn''t move Helios side to side or up and down. So it began to push Helios back. Its six legs found purchase against the ground and propelled it forward despite Helios''s resistance.


    Helios''s two feet created two gullies in the ground as he is being pushed back. This is the first time he has met a mana entity that can match him in strength and even more. He can''t deny that number 1 is much stronger than him. Strength is not his forte anyway. His runes are what give him his advantage.


    He expanded his domain and pumped more divine power into it to damage the ant. The golden sphere around him spread out 20 meters away from him. It extended past its long horn and covered the whole head of the royal guard. Then the domain set out to do brutal work.


    The situation turned from a giant trying topete with a royal guard in strength into a small star trying topete with a royal guard in strength. The first situation is a bad idea for the giant while the second is a bad idea for the royal guard because anything thates near a star gets burned. It gets worse if the royal has his head within the star.

 Chapter 347 Two Can Play At This Game.

    ?The royal guard increased its efforts in subduing its opponent and is rewarded for it. The ground began to heat up and melt making it easier for Helios to be pushed back but it came at a cost. Its eyes and the other delicate organs in its head suffered each moment the deadlock continues. Helios held on no matter the struggle of the royal guard. He has already confirmed that the diamond carapace can resist almost all types of damage except for heat from light and fire.


    Number 1 began to try other methods to get rid of Helios. Itsrge mandibles increased the frenzy of their snapping but they couldn''t reach its target. Its horns were created for long reach but have be a disadvantage to it. Then it extended its first two front limbs to scratch at Helios. It resisted the pain it felt when they entered the domain and used the des on them to cut at Helios''s body.


    The des cut harmlessly against his armor making sparks fly. They couldn''t get past his defense.


    Helios said to number 1. "Give up. You tried your best."


    It might be stronger than Helios but it can''t use its strength properly. It will die as the domain continues to burn it and Helios doesn''t want to kill it. It is not his mission.


    Number 1 sighed and answered. "I can''t give up. And I haven''t tried my best."


    It detached its horn after saying so. Helios was caught off guard. He had been resisting the full strength of the giant ant through the horn but all that strength suddenly disappeared. He stumbled forward with the loose horn tightly held in his hands. He would have been able to stop himself quickly by redirecting his momentum so he wouldn''t fall down but he couldn''t stop himself from leaning forward for now. The royal guard had its mandibles wide open for him in wee. Those diamond cutters are rumored to be able to cut anything. He is not looking forward to testing the validity of that rumor.


    ''I didn''t see thating.'' Helios thought to himself.


    It was unexpected but he didn''t panic. He did three things at the same time. First, he calmly made two artificial arms to perform the light resonance shift. Those two arms phased out and suddenly appeared in front of him. They griped the two mandibles and held them apart while he got his bnce.


    As it has been stated earlier, the royal guard is more powerful than him. The golden arms were crushed a split secondter. It is enough time for the two other arms to finish the transformation he was doing with them while the first two tried to keep the mandibles away from him.


    Two hammers smashed down on the ant''s head. The hammers are weaker than what he used to smash Number 11 but they are easier to make and they seeded in their current mission unlike the previous failure to kill Number 11. The force of the smash lowered the mandibles and allowed Helios to use the horn in his hands to knock aside the mandibles. He regained his bnce and jumped back.


    "I didn''t know that you could do that." He said as he watched the ant warily.


    Another two pairs of golden arms formed beside him with the destruction of the previous ones.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Number 1 replied. "It is possible if I am desperate. I was desperate."


    Helios had to admit. "This has changed things."


    "Yes, it has. You are no match for me and there''s no horn to keep you away from me. One snap of my mandibles and I''ll maim you."


    "That won''t happen. I am desperate too."


    The sun stigmata on his back lit up. He began to glow brighter and taller. His height increased from 33 meters to 45 meters. He got stronger and so did his golden armor. He didn''t want to use the Stigmata unless he absolutely needs to but he is desperate too.


    "Second round I suppose. Unless you give up." He said to the giant ant.


    The royal guard eyed him before stating stubbornly. "This has changed nothing."


    The two of them rushed forward again.


    The royal guard prepped its mandibles like giant shears while Helios prepped the detached horn like a club. His attack reached the ant first. The horn is longer than the mandibles. The addition of his arm makes him have a longer reach. The thick end of the horn mmed down on the head of the ant. It was dazed a little but it continued to try and maim Helios.


    Helios''s two artificial arms grabbed the mandibles and used them to pull the ant forward but sideways. He has enough strength now with the use of his stigmata. Plus he isn''t pushing the ant back. He is actually assisting it in its forward momentum. So he seeded in destabilizing the ant, just a little. The ant lurched to the left of Helios. It missed him and lunged past him.


    It couldn''t turn because Helios''s artificial arms held it back and it wasn''t able to resist as Helios rammed his real shoulders against the side of the ant mming it against the wall. He tried to use the horn to break the rtively thin limbs in but failed as the ant freed itself. It turned its head and snapped at Helios with those deadly mandibles.


    The diamond cutters were only able to reach a few centimeters away from his head because he stopped them. Helios''s artificial arms appeared beside him. Two of them took turns punching the head of the ant and smashing it against the wall. The other two pinned the ant down by its thorax while Helios wielded the horn like a sword and pierced the thorax of the ant. He pushed the sharp horn through the carapace past the thorax and into the wall. The ant struggled throughout it all but it is an endeavour in futility.

 Chapter 348 Retired Royal Guards.

    ?"That''s done." Helios sighed in relief after sessfully pinning the giant ant to the wall with its own horn.


    It is a difficult thing to incapacitate a strong foe instead of killing them when it will be much easier to kill them. The ant calmed down after realizing it couldn''t get out easily.


    "That should hold you down. If you''re desperate enough, you can push yourself against the wall but the horn won''t go out gently. It will rip a giant hole in your thorax. I doubt you can survive that. Even if survive it, you will not be strong enough to stop me anymore. Are you desperate to stop me?" He asked the royal guard.


    He is still pinning the ant down with four arms. If the ant refuses then he will kill it. He already tried his best not to kill it. He doesn''t have much time on his hands to spare.


    Number 1 replied, "I am not that desperate. I have done the best I can do without endangering my life."


    "That''s good."


    He took away his hands and stepped away carefully.


    Number one said to him. "Tell them that I am sorry."


    "You tell them yourself when you see them," Helios said as he turned away.


    Then he picked up speed. He is running out of time. He knows that the demigods have run into the ambush prepared for them. He won''t have much time to create trouble. Reinforcements are sure to being too.


    He found his target. It is a giant open cavern with no worker or soldier ant in sight. The only giant ants here are the moldy royal guards.


    "Or should I call them former royal guards?" He shouted but they didn''t move.


    The cavern is filled with these former royal guards that are sleeping. Their minds and body have been frozen by the fungi growing on their bodies. It is what they get for their disobedience to the queen.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Royal guards are created from mutant grubs that were fed the flesh of giants. The very first royal guard is always difficult to make, but once one has been made, it bes easier to make others. That royal guard will be able to hunt giants and supply the colony with the flesh needed to create more. But nothing about managing royal guards is simple, easy, and cheap. Apart from the amount of giant flesh needed for them to evolve and feed, there is also the problem of insubordination.


    Royal guards aren''t like mindless workers and soldiers ants. They have a mind of their own and it is intelligent. It makes it difficult for the queen to control them. They won''t risk their lives to obey the queen even when they are under her control. It gets worse when they decided that they''ve had enough.


    So the queen created a sabotage protocol to control the royal guards. The protocol is a fungus that she imnts into the body of the royal guards. She engineered the fungus specifically to target royal guards so it is very potent. The fungus is imnted when the royal guards are still young without a diamond carapace to protect them.


    The fungus will attach its hyphae to the nerves of the royal guards and grow with them. This forms a connection between their minds to the queen through their nerves. It will allow the queen to have a strong hold on their mind. The fungi can easily go out of control, but the preventive method is a regr visit to the queen to have the fungi culled.


    This necessitypleted the doom of the colony. The presence of royal guards led to the creation ofrger entrances and tunnels. Those giant tunnels don''t need to reach the queen and endanger her, but the queen''s control method of the royal guards necessitates that theye to her regrly for the fungi to be kept under control. If the royal guards can reach her, the giants can too. This created direct ess to the queen for threats to reach her and sometimes the danger to the queen isn''t worth it.


    "All this for power. So unlucky." Hemented as he began working on freeing the royal guards.


    This is what he meant when he said the existence of the royal guards endangered their queen. The risk the queen is taking is understandable. Everything will be worth it too if the ant queen breakthroughs to transcendence. But the gods of the ne have been known to crack down heavily on transcendents of other races. If a race can''t have transcendents, they can''t have gods and they will never amount to much in the ne. This ensures that the supremacy of giants of Order remains uncontested.


    Since the queen isn''t transcendent, she has a limit on her control of the royal guards. They are mana entities just like she is. It is only because of her position in the hierarchy that she can control them and even that is very difficult. Sometimes, they be willful even with the fungus in them and decide to be independent.


    The ant queen loses control of the willful ones. They get independence for a while before the fungus goes out of control and freezes their nerves because they don''t go to the queen to update her control. They know that going to the queen to cull the fungus means they will remain under her control.


    It''s not like the queen likes what she is doing either. The royal guards want independence and she wants power to gather enough resources to be a transcendent. The giants of Order are in total control of the ne so the queen needs a group of ants that can fight them. It is the natural order of the world made manifest bypetition and survival of the fittest.


    "This should do it." He said as he created a ball of fire.


    Fire burns a lot of things and one of those things that are especially susceptible to mes is fungi.

 Chapter 349 Free The Captives.

    ?Making fire is easy for him. Making weak but virulent fire is very difficult. This fire needs to be weak so as to not damage the ant too much but be capable of spreading even with its low power. It requires very precise control of his divine power.


    He took a handful of the specially made ball of fire and threw it to a slumbering royal guard. The fungi on the body of the ant caught fire. The fire spread quickly to cover the entire ant. It burned the fungi away and freed the nerves beneath the carapace.


    A divine sense reached out from the slumbering ant as its mind awakened, "What is going on? Am I free?"


    "Yes, you are. I freed you. Get up quickly and escape." He said to the ant while he threw more balls to the other ants.


    His main aim in this heroic quest is to free these royal guards. He is not after the ant queen at all.


    "Is the colony under attack?" It asked in concern.


    "Sort of. But it''s none of your concern, right? You''re free from the colony from today onwards."


    The ant turned silent and considered his words. "Yes, I am free. And that''s all that matters."


    It might be willful and craving for independence buts its first instinct is to protect the colony and fight giants. That what''s it was raised for after all. It took a while to reorganize itself and ascertain its identity as an entity separate from the colony.


    Then it struggled to rise up. It was feeble and shaking at first but it quickly regained control of its limb. It stood up and towered above Soverick. This royal ant is even taller than number 1. It is almost 80 meters tall.


    "Who are you?" It asked after getting a good look at Soverick.


    "I am Helios, the son of the sun."


    It bent its limbs and bowed to Helios.


    "Thank you, son of the sun. You have my eternal gratitude. If you are ever in need of help, I Doofus will not turn you away."


    "Your name is doofus?" Helios asked with a straight face while he continued to free the other giant ants. One ball of specially made fire is their get-out-of-jail card.


    "Yes, what about it?"


    "It''s a very fine name."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The ant became happy. "It fills me with joy that you, my benefactor appreciate my name. I picked it myself on the day that I gained independence."


    "You have a good taste for names. We''ll talk more about it when we have time. We have to escape the ant mound as quickly as possible."


    The others began to wake up. He and Doofus exined the situation to them as they woke up. A friendly face helped to ease the tension of seeing a giant as soon as they woke up. They all thanked him profusely after their situation has been exined to them. All of them thanked him except one.


    This one is very old and has been under the influence of the rampaging fungus too much. It attacked Helios as soon as it recognized him to be a giant. Its mind has grown fuzzy but one thing is still clear and that is its life''s aim to kill giants. Its age makes it the biggest, strongest, and most experienced when ites to killing giants and now it wants to kill Helios.


    Helios narrowed his eyes at the charging giant ant. This close to it means dodging is nearly impossible. But that is for others. He shed to the side as the giant ant barreled by. The horns and mandibles missed him. Then he grabbed the ant''s head with his two real arms, activated his domain, and rolled over the ant to the other side of it.


    His flip pulled the head of the royal guard unnaturally to the side exposing its neck. The neck is a soft tissue unprotected by the diamond carapace. Another thing that he figured out from fighting number 11 is that the jointed parts of the ants are vulnerable. His target is this spot of weakness between the head and the thorax.


    He has grappled the royal guard to the ground. If it wants to stand up, it needs to escape Helios''s chokehold. The giant ant can''t focus because of the heat of the domain. It was stunned by it. His domain also blinded the royal guard while his four artificial arms fused into one and morphed into a sharp de.


    The sharp de fell on the exposed neck and severed it. The royal guard didn''t know what hit. One moment, it had a head and the next, it is headless. Helios recalled his domain and stood up from the ground with the giant head in his hands.


    "That''s how to kill a royal guard." He said as he tossed the head up and down with his hands.


    The other royal guards stood frozen with their eyes gawking. They had wanted to rush and help but the fight ended quickly. The royal guard that he fought doesn''t know that yet. Its body is still iling about on the ground while the mandibles on its head are still snapping.


    The divine sense from the royal guard continued to transmit its iprehensible feelings and emotions. Even being headless has not affected its state of madness. That all ended when Helios poured heat into the head. The soft tissues within it turned to ashes.


    "Now that all issues have been fixed, it is time to go."


    His words cut short anything they wanted to say. They remembered that they are supposed to be escaping so they all started running. They passed Number 1 on the way out.


    "Is that you, chubby grubby?" Doofus asked with theirnguage. It clicked its mandibles to make the sounds of itsnguage.


    It used to know Number 1 as a very hungry grub that has an unusual hankering for giant flesh. Chubby grubby is all grown now.

 Chapter 350 We Will Meet Again.

    ?"I am number 1 now." Number 1 replied with his divine sense.


    "What? You have an awakened mind now?" Doofus asked in shock.


    It isn''t only his size that has changed since he was a grub. Chubby grubby has be the next in line to be Number 1. It is the oldest and the strongest royal guard in the current service of the queen.


    "Yes."


    Doofus was confused, "Then why are you still in service of the queen."


    "I''m not like you. I don''t have a choice yet."


    "Has the queen be so strong as to control an awakened now?" Another escapee asked.


    "She is about to. That''s why we have to escape right now." Helios shouted to them to remind them of their situation.


    Doofus bid farewell before he turned to leave. "Goodbye, then brother. We wish you well."


    "I wish you well too." Number 1 said to him.


    Each one of them said their goodbyes to Number 1 as they left. The escapees didn''t speak with Helios while they escaped but they weremunicating in theirnguage. Meeting Number 1 really affected them. It came to them as a shock to see an awakened royal guard in the service of the queen.


    The moment a royal guard awakens is the moment when they be willful. It is also the moment that they gain their divine sense. Their divine sense resists the mind control of the queen. Helios knows the queen has yet to be a transcendent or demigod, so she can''t control awakened royal guards yet. She is using a shortcut to control Number 1 and the others.


    What they didn''t want finally happened. The queen broke through to be a demigod on their way out. Her divine power began to cover the entire ant mound marking it as her domain. The escapees picked up speed without the need for Helios to hurry them.


    Doofus spoke to Helios when they finally passed the exit, "I understand why the colony is under attack now. The queen is getting stronger and the giants don''t want that. It is a good thing that you saved us before we are forcefully conscripted for her war. We are even more grateful for your kindness."


    "It''s not a problem. It was easy to do and as the son of the sun god, I can''t pass by when I see injustice. Besides, we helped each other too. I needed your help to escape. Go now, before it is toote."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Doofus didn''t understand how they had helped him but it doesn''t matter now especially since they could sense the divine power of the ant queen that has covered the ant mound. It meant that the queen is more than capable of controlling them now.


    "I hope to see you again," Doofus said onest time before he left with his brothers.


    ''All it took was a little fire. You might not have escaped this conflict as you had thought.'' Helios thought to himself as he waved them off.


    Breaking them out helps him in more ways than one. For starters, they will be his alibi when he exins how he escaped the ant mound. There are other more important advantages he is gaining from freeing them and all it took was a little special me.


    His fire is special, no doubt. But it cannot cure the royal guards of their fungi problem, at least not permanently. What they are experiencing is a brief relief as the exposed parts of the fungi were burned away. The imnted sabotage protocol is still there under their diamond carapace and they still need the queen to stunt its growth.


    If they don''t stunt the fungus, it will grow again and freeze them. The queen will send royal guards under her control to bring them back since she is able to track them with the imnts. She will then keep them in a cavern for the time she is able to control them. They won''t be able to escape again unless another nosy person set them free which is even more unlikely now that she can control them no matter how willful they are.


    Their escape is not futile though. He has reasons for freeing them which wille into y soon. The royal guards don''t need to be free of fungus to be useful to Legion.


    ''We will meet again. Probably very soon. But for now, the show must go on.'' Helios thought to himself as he watched them leave.


    He removed his armor and the artificial arms. He became his normal figure except his skin is white to match his eyes instead of being yellow. The golden runes on his skin showed clearly. They showed clearly as the golden sun on his back. The change is due to the increase in divine power he got ess to through the Stigmata. The power of the sun god is thrumming within him.


    "This stigmata always leaves me in wonder." He said appreciatively.


    He really liked the stigmata but he is saying it out loud to the benefit of those listening to him. If they think the power of his rune is due to his stigmata, they will think it is Stelios''s work. They will bother Stelios for it instead of him. Then he flew into the air towards the front lines. They must be expecting him.


    Meanwhile On The Frontlines.


    A temple has been built within the headquarters. There was no building before within the headquarters, only posts, but the meeting of the gods requires a temple. It''s not like you expect the god''s avatars to just stand around under the sun even though they can''t feel the heat of the sun or any difort since they are gods and also since they are not even here in their real bodies.


    The temple may not be performing the useful function of protection, but it is performing the "very important" function of style. You just can''t seperate gods from style and luxury.

 Chapter 351 The Report.

    ?Eternal life is a very long time. It is a blessing and a curse to live forever. The true immortals are suicidal and manic. Their immortality means they can do almost anything. Gods are not true immortals. There''s noing back from death for them so they have to live safely.


    Their list of exciting things to do is limited by the rules that bind gods. They can''t descend to the mortal realm in their main body and they can''t live the ne even if it were not sealed shut. That small list gets reduced further by the rules of the Celestial Supreme. ying war games is nice and all but it is to gods important that they enjoy their life. This is where Style and luxurye in.


    Style is so important that the temple is taking up most of the space in the headquarters. That is after the headquarters has been expanded to amodate the temple. The temple isrge and built grandly to contain the hundred and one gods in total.


    That number didn''t happen by chance. The celestial supreme had a lot to do with it. The number 101 is pretty symmetrical and good to look at for someone who wants to control everything. Unfortunately, it had to be ruined by a new god. 102 is an eyesore, so the celestial supreme allowed only 101 seats in the temple. He won''t suffer that ugliness in a number anymore. If the new god decides to attend their meeting, then he or she can stand.


    "What is taking the dwarf sun so much time?" Someone asked in irritation.


    The temple was built quickly, almost instantaneously. So the gods were seated before Helios arrived at the front lines. Their meeting ended when he came out of the ant mound. It didn''t take him much time to reach them but some of them are already getting impatient with him.


    "You''re clearly in a bad mood, Harkam. Maybe you should keep quiet while he speaks." Stelios spoke from his front-row seat.


    "You can''t tell me what to do. I''ll speak when I want and there''s nothing you can do to stop me." Harkam barked.


    "Silence." The Celestial supreme ordered and the hall was silenced.


    He is someone that can tell all of them what to do and he ordered them to be silent.


    The gods didn''t be quiet because of fear or respect. They didn''t stop talking because he asked them. They stopped talking because he made them. The celestial supreme''s order forcefully shut down all sound and froze every means ofmunication in the temple. So nothing would be heard even if they continued talking.


    ''What a douche. Throwing his weight around. I was going to keep quiet anyway.'' Harkam thought to himself.


    Harkam became sullen on top of being impatient. Thankfully he didn''t have to wait for long. Helios entered the temple. He entered in his empowered form with white skin, golden tattoos, and a faint glow around him.


    He bowed to the gods and said in greeting, "Helios, the son of the sun god is here at the behest of the high and mighty gods."


    Harkam felt like badgering the dwarf sun questions immediately but he held himself back. He has learned his lesson to be patient.


    The celestial supreme smiled at Helios. "Wee, son of the sun god. I was there the day you were born. It seems almost like yesterday. You have grown well."


    The smile didn''t seem sincere. Maybe it''s the unsettling white pupils on the background of the ck sclera of the celestial supreme''s eyes. Helios continued to bow while the celestial supreme scanned him thoroughly.


    "You may rise."


    "I thank the Celestial Supreme for his Providence." He said graciously and stood straight.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The other gods began to scan him too now that the Celestial Supreme is done with him. He maintained hisposure through it all. It is a vition of privacy to scan someone with your divine sense but the gods obviously don''t care about Helios'' opinion or privacy. After all, there is nothing he can do to them if he gets angry about it.


    The God of order and justice asked him, "How do you find your experience in the divine dungeon?"


    Helios answered. "It was terrifying."


    "What was terrifying about it?"


    "The royal guards."


    "What about the royal guards?"


    "They were strong and terrifying."


    His answer didn''t seem to satisfy the god of knowledge. "And yet you killed one on your own."


    Helios nodded. "Yes, I did."


    He didn''t exin further than that. A statement stating the obvious shouldn''t need more exnation unless a specific question is asked. Even then, his answer might not be what they want.


    The Celestial Supreme and the gods became silent for a while before speaking again.


    "It must have been tough on you to survive alone. I heard you didn''t go with the strike team."


    Helios answered, "I didn''t have confidence in their n so I didn''t follow them. Now, I havee to realize that it is simply hubris that blinded me or I might not have failed."


    The Celestial Supreme nodded and asked the question that they all wanted. "Tell us what you experienced in the ant tunnel."


    Helios smiled shyly. He scratched his head awkwardly.


    He said, "I''m sure the gods saw my whole trip. I would rather not retell the story of how I failed the heroic quest. I''m sure I am the only demigod that returned in failure. I am such a disappointment to my divine father. He had such high hopes for me but I blew them. I me my inadequate skills and my pride. Maybe I should have trained more."


    The gods looked around and shared a look with each other. They don''t want to earn the Celestial Supreme''s ire so theymunicated a silent message amongst themselves. It is more of a question.


    They asked each other, "If Helios is a failure, then what are the others?"

 Chapter 352 Truth Or Lies. Action Vs Motive.

    ?Then there''s the reason why they called him here. It is because they did not see his trip through the ant mound at all. Can they im they did not? It will surely damage their image in front of this little demigod that thinks so highly of them if they admit to their inability to watch him in the ant mound.


    "I noticed the divine domain over the ant mound. It must mean that the ant queen has been killed and a god is iming the ant mound as a trophy. I wonder who the demigod that earned this heroic feat is."


    Helios continued to rant and talk about things except for the one thing that the gods wanted to hear. They want to hear about his experience but they don''t want to admit to having failed to track him. They believe that the hidden god obscured him but he doesn''t know what they think. His reluctance to share information may shed more light on their thoughts if they admit their failure. So he is reminding them of their failure.


    "Enough." The Celestials Supreme said after having had enough of the nonsense that Helios is spewing.


    Helios became silent like a meek little demigod.


    "Stelios, talk to your son and get this along." The Celestial Supreme delegated to the sun god.


    ''He is unraveling, what a fun sight.'' Harkam thought to himself.


    Harkam quirked his lips. He enjoyed the celestial supreme being embarrassed more than he thought he would. The celestial supreme was calm during the divine council but he has already snapped twice during this meeting.


    Stelios coughed, "The thing is that you are the only one that returned from the ant mound."


    Helios nodded shamefully and interrupted, "As expected. I returned in defeat. I have shamed you, divine father."


    Stelios raised his hand and Helios became silent again.


    The sun god continued, "As I was saying. You''re the only one that returned but not for the reason you think. How should I put this?"


    Harkam cut in immediately. "The others failed. They were kidnapped."


    He has had enough of the hemming and hawing.


    Helios smiled a little. "That is not funny, your divine excellency the sky god. I don''t dare to say it with certainty, but a situation where demigods are kidnapped right underneath the noses of gods might be insulting of my intelligence and insulting of the might of gods."


    Harkam almost blew his top. Lightening shed through his eyes and he was getting ready to smite this little shit that dared call him negligent and powerless. He even called all the gods negligent and powerless to their faces. The Celestial Supreme stopped things before they spiral with a well-ced order.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Silence.


    The divine power that Harkam was umting deted like a punctured balloon as his divine energy froze. Helios runes also winked out and became dull. His divine energy froze and so did all of his runes. The golden tattoos on his body disappeared.


    The Celestial Supreme red at both Harkam and Stelios and grumbled. "If you want to do something and you want it done right you have to do it yourself."


    He turned to Helios. "Now listen to me. A new unknown god is helping the ant colony for a purpose that is beyond us. What we do know is that the demigods have been kidnapped due to their joint effort. Tell us what you experienced in the ant mound. Start from why you didn''t take that entrance."


    ''So they think a god is helping the ant queen. That''s good to know." Helios thought to himself.


    By withholding information from them, he was able to get their thoughts about the situation. The gods might think they are the ones interrogating him, and they will be wrong. Even if they meet halfway, they are both interrogating each other. Helios knows that even that might be an overestimation.


    He asked shakily, "Does that mean that the ant queen is still alive and my fellow demigods are in danger?"


    "Yes, they are in danger. Whatever you tell us will help us to rescue them. Now speak."


    He told them of his experience. He said he felt danger from the first entrance he came upon so he used another entrance that felt safer. He didn''t face many obstacles till he was ambushed. He fought with everything he had until he stumbled onto a cavern containing sleeping royal guards. Some of his mes fell on them as he was shing with the royal guards and it woke them up. The awakened royal guards then helped him to escape.


    The Celestial Supreme was listening attentively while gauging if Helios is telling the truth or not. It is one of his abilities under his domain of justice and it vetted that Helios isn''t lying. The words that Helios spoke matched the prints of events that urred in the past. It is this method that the Celestial Supreme used to verify the truth. It is the most reliable method to determine the truth of events because nothing can change the past but self-deception and delusion can change one''s opinion or memory of truth and lies.


    Only actions matter and through it the Celestial Supreme can verify that it is the truth that Helios entered the tunnel, was ambushed by a very strong opponent, tried his best, found the cavern, freed the captives, and escaped with them.


    All of that happened just as Helios said. Why it happened is another thing that he can''t confirm. It is irrelevant to the Celestial Supreme to know why anyways. Justice doesn''t care about motive. Only action matters.


    Stelios added after Helios is done, "We can confirm that he escaped with other royal guards. We saw hime out with them and they are currently leaving the area around the ant mound."


    The Celestial Supreme nodded in agreement.He doesn''t suspect Helios and the other gods don''t suspect Helios either. They have seen his prowess when he killed a royal guard on his own. If there''s someone among the demigods strong enough to survive an ambush, then it has to be Helios.

 Chapter 353 Cute And Inconsequential.

    ?Helios''s narration seemed believable. He is strong and luck was on his side. He happened toe across help in the form of retired royal guards. Then they escaped together.


    No one suspects that he knows that the cavern would be there. How would he know that? Helios didn''t lie about stumbling into the cavern. He knew the area it should be in, not the area it is. So he had to try several times to find it. He stumbled upon it, he just didn''t stumble aimlessly into the cavern.


    Helios asked carefully, "So what will be done about the demigods? I''m sure they are suffering."


    The Celestial Supreme answered. "We wait for their demands."


    Harkam wanted to speak up but he kept quiet. He doesn''t like to wait but he thought it better not to voice his disagreement especially since he doesn''t have a better idea. Instead, he turned his ire to Helios.


    "You''re done here. Your presence is no longer needed. Leave unless you have something important to say. We don''t need the help of a useless mortal..."


    He wanted to say more but he wisely chose to keep silent when he saw the frosty eyes of the Celestial Supreme.


    "I understand that you''re impatient so I will let this go for now. This will be thest of this. The next time you dismiss an audience that I haven''t dismissed, you will face the consequences in full."


    Harkam stood up and bowed slightly, "I''m grateful for your understanding. I promise that I will not interrupt the proceedings of this meeting again."


    The Celestial Supreme nodded and Harkam sat down. The atmosphere in the temple turned chilly. No one wanted to talk after that particr nasty reprimand with the threat of death.


    Helios spoke up again and everyone''s attention turned to him. "I have something that we can do while we wait. We can capture those escaped royal guards."


    "And what use will that be?" The Celestial Supreme asked.


    "They are clearly important to the ant queen even more now that she has the power to control them. We can use them as bargaining chips with her during negotiations. I''m sure some giant bugs are nothing to the pantheon in the grand scheme of things that''s why you ignored them. Even the god that is helping them is of little importance. If the god was so strong, they wouldn''t be hiding. They will fail at the end of the day."


    He made a suggestion and also gave the gods an excuse for why they didn''te up with it themselves. It is essential to keep your superiors happy as you serve them. They won''t notice when you poison them.


    The gods began to murmur quietly. Even Harkam nodded his head appreciatively.


    ''This boy has a good head on his neck. It''s just like that time he suggested that we bomb the area close to the ant mound. He makes really good suggestions.''


    "That''s a good suggestion. I am impressed with your resourcefulness." The Celestial Supreme praised him.


    "It''s nothing, your divine greatness. I was just thinking about everything that could help my fellow demigods." Helios bowed graciously.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You''ve made a helpful suggestion and must be rewarded for it. Ask me what you want. I will grant it to you as long as it is not that I should allow you to be a divine lord." The Celestial Supreme spoke magnanimously.


    Helios became shy again. He nced at the sun god before turning back to the Celestial Supreme. "I don''t dare ask for anything. It is already my grace to be of significance."


    The Celestial Supreme frowned. He said to Stelios, "Surely you must know what he wants. He is your son after all."


    Stelios smiled. He asked Helios. "You want the sun core don''t you?"


    Helios nodded. "I want the sun core but I wouldn''t dare ask for it. You might have other ns for it."


    Stelios shook his head with mirth. He waved his hand and threw three sun cores to him. "That should do."


    Helios bowed after receiving them. "I thank my divine father and the Celestial Supreme for this graciousness shown to this lowly and cowardly demigod that chose to escape instead of braving death like a hero should."


    His words stroked the gods'' ego and they felt good.


    The Celestial Supreme felt satisfied too. "You may go now. We will call you if we need you for anything."


    "I''ll always be at the service of the great gods." Helios bowed again and left the temple.


    "What a cute kid." The goddess of power and might said Stelios.


    That''s what most gods thought about him. He is cute. He may have given a piece of useful information, but he is still their ything. And just like Helios said, they only missed his idea because they thought the royal guards were inconsequential. So it is a case of an inconsequential demigod noticing some inconsequential bugs.


    They didn''t suspect that they might have missed something about him just like they missed the bugs because they know all that is there to know about Helios. Some of them were there when he was born and are aware of his short unexposed life in the sun city. He is just a cute naive demigod. Who would suspect him of more?


    Helios left the temple and found a corner to absorb the sun cores. The gods decided to wait patiently but didn''t stay idle. The escaped royal guards were captured swiftly. The gods also called for more troops from various churches. One of them called for the rare Colossus.


    Tree Father''s POV.


    A few years ago. A seed was tossed into the ne from beyond the void of the ne. This seednded in the desert. It didn''t dry up and die. It began to grow despite the harsh environment. It was tossed into a desert without water and yet it grew. It didn''t grow into a herb or shrub or some ordinary nt. It grew into a tree.

 Chapter 354 What Is The Father Of Trees?

    ?This tree from the unusual seed had so much vitality that it affected its barren environment. Other nts began to grow around it until a small grassy in formed around the tree. The tree wasn''t affected by the barren environment. Its growth seemed limitless. It continued to grow even surpassing 100 meters all the while no one knew that it was growing. It became a green and lively spot in the brown and dead desert.


    nts are very rare in the Zargoth ne. Trees are more so. Theck of ambient mana and the cause for thisck of ambient mana means that nts can''t grow as they are stripped of their vitality. The sand storms that are verymon in the Zargoth ne make it near impossible for even hardy nts that need only a small amount of water to survive in the ne. It doesn''t help that there''s no rain all year round. Just all year scorching heat from the sun. The inhabitants of this ne have made the environment caustic to nts.


    You would expect very tall trees in a barren desert to be noticed pretty quickly. Tall trees that grow to the height of 100 meters in less than three days should have drawn a lot of attention. Yet, no one noticed this tree. Not even the nosy gods and their controlling leader.


    The only entity that noticed this tree is very confused about it. This entity doesn''t care for the height of the tree or the time it took to reach such a height. It is more concerned about the divinity of the tree, but it can''t understand what it is sensing from the tree.


    So this entity decided to do the barest necessary minimum. It made an extra seat for it among the gods. This entity thought that whatever the tree is, it is some sort of god and a seat amongst the gods can''t be a wrong idea.


    That''s the only thing this entity did. Has the will of the divine ne, it is its job to announce this being to the pantheon of the Zargoth ne. But announcing to the pantheon must mean that this tree is a god. If there is one thing that the will of the divine ne knows, it is that this tree isn''t a god.


    The tree might have powerful divine power with a signature that is previously unseen but that doesn''t mean it is a new god or a god at all. No god can live within the mortal realm anyway. So this tree is not a god. It is why the divine ne did not do more.


    The tree grew in peace with nothing changing until it reached a height of 1 km. You would think someone would have spotted such a tall tree in the desert. The grass in around the tree has be a forest and has also expanded into the size of a city of giants of order. It even has a barrier that separates the forest from the world just like normal giant cities. Still, no one noticed. The tree stopped growing at that point and concentrated its effort on making fruits.


    These fruits grew to be veryrge. They are round and more than 10 meters in diameter. When they were finally ripe, they were plucked by a vine of the tree and brought close to the ground. The fruits were then crushed by the vine and their contents were made to fall on some of the small trees in the forest.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The juice of the fruits sunk into the trees and was absorbed quickly. These selected trees began to transform. They uprooted themselves and formed limbs made of leaves, branches, and tree bark. A head was formed on top of their neck. These trees became humanoid nts.


    They are all different, with different forms and sizes. There are a hundred of them and they are all unique. Some grew to be over 100 meters while some were as small as 30 centimeters. Some have round heads on small defined necks while some have a tree crown for their head, a tree trunk formed their neck and torso.


    Some have vines shaped into limbs while others used tree branches as arms and roots as legs. Some have four legs or four arms instead of two. There are some that have wings made of leaves and can fly.


    These Ents, nt elementals, nt spirits, or leaflings bowed to the magnificent tree that birthed them. The leaves of the tree rustled in response. It instructed them of their purpose. So they rose up and went to perform their duties. They all left the forest but in different directions. They should have been noticed but the power of their creator shielded them.


    One of them approached a city and chose to stay outside of it. It transformed back into a tree and buried its roots in the desert sand. Giants went by every day but no one noticed this tree. A particr young giant passed by the tree on a particrly favorable day.


    SYNCLAIR was her name. She was walking absentmindedly as she is returning to the city. She is sad and has a lot on her mind. She has just gotten word of the death of her parents. Her two parents didn''t die in an unfortunate ident or of old age. They died on the battlefield. It should be a glorious thing but SYNCLAIR doesn''t think so because the war that they were fighting is a divine war. So her parents died because of the conflict between some gods. She doesn''t understand why they can''t fight and kill each other instead of causing the deaths of mortals with their squabbles.


    She is just 26 years old, a child and yet she has lost her parents. But she has to take care of herself now. It may be because of her childishness that she believes that the gods took her parents. Childish or not, it is an opinion that can get her killed by the gods that her parents used to worship.

 Chapter 355 Priestess Of The Cult Of Life.

    ?It may be a sacrilegious, sphemous, and generally unpopr opinion but it is not unfounded. It is also one that permeates the society of giants. It is like cracks in a rock that is the rigid society of giants. It just so happens that nts are very good at using such cracks to break rocks apart with their roots.


    Her sphemous opinion is why she doesn''t appreciate the sum of money that they gave her for killing her parents. She has gone to the temple to ask for her parent back instead of the money but the gods refused to talk to her. That''s why she left the city, to shout and curse the gods where they won''t be watching.


    She noticed something out of the corner of her eye as she is returning from her cursing session.


    "Are my eyes ying tricks on me?"


    She thought she had seen a tree in a desert. Trees and nts are rare. She has only seen them on farms belonging to the goddess of agriculture. Even then, it''s the rich that can afford fruits. She was intrigued. So she turned to look but she didn''t see anything.


    "I must have been daydreaming."


    She was about to turn away when she saw the tree appear and then disappear from her vision. Now she has to find out if the tree is really there. She moved forward and began to search. This continued for a while. She searched for hours. Whenever she is about to give up, a tree will sh in her vision and it will be much closer to her than before.


    She didn''t give up and continued to search. She was rewarded with sess when she finally found the tree.


    "This is magnificent." She said in awe.


    The tree is beautiful. Something about it pulled her to it. She arrived before the tree and simply stood mesmerized by the tree. Maybe it is the way the leaves of the tree wave in the wind or the graceful contours of its bark or its emerald crystal leaves. The tree might as well be a treasure. Something about the treepelled her to admire it and she felt at peace for the first time in a while. The tree is 15 meters tall and she is 8 meters tall so the tree towered over her.


    Suddenly the leaves caught fire. A green me spread out through the branches but didn''t burn the tree. The emerald leaves of the tree had turned into mes. A presence descended from the tree onto SYNCLAIR. This time she knelt down and bowed in worship.


    "Are you a god?" She asked with trepidation.


    "I am your Salvation." A voice boomed in her head.


    The voice sounded like the voice of her dead father. It was full of authority. The voice also felt like the voice of her dead mother. It was full of love and care.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She asked fearfully. "What do you want from me?"


    A god is a big deal in the Zargoth ne. The attention of one is life-changing.


    "You need Salvation and so I havee. I will be your father and mother. You will be my child. The child of the Tree father." The voice answered.


    SYNCLAIR began to sob. She felt at home beneath the tree. A soothing feeling filled her body and mind. She felt happiness and joy.


    "I am so unworthy. I don''t deserve this grace. What can I ever do to repay you?"


    "Spread the word of my love to others. Tell them that a time wille when I will call for them and open my kingdom of paradise to them. In my paradise will be peace and plenty. There shall be no war or strife. It will be heaven on earth."


    SYNCLAIR wept more and agreed. Her life changed from that moment. She transformed from being SYNCLAIR the rebellious orphan to SYNCLAIR the priestess of the god of Life. She became one of the many first members of the Cult of the Tree Father. They spread the word of peace and love secretly among the giants. Many chose to believe this tree father and as time passed the number of believers increased.


    Most didn''t care about the promise of paradise at first, but their belief changed after staying around the tree and basking in its presence. Something about the tree is calming. It makes them happy to be around the tree. Their faith in the tree father increased the longer they spent being around the tree until they have bepletely devoted.


    The thing that turned unbelievers into zealots might be the pollen of the tree that makes them feel good when it enters their bodies. Those that breathe in the pollen get attached to the tree and be protective of it. This particr nt spirit is one of the few that can produce this special type of pollen. That''s why it was sent here to start the cult of the tree father.


    The nt spirits are not only unique physically, but they also have unique abilities. They were sent to different parts of the ne to do different things based on their talents and abilities. Some met with failure while others met with great sess. One of them came upon an ant mound at the far side of the ne opposite to the position of the tree father. The nt had to walk the entire length of the ne to get there.


    The nt spirit passed through the sentry and defenses of the ant colony and entered deep into the ant mound. It passed underneath a royal guard standing guard outside of the central room where the queen stays.


    The nt spirit entered the room and examined the queen. The queen looked very different from adult ants. She looks like a giant white worm, like an undeveloped grub but way bigger. She is segmented and has tiny legs attached to each segment. She also has very sharp mouth parts that are iconic of her race. She is the queen of a colony of Goliath ants

 Chapter 356 Where It All Started.

    ?It is believed that queens are formed when certain grubs don''t develop as they should and grow into adults. Instead, they develop ovaries and the hive mind. No one knows what triggers such changes except the queens. But what is known is that new queens will not form from grubs until the old queen has reached the end of her lifespan as a mana entity. The new queens willpete with the power of their minds and wrestle control of the workers and soldiers from their dying mother.


    Thispetition will continue until the queen dies. The grub with the strongest mind will have the most workers and soldiers. It will chase away the other queens while it inherits the central room and the infrastructure of the colony. It will gain a strong start in life by feasting on the body of its dead mother while the others will have to start everything from scratch.


    This queen is one of the many that didn''t inherit her mother''s resources. She started this colony as a small weak queen without an exoskeleton. She grew her exoskeleton herself and it grew to be what it is today. But just like her mother, she too will die in time. Nothing can change that fact apart from the evolution of her lifeform.


    It is inherent in life to grow and multiply, to struggle, and to be stronger throughpetition until eventually immortality is achieved. This queen also wants to be immortal but she is already finding it impossible to be transcendent. How is she to ovee that hurdle within this ne that is under the thumb of the giants of order?


    The queen has a pair of tiny limbs on each segment of her body but she can''t move. There are two structures that connect to her back like two wings. These structures start out soft and fleshy but be hard as the toughest carapace where they join with the walls of the central room.


    This central room is her exoskeleton. It expands little by little over the years as workers add their waste to it to be the mountain of an ant mound it is today. When your main food is sand, your waste product can be very hard. She is currently being tended to by a multitude of workers and no one noticed the nt spirit.


    "What do you think, Creator?" The nt spirit asked its creator through their bond.


    The nt spirit had visited other ant mounds and other species in the Zargoth ne. It will always ask for its creator''s opinion. Then it would move on depending on what its creator says.


    The tree father answered. "The location is perfect. She will do."


    nt spirit considered the location but couldn''t find anything good about it. This ant mound is on the other side of the ne directly opposite to the forest of the tree father. It had to cross the entire ne to get here. There were other ant mounds closer to the forest but the tree father chose this and called it perfect.


    ''Your wish is mymand, creator.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It didn''t question the tree father though. A god sees things farther ahead than a mortal. There must be something the tree father sees that makes this location perfect. Besides, it is just a tool of the tree father. It was not created to think or for its opinion.


    The tree father used the nt spirit as its avatar. It descended into it and made his presence known to the queen. A nt spirit suddenly appeared in the central room. Its eyes are glowing with a green light from the green me burning within it. The phantom of a giant tree appeared behind it. The phantom exuded majesty and awe.


    The nt spirit is certainly smaller than the queen. It is about the size of soldier ants who are between 5-10 meters but the ant queen felt intimidated. She felt it in her being that the entity the nt spirit represents can kill her easily if it wants to. So she quivered in fear. All her workers stopped whatever they were doing and froze while staring at the phantom tree.


    A voice said to her. "Fear not. I have note to threaten you. I have brought to you a great opportunity."


    The queen calmed down. She was panicking earlier because of the unannounced appearance of a strange entity in her most secure location. It is natural for her to be afraid. She is still afraid, but she has epted that there''s nothing that she can do if this entity is a threat to her. She might as well listen to what it has to say since it didn''t try to kill her immediately.


    "I bring you the promise of power. I can help you achieve your wishes. Do you not wish to be more than what you are? I can make that happen." The Tree Father said to her.


    The tree exuded majesty in waves. A kind of majesty that makes its speaker verypelling. The queen has a powerful mind and so she is resistant to external mental influence. She didn''t fall prey to the peace and warmth wafting from the nt spirit but she was stillpelled. It is the promise of power that allured her.


    "What do you want from me in exchange, my lord?" She asked carefully.


    She knows that nothing is ever given for free. A deal with a god can be as insidious as a deal with a demon. But she also knows that she is not in a position to bargain. If things don''t turn out well then she might die. That is the fate of the weak. She has no choice in the matter and might die even though she didn''t participate willingly.


    "There is a demigod that I need. I want to get my hands on him and hope to lure him here. I can''t do so myself for some reasons that I can''t share. So you will be my tool to lure that demigod here."

 Chapter 357 It Was Supposed To Be A Game.

    ?The mind of the queen swooned. She is just a normal queen. She might be a little hardworking and unsatisfied with her station in life and wants more power but the talk of demigods fills her with fear. Demigods mean gods and gods mean danger. If she goes along with this entity then she won''t die of old age while her descendants fight over her things. It is more likely that she will be killed by the gods or the unlikely chance that she might actually be stronger. Either way, her destiny will change.


    "What am I to do to lure this demigod here?" She asked.


    The Tree father answered. "First, you be a demigod."


    The queen perked up after hearing that. Bing a demigod is not the same as bing a transcendent but it is something good too. It means ess to divine power. It means she can increase her control mechanism and be able to use those disobedient royal guards that she has been keeping for future use.


    ''I never thought I''ll ever be able to use them again. Maybe dying while your queenly descendants fight over your things is overrated after all. If this is what I get for just joining this entity, then maybe I will get to be a transcendent after all.'' The queen thought in anticipation.


    Her dead hopes and dreams began to burn again. Bing a demigod will extend her lifespan and make it easier to gather resources. Bing a transcendent is not a hopeless dream anymore.


    "I agree." She said wholeheartedly.


    "Good. You should know that this is going to be dangerous but if you y your cards right and the situation favors you, then you will have the strength you seek."


    The two of them began hashing out a n. The nt spirit exined the situation to her and informed her of the danger. The queen agreed so they nned and began to prepare for an invasion. The queen increased the production of worker and soldier ants.


    The nt spirit also helped to increase the strength of her troops. It gave some of its blood to the royal guards in service of the queen. The green glowing divine blood contains divine power and immense vitality. The royal guards grew stronger than they should be and even awakened their minds, but they still remained under the queen''s control because their mind isn''t strong enough to escape her control. The vitality in the blood helped their bodies to grow stronger but it had little effect on the strength of their minds.


    Time passed as the colony got to work in preparation. The nt spirit was also preparing. It busied itself with producing a shiny crystal fruit. It took days and physical toil on the nt spirit but it finally finished with the fruit.


    "Take this." The nt spirit plucked the fruit from its arm and offered it to the ant queen.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "With it, you will have your opportunity to fight for greatness. This is your final chance to refuse."


    The nt spirit spoke while dangling the fruit at the queen. How could she say no to such a good thing? Every trepidation and fear that she had melted at the sight of the fruit. The ant queen directed one of the workers to retrieve the crystal fruit. The worker then brought it to her and fed her.


    The nt spirit looked up and said, "It has begun."


    It has already begun the moment the nt spirit plucked the crystal fruit. The Celestial Supreme noticed the fluctuation of pure divinity in the mortal realm immediately. He investigated and found the location of the fluctuations. Even if the ant queen refused to receive the fruit, a heroic quest would have been created for her head and the tree father would have still gotten his way.


    ''How admirable of a Celestial. He certainly will be a problem. I have sacrificed a lot. I hope this works.'' The Tree Father thought to himself.


    It is not normal for a Celestial Supreme to know so much about the happenings of the mortal realm like the god of order and justice. This sensitivity to change is because of the celestial supreme''s domain of order. Order means control so order needs control. Control requires information and power.


    So the god of Order has an edge over other celestial supremes in the aspect of surveince due to the specialty of his domain. He has ced certain mechanisms all around the mortal ne to sense changes and acquire information about significant changes. He uses the information he acquires to have a tight hold over the happenings of the mortal realm. It is why the creation of a new god without his knowledge is hitting him so hard.


    He used to know about things that no other god knows. He did discover the attempt to create a demigod while the other gods were clueless about it. The Celestial Supreme sent a scout to the ant mound and used the scout as an extension of his Influence to scan the ant mound. All it found was an ant queen trying to digest some divinity. He didn''t see the nt spirit at all. He concluded that she was lucky to find divinity and is attempting to be a demigod.


    It didn''t matter where the ant queen got the divinity since the Celestial Supreme had the mortal realm scoured for divine items and confiscated unounted ones many years ago. There hasn''t been any such attempt for many origin cycles but he epts that he is not perfect and he can make mistakes. The queen getting one means he clearly missed one. Killing her will end the problem there and there.


    But she isn''t a threat. At least, she isn''t a threat worthy of much attention. She is just a mana entity that will be a demigod at most. So he issued a heroic quest and specified the amount of help that the demigods can have. He made eliminating the ant queen into a game to entertain the gods.

 Chapter 358 Behind The Scenes.

    ?He made it into a game and like any good game, he made rules for it to make it fun. Like the fact that they can only use one annihtor and no transcendents can be involved. He also stopped the demigods from trying to kill each other since this is a joint mission. He didn''t specify if they can kill each other after the mission because it wouldn''t be fun to watch otherwise. He was particrly looking forward to Helios and Tanya hashing out their rivalry.


    It was supposed to be a fun game. The arrival of an army did not change that. Giants of order from 9 churches arrived soon after. They came with an army and waged war on the ant colony. The death of some giants and ants only made the game more fun to watch. Demigods arrivedter. The target of the tree father arrived eventer. The queen saw him through the eyes of multiple ants.


    "The one you asked for has arrived." The ant queen informed the ant nt spirit.


    The nt spirit had turned into a small burning tree. Its green light illuminated the central room in a ghostly light. But the aura from the tree is soothing instead of chilling.


    "That is good." The nt spirit said curtly.


    "He is shiny and confusing. What is he anyway? A mana entity or a transcendent?" The ant queen asked.


    What she wants to know is exactly why this entity is after this demigod but she can''t ask that. So she tried to get some other information about the target.


    The nt spirit answered. "As long as he doesn''t transform into a Colossus or a Behemoth then he is not a transcendent."


    The arrival of the demigods didn''t change much. The ants continued to fight the soldiers. Then the strike team was deployed.


    "Let them pass through. Then you should focus on them when they are in deep." The nt spirit told the queen.


    The queen asked unsure of such a decision. "Are you sure? What about the annihtors? I''ll lose all my workforce if they are allowed to fire them."


    "Yes, I''m sure. Don''t question me again."


    The voice of the tree father took on a cold reprimanding tone.


    "I''m sorry. I was just scared."


    The queen apologized quickly and made the ants increase their attacks on the frontlines while ignoring the strike team.


    "I told you it will be dangerous. I assure you that I didn''t sacrifice some of my divinity so that you can be killed so easily."


    Then the ants turned their focus to the strike team and were about to crush them. All ten of her hearts were in her throat because of her anxiety. She knew that those annihtors cannot all be for show.


    "I did as you said. The target is not even among them." She informed the tree.


    "Don''t worry. He wille. Meanwhile, you should bring your royal guards into the ant mounds for protection."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "If I might ask why should I do that? Surely they will be better used to kill the demigods if theye too close to the ant mound."


    "Bring them in if you don''t want the annihtor that is aimed at them to kill them." The tree warned then fell silent.


    The ant queen did as the tree father told her. She had stationed royal guards at easily essible entrances to prevent any intruder from gaining entry. It is not beneath the gods to prepare a stealth force to sneak past her army into her mound. But now she instructed them to withdraw into the ant mound. She found out it was the right decision soon after. The annihtor missed her royal guards entirely.


    She sighed in relief. "That was close."


    Her relief turned into joy when the target began to approach the ant mound in a shy streak of light.


    "You were right. They were aiming for my royal guards and the target is on his way." She told the tree.


    The tree didn''t speak. It remained silent.


    "You should let up on the strike team now." The tree informed her soon after a short while.


    "Why? I almost have them?"


    A little more pressure and she will break their force domain. Then she will be able to swarm them.


    "The gods will use the other annihtors if you don''t let up. Let theme to the ant mound."


    The queen found the situation very odd. First, it was to focus on the strike team then it is to leave them. But she didn''t refuse. She understood her position to be a hired henchman. She has to follow orders because she has been paid to. It also helped that the tree hasn''t been wrong yet.


    Meanwhile, the target finally arrived at the entrance. The ant queen went ording to the n. To make a royal guard fight him and lose. The royal guard will pretend to be pushed back and withdraw into the tunnel. It is there that they will spring their trap on him. Then she will hand him over to the tree father and fulfill her end of the bargain.


    She sent number 11 to do the job. He is one of the youngest and weakest royal guards. The odds of identally killing the demigod will be lower.


    "What a proud privileged demigod. He was born lucky and yet he dares to call my hard work for strength foolish. What does he know about the struggles of survival?" The ant queen cursed because of what the target said.


    She doesn''t hate the target nor does she care about him. It is just a job for her to kidnap him. Then the privileged demigod began criticizing the creation of royal guards and how it has endangered the colony.


    "He is a giant of order and yet he mocks me. What right does he have to mock me?"


    The criticism really hit home. Being a giant of order is being privileged enough. Giants have subjugated the entire ne. Being born as a demigod is even more privileged. Yet, such a privileged giant is mocking her.

 Chapter 359 Helios Has A Different Aim.

    ?If the queen doesn''t create royal guards and expand her entrance through the special substance that only she secrets, then she will stagnate without any chance of progress. What use then is safety and a mediocre life? A life that stagnates is no life at all.


    She became very angry. Now she is looking forward to seeing him beaten and defeated. What the target said not only angered her, but it also angered number 11 who took off running for blood. She was about to tell the royal guard to stop and remember the n when the target loped off one limb.


    The target had fired two beams from his eyes. It is an unknown and dangerous ability. She realized that she couldn''t tell Number 11 to be passive or he would die.


    Then another limb went off. Number 11 didn''t need her to tell it that he should defend itself. But even that didn''t help its fate. She felt a slight ache for the death of a precious subordinate but she couldn''tin. She has already gotten a lot from this endeavor which more than covers the death of a single royal guard.


    "This demigod might be stronger than we thought." She shared her fear with her partner in crime.


    It is not in the ns for the target to be so strong. Her enhanced royal guards are supposed to be able to handle any demigod. It seems that the target is not all bark and can bite. It is one hell of a bite too.


    "ns rarely go without a hitch. You just need to concentrate more of your royal guards on the effort." The tree father told her.


    She nodded silently while calling for more of her royal guards to the ambush site. But she didn''t call her strongest royal guard. Number 1 has a very important thing to take care of. She also can''t risk him. She can''t bear to lose her strongest royal guard right now. Things are certain to change when she finishes digesting the divinity and bes a demigod. Then she will be able to use her divine power to control the recalcitrant royal demigods.


    "What is going on? He isn''t entering the entrance. What should we do?" She asked hurriedly.


    If the demigod doesn''t go through the entrance then he won''t encounter the trap. The trap can''t be moved because they will have to set up the cloaking barrier. The nt spirit can''t set up one right in this situation. The activation of divine power will not escape the detection of the gods under their close scrutiny.


    She doesn''t know what to do. Thankfully she isn''t the one in charge of this heist. So she asked the one calling the shots.


    The tree father answered. "Don''t panic. Switch the aim of the trap to the strike team. If you seed in kidnapping them, there''s no way the gods won''t allow you to exchange them for one demigod in return."


    "That''s true."


    She calmed down. What the tree father said is reasonable. It gave her hope of nabbing that ndering demigod.


    "But what do we do about him?" She asked.


    "Don''t worry. His aim is the aim of this heroic quest. He wille here and then you can get him here. So call more royal guards here to the central room."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Very reasonable n of action. Instead of spreading her forces at every entrance, she can focus them here on their objective. So she pulled back most of the royal guards, except Number 1 and the others that will trap the demigods.


    "Where are you going you rat?" She murmured


    The queen''s attention was mostly on the target. He took a random entrance and was floundering about in the tunnels. First, he was moving closer to the central room then he stopped progressing.


    She giggled and said, "What a fool. He doesn''t even know what direction the central room is. He got lost after spouting so much nonsense about stupidity."


    The target was still moving, only he has digressed from the direction of the central room. The queen realized that the target is closing on Number 1''s position.


    Her small limbs on her abdomen scratched the ground in happiness.


    She guffawed. "I am so lucky. I might get what I want after all."


    She has faith in Number 1. Unlike number 11, number 1 should be able to hold the target down for reinforcements to arrive and gang up on him. Still, she instructed number 1 to try his best and give his all as if to kill the target, but he must prioritize his safety.


    "It wouldn''t matter if the target is maimed. Everything will be alright as long as he is alive. That''s my job." She thought in glee.


    She was looking forward to the fight. Number 1 wouldn''t be easily killed like number 11. He is much older, wiser, and stronger so the target will be captured. Number 1 informed her when he sighted the target. So she sent some reinforcements. She also kept a lot of royal guards by her side. If the target somehow survives the encounter and escapes Number 1, he will stille to the central room or fail the heroic quest.


    Then things went wrong. It went wrong fast and she couldn''t do anything to stop it. The target appealed to Number 1 to let him pass but Number 1 was dutiful and obedient. He refused and they fought. The fight didn''t go as she thought it would.


    "This can''t be happening." She cried out in anger.


    The result of the fight shocked her. Not only did the target defeat Number 1, but he also freed the royal guards she had reserved.


    "Fucking little shit. All that effort in vain." She grumbled and cursed.


    The release of the royal guards hurt her deeply. She had spent a lot of resources and effort on them. The weakest one of them is as strong as Number 1. Apart from the resources used to create them, there is the effort required to drag their bodies back to the ant mound from wherever the royal guards were when they froze. Now all of them have gone to waste.

 Chapter 360 The Gods Are To Be Blamed.

    ?It is not an easy thing to create royal guards and drag them back across the desert but a single demigod undid everything she did with a simple toss of fire.


    "Wait, how does he know about it anyway?" She asked absentmindedly.


    "The gods probably sent him to do it. They must have sent the demigods with multiple agendas." The tree father answered her.


    "Damn those gods. That exins how he was able to find where I kept them." She cursed again.


    It is not a secret that royal guards be disobedient and that ant queens recover their bodies. So it sounds reasonable that the gods will n for various oues. They may be preparing for the possibility of her bing a demigod. Now, even if she seeds in digesting the divinity, she won''t have an increase in power substantially.


    ''That demigod is really special. I wonder what this entity wants with him. If he can sacrifice divinity, then this demigod must be worth more than the divinity. I wonder what kind of special creature I can create from this demigod''s flesh. It has to be something special. That golden armor he wore reminds me of the armors of Behemoths.'' The queen thought to herself.


    She has always thought that there must be something special about the target, or else an entity like the tree father won''t start a heist to get his hands on the demigod. Her evaluation of this specialness is increasing the more she is getting to know the target. The specialness of the target is beginning to tempt her.


    Number 1 is very strong and can take on an adult giant of order when ites to brute strength but the demigod, clearly a young one considering his height of 30 meters, was able to best her champion. What''s even more special are the various runes that the target was using. That transformation with armor and extra arms reminds her of behemoths. Except Behemoths only have four arms and those arms don''t warp around or be disintegrated only to form again.


    If not for the way the target fought she would have thought he is a transcendent giant of order. So the target has to be very special. That''s why she is tempted, but only that. She doesn''t have any intention to cheat her employer. It is normal for her to be tempted, but to act on it is another thing that might bring cmity to her.


    ''I''m sure he won''t mind if I take a little flesh here and there.'' She nced furtively at the quiet tree as she schemed.


    She just can''t let go of the opportunity to gain something from the target. Her fear for her employer might stop her from betraying the tree father, but it won''t stop her from taking her pound of flesh from the target.


    "These damn gods. They are really out to get me." She cursed again.


    She was pulled from her fantasy when she noticed the royal guards being rounded up. They were captured one by one and taken to the frontlines of the giants. The gods didn''t vite her warning not toe close to the ant mound. They waited for the royal guards to distance themselves from the ant mound before nabbing them. It proved to the queen that the tree father was right and that the gods had nned for it or at least are on it now.


    She believes that they had to have nned it. There''s no other believable exnation for why the target just happened to stumble into the cavern where she stored the royal guards and then retreat immediately instead of storming the Central room to kill the queen.


    She is certain now that the demigod didn''t stumble into the cavern where she kept the rebellious royal guards. The target had appealed to Number 1 before he freed her prisoners. The target must have known about the prisoners and where they are kept. The only way to acquire that information is from the gods since the target didn''t get it from her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She was thinking of all the evil things she will do to the target once she gets her hands on him when the captured demigods were brought before her. They were apanied by 3 royal guards. Their arms have been bonded and are kept far away from the queen.


    "I can do anything I want to them right?" She asked the tree father.


    The tree replied. "Yes. Just keep them alive. They are worth more alive than dead."


    The queen grinned. "Yes."


    The demigods noticed the tree before the ant queen. Their eyes went wide when they noticed it. A tree burning with green mes is not something you see every day. It is not something you see within an ant mound. It is also the thing with the highest divine power in the central room. So their attention was glued to the tree.


    "Oh no. A god." One of the demigods managed to say through the panic making it difficult to breathe.


    "What is a god doing here?"


    "Why is a god helping the ants?"


    "We are doomed."


    Three of them fell to their knees and bowed. Then they started to cry and beg.


    "Please let us go your divine greatness. Forgive us for any sin that we havemitted."


    "Please forgive us. We didn''t know you were supporting the ants. It was the Celestial Supreme that sent us here."


    Some of the others were too stunned to speak. Their mouth hung open and their eyes focused on the entity that has doomed them. Thoughts of their soon to arrive end filled their minds.


    They suspected that a god is helping the ants, but to have an avatar here like this out in the open means that this issue is bigger than they thought. It doesn''t matter if the gods are ying with their lives or there''s conflict among the gods, neither means anything good for them. All that matters is that this heroic quest might be the end of them.

 Chapter 361 Strength Brings Respect.

    ?Demigods know that the gods y with the lives of mortals in games for sport but this made them realize how pitiful their existence really is. Only one demigod thought otherwise.


    "You''re scum. You''re a betrayer of the gods. You must not be on the gods'' side. My father will never allow this to happen if he knew. You must be a traitor." Tanya shouted at the tree.


    The tree father didn''t answer. He ignored their existence and said nothing no matter how much they cursed or begged. They aren''t worthy of a reaction from the tree father. If they are the ythings of gods, what are them to the tree father when the gods are the tree father''s ythings? He will not lower himself to deal with the ythings of his ythings.


    The queen''s divine force mmed into the demigods.


    "Silence." She boomed into their minds.


    They became quiet immediately and finally turned their attention to the giant white caterpir in the room. The demigods are much taller than her but her presence feels more powerful.


    She is an ancient mana entity and a demigod too so they don''t have any advantage over her. It is quite the opposite. The queen has a powerful mind which has be more powerful now that she is a demigod so her mental pressure is overwhelming them.


    They all fell to their knees and clutched their heads. She might not be able to control them but she can make them feel pain.


    "You have insulted my guest and you have insulted me. Is this how you were brought up by the gods? I expected better."


    None of them answered her. They are in pain and they have nothing to say to their captor.


    "You will be my prisoners of war until the gods ransom you. I assure you that it will not be a pleasant experience. But you will have to earn your keep."


    The ant queen felt empowered like never before. These giants that she is berating and is going to take advantage of are demigods. The simple mention of them used to fill her with crippling fear. Now, she only has slight fear and that''s only because of their divine parents.


    Strength is good, even though the process of acquiring it is dangerous, it can increase your odds of survival so it is worth it. But the increase in your station that strength grants you make the risk more than worth it. The world literally changes when you gain more power. People will treat you differently and you will begin to see the world in a different manner.


    She took a moment of silence to relish her emotions very well. Then she decided their fate, "I have decided what to do with you. You''re going to join the effort to create more royal guards for the colony till you are ransomed."


    She enjoyed their immediate reaction. Their cid eyes opened wide. They paled when they heard what she said. She has just condemned them to a fate worse than torture. Their flesh will be liberated in small quantities and fed to grubs so that the grubs can mutate into royal guards. The demigods will feel pain likened to the worst torture but the torture is just a by-product of the process.


    She interrupted them before they start anyints or begging. "I don''t want to hear what you have to say."


    She made sure to use more mental force in her mental transmission to enforce that request of hers. They can''t talk when their mind is in pain.


    "You can make as much noise as you wantter on when your flesh is cut away to feed the grubs. But for now, I don''t want to hear anything from you. Nothing you say will matter anyway."


    "Take them away." She said to the royal guards.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Wait, I have something important to say." One of the demigods suddenly shouted.


    The queen frowned. "What do you have to say? I warn you not to waste my time."


    Her tone was disapproving but the demigod didn''t back down. He spoke. "It is an important divine secret."


    The queen''s eyes lit up. "Go on then. What is it?"


    The demigod nced at the burning tree before saying, "I can only tell the god."


    "What is it?" The tree father asked in the demigod''s mind with a private mental transmission.


    "It is about a divine weapon. I know its location and I want my freedom in exchange."


    "What''s special about a divine weapon that it is worth your freedom?"


    The tree father wasn''t convinced about the importance of the divine weapon or even if it exists. This demigod might just be making stuff up in an attempt to get his freedom or he might just be wasting time.


    The demigod said earnestly, "It is a weapon made by the gods to kill a god. I don''t know much about it but I know it is called the Godyer."


    "Is that so? You tell me where this so-called god-killing weapon is and I''ll check it out. If it is real then I will grant you your freedom."


    The demigod became hesitant. He wasn''t talking anymore. Something made him hesitant.


    "Do you doubt me? Do you doubt the dignity of a god?" The tree father''s voice mmed into the demigod''s mind with more power than the ant queen could muster.


    The demigod shivered and fell down. He spoke quickly to appease the tree father, "Never. I wasn''t doubting you. I was just trying to recall all I know about the divine weapon."


    "Then speak. I''m listening."


    "Yes."


    The demigod began talking about everything he knows about the divine weapon. He wanted to get a divine contract that will ensure his safety and release but the way the tree father phrased that question made it so that asking for assurance means he is doubting the god. To doubt the prestige of a god is sphemy and can lead to his death. So he sang like a canary.

 Chapter 362 The Destiny Of The Weak Is To Serve.

    ?The demigod is trying to escape his fate not offend a god and die. So he spilled the information in hopes that the tree father will uphold his side of the bargain. He is weak so he can only hope that the one who is stronger than him will decide to be honorable. Such is the only option for the weak.


    The queen''s rising ego took a big hit when the demigod said that he would only speak with the god. Her ego stalled with the realization of her station. Demigod or not, she is still a mortal and cannotpare to a god.


    ''I am not even a free mortal. Wasn''t I a mortal before I met this entity? Now I am a demigod and also a pawn. I have to be a transcendent and break my limits. Only then will I have my destiny in my hands."


    The stalled ego began to dete when she realized that she is a pawn. She has grown stronger but she has also be a pawn. Pawns are expendable. No matter how good it feels to grow stronger, her fate still hangs in a bnce. And most importantly, it is within the hands of another.


    All of this is because she got the attention of a stronger entity. She would be free and normal had the tree father note to her but now she is embroiled in a heist to rip off the gods. She may not survive the repercussions of this heist unless she bes a transcendent. Only then will she transform from a caterpir into a butterfly. This ant mound is her protective cocoon, she will be able to leave it and explore the world beyond if she bes a transcendent.


    She held on to that dream of a greater future for herself. It is a dream that all the ant queens of the race of Goliath ants have but none have ever achieved.


    It is for this dream that she will continue to be a pawn. It''s not like she has a choice anyway. She is just like the demigod. They have to please and be useful or they will die.


    The demigod finished telling the tree father about the divine weapon.


    The tree father said to the demigod. "I will check the authenticity of your information. In the meantime, you will be exempted from donating your flesh."


    Then he said to the ant queen, "Treat this demigod well. He doesn''t need to be pampered or waited on but he must not be tortured or used as flesh supply for your grubs."


    "I''ll see to it." She replied.


    "What about the issue of the negotiator?" She asked the tree father.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I have a n but we don''t need to be anxious. Rushing will make us look weak. Let the gods be frustrated. They are more likely to make mistakes that way. They wille to us when they can''t take the wait anymore. Don''t you need time to finalize your ns for transcendence? You can use the time we have for that."


    The queen epted the decision meekly. Then she got to work giving out orders while the tree father began thinking of important stuff.


    ''It is a good thing that Helios was able to subdue that Number 1 without killing it. The ant queen was keeping its position a secret from me. I wonder what else she is keeping a secret from me. It wouldn''t matter anyway. Things are going well and will remain so. The ant colony''s strength has been kept constant and the gods have been given bargaining chips.'' The Tree Father thought to himself.


    The reserved forces of the queen have been taken from her and given to the queen. Even if she seeds in making more royal guards, they will take years to mature and many more years to reach significant strength. So the strength of the queen has been kept effectively constant even though she just became a demigod.


    There are a lot of reasons to keep the ant queen''s strength constant. An increase in strength will put ideas into her head when she gets full of herself. An increase in strength will increase her ego and make her dissatisfied with the position of a pawn. So as long as her power is constant, she will remain manageable and controble.


    The second reason is to make the gods have something that they can exchange with the ant colony. A negotiation needs two willing parties. The queen has something that the gods want and now they have something she wants. This will ensure that this game continues. It is for this reason that Helios didn''t kill Number 1. Reducing the strength of the queen will lower her position and might lead to the game ending quickly.


    ''I have evene across a so-called Godyer. I''ll see what it is about and wait. All we have to do now is wait for everything to be put in ce.''


    The job of confirming the weapon falls to him since Helios is under the spotlight right now. He has a lot of nt spirits so confirming the authenticity of the divine weapon will be easy to do. The divine weapon is not needed for Legion''s n but it will be an advantage if it is useful.


    The tree father doesn''t intend to let the demigod that told him about the god-killing weapon go. He will be put to use in raising new royal guards if the tree father confirms the divine weapon. His reprieve will be short-lived.


    If there''s no divine weapon and it was all a hoax, the demigod will simply be put to use for flesh donation. His oue won''t change regardless of the situation of the Godyer. The authenticity of the divine weapon may not change his fate, but bringing it has bought him the time for his fate to change. He might live but his destiny to serve his betters won''t change.

 Chapter 363 A Colossus.

    ?Weakness is not a sin. Not knowing your position in the hierarchy is a sin. It is a sin that everyone is capable of making unless they be the absolute strongest. It is this goal that Legion and all of life want to achieve. The ant queen wants freedom and so does the demigod. Only strength brings freedom. Absolute strength brings absolute freedom.


    The tree father will not fault the demigod for trying to change his fate. Anyone can do anything including lying to try and save themselves. The demigod might be weak but every living thing will struggle to achieve its freedom. It is the constant of life for life to always try to find a way.


    If the divine weapon is fake, then it is the fault of the tree father for believing him in the first ce. If the divine weapon is real, the tree father will still make him do what he is avoiding. If anyone can do whatever they want, then the tree father can go back on his word. After all, there''s no contract that says the demigod has to be released if the divine weapon is real.


    The short reprieve that the demigod is receiving right now is so that the tree father will have a level of integrity for when he might need the demigod in the future. No one knows the future so it is always best to n for it. The demigod will certainly not be open to talking in the future if he has been treated badly. He might be weak, but he has the choice of death. That is something that only world gods can take away from anyone.


    But the demigod will be abandoned to the ns of the ant queen once he has outlived his usefulness to the tree father. That''s the destiny of the weak once theye under the attention of the strong, they have to be useful or they will be discarded.


    A Year Later.


    The ant colony shut themselves in and the gods waited. Helios and the Tree Father wanted this wait to take a long time. This conflict between the gods and the ant colony is but a distraction that Legion orchestrated. The longer a distraction works the better. Sadly things don''t always go as nned. Someone among the gods began calling for action just after a year of waiting.


    Helios was in his tent when something changed the dull atmosphere of the frontlines. They had been waiting here for a year and yet the ant colony didn''t make any requests so there was nothing that could be done. He was meditating on his runes when he felt the ground shake. His eyes opened immediately. He could sense a threating toward his position and it is approaching fast.


    He rushed out of his tent and looked toward the direction of the threat. He didn''t need to strain his eyes for him to see it. It is practically looming within his vision.


    "A colossus." He muttered in realization.


    A colossus is one of the two oues for a giant of order that bes a transcendent. He has been surrounded by mana entities and the avatars of gods for a year. They are not a threat to him so the presence of a transcendent spooked him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He rxed after identifying the threat. A Colossusing here means it must be on the side of the gods and if it is not, it is not his problem to worry about. He rxed but that doesn''t mean this change is not troublesome.


    "Someone called for a colossus. This is troublesome. Who called for a colossus and why?" He asked himself.


    The ground continued to shake and the shaking got stronger as the colossus got closer. All of this shaking is caused by the feet of the Colossus hitting the ground as it is running.


    A colossus is veryrge. For giants of order to call something colossal, it must be extraordinarily huge. It must be ginormous and it really is. A colossus makes a giant of order look normal. The shaking is caused by the almost thousand meters tall entity marching towards the camp.


    "This is too early. It seems the n has to be updated." Helios thought as he looked at the colossus whose very steps are shaking the earth for miles around.


    A colossus means that the situation has changed. For them to make the proper response, they must find out what caused the change.


    "What a shame though. The giants of order have so much potential. Maybe something would have changed if they were allowed on the ancient battlefield. Someone will probably have found the solution to their problem." He thought in pity.


    For a race that can''t be lords ofw, the giants of Order have a lot of potential. There are few races that can grow bigger than 100 meters tall and a much smaller number of races in the more than 100,000 nes of the high heaven realm that can reach a kilometer tall. If they are around the multitudes of geniuses from different and various nes thate to gather at the ancient battlefield, maybe a solution would have been found for their problem.


    It is a pity that this same Colossal form of giants of order sealed their fate. The great general of the giants of order that led them to the ancient battlefield was also a colossus. He used to grow to be 10 kilometers tall back then. That''s 10 times taller than the Colossusing to the frontlines but maintaining such a height consumes Origin energy like a ckhole consumes matter and energy.


    Giants of order that are mana entities drain their environment of mana. The powerhouses of the ancient battlefield won''t care about that. But the colossus drains the environment of origin energy. It is probably the only thing that giants of order can use Origin energy for and it is also the most important thing that people go to the ancient battlefield for. Their penchant for hogging origin energy to themselves did not sit well with the powerhouses of the ancient battlefield.

 Chapter 364 The First To Break.

    ?Transcendents can change their shape and size but they can''t do so drastically or their existence will fracture. Origins gods can take the transformation further to inanimate objects but it has to conform to their concepts. It is very rare to transform into a 10km being. Such a being also consumes a tonne of Origin energy and deprives others of it.


    The ancient battlefield is filled with conflicts. Transcendents from various nes converge there. They are the top dogs in their ne but they be one among many. It led to a lot of conflicts. The numerous cultures and racial differences make cooperating a problem on the ancient battlefield. But that changed when the giants of order arrived at the ancient battlefield. They all gained something that they can agree on unanimously.


    The powerhouses of the ancient battlefield didn''t care too much about environmental mana deprivation because they have had enough of it from their home ne. They came to the ancient battlefield for Origin energy. So that general crossed their bottom line. The concentration of origin energy drops precipitously for miles around a Colossus anytime one transforms.


    The irony is that the giants of Order would have been ignored if their general didn''t lead them to the ancient battlefield. If the giants of order had gone to the ancient battlefield on their own without any Origin energy-siphoning giants then they might have been left alone. But it is a must for a transcendent to open the portal ne that connects the ne to the ancient battlefield.


    It is the mark of potential greatness for a ne to create a transcendent. The portal was created to be unlocked by a transcendent and thus validate the ne has useful.


    If a ne cannot produce a transcendent after a while, that ne will be scrapped by the will of the realm and recreated. Those are the rules. A race has to have potential or it will be eliminated. If all the races in a ne cannot break their limits, then their entire ne will be destroyed and re-created. It is not a problem for divine races to be transcendents though. That''s why a ne with a divine race survives.


    The giants of Order are a divine race. They have a divine ability. Even though their divine ability made it difficult for them to be transcendent, they achieved it at the end of the day. And like most cases, they wiped out most of the other races in the ne and subjugated the rest.


    Then they turned their focus to the ancient battlefield and were beaten back like unwanted guests. It is not like a transcendent will open the portal and then return to the ne refusing to see what else lies beyond their ne.


    The colossus looks like any other giant of order except it doesn''t have tattoos on its body. It is also naked because making clothes for such an entity is a hassle. It can grow taller than what it currently is but there isn''t Origin energy in the ne.


    The absence of origin energy is also why there are lesser and lesser colossi. Most giants of order don''t be colossi anymore when they be transcendents. Instead, they be behemoths. Behemoths are strong and have their own advantage but they can''t grow as tall as a colossus.


    The colossus reached the camp. It began to reduce in size until it became a giant of order about 20 meters tall.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Helios shook his head and turned away. The Colossus reminded him of Cardinal Hak which means whoever this Colossus is, it is probably a high-ranking figure of a church. A free unbelieving colossus won''te here where the gods have important business. He will find out soon anyway. That''s why he is returning to his tent to wait.


    Meanwhile In The Temple.


    The gods are arguing and are about toe to blows. The silent and calm air in the temple is nowhere to be found. The only one calm and silent is the Celestial Supreme who has chosen to keep quiet and watch. His implicit permission has allowed the brewing stress to explode.


    The stress lit a fire within one god which then spread to others and finally is exploding to cause this situation.


    "You selfish, pompous, and arrogant god. You will doom the demigods with your impatience. It has only been a year and you called a colossus. This is going too far." One god screamed at the god that is the root of this problem.


    Harkam shouted back, "I''ve had it up to here. I can''t take any more of this. Something has to change."


    The gods that are arguing are the parents of the kidnapped demigods. On one side is Harkam, the source of the sudden change. On the other side are the other gods with demigods at stake. It is predictable that the Sky god will be the first to break. He is not a fan of doing nothing. Doing nothing for a year is alreadymendable for him. So he called for a colossus when he couldn''t sit still anymore.


    These other gods don''t agree though. A year is a short amount of time to wait. Plus they can all sense that their demigods are alive. So what''s the rush? They nned to give the ants 10 years at least. If nothing changes in a hundred years, only then will they use force and take drastic actions. They live longer lives than most and can be patient. 100 years is the time it takes a baby giant to be of eptable age. So there''s no need to rush.


    It is not only Harkam that cares about those demigods. These gods also care, that''s why they don''t want to do anything to jeopardize the lives of their demigods. The presence of a colossus is sure to threaten the ants and might lead to unfavorable events. The tension within the temple began to increase because of Harkam''s brash move.

 Chapter 365 Stupid Sky Gods.

    ?"It is too early for something to change. Even if something is to change, you have gone too far with the change." Someone shouted back at Harkam.


    Harkam didn''t even tell them about his decision or give them any kind of heads-up. He just sprang the Colossus on them. They too were as shocked as the mortals when the Colossus came.


    Harkam remained stubborn. "It''s alright. Nothing will go wrong."


    "It''s not alright you stupid fool. You sky gods are always like this. You don''t think well that''s why you think everything is going to be alright."


    Harkam''s eyes lit up like a brewing desert storm. His brown hair began to move around wildly.


    He asked calmly. "Are you calling me stupid?"


    His opponent didn''t back down. Heughed and replied, "You stupid fool. I wasn''t calling you stupid. I am calling the entire generations of sky gods fools. What are you going to do about it?"


    Things escted pretty quickly after that. It doesn''t take much for an explosion to turn into a fire disaster. That requirement bes easily met when someone is actively pouring mmable objects into the fire. You can''t call the generations of sky gods stupid and not expect a disaster.


    The gods started fighting with the limited strength of their avatars. Harkam was getting beaten up. He is one fighter against the group of gods. Unless the vessel is unique, gods are limited to the strength of mana entities within the mortal realm. So it doesn''t matter that he is a grand god. In the mortal realm, it is 7 mana entities against Harkam.


    Stelios and the other gods chose to watch as Harkam is being bullied from every side. The 7 gods chased him all around the interior of the temple. They flew into the air and threw divine spells at him.


    No one interfered with the fight because their pir of order allowed it. The Celestial Supreme just watched on without interfering. He is usually bossy and fussy about chaos but he chose to remain silent.


    "Aren''t you going to stop them?" The god of power and might asked Stelios.


    She asked him because Stelios is the oldest god and the one with the highest authority among them. He is like their big brother. The level-headed one that they can count on.


    Stelios answered. "What''s there to stop? Harkam is making a fool of himself and my demigod is safe within his tent. I''ve got no reason to worry."


    He understood the problem with Harkam and why he did what he did. It didn''te as a surprise that Harkam finally snapped. He is probably the only one that will agree with Harkam that it ismendable of him to have waited for a year. The sudden arrival of the Colossus is unexpected but inevitable since Harkam is among the gods with kidnapped demigods.


    The god of war nodded his head and said, "Yes, don''t stop it. This is enjoyable. They need to fight more and break stuff."


    Stelios grinned. "Yes, it is enjoyable. It is understandable that he is anxious about his daughter. I would have been anxious too if Helios isn''t safe. But like most things that Harkam does, he didn''t think this one through."


    The god of war asked excitedly. "Do you think this will lead to a divine war? I want a divine war. This heroic quest is boring."


    Stelios shook his head. "Unfortunately this kind of conflict cannot lead to a divine war. It''s just some demigods."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "But you and Harkam fought about a demigod." The god of power and might said.


    Stelios became silent. "You may be right. Anything is possible with Harkam."


    The different factions of gods chose to talk amongst themselves and watch the fight. Only one person finally interfered.


    The grand god of knowledge flicked 8 sheets of paper from his body at the Fighting gods. Different spells came out of the sheets and canceled the attacks of the gods. Golden bolts of lightning shot out of one sheet and canceled Harkam''s attack of golden bolts of lightning. The other sheets did the same for the different gods.


    Generations of gods of knowledge have studied and recorded the powers of most gods so the god of knowledge can use almost all divine abilities. Knowledge is power after all.


    The 8 gods turned to the god of knowledge. He spoke up after getting their attention. "This won''t solve anything. You are making fools of yourselves. What has happened has happened. Now, do we use the colossus or send it back?"


    The fighting gods red at each other before dispersing.


    The god of knowledge nodded. He asked Harkam. "So you have brought a colossus. What''s your n? What do want to do with the colossus?"


    Harkam didn''t answer. He looked around shiftily.


    The god of knowledge rubbed his eyes. "So you brought a colossus here without a n?"


    Harkam looked away without admitting it.


    The gods began tough. Even the gods that just beat him up couldn''t help themselves from shaking their heads. One thing went through all their minds and it is "That is so Harkam." It is not strange for the sky god to act without thinking. He chose to fight 7 other gods with equal strength as him and he was the aggressor too.


    "What do we do now?" The god of knowledge asked everyone. Then his head shot up all of a sudden.


    "The ants have moved. They have sent a royal guard to the frontlines." He told everyone.


    "What for?" Stelios asked.


    The god of knowledge shook his head. "I don''t know yet. But we''ll know soon enough."


    He wasn''t spying on the ant mound. No god is. They haven''t used their divine vision to watch the ant mound for a while now because they don''t expect anything to happen soon. There''s no way they are going to fix their attention on the ants for years of time. But the god of knowledge found out about the changes immediately after one of his believers became aware of it. It is the role of the god of knowledge to horde knowledge. He knows everything that his believers know.

 Chapter 366 Helios The Negotiator.

    ?The gods turned their attention to the ant mound immediately after they found out something is going on. They saw a royal guard approach the front line and speak to the soldiers. They heard what the royal guard asked for. Then they all turned their attention towards Stelios.


    Stelios was in thought for a while before he spoke. "I agree. There doesn''t seem to be anything out of ce. They want a demigod to be the intermediary between the gods and them. They chose him because he is the only demigod around. But the colossus must escort him for his safety."


    Harkam and the other 7 gods sighed in relief. Stelios had the right to refuse but he didn''t. They appreciate it and have to admit that he truly is reliable.


    Harkam chose that point to speak up. He grinned smugly and said, "You have me to thank for this. Now there''s progress because of me. If I hadn''t done something, we would have been here for many years toe."


    His 7 opponents were about to start another argument but Stelios stopped them before it could start.


    He said to them, "Ignore him. It is more productive to find someone to inform Helios and bring him here."


    So someone went to inform Helios.


    He was in his tent waiting when he was told.


    A priest from the church of the sun informed him. "The ant queen has finally decided to start the negotiation. She has chosen you to be the negotiator for the gods and the gods have decided that you will take this position."


    "I will do as the gods of Zargoth havemanded."


    He nodded and epted the responsibility like a true naive hero who is willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. He was taken to the temple where he was informed of everything that happened, their ns, and their bottom lines in the negotiation. Then he was escorted to the ant mound by the colossus and 9 other priests. The Colossus is a priest representing Harkam''s Will while the other 9 represent the other 7 gods, Stelios and the Celestial Supreme.


    The priest of the church of order and justice is here to make sure that order is maintained but he is just here for the Celestial Supreme to snoop and monitor the negotiation. Even in a situation that doesn''t concern the Celestial Supreme, he still has to oversee the proceedings.


    The Colossus was carefree as she walked beside him. She was checking everything they passed by. Since they are in a desert and there''s not much to see, she might just be seeing things that are not there. The two of them are of the same height now, 40 meters tall. Helios has grown stronger and taller after absorbing the three sun cores.


    She suddenly whirled on him and said, "I have a feeling that you will be sacrificed."


    "Sacrificed for what?" Helios asked calmly as they walked towards the ant mound.


    "Sacrificed for the negotiations. Negotiations like this can''t end well for you. It is a dangerous position for you to be in. When you add in the fact that you''re a pawn of the gods, then it bes almost certain that it won''t end well for you." She replied with her face very close to his.


    His position as a negotiator is dangerous. It is a position that can make him offend a god especially the ones with stakes in this negotiation. Offending a god means a difficult time if not death.


    "I see," Helios said without much inflection.


    Her eyes twinkled, "Are you not concerned at all?"


    "I am a hero, a demigod and as such I must fulfill the purpose of my divine father. He has permitted me to do this and I have faith in him that he won''t send me to my death."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Most of what Helios said is crap but there is some truth to it. He is certain that Stelios will not send him to his death. The Stigmata on his back is proof of it. He is more important to the sun god than Tanya is to the sky god even though the sun god has a lot of divine lords.


    "You''re impressive. I admire your courage. I will say nice things about you when you die."


    "Thanks. I appreciate it."


    His reply made herugh.


    "Why aren''t you worried about your safety? I heard a god is helping the ants." He asked her.


    "That''s no reason to worry. A god can only manifest an avatar that is a mana entity at most." She replied.


    "That is unless the god is using a vessel." He said to her.


    "I am a vessel."


    Helios nodded in realization. Now he knows why she is so confident. She has almost nothing to fear.


    "What if the god is a true God?"


    Sheughed again. "There''s only one Celestial God in the entire ne. You sound like the sky god. He still suspects the Celestial Supreme of having something to do with this. He says that he knows what he sensed and it is a superior divine power, not a simr divine power with obscuring properties. He doesn''t like the Celestial Supreme lying to them about his game, that''s why he brought me in. To muddle things up and make him fumble."


    She spoke freely without caring about the gods eavesdropping on her.


    Helio nodded. "What if the hidden god is a Celestial?"


    His words cracked her up even more. Helios got the feeling that it doesn''t take much to amuse her. Either that or she is hearing funny things that he did not say.


    "That''s hrious. Where could you have gotten that idea?"


    Helios replied. "Since his excellency, the sky god believes it is a Celestial that did it, does it have to be the Celestial Supreme?"


    She nodded. "That''s what your father the sun god said. He believes that if a Celestial did it, it is not the Celestial Supreme. You two are very much alike."


    Helios'' face twitched when he heard herst statement.

 Chapter 367 They Are Not Commodities.

    ?He knows more than anyone else how simr he and Helios are and also why the two of them are different. The stigmata on his back allude to a very odd simrity between the two of them.


    The Colossus continued, "Anyways, it can''t be the Celestial Supreme because he said with uttermost certainty that the god that helped the ant is new and is definitely not a Celestial."


    His mind reeled with the information but he didn''t show any outward signs that will betray the importance of the information to him.


    "That makes sense."


    He doesn''t think it makes sense actually. You can''t trust the words of someone you suspect. The fact that the Celestial Supreme is under suspicion should mean whatever he says is suspicious too. But he said it makes sense so that this conversation will end and she will leave him alone.


    His reply did the opposite. She sidled to him and spoke in a low voice.


    "It makes sense right? But there are a lot of things that don''t make sense. The Celestial Supreme wants us to believe there''s a new god and we don''t know about it? What if he is lying? He could also be lying about not being involved. At the end of the day, it doesn''t matter what the truth is because there''s no need for me to worry. It''s you that should be worried."


    She may have been whispering but her voice isn''t low enough to prevent the others from hearing what she said. But she doesn''t particrly care. She could have used her divine sense to transmit the message to him instead of talking at all. She is a transcendent, so she has a divine sense, unlike normal giants.


    Helios nodded in realization. "I see. You have nothing to worry about if the god isn''t the Celestial Supreme but you have everything to worry about if it is the Celestial Supreme. So why bother with worry since there''s nothing you can do if you have to worry?"


    As a vessel of the god of the sky, she can borrow some of his power. That means nothing can threaten her in the mortal realm apart from a vessel of the Celestial Supreme. If the vessel of the Celestial Supreme is here, then there''s nothing she can do.


    She gave him thumbs up. "Now you get it."


    They continued their walk while the transcendent continued to talk to him. The other priests didn''t say anything. She is carefree because she has nothing to worry about. It is more like because she thinks she has nothing to worry about. Helios knows that there is something unknown that she should be worried about. But as they say, ignorance is bliss.


    Her confidencey in the fact that she can lift the entire ant mound as tall and heavy as it is. And that is without help from her god. This entire situation is just a passing fancy of hers. It is another one of the god''s games. To her, it is at most a tumultuous pond of water. What waves can such a small body of water cause?


    She would have been right not to worry if she knew that there is a shark inside this pond. Her opinion is understandable too. A shark is not supposed to be inside a pond. Not unless it is not a pond in the first ce. It just looks like a pond on the surface. This situation has depths to it that she cannot fathom.


    They reached the ant mound and met with the royal guard that is waiting for them there.


    "What are your demands?" Helios asked the royal guard.


    The royal guard nced uneasily at the seemingly ordinary giantess beside Helios. The royal guard knows better than to think that she is ordinary. He had felt the shaking deep within the ant mound when she arrived. But he can''t tell her to leave since they have no leverage to.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He replied to Helios. "The queen has asked for a show of goodwill. She wants the return of her royal guards that were abducted from her."


    "They weren''t abducted. They were freed and then offered protection by the gods. They are our guests of their own free will. We can''t just offer them to you because you asked for them. They have rights. They are notmodities for exchange." Helios answered.


    "Is that your final decision?"


    "Yes."


    "Then this negotiation will lead to nowhere." The royal guard said and turned to go.


    Helios stopped the royal guard. "Wait. I''ll report to the gods and see if they change their minds. But you must offer something in exchange."


    "The only thing we have that the gods have to offer are the demigods and there''s no way a demigod is worth so little. It''s just some royal guards. What do your gods call us? Ants. The gods will have to offer more in exchange."


    "Then what does the ant queen want?"


    The royal guard answered, "Go back and ask what they think the lives of their children are worth. The ant queen will only ept items with divinity in them."


    The negotiation ended there and the royal guard returned to the ant mound. Helios and his entourage stayed outside while waiting for the gods'' decision.


    In The Temple.


    The gods had been watching and listening to the entire negotiation by using their priests as antennas to utilize their divine vision. A screen had also appeared in the center of the temple that showed the proceedings to all the gods.


    So they all heard what the Colossus said about Harkam suspecting the Celestial Supreme. Several of them nced at him. Harkam had the decency to be ashamed or look ashamed.


    He coughed awkwardly and muttered for everyone to hear. "Silly girl. She is still an airhead after all these years. Still likes to make stuff up."


    He tried to create an excuse for what she said. It is bad excuse that no one is buying it.

 Chapter 368 What Are Demigods Worth?

    ?Harkam raised the Colossus right from when she was a young child so he knows a lot about her. He is like a father to her and his word should suffice. Unfortunately, no one is buying that a transcendent is imagining things and making stuff up. Not when Harkam himself had expressed the same thing just a year ago.


    He continued to talk when he noticed that no one is buying his excuse. "How about that Helios boy? He has a good head and a smart mouth. Look at how he refused to give up the ants we captured so easily. That''s a divine lord in the making."


    Harkam is willing to resort to something he would never admit in any other condition to divert attention from him. Heplimented Helios openly.


    Stelios shook his head at Harkam''s attempt to cover up a lie while his eyes remained trained on Helios. He would have mocked Harkam and escted the situation if Helios were not at risk. He can''t allow anything bad to happen to Helios so he kept quiet and hoped the negotiation remains calm.


    The god of knowledge spoke up. "So how much are your demigods worth to you?"


    His question was directed to Harkam and the other 7 gods but none of them answered him. The thing is that even they don''t know how much exactly their demigods are worth. If they have a divine lord then a demigod is a ything. A demigod is only of the uttermost importance if there is no divine lord and the god wants to attend the trial of heaven. To someone like Stelios, a demigod might as well be worth nothing with the hundreds of divine lords he has. So the value of a demigod varies wildly. The gods looked around waiting for suggestions.


    Even Harkam the ever-straight shooter doesn''t know what to say. Undervaluing their demigods might cause the gods to not get them back and overvaluing the demigods will make the ants try to fleece the gods and make ridiculous demands of them.


    The god of knowledge understood what was going on. So he advised them. "How about you ask the ants what they want?"


    Harkam agreed eagerly. "That''s a good idea. We should do that."


    The god of knowledge rolled his eyes. His idea is not that good but Harkam is just saying so to reduce the attention on him. The ants already asked them to offer a price but they are returning the responsibility of evaluation to the ants. It might backfire grandly or work out well. So the n is only so-so.


    The gods informed their priests and their priests informed Helios. So Helios called to the royal guard that was hiding within the ant mound. The royal guard came back out and stopped in front of Helios.


    It asked Helios, "What have your gods decided the demigods are worth?"


    Helios replied with a question of his own. "What exactly does the ant queen hope to get from this negotiation? Does she want freedom and safety?"


    "I already answered this question. We''ll only take items with divinity. It is more reliable than the promise of the gods."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Helios rephrased his question. "How much of items of divinity do you want then?"


    "A thousand for each demigod. Each item must be enough to create a demigod." The royal guard answered.


    Items with divinity can be anything as long as they contain divinity within them. The most popr ones are divine weapons. A transcendent can digest these items and absorb the divinity within them to be a demigod. The speed of digestion is based on the strength of the god that the divinity belonged to. The divinity of a low god is easiest to absorb and the opposite is true for that of a celestial god.


    Divinity grants power but it has various disadvantages. If divinity isn''t properly digested, in the least severe cases, the person will be a fervent believer of the god. In the most severe cases, the person bes the avatar of the god. The more divinity is absorbed, the lesser the sensitivity to Origin energy andws. Only those that don''t n to use the path of perfection or are desperate are willing to absorb divinity.


    Giants of Order can''t digest items with divinity. Theirw fragments will prevent the absorption of divinity. Only demigods that were born with a divine core like the sun core within Helios can absorb divinity. But the importance of divinity cannot be understated. A thousand items each with enough divinity to make a demigod is more than the amount of divinity within an average Celestial god.


    "That''s impossible. I''m afraid that you have asked for too much. There''s no way the gods will pay for that. Asking for a thousand demigods for a single demigod is out of the question. Asking for a thousand items with divinity for all of the demigods is impossible to fulfill too. So you better ask for something reasonable." Helios did his job as a good negotiator who has the interest of the gods at heart. He shut down the exorbitant price.


    "I allowed you to offer something. You couldn''t and yet you''re refusing what we asked for. We''ll do this then. The queen is ready to release a demigod but only to the god that offers the most. Call me when you''re ready."


    The royal guard turned back without waiting for Helios''s reply. Helios turned back to the priests and said to them.


    "You heard what he said. What has your god decided?"


    Back in the temple.


    The god of knowledge spoke up. "The queen is a demigod now, so it is understandable why she will want divinity. She shouldn''t need much unless she wants to be a god but that doesn''t exin why she is asking for so much. A thousand items are too much. I rmend that you keep your bids low and don''t turn against each other."


    He hasn''t even finished talking before a bidding war started among the gods.

 Chapter 369 Bidding War Gone Wrong.

    ?Someone said to the god of knowledge, "It''s toote for that now."


    The god of knowledge''s lip quivered. He sighed and replied. "I can see that."


    The gods might not know the value of their demigods but a financialpetition about who gets to have their demigodpelled them into action. For most of them, it has be a matter of honor and pride to outbid the others. Unfortunately for the other gods, there is no one more desperate than Harkam.


    The screen is showing the priests trying to outbid one another. The priest of the church of the storm started it after Harkam instructed her to. Harkam had instructed the Colossus before the god of knowledge started talking and she had dropped a price halfway through the god of knowledge''s speech about showing restraint.


    Stelios couldn''t help to smile. "Harkam is not one to show restraint."


    He hadn''t finished talking when Harkam''s priest, the Colossus suddenly transformed. The priests and Helios were scattered to the wind by the expansion of her body. Stelios'' eyes widened in shock as he saw her grab Helios.


    He screamed at Harkam. "What are you doing?"


    Themotion that urred next did not allow his question to be answered. There was a loud crash as arge hand broke through the top of the temple. It reached for Harkam and crushed some avatars in the process. Harkam dropped some items into the hand and the hand withdrew. The gods heard another loud crash outside the temple. Then everything turned silent.


    The dust that obscured the god''s vision subsided to show the Colossus now reduced to the size of a normal giant standing beside Helios. She is holding items with divinity in one hand while her other hand is on Helios''s shoulder. Standing beside her is the cage that they used to hold the captured royal guards.


    The god of knowledge shook his head and sighed. "Harkam has done it this time. Now things have been overturned. There''s no going back."


    Back At The Ant Mound.


    The Colossus patted Helios on his back. "How are you doing Mr. Negotiator? Sorry about my earlier handling, I had to protect you. Wouldn''t want anything unfortunate to happen to you. Now, why don''t you get on with your job? Call the royal guard and let''s do this."


    Helios asked her, "What about the other gods?"


    She smiled sweetly at him. "Do you see anyone of their priests here? They''re probably busy with other matters. I can only imagine what could be more important than this negotiation. This just goes to show that I and my god are the only ones taking this seriously. They are not here while we are willing to go to extreme measures to get what we want."


    Her eyes glinted with the vague suggestions of a threat that he is quick to pick up on. Her words are clear enough and her smile seems innocent but the way she is staring at him with sharp eyes served to drive the matter home.


    Helios nodded. He understood immediately and he doesn''t mind. It wasn''t what he had in mind and the situation derailed from what was nned but Helios and the others would just have to adapt to the situation and make the best of it. He called for the royal guard. The royal guard came out of the ant mound carefully.


    "What was that earlier? What are you trying to do? If you mess up, this negotiation will turn sour." The royal guard screamed at her with false bravado.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It isn''t fooling anyone. Its shaking legs are enough indication of the amount of fear that he has for the Colossus.


    She said to Helios, "See how wrought he is. Don''t make the poor guy suffer too much. Or more innocent people will suffer. You don''t want that do you?"


    Helios shook his head. He certainly doesn''t want that.


    She smiled, apparently pleased with his reply. "Now get on with it will you?"


    "We have settled on a deal. We have here 100 items each containing divinity enough to create a demigod and we also have all the royal guards that we took on as guests. They have expressed interest in returning to the fold of the ant colony. They have an admirable work ethic. There''s no way we can say no to such enthusiasm." Helios did his job as quickly as possible.


    "Which demigod is yours?" The royal guard asked.


    "That will be Tanya. The one with blue skin and purple hair." The Colossus answered.


    The royal guard reported back to the queen and another royal brought up Tanya. They also took the captured royal guards. The captured royal guards are already frozen within the cage. A year is enough for their fungus problems to resurface. They might not be able to move but they are still aware of their surroundings.


    "Son of the sun god, is that you?" Doofus asked.


    Helios didn''t reply but it wasn''t going to stop Doofus.


    He cried, "Save us, son of the sun."


    "Help us."


    "Please help us."


    More and more of them cried out to him for help with their divine sense. They pleaded to him to help them. But Helios looked on indifferently as they were taken away. He didn''t feel guilty or sorry. It is just a cry for help from the weak. He has killed people who begged him not to and has slit the throat of infants to get his way as Gehaldirah. This much doesn''t faze him. It is just best to keep silent so that what he says now will not be used against him in the future.


    Saying something nice to the ants will make the gods look unfavorably on him. He is the one that suggested they be captured and used as bargaining chips. Feigning innocence now will make them realize that there might be more to him. Saying something bad to the ants will also work against him if he needs to deceive them or lie to them in the future. Saying nothing now leaves a nk space that can be filled in the future.

 Chapter 370 The Sacrifice Of The Weak For Their Betters.

    ?The fate of the rebellious royal guards is the fate of the weak, to be used as tools for their betters. This kind of thing happens every time in the void universe. It is nothing in the grand scheme of things. There are entities out there in the void universe that destroy realm trees and all the life within them.


    If one cannot sacrifice others, one cannot reach the levels of such entities. It is why the era of conquest is so bloody. It is the era of sacrifice. The weak are sacrificed for the power of their betters just like these royal guards will be sacrificed for the good of their betters.


    The ants brought Tanya up.


    "Oh my. She has lost some weight." The Colossus remarked with sadness.


    Tanya has changed. One of these changes is the drastic reduction in size. There are no scars on her body since she is a mana entity with a very high healing factor but one can tell at a single nce that she has been through a lot.


    Her reduction in weight indicates severe trauma that her existence has not been able to fully heal despite theck of scars. That''s just the obvious damage to her. There is surely psychological trauma that may never heal despite the fact that the memory of her experience within the ant mound is foggy at best. Some things just can''t be forgotten even when the events have been wiped out from the mind by a powerful entity.


    The Colossus took her from the royal guard that brought her up. It was then that Tanya teared up. Her vacant face finally showed some emotion after recognizing a familiar face.


    "Aunty Vint. I missed you." Tanya said.


    "Silly girl. It has only been a year."


    Tanya hugged the Colossus and sobbed. The Colossus patted her gently while singing to her. Helios observed their interaction with some interest.


    ''It seems like they have a close rtionship. It might be like Cardinal Hak is to me but much closer.'' He assessed.


    Tanya stopped cryingter and even fell asleep in the embrace of aunty Vint. Helios kept a straight face through it all.


    The Colossus lifted her and carried the sleeping girl in her arms. She said to Helios, "Good job Mr. Negotiator. This exchange went without a hitch."


    "It''s probably because they are afraid of crossing you. They know you can do extreme things to get your way."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Sheughed merrily. "You''re funny. I''ll remember that. I''ll say it about you at your burial ceremony if you die."


    "I appreciate it."


    "Anyway. I''m leaving now. Good luck with your job. If you evere by the Storm city ask for Vint the Typhoon."


    Then she began to grow. She expanded until she became her full colossal form. Then she walked away. Her gigantic feet created quakes in the sand as she walked. If there''s ever a saying that describes how she is walking, it will be "walking like you own the ce." All of the earth is open for her to stomp on with her carefree attitude. She didn''t stop as she passed the front lines. She had orders from her god to take Tanya and leave.


    The royal guard that had been staying away returned. He said to Helios. "The queen has had enough negotiation for a while. She will contact you when she is ready for another round."


    Helios nodded and began his trip to the front lines. He had done his job very well. The negotiation went without a hitch and it wasn''t due to the fear of Aunty Vint. Legion wanted the negotiation to go well, so it went well. Actually, the turn of events might be better than they nned thanks to Vint the Typhoon. So he is happy as he journeyed to the front lines still reeling from the shock of events.


    He was joined by some of the priests that were scattered earlier. Not all of them survived Vint''s transformation but None of the ones alive said anything. They didn''tin or admonish him either. It is not their ce to say anything. They are simply the mouthpiece of the gods and this situation is a game of the gods. It is not their ce to voice an opinion. They might have opinions but they can not say them. Saying anything might offend a god so they kept quiet and walked in silence with him.


    Temple Of The Gods.


    Unlike the priests, things are not so silent or peaceful amongst the gods. The gods immediately started fighting as soon as they realized what Harkam was doing. His Colossus had broken into the temple to collect the items for divinity and also stole the captured royal guards. Then forced the innocent Helios into making the exchange.


    They realized that they were wrong when they said Harkam had gone too far earlier. It turns out that there''s more he can do past the boundary of reasonable. So they began to fight. This time a lot more gods took part in it. Some gods joined both sides either because of camaraderie or because it is fun to fight. So things have truly escted from a fight between 8 gods into a fight amongst some 30 gods.


    But it didn''t end there. The Celestial Supreme remained silent throughout it all. He was watching the chaos but his mind is somewhere else. It is the worst possible reaction in this very vtile situation. The bitter gods took his silence as an opportunity to do more.


    A bitter god proimed grandly. "You have sphemed me Harkam and you helped a mortal to do it too. I shall wage war on your church and uproot your legacy in the mortal realm."


    Many other gods joined in this promation. Divine wars were dered. The gods are not joking. At this very moment, their various churches are already mobilizing their forces. This will be a world war like no other. It will be thergest war in recent history and all of it was caused by the kidnapping of some demigods in an ant mound.

 Chapter 371 Support Harkam So That He Wont Learn His Lesson.

    ?The funny thing about this war is that the gods ought to be embarrassed if asked about why they are taking up arms. So someone cheated at a bidding war for things that they usually use as ythings. It is the sought of the funny reason that mortal kings should fight about not high and mighty gods. Then again, religious wars have never been fought for wise reasons.


    Ironic enough, this war isn''t an overreaction. It is a justified response albeit not a mature one. It is not like the inciting event of Harkam''s and Stelios''s war. Last time, Harkam dered war because his demigod was in. It was his and his demigod''s fault. This time he overrode the other gods and acted selfishly. It is his fault again, but he is not the one dering war this time.


    The world war isn''t about the demigods anymore. It stopped being about the demigods when the bidding war started. Harkam disrespected them to their face and he did it with a mortal too. The Colossus crushed some god''s avatars with her hand like they were bugs. Most of the casualty to the avatars is due to the falling debris but all of it can be attributed to Harkam and the Colossus. Then Harkam took ownership of all the royal guards without their consent before using it for his own selfish agenda. He practically bullied them and stole from them.


    What if word of this event got out? And it would since there are so many ways it can be leaked. There were soldiers watching, the talkative Colossus, the other gods, and Harkam himself. He will certainly brag about it and so will that Colossus because of their big mouth. If there is one thing that the Colossus and her god have inmon, it is that they don''t think before they talk or act.


    So the news will get out. Mortals will know that some gods were cheated and then crushed by a mortal, all with the support of her god. The story will make rounds among mortals and gods for thousands of years. It will be a legend and it might incite simr events. They won''t have it.


    Their pride has been soiled. It is another thing that the god of fate will use to mock them. That always hurts more. Harkam caused the sphemy of their prestige and so they must have war. Blood must flow to cleanse away the sin he hasmitted.


    Harkamughed boisterously. "It was worth it."


    The blood that will be shed will belong to mortals but Harkam thinks it will be all worth it. He isn''t concerned about the uing war. Whatever will happen will happen. The gods might destroy his churches and mortal forces but they won''t dare to face him in the divine realm. He is not some weak god. If he were allowed to attack other gods then he will go on a rampage, but he doesn''t want to push the Celestial Supreme too far.


    This war will impact him heavily. He sacrificed a lot of divinity that the lineage of sky gods has been saving and he will lose a lot of his priests but he considers it worth it and that''s enough for him. In fact, it is more than enough for him. Tanya is safe and sound now, while the other demigods are still suffering in captivity. He also got to screw up the other gods so it is undoubtedly good enough for him. The problems he created will be left for the future generations of sky gods to fix.


    "Wonderful moves exalted sky god. I am overwhelmed and impressed by your actions." The god of conflictplimented Harkam.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It''s nothing. It just came to me in a moment of inspiration." Harkam replied modestly but he is visibly proud.


    Harkam would have loved to im that he nned it from the start but it isn''t so and no one will believe it to be so. One thing led to another. He just went with his gut Instincts and things worked out the way they are. He didn''t want to be in a bidding war with the gods and reduce his chance of getting Tanya. Better to take things by force.


    He is currently surrounded by numerous gods who are taking his side in this conflict. His reply made themugh and shake their heads in wonder. Harkam is just too amusing and entertaining. It is true that he does foolish things but foolish things are the most interesting things. Where would their entertainment be if there are no gods like Harkam? That''s why they can''t allow him to be punished too much or he might actually learn his lesson and stop doing foolish things.


    The God of Conflictughed and said, "Don''t worry about the uing divine war, Grand god Harkam. I believe you are right on this issue. Your reaction is natural for any god that cares for his demigod. So I promise to assist you with troops and resources to the best of my abilities."


    Harkam''s grin became wider. "That''s good to hear. I will enjoy expecting your help."


    The god of conflict isn''t the only god to promise support. They won''t do their best but they will certainly do enough to give Harkam a fighting chance against the other 7 gods and their allies. This will ensure that the fight will be drawn out, gruesome, bloody, and very entertaining.


    Zargoth ne went into an upheaval. A world war is about to start and it isn''t baseless rumors. The gods brought out their des and began sharpening them. All around the ne, churches everywhere enlisted troops and trained soldiers.


    Some mortals prayed for peace but most were easily riled up. Their gods have been sphemed and they are angry about it. It doesn''t matter that a war will lead to far dire consequences but that''s the thing about Faith. Faith makes people blind to some things including when it is clearly not good for them. So a lot of mortals are participating in this war voluntarily without coercion or forceful recruitment. They are doing it just to please their gods.

 Chapter 372 120 Years Ago.

    ?Things moved quickly too. Troops from various corners of the ne converged at the center of the ne where the divine battlefield is. It is normal divine war protocol that the Celestial Supreme put in ce so that the rest of the ne won''t be damaged by war. But there''s no way the ne will get out of this with a minor injury with a war this big. They might have chosen to fight in one spot but the number of soldiersing into that spot will cause damage to the entire ne more than physical injury.


    There''s is more to war than the loss of life. Wars are expensive. They cause intion in the price of goods and services. The reduction in thebor force will makebor more expensive and will reduce the productivity of the economy. The war will cause financial, emotional, and all sorts of economic losses.


    All that doesn''t concern Helios for now. The church of the sun isn''t one of the churches going to war and even if they are, he is too weak to be crucial to the war and he also has a very important job here as the negotiator. Harkam''s actions did cause a lot of changes here too. Many Colossus from the churches that Harkam screwed over came to the camp.


    Fortunately, it was agreed that only the gods involved can send Colossi and they can''t send more than one. Thanks to that, the camp isn''t overflowing with powerhouses that can threaten Helios. Still, nothing changed about the ant. They didn''t move to open the floor for negotiation no matter how the Colossi stomped around or made a ruckus.


    Somehow the ants knew that they were only posturing. The ants didn''t think the gods will actually do anything that might risk their demigods. The ants chose to believe that the remaining gods are not as unreasonable as Harkam. So they didn''t move for negotiation.


    The wait continued like this without any progress for 50 years. It was then that the divine war became really serious. Harkam''s side is actually winning the war. It came as a surprise to both sides. The other side didn''t take him seriously and messed up. He also got a lot more support than anticipated. His enemies decided to curb his streak of victories as soon as possible so the war became more frenzied.


    All the gods'' attention moved to the war since watching the captured demigods is boring. Nothing had changed for years and they are tired of waiting around for nothing to happen. Even the Colossi were recalled to the divine battlefield to shore up the forces of the gods. The stalemate extended for another 70 years.


    The Celestial Supreme.


    The god of order and justice sat in his divine kingdom unmoving for the past 120 years. He watched the chaos escte without doing anything about it. It is against his nature to allow things to happen like that but he allowed it all because of a meeting he had with the god of fate 120 years ago.


    He had called the god of fate immediately after questioning Helios about his experience in the ant mound. A screen appeared in front of the celestial supreme. It showed a giant floating and dozing on a multicolored river. The giant is covered with wavy tattoos that depict moving rivers.


    The sleeping giant spoke. "What do you want? And make it quick. I have sleep to return to."


    The Celestial Supreme was agitated back then due to the appearance of the new god but he reigned in his rising anger at such disrespect to his person.


    "I have a problem and I need your help." He said calmly.


    That''s one of the reasons why he didn''t re up. He shouldn''t get angry andsh out at someone he needs help from or that person won''t help him.


    The god of fate yawned. "I know. It''s obvious. You only talk to me these days when you need help."


    "Then why did you ask if you already know what I want?" The Celestial Supreme said through gritted teeth.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "That''s obvious too, isn''t it? I meant what do you need help with?"


    "There''s a new god that I don''t know anything about. Do you know anything about it?"


    "I know about it." The god of fate answered curtly.


    The Celestial Supreme sighed and asked, "Do you mind telling me about what you know?"


    "Actually, I do mind."


    It was bing very difficult for the Celestial Supreme to reign his anger in. Something new is threatening the order that he has established and yet, this god of fate is toying with him.


    "What do you want for the answer?" He asked after managing to calm down.


    "If you want what I know, then you muste and get it from me. It has been a while since Ist had visitors." The god of fate told him.


    The Celestial Supreme cut the connection quickly before he screamed. "You don''t have visitors because everyone thinks you''re an asshole."


    He said other unsavory things and vented his frustration with more choice words before he finally calmed down. Then he left his divine kingdom to visit the god of fate. He appeared beside a floating sea with multicolored water within a bubble. The bubble opened and he entered. He found the floating giant soon after and appeared beside him.


    "Your strings of fate seemed to have proliferated nicely." He said to the god of fate.


    The multicolored river is made of many ropes with different colors meshed and flowing together like a river. They look like strings to a giant but they are veryrge ropes to other lesser physically privileged races.


    "You''re just saying that to ease the awkward atmosphere after all the bad things you just said about me." The god of fate spoke without rising from his position.


    He had heard all what the Celestial Supreme said about him after their call. He doesn''t care about it just like he doesn''t care enough about the Celestial Supreme to stand up and greet him.

 Chapter 373 Whats The Aim Of The Hidden God?

    ?The Celestial Supreme didn''t seem surprised that the god of fate heard what he said about him back in the privacy of his divine kingdom. It ismon knowledge among the gods that the god of fate can hear about events he isn''t present to witness. No event that concerns him or involves just stating his name can be hidden from him. He shouldn''t be able to do so to the celestial supreme but what others don''t know about the god of fate is that he is a celestial god too.


    That''s the second reason why the god of order didn''t re up when the god of fate disrespected him. There''s a third reason why he didn''t re up but that''s for another time. The god of fate being a celestial is why he can go scot-free from attending divine council meetings.


    Everyone in the ne believes that there is only one Celestial God in the ne because the Celestial Supreme kills newly ascended celestials. They are partly right. The god of fate ascended without an announcement so no other god knew about his ascension except the god of order and justice. It is his privilege as the Celestial Supreme to be made aware of all ascensions.


    The stealth ascension might have given others pause but that didn''t change the Celestial Supreme''s mind about killing newly ascended celestials. He wasn''t intimidated at all and he went after the god of fate to kill him. Obviously, he couldn''t kill him or the guy wouldn''t be alive right now disrespecting him to his face. The god of fate''s domain countered his own so he had to leave the new celestial god alone.


    Thankfully it was only a stalemate or the current Celestial Supreme will not be the god of order and justice.


    The situation about the hidden new god made the Celestial Supreme think of the god of fate. He hid his ascension from others by utilizing the powers of his domain. Those who are not required by fate to know of his ascension will never know no matter how much they try. The god of fate''s ability to snoop on others might also be very helpful in this situation. Those are the reason he called the god of fate.


    "So here I am. What do you know about the new god?"


    The god of fate answered. "Nothing. I don''t know anything about the new god apart from the fact that there''s a strange divine entity at work in the mortal realm."


    The Celestial Supreme became angry. He asked with barely held anger, "Then why did you ask me toe? You could have just said that when I contacted you earlier."


    The god of fate ignored the outburst. He has nothing to fear from the Celestial Supreme. It showed in his actions and his speech.


    He replied calmly. "The answer to that is also obvious. It is to make youe here. I already told you that I haven''t had visitors in a while and you know why I can''t go out myself."


    The Celestial Supreme continued to simmer as his anger rose. "So my trip here was a waste?"


    "It is a waste for you if you decide to make it so. It isn''t a waste for me since I am enjoying the pleasure of your presence even though you''re being such a stick in the mud."


    The god of order and justice finally snapped. His voice was low as he said, "I won''t have that. You either tell me something useful or I will damage your collection of strings of fate. I might not be able to do anything to you but this sea will be a small pond by the time I am done with it."


    The god of fate considered the threat for a while before speaking. "Fine. I was wrong, you are not a stick in the mud. You just have a stick up your asshole."


    The god of order and justice roared, "Just get to it already."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The god of fate sat up. His legs sank into the river of ropes while his buttocks sat on it.


    He began to speak. "Let me ask you this. What do you think the aim of this god is?"


    "I don''t know. If I knew I wouldn''t be here." The Celestial Supreme answered with irritation.


    "I said what do you think the aim is? Surely you must have some theories."


    The celestial supreme sighed. "I honestly don''t know. The actions of this new god don''t make sense to me. Nothing about this makes sense to me."


    "Come on. Don''t be so boring. Give me your best guess. I''m sure you have a lot of them running around in that thick head of yours. They might be boring and uninspired but they might be useful."


    The Celestial Supreme red at the god of fate before he replied.


    "If I have to guess, I think the aim of this god is to help the ant queen be a transcendent and then be a god."


    The god of fate pped in apuse. "That''s a pretty good guess. So why don''t you confirm it."


    "I can''t confirm it."


    "Because?"


    "Because the demigods are at risk. If I try to investigate the ant colony, the demigods might be killed. Their death will create a lot of Chaos and I don''t want a lot of Chaos. I don''t want Chaos at all."


    The celestial supreme answered.


    The god of fate shook his head. "You and your dislike for Chaos. You have to be flexible or you will break. This case can be burst wide open if only you ovee your fear of chaos."


    His fear of chaos in the mortal realm and amongst the gods is holding him back from confirming the hidden god''s agenda. If he can ovee it or find a way around it, then this conundrum of a situation will be clear and simple. He will be able to cut short the hidden god''s agenda and put everything right.

 Chapter 374 Patiently Waiting For 120 Years.

    ?The Celestial Supreme frowned as he considered the proposition.


    "So you''re saying I should go ahead and investigate the ant mound without any care for the consequences? That''s actually a good idea."


    The god of fate waved his arm to disagree. "No, that''s a bad idea. What if the aim of this god is to make the gods hate you? Right now we have one god on the side of the ant. Your actions might lead to more gods switching to help non-giant races. You are already disliked among the gods. This might be the tipping point. They might just decide to band together and usurp you."


    The Celestial Supreme became confused. He understands that more dissent among the gods might be bad for him especially since he is aware of some of it already among the gods. He knows that the gods have a doomsday n against him if he pushes them too far. The doomsday n is unlikely to work against him but he doesn''t want the chaos that conflict among the gods will create. What he doesn''t understand is why his idea is bad when the god of fate said that he should consider disregarding chaos.


    He said to the god of fate. "But you just said I could confirm my theory if I let my fear of chaos go."


    "Yes, I said that. But your theory might be wrong. Is the consequence of your actions worth confirming a wrong theory?"


    The Celestial Supreme sighed. His irritation has left him leaving only confusion. "So what do you suggest for me to do?"


    "I suggest you wait for a time when it will be worth it to confirm your theory."


    "What do you mean?"


    The god of fate answered with a question. "What do you think will happen if you do nothing? What will happen to the ne if you stop being the controlling freak you are? Why do you think you must school everything?"


    "You know why I must control everything. Without me, the ne will be plunged into Chaos. Gods will start to fight wantonly amongst themselves. Mortals will start attacking churches and creating their own churches in hopes of bing new gods. It will be utter andplete Chaos. It will be a nightmare. There will be deaths upon deaths. So much death, it will be..." The Celestial Supreme grew livid the more he described the consequences of letting the world run without his control. He truly felt bad just imagining it.


    The god of fate interrupted him. "That''s enough. I''ve heard enough."


    He knows enough about the Celestial Supreme to know that he really means well for the Zargoth ne. He is not as old as Stelios but he is old and he used to be close to the Celestial Supreme in the past. That was before the Celestial Supreme tried to kill though.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The Celestial Supreme stopped talking and looked expectantly at the god of fate who is running his hand across his face and muttering about all the demons lurking in the god of order''s head.


    "If you were to try and confirm your theory during a time of chaos, what do you think the repercussions will be?" The god of fate asked.


    The Celestial Supreme''s eyes lit up in realization. He said slowly, "It wouldn''t matter as much. There will be so much chaos around that a little more Chaos won''t matter. Wow, that''s a good n. You''re a genius."


    The god of fate shook his head. "You''re just too tightly wound and your thinking is rigid. That''s why you don''t see the obvious. Don''t be so excited about confirming your theory. You can be wrong about it, but the good thing is that you will be closer to finding out the aim of this new god."


    "Thanks for your help. I have to go." The Celestial Supreme said.


    "Before you go, I have something to say to you. Consider it a favor from me. I can''t see anything about this new god but I saw something about you. You are going to die and it will be because of betrayal."


    The Celestial Supreme left with that damning prophecy over his head. A prophecy that states that you will die tends to leave you brooding but he didn''t allow that to stop him from exacting his ns. He instructed the church of order and justice to lie low and stop policing the mortal realm. The only thing he did is to ce arge spherical divine barricade around the ant mound. He will be able to know whenever anyone passes through the barricade either to make contact with the ant mound or leave it.


    Then heid back and watched. He didn''t say anything when Harkam brought a Colossus to the camp. He didn''t interfere in their fight. He allowed it to escte into a divine war. He allowed the divine war to escte into a world war as more gods piled on. His inaction enabled the war to be more important than the demigods.


    It was then that he decided to confirm his theory. It was painful for him to watch all these Chaos ravage the carefullyid out order that he had put in ce but no one will care too much when he puts the demigods at risk. All the Chaos will be worth it if he can unravel the mystery that is the new god.


    The evil he knows is better than the unknown evil that the hidden god is perpetrating under the cover of the captured demigods. He can always put things back in order. Things have been getting boring for him anyway, he will have a lot of fun putting things back into their rightful ce.


    He called for a divine council in the temple at the camp. The gods sent their avatars. It was the first time in 120 years that their Celestial Supreme is giving any order. He has been very quiet all this while. It seems all of that is about to change.

 Chapter 375 Time To End This.

    ?The gods attended the divine council enthusiastically. Apart from the meeting beingpulsory, they are eager to attend the meeting because they want to know what he has to say after being silent for so long.


    "I call this divine council to order." He said after everyone that wille had arrived.


    He informed them of his intention straightaway. "I have decided to end this stalemate with the ants. I have called a Colossus from my church. The Colossus will enter the ant mound and get to the bottom of this issue."


    He informed them for several reasons all of which revolves around a single word, "betrayal." A betrayal needs a betrayer. The first reason he is informing them is to let them know of his n and hopefully reduce the chances of the new god using that as an opportunity to turn gods against him.


    Some gods like Harkam still believe he is the one responsible for this entire situation. They believe he is doing it to remove their demigods and stop the creation of more divine lords in a bid to reduce changes like he always does.


    He chose to inform them of his intentions to resolve it so that if it leads to another unfavorable situation like the death of demigods, it wouldn''t lead to more misunderstandings. There will be more misunderstandings if he moves without informing the gods and something unfortunate happens.


    The second important reason is to watch the reaction of the ants to his deration. He wants to determine if there is already a betrayer among the gods. His n is aimed at uncovering more about the situation so he doesn''t mind the leakage of his ns. Whatever happens, is sure to clue him into the aim of the ants and the god helping them.


    "I am only calling this meeting to inform you of my decision and not to open it to a discussion. It will happen and we will see the effects of my decision soon when the Colossus arrives. In the meantime, you can leave." His tone indicated the finality of the matter.


    "I hereby dere this divine council dismissed."


    The gods dispersed. No one said anything since he didn''t call them here for their opinion. The seven gods who had demigods here felt sour about the decision but they don''t care much anymore. They have a war to fight which requires their full attention. Plus they have already sacrificed more than the value of those demigods in the world war. As it is right now, the situation isn''t about the demigods anymore but about disrespect of Harkam to them.


    Stelios went to see Helios before he left. He found Helios meditating.


    "When are you going to be ready to break through? I''ll feel better if you''re a transcendent and can protect yourself." He asked his son with concern due of a father.


    "I can''t be a transcendent or I won''t be able to remain as the negotiator. The ants won''t trust a transcendent, especially after what happenedst time. It is unsafe to remain a negotiator but I can''t leave it yet until my job has been fulfilled. " Helios replied with righteous determination.


    Stelios smiled and nodded. He is impressed with Helios''s show ofradery. It is a good quality that a parent will like to see in their child. It is also a quality that will make his n for Helios go smoothly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Well, you won''t have to worry about that any longer. The Celestial Supreme has sent for a Colossus. He intends to get to the bottom of the matter with the ant. Then you can return to the sun city and break through there. It will be safe for you to break through there and I won''t have to worry about you anymore."


    The relief that Stelios feels is evident in his voice. One will be able to tell how much concern he has for Helios.


    Helios beamed. "That''s great news."


    "Yes, it is. So prepare yourself to leave this ce."


    Helios nodded like a dutiful son. "Thank you for your concern father. I''ll return as soon as I am no longer needed."


    Stelios left after having a short chat and Helios resumed his meditation. Except he isn''t meditating anymore. His mind is thinking about a lot of things one of which is Stelios'' sincerity to him.


    Helios knows that Stelios wants him to be safe and sound. He is not basing his belief on the disy of concern that Stelios is showing to him. He is basing in on what he found out after cracking the Stigmata and figuring out itsplete purpose. If he were in Stelios'' shoes, he will be concerned about his safety too considering the investment he has put in and what he hopes to get for it.


    The other thing that he is worried about is the Celestial Supreme''s deration of action.


    ''It seems the tree father is out of time. Something has to be done about this.'' He thought to himself.


    The front lines had been in a state of reduced activity for more than a hundred years but it became active again because of the Celestial Supreme''s deration. Then something happened that put the front lines in a state of overdrive. It is something unexpected. The ants called for negotiation after years of silence. The gods gathered again for the event. They turned their gaze to the front lines and gave it their undivided attention.


    ''Now I am certain that there is a betrayer in our midst or could it be a coincidence that the ants asked for negotiation as soon as I am about to break this stalemate? One of these gods has betrayed me. Who is it?'' The Celestial Supreme thought to himself as he scanned the crowd of sitting gods.


    They seem innocent and jovial but one of them has betrayed him. He has been watching the frontlines like a hawk and he is aware of everything that took ce including Stelios''s conversation with Helios. Helios didn''t do anything suspicious and neither did any soldier on the front lines.

 Chapter 376 The First Demand.

    ?Helios sat within his tent meditating. He did not leave his tent or receive any other visitors. Even if he did receive visitors, no one else on the front line did anything suspicious. They all went about their day as if nothing is different which to most of them, it might as well be. Most of them didn''t know about the Celestial Supreme''s deration.


    The Celestial Supreme can say with uttermost certainty that the leak did not ur because of anyone on the front lines. This means that the gods are the ones that leaked the information to the ant. One of them is in contact with the ants. He can''t monitor what the gods do in their divine kingdoms so he doesn''t know which god betrayed him.


    There is some good that came out of the leakage though. He has confirmed that the god of fate was right and that there really is a betrayer among the gods. Now, he will be extra cautious and careful around the gods.


    "Should we go ahead with the negotiation?" One of the seven gods asked him.


    He already made a deration of war against the ants. So they are asking him for permission to negotiate with those that can be considered terrorists right now.


    He replied quickly. "Sure go ahead. There''s no reason not to do everything to try and get your demigods. But this negotiation must not be dragged on because I will still do what I want when the Colossuses. This opportunity for negotiation won''t dy me."


    He gave them the go-ahead. Refusing will be counterproductive to his aim of informing the gods beforehand. He wants to show them he doesn''t have any ulterior motives and he also wants to see how the ants react. Either way, he will get to the bottom of this conundrum one way or another.


    This opportunity for negotiation hasn''t changed his mind at all. His Colossus is still on the way and it will burst this entire thing wide open. He doesn''t want to endanger the demigods but he will do it if he has to. If this is a ploy to dy him, then it won''t work. Nothing can dy the retribution of justice.


    Helios was called to do his duty as the negotiator. He was apanied by nine priests. 7 from the other gods, 1 from the church of order, and another 1 from the church of the sun. There is no representative of the church of the storm among their procession.


    One of the priests belonging to the 7 gods spoke to him as they were on their way.


    "Thank you for doing this for us. We have taken so much of your time. My God says that he will owe you a divine favor if he is able to get his demigod back and a normal favor if not. You deserve something for your efforts regardless of the oue."


    Helios bowed. "I thank the god of mercy for his generosity. It is my duty to help my fellows when I can but your generosity has made it my privilege."


    The priest nodded contently and withdrew. The other priests approached him one by one to express their thanks for his duty and promised him different types of favors. A normal favor from a god can be used to get the god to do something for you but the god can choose not to, offer you a worse alternative or dy doing it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    A divine favor on the other hand is a very important favor in which the god will bepelled by his Godhood as a god to fulfill the favor to the best of their abilities. It is not a must for the god to do what you asked for but it is a must for them to try their best. They might not be able to do some things for you if it is not in their power no matter how much they want to but they have to try their best before offering you an alternative.


    He thanked them for their generosity and said words that stroked their ego. The priests of the church of justice and the church of the sun didn''t offer him anything. So they returned to silence after the seven priests were done delivering the message of their respective gods.


    Helios smiled when he saw what is waiting for them in front of the ant mound.


    He said to them, "It seems we will have some good news. We might be able to get the demigods."


    The other priests were ecstatic when they saw all the demigods ced outside the ant mound. They were bound, gagged, and emaciated but it is a good sight. It indicated an increase in the possibility of their release.


    Helios and his entourage reached the waiting royal guards. One of the royal guards spoke to them.


    "We are willing to let all the demigods go but we want two things. If we don''t get both of them, then we won''t release any of the demigods. Do you understand? It''s all or nothing."


    Helios spoke. "We understand and we are willing to work towards satisfying the two requirements as long as they are reasonable."


    "Don''t worry it is reasonable. First, we want 50 pieces of divine items for each of the 7 demigods."


    Helios consulted with the priests before replying. "That is reasonable and we are willing to fulfill that requirement. What is the second requirement?"


    50 pieces of divine items are too much for a single demigod but the gods agreed to it because they don''t have much use for it apart from battering with other gods. The Celestial Supreme has also ced a limit on the time they have to bail their kids.


    So they are in a rush to finish this negotiation and they don''t want to be the ones to dy. The Colossus can get here anytime. Plus the price of 50 looks like a bargain whenpared to the amount Harkam had to pay for his and they are sure they will be able to retrieve it once the Colossus finishes its work on the ant colony.

 Chapter 377 The Second Demand.

    ?The royal guard replied to Helios''s question. "Do not worry about that for now. We have brought the demigods out so we want an equal gesture of sincerity. Bring the items with divinity here. We want to see it before we ept it. We couldn''t inspect themst time because of the Colossus and received some faulty items."


    The ants want to confirm the authenticity of the items with divinity before they move on to the next request.


    Helios agreed. "That''s understandable. We will go back now and return when we have the items."


    They returned to the camp for the priests to get the needed items from their gods. They don''t have any Colossus that can erge and cave in the temple on the avatar of other gods in order to retrieve items with divinity from their gods. The gods have recalled their transcendents to the divine battlefield at the center of the ne.


    Then the negotiation party returned to resume the negotiation. The priests disyed each item for the royal guards to see. Each item be it a jewel or a cup showed clear indications of divinity that proved that they aren''t faulty. They glow and attract any sentient organism that gazes at them. One will feel a yearning for the items because it represents distilled power that can evolve one''s state of existence.


    "Now that the authenticity of the items has been proven, can we move on?" Helios asked impatiently.


    The royal guard replied. "Yes, we can. We want one more thing. We want you."


    He asked in a confused tone. "You want me to do what?"


    "I mean we will only exchange all these 7 demigods for 50 items with divinity and you, demigod of the sun god. Either you agree and we make the exchange or you disagree and we can separate."


    Helios was stunned. He didn''t even know how to reply. He isn''t the only shocked one. Apparently, someone else is and that person doesn''t like what they heard one bit. This caused some changes to take ce in the world immediately.


    The sun in the sky suddenly brightened. It erged so much that it looked like it is falling to the earth. The temperature of the mortal realm increased to dangerous levels. It is obvious that the sun god is angry. Giants everywhere bowed their heads on the ground and pleaded for mercy from the sun god. They are asking him to forgive them for whatever has made him angry.


    "What did you say?"


    While Helios is still processing what he just heard and what was going on with the world, the 7 priests behind shared a look and nodded to each other. 2 of them went to hold off the priest of the church of the sun while the other 5 cast divine restraining spells on Helios. He was caught off guard without his runes activated so he became entrapped and unable to move.


    "Don''t do this. This is wrong. You can''t do this to me." He pleaded with them with his divine sense.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "We are sorry but the request is reasonable. One demigod for seven." The priest of the god of mercy replied.


    Helios didn''t give up. "But you just thanked me and your gods owe me a favor. You owe me after everything I have done for you."


    Another one answered indifferently. "We owe you a normal favor now. It will only be a divine favor after we get the demigods. Wait till we get the demigods first before you start trying topel our gods."


    Unlike the priest of mercy who had the decency to be remorseful, this priest didn''t feel any regret. It is not that he doesn''t feel bad for Helios, he does. But his god has decreed that Helios should be captured and handed over for the exchange. He doesn''t feel regret because he is simply obeying amand from his god. Sometimes faith makes believers capable of doing terrible things.


    Helios turned to the priest from the church of order and justice. He shouted, "Help me. You can''t simply watch and let this happen."


    The two priests had gone to hold back the priest of the church of the sun. It ismon knowledge that the priests of the sun god are more powerful than others because of the quality of their Stigmata. So they sent two to stop the priest from interfering.


    Meanwhile, the priest of the church of justice chose to watch without interfering and they didn''t bother him. The priest didn''t say anything even when Helios called to him.


    Helios was bonded amid his cries for help. Then the priests restrained his mouth and covered him with a cocoon of power to stop any means ofmunication too. Partly to stop him from making noise and mostly to stop him from talking and using his divine favor immediately after the exchange has been made. That didn''t stop him from giving them venomous stares. So they made the cocoon opaque to stop him from seeing anything.


    He has been essentially bonded, gagged, and blinded. Then he is used as an item exchanged with the royal guards for the 7 demigods. He tried all he could but he was dragged to the colony. The priests received the demigods and left merrily with them. Their mission has been aplished. The only thing out of ce is the zing sun. It is still close to the ne and it is bombarding the ne with heat and light beyond what is pleasant to have.


    Back in the temple of the gods.


    "What nonsense is this?" Stelios stood up and shouted in anger when the royal guards asked for Helios.


    One of the 7 gods said to the Celestial Supreme, "It is reasonable. One demigod for seven is a good deal."


    Stelios''s face contorted with anger. He couldn''t believe it that they are actually considering the demand but he will not have it. He will do everything he can do to stop it. He has too much invested on Helios to risk him.

 Chapter 378 Helios Is Not Worth 7 Demigods.

    ?They chose to ignore Stelios'' outburst and give the Celestial Supreme a suggestion about why exchanging Helios for 7 demigods is a good idea. The sight infuriated Stelios further.


    "Are you being stupid right now? We will not consider such an idiotic idea. How have you sunk so low as to use a demigod to trade like a good and to ants nheless?" Stelios shouted at the god that dared to make such a statement.


    "We use demigods for entertainment all the time. They are tools to be used for our pleasure. This is not so different from their purpose."


    Stelios''s voice rose higher with his anger. "He is my tool. He is mine to use as I wish not yours. I will decide what I want to use him for."


    The other gods began to voice their opinions on the matter. Some agreed with Stelios. He did them a favor by allowing Helios to get involved in the first ce. Asking for the life of his demigods is asking for too much and disrespecting him. Some disagreed with Stelios. 1 to 7 is a good exchange anyhow they look about it. Helios is not worth 7 demigods. He is just 1 demigod.


    Both sides became heated. It all happened so fast. The temple became rowdy quickly and some gods were already getting ready to fight. It seems a repeat of the Colossus incident will happen again but this time it will ur very quickly.


    The gods are currently divided because of the world war so they just raring to get at each other.It''s like the timer of an explosion started close to the end instead of at the beginning. The explosion will go off without taking much time.


    "Silence." The Celestial Supreme ordered.


    Everyone became silent immediately.


    "I make the decisions here." He informed them as the weight of his order pressed on them and enforced the silence.


    They all bowed to him. He left them in that state for a while before he became appeased.


    Then he gave his verdict. "I will allow the exchange."


    Stelios tried to speak but he couldn''t. So he directed his anger somewhere else. His divine power red in his divine kingdom and empowered the sun shining on Zargoth ne.


    The Celestial Supreme ignored his tantrum and instructed his priest to not get involved. The other priests got the go-ahead from their gods and restrained Helios. The god of order allowed this because it will reduce the casualty that will be experienced when he busts into the ant colony with a colossus.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He doesn''t know what the god or the ants are thinking for making this deal but he wants to see it anyway. He knows he might be falling into the trap of the enemy but the consequence is the life of a single demigod, and a single life is certainly worth it to pacify 7 gods. What does the life of a single demigod even matter? It is also the demigod of the sun god. It''s not like the sun god needs a demigod. He has hundreds of divine lords already so he won''t miss one demigod.


    No matter what the enemy wants to do with the demigod, the fallout from the sacrifice of a single demigod will be small and will reduce the resulting chaos. It will also prove that he didn''t start this charade to reduce the number of demigods.


    The deal is in his favor but what made him decide that he must go ahead with the deal is the way that Stelios shouted and raved in his presence. Such a thing doesn''t happen in the past but the gods now seem to think it is allowed because he has been withdrawn these recent years. So he has to put his foot down and remind them who is the boss around here.


    Stelios suddenly thinks his demigod is his to do as he wishes. He seems to have forgotten that it was the Celestial Supreme that forced him to allow Helios to participate in the heroic quest in the first ce when he sensed the ant queen''s attempt at bing a demigod. He needs to be reminded that the Celestial Supreme was willing to sacrifice Helios for entertainment back then and is still willing to sacrifice Helios for the good of the ne.


    The exchange was made and the demigod of the sun was taken away. The Celestial Supreme nodded his head in satisfaction. The gods were talking quietly amongst themselves. Harkam was smiling from ear to ear. He is happy about getting his demigod 120 years ago now he is very happy that Stelios is screwed over. It is not his victory or a big one either, but it feels good to see his rival lose out.


    Silence returned to the temple when the Celestial Supreme began speaking again.


    "Stelios, I will try to save your demigod but nothing is certain. These things happen. Bad, unfortunate, and unforeseen things suddenly happen for no apparent reason and there''s nothing we can do about them. We just have to move on and ..."


    He was still talking when Stelios eximed. "Oh crap. I have to go."


    He sensed something really urgent that needs his attention. It is not something that can be put off or dyed.


    "I have not dered this meeting over. You cannot..." The Celestial Supreme started to deny him the permission to leave.


    Stelios didn''t listen. His avatar winked out of existence leaving the Celestial Supreme fuming. It is this sort of disrespect that he doesn''t like and he must put an end to it. Heposed himself after a while and continued his speech.


    "It is understandable that the god of the sun is distraught about his son. I will forgive him because he has been dutiful for his many years of service as the sun god without any problems. He always follows the proper protocol but it seems he really loves his son. I will forgive his transgression just this once."

 Chapter 379 100 New Problems.

    ?A god can only create one avatar at a time. The fact that Stelios withdrew his avatar means he is so busy with something that he couldn''t spare his attention for the mortal realm, or he has something else to do in the mortal realm, or he is too angry to remain in this ce after he was cheated of his son.


    He as the Celestial Supreme is willing to forgive Stelios for what he did no matter the reason for it. He has to be magnanimous about it. After all, they did just sacrifice his son. It is not too much to give the sun god some consideration.


    "Now let''s get back to what I was saying. Bad, unfortunate, and unforeseen things suddenly happen for no apparent reason and there''s nothing we can do about them. Such things happen every time. It is normal. We just have to move on and ..."


    The Celestial Supreme suddenly stopped. He is sensing some things. First, he became confused. His calm face turned into a scowl, then his eyes widened in surprise.


    "Oh, crap." He eximed after fullyprehending what is going on.


    Something unfortunate has just happened. It should not be for no apparent reason but he can''t find one. He has beenid back these past few years but that doesn''t mean his surveince system was brought down orpromised. So he should have had an inkling or two about what just happened and yet he is being caught unawares.


    His surveince over the mortal realm is as sensitive as ever, he will be able to sense the slightest fluctuations of divine power no matter how weak. He is sensing 100 of such weak fluctuations of divine power characteristic of ascension to demigod all spread out within the ne at the same time. It means 100 other entities like the ant queen are about to be demigods simultaneously.


    He is so shocked that it is enough for his jaw to cken and drop. "How is this possible?"


    This question is not a question asked by fools who can''tprehend what they are seeing. He canprehend what he can see and yet he needs an exnation. The question is very valid. How is possible for 100 mana entities all over the ne to suddenly have enough divinity to transform into demigods after he has scoured the mortal realm of divinity? Only one thinges to mind and it is the sudden influx of items with divinity that was used to exchange for the demigods.


    "No way." He muttered as his eyes widened in realization.


    He had suspected such a consequence that''s why he didn''t stop it but only created a barrier around the ant mound to monitor all movements in and out. He decided to use the items as bait to trap anyone involved with the ants.


    And no, he didn''t make a mistake or overlook something. No one, not one ant passed that barrier. They all stayed holed up within the ant mound without going outside for the entire time. The only ones to have ever passed through the barrier all these years are Helios, the Colossus, and the priests.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It obviously couldn''t be anyone of them that smuggled items of divinity from underneath his nose. He doesn''t dare believe that mortals fooled him or that his position as the celestial supreme is a joke. This only leaves one possibility, a god or numerous gods. The fact that mana entities cannot absorb divinity without the help of a god eliminating the resistant Divine Will makes his conjecture that a god is behind all of this very usible.


    He is willing to bet his hammer that the god responsible is that slimy god scurrying about in the shadows like some low-life thug.


    "You have gone too far." He roared savagely.


    How the god contacted the ant queen without him noticing is a matter for another day. For now, something must be done about the 100 mana entities.


    He stood up from his throne in his divine kingdom. His divine kingdom looks like a giant. The is made up of thick ropes called chains of order. The ropes are parallel to each other and the space between them is constant. The angle they form when they cross is a perfect right angle so the space looks like a rectangle.


    Both the divine kingdom of the god of fate and the Celestial Supreme are made up of ropes. Of course, these ropes are threadspared to their giant form. The simrity ends there. The strings of fate of the god of fate are multicolored and meshed together haphazardly to form a multicolored river while the chains of Order of the god of order and justice have only two colors, white and ck, and are positioned orderly into a.


    But enough of the divine kingdom. The Celestial Supreme is currently angry. He doesn''t do well with anger. The only thing that gets him angry is the loss of control, so he tries to regain control when he gets angry.


    He roared in a voice that all of creation within the ne heard. "FREEZE."


    And the world froze. Well, only SPACE obeyed hismand to freeze. MATTER and TIME didn''t listen to him. He might have power over Order but that doesn''t mean he can boss all three of them around. The fact that he can boss SPACE around is only because he is the Celestial Supreme with the backing of all the gods of the ne and it is only the space within the ne that froze.


    Only mother high heaven and the realm lord can freeze all three within the ne. But what he did is terrifying enough. Everything within the ne froze. Children crying or pulling snot from their noses. Balls or stones falling down froze in the act. Butterflies and birds froze mid-flight. Rampaging Sandstorms froze and all the avatars of gods within the mortal realm froze up. All because of one word from the Celestial Supreme.

 Chapter 380 Release Yourselves.

    ?Everything within the mortal realm froze as if caught in amber. It will continue to be so until the Celestial Supreme releases his Order or runs out of divine energy. Those are 2 of the 3 ways that anything can be released from his Order.


    Considering that he has been saving divine energy for millions of years, he can surely sustain the exorbitant consumption that freezing the mortal realm for a hundred years will cost him. It will bankrupt him to do it and it will leave him weakened but he can do it.


    The third option for release is for the frozen things to release themselves. The Celestial Supreme is not omnipotent in the ne. He has spread his power all over the ne so his Order can be broken if they are strong enough. They don''t have a choice anyway. The Celestial Supreme is certainly not going to release his Order. So if they want to be released, they have to do it themselves.


    If they don''t release themselves, then they will start dying soon. The nts, bugs, and other things that need oxygen to live will be the first to die. Time is still flowing, it hasn''t stopped for them. So if they don''t get oxygen soon they will die.


    The next ones to die will be the vitality core stage beings followed by mana entities. Those in the vitality core stage need to breathe. They too will die. Mana entities can stay without oxygen but they still need to breathe to get the mana that they need into their bloodstream.


    Breathing allows mana in the air to enter their lungs and from there it enters their blood. But their lungs can''t move so they have to subsist on the mana they already have in their bodies. The mana entities of the Zargoth ne may be special due to the low concentration of ambient mana and have evolved to get mana through others means but even they won''t be able to do that when they can''t move.


    In less than one hour all vitality core stage living things will die. Mana entities canst longer but they will also die once they run out of mana. All these creatures will die with their consciousness fully intact. Theck of oxygen and mana that sustains life will make them die and they will be painfully aware of it.


    Right now, the ones that need air are feeling the suffocation but there''s nothing they can do. They are weak and can''t release themselves. Their lungs can expand or contract so they will be asphyxiated by the tantrum of their celestial supreme. All because of a conflict that doesn''t concern them.


    The god of fate is stillying about in his river of fate when he heard themand for the world to freeze.


    He chuckled to himself and said, "Oh no, he didn''t."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He doesn''t care so he won''t do anything about it. It is not in his nature to interfere with the world. He has also made a deal with the god of Order and Justice that he won''t meddle in the affairs of the ne. That deal was the only way for him to get the god of order off of his back for being a Celestial god.


    The fact that they got a stalemate in their fight doesn''t mean that the control freak of a god would have left him alone. The god of Order would have tried other avenues to get rid of him. But he is a peaceful god who isid back and likes to snoop on people. So he convinced the god of order that he is harmless and made the oath to prove it. So he can''t interfere with this mess even if he wants to. He is bound by the contract to watch and do nothing.


    The other gods of the pantheon can''t interfere either. They can only watch what''s going on with different reactions. The god of knowledge has a weird reaction to the event. He is most excited to see the frozen ne.


    "Wonderful. Marvelous. Simply unprecedented." He guffawed as he scribbled. "Absolutely divine."


    He took out a tome and started recording his observations of the situation in the mortal realm. It is not every day that one can observe the consequences of freezing space. Thest time it urred was a very long time ago during the time of an older generation of gods. So he is feeling extremely lucky and excited to witness this.


    He is an outlier though. Not a lot of gods are excited by the situation. Some of them, like Harkam, are solemn. Harkam the god of the sky and tempest knows when a storm ising and for some reason, he can smell one on the way.


    None of them know why the Celestial Supreme suddenly froze the world. What they do know is that it happened after Stelios threw his own tantrum. Harkam suspects that the two are rted. It is either that or the Celestial Supreme''s tantrum is a coincidence. His rival the god of the sun has other things preupying him right now, so he doesn''t care about the situation in the mortal realm.


    Most of the gods are bored and unconcerned. They don''t have enough reason to care about the current state of the world apart from the fact that it is spoiling their fun. Where are they going to get their entertainment now that the mortal realm is frozen? Should they start fighting each other instead? Is that allowed now? But no one has enough courage to ask the Celestial Supreme that.


    They don''t care that millions of entities will die because those that matter will be able to free themselves from the effects of the Celestial Supreme''s Order to freeze. The gods weren''t affected at all because every god is Sovereign in their divine kingdom. The Celestial Supreme can push his weight around in the mortal realm and most of the divine realm but not their divine kingdom.

 Chapter 381 Unknown Transcendents.

    ?Some entities seeded in freeing themselves. The first ones are the Colossus and the Behemoths. The transcendents of the giants of order began to move as seen on the divine battlefield.


    The gods had called a truce when the situation with the decree of the Celestial Supreme came up. They were waiting for the conclusion of that event before they return to their fighting so all the soldiers are on standby.


    Right now on the battlefield, all the soldiers have frozen. Then the transcendents began to move. First, their fingers twitched, then their hand moved before their arms and legs became capable of mobility too.


    They freed themselves from the stasis and looked at the frozen world in confusion. Their gods sent information to them. They calmed down when they realized what is going on. Then they spread their domain to unfreeze everything within it. The weaker mana entities within their domain became free from the stasis too and went about whatever they are doing.


    The other mana entities of the giants of order that aren''t within the domains of transcendents will be fine too. They might not be able to move but they can breathe. Thew fragments within their body are strong enough to resist most external influences including a watered-down Order of the Celestial Supreme. So the space within their lungs is unfrozen and can be moved.


    It is not as if they are as strong as the Celestial Supreme but because the power of the order has spread all over the ne. If it were focused then no mortal can stand a chance. Even gods have been shown to sumb to his Order of silence.


    So only transcendents, mana entities of the race of giants of order, and demigods can move. Nothing else should be able to move. The rest will die including those 100 mana entities trying to digest divinity. They are not demigods yet, so they can not move, unlike the ant queen.


    The Celestial Supreme might have flipped out but he knew what he was doing. He is trying to choke out the sources of trouble at once. It is either this or starting a heroic quest to remove all of the others but another error like the kidnapped demigods can arise. The only way to prevent that is to send out 100 Colossus to get rid of the aspirants to Godhood but he doesn''t want to do that. This way of freezing everything is more efficient and will certainly get rid of the trouble.


    He sighed and sat back on his throne when he sensed the full nature of the situation. He rubbed his face wearily with one hand while he muttered, "Ashes to Ashes. I will rebuild a new order from the chaos. Everything will be alright."


    This entire thing might be a distraction. The hidden god first used the negotiation to dy. But he was decisive and he allowed the negotiation to take ce. Then the ants asked for Helios. The gods would have argued about it and be distracted because of the problem. Another war might be dered too. He stopped the situation from spiraling with his quick response.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Helios was sacrificed. Then the situation of the 100 mana entities suddenly appeared. It is obvious that the hidden god is trying to distract. He could fall for it by trying to snuff out the problems one by one or he could just suffocate everything. The death of the innocent entities is worth it if he can curb the hidden god''s agenda.


    He maintained his focus on the ant mound and instructed his Colossus to continue towards it. The ant queen is a demigod so she is still moving. The Colossus will get there and kill her. He intends to put out all the sparks of chaos before he releases the mortal realm from its stasis. He doesn''t care about the innocent other races that will die because of his order. Only giants are important to his world order.


    His wish must be done at all costs, even if that means the death of billions. In any case, only strength matters. He is strong and he wants to freeze everything. If you''re strong too then don''t freeze when he says so. If you''re weak and can''t unfreeze yourself, then your opinion doesn''t matter.


    It is also convenient that the giants of Order will be least affected. They have the only transcendents in the ne because they kill any transcendent from other races. If not for the ant queen, they will also have the only demigods in the ne too. Their mana entities can survive so all is well with the giants of order.


    He was about to rx when he heard a noise. It is the noise that urs when transcendents break free from his order to FREEZE. This noise sounded 200 times. At first, he wasn''t concerned. It is odd that there are some transcendents of the giants that were slow to break the bond and it is also odd that these slow pokes broke free at the same time.


    But that''s just it, odd. Totally nothing to worry about. Still, he investigated. His obsession won''t let him rx until he makes sure everything is in order. His investigation came up with nothing. He couldn''t sense any of these 200 transcendents that broke free at virtually the same time.


    "This is bad." His voice sounded distraught.


    The only thing he could sense are 200 small nk zones within the effect of his order. The reality of the situation hit him. He just realized that there are transcendents in the ne that he doesn''t know about. So in fact, giants of Order aren''t the only transcendents in the ne.


    He can''t see them, sense them, or recognize any divine power on them which means they are not affiliated with any god. It is only now that he found out about their existence. They have been hiding somehow under his surveince. If not for his outburst, he would have remained ignorant of their existence. Somehow, the other races have created transcendents and have kept them hidden from him.

 Chapter 382 Troublesome Hidden God.

    ?This is something he would never have imagined. Something straight out of a nightmare. He was telling Stelios earlier about some unfortunate and unforeseen things that happen. Here is one horrific urrence that is unfortunate and unforeseen. Except, it is happening to him and his precious ne.


    Then another round of the noise of freedom rang out in his mind as the transcendents spread their domains.


    "This is very bad." He eximed with wide eyes.


    The fact that these transcendents activated domains that are strong enough to break his FREEZE order is simply proof that they are transcendents. It shouldn''t be enough to rm him. What rmed him is the coincidence in which 100 of those nk zones created by the transcendents he can''t sense happen to be where he sensed the mana entities trying to digest divinity.


    It means that these unknown transcendents have something to do with the mana entities trying to be demigods. That also means that they have something to do with the hidden god through the divinity given to the ant. Or it could mean that it is all a coincidence. The Celestial Supreme isn''t stupid enough to believe in such giant coincidences.


    "How did this happen?"


    He should have seen thising. It shouldn''t havee to him as a surprise. He began wracking his head for an exnation. It could be that these transcendents are a different hidden faction of the ne. It will exin how they have been able to umte so many transcendents but it doesn''t exin how they remained hidden from him.


    It could also be that these transcendents are working directly for the hidden god. It will exin how they remained hidden from him but it doesn''t exin how a new and young god that should be a low god, has umted such a following. If this second option is true, then the hidden god is more terrifying and ambitious than he thought.


    "I must put an end to all of this." He muttered in an urgent haze.


    One thing is certain. All of this is rted to the new god. He can''tprehend what this god could be up to but he realized that a lot has been happening in his precious ne with his knowledge of it and that''s not good at all. There are truly scary ideas popping into his head about what the god could be up to.


    Everything he has seen indicates that this god has been up to something behind his back. From the looks of things, this god is creating demigods. The next step from demigods is gods. If things progress in that direction, then there will be numerous gods from other races.


    It is an absurd idea and it is something he cannot allow. He would rather die than see the rise of a new god and he would rather have the world burn to stop gods froming from another race apart from giants.


    He moved into action immediately. He removed the "FREEZE"mand from the mortal realm since it isn''t working. Then he sent his avatar to the location of one of the mana entities trying to be demigods. He appeared in a tunnel under the desert.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Boreworms. What a disgrace." He muttered with disgust when he saw the tunnels.


    He knows what created the tunnels as soon as he saw them. The tunnel he is in isrge and lined with mucus. There are other tiny tunnels that lead off from the main tunnel. Most importantly, he can see the inhabitants of these tunnels. The inhabitants look like round and segmented worms. They have no eyes but have feelers on their head that they use to sense sound, light, and vibrations.


    The sight of the numerous tiny things wiggling on the ground and secreting mucus is a horrible sight that can induce vomit. Arger one entered the main tunnel through one of the side tunnels in it. It raised its blind head to the air and sensed the atmosphere by wiggling its feelers. Then it screeched and slid back into the tunnel it came from as fast as possible.


    The screech set off a panic among the previously ignorant tiny ones. Their wiggling increases as they try to escape from the supposed foreign thing that is dangerous but they are not as sensitive as therger one so they are rushing around uselessly. Some of them even rush toward the Celestial Supreme.


    The feeling of disgust within him threatened to overwhelm him. He stamped his foot on the ground angrily. A ring of force spread out from the point of impact and pressed all the worms against the ground. Their delicate body was crushed by the sudden 10-fold increase in gravity.


    But that didn''t satisfy the Celestial Supreme. His scowl hasn''t disappeared. The only thing that will satisfy him is the eradication of every organism within this tunnel. So he increased the range and potency of his ability. The ring of force spread out from him far into the distance and the gravity began to increase steadily.


    The tunnel began shaking and more worms began to screech in a warning. At this rate, the tunnel will copse and crush them all. The Celestial Supreme could already picture it and it brought a smile to his face.


    Then something untoward happened. Another domain shed with his and removed his influence over gravity as easily as swatting a fly away. The scowl returned to the Celestial Supreme''s face, even deeper now.


    "Of course. It is the thorn in my side,ing to poke me."


    His voice was dripping with contempt and unconcealed hostility. He can already guess who it is in this area that can interfere with his business and it can only be the enemy he came to see.


    "I have thorns too. What a coincidence. I must count myself very lucky." A roaring voice sounded out.


    The tunnel shook as the voice reverberated through it. Numerous thorny vines followed right after the voice.

 Chapter 383 SWIFTESCAPE THE MIGHTY.

    ?The thorn vines appeared through the holes in the tunnel like water spilling through faults in a container. They then came together andbined to form an enormous nt dragon.


    The dragon is made with green thorny vines allyered and meshed together to form the shape of the dragon. The dragon might be made of nts but it is stillrge. Its entire body filled the tunnel like a wall of power. It stood with equal height as the 100-meter-tall avatar of the Celestial Supreme in a tunnel stillrger than them both.


    The Celestial Supreme became shocked.


    "You''re a nt?" He asked incredulously.


    Of all the races that he could have suspected of achieving transcendence without his knowledge, nts did not and cannote to his mind. It just seems absurd on the face of it. Zargoth ne is not a ne conducive to nts. nts were the first to die out when giants of order started to rise. That led to the death of other races and then the giants of order killed the resilient ones.


    And yet, here is a nt transcendent. It has somehow survived as an ordinary nt without water. It grew and somehow became capable of using mana in a ne without mana. Then it subsisted on this unavable mana for many years to finally be a transcendent. It cannot be overemphasized how absurd and ridiculous it is.


    "My my, I am ttered. The Celestial Supreme is so shocked by my power that he is speechless." The nt dragon spoke in a rumbling voice that is stressing the tunnels and threatened to make them copse. The dragon held its head high with pride beyond what should be shown in front of the Celestial Supreme of the ne.


    "It was good that I came here. Now I know that you''re working for the goddess of agriculture. She must be the one behind all of this."


    The Celestial Supreme tried to wrap his mind around how a nt happened to be a transcendent and the only solution that came to his mind is the goddess of agriculture. A nt cannot be a transcendent in the Zargoth ne without assistance and that is a fact. The goddess of agriculture is the only god that he knows that works with nts. She is the one betraying him and working with the hidden god to undermine his order.


    "Why can''t I have be a transcendent on my own? Why must a god be the one to allow me to exist?" The dragon asked.


    It seemed offended by the notion that its strength is not attributed to its effort.


    "Is a god not supporting you? You can''t expect me to believe otherwise."


    The dragon turned silent for a while before it answered. "You''re right. A god is supporting me but it isn''t the god of agriculture."


    "I see what you''re doing. You are trying to misdirect me by telling me something that is true while saying another thing that is false. As if I''ll believe anything you say."


    The dragon chuckled. "Nothing gets past you oh great and powerful dictator of the Zargoth ne."


    He snapped at it. "Don''t call me that."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The dragon rolled its eyes and asked, "Then what is your name?"


    "I am the one, true God. The only true God in all of the ne. I am not the king of gods but the only true God. I am a Celestial and since I am the only one, I am the Celestial Supreme. You must call me the Celestial Supreme and only that." He ranted at the dragon as if scolding it.


    It listened attentively as he spoke, nodding its head asionally. Then it asked after he was done. "I am sure you were not named the "Celestial Supreme" from birth. So what were you named? Come to think of it, nothing is known about your life as a mortal. You can''t make me believe you were born as a god."


    The Celestial Supreme''s outburst didn''t affect the nt dragon at all. It has a mission to do and it will do it regardless of his anger. It''s not like the Celestial Supreme can do anything to it.


    The Celestial Supreme calmed down and regained hisposure. He snorted before replying "You can believe whatever you want. It doesn''t change that my name is the Celestial Supreme."


    "Okay, so it is Celestial Supreme. I am SWIFTESCAPE the mighty. You can call me The Mighty if you like. I find that name resonates more with me. I, The Mighty, have a message from my even mightier god."


    The dragon held its head high and spoke with pride. Then it stopped after its introduction to let the consequence of its sentence sink in.


    Except its audience isn''t impressed. The Celestial Supreme said impatiently, "Get on with it already."


    "Why can''t you allow the creation of other gods?"


    "I''ll tell you why. It is also why I came here. There are threemandments and 10 rules of the church of order and justice. The firstmandment is to obey all rules. The second is that the best number for anything is 1 and 0. The thirdmand is that if acquiring the best number is impossible or will disrupt order, then the current situation must be kept constant."


    "There can only be 1 true God. There can only be 1 race as gods. The number of gods must be kept constant at 101. Since I am the only true god and I am in control of the divine realm, I am the Celestial Supreme, and as such, my will must be done."


    The dragon spoke. "Order must be maintained. But it is your order. Why not make things easier for us by allowing another god? All of this can end if you are willing to allow another god from another race. Just one."


    "Never." The Celestial Supreme yelled. "I''ll never allow it."


    He will never allow it. He can''t even picture it without bing angry. He would have to die first before he allows such a thing to happen.

 Chapter 384 We Must Have War.

    ?The nt dragon bared its great sharp teeth at the Celestial Supreme and grinned. "I see. Then we cannot have peace."


    The Celestial Supreme did not like that. His voice rose with his anger. "It is not your ce to determine whether we will have peace or not. I am here to dere to you and your god to end your plots and schemes or there will be war."


    "Then we must have war." It said to him.


    "It is not your ce to tell me what must be done."


    The dragon assumed a fighting stance. It spread its wings and opened its jaws to reveal a green me burning within it. It said defiantly, "I did it anyway. What are you going to do about it?"


    If the Celestial Supreme wants a fight, then it will give the Celestial Supreme a fight. SWIFTESCAPE hasn''t had a fight ever since it was created. A fight with the avatar of the Celestial Supreme will do nicely to loosen its bones and remove parts of its boredom after waiting in this location since its creation.


    More worms had entered the area around them. They are attracted to the aura of the nt dragon and wanted to be close to it. They find the stray vitality leaking from the dragon to be refreshing. Even therger ones that can sense the threat that the Celestial Supreme pose can''t hold themselves back froming closer.


    The Celestial Supreme found their form to be disgusting. The way they waved gleefully around the nt dragon made his irritation rise like never before. He spread out his domain again on an impulse to destroy them. His domain was canceled as soon as it sprung up. A mana entity, even if it is the avatar of a god cannot maintain a domain in the presence of a transcendent. The situation increased his frustration which bleed into his anger.


    The eyes of the dragon glowed green as a divine entity empowered it. Then it said, "You are not wee here, Zernon. Leave or fight."


    That damaged the Celestial Supreme more than a physical blow could have. He narrowed his eyes at the nt dragon. Then he canceled his avatar and disappeared.


    The dragon settled down. It has done what its creator asked it to do. The tree father had asked it to extend a branch of truce to the Celestial Supreme. It would have been very good if he had epted. It will give the tree father more room to cheat and screw the Celestial Supreme over. But the Celestial Supreme isn''t willing to have peace or the facade of one. His loss then.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Time to go then."


    Since that is done, it has to resume its other duties. So it broke apart into vines that slithered like snakes. The vines passed through thework of holes and tunnels toward their target of protection. They sunk down into narrow spaces below until they emerged into a veryrge space that formed the heart of the tunnelwork.


    The dragon appeared within a giant tunnel more than 300 meters wide containing a sleeping and equally giant worm almost 2 kilometers in length and 100 meters in thickness. The giant worm has a weak mind despite itsrge body so it had to sleep when it was fed the crystal fruit.


    The dragon turned into a harmless-looking tree and resumed its watch. If it hadn''t been here earlier, the giant worm would have died because of the frozen space. It took the dragon some time to break free from the restriction because it doesn''t have the advantage of giants of order. Transcendents of the giants of Order were the first to break the restriction due to thew fragments within their bodies. The other nt spirits took around the same time because they have simr power.


    The job to protect their targets has been on for several years. In the case of the nt dragon, it has had this job for more than 120 years. The nt spirits had scattered all over the ce and found various targets to nurture into demigods. Others have other missions apart from this. The thorny vine dragon had found this Bore worm before the ant colony was found. The tree father decided to make use of itter since it was not in the prime location that the tree father wanted.


    The mission to find different viable creatures to be demigods wasn''t easy. The major requirement is finding mana entities different from those of giants of Order. It is a very difficult requirement to meet considering that the ne is barren. There are very few races that have adapted to the absence of free mana in the air.


    The ants adapted by bing able to eat sand and digest the mana within it. Sand and the earth are one of the few things that haven''t had their mana absorbed. That''s because the mana within them is tightly bounded and the passive mana absorption of the giants can''t get to it the way they robbed nts of their vitality.


    Species that can take this tightly bonded mana can survive somewhat but they cannot thrive. They cannot be transcendent without help. Even the bore worm who can easily be mana entities in this situation are barely surviving.


    Bore worms are a consequence of the thriving of giants of order. They are small parasites that love to live within the intestine of giants. It is very difficult for external things, living or not, to affect giants of order but these parasites have adapted to the task of living within their bodies. Their eggs can be inhaled or ingested. Then they hatch and live within the intestines of giants.


    They will continue to do so until the giant dies. Then they are left without a host. Some of them die because of the loss of their host and some don''t. The ones that can perform the switch from a parasitic lifestyle to self-reliance after the death of their host be what are known as bore worms.

 Chapter 385 Bore Worms.

    ?Bore worms are small when they are just born but can grow to a maximum length of 3 kilometers once they leave their host. They live in tunnels that they make themselves. Their ability to bore holes through the earth is why they are called bore worms. The tunnels have be their new habitat where they give birth to smaller bore worms.


    The smaller bore worms have inherited the ability to survive alone and don''t need to parasitize giants but they can''t grow asrge as the mother worm unless they kill giants and feast on their flesh. The parasite then turns into a predator.


    The second-generation bore worms can''t grow past 10 meters in length but they use their length to their advantage in bing incredibly deadly. They do this by trying to force their way into a giant through their mouth. That''s what the mucus is for. To ease their passage through the gullet. A sleeping giant might just awake to find that it can''t breathe because something slimy and slippery is slithering down its throat. Things will end badly for that giant if even a little piece of the bore worm enters the giant.


    Bore worms don''t have anything else in their arsenal as predators but they gue giants like evils from a nightmare. Their transformation from harmless parasites to predators that hunt them in the night is both a scary story and a real urrence. The desated bodies of their victims are more than enough proof of their capabilities.


    "I wonder what changes this will bring." The thorny vine dragon thought to itself.


    The sleeping giant segmented worm is the mother bore worm while the tiny ones are her kids. The thorny vine dragon''s mission is to protect the mother bore worm which is a mana entity and currently digesting the divinity that it was given.


    The mother-bore worm is certain to change after bing a demigod so will the tiny worms that it gives birth to. The eggs and parasitic stage of bore worms are harmless to giants of order. But that can change after divinity gets involved. It is an unprecedented transformation after all. Bore worms might be the next race to thrive in the ne.


    CELESTIAL SUPREME''S POV


    Zernon the Celestial Supreme returned his consciousness to his divine kingdom fuming and out for blood.


    "War. Do you want war? We will have a war!" He roared in anger.


    His voice shook his divine kingdom like the shaking of a mountain as an avnche rolls down the mountain.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He didn''t waste time at all. Since the hidden god wants war, he will give them war. He began issuing orders to the priests of his church even before his divine kingdom stopped swaying. They were already on standby to interfere with the world war going on on the divine battlefield but Zernon has a more important mission for them. He sent them to attack all the 100 spots where he could sense the fluctuations of divinity.


    Since he can''t snuff them out or talk their backer out of this insane n, he will give them war. They will face the full might of the church of Order. His full wrath will fall on them and drown them to death. They will experience the suffocation that they escaped from his FREEZE order. He won''t be cated until he sees their dead bodies.


    The army of the church of order began to move as soon as they got their order. About 80% of the total forces of the church were mobilized. Priests and inquisitors as well as soldiers divided themselves into 100 groups each with 2 transcendents. They wouldn''t need so much of their forces just to quell 100 transcendents but the problem is that the 100 targets are scattered all over the ne in different directions.


    If the church of Order hopes to stop the transformation process to demigod quickly they have to move as soon as possible and attack immediately. They can''t afford the wait that will ur if they try to hit one location after the other. So Zernon had to split his forces to get immediate results and to kill the sources of chaos as soon as possible.


    Zernon watched all these while still fuming. He had gone to that location to have a reasonable chat with the transcendent and the god that stood behind them. He wanted to inform them that he wouldn''t budge at all on his stance about changes to the current world order. They were to surrender but they can have peace and negotiate on some other things.


    He was sure they would fold since he had caught on to them and their activities. He thought the threat of violence from the Celestial Supreme will be enough to make them see the error of their ways. Apparently, he was wrong. The hidden god turned out to be mad enough to dere war against him. What could it be but madness for a god to think he or she has nothing to fear about him, the Celestial Supreme? He will teach that hidden god a lesson that even mad dogs can be put down.


    "The Audacity." He roared again.


    His voice extended far out of his divine kingdom this time to reach the other gods. The gods became aware that their Celestial Supreme is having a very bad day. The freezing of the mortal realm is a big deal now they know how bad his mood is.


    He really is not in a good mood and will not be until he destroys this god. Then he will bury the knowledge of his name with it. That nt dragon uttered his name and it got to him for several reasons.


    His name is an important matter. He had made sure to wipe it out of history. He even put out an Edict using his authority as the Celestial Supreme to ban the uttering of his name. The knowledge of his name should have died out so it came as shock to him when that vile facsimile of a dragon uttered his name.

 Chapter 386 Preparation.

    ?The strength of the ban on his name is more powerful than his order for space to freeze in the mortal realm because it has a localized effect. Instead of all his power spreading throughout the mortal realm, it focuses on whoever is trying to utter, write, ormunicate his name through any means. Only a Celestial god can bypass that ban. So he was surprised that a god knows it when that god should be a new god. It made him worry about how powerful the hidden god really is. He was also chilled when he saw how that god descended onto that transcendent to utter his name.


    A god can use others as their avatars only if they are an amodating vessel for that god. The best amodating vessels are ones that have been bestowed divinity. But mana entities are too weak to be useful as vessels while transcendents absorb divinity very well and wouldn''t be a vessel for a god.


    So a vessel is rare and precious. They are protected as valuable assets by their gods. Imagine his surprise to find out that the dragon he was talking to is a vessel. A vessel''s identity should be kept a secret, not like Harkam and his troublesome Celestial. He expected better from the hidden god. What''s worse is that the hidden god gave him that knowledge freely by taunting him with another knowledge that it knows his real name.


    The knowledge of his name means the hidden god might be privy to some sensitive information about his past. He decided there and there that the hidden god and its machinations must be eradicated. The fact that the hidden god can descend with a transcendent as a vessel rang warning bells in Zernon''s mind. He couldn''t allow the god to continue its rampage in the mortal realm.


    "Bore worms. What an insult." He said with bitterness.


    He can still remember the disgusting wiggling worms. More than his fear of the hidden god and his anger at the exposure of his name is the unsightly situation he saw when he met that transcendent. Instead of respect and cowering since he caught them red-handed, he got disrespect and embarrassment. His dignity was tarnished and he was exposed to the shame of his race.


    It is a disgrace to him and his race to find out that one of the mana entities to be transformed into a demigod is a bore worm. Of all the things to have a chance at bing a demigod, a parasite is the most disgraceful option. Something that used to rely on them for its continued existence in the most abominable way should not be granted divinity.


    The revtion is an insult and will bring down the honor of the divine if such a thing bes a god. How can he live with himself as the Celestial Supreme when a parasite of the giants of order joins the ranks of the divine? It has to be stopped immediately and the possibility uprooted at the roots. All this anger and humiliation fueled his rage and his determination to start a war. He doesn''t mind the expenditure of the immense undertaking because of his anger.


    "We will see what is going on in that ant hill soon." He said as he turned his sight to where it all began.


    A seemingly normal urrence and opportunity for a heroic quest turned into a scheme to destroy the order of the world. He can''t wait to see what is going on within the tunnels of the ant tunnel and he will get his wish soon enough. The Colossus he sent is about to get there.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Back to Helios.


    He was bonded, gagged, blinded, and traded over to the enemy by the gods he believed in and has been assisting faithfully. It was a betrayal of the highest order. It is true that demigods are tools for entertainment, but this time, the gods went too far. They turned a demigod into amodity for their benefit.


    The royal guards took him into the ant mound where the gods are sure he would be suffering immensely. The gaunt features of the demigods that had spent 120 years within the ant mound are enough to clue one in about the "special treatment" that Helios will receive.


    They expect his flesh will be removed from his body painfully and with enough care to keep him alive. They expect that his mind will be broken by the pain just like the others. They expect that the story of Helios the son of the sun will end with his capture. Unfortunately for them, they were wrong. All their expectations wet subverted.


    Helios did receive special treatment. He was carried with care through the tunnels down into the central room. Heid back leisurely on the back of one of the royal guards as if he is not in enemy territory. He was treated like an honored guest who hasn''t killed any one of them.


    "Hurry it up. A colossus ising for your queen. We don''t have time to dilly dally." He said from his position on the back of a royal guard.


    It is not afortable position to be in. Diamond carapace doesn''t make forfortable resting material. Unfortunately, it is the only one he can get on such short notice and in this dpidated condition. Ants aren''t exactly known for luxury. His current living condition is worse than his restricted, yet luxurious amodation in the sun city. So maybe the gods are right about him being tortured.


    But is enough for him. Certainly, enough for him to forget his betrayal and mistreatment. That is old news. He yed his part and the gods yed theirs. Of course, they will pay for their transgression but it is nothing personal. It''s just business.


    The royal guards hurried up and brought him to the central room where he was dropped in front of the nt spirit like the most precious of cargo.

 Chapter 387 Breakthrough To Transcendence.

    ?He is the most precious cargo because Legion''s entire n revolves around him. Helios sat down wordlessly in front of the tree and began meditating for his breakthrough to transcendence.


    The nt spirit lit up with green mes as the tree father descended into it. It extended a branch into Helios''s back and into the stigmata on it. The branch entered the Stigmata as if there is a hidden dimension within the Stigmata. The green mes spread from the branch onto Helios''s body.


    The me is not an ordinary me. It is created from the burning of faith which a god does. So the me is the tree father''s god fire. Unlike a normal god fire, it is full of divine power, divine will, and divine life energy. It is more of the spark of life.


    The me got to work on Helios. The divine power began to modify Helios'' stigmata ording to the instructions of the divine will contained within the mes. The divine will of Stelios within the Stigmata sensed some changes within the structure of the Stigmata and was about to resist when it suddenly calmed down when it noticed that the changes are beneficial to the intent of the sun god. It would haveshed out otherwise.


    The tree father modified the Stigmata by increasing its capacity and ess to the source of divine power that supplies the Stigmata. The changes hurt Helios enough to grimace but the divine life energy within the mes healed all the damage caused by the Stigmata upgrade.


    Unlike other god fires which simply burn, this me reinforced and strengthen his body. It made the cells of his body undergo limited evolution. The next evolution should be transcendence but the divine power in the mes gave the cells a short evolution and strengthened them to the limit of what is possible for them to achieve.


    Then the mes began to work on the other runes on Helios''s body. Those golden runes written with the divine energy of the sun god were perfused with the divine will of the tree father. This upgraded them to the rank of Stigmata and performed some finishing touches on Helios''s body to prepare it for the breakthrough. Now he is decked with Stigmata capable of evolving with him.


    Helios took one more look at his status.


    NAME: Helios (Legion-4)


    TITLE: Child Of The Virut ne.


    RACE: Giant Of Order.


    BLOODLINE: Sunfire Royal bloodline.


    POWER LEVEL (BODY): Mana Body (Complete)


    POWER LEVEL (SOUL): Soul Reformation (Complete)


    PHYSIQUE: Half-Divine Body


    HP: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    ENERGY LEVEL (BODY ): Mana


    ENERGY LEVEL (SOUL): Spiritual Energy


    VITALITY: 5000


    ENDURANCE: 5000


    STRENGTH: 5000<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    AGILITY: 2000


    PERCEPTION: 1,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 5000


    LIMITER (BODY): 80%


    LIMITER (SOUL): 0.000005%


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 500(B)


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 100%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): FIRE (DIVINE), LIGHT (DIVINE), ORDER (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Scheming.


    He has finally reached the limit of what a mana entity can handle even with thew fragments in his body. That limit is 5 times what other mana entities can achieve. His agility finally moved too with the assistance of divine life energy. It doubled in number from 1000 to 2000. He has divine life energy which he has been receiving for some years now to thank for these changes.


    Divine life energy is an energy unique to the tree father that came about as a result of the fusion of life essence with divine energy. It is so powerful that it can make ordinary mortal trees instantly be transcendent nt spirits. Such transcendents will be reliant on the tree father so they will be perfect vessels for him.


    Divine life energy also enables the tree father and his vessels to hide from the senses of others pretty easily. This is because the divine power within divine life energy can hide all the traces of their life energy. They will look no different from a rock under senses different from the sense of sight. It is how the tree father has been able to move secretly under the strict surveince of the Celestial Supreme.


    Helios took in a breath and began to break through. He will not be returning to the sun city to be a transcendent. His loving father might be distraught. Stelios will just have to deal with it.


    A mana entity can be a transcendent when their soul core has been reformed into a soul form in the image of the body and when their domain has fused with their body.


    The domain of a mana entity is the control of environmental mana due to the fusion of spiritual energy with their divine sense. The divine sense bes able to manipte mana on arge scale instead of simply sensing it.


    Once the body has adapted to mana and has transformed most of itself to contain mana, the domain can then be turned towards the body instead of the environment. This transfer of external control of mana to internal control is why transcendents have perfect control of their bodies.


    To achieve the breakthrough, the domain will cling to the part of the body that has been transformed by mana and hold to it. Then the body will be used to pull on the soul within the soul sphere of the mana entity. So the body bes the anchor while the domain which is attached to the soul bes the rope that is used to pull the soul out of the soul sphere.


    The soul is flexible, so it will expand as it is pulled from every direction. It is also sensitive and fragile so it must be pulled slowly and with care. The soul will be pulled out of the soul sphere where it will follow the path of the domain.


    The domain contains spiritual energy which will serve as a channel for the soul, and since the domain is attached firmly to the body, the soul will be forced toe into close contact with the body, and then they are forced to fuse together. That is the summary of the breakthrough to transcendence.

 Chapter 388 The Difficulty Of Becoming A Transcendent.

    ?Bing a transcendent is not so simple. If it were that easy, it wouldn''t im the lives of the unprepared who attempt it. Bing a vitality core stage refiner and a mana entity can either be sessful or failed. You can''t die in the attempt. Things are not so for bing a transcendent.


    There are a lot of factors that determine the sess of the endeavor. The first and most important is the control of the mind. There is a need for perfect control of the divine sense. It easy to control the free ownerless mana in the environment than it is to hold on to the mana tightly bound to the body. But if you can control your mind, then you will be able to control your body.


    The second factor is resilience. The soul might be flexible but having it pulled is a very painful process. The soul will not only be pulled but it will also be pulled out of itsfort zone and out into the physical world. The soul sphere is the protection for the soul. It is obvious that bringing the soul out of safety is a bad idea.


    You will feel existence crisis and pain as the soul is brought into the physical world. It will feel like you''re dying and your entire being will try to resist it. You have to maintain control of the mind through the pain because what is an even worse idea than pulling the soul out of safety is letting go of the soul during the pulling process.The soul will tear if it isn''t let go all at once and uniformly or it will break if it is let go far into the process of pulling it out.


    The third most important factor ispatibility between the body and the soul. A soul will automatically take on a form the stronger it bes. This form is based on the familiarity of the mind with the body. The soul will stop being a sphere and turn into the image of the person.


    The familiarity between the soul and body can be increased with control of the body. The better the mind can control the body, the more familiar the body and soul be. Certain weapon systems like the momentum-controlling system of the battle sage monkeys provide familiarity.


    Familiarity is very important if you want the body and soul to fuse. You would expect the soul of a person to be verypatible with their body but it isn''t so. The soul is fundamentally different from the body. One is physical and the other is spiritual.


    In a normal setting, they shouldn''t cross paths at all. Bing a transcendent is not normal. The soul and the body have been forced into contact but that doesn''t mean that they will fuse because you want them to. A horse can be forced to water but it cannot be forced to drink.


    Ifpatibility is too low, the soul will refuse to bind with the body which will prolong the process of fusion. If the person breaking through cannot bear the pain anymore then they will abort the breakthrough which is almost certain to lead to death as the soul is released. The soul will rush back to take its previous form then it will copse under the strain.


    So it is best topletely reform the soul in the image of the body before the breakthrough. That way, there won''t be resistance more than usual.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The fourth most important factor is the mana conversion rate of the body and the strength of the soul. The higher the mana conversion rate of the body the stronger the hold on the body by the domain. And the stronger the soul, the higher the chances of it withstanding the stress of breakthrough and surviving the exposure to the physical world.


    The fourth requirement, mana conversion rate, is the easiest requirement to fulfill. You just have to pump your body full of mana to the extent that most of your tissues areposed of mana instead of vitality.


    Tolerance to near-death pain, control of the body, and control of the mind are much more difficult to achieve of which tolerance to near-death pain is the most difficult. Anyone can do their best in calm situations. But bing a transcendent needs you to be able to control your mind and body simultaneously whilst under near-death pain.


    All these requirements have to be met before someone can safely go through a breakthrough. Even then, they have to take it carefully and solemnly. Any error can lead to death. The only ones that don''t worry are those with royal bloodlines. Thew fragments inside their bloodline will mold their body and soul into the image of their ancestor.


    Those with bloodlines will know when they are ready to break through. Their Instincts will inform them when they have met all their requirements. They can sleep all their lives and their bloodline will meet their requirements for them as long as they have ess to mana.


    They don''t need control because the process will go seamlessly as if they have done it over and over again. Their body and soul will have the highestpatibility and won''t resist at all, so they won''t feel any pain whatsoever. That''s why bing transcendent is not a problem for descendants with royal bloodlines.


    Helios doesn''t have a royal bloodline so the process of breakthrough isn''t automatic for him. He has to take it step by step but he has nothing to worry about apart from the Stigmata on his back. His soul has been reformed into the shape of his body right from his conception.


    The figure of his soul is the form of a golden giant within his soul sphere. It is alsoplete with an imitation of the golden runes on his body. He made the runes and he is the most familiar with them so even his soul bears them. It is very important that his soul is familiar with the runes because they will be fusing with body and soul during the breakthrough.

 Chapter 389 Stelioss Assistance.

    ?He began the breakthrough with ease. His soul wasn''t pulled taut as others do theirs. It expanded on its own and superimposed itself on his body. He is his soul more than he is his body. There''s no need to force his soul to behave. It is his body that will give him trouble, not his soul.


    His soul didn''t experience any pain or difort from leaving the soul realm. His soul could already exist in the physical world as a Sovereign when he separated it painfully from his high elf body. So this isn''t a problem at all.


    He was about to begin the fusion of the physical body and spiritual soul, two of the aspects of his existence, to achieve transcendence when the Stigmata on his back activated. It shone brightly like never before and began pumping divine power into Helios''s body. It was like a river of divine power started to pour out from it instead of the trickle that ought toe out of it.


    The limit of the Stigmata has been increased by the Tree father so a lot more divine power rushed into Helios''s body. The sun god never nned for the Stigmata to supply so much. Helios''s sun core swelled with power and his skin turned golden. If he can handle the divine power and survive his breakthrough, then he will be a very powerful transcendent. It appears he is taking advantage of the sun god''s assistance.


    POV of The Sun God.


    Stelios was distressed when he saw the royal guards take Helios away. His heart ached in ways none of the gods would understand. So he was very angry and he was ready to start hell. If they thought that Harkam overreacted then they won''t know what to say about him when acts.


    He promised himself. ''I''ll make you all regret what you did today.''


    Helios is his lifeline so all that rubbish that the Celestial Supreme was saying wasn''t getting through to him. Already, he is nning how to cause chaos in the mortal realm and how to usurp the Celestial Supreme. It was then that he sensed that Helios had started his breakthrough to transcendence.


    He eximed. "Oh, crap."


    He thought to himself. ''That boy is trying to break through to transcendence in such a precarious situation. I understand that he is desperate for strength but isn''t he rushing it? It''s too dangerous for him. I have to go.''


    He said to everyone, "I have to go."


    He canceled his avatar and left the meeting in the Temple of the Gods so that he can focus on Helios''s situation. He didn''t listen to the Celestial Supreme''s refusal to let him goStelios sat in his divine kingdom while carefully sensing the changes within Helios''s body through the Stigmata.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He sighed in relief when he discovered Helios is still alive.


    "So far so good. I would have preferred to have him do this under ideal conditions where he is safe but this will have to do."


    The breakthrough process was going on without a hitch despite it being too fast to be safe. He was surprised that Helios could manage something decent in his desperate situation as a prisoner. If he had his way, Helios would have broken through under the protection of the church so that nothing will go wrong with the process. This is an important matter both for Helios and for him. But things are going well for now and he has to be content with it.


    "It''s time." He said with excitement as Helios was about to begin the fusion.


    The cores of demigods affect their breakthroughs to transcendents in a beneficial manner. The divine power contained within it helps them to reduce the power of thew fragments in their body and make the fusion of soul with body easier.


    It rarely happens, but there are certain situations in which the body resists the fusion. It urs in the case of giants of order. As always, divine power is the bane of order. Helios has 4 portions of divine power in his core already after absorbing 3 sun cores. This should make the breakthrough process very easy but that won''t happen.


    Stelios intends to take advantage of the divine power to interfere with Helios''s breakthrough. His divine will within the Stigmata on Helios''s body activated and opened a channel that led to Stelios. Stelios grinned evilly as he allowed divine power to flow into the Stigmata. Without his permission, divine power will not flow. But then he noticed something. The Stigmata was taking too much.


    He was perplexed for a while before he beganughing. "The heavens themselves are helping me. I knew this boy is highlypatible with me. He is destined to be my vessel. I shall be reborn."


    The Stigmata isn''t supposed to allow this much divine power through but apparently, Helios seems verypatible with the divine power. He is like a foam just soaking it up. Stelios became happy about it so he allowed divine power to flow freely. The more of his divine power is within Helios, the easier his possession will be for Stelios. He doesn''t intend to have a vessel for an avatar but a vessel for possession.


    Gehaldirah is not the only one to have ever thought of reincarnation nor is he the smartest one of them. There are several people that tried and failed to perform it. What made Gehaldirah special amongst others is that he was a sovereign of life, with abundant knowledge of life, formation arrays, and with a lot of life essence at his disposal.


    Stelios is special too. He is a genius who has had millions of years of experience and he knows what he saw in Helios on that day when is mother came to ask him for help. He saw something special in Soverick that will make him a very good vessel for possession and he has not been wrong so far. The Divine energy of the sun god within Helios is the key.

 Chapter 390 Helioss Body Is Prime Possession Material.

    ?Gehaldirah sought to achieve reincarnation and he seeded. It is with his understanding of life that he repurposed the artifact for punishing transcendents into separating the body of a Sovereign. Aplete body ofw of a Sovereign is vastly different from a soul body of a transcendent. It is a feat on its own to destroy the body without the soul.


    Without life essence, his soul wouldn''t have been able to heal when he destroyed his body to separate it from his soul. That feat alone of bing an origin god with just his soul is the foundation for his reincarnation. It created a deficit in his existence that the universe sought to fill up with bodies.


    His knowledge of arrays allowed him to create a formation capable of teleporting his soul into thew matrix by using the seed of a Sovereign as the key to it and other body parts as the destination within thew matrix.


    Everything worked to lead to what happened. When parts of his soul were thrown into thew matrix, the universe tried to tie them down with bodies for them based on the items he used as the destinations for the souls. Stelios has chosen Helios to be the destination for his consciousness.


    Stelios is also unique in that he has a lot of time to develop his knowledge of runes. He has been the ancient sun god for numerous Origin cycles. He is older than Gehaldirah by at least 200 times. Gehaldirah was 5 Origin cycles old. Stelios is at least 1000 Origin cycles old and has been stuck in his position for that long. His hopes of progress had all but died until he came across Helios.


    Stelios noticed a lot about Helios when he was a fetus. He noticed that Helios''s soul has an inherent disconnection from his body as if he is a visitor wielding the body instead of a homeowner borne within the body. There''s a gap between the body and the soul that created a sort of dissonance between them. He was able to get this information through the divine energy that he helped Helios with.


    He didn''t think much about how the dissonance came to be. ording to his observations, it likely had something to do with the Origin energy wafting around Helios''s soul. It is not umon. It is how Colossi are created. It just so happened that Helios''s soul had an extreme reaction to the exposure of origin energy.


    The reason why some transcendents be Colossi instead of Behemoths is a well-understood phenomenon and of no interest to him. He focused more on the effect of the dissonance. The dissonance between body and soul is why Helios refused the encroachment of the fragments of order. Stelios nned there and there to take advantage of that dissonance. He created a Stigmata for that very purpose and gifted it to Helios.


    One function of the Stigmata is to give more divine energy to Helios. The other function will only activate when Helios is trying to be a transcendent. It is why Helios didn''t notice the other more insidious function of the Stigmata when he examined it.


    Helios umted a lot of divine energy and reached his limit, Stelios took control of the divine power through their connection to stop the process of fusion. The divine energy formed a wedge between the body and the soul. The dissonance between Helios''s body and soul allowed a small space to be present between them for the divine energy to enter. It is like a wedge that he can take advantage of.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I did it. Now to take my reward." Steliosughed maniacally.


    First, he tested the destination. It is a mere precaution. He doesn''t expect anything bad to happen but one can''t be too careful. His divine Will resonated with the divine will within the Stigmata. He found his divine will to be intact, indicating that it has not been tampered with. It is the go-ahead he needed.


    Then he forcefully descended through the connection of the channel into the wedge. There was no friction or resistance. The channel between them through the Stigmata had been expanded. It allowed a lot of divine energy to go through and now is allowing Stelios to go through with his Godhood of the sun god.


    When he reached the wedge he said to Helios. "Sorry about this boy. You were betrayed by the other gods and now you will be betrayed by your divine father. It''s nothing personal. I''m just taking my due since I saved your life before you were born. You owe me your life and now I am taking it."


    Helios didn''t speak. Apparently, he was too stunned to talk. So Stelios continued talking to distract the boy so that he can take over his body andplete the breakthrough in his ce without any resistance. It''s not like any resistance will work against him. He is a grand god after all. What can a weak mana entity do to stop him?


    "I''m sure you must be shocked by what is going on. But I have more to say. I''ll tell you this so that you can understand why I did this." Stelios paused to create suspense. Then he said, "I am not your father."


    Stelios continued tough as Helios wallowed in shock.


    "Don''t worry. I won''t kill you. You can have my Godhood when I take your body. Isn''t that great? You will be the next god of the sun. All your divine siblings will be so jealous."


    He is not out to kill Helios. He will possess Helios''s body. Helios will have to bind with the Godhood of the sun god if he wants to live. It is more of a swap than a possession. They are just swapping positions. He will take Helios''s body and his identity while Helios bes the sun god. That what''s he was raised for after all. It''s not that he doesn''t want to kill Helios. It is that he can''t, at least not in this form. It is only right that the son of the sun bes the true son.

 Chapter 391 State Of The Art Divine Power Engine.

    ?Soon, Stelios''sughter began to wane. He has been trying to fuse with the body for a while now but he has been experiencing some difficulties. There is a barrier of divine Will on Helios''s body. Stelios sensed it carefully and determined what it is immediately.


    "Wait a minute. This is a Stigmata. Where did you get a Stigmata?" He asked in shock.


    The Stigmata on Helios''s body is preventing him from starting the fusion process. Where could Helios have gotten one? Which god will dare to inscribe runes on the body of another demigod? The most important question of all is when did Helios get the Stigmata? Helios was just in the camp right under his nose before he was given away.


    ''No problem then. I''ll just erode it myself.'' He thought to himself.


    Then he set about to try to remove the divine will within the Stigmata. It will take time but he has nothing to worry about. The only thing that Helios can do is give up the breakthrough and risk his soul shattering from the rebound. If Helios does that, then he will die and that wouldn''t affect him anymore. The only oue for Helios is death or waiting patiently and bing the sun god after his body has been stolen from him.


    But things didn''t go as he thought. The importance of the question about the time Helios got the Stigmata changed when he sensed the resistance of the divine will within the Stigmata. The divine will is strong enough to resist his attempts with impunity. He couldn''t move the divine will at all.


    The most important question became which God gave Helios the Stigmata. Which God has a divine will strong enough to resist him? Only one answer came to his mind.


    "Wait a minute. Are you working with the Celestial Supreme?" He asked in trepidation.


    It was then that Helios spoke. "Everything has been set. Thanks foring."


    Stelios felt an ominous feeling of dread. He could tell that something bad is about to happen. He was wondering what could be going on when he heard Helios speak again.


    "I''ll tell you something so that you can die peacefully."


    He also paused for suspense. Then he said, "I am not your son."


    Stelios was perplexed. He had just said the same thing to Helios. So Stelios was more concerned about what Helios said about everything being set.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He couldn''t ask what it meant though. An immense force began to act on Stelios. It feels like a mountain is pressing down on him. Helios''s soul began to resist and it pushed Stelios into the trap that has been prepared for him. All the Stigmata on Helios''s body activated and pushed Stelios too.


    Two things happened at once. The soul pressed down on Stelios and the body pushed him back. Stelios was being pushed back into the Stigmata that he came. That''s the only way out for him and that''s also when Stelios knew that things have gone terribly and horribly wrong.


    "What are you?" He screamed in panic as he resisted.


    Helios''s soul seemed indomitable and the divine will within Helios''s Stigmata is also too strong to be resisted. He can''t get past Helios''s soul nor can he get past his body. The only way for him is the Stigmata that he inscribed on Helios''s body. Except that Stigmata isn''t the one he inscribed anymore. While he was trying to erode the divine will in the Stigmata on Helios''s body and failing at it, the tree father was also trying to erode his divine will within that Stigmata and seeded at it. The changes that were then made to the Stigmata are terribly bad for Stelios.


    "Please let me go. I''m ready to pay any price." Stelios pleaded in desperation.


    He is desperate. He has nowhere to go except that remodeled Stigmata. There''s no way entering it will be good for his health. So he pleaded and begged. But no one listened to him. He is trapped truly and thoroughly.


    Stelios was pushed into the Stigmata which then began to activate. He appeared within a void of enclosed space that seemed to suck out everything with him. Thew fragments used to make the Stigmata turned into green crystal vines empowered by the divine will of tree father and dug into his body like leeches. The green vines bored into his very being, anchored themselves very well, and then turned golden as they siphoned the Sun god''s power.


    "No, this can''t happen to me. No! No! No!" He screamed vehemently.


    Stelios understood the purpose of the Stigmata immediately. The original Stigmata forms a connection with the sun god which he can use to supply Helios with divine power. The other function of the Stigmata is encoded in the divine will and will only activate when Helios is about to be a transcendent. The tree father enhanced the Stigmata and turned it into an engine for creating divine power by using the sun god as fuel.


    That''s just what Stelios can tell now. There could be more to the Stigmata but he knows for sure that he will be a prisoner in this Stigmata for the rest of his life unless he is released. If he were a spectator and not the one that is about to be turned into fuel, he would have marveled at the intricacy of the Stigmata. It is a state of the art creation.


    The Divine Power Engine Stigmata is innovative and well done. It has a space within it that is looped upon itself so escape is impossible. Then there are the lockdown and energy-siphoning mechanisms. The energy siphoning mechanisms in particr have been modeled to have a very high capacity so that he can''t overload the system by pumping too much power into it.


    There is also the encryption used to prevent him from deciphering the Stigmata. It is a better alternative to using divine will to prevent tampering. If Stelios''s had this, he probably be in the direction situation he currently is in.

 Chapter 392 The Cowardly Sun God.

    ?The encryption used within the Stigmata not only prevents deciphering and changes to it, but it also has an rm system. Overall, the changes are things that none had managed to achieve but this Stigmata has achieved it and even reinforced it with divine will such that the encryption will be alive and capable of adaptability.


    Apart from the power of the divine will present within the Stigmata, somehow, the god that had tampered with his Stigmata and turned it into this prison had acquired unprecedented knowledge of Rune making needed to make the changes. So this god has both power and knowledge. It is something to marvel at considering Stelios thought he was the most knowledgeable god when ites to runes.


    Unfortunately, he isn''t a spectator. He is the victim of this so-called brilliant procedure. No matter how brilliant it is, he has to get out of it now because he knows that if the Stigmatapletes its lockdown procedures, he will never get out of this prison. He will be fuel for the entirety of his life.


    Two things came to his mind. One is highly likely to work but he will be powerless after it works. The other has a much lesser chance of sess but he can keep his power if it works. So it is either a high chance of safety but no power or a highly reduced chance of safety and power.


    He took the second option. Without risk, there won''t be a reward. So he roused all of his divine power and absorbed the domain of the grand gods of fire and light that he has secretly stocked. Then he initiated an ascension. The divine ne noticed the call from his Godhood and answered it immediately. A force descended from the divine ne and found him within the void of the Stigmata. That force began to change him. If he will escape after the change is still unknown.


    CELESTIAL SUPREME''S POV


    The Celestial Supreme was still fuming when he noticed the changes in the divine ne. "What kind of nonsense is this? Which stupid god wants to die?"


    He decided not to wait for the announcement about who is ascending and instead rushed out of his divine kingdom immediately to trace the stupid god that is trying to be a Celestial. He is filled with so much anger right now that he will destroy the culprit without asking any questions.


    It is one thing after the other. Can he not have rest? As if he has not been insulted enough by the ongoing problems, a god somewhere has decided this is a good opportunity to be a Celestial. He will have none of it.


    "It''s good too. I get to vent and kill someone. I''ll also get stronger after absorbing the stupid god. It''s a win-win for me." He said with gleeful anticipation.


    He has been frustrated for so long, even him an icon of stability needs an outlet for his boiling emotions. So it is generous of this stupid god, whoever it is, to volunteer themself to cheer him up. There''s going to be a good old-fashioned beat down. Nothing releases stress better than it. He was looking forward to the encounter.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He found the culprit immediately. What he found made him chuckle.


    "The unbridled disrespect. In the face of it all. It seems you have gotten full of yourself. All I did was take one of your demigods. Do you think that bing a Celestial will let you be able to beat me? We''ll see about that." The Celestial Supreme said as he readied himself to wait.


    It turns out that the stupid god that is undergoing ascension is the sun god. The power of the divine ne is gathering towards the divine kingdom of the sun god. It is undeniable proof that the sun god is the one that is courting death. He can''t interfere with the ascension but he will have many options when it is done.


    "What could be so special about that Helios anyway? He is just a demigod. You have hundreds of divine lords." He muttered to himself.


    It seems the possible death of Stelios''s son affected him more than he expected and the old age of the sun god has emboldened him to take the risk of ascension. What else could have motivated a former reasonable god to make such a stupid decision? Maybe Harkam was right all along, the sun god is getting senile with age.


    The Celestial Supreme wouldn''t have to wait for long to get his answer. The ascension to true god is pretty quick since the transformation already started the moment a mortal bes a god. So you either survive the ascension or you fail. Either way, he will get to vent. He will fight the sun god or he willugh at his failure. It will be therapeutic for him.


    The Celestial Supreme was waiting patiently and sensing carefully. So he knew that the ascension went well. Except that the ascension wasn''t announced as it should have. Instead, the sun god''s divine kingdom dimmed and froze over as if it has be inactive.


    The divine kingdom in the form of a star had the light that it is always producing. The light reduced drastically beforepletely shutting down. The divine kingdom became an inert ball. It looked like the god of the sun failed his ascension.


    The Celestial Supreme chuckled sinisterly, "I thought you will be brave enough to face me.Instead, you choose to hide away. Come out and face me like a true god and stop behaving like a rat. What did you expect will happen when you decided to flout my will? Nowe out and get your just deserts."


    He knows that the sun god seeded because he sensed the sess of the ascension. He also feels the empowerment of the divine ne due to the addition of another Celestial to the pantheon. So he isn''t fooled by the dimming of the divine kingdom. The sun god has turned into a coward and is hiding from him.

 Chapter 393 Payment For Arrogance.

    ?If the sun god had failed his ascension, his divine kingdom won''t just stop dimming, it wille crashing down and break apart due to the death of the god. So the sun god is alive but he is hiding. He became a Celestial and decided to send himself into exile.


    This dimming of the divine kingdom is not a small matter. It is something that gods do when they are desperate. It is a self-preservation mechanism thates at a great cost. It is not something that is to be done lightly but it seems the sun god is highly motivated to avoid a fight with him.


    The Celestial Supreme began to mock the cowardly sun god. He called the sun god stupid and then cowardly. His voice spread out throughout the divine ne to all that would hear. He wanted them to know what a Coward the sun god is being. He also wants them to witness the death of the sun god if the coward decides to fight.


    But the coward remained stubborn about staying in the safety of his divine kingdom. If it were before the divine kingdom deactivated, reaching the sun god will need an army of angels and several gods to break through the barrier of the divine kingdom. Then war will be waged on the host of angels that Stelios has been amassing for the numerous years he has been the sun god.


    The number of angels he has is sure to discourage anyone from attacking him in his divine kingdom. But Stelios has gone further than that. He has shut down his divine kingdom. This means that believers won''t be able toe to the divine kingdom after their death and Stelios has stopped listening to prays. The sun god has stopped receiving faith just so that his divine kingdom will be more difficult to breach.


    Stelios effectively chose increased safety over the risk of bing obsolete by severing his connection with the world. That''s why even the Celestial Supreme can only remain content with throwing sardonic jabs. He is already about to start a war in the mortal realm, another war in the divine ne will be too much to handle.


    Besides, there is no rush. The sun god is going nowhere. Secluding himself away like that will make the sun god weaken and easier to defeat by the time he is done with destroying the hidden god and his machinations in the mortal realm.


    The Celestial Supreme had to stop his little act of pleasure when he sensed something in the mortal realm. He was enjoying calling the sun god names but something more interesting happened. He sensed something out of ce.


    "What is it this time? Can I not have peace?"


    He has been sensing a lot of things that are out of ce recently. So he is expecting something worse to have happened. He discovered the anomaly easily and became surprised even though he was prepared not to be surprised. He can sense the aura of a celestial in the mortal realm. What''s more, the aura ising from the ant mound.


    He muttered in confusion. "What the fuck could be going on there?"


    To say he is bbergasted is an understatement. He is deeply and utterly confused because he doesn''t even know what it means. He can''t suspect the hidden god because he is certain that there are only 3 celestial gods including Stelios the cowardly sun god. So what could be going on there?


    How can there be an aura of a Celestial in the mortal realm? It can''t belong to the god of fate or Stelios, which just leaves him. Or is there a Celestial god he doesn''t know about?<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He returned to his divine kingdom to wait. He will find out soon enough. His Colossus is about to reach the ant mound. Whatever is going on in that ant mound will be made known to him. His questions will be answered in full.


    Meanwhile In The Ant Mould.


    Stelios chose to ascend. Both Helios and the tree father said at the same time, "We expected that."


    Then they both chuckled.


    They knew about Stelios'' two options. Either he chooses to fall or ascend. They knew about these two options and they nned for both. If Stelios had chosen to fall. He will definitely escape the Divine Engine they built for him. But he will have to leave his Godhood behind. He will be powerless.


    That''s if he seeds in falling without dying. If he seeds the fall, he will also appear within the ant mound, probably beside Helios where he will be killed quickly for his uselessness. He would only seed in escaping the divine engine and not certain death if he chooses that option. The divine engine will have the divine power of a grand god regardless of his sess with the fall.


    The other option will make him a Celestial if he seeds. He will also be able to escape the divine engine but notpletely. The divine will contained within the Stigmata is on the level of a Celestial. Seeding in his ascension will only give Stelios a fighting chance. Even if he escapes, he will have to pay the price by leaving the bulk of his power behind and escaping with his consciousness. It is the payment for his arrogance and stupidity.


    The second option is tricky for Legion''s n. If Stelios fails the ascension, then Helios will get nothing. The divine position and domain of the sun god will be destroyed and needs to be recreated. The divine engine will be useless then. Fortunately for Legion, that didn''t happen. Stelios seeded, so the divine engine now has the divine power of a Celestial.


    The tree father spoke after their shared moment of amusement. "Now you have to seed or you''re doomed."


    "Don''t worry. I''ve got this." Helios said confidently.


    The other clones spoke to him. "You''re not alone."


    What he is about to do is crazy enough to get him killed. He will need all the help he can get.

 Chapter 394 Fight For Control.

    ?"We''ll help you if you can''t hold on any longer."


    They told him that they are there for him because what he is about to do is beyond him and he will need their help. Even so, most of the burden will be on him. He is the focal point that will bear the bulk of the stress. If he breaks, so will their n.


    It wasn''t Helios''s idea to do it but a n that they hatched from the first moment that the tree father seeded in decrypting the Stigmata on Helios''s back over a hundred years ago. It is an insane n that will benefit Legion so he has to do it.


    The divine engine started to swell as it got more powerful. The void within the divine engine is disappearing at a fast rate as the star that represents the celestial power of the sun god began to expand. He has to absorb the star and take control of it or it will expand until it explodes. It is a crazy idea. That''s before we add in the fact that he is still in the middle of bing a transcendent.


    The power of a celestial is equal to the power of a new origin god at best, but Helios''s soul is not as powerful as a new Origin god. He is just a small portion of the soul of a new Origin god. It is not going to be easy to subjugate the celestial power and also break through to transcendence at the same time. If he seeds, then he will have done something no one, has ever done in the history of giants of order.


    Helios began the fusion of body and soul. The Stigmata on his body absorbed the celestial grade divine power and began to glow a golden light. Thankfully the Stigmata was created with impable workmanship from Helios and upgraded with the divine will of an entity on par with a celestial. So the Stigmata can handle the power. Then Helios''s Origin soul began to fuse with the Stigmata and the Celestial power within it.


    His breakthrough is very simr to how other demigods make the breakthrough. Except that, the divine power in their cores helps them to break through and doesn''t constitute an impediment to the breakthrough. Apart from that, they don''t have a small star growing on their back like a hump on a spine.


    The divine engine struggled to go out of control as Helios tried to control it and break through. It erged slowly and surely until it became a ball of light about 10 centimeters in diameter on his back. Something that small might as well be a mole on the back of a giant of order. But the ball continued to grow and showed no signs of stopping.


    The tiny mole grew until it became too heavy for Helios to handle while sitting down. He had to stand while supporting the weight of the ball on his back after it increased to a diameter of 10 meters. He became hunched as the ball burdened him with the weight.


    The load he is bearing became a giant golden ball that remained roughly circr but its surface is constantly shifting as if it is the surface of a boiling liquid. There are even asional ejections of power in the form of white high-pressure mes. The ball is also very heavy and it is growing heavier. Helios had to carry the weight, strife to control the engine, keep the celestial energy flowing into his stigmata, and sessfully fuse his soul with his celestialden body. In short, he is suffering but he can handle it.


    The same cannot be said about the living entities around him. The ball is also hot. In fact, it is too hot. The organisms living in the Zargoth ne have gotten used to the heat of the desert but the heat radiating out of that ball cannot bepared to anything they have ever experienced. At the rate at which the temperature is increasing, the Goliath ants will start to die, diamond carapace or not.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The ant queen pleaded with the tree father, "Please stop whatever is going on."


    Helios is breaking through within the central room and she can''t leave. She is not a transcendent yet.


    The tree father replied, "I can''t. It has already started."


    "Then leave my ant mound. I have already delivered on my promise. You have acquired your target."


    There are a lot of questions that she has concerning this so-called target and why the tree father that seems like the enemy of the target asked her to treat him like royalty. She expected a lot of things when they finallyy their hands on the target, but she did not expect that the two of them could be friends. All of that can wait forter. For now, she wants them gone from the ant mound before she dies.


    "That''s true. You have fulfilled your end of the bargain. I''ll leave." The tree uprooted itself and turned to go but it wasn''t enough for the ant queen for him to leave.


    She screamed. "What about him? Take him with you?"


    "I can''t. It has already started."


    She began to beg and plead but there is nothing the tree father can do. She watched the nt spirit leave while she can''t leave. She is bonded to the ant mound. The ant mound used to be the safest ce she could be but it is now the most dangerous ce she can be.


    The worker and the soldier ants piled on top of her to protect her from the heat. All their efforts are futile. They all turned to ashes including their queen. Some royal guards escaped when the queen died but their fate will not end well without the help of the queen to stunt the control of fungi in their bodies. No matter what, this colony has met its end today.

 Chapter 395 A Three-Way Battle.

    ?The golden ball on his back finally grew to a diameter of 100 meters. It became bigger than Helios himself. The heat it was radiating had melted the material that made up the ant mound for 1 kilometer in every direction within the ant mound. The heat isn''t affecting him because he is technically a demigod of the sun but he is suffering in other aspects.


    His body became a battleground simr to the time he was a fetus. This time it is divine energy that is the opponent while thew fragments in his Stigmata are his helpers. Unlike the time he was a fetus when his pregnant mother took the fall for their conflict, he has no one but himself to go through the pain.


    The divine energy is also not freely given. The sun god is very pissed at him right now. Stelios might not have had a choice about leaving part of his power behind, but he will fight Helios for its control every step of the way. This is not a boon that he will take without a fight.


    The first repercussion started in his skin. His red skin cracked painfully and began leaking golden blood. The blood fell to the ground and melted holes through it like acid. Then his skin began to shed. It ked off inyers leaving behind golden tattoos still imprinted on his flesh. His body is bursting with unruly and barely contained energy. It is his skin that is the first to suffer.


    Without the skin to obstruct vision, his changing muscles became exposed. The red flesh of his muscle has turned transparent from which the bones can be seen. The golden runes are still present within the transparent patches. There are also golden opaque patches of muscle. The transparent patches are spreading slowly while the golden patches are spreading really fast.


    The two patches ignore each other andpete for his muscles, then they extend themselves down to the bone. When they are done with his bone, they face off against each other. The celestial power in the golden patch wants to destroy Helios'' progress in his breakthrough by absorbing the white patch. If the golden patch wins, then Helios will explode and the celestial power he stole will be returned to its rightful owner.


    It turned out to be a losing battle. Stelios''s remnant will is still present within the celestial power considering that it is technically a part of Stelios''s body. So it is resisting assimtion. Even with the fragments of order on his side, Helios can''t win against the divine will of a celestial. Not alone at least. He has beaten more than he alone can chew. Fortunately, he is not alone.


    The green divine life energy of the tree father entered his soul through the soul sphere in his soul. The energy entered his body too but it was resisted by the golden patch while the white epted it readily. It is a bad idea to allow someone to interfere in your breakthrough no matter how much you trust that person because that''s the moment when you''re most vulnerable.


    Helios doesn''t have anything to fear from the tree father so he readily epted the help that was offered. His decision gave him a fighting chance. That''s all Helios needed. The golden patch recognized the threat of the divine life energy and chose to fight. It now has to fight two enemies.


    It is not a pleasant feeling to have a three-way battle for control in his body but it gave Helios a fighting chance against the Celestial power of the sun. So he bore with the doubling of the pain he is going through. It helped that the others whispered words of encouragement to him. His body shook and spasmed violently but he didn''t fall. He remained standing and he was rewarded for his resilience.


    The divine engine stopped growing immediately after the divine life energy was introduced and the golden ball on his back stalled. The white patch started to beat back the golden patch and slowly swallowed it up. The two forces beat back the golden energy until it waspletely subdued and assimted. He became a white statue with golden tattoos carrying a giant white ball on his back. Then the ball began to reduce while Helios began to grow bigger.


    The white ball was being absorbed by the white statue. The statue started to change color with the assimtion of the celestial power. It turned red, orange, and yellow. It finally settled on golden. He has also ballooned in size. He has reached a height of 50 meters over the years but he doubled it after absorbing the entirety of the celestial power.


    His body also began to morph. He lost his legs, arms, and head. They were absorbed into his body as he turned into a ball of golden energy. He transformed from a giant holding up the sun into the sun himself. Then 10 minutester the giant ball 100 meters across that he transformed into began to reduce in size until it became 10 meters in diameter.


    About 10 minutester, that ball began to morph again. It grew arms, legs, and a head. Then it formed a torso for them. It became a golden statue of a giant. Two slits opened up in the head to reveal eyes that are pure white. Both the pupils, iris, and cornea are white. There are also white runes flowing across the golden skin of the giant like an obscure arcane script.


    "I made it. Now I am a true son of the sun."


    He has finally be a transcendent.


    NAME: Helios (Legion-4)


    TITLE: Child Of The Virut ne. Child Of The Sun.


    RACE: Sun Giant.


    BLOODLINE: Sunfire Divine bloodline.


    POWER LEVEL: Transcendence(Soul-Body).<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    PHYSIQUE: Half-Celestial Body.


    HP: INFINITE


    STAMINA: INFINITE


    ENERGY QUALITY: Origin Energy.


    ENERGY QUANTITY: 2,673,841


    VITALITY: 1,000,000,000


    ENDURANCE: 1,000,000,000


    STRENGTH: 1,000,000,000


    AGILITY: 1,000,000,000


    PERCEPTION: 1,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 1,000,000,000


    AMPLIFICATION: 1


    AUTHORITY: Celestial Of The Sun.


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 100,000,000 (C)


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 100%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): FIRE (DIVINE), LIGHT (DIVINE), ORDER (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Exalted.

 Chapter 396 Conditional Immortality.

    ?His race has changed from a giant of order to a sun giant. His body upgraded from half-divine which demigods possess to half-celestial which only a few possesses. That''s why his race changed. He used to be a pretender before. Now he is truly the son of the sun god. They are joined now in more than just divine power. Helios has gained ess to his Authority. It is much more powerful than divine power.


    Transcendence means breaking your limits. The process is dangerous but it is highly rewarding. You are rewarded with evolution and the power thates with it when youbine the potential of your soul and your body to break the limit on each of them. Individually, a being can only reach a stat of 1000 at any point without external Influence. It is called the mana limit.


    This limit is based on race and some don''t have this limit at all. For those with this limit, the potential of their body has been fully exhausted. There''s so much that mana can do to strengthen an organism. Therees a point when mana can''t strengthen a being any further. That point is the 100% conversion rate of a being.


    Stats stop growing even before reaching that point. Some races have a biological limit to a specific Stat. Giants of Order can grow behind the 1,000 mana limit but their speed cannot cross that limit. Realistically, substantial growth stops around a 90% conversion rate. Helios needed divine life energy to experience any amount of growth beyond that point. Bing a transcendent breaks that limit, allowing a being to reach 10,000 stats.


    That''s for normal transcendents. Helios is not normal. His soul is far stronger than his body and has been limiting itself because of the body. But the body and the soul arebining now. Ideally, the power of his soul should fall drastically because of his weak body. The power of his soul is sacrificed to break the limit of his body to create an average result.


    That means, his soul which is at 1,000,000,000 will fall to 200,004,000 because of the 5,000 of the four aspects of his body. It is a huge drop-off but it is still far beyond what a normal transcendent can have for stats. His body and soul will also be able to return to 1,000,000,000. That is unbelievable for a transcendent. It is far greater than the 10,000 limits of normal transcendents so Helios would have still been a powerhouse of a transcendent.


    But that didn''t happen. Helios absorbed the power of a Celestial when he was breaking through. That changed everything. The power contained in the Celestial divine energy was absorbed by his body and soul helping him reach his fullest capacity and breaking the limit of both his soul and body. So now, he has reached the limit of the stats that his soul can contain. His stats areparable to some Sovereigns ofw and he even surpasses a lot of them but he isn''t as powerful as them.


    Currently, he doesn''t have a seed of power or any form of amplification fromws. At best he is as strong as a king ofw whose stats has reached the limit of 1,000,000 stats. Except he can still grow stronger and acquire more Authority. The divine energy didn''t allow him to grow stronger than 1,000,000,000 but it broke the limit of his soul. So his soul and body can grow past what he has achieved.


    He is nowhere near being a normal transcendent right now but there''s one thing that he shares inmon with them. It is conditional immortality. Transcendents have broken more than the limit of stats. They have also broken the limit of Health and Stamina. These constructs cease to exist with any physical weakness.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Transcendents can''t be incapacitated by cutting off their heads. They will regrow it quickly and easily as long as there''s Origin energy. Their consciousness and the matrix of their existence be one so they can heal from any injury as long as they will it. The only problem they face is that injuries caused by attacks empowered byws are very difficult to heal.


    Laws scramble the matrix of their existence by injecting it with wrong information. Information about their body is overwritten with information about thew of fire. The impurity of thew of fire needs to be purged first before they can heal. That dy can be exploited to cause their death. Their bodies will break apart once enoughws as been injected into their existence.


    "Just in time."


    He heard the stomping before he saw who it was. The ground began to shake rhythmically as if a giant is walking the earth. Helios suspects that it is truly a giant or in this case, a Colossus. He spread his divine sense that has ballooned from 500 meters to 1 million meters. But the absence of Origin energy in the ne reduced that to 100 thousand meters or 100 kilometers.


    His solidified divine sense needs the proper energy in the atmosphere or it can''t be stable. The only reason why he can use this much is that he has his own supply of Origin energy from his title as the child of the Virut ne. What he has is enough to confirm that it is really a Colossus making that disturbance.


    He can see the unwee guest in his mind. His divine sense passed through the imprable material of the ant mound. A figure almost 1 kilometer tall is running in the direction of the ant mound. The figure''s face is grim with determination. Their eyes are practically glowing with the light of justice and their heart has been made up to deliver it.


    This figure is an enforcer of the church of order sent on an important mission from the Celestial Supreme to get to the bottom of the mystery shrouding the ant mound.

 Chapter 397 Collateral Damage.

    ?The ants are history now. The ant queen was just a pawn to be used and discarded. Her death wasn''t even intentional. She died as a consequence of his struggle with the sun god. So there''s no mystery to be found in the ant mound. The Colossus came a little toote.


    Helios nodded. "I should meet this colossus since there''s no one here anymore. It will be a shame if his trip was wasted."


    He found it to be a shame if the Colossus had to run here all the way from the headquarters of the church of the sun and yete to find nothing. So he decided to upy the Colossus for a while. Let''s just say the sun god raised him to be polite.


    He was hovering in the air but he suddenly disappeared. There was no need for preparation. He wanted to move and so he moved, very quickly too. There was a sh of light and exploding sound as he broke the speed of sound. He pierced through the supposed imprable material of the ant mound like a shooting star to reach the Colossus.


    The Colossus didn''t see himing. It was moving forward with purpose. Each of its feet was smashing into the ground as he gained on the ant mound. It was thinking of its impending sess when it sensed a fast-moving entity with a mind-boggling amount of energying straight for its head. Its instincts and reaction entered hyperdrive by the unexpected threat.


    "Rawrrr!"


    It roared as it raised its massive hand to block the projectile that Helios had be. But it didn''t work. There was a sh of light that blinded anyone watching the Colossus and a sound like no other that deafened those that heard it. When the light faded, the Colossus was no more.


    It all happened so quickly that it looked like someoneunched an annihtor except this annihtor can harm a Colossus. Helios had prated the hand entirely. The flesh and the bones can''t stop him when the ant mound couldn''t stop him. Arge white beaming out of his eyes preceded him. The beam bore a hole in the hand that Helios passed through. Then he went on to collide with the head of the Colossus.


    The punch thatnded on the Colossus'' head literally stopped it in its tracks. It even did more than it. It lifted the giant monstrosity off of its feet. The bones in its head were thick and strong enough to block the beam. But then Helios exploded in his face. He expanded and became a small star. Then he discharged the energy he used in his expansion to create an explosion.


    The giants and god''s avatars in the camp saw it all. For the mortals in the camp, it was thest thing they saw. The Colossus had just passed the camp and was approaching the ant mound. They were all watching with anticipation. They were waiting to see how the ant mound will cave beneath the might of a colossus.


    Soldiers hade out to watch. So did the priests, the bishops of the various churches, the demigods that were just saved, and the avatar of gods. They waited for the action to start. Then there was light and there was nothing. So maybe, they saw nothing after all. The explosion killed them but they didn''t even see what exploded. It might be a good thing that they did not survive that explosion or they would have regretted being alive for however short the experience of having your flesh evaporated is.


    Either way, they are in no way different from the ants. They came here on instructions from their gods to subjugate the ants. They found more than was expected. At the end of the day, both they and the ants are the same. They are both weak and they both died as bystanders to the activities of their betters. The thing that killed them wasn''t even aiming for them. They were all simply coteral damage.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The gods watching saw what happened but that''s only because they focused on the event from the divine realm through their divine vision. Their avatars in the mortal realm saw streaks and nothing else. The screen showed the progression of events.


    They saw a yellow streaking from the ant mound. It was too fast to track and unexpected but they caught it. The streak prated the hand of the Colossus and shed with its head then it stopped. It was that brief moment of pause that enabled them to see what the streak is.


    Harkam''s mouth opened in shock. "The sun dwarf?"


    The streak stopped to reveal a golden figure. He isn''t sure of its identity. The figure is in no way simr to Helios when ites to looks but they both have white runes on their golden bodies. Seeing as Helios was a mana entity while this figure is a transcendent then it might be a transformed Helios.


    Then the golden man deformed into a ball and the ball expanded before it suddenly shrunk. The change happened so quickly that it looked like he became a giant balloon then he exploded. But what came out of his body was an explosion of heat and fire instead of air. Then their screen went dark as all their priests died.


    The gods started talking excitedly amongst themselves.


    "Did you see how he lifted that Colossus with one punch?"


    "Yes, I did. He must be a transcendent now. Demigods always get terrifying when they be transcendents."


    "That''s true but this is a little too much. The fightsted less than a second."


    "But how did he break through to be a transcendent? I thought he was bonded and captured."


    They were surprised by the situation and perplexed by a lot of things. How is Helios a transcendent? Why is he fighting a Colossus? What about the Goliath ants? Isn''t Helios a little too strong for a transcendent? There are so many questions and the mystery surrounding the ant mound has only gotten thicker. So Helios was wrong about the absence of mystery. But one thing is sure, the fight was entertaining even though it was too short.

 Chapter 398 Why Demigods Are Stronger.

    ?The fight wasn''t what they were expecting but it was entertaining nheless and it has the potential to lead to a lot of more entertaining things. Helios might be angry with them. It is something to celebrate about. It has been a while since they had a rebellious transcendent. It will be fun to watch him hunted down. They can evenpete among themselves to see the first one to kill him.


    That''s what the gods thought. They were excited at the prospect. Only Harkam could keep his calm. He just can''t admit that Helios is worthy even if he is to be hunted for sport.


    He said to the gods dismissively, "He wasn''t that impressive. It is just a demigod bullying a normal transcendent."


    He imed that the fight was impressive but Harkam isn''t impressed. If Helios has be a transcendent then it is normal for him to destroy a Colossus easily. It has never been done by any demigod but it is theoretically possible so it is not impressive that Helios did something that no one has ever done.


    A Colossus is a transcendent too but they are weakpared to demigods because they don''t have Origin energy to use their full power. The fact that Helios couldn''t prate the skull of the Colossus the way he prated the ant mound is proof of their potential.


    Demigods that be transcendents are more powerful because they have divine power from their godly parents to augment themselves. The situation will be the same even if there is Origin energy. Demigods will always the advantage of divine power.


    The only way for normal transcendents to bridge the gap is with the use ofws. So it is unfortunate that giants of Order can''t usews. They are screwed either way with or without Origin energy. Demigods beat normal transcendents because of this handicap. It doesn''t happen so grandly as Helios did it but Harkam will stick to his guns and remain unimpressed.


    What he is perturbed about is how Helios broke through. Last he knew, Helios was betrayed and offered up. So how had his captors allowed him to break through? There''s no way the ant queen who is a demigod, will not know when someone is breaking through around her. If Helios had broken through in the army camp, all the gods would have been aware of it. The fluctuations of divine power will be obvious.


    "Good for him."


    Harkam gave up when he couldn''te up with a good reason. Maybe the queen was negligent or Helios was lucky. It doesn''t make a difference to him. Even the fact that Helios just killed a Colossus of the church of order didn''t seem odd to him, only interesting. There have been a lot of weird things happeningtely. The Celestial Supreme froze the mortal realm just recently. So this seemed mildly odd but very interesting.


    The person that it bothered the most is the Celestial Supreme. While everyone is excited about the fight he is more concerned about the implications of the fight. He sensed that Celestial aura around Helios very clearly. It was as clear as day. But there was no Celestial. Or at least, Helios does not look like a Celestial. And yet, his Stigmata contains the divine will of a Celestial god. So where did Helios get help from?<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The divine ne hasn''t acknowledged a new celestial after Stelios so that means that Helios is in touch with a previous Celestial. It couldn''t be the god of fate because of their contract. It shouldn''t be the sun god because the coward is hiding away but the celestial aura felt like the power of the sun.


    It couldn''t be the hidden god because he has confirmed that it is rted to nt life not the sun and the hidden god is not a Celestial.


    ''I am so confused right now.'' He groaned and massaged his forehead.


    The Colossus he sent was supposed to answer questions and not increase them. He still doesn''t know what''s going and he doesn''t have an inkling of it. If there''s one thing that he is certain of, it is that the hidden god is not a Celestial god. He already knew that, but his estimation of the ability of that new and unknown god has begun to rise.


    "Nothing I could have done would have made me avoid this. Two Colossi would not have been able to hold their own against him."


    One of the things that he would have liked to avoid apart from the death of his Colossus is letting Helios live. Everything else is irrelevant in this situation apart from the strength that Helios exhibited. He saw a lot more than the other gods saw and what he saw made him realize that he couldn''t have expected that oue and nothing would have changed if he had done things differently.


    He nned to hit the ant mound with two instead of one Colossus when he suspected that a nt spirit will be there. There is one for each of the 100 mana entities so there might be one at the ant mound too.


    He is not one to take chances so he was about to tell the enforcer to turn back and wait for reinforcement when he noticed that the nt spirit was leaving. More like it was running away. The nt spirit picked up speed and left the ant mound as fast as it could. It was running towards something or away from something.


    "Maybe the hidden god values the vessel too much to endanger it. Anyway, this is enough for me."


    Back then, he didn''t think too much about it. The action perplexed the Celestial Supreme but again, there was nothing he could do about it. So he sighed in relief that the nt spirit that he was worried about won''t be there to stop him. Recent events have shown that he should have been worried. He should have been very worried.

 Chapter 399 Helios Is The New Target.

    ?His Colossus soon reached the ant mound, marching forward to see to the glory of order and for the will of the Celestial Supreme to be done.


    "This is it. Now I''ll get to see what all this is about." He had said in anticipation.


    His eyes were glued to the screen so he saw it happened. Unlike other gods he is using the barricade he set up as his influence to watch the event instead of a priest. The barricade is also very sensitive to changes so he was able to get more from it than using priests. There was a sh and the loud roar of an explosion. They seemed like one thing but the Celestial Supreme knows that they are three separate explosions happening one after the other really quickly so it looked like one prolonged explosion.


    Helios expanded. His expansion heated the air and caused it to expand. That was the first explosion. It was mild but he caught it. Then Helios copsed and discharged a sma-like fluid into the area vacated by air and his body. The substance he ejected expanded from its fluid form into gas and ignited everything it came in contact with, including the Colossus. That was the second explosion.


    The range of the second explosion was small. The substance expanded far faster than sound. It spread at the speed that heat travels. It might as well be pure heat. It formed a ball of yellowish sma around the Colossus. There was no damage beyond the ball. But the damage the sma produced within the ball created a reaction that led to another explosion.


    This time the explosion is a mixture of sma and air. It had a much farther range that covered the camp and the ant mound. It is what everyone saw and believed to have happened but he is more concerned about that sma. It is much too powerful for a transcendent to wield.


    That kind of thing should only be seen with Stelios and not Stelios'' son that is 200 years old. That sma-like energy would have rendered his carefulness mute. Helios would have been able to kill the two Colossi he wanted to send. He would have needed to send his best to the ant mound but he didn''t expect that a simple ant mound will cause so many problems for him.


    He asked himself, "Just where did he get this power?"


    Something is twice as powerful if you don''t know why it is powerful or its source of power. There are a lot of confusing things surrounding this situation that he can''t even begin to guess. He can''t guess the Stigmata or the Celestial power within it because where did Helios get that? Could it be that he is actually a Celestial but is hiding it? That will exin why he has Celestial divine energy and divine will within his Stigmata. It will also exin why he has that power. But that is not possible. Which leads him back to nothing.


    He was finally able to see what the aftermath of the explosions is when the screen cleared. Helios is standing in the air above argeke ofva. The Colossus is gone, and so is the camp of soldiers. The ant mound is also gone. None of them survived that explosion. In their ce is a crater filling up withva and a cloud of steam rising above it.


    The Celestial Supreme had only one thing on his mind as he looked at Helios.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Origin Energy." He muttered in shock.


    His attention was fixed on the ant mound when he noticed someone pass his barrier. Another transcendent nt lifeform walked out of the ant mound and pass the barricade he put up.


    The nt spirit waved at him through his divine vision but he wasn''t concerned about that. What he was more concerned about is the green fire within the eyes of the nt. It indicated the presence of a god within that body. This means that the transcendent is also a vessel for the hidden god.


    "Just how many does this god have?" He wondered.


    He is wondering because that''s the only thing he can do. He has already seen two transcendent vessels in this ant mound alone. For a god to have that much, he must have fervent believers who became transcendents and are willing to give up their freedom to their god. This isn''t something that can happen overnight, it needs years and years of development. And yet, he has never heard of any hidden church or religion. It meant that this hidden god is hiding even more from him.


    He shook his head warily. "This was a disaster. The only thing that came out of it is that the hidden god was in contact with the ant colony. That may be why Helios was released. We gave him up while they released him. They seeded in turning him against us. All in all, it was a disaster."


    He considers sending the Colossus a waste. He hasn''t learned much from the death and the things that he learned are bad news. He already suspected that a nt spirit could be in touch with the ant queen since the other mama entities to be demigods have transcendent bodyguards. The Colossus just confirmed his suspicions.


    The presence of the nt vessel exins how the hidden god was able to smuggle so much divinity without him noticing. The transcendent vessel absorbed the divinity and transferred it to the god. The god then transferred it to other vessels. The unraveling of that little mystery didn''t make the Celestial Supreme happy. Because if it is true, then the hidden god must have a lot of vessels. Only a vessel has the necessary connection to a god to make the transfer of divinity


    "Forget about that for a minute. Let me confirm what I sensed."


    He decided to have a little chat with Helios and confirm if what he sensed his true. He would very much like to know where Helios got Origin energy from. He will not take no for an answer. He can''t get hold of someone important working with the hidden god so Helios will have to do.

 Chapter 400 Prepare Yourself.

    ?The only way for a transcendent to be hurt enough to die is either with Origin energy or divine power. He sensed a lot of divine power earlier from Helios but it was like an inactive volcano. It was unused. It just shadowed everything and fooled the other gods. They didn''t notice anything strange and thought Helios''s prowess is from divine power. He wasn''t fooled. He was able to sense the divine power and determine it to be Celestial power despite it being inactive.


    If that explosion had contained divine power, his barricade would have been destroyed. That doesn''t mean much on its own. But it means much when his barricade can sense the faint fluctuations of origin energy after the noise of divine power has died down.


    Origin Energy was wielded so well that it seemed to be divine power. He wasn''t fooled though. He descended to the ground immediately to confirm his suspicions. A ck giant dressed in a white suit appeared where his barricade is. He sank into contemtion as he sensed the residual energy in the surrounding.


    "It is Origin energy. That explosion contained Origin energy." He said with certainty.


    He has confirmed the presence of Origin energy. Then he looked at Helios the source of the Origin energy and the origin of the celestial aura he was sensing earlier. Helios looked at him too and their eyes met. Then Helios turned away and ignored him. His golden figure meditated calmly in the air.


    The Celestial Supreme flew up to him and asked. "What are you doing?"


    "A lot of things one of which is ignoring you. I would like for you to do the same with me." Helios answered.


    "I can''t do that. You just killed several priests from different churches and you also killed an enforcer of my church. I cannot ignore you."


    "Hmm. That''s a shame." Helios''s eyes were still closed as he meditated.


    The Celestial Supreme began to fume. "Is that all you have to say for yourself? You''re a criminal that has offended the entire gods of the pantheon."


    "So?"


    "So? So?" The Celestial Supreme began to shake with anger. "So?"


    He was speechless and furious. He should be respected and revered. Maybe he should have gotten used to things not going his way recently but this still struck what was left of his pride. He certainly didn''t expect this kind of dismissal from a boy that he witnessed being born. What''s worse is that this is the second time he is getting this sort of dismissal. That pompous nt dragon also disrespected him.


    Helios spoke up. "It really is a shame that you won''t ignore me."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Fine. I understand why you''re proud. But mark my words, you will regret this course of action."


    The Celestial Supreme understood that transcendents feel confident in their power because there''s almost nothing that the gods can do to them. Helios is also a young giant who has been sheltered all his life so his pride and ignorance are understandable. The little twerp got his first taste of power and thinks himself unstoppable.


    In fact, Helios should be more proud since he also has Origin energy within him and he shouldn''t be surprised by the disrespect. It is like father and son. But pride doesn''t mean power or security. The churches aren''t reigning Supreme in the mortal realm for nothing. Ignorant or not, disrespect and sphemy are the two monster grievous sins one canmit to a god. So he won''t stomach Helios''s disrespect.


    If Helios is already behaving like this then how will he behave if he asks him how he got Origin energy? The Celestial power might be from Stelios but he isn''t sure about it. The Celestial Supreme will rather apprehend him and then question him. Disrespect or not, all that matters is strength and he will show this young upstart the errors of his way.


    He decided to give Helios one more chance. The gods are also watching after all. He wants to be fully justified for any extreme measures he employs to apprehend the boy. "I''m guessing you don''t feel remorse and are not repenting for the murder of..."


    "No, I''m not remorseful...." Helios interrupted him but he seemed to have something stuck in his throat. He stopped mid-speech as the power of order focused on him to prevent him from saying what he wanted to say next. He used his divine sense tomunicate and he easily shrugged the power off and continued. "No, I''m not remorseful Zernon."


    The Celestial Supreme''s frosty face couldn''t get any colder. "I see. You are on the side of the hidden god. That''s how you were able to be a transcendent. Is that who is giving you your confidence? Your father is also one of them. He betrayed me. I knew he had made ns against me but I didn''t think he will go this far."


    Helios''s words showed his allegiance. It is also a message to him to send the best that he can send. It didn''t help that Helios simply smirked at him.


    Zernon nodded gravely. He said, "Prepare yourself."


    He returned to his divine kingdom immediately. Then he ordered the remaining 30% of his church''s forces to apprehend Helios.He is bringing out the best of his forces for this expedition. He also announced a divine council meeting. The gods had dispersed when he suddenly left their meeting and didn''t return to them. Even so, the gods arrived immediately and no one mentioned his abrupt departure from thest meeting. No one wants to get on the bad side of the Celestial Supreme right now. It was then that all of them noticed something.


    Back To Aeternus.


    Far away in another ne of existence. The 541st ne of the abyss to be exact.


    There is a fortress within the domain of high-rank demons. In that fortress is a pir more than 1,000 meters. On this pir is a ck statue. The details on the statue are sharp and create a vivid image of a thin but muscr entity.

 Chapter 401 A Duel In The House Of Chaos.

    ?The statue seems to have been carved in the form of a demon. But the demon that it depicts is odd for a demon. The statue is short like a low-rank demon, just 1.7 meters tall, but it has horns that are mainly seen in high-rank demons.


    There is also a zing red me burning between the horns. The me is very life-like, moving and shifting like a real me. Except that the me isn''t burning anything, producing heat, or has an apparent source of fuel. Yet, the me is surely growing stronger. The use of the me isn''t obvious either since it isn''t producing light to improve the visibility of the top of the pir. So the pir is dark. Even the statue beneath the me is barely visible.


    Suddenly the sockets in the head of the statue where its eyes should be opened. From within the sockets can be seen a white ghostly me burning with evesting vigor. Then ck fumes began to ooze out of the body of the statue until it is obscured within a cloak of darkness. Only the white soul mes of the eyes and the red me of umtion can be seen.


    Aeternus awoke from his slumber. He has not moved from this spot for more than 200 years. He has been waiting for his chance and he can tell that it wille soon. It isn''t time yet for the call to arms, but one of the duties of being the Lord of the house of Chaos has made him wake up.


    Soon two figures appear in the air at the top of the pir. They knelt in the air and bowed to the demon that upies the top of the pir. The pir is not wide, just 20 meters in diameter. Aeternus is smallpared to other demons so there is a lot of space on the pir since he is the only one on it, but the space is meant for only those that he has invited. These two have not been invited, so they stay in the air.


    They both greeted him with due reverence and stated their request. "We seek the audience of Lord Khaos."


    "Is this about your insatiable lust?" Aeternus directed his question to one of the figures.


    His cold voice reached them and made them both shiver. He can''t talk with his mouth so his divine sense had to connect to their minds. Brushing their minds against his is an experience that brings out their primal instincts for survival. It is their faith in him as their lord that stopped them from preparing to be attacked.


    "Yes, lord Khaos," Baal answered the question.


    Baal has changed from the harmless-looking high-rank demon he used to be. He is a demon duke of lust now. He has grown in size standing at 30 meters tall and can still growrger than that. He has 3 pairs of wings, two horns, and one tail. His skin is ck like the color of his eyes. His eyes are more like two bottomless holes rather than ck.


    Having received his answer, Aeternus spoke, "Get on with it then."


    Baal then made his request, "Lord Khaos, Number 2 would like to challenge number 1."


    "You have used up your quota for challenges in this century. What say you Infernox?" Aeternus asked number 1.


    Infernox the demon duke of wrath remains almost the same. He has grown to be 50 meters tall and this is just his base height. He bes taller when he is angry. He has his bull head with a single horn, 2 pairs of wings, and 3 ming tails. His tails aren''t the only thing on fire. His entire body is burning with a reddish-orange me andva is dripping from the cracks in his reddish volcanic rock skin.


    "I ept the challenge from number 2, Lord Khaos." Infernox''s voice rumbled like rocks tumbling down the side of a mountain as he spoke.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Then I give my permission and allow this challenge."


    "We thank Lord Khaos."


    They offered their gratitude after he gave them permission to try and kill each other. Then they flew into the air and began to prepare. The demons on the ground noticed that a fight is about to begin so they stopped whatever they are doing to watch. But only the high-rank demons are watching. The multitude of mid-rank demons as far as the eye can see are still fighting and trying to kill each other. Mid-rank demons don''t have the leisure to rest or watch a fight when everything around them is trying to kill them. A silver of rest will onlye when they have vanquished enough foes for them to evolve.


    Two High-rank demons who were sparing also stopped practicing to watch the fight in the sky.


    "Isn''t that duke Baal? I thought he has used up his challenge quota." One of them asked.


    "He has. He must have agreed to it." His partner answered.


    The one that asked the question scoffed and spoke. "Obviously. It''s not like Baal can unt the rules. Every fight needs Lord Khaos''s permission so they must have gotten it."


    "I meant duke Infernox. I heard that duke Baal was taunting duke Infernox. If duke Infernox didn''t agree to the challenge, duke Baal wouldn''t have presented the challenge since he is out of challenging quota."


    "How many as that made now? This should be his sixth challenge."


    "No, it is his seventh."


    "Yes, this will make his seventh. Duke Baal sure loves to fight."


    "Yes, he does."


    The two of them kept quiet as the fight finally started.


    Every duke has the right to challenge another duke higher up in the chain ofmand once every century. Baal has had two opportunities to challenge and he has used them. He will then goad demons in the higher ranks into epting his challenge since he can''t force them to fight him. His behavior has be public knowledge.

 Chapter 402 INFERNOX VS BAAL 1

    ?It is also public knowledge that while Baal likes to half his superiors into fighting him, he doesn''t ept any challenge from those beneath him. He won''t fall into being goaded. He will only fight if they use their challenge quota on him. Dukes have to respect their superiors and cannot say anything overly offensive to each other even to goad them into a fight. The hierarchy of the family is strictly upheld.


    Disrespect is punished by the loss of an amount of umtion to be determined by Lord Khaos. To lose your umtion is a very painful loss that demons will do anything to avoid. It is enough encouragement not to disrespect their superiors. As opposed to his current opponent, Baal has enough self-control to not be goaded into a fight by a statement like, "Are you afraid of losing to me?"


    That''s all it took to set Infernox on edge and to ept this challenge. A simple sentence and now they are about to fight in a duel that might lead to the death of one of them.


    Baal eyed his opponent. He readied his grimoire. The giant tattered book floating beside him flew into his hands. Baal turned the pages which are made from the skin of demon nobles. He uttered a phrase that turned the pages into cards made of ice.


    Now that he is ready to do battle he spoke to his opponent. "So you''re not afraid of losing to me. epting the challenge has surely proved that."


    Infernox scowled which is a terrifying look on the face of a bull. He huffed great mes through his nostrils before replying. "I''ll prove more than that when I beat you up."


    Baal was never moved by the taunts that others use to try and goad him into a fight because he is not afraid of losing. He just doesn''t care enough to prove them wrong by wasting his time fighting them. He believes himself to be superior and he doesn''t need to win a fight to prove it. Infernox on the other hand was easily goaded for numerous reasons. The obvious reason is that he is a demon of wrath and the less obvious reason is that he is really afraid of losing to Baal.


    Baal has risen through the ranks by fighting strong opponents while Infernox became number 1 because he was the second demon that was added to the house. So he isn''t feeling confident in himself and doesn''t think he deserves the position. He decided to fix that problem by facing his fears. Fear is not a good emotion for a demon to have. Defeating Baal and if lord Khaos allows it, killing Baal will prove to him that he deserves it.


    NAME: INFERNOX


    RACE: Chaotic Entity.


    BLOODLINE: Chaosling.


    DEMON RANK: Demon Duke.


    CHAOS RANK: Second Star.


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    CHAOS ENERGY: 728,912


    ACCUMULATION: 710,129


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:648+360. Spirit:648+71. MAGIC:648+71.


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:648+323. Spirit:648+323. MAGIC:648+323.


    ABILITIES:


    1. The Power Of Wrath(EPIC): +9 Boosts to Strength when angry by burning chaos energy.


    2. The Endurance Of Wrath(DIVINE): +21 Boosts to Physical attacking power, Physical, Spiritual, and Magical resistance the more injured you get.


    3. The Aura Of Wrath(UNIQUE): A passive aura that badgers those around you with a Spiritual attack. Those that are unable to ovee the attack be immobilized. Those that can ovee it but are affected by the aura will have their prowess reduced based on the level of influence. The debuff ranges between 10-50%.


    4. The umtion of Vengeance(DIVINE): The umtion of anger and resentment for empowerment within the body. Can be used to attack or to raise the state of existence to 17.


    5. Body of Cmity (UNIQUE): Cmity brews within you and you''re a volcano ready to erupt. The more your umtion increases the more potential you possess. You gain a 0.01% boost to every part of your existence even when you don''t use umtion and this boost is directly proportional to the amount of umtion stored. The current boost is 71 power.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    6. Connection To The Lord(UNIQUE): You are capable ofmunicating with the Lord of your house through this connection and he to you through the connection. You are his eyes and hands. The Lord can see through your senses and assist you with energy to perform the tasks he has given you.


    STATUS: Angry.


    It cannot be denied that Infernox is very powerful. But most of the dukes were there when he became a duke. He was just a mid-rank demon among a thousand that were used to show the full capabilities of the Lord of Khaos. He transformed from an insignificant mid-rank demon in a show into a demon duke used topel the others to fight. All he has currently is due to the Lord of Khaos and he is thankful for that opportunity.


    He has been reborn by that experience but there is a mark of stain on him that cannot be removed. This mark of stain is the Epic rank ability that he acquired as a mid-rank demon. It proves that he doesn''t belong amongst the genius demons with Legendary and Divine abilities. It proves that he wasn''t raised or meant to be great. He was just lucky. If not for that opportunity, he wouldn''t be here. So he needs to prove to himself and to others that he deserves to be here.


    NAME: BAAL


    RACE: Chaotic Entity.


    BLOODLINE: Chaosling.


    DEMON RANK: Demon Duke.


    CHAOS RANK: Second Star.


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    CHAOS ENERGY: 2,132,379


    ACCUMULATION: 1,252,718


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:648. Spirit:648+168. MAGIC:648+382.


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:648. Spirit:648. MAGIC:648+324.


    ABILITIES:


    1. The Power of Lust(DIVINE): +30 Boost to Magical power.


    2. The Hoarding of Power(DIVINE): +200% to Heath, Stamina, and Mana Storage limit.


    3. The Lust for Power(UNIQUE): Steal something that you want from someone by marking them with your spirit. You can steal umtion, Health, and Stamina. The effect of Lust for power and the rate of siphoning is dependent on the difference in the power of Spirit. Gain advantage of +14 to your Spirit for the activation of Lust for power.


    4. Master of Elements(UNIQUE): You are incredibly talented when ites to the usage of mana. You can use all basic elements of mana. Earth, fire, water, air, light, and darkness spells are possible with this ability. Gain a 50% boost to defense against spells based on the basic elements and a 20% boost to magical power.


    5. The umtion of Lust: umte power by desiring the things of others. The more malcontent you are, the more power you store away forter use. This power can be used to attack or to raise the state of existence to 17.


    6. Connection To The Lord(UNIQUE): You are capable ofmunicating with the Lord of your house through this connection and he to you through the connection. You are his eyes and hands. The Lord can see through your senses and assist you with energy to perform the tasks he has given you.


    STATUS: Excited.

 Chapter 403 INFERNOX VS BAAL 2.

    ?Baal is a prodigy who was raised to be another demon noble on par with the 8 strongest demon nobles. He was destined to be great. He has an innate talent for mana maniption that enabled him to master the fusion of sin energy and mana when he was just a mid-rank demon. He was already a high-rank demon when Infernox was a mid-rank demon. And he wasn''t some ordinary high-rank demon either.


    He believes he should be superior to Infernox in the ranking since he has the advantage of age, talent, and most importantly, strength. It is nothing personal. It is simply in his nature to lust after good things regardless of whether he deserves it or not. So they will duke it out and see who gets to be the head and who gets to be the tail. Strength should be the determinant of the rank in the house instead of the time you joined the house.


    Fire came out of Infernox''s body like a liquid and spread over the metal axe head in his hand. The metal heated up quickly and became a crystal with the same reddish-orange color as the me. Infernox roared and pped his giant wings. His giant figure shot towards Baal like a burning meteor with his axe raised and primed for decapitation.


    Baal responded quickly. He muttered some words and threw one of the ice cards that the pages of his grimoire had transferred into. The ice cared transformed into a thick b of ice that stood in Infernox''s path. Infernox axe fell with impunity and cut into the obstruction. The ice b shattered but there was another one waiting for Infernox.


    Infernox shattered the next one easily, and the next one, then the next one. Meanwhile, the ice bs that he shattered reformed into their original shape. They look intact and ready to be shattered again. They would have lookedpletely identical to their previous state except that they are smaller. Apparently, they didn''te out unscathed from the previous shattering. But they are ready to go again for another round of smashing.


    Infernox became boggled down by 10 bs of ice that rotated the duty of being shattered. It gave Baal time to form a bigger ice construct. He muttered for 10 seconds into an ice card and infused it with a lot of energy, then he transformed it into a giant ice gate. The ice gate flew towards Infernox and entered the rotation.


    Infernox struck the gate with his full power but he could only cut out chunks of the gate instead of shattering it with one blow as he did for the ice bs. He aimed for a second blow but an ice b tried to smash into his side. He waved one arm to shatter the distraction but it reduced the power of his strike on the gate. He tried again to bring down the ice gate but more and more distractions tried to prevent him from doing just that. Meanwhile, Baal is siphoning his stamina.


    He can feel himself growing weary due to Baal''s unique ability The Lust For Power. It made him frustrated and he roared. mes poured out of his skin into his surroundings like some leaking furnace. A domain of mes appeared around him to form a sphere of fire. He became the core of arge ball of fire.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The ice bs around him were melted easily by the mes so he could concentrate on the giant ice wall. He seeded in shattering it and he found another giant ice wall behind it. He wasn''t surprised, but he became angrier. The mes around him grew hotter the angrier he became. His emotions acted as fuel to his mes.


    He set to work on the gate while Baal tried to slow him down with more ice bs but it was all futile. The ice bs were likembs sent to their ughter. They entered the domain of mes never to return again. Even the ice gate couldn''t show its full strength within the mes. It is already taxing for the ice gate to survive the mes. Weathering the onught of Infernox''s blows is a little too much for it to cope with. So Infernox was able to destroy the second ice gate in record time.


    He found another gate waiting for him but he grinned this time around. He hase close to Baal. He just has to ovee thisst barrier quickly enough then he will finally be able to crush Baal''s weak body. Unfortunately, he couldn''t be happy for long because Baal increased the distance between them. He pped his wings and flew back while he continued to create more ice gates. He was able to create two more ice gates that entered the rotation to stall Infernox.


    Baal had to stay close to Infernox or the Ice gates will be useless. If he is too far away from Infernox, infernox can just avoid the giant ice gates to reach him. But by being close to the fiery minotaur, infernox has to pass through the ice gates to reach him. Baal continued to use the tactic to stall his opponent.


    Infernox roared again and pursued but he couldn''t reach his target without going through the ice gates. Still, he was getting stronger and stronger. So he was destroying them faster and faster. Baal was still sending the ineffective ice bs to their deaths. It became a race of cat vs mouse until Infernox became strong enough to destroy the ice gate with a single strike. It happened just in time too because Baal''s ability to siphon his stamina is about to tire him out. The fight had taken a long time but he doesn''t have anything to show for it. That will change now with his newfound strength.


    He positioned himself and raised his axe for a strike to the ice gate. Then the gate suddenly exploded. It exploded without being hit. It sent out ice kes that doused Infernox''s me domain. The two other gates exploded too after the first explosion. The full power of their explosion struck Infernox without his me domain to protect him.

 Chapter 404 VICTORY

    ?The two other ice gates around him exploded into a grand shower of hail and ice stones. They struck his body with considerable force that crushed them into kes. The power of the explosions and their abrupt urrence would have killed a weaker being but Infernox is no weakling. He survived the three explosions.


    "I see that you are out of tricks." He said to Baal.


    He has lost his me domain but the me protected him from the bulk of the explosions. Meanwhile, Baal has lost all the ice constructs that he can use to dy him. The only thing still around is the pirs of the three previous ice gates. So by his standards, he is out on top.


    In fact, he is stronger even. The explosion managed to harm him causing his strength and defense to increase a little. The tides of the battle have turned in his favor. Or so he thought. Baal snapped his fingers in answer. Suddenly Infernox froze over. Ice appeared all over his body. It covered every inch of his volcanic skin and froze him. The ice continued to grow until Infernox became trapped in one giant b of ice.


    The ice bs have always been trying to recover their structure but his me domain prevented that. Now that his mes have been put out by the explosion of three ice gates, it allowed Baal to conjure them again. Baal activated all of them at the same time in onerge grand conjuration.


    But that wouldn''t hold Infernox for long. It''s like trying to freeze a volcano. It is all but a futile attempt if you don''t have enough power. Infernox was about to explode and he is still going to explode. Even now, the process has started. He lit up within the ice b and began to melt it from within.


    Baal didn''t wait for him to finish his escape. He muttered some words quickly and chains formed from the pirs of the ice gates that exploded and Infernox''s trapped form.


    The gates exploded earlier leaving behind their pirs. There are 6 pirs for the 3 gates. Long and thick ice chains formed from the pirs and entered the ice before reaching Infernox''s body. The thick ice chains used the kes of ice that doused Infernox mes to attach to his body and bound him. Infernox couldn''t resist because he was trapped within the ice. He was thoroughly bound by the time his mes shattered the giant ice bs.


    His cage of ice exploded into kes but the mes rbined into icebs moments after. The ice bs formed around Infernox inrge amounts except they are smaller in size. The problem with them is that each one also has a chain attached to him. They had left some kes on him when he shattered them easily. The reason why they were smaller in size is that they dumped part of themselves on him to slow him down and form their own chains.


    "Give up," Baal said to his captive.


    Infernox considered using umtion but decided against it. The Lord of Chaos has banned the use of umtion for challenges. umtion can make a fool look powerful, but it doesn''t mean they are really powerful. Only pure skill matters and there''s no skill that could let him escape from this entanglement of ice. He knows he will continue to get slower as ice holds him back while Baal flees and siphons his stamina.


    It pained Infernox but he said it. "I admit defeat."


    Baal nodded and recalled his summons. The ice bs, chains, and pirs broke apart into kes. They then formed ice cards that flew into his grimoire. Baal closed the grimoire when all the ice cards had returned. The ice cards turned into their natural state after that. They became sheets made out of the skins of demon nobles.


    The sheets are a creation of Baal. He started making them when he was a high-rank demon. Back then, it was a dream item for him. But It has be easier to acquire the materials needed to make the pages now that he is a demon duke.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The sheets are capable of transforming into whatever Baal needs. He changes their form through the inscriptions he made on them. So their form is limited to spell structures. They can transform into any of his spells based on any of the 6 elements but he can only use one element at a time.


    Aeternus had been watching their fight closely. He proimed after they are done. "From henceforth, Baal, the duke of lust, of the house of chaos shall be Number 1."


    The number 2 in Baal''s left eye changed into 1 immediately while the opposite happened to Infernox. The ranking represents more than superiority. It also represents resource distribution and the allocation of soldiers. It is very important in the house of Chaos.


    They both bowed and offered their gratitude to their lord. "We thank the Lord of Chaos."


    He said to them. "You may leave."


    Infernox sighed in relief and left. He is grateful that the Lord of Khaos did not allow him to be killed for his defeat. Meanwhile, Baal hesitated to leave. He has something he wants to ask Aeternus but doesn''t know how to go about it.


    Aeternus noticed his hesitation, so he asked. "What is it?"


    "I would like to get to know Number 0 better. But I hardly see her around." Baal answered with as much confidence that he can muster.


    Aeternus chuckled. "You want to talk her into epting your challenge right?"


    Baal denied it. "No, my lord. I feel it is good to be familiar with..."


    Aeternus interrupted him. "Forget it. You can''t beat her. If you can''t find her then you can''t beat her. So find her first before concerning yourself with when you will fight her."


    Baal had more questions but he kept them to himself. The Lord of Khaos has already indulged him in his lust for power. He turned around to leave when he came face to face with a giant ck serpent with its mouth spread wide open and multiple fangs like long sharpened des.

 Chapter 405 The More The Merrier.

    ?She had either been here without him noticing or she crept up to him without him noticing. Either way, she was too close to him, and even worse, he didn''t notice how she became this close to him. The Lord of Khaos'' words rang in his mind. If he can''t find her, then he can''t defeat her. He should worry about finding her first before thinking of fighting her. An enemy that can get this close to you without you noticing is a very dangerous enemy.


    Baal remained Stoic despite the fact that he can see his reflection in her silvery fangs. He didn''t sense her get so close to him but he schooled his emotions and wasn''t flustered. It helped that he didn''t sense any ill intent or danger from the snake. They are part of the same house so betrayal cannot ur. Murder can ur by the will of the lord of a house but certainly not betrayal. That fact strengthened his resolve not to cower or look weak.


    He said calmly. "I see you''re around, Number 0. We should spar sometimes."


    Xander closed her mouth and turned her two left eyes so that they can focus on him.


    She stared at him in silence for a while before she hissed at him. "We''ll see."


    Then Baal bid farewell and left. Xander retracted her head and ced it before Aeternus. Others may not see her, but the top of the pir is upied by Xander. She has coiled her entire body around Aeternus.


    "What do you think about the fight?" Aeternus asked Xander.


    "Baal is very talented but Infernox is stronger. Infernox is at a disadvantage because wisdom always trumps brawn."


    Aeternus agrees with her. Baal''s ability to use all elements whenbined with his spell artifact makes him very versatile. He can improvise and adapt to any situation so he doesn''t have any weaknesses. Infernox is stronger but has many weaknesses. He needs to get angry and he also needs to get hurt to get his maximum boosts. Baal on the other hand is boosted at any time.


    Baal took advantage of his opponent''s weakness to win that fight. He used ice to weaken Infernox and slow him down. He also didn''t aim to hurt Infernox at all during the fight. The boost that Infernox gets from being hurt is more powerful than the boost from his anger. The more hurt Infernox gets, the higher his power and resistance to damage bes.


    That''s why Baal only siphoned Stamina to tire Infernox out and used ice to tie him down. He didn''t touch umtion because Aeternus forbade it and he didn''t touch his health which will hurt Infernox. Baal clearly did his research. Baal bes unstoppable when hebines information with his versatility.


    "I still believe in Infernox though. In time, he will be too strong to be contained by anything." Aeternus said to Xander.


    Xander spoke. "I think so too. Infernox wasn''t this big when he became a duke and he certainly wasn''t this big a hundred years ago. He is growing stronger somehow."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Aeternus nodded. All his subordinates are talented in one way or the other. Xander may not specialize in raw power but she is the best when ites to information gathering and stealth operations. Her ability allows her to observe others without being observed. Her keen eye noticed that Infernox is growing stronger but she doesn''t know why.


    A demon duke can change their shape so it is easy to overlook Infernox''s increase in size but Xander caught it probably because she feels threatened by him and has been watching him closely. She is right in that Infernox is growing stronger. His unique ability, the body of cmity gives him a 0.001% boost based on his umtion. It is why he is getting stronger the more he umtes.


    For now, the boost is 71, it can be 1,000 in the future when Infernox''s stockpile of umtion increases. At that time, he won''t need umtion to fight the demon lord. The passive boost from that ability will be more than enough for him. The demon lord has a power rating of 1071. A generous boost of 500 from her sin abilities will still make here up short in a fight with Infernox.


    ''I am looking forward to his growth. I want to see what Baal will be able to do then.'' he thought to himself.


    In the early days of the challenges. A defeat means death. Sometimes a victory or a draw might also lead to death if Aeternus isn''t satisfied with the disy. But things have changed now that he has weeded out the weak and useless. Infernox will not be killed for his defeat because he has potential and because Baal can''t kill him. Baal can only restrain him. It is not a good enough reason to get rid of Infernox. That''s why he let Infernox live.


    Then he asked Xander. "Is everything set?"


    "Yes, my lord. I have spread the news that you are about to attack a ne. The demon lord and her forces have all prepared for the attack. It seems all the demon nobles are working with her." Xander replied.


    Aeternus became happy. "Even better. The more the merrier. A party needs a lot of guests."


    Xander has been scouting the domain of demon nobles for him. This time, he sent her to spread the rumor that he is about to leave the ne. It is a rumor and as such is unreliable but the demon lord chose to believe it. The Lord of Khaos has ensconced himself in the domain of high-rank demons for over 200 years, but there''s only so much he can take. It is in a demon''s nature to pige and rob, so they believe it is high time for him to do just that.


    He spends most of his days plotting and preparing for the call to action. His house has expanded over the years with arge army of demons. He is more than prepared for what is toe. He waited eagerly and was full of excitement when he received the go-ahead from Legion soon after. He grinned but his stiff face didn''t show it.


    "It''s time to get this party started." He said to Xander.

 Chapter 406 We Go To War.

    ?He spoke through his channel of connection to all of his subordinates. "It''s time to go to war."


    Soon the sound of a war horn was heard throughout the fortress. Other war horns picked up the call and were blown too. The sound of war became the only thing that could be heard for a long while. The sound put the house into overdrive. Everyone started to prepare for the uing battle to a background of war drums and horns.


    For the first time since their creation, the house of chaos is going to attack a ne. Themanders of the house got to work immediately. Rarely seen demon dukes barked orders to their legionmanders who then barked out orders to their vicemanders who in turn shouted at the mid-rank demons and their captains. Like a rolling stone, orders were sent down the hierarchy and the army was mobilized.


    The hierarchy of the house of chaos has Lord Khaos and his dukes at the top while mid-rank demons are the foundation of its army. There are a total of 4950 legions of the house of Chaos. Each Legion is made up of 100,000 mid-rank demons making for a total of 495 million. Mid-rank demons make up more than 99% of the house.


    There were more mid-rank demons than that at the beginning of troops umtion but their numbers have been whittled down by forcing them to fight and kill each other to evolve. Their numbers can easily be replenished by abducting more mid-rank demons from their domain all over the ne. The mid-rank demons in the army might not have participated in a major war but they see death on daily basis.


    When a mid-rank demon evolves from all the fighting, it has three choices. Be a captain of 1,000, a vicemander of 10,000, or be the legionmander of 100,000 soldiers. There''s the option of death which happens quite a lot because those three positions are already filled with other high-rank demons who are not going to give up their position without a fight to the death.


    The number of the legions is kept constant since there are only 99 demon dukes. Each demon duke gets an increasing amount of legions depending on their rank. Rank 99 gets 1 legion of demons and rank 1 gets 99 legions of demons. No one except the lord knows if rank 0 has any legions or soldiers since she is so secretive. Almost nothing is known about rank 0. Hsid


    Since the number of legions is set, that means the avable position is finite. So newly evolved high-rank demons have to fight and kill another demon in any one of the leadership positions. If they are lucky for a position to open up among the demon dukes, then they fight each other for it. Aeternus creates a vacancy at the top of the hierarchy by encouraging conflicts among dukes. Their conflict then creates an opportunity for demon nobles who then fight to fill the vacancy. This creates space in the mid-level and low-level hierarchy for newly evolved high-rank demons to fill. It is a rather streamlined process that has ensured that only the best and brightest upy positions in the family.


    That''s the system of hierarchy used in the House of Chaos. So when word came from up high, it trickled down efficiently. The army roused itself like an awoken beast. 4,950 legions each with 100,000 mid-rank demons and their 111 leaders marshaled under the banners of their various demons dukes. They stood in order awaiting themand of the lord of Khaos while the drums of war are beaten and the horns of war are blown.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Aeternus flew down from his pir overseeing his army and approached the abyss altar. He ced his hand on the near-indestructible circr ck stone and funneled Chaos energy into it. A ck swirling portal more than 100 meters in diameter opened up in the fabric of space. It is essentially a rift that connects the 541st ne of the abyss to a distant ne. The size of the portal is dependent on the power of the person that opened it so 100 meters is the limit of what Aeternus can achieve.


    The portal became clear after chaos energypleted the connection. A view appeared showing the destination. It is arge in with ck sand. There is nothing else on the in. It is just ck sand as far as the eye can see. Suddenly the view changed to reveal something else. Then the size of the portal increased to a diameter of 500 meters.


    Aeternus said calmly, unperturbed by the unusual behavior of the portal, "We March."


    The horns were blown again as the army flocked into the portal. The portal wasn''t supposed to behave like it did but no one questioned Aeternus about it. If Aeternus is okay with it then they must also be okay with it even if it might cost them their life.


    At the center of the abyssal ne.


    The demon lord had been monitoring the usage of abyss altars. It''s the only way she can keep tabs on Aeternus. He has managed to envelop his fortress and keep her from looking at them with her divine sense. All her spies disappear whenever theye around Aeternus''s fortress. Something ambushed them and killed them. So she waited for an abyss altar to open a connection to a ne.


    She would know if it is Aeternus based on the size of the army, the strength of the demons that pass through, and the strength of the connection itself. His energy that can create demon dukes is sure to create a very powerful rift. Normal high-rank demons can''t create riftsrger than 20 meters across. A portal greater than that in size and also opened in the domain of high-rank demons is a clear indication that he opened it. It will mean her prey is finally on the move.

 Chapter 407 Invocation Of The Law Matrix.

    ?The demon lord''s dedication to snooping on portal creation helped her to spot Aeternus opening a portal. She picked up quickly on a strangely powerful abyss altar open a portal in the domain of high-rank demons. Such a portal should not be seen among high-rank demons. She collected more data and determined it to be Aeternus but she didn''t make any rash moves yet.


    She is familiar with his energy signature so she can say for certain that he opened the portal but she waited to confirm that he actually passed through the portal. It is important that he went through that portal instead of trying to fool her into thinking he went through the portal.


    He could have opened multiple portals to fool her so she decided to use the strangeness of his aura based on his weird energy to confirm his passage out of the abyss. It was only when she was certain that he crossed the portal that she informed her subordinates to prepare for war.


    "I''ve got him now. No one can deceive me." She roared with glee.


    She is the Lord of the ne so she has certain privileges which she used to the fullest to determine his destination. Now she knows that he has left the ne and she also knows where he went through the connection the portal created as it opened.


    She muttered after realizing which ne they would be attacking. "Why would he choose this ne? This ne has not been attacked for a while now. It''s too difficult. It doesn''t matter anyway. I will corner him and get what I deserve from him."


    She doesn''t understand why Aeternus will choose to attack this ne but it doesn''t matter since she has confirmed that it is the ne he will be going to. She got the portal coordinates as soon as the portal opened. She is that efficient. Nothing will stop her from getting her hands on him.


    So another set of war horns sounded out and another set of soldiers was mobilized. This time the army is muchrger than that of Aeternus. Her house is much older than Aeternus''s. She has more troops and they are more powerful than his too. She may not have demon dukes but she has many demon nobles who can use umtion.


    She shared the coordinates of Aeternus''s destination ne with her allies too. Different war horns in various parts of the domain of noble demons were blown too. They have signed a contract with her to help her apprehend Aeternus. The bulk of the forces of the 541st ne is moving out together to fight a single demon. It is the hunt for Aeternus by high-rank demons again except it is on arger scale. There''s no way they can fail as the high-rank demons did. If Aeternus can handle them, then he wouldn''t have hidden in the domain of high-rank demons all along.


    The demon lord was boiling with excitement.


    "I can''t wait to get him." She said as she used the energy well to open a portal.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    A giant portal more than a kilometer in diameter opened. Her portal was created with the full assistance of the ne so it is the biggest portal in the ne. It showed the destination after clearing up. The portal connected to the same destination that Aeternus''s portal connected to. So the demon lord''s portal showed arge in of ck sand.


    "It''s the Armageddon of the ne. I''ll get you this time around." She said to herself then she ordered her army to move.


    The portals of the demon nobles also showed the Armageddon of the ne they are attacking. It''s the ce where demons are transported to if they are attacking a ne with a divine ne. It is only if a ne doesn''t have a divine ne that demons can tunnel freely into the main ne.


    Back to Zargoth ne.


    Zargoth had called for a divine council after his meeting with Helios so the gods were in their meeting talking about what to do about Helios when a power greater than the power of the divine ne and even greater than the power of the will of the realm of high heaven descended abruptly into their ne. This power behaved like a tyrant in its quest. It came for a reason and it won''t leave without fulfilling that reason. Even mother high heaven cannot interfere with the actions of this power.


    Thew matrix, the fabric that is the foundation of the visible and invisible universe, activated for the first time in a long time within the Zargoth ne. Thew matrix present withi the ne thrummed with power. As greater as the power is, its actions aren''t something that can be sensed in other times but it became especially ring in a ne without Origin energy.


    Something like this won''t have drawn any attention in the Virut ne since it happens every time. But it more than drew attention now. All the gods knew what it was and who it is happening to immediately. Even the mortals could see the effect of the invocation of thew matrix.


    Transcendents in the ne noticed, and so did the mana entities. It was like the announcement of a new god. It became a public event. The Colossus, behemoths, and Demigods in the mortal realm all turned in the same direction with various expressions on their faces. There was mostly shock and some longing on their faces. All the gods had their eyes glued to the pir of fire descending from the sky in that location. They all had a look of shock on their face.


    The pir of fire made of cosmic energy fell onto a golden giant meditating in the air. That golden giant is bing a king ofw and is being crowned for his effort inprehending thepletew of fire by the void universe itself. This giant has fullyprehended thew of fire and thus invoked thew matrix for acknowledgment. Then the pir disappeared after finishing its duty.

 Chapter 408 What To Do About The Future Of Giants?

    ?The invocation of thew matrix used to happen back in the day when the giants were chased back to their ne from the ancient battlefield. Those from other races that chased after the giants of Order used to break through once in a while. Then they all left because of the unconducive condition of the ne and because the giants of Order were killing every foreigner. Since then, no one has invoked thew matrix. Not until today.


    Without Origin energy, transcendents, lords, and kings lost their advantage. Titans could still use the power of the world but the drought of origin energy escted the process by which their essence leaked out of them thereby reducing their lifespan. So the majority of them left and those that didn''t leave died until the ne was empty of foreigners from the ancient battlefield that came to the Zargoth ne to hunt giants.


    That was thousands of origin cycles ago. This type of thing hasn''t happened for thousands of origin cycles. But it is happening again, but this time, to a giant of order.


    Someone asked, "What is going on?"


    It is an understandable question since some haven''t ever witnessed such an event. It was ages ago before most of them were born that thisst urred. Only the oldest of them have ever heard of something like this. So many of the gods don''t know what they are looking at but it certainly looks awesome to witness.


    "Isn''t that Stelios''s son?"


    This is the prevalent question in the minds of those that know about what''s going on. Even the ignorant ask this question after being informed of the significance of this event. The oddity of the event aside, the person it is happening to should not be a giant of order. So they had to ask to make sure that the person they are looking at is indeed Helios whom some of them witnessed his birth.


    The crowd of gods was thrown into chaos. There are so many reasons why it shouldn''t be happening. First, there is no Origin energy, so transcendents shouldn''t be able to sense thew matrix. Next, he is a giant of order. So even if there is Origin energy, he shouldn''t be able to sense thew matrix. Last but not the least, and probably the greatest reason why this shouldn''t be happening is that Helios just became a transcendent a few minutes ago.


    There are a lot of steps to bing a king ofw. First, you have to open your Origin core and build Origin channels to it. Then you have to umte Origin energy within your Origin core andprehendws. When thews areprehended the universe rewards you by converting the energy you have umted into first the Authority of a Lord ofw after a 50%prehension of aw followed by its upgrade into the Authority of a king ofw after the fullprehension of aw.


    In other words, there are levels to breakthroughs. People just don''t jump from one level to another only a few moments after bing transcendent or in this case, skip an entire level moments after bing a transcendent. They just don''t be kings ofws and omit the lord ofw stage.


    Even if all of that were possible, giants of Order can''t be lords, and bing kings ofw is a thing of a dream since they can''t sense otherws. And yet, Helios apparently seeded. It implies that he can sensews,prehend them and even finishprehending them without facing the obstruction of thew fragments of Order that have bonded with his body and soul.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The god of knowledge''s voice rose above the crowd as he shouted. "This is unprecedented, we must study him and figure out how he did it. His breakthrough represents the path forward for our race."


    The possibility of growth for their race is too appealing to the god of knowledge. He doesn''t care about their race, just the new field of knowledge that Helios represents.


    Another god supported him. "That''s true. Our race has a lot of potential. Imagine what we can do if we can be lords ofw. We''ll develop and have ess to the ancient battlefield."


    Some Actually care about the welfare of their race. They have been stuck in this dying ne for generations. Their rate of childbirth has fallen precariously. Theck of mana will soon be the death of them and Helios''s breakthrough represents salvation from that unpleasant end.


    Without mana, they will stop growing stronger and giving birth eventually or their race might devolve. But if they canprehendws, then they will be able to risk opening the ne again and returning to the ancient battlefield. If Helios can be a king ofw and in a few minutes no less, then maybe other giants of order can too.


    But another god shouted, "We have to get rid of him. The legacy of the gods will end with the rise of the path of perfection. We can''t let transcendents grow stronger or they will start trying to get origin energy within the ne. It will lead to a war that might end the gods."


    This god got a lot of support from the pantheon. Mortals are selfish, gods are more so. They have a good thing going here. They are gods and are worshipped and adored. A change in the status quo might disrupt that. The path of perfection is usually the enemy of those on the path of divinity. Is it a good idea to foster future enemies?


    The gods already have a hard time controlling transcendents. If transcendents get an alternative then serving the gods will be a poor choice for them. They will go to the ancient battlefield where they will grow stronger than the gods and then return to terrorize them.


    Most of the gods aren''t willing to risk their power and status for the good of the race. Even if the race does die or devolve, the gods will continue to remain on top until the very end and that is good enough for them.

 Chapter 409 Wait And See.

    ?The two sides began to argue. Combative words were tossed around until it was about to escte to realbat.


    "Silence." The Celestial Supreme stopped them.


    "Helios is a criminal of the church of order and numerous other churches. I have sent out forces to apprehend him. We will have more information when he is apprehended."


    The gods calmed down and listened to him. After all, his words are final.


    "He will be interrogated in front of all the gods once he has been apprehended. We will find out how he got his powers. We will get to the bottom of everything. Then we will decide what to do with that information. Helios will then be killed for his sins. He must die to atone for his error of casual murder of soldiers, priests, and an enforcer of the church of order."


    The gods settled down after hearing what he said. Most of them have been cated by the willingness of the Celestial Supreme to be open-minded. They are especially impressed that he will interrogate Helios in front of everyone. They expected him to hog the secret of Helios'' power to himself. It seems he is taking this seriously and sees it as something that concerns everyone, not just himself.


    As for the death of Helios, so be it. They don''t care about that. More than half of them want him dead anyway. He is the source of the problem that is about to challenge their way of life. As for the other half that might care about Helios, they are not willing to argue his case with the Celestial Supreme.


    Helios might be the savior of the race if his secrets turn out to be beneficial to everyone but he is weak and he has angered the wrong person. No one favors him enough to try and change the Celestial Supreme''s mind. The Celestial Supreme has already made a lot of concessions for everyone, they can''t ask more of him.


    It is highly unlikely that any plea for Helios will work anyway. Both Helios and his father have offended the Celestial Supreme. There''s probably nothing that can change the Celestial Supreme''s mind about killing them.


    The Celestial Supreme became satisfied with the response of the gods. He couldn''t help but smirk inwardly though. He is amused because he lied to them and they believed him hook line and sinker.


    His reply appeased both sides since it is still uncertain what the oue will be but he gave his forces orders to kill Helios not to capture him. He is not a fan of change and Helios represents a huge possibility of that. There''s no way he will allow the possibility of being usurped to exist within the ne. He was interested in figuring out Helios''s allegiance and his source of Origin energy before. But now, Helios''s secrets will die with him.


    His eyes glinted as he thought to himself, ''My ne, my rules.''


    The God of Knowledge asked, "How do you intend to apprehend him? If what we just saw is real, then he will be a king ofw and he must also have ess to Origin energy."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Helios has to be taken seriously now. He is not some freshly baked transcendent. He is a freshly baked king ofw with Origin energy to wield his control over thews and as such deserves to be taken seriously. They cannot hope to apprehend him with ordinary transcendents.


    The Celestial Supreme replied, "I''ll do whatever it takes."


    It isn''t a good answer but it is good enough for the goods. They are able to glean from his words that he will pull out all stops and that is good enough for them. It has to be good enough for them, because if the Celestial Supreme fails to apprehend Helios, then there''s nothing they can do about it.


    The meeting dispersed and Celestial Supreme returned to his divine kingdom. Then he descended into the mortal realm. This time he didn''t descend as an avatar. He descended into a transcendent. A group of giants of Order are rushing toward Helios. A colossus in full transformation is holding 9 other transcendents in his hands as he ran forward.


    All of a sudden, the mild eyes of the Colossus turned ck and white. One eye was pure white while the other became pure ck. The Celestial Supreme spoke through his vessel to the others that he is carrying.


    "Buckle up. We will pick up speed."


    Then it activated an ability. "God step."


    The long legs of the transcendent reached forward as he ran while the space between the legs of the Colossus shrank. The transcendent suddenly gained a massive boost in speed as it covered more distance.


    The hidden god might have a lot of vessels but the gods also have one or two around. Transcendents are smart and will probably not go for bing a vessel, but if you brainwash them well enough from childhood with religion, then it is highly possible for them to be foolish enough to be vessels for gods. It is this kind of thing that is under threat of extinction if the path of perfection opens up to giants of order. Then transcendents will disdain to be vessels even more.


    These 10 transcendents are the bulk of the Celestial Supreme''s stash of vessels. He had been keeping them for emergencies but Helios''s breakthroughpelled him to bring them out. There is no greater emergency than the rise of the path of perfection. It will mean an end to the way of life of the giants of Order and the destruction of his world order.


    The group of transcendents made a good time. They reached Helios quicker than expected, ready to do battle with him and capture him. Another divine council was called for this asion. It wasn''t to discuss but to watch the fight. Only the Celestial Supreme has any divine Influence in the surrounding so they need him to show them the fight. This is a fight that is being witnessed by all the gods. It is a fight that will alter the future of the giants of Order.

 Chapter 410 Ushering The War Of The End.

    ?They found the golden figure still sitting in the air and meditating. The golden figure opened his eyes when he sensed them. They were still kilometers away but Helios couldn''t wait for them toe to him. He stood up and did one final check to get ready.


    NAME: Helios (Legion-4)


    TITLE: Child Of The Virut ne. Child Of The Sun.


    RACE: Sun Giant.


    BLOODLINE: Sunfire Royal bloodline.


    POWER LEVEL: King of Law.


    PHYSIQUE: Half-Celestial Body.


    HP: INFINITE


    STAMINA: INFINITE


    ENERGY QUALITY: Origin Energy.


    ENERGY QUANTITY: 204,838,119


    VITALITY: 100,000,000,000


    ENDURANCE: 100,000,000,000


    STRENGTH: 100,000,000,000


    AGILITY: 100,000,000,000


    PERCEPTION: 100,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 100,000,000,000


    AMPLIFICATION: 100


    AUTHORITY: Celestial Of The Sun.


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 10,000,000,000 (B)


    LAWS


    1. Fire: 100%


    2. Light: 2%<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    3. Order: 0.001%


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 100%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): FIRE (DIVINE), LIGHT (DIVINE), ORDER (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Excited.


    A lot has changed in the short time he became a transcendent. For one, he is not a transcendent anymore. He is a king ofw with a power amplification of 100 for mastering a singlew. He knows otherws but he can''t use them because of the fragments of order that have fused with his existence. He has been condemned to only use thew of fire, light, and order.


    His breakthrough gave him more than the Authority of a king ofw and the 100 amplification thates with it. It also increased his stat by 100 times. It is something that happens during every breakthrough starting from the level of transcendent. Each breakthrough multiplies your amount of Authority and your stats by 10. Since he broke through twice, he got 100 times multiplication to his already bogus starts.


    The multiplication of power during breakthroughs ismon. Even though he broke through twice in a roll, he got what he should get. What isn''tmon is his power that was multiplied. Normal transcendents have a starting stat of 10,000 stats and a maximum of 100,000 through the absorption of origin energy. They stop growing when they reach this limit, only the blessing of the universe can make them grow after that.


    Origin Energy has a limit on how much growth it can afford a transcendent so they need the blessing of the universe or what is specifically called cosmic energy. The only way to get that blessing is toprehendws and break through the ranks of a lord, king, titan, and Sovereign. By that time, they will reach 1 billion in stats and have an Authority of at least 10,000. He has 1 billion stats already without bing a Sovereign.


    The multiplication of his abnormal power required a lot more than the universe usually gives to others. His unusual breakthrough caused a strain on thew matrix of the universe and created that phenomenon that is visible throughout the ne. He absorbed a lot more cosmic energy than normal. So the pir of fire that was created for his breakthrough as a king of thew of fire could be seen all over the ne.


    "It didn''t work, but we have alternatives. We will break anotherw of the universe. It is just a matter of time." Helios said to himself and to the others in his mind.


    They had hoped to be rewarded for Helios''s feat but it didn''t happen. Apparently, what they did is not unprecedented.It was unlikely for them to get it anyway since there are several races simr to giants of order that have no restrictions on stat growth. Dragons don''t have a limit to their stats. Normal mana entities are limited to 1,000 stats, giants of order to 5,000 stats, but Dragons take the cake by having no limits.


    The older dragons get, the stronger they be because they continue to umte Stats. So it is highly likely for azy dragon to sleep and umte a billion stats and then breakthrough because it can, not because it wants to or need to.


    His eyes became cold when he is reminded of dragons. He is also reminded of his promise to that dragon that treated him like an ant during the trial of heaven. That dragon had smirked in disdain at him. He promised their entire race Chaos and Legion will fulfill its promise. Revenge wille in time to the dragon race. They will feel what it feels like to be hunted by a superior organism.


    "We''ll get dragons one day, but for now, I''ll take care of this nuisance and usher in the war of the end."


    He turned his frosty white eyes on the iing enemy, "He is going all out huh? That''s good, I should too."


    Helios activated the runes on his body and began to transform. The surface of his skin morphed and hardened into pieces of white amour. He became encased within a suit of white armor with golden runes etched into it. Then he grew two more pairs of arms making for a total of six.


    Four of his arms morphed into hollow cylinders while he put his two remaining arms together. The two armsbined into arge barrel which was then erged. Red javelins began to form within the hollow cylinders that the other 4 arms formed. The javelins are made of Origin energy fashioned with the full might of thepletew of fire andbined with the divine power of a celestial.


    It is an upgrade on the sunbow that demigods of the sun use. His sun cannon shoots giant arrows instead of the small ones that are normally used. He needs something bigger. After all, this is not an archery test imposed on him by his divine brother. He is fighting the forces of the Celestial Supreme.


    "Time to send a greeting. It''s basic courtesy." He grinned and said.


    The four hollow cylinders began firing their payload. They took turns shooting the javelins and reloading. Firery he''ll fell on his targets.

 Chapter 411 Deceit.

    ?The four hollow barrels turned red-hot as they umted power. Then they infused that power with Origin energy to form javelins fashioned with thew of fire. Then they propelled their payload at great speed toward the iing enemies.


    The javelins of fire shot through the air at hypersonic speeds, 5 times the speed of sound. The group of transcendent saw the attack and were not caught unawares since Helios fired from a great distance. The lead Colossus dropped the nine transcendents that he is holding while it went forward to defend against the projectiles. The nine transcendents began to transform, some of them became Colossus while the others became behemoths.


    The behemoths don''t change in height, they still remain giants reaching up to 100 meters tall but they acquire two more arms and don armor made out of hardened flesh. They are rumored to be strong enough to crush almost anything with their four arms.


    The two forms of Colossus and Behemoths are mutually exclusive. They are the two possible oues for giants of order as transcendents. Colossi possesses a rxed lock of Order fragments. It enables them to expand their form while Behemoths can''t because the lock of Order is very rigid and resistant to change.


    Colossus or Behemoths, all of these transcendents that are attacking Helios have something inmon. Their eyes are ck and white orbs of fire. They are vessels being empowered to the limit of safety. The light in their eyes is not the light of a simple god''s descent but a visual indication of the extreme option of a god''s empowerment.


    These transcendents are using not only the divine power of the Celestial Supreme, but they are also using his god-fire to empower themselves. It is suicidal but it is the only way they know to apprehend a king ofw while they are transcendents.


    The forefront Colossus continued to run toward Helios to preupy him while the others transform. Its two burning eyes indicate that it is the Celestial Supreme that is in control. The Colossus extended its divine sense reinforced with divine power to block the projectiles. The divine sense solidified into small hovering shields that will block the spears.


    The Colossus used its eyes and mind to track the trajectory of the projectiles and ced the 10-meter rectangr shields urately within their path. Colossus can create shields like this because of the loose grip of the chains of order on their body and mind. They are able to use the solidified divine sense of transcendents through the gaps in Order.


    The shields were ced more than 1000 meters away from the Colossus giving it enough time to make adjustments if the shields fail. It even added a backup shield behind the first one all in preparation for its failure. The shields didn''t fail. The first Javelin struck a shield and created a giant explosion. The same thing happened to the next three javelins. The Colossus sighed in relief after confirming the efficacy of the shields.


    "This is enough then." It said and picked up speed.


    The ground shook harder as the feet of the Colossus increased their frequency of smashing into the ground. It has confidence in its shields so it can move forward without being too cautious.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The four hollow cylinders reloaded and discharged their payload for another round. The Colossus matched forward undaunted. It moved its shields around to intercept the continuous attacks. Its confidence has been boosted by the sessful blockage of the first four attacks, so it had no worries about what will happen next.


    The javelins struck the shields and exploded far away from the Colossus. It was another waste. Helios''s attacks failed to prate the shields but he didn''t give up. He fired more projectiles at the Colossus.


    The Colossus yelled in bravado at Helios, "You will fall beneath the might of order."


    The next wave of projectiles arrived again. The first javelin hit the well-ced shield and prated it. It also prated the backup shield cleanly. Then it continued on its way to the Colossus.


    The Colossus was about to snort in derision at Helios'' continuous yet ineffectual attacks but the passage of air was disrupted in his throat when his shield failed him.


    The oue was not expected to say the least. It caught the Colossus by surprise but he has time to react since the shields are so far from it. It may have reactedte because of the shock, but it still reacted. The Colossus is not a transcendent for nothing. The Celestial Supreme increased the power of the zing fires in its eyes and created a much stronger shield. But its effort was futile. The javelin suddenly sped up doubling in speed and reaching Mach 10. The Colossus miscalcted and the shield was toote to be useful as the javelin closed in on it.


    The javelin aimed for the chest of the Colossus so it used itsrge arm reinforced with power to try and bat it away. It didn''t go well. The javelin sank into the arm and exploded. The explosion spread fire across the arm destroying it in moments.


    The Colossus wasn''t given time to handle pain. Its distraction with the first javelin made it miss the other iing ones when they also doubled in speed. So another javelin took its right leg and then the left leg.


    The Celestial Supreme is the one controlling the power of his god fire and he is limiting its output to a level he estimates will be enough to subdue a high god. Helios is a new King ofw so his estimate should have been enough to match him.


    His estimate was enough for Helios''s first round of attack and the second. That should have been the end of it. Unfortunately for the Colossus, Helios was pretending to be weak. He is not an ordinary king ofw. Helios''s deceit cost the Celestial Supreme the life of one of his transcendents and the fight has only just begun.

 Chapter 412 Play Time Is Over.

    ?God fire is the very me created from a god spark when someone bes a god. It burns almost everything apart from the god that it belongs to. Even a vessel that is attuned to that god is not safe from it. A god needs it to convert faith to divine energy so it is very important to a god. It can be said to be the foundation of their faith.


    Using the god fire on things apart from faith energy will deplete it until it dies off because only faith can fuel it. Using it on a god''s vessel will quicken the rate at which the vessel deteriorates and dies. It will also weaken the god. That''s why the Celestial was holding back on using his full power from the start.


    He didn''t go all out when the battle started. It would have been a waste of both god fire and vessel if his full power wasn''t needed. It is a good decision too since his full power shouldn''t be needed for a king ofw. But who would have thought that the limit of the estimation of Helios''s power is not the limit and that he would fool them?


    Holding back made the first vessel unprepared for the sudden onught of attack. The Colossus stumbled and began to fall as it lost its limbs. It still struggled to fight back. A fight has not ended until death so the Celestial Supreme increased the power of the god-fire to the level of a grand god. If the power of a high god cannot stop Helios''s attacks, surely the power of a grand god should be able to.


    The Celestial Supreme still held back from using its full power. There is no indication that it needs its full power. It might be that its inexperience with fighting a king of fire is what''s causing the poor showing. He created stronger shields with the power of a grand god to block iing projectiles. That still wasn''t enough.


    The javelins prated the shields again. They struck the Colossus on the head and torso spreading fire all over it. The Colossus died before reaching the ground. It went out in mes after taking several hits of the javelins of fire.


    The other nine transcendents were inwardly shocked by the quick death of theirrade but they didn''t show it. The Celestial Supreme controlling them has a strong hold on their emotions and behavior. Instead of being ck-jawed, they used the time that theirrade bought for them with his life to get into formation.


    7 behemoths took the vanguard and the remaining two Colossi in the group reduced their heights to match the behemoths and followed along. The behemoths didn''t care for shields as they ran toward Helios without worry. They can''t create shields so they have to rely on their armor. Their armor has not disappointed them so far so they are confident of its defense.


    The javelins of fire impacted the hard body armor and exploded but the Behemoths were unharmed. They ran through the explosion as if they are taking me showers. Thebination of their armor and the divine power of a grand god protected them from Helios''s fiery wrath.


    Their formation held up under the assault of the javelins. None of the javelins could get past their imprable defenses which left the Colossi behind them safe from harm. That was until the spears began moving erratically. They stopped moving in straight lines and instead swerved around the behemoths to bombard the Colossi behind them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Move on." The Celestial Supreme decided.


    They had two options, slow down to defend the two Colossi or continue forward to stop Helios from trying to stall them. The Celestial Supreme can sense a terrible power brewing within Helios and he chose to prioritize it over the safety of the two Colossi.


    The two Colossi defended themselves against the bombardment by creating shields at the level of a Celestial. Their shields blocked all the attacks keeping them sound and safe. They followed behind the Behemoths without any issues until they began to slow down. Their speed dropped as they weakened. Then they died after defending numerous waves of attack.


    They became too weak to put up their defended and were struck down but it wasn''t Helios that killed them. The burden of using the power of a Celestial finally got to them and they were consumed by the God fire that previously protected them. Helios only provided the reason for them to be condemned to a painful death of having their body and soul consumed by the fire of a god.


    The Celestial Supreme''s decision to sacrifice the Colossi was the right one but it changes nothing. Helios specifically targeted the Colossi in their group because they can erge while Behemoths with iparable defense can''t erge. A colossus would have been able to reach him quickly if they are allowed to use the advantage of their size.


    Theck of defense of the Colossi made them vulnerable to the javelins and made them great targets. It also kept them at bay and gave Helios time to do what he wanted. He started attacking them at a great distance away so he was ready for his full attack by the time the strong Behemoths could get close.


    Helios grinned as saw the 7 intact behemothsing for him. His divine sense whispered to them, "ytime is over."


    He has been preparing something within the barrel that hebined two of his arms to form. He fired it now and the world became dark immediately as the Authority of the Celestial god of the sun was used. The light of the world disappeared because the power of the sun entering the ne has been funneled into Helios. The stolen light was then pumped into the barrel.


    The power of the sun isn''t being used to power the attack that is toe but to ignite the attack. The attack is powerful enough without the power of the sun, it just needs something to get it moving. Like a little push to make a boulder roll down a mountain. All that power is just for the little push.

 Chapter 413 Seperating Chaff From The Grain.

    ?The barrel formed by his two arms glowed as if he is holding a small but very bright star. The origin energy within it that has been woven into a small star core with thew of fire was then ignited by the power of the sun. Then it was fired. The barrel released arge beam of pure white full of power and energy. The beam moved at the speed of light, undodgeable and unstoppable. Itsted for only one second but it was enough. The barrel disintegrated into motes of light after performing its duty.


    "Celestial Authority!" The Celestial Supreme eximed in shock.


    He realized the level of the threat immediately. It is worse than his most daring estimate. So he cranked up the god fire within his vessels. It turned from a spark into a big roaring me. In the darkened world that Zargoth has be because of Helios''s attack, 2 prominent sources of light were seen. One is a giant phantom dressed in white armor with ck hair. The phantom bent and used its body as a shield to protect something. The other source of light is a star rising with overwhelming momentum and trying to engulf the phantom.


    The phantom resisted for a brief moment before it was consumed. Then the rising star hit its targets and cut them to pieces. The beam of light continued to wreak destruction behind the behemoths. It cut into the ground and created a deep, narrow canyon that almost ran to the edge of the ne.


    The canyon stretched like a gaping maw from behind the Behemoths to ces afar. The canyon continued in length even as the beam turned sand intova and created diamonds in their depths. A deep and dark crevice forever marred the Zargoth ne. The beam would have set the ne on fire if there are forests or split mountains apart if there were mountains.


    The light of that beam blinded anything using eyes that gazed upon it, even transcendents. It was like a sh bomb went off in the ne. Transcendents and mana entities will heal the damage to their eyes but the rest will be blinded forever for daring to look at the manifestation of the Authority of a Celestial. It is unfortunate for them since any being alive right now just barely survived the suffocation attempt of the Celestial Supreme.


    Of the 7 behemoths, only one survived. This special behemoth saw the bright light that cut through them like sharp shears through wheat and survived. It was shaken and it showed in its behavior. The poor behemoth seemed ready to fall or be blown away by the slightest wind. Even the Celestial Supreme was also shaken. He felt the aura of a Celestial on Helios but he didn''t expect that he would have ess to Celestial Authority too.


    In fact, the entire pantheon of gods was shaken. They are all shaken because they sensed the use of multiple Celestial Authorities in the mortal realm. Not one, but two different Celestial Authorities. Even two mortals can deduce as much by the sight of the two shing forces. They sensed Celestial Authorities from both Helios and the surviving Behemoth. They can''t question the Celestial Supreme yet since the fight has not ended.


    The behemoth that survived looked shakily past the sliced bodies of the other 6 behemoths to stare behind himself. A sea ofva that wasn''t there before has appeared behind him. The sea is made from molten sand and it extends far beyond his eyesight. There''s also the canyon that extends through the sea to beyond his sight. He gulped involuntarily. Then it turned back immediately.


    Helios had appeared before him. Helios pped and spoke. "Wee, Half Celestial. Now that the chaff has been removed from the grain, we can get to business. Don''t you think?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The behemoth''s eyes widened. He muttered, "You know about me?"


    Helios answered. "Of course, I do. Why else will I sit here waiting for you slow pokes? I could have run away if I wanted to escape. But I wanted you here at this very spot. Wee again."


    He has imbued the power of celestial light into his body through his runes and through his breakthrough with the Celestial energy of the sun god so he is very fast. There''s only one person that canpete in speed with him in the entire Zargoth ne and that person is currently incapacitated. So he can be considered the fastest person on the ne. Escaping is not a problem for him but he waited here for something. That something has been delivered to him.


    Normal vessels can''t wield god fire without burning up. Normal vessels certainly cannot use a Celestial Authority. If Helios sits here and fights enemies sent by the gods to capture him, the gods will have to send vessels that they can express their full power through. That is the only way for gods to use their power in the mortal realm.


    If he pushes those vessels to their limit then the gods will resort to the use of god fire. If he pushes those vessels far enough, god fire will burn them up. That is unless that vessel is special. If that special vessel is a Half Celestial, then that special vessel will surely use the Celestial Authority of order and survive his attack made with the Celestial Authority of the sun. Then he will have what he waited here for.


    It helped that this ne is backward and not developed enough to use golems as their vessels. They still use transcendents as their vessels. Fortunately for him, what he needs is a special transcendent not a golem. He would have continued to create trouble for the gods and they would have continued to send forces to stop him until he gets what he wants.


    The behemoth backed up in fear. It asked fearfully, "What do you want from me?"


    Helios answered with a grin. "Why don''t you surrender and you will find out."

 Chapter 414 Butchered Like A Pig For A Sacrifice.

    ?His six-armed figure in white shiny armor doesn''t look heroic to the behemoth. Helios looks more like a death knight masquerading as a holy knight to the behemoth. The flesh of the Behemoths that came with it is still burned and smoking beside him. Even though Helios is only 10 meters tall, he seems terrifying like a demon from the abyss. The behemoth turned and ran.


    Helios shook his head. "Foolish. I just said I am fast and you turn to run."


    He isn''t the only one with that opinion. The Celestial Supreme has the same opinion and is shouting it to the mind of the behemoth.


    "Stand your ground and fight. Running is not the answer."


    But the Behemoth won''t listen now that it has regained control over its body. "I''m not doing anything you tell me, father. Not again, not ever again."


    Helios shed and arrived behind the fleeing behemoth. He stomped on the back of the behemoth and brought him to the ground. Then he pressed him down with his weight. One doesn''t have stats in the 100 billion and not be heavy. He might look small but he weighs as heavy as a small star. The Origin energy he has been umting since his breakthrough from its unlimited source has increased his weight beyond the heaviest object found naturally within a ne. So the behemoth couldn''t push him away.


    Four of his arms held down the struggling behemoths while the other two morphed into des. The des are white solid constructs made from light and fire. They are also vibrating at a very high frequency so that they will be able to cut through matter easily.


    He said the behemoth. "This is going to be very painful. Demonic sacrifices require it. I''m going to need you to brace yourself and stay still."


    The terror of the behemoth only increased. It screamed, "Please let me go. I''ll do anything you want. Anything."


    Helios disregarded his pleas. "I wouldn''t put that on you. I''m more of a doer. If I want something, I take it. I don''t like to receive handouts from others."


    He ignored the shouts, pleas, and promises from the behemoth and began the gory work of butchering the sacrificialmb. His two des used the small vulnerability between the different parts of the body armor to cut into the flesh of the behemoth. The vibrating des cut into the tough flesh like very sharp saws rending it apart and causing thick white blood to flow.


    The screams of the behemoths only increased after Helios got to work. The screams were irritating but Helios ignored them. It is the consequence of his current endeavor and he needs his offering to be alive during the sacrifice so he has to bear with it. The Celestial Supreme didn''t ignore the screams.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He kept shouting to the screaming behemoth. "You''re useless. Stop shouting and use your Authority. Do something. You are not my son for nothing. You should not be butchered like a pig."


    The behemoth didn''t stop screaming but it activated the Celestial Authority of Order. A phantom of the Celestial Supreme appeared around them but Helios exploded with the Celestial Authority of the Sun before it could do anything. He created a domain with his divine sense and filled it with sma from his body. Then he ignited the sma with Origin energy.


    It looked like he became a star for a brief instant before he exploded. The explosion scattered the phantom as the Celestial Authority of the Sun shed with the Celestial Authority of order. The behemoth, which can be called the only true giant of Order in the Zargoth ne couldn''t do anything to stop Helios.


    Helios targeted the joints of the limbs first. He cut the wrist and ankles. Then the joint of the elbow and the knee. Followed by the sockets at the shoulders. It is bloody work but he did it stoically. He isn''t taking pleasure from it, but he will take pleasure from what the act will bring for Legion.


    The situation is certainly odd but a lot of odd things have been happening recently so the gods watching don''t know what Helios''s aim is. Any transcendent from a normal race will be able to call out the first odd thing. It is that Transcendents don''t have flesh and blood. You shouldn''t be able to cut off their hands because what you''re cutting off is a part of their existence that looks like a hand.


    If you cut off a normal transcendent''s hand, it can be easily reabsorbed back into the body of the transcendent unless the arm is destroyed. If the arm is destroyed, the transcendent can easily regrow another arm as long as they have energy and nows are used in destroying the arm. But this is not the same for giants of order.


    Giants of Order are anything but normal. Their transcendents are the same too, they are abnormal. They have two major and one hidden option for when they be transcendents. If the chains of order in their body entrap their soul too much as it usually does, the giant bes a behemoth. Their existence bes a prison cut off from the external world and resistant to changes. That rigidity means you can cut off their body.


    If in a rare situation, the soul escapes the bondage due to some innate talent, the effect of a particr rune on their body or exposure to Origin energy, the giant of order bes a Colossus. They are capable of expanding the cage that is their body to great sizes and they also lose their resistance to the external world due to it.


    The already weakened cage that is their body will copse when a Colossus dies. That''s why every Colossus that he has killed didn''t leave behind any corpse. Their body functions like those of normal transcendents. They disappear once they lose their connection to the consciousness of the main body.


    Fortunately, this special Behemoth is not like a Collosus or else Legion would not target him as offering for a demonic sacrifice.

 Chapter 415 Half-Celestials.

    ?It is how normal transcendents should behave after they die. But the corpses of the behemoths remain and have littered the ground all around. If the Colossus were hated in the ancient battlefield because of their impetuous absorption of origin energy, Behemoths are loved because they don''t drain Origin energy and because they leave behind materials for Origin weapons when they die.


    The third and hidden option is when it is a demigod that transcends. The divine power within them fuses with their body and allows them to continue using runes. They can only use runes that match their divine power but it is still an advantage. Priests are stronger than giants of order in the mana stage because of the superiority of divine spells but that changes as transcendents.


    Demigods are so powerful that they are more powerful than both Colossus and Behemoths. The body of demigods behaves like that of Colossus and Behemoths. You can cut off body parts to use but those body parts disappear when they die. That is why he needs this special Behemoth alive as he prepares his body for what is toe. But that isn''t the reason why he is after this particr demigod that looks like a behemoth. He could have found any demigod to use but he wanted this particr special Behemoth.


    Demigods are very rare because of their low birth rate and because most of them die trying to fulfill the requirements of heroic feats needed to be divine lords. Even rarer than demigods are children of Celestials, like the behemoth that Helios is butchering. Other gods give birth to demigods, but a Celestial gives birth tonded gods.


    Landed gods are gods without divine kingdoms. They can roam the mortal realm butck the protection and authority of a divine kingdom. You won''t be able to tell anded god apart from a vessel until they exhibit certain traits. One such trait is using the Authority of a god.


    Thesended gods created from a Celestial are rarer to encounter than Origin essence. They are very rare for various reasons. A true God cannot copte with a mortal while two gods can''t conceive together. Only a demigod, one that is part mortal and part divine can help conceive the child of a true God. That is a tough requirement.


    Conception as a result of coption between a mortal and a god is very difficult. Conception between a mortal and a god of the race of giants of order with low fertility is extra difficult but possible. Conception between a true God and a demigod of the giants of order is next to impossible. The chances are so low that any resulting conception between a god and a demigod is officially a miracle.


    But that is not the biggest problem that limits the number of children of celestials. Thesended gods are born with a divine ability like any demigod, but instead of using the small divine power that they gain from their divine parent, they use the Authority of their parent. This ess to authority is not freely given either. It is more like they have equal ess to the Authority of their parent.


    In a nutshell, Half-celestials are born to usurp their parents and will achieve it if they be capable of wrestling control of the Authority away from their divine parent. So a celestial usually kill his or her child as soon as it is born. People are selfish, they don''t like to share, and the gods are more so. No god will want to leave a real threat to their Authority alive.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Celestials had to struggle every step of the way to acquire their strength but a half-celestial gains their Authority simply by being born. That is unfair. Thebination of fear and jealousy leads to the murder of a lot of half-celestial babies. It is a miracle for a half-celestial to be conceived. It is another miracle for them to survive their childhood. That''s two miracles needed for one to encounter a half-celestial. It practically borders on delusion for you to hope to encounter one.


    Some foolish celestials have been known to swallow their kids to prevent that future. They are too soft to kill the baby Half-celestial outright like a smart person. It has been shown that it is a stupid idea and it will not solve the problem.


    The half-celestial don''t die in the stomach of the Celestial. Instead, they gain ess to the Celestial''s infinite storage of divine power and grow up big and strong. Then they bid their time and take over their parent''s Authority when they are weakened.


    So swallowing a half-celestial doesn''t remove them as a threat just like avoiding a problem will not solve the problem. Destroying the problem is certain to end the problem. But the Celestial Supreme who is known for his control issues and refusal to share power for some reason didn''t kill this special behemoth.


    This Behemoth is a true giant of order just like Helios is a giant of the sun. They both have ess to the Authority of a celestial god. This behemoth was born with the divine power of order. So instead of the divine power weakening the effect of thew of order on his body during his breakthrough to transcendence, it enhanced it to great lengths. That''s why he is the only one to survive Helios''s decimating attack and the major reason why Helios is butchering him for a demonic sacrifice.


    He might look like a normal behemoth but the other behemoths couldn''t survive the attack even though the Celestial Supreme ramped up the god fire to empower them. They all died because no matter how much power he gives them, they don''t have his Authority.


    They need that Authority if they hope to match an attack that is equivalent to the power of a Sovereign and is catalyzed by the Celestial power and Authority of the sun. No amount of power can stop his attack without an Authority of equal level. This Behemoth hence filled every checkbox for preferred offering. He has a Celestial Authority, he is a giant of Order and to top it off, he is weak. It is practically divine providence.

 Chapter 416 Like Father Like Son.

    ?His attack with the Celestial Authority of the Sun separated the useless chaff from the grain. The attack required a Celestial Authority to survive. He would have simply waited for the Celestial Supreme to send more if that attack had killed every single one of them. Fortunately, he got what he wanted on the first try because the Celestial Supreme decided to go all out from the start. Now he gets to use the behemoth for the glory of Legion.


    To be precise, Helios needs his flesh and blood because he has the Authority of Order imbibed into his body. He can ask the screaming behemoth nicely for his help and skip the butchering but why bother? Asking for help will allow opportunities for mistakes and failure. Failure cannot be allowed because it is another clone of Legion that is at stake. If you want something done right, it is best you do it yourself. So Helios will sacrifice this behemoth to the will of the abyss with his own very hands.


    Above In The Divine ne.


    The gods are all silent. The sounds of pain that the behemoth is making as it is being butchered filled the council hall. No one said anything but their eyes are all focused and questioning the Celestial Supreme for answers. None of them knew that he had a child. He hid his child well while he forced their own children into dangerous quests for heroic feats.


    He is usually the one that judges others, but this time they are all silently judging him. Their eyes focused on him and judge him for his hypocrisy. Only one person didn''t get the memo to keep quiet.


    Harkam asked out loud, "Didn''t Stelios just be a Celestial? Why is it that the sun dwarf has ess to the Celestial Authority of the sun too? How does this work? I thought only the children that a Celestial birth to gets ess to their Authority but what about Helios? He was born when Stelios was a grand god. Is it that all the children that Stelios gave birth to get ess to the Authority? Are all his divine lords nownded gods too? I am so confused right now."


    No one could answer. They are all confused too. So they looked towards the one that should have the answer. But even the Celestial Supreme is confused about Helios. Still, he has to say something. At least to reduce the awkward atmosphere.


    He spoke up. "I had a son."


    He had a son with a female demigod that he is not willing to speak of.


    "I kept him a secret because he doesn''t like disturbance."


    More like his son was petrified of the world. The Celestial Supreme likes order and has decided to impose his own order on the world through total control, but his son believes total control is impossible. The boy also likes order but the world is too chaotic for him. The Chaos of the world made him afraid of it, so he sequestered himself away in a safely ensconced location where he can exhibit total control. The father and son are both obsessive but at different extremes.


    "He volunteered to help fight Helios."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The son refused to fight or learn how to. That''s why the father let him live. But the boy refused to help the father fight a threat when the father came asking for help. The boy refused to go outside of his domain into the world, so the father forcefully took over his body and mind. A half-celestial is a perfect vessel for a celestial. Other vessels will burn up and die when theye in contact with the god fire of a god but not a half-celestial. Half-celestials were made to take over from their parents after all.


    The Celestial Supreme kept talking. "It came at a great cost."


    It wasn''t easy forcefully taking over the body of his son but he was able to do it because he is much stronger. It is risky though since it goes both ways. Just like a Celestial can take over the body of his child, his child can also absorb him to rob him of his power.


    "Despite the cost, I assembled the best of my vessels to get the work done."


    He decided to use the best of his resources in the mortal realm to end the conflict as soon as possible. He wanted to avoid the wastage of personnel and time. He also wanted to prevent errors. He still has a silent war going on between him and the hidden god. So it is best that he be efficient about eliminating Helios.


    "But they failed and things have obviously gone out of hand."


    The ten vessels he sent are the best he can field but it apparently wasn''t enough. They set out to face Helios and they were trounced epically. The boy regained control when the Celestial Supreme used his Authority to save him. Since they both have control of that Authority, the boy''s weak mind used it to regain control of his body. But unlike the Celestial Supreme, he doesn''t know how to use the Authority or how to fight. Now he has fallen into Soverick''s hands and is being butchered.


    "I don''t know why he is cutting up my son, probably to spite me but we will know soon."


    He sighed. "There''s nothing we can do anyway. All we can do is watch. I am open to ideas."


    He felt resigned. He has tried everything that he can do against Helios on such short notice and it has failed.


    The gods felt different emotions. No matter their opinion on the development of their race with the opportunity for the path of perfection, it doesn''t feel good to be helpless and unable to do anything to anyone. Resignation is the option meant for the weak. It is unbing of the gods to be so helpless but they know better than to do something stupid. They can all still hear the pitiful cries of the poor son of the Celestial Supreme.

 Chapter 417 No More Celestials.

    ?That attack that Helios produced which tried to split the ne in half is enough for them to know that Helios is as powerful as a sovereign ofw or a Celestial. They can''t do anything to him. In fact, they are not safe from him. They can only hole up in their divine kingdoms like Stelios if they want to be safe. Only a Celestial can keep themselves safe from him.


    The god of knowledge stood up and asked, "On behalf of all the grand gods, we will like to know if it is allowed for us to ascend and be Celestials."


    There''s something they can do but it is the trump card of the gods. They are not willing to use it yet and it isn''t even certain that it will work on Helios. They would rather invest in something with more certainty. Something like ascending and bing Celestials.


    The god of knowledge has spoken to some gods and this issue is most pressing. He chose to stand up and state it because the Celestial Supreme said he is open to ideas. He wouldn''t dream of asking for such a thing we''re the situation not so dire.


    The Celestial Supreme mmed his hand on his desk. "Never. It is not allowed."


    Having other Celestials will strengthen him far more than killing and absorbing other Celestials. Celestials can only grow stronger by absorbing other Celestials but qualitative changes can only be achieved if they absorb a Celestial with a simr Authority orpatible domain. Not a lot of domains arepatible with Order. One of them is Justice, the imposition of rules and the enforcement of them.


    The opposite domain is also verypatible. Like Day and night, light and darkness, power and weakness, strife and peace, Order and Fate. Absorbing an opposite domain helps to shore up the weakness of a domain. Fate which represents the randomness of the world, ifbined with Order will lead to the possibility of total control.


    But the celestial supreme can''t absorb fate because he is weak to it. It is the problem thates with trying to absorb your opposite domain. You have to ovee your weakness, face it, and triumph over it. Since he can''t do that yet, having more celestials to empower him is a good thing but he will never have it.


    Apart from his dislike for more threats to his power, the process of creating Celestials is too chaotic. Grand gods will turn against each other and kill one another for power. The divine ne will be thrown into utter Chaos. It is not a wee prospect considering the shambles that the mortal realm is in right now.


    The Zargoth ne will bepromised in both the divine and main ne which will make them a prime target for invasion if he allows the ascension of Celestials. He can''t allow the Chaos and the vulnerability so he said no.


    The god of knowledge didn''t back down. "What if you cannot protect us?"


    He raised his voice then. "Then you die because if you be a Celestial, I will kill you myself. As long as I live, there will never be another Celestial."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "But what about Stelios?" The goddess of power and might asked.


    "What about him? I will get rid of him soon enough. I will not allow another Celestial to exist until I am dead." The Celestial Supreme promised.


    They began arguing when they heard someone say something totally unrted to the topic.


    "What is the sun dwarf even doing?" Harkam asked nonchntly. He is totally unconcerned with the turmoil going on around him.


    He doesn''t care about bing a Celestial because he doesn''t want to be a Celestial. He ns to be an origin god. He didn''t go to great lengths for Tanya only to seal his fate as a Celestial god. What is he going to do for fun for all of eternity? Having a child wille with very serious repercussions when he is a Celestial. What if he is really fertile and doesn''t need a demigod to conceive a child? Being a Celestial is a lot more trouble than it is worth to him.


    Anyway, if he has to be a Celestial because he has to, then he won''t bother with the Celestial Supreme. He isn''t one to worry too much about consequences and future problems. A threat to his life that can only be resolved if he bes a celestial means he has to be a celestial whether the celestial supreme likes it or not. He doesn''t care about the Celestial Supreme''s opinion about it.


    There''s no need to argue with anyone about that. He is going to do whatever he has to do to stay safe. So he is more focused on Helios than on the argument with the Celestial Supreme. That''s why he noticed the odd thing that Helios is doing. It may be weird but it is more interesting than the argument that the gods are having.


    Everyone turned their attention toward the screen. It showed Helios using the white blood of the son of the Celestial Supreme to draw lines on the ground. These white lines look like holographic constructs hovering in the air. They formedyers of concentric circles with intricate runes drawn in the space between each circle. Helios continued to work as they watched and it took hours before he finished drawing the borate circles. Thergest circle at the edge spans 200 meters across


    The god of knowledge eximed, "Fascinating work. This is a new kind of rune maniption. He drew out the runes from the transcendent''s body and soul and is using them as threads to weave a different tapestry. How did hee up with this?"


    What he is seeing has sessfully diverted his mind from the argument about whether it is allowed to be a celestial or not. He began scribbling down in another tome as he muttered.


    "This is just genius. It''s wonderful. I have never been so fascinated by rune-making since Stelios. Truly like father like son. Those two are too simr."

 Chapter 418 Borrowing Celestial Authority.

    ?The other gods ignored the god of knowledge''s ramblings and focused on what Helios is doing. But try as they might, none of them could glean any meaningful information about his actions.


    The behemoth at the center of the circle is unable to move as his blood is siphoned from his shoulders, thigh, and neck to form the circle. He is not dead but he can''t escape because the circles create a burden on him that prevents him from moving. He also can''t heal because of the constant drawing of blood. He is both the ink and focus of the rune circle.


    The god of knowledge spoke again. "Wait a minute. I recognize some of this. I have seen simr records of this from a long time ago written about a god of knowledge. It is rted to the gate that connects the Zargoth ne to the ancient battlefield. I have to consult the archives."


    Then he disappeared from the council room. The other gods shook their heads and returned to watching Helios. That''s the second time in recent times that someone abruptly left the divine council in the middle of a meeting. The first time caused a lot of weird stuff. The odds of this time being any different are too low. His abrupt exit served to increase the unease that they are feeling from watching Helios work.


    Helios ced the parts he cut into several sections of the circle. The feet, legs, thighs, hands, forearms, arms, and tongue all reach 19 body parts. The torso of the behemoth makes 20. Then he pped his hands and eximed.


    "That should do it."


    He nodded appreciatively at his work. Then he hurriedly bent down and began pumping energy into the circles to activate them. He seemed to be in a rush to finish whatever he is doing.


    The white lines of blood that formed the circles turned golden gradually as they activated. They activated from the edge and progressed steadily toward the innermost circle where the behemoth is. The Celestial Supreme couldn''t wait anymore to see what Helios is trying to do because he started to feel a pull from his Authority. It is a very ufortable feeling that he is willing to bet good money on that it must be rted to what Helios is doing.


    He sent an avatar down immediately and appeared beside Helios.


    "What are you up to?" He asked calmly.


    Helios chuckled and answered. "I got this idea when I experimented with the body of the demigod of the sky god. Do you remember him? Great guy with a nice character. He has purple hair."


    The Celestial Supreme''s face hardened as he heard Helios rambling on about the description of some demigod he killed for his first heroic quest. To say that he is not interested in that demigod will be an understatement. He doesn''t care at all and he would like Helios to get to his point but he kept quiet because it is not a good thing to shout profanities at someone you need something from.


    Helios finally finished his description.


    "You don''t know him? So I wasted my time describing him to you? What a shame. You should have stopped me."


    The Celestial Supreme''s eye twitched but he stopped himself from verballyshing out. That''s the only thing he can do anyways. Lashing out physically won''t get him anything. So he better keeps his only card close to his chest.


    Helios continued unhurriedly. "Anyways. His death granted me my first Heroic feat. You decreed the need for heroic feats so I have you to thank for giving me that opportunity. Can you believe it, a good thing simply fell into myp. I wouldn''t have been able to get it since my father didn''t allow me to go out. The sun god was always so overprotective of me. He..."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Don''t patronize me." The Celestial Supreme growled.


    "Or else what? What are you going to do about it?" Helios asked calmly.


    He continued to input energy while the Celestial Supreme fumed silently.


    Actually, there is onest thing he can do to resist Helios but he isn''t willing to y that card yet. He is considering if it will be worth it. If it fails then he will have no more trump card in the mortal realm. He knows that there''s another threat apart from Helios. He has not resolved the problem of the hidden god. So even if he is willing to use that trump card, he shouldn''t waste it on Helios.


    Besides, Helios is not an immediate threat. He will need to go to the ancient battlefield soon but he will find it impossible to leave the ne. Then he wille running to him the Celestial Supreme for help. So in a way, he has something that Helios needs.


    He gained some confidence and decided to break the silence. He sighed and asked Helios, "What do you want in exchange for my son''s release?"


    "Don''t you worry about that. I''ll get what I want soon. Then I''ll give you your son or whatever is left of him after I am done with him."


    The Celestial Supreme began brooding again. Helios''s words didn''t make him feel safe. The pull on his authority has only gotten stronger.


    He had to ask, "Are you after my Authority?"


    Helios answered to ease his mind. "Don''t worry, I''m not after your Authority. Well technically I''m after it, but it is only temporarily. You will have it right back. In fact, I''m doing you a favor. You will have total control of your Authority when I am done with it."


    Then he ignored the re that was directed at him. The Celestial Supreme was still stewing when he heard a very important notification from the divine ne.


    The message said, "ATTACK FROM THE ABYSS IMMINENT. THREAT LEVEL 1A."


    "What? Why now?" The Celestial Supreme eximed in surprise.


    Zargoth ne is about to be invaded by demons. It is one bad thing after another for the poor Celestial Supreme.

 Chapter 419 Preparation For Demon Invasion.

    ?It is strange that demons are attacking the Zargoth ne. Demons used to attack the ne but they''ve always been beaten back by thebined efforts of the gods. The order that the Celestial Supreme enforces ensured that demons stood no chance against them. So they became discouraged about attacking the Zargoth ne and left it in peace for numerous Origin cycles. So this attack seems odd.


    ''It shouldn''t be a problem. Probably just an ignorant small-time high-rank demon who doesn''t know what''s good for him. The gods will beat him back immediately.'' He thought to himself confidently.


    The divine ne determined that the threat level is just 1A. It means that the attack ising from a single abyss altar belonging to the fortress of a high-rank demon. The divine ne determined this because it couldn''t sense the mark of sin of a demon noble or anything above that and the portal was opened by a high-rank demon.


    He isn''t worried about a demon invasion because while the mortal realm might be in turmoil, the divine ne is more than strong enough to beat back a measly high-rank demon. A high-rank demon is the equivalent of a Mid-God. So what''s there to fear?


    Still, they will prepare for the invasion. Anything can happen after all. This might just be the prelude to a greater invasion. The Celestial Supreme informed the gods immediately and the rms went off in every divine kingdom. He left Helios and returned to the divine ne to coordinate the defenses.


    The gods began to prepare after being called to defend the divine ne. The atmosphere is jovial and rxed. No one is worried about the invasion. In fact, some gods are looking forward to it. It will give them some much-needed opportunity to fight and some entertainment. It is a good source of much-needed entertainment after the shock that they have been subjected to recently.


    Time flows differently between the two nes so the gods have a lot of time to prepare for the iing demon invasion. They mobilized their angelic troops to go to the sight of the sh between the forces of the gods and demons.


    These angels are not mindless or weak. The weakest of them are transcendents the equivalent of mid-rank demons. They have a single pair of wings and are dressed in armor with the symbol of their god etched on it.


    The strongest are the single pair wings Archangels equivalent to Sovereigns. They are precious and can only be made by the Celestial Supreme. They all bear the symbol of the hammer of justice and the of order which indicates that they belong to the god of order and justice. There are ten of them which goes to show how powerful the god of order is.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    A normal Celestial Supreme without any Celestials under their rule has just 3 Archangels and a Celestial Supreme with 2 Celestials in the pantheon should have 5 Archangels but Zernon has twice that amount. The next strongest of angels are the 12 winged angels the equivalent of grand gods and demon lords.


    The 12-winged angels can only be made by Celestials but only those from the Celestial Supreme are present. Apparently, the other Celestials in the pantheon don''t intend to send troops. Stelios and the god of faith don''t seem interested in the defense of the ne. The Celestial Supreme didn''t bother with them. It''s not like their troops will be needed.


    The angels arranged themselves into formation on the ck in that extends from the divine city into the void. The weakest of them are in the front and closest to Armageddon. It is at this location that invading demons will arrive. So the transcendent angels will be the first to sh with the enemy. The strongest are at the back and will be deployed based on the requirement. They probably won''t be sent into battle since it''s a measly high-rank demon that is attacking.


    The gods have fielded a good number of angels. The army of the gods is several tens of millionrge. Angels are made with the souls of believers and the divine power of their god. So even though the birth rate of giants of order is very low, they have had many Origin cycles to umte soldiers. The amount of soldiers the gods have is another reason why they are confident of the result of theing sh.


    The gods were waiting patiently in the divine council for this stupid demon to arrive. They didn''t need to bring the Archangels, the 12-winged angels, or the 10-winged angels. The 8-winged angels which high-gods can make are more than enough to beat back a stupid high-rank demon but the Celestial Supreme had ordered for this to be done. It is a show of might that will scare off potential invaders if this first invasion is a probing strike.


    A lot of gods are hoping it is just some high-rank demon who got lost or made a bad decision and nothing more but they suspect the worst which is that this attack is a probing strike. Bringing out their full might now ensures that they are not caught unawares. It is a contingency against any idents happening. A lot has been going wrong recently, it is not a bad idea to get the bulk of their troops alert and ready.


    The Celestial Supreme has some of his attention focused on Helios and what he is doing in the mortal realm because he has a lot of reasons to believe that Helios is connected to the attack. He would have scoffed at his paranoia in the past. Even now, it is still baseless suspicion.


    It is a strange idea that a giant of Order will have any connection to a demon but the Celestial Supreme is finding it difficult to believe that it is all a coincidence that Helios is doing something strange and demons are invading the divine ne at the same time. But who will believe that the small baby that he saw being born could have anything to do with demons?

 Chapter 420 Traitorous Bastard.

    ?Helios was born and bred in the ne but it is obvious that there are a lot of strange unknown things about the son of the sun god. So as absurd as it might seem, Helios could be rted in one or another to the demon invasion.


    It could also be the sun god that is responsible for this invasion. That traitorous ancient bastard certainly has had a lot of time on his hands to dabble in a lot of things. He might have some contact with demons because he was alive back in the day when demons used to attack the ne. This might be his n to distract the divine ne from his betrayal or to weaken the divine ne.


    Then there is the hidden god that wants to ruin his order. That god might be the architect behind this attack too. It became more usible the more he thought of it. The hidden god might have gotten in touch with demons to create chaos in the divine ne too in order to further its nefarious agenda.


    Either one it is, he cannot take this invasion lightly. He is besieged by enemies on all sides and something is tugging on his authority. A high-rank demon is not enough to cause chaos but it is best to be prepared for the worst.


    "I will skin that Stelios when Iy my hands on him and I''ll enjoy cutting up his son once the troublemakeres to the divine ne. I will crush the hidden god and everything it holds dear." He promised himself to deliver retribution to his enemies in the most agonizing way possible.


    Things have been getting worse for him recently but a lull wille. His chance to repay his enemies for their transgressions wille. That is the nature of the world. There will be periods of rise and fall. It will be his turn when his enemies experience their inevitable fall and he will make sure that their fall remains permanent. For now, he will try his best to defend his precious ne.


    The Celestial Supreme was right to be worried. Numerous alerts started ringing before the first portal opened.


    "ATTACK FROM THE ABYSS IMMINENT. THREAT LEVEL 2B."


    "ATTACK FROM THE ABYSS IMMINENT. THREAT LEVEL 10B."


    "ATTACK FROM THE ABYSS IMMINENT. THREAT LEVEL 20B."


    It meant that demon nobles are invading the ne and their number is increasing steadily. First, there were 2 connecting to the divine ne, then 10, and 20. The number of invading demon nobles didn''t stop at 20.


    "So the high-rank demon is a probe to deceive me. They will find that it is them that will be deceived." The Celestial Supreme said confidently.


    He found the behavior of the demons to be strange. A normal nar invasion should lead with the strongest troops but the demons chose the opposite. Still, he isn''t worried. He remained calm even when the amount of invading demon nobles crossed over 100.


    "ATTACK FROM THE ABYSS IMMINENT. THREAT LEVEL 1C."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    This alert made him worried. A demon Lord is also joining the invasion.


    "What is going on?"


    He became serious not because a demon Lord is a threat to the divine ne but because the rate at which things are escting doesn''t bode well. First, it was a high-rank demon, then demon nobles, and now a demon Lord. The next thing should be a demon king. That will be bad for the divine ne.


    He waited patiently for the bad news. When it came he was more shocked than he thought he would be. Helios rings activated fully. Zernon felt his Authority pulled with a jerk and involuntarily used to activate something.


    "What is this scoundrel up to?" He said irritably.


    Here he is trying to stop an invasion and one unruly child is disturbing him. He looked down just in time to catch the phantom of the god of order and justice appearing within the circle above his son. The phantom was holding a star. The star erged into a small sun. Then it copsed on itself. It pulled the phantom into itself and the poor behemoth. The son of the Celestial Supreme was crushed as soon as he entered the copsed star. He won''t be walking away from whatever this is. The three of them fused to create a portal tinged with the white of the behemoth''s blood.


    A notification rang in the Celestial Supreme''s mind. "PERMISSION GIVEN TO BYPASS THE DIVINE PLANE."


    The portal changed with that notification. It seemed to have connected to a destination. The sight from within the portal showed an army of demonsing through.


    The Celestial Supreme finally received the answer to his question about what Helios is up to. Helios used the Celestial Authority of Order and the Sun to permit a connection to the Zargoth ne that bypassed the divine ne.


    He roared at the top of his divine and majestic lungs. "That fucking traitor."


    It is one thing to have a hand in the invasion of demons. That is a sin worthy of death numerous times over. Still, it is manageable. Demons can''t enter the mortal realm unless a channel is opened to them. Otherwise, they have to get past the gods in the divine ne. Even if they have a channel, the presence of the divine ne prevents demons from entering the mortal realm with their bodies. At most, they get to spread their influence.


    Some powerful demons cannot even do that and will need a demon child to act as their vessel for them to descend into. But Helios betrayed his entire race to open a portal that bypasses the divine ne entirely for the demons to use.


    It is something impossible to do without the authority of a Celestial. Only a power of that magnitude can give permission to bypass the divine ne and Helios used two. The traitorous bastard used both his Authority and the Authority of order and justice through his son.

 Chapter 421 The Third Authority.

    ?The Celestial Supreme refused to ept the backstabbing betrayal of their entire race. He pointed his hand at the swirling portal and he ordered with the full power of his Authority as the Celestial Supreme. "FREEZE."


    Even if a channel is opened, it can still be closed. If a Celestial Authority opened it, another one can close it. Two Authorities were used to open the channel, he has two Authorities too. One as the god of order and another one has the Celestial Supreme, so the portal will close with hismand.


    His power erupted from within him and into the world. It sought to remake the world ording to his will. It came with a potential for change unlike any other and mmed into the portal only for it to be rebuffed. A previously invisible nt spirit appeared beside the portal. It was the one that helped to block the interference from the Celestial Supreme. It turned to ashes leaving behind a green me. The mes entered the portal and elerated its opening.


    Zernon''s eyes shot wide open. "The hidden god is a Celestial too."


    He had stated with uttermost certainty that the hidden god cannot be a Celestial because of the unchanged empowerment from the divine ne. He still can''t sense the hidden god. If not for what he just saw, he will never believe such a thing. Now he can''t destroy the portal. With the Authority of Life added into the mix, it has be 3 vs 2.


    "It is toote." He slumped into his thrown andmented.


    The only way to get another Authority is to get another Celestial to help him. It is certain that the sun god won''t help him since he granted his son his Authority somehow and because just previously the Celestial Supreme wanted to kill him. It is more certain that the god of fate will not help him because of the contract of non-interference. So he has to watch as demons invade his precious mortal realm.


    He thought in regret. ''I should have used that trump card to stop Helios when I had the chance.''


    Helios smiled smugly when he sensed the failed attempt of the Celestial Supreme in destroying the channel. This is a n that they hatched when the tree father finished decrypting the divine will within the Stigmata. Legion was able to fully understand the purpose of the Stigmata and they then discovered Stelios'' n for it and why he ced it on Helios''s body.


    They all had a goodugh about that n. It was going to fail because Stelios didn''t truly know what he was getting into. He was a rabbit trying to take ownership of a cave from a bear simply because the bear took ownership of the cave from someone else. Innovative as the n to steal Helios''s body is, itcked the weight of feasibility because Stelios was ignorant of who he was trying to steal the body from. They decided to use his folly to their advantage.


    Helios had previously discovered several things from experimenting with Tyke''s body. One of which is how to forcefully use someone else''s divine power through their runes. So they nned to push Stelios into ascending, take his Authority, andbine it with the Authority of the Celestial Supreme through his son.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They found out about the reclusive child of the Celestial Supreme from a diary written by the poor behemoth''s mother. One of the numerous nt spirits roaming the ne found the diary during an investigation into the divine weapon that the tree father heard about from the demigod they kidnapped.


    They put two and two together to hatch and execute this n but it wasn''t easy. They could have failed if just one thing didn''t work out. His struggle during his breakthrough was not for Celestial divine power. It was for Celestial Authority and to get it, Stelios had to make the decision to ascend.


    Stelios couldn''t be forced to ascend or he would realize that they needed something from him. He was gently nudged in that direction with the threat of eternal servitude. His knowledge of runes helped to inform him of how bleak his future will be if captured and he chose ascension because he is ambitious.


    A lot could have happened to ruin the n. If he had chosen to fall or ept his fate, then this n would have failed. If the Celestial Supreme had killed his child at birth or hadn''t forced the half-celestial to fight Helios then they would becking one more Authority required to resist the Celestial Supreme''s attempt at closing the channel.


    Of course, there are contingency ns. The channel can still be open with one Celestial Authority. If the Celestial Supreme is preupied with something else, he will not be able to close to the channel in time. Legion would have seeded in bringing Aeternus here anyway. All it needs is enough strength which Helios can acquire in time.


    If there is one thing that Legion regrets about this n, it is the death of the son of the Celestial Supreme. If he is still alive then they will be able to use the Celestial Authority of Order for other things. Unfortunately, he had to die. His death cemented the involvement of the Celestial Authority of Order with the opening of the portal.


    If the Behemoth were alive, he could have changed his mind and revoked the Authority when he finds out what it is being used for. It will make the channel copse under the assault of the Celestial Supreme. The cowardly behemoth might just man up and decide to sacrifice himself to secure the mortal realm from demons. People can behave in surprising ways when it really matters. His death removed the uncertainties and the element of surprise in the oue but it is still a shame since they don''t have any more ess to the Authority of Order anymore.


    He shrugged and said, "You can''t have your cake and eat it."


    The Celestial Supreme will probably burst a divine aneurysm in his head if he heard what Helios said. He doesn''t have any cake to eat while Helios is mourning the loss of a cake he can''t eat forever.

 Chapter 422 The Offer.

    ?Helios tried his best. There is no way to permanently get control of the Authority of Order that he knows of without bing a half-celestial of Order. He is already the half-celestial of the sun and the Celestial Supreme is not looking to possess him. Not that it is possible for a Celestial to possess someone, even if that someone is a perfect vessel for possession like Helios is.


    He raised his hands to the sky and proimed theatrically. "I have opened the gates of hell. I have ushered in an era of chaos and war. I promised and I delivered. I hope Zargoth ne will y its part in this dance."


    Then he snickered and thought to himself. ''It''s not like they have any choice.''


    Legion remembers every slight and fully intends to pay back those who offend him with the same coin. There''s the dragon vendetta but that is still in the works. There''s also the time he was made into a source of entertainment for mortals and gods alike. They robbed him of his pleasure and he promised to give them pain. He has delivered on that promise today.


    Call him petty but it can not be denied that he is reliable. Besides, what he has just done gives him pleasure and advances Legion''s agenda. So what''s not to like? The inhabitants of the Zargoth ne might not like it so it is unfortunate for them that they can''t do anything to stop him. It''s toote now.


    He was reveling in the pleasure thates with dooming a civilization to death and destruction at the hands of demons when the ne itself responded. A previously dormant Will or consciousness woke up and focused on him. The weight of the gaze felt heavy and powerful. It froze Helios where he stood.


    He mumbled inwardly. ''Me and my big mouth.''


    He began to regret enjoying the Cmity that he has caused. He just couldn''t revel in it quietly and to himself. He had to announce his deeds to the world and draw this entity''s attention to himself. He doesn''t know what''s going on but rarely does something unexpected be a good thing. No clone of Legion has experienced such a thing so he didn''t know what to do. He tried to move but it failed. He could only think and even then his thoughts were slow.


    The consciousness examined him and judged him worthy in what felt like an eternity but only took a second. It broke its hold on Helios. Then it brushed its nascent mind against his.


    It said quietly "Worthy warrior. Make child. Defend the ne."


    Itmunicated with more intents and emotions than words so Helios understood what it was saying and who it was.


    "Hahahaha."


    Helios began tough. He fell to the ground and continued tough. He held his stomach andughed harder than he has everughed before. He rolled on the ground justughing. The nascent consciousness waited patiently for his answer.


    He didn''t reply until he had gotten thest of his amusement out of him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "No, thank you." He said.


    The disappointment radiating from the nascent consciousness was palpable. It was like a sulking child but he didn''t care. There''s nothing to be gained by bing the child of the ne of Zargoth ne. Zargoth is no Virut ne. It is weak and it is dying.


    Legion intends to take control of the ne and overhaul it at the end of the day. They n to use it as another staging point as an alternative to Soverick''s identity but there''s no way that they are willing to tie themselves together with the ne.


    There''s no origin energy. Not a tiny bit much less infinite. Mana is evencking too and yet the joint consciousness of all life on Zargoth ne wants him to defend it. What is there to even defend? The entire ne is a barren desert. Someone even tried to split it in half. Zargoth ne is already lucky that Legion''s actions are benefiting it. It shouldn''t ask for more when it doesn''t have anything to give.


    The nascent consciousness didn''t give up. Weak as it is, it recognizes Helios''s worth so it tried to be reasonable.


    "Make Better. Give Power. Quit Anytime."


    Helios considered the deal with other clones. He tries to make the better. In exchange, the ne gives him support and he can quit being the child of the ne anytime. All the power in their rtionship will be with him and he has nothing to lose.


    It is a good deal, one that the will of all living beings had to make. It is weak and dying. This may be itsst chance to change its fate. Giants of order have bled it over the years while he provided it something really important. By opening the portal to the abyss directly into the ne, he allowed mana to pour in.


    The ne needs mana. It doesn''t care where it gets it from right now. It is willing to make a deal with a demon to get mana. Helios did it once before, he can surely manage it again and make it even more permanent. The will of the ne doesn''t care about the demons that will apany the mana. It only cares about survival.


    "Alright, I''ll do it. You owe me big time." Helios epted the offer.


    Bing a child of the ne is mythical because there is hardly anything a single person can do to affect the course of the fate of a ne. It is also rare that the ne finds someone truly worthy to be its defender. But in this situation, it is the ne begging him to take the job. It is like he has been offered to be paid for his hobby. He can do it anytime and quit anytime. It is a dreame through.


    "Thank you." The nascent consciousness said to him. Then it began the process of making him the child of the ne.

 Chapter 423 The Job.

    ?The will of the ne thanked him. Then it broke apart and fused with him. The tiny motes of consciousness that make it up became connected directly to him. He became the child of the ne just like that. There was no light effect or anything. He didn''t even feel any different except for the connection to the ne.


    The connection will empower him if it had any power to give. That''s still a long time toe. Then there''s the feeling that he will share in the fate of the ne good or bad. He can break it off anytime so he has nothing to worry about.


    He shook his head in pity. "This ne is too weak."


    He didn''t know how malnourished the ne was before but now he knows. It is normal for life to die every moment but there''s a problem when the death rate is higher than the birth. Zargoth ne has gone beyond that point where there is a problem. It is doomed.


    New life is not being created while death saturates the ne. The Celestial Supreme''s recent tantrum dealt a great deal of damage to the ne. If not for the sudden influx of mana through the connection then the consciousness would never have woken up ever again. Only something drastic can change the fate of the ne as it is.


    There are three things that can change its fate right now. One of them is for him to pump Origin energy and mana into the ne through Soverick. He is not going to do that. The effects are unknown and it mightpromise Soverick. There''s no need to risk the Virut ne for the Zargoth ne.


    The second thing is opening the gate of the ne and allowing mana to enter from the ancient battlefield. That will give ess to the ne to outsiders and disrupt Legion''s n for it so he is not doing that. The third and most promising option is to create a permanent channel to the abyss. That is very feasible and within Legion''s n so they will do that.


    The contractor responsible for doing it has also arrived. Aeternus entered the Zargoth ne. He nodded to Helios and Helios nodded back. Then Helios flew towards the next target. There''s more to be done.


    The two of them don''t need to talk. They know what''s there to know because their minds are linked. They don''t need to exchange pleasantries either. The nod that they gave each other is because even though they are joined together in their minds, they have an individual sense of identity. They are simply acknowledging that individualism with a nod.


    Aeternus waited for his army to get into formation. It is going to take a while before 495 million troops will get through the portal even with a portal empowered with three Authorities. The width of the portal has increased so it shouldn''t take much time.


    His dukes entered after him and surrounded him for instructions while they waited. Terrifying beings of power towering above a small demon that no one will believe is their lord, yet they are all kneeling to this short demon. Their current situation made the dukes realize how far above them their lord really is.


    Baal looked around confused, "Where are we? This is not the Armageddon of the ne. Did we get lost, lord Khaos?"


    The portal had switched during its activation so he feared that they had gotten lost.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "No, we didn''t. We simply bypassed the divine ne and entered the main ne." Aeternus answered stoically.


    Baal was stunned. He wasn''t the only one to be shocked. The other dukes were also all shocked. Baal opened his mouth several times but ultimately kept quiet. He believes what Aeternus said. He just cannot fathom how it happened. He has a lot of questions but he felt it inappropriate to ask them so he decided to keep quiet.


    Aeternus understood their confusion. So he said to them. "A traitor opened the door for us."


    "You mean a Celestial had a hand to do with this, lord Khaos? I am in awe of your abilities, my lord." Xander praised.


    Xander is the one in charge of infiltration and espionage so she knows what it means to tempt others to betray their society. She thought she knew almost everything that can be known about Aeternus but she didn''t expect that her lord can secretly tempt a Celestial to open a backdoor into the ne for them. A Celestial is a being on par with a demon king and yet, one deigns to make deals with a high-rank demon.


    Aeternus nodded. "The gods of this ne are very strong and they have a very strong leader. But this leader wantonly kills Celestials to consolidate his power. A Celestial betrayed the ne so that we cane and cause chaos. Our job is to destroy every church in the mortal realm."


    They understood how they got ess. A Celestial made a deal with Aeternus. The Celestial will grant them ess and in exchange, they will undermine the religions in the ne. There may be more to the deal but the dukes didn''t ask further. It is not their position to question but to execute the will of their lord and that''s what they will do.


    Infernox asked hopefully. "Can we burn and pige as much as we want?"


    That''s the most important thing to a demon. It is doubly important to a demon of wrath that just lost a fight. Nothing fixes that bad mood like good old-fashioned carnage and destruction. He knows that they are on a job but he will like to enjoy doing his job too.


    "You can burn and pige as much as you want."


    Aeternus''s answer relieved them. All of them perked up with anticipation. The ne wouldn''t know what hit. The civilization of the giants of order will crumble. It may hurt the ne in the short run to have the bulk of life in it massacred but it will benefit it in the long run. Giants of order are parasites and pests while the invading demons are the much needed pesticide.

 Chapter 424 Problems Of Invasion.

    ?Aeternus was talking to his demon dukes.


    "This is apetition. There will be rewards for your efforts. Enough Divinity to help you reach the half-divine rank is up for grabs. I will distribute them ording to your contribution to the mission. All you have to do is to take your legions and destroy churches on the ne. The more churches and clergymen you destroy, the more divinity you get."


    They be even more perked up. Divinity is very important to demon dukes. It is the only way for them to grow and reach the half-divine rank the same as the demon lord. They don''t need the encouragement to destroy, but thepetition has turned their hobby into a paying job. There''s nothing better than that. That makes two people who have just gotten their dream jobs. Helios and the demons.


    His next words sobered them up. "I''ll advise you to take thispetition seriously because there''s going to be another one after and it is going to cost you your life if you are not strong enough. Enjoy yourself and use this opportunity to strengthen yourself or it may be yourst."


    What he said has not changed the situation. It is still a hobby that they get paid for but now they have to take it seriously or it will be thest time they ever indulge.


    Baal looked at the wide grin on Infernox''s face and shook his head. "This ne is already close to bing unhabitable. It doesn''t have mana or much vitality. It can hardly support us and we are demons. Our destruction might just push it over the edge."


    Baal could feel the deprivation of life on the ne. It is like a suction force all around in the air trying to get into them to remove the vitality within them. There''s no mana or Origin energy. That means that they won''t be able to regenerate the energy that they use inbat. Only boneheads that rely on their bodies like giants of Order and Infernox won''t feel out of ce. That''s why Infernox is still grinning. He knows he has an advantage herepared to those that fight with spells.


    "That doesn''t concern us. We are here to do our job. The state of the ne will make doing it more difficult, but we will do it." Infernox dered with determination.


    ''Easy for you to say. You''re just d that the situation is in your favor.'' Baal grumbled to himself.


    "There''s no need to worry too much. I''ll help you with energy. I''ll refill your energy storage once a day." Aeternus told them.


    Baal and the other dukes bowed. "Thank you, Lord Khaos."


    A refill of energy once a day is nowhere near enough for them. They haverge energy pools but it can be used up in about 30 minutes of fighting. They will have to ration their energy strictly and even then it won''t be enough. Still, it is already a boon that Aeternus is helping them. They have to show gratitude for what they have and they can''t ask for anymore.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Baal turned to Infernox and grinned. Infernox''s face twitched at the naked provocation. He felt like slugging the grinning fool but he held himself back.


    Xander asked Aeternus, "Lord Khaos, what about the demon lord? I know that she is nning to ambush us. Did shee here too or went to another ne?"


    Aeternus chuckled before replying, "Don''t worry. She will find herself too busy to bother with us."


    They continued to discuss their ns as they wait. Their mission seems very easy despite the two major problems of defenders of the mortal ne and the environment itself. Demon dukes can bepared to the weakest grand gods and titans ofw. Their umtion makes them equal to the strongest grand gods and titans ofw.


    The mortal realm doesn''t have any of that but they have the vessels of gods. They don''t have to worry about the vessel of the Celestials because Aeternus told them that their employer has taken care of most of them. The scant few vessels belonging to the Celestial Supreme won''t leave the headquarters of the church of order.


    Apart from that, their employer has also reduced the fighting force of the gods in the mortal realm. Apparently, they killed each other in some war. The remaining vessels belonging to grand gods will not stand a chance against the dukes. A vessel cannot stand against the real thing.


    The problem of the defenders of the ne can be solved easily since they are not a threat. The mortal realm has beenpromised for the taking. Even the barren environment is not too much of a problem for them either. Demons can survive in any world and cannot be suppressed in the divine or main ne because of their sin energy.


    Sin energy is unique just like blood energy and dragon force. It isn''t like generic energy that is easily suppressed. But theck of mana and Origin energy means they can''t regenerate their sin energy. Even their Chaos energy cannot be replenished in this dying world.


    Fortunately, Aeternus can feed his dukes energy through their link so the environment is more of a nuisance than a problem. The high-rank demons in the army will just have to manage the usage of their energy until Aeternus finishes building a stronghold in the ne. With a stronghold here, they will all be able to freely regenerate their energy again.


    The stronghold will also form a stable and permanent channel between the ne and the abyss. It will help the ne since mana will enter the ne together with sin energy. The ne will benefit from it and so will the demons. It is killing two birds with one stone.


    Aeternus stayed behind with Xander to build the stronghold while the others took their legions and scattered into the ne. Getting the demon dukes to reach the half-divine rank is good for him but he is not going to give them the divinity straight up. He is going to make them work for it.

 Chapter 425 Divide And Conquer.

    ?The stronger his subordinates are, the better for him. But ording to Helios''s information about the gods of the ne, the avable divinity from killing all the gods won''t be enough for all of the demon dukes to reach the half-divine rank. Rarely is any resource enough. That''s why there is a need forpetition and the survival of the fittest.So only the best will get divinity.


    The mortal ne is the demon duke''s yground for now. They will return to their appropriate battlefield when they are done here. He will test them thoroughly there and those that he finds wanting will pay with their lives to boost their betters.


    Elsewhere All Around The ne. Immediately Aeternus Entered The ne.


    The nt spirits guarding mana entities transforming into demigods all received the same order from the tree father. They are to kill their charges and move on.


    The nt spirits executed the order immediately. Each one of them killed the mana entities that they are guarding and took back the crystal fruit containing divinity that they are trying to digest but had been failing to do. Then they left the ce.


    Mana entities are not supposed to be able to absorb divinity because they don''t have the right existence to fight the divine will within the divinity. The bodies, minds, and souls of mana entities are divided so they can''t fight against an intangible force like the will of a god. The divine Will in the divinity will resist any changes to it and can only be absorbed by mana entities if the divine will within the divinity has been suppressed. As long as there''s no resistance, even mana entities can absorb divinity.


    The crystal fruits belong to the Tree father so the divine will contained within it belongs to him. The tree father allowed the ant queen to digest it for a purpose. The tree father didn''t let these mana entities absorb it for the same purpose. He just made it seem like they are absorbing the divinity.


    The ant queen needed to draw the attention of the gods and give Helios the opportunity to get away from the constant supervision of the sun god. The sun god wouldn''t let him leave the sun city without a heroic quest issued by the Celestial Supreme. Meanwhile, all these mana entities are meant to draw attention and fool the Celestial Supreme into believing that they will be demigods. It was easy to do because it has happened once before and because SWIFTESCAPE the nt dragon did a good job of making it seem like so.


    Since it has happened once with the ant queen and it had disastrous consequences, the Celestial Supreme would do everything to prevent it from happening again such as scattering his forces all over the ne to eliminate them. These mana entities have performed their purpose now that the Celestial Supreme has divided his forces throughout the ne and his strongest vessel has been sacrificed for the good of the ne by Helios.


    The nt spirits absorbed the crystal fruits and embarked on their second mission. They have been instructed by the tree father to attack the separated transcendents of the church of order. They can kill them if possible but their major aim is to dy them and stop them from regrouping. It will not be a good thing to have the strongest force in the mortal realm, the zealots of order, regroup and join the fight against the demons.


    It is because of that order that SWIFTESCAPE killed the giant mother boreworm, took the divinity, and left the tunnels in the ground. His form dispersed into vines that slithered onto the surface where theybined into the green nt dragon. He roared and took to the air.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    SWIFTESCAPE found the team that has been sent to kill him quickly. They are two Behemoths and some ancient giants all d in Stigmata armor. They were rushing back to the church headquarters when they sensed him gaining on them.


    "What do we do?" One of them asked the other.


    His partner, a female replied. "We fight and we win. Then we return to base. We must not fall here. The mortal realm needs us."


    The male mmed his fist on his armored chest and said, "May Order be with you."


    She responded with the same gesture, "And may it cut down all Chaos that stands with you."


    The two of them resolved their will and informed their team of ancient giants. They prepared to face their prey and kill it. It was, after all, their previous mission. If they can''t kill it then they are in trouble. They formed up ranks with the behemoths in front and ancient giants nking the annihtor in the middle. Said annihtor is currently charging.


    SWIFTESCAPE closed in on them like a force of nature on the horizon. He pped his giant vine wings while his eyes eyed them below him with contempt. They are butnd-cursed beings while he is a creature of air superiority. What chance do they have against him?


    He noticed the annihtor but he doesn''t care about it. It is not that he is ignorant of its purpose. He mayck knowledge of the way of the world but the Tree father has taught him what he needs to know for him to achieve his mission. So he knows what an annihtor is.


    He ignored the annihtor because he finds it difficult to take transcendents and mana entities that can''t fly seriously. If they cannot counter his aerial superiority then they are doomed. He will pick them off one by one and toy with them as a cat on a full stomach will toy with a rat.


    The white missile was shot out from the annihtor and went straight toward him. He swerved and tried to evade it but the white orb of light followed his movements as if locked on him. The giant that fired it is controlling it to keep up with him with his vision.

 Chapter 426 Life Dragon Fire.

    ?SWIFTESCAPE growled, "Very well then."


    He tried to evade the annihtor but its targeter made it trail him in the air so he gave up on escaping the missile and dove straight for his prey. The white missile closed in on him only to suddenly go off course when it entered the range of SWIFTESCAPE''s domain. He used his solidified divine sense to p the missile aside as one would swat at a fly.


    The zealots of Order were not discouraged by the oue. They didn''t expect an annihtor to work against a transcendent anyway. It was originally nned for the mana entity. Setting off an annihtor within the tunnels at the bore worm while the nt spirit is preupied with two Behemoths will surely eliminate the bore worm. They just have to y their real cards.


    SWIFTESCAPE didn''t wait for them to do whatever they n to do. He gave them a dragon wee. His eyes lit up with green mes and he opened his mouth wide. His prey could see the green me within his gullet despite the re of light that the annihtor produced after being detonated.


    The annihtor exploded into a giant white dome. It created a lot of shockwaves, light, heat, wind, and sounds. The effect of that explosion hadn''t ended when SWIFTESCAPE finished his present for them. The white mushroom formed by the rising air formed the background as a greennce of fire shot toward the zealots of order.


    The female Behemoth''s eyes turned white and ck as she pulled into the power of the Celestial Supreme. She is also a vessel and the trump card of this expedition. If the nt dragon can use the power of a god, then only someone that can use such a simr power can withstand it.


    "Shield of order."


    She urged the divine power flowing within her to create a giant shield in front of their group. The Celestial Supreme has learned his lesson already and he knows that the hidden god is a Celestial. So this shield can block everything as long as they do not use a Celestial Authority.


    The greennce of me made its way straight to them. The zealots expected a sh of an explosion due to the collision but there was no sh. Thence passed straight through the shield as if it isn''t there and continued on to the zealots. It did not break the shield or prate it. It seems to have phased through it like water slips through the earth and then it struck the zealots.


    None of their defensive divine spells or Stigmata worked to protect them. The green fire phased through it all and sunk into their flesh. They all caught on fire burning with green mes. It was then that they received their second surprise. They were first surprised by the failure of the divine shield but now they are shocked that they do not feel any pain despite being on fire.


    Their surroundings did not catch fire as they did. The mence did not even disturb the soil. It passed through it as it passed through the shield. There was no explosion or destruction. If fleet like they were showered with a cool liquid, and not dragon mes.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It is strange and perplexing. They are giant bonfires of green me and yet, they as fuel, do not feel any pain or difort. Their skin and hair are unharmed and seemed no different. It didn''t long before they noticed what the me is doing to them. It started quickly and escted into something else.


    They began to reduce in body mass and their skin began to wrinkle. Their muscles shrunk to the bone. Their skin dried up, lost its sticity, and began to crack. They became lean and their hair began to fall off.


    It was a painless if horrific sight. They fell to the ground unable to stand anymore. Their legs became too thin and weak to support them so they fell. Even then they kept burning. They kept burning until all the life force in their body was fully burned all the while they felt no pain.


    They died when their system finally gave up. By then, they have be dry mummies that crack with a touch. And they did crack when the only survivor tried to help them. The female Behemoth was the only one that survived and the only one that cried in pain as she watched the rest die with bewildered looks on their face.


    She turned to the dragon and roared a promise of vengeance.


    "I will kill you."


    Her loud voice, though impressive, did not faze SWIFTESCAPE. He stood above her andughed in derision. His grating voice bore through her like the worst sound ever. She leaped up with conjured weapons and the two of them shed. The two vessels of two Celestials traded blow after blow in a Deathmatch. Only one of them will walk away from this fight.


    These kinds of fights urred throughout the ne. Priests have special Stigmata that make them stronger when there are a lot of them together. The force domain of the strike team is one of them. There are special stigmata that improve attack power, defensive power or simply heal better the more a type of priest there are in proximity.


    Zealots of order have a particrly nasty one that makes them almost invulnerable to damage if they are inrge enough numbers but they couldn''t take advantage of numbers because they have been separated. They easily fell prey to the nt spirits. Only the vessels could resist the nt spirits but their fates have been sealed.


    The tree father sent out a lot of orders which lead to a lot of events with heavy consequences for the Zargoth ne. Another order he sent out is to his cult. He instructed them toe out into the open and officially transform from a cult into a church. The cult of life with its hidden sanctuaries and priestess came forward boldly to announce the faith of the church of life.

 Chapter 427 Betrayal Betrayal Betrayal.

    ?The entrance of the faith of the hidden god into open society didn''te with the normal unpleasant reaction expected towards a new church. The world war and the Celestial Supreme''sx attitude to the chaos in the mortal realm allowed the cult of life to fester within the society of giants of order. His hands-off approach these past few years let the cult grow stronger under his nose without him realizing it.


    A lot of giants of Order bear grudges and resentment against gods. The gods have been using them for their games and entertainment for ages. The numerous divine wars have led to a lot of bloodshed. The recent world war did a lot of damage to the prestige of gods just as it damaged the resources of the mortal realm.


    Normally, the giants of Order will have to suck it up since there''s nothing they can do about it but now they have an alternative that is promising peace and safety. So the Cult of the tree father was able to prosper under the nose of the gods. Now that the church of order has been weakened and its forces scattered all over the ne, they have nothing to fear abouting out anymore.


    It is the church of order that wipes out any unorthodox churches or cults in the mortal realm, but they can''t do that now. The other churches are too weak from the years of war to bother with them when they came out. Besides, there is the issue of demons attacking their churches to deal with. No one can stop the rise of the church of life now.


    Back in the Divine ne


    No matter how shocked, regretful, angry, or how bitter the Celestial Supreme is, it doesn''t change the fact that his son is no more and the demons are still invading. What''s worse is that he was betrayed by someone who he thought to be very close to his heart.


    "How could you do this to me?" He wailed in his divine ne. "How I loved you and showered you with my love, attention, and protection. And yet, you break my heart so mercilessly."


    He is distraught beyondpare. He sat on his throne without care. Despair radiated out of him in waves upon waves. He knew to expect a betrayal, he didn''t expect it to be so painful. His heart is all but shattered into pieces.


    "Why would you need another protector? Tell me, why?" He asked out loud but he received no answer.


    It is okay anyway. He already knows why the ne decided to get a protector. He thought he was enough and that he was all that the Zargoth ne needed but he was wrong. He felt it when the will of all life woke up from its sleep. He doesn''t know what it talked with Helios about but he knows what Helios has be after the conversation.


    He held his head in his hands andmented. "I have been betrayed. Does that mean I will fall soon?"


    He felt betrayed because he truly cares for the ne in the way someone would care for something they own. He believed that the Zargoth ne is his and he guarded it jealously. He has been doing everything to protect it only for the will of the ne to desert his love and attention for some mana. Imagine that, for some mana.


    The prophecy from the god of fate is that he will fall due to a betrayal. He thought the betrayal wille from the gods. It seems he was wrong. A lot of betrayals have been going on recently so he better watches his back. Helios betrayed his race and the ne while the will of the ne betrayed him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Here he is trying to defend the ne while the will of the ne is cozying up with the one that granted demons ess to the mortal ne. And he has to defend the ne while making sure that he doesn''t fall. It is almost too much for a god to take. Unfortunately for him, that is not the end of his word.


    Things didn''t end with the high-rank demon that entered the mortal realm. The demon nobles entered the divine ne with the demon lord and arge army too. They came with numbers that indicate their intense preparation for this invasion.


    He watchedrge portals opening up in Armageddon and spewing forth horde upon horde of demons with bitterness.


    "I will show them hell." He promised his enemies.


    A giant ball of squirming flesh scanned the array of demons looking for her target totally unaware of the enemy that she has created even before entering the divine ne. Aeternus should be at Armageddon already waiting for her to nab him since he came first. She will use her troops to hold back the gods while she focuses on capturing him.


    That''s her n in a nutshell. She has no delusion that she can sessfully invade this ne. She mighte back after she gets the lord of chaos and bes a demon king. But for now, her mission is a simple snatch and run.


    "Where is that bastard?"


    But no amount of searching on her part can locate Aeternus. She has the demon nobles searching for her too but no one can find him. A short demon with a dark cloud perpetually hanging around it should be very obvious on the battlefield. If they can''t find him then she can execute the first step of her n. How is she to snatch something she can''t find?


    "Didn''t hee to this ne? I was sure he came here."


    She doesn''t think that Aeternus returned to the abyss immediately aftering here. The only way to return is to activate the return function of the abyss altar and open a return portal but it is going to be more difficult to do since he isn''t in the demon realm anymore. It is going to take time.


    No matter how powerful Aeternus is, it should take a full day of constant effort to open a return portal back to the abyss. Even her needs that much. That means Aeternus is not in the ne at all. He must have fooled her about which ne he is going to.

 Chapter 428 Where Is The Lord Of Khaos?

    ?There''s no sight of Aeternus and the legions of the house of Khaos no matter how she and everyone looked. The disappearance of Aeternus is one thing. It might be that he somehow made himself invisible but an entire army of millions of demons can''t just up and disappear.


    The hrious possibility that Aeternus bypassed the divine ne didn''te across the demon lord''s mind because it is ridiculous and hrious. Anyone that tries to make her believe that a channelrge enough for Aeternus and his army was opened for him will fail in the endeavor to convince her. She is not a fool so how can she believe such a ridiculous tale?


    She won''t even believe it if someone tells her that a channel was opened for Aeternus alone. A channel for a single demon may have a higher chance of seeding but it is still far-fetched because it will mean Aeternus had connections within this ne. It is highly unlikely considering that he has never left the 541st ne of the abyss.


    Those connections also have to be very high too. Aeternus must know a Celestial to achieve that but what will a Celestial be doing with him a high-rank demon when there''s a demon Lord in the ne and several demon kings in the abyss? Even then, his entering into the ne must not be opposed by other Celestials. In fact, the only way it is certainly feasible for a channel to be opened for Aeternus is that the majority of the Celestials are for giving him ess directly or indirectly. Any Celestial can open a channel and any Celestial can close it. Its sess bes a matter of majority support. So no, she will not believe that Aeternus bypassed the divine ne.


    The only possibility, even though it is extremely difficult is that Aeternus managed to fool her about his destination. It is a more likely exnation despite the fact that it pains her to admit it. It is disappointing and shameful to admit that Aeternus was able to pull a fast one on her despite her carefulness and the anticipation that it could happen. But it is more usible than anything else and she is not so prideful as to blind herself to the truth of the situation.


    So she informed the demon nobles, "It is a bust. The lord of the house of Khaos isn''t here. It seems that I underestimated him once again and he fooled me. We should try and return to the abyss when we can."


    Their operation is officially a failure. Their prey escaped from them and it is not a pleasant experience especially since they havemitted a lot of resources to this. But they have to leave as quickly as possible or they might be forced to stay here forever.


    Beelta began the return protocol even before she told the demon nobles to retreat. She cares about herself more than she cares about others. It is a good decision too because the angels are already attacking.


    It doesn''t matter to the gods that the demon lord made a mistake. All that matters is that she is an invader and must be vanquished. She might try her luck by exining to the gods that they didn''t invade to attack the ne. That is unlikely to work since demons are known to be liars and gods generally hate them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    No one will believe her if she tries to exin. The demons rampaging in the mortal realm have sealed the god''s mind to any other alternative exnation and their Celestial Supreme is just looking forward to getting a bite out of them. No matter how good Beelta is as a liar, no one will believe an exnation that is as imusible as invading a ne with billions of demons and doing it by mistake.


    Beelta didn''t try to pally. She knows that this fight is inevitable. She ordered her soldiers to engage the defenders while she stayed at the back of the army in peace. So millions of angels shed with millions of demons and the battle of Armageddon began. It looks like an epic battle for the fate of the ne except that the demons are being sacrificed to buy time. All the leaders of the demon army are trying to return to the abyss. In about a day when the leaders start disappearing, this farce will be undone and revealed for what it truly is.


    CELESTIAL SUPREME POV


    The battle in the divine ne is of little significance to the Celestial Supreme. It is something that he can win easily but he held back his most powerful troops. The Archangels were stopped from participating in the battle for fear of demon trickery.


    Common sense dictates that a demon king is needed to beat the gods but there is no demon king in sight. This demon lord is not a threat so maybe all of this is a n to make him overconfident of victory and make a mistake. He doesn''t want to send out the Archangels into the midst of enemies only for demon kings to appear and corner them.


    The fight might take longer but the remaining angelic troops are more than enough for the invaders to be destroyed. Besides, battles like this are not fought within a day and these demons aren''t going anywhere. He is more concerned about what the contingent of demons that entered the ne will be doing especially since the mortal realm is vulnerable right now.


    He was right to be mindful. The demons that entered the mortal realm show just how conniving and treacherous demons are. An army that is supposed to have only high-rank demons as the strongestbatants turned out to be false. The divine ne failed to sense demon nobles and demon dukes in that army.


    Somehow, the demons fooled the detection mechanism of the divine ne and were able to smuggle in powerful demons. It is like the sensitivity of detection mechanism of the ne was scrambled by a weird energy used in opening the portal. It is the first clue that the Celestial Supreme got that there is something peculiar about the demon invasion.

 Chapter 429 Here Comes The Trouble Maker To The Divine Plane.

    ?How did the demons trick the divine ne? Why are there demon dukes in the army? Why are the demon dukes bowing to the high-rank demon? Where is the demon king that they should be bowing to? What do Helios and Stelios n to achieve with the demons? So many questions and so few answers?


    All of it reeks of an insidious scheme and he is sure a demon king will show up soon. His suspicion is not baseless paranoia because when there are demon dukes, there must be a demon king. That demon king might even be in the mortal realm right now. It is unlikely but just because he hasn''t seen the demon king yet doesn''t mean it is not around. Even if it is not around, it could be on its way.


    He had most of his attention on the happenings of the mortal realm in order to spot any new danger so he noticed the demons scattering throughout the ne. Unfortunately, his troops are being cornered and eliminated so he couldn''t do anything about it. The defense of the mortal realm fell into the hand of the gods who were just at each other''s throats a few days ago.


    "I just can''t catch a break can I?" He groaned andined.


    So many unpleasant events are happening in the mortal realm but he had to return his attention to the divine ne because Helios came knocking. The child of the ne who allowed demons to attack the ne and who killed arge share of his vessels decided it was time to cause trouble in the divine ne too. It is a worthy cause toment one''s misfortune.


    HELIOS POV


    Helios flew up from the mortal realm into the sky. He appeared in the divine ne once he crossed the void that acted as the boundary between it and the mortal realm. He was warped into the divine city beneath the divine kingdoms of gods as soon as he came near the floatingndmass.


    Numerous gods started to pay attention to him but no one came forward to greet him. Not even his father''s friends or his divine siblings came to greet him. They prefer to stay in their divine kingdom or ces of abode where they are safe rather than risk death.


    He has a notorious reputation in the divine ne which exins their reluctance to interact with him. It is not that they don''t have things to ask him or stuff to talk to him about. They do but they can''t look past the attack that tried to split the ne and his act of betraying their race. They will find him to be a pleasant person with some skills in people butchering for demonic sacrifices if only they can look past his traitorous deeds and get to know him.


    Fortunately for him, he is not a people''s person and those that matter to him think highly of him. In fact, the Zargoth ne loves him. Both the mortal realm and the divine ne think very highly of him. The divine ne did something very odd when he entered it. It announced the creation of another Celestial to everyone.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It is odd because it didn''t announce the ascension of Stelios when he became a Celestial. But it finally performed the announcement when Helios came to the divine ne. One might wonder who the true Celestial is between the father and son.


    The Celestial Supreme wondered too. His face also turned bitter when he saw what Helios has be. He itched all over to attack one of the people that have turned his ne upside down but he held himself back.


    He didn''t attack Helios there and then. He is the Celestial Supreme and the only Celestial that is ready to defend the ne so he can''t be preupied with something else no matter how much he wants to. He has to be ready for the attack of a demon king. He will watch Helios for now and only interfere when he has to.


    He allowed himself to mutter, "Who is the sun god now?"


    His question is warranted because Helios looked no different from a Celestial since the divine ne embraced Helios like a Celestial. A person on the path of perfection will be suppressed in the divine ne. All theirws and Authorities will be rendered powerless in the divine ne. They will be as weak as transcendents. That is what should have happened.


    Only Origin gods can somewhat resist the suppression because they themselves are part of thew. Helios is just a king ofw but the suppression doesn''t appear to affect him. He is being suppressed but the other half of his half-celestial body was activated. He is a king ofw in the main ne, but he is a Celestial in the divine ne.


    A force began to pull on the other half of the Celestial power in his body to reunite the two but Stelios would have none of it. The divine ne feels that it is not right for one power to be separated. Stelios is of the opinion that the separation of power is good and nothing could be better so he resisted the pull.


    Helios didn''t indulge the pull. He doesn''t need the other half anyway. What he has is already enough for him to be recognized as a Celestial in the divine ne. He began to transform as his divine body activated.


    His humanoid form became bloated and began to erge. He erged until he became a golden giant of fire more than 1 kilometer in height. He looks like a colossus except he has 6 arms and he also has white armor covering his golden form. He is just like the son of the Celestial Supreme. He is both a behemoth and a colossus except his base is that of a Colossus while the son of the Celestial Supreme, may he rest in peace, was a Behemoth at his base.

 Chapter 430 [Bonus ] Beelta Vs Helios.

    ?Helios rose above the divine city as he transformed but the divine city still suffered from the transformation. The buildings and creatures around himbusted instantly while the city itself caught fire. He is radiating too much heat to be safe around.


    He left the burning city behind without bothering about the damage he caused. The various divine lords living in the city will take care of it. As for him, he has a demon Lord to teach a lesson. If she feels she can throw her weight around however she wants, then she should try that with someone of her own size.


    He arrived above Armageddon soon after transforming. The fighting stopped immediately with the sighting of the Colossus lumbering towards them. Both sides suddenly became content with waiting and watching. The gods don''t know what he is here for while the demons don''t know him at all. But they can all sense that this armored monstrosity with golden runes running across its surface is a Celestial and very dangerous.


    The demon lord looked on with dread as the Colossus approached her. The ground of Armageddon is shaking with each step of the Colossus. The quaking synchronized with the sound of her thundering heartbeat. And just like the quaking is getting louder the closer the Celestial is to her, the louder and faster her heart is beating as her dread increased.


    "It seems I am doomed. I didn''t expect them to feature a Celestial right from the start." Shemented as she looked on.


    An invasion war usually starts with skirmishes and probes. It is important to be cautious and to test the waters so that you don''t fall into your enemy''s trap. She was counting on the prudence of the enemy and the sacrifice of her soldiers to give her enough time to extract herself from this murky situation. But they go and sent a Celestial on the first day.


    She may have arge army but it is not giving her any confidence. She knows deep down in her veryrge gut that she is doomed. If there''s anyone that can trust their gut for advice it is her because she has a big gut and it is almost sentient. So yes, she is really doomed.


    It is not a conclusion influenced by paranoia. She is themander of the demon army and also the strongest. A Celestial god won''t waste time with the rabble. It wille to destroy the leadership of the invaders. That means it ising to remove her from the existence of the living. Apart from sound reasoning, one will be hard-pressed toe to another conclusion if they see what she is seeing.


    It is a terrifying sight. Angels and demons alike arebusting wherever the titanic being passes. The mere presence of the shining Colossus has doomed them to be nothing but ashes. She is more than strong enough to withstand the heat of the Colossus, it is the source of the heat that she is worried about. A Colossus that is 10 times bigger than her,ing towards her army cannot be good news.


    Beelta is just a demon Lord, the equivalent of a grand god. She is at the peak of half-divine rank in all her stats so she can take on the most powerful grand god and maybe a weak sovereign ofw. What she can''t take on is a Celestial. A Celestial is out of her pay grade but falls to her to handle the Celestial since she has the highest pay grade among the demons. That means she cannot give up.


    So she initiatedmunication with the Celestial.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Sun god. I''ll watch my back if I were you. A demon king is hiding in the army."


    Her voice exuded confidence and not a hint of the crippling fear that she is feeling. The trick is to make herself believe that there''s a demon king here. The best way to do that is to be afraid of her superior. If a demon king were here, she would be afraid. So she twisted her current fear into the fear of her boss with some confident and slightly sympathetic words.


    Helios replied. "Is that so? I don''t see a demon king anywhere. I only see you."


    "That''s because he is hiding. You will be ambushed. That is the n. Or do you really think we demons are so stupid as to attack a ne with a Celestial without a demon king?"


    Helios continued forward even as they chatted privately. Yes, it is stupidity made incarnate for them to attack the Zargoth ne without a demon king. He is slightly inclined to believe her and he is also cautious of that possibility. Legion doesn''t know everything so a demon king might really be here hiding somewhere. But if a demon king is truly here and it is hiding then it is a weak demon king. Helios is not afraid of such a demon king.


    He is also pretty fast so he believes he can escape. But he decided to indulge Beelta. She might be on to something.


    "If that were so. Why would you help me by telling me that?" He asked her.


    "I am a decoy to be sacrificed for the purpose of the demon king. I don''t want to die. Let me live and I''ll give you information about the army''s ns. You will be able to know what the demon king is up to. It will help you beat back this invasion and save your ne. I can swear an oath to do this."


    She grew more confident the more she spoke. She easily wove lies without missing a beat. Her promise to swear an oath is a fine touch that will express her sincerity. Her wordings suggested that she will rat out the demon king but it doesn''t say that there has to be a demon king. She will swear the oath and rat out her army. She will do anything just for some time to leave this doomed ce.

 Chapter 431 Beelta Vs Helios 2.

    ?"I suppose it is a fair trade for your life," Helios said about her offer.


    He sounded agreeable to the deal and yet, he isn''t stopping. Beelta noticed this obvious discrepancy. It is what is preventing her terrified heart from calming down.


    "Why aren''t you stopping?" She asked.


    Her voice betrayed her. It contained a hint of the true fear of death. That fear of hers began to surface unbidden. It can''t be hidden or modified anymore because the true cause of her fear is ever closer to her. Helios proximity to her has made her fear impossible to control.


    "You see. I have been sent by my superior to spring the trap of the demon king. In a way, we are both simr. We are both decoys to be used by our leaders. It is the pain of our existence." Helios answered with slight remorse.


    That got her to pause. If there is truly a demon king lurking among the demons, this celestial god believed her bit about being a decoy and also went further than that. He shared his n with her. Either he trusts her not to betray him just like she betrayed her demon king, or he is lying to her and toying with her.


    She sighed and asked, "You''re not going to spare me are you?"


    "It''s nothing personal. It''s just a job. Now, do your own part."


    Her mind hardened over with the eptance of death and suddenly her fear cooled down. She has tried but there''s no way out of this. That means she must fight. She doesn''t have much choice in the matter considering that the Colossus is already close to her.


    The giant ball of flesh yelled, "All Existence Erasure."


    She roused all her umted power to fire her most powerful ability. It is a self-created spell that she created after being inspired when she saw a demon king use something like it.


    A giant finger made of energy appeared in front of her. The finger is more than 100 meters in length but it flew forward like it weighed nothing. The fingertip should destroy everything it touches. It should leave behind trails of destruction but it isn''t. Because Beelta is not a demon king. But she held hope that it will at least deter the Celestial.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    One of the 6 giant arms of the Colossus moved. The arm smacked the finger easily destroying it in the process. Her attackcks the Authority of a demon king while every movement of his body is imbued with a Celestial Authority. The arm of the Celestial stretched forward to grab her.


    The demon lord roared unwillingly but it is all futile. She is out of her league. She decided to blow parts of herself up and escape capture. She will hide her consciousness among her scattered remains. It will be like she died and she might get away with it if no one searches further. Her body expanded abruptly, but it was forced to reduce in size. The hand exerted a force on her thatpressed the demon lord from all sides. She can''t explode no matter how much she wants to.


    She did the only thing that she can do which is to transfer her consciousness and soul back to the demon ne by using her connection to the energy well. It will leave her weakened enough to be easily killed by a low-rank demon. At any other time, it would be suicide for her. Her enemies will take the opportunity to get rid of her. Fortunately for her, the demon nobles are stuck here so she is safe.


    The giant golden hand captured the body that she left behind. Helios smiled to himself as he examined her body. He found it amusing that she tried to con him with a non-existent demon king. If there''s someone on this battlefield that knows that there''s no demon king, it will be the two of them. But she didn''t know that. That''s why she tried to pull a fast one on him.


    "The struggle of all life to live is truly admirable."


    He finds her struggle to be admirable. It is just the thing he expects from her with the information he has about her from Aeternus. She knows her defeat and death are imminent and yet she still tried everything to escape it. She used her words to avoid death. It would have worked if he were ignorant and afraid. Unfortunately for her, he knows he has nothing to fear and he is ready to face the slight possibility that he is wrong.


    Then she tried to blow herself up and fake her death. He didn''t allow that because he is not just here for her death. He needs her body. Her soul has left it but it is the body that he needs. There are some other things he came to get on this trip to the divine ne. He began to see to their acquisition after getting the demon lord''s body.


    He captured the demon nobles next. The demon lord couldn''t resist, and neither can they. He didn''t even need a giant hand to capture them. He simply formed a barrier of force around them with his divine sense and captured them easily.


    "Now for the finishing touches."


    He looked at the army that has been frozen in fear because of him. Arge space has been formed around him because of death due to the heat he is releasing. Still, no one moved. Both sides froze like prey before a predator. They are afraid of gaining his attention so they stayed still in hopes that he will ignore them.


    He looked at the Celestial Supreme who was watching on the far side of the angels. It is unfortunate for these frozen soldiers since he has something he wants to get from the Celestial Supreme and he needs a way to taunt him away from the other gods. So he attacked them.

 Chapter 432 Zernon Vs Helios

    ?Sometimes, the strong will attack the weak to get to the strong. Nothing you can do as a weakling can make you immune to violence. Anything can happen to you and you will be a scapegoat if you don''t have the strength to defend yourself.


    The soldiers both demons and angels alike behaved like prey ought to behave. They know that they are weak and they wish to be spared from the malice of the Celestial god but the Celestial has other ns. Helios attacked them. He didn''t attack them with the aim to hurt them. He wanted to hurt the Celestial Supreme.


    He proimed to the world, "Wrath of the sun god."


    It is one of the divine abilities of Stelios. Helios used it by spreading out his divine sense and turning it into a golden cloud. The golden cloud reached his knees in height but it dwarfed everyone on the battlefield. The golden clouds began to produce golden rain. Drops of fire fell from the clouds to the ground and the army below. The drops expanded in the air and crashed into the ground to create explosions that damaged indiscriminately. Both angels and demons suffered his wrath.


    The sight made the Celestial Supreme snap. He can watch Helios capture the demon lord and the demon nobles without doing anything even though he suspects that Helios is doing so to bring them straight to the mortal realm for safety. He can even ignore the death that Helios caused to the angels when passing through them but he cannot ignore the willful destruction of the forces of heaven. It is an unforgivable act of aggression. If all of this is bait, he is willing to bite.


    He roared and transformed too. He became a ck giant with four arms covered head to toe in white armor. His three Divine weapons appeared in his hands. Two giant hammers, one white and another ck. A giant with white and ck strings. Thest one is a weighing scale with one ck and one white scale. He ran towards Helios ready to beat him up. He has been itching to put the young upstart in his ce ever since their first conversation that urred after Helios killed his enforcer.


    Helios is eager too. He said, "Finally, we fight."


    They aren''t the only ones looking forward to the fight. The gods of the pantheon are all watching the fight that decides their fate. If the Celestial Supreme wins, they will return to their normal life, but if he loses, then they might be hermit gods who refuse to leave their divine kingdoms.


    Helios freed his hands by using his divine sense to hold onto his captives. He doesn''t have any divine weapon so he will have to rely on his body. His body isn''tcking either because of the runes he had carved into them. Unlike other giants that created weapons as runes, he turned his body into a weapon. In a sense, his current divine ability is to be the Celestial God of the sun and he can wield the Celestial Authority like a weapon.


    Four of his arms detached and transformed into one shield, one spear, and two cannons. The remaining two will be for grappling.


    The Celestial Supreme used his ability to control gravity as the first move. The world shuddered visibly like a weight is pressed on it. The Celestial Supreme''s control of the world riled up the gravity of the surroundings and weighed everything down.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Then the Celestial Supreme threw his at Helios. The will weaken, restrain, and bind him if it so much as touches him. It should capture Helios since he will be boggled down by gravity. Helios tried to jump back and he seeded. He wasn''t affected by the increase in gravity.


    He has been able to manipte his gravitational field as a mana entity. It is how he was able to fly as a giant of order. He is now a Celestial with more power. Shrugging off the Celestial Supreme''s control over gravity is difficult but manageable for him.


    But Zernon was prepared for something like that. He used his scales to prevent Helios from moving at all.


    He pointed the scales at Helios and said, "The weight of Order is a counterbnce to Chaos."


    A ck figure appeared on the white scale while a golden figure appeared on the white scale. The scale of Order will judge the two parties based on the amount of order they have brought into the world. Their power will be readjusted for a time. The one with therger order will get the bulk of it and the one with the smaller order will be weakened temporarily.


    The Celestial Supreme fights just like he lives his life. Everything is nned out for him to be in total control. He has a battle outline that he follows step by step. It is like abo move with one moveing right after the other. Each of his moves builds on the effects of the previous ones and amplifies each other until he finally kills his target.


    His first move which is suppression using gravity has never failed him. Its effect might be weak or strong but it has never failed. It weakens his opponent and opens them up for furtherpromising attacks. Nextes the and the scale of order that are pivotal in his victory.


    The scale ensures that the suppression is certain by redistributing power. The ratio of power distribution is based on the difference in the contribution to Order between the two parties. Zernon always wins the judgment of the scale because he is a stickler for order. He lives his life with Order. The only person that he has ever lost to is the god of fate who is immune to the workings of order. But he doubts Helios will be able to replicate that unfortunate event.


    He was expecting the scale to tilt in his favor and for Helios to slow down. Then the will capture Helios making it easy for Zernon to beat him with his two hammers to death. What he heard was a crack.

 Chapter 433 Zernon Vs Helios 2.

    ?There was a resounding crack as if something has cracked.


    "Hmm?"


    The Celestial Supreme was perplexed about that sound of a crack because the scale is not supposed to make such a sound. It is supposed to make a chime of deration after the judgment. He looked at the scale and he couldn''t believe what he saw. The scale has cracked and split into two.


    "What just happened?"


    The question is more for him than for anybody else. The scale is not supposed to break as long as he is judging a single person. Putting too much weight past the tolerance limit of a machine can break it. But he is only judging one person as far as he can tell. Could Helios be more than one person?


    That''s a preposterous question to ask. Maybe the fault is with the scale of it could be the title of the child of the ne that messed with the scale.It could be anything now that the scale has broken. The only other time his scale has failed him is when it failed with the in affecting the god of fate. He has an exnation for that unfortunate event, but this situation is an enigma to him.


    He noticed toote that Helios has escaped the and his eyes widened further because he noticed that Helios'' speed seems to be unaffected. It should not be unaffected. It should be slowed down by the increase in the force of gravity. It dawned on him that he had failed right from his first move.


    He looked at Helios strangely and asked, "What are you?"


    He asked that question because Helios is not behaving like a giant at all. Nothing about the son of the sun god is normal or easily exinable. So he asked that question with sincere desperation in hopes to wrap his mind around what Helios is. Helios answered the question with a thrown spear to the Celestial Supreme''s face.


    He had escaped the by jumping back and avoiding it. It is a simple solution that many Celestials before him failed to execute. The fact that he was able to do it at all stumped the Celestial Supreme. But that doesn''t mean he has to entertain him with an exnation.


    He morphed one of his arms into the form of a spear and threw it at Zernon.The onught did not end there. His arm reformed and he closed in on his opponent right after the spear. Zernon discarded the destroyed divine scale and hurriedly reacted to the attack. He swung one of his hammers and tried to strike the spear out of the air.


    He seeded but his arm was knocked back. His eyes widened in shock again.


    He asked Helios again, "What the heck are you supposed to be?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He had expected to knock that spear away easily but it was much stronger than he estimated. He always thought that he lost unjustly to Helios in the mortal realm because he couldn''t use his full body. He had to fight through unreliable vessels so he was sure he would be able to beat Helios outright if he dares toe to the divine ne.


    Helios may have the Authority of a Celestial but it is a new Authority that has not been strengthened at all whereas he has supped on the lives of Celestials for a long time. Logic and reasoning dictate that he should win a confrontation between the two of them easily. But Helios came to the divine ne only for his logical and reasonable expectations to be subverted.


    The Celestial Supreme would very much like to know what makes Helios very strong. Unfortunately, Helios still didn''t answer. He morphed 3 of his arms intorge swords leaving the shield and the two cannons still loading their attacks. The threerge des fell from the sky onto Zernon one after the other.


    The Celestial Supreme yelled angrily, "I asked you a question you disrespectful shit."


    He roused himself with a roar. He understands that he has been on the back foot of the fight since he was caught off guard when his scale of Order broke and that something has to be done about it for him to regain the upper hand.


    He is not usually like this but Helios surprised him. He usually has every moment of the fight going smoothly for him. Still, he is in a fight and he might very well die from hisx behavior. Since he cannot underestimate Helios anymore, he has to improvise and bring out his best.


    He used his two hammers to defend himself against the falling des while he recalled his with one hand and began using another one of his divine abilities with hisst hand. The divine ability he activated created a force of attraction on Helios that began pulling him towards Zernon.


    He wielded his hammers and knocked aside the first de. The falling de broke with the force of the collision and disintegrated. He seeded in knocking back the second de too. He struck the third one and he missed. He hadn''t misjudged the distance. The sword seemed to have phased through his hammer as it suddenly sped up. The third sword swung down past his raised hammer and cut the two arms on his right side. One hammer and two arms fell to the ground with a thud.


    Zernon cried out in pain. He felt pain in his soul, mind, body, and Authority. It''s like arge chunk of it was ripped off. This is the first time he has experienced so much pain in his life. No one has ever managed to deal such a heavy blow to him. But he doesn''t intend to back down. The pain only sobered him up. His eyes became frosty with anger.


    "Come here." He yelled as he pulled on Helios with his divine ability.


    He yanked on Helios with the tether between them with a renewed vigor fueled by rage. Helios was pulled to him and he raised his hammer for coup de grace.

 Chapter 434 Zernon Vs Helios 3.

    ?The main divine ability of Order is control. Control can be used for many things. He can use it to control gravity, and space, or manipte forces. Zernon has not been able to close the distance between them so he intends to pull Helios to him. He will be able to use his and hammer when they are close to each other.


    Of course, Helios is not alright with that n. Hebined the two cannons together and fired the attack he has been preparing. He was preparing a star within each cannon and would have fired two beams with the power of a star at his opponent but he doesn''t have time to prepare it. So hebined the two unfinished stars.


    Combining the two doesn''t make them ready. Instead, they reacted with each other and exploded to create an attack with the power of an exploding star. An arc of heated sma spread outward towards Zernon. Space warped because of the heat as the arc raced toward its objective. The attack is more powerful than what Helios nned but it is also short-lived.


    Zernon''s white amour began to glow as he infused it with his Authority. The arc shed with his armor and created an explosion of heat and light but it couldn''t harm Zernon. Zernon exerted more force and pulled Helios faster to him. The explosion created shockwaves that destroyed their surroundings. Zernon did not care about that. He single-mindedly focused on getting Helios close to him.


    Helios formed more swords that he began dropping on Zernon while he resisted the pull with all he has. He had to stop that when Zernon started throwing hammers at him. The hammers will strike him and fly to Zernon''s hands to be thrown again. Even the hammer on the floor joined the one in Zernon''s arm to harass him so Helios had to form shields to protect himself from the hammers. Still, Zernon''s hold on him continued to increase and he is being pulled closer and closer.


    Zernon grinned evilly the closer Helios got to him. He is a fisherman and Helios is his stubborn fish on a hook. His grin faltered when Helios jumped forward all of a sudden. It caught Zernon off guard. The pulling force that was like a rope attached to Helios suddenly went ck. Zernon stumbled but he reacted quickly. He threw his toward the airborne Helios.


    Helios jumped forward and activated one of the runes on his body mid-flight. His body resonated with light and he turned into a ray of sunlight for a short time. He phased through the and appeared in front of Zernon.


    Zernon''s eye widened. He recovered from the sudden change of force but he can''t react to this. He watched as Helios thrust his spear forward to strike his chest. The spear struck the armor. There was a brief sh as the armor resisted but the resistance failed and the spear pierced through it to enter Zernon''s body.


    His attack with the spear is not like the previous explosion of a star. It is not a widespread attack of unfocused energy. It is precise, deadly, and unblockable. He had performed a light resonance shift to make sure he nailed it right.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Zernon did not expect it despite being injured by something like that previously. He lost two arms to a de that phased out too but he didn''t anticipate Helios phasing out because he doesn''t know that if the de can do something, so can Helios. After all, they are made from the same thing, which is his body. He is bigger than the spear so phasing out is energy intensive. Fortunately, he has never been in need of energy.


    This time Zernon stopped himself from screaming. Instead, he reversed the pulling force on Helios. A wave of repelling force ejected from his body in all directions. He made it explode between them so Helios was sted and thrown away from him. The two of them stopped fighting and looked at each other.


    Helios teased him. He is winning, so he can indulge in chatting with his opponent. "Have you realized that I am much stronger in the divine ne?"


    In the main ne, he is a king ofw with 100 times the stats of a sovereign and an authority of 100 making him equivalent to a sovereign in power. A sovereign has an Authority of 10,000 but his stats have helped him bridge the gap in power.


    Everything changed when he entered the divine ne. The Celestial Authority is the foundation of the power of a Celestial just like a seed of power is to a Sovereign. A sovereign is equivalent to a Celestial but they can''t beat a Celestial because of the suppression of the divine ne. Sovereigns lose their authority in the divine ne but Helios gains one.


    In a nutshell, in the divine ne, Helios has 100 times the stats of a Sovereign with the Authority of a Celestial. His heritage as the half-celestial of the sun swaps his suppressed Authority of a king ofw for that of a Celestial which makes him much stronger in the divine ne than in the mortal realm.


    Zernon doesn''t need to know the specifics of how Helios is stronger to realize that he is outmatched. The spear that broke his defense and gored him is more than enough clue as to how outssed he is. That''s why he called all of his Archangels toe and assist him.


    He called them when Helios cut his two hands. They were at the back of the army so it took a while to get here. He was stabbed in the chest in that period of time so he was right to call for help. The Archangels came in a hurry to support him. They pped their 12 wings as fast as possible to get to him. They werete to help him but they got to him in time and will hopefully prevent another stabbing.

 Chapter 435 The Body Parts Of A Celestial.

    ?Zernon became nked by 5 helpers as he stared at Helios. Each Archangel is the equivalent of a Sovereign. Their presence renewed their presence.


    He asked, "So what next? would kill me and take my position as the Celestial Supreme? Your father must be very proud."


    Helios shook his head. "No. I already have what I came for."


    He pointed to their surroundings. Zernon widened his eyes in realization. The entire army of the gods and the angels has been wiped out. The cloud of fire rain had continued to fall while they were fighting, it decimated everything on the battlefield, except for the forces that Zernon had held back.


    But even the reserve forces were not spared.Zernon may have blocked the attack with the power of an exploding star but those behind him couldn''t. That arc of heat and light sheared through his reserve forces and thinned their numbers. So only the Archangels that stood at the very back of the army are safe. Everything else is toast.


    Zernon''s eyes red up again. He was about to attack when he remembered that he is not Helios'' match.


    He said to Helios, "Well done."


    Then he began to retreat with his bodyguards of angels. Helios watched him go without doing anything. It was only after the Celestial Supreme left Armageddon that he moved. The first thing he did is to pick up the two arms that he cut off from the celestial supreme. It is the most important thing he came to the divine ne for.


    He smirked to himself. "I lied. Now, I have everything I came here for."


    He targeted the army of angels to bait Zernon. His real aim is a body part of the god of order. He distracted Zernon with the damage to the army so the god of order did not make sure to destroy the arm before he left. He wasn''t leaving on his own ord anyway. He was retreating after a defeat so the two arms that he lost is thest thing on his mind.


    In a normal situation, he doesn''t have anything to worry about concerning the arms. No one targets a Celestial Supreme for their body parts. At least not in the Zargoth ne. He has never had to protect his arms from someone because they have never been cut from him. Also, the arms should disintegrate soon and be useless. Unfortunately for Zernon, Helios is not normal.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Helios knows that the consciousness, the divine powers of a Celestial, and their bodies are fused. So the body part of Celestials is a very important divine item. He even knows something that he can use the arm for. He also knows that he just has to offer these body parts divine power to preserve them.


    He chuckled darkly to himself as he is thinking of all the things he can do with the arms. Next, he took back the body of the demon lord and the demon nobles. Then he left the divine realm and returned to the mortal realm. That marks the end of his short trip in the divine ne.


    He can kill the Celestial Supreme at a cost but he should not. At least, not until Stelios is out of the picture. If he kills Zernon, then the title of Celestial Supreme will go to him or more likely to Stelios since he is the real sun god. It might not happen but it is not a risk that Legion is willing to take especially with the cost involved.


    Zernon allowed his son to live when he was a baby because that poor behemoth is not a threat to him. Zernon had two Authorities while the boy had one. When he noticed that the boy is reclusive and harmless even with one Authority he decided he can ept the boy''s existence.


    That''s not going to happen if Stelios gets that second Authority. Helios might be stronger than Stelios right now, but Stelios is the true Celestial of the sun. Even if Helios manages to get the title of Celestial Supreme instead of Stelios, he doesn''t want to be the Celestial Supreme because he will need to cut off his path of perfection. The tree father is a much better candidate for that not him.


    Apart from that, the situation isn''t optimal for killing the celestial supreme. Zernon and his 5 angels outnumber him and will be tough to defeat. There''s also the multitude of gods around. They might join the fight when he is about to kill Zernon. They didn''t interfere in their fight earlier but they might interfere if it is clear that he is winning.


    Zernon might be a control freak but he is one of them. Helios is that brat that killed a poor half-celestial, specifically by butchering him and using his body to open a channel for demons to enter the ne. That is a betrayal to all giants of order. The gods will choose Zernon above him anytime. The evil they know and are familiar with is better than the evil that may shine brightly but is unknown.


    It is too risky and too dangerous to try and kill Zernon right now. Legion isn''t willing to put Helios in danger yet since he is the strongest clone in the Zargoth ne. Without him, they will lose their heavy hitters. He might have to face the entire pantheon if he wants to kill Zernon only for Stelios to get the Authority.


    So his job in the divine ne is not to kill Zernon, it is to get a part of Zernon, capture the demon lord and demon nobles, then wipe out the army. Destroying the army of demons means that the 541st ne is at its weakest, just ripe for the taking. Destroying the army of angels has reduced their protection so that it will be easier for them to be attacked in the future.


    The demon nobles are for Aeternus to grow his mark of sin while the demon lord and Zernon''s two arms are for Helios to practice his Rune making with. He has been able to achieve this much with his knowledge of runes, he believes that pushing the boundary of runes and how they are empowered with Order to create things is the key to finally understanding how the Authority of gods works and hopefully breaking anotherw of the universe. Zernon was targeted because he is a very powerful source of Order.

 Chapter 436 Too Many Worries.

    ?Zernon might be safe for now but he will meet his death in due time. His days are numbered. Legion already has a n to kill him cleanly without interference. The other gods and archangels. None of them will be able to interfere then.


    Helios left the divine ne since he has finished what he came for. He returned to the mortal realm to act as protection for their interests and to conduct experiments. Protecting what they have is very important. Things are going well for them and it needs to be maintained that way. Overconfidence and underestimating the enemy can undo what they have achieved so Legion must be careful and watchful.


    Several dayster.


    The Celestial Supreme gritted his teeth in pain andmented. "Things are not going well."


    He is sitting on his throne but he doesn''t feel asfortable as he should because two of his arms are still missing. The injury was caused by a Celestial Authority backed by a strength greater than his so it should take some time to regrow but it hasn''t. The surface of the cut should have healed at least but it is still fresh and hurting as if he just got cut.


    It is odd that his arms haven''t healed since the wound in his chest caused by the spear has healed but the two stumps of his arms are still bleeding white blood. He is worried about what it means but it is just one of his numerous worries. He doesn''t have the luxury to fixate on a single worry anymore. The mortal realm is in official shambles and his established order has crumbled. It is not a sudden thing. One thing led to the other to create the Chaos that is now running rampant.


    The mortal realm has just suffered massive casualties because of the world war that was fought recently. The remaining troops of the gods are at the center of the ne leaving most of the ne open to attack. The demons in the ne are taking advantage of that vulnerability to destroy churches across the ne.


    Even worse is that the demons are building a stronghold that will create a permanent channel between the demon ne to the mortal ne. If that is allowed to happen then the mortal realm is doomed. Demons will be able to move freely between the two nes.


    A stronghold with a permanent channel means that the demons will always be able to get reinforcements as long as the channel is functional. The channel can be destroyed but it is best that it is not built at all. A stronghold cannot be allowed to happen or their losing fight against the demons will be a hopeless fight without any chance of recovery.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He ordered the gods to put aside their differences and work together to eliminate the threat of the demons. Some of them disagreed because of the destruction of their churches. They would like to defend their churches from the demons but the majority of the gods agreed with him because they recognize the threat of a demon stronghold. The destruction of their churches is bad but a continuous supply of enemies is worse.


    So all of the church''s troops at the center of the ne that was previously at each other''s throats because of the insult perpetrated by Harkam have now joined together and are matching to face the demon army. The gods are even sending out their vessels from their various church headquarters. They hope to uproot the threat of the demons in one fell swoop. Anything less than total victory will give the demons a chance to return stronger.


    The fact that he had to convince them withmon sense before they decided to band together is not sitting well with him. The gods wouldn''t have disagreed with him in the past but now they can because he has lost his prestige after losing to Helios. He is not the strongest god as they once thought. He can''t order them around however he wishes especially now that his Influence in the mortal and divine realm is at its lowest. The loss is made worse by the fact that Helios is not even a real god.


    That isn''t where his problems end though. It is going to take time for the army to reach their target because either by coincidence or intention, the location of the ant mound where the portal opened is at the edge of the ne. It will give the demons enough time to get up to their nefarious activities.


    The next bad news is the hidden god. The hidden god has be not so hidden. That insidious good-for-nothing god has be proactive after helping to foil his attempt at closing the channel. A church called the church of life hase out of nowhere with promises of a kingdom of peace and happiness. The church promises no war andplete harmony. It is something highly sort after by mortals in these trying times of war and strife. They are further encouraged to make the switch to the new religion since the other churches are being destroyed wantonly by demons and the believers of other gods are being massacred like cattle.


    The threat of death is enough to incentivize former believers and non-believers to start a migration toward this kingdom of peace created by the hidden god. The hidden god has also been magnanimous enough to wee everyone. He opened his kingdom of life up to the world. It was then that Zernon noticed the abode of the hidden god and discovered it to be a sort of divine tree.


    Finding out that the hidden god is a tree made him chuckle. It was either that or insanity. He chose to chuckle because it had almost taken him to the edge of sanity to find out that something that shouldn''t exist within the ne is the "root" of his problems. The tree may berge but it is a tree nheless and it has made him so miserable.

 Chapter 437 East To West.

    ?He giggled when he found out the identity of his enemy.


    "It is a tree. Of course, it is a tree. How did I not see thating? That ugly nt dragon should have clued me in. To think that I will fall because of a tree." He mused to himself sagely.


    Then heughed andughed. His giggling turned into self-deprecatingughter pretty quickly. What kept him sane is the fact that either by chance or intention, this abode is located at the edge of the ne directly opposite the spot where the portal was created. It indicates that he didn''t lose because of ipetence and that everything has been nned from the start so his loss to a tree is not so disgraceful.


    The ant mound is to the west of the ne while the kingdom of life is to the east. It might seem like an irrelevant observation but bes extremely important when the demons are chasing the mortals in the direction of the only ce in the mortal realm with protection. That coincidence reeks of a scheme and he didn''t need to think too much to know the purpose of the scheme. He can see the effect of this configuration as clearly as day even though his mind is fraying at the edges.


    On one end of the ne are demons and on the other end is salvation. The demons kill and pige, and the mortals then run into the arms of the waiting church of life. This effect has been made especially convenient by cing the church of life in the only direction of safety. This leads to gods losing believers every day as believers lose faith because of the demon invasion.


    The third bad news is the state of his church. The church of order used to be the strongest church but it has be crippled. The forces of the church have been scattered to the ends of the ne in different directions where they were picked off one by one. The transcendents of the church of life attacked them proactively when he ordered his troops to retreat. They held back his troops while Helios finished off difficult ones. None of his troops returned to the church headquarters so the strongest church has officially be the weakest church.


    Then there is the sun church. It is one of the oldest in the ne if not the oldest. It is also the second strongest church in the mortal realm and most importantly, it refused to join the war in eradicating the demons. That is understandable since Helios is the one that brought the scourge of demons on them.


    Helios told the church of the sun not to fight the demos. It produced a peculiar development in the ranks of the church. Zernon had thought that Stelios had a hand in it too but he seems he is wrong about that. The chaos going on in the church of the sun indicates that all might not be well between Stelios and Helios.


    The church of the sun has split into two. There is a side among the clergymen that believes in the old sun god and there is a new faction that believes that Helios is the new sun god. The old faction is led by the pope while the new faction is led by a Cardinal named Hak. They even had a civil war that ended quickly and without suspense.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The New faction has Helios while the old faction has Stelios. But Stelios has refused to show himself so it did note as a surprise that the new faction won. Even the divine lords of the sun god, Helios'' older siblings didn''t interfere in the matter so Helios easily got control of the church. Then Helios directed the forces of the church to escort giants who are on a pilgrimage to the holynd of the church of life. So instead of joining the fight against demons, the church of the sun allied with the church of life.


    The state of the world made the Celestial Supremement ruefully. "They yed me and they yed me well. It was gradual and I didn''t see iting. Now I am about to be checkmated."


    It is one bad news after another. It reminds him of his battle n where he uses one move after the other to push his enemy into certain death. The bad state of things didn''t happen all at once. It started when he noticed fluctuations of divinity at the ant mound. It has be obvious that it wasn''t coincidental that he noticed the divinity.


    The god of life can hide from him and has hidden many things from him. The god of life could have hidden the divinity but the snake for a tree wanted him to notice and send demigods. No one can convince him otherwise. The location of the ant mound rtive to the position of the kingdom of life is enough proof to him. That ant mound was chosen specifically to be his doom right from the beginning.


    "Something needs to change for the better or I will have to use the doomsday weapon."


    In summary, the mortal realm is heading toward total loss of control. If the gods can''t flourish in the mortal realm then they will die out as they are starved of faith. They will be easy prey to the demons then. Right now the demons are still cautious of attacking them but that will change when the gods run out of believers.


    He has ast card that he can y but it will damage the gods a lot to use. If they don''t seed in rooting out the demons by destroying their stronghold then he will have to use it. It is either that or no future at all for the gods.


    He will try everything within his means to protect himself and save the future of the gods. He is not dead yet so he has not lost yet. It is his turn to show up the invaders and prove to them why he is a great Celestial Supreme. There are some things in Zargoth ne that only those that have lived its history know about. He will unearth one of them to end the scourge of demons.

 Chapter 438 Evolution For Aeternus.

    ?Back to Aeternus.


    He has started the protocol to build a stronghold within the ne. This protocol is basically the creation of another abyss altar here. This abyss altar will form a direct connection between this ne and the abyss altar back in the abyss which will create a permanent channel between the two nes. The process is slow and has to be destroyed before it is finished or else it will be potentially impossible to destroy after its creation.


    If the altar is allowed to form, then demons will be able to enter the mortal realm directly from the abyss altar. Then there is the fortress that surrounds the altar which gives it its name as a stronghold. A fortress is usually built around this altar to make defending it easy. It is what numerous mid-rank demons are currently building. The demons are already getting ready to defend the altar before it is evenpleted.


    Meanwhile, Aeternus himself is getting ready for evolution. Someone with a kind heart dropped off demon nobles to him. The gift of demon nobles is very valuable but it was given to him free of charge. Now, Aeternus is not someone that receives handouts from others. But there''s nothing wrong with it if it is a gift from himself. It will also strengthen him so that he can y his role in eliminating the gods. The best predators of gods have always been demons.


    The demon nobles were brought to him bound and helpless like fresh meat to be chopped. He had hoped to recruit some of them to his house. The 8 prime demon nobles among them are very good candidates as subordinates. The fact that they tried to capture him for the demon lord is old news. He is an epting and forgiving demon. He is willing to bring them into the light but a pesky contract stopped him from epting them into the house of chaos.


    Though they are bound and helpless, the contract forbids them from helping him in any way even if it is to save their lives. So he killed all of them. The other option is to kill the ones he needs for Evolution while leaving the rest alive until he has killed the other party of the contract, the demon lord. But they might still be inmunication with the demon lord and he doesn''t want a traitor around telling her of his situation.


    "Better to do this before the god''s liberation armyes." He said to himself.


    There''s no need to wait to evolve. He has everything he could need including 2,000 divinity which he got from the divine fruits that a nt spirit dropped off. Evolution will make him stronger and more prepared for whatever the gods will throw at him. Their army is a few days away. It is best if he ispletely prepared for them so that he will be able to defend the stronghold.


    Only he and Xander are here to defend the stronghold. He made the others leave with their legions to destroy the churches. They are doing a good job of it from what he has heard.


    He sank into a deep sleep as he activated his mark of sin for Evolution.


    ( CHAOS ENERGY HAS REACHED THE LIMIT OF NATURAL EVOLUTION. )


    ( WOULD YOU LIKE TO FACE THE TRIAL OF ABYSS NOW? )


    ( REFUSAL TO UNDERGO THE TRIAL WILL PREVENT CHAOS ENERGY FROM REACHING THE DIVINE STAGE AND IT WOULD AFFECT YOUR POTENTIAL FOR EVOLUTION )


    He received this same message when he was just a mid-rank demon trying to evolve into a high-rank demon. Back then he couldn''t ept the trial because he was terribly injured in body and soul. Now he can, so he did.


    He felt his mind begin to fall as if being pulled by something. His consciousness darkened for an unknown amount of time. He found himself in total darkness when his consciousness returned. Something had woken him up, it felt like an itch.


    A voice spoke to him in the demon tongue. "Who are you?"


    Each word mmed into his mind like a hammer. But all he feels is a slight itch. The hammer struck his mind and felt really soft.


    ''So that''s what woke me up.''


    To others, the force of the words will be the most painful thing they have ever felt, but to him, it felt like an itch. He looked to figure out who spoke to him but he saw nothing. He can''t see himself either. So maybe he is blind or there''s nothing to see but total darkness here.


    The voice asked him again, "Who are you?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He asked in return, "Who are you to question me?"


    Not just anyone can ask him for his identity. Besides, you can''t just answer a question because it was asked.


    The voice Introduced itself, "I am the will of the abyss. Who are you?"


    "I am Khaos Aeternus, the Eternal Chaos."


    It asked in that same heavy andpelling voice. "What are you?"


    "I am a demon of chaotic envy?"


    "Why are you here?"


    He replied. "You should know that."


    "Why are you here?" It asked again.


    "I am here for the abyss trial."


    He decided to answer since the will of the abyss seemed intent on grilling him for answers that should be obvious.


    "What is a king?"


    "A demon with the Authority of a king."


    It asked, "Do you deserve to be king?"


    Aeternus replied, "It doesn''t matter what I deserve. I am strong enough to be king therefore I am to be king."


    "An immacte answer, but I shall not take your word for it. Demons lie. I know that and you know that too. But it doesn''t matter. I''ll see for myself if you have what it takes to be king."


    Aeternus shrugged and said, "Suit yourself."


    "I n to do just that. You be tried and tested. Your worth will be determined and if it is found wanting, then you will join the ranks of false kings. Mind you, false kings are imposters and what happens to imposters?"


    He replied immediately, "Imposters are killed."

 Chapter 439 The Trial Of The Abyss.

    ?Imposters are killed. It is a reality that has been proven in the abyss. You will lose your life if you im to be something and you don''t have the strength to back it up. If you im that a fortress in the abyss is yours and that you''re in control of its abyss altar, your im will be tested. It doesn''t matter if you''re truly in control of the abyss altar. What matters is if you can defend your im to it. Failure to do anything in the abyss almost always leads to death.


    The will of the abyss became silent with that warning. His surroundings suddenly lit up and changed. He flinched first before he figured out where he is. He has appeared beside a demon. This demon is in the domain of fledglings at the edge of the ne because the other demons around are small weak things. This demon is strange. It is bigger than fledglings, about the size of a low-rank demon and ck smoke is oozing out of the demon''s body. The other fledglings give it a wide berth.


    ''This is me.'' He realized.


    The will of the abyss spoke again. "A king should have fortitude."


    The surroundings warped as time flowed faster. It showed Aeternus standing up after 50 years then fighting his first demon, a mid-rank demon.


    ''Fitalo the demon of wrath.'' he muttered to himself.


    He felt pain in his eyes as his former self poked Fitalo''s eyes, then he felt phantom pain between his legs as his former self struck Fitalo between the legs. Fitalo swore to kill him painfully. Next came the pain that Fitalo felt as he was burned to death by Chaos mes.


    "This is nothing to me." He said confidently.


    He felt pain for everything he inflicted on Fitalo but the pain felt less than an itch. The pain of the eye pokes was more than the pain of the death by Chaos mes because he is more limated to chaos than pain. Even then, the pain is almost nothing. So he is confident that he will survive this trial if this is all that it will take to be a king.


    His confidence didn''t change as the record of his life as a demon yed. He felt every pain he ever inflicted on others. Most of them were by chaos mes so it was a breeze. But there are certain asions when he cut someone''s head off, cut their arms, or disemboweled them. Those came back to bite him in more ways than he thought.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His mind took on the pain easily so he thought that the trial is easy, but it is not so. Because in the real world in the Zargoth ne, his body isn''t having it so well. The eye sockets of his body were poked when he felt the pain of being poked in the trial world. Since he doesn''t have eyes, there was no damage to his body. The same thing happened when he felt kicked between the legs. He has nothing there to be damaged so he was not damaged.


    The Chaos mes did no damage to him at all either. It is the other kinds of injury that he caused to others that are damaging his body. His head and arms were cut off. His torso was mutted and crushed. His legs were broken and his spine shattered. Every form of physical damage he caused to others began to reflect on his body.


    The trial of the abyss tests the mind and the body individually. The mind and body will be tortured and since they are made differently, they react differently to the same thing. His mind can feel pain but its threshold for pain is very high. His body has been warped by Chaos energy and can''t feel pain at all which is a good thing normally, but it also can''t heal without Chaos energy.


    In a normal situation, damage to his body will heal quickly and he can heal almost any amount of damage because of his infinite supply of energy but this is not a normal situation. His mark of sin and his soul are currently in limbo until he passes his trial of the abyss. That means his body can''t get the Chaos energy it needs to heal.


    His body is an anchor that tethers Aeternus to the world of the living. If his body doesn''t heal, it will be damaged enough that the link between Aeternus''s soul to the world is destroyed. His soul will remain stuck in limbo and will never return. He will die and be forgotten as one of the failures of the trial of the abyss.


    This is the mostmon cause of death in other demon lords taking the trial of the abyss. Their fleshy bodies experience all the damage that they have ever inflicted. It is an unreasonable thing to ask for considering the lifestyle of demons. Except their body can heal on its own and they can use life essence to keep their body together. Aeternus''s body is not natural, life essence doesn''t work on it. Divine life energy might work but Legion is not willing to take the risk of allowing Chaos energy to infiltrate the mindwork. So Aeternus''s body is on its own.


    Unlike Aeternus, other demon lords are more threatened by the pain in their souls than the damage to their bodies. Soul damage is very difficult to heal and life essence can''t heal it because the soul has been pulled away from the body. But as long as they can withstand the pain in their minds, they will survive the trial of the abyss if they have life essence for their bodies.


    Aeternus has always been an odd demon, an outlier. The threat of this trial is to his body, not his mind. He continued to feel carefree while his body got destroyed bit by bit. Each damage to his body reduced the connection of his soul to his body. He lost his anchor to the world bit by bit as the trial continued. He remained clueless about his precarious situation throughout the process because he can''t feel pain.

 Chapter 440 Choose Your Crown.

    ?His body suffered and broke apart little by little. Then there was a time during the trial that he crushed the skull of an enemy beneath his foot. His skull shattered in the real world and the light of his soul me within his skull went out.


    The next thing that took a hit is his mes of Chaos umtion. The reddish me on top of his head activated on its own burning his reservoir of umtion to maintain the connection to his soul and keep him alive. He will surely die when the me goes out.


    The me began to reduce. Its rate of reduction increased rapidly. The thing about umtion is that it cost more to use the longer you use it. It continued to decrease rapidly despite the flow of more because of the chaos that Aeternus has caused in the Zargoth ne. It has been a long time since demons invaded the Zargoth ne and the destruction his subordinates are causing is unprecedented. His impact on an entire ne has increased his umtion immensely and it is still doing it but it is not enough to save him.


    The rate of replenishment of the me couldn''t keep up with the ever-increasing rate of depletion. The me of umtion burned until it became a tiny mote of light. Then it suddenly stopped burning. Instead of reducing rapidly due to the cost of usage, it didn''t reduce at all and it didn''t go out. His reservoir of umtion has run out but it isn''t needed to sustain Aeternus''s connection to the world anymore. There are 8 others that have taken on that job.


    The soul sphere within Aeternus''s soul served as the next anchor for him. It connects him to the other clones of Legion. He is not alone. He is part of a muchrger entity and his connection to this entity has granted him 8 anchors so he can continue the trial even without a body. Limbo cannot have his soul.


    The small mote that the me of umtion has be remained in its near-death state. It didn''t increase or decrease. Aeternus is not dead yet, if his soul returns and can''t regrow his body, then he might die. He is just in limbo, not dead yet. He continued the trial until it came to the time when he killed the pleading demon nobles that Helios gave to him to grow his mark of sin.


    "Maybe I shouldn''t have killed all of them." He joked as he felt the pain of his ymore cutting into their bodies.


    The surroundings darkened after he was done with them.


    The will of the abyss spoke. "You have fortitude. I have seen it. You deserve the mantle of King."


    "I told you so," Aeternus said smugly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "But what kind of king do you want to be? Do you want to be the king of the abyss, the king of demons, or the king of kings? Be careful what you choose. The weight of the crown is heavy, it is heavier the more powerful it is." The voice took on an Ominous tone, "You have been warned, so choose wisely."


    Three crowns appeared in front of him. They all look identical like a ring of golden metal. They are more like golden hoops than crowns. The three of them represent the three types of demon kings possible. He has proven himself to be worthy of bearing the Authority of a king so now he must choose what type of Authority he wishes and what type of king he wants to be. The information of the three appeared in his mind through his mark of sin.


    The king of the abyss is a representative of the abyss. He grows stronger by furthering the agenda of the abyssal which is bringing destruction to the mortal ne. As long as a king of the abyss has an army, they can wreak destruction on a ne and wipe out the mortals. If the mortals die out so do the gods but that''s not the aim of the abyss. The abyss wants the ne to be destroyed by mother high heaven.


    If a ne is not promising or productive enough, for example, if it doesn''t have a divine race, then mother high heaven will destroy the ne. There is a reward for the king of the abyss each time a ne is scrapped because of his or her actions. They get more Authority that way and grow stronger.


    There are other advantages to bing a king of the abyss. The representative of the abyss can never die as long as the abyss exists and as long as they are still king of the abyss. They are granted immortality and will always be resurrected by the abyss.


    It is all good except the demon king of the abyss has to get ess to the mortal ne if they want to attack the mortals directly. They have to get past the divine ne which is a tall order if the gods of the ne are strong. Plus, the king can only grow stronger when they cause the destruction of the ne or when they sacrifice celestial gods to the abyss. They can''t be stronger in any other way.


    Their immortality alsoes with strings attached. Kings of the abyss can never be demon gods. They will forever remain demon kings. This option is not for him since he aims to be a world ender which is after the rank of a demon god.


    The second type of king, the king of demons, is an independent demon that rules demons. This kind of king will be able to form another ne in the abyss and it will be their personal domain in the abyss like the divine kingdom of gods in the divine ne. The entire ne will be their domain where they are strongest and where their surbodinates will stay. The ne will also give them a continuous supply of soldiers for their army.

 Chapter 441 Heavy Is The Crown.

    ?Kings of demons are also immortal as long as their ne still exists. A ne is not as durable as the abyss and if a demon king can create a ne, then another demon king can destroy it. That means that kings of demons will resurrect as long as they are strong enough to defend their ne. It is going to be tough because if they can''t defend themselves against an assant, odds are that they can''t defend their ne from that assant either.


    The situation is not exactly hopeless. A demon king will be stronger in their ne and it requires more power to destroy the ne than to kill the king but the problem of death remains very real. The abyss is an intangible target while a ne is a tangible target that one can take their frustration out upon.


    Demons are vengeful beings. There''s no way a demon that kills you won''t want to uproot your means of resurrection. It is the major reason why clones for resurrecting are kept hidden. But unlike clones, you can''t hide an entire ne.


    There isn''t any other disadvantage apart from the insurance against death. A king of demons grows stronger by killing and absorbing the Godhood of Celestials. Unlike the king of the abyss who only gets a small portion of the power from Godhood, a king of demons gets the full power. So a king of demons grows stronger faster and they won''t have a limit on their growth. They can be demon gods if they meet the requirements.


    The third and final option is the king of kings. This king grows stronger by absorbing celestials. They also get a ne to themselves. Unlike other kings, however, they get to have more than one crown. Having more than one crown is the major difference between a king of kings and other demon kings.


    These extra crowns cane from the rare voluntary generosity of other demon kings or the moremon/realisticpulsory generosity of demon kings. It is practically the same thing. Some people need to bepelled before they voluntarily give something up.


    Extra crowns grant a lot of benefits some of which is an increase in the boost within the ne of the king and demon king avatars. A king of kings'' domain is a death trap because of their numerous crowns. Demon kings can form avatars like the demon lord''s sin avatar but their avatars have actual power up to the level of a demon lord. Only a king of kings can have an avatar with the Authority of a demon king.


    It seems all nice and right but selecting this will make him a target to be killed by other demon kings once they find out what he is. Demon nobles rarely fight amongst themselves because of the prohibitive cost of umtion. Demon kings fight all the time but they don''t try to kill each other because there is no benefit from it unless there is serious hatred.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Demon kings can''t grow stronger by killing each other, plus they have means of resurrecting. So killing each other is a waste of time and resources. That is obviously not true for a king of kings. A king of the abyss that dies to a king of kings will definitely die. The immortality granted to them by the abyss itself will not be able to save them once they lose their crowns.


    The condition for the immortality of kings of the abyss is that they will be resurrected as long as the abyss exists and as long as they are Kings. A demon without a crown is not a king and as such, will not be resurrected by the abyss. Kings of demons are not safe from a king of kings either.


    So he will be a threat to the other types of kings. It will be like the situation when high-rank demons banded together to get rid of him again. Except for this time, his assants are not paranoid because of the possible threat that he might be to them and they will be able to resist even if he uses the domain of an Origin god.


    Apart from the ring disadvantage of being hunted down, he still has to survive donning the crown. Each crownes with different advantages and disadvantages making them more powerful than the other. The will of the abyss already told him that the more powerful it is, the heavier it is. The will of the abyss was literal in that the crowns are heavy on the soul.


    Heavy is the crown and the burden that it ces on the head that bears it. His decision is the final trial. Demons are greedy but it is not a sin to be greedy. You can be greedy as long as you know your limits. Just like weakness is not a sin as long as you know your ce in the hierarchy and keep to it. So he has to choose one of the crowns and hope his soul doesn''t break under the pressure.


    This will be a tough decision for other demons. They have just gone through a grueling ordeal in the trial. Their soul is damaged and their mind is just hanging by a thread. Carrying a load that is too much for them might be what will finally make their soul crack under pressure. In fact, there are prospective demon lords that crack under the weight of the lightest crown because it is the straw that breaks their back.


    It is not that the weakened demon lords don''t know their limits. It is not that none of them are aware that even the weakest crown will kill them. But they have to make a decision because the trial isn''t over until they return to the world above. And the longer they hesitate, the weaker and smaller their chances get. It bes a decision between certain death if they don''t choose a crown or uncertain death if they chose a crown. Anyone will choose uncertain death and hope for the best.

 Chapter 442 Evolution Confusion.

    ?If a demon lord is lucky enough to pass the trial of the abyss then they will have to make a very important decision about their future.There are three crowns that they must select from. There is the crown of the king of the abyss, the king of demons, and finally the king of kings. Each one is heavier than thest. Their soul can shatter if the burden of the crown is too much to bear.


    They may be weak and tired after being subjected to mental torture but they must pick one. The decision is really between the first two kinds of crowns The third crown is too troublesome. The burden of the third crown will continue to increase as you add more crowns to it and you will be hunted for bearing it. It may be a crown that keeps giving but it will also continue to ask for payment from you.


    Now that the three options have been narrowed to two reasonable ones, the decision of which crown to bear has been somewhat made easier. Mind you that the decision has not be easy. It has be easier, and less difficult. So it is still difficult. They can''t rest and make the decision when they are not literally in limbo with one foot in life and the other in death. They must answer now. What crown will they bear?


    The choice is easy and simple for Aeternus. He selected the crown of the king of kings. The other crowns disappeared as soon as he made the decision. He can''t change his mind now. The crown of the king of kings flew towards him and settled on him. Then it began to sink into his soul.


    The presence of a foreign and powerful object in one''s soul is not a pleasant feeling. The pressure alone as your soul is forcefully expanded to amodate the crown is enough to shatter weak souls. It felt like his mind is being forced to expand by the infusion of deadly and vtile energy. He also knows that the vtile energy will explode at the first urrence of imbnce and turn his soul into a grenade.


    The crown sank into his soul and fused with his mark of sin. Itpleted the fusion process since his soul didn''t resist it or ck from supporting it. Then the sensation of danger he felt from the crown disappeared. It has finally be his.


    The crown appeared around his soul, like a golden ring snuggling a ball within it and protecting it. Then the crown pulled on his connection to the world above in a bid to continue his transformation on his body. If he doesn''t have any connection to the world above, he will remain here and die. Since he has a strong connection, his soul was pulled out of limbo to the real world.


    (YOU HAVE PASSED THE TRIAL OF THE ABYSS)


    (YOU HAVE GAINED THE CROWN OF THE KING OF KINGS)


    (CHAOS ENERGY HAS UPGRADED TO THE DIVINE RANK)


    (YOUR EVOLUTION TO DEMON NOBLE IS STARTING NOW)


    (ERROR! SENSING THAT UNIFIED ENERGY IS AT EXTREME RANK)


    (REQUIREMENT FOR EVOLUTION TO DEMON LORD MET)


    (YOUR EVOLUTION TO DEMON LORD IS STARTING NOW)


    (ERROR! SENSING THAT UNIFIED ENERGY IS BEYOND EXTREME RANK)<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    (REQUIREMENT FOR UNIQUE EVOLUTION TO DIVINE DEMON MET)


    (YOUR EVOLUTION TO DIVINE DEMON IS STARTING NOW)


    (ERROR! SENSING THAT THE TRIAL OF ABYSS HAS BEEN PASSED AND A CROWN HAS BEEN ACQUIRED)


    (REQUIREMENT FOR UNIQUE EVOLUTION TO DIVINE DEMON KING PARTLY MET)


    (UNIQUE EVOLUTION TO DIVINE DEMON KING ABORTED BECAUSE OF LACK OF HALF-DIVINE STATS)


    (REMEDY! DIVINITY FOUND WITHIN EXISTENCE)


    (DO YOU WANT TO CONSUME DIVINITY TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS FOR EVOLUTION TO DIVINE DEMON KING)


    A lot of notifications bombarded him as soon as he cleared the trial of the abyss. His existence is an anomaly and the system that streamlines the evolution of demons had to take its time to figure out what is going on with him. He is a high-rank demon and should evolve to be a demon noble. That''s how it should be. But what is required to be a demon noble is a unified energy at the pinnacle rank. He has more than that, hence the initial confusion.


    If he already has extreme rank energy, then evolving into a demon noble will get him nothing. It will be a redundant evolution, so the system tried to find the evolution that is suitable for him. It was then that the system realized that he doesn''t just have energy at the extreme rank, he has more.


    The demon noble rank is thest rank that a demon can reach on its own. Demon nobles need the energy pir of an abyssal ne to acquire the next rank of energy and evolve. Killing other demon nobles won''t help towards meeting the requirement for energy. Then a demon Lord needs a lot of divinity from gods to reach the half-divine rank. It is then that they take the trial of the abyss.


    It just so happens that his Chaos energy was moring for an upgrade before his evolution. And he underwent the trial of the abyss so that his potential will not be limited. So now he has a unified energy that skipped the pinnacle, extreme, half-divine ranks to be the divine rank. The system determined that a high-rank demon with such powerful unified energy must have a special evolution.


    It is understandable that he will skip the demon noble rank. He already has umtion and a noble house. It is also understandable that he will skip the demon lord rank. He already has infinite energy and the Oath of the lord. Then normal demon lords go on to have half-divine unified energy from the extreme energy.


    That means he has somehow managed to upgrade his Unified energy to the half-divine rank as a high-rank demon which is against all rules. So he was granted the right to evolve as a unique type of demon called the divine demon.

 Chapter 443 Divine Demon King.

    ?He would have skipped even that to evolve to a special type of demon king if all his other stats were at the half-divine rank. But his evolution had to stop and a request was made to allow the use of divinity to make up for thecking requirements.


    Fortunately, he has a lot of divinity in his possession due to the generosity of the gods of the Zargoth ne. Each item to make a demigod contains 10 points of divinity. A transcendent needs a total of 30 Divinity to be a low god. 90 divinity for a mid god, 180 divinity for a high god, and finally 360 divinity for a grand god. Each point of divinity is very precious but the gods gave Legion 450 items containing 4500 points of divinity. Aeternus was given 2000 points so he is notcking in divinity.


    He clicked yes to allow the consumption of divinity so that he can have his upgrade.


    (CONSUME 1440 UNITS OF DIVINITY TO EVOLVE?)


    He chose to continue.


    (YOUR EVOLUTION TO DIVINE DEMON KING IS STARTING NOW)


    EVOLUTION INTERFACE-


    #( RESOURCES )


    1. Soul Essence: 0


    2. Divinity: 560


    3: Biomass: 0


    4: Origin Energy: INFINITE


    5: Chaos Energy: INFINITE


    #( UPGRADES )


    1. DEMON RANK: High - Demon King.


    2. SIN RANK: High - Demon King.


    3. CHAOS POWER: High - Lesser Divine.


    4. MAGICAL RESISTANCE: High - Lesser Divine.


    5. CONSTITUTION: High- Lesser Divine.


    6. PHYSICAL RESISTANCE: High - Lesser Divine.


    7. STRENGTH: High - Lesser Divine.


    8. AGILITY: High - Lesser Divine.


    9. ACTIVITY: High - Lesser Divine.


    COST: 1440 Units of Divinity.


    #( UPGRADABLE )


    #( STATS )<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    +1 STRENGTH = 4 Units of divinity.


    +1 CONSTITUTION = 4 Units of divinity..


    +1 ACTIVITY = 4 Units of divinity.


    +1 AGILITY = 4 Units of divinity.


    +1 PHYSICAL RESISTANCE = 4 Units of divinity.


    +1 MAGICAL RESISTANCE = 4 Units of divinity.


    +1 SPIRIT = 12 Units of Divinity.


    #( SIN ABILITY )


    CHOOSE ANY.


    1. The Essence of Envy: Take the Sin Abilities of in Enemies. (DEMON KING GRADE)


    2. The Divine Hunter: As a demon created specifically for hunting gods you ignore every and all suppression you face within the divine kingdom of a god. You have also lost the weakness of demons to divine power. (DIVINE KING RANK)


    3. The Divine King''s Avatar: Create an avatar that can be empowered by Godhood. The power of the avatar is dependent on the power of the Godhood used. You do not need to sacrifice one of your numerous crowns to create an avatar at the level of a demon king. (DIVINE KING RANK)


    4. The Divine King: You get a boost to your power the more powerful your subordinates are. (DIVINE DEMON RANK)


    5. The Oath Of A Divine King(Upgrade of the Oath of the Lord):


    The Divine House: You''re not an ordinary lord as such your house cannot be ordinary. Your subordinates get a boost that is equal to the percentage of their cumtive power significance. (DIVINE KING RANK)


    Connection Of The King: Your subordinates are your senses, hence you can share their senses. They are your hands, hence you can provide them with energy. Communication between the lord and the subordinate is possible through this connection. It is also possible to assist your subordinates with a single attack. (DEMON KING RANK)


    - Herald Of The King: Select 6 subordinates to bestow the title of Herald. These subordinates will be able to use your Authority for a short period depending on long they can carry the burden of the extra power. (DEMON KING RANK)


    6. The Power of Crowns: You get stronger the more crowns you have but you can stronger still. Acquire this ability to increase your mark of sin with the various crowns you get and increase your boost from the crowns. (DIVINE KING GRADE)


    This Evolution is very costly. He has never paid for evolution before. This time he has to pay divinity and he has to pay more than 1000 for it for his evolution. It is costly but highly rewarding. For one, his stats have been unlocked and made to reach the lesser divine rank. It is quite a leap from the high-rank grade to the lesser divine.


    The second major difference is the sin abilities that he can get. A normal Evolution should grant him a single more ability which is umtion, but since he has already acquired that and other abilities as a high-rank demon he gets to have Unique abilities.


    The abilities don''te cheap either. Each one is something that a demon lord will have to save for thousands of years to acquire. Some demon kings can only afford one and at most two if they are filthy rich. So most kings just use their generic abilities as demon kings. The first sin ability, the ESSENCE OF ENVY is the one most kings of envy go for. It is the most essential ability of a demon king of envy.


    The ESSENCE OF ENVY is the crown achievement of envy. Demons of envy go from copying abilities, to reflecting them, and to taking them permanently. As they say, if you can''t beat them, join them. Demons of envy have a limited capacity for copying abilities, so reflecting abilities be handy. They don''t need to copy an ability to use it when they can reflect it. If there''s an ability that they can''t reflect, then it is worth taking.


    Having the ESSENCE OF ENVY will practically shore up any weakness that a demon has. They will be able to take the sin abilities of other demons for themselves. It is an ability that beats the next most important one by a small margin. The sixth ability, the POWER OF CROWNS is the second most important ability for demon kings. It is certain that he will have more crowns and it is certain that he will have a limit to the number of crowns he can safely bear. So it is best that he maximizes the boost from each crown and get the most out of them.


    His evolution needed divinity but the sin abilities can be bought with chaos energy so he acquired all the abilities. Then he went on to upgrade all the abilities to the divine grade. His evolutionmenced fully when he finished his selections.

 Chapter 444 Offer Of Help.

    ?In the real world. The moment Aeternus returned from Limbo.


    His shattered bones began to vibrate as soon as his soul returned to the world. They became restless ck shards of bone and they remained so until a golden crown appeared around the red chaotic mes of umtion in the ce where the broken pieces of his skull are.


    The tiny me reacted to the crown as soon as it appeared. It blossomed and expanded in size as if it were exploding. Then it shrunk down after its expansion and solidified into a red crystal me, permanent and unchanging. The red crystal me hung in the middle of the crown while letting out a reddish glow. The reddish glow expanded and also solidified to form a cocoon around Aeternus''s broken body.


    Aeternus began to evolve within the cocoon after he finished the selection of abilities. Threads of energy sprouted from the golden crown and wound around each piece of his shattered bones. Then the threads put the pieces together and wound them like threads holding pieces of fabric together. His bones became whole again albeit cracked all over. Even his two horns have been attached to his skull.


    Next, the golden threads fused with the ck bones and healed the bones in the process. The threads disappeared and left behind apletely healed ck skeleton with golden and slightly erged bones. The red cocoon surrounding Aeternus began to recede after the change. It shrank and clung to the golden skeleton. It formed the muscles on the bones. A crystal-like reddish flesh covered the golden bones and it formed red tips on the golden horns protruding from his skull.


    With Aeternus''s divine body fully formed, his soul woke up. The golden crown on the head of the skull left the red crystal and entered the skull. The skull lit up with golden light and the sockets showed brightly with the light. Then his skull began burning ck mes that sprouted from his scalp to form his hair. The same ck mes sprouted from his back to form two ck wings.


    He sighed and said, "I have awoken."


    His sigh and his voice echoed throughout the ne like a whisper. Mortals heard it and wondered if they were hearing things. It invoked thoughts of suicide within them. A voice that is making them feel like killing themselves feels more like an internal voice than an external voice. They disregarded it as they have always disregarded their suicidal thoughts. But the gods heard it and shivered. It is as if they have heard the roar of a predator. In this case, the gods are rats that just heard the meow of a cat.


    The Celestial Supreme''s POV


    The Celestial Supreme became even more agitated. He had expected a demon king to attack the divine ne, but what happened is actually more than he expected. It is not the first time he was wrong and it probably won''t be thest time.


    He had been waiting cautiously and preserving his force for the attack of a demon king. But somehow that demon that pretended to be a high-rank demon is actually a demon king. He isn''t even surprised anymore that they found a way to fool the detection system of the divine ne and allow a demon king to pass by undetected. They also managed to bypass the divine ne so why not fool the detection system too?


    "They nned that too. It all finally makes sense." Hemented.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The development made him realize a lot of things. Their deception of the threat level of the demons will ensure that he wouldn''t try absolutely everything possible regardless of the cost to stop a high-rank demon from invading the mortal realm. It also makes sense that the demon that they will allow into the mortal realm will be their heaviest hitter.


    He had always wondered why a high-rank demon attacked first and bypassed the divine ne instead of the demon lord or a demon king. He also suspected that the fight between Helios and the demon lord is just a show to lull him into a false sense of safety. It turned out that he was right about that. Helios didn''t kill the demon lord, he took the body and brought it to the mortal realm. Helios must just be returning a loyal servant to their master. It finally makes sense why a group of demon dukes will be following a high-rank demon.


    He received amunication request as he was thinking about what to do in retaliation. It was from the god of fate. He epted the request and they became connected. The face of the god of faith appeared in his vision. Thezy god is still rxing on his ocean of threads.


    The god of faith asked himnguidly. "Hey, did I just hear a demon king?"


    Zernon became irritated immediately. His irritation showed in his tone when he asked, "What''s it to you?"


    The god of faith began to make fun of him. "How did you fuck things up so badly? I knew you were a bonehead but to allow a demon king into the mortal realm is just dumb. Have you nomon sense? I had..."


    Zernon interrupted. "I am very busy right now. I don''t have time for chitchat. What do you want?"


    "I want to offer you my help. You are out of your depth and you could use the help of a Celestial. How about you break the non-interference contract?"


    "No way. Goodbye." He replied and shut off themunication immediately.


    His preferred number for something is 1 and 0. There used to be 1 Celestial, and 101 gods. Of which 0 gods are from other races. All the gods were from 1 race. But now, there are 4 Celestials and 102 gods. Of which the gods are from 2 types of races, giants, and nts. His beautiful order has been destroyed by 2 and 4. He has to live with the existence of the extra Celestials, for now, that''s why he hasn''t tried to eliminate them yet.

 Chapter 445 Divine Lords On The Menu.

    ?There are already too many Celestials for his liking. There''s no way he will allow the god of fate to muddy the waters with Stelios already in the mix. He will keep him away from everything.


    He said to himself, "But he is right. I need help."


    A demon king is a threat to him and more than enough threat to be the doom of the mortal realm. He has been fighting back the enemies from all sides but he is only one Celestial. The help of another Celestial will be useful and might help to turn the situation.


    As much as he loathes this current state of things, he has to admit that the situation is dire. It is a situation in which 1 Celestial will not be enough. Especially with Helios still around to contend with.


    "Let''s hope it is not toote." He said as he sent a request formunication to Stelios.


    There''s nothing safe and easy that he can do against a demon king rampaging in the mortal realm. He might have had a chance before his son was butchered for a ritual, but now, he is helpless. There''s something that he has been hesitating on which he could have used earlier if he knew about the full threat of the demons. Now he doesn''t have a choice. He has to do it and he needs Stelios'' help to make it work for sure.


    So he decided to have a sincere talk with the true Celestial god of the sun. It is obvious now that Stelios is not with Helios. Even if they were acting together in the past, there''s no way a Celestial will be okay with theplete elimination of their livelihood in the mortal realm. He should be able to take advantage of the rift between Stelios and Helios to his benefit. Maybe he might learn some secrets about their ns.


    He chatted up Stelios immediately. Stelios epted his request formunication. A connection formed between them but Stelios only allowed it to be an audiomunication and he refused to talk. He simply listened to the Celestial Supreme talk. The Celestial Supreme promised a ceasefire between them with a contract that will see to its effect if Stelios will help him. He is willing to make an oath not to try and kill Stelios anymore unless he has a reason outside of his need to eliminate other Celestials.


    He truly is desperate because he didn''t insist on non-interference from Stelios as a Celestial. It is that same non-interference that is preventing the Celestial god of fate from joining in this war. He needs Stelios to get involved in the war plus the Sun god is not a threat to him unlike the god of fate that is untouchable.


    The two of them formed a verbal oath enforced by their domain and authority.


    He asked the sun god after they had formed their oath. "When can you get ready to assist me?"


    The sun god replied with an obviously weak voice, "Fine, I''ll help. But you must bring all my divine lords to my divine kingdom. I prefer if you do it against their will. Bind them up and deliver them to me. I''ll be waiting."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Then he cut off themunication line.


    The Celestial Supreme was perplexed about why Stelios is so weak. He could sense the weakness from the divine fluctuations of the other end of themunication line. He isn''t perplexed about the request though. If Stelios is weak and in dire need of help, it is normal for him to want to consume his divine lords. He has a lot of them because of his long history as a god so they should heal him to a significant extent.


    It also means that Stelios is nearly helpless that he can''t defeat his divine lords on his own. It is a good opportunity to try and take him out but the Celestial Supreme chose not to take advantage of him in these trying times. He can''t even if he wants to, he already signed a contract not to try and kill Stelios or the sun god wouldn''t have been vulnerable to him.


    They agreed to help each other in eliminating the demon king. Stelios will help him to the best of his abilities while he will get Stelios his divine lords. He can''t attack his ally and it is also a good thing that his ally is weak.


    "Stelios won''t be a threat to me for a long time toe. Maybe I should keep him around after this is over." He said to himself after sending his angels to kidnap the divine lord and bring them to his ailing partner.


    Stelios is the perfect ally. His condition makes him useful and also too weak to be a threat. It made him begin to consider his ban on Celestials. Maybe he will keep the weak ones alive and kill the troublesome ones that can threaten his power. He can also use the Celestials to kill the god of fate. The fact that he couldn''t do anything to the god of fate doesn''t mean that others will be helpless.


    STELIOS POV


    Stelios received his divine lords and consumed them for their Godhood. Their Godhood came from him and is the mostpatible nourishment for his injuries. Divine lords aren''t gods. They are children of gods who were granted a Godhood that has been refined by their divine parent. The godhood they receive elevates their existence but they don''t be gods because there''s a god in that domain already.


    The presence of Stelios in the domain of the sun is stopping the god fire of his divine lords from lighting up. They will get their god fire and be gods when the domain bes free of a god. Of course, they have to kill their otherpetitors until thest man stands. So it is normal for the divine lords of a god to be hostile towards each other but it is not so for those of the sun god.


    The divine lords of the sun god have nothing to fight for so they are amicable with each other. They also never thought that their father could be a threat to them. It turned out that they were wrong.

 Chapter 446 Stelios Is Back.

    ?The divine lords of the sun god live in harmony with one another because of ack ofpetition. They also care about their father to a certain extent. It is why they were concerned about their father''s absence in recent times despite the unfortunate things happening.


    Their father became a Celestial which sealed their fate to be divine lords forever. They were scared for him and worried because of the Celestial Supreme. It is known that he doesn''t respond well to ascensions. Then Helios became a traitor to the ne of Zargoth for bringing demons into the ne and helping the hidden god. Helios'' betrayal is a very serious matter to them but it is not as serious as when he broke apart the church of Life.


    The church of Life is their birthright as children of the sun god. It could have been theirs and it can still be theirs if Stelios is killed. Helios is thest born and he is not even a divine lord yet but he took over their birthright without decorum or caring about them.


    Worst of all, their father didn''t do anything at all. They know that he can''t be active because he is hiding but he could at least answer prayers and show visions to his believers. Stelios did not oppose the change in any way so it made it very easy for Helios to tear their birthright apart.


    The divine lords wanted answers and they tried to contact their father but he blocked allmunications. They never thought they had anything to fear from Stelios so they would havee running if Stelios had spoken to them and asked them toe to his divine kingdom for a meeting.


    Unfortunately for them, things change for the worst when times are hard. Times have never been harder for Stelios than right now. Stelios didn''t even bother with a ruse to bring them to his divine kingdom because it would have been a hassle. He couldn''t risk trying to subjugate them himself. He had them brought to him bound and easily kible.


    To say he is near death will be an understatement. Stelios wishes he died instead of what happened to him. He wouldn''t have to suffer if he were dead. Helios and the tree father practically ripped out a huge chunk of him. It was not a neat tear either. He was given a rough, jagged, and massive wound from his encounter with them. That injury also didn''t heal. So he has a huge wound that has been bleeding since that incident. He is in so much pain that he wishes Helios had killed him.


    The wound can''t kill him because he is a Celestial despite the fact that he is missing more than 60% of his body. He could have given up and found a way to die but he has always been tenacious. It is not his way to give up. He took the risk of death just to escape when he was about to be imprisoned forever and turned into fuel for a Stigmata. He can''t give up now that he has escaped so he bore with the literal existential pain.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His situation was made worse by the active interest of the Celestial Supreme in trying to kill him. It meant he had to hide away and suffer without being able to find a way to fix himself. Things were so bad that he would have epted any deal and made any oath for him to get out of his situation. The Celestial Supreme didn''t know how bad his situation was so he didn''t make any serious demands of him.


    He epted the Celestial Supreme''s offer for help and uses it to get his hands on his divine lords. He healed after consuming all 917 of them and all the divinity in his stash. He was finally able to heal his injury but he hasn''t recovered his strength. A Celestial power and mind are part of their body. He can''t regenerate what was stolen from him because it still exists out there. What Helios took is gone forever unless he gets it back from Helios or he makes a new one.


    Getting his power back from Helios is a dream for him. It is not possible for him now or in the nearest future. Even now, he can feel the tether between them as his spilt Celestial power is seeking to make itself whole again. There is a force of attraction between them that will only end when he is whole again. It is like the connection between a Celestial and their half-celestial child except this one is very strong.


    The two of them can use the force of attraction to find each other. He can resist the need to be whole for now but it could get worse if Helioses to the divine ne when he is in a terribly weakened state. That will change if Helios bes determined toe and get what remains. Helios is very strong so if anything, Stelios runs the risk of losing what he has instead of gaining what he lost.


    So he moved to realistic solutions. Recovery might be a tough order but making more Celestial power is possible. For that, he will need faith from his believers which he isn''t getting right now since his believers are gradually changing their faith in him to the god of the Church of Life.


    He can''t begrudge his believers for their choice. It is a smart decision for them. The God of life answers prayers while he hasn''t been answering any prayers. He wasn''t answering a lot of prayers back when he was hale and hearty but he answered prayers from important Clergymen like Cardinals and his pope. His injury made it impossible for him to answer any prayers or talk to anyone.


    It is very difficult to listen to the ramblings of mortalsin about mundane things when your mind feels fractured and clouded in utter pain. He didn''tin to them about his own fractured mind. What could be more important than that? But they willin to him about every little thing that happens to them.

 Chapter 447 Regrets And Lamentations.

    ?Their prayers and supplications would have killed him or made him mad if he let them. He had to cut his believers off or risk loss of mental integrity.


    "Mortals can be very stupid sometimes." Stelios shook his head and thought to himself.


    That is his first pain-free thought and it is about his remaining believers. The mortals that left him made the best decision to leave. It was either they stick with an unresponsive god and face Helios'' anger or switch to another religion that can actually help them. The smart decision is obvious. He would have made the same decision if he were a mortal too. So the ones that decided to be faithful to him are stupid.


    On one side is life and salvation, on the other side is neglect and death. They chose death and neglect. Helios killed most of them for their stupid choice. The ones that survived were lucky to survive. He appreciates what they did for him just like a farmer will appreciate pigs that didn''t escape through the breach in their exposure. But that doesn''t mean that he won''t ughter those faithful pigs. They are pigs raised for their meat. The only thing that has changed is the revtion that they are very stupid.


    "Where will I be without stupid mortals?" He said as he flexed his body.


    His body looks simr to Helios'' Celestial form except for the white runes and the six arms. He only has 1 pair of arms because he was a Colossus as a transcendent before he became a god. The Celestial Supreme was a Behemoth so he has 4 arms. He moved his body about to see how well he is physically.


    He said to himself. "All in all, things are not so great. At least I''m not in pain anymore. I can finally reactivate my divine kingdom and answer prayers. I also have a Celestial Authority now."


    He didn''t choose to shut down his divine kingdom solely because of safety. He just didn''t have the power, resources, and wellness of mind to listen to prayers and maintain the activities of the divine kingdom. Deactivating the divine kingdom is a risky move. It is something that you only do when you don''t have a choice. It is a desperate move but it isn''t really helpful. You either survive whatever made you deactivate your divine kingdom or you die.


    You don''t magically be better after deactivating your divine kingdom. It removes some features that expend your divine power in hopes that the reduction in the strain on your Godhood will allow it to recover. All hope is lost if you don''t manage to recover after deactivating your divine kingdom. He didn''t have much of a choice because if his injury didn''t kill him then the Celestial Supreme will finish what Helios started. That''s how far he was pushed.


    But that has ended for him now. He chose to look on the bright side now that things have changed for the better. Dwelling on the fact that the boy he took for a fool swindled him and ripped a part of him is not good for his mental and physical health. It brings a whole new meaning to being ripped off. It is better to think about good things like theck of chronic pain and the fact that he has a Celestial Authority now. He is sharing that Authority with someone else against his will but it is still good.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He muttered to himself, "I need to recover my church. A Celestial without a church is not in a good state. A crippled Celestial like me without a church is in a very dangerous state. My situation won''t change until the demons are gone."


    He has be a Celestial now and as such doesn''t have any future aside from it. Being able to answer prayers will definitelye in handy in doing a good job as a Celestial. Answering prayers won''t do much for him unless he actually performs a miracle. The miracle his believers need right now is the elimination of the demons. He will be able to build up a church and recover his believers as soon as the demons have been eliminated.


    The thought of the demon invasion brought Helios back into his thoughts. It was Helios that opened the channel for the demons and it was Helios that caused his current predicament.


    He muttered angrily as he activated his divine kingdom, "I should have just let that stupid boy die in his mother''s womb. That day that I saved him is the most unfortunate day of my life."


    It is understandable that he abhors feelings of resentment and regret towards his kind act of saving Helios in the womb. Now Helios took his power, his sharing his Authority, split his church, and besmirched his good name.


    "And to believe that this all happened under my nose. What is he anyway?" He asked in confusion as the rings in his divine kingdom began to light up.


    Helios had grown under his careful supervision. The boy was never allowed to leave the sun city. He had the boy monitored day as night, and yet all of this happened without him being aware of it. He wasn''t even suspicious of it until it happened. Helios was the sweet boy that he raised from the day he was born. What Helios has done has been totally unexpected and unthinkable.


    Steliosmented. "Everything went to shit because of that heroic quest that the hidden god started. If only I fought harder and rescued Helios when he was given to the ants in exchange for the other demigods. The hidden god must have talked him into doing what he did."


    There''s no use crying over spilled milk but Stelios is feeling immense regret because this entire situation is more than split milk and it could have been avoided if he didn''t allow Helios to be an item in the negotiation. He doesn''t think Helios was in on the demon invasion from the start. The hidden god must have convinced him after he became disillusioned when the gods deserted him and his father didn''t rescue him.

 Chapter 448 Anticipation For A Public Execution.

    ?Stelios believes that Helios is young, naive, and easily impressionable. His worldview must have turned upside down because of the betrayal and that made him do what he did. He doesn''t have any other reasonable exnation for why Helios betrayed the ne. The possibility that Helios is a clone or might be rted to the hidden god and the demon didn''t cross his mind at all.


    Helios can''t possibly be someone else''s clone because he was there the day Helios was delivered as a baby and he has watched that baby grow up every day of its life. Clones are not born like babies, they are made and they resemble their creator in every way. Helios never came into contact with knowledge about demon summoning nor did hee in contact with shady characters.


    Stelios monitored every book that Helios read and controlled the people that Helios came in contact with. Helios doesn''t even have friends apart from Cardinal Hak so how did hee in contact with the hidden god or demons? It alles back to that Heroic quest that Helios took part in. Helios came within the sight of the hidden god because of his wonderful performance. Then he was brainwashed into being the tool of the hidden god.


    "I should have noticed that they had their eye on Helios when the ants asked for him to be their negotiator. Why else would they have demanded for him as an item? I shouldn''t have allowed the Celestial Supreme to make me release Helios so that he can attend the heroic quest. It is toote now."


    There are a lot of things he regrets doing and even more that he wishes he had done that could have prevented his cmities. The hidden god might have lied to Helios that the sun god is not his father to sway the poor impressionable boy, but it was him that allowed that suspicion to fester and grow when he didn''t save Helios the way the Sky god saved Tanya.


    He failed to live up to the image that the sky god had created of how divine parents should behave when their children are in trouble. It was Harkam''s behavior that must have allowed the suspicion to fester within Helios,Then Stelios went on to confirm the suspicion when he tried to take over the boy''s soul. There''s no path of reconciliation between him and Helios anymore now with everything that has happened. The best he can hope for is that Helios won''t try to kill him on sight. Or even worse, Helios could try to capture him and imprison him within the jail on his back.


    Stelios sighed. He shook his head to dispel thoughts of Helios and his regrets. Then he left his divine kingdom to attend the meeting that the Celestial Supreme called for. They have been having a lot of it recently. That is one thing that has changed yet.


    ''I doubt the Celestial Supreme will ever allow that to change. He will probably still do it until the moment he dies.'' Stelios wondered to himself before he took a seat that has been prepared for him beside the Celestial Supreme.


    The gods were surprised by his presence. He isn''t supposed to be here. In fact, he isn''t supposed to be outside his divine kingdom at all. They began whispering to themselves about why he could be out. They were further surprised when they saw where he sat. They all turned their attention to the Celestial Supreme to see how he will react.


    Some of the gods were looking on with dread and anxiety slowly building up within them while some like Harkam were looking with anticipation. Harkam is very much hoping that this meeting will be a public execution. His eyes are lit up and he has a grin on his face. He would enjoy a public execution very much especially if Stelios is the victim.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Stelios isn''t sitting among the rest of the gods anymore. He is facing them like the Celestial Supreme used to face all of them. He made sure to keep his face stern and calm when Harkam began to frown because the Celestial Supreme didn''t react the way he wanted. The Celestial Supreme called everyone''s attention to Stelios after he sat down.


    "Everyone, I would like us to wee Stelios the Celestial god of the sun to our midst."


    Everyone stood up and pped. Their pping wasn''t boisterous because of their confusion. They are genuinely surprised to see him out in the open and no exnation has been given for why he is out of his self-imposed exile. They all thought he would stay in hiding forever. Even that wouldn''t save him for long if they are in a peaceful time. The Celestial Supreme has been known to be vehement and thorough in his hunt for Celestials. But it seems war has brought Stelios the opportunity to be alive and well.


    The Celestial Supreme continued when they were done. "I know you all have a lot of questions. I would like to say that the Celestial god of the sun and I havee to an amicable arrangement. I won''t try to kill him for being a Celestial anymore."


    The god of knowledge asked. "Does that mean it is okay for grand gods to be Celestials?"


    "No." His answer brooked no contest. "Now let''s get to business."


    The Celestial Supreme shot down that threat of trouble before it can grow. He was thinking about epting more Celestials but he doesn''t want to be pressed into making that decision. He will decide after he sees how well Stelios performs. Then he changed the subject of the conversation to the agenda of the meeting immediately. He was about to continue talking when the muscle head of the gods noticed something out of ce like he usually does.


    "Where is this god of fate? He must have some really great balls not to attend a divine council meeting even now. Even a Celestial has arrived but he is still refusing to show his face." Harkam said.

 Chapter 449 The GodSlayer.

    ?Harkam''s mind wanders a lot. He is usually thinking about other things instead of focusing on the meeting. He will say it is because the meetings are slow and boring. This meeting had the potential to be exciting when Stelios came and the possibility of a public execution hung in the air. It quickly became apparent that he wouldn''t get his wish so he became distracted. Then he noticed that one particrly odd god is not attending this meeting.


    It is one thing for the god of fate to not bother with meetings during the time of peace but they are in times of war and yet the god of fate is still not attending the meeting. Harkam couldn''t help to marvel at the audacity. Of course, he had to marvel outwards not within his mind. That''s why he spoke out about the god of fate''s absence.


    Harkam''s observation drew the attention of other gods too. If not for the god of fate''s seat still being around, they would think he is dead because no one has seen him for a long while. They began questioning things that they shouldn''t question and some are already trying to contact the god of fate.


    The Celestial Supreme schooled his face and spoke calmly, "The god of fate isn''t here because I have sent him on an important and secret mission. Now no more distractions, let''s get to the matter at hand."


    That makes two sources of trouble that he has to put out before the meeting to put down the demon troubles started. Both troubles are rted and further increased his reluctance to allow the creation of more Celestials.


    The gods became silent after that and listened to what he wanted to say. His answer is not good enough for them but no one wants to question him about it. He already said that the mission of the god of fate is secret. It will just be asking for trouble by asking about it.


    "We are currently at a threshold or perhaps on a cliff edge. We either ovee the next challengeing our way or we lose the mortal realm to the demons. We have to destroy the Stronghold before it is built. In light of the seriousness of the situation, I think it is time to use the Godyer."


    His words were met with only silence and confusion. The high, mid, and low gods don''t know what he is talking about. They don''t know what a Godyer is but they expect that things will clear up if they remain patient and observe. The grand gods know what he meant by a Godyer but he shouldn''t know about it. It is why they are surprised but none of them showed it, not even Harkam. Harkam''s reaction might just be due to him being absentminded again and not being stoic.


    The Celestial Supreme continued to talk when he saw that no one wants to admit to knowing the secret weapon they were making behind his back.


    "This is not a trap. I know about the Godyer, I know it was created by the grand gods and I know that it was designed to kill me."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The jaws of the other gods fell. The knowledge that some gods were nning a secret coup came to them as a shock. Then again, if someone will n a coup against the strongest god in the pantheon then it had better be secret. They obviously failed since their coup isn''t a secret to their target.


    The grand gods nced at Stelios imperceptibly. He was a grand god a short while back. It could have been him that couldn''t keep his mouth shut. He probably traded the information with the Celestial Supreme to save his life.


    Their little actions didn''t go unnoticed by the Celestial Supreme. "Stelios didn''t tell me about it. I knew about it a long time ago. Now, are you going to admit it?"


    The gods consider the god of fate a jerk and they consider the god of order a narcissistic control freak. His refusal to allow Celestial gods has been getting on some gods'' nerves for quite some time. Stelios is a very good example.


    Stelios gets weak at night and stronger during the day. The cycle of power makes his strength unreliable. He can''t output constant power and no one will care about his weakness during the trial of heaven. So he can''t switch to the path of perfection and can''t be a Celestial. He has been stuck in his position as a grand god for hundreds of origin cycles. Imagine his happiness at seeing the opportunity that Helios represents for him.


    Stelios isn''t the only god that has a weakness that prevents him from having a shot at performing well in the trial of heaven. Other gods are weak to fire or cold and the goddess of the night gets weakened during the day. Divinity is great but it prevents a god from using any other ability and ites with weaknesses. Those on the path of perfection gradually eliminate their weakness until they achieve true immortality. Sovereigns can use other techniques apart from their concept but grand gods are stuck. Yet, the Celestial Supreme has blocked their path forward.


    Then there is the Celestial Supreme''s micromanaging. People hardly like their bosses and that''s when they are being paid for their work. Gods are not being paid by the Celestial Supreme yet he gets to boss them around. He tells them what to do, how to do it, and what not to do even in matters that concern their churches.


    Even the divine council that he calls grates on them. He makes it look like he is calling them for a discussion but it is really an opportunity for him to tell them what to do. They don''t need to be here for him to order them around. He can send his orders to them but he just wants to see their face as they are forced to listen to him. So it is understandable that these disgruntled gods who have been boiling in resentment will decide toe together and hatch a scheme to get rid of their overbearing leader.

 Chapter 450 Kerons The God Of Justice.

    ?The god of knowledge asked carefully, "What else do you know about this strange weapon you called the Godyer?"


    He isn''t admitting to having knowledge of it. He just wants to know how much the Celestial Supreme knows about it.


    Zernon red at him. "Why are you still being stubborn? I know everything about it, I even know how it started and who started it. Was it not that bastard Kerons that came up with the idea?"


    Oddly enough, it wasn''t the current gods that started this project. A long time ago before there was any Celestial, there was a god, the god of justice Kerons who had it out for the god of order. This god started the project Godyer specially designed to kill the god of order.


    The two of them werepeting to be the first Celestial and subsequently the Celestial Supreme. All the grand gods of that era werepeting for it but these two had it in for each other because a grand god needs to absorb apatible domain to evolve and the two of them hadpatible domains.


    Obviously, the god of order won to be the Celestial god of order and justice while his opponent died before the project could bepleted. The grand gods found itter and have been working on it for generations. Stelios being one of the oldest gods and also the best runemaster in the ne is thergest contributor to the project. The several generations of the god of knowledge are the second highest contributors.


    The god of knowledge sighed and said dejectedly. "So what if you found it? It doesn''t work."


    But even with several years of effort, the project hasn''t worked out yet. Its creator started the project to kill the then-grand god of order because the god of justice couldn''t get past the defense of his armor. But now the god of order is a Celestial. His armor has experienced a big boost and his defensive measures are stronger than ever. The Godyer''s purpose has be obsolete and it doesn''t match up to the new challenge.


    The grand gods didn''t hope to kill the Celestial Supreme with it. They would have been satisfied if it will act as a deterrent. They n to threaten the Celestial Supreme with it. They will only fire it if he refuses to capitte. He might not die from the damage but he will be weakened. They can then ascend en mass and gang up on him. Several Celestials can surely match a weakened Celestial Supreme or so they hoped.


    They haven''t used the weapon because there''s no going back once they unveil it. The Celestial Supreme being the control freak that he is would never allow such a thing to exist if he knows about it. They have to be ready to use it as soon as its existence bes public knowledge. Who would have thought that he already knew about it?


    ''Thankfully it never came to it.'' Stelios thought to himself.


    There have been close shaves in the past when the gods were about to use the Godyer. It has not been easy living under a nosy and controlling superior. Sometimes, someone just gets irritated to the level that they want to unleash the Godyer.


    There have been other good reasons to use the Godyer too. Back when Stelios was spooked because the Celestial Supreme came to see Helios being born, he had wanted to use the Godyer to make the Celestial Supreme back off if he sensed something off about Helios.


    Helios was his lifeline and he wasn''t above bringing in their secret weapon to ensure that nothing will stop him. It is obvious now that things would not have turned out the way he wanted since the Celestial Supreme knows about the Godyer.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Zernon smirked. "Of course, I know it won''t work on me. I inspected it thoroughly and I left it alone when I didn''t consider it a threat. It wouldn''t have worked no matter how much you tinkered with it. But I know how to fix it."


    He was very angry at first when he found the Godyer. It is bad enough that the creator of the project also left a lot of his secrets with the project. The fact that the gods were smiling to his face while scheming to kill him infuriated him. He wanted to destroy the weapon there and then but he inspected it first.


    He left it alone when he realized it could never work on him. It is best that the grand gods have a false belief that they have something that can threaten him than for him to burst their hope and make them search for alternatives. They will start another project if this one is believed to bepromised. He knows about this one and it is good enough. He might not discover the next one that they start so he left the Godyer alone. He also knows how to make the Godyer stronger.


    The eyes of the god of Knowledge lit up in excitement. "What''s the solution?"


    He had been dejected that the secret project that he had hoped for wasn''t so secret and the target had let it exist because he thought it was a joke. But his mood changed with the prospect of a solution.


    Zernon raised his chin arrogantly. He spoke with pride. "Your Godyer is well crafted. The energy conversion process is almost perfect."


    "I thought so too." The god of knowledge nodded and agreed.


    Zernon kept quiet because of the interruption.


    "I''m sorry, please continue."


    He continued after the apology. "But no matter how perfect it is, itcks Celestial Authority."


    The god of knowledge began to rant. "What kind of solution is that? Do you think we''re idiots? Of course, we know that it needs Celestial Authority but we didn''t have one. Trying to get one will lead to you trying to kill the new Celestial. Your solution is obvious and not inspired."


    The god of knowledge continued to rant while the gods sitting beside him shifted away from him. They have a slight suspicion that being so close to him might be very bad for their health. Surely, that frown on the Celestial Supreme''s face cannot be a sign of approval.

 Chapter 451 Stating The Obvious.

    ?The god of knowledge continued unaware that space is being created between him and the nearest god. "We were looking for a solution to bypass the need for Celestial Authority. That would have been a cool solution. Your solution is obvious and boring. Frankly, it is not a solution at all."


    The grand gods knew it wasn''t going to work and also why it wasn''t going to work. Without a Celestial Authority, the Godyer is a grand god-level weapon at best. Adding a Celestial Authority will make it a Celestial weapon. The challenge is how to make a grand god-level weapon kill a Celestial. It would have been cool to find a way around the need for a Celestial Authority. It is why the Celestial Supreme''s answer is disappointing and why the god of knowledge is ranting about it.


    "And to think I was looking forward to the answer. It was a waste of..." The god of knowledge froze when he realized what he has just done.


    He looked around but found no one close to him. He looked at them as if to ask them why none of them stopped him but none of the gods were looking him in the eye. They have made it known by shifting away that they don''t want to have anything to do with him. So they avoided making eye contact at all. He is on his own right now.


    The god of knowledge groaned audibly. He wished he could reverse time but unfortunately, he can''t. It is not for hisck of trying either. Research by the numerous generations of gods of knowledge on that issue has not borne fruit.


    He coughed. "I apologize for my inelegant behavior. I got carried away. Generations of gods of knowledge have invested a lot into it and I hoped that an answer has finally been found. My behavior is unbing but it is rooted in my eagerness for a solution. I meant no disrespect."


    Zernon snorted. He would used the god of knowledge as an example but he has more important things to deal with right now. So he overlooked the disrespectful behaviour and returned to the subject of this meeting.


    He said to them. "The Godyer will be powerful enough to harm a Celestial once we add Celestial Authority to it. It will be a match for that demon king too. If we add two Celestial Authorities to it, then it will surely vanquish the demon king."


    What he didn''t say is that It will also be able to work against any other powerful being like the hidden god, Helios, and maybe any Celestial that he wants to kill. He never thought the day woulde that he will need something created by the traitorous grand gods. He is desperate so that day hase. It doesn''t matter anyway. Everything in Zargoth ne belongs to him after all. He is just using what he has to its fullest potential.


    The god of knowledge raised his hands this time around. He has something to say but he feels he should show some remorse for his earlier rebuke.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He spoke when the Celestial Supreme signaled that he could speak. "That''s good and all, but there are good reasons why we haven''t been unting the weapon. It is very expensive to use in terms of divinity, it needs 10 grand gods to supply divine energy at once and it also has a long loading time. It is sure to take longer to reload now that we intend to put in Celestial Authority and two at that. How do you suppose we solve that?"


    Zernon answered. "We don''t solve anything. We use it as it is. Reworking it will take too much time that we don''t have."


    "What about the army that we sent to the demon stronghold? They will certainly reach their target before the Godyer is ready."


    "They will distract the demon king and buy us more time."


    He tried to convince Zernon against that notion. "How about we let them stand back? They are obviously no match for a demon king."


    Zernon waved his hands unconcerned about the fate of the army. He said, "Stelios will be there with some of his vessels. It will give them a fighting chance and help to dy the demon king. The demon king is at the fortress so we can nail the two of them at the same time without needing to reload the Godyer for two separate shots. We will take out both the demon king and the fortress at once. Any sacrifice is worth it."


    Helios wasn''t able to kill all those loyal to the sun god. The most loyal ones are the vessels who are willing to sacrifice their life for their god. Some of them escaped and answered the call to action of Stelios. Stelios told them that the bad things that they went through were a test of faith and he has onest test for them with a reward of a seat by his side in his divine kingdom. The suckers bought it hook line and sinker. They are en route to the liberation army now to finish the test which is killing the demon king.


    That''s the thing about people of faith. Faith makes them blind to reason and the situation of life. The death of their family members because of the infighting in the church of the sun and theck of support from the god they serve during the time they needed him is not enough to make them lose faith in him. He called it a test and that is good enough for them. Now they are going to face the demon king and liberate the ne from his terror.


    The god of knowledge sat down unwillingly. He has said his piece but the Celestial Supreme didn''t listen to him. The vessels will only give the army a fighting chance. A fighting chance only means you can actually fight without looking like a fool. It doesn''t mean that they have a chance of victory. They will still die. But they will die without being squashed like bugs.

 Chapter 452 Full Recovery Of The Soul.

    ?The use of vessels by gods can be likened to the use of umtion by demons to reach the power of a demon lord. It is not a sustainable option and it cannotpare to the real thing. Vessels can''t use the full power of a god. They will die if it is tried so all those vessels will probably die too.


    Even Stelios''s zealots will not be able to hold back the demon king for long. They both have Authority but Stelios''s vessels will break first before the demon king and they will break easily too. The vessels of the other gods are sourlycking. They wouldn''t be of any use at all. So the liberation army is being sent to their deaths.


    The gods would have been nonchnt about the loss of an army in the past. But believers are scarce nowadays. Believers that are willing to die for their gods are even rarer. These types of believers should be taken care of and used as seeds to grow their church but they also need to eliminate the demon king or there won''t be any chance for their church.


    Most of the soldiers are fighting because they believe they are doing the right thing not because they believe in their gods. Zargoth ne is their home and it is being terrorized by demons. They have seen the destruction and the death that has been visited upon their home. So they hope to beat back the demons and restore peace to their ne. And yet, here are the gods throwing them out as cannon fodder to buy time.


    The god of knowledge doesn''t care about their lives, it just pains him to see good sources of faith go to waste. If it were up to him, he would have decided to send Stelios''s zealots alone to face the demon king. They are stupid and above all, they are not his believers so he won''t care if they die.


    ''It is all those demons'' fault. They don''t think about the future at all.''


    Demons and gods are enemies. They usually target the same thing but they do it with different approaches. Gods are after faith whiches from believers. They tend to their people as one tends to a flock. They kill a lot of them sometimes for entertainment or divine wars. But they make sure that their source of faith is sustainable. Moderation is key to gods.


    Demons on the other hand just kill and kill without limit or care. What they want are souls not replenishable sources of faith and they need to kill to get the souls they want. They will harvest everything that there is to harvest and then return to the abyss leaving the ne in shambles. If demons had long-term benefits to be had for sparing people then they might be able to work with gods.


    Every god agreed with the decision to sacrifice the soldiers no matter their gripes on it because what Zernon said is right. The Godyer takes a long time to load and is expensive, certainly more expensive than some mortal lives. A single shot is more than enough to kill the demon king and destroy the stronghold. It is like killing two birds with one stone.


    Reloading the Godyer after shooting it might bring up problems. It wasn''t designed to use Celestial Authority. It can use it and even use two of them because of its sturdy design and capacity, but it is uncertain if it will be able to use Celestial Authorities twice in a row. If the demon king leaves the fortress they will have to choose which one to target. It is best if they eliminate all their problems once and for all. So they had to send the Liberation army to keep him at the stronghold.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Back To Aeternus.


    While the gods were preparing to annihte him, he was admiring his new body.


    "Everything has changed." He said in awe.


    For the first time since he became a demon, he finally has a body. It is not flesh and blood but it isn''t just bone with atrophied muscles anymore. He has real muscles now. They are made from his new authority of chaos. His body was heavily warped by chaos and will usually ooze out ck chaos fumes but that has changed now that his chaos umtion has be the Authority of chaos.


    He doesn''t have any skin on his body. He has ayer of hard crystal flesh over his bones. His golden bones can be vaguely seen through the red crystal. There are some protrusions of bone around his shoulders, elbow, and knees revealing the golden bones but he isn''t oozing out fumes of Chaos energy anymore. He finally has full control over his chaos energy now that he has Authority over it.


    Having his body made out of his Authority means his body cannot be hurt by anything without Authority. And if his Authority is higher, the attack wouldn''t hurt him at all. It isn''t much of a boost right now since he has only one level of Authority but it will be helpful in the future once he has more.


    His body changed a lot but it is his soul that experienced thergest boost during his evolution. His soul haspletely healed and can match Legion-1''s soul now. There''s also a golden crown surrounding his soul. The crown is indestructible and will protect his soul from all harm unless the attack is backed by Authority. Even then, the crown will whisk his soul away to a resurrection point when his soul incurs too much damage. That resurrection point is usually the abyssal ne that they created or in the case of kings of the abyss, they resurrect in the 1st abyssal ne.


    This mechanism is what gives the illusion of immortality to demon kings. It isn''t true immortality because the soul will be vulnerable and can be killed if the crown is forcefully taken or lost. But apart from that, they can always return from death. As long as their crown is with them, they can always create another body for their soul.

 Chapter 453 [Bonus ] Dwarf Demon King.

    ?The sight of his body pleases him but he frowned when he noticed his height.


    He sighed and muttered. "I was wrong. Not everything has changed."


    His height remains stagnant at 1.7m. He is already the dwarf high-rank demon, this is just pushing it too far for a demon king. A demon king is usually a giant on par with a Colossus. That''s an average of 1,000 meters tall and some of them can grow taller than that. The smallest of them has a natural height of 100 meters and yet, he is a pin-sized demon king.


    If not for the red crystal me between his golden horns and the golden halo that is levitating above his head, no one will believe he is a demon king. His body is so strong that he can sleep and allow thousands of demon lords to attack him. They will fail to harm him no matter how much they try but the sight of all of them beating him, trying and failing to harm him will not be as impressive because of his height. It will look like a couple of adults bullying a child.


    The other demon kings won''t take him seriously either. Fortunately, he can change his height. His body is made from his Authority and he can control his it. It will cost him energy for him to increase his height but it doesn''t matter. He won''t change his height anyway. He doesn''t need his height for him to be feared. Demon kings will learn to fear him when some of them start dying to him without resurrecting anymore.


    "Well, at least I have wings." He said to console himself.


    He finally has wings. A pair of golden bones protrude from his back to form the support of his wings. ck mes are burning on them to form a pair ofrge ck feathered wings that resemble a bird''s instead of the bat-like ones that demons have. The feathers are formed by his chaotic mes and it looks sharp but demons don''t have feathered wings. Angels do, but theirs is white.


    He shook his head and said, "Now I just look like a freak."


    His skull is also burning with ck mes. The ck me covers his head like hair. It doesn''t drape down to his shoulders as normal hair does. Instead, it is burning with reckless abandon on his head as if he carrying a bonfire on his head. So yes, he looks like a freak even by demon standards. He is short, has no flesh over his skull, and worst of all, he has feathered wings.


    NAME: AETERNUS (Legion-3)


    TITLE: Child Of The Virut ne. Eternal Chaotic Envy Demon. Divine Demon King Of Kings.


    RACE: Demon Of Envy.


    BLOODLINE/SIN: Chaotic Envy.


    DEMON RANK: Divine Demon King.


    AUTHORITY: 1


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: INFINITE.


    CHAOS ENERGY: INFINITE.


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:1323+1442. Spirit:2880+3139. MAGIC:1512+1648


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:1512+1648. Spirit:3640+3967. MAGIC:1512+1648


    SOUL ESSENCE: 0


    BIOMASS: 0


    DIVINITY: 10


    SIN RANK: Demon King.


    STRENGTH: Lesser Divine- 63


    CONSTITUTION: Lesser Divine-72


    ACTIVITY: Lesser Divine-72


    AGILITY: Lesser Divine- 63<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    CHAOTIC POWER: Lesser Divine-72.


    PHYSICAL RESISTANCE: Lesser Divine-72


    MAGICAL RESISTANCE: Lesser Divine-72


    SPIRITUAL RESISTANCE: Eternal-91


    SPIRIT: Eternal-72


    PERCEPTION: Eternal-72


    CROWN OF THE KING OF KINGS:


    1. King of Chaotic Envy: Level 1 Authority. Needs 3 Celestial Authorities to upgrade to the next level.


    SIN ABILITIES:


    1. The power of Envy(DIVINE)- Make three copies of any magical ability or skill that you see at higher power. (DEMON KING GRADE)


    2. The Spite of Envy(DIVINE)- Reflect Magical, Spiritual, and Physical damage from a source with a stat no greater than yours. (UNIQUE)


    3. The Oath Of the Divine King(DIVINE)-


    -Chaos Spark: A spark of chaos to set the fires of evolution alit. The fire can also consume the subordinates if it is not harnessed and adapted. (UNIQUE)


    - Connection Of The King: Your subordinates are your senses, hence you can share their senses. They are your hands, hence you can provide them with energy. Communication between the lord and the subordinate is possible through this connection. It is also possible to assist your subordinates with a single attack. (UNIQUE)


    - The Divine House: You''re not an ordinary lord as such your house cannot be ordinary. Your subordinates get a boost that is equal to the percentage of their cumtive power significance. Current Boost= 99%(UNIQUE)


    - Herald Of The King: Select 6 subordinates to bestow the title of Herald. These subordinates will be able to use your Authority for a short period depending on long they can carry the burden of the extra power. (DEMON KING GRADE)


    4. The Authority of Chaos: Your umtion of power has transformed into the Authority of chaos thereby granting you a permanent boost to your state of existence. Your state of existence is now 21. (DEMON KING GRADE)


    5. The Essence of Envy(DIVINE): Take the Sin Abilities of in Enemies and maintain them at 100%.(DEMON KING GRADE)


    6. The Divine Hunter: As a demon created specifically for hunting gods you ignore every and all suppression you face within the divine kingdom of a god. You have also lost the weakness of demons to divine power. (UNIQUE)


    7. The Divine King''s Avatar: Create an avatar that can be empowered by Godhood. The power of the avatar is dependent on the power of the Godhood used. You do not need to sacrifice one of your numerous crowns to create an avatar at the level of a demon king. (UNIQUE)


    8. The Divine King(DIVINE): You get a boost to your power the more powerful your subordinates are. Current boost=99%.(UNIQUE)


    9. The King of Kings: A king among demon kings meant to prey on other kings. You can wear as many crowns as you can carry. The limit is the tolerance of your soul. (DEMON KING GRADE)


    10. The King''s Avatar: Create an Avatar with the power of a demon king by sacrificing one of your crowns as the core for the avatar. The crown can be retrieved. (DEMON KING GRADE)


    11. The Domain of a King: Create a ne within the abyss that is to be your domain using the Godhood of a Celestial. Every enemy that enters your domain gets suppressed. The suppression is based on the amount of Authority and crowns that you have against the amount of Authority and crowns that the intruder has. (DEMON KING GRADE)


    12. The Power of Crowns(DIVINE) You get stronger the more crowns you have but you can be stronger still. Acquire this ability to increase your mark of sin with the various crowns you get and increase your boost from the crowns. Current boost=X1.5 (UNIQUE)


    13. The power of Authority: Authority makes a king stronger. It empowers their very being and enforces their every action. The words they proim arew and their decrees cannot be nullified unless a stronger power of Authority does it. Current Boost=10%(DEMON KING GRADE)

 Chapter 454 Demon King Abilities.

    ?Aeternus hase a long way from that humble high-rank demon he used to be. His highest attack rating back then was for his spirit at 396 while his chaotic power was at 315.He could push his chaotic power to 1071 by using umtion to raise his state of existence from 5 to 17. Now he doesn''t need to. He has traded his umtion in for a permanent state of existence of 21 making his chaotic power rating 1512 even without the boost from his other abilities.


    His evolution came with a lot more cool things as a demon king apart from the obvious addition of another stat to his stat screen. The new stat AUTHORITY determines the boost he gets from his THE POWER OF AUTHORITY ability. It is amon ability that all demon kings have. Each level of Authority grants him a boost to his power rating. Since he is level 1, he gets a 10% boost. If he had another crown, his boost from THE POWER OF CROWNS ability will make it 15% and a third will make it 22.5%.


    His POWER OF AUTHORITY ismon among demon kings, ites with the evolution, but his POWER OF CROWNS is a unique ability that he has ess to as a Divine Demon King. Other kings of kings will only get a boost of X1.2 to their power for each crown that they get but he was opportune to change that by upgrading it to its maximum rank, the divine rank for a boost of X1.5.


    The increase in boost will help him maximize each crown that he acquires. His height will ensure that he doesn''t have to look too much for a target. There will be a demon king that will pick on him for him being short and being new.


    His abilities are split between Unique ones and normal ones. Some of the normal ones aren''tmon, they need to be paid for during evolution like the AUTHORITY OF CHAOS and THE ESSENCE OF ENVY. Even then, his essence of envy is divine rank so the sin ability will be perfectly preserved during the transfer of ownership. There won''t be a fall in the power of the sin ability from its dead previous owner to him.


    The rest of his normal abilitiese along once a type of Authority and crown has been acquired. His KING OF KINGS and DOMAIN OF A KING came as a result.


    His unique abilities on the other are special. Some of them make his normal abilities redundant like hisDIVINE KING'' AVATAR and his KING''S AVATAR. While some Unique abilities boost his normal ones like his POWER OF CROWNS does for his POWER OF AUTHORITY and DOMAIN OF A KING. The boost from his crown will increase the suppression of intruders in his domain by 10%.


    He also gets another boost from his DIVINE KING''S ability. He gets 1% for every demon duke in his family. Since he has 99 dukes he gets 99% which brings his total boost to 109% to his power rating.


    A demon noble will give him 0.1% and a high-rank demon will give him a 0.01% boost. He can have a lot of them but it will burden his soul. The boost of demon dukes might be high now but it is best if he uses his soul to withstand the burden of more crowns than to umte subordinates. His increase in Authority will have a better return that way.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Maybe I shouldn''t have killed all those demon nobles. They will be perfect to try my ESSENCE OF ENVY ability on. But it''s all good. It means the demon lord won''t be able to run away." He said after going through his abilities.


    He doesn''t feel regret about killing the demon nobles as the pain of his ymore cutting into their bodies cut into his soul during his trial. But now he wished he hadn''t. He would like to see their mark of sin ripped from their dying soul, fragmented, refined, and then added to his.


    Killing them has its advantage. Now Beelta won''t know that he has be a demon king and won''t try to run away. She will be waiting for him to stock up on souls and maybe some divine power for his umtion before he returns to the abyss. She will expect him to be full of confidence and attack her. So she will wait for him. But he has other ns for her. The two of them are not on the same level anymore.


    The ESSENCE OF ENVY is the upgrade of the POWER OF ENVY. The POWER OF ENVY is the first sin ability that a demon of envy gets as a mid-rank demon. They acquire the other one when they be a demon king. The POWER OF ENVY enables a demon to copy attacks but with the ESSENCE OF ENVY, a demon king can keep an ability forever without needing to copy it or be mindful of the number of copies they have. They take the mark of sin of a demon and add it to theirs and can use the abilities thate with it forever. Its only disadvantage is that it makes it more difficult for a demon king to be a demon god the more their mark of sin is corrupted with the marks of other demons.


    "The liberation army should be here soon. It will give me the chance to stretch my bones. In the meantime, I''ll start on my mark of sin." He said to himself.


    He intends to start on the requirements to be a demon god while he waits for the liberation army that the gods have sent to fight him. Their preparation and rallying of troops didn''t escape the notice of Legion. There are nt spirits all over the ne spying on the activities of the gods and informing the tree father.


    He will fight them and use them to rx a little. Then he will leave when the construction of the stronghold has finished. The ne is notpletely theirs yet so there is still a lot to do.

 Chapter 455 How To Become A Demon God.

    ?Bing a demon god is pretty straightforward. The most important thing for that to happen is Authority. A demon king umtes Authority to be stronger and be a demon god. The major reason why Authorities are important to bing a demon god is so that they will be able to manipte their mark of sin itself and fuse with it so that they be a sin themselves. After all, a demon god is the personification of a sin. The embodiment of that sin itself.


    Every demon gets a mark of sin when they be a low-rank demon. This mark of sin determines when they can evolve and what abilities they get when they evolve. The mark of sin is the root of the power system of demons. It is the foundation of demons and why they use sin energy instead of mana to elevate their state of existence.


    The origin of the mark of sin is the abyss. The will of the abyss creates it and marks the soul of every demon with it. Contained within the mark of sin is a wealth of power. It is the source of all sin abilities pertaining to a particr sin. It is like a spring of power more powerful than the energy well of an abyssal ne. To gain control of the mark of sin is to gain absolute power over that sin.


    To be a demon god, one must gain control of the mark of sin, understand it, tweak it to increasepatibility with the soul, and finally fuse with it. It is a very difficult process. Even the first step of gaining control is not easy. Something as powerful as the mark of sin that can grant power up to the level of a demon king cannot be controlled easily.


    The mark of sin will resist change. The resistance will die down once a demon king gains acquire a higher Authority than the one that is in the mark of sin. That is why demon kings need a powerful Authority just to get started on it and to unearth its secrets.


    Apart from the daunting difficulty of acquiring a lot of Authority, the deadline is also a time crunch. The breakthrough to bing a demon god is a race. The first demon that fuses with the mark of sin gains absolute control of it. That means the mark of sin cannot grant Authority without the demon god''s permission which prevents the creation of any more demon kings with that mark of sin.


    The abyss is the one that usually grants Authority after the trial of the abyss, but the trial will be inessible without the permission of the demon god. A demon god can also remotely strip other demon kings of the same sin of their Authority. All Authorities fall under the control of the demon god and to fail to reach it first is to give up your power to someone else.


    Aeternus is unique in his path. He doubts he has apetitor. The fact that he went through the trial of the abyss without the permission of anyone proves that there is no demon god in his path. But that doesn''t mean he can rx. There''s no reason not to believe someone is out there with the same mark. Even the smallest chance of it is dangerous. If there''s apetitor, thatpetitor will be far from normal too just like he is. Such a demon cannot be underestimated. So he can''t waste any time.


    He walked out of the fortress that is being built around the growing altar. Then he stood in front of the fortress and began to experiment with his mark of sin while he wait.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He doesn''t have a powerful Authority. His Authority is just Level 1 and will need 3 Celestials to reach the next level but he isn''t powerless against his mark of sin. He could already modify his sin ability a little bit as a high-rank demon. He should be able to do more now that he has full control of his chaos energy.


    The limited maniption of his mark of sin that he has is because of the warping by chaos energy. He should be a demon of envy with a mark of envy but he has a mark of chaotic envy. Chaos might be difficult to control but it is eptable to change. Chaos is basically constant change. So the difficulty of oveing the resistance of his mark of sin to change is much lower.


    There are disadvantages to his situation too. Understanding and changing his mark of sin might be easier but fusing with it will be more difficult than normal because he will have to fuse with Chaos. That fight that he started with Chaos energy in the womb of the demon sire has not ended. He has only gotten time to adapt and rx before their final confrontation. At the end of the day, the two of them have tobine and he won''t have the help of the shield he created to protect his soul.


    Days went by and the liberation army finally arrived.


    Their presence was announced by the sound of drums and feet matching on the ground in sync with the beat of the drums. They came in an imposing manner as soldiers ought to do but they are extra imposing because of their height.


    It is wise to take towering giants seriously especially when they wear matching uniforms and have identical grim looks on their faces. The look on their face is as if they have been asked to die which they in fact have been asked to do. They look ready and willing to die.


    These towering giants matched in formation and created a steady noise of feet mming into the earth in synch. The smallest one of them is 70 meters tall and the tallest is 110 meters. They are already all taller than Aeternus. Then there is the Colossi who followed behind the army. They have heights above a kilometer. All in all, they are an impressive sight.

 Chapter 456 Go Back And Prepare More.

    ?There are more than 1,000 of the Colossi while the main army of giants is about 100,000 in number. This is what the entire ne can put together to fight the demons. They are all of one mind willing to sacrifice themselves to being peace to their ne.


    The liberation army came to find an equally imposing army waiting for them. This opposing army isposed of many short reddish-ck figures. They are so many of them that it is all the giants can see. There are more than a million of them.


    The enemy may be short and translucent with weak smokey forms but there is a lot of them. A million has to count for something. The soldiers gulped at the sight. Their fear and anxiety began to rise even through their grim determination to sacrifice themselves for the good of their ne.


    The liberation army responded to the threat immediately. The soldiers activated their runes and assembled their weapons. They became d in armor and different weapons either for closebat or range formed in their hands. The bombardment crews formed their cannons and the annihtors began prepping their weapons of mass destruction. The priests activated their spells and got ready to defend themselves against any attack. Orders began to fly from the vessels of the gods down to thest man. They prepared to do glorious and epic battle.


    Suddenly the reddish-ck figures began to disappear. They disappeared in a burst of mes and dwindled in number. They continued to disappear until only one short red demon is left behind. This one is solidpared to the translucent smoke-like ones that just disappeared.


    Aeternus muttered to himself. ''This is more difficult than I thought. I need more than a few days for this.''


    The clones he is trying to create came out poorly. He can create arge number of them but they are weak. They are as weak as they look. A mortal that hasn''t reached the vitality core stage will be able to defeat each one of them easily. They are much stronger than the sin avatar of demon lords but they are aplete disappointment as clones of a demon king.


    ''It seems like the shortcut to producing clones won''t work. I still have to use my crown or the Godhood of gods.'' he mused to himself.


    He is trying to bypass the requirement for creating a clone by using his energy. It is one of the tweaks of his mark of sin that he is aiming for. He would like to continue attempting it but the liberation army hase. Courtesy demands that they get his attention.


    He stopped practicing to give them his attention. Then he examined the army that hase to vanquish him. His eyes widened in shock.


    He said angrily, "This must be a joke. You can''t be serious."


    The number of soldiers in the army is an impressive turnout considering the low birth rate and poption of their race. Then there''s the desertion of the church of the sun and the world war that decimated their numbers some years back. The ne is obviously willing to do its best to eliminate the demons but it is not enough. It is not nearly enough.


    The normal giants are akin to mid-rank demons. Mid-rank demons are equal to Transcendents. The only way these giants have been able to match mid-rank demons even though they are mana entities is because they have more stats than other mana entities. Their anti-magic domain and their tough body have also been very crucial in helping them match mid-rank demons. Even so, he has hundreds of millions of mid-rank demons in his house while they brought a hundred thousand giants to face him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The most threatening of the liberation army are the transcendent giants and the vessels of gods. The gods have already descended into their various vessels as is evident by the various mes burning in the eyes of some transcendents. The rest of the army might as well be dry wood to his fire. They will burn just by being in contact with him. If not for the vessels, the weakest duke of his house will destroy this army. He is not the weakest duke of his family, he is the head of the family, and bringing this to him is a joke.


    He said to them, "You know what. Go back and regroup. I''m giving you permission to increase your numbers. I''ll be waiting here for you when you''re ready."


    It is obvious that they came here in a rush. They don''t look nearly ready to face him. He wants to believe that their turnout is because of theck of preparation and not a tant disregard for him. So he decided to give them more of a chance in their fight. It is not because he cares about them, it is so that they will entertain him better.


    But the gods don''t appreciate his kind gesture.


    "What is this demon ranting about senselessly."


    "What does he take us for?"


    "Does he think he can easily walk over us?"


    "The pride and gall of demons. If he was so sure about himself he should havee to the divine ne and have his ass kicked."


    The gods felt insulted. They knew they were going to eventually lose but they still have their pride and having that pride walked over doesn''t sit well with them. The insolent demon is already talking like his victory is set in stone. Yes, his victory is set in stone but it is just rude to talk like so when the battle hasn''t started.


    "Silence." Stelios reprimanded them. "It doesn''t matter what he thinks, our job is to preupy him. It should be easy since he is so small and weak."


    They expected to face a big bad demon king but they met a runt. They don''t think Aeternus is too dangerous because he doesn''t look threatening. He is a demon king so he should be dangerous but it is hard to take someone that you can step on like an ant seriously.

 Chapter 457 The Battle For The Liberation Of The Plane.

    ?Aeternus might have a ming skull but it isn''t enough to scare them or take him seriously. Besides, he is just one demon, he might be able to go against the full array of the god''s resources in the mortal ne and win, but it should take him time. It is a win for them as long as he is stalled.


    They n to dy him by dragging out the battle. It doesn''t matter if they win. They know that but it is very unpleasant for them to hear their impending defeat from the mouth of their enemy. It is even worse that he said it in front of all these mortals. What if one of them survived this battle and tells the world?


    It will be like a mortal witnessed their shame and lived to tell it. No god wants to be disrespected in front of mortals. They used to kill mortals for witnessing their shame. So now they have to say something about the disrespect or make sure that no mortal will survive this battle.


    Stelios shouted in an imposing manner to Aeternus. He said, "Insolent midget, leave the realm of Zargoth and return from whence you came or we will be forced to destroy you. The mortal realm shall suffer your presence no longer. Leave this instant."


    The soldiers of the army cheered as their morale increased. Stelios''s words made it seem like they have a chance of winning and the poor fools believed it. Now they will give their all thinking that it won''t go to waste. Technically, they are right. Their deaths won''t go toplete waste. Even cannon fodder has its use.


    Stelios looked at the reaction to his words and he smiled proudly. He thought to himself, ''I have won no matter the oue of this battle.''


    The experience of living for a long time helped him to navigate those treacherous waters very well. He diffused the threat of dishonor to the gods pretty easily. He considers it a win for himself no matter how the battle turns out.


    If you want to look threatening, act threatening by shouting ultimatums to your enemies. It also helps if you are much taller than your enemy. Also, make sure to point out the difference in height by calling your enemy a derogatory name based on the height difference. It makes the odds look like they are in your favor.


    The golden me within Aeternus''s skull red through his eye sockets. If he thought they were taking him lightly before, now he is sure they are openly disrespecting him.


    He said to them. "Fine. Have it your way."


    He didn''t move his lips as he spoke but everyone heard him. They heard his words and the meaning behind them from the depth of their mind. Demonnguage is that good. It made them know that he thought their army was insignificant before. Now they know that he is ready to wipe them out. They scrambled to prepare for his attack and he watched them impassively.


    Since they have refused to appreciate his kind and selfless gesture, he will treat them like the trash that they are. He swung his ymorenguidly at the army with one arm. His soul force mixed with chaos energy seamlessly and was ejected out of the ymore like a de of fire. Then he returned to practicing cloning.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The de of fire expanded as it shot into the air. It approached the army as it got bigger like a wave that threatened to drown them. Then the de took on a strange shape after it finished expanding. It began to copse on itself and its edges fused to give the attack shape and structure.


    The attack finished its transformation by the time it reached the army. It became a towering skeletal entity more than 300 meters tall. This skeletal entity with white bones is wearing a ck shroud that covered and obscured most of its bony figure but its skull is exposed through the illumination of the light of its eye sockets. The entity stood before the army with a ck scythe primed and ready.


    It said one word, "DEATH!"


    The word rang out throughout the ne. Everyone on the ne heard the word and knew that someone had proimed death to another. The sound of the word hissed and echoed through the minds of all who heard it like thenguage of a serpent but only the soldiers of the army have the word DEATH marked boldly on their foreheads. Then the entity swung down its scythe on the army.


    As the scythe fell, the runic structures of the giants began to deactivate. Armour and weapons scattered into motes of light. Tattoos began to dim down. The rowdy army became silent as breathing and talking stopped. Then the lights in their eyes dimmed down.


    The giants were already falling down dead before the scythe reached them. Even then none of the reached the ground. The wraith entity was also reducing in size as the scythe approached the army. The scythe didn''t touch anyone before the entity disappeared because it reduced to nothing before the scythe could reach anyone. The scythe may not have touched anyone but it apparently didn''t need to. Only a single giant out of all of them was still standing after it disappeared.


    The colossus had the telltale signs of being the vessel of a god. Its eyes were like two bright stars which indicate that it belongs to the sun god, a bonafide celestial. The Colossus was wobbling and having bnce problems but it is still standing.


    Aeternus looked up from his silent contemtion in surprise.


    He said, "I''m impressed."


    Yes, he is impressed that someone survived a single attack of his. He thought for sure that they would all be killed with a single move. It seems he was wrong.


    He was about to attack again when the wobbling giant began to fall. The light in its eyes went out to reveal two chasms of darkness. It began burning with Chaos mes in the midst of falling down. Eventually, nothing fell down as it turned to ashes.

 Chapter 458 Aftermath Of The Battle.

    ?Aeternus began tough. He shook his head when he was doneughing. "Good one. Nearly had me fooled."


    He looked onto the silent battlefield. There are no bodies because they have been destroyed by Chaos energy. The only thing standing are the tools and equipment the army brought with them. They are standing because dead things don''t die. As for the living, he dered death to them and all of them died.


    Then he returned to his work. His short break is over and he has a lot of work to do. His break would have been longer if the gods had tried their best to fight him. He mes Stelios for how boring the fight was. It would have been different had the sun god brought all 5 of his vessels instead of one. Aeternus knows that more than 5 vessels survived Helios culling.


    The fight might be insignificant to him but it will go down in the history of giants. More than 100,000 giants were killed by a single attack and all of them died without a single contact. There''s no need for contact when they''ve already been marked by the messenger of death. There also isn''t any damage to their body. The entity had directly attacked their souls. It expended itself in the process that''s why it reduced in size and disappeared.


    Aeternus has perfect control of chaos energy now and he has perfect control of his soul force which means he can transition from attacking the physical to attacking the spiritual. Chaos energy used to be unwieldy so Aeternus hadn''t been able to utilize its spiritual aspect even though it has spiritualponents apart from the physical.


    He hase a long way from being unable to wield chaos as a low-rank demon. So instead of fighting them like some brawny demon, he bombarded their souls with chaos energy and soul force. Their bodies began to burn from the inside out as Chaos energy got to work. They disappeared soon after leaving behind no trace of a battle. It was a soundless and quick battle.


    The fight was too quick and unexciting for him. He had his hopes raised when he thought that the vessel of the sun god resisted his attack because if it can resist one attack, it can resist more. He was looking forward to the challenge but all he got was a disappointment. He didn''t have much hope for them anyway but Stelios just had to tease him with the possibility of a good fight.


    But he doesn''t have to worry, he has all the time in the world. It is the gods that are desperate. They will surelye to him and if not, he wille to them. But he can''t leave yet because he has to protect the abyss altar. He knows that there are more vessels out there so he can''t leave the altar until it isplete.


    In The Divine ne.


    Aeternus was wrong. The gods are not desperate. They are just scared and a little traumatized.


    "I thought I was going to die," Harkam said shakily.


    The other gods red at him for saying it out loud. They are all sitting in the council chambers where they have meetings. They were sitting here while they controlled their vessels.


    He asked them indignantly. "What? Was I wrong?"


    They saw death when the word DEATH was proimed. An indomitable force threatened to overwhelm them. Their very being screamed out danger to them. It almost seemed like they would sumb to it but they didn''t. They were prepared for the sh against the attack but the attack avoided them entirely and instead eradicated their vessels.


    "You were right. But it was ultimately a bluff. It seems that demon kings are only so-so."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The gods began tough and jest.


    All the gods are unharmed. They don''t even feel anything from that attack. They might have lost epically to the demon king but surviving when they should at least be hurt makes them happy. The irony of the situation is that only Stelios was hurt by the attack. He is also the only one not joining in on making fun of Aeternus. His face is grim and he is frowning heavily.


    The goddess of power and might asked him. "What''s the problem? Why are you so gloomy? Did the loss of your vessels hit you that badly?"


    "Rx, we can always get more if the Godyer works. If it doesn''t work, then it doesn''t matter how many vessels we have." The god of war tried to make him feel better.


    Harkam dropped his opinion. "He is just an old party pooper. He can''t lighten up even if gloom will kill him."


    Stelios finally spoke. "You''re all fools."


    He can''t be at peace after the battle because they didn''t experience what he experienced. He knows that they are too weak to see what he saw but he still considers them fools for making light of the situation.


    Harkam stood up in rage. He yelled angrily. "Watch your mouth. Who do you think you are to call us fools?"


    Someone whispered to him. "He is a Celestial now."


    Harkam''s eyes widen. He withdrew the finger he was pointing at Stelios. He became a little unsure but he still maintained his stance.


    He said to Stelios, "Even so, you can''t just call us fools without a good reason."


    He feels regret forshing out as he did. Old habits got the best of him but he isn''t willing to back down. It reminds him of a simr situation that urred in the past when he refused to apologize to Stelios for making fun of him. The two situations are very simr. He is way over his head in both situations. Except for this time, Stelios is a Celestial. This time, a loss might cost him his life.


    Stelios ignored him and hurriedly approached the god of order and the god of knowledge who are busy with the Godyer. He can''t be bothered with Harkam right now. He just hopes that things are not toote.

 Chapter 459 The Mark Of DEATH.

    ?The Godyer is a very tall white tower with arge crystal sphere at the top. It is in the shape of a cylinder and it also has 10 cylindrical crystal spokes connected horizontally at its base which end in their own smaller spheres. The spokes are not in physical contact with the tower. There is a thin space between the spokes and the tower so the spokes are being held with force instead of a physical attachment. Their connection with the tower makes them capable of rotating around the tower in parallel to the ground.


    The Godyer was constructed and kept in the mortal realm. The grand gods wanted to keep it hidden so they didn''t bring it to the divine ne so that the Celestial Supreme wouldn''t discover it. That didn''t work out so well and the gods need the Godyer now so they brought it up to the divine ne to prepare and use it.


    The Celestial Supreme and the god of knowledge are tuning the machine for action right now. They are also loading it with divinity. They are putting items with divinity into a hatch at the base. The items with divinity will speed up its loading time. The attack can be made ready quickly but the gods aren''t willing to sacrifice too much for something that might not work. They donated the mandatory minimum and nothing more.


    They have ced all their hopes on the Godyer. It is a fine machine that can be fired at any target in any part of the ne be it the mortal realm or the divine ne. It is a weapon that can help them bypass the suppression of the mortal realm to deal the demon king a deadly blow.


    The god of knowledge was talking to the Celestial Supreme about the Godyer before Stelios arrived.


    The god of knowledge said to him, "The machine has not been optimized for Authority. It can activate with it and load an attack empowered with it but it cannot fuse the power of the Authorities into one. So it will be more like two bullets within one shot instead of just onerge bullet."


    It cannot fuse two Authorities with a power of 10 into 20. Instead, it will damage twice with 10. The disadvantage is that if 10 is not enough to damage or ovee the defense of the target then two of the attack probably won''t work for entities of their level. Quality is more important than quantity in an attack. The advantage is that since the attack is undodgeable, it will damage the target twice.


    The Celestial Supreme replied, "We don''t have a choice. We are running out of time and from what I just sensed, the liberation army has been wiped out."


    It was then that Stelios joined in. He ignored everything and rushed straight for them.


    "What''s the problem?" The Celestial Supreme frowned and asked.


    Stelios answered, "We have to hurry. I don''t know what that demon king is up to but we don''t have time. All the gods that participated in that battle could die anytime now."


    The Celestial Supreme, the god of knowledge, and the gods that heard what he said were taken aback. Stelios''s im is pretty serious. It is life and death serious.


    Stelios continued talking. "He marked us somehow. I tried resisting the mark and had to endure his attack."


    "There''s no mark. What nonsense are you talking about?" Harkam asked incredulously.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I know that he tried to mark me but I resisted so the mark is not on me. I don''t know where it should be but it should be somewhere on you. Check everywhere. Check your Godhood too."


    No one believes him. They looked at him with the suspicion that he is trying to pull a prank on them and they weren''t willing to fall for his tricks.


    "Check everything." The Celestial Supreme ordered everyone.


    The gods began checking reluctantly. The idea that the mark could be on their Godhood reduces Stelios'' credibility that they could be marked but there''s no harm in checking. They will check if only to prove Stelios wrong. He could be joking but it will be a lousy joke in these strenuous times. It is a joke that they will not let him outlive. They n to mock him about it for a very long time


    They checked their divine bodies all over and found nothing. Then they checked their Godhood and found something. There was a small ck scythe on their bright multicolored Godhood.


    Their mouths hung open in shock. They were really marked. They were marked and they didn''t even know when.


    Harkam said as ifining, "But we only used vessels."


    The Godhood of a god is the center of their existence. It is the foundation of their power. It is the spark of their god fire. Their divine bodies are like a vessel that surrounds their Godhood. The divine body is like the soul body of transcendents. It is made from the fusion of the soul and the body except divine bodies have divinity added to the mix. This means that there are three barriers that have to be ovee for something to reach the Godhood.


    For anything to bypass their divine bodies, it must be able tobat the threeponents of the divine bodies. It has to bypass their body, soul, and the resistance of their divinity. Even if there''s such a thing, the god fire should burn it away.


    How a mark got to the core of their being without them knowing is beyond them. He didn''t mark their body or soul but their Godhood. If that is ced aside, then they still have to exin how he managed to mark them at all. They were using vessels not their avatars. Damage to their vessels shouldn''t affect them at all.


    "Could it... Could it be that... That time that we had a premonition... Premonition of death?" The god of power and might asked.


    Her fear made her questione out in a stutter.

 Chapter 460 Loading The GodSlayer.

    ?Gods shouldn''t be marked through vessels. That''s the norm. They also shouldn''t be harmed through vessels either but they really thought that scythe was going to cut them at that time. They shouldn''t be scared to death through vessels too but their instincts screamed out danger. There are a lot of things that shouldn''t have happened but here they are with the mark of a scythe on their Godhood.


    The real reason why Stelios'' vessel was thest to die is that he chose to resist the mark of death. The attack was supposed to mark him and then destroy the vessel but as a Celestial, he noticed the hidden danger. The word DEATH wasn''t a simple word, it was backed with Authority so it needed Authority to resist which the other gods arecking in. The ignorant fools didn''t even know that they had been marked.


    "What do we do now?" Harkam asked in desperation.


    Zernon spoke up to stop the gods from panicking. "This has changed nothing. All we have to do is to get rid of this demon king. All of our problems will disappear once he is eliminated. We will consider other options only after his death doesn''t solve this problem. But until then the death of the demon king is our priority."


    Harkam said. "Then let''s eliminate the demon king as quickly as possible."


    He dropped a lot more items with divinity after speaking. The other gods followed suit and donated more items to speed up the loading of the Godyer. They were willing to wait a few moments ago but they can''t wait anymore right now. They want the demon king gone for good and the mark removed as soon as possible.


    Ignorance is bliss. If the gods didn''t know about the mark on their Godhood, they would just be a little traumatized about the fight. Now they are desperate and deathly scared. They are willing to do anything to get rid of the marks on them. They don''t want a foreign object or energy to be near the core of their existence. Their most secure ce has beenpromised and they are desperate to change it.


    Their desperation made them increase their donations of items with divinity. The crystalline tower of the Godyer lit up and became translucent after engorging on divinity.


    Zernon said to them. "It is ready. Let''s load up the payload."


    The gods nodded. Zernon and Stelios entered two of the smaller spheres at the end of the horizontal spokes. 8 other grand gods entered the remaining 8. The crystalline spokes became translucent immediately after the payload was loaded.


    The spokes began to rotate. They have a lot of divinity in them so the rotating spokes elerated quickly. Soon they became a blur around the base of the tower. A bright multicolored fluid began toe out of the smaller spheres at the end of the spokes. The fluids could be seen within the translucent spokes. It passed through the spoke and entered the tower.


    A reaction urred within the space between the spokes and the tower. The fluid was supercharged within that space within a short time before it entered the tower. The fluid had be white by the time it entered the tower. It began to ascend the tower and it underwent numerous other changes through the different stages of the tower during its ascent. It became a three-colored fluid with clear distinctions by the time it reached the sphere at the top of the pir. There''s white, ck, and orange representing the three Authorities present in the attack.


    The god of knowledge watched the changes with the utmost alertness and scrutiny. He remained glued to the side of the Godyer and ignored the storm of lightning and wind hurricane that is brewing due to the machine''s activation.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He said in anticipation, "This is a momentous asion. The Godyer is going to be fired for the first time since its conception. What a sight."


    It is a fulfilling sight to see the work of generations of gods of knowledge finally bear fruit. It is not their creation but the gods of knowledge have invested a lot of time and energy into the work so they consider it theirs.


    His eyes gleamed with unshed tears as he said, "It is like giving birth to a child and finally having the childe of age."


    The Godyer might as well be the child he never had since gods of knowledge can''t conceive children. Their divine bodies are in the form of sheets of paper. It is not a type of body that can create offspring.


    The mantle of God of knowledge is transferred to whoever is able to decipher the code used to encrypt the knowledge contained within the sheets of paper. It is an appropriate test of worthiness because you have to really enjoy the pursuit of knowledge if you can''t do any other pleasurable thing ever again.


    So he feels delighted to see the Godyer finally used despite not being the original creator. The creator probably wouldn''t be happy to see who is using it. Kerons the god of justice will probably be rolling in his grave right now.


    "It''s a pity that the creator is dead. At least he won''t have to see his best work being used by his enemy. He was talented though. I wish I had his re for destruction." He muttered as he gazed at the Godyer in awe.


    The god of justice, the creator of the Godyer, is also known as the father of annihtors. He invented annihtors and his priests were known for it. It was odd that the god of justice had a re for destruction. His Stigmatas couldn''t be cracked while he was alive. It was after his death that the secret of annihtors was cracked. It was cracked and shared by his murderer.


    It is the same murderer that is also using the Godyer that he created. Anyone will not have a peaceful death if they know that their rival invalidated their life''s work and is using them for their own benefit.


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 Chapter 461 Primal Fission.

    ?It was after the death of the god of justice that the priests of other gods began to use the annihtors. But their''s isn''t perfect because there are still some things missing.


    They used to be called the Annihtion of justice before it was changed to Annihtors. The annihtion of justice doesn''t miss at all but Annihtors miss because they don''t have a targeting and homing system. Other priests can only use Annihtors as mana entities whereas the demigods of justice back in the day could use them as Transcendents


    The annihtors that they are using are just an imitation of the original. It hasn''t been fully cracked so there''s even more to it. This same god of justice conceptualized and tried to build the first Godyer when annihtors were not enough to kill the then god of Order. His idea for the Godyer is something that can be considered crazy at best because he intended to use gods as ammunition for it.


    The god of justice wanted to harm the god of order but the god of order could resist everything he could dish out with that white armor of his. The god of justice knocked against the god of order during one of their numerous fights and cut the god of order''s lips by smashing his head on it. That gave him the idea to smash his entire being into his enemy.


    Of course, the collision had to be done right. His experiments showed it is feasible because a really powerful collision between two strongpact entities tends to harm them both. It also tends to produce a lot of energy during the collision. He called the phenomenon primal fission. His crazy theory of collision became a feasible theory but the god of justice died before it could be realized.


    The gods then perfected the process. A collision is harmful to the two colliding bodies. At best you get a pyrrhic victory. But if one target is made to bear the brunt of the collision then it bes a good victory. This can be done by concentrating the fallout energy from the collision onto the target.


    The grand gods used their knowledge of how annihtors work to create a functioning Godyer. Annihtors create power by converting divinity into an unstable form. The process is highly inefficient but it can release a massive amount of energy. If not for its shorings then it is possible to use it against transcendents and gods.


    The Godyer takes this process to a higher level. It converts gods into an energy form. This energy form is created by stretching their divine bodies and overpowering the divinity within them with the greater amount of divinity that is in the Godyer.


    The energy is then empowered, reinforced, and insured against loss through the use of divinity. Then the Godyer will hold onto the Godhood while it flings the energized divine body as an attack. The Godyer will lock on to a target and fire the energy at it. In a way, the Godyer functions as a slingshot. It shoots extremely unstable divine energy at a target instead of stones or rocks.


    The attack from the Godyer is undodgeable. It will bypass all defenses and hit the core of the target so the collision will ur within the target. There is no way the target will go scot-free from the attack even if the core of the target is strong enough to resist the attack since its body will be the battlefield. The target will have to deal with the explosion that will ur within their body.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    If the core of the target isn''t strong enough, then it will break and that will be the end. The body and the core will both explode. Either way, coteral damage will be incurred by the target and only by the target while the energy will be retrieved by the Godyer after the collision. The Godhoods within the Godyer will attract the energy back to itself and then the process of transformation will be reversed.


    For a god, their core is their Godhood. The gods that formed the energy will be harmed but their injuries will be healed quickly with the divinity within the Godyer before they transform back into gods. Everything should be alright for the gods that were used as ammunition since their Godhood is safe and sound within the Godyer.


    This is all theoretical since the Godyer hasn''t actually been fired before so the god of knowledge is anticipating how the attack will turn out.


    The god of knowledge muttered to himself, "This is where something wrong will happen if it is going to happen."


    If there will be a malfunction that will disrupt the firing of the machine, it should ur now. Because if it doesn''t and the Godyer fires, then there''s nothing capable of stopping it. The internal collision will ur and the energy from the fallout will rip apart the demon king''s body and also destroy the stronghold. If the Godyer is to be stopped, it has to be stopped now.


    The god of knowledge was right. Something unnned did ur. Two unknown forces began acting on therge sphere at the top of the tower. They are not external forces but inherent conditions activated by the loading of the Godyer. The 3 colors of the loading of the attack changed to 5. Two more Authorities have been added to the attack. The two additions are green and gold.


    The god of knowledge was confused by the development. He wondered aloud, "That won''t stop it. It will only make it more powerful."


    The addition of the two colors indicates the addition of two more Authorities which will make the attack more powerful instead of sabotaging the Godyer. It meant that these saboteurs, whoever they are, have failed miserably.


    He beganughing to himself. He found the idea that the sabotage strengthened the attack instead of stopping it to be very funny. Whoever sabotaged the Godyer had to be stupid or they made a mistake which also trantes into them being stupid.

 Chapter 462 Hidden God Meets Hidden God.

    ?The god of knowledge stoppedughing when he realized that something is amiss.


    "Forget about their stupidity, how did they even manage to know about the Godyer? Was the project not a secret as I thought?" He stamped his foot on the ground andined. It seems everyone knows about his secret project. It is a humbling and shameful realization.


    He soon found something else odd about the change to the Godyer.


    "That green should be the authority of the god of the church of life, the hidden god. Who is the other one? Is there another Celestial I don''t know?"


    So the Saboteurs failed and that is funny but the fact that two unaffiliated entities with Celestial Authority managed to tamper with the Godyer is enough of an insult to him. It meant that others knew about the Godyer apart from the Celestial Supreme. One of them is the hidden god and the other one is some unknown celestial. He knows of the hidden god and has seen the manifestation of its Authority to recognize it. He doesn''t know the other Authority.


    Either way, the Godyer can''t be stopped now. Not that it needs to be stopped. The situation is clearly in the gods'' favor now. The Godyer is being strained because of the extra power but it is stronger than before. That demon king is sure to be riddled with holes if he doesn''t die outright. The core of a demon is its soul so the demon should die or be expelled back to its resurrection point in the abyss if it has one.


    The gods watched with anticipation waiting to see the result of a one-of-a-kind weapon. Meanwhile, there''s an awkward situation inside therge sphere that contains the bulk of the attack.


    All the gods have been rendered unconscious to protect their minds from the effects of the collision except Stelios and Zernon. The two of them are Celestials with Authority so they remain aware of the situation. They were able to notice the odd enhancement of the attack by two different Celestial Authorities.


    A green me and a golden string appeared beside the symbol of the star and that of the hammer and the scale. The hammer was confused by the situation too. It jumped to a conclusion.


    He yelled at the neer, "You scoundrel, you''re trying to sabotage the attack."


    He sensed everything carefully and realized that everything was going well, too well, better even.


    "Wait, you''re making this better. Are you trying to help with killing the demon king?" Zernon asked them in a quieter voice.


    He felt impressed by these two Celestials'' willingness to forgo their hatred of him so that they can destroy the demon king. He is also chilled by the act of the god of life who is trying to get rid of the demon king after having benefitted from the demons. All in all, he is impressed with their dedication to the ne. Their action won''t stop his hatred of them. It will only make him lenient when he gives out their punishment in the future.


    Stelios was more confused about something else. The Celestial Supreme might know the two helpful guests but he doesn''t know who the golden string is.


    But it was the green me that asked the question that he wanted to ask. "Who are you?"


    That is the elephant in the room. Few people know who the golden string is. Not even the hidden god knows about this hidden god.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The golden string hummed and answered. "I can''t say."


    The green me continued to examine the golden string but it couldn''t discern anything from this unknown Celestial.


    It muttered, "Thisplicates things. It seems we had the same idea. Either you had it after me which makes you a manageable threat or you had it before me which makes you a terrifying threat. Either one isn''t good and they bothplicate matters."


    The golden string chuckled. "It''s funny that I think otherwise. Then again, I might just be biased. After all, I had the idea first and I also knew you would be here."


    The green me turned silent at that.


    The hammer and the star were listening to the conversation but they don''t understand what was going on. Zernon became suspicious because of the cryptic conversation and something unexined became ring.


    "Wait a minute. How did you void your contract of non-interference?" He asked the golden string.


    He wants to know how the god of fate bypassed the restrictions of their contract to help him. He doesn''t remember freeing the golden string from the contract so the god of fate shouldn''t be here. The god of fate should bezying about in his divine kingdom of fate strings, not in this attack.


    Zernon doesn''t know that the help that the two neers are currently rendering was programmed into the Godyer sometimes before the Godyer was loaded. His sense of the outside world is limited in his new strange form, so he thinks that these two added their help only recently. So the god of fate has not broken his contract. If he knew this then he wouldn''t have asked that question.


    The god of fate turned silent this time around.


    The green me asked the golden string, "Is your Authority Fate?"


    The golden string continued to remain silent.


    The tree father couldn''t help but think about his situation. He found out about the Godyer when a kidnapped demigod tried to batter with him for his release. The demigod didn''t know much about it or what it does but he overheard it from a god. The tree father''s found it through a nt spirit. Then he nted an attachment on the machine after examining it.


    What he nted on it was hidden from the other gods. Even the Celestial Supreme didn''t sense it because it wasn''t active. It will only be active when the weapon is ready tounch. The attachment can enhance the attack or blow up the Godyer. The attachment is a vestige of the tree father so the tree father is not actually here.


    It is obvious that the golden string is a vestige too but when did he attach himself too it? Was it before or after the tree father decided to sabotage the Godyer? Also, howe they both had the same idea?

 Chapter 463 Immense Danger.

    ?The vestige of a Celestial is very expensive to make. It is also easily destroyed. It is like an expensive consumable but it has the advantage of being concealed and controble from a distance. The tree father didn''t need to worry about the expensive cost of divinity since the gods were generous with divinity when they exchanged it for their demigods. So the vestige was a good idea to stay in touch with the Godyer without being close to it.


    The tree father chose this n of action because Legion believed that if he can find out about the Godyer from some random demigod that he kidnapped, the odds are that others have found out about it and it is not a secret. He could have destroyed it but the weapon was developed to harm the Celestial Supreme so the tree father decided to render assistance if it is used against Zernon or destroy it if it is ever used against Legion.


    Unlike what Zernon thinks, the Godyer is not being used against Legion. Zernon has made himself vulnerable on purpose by entering the machine and targeting Aeternus. So the tree father thought he should get some help for his foolishness. That is why the vestige of the tree father is amplifying the attack.


    All of these started a while back and yet a hidden god that even legion doesn''t know about says that he thought of this n and he knew that the tree father would be here. If it is true, then this Celestial is highly likely to wield the power of fate. It also means that Legion''s n might not end the way it thought it would. There is an unknown entity they didn''t ount for. Unfortunately, nothing can be done about it now. The die has been cast.


    ''Too bad that Soverick hasn''t be a titan ofw yet.'' The tree father muttered to himself after epting the situation.


    Back To Demon King Aeternus.


    Numerous red shadowy figures like wraiths or ghosts were moving around him in a haphazard manner. They started to pop like bubbles when he sensed the iing danger. He stopped practicing and became serious. If he had hair in his body, it would rise right now and be stiff. He would have goosebumps if he also had skin because of the sensation of danger that washed over him.


    "It is time." His voice was calm but heavy just like the heaviness that is suddenly weighing on him.


    He knew when the weapon was loaded through the tree father. He knew it was aimed at him through the tree father and he can confirm it to be aimed at him through the force that has locked onto him. He knew when the weapon was fired at him through the tree father, the force that locked on him, and the Intuition of danger. He knows all of these and yet he felt fear. They say that the fear of the unknown is the greatest fear. They were wrong.


    Anyone of the sources of information he has would have been enough to inform him of how much danger he is in. Just his intuition will do or the amount of power that the tree father can sense, or the tangible force that suddenly fell on him as he was locked. All three made sure to drive home how much danger he is in and help him determine how seriously he should take this attack.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His golden eye sockets looked up at the sky as he muttered. "This could actually kill me."


    The iing attack is a type of attack that cannot be messed with. The scale of the danger is massive and beyond the scale of their n. A lot of energy empowered with 5 Authorities ising at him. If it shes with his soul then his soul will crumble and he will die. He will die because he doesn''t have a resurrection point. He hasn''t created a ne in the abyss yet, a death will mean noing back for him.


    Of course, it is not the attack that will kill him. The attack will certainly injure him but his eternal soul will remain. It will just render his soul too weak to withstand Chaos energy anymore. The rebellious energy will run amok and ravage his soul once it is weak enough. It is like an opportunistic killer, just waiting for the right time to rear its corrosive head. Chaos energy is something that even his eternal soul cannot survive much less in a weakened unprotected state.


    Chaos energy might have been docile but that''s only because the power rating of his spirit has always been higher than that of Chaos power. The iing attack will put him back in the situation he was in as a mid-rank demon when he amplified his soul injury by using power beyond him after numerous high-rank demons tried to kill him. He can handle an Origin god''s domain now but it will be useless against what''sing for him.


    And yet he smiled. "Now we''ve got you where we want you. It''s good enough for now. We''ll deal with the anomaly after."


    He is locked on. It''s like a string has been attached to him pulling the attack toward him. The sky changed colors immediately after the weapon was fired. All the colors of the world were washed away leaving the world in white and ck. Only green, orange, and golden colors were allowed to remain in the world. It is evident that the Celestial Supreme is wielding the full power of his Authority and everything not aligned with his will is being washed out and overridden.


    Aeternus''s eye sockets zed as he brandished his ymore against the onught of power that is rolling toward him like a tsunami. His figure zed with a ck all consuming me in resistance to the ban of the Celestial Supreme''s will. He is a demon with Authority so he doesn''t need to listen to a Celestial even if that Celestial is the Supreme.


    He began pumping energy into his ymore in preparation for his reply. The gods have gone to such an extent just to eliminate him. It is only appropriate that he gives them a worthy reply. Above all else, he is a polite demon king. Polite, not petty.

 Chapter 464 Trade By Batter.

    ?If you can dish it out then you must be able to take it too. If the gods don''t expect him to retaliate then they are in for quite a shock.


    "Don''t break now old friend," Aeternus said to his quivering ymore.


    His ymore is not the only thing quivering from the energy overload. His soul is also being pushed to the limit of his ability trying to parse the attack. His soul reached its limit and came up short. There''s just too much information and factors to consider if he intends to replicate that attack and even enhance it.


    The attack of the Godyer is not some simple spell or even aplicated spell. He will take any type of spell right now. At least, spells have structures. Unfortunately, the attack of the Godyer is no spell. It is not a divine ability either. It is a chaotic phenomenon. It is 8 grand gods, 2 Celestials, and 5 Authorities smashing into him. How is he to copy the action of a getting to collide?


    Even worse, the attack is a physical phenomenon turned magical and maybe spiritual. Aeternus cannot copy physical attacks. He can only copy magical attacks using his POWER OF ENVY. He can reflect all types of attacks using SPITE OF ENVY but he cannot reflect something of that level. It is toorge. He will be overwhelmed.


    Fortunately, he is not the only one trying to parse and analyze this attack. The tree father is giving him close-up and in-depth information about it. He is also using his sin ability to the best of his ability to acquire information. All that information is then analyzed by all the 9 minds of Legion. 2 good heads are better than one. 9 excellent heads can create a miracle.


    Different processes are taking ce within Aeternus''s mind right now. Ideas, concepts, energy functions, and constants are swirling in a whirlpool of chaos in his mind. He can control Chaos energy but what he is asking Chaos to do is insane so he has to dictate each step of what he wants down to the nitty gritty.


    Chaos energy might be able to do anything and everything but it needs instructions and a temte to adhere to. Aeternus is trying to form the temte but what he has in his mind is a whirlpool of instructions. The instructions need to be connected to one another into a viable structure that is simr to that of the iing attack if he intends to replicate it.


    This whirlpool is beyond his ability to control but 8 other tethers are pulling on the edges of the whirlpool and giving it structure. All 9 of them are easing knots, performing enormous calctions, and assembling instructions as fast as possible. The whirlpool of chaos was forcefully given form.


    Finally, a ball started to rise from the whirlpool. This ball is the order that has been given to Chaos. Chaos can form anything and it has been made to form this ball. It didn''t do it willingly but its willingness was overridden by force.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    9 excellent heads can replicate an attack constituting the physical collision of 8 grand gods, 2 Celestials, and 5 Authorities converted into an All-Existensial attack. They can''t enhance it but they can do it fast enough for Aeternus to counterattack which is more than enough for their n.


    The golden string within the attack of the Godyer finally spoke broking the silence.


    "Impressive. I feel the change in the strings of fate." It said to the green me, "It was nice working with you. We''ll see soon."


    The tree father snorted and ignored the god of fate. He focused on the most important thing right now which is Aeternus''s strike. He didn''t let the fact that the god of fate can tell that Aeternus seeded to get to him.


    Aeternus swung his ymore at the attack with all his might. His ymore now glowing a ck light rose and fell. It took some of the mes burning on Aeternus''s body with it as it fell and produced a ck wave that rose up in opposition to the attack of the Godyer. The wave morphed into a terrifying ck skull. The ck skull has five horns, each with a different symbol etched on them. The symbols are a string, a me, a hammer, a scale, and a star.


    The ck skull rose up to the sky to meet the 5-colored wave of energy crashing down from the heavens. The two attacks shed violently and shook the world with a loud thunderp that is akin to a giant pping. The world brightened because of the explosion of light then it darkened when the firmament was torn asunder. The sky was ripped apart and the light of the sun disappeared into the void of space through the years.


    The resulting thunderp rocked the world and deafened all who heard it. The earth shook and the sands of the desert were kicked up into a hurricane. Fragments of the two attacks fell and scattered into the ne where they wrought destruction to lives and properties. Fire and brimstone fell to the earth. It looked like the world was ending.


    The ne suffered and will continue to suffer the repercussions of that collision for some time toe. The entities within the attack of the Godyer are not having a nice time either. A collision with something of equal power urred and it urred outside of the core of their target. It is against the script. A terrible gift was to be forced onto Aeternus but they got something in exchange. They were not up to participate in such a macabre trade by batter.


    The two conceptual phenomena suffered as the two attacks that embodied them sought to eradicate each other. The gods that formed the energy had their very being destroyed. The pain they felt could not be measured, quantified or qualified. It couldn''t be measured against anything else because the only thing they felt is pain. Pain became their whole world but this isn''t the end of it. More things that can cause pain are on their way.

 Chapter 465 Round 2.

    ?It turns out that making yourself into ammunition to be tossed at something in order to invoke primal fission through a direct existential collision is not a good idea after all. There is a risk of cracking the consciousness of those that volunteered themselves as ammunition. No one told them that when they were keeping for the job. In fact, by all logic and the reasoning of all that is possible, this shouldn''t be happening.


    Fortunately for the gods, their attack ultimately won the sh. Theirs is a dynamic attack. They have protective mechanisms put in ce to protect them from the fallout of a collision. They also have the divinity to replenish lost energy and power. So while the Static ck skull reduced in power, theirs remained constant and eventually won the sh.


    "That was unexpected but things are still on track. We can still do this." Zernon said to the reeling Stelios.


    It was unexpected that the demon king could produce an attack of such magnitude either by copying it or creating it himself. Zernon knows about demons of envy and what they can do. He also knows that they can''t do what just happened even if they are demon kings.


    The attack of the Godyer is chaotic and powerful. In a sense, it is not a single attack but 5 different attacks made to look like 1. A demon king capable of copying it will have no need for a demon stronghold or the culling of churches to weaken gods. They will be able to singlehandedly take down the divine ne and kill all the gods in their prime.


    A demon of that power has no need for schemes. What use are schemes when pure power is easier and faster? So he didn''t expect this retaliation from a demon king that pretended to be a high-rank demon and his in the mortal realm. But now that it is over things can go on as the gods nned.


    The power of the Godyer''s attack remained the same even after the ck skull was eliminated and they are still en route to the demon king. The attack is undodgeable after all. All seems to be well. They had a minor hup along the way but things should be smooth sailing from here on out.


    Zernon looked around and couldn''t see the other two Celestials. They are gone and so are their Authorities. Unlike the other Celestials who got into the Godyer and were loaded together with their Authorities, these two were only vestiges with their Authorities within the Godyer. These vestiges are not part of the original power of the attack and as such cannot be replenished.


    Zernon didn''t have time to think about the possibilities or repercussions when another ck skull appeared and locked onto them. Aeternus had raised his ymore and produced another attack simr to the first one. The sight of the second ck skull sent the possibilities of their absence to his mind unbiddenly.


    "This is impossible." He screamed in panic.


    Stelios joined in. "You have doomed us."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It turns out that all is not well. It is one thing for the attack to be copied at all, to say that it can be copied twice is just absurd and bogus nonsense. But that absurd and bogus nonsense will be their doom because that ck skull still has five horns with five symbols while they have lost two Authorities. It is 5 against 3 now instead of 5 vs 5.


    They watched as the ck skull zoned in on them and shed head-on with them again. Their world turned upside down and they thought they would die. The pain didn''t threaten to overwhelm them this time, it overwhelmed them. Their consciousness was rent apart and was on the brink of copse. They were so close to death that they would have died if they didn''t have any divinity left. But they survived. It cost them all their divinity but they survived. That skull was vanquished against all odds for the good of all giant kinds.


    "Let''s hope this will still work." Zernon thought to himself.


    He didn''t say it out lest he jinx them. They didn''te out of that sh unscathed. They have lost a lot of power but they still have three Authorities. The damage they can cause has reduced drastically but they can still damage the demon king. This is what they nned from the start anyway.


    His eyes widen silently as he saw the third skull racing towards them. He didn''t even bother to exim. He does not doubt that they would die here.


    ''Maybe I shouldn''t have locked the god of fate away.''


    He began to feel regret for how he has treated the god of fate. The assistance that the god of fate and life rendered indicates that they might care about the ne and want to get rid of the demon king. They both have issues with him but they still added their Authorities to the attack. They might fight but they came together when the ne needs it the most.


    Who could have known that the demon king is an impossibility made possible? Who could have known that he can replicate their attack? The demon king replicated the attack not once, not twice, but three times now. No one in their right mind can expect such a thing. He didn''t expect it at all. If he had he would have implored the god of fate and the god of life to assist him so that their attack will be at its strongest.


    "Wait a minute. If there is someone who could have expected this, it has to be that god of life that worked with the demon king."


    The thought of the god of life made him realize something. He realized that maybe it wasn''t so unexpected after all. The tree father used to work with the demons and might know what the demon king is capable of. If that is true, then he is at the wrong ce at the right time.

 Chapter 466 Round 3.

    ?"I am in a Deathtrap." He grinned deprecatingly to himself. "I was yed."


    He realized toote that he has been yed. The god of life probably knew the capabilities of the demon king. That''s why he didn''t sabotage the Godyer when he found out about it. The only one that probably truly cared about the ne is the god of fate. He can be trusted because he never done anything to endanger the ne.


    He shook his head in regret. "I should have invited him for this attack."


    He felt regret for not trusting the god of fate. They have a long history and the god of fate is a giant that will ultimately try to protect his ne aspared to the god of life who betrayed the ne. If only he had invited the god of fate to join in the attack they won''t be in such a bad situation.


    He closed his eyes waiting for death. If he is to go out then he will go out bravely. The skull crashed into them and ravaged them. They were quickly pushed to the brink of death so the fail-safe of the Godyer was activated.


    A fail-safe mechanism has been programmed into the Godyer to protect the lives of its ammunition. It will activate when the attack has beenpromised to a certain threshold and there is no divinity to repair itThe Godyer forcefully withdrew the attack. It used the Godhood in the pir to pull on the energy that made up the attack. The attack flew back towards the divine ne while the ck skull chased them relentlessly.


    The skull followed closely behind what has now be a small sphere of three-colored energy that used to be the size of a wave of the ocean. The two of them disappeared into the sky. They entered the divine ne and went straight to the Godyer.


    The Godyer is still running so it received the remnants of the energy with minimal issues. It performed ording to its design but it didn''t ount for the skull. The skull crashed into the Godyer since it swallowed its prey making the machine be easily overloaded when it was trying to reform the ammunition it made. Then it blew up.


    Unfortunately for the gods, they were standing around the Godyer in anticipation of its result. They didn''t know about what transpired in the attack or how it performed against the demon king. They don''t have any priest or influence around the demon fortress. They were waiting for the attack to be retrieved so that the reformed gods will tell them how it went. What they got was an explosion for their effort and hope.


    The gods protected themselves as best as they could but scores of them died. Only grand gods could withstand the explosion but the ones too close to the explosion died. The god of knowledge is one of such grand gods. The explosion ravaged and tore his paper body apart. The death of the child he never had killed him too. It seems he was too attached to his prodigy for him to continue living after its death.


    The explosion died down quickly after wreaking havoc on the gods. But the problem of the gods hasn''t ended. The scythe in the godhoods of those still alive began to vibrate. They fell to the ground in pain as the core of their existence began to ache.


    Meanwhile, the Godyer was destroyed leaving two orbs of power. All the grand gods that were involved in the attack died including Harkam leaving the two Celestials or what remains of them. One orb is white and ck while the other is orange like a tiny star. The two of them have suffered so much damage that they can''t even take on a form anymore. They are near death with only their consciousness active.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "We are alive," Zernon eximed in relief.


    He said to Stelios. "We should get to our divine kingdoms and try to heal."


    He was about to whiz away as an orb can only do when he was suddenly attacked from behind. The orange orb jumped on the white and ck orb and bit it.


    "What are you doing? Get off me." He shouted in panic.


    "Or what. You ruined us. Give me your power. I''ll be a better leader." Stelios replied.


    He refused to let go of the Celestial Supreme and began to consume him. The Celestial Supreme is much stronger than the sun god even without the Authority of the Supreme but they are both weakened and dying while the sun god is getting support from someone else.


    It is like savings and investments. Zernon had invested all his assets into that attack while the sun god only invested 40%. The remaining 60% is somewhere else and giving him returns on his savings. Savings always give poor returnspared to investments. His returns are like that of savings because of the poor help that Stelios is getting from the other 60% but it guarantees that he can not die.


    As long as that 60% is still around somewhere and Stelios is the true God of the sun with the divine me to prove it, then he will remain alive unless Helios decides to let him die and lose the 60%. So his situation cannot get much worse unless he dies while Zernon is actually dying.


    Zernon yelled as they struggled. "You ungrateful bastard. I helped you when your own son stole your power. I saved your life when your son tried to kill you. Now you''re betraying me. I wish I had never helped you."


    "You led us to our doom. I have repaid you for your favor by helping you. We are even now so it is not a betrayal. I don''t have a choice, I need you to die for me." Stelios shouted.


    Their deal was for Stelios to assist the Celestial Supreme in killing the demon king. He believes that his part is done since he put his life on the life for it. A rare opportunity has presented itself to him and he is going to take it.

 Chapter 467 Desperation And Necessity

    ?Stelios''s decision to turn on Zernon is not unfounded. He was already in trouble losing 60% of himself. Losing 39% has pushed that to doomed. He can''t heal right now. He already sacrificed everything he had including his divine lords to be stable enough at 40%, so there is nothing he can do now except to have a bump in power.


    He felt a pull on himself when Helios came to the divine kingdomst time. His separate body parts tried to reunite. He could resist Helios back then but that has changed now that he is too weak. He will have no choice but to be imprisoned in that jail in Helios'' Stigmata if Helioses to the divine ne again.


    So this is very important for him. He needs the Celestial Supreme to die so that he can live. Besides the necessity, he deserves to be the Celestial Supreme. He has been patient and served his due for a long time. It is time to be the Celestial Supreme and this moment is the weakest that Zernon is ever going to get. This is a reward for his patience and he will take it regardless of his need for it.


    The two Celestials engaged in a Deathmatch with no one to intercede. None of the gods helped them because they were fighting and losing to the scythe attacking their Godhood. The scythe is not harming them, it is only disconnecting their Godhood from their body temporarily. It made them vulnerable and unable to resist what happened next.


    The residual of the ck skull attack transferred to all the gods around after losing its target. Tiny ck threads of darkness used the scythe as a beacon and wormed its way into their bodies where it began to rampage about. The scythe within them became empowered with the power of 5 Authorities and permanently severed their connection to their Godhood. Then the remnant of the back skull destroyed their divine bodies.


    The gods were dying all around them meanwhile, Stelios''s hold on Zernon continued to increase over time. Unlike Stelios that has reached his lowest point and cannot go any lower, Zernon is weakening and he is weakening fast. Fighting Stelios is a losing fight. He has to go all out or he will die.


    Even if he manages to repel Stelios, he will be close to death like never before unless he can consume the sun god but that''s a long shot. If he were capable of that, he would have turned on the sun god right from the start, not the other way around. He did two things at once. He called for help while he gave up part of his body to Stelios.


    A section of the white and ck orb separated from its main body. The section that got divided is also the one that Stelios istching on to. Stelios grabbed onto it thinking that he is making progress with it his endeavor to eat Zernon. He was effectively stalled trying to digest the sacrifice.


    The piece that was sacrificed might be small but Zernon is stronger than Stelios. He is much denser so it is going to take time for Stelios to digest it. Zernon took the opportunity to run away. He chose to run towards the helper that he called for. Stelios gave chase after digesting the piece soon after but a gap as already been created between the two of them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The two Celestials disappeared from the divine council chambers leaving behind the dying and dead gods. The council chamber has be a scene of death and destruction. The once scenic view of stars above the chambers has disappeared to show just pitch-ck darkness. The explosion of the Godyer did the most damage to the location. Large fractures spread throughout the floor and walls.


    There are no bodies to allude to the death that urred here despite the number of gods that have died. Their bodies have been consumed leaving behind multicolored orbs. These multicolored orbs are the Godhood of gods. Their numerous amount is the only indication that there used to be a lot of gods here.


    The glittering godhoods that littered the ce began to change. ck and red tendrils of energy engulfed them and gave shape to them. These shapes were at first indistinct until they became red shadows with two bright and pure white eyes. The red shadows are holding a ck scythe. It is the same ck scythe that used to mark the Godhoods.


    More and more godhoods from the gods that the explosion killed became Aeternus''s divine avatars. Aeternus might not be here but he is capable of expressing his will through his DIVINE AVATAR ability. The ck scythe took over the Godhood now that their previous owners are no more. It will be bad if all these ownerless Godhoods fall to the mortal realm to create a new batch of gods. That will invalidate a lot of Legion''s work.


    The vulnerable godhoods created by the explosion were the first to be converted into avatars of the divine demon king. These avatars locked onto the direction that the two Celestials flew and joined in the chase. Then the gods still alive were killed by thebined effort of the scythe and the remnant power of the skull. They too were converted and also joined the chase. Soon all the gods became demonic wraiths and chased the two celestial orbs.


    The targets of the chase continued their struggle without care. Stelios has grown stronger so he is faster than before and he is gaining on Zernon. Zernon''s headstart is dwindling and he will eventually be caught, Fortunately, his helper has arrived. He just has to hold on for a little more and he will be saved.


    A god covered in golden armor rushed towards them from the opposite direction. The armor is made of tiny strings of different colors meshed together to make the golden color. This god flew towards the two of themfrom the front while the red spectres chased them from behind. The first to reach them will be the winner.

 Chapter 468 Zerkon Vs Zernon. Fate Vs Order.

    Zernon became ted at the sight of the approaching god. The golden armoured god is his salvation. He screamed with all his might. "Help me, Zerkon. Help me."


    He has no time for formalities like calling him the god of fate. He is too happy to act estranged. The helper he called for is the god of faith after releasing him from the contract of non-interference. The god of fate was the only god that didn''t attend the divine council meeting so he was spared the fate of death.


    It has been a long time since he called the god of faith his real name. Zernon didn''t expect the god of fate to answer his call for help since he forced him to stay hidden all these years. But here he is. This just goes to show that he should have trusted the god of fate more.


    Stelios became agitated when he noticed the new god. He also noticed the red specters chasing them but they don''t matter yet. If he can''t get Zernon then his fate is sealed anyway. So he began burning parts of himself to speed up and catch Zernon. It is very painful but it is a sacrifice he is willing to make for his life to get better. After all, he doesn''t have much else to lose.


    Unfortunately, a half-dead Celestial cannotpare to a fully healthy Celestial decked out in armor and ready for battle. There is no way he can match the god of fate in speed. The red spectres also couldn''t catch up because the two of them are running towards the god of fate.


    The god of fate closed in on Zernon first. He smiled when he reached Zernon.


    He said to him as he grabbed his target, "I''m here Zernon."


    "Thanks foring to help. I have mistreated you all these years and yet you havee to help me. Will you forgive me?"


    Zernon was full of appreciation for Zerkon. He began thanking him and expressing remorse for his past behavior.


    The god of fate stopped him. "There''s no need for that. You were just doing what you had to do."


    "Yes, I was. Wait, where are you going?"


    Zernon noticed that Zerkon was flying toward Stelios instead of away from him. So he asked for information about their destination.


    Zerkon replied, "To finish what I started."


    The Celestial Supreme agreed. "That''s good too. That ungrateful bastard betrayed me. Kill him for me. I am sure to heal a good portion if I can consume him."


    "Oh, there will be killing and consumption for sure." Zerkon smiled and said.


    Then the god of fate reached out and grabbed Stelios too. Next, his body inted into a round ball that engulfed the two Celestial orbs. The red spectres watched unable to do anything as the god of fate took both the god of order and god of the sun.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Zernon and Stelios found themselves within arge space within the ball that the god of fate has be. Both of them are confused about what''s going on. Their confusion was not cleared by what their captor said next.


    Zerkon told them, "Now no one can interfere. You can fight to your heart''s content."


    The two of them would have hung their mouths open if they had mouths in their current state. They thought the god of fate came to rescue Zernon but it seems he has other ns. He wants them to fight to the death without interference.


    Zernon asked in fear. "What are you doing brother?"


    Gone is the calling of the real name. Zernon disregarded the use of names and resorted to pointing out their familial connection in this dire situation in hopes that Zerkon will change his mind.


    "Brother?" The god of faithughed. "When was thest time you called me that? I can''t remember. But I do remember thest time I called you brother. It was back then when I begged you to spare me. I had just be a Celestial but you refused to bulge on your rules. You wanted to kill me. You wanted to kill your twin brother because of narcissism that you call principles."


    Zernon begged. "I said I''m sorry. I had to."


    "I knew you would do it because I know you had to. You have always been obsessively stubborn. I knew you would try to kill me and I knew you would fail. But I begged you to spare me anyway. You didn''t listen to my pleas and you even refused to let me go when you couldn''t kill me. You had to imprison me in my own divine kingdom before you were satisfied."


    Zernon yelled, "Kill me then. If you are so bitter about how I treated you then you should kill me with your own hands. Kill me yourself."


    "Oh, how I wish I could kill you. I am sure I would relish the pleasure of robbing you of your life. Unfortunately, I can''t. I can''t kill anything. It is the cost of being an observer."


    Stelios'' confusion has only grown stronger as he listened. He thought for a second that the god of fate wanted to kill him when he grabbed him. He was wrong about that but the reality of the situation doesn''t make much sense either.


    He thought to himself, ''The Celestial Supreme had a brother? The god of fate is a Celestial? The brother of the Celestial Supreme is the god of fate? He also had a son that he hid from all of us. There''s so much we don''t know about the Celestial Supreme. Now his brother wants to kill him instead of helping him? And I thought my family is messed up. My fake son tried to imprison me while I ate my real children.''


    "Now finish what you started. Kill him." Zerkon said to Stelios.


    Stelios is more than d to kill Zernon. The two of them resumed their deathmatch under the gaze of the helper that Zernon called for meanwhile the red spectres are locked outside unable to interfere.

 Chapter 469 The True Father Of The GodSlayer.

    Stelios was pulled out of his thoughts by Zerkon''s order. He pounced on Zernon immediately. There are a lot of confusing things happening right now but it hasn''t changed his situation. He still needs power and killing Zernon will get him more power. So he will kill the Celestial Supreme and worry about the futureter when he has a future to worry about.


    Zerkon watched the fight with glee. He has waited so long for revenge. It has taken a long time but it is finally here and it is glorious.


    The two of them are rare twins. Twins are very rare due to the low fertility of giants of order. Their parents were mortals and they were born when the era of gods was just starting. They are both males but they are not identical in looks or behavior. Zernon had always been a control freak right from when they were young. He would always tidy the house and keep things in order while Zerkon was azyyabout. Their differences only increased when their parents died.


    The era of gods came with war and strife. Gods need faith and believers. Theypete with other gods in various ways all of which impacted mortals in negative ways. Divine wars ravaged the ne like never before. Giants had nowhere to go because they have been locked into the ne. So they could only have conflict amongst themselves since they have conquered the other races.


    The death of their parents hit Zernon too hard. He was very distraught and he med the world for the death of their parents. He believed it happened because of the chaos in the ne. So he set out to create order. He needed strength if he intends to bring order to the world and the only way to get is by bing a god. That''s why he started on the path of the divine. He became a yer instead of a pawn and he changed the rules of the game.


    Zerkon on the other hand epted their parent''s death as being natural. People die every time and the only reason they die is that they are weak. Their death may be a consequence of the strife among gods but it happened because they were weak. He learned that you need strength if you want to be able to live and do whatever you want. If you have strength, then you can be a yer like the gods instead of being a pawn like the mortals. So he became a god so that he can control his fate and live out his life in peace.


    The two of them have very different ideologies and goals. One of them made it his life''s work to make the ne peaceful while the other would like to live a peaceful life without work. They both needed strength and only the path of divinity can give it to them. So they imed the path so that they can achieve what they want.


    Their differences led them to the same destination but Zernon reached it first. He became the first Celestial and imposed his order on the world. Zerkon knew his brother well so he began nning. He started a project called the Godyer meant to kill the Celestial Supreme. There was a god of justice that died so that Zernon could ascend but the god of justice didn''t start the project.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Zernon made it look like the god of justice made it. Then he became a Celestial and put a vestige of his power into it. No one knew about his ascension, not even the Celestial Supreme. It was until he couldn''t hold off on the upgrading of his divine kingdom anymore that Zernon knew.


    Zernon became angry and violent when he found out. He tried to kill Zerkon. He was not willing to have a threat to the order he created exist even if that threat is his twin brother. For there to be peace, there can only be one supreme leader. Two beings at the top of the food chain will cause conflicts which will lead to chaos. Zernon was willing to avoid chaos at all costs, including sacrificing his twin brother, the only family he has left in the world.


    Zerkon didn''t die. He was forced to seclude himself but he has nned this revenge for a long time even before his brother tried to kill him. He used his visions of the future and the power of his domain to hatch the plot. The future is not certain so he put into ce a lot of contingencies.


    For example, the Godyer was created to destroy Zernon in any way possible but Zerkon knew that it couldn''t do it. It can only injure the Celestial Supreme at best even if he added his Celestial authority to it and everything falls into ce. It is because order resists changes and is the most defensive domain.


    So with this in mind, he added his vestige as a sort of programming to make sure that no matter who the Godyer targets, the attack will always lock on and shoot at Zernon no matter where he is. That is unless Zernon is within the Godyer himself. If he is in the Godyer himself, then the attack will explode and injure him. That is unless there is a better alternative such as some other people who have a better n to kill Zernon.


    Zerkon nned for every alternative future that he saw and even then Zernon didn''t die because of the Godyer. Zernon is not fated to die by anyone''s hand. Fate loves Zernon because of all the good he has done for his ne so it will try to protect him. It''s how he survived his fight with Helios. Helios was stronger but he couldn''t kill Zernon then and there.


    Helios gave up because of the disadvantage of the battlefield and because he doesn''t want to be a god. He would have failed if he tried to kill Zernon there. One thing or another would have happened to save the Celestial Supreme. Fate has decreed that Zernon couldn''t die except by the hands of his betrayer while he is weakened.

 Chapter 470 The Major Weakness Of Gods.

    Zernon has been made practically immortal by the will of fate. He is the lovechild of Order after all. Nothing would have worked to kill him deliberately had Zerkon not seen how to make Zernon fall. It had to be a betrayal that urs when Zernon is at his absolute lowest. So Zerkon had to engineer a betrayal or several betrayals. His schemes have led them to this point. Now, Zerkon has to make Stelios finish the job that he started and kill Zernon.


    He could have taken a more active part in the scheming but Zerkon is an observer, he can only look not interfere. It is the side effect of his abilities, he can''t kill Zernon even if his Celestial Authority is strong enough to do it. Someone else has to fire the weapon and that person has to do it without being influenced by Zerkon.


    He can ce down the tools and set the situation in motion but his domain blocks him from doing more or else he will incur Karma and lose his powers. The contract of non-interference that he signed to get Zernon off his back made it certain that he can''t be actively involved.


    He didn''t mind the contract too much. It allowed him to do what he does best. It allowed him to observe in peace. So he was able to see the impact of Legion''s ns for the ne and insert himself within it.


    Meanwhile Outside The Ball That The God Of Fate Has Be.


    The first red specter to arrive raised its scythe and shed at therge golden ball. The scythe passed through the gigantic ball without resistance. The specter stumbled forward before catching himself. Then the specter tried to touch the ball. The hand hit resistance and felt the ball. But the ball became intangible when the hand tried to scratch the ball with its ws.


    The white mes within the eye sockets of the specter intensified after that observation.


    Aeternus thought to himself. "This is bad. I can touch it but I can''t hurt it. This is very bad."


    His avatar isn''t like those of the demon lord that can''t do anything. The specters are created using his divine avatar ability by converting Godhood. This particr one has the strength of a grand god and the power of a sovereign, yet it cannot touch a Celestial.


    More and more specters arrived and surrounded the ball. They tried everything they could but they can''t hurt the ball in any way. They can see therge ball at all times and they can touch it. They can feel its existence but it bes intangible anytime anything tries to hurt it.


    Helios arrived soon after. He bombarded the ball with powerful sr energy but he got the same thing. His giant hand could touch the ball but he couldn''t grasp it, lift it or move it in any way. The ball stood there uninfluenced by any action that can change it. It stood there like an imperious observer.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "This new god yed us. This won''t have happened had we been faster. He made sure that we will be dyed so that he can get here first." Aeternus observed calmly.


    Helios said in agreement, "I could have gotten here earlier but things didn''t work out as we thought. Stelios wasn''t supposed to be part of the attack."


    Killing a god is very difficult. You have to kill their main bodies if you want to kill a god. Killing an avatar won''t do much to them. But the main body of gods is almost always within the divine ne and usually in their divine kingdoms. You have to go through a lot of trouble to kill a god of equal strength. It makes it not worth it unless you''re an Origin god who can face the entire divine ne without a care in the world.


    Even worse, a god can resurrect as long as their Godhood has not been refined by another person and they still have believers. Their divine soul and body will regenerate. So it is difficult to kill a god. Killing a Celestial is even more difficult. You have to destroy every bit of them and then refine their Godhood.


    Helios couldn''t kill Zernon in the divine ne even if he wants to and he is the strongestbatant of Legion in the ne. Demons can usurp a god''s authority within their divine kingdom but Aeternus cannot kill Zernon since he is too weak for it. Aeternus is just a new demon king while Zernon is the Celestial Supreme and he has been for a very long time. So Legion looked for alternatives and they found one.


    They predicted that the Godyer will be used against them if the gods were pushed to their limit. The weakness of gods is obvious. They will be desperate as long as you target their source of faith which is the mortals.


    Mortals are usually safe from demons since they are in the mortal realm. But that changes if demons manage to bypass the divine ne. Then the gods will be forced to do anything they can to get rid of the threat.


    There are limited options that will help the gods utilize their power in the mortal realm. First, there are vessels and then golems. The pantheon of Zargoth doesn''t interact with the ancient battlefield and they don''t have the technology themselves. That leaves the Godyer, a prototype weapon of ingenuity.


    Legion nned to overwhelm those within the Godyer with stronger attacks that Aeternus will replicate. That method will injure Zernon the most or in case Zernon manages to escape, the attack will kill the other gods through the marks on their Godhood thereby leaving Zernon without help. Then Helios can swoop in with his fast speed and incapacitate him.


    Things didn''t go ording to their n because Helios was dyed in the mortal realm and it is all because of the god of fate''s interference.

 Chapter 471 The Oversight.

    Helios was supposed to get to the divine ne regardless of the oue of the sh between Aeternus and the Godyer. He was supposed to have left for the divine ne as soon as the Godyer was fired but he couldn''t. Legion nned for a lot of scenarios, but they didn''t n for Stelios to enter the Godyer and be ammunition too.


    Stelios was supposed to be weakened in his divine kingdom. He was supposed to be so weak that he is unable to answer prayers but somehow he found himself in the Godyer. He shouldn''t be in the Godyer because each strike that Stelios endured also affected Helios.


    Helios is the reason why Stelios'' consciousness didn''t disperse into nothingness. Stelios is not strong enough to withstand the power of Aeternus himself. Helios had to share the burden of those three attacks because he doesn''t want the Authority of the sun to disappear.


    Helios is not the true Celestial god. Stelios is the one with the god fire and if he dies, so does the Authority of the sun. Even if Helios can rob the power from Stelios, he won''t do it because he is not willing to be a Celestial.


    So Helios was also wounded and grounded by the sh between Aeternus and the Godyer. He was not able to make it to the divine ne in time to take advantage of their n. His connection with Stelios was used against him.


    It could have been worse. Just the little injuries Helios incurred from the sh of the five Authorities were enough to weaken him for a long time. He was able to recover because of divine life energy. It was then that he coulde here. But it was toote. Things have deviated far from their n. A hidden predator swooped in to take their prey when they were wounded from the fight.


    They also didn''t n for the extra 2 Celestial Authority within the attack. The tree father could hide his vestige and Authority because he is the god of life. That''s why Zernon didn''t discover it. The god of fate was the first one to hide something from Zernon. It caught Legion off guard more than it affected Zernon. Aeternus had to replicate an attack with 5 Authorities instead of the 3 that they nned.


    It was supposed to be 2 Authorities from the Celestial Supreme and 1 from the god of life. The addition of the god of the sun and the god of fate into the mix almost overwhelmed Aeternus. It is why he can''te here with his real body. If it were the addition of only the god of fate, then Aeternus could have managed. The addition of Stelios rendered him too weak to move after replicating the attack and it rendered Helios too injured to move. The god of fate killed two birds with one stone. The absence of contenders allowed him to swoop in and take their prize.


    "It is toote now," Helios said as he sensed the changes that Stelios has undergone through their connection.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The gigantic golden ball split open and expelled its content. The orange ball that represents Stelios came out while the ball turned into the god of fate. Zernon, the former Celestial supreme is no more. Stelios is currently evolving after having consumed the god of order. Meanwhile, the god of faith is holding arge white ball in one of his hands. Both Aeternus and Helios are concerned about that ball.


    The ball will be a giant ball if a battle sage monkey sees it. The battle sage monkey might even call it a star. But to giants of order, it is just a shiny ball. It is also the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. It is the strongest Authority that the divine ne can produce. Whichever Celestial fuses with it will be the new Celestial Supreme.


    The Celestial orb that is Stelios began to drift towards Helios. Helios didn''t even have to pull him for Stelios to drift towards Helios. He is currently unconscious so he is not aware of what''s going on. He seeded in killing Zernon but Zerkon didn''t let him absorb the Authority of the Celestial Supreme.


    The Authority of order is enough for Stelios. He will be stronger and be able to heal once he absorbs it. That''s in the future though. Right now, he drifted and entered the Stigmata on Helios''s back. His future will be spent in a prison of his own making.


    The god of fate watched it happen without interfering. He also didn''t react when Helios sted him with energy after taking Stelios. He doesn''t care because the attack phased through his body like he is an illusion.


    He shook his head in pity andmented, "Poor Zernon. I told him to release me from my contract so that I can help him but he refused. Instead, he asked a stranger for help. He chose to trust a stranger over his own twin brother. You just can''t trust outsiders. That''s why he was betrayed. And I did warn him to watch out for betrayal. Sometimes, whatever will happen even if you''re warned about it. What a cruel fate."


    Betrayal led to Zernon''s death. It was the betrayal of Zernon when he tried to kill his brother because he became a celestial. It was the betrayal of Stelios when he attacked the person that helped him to recover from his weak and near-death state. It was Zerkon''s betrayal when he orchestrated his brother''s death and pushed him into the maws of death by Stelios'' hand instead of saving him.


    Zerkon had warned Zernon to be careful of betrayal but it apparently did him no good. He couldn''t change his fate because the first betrayal that will lead to his death as already happened and it was perpetrated by himself. He started it when he wanted to kill his brother and like a domino, the rest couldn''t be stopped from happening to cause his death.

 Chapter 472 Zerkon The Observer.

    "I see," Helios said calmly.


    That''s all he has to say about Zernon''s death and the betrayal that caused it. He is concerned about that right now. The Authority of the Celestial Supreme is the most important thing to him.


    "Let''s introduce ourselves. I am Zerkon, the god of fate, the observer."


    Aeternus and Helios continued to stare at him. They don''t have any ns of introducing themselves. Not after they have been cheated out of their prize.


    The god of fate didn''t take offense from their silence. He said to them, "It''s alright. I know who you are. You''re the Demon king, the one your subordinates call the Ominous Reaper. You''re very strong for a young demon king."


    "And you''re the Son of the sun god, a king ofw with the strength of a Sovereign and also a Celestial. It is unfortunate that you don''t want to be a god. I could do with a friendly god right now. The other one is the tree father, the entity that looks and acts like a Celestial but isn''t a celestial. The tree father is very special. He can hide very well but he can''t move even if it is very important. Help me tell him that I like what he did with the bore worms. It is very innovative."


    Aeternus and Helios didn''t react to the revtion that he knew their names. It is something that can be discovered if one looks hard enough. Reacting will definitely give the god of fate more information to work with. So they remained silent and stoic.


    They didn''t let the bit about the tree father being unable to move to get to them either. It is not about the tree father being unable that is worth reacting to, it is the fact that the god of fate knows a lot about them including their strength and weakness.


    The god of fate remained content with doing most of the talking. "I don''t know how you''re linked together but I know you''re linked somehow because you three are the only ones I can''t read at all. You have a certain heaviness to yourselves that is preventing me from telling your fates, but I can predict your actions by watching for the repercussions of your actions on others. It is enough for me."


    It is how he predicted theing of Legion way before Legion was even born. He didn''t know what Legion is but he knew how Legion will affect the ne. That was enough for him to slide himself within their ns and take advantage of them.


    "So you used us?" Helios asked cutting to the chase.


    "In a way yes. I have to thank you for your spectacr performance. But there''s no need to fret. I am not like Zernon. You can do anything you want to do. You can even let the demons roam around freely, I don''t care."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The god of fate assured them with a gentle tone.


    All the specters spoke at once. "How about you give me the Authority of the Celestial Supreme?"


    Zerkon wagged a giant finger at him. "I can''t do that. You might have had arge part to y in the downfall of Zernon but I deserve it more than you. I created the Godyer that you used to kill him. I was here first when the Authority manifested so it should be mine. Karma agrees with me on it. You have also been rewarded for your effort. You became a demon king here. If that isn''t enough for you then you can do whatever you want in the mortal realm. It is what you deserve while Helios here deserves his father."


    The eerie voice of the specters sounded again. "I don''t want the mortal realm and I don''t care about what I deserve. I want the Authority of Celestial Supreme."


    Zerkon shook his head. "It doesn''t matter what we want, we get what we get. Sometimes we get what we deserve and sometimes we don''t. If you want something, then you have to take it. The fact of the matter is that you do not have the strength to take the Authority of the Celestial Supreme from me."


    Helios tried again. This time he used everything he can put together at once and fired a torrent of energy at Zerkon. It was like he threw aet at the god of fate. Unfortunately, the same thing happened again. The attack passed through him without harming him.


    ''It''s not a capacity thing.'' He observed to himself and to Legion.


    This is not the first time that Legion has encountered an enemy that they can''t harm. Soverick encountered a god in the divine dungeon who can use illusions but whose illusions were ineffective on him. Geraldirah fought a strange creature in the trial of heaven that he couldn''t harm either. Both situations involved illusions.


    They were seeing something that isn''t there. This time, they can see Zerkon and also touch him. It might be an illusion but they can''t tell for sure. Their divine sense says he is there but he suddenly disappears from their divine sense when they attack him. If it is an illusion, he should remain like that regardless of what they do to him since he is not real. He can be seen when he is attacked but he cannot be sensed or touched.


    If it is an illusion then Zerkon must be very powerful for him to fool them. If it is an ability, it is either temporary or permanent. Neither is good news. They were hoping it is a matter of energy capacity. That the ability will stop working when it has crossed the limits of working conditions. Apparently, it is not, or they haven''t reached the limit. The only thing that he can do next is to prep his strongest attack which will take some time but even that might not work.


    Zerkonughed through the destruction going on around him. Helios'' attack destroyed arge part of the divine city. Fire spread and buildings copsed all around them but nothing harmful happened to Zerkon. He stood thereughing at the carnage being wrought around him like an observer who is watching something very amusing.

 Chapter 473 All Hail The New Celestial Supreme.

    Zerkonughed for a while as he watched Helios'' and Aeternus''s futile attempts to hurt him. He is not like Zernon and his rules. Zerkon doesn''t have any rules whatsoever. He is jovial and also detached from reality.


    Then he stopped and said to them, "Don''t bother trying anymore. You can not hurt me. You can''t even touch me as long as your action can hurt me. The only person that could touch me while trying to hurt me was Zernon. And that''s only because he was the Celestial Supreme. Even then, he couldn''t kill me. He is dead now and I will be the next Celestial Supreme. So give it up. I don''t see any possibility of you ever harming me."


    Zerkon is not like his controlling brother who seeks to control the world or like his nephew who is afraid of the world and chose to control a secluded part of the world. Zerkon epts that bad things happen and they can happen to good people. He believes that anything can happen and trying to prevent it is not the way. So he gave up on the world and in return, disconnected himself from reality.


    It is not a total disconnection. He is still connected to the world or no one will be able to see him. The domain of Order protects through resistance while fate protects through non-interference. Zerkon has left things up to fate and chosen to be an observer. His position as an observer has elevated his existence and made him immune to the changes of the world.


    He is like a three-dimensional entity watching two-dimensional entities on paper. They can''t harm him no matter what they do. Even if the two-dimensional figures manage toe out of the paper as Zernon did when they fought by bending the rules with hisw of order, it doesn''t change the fact that Zernon is still a two-dimensional figure and as such, there is a limit to what he can do. He was able to touch Zerkon and harm him, but they were insignificant scratches.


    All of thesee with a rule or weakness. Zerkon must limit his interference with the world as much as possible or the changes of the world will begin to affect him and he will be subject to the same rules as the two-dimensional figures he is looking down upon. That''s why he suggested the contract of non-interference to Zernon to pacify him.


    If Zernon had persisted in his endeavor to kill him, it would have led to more interactions with the world. In a way, if Zernon had continued to scratch harmlessly at Zerkon, those insignificant scratches will grow stronger over time until Zernon can do real damage. Zerkon chose wisely to pacify him and bid his time. Now he has reaped the fruit of his patience. Zernon is dead and he has the Authority of the Celestial Supreme.


    "It is good that you are here to witness my coronation. It would have been terribly lonely since you have killed the other gods." He said to them as he chuckled with mirth.


    Then he pped and said, "It is an honor to have my coronation witnessed by a demon king and a very talented half-celestial. Not many have that privilege so I must give thanks."


    Then he put the shining ball into his chest and absorbed it. He began to glow brightly. Light streamed out from the gaps in his armor. His golden skin turned white as power filled him. He began to chuckle again and it soon turned intoughter. Hisughter became unhinged the more heughed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I have finally achieved my dream. I have be untouchable. I will live forever. I will be eternal. It is my future. It is my destiny."


    He continued tough even when he returned to normal. Hisughter is the diabolical sound that a viin makes after their n seeds. The god of fate''s n worked and he is very happy about it. He didn''t speak to them again after he became the new Celestial Supreme. He decided he has ces to be so he left them.


    He passed through theyers of barriers that Helios ced around him as if they weren''t there. Helios and Aeternus shared a look then they left unwillingly. There''s nothing they can do to the god of fate. They can only ept that they''ve been cheated. They can only sulk and scheme.


    Helios said to the other two, "The Users of fate are too powerful. We cannot continue like this or we will be manipted easily."


    Aeternus agreed. "Even my entry into the world was orchestrated by him. I don''t believe it is by chance."


    Their original n was to use divine life energy from the tree father in Helios'' breakthrough to transcendence. Helios would then be a king ofw but he won''t have any Authority because the Authority of life is notpatible with the divine power in his sun core. The same thing happened to Soverick when he used divine life energy to break through. His stats were abnormal but he didn''t get the Authority of Life either.


    Celestial Authority didn''t matter then to their n. Helios would take time toprehend thews and be a titan. Then he will be strong enough to defend Aeternus when Aeternus enters the divine ne. But the tree father discovered the diary of the demigod that bore Zernon''s son when he was searching for the divine weapon. They also discovered Stelios'' agenda when the tree father finally acquired enough believers and could produce divine life energy.


    The discovery of the diary didn''t mean much on its own. But it became extremely significant when theybined it with Helios''s knowledge of runes and Stelios'' n. So Legion revised their n and decided to take Stelios Authority andbine it will the Celestial Authorities of Life and that of Order from Zernon''s son. It meant they could cut down on time very quickly and bring Aeternus to the mortal realm sooner than nned.

 Chapter 474 What They Needed And What They Wanted.

    Then Helios went to the divine ne and confirmed that he got stronger instead of suppressed. He used his power to execute the n to make Aeternus a demon king. It all seemed ingenious at the time. They nned and schemed and they thought they were the mastermind while everyone else was puppets moving ording to their will. Now they feel like fools. Apparently, the real mastermind is the unknown Celestial god of Fate.


    The tree father consoled them. "We got most of what we wanted. I have faith. Aeternus has be a demon king and has enough godhood and divinity to empower his house. And Helios has the Authority of order and the sun that he wanted for his experiments. We just don''t have the Authority of the Celestial Supreme so that we can gain full control of the ne and advance the n for the infinite energy production that Soverick nned."


    The others agreed reluctantly and decided to move on. All three of them had various objectives that they wished to get from the Zargoth ne and they achieved most of them.


    Aeternus was being hounded by the Demon lord. Waging a war on her when he is obviously outssed would have been stupid. He needed umtion to be a match for her and there are 8 other demon nobles with divine rank umtion who are his enemies too. His demon dukes fall short of being capable of facing these threats. They need divinity to upgrade their stats to the half-divine rank and for increasing their umtion too.


    All of his problems could be solved by divinity from gods which cannot be gotten in the abyss. Zargoth ne had everything he wanted. It had gods and it didn''t have a strong popce. But trying to leave the abyss meant getting ambushed by the demon lord. So he needed help.


    The tree father on the other end needed faith from believers. It is not a simple thing to acquire faith in the Zargoth ne. Zernon had total control of the ne and will destroy new churches and religions. Zernon would have initiated total war on the tree father if he knew that the tree father had the power of a Celestial. So the tree father had to stay hidden and needed help.


    Helios on the other hand could have lived an easy life despite being born a demigod or he might have died in the womb. Fortunately or unfortunately for him, Steliosid his eyes on him and marked him. He was being constantly monitored and his movement was restricted. He also needed divine power inrge quantities for runes. His objective to get to the bottom of Authority by analyzing runes would have been hampered severely without divine power. So he needed help.


    The Authority of the Celestial Supreme is something that they decided to get once their ne began showing great sess. They decided to take control of the entire ne so that they will have a base other than the Virut ne for the era of conquest. Taking total control of the ne will also make it easy for them to ensure that the Tree father will be the only god in the ne.


    Now they have everything they needed and they should be happy. But the fact that they can''t get what they want is making them sour. Not just them, the entirety of Legion is incensed but there''s nothing they can do short of bringing Legion-1 in. The suppression of the realm on Origin gods might make that move useless too so they decided not to bother with that.


    The three of them don''t have the strength to get what they want now, but that doesn''t mean they are giving up. The entirety of Legion will not forget the humiliation and will get back at Zerkon. Revenge is just one of their motivations for going after the god of fate. Legion also finds Zerkon''s immunity intriguing and is interested in getting to the bottom of it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Aeternus''s POV


    Aeternus''s main body is still in front of the fortress. He was standing there when the Godyer attacked him. He is still standing there now but that''s because he can''t move his body. Replicating that attack took more out of him than he expected and he expected pretty bad consequences before the amount of Authority was increased from 3 to 5.


    His crystal body cracked all over to reveal the golden bones beneath. ck fumes leaked out from the cracks and obscured his figure like they used to do. The golden light in his eyes dimmed a little. His soul was terribly weakened by the intensive exercise he went through. He remained standing and directed his avatars in the divine ne to do his bidding.


    Fortunately, is a demon king and he is not a normal one. Healing as always been easy for him. It took some time but he healed. He became able to move but he stayed where he was and practiced. His subordinates arrived one by one over the period of his wait. The fortress was alsopleted and the channel to the abyss altar was fully connected. It was then that he called his subordinates over to reward them and give them their next mission.


    All 99 dukes surrounded him and awaited his judgment.


    He said to them. "All the churches of the gods have been destroyed and all the gods of the ne have been killed except the Celestials. Our mission has beenpleted and it is time for you to be rewarded."


    The demon dukes did good work. It was easy work but they did it well. They wiped out the churches and the priests. Some remnants escaped but those remnants have be inconsequential with the death of all the gods of the pantheon.


    The legions of demons roamed all over the ne and pushed the giants of Order toward the kingdom of life. It gives the tree father control of thergest portion of faith in the ne and will ensure that he will be withoutpetition for a very long time.

 Chapter 475 Contributions To The Destruction Of The Zargoth Plane.

    The tree father has be the only viable option for faith because of it and unlike the other gods, he is actually effective in protecting his believers. Demons fear the tree father and don''t step a foot into his territory. It just goes to show how great the tree father is. He is alive and well while the other gods have died.


    The only god that canpare to the tree father is the god of faith but he doesn''t answer prayers or assist his believers. Believers in the god of fate are scarce because of that. A lot of them also died in thisst war because of their belief that whatever will happen will happen. They didn''t escape quickly enough to the kingdom of life and died to demons. All in all, the demons did good work.


    "The point system will be based on the rules we agreed on. Killing any normal priest up to a bishop is 1 point. Destroying a church is worth 10 points and killing a cardinal is 100 points. Destroying the capital church of a religion is worth 1000 points and killing the pope is worth 10,000 points. Special clergymen like saints and secret vessels are worth 100,000 to 1,000,000,000 points depending on the rank of gods that they belong to. We will disregard the points for gods since none of you killed any."


    The demon dukesughed at that. They didn''t kill any gods because there are no gods after they were done wiping out the churches. The n had been to wage war on the gods after they destroy their foundation in the mortal realm. They would have done that if the gods had not chosen tobine their might into the liberation army, making it easy for Aeternus to wipe them out at once.


    The system of points is based on difficulty and importance. Normal priests and bishops are mana entities and are not as important or difficult to kill as Cardinals. Cardinals are transcendents and are more difficult to kill. It will take a lot of effort to kill a Cardinal than to destroy a building but the capital church of a religion is worth more than any transcendents. It is the physical foundation of a religion within the mortal realm.


    The pope is the spiritual foundation but they do not worth as much as a vessel because they are not as difficult to killpared to vessels. Vessels are transcendents too but they are more difficult to kill than other transcendents and so worth more.


    Vessels are the main power of a god in the mortal realm. Gods need them to show their might and enforce their rules so they are worth more than destroying the capital of the religion. A building can be rebuilt easily as long as there is power and faith so cutting off power and faith is more important.


    The system that Aeternus is using is notpletely fair. It doesn''t take into ount intelligence and efforts directed toward acquiring it. In fact, it doesn''t take into ount any effort that didn''t go into causing outright destruction and murder. A demon duke won''t get anything for wounding a cardinal but didn''t finish the job because the cardinal was able to escape. It is the demon that acquired the kill on that cardinal and only that demon will be credited for it.


    Fair or not, it doesn''t matter. He only cares about the results, not the work that he''s into acquiring them. Anyway, only sess should be celebrated. They are not children to be coddled. They are demons.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Now I''ll call your names out based on the number of points you have starting from the lowest to the highest. Note that your contribution to the mission will determine how much divinity you get so the higher your points are, the better. The stronger you are, the more likely you will seed in the next mission."


    He began calling out their names ording to the damage that they have wrought to the Zargoth ne. He knows all their exact contributions because he is aware of all their actions through their connection as lord and subordinate.


    "...Number 5 The_DUNGEATER with 4,213,073, number 4 LAZYCANT, number 3 DOUBLELINE, number 2 Baal with 110,759,662, and Number 1 Xander with 2,642,900,000."


    Everyone was surprised by the oue. Xander beat them out by an outrageous amount. Her score is far ahead of the second ce. They wanted to know how she did it. That question is in every one of their minds most especially Baal. Xander''s performance seems incredulous since she doesn''t have a legion that anyone knows about. So how did she beat them by such arge margin?


    "Xander outperformed all of you seeing as she has the highest contribution. I''ll just reward her with 3 of the avable 12 Godhood of grand gods. I will also offer her the chance to be exempted from the next mission."


    He began distributing the godhoods he has based on their scores. A duke with max stats needs the Godhood of a grand god or 360 divinity to upgrade all their stats to the half-divine rank. Then they will need 360 to upgrade each stat to the peak of the half-divine rank, from 55-63. That means a duke needs 11 Godhood of grand gods to have stats that match those of the demon lord. Unfortunately, he doesn''t have enough to outfit all his dukes, hence thepetition to determine who should get most of it.


    There are only 12 grand god cores in total which he gave to only the first 10. He gave 3 to Xander for her spectacr performance. He distributed the remaining 9 Godhood amongst the next top 9. Unfortunately, he couldn''t get more wealth from the gods because the divine kingdoms of the gods broke apart after their death. They were sure to have a lot of divinity that they have saved over several generations.

 Chapter 476 Mission: Subjugate The 541st Abyssal Plane.

    He began to address them after the distribution. "Now for the next mission. I have something to do here before we leave to invade other worlds. In the meantime, I want the 541st ne of the abyss subjugated before my arrival. Your mission is to attack that ne, kill Beelta, and take control of the energy well. The reward is the position of my Herald."


    His deration set various emotions through them. Some felt fear because Beelta is a peak half-divine demon lord with all her stats at 63 and a state of existence of 17, so it is going to be dangerous to try and kill her when even Xander, the best of them is limited to an upgrade of two stats to 63. Some of them can''t even upgrade yet, they will have to rely on their umtion to fight her.


    The confident ones felt excited because of the reward. Beelta is far stronger than them and it will be a challenge to beat her but they have a chance. These ones have enough divinity to be half-divine and elevate their state of existence to 17. That has narrowed the gap between them and Beelta. The boost of 99% from the DIVINE HOUSE from Aeternus will make them more than capable of being her match.


    "This is anotherpetition. I have 6 positions for my Herald. One will go to whoever kills Beelta. The second one will go to whoever manages to bind the energy well to themselves. Another one will be for the demon that distinguishes itself by impressing me. The remaining 3 will be given to the dukes among you with the highest kill." He paused and leveled a stern gaze at them. "The target to kill that I am referring to is all of you."


    His words chilled them. This is not a normalpetition. This is the survival of the fittest. Two positions can be earned by either killing Beelta or binding the energy well after her death. There''s no way the others are going to stand by and watch while someone else gets the two positions. That''s in a normal situation but this is not normal. Aeternus has given them further incentives to kill each other. Thepetition will be deadly quickly because of the encouragement of targeting each other.


    "The position of Herald is special. Apart from the power thates with it, it will guarantee your life as my subordinate and exempt you from any futurepetition. Till then, every one of you except Xander must participate in thispetition. Thepetition will end as soon as one of you seeds in binding the energy well."


    He asked Xander, "Do you want to participate or not? You will not be rewarded with the position of Herald unless you participate in thepetition but you will be safe from the risks involved."


    She has proven herself to be more efficient at eliminating targets than others so she can stay out of this deadlypetition. The position of Herald is powerful but acquiring it is very dangerous. Participating in thepetition doesn''t mean that she will get the position either. There are 99 of them with just 6 positions. That means she can risk her life for nothing. She can choose safety and not risk her life.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She bowed and answered. "Lord Khaos, I will like to participate and bear the honor of being your Herald."


    "Good." He said to her then he looked at the rest. "You might choose to hide away in the abyssal ne and not participate. It is allowed. But bear in mind that I will be creating more demon dukes and staging apetition to reduce the number to 99. If you stop being relevant in the house of chaos, you will die. If you''re confident in yourself, then you can sit this one out."


    The position of Heraldes with the privilege of borrowing Aeternus''s Authority. Heralds are like vessels of gods except that normal vessels can''t withstand the god fire or authority of a Celestial. Heralds can, even though It will only be for a short while since they can''t withstand the power of a demon king for long. It will be like they used umtion when they borrow it but it will grant them power above that of the demon lord. Their state of existence will be elevated temporarily enough for them to match a demon king if only briefly, enough to save their lives.


    The position of Herald is an incentive but it is not enough for most of the dukes to risk their lives. You risk your life when there''s a chance of sess. Demons are smart and the dukes are smart enough to know that the first 10 that received Godhood of grand gods have a good chance of bing Heralds. They have elevated their state of existence to the same level as Beelta. So the rest will mostly sit out of thepetition. If they do participate, they will not risk their lives by trying too hard.


    He expects this of them. Even the fact that there will be apetition to weed out the weak is not enough to make the weak risk their lives. But it doesn''t matter. Those that are confident and want to be his Herald are all that matters. They will weed out the weak for him during thepetition. Quantity doesn''t matter, only quality does.


    The performance of his subordinates in the Zargoth ne is great but the difficulty of their mission was low. The ne had been tenderized for them. They were put directly in the mortal realm which has been weakened from the world war. They had no choice but to have victory. That will change once he separates from Helios and the Tree father. He will be on his own and he will need his subordinates to be helpful to him in dire situations. He doesn''t want to be lugging around subordinates that are useless garbage.

 Chapter 477 Needful Believers Are Good Believers.

    Aeternus turned to leave after speaking to them. His destination is the newly created altar within the stronghold. He entered the huge fortress and walked by the waiting demons of his army. The fortress is teeming with them. There are about a hundred thousand in the fortress and many more surrounding it.Some of them will be left behind in the ne but most of them will be unleashed on another ne.


    He began activating the return function of the abyss altar. It responded quickly because he has created a connection between the two nes. If not, he would have had to spend a day to open it. Arge swirling portal opened quickly and sin energy gushed out of it into the ne. It made the demons feel like they are in the abyss.


    All the demons in the fortress started cheering when the portal appeared. The portal became self-sufficient. It won''t close until he closes it or the altar is destroyed. The constant portal means easy retreat back to the abyss and constant reinforcements for their conflicts in the ne. Legion created the abyss altar for those reasons and more. Sin energy isn''t the only thinging out of the abyss portal. The Mana that the Zargoth ne needs dearly is also gushing into the ne.


    In a self-sufficient ne with ess to the ancient battlefield, the abyss altar will only increase the concentration of sin energy in the ne. Stronger demons don''t need it. The unified energy of noble demons makes them capable of regenerating their stores of energy from mana too. But a starving ne like Zargoth will feel the impact of this new source of mana. The death of a lot of giants will allow the ne to recover. It will make things easy for what the Tree father ns to do with the ne.


    He said to his subordinates, "I''ll give you 1 hour to prepare. None of you must be around by the end of that hour."


    He made some more arrangements before he left for thest business he has on the Zargoth ne. He flew in the direction of the kingdom of life to meet up with the Avatar of Legion-9, the one everyone is calling the tree father. Helios will be there waiting for him there too. Helios has an experiment he wants to try about Authority before Aeternus leaves.


    He cloaked himself in the momentum of the world so none of the giants saw him as he flew over the imaginary border of the church of life. This line separates the area of demon activity from the rest of the ne. It just so happens that the rest of the ne is the tree father''s territory. Demons don''t cross this line on his order creating the illusion that they are scared of the tree father. It is true in its own way. It is Aeternus that they are afraid of so it works the same.


    He crossed the line and entered the territory of the church of life. He flew above the recently erected settlements and further past them to the city they built around the divine forest. Giants of order keep arriving at the kingdom of life and they are readily epted.


    The kingdom is peaceful. It is the only ce in the ne with nts. This entire ce used to be a desert at the edge of the ne. Now it is a safe haven at the edge of the ne. Giants are moving around in buildings constructed in a forest. Their cities used to be creations of rock and stone. They used to have pyramids of stone built for their gods. Now there are only trees and wood.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    There is no war or strife here in the city of life. The perils of the external world don''t affect them here. There''s food and protection. The giants are happy and happy giants are good sources of faith.


    Any sort of emotion directed towards a god can be used as faith. It can be love, worship, hate, or fear. It can be anything but happiness, gratefulness, and worship are the best. The reason gods don''t try everything to make their believers happy is so that little things will still be able to induce the feeling of gratefulness in the believers.


    If a god makes their believers happy all the time, they have to keep doing more and more to keep them happy. The believers will get used to the good thing that a god does and take them for granted. Only something scarce is precious and treated with the uttermost care.


    It is not sustainable for a god hoping to maximize their efficiency and profits to solve all their believer''s problems. The trick to being a god that believers need is to never remove the needs of your believers. They will worship you as long as they need you.


    Of course, you can always create more needs when your believers run out of them. That''s what evil gods are for. Cmity, famines, drought, and diseases create needs. Then there''s a good old fashion war. It is what a lot of gods use. They make themselves avable to mortals during their time of need and acquire believers. It is what the tree father did but Legion is not stopping there. They have eliminated the other gods and removed everypetition.


    Now, the religion of life is the only alternative. It won''t remain like that forever. Some more gods will rise up soon. These trying times are ripe for the creation of new gods. There''s enough need and desperation to go around. The god of life won''t attack them outright as the former Celestial Supreme did. Instead, he will use demons to destroy budding churches.


    Some demons will remain in Zargoth ne even after Aeternus leaves the ne. They will be a constant threat to giants which will keep them in need of protection and the demons will be used to suppress new gods. His legions will follow him when he leaves the ne but he will leave behind officers that will induct new demons from the abyss into the enterprise of harassing the Giants of order.

 Chapter 478 The Pollen Of Happiness.

    Using demons to do their dirty work is very efficient. They will keep the people needful which is beneficial to the god of life and they will bear the brunt of their hatred. The tree father wouldn''t mind hatred if he wanted to be an evil god but being a happy god is a better source of faith.


    If there is to be a perfect good god, there has to be an opposite evil topare with. The god of life will protect the giants of order from the evil demons. So he gets to control the evil and also be the target of all the good. It is eating their cake and having it.


    If that is not enough to keep the giants of order faithful, then there are the fragrant flowers in the forest that release special pollens which make giants happy. This happy pollen will work on mana entities and below. It keeps negative emotions and reactions at bay while doing the opposite to positive emotions. It makes it difficult for those living in the forest to be sad and unhappy.


    They are all optimistic about their future despite the bad situation of things that forced them toe and live in a forest. They used to have buildings, nice clothes, other luxuries but all of those burned down. Now they have nothing and have to build all over again. The pollen makes them smile through this period of hardship so they continue to put in their best effort in building the city day by day.


    Most importantly, the pollen makes it very very difficult to leave the forest after getting used to the pollen. The outside world will be dull, unexciting, and scary. Going without this special pollen will make it difficult to rx. They will always be scared of something in the outside world because their fight or flight mode will be easy to rule up.


    It is obvious that with all the preparations that the tree father has made, he will be in control for a very long time. With a little more time, the tree father will change from being a new god into bing the cornerstone religion. All these smiling giants of Order in the city will be zealots ready to sacrifice themselves, their family, and their wealth for the church of life and its god.


    "What a nice city." Hemented on their efforts idly as he flew past the city and entered the divine forest.


    The city is being built along the outer ring of the forest. The main forest is a no-go area. Only the nt spirits roam this area. It is called the divine forest. It used to be the small patch of life created when the tree father was growing. Now it is veryrge, spanning hundreds of kilometers.


    Aeternus approached the towering tree at the center of the divine forest. The avatar of the tree father has already reached more than 10 kilometers tall with the increase of faith. He found Helios at the foot of the tree. He is working on Beelta''s body. More like what''s left of her body. More than half of it is missing and he knows how it got missing.


    Aeternus shook his head when he saw the difference in size between the tree father and Helios. Helios looks like a child beside a tree and he is more than 100 meters tall. He must look like a bug wandering in the forest with a height of 1.7 meters.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I lost what''s left of Zernon''s arms when they attacked you. That sh affected thest remaining arm and destroyed it just like it almost destroyed me because of Stelios. That Godyer has a weird way of destroying an entity''s existence. I think it is the lock on properties."


    Helios didn''t wee him. He started talking about what they are to do immediately.


    "Anyway, I used up the other arm in my experiments. Now, I need life subjects. Get ready, Stelios should be waking up soon."


    Aeternus nodded. He sat down and began to meditate. The tree father extended a vine to Aeternus. The green vine stopped in front of his face and poised itself at one of his eye sockets. The vine is coated with the Authority of life and will be able to pierce through his head if need be.


    The tree father doesn''t want to kill him for the fun of it or out of malice. It is just one of the precautions needed to be taken for theing experiment. It doesn''t change the fact that he might not survive the uing experiment.


    They began waiting for Stelios to finish evolving. Celestials grow stronger by absorbing other Celestials but they can only have qualitative change when they absorb a Celestial with apatible domain. Stelios absorbed Zernon and found apatible domain. It is what is taking him so long to evolve. Stelios has to separate Justice from Order within the Celestial Authority and absorbed what''s left of it because only Order ispatible with him.


    If Zernon had absorbed Stelios then he would have gained nothing qualitative. He would have gained divinity and divine power but he wouldn''t grow stronger because the sun domain is notpatible with both of his domains.


    It wouldn''t have done him any good to absorb Stelios when they were both in a near-death state. That''s why he didn''t turn on the sun god then. He is a level two Celestial while Stelios is a near-death level one Celestial. Absorbing the sun god would be like eating bones to fix hunger. It is an inefficient procedure that might even harm him. He would lose more of his power during the absorption and gain very little in return so he didn''t bother.


    The rules that determine thepatibility of domains are not set in stone. They vary from ne to ne and from god to god. The major thing that determines which domain ispatible is the divine image of the god. The image that Zernon has cultivated makes his domains ipatible with the domain of the sun.

 Chapter 479 Authority And Its Sources.

    The way the believers view a god determines what ispatible with the god. Zernon is seen as a strict god with rules and regtions. He likesw and meting out justice. He protects the mortals by keeping order in the mortal realm. He is the god of order and justice. His believers don''t see him as a sunny god that brings life and light. He doesn''t invoke happiness in them as the sun god does. He is more like a strict father that is always frowning at misdeeds and punishing rule breakers so the domain of the sun is notpatible with his divine image.


    The god of the sun on the other hand is ancient. He is very powerful and very wise. He brings light and life. He and the domain of order is not a perfect match but they can see him using his incredible power to maintain order in the ne. So the domain of order ispatible with him. He is fusing with it and will then be a level two Celestial.


    Then he will need a domain that ispatible with both the sun and the order for him to be a level three Celestial. The god of fate is verypatible with Order but he didn''t take it because of karma. He made sure that there is no leverage of karma between him and Legion by giving all of them what they deserve.


    He gave nothing more or less than what they deserved so that they will not be able to have any hold on him. He doesn''t need the domain anyway. The Authority of the Celestial Supreme makes him a level-two Celestial without needing to upgrade himself. That is enough for him to be untouchable in the divine ne.


    There is more to power and survivability apart from the level of Authority. Zernon was a level three Celestial as the Celestial Supreme but he couldn''t kill the level one god of fate. His power didn''t stop him from being killed at the end of the day.


    Domain interaction is very important when gods fight for supremacy. Stelios won''t be able to match Zerkon now that he is a level-two Celestial. Not that he needs to worry about that kind of thing. It is a fight that cannot happen anymore. Fighting amongst gods is not in Stelios''s future anymore. He has a very important job for the uing experiment. That should make him very busy for the nearest foreseeable future.


    The orange orb within Helios''s Stigmata finally finished evolving. It glowed brightly and becamepletely white. Helios began to glow too as Stelios finished his evolution. Stelios woke up to an unfamiliar and yet familiar void. It took a while for him to figure out where he is. He has been shackled by crystal vines that have wormed their way into his body. The vines are siphoning his divine power for Helios to use. Stelios started to panic after realizing his situation. Then he began to beg.


    "Please. Please. I beg of you. I will do anything you want if you will let me go. Please."


    Helios ignored his pleas. He said to all of Legion, "I have everything now. We can move on to the next phase."


    The sun domain contains elements of both light and fire. It has elements of order now Stelios has absorbed the domain of order. Helios has fragments of thew of fire, light, and order in his body. Those fragments have finally beenplimented with simr divine power. It has elevated his body from that of a half-celestial into a temporary body of divinew as long as Stelios stays within the divine engine.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    This is necessary for their next experiment. He theorized that the rune-creation ability of giants might lead to the answer about Authority. Runes are actually fragments of thew of Order made to create things using divine power.


    Authority is the foundation of power in the void universe. It is also the source of power for gods. It is bestowed to them by the ne through their domains. It produces the divine power that is used to subvertws, including thew of order itself.


    Divine power subverts all types ofws. Gods use it to impose their will upon the world instead ofprehendingws. But it is only the subversion of order that leads to limited creation. So the authority of gods is a very important item to study if Legion intends to crack Authority or at least get to the bottom of creation without being a world god.


    The importance of Authority cannot be understated. Gods need it and so do those on the path of perfection. Even do need Authority. They all have different sources but they grant power.


    Those on the path of perfection get theirs throughprehendingws and the subsequent bestowal of it by the universe as a reward for their effort. Demons are granted one when they pass the trial of the abyss, then they have to get more by killing Celestials. Gods get theirs when they are elevated by faith and receive the ne''s acknowledgment.


    In every case, Authority is granted from an external source. Legion hopes to crack the secret of its creation and be able to bestow it upon itself or at least change it. Every clone of Legion has put a lot of effort into this endeavor. They have fully analyzed the Authority of gods and the Authority of sovereigns. But they haven''t analyzed the Authority of Chaos. It is what they hope to achieve today.


    They hoped to acquire information about the Authority of demons but they don''t have the authority of other demon kings to work so they will have to work with Aeternus''s Authority over Chaos even though it is dangerous. Chaos is dangerous since it tries to destroy everything that ites in contact with.


    Demons are associated with Chaos so the information that they get from Aeternus should be relevant, unbiased, and primal, unlike the several types of Authority of demons. The alternative is to acquire several types of Authority from the different sins but that is tedious and unreliable.

 Chapter 480 The Quest For The Secrets Of Authority.

    Helios has checked the behavior of the power of order in Zernon''s arm against the demon power in Beelta''s body. The oue has always been mutual destruction. A smaller amount of the arm causes arge portion of Beelta''s body to explode. That''s because of the difference in power. It means that they should expect catastrophic consequences when they work with the Authority of Chaos.


    Legion has information about how Divine power acts withws. Divine power usurpsws. It is especially ring how divine power can weaken the power of order. So Helios tried to understand how divine power will react to chaos but it turned out badly. The divine power of order in Zernon''s always exploded whenever it reacted with sin energy in Beelta''s body.


    The experiment was dangerous but it was also enlightening. Unfortunately, Helios had to cut his project short now that Zernon is dead. He doesn''t have any material containing both divine power and the power of order. That what''s Helios is here to supply by using Stelios as the source.


    The divine life energy of the tree father always burns up whenever ites in contact with Chaos too. It is why Aeternus cannot take advantage of it for his trial. Helios had the idea to use Aeternus''s energy to interact with his divine energy and see how they will react.


    So the aim of the first experiment is to see how Chaos will react with Order and divine energy. Having that information will make them much closer to analyzing Chaos Authority and figuring out what Authority is. It is the first experiment in a long line of research objectives.


    "Alright. Let''s make contact." Helios said after preparing the first procedure.


    He cut himself and let his blood flow. He used a receptacle to contain the blood. Then Aeternus made a tendril of chaos energy and dipped it into the container. The tendril sizzled on contact. The reaction turned the blood into ashes while producing smoke.


    Helios said. "That''s disappointing and underwhelming. I expected more."


    "It is no different with how chaos energy reacts with other matter anyway," Aeternus observed.


    "You think?" Helios asked him.


    "It is better to test and confirm it."


    They decided to test the reaction of chaos energy with other materials and they found the reaction to be simr. Chaos energy will corrode anything ites into contact with be it organic or inorganic.


    "Let''s move on then," Helios said dejectedly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He hoped that the first procedure will produce something worthwhile but the reaction of Chaos energy with his blood seems no different from its reaction with other materials. This means that they will have to finally channel Chaos energy into the mindwork of Legion.


    Legion has always held back on allowing Chaos energy to pass through the soul sphere. Chaos energy is rebellious and very dangerous. It might harm the soul sphere and it will definitely harm the other legions. The harm that it will bring to the other clones is absolutely certain while it is uncertain of the effects it will have on the soul sphere since it is a universal treasure. It is an endeavour with serious risks hence Legion''s reluctance.


    Legion wouldn''t take this risk if not for the perfect control that Aeternus has recently acquired over Chaos and the opportunity to get more data. Legion can sacrifice a clone for its greater good but Chaos energy can put all of them in jeopardy. So even though Legion trusts Aeternuspletely, they must n for idents. It will be naive to believe that nothing will go wrong.


    If something can go wrong, odds are that it will go wrong so Legion has taken some precautions to mitigate the damage that Chaos energy will cause. Chaos energy will transfer from Aeternus, through his soul sphere, and to Legion-1. Legion 1 is the central station since he has the main soul sphere. Then Legion-1 will direct it to Helios.


    Legion-1 is a bonafide Origin god and should be able to control and cut the connection of Chaos energy if anything goes wrong. That is the original n and they shouldn''t need more if everything goes well. If not, Aeternus can cut off the flow from his side. If that doesn''t work either, then the tree father will crack Aeternus''s skull open through his eye sockets.


    The damage should stun Aeternus and cut off the flow at least temporarily. If that doesn''t work, then the tree father will kill Aeternus and end the flow of Chaos energy for good. That will surely end the flow of Chaos energy. It is better to sacrifice one clone instead of all of them. It is a pragmatic and effective n but Helios doesn''t like it.


    He is the one at the most risk in this procedure but all of Legion is at risk too. This procedure is incredibly dangerous and it could lead to either he or Aeternus dying. The rest could suffer varying levels of injury too so he isn''t exactly looking forward to the situation. That''s why he was hoping for something during the first procedure despite Soverick''s opinion that nothing useful wille out of an external reaction. They were all hoping for something important too.


    They are all notfortable with the idea of Chaos energy rampaging through their mindwork but Soverick believes that the perfect control and perfect senses of their bodies and soul will create an environment that will help them observe and acquire the best information about the interaction between Chaos energy, divine power, and order. So they will do it despite their reluctance.


    "I am ready too." The tree father said.


    The vine ced in front of Aeternus''s face began to glow with a green light. The tree father infused it with his Authority. It will shoot forward when necessary and do what it needs to do. Aeternus won''t resist either. It is for the good of Legion.


    And so it began. Aeternus began transmitting Chaos energy through the soul sphere in his soul. He didn''t have to do much. Chaos energy is always eager for action so he simply stopped holding it back and let it flow through his soul to the soul sphere.

 Chapter 481 Chaos And Order. Creation Or Destruction.

    Aeternus felt pain immediately as Chaos energy bypassed his soul defense and entered his soul. It began wreaking havoc as it is wont to do. It reminded him of his days as an unborn fledgling. The pain was that bad or maybe even worse. His Chaos energy has grown just like he has. It is currently in the divine rank with enough power to erode Authority itself so his powerful soul is not immune to its effects yet.


    Chaos energy tried to gush into his soul without restriction so he had to funnel it through a narrow path eroded in his soul to the soul sphere. The pain is worse than having something sharp used to pierce his soul. It threatened to cloud his mind but he held on with the promise that his suffering shouldn''t take long. The test shouldn''tst more than a few seconds before he has to shut off the flow of Chaos energy. So he had to endure for a short while before the pain is over.


    The energy passed through the soul sphere to Legion-1 and began corroding his soul too. Legion-1''s soul is much more resistant to it due to his fusion with a concept so he can handle the corrosion for a longer time while maintaining his full mental prowess. It is more than enough since they only need a short time to observe the changes that will ur between the interaction of chaos energy and Helios. Everything is going as well as they nned so they proceeded.


    They confirmed that he is able to shut down the flow of Chaos energy at any time before they proceeded. Legion-1 allowed the chaos energy to go to Helios and only Helios'' soul sphere. That''s when things went wrong. Helios imploded immediately. It happened too fast to be stopped.


    There was a snap. That''s the sound the implosion made. The space Helios was upying suddenly became void of matter due to his volume reducing so much and so quickly. It urred in an instant. Matter from the surrounding rushed to fill the artificial void. And the effect of the implosion on the environment ended there but it had far-reaching consequences for Legion.


    Chaos can be anything. It is matter and energy in an excitable and primordial state. It can do anything and it is ready to do anything at the next opportunity to do it. Order on the other hand is control. Order is the system of rules that gives Chaos form and leads to creation.


    The two of them interact in the world asionally. This reaction doesn''t ur peacefully. There is always a fight for supremacy. Order has to be stronger than Chaos or Chaos will destroy Order. There will be no creation of Chaos is stronger, only destruction is possible.


    The interaction of Order and Chaos can lead to either destruction or creation, but there''s a state in between. A state of infinite possibilities. Anything is possible with creation while only one thing is possible with destruction. But as long as one or the other has not urred, literally, anything can happen.


    A potent supply of infinite Chaos met with a very powerful source of the Authority of Order within Helios and created a singrity of infinite possibilities. Anything can happen, but destruction is more likely. The input of Chaos is stronger than thebined leverage of the fragments of order, divine power, and domain of order that he has within him. So Chaos is winning the interaction. The oue of such an interaction is destruction.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    In fact, destruction was supposed to happen but Helios''s soul is eternal. It was made eternal by the universe. It means his soul shouldst forever as long as the universe exists. The hurdle of immortality isn''t much to a singrity of possibilities. An eternal soul can be a fragile soul. All the eternal soul means is that it will take the singrity some effort to ovee its immortality before it can destroy it.


    So the singrity targeted the source of the immortality which is the void universe itself. The void universe is not so easy to change. It will need more effort to override Helios''s immortal soul but it is certainly possible.


    The effort the singrity needed to achieve the destruction of Helios'' soul turned what should be an instantaneous state of possibilities into a prolonged state of possibilities. It allowed another thing to influence it.


    Helios is not some lone entity. He is part of a collective. Something happening to him will affect the others. The effect it has on others can be good or bad. In this situation it is bad. It is extremely bad.


    The implosion had affected the other clones too. A void suddenly appeared in their mental space and consciousness. They went from being 9 to 8 in an instant. Their existence tried to fill up this void. Origin energy from Soverick, Chaos energy from Aeternus, and Divine energy from the tree father rushed beyond their control into the singrity like a flood. It is like adding fuel to a fire. It has a very bad effect.


    The singrity became strengthened by the addition of copious amounts of energy. It was supposed to destroy Helios and wink out of existence once it loses its foundation but the addition prolonged its existence. Now it can do more.


    It doesn''t help that the supply of Origin energy and Chaos energy is infinite. It means the singrity can do as much damage as the limited supply of divine energy can sustain and it is a lot. A Celestial has an infinite supply of divine energy after all and the tree father has been stockpiling divine energy.


    The damage won''t be widespread because of the limited divine energy from Legion-9 but it will be total damage. Guntu has torn a hole through a ne with his concept of destruction before. This singrity is greater than a mere concept. Its destruction is total. It will tear a much deeper hole through the fabric of the universe in its attempt to ovee the concept of the immortality of an eternal soul.

 Chapter 482 The Void Universe Was Designed.

    The hole that the singrity will make might seem much smaller than the one Guntu made whenpared to the size of the universe but it will lead to farrger repercussions. The singrity can''t destroy the void universe but it can remove everything that has to do with Helios from the universe. Removing an eternal soul from the space-time continuum will leave a ck space in the fabric of the universe or what one might call a hole. This hole will exist on every level of the universe including its cosmic barrier.


    A universe needs its cosmic barrier much more than a ne needs its barrier. Unknown and dangerous things that should be kept outside the universe will be able toe into the universe. There have to be reasons why they were kept out in the first ce and odds are that those reasons are very good. So the consequences of their gaining entry into the universe cannot be good and that''s an understatement.


    That''s just the least of the universe''s concerns if the singrity goes off. A hole in the fabric of time and space is much more concerning. The singrity has turned from being a threat to Helios and Legion to actually threatening the entire universe. If something is not done, the consequences of its destruction to the universe will be severe.


    Fortunately, the void universe did note about by chance. Unlike some other universes, it was designed and created for a purpose and there are watchers and protectors of the void universe. The Protectors monitor it and make sure the mechanism of the universe is maintained. The Watchers are mainly concerned about fulfilling the purpose of the universe.


    Like in any organization, there is a disagreement based on their aims. Watchers and protectors are also in disagreement. Protectors hate the organisms in the void universe. They believe they are the cause of instability in the universe. Watchers believe in the organisms of the void universe and their ingenuity. They are willing to help the inhabitants of the void universe because the aim of the universe is linked to them.


    There are other more important reasons for their conflict but the two parties can always agree in the face of a threat to the fabric of time and space of the universe. The singrity has to be addressed before it goes out of control. But first, a pause.


    The universe froze. Time came to a standstill in the void universe. All energy in the universe froze and paused its transformation from one form to another or from energy to matter. Matter ceased to change without time and all states of matter became stagnant. Space became stagnant without the flux of matter. Entropy ceased to increase.


    The consciousness, processes, and mechanisms of the reactive universe ground to a halt. Only the unreactive portion of the universe and the consciousness of unreactive entities continued to work. Legion''s mind was pulled into one of the unreactive spaces in the void universe.


    The consciousness of all clones of Legion was pulled into a dark space. Their minds are like 8 orbs of light and 1 shiny point of light belonging to Helios, all linked together by the energy of a single Origin. Three massive consciousnesses appeared above their minds.


    The pressure of the three consciousness weighed on Legion like a heavy mountain. The light of Legion''s mind dimmed and waned under the pressure. Thought became too slow and heavy to move.


    "So it is you."


    "That exins it."


    "Last time was mediocre."


    "But you have turned mediocre into excellent."


    "You have gone beyond expectations."


    "This is a truly exemry performance."


    "It is also a very serious matter."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It is a very dangerous matter."


    "But it is undeniably exemry."


    The three gigantic consciousnesses began to talk. They took turns to talk. One spoke after the other andpleted a sentence or finished it. There was no difference to tell if they were starting a sentence or ending one. Their voice flowed from one sentence to another with only the meaning behind it being undeniable.


    Their mental transmissions felt like heavy blows. They spoke one after the other finishing each other''s sentences so it felt like a constant hammer is smashing into their mind over and over again. Even Legion couldn''t brush off the painful impact they have on it. None of them could tell who is speaking and where the voices areing from. The transmissions simply bombarded their minds with the information.


    All 8 of them remember a simr event that took ce when they were born. Three consciousness talking without a definite end or beginning. Where you can''t tell when one is starting and another is finishing. Helios can''t think right now so he is the only one spared from the pain. He has his own brand of pain to deal with it. Having your existencepressed into a very small point cannot be a pleasant experience.


    The pressure and pain rendered them powerless. They can''t resist the suppression alone. But they can manage if they pull together their mental resources. It took all of their willpower to talk.


    "Are you world gods?"


    The three consciousness paused. Then they beganughing. Legion recognized thatughter. He wasn''t angered by the reaction of the three consciousnesses to his question. He simply sighed and epted his weakness. He can''t do any other thing anyway. He has no other choice but to listen until they are done and be freed from here if they wish for it.


    It took everything he had to ask that question and they dismissed his best efforts with augh. Theirughter might be derisive but it also answered his question. They think that the idea that they could be world gods is funny.


    The three consciousness returned to being serious after their short moment of amusement.


    "You have broken a t of the universe."


    "You have tampered with the limit of power."


    "It is dangerous."


    "But rules are rules."


    "Excellence deserves to be rewarded."


    "You shall be rewarded."

 Chapter 483 The Fourth Consciousness.

    Another consciousness appeared suddenly and interrupted their discussion. It invaded this unreactive part of the universe without any effort. This consciousness had a dark, chilling, and harrowing presence. Its aura made Legion shiver involuntarily.


    The fourth consciousness screamed in anger. "Who the heck just did that? Let me see who is responsible for almost destroying the universe."


    The roar brought with it an extra impact of pressure. Legion felt like fainting. He has not felt like losing consciousness naturally since he was a mana entity. He has felt like losing consciousness before when he was weaker but those were from unnatural causes and are signs of dying. This situation is also unnatural and he might as well not survive it.


    All three consciousness sted at the intruder. "You are not wee here."


    They spoke the same sentence for the first time. Their agreement create a powerful Union of will that mmed into the fourth consciousness.


    The intruder didn''t care. It shrugged off the blow and continued yelling. "I am here for my pound of flesh and I must have it. I will not back down until the source of this cmity is eradicated. I hate these vermin at best but this one has gone too far. The entire universe was literally at stake. I must have him."


    Legion almost fainted there and there as the waves of the screamshed at him. It was not the blow of sound waves but something like psychic pressure. It was not intended to harm him either. The fourth consciousness is only talking at a higher wavelength. It is his fault for being unable to keep up andprehend information at that level.


    The three consciousness had to shield him from further damage from the exposure to a higher-order information state. Then they rebuked the intruder.


    "Enough."


    "Rules are rules."


    "No matter what you think."


    "No matter what you wish to do."


    "He will be rewarded."


    "Those are the rules."


    The fourth consciousness finally relented. Even it can''t unt the rules. Plus it is a stickler for rules. It would prefer not to break rules if it can''t because no matter your best efforts, chaos begets chaos. Breaking rules leads to the breaking of more rules which will lead to the universe finally unraveling.


    It said to them, "Fine. But I must have him when you''re done with him."


    "That''s none of our business."


    "You can get him as long as you can catch him yourself."


    "We will do our job."


    "And only our job."


    "We are not obligated to hand him over."


    "Those are the rules."


    The three refused to bend. They will do their job and only that. They certainly won''t do something to sabotage their purpose. Legion has shown potential so there''s no way they are going to hand him over.


    The fourth spoke calmly this time. "I am not forcing you to hand him to me. I want you to do me this favor for the sake of the universe. Think about all the good that will be done to the universe if this disruptive vermin is removed."


    All three of them said at the same time. "No."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You can''t be serious. This dangerous brat should be eliminated as soon as possible. Who knows what he will get up to? Do this for the void universe, not for me. How about it?"


    They refused. "We refuse."


    "We reward."


    "That''s our job."


    "You punish."


    "That''s your job."


    "Do your job."


    "And we will do ours."


    Watchers reward those that break a rule of the universe because they believe that it is necessary to achieve the aim of the universe. For their mission to be achieved, the rules of the universe have to be broken. They believe that you can''t create new from old unless you sacrifice the old. Creation from destruction. Life from death. It is the cycle of existence. They represent the chaos of the universe.


    Protectors on the other end hate breaking the rules of the universe. They enforce it seriously and hunt rule breakers to stop the spread of chaos in the universe. The greater the offense, the greater the hunt. They represent the order of the universe. They don''t care for the greater aim of the universe only for its stability.


    The three consciousness refused to change or bend to the will of the fourth. They will do their job and only that. They certainly won''t do something to sabotage their purpose. Legion has shown potential so there''s no way they are going to hand him over. The fourth consciousness is stubborn and so are they. They were created this way and for this purpose. Nothing can change their mind except the creator itself.


    The fourth consciousness fumed silently. It turned its attention to Legion and directed a focused stare of hatred at them. There are no eyes or body parts in this world but Legion understood the concept of an intense stare nheless. The understanding that this fourth consciousness will like nothing more than to end them settled on their already addled mind without much difficulty.


    It probably did it to scare Legion. Unfortunately for the fourth consciousness, Legion can''t get more scared and afraid for their lives than they already are. There is only so much fear that they can produce and they have reached that limit sometimes ago. So Legion simply received the intimidating re with resignation.


    The fourth consciousness huffed when it noticed its efforts going to waste.


    It said to the other three, "Get this over quickly then. I can''t wait to start the hunt for the little troublemaker."


    The three consciousness resumed their judgment after his urging.


    "In light of the current situation."


    "And for the sake of the universe."


    "The most appropriate reward is the origin me."


    The fourth consciousness interrupted again with a shout of surprise. "What?"


    "I understand that you have to reward him, but the origin me?"


    "You''re giving him more POWER. Are you kidding me?"


    The three consciousness sighed in dismay. It seems that they will be here for a long while.

 Chapter 484 The Origin Flame Vs The Ichor Of Creation.

    "That will grant him too much power, literally. It will make it very easy to create more chaos in the universe. I won''t have it. I''m willing to break the rules to ensure it never happens. I will do anything to stop this madness from propagating any further."


    The fourth consciousness ranted and swore that he won''t allow Legion to get the Origin me. It did not sit well with it that Legion will receive a part of the Origin me and it is ready to throw a tantrum over it.


    The three consciousness sighed as one. Then they asked him.


    "What do you suggest then?"


    The fourth consciousness became silent as it considered the question.


    "How about the fulcrum of possibilities?"


    The three consciousness sighed again. They are clearly exasperated.


    "Your anger has blinded you."


    "The fulcrum of possibilities will prevent him from having POWER."


    "But it will not solve the problem."


    "We cannot interfere in the workings of the universe."


    "Those are the rules."


    "He has to gain control of what he created."


    "So we have to give him something to subdue the singrity of POWER."


    "It is for the sake of the universe."


    "The fulcrum of possibilities will only turn the oue of destruction to creation."


    "The oue of destruction is bad."


    "But the oue of Creation can be anything."


    "Anything is also bad."


    "Thews of the void universe would be warped beyondpare."


    "Unnatural things will be created."


    "The chaos will be debilitating."


    "We are doing this."


    "For the sake of the universe."


    The fourth consciousness became silent again. The fulcrum of possibilities is the best thing he is willing to let Legion have. It will convert the destruction of the fabric of space and time of the universe into creation. The oue of destruction is bad. Even a tiny hole in the universe can be devastating. But the three consciousness are also right. Creation is indefinite.


    The oue of destruction is definite and certain. Anything can happen with creation. The oue of creation is infinite. The universe will be fine with creation but the ensuing chaos knows no bounds.


    The best oue for the universe is stability. Destruction will remove from it and cause instability. Creation will add to it, warp it, or change it which will also lead to instability. So the problem has to be solved at its source by the person that created the problem.


    The fourth consciousness gave another suggestion. "How about the ichor or creation? Let''s give him the ichor of creation too. That should work."


    "So you are willing."


    "To give him two rewards."


    "Instead of one."


    "Is that wise?"


    "He will still."


    "Be too powerful."


    "With the two of them."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The three of them asked him to rethink his suggestion. Yes, the ichor of creation will enable Legion to be able to wield creation after the destruction of the singrity has been subverted by the fulcrum of possibilities. That will limit the chaos that production can make since Legion will only be able to create things that are in line with thews of the void universe. But is giving him two such powerful universal treasures better than one? What the fourth consciousness is hoping to avoid will still happen.


    The fourth consciousness yelled at them, "I know it is a bad idea but you''re not giving me much choice. I would rather let him have the blood of the creator and the fulcrum of possibilities rather than let him have the origin me. I just don''t want him to have the origin me."


    The singrity of power has broken the limits of the universe. It is simr to trying to put too much data in a data storage device. It is more like too much data suddenly appeared within the data storage. The data storage will crash. Or a number toorge for the universe to express suddenly appeared in its programming. The universe will crash.


    The problem can be averted if the singrity of power is annexed into the limits of the universe. If it is annexed, then it won''t be able to hurt the universe. But that means the vermin troublemaker might also be able to take control of it. Legion is the one that created it in the first ce. But it couldn''t control what it created.


    The fourth consciousness'' dilemma is that the origin me will be able to annex the singrity of power but Legion will also gain control of the singrity of power. He has to choose between the good of the universe and getting rid of the troublemaker.


    "Think about it like this."


    "The ichor of creation can and will."


    "Create a lot of chaos."


    "In the void universe."


    "It will also."


    "Grant the Authority."


    "And Power of creation.


    "Consider that the."


    "Origin me can also."


    "Grant power but it."


    "Is too much to control."


    "The worst can."


    "Yet be avoided."


    "With the origin me."


    The fourth consciousness sighed. "Have I told you that I hate you guys?"


    They answered. "Yes, 61,321,735,793,267 times now."


    It snapped at them. "Fuck you."


    Then It turned to Legion and said, "The Protectors are on to you. I dare you to be a world god. Then you will be close enough to our existence that we can make contact with you. Give us the chance to rip you apart."


    It turned silent after saying its piece. The three consciousness resumed their judgment.


    "We will continue."


    "Legion is it?"


    "You have the Chaos me."


    "You have the Divine me."


    "You have an Eternal soul."


    "You have met all the requirements for the Origin me."


    "You shall receive the Origin me."


    "Let it be so."


    Something settled onto Legion''s soul and pulled their consciousness away from the world of judgment.


    The fourth consciousness muttered wistfully. "I hope he doesn''t survive the birth of the me. I hope he dies to the me. He will do the whole universe a world of good if he just dies. I know I''ll be very happy if he dies."

 Chapter 485 [Bonus ] Watchers Vs Protectors.

    The three consciousness exchanged a nce. They shared information among themselves quickly and they decided to say what must be said.


    "Our job is done."


    "He is gone."


    "You can hunt him now."


    "So leave us."


    "We find your presence."


    "Very irritating."


    The fourth consciousness sneered. "Like I like being here either. I''ll leave if you let me see how he created the singrity of power."


    It can do it itself but it doesn''t want to start going through the logs of events of the entire void universe. It has better things to do like protecting the universe unlike the three of them whose job is to watch for potential. They are practically voyeurs.


    The three of them showed it how Legion did it reluctantly. It is not against the rules to show it and they didn''t want to but they want it gone soon.


    "It''s all your fault. You gave him the soul connector. How could you not foresee this? You could have given him the soul copier or the soul formatter. That would have been enough. I am sure he would have appreciated it better because he wanted to have infinite bodies." He started using them as soon as he saw the records.


    "The soul copier and soul formatter are too dangerous."


    "He could create a multitude of clones with it."


    "We couldn''t allow that."


    "So we gave him something weaker."


    "There is an infinite number of."


    "Combinations among the races."


    "Who would have thought he wouldbine."


    "A chaos entity, a divine entity, and an entity of order?"


    "The chances are too low to be considered."


    "Chaos entities are rare on their own."


    "Who would have thought an origin soul."


    "Can withstand chaos energy?"


    "Then there is the uniqueness."


    "Of entities of order."


    "Entities of Order can''t grow."


    "And are usually killed early."


    "Besides."


    "It is impossible to stop."


    "Those that have broken."


    "Aw of the universe before


    "From breaking another one."


    "If they did it before."


    "They can do it again."


    "It is not our fault."


    The fourth consciousness refused to ept their exnations. He yelled angrily at them, "It is so your fault. The soul copier and formatter won''t allow him to share energy or power with his clones. They might even create a different Origin and turn against him. No, they would certainly have turned against them. There''s no way to control so many clones on his own. That would have surely ended this problem at the root of the matter."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The soul copier is a universal treasure that will enable one to create copies of one''s soul. It will print new souls with the memories and consciousness of the original. The souls can be reincarnated just like the clones of Legion did. The soul formatter on the other hand will format the soul of a living person into that of Legion.


    The two universal treasures would have allowed Legion to create as many clones as he wants. He would not have been limited to just a total of 9. But the clones would also not be connected like the clones of Legion are. It is this connection of the same origin that allows the clones to share energy and thoughts. It also made it possible for Chaos energy and Origin energy to fuse. Without that connection, this entire disaster could have been averted. In fact, Legion would have been too preupied with the rebellion and betrayal of his clones to get into more trouble.


    "If we did that."


    "Then he could break."


    "The limit of the universe."


    "And find a way to."


    "Control an uncountable."


    "Amount of clones."


    "The universe will be overrun."


    "We would have."


    "Created a disaster."


    "We sought to."


    "Limit the amount."


    "Of clones he had."


    "We deemed it."


    "A better option."


    The fourth consciousness did not agree. "No, he won''t be able to gain control of all of them. It is impossible."


    They began to argue. The fourth consciousness refused to ept their exnation. It maintained that controlling an infinite number of clones is impossible. That will need a mind asrge as the universe itself.


    The three consciousness don''t agree with his assessment. Anything can happen just like a simple Origin god can threaten the universe. They even showed him evidence of possiblebinations that can achieve it. The fourth consciousness was not convinced. But they want this to end so they gave up.


    "At least,"


    "Now we know for sure."


    "That he cannot."


    "Create more trouble."


    "He cannot break."


    "A greaterw of the universe."


    "He has acquired POWER."


    "POWER is the limit."


    "Of the VOID UNIVERSE."


    The fourth consciousness agreed for once. He said, "That''s for sure. What else is greater than POWER? You also gave him a piece of the origin mes."


    The three consciousness sighed in relief that the fourth consciousness finally agreed with them.


    "Don''t be rxed yet. It is not a good thing. I never said it was a good thing. We haven''t seen the end of this. More trouble..." The fourth consciousness was talking when it suddenly paused.


    It asked them. "Isn''t one of his clones a dragon? Isn''t it also an unborn dragon? Please tell me it is not a dragon still in its egg."


    The three consciousness became silent but it didn''t help. The fourth consciousness blew his top.


    "You nipoops. You do this every time. You give them rewards without considering the repercussions and I have to clean up your mess. It''s just like that time you gave something inappropriate to the youngest vermin to be a realm lord and you were surprised that he broke anotherw of the universe."


    He continued to rant while the three consciousness bore his criticism silently. The fourth consciousness has the right to be angry. They really dole out rewards without thinking about the consequences too much. It is in their nature just like it is in the fourth consciousness'' nature to clean up that which would threaten the stability of the universe. If they were too careful then they would hamper the potential of the rule breakers and that is against their purpose.

 Chapter 486 The Origin Flame.

    The fourth consciousnessined andined. It kept mentioning their mistake about the youngest vermin to be a realm lord. It swore of how it will smother the good-for-nothing vermins and put an end to their shenanigans in the void universe. Then it suddenly stopped cursing at them.


    "Wait a minute." It said.


    Then it went through the records again. It scrolled through the information of the youngest vermin to be a realm lord and Legion.


    "They belong to the same realm tree? This is a conspiracy. These vermins are scheming to destroy the void universe. This is all your fault. I hate you." He said hastily before rushing away.


    The three consciousness sighed in relief. They know the fourth consciousness is rushing to make ns to eliminate the two troublemakers. But they are just d that he is gone. They can''t do anything about his enmity with the inhabitants of the void universe and neither do they want to. They have done their part and that''s that.


    "That makes 61 trillion."


    "321 billion."


    "735 million."


    "793 thousand."


    "And 268 times now."


    "At least."


    "He is gone."


    "We have peace."


    That is thetest count for the number of times the fourth consciousness has expressed its hatred for the three consciousness. It hates them a lot. Those are just the number of times that it has given voice to its opinion of them.


    It is moments like this that they wished the creator of the universe was around. If he/she were around, then they would have been able to heal the damage to the universe without any problem. Then they wouldn''t have had to give Legion something to annex the singrity of possibilities.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It all ended well for the void universe anyway. The process of fixing the singrity has begun and will end with or without Legion. The universe will be stable and that''s all that matters.


    Back To Legion.


    Their consciousness was battered and bruised by being in the presence of the four consciousness. The pressure of the four''s existence threatened to smolder his existence. Then something was attached to them and they were tossed out abruptly without care. It was not a pleasant experience. Both his entry and exit were done without care for his well-being.


    Then a fire started in Legion-1''s soul. He is the true Origin god and the one most connected to thew matrix of the void universe so he is the one to bear the spark of origin mes. It started as a spark but quickly became a me that used thew fragments from the concept of life that Gehaldirah used to be an Origin god as kindling to burn.


    The fire then spread to the other souls through the soul sphere including Helios'' supepressed existence. The mes entered the singrity of infinite possibilities and joined in the tussle going on between Chaos and Order.


    Then there was a big bang. The singrity of infinite possibilities exploded outwards. It is the most painful thing that any Legion has ever felt. It felt like their consciousness had fractured because it is being put through a blender and roasted at the same time. But it isn''t over. The ordeal continued.


    The tides of the explosion brought with it a sudden force. The force threatened to overwrite anything and everything, including Legion. The force spread to the other souls immediately. It set their souls on fire when it found itcking. That''s only because they are also eternal. If they were not, then they would have been overwritten and turned into more mes.


    This sudden force didn''t affect Legion-9''s soul because of the divine me. It also didn''t affect Legion-3''s soul because of the Chaos me it found there. Instead, the force pulled these two mes toward Helios''s soul. It wanted to copse back to a singrity but these two mes are anchoring it and prevented it from copsing.


    So it started to pull them. Except their souls are not pushovers. They refused to move. They have eternal souls too. Aeternus has the Authority of chaos and a soul as powerful as that of an Origin god, he refused to let go of his mes. The tree father has the Celestial Authority of Life and perpetual immortality, he also used the strength of his soul to refuse to let go.


    The three forces entered a tug of war. On one side is the force of possibilities powered by the origin me from 6 sources and on the other side are the Chaos me and Divine me powered by two 2 sources. Helios is the fulcrum of the struggle, the base of the tug of war. His fate hangs in a bnce and so does the fate of the others. If they lose to the force of possibilities then their existence will be overwritten to save the universe. They will have paid for their mistake by sacrificing themselves.


    The two sources are supposed to lose but Aeternus and the tree father have Authority and powerful souls to use their Authority. None of the other clones are as powerful as them apart from Legion-1. Legion-1 is on the other side of the fulcrum and is also helping to keep the bnce. He is the original source of the origin mes so he is using it to undermine the force of possibilities. So the two sides are in a stalemate. They have formed a sort of equilibrium.


    The situation can''t remain like this forever. The singrity has be the force of possibilities but it wants to copse and wink out of existence after being destabilized by the origin me within it. But the Origin mes also found something it wants tobine within their connected souls. It wants tobine with the divine and Chaos mes. Something had to change. One side has to give up.


    Something did change. Time brings change. Something that was supposed to ur instantly was being dragged out because of the unwillingness of the immortal souls. It allowed for change.

 Chapter 487 Fusion Of The Flames.

    The dy and the stalemate allowed change to ur or in this situation, it allowed for the creation of what started this entire thing in the first ce. Fusion began to take ce. The force of possibilities lost the struggle. Origin, Chaos, and Divine mes started to fuse by the force of possibilities.


    Part of the Chaos me was transferred to the other souls and the same happened to the divine me. The struggle allowed these two mes to spread to the other souls. Then the three mes began to fuse by using up the force of possibilities as the impetus for the change.


    Origin me is the first me that burned within the ocean of primordial chaos at the beginning of the universe. It is the spark of order that gave Order to chaos. It is Order. It is rules. It is control. It has been called different names. The original me. The first me. The me of creation. A piece of it no matter how small is very powerful. It isn''t something that came from the void universe. It is something that brought about the void universe.


    The three mes began to fuse except this time the eternal soul of the clones of Legion are involved. 6 of them are the sources of the origin me. So the 6 of them can control the reaction during the fusion. The other two just have to hang on till the fusion isplete.


    It''s like walking on a tightrope or on the edge of a cliff. They can''t speed up the rate of reaction of the fusion too much or they will lose control and be destroyed. They also can''t be slow with the reaction or Aeternus and the Tree father will be too tired and let go of their mes. That will lead to losing control and getting destroyed. They have to maintain bnce and tread carefully or they will fall.


    Achieving bnce is easier said than done. It isn''t easy when your mind is literally on fire. None of the mes are friendly to others. The origin me was already too much. The addition of the divine and Chaos mes more than tripled their pain. Those two extra mes will burn anything theye in contact with and like to burn exposed souls the best.


    The 6 in control have to endure the pain of their souls burning. The burning is creating the origin mes and it is being fuelled by Origin energy. The pain is overwhelming. It is tempting to just let go and die. The pain will certainly end when they die. The other two have to withstand the force of attraction pulling on their Authorities to rip it out of their souls.


    But they didn''t choose to lose control and die. They chose to fight. There isn''t any one thing that made them all determined. It could be their obsession with power. Or theughter of derision they got from the three consciousness. Or the scorn from the fourth consciousness. Or the fact that they were pulled against their will towards a ce they know nothing about and judged without being capable of interfering at all. Or it could be that they have each other to rely on.


    It could have been anything that made them determined or a collective of numerous things. Whatever it is, it made them hold on and wait through the fusion. The origin me expended the force of possibilities to fuse with the chaos and divine me to Create POWER.


    Then POWER copsed except this time it copsed on the 9 souls. It attached itself to their souls like the initial singrity of possibilities. It won''t create any problems because it has been assimted by thew matrix of the void universe. Then the universe resumed and the clones of Legion woke up from their nightmare.


    Aeternus''s eye sockets zed as his soul awakened. He looked around and found everything to be the same. He would have thought all they experienced earlier was a nightmare that they all experienced if not for the terrible headache that is threatening to split his head.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They are still in a forest and the wind is still blowing gently through the leaves of the trees making soft rustling sounds. Only a short three seconds have passed since their mistake. Nothing seemed to have changed except Helios. His body copsed but he isn''t dead so his body is rebuilding itself.


    A tiny star is zing brightly and creating arge halo of golden light. The rays of light being produced began to weave together like golden threads to form Helios'' body. It is a weird sight, to say the least, but Helios is healing and that''s all that matters. Aeternus was more concerned about the ck orb floating around in circles around Helios. He knows that all seven other clones including Legion-1 all have the ck orb.


    The only clones that don''t have the ck orb floating around them are him and the tree father. Instead, their Authority has changed into a ck orb. Aeternus''s red crystal between his horns has be a ck orb and so has the tree father''s Godhood changed into a giant ck orb. Something very strange is going on with the dragon clone though.


    "I don''t feel any different," Aeternus muttered as he examined himself.


    He felt for changes in his body and soul and found nothing. He just feels extremely drained and weakened. He expected to feel empowered after going through all of that.


    He just shook his head and sighed. He felt relieved just like the other clones of Legion. It is right to be relieved after having a very close encounter with death. It isn''t the death of a single clone but theplete and total death of Legion. They would never have resurrected. Their entire existence would have been destroyed. They had felt that distinct possibility and it was sobering.


    "I can''t control it." Soverick said.


    "I don''t feel any difference." Legion 6 added.


    "I feel something. It broke me free." Legion 7 said with excitement and relief.


    Numerous reports from other legions kepting in. They didn''t feel any difference apart from Legion-7 that suddenly became free from a certain enved situation.

 Chapter 488 The First Oddity.

    Some of them noticed a change but others felt exactly the same. The dragon clone was going bonkers though. It seems that whatever they had gone through affected their souls but they don''t know to what extent. They can''t even control or influence the ck orbs.


    Aeternus grumbled to everyone else, "I hope that isn''t everything it can do or it won''t be worth it. We almost died because of it."


    He knows that the freedom that Legion-7 experienced is good and that what Legion-8, the dragon, is going through is epic but he isn''t satisfied with the ck orbs yet.


    Legion didn''t hear most of what the four consciousness said because it was killing Legion to listen to them. The three consciousness had to shield Legion from most of the conversation or they would have died so all they know is that they almost died. They were very careful too. They did everything they thought would help prevent such a situation but it happened anyway. He believes that what they''ve gotten is not worth what they experienced.


    Most of Legion agrees with him. Legion-7 is whooping for joy though but his opinion doesn''t really count. His situation was so bad that death would have been a blessing so something as little as freedom is very much worth it to Legion-7. They would all feel it were worth it if they had been in his situation but they aren''t. Aeternus is a demon king, not a ve so it will take a lot to impress him.


    "I''ll just work on my sin abilities." He said to himself.


    Aeternus decided to practice after poking around and finding nothing. Even their stats screen showed nothing. It seems that they have not changed in any visible way. He decided to wait for Helios to finish rebuilding his body before he leaves for the abyss. Meanwhile, he will work on his sin abilities.


    He has not gained control of his mark of sin but he has been able to modify his abilities to some extent. The one he was working onst time is the DIVINE AVATAR. He was trying to create avatars with power without using the Godhood of gods or his crowns before he was interrupted by the liberation army and the attack of the Godyer.


    He chose avatar creation because it should be the easiest. He wants to base the avatar on his soul energy and Chaos energy instead of Godhood. He has been trying different methods to create a strong avatar but he has failed. His practice didn''te without benefits though. He got a lot of data from it. He was also able to create the reaper attack from it. The attack that decimated the liberation army and marked the gods was the reaper attack.


    He tried creating an avatar now to practice while he waits for Helios to heal. Chaos energy and Soul force came out of his hand and formed a ball. He began shaping the chaos energy with his soul force. The ball fell from his hands and began to morph. It expanded and became a thin outline of a translucent red shadow. The shadow is in the form of a t wraith. It has arms but no legs.


    Then he funneled Chaos energy into the shadow. The red shadow thickened and grew. It became three-dimensional as it grew. Its features became clearer and clearer. The arms grew thicker and its eyes opened to show a golden light shining from within the wraith. It is like its red body is a shell containing a light source.


    "Hmm?" Aeternus muttered when he noticed something different.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He could feel chaos energy still funneling into the shadow. It ought to have stopped. This is the limit of what he used to reach. The avatar will awaken and then stop growing. So it has always been weak. But this time it isn''t stopping. It kept filling up and solidifying.


    "This is strange." He muttered as he watched the shadow grow.


    The red shadow became life-like. Its red skin seemed as if covered by red blood. It became three-dimensional. It lost its hollow look and changed from being a shell for the light within to be a statue with a torch in its head.


    The outline of a ck scythe began forming in one of its hands. The outline also solidified but this time it took soul force from him instead of chaos energy. The shadow itself is formed from chaos energy fused with soul force but the ck scythe is formed purely from his soul force. It should not be so. It is confounding to Aeternus that it is so.


    "Well, this is very odd." He observed with the look of someone that has seen something shocking.


    Soul forcees from the eternal soul of an Origin god. It exists as a result of an eternal soul pushing against or pulling the world. It is not energy or matter. It is power. It is a force. A force brings about change. A force can not exist isted from the world. A force should in fact be apparent because of its interaction with the aspects of the world.


    It is like isting the forces of pull and push or gravity and pointing at saying "That''s the force of gravity."


    No, it is not done and that''s why he is shocked. The force of gravity is perceived through its effect. Like a fruit falling from a tree. Not by a round ball of gravity that can be seen or interacted with. And yet, it is happening.


    The ck scythe that he used to make before with the divine avatar and with his attacks was made with Godhood and chaos energy as the base or chaos energy and soul force. Nothing should be formed by soul force. It is a force, not energy or matter.


    His confusion and perplexion didn''t change or affect what was going on though. The avatar finished its growth with a scythe formed with soul force.

 Chapter 489 The Second Oddity.

    Then the most shocking thing happened. Thepletion of the Avatar was apanied by a chime. It is the notification that urs when he has seeded in modifying his mark of sin.


    #(ERROR: YOUR MARK OF SIN HAS BEEN MODIFIED)


    #(THE KING''S AVATAR HAS CHANGED)


    #(CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR ABILITY KING''S AVATAR HAS ACQUIRED THE ABILITY THE WILL OF THE KING)


    #(WILL OF THE KING: Create an avatar based on Chaos energy and ???? The avatar is temporary and can reach the demon lord level. It will degrade as it uses its base materials to exist. Can be permanent and reach demon king level if given the Godhood of a Celestial or the crown of a demon king."


    His bony jaws dropped in shock. He is shocked by what he created, how he did it, and the fact that what he created was acknowledged by his system. He kept looking at the Avatar all over in disbelief. He doesn''t need the notification to know why he has created it. He could tell because his soul force is the foundation of the avatar. The avatar is as familiar to him as any of his arms is.


    The avatar he created used his soul force as the foundation to reach the power of a demon lord. It outsses a demon lord but it is not a threat to a demon king because it doesn''t have Authority. It will also fall apart the more it uses its soul force which it is always using to keep itself together. It will consume a lot more soul force when attacking but simply existing also consumes soul force.


    He asked himself and all of Legion. "How is this happening?"


    He is not the only one perplexed by the situation. All they know is that it is not natural and that their recent brush with death must have something to do with it but they don''t know how or why. Aeternus didn''t feel anything strange at all. All he knows is that he wanted to create an avatar without Godhood or a Crown. He tried it and he seeded in it. It was that simple. It shouldn''t be simple because his simple actions seeded in changing his mark of sin without his effort.


    Either he suddenly got better at creating avatars without his knowledge or the change in his Authority did something that he is unable to sense at all. He doubts it is the first reason because he did the exact same thing as he did previous times and this didn''t happen. The results of his efforts should be impossible and yet it has been made possible.


    He isn''t the only one to notice some odd things that shouldn''t be possible. The other clones are also noticing some very odd things. The dragon clone in its egg has the most unprecedented change. A change that others thought impossible. Then there''s Helios. His body is not turning out as it should be.


    The small star producing the golden threads is malfunctioning. The threads ought to build Helios'' body. It will start from the star as the core. Then work its way out but it is not. Instead, the golden threads are weaving into the star itself and are not creating his body. The process is strengthening the star and isn''t getting bigger.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It is odd because an object should not be stronger on its own without it being made to be that way and certainly without external influences. A bucket should not get bigger the more water you take out of it neither should more water appear within the bucket the more you take out of it. Even if all that is made possible somehow, the water shouldn''t be getting denser.


    If the energy content of something is increasing the more you take from it, the volume should increase not the energy quality. The bucket should not be creating better water even as it is being depleted. But everything seems to have gone awry. Common sense seems to have been thrown out the window.


    The golden threads are produced by the star by expending energy. The golden threads are then empowering the star without changing its size or volume. The star is bing denser and more powerful. So it is producing higher-quality energy as it gets denser. The higher quality energy is producing better golden threads and the stronger golden threads strengthen the star again. It is a perpetual self-empowerment cycle.


    Aeternus said. "Well, this is bad."


    There have to be consequences to what''s going on. Action produces an equal and opposite reaction. What Helios is going through is unnatural and shouldn''t happen. It is bound to lead to serious consequences but Helios can''t control it. The ck orb continued to rotate haphazardly around Helios like a yful bug unconcerned about the woes of the world.


    It doesn''t help that Helios is still unconscious. Legion debated what to do about this new conundrum and they decided to wait for him to regain consciousness. He will be better able to tell them what is going on with him. So they waited.


    Helios became conscious soon after. He has no recollection of what urred after Chaos energy touched him. They filled him in on the repercussions of their actions and the odd changes they are experiencing. Then they asked him about his situation.


    The star spoke to them. "I''m fine. I feel fine. Energetic even. There''s no need to panic."


    Helios didn''t know exactly why he is fine at first. But things became clearer to him as he grew bigger and stronger. Then he ryed his findings to Legion.


    Aeternus shook his head when he got Helios'' answer. His exnation created more questions and also enlightened them of the danger he is in but Legion decided not to do anything about it. Helios said everything is alright and that there is no need to fuss.


    Aeternus decided to continue practicing. He chose another sin ability and began to practice it. Meanwhile, the core of the star started to change again.

 Chapter 490 Helioss New Job.

    HELIOS'' POV.


    What he is going through is unprecedented. It made him question what he knows and examine what he thought to be true. Anyone will question themselves if had they gone through what he went through only for them to start experiencing what is currently happening. He almost died as Helios the Giant of the sun but he recovered as something else.


    "What is power?" He asked himself.


    He answered his own question. Power is Influence. Power is control. Power is freedom. Power is the ability to do anything.


    He asked himself again, "What is real power?"


    He answered his question again. Real power is the difference between the abilities of two entities. Real power is rtive. An origin god might be powerful enough to kill a sovereign with a wave of his hand but will be powerless against a world god. That''s why real power is not stable. It changes based on what you want to do with it.


    "Why do we chase power?"


    For freedom mostly. For joy. And for peace. There''s a peace of mind to knowing that nothing can threaten you in the lower realm as an Origin god unless you enter the divine ne.


    "What are the types of power?"


    The two types of power are the power that is bestowed to you and the power that you acquire yourself. Even the power that you acquire for yourself can also be external or internal. That''s why there is the path of perfection and the path of divinity. Those on the path of perfection acquire power by themselves. Those on the path of divinity are bestowed that power through the faith and belief of others.


    "How is power acquired?"


    Through evolution. Through the upgrade of life''s order. Most specifically through the refinement path.


    One can be born as a sentient being of the lowest of mortals with the power of a body-forging stage refiner. That changes as you evolve. You be stronger. From vitality core to the mana body stage and then transcendence. This poweres from the inherent increase in capabilities. But it ends once transcendence is achieved.


    Achieving transcendence is the limit of inherent and internal power. Innate potential has been exhausted at this point so Transcendents must look outward for power. They must use their new ability to sensews to empower themselves.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Transcendents mustprehendws and acquire power from the universe through the acknowledgment of thew matrix. Those that cannot do so are forever locked at the stage of transcendence. They may have broken their limits but they can go no further without external help.


    Then one has to look inwards if they are to grow stronger. A king must use the external help he acquired from the universe to forge a path for himself thus bing a titan ofw. The titan ofw bes a Sovereign when the path is finished. The Sovereign bes an origin god when he manages to fuse with his seed of power and bes a concept.


    That is how power is acquired.


    "What is going on with me?" Helios asked himself.


    That is the pertinent question. If you encounter something new, something previously unseen or unheard of, you use your experience to try and figure out what it is, in this case, what is going on. A lot of questions and answers whirled through Helios''s mind for him to figure out what was going on.


    Fortunately, he found answers. He knows what has happened and how it is happening, and why it is happening.


    An entity should remain the same perpetually if no impetus for change external or internal is applied to that entity. He is evolving without any internal impetus for change. He is growing stronger without any effort from himself. That means that whatever is making him evolve must be external.


    The next issue is that this external force that is making him stronger is uncalled for. Even gods who are bestowed power have to do something to get that power. They have to be in a position to acquire it. No one in their house bes a god unless a multitude of people mistake them for a god and pray to them. Even then, the person has to ept the power and the responsibility thates with it before they can ascend to be a god.


    But that isn''t the situation with Helios. Apparently, the universe has mistaken him for a star. And for some reason or another, it has decided to buff him up as if he is a malnourished star in dire need of cosmic energy. Even more ridiculous is that he has no say in the matter. He has beenbeled a star by thew matrix of the universe and that''s what he will be until the day he breaks free from thew matrix.


    So in a way, he is the mortal that was mistaken for a god and then forcefully exalted onto the position of Godhood. He has had Godhood thrusts upon him without his permission or consent. In this case, he has had the power to be a star thrust upon him and he must be a star because the universe will not have it any other way.


    The situation isn''t exactly bad. He isn''t being taken as a prisoner permanently. His current situation is one giant coincidence and it is temporary. He had the sun god in his Stigmata before he copsed. He was the ground zero of the issue that almost killed all of them. The sun god didn''t survive the incident but he did. His existence changed though. He did note out of near death by a singrity of infinite possibilities unscathed.


    His body, soul, divine power, Celestial Godhood, Celestial Authority, and Stigmata containing the fragments of order, origin energy, and chaos energy shed and were fused by the urrence to form the singrity of infinite possibilities. The universe had to annex the singrity to fix it and that means annexing him too.

 Chapter 491 The Hand Of The World.

    The divine domain of the sun and order within him worked in concert with thew fragments of light, fire, and order to make the universe mistake him for a baby star. They had a little help from a certain ck orb. Now he is a star and the universe will not have such a tiny star within it. He must be what stars are meant to be regardless of his agreement.


    He should be able to free himself from this designation of a star by creating his own path and gaining control of thew matrix by fusing with his own concept. In order words, he will be free when he bes an origin god but until then, he is a star. Nothing can change that. The situation isn''t that bad though. He is being pumped full of cosmic energy.


    Nothing and no job can be bad if you''re being yed with cosmic energy. Cosmic energy is the energy bestowed by the universe to transcendents when they are halfway intoprehending aw. That energybines with their understanding of thew and makes them a lord ofw. It is the same energy that elevates lords ofw into kings ofw.


    To say cosmic energy is rare is an understatement. Cosmic energy is granted by the universe and only the universe. It is a type of energy that can not be acquired by any other means and it is only given to those who have not yet formed their path. The stars within the Origin core of kings ofw that are smashed when they are trying to be titans are made up of cosmic energy. Those stars form the essence of a path within a titan ofw which then bes a seed of power within a Sovereign.


    If by chance, a titan ofw that is near death is given some cosmic energy, then their depleted essence will be replenished and they will have more time to take control of their essence of power. If a sovereign is given cosmic energy, then their seed of power will be more powerful. That is how valuable cosmic energy is. And he is being forcefully made to absorb loads and loads of it. So no, his situation is not bad at all.


    Legion didn''t even know that cosmic energy could be this much. It is like someone that can''tprehend what an ocean is when all they have ever seen in their life are puddles. Even Helios and Soverick were given just a tiny bit for their unusual breakthrough into kings ofw. It is not a wonder anymore why the void universe did not consider their breakthrough an achievement. So Helios can''tin about his current circumstances. No one in their right mind can.


    His core continued to get denser and denser. The heating out increased steadily until he couldn''t stay in the forest anymore. It was then that Aeternus and the tree father had no choice but to start panicking. A star is a very dangerous object. It burns Origin gods. The only entities known to be able to pluck stars are world gods.


    They are not world gods. There''s nothing they can do to restrain him short of trying to kill Helios before he bes too strong and dangerous for them. They won''t do that because he has be too valuable to be killed. So they will leave the Zargoth ne for him. The entire ne and their ns for it will be sacrificed but it is a sacrifice that Legion is willing to make. Nothing beats a source of cosmic energy, not even an entire ne.


    They aren''t the only ones worried for the safety of the ne though. There''s someone else watching who is not so willing to sacrifice a ne. So the power of the world was moved by this entity''s will. The entire world power of the ne became concentrated and formed into a hand. This dark hand with tiny spots of light in it grabbed the star and lifted it out of the ne. The star was then ced into the void.


    The entity was waiting for Helios in the void.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Thank you mother high heaven." He said to her.


    She said to him, "You''re wee Helios. Nice changes you''re going through by the way. More energy for the realm."


    This rough outline of a being made from a dark material filled with tiny stars had grabbed him easily. She could have also crushed him but she didn''t. She saved him because it will benefit the realm of high heaven and she has made her intentions clear.


    He agreed with her, "Yes, my changes will bring more energy to the realm."


    "Buckle up. I''m going to throw you into orbit."


    Then she grabbed him again and threw him out of the realm. He got flung out of the realm tree into the void beyond. He elerated for a while before decelerating until he finally stopped in a determined position close to the realm tree. She threw him precisely into this position. It is not a random position at all. He was able to undergo his changes in this spot without problems or disturbances.


    His core reached 50 million degrees centigrade before he began to erge. The entire ne would have be ashes and dust by the time he reached this stage. The universe supplied him with energy until he grew so big that Legion-1 will look like an ant next to him and Legion-1 is asrge as half an entire ne.


    "I wish Divine Father was here to see me now." He joked.


    Helios became a true Celestial Colossus more than a million times bigger than the entire Zargoth ne. He did what his father Stelios couldn''t do. He became a real star. It is a pity that Stelios is not alive to see it. The look on his face will certainly be something interesting. One can only imagine how happy and proud Stelios would be of him.

 Chapter 492 The Cons Of Being The Realm Lord.

    Mother high heaven arranged the path of the other three stars of the realm to amodate the neer and maximize their output. She nudged and shifted them around the realm tree. Then she gave him directions for his orbit after he was done with the most important changes. He followed it obediently mostly because he is not powerful enough to defy her and partly because he doesn''t have anything better to do.


    The way she grabbed him made him experience how unsafe a star is in the void universe. World gods will certainly be interested in a special and weak star like him. All it will take for them to have him is to simply reach forward and pluck him like some fruit from a tree. So he can''t get cocky yet. He certainly can''t get cocky with someone whose ne he was about to destroy.


    Mother High Heaven smiled contentedly when she was done with her work.


    She said to her partner, "Now Realm high heaven has four stars. I got another star without doing anything. You were right. Free stuff is the best."


    A star is very important to the realm tree. It is the source of the much-needed catalyst of life. Life can exist without the sun as long as there is mana, but a star speeds it up. Light and heat energize a system and increase the rate at which reactions go on within it. Which means faster evolution, andrger diversity. There are other important uses apart from speeding up evolution. The presence of light and heat allows nts to flourish which forms the basis of the food chain.


    Light also makes creatures evolve into forms that can withstand light and heat. Without light, creatures tend to be very minimalist in their choice of organs and be too specific in the type of environment they can survive in. So alternating cycles of light and darkness ensures that living things can adapt somewhat to both light and dark conditions. In summary, A star is a boon to the realm.


    The realm tree has three stars that circle the nes and provide energy but it hasn''t been enough. She would have loved to create more but stars are expensive and dangerous to create. A star is a creation of chaos. Ites about when the conditions of matter, gravity, pressure, and energy are right.


    The conditions to create stars are very strict which results in a very high risk of failure. Trying to create one needs a lot of energy and can also lead to an explosion. The explosion of a star is no joke even to a world god. Creating a star can turn into creating a very expensive and unstable bomb. So getting a star without working for it felt good to mother high heaven.


    She is happy about the situation but her partner isn''t so enthusiastic about it.


    The realm lord spoke to her. "I was right. I am always right. I am also right when I said nothing is ever free. There has to be a price to pay. Mark my words."


    "So far so good. The addition of Helios will increase the productivity of the realm by 14%." She argued in favor of the new star.


    He countered, "That means there will be an increase in energy consumption."


    "The increase in efficiency of energy usage will be more than make up for the increase in consumption."


    The realm lord grunted. He didn''t have anything to top that.


    She poked at him. "You''re just bitter because you didn''t think about it and it is cool."


    He snorted but he didn''t disagree with her. He has to admit that it is cool to be a star but he has other reasons why he is unhappy about it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I''m sure I can be a star if I thought of it. I just didn''t think of it." He muttered.


    She rolled her eyes. "Sure. I''m sure you can do it?"


    He red at her and said, "I know you don''t believe me but I can do anything if I put my mind to it. And I mean anything."


    "I''m not disagreeing with you."


    He changed the conversation. "How did he do it though?"


    He really didn''t think about bing a star because he never thought it was possible. But now that he is thinking about it, he realizes that it will not be easy to do.


    She answered him. "He broke another limit of the universe."


    "I know that. I am asking if bing the star is the limit he broke or if it is something else."


    "I don''t know what limit he broke because even Legion doesn''t knowAll I know is that Helios copsed, and then he became a star. Last I know they were trying to figure out Authority."


    The realm lord spoke his thoughts. "Something seems fishy here. I know for sure that he didn''t figure out Authority because I figured out Authority. So what did he figure out?"


    The major reason why he is pissed off is that he can''t do anything untoward to Helios. He would like to grab the newborn star and dissect it or probe it to figure out how he works but he can''t because of his responsibilities as the realm lord. It is moments like this that make him hate being the realm lord.


    If he were an ordinary world god, then he will be able to go on a rampage without impunity. He is powerful and he likes the freedom to use his power but he is being constrained by his position. It is very rare toe across someone who has broken aw of the universe. It is almost impossible for that person to be from the same realm as him. But it has happened and he is missing the great opportunity to satisfy his curiosity because he is the realm lord


    She asked him. "Speaking of Authority, when will your project be ready? World gods don''t have patience."


    "It will be ready when it is ready. Art cannot be rushed. They will have to wait."


    The realm lord brushed off the concern for his project and continued to think about Legion instead.

 Chapter 493 Theres Always A Price To Pay.

    ''I must admit that I have underestimated them. None of us that break limits are ordinary. I shouldn''t have underestimated them.''


    He had underestimated Legion. He wasn''t overly impressed with Legion when it broke the firstw. The reward he got was mediocre. It wasn''t powerful. As a realm lord, clones didn''t matter to him. He would have been bothered if Legion could create infinite clones. A flimsy number of 8 clones didn''t impress him even if they reincarnated. He has power and nothing beats power.


    His disdain increased when he discovered that Legion was researching the Authority of gods. He already figured it out and broke aw of the universe for tracing Authority to its roots. Now he can create and bestow Authority on himself or whoever he wants. It is a really important thing because the scope of Authority is farrger than what Legion knows. Even world gods are interested in his ability.


    He thought Legion will go on a wild goose chase for Authority and be mediocre. A limit can be broken twice but it will only be rewarded once. So if Legion manages to figure out what Authority is, he will only be able to create it and bestow himself with it. Legion will not be able to increase its power or bestow it on others because Legion willck the reward given to the realm lord for breaking the limit first.


    He expected Legion to fumble around for numerous Origin cycles before he can ever achieve sess but Legion has broken another limit in less than 5 Origin cycles since it broke thest one. It is an unknown limit and it is making the realm lord feel uneasy. Something about it isn''t right. He knows that there is something important going on with Legion but he just can''t figure it out.


    He is not uneasy because of fear nor does he consider Legion a threat. A star might be something big to an Origin god, but it is not to a world god. He is the realm lord of high heaven so he is a world god in this realm. He is feeling uneasy because he felt some unusual fluctuations in thew matrix when Helios copsed to be a star.


    His heart had raced and his intuition for danger spiked like never before but it was gone just as he felt something. He thought for sure that something bad was about to happen but it seemed like it was nothing. It is not normal behavior so he feels uneasy about it. He is not a fool that will disregard that feeling. It might not be Legion that caused him to feel the threat but he is certain that there was a threat to his life for an instant there.


    He was deep in thought when he felt a gaze on himself. He followed the gaze and discovered its source. It wasing from the Virut ne. The gaze somehow broke the barrier of the ne, went through the void, broke the barrier of the ancient battlefield, entered the ancient battlefield, bypassed the passive barrier around the tower of heaven, and locked onto him in the tower of heaven.


    He tsked in annoyance. "This cheeky monkey."


    He cloaked himself with the power of the realm and the gaze disappeared.


    "Now this is getting irritating." He grumbled to himself.


    There are a lot of entities that can lock on to him and none of them are in the realm of high heaven because world gods are enormous and aren''t allowed in the lower realms. So he only had to shield himself from external forces. He had never had to worry about someone spying on him within the realm until now and it is irritating, to say the least.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He wished he could squash the offender like a bug but he can''t harm the children of the realm of high heaven unless theymit a crime.


    ''That will change soon.'' He said to himself.


    He has paid a lot for the privileges that he enjoys as the realm lord and he is continuing to pay more. The recent events are asking a lot out of him. He would very much like tosh out and do whatever he wants but he has to bottle up his desires and keep them down. It is very frustrating.


    He was stewing silently when he noticed another problem in the realm. He can know about everything going on in the realm as the realm lord but he doesn''t. Complete omniscience within the realm requires arge mental capacity that he doesn''t have. He is not like the will of the realm that knows everything there is to know about everything that has ever existed in the realm. So he has filtered most of the things that reach him based on significance.


    The issue that he became aware of has to be very important for him to be notified. He looked into it and began tough. Mother high heaven also discovered it but she wasn''tughing. She was frowning.


    "This isn''t good." She said.


    The realm lord spoke as heughed. "Didn''t I tell you? Nothing is ever free. There is always a price to pay."


    The issue ising from the home ne of the dragons and it is also rted to Legion. Helios''s change threatened a ne and benefitted the entire realm but this change is only threatening a ne. She also can''t interfere this time for many reasons. She can only watch.


    "Still worth it. It is the dragon''s problem. They had iting anyways."


    It is a worthy price to pay by her standards. So a ne might be destroyed. She will still make the exchange so that she will get a new star even if the star only gets to work for her for an Origin cycle. She has more than 100,000 nes. The loss of one for a star is worth it. It is also the loss of a ne she doesn''t like. It''s a win-win for her.

 Chapter 494 The Dragons Will Not Be Happy.

    The realm lordughed harder when he heard what mother high heaven said about the dragon''s having iting to them. He knows a little about the conflict between mother high heaven and the dragons. The dragons tried to force themselves on her. They made a scheme to overthrow her will and make one of them the realm lord without her consent. That conflict nearly destroyed the ne and they did it because they were pissed off that she didn''t choose one of them to be the realm lord.


    He shook his head and said, "The dragons are going to be very pissed. Their pride won''t let this ur without a fight. This is going to be so enjoyable to watch."


    She nodded in anticipation. "Whatever limit Legion broke, it is not as simple as bing a star. They can do a whole lot more."


    First Helios became a star, Soverick''s eyes suddenly became very powerful, and now their dragon clone is about to raise up a storm in the dragon''s home ne. All these changes happened within moments of each other. It is either a giant coincidence or thew that Legion broke caused everything.


    Mother high heaven has seen a lot to put two and two together. She is certain that it has something to do with the neww of the universe that they broke. The changes to Legion have been mostly favorable to her. She got a star out of it. But the dragons will certainly not like the changes to their home ne.


    "If only they knew what is brewing in that egg then maybe this entire mishap can be avoided. It will also help that dragon egg or whatever it is now very much. I am sure the dragons will take very good care of it."


    The realm lord looked at her and asked, "Are you going to tell them?"


    Mother high heaven burst outughing. She shook her head as sheughed.


    "Let it burn. Let it all burn." She said manically.


    "Someone is still cross about the whole will subversion ritual." The realm lord said to himself.


    He didn''t say it out loud or it will make mother high heaven go on a tirade about disrespect and stupid pride. He is just d that the dragons don''t know what''sing for them.


    The dragons don''t know yet what threat is brewing for them since the threat is still in an egg. No one will suspect an egg of bing a threat capable of destroying an entire ne. It is a reasonable assumption that eggs are harmless but it will be toote when they realize the threat it constitutes.


    This can all be avoided. One of them could tell the dragons and they will find the egg. They will be able to raise the egg very well so that it won''t turn on the ne when it hatches. The ne will be spared and the dragons will have another champion on their side. But she and he won''t tell them. It will make for a very interesting show so the realm lord and mother high heaven decided to sit and watch.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Besides, the dragon clone is not doing anything illegal. The current situation is a result of the dragon''s ancestry and bloodline. It is just amplified a bit. It isn''t reason enough for mother high heaven to interfere and she doesn''t want to interfere.


    "How many years will it take for something good to happen?" The realm lord asked.


    "It will take at least 10,000 years at least. The egg has changed so I can''t tell. It might take an Origin cycle." She answered after doing some thinking.


    He said eagerly. "I can wait for an Origin cycle. It''s going to be worth it."


    Tales Of Subordinates.


    Legion might have broken a limit of the universe but most of the world went on unawares. The universe might have been in danger but most didn''t know about it. They carried on with their lives and ns. Just like the Subordinates of the house of Chaos. They were given a mission which is also apetition by the lord of the house. Nothing has changed enough to stop them from fulfilling that mission.


    The house of Chaos is not normal by any standards, demons or otherwise. Families and noble houses in the demon world are not normal or at least, aren''t like most families. There is no trading of fuzzy and heartwarming feelings in a noble house. If you feel your heart warming up, odds are you have been poisoned.


    It is normal to have betrayal and sabotage in the demon world. Ironic enough, some noble families of other races also partake in betrayal and sabotage like the demon society but that is where the simrities end. Betrayal is not allowed in a demon noble house. It rarely happens unlike how betrayal and murder run rampant in normal noble families of other races.


    While betrayal is not allowed in a demon noble family, murder is allowed as long as the head of the family allows it. That''s how a normal demon noble family operates. It may be different from the concept of family for other races but it is normal for demons and sometimes, it is better than noble families of other races.


    The house of Chaos is abnormal by demon standards. Everything about it is abnormal. The members of the house were not recruited normally. They were not coerced with promises of power despite the fact that most of them joined because of power. The situation they were in when they were offered power influenced their decision to join the family.


    It is very hard to say no to something when you know that your refusal might cost you your life. The worst part is that they already had part of the power before joining the family and they had paid half of the price of blood already. It would have been a waste to reject the remaining power and let the lives they took be in vain.

 Chapter 495 Bring Beeltas Head.

    The way they joined the house of Chaos was very abnormal but that''s all in the past. The family has behaved like a normal noble family ever since. What is always current is the Lord of the house of Chaos. Their lord is abnormal and has remained abnormal.


    The Lord of Chaos could cross ranks to kill demons of higher ranks. He terrorized the domain of high-rank demons as a mid-rank demon. High-rank demons had to band together to face him and yet, they failed. Then he evolved and became a thorn in the side of his demon lord as a high-rank demon.


    The Lord of Chaos is a legend in the 541st ne of the abyss known for his legendary feats and unreal prowess but what topped it all off is that he rose up from being a fledgling to bing demon king in less than 300 years. That kind of progress is a hundred times too fast. It is very abnormal, to say the least.


    Forparison, Beelta the demon lord has been a demon lord for more than 15,000 years, it is still far from the average time of 30,000 years to be a demon king. The Lord of Chaos spent 1% of the average time to be a demon king. Now the lord of the house of Chaos has sent his subordinates to go and kill the demon lord that locked him within the domain of high-rank demons for 200 years.


    The progress of their lord was stalled for 200 years and yet he spent a total of 300 years to be a demon king. It is like saying someone spent a total of 300 years to go from the vitality core stage to the Origin god stage. It is also important to know that they spent 200 of those years sleeping. It is that mind-boggling.


    One will expect hatred for the one that made them waste 200 of their lives but their lord didn''t seem bothered by the wait. They didn''t seem bothered enough to kill their jailer themselves despite the fact that it wouldn''t take much effort at all. No, the Lord of Chaos sent his subordinates to do that for him.


    99 demon dukes entered the demon ne on Aeternus''s orders. They came without their army and they came to assassinate the demon lord. There was a simr conflict like this 10,000 years ago that escted into a war. That war rocked the entire demon ne and left its mark on history. Many thought that there will be a repeat of that war soon. The rise of the Lord of Chaos and his enmity with the demon lord were signs of a possible repeat of history. They were right about the conflict but wrong about the scale.


    They expected Aeternus to wage a glorious battle against the tyrant of the ne. He would have demon dukes on his side and the demon lord will have demon nobles with umtion on her side. The war was supposed to be epic and earth-shaking. Apparently, it will not be so because the Lord of Chaos considers it all to be beneath him.


    So he sent his subordinates. The tyrant of the ne has be their prize and they are topete for who gets to kill her. He even allowed his subordinates to kill each other too. That''s how little he considers the demon lord. For all he cares, it might as well be a free for all with the demon lord as a participant too. After all, anyone can kill anyone. There''s no difference between all of them and there are no sides. It is very abnormal. Or it could be a demon king''s thing not to care about their subordinates and the boost they get from them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Baal entered the ne and felt reinvigorated immediately.


    "There''s nothing like the feeling of home. The Zargoth desert certainly doesn''te close."


    He is not calling Zargoth ne a desert because of all the sand and theck of water. It is a desert because of thecked of ambient mana. It was suffocating being there. Even as a demon, he could feel the end of the ne approaching. The ne had been stagnant for too long. That is not a good thing in a world where stagnation means death.


    The demon invasion might have brought death and destruction to the ne, but it also brought life in the form of mana. That''s how it should be. A cycle of life and death in which the best of the best escape that circle to be immortal.


    Zernon''s peace and order, on the other hand, made the giants of order infect their ne with stagnation and death. The Zargoth ne had no future under his leadership. That has changed now and the demons responsible have returned to their home in the abyss to fulfill the will of their king.


    As much as Baal likes being back in an environment with a high concentration of mana and sin energy, he has dangerous work to do so he can''t rx. He nced around and eyed hispetition. Thesepetitors of his passed by him as they came out of the portal. He didn''t attack them and they didn''t attack him because of the truce not to fight at the portal.


    He knows for a fact that there are a lot of demon dukes who will like to take his life. It could be because he offended a lot of demons to reach where he is right now. It could also be the innate need of demons to be the strongest and the ones inmand. If not for their truce, they will be at each other''s throats right now.


    Their truce didn''t stop them from giving him intense res full of hatred and promises of violence. They have made their intentions very clear and obvious. They didn''t bother to hide it because it will be of no use here. They are already all enemies to each other. Acting nice won''t change that and acting harmless will only make them a target. He red back and made them know that he wees every challenger.

 Chapter 496 The Hunt Is On.

    Baal''s ring is both a false and true show of bravado and confidence. It is true because he truly believes himself to be strong and capable. He is not making that part up but he also doesn''t want everyone to gang up on him because he can''t take on all of them at once. It is always good not to fight if a fight can be avoided. In this situation where a fight can not be avoided, it is best to be able to choose your fights and not be ganged up on.


    The ring dukes eventually look away and race into the distance. They disappeared into the ne in search of their target. It will be foolishness to fight and die when their aim is not even in sight. So they will shelve their conflict for when it is necessary. Baal also went past the fortress of the house of Chaos in the domain of high-rank demons and went deeper into the ne. His destination is the towering pir of energy in the middle of the ne.


    He couldn''t fly around openly like this before they left for the Zargoth ne. He would have been hounded by the forces of the demon lord and the demon nobles. Now he can move about without much fear. The irony of the situation is that he doesn''t fear anyone in the abyssal ne anymore. It is his fellow demon dukes of the same house that he has to be afraid of. Even so, the rtive peace is a weed change. It allowed him to contemte his situation and make ns.


    There are few dukes that Baal can consider his equal and only one that he truly considers a threat. There used to be a lot he considers his equal but that number has reduced to 9 since he acquired the half-divine rank. It might just be entry-level stat at 55 but ites with a state of existence of 17, the same as the demon lord he came to hunt. Thosepetitors and threats of his will be his main obstacle to bing a Herald as much as Beelta will be.


    There are 4 ways to be a Herald. The first is to kill the demon lord. The second is to be the new demon lord. The third is to impress the lord of chaos. Thest option is to kill the most dukes. There are a total of 6 spots for Herald. That is not a lot of spots for 100 demon dukes to share amicably.


    Only 1 demon can earn a spot through the first two options. That leaves 4 spots that can be earned through the 3rd andst option. The 3rd and thest options are not mutually exclusive and they have arger possibility of sess too because of the number of spots that can be earned through them so most of the dukes will focus on them.


    He has chosen to aim for Killing the demon lord. The major reason why he decided to focus on the demon lord is that the demon dukes know about his abilities and are wary of him. Plus they have umtion and they can run away.


    He would rather hunt the demon lord. She can run away but she won''t because she will have to forfeit her position as the demon lord if she does. Anyone can begin to bind the energy well to themselves as long as she is not there to stop them. The process will be slow if she is still alive but it isn''t impossible. Her escape means he will have a chance at clinching the criterion of bing the demon lord.


    He has chosen to focus on her, but he will the others if they obstruct him. The other demon dukes are sure to obstruct him when he tries to kill Beelta or when he tries to rece her and he is confident of defeating most of them. This brings us back to why he is ncing around at hispetitors. He is sizing them up and preparing countermeasures to them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The few that he considers his equal will be the true obstacles that he won''t be able to ovee easily, especially if they gang up on him. Then there is the one that he considers a real threat. She is the first subordinate of the lord of Chaos. She is number zero. And he can''t find her.


    "Where is she?" He asked himself worriedly.


    He can''t find her no matter how much he looked. He is the first andst demon duke to leave the portal to the ne but he didn''t see her leave the portal. He made sure to count and there were only 99 dukes. That means one of them is missing.


    It also means that it is unlikely that she pretends to look like others so that she can''t be found. He would have been very suspicious if there were a total of 100 dukes who went by without her among them. So she must have hidden somehow. Whatever method she used is enough to fool his senses even when he is actively searching for her.


    He is sure that they all entered the ne together and yet he can''t find the entity he considers a real threat. It wouldn''t have mattered if she were some other duke but she isn''t and it is very important that he finds her. He is looking for her because the lord of Chaos said that if he can''t find her then he can''t beat her. He didn''t understand back then but now he knows. How is he to fight something he can''t see?


    He gritted his teeth and cursed. "Fucking snake. And yet she can find you. What is she anyway?"


    The greatest thing to fear as a demon is the unknown. He needs to know how she keeps herself hidden or he won''t know how he dies. He needs to know something so that he can have a fighting chance against her.

 Chapter 497 Xander The Unknown.

    Baal doesn''t fear darkness and he isn''t afraid of fear itself. He is afraid of very few things which is a good thing. One of the things he fears is Lord Khaos and Xander. He fears Xander because she represents the unknown. He isn''t the only one that doesn''t know much about her but that doesn''t make him feel better because she is the very representation that ignorance can kill.


    He was thinking as he flew but he had to stop. A wall suddenly appeared in front of him. It is strange because walls shouldn''t appear suddenly and even if they do, they shouldn''t appear in the air. He identified the wall to belong to a certain snake when he saw the glittering scales and the rippling muscles beneath it. The hissing he heard behind him all but confirmed his suspicion of who the wall is.


    "What? Want to fight?" He asked her confidently.


    She has coiled around him. A little more and she will be able to squeeze him tightly. Her head is raised and poised to strike. Her 4 eyes are locked onto him, watching his every movement, like a predator stalking prey but he mustn''t show weakness. Showing weakness is taboo for a demon. It will be especially bad for him since murder has been allowed in this venture. He has to put up a front that will make fighting him not worthwhile.


    She hissed at him. "Weren''t you looking for me?"


    Yes, he was looking for her. For her to appear like this is more than to fulfill his wish of finding her. She is hoping to rattle him. She certainly seeded in rattling him but he won''t show it. Instead, he asked her what has been bothering him recently.


    "How did you get so much more points than me in the destruction of the churches in that ne called Zargoth?"


    He had 110 million points while she had 2.6 billion points. How she achieved it is beyond his understanding. He should have thergest army in the house of Chaos while she has none. At least he hasn''t seen any of her legions. So he wants to know how she did it.


    Her answer came in a drawn-out hiss. "It''s a secret."


    Her body began to turn translucent after she spoke. Her flesh turned to shadows, then into ck smoke that was blown away into the wind. She had disappeared.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Baal was paying attention to her but he couldn''t figure out how she disappeared.


    He noted to himself. ''All I can say is that it is not an illusion. Either way, she is my one and only threat. The trick is to make sure her ambush attack doesn''t seed.''


    This short meeting has given him more information than he ever had about her. It made him realize how much of a dangerous threat she is to him. Xander doesn''t need to join others in ganging up on him. She alone is enough to threaten his life. She can sneak up on him and attack before he is even aware of it. The only way to defeat her is to make sure that her first strike fails. He began making ns toward that objective.


    He continued on his way to the center of the ne. Even now he can feel it, a malignant force sitting there and hoarding all that power to itself. A single being has taken ownership of the well of energy of the ne. It is something all high-rank demons can sense. They can sense the sweet power that that single demon is hoarding to themselves and they can sense that it will never be theirs. It is a terrible feeling to experience as a demon. They can see it, they can smell it, they can even taste its remnant power in the air, but they can''t have it.


    His mark of sin used to feel a longing for it when he was a high-rank demon. That longing has disappeared same as the even more intense longing he felt when he first sighted the Ominous Reaper. He hasn''t felt any longing ever since he joined the house of Chaos because he has everything he needs to get stronger.


    He might not need the energy well anymore, but it has been made his objective because of the same demon that removed his longing. That doesn''t mean he isn''t looking forward to it. On the contrary, he is feeling very excited and eager about his task. He doesn''t need the power but the act of usurping the current owner will be a pleasurable experience. He will get to scratch that itch he has always had ever since he was a high-rank demon.


    Every high-rank demon hates the demon lord. They all want what she has and will like to take it from her. He has other reasons why this moment is very important to him. He was raised to hate, fear, and eventually kill the demon lord by his father who is now dead. His father has died but his dream to fight the demon lord and kill her is still very much alive. Killing the tyrant that terrorized the ne for more than 15,000 years is a dreame true for him. So he is very eager to kill demon lord Beelta.


    He advanced quickly toward his target at the fastest speed possible. He soon came upon the coveted central domain. It is the seat of power of the 541st abyssal ne. Whoever controls it, controls the ne. He found it heavily fortified as always. The thick walls of the fortification were made by cing mountains side by side. Then the top of the mountain was leveled and gaps were filled in with boulders.


    The wall forms the backbone of the defense of the central domain. The siege breakers, catapults, ballistae, and cannons take advantage of the impregnable wall to beat back invaders. It has been like so for many years but it seems it will end today.

 Chapter 498 Times Are Changing.

    The defenders on the wall noticed his arrival. He received a personal wee when the massive ballistae shot their giant ming harpoons at him. They must have found his 30-meter figure to be an eyesore.


    The giant harpoons struck his body and exploded covering him in mes. The mes died down but he was unarmed. Many more were shot at him and they hit him too. All he did was smile to himself. Then he grabbed one in the air and hauled it back at the wall. The resulting explosion made himugh.


    He sighed and said. "Same walls but different people. What a pity."


    The defenses of the central domain have changed and it fills him with nostalgia. Normally, the sky ought to be covered with harpoons as the sentries on the wall fire volleys upon volleys. At least that''s what his father told him about the war that urred 10,000 years ago.


    In that war, all the demon nobles attacked the demon lord. They came with their full army and siege weapons. They were weed with destruction raining from above. The energy cannons produced massive area of attack damage while the ballista directly crippled individuals that didn''t die from a single hit.


    Middle-rank demons couldn''t scale the wall and high-rank demons will be shot down like birds in the sky. This wall stopped everything that didn''t have umtion. The demon lord personally forged the ballista and they are manned by high-rank demons. It is why they are very dangerous even to demon nobles who don''t protect themselves with umtion. The wall forms a circle around the energy well and it has blocked out intruders for thousands of years.


    But the threat of the wall has fallen. The wall remains the same. Even the ballistas are still there. But the ones that can use it are few in number. There''s a scarcity in the workforce manning the defenses. This is because the demon lord took most of her manpower to the Zargoth desert but she returned alone. She took a gamble and she lost. She lost badly.


    It ismon knowledge that trying to kill someone is not a sin, but failing to kill is a sin. She failed to kill the Ominous Reaper several times and now she will pay for her sins. Except she has fallen so low that the Lord of Chaos doesn''t consider her worthy of his time anymore. So, he sent the dukes to collect payment for her transgression on his behalf.


    Baal shook his head as he flew over the wall. Then he zoned on his prize and flew toward it. He encountered little resistance on his way to the energy pir. The demon lord seems to have run out of subordinates to do everything. The central domain is mostly empty now. Buildings are unupied and the city is mostly empty. The few demons that are still present are either in hiding or have met a very unfortunate fate.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Baal flew over the central domain and arrived at the energy pir. What he found there was expected. There is a confrontation in front of arge ck pir about 1 kilometer wide. The pir is not solid. It just looks like it. It isn''t gas or liquid either. If it is then something must be stopping it from spilling, sshing, scattering, and clinging to stuff that passes through it.


    The energy pir is an enigma. It is like soft foam. A high-rank demon can touch it and use it to leave the ne. A mid-rank demon will die if they touch it as they are overwhelmed by the concentration of sin energy of the pir. High-rank demons can fly by using their mind to push on the world. They use their minds to keep the sin energy away from overwhelming them. Even they are not safe from the concentration of sin energy within the pir.


    But the high concentration is a boon for demon nobles with pinnacle rank energy. They have unified their energy and won''t blow up when they touch the energy well. They can even bind the energy well to themselves and be a demon lord. That means they will have to defend it. They will have to fight off usurpers or their control will be taken from them.


    It is why an obese demoness is being surrounded in front of the pir. Someone powerful has ordered her death and yet she remainsposed. She looks normal for a demon. She is just 10 meters tall. There are two small horns on her head. She also has a tail. If not for the auraing from her, you wouldn''t know that she is the demon lord.


    Looks can be deceiving but demons are very sensitive to power. They need to be. It is how they are able to recognize threats and identify their position in the food chain. So they can all sense the great power contained within the small demoness.


    The other thing off about her is her gaping maws. It is not a mouth. She doesn''t have a mouth. She has not one, but numerous maws. There''s one on her head. It has taken the space where the eyes, nose, and ear should be. Or maybe it ate them. She doesn''t have those organs on her face. Just a head with a dark hole ringed with sharp, jagged teeth.


    Thergest maw is on her stomach. It has giant teeth and a giant slobbering tongue. There are others on her fat body but they are smallpared to the one on her stomach. They may be small but they are not harmless. They can extend out of her body, widen, and snap up prey before withdrawing back to her body. They only look small to fool others.


    ''I wonder who it might fool. Those maws don''t look harmless at all. Then again, I didn''t be demon lord so it must be working somehow.'' Baal thought to himself as he gazed at her.

 Chapter 499 Taunting A Demon King.

    Baal was wondering why she decided to take on a small form. No demon will be fooled into believing she is harmless with her current look. The small size of her body and the small size of her maws doesn''t make her look less threatening. She might look less threatening if her maws had lips to cover up the dangerous and grotesque-looking teeth and tongue.


    Then again, he isn''t the demon lord who managed to maintain her seat of power for over 15,000 long years so she must be doing something right. He must be missing it because he doesn''t have the mad genius that makes a demon Lord tyrant.


    A giggling sound reverberated through the area. Every demon duke that heard it flinched. The sound hurt their ears and grated on their minds. It didn''t invoke the image of cheerful mirth. Instead, it provoked images of blood spraying from the decapitated neck of a victim or air bubbling from the guts of a disemboweled victim.


    They can hear the sound of flesh being parted by ws and bones being crushed to a pulp. The giggling brought to mind evil and vile images. It is the sound that evil will make if it could giggle. Is the sound that those that enjoy doing evil will make when they''re doing evil things and enjoying it. It is no wonder why the creator of the giggle looks so evil.


    Demon lord Beelta spoke after giggling.


    "I see that the Lord of chaos has sent hisckeys to soften me up. He is being predictable as always. But I must admit that he seeded in fooling me about the ne he went to. He got lucky that one time."


    Her words were full of confidence and bravado. It reminded Baal of the series of bluffs that he recently had to perform.


    ''Is she truly confident or is she just making a show of it?'' He had to ask himself if her confidence is genuine or not.


    "Come out and fight me Aeternus." She yelled to the skies through all her maws. Spittle made of acidic saliva flew out of her maws and dissolved everything they touched as she screamed. Her scream helped Baal to determine the authenticity of her confidence.


    ''No demon lord will shout to a demon king like that not unless they have a death wish or they don''t know that the demon they are challenging is a demon king. It seems she is still ignorant of what truly urred and her new unsafe position in the hierarchy.'' Baal thought to himself.


    Beelta continued when Aeternus didn''t answer her call of challenge.


    She sneered and said, "It is a good n to throw hisckeys at me but it won''t work with me. It is a pity for you guys though. You have been sent to your deaths. I am still hungry and I have never had demon dukes before." Therge tongue within thergest gaping maw rolled around as she spoke. It appears that she can''t wait to sample their flesh.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She is confident because she doesn''t believe she has any reason to be scared. Aeternus might have fooled her, but it doesn''t mean that the tides have changed. At most, he has acquired a lot of umtion and evolved to be a demon noble. It will give him the confidence to return and confront her. She believes that his confidence is misguided but she has to apud him for testing the water with his subordinates first.


    ''If only she knew. Maybe she would have run for her life.'' Baal shook his head in pity. ''Ignorance surely is not bliss.''


    Her crusade to apprehend Aeternus ended in utter and total failure. She invited massive losses. She could only return with her soul because of her bond to the energy well of the ne. Then she had to recreate her body. That was easy due to the infinite energy she has. But the body she recreated was weak. She had to upgrade her weak body to the half-divine rank. She was able to reach the peak stage of 63 with her stash of divinity.


    The only difference between her now and before is herck of boost. She has an ability simr to that of Infernox. It boosts her the more she eats. It is why she had arge body more than 100 meters in diameter. She has lost that body now. She couldn''t get that big on such short notice even after she ate all her subordinates that she left behind on the ne to acquire some boost and prepare for this eventuality. That is why there is virtually no one present in the central domain right now apart from the dukes and her.


    Beelta believes that she has prepared as best as she can and she is confident in herself despite the fact that she has no subordinates. She is so confident that she was able to say her next words without shame.


    She said to the demon duke, "I can spare you if you submit to me."


    Baal began tough. He couldn''t hold back his amusement. This whole thing is too much for him to bear. He expected a lot of things including this very scenario but it is still funny to see. If only she knew whose subordinates she is trying to poach. She will probably be on her knees begging for forgiveness if she knew.


    Heughed as he began preparing his grimoire. Some of his trepidation about the uing battle has evaporated. He just can''t take Beelta seriously right now. He is not the only oneughing though. Some other dukes are outrightughing while some are smiling.


    They all know something that she doesn''t know and they find it very funny. It is like an inside joke among them. They have never shared something like this among them. It is highly unusual for them to share augh like this when they can turn on each other in the next moment.


    ''This will be a memorable tale to everyone that survives today.'' Baal thought to himself in mirth.

 Chapter 500 Feed The Demon Lord.

    The faceless terror turned to him. Her eyeless head focused on him. He is the one thatughed first.


    She asked him. "I recognize you, boy. You are Szar''s boy. What''s so funny boy?"


    He didn''t answer her. She is a dead demoness walking. There is no reason to entertain her. He continued to prepare his grimoire for the fight. The other demon dukes started to get ready too but no one attacked. They are all wary of each other. Beelta is not the only target here. Attacking her means you be open to an attack. That''s why no one has attacked her yet.


    Someone has to attack her first and Baal decided to be that someone. Who knows? He might impress Lord Chaos that way and secure his position as Herald to a demon king. Baal flicked the cards that the pages of his grimoire turned into. The brown cards flew around him and expanded to be sturdy walls.


    He turned his attention to Beelta after taking care of his defensive measures. She didn''t look too bothered by his preparations. Then again, she doesn''t have the facial features for him to tell. Having a maw for a face is not very good for bodynguage.


    He mmed his grimoire close and opened it again. The pages had turned red. He tore them from the grimoire and flicked them at Beelta. The red cards turned into red orbs which began to expand as they flew toward their target. They grewrger andrger until they dwarfed Beelta. Severely fireballsrger than 10 meters flew towards her. The resulting explosion from their collision would not be pretty.


    Beelta responded by flicking the giant tongue on her stomach at the approaching fireballs. Her tongue snapped forward, elongated, and wrapped around the spell. It looked like a rope wrapped around a boulder. The fireball spell dwarfed her tongue but the spell didn''t explode. It was subdued and drawn into the gaping maw with a sudden snap.


    It happened so fast. Her tongue shed forward and returned to her maw quickly like a toad catching flies. She did the same to the other fireballs. One by one, his attacks entered her maw without exploding. Then she gulped and swallowed them.


    She belched before asking him, "Have any more?"


    Baal groaned. He couldn''t feel the cards anymore. The loss of 10 cards hurt him. Each card is precious. It needs the skin of a demon noble and years of treatment with enchantment. He certainly doesn''t have more for her to eat. He didn''te here to feed her.


    The other demon dukes used the opportunity to attack. They sent different attacks her way. Their attacks are mostly fire based so a tsunami of fire surrounded her and threatened to drown her. Infernox just arrived too. He ran forward to engage with her in closebat. His body was zing in reddish-orange mes. His eagerness for battle spurred everyone else into battle. Fortunately, they chose to focus on Beelta first. Many demons followed after Infernox to pummel Beelta.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Baal muttered as he observed, "The oue is set. She will fall."


    The demon lord might have foiled him but her fate is sealed. It is a rigged game. She will die here. No, she must die here today. He is more concerned about who will bear the honor of killing her. That''s why he is looking about for Xander as he shot yellow cards at the demon lord. The yellow cards are as swift as the wind and cut like sharp des. They should be too fast for the tongue and if not, then they will teach the tongue a lesson about grabbing sharp objects.


    What happened next was expected but it surprised him. More tongues appeared from the other maws on the demon lord''s body. He expected her to have more tongues. There''s no way that the other maws are empty of grotesque and nightmare-inducing spindly tongues. What he didn''t expect is why she did with the tongues.


    Two more tongues appeared in therge maw on her stomach, making three tongues. Then many more tongues shot out of her other maws. She became a toad with many tongues. The tongues from all over her body whipped around in a frenzy trying to disable the attacks. They formed a blur around her that began to kick up air to create a wind cyclone.


    The wind cyclone defended her from the torrent of attacks while she simultaneously attacked. One of the tonguesshed at Infernox. He struck it away with his axe. Then the second one struck him while he was still mid-swing with his axe. He used his other arm to grab it. He was able to respond to the threat even though the tongues moved very fast. It is admirable of him. It was also a mistake.


    A third tongue whipped at his outstretched arm while he was trying to pull the demon lord with it. The tongue cut through his arm like a hot knife through butter. It parted his rock skin,va muscle, and infernal bones to sever the arm from the rest of his body.


    Infernox screamed in pain. "AHHHHHHHHHH."


    He bellowed in pain like a drum but that did nothing to protect him. More tongues came after him. They came for more of his flesh. He jumped back to avoid them only to watch his arm withdraw with the tongue he was grabbing into the maw of the demon lord. Then he had to fight his way back to safety with one functioning arm while the other healed slowly. He matched forward with his usual indomitable force but had to retreat lest he donates more of his body to the demon lord as snacks.


    Baal watched all this happen with a frown on his demonically handsome face. Infernox was lucky from what he can see of the dukes that went close to the demon lord. At least he survived with most of his body intact.

 Chapter 501 Demon Lord Of Gluttony.

    Infernox had matched forward to do battle and he was followed by eager dukes. He returned with a mild case of amputation. The others that tried to get close to the demon lord suffered more. Most of them lost more than an arm. Some lost their lives after the tongue rend them apart. Others were dragged screaming into her maws by the tongues.


    It was a massacre. This was not the pummeling he expected. It is a buffet for the demon lord and she is not being shy or picky about her food. She is eating everything within reach and as fast as she can swallow it. He was opportune to see a demon duke that was struggling within one of her maws begin to melt as her acidic saliva began its work on the stubborn prey.


    He admitted to himself. "This is not going as well as I thought."


    He expected the demon lord to fight and hold her ground for a while before she finally sumb to thebined might of the dukes. Anything other than that will not do her terrifying reputation justice. His father had been afraid of the demon lord. Szar always said that he would never want to be around the demon lord with his body. He had expected to see why Beelta is so feared but he is still surprised by what he saw. Anything close to her somehow finds its way into her mouth through the gentle nudge of her numerous tongues.


    It brought to mind something Szar had said when he had asked him why the demon lord is so strong.


    Szar had said, "Beelta is a demon of gluttony. She chose to disregard everything else including power and strength. She focused on only one thing and that is eating. She only eats, and she does it very well."


    Beelta doesn''t kick. She doesn''t punch. She doesn''t use spells. She only eats. All her sin abilities have been geared towards eating. She got seemingly useless abilities just so she could eat. Her sin abilities gave her a strong tongue and a strong stomach. She can grab anything with her tongue just like Aeternus can reflect anything.


    She sacrificed a lot for her power. She sacrificed her speed so that her tongue can be fast. She sacrificed her senses so that she can digest anything. She sacrificed her physical and magical defense so that her tongue bes very tough and difficult to break. She sacrificed her body''s activity and healing so that even if her tongue broke, it can heal easily and she can create more.


    All of that is because of a single ability called The Dedication To Gluttony. It enabled her to sacrifice her other abilities permanently to enhance her tongue and mouth. Then there is her Cycle of Gluttony. The more she eats, the more powerful she gets. This means her tongue gets stronger the more she eats and it inevitably increases what she can eat. It is a temporary boost that strengthens her the more she is eating at a time forming a cycle of enhancement.


    The sin ability of Bottomless Gluttony makes her store an unlimited amount of power that she gets from eating. It is why she can grow sorge but it is not only for show. It bes terrifying when it is paired with The Power of Gluttony which boosts her the more power she has in store. This boost is permanent.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She herself is incredibly weak. Her body is fragile and she can be killed easily but any threat will have to pass by her tongue first. If they can''t bypass her tongue, then they will enter her maw and make her stronger. What doesn''t kill her makes her literally stronger.


    Baal doesn''t know all that but he does know what Szar said about what can be done to defeat her.


    Szar hadmented about their loss in the war 10,000 years ago. Szar had said,"Beelta is excellent at eating. She bes more powerful the more she eats. She was surrounded by hundreds of demon nobles with umtion and she couldn''t be put down. Instead, she grew stronger the more she fought. We didn''t know back then. The prime demons were holding back from using umtion early so that theirpetitors will die. It was toote when we realized her situation. If only we had tried to overwhelm her before it became toote."


    Szar thenughed. "Then again, the same thing would have happened if we had known about her getting stronger the more she ate. In fact, we knew that demons of Gluttony get stronger the more they eat. What we didn''t know is how fast she gets stronger and how well she could eat. She could even eat our attacks. Who could have expected that?"


    Szar paused to shake his head, "The same thing would have happened even if we knew how well she could eat. Demons are selfish. That doesn''t change in the face of death. We always hope that it is ourpetitors that will die first."


    Baal can see that situation repeating itself. The demon lord is surrounded and looks doomed but she isn''t struggling at all. She is eating while the dukes are holding back because they fear for their lives. They are wary of the others just as they are wary of the demon lord. And they are not being paranoid either. Their suspicion is valid and real.


    They know for certain that the other dukes can turn into their foes and try to reap their lives. They know with uttermost certainty that it will happen and it can happen at any time. What they don''t know is when it will happen. They might be in the middle of attacking the demon lord when someone beside them decides to target them.


    They are all enemies after all and being surrounded by enemies is not a good environment to perform well. Some people can''t perform well under pressure so it is understandable that they can''t perform well under the very real threat of betrayal.

 Chapter 502 Demons Are Selfish.

    The demon dukes can''t go all out because of their suspicion and it is going to make them lose. The demon lord needs to be overwhelmed early on before she gets strong enough that she can eat their best effort. At this rate, the dukes will be the ones to sumb just like the demon nobles sumbed 10,000 years ago.


    It will be a repeat of history. Hundreds of demon nobles had surrounded demon lord Beelta with more than 30 of them being prime nobles who could singlehandedly hold their own against her. Only 8 prime demons survived that war when their prey became strong enough to turn into their predator. Of those 8, none of them wanted to ever be around her with their bodies. They will only attend meetings with her with their divine sense instead of attending physically.


    Baal shook his head and said, "Demons are selfish."


    He knows that they all need to set aside their enmity and cooperate but he can only shake his head. It doesn''t matter if she gets stronger and if others know about it. What matters is if they are going to do anything about it. He doubts that it is possible.


    He had taken the first step in attacking her when the others had chosen to wait and see but even he isn''t willing to give his all because he has real threats out there that he has to watch out for. He knows that they are likely to fail but he is unwilling to change his performance because it is also likely to kill him.


    The fact that the demon lord is growing stronger doesn''t stop demons from being selfish. They are extra selfish when there is a limited prize to be won. It is best if theirpetitors die during the contest.There are other reasons apart from thepetition that demons have to see the death of others.


    Demons aren''t lovely individuals. They aren''t close to each other enough to be friends. They reach their level of strength through killing. There are slights and grievances of various degrees which will encourage one demon or the other to want to see the death of another.


    Baal had offended a lot of demon dukes on his climb to power and a lot of other dukes have offended him too. They have all offended each other in one way or the other because the Lord of Chaos always had them fighting andpeting for everything. They have had to bottle up their enmity for each other because of the bonds of the family but that changes today.


    All their grievances will burst out uncontrobly if given the chance and this is their chance. This situation is a rare opportunity to get rid of their enemies and they will take it. Being backstabbed is a real threat that hasn''t changed. Demonsck unity. It hasn''t really been a problem because personal strength is all that matters but they need to unite now.


    Personal strength iscking here. It is just that the dukes won''t rally and work together because of their fear. To believe that demons can ovee their basic instincts and unite is foolish and naive. If not for the house system in the demon hierarchy, demons will be too divided to attack nes. Right now, it is apetition in their house and an Order from the lord of the house that is dividing them. What can ovee that and make them unite?


    Baal doesn''t have a solution. He was still wracking his brain when he saw one of Beelta''s tongues m into something invisible in the air. The invisible object bled a stream of dark blood before it became visible. It was a giant ck snake with gleaming scales and four dark bat wings.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "What is she doing? And why is she so small?" Baal asked in confusion.


    It was Xander. She was in the phantom world but was knocked out of it when Beelta''s tongue hit her from the real world. She was trying to sneak up on Beelta but she was foiled. It would seem that even the phantom world is not safe from the demon lord of gluttony''s tongue. She really can eat anything.


    Baal doesn''t know what Xander is doing. She suddenly appeared in the air after the tongue struck something he couldn''t see. What he found to be peculiar about her apart from her stealth is that her size has reduced in size. Shecks the pressure that her body should be releasing into the world. It is just odd.


    Demon dukes can change their size so it shouldn''t be a problem except that Baal feels something different about Xander because of her reduced size. She used to tower over him but she barely reaches his height right now. His sensitivity to mana is telling him that something is abnormal about Xander but he doesn''t know what it is.


    Xander didn''t give up after being exposed. She shot forward like a bolt towards Beelta. Baal shook his head as he watched. Her dedication to the hunt is admirable but it didn''t help her to outrun theshing tongues.


    Numerous tongues turned their attention to her and whipped at her. Xander''s body would have been carved apart as if she went through a blender before she could reach her target. Except that she turned into ck smoke the moment a tongue cut too deep into her.


    "What just happened?" Baal asked.


    He can''t figure out what is going on. He knows that Xander isn''t dead because the boost from the DIVINE HOUSE hasn''t been reduced. So did turning to smoke help her survive? Did she be intangible? Why didn''t she use it to bypass the tongues in the first ce? So many unknowns about Xander. She is a mystery to him.


    Then another Xander appeared in another direction just outside the range of the tongues. She shot forward again only to be foiled again. But she turned into smoke again.

 Chapter 503 Phantom Xander

    Baal didn''t have time to question her motive when Xander appeared again. His jaw ckened because two more Xanders appeared this time in two different directions.


    "There''s two of her? Are they twins? That will exin her hiding shenanigans."


    Three more appeared just as the previous two shot forward. Then four, five, six, seven, eight. Their numbers kept increasing and they kept attacking Beelta from different directions. They were all useless. They would turn to smoke once they were hurt by the tongues so they didn''t really matter.


    "What use is this? It will only worsen the situation."


    Baal got more perplexed the more he watched. He already understood that the Xanders he is seeing are clones but he doesn''t understand how throwing weak numbers at a being that gets stronger the more she eats will help. What they need is overwhelming strength from personal strength orbined power. The clones are useless no matter how numerous they are. You just can''t drown a giant with weak paper-thin ants.


    He chose to wait and see. He understood that there is a lot he doesn''t know about Xander and she had to have a reason for her actions. He just hasn''t seen the reason yet. He watched carefully and noticed that the range of the wind cyclone that the demon lord''s tongue produced had reduced after being pressured from all sides by the clones.


    He shouted at the demon dukes. "Attack. Everyone attack now."


    His shout roused the dukes who had been watching the spectacle. They began attacking again. His shout didn''t make them attack harder or try their best. It only made them attack again. Some did attack harder. But they did it because they were trying to sabotage Xander''s effort in killing the demon lord. They thought that Baal wanted them to stop her.


    If there is something that demons can cooperate on, it is to sabotage another demon. The cooperation of high-rank demons to hunt the Lord of Chaos is one such rare urrence of unity among demons.


    Their motives don''t matter as long as they attack. Arge amount of power mmed in Beelta''s direction. Some of them hit Xander''s clones but the clones didn''t offer much resistance. So the spells destroyed the clones then they continued onwards toward Beelta. She has to defend herself from the attacks. She turned her attention to the spells only for more clones to be produced. The clones continued to throw themselves at her through the gaps in the attacks.


    The demon duke''s attackspounded the sticky situation that Beelta is in. She can''t handle all the clones. That''s why she was being pushed back. That means she definitely won''t be able to amodate the attacks. Now she has to choose between the attacks that can do real harm to her weak body or the useless clones that will pop with a touch and cannot be eaten.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She chose to focus on the threatening attacks. It is the wrong decision. Then again, any decision will be the wrong one once you have to choose between two bad decisions. There is no way out for her in this situation. Beelta chose the greater evil so some of the clones slipped by her defense of tongues and came close to her body. Beelta came to realize that the fangs of the clones are very real and very painful when they bit into her.


    The fangs of the clones are like ck and sharp curved des. Each clone has six of them in their mouths. Three on each side of the mouth. Two on their lower jaw and four on their upper jaw. And all of them sank into her body when they made intimate contact with it. The contact was not pleasant in any way to Beelta.


    The fangs pierced into her weak body sending terrible pain through her. Each bite made her shiver involuntarily. Then the clones disappeared once they bit into her. They shrank and entered her body as venom through the holes that the fangs created. The space they left behind allowed more clones to have at her.


    Beeta has reached her limit in the number of tongues she could produce. Each maw is producing at least 3 tongues while thergest maw has produced 6. She can''t produce more unless one of them is destroyed. Her maws are also full of tongues so she couldn''t use them to bite the clones. She could do nothing as more and more clones bit into her.


    She steeled her eyes and yelled, "You have pushed me this time."


    There is something she can do that she hasn''t done since the days she was a struggling demon. It pains her to do but it is better than her desperate move. She withdrew all her tongues into her maws. Then she opened the maws wide and began regurgitating. The things she had swallowed were shot out of her countless maws in every direction.


    Giant fireballs flew out of her maw toward the demon dukes. Wind des and all sorts of attacks shot toward them en masse. It hurt her emotionally and physically to give up things that she had eaten but it hurt less than the bites from the clones. That''s why she made sure it will hurt the dukes more by empowering the things she ate to make them more powerful and more explosive.


    She only regurgitated attacks, not the body parts that she ate. It will take more than some painful bites to make her give those up. So various attacks flew away from her and exploded admidst the demon dukes. Arms and other body parts flew away after being forcefully liberated.


    Her attacks destroyed everything around her. Even the ground was cratered. The demon dukes had to retreat quickly to preserve their lives. At least 10 of them lost their lives because of the sudden bombardment. So Beelta was granted reprieve before she switched to swallowing attacks again. She swallowed the dead and injured demon dukes first before she turned her ever-hungry maws at them in search of more things to eat. It was very intimidating.

 Chapter 504 Loss Of Appetite.

    The exchange of attacks continued after that. The dukes returned and resumed their attacks. They made sure to maintain the pressure on her which allowed Xander to get her clones close enough for bites. But their effort was bringing less and fewer results. Beelta was killing more and more of them with her regurgitation.


    Beelta always regurgitates anytime she has been pressured too much. Her regurgitation seeded in taking the lives of 20 more demon dukes. It is too powerful. If they don''t pressure her then Xander will have no sess with her clones. But if they pressure her with attacks then she swallows them and uses them as ammunition against them.


    There was a time that she killed a lot of them even without regurgitating. She opened withdrew her tongues and widened her maws. They thought she was about to regurgitate. It''s what she does when she is about to regurgitate.


    They are battle-hardened demons so they know to watch for ticks and patterns in the movements of their enemies to predict attacks. They did the same to her. It was a subconscious action that will be considered impressive at any other time but it wasn''t this time around. Beelta pretended to regurgitate and they ran for it. If they dy then they will be caught by the fiery explosion.


    There was no fiery explosion this time. It was all silent as they turned their backs on her and ran. They didn''t hear any explosion at all. What they heard is the cry for help as Beelta concentrated on some dukes. Her tongues focused on them as they ran andtched onto them. Then she pulled the struggling demon dukes into her waiting maws.


    "That''s just cheating," Baalined with a pained expression.


    He wishes death on the demon dukes as much as any other normal demon but the amount of deaths is getting too much. They won''t be able to beat her at this rate. Her ability is already powerful enough. She had to resort to deceiving them to bully them again. Hisint went unresolved. Beelta didn''t give up on taking advantage of their cautious attitude. It made it difficult to gang up on her when she can easily send them running by opening her maws.


    The struggle continued. They pressured her and lost demon dukes with each attempt. Beelta switched between the two modes depending on the situation. The dukes couldn''t do anything to her and entered a losing struggle with her. She was about to eat the 40th demon duke when she suddenly stopped. Her body spasmed and she stepped back.


    She stumbled weakly. "What is happening to me?" She asked herself and everyone else in bewilderment.


    Something interrupted the all-you-can-eat buffet dinner party held in Beelta''s honor. She was weakening. She expected to remain the same in this situation. Having to cough up what she ate means she won''t be growing stronger from eating anymore. But she is weakening and she is weakening fast.


    She can feel a malignant force spreading through her body and destroying it from within it. This force is also destroying her appetite. It was enough to understand how bad things are. A demon of gluttony without an appetite is a very sick demon of gluttony.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She began to review everything that she has eaten recently and has happened to her. It didn''t take long to fixate on the root cause of her illness. She has only been sessfully attacked by a single method after all. Her body has been feeling quite funny since she was bitten by the phantom vipers.


    "What kind of venom is that?" She asked in agony.


    Her body feels like it is breaking apart and the culprit is the venom those clones injected into her. She hadn''t feared the venom because she can eat anything including any foreign object in her body. Her body is more like a vessel for her maws. So it is easy for her to rid herself of every venom or poison that enters it.


    She did the same to the venom of the clones. They were supposed to be hers and be digested but they refused to bend to her will. It reminds her of the energy that used to surround Aeternus. That type of energy burned her when she tried to inspect him with her divine sense. Now the burning is urring from within her and she can''t run away from it.


    The energy is running amok in her stomach and growing stronger every moment. The venom is using the other things in her stomach to strengthen itself and it is making her body reject her stomach. For the first time in her life, she feels like vomiting. It is a tragedy and a sign of doom for a demon of gluttony to feel inclined to expel what they have swallowed.


    "Oh no." She eximed before she regurgitated involuntarily.


    She began to vomit her guts out. It is not careful and ordered regurgitated way that she expelled things that she had swallowed. It is an uncontroble retching as her stomach sought to expel what was causing chaos within it. Her stomach had decided that it has had enough. It must expel the foreign object with or without her help.


    Waves of stuff poured out of her many maws in every direction. They were liquid and solids, attacks, and body parts. They did not return peacefully to the world from the abyss that is her bottomless stomach. They set off a wave of destruction in every direction.


    Baal''s eyes lit up at the sight. "Xander did something. It seems the demon lord has gone insane."


    He had to turn around and after seeing the sorry state that Beelta is in. The other dukes didn''t need anyone to tell them to run for their lives either. They ran and they ran far. Weird explosions took ce behind them. Rocks exploded as if they are fireballs. Liquids that came out of her mouth acted as fuel to boost the explosions. It was a destruction caused by chaos and mayhem.

 Chapter 505 The Offer.

    The cmity of forceful regurgitation continued for hours before it subsided. It was only then that the dukes felt it safe to return. Even then, they were very cautious as they returned. They were slow, alert, and watchful of any other attacks. It will not be strange if this is a battle move of the demon lord. She is a lying, scheming demoness. It is not beyond her to pull a stunt on them. Their caution was for naught.


    They found a red shadow standing in front of a thin demoness. The red shadow seemed to blend into the environment. It held a red scythe and was watching the demon groaning at its feet. If not for the light reflected on the ck de of the scythe, then the ck shadow would have been impossible to notice.


    All the dukes knelt down and bowed wordlessly. They don''t know how their Lord got past them but they know the red shadow has something to do with him. They can feel his aura and power from it. The red shadow looks unassuming unlike Beelta and her grotesque maws but the red shadow is more threatening. They can feel the sharpness of the scythe without touching it. It will break their souls if it touches them.


    The skinny demoness was still shaking and heaving. There are several ck patches all over her skin that are spreading and trying to corrode her from the inside out. Her maws were opening and closing still trying to wretch. Unfortunately for her, it is toote. The venom has rooted itself too deep in her body. There''s nothing more to vomit that can help her.


    She struggled to speak even with her divine sense. "I see that you have be a demon king."


    Her words came out slowly. She struggled to speak but she spoke with the confidence of someone that has nothing to lose.


    She asked him with a burst of mockingughter. "Have youe to gloat?"


    She can tell that this is an avatar and it has Aeternus''s energy signature. The avatar is not a sin avatar created with the help of an energy well since she is the demon lord. It also isn''t powerless like hers. She can''t even touch things with hers but this avatar can kill her. It means Aeternus is a demon king now.


    The specter observed her for a while before speaking.


    It asked her. "What do you think of my subordinates?"


    "Not bad." She answered curtly.


    She didn''t think they would be of any threat to her but she was wrong. She didn''t even think that Aeternus could be of any threat to her. She was wrong about that too. This clone alone could kill her in her most powerful state before her body was taken from her. So she had better say something good about his subordinates even if they don''t deserve it.


    The specter nodded at her words. "Yes, not bad. But they are not as good as you apparently."


    "It doesn''t matter." She would have shrugged if she could but her body isn''t listening to hermands right now. It is content with trying ineffectively to expel a venom that cannot be expelled by retching and spasming uncontrobly.


    The specter bent to her level. It said to her. "It matters to me. I have found you worthy. Swear fealty to me and be my subordinate."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They are demons. Just like there is no unity, there is no eternal hatred. Only benefits and power matter. Anything can be done for benefits as long as you have the power. Beelta is a talented demoness whose path has been cut short by the presence of a demon god. She tried to eat him so that she can grow stronger. Now she is dying at his feet.


    The irony is that she is experiencing the same pain he experienced when Chaos energy assaulted him as a fetus. She wanted to have his Chaos energy. Her wish ising true but she can''t handle it. Good things go to the strong. It is not because they deserve it but because they have the power to acquire it. She isn''t strong enough to withstand having Chaos energy within her body. How will she have survived if it warped her mark of sin and starts to consume her soul?


    She asked him. "Will it save my life?"


    That is what matters to her. Her life is the highest priority, not humiliation or pride. That is why she is considering bing the subordinate of someone she used to hunt and belittle in the past.


    The specter asked her. "Do you have any other choice?"


    She doesn''t have any choice. Xander did a number on her. The clones entered Her body and couldn''t be digested. She will surely die if she doesn''t take his offer.


    "Fine. I agree. I swear fealty to the Lord Of Chaos."


    The specter conjured a ck sphere. It doesn''t look like the normal chaos spark that shines from within. This one is more powerful and pitch ck. It also sent warning rms to whoever sees it. It is an ominous-looking thing.


    "What is that?" She asked in fear.


    "Don''t be afraid. ept it wholeheartedly. Only then can your full potential be unlocked."


    Beelta couldn''t move to escape despite her fear of the ck sphere. So she decided to listen to Aeternus and ept it as the sphere floated to her. Then it entered her body. The specter watched her closely with an intense gaze.


    Beelta groaned when the ck sphere entered her body. Her body began convulsing before she began shaking violently. Her reaction is worse than the violent retching caused by Xander''s venom. Her body is actively trying to reject the object but it is too strong for her so it is forcefully warping her body.


    "Is this supposed to happen?" She managed to ask through her pain.


    The specter answered calmly. "How am I supposed to know? If I knew then I wouldn''t need to test it on you."

 Chapter 506 Miscommunication.

    Beelta asked him if what is happening to her is normal. It is a very good question. Unfortunately, she is asking the wrong person. He doesn''t know. If he knew, he wouldn''te here looking for test subjects now, would he?


    He should take offense at her question. A more vtile demon king would smite her for such insolence. Fortunately for her, he is a calm-headed demon king that relies mostly on logic, careful observation, and analysis to make decisions. He can see that she is going through a lot of pain which might havepromised her mental faculties. So he won''t get mad at her.


    He would be a bully to punish someone that is mentallypromised for asking a question of ignorance. That''s his emotional reason for not killing her for her insolence. The logical reason is that killing her will rob him of the rare opportunity to study the effect of his unfinished good on a demon lord. So he continued to watch her as she groaned and spasmed.


    What he gave her isn''t the Chaos spark, it is "supposed" to be an upgrade on the Chaos spark. The key word is "supposed". It is in fact, not an upgrade. At least not yet it is not. That''s what Beelta''s current suffering is for. It is to contribute to thepletion of this "upgrade."


    He has made some progress in modifying some of his sin abilities. This chaos spark upgrade is just like this avatar upgrade that he created with the aid of the ck orb but he has not tested it yet on a demon Lord being. He can''t tell her if her reaction is normal or not because he has never done it before. This is an experiment for him in every way you look at it.


    Creating an upgrade for something that can empower demons is a tricky business. He had to experiment on mid-rank demons for him to modify the Chaos spark. The Chaos spark has reached its fullest potential now so he needs something more powerful if it is to remain relevant to him.


    As a demon king, he can create demon dukes without the Chaos spark. Every demon king can. But upgrading a demon king to greater heights of power is much more difficult. He needs willing candidates that he can sacrifice for the cause. So he needs test subjects.


    He is not willing to use his subordinates because they have more value than to be test subjects. He didn''t groom them by giving them resources and removing the weak ones just to use them as test subjects. This means he has to find other test subjects who are either willing or who will need to be coerced gently to be dedicated to the cause. Beeta is not the first test subject but she will be pleased to know that she is the most powerful one up to date.


    She underwent rapid physical changes as he watched her. Her body began to erge and warp. She increased in size but her maws erged faster than her body. They became enormous attachments to her body so it seems that she is more maw than a body.


    Strange growths began to appear too. Another arm or tongue, or the lone tooth appeared on the small part that is her body further increasing the burden on her. The ck sphere is supposed to make a demon duke/demon lord more powerful. It is not working apparently. Which to be honest, is not much of a surprise. He at least is not surprised by the oue and that''s what matters. Beelta, being the stick in the mud that she is, did not think so.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She shrieked, "You tricked me. You wanted to kill me."


    The specter answered honestly and with some mild indignation. "Now why would I do that? I can easily kill you if I want. I just wanted someone to test on."


    He honestly has no ulterior motive when he offered her the sphere. His intentions are as pure as theye. He wanted a powerful guinea pig to experiment on and that''s all he wanted from her. The fact that she believed otherwise is just her fault.


    He has been testing the ck sphere on some random demon nobles that he caught in the ne. Not every demon noble followed the demon lord on her dangerous wild goose chase. He found those demon nobles and convinced them to contribute to the cause. They agreed but they always explode. They die instead of evolving.


    It was a very disappointing result. He tried everything he could do but the oue doesn''t change even if they swear fealty to him. So he thought the ck sphere might be too strong for them. He decided to find a much stronger test subject and Beelta volunteered. She has no one to me but herself.


    She began to rant. "I won''t die without repercussions. You will pay for it if I die. I am protected. I can''t die..."


    He ignored her rantings but that didn''t discourage her. First, she threatened and warned him. Then she began to plead and make various promises. Then that devolved into iprehensible sounds of pain apanied by abominable changes to her body. He noted every change as he observed her intently. He did this all the while being calm and level-headed.


    Her body grew into a huge, round grotesque monster with multiple sets of eyes, maws, tongues, arms, and legs. She was crying in pain throughout the whole process. Then she became silent after 10 minutes. The pain and the chaotic changes finally broke her mind. She couldn''t feel pain anymore. In a way, she has died. Beelta is no more but her body continued with the gruesome changes. It took more than 30 minutes before her body had had enough.


    She didn''t die peacefully. Her body began to glow a dark light. It was ominous and it is also what the other demon nobles behave before they explode.

 Chapter 507 A Failed Experiment.

    Aeternus has seen that ominous glow several times. It happens after the body reaches its limit. The body needs to release the excess energy that is putting it in this unnatural state.


    The specter told the dukes. "You better leave now if you want to live."


    The dukes scrammed. The lord of chaos is not an emotional person. He allowed them to kill each other. Now he is telling them to leave now if they want to live. The seriousness of the situation cannot be more emphasized. Something extremely bad is sure to happen to them if they continue staying here. So they ran with all their might. They ran without looking back and as fast as they can go.


    Behind them, Beelta''s body suddenly copsed on itself to be arge ck sphere. It is the same sphere that entered her body except it is much bigger. The sphere expanded and initiated a massive explosion that rocked the ne. All of the dukes were caught in the edges of the explosion and suffered. Some of the dukes who were too slow died. That made their numbers be lesser than 60.


    The dukes returned after the explosion died down. They found the red specter still there. It is unharmed but it has grown smaller. It had expended some of its soul force in surviving the explosion. It could have escaped but Aeternus wanted to collect first-hand data on the performance of the sphere through it. The specter is also reducing rapidly as it used its soul force to sense the environment and the changes that urred.


    ''It is obviously a bust. Maybe I should just make it a grenade instead. I should stick to explosives. They are easier to do.''


    Any oue would have been alright. In fact, he has learned a lot from this failure than he would have gotten if he had seeded. He wanted to bypass the normal protocol in which only demon gods can grant Authority. He created the ck sphere just by thinking about creating something that can make demon lord beings more powerful. His system didn''t acknowledge the upgrade so he decided to have a real test.


    His failure has made him understand that he might be able to bypass rules but it might not work with others. It also confirmed Soverick''s hypothesis that the ck orb that they got from their near-death experience is not rted to Authority. If it were Authority, the clones should be able tobine their Authorities into something more powerful. He should also be able to grant Authority to his dukes.


    He has decided to develop the ck sphere as a grenade instead since it likes to explode so much. That''s how the other test subjects die. The ck sphere feeds on them and gets bigger. Then it explodes.


    The ck sphere can explode without using others to get bigger. It is just that the power of the explosion won''t be so high. That can change if he focuses on making it more powerful instead of trying to get it to make demon dukes evolve. It will be easy to do too. After all, destruction is always easier to do than creation.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Beelta''s death was not in vain. She may have joined the cause because of a slight mimunication that is totally her fault, but the undeniable truth is that she contributed something to him. Her death has inspired the production of explosives. He will give up on trying to force evolution on others unless he wants them to explode. It is the least he can do for Beelta. Let it not be said that the Lord Of Chaos is not a reasonable demon king.


    He spoke to the dukes. "Xander gets the credit for the kill of the demon lord. She is not to participate anymore. Thepetition hasn''t ended. It will end when a new demon lord is crowned. I''ll leave you to it. Do your best."


    Then the specter turned to ashes as it died. It has used up its entire store of Soul force.


    The demon dukes looked around at each other and began fighting. The demon lord is gone. Now they can face each other with their full attention. Most of them are tired from fighting Beelta. The ones who were able to conserve their resources will have an advantage over others.


    Baal smiled when the fight was about to begin. He smiled because he is one of the few who conserved most of their resources. He is also happy because Xander won''tpete with them anymore now that she has earned a spot as a Herald. That has reduced the number of avable spots but it also increased his chances of getting one.


    They quickly formed into groups. A group will support a single demon as it tries to bind the energy well. They will protect that demon and disrupt the other demon duke''s attempts at binding the energy well. It was a chaotic struggle.


    The fight will be less chaotic if Xander were participating. Every one of them will act of one mind and focus on eliminating her first. What they have seen of her has made her the highest on their priority kill list. They will do their uttermost to eliminate her because they can''t fight knowing that she can suddenly appear and kill them.


    Thepetition continued for a long while. The demon dukes formed alliances and broke them. They went back and forth tussling for the position of the demon lord. Aeternus watched them and gauged their performance and abilities. He is honestly disappointed by their performance against Beelta but they have an excuse. Their stats are not up to par with hers.


    His failure to create a means to upgrade his subordinates also means that he will have to be satisfied with what he has. He is most satisfied with Xander of all his subordinates. She is not the most powerful but she has special skill sets that set her apart from the others.

 Chapter 508 Xander The Demon Assassin.

    NAME: Xander.


    RACE: Chaotic Entity.


    BLOODLINE: Chaosling.


    DEMON RANK: Demon Duke.


    CHAOS RANK: Second Star.


    HEALTH: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    CHAOS ENERGY: 1,626,117


    ACCUMULATION: 4,013,993


    ATTACK RATING: Physique:935+925. Spirit:1071+1060. MAGIC:1071+1060.


    DEFENSE RATING: Physique:935+925. Spirit:935+925. MAGIC:935+925.


    :


    1. Dweller of the Shadow World(UNIQUE): ess to another dimension that is parallel to the main world. You can transverse through it and hide in it. While you can observe the main world from the shadow world without being observed, you cannot interact with the main world through the shadow world.


    2. Phantom of Darkness(UNIQUE): You are unable to be detected by divine sense only by sight when you''re in motion. If you''re still, then you can only be detected by touch.


    3. Inevitability of Chaos(DIVINE): Consume your prey and transform them into the power of chaos within a special pouch in your body. The power of chaos is capable of being umted. It can be used to attack and raise the state of existence to 17.


    4. Shadow Clones(UNIQUE): Create phantom avatars by projecting images of yourself from the phantom world into the main world. The avatars are vulnerable and will be destroyed by a single attack. They also have a limited attack of about 10% of the main body but you can create as much as your energy allows and as much as your mind can take.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    5. The Fatality of Chaos (UNIQUE): Create a deadly and elusive poison through the fusion of chaos energy and the stealth properties of the shadow world. The poison is lethal to every race apart from chaos entities. Death is inevitable to a non-chaos that is injected with this poison. Nothing short of its removal will save the entity. The effects are only a matter of time.


    6. Connection To The Lord(UNIQUE): You are capable ofmunicating with the Lord of your house through this connection and he to you through the connection. You are his eyes and hands. The Lord can see through your senses and assist you with his energy to perform the tasks he has given you.


    7. The Divine House: The lord of your house is not ordinary as such your house cannot be ordinary. You get a boost for being a subordinate of the house of chaos that is equal to the percentage of the cumtive power significance of all the subordinates in the house. Current Boost= 51%(UNIQUE)


    STATUS: ted.


    Xander experienced another evolution after she joined the house of Chaos. She was made to join thepetition among those that chose to join the house of chaos when Aeternus gathered them and forced them to fight. She survived thatpetition and sessfully evolved into a demon duke from a demon noble. Her evolution made her maintain her position as number 0 of the house of Chaos and it also granted her 2 more special abilities.


    She got three Godhood of greater gods as her reward from the previouspetition. She used one to level up all her stats to the half-divine rank and used the other two to level up her magical attack and her spirit to the peak of the half-divine rank. They are her two most important stats in light of her two new abilities. The Fatality of Chaos needs her chaotic power to be powerful to create a stronger poison while her Shadow Clones abilities need both spirit and magical power.


    The stronger her Chaos energy, the more powerful her clones will be. The more powerful her mind is the more clones she can have. Thebination of the Fatality of Chaos and Shadow Clones creates an underrated but deadly oue. The clones seem weak and will break at a touch but their poison is lethal even if it''s just 10% of the amount that the main body can inject.


    So a lot of clones will have to bite before they can do the same damage as a single attack from the main body but Xander doesn''t have to risk herself to do it. She can hide within her phantom world and project deadly clones to the world to do her bidding. The range of the clones is only limited by her mind. They can go as far as her mind can stretch them.


    He didn''t let her participate in the rest of thepetition because he doesn''t want to kill more demon dukes. Xander will be at a disadvantage because she can''t hide and bind the energy well to herself at the same time. That means she will be forced to eliminate threats before she tries to bind the energy well.


    Eliminating all the threats will be difficult and slow but it is highly possible for Xander to do. She will be able to poison all the other dukes just as she poisoned the demon king. All she needs is patience and dedication. The demon dukes will have a slip-up in their defense no matter how careful they are of her and she will be there to take advantage of it with her shadow clones.


    Xander has always beencking in attacking abilities and was more focused on stealth but that has changed with her two new abilities. She was able to use her clones to hunt the hidden vessels of the gods. That''s how she won the previouspetition. The gods didn''t bring out all their vessels for their fight with Aeternus. If they had, they would have lost them all with the liberation army.


    The gods kept some vessels hidden. It is not selfishness but preservation. They knew they were sending the liberation army to their deaths so they wanted to save some of their power. Xander found the vessels using her stealthy abilities. She bypassed defensive structures and surveince systems. It was very easy for her to do. Then she got to work when she found the vessels.


    All she needed was a single bite. Vessels may be powerful when they are possessed by gods but they are ordinary transcendents when they are not. They are mince meat to Xander who can take on a grand god.


    She would have been able to kill them even if they were possessed by their gods. It would have been difficult but she will seed. A single bite from her clone turned the vessels to ashes in their vulnerable state. She hunted vessels while the others were busy destroying churches. It is why her score is so much higher than Baal''s and the others.


    The demon lord is a tougher cookie than those vessels but she too went down at the end of the day. Xander''s venom brought her to her knees heaving and shaking. One bite would have been enough but the effect will be too slow. If Beelta heals faster than the venom could damage her then she will be able to live on in a bnce until something else pushes her system past its limit and the poison rears its ugly head. Unfortunately for her, the amount of venom that entered her body is way past her limit.

 Chapter 509 Multiple Domains.

    Back To Aeternus.


    "Xander will be a great Herald." He said to himself as he flew towards the divine ne.


    A lot has changed for Legion in this short while. They have learned a lot about the ck orbs but there is still so much that they don''t know. Fortunately, they now know what they need to do to learn more about the ck orbs.


    Helios has gleaned more information about the universe due to his new position. A star connected to a deepyer of thew matrix gets to know a lot of things that others don''t know and see things in a new way. Soverick''s eyes went awry as if on Steroids because of the ck orbs. It also allowed them toe to the result of what is needed to get control of the ck orbs and what they should call them.


    Soverick said to them. "The ck orbs are bottled-up power so we''ll call them Shards of power. We need to be able to bear the power and need to remove them from thew matrix of the void universe to do it. The only way to achieve the two is to be world gods."


    They need power before they can bear the responsibility of the shards of power or it will crush them. Origin gods can''t handle the full responsibility at all. Right now, the orbs have been assimted into their existence but it has also been annexed by the void universe. It means that the universe is bearing the burden of the ck orbs and it also means that their full potential will never be realized as long as it is part of thew matrix. The void universe will not allow the shards of power to disrupt itsws and cause more Chaos in its stability.


    They will need to create aw matrix of their own to carry it and it has to be a strongw matrix too or it will copse. This means that they have to be really strong world gods if they hope to control it fully. Till then, the orbs will continue to do their thing and asionally interfere with the stuff that they do. Like the Chaos that the dragon clone is causing in his home ne.


    It isn''t exactly the dragon Clone''s fault. An unexpected opportunity appeared for him as a dragon still within its egg and he took it. He can only be partially med for how it all turned out. His dragon ancestry is most to me for what happened. Being unable to control the shards of powere with advantages and disadvantages. They don''t have to bear the burden of the shards of power while they enjoy the effects. It is just like how the dragon ne is bearing the burden of what the dragon clone did.


    The other legions are making progress in their own ways. The tree father discovered that the restrictive powers of a god''s domain have loosened on him. He has lost his divine me after it was reced by the ck orb. The ck orb is not restrictive about the type of faith that can enter it for refinement and processing which means the tree father can have more than one domain.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    A god cannot have more than one domain. They have a single domain that defines them and represents their identity. To have more than a domain is to have multiple identities and personalities. It is not done nor is it rmended.


    Celestials can absorb and fusepatible domains. It is how they grow stronger but they can not use another domain or the abilities that belong to it unless it has fused together with their identities. The requirement forpatibility before domains can be fused will eventually frustrate the growth of a Celestial. So a Celestial can not reach the maximum potential it can reach and will remain stuck as a Celestial.


    It is believed that the requirement for domain fusion is the reason why Celestials don''t have a future. No Celestial is fluid enough to bepatible with enough domains needed for them to reach the threshold necessary for further evolution. Origin gods can grow stronger and evolve into world gods but the future path of Celestials has never been explored. It could either be because the future path doesn''t exist or no Celestial has ever reached it.


    The tree father has defied the limits of gods by being capable of having more than a single domain. This mutation in the natural order of the world will allow the tree father to grow stronger without killing other Celestials. He can create a new domain by adding more to his identity or creating another identity. It is fortunate considering that there are no other gods in the Zargoth ne apart from the tree father and the unkible God of fate. There are no other Celestials to kill and absorb in the Zargoth ne.


    The tree father is not the tree in the Zargoth ne. That tree is just one of its avatars. It has other avatars in other nes. All these avatars have been limited to the use of the life domain and divine life energy. That is the only domain that the tree father could use. But now the tree father can create avatars with different domains so that the main body can grow.


    It is a great ability to be able to use two different domains but it is also dangerous. The tree father still needs to pay attention to thepatibility of domains to n for the fusion of domains. This will prevent an unfortunate sh of ipatible identities. They have learned that the fact that they can do something doesn''t mean that they should. It might not turn out the way they want and it might have unexpected repercussions.


    For example, creating an upgrade on Chaos spark that is supposed to make demon dukes and demon lords stronger. That experience taught him to be careful with what he wishes for.

 Chapter 510 Unlimited Copying Vs Copying From Memory.

    He tried to create a way for demon dukes to evolve and grow stronger but he got a promising explosive device. Instead of bypassing the requirement for Authority and allowing the evolution of demon dukes, the upgrade empowers the body of the demon dukes with unstable energy and puts them in a state too powerful for their state of existence to handle. They end up exploding. It is a lesson that the rules, limitations, and restrictions are there for a reason.


    The tree father is being careful in using its avatar here in the Zargoth ne to try to acquire another domain. It has decided on the domain of order and the sun. Those domains are open for the taking now that there is no god with them. The best thing is that the Tree father doesn''t need to start afresh with a new church. It already has believers and can just add another title to its name. So it became the God of Life, Order, and Sun.


    It chose those two domains because it can only maintain 3 separate domains despite the unlimited amount that the ck orb can allow. It is partly due to the suppression of thew matrix and the inability of the tree father to withstand the soul burden of more than 3 domains.


    Thew matrix of the void universe cannot stop the shard of power from being able to handle unlimited domains, but it can increase the burden of each subsequent domain. There is an exponential increase in the burden of domains as more and more are added to them. 3 domains are the current limit of this avatar of the tree father. Going further is inefficient.


    It is better to let the other avatar have more domains than to force this avatar to take another domain. If all the other avatars have just 2, then they will have more domains for less burden than forcing a single avatar to have 4 domains.


    Legion thought really carefully about the selection of domains. The three domains of Life, Order, and, Sun are verypatible and can be fused. The domain of the sun can benefit from the energy of Helios. With Helios''s help, the tree father can control the heat from the sun that reaches them and they can create powerful artificial stars if they need it. The artificial stars will be named Death Stars because they will be used as weapons.


    Helios and the tree father are also coborating on an alternative path of refinement for the giants of order. It is based on their runes and the original divine power engine that they created. It is why the tree father selected Order instead of Power and Might. The divine power engine has been changed to the demon power engine because there are no gods but there are plenty of demons. Beelta''s old body is still very useful for their research even after her death.


    Giants of Order can''t progress beyond transcendents. The alternative path aims to bypass the restriction of order on their body and enable them to evolve. The idea is to use thew fragments on their body to create a prison-like engine that will siphon the power of demons. So giants might not be able to evolve but they will be able to use the power of demons that they have captured within their prison.


    Technically, a transcendent giant of order can have the power of a demon Lord which is the equivalent of a titan ofw and a grand god, if they sessfully bind a demon Lord to their prison engine. This will enable giants of order to be relevant once the era of conquest starts.


    Legion is not doing it out of charity. They are doing it to get stronger foot soldiers. They control the ne now and can do anything they want with it. So they are just improving the quality of their tools. That''s why the rune for the prison engine is going to go to contain a lot of control and sabotage mechanisms to ensure loyalty to Legion.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The alternative path of power is Helios''s and the tree father''s project. As for him, he is on his way to see if he can hurt the new celestial supreme. He is currently flying up in the sky to meet the Celestial supreme. He has some new toys since thest time they faced off that he is hoping to test out.


    A lot has happened to him since the creation of THE WILL OF THE KING. He sent his avatars around while he remained busy modifying his sin abilities. He is about to leave the ne permanently but he wants to test his new abilities before he goes. He has some new abilities that have been officially recognized by his mark of sin. He receives a notification when it happens so he knows he has created something orthodox instead of the abomination that is the so-called upgrade of the Chaos spark.


    #(ERROR: YOUR MARK OF SIN HAS BEEN MODIFIED)


    #(THE POWER OF ENVY HAS CHANGED)


    #(CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR ABILITY THE POWER OF ENVY HAS EVOLVED)


    #(THE POWER OF ENVY: Make copies of any magical ability or skill that you see and have seen at higher power)


    First, there is the change to his very first mark of sin. It was easy to change and he could have done it on his own because the change he wanted was easy. His shard of power made the change quicker. The original POWER OF ENVY could make only three copies of an attack. He removed the limit on it. It was easy to do and he could have done it on his own.


    What wasn''t easy to do is removing the limitation of activation on sight. The former ability needed him to see the attack before copying it but now he can just use his memory to copy an attack that he has seen before. It is Unlimited Copying Vs Copying From Memory.

 Chapter 511 Difficult And Redundant = Useless.

    That means he can copy an attack he has seen before without needing to see it again. He needed the help of his Shard of power to do that but the result is underwhelming. Copying from memory is redundant if he has unlimited copying. He doesn''t need to copy from memory as long as he has unlimited copies of the ability.


    Unlimited copying and copying from memory are wonderful on their own but wasteful together. He can do one on his own while the other one needs the interference of his shard of power to do because it should be impossible. It should be impossible to copy an ability he has seen in the past since his mark of sin won''t be able to activate in real-time to copy it. Now he can have a simted activation of his mark of sin but what use is it if he can make unlimited copies? He wouldn''t need to copy from the past anymore if he already has unlimited copies.


    It is another lesson in that bending the rules of possibility isn''t always necessary. There might be an easier way within the realms of possibility that is better. Unlimited copying beats copying from the past. It is easier to do and it saves both energy and power. Copying from memory is difficult to do and reduntant, therefore it is useless.


    #(ERROR: YOUR MARK OF SIN HAS BEEN MODIFIED)


    #(THE SPITE OF ENVY HAS CHANGED)


    #(ERROR! YOUR ABILITY THE SPITE OF ENVY HAS COLLAPSED)


    #(YOUR MARK OF SIN HAS BEEN COMPROMISED)


    #(CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR ABILITY THE SPITE OF ENVY HAS EVOLVED INTO THE SHIELD OF CHAOTIC ENVY AND THE SPEAR OF CHAOTIC ENVY)


    #(THE SHIELD OF CHAOTIC ENVY: Able to block any attack be it Magical, Spiritual, Physical, or abination of them)


    #(THE SPEAR OF CHAOTIC ENVY: Able to damage anything be it a Magical, Spiritual, Physical, or Phantom entity)


    The second addition to the repertoire of sin abilities is the splitting of the second sin ability he acquired as a demon. It is the result of his intentional attempt to engineer a sin ability that can hurt the god of fate. The Spite Of Envy could only reflect all types of magical, physical, and spiritual attacks but now he can both block any type of attack and attack any type of entity.


    The change was very dangerous. His mark of sin was at a heavy risk of copsing and his path to bing a demon god was almost cut off. He can''t be a demon god with apromised mark of sin. Fortunately, his shard of power helped him finish the changes before his mark of sin copsed.


    He learned then to curb the usage of the shards of power. Sometimes, being able to bend the rules doesn''t mean it should be done. The oue might be disastrous and not worth it. It is a lesson in caution especially since he can''t fully control the shard of power. It responds to his will but the oue is unpredictable.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He can ask anything of the shard of power and it will be done be it a reasonable request or not. But the results will be heavily skewed. Thew matrix of the universe will give him what he wants in a way that doesn''t damage the universe. So he might be in for a nasty surprise if he isn''t careful.


    Nextes what he is most excited about.


    LAW OF CHAOS:


    1. Comprehension: 0.00001%


    2. Fusion: 18.75%


    It showed up in his status after he became able toprehend thew of Chaos. Demons can''t learnws but he could use thews that others haveprehended within his soul because, unlike Order, Chaos is weing to change. But he has not been able to learn thew of Chaos because his mark of sin always interferes with thew matrix and prevents connection tows. This interference is why demons can''tprehendws.


    It was a shame too since he is the only one that can learn thew of Chaos. Thew of Chaos is very rare like thew of order. The others are not in contact with it like him. His inability to learn thew of Chaos changed when the shard of power stopped the interference of his mark of sin. Now he can use his affinity and connection to Chaos through chaos energy with a little help from his shard of power toprehend thew of Chaos.


    It is good news because he won''t have a problem with Chaos energy ever going out of control once he has fullyprehended it. He will be a king of Chaos just like Helios is a king of thew of fire. The control he will gain over Chaos will make his fusion with Chaos easy in order for him to be a demon god.


    His path to demon god is clear. All he needs is a full understanding of his mark of sin, theplete level 10 Authority of a demon king, and fullprehension of thew of Chaos then he will be a demon god, the peak of the demon hierarchy.


    His current fusion rate is solely a result of what he did to his soul as a demon fetus tobat the corruption of chaos energy. He had tobine 3ws and yet what he got is a fusion rate of 18.75%. That is not a good score. He has been walking on thin ice all along, controlling chaos energy with his mark of sin and powerful soul.


    He even thought he had perfect control of Chaos because of the authority that was granted to him by the will of the abyss. He would have been blindsided, caught unawares when the remaining 81.75%es to bite him as he tries to be a demon god. Now he knows what he is up against and he can prepare better for it.


    "Now, let''s see what this immunity is about." He said as he entered the divine ne.

 Chapter 512 Small But Mighty Demon King.

    Aeternus doesn''t n to kill the Celestial supreme on this trip to the divine ne. He has more modest objectives. A lot has changed since theyst met, he is here to see if the changes that Legion has undergone will affect the Celestial Supreme in any way.


    He is the only one that can do it since Helios is no more in the ne and the tree father''s avatar can''t move. He will just collect some data on the god of fate for Legion and be on his way.


    He found the Celestial Supreme sitting above the divine city. The god of fate has numerous screens opened and showing various scenes of the mortal realm. He is content with sitting and watching the events of the ne without interfering whatsoever.


    The god of fate asked him without turning to look at him. "I noticed that the officers of your army are returning to the abyss. It seems your job on this ne is done. Are you here to say goodbye?"


    Aeternus had ordered his army to return to the abyss. Some mid-rank demons are still entering the ne but every high-rank demon and above has returned to the abyss. Aeternus ns to finish his work here before returning to the abyss. He needs Celestial Authorities to grow stronger and the Godhood of a Celestial to form his domain. Zargoth ne can''t give him any of that. So he will leave and attack other nes.


    Aeternus replied curtly. "I''m not here to say goodbye."


    The god of fate waved his hand. The screens and his chair disappeared. He stood in his full glory before Aeternus and was looking down on him. It didn''t help that he towered over Aeternus. Aeternus''s height is a problem that just keeps rearing its ugly head.


    The god of fate sighed. "I suspected as much."


    He squatted but he is still taller than Aeternus. Their height isn''t even close.


    The god of fate pointed at him. "You have changed. Did you know that?"


    "I do."


    "That Helios boy became a real star. I didn''t see thating. I mean, I couldn''t see your future before but I could predict it by the footprints you leave behind. But now, I can see your future and it is endless. Some of what I have seen are so ridiculous and unbelievable that I thought I was going mad. Can you imagine that?"


    Aeternus shook his head. "I can''t imagine it."


    He used his POWER OF ENVY as he spoke. He couldn''t use it thest time because he was here as an avatar. His mark of sin activated but it didn''t get anything from the god of fate. He tried it again and again but there seems to be nothing to copy.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He can''t copy anything even now with his main body no matter how much he tried. It is like he is looking into a mirage or a mirror. There''s nothing to copy but there''s obviously something there. Even his shard of power is not helping.


    Meanwhile, his opponent is unaware of what he is doing. The god of fate considered his answer skeptically. He asked Aeternus, "I''m sure you can''t imagine what I am going through. So have you undergone any change too? Is that why you want to challenge me again?"


    Aeternus shrugged. "I just want to test myself against you. I wasn''t here with my bodyst time. You ensured that by adding that extra Authority."


    He refused to speak about the change. The two of them aren''t friends. To call them enemies will be an understatement. There''s no need to talk about important matters between them no matter how harmless it seems. This is doubly true especially when the person you are talking to is a confirmed maniptor.


    The god of fate might have been lying about a lot of things and he won''t know. There''s no way for him to tell if the god of fate is lying so there''s no way he can trust anything thates out of this god''s mouth. Even then, he wouldn''t speak about important things with the god of fate even if they were friends. So he will not give the god of fate a worthy reply.


    The god of fate smiled. Then he stood up and spread his arms wide open. He said to Aeternus. "Take your best shot O small but mighty demon king."


    The golden mes in Aeternus''s eye sockets zed. He became angry at the taunt. If the god of fate wants to role him up then he has seeded. He is very riled up right now. He can change is height but he doesn''t want to. His power should make people respect him not his height. As for those that call him short, then he will help them shave off some of their height so that they can be of equal height.


    ''I hope this does something.'' he thought to himself and Legion.


    He had little expectations for this encounter before he came here but now he wants to make the god of fate lose the smug smile on his face.


    ''I don''t even want to main him. A small scar on his face will be enough for me.''


    His expectations are still low. He just wants something that will make the god of fate look less charming when he smiles. A small blemish in that otherwise perfect face is enough to pacify him for being called short.


    His ymore appeared in his hand. He activated the SPEAR OF ENVY and swung his ymore with vigor. A giant de of chaos mes flew towards the god of fate. Aeternus watched with anticipation to see the result. The SPEAR OF ENVY is supposed to make his attacks capable of hitting any type of entity be it physical, spiritual, magical, or abination of them. So he has a lot of expectations for this sin ability that almost copsed his mark of sin to create.

 Chapter 513 The Ties Of Karma.

    The ck de of chaos streaked through the air and flew toward the god of fate. It is pitch ck and seems to absorb light. It looks like a tear in space where void energy is pouring through into the ne. It looks very dangerous but the god of fate didn''t move.


    He still had his arms spread wide and beckoning for an attack. He didn''t seem worried at all that the de of chaos was approaching him. He should be worried since the de of chaos is more than 100m long. It is as tall as the god of fate in this form.


    The de flew and hit its target. Then it went through the god of fate and continued on until it disappeared far into the distance. His attack, though impressive looking, did nothing. There is just nothing to hit.


    The god fate smirked and asked. "Satisfied?"


    Aeternus huffed indignantly. He answered gruffly, "Not nearly."


    He is not satisfied at all. Soverick postted that their attacks might have produced an effect but it is too small to be noticed. He said that repetition should make any effect observable if there is any effect at all.


    So he won''t give up yet. The fact that he can''t see any effect doesn''t mean there isn''t any effect.


    He swung his ymore again and produced the death reaper. The ck entity with a scythe appeared and proimed death but the god of fate wasn''t marked. The attack couldn''t find him either. That was a bust too. It didn''t work but he didn''t give up.


    He pumped chaos energy into a giant cloud around him. The ck cloud spread far and covered the god of fate. He expected to see something when the god of fate is submerged within a close of corrosive Chaos energy. He was disappointed again. It did nothing to the god of fate. In fact, the cloud upied the space the god of fate should be in.


    Aeternus tried to will the shard of power to hurt the god of fate but it changed nothing. There''s just nothing to hurt. It''s like trying to grab hold of a mirage. What he is seeing is a trick of the light and nothing more. The god of fate is somewhere he cannot grasp or fathom or make contact with. All his


    The god fate smiled genially. He shook his head in pity and said, "There''s nothing you can do to me. You are wasting your time and mine. We have no karma. You contributed to the death of Zernon and I was magnanimous to give you the mortal realm for your contribution. You helped me and I helped you. There''s nothing beyond that. Our score is even. Why don''t you just let me return to my life of peace and quiet."


    A spark went off in Aeternus''s mind and he got the beginnings of an idea. It is not a light bulb or a full idea but he got something important from the teasing. He withdrew his Chaos energy and ruminated on the idea.


    He was muttering to himself again and again. "Karma. Karma. Karma."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The way the god of fate phrased it made him realize why he couldn''t harm him. They don''t have a connection. There''s nothing that binds them and Aeternus has no hold over him. Without a hold or a connection, he can nevere into contact with the real god of fate. So Aeternus began to review their interactions for a connection. The idea formed fully in his mind.


    He pointed usatively at the god of fate. "We have karma. You attacked me."


    The god of fateughedcently. He wagged his fingers at Aeternus. "Now, don''t go making false usations. I didn''t attack you. You came to me."


    It was Aeternus that came to try his luck and he didn''t attack. He was just watching the mortal realm in peace when Aeternus came to him. It is his favorite pastime. He didn''t attack Aeternus because he can''t and he has never attacked anyone since he became the god of fate.


    Aeternus shook his head. "Not now. Before. You attacked me before."


    The god of fate got an ominous feeling immediately. His future was full of possibilities but it is beginning to narrow down. Some futures are being cut off right now. Whatever Aeternus is on to can affect his future which means it can affect him.


    He hurriedly exined. "I have never attacked you. I have only been involved with your attack once. I may have created the Godyer and added an extra Authority but I didn''t pull the trigger. I was a part of it but the god yer is no more. You destroyed itpletely. The other gods involved with it are either dead or are your partners. I paid you for your efforts. So all the lines of karma have been cut off. We are not bound in any way."


    His exnation was to dissuade Aeternus and to ascertain theck of Karma. Either one will be okay but it didn''t work. The dwindling of his future increased sharply until there is just one future. In that future, he is on his knees begging Aeternus. That is the only possible way out for him.


    The god of fate dropped to his knees immediately and begged. "What do you want? I''ll give you anything as long as you forgo this karma. Anything at all."


    There''s only one thing he holds in the highest esteem and that is his life. It is not his pride or self-respect. He willingly subjected himself to exile by making an oath of non-interference with Zernon. If it will guarantee his life, he will beg and suffer patiently.


    Aeternus chuckled evilly. "I have got you now."


    He has figured out how to kill the god of fate and there''s nothing that can stop him from doing it. The god of fate used Legion and made a fool out of them. It seems it is time for the god of fate to pay the piper.

 Chapter 514 Karma Is A Bitch.

    There is a logical reason why the god of fate should be killed apart from the unforgivable hatred between them. Killing the god of fate will grant Legion total control of the Zargoth ne. So it is highly beneficial to see the current Celestial dead.


    Aeternus''s determination to kill the god of fate sealed his fate. Even that single future disappeared after Aeternus spoke. The future vision of the god of fate showed nothing but darkness after Aeternus made up his mind to do the deed. The god of fate has gone from having numerous futures to having none at all.


    The god of fateid down t on the ground and sighed. "Just get it over with." He murmured.


    Aeternus was perplexed. He asked. "Aren''t you going to run or defend yourself? Stand up and fight."


    "It''s no use. I''m doomed."


    He doesn''t know how he will die but he has seen that he will die and he has epted his future. So hey on the ground waiting for his death. He can see no way out of this so he will do nothing. His belief in the certainty of his visions of the future has made him give up without resistance.


    Aeternus''s face would have scowled if his crystal skin were flexible enough. He has gotten a way to kill the god of fate but his anger and bitterness have only increased. The god of fate intends to rob him of the joy of killing him. Killing the god of fate now without any resistance will be no different from killing a very powerful vegetable.


    That wouldn''t stop him though. He red at his very willing enemy as he swung his ymore. This time, a ck skull with five horns came out. The skull cackled madly before locking on to the unmoving god of fate and flying to him. The god of fate didn''t move at all and was consumed by the skull. There was a veryrge explosion. It created shockwaves throughout the divine ne. A towering pir of darkness rose from the point of the explosion and spread outwards.


    It took a while for the pir to disperse. When it did, arge white shiny core and a golden core appeared in the location of the god of fate. It signifies the death of the god of fate. Therge white core is the Authority of The Celestial Supreme and the other is his Godhood. These two loots are very precious but Aeternus is not happy. In fact, he is filled with more bitterness.


    He expected the god of fate to move when his moment of death actually came. Aeternus didn''t expect him to be so resigned to his fate. He was waiting to see the god of fate jump up to defend itself in the face of death. Who can see deathing and do nothing? Apparently, the god of fate can.


    He cursed at his dead foe. "Foolish guy. He could have struggled a bit."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Any clone of Legion would have struggled in the face of certain death. They believe it is not death if you''re still alive and it is not certain until it has happened. The god of fate believed otherwise. He didn''t struggle at all. His struggle would have been futile and useless. Yet, it would have been entertaining.


    There''s no way he can survive a full blow from an attack with five different Authorities. Even if he did, Aeternus has more waiting for him. But he should have tried if only to give Aeternus the satisfaction of killing him. But he chose to rob Aeternus of that pleasure.


    The god of fate thought he had erased all the karma between them. He was right but Aeternus has changed. He became able to dig up the past so he can recreate a particr attack with a lot of ties to the god of fate. That attack also has the god of fate''s authority and the Authority of the Celestial Supreme within it. They ensured a connection and a lock-on to the god of fate. He couldn''t have escaped his fate no matter how he tried.


    Aeternus muttered as he grabbed the two loot. "Karma is a bitch."


    Karma is never straightforward at most times. Action produces equal and opposite reactions. In this world, action can create a muchrger reaction and the reaction itself can create ripples that spread and affect future events. Karma will try to screw you over even if you take care of the immediate reaction. But one thing is certain, once you have settled karma, then it can''t do anything to you anymore. That''s how it has always been. Never before has karma been dug up from the past.


    The ability to copy past attacks was deemed redundant. It turns out that it is a good tool to dig up long-buried hatchets and ask for reparations twice. The god of fate settled the first round of Karma but he wasn''t rich enough to afford the second round of settlement. Maybe he was. After all, Aeternus wanted his life and he gave it. So he did pay up.


    Aeternus shook his head and returned to the tree father. He dropped the Celestial Authority to the tree father and left the ne with the Godhood of the god of fate. The Godhood of fate is not important to the tree father as much as the Authority of the Celestial Supreme.


    Besides, fate might have a nasty consequence on the tree father. It might enforce some rules such as non-interference on the tree father. The tree father doesn''t want to have to sequester himself away from the world all for partial immunity when it has been proved that strength remains supreme.


    The tree father can''t take another Godhood right now and Aeternus needs one for the creation of his ne in the abyss. So they split the loot and he resumed his journey to wage war on other nes. Other nes will have the pleasure to rue the day they met the short but mighty demon king.

 Chapter 515 Legion-9.

    Aeternus threw therge white core shining like a star at the tree father then he went in his way. A vine snapped the core out of the air and brought it to therge tree. Then the core was absorbed by the tree father. The avatar of the tree father didn''t glow after absorbing the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. It didn''t glow because it didn''t be the Celestial Supreme. It is just an avatar. Instead, the Authority went to the main body. The main body of the tree father is in a small world within a world beast.


    THE TREE FATHER.


    There is a world beast roaming the void outside of the realm tree of the high heaven realm. This world beast is as unassuming as any other world beast that one encounters in the void. It is asrge as half a ne but that is normal for a world beast that is also at the origin god rank.


    The inner world of this world beast is also normal. It is andscape of base sand on a continent floating in an ocean of water. Outside the world is the raging current of energy that is contained within the origin of any being. If there is something odd, it will be the presence of two beings inside this inner world instead of one.


    These two beings are working on what seems like a core of energy and matter. This core seems like an iplete gem. It has many sides which have arcane runes on them and it has some sides which are absent and hollow. This core is not odd to have within the inner world of a world beast. It is just the core of a death star. That''s normal depending on who you ask. A world beast can work on weapons of mass destruction in their past time. It is the fact that there are two beings in this inner world that is weird.


    One of these beings is a young humanoid that looks like an elf. This elf is working on the core of the death star with the other being in the inner world. The elf has green skin and green eyes. Even his hair is made of leaves and flowers. There are some patches on the skin made of tree bark. The elf also has a long pointed ear.


    The other being in the small world looks like a hideous ck reptilian monster. It looks like a muscr and upright crocodile except that the jaws aren''t drawn out and elongated. There are thick and nearly arranged ckish-purple scales on the body of this entity.


    Now, two or more people can work on a death star. That isn''t weird at all. But there shouldn''t be two people within the inner world of a world beast. They should be ground down and converted to energy. It ismon knowledge that whatever enters a world beast has difficulty keeping itself together.


    So this elf has found a way to maintain the integrity of their existence and exist within this inner world. It is not feeling any pain whatsoever as the two of them are working in harmony and tandem to build what will be the core of the death star. The elf can even engage in light banter.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The green elf said to the other one. "What a way to die. Having your ugly past rear its head at you. The immunity of the god of fate is pretty good. It would have been impossible to kill him if Aeternus had not cheated."


    The reptilian monster grinned and replied. "This is just the tip of the iceberg of what the shards of power can do. I am looking forward to its full glory."


    The grin of this monster is not pretty. The ck obsidian teeth disyed only made the ckish-purple monster seem more monstrous. There are also the six eyes with ck pupils and purple sclera that gleamed dangerously. The monster looks like a beast from a nightmare.


    The elf is the main body of the tree father while the monster is Legion-1. Legion-9 woke up a few years after Soverick became the child of the realm. It was almost 60 years after the reincarnation operation but it is thousands of years earlier than expected for it to wake up. The supply of infinite origin energy boosted its awakening and shortened the time needed for it to awaken. He transformed from arge tree to an elf form to move around easily.


    The tree father was a weird god even before the shard of power came into y. He became a god within the small inner world, not in some ne like some other gods. It meant that he didn''t get the bestowal of a divine kingdom, domain, and divine energy needed to be a Celestial. So it had to make do with the entire small world as its divine kingdom.


    It got permission from Legion-1 instead of the divine ne to make this inner world his domain. Since there was no Celestial Authority here, there was no divine energy either. It had to make do with Origin essence for its transformation. Legion-1 gave him as much Origin essence as he needed to ascend.


    It sounds like all bad things for a god. If not for the fact that Legion-9 used the Godhood of a Celestial then it wouldn''t have been able to ascend at all. And if it didn''t have an Origin soul, then the origin essence would have been a waste on it. So the situation was very bad for a god to be in but it wasn''t bad for Legion-9.


    The situation was unprecedented to say the least. Celestials aren''t meant to use Origin essence to break through just like they aren''t supposed to have an origin soul. They certainly aren''t supposed to be a Life tree with the ability to transform energy either. There were a lot of weird circumstances that ended in the creation of a Celestial Hybrid. At least that''s what Legion calls him Legion-9.

 Chapter 516 Celestial Hybrid.

    A Celestial Hybrid is like most Celestials in a lot of ways. They have Authority and need faith to create divine energy and advance their domains except that Celestial Hybrids have a unique divine energy. The tree father has the divine life energy that is strong enough to resurrect a mortal and create transcendents from ordinary trees.


    The tree father can also spread its seeds as a life tree does. The original life tree was the body of the high elf ancestor. The other avatars are from its seeds. The seeds of the tree father grow into his avatar instead of new life trees because Life trees can create seeds and gods can have avatars. The fusion of these two abilities brought about the avatars.


    All of these confused the will of the divine ne of the Zargoth when it sensed the avatar. Gods aren''t supposed to be able to move out of their ne either in their main body or through avatars unless they are attending the trial of heaven. The tree father''s avatar broke that normal condition. It helped the tree father to move around since it can''t leave the inner world of the world beast.


    The green elf can''t leave the inner world. It is bound to the inner world and has be one with it so it cannot leave it but its seeds can. The weirdness of the situation made the divine will of the Zargoth ne unable to determine what exactly the Avatar is. That helped to give the tree father''s avatar time to prepare or Zernon will havee after it immediately after he sensed a new Celestial.


    If the avatar had been fully recognized as a Celestial then the events that made the Zargoth ne fall under the control of Legion wouldn''t have happened. Zernon would have sent his inquisitors and punishers. They would have attacked the giant tree from every direction.


    Instead of a heroic quest, Zernon would have called for a world war. The avatar would be at a disadvantage since it can''t move and it would have eventually been destroyed despite its ability to create transcendents. The avatar of tree father can''t face off against the entire pantheon so it will be doomed since it can''t run away.


    The tree father would have survived at the end of the day. They can kill his avatar but they can''t stop him from trying again. He can also send more than one avatar to the ne and divide their forces. The only constraint that the tree father faces to the production of avatar is Origin essence. He also needs divine energy to produce divine life energy. But those things can be gotten in time and in time the tree father will eventually ground down the resistance it will face.


    It will be a bloodbath but the tree father will eventually infiltrate the Zargoth ne. It is just that Legion would have lost the element of surprise which will hamper their ns severely. For one, the church of Life won''t be able to grow and flourish in the short time it did due to the persecution that the believers will be facing. It will get worse if the tree father isbeled an evil god. It will make it very difficult for the church of life to take root within the ne.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Theck of secrecy will also make Zernon take any anomaly seriously. He will never allow Helios to open the portal to the abyss. He will use everything he has very early including the Godyer. It might also make friends with the god of fate to protect the ne. An entirely different story would have yed out had the presence of the tree father been known right from the start.


    It is not pure spection because the invasion of nes is not an isted situation. Zargoth ne is not the only ne that Legion-1 spread the seeds of Legion-9 to. The tree father faces different kinds and varying levels of opposition. Some Celestial Supremes kill other Celestials for various reasons. It could be because of power or the need to secure their seat of power.


    Some other nes are divided into different warring pantheons. They are not united like the Zargoth ne and they don''t all follow one leader. There are several factions with several Celestials in the ne. Some of the factions will dly ept a new celestial into their fold, unlike others that will kill any new celestials so that their religion won''t have muchpetition.


    But most nes were hostile to the tree father. They have a problem dealing with the fact that he just sprang up from nowhere. Something about hisck of a past makes other gods suspicious of him. It caused the tree father to be discriminated against and viewed as an outsider.


    There''s also the problem that he can''t move. He is in the mortal realm and he can''t escape. The avatars are not hidden in a divine kingdom. They are in a forest that is easily essible to everyone. That''s why his forest in other nes became the destination for heroes and demigods that want to kill him for his Godhood.


    The tree father has seen a lot of things through its avatars and has made some progress in the other nes but it is only from the Zargoth ne that one of its avatars can be the only god and horde all the faith to itself. It is not arge amount because of the small poption of giants of order and the other races but it is a monopoly nheless. The poption will also increase now that mana is saturating the ne.


    Even more important than the sole godship of the ne is the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. Zargoth ne is the only ne that the tree father has a shot at bing the Celestial Supreme. The help the avatar received from Helios and Aeternus allowed it to achieve everything it did in the ne.

 Chapter 517 Different Experiences In Other Planes.

    Things might be going well in the other nes but the avatars are new celestials that just sprung up from nowhere. That is considered very odd. Everyone is guarded against the avatars in other nes and they are having a tough time blending in. The avatars had to work alone to survive and flourish but they can''t match the kind of sess that they had in the Zargoth ne.


    Even if the tree father was epted and worshipped openly without prejudice, there is the problem of the inability to move. It renders the tree father unable to harm the gods of the ne who are in the divine ne.


    The tree father received great help in the Zargoth which is why it was able to have such sess. Nothing beats the assistance of entities that will do their best to help you for a greater goal. Together, they can achieve greater things than working alone. It is the reason for the existence of Legion and it will continue to blossom as they mature.


    The elf said eagerly. "The Authority of the Celestial Supreme should solve our mana problem. Soverick said it could."


    The acquisition of the Authority of the Celestial Supreme means quite a lot for Legion. With it, they might be able to ovee the problem of mana production that is stopping them from gaining independent infinite energy production.


    They need certain raw materials to create the type of energy that they want. Legion-1 uses void energy to produce Origin essence. His speed of producing Origin essence has experienced a drastic increase with the addition of the shard of power. Legion-1 believes he can refine 10 in one Origin cycle now instead of the previous 3.


    That is a lot, but it is not nearly enough and will not be able to meet all their needs for infinite Origin energy. There is a solution to that though. Legion-1 just needs time to grow stronger. His rate of production is certain to increase in the future. The tree father can create Origin energy from the Origin essence that Legion-1 produces by diluting it with mana. The problem that they can''t solve is mana production.


    The inner world of Legion-1 can only produce Origin essence, not mana. They have been using Soverick''s supply of mana to meet their needs but it is not a permanent solution. Soverick will surely lose the title of the child of the ne in the future. He can''t remain the child of the Virut ne forever so they are trying to be independent of it before it happens. Legion wants to be able to have infinite energy on its own without external aid which means they have to find a way to make mana.


    Legion-1 is less optimistic. He said as it weaved togetherws into runes on the faces of the star core. "I am not so optimistic. I believe that the Authority of the Celestial Supreme might be helpful in solving the problem of mana. I don''t think it will solve it. There is still a lot missing. There is a lot we don''t know about mana and its creation."


    They believe that the Authority of the Celestial Supreme will solve the problem of mana or at least bring them closer to solving it. Soverick was able to conduct a preliminary analysis of it when he saw the dungeon core within the divine dungeon. The Authority of the Celestial Supreme is the anchor of the divine ne. It is what makes divine power and energy exist in a ne.


    It should solve their problem because divine energy is a fusion of faith and mana. That mana has to being from somewhere. Soverick is uncertain about what exactly the core does and how it does it. There is still a lot missing that they don''t know about it. That''s why they are uncertain about its usefulness to them. Legion-9 is clearly optimistic about it but Legion-1 is saying that they shouldn''t get their hopes up.


    The elf replied, "Either way, we''ll see soon. The Authority of the Celestial Supreme is on its way."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They didn''t have to wait for long. Aeternus dropped the Authority off and the avatar absorbed it. The Authority appeared within the green elf who began to glow. Legion-9 began to glow a bright green light. The glow intensified as the fusion continued. Legion-1 continued working on the star while the change went on. The glow ended after a few minutes.


    Legion-1 spoke first. "You were right. There''s no need to be smug about it."


    He can feel mana being produced from the green elf to know that it was a sess. So he conceded defeat before it is thrust upon him. He may be proud but he can be honest with himself.


    The green elf smirked but remained silent. It didn''t need to speak for it to make its thoughts known. So it doesn''t matter if he talked or not, his smugness is obvious to every clone just like Legion-1''s feigned indifference. He moved on to more important matters.


    "Now we can use the cosmic energy that Helios has ess to." Legion-9 said.


    Legion-1 shrugged. "It will only strengthen the inner world. That won''t make us stronger directly. Its effect is too low for something so powerful."


    "You''re always so negative." Legion-9 shook his head and said.


    Legion-1 was quick to refute that im. He said, "I am not negative. I am just being realistic. We shouldn''t jump for joy yet when we don''t know how to use cosmic energy. One of us has to be realistic."


    Legion is right but his pessimism doesn''t hurt the happiness that all of Legion is feeling right now. The tree father has changed drastically with the absorption of the Celestial Supreme Authority. He became capable of creating mana and more than that, he became capable of producing Origin essence too.


    The entire inner world is his domain so the tree father has ess to void energy too. So he can transform that void energy into Origin essence and mana by using the core of the divine ne and he can do it much faster than Legion-1 can.

 Chapter 518 The End Of The Era Of Gods In Zargoth Plane.

    The Authority of the Celestial Supreme is very powerful so the increase in productivity of Origin essence by the tree father is double that of Legion-1. Now they have abined production of 30 origin essence per Origin cycle. It is a lot for a weak origin god but it is nowhere near the infinite amount they need.


    On the bright side, the tree father also doesn''t need to dilute Origin essence to make Origin energy. He can make it directly as a by-product of making Origin essence. He is also not the only one changed by the development. The inner world changed too. It became stronger and self-sustaining which made his world devour ability became stronger.


    The best change is that they are finally able to use cosmic energy. The tree father can use it to strengthen his domain. That means the inner world can grow stronger. It is an underwhelming change but it is weed because they couldn''t use cosmic energy for anything other than reinforcing concepts. It just didn''t listen to them.


    They have arge supply of Origin essence from Helios but it is beyond their maniption. It wasn''t a surprise since cosmic energy is the base material for authority and they haven''t managed to make their own Authority so they couldn''t use it at all.


    The Authority of the Celestial Supreme made cosmic energy not so useless to them. It used to create divine authority when it worked together with the divine will. They don''t have the divine will of a ne so what they get is the strengthening of the inner world.


    There are other effects but the most drastic change happened in the Zargoth ne.


    The Zargoth ne has lost its Authority of the Celestial Supreme. That means divine power and divine energy cannot be produced anymore within the ne. That means divine authority can''t be created or bestowed any longer. That means that new gods can''t ascend. That means the era of gods in the Zargoth ne has ended. That means the end of the divine ne. So the divine ne began to copse due to the loss of its anchor.


    In a bid to save itself, the divine will of the divine ne reached out to the only godlike being that it knows within the Zargoth ne. Beggars can''t be choosers. It is dying so it will take help from anybody and anyone. It is like what the will of all living things within the ne did with Helios.


    The tree father is somehow able to exist despite the loss of the anchor. The divine ne thought the tree father might be able to help it. So it offered to enter a symbiotic rtionship with the tree father. It will receive sustenance and anchorage in exchange for giving the tree father protection and total control of the divine ne.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The Tree father epted the deal but he is just an avatar. He can''t move to the divine ne. The divine ne is desperate so it chose to fall to the mortal realm instead of copsing into nothingness. It doesn''t have a choice in the matter. It is either survival or oblivion.


    Arge white sphere descended from the sky and appeared above the tree father. It is sorge that it can easily be more than 100 times the size of the 10 kilometers tall avatar. The mortal realm felts its impact as it detached from the main ne and entered it.


    The world shook. Earthquakes rose in the desert. It is a very odd phenomenon but the giants of Order were not moved. They have be used to doomsday signs. It has happened a lot recently and they don''t care anymore.


    First, it was when the world froze. Then it was when arge bright beam of light blinded everyone and cut the ne in half. Then there was the time the sky tore open when Celestial Authorities shed. The world didn''t end then and it probably won''t end now. Even if it did end now there is nothing they can do about it. So they watched therge sphere descend to the ground with mild interest instead of mass hysteria and panic. They have panicked enough.


    The sphere descended slowly until it engulfed the giant tree, its forest, and its surroundings. It covered about 5% of the total surface area of the Zargoth ne. This space will go on to be a nation and not an ordinary nation. It is a nation with a god as the sovereign.


    Other nations will spring upter as giants of Order prosper but no other nations will have a god as the sovereign because there will be no other god forever in the Zargoth ne. The path of perfection remains closed off. The absence of the Authority of the Celestial Supreme didn''t automatically make Origin energy avable. It instead robbed the ne of making that transition. So the inhabitants of the Zargoth ne are doomed. That is unless they have an alternative path of power that they can use.


    The Holy Nation Of The Tree Father is also the only source of the path of power after transcendence. Any giant of order that wants to be a lord ofw or above have to be loyal to the tree father. This will further cement its hold on the ne. Acquiring something doesn''t mean that it is yours forever. You have to be able to hold on to it. There will be people who will want to wrestle the ne out of the hands of the Tree father and Legion.


    The Zargoth ne has changed beyondpare in a short 200 years. It took a hundred times longer for Zargoth to experience this change aspared to the short 2 years of the Virut ne but the three clones did it by themselves. They didn''t have the help of a racial council. In fact, they were the enemies of the racial council which is also the pantheon but they beat it and seeded in creating a new world order.

 Chapter 519 The End Of Volume 3.

    The higher the risk, the higher the reward. Soverick had help in ending the era of the gods and he was rewarded with a stake in the ne. The Tree father, Helios, and Aeternus subjugated the ne on their own. They were rewarded for their efforts with total control of the ne.


    There are pros and cons to the different situations. Soverick will continue to have help from the racial council when the era of conquestes but Legion will be on its own regarding the Zargoth ne. Virut ne is also much stronger than the Zargoth ne. So even though Soverick doesn''t have total control of his ne, his ne will surely perform excellently in the era of conquest.


    Zargoth hase under the control of Legion. That means they will have to bear the cost of participating in the era of conquest and they will also get to keep the reward of the performance of the ne to themselves. Still, they will need to strengthen the ne and its inhabitants in the short window that they have before the era of conquestes. That''s why they are creating an alternative path of power for giants of order.


    An entire ne has be the tool of a single entity. It is an epic development but it isn''t unique. It is not the first time it is happening nor will it be thest. Things like this will happen with increasing frequency as the era of conquest draws closer. Having a say in the affairs of a ne is like putting stock or investing in the realm of high heaven. You get to reap benefits if the realm performs well during the era of conquest.


    Legion-5''s father also has total control of a ne. Legion-6 is in a ne under the control of a demon god. The dragon clone, legion-8, is even doing more than gaining control of the dragon home world. He is giving them a taste of well-deserved Chaos.


    The Zargoth ne is currently under their control but the fight isn''t over though. They still have to defend their control from invaders. Other demons will invade en mass now that the divine ne is not protecting the ne anymore and there are no gods to resist their invasion.


    Then there are the old gods that managed to switch to the path of perfection. They couldn''te to the ne before because of the blockage of the divine ne and because the nar portal to the ancestral battlefield has been locked. Now they can enter the ne through the void.


    Some wille for selfish reasons. They wille to snatch control of the ne from the tree father. Some others wille with the good of the ne at heart. They wille to make the ne better and to liberate them from the oppression of demons. They wille for various reasons, but one thing is certain. There will be conflict.


    END OF VOLUME 3


    Intermission.


    Somewhere out in the void universe in the upper realm.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The upper realm is rife with conflicts. It is the favorite pastime of immortals. What else can you spend your immortal life on? Will origin gods spend their time painting or dancing? Maybe. But they can also paint and dance while they fight. There''s nothing that says they can''t fight and do other things too.


    Origin gods can fight over the most ridiculous things. One of the mostmon conflicts urs because of ownership and property. It is not a ridiculous reason to fight but it is verymon. Stealing is amon crime because it is the only way to acquire anything nowadays when the previous owners refuse to die and let the younger generation inherit their things.


    Wealth is not redistributed in the upper realm, so you have to kill the previous owners and take their stuff for yourself. They wille back from the dead and bother you about their stuff that you took which leads to more conflict. Immortality has not brought peace to the universe. It has only brought the opportunity to concoct neat ways to fight.


    Stealing is the order of the day amongst immortals. No one owns anything anymore. You''re only holding it temporarily before the next person takes it from you. Getting attached to something is a good way to hurt your feelings. Possessionse and go in the upper realm.


    A lot of stuff has been stolen. Virtually anything that can be stolen has been stolen. The mostmon items stolen are soul stones for their miraculous properties of healing the soul. These soul stones are produced in soul springs on the immortal continents. The immortal continent is indestructible so soul springs can''t be stolen but the ownership changes hands either by hook or crook.


    Groups of Origin gods band together and fight over these soul springs. Soul stones are then used to heal the wounds that the Origin gods sustained during the fight. Then they jump back into the fight because they have to defend their stolen stuff from those who will like to steal it from them. That''s how it usually goes.


    Origin essence is better than soul stones but Origin gods have a limited amount of origin essence that they can produce. Soul stones on the other hand are a wonderful alternative. It may be a poorer alternative since an origin god can''t grow stronger with it but it is readily avable and can be umted. All you have to do is im ownership of a soul spring.


    The importance of soul stones is usually the major reason that conflicts start but other stuff propagates conflict. Old bitterness and hatred escte the matter of theft. Disrespect and any other things can make the conflict go on and on even without bothering about the soul spring anymore.


    Conflict by theft is not avoidable. There''s no way about it. You can''t take a soul spring away and stay in istion. An immortal continent is immovable. As long as you have a soul spring, the conflict wille. So conflict is as unavoidable as the immortal continents are as immovable.

 Chapter 520 The Theft That Will Go Down In History.

    Well today, someone has found a way around the conflict of soul stones. A lot of things have been stolen and this person known for his madness has decided to up the ante. Maybe no one will ever be able to replicate what he is going to do. At least, that''s what the realm lord is thinking.


    The realm lord grinned slyly as he thought to himself. "I have found a way around it. A lot of things have been stolen before but never this. This will go down in history. It will be probably impossible to replicate."


    A high elf with green skin, blond hair, and golden eyes can be seen skulking around a continent in the upper realm. Actually, he is hiding pretty well. So no one can see him skulking around unless they are a world god. He is going to steal something that has never been stolen before.


    He examined arge continent in the upper realm. It is arge circrndmass floating in void energy. There is a bubble around it that resists void energy and its corrosive properties. There are tall buildings on this continent. The buildings are upied by thousands of Origin gods. This continent is not deserter in any way not that it is possible to find a deserted continent in the upper realm.


    This continent is the property of a particrly powerful Origin god. This Origin god is well known. He is very rich. Most importantly, he is also a realm lord. He formed a group with his wealth and imed the floating continent for himself.He is very territorial and has won several wars to oust him.


    "It is just perfect. 5 billion square kilometers. Symmetrical and circr. It will do nicely." The high elfmented as he assessed the continent.


    The Origin god that hasid im to this continent doesn''t scare the monarch of high heaven. His track record and his sess in defending the continent will not protect this Origin god from the hands of the monarch of high heaven either.


    The realm lord looked with satisfaction at the immortal continent. He is assessing it for its suitability in the stunt he is about to pull. Now he can go ahead after finding it to his liking. There''s someone who doesn''t think he should do it though.


    Mother high heaven asked. "Must you pick this one? It belongs to a realm lord. There are other suitable continents."


    Her shadowy figure is standing beside him. She can''t be seen because she technically isn''t here. She also can''t interact with the world. She is like a holographic image that only he can see. In this case, she is the conscience that the monarch of high heaven doesn''t have. She is the angel and the voice of rationality.


    He nodded with certainty. "That''s good. I know that there are other ones but I chose this one first because it belongs to a realm lord."


    The monarch of high heaven doesn''t need a devil or demon to whisper evil ideas to him. He is more than capable ofing up with them on his own. He didn''t choose this continent because of its physical features.


    Mother high heaven red at him. "So you chose this one because of the conflict. That isn''t good for the realm seeing as he is the same as you."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The realm lord scoffed. "That''s an insult. We might both be realm lords but I am not the same as him. You shouldn''t worry. If you''re right about him being my equal then I shouldn''t seed. I will just apologize when I fail. Happy now?"


    "Fine."


    Things are in fact, not fine. She doesn''t think an apology, no matter how heartfelt will make the Origin god forgive them for trying to steal his continent. But that''s the only thing she can say. He is going to do what he wants anyway. There might be rules andws that bind him in the realm of high heaven but he is free to do whatever he wants in the upper realm, including pissing off another realm lord.


    "Some people will steal continents to avoid the conflict that will ensue but you''re trying to steal a continent to create conflict." Mother high heaven grumbled.


    She can''t do anything but that doesn''t stop her from voicing her opinions like the dutiful conscience she is. Her opinion is actually valid. It is not biased because she doesn''t want the realm lord to create more enemies for the realm. It is true that those that can steal continents will do it so that they can avoid fighting over it and defending it.


    The realm lord eyed her from the corner of his eyes. He also grumbled, "I am jealous of other realm lords whose realm supports them wholeheartedly andpletely. I wonder how it feels."


    She rolled her eyes at his antics. "I''m not supporting you because you''re a nut job. One of us has to be reasonable. We are doomed if we''re both crazy like you."


    The realm lord boasted without shame. "It''s because you''re reasonable that you can''t break limits. You have to be unreasonable or super-reasonable for you to be extraordinary like me. I am an unappreciated and unprecedented pacesetter."


    Mother high heaven rolled her eyes again. "Just do your thing."


    His behavior is understandable. Some people are extraordinary. They are better than normal or ordinary people. Some are geniuses. They are a step above extraordinary people. To be a realm lord, you have to be an epic genius and you have to be lucky. The monarch of high heaven is an extraordinary epic genius. He transcends genius of epic proportions. That is the cause of his supreme confidence.


    His madness on the other hand is the source of his extraordinary epic genius. So his confidence is a result of his madness. The two go hand in hand. You can''t expect the monarch of high heaven to be humble if you don''t cure him of his madness.

 Chapter 521 Hancock The Sparkon

    It doesn''t help that he always seeds in the stunts that he pulls off. He hasn''t learned to restrain his impulses because he always gets away with his stunts. So the realm lord''s confidence is true the roof. One might say it is supreme. Mother high heaven can only try to reason with him. In other words, she can only try and fail to reason with him.


    He ignored her pessimistic attitude and grinned with anticipation. "This is going to be so cool."


    He can''t wait to create history and steal a continent. His excitement will not be dampened by mother high heaven''s sour attitude.


    The realm lord produced a golden orb in his hand with a dramatic flourish. Mother high heaven signed and refused toment. She would like to ask why he is behaving like so but that will be encouraging him. If she is to discourage him from doing risky things then she must refuse to y along with his games.


    The realm lord moved on with his act. He said dramatically with his arms spread wide. "Let there be light."


    Then he tossed the orb onto the continent. The golden orb fell onto thend and sank into it. The entire continent suddenly began to glow with golden light. The golden light spread from the point where the golden orbnded to cover the entire continent. The immortal continent became a bright source of light in the void.


    The light pushed away the darkness and illuminated the void. It was a beautiful sight. But someone else didn''t appreciate the so-called beauty. The person also wasn''t any about voicing their opinion.


    A loud voice roared angrily, "Who is messing with my property?"


    The inhabitants of the continent were startled and rose to the sky searching for the source of the disturbance. The owner of the continent shouted in fury before appearing. His loud voice heralded hising and informed everyone of how angry he is about the recent development of the immortal continent.


    A humanoid me appeared above the continent. The humanoid me asked the question that is in everyone''s mind. "Who is the mad person that wants to face the wrath of Hancock?"


    This entity, made of blue fire, is scanning therge continent trying to find the person messing with his property. The entire continent is his and has been his for millions of years. He has managed to defend it all this while. No one has been able to dislodge him from the continent so whoever is messing with him must be mad. No one in their right mind will mess with him.


    The realm lord snickered. He said to mother high heaven, "Look at him. He is like a fool. He can''t even find me and you dare to call him my equal."


    The realm lord chose to make fun of the other guy without showing himself. It''s not that he is afraid of the other realm lord, he just wants to watch the guy make a fool of himself. His fun only increased when the continent shook and began moving.


    Hancock''s ming body shook with immense anger and indignation when he noticed the continent glowing. His body threatened to explode into an inferno there and then. He came out to determine who the offender is to y them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Nothing short of torture and dismemberment will pacify him. That all changed when the continent began moving. The mes on his body died down to reveal a white core which is Hancock''s single eye. It is an involuntary act of shock that members of the race of Sparkon exhibit.


    ''Am I seeing things? Or is a world god around?'' He asked himself.


    He looked around warily. His courage has disappeared. The thoughts of the punishment he will inflict on the culprit disappeared and were reced with a sense of dread. His survival instincts kicked in despite him being immortal and being a clone.


    The continent moved. That''s why he is so shocked and scared. It is not the gentle floating that it does but a quake caused by a sudden eleration. The only entities that can shake and move an immortal continent are world gods. A world god spells some trouble even for him. So he called his father immediately.


    His mes returned after calling for help and so did some of his confidence. He is still afraid but he has acquired some assurance. It is not a lot of confidence but it is enough to engage in a conversation with the unknown world god.


    He shouted camly, "Which world god is it? You should maintain the dignity that your power deserves. Make yourself and your intentions known."


    A powerful voice replied, "SCRAM. I''M TAKING THIS CONTINENT."


    Hancock became angry immediately. The blue mes on his body burned brighter and he threatened to consume himself with them. He felt like screaming and swearing but he forced himself to speak calmly.


    He asked slowly, "When does a world god steal? What will others think about this? Please don''t embarrass yourself."


    He is not scared for his life but he doesn''t want his things on the continent to be taken. He worked really hard to get them and it took a long amount of time to umte. This continent contains at least a million years'' worth of umtion. It will hurt him a lot to lose his wealth and the continent.


    Losing the continent is bad enough. He will have to wage a war to get another one. That will be very costly and may not be sessful for a long time. Continents aren''t just lying around waiting for owners anymore. The wealth he has on this continent will help him in funding the war to acquire another continent. So yes, he would very much appreciate it if this world god decides not to embarrass themselves by stealing from him.


    "WHO CARES WHAT YOU THINK? SCRAM BEFORE I KILL YOU." Unfortunately, this world is filled with condescending pride. The unknown world god has no intention of being reasonable at all.

 Chapter 522 Two Enemies For The Price Of One.

    Hancock didn''t bother to rein in his anger any longer. He has tried to be reasonable but this world god is looking down on him too much. He is a realm lord after all. He deserves a modicum of respect. He has had enough of being disregarded and disrespected.


    He yelled to the void for all to hear. "You shitty bully. If you were so great why didn''t youe and attack me in my realm? I would have kicked your ass. Just you wait. I''ll be back and I''lle with my father. We''ll see what you can do then. I will spread this news to everyone once my father discovers who you are. I''ll shame you. I''ll drag your name through the mud."


    He lost his fear of the world god because this is just his avatar and killing it will not mean much to him. Losing his continent will hurt though. So he vowed revenge. His father is a world god too and no matter what, the continent is going nowhere.


    The continent can only be pushed around in the void. It cannot be taken away and it cannot disappear so it will always be found. He wille back with his father and then exact his revenge. He lied about being able to kick the world god''s ass in his realm but his father will surely be able to help him get revenge.


    Meanwhile, the realm lord isughing. It is a full-bodyugh ofplete amusement. He is enjoying himself immensely.


    He said to mother heaven. "See that? His confidence is in his father not in his own strength. What a weakling. And youpared him to me. It is an insult."


    Mother high heaven isn''t feeling good on the other hand. She asked him in shock. "His father is a world god?"


    "Yes, his father is a world god. You didn''t know about it?" He asked as if it doesn''t matter. "You should go out more. It isn''t good to be a closet person."


    Of course, she doesn''t know about the fact that the person they are stealing from is not only a realm lord but he also has a world god as a father. She doesn''t have ess to the upper realm because she can''t leave the realm of high heaven. Her presence here is only because of the realm lord. This is not his main body and there are several of his avatars doing other things.


    There is so much she doesn''t know about the upper realm but her ignorance is irrelevant here. It is Monarch high heaven that should know better than to anger another realm lord who happens to have a world god for a father. And yet, he did it with full knowledge of who he is angering. He is also having a good time while doing it. What must be going through his mind?


    "Are you serious?" She asked after reeling from the absurdity of the situation.


    "Yes, I am. His father is a world god. What about it?" He asked nonchntly.


    She just shook her head andmented. "Here I thought we were making a powerful enemy. I didn''t know that we were making two powerful enemies. Silly me."


    He said confidently. "Don''t worry. I know what I am doing."


    "Is this about your Authority? Shouldn''t you test it first before you test fate? You shouldn''t mess with something so serious unless you''re sure."


    He extolled her, "And what fun is it if I test it in safe conditions? The true test of power is in the thick of battle."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He shook his head at her naivety.


    "I see." She said with resignation.


    Then she asked hopefully, "Will you at least apologize to them if your test fails?"


    She doesn''t think an apology will suffice after they tried to steal a continent but she will take anything at this point.


    The realm lord waved her concerns away. "Don''t you worry about a thing. We won''t fail."


    She would like to say more but she knows it will be useless. You can''t expectmon sense from him just like you can''t expect a hunchback to straighten their back. The back of a hunchback is stubbornly bent and Monarch high heaven is stubbornly mad. So she resigned herself to watch. That''s all she can do at this point.


    The continent was floating towards them. It began to shrink when it came close to them. Golden chains spang out of the continent and entered the realm lord''s body. The golden chains pulled them together as the continent shrank. This development also revealed his position.


    Hancock had been shocked again by the golden chains and the shrinking of the continent. Then he saw the high elf. He knows that particr high elf. If he hadbustible eyes, they would have exploded in shock. His single eye which functioned as his core did a perfect imitation of the explosion. Hancock suddenly expanded. His fury turned his blue mes a shade of purple.


    "It''s you." He roared.


    His voice is filled with the venom and wrath he is currently feeling. He would like nothing more than to strip the elf of its flesh bit by bit and eat those bits as he watches the elf scream in pain.


    The realm lord whispered to mother high heaven. "We''ve been made. Don''t worry. I''ve got this."


    Then he waved at the balloon of purple mes. "Hi, Hancock. It''s me. How have you been?"


    Hancock shouted. "You madman."


    This insane elf had the leisure to ask about his well-being. They aren''t friends and the elf is stealing from him, yet he has the guts to wave cheerily at him. It is one insult after the other.


    He would have preferred to have a world god here. Anything is better than trouble from the madman. He doesn''t know exactly what the elf is up to but he knows it can''t be good and it involves his wealth. So he will not let the elf seed or his name is not Hancock Fledger Dsantun Jkallop Xanvirb Ultito Sendarizo... and 72 other names.

 Chapter 523 EXISTENCE REWRITE AND EXISTENCE DECONSTRUCTION.

    Hancock yelled at the elf, "What are you doing to my continent?"


    "I am stealing it silly." The elf answered as if it is the most obvious information. He even snickered at him.


    Hancock exploded again. His body turned into a giant humanoid white me. The giant mes became a tornado of mes with arms. The mes of the tornado twisted faster and faster as it fed on void energy. The tornado continued to grow until it grew bigger than a ne in the lower realm. The tornado isn''t just big, it can burn anything.


    This is the concept that he embodies. He fused light, darkness, water, air, and earth into the firew to create a sixw concept called "All is fire." In reality, all is not fire but this concept upends reality and makes everything sumb to fire.


    A loud voice rang out from the tornado. "You scoundrel."


    The single eye of the colossal tornado locked onto the realm lord as it closed in on the elf. It produced me whips that tried to touch the elf. The me whips are like tentacles of fire extending from the Colossal tornado. A single contact will turn whatever it touches into mes which will make Hancock stronger.


    The elf looked at the towering tornado without fear. Size isn''t what matters in strength unless you are a world god. For now, only concepts matter and he has full confidence in his concept.


    He said to the Tornado. "EXISTENCE REWRITE."


    He activated a function of his concept with a simple order. The order changed certain parts of Hancock''s existence. His existence was bombarded with intrusive instructions and maniptions seeking to create change within him.


    Hancock''s existence resisted the change and was able to stop the creation of major changes to his existence but he couldn''t stop all the changes. Some instructions entered the fabric of his existence and rewrote seemingly useless pieces of it. These pieces are little but they are thergest amount ofponents that make up Hancock''s existence.


    He asked Mother high heaven, "What happens when you tamper with the foundation of a house?"


    She deadpanned, "Ites crashing down."


    The tornado froze first. It became a statue formed by frozen fire. Then the ice fire began to break. It copsed and disappeared into the void.


    The realm lord smirked, "The bigger they are the harder they fall."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Size doesn''t matter, only concepts matter. The fact is that he has a much stronger concept. EXISTENCE REWRITE tries to edit someone''s existence by modifying their concepts. A concept is stronger the morews make it up. But there is the matter ofplexity.


    Complexity is rarely appreciated but it affects a concept''s resistance to change. It is the number of bonds and interactions between theponentws. So a sixw concept will be more vulnerable than a twow concept if it is notplex enough. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link after all. Small changes can make the heavy structure of the sixw concept copse or malfunction. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.


    In the case of Hancock, his concept is made with fire as the base while the other elements are fused into it. The realm lord tried to switch the base to water specifically ice. He failed but the result is still favorable to him. He seeded in tampering with the bonds between fire and the otherws which caused changes in the foundation of Hancock''s existence.


    Hancock struggled to speak before he died. "I''ll be back."


    The realm waved at him as he died and spoke eagerly, "I''ll be waiting."


    Concepts are not made equally. There is the number ofws that makes up a concept and theplexity of bonds. Neither are realm lords made equally. The minimum requirement to be a realm lord is a sixw concept. There''s nothing aboutplexity.


    Monarch high heaven''s concept for instance is way out of the league of Hancock''s. First of all, it is not a sixw concept. The second difference is that even if his concept were made up of sixws, it will be vastly moreplex than that of Hancock''s. That was proven by how quickly he died to EXISTENCE REWRITE. The only way to stop the realm lord is to bepletely immune to his concept which requires your concept to be moreplex than his.


    The followers of Hancock didn''t take the death of their leader well. They swarmed the high elf fearlessly from every side even though they just saw him kill their leader, a famed realm lord. It is not bravery or courage because there is nothing to fear. The worst that can happen is death and Origin godsugh in the face of death.


    The realm lord nced at the multitude of origin gods with disdain. He sneered as he said, "A bunch of riff raffs. EXISTENCE DECONSTRUCTION."


    A wave of power emanated from him. The wave shed with every one of them and they began to turn to dust. Their bodies broke down and scattered into the wind of void energy. There are more than ten thousand of them but not one of them survived the order. Their existence was hit with a force that broke through the force binding them together.


    EXISTENCE DECONSTRUCTION is unlike the targeted effect of EXISTENCE REWRITE. It is a brute force attack that only seeks to destroy whereas EXISTENCE REWRITE can be used for so much more.


    EXISTENCE DECONSTRUCTION is used in the case there is someone with a moreplex concept than that of the realm lord. For example, a onew concept. A onew concept has no bonds whatsoever so there is no weakness to exploit. EXISTENCE REWRITE won''t work in this case.


    EXISTENCE DECONSTRUCTION on the other hand uses brute force by utilizing the numerical advantage ofws to overwhelm and crushplex concepts with fewerws. So the lesser the number ofws that a concept has, the poorer it will fare against EXISTENCE DECONSTRUCTION.

 Chapter 524 Advantage Of Quality And Quantity.

    In summary, EXISTENCE REWRITE targets weaknesses in quality while EXISTENCE DECONSTRUCTION targets weaknesses in quantity. These riff-raffs clearly can''t resist EXISTENCE DECONSTRUCTION. They would need to have a sixw concept to resist it at all. They would still fail if they are like Hancock with a sixw concept. The realm lord will still have the numerical advantage.


    Monarch high heaven has the advantage both in quality and quantity with the concept he created. That''s why he is supremely confident in himself and why he took offense when mother high heaven said they were the same. They are not the same. In fact, there is probably no one that is the same as him in the entire void universe.


    Mother high heaven shook her head and muttered. "This is not over."


    The realm lord agreed wholeheartedly. "Not by a long shot. There is still his world god father."


    His reply made her feel like hitting him. Someone that can take on a realm lord and the defenses of a whole immortal continent on their own ought to be proud and confident. That is a normal reaction. But looking for a continent where you know that attacking will cause a world god toe after you is just madness.


    She is worried about what is toe. World gods have a lot of means and they don''t need to be creating more enemies since the era of conquest ising. She is very worried but the realm lord''s reaction is making her feel like she is the weird one here. He doesn''t look worried at all. He is examining the chains that bind the continent to him without a care in the world.


    The continent continued to shrink until it reduced from the size of a 5 billion square kilometersndmass into a 50 centimeters square piece less than 1 trillion of its previous size.


    He flipped it in his hands casually. "Neat."


    Thendmass may have be smaller but that is just one of the two of its property that has changed. It still contains the same mass and weighs just as much. Since he couldn''t move it on his own before, he shouldn''t be able to flip it either. It is the other property of thendmass that changed which made it shrink in the first ce that also allows him to flip it without having the strength needed to do so.


    Mother high heaven said to him. "So your Authority works. Let''s go now."


    A world god said calmly from beneath the world. "I AM AFRAID IT IS TOO LATE FOR THAT."


    This time the heaviness of the voice is real, unlike the time that the realm lord pretended to be a world god. The world actually quaked as sound was pushed up from deep within the universe. Space vibrated along with the sound waves. This world god is not a false world god at all.


    A certain spot in the void began to ripple like the surface of ake as if something ising from beneath it. The world announced theing of an apex predator as best as it can, by quaking in its boots. You know you''re screwed when even the world is shaking in fear.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The realm lord said to mother high heaven who is shaking her head. "You heard the world god. It''s toote for that. You should have spoken up earlier."


    "You wouldn''t have listened."


    He refused to admit to that. "Now you''re just making stuff up."


    The rippling space eventually tore open to make way for the entity that is trying to appear. The rippling effect of space is because it is trying to expand to amodate the entity. Apparently, it is not expanding fast enough so the entity made its own way.


    The torn space revealed a darkness like an abyss. Arge ming hand appeared within the darkness and ripped the space open further. Then a giant of pure white mes appeared. That''s just what can be seen in the normal range of light. The realm lord could see more and what he can see is massive beyondpare.


    Just the single eye of the world god is the size of a ne. It is 10 thousand kilometers thick with a surface area in the range of hundreds of millions of kilometers. This world god is asrge as a realm tree. It is not a wonder how they have managed to destroy realm trees.


    Somehow, a living being has evolved to be asrge as an entire realm and that''s what he can see. It is difficult not to marvel when a world god appears in theirrgest manifestation. This is just a manifestation, not the real body but it is enough to squash any Origin god. In fact, it doesn''t need toe here with this full manifestation to kill the realm lord''s avatar.


    The giant has four arms each capable of crushing an entire ne like crushing twigs. In one of the arms is a very smug Hancock smiling from ear to ear. Gloating can be seen in its single eye. He is riding for revenge on the hand of an apex predator. It is sufficient cause to gloat. He is like a small child that brought his father to the yground to beat a bully for him.


    Hancock pointed at the elf and said to the world god. "Daddy, that''s him. He is the thief that is stealing my things."


    He is almost jumping with excitement right now. He is full of glee because he will soon get his sweet, sweet revenge.


    The world god''s voice rubbled as he spoke. "Impressive. I didn''t think it is possible to steal an entire continent."


    The continent has disappeared from the void. It is in the realm lord''s hands. Monarch high heaven could have taken it away if the world god had not appeared. Then the continent will not be recoverable. The world god found it impressive that someone managed to steal a continent. It is something that world gods can only do once and that''s when they are about to build their world.

 Chapter 525 A Little Sharing Problem.

    The world god is impressed with his act of stealing a continent but the voice of the world god is not pleasant to listen to. It feels like volcanoes exploding in the mind or like thunderps in the ear with each syble. Weak Origin gods will cower just by hearing it. The voice of the world god will push their minds towards madness.


    Monarch high heaven is clearly not weak. He might also be too mad to get madder. He adjusted his attire before he spoke.


    He said smugly, "I must say that you are a world god with taste. My partner here doesn''t appreciate my genius."


    Mother high heaven scoffed. The fact that the world god found his actions to be impressive doesn''t mean that they are safe.


    The world god watched their interaction with mild interest. He can see mother heaven but most of his attention is on the small object in the realm lord''s hands. It is what the continent has be.


    He made his interest known. "Let me see what you have there."


    The realm lord politely declined. "I''m sorry I can''t do that. I have always had problems with sharing. It is a bad habit that I have not been able to ovee."


    The world god chuckled with amusement. "Interesting. You should do something about your sharing problem. But that''s for another time. As for now, I wasn''t asking for it. I was demanding it. So hand it over."


    He could kill the realm lord outright but he has to respect someone that is about to be a world god too especially since this is just an avatar of the realm lord. So he demanded for the shrunken continent nicely. If it were the main body of the realm lord,he will imprison it for life. Since he can''t dealsting damage to the elf, he might as well be courteous about it.


    The elf shook his head apologetically. "I''m sorry but I can''t give it to you even for a moment to check it out. My inability to share is truly a sickness. I can''t share for the sake of my life. You will have to take it yourself."


    Hancock said excitedly. "You''re mad."


    He thought the elf would be reasonable and that his fun will be cut short but it seems he overestimated the self-preservation instincts of the elf. The elf''s refusal delighted him very well. He could hardly wait for monarch high heaven to be taught a lesson.


    The world god''s voice rumbled as it said, "So be it."


    It stretched forth itsrge ne size hand to grab the realm lord. The hand covered the realm lord like an artificial sky and then it came smashing downward. The realm lord responded to the threat. He threw the smallndmass at the hand.


    "Hmm?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The world god was surprised by the action. He doesn''t expect the elf to give up his prize so easily which means something must be up. But he isn''t worried. Strength reigns supreme. Nothing else matters. He doubts that anything significant cane out of the elf''s actions but if the elf is strong enough to escape him then so be it.


    There was a loud crash as the hand collided with the small almost insignificant object. Therge hand was knocked back. The small object hit it with enough force to shatter a ne so the hand was rebuffed. But the hand seeded in grabbing the small object too.


    The world god pulled his hand back. It considered the situation and was intrigued. "This is interesting." It said as it examined the small continent.


    The continent tried to return to the elf but it can''t escape the grip of the world god. The massive hand of the world god has epassed it and is not letting go despite the incessant tugging of the continent. So the realm lord instructed it to increase in size.


    The small object began to erge, trying to reach its former size. It grew from a small rock into a continent in almost an instant. The expansion is almost like an explosion. The world god had to let go of it after it grew too big to hold.


    The world god pped with two of his four hands. "Wonderful. You have gained total control of the immortal continent. Now I see how you were able to steal it."


    He pped to express how impressed he is with the realm lord. The p also created an immense force that pushed the expanding continent far away from their position.


    The world god watched the continent as it was blown away before he said to the realm lord. "What now? I hope you have more up your sleeve or I''ll kill you now."


    The realm lord can recall the continent but it is going to take time before it gets here. He will be able to crush the elf before then. Even if it gets here, the world god has four hands. It can use one hand to keep the continent busy while it uses the others to deal with the elf and he hasn''t even gotten serious yet. Brute force is the weakest thing that he can use against an Origin god.


    The realm lord remainedposed. He asked his captor, "Aren''t you impressed?"


    "I am." The world god admitted. "I said that already. Now I want the continent."


    The realm lord continued. "No one has ever been able to control an immortal continent but I gained control of the continent through Authority. You must have heard rumors of my project."


    "Hmm. I have but I thought it to be far-fetched."


    The world god has indeed heard of the madman''s project. It was supposed to be foolishness. No one has been able to do it. Only the elusive rank above that of world gods have kept the ability to themselves but an origin god imed he could do the same and he is saying he can give others too. It seems there is some truth to the matter.

 Chapter 526 Gaining An Investor.

    The realm lord spread his arms. "This is an exhibition show to disy to you that my Authority is real and to prove what else it can do."


    The world god chuckled again. He understood what the realm lord is getting at. "So you want me to join your project."


    "Yes. The project is going to be massive. It needs an equally massive investment and a lot of participants."


    Hancock interjected. "Daddy no. Kill him for me. He disrespected me and took my stuff. You have to kill him."


    The world balled his hand into a fist and covered Hancock with it so that he won''t disturb their conversation. Hancock''s whining was shut off.


    "Why shouldn''t I just kill you right now and take the continent for myself? I''m sure I can get a thing or two out of it for myself about how your Authority works."


    The realm shook his head. "You''re very wrong about that. You will get nothing. I won''t tell you about all the mechanisms I put in ce to prevent that. But I will tell you that it can self-destruct even under the influence of your will."


    The world god didn''t believe him. It said, "Show me."


    Then it made its will manifest. An intangible force of intent snaked its way from the world god to the continent. The force then froze the continent in its entirety. It couldn''t move towards the realm lord anymore or shrink because the will of the world god has frozen it. He wished for it to freeze so it froze. The continent should not be able to do anything anymore.


    This is how world gods capture Origin gods. They will freeze them and prevent them from even killing themselves by self-destruction. The continent can remain like this for almost all of eternity unless another world god with a stronger Will breaks it or the original Will is removed voluntarily.


    But then the continent shed a golden light and a golden orb appeared above it. The golden orb separated itself from the continent and then exploded under the influence of the will of the world god.


    The realm lord pped. "Wonderful performance. Between you and me, I haven''t tested it before but it worked. I expected it to work because it is my Authority and you don''t have any power over it."


    Authority is elusive and mysterious. It is one of the foundations of power in the void universe and yet little is known about it. What is known is that it represents power and a right. It is like a privilege granted by the universe. The realm lord has managed to crack it to unlock its many secrets. He has be the highest Authority in the field of Authority so his confidence is not baseless.


    The world god considered the situation before agreeing even though he was unwilling to. "It seems I won''t be able to get its secrets by killing you."


    The power of will is the basic and strongest power of a world god. If it can''t preserve the Authority then almost nothing can. Besides, he is dealing with the mad elf of the high heaven realm. Surely, the elf must have contingencies put in ce to protect its secrets considering the scale of the project.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The realm lord replied smugly, "That''s what I said but you can still try for yourself."


    "Stop being smug and make your proposition." The world god urged.


    The elf began to exin his proposal. "Here are your options. You let me go, you pay for the destroyed authority that we used in the testing, and you contribute to my project. I will give you the opportunity to try and gain Authority on your own. Or you kill me and try to get my secrets."


    This is the major reason why he targeted Hancock''s continent. He knows that the spoiled realm lord will call for his world god father. He wants more world gods to be involved in his project for their resources and manpower but world gods aren''t easy to meet. They are like deep-sea whales that don''te up for air at all.


    "Wait a moment. Did you just say that you will allow me to try and gain Authority? You''re not going to give me Authority?" The world god asked incredulously.


    "Yes, just the opportunity. Getting it will be up to you. It is the best I can offer you. As I have proven, you won''t even get that if you kill me."


    That''s what he has offered all his world god investors and they all epted it. Authority is very important to them and he knows that. There''s a lot a world god can do with Authority. Just this simple disy is enough for a world god to know that they can start to annex the universe even before it gets to the brink of destruction and bes vulnerable.


    There are a lot of nice and powerful things in the universe that world gods have had their eyes on for quite a while. A chance to try and acquire those things is worth it. So Hancock''s father agreed despite the flimsy offer. They hatched out their agreement and the payment method. Then they made an Oath and the realm lord left. He bonded the continent to himself again before he left.


    The world god called after him. "Our deal will not affect your offense. You stole from my son and I''ll kill you any chance I get."


    He has to make his son''s case or he would never bear the end of it.


    "I''m sure you will. You''re not the first-world god that I have offended. That''s why my main body stays in my realm tree." The realm lord said.


    "Your period of safety will end when you be a world god. The era of conquest will not be pleasant for you. You have offended a lot of people."


    "Don''t you worry old pal. I am more than prepared for the era of conquest."

 Chapter 527 Sore Loser.

    The realm lord doesn''t seem to be worried about the era of conquest but there is someone here that is very worried about it. Nothing the realm lord says will prevent mother high heaven from not worrying. She has to worry now that some random world god is even warning them to be prepared. She thought she was being paranoid before but it seems she has underestimated the trouble that ising for them when the era of conquest begins.


    The world god watched them go dragging the continent away. He saw how the realm lord gained control of it and it increased his longing for Authority. Unfortunately, he can''t get it easily. Even this deal is just for an opportunity to get it. Getting it will depend on his efforts but there is a possibility of getting it where there was none before.


    "It''s okay. Anything important cannot be acquired easily." The world god said to himself then began to sink back into the space underneath the normal 3-dimensional world. Space rippled to make way for him. Hisrge figure took some time to be fully submerged like a mountain sinking into quicksand.


    Mother high heaven asked him. "Can we go now? Any more time you spend here is more time to create more enemies."


    He replied. "I just need 8 more continents. Don''t worry. I already have my targets marked. This time I''ll challenge myself. I''m going to try and steal the continent without anyone finding out. That is the true mettle of a thief."


    Mother high heaven groaned audibly. Simply stealing the continent is not enough for him anymore. Now he has to add challenges to make it more fun and also more trouble. Again, there''s nothing she can do about it. So she will just follow him on his escapades and make her dissatisfaction known asionally.


    The realm lord felt underestimated when Mother high heaven groaned. He asked with indignation, "You don''t believe I can do it do you? Fine then. If I fail, I will not cause more trouble for an Origin cycle. Each continent that I fail to steal without people finding out equals one origin cycle of peace and quiet."


    She narrowed her nonexistent eyes at him. "What''s the catch?"


    Nothing this good can be cheap and one has to be careful when they are making a deal with the realm lord. Stealing an entire continent without anyone finding out is oundish to think about. What about the people on it? What about the people that own it? Who will overlook the sudden shrinking and disappearance of a continent? It seems like a sure bet but Mother high heaven is not so naive as to jump at the deal without a massive dose of skepticism and the wariness of a trap.


    "I can sense your distrustful gaze. You don''t have faith in me. I''ll show you how wrong you are. I''ll do it for free. You don''t have to give me anything if I do it sessfully."


    It hurts to be underestimated so much so he decided to do it for free just to prove that he can do it. Of course, it''s impossible for the theft of a continent not to cause any disturbance. That''s why the realm lord ns to kill everyone on the continent too. He will kill them all at once and make sure that no one knows that he stole the continent. Dead men tell no tales.


    He seeded in his act. The Origin gods that used to live on the continent were resurrected without the memory of who killed them. They came back to find that their continent has disappeared. They know the continent was stolen but they suspected world gods ofmitting the act.


    News of the peculiar thefts spread throughout the upper realm. A certain disgruntled Sparkon imed that it was the mad realm lord that did it. This Sparkon named Hancock told everyone that was willing to hear. Soon everyone had heard that the realm lord was the one stealing continents.


    "So you failed to keep your theft secret." Mother heaven said to the realm lord.


    They are in the process of stealing thest continent but the word had already spread around of his deeds.


    "That Hancock is a fucking snitch. It doesn''t count." The realm lord said through gritted as the 9th continent shrank.


    "Just admit that you failed."


    "Never."


    She continued to tease him. "Come on. Don''t be a stick in the mud."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He shook his head adamantly. "I''ll admit no such thing."


    They began to argue about the technicalities of the bet. Mother high heaven imed he failed in his challenge since it has be known that he is responsible for the theft of continents.


    The realm lord on the other hand refused to calm down. He said, "Hancock doesn''t count. The ones on the other continents didn''t know that I stole their continent and that is what matters."


    "You didn''t specify which continents were under the challenge that means all of them are and that means that Hancock''s testimony matters."


    "What testimony? Don''t believe everything you hear. Anyone can say anything about anyone. Hancock is just ndering me. There is no proof that I stole the other continents. The fact that I stole his continent doesn''t mean that I stole the others. There might be another criminal out there stealing continents for all we know."


    Mother high heaven''s non-existent mouth hung open figuratively and her non-existent eyes widened in shock.


    She managed to say, "I was there when you stole them. You''re the criminal that is stealing continents."


    "Hmm. You were where? I have no recollection of this event."


    She pointed at the continent in his hand. "You still have thest one on you."


    "It is just a piece of rock that I picked up." He denied her usations again and he did it with a straight face.


    "This should change your mind. It is proof of you stealing the first continent and this "rock" that you picked up is very simr to Hancock''s continent. Exin that."


    She began to y a video that Hancock is spreading throughout the upper realm. It is a video of the realm lord stealing his continent and it shows a clear image of the realm lord and the shrunken continent in his hands. It is a replication of the realm lord''s current posture.


    By all that is sane and logical, this is conclusive evidence of the realm lord''s guilt. There should be no way for him to wiggle himself out of it. The realm lord took one look at the video and said, "That isn''t me. It just looks like me. I am being framed."


    That shut mother high heaven up. She gave up on the bet. She knew he was never going to admit weakness but she was still shocked by how far he is willing to go to deny it. He is even denying his participation in the first theft.


    She didn''t say anything when he teased her.


    "Come on. Don''t be a sore loser. Think about the bright side. Now we don''t have anything holding me back from causing trouble for the next few origin cycles until the era of conquest. It is going to be fun."


    "Right." She struggled to say, "it''s going to be fun."


    THE END OF VOLUME 3: THE WAR OF CLONES

 Chapter 528 Development Of The Virut Plane

    THE START OF VOLUME 4: SCHEMES AND PLOTS.


    The Virut ne has changed drastically since the destruction of the divine ne. A new era has started. It is called the era of Origin energy. ording to ancient seers, this is thest era that a ne will undergo. The era of Origin energy is simr to the era of Origin waters that urred immediately after the creation of the ne. Origin waters brought mana to the ne just like Origin energy hase to the ne. The seers believe that either the ne bes more than a ne or it is destroyed.


    The ne doesn''t look like it is heading for destruction currently. Quite the opposite, the ne is flourishing. It is growing stronger and its economy is prospering. The avability of Origin energy in the atmosphere means that normal families don''t need specially built cities to have ess to Origin energy. It has boosted the production of transcendents in the ne.


    Origin energy in the ne also means that transcendents don''t need to go to the ancient battlefield anymore to get ess tows. Some of them are even returning to the Virut ne. The ne is smaller than the ancient battlefield but it is safer too. The cutthroatpetition of the ancient battlefield is absent and one doesn''t need to fight for every inch of thend anymore so the ne is a better substitute.


    Kings and lords ofw areing back to the Virut ne. Even those from other nes areing to the Virut ne as an alternative to the ancient battlefield. The absence of the divine ne means anyone can bypass the nar portal and enter the ne through the void between nes.


    Theck of protection from the divine ne is a serious security problem but the racial council of the ne has proven itself to be more than capable of handling the sudden rise of immigrants. The ne patrol that they set up with flying fortresses protects the ne and prevents outright destruction to the ne.


    Everything has been going generally well. The peopleing from other nes and the ancient battlefield also brought with them novelties be they economical or cultural and are enriching the Virut ne. The economy of the Virut ne is being enriched and it is prospering.


    Demons have stopped attacking even though the ne is still open for attack. No high-rank demon in its right mind wants to attack a ne like the Virut ne. Even demon kings stay clear of it. The fact that the demons couldn''t eliminate the gods but the inhabitants of the world removed their gods means that the inhabitants are more terrifying than their gods and also more terrifying than the demons.


    The influx of new powerhouses has not helped their chances either. The Virut ne has be stronger with more transcendents, lords ofw, and kings ofwing into the ne. Any demon high-rank demon that enters the Virut ne right now is hunted for research or sport.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The absence of demons has not made the ne peaceful though. All is not well with the Virut ne. You would expect that the avability of Origin energy will reduce the conflict for resources among its inhabitants but it has only increased it. Transcendents, lords ofw, and kings ofw can now fight to their hearts'' content without fear of running out of Origin energy. So any little conflict can quickly escte into a full fight. Things get worse when the conflict is not little when it first started.


    The production of natural resources spurred on by Origin energy like Origin stones has provided the very eager fighters with Important reasons to fight. Origin stones are crystallized Origin energy. They contain a lot of it which can be easily essed all at once instead of slowly siphoning it from the environment. It is a wonderful storage of Origin energy for instant replenishment of power. A sort of consumable battery for those that can use it.


    Then there''s the matter of concentration of Origin energy. Origin energy isn''t evenly distributed throughout the ne. The source of Origin energy is the tower of trials and it spreads out from there. So the concentration is higher the closer it is to the tower. This uneven distribution has created conflict simr to the conflict of Origin waters.


    Back during the era of Origin waters, mana concentration was higher the closer one is to the streams of origin waters. Battle sage monkeys vied for trees closer to origin streams. It caused conflicts that ended when the era of transcendents began. The streams of origin waters became obsolete when the nar portal was opened. So much mana flooded the ne that no one could notice any difference in concentration.


    But what will render the tower of trials obsolete? It is an important question because back then, the power level during the conflict for Origin waters was the mana stage. But now, the weakestbatants are transcendents. They aren''t normal transcendents either. They are transcendents loaded on steroids. They have powerful divine abilities from their bloodlines and a lot of Origin energy to use them.


    The damage that mana entities can do to a ne is negligible whenpared to what transcendents and lords ofw can do. That damage cannotpare to what kings ofw can do either. Kings ofw are the ones that need Origin energy the most. They have fully mastered at least aw and they need a lot of origin energy to make the stars within their origin cores in order to be titans ofw.


    So kings ofw are always fighting in the vicinity of the tower of trial. They fling attacks with the full power ofws at each other and at their surroundings. Each one of them can dodge attacks but the environment has no choice but to be hit over and over again. They are doing a significant amount of damage to the ecosystem of the ne with all their fighting. Something has to be done.

 Chapter 529 The Conflict For Origin Energy.

    The alternative source of origin energy apart from the ambient one is the Origin stone. People want the instant avability of energy it offers. It can provide a quick top of energy during a fight is why they are so fiercely contested.


    But Origin stones are short-term tools. They be useless after they are used. So the fighters use their origin stones to empower themselves as they fight for locations of higher Origin energy concentration. It is using the short-term benefit to fight for long-term goals. It has formed a cycle of conflict.


    The conflict for better resources has led to the significant destruction of thendscape of the ne. Mountains are cleaved and crushed. Rivers are dried up. Craters are smashed into the earth everywhere. Fire is ravaging the beloved forests of the ne. The destruction to the ne cannot be understated. It is not a wonder that the ancient sages said the ne is in danger of destruction.


    The current situation can''t be allowed to continue as it is. Something had to be done. The racial council had toe in and take charge. They had to do something as the leading force and authority within the ne.


    The destruction of so many trees spurred them into action. They cannot sit by and watch as their beloved trees are destroyed. They remember the times when they use to fight over those trees. They were primitive back then but that doesn''t mean they still don''t care about the trees now that they are a powerful civilization. Trees might not be as Important as it was nowadays but they are still important to some very powerful entities.


    The racial council did something that they have never done in the history of the ne. They took control of somend and its distribution. In the past, anynd can be acquired by anyone that wants it. If there''s someone on thend, then you evict them forcefully. The only safe ces are the sanctioned empires for themon people. No one can touch those ces. Anything else is up for grabs.


    Those three empires are under the rule of the racial council and cannot be interfered with by anyone. The three ancient empires are the origin of the culture of battle sage monkeys and as such should be preserved. The racial council has decided to take control of the areas ofnd around the tower of trials so that the stability of the ne will be preserved too.


    Only the area around the tower of trials wasmandeered. Thosends are fiercely contested due to the high concentration of Origin energy there. The contest of ownership in those ces is the major cause of conflict. The racial council took control of them and then decided to distribute thend based on strength and luck.


    Strength will be determined throughpetition while luck will be determined through a lottery. 90% of the space will be given to the best kings ofw, lords ofw, and transcendents that participate in thepetition. The remaining 10% will be given to the lucky few who are not strong enough through the lottery. This lottery is open to only those without a royal bloodline. The others have to fight for space.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Thend is divided into plots and control of the plots will change hands depending on the results of thepetition. Thepetition will ur every 10,000 years so control of thends will change hands every 10,000. Even the famous child of the ne that caused this whole situation is not exempted from this rule.


    Soverick doesn''t need space there because he has infinite energy so he declined to join thepetition but the racial council doesn''t want to take no for an answer. They want him to participate in thepetition so they sent representatives to change his mind. They didn''t look too hard before they found him. He is always in his forge and has been staying there since he became a transcendent about 200 years ago.


    His forge was built for him by Hadrick and is situated in the Ghastorix main city. It is a state-of-the-art facility used for forging Origin artifacts. It is arge reinforced structure built in the shape of a hexagon. Most of the structure is filled with arrays and equipment leaving space in the center where the forging takes ce. Soverick is in that space right now coordinating the forging of an Origin artifact.


    A spherical structure is hovering at the very center of the forge. This structure is made of a red viscous liquid that looks likeva and behaves like thick oil. It is constantly shifting as it rotates but it is prevented from scattering by an external force holding it together.


    There are visible blue threads surrounding the sphere of red material and marking it as it spins. These threads are in the thousands. They are tiny and extend from a visible circr array surrounding the sphere. The array forms a halo around the sphere.


    Soverick is sitting at the control point within this array. There are other arrays behind him that fuel the entire forging process. There''s an array forputing and assisting modr transformation. There are energy banks beyond these arrays. Behind all of them is the maic pir.


    The maic pir is the major structure that takes up the most space in the forge. It is a hexagonal structure that gives the building its shape. It produces a powerful maic field that makes the sphere at the center levitate and hold its shape. The energy banks power the arrays which Soverick then controls. The infusion of his divine sense into the arrays creates the threads that mark the sphere.


    This arrangement for forging Origin weapons was created by Hadrick while Soverick is responsible for the improvement of the arrays. He has always been an excellent array master. He built a special array responsible for the teleportation of his soul fragments into thew matrix for reincarnation. His expertise with arrays has only gotten better with Soverick''s eyes.

 Chapter 530 Soverick The Forger.

    The forge is a creation of near perfection. There are other methods for forging but this is probably the best. It is also highly dangerous. There''s always energy loss during energy conversion and in a situation like this, the energy loss is huge. It needs an absurd amount of control and redundant fail safes to prevent an explosion of cataclysmic proportions.


    If care is not taken then an ident strong enough to kill a titan ofw can ur because of the reactions of the forge. The major reason why the Ghastorix family allowed such a dangerous structure to be built in their city is that if an explosion does ur, the maic pir will keep it localized. That means, whoever is within the forge can kiss their sorry life goodbye while everyone in the city will feel a minor earth shake. It is a good thing that his teacher is by his side to warn him.


    Hadrick told him. "Watch out for the energy discharge. It''s over the safe limit."


    "I know," Soverick replied.


    His 4 multicolored eyes remain fixed on the sphere. The tiny shifts in the multicolored multifaceted gems he has for eyes are more than capable of tracking all the minute changes in energy level and signatures.


    The rotating sphere is the recipient of the forging process but it is not a willing participant. Action will always produce an equal but opposite reaction. The sphere is resisting changes and it is pushing back. The friction and its motion within the maic field are creating a ton of energy that is bent on escaping and will do so if they are given the smallest of chances. The energy runoff needs to be safely siphoned from the interaction or an explosion to cook a titan ofw can ur.


    This energy is mainly in the form of electricity. A cloud of charged particles has formed above the sphere releasing lightning bolts downwards. The array above the sphere collects the lightning and redirects them to the energy banks for reuse. But the process is not direct or automatic. It has to be done carefully.


    Soverick carefully operated the discharge array to convert the wild lightning into usable electricity for the energy bank. He has to do it periodically during the forging process. The problem with it is that it has to be done by the same person. Only a single mind will be able to maintain equilibrium in the system by sensing the impacts of the changes to it. The need to pay attention to the forging and siphoning of energy stretches the concentration of the mind to dangerous levels. A slip can lead to disastrous consequences.


    The vine beside him spoke up again. "Don''t get distracted. Watch the artifact."


    "I never get distracted," Soverick replied confidently.


    The sphere wobbled slightly. The energy discharge affected the maic field holding it together but it is quickly restored to its proper shape. Soverick wasn''t distracted by the increase in demand to siphon the discharged array. He has a powerful mind that is not taxed by the rigorous demands of the forging process.


    "The kink ising up. You have to be careful with the kink. Remember what I told you, just ease it into..."


    "Done," Soverick said.


    The vine floundered about for a while in irritation. Hadrick grunted and said, "I can see that. But you didn''t use the 3 visor 3 order 7 step approach."


    "I used a new method. It''s the 9 visor 9 order 1 step approach." Soverick replied easily able to keep up with the conversation while handling the mental requirements of forging.


    "I saw that too. The 9 visor 9 order 1 step is too dangerous."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It was easy and it was quick."


    "Hmmm." Hadrick grumbled, "Only you can say making 9 changeovers 9 times in one step of rune augmentation is easy."


    The 9 visor 9 order 1 step is very efficient in terms of work output and time. With it, rune augmentation can bepleted in 1 step instead of 7. But it has a prodigious requirement for mental effort though which makes it very dangerous to attempt in a situation where the mind is already being taxed by the forging process. Soverick can do that and more. He can still track movement outside his forge.


    One of his four eyes turned to the left while the other three focused on the forging.


    He said to Hardrick. "I have visitors."


    "Yes. I think they are here to make you do something. I can''t remember what it is."


    Hadrick is aware of their presence. It was made aware when they entered the city but it disregarded them.


    It said to Soverick, "They will have to wait. Just focus on your forging."


    "I am always focused."


    "Then why is one of your eyes off?"


    The two eyes on the left side of his face focused on Hadrick. One of them looked at the vine beside him while the other looked at Hadrick''s main body at the bottom of the city.


    The eye said to Hadrick''s main body. "I can focus on many things at once."


    Hadrick became spooked. It used the vine to p Soverick. "Stop doing that. You weirdo."


    Soverick chuckled. He has changed over the years. The obvious changes are the new eyes that he got when he became a transcendent. Each eye has a different purpose and is independent of the other. They also don''t change colors anymore. They have a white pupil surrounded by a multicolored iris and gold sclera.


    Apart from them, the obvious changes, there is a less obvious change to his emotions. His eyes have seen a lot and he has been changed by what they saw. He has be capable of seeing the world in a different way and has be different as a result. It is difficult to think of people as living things when you can see down to the cells within them and analyze the transfer of energy within them.

 Chapter 531 Talented Master And Hardworking Student.

    People are more like objects with numerous systems working in tandem. When you look deep enough, people are just made up of stupid cells that do the same thing over and over again. He sees this every day and has be colder and dismissive of mundane things because of it. There are very few that he interacts with because of his new preference for special things. Hadrick is one of those few.


    "It is just beautiful. How many threads are you using for the edification?" Hadrick asked.


    "7,319. I can go above that but that is the optimum number for perfect control and synchronization."


    Hadrick couldn''t help but be impressed. "Wow. That is marvelous in and of itself. A sovereign can only use a maximum of 6,000. Heck, I can only use 1000. That''s if I really push myself."


    "But you''re the best forger. Slow and steady wins the race." He said topliment his teacher.


    "You''re just making me look good. And I might not be the best forger anymore."


    Hadrick tried to y down his ability but Soverick insisted. He said, "I''m sure you''re the best forger. No one can beat the level of energy transformation that you achieve. You don''t even need the discharge array."


    Hadrick became smug. "Well, I was being humble. I know that I am still the best. I just wanted you to say it first."


    Soverick smiled. What he said is the truth. Hadrick is the best forger. There''s no one that Legion knows to be better than Hadrick at making artifacts. While others try to force raw materials into the shape and function they want, Hadrick shapes them like a potter shapes y.


    Forging happens seamlessly and effortlessly for Hadrick. It is due to Hadrick''s ability to influence energy transformation to a high degree. He can make water at 99 degrees reach 100 degrees by using just a tiny fraction oftent energy required to do so thereby transforming water to steam seamlessly.


    It is an ability that is based on pure talent. The ability is a big deal in forging. The only person more talented than Hadrick is the tree father but the tree father doesn''t have the tools for forging yet. Hadrick also has a rigid mind that''s why he can''t handle more than 1,000 threads of edification.


    Soverick on the other hand is the epitome of skill and hard work. He has gotten the processes and mechanisms for transformation down to perfection. He has reached the limit of that perfection. If his knowledge and control can bebined with the talent of the Tree father, then there will be no limit to what they can achieve.


    The two of them returned to their normal exchange. Soverick will forge while Hadrick will give pointless advice. They did so until the forging waspleted. Then the maic pir began to shut down. It shut down ring by ring thereby reducing the maic fieldyer byyer instead of all at once.


    Soverick shut down the other arrays and brought the forged artifact towards him with his solidified divine sense. Therge red shower at the center of the array has changed. It shrunk and its color changed. It has be a small ck sphere about 20 centimeters in diameter. It has red runes written all over its surface. Soverick made it fly all the way to him and he inspected it closely with all his eyes.


    Hadrick remarked like a wise sage. "Your workmanship isn''t bad but we are not sure it will work as you nned. It might not even work at all."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick said confidently. "It will work."


    He has confidence because of his eyes. He saw the forging process, so he knows it will work. He can track cause and effect.


    "Just activate it and let''s find out," Hadrick said eagerly. It wanted to see if it can work.


    Soverick shook his head. "That can wait. Let''s not make my visitors wait for too long."


    Hadrick was disappointed but it recovered quickly. It said, "Fine. But be quick about it."


    Soverick paused and asked himself. "How do I make this meeting as fast as possible?"


    He took six sheets of paper and began writing some stuff on them. It didn''t take long for him to finish. Then he left his position from within the array and went outside the forge to see his guests. There are five of them and all of them are battle sage monkeys except one. Hadrick didn''t follow him but he is aware of what''s going on in the city.


    One of the five of his guests, a king ofw, bowed to him and spoke. The others just watched.


    "Greetings, Child of the ne. Permit me the honor of doing the introductions. I am..."


    Soverick interrupted him. "I know who you are and I know why you are here."


    All four of his eyes focused on each one of them in turn before he gave each of them a piece of paper. There is something written on each paper. They read what he gave them.


    The sheet he gave to the one that spoke first read. "You are from the Ghastorix family. There are several reasons why you are here. You were sent here by the Diplomatic department of the family. They chose you because you''re a king and because you''re the only king ofw to volunteer when your department was asked. You volunteered because you want me to sign a souvenir for your daughter. You were the only one to volunteer because you bribed and intimidated the others from volunteering. I won''t sign the souvenir for your daughter but you can take this piece of paper to her. Don''t thank me."


    The king ofw has the telltale sign of blue fur with an air of electricity around him indicating he is a king ofw that has mastered thew of lightning. His blue fur and the familiarity of his bloodline can allow an observant person to determine that he is a member of the Ghastorix family but Soverick determined he has the Ghastorix bloodline by looking into his body and seeing thew fragments of lightning within it.

 Chapter 532 The First Three Notes.

    As to how he knows why the king ofw is here, it is because he can see cause and effect. He can see how the events yed within the streams of mana that clung to the king ofw. He saw how the king ofw got to be here and what he wants so the sheet of paper fulfilled the task of talking between them and the souvenir that the king ofw wants for his daughter.


    The king ofw began to grin from ear to ear after reading his piece of paper. He came for an autograph but got an entire sheet of paper with many words written on it. And he didn''t even have to ask for him to get it. The Child of the ne already knew what he wanted.


    He felt like thanking Soverick but the note said he shouldn''t. So he kept quiet, for now. This experience is a story he will share with anyone that so much expresses half an interest. His daughter will be very happy when he gives this to her and tells her. He can just picture it.


    The second piece of paper went to the female battle sage monkey with white fur and eyes that shift colors. She smiled when she received the sheet of paper but didn''t read it. She doesn''t need to read it to know what it says.


    It says, "Stop trying to scry me, Salvini. You won''t get anything from me and no, that doesn''t prove that I am your soul mate. It just means you''re incapable of manipting me. Now let''s get to the serious matter of why you''re here. Salvos didn''te because he doesn''t care and Salvin wanted to but you tricked him to go to another city. You''re here to convince me to join the first Unified Skill Indexpetition. You have reasons to believe that you will seed in this endeavor. I do not know your reasons for your confidence but I know that you will tell me soon."


    Salvini is from the Empire of sages, one of the three sanctioned empires created by the racial council. It was established in honor of the sages. The empire of sages revolves around the family of sages and their descendants. It is the mouthpiece of the sages in the Virut ne. They have sent the current generation of sages to convince him to join thepetition. There are three of them in this generation of sages all litter mates.


    Salvo and Salvin are her brothers. They were supposed toe together but Salvini made it so that only she will be here. She wants to have him all to herself because of some weird reasons. One of those reasons is that the two of them have the same amount of litter mates which is not a coincidence but a hidden message that they are alike and were made for each other.


    The third note that he wrote went to the male golden-furred battle sage monkey among them. He and Soverick have the same color of fur but their simrities end there. This battle sage monkey has a mane around his neck and head that makes him look like a lion. He has two eyes and they are yellow with vertical pupils.


    His piece of paper said, "Stop disturbing me Jarkon. I am not in the mood for a fight and no, I am not going to ept your challenge at ater date. You''re supposed to be here to protect Salvini but you''re going to try and push your agenda about that time I killed a lot of people. Now keep quiet and let the adults talk."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Jarkon is from the Empire of Justice. It was created around the Drastfarth family, a family of justice seekers. They have the bloodline of the lion of justice. They are goody too shoes that the racial council has given the power to police the Virut realm.


    The rules of living in the Virut ne arex. There''s a lot of freedom and there are no taxes for those that aren''t origin gods with a family in the ne. Might make right in the ne but there are some acts considered crimes.


    These crimes are mainly crimes against the race, not the individual. Like poisoning and massacring mortals, or interfering in their government. Mortals are people that have decided not to refine themselves and evolve. They stay in empires and live their lives away from the world of refiners.


    Mortals are the bedrock of the battle sage monkey society. Their reproduction rate is unhampered due to their weakness, so if anything were to happen to the cultivators where they die en mass, the mortals will be able to replenish the poption and prevent the extinction of the race. The three sanctioned empires are where mortals live in safety and protection. To harm mortals is to offend the racial council.


    The other crimes are like destroying property belonging to the racial council or breaking the rules of the race. He hasn''t done any of that but Jahkon has it out for him because of the time he killed a lot of people who came to challenge him. It is not a crime but Jahkon considers it one since one of his brothers died in that incident. Now he is hell-bent on revenge.


    Jahkon read his paper and became silent. But he is seething and bitter about it if the re on his face is any indication. Unfortunately for him, his eyes can''t kill or harm others. He doesn''t have the right bloodline for his gaze to harm Soverick. So his re is only hateful and not harmful to Soverick.


    The fourth note went to the heroic spirit. This battle sage monkey also has pure white fur. The heroic spirit doesn''t have a bloodline. That''s due to being alive in an era where royal bloodlines were things of dreams. This particr heroic spirit was a sage that died during the war against the Vipers.

 Chapter 533 The Fourth And Fifth Notes.

    The fourth note read, "You are from the Empire of heroes. You were chosen by chance and you''re here to tell me that the Empire of heroes supports my decision whatever my decision is. I appreciate the Empire of heroes for their continued support. It is a pity that I will never join your ranks because I''ll achieve eternity. But I do honor and respect the sacrifices you have made for the race."


    The empire of heroes is thest empire sanctioned by the racial council. It is the oldest battle sage monkey empire in the entire ne. It started as a shrine for dead heroes before the era of transcendents. That era was full of strife. There''s the internal conflict for Origin waters and the race-threatening conflict of the Vipers. The strife produced heroes that were remembered even after their death and worshipped for their sacrifice.


    Those heroes returned through the power of faith and worship as immortal spirits who continued to fight for their tribes and race. Then the heroic spirits worked together with the sages to unify the race against the vipers. After the war of races, the numerous shrines of different tribes and families were thenbined into the Temple of heroes which then became the empire of heroes.


    It is the dream of any self-respecting battle sage monkey to be enshrined in the empire of heroes after their death. They will never be forgotten and their sacrifices will enable them to be given life as heroic spirits. In a way, it is a path to achieving eternity but it will never be for him.


    The heroic spirit smiled after reading the note and bowed. Its mission is just as it has stated. It is here to make sure that Soverick is not pressured into attending thepetition. Soverick has already met the requirements to be enshrined. His act of destroying the divine dungeon and letting origin energy enter the ne has made him worthy.


    Thest person in this 5 person group is the one that is not a battle sage monkey. It is a mole. The mole is almost 2 meters tall. It has ck fur and white eyes. The white eyes are the equivalent of the eyes of sages. It signifies royalty among the race of moles. This mole also has a long thin hairless tail that is ringed with ck and white colors.


    Soverick wrote on the note, "Greetings prince Shakbu. I am honored to have you visit me. I know you''re here to convince me to allow the moles to partake in thepetition but I can''t. I might be the child of the ne and as such belongs to the entire ne not only to the battle sage monkeys, but I can''t change the circumstances of thepetition. I am not strong enough and I do not have enough support for it. The current conflict for Origin energy will be good for your race."


    The moles are the second most powerful race in the Virut ne. The Virut ne has seen a lot of violent wars in the past. Some nes rarely have a race with a divine ability but the Virut ne has four races with innate divine abilities. The Viper race was the most terrifying. They were predators of both the battle sage monkeys and the moles that lived underground.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The versatility and adaptability of the vipers made them distribute their attention toward both the moles and the battle sage monkeys. It gave the pioneering sages the time to rally the battle sage monkeys without being noticed. The Vipers were eventually wiped out and the battle sage monkeys went on to subjugate the entirety of the ne.


    The only reason why the moles are still around is that they live underground and rarely interfere with the battle sage monkeys. Their choice of habitat makes it difficult to fight them which makes it impossible to wipe them out. It also makes them an unappealing target for elimination. Battle sage monkeys don''t want to live underground. They have always loved treetops.


    The moles may have survived and thrived in the Virut ne but they are nowhere close to the battle sage in power and prosperity. Their disparity in strength has been made obvious now that Origin energy has entered the ne. Origin energy reaches their subterranean abode but the concentration is at its lowest. Their only option is toe above ground which they did. But they can''tpete with the battle sage monkeys for space with a higher concentration of Origin energy.


    Their luck didn''t change when the racial council decided to take control of the rights to the area surrounding the tower of trials. The racial council decreed that only the battle sage monkeys with royal bloodlines can participate in thepetition. Battle sage monkeys without royal bloodlines can''t participate. Moles are of an entirely different race so they are not weed at all.


    The racial council might be for the entire ne but it is dominated by battle sage monkeys. It doesn''t help that the moles don''t have any world gods. Even the fourth divine race, the stone race has a world god but those don''t care about somepetition. The members of the stone race only care about Sleep and quiet.


    So the moles sent their prince to ask the child of the ne to assist them. They want Soverick to speak for them and convince the racial council. Unfortunately, it is not possible for Soverick to move a Behemoth like the racial council. Even if he could, he doesn''t care enough about the moles to do that.


    He doesn''t have any interest in the well-being of the moles and there is no benefit for him in helping them. It isn''t all bad for them though. As he said to the prince, the conflict will be good for them. They avoided the conflict of Origin waters and were content with staying underground with rare underground streams. They can''t avoid thepetition for origin energy this time around or they will be eliminated in time.

 Chapter 534 6 Notes Were Given And 6 Notes Were Received.

    Their decision to stay underground during the era of Origin waters kept them safe from the conflict but it also made them one step behind the battle sage monkeys. Thatg increased until they have no world god while the other races do. This conflict for Origin energy might be their chance to progress. War is bad but it creates heroes, it also brings the actualization of potential.


    The prince''s shoulders fell after he read the note and his head drooped in disappointment. If they don''t participate in thepetition then none of their talents can have ess to the high concentration of Origin energy. They have to fight with the other races both native to the ne and immigrated from other nes for the leftover areas.


    Soverick asked. "Now, that that has been taken care of. What do you have for me, Salvini?"


    She didn''t say anything. She smiled, took out a sheet of paper, and gave him. He frowned when he saw the paper but he took it. There is something written on the paper that he began to read.


    "As you know, thepetition will be hosted by a world god. You might not know what that fully means. For one, thepetition won''t be held in the Virut ne. It will be held within a special artifact that the world god built. The artifact will ensure fairness. Only skill will be tested. The reward for bing the first in thepetition is sure to change your mind about participating. You can ask the world god for anything including allowing the moles to participate in thepetition, learn the art of making world fragments, or even ask for my hand in marriage *wink*."


    Of his four eyes, only one read the note. The rest were busy with other stuff but all of them were frowning after he read the note.


    He took out the sixth note he wrote in the forge and gave it to her. He had written his answer on it. He knows why she came here and that she must have a very convincing reason to change his mind. He prepared this sheet just in case. He can''t pass up the chance to ask a world god for something.


    Salvini''s read the note. It said, "I Will Participate."


    Then she smiled at him and gave him another note. This one said, "The note was my idea and so were the rewards. I knew the rewards will change your mind. I might not know what you will do, but I can predict and anticipate it."


    All four of his eyes focused on her. He said, "You spent 93.2 hoursing up with this idea."


    He doesn''t have another note so he had to speak. He didn''t predict that she will try to bost to him especially when he doesn''t find anything impressive or worth bragging about her notes.


    She gave him another note which read, "You''re correct."


    "I assume you''re going to read too much into this." He said to her after reading it.


    She have him another note in reply. "Yes. This proves that we are meant for each other. We are soul mates who know each other''s mind."


    He scoffed. "This means nothing."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Her eyes twinkled as she gave him another note. "We''ll see about it."


    Then she turned to leave.The others followed after her. Some bowed respectfully and others like Jarkon only gave him a very venomous stare. Salvini gave Jahkon a note which he passed on to Soverick.


    "I''ll see you in thepetition. Then I''ll avenge my brother."


    Soverick ignored the foolhardy guy. So he killed the guy''s brother. He should get over it. It''s his brother''s fault for being around the wrong crowd. His brother was at the wrong ce at the wrong time and he got beheaded for it. You shouldn''t hate the beheader, hate the de.


    Soverick is more concerned about the exchange of notes. He gave them notes and they happened to have prepared notes for him too. What are the odds of that? He gave them 6 notes and he received 6 notes in return. It is a little on the nose.


    "What a chatan." He said unimpressed with the disy.


    The event seems like she predicted his actions and prepared the notes but they are not as magical as it looks. She prepared for numerous scenarios by calcting the odds of some things taking ce and then nned for them. She spent 93.2 hours preparing for this meeting with him whereas he came up with using notes on a whim not to waste time.


    He gave them 6 notes and she gave him 6 notes in return. Her aim is to wow him but he is not fooled. He is not impressed despite the amount of time she spent on it. The notes are just one of her various preparations and she didn''t even do it well.


    "Something is up with these notes." He muttered to himself as all his eyes focused on the sheets of paper.


    He feels a different mana resonance from each of them. The sheets themselves don''t have any physical difference. They are all white and have the same physical dimensions. They might look alike but they have varying types of mana at different levels of concentration. It is also not the normal and random discrepancies that you will expect in nature during production.


    He finds it odd that there''s a significant difference in theposition of mana in each paper.


    "Fire, earth, water, air, light, and finally darkness." He muttered to himself as he observed the sheets of paper.


    He was able to quickly identify which element of mana is the highest in each paper. Each sheet has an element that stands out while the rest of the elements are the same quantity. It is odd because each paper has one element for each of the basic elements of mana while the rest are equal in concentration. It is like each sheet represents the 6 basic elements of mana.

 Chapter 535 The Mystery Of The Sheets.

    "Hmm. This has to be intentional. But why?" He said in wonder and confusion.


    The more he inspected the 6 sheets of paper, the more he is certain that their weirdness is intentional. Each of the particrly odd elements are also in the same quantity as the others in each paper.


    It might be a coincidence that two different elements which are highest in two papers are of the same quantity but it is unlikely that it is a coincidence in 6 sheets of paper. He has a rather convincing reason to believe that it is not random but why would someone do it?


    Most ring of all is that the elements are vibrating in sync too. It might be invisible to other battle sage monkeys but it is clear to him. He can see the fluctuations of mana with his eyes. Fire mana will reach its crest and then begin to fall. Earth, water, and the others will reach their crest in the period that fire is falling to the trough of its wavelength. All of them will reach the crest by the time fire reaches its trough, rises, and is about to reach its crest again. Then the cycle will start again.


    All his eyes glowed with realization, "This is order."


    If by chance, it is a coincidence that all six high elements have the same quantity, it is definitely not a chance that they are synchronized like this. Their behavior suggests order. These sheets of paper are not natural. If they are natural they should be chaotic. But their behavior is too orderly. There is an order to their behavior that cannot be found in nature. That means that they were made this way intentionally by someone. It roused his curiosity.


    His eyes began working on deciphering the information held within the mana that makes up the papers. Unlike Salvini, he is not a hack. He doesn''t prepare for random future events. He predicts them based on solid data and he acquires this data through his eyes.


    What she did is the only thing that she can do since she can''t foretell his actions. He became more difficult to scry ever since he became the child of the ne. It is one of the benefits of that title. She couldn''t scry him before because she is weak and he has an Origin soul. Origin gods have broken the strings of fate on them by oveing death. It will take an Origin god with a specialized concept to see anything about the future of another Origin god.


    Then he became the child of the ne and had his fate intertwined with that of the ne. That means anyone that tries to predict him will be looking at the billions of lives in the ne. They will have to sift through the deluge of information of everyone in the ne to get anything out of him. Now, even if Salvini does be an origin god, she wouldn''t be powerful enough to predict his actions.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Those with the eyes of sages foretell the future or bring to pass a favorable future through their actions since they can foretell the effects of their actions. He on the other hand cannot foretell the future, at least not yet. But he can tell the present with utmost certainty and he can read the past through the marks they have left in mana. His eyes can trace the cause of the past to the effect of the present.


    Mana is everything and everything that urs involves mana. He canmunicate with mana so he knows about things that are happening with mana and have happened with mana. It is how he was able to tell how long she spent trying to prepare for his meeting. Some mana clung to her and he couldmunicate with them. It also means he knows a lot of things about people that they will rather keep secret.


    He can read the information that urred thousands of years ago but that doesn''t mean he can read everything. Mana itself is not stable. It is a vessel for change so it changes pretty easily. Mana also doesn''t stay in a single ce. It ebbs and flows and mixes with other streams of mana thereby scattering the marks of history all over the ce. If not for thew of causality, then it will be nearly impossible to trace past events with mana.


    With thew of causality, he can form links with the other marks of an event left in mana wherever they may be. Even then, some events are still untraceable because they leave faint marks in mana that fade with time as opposed to some events that leave ring marks in mana.


    Like eating and killing someone. They have different levels of mana significance. Eating leaves a very faint mark while killing leaves a deep mark in the history of mana. Killing someone doesn''t leave a deep mark because it is a significant act aspared to eating. The general rule is that if the event is mana intensive, then it will have higher longevity.


    The act of killing is mana intensive. The spells that you use to kill or the special mana weapons used will leave longsting trails. Then there is the amount of mana that is released into the environment upon the death of someone. All of these make the act of taking the life of someone easy for him to see. Eating something that is full of mana will also leave longsting trails.


    He reads those events and then uses that information to predict the future.If you know the past and learn from it, then you will be able to predict the future because more often than expected, events alwayse in a full circle. The start of a thing is simr to its end. If the end and the beginning are not alike, then they are not the end or beginning. The universe will end just like it started. It might be in reverse but they are both simr.

 Chapter 536 Visions Of The Past Through Mana.

    He decided to get to the bottom of the anomaly that is the sheets of paper and figure out how they came to be. His divine sense came out of him through his eyes instead of directly into the world through his soul. So he senses the world through his eyes, not through his soul. It is a technique that ocr bloodlines use that unifies the power of his powerful soul and his unique eyes. He activated this technique and focused his eyes on the strings of mana within the sheets of paper. eyes can see mana and his soul can sense mana. But his eyes can be blocked sometimes by mana itself. It is like a wall of mana. His eyes can see the wall and can even see through it but only to a certain level. It gets to a point where he can''t see beyond it. His soules to assist by pushing aside or parsing what he is seeing as he is seeing it so that his eyes won''t be clogged up with too much sensory information.


    The signatures of events are on these strings of mana. Deciphering them is not an easy job. Mana itself is talkative. It will tell you everything it knows no matter how useless or irrelevant it is. It is his job to determine the useful information in the ocean of data that is being presented to him. What''s worse is that he won''t know what''s useful until he deciphers the information.


    It is why seeing the present is easy and can be done with 100% certainty but seeing the past is a challenge. Looking into the past is like searching through different time vaults. You have to crack the time vaults to ess their contents. Sometimes vaults have trash in them but you won''t know until you have gone through the effort of cracking the time vaults. If you''re lucky to find the time vaults you have, they might be too old and are already falling apart with their contents beingpromised. It is honestly a hassle but it is handy.


    He broke the code that is thenguage of mana and his vision narrowed into a world of intent. The intent is from mana itself and from the events that have urred to mana. The intent will tell him what he wants as long as he can find it and can understand it. It is a difficult thing because all he can see here are broken fleeting emotions urring without rhyme or reason. This is where thew of causality helps. It gives Order to what he is seeing.


    The scattered emotions linked together and began to inform him of shapes, tastes, sounds, and images at the same time. Even with the order he imposed on it, the world of intent is still chaotic. It''s like tasting, touching, hearing, and seeing past and present events at the same time. It is not a wonder that his eyes get overloaded with too much information. If not for the time frame that causality provides, he will never be able to get anything meaningful. So he narrowed his focus by looking at the intents with Salvini in them and then rewinding the flow of events until he zeroed in on what he wanted.


    He felt a sheet of paper within a space with a confined sub-level spatial coefficient. There are other sheets of paper around in the foggy world, hundreds of them. Then the spatial coefficient was normalized. The sheet of paper was then modified by a certain substance. The substance is a mixture of materials that scar and blemish the paper in several spots that he deciphered to be letters.


    So far he has gotten that Salvini kept the paper in a pocket dimension before she gave it to him. There are hundreds of sheets of paper that she made to give to him. All these sheets of paper have been modified with ink so they all have something written on them. She only took out the ones that fit the situation to make it look mystifying. But that''s not what he is looking for.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He searched deeper. His mind moved farther through time into the depth of the world of intent. Then he discovered something. The sheets of paper came from someone or something. Whatever it is, the mana is saying it is massive and very powerful. This thing was warping everything around it including mana so he couldn''t see what was going on at all. It looked like an indescribable maelstrom of mana


    He was trying to wrap his head around the chaotic signatures when everything suddenly became clear. His mind suddenly encountered an area of clearness. The abrupt change didn''t end there. His mind was pulled into the raging maelstrom of mana within the world of intent against his will.


    He had been fully invested in trying to pry the information open so he couldn''t pull his mind back. Not that he can even if he was prepared. It was a carefullyid trap for him. The 6 sheets of paper were not given to him at random. Their oddness didn''t ur by nature. It is so that he will investigate and end up here.


    His mind was sucked into the maelstrom. He entered it and continued to fall into it. His world became chaotic. He couldn''t tell up from down or anything from anything else. It was all a confusing deluge of data and mana. His heart sank within him because he could feel that the force pulling him is behind his capabilities. But there''s nothing he could do. He has no other choice but to go along with the flow.


    The pulling force ended abruptly too. He seemed to have appeared within arge world of pure white. There''s no sense of length, breadth, or height. He can only see whiteness as far as his eyes can see. There''s only him and a giant eye in this white world. The eye is white with severalyers of different colored rings around its pitch-ck pupil.

 Chapter 537 Meeting The First Sage.

    The eye is looking at him but it looks like it is looking down on him because of the difference in size. He is very smallpared to the size of the giant eye. The eye must be more than 100 meters wide. He just stared wide-eyed at the eye and his surroundings.


    "Wee Child of the ne. It is time we meet. I am the first sage, the first of my kind, the first battle sage monkey."


    Soverick''s eyes widened in realization. Now he knows who made the sheets of paper and gave them to Salvini. It is also the person who trapped him. The first sage is the maelstrom that he sensed within the world of intent.


    "Where are we now?" He asked calmly.


    He is not calm. He is nowhere near calm. A world god is a world god, not an Origin god. Legion-1 still has to run from some Origin gods and here he is, facing a world god. He might be in big trouble and it is all because he was too curious for his own good.


    The eye answered, "You have to be specific with your question. If you mean our current location in time, then we are in the past. This is not happening now. It is happening in the past. So it has happened. If you mean our location in space, then you''re beside your forge in the main city of Ghastorix and I am somewhere on the dark side of the universe."


    His tense mind reeled. That answer contains a lot more information than he expected. It also contains some information that is not doing anything to assure him of his safety. He above everyone else understands what it means to be in the past. What he finds mind-boggling is that the past of the first sage has be his present and it was done forcefully without his consent.


    He has a lot of questions. They are too much and they want to overwhelm his mind. The questions with the highest priority on his mind are two. He couldn''t answer or pay attention to every question in his mind so he indulged himself with those two questions. The two questions can also be summarised with a single question so he asked himself, ''What is taking precedence here?''


    Is the past the dominant one where he has had this meeting before but he didn''t know about it and he is just realizing that he had this meeting because he looked into the past of the sheets of paper? Or is the present the dominant one where he pulled the past of the world god into his present to have this meeting by looking into the past of the sheets of paper? He doesn''t know and he doesn''t even know how to ask. He tried his best in asking though.


    Soverick nodded calmly before asking. "Did you predict that I will look into the sheets of paper and set up this meeting?"


    "I couldn''t predict it so I didn''t. I am not a chatan as you''ve called my daughter. I created the sheets you used and left my will within them. Since the sheets are of my will then my order reigns supreme pertaining to it. So you would have met me one way or the other. This method is pretty much more convenient. There is no need to predict when the end is inevitable."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I see. Am I talking to you or your will within the sheets?"


    The eye chuckled. It asked him, "What does it matter?"


    Soverick shook his head. It matters to him but it changes nothing at the end of the. His situation is set. This entity set up a meeting with his future self in the past. The fact that it happened at all means he is out of his depths.


    It does answer some of his questions though. This meeting is both the past and the present. It is a fusion of the world god''s past and Soverick''s present. It is responsive because of the will of the world god in the sheets of paper but since there is no difference between the world god''s will and the world god, Soverick might as well be talking to the first sage right now.


    "If they are all the same then you must know about the ability of my eyes. What else do you know?" He asked the eye.


    He hasn''t informed anyone of the abilities of his eyes. Not even Hadrick. The only ones that might have an inkling are the realm lord and mother high heaven. But he is currently in the presence of a world god. His secrets are not safe at all.


    The eye gleamed. "So you''re concerned about your secrets. Yes, I know about the ability of your eyes to see mana and I know it has more potential than that. I also know that your soul has a fragment of eternity but you''re just a king ofw that reached that level of power in less than a thousand years. Which do you think is the biggest secret?"


    Soverick turned silent. He didn''t put it past such a powerful entity to know about his strangeness but that doesn''t mean the entity knows everything. He chose not to be caught up in a trap by remaining silent. He realized that this might not be a cordial meeting but an interrogation.


    He has heard a lot about the first sage but he has never met the great hero of the race of battle sage monkeys. It wouldn''t have mattered that he has never met the first sage were he an ordinary battle sage monkey but he is not ordinary. He is far from ordinary and he is also the child of the ne.


    So it matters a lot that he has not met the first sage. It is also important to know that the first sage is the head of the racial council and also the former child of the ne of the Virut ne. The two of them are important extraordinary people so this meeting cannot be ordinary.

 Chapter 538 Bait And Switch.

    This meeting must be very important. He is also not meeting with a friend. They are not buddies and there is no reason for the first sage to like him. Anything he says can and may be used against him. It is best if he observes instead of participating in whatever this is. Those that listen and observe see more than those who talk. It will prevent him from falling into a trap.


    "So you have decided to keep quiet. That is smart. To prove that I mean you no harm I''ll tell you how I found out about your secrets. Your soul is powerful, very powerful. Anyone that can''t see how powerful your soul is is simply blind. I am not blind. As such, I can tell that you''re a king ofw even though you haven''t left your forge since you broke through."


    "You will like to believe that no one will find out if they don''t see you or if you don''t interact with them but you''re basing that premise on others being blind. Not everyone needs to meet you to know about you. Look at you for that matter. You don''t need to meet people to know how they happened toe and visit you and what their purpose is. It is all because of your eyes. Do you think you''re the only one that can see?"


    Soverick felt embarrassed. He honestly felt himself to be unique and special but today''s events have led him to know that it might not be so. What he thought was an ordinary meeting to convince him to attend apetition turned into fulfilling an appointment that he made in the future for a meeting in the past with a world god.


    He made this appointment the moment he decided to write 6 notes to give to the 5 people that came to see him. Salvini gave him 6 notes in return and now he is here. One thing led to another. So he should not be too prideful or he will be burned.


    The first sage continued. "It is not exactly your fault. That''s the thing about people with ocr abilities. They always believe that they are the only ones that can see. They think others are blind. But that isn''t true. Your sight only makes you see better than some since you can''t see everything there is to see. Only a perfect eye can do that and you don''t have that. In fact, a perfect eye doesn''t exist."


    Soverick considered the first sage''s words and found them to be humbling. He doesn''t have a perfect eye. He knew that but he never considered the ramifications. He has done some pretty remarkable things with his eyes but he didn''t break any rules of the universe by doing them. That means his eyesight is not behind the limits of what''s possible. It is dawning on him that his eye might not be unique. The void universe is a veryrge ce after all.


    "I appreciate the advice. It was ''eye-opening.'' But I am sure you have better things to do than to orchestrate a meeting just to advise me. I don''t think I am that worthy." He said to the eye.


    The advice is good. It enlightened him but it also made him wary. They haven''t even gotten to the purpose of the meeting and he is already spooked. He would very much like for this meeting to be over. So he wants them to get to the agenda of this meeting quickly. If it is bad, then he wants to rip off the metaphorical band-aid and get the painful experience over with.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The eye said to him, "I wanted to encourage you to attend thepetition in case the daughter of my lineage failed at doing it but that isn''t needed apparently. What convinced you to go? Was it the reward?"


    Soverick began to feel regret that he decided to go. It was not a soft and shallow type of regret. He felt a deep and uneasy regret for making that decision. If he knew the matter is of such importance he would have refused to participate no matter what. He wouldn''t have allowed himself to be tempted by the opportunity to make a request from a world god.


    Apparently, he has been yed again. Those 5 guests of his were not the true ones to convince him. They were just the bait, the smokescreen to obscure his vision and drag him here. He took the bait far too seriously and wasn''t wary about the pitfalls that might be present in the odd sheets of paper. He can''t really me himself too much on that side. After all, who knows that they should be careful of sheets of paper? He certainly didn''t know. Now he knows. Truly, experience is the best teacher.


    He thought to himself, ''Note to self, seeing is believing. Suspect everything. Question Everything.''


    He rubbed his forehead as he answered honestly, "It wasn''t the reward."


    The reward to ask the world god for something was appetizing but it isn''t the reason why he decided to attend thepetition. He will surely gain something else apart from the reward if he attends thepetition. So if he didn''t win thepetition and get the reward then his trip will not be a waste. The reward is just a smokescreen to mask his genuine interest.


    The First sage was extremely surprised. He asked, "Really? I thought she would fail but if she seeds it will be because of the reward. Are you lying to me?"


    The eye bored into him seeking to determine the veracity of his words. Maybe it is also seeking to sniff out more of his secrets. You can never know with a world god. It might as well be that all his secrets have been exposed already. He doesn''t know. But one thing that he knew with uttermost certainty is that he doesn''t want to be here.

 Chapter 539 Support Of The Racial Council.

    The eye of the first sage focused intensely on him after it asked him if he was lying about why he decided to join thepetition.


    "No, I''m not lying." He answered.


    He told the truth because lying here won''t work. He is in a ce conjured by a world god and he has just been lectured about how he shouldn''t underestimate others so there''s no way he will insult the first sage by lying straight to his face. He won''t lie because the first sage will know but that doesn''t mean he will say what really made him decide to go.


    The eye was perplexed. It tried to figure out what changed his mind. "I know that you don''t care about the moles enough to sacrifice a wish for them neither do you desire the daughter of my lineage. I thought that you might be interested in how to make world fragments. Is that it? Are you after how to make world fragments?"


    Soverick shook his head as he replied. "I was interested in how to make world fragments but it is not the reason why I want to participate in thepetition."


    "You do know that world fragments are the next ss of weapons beyond Origin artifacts and that only forgers that can make perfect Origin artifacts can attempt to make them at all." The eye asked him.


    Soverick answered in the affirmative. "I know about world fragments and it didn''t change my mind despite its value."


    Weapons improve the strength of a person. One can say they grant power. Others can say that they are power itself. Laymen call some weapons powerful but forgers call weapons the embodiment of power. The power that they grant to people elevates their power and makes them more than what they are.


    A lord ofw is not a match for a king ofw but a high-rank Origin weapon can make a lord ofw equal to a king ofw. Forgers believe that weapons grant power by mimicking the power of a stronger entity. To build a weapon is to make a powerful entity or maybe parts of a powerful entity. That''s why Origin weapons are Sometimes called origin fragments because they can be likened to parts of an origin god.


    Forgers are in fact making body parts of Origin gods. That''s why origin weapons have arge effect on Transcendents, sovereigns, and everything in between but it has a limited effect on Origin gods. It certainly gives them an edge but it is rarely used in high-level fights. They focus on their concepts more.


    Concepts are evolvable weapons that perfectly suit an Origin god. They have fused with their concepts so they have perfectpatibility with it. The concepts can also grow stronger. So concepts are the best tools for origin gods. No other weapon can boost their power enough topare to boosting their concepts.


    This continued to be so till the invention of world fragments. World fragments by their name are supposed to be parts of world gods. This ss of weapons is very powerful and can boost the power of an Origin god greatly but they can''t be made by Origin gods.


    The difference in the power of an origin god and a world god is sorge that an origin god cannot make even a small fragment of a world god. A world fragment needs a world god to make. This requirement has made world fragments redundant to a certain level because they are useless to a world god.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    World gods have no use for small and weak body parts when they are living and have a world within them. They have no use for world fragments apart from their utility just like origin gods have no use for origin weapons.


    World gods will rather empower and invest in their world to gain strength rather than use resources to build a world fragment. So they can build world fragments but they don''t need it meanwhile Origin gods that need it can''t make it. Only Origin gods that are in close rtionship with a world god get to use world fragments after it has been bestowed to them.


    So he can''t make world fragments even if he learns how to. It is not the reason why the reward to learn how to make them is not enticing to him though. He is just interested in something else.


    The eye muttered, "Hmmm. It seems I was wrong. I am not above being wrong."


    "What do you n to convince me with if I had chosen not to participate?" Soverick asked the first sage.


    The world god answered. "The support of the racial council."


    Soverick''s eyes widened. He felt like he has been struck by a blow. The Sage''s next words did not lessen the impact of that blow. It amplified it.


    "You may be the child of the ne and we could use you but that doesn''t mean you have the full support of the racial council in the uing era of conquest. Your death will be a loss but it won''t affect the ne too much. We will just have to continue without you. In fact, we have several ns that we can put in ce to rece you."


    He is the current child of the ne but that doesn''t mean the powerhouses of the ne wille to support him or rally behind him. The racial council is the governing body of the ne and they are not going to let some child boss them around no matter how talented he might be.


    Some have even gone beyond not showing him support. They have prepared for his absence whether it is a voluntary absence or a forceful absence. So they will be able to move on with the era of conquest in his absence.


    The way the eye said that they have prepared several ns that can be put in ce to rece him made him realize how precarious his situation really is. It also made him realize that the first sage is actually threatening him. What other reason is there for the first sage to make him fully understand his situation?

 Chapter 540 It Is Not A Simple Competition.

    Apparently, the racial council is prepared for his demise. They can do without him for the era of conquest. It is another lesson in humility. He shouldn''t think too highly of himself just because he is the child of the ne.


    Soverick felt incredulous. He couldn''t help but ask. "You would get rid of me just for apetition? A simplepetition?"


    He felt incredulous because this meeting was orchestrated by a world god to convince him to participate in apetition. He felt incredulous that the leader of the racial council is willing to use the support of the racial council to tempt him and convince him to participate in thepetition. He felt incredulous that he is being threatened just because of apetition. To top it off, thepetition is a simple matter to divide plots ofnd with a high concentration of Origin energy.


    The world god''s voice turned cold. "It is not a simplepetition. You might be blind not to see it but are you so dumb as to believe that I went through all this as easy as it was for me to do, just for a "simplepetition" as you have so put it?"


    He felt the full force of the wrath of the first sage on his psych. The white world felt suffocating all of a sudden. He fell to his knees gasping for breath that he doesn''t need or want but isn''t avable. He suddenly became a mortal with a head-splitting headache and with no air to breathe. He felt at that moment that he could die here and in fact, he may be dying currently. He doesn''t know if he is dying. He just knows he feels bad.


    "Oh my. Sorry for that. I might have overestimated your abilities. Sometimes I forget that full Origin gods are still like antspared to a world god. You''re not even a full Origin god." The sage said after noticing his bad situation.


    The feeling of approaching death subsided quickly after that. Soverick epted the apology that felt like an insult wordlessly. He felt awe more than fear. They are miles apart in time and space yet the first sage can still hurt him enough to kill him. He shook himself off and stood back up. The world god continued talking without a care for his feeling.


    "It is not a simplepetition and neither are you a simple individual. It is the first of its kind and it requires the famed child of the ne to attend it. It will take ce every 10,000 years but you don''t need to attend the rest. Not to worry though, we won''t try to kill you if you refuse not to go. We just won''t give you any support. But there''s no need for that now since you have decided to participate. I will be expecting you to win. It will be a shame if you don''t win thepetition. Then everyone will wonder what makes you special."


    Soverick listened silently. His body is still shaking but he made sure to observe and listen as much as he can.


    "Do you have anything to ask me?" The first sage asked him after he was done talking.


    Soverick considered his situation. He doesn''t want to participate in thepetition at all now that he knows that it is very important but he can''t refuse now. He doesn''t know what the first sage can do to his mind. So he decided to get a guarantee before he can participate.


    "I will participate but I want you to guarantee that you will protect me and prevent me from getting harmed."


    The eyeughed. "I see. You want a guarantee of safety. I suppose I deserve that. You don''t have any reason to trust me. Some world gods might be offended that you bothered to ask but I will indulge you."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Thank you."


    "Don''t thank me yet. I can''t do what you asked for. It is apetition and it will involve a lot of fighting. Anything can be harmful to you and they can''t all be prevented. You have to be more specific."


    Soverick changed his request. "I want you to promise that I won''t die during thepetition."


    The first sage sighed. "Unfortunately I can''t do that. Anything is possible. I want you to know that ording to the ns for thepetition, there will be no death. The resurrection of Origin gods will be mimicked on thepetition ground. Even then, a promise that you won''t die is beyond me."


    "Then what can you offer me as a guarantee for protection?" Soverick asked while trying to keep down the anger in his voice.


    "I can guarantee that I won''t kill you or capture you and that none of the world gods of the Virut ne will do that to you during thepetition. You will be safe during thepetition and you will not be harmed by a world god or origin god during thepetition. Then you will be released back to the ne immediately after thepetition ispleted. The racial council will continue to try its best to protect you even after thepetition for as long as you''re the child of the ne. How about that?"


    Soverick nodded. "That sounds agreeable. I''ll attend thepetition."


    "That is good to hear. Do you have any other requests?"


    He shook his head in reply to the question.


    The sage said, "Now to end this wonderful meeting. Goodbye, Soverick Ghastorix. And I wish you good luck in thepetition. I hope you win it then you will get to ask me for anything you want."


    The white world cracked after that and began to disappear. Soverick''s consciousness was being ejected from this meta world but he refused to leave. He grabbed hold of the fleeting strings of data that made up the white world. They are incredibly slippery to get a hold of so he had to flounder and grip them with all the mental strength that he can muster. Even then, he failed in staying there and was expelled.

 Chapter 541 Limitless Sight.

    Soverick couldn''t resist the pulling force that dragged him into the maelstrom so resisting the pushing force that is expelling him out of it is futile. Fortunately, he returned to the real world with the strings of data that he held on to. But the struggle continued. The strings tried to escape from his mind and return to their source. He refused to let them go so they struggled with each other.


    The white world he was just in is effectively in his eyes or at least has a connection with his eyes now. The 6 sheets of paper are the channel to that space. The space pulled his mind with his divine sense but his divine sense passes through his eyes. So he is using all four of his eyes to analyze the strings of data to try and get a grasp of the white space.


    He isn''t getting anything no matter how much he struggled. He just isn''t strong enough to gaze upon the phantom world of a world god in the past without the world god''s assistance and the space will disappear in a moment but he isn''t willing to let it disappear. So he used his trump card.


    His four eyes came together and began to fuse. The multicolored eyes became a single eye with a multicolored scleral and a golden iris around a ck pupil. If one looks closer, one might say the ck pupils look like a ck orb.


    His empowered eyes locked on to the strings of data of the white space and began to analyze them. The wonders of a new world opened up in front of him and it was glorious. He heard tastes, saw emotions, and touched the colors of apletely new world. It is something he has never experienced before.


    His mind was being treated to a delicacy of rules and a new Order. He stayed there grinning like a fool for hours. After all, he has a good reason to be happy. He is gazing at thew of order that the first sage used to be a world god. It might be snippets of it but it is worth selling your soul for.


    His eyes became able to see and decipher Origin energy after he became a transcendent. Origin energy is simply a blend of mana. It is a much more powerful blend that is capable of interacting withws so being able to see it has far more implications. He became able to see andmunicate withws with his eyes. Hisprehension ofws soared and he became the perfect forger of origin artifacts.


    Then the shard of power came along and broke that boundary for him. He gained what could be called limitless sight. He can break through the barriers and voids in between nes by using his limitless sight. The first time he used it, he used it to spy on the realm lord. It wasn''t intentional. He was just curious about what goes on in the Tower of Heaven and if he could actually look into it.


    This time what he is doing is intentional. He can''t lose such a good opportunity. His gaze locked onto the strings of data held by his divine sense and made them reflect endlessly within his eyes just like a normal eye needs light to reflect within it for it to see.


    His vision became filled with the world of white that the sage dragged him into but this time, there are cracks beneath the boundary of whiteness. He can see and feel hints of another world with rules different from those of the void universe beyond the world of whiteness.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He can see much of this world. The strings of data that he is using are notplete. They are scattered parts of a whole so the world is hazy and blurred in several ces. The strings of data are also the manifestation of a ce within the world of intent that existed in the past. If not for hisw of causality, even his limitless sight will not be able to gain any visual information about the world. What he can see right now shows that it is a beautiful world created in the form of concentric circles.


    He began tough. His body was racked with an emotion that didn''t originate from his mind. The white space caused him pain before but this time it is causing him to feel euphoria instead. The living beings in this different world are happy and their emotions are affecting him. Heughed and giggled to himself. He muttered somepliments as he watched the world.


    "Wonderful!"


    "Marvelous!"


    "The first sage has done well for himself."


    If he had his way then he would watch this world forever until he can deduce this Supremew. Unfortunately, he can''t, the strings of data are not the problem. He made sure to keep them intact and within his eyes so they are still functional. It is his eyes that can''t take much more of what he is doing.


    Gazing at the secrets of a world god through a tiny peephole in the past is nice and all but it is beyond his normal capabilities. His mind is already being pushed to its limit to hold onto the strings of data and he also has to amodate the terrifying amount of information that he is deducing from the strings of data. He can''t take anymore any longer. His single eye was forcefully separated into four.


    Even the pain he feels as his eyes forcefully separated from exhaustion couldn''t curb his happiness. He continued tough maniacally. It is because his existence has not fused with a concept so he is not protected from the influence of the supremew.


    It is likeing into touch with thew of Chaos and Order. They will try to rewrite and overhaul your existence. The supremew of the first sage is trying to rewrite his existence but he is not some weak fetus in the womb. He is as powerful as a Sovereign ofw so he can resist the influence. It also helps that the supremew is notplete. It is just a tiny fragment of the whole.

 Chapter 542 Advantage Of The Mental Prowess Of 9 Combined Minds.

    He gets this limitless sight when hebines all of his eyes. He rarely uses it because he bespletely blind after. It is a very unpleasant experience for someone that could see better than most but it is a worthy trade for what he just saw. He has never been able to see thew of order of the universe even with limitless vision because the ck orb has been annexed by the universe so he will take any type of order thates his way.


    Heughed for a while before he became silent. His silence is eerie. He is just standing there looking forward with blind eyes. All four of his eyes have be white. So he is seeing nothing but he is still looking. He might not be able to see with his eyes anymore but his divine sense is still functional and he is using it to parse the humongous understanding that he just acquired.


    It can be likened to regurgitation. He is reproducing what he saw and enjoying the aftertaste so that he won''t miss any of the range of vors that it offers. He even transferred the information he acquired through the soul sphere to the clones of Legion. They can all use their Colossalbined mental prowess to perform deep analysis of the information so that he canprehend more of the first Sage''s Supremew.


    That''s how he was able to be a king ofw inwpletely new to Legion very quickly. He gazed upon thew of causality and his otherws with his eyes then he sent the information to the others so that they can help him analyze them. He already had the advantage of gazing upon thews directly instead of fumbling around blindly like others.


    The advantage of having 9 very powerful minds working on the same thing made himplete theprehension of aw in less than a thousand years. Aeternus was able to use all their help to recreate an attack made up of the energy of the bodies of 10 grand gods and 2 Celestialsbined with 5 Authorities. Alone, each one of them are extraordinary, together they break the limits on what should be possible.


    He has never needed the help of the others more than this moment. The information he is sending them is not somew of the universe. It is the Supremew of a world god. It is not a little thing no matter how little of it he actually saw.


    That white space that he was abducted to was created from the will andw of order of the first sage. An origin god is still a part of the normal universe but world gods are not. They are sovereign underwater inds in the ocean that is the void universe. They stand alone from the rest of the universe. Most of their activities are on the dark side of the universe. That''s why world gods can be likened to deep-sea monsters.


    You just don''te across a world god by chance because they don''t exist on the same level as you. Toe across one is rare unless you have a connection to one and most time, it is not a pleasant encounter. Soverick has been lucky enough to be graced with the presence of one. The meeting was forced and it was weird but he has to say that he has learned a lot from it.


    Thest time he saw something this marvelous was when he looked at mother high heaven in the divine dungeon. She blew his mind, literally. The information overload was simply too much. He had to let go of a lot of things just to make sense of what little he can handle. But this time, he is looking at a neat little arrangement. Like the genes of a creature unwoven for him to peruse.


    It is more significant than that because instead of getting the information about some animal and how genes make it what it is, he gets information about an entire world and whatws make it tick. Thew of order is the backbone of a world. It is the foundation on which thew matrix rests. It contains answers and knowledge beyond one''s wildest dream.


    For example, he has finished the creation of his self-created skill set just from the little he got. He was enlightened to create a skill set more powerful than the steps of momentum. And there''s more to be seen.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He said in excitement and eagerness, "I just can''t wait for thispetition toe."


    He is looking forward to thepetition. The true reason why he wants to attend it is rted to a supremew. He has already gotten a taste of how valuable it is and he wants more of it. After all, if so little is so great, more must be better.


    "Hmmm." He stirred as he sensed something.


    He was meditating on the understanding that he gained when he sensed an entitying straight toward his forge. Someone is rushing to him in the form of a blue lightning bolt. Then he frowned when he recognized the person. They also don''t seem as if they areing for peace. Their bad intentions are clear as day to him.


    "What a nuisance." He muttered angrily.


    The entity is not even here and he is already feeling unpleasant. His mood worsened the closer the Blue streak of lightning got to him. It is racing toward him at speeds far beyond the speed of sound but he sensed it because he has a far reach with his divine sense.


    Still, he didn''t move or show any indication of seeing the entity even when he knows that the entity bears ill will toward him. He returned his attention to the mind the meditation of the information he acquired.


    A loud shout rang out from the entity, "SOVERICK!"


    The shout resounded like thunder. It is a very intimidating sound. It indicates just how angry this person is with him and their inclination to express that anger in the form of violence but Soverick didn''t move.

 Chapter 543 Unworthy Of His Attention.

    The blue lightning just shed just above Soverick. Then it reformed and showed its true form. It is a battle sage monkey. The most iconic feature of this entity is its buff muscr body. The ripped battle sage monkey held arge hammer that surely needs the strength that the muscr body provides to wield.


    The blue fur of the battle sage monkey has been straightened like the Thorns of a porcupine due to the lightning streaking through it. The blue lightning on the fur is streaking through the hammer too and back to the body in a cycle.


    The entity held the hammer above his head with both hands and was poised to attack. Soverick still didn''t look. He returned to his meditation. Then the entity brought the lightning-charged hammer down with the intention to crush Soverick. The hammer struck an invisible barrier and was rebuffed. The entity wasn''t surprised. He expected a barrier and if the barrier is from a genius like Soverick then it must be good.


    So the entity wasn''t surprised that his first strike failed. It got ready for another strike but was stopped short. The barrier did something it wasn''t supposed to do. It umted the force of the previous attack that struck it, amplified it by moving within the 9 pirs of momentum within Soverick''s body, and then directed the amplified force toward the aggressor.


    The amplified force mmed erupted from the barrier and mmed into the chest of the entity as it raised its hammer. The battle sage monkey had raised his two arms to attack again so it couldn''t defend itself. The attack was unexpected. Barriers are not supposed to be able to attack and Soverick isn''t even looking at the entity at all much less counter-attacking. So there was no indication of an attack whatsoever.


    The only thing the entity could do is rely on its own shield to protect it. Except its shield failed. The bacsh of the previous attack struck the invisible barrier on the entity and shattered it. The entity bore the full brunt of a force twice the power of its hammer hitting its chest. If not for its strong body, the attack would have blown arge hole through its chest.


    The battle sage monkey''s eyes bulged as it was knocked out of the air. It came in a grand fashion with imposing momentum and was knocked back in a simrly grand fashion. Then it mmed into the ground and was made to roll on the floor not so grandly. The battle sage monkey got its bearing soon after and stood back up. Its eyes became venomous as it stared at Soverick.


    If it were a real fight he would have been killed for his mistake. A serious opponent would have taken the opportunity presented when he was rolling on the ground to pummel him to death but Soverick is not taking him seriously. He should be thankful for that but he s not thankful for it at all. Instead, it made him feel ignored, disrespected, and more incensed than he originally was.


    The entity asked angrily, "So you still don''t think I am worthy."


    Soverick didn''t answer. He ignored the question and the entity that asked it because he has better things to do. This only angered the entity even more. The entity shed forward again with more intentions of violence. All it needs to do is to hurt Soverick. Surely, that will get Soverick''s attention. It would be upgraded from a nuisance not worth giving attention to into a threat that needs to be neutralized.


    So the entity mmed the hammer into the barrier again. Then it escaped before the force struck back. The entity has learned from its previous mistake. It isn''t caught unaware anymore by the bacsh of its attacks. But it has to retreat and attack again which is preventing it from getting into a rhythm and bringing forth its full prowess.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The entity screamed at Soverick as it attacked. "You pompous thing."


    "You Selfish jerk."


    "You proud peacock."


    "Always strutting around like you own the ce."


    It shouted and cussed as it attacked Soverick but Soverick remained still with his white unseeing eyes focused on nothing. This entity can attack him all day and he won''t care. It is all harmless noise. It is like the barking of a toothless dog or the aggression of a tiny ant. They are not threats in any way. They are at most nuisances.


    Lightning shed and thunder roared as the entity attacked over and over again. The thuds and booms that the hammer made sounded like the sounds of a cksmith trying to shape metal to its will. Except Soverick is one tough metal to work with. He isn''t even feeling anything from the flurry of attacks.


    The power that the entity is showing indicates that it is a transcendent. A transcendent should not be able to use lightning like it is using which further indicates that the entity has a bloodline that allows him to. Since this entity is attacking him like this within the inner city of the Ghastorix main city and also has blue fur, one can safely conclude that this entity is a member of this family and not an ordinary member either. This entity is a prized descendant of the family.


    Prized or not, transcendent or not, royal bloodline or not, this entity isn''t worthy of Soverick''s attention yet. But that changed soon. The entity was attacking with all it got when Soverick suddenly thought of something. He remembered that he still needs to test the artifact that he forged. So this entity suddenly became useful.


    Soverick turned to the entity and said, "I might as well use you."


    The entity finally got Soverick''s attention but it was shocked instead of bing happy. Those white eyes of Soverick did not bode well for it and it isn''t naive to believe that whatever Soverick has in store for it can be good.

 Chapter 544 Sacrificial Lamb.

    Soverick''s four blind white eyes focused on the entity atst but the entity felt shocked instead of happiness. Then after the shock came fear. Its eyes widened in full-blown fear. Then it turned around and transformed into its lightning form. It shot away from Soverick as fast as it could. It was fleeing. Something told it that it had better retreat or it will regret it.


    Soverick sneered. There''s no escaping now that he has his attention on this entity and he has some use for it. His divine sense began to solidify. It formed into a golden hand that grabbed toward the fleeing entity. The golden hand pped the lightning bolt down from the sky to the ground as one will swat at a fly.


    The entity fell to the ground again. The sound of the collision between the hand and the entity proves that the swatting is not as simple as that of swatting a fly. The entity just looks like a flypared to the size of the golden hand. Then the golden hand held tightly unto its prey and brought it to Soverick.


    The entity struggled but it couldn''t get out. The golden hand is too strong and its grip is too tight. It is also resistant to lightning so it held on despite the entity''s attempts to disperse it with lightning. The entity tried to turn into its lightning form but it couldn''t. The divine sense of the arm disrupted its transmission. So it started shouting at Soverick.


    "Let me go Soverick. What do you want with me?"


    "Do you want me to beg you? I''ll never beg you."


    "If you''re so strong you will let me go and allow me to attack you again this instant."


    "Let it not be said that the child of the ne is afraid of a simple transcendent."


    Soverick ignored the show of false bravado and the taunts. He said to the air. "Come Hadrick. Let''s test my artifact."


    A vine popped out from the ground that they are standing on. Hadrick can nowe out from beneath the city to the city proper without fear of lightning. The defense of the entire city has been reinforced to prevent the tribtion. It is one of the favors that was granted to Ancestor Ghastorix by the racial council for his part to y in raising Soverick.


    Ancestor Ghastorix yed no actual part but he still got rewarded because Soverick belongs to his family. The Ghastorix family is aw-abiding and recognized family of the Virut ne so the racial council is rewarding them for their contribution to the ne. At least that''s the public reason that they gave but Soverick suspects that there might be more at y.


    Hadrick asked Soverick. "Are you sure we should use him? It is dangerous and your artifact might not work. It can injure him."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I told you that it will work. And if it injures him, then so be it. It is a price I am willing to pay."


    Hadrick sighed when he heard that. Now it is feeling regret for telling the security not to interfere when this entity began to fight with Soverick in the city. It knew it will end badly but it didn''t think it will be this bad.


    It likes the entity and it didn''t want it to get into trouble with security. That''s why it told the family security to back off. It should just have allowed the security forces to interfere with the fight before Soverick decided to use the entity as a test object and he is talking as if any damage the entity incurs is a sacrifice he is willing to make. As if he is the one that is going to suffer.


    The entity became exhrated when he noticed the vine. It cried out to Hadrick, "Please help me ancestor Hadrick. Soverick is a maniac. Save me from him. Please save me."


    Hadrick didn''t know what to say. The imploring words of this entity only made it feel bad because it knows that Soverick has made up his mind and almost nothing can change his mind. Something like this happened in the past and it didn''t end well for those involved too.


    Soverick was being challenged left and right by the youths of the ne after he became the child of the ne. A lot of people didn''t think he deserved it or that he is worthy of the power and prestige. Most of them were mana entities that weren''t able to participate in the divine dungeon because of the limit on it. Others just wanted to test themselves against the best of the best. But Soverick didn''t entertain any one of them. He ignored everyone.


    The line of those that wanted to fight with him only increased when he became a transcendent. But he ignored them no matter who they are or what background they have. He only fought those he was interested in like the talented children of sages. He ignored everyone else.


    Surely he has the right to ept or deny any challenge. If no one does, the child of the ne should have that right and he is the child of the ne. He wanted peace and quiet but some people were bent on not giving him what he wants.


    It was then that a rumor started to go around that whoever kills Soverick will be able to take his title and be the next child of the ne. The ne went wild. They were mildly interested in him before. That mild interest turned into an insistent demand for him now that they think that they can take his title.


    People came from far and wide to challenge him. They camped outside the Ghastorix main city because they were refused entry. Still, Soverick ignored them. The increase in the wish of the people to fight him doesn''t mean he will fight them. Anyone can do anything, they want to fight him so they came to fight him. He doesn''t want to fight them so he won''t fight them.

 Chapter 545 The Calamity Of The Child Of The Plane.

    Thousands of people mored for the opportunity to fight the child of the ne. Soverick ignored them but these people didn''t know what was good for them. They barricaded the city and stopped all entry and exit. Of course, they let lords ofw and above pass but they stopped the rest. That was not enough to agitate the child of the ne. Soverick continued to ignore them.


    An external city was created around the main Ghastorix city. The city was built so that they will somewhere to stay while they wait for Soverick''s response. It was full of visiting tourists and those that want to fight the child of the ne. Their activities were disrupting the main city. The elders of the family couldn''t sit still anymore. They couldn''t remain unconcerned like Soverick. Something had to be done.


    So they went to Soverick. They tried to convince him to do something. They gave him good suggestions like holding apetition that will weed out most of the fighters. Then Soverick will fight the champion of thepetition. Thepetition was to hold every 100 years.


    In fact, the elders became happy about the situation because the traffic and thepetition will be a boon for the family. They have the only child of the ne and they can finally benefit from it. They were enthusiastic about their suggestions for the city and were ready to put in into action immediately. But Soverick said no.


    Soverick said no to everything. He refused to participate no matter what they said. No one could convince him to do it for the good of the family. He refused to be forced orpelled to do something just because a lot of people want him to.


    Nothing could be done to change his mind until his mother intervened. His mother gave them a suggestion to make a deal with Soverick. Offering him something in exchange is the only way to get Soverick to do something. She told them that he has always been like that as a kid. A deal is the only thing that can move a headstrong and stubborn person like Soverick.


    The family took her advice and promised Soverick a state-of-the-art forge that is capable of forging top-grade Origin artifacts. It was expensive to build but it is the only thing that could move Soverick. They considered it an investment. Soverick was moved by the offer. He could have the great forge and all he has to do is fight the people outside. He left the city and spoke to the crowds of people who were excited to see the child of the ne.


    He waited patiently for them to gather around him. Then he said to them. "You have asked for a fight."


    His voice washed over them raising their eagerness and anticipation. Some were practically jumping in excitement and anticipation. A lot of people were cheering and whistling at him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His audience was very noisy but he continued calmly, "You didn''t know what you were asking for. You don''t know whom you were asking it from. Your ignorance has doomed you. You have asked for a fight and you shall have a fight."


    Then he called down fire on all of them. He waved his hand and the Origin energy around the people spontaneouslybusted and transformed into an ocean of mes. He attacked once then he returned to the city. People cried out in pain behind him as they burned. He killed thousands of people just like that. He didn''t even discriminate between tourists, haters, fans, adults, or children. He killed everyone indiscriminately and returned to his life as if nothing had happened.


    The elders watching were horrified. They asked for a fight but they go a massacre instead. The elders of the family tried to rescue people but the damage had been done. Only lords ofw and above survived the mes. That day was dubbed the Cmity of the Child of the ne because what happened was a cmity.


    Jarkon''s brother was among the crowd. He was there for one reason or another and he died that day. It created an enmity between Jarkon and his bloodline. All of that didn''t matter to Soverick. What mattered at the end of the day is that he got his forge.


    Soverick had fulfilled his own part of the deal which was for him to fight them. He gave them what they wanted, a fight. He didn''t give them the way the elders suggested but it was a fight nheless. People should be careful of what they wish for. The elders got what they wanted at the end of the day. The external city was destroyed by the mes but another was built soon after.


    Soverick''s feat spread throughout the ne and his prestige increased. Now the external city is bigger than ever. More of his admirers and fans came. A lot of the ones that didn''t think he is worth much before came to fight him now inrge numbers, and his haters have also ballooned in number. A lot of people hate him for the deaths that he caused on that day and a lot were awed by his disy of strength. All of the adoration and hatred made the external city even bigger than it was.


    Some people condemned Soverick for his act but he ignored them. He will only pay them attention if killing them will bring him another boon. Soverick isn''t remorseful one bit about the innocent deaths. He calls it simply coteral damage. He said it happens every time when people fight. It wasn''t intentional.


    All this goes to show what can happen when Soverick gets serious and pays attention to someone that wants to fight him. Those people wanted to fight him but he ignored them. They didn''t know what was good for them so they made a racket and threw tantrums until they got their way. It was a very bad idea.

 Chapter 546 Turning Brother Into A Weapon.

    They thought to pressure Soverick into fighting them. It was an idea that doomed them the moment Soverick decided to give them what they want. Now, this entity behaved in the way of the doomed and has fallen into Soverick''s clutches because of it. There will be no escaping his fate.


    Soverick ignored the cries of the entity and took out the ck sphere he just made in his forge. He pressed some runes on it and imputed Origin energy into the object. It was then that Soverick spoke to the entity.


    He said, "Don''t worry, it will be ready soon. It just needs a lot of Origin energy to kick-start it but it should be self-sufficient once I attach it to you."


    His calm eerie voice and white unfocused eyes finally broke the entity''s resolve. He began begging.


    "Please Eldest. Don''t do this to me. Please forgive me."


    Ghaster said that he won''t beg. He made a show of being stubborn and unbreakable. The ck runic sphere has not even been attached to him yet and he is already begging.


    Soverick waved his hand, "Don''t be like that. There''s nothing you should be afraid of. You should be happy instead, for you are about to be part of something great."


    His words didn''t assure Ghaster. He remained skeptical. So heined, "But ancestor Hadrick said it might not work."


    Soverick raised his voice for the first time. "IT WILL WORK."


    That sealed Ghaster''s fate as a test subject. Soverick has had enough of people doubting his skill one after the other. If anything, he must now use Ghaster as the test subject to prove that it will work. If Ghaster had a 1% chance of getting released by begging, he now has a 0% chance of it now for doubting that what Soverick created might not work.


    The functionality of the artifact will be tested at his own expense. It is as they say, put your money where your mouth is. His mouth has gotten him into trouble. He will have to prove if Soverick''s artifact will work or not.


    The ck sphere unfolded into thin sheets like ribbons. It was peeled apartyer byyer until it unfolded into a long and thin ck sheet with runes on them. Soverick directed the sheet at the bound Ghaster and it wrapped him up. He was wrapped tight like a mummy. Then the second phase of activation wasmenced.


    Sharp needles sprung out from the inner surface of the ribbon and prated Ghaster''s body. He was still begging before it happened but he began screaming when the needles pierced his body. His screaming intensified as the runes of the ribbon pulsed. The mummified Ghaster began to glow along with the pulsing of the runes.


    The scream of pain continued for a while with an indifferent Soverick ignoring it and focusing on the functioning artifact. Only Hadrick couldn''t bare the screaming but it is also torn between guilt and fascination. Hadrick also wants to see if Soverick really did it. He can only hope that the artifact actually works and doesn''t maim Ghaster. As long as the artifact works then Ghaster''s sacrifice even if he is maimed will be worth it.


    The mummified Ghaster stopped glowing after a while. Ghaster''s scream suddenly stopped too as he lost control of himself. He is still feeling pain but he can''t scream anymore. In fact, his pain has only increased due to the hijacking of his existence. The artifact has injected itself into Ghaster''s consciousness and has taken control of his body.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Then the mummified Ghaster activated the third phase. It began to shrink. It shrank until it became a ck sphere just like its previous form. Ghaster''s 2 meters tall body shrunk into a ball 20 centimeters wide. Then the sphere flew back to Soverick its creator.


    "Did it work?" Hadrick asked in anticipation.


    "Let''s see. HAND GLOVE MODE."


    The sphere heard hismand and shifted again. It became a ribbon and wrapped around Soverick''s hand turning it into a hand glove.


    "FOURTH ACTIVATION."


    The hand glove activated for the fourth time. This time it began to emit lightning. Soverick punched forward and a massive fist formed out of lightning was ejected from his gloved hand before dissipating. The lightning fist is blue and has Ghaster''s energy signature.


    Hadrick became ecstatic. "It worked. You did it. You actually did it and I was there to witness it too. This is glorious. This is monumental."


    Soverick spoke smugly. "I told you it will work."


    He has the right to be smug. He has just converted a living entity into a weapon. Origin weapons are fragments of origin gods that''s why they be obsolete with them but world fragments are too powerful to be made by them. So he sought to create a weapon that is a whole body instead of body parts by converting an entire being into a weapon. It is a prototype of a concept to turn a full origin god into a weapon that is more powerful than mere fragments.


    This is why he wasn''t tempted by the offer to learn how to make world fragments. That and the fact that he already knows how to make world fragments. He learned how to make it from Helios. Helios is sort of a fragment of the universe. He gained some insights into a lot of things with his ess to thew matrix of the universe.


    Unlike origin gods who can only manipte thew matrix, Helios can actually speak with thew matrix and glean some information about the underlying mechanisms of the void universe.


    Soverick continued, "It is just a transcendent now. We don''t know if it works for stronger beings much less an Origin god. We need more data."


    "Still, this is still great," Hadrick eximed then it noticed something unfortunate. "Oh, I think more trouble ising."


    Hadrick''s excitement sputtered out when he noticed the storm of power heading toward them. Someone is very angry about what he did to his brother.

 Chapter 547 An Angry Mother.

    Soverick noticed the iing presence too. He grumbled. "It''s like my worst day. They just keeping."


    He likes peace and quiet but he has been disturbed all day long. First, it was the five important guests. Then it was the very important meeting with the first sage. Ghaster then came to disturb him and another entity has just arrived. This one is much stronger than Ghaster and it is also here with violent intentions toward Soverick.


    The entity screamed from afar. "SOVERICK GHASTORIX. YOU LET YOUR BROTHER OUT THIS INSTANT."


    The scream created shockwaves that passed through the air. It also stirred a lot of world power. The world power in the environment was disturbed as if a boulder was thrown into a pond. A wise king ofw will know to capitte immediately if they want to preserve their life. But Soverick is not an ordinary king ofw. He still didn''t take the neer seriously. His barrier blocked the shockwaves while he remained focused on observing the glove. He intentionally ignored the new troublemaker.


    Hadrick muttered to itself, "More Family drama."


    Soverick''s behavior did not sit well with this entity. That''s all the talking she is willing to do before she sees her demand met but Soverick didn''t see to her demands so she attacked him. She attacked even before reaching him. She called upon the power of the world with the temper of an angry mother. The ground and the sky in the immediate surroundings trembled with the response of world power to the titan ofw. The power of the worldbined to form arge ck mountain. She shot the mountain at Soverick.


    This is her weakest attack. It is just a simple move with world power. She is very angry with him but she doesn''t intend to kill him. She will be content with simply maiming him. He can recover from it and it will be pleasant to witness. It will also teach Soverick some much-needed humility. He will learn not to antagonize titans ofw as a king ofw.


    The mountain fell towards Soverick but he still didn''t flinch. But he stirred when he noticed something out of ce. So he asked his mother, "How did you know that I have Ghastorix?"


    He finds it very odd that she came here soon after he captured Ghaster. So Ghaster either called for her before he was put into his prototype or after he was put into the prototype. It is highly likely that it was after he was out into the prototype since Mih ordered Soverick to let his brother out. If that is so and Ghaster was able tomunicate with the outside world while inside the prototype, then there is something faulty about the prototype. He will like to know Mih know so that he can investigate in the right direction.


    Unfortunately, She didn''t answer his question because she is not in the mood. She is more in the mood to see some broken body parts. So she simply snorted at him and continued flying towards him. Her mountain is on its way to crush him so she just has to be patient for a very short while and she will see him broken.


    Soverick tsked in annoyance. "Fine then. Have it your way. You don''t want a civilized conversation. Then I''ll give you an uncivilized response."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He knows more than one way to talk. So he will switch to the conversation of violence since Mih is not open to the normal quiet and peaceful conversation. She will not be disappointed either. She will find him to be a wonderful conversationalist despite him being caught at a bad time. His eyes are not functioning so he is terribly handicapped. His eyes are a major part of his strength because he does more than attack with them.


    Knowledge is power and his eyes give him knowledge. The knowledge lets him fight in the easiest and most efficient way. His eyes allow him to control energy and power to levels of near perfection. Now that he doesn''t have them he will have to use something else, something more in line with brute force. He is weaker but he is not helpless.


    Something burst out from within his robes. 9 golden orbs appeared behind his back from within his robes that he keeps them in. The 9 orbs began to rotate around his back. Their rotation stole momentum from the world. There just happen to be arge source of momentum heading towards him so the influence of the 9 orbstched onto it and he used his superior mind to rip the momentum from it. Her attack lost its backing after losing its momentum. The mountain became destabilized and it shattered.


    Mih gasped in shock as the attack was resolved without her target even moving. Her control of world power was ripped from her and her attack was shredded into momentum. Then the momentum was funneled into Soverick. Her eyes widened in shock.


    She pointed at him and sturred iprehensibly, "You you you..."


    She is too shocked at many things. If she forgets the fact that her control was usurped, there is no way she can''t get over the fact that Soverick managed to absorb so much momentum so quickly. She just doesn''t know what to say. But beneath her confusion and shock is the feeling of utter disrespect. Soverick''s move is a p to her face. It is a mockery of her abilities.


    He asked patiently. "Now will you tell me how you knew he was with me?"


    Mih finally got a hang of her confusing emotions. Soverick''s words and the tone he used to say them help put things into perspective. She focused on a single prevalent emotion. She focused on anger. She became incensed. She became very incensed. How dare he take that patient tone with her? How dare he talk to her like that after rendering her attack useless with ease?


    She red at him and yelled. "Fuck you."

 Chapter 548 Mihila Vs Soverick.

    Her emotions threatened to explode from within her. The world responded immediately and this time she assisted it with her power. The concept within her Origin core mixed in with the world power that she gathered and she directed it like a raging ocean toward Soverick.


    This time, Soverick won''t be able to take control of her attack. Her attack has her raging intent and emotion within it now. The world power has also been influenced by her concept. He won''t be able to resist it unless he has his own concept. Even then, concepts don''t mix so a sh will happen. Since Soverick doesn''t have a concept, then a sh is inevitable and she can''t wait for it to happen.


    Soverick nodded as if he understood what he needs to do. He muttered, "This needs more force then."


    He removed the glove on his hand and kept the prototype within his personal space. He bent down and he activated the third stage of spear Mastery, one with the world. The 9 nine orbs behind him concentrated their influence on him instead of the world. They pulled momentum from the world through the activation of the third step and poured the momentum into his body to empower him. Then he jumped. A shockwave exploded outwards from where he was.


    He leaped forward. He didn''t run. He took a single step and he was catapulted forward with such force that nothing could stop him. Even the raging ocean of world power failed to stop him. One of his arms was ced forward with his fist formed. That arm formed a spear of concentrated momentum that encased him and split the ocean of power apart for him to pass through. His other hand formed a fist beside him in preparation for the uing confrontation.


    Mih saw himing even though he moved faster than lightning. She also saw his posture and understood what he ns to do. Her eyes twitched and her face threatened to spasm when she saw that his fist is prepared for a punch. The realization that her son ns to hit her set her emotions on fire. It hasn''t even been a thousand years yet and that snobbish son of hers believes he can take her on. It is utter disrespect on the face of it. She decided that she must put him in his ce.


    She roused all her power immediately and the world responded. A force beyond any other began to rise behind her. She gritted her teeth as she pulled down this force on Soverick. This attack is even beyond her limits. She has to struggle to create and manipte it. She has activated the fifth step of weapon mastery, formless weapon, and is using the world as a hammer that she intends to bludgeon Soverick with.


    Soverick responded. He activated the fourth stage of spear Mastery, mind spear. Then he punched forward with the hand he prepared for the asion. His punch caused an explosion of shockwaves. It is not one shockwave but the explosion of numerous ones because of the creation of numerous shockwaves at the same time.


    He swung his hand forward once but all of his momentum mixed with his solidified divine sense to form numerous golden fists punching forward. This is not the harmless creation he made with only his divine sense to trap Ghaster. This is an attack created by the empowerment of thought with momentum.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The numerous golden fist punching on one side faced off against the hammer from Mih. Then they shed violently. Another explosion rang out due to the sh. Mih''s attack is powerful but so is Soverick''s so the struggle between them is strong but it doesn''t matter. His attack enabled Soverick to get close to Mih. So he became able to punch her with his real hand.


    Another explosion of pure power rang out. This one is far more powerful than the previous explosions allbined. The resulting shockwave from the scattered visual depictions of power shing from both sides coalesced to form a visible slow-moving shockwave.


    This punch is the real attack. He can''t use world power since he is not a titan ofw and momentum is a poor alternative. He has to use a lot of momentum skillfully to match her use of world power. He used both quantity and quality but all he could get is an equal match to her use of world power and concepts. And that''s because he has more mental and physical stats than her. So he got close to her to take advantage of his superiority of stats. He put his body against hers.


    His fist connected with her belly and exploded with momentum. The force he has been umting erupted into Mih''s body and ravaged it. The excess came out in the form of shockwaves. 9 shockwaves came out of her body consecutively because that single punch of his is actually 9 attacks superimposed on each other.


    Action leads to an equal but opposite reaction. All that power mmed into her body and mind. It wrecked untold harm to her. It also propelled her in the opposite direction. She didn''t fly gently. She shot backward like a cannonball shot from a cannon.


    She flew helplessly through the sky like a meteor before she crashed somewhere far away. Sovericknded on the ground after his fist met with the body of his mother. His two feet cracked the ground. Then the ground caved in as he leaped again. He shot after his mother. He is not done with her yet. She still hasn''t given him what he wants.


    "My poor barrier!" Hadrick cried out in dismay.


    Soverick had caved the ground in. The ground is the barrier above the forest beneath the city sopromising it is bad. The vine approached the hole in the artificial ground that Soverick made. It sighed and got to work healing it. There is no useining. Soverick is already gone.

 Chapter 549 Clearly Outmatched.

    The ground of the city is artificial. It is a barrier created by an Origin artifact. It separates the private lower section of the city from the pubic inner and outer city. The barrier is sturdy but it can not take the stress that reaches the Sovereign level. It means Soverick is already outputting power at the Sovereign level as a king ofw.


    Hadrick muttered to itself again. "What a freak."


    Hadrick suspected as much since it has seen some of the things that Soverick can forge. His abilities have always been beyond what a king ofw can achieve. But that sphere that he created is beyond what an origin god should be able to forge. So trying to usemon sense to evaluate Soverick won''t work. He would rather just ignore the weirdness and just forge.


    Meanwhile, the family drama continued. Soverick leaped into the air and then his powerful divine sense gripped the world and pulled on it. He shot through the air like another meteor. His divine sense acted like a slingshot by griping the world and pulling him forward. He found his mother quickly with his fast speed. She isying in a heap weakened and battered.


    Her body is cracking all over. There are fine cracks that extend from the point he punched her to the other parts of her body. The ce that he punched is cracked and caved in. Apparently, the injury he gave to her is very serious. Her essence is even leaking out of the cracks in her body. The injury has hastened the loss of her life essence and reduced her lifespan. She will die faster if she doesn''t heal the injury. Fortunately, it is an injury made without a concept so it is very easy to heal.


    He flew down slowly towards her and hovered just above her.


    He frowned in annoyance and said to her. "Don''t make this difficult for me Mih. Just answer the question. I don''t have time for this."


    She replied by spitting at him. Her spit struck his barrier and rolled harmlessly to the ground.


    He grunted. "As stubborn as a mule."


    He flew closer to the ground. Then he picked her up by her neck. His hand sped around her neck like a vice grip. Even weakened, her neck felt unbreakable in his hands. It is tough and hard like a rock. Her entire body is like that. It is due to the refinement of her body by thews of the universe.


    The body ofw of titans is still iplete but it already provides exceptional defense. A king ofw can attack her body all day and won''t be able to scratch it unless that king ofw is able to output enough power to overwhelm the defense of her body. Even then, the king ofw will have to slowly chip away at her body as if trying to break a mountain apart with an axe.


    Her body ofw made it seem as if he is holding some highly durable metallic inorganic machine. It is a body that resists external influences because it is too strong. Her body will rather break than bend. It wouldn''t be easy to damage such a body and yet he did. In fact, he is ready to do more damage if she doesn''t cooperate with him.


    He brought her to his face with the two of them levitating in the air. His white unfocused eyes met with her zing multicolored ones.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He told her, "He is suffering in the artifact, Mih. The more time you waste, the more pain he has to go through. Why don''t you give me what I want and I''ll let him go."


    His words made her struggle both internally and externally. She knows that Soverick doesn''t care about much so he must really care about the information she has if he is asking for it again and again. So she really wants to spite him by not giving him what he wants but she doesn''t want Ghaster to continue suffering. His words reminded her of why they are fighting in the first ce and what truly matters.


    She also doesn''t like the feel of his hands on her neck so she tried to release herself. She knows that she should capitte but she doesn''t like how she has been beaten up. She struggled to escape his grip but it was all to no avail. That previous attack of his mauled the little order she had in her body and made it difficult to gather her strength. Even now, she can still feel 9 echoes of force reverberating through her.


    She finally relented when she couldn''t make any progress in releasing herself.


    She is clearly outmatched so she said to him, "He called me a few seconds before I arrived."


    "Hmmm. So you didn''t know he wasing to me?" He asked her.


    "No. He called me and told me that you trapped him in a machine. He was crying in pain."


    "Interesting. This means that he canmunicate with the outside world while fused with the machine. I need to fix this. I don''t want to carry a snitch with me." He said while rubbing his chin with his other hand.


    He was inspired to create the vessel by the divine engine that Helios and the tree father created. Unlike them, he doesn''t have divine will or fragments of thew of order so it isn''t easy for him to replicate it. They were able to create an effectively isted space within which power can be siphoned but it seems he is far from that level. Ghaster is still capable ofmunicating with the outside world. That will bring a lot of trouble to whoever is using the machine.


    "Fine then."


    He released his hold on her and she dropped to the ground. She righted herself before reaching the ground and levitated on her own. She would have called t on the ground had she been too weak to reorient herself and Soverick would have just watched.

 Chapter 550 Cease All Hostilities.

    She demanded menacingly. "Release him now."


    Soverick rolled his eyes at her antics. "I''m doing it already."


    It is not as if she can take him on. He doesn''t have anything to fear about her so her facade doesn''t scare him. She isn''t pretending though. He knows that she will fight him again if he goes back on his word even though she knows she has little chance of victory. That is a good enough reason to give her what she wants.


    A desperate titan ofw is not a titan ofw to mess with. He has the raw strength to contend with her but her state of existence is above his despite it being imbnced. She can decide to tip that imbnce towards chaos and burn all her essence for empowerment. Then she will be able to deal fatal damage to him if only briefly. Then she will die from exhausting her essence.


    So it is not a good idea to push her. Besides, he wants to be done with her and he already got what he wanted so he will release her precious son. Then he will be able to get to researching his prototype and meditating on thew of order that he took.


    He undid the glove and deactivated the phases. The glove expanded and became a ck runic sphere. Then the sphere became the mummified Ghaster and was unwrapped before the ribbon returned to Soverick. Ghaster appeared but he looks very different. His buff and muscr body has be lean and gaunt. He is also still screaming. It is just silent but his mouth is widened and he is still feeling some residual pain because of the ordeal.


    He shivered involuntarily after he became free and stopped his soundless screaming. He was still dazed but his eyes widened when he saw Soverick and he turned to run again. Then he saw Mih and ran to her. The pair of mother and son embraced in a happy reunion.


    Mih asked in concern. "My baby. Are you okay?"


    Ghaster could not reply. He is just crying and only that. The experience is so painful that any recollection of it brings a fresh wave of trauma. He simply wishes he can forget what he went through. Thankfully he has a caring mother who is there to console and dote on him.


    Soverick frowned when he saw Ghaster''s form. He muttered, "So the transformation is not efficient. I wonder why? Is it because he is weak?"


    He is more concerned about the loss of form that Ghaster experienced rather than his pain. The injury is temporary. It happened because he ran out of Origin energy for the vessel to siphon from him. He will heal once he has enough Origin energy within him.


    "This means that the prototype is not self-sustaining. There''s some loss somewhere. I need more data. Will it be the same if a stronger being is used?"


    He needs a test subject to get data. His vessel is not a finished product. It is still a prototype that needs extensive testing and improvements. It is what he is concerned about. The more data he can get, the higher his progress in perfecting his new artifact.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "What if I try a titan ofw?" He thought to himself as his eyes wandered to the mother and son pair.


    His eyes focused on Mih as he contemted using his mother as a test subject. She has no future anyway. She might as well be part of something great by bing a test subject. The prototype should also be strong enough to restrain her as long as enough origin energy is used to activate it so the prototype should be safe no matter how much she struggles. He became more inclined to use her the more he thought about it.


    Mih seemed to have sensed something so she pushed Ghaster behind her and got ready to fight. This time she is ready to do everything to protect her son. That includes burning the essence of power within her. It will mean burning her remaining lifespan but she is willing to pay that price.


    Fortunately, it didn''te to that. Two Elders of the family appeared.


    "Please cease all fighting." One of them said to them.


    Mih sighed in relief when they appeared. She even smiled because she recognise one of them. The other one is familiar to her but she can''t remember where she knows him. Both of their presence are weed. It means cessation of hostility if only temporarily. She will take any reprieve that she can get right now.


    She greeted the one she recognized. "Elder Stein. It is nice to see you."


    Elder Stein replied. "It is my pleasure to be here. I am lucky to have witnessed that fight. I feel so alive."


    The other elder spoke, "Child of the ne. Why are you fighting your mother? Let''s see if we can settle your dispute without violence before you resort to violence. If you must fight then we demand that you take it outside."


    Elder Stein sighed. "How time has passed. I remember being there on that day of the birth of these kids and I was there when your mother wanted to create trouble because you were being dyed for your life evaluation. But now you''re strong enough to exchange blows with your mother in just a short thousand years. It brings tears to my face."


    He is so emotional that he looks like he might just cry. It wasn''t that long ago when the litter was born to Ghoto Ghastorix. He saved the babies by shing with a lightning bolt of heavenly punishment on that day. In fact, he was there on the day that Mih and Ghoto were arrayed for an inquisition before the elders of the family and the Sovereign from the ancient battlefield.


    It was less than a thousand years ago but things have changed so much. Soverick is now capable of exchanging blows with his mother. That means Soverick is capable of exchanging blows with him too.

 Chapter 551 Exchanging Blows Or Pummeling Her.

    The other security elder refused to agree with Stein''s evaluation that Soverick was exchanging blows with his mother. He turned to Elder Stein and asked, "What do you mean exchange blows? Soverick was pummeling her."


    "Shhhh." Elder Stein quickly shut him up. Then he whispered to his partner, "I was trying to be polite."


    Except he wasn''t really whispering. His voice is always loud so whispering is at the normal level of loudness. Everyone can hear what he said very clearly.


    Then he turned to Mih who seems to be furious about something. He said to her, "It wasn''t that bad. You can be very proud of the son you have birthed."


    His partner totally agreed with him this time. "Yes, he is so much better than my son. My useless son was the one that made me dy the life evaluation of your kids."


    That made Mih remember him. "Yes, I remember you, Haden Kroft. It seems you were sessful with your breakthrough. You have changed. How is your son? I hope he is not giving you more trouble."


    Haden Kroft smiled. "He died somewhere out in the ne."


    Kroft Junior is one of the casualties of Hadrick''s paranoia and influence of the existence of Soverick in the ne. He would still be alive if Soverick was never born to Mih and Ghoto. Unfortunately for him, Kroft Junior had a problem with the fact that Ghoto is permitted by the family to have kids while he can''t. So he tried to sabotage their life survey through his rich and well-to-do father. Kroft Junior became a grand god only to be sacrificed to create Celestials.


    "I''m sorry about that."


    Mih apologized for the death of his son. The death of a son must have been painful. Even she will feel a little bad if Soverick dies. She will be mostly indifferent to his death but she will feel a pang.


    Haden Kroft shook his head. "It''s no problem, really. At least, he won''t be giving me any more trouble."


    He wasn''t emotionally attached to his son. He only had him for the opportunity to see the path to bing a titan ofw. Now that he has seeded, he has no reason whatsoever to care about his son. He considers it a relief and the removal of a burden that his son died.


    Elder Stein readily agreed. "That boy was a lot of trouble for you. His death can be considered good riddance of a source of trouble. At least, now you don''t have to be paying people off every now and then for his offenses."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Mih''s frown returned. "Yes. And they won''t be hitting you now that they think they are all grown up." She said as he stared at Soverick.


    The two elders coughed awkwardly. They have nothing to say to that. Actually, they have a lot to say but none of what they want to say is appropriate to say. So they coughed to cover their awkwardness. They felt especially guilty because they allowed the fight to take ce and enjoyed watching it.


    They are from the security department of the family. They are supposed to stop all acts of violence in the city. Their stern policies have bex because of the avability of Origin energy in the ne. Now they don''t need to preserve Origin energy by discouraging fights. They still stop fights to protect lives and properties.


    They have been aware of the trouble that started his entire thing. They knew when Ghaster came to start a fight. They held back then because of Hadrick but they allowed the rest to happen because they wanted to see it. They could have interfered earlier when Soverick and Mih were fighting but they didn''t.


    No one knows the power level of Soverick Ghastorix and everyone has been wondering what boost the title of the child of the ne really grants him. It is a mystery that a lot of people are interested in. The mystery continued unsolved as Soverick kept to himself without interacting with others. So they were very surprised to see that he is already a king ofw and he can beat a titan ofw. They even recorded the fight and only came to interfere when they deemed it over.


    Soverick grumbled to himself. ''So much for a test subject.''


    He observed the situation and decided that trying to get Mih now will be too troublesome so he gave up. He can''t get her unless he is willing to face these two new titans ofw. The problem isn''t winning. It is the effect of fighting the three titans ofw of the family and using them for his experiments. The family won''t take well to it since the new titans ofw are elders of the family. So he decided he will get volunteers for his project by using the good old-fashioned way. By kidnapping them from the ne.


    He asked the elders, "So what next?"


    Elder Stein answered, "You''re supposed to pay for the damages that you have caused and perform other bureaucracy nonsense. The family is willing to waive all of the consequences of this little fight if you give the family the permission to sell copies of your fight to the public. It will bring more boosts to the external city and revenue to the family."


    Soverick is a celebrity. And not some C-Grade or B-Grade celebrity. He isn''t even A-Grage. He is some S-Grade shit with serious poprity. He is the fucking child of the ne. It''s a title that very few even knew existed. He has billions of fans and haters. He is the target of admiration and assassinations. He is a real-life hero of the ne. His poprity is just beneath those of the sages and will probably remain so even if he dies in his attempt to be a titan ofw. So a video of his fight will be highly sought after.


    Soverick replied, "Okay."

 Chapter 552 Elder Stein The Loose Cannon.

    Soverick replied then he turned away. He didn''t use anything special during the fight. It was all brute strength so it doesn''t matter if his enemies see it. The family can use it and it will make things easier for him when he requests their assistance in acquiring test subjects. He disappeared as he flew away leaving behind a massive thunderp.


    Elder Stein and Kroft both shook their head in wonder and admiration. Even they are in awe of the Child of the ne. This fight is something that they will brag about for a long time toe.


    Elder Stein spoke in regret. "I wanted to ask him what those 9 orbs are."


    "I doubt he would have told you anyway. Let it go."


    The two of them began to bicker amongst themselves.


    Ghaster sighed in relief after Soverick has gone. Then he asked the two Elders, "So he won''t pay for what he did to me?"


    Elder Steinughed and replied, "What do you want us to do? I very much admire your brother believe me. But no matter how much I admire him, I am sure being beaten up by him will be very unpleasant. Just ask your mother about the beating if you think I am lying. She will tell you how painful of an experience it is of she is being honest with you."


    Both Mih and Ghaster were frowning the more Elder Stein spoke. What they are hearing is far from what they hoped to hear. It is not even pleasant to bear at all. His loud voice makes his words especially grating to hear.


    Elder Kroft sighed. ''This guy and his loose lips. He is like a loose cannon. Always saying what''s on his mind without care.''


    He interfered before Elder Stein offends them even more. "What my partner is trying to say is that you started this fight. You attacked him first so you should bear with the consequences."


    Elder Stein nodded and agreed. "That too."


    Then he continued, "Thanks for starting the fight by the way. We were able to see what the Child of the ne is capable of. You were the appetizer and your mother was the main meal. I have to tell you that I am very satisfied with the meal. It was riveting, it was..."


    "We have to go now. Have a nice day. Report any issues you have to our departmental office."


    Kroft dragged Stein away before he drops more offensive bombs. He would also like to join in and describe how the fight can be likened to some of his favorite dishes but he is sensitive enough to know that it will be a major problem. He is also a seer and he could tell that Mih was just about to attack them. Violence is a streak that runs deeply within battle sage monkeys.


    Mih frowned as she watched the two elders leave. She was just about to sock that insensitive elder''s face before they suddenly left. It left her itching and unsatisfied.


    She sighed and said to Ghaster, "Let''s go home."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ghaster obeyed silently and followed after her. They flew above the bustling city towards their home.


    She asked on their way home. "Why did you go and fight him?"


    Ghaster replied. "I wanted to beat him."


    "Didn''t you hear about the Cmity of the Child of the ne?"


    He nodded. "I heard about it."


    She asked with exasperation, "Then why did you go and fight him?"


    It will be understandable if he fought Soverick before that incident. No one really knows how powerful he is but that incident is more than enough proof that transcendents can be killed with a wave of his hand. The lowest estimate of Soverick''s strength at that time is at the level of the king ofw. So why did Ghaster who heard of the event go and fight Soverick?


    Ghaster became silent.


    He couldn''t answer the question because any answer hees up with will sound stupid. It was not ignorance that made him go fight someone who could be a king ofw. He knows that what he did was stupid but he thought there will be a better oue even if he fails. He knew that Soverick is not in his league anymore but he went to fight because he thought his Eldest won''t try to kill him. He thought he was safe so he didn''t worry too much about the oue.


    He thought he had nothing to lose for trying and now he knows he was wrong. There are more painful things than dying. You never fully understand such a thing until you experience it. It is a pain that leaves you begging for the sweet release that only death can deliver.


    It can be achieved by constantly dying without actually dying but feeling the pain of dying. It is a pseudo-death because your consciousness only fractures partially notpletely so you can heal just in time to have it fractured again. The ordeal is certainly more painful than in dying. He has that knowledge on good authority from personal experience. It was all because he thought his Elder brother wouldn''t be too strict with him. It turns out that he was very naive and misguided.


    "It was a mistake to fight him. He is too strong now. There''s no way to catch up to him. He became a king ofw in less than 10,000 years, not the 10 Origin cycles that others take. But I am just a transcendent. How can I possibly match him?"


    When he finally spoke, it was an admittance of his weakness. He remembers that time Soverick was made to leave the academy. He had been relieved that Soverick will finally be out of his hair. Then he finished the academy in the top ten and was granted automatic admission to the tertiary institution for mana entities.


    Graduating within the top 10 is a worthy achievement. Ghaster came back home to brag about it but he found that his brother has be the child of the ne. His achievement was overshadowed and his pride was demolished.

 Chapter 553 There Is Nothing Normal About Soverick.

    What can the sess in a family-established Academypare to the sess above millions of Vitality core refiners from various prestigious families all over the ne? He knew the answer to that question without needing to hear the tales of Soverick''s exploits. People were singing Soverick''s praise and telling stories about how awesome he is.


    Ghaster''s ears almost popped off thanks to Ka''s energetic vocal rendition of a scene where Soverick dropped down from the sky upon some enemies and then he ughtered them. It was all he could hear for a time. Everyone was singing Soverick''s praise even their mother joined in on the trend.


    What''s worse is that the thing he was happy to see Soverick leave the academy for came back stronger than ever. Soverick''s pompous attitude didn''t get better due to the achievement but it didn''t increase either. Soverick remained the same condescending battle sage monkey with the same indifferent look. He above all else, did not toot his horn or boast about his exploits. Then again, he didn''t need to.


    Soverick was the star of the ne while he was among the top 10 in an academy. He wasn''t even the 1st. So Ghaster became ashamed of his own achievement. But there was still a chance to catch up. Soverick was still a mana entity back then so there was a chance of catching up to him. It was a possibility he was looking forward to and working very hard to achieve. Then he became a mana entity and was nning to challenge Soverick when the Cmity of the Child of the ne urred. Thousands of transcendents died that day. Even kings ofw were injured.


    So he thought it best to be a transcendent before he challenged Soverick. He returned to school and finished the tertiary stage of training with honors too. Then he came running here immediately after he became a transcendent. His aim was to injure Soverick and only that. Was that too much to ask? Apparently, it is.


    Soverick didn''t even give him any attention and when he did, he didn''t give him the honor to be beaten up by the child of the ne. He simply captured him and tortured him. Then he beat their mother up too.


    Apparently, he wasn''t worthy enough to be beaten up but like their mother was. Even he is not so thick-headed. Now he knows that he needs to be a titan ofw for him to be trashed by Soverick. A transcendent is not a worthy enough appetizer for him. This whole experience is enough for Ghastar to know when to give up on his childish dreams.


    Mih patted his head. "Soverick has always been special but you''re special in your own way. You are a good boy and your training has been excellent. You can''t give up till you be eternal. Soverick still has the huddle of being a titan ofw to ovee and trust me, it will not be easy. I should know how difficult it is. Soverick is very talented but his immense talents havee to bite him. He will have to give some of it up if he wants any hope of bing a titan ofw and bing a Sovereign ofw. That means he won''t be special anymore. He might even die trying to be a titan ofw."


    She tried her best to console her son even if she has to say that her other son might die. Ghaster has always been her favorite so it pains her to see him like this. She is willing to use Soverick''s possible death to encourage him and cheer him up. But Ghaster is not convinced.


    He shook his head and said, "He became a king ofw in less than 10,000 years mother. And he is as powerful as a Titan already. Maybe even more. Soverick is not normal. There is nothing normal about him."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Her words are reasonable, Soverick''s possible death included, but it is Soverick that they are talking about. He became a king ofw in less than 10,000 years and even beat his mother as a king ofw. Clearly, he can''t be judged withmon sense. Nothing about Soverick is reasonable. To expect his death, no matter how reasonable, is to dream of rainbows in the dry season. In fact, it is more probable for a rainbow to form without water at all than it is to expect Soverick to die. He has broken the usual conventions again and again. What says he can''t do it again?


    Mih tried another approach. "Alright, how about this? There''s apetitioning up soon. It is being hosted by the racial council. Thepetition is said to create a unified ranking for skill across all power levels from transcendents to kings ofw. It has just been announced that Soverick will attend."


    Ghaster didn''t understand how that was supposed to cheer him up. "Yeah, so what? He is still too strong. He will beat me again and this time, he will do it in front of arger audience."


    He may be stubborn but he is not a masochist and he definitely doesn''t like public humiliation. So getting trashed by Soverick in front of the whole ne is not on his wish list.


    Mih had to sign. She thought to herself, ''I love him, but he can be dense sometimes.''


    "No, he won''t beat you because everyone that participates will be suppressed to the level of transcendents. That means you will allpete with only skill."


    Ghaster became excited immediately. "Really? Will he be really supressed down to my level?" He asked.


    "Yes really. You have the same age. He just has a faster cultivation because of his title as the child of the ne. That doesn''t mean he is better than you in skills. Skills cannot be rushed and need time. Besides, you have ancestral memories and he doesn''t. You have an edge over him."


    Mih''s words gave him hope and thepetition gave him the opportunity. Now, Ghaster believes that he hase across the chance to defeat Soverick.

 Chapter 554 Business As Usual.

    Ghaster''s mood improved greatly. The prospect of beating Soverick or at least being able to fight on equal terms with him is more than enough to brighten his day.


    "I''ve got to prepare. I dropped my hammer back there so I need to get another one. I should probably get a better one. I also need to bulk up my body. Maybe I should reach the peak of transcendence too."


    He began listing the things he needs for thepetition. He doesn''t want his old hammer back because he will need to return to get it and he doesn''t want to do that. He doesn''t want to be anywhere near Soverick right now. Getting reminded of his torment will bring back the memories of his trauma. His hammer is a sacrifice he is willing to make to avoid meeting Soverick.


    He also needs to recover the body mass he lost and gain more to reach the peak of Transcendence. He is just a new transcendent and has yet to reach the limit. Any improvement he gets will increase his chances of besting Soverick.


    He realized something crucial. "This is going to cost a lot of money. I know I am technically an adult now but I don''t have any money. Will you help me out, Mother?"


    Mih pinched his cute blue-furred cheeks and said, "How can I say no to that cute face? Of course, I''ll help you with however much you need. You can always count on Mum."


    They still have a lot of money that Kroft gave them for his offense. They didn''t have to spend on Soverick ever since he became the child of the ne and Litori became independent a while back after bing a transcendent. So she can afford to splurge for her favorite child.


    "Yes," Ghaster said while pumping his fist in excitement.


    Mih smiled as she watched Ghaster cheering up. She knew that she exaggerated a bit about Soverick''sck of skills. He had used the fourth stage of weapon mastery against her while she used the fifth stage. It means that he is way more powerful than her and even if that power is removed, Soverick is just one skill level below her. That level of skill is extraordinary for someone so young.


    She is more than 50 Origin cycles old and yet her son that isn''t more than 10,000 years is close to her level in skill. She would like to believe that her seemly slow progress is because she didn''t have a royal bloodline and the ancestral memories thates with it. But she doubts that even geniuses of royal bloodlines can match up to what Soverick has achieved in such a short time.


    She doesn''t even need to look far forparison. Ghaster is a genius of a royal bloodline and they were born at the same time. Today''s events show just how well they match up. So she can only try her best to strengthen Ghaster and hope they don''t meet in thepetition. As hopes go, it is much more feasible that they won''t meet each other than hoping that Soverick will die.


    She may have lied a tiny bit about Soverick''s skills but she has toe clean with the terms of thepetition.


    So she told Ghaster, "Unfortunately you can''t bring in weapons."


    "Aww, why not?"


    "It''s to make things fair. Everyone, regardless of their upbringing, wealth, and Status will be made topete on equal terms to prove their worthiness."


    "Fine. I''ll be able to use my hands on Soverick. It is better that way."


    Back To Soverick.


    He reached his forge quickly. Hadrick was waiting for him.


    "So how was it?" It asked him.


    Soverick answered curtly. "It was fine."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Are you sure? It wasn''t finest time and this time was worse. I don''t think it was fine at all."


    Soverick thought about it and shrugged. "It was fine. Last time was fine too."


    He doesn''t see anything out of ce within his interaction with his family.


    "It can''t be fine. You called your guardian "not good enough" after her death. She raised you. It can''t be fine."


    Soverick scoffed. "She did not raise me. I raised myself. Even my so-called parents did not raise me."


    Hadrick just has to ept that Soverick doesn''t see what could be wrong with the situation.


    "I''m sure it was fine with you."


    Soverick nodded. "It certainly was. So she died. Who cares?"


    Then they started chatting about important matters and resumed their research. Soverick''s mood and interest in his work didn''t dim because of the event that happened today or the one that happened hundreds of years ago. He was in the forge just like today when Mih, Ghoto, and Litori came to tell him that Ka, his guardian, died while trying to be a transcendent. Ghaster was still in school at that time so he didn''t follow them.


    He had replied unfazed. "I know."


    Then he waved them away to signify that they can leave. He knew she died. He knew that they have decided to have a burial for her and that they havee to tell him about it. They hope that he cane with them to honor Ka with a burial. He knew all of that and yet he wants them to leave since he had better things to do.


    But they weren''t satisfied with his reaction.


    Ghoto asked him, "So?"


    He asked back, "So what?"


    Ghoto replied, "Ka is dead."


    He asked calmly, "Again, so what?"


    They even took it further than that. Their dissatisfaction with him turned to distraught.


    Mih became emotional. She asked angrily. "How can you be like this?."


    She was the one that trained Ka. They spent years together preparing Ka for her breakthrough. Mih was emotionally and financially invested in Ka but she died. Mih knew that Soverick never cared for or even liked Ka. He said so several times when she was alive. But she is dead now and she deserves some respect in death. Unfortunately, Soverick didn''t n to give her that.

 Chapter 555 Foolishness And Utter Stupidity.

    Mih didn''t expect Soverick to cry or feel the pain of Ka''s death like her but she expected him to at least pretend to feel something. He doesn''t even need to pretend for a long time, just for her short burial ceremony. Then he can resume whatever he is doing.


    Soverick said to them, "Look here. So what that she died? I am not going to pretend I care about her. I didn''t pretend when she was alive. I have much less reason to pretend now that she is dead. She wasn''t special when she was alive and her death is not special either. People die every day and I don''t care about that. Why should I care about some random person that I was in close proximity with for less than 2 years?"


    He was busy with research and learning to forge so he has other things he wants to do with his time than honor some dead unremarkable girl. He wouldn''t have honored her even if he were free with nothing important to do. He might have been biased against Ka when she was alive but one thing is certain now. And that is she is the fact that she is dead and will soon be forgotten for leading an unremarkable life.


    Either way, he doesn''t care at all about her life and death much less a ritual to make Ghoto and Mih feel better. Ka is already dead. It is not like the burial will bring her back. He still wouldn''t care if the burial will bring her back to life.


    Mih yelled at him. "She was not some random person in close proximity to you. She raised you."


    Soverick shook his head. "She did not raise me. She wasn''t good enough for that and neither was she good enough to be a transcendent, apparently."


    Mih teared up while Ghoto tried tofort her. Ka''s death truly hit Mih far more than expected. They are from the same family and she knows that there are people counting on Ka to be a transcendent and revitalize her branch of the family. Ka''s death not only impacts Mih, but it has also dealt a heavy blow to the hopes and dreams of those people.


    And here they are trying to persuade one of the children that Ka helped to raise to honor her after death. Mih is of the opinion that no matter their differences when Ka was alive, Soverick should set them aside now that she is dead.


    Ghoto looked at Soverick and sighed. He said, "I know that you don''t care about people and you don''t have feelings but sometimes you have to do some things that you don''t want to do simply because you have to do them. It''s a sign of maturation. You have to be able to set aside your personal preferences for others."


    Soverick disagreed and he is not one to shy away from sharing his thoughts.


    He said to his father, "That''s a very stupid thing to say. Only weak people have to do what they don''t want to do because they have to do it and I am not weak. At least, I am not so weak as to waste my time on this."


    He found the meeting to be funny and not the morbid kind of funny. He found it funny how people can feel something and expect others to feel it too. They even go so far as to impose their will on others. So what that Ka died? So what that they want to have a burial for her? What does that have to do with him? He doesn''t care about any of that. They can go ahead with it if they want. But to impose their own sentiments on him without having the strength to force him is stupidness of the highest order.


    They can eat her flesh and he wouldn''t care. So why will he bother with some useless burial ceremony? Is he going to get any benefit out of it? They care and they can do anything they want. But to expect him to do want they want simply because they care is folly. Sometimes, he wonders if they know anything about him at all. If they knew him, then the oue of this meeting should note as a surprise to them.


    Ghoto shook his head and he led Mih away. Mih wanted to fight him then and there. If not for Ghoto persuading her not to, she would have gotten a sound beating that day. So their fight was postponed for another day. The events of that day have been brewing in Mih. It made her very trigger-happy when the opportunity came to fight Soverick.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They left Litori and Soverick. The red-furred battle sage monkey bowed to him in greeting.


    "Eldest."


    He nodded in return. "Litori."


    She fixed her two all-white eyes on him and they stared silently at each other for a while. He knows she wants to ask him a question. That is why she is staying behind. And he knows what she wants to ask him about. It is a tough question that she finds too difficult to voice out. That''s why she is stalling. He knows but he doesn''t care enough to waste time on this.


    He lost his patience and said, "Ask me or I''ll leave."


    She sighed and asked about the elephant in the room. "So you know."


    "That you harvested Ka? Yes, I know."


    She rubbed her face tiredly. "I didn''t mean to or I meant to. I didn''t want her death to be in vain. I wanted to..."


    He cut her off, "I don''t care."


    She rxed visibly, "Right. I forgot about that. I suppose that''s a good thing."


    He shrugged and said, "If you say so."


    "I have to go now. There''s a burial for Ka that I have to attend. It won''t be great if I amte to it when I suggested it."

 Chapter 556 The Bad Egg Of The Litter.

    Litori waved goodbye and ran to catch up to their parents. Soverick returned to his forge unbothered by the events of the day. So what that Ka died? So what if Litori harvested the remnant of her soul after she died? So what if Litori doesn''t actually feel anything for Ka but is faking it? So what if Litori doesn''t actually feel empathy and sympathy for anyone? So what if Litori is a psychopath and she only spoke to him about it because she hopes to feel guilty or at least feel something? What does all of it matter? It matters nothing to him.


    Her emotional changes are not exactly her fault. It is the influence of her bloodline. Her affinity with fire and the soul has warped her. Fire is unfeeling and uncaring because fire burns everything. Those that study the soul are cold because they shed the shackles of the flesh to be better able to sense the spirit.


    So she doesn''t feel sympathy or empathy. She can simte it very well. It''s why she cares about going early to Ka''s burial to look good rather than caring about the fact that she basically used Ka as an ingredient for a pill. It is also why she wanted to make sure that he wouldn''t talk about what he knows. Thanks to her ancestral bloodline, she is not a novice at what she does. She is a very dangerous but innocent-looking person.


    But then again, what does it all matter? Nothing. At least not to him. It matters to Ghoto and Mih though. Litori might just use Mih for another experiment since Mih doesn''t have a path forward anymore. Talk about making the best use of the situation. Ghoto and Mih are going to a burial with someone that can kill them for benefits without batting an eye. They also wouldn''t see iting if she kills them.


    He scoffed as he thought to himself, And they think that I am the bad egg among their children."


    SOMEWHERE IN THE DARK SIDE OF THE UNIVERSE.


    Soverick''s meeting about Ka''s death urred in the past. This uing event also urred in the event. But it urred in the dark side of the void Universe.


    The dark side of the universe is named such because there is no light. This is not as simple as it is dark. There''s always light in the normal part of the Void Universe, even in the night. You might not be able to see that light because your eyes are subpar but there''s always light. Mind you, there''s more to light than the visible spectrum of light to you. Light represents flux energy in a quanta state.


    Some view space or the void as a dark ce but it is not. It is awash in light. It is the brightest ce filled with stars. The dark side is the opposite of that. There is no emission of light from infrared to ultraviolet which means there''s no flux energy. Or at least, there is no energy that emits or interacts with light in any way.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The energy in the dark side is dark and continuous as if like thick strings while the energy on the light side is in flux and easily usable. Origin Energy, Mana, or void energy can be absorbed without limits. Anyone can utilize them if they can. They are freely given and meant to nurture life. But the energy in the dark side is not like that. It doesn''t matter if you can use the energy. You have to fight to absorb every piece of the energy. You have to constantly wrestle with the will of the universe to take dark energy.


    The absence of light is the least of the problems of living in the dark side of the universe. Space is also frozen solid like ss. Space doesn''t fluctuate in any way. It is rigid, cold, and bitter. To be in the dark side of the void Universe is to be within a ck crystal solid. It means the very environment impedes movement.


    There is also the crushing pressure that space exerts on everything within it. To be in the dark side of the universe is to live under a mountain with the entire weight of the mountain concentrated on you. It will be a wonder if you can breathe. Fortunately, those who can live here have stopped needing to breathe since they became transcendents.


    If the universe ispared to a building, the internal space of the building will be the normal universe or the light side of the Void Universe. The internal space contains everything within the house but it is NOT the house. It is simply a product of the existence of the house. Just like volume is a derivative of a container but it isn''t the container itself.


    Just like so, the normal Universe is not the universe or at least not the structure that makes up the universe. A world god will tell you that it is a mistake that small-minded, ignorant, and blind fools make to think that the normal universe is the universe. They believe that they are living within the universe but it is not so. They are actually living within the space within the universe. It''s like calling the liquid within a container the container itself. That''s just absurd.


    To expand on the house analogy, the dark side of the universe is the walls of the house. It makes up the universe and as such, it is dense and light doesn''t exist within it.


    World gods live within this thick, frozen space that can crush a lesser being into dust and they do it as easily as moles live in the soil except they don''t bore holes within it. They just push space aside and make a way for themselves where there was no way. That''s the thing about the dark side of the universe. It is not conducive to life. Life was not meant to live in it just like the walls of a house are not meant to be lived in. If you are to live in the dark side of the universe, you must carve out a living by force.

 Chapter 557 A Watered Down Geometry Of The Void Universe.

    Of course, the analogy of the house with the universe is not entirely urate. It creates a false notion that the space within the universe is the internal part of the universe. It might also lead one to believe that the void Universe is in the shape of a box. World gods will tell you that these two premises are not urate.


    The space-time continuum of the void Universe is formless and shapeless. One cannot say what its true form is but one can simplify the shape of the existence of the void universe for lesser minds. In the endeavor to dumb down higher-level multidimensional physics, the walls of the house, or if you will, the dark side of the universe is the mid-section of the universe. While the area that weak beings live in is the external part of the universe.


    The external part of the void universe is constantly expanding outwards while the Dark side remains constant and bears the weight of the external/normal part of the universe. If the totality of the universe is dumbed down, it can be likened to a sphere. The middleyer of the sphere is the dark side and the externalyer is the light side.


    If you know anything about pressure, then you must know that pressure increases when force increases while the area that it acts upon remains constant. In order words, the pressure on the inhabitants of the dark side increases as the normal Universe expands.


    World gods are practically lifting the weight of the sky. That is the most troublesome thing about living in the dark side of the universe. Bearing the weight of constantly increasing pressure in a lifeless and harsh environment devoid of interchangeable energy.


    But all three problems, theck of light, the frozen space, and the heavy pressure are nothing to a world god. They don''t even feel any of these problems. It is said that life will always find a way and it did for the dark side of the universe too. Except world gods cannot be called living. Living connotes a possibility of dying.


    Even Origin gods can''t die permanently much less a world god. For world gods, when there is a Will, there is a way to do anything including cheating death. World gods can do a lot of things with their will. When your very thoughts are reinforced and empowered and strengthened by an entire world, then you can do a lot of things. Existing for all of eternity is the least that they can do


    Living or not, world gods thrive and live in the dark side of the universe. They can fully exercise their power and do anything they want here. By anything, I mean ANYTHING. The hostile conditions do not impede them in any way. They do a lot of things including forging.


    A Certain entity moved through the dark side of the universe like a shark prowling the ocean depths. This entity looks like a normal battle sage monkey without any bloodline. It has white fur. Except for a few oddities here and there, you wouldn''t think anything special of this battle sage. The three white tails that it has means nothing. It could be purely cosmetic. But the fact that this entity can exist in the dark side of the universe is more than enough to know that this entity is at least as powerful as a world god.


    This world god found a bubble of influence in this otherwise dense environment that feels like frozen amber. The world god knocked politely on the bubble. It can force decide to pit its Will against the Will of the one that created the bubble and force its way in but it knocked politely because it didn''te for a fight and politeness doesn''t cost much. It didn''t have to wait for long before it got a reply.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    An intent echoed outward from within the bubble of spaces. The message within the intent said, "Come in."


    The world god touched the barrier of the bubble and phased through it to appear in a space asrge as a ne. It is like the waters of the ocean have been forcefully spread apart to create a vacuum simr to a giant bubble at the bottom of the ocean. The space is not a ne, it''s just the size of one. It needs to be that size or it won''t be able to amodate world gods in their smallest form possible. When you see a world god, you don''t wonder anymore why a realm tree doesn''t want them around.


    The guest world god looked around and found its host very busy at the center of the bubble. The host is a serpentine humanoid with thousands of arms and an obsidian crown on its head. It has a muscr and extremely long tale that is attached to the base of its torso. It also has a serpentine head.


    This serpentine world god is very busy right now. It is busy forging something. The thousands of arms that the serpentine world god possesses are in a flurry of movement assembling what looks like cubes. These cubese in different shapes and sizes each unique in not only mass, energy content, and resonance factor but they all fit together seamlessly to form the finished product.


    The serpentine world god is assembling this finished product himself. It has to be a very powerful andplicated product for the world god to forge personally instead of just Willing it into existence from its mind.


    The guest said to the host. "I see you''re still busy."


    "Are you here to gloat?" The serpentine world god asked without paying attention to his guest.


    The voice of the host sounds like the hissing of a million snakes. It is enough to break the mind of a lesser being. But this beings are far from lesser and the hissing is not an attack. It is merely a sound created through the flunctuation of the fabric of the universe instead of the vibration of matter.

 Chapter 558 The New Bet.

    The guest replied, "Yes, I am here to gloat."


    The host grumbled. "Just make it quick. You have no sense of humor."


    The guest didn''t say anything. He just stared at the host and watched as he worked. The host continued their work even though it felt ufortable being stared at like that. But it won''t surrender or the guest will win.


    Rings of energy in different states circle the host in differentyers. The tough stringy energy from the dark side of the universe is pulled into the bubble by the powerful mind of the host and drawn into the outermost ring. Then the heavy dark energy is drawn into the inner rings where it undergoes a series of changes due to the Order that is imposed on it by the Will of the world god.


    The heavy energy changes and is eventually transformed into its malleable form where it is mixed with Origin essence and chaos sparks. Then it is further transformed into matter within the innermost ring ording to a certain blueprint. The entire process of dark energy transformation into matter creates the cubes that are flying about and then arranged by the dazzlingly fast thousands of hands to form a special pir.


    The process is hard enough already without the guest tampering with the transformation process. They made a bet that whoever finishes first gets to trouble the other. So now the guest is tampering with the order in the rings by using its eyes to unravel it. It is making it extra difficult for the serpentine world god to do what he is doing. At this rate, he will have to spend the bulk of his efforts on maintaining the rings rather finish the forging.


    The host finally caved in. "Ok, I have had enough. You win. Happy now?"


    The guest nodded. "Very."


    "You''re a weirdo do you know that? Which world god enjoys a staring contest? That''s just childish."


    The guest retorted, "That''s because you don''t see what I see."


    The eyes of the guest shed mysteriously as it said that.


    The host rolled his eyes. "Don''t start with me on that you are blind shit."


    "Fortunately for you, that is not part of the reason why I am here."


    The serpentine world is genuinely relieved. He sighed and said, "Yes, fortunately for me."


    So the guest promised with a smirk, "Maybe another time then.


    The host groaned at that. Apparently, it isn''t safe yet from the lecture about the personal theory that what you see is not all that is there to see. That the reality that we experience is subject to cognition and perception. That only a perfect eye and mind can see the universe for what it truly is. That lecture is boring and tedious. It is a boon that the guest is not here for the lecture.


    "I am primarily here to inform you that everything is ready on my side. I wanted to check on you, gloat, and also collect my debt. So pay up."


    The host groaned again. The staring contest is just a silly game. The major consequence of losing the bet is much more serious. The host''s serpentine eyes shifted about as he schemed. His eyes fell on the pirs and he got an idea.


    He coughed and started speaking. "How about we make another deal?"


    The emotionless face of the guest didn''t change. It asked in the same dull tone. "What do you suggest?"


    "How about we bet on the winners of this little event? I''ll give you triple your money if your side wins. Of course, you will lose all of your money if my side wins."


    The guest appeared to think about it for a while before he replied. "I want 10-fold if my side wins."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The host yelled, "You thief. 4-fold increase."


    "9 fold."


    "5 fold increase. Final offer."


    "8 fold."


    The hoist said with an aggrieved shout, "6 fold. Final offer, you thief."


    But the guest wasn''t moved. "7 fold."


    "6 fold."


    The guest remained stubborn. "I want 7 fold."


    "I''m only giving you 6." The serpentine world god said with visible physical and emotional pain that it can feel down in its world and world heart. Its poor world heart can''t take more than 6 folds increase. It is already bleeding at the prospect of losing.


    The guest considered it again. "Fine. 6 folds. Make the oath."


    "I swear upon my world heart that I will give you 6 folds of the things that I owe you if your side wins the event of project discement." The host swore, then he asked, "Happy?"


    "Not yet. You know what I want."


    "What? You don''t trust me?" The host asked in that same aggrieved tone.


    The guest replied emotionlessly, "No, I don''t trust you."


    The boat snorted before swearing again. "I swear that I will give you 6 folds of what I owe you anytime you ask for it as long as your side wins thepetition."


    "I''ll leave now."


    The guest having been satisfied turned to leave.


    The host called after him with augh, "You just made a mistake. You should have collected your things just now. You will lose this bet."


    The guest didn''t turn back. It replied calmly, "You said the same thingst time."


    The guest phased through the barrier of the bubble and returned to the dark side of the universe. He then chuckled and thought to himself. "And you wonder why I stare. It is to predict you. Now it seems you''re going to make the same mistakes that your brethren made."


    The battle sage monkey took some time to think about its numerous ns and schemes. This particr event is just a clog within the humongous machinations that it has set up. The serpentine humanoid didn''t want to pay his debt and chose to risk an increase for its total removal. Its first mistake is starting a gamble with someone with his eyes, the eyes of the sage. But then again, can it be called a mistake if it is inevitable?

 Chapter 559 6 Is The Lucky Number.

    Events seem to happen randomly but some things can be predicted. If by chance a debt collectores to collect his debts from a debtor who has a gambling addiction in a period of time when that debtor is working onpleting his own part of a big project that both of them are working on. Is it a thing of chance if the debtor chooses to bet again since it already bet on who will finish their part of the project earlier and it also has a good chance of winning?


    It is not by chance. Gambling addiction plus the need for money plus the opportunity to bet plus a high chance of winning is equal to a definite possibility of betting. As the maths have shown, it is not by chance. It was carefully engineered. Either way, that gamble escted into betting on the oue of Project DISPLACEMENT. Now the battle sage can win 6 times the amount of the previously humongous debt. That is of course if his side wins.


    He nodded in satisfaction after reviewing everything. It looked down in its hands where is holding 6 sheets of paper.


    Then he said, "I guess 6 is my lucky number. I have been encountering ittely and I will be encountering it soon."


    This event happened many years ago before the meeting with Soverick.


    The Present. Competition Time.


    Time went by and the time for thepetition drew near. It has been named the Unified Skill Index League. It is an opportunity for greatness. More than that, it is supposed to be an equal and fair opportunity for greatness.


    Everyone between transcendent and king ofw can participate and test their mettle against each other. The ranking of thepetition will determine the cement around the tower of trials. The better the performance, the closer the participant will be to the tower of trials.


    The number of people that chose to participate in thepetition increased in size once the news that the child of the ne will be participating was announced. The number of participants increased from a hundred thousand to more than 3 million in less than a year after his participation was announced.


    Many people just want to see him up close while others have less pleasant aims. His participation will give numerous people the chance that they have been waiting for topare themselves to him or to humiliate him. The ne became abuzz with excitement as the day drew near.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The racial council is more than prepared for the number of participants. They have put special pirs in different ces within the ne which will serve as entrances to thepetition ground. Rules and regtions of thepetition have been announced to the popce too so people know how to join thepetition and how to prepare for it.


    The day finally came. A sound like the ringing of a very loud bell spread throughout the ne and signified the start of the registration for the event. The special pirs ced all over the ne lit up and created a pir of light that reached the sky. The light show revealed their positions to make it easier to find them throughout the ne. Participants will then make their way to the pirs, touch them with their divine sense,plete their registration, and be whisked away to thepetition location.


    Some families were able to get a pir for their personal use so that their family members won''t have to wander around looking for pirs to use. The Ghastorix family was able to get one too. They are influential enough to get one but they got this for free thanks to a certain special someone. The perks of having the child of the ne in the family just keep oning.


    Most of the Transcendents of the family are going to participate in it, especially the ones that haven''t be epted adults yet. There is a tradition in the Virut ne that requires transcendents to attend the trial of heaven and return alive for them to be epted members of the family. This tradition weeds out the weak and helps to keep the poption down. It is a tradition that achieves two things.


    Only those that have returned alive from the trial of heaven can be epted into the family as adults and will have the privilege thates with it, such as the right to bear children. If you bear kids without permission, then your kids won''t be allowed to use some of the family''s amenities like free schooling, amodation in the main city, protection, and many more unless your kids have an awakened royal bloodline.


    Bing an adult is a very important matter in the Virut ne but it isn''t time for the trial of heaven yet. Thest trial of heaven was a few thousand years ago so there are still more than 80 thousand years to go. This Unified Skill Index League has been endorsed by the racial council to be used as a substitute instead of the trial of heaven. The best 30% will be endorsed for adulthood.


    This announcement made most families that don''t need Origin energy take thepetition seriously. Thepetition has be more useful than simply gaining ess to plots ofnd with high concentrations of Origin energy. Transcendents prefer the Unified Skill Index League to the trial of heaven because there will be no death.


    The world gods of the racial council assured everyone that there will be zero casualties. Every participant will be saved from death by a rather innovative system put in ce on thepetition ground. The racial council did not tell them how it is done but everyone believes them.


    The promise of zero casualties is all it took for the ones that want to confront the child of the ne but are still wary of him to decide to participate. No one wants to be a part of another Cmity of the Child of the ne but now they have nothing to worry about since they can''t die.

 Chapter 560 An Abyss Within Soverick.

    The assurance of zero casualties went a long way in alleviating the fears of various individuals. One of those individuals is Mih. She has some reservations because all 3 of her children are going to participate in thepetition. She would have been a wreck if there was a risk of death. The death of Ka has only just happened recently. But then thepetition turned from a risky game into a harmless game. Now she canfortably send them off.


    She kissed Ghoto''s head and ruffled the blue fur on his head affectionately when it was time to send him off.


    "You go champ. You do your best and I''ll be satisfied. I will always be cheering for you."


    Ghotoined, "Mum! You''re embarrassing me."


    They are standing some distance away from the pir that will serve as the entrance. They are not the only ones around. There are a lot of people going anding. A lot of people are saying farewell to their kids but very few are as cuddly as this pair of mother and son.


    Mih feigned being hurt. "Are you so big now that you find me embarrassing?"


    Ghoto hugged her and buried his face into her chest. Mih smiled and patted his back. Then he disengaged and ran off to the pir. He touched the pir and then disappeared. Mih grinned as she shook her head.


    She turned to the silent battle sage monkey beside her and asked, "What about you? Do you want a hug?"


    Litori shook her head. "No, I don''t want a hug."


    "Are you sure?" Mih insisted.


    Litori nodded. They returned to silence after that rejection. The silence dragged on for a while until Mih feltpelled to ask.


    "What are you waiting for?"


    "I don''t know. But I''ll wait and see. I am not like Ghaster who runs headfirst into a situation without thinking. I''ll watch and decide." She replied as her white eyes focused on the pirs.


    There are 3 ck rings within each of her white eyes that separate her eyes into differentyers around the ck pupil at the center. Most of her eyes are white with the pupil as a very small point at the center. The three ck rings expand and constrict as she focuses on different things. Right now she is focused on the pirs.


    Even her dull uprehending eyes can tell that there''s something special about it. But no one is stopping to check. It makes almost no difference either way if they check or not since they can''tprehend anything from it. Even Litori that can see spirits and souls just knows that there''s something odd about the pirs but she doesn''t know what.


    Sometimes, the ability to see things is not so good. She noticed something attached to Soverick. It is an unidentified spiritual object or entity. She has never seen something like it before. The more she looked, the more her mind was strained. It is as if she is looking at something too massive for her mind to understand.


    What she saw in Soverick resembled a deep abyss with some sort of hideous demonic monster at its depths. She doesn''t know what it is but she knows it is very big and what she is seeing is just a part of it. That thing is connected to Soverick and extends to ces far beyond her sight.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick honestly scares her. It has always been that way ever since they were babies. His weirdly powerful soul is strange enough but what she saw almost caused a bacsh to her eyes. If not for her inability to feel emotions, she will be shaking and mentally traumatized by what she saw. But it is a good thing that she saw what she saw. She knows now to stay away from him and fear him. She won''t be like a certain foolish person who wants to pick a fight with Soverick.


    There are some things that shouldn''t be gazed upon but knowledge is good. With knowledge, someone can make informed decisions. So Litori is hoping to see something about the pirs that will dissuade her from participating in thepetition. She wants a location with a high concentration of Origin energy but participating in the samepetition with Soverick might be a bad way to go about acquiring what she wants.


    Another bell rang throughout the ne signifying that the registration is about to end. Litori wasn''t able to see anything odd or out of ce.


    Mih expressed her concerns. "You have to go now if you intend to participate."


    Her daughter replied emotionlessly. "I know."


    Litori wanted to say, "Tell me something I don''t know." But she changed it. Mih might think she is being helpful but Litori thinks she is just stating the obvious. She didn''t do so because she is not Soverick. She can''t fight Mih so she better behave. She doesn''t have enough strength so she must be servile for a little while longer.


    Litori waited patiently for a while more but she couldn''t see anything useful about the pir so she gave up.


    "Goodbye then."


    Litori said her farewell and walked into the range of the light on the pir. Then she extended her divine sense tentatively to the pir instead of touching it physically. Something pushed back from within the pir. She epted it and her divine sense was branded. The brand traveled to her body because she is a transcendent and marked her. It also marked her soul since the two are fused together.


    The brand passed on some information to her and a mark appeared on the palm of her hand. The brand is invisible to everyone else but her. She doesn''t need to look at the mark to see what it means.


    NAME: Litori Ghastorix.


    POWER: Zero Step.


    DESIGNATION: SOLDIER.


    SCORE: 0


    RANK: 4,112,317


    The brand began to resonate with the pir after marking her. She activated it and her entire being turned into a stream of energy that flowed into the pir and into thepetition grounds. She too disappeared from the Virut ne.

 Chapter 561 The Young Replaces The Old.

    The brand that marked Litori would have failed to make the connection between divine sense, soul, and body if she were a mana entity. Those parts of existence are still separate at the mana entity rank. Then the brand wouldn''t resonate with the pir which means she won''t be able to enter the pir.


    The minimum requirement of transcendence to participate in thepetition was not made on a whim. It is the minimum requirement to enter thepetition ground through the pir. Any mana entity that tries to worm its way into thepetition will find it impossible to do.


    Mih sighed after seeing off her two kids. Then she turned to look at the other pir within the city. That other pir is restricted to a certain person. It is not for public use like the one that Ghaster and Litori just used. It is where Soverick should be.


    She smiled as she thought of that particr child of hers. "What a troublesome child. He beat me. Hahahaha."


    She began tough. She couldn''t stopughing as she thought about their fight. She returned to her houseughing and thinking about the fight.


    Mih has mixed feelings about Soverick. Soverick is entric. It is his normal behavior. He doesn''t go by themon sense that bounds others. He is an outlier and she understands that. She also understands why they had to fight. It is because Soverick has no reason not to fight her. He just doesn''t care.


    He didn''t fight her to gloat about his strength or to show off. He has had the power to beat her for a long time but he didn''t seek her out. She came to him and they fought. He fought her because he wanted something from her and he didn''t care about the repercussions of his action to her. He didn''t care about the physical or emotional damage.


    She understands all that but that doesn''t mean she is happy about it. She is undoubtedly proud of her son. He is strong and doing well for himself. A child beating the parent is not a rare urrence. It happens a lot and she had expected it. She didn''t think it will happen so soon but she expected it and she is proud of Soverick for it. But while she is proud, she is also angry. She is not angry that they fought. She is angry that she lost.


    She lost to her son. Another parent may be agitated or excited and decide to work harder so that they can catch up with their child, but Mih can''t do that. She knows that she is at the end of her road. There''s no path forward for her. She can''t catch up even if she tried.


    To that, she just sighed and said, "That''s just the way of the world. The new reces the old."


    The new reces the old. The old should have the advantage of time but they can be overtaken by the young for different reasons, talent and luck being two of the major reasons. It all boils down to relevance. When someone or something stops advancing and loses superiority and relevance, they get reced with something or someone more superior and more relevant.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    In nature, it is the trend for newer better adapted species to overtake and eliminate older species. Bloodline has made it possible for better variants of a race to eliminate those without bloodlines. It is also normal for the young with bloodlines to perform better than their parents and ancestor. A race evolves and some things be easier to achieve for the younger generation due to the effort of the predecessors.


    But Age doesn''t matter. The fact that you''re younger doesn''t give you an automatic advantage over the older generation. You have to have a better potential and the time for that potential to manifest. You can be killed off by the stronger older generation during that time.


    No one can rece the realm lord no matter how young they are. They just don''t have the superiority and excellence in everything that he possesses. It is not like he can be reced no matter how excellent the younger generation is. But if it were possible for the realm lord to be reced, no one can stille close to his brilliance no matter how young they are.


    p¦Ánd¦Á---no¦Í?1,§ão§® Mih can''t make progress on the path of perfection anymore. So she will just have to settle with the knowledge that it is highly likely for Soverick to be stuck as a titan ofw. She is intimately familiar with the obstacle she is facing as a titan ofw and she knows how proud Soverick is. So it is highly likely that he will bite more than he can chew and be one of those talented fools who think they have what it takes to rece the realm lord.


    She will go home and watch the live streaming of thepetition through her entertainment andmunication device. She could also watch it on the sky screen that the racial council has set up to disy thepetition but she wants the privacy of her own home.


    Back To Soverick.


    He sat in front of the pir as his eyes scanned through it over and over and over again. His four eyes are moving about quickly in different directions as if each one is chasing after a different erratic bug flying about in their vision. That might as well be what they are seeing.


    The pir is a cylindrical object with a ck material. But it doesn''t look ck. It looks like the various wavelengths of light that it reflects at that particr time. In other words, its colors are shifting constantly.


    There are a lot of variables on the pir. Even the runes engraved on it are constantly shifting. They wiggle, waggle, and stretch about causing their size, shape, and position to change. The only constant about the pir is its overall size, dimensions, and volume. Its mass and volume change too.

 Chapter 562 And So It Begins.

    The matter that makes up the pir is strange, to say the least. It is as if the pir isn''tplete and that he is only seeing half of it and yet the other half is also here in this ne of existence but just inessible by any means of determination. The pir is both tangible and phantom. The state of the tangible pir is being mimicked by the phantom pir in an undisclosed situation through a link of entangled matter.


    He has been scanning the pir ever since messengers from the racial council brought it a few weeks ago.He knew it was special the moment he saw it for different reasons. For the first reason, his eyes could pick up on the specialness of the pir. He figured out what the pir does immediately after he saw it. Inyman''s terms, it converts beings with soul bodies into energy that is transmitted to a destination where they are then reconstructed. The pir is both a processor and a transmitter.


    He didn''t need his eyes to know what it does. He knew already because of the second reason. It is why he knows that the pir is special. He has seen this pir before. It is not him exactly but another clone of Legion that saw it. The circumstances around that event are linked to the realm lord. Anything linked to the realm lord must be special.


    He had grinned when he first saw the pir. He thought to himself, "So thispetition is a ruse. There has to be something going on about it that they are not telling us. It must have a hidden agenda. It is just like the first sage to be two-faced. But I am on to him now."


    This second reason is more important than the first reason because it gave Soverick suspicion of a greater purpose for thepetition. The first sage already said thepetition is not simple. He didn''t understand back then but now is not so clueless.


    The pir is a piece of hardware that boggles the mind of best forgers of origin artifacts. It is a top-grade artifact just like Aeternus ymore but its makeup is as close to a world fragment as possible. In order words, anyone that can forge this pir needs aw of order.


    The sage could have made the pir and he is certain it is the sage that made the pir. He can see the traces of the First Sage''sw of order on it. If it wasn''t for the phantom state of the pir then he wouldn''t attend thispetition anymore. He will just sit here and look at the pir. Unfortunately for him, the phantom state makes it useless for him to observe.He also wants to see what one of the realm lord''s artifacts doing in apetition within the ne.


    He said eagerly. "I can''t wait to see what this is all about."


    His find also improved his mood. The clone of Legion that saw the pir first didn''t have his eyes to bore into its secrets but he does. He is always eager to see more truths of the universe and this pir is a condensation of such truths. He has been unsure of his decision to participate in thepetition but now he wants to be a part of it and see what it is all about.


    He sat down and analyzed the pir since then never moving once. The phantom state is making the pir have more than one property. It is scrambling what he is seeing so much that even hisw of casualty can''t create meaningful links but he didn''t give up. Anything can happen and he might see something interesting. So he sat there and didn''t move until thest bell signaling the end of registration started to ring.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "This isn''t over." He promised the pir as he used his divine sense to start the registration process.


    Hepleted the registration and was swept into the pir. The pir shook and strained to transmit him to thepetition world. He might have a soul body that meets the minimum requirement but his soul body is as strong as a Sovereign''s body ofw so the pir had a little difficulty doing its job. Thankfully, the workmanship of the pir is impable considering who its manufacturer is.


    Soverick appeared in a white world. The ground and the sky are white. Everything is white so he looks like he is in a giant white box. He smiled when he saw where he is.


    He thought to himself. ''I was right. They are linked."


    He wasn''t surprised by where he ended up. He had gleaned enough information from the pir to know where he is right now plus he has been somewhere like this before. It was against his choice but it was useful and it is continuing to be useful.


    This ce is an exact replica of the first Sage''s mind space. It is not a coincidence. The internal world of a world fragment in its basic form is simr to the mind space of its creator because of thew of order that was used to make it. He counted on this simrity, and that''s why he decided to participate in thispetition.


    Salvini came to him with a lot of things that could persuade him to join thispetition. All those things didn''t persuade him. It was when he heard that thepetition will take ce in an artifact built by a world god that he decided to participate. And now, he is in that artifact created by the world god. His knowledge of how world fragments are made has also not disappointed him. What he came looking for is within reach.


    He looked around and noticed that he isn''t the only one around. The world is filled with others who were transmitted here. They are to be hispetitors. There''s only one person that can win the opportunity to ask anything from the first sage.

 Chapter 563 The First Challenge Of Four.

    The people in the arena arerge in number and crowded the space but they all gave him a very wide berth. In fact, they moved as far away from him as possible when they recognized him, forming a wide space around him. He has his reputation to thank for that and the glowing crown on his head.


    The crown designates him as someone that they shouldn''t mess with. He checked his brand for his information.


    NAME: Soverick Ghastorix.


    POWER: Zero Step.


    DESIGNATION: KING


    SCORE: 0


    RANK: 4,321,369.


    A figure appeared above the crowds. It looks like some sort of spirit. It has a head and two arms but the torso ends at a narrow point like a short tail. The figure pped and the noise of the chatting crowd died down. The p drew all their attention to it and it also activated something that silenced the crowd. No one can talk no matter how much they want to.


    The figure said to them, "Hello everyone. I am Candor, the spirit of Arena 28. Wee to the first Unified Skill Index League. I am here to wee you and introduce some things that you should take note of to you."


    "This arena is one of the locations where thepetition will be held. Arena 28 is a world fragment just like the other 46 arenas. It is a small world under my control and it contains 100 thousand people out of over 4.5 million participants. So all of you here are not the only ones participating in thispetition but the people here will be your closest Competition for now."


    "There will be 4 challenges during thispetition. Your performance within each challenge will serve to determine your final oue. You can always check how well you''re doing by looking at and reading your brand. Take note that only the best 10% out of you can hope to get any reward. Since there are approximately 4.5 million of you, you need to be in a rank above 450,000."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    p¦Ánd¦Á---no¦Í?1,§ão§® "The best 30% will be endorsed by the racial council for adulthood while the best person among every one of you will get the opportunity to make a request from the first sage. It should also be noted that only the best 3 million of you can participate in the final challenge. The rest of you will be sent home. So you should all work hard."


    "You might have noticed someone with a crown on his head. That person is the one with the highest odds of winning among all of you in Arena 28. All of you have been designated SOLDIERS but these 46 KINGS were given a special designation right from the start. Designations are more important than ranks. You can earn high designations by performing feats in the challenges."


    "To summarise, the two most important things to take note of. The first is ranking which can be acquired by performing well in challenges and earning high scores. It is your performance rtive to others. The second is your designation. It can only be acquired by going beyond the requirements for each challenge and making feats. Your designation is more valuable than your ranking but you can waste your time chasing feats and risk falling behind with nothing to show for your effort."


    The spirit pped again. This time, the world changed. The crowd was separated and scattered throughout the world. Then color began to appear in the world. Green grass grew out from the ground, clouds formed in the sky, trees sprouted from the ground and grew to colossal heights in seconds, and streams appeared spontaneously within the forest that was created. Everything happened in a blur to transform the nk world of white into a world full of wonder and activity.


    Soverick whistled appreciatively. The power of the spirit impressed him. Its control of this world is perfect since the world fragment is its body. It can silence people as easily as it can disce them all over the world and it can morph the world to create a new environment.


    He has been ced in a random spot within a thick forest. He can see various nts and animals all around him. There are birds flying about and calling to each other. There are ants and caterpirs moving about. All of these and more were created in a very short amount of time.


    It all seems like a real world. Some might suspect it to be an illusion but it is not. It is as real as what you can see, smell, or touch in the real world but the mechanism that produced them are imitations of their real world counterpart. In other words, the caterpir he is seeing is real but it is not the same on a fundamental level as a caterpir in the outside world.


    It doesn''t make much of a difference to a mortal either way because it doesn''t matter to them. This caterpir will eat leaves and excrete just like the real ones do. It will pupate and be a butterfly. It can be eaten and it will provide the same amount of nutrients as the real one. It is almost indistinguishable from the one in the real world.


    The only difference which only the powerful can find is that the Laws that make it up are different from the one that makes up the world but even that doesn''t make one more real than the other. Who''s to say this is not how the "real" world was created?


    There are some native creation myths that describe the world to have been created in a matter of days when the world seems to be much older than that. And yet, here''s a forest that should take hundreds of years to develop but was created in mere seconds. The trees even have rings that show their age to be hundreds of years old. Who''s to say the universe of billions of years old wasn''t created in 6 days? Then the creator rested on the 7th day. It might as well be hogwash but one thing is certain, time is rtive.

 Chapter 564 The Survival Challenge.

    Powerful beings experience time differently and they are capable of creating wonders. They perceive time differentlypared to lesser beings. They can do in a second what a lesser being needs a thousand years to do. Power makes anything possible.


    This world fragment is a creation of a world god and it shows just a fragment of their power. A Transcendent can discover the difference between this world and the external world. Some might just think there''s something weird about it while the more observant ones will discover that thews of this world are the cause of the difference. He on the other hand can see farther than that.


    He thought to himself excitedly as he analyzed the world. ''''It is certain that the first sage built this world fragment."


    He was ecstatic when he got those fments of order from the first sage. Now he has been dropped into an ocean of that order. He is certain that this world fragment was built by the first sage. He can sense echoes of hisw of order everywhere. It is not the purew of order but its derivatives but it is enough for him. In his own opinion, he has already been rewarded for participating in thispetition.


    This world fragment and its creation may simply be the effect of thew of order not the realw of order but it is of immense value to him.


    He smirked to himself. ''It is like an all-you-can-eat buffet. The meat might be tough and gamy but I have a cleaver and arge one at that.''


    This world fragment is moreplete than what he got from the fments of order after his meeting with the first sage but it is also much more difficult to decipher. Those fments he acquired were unprotected and loose. He had the leisure to analyze it to the best of his capabilities but this world is under the control of a world spirit. It is next to impossible for him to parse the makeup of the world without explicit permission.


    Unfortunately for the arena spirit, he has the key to this lock. He already got the password to gain ess to the world from the fments of order that he got from his meeting with the first sage. It will be enough for him to look around thew matrix of this world. The arena spirit won''t be able to stop him until he tries to have a look at the core of the world.


    The voice of the spirit reached every one of them.


    "Wee again to the Unified Skill Index League. The first Challenge is survival. You have been ced in this forest and are to survive for 1 year. There will be predators and prey in this world. Your activities will earn you scores such as killing, fighting, winning battles, and for each day you survive. You will earn a feat if youplete the challenge of surviving for the entire year without dying at all."


    "The problems you will face in this challenge will be different and random but I''ll continue to increase its difficulty if you ovee it. So you will encounter increasingly stronger monsters as thepetition progresses. They will push you to your limit and test your full capabilities.Just remember that your aim for this challenge is to survive without dying once."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You have all been suppressed to the starting point of transcendence. You can improve your strength by killing the monsters of this world and by killing otherpetitors. There are other methods to increase your strength but that''s up to you to find out. I''ll send important things to take note of to your brand. Good luck with your survival."


    Soverick received the necessary information he should have about the challenge through his brand. It contained things like monster ssification, guidelines for the challenge, and the power system of this world. This world is different from the outside world. It means that all thews that they haveprehended won''t work here.


    The differentws removed the most significant advantage between kings ofw, lords ofw, and transcendents which is Authority. That leaves the strength of their body which the world has suppressed to make them all on an equal level. Even the ability to fly has been suppressed.


    They all have equal strength under the suppression but strength can be acquired again. Either by killing monsters or otherpetitors or through a less obvious alternative which isprehending thews of this world. Comprehending thews of this world fragment is an alternative to gaining strength.


    Comprehendingws is what transcendents do to be lords ofw and kings ofw in the real world. It should be possible in this world fragment because thews are only different, not non-existent. Then they will be able to mold the world to their will through their divine sense to create spells and spell matrixes.


    ¦Ñ¦Á§ád¦Á---n?¦Ía| §ãom The arena spirit didn''t mention this obscure alternative. It is for the smart ones to figure out. It is also a trap for the smart ones who are not capable enough. They can either kill monsters and acquire quick strength and high scores or they can hole up somewhere trying to learnws and get feats. Learningws is not going to be easy even for such a small world like this world fragment.


    "So we have a year of this stuff. Let the games begin."


    He pped his hands and got ready to have fun. He has been busy these past few years so it will be good to let off some steam. He knows that thispetition probably has serious significance but that doesn''t mean he can''t have fun. Besides, he has to let loose a little bit if he wants to snag that first prize.


    9 golden orbs came out of his back. They piped out of his body like tumors then they hovered behind him in a circle.

 Chapter 565 Suppression And Momentum.

    He grinned happily. "I didn''t expect that I''ll enjoy participating in thispetition but I think I''ll enjoy this."


    He has been wary of thispetition ever since his meeting with the first sage but he has changed his mind now. The derivatives of thew of order of the first sage present in this world fragment have improved his mood and his opinion of thepetition.


    So he won''t settle for survival or for chasing feats. He will do all of those and also have fun. Then he will make a request from the first sage. The golden orbs reacted to his mood and became excited. They began rotating furiously. They are trying to assimte the momentum of this world into themselves.


    The momentum inside of them has been reset during his transmission into the world fragment. He has lost his umtion of momentum so he has to restart them from zero power. The reset affected everyone including him. It removed any augmentation that they have done to themselves and it prevents everyone froming into the world fragment with any artifact. The only thing that can enter this world is something that is innately part of your body and your knowledge.


    While everyone is on an even field of power due to the suppression of the world, there''s actually a lot of difference in thepetitors because of various divine abilities, weapon Mastery, and other skills. There is more to power than pure cultivation so thepetitors will not be equal. It is that extra power that makes them above others even under this suppression that will make them shine.


    He has been horribly suppressed. About 99% of his prowess has been robbed from him just so that others can have a chance of beating him. His divine sense has been crippled and his special barrier that retaliates automatically cannot be set up because of the crippling.


    It is like he has a big burden on him that he has to resist before he can do anything. The suppression is like friction. It is resisting all of his actions. He needs 99% of his power to ovee that friction just to move. The friction doesn''t disappear too after he ovees the friction so he is constantly under oppression.


    He is generally not in a good condition but he still has his 9 golden pirs, his eyes, and his skills. So he can still shine. There''s also his ability as the child of the ne which is sure to make him shine the brightest.


    The 9 golden orbs are part of his body. They were created when he was a vitality core stage refiner. They were simply momentum gates back then but they became momentum vessels when he became a mana entity. They upgraded further when he became a transcendent by using the divine life energy of the tree father.


    He isn''t sure if they would have remained if he broke through normally but it doesn''t matter now. What matters is that momentum is relevant no matter the rules of the world. Momentum is a byproduct of entropy. An active world creates entropy and therefore creates momentum. If this world were static and unchangeable or if it were fake then there won''t be any momentum.


    Since there is momentum, then it can be taken or manipted. It may need some requirements for it to be used. Some will use it with their skills but he will use it with his 9 pirs of momentum.


    First, they harmonize with the world by spinning in a circle on his back. The way they are spinning is not random. They are trying to find the harmonic resonance of the momentum of the world fragment. There is a certain frequency where they be indistinguishable from the world. They then gain ess to the momentum of the world since they are one with the world. Next, they gained control of the momentum. Then they began to siphon momentum from the world into him.


    His suppressed body began to strengthen rapidly as momentum empowered him. It helped him to resist the suppression on him. That lets more of his existence to escape from the suppression. Nothing seemed to be different about him apart from the film of solidified momentum covering his skin like a shell.


    The momentum barrier is the basis for his automatic retaliating barrier. Any force that hits him will get a bacsh of power. The limit and the capacity of his barrier are nowhere close to what he had before he was suppressed. The barrier can''t retaliate but it will protect him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    To others, momentum might be a tool. But to him, it is a part of his existence. Momentum is breathed in and breathed out from him into the world in a smooth fluid flow. It is an extra limb that he controls perfectly.


    He exerted some control of the momentum in his body and broke the shackles of flight suppression over himself. He has reached the milestone of power needed to levitate in this world. His body rose from the ground and began to levitate. He received a message from his brand immediately.


    *PERSONAL MESSAGE*


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A LOCAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO ACHIEVE FLIGHT IN ARENA 28


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A GLOBAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO ACHIEVE FLIGHT IN ALL ARENAS


    (YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE ATTENTION OF THE WORLD SPIRIT)


    (PREPARE FOR INCREASED DIFFICULTY)


    e¦Áglesn?¦Íel "Ha ha ha." Heughed and said, "This is going to be fun."


    The lifting of the suppression gave him a feeling of euphoria. It is like some of his burdens have been lifted. He feels like he has ovee an obstacle and can finally breathe. There is also the smug feeling of beating the world with its own power.


    He used the momentum of the world to fight against its suppression. He hasn''t won yet, but it is a step in the right direction. His efforts are also being rewarded with a feat. They are all good reasons to be happy.

 Chapter 566 Uncivilized Ravens.

    His feat of breaking the suppression of flight so quickly has drawn the attention of the arena spirit. It is not a good thing since it means things will start to get increasingly difficult for him from now on. It made himugh. He doesn''t know what purpose the warning was supposed to serve. Is it to scare him or to make him more careful? If the warning is for any of those two reasons then it has failed because he found it funny instead.


    He shouted to the world, "Bring it on."


    His loud voice echoed through the forest and scared some animals. Birds flew into the air in fright and small rodents hid in burrows. Every weak creature knew then that a predator is in their vicinity. So they ran for safety. His voice also informed the strong monsters in the vicinity of the presence of a strong foe. They will begin to converge on his location if they view him as a challenger.


    The messages didn''t end there.


    *LOCAL ANNOUNCEMENT*


    eaglesnov?1,§ão§® (THE CHILD OF THE PLANE HAS COMPLETED THE FEAT OF BEING THE FIRST TO ACHIEVE FLIGHT IN ARENA 28)


    *GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT*


    (THE CHILD OF THE PLANE HAS COMPLETED THE FEAT OF BEING THE FIRST TO ACHIEVE FLIGHT IN ALL ARENAS)


    His achievement was announced to everyone in thepetition. The first one is for everyone in his arena and the second one is for everyone in all the arenas. Now participant knows that he has achieved a feat and they know what feat he achieved.


    He wasn''t surprised by it because it was mentioned in thepetition guidelines within the brand. No reason was stated for its purpose so he doesn''t know why it was done. He shrugged and moved on.


    First, he flew above the cover of the trees to know what kind of environment he is in. The trees are tall gigantic things with some reaching more than 100 meters but it didn''t take more than a second to rise above them.


    The sight that weed him is breathtaking. It is a veryrge forest full of love and activity. He can only see trees as far as his eyes can see. He focused a little and saw the edge of the world. It has been made to look like more forests so it isn''t obvious that is a wall. He looked around and saw a mountain.


    "I''ll go there."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He needs somece to stay for the next year and the mountain will offer him a good view of the forest. The major reason why he chose it is that he can see a pir of light at the top of the mountain and some monsters around it. Whatever is there is worthy of his attention since it is worth a feat.


    The guidelines of thepetition state that the final boss of this challenge will be at the top of the mountain. Whoever defeats it gets a feat. Whoever defeats it first in all the arenas gets two feats. The pir of light is a beacon to draw in all would-be challengers to thatst obstacle.


    He began his journey to the mountain. He didn''t go far before he faced some enemies. A flock of birds appeared in his path. They are giant ck Ravens to be exact and they number in the thousands. They blocked his way like a dark cloud of dangerous creatures. They suddenly appeared inrge numbers as if they were previously invisible.


    He was flying above the trees when saw them appear. His eyes widened and he stopped. It isn''t the fact that they suddenly appeared that worries him. It is not even their giant form that dwarfs his that worries him. It is all of that and the fact that he can''t see the end of them. They are too much to count.


    "Where to go now?" He wondered.


    He was wondering which direction to take. The cloud of Raven is massive so it will take a long time to try and bypass them. The shortest distance is through them but he doubts that they will be reasonable and let him pass. What are the odds that they are civilized ravens that he can reason with?


    It turns out that they are very unreasonable. He was still trying to decide what direction to go when the cloud flew straight at him. The way they screeched as if calling for blood hinted at their aim for him. The menace and the red tint in their dark soulless eyes made him realize that they might not being up to him for a chat. He decided the best course of action for himself.


    He dove for the ground immediately. Their glistening metallic feathers and long, curved ws the length of his arms are not an encouraging sight. It made him determined to stay away from them. The birds had other ideas totally different from socializing.


    The giant ravens were not created in suchrge numbers and in such dangerous forms on a whim. Their mission is him and only him. They want to carve huge chunks out of him and feel the way his body will separate into pieces under the encouragement of their ws. So they pursued relentlessly and followed him down into the forest.


    Soverick flew into the tree cover but he knows he isn''t safe. He can still hear their screech and the sound of their body tearing through the air. He knows that they are close to him. His intuition warned him before he felt something fast enter the range of his divine sense. He managed to dodge a metallic projectile that flew past him revealing it to be a feather. The metallic feather struck a tree and sank into it without much difficulty. It was then that he heard the sharp whistling sound of something small and sharp passing through the air.


    The tree exploded where it was struck. Then it began to fall. It didn''t go down quietly. It roared unhappy because of the unjust treatment.


    "That must not touch me." He said when he saw the damage to the tree.

 Chapter 567 ANGRY BIRDS

    The treatment of the tree is truly unjust. It was standing there, just minding its business when its truck was pierced through. Then its truck was shattered by the metallic feather as it drilled out of it. A trunk about 5 meters thick shattered. The thickness of the trunk is even more than his height. He will not get away unscathed if one of those feathers finds its way into his body. Those feathers are lethal and also silent. They make for very deadly projectiles.


    Anyone using sound to track the birds would have received a nasty surprise when a feather pierces their body only for them to hear its sounds of movement after the act. The feather projectiles are faster than sound. The Ravens are capable of shooting out their metallic feathers as projectiles with speed faster than sound itself. With the way the feather prated that tree trunk, whoever gets hit by it would have something more important on their minds than the sound of its passage.


    More projectiles came after that. It became very dangerous to be a target for them since his divine sense has been suppressed to 200 meters. 200 meters can be crossed in less than a second by something moving faster than the speed of sound which is at 340 meters per second. So he took a long way around to avoid them by using the trees to block the projectiles. The trees suffered as they took the brunt of the attacks. Explosions urred regrly and trees fell down en mass.


    e¦Áglesnovel`c,om He protected himself with the trees but it slowed him down for the first bird to catch up to him.


    Arge w embellished with sharp metallic des in the same ck color as the feathers swooped down on his back as he flew. He would have let the w try itself against his shield but his intuition of danger told him it will be a very bad idea. Unfortunately for him, it is not his decision to make. The birds are much faster than him so there is no escaping the physical intimacy that the raven is offering him.


    The giant evil Raven swooped in on him and opened up its w. The des on it spread wide into a sort of umbre capable of covering him. It is as if the bird wants to hug him in a deadly embrace. He decided to confront the problem since he can''t avoid it. He swung around and twisted his body to try and avoid the des.


    He didn''t avoid the w entirely. The des of the w ripped into his shield. It was a mere ncing touch but the shield of momentum tore open as if he d himself in wet paper. The terrifying image of what could happen to his own body if that w reaches it shed in his mind several times and in very high resolution. He didn''t let that unnerve him as he turned around quickly and grabbed the leg of the bird that sought to shred him. His grip on the leg crushed it immediately. The flesh and the bone within were crushed into paste by a terrifying strength and the w was rendered useless.


    The Raven cried. It raised its beak into the sky and screeched a painful scream. It became understandably furious and it tried to cut Soverick with its wings and its other w but he pulled on the leg and swung the bird to the side. The bird mmed into a branch of a tree with a satisfying crunch.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The trees are not weak or soft. The metallic feathers might have made them look like that but the collision of bird and branch redeemed the image of the trees. The bird broke its back and couldn''t fly anymore. Something about a broken spine disagreed with its rage and need for revenge.


    The broken spine blocked most of the damage so not a lot of ribs were forced out of its rib cage. Only 5 blood-covered rib bones protruded out of its chest into the air. Unfortunately, that is more than the bird can tolerate. It died with its red-tinted eyes trained on Soverick. That red tint faded away as it drew itsst breath.


    Something flew out of the dead bird to him. He couldn''t dodge it and he didn''t need to. His brand absorbed the thing and it empowered him a little. He heard a chime in his ear notifying him of something. He went over it quickly as he faced the repercussions of his actions.


    More birds bore down on him with increased fury for killing one of them. One of them sailed headfirst and tried to peck him with its beak. Its head shed downward to gorge him with it. He dodged to the side and grabbed the neck of the bird. He had to wrap both of his hands around the neck like he is hugging it to get a good hold of the neck. Then he twisted the neck by moving his entire body and broke its spine. Another thing left the bird''s body and entered his brand.


    He swung around with the same twisting motion that he used to snap the neck of the bird and threw the bird against his next assants. He had to heave but he managed to throw the heavy bird. He threw the bird so hard that its head came off from where he broke the neck. Then he flew back up to strike the one that became disoriented with the head in his hands.


    He wielded the detached head like a club and smashed it against the head of another Raven. The two heads exploded in a shower of blood and flesh. Then a high-speed scuffle took ce in the air. Soverick and the birds moved so fast that it looked like they are glitching. They be invisible and difficult to track when they are moving. Then they suddenly be visible when they stop for anything.

 Chapter 568 The Art Of Life.

    Soverick tried and tried. He gripped and punched. Each of his moved dealt lethal or critical damage. The Ravens arerger than him but they can''t match his strength, but he is too outnumbered. More birds start to surround him the longer the fightst. The fight hasn''tsted 5 seconds and he is already about to be surrounded by 100 birds. If not for the trees then he will be easily overwhelmed. He has to do something because all it will take is one good hit with their ws to rend him apart. It is an unpleasant oue that he hopes to avoid because he very much likes to be in one piece. Who doesn''t?


    He mmed into the underbelly of a raven and punched it. The collision knocked the bird backward while the punch pulverized its chest. Soverick flew closer to his stunned target and dug into the wound. He hurriedly spread the soft tissues in the wound apart and entered it. The Ravens are veryrge so there is room for him. He had to wiggle and struggle a bit but he got in. Most importantly, he got in before the other Ravens can get to him.


    The Raven he entered didn''t think highly of his resourcefulness. It screeched and cawed in pain. It floundered about but it couldn''t do anything to the guest within its body. Soverick tore into it from the inside out. He reached up into its chest and killed the bird by crushing its heart. He crushed anything that looked important because creatures can have several hearts.


    The raven became limp after he crushed the single heart. It seems the Ravens didn''t evolve to have many hearts. It fell to the ground creating a loud crash. The other ravens cawed angrily while circling the corpse. They were wondering where Soverick is or if he is dead. They won''t leave until they see his corpse. They will tear it apart to make sure.


    Soverick burst out from the back of the corpse and struck the closest giant Raven. He caught the bird unawares so he was able to close in on the bird before it could resist. He grabbed one of the wings of the startled bird and pulled it with all his strength. The raven made a sound of pain like no other as its wing was torn from its body.


    That cry of pain crossednguage barriers and could be understood by everything, even souls. It was a pure transmission of the emotion of pain that anyone can empathize with. But to Soverick, It was a pleasant sound. It sounded like music to his ears. Like the wonderful voice of choirs and the beautiful sounds of instruments. It is certainly better than the sound the flesh made as it was forcefully and unnaturally separated.


    He grinned and admired the sight of his work.


    The bone of the wing was torn violently out of its socket. Ligaments and muscles were ripped. Pink blood poured out of torn blood vessels from the wound. The blood scattered in the air and sshed on him. None of it actually touched him. His barrier stopped it. That''s the only thing the barrier is good enough for right now. That ncing blow with the w is enough to know that his barrier cannot withstand the sharp edges of the bird''s feathers, ws, and beaks. One hit and he is good to go.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Chaos descended after that. The birds tried to overwhelm him with numbers but he will foist their n by seeking abode within the safety of a bird''s body. Then he would rip the bird apart and start the cycle again. It became a blur of violence. The birds are bigger than him and very dangerous too but he is stronger than them individually. All he needs to do is get his hands on them. Once he is in contact with them then he can separate their body parts into gory pieces with his bare hands.


    He crushed bones, tore wings, punched through an entire bird, broke their backs, and snapped their necks. Their corpses piled up and a small stream of pink blood began to form but the Ravens refused to retreat. They cawed and fought him relentlessly. The forest echoed with their shouts intermixed with the asional sound of his fist Pulverising flesh and bones snapping.


    The trees helped to reduce the numbers that can face him at once but the birds are simply endless and unrelenting. They refused to give up despite the gory death of a lot of them because they have nowhere else to be. They were made to put him down and put him down they will even if it takes all of them. Besides, he has not managed to kill 1% of them. That is not enough for them to lose morale just yet.


    eaglesnov?1,§ão§® Not that he isining. He is enjoying the experience. There''s a feeling of euphoria that you will experience when your fingers dig past flimsy skin into the muscles thaty beneath. You will feel the heat of life and the rhythm of the heart beating to pump blood through the entire body. Life is a beautiful work of art. Multiple organ systems working together to keep it going. The height of euphoriaes when you render that work of art useless.


    He defaced the art of life by destroying the body and he did it one piece at a time. He did it by digging his fingers into their bodies, grasping hold of flesh, and ripping it away. Then he repeated it. His hands moved in a blur of motion as he subtracted more flesh from a body. He grabbed everything he can grab and pulled it away be it muscle, organs, or bones. He deconstructed life and he enjoyed it.


    What he is doing can be considered art too. He is remaking their bodies. He found it not up to his taste. His taste being that he wants them dead. So he is rearranging their body parts to meet the requirements of his taste.

 Chapter 569 Rain Of Blood.

    What he is doing may look chaotic and unruly, but that''s because there is always chaos at the beginning of change. He is changing the art of life into the art of death. There is beauty in seeing a broken body leaking blood and pulverized organs. Art is subjective so some might not appreciate his endeavor. But everyone will appreciate the death of a threat. Apart from the obvious safety and prolongment of life that the death of the birds bring, there is also the peace and quiet that urs when life is cut off. A dead raven is a peaceful raven. That''s what Soverick cares about the most.


    The fight continued for several minutes at a very fast pace but he only seeded in killing more than 70 birds. He was wielding two dead birds as clubs to bash his enemies when the 9 pirs of momentumpleted the preparation for the second phase of their usage. They thrummed and sent a shiver through his body. It felt like he was electrocuted.


    He smiled to himself as he fell to the earth.


    "Let''s end this."


    The birds chased after him with unbridled fury. The red tint in their eyes has almost taken over the color of their eyes. They are literally seeing red right now. Nothing short of the desecration of his corpse will pacify them.


    He activated the Fourth Step Of Mastery: Ten Thousand Fists of Glory. His divine sense mixed with momentum and solidified it to form numerous giant golden fists. He punched at the birds and the giant fists punched with him. The golden fists sailed forward as he fell to the earth. Then the giant ravens exploded into gore as the two forces collided. Hundreds of them were reaped when the golden fists tore into them.


    Hended on the earth with his two feet while a rain of blood, flesh, and shattered bird parts fell onto him and the forest floor. The ground became covered with a thickyer of flesh.


    He frowned as he surveyed the result. "This suppression is too much."


    He had only created hundreds of fists instead of the ten thousand he expected. The suppression of the world fragment is far more than he expected. Even his empowerment with momentum has only increased his strength by 2 times. That might berge but it is only 4 percent out of his original 100%. He is still being suppressed by a full 96%.


    His 4 percent is not something to scoff at either. Among the sound of exploding flesh is the sound of falling trees. The birds were not the only ones to suffer from his attack. The trees in the way were cleared creating a leveled area within the forest. It opened him to sunlight from the sky. It also allowed the birds in the sky to attack him inrger batches and they did so with fervor.


    The golden fists fizzled out against the onught of the Ravens. He is strong but they are many. The disappearance of the golden fist marked the removal of all obstacles to them. They fell down on him from the sky. It is like a tornado of Ravens intending to ravage the earth. They came at him in the thousands.


    "You want a piece of me?" He roared as he leaped up to meet the avnche of birds. "Come and get a piece of me.


    He punched as he ascended. Golden fists formed again and struck the tornado of Ravens. This time, the number of punches is more than a thousand. The deaths of the bird had empowered him to a certain extent so the suppression eased up. He was able to punch the birds back and ascended into the sky.


    eaglesnov?1,§ão§® He groaned when he reached the sky. "This is endless."


    What he saw discouraged him. It seems that their number has only increased despite the thousands that he killed. They even surrounded him in a sphere now so there''s no end in sight and no sky or clouds to see. There is no way to bypass them so he decided to return to tree cover. The birds cawed angrily but let him go so he returned to the safety of the trees unharassed. Another message was sent to him. He decided to check out all of them.


    *PERSONAL MESSAGE*


    /Killed Rank 4 Giant Reaper Bird/


    /Gained 4th Step Death Mark/


    This was the first message he received when he killed the first giant Raven. The poor bird had its spine broken and some ribs forced out of its chest when it was smashed against a tree.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A LOCAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO KILL A RANK 4 MONSTER IN ARENA 28.


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A GLOBAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO KILL A RANK 4 MONSTER IN ALL ARENAS.


    *PERSONAL MESSAGE*


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A LOCAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO ACHIEVE THE 1ST, 2ND, 3RD, AND 4TH STEPS IN ARENA 28.


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A GLOBAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO ACHIEVE THE 1ST, 2ND, 3RD, AND 4TH STEPS IN ALL ARENAS.


    These are notifications of the feats that killing that single bird granted him. He got a total of 10 feats for them.


    He discarded the notification for his feats and went on to check the others.


    /Killed Rank 4 Giant Reaper Bird/


    /Gained 0.001% To 4th Step Death Mark/


    /Killed Rank 4 Giant Reaper Bird/


    /Gained 0.001% To 4th Step Death Mark/


    These are the notifications for each bird that he killed and what they mean to him. The Death Marks are the things that leave the bodies of corpses after killing them. They enter his brand and are absorbed to empower him based on thews of this world.


    This type of message went on for a long while because of all the birds that he killed. The first one that he killed gave him some power from the world but the others did very little to improve him. They only added to the progress of his rank 4 power towards the next rank.

 Chapter 570 Feats And Designation.

    The messages said that each subsequent kill of the same rank of beast will only give a 0.1% boost to the power granted by the world. He will need to kill a thousand more birds to get to the next rank, which he did pretty easily. That''s why he received a new type of message.


    *PERSONAL MESSAGE*


    /Killed Rank 4 Giant Reaper Bird/


    /Gained 0.001% To 4th Step Death Mark/


    /4th Step Death Mark Complete/


    /Gained 5th Step Death Mark/


    *PERSONAL MESSAGE*


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A LOCAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO ACHIEVE THE 5TH STEP IN ARENA 28.


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A GLOBAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO ACHIEVE THE 5TH STEPIN ALL ARENAS.


    The first bird he killed gave him the 4th Step directly. It empowered him enough to skip through the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd steps and allowed him to finish setting up the first phase of the pirs of momentum quickly enough before he was overwhelmed. It was until he killed a thousand birds that he got the 5th mark. The 5th mark boosted the number of fists he could make so he was able to kill more birds after that but their rewards were discouraging.


    /Killed Rank 4 Giant Reaper Bird/


    /Gained 0.00001% To 5th Step Death Mark/


    He would need to kill a hundred thousand more birds if he wants to get to the 6th mark. The worth of the 4th rank birds is too little for meaningful progress. If he wants to make faster progress on the death mark, then he will have to kill more powerful monsters. Maybe rank 5 or rank 6 monsters.


    He received more notifications of feats and global announcements of his feats but the only one he cared about is the One Vs 10,000 feat.


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A UNIQUE FEAT)-


    YOU FACED 10,000 AND WALKED AWAY VICTORIOUS


    It is a feat that is one of a kind. It is unlike his other feats that can be replicated. No one can replicate the global feats that he earned since it is meant for the first person to do it but the other local feats can be replicated in each arena.


    He might be the first to kill a rank 4 monster in the entirepetition but there are rank 4 monsters in other arenas and someone can be the first to kill them in those other arenas apart from Arena 28. His unique feat cannot be copied though. It is for him and only him.


    In total, he earned 13 feats from his skirmish with the Giant Ravens and his strength has increased by another 1.5%. So his suppression has reduced to 94.5%.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Next, he checked announcements unrted to him. Some people are making waves apart from him.


    *LOCAL MESSAGE*


    (DHARJA KHARMA HAS COMPLETED THE FEAT OF BEING THE FIRST TO KILL A RANK 1 MONSTER IN ARENA 28)


    *GLOBAL MESSAGE*


    (JARKON LIONHEART HAS COMPLETED THE FEAT OF BEING THE FIRST TO KILL A RANK 1 MONSTER IN ALL ARENAS)


    Someone in his arena became the first to kill a rank 1 monster while JARKON LIONHEART, the moody brat that is bent on revenge for the death of his brother achieved two feats in his arena. They are for being the first to kill a rank 1 rank monster in his arena and every arena in thepetition. He also probably became the first to reach the 1st step in his arena too. Which makes him sit at a total of 3 feats.


    He chuckled to himself as he read the messages. While he is tackling the 4th and 5th steps the others are just achieving the 1st step or killing rank 1 monsters. Funny enough, the feats are equal. His achievement of being the first to kill a rank 4 monster is equal to the achievement of being the first to kill a rank 1 beast. Except he became the first to achieve the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th steps.


    He checked his brand for updates as he walked on.


    NAME: Soverick Ghastorix.


    POWER: 5th Step: 0.0003%


    DESIGNATION: EMPEROR


    SCORE: 17,762,814


    RANK: 1.


    FEATS: 15


    e¦Áglesnovel`c,om His score has increased drastically. It used to be zero but killing rank 4 beasts, each worth between 1000 to 10,000 points did that. It also shot him to the first on the ranking list. His 15 feats are surely enough to achieve that too. He got 10 for being the first to achieve the 1st to 5th step in his arena and globally. 1 from his unique feat, 2 from his act of being the first to kill a rank 4 monster, and thest 2 for being the first to fly. It is enough to push his designation to the next rank.


    He became emperor rank for achieving 15 feats. The golden crown on his head has also changed to pitch ck. It seems like an important change but he finds it difficult to care about it. He doesn''t know what''s so important about designations so it is difficult to appreciate it. There''s information on how to get them but not what they do. Your score determines your rank. Designations have to be very important seeing as only by achieving feats can one progress with it.


    0 feat = Soldier. 1 feat = Captain. 3 feats = General. 6 feats = Duke. 10 feats = King. 15 feats = Emperor. ?? feat = ??? Designation.


    That''s all the information that they were given about designation. There should be another designation after Emperor but there''s no information about it.


    He shrugged and said, "There''s no need to think about it. There''s more to thispetition than meets the eye. I''ll see it when I see it. For now, just have fun."


    He decided to stop worrying about that and dedicate more of his mental power toprehending the rules of this world. He is multitasking right now. His eyes and the 9 pirs of momentum are busy doing their stuff about cracking thew matrix of this world. He would rather try to speed it up than worry about something he can''t change.

 Chapter 571 Survival.

    This survival challenge is just the first of 4 challenges in thispetition. So there''s more toe. That''s apart from his suspicion about the purpose of thispetition. It is more productive of his time to fight, especially since killing monsters will empower him and boost the processes he is going through than worrying about the things he can''t change. The more he kills, the stronger his brand bes and the smaller his suppression gets.


    He looked up and noticed that the birds are still trailing him. They might have decided not to fight him but that''s only because they will lose in the forest. They will hound him if he dares toe to the sky. They will be able to attack him from every direction then.


    "So no sky for me then." He muttered as he walked in the direction of the mountain.


    The Ravens are still numerous with enough members to cover the sky. They are probably more than 100 thousand in number. It will be a hassle to engage them when their reward is too low to be meaningful. He is better off fighting a stronger monster with a better reward. So he will ignore them as long as they keep stalking him.


    Others POV.


    e¦Áglesn?¦Íel Soverick might be having fun in thepetition but it is not so for others. It is apetition and this part of it is called the Survival challenge. There has to be some reason for it. They are to survive for a year in this forest and the world spirit has made it its life''s work to make them fail.


    Someone was sneaking about carefully in the forest. This person would stop and listen before moving on. They paid attention to everything, including where they stepped and tracked any sign of movement in their surroundings. While this person is being careful, a python is also carefully watching them. Both the person and their python stalker are being very careful.


    The python is coiled around a branch up in a tree and is watching this person move about beneath making almost no noise. If it were in the real world, this person will be able to notice a threat so close to them. But they are not in the real world and their divine sense has been suppressed to the level of a vitality core stage refiner. They can''t spread their divine sense past 20 meters.


    So the python remained hidden from the person. It slithered silently across the branches of the tree above the person. The python stalked this person doggedly until they stopped to check something on the ground. Then the python coiled itself into a spring and leaped for the target. It fell from the sky like a bolt onto the unsuspecting victim. Even then, the victim was still able to react to the attack.


    Their strength might be subdued but the super reaction granted by perfect control means you''ll always be able to react to an attack in a favorable way instead of panicking. That is as long as you notice the attack. If youbine this with the divine ability of this person then it is very difficult to ambush them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The python made a lot of noise because of its sudden movement. The tree branch that it jumped from groaned and leaves were dislodged free from the branch. Then the python entered the range of the divine sense of its target. All of that worked to alert the target to the presence of the threat.


    This person analyzed the threat immediately after it entered their range of detection and reacted ordingly. They have a lot more time than they were given to do so because the world appears to be slow in their perception. Their eyes darted around rapidly like the wings of a hummingbird while their mind elerated to analyze the information they acquired. So this person saw the python clearly and was able to determine the proper means of defense amongst the numerous options that their mind came up with.


    Some would panic as the mouth of a python that isrge enough to swallow them whole falls on them. The sword-like fangs of the python are also very intimidating. One bite and those fangs will sink into supple flesh locking the mouth around the prey. So those that freak out and panic cannot be med for doing so.


    This person has perfect control of their actions and emotions as a transcendent so they engaged the threat instead of panicking. They used their hands to grab the fangs in the opened jaws of the python. Then they used the leverage to pull the python to the side. The python crashed into the ground instead of on top of its target with its sides hitting the ground heavily.


    The person took advantage of the short disorientation to open the mouth of the python and stepped into it with one leg. Their leg locked the lower jaw down, then they used the leverage of their two arms holding the fangs to lift the upper jaw up. They intend to pull the mouth of the python apart.


    The python realized toote that it targeted the wrong person. Its head is about to be torn in two but it didn''t give up. It can''t give up or it will die. It wrapped its tail around the midsection of the person to pull them out of its mouth. The two of them tumbled and grappled in the forest, each fighting for their lives.


    They rolled around the forest floor, knocking into trees and stuff. Their fight created a lot of noise which attracted attention. It was then that cmity struck. Arge mouth lined with sharp teeth closed on the fighting duo. The mouth belongs to a giant lizard watching and waiting.


    You cannot me a hungry man eating monster for going after an appetizing meal. Not when you draw its attention by making so much ruckus. In this world, it is finders keepers. It is a giant lizard-eat-fighting duo world.

 Chapter 572 Equal Ground.

    The giant lizard camouged itself to look like a log of wood on the forest floor. It even has a covering of algae, ferns, and small nts growing on its back to help it maintain the image. It didn''t move until they got very close to it. Then it took arge bite out of both the python and its target. The three-way struggle ended pretty quickly in favor of the giant lizard. It is very difficult to keep on fighting when you''re missing arge portion of your body.


    The person, though skilled, died in a double ambush and was respawned in another location with a permanent 10% debuff on their current score and future scores. You can be killed in this challenge. Your brand will save you before you actually die. It will pull you from the world and you will be kept in Stasis. Then your injuries will be healed and you will be respawned in another location in the arena. You can die as many times as you want but you will receive a debuff to your scores every time.


    A single death will disqualify you from earning the survival feat. Another death of this person will result in another 10% reduction. 10 deaths and the person won''t be able to get any marks from anything they do. There''s still the option of killing others for their scores and achieving feats. Each death after 100% debuff will just lead to more reduction in your scores and nothing more.


    This person''s situation is not unique. If it hadn''t been the python or the giant lizard it would have been the titan toad, stone golems, carnivorous nts, leopards, tigers, and two-headed lions. All of them are gigantic and ferocious. People are being ambushed, overwhelmed with numbers, or outright killed by strong monsters.


    e¦Áglesnovel`c,om As always the most rampant killers are the insects. Hordes of insects be it carnivorous locusts, parasitic wasps, vengeful poisonous bees and the iconic bloodsucking wasps are the highest killers. The forest is dangerous with numerous things trying to kill the survivors at every step. The only person that isn''t facing these random attacks is Soverick. He has the attention of the world spirit so his time won''t be wasted on such trivialities. Only things that actually have a shot at killing him will be sent his way.


    Even if the world has not decided to conserve its resources by preventing the wastage of resources on Soverick, he still wouldn''t be attacked like that. All the beasts in his vicinity heard his roar of challenge. They decided to stay away from him. The ones that were not convinced could hear the sound of violence from his fight with the ravens.


    First, there was the squawking and cawing. It was unbearable because of therge number of birds. Things became pleasant when the ravens screeched in pain. It was pleasant to him while it may be blood-cuddling to others. Then there were the explosions and the sounds of innocent trees being felled. The forest was shaking and groaning because of their fight. It is enough warning for weak monsters to stay clear.


    The monsters aren''t the only ones to realize that a dangerous predator is in the area. Soverick is surrounded by otherpetitors. All that sound of violence made them decide not to approach him. A tree might just fall on them and kill them. Even those not in Arena 28 were affected. Some people like Ghaster had a tougher time because of Soverick.


    Ghaster found himself in a forest. He activated his divine ability immediately. His eyes began to glow purple and lightning sparks flowed alongside his fur. The lightning show is just the tip of the iceberg, so to say. There''s more going on below his skin.


    His bloodline of Lightning punishment has awakened twice. The first awakening allowed him to slow down the world and it also quickens his movement. His second awakening allowed him to incorporate lightning into his being in only a way that a titan ofw with a body ofw should be able to do. It makes his movements lightning-fast and also allows him to transform into a bolt of lightning if need be. So the activities in his muscles are the ones creating the lightning effects.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He thought to himself smugly. "Now we are on equal ground."


    His divine ability grants him a lot of confidence especially now that Soverick has been forced to his level. The abilities of his first awakening allow him to be always superior inbat and the second awakening grants him the power of lightning as a weapon. It is an edge that he has over others since they can''t bring any weapon into the arena. He believes that he will be able to take on Soverick with them.


    Ghaster was moving forward rapidly without any care in the world. That''s how he does things because he thinks he doesn''t have any reason to worry. No one at his level has ever seeded in ambushing him. He has always been able to respond.


    In fact, he uses himself as bait to tempt people. They will spring themselves on him but his divine sense and his divine ability allow him to turn the table in his favor. He is confident that he will be able to do that here. He also believes that thispetition is a great tform for him to showcase his greatness and finally get out of Soverick''s shadow.


    He was moving around nonchntly when the first blow hit him.


    *GLOBAL MESSAGE*


    (THE CHILD OF THE PLANE HAS COMPLETED THE FEAT OF BEING THE FIRST TO ACHIEVE FLIGHT IN ALL ARENAS)


    It was a big blow. His pride suffered quite the damage. He felt Soverick''s metaphorical shadow cover him more. Soverick has already earned a feat a few seconds into the challenge while the majority of them are hoping to earn one by staying alive throughout the 1 year that the challenge will take. Maybe the shadow of his elder brother was already that big and he is just realizing how deep within it he is.

 Chapter 573 So We Can Fly.

    Ghaster''s eyes widened at the notification when he fully understood what it means. He realized that Soverick is flying. One very important question came to his mind and he blurted it out.


    "So we can fly?"


    Here he was, walking on the ground like some fool while Soverick is flying. He didn''t even suspect that they can fly. He tried to fly and gave up on it when he failed. Transcendents fly by pushing and pulling on the world with their solidified divine sense. All thepetitors'' divine senses have been shackled immensely and the world is bent on restricting them from flying so he failed in that attempt pretty quickly. He believed that killing monsters will empower him and allow him to fly so he gave up on trying to fly for now.


    He chastised himself, "I should have tried an alternative. I shouldn''t have given up like that. That''s the difference between Soverick and me. He is a perfectionist. He is talented and he does everything perfectly but I don''t. That means I have to work extra hard if I want to beat his talent."


    He decided to try an alternative after chastising himself. Mana entities can fly too but they don''t have solidified divine sense. They use the momentum of the world to fly by bing one with the world. He decided to attempt that method.


    The first step is harmonization with the earth, harmonization with water, and then harmonization with air. When that is done, you fuse all three together and harmonize your entire being with the world. You enter a state where your walking, breathing, and mana cirction are in sync with the rhythm of the world. That state is called being one with the world and it is very important to the third step of weapon mastery.


    He has achieved the third step of weapon mastery thanks to his ancestral memories. It was difficult and he had to spend a lot of time in actual danger for his instincts and buried memories to surface. But he seeded and achieved it much faster than others without a bloodline. He is engaging his ancestral memories right now.


    He closed his eyes and focused on sensing the rhythm of the world.


    He asked himself worriedly, "Why is this so difficult?"


    He is trying but he is not having any sess no matter how much he focused on it. He is failing at flying and he isn''t even failing at thest step which is one with the world. He can''t achieve harmonization with the air. It is the most difficult thing to harmonize with out of the three anchors of the world. There''s no water around but it doesn''t matter if you can harmonize with air. But he can''t. If he can, he would at least be able to step on the air.


    He grumbled andined out loud, "Why is this world so different? It feels so alien. I can do this back home but not here. Something is different about this world."


    His skills are still present and so are his ancestral memories but the world is still refusing to harmonize with him. It is now that he is beginning to notice that this world might not be the same as the real world. He was wondering what is off about this world when the second blow hit him.


    *GLOBAL MESSAGE*


    (THE CHILD OF THE PLANE HAS COMPLETED THE FEAT OF BEING THE FIRST TO KILL A RANK 4 MONSTER IN ALL ARENAS)


    *GLOBAL MESSAGE*


    (SOVERICK GHASTORIX HAS COMPLETED THE FEAT OF BEING THE FIRST TO ACHIEVE THE 1ST STEP OF POWER IN ALL ARENAS)


    *GLOBAL MESSAGE*


    (SOVERICK GHASTORIX HAS COMPLETED THE FEAT OF BEING THE FIRST TO ACHIEVE THE 2ND STEP OF POWER IN ALL ARENAS)


    *GLOBAL MESSAGE*<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    (SOVERICK GHASTORIX HAS COMPLETED THE FEAT OF BEING THE FIRST TO ACHIEVE THE 3RD STEP OF POWER IN ALL ARENAS)


    *GLOBAL MESSAGE*


    (SOVERICK GHASTORIX HAS COMPLETED THE FEAT OF BEING THE FIRST TO ACHIEVE THE 4TH STEP OF POWER IN ALL ARENAS)


    It just kepting. Each hit mmed into him one after the other without giving him space to recover. Here he is, still in the zeroth step and struggling with harmonizing with the air while Soverick jumped through power ranks like nothing. He even killed a 4th rank beast first. Not 1st, or 2nd. He killed a 4th rank beast at the zeroth step.


    He roared his frustration to the world, "How is that fucking possible?"


    His roar traveled far and wide. The monsters in the forest in his vicinity heard it. They didn''t run scared like they did for Soverick. Instead, they thought to themselves, "There''s a weak fool there. I should get him. Should be an easy hunt."


    Monsters from different directions began to congregate at Ghaster''s location for an easy snack. He heard the movement of arge number of enemies before he saw them. His eyes widened in realization.


    "Oh shit."


    He realized that he has fucked up. He appreciates being ambushed as much as the next person. What he doesn''t appreciate is a mass congregation with the aim to attack him. They may not be nning to ambush him but their number is too much for him.


    He turned into a bolt of lightning and started to run away. His speed in this form grants him another advantage. It is rare for anyone to be able to catch up to him so escaping was easy for him to do. He left his pursuers behind and hid. He was hiding in a shrub when another heavy blow struck him.


    *GLOBAL MESSAGE*


    (SOVERICK GHASTORIX HAS COMPLETED THE FEAT OF BEING THE FIRST TO ACHIEVE THE 5TH STEP OF POWER IN ALL ARENAS)


    It hasn''t even been a minute since thest one.


    He eximed exasperatedly, "Ohe on."


    Then he quickly shut his mouth. He realized that he is hiding and shouldn''t be making any noise. He waited silently and watched for any indication that he has been exposed. Again, he heard them before he saw them and they are a lot. He had to run again.


    AUTHOR NOTE: GREED has reached an important milestone. It has be popr enough to be pirated. That''s something that is both bad and good for me. Either way, it is something that I can brag about too, which is great.


    It doesn''t matter where you are reading this from. You are a fan of GREED and a part of the GREED Royal Bloodline. So help GREED reach the next milestone. Come to Webnovel to vote and drop a review. GREED needs to be in the top 200 of the power rankings and more. Do your part to make GREED popr. That will surely encourage me and keep me writing.


    Piracy kills books. It also makes books popr. If you don''t help in making GREED popr, then you are helping in killing it.

 Chapter 574 Something Fishy.

    Ghaster sessfully escaped again and hid on top of a tree. His position high up in the trees afforded him the opportunity to see his pursuers rushing around below. They ran around looking for him on the forest floor. None of the looked up so they failed to find him and eventually dispersed.


    This time, Ghaster grumbled inwardly instead of making noise. He said, "There''s something fishy going on here."


    The blow to his pride aside. Ghatser is mostly perplexed rather than ashamed. He can''t figure out how Soverick did the things he did no matter how much he thinks about it. It is not only that he can''t do what Soverick did. He can''te up with a possible reason or exnation for why Soverick is so ahead. So he iscking both in brawn and in brains.


    e¦Áglesn?¦Íel If it is any constion, he is not the only one that thinks there''s something out of ce with Soverick''s performance. There are a lot of people who can''t make heads or tails of why he is so strong.


    The power system of this world works in a way that should prevent what Soverick did. And yet, he managed to kill a rank 4 monster with only a zero rank. They can''t do that. Does that mean that Soverick is many times stronger than them? If that is so, then there must be something very fishy going on with Soverick.


    Back To Soverick.


    He couldn''t take the skies so he was speeding through the forest. The birds kept up with him in the sky. They cawed asionally to let him know that they are waiting for him. He ignored their taunts and focused on increasing his decryption of thews of this world and reaching that mountain. The mountain is special apart from being the only one he can see in the entire arena.


    In the past, he would have said with certainty that because he can only see one mountain, then there can only be one mountain. He has been taught by a world god that he shouldn''t think his eyes are perfect. The fact that he can''t see something doesn''t mean it is not there. Nothing is certain until you are perfect.


    The mountain being the only one in the arena is uncertain but he can focus on something that can make it certain. That thing is thew matrix of this world fragment.


    The smart transcendents that have noticed the oddity of this world will first have to harmonize with the world before they canprehendws. Unlike the others though, he intends to crack thew matrix of this world wide open instead of skimming at the edge. Once he gets that, he will know for certain if there''s only one mountain or not.


    It is not that the mountain is special because it is the only one in the arena. He is certainly not focusing his entire visual prowess on determining if there''s only one mountain. It is the certainty in determining if there''s one mountain that he is after. Once he can be certain about that, he can be certain about a lot of other things.


    Anyways, the mountain is a good aim to reach for. The guidelines say that the strongest monster resides on it and trying to reach it will increase encounter with stronger monsters. Those that want to survive will stay clear of it. There''s no need to look for trouble if all they want to achieve is survival.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He on the other hand wants to get as much as he can get from thew of order of the sage even if it is just echoes of his supremew. He needs the strength of this world to achieve that and he wants to win the challenge so that he can make a request of the first sage. He can''t win if he doesn''t beat the strongest monster so he has to reach the top of the mountain.


    He was racing forward when he sensed an iing enemy. He stopped in the air and tried to determine what it is. He used the stirrings in the momentum of the world instead of his divine sense to survey his enemy. It won''t give him an image or physical details but it will give him a better estimate of its power and at a farther range than his currently limited divine sense.


    This isn''t the real world where he can estimate the power of a being based on its aura and energy fluctuations. Monsters here seem like ordinary animals but they have been empowered by the world. So some monsters can be deceptively strong. The only corrtion that he has found that determines strength is size, which is a wrong determinant in the normal world. Size shouldn''t determine strength. But it does here. The bigger the monster, the stronger it is.


    His eyes lit up when he sensed the opponent. "Veryrge. At least rank 6. This is going to be fun."


    The monster is still far away but he can tell what kind of threat it will be. It made him eager. A monster means a fight and another upgrade to his rank. He will be able to decrypt thew matrix faster if he has more help from the world.


    His eagerness increased when he began to get clearer readings of the monster. It became so clear that an ordinary person will be able to intuit what a dangerous beast it is. The monster is a huge four-legged beast more than 20 meters tall.


    Forparison, he is merely a little above 2 meters tall. That means this monster is almost 10 times taller than him. It doesn''t end there. The monster is actually more than 10 times bigger than him. It is a huge monster. But Soverick isn''t intimidated. The monster has the advantage of height and volume but he has the advantage of mass. If not for the suppression of this world, then his advantage of mass will be all he needs to win this fight.


    AUTHOR NOTE: GREED has reached an important milestone. It has be popr enough to be pirated. That''s something that is both bad and good for me. Either way, it is something that I can brag about too, which is great.


    It doesn''t matter where you are reading this from. You are a fan of GREED and a part of the GREED Royal Bloodline. So help GREED reach the next milestone. Come to Webnovel to vote and drop a review. GREED needs to be in the top 200 of the power rankings and more. Do your part to make GREED popr. That will surely encourage me and keep me writing.


    Piracy kills books. It also makes books popr. If you don''t help in making GREED popr, then you are helping in killing it.

 Chapter 575 A Tree Made For Clubbing.

    The ground began to vibrate with intermittent thumps as the hooves of this monster struck the ground. It is galloping straight for Soverick and it is knocking everything in its way aside including the trees. Trees are being tossed as it waved its head and smashed them aside. Sometimes, it will just collide with a tree and run it down.


    These trees aren''t weak. Each one is more than 10 meters thick at the base. There are even some that are 30 meters thick. These trees are thicker than the monster is tall and yet this monster is just plowing through them as if they are twigs and not giant tree trunks. Even the ground itself is suffering from the passage of the monster. Its hooves dig into the ground and upend arge amount of soil as it galloped.


    He whistled appreciatively at the show of strength. His eyes lit up as he muttered, "I see that the world spirit has picked up a nice opponent for me. Let me prepare a weing gift."


    He has gotten the attention of the world spirit so he should expect a challenge. He is also going towards the mountain. He is bound to face worthy opposition on his path. The guidelines say that the monsters that one faces will have a minimum chance of 50% and a maximum chance of 70% of killing you. That''s just for a normal situation within the survival challenge. The probability bes higher the closer you get to the mountain. He can''t underestimate any monster in either case. But this one requires extra precaution from him.


    He looked around and grabbed a hold of the first thing that looks very heavy. He dug his fingers into the trunk of a tree. Then he extended his control of momentum onto the tree by using his divine sense. A small film of momentum simr to the one shielding his body wrapped around the entire tree. It will allow him to apply force on the tree as a whole and from every direction instead of just the trunk. Then he heaved as he pulled up the tree.


    His tiny figure of more than 2 meters attached to the tree exerted enough strength that a tree almost 300 meters tall and 17 meters thick at the base was being uprooted. The problem with lifting the tree isn''t the weight of the tree itself, it is the anchoring of the tree to the ground by the roots that he has to ovee. A tree that tall will have a widework of roots hundreds of meters beneath the ground. And yet, he overcame it. He pulled and the tree was raised.


    The tree didn''t rise withoutmotion. The earth cracked and was overturned as the roots were ripped out from it. The ground was unwilling but it had to give up on its intimate bond with the roots of the tree. The roots that refused to leave snapped and we''re left behind.


    Soverick rose far above the tree line with the tree in his hands. The angry ravens attacked him foring to their domain. They surrounded him and tried to reach him but he waved the tree around once. He swatted at them with the tree and every Raven that came in contact with it exploded. That taught them to stay away from him right now. So they cawed at him while keeping their distance.


    He smirked at the Ravens and made fun of them. "So you too can be intimidated. I didn''t know. I would have done this had I known. Too bad that I don''t have your time right now."


    He was able to see his new opponent from his position. It looks like a cross between a giant armored rhino and a giant porcupine. This monster is the armored spiked rhino. It has the base of a rhino with armor tes over its body but the sharp horns on its head are also present on other parts of its body in the form of spikes. It is not an easy opponent to fight because while it is slow, it packs a lot of power within its 20 meters tall body.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick created two des of momentum that cut off the root and the crown of the tree thus creating a veryrge club. Wooden weapons are so ancient. They are obsolete weapon wise but they can be pretty deadly if they are as big as what he is carrying. A club the size he is carrying has both the hurt and fear factor. It is a scary sight to watch a tree fall on you. That''s what Soverick did. He wielded his makeshift club and struck it down on his enemy.


    He had to adjust it first so that the thick base will hit the monster. The tree came down on the armored spiked rhino with the force of a falling mountain. The monster was caught off guard. It hadn''t seen Soverick so it didn''t see the attacking. The tree sent it flying. All four of its feet were lifted off the ground as it was thrown back. It crashed into another tree with its back and its spike dug into the tree trunk trapping it.


    It roared its indignation and frustration. "Rarw."


    The forest echoed with its shout. It had heard themotioning from Soverick''s direction as he uprooted the tree but it thought nothing of it. Even now it thinks the tree fell on it. It may have smashed into it with more force than normal but it is also not normal for someone to swing a tree.


    Soverick had to hold the tree club tightly lest it flies away from his hands because of that hit. Swinging it and hitting the armored rhino with it almost made him lose the tree club. It didn''t take much time since he can control momentum. He got the tree club under control easily and prepared for another hit.


    AUTHOR NOTE: GREED has reached an important milestone. It has be popr enough to be pirated. That''s something that is both bad and good for me. Either way, it is something that I can brag about too, which is great.


    It doesn''t matter where you are reading this from. You are a fan of GREED and a part of the GREED Royal Bloodline. So help GREED reach the next milestone. Come to Webnovel to vote and drop a review. GREED needs to be in the top 200 of the power rankings and more. Do your part to make GREED popr. That will surely encourage me and keep me writing.


    Piracy kills books. It also makes books popr. If you don''t help in making GREED popr, then you are helping in killing it.

 Chapter 576 Taunts.

    He aligned the tree trunk and swung it again. The spikes on the monster''s back began to vibrate and the armored tes that they''re attached to its back began to move around its back. The vibrating spikes shredded the tree while the shifting tes ensured that the spikes cut more into the tree trunk. It was going to free itself.


    Unfortunately for it, it wasn''t fast enough. The giant club struck it before it could be free from the trunk. It was mmed into the trunk by the club. The force of the hit was so great that both the monster and the tree it was attached to were sent flying. The monsternded in an unsightly manner. It crashed onto the ground and its face became covered in dirt.


    It rose up to its feet with anger only to see Soverick preparing another strike. He was already swinging the club around to take another hit on the monster. The monster''s anger boiled over and its eyes shed purple. It is furious and the world answered its call of fury.


    The sky darkened all of a sudden as dark clouds formed. Purple lightning fell from the sky from the clouds onto the monster like a waterfall. The shower of lightning changed the monster instead of harming it. Its eyes and the spikes on its back began to glow purple after being energized with lightning.


    The monster opened its mouth and some sort of ball of purple energy began to form in it. The ball formed very quickly so it was ready for Soverick''s third strike. The monster shot the ball toward the tree club and the two collided. An explosion urred immediately. The purple ball exploded into arge purple sphere that eviscerated the tree trunk. The explosion and evisceration werepletely silent.


    Soverick noticed all the changes to the monster and he still struck with the tree club. There was no reason not to despite all the shy things that the monster was doing. He swung his tree club but he didn''t receive that satisfying feedback of a sessful hit. He swung and continued swinging without hitting anything. It was like he missed but he knows he did not.


    "That can''t be good." He said as he examined the makeshift club in his hands.


    The weight in his hands had suddenly be lighter because the tree trunk has been effectively halved. The other half was turned into ashes by the purple sphere. What he found to be most odd is that the explosion of the purple ball and the tree trunk was soundless and eerie.


    He threw the trunk at the monster because he found it too short for clubbing now. The shorted trunk, which is still more than 50 meters long, sailed towards the monster. The purple spikes on the monster''s back began to vibrate in response to the threat. A round purple lightning field appeared around the monster to protect it. The tree trunk disappeared as it came into contact with the field of protection. It just turned to ashes.


    "This is bad." He said as he eyed the monster.


    For the first time in thispetition, Soverick became serious. He became serious because he knows that he might die if he doesn''t be serious. He thought there was something dangerous about this monster after the first soundless explosion. Now he is very sure since he got a good look as the tree turned to ashes.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    There''s a possibility of death in each encounter with a monster so it should be expected that there is a threat to his life from this monster. But in this situation, the chances of his death is not some vague concept. He has been able to identify what is dangerous about this monster and how he will fare against it. He will fare badly against it. In fact, his death is all but certain if the monster manages to hit him well.


    He can feel the same thing that he felt from the ws of those resentful ravens. It is a distinct danger to his life. That purple ball must not touch him just like the ws of those birds or the consequences will be dire. The shield of momentum around the tree didn''t protect it from destruction so there''s no reason to believe that it will protect him from the purple energy.


    The two of them eyed each other for a while. One is wary of the other, while the other is very confident of its prowess. Then the rhino snorted and pawed at the ground with its hooves. It was taunting him. Soverick''s eye twitched. He decided to strike again. He summoned a vast amount of momentum and solidified it with his divine sense. Then he rained down golden fists on his enemy.


    His golden fists mmed into the purple force field around the monster and were nullified. They didn''t turn into ashes immediately like the tree but their power was reduced drastically so that they became harmless when they struck the monster. They went from being giant punches bigger than him to bing tiny punches smaller than his own hand. The purple force field made them useless. Some of them even disappeared before making contact with the armored spiked rhino. They were eroded soundlessly without fanfare or an explosion.


    The monster didn''t move to attack. It weathered the rain of blows unmoved and continued to taunt Soverick. He stopped attacking when he realized his attack isn''t working. He decided to step up his game. So he activated the next level of his mastery of the fourth step of weaponry, the mind weapon.


    He activated the Fourth Step Of Mastery: The Ultimate Fist of Glory. Numerous golden fists formed around him in the air. Their number is more than two thousand. He pulled his hand back and the golden fists withdrew backward instead of shooting forward to punch. They werepelled toe closer together and began tobine as they moved backward.


    AUTHOR NOTE: GREED has reached an important milestone. It has be popr enough to be pirated. That''s something that is both bad and good for me. Either way, it is something that I can brag about too, which is great.


    It doesn''t matter where you are reading this from. You are a fan of GREED and a part of the GREED Royal Bloodline. So help GREED reach the next milestone. Come to Webnovel to vote and drop a review. GREED needs to be in the top 200 of the power rankings and more. Do your part to make GREED popr. That will surely encourage me and keep me writing.


    Piracy kills books. It also makes books popr. If you don''t help in making GREED popr, then you are helping in killing it.

 Chapter 577 A Punch Of A Thousand Fists.

    One fistbined with another and morebined together until only one fist is left. Thest remaining fist looks no different from the other ones except it is the superimposition of thousands of fists. Then Soverick punched forward. The fist moved forward too but it didn''t move at the normal speed. It shot forward and struck the monster almost immediately. It is almost as if it warped forward to strike the armored rhino instantaneously.


    The monster had been watching Soverick prepare but it didn''t see this new attacking. It saw many golden fists just like the previous attacks so it thought nothing of it. If the previous one was useless, then this one will be too. So it was looking on with scorn and pride and wasn''t able to react at all to the punch.


    The fistsbined and they did it too quickly. Thousands of golden fists had be one by the time Soverick had fully pulled back his fist. Then it shot towards it as Soverick punched forward. The golden fist mmed into its face and knocked it flying.


    The monster bellowed in pain as it was sent flying. That punch really hurt its head. Several teeth were broken and knocked loose. They littered the forest floor after they were set from the cage of its mouth. Then it received another hit mid-flight. The fist struck its torso and caused one of the spikes on its back to break off. This time it howled in pain.


    "Arghhhhhh."


    It continued to howl until it mmed into the ground. It had been knocked t onto the ground by a third punch. The hits just keeping. The third punch mmed it into the ground. The first punch only disoriented it and that would have been the end of that attack. It wouldn''t have minded that attack if not for the loss of one of its precious spikes. It is very angry now.


    It tried to rise and attack but the golden fist hit it again and drove it further into the earth. The ultimate fist won''t disappear like the other golden fists that will disappear after a single attack. Soverick wielded it again and again to punch the monster. It went right through the defensive field around it mostly unharmed and struck the armored rhino repeatedly. He expected the monster to be heavily injured but the best he got was when he broke the spike during the second attack.


    He frowned and muttered, "This monster is too tough and durable. This is not working."


    He is only inconveniencing his opponent. He isn''t doing more than irritating it. He can do more but he is using his visual resources on thew matrix of this world. His eyes are boring past the Mana to the underlying principles that make this world works beneath the Mana. It is a mentally exhausting work that is taking most of his concentration.


    He was debating what to do but his opponent doesn''t n on leaving him with a choice. The monster changed again. It decided to sacrifice its spikes for power. The purple spikes on its back lost their glow until they became fragile and broke off from the punches. The entire body of the armored rhino turned purple. Power exploded out of its body in the form of arger and more powerful purple force field.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The earth exploded throwing soil and tree away. A shockwave emerged from the armored rhino that leveled trees for miles. The purple force field caught the golden fist and destroyed it. But the changes didn''t end there. The monster had had enough of being battered around. The dark storm clouds in the sky answered its call of fury again and rained down more purple lightning bolts on the monster.


    It rose into the air as it absorbed the lightning bolts. The purple force field around it began to grow stronger. It solidified and morphed into a purple phantom of the armored rhino. The purple phantom enveloped the monster but it continued to expand away from the monster to eventually form a giant construct about 500 meters tall.


    The purple phantom has thick tes of armor on its body and the apanying spikes. It is all made from energy and force not matter. It is like a shield for the monster that can defend and attack as well. The armored rhino is safe within the center of the phantom. It is even looking down on him.


    "This is at least rank 7. The equivalent of a titan ofw." Soverick assessed the situation solemnly.


    The phantom rhino towered above him and above the trees. It can be seen miles away. The armored rhino created it using the power of this world like a titan ofw. It is just borrowing the power but it is powerful nheless.


    A Titan ofw is not his match in a normal situation. This is not a normal situation. He is suppressed from his base power of Sovereign ofw to a transcendent. Even his use of momentum and the 5th step of power has only made him rise to the level of a king ofw. He needs to bring more of his resources to bear if he hopes to match his opponent. He needs to increase his power from 5.5% to 10% somehow.


    One of his four eyes focused on the monster as he said, "You leave me no choice. Your death better be worth it."


    He decided to allocate the power of one of his eyes to the monster. He has yet to be able to use other levels of weapon mastery in this ne but he can simte them with his eyes. One of his four eyes focused on the phantom monster. It shed purple as it became ready for his next move. He activated it immediately.


    A whirlpool appeared around his eye. The whirlpool drew in the power of the world like a sinkhole swallowing prey. Momentum and the lightning of the world were drawn into the whirlpool to empower Soverick''s next move. Momentum and world power surrounded him and formed a cocoon of sorts. The cocoon obscured Soverick''s figure.

 Chapter 578 Clash Of The Titans.

    The armored rhino decided not to wait for Soverick this time. It has learned its lesson. It began running towards Soverick. The hooves of the 500-meter-tall phantom dugrge groves into the ground and uprooted trees as it sped up. It could trample on trees as a 20 meters tall monster. 500 meters is just too much for the forest to bear.


    The phantom lowered its head to smash Soverick. It came too close to Soverick but was stopped by arge golden skeletal arm that extended from the cocoon of world power. The arm held the phantom rhino back while Soverick tried toplete his construct. The phantom pushed the arm back and wanted to knock it aside so Soverick created skeletal legs and a spine. The spine and the skeletal legs grew out of the cocoon and attached to each other. He used the skeletal legs to brace himself while the arm pushed the phantom rhino back.


    The skeletal legs and arm stalled the phantom enough for him to make more constructs. The cocoon erged to form a torso. The spine on its back elongated with it and became robust. Soverick created another skeletal arm attached to the spine to fight the phantom while he ascended into the skull of the giant skeleton he is making.


    He held on even as the skeletal arms of the construct were being destroyed by being in contact with the phantom. The skeleton began to fill in with flesh as soon as it becamepleted. The power of the world was weaved into tissues that wrapped around the bones to form muscles and ligaments.


    The phantom became frenzied because of its frustration. Soverick had been content with just holding it back but it wants to trample over him. The armored rhino within the phantom fired more purple balls to destroy the resistance it is facing. The balls hit the golden construct that is holding it back and made it stagger.


    The purple balls are as deadly as ever. They tore through the golden giant easily and silently like a hot knife through butter. But the giant simply reced the destroyed flesh from Soverick''s supply of energy. It is not a fair trade since the armored rhino had to sacrifice the size of its phantom to create those purple balls.


    The phantom was frustrated despite its attempts so it resorted to brute strength. It is much stronger than the golden giant so it is able to push it back. It decided to focus everything it has on it. The golden giant held the phantom down as it was pushed back. They plowed through the forest without any care. The damage they did increased once the golden giant finished its construction. Its muscles were covered with ayer of skin to reveal it to be a single-eyed giant. The Cyclops went on the attack and began wrestling with the phantom.


    The consequence of their wrestling is like a natural disaster hitting the forest. The two Colossal beings fought under the dark storm clouds. The Cyclops continued to get stronger as Soverick who is residing in its single eye continued to forcefully pull the power of the world meanwhile the phantom was getting weaker from expending the purple energy.


    The tides turned and the Cyclops became stronger than the phantom. The phantom was lifted by the Cyclops and mmed into the ground. The Cyclops got on top of the phantom and punched it while the phantom carved into its body with reckless abandon by using its spikes and ws.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Their fight did not go unnoticed. A lot more people in the arena saw and heard it from a far distance. It is after all two beings of epic proportions duking it out. They seemed to havemandeered the entire forest for their brawling. They took no heed of any other person around them. It is as if they are the only ones in the arena and that the arena belongs to them. The ground shook as they mmed into each other or hit each other.


    Some even died when Soverick threw a makeshift club aside to grab another one. He would uproot trees with the hand of the Cyclops and bash the phantom with it. The trees will suffer damage as soon as theye in contact with the purple phantom but the size of the phantom also reduces. Then he will throw the useless stub of the tree aside, killing an innocent bystander with it. They were just watching the purple phantom and the golden Cyclops fight. Then a tree fell on them and killed them.


    Soverick''s technique, Mind Over Power is a technique that works in tandem with his mastery of mind weapon. It is a technique aimed at copying powers and abilities by looking at them. It is like Aeternus''s The Power Of Envy in that regard. Unlike Aeternus, he has to rely on himself to copy the abilities he sees since he doesn''t have a mark of sin to rely on.


    And the abilities he can copy are only those he has the tools for such as his divine sense, momentum, and world power. Anything that needs specialized organs can''t be copied by him. This monster is using world power to empower itself. Soverick decided to borrow its supply of world power for himself. He doesn''t have a supply of his own so he decided to take advantage of a little charity. It is just for a little while. He will be done with it soon.


    Mind weapon is the fourth step of weapon mastery. It is the ability to form weapons by solidifying momentum with the divine sense. These weapons are created by simting the principles of action of real weapons. Once you know a weapon very well and are conversant with what makes it work, and how force and momentum flow through it, then you will have a mental image of it that you can bring to life with momentum.


    AUTHOR NOTE: GREED has reached an important milestone. It has be popr enough to be pirated. That''s something that is both bad and good for me. Either way, it is something that I can brag about too, which is great.


    It doesn''t matter where you are reading this from. You are a fan of GREED and a part of the GREED Royal Bloodline. So help GREED reach the next milestone. Come to Webnovel to vote and drop a review. GREED needs to be in the top 200 of the power rankings and more. Do your part to make GREED popr. That will surely encourage me and keep me writing.


    Piracy kills books. It also makes books popr. If you don''t help in making GREED popr, then you are helping in killing it.

 Chapter 579 Hate Or Love.

    Soverick used his eyes to analyze a power, create a model from it, and work in tandem with his pirs of momentum to steal world power instead of just using momentum like a normal mind weapon. Then he recreated the power. Using world power is exclusively for titans ofw and above but he bypassed the restriction with his eyes. It is very simr to the fifth step of weapon mastery, the world weapon. Unfortunately, he can''t use that since this world has not acknowledged him yet. That is why he had to borrow from this very angry and pissed-off armored rhino.


    That''s the summary of how he created this Cyclops. He essentially copied the mechanism of the phantom. He tweaked it a little bit since it is only an imitation of the original. His is not as destructive but it is replenishable. The golden Cyclops he created is stable, that''s why it doesn''t destroy everything ites in contact with. He can also replenish it while the armored rhino can''t.


    The purple phantom is defensive and attacking in nature in that it attacks anything that tries to hurt it through contact. This also means that it is unstable and unsustainable. It is constantly reducing in size to do what it does. So Soverick is trying to grind it down to get to the armored rhino within it. The phantom is also physically strong that''s why their fight is like a cmity descended.


    Most of the Battle sage monkeys that are aware of the fight are watching it. That is as long as they are not preupied with something like fighting for their lives. Most of them climbed trees to watch the fight. Even the ones that can fly kept to the tree cover because flying above the tree cover will make the horde of ravens attack them. Many have suffered for that mistake with their deaths.


    The trees that they are standing on gave them enough visibility of the two figures stampeding about like they own the ce and it is also somewhat safe. The identity of the two Colossal figures can be easily guessed. There''s only one person in the entirepetition that can fight a monster that powerful in this stage of the challenge. It hasn''t even been a day yet out of the year-longpetition.


    The fight itself is a disy of awe. It is a statement of greatness in and of itself. Some of the challengers might never reach that level of power in the one year of thepetition because of the requirement to gain that kind of strength. Killing a monster will grant you the same level of strength but killing another monster of the same strength as you is almost useless. You will have to kill thousands of the same rank to advance to another rank.


    So the best method to move swiftly through the ranks is to always fight above your level. That ismon knowledge but it is not easily achievable. They will need skills outside of the power system of this world to make them powerful enough to do that but people are having difficulty flying. How are they to use the more difficult applications of momentum when they cannot harmonize with the world?


    Harmonization with the world is more important than just flying. It is required for One with the World the third step of weapon mastery and it allows you to gain momentum from the world apart from the momentum of your body and your weapon. They don''t even have weapons and the way to acquire weapons is also beyond them.


    So it is a testament to the talent of the Child of ne to see him creating such chaos with wild abandon in less than 1 hour of the challenge. Most of the on-lookers have looks of awe. They might love or hate the child of the ne, but this show of strength is awesome to see. It is inspiring as well such that the blood within their bodies began to boil.


    They too want to go wild. They too want to do more than survive. They want to trample over the forest that the ravens are forcing them to keep to.


    The ravens have struck fear in their hearts but no raven is disturbing Soverick now. It is proof that it can be done. All they need is strength.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Of course, there are others that are not feeling good about the sight. Some of them are frowning and some are outright downcast. It is especially noteworthy that hundreds of battle sage monkeys have formed a group and they are all frowning at the sight of the golden Cyclops carrying rocks and uprooting trees to smash the purple phantom monster.


    The knowledge that just one footstep from these two entities can crush them is notforting at all. It certainly doesn''t help since this group is formed based on the mutual aim to kill the child of the ne during thispetition.


    One of them asked. "What do we do now?"


    That''s the most important question right now. What do they do in the face of this new knowledge? They hate the Child of the ne and nned to teach him a lesson in thispetition. The suppression was supposed to make them all on the same level and their advantage of numbers was supposed to give them the upper hand.


    They had dreams of paradise. They were supposed to kill the child of the ne over and over again for their pleasure in those dreams. They hoped to see him cry or plead for mercy. They wanted to trample on him and make him fail but here they are, terrified for their lives.


    What are they to do? Should they go ahead to attack the child of the ne knowing that they will die or should they hide and bid their time like some cowardly warrior unworthy to bear the name of battle sage monkey? The fight is making them lean towards the decision that will preserve their lives.


    AUTHOR NOTE: GREED has reached an important milestone. It has be popr enough to be pirated. That''s something that is both bad and good for me. Either way, it is something that I can brag about too, which is great.


    It doesn''t matter where you are reading this from. You are a fan of GREED and a part of the GREED Royal Bloodline. So help GREED reach the next milestone. Come to Webnovel to vote and drop a review. GREED needs to be in the top 200 of the power rankings and more. Do your part to make GREED popr. That will surely encourage me and keep me writing.


    Piracy kills books. It also makes books popr. If you don''t help in making GREED popr, then you are helping in killing it.

 Chapter 580 Distance Of Strength.

    There was silence before someone with a certain amount of authority in the group finally answered. "Let''s wait for the others before we make a decision."


    "Yes, let''s do that."


    "It''s a good idea."


    That suggestion got a unanimous agreement. It is not because they are afraid but because they care about the others that they came to thepetition with. That is both true and also false. There are many of them and they are stilling together since they were split into various arenas. So it is true that there are still others who are not around yet. But that''s not the main reason why they decided to shelf their ns to kill the child of the ne for now.


    The ones here in this arena are in the thousands. Theymunicate with each other using soul glyphs/talismans. People canmunicate with it across realms. They used this line ofmunication to organize and regroup. There are many such groups within thepetition. Apparently, a lot of people don''t like the child of the ne.


    This group will decide what to do when more of them arrive. In the meantime, they will not have to face the child of the ne. They will use that time to grow stronger before they sh with him. Their sh is inevitable for several reasons. There''s the hatred and there''s the matter of honor. It will be dishonorable to them as battle sage monkeys not to at least face Soverick when he has been suppressed to their level and when there is no need to worry about real death.


    So they are going to fight him. This fight between the Titans and the show of strength hasn''t changed their minds. It is only informing them that their fight with the child of the ne will be very unpleasant. Death may not be possible in thepetition, but the pain of death in the world fragment is real since you have to be near death before you can be respawned. They will still fight Soverick once they have enough numbers despite the fear of death. One way or another, they will sh with the child of the ne and teach him a lesson.


    Thepetitors are grouped into those who are inspired by the fight and those that hate Soverick Ghastorix. Then there are the really talented ones who consider themselves to be at the top of the ne. Some of them are kings ofw and others are aplished in one way or the other. These battle sage monkeys have no love or hatred for the child of the ne. They only have the intention topete with him. It is either due to their wish to prove themselves or to ovee him.


    All of them have various feelings as they watched the fight. Some have their fighting spirit ignited while others epted defeat. Both have to admit that the fight has shown the distance in strength between them and the child of the ne. But some seek to bridge that gap and catch up to the child of the ne while others think it is an impossible gap to bridge and that it will be wiser to focus on themselves and what they are good at instead of chasing wild fancies.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    No matter what the opinions of the audience to Soverick''s fight are, it is a fact that the entire arena was riled up. Even the ones that gave up on chasing after the child of the ne are more determined than ever before to create something of themselves too. It may not be up to the level of the child of the ne, but they refuse to be mediocre. Those that hate him realize their weakness and what is required of them if they hope to get revenge and the ones that admire Soverick decided to fight harder to be more like him.


    Arena 28 is all pumped up and full of energy. They are not the only ones all pumped up because they are not the only ones witnessing this fight. The inhabitants of the Virut ne are all watching. They could be watching something else in thepetition but they are watching that fight. What else is worth watching while the child of the ne is creating a magnificent ruckus?


    The entire sky of the Virut ne has been cleared of clouds and it is used to disy the fight. The entire sky was actually demarcated into sectors which provides different views of the activities within the arenas based on the level of significance but all the sectors in the sky werebined to show this fight. So anyone in the Virut ne can just look up and see Soverick pummelling the monster.


    People are running around in the streets and cheering. The noise is deafening due to all the celebrations. Even those watching on theirmunication and entertainment device are also in the spirit of Celebration. It is a reassuring thing to see that the child of the ne is not some useless person. His performance, even under suppression, and the video of his fight with his mother have proven beyond all reasonable doubt that Soverick is a sage in the making.


    The birth of a sage is always a thing of Celebration for battle sage monkeys. Sages are the cornerstones of the strength of the ne. They have the highest honor in the ne as well as the highest confidence that they will be there for the ne when the ne needs them. It has been like so for a long while in the history of battle sage monkeys.


    Sages are elected by the world gods of the racial council. The individuals must have done something important and widespread to draw the attention of world gods. Then they have to be of supreme talent before they are to be granted that title.


    The title is granted with a ne wide celebration. It is an event that is known by almost everyone in the ne. Meanwhile, a child of the ne is a random person selected by the ne. It is understandable that they will have little confidence in him.

 Chapter 581 This Is Too Early.

    Not much was known about Soverick Ghastorix. He wasn''t making waves in the ne. He doesn''t have feats known throughout the ne. He was just a boy that got chosen to be child of the ne from among a million other youngsters. Many people don''t even know about the divine dungeon where he was chosen to be the child of the ne. He was an unknown so they did some digging about him. What they found out didn''t instill in them much confidence.


    Soverick came from a mid-level family of the ne. He was unknown even in his family. Only the Titans ofw and leaders of his family were aware of his talent. The rest of his family didn''t know him, much less the people of the Virut ne. Then he became the child of the ne just 2 years into his life. He was just some unknown person before he became the child of the ne and that didn''t change after he became the child of the ne.


    The powerhouses of the ne know more about him. They know he has a lot of divine talents and that he is highly talented in fighting. But themon people of the ne don''t know him. Soverick didn''t help that situation by secluding himself and busying himself with forging.


    Soverick refused to interact with people and he refused to ept challenges. A lot of people thought that his refusal was because he was scared. They thought he was trying to protect his image. It was until the Cmity of the Child of the ne that they knew not to mess with him. Now they can see that he is in fact more than they expected. The fact that the child of the ne is a sage-level battle sage monkey is like having the best of both worlds in terms of confirmation of his talents.


    The fight is fun and all, but Origin gods aren''t moved by it. It is the matter of the significance of his performance that impressed the Origin gods of the family. Origin gods from different endorsed families of the ne are also watching thepetition together.


    They are watching from a specially constructed arena for them. This arena is a viewing stadium built as a world fragment. It allows origin gods to watch anything and anyone in thepetition arenas so it shows more coverage than the view of the sky in the ne.


    The tussling of the golden Cyclops and the purple phantom is surely entertaining but it is the assurance that the fight signifies that the origin gods of the Virut ne care about. They need this assurance because they know more about thepetition than what the popce knows. Thispetition is of more significance to the origin gods of the Virut ne than it is for thepetitors involved in thepetition.


    This secret significance is why the origin gods of the Virut ne are happy at the sight of Soverick fighting a monster 2 ranks above him in strength while the origin gods from the other ne are not so happy. It proves Soverick''s talent and it also means that if he defeats this monster, he will earn a weapon when no one on the side of the Virut ne and the other ne has acquired a weapon yet.


    The origin gods from the two sides have an opposite reaction to Soverick''s fight but the two administrators from the two sides have the same reaction.


    One of the administrators spoke. "This is too early."


    It is the serpentine world god with numerous arms, a single serpentine trunk that ends in a tail, and an obsidian crown on its head that spoke. He is referring to Soverick''s fight.


    The other administrator agreed even though they are on opposite sides. "Yes, this is early. I expected him to perform excellently but this is beyond my expectations. I guess I am growing blind with age. My sensitivity to power is bing biased because of the things I have seen. I mean, what''s the difference between a strong ant and a weak ant? It is difficult to qualify really since they are both ants. It is the dilemma of an advanced existence. It just..."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The frown of the serpentine world god didn''t ease up even though hispanion, the white battle sage monkey agreed with him. In fact, his frown continue to deepen as the first sage spoke. His lips curled due to annoyance and a view of his sharp tiny teeth was revealed. He had to interrupt his talkative partner lest he decides to use his teeth for violent persuasion.


    "Yes, yes. But enough of that. You''re just happy that he is doing well."


    The first sage nodded. "I have to admit that his performance is pleasing to my eyes."


    "He might be great but you only have one of him. I have 9."


    The eyes of the sage shone as he replied, "We only need one."


    Hispanion didn''t agree. He scoffed. "You only need one?"


    "Only one is needed. The fact that he achieved it all on his own makes him head and shoulder above yours." The first sage maintained.


    "We''ll see about that. As for now, we need to do something. He has moved the timeline of monster spawning forward." The serpentine world god directed the topic of their conversation back to what''s really important.


    There''s a demarcation of monsters. Rank 1 to 3 are normal monsters with increasing levels of power. Strength, speed, defense, and attack power increase exponentially across the ranks. They are basic monsters present in the forest. Anyone can encounter any rank of these monsters regardless of strength. It all depends on luck.


    From rank 4 to 6 are monsters that have a certain body part that can fatally woundbatants with one strike. These ranks of monsters were specifically designed to end a fighter and have something special be it fangs, beaks, ws, spurs, spikes, or horns that will enable them to critically injure with just one strike. The monster that Soverick is currently fighting doesn''t belong to this group.

 Chapter 582 Interference.

    Rank 4 to 6 monsters are not found in nature. They are spawned specifically for a purpose or for a certain participant. The decision of what type of monster to spawn is taken after careful consideration and analysis of the strength and weaknesses of the participant in question.


    This group of monsters is meant to ensure a 50/50 chance of death. You can still be killed by them even if you''re stronger than them. There''s a definite chance of death when fighting them. So it is important to always be attentive around such monsters even if you are stronger than them.


    This second group of monsters is not supposed to be introduced for at least one month. Even those that were designated as KINGS right from the start in each arena only get to face rank 3 monsters at first. But Soverick increased his threat level by breaking the shackles of the world on him immediately after the challenge began by flying.


    It means that he has achieved world harmonization and might be on the cusp of one with the world. The birds he faced were not supposed to try and kill him or at least not at first. They were supposed to scare him into the tree line and humble him. It wouldn''t do if he flies above the forest and avoids all the obstacles within the forest. He also had to be stopped from reaching the mountain so early into the challenge. So the ravens attacked him.


    The ravens were sent to oppress and subjugate him but he resisted and he resisted most imperiously. The ravens got riled up when the world spirit got carried away because Soverick began to kill them. That''s when everything went to hell. Soverick was able to kill the thousands of them required to reach the 5th rank even under the suppression of the world fragment. The world spirit had no choice but to bring in the next group of monsters. They are the ones with a good chance of killing him.


    The next group that starts at rank 7 are monsters that can empower themselves with the world fragment itself making them extra deadly. Their rank limits how much of the power of the world they can take. Rank 8 monsters can handle more world power and are deadlier than rank 7. These monsters are very dangerous and extremely difficult to vanquish because they need spells tobat them.


    The purple phantom of the armored rhino for instance needs several hundredbatants attacking it from different directions and whittling it down using the power of spells and numbers. But spells cannot be used yet because this world is not the same as their previous worlds. They need to harmonize with the world, be one with the world, thenprehend thew of this world. That is something that will take time yet Soverick has pushed the timeline forward.


    He aplished it by stealing the world power that the monster is using with some sort of visual divine ability. So what are they going to do? Continue to introduce stronger monsters or slow down the introduction of monsters? If they slow down then he will be able to reach the top of the mountain pretty easily.


    But worse than that is the fallout from the fights with stronger monsters. The fight with that armored rhino caused a lot of destruction to the world and its upants. A lot of people died because of it and a lot of trees were demolished as coteral damage. The two administrators don''t care about the trees. It is the otherpetitors that they are worried about.


    The introduction of stronger monsters will mean a higher fallout. Everyone is supposed to work together to fight monsters but that won''t be the case if Soverick is fighting strong monsters while everyone else is weak. Everyone else will be too preupied with running for their lives and things will be unconducive for them.


    This fight wouldn''t have caused this problem if it had urred muchter in the challenge. Thepetitors will be strong enough to defend themselves and maybe interfere in the fight. It is just too early right now for a rank 7 monster to be stampeding about. It is worse now that there are two of them. Soverick also counts as a rank 7 monster at this point.


    The first sage replied calmly, "There''s only one thing that we can do. And that''s to hit him harder."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The Serpentine world god grumbled, "But that will give him the opportunity to earn more feats."


    "Then what do you suggest we do?"


    The Serpentine world god eyed hispanion for a long time. They both sat there in silence before he finally answered. "I know you''re up to something but I want you to know that his existence changes nothing. Just go ahead and hit him harder. But make some tweaks. Let the monsters be more difficult to handle."


    The first sage asked. "Are you sure? You know it means that I get to interfere on your side too."


    What the serpentine world God is asking for is interference. It is not fair to Soverick or the battle sage monkeys. So the first sage must also be allowed to make his own changes to the other side. This will keep things fair.


    The serpentine world god nodded reluctantly. "Just do it. Nothing wille out of it anyway. I haveplete faith in my side."


    The first sage offered, "To prove that I have no ulterior motive, I''ll let you make the changes yourself."


    The serpentine world god narrowed his eyes at the sage. They have separate control over the project. The sage giving it permission to interfere on his side is a big deal. It reeks of a plot. If there was ever a special type of smell that outs a gesture as a plot, this gesture of "goodwill" reeks of that smell. It reeks so much of it.


    AUTHOR NOTE: GREED has reached an important milestone. It has be popr enough to be pirated. That''s something that is both bad and good for me. Either way, it is something that I can brag about too, which is great.


    It doesn''t matter where you are reading this from. You are a fan of GREED and a part of the GREED Royal Bloodline. So help GREED reach the next milestone. Come to Webnovel to vote and drop a review. GREED needs to be in the top 200 of the power rankings and more. Do your part to make GREED popr. That will surely encourage me and keep me writing.


    Piracy kills books. It also makes books popr. If you don''t help in making GREED popr, then you are helping in killing it.

 Chapter 583 Scheming Like Breathing.

    The Serpentine world god asked to be sure, "Really? Can I tweak the final opponent in the survival challenge too?"


    The sage nodded. "Yes, you can. But can''t interfere in his current fight. The changes will only affect the next monsters he faces."


    "Your loss."


    The serpentine world god suspects and is sure that the sage is up to something but he can''t give up a chance to tweak the final Boss of the survival challenge in Arena 28. It is an opportunity to block Soverick''s path forward and he will use it to the fullest extent. He will throw in something that is sure to stump and stall this Soverick boy.


    He will also make other tweaks to make monsters that Soverick will face more difficult. It will give Soverick more scores if he manages to defeat them but it is a sacrifice he is willing to make for the greater good which is not having to pay 6 folds of his already humongous debt.


    The first sage smiled innocently as his Coadministrator went ahead to make the changes with his agreement in Project Discement. He feels that the talk of him being up to something is a moot point because he is always up to something. It is like saying a weak living being is breathing. Of course, weak living things need to breathe so they will always be breathing. Scheming is like breathing to him. So it is not special that he is up to something now.What would be special is if what he is up to is known.


    He thought to himself smugly. ''It is the knowledge of the aim of an agenda that is important not the knowledge of the existence of an agenda.''


    Anyone can guess that he has an agenda but it is more difficult and also more noteworthy to determine what his agenda is. Knowing that he has an agenda will not do much good other than to make you extra cautious and careful. The Sage''s ns don''t count on you being stupid so being extra cautious and careful won''t save you. On the other hand, knowing what the sage is aiming for can help you from falling into the trap.


    He asked himself with slight mirth, ''What is my agenda again?''


    He has so many ns and aims that it will be very difficult to keep track of all of them. His agendas are surely rted to thepetition but what they are is the question. Knowing any one of his agendas can only help you from falling into a single trap. It is not even certain that you won''t fall into that trap despite having that knowledge. There are also numerous other traps from that single one. Working with him is like walking about in a minefield.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The Sage''s vision epassed every arena even the ones for the other ne. The two world gods are sitting with an avatar in a world fragment fashioned into a fortress. The inside of the fortress is the arena where the origin gods of the two nes are watching the events of thepetition. The two world gods are staying above the arena within the fortress.


    The fortress is outside the realm tree and it is surrounded by other smaller world fragments. 45 of the world fragments are upied by battle sage monkeys from the Virut ne while 60 are upied bybatants from the other ne. So all thepetitors have unknowingly found themselves outside the realm of high heaven.


    The two world gods are in charge of this project that has managed to transport millions of transcendents across a great distance instantaneously without the use of portal technology. The process of transporting the transcendents is unprecedented and more important in and of itself than thepetition.


    The participants of thepetition will surely be surprised by the knowledge that they are outside the realm right now. But will it improve their situation? Knowledge is power but it only provides a possibility of escaping an unfavorable fate. You still need your own power if that knowledge is to be used to its maximum effect.


    Back To Soverick.


    The fight ended and it didn''t end well. It was a grueling ordeal of a fight. He had to grind down his opponent little by little but he finally reduced the purple phantom to a size where he could reach the armored rhino if he is willing to make the sacrifice of losing one of the arms of the Cyclops. He was willing to make that sacrifice so he dipped his hand into the small phantom just 100 meters tall.


    The rhino is in the center so he only has to push through the force field that makes up the phantom for 50 meters before he can finally end the fight. The arm of the Cyclops began to disintegrate as soon as it made contact with the phantom but he pushed through. He can''t feel pain since the arm isn''t actually his. It is a product of energy and world power so he continued despite the arm turning to ashesyer byyer.


    The armored rhino was very stubborn. It refused to be a willing participant in its killing. It buckled and tried to escape but that failed because it has be too weak with the reduction in size. It then used the purple balls which are very effective against the Cyclops. It shot them at the chest of its oppressor. The purple balls cut through the fabric that makes up the Cyclops easily. They tore through its chest and the arm that is holding it down leaving gaping holes behind but the Cyclops is not Soverick''s body just like the phantom is not the real armored rhino.


    The use of the purple balls shrunk the phantom further and made it easier to hold it down for Soverick to murder it. The armored rhino must have realized its doom so it went all out. As they say, it is all or nothing. Go big or go die. It decided to go big.

 Chapter 584 Go Big Or Go Die.

    The phantom shrunk all of a sudden and turned into purple spikes on the armored rhino''s back. With its size reduced, it got free of the hold of the Cyclops on it and fell to the ground. Then it began to escape.


    The change thrilled Soverick. He took a while to bnce the Cyclops before he began to reach for the escaping rhino. The rhino took advantage of its newfound freedom and decided to run away with its back turned to him. One of his arms has been destroyed by the phantom so he can only use the other arm that was previously holding the monster down to try and grab the rhino. That arm hadn''t gone far when the spikes on the monster detached explosively from its back. The purple spikes shot at the Cyclops while the monster continued its escape.


    It happened so fast. About 20 spikes suddenly shot at him. He was lowered to the ground to grab the armored rhino so the head of the Cyclops is in the path of the spikes. Soverick''s one active eye saw everything happen and analyzed the possible scenarios based on the trajectory of the spikes. He realized that things are certainly bad for him. Those spikes are terribly dangerous and he has 20 of them to contend with. There''s no way for him to get out of this situationpletely unharmed.


    There''s a way to minimize his loss but he will gain nothing from it. There''s another way to maximize his profits but he will lose everything. None of these options is the best course of action for him. There''s a third option that can bnce risk and reward but is very difficult to seed in and it has a terrible consequence of failing.


    He decided to go with the best course of action even though he might lose his life. He used the right hand of the cyclops that is trying to grab the rhino to continue its quest while he raised the skeletal left hand that he was using to stand and swung it around his face to block as many spikes as possible.


    The good news is that he managed to grab and crush the armored rhino with his right hand. The bad news is that he couldn''t block all the spikes. His skeletal arm is too thin andcks enough surface area to block everything. The spikes are also unblockable. They are like the sharp edges of des and they cut through everything theye into contact with.


    The purple spikes prated the skeletal arm and even the head of the Cyclops. The ones that passed through his skeletal arm didn''t damage the skull too much. They lost momentum to be of any threat to him. The dangerous ones are the few that bypassed his skeletal arm and struck the skull directly. Two of them managed to prate the single eye of the Cyclops and hit him. That''s how the fight ended.


    The Cyclops began to dissemble after that it. It was an involuntary dissembling. Soverick had to let go of his control of the world power because of his injury so it is leaving the Cyclops and returning to the world. The Cyclops mmed face down to the ground as it broke apart. He was finally revealed on the ground after the Cyclops'' total disintegration.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He is not looking good. He is missing more than half of his body. His left chest and left arm are gone with arge chunk of his lower torso. Both of his legs are gone. There''s no blood or bleeding. Normal soul bodies don''t bleed. He might not be bleeding but he is in immense pain.


    Still, he managed to chuckle and make light of the situation. "At least, it went ording to my expectations."


    He expected this oue when he made the decision to pursue the best course of action. The option to minimize his losses would have left him mildly injured. He would have had to back off from the armored rhino and focus on stopping the spikes to achieve that. Both of his hands will try to block as many spikes as possible which is basically sacrificing the arm to protect his head but even then, he wouldn''t be able to block all of them.


    One spike would''ve hit him even by his best estimate. He wouldn''t be so damaged but he would still be injured and worst of all, that armored rhino will still be alive. The injury caused by the purple spikes would have made him lose some control of the Cyclops. That means the fight will continue with him being terribly injured and weakened while his opponent is still kicking. He decided not to do that.


    The second option to maximize his profit is to focus on the armored rhino and make sure to kill it while disregarding the threat of the spikes. It is obviously a bad idea to disregard the spikes since he would have surely died after being bombarded by them but it is a viable n that will ensure sess in killing his enemy. The fight would have ended though and he would have earned his reward too if he managed to kill the rhino. He would get hit by the spikes either way so the second option will give him something to show for it.


    A normal person would have had to choose between those two options, being alive or victory over the enemy. He is not a normal person though. His eyes make what is very difficult and improbable for normal people highly achievable for him.


    The best oue ofing out alive, ending the fight, and getting the reward for the fight is eating your cake and having it. It would have been next to impossible to track the position of the spikes, navigate their paths and interfere with these paths with just one thin skeletal arm all the while continuing to move forward to grab the armored rhino with the other arm.

 Chapter 585 Kill The Fallen Giant.

    He also had to consider the falling motion of the Cyclops and amodate it into his calctions now that the Cyclops doesn''t have any arm to support it from falling. In summary, he had to block the spikes and grab the rhino all the while falling on his face because the Cyclops is leaning forward without any support.


    What he did was very dangerous. Failure would have caused him to lose his life for nothing but he knew he could do it and he did it. So he expected this oue. He also expected what happened next as hey on the ground recovering.


    Injury to the soul body is different from injury to mana entities and weaker entities. Those entities have a separation of body and soul. That means the mind can ignore the pain to the body and continue operating properly if the person is resilient enough. A mana entity can have their arm cut off and will not suffer any decrease in their prowess. They won''t go down until you crush their head where their soul space is. It is not the same for transcendents and above.


    An injured arm is a loss to both the body and the soul of a transcendent. Joining the potential of body and soul to break the limit of growth also means the two formerly separate parts of existence are fused and get to share both good and bad. The good is nice and the bad is very painful. Losing a part of your body means losing a part of your soul and soul injuries are very painful. The pain cannot be ignored. It leads to a loss of concentration and control.


    The fusion of body and soul enables transcendents to have perfect control of their body and emotions because the soul and the mind gain perfect control of the body. So losing a part of the soul means losing control. The loss of control might be minimal but that means that perfect control bes imperfect control. If the injury is very bad, like losing half of your body, then you will lose more than control of your body. It will actually be very difficult for you to form coherent thoughts apart from "This hurts so bad."


    Fortunately, the bades with the good. Injury to the soul used to be very difficult and sometimes almost impossible to heal without special items but that has changed with its fusion with the body. The soul can regenerate just like the body. That means that he will recover and he will recover very fast if he has ess to a lot of Origin energy.


    He just happens to have a lot of Origin energy so he needs a small amount of time and he will be up on his feet kicking again. Unfortunately, there are some people that aren''t going to give him that time. A lot of people were watching his fight. That means a lot of them saw the ending of the fight. Some of them don''t know exactly how it ended. They only saw some purple spikes hit the Cyclops and then there was the global and local announcement of his feats. But others saw clearly that he might be hit badly and that the Cyclops scattered in a quick disorderly manner.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    An injured Soverick is a good opportunity for a lot of people so a lot of people with not-so-good intentions are rushing towards his position. They are not rushing towards him for a chat. Some of these people don''t even know if he is injured for sure. They are just hoping that he is and they are willing to risk death to confirm it because if he is injured, then they just might be able to put him down.


    There are a lot of reasons to try and kill Soverick. There are motivations of hatred, love, andpetition. There''s also the fact that whoever kills him gets to receive the designation of KING this early into thepetition. They didn''t have a chance at acquiring that designation before when he was very healthy but his injury has certainly increased that chance. Besides, they don''t have much to lose. They can''t die permanently anyway.


    He expected all of this so he wasn''t surprised or startled when he heard battle sage monkeys congregating in his position. He can hear the vibrations in the rhythm of momentum which indicates that more than a thousand people havee to kill a giant while the giant is down. They found him lying on the ground unmoving. All four of his eyes are unfocused doing their thing while his body is recovering.


    No one attacked him despite his vulnerable position. He is lying in a demolished area cleared of trees because of his recent fight. Their numbers continued to increase as they surrounded him but no one came closer than 100 meters to him and no one attacked. Their hesitance is because of the surprise that the Child of the ne is actually injured and because of the uncertainty of his prowess. They don''t know if he is really weakened and if he is, they don''t know how weakened he really is. They need him to be very weakened because he doesn''t need a lot of his power to crush them.


    A weakened giant can still crush an ant. He doesn''t even need to try. He can just fall on the ant as he is recovering. So Soverick''s body that is missing more than 50% of it is still not assuring to them. If it were another person, they would have hounded that person but Soverick is the child of the ne. Surely he must have something up his sleeve.


    The most important reason why they held back from being the first to attack him is because of his nonchnt face. He looked calm as hey there as if he isn''t worried at all. Could it be a false show of bravado or is he really not worried about them? He may be bluffing. They are unsure. So they held back.

 Chapter 586 Down Goes The Usurpers.

    But the stalemate cannot continue forever. Someone will break and the situation will change. They are already here, if they don''t make a move then they should run away as far as possible before the child of the ne recovers and he is recovering really fast too. They can see that their window of opportunity is closing fast. His body is knitting itself back together even as they watched. They have to attack him before the window of opportunity closes or try their luck at reasoning with a fully healthy child of the ne to convince him not to kill them.


    Their confidence increased as their numbers increased. A lot of people arrived the longer they waited. Not every one that thought the child of the ne is injured came and some even came to help him making their number cross ten thousand quickly. They surrounded him like a pack of hyenas. Some of them are on the ground and others are in the trees far away from him. They formed a wall of people around him.


    Their desperation due to the urgency of the situationbined with their confidence in their numbers to break the situation in favor of attacking him. Someone took a step into the forbidden zone of 100 meters near the child of the ne. That became the signal to move. None of them can cast spells yet so people have to rely on makeshift weapons that they created for close-rangebat and ranged attacks. People swept in like a tide to drown the child of the ne.


    There are some disturbances in this tide as the ones that came to help Soverick began to attack people to stop them from injuring him. These people are few so the disruption they caused is minimal but they are trying their best. The din of battle within the tide of people cannot bepared with the roar of the crowd and the noise they made as their feet stomped on the ground to reach their target.


    All of this disturbance ended when he uttered a word.


    "Down."


    People fell down to their knees immediately after he uttered that word. Some fell down on their face. Others were already imbnced so they fell on their back or onto their sides. This happened because gravity suddenly increased in their surroundings. It was an increase of a hundred at first. It continued to rise as Soverick exerted his new control over gravity. Everyone around him could only stay on the ground and suffer. No one could stand up. They stayed in that position as he continued to heal.


    He had a nonchnt look on his face because he really wasn''t concerned about all of them and their ambush. They might think of him as debilitated but they don''t know that he has experienced having his soul ripped from his body before and that was before he acquired an immortal soul. His immortal soul ensures that he is even more resilient to pain.


    Then there is the increase in his strength for killing that armored rhino.


    *PERSONAL MESSAGE*


    /Killed Rank 7 Giant Armoured Spined Rhino/


    /Gained 7th Step Death Mark/


    *PERSONAL MESSAGE*


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A LOCAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO ACHIEVE THE 6TH STEP IN ARENA 28


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A GLOBAL FEAT)-<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO ACHIEVE THE 6TH STEPIN ALL ARENAS


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A LOCAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO KILL A RANK 7 MONSTER IN ARENA 28


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A GLOBAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO KILL A RANK 7 MONSTER IN ALL ARENAS


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A LOCAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO ACHIEVE THE 7TH STEP IN ARENA 28


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A GLOBAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO ACHIEVE THE 7TH STEPIN ALL ARENAS


    That single fight with the rhino brought in a lot of messages. The major significance of achieving the 7th step is a boost in the activity of his pirs of momentum from the empowerment of this world. He was able to unlock the next phase after momentum which is the control of gravity. That alone is enough for him to be confident in himself.


    Gravity is not something that even Sovereigns can control. Only titans ofw and sovereigns with concepts rted to the control of gravity can control it. He is not a titan ofw and as such does not have a concept but he can control gravity because of the pirs of momentum and his powerful immortal soul.


    He called the 9 golden orbs the pirs of momentum because they are capable of tapping into the pirs of force that hold up and makes the world operate. Momentum is normal for people to control. Whates next after it is world power which all titans and sovereigns can control. He can steal control of world power using his eyes to assist the pirs of momentum but his control over gravity is the sole ability of the 9 orbs. He became able to use it when his power became unlocked by 10%. The suppression of the world was reduced when he gained the 7th step of world assistance.


    Those 9 golden orbs continued to rotate behind him while the gravity over the area increased to crushing levels. He isn''t affected though. Hey there, a little bit above the ground, and rested calmly while going through his remaining messages. People were making noise around him. They were groaning, begging, and some were even cursing him but he didn''t allow their noise to disturb him. Their pleas and supplications might as well be the whispering of the wind.


    More people came to join the party. They also want to see if the child of the ne is injured but they camete to the party. It is a good thing for them. They were privileged to have role models who have tested the waters, so to say.

 Chapter 587 Giving A Tiger Wings.

    Theseteers ran away when they saw the ones groaning and pleading on the ground. They don''t know what is going on but the sight of the ground around Soverick being lower than the surroundings and the unsightly state of the people on those grounds is enough to let them know that something bad is going on here and it might extend to them if they go forward.


    *PERSONAL MESSAGE*


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A LOCAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO ACQUIRE A WEAPON IN ARENA 28


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A GLOBAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO ACQUIRE A WEAPONIN ALL ARENAS


    -(CHOOSE YOUR PREFERRED WEAPON)-


    1. SWORD.


    2. SPEAR.


    3. KNUCKLE BRACES.


    4. ARMOUR.


    5. SHIELD.


    6. BOW.


    7. KNIFE


    ETC.


    *WARNING: YOU CAN ONLY ACHIEVE AND USE ONE WEAPON DURING THIS CHALLENGE.


    He became the first to earn a weapon and earned two more feats making for a total of 8 feats that the armored rhino has earned him. He didn''t earn a weapon when he killed the giant birds because the requirement for earning a weapon from the world spirit is to kill a monster two ranks above your current rank. His estimated rank as a designated King is rank 3 so killing rank 4 monsters didn''t count.


    That requirement is quite difficult to fulfill. It is normal to fight and beat a monster of the same rank as you. You need to be highly skillful for you to defeat monsters one rank above you. You need to be extraordinarily skilled to not only defeat a monster two ranks above you but to kill it too. Something like that requires a deepprehension of thews of this world fragment. Achieving that will certainly set that person apart from the rest.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The acquisition of this kind of weapon which gives you the power of titan ofw will make that person extra formidable. Someone that can kill a monster two ranks above them is already heads and shoulders above others. Granting them a weapon will make them a force to be reckoned with. It is like giving wings to a tiger.


    He chose a spear from the long list of weapons. The list contains more than a thousand weapons. Some of them are for defensive purposes and there are others that can do both like whips. There are even some weapons that he has never heard about. He decided to go with something he is highly familiar with and has attack potential. As they say, the best defensive measure is an offensive measure.


    A spear materialized in front of him. It is a ck crystal spear adorned with gems and designed intricately. There are some lines that run along its length. He can see some sort of electric current running through it so the lines look like lightning trapped within the crystal. It looks like a good weapon and the information about the spear that shed into his mind confirmed his conjecture.


    NAME: TITAN RIPPER.


    TYPE: SPEAR.


    ABILITY: Grants ess to world power of the arena. Your limit is the amount you can handle.


    "It is not bad. Now I won''t have to use my eyes to steal world power."


    The spear gives him ess to world power without having to steal it. He can now focus on breaking thew matrix of this world fragment with his full mental power. All the weapons have the same ability and quality so the difference between them is the wielder. The ability of the weapon is constant but skill is varied, therefore not every weapon can perform the same in the hands of different people. That''s why he was asked to choose. It will be his fault if he chose something he can''t use.


    His body finished healing so he stood up and flew into the air. His captives were forced to follow him when he reduced the pull of gravity on them and instead attracted them toward him. They were forced to levitate. Only a select few were left behind on the ground.


    He said to the ones he spared, "I am letting you go for your actions in trying to protect me. The ne needs more people like you to work together in making it stronger."


    They were surprised. They didn''t think that he noticed their actions. His words made them very happy and some began shouting for autographs.


    ignored their cries and warned them. "Onest piece of advice. Leave here now if you don''t want to die."


    He spared only the ones that actively fought to protect him. He doesn''t really care about their intentions and effort. He was perfectly safe without it. But it is important for him to inspire the people watching to support him. He is going to need people to work together with him to defend the ne especially if he might not get support from the racial council. That''s why he warned them after sparing them. It will not be good for them to die gruesome deaths because they were at the wrong ce at the right time. That will make his mercy go to waste.


    Then he said to his captives, "To all of you that came here to support me but did nothing to that effect, I say to you, action speaks louder than words. Do better next time."


    As for the rest. They fumbled around as they flew after him like chicks following their mother. Their deaths will also serve to inspire everyone watching of what he is capable of. Some of them are saying that they came to protect him but he isn''t listening to them. Anyone can say anything now so it doesn''t matter what their intentions were. Only their actions matter and their actions did not set them apart from those that wanted to kill him.


    He reached the sky above the tree cover and wasn''t molested. The Ravens cawed and gave him venomous res but they stayed away from him and his cargo.

 Chapter 588 A Well Deserved Enjoyment.

    Soverick is out of their league now so the arena spirit won''t waste effort on him with the Ravens. So all their cawing is just the bark of a dog thatcks a strong bite meant to fool and intimidate the ignorant.


    He said to his cargo as he began his work. "If you came to kill me then you shouldn''t have a problem with what''s going to happen next. Take sce in the fact that I won''t kill you in the easiest way."


    He began to manipte gravity to clump all of them into a ball when he rose above the tree cover. It is tedious work to manipte the gravity of ten thousand people and it doesn''t help that they were all screaming throughout the process. When they have all been squished together real tight, he pulled soil and rocks from the ground to join them.


    Rocks and sand rose from the forest to join the ball of people that he made. He made sure to rotate the ball so that it is evenly covered with earth. He alsopressed it very well to make sure it is sturdy enough and can withstand a strong impact. Then he raised the encased people in the form of an earthen ball higher into the sky until he reached the limit of the world.


    His divine sense reached into the hardened ball and said to them, "Let this be known. I am going to enjoy this. But I also did the work. It wasn''t easy preparing for this. So I deserve to enjoy it. You will too if you see what I am about to see."


    They did not agree with his sentiment that he deserves to enjoy the ordeal that they are about to go through. If he asks them, they would rather he not go through whatever he is nning for them. They all have various opinions and reasons why it is a bad idea. He didn''t ask them but they forwarded their opinions to him. Some didn''t even bother to use kind words.


    "Go to Hell, Soverick Ghastorix. Your mother was a whore." Someone shouted at him.


    "Hmm? I doubt Mih will agree with that. What does she being a whore have to do with anything anyway?" He asked himself absentmindedly as he released the ball.


    His hold of the gravitational field of the ball loosened so it came under the control of natural gravity. Natural gravity dictates that all muste down so it began its downward motion.


    The people trapped within the encased stone felt him loosen his grip on them because of the sudden downward pull that they experienced. They began trying their all to escape but it is all useless. The prison of stone around them refused to give way and if it did, they would only plummet straight to the ground. The only way to safety is if they manage to break the stone and can fly. It is a shame that the stone held really well.


    Soverick watched the ball fall with slight amusement. There is a small grin on his lips. He isn''t the only one watching it either. Everyone alive within the arena saw it too. The spectators outside of the arenas saw it. They saw a massive earthen ball more than 100 meters across fall to the earth and they saw how the stone smashed into the earth in a massive explosion.


    It was a wonderful explosion. The stone hit the cleared ground where he fought the armored rhino so there were no trees to break their fall. The ball itself was smashed into the ground until it ttened while soil and rocks were thrown up. A crater filled with debris formed at the location of impact. There were no survivors. The people within the ball were crushed by the impact.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The spectators all over the ne cheered. They began screaming and chanting his name. The fervor took them. They pped in excitement. Their reaction is theplete opposite ofpetitors within the arena. It was an interesting sight for sure, but unlike the people watching in the safety of their homes, they have to live with him. They have to bear with him existing in proximity to them. So they gulped uneasily thanking the fearful and rational part of their mind that they didn''t join the quest to y the injured giant.


    These people groaned and swore when they saw Soverick''s next opponent. This massive beast suddenly appeared in the air as if conjured. It cast a shadow on the ground that covered arge amount of distance. The people directly under the monster have the most to say about the new monster.


    "It''s like I am in hell."


    "What rotten luck."


    "How are we supposed to live like this?"


    Theyined as they distanced themselves from Soverick and the monster. Some went so far as to hide themselves somewhere secure beneath the ground. They could all tell that the next battle will be catastrophic. After all, it is a dragon.


    Dragons are beasts of cmity on their own. Adding Soverick into the mix makes Cmity times two. One cmity is life-threatening. Two of them is to be doomed.


    Soverick examined the dragon with interest.


    "Interesting." He said.


    The most obvious feature of this monster is its size. It is monstrous. It looks like a small floating ind in the sky with four giant wings keeping it afloat. No amount of wings should be able to keep such a beast afloat. If not for the maniption of world power by the dragon, then it will be anded beast and not an airborne one. Even then, it will be a terrifying beast that will make the earth shake with each step.


    Other notable features apart from the massive size of the dragon are the red color of its scales and the pair of ck spikes that line its spine and the contours of its head. Its head has tworge red horns curved like that of a ram to frame its face. It looks terrifying even by dragon standards.

 Chapter 589 Lacking Size And Power.

    The ck spikes on the dragon start from the base of its head to the end of its very long tail. Itsrge red eyes focused on Soverick immediately it appeared. There is intent for violence in those red eyes so there is no chance that Soverick and the dragon can talk things out ande to an amicable resolution.


    Its exposed teeth and the gleaming ws that promise swift evisceration are especially intimating. Soverick found them to be more intimidating than the sheer pressure of the dragon''s presence. The presence of the dragon is considerable but he is sure that it cannot hurt him as well as its ws and teeth can.


    Soverick felt an unprecedented threat from this beast. It is not from the overwhelming presence. He wouldn''t be walking away with some injuries if the dragonnds a good hit on him. The dragon doesn''t even need the extra features on its body for it to be deadly. That massive body of its cannot be for show. It must be packing some serious strength in that ginormous body. And that''s not even ounting for world power. The armored rhino needed world power to be big but this dragon has bigness down to perfection. Having world power is just cheating.


    "This is just over the top." He groaned after examining the dragon. "It is the perfect monster to put a tiger with wings in its ce."


    He has to admit that this dragon has been endowed with too much power. If there is such a thing as too much power, then this dragon is proof of it. He looked at his spear and he wasn''t encouraged. It is not a wonder that this monster inducedmentations among thepetitors of Arena 28. How are they supposed to live on the same battlefield that a monstrosity like this gets to rampage on?


    But most important is how he is to kill the dragon with a toothpick in his hands. His gaining a weapon can be likened to a tiger gaining wings but this dragon can put him in his rightful ce and make him learn some humility. If he thought he was unstoppable before, now he knows that he was very wrong to think so.


    He looked at his beautiful and powerful ck spear. Then he looked at the big and powerful red dragon. Hepared their size in his mind and did some calctions. He alsopared their power.


    He sighed and said, "Now I know why they gave me the spear. I don''t stand a chance without it. How can one even kill this?"


    He was musing to himself about his opponent and reviewing his options. He has never fought a dragon before even as Gehaldirah so he doesn''t have any personal experience with fighting one. Gehaldirah always runs away from dragons. His limited experience with dragons can be summed up in a warning which is that fighting dragons is a bad idea. It doesn''t help that his observations have made him determine that this beast is near impossible to kill.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His toothpick of a weapon is not encouraging and neither is his observation of his enemy. He is outssed both in size and power. The worst of the situation is that he is to kill this dragon. He can manage if he is to fight for his life and prevent himself from being killed. That means he can try to survive against the dragon. That is the aim of the challenge but this situation with the dragon won''t be like that. He has to kill the dragon or he won''t be able to survive. He doubts the arena spirit will just conjure the dragon and be satisfied without a life-and-death showdown.


    If he intends to kill this dragon, then he needs to pull out all the stops. Even then, he is not even sure that he will be able to kill the dragon. Throwing big power at the dragon won''t kill it. It already has power under its ws and within its service. The best way to kill the dragon is to maximize the efficiency of power.


    Everything he does must be useful and must deal critical damage or it will be a waste. For now, he will use only one eye but he will use a different approach than what he used to defeat the armored rhino. He can be more efficient now that he doesn''t need to use his eyes to steal momentum.


    The two beings stood in the air gazing menacingly at each other. The four wings of the red dragon beat rhythmically creating gusts of wind beneath them. Its tail moved from side to sidenguidly as its body bopped up and down in the air. The gust of wind that it was making blew into Soverick''s face. It had little effect on him since it can''t get past his barrier. He would have thought nothing of it if he hadn''t seen the grin on the dragon''s face.


    The dragon was taunting him. It was looking down on him and blowing air into his face. It wanted him to attack first. It is not generosity out of chivalry or because of magnanimousity. The dragon is intentionally giving himself a handicap and it is making it known that it thinks nothing of it. Soverick might think it is an advantage to attack first but the dragon doesn''t think it matters. It will win anyway.


    Soverick''s eye twitched. He felt his pride take a hit. The damage to his pride is not because the dragon is disregarding him. It is because the dragon is right in disregarding him and he knows it to be true. He would also disregard a puny being were he the dragon. But he is not the dragon in this situation. He is the puny being who is being underestimated.


    He wouldn''t care if a weak person disregarded him. A weak person''s opinion of his doesn''t matter because they don''t have the strength to make their opinions a reality.

 Chapter 590 Fight The Dragon.

    The weak can think as much as they want and have opinions about everything but it wouldn''t matter. That is not so for the strong. The opinion of the strong matters a lot.


    If he were prideful and foolish, he wouldn''t take the advantage that has been offered by attacking first. Unfortunately or fortunately for him, he is anything but full of pride right now. That blow to his pride made sure that he iscking in pride right now.


    So he made the first move. He grabbed hold of the gravitational field of the dragon to control it. He pulled on it and found it to be immovable. It stood unaffected and resilient to his maniptions like that of a fortress. His own gravitational output and influence over gravity are not strong enough to overpower that of a dragon that has been empowered by the power of the world.


    He wasn''t disappointed by his failure since he expected it. The dragon could stay afloat because it is negating the effect of gravity on it which means it is somewhat adept at the use of world power to manipte its own gravitational field. Otherwise, something of that size that can only be measured in kilometers and megatonnes should not be airborne. It was just an attempt on his side to probe the dragon and get a feel for its power. His attempt didn''t sit well with the dragon though. He has already made his move and it was a disrespectful move too.


    He had the chance to make a move. He could have attacked the dragon. He could have even thrown a stone at it but he tried to ground the dragon. He tried to remove the dragon''s ability to fly. That''s just insulting. It is like Soverick was not raised well enough. If he were raised well, then his parents ought to have taught him that you don''t try to ground a dragon.


    The dragon became upset and it roared at him. The sound of the monstrous roar was also amplified by world power. It sounded like an explosion had urred from its mouth. The vibrations that passed through the air as sound also contain a lot of energy that made air expand explosively. It led to the creation of a sonar shockwave from the mouth of the dragon that spread outwards.


    Soverick stood in the air as the shockwave approached him. The de of his spear glowed for a split second and he waved it at the iing shockwave. It was more of a flicker. His movements were so fast that it seemed like he didn''t move at all. But light shed on his spear when he flickered.


    Light was reflected sharply by the side of the de of his spear and the shockwave split apart before reaching him. Apparently, something unseen had split them. The two portions of the shockwave continued on behind him. They smashed into the ground and decimated it. It was like a giant plow had gotten to work on the forest. Trees were uprooted and the soil turned to bury the uprooted trees.


    The dragon snorted when it noticed that its roar didn''t work on Soverick. Soverick shrugged and rolled his shoulders.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He beckoned to the dragon, "Give me your best shot."


    He isn''t like the weaklings that are cowering below in the forest when the aura of the dragon''s might hit them. That roar is more psychological than it is physical. It is a roar of supremacy. The roar carries with it the pressure of the dragon''s presence and ms that pressure forcefully into the mind of whoever hears it. It demands submission voluntarily or involuntarily. Those that hear it cower and submit, but it is not enough to make him submit.


    The dragon felt insulted again. It sought to teach him a lesson. Soverick rolled his eyes when he saw his opponent light up. The horns and spikes of the dragon began glowing like some luminescent crystal and the red scales at the chest of the dragon turned orange from the light shining from within. A particr scale in the chest glowed brightly more than its surroundings. These are all indications that the dragon is activating its innate ability. It seems that his opponent took his words to heart. It really is ready to give him its best shot.


    He gripped his spear tighter and readied his stance. One of his eyes glowed. That single eye is moving about rapidly taking in data while his mind swiftly analyzed it for information. He saw patterns in the world. They are the paths of least resistance. Moving in synch with them while riding on the flow of momentum within those paths will make his movements extremely fast.


    The ck spear in his hand began to glow too in response to the iing attack. This time the entirety of the spear lit up not just the de. It rang out with a cry as he overloaded it with power. He is ready to go all out. Those still watching ran away and began to dig into the ground. They know what''s about to happen and they don''t want to be around when it does.


    The dragon raised its head showing its fully bright chest. That brightness extended to its neck as it straightened it towards Soverick. Its jaws split apart as it bellowed again using the full power of its lungs to push what is in its neck out. This time, it wasn''t sound that came out. A torrent of bright red mes came pouring out from the mouth of the dragon.


    He swung his spear around him and released ck crescent des of power from the de each time the de points at the dragon. His spear moved in a rhythm as itpleted a circle around him. He continued to swing his spear using both of his hands and released more and more crescent des. His speed of swinging the spear around him increased steadily as he elerated the process until his spear became a blur around him.

 Chapter 591 Perfect Counterattack.

    Each crescent de that he made is thin and almost invisible if not viewed from the proper angle. The only way to see them is to be situated in a position where you can see the sh of light reflected off of them. So it looks like he is not doing anything to some onlookers. Then he stopped all of a sudden and watched his work.


    The first crescent des of power were slow while the ones that came after them are faster. Each subsequent crescent was released at a faster speed than the previous ones. So they were bound to overtake the ones before them. He timed the interval of release and their speeds such that all of them overtook each other at the exact same spot and at the same time. They were effectively superimposed on each other at that point. It was then that they could be seen.


    That exact point and time is when the mes of the dragon that poured out of its mouth like a flood from a broken dam hit the crescent des. A white arc of energy suddenly appeared in the path of the torrent of mes and smashed into it. All the hundreds of attacks that he made defended against the dragon fire as one. Individually, they are weak. Together, they are still weaker than the dragon fire. So they exploded. Theirbined explosion pushed the mes aside and created a window of opportunity for Soverick.


    He straightened his spear after creating the crescent des. His will red through the spear and tore world power towards it. The world howled because of his actions. The howling is from the furious movement of a tempest that suddenly sprang into existence when he pulled world power into his spear. His spear also roared as its resistance was swiftly ovee and world power was made to overwhelm it. The world power he pulled was made to mix with his divine sense and create thousands of mind spears.


    The spear became heavier in his hands as its mass increased with the consumption of world power to create more and more ck phantom spears appeared. It felt like he is carrying thousands of spears at the same time. Momentum wouldn''t do that. The increase in mass is because of world power. World power carries a weight and a force with it that must be handled in order to control it. The phantom spears stopped increasing when he reached the limit of world power that he can control.


    Then he pulled the spear back. His hand shook with that simple act. He felt a resistance that is far more than the force he has to ovee to move something as heavy as the spear. The strain he felt pushed him to the limit but he held on so that all the phantom spears can be one.


    The thousands of phantom Spears fused and became one. This is true fusion not hastily set up superimposition. He thrust his spear forward after the fusion and advanced through the opening in the mes. His previous attack created a small window of opportunity that he can use to take advantage of the dragon''s attack. He intends to counterattack now.


    The strongest attack of a dragon is their innate dragon fire but using it makes them vulnerable. Their dragon scale is nearly indistinguishable from the rest of their chest but it bes very obvious when the mes of dragon fire are being activated. They also can''t easily stop when they start using dragon fire. All of these quirks make this moment the most vulnerable for the dragon.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It is not a secret either but people are usually tied up defending against the dragon mes to take advantage of this moment. Dragon fire is after all their strongest attack. Whoever is on the receiving end will have their hands preupied with staying alive. A good way to take advantage of this situation is to defend a little and go all out with attacking. That is what he set out to do.


    The fused giant phantom of the ck spear enveloped him as he shot forward through the mes. There was already a weak point created within the torrent of mes by the previous explosion so his eyes didn''t need to search for long for an entry point. The tip of the phantom spear struck the torrent at that point and split it apart forcefully. Soverick rode the momentum of his thrust and advanced under the cover of the mes.


    By his estimates, he should burst out just beneath the head of the red dragon and straight towards its chest. He has lined everything up for the kill. He saw everything and nned it well so he can''t miss it. He just hopes that his attack is strong enough to breach the defense of the scale.


    The dragon''s mouth was still open and its neck was still extended in attacking. It is just as he thought. But he was wrong. He burst out beneath the head of the dragon but he did not hit what he targeted. He didn''t miss. He just hit something else on his way there.


    The dragon had sensed the massive activation of world power from Soverick. It didn''t help that Soverick practically ripped world power from the world. He could have coerced world power slowly but he rushed the umtion. It is enough indication that he is in a hurry and the volume of world power that Soverick ripped indicates that whatever Soverick is nning is dangerous.


    So the dragon roused world power too and pooled it onto its ws. The move was effortless and seamless. It didn''t have to force world power to bend to its will like Soverick. It beaconed and the world answered. Then it pushed both of its ws forward in the general direction of the iing threat.


    Tworge phantoms of ws flew away from the dragon''s ws and shed with Soverick. They can''t be dodged. He has to face them head on or stop going forward.

 Chapter 592 Cheating Dragon.

    Soverick eyes widened at the attack. He didn''t expect the response but he reacted to it and swiftly too. He flicked his spear twice. The giant spear phantom seemed to warp sideways and twist on itself before returning to its previous position. Its quick movement made it p the two iing ws aside.


    His response was perfect. He used the smallest amount of effort to expertly disable the ws by striking them where they were most vulnerable to an external force. His swift actions preserved his forward momentum so he had almost all of his power. He continued forward with his mission to kill without dy.


    Unfortunately, he is not fated to achieve what he set out for because he was sent flying. His sh with the ws, no matter how brief, allowed the dragon to zone in on him. The fight might have been so quick that 2 seconds haven''t gone by since it started but the two of them are high-level beings and are capable of extraordinary things. The dragon was also able to react to his attack with that brief window that the phantom ws brought for it. It followed the phantom ws with an attack with its real ws.


    Soverick had to defend against the ws with his full power and even then he failed. He was struck flying after his collision with a single w. He wasn''t able to ovee the strength of the dragon at all. A single smash and he was airborne immediately.


    He grumbled as he flew in the air. "This is not fair. The dragon can use skills too. This is cheating."


    He thought his response to the dragon fire was perfect. But apparently, it wasn''t enough. It wasn''t because he failed to take into ount a possible phantom attack. It shouldn''t have been a problem since monsters aren''t supposed to be able to use skills. They can empower their bodies to use innate abilities like the maniption of world power but they shouldn''t be able to use skills of weapon mastery. That''s just overkill.


    The monsters in this world are not the same creatures as the external world. They should be barely intelligent beasts that can''t exhibit the use of skills. It seems that isn''t the case because this dragon just used the fourth step of weapon mastery. Such a thing needs an intelligent mind and divine sense. He didn''t sense any divine sense from the dragon which made him decide that they have rigged the dragon to make things extra difficult for him.


    If his eyes had not seen through all that fire and saw the ws waiting for him then he would be the one to be surprised on exiting the mes instead of the dragon. It is as if the strength of the dragon wasn''t enough so they had to add skills. Who needs skills when your own strength is enough? It is just overkill.


    Unfortunately, no one sympathized with him. His enemy didn''t even give him time to breathe after almost crushing the life out of him with a single p. The dragon advanced on him after that hit. It pped its four wings and shot forward with unstoppable momentum. Itsrge size means it can''t miss hitting Soverick. It doesn''t even need to hit him with anything offensive. A good body-on-body collision is enough to deal heavy blunt damage to Soverick. It is that strong.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The dragon''s eyes focused solely on the puny creature that has dared to rise against it. It opened its jaws to take a good bite out of Soverick but it had to swerve aside to avoid something that attacked it from beneath.


    Arge boulder sailed by the side of its head and rose into the sky. The dragon looked downward to determine the source of the attack only to jerk its head sideways again. Another Boulder flew past its head. It was able to react quickly enough and escape a direct hit to its head.


    Somehow, rocks and boulders of various sizes are rising from the ground and aiming for its head. Hundreds ofrge rocks, boulders, and trees are floating and levitating from the ground. It can''t be natural because it looked like the forest was rising to meet them in the air. Trees certainly don''t grow in the air.


    The dragon hadn''t sensed the change because the force that pulled them is based on gravity maniption and it didn''t sense any such thing from its prey after the first sphemous attempt on its own gravitational field. So it wondered how Soverick managed it.


    It is an admirable performance on the part of the dragon that it wasn''t caught off guard by the surprise attacks. Unfortunately for it, it had ignored Soverick while evading the projectiles. Arge phantom closed in on its chest again just as it dodged another well-timed strike at its head. Soverick took advantage of the distraction to right himself in the air and attack the dragon again.


    Soverick bolted towards his target with indomitable force. This is n B if n A failed. He had started working on the levitating boulders at the same time he tried to manipte the gravity field of the dragon. He sent out tworge bursts of gravitational force at the same time. The one he used on the dragon had two functions. It was to try and gain control of the dragon''s gravitational field and also mask his work down below. Now that the dragon is preupied with saving its head, he will go for the heart again.


    The dragon responded to the threat to its life with a series of actions. It pped all four of its giant wings at Soverick. Fourrge wind scythes formed as the air was riled up and infused with world power. The four wind scythes were also followed by arge wind shield. The pping wings also helped the dragon to create distance between it and Soverick. It''s a triplebo move on the part of the dragon. Attack, defense, and evasion. All done with expert use of the fourth step of weapon mastery.

 Chapter 593 Desperate Attempt.

    The dragon cheated again to avoid a dangerous situation. It used momentum with world power to create obstacles between it and Soverick. Soverick didn''tin. He stopped in the air and jumped backward so the phantom spear that was enveloping him continued on forward without him.


    He forcefully separated himself from the flow of momentum in the opposite direction. His body cracked like porcin because of that maneuver. Momentum is a raging beast that pushes forwards and onwards. Stepping off of it without redirecting it somewhere else will lead to a severe bacsh. Stopping it is severe enough, stepping back is deadly.


    It should be impossible to step back like that but he did it by following the path of least resistance. The cracks wanted to spread and shatter his existence but his pirs of momentum empowered him and held him together. The cracks glowed goldenly as momentum was pumped into him to reinforce his existence.


    His vision blurred due to the pain. Both his body and consciousness are being pushed toward their limits. He didn''t let the pain hold him back though. His gaze remained fixed on his goal and he maintained control of the raging energies and forces that he is manipting. Then he thrust his spear forward again. Another giant spear phantom appeared around him.


    The bacsh and the empowerment of the gates of momentum allowed him to form another giant phantom spear with the same power as thest one. He used the bacsh as a slingshot to catapult himself. Then he shot forward again after the first phantom spear.


    It was like he stumbled and was left behind the first phantom spear. But then he stepped on an invisible springboard and shot forward with another phantom spear. His injuries disappeared instantly because he redirected the bacsh into creating another phantom spear. His vision cleared up immediately and the pain receded. The two spears moved along in tandem. One leading the way for the other.


    The four wind scythes collided with the first giant spear. They sliced through the phantom spear but were not able to destroy it. The same cannot be said about him if he were still in the first phantom spear. He would have been torn apart. Soverick followed along as the first spear shed with the shield next and bore a hole through it.


    The first spear was made with all the world power that he can handle and a little bit more. Some hastily created wind scythes and a windshield can''t stop it. They can slow it down though. That would allow the dragon to use its evasion to its full effectiveness. But Soverick knew that and he expected it.


    The first spear slowed down so the second one caught up to it. Then Soverick made the two fuse together and continued on. He can''t control both of them since it is above his limit so he sacrificed the first phantom to boost the second one. His speed experienced an explosive boost. He shot forward as he elerated and became faster than ever before. It is like he never stepped back and was never slowed down.


    He caught up to the dragon again but cracks began to appear on his body again. He is way over his limit with the amount of world power and momentum that he is manipting. He would have exploded if he hadn''t chosen to sacrifice one phantom for the other. Even then, his maneuvres are still too much for him to bear. It is breaking him but he continued on aiming for that heart. The dragon has exposed its chest in order to create those wind scythes. It is in a prime and locked position for a proper stabbing into its vulnerable spot.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "As expected." He muttered through the haze of pain.


    He saw the tail of the dragon whipping forward and the chest of the dragon lighting up. The dragon is not so helpless but he expected it. He is not helpless either so he continued forward. He sacrificed more of the first spear to experience another sudden boost in speed while simultaneously twisting in a zig-zag path. It made the dragon''s tail miss.


    He ripped past the tail of the dragon, destroying the dragon''s intention of stalling him with it. Which means it won''t be able to load its dragon me in time. The dragon realized that too. So it aborted the mes. It took some damage to its throat but it is worth it. It brought down its head to try and block Soverick and it also ced its ws across its exposed chest to protect itself.


    Soverick expected this response too. Two boulders dropped from the sky and smashed into the neck of the dragon, effectively destabilizing it while more rocks smashed into its underside. They smashed into its left side raising that side a little and tilting the dragon.


    These two actions created a small gap in the dragon''s defense that Soverick flew into. His augmented phantom spear dug into that scale and sank in. It is always a pleasant feeling to experience flesh being forcefully parted to create a way for an external object. Soverick expected that feeling. Unfortunately, he didn''t get it. His expectations were subverted.


    "Oh no." He eximed.


    He struck the dragon''s weakness but his sess did not bring him happiness. His spear phantom hit the scale and prated it. It sank deep into the scale but it didn''t go far enough. He expected the scale to be thick considering its size. Each scale is the size of a building so it is expected that it will be thick too.


    This scale must be at least 10 meters thick from what he can sense. It is many times thicker than some people are tall and definitely thicker than what he expected. He didn''t see how thick it was before he attacked because he can''t. The dragon''s body is infused with world power and his eyes can''t see through orprehend world power. So he had to make an estimate. It turned out that his estimate was very wrong.

 Chapter 594 Pride And Prejudice.

    "Something is not right." He thought furiously.


    He had anticipated a certain level of thickness. That''s why he created a powerful weapon made of world power. His phantom spear ought to Pierce through the dragon but underestimated the level of defense that thisndmass of a beast is sporting. All of his power and trickery did not let him go past 1 meter on the scale. His phantom spear didn''t go past the tip into the scale that is supposed to be the weakest part of the dragon.


    The scale should be thick but it shouldn''t be so strong. He was wrong both on the thickness and strength of the defense of the dragon. Apparently, he had underestimated a dragon. That is a grave sin. If there is anyone that might underestimate a dragon, it isn''t him. He has too much respect and fear for dragons to underestimate them.


    He felt that things are out of his expectations but he doesn''t have time to dwell much on his suspicions. Already, the dragon is capitalizing on his failure. He sensed the dragon w swiping at him but he can''t evade it. He is in a tricky situation all because he wanted to keep going forward. Now he can''t turn back even if he wants to.


    This w attack had been a hasty defense by the dragon to discourage him from going for the chest but he did it anyway because he thought it will be checkmate if he seeds in hitting its weak spot. He is right about the checkmate despite his failure. It is just that it will be him that is checkmated.


    He detonated the phantom spear. It is not a safe thing to do considering he is inside the said phantom spear. But he doesn''t have any other choice apart from letting the dragon smack him like a fly. In fact, it is a very stupid thing to let all that power be chaotic and explode because of instability.


    So he didn''t let the phantom spear explode on its own like a sane person who is forced to make an insane decision like detonating a phantom spear while inside of it. He pumped more power into it and actively shape the phantom spear into the best medium for an explosion. His interference in the explosion allowed him to gain some sort of reprieve by determining the direction of the explosion.


    A thundering explosion took ce on the dragon''s chest. It tore that scale apart and destroyed the flesh below it. The twobatants were both separated from their exchange by the powerful explosion. Both of them took severe damage from the explosion and both of them fell to the ground.


    The dragon took the brunt of the explosion and fell to the ground with an unwilling roar. The ground also roared its indignance by making a loud crashing sound as the dragon cratered it. The collision between the ground and the dragon ttened trees and kicked up a lot of debris.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick sailed through the air with his robes tattered and his golden fur burned off. He didn''t hit the earth, unlike his opponent that cratered the ground in another explosion. He righted himself in the air with his control of gravity. His eye peered at the grounded dragon in concentration. He wants to determine how much damage he really did. He saw the chest of the dragon. It has been sted open and the weak scale has also been destroyed so he saw what was beneath it.


    It was his turn to roar unwillingly. "Who is fucking with me?"


    There''s nothing crucially damaged beneath the scale. He can only see burnt flesh that is quickly healing even as he is watching. There''s nothing crucially damaged because there''s nothing that can be crucially damaged beneath that scale. It wasn''t a vulnerability as he thought. It was a trap and it is conclusive proof that someone is intentionally making things difficult for him. How else will a dragon not have a dragon heart?


    First, the dragon could use skills. Then its dragon scale is too strong for it to be its weakness. He didn''t let that stop him. He managed to ovee the thickness and defense of the scale but it turned out that it is just for show. All that theatrics of the scale lighting up was meant to deceive him. The dragon has no weakness because someone tweaked it not to have a weakness but still looks like it has a weakness.


    ''Surely someone can''t be actively manipting things to make it difficult for me. It is probably normal. At least it is normal for this challenge. Maybe they did it to make it more challenging.'' He thought to himself.


    He tried to rationalize why the dragon doesn''t have a dragon heart. It is because he considers it having a huge ego and being full of himself for thinking that apetition of this level will be biased or unfair against him. He is not so full of himself so he discarded his suspicion.


    He is proud of himself but he isn''t that proud. He might simply be ignorant but he can''t think of a reason why the sanctity of thispetition will be breached just for him. He can think of several reasons why someone will target him but this is apetition run by a world god. It will be egotistical of him to think that a world god is targeting him. Not until he sees some valid proof that he is being targeted personally.


    The dragon might just be like that. After all, this dragon is just a weakened copy of the real thing. The changes to the dragon might have been done to pose a challenge to thepetitors. Anyone could have faced it and be stumped by theck of a heart. So he discarded his suspicions of unfairness and decided to tackle the problem anew. Comining won''t do him any good. If he wants to achieve something, the best person to rely on is himself.

 Chapter 595 It All Comes Down To Power

    Comining won''t do. It is not as if the arena spirit will intervene in the fight if heins enough. It will be foolish to expect that to happen. So he concentrated on his dilemma and took stock of his situation.


    He watched the dragon try to stand as he muttered. "It is strong. It is fast. It can fly. It can control world power. It can use dragon fire. Its defense is too strong. It is a dragon but it doesn''t have a dragon scale. It is meant to be unkible. At least, I can''t kill it unless I get more power."


    He began to list out what he discovered about the dragon and it isn''t good news. He detonated that phantom spear for two things. The most important one is to evade the w attack. His previous brush with it made him realize that the dragon''s ws can shred him if they get a good hit on him.


    The second reason is to harm the dragon and see how thick its defense is. The result of that damage is not promising. They are worse if that scale is the weakest part of the dragon. It will be impossible to kill the thing if the other scales are thicker and stronger.


    Next, he began cycling through possible options to kill the winged beast. He considered targeting other weaknesses like the eyes and wings but they won''t amount to much. The eyes are very close to the head which means he will need to be close to the dragon''s teeth to reach the eyes. Being close to a dragon''s teeth is not a good idea. The wings are also not useful as a target despite theirrge size because the dragon doesn''t need them to stay afloat.


    He came to two conclusions then. The first one is that he needs more power. More power always solves most problems and in this case, it is desperately needed. If he can increase his attacking power, then he might be able to breach the defense of the dragon.


    Increasing his power through external means is not going to work for many reasons one of which is the dragon. It just jumped and soared into the air. Then it shot towards Soverick with very obvious ill intent. If he wants to get more power, he needs to get it before the dragon reaches him which is not a long time.


    The second reason is that he can''t get more power simply because he wants to. He needs to kill monsters of his rank or higher to make any meaningful progress in the steps of power but he doesn''t see powerful monsters everywhere. The world spirit has to be holding out on him. This dragon that he is fighting is all that he will get any time soon.


    The second conclusion that he came to is that in order to kill the dragon, he has to increase his efficiency. He has to use power wisely and get more from it. Since he can''t raise his limit through external means, then he has to raise his output somehow. The best method to do that is through skillful usage of power. And he has just the right thing for the job. It is going to take all of his mental and visual prowess to pull it off.


    "This is it then. Two can y at this game." He muttered angrily at the iing dragon.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He has tried to be reasonable but it seems that thispetition is asking the unreasonable of him. How is he to kill the dragon? It is just unreasonable. So he will give them the unreasonable. If they want to make difficult rules, then he will break those rules. If a game is stacked against you, you should overturn the board and make everyone lose. He just has to make sure that the dragon loses more than him.


    First, he prepped his body. He pulled off his burnt robes and took a stance in the air. He had one foot forward while his spear is drawn back. All four of his eyes focused on the dragon for the first time. His body cracked as he overloaded it with momentum. The golden light showing within the cracks was then infused with world power. His body stayed in that form like a statue, unmoving, preparing, and waiting.


    Next, he prepped his eyes.


    His eyes bore into the dragon. He looked farther than the surface. He looked beyond the scales and the muscles beneath. His vision descended past tissues and cells. It descended further to the realm of energy manifestation and matter transformation. His vision of the world changed.


    His eyes can see it. The flows and ebbs of the world. Beneath that is the way the wind moves. Beneath it is the way that mana stirs. Further below is the interaction ofws in the matrix. He can see all of it so he can interact with it. If he chooses to, he can break it. Ites at a cost and he needs his body and mind to keep up with what he sees. It is going to be difficult, but he can do it.


    Then he prepped his mind with the activation of the first move of his personal skill set.


    "WRAITH OF DEATH: WORLD BREAKER."


    His mind connected his vision to his body. It became the connection between what he can see and where he wants to be. His body began to vibrate. The resonation exceeded the natural order of the world. His form seemed to flicker and be translucent as he descended further into the strata of the world of manifestation.


    He became a phantom existing on both sides of the physical realm. He became a being of manifestation and concept. He needs to be if he wants to affect changes at thew matrix level without being an origin god. He is not an origin God so he won''t be able to make perfect and clean changes to thew matrix. But that''s okay. He is aiming to make a mess anyway.

 Chapter 596 The World Breaker

    The dragon gained on him like a terrifying beast of cmity immune to death and made for destruction. Its head was pointed forward as it beat its wings to push it to greater speed. A terrible hurricane followed in its wake. The hurricane carried debris of soil and trees and threw them at a great distance away. The forest experienced disruption and chaos wherever the dragon passed. Imagine the disruption and chaos it can cause to its target.


    It had a leer on its face. Its lips parted in a grin that showed terrifying teeth. What matters is that part of its lips was lifted to show its teeth in a mocking gesture. It could also be a sneer. Either way, it is mocking Soverick. It mocked Soverick at the beginning of their fight. Soverick''s pride took a hit that time. But Soverick felt challenged this time. He felt challenged to bring his best and he felt indignant so he is going to bring his best.


    The dragon knows its situation. It knows that it has been tailor-made to be near impossible to kill. If it were Soverick in its shoes then he will be confident too. As it is right now, he might not be as powerful or as durable as the dragon, but he can be the tool that breaks the fabric of the tapestry of the dragon. If he can''t win, then he will break the rules and destroy the game. He will overturn the board and render the pieces irrelevant.


    He took a step forward and his body split into two. Two of him appeared side by side. Both of him seem like phantoms. They are translucent like a phantom but he is no ordinary phantom. He is the wraith of death. The wraith of death that dances with the wind. He took another step with much difficulty and the two wraiths divided again to be four. His next steps became slower and more difficult but each one saw him divided again and again.


    He was only able to take 7 steps before he had to stop. He managed to create 128 wraiths. The wraiths are faint now. They are almost invisible. Only an outline of them can be seen. They are like leaves waving in the wind. It seems like they can be easily blown away. He has reached his limit. Any further and he will disappear forever. Even his immortal soul will not save him. He will be lost in the matrix of the universe forever. He knows the danger. So he didn''t push himself further. This is enough anyways.


    The wraiths suddenly snapped together and fused into one blurry entity. That entity disappeared as soon as it formed and appeared behind the dragon. Soverick reformed behind the dragon and continued shooting forward even after deactivating his move. He has be unconscious and unresponsive. He can''t stop himself from hitting the ground this time.


    The only sign of his work is a ck tear in space that started from the location where the wraith disappeared and where Soverick appeared. It is more of a rip in space spanning the straight line between these two points. That rip also passed through the dragon.


    The dragon did not split in half. What happened to it is much worse. Its form broke apart silently and it scattered into the wind like dust. The tear in the world healed but the dragon can not heal because there is nothing to heal. You can note back from being forcefully turned to dust unless you''re an Origin god. Even then, you will still die.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Arena 28 became strangely quiet. The fight ended abruptly and there was no one cheering. It is not because people are stunned by the fight and are too shocked to make a sound. It is because there is no one watching. Everyone has gone into hiding. Even the monsters are cowering in a little corner so that trees and rocks won''t hit them just because they were out in the open.


    Some wind des cut through trees and some people. A hurricane was throwing huge dangerous stuff around earlier. Rocks fell from the sky on top of some people. Nowhere was safe. Only those that hid in the ground somewhere had a modicum of safety. The ones that were underneath the hurricane were not safe from it though. They were pulled from the ground and thrown around like a ragdoll.


    The arena became a death zone where anyone can just die for being in the wrong ce at the right time. The ground was shaking and trees were felled. Roars and shouts filled the air. The sounds of battle were intense. Then it suddenly disappeared. Nothing happened for several minutes after that. The silence was only broken by the asional sounds of boulders hitting the ground after they lost the gravitational field that made them levitate.


    People started to emerge when the sounds of battle died down. That means they only starteding out when the hurricane stopped rampaging everywhere even after the dragon''s death. Thepetitors of the arena emerged to find the world scarred and demolished.


    The earth has been disfigured as if someone took scoops out of it. Trees have been uprooted and scattered about. There arerge boulders that are breaking apart everywhere. These boulders broke apart to reveal the sand and tree parts within them. Apparently, they were formed unnaturally. Someone must have clumped soil, rocks, and trees together and forced them to be boulders. The forest is a lot of missing soil and some uprooted trees.


    Then there''s the forest fire. The me is a deep shade of red radiating a lot of heat that is felt at a distance. The forest fire is expanding quickly and will soon turn this entire arena uninhabitable. The source of the fire can be guessed. So, no one is particrly surprised by it. No one is surprised that a single attack of dragon fire is enough to consume the entire Arena and that this much damage urred even when the fight did notst a minute.

 Chapter 597 Lamentations And Acceptance.

    It is what it is. They know that dragons are very powerful and that dragon fire is very dangerous. So they are not surprised by the state of things, but they are despairing. Apparently, it is not enough to survive being around two powerful beings as they fight. You also have to survive the effect of their battle on the environment. You can''t just go into hiding while they fight and thene back up after the fight so that you can resume trying to make something of yourself.


    What are they supposed to do now? Are they supposed to continue thepetition in these conditions? Who can even fight now while knowing the full capabilities of Soverick and knowing that whatever they do will be a poor imitation of his fight? Thepetition will be children ying at war games in light of recent events.


    Most of thepetitors just gave up. It is not because their confidence took too much of a hit. They already knew that they areckingpared to him. His fight with the armored rhino showed them just how far apart they are from his level of power. So it is not a problem ofcking confidence.


    The problem is that Soverick has literally ruined thispetition for them. They see no hope of even seeking out a modicum of sess in this challenge. They can''t even do the little that they are capable of doing because of him. So why bother at all?


    Some shook their heads as they watched the fire spread. Theymented, "We are doomed."


    The entirepetition has be trying to survive the dragon fire that is spreading everywhere. Forget monsters and otherpetitors, the aftermath of dragon fire is the obstacle to beat if they want to survive this challenge. The dragon didn''t fight them. It didn''t target them with its dragon mes. But they will still die and it will all be unintentional coteral damage.


    Somemented with eptance, "It is over."


    The situation is obvious and they have epted it. It is their bad luck not to only exist in the same era as the child of the ne but to also be grouped up with him in the same arena. These people are the strong ones. Despite their failure, they understand that it is not their fault and there is nothing they can do about it.


    Others broke down andmented. Screaming over and over again, "Why me? Why me?"


    They had so many hopes and dreams. They had things they wished to achieve in thispetition. They wanted glory and honor. They wanted some achievement to their name. Now all they will have at best is a goodugh at the memory of this challenge. It will be that time that they died because Soverick fought a dragon. They willugh while secreting feeling deep emotional pain within them.


    The atmosphere of Arena 28 is gloomy at best. The other arenas are saved from the bulk of their cmity but they too were influenced by the events that took ce when the global announcement reached them. They learned that Soverick had fought a rank 9 monster and killed it making him the first to do so. He is also the first to reach the 8th step and the 9th step in the entirepetition. That is another 6 feats right there making for a total of 29 feats. He just keeps taking in the good things while others are trying to survive.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    That notification is a blow to many if they haven''t be numb to it. There''s only so much you can take before it stops being novel and it bes normal. It is normal now that someone has earned 29 feats when more than 99% of them have not earned a single one so theyck enthusiasm for it. It is what it is. it just made some very sour.


    As for those that haven''t be numb to it, then they began to feel existential angst. They began to ask themselves some pertinent questions.


    "Am I just weak or is he too strong?"


    "What use am I anyway?"


    "How can I ever hope to match that?"


    "I am not even worthy of being in his shadow."


    The reverse is the case for the spectators in the ne. They were able to enjoy that fight from thefort of their homes and the safety it brought them. Those watching it on their entertainment device even get to enjoy high-definition sounds. The quick-paced battle can be slowed down and the sounds of shes amplified for their enjoyment. So the spectators feel pretty good about it even when they don''t really know how Soverick killed that dragon.


    They just saw him take a stance, start to fade away as he stepped forward, then he reappeared behind the dragon leaving a tear in his wake. The popr opinion is that he moved so fast and tore straight through the dragon with his spear thrusting forward. The tear is caused by a skill he used on the spear to make it sharp. They are wrong but it is not their fault. They tried their best with what little information they had.


    The other more powerful spectators have more to say about how Soverick killed the dragon. The origin god spectators from both sides are impressed with the battle. What they saw and what they think happened demands that they be impressed no matter their position on the child of the Virut ne.


    Origin gods know thatws interact to create concepts within thew matrix and concepts manifest in the world as the physical things we see. A being that is a concept exists betweenws and its manifestation and therefore, gains some control over the mechanism of manifestation. The only known beings that can do that are Origin gods. That is a summary of their existence. Soverick has simted that existence to do something that only they are supposed to be able to do.

 Chapter 598 Soup Brain.

    It is not that the Origin gods can''t kill that dragon. They can surely do it but they do it with concepts which Soverick doesn''t have. They use their concepts to destroy the concepts that make up their targets. But Soverick did what they can do without having concepts. If that isn''t impressive enough, it gets better because they know what Soverick did but they don''t know how he did it.


    Even they don''t know how he did it. If they knew, then they wouldn''t need concepts. They had to absorb Origin essence to make them exist that way but Soverick did not and he is a king ofw. Either way, he did it, and both sides are very impressed with it.


    The administrators of both sides are also impressed with it.


    The sage nodded, "Satisfactory performance. It was expected."


    The sage is very impressed with how Soverick handled the dragon but he expected it so it did note as a shock to him.


    The same can not be said about the serpentine world god. "What do you mean it was expected?"


    He had to be impressed. He had no choice in the matter. What he saw evoked that feeling in him. It is against his nature but he is impressed with Soverick. But the sage is saying it is expected. How can it be expected that a king ofw knows how to descend to thew matrix and then use his entire existence to smash into the manifestation of the dragon like a hammer because he doesn''t have a concept? Who does such a thing? And what''s more, who could expect such a thing?


    Soverick didn''t just smash himself headfirst into the dragon once, he did it 128 times creating 128 faults within the dragon. It is like mudding up the genes of an organism. One wrong change here and there is not enough to kill the organism. There might be one or two odd defects but it is not enough for death. But 128 mutations are another matter.


    These 128 smudges in the gene chain are not in ordinary cells either. Ordinary cells can be reced and the organism will heal just like the dragon healed the explosion to its chest. The mutations urred in the reproductive cells which are responsible for the genes of the next generation.


    The physical dragon can be likened to the next generation while its concept in thew matrix are the genes of its reproductive cells. Its manifestation was seriously injured by the 128 faults. They created thepounding effect that we saw. They led to the dragon''s existence copsing on itself. It just couldn''t exist as a dragon anymore so it broke down into its constituent matter.


    Aicalparison will be the scrambling of someone''s brain into soup. You take a stick and introduce it into someone''s head. Then you stir it rigorously until the soft squishy tissue that makes up the brain is turned into something with the consistency of soup. It is understandable that the person with the soup brain will not be capable of initiating a single thought in their head. It is expected that such a person will die if their brain is a critical part of their existence. The dragon also copsed because something critical to its existence has been scrambled.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    As a world god, he has seen a lot of things. But he hasn''t seen something like this done by a king ofw at the risk of their own existence. Soverick may have killed that dragon but he didn''te out of it unscathed because his actions created an equal but opposite reaction. And yet, the first sage is saying he expected it. How does one expect something like that? He certainly didn''t. If he did, he wouldn''t have bothered with sabotaging the dragon at all.


    The sage answered his question. "It''s a secret."


    That answer did not sit well with the serpentine world god. He can feel that he is unknowingly walking into a trap. Somehow, the sage had expected Soverick to trounce the obstacles heid in the challenge and yet he allowed him to go ahead and set the challenge anyway. It is either due to blind confidence in Soverick or a trick he doesn''t know about. He decided to change that. The best way to beat a schemer is to be proactive instead of reactive.


    "How about you let me change thest boss back to what it was before?" He asked the sage.


    The changes he made to thest boss used to fill him with pride and confidence that Soverick will be trapped but the way Soverick destroyed that dragon made him lose confidence in the obstacle he set. He didn''t ask to improve on it because frankly, there''s no way to improve that obstacle. It is rank 10 after all. That''s the limit of the world fragment. He can''t go beyond that.


    Even if he could upgrade the final boss further, there''s nothing he can do to counter that move that Soverick used. At least not within the settings of the challenge. He doesn''t even know how Soverick managed to do it. He knows it has something to do with his eyes but he doesn''t know how it became possible.


    The serpentine world god isn''t even able to wrap his head around the normal eyes of the sages much less this aberrant. So he wants to remove the changes he made. Removing the change will also invalidate the reason for the sage''s permission to do it in the first ce.


    The sage nodded. "I see. You''re having cold feet."


    "I am not having cold feet. I just feel it is unfair to try and stop such a talented young man. It was shameful of me to sabotage the boy''s progress. A respectable world God such as myself should be more tolerating of the future generation."


    "Mixing wrongs and truths is good but you''re not fooling me. I agree that it is shameful of you to sabotage the boy''s progress but it isn''t the reason why you want to change. You''re having cold feet."

 Chapter 599 Trap Or Not.

    The sage was not fooled at all. He knows that the serpentine world god is regretting the changes it made to Soverick''s arena. It is an expected reaction in light of the recent events. But that doesn''t mean he has to agree to the serpentine world god''s request to make changes. So the sage refused.


    The refusal made the serpentine world god ecstatic instead of downcast. He pointed at the sage and said, "Aha. I knew you were up to something. Now I know it has to do with you allowing me to change thest boss. Your refusal to let me remove the change confirms it."


    The sage rolled his eyes. "Paltry tricks to get me to let you have your way. I can''t even fall for it if I were blind."


    Then the sage said with a grin. "You are right about me being up to something though. But I''ll let you have your way. You can revoke the changes you made to thest boss. It will be at a cost to you. The Piper has to be paid."


    The serpentine world god became alert immediately. This is the first time that the sage will be asking for something since thepetition started. The sage allowed him to interfere on his own side of thepetition earlier without asking for anything. That is a big deal and yet he didn''t ask for anything. But now he is asking for something. So he can''t take this lightly. It will give him an insight into what the sage hopes to achieve.


    He has to review and analyze the request over and over again for him to crack the First Sage''s intention.


    He asked carefully, "What do you want?"


    The sage smiled innocently. "I want to be given permission to change the final boss of every arena in your own side."


    The sage''s request dropped like a hammer on the serpentine world god''s mind. rms red up. That innocent smile did nothing to reduce his fears. He doesn''t need to think hard and long to recognize the game that the sage yed. He also recognized that he has fallen into a trap already. Now he has to either give up an arm or a leg.


    The sage allowed him to make the changes because he isn''t worried or because there was something at y that he doesn''t know about. If he wants to eliminate that thing that the sage is up to, he has to allow the sage to set an obstacle for his entire side. He doesn''t know what that hidden agenda is but he knows what effect the open agenda is. It will lead to catastrophic consequences if the sage sets the final boss for all of the arenas of his side.


    The serpentine world god turned away and focused on the happenings of the arenas. "Never mind."


    All he did was change the dragon and thest boss of Arena 28. If it had worked it would have dyed Soverick and Soverick alone but the sage wants to dy everyone on his side. He doesn''t think the trade is worth it.


    He will risk the repercussions for not removing the changes he made to thest boss. That is if there is even any repercussions. The sage might just be acting mysterious and suspicious so that he will think there is something wrong and allow the sage to stall all the arenas in his side.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''What could go wrong?'' He asked himself.


    He can''t figure out anything that might go wrong from simply making some changes to the Soverick''s arena. So he dismissed his fear.


    The sage shrugged and turned to thepetition too. "Your loss."


    The sage''s words stung the serpentine world god. He grumbled audibly. "They warned me but I didn''t listen. They said I should be very careful of you and that you are more snake than I am but I didn''t listen."


    Yes, they warned him. Even the realm lord warned him but he didn''t take it to heart. He should have known that something is up when the madman of the void Universe is telling him to be extra careful when dealing with the sage. He didn''t listen because he can''t take the monkeys that his race subjugated easily seriously. Battle sage monkeys are pets or prey in his ne. There''s just no way that he would be afraid of pets.


    The sage agreed. "I told you too, didn''t I? But you didn''t listen. I told you your arrogance will be your downfall."


    The sage is also one of the people that warned him. That warning did nothing to help take the other warnings seriously. How could he actually take the warning to heart when the person that he felt to be beneath him warned him to be careful? It''s like being warned by a being you consider to be a rat that you want to kill. That warning from the rat will undermine the warning of others. Because if you decide to be careful, you will have to listen to the warnings of the others and the warning of the rat. He couldn''t listen to the rat so he didn''t listen to others.


    "I hate you." He told the sage.


    The sage replied, "I know. But it changes nothing. The end is inevitable. If it will help, I want you to know that I am quite fond of you though."


    The serpentine world god grunted and said nothing.


    The sage smiled to himself. It was inevitable. His trap wasn''t built in a day but it became inevitable for his co-administrator to be trapped right from the moment he started building the trap. A good trap is one that is built together with the prey you want to trap. That assistance can either be voluntary or involuntary because it doesn''t matter.


    There''s one thing that sages always say about warfare. Make ns and n for the failure of your n. So it doesn''t matter if you try not to corporate because you will assist in making that perfect trap even with your incorporation. He had prepared for the oue and made ns upon ns.

 Chapter 600 A Boon To Arena 28.

    The first moment that the sage put his numerous ns into action was a long time before he met the serpentine world god for the first time. There was also a long period of nning before that time. During that time, the serpentine world god didn''t even know that the sage existed. The sage on the other hand was silently observing and profiling him. So the sage has all the advantages in their interaction. The serpentine world god''s caution right now when they are in the thick of things is just the futile grasping of a drowning man.


    The little that the serpentine world god knows is from when they first met. At that time, the sage told him to be very careful of tricks. Now, that sounds like a lot of things to different people. To some, it sounds like the sage is bragging. Such a person will try to prove the sage wrong and show that there is nothing to fear about him. They will fall into the trap headlong. Then there are others that will take the warning to be true but they will start second-guessing themselves.


    Second-guessing doesn''t mean you will make the right decision. In fact, you might fall into the trap you''re trying to avoid in the fall ce. Second-guessing yourself will reduce your confidence and make you overly cautious. It will take a longer way, but you will still fall into the trap too. That''s why there''s reverse psychology, reverse-reverse psychology, reverse-reverse-reverse psychology, and so on and so forth. As long as a sage is prepared, there''s no way out of their trap. The little that the serpentine world God knows is just the tip of the iceberg.


    The sage stopped thinking about his ns. He looked at the situation in Arena 28. He couldn''t help but shake his head at the sight of Arena 28. Soverick and the dragon have caused a lot of destruction. The Sage decided to help thepetitors in the arena.


    He told the serpentine world god, "I think I should do something about the fire though. It will spoil the game for the others. I have a proposal concerning thest boss fight."


    "What proposal do you have concerning the boss fight?"


    "It is a nice opportunity to bet. Thest boss is your great creation. We should bet to see if Soverick will best it or not. The opportunity to bet will be open till the beginning of the fight. How about it? Wanna bet?"


    The world god grunted and remained silent. It is hubris that made him bet with the sage in the first ce and it is bad luck that he encountered Soverick. He is not going to repeat his previous mistake of betting against Soverick as he bet against the sage.


    The two of them are more alike than most people know. Soverick and the sage are both talented people on the level of sages and they were both given the title of child of the ne. So he won''t bet and he won''t say anything because anything he says can and will be used against him by the sage. That is another lesson that he has learned.


    But the sage had other ideas.


    He asked, "Why won''t you bet? You should have faith in what you did."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The serpentine world god didn''t take the bait. He has already lost faith since the dragon died. That dragon was supposed to be impossible to kill and yet it was killed. Anything is possible with Soverick. The unthinkable bes possible.


    So there''s no way he will risk increasing his bet right now. Any more and he might actually be poor. The resources they are betting on are not some mundane things even to world gods. They can literally kill each other for them and bing poor as a world god means you''re about to die. So no, he won''t risk death for anything.


    The sage quelled the fire in Arena 28 while he taunted the serpentine world into betting. The fire in the forest went out all of a sudden. The earth was restored and new trees were produced quickly. The only signs of the previous cmity are the craters and boulders scattered everywhere.


    The world spirit informed thepetitors of Arena 28 of the boon they have received. It is a boon indeed considering the persistence of dragon fire. Dragon fire doesn''t go out. It burns and burns some more as long as there''s still something to burn. It didn''t help that the fire is surrounded by a forest of trees. They would have burned to death had the mes been allowed to spread wantonly.


    The arena became rekindled by a different type of me after the dragon fire was put out. The me of ambition and hope burned within them. They have been given a second chance and they intend to make full use of it. There''s a profound feeling of relief when certain doom is averted. It brings a new appreciation for life.


    They beganpeting and striving fiercely. Another cmity mighte again and they might not be bailed out when it does so they better use this opportunity to make something of themselves before it is toote. They fought andpeted with renewed vigor.


    It helped that Soverick seemed to have disappeared. His absence and the absence of enemies on his level brought unprecedented peace to the arena. That peace allowed good old-fashioned and normal violence to grow properly among the otherpetitors. They finally got a chance to actually survive in this challenge.


    The other arenas continued without interference. The sage looked through them one by one. His gaze did not stay for long on most of what he saw except for some exceptions. They are the special individuals that were designated as kings in their arenas right from the start.


    These special battle sage monkeys were considered Soverick''s equal in skill at the start of thepetition. They are the talented battle sage monkeys capable of giving Soverick a run for his money. At least, that''s what the sage thought at first.

 Chapter 601 Salvos The Herald Of Hell.

    The first sage evaluated Soverick before thepetition but didn''t think him overly skillfulpared to the others. Soverick has a powerful soul for a king ofw but his level of skill wasn''t estimated to be high because he rarely fought.


    The erroneous estimate of his strength has changed in light of recent events. But before that fight with the dragon, the first sage only thought that Soverick had a shot at being concerned about the title of sage. There are a lot of others who also have a shot at bing sages too.


    Surely Soverick is powerful for a king ofw but the first sage knew it is because of his title as child of the ne and his powerful soul. If there is something unique about Soverick, then it is his eyes. Even the first sage thought highly of his eyes. In fact, his n for thepetition is heavily hinged on Soverick''s eyes. If Soverick doesn''t attend thepetition then he might be in trouble. Then again, it is inevitable that Soverick will attend. Soverick might think he made the decision to attend of his free will but he has been baited.


    Soverick aside, there are others of some importance participating in thispetition. The sage doesn''t have just one card to y after all. All of these battle sage monkeys are also special. They might not be as powerful as Soverick, but they were expected to more than match him in skill. Their skill was supposed to make them their equals if they are suppressed to the same level of power. It is these people that warranted a longer look from the first sage.


    The first three of them are children from the first sage''s bloodline. The first is Salvos, the herald of ming hell. He looks like a generic battle sage monkey in appearance. He has the white fur of sages also simr to those without bloodlines. The only thing special about him is the blindfold he wears. Right now, he is not wearing his blindfold and his eyes are open to the world. It is why the entire arena is burning.


    It is not the burning of trees by dragon fire like in the case of Soverick. In this arena, everything is burning including the air. The arena has turned into a domain of fire. Even the earth is burning much less the trees. There are no more trees at all in this hellscape. They have all been burned to ashes. The ground has melted and turned into an ocean ofva. The air is hot and thick with smoke. Dark clouds filled with soot formed above the battlefield.


    The first sage wasn''t surprised when he saw this. He already expected it. That''s why Salvos is the only one in this arena. An entire arena was made to contain him. Soverick might be a Cmity to be around but Salvos represents certain death. The sage would need to constantly repeat the environment or the participants in the arena will suffer. That is if they are able to survive the me attacks.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Salvos started the challenge with a single-minded focus to reach the mountain. Meanwhile, whateveres to attack him goes off in mes. It is in those rare situations when he is attacked that he will open his eyes. This is one of those situations. A rank 6 beast is attacking him.


    It is a type of tiger. It isrge and has ws that can rend Salvos''s weak body apart but the tiger can''t reach him to use its ws. Salvos had removed his blindfolds so he only had to gaze at the tiger and the tiger went up in mes. It isn''t only the tiger that went up in mes. Everything Salvos gazed upon went up in mes. It is not an attack that can be dodged. Everything in his sight gets attacked, even the earth and the ground.


    This is how he acquired the unique feat of One Shot Executioner. A single attack of his is enough to kill anything and everything he gazes on. The same thing repeats itself even when the beast is two ranks above him. As long as the entity he gazes at is not fundamentally different from him, he will surely kill it. The tiger is rank 6 while he is rank 4. He was able to easily kill the tiger but he won''t be able to beat a rank 7 as a rank 5 because of the fundamental difference between them that allows a rank 7 to use world power.


    Then he closed his eyes and the world calmed down. The air and the ground stopped burning. They don''t burn usually so they need the external influence that was making them burn to keep burning. The ground is moltenva and red hot though. The damage has already been done. It will need time to cool and even then, it will never be the same again. For now, the ground looks like that of ava hellscape.


    The ground has stopped burning but the tiger is still burning. It has flesh that will burn once the water has been evaporated to a sufficient level and the fat has been ignited. It wouldn''t matter if the tiger is me retardant anyway. It already died when its brain heated up and the water there boiled its nerves past the required point needed to turn a raw egg into a hard-boiled egg.


    Salvos resumed his march across the ashy, sooty hellscape toward the mountain in the center of the arena. His blindfold has been ced on his forehead so that he can see through his eyelids. He doesn''t need his blindfold anymore. He has gained better control of his divine ability ever since he became a transcendent. He doesn''t set things on fire indiscriminately anymore but he still keeps the blindfold for moments when he has exhausted his eyes. It helps his eyes to rest and recuperate better by separating it from the world.

 Chapter 602 Salvin The One-Man Army.

    There are no obstacles on Salvos''s path apart from the asional monster spawned to challenge him. There is nothing to see as far as the eye can see throughout the Arena. One wouldn''t know that this arena used to be a forest. The arena used to have tall, giant, thick, and strong trees but they all disappeared from the arena because of Salvos'' fights.


    For all their colossal size, thickness, and strength, it didn''t save them from their ashy fate. Trees, no matter how overgrown, are very good kindling material. Those trees are now present in the form of soot that is being blown in the wind and ashes that form with smoke to createrge smog clouds in the sky.


    Unfortunately for the arena, it will not be restored to its previous state until this challenge is done. The trees will not be returned because the same thing will be repeated. Ack of trees doesn''t matter anyway since Salvos doesn''t care. That''s why Salvos gets an arena to himself. The arena was created to take a beating from a singlepetitor.


    The first sage rated Salvos as the most likely to defeat Soverick because no one at the same level of evolution can beat Salvos. In fact, Salvos has been known to kill kings ofws as a transcendent. It is because transcendents, lords ofw, and kings ofw aren''t that much different. They all have soul-bodies. Only their Authorities and stats differ which just means that kings ofws die slower to the all-consuming gaze of fire than transcendents do.


    The difference between them in the real world is that while Soverick could beat a titan ofw as a king ofw, Salvos can''t beat a titan ofw as a king ofw. The body ofw of a titan ofw is too strong for Salvos. But the sage expected Salvos to defeat Soverick since he is a king ofw. Combat prowess doesn''t matter as long as Soverick is not fundamentally different from Salvos.


    The first Sage''s opinion of the oue of a likely battle between them has changed now. Soverick has proven that he is more than he seems and has earned the first Sage''s rmendation to be titled a sage. Salvos needs to be a titan ofw first or do more in thispetition before he has a chance at consideration for the title of sage.


    The next up is Salvos'' brother Salvin, the One Man army. Salvin also has white fur like his brother. He is in an arena with other people except the people are avoiding him like a gue. He doesn''t mind that because he has more important things to deal with.


    They have to avoid him especially when they can see what he is fighting. No one in their right mind wants to be around someone that is fighting and has been fighting the hordes of giant Ravens for hours like some crazy maniac. He can kill them but must he begin to wage war on them? That seems like a waste of time. Anybody that thinks that clearly doesn''t know Salvin.


    Salvin had gotten the hang of flying soon after Soverick got it and he took to the sky immediately. He was giddy and excited. The world was interesting and he was marveling about how he couldn''t believe that it was fake.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He was like a tourist admiring a unique attraction. Unfortunately for him, there are rules that must be kept to. One of those rules is that you must keep your weak self to the tree line or pay the price for your insolence. He was assaulted by the giant Ravens with sharp ws when he broke through the tree line to enjoy an overhead view of the forest.


    The giant ck ravens beat him ragged and he almost died. The flesh of his body was torn as easily as the clothes he wore when they swarmed him. He escaped through the edge of his teeth by beating a hasty retreat. The only reason he survived is that the birds gave up on chasing him soon after he hid in the ground. His humiliation quenched their bloodlust for him.


    That started the enmity between Salvin and the giant ravens. That ordeal was truly humiliating to him. Where would he put his pride as the one-man army if word went out that he was bullied by numbers? He swore that it was either them or him. The arena had suddenly be too small for them. One of them will have to stop existing in this arena.


    He healed and bid his time by hunting weaker monsters. Then he returned to the sky to settle their score. The number of birds in the tens of thousands did not discourage him. They are rank 4 and he is rank 4. Even if there are a million of them he has nothing to fear. He is the one-man army. Only he is enough against a million.


    He stood in the air as waves upon waves of giant ravens tried to reach him to tear him apart but they always fell down from the sky dead because of his attacks. Said attacks also have something to do with his eyes. Thousands of phantom weapons are cleaving through the giant Ravens and ughtering them. He controls all the phantom weapons with his eyes and directs them to make precise attacks on his enemies.


    The birds sh with the weapons but the weapons weave through their defense and cleave them apart. There are so many phantom weapons in the air that the sky has turned into a meat grinder. It is a scene of pure bloodshed and domination and unrelenting determinance.


    Salvin''s thousands of phantom weapons shed with the Ravens who have an unrelenting determination to tear him apart. Unfortunately for the Ravens, determination doesn''t trump fire power. Their blood and flesh fall like rain that waters the ground. The ground itself is forced to drink and engorge itself against its will. Any more blood and a flood will be formed.

 Chapter 603 Never Back Down.

    The phantom weapons form a domain around Salvin and any bird that gets near it gets shredded. Some Phantom weapons venture out of the domain to harass and fight the birds. These ones wear out quickly but they are easily replenished by creating more.


    His eyes aren''t like his brother''s or his sister''s. He has normal visual acuity and can slow down his perception. The special thing about his eyes is that they grant him the ability to create, maintain, and control millions of phantom weapons. His eyes enable him to wield numerous weapons. That is why he is the one-man army. What makes an army other than the number of weapons that they wield?


    Phantom weapons are created using the fourth step of weapon mastery and are hence limited in number by the strength of the divine sense and the amount of momentum avable. His eyes eliminated that limit by making the momentum of the world freely avable to him.


    Even if others can create an unlimited amount of phantom Weapons, they wouldn''t be able to control them precisely. Soverick can create thousands of phantom weapons but they can only go in one direction. If he needs to control them, then he has to be in contact with them. Salvin doesn''t need contact to control thousands of phantom weapons. His eyes with 360 degrees of vision direct them with such precision that all of the weapons might as well be wielded by different people. That''s why he is called the One-Man Army.


    Salvin can wear down stronger foes if given time but the power difference mustn''t be too great. He can take on multitudes of rank 5 birds with some difficulty but a few rank 6 birds will prove to be too difficult for him because his base damage won''t be able to ovee their defense no matter how many phantom weapons he has. Sometimes, quality is always better than quantity no matter the amount of quantity.


    His eyes grant him flexibility, unlike Salvos. Salvos is a one-trick pony with a very obvious weakness. If someone is immune to his mes then he wouldn''t kill them so easily. A fire elemental for example loves mes and a fire dragon won''t be daunted by his attacks. Of course, Salvin has his weakness of having a weaker attack but he can''t be overwhelmed by numbers and he can use his ability in different ways.


    Salvin''s eyes glowed bright silver as he churned out more phantom weapons from it. He cheered his phantom weapons on as they ughtered the Ravens.


    He yelled excitedly, "Get them. Get them. Get them all."


    He continued to attack the birds and they continued to throw themselves at him in their suicidal attempt to kill him all the while grinning with glee. His bloodlust has been awakened so he wants more violence. Plus, it is not in his nature to give up first. That might indicate defeat which he is not going to admit. So if anyone is going to give up, it has to be the Ravens. He will continue to ughter them until they back down.


    The Ravens didn''t give up. It seems that the Arena spirit has taken offense because of his attitude. ughtering the birds became easier when he reached rank 5. Things changed after he killed enough birds to reach rank 6. A flock of rank 7 birds each with the ability to manipte world power came to put him down.


    He roared fearlessly to the neers, "Come at me. I''ll ughter all of you just like I ughtered the previous ones."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The previous scenario did not repeat itself. It seems he has been outssed again. His phantom weapons can''t use world power yet so they can''t match the rank 7 ravens. The phantom weapons struck them harmlessly and bounced off their world-power-infused bodies. The Ravens quickly broke through his domain. They almost overwhelmed him and killed him. If not for using the phantom weapons as a thick defensive cloud around him then they would have gotten to him. He narrowly escaped all the while swearing and cursing the birds.


    "You haven''t seen the end of me. I''ll be back! I''ll be back! I''ll be back!" His loud hysterical voice rang out through the forest.


    The people that heard him only have one thing to say, "Oh no, not again."


    They have heard that same hysterical voice before promising the same thing. Salvin promised this new enemy the same thing he promised the previous rank 4 Ravens. Then he went on a killing spree murdering everything in sight both monster and battle sage monkeys alike.


    He became a hurricane of des roaming the forest looking for power so that he can return to deliver retribution on the foul birds that have maligned him. The hurricane is around 100 meters in diameter and it isposed of des not wind. It kicks up wind but that''s not the only thing the hurricane does.


    This hurricane of des ripped up or shredded everything they came in contact with. Trees are not uprooted, rotated, and flung as a normal hurricane should do. They are shredded into wood shavings. Competitors cursed and ran away from the crazy hurricane while monsters howled or whined as they ran away from the crazy hurricane.


    Salvini isn''t wasting his time fighting the Ravens. The most important thing is that he is having fun. He is not like his silent and moody brother or his scheming and conniving sister. He likes to have fun above all else. He is also gaining strength.


    Killing the Ravens with a maddened motive for vendetta is a proven method that earned Salvin the unique feat of one against 1,000,000. Soverick earned the unique feat of one against 10,000. Soverick doesn''t have the craziness to take on 1,000,000 enemies.


    Besides, Salvin is also quickly climbing the ranking list because of the amount of kills he has. Soverick has quality of kills on his side but Salvin certainly has quantity of kills on his side. It is the advantage of never backing down.

 Chapter 604 Salvini The Mad Executioner.

    The third candidate is the only female among the three current generations in the sage lineage. Her name is Salvini. Her brother, Salvini, calls her conniving but she ismonly referred to as the Mad Executioner. Her arena is not peaceful either and the root of the problem is her. She is currently being hunted or is it the other way around?


    She is not being hunted because she is the weakest of the three. No, she is being hunted because thepetitors in her arena have refused to suffer her existence anymore. They are fed up with her so they want to kill her. Tens of thousands of people have surrounded her and are attacking her from every direction and she is holding her own against them.


    She bolted through the forest like a figment of the imagination. She is here now and almost immediately she is gone. The eyes cannot even track her as she weaves through the forest. Those that are chasing her can barely tell where she is. Even the sounds of battle and the cries of pain are not urate enough to tell where she is because she would have certainly left the location by the time they turn to it. There is ag between their perception of her and her actual location.


    It is obvious that this hunt is a bad idea. If they can''t track their prey, how are they supposed to kill her? But these people know that. They are not stupid. They know that they have a slim chance of killing her but they have no choice but to hunt her. They are not hunting her by choice. Salvini has left them no choice but to band together and hunt her.


    This hunt, no matter how dumb it looks, is the wise option. The other option is to scatter and give up. But if they do that then they have no chance of killing her at all. At least this way, they might get lucky and sessfully kill her. One of them might just fumble and find that their weapon has impaled her. So they are not foolish. They are just hoping to get lucky.


    They hope she might make a mistake that will allow them to kill her even though the odds of her making a mistake is the same as the odds of her falling on her own weapon and killing herself. It seems unlikely but they can only hope. It is worse being hopeless. Then they will have nothing to live for. This challenge will be meaningless to them in such a situation.


    Salvini is a battle maniac and her eyes that can predict the future helps her to find her preferred prey. Her preferred prey in this challenge are not monsters but the people that are sessful at hunting monsters. She can easily avoid monsters and she will leave people without a high score alone if shees across them but that changes as soon as you cross a certain score. She has a way to know when someone has umted a high score and a way to find that person.


    As soon as your score is high enough, you can expect her toe and kill you thereby stealing 50% of your score and invalidating your efforts. It is like she is rearing thepetitors for their marks. They are cattle and she is the butcher who is rearing them up for their meat. She doesn''t fight the monsters. Instead, she uses them as grass to fatten up her chosen prey.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    There is a saying that the best way to be rich is to steal from others. Salvini has put this into action and she has been remarkably sessful with it. She is so sessful that the solution is obvious to everyone. They either give up on thepetition entirely and don''t bother to kill monsters anymore even if they attack them or band together to eliminate this terror in their midst.


    They don''t think of her as a farmer. A farmer has a right to kill what they rear. She is a highly sessful cannibal. Killing others for their scores is allowed but she has taken it too far. She has gotten a taste for the forbidden meat of her fellowpetitors and has taken a liking to it. She is a nightmare made a reality.


    Word spread around and everyone knows that she is specifically hunting people. They know that their situation of dying in her hands is not isted and they know that she doesn''t kill monsters. She is an abomination in their midst. That''s why they are hunting her and why they won''t stop even when they are failing terribly at it.


    Salvini moved through the forest like a feline. She is incredibly agile and lightfooted. Branches and shrubs of the forest seem to part ways for her so that she faces no resistance to her movement and makes no sound. The same branches scratch at her pursuers who have to cut them or push them aside for them to pass.


    They make loud noises in their effort to catch her meanwhile her feet step on the ground soundlessly. She doesn''t step on twigs or stones that might alert her pursuers or make her slip. She leaves no traces behind as a proper feline who is on the hunt should do. She can do this because she has all the right tools for the hunt. Her eyes have made her an apex predator.


    One moment she is running through thick shrubbery with nothing to see but leaves all around. She is looking around but she is not looking at her immediate surroundings. What she sees is this sceneryyered on top of other possible sceneries.


    Her multicolored eyes are shing various colors including colors that can''t be understood. But she understands them and more. It is as if she has ess to the wheel of time. It grants her the enviable ability to see the future.

 Chapter 605 Perfection Made Manifest.

    What Salvini sees are possibilities. She sees what will happen before it happens. She sees how the branch of a tree will react if she pushes it. She sees the various reactions of that branch based on the various ways of interacting with the branch. There are too many possibilities because she isn''t the only one interacting with the branch. The wind is also interacting with it.


    She doesn''t calcte these possibilities. She only sees them. She sees possible futures then she chooses the action that will bring about a favorable reaction. She brushes the branch aside with minimal effort and it slips aside soundlessly to let her pass. Her sight gives her options and she chooses the easiest option to bring about her goal.


    Her sight is not without limit. She can only see the possibilities of an action 1 second into the future. She can push her sight but it will have drastically negative effects on her mind and the uracy of what she sees. That 1 second is more than enough for someone of her speed. A lot can happen in 1 second when you''re moving at a speed that is 4 times the speed of sound. That is just the speed that she can maintain without much physical exertion. Some might call it a jog.


    So despite the fact that there''s nothing in sight but leaves and nts, her spear is prepped for a stabbing. It is gripped tightly in her hand as she bolts through the forest. One moment all there are is nts and trees, the next, a battle sage monkey appears in her sight from around a tree when she turns. The unsuspecting battle sage monkey is inspecting her surroundings. She looked left and right searching for their quarry. It is by chance that she spots Salvini before the mad executor is upon her.


    It is as if Salvini suddenly appeared around her. This female battle sage monkey didn''t jump or get startled by the sudden appearance of the mad executioner. You can''t have jittery nerves to be a warrior that wants any hope of killing the mad executioner. It helps that she is a transcendent with perfect control of her body so she reacted properly to the sudden enemy.


    She leaped forward to meet Salvini with her de in hand. It ismon sense not to be passive in a fight with Salvini or you will be docile meat on a chopping board. Salvini loves docile meat above all types of meat. She will gobble you up in no time if you''re docile.


    Unfortunately for the female battle sage monkey, Salvini wasn''t deterred by her aggressive behavior. She has seen it and she was prepared for it even before they met. She struck too. Her spear blurred forward because of its speed and because of the numerous phantom spears that separated from it to strike her opponent. Her opponent shed her sword toward the spear attack. Numerous arcs of energy des sprung out of the de as it passed through the air.


    It is obvious that this female battle sage monkey is very talented. She is adept at using the mind weapon. There are very few who can exhibit such a skill. She is talented so she is probably able to hunt monsters very well. That makes her one of the few that Salvini loves to kill for their scores. It is not a surprise that she is here too hunting Salvini.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The phantom spears sailed to kill the female battle sage monkeys just as the energy des cut forward to cut down Salvini. Hundreds of shes urred in that split second and continued to ur even as Salvini''s spear found its way into the neck of her opponent. It is the same thing that happens every time the two of them have fought.


    "Fuck you." Her opponent said before she is sted apart by an explosion within her body caused by Salvini''s unloading her energy through the de of the spear.


    A game of possibilities is Salvini''s favorite game. The sh of two small forcesposed of hundreds of phantom weapons is a game with numerous oues. They are both attacking with numerous phantom weapons and they both have to block too. But can her opponent block them all? No and neither can she because it is impossible to react to every single attack.


    Salvini may not be able to react to every single attack but she doesn''t need to. All she needs is one w in her opponent''s defense. The first person to make a mistake loses. Salvini alwayses out on top because she can see that w even before her opponent makes it. That w is unavoidable too. There''s no escaping it because she saw it, then she tossed out the attacks that will create that w.


    It can be likened to a man of integrity who is being tortured so that he will do something bad that is against his principles. The tortures will try all sorts of things to break the man. They might seed and they might fail. It is up to chance. Those with more experience will have a higher chance of breaking the man but Salvini doesn''t need experience. She has seen all the possibilities and she knows what will make the man break. She will bring in 10,001 innocents to be ughtered in front of the man and that will change his mind more than any torture.


    The man is willing to sacrifice himself and even 10,000 innocents just to abide by his principles. Even the death of his family is not enough to break him. But the man considers anything greater than 10,000 innocents to be too much of a sacrifice. So she will bring 10,001 not 10,002 or more. Just enough to break the man''s will. It makes her every move and decision very efficient because there is no wasted effort on her part. No time is wasted and no effort is irrelevant or wasted. She is perfection made manifest.

 Chapter 606 No Blind Spots.

    Her attack might seem random, but it is designed to make her opponent fail and be unable to react to a sudden attack. She can even take care of future problems before they happen with the same move. The phantom spears that she produced continued forward through the space where the body of her opponent used to be to strike the person that wanted to take advantage of her. A new enemy had suddenly appeared from what she be her blindspot. But the phantom spears caught her new enemy by surprise and killed him too. Then she left her position to continue the hunt.


    They say the weakest moment of a warrior is when he is rxing after he has exerted himself to kill his prey. One concentrates and bring all their prowess to bear when facing an enemy. But there is a period ofx andg that urs when the enemy has been in. The body and mind shift gear to rx after the exertion. It is a moment of recovery between exertions. This battle sage monkey sought to take advantage of the enemy that she was fighting. He hid behind the body of her enemy and stabbed through her to catch Salvini off guard only for phantom spears to explode out of the body he wanted to stab and stab him to death.


    She can see her immediate future so she has no blind spots. It is amon mistake that peoplemit when they try to skirt around her divine ability. The divine ability of the sage is not a secret. Anyone that wants to attack her knows what to expect. They cloak themselves so that they can''t be seen but it doesn''t matter to Salvini because as long as they interact with her in any way, she will see them or at least, she will see the effect of their actions on her future self.


    Everyone interacts with the world so no one is truly hidden. You can be seen if the person looking for you knows what to search for and has the right tools to search for it. She uses indirect tells to help her pinpoint the existence of whoever she interacts with. It might just be the depression in the sand that they are standing on or the way the wind bends around them or the fluctuations of gravity that their gravitational field causes on the world.


    Even the faintest interaction with her will allow her to see possibilities and react to them. There is no way something that can kill her will be hidden from her. Her future vision will end abruptly at that point when she dies in the future. At most, she might not know what will kill her but she will know when it will kill her. That is enough information for her to prepare and avert her death. She will know when she has seeded when her future sight returns past that point.


    This ability is why assassinations don''t work on her. They fail to realize that you can''t hide the death of someone that can see the future no matter how well hidden you are. If a sage can''t foretell their own death then they are not worth anything.


    This mistake of utilizing the blind spot ismon because the abilities of the eyes of sages are not fully understood. There ismon knowledge about the divine ability but the principles by which their vision works are kept hidden. Those with the eyes are rare and they don''t talk about their abilities as a general rule. This secrecy makes it difficult for their abilities to be countered by other bloodlines.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Secrecy is generally important but it bes highly rmended when you are a highly ced public figure. People target her and her siblings on a frequent basis. The second person she just killed belongs to a bloodline that deprives people of sight. Their bloodline is called the royal bloodline of Vision Takers.


    The bloodline of Vision Takers is a prestigious bloodline that nullifies or suppresses visual powers. They make it impossible or very difficult for someone with an ocr power to function around them and yet the person still died to her. It is because she has seen the effects of his ability before he activated it. The person was toote to activate their ability to stop her from doing what will change her fate. In a way, their bloodline will always bete as long as they don''t have their ability eternally trained on her.


    This hunt is filled with people like that. They are very talented and as such are capable of killing a lot of monsters. That has made them her preferred targets for harvesting. So they came together, decided on a course of action, and used their influence to gather thousands of people to execute her. Now she has thousands of people to kill for their scores and they are close to her too. She doesn''t need to go looking for them. They have brought themselves to her.


    That is probably the most frightening ability of those with the eyes of the sage. Apart from seeing immediate results, they can trace cause and effect into the far future and use it to predict certain oues. It can be likened to a game. She doesn''t know how the game will y out, who will score what, or who will be injured, but she knows who will win.


    So if she focuses on the future, she will know who will win. If she focuses further on them, she can determine where they are right now. She then uses that information to hunt them down. They in turn tried to eliminate her but they ultimately yed into her game. Now they are close to her and the same oue is being repeated in their rights. Nothing seems to have changed for the better about their situation despite their desperate attempt to end her. She is still killing them and it is easier to do too. So who exactly is hunting whom in this arena?

 Chapter 607 Convergence Of Fate.

    The sage smiled to himself when he saw this. She is doing him proud. Her situation is verymon to those with his bloodline. The ability to predict the future means that their enemies will always y into their hands no matter their decision. The oue is inevitable. Either they hunt her and she kills them or they stop killing monsters and she wins. Either way, shees out on top.


    These three, Salvia, Salvin, and Salvini, are the ones most favored to match Soverick. These three are from the sage lineage but only Salvini awakened with the bloodline of the sage. One is enough anyways. There are other kings in other arenas. There is the Stone empress who turns living things that she gazes at into stone. The transformation to stone is gradual, it is not instant but it is insidious all the same. It takes root in you and won''t stop until you turn into stone as long as she is looking at you.


    There''s the Unrelenting Justice also known as Jarkon. The unrelenting Justice gets stronger the stronger their target for justice is and this person has targeted Soverick for the crimes hemittedmonly known as the Cmity of the child of the ne.


    Most surprising of all is the Soul-Fire witch. She is a witch that is capable of burning anyone from the inside out. No defense has been capable of blocking her attacks. Salvos'' gaze burns everything both defensive measures and the target. While the gaze of the stone empress can be defended by using an inanimate object but the attack of the soul-fire witch bypasses every defense. She is also known as Litori, the litter mate of the child of the ne.


    The sage has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. He can use different ones based on the circumstances. His ns are intricate enough that he can amodate failure. Even the failure of one of his most important pieces. He doesn''t need them now because Soverick is doing his part nicely and beyond expectation. But there are those that can step into his shoes and do what must be done. They might not do it as well as him, but they will get it done.


    Most of the talents designated as KINGs right from the start showed wonderful performances that proved that they earned their names. There are others who performed well too despite not being designated as a KING. One of them caught the Sage''s eye as he roamed about the events of the challenge.


    He muttered, "Interesting. I see the convergence of fate. It is a long timeing too. This is going to be good."


    He can see two battle sage monkeys both of whom have ties to Soverick. The two of them are about to meet within an Arena in the challenge. Their meeting will change their destiny and might affect Soverick. The sage finds it interesting. So he decided to watch.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    One battle sage monkey is traveling freely through the forest. She is traveling without any fear. Her head is held up high as she looks around imperiously. She walked confidently through the forest. Her pride and confidencee from the fact that she has not been defeated even once throughout the survival challenge and she doesn''t think she can lose to anyone.


    She is not a king but she has the pride of one. This pride doesn''te from a baseless and unreliable opinion of herself. The results that she has had so far have proven time and time again that she deserves to be confident. The advantage that her bloodline has given her has made her near unbeatable in directbat and luck has smiled on her.


    Things have been going quite well for her during thispetition. The only time she ever felt fear is when she heard the feats that Soverick has acquired. Soverick''s feats are enough to make a lot of people cower. Her more so than others. She truly finds them overwhelming to hear. But it is the sound and mention of his name that induces fear within her.


    Her body freezes involuntarily whenever she hears the title of the Child of the ne. An involuntary show of fear in a transcendent is a mark of trauma. Such a trauma has left a mark on her mind and consciousness. It is affecting her against her will and control. It used to be referred to as the heart devil.


    She has bad reactions to Soverick and everything about him because she has had a very bad experience because of him. That event traumatized her badly. He defeated her and he defeated her soundly. It was not a defeat that she can talk herself out of or soften the blow with some jokes and excuses. That defeat left a shadow on her heart and it has remained so ever since. She has to defeat him and see him trampled beneath her feet to remove her heart devil or it will never leave. That''s why she participated in thispetition.


    She is not a nameless person in the Virut ne. She has also received a title for her valiant exploits in the ne. The recent conflicts caused by the avability of origin energy in the ne and the differences in the ambient origin energy concentration have allowed several previously unknown individuals toe to light. Litori the soul fire is one of them and she, Ameglia the star of victory, is also one of them. She is confident because of her title but her title has not granted her confidence that she can defeat Soverick.


    It is more urate to say that her title has stopped granting her the confidence that she can defeat Soverick. She used to have confidence that she can take him on. She nned to use her bloodline abilities to bring down the child of the ne. So she joined others in camping outside the Ghastorix main city to fight him. He didn''t show up to fight despite the mor for it. It didn''t surprise her. The Soverick that she knew had always been proud. So she gave up and left. That''s what saved her life.

 Chapter 608 Ameglia The Star Of Victory.

    Her decision to give up is the only reason that she is alive right now. It gave her the opportunity to be here to try her luck again. She heardter that Soverick came out and killed everyone. That news sobered her up and removed her confidence in her title. That is not the first time something like that happened. She had been confident before too. She wanted to fight Soverick because of that confidence. It didn''t end well.


    Back then, she considered Soverick a weakling for hiding and refusing to fight her. He defeated her soundly and effortlessly when he did fight her but it seemed that some of her confidence remained. The cmity of the child of the ne removed her confidence thoroughly and he didn''t even have to defeat her to do so. It was then that she began to fear him and the heart devil formed within her.


    So no, she doesn''t have confidence in her title to defeat Soverick. She doesn''t have confidence in her bloodline advantage either. She also doesn''t have confidence that she will be able to beat him because of the suppression during thispetition. Again, it is more urate to say that the suppression doesn''t give her confidence anymore.


    She used to have just a little confidence in the suppression and she thought it would be enough for her to defeat Soverick or at least match him in thepetition. That''s why she decided to participate in thispetition in the first ce.


    The announcements of his feats have shown that her confidence was wrongly ced. Again and again, her confidence and self-esteem have been built up only to be mercilessly torn down. It is not surprising that she has a soul-deep fear for him.


    She sighed and asked no one in particr, "What a monster. How do you defeat such a being?"


    The simple thought of Soverick always makes her unhappy. She could beughing one moment and then frowning the next because of Soverick. His simple existence is making her life unpleasant. She is unresigned even when she knows what a monster he is. No one should live like her forever in fear of someone else. But that''s not the major reason why she has to eliminate Soverick.


    She doesn''t have any confidence in defeating him but she has to or she won''t be able to pass any tribtions in the future. A heart devil is a terrible thing. A heart devil based on Soverick Ghastorix and his glorious feats is virtually an impossible barrier to beat. It will be impossible for her to pass her tribtions if such a heart devil shows up. And it will surely show up because Soverick Ghastorix never fails to deliver.


    So she is always thinking of ways to defeat him. Thispetition with its unique opportunity that is supposed to make them equals should have been her opportunity to defeat him. Her chance to rid herself of her fear of Soverick should have finallye but the notification about him already reaching rank 9 is not encouraging.


    She almost believes that the notifications are done to torture her specifically. Each one of them tells her howcking she ispared to him. And each time she hears the notification, her confidence dies a little until it ispletely dead as it is right now. She made away with the notion of ever beating him the more she heard of his exploits and feats.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''I shouldn''t havee at all.'' she thought to herself in regret.


    Beating other people is fun but it is not what she came here to achieve. What she wants to achieve is unattainable so it makes it seem like she has wasted her time and her peace of mind by attending thepetition. It would have been better for her not to attend thepetition at all. Then she would have the privilege to preserve a modicum of her confidence. Ignorance is bliss after all.


    She was deep in thought as she strolled through the forest totally unconcerned about the dangers all around her. It is not because she is clueless or unaware of how dangerous her environment is. Her nonchnce is because she can''t sense anything that can be a danger to her. It is a sense that her bloodline has empowered her with.


    Her bloodline makes her very sensitive to danger and good fortune. It has helped her to always find herself in pleasant situations. It is why she doesn''t bother to pick a direction to follow. She follows the instincts of her bloodline and trusts it to lead her right. It has always worked alright until now.


    She didn''t head towards the mountain at the center of the arena. Her bloodline believes she is not ready for that yet so it leads her around the arena. Every single encounter she has had in the challenge has always been in her favor. She meets beasts that she can defeats and chances upon woundedpetitors that she can easily kill for their score. It has all been good for her apart from the asional notification about the monster that is Soverick Ghastorix.


    She stopped and looked ahead as she sensed someoneing towards her. Their paths cross and this person will meet her if she continues on this path. It is possible for her to avoid this person now by going in another direction. Her bloodline sensed uncertainty from the person and it made her narrow her eyes in their direction.


    ''It seems I have to be very careful. Who could make me so cautious?'' she wondered.


    She became wary of this encounter because her bloodline can sense two opposite oues from this person. This person is a danger to her and also a boon. The oue of their encounter will determine which one it is not the encounter itself. Her encounter with this person could be favorable or unpleasant. She is not confused or perplexed about this situation because this is not the first time she has experienced something like this.

 Chapter 609 Aura Of Victory.

    Ameglia waited patiently while the unknown person wandered clumsily through the forest. The noise the person is making lets her be aware of their location and their progress toward her. This person, whoever it is, doesn''t bother to pass silently through the forest. They are always stepping haphazardly on the ground, pping branches, cutting nts, breaking twigs, and generally being a buffoon. This little information she has about this person filled her with confidence.


    She said to herself, "Such an unskilled person can''t be a threat to me".


    She believes that she has nothing to fear about the person themselves. If the person is not a danger to her, then they might bring an opportunity that can help her or lead to her death. Something like this happened several times in the past. It is called a turning point. The only difference is that her bloodline is telling her that this turning point is very important. She can avoid it but she chose to wait.


    The person came out into the clearing that she was in. She finally saw who it was and her narrowed eyes widened immediately. The person seemed shocked to see her too. Then the person leaped menacingly towards her.


    "How is he my rival?" She asked herself in confusion.


    That''s what went through her mind as the blue-furred battle sage monkey attacked her. She has never seen this person before and yet, her Eternal Battle Bloodline is saying that he is her rival. Having a rival is not a small thing. Especially when her rival can turn into a lightning bolt. She surely has to remember when she made such a notable person her rival. Now she realized why this person is a turning point for her. There is a real possibility of death and she has to win or cmity will befall her.


    She activated her battle armor. Brown phantom armor encased her and a sword appeared in her hand. The lightning bolt reached her before the armor formed fully. Then the lightning bolt materialized into the blue-furred battle sage monkey. A punch mmed into her face and knocked her off her feet. She was propelled into the air by the force of the punch. Their first interaction in this encounter has not gone in her favor.


    She was made to levitate against her will in the air. But that wasn''t the end of her ordeal. Her eyes widen in fear when her opponent materialized above her with a hammer made of lightning ready to smash her. It was the wild feral look in the eyes of her opponent that frightened her not the hammer. The hammer is a weapon but the person''s eyes were full of glee, anticipation, excitement, and desperation. It is not the eyes that promise something good to her.


    She raised her hand and a phantom shield formed on top of it. The hastily made barrier formed between her and her foe. The barrier is not strong or well made but it will have to do. Beggers can''t be choosers. She is even lucky that her bloodline allows her to materialize her aura of victory into weapons. Or else, she would be defenseless and unable to resist in any way.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The resulting collision of the hammer against her shield didn''t happen. Her opponent became a lightning bolt again and disappeared from her vision. She saw him appear beside her with her divine sense but is helpless to react this time. Her opponent had feinted with that attack and she hadmitted with a shield. She could do nothing to stop the hammer that smashed into her side.


    The collision created an explosion with a loud thunderp apanied by a discharge of electricity. It didn''t hurt her because of her amour. The feint had given her armor time to form around her body. Her armor protected her from blunt damage and the explosion. It prevented her side where the hammer hit her from evaporating but it couldn''t stop the electric shock that stunned her as the lightning crept into her body.


    Lightning is incredibly powerful. It is destructive and also has mind-numbing properties. People rarely experience the mind-numbing properties of lightning since they can''t feel anything from their body parts that have been destroyed by lightning. As for those that seed in protecting themselves from the destructive power of lightning, they have to deal with the intrusion of lightning energy and the shock thates with it.


    Her mind slowed down to a halt and made her vulnerable to what happened next. Her opponent began cycling around her taking turns hitting her and kicking her so that she will stay in the air.


    She became a ball being tossed around and batted with a hammer. What saved her from damnation is her armor. It protected her from damage no matter how many hits she received. The armor is the second ability she awakened when she became a transcendent. Her first bloodline ability allowed her to sense the talent in someone and to lock on to them as a rival. She then steals their talent if she defeats them.


    Her second ability allows her tobine the talent she stole into an aura that she can use for a variety of things like armor. Talent is of no use if it doesn''t grant the power to protect its owner. The armor protects her and can not be broken easily. It is a materialization of her victories and the confidence that she has in her bloodline. One will have to undermine these things if one wants to weaken her armor.


    Her opponent realized the futility of their actions and suddenly stopped attacking. She fell from the sky toward the ground. Fortunately, her sluggish mind recovered quickly enough so she was able to soften hernding. She rolled on the ground and shot up on her feet to stand. She can see what her opponent is doing so she knows that the battle isn''t over yet. No, this fight is far from over. It is just getting started.

 Chapter 610 Stepping Stone.

    Her opponent has materialized a short distance away from her. He is standing still watching her and preparing his next move. A blue ball of lightning is rotating rapidly in his hands. She can sense the umtion of a terrifying amount of energy from the ball. It didn''t help her trepidation when she noticed the ball getting bigger and changing color from blue to purple.


    "It''s nice to see that I didn''t fry your brain too much." Her opponent smirked and said to her.


    "Who are you? Have I met you before?" She asked as she readied herself for battle.


    She held up the shield in her left hand while her right hand gripped her de tightly. Her brown armor began to glow forming a domain of pressure around her. Anyone that enters the domain will be physically suppressed by her talent.


    "You don''t know me but I know you. I saw my brother defeat you. It was a quick fight. He yed with you as one will y with a toy. Then he impaled you on his spear."


    His words brought back very unpleasant memories. Her eyes widened at that revtion. There''s only one person that has ever defeated her like that.


    Her opponent continued, "I decided that day that I must also defeat you. But you ran away. You left the academy and disappeared. It is understandable behavior since that defeat is so shameful. I can only imagine what it feels like to be defeated by someone several years behind you in training but I want to know what it feels like to defeat you myself. I am sure I''ll get my wish soon."


    Her eyes glowed with anger when she heard what he said. Apparently, this person has decided that she will be his stepping stone. Her armor pulsed with that anger and her de hummed with indignation. It is one thing to be defeated by Soverick. It is another thing to be defeated by Soverick''s brother. If she is defeated now, then she can kiss ever defeating Soverick goodbye.


    So she feels a certain amount of fear. But the major emotion she is feeling right now is anger and indignation that her opponent thinks it will be easy to defeat her and he spoke as if victory is already his. She intends to show him that she will be no one''s stepping stone.


    "You made a mistake giving me time. I grow stronger the longer I am in battle." She told him.


    It is the truth. Her domain of pressure around her has grown stronger. It will certainly suppress her opponent more.


    Her opponent said to her, "I know it is a bad idea but you''re a tough nut to crack. Don''t worry about me though. I have just the right thing to fix it."


    He is surely referring to the ball in his hands. The ball has grown to be 30 cm in diameter. It is his source of confidence and she can not help but admit that it is frightening to look at. Lightning wielders are very rare because lightning is not a basic element of mana. It is special and it requires special individuals that can take it to wield it. She has only heard tales of lightning wielders because of their rarity. But it seems she will personally experience their might today. It is not an experience she is looking forward to.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He gave her a piece of advice. "Don''t bother to run. I am much faster than you. Today, we will fight to the death. And today, I, Ghaster Ghastorix, will use you as my stepping stone to defeating my elder brother."


    His words clued her onto something. She decided to take it.


    She said to him "So you don''t like your brother. I don''t like him too. Let''s work together to defeat him."


    A turning point doesn''t mean that they have to fight to the death. They both hate Soverick so they can help each other to remove Soverick. Her chances of defeating Soverick will be higher if she gets some information from his brother or if his brother decides to assist her. She let herself smile at the prospect.


    Unfortunately for her, the opponent is a muscle head. He is stubborn and rarely changes his mind. He didn''t even think about her proposal.


    "No. I don''t need your help. If I can kill you then you will be useless to me. So try and survive. Maybe you will be able to convince me to corporate with you when I fail to kill you."


    She didn''t let the disappointment of the refusal lead to despair. Instead, she turned it into anger. She is not a normal battle sage monkey that can be disregarded like that. She has the advantage of her talent. She can surely defeat him or at least survive. That''s what she told herself as the ball grew to be 50cm in diameter.


    ''I must master the fourth step of weapon mastery if I survive this.'' she said to herself silently.


    She has not really bothered with skills because of the advantage of her bloodline. She replied mainly on her bloodline and her innate abilities as a transcendent. Her bloodline helps her to use talent better than those that have it naturally. Talent doesn''t equal power. A dead genius is no genius. But her bloodline aims to prevent her from bing a dead genius.


    It is because she is a transcendent that she was able to learn the third step of weapon mastery so quickly. Perfect control of the body and mind is very useful. They helped her to learn the third step with minimal effort. But she is promising herself to put in the time and effort required to learn the fourth step.


    Ghaster said to her, "I hope you''re ready. This won''t take long. You''re tough so I am going to crack you open like a nut."


    Then he shot towards her with arge ball of barely contained lightning in his hands. She raised her shield to defend herself and her sword to retaliate. And so the fight resumed.

 Chapter 611 Baited.

    Ameglia and Ghastorix might join hands against Soverick but it is certain that many are already joining hands against Soverick. The notifications have made people aware of the difficulty of taking him down so many people are inclined to cooperate in defeating him. Two hands working together can bring down a tree faster and easier. Soverick is this tree to be brought down. He is taller than them and the shade of his leaves is overshadowing those beneath him. Many people have had enough of him.


    There is arge undercurrent within thepetition going on in the background of such cooperation aimed at defeating the child of the ne. A volcano is silently brewing in the background of thepetition. It will erupt when the pressure has reached its Apex or when an outlet is provided for the boiling inferno contained within the volcano.


    Back To Soverick.


    Hended on the mountain at the center of the arena. It was not by chance. His body flew in the direction of the mountain and crashed into it because he selected that direction to attack the dragon. His flight was not interrupted by any monsters because he has defeated a rank 9 monster. He is the only one to have done so and the next monster is on the mountain. So he is safe on the mountain for now.


    If he hadnded anywhere else in the forest, he certainly won''t be safe in his helpless situation. His previous lesson to the people that tried to kill him will not save him. He might have killed more than ten thousandpetitors but there will still be others that wille to kill him. It is an event that he can''t handle in his current state. He is at an all-time low.


    It can be stated as a fact that Soverick has never been this close to death. It is not the type of death that thepetitors can be saved from either. This is a permanent death because there will be nothing to save. He received the same type of injury that he inflicted on the dragon only in a lesser amount. It is expected that he will suffer some damage as a consequence of his actions. After all, an action will always produce an equal and opposite reaction.


    Their collision is more of an axe cutting into a rock. He is the axe. He has a sharp edge and he was able to split the rock but he also incurred serious damages. It is expected that he will suffer some damage as a consequence for his actions. After all, an action will always produce an equal and opposite reaction.


    In the lightest situation, the axe losses some of its sharpness. It bes blunt. In the worst situation, the axe is shattered by the force of the collision. He experienced the worst situation. His existence smashed into that of the other by splitting himself into 128 streams of power. It is certainly efficient but he still got broken nheless. He crashed into the mountain as a blob of matter and energy incapable of sentience.


    He looks like a slime within a crater but he can''t even be called a slime because slimes are capable of thought no matter how little. For him though, he can''t think of anything. Thinking hurts him. The pain he is feeling can only be likened to the pain of mortals with a disease that fries the nerves in their brains. The act of simple thought is too painful so it is best that he thinks of nothing. Not that he has a choice either way. His mind is too broken for thinking anyway so he can''t make a decision not to think.


    He should have died. That stunt that he pulled should have killed him. Even his immortal soul shouldn''t have saved him. If not for the soul sphere within him, he would have frayed and scattered into the winds of oblivion. But he has the soul sphere and the supply of divine life energy thates with it so he survived and he is healing.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He stayed within the crater at the foot of the mountain for weeks as his body recovered. He didn''t move throughout the entire period. The amorphous blob of energy and matter reformed into his figure. He was still unconscious when a certain someone decided he couldn''t wait for him anymore.


    An eye appeared within Soverick''s mind. The eye did not bypass his mental defenses. It had pulled his consciousness out of his body. It was sudden and irresistible. It was like he was suddenly jerked into a room. He didn''t know it had happened because he was busy meditating on thew matrix of the world fragment.


    The eye said to him, "That should be enough for you. You have things to do."


    The voice of the first sage startled Soverick''s mind. He found himself in a familiar white space. Except that this time he knows what the white space is. It is the manifestation of the supremew of the first sage. In a way, this white space is not in the void universe.


    The sage asked him, "So how do you like myw of order?"


    That question made him falter a little. He regained hisposure and answered. "Honestly I am not surprised you know about it. I found yourw of order to be informative."


    "I am d you like it. I hope you didn''t think I wouldn''t know that you have been trying to decipher my ownw of order. I told you not to consider others blind or foolish. I didn''t think you were blind or foolish when I brought you herest time."


    Soverick sighed. "So you did it on purpose."


    "Yes, I did. I offered you bait and you sank your teeth into it no questions asked. Luckily for you, it is not poison that you swallowed. You should be more careful next time."

 Chapter 612 Why So Suspicious?

    The sage words is an admittance of baiting him and also a warning to him. The sage said it with a jovial attitude but he couldn''t be jovial about it. Instead, he became alert and cautious immediately.


    "What do you want from me then?" He asked the sage.


    He thought his reason for attending thepetition is hidden. He didn''t think that the sage will set what he thought was his original and secret intentions to be bait.


    The sage replied. "I want a lot of things from you but you don''t need to worry about what I want. You will do them anyway."


    Soverick rubbed his hands over his face and shook his head. Finding out that his recent endeavors are not as covert as he thought but were anticipated made him start to question himself. The Sage''s statement that he will do what he wants anyway certainly didn''t help his self-doubt. He doesn''t know what''s going on but he knows that he is being yed and it definitely has something to do with thispetition.


    Unfortunately for him, that knowledge has not given him an inkling of how to stop being a pawn. Apparently, he will do what the sage wants either way because of his interest. After all, he thought he was attending thispetition to steal thew of order of the world god that forged this world fragment. It turned outs that he attended thepetition because the sage knew he will be tempted by thew of order.


    ''I should never have met Salvini at all.'' He grumbled in regret.


    He got interested in thepetition when he heard Salvini said that thepetition will be heard within an artifact outside of the ne. It turns out that everything she did and said we''re part of the ploy to bait him. He can''t do anything about that now. He can only look forward and act better.


    So he asked, "Let me rephrase my question then. Why are you meeting me now?"


    The sage chuckled. "You sure do move on fast. That is good. It will allow what is going to happen to proceed without problems."


    Soverick frowned at what the sage said but the sage ignored him and continued.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I know that you havepleted the analysis of the derivatives of myw of order within thew matrix of this arena. I also know your effort toplete this analysis is why you took so long to heal from the injuries incurred from fighting the dragon. I want you to know that I don''t mind you using it and that you can even learn more about myw or anyw youe across within thispetition. I don''t mind at all."


    His frown didn''t ease up. What he just heard didn''t fill him with joy or happiness. It is true that his healing was dyed because he was using the cover of his injury to dig into thew matrix of the arena. He was then pulled into this white space as soon as he finished cracking it. It is clear proof that his progress in his endeavor is being monitored somehow and very urately too. It is disconcerting to know that the sage has all the information while he is in the blind. He is like a fumbling idiot and he doesn''t like it one bit.


    "And if I refuse?" He asked.


    The eye sighed, "I won''t punish you if that''s what you''re asking about. I already promised you safety and hospitality during the duration of thispetition so no, I will notsh out at you for refusing. But am confident you will do what I want because there will be good pay for it. Knowledge is power. I am sure you want more power. If you don''t, then I was wrong about you."


    He asked suspiciously, "So it is my choice and you are not coercing me?"


    "Coercing you? No, I am not doing that. Our deal is for you to attend thepetition and for you to win it. Then I''ll give you the support of the racial council and I''ll fulfill a wish of yours. You have participated and you are doing well. Your performance is so good that you might be named a sage after thispetition. You will get ess to the racial council as a sage and my support will go a long way in helping you."


    "This meeting is happening by chance. Iid a thread and you picked it up. You followed it to the end and found this. This is the end. It is a message that you are doing well and that you are free to pick up other threads in thispetition. That is all. Can''t an ancient senior give an impressive junior a pat on his back for his wonderful performance? Why are you so suspicious?"


    The sage spoke without the air of severity of theirst meeting but Soverick didn''t feel rxed. He knows that he is not the Sage''s match when ites to tricks and schemes but that doesn''t mean he has to like it. He considered what to do and one thing came to mind.


    "I have one more question to ask. How did you know I was deciphering yourw of order? Did you simply anticipate it or do you have a way of knowing?"


    He has to ept that he was baited and he didn''t know it. Now that he knows that he was being baited, he has to ept it and move on because it wouldn''t have mattered if he knew he was being baited. He would have attended thepetition after getting that small exposure to thew of order from their previous meeting. So he wants to know how to avoid being caught in the future. There''s nothing he can do if the sage anticipated what he was doing but there''s something he can do if there''s a method that the sage used to determine what he was doing.

 Chapter 613 Brutal But Lethal.

    The sage answered his question. "I see. You''re trying to learn from your previous mistake. I will do you another favor just like I did during ourst meeting. It seems fitting. I anticipated and I also have a method to know. My method shouldn''t fail, but I nned for some indications to prove my anticipation right. Call it covering my bases if you will. The method I used is simple. I just have to sense your gaze."


    "Sense my gaze? What do you mean by my gaze?" He asked in confusion.


    "Myw of order is my body. It is vast. It is a world. It is me. It is my vast world. So you have been watching me ever since ourst meeting. Looking at me like some lovesick idiot. You weren''t even taking furtive nces or stealing quick looks. You had your eyes fixed on me the whole time. Now, wouldn''t you know when someone is staring at you right in your face?"


    He shook his head and sighed in defeat. His very act of observing thew of order caused him to be found. There''s nothing he can do about that. It seems he was bound to be found out right from the start.


    He sighed and said. "So there''s nothing I could have done to avoid detection."


    The sage tutted. "Now don''t say that. There''s a lot you could have done to hide yourselves. You just don''t know them and maybe you can''t do them even if you knew them. I am a world god after all. But there are some things you could have done to avoid detection. Your other acts certainly didn''t help you. That move you used against the dragon showed that you have a high understanding of thew matrix of this arena. It is a shout to anyone that can hear it that you have been deciphering myw of order. What is the name of that move anyway?"


    He answered. "I call it WRAITH OF DEATH: WORLD BREAKER."


    "World Breaker hmm? Sounds fitting. Breaking the world with yourself as the tool. Brutal, inefficient, self-harming but lethal. I assume it is part of your skill set. How many moves do you have in your skillset?"


    "Just 6 steps."


    "I am impressed. You really have everything it takes to be a sage. You have the talent and the skill usage ability of a sage. You have also created your own skill set. Creating a skill set is the most important quality of a sage. I created the 6 steps of weapon mastery and proved myself worthy of the title of the first sage. The other sages have their own skillset too and you already have one."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The sage paused to consider something. Then he said, "You know what? I have decided that you will be named a sage after thepetition. Show me more of your skill set so that I can pick the best title for you. Now go and have fun."


    The white world shattered into pieces and he woke up in the arena. He looked around and found himself in a crater. He found a white robe and pants beside him. The robe has the word "263TH SAGE" written on its back. He shook his head and picked it up to wear. His clothes had been destroyed in hisst fight. His descent into thew matrix would have destroyed his clothes if the explosion of his phantom spear didn''t.


    He muttered as he wore the white robes. "Brutal, inefficient, self-harming but lethal."


    Thoughts of hisst fight brought to mind the sage''s evaluation of his move. It is a correct evaluation that he has to agree with. WORLD BREAKER is brutal because it is meant to be and it is inefficient because he did not perform it very well. He was suppressed so he couldn''t use his body for it. He had to use the power of this world to do it and even then his body was already straining before he made the attack. It wasn''t supposed to be like that.


    As for it being self-harming, that cannot be changed. Even if he had the full power of his body, it would have still harmed him. The injury wouldn''t be so severe and he will still be conscious after the move but the move is self-damaging. WORLD BREAKER is lethal just like the other moves in his skill set. Each one is meant to kill or injure critically.


    "It was a gamble but it worked." He said after dressing up.


    He didn''t want to use it but he had to. He had no other option if he wanted to defeat the dragon. It is just like the sage said, using it is proof that he is familiar with thew matrix of this world fragment. He wouldn''t have been able to descend into thew matrix if he didn''t have the knowledge of it. But that isn''t the major reason why he didn''t want to use it. His skill set is an advanced set of moves if the steps of weapon mastery are called basic. Its requirement for usage is also higher.


    The steps of weapon mastery require a lot of skill and power to pull off. Anyone can learn them with hard work and talent. His skill set requires more skill and more. No one can use it no matter how much they train themselves. They will need hisprehension ofws and most importantly, they will need his eyes. His eyes are the major reason why he can create something more powerful and tasking than the famous steps of momentum that the first sage created.


    He had his eyes. But that''s just half of the requirement to use the WORLD BREAKER. He also needed strength but he didn''t have that. The suppression of the world fragment robbed him of most of his strength. He can''t even use the 5th and 6th steps, nullification, and world weapon of weapon mastery because of the suppression. So using his skill set was very dangerous.

 Chapter 614 Eternal Hatred.

    His first move starts where the 6th step of weapon mastery ends and as such needs a lot more power than what he had. He had to supplement it with the power of the world. World power was forcefully infused into his body without having a body ofw to contain it. It caused his body to crack. He went behind what he should be able to do. It is remarkable but it could also have led to his death.


    His other reason for not using it is theck of synchronization between his body, mind, and eyes. He needs the three of them to work in tandem to use the WORLD BREAKER but this world has ced a limit on his body and soul at 10%. 90% of his body and mind have been shackled preventing him from wielding his skill set properly.


    If you have a weapon that can harm you even when it is in perfect condition, you better hope it is in perfect condition because the damage it will do to you when it is not working well can be fatal to you. The risk of death is the major reason why he didn''t want to use it. But he used it anyway and he survived the ordeal. Because unlike everyone else, he is not alone.


    "Anyway. Progress is always difficult to achieve. I have achieved this. It is time to move." He said as he looked at the peak of the mountain.


    He can see his next target at the top of the mountain. What he saw there made him narrow his eyes.


    "Viper race? This is certainly unexpected and also expected. It is just like the sage to create an enemy that we are weak to. I wonder what its abilities are." He said in anticipation and he began ascending the mountain.


    What he saw reminded him of the mortal enemies of battle sage monkeys. Images of them exist but their entire race was killed until extinction in the Virut ne. Their warriors were in so were their young and old. Even their eggs were broken wherever they found them. It helped that the Vipers weremunal and liked toy eggs in the same location. The Sages mobilized the entire race to wipe out eachmunity of Vipers and their future generations too.


    There are rumors of why the order for killing the race of Vipers into extinction was made. It is one thing to defeat a race and subjugate or enve them. It is another thing to hunt them to extinction. There had to be a reason why the sages decided that they couldn''t allow the vipers to live. That reason also had to be verypelling for them to actually go through with killing them all to extinction without stopping at all.


    Anyone can hate a race for whatever reason and decide to wipe them out but that doesn''t change the amount of effort, resources, and time it will take to actually go through with it. It is not strange that most will lose motivation and hatred will cool over time. It happens most of the time that those that start something with dedication will give up as time passes and even forget the reason for their hatred.


    It is not the case for the battle sage monkeys. They never gave up. They forgot why they hated the Vipers but they continued to hunt them until they killed everyst one of them. The hatred persisted through time and generation after generation of battle sage monkeys worked to wipe out any trace of the Vipers until the Vipers became history. It is only something that can happen due to a deep eternal hatred of the Vipers.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The feat of hunting a race into extinction ismendable. Battle sage monkeys have forgotten what is so dangerous about the Vipers. It could be that it was intentionally done so that Vipers and everything rted to them will be forgotten. Either way, there are a lot of rumors about Vipers and why they had to bepletely eliminated.


    The rumors generally agree that it is because of the divine ability of the vipers but there are different opinions of what that divine ability is. Information about them cannot be found in history books. So no one knows exactly what makes the Vipers fearsome. Soverick is looking forward to seeing that divine ability in action.


    He stopped his ascension and asked himself, "What''s this?"


    He was using his eyes to scan the Viper at a deeper level to figure out its properties and any weaknesses. But he was shocked to discover that he can''t recognize anything or understand what he is seeing at all. It is like he is reading a book written in apletely different type ofnguage.


    His eyes narrowed. "This is not supposed to be here. Is there another world god involved in thepetition?"


    Further inspection of the viper made him realize the strangeness of his next opponent. His opponent is not made with the samew of order as the sage. It is not thew of order of the universe either. It is a new previously unknownw of order. He decided it belongs to another world god because thisw of order doesn''t look like the Sage''s at all.


    His suspicion turned into excitement. "Now I am looking forward to this fight. I must have this neww of order. Is it safe though?"


    The sight of new knowledge is tempting and very appealing to him. It is why he decided to participate in thispetition in the first ce. He doesn''t know what use this neww of order might have but knowledge is power so he wants to get it. But he is afraid. The sage might have been rxed about him spying on hisw of order but this is a different world god. Things might not end well if he tampers with this neww of order.

 Chapter 615 Pick Up A New Thread.

    There are a lot of bad things that can happen to someone that draws the attention of a world god. That is just for drawing the attention of the world god. Those bad things get particrly nasty if that someone angers a world god. He is already dealing with one world god, attracting the ire of another world god is bother line suicidal.


    Ignorance is not an excuse to make such a foolish mistake. It will not save him from the retribution of a world god and he is not ignorant either. He wouldn''t have gone ahead to acquire this neww of order before when he thought he had been undetected when analyzing the sage''sw of order.


    So even in his ignorance, he would stay away from trouble as far as possible. But now he knows that he will be detected as soon as he tampers with thisw of order in any way. He is a king ofw. And a world god is a world god. The gap is veryrge so he has to be very careful when interacting with a world god. Stealing from a world god is the opposite of being careful. It is suicidal.


    Furthermore, this is totally different from what he was doing with thew of the sage. He was inferring thew of order of the sage from the derivatives of thatw in thew fragments of this arena. He was not analyzing the truew of order of the sage and yet he was found out. Meanwhile, in this situation, he can see the truew of order of this new world god in all its glory within this Viper.


    What he can see is notrge. It is just a tweak of thew matrix by the neww of order. But it is more valuable than what he got from analyzing the derivatives of thew of order of the first sage. Thisw is in its pure unadulterated form. Getting it will make the Sage''s scheming and baiting worth it.


    But trying to analyze it directly and in the open like this will mean he has to expose his ability to do so. So he knows that there''s no way it can be hidden even if he is ignorant about how thew of order of world gods is like their body. Now he knows that taking thisw of order is stealing a part of a world god. It is not suicidal anymore. It is grounds for an eternal curse of pain and suffering.


    "What should I do?" He asked himself.


    He is undecided on what to do. He wants the neww of order but he doesn''t want to anger this world god. Thew of order will be good for all of Legion but an angry world god is an enemy that can jeopardize the entirety of Legion. He is not the only one at risk here so he is very reluctant to create an enemy on the level of a world god. Then he remembered what the sage had said during theirst meeting.


    The sage had said, "This meeting is happening by chance. Iid a thread and you picked it up. You followed it to the end and found this. This is the end. It is a message that you are doing well and that you are free to pick up other threads in thispetition."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His eyes shone with unrestrained greed. The sage gave him the permission to pick up other threads. This is a thread that he very much wants to pick up. It is not much but it is better than the scraps he has been getting from thew matrix of this world fragment. So he discarded his fear and apprehension, then he sped up his ascension up the mountain.


    He appeared before his enemy soon after. He stopped about 100m away from the viper to examine it. The distance is small enough to be covered in the blink of an eye but the major reason he didn''t rush in at once to fight is that he can sense a haze around the Viper. His intuition is telling him not toe too close to it. It is the same danger he can sense from other monsters but he can''t pinpoint which part of the Viper is dangerous.


    So he chose to examine it at a distance. It is a serpentine humanoid. It has a long tail connected to its torso. It stands on the tail while its upper half is humanoid. It has six arms each holding simr long but slightly curved des. Its head is reptilian and covered in ck scales that also cover its entire body. It also has a crown on its head. The crown is white, unlike the ck crown on his own head.


    The Viper is also examining him. Its vertical pupils focused on him. The yellow iris of the eye seemed to shine with either curiosity or intelligence. He tried to figure out what could be dangerous about the Viper but he can''t tell anything due to the influence of the neww of order. He doesn''t know anything about this neww of order so he can''t inspect this creation of it and understand it.


    The Viper spread its six arms wide in a weing gesture after it was done examining Soverick. It said, "Wee Soverick Ghastorix. I have been waiting for you."


    Soverick was surprised. "You can speak?"


    No other monster has been able to speak. They were not created with intelligence. They were monsters without a divine sense or a soul but this one has a divine sense and it also knows his name. He always thought the monsters being unintelligent is either intentional or intelligent living things can''t be created. Apparently, he was wrong. World gods can create living and highly intelligent beings with souls if they use theirw of order to do it directly.

 Chapter 616 The Cheeky Viper.

    "Yes, I can speak. Are you afraid?" It grinned and asked him.


    He replied confidently, "I am not afraid. Your intelligence makes no difference. Power is power. There is no need to be afraid of a weakling that can speak. I have met a lot of them today. In fact, I killed tens of thousands of them at once."


    He is not afraid of the Viper but he has more reasons to be careful and cautious with it. It is not encouraging that it has intelligence. The dragon didn''t have intelligence but it was able to use skills. He knew to expect skills from a monster that is rank 10 but the intelligence caught him off guard. It having intelligence could mean a lot of things that he doesn''t know so he will be extra cautious with the Viper.


    "You should be afraid. You should be very afraid because I am not some ordinary opponent that you will face. I am thest barrier, a wall created to be your end. You will go no further. No battle sage monkey can go further. So I will be thest opponent you face in this challenge and the next."


    Soverick smiled, "So you''re a barrier. Do you know that barriers break? Let us find out what can break you."


    He doesn''t consider the Viper a threat. His WORLD BREAKER can shatter the Viper but he doesn''t want to use that because he wants to preserve the code that makes it up. But he has other tools at the ready to slowly chip away at the manifestation of the Viper in order to get ess to its root concept which is the neww of order.


    The Viper settled into a stance and narrowed its vertical pupils at him. It didn''t move to stop him from attacking. It still didn''t move when Soverick shot ten arc des with his spear. The Viper stayed still until the ten des reached it. Then its six arms moved in a blur of motion. The swords in its hands turned into an impassable wall that deflected the attacks. All ten arcs were redirected to slip by the Viper.


    Soverick narrowed his eyes. The fast movement of the arms isn''t confusing him. He saw something more than simple deflection. There is a power at y here that is more than just speed and skill but he can''t tell what it is because he doesn''t understand what he is seeing. He can see the mana but he doesn''t understand them. It''s like they are speaking to him in a differentnguage.


    Now he understands the struggle that the otherpetitors are going through by having to deal with a foreign world. He didn''t have to go through this problem because he already spent some time analyzing thew of order of the sage before thepetition.


    He stretched forward his left hand to the Viper and invoked mes. He decided to use what he has gained to acquire what hecks. He has alreadyprehended thew matrix of this world so he can use his Origin spells now.


    Fire poured forth from his hands towards the Viper. The Viper didn''t move until the attack came. Its hands moved again in a blur but this time, he shredded the attack. The mes hit its sword defense and couldn''t pass through. They were torn to pieces, worn out, and scattered into the wind before his attack died down.


    Soverick tried Earth then. Large Earthen spikes appeared from the ground and tried to impale the Viper but they were deflected by its des. The spikes were farrger than the Viper. They ought to bury the Viper but they turned away when theye in contact with its swords. Even the ones that appeared beneath it only made it move out of the way a little. It''s as if he could tell where an attack is as long as it is close to him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The same thing happened to air and water attacks. Wind des and water whips are disabled without much effort. Phantom weapons and gravity maniptions didn''t work too. Anything thates near the Viper gets resolved easily. It looks like skill and precision but Soverick could tell that there''s more to it than meets the eye. He can also disable spells. In fact, he can stop people from using origin spells at all. But he can''t do it like the Viper is doing.


    He asked an unrted question. "Why don''t you move? Is that all you''re going to do? Just stand there and block?"


    "A wall doesn''t move."


    "It will move when it is broken down." He retorted.


    The Viper smirked at him. "Why don''t you make me move then?"


    He snorted. He can see a pattern here. His opponents are always cheeky. They believe themselves to be unbeatable. The Ravens did it. So did the armored rhino and the dragon. But he is the one still standing. It is because he is better than them. They don''t know it yet so they cat cheeky.


    "I''ll just have to enlighten this Viper." He said to himself before activating a move.


    "WRAITH OF DEATH: DANCE OF THE SPECTRAL WIND."


    Soverick decided to try something new that will push the limits of his opponent. He used the second move of his skill set. He waved his spear around his body. Nothing seemed to have happened from his actions but the Viper moved its entire body for the first time. It seems to be blocking some unseen attacksing at it from every direction. Its swords shed audibly with these numerous unseen attacks as if two metals are colliding.


    Sparks appeared in the air due to these shes. Small tears appeared in the location of the shes and they surrounded the Viper as it weaved around blocking unseen attacks and creating more tears. These tears healed quickly but they were so much that it is difficult to notice them healing. They continued to increase in amount and threatened to overwhelm the Viper.

 Chapter 617 Absolute Domain.

    There is a very short time between the time the tears heal and the time that another tear appears in the same ce. This time became shorter as Soverick moved his spear faster and faster. But no matter how fast he reached, the Viper could always respond and defend itself. Light shed around it as its sword shed with an unseen enemy. From afar, it looks like the Viper is fighting with small random explosions urring around it.


    Soverick stopped and essed the situation. His second move uses thew of space to attack except he doesn''t attack from the physical world but through thew matrix. An attack in the physical world can be sensed even if it is with thew of space. But one needs to be a Sovereign ofw with a seed of power to be able to sense an iing attack from thew matrix.


    So his attack should have been unseen and undetected. The Viper should have been shredded apart but it was able to react whenever the attack gets close to it. Then it went behind sensing it. His swords disrupted thew matrix in the exact path of the unseen attacks so the attacks had to resurface in the physical world of manifestation.


    "This is tricky." He muttered.


    The Viper is undoubtedly impressive. It reacted well and resolved the attacks appropriately. But Soverick is not discouraged. His attacks might have failed but he learned something about the Viper. He has learned that whatever the Viper is doing, it is not skill-based or natural. He decided to try something and clear the field. Some things are better seen with a white background for them to be able to stand out.


    "Nullification."


    His divine sense froze the world. His familiarity with the world allowed him to freeze momentum with his divine sense and absorb it into his pirs of momentum. The air froze and everything within it. The freezing spread out from him but it hit a barrier when it reached the Viper. Its six arms are moving again in a blur of speed. Whatever they are doing with the swords in their hands is stopping the nullification effect from affecting the Viper.


    The field of nullification effect extended beyond the Viper but it didn''t affect it creating a bubble of motion within the frozen space. The Viper continued to move within the nullification effect. It only stopped when Soverick stopped using nullification.


    It smiled at him and said, "Like what you see?"


    "I do." He replied. "Your arms are very fast and it seems that you can control whatever it is that youe in contact with. What is your ability called?"


    Theck of momentum in the surroundings made what the Viper is doing ring to him. Those arms move too fast, almost instantaneously. It is partly due to a technique and has more to do with the way the Viper is manipting world power. It has intricate and perfect control over world power on par with a Sovereign ofw.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    This control is simr to the domain of a transcendent but more evolved. It is just a step lower than the domain of origin gods but it is better than the control of normal Sovereigns. The Viper has reduced the area of control even further to be just within reach of its very fast arms so that whatever enters that domain falls under its control. So being near the Viper is very dangerous. It is what his intuition was warning him about.


    The Viper grinned and said, "Good eyes. It is called an absolute domain. What do you think about it?"


    It is not surprised or concerned that Soverick has managed to figure out what it is doing.


    "It is not a bad idea. You were right. You are a wall that seems impassable. You can stop all attacks and subjugate everything youe into contact with. But your domain is not absolute. It is far from absolute." Soverick replied with scorn.


    He can''t help but be scornful because of the hubris shown by calling a domain absolute. The domain is merely better than a Sovereign''s. It can''tpare to that of an Origin God''s. An Origin god''s domain is not even absolute. So this domain is far from being absolute. But that is not the major reason why he is scornful.


    He said to the Viper, "Let me give it a try."


    He activated MIND OVER POWER and shot toward the Viper to engage in closebat. Six phantom spears appeared around him making a total of 7 weapons at his disposal. The 6 Spears rotated in sync with the spear in his hands to form a small domain of control. The two of them shed and began fighting. They became a blur of movement with one defending and the other attacking. They are also evenly matched. His domain couldn''t be oveed by the domain of the Viper.


    The threat of the absolute domain disappeared once he understood how it works. He is not a sovereign ofw so he doesn''t have perfect control of world power as they do. He is not even a titan ofw so he should not have ess to world power but his weapon gives him ess to it. His eyes then manipte the world power that his weapon grants him in the exact way that the Viper controls it to mimic its absolute domain.


    The two of them began to tussle with the control of world power because it determines who wins this contest. It became a tug of war instead of a sh of des. The flow of world power went to both sides several times but no one could hold on to it for long.


    The nature of the absolute domain is based on a foundation of constant movement within a closed loop. It means that one cannot hold on to world power for too long but whoever is in control of it the most will overwhelm the other.

 Chapter 618 WRAITH OF DEATH: EYE OF BEGINNING.

    Control of world power is the key to winning this struggle. Whoever can control the world power better will win the match. But control is not absolute as the Viper would like to think. They have to let it flow and use the period when they are in control of it to strike their enemy but both of them are too fast.


    The window of opportunity is difficult to take advantage of because of their speed and the limited interval of control that they get. The two domains couldn''t outmaneuver the other. It is proof that neither domain is absolute. The two of them fought for over 5 minutes without much progress in hurting each other. The ground they are standing on has changed though.


    Their sh whittled at their surroundings like sandpaper. The air was whipped into a frenzy because of the friction between them but the ground has no way to go. So the ground began to peel away. The rapid change in the flow of world power peeled the ground awayyer byyer around them. The two of them began to sink into the ground without them noticing. They are drilling arge hole into the mountain with the spillover of their power. Soverick pressed his opponent from above so the direction of the erosion shifted their battlefield into the mountain.


    Their environment became darker as they tunneled into the mountain but they continued to fight. They didn''t need light to see and fight so they continued to fight. The battlefield shifted again as the Viper decided to rise into the air. It pushed back against Soverick''s downward force. They began digging their way out slowly and surely. They came out of the mountain in another spot. Their fight continued even after they reached the surface. They rose into the air still tugging at each other''s control with their weapons.


    The spears shed with the swords like two whirlwinds but none could ovee the other. Lights shed and energy was discharged into the surrounding. The shockwaves from their shes created a visible ripple that spread out from them like the ripples on the surface of the world. These ripples show two different points of origin that coincide with the position of the two fighters. The ripples are in the form of two circles that pull and push on each other without progress. So they disengaged and stopped fighting. His enemy let him go with a smile.


    "I have seen enough." He said to it.


    The Viper''s smile widened in tion. It said, "So you see. You cannot defeat me even if you copy my ability. I was created to be undefeatable. I am an impassable wall as I said. If you can''t kill me, then you can''t move on."


    Soverick regarded his opponent and smiled too. "You''re right. You can stop every attack that you cane in contact with but not every attack can be touched. They can only be understood and felt. I''ll let you feel one attack that can''t be stopped. It was nice fighting you."


    His four eyes came together on his face and fused into one. He became a one-eyed cyclops. His single eye focused on the Viper and only the Viper.


    "I have seen enough and because I have seen what you are, I demand to see what you were."


    His words are not ordinary. They contained a sort of indescribable power. The Viper sensed danger but it didn''t know where it ising from. Even the words fill it with dread but it can not stop words even though it can stop the wind. Unfortunately for it, this power is more subtle than the wind.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick''s words and his gaze made the intangible power settle on the Viper from every direction like a nket. The Viper couldn''t escape so it targeted the source of the danger. It rushed forward to interrupt him.


    "Be unmade before my very eyes. Return to your roots. Return to your Origin. Return to your beginning."


    The Viper froze halfway to Soverick as the single eye on his head turned violet. It began to flow a violet light that shown on the Viper. The brightness of the violet light increased as he said each word until the Viper itself began to glow a Violet light in synchrony with the eye.


    "Experience the WRAITH OF DEATH: EYE OF BEGINNING."


    He activated the 6th step of his skillset. The Viper froze this time. Then its form began to soften and melt like wax. It lost its sharp definition until it melted into liquid energy andw fragments. The liquid formed a ball in the air that contains thew fragments that make it up. He had made the Viper revert to its basic form. The Viper couldn''t stop that because it can''t touch time.


    The ball is still glowing the Violet light and it began to approach him. It moved closer to him then it shrunk and entered his eye. The violet light of his eye died down after swallowing his prize. His single eye then separated into its fourponents and became blind after the change. He is blind but he can''t help but smile. Happiness is an understatement for his current emotions.


    "I sure hope I met enemies like that." He muttered to himself.


    That Viper is unique. It was not created by the core of the world fragment like the other monsters. Other monsters are created usingws that are derivatives of thew of order of the sage. The arena spirit performs the designs and manifests them for thepetitors to fight.


    But the Viper is an oddity. It was created directly by a world god. It contained purew fragments of the falsew order instead of its derivatives. He doesn''t know why that happened but he definitely wants to see more of it. It is a gift that he will appreciate no matter how much of it is sent his way. He won''t get tired of it at all.

 Chapter 619 Something Fishy About Soverick.

    He flew to the mountaintop to rest. The fight exhausted him in mind apart from his visual prowess. He needs to rest and he needs to digest thew of order that he just swallowed. He has defeated the final boss of the arena so there''s no need for him to worry anymore.


    The Arena announced his feat to the world and he received the notification of his feat.


    *PERSONAL MESSAGE*


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A GLOBAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO DEFEAT THE BOSS OF YOUR ARENA.


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A LOCAL FEAT)-


    YOU ARE THE ONE THAT DEFEATED THE RANK 10 MONSTER OF YOUR ARENA.


    -(CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A UNIQUE FEAT)-


    YOU HAVE ACHIEVED UNDEFEATABLE FOR DEFEATING EVERY FOE YOU FOUGHT TILL RANK 10.


    The Administrator''s POV.


    "I have a lot of questions. But I want to state first that I am just d that I didn''t bet on your champion losing." The serpentine monster said.


    The sage didn''t say anything. He was frowning.


    So the serpentine world god asked. "I expected you to be gloating right now. Did you not expect this?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I expected him to win." The sage answered. "I just didn''t expect this. I have a lot of questions too."


    The serpentine world god nodded. "It is understandable. How can a king ofw wield such power? I would believe it if you told me he is a titan ofw with a concept. That is the minimum to utilize a conceptual power like that. Don''t you think?"


    What the serpentine world god said made the Sage frown more. The sage replied, "Yes, I think so too. Something doesn''t add up. That eye of his is too powerful. He just used the power of time. Which means he has made a lot of progress inprehending thew of time. He also used thew of space earlier. It seems he might haveprehended all thews needed for him to be a titan ofw. That will exin why he is using conceptual attacks but he is clearly not a titan ofw."


    "But he doesn''t havews in this world fragment. No one can use thews that theyprehended. Laws are clearly absent. Only a titan ofw can use the abilities that he has disyed without having ess tows. That is unless they are all the abilities of his eyes. That will mean that his eyes have multiple divine abilities. It is either that or he is secretly a titan ofw. Something is not adding up."


    The sage is concerned he has missed something important about Soverick and it has something to do with his skill set. A normal battle sage bes capable of creating their skill set when they be a transcendent. Perfect control of their body and mind allows them to fully utilize their power. It is then that they create different fighting styles more suited to them. That''s why he didn''t question the fact that Soverick has a skill set.


    But he is beginning to question things in light of recent events. He missed it when Soverick used WORLD BREAKER but now he can see the sequence after the use of DANCE OF THE SPECTRAL WIND and this EYE OF BEGINNING. There is something about Soverick that he can''t see. Each of his moves is a thing in the realm of concepts. They need titans to create or envision. Anyone that can envision such a thing should be a titan ofw already.


    It is either that or his eyes are too powerful for what a king ofw should be able to do. Hisst move which he used to revert the Viper back to its original form is too powerful considering that what he reverted is not some ordinary being. It is a being created using thew of order of a world god. That Viper might as well be a very weak version of an origin god but Soverick managed to ovee its defense and force it to change. It is absurd and unbelievable. He certainly wouldn''t believe it had he not seen it himself.


    The most significant change that his current underestimation of Soverick has caused is that Soverick will be getting thepletew of order of the serpentine world god within the Viper. The sage nned for a Soverick to gain a little bit of it. That would have been enough for what he has nned. But Soverick exceeded his expectations. He should be happy with Soverick''s performance but he can feel that Soverick is deviating from his ns and that is not good. Losing control of the situation is not good at all.


    The sage couldn''t help but look at Soverick sitting calmly on top of the mountain.


    The sage wondered to himself, ''Something has to be responsible for his power. It is either his eye or something else. Either way, he will be much stronger when he bes a titan ofw and I will have had a hand to y with it.''


    The sage didn''t know a lot about Soverick before he added him to his ns. He is now worried about what the impact of his influence on Soverick will create. The child of the ne is already this powerful. It could be his eye or something he doesn''t know but one thing is sure, and that is that Soverick will be more powerful once he bes a titan ofw.


    It is certain now that Soverick hasprehended all thews of his eyes. The sage is sure of it because he got the information from the Ghastorix family. They got his affinity when he performed the life survey anand Soverick has shown incredible familiarity with all thews of his affinity including thew of space, time, and causality. So the sage is sure that Soverick can be a titan ofw anytime he wants but Soverick has not. Something must be holding him back.

 Chapter 620 Moral High Ground.

    The thing that holds kings ofw back from bing titans ofw is the image of their concept and the chances of sess in creating it. A king ofw must know what they want to be and how they want to be. Some kings need inspiration but no amount of inspiration will be good enough tobine 9ws into a concept. That''s why the sage was sure that Soverick will take the bait as soon as he saw the pirs that led to thepetition arena.


    Soverick got a taste of the Sage''sw of order during their first meeting. Then he saw that the pir has hints of it. He will surely try to get more of thew of order to fix the problem of his concept. A concept is a tiny aspect of thew matrix of the universe, thew of order is the backbone. So Soverick should be able to find something that will help him to be a titan ofw from the sage''sw of order. That''s why the sage used hisw of order as bait.


    The sage didn''t know what motives Soverick will have for participating in thepetition. But the sage knew that the promise of power is a great motivator. But now the sage isn''t so sure he did the right thing to use hisw of order to bait Soverick. There''s too much unknown about him. The sage doesn''t even know why Soverick is so powerful.


    Uncertainty is bad for someone that schemes like the sage. The sage began to rack his brain and consider the possibilities. He reviewed all his encounters with Soverick to see if he has missed something. He searched and searched but he couldn''t find any reason for the strength that Soverick has shown.


    Then he began to search his knowledge about ocr powers but he can find any ability that allows battle sage monkeys to fuse their eyes and make them stronger. He also can''t find any ocr ability that will allow one to revert an entity to its primordial form and swallow it whole.


    He would have confirmed with his future sight if it were someone else but it has be difficult to predict Soverick a while back. His title of the child of the ne prevents him from being scried. Now he doesn''t know how Soverick managed to all thew fragments instead of scrambling for them as they disperse after killing the Viper.


    ''Maybe I shouldn''t have baited him with thew of order. If the worstes to pass then I am creating a monster.'' he muttered to himself.


    He was roused from his mental exercise by the shout of his co-administrator.


    The serpentine world god pointed an using finger at the sage, "What have you done?"


    The sage shrugged. "I have done a lot of things. To which are you referring to?"


    The serpentine world god turned the finger to Soverick. The two of them are using their minds to watch thepetition so the finger is directed at the physical location of Soverick in arena 28. It is enough for the sage to understand what the problem is.


    "You mean yourw of Order?" The sage asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yes, myw of order. How dare such a lowly creature gaze upon the secrets that I have uncovered about the Void universe?"


    The serpentine world god can feel thew fragments of the Viper begin to form connections and join together. It is not some passive thing either. Someone is actively putting them together like solving a puzzle. It doesn''t take much investigative ability to know who is responsible for the change.


    The sage shrugged again. "What can I tell you? That Soverick sure has a lot of gall. He has no fear at all. What an ignorant boy. I''m sure he won''t be so ignorant when he is done with what he is doing."


    The sage spoke calmly and nonchntly but his co-administrator didn''t think it is a good enough reaction. In fact, it is the opposite reaction that he wants to receive right now. The sage disregarding him like that does not appease him at all. It does the opposite of appeasing him.


    He brought back the finger and pointed at the sage. "You did this. I know you did. Don''t deny it?"


    The sage tsked and wagged his own finger back at the world god. "Now don''t go about throwing baseless usations at people. I am not the one that decided to interfere in thepetition midway. I am not the one that decided to overwrite thest boss by injecting your ownw of order into its form. I did you a favor and this is what you repay me with? I will not take such scandalous usations from you."


    That didn''t cate the serpentine world god either. His eyes began burning with anger. The space around them began shaking. The surrounding matter began to break up as if an unseen earthquake just passed through. Energy became chaotic and toxic to all life.


    "This was your n all along. You tricked me." The serpentine world god''s voice became low and rumbling. It reverberated through the air and echoed against unseen walls.


    The sage wasn''t even looking at his co-administrator. A zone of calmness surrounded him where all the changes caused by the temper tantrum didn''t reach him. He is looking through thepetition but he can still reply calmly, which he did.


    "Correction. This is not my n all along. This was a n. There are other ns that I have put in ce to get what I want. When I get what I want, you will know. Don''t let this little victory blind you to what''s more important."


    Then the sage pointed out that he has the moral high ground by saying, "Besides, you made the changes yourself. I didn''t ask you to. Then I even gave you the chance to undo the changes that you made to thest boss. You didn''t take it. Everything that has happened is your fault."

 Chapter 621 Checkmate.

    What just happened is one of the sage''s ns. He would have gotten what he wanted either way which is to win the bet. He allowed the serpentine world to change thest boss of Arena 28 so that he will have to input his ownw of order into the arena since he wasn''t the one that created the arena. It will give Soverick the chance to get a hold of it if he manages to defeat it. He had faith in Soverick to at least be able to match the absolute domain and defeat the Viper.


    Then the first sage gave his co-administrator the chance to revert the changes in exchange for him changing thest boss of the arenas under the control of the serpentine world god. The sage would have done something far stronger than the absolute domain. If even Soverick had to resort to using such a powerful move to kill thest boss, then the race of the serpentine world god will never be able to acquire the keys needed to unlock the next designation after Emperor.


    It was all part of his n. But the sage will not allow himself to be ndered like this. He has the moral high ground. He didn''t coerce the serpentine world god into making those changes. Everything that happened is all because of the serpentine world god''s selfish attempt to hinder Soverick. The dragon made Soverick suffer. Now it it the turn of the serpentine world god.


    "How was I supposed to know that he can decipher the foundation of a world with his eyes?" The serpentine world god asked with barely contained anger.


    The fact is that he is very angry and he would very much like to resort to violence. He couldn''t have considered or expected that Soverick could get a hold of hisw of order and manage to put it together. Even if he did, he still wouldn''t decide to remove the changes he made to thest boss because that will have allowed the sage to make changes to his own side.


    So he was checkmated right from the moment the sage allowed him to make the changes in the first ce. The sage had allowed him to tweak the dragon and remake thest boss into a Viper without asking for anything in return. Now he knows it wasn''t benevolence or blind confidence in his champion. He was set up nicely. That''s why he is very angry.


    His anger threatened to overwhelm him but something was nagging at him that requires his attention.


    He decided to rectify it so he asked the sage, "Wait a minute. Does he have yourw of order?"


    The sage shrugged again.


    "Stop shrugging." The serpentine world god stood up and yelled.


    The sage shrugged again and replied, "I don''t want to stop shrugging."


    He doesn''t want to stop and the serpentine world god can''t make him stop no matter how agitated it is.


    The serpentine world god cradled his head with the numerous hands he has. Hemented with a shake of his cradled head, "This is bad. If he has yourw of order, then he has for both of us. That means he can gain control in both zones. Thispetition is going to shit.You have practically handed him the reins to thispetition. You have fucked me."


    The sage nodded in agreement. "That I did. That I did. And I must say, it was pleasurable. It is even better than sex."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The two of them control different sections of thepetition for the two different nes. These two sections areposed of arenas created by the two different world gods which means that they have two differentw matrixes. It is one thing for Soverick to gain control of onew of order, but two is very bad. It means that Soverick will be near impossible to handle when the final challenge that will decide who wins thepetition starts.


    Now the serpentine world god fully understands the choice the sage was giving him. It was to either have an unstoppable Soverick or for the sage to create an unstoppable enemy for his own side.


    "So this was your n all along to win the bet."


    The sage was quick to correct him again with the tone of a schr teaching an ignorant child. "You''re wrong again. This was "a" n to win the bet. I have several ns and several cards in hand. Don''t let this little victory blind you to the greater aim."


    "What can be greater than winning the bet?" The serpentine world god asked incredulously.


    The sage refused to specify. He said, "You''ll know it when it happens."


    The serpentine world god scowled. He couldn''t decide if the sage is trying to trick him or not. It is mon dilemma that those that encounter the first sage face. They don''t know if they are being manipted or not.


    The serpentine world god dered. "This means war."


    Regardless of him being manipted or not, thispetition has taken on a hostile edge. He thought thepetition would happen without sleaziness and schemes. He thought wrong.


    The sage waved away his threat. "It has always been war. The fact that you have been ignorant of it all along doesn''t change what it is. Your arrogance blinded you to it. You didn''t care if we are at war or not because you believed you had nothing to fear either way."


    The serpentine world god scoffed as he said, "You are not going to win this easily. Nothing is set in stone. I am not so helpless."


    He can''t say that the sage is wrong and that he wasn''t looking down on the sage. He can''t say he didn''t underestimate the battle sage monkeys. He did underestimate the battle sage monkeys and the situation is currently unfavorable to him because of it. But that doesn''t mean he will roll over now. He will not be defeated easily. Besides, this is just the first out of 4 challenges.

 Chapter 622 The Vipers.

    The serpentine world god is understandably distraught. The sage on the other hand remained nonchnt about the serpentine world god''s insistence not to give up. He shrugged and said, "I know that victory will not be easy and that you are not so helpless in this situation. That is why I tried so hard to empower my champion."


    The serpentine world god sneered. "We''ll see if your champion is up to the task."


    There is arge reason why the sage had to put a lot of things into action to win this bet. He can''t beid back like the serpentine world god. It takes confidence to bet a lot of wealth on apetition and the serpentine world god has a lot of it because of the divine ability of his race. Their divine ability isn''t the absolute domain. That''s just a technique. A technique that can be learned can not be the reason why the sages decided to wipe out the entire Viper race in the Virut ne.


    Most of those in the Viper race are normal but the few that awaken their divine ability are monsters. They be paragons of their race. It is because of these few that the sages decided to wipe out all of them so that another paragon cannot rise up. The battle sage monkeys seeded in doing so in the Virut ne. But the Virut ne is not the only ne in the realm of high heaven with the Viper race.


    In the very beginning of the realm before the creation of nes, the realm of high heaven was a singlendmass. Then chunks of it were torn away, separated, encapsted, erged, and reinforced to create a ne. Some nes were without life and needed seeding but some nes had the original races that used to live on that piece ofnd.


    Now, not all members of a race happen to be in the ne at the time of its creation. The originalndmass was not separated based on race distribution after all. So sometimes, a race can be in more than one ne in the realm. The same happened to the Viper race. They were in the Virut ne and also in the neighboring ne beside the Virut ne.


    The other ne that the Viper race is in seeded in defeating the other races and subjugating them. They didn''t need to wipe out the defeated races because they have confidence that nothing can threaten them. That confidence is the same one the serpentine world god had. Now the battle sage monkeys have to face the enemies that almost defeated them. They also have to face their dreaded paragons who are now stronger than ever.


    The Viper paragons are the reason why the serpentine world god felt confident in winning the bet. He even bet at 6 folds his previous debts. The sage understands why he is confident and that is why he too must create his own paragon. Even with Soverick''s current power, the scale has only been bnced. There''s a 50/50 chance that the battle sage monkeys will still fail.


    The sage sighed and said to himself. ''It will have to do.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The chance would have been higher if the sage managed to edit the final boss of the arena of the Vipers. That will cut off a lot of the power of the paragons. The survival challenge is more than it seems just like thispetition is more than it seems. Survival seems to be the aim of the challenge but those that are content with simply surviving will be mediocre.


    It is very important to defeat the final boss. Its importance cannot be understated. If Soverick had failed to defeat thest boss, then the 50/50 chance will be reduced to 10/90. It is because Soverick will lose a lot of opportunities in the next challenge. The fate of the bet and the greater purpose of thepetition will fall on the others but even with how powerful they are, none of them are paragons.


    Of course, without Soverick there, the serpentine world god would not have decided to modify thest boss, and Arena 28 might not have had a problem defeating thest boss. Soverick''s presence changed a lot of things. The sage ensured that he attended thepetition with bait. The bait had to be something worthwhile for someone as powerful as Soverick. But it seems that the bait might be too powerful. So the sage has made some sacrifices just for him to create this 50/50 chance.


    ''To live is to learn and I have now learned to expect the unexpected from Soverick.'' The sage thought to himself ruefully.


    His suspicions might be incorrect. Hisw of order might not change Soverick too much. It is near impossible to fully utilize thew of order of a world god as a king ofw. So the odds that his suspicions are incorrect are very high considering the difficulty of iting true. But if there is something that the sage believes in, it is that if something is possible, then it can happen no matter how difficult.


    So Soverick might do something unprecedented with thew of order. He just didn''t expect it to happen when he was determining the bait because it couldn''t be expected. It is supposed to be an impossible oue but recent events have shown that it might be possible. That thing with Soverick''sst move has shown him that there are a lot of things he doesn''t understand about Soverick. That means he can''t predict Soverick urately anymore.


    It is not a situation that can be helped anymore or improved in any way. It is already cumbersome to expect everything possible. That has already made the sage a terrifying force to be reckoned with. But that''s the limit of prediction without using the Revtions of fate.


    To add everything impossible to the mix is to expect anything. Then you might as well not n at all because anything can happen regardless of your ns. The sage can''t do that. But this situation has taught the sage something important. It is to expect the unexpected from Soverick.

 Chapter 623 Idleness Is The Devils Advocate.

    The Competition continued as the days went by. People fought and died. Some performed well and some didn''t. Those that performed well rose steadily in power as the months went by reaching rank 9 too. They all avoided the mountain at the center of the Arena like a gue. They know that Soverick has defeated the rank 10 on it and is officially Rank 10 now.


    The monsters of the arena gradually increased in power without Soverick''s presence to cause an unnatural spike so thepetitors gradually became stronger with time. Their fear of the mountain didn''t change when some of them achieved rank 9. Soverick defeated the only rank 10 monster that will ever appear in the arena and has be a rank 10 himself. They also have not forgotten that Soverick defeated the rank 10 monster as a rank 9. They determined it to be a bad idea to cross him.


    The only way to be a rank 10 is to kill the boss of the arena. Since Soverick has done that, there is no hope of bing a rank 10 for anyone else. The route of killing many monsters to advance won''t work to achieve rank 10 because rank 9 monsters are very rare. No one can hog one to themselves when they appear. Thepetitors had to share and people stole kills.


    Everyone that takes part in killing a monster earns scores for it but it''s the person that deals the killing blow that earns the power of the death mark. It was slow going for a while with very few rank 9petitors. They were content with doing nothing and waiting for the survival challenge. But the number of rank 9petitors increased steadily until it reached 10. It was then that rank 9 monsters stopped spawning. And it was then that they started to get ideas.


    Ten rank 9petitors who are also very talented now have nothing to do after rank 9 monsters ceased to spawn. There is no more danger and threat to them within thepetition. Well, there''s one threat but he is taboo. Or he used to be taboo when they had other more sensible and safer things to do. He might not be a taboo anymore now that there are ten rank 9 with only one of him and now that they don''t have anything else to do. There is actually only one way to find out.


    It is said that idleness is the devil''s advocate. There is no devilry involved in what is about to happen, but idleness surely had a hand in it. These talented and stupid people got together to talk about the proverbial elephant in the Arena. They met at the foot of the mountain too so that they will be able to quickly climb it once an agreement is reached. It is very clear what they havee to discuss.


    One of them asked the others. "So what do you guys think? It can work right?"


    She is the one that called for this meeting. She has shared her n with them and now is asking for their opinion.


    Another one asked, "How sure are you about your hypothesis? A lot is riding on it. Our lives depend on its validity."


    He is just one of the other 9 that answered the call for the meeting. He isn''t so sure about the feasibility of the n. He wants to know if the n that thedy proposed is certain to work.


    The first one replied, "I am 100% certain. I have a reliable source."


    Most of these rank 9petitors have a faction that they lead. Some of them were helped to reach rank 9 by their faction so that they can represent their interests. The female battle sage monkey that called for the meeting happens to be part of a faction that hates Soverick. She has thergest factionposed of thousands of people and these people all want to kill Soverick. She called this meeting so that Soverick can be killed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Her source of reliable intelligence is from one of her zealous followers who has been monitoring Soverick''s fight. They discovered something that might be Soverick''s weakness. It has bolstered their confidence. They might not be so confident if they had seen Soverick''s fight with thest boss. Had they seen his fight, then they wouldn''t consider attacking him at all. It is as they say, Ignorance is bliss.


    A third person spoke, "So you''re saying that his gravity maniptions won''t work as long as we can resist it by manipting world power? That means that we need an artifact from this world."


    People have found that they can create weapons and artifacts themselves. This world functions simrly to the real world and they have had a year to explore it. Some crafters among them seeded in creating powerful weapons but they can''tpare to the weapons of this world.


    The only way to ess world power is to be bestowed an artifact after killing a monster that is two ranks above your rank. The n to kill Soverick is based on using world power to resist his maniption of gravity. The person that thought of it determined that Soverick couldn''t control the dragon because of its ability to manipte world power.


    The female battle sage monkey answered in the affirmative. "Yes."


    She is sure about the information and she is willing to bet her life on it for the chance to put Soverick down.


    "In that case, I am out."


    "Me too."


    "I don''t have an artifact. I guess I can''t join you."


    3 people voiced their decision not to participate in the attack since they don''t have an artifact bestowed to them by the world. These people are ignorant about Soverick''s power. They believe that his gravity maniption is his most powerful arsenal and that they need world power to resist it. The ones without artifacts cannot join in then. They have been saved by theck of artifacts.

 Chapter 624 Common Sense.

    "I have to decline. I care a lot about my weapon."


    One decided not to participate because he doesn''t want to lose his weapon. If they fail and die, then they will lose their weapon because it will not follow them when they die. These artifacts are very valuable and this person doesn''t want to lose theirs.


    The female battle sage monkey tried to convince him. "There''s nothing to fear since we won''t fail."


    But the person was not convinced. He said, "You must be foolish if you think there''s nothing to fear in attacking the child of the ne. You must be very foolish indeed."


    Soverick is not an ordinary person. He is a genius and worse than that, he is the child of the ne. What they have seen of him is just his personal strength. He hasn''t used the abilities of his title to fight yet but what they have seen is already enough to put fear in a sane person. To say that there is nothing to fear is to be insane. It ismon sense to be very afraid of him.


    "I think this is a bad idea. Having ess to world power is not enough to defeat Soverick. He has ess to it too and I am sure he can use it better than all of us. So I won''t be joining you in this foolishness."


    Another one refused to participate in the attack. Their rank 9 strength has not filled this person with confidence about attacking Soverick. It was not a long time ago when people were hiding in the ground and under rocks as Soverick turned the arena upside down. That kind of memory doesn''t just disappear. Even now, it is a warning not to foolishly fight Soverick even though death is not permanent here. A weapon has not reduced the veracity of the immense threat that he constitutes.


    Having a weapon has given them ess to world power but controlling the world power is another thing entirely. None of them are titans ofw or Sovereigns. They have never had any experience with world power. World power needs skills in maniption, control, and utilization. Getting ess to world power doesn''t make all of them equal. It certainly doesn''t make them equal to Soverick who could already steal world power without a weapon.


    To base their confidence in killing the child of the ne on world power can be considered foolishness by some. In the very likely scenario where they die for this foolishness, they will also lose their weapon. All in all, it is not encouraging to fight Soverick when they might lose the weapon that gives them their naive confidence.


    "I think you might have a chance but I am not willing to risk my survival for your very small chance of victory." Another person bowed out.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    This person has a weapon and has not died even once in this challenge. That means they will earn a feat for surviving. They are not about to risk a feat for a chance to defeat Soverick so they decided not to participate too.


    The female battle sage monkey tried to convince again, "We might all earn a feat if we manage to defeat Soverick and whoever kills Soverick will be a king at least. We can take his crown. Think about it."


    "Might and if. Your n is based on a lot of possibilities and only one certainty. It is not enough."


    They did not listen to her. The person that kills Soverick will be a king. That is certain. But it is not certain that they can kill Soverick. It is not even certain that they can defeat him and the chance of defeating him is reducing as more people drop out. On the other hand, it is certain that this person will earn a feat if he simply survives. Fighting Soverick is courting death which is the opposite of surviving. He doesn''t want to court death.


    The female battle sage monkey watched these people retreat into the forest with their factions or alone. She is tempted to force the ones without factions to join her using the strength of her faction. Being a rank 9 doesn''t mean a rank 8 cannot kill you. The power system of this world doesn''t change you or increase your life''s order. The world empowers your actions. So you run faster and you hit harder but the defense of your body doesn''t increase.


    Thepetitors are not like the monsters. They are not as durable as the monsters they fought. A rank 4 giant bird can still rend a rank 9petitor with their ws if the rank 9 is not careful. That means the thousands of people she has in her faction can certainly defeat a single rank 9petitor. It will be easy to overwhelm these deserters with numbers. But she decided not to do that.


    She will very much love to see them die for not agreeing with her but it is not wise to create more enemies especially when they are already going up against the strongest and best. The fact that she won''t be able to kill them permanently is the major problem. They wille back and they will still have their rank 9 strength so it is a bad idea to make enemies of them. One enemy is already enough. Adding more rank 9 enemies to the roster of enemies can only end badly.


    She is being cautious which ismendable. But ignorance will see her efforts undone. She didn''t see the end of Soverick''s fight with the dragon or his fight with the rank 10 monster and she didn''t see the robe he was given on the mountain so she doesn''t know that he has already been given the title of a sage.


    She missed a lot of things about Soverick. If she were aware of one of these crucial matters, maybe she wouldn''t have decided to fight him. It ismendable that even in her ignorance, she knows that Soverick cannot be underestimated. That''s why she didn''t go up the mountain alone. She called a meeting and asked for help for her insane quest

 Chapter 625 Mission Impossible.

    Six people left leaving four people who remain steadfast to the cause of vanquishing the tyrant. These four are two males and two females. All of them have weapons. They might not have earned it due to pure talent and skill but they have it nheless. All that is required to earn a weapon is to be the one to deal the killing blow to a monster two ranks above your rank. It might be difficult to do so as a solo fighter but those with factions have a way around it.


    The female that called the meeting looked at all of them and said to them. "There''s nothing to lose apart from our scores and maybe our weapons. We might not be able to use the weapons when we go to another challenge so they might not be very important. I might be wrong and the artifacts turn out to be important but I believe that trying to kill Soverick is worth it."


    The two males nodded in agreement.


    One of the males said, "I will be satisfied if I can just hit him once."


    The other male spoke with hot-blooded passion. "That won''t be enough for me. I want to crush him and destroy him."


    He made a fist and his eyes shone with determination as he spoke. The other female didn''t say anything. She just listened and went along with them. She can be considered to be a very beautiful battle sage monkey. She has pink fur and purple eyes. Her white robe is elegant and fitting to her body.


    The way that she looks around with unfocused innocent eyes makes others want to protect her. She looks definitely out of depth and out of ce in a team that can only be called a suicide squad. No one warned her otherwise. She has to bepetent in one or another for her to be a rank 9. Or she could have been very lucky to reach rank 9. In that case, her good luck so far is finally catching up to her. It is time that luck takes it pound of flesh from her.


    The four of them prepared and ascended the mountain. They chose to walk rather than fly. If their n fails and Soverick can manipte their gravity, then they want to be on the ground not in the air when it happens. The first female battle sage monkey has experienced what it feels like to be locked in a giant earthen ball and made to fall to the ground from a very great height. She will tell you that it was not a pleasurable ride.


    It took a while but they soon reached the peak. They saw Soverick sitting and meditating with his eyes closed. They noticed something about the robe he is wearing. It is giving off a lot of energy fluctuations. The energy fluctuations are far above what a normal robe should have. It is almost like he is wearing an artifact, not a simple reinforced fabric.


    "Wait a minute. Is that another artifact? Does he have two artifacts? How am I supposed to hit him now that he has both a defensive and attacking artifact? I am out of here."


    The male that would be satisfied with just hitting Soverick once gave up after sighting Soverick. You can only get and use one artifact in the challenge. If you have gotten one before, you can''t get another one if you lose it. And you can''t use another one if you took it from someone else. That''s what they have been told and also experienced so Soverick shouldn''t have two artifacts but it looks to them that he has two. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It is already difficult to hit Soverick just once. His aim can be considered a pipe dream but this new development has made that nearly impossible. He is giving up while he can. He turned around and ran away down the mountain as fast as possible leaving the other 3 behind.


    "What a Coward." The first female that arranged the meeting said after the deserter left them.


    She feels like shouting actually but she didn''t. She said it quietly so that the noise won''t spook Soverick. She knows that he is probably aware of their presence but that has not alleviated her deep-seated fear for him. She wouldn''t be so opinionated as to call someone a coward if she knows how Soverick got that robe. Unfortunately for them, they are facing his front and can''t see the words written on the back of his robe.


    "Now it''s three of us. We can still do this." She said to the others.


    The only male in the party nodded and affirmed his will. He has a strong will that will not be ovee easily. The other female tilted her head at the words. It was neither agreement nor disagreement. It seems that she is confused about what''s going on but she followed the other two as they continued up the mountain.


    One of Soverick''s eyes opened to focus on them. The gold pupil lined with a ring of multicolored iris sent an involuntary shiver down their spines. The three of them stopped immediately and froze. The situation continued like so for several moments as the eye moved to examine them one by one.


    Soverick broke the silence. " I wonder. Should I call you brave and courageous or stupid and foolish?"


    The second female spoke. Fear took over her features. Her naive look changed into a terrified one as she spoke quickly. "I am neither. I am simply intrigued. I followed them to watch the fight up close."


    It seems she has finally realized the immensity of the situation that she has gotten herself into and now she wants no part in it. She looked straight into his eye as she said those words. Her soft words and the way her eyes shimmer make her look harmless and innocent. A formless wave spread out from her. The wave invoked feelings of peace and calm toward her.

 Chapter 626 Instant Friendship.

    Soverick''s eye sparked and became zed. He found the second female battle sage monkey to be more pleasant looking the more he looked at her. He also felt that he has seen her somewhere but he can''t recollect where.


    He smiled at her. Then he said, "Interesting."


    The other two didn''t take her betrayal kindly.


    "You bitch. I''lle after you forever no matter how this goes. You have made a terrible enemy today. Do you hear me? You have made a terrible enemy today" The first female promised vengeance with a loud angry voice.


    The determined male was speechless. He couldn''t believe his ears. It is true that thedy never indicated to follow them verbally. She just followed them up the mountain and is only now saying that she wanted to watch. Of course, he is not going to believe her. She is obviously lying. What she did is worse than cowardice. She didn''t bow out earlier. It is until now that they need her the most that she is making her betrayal known.


    He felt too stunned to speak but the fury in his eyes said everything that needs to be said. If he could, he would tear her apart with his bare hands but he can''t. She is strong and they are also in front of the child of the ne. It will not do to embarrass themselves like that. That is if Soverick will be content with simply watching those that havee to fight him fight amongst themselves.


    Soverick''s single eye regarded them slowly. The yful smile on his face did not alleviate their fears. The male gripped his hammer tighter while the female readied her shield to block any attack from Soverick. They remained like this for a while. Silence returned. No one said anything, moved or made any noose. The only thing that could be heard is the howling of the cold wind on the mountaintop.


    The female with pink fur and purple eyes had those same eyes trained on Soverick except the eyes are shimmering. She waited to see what Soverick''s reaction will be.


    Soverick asked them, "You havee to attack me. When will you do so? Or are you waiting for me to make the first move?"


    His words made them realize that they came to fight him not the other way around. It is foolishness to wait for him to make the first move unless they are very confident in their prowess and victory. Having the confidence to survive a single move of his will be very hard to exin as not underestimating him. Letting him make the first move is just utter foolishness. So they moved to attack.


    The two of them took a step forward and froze when his single eye shone violet light. His multicolored iris turned into a Violet ring around his golden pupil. The two of them also shed a violet light as if they reflected the lighting from his eye. Then their bodies exploded. They would have died but they were saved by the brand in their bodies.


    Their brand protected them from further damage, took them away, healed them, and then spawned them somewhere else leaving their artifact behind. Their lives were saved but they are not unscathed. He took something far more important than their artifact from them. The violet light in his eye died down and he turned it towards the remaining female.


    "Now what do I do about you?" He tapped his chin and wondered out loud.


    "I am not an enemy. I am a friend and friends are kind to one another." Her eyes shimmered brighter as she spoke.


    Soverick''s single eye shimmered too. He nodded in agreement, "That''s true."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She took his agreement as an encouragement to step forward. She watched his reaction but he didn''t seem to have noticed her movement. So she said, "Kindness means helping one another."


    Soverick agreed with her again. "That''s true too."


    "It is the duty of a good friend to help another friend." She took another step closer to him as she spoke.


    She continued to move closer to him as they chatted. Soverick''s multicolored eye shimmered brighter and brighter. It produced a faint pink light simr to the one in the female''s eye. That pink light is about to overwhelm all the other colors in his eye.


    She asked him. "You are my friend right?"


    "I don''t think so. Friends don''t try to brainwash other friends." He disagreed with her for the first time.


    His reply startled her. That wasn''t what he is supposed to say. He is supposed to agree with her and be her friend instantly. He is not supposed to blurt out what she is trying to do. Her confusion cleared up as she watched his eye be clear. She doesn''t need to wonder what''s about to happen.


    "Oh no." She eximed as she took a step back in fear.


    "Thew of illusion is it?" He asked her calmly.


    She didn''t reply. She turned and ran. Talking now will not save her so it is best that she escape for her life. Unfortunately, A field of nullification spread out from him and she froze. He wed at her with one of his hands and activated gravity control. She flew into his waiting hand. His hand gripped her neck tightly. Then he removed the field of nullification.


    She smiled even though his grip threatened to crush her neck. Her smile is very wide. It is obvious that she is very happy instead of being afraid.


    "I''ve got you now." She said triumphantly.


    A pink domain sprang out of her body and enveloped them both. The domain began to enter Soverick''s body through his hand that is touching her. She continued to smile as she waited to see the reward for her efforts. She became ecstatic when she saw his multicolored eye turning pink again.


    Sheughed andughed. "Imagine it. The great and mighty child of the ne has fallen to me. He has be my thrall."

 Chapter 627 The Abomination Within The Consciousness.

    Soverick''s eye turned pinkpletely. He was frozen in his action of gripping her neck. The entire pink domain entered his body and dug into his consciousness seeking to control it. It made her even more happy.


    A domain of a transcendent is an area under their control. They can use their domain for numerous things but the only way it can affect another transcendent so seriously is if it is enforced by aw. In the case of thisdy, she has managed toprehend the equivalent of thew of illusion in this world fragment and she is trying to use it to gain control of Soverick.


    Soverick could have defended against her easily but he allowed her to do what she wanted. He opened his consciousness for her domain to enter without resistance. Then her consciousness flowed from her body into his. It is how she gains control of her thralls. She will modify their consciousness with hers so they will always obey her. It is how she managed to umte her faction. Her subordinates and helpers didn''t follow her willingly.


    She continued to guffaw. "Look at me now. They said I shouldn''t do it. They said it was a bad idea. Have I not done it now? Truly, victory favors the bold."


    Her aim for thispetition is Soverick and only Soverick. Shees from a prestigious bloodline that maniptes people against their will. That''s another way of saying they enve people. Soverick is a big celebrity. He is strong, talented, and very special. It makes him an obstacle to ovee. Or in this case, it makes him a challenging target to enve.


    She is not the only one in her family who wished to control the child of the ne. But she is the only that decided to go through with it and attempt it during thispetition. Everyone else had too muchmon sense, just a healthy amount of fear and a set of working life-preservation instincts which prevented them from actually going through with their silly wish.


    Those good qualities of theirs held them back. It protected them from danger and also prevented them from getting the sess that she has just acquired. They will regret their decision when they hear of what she has aplished. She can just imagine their stupid faces being morphed by intense jealousy. It amused her to no end and made herugh louder.


    Herughter got cut shut when she finally reached his consciousness. She found Soverick''s consciousness to be like an abyss and at the bottom of the abyss is a grotesque entity with multiple eyes. This entity is all eyes around a single giant eye and ck misshapen flesh. The single giant eyeball has many eyes on its ugly body. It looks like a deformed demon beholder.


    This abomination said to her, "You have seen what you shouldn''t see. Don''t worry. It is not an offense. I allowed it. It is because you will be useful. You will be very useful."


    Then the abomination chuckled evilly. The sound it made crashed against her consciousness in a most unpleasant manner. The abyss began to churn and spin like quicksand. Its spinning pulled on her consciousness to bring her towards the abomination within Sovericks consciousness.


    "Nooooo." She screamed and tried to return to her body but there is no way back.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick had shut down the opening in his consciousness. She couldn''t escape. She continued to fall down the abyss kicking and screaming while the demonic entity reached out with tentacles to grab and pull her down. She eventually fell down to the bottom of the abyss and the abomination swallowed her for its nefarious purpose.


    Their battle of consciousness took a while but it was an instant in the world. She had justughed after gaining ess to his consciousness. Then her purple eyes dimmed and her body began breaking down. Pink fumes rose from her body as if she is evaporating. Her entire body turned into pink smoke that drifted away with the wind.


    "Be careful what you wish for." He said with a sneer as he gazed at the pink smoke.


    The pink in his eye has disappearedpletely. All traces of her in the physical world of manifestation is now gone. Thest bit of her is within his consciousness where it will be put to good use by Legion-7. It is not an enviable fate at all.


    She could have fought him with the others and had a taste of his WRAITH OF DEATH: GHOST OF THE FUTURE. It is a move that reflects the damage that a future version of his enemies will suffer if he fought them. It is azy move best used on enemies that are too weak for him to bother with.


    Using it on dangerous entities that can actually harm him can lead to a bacsh because he too can suffer in such a fight. He won''t be able to heal that bacsh because he won''t have the time to just like those two. So it is very dangerous to use.


    The two fools that came to fight him are harmless so he used it on them. He could have used it on her too with the worst that would have happened to her being that she loses her weapon and her rank 9 power like those two. But she decided to bite more than she can chew and lost her soul in the process. The two of them might be fools but the one that wanted to enve him is the foolish clown. She is worse than a fool.


    He shook his head. "What a clown. She tried to control me. Me of all people. It would have worked as a not-so-funny joke that she tells but she actually tried to go through with it. This is Stelios all over again except more stupid."


    She is not the first person to try and possess or enve a clone of Legion. In fact, some have seeded. Legion-7 has experienced very personally. But this female battle sage monkey has not reached the level required to enve him.

 Chapter 628 A Mountain Within A Mountain.

    Stelios tried and failed to possess a clone of Legion so her failure is not special. But he considers her to be worse than being foolish for attempting it at all. She is a clown that isn''t funny who then decided to do something dangerous to prove that she is funny. She yed with her consciousness without knowing what she is getting into. That is literal because she actually left her body and entered his in her attempt to enve him. She didn''t know what she was getting into at all.


    The consciousness of a transcendent is their most important asset apart from Origin energy. They can lose their body but they will regenerate it as long as they are still alive. Their consciousness is contained within every part of their body so a transcendent will survive their head getting crushed. The consciousness can be likened to the identity of a transcendent. It is what keeps their body and soul together.


    Her divine ability allows her to use her consciousness to manipte the consciousness of others through her eyes. As they say, the eyes are windows to the soul. Unfortunately for her, she met a consciousness that she cannot manipte. She met a mountain of a consciousness and paid the price of gaining entry into the core of that mountain. She had to meet the Mountain within the first Mountain.


    She is far too weak to manipte a consciousness that can manipte thew matrix of the world. His mind has survived going into the world of concepts and back. His mind swallowed parts of thew of order of a world god to give to Legion-7. He is already too much for her to handle much less Legion-7 and himself together. Her consciousness is but piecemeal to him.


    Her attempt might seem less significant than what Stelios tried to do with Helios but it is not. Stelios tried to use the gap between Helios''s consciousness and his body to eject Helios''s consciousness and possess his body. Stelios was also highly ignorant of who he was messing with.


    Thisdy tried to change his consciousness itself. She didn''t want to gain control of his body but wanted to reshape the very fabric of his mind and she knew full well who he is. He is not some random person. He is the child of the ne. That should have counted for something. Ignorance is not a valid excuse for her. She is inly suicidal.


    She probably did it because she thought she had nothing to fear. The rules of thepetition emboldened her. Her attempt to control him is more invasive and more stupid. Stelios was able to escape because of the gap between his body and soul but there''s no gap for her to escape through. He has a soul body now due to the fusion of body and soul. Her body thus fell apart without a consciousness to hold it together.


    He looked within himself to see what has be of her. The giant eyeball with several eyes on it has reprogrammed her consciousness and is using it to intrude on the core of the world fragment. Legion-7 modified her using thew of order of the sage making her consciousness look like a string of instructions simr to thew matrix of the arena. This will ensure that the resistance of the core will be significantly lower and he will be able to get easier ess to it.


    He has finished mapping thew matrix of this world fragment before he fought thest boss. He got what he wanted to get. He got power and he got knowledge. It is the same power that he used to strip those two of their power. He used WRAITH OF DEATH: GHOST OF THE FUTURE to bring about the effect of their future fight into the present. His understanding of time made him realize that everything that can happen is currently happening including both the future and the past.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His eyes aligned a future where he destroyed them to the present. This should have caused their death but the brand on their bodies saved them. That brand is under the control of the core of the arena so he can''t control it. What he can do is influence the privileges of the brand on them.


    One of the privileges is to be saved from death and respawned somewhere else. He can''t change that since it is not changeable. Another privilege is the power system of this world. He can''t remove it either but he can reset it since it is a changeable factor.


    The power system empowers thepetitors by a certain amount based on their rank. He can''t remove the augmentation entirely but he can reset the rank to 0 which eliminated the empowerment of this world entirely. It must have been very hurtful for them to lose all their progress but they can regain it if they put in the effort. What he did to them is temporary.


    That is one of the powers he got from his tinkering with thew matrix. He found a lot more beyond his reach when he was done with it. He could be satisfied with what he has achieved or he could seek out more.


    The power he got is not permanent. He will lose it when thepetition ends and he has to leave the arena. There are all sorts of limits on what he can do with the power too. Those are already enough reasons to convince him to seek out more.


    He doesn''t really need a reason to seek out more power. He will always be seeking out more power and only power if he can. But a reason to seek out power is always great. He can use it to exin his current actions to the sage in case the sage is mad about the death of apetitor.


    He will start his exvuse with, "She fell into my consciousness. It wasn''t my fault at all."

 Chapter 629 Stumbling Up A Mountain.

    She really did fall into his consciousness. It is not an impotent excuse because it happened and it happened like that. Plus he has witnesses. He wouldn''t have allowed it to happen if he wasn''t going to take advantage of her but that isn''t the point. The point is that her death is of no fault of his own.


    He was sitting there on the mountain top alone with his thoughts andpletely out of the way so it cannot be said that she stumbled into him and fell into his consciousness. No one stumbles up a mountain. They can stumble down but stumbling up is not possible. Not as long as gravity is still a thing. So this entire thing is her fault.


    He allowed her to enter his consciousness because of the knowledge he acquired from thew matrix of the world fragment. Thew matrix is but the result of the permutation of the originalw of order of the sage. He tried to infer from it but it iscking. He has been looking at the footsteps of the sage, not the foot. But now he has found traces of thew within the core of the arena. These traces are like the purew fragments of false order that he retrieved from the rank 10 monster. Except that they belong to the first sage.


    It is exactly what he came to thepetition for but it is beyond his reach. He doesn''t have ess to the core so he can only attack it to gain ess. The obstacle of the core would have given him pause before. He was not willing to vite the operations of the arena and offend a world god before but It just so happened that he met with the sage as soon as he was done with thew matrix. Now, he doesn''t have misgivings about tampering further with what he found.


    Beyond thew matrix and his reach is the core of the arena. Thew matrix is the front end of the system that operates the arena. It can be likened to the user interface of the world fragment. He shouldn''t be able to change the user interface but he did thanks to the codes he got from the Sage''s first meeting. He can rob others of their rank and raise his rank without doing anything but it is not enough for him.


    The core is the back end of the arena. It holds all the authority of control of the arena. It is where the arena spirit lives. If he can control it, then he can tweak a lot more things such as having as many artifacts as he wants. Unfortunately, the core is not so weing to intrusion. The back end controls the front end, not the other way around. He as a user, even one with his acquired control over thew matrix cannot influence the core at all. For that, he will need root ess or administrative privileges.


    He doesn''t have root ess since he is not an administrator so he has been trying to gain ess through brute force. His progress has been abysmal because he is not fighting against some static defense. The arena spirit is aware of his actions and it is constantly shoring up the defenses of the core. If not for the key that he got from killing the rank 10 boss, then he would have no chance at all.


    The rank 10 monster released a key after being defeated. That key passed through thew matrix to the core and to anotherwork behind the core. He was able to gain meager ess to the core when a vulnerability opened within that brief moment and he was able to catch a glimpse of thework beyond it. It is how he knows that the next challenge will involve several arenas. If he can gain control of this arena, then he will be able to understand more about thew of order and gain ess to thergerwork behind it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He is on a deadline to take control of the core too. He is sure that thework will be able to reinforce the core of this arena if he is still trying to intrude into it when the second challenge begins. Unfortunately, he is already doing his best with what he has. He can''t make any more progress. The challenge he is facing in getting ess to the core made him realize that the sage never intended to give him a lot of hisw of order. He was given a taste as bait, now he has been given the opportunity to look on but not partake in the main dish. He is not discouraged though. The fact that he has not been given just means that he has to steal it. If he wants something, all he has to do is to take it.


    He is like a robber within apound. He has gotten past the gate and the walls but the house is sealed tight. In fact, the house doesn''t have windows or doors so he can''t pick any locks to get in. If he wants to get ess to the house, he has to break down the very sturdy walls themselves. It is very inefficient but he doesn''t have much of a choice.


    He will be able to get easier ess to the core if he is able to create more vulnerability in its defense. But the only way he has seen that can create a vulnerability is the key he acquired from thest boss. If his conjecture is right, the only ones that have the keys are the final bosses of a challenge. So he has to keep winning the challenges if he wants more keys, and more vulnerabilities and to ultimately gain control of the core.


    "This feels like I am falling into a trap." He had muttered to himself when he determined what he needed to get thew of order within the core.


    AUTHOR NOTE:


    We have monthly question and answer sessions for GREED on the discord channel. The reward is the LOA Code. Join the discord if you''re interested.

 Chapter 630 Volunteer For Legion.

    He realized then that his train of thought might have been nned out. It is just like the sage to present a problem to him and also give him a way out. It is so that he will have to do what the sage wants if he wants morew of order. And in this case, for some weird reason, the sage wants him to win thispetition. He doesn''t know why the sage will care so much about some Unified Skill Index that will be held every 10,000 years.


    It is strange that the sage will care about thepetition enough to offer Soverick some of hisw of order even if thispetition is the first of its kind. It was then that he became suspicious of thepetition but he has not been able to figure out what is unique about thepetition. He is unwilling to be led around by his nose through the promise of more knowledge but he certainly doesn''t have a choice.


    He was willing to slowly grind down the defense of the core by winning the challenges and acquiring more keys to create vulnerabilities in the defense of the core of the arena. That was until Madame seducer/hypnotist volunteered herself to go to where no man has ever gone before. She volunteered to help him crack the core of the arena.


    She attempted to do something impossible like enving him. He, in his infinite magnanimity allowed her to do it and will also offer her something difficult but possible to do after the failure of her attempt to enve him. Seeding in this difficult mission should bolster her confidence and repair whatever damage her ego took because of her failure. He is generous and magnanimous that way.


    Her consciousness is like a piece of data. What''s special about this piece of data is that it has the brand of the arena in it and her consciousness does not have her body to protect it from change. So Legion-7 changed her consciousness into a program using the little he knows of thew of order of the first sage. It helped that she hasprehended aw of the matrix before so her consciousness is not a stranger to thew of order. Then he thrusts her into the core.


    The core recognized her consciousness to be part of itself so it epted her. A gap opened in the defenses of the core so that it can ept her consciousness. The modified consciousness slipped into the wall of the core. Then the arena spirit changed its mind after performing an in-depth analysis of the program and tried to push it back out.


    Unfortunately for it, there''s someone on the other end that is intent on keeping the makeshift program within the core. The world spirit pushed on one end and he did on the other end. He can''t make any more progress and the arena spirit can''t eject her consciousness. So the intrusive program which is her consciousness became lodged with the defense of the core.


    He thought to himself, "This will have to do. I can''tin."


    It is not the vulnerability he wanted. A door or window didn''t open up for him. It is more of a crack in the wall. It will have to do. It may not be what he wanted, but it is what he got. The crack has improved his intrusion efficiency by 100%. It doubled the results he is getting in trying to break through the defense. It is not so drastic as to mean he can crack the core open immediately. It only means that he has a hope of gaining ess without jumping through all of the Sage''s hoops. It is better than having no hope at all so he can''tin.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I wonder if the sage nned for this." He asked out loud.


    He shook his head when he didn''t receive any answer. He didn''t expect an answer anyway. It would have been weird if he received one. He might not even believe the answer if he receives it. He was just asking to get a reaction. Any reaction would do but he didn''t get any. So he has to continue to stew on his thoughts.


    The advantage that thedy''s consciousness gave him seems coincidental. It is not something that can be easily replicated. There has to be someone in the arena with her kind of ability and that person has to willingly enter his consciousness to be sacrificed for the greater good of Legion.


    In the case of thisdy, she was foolish enough to believe that she could control him. It seems coincidental but he can''t trust himself enough to believe that. It might as well be nned by the sage. He has to question everything since it is rted to the first sage.


    His question set off other suspicious thoughts in his mind. He realized that the core might be a trap. The sage is dangling knowledge in his face and it is predictable that he will try everything to get it. But the sage decided to make acquiring the knowledge difficult so that he will not be suspicious of it at all. After all, people cherish what they have to work hard for.


    Then the sage created a lucky break for him in the form of the suicidal hypnotist. He will think it a mere coincidence and not bother much about it. His suspicion is further lowered when the lucky break doesn''t immediately grant him ess to the core. Then he will manage to gain ess to the core only for his consciousness to be trapped within the core. Then the sage can force him to do whatever he wants Soverick to do instead of coercing him with benefits. His suspicions make everything seem like a scheme.


    He sighed and said to himself, "There''s no use thinking about it. I''ll just follow the knowledge. If I die, I die for Legion."


    AUTHOR NOTE: WHO CAN GUESS WHAT RACE LEGION-7 IS?

 Chapter 631 End Of The First Challenge.

    There''s no use overthinking about it because overthinking about it won''t do him any good. He just has to make a decision and stick with it. If he could see the future then he might be sure of his decisions and their repercussions but he can''t. He can read the past, unfortunately for him, this world doesn''t have a past. It was created instantaneously. It doesn''t have a history for him to base his decisions on.


    If someone unrted to Legion can volunteer to help Legion and even go so far as to sacrifice her consciousness, then he can surely offer himself to die for Legion. If his decision turns out to be bad, then he will pay the price for it despite knowing how bad the price might be. It is a risk that is worth it.


    Thew of order that he is acquiring will help every Legion form their concepts and be titans ofw. That is just the basic use of the falsews of order. They have more targeted and specific use based on race. In the case of the dragon clone, it will help him gain better control of the immense power that he has acquired. Everything he does, he does for the good of Legion.


    He disregarded his safety and continued trying to gain ess to the core with the remaining time left in the challenge. Unfortunately for him, he was not able to seed by the time the challenge ended. The world spirit appeared one year after the challenge started. It appeared in the sky and pped. The world froze and everypetitor froze with it. Everypetitor apart from Soverick that is.


    Soverick opened all of his eyes when he sensed the freezing of the world. He looked up and saw the world spirit. The world spirit was also looking directly at him. The frown on its face transmitted enough information about its opinion of Soverick. It does not like him at all. Not one bit. It has better things it wants to do than to engage in a mental battle with Soverick for control of the core.


    Soverick grinned when he saw the frown. He stood up and yawned. Then he began stretching just so that the world spirit''s frown will increase. And it did. The frown deepened as if to crack its smooth t face. Soverick has be an anomaly in the system. He is not supposed to be still aware of his surroundings and moving now. His very existence has be an eyesore to the world''s spirit.


    It turned away from the invader and moved on with its job. The forest was removed and the world was scrubbed clean into its base form as a white canvas. The arena became an empty and ridiculouslyrge white room once again. Thepetitors were then released.


    The Arena spirit spoke to them, "Congrattions to those that survived this challenge. You have earned a feat for your efforts. And thanks to the effort of the child of the ne who defeated the final boss, this arena has qualified for the second challenge. We will now proceed to join the other arenas that qualified."


    The white room becamerger all of a sudden and morepetitors appeared in the added space. Other arena spirits appeared in the new sections too. They are addressing the newpetitors just like the world spirit of Arena 28 is addressing them. From their own perspective, it is Arena 28 that was suddenly added to their Arena.


    ''It seems like the arenas have merged. I was right after all.'' Soverick observed to himself.


    He noticed thework of Arena attached to Arena spirit when he got a glimpse through the gap in the core of the Arena formed by the key released after he killed the rank 10 monster. The key ensured the qualification of Arena 28 for the 2nd challenge so it wasbined with some of the other arenas that qualified. Without that key, Arena 28 will be relegated to something else.


    The world spirit continued. "The next challenge is thest man standing challenge. You have proven that your skills are enough to survive out in the wild while surrounded by threats. Now, you have to prove that amongst everyone here, you will be thest to die."


    "This challenge will have elements of luck and fate. It might not be fair but it is the way of the world. Nothing is fair in the real world. Still, the ying ground will be leveled by removing the power and artifact that you have gained from the survival challenge. You will have to rely on skill and luck to win this Challenge."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "On ast note. Feats are very important. If you kill someone in this Challenge, you can take half of their feats. You will need the feats for the next challenge. You will be eliminated once you are killed in this Challenge. There will be no respawn and the challenge will continue for a maximum of a week unless everyone else has been eliminated. The goal of this challenge is to stay alive to the very end because only thest person will win this challenge and gain the benefits of the entire challenge."


    "I wish you all good luck."


    Thebined arena changed again. Buildings appeared in different sections. Forests in some and ruins in others. Thepetitors were randomly teleported to different locations. Soverick was teleported to a grass in. The rules and guidelines of the challenge were transmitted to him through his brand.


    His brand shed with his updated information.


    NAME: Soverick Ghastorix.


    POWER: 0.


    DESIGNATION: EMPEROR


    SCORE: 53,327,494


    RANK: 1.


    FEATS: 27


    He took a while to reorient himself. The teleportation didn''t disorient him. He is tougher than that. It is the bombardment of information from the addition of the other arenas and their attacks that is causing his mind to swoon. Thew matrix of Arena 28 fused with thew matrix of others. And just like he suspected, they tried to purge his influence from Arena 28.

 Chapter 632 The Battle For The Arenas.

    The cores of the other arena hoped to overwhelm his mind with data from theirw matrix while they remove his hold over his ownw matrix. It took less than the time for him to blink an eye to process the new information. He doe not have a weak mind so they failed to overwhelm him.


    Next, he had to fight theirbined effort to remove him. He can''t beat them so he didn''t bother to fight them. He dug his mind into his ownw matrix and stayed on the defensive. They have the advantage of numbers. Unfortunately for them, he is not some virus or an outsider. He has inside information that granted him ess to thew matrix in the first ce.


    He knows how to manipte thew matrix thanks to the snippet of thew of order of the sage that he got from their first meeting. Knowledge is power and he has in-depth knowledge of thew matrix of arena 28 so they couldn''t purge him. He managed to secure his position in hisw matrix. Then he turned on them.


    The situation turned against them when he began hacking thew matrix of the other arenas. He might as well take theirw matrix since it has be interwoven with his. So they turned their efforts into pushing him out of the core of Arena 28. That didn''t work out either because he has one foot in the crack in the defense of the core. They can''t purge him unless he is eliminated from this challenge. His death will make him lose his hold of the crack in the core and enable them to sessfully push him out.


    It is all good news and bad news. His brute force intrusion into the core of Arena 28 ground to a halt due to the reinforcement. He stopped making any progress whatsoever. He will need a good vulnerability such as the one he will get if he wins this challenge to continue making any progress.


    The bad news is that if he is eliminated in this challenge, then he will lose all his progress with the core of Arena 28 and thew matrix of the others. The world spirits know that and will try to eliminate him by making things difficult for him. He has angered the world and it will be out to get him.


    He said smugly, "It is a good thing that I have thew matrix then."


    He could have thought of it and kept his thought to himself but he said it out loud so that the arena spirits can bear him. It must grate on them to know what he ns to do and yet be unable to do anything directly to foil his n. He can almost see their frowning faces and it brings him joy to frustrate them.


    The arena spirits are powerful and they have vast mental prowess but their wisdom is childlike. He finds it fun to bully them. Their attitude towards his intrusion is making an otherwise boring process to be interesting.


    He stopped smiling smugly and began examining his environment. His only chance of sess is to leverage the privileges that having control of thew matrixes will give him. Everyone is supposed to be on an equal ying field with equal power but the element of luck will favor some and doom others. He is certainly one of those that will be doomed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The world spirits are in charge of spawning monsters and loots for thepetitors. It is obvious that they will target him to eliminate him. There''s a limit to what they can do but he will get thergest monster attacks possible and the smallest loot possible in return for his effort.


    So he didn''t rush forward immediately. He spent a few hours assimting thew matrixes of the other arenas before he started moving. It was easier to do since he already had control of one. Eachw matrix should be different since they are different derivatives of the samew. Fortunately for them, they stopped being different.


    It would have been difficult but possible for him to assimte them had they stayed different. They are made from the samew of order after all so cracking them is still possible. But they became simr to each other in order to facilitate the merging of arenas for the 2nd challenge. So he didn''t have to try and crack all of them all over again the way he cracked Arena 28.


    He checked the map on his brand and his location on it to figure out which direction he should take.


    "Typical." He scoffed. "They put me at the very edge of the ne in the first ring."


    The map was sent with the guidelines of the challenge by the world spirit to his brand. He noticed that he was teleported to the very edge of the circr map. In fact, he is very close to the barrier that surrounds the entire arena. They could have teleported him to anywhere within the 7 rings of thebined arenas but they put him in the outermost ring. So he has to make his way to the Zeroth ring at the center of the map if he wants to win. No doubt that they will produce enemies to fight him along the way.


    "Nothing can stop me from winning this challenge. I will have the key." He said as started walking towards the central ring.


    Thest man standing challenge is taking ce in arge area with various environments. The map is circr and cut into 7 rings. A ring and everything on it will be destroyed every day of thepetition. The destruction will start from the outermost ring and those on it will be eliminated if they still haven''t made their way to the 6th ring by the end of the first day. This will funnel thepetitors into smaller areas where conflicts will eliminate more of them.

 Chapter 633 Feats.

    To win the 2nd challenge, one has to reach the 1st ring by the end of the 6th day and be thest one on the central ring by the end of the 7th day. Hiding to ensure survival will not work. You will be eliminated when sections of the arena get destroyed so you have to continue moving forward. Some will be lucky to have been teleported straight into the 1st ring so they won''t have to face the challenges thate with crossing the map.


    He met one such challenge soon after he started walking. He would have loved to fly but a no-flight ban has been hardwired into thew matrix so he can''t fly. He also doesn''t have the empowerment of the world in his brand so can''t do something like making himself a rank 10 immediately.


    There are no steps of power in this challenge so no one will have any augmentation of the world. So he is back to being suppressed by 99% to the same level as others. These are all limitations of being in control of just thew matrix. He can only manipte what is allowed in thew matrix. He can''t change anything fundamental at all unless he gets ess to the core.


    He can''tin about these limitations since he isn''t supposed to be in control of thew matrix at all. The only edge he is supposed to have is his skill just like every otherpetition in this challenge. So he should be equally stumped by the loot box that he came across. The empowerment of his body by momentum will not be able to help him in making up his mind about the loot box.


    "To open or not to open." He muttered as he examined therge cube made of fragile ck wood.


    The loot box is arge cubic box with sides of 1 meter. It can contain good things like weapons, armor, healing pills, and storage rings. It can also contain a monster. You can''t know. You can only break the box and hope for the best. It is called a loot box even though it might be containing a monster that will erge and hound you after the box has been broken because if you kill the monster, you will get your loot inside it. So either way, you will get loot. It will either be easy and immediate after you break the loot box or after engaging and winning a fight with a difficult monster that popped out of the loot in the box.


    He knocked on the box as he crooned, "What do we have here? What do the arena spirits have in store for me?"


    His question is meant to tease and annoy the arena spirits. He already knows what''s inside the loot box. It is a monster. He just asked that question to mock the arena spirits. His control over thew matrix enables him to know and see through what''s around him. He knows there is a monster in the loot box just like knows that there are 10,452 people in a 10-kilometer radius around him with the closest person being someone hiding within a burrow in the ground some 473 meters away.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He knows all of these and the arena spirits know that he knows it so his question was to mock the futility of their efforts. The rules of thepetition and the limits they enforce might have robbed him of power but they can''t rob him of information. Information is powerful. In the right hands, information is good enough.


    He left the loot box and headed for the nearest one. He knows that there is a monster within the loot box so he won''t be caught unprepared for it. He can easily kill the monster so he is not leaving because he is afraid of it. He is leaving because even though he can see the monster within the loot box, he doesn''t know what the monster will give him after he kills it. The only thing he is sure about is that the loot will not be something worthwhile. That''s why left the loot box.


    The things contained within the loot box are set when the world was created but what they will drop is not set. That is up to the arena spirits. They decide what will drop. If there''s uncertainty, then it is not worth the effort for him to kill the monster because the odds are literally against him.


    He is also leaving the smart fellow that hid within the burrow in the ground when he saw Soverick. It takes some apudable self-awareness to decide to dig into the ground and hide at the first sight of a predator. He is not letting the person go because he cares but because killing the person will be a waste of time too since that person doesn''t have any feats. The person is worth the same to him as the loot box, almost nothing.


    The need for feats is the driving force of conflict within this challenge. Their use has not been stated but the arena spirit said they will be needed for the 3rd challenge. Winning the 2nd challenge is a fanciful dream for a lot ofpetitors. Many are smart enough to not think of themselves as powerful or lucky enough to be thest man standing among thousands ofpetitors. So the bulk of thepetitors will hunt others for feats. It is a more realistic goal and it is very achievable.


    The return for killing someone with a feat is very high. You get to take half of their feats as long as they have more than 1 feats or almost half in the case of an odd number of feats. But there''s a catch. You can''t know who has feats and who doesn''t. You have to kill someone to be sure. So the quest will cause most of the conflicts within thepetition.

 Chapter 634 Loot Box Dilemma.

    It is only after their death will you be able to tell if they have feats or not and the approximate amount of feats. So Feats will be the proverbial bone of contention within thepetition, not the position ofst man standing.


    Feats will be the main thing that people will be fighting over and they will need every edge that they can get. They will need weapons, armor, and healing pills that will be able to get them back into fighting conditions quickly. It is where the Wild card of the loot boxes in.


    Do I break the loot box or not? Do I fight that person or not? These are the pertinent questions thepetitors have to ask themselves asionally during this challenge. This is also an open world with open rules of engagement so anybody can take advantage of a fight by stalking the fighters.


    You can''t fight someone or a monster from a loot box and believe that no one will interfere. So it bes important to ask yourself who to fight and which loot box to break. A loot box can produce weapons that will give you the edge to kill more people or it might produce a monster that will attract attention, chase you down, and generally be the end of you.


    There are so many uncertainties. But not for him. He is certain that if he goes northeast by 15 degrees and walks for 117 meters he will find another loot box. This loot box is unlike the 20 or so around him with monsters inside them. That makes the ratio of good loot boxes to bad loot boxes be 1:20.


    An uninformed person may be surprised by the ratio of monster loot boxes to actual loot boxes in their surroundings but he is not uninformed and he is not surprised. He knows that it is not a coincidence that he was teleported to this very section of the 7th ring. He can put the pieces of the puzzle together ande up with the idea that the arena spirits are hoping to drown him in monsters. Unfortunately for them, he won''t fall for their bait.


    "A space ring. Not bad." He said when he saw the loot box.


    He can already see what is contained within the loot box from afar so he went close to it and cracked the box open with a punch. The box fell apart easily. He picked up the ordinary silver ring levitating above the ruined box. The ring will not increase his fighting prowess but it will be useful for holding other stuff that he finds. He wore it and started for the next loot box with loot in it. He didn''t go too far before he stopped.


    He paused and said dryly, "Another space ring."


    This time, he is not so excited after seeing what the loot box contains. He already has a space ring. Having another one is redundant and outright useless when his first one is not doing anything.


    "Another one isn''t so bad." He managed to say.


    He decided to get it. It is always good to prepare. An extra one means versatility. Besides, it is free of charge and it is not a monster. He broke the box and continued to the nearest loot box without a monster in it. What he saw made him frown.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I have a bad feeling about this." He muttered.


    There''s another space ring in the loot box. That makes three in a row. He is either very lucky or something else is at y here. He left the loot box and went after another one in his vicinity without a monster within it. Only to find it has a space ring in it. He wasn''t surprised at all by the oue.


    He smiled and said, "I see. That''s what their game is."


    They dropped him in an area very far from the first ring and filled the surrounding with loot boxes containing monsters. But there is a limit to the number of loot boxes with monsters that they can create per zone. They can''t just make every loot box contain monsters. The rules dictate that they have to make loot boxes with actual loot at some point regardless of their unfavorable opinion of him. So they decided to make loot boxes that contain space rings.


    "I wonder what they nned next. Whatever it is, it had better be good because this is not." He said out loud to the arena spirits who are no doubt listening to him.


    Then he continued his search. There''s a limit to the amount of space rings that they can make per zone too. There must be something after that. Seeing as their n is to eliminate him, then whatever they are nning must be serious because what he has seen is not enough to eliminate him. It is impressive that they ced all of these here before the challenge started but it is not effective yet.


    He tried a lot more boxes after that and found the next thing that they are willing to give up. He found healing pills. They aren''t the powerful ones either. It is the least powerful one that will help him to maintain his fighting prowess after being injured.


    "It is useless. It is not a surprise." He said as he examined the pill.


    It is a white tablet-shaped pill with concentration-enhancing properties and there is only one of it within the box. A loot box can contain more than one item but not the ones around him. The ones around him seem to have decided to have the least amount of loot within them and also pretty useless ones too.


    The arena spirits gave him healing pills after running out of monsters and space rings. It is the worst kind of healing pill and there''s only one of it. It iscking in both quality and quantity. He doesn''t need to think too much to know that it is not by chance that he found it within a loot box close to his position.

 Chapter 635 A Not So Coincidence.

    The pill he found won''t actually heal him. It will only make him feel as if he is uninjured and help him continue fighting by being unaffected by his injuries.


    The pill is useless normally but he is not injured at all so it is more than useless to him. If he had weapons and armor, he might not need pills. Unfortunately for him, the forces that be of this world are against him and they have decided that he is better with pills than armor or weapon.


    ''I expected things to work out for me but it seems that even the sage cannot modify the rules. Either that, or I was beingpletely paranoid and the first sage doesn''t care about thepetition. I hope it''s the second option." He thought to himself.


    He postted that the sage is teasing him with the falsew of order so that he will work hard to win the challenges. He expected the sage to make things go his way to that end but they haven''t. Instead, things have been difficult for him. The arena spirits are currently doing their best to eliminate him despite being made from the falsew of order of the sage.


    He faced some problems in the first challenge too. The dragon had a fake weakness. He thought it was normal but the antagonistic arena spirits are making him realize that either the sage doesn''t care about him winning or the sage cares but can''t make things easy for him.


    He finds it difficult to believe that the sage doesn''t care about him winning considering everything the sage has done to make him participate in thepetition. The sage told him during the first meeting to win thepetition and during the second meeting to go ahead and pick up other threads. So if the sage wants him to win and yet, cannot make things easy for him, then something about thispetition has tied the hands of the sage.


    It means thispetition is bigger than he expected. He doesn''t want that. It could also be that the sage is using thispetition to test him. It could be anything when ites to the sage or it could be everything because the sage can achieve numerous objectives with one move.


    He asked himself. "I wonder what this is all about."


    Then he shook his head. "I''ll find out when I win. I just have to focus on that."


    He knows he might be overthinking things. Thispetition might just be what it is, a Unified Skill Index. It is just a simplepetition to decide who gets the plots ofnd around the tower of trials and he is here to endorse thepetition or something. He might be targeted because of what he did with thew matrix since it is technically cheating. The reality of the situation could be that simple.


    Besides, a good victory is one where it is earned against a good enemy. Maybe that''s why things are being difficult for him. There might be sages currently watching thepetition and essing him. It could be that he is supposed to impress them or prove to them that he is worthy of being a sage.


    There are a lot of conjectures that he cane up with so he decided to give up on spection and focus on what he cares about which is winning. Everything will be clear when he wins. It is also the only thing that he can act upon and change. So it is a better use of his time than worrying.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He moved on to look for loot boxes. He found more useless pills after that. Just one of them in many loot boxes.


    "They are officially wasting my time." He muttered to himself.


    He was in the midst of breaking a loot box just for the fun of it when he sensed someone approaching him very quickly. He paused to look in the direction of the person. This person is running straight for him. He moved away from his position but the person also changed their direction to head directly toward his new position.


    "Interesting. So this is what they are up to." Hemented dryly.


    He found it interesting that someone is after him specifically and that person can also track him with high uracy. There are thousands ofpetitors around but he has been singled out. He can tell that someone ising at him through his control over thew matrix of the arena. It extends his senses far beyond their normal range. Even then, he doesn''t know who the person is because he loses uracy the farther out he senses, and yet, this person can track him easily.


    It cannot be a coincidence. He can''t be having the worst luck in loot and then have someone randomly choose to hunt him when he is at his weakest. The arena spirits must have nned it or they at least had a hand in it.


    He shook his head. "It can''t be a coincidence."


    His conjecture was proving to be right when he sensed armor and a weapon on the personing for him. He doesn''t have any weapon and hasn''t found anything to increase his power or help him but this person is fully decked out. It can''t be a coincidence and he refuses to believe otherwise.


    He shrugged and said, "This should be interesting at least. And if it goes well, I will get some good things from the enemy."


    Then he continued towards the next loot box while his enemy closed in on him. The grasnd he is in is veryrge. There are no trees or structures to block his sight so he can see very far. He can see a tiny dot rushing toward him. The presence of an enemy didn''t stop him from appreciating the grass on the ground though. He felt no need to be anxious or afraid. His intuition is not raising any rms. The person is not a danger to him.

 Chapter 636 An Eye For An Eye.

    The person finally came into a clear enough view through his use of thew matrix.


    "Boring." He drawled after recognizing who his enemy is.


    He took one look and continued his fruitless journey. He wasn''t concerned about his enemy before but he was at least looking forward to the encounter. It would have been interesting at least. But he doubts he can get that much from who his enemy is.


    His enemy is Jarkon the stupid guy that rants about justice. He has the title of Unrelenting Justice. Soverick knows how the guy was able to find him. It seems he was wrong about the arena cores setting them up to fight. Jarkon would have found him anywhere as long as they are close enough to each other. The battle sage monkeys with his bloodline can find their targets for justice as long as they have been marked.


    "I am not a mad warlord or something. I kill thousands of people once. Just once and you decide to make it your life''s mission to piss me off just because your brother was also killed. You can kill my brother if you want to get back at me but no. You just had to target me. What a nuisance." Heined to himself as he walked without care.


    He is a very reasonable person above all else. He can admit that what he did is bad for some people. In fact, he is willing to offer uppensation for his offense by allowing Jarkon to kill Ghaster. An eye for an eye should be more than enough for Jarkon. But no, Jarkon is beingpletely unreasonable like some stubborn uncivilized thug.


    Jarkon has a different opinion of the situation. He seethed when he finallyid his eyes on Soverick. His fury zed hot like a furnace within him. His face became rigid with a stone-cold expression. The golden fur that forms his mane straightened and made his face and head look more threatening. His yellow eyes focused on Soverick as his target. His heart of justice cried for justice and his body acted to deliver it.


    His blood sang within him. It said, "Today, the blood of the defiler will wet the ground. He shall receive hiseuppance and justice shall be served."


    Those that have the bloodline of the lion of justice are very determined battle sage monkeys. They hunt their target with a dogged determination like no other. They are more like dogs rather than lions when ites to pursuing their target. It is not a conscious thing. It isrgely due to their bloodline. Justice is blind and unyielding. And those with this bloodline have the blood of justice flowing within them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Bloodlines affect their possessors. A transcendent has a modicum of independence from a bloodline but you are never really free until you be a titan ofw. Those that have the bloodline of the lion of justice don''t have that modicum of control as transcendents. Their bloodline calls to them. It sings to them and they must listen. If they don''t, then it will roar to them and they will bepelled.


    It is why Jarkon is after Soverick. So thousands of people died. Surely he has something better to do than toe hunting after the child of the ne. This is the child of the ne that we are talking about, not some ordinary opponent. The death of a million people by Soverick''s hands won''t have been enough for him to jeopardize himself.


    So his brother died. A lot of people die all the time. Nothing he can do can bring his brother back. He knows that, and yet, here he is picking a fight with the child of the ne whom he fears a lot. He could at least bid his time and make smart ns for retribution but his bloodline said no and here he is.


    You have to be smart in the void universe or you will die. Picking a fight with a clearly superior opponent just for the sake of justice is stupid. Heroism is stupid. Who has enough time and effort to solve the problems of others if it doesn''t benefit them in any way? Are you so free with your time that you have nothing better to do than to chase after someone that can kill you? Jarkon knows that heroism is stupid, and yet, here he is. It is because his bloodline will not let him rest until he has delivered justice.


    He is seething at the sight of Soverick because of resentment for his ancestor. And he is furious because of hisck of control. Anger and self-righteousness make his bloodline stronger. He doesn''t have self-righteousness and his anger may not be directed at Soverick but it is what he has so it will have to do. He needs it to serve him well in the uing fight that he has no choice but to partake in. And he had better partake in it wholeheartedly or he will receive a bacsh for shoddy performance.


    The bacsh wouldn''t be the only consequence he would suffer if the fight were to take ce in the real world. He will die if he fights Soverick in the real world. It is not as if his full wholehearted participation and exceptional performance in the fight will change the oue of the battle between them but his bloodline expects the best from him so he must give his best.


    His major reliance in any battle is the empowerment of his bloodline based on the amount of evil that the target hasmitted. Unfortunately for him, he won''t be getting it. This is a fight where he doesn''t have the right of way. Again, it is not as if having the empowerment of his bloodline will change the oue of the fight but not having it has made sure he does not have any delusions about what the oue will be. He understands that he will lose and he will badly.

 Chapter 637 Good Karma.

    He knows that he will lose and that he will lose badly. Unfortunately, his bloodline doesn''t think that so he is here. If good men don''t act, then bad men will get away with their sins. Every possessor of the bloodline of the lion of justice is a good man. So he must act no matter the situation. It is so that Soverick won''t get away with his sin. Justice does not sleep, and neither does it get tired.


    The moral high ground is very important to those with the bloodline of the lion of Justice. It strengthens them in varying amounts depending on how morally depraved their target is. There is no right or wrong so Good and Evil is rtive. The major entity that decides if someone is evil is his bloodline and it does so based on karma. Doing more good than evil gives you positive karma. An evil person has negative karma. They have done more evil than good.


    Objectively, a person with good karma has done less evil than a person with negative karma. They might have even killed more babies than someone with negative karma but they are positive as long as they have done a lot of good. Does that make a person with positive karma good? Maybe not. It is uncertain. But what is certain is that Soverick Ghastorix has a lot of positive karma. He is glowing brightly like the sun in Jarkon''s vision. This means that Soverick is the one with the moral high ground in the uing fight.


    "Look at me. The unrelenting Justice. Heading to his defeat without a care in the world, like always." He mocked himself.


    He is called the unrelenting Justice because of how determined he is when he is chasing after evildoers. He does that because of his fear of the bacsh. It pushes him to chase after his target with unmatched determination. Those that ept the bloodline for what it is and move into action without beingpelled to fight evil get ax treatment from their bloodline of the lion of justice. They have some freedom in how they act or when they act. They aren''tpelled as much and even if they are, they don''t feel the difference because it is something they would do without being coerced.


    Those ones will have a choice in the length of preparation and the angle of attack. They can get allies and form teams to hunt a target. But not him. He has to start chasing after Soverick as soon as his bloodline sensed him. His bloodline knows that he won''t go if he is notpelled so he didn''t get time to prepare. If he hadn''t been lucky enough to meet some loot box along the way that contained weapons and armor, then he will be here empty-handed.


    Weapon or not, he is not confident about taking on Soverick. He would rather be somewhere else doing something productive and worthwhile, not here on a suicidal mission. It is not a pleasant feeling to go into battle knowing full well of your impending defeat. And all of this because his ancestor was a goody two shoes who somehow managed to be an Origin god. He cursed his descendants with his foolishness. Now Jarkon has to follow in his footsteps and fight someone with positive karma all the while knowing that only a miserable end will be of him.


    He shouted as he closed in on Soverick. "This is your fault too. This is your fault."


    He has a lot more that he cannot say. He can''t say them mainly because it is too long and it is stupid. He is very angry at Soverick because this situation is his fault too. Soverick could have not killed those people. Soverick could have not killed his brother that had made thepelling force of his bloodline so strong. If there''s a victim here, it is him. He is the one that doesn''t want to be here but has to be here and has to fight only to suffer defeat.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You killed all those people. You killed my brother. I hate you. I hate you." He cried out as he shed his de at Soverick from afar.


    He shed a tear in each yellow eye. He has dreams too. He has things he wants to do and ces he would rather be. He has hobbies that he would rather spend his time on. He is a person with hopes and dreams too. But he can''t have anything that he wants just because Soverick killed a lot of people with impunity. If his brother was spared, his bloodline will not be so incensed and thirsty for vengeance. It is both Soverick''s fault and his stupid ancestor''s fault.


    He infused his de with all the energy that he can summon and swung it multiple times at Soverick from afar. Thin yellow strips of light flew forth from his de. The strips brightened the world and are difficult to look at directly because of how bright they are. They look pretty but the strips split the ground apart and caused the air to howl as they sailed forth to split Soverick in two.


    Soverick moved his hands absent-mindedly and deflected the sharp vertical waves of energy aside with quick ps. His movements were clumsy as he pped and backhanded the attacks. Jarkon increased the frequency of his attacks. The sharp thin strips carved the ground wantonly in their quest to overwhelm Soverick but they couldn''t harm him. His hands moved in a blur as he knocked them aside.


    More of them came seeking to have a taste of his flesh as Jarkon swung his de in a frenzy all the while screaming about how much he hates Soverick.


    Suddenly Jarkon cursed, "Shit."


    He was swinging his de at Soverick from a distance to keep himself somewhat safe. He didn''t feel surprised that his attack did nothing but he continued nheless. It is better than getting close to Soverick. However, the world is wicked and unfair to him. Soverick became close to him and he doesn''t know how.

 Chapter 638 The Roar Of Justice.

    Jarkon cursed because he suddenly lost his target. Soverick had suddenly disappeared from his vision. He wanted to ept the inevitable defeat. If he had his way, he would turn around and run right now as any smart person would do, but his bloodline will have none of it.


    He can''t have his way, not when Soverick is so close to him. He moved against his will to try and counter the iing blow. His eyes might not be able to track Soverick but his divine sense can. Soverick suddenly appeared within the range of his divine sense like a flicker of light. He also has his fist clenched together for a punch and that said fist is traveling very fast toward his face.


    Jarkon saw the iing blow and tried to block it. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, he failed to block the blow that struck his temple. Soverick''s fist smashed into his head and lifted him into the air.


    ''I knew it would happen.'' He sailed through the air thinking that to himself.


    The blow was mighty. A shockwave sted out from the point of impact between the fist and Jarkon''s face. Soverick punched with the intent to kill. He would have died if it were not for the barrier that came with his armor. Without armor, his body might have shattered then and there.


    As it is, the ground he was standing on was cratered because of the residual force of the blow that the barrier diffused into the surrounding. He would have be pulp if not for the armor. He knew that. He also knew that there was nothing he could have done to stop it. Soverick was just too fast for him to react to.


    He hadn''t sailed too far before another force struck him. Then another struck him. Then another. Soverick kept punching him in the air. He would catch up to him and deliver blows meant to shatter mountains on him. The shockwaves of the punch did a number on the environment. Thunderps rang in the air and the innocent grasses were uprooted down to the soil that held their roots as the ground was forced to flip.


    The punches disoriented Jarkon and made him dizzy but no more than that. The armor kept himrgely safe from the avnche of destruction urring around him. He would have been content with doing nothing and staying safe within the armor. But his bloodline thought otherwise. Jarkon began to glow. His golden fur lit up with golden light. The light traveled far and quickly. Then a shock wave passed through everything the light touched.


    The shockwave stimted the air to create the sound of a lion''s roar. The roar spread far and wide rather harmlessly. But the shockwave that created the roar disintegrated everything it touched. Stone turned to dust and dust scattered into the wind. It was the agitated wind that formed the roar. Jarkon stood in the air like a shining statue while his divine ability destroyed everything around him in a sphere.


    Matter lost its structure as the bonds that held it together were broken through the liberation of energy. Solids turned to dust, liquids to steam, and gas into heated gas. A crater formed around him as the shockwave dug into the ground. For that brief moment, he was unstoppable. He was destruction incarnate capable of annihting everything. Then the light on his body faded and the shockwave died down.


    Jarkon fell into the crater when he lost the levitation granted to him by his divine ability. He looked around for signs of Soverick. He was hoping he got the child of the ne or at least hurt him badly. He searched but he couldn''t find a body. It is a good sign but Jarkon held his happiness back for now.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick was about to punch Jarkon when he activated his divine ability, the roar of justice. Soverick stopped and tried to retreat but the light reached him quickly. The golden light was not harmless. It is a spiritual attack meant to stun whoever it touches. The spiritual attack mmed into his mind.


    It felt like thousands of pins were jabbing into his consciousness. The pins broke when they struck the defense of his mind so he was able to retreat sessfully before the shockwave reached him. A puny spiritual attack like that can''t affect him more than being a nuisance.


    Soverick stood at the edge of the shockwave after escaping its range of effect. He watched it destroy everything. His eyes observed the event with interest and captured the mechanism of the divine ability.


    "Deadly but slow." Hemented.


    The light was meant to stun him so that the shockwave will be able to get him because the shockwave is slow. The shockwave is only moving at the speed of sound and all transcendents are faster than the speed of sound. It is deadly but it can be evaded. But if the transcendents are stunned by the light, then the shockwave will wreak havoc on their body. It might even destroy thempletely.


    "Time to get to work."


    The shockwave died down and he bolted forward like a blur. He entered the crater to reach his prey.


    "Not again." Jarkon''s grumbled to himself. "I guess that failed."


    He was standing at the bottom of the crater looking for any sign of Soverick. Using his divine ability left him weak. So he was hoping that Soverick took a big hit from his attack. It will make the fight swing in his favor even by a little bit. He needs that little bit because his current weakness has reduced his chances of sess even further.


    He didn''t see Sovericking but his divine sense spotted the iing threat. He roused his energy again and used his divine ability again. It is the only thing he has that can injure Soverick. Golden light bloomed around him again and it was followed by the shockwave. The shockwave created the signature roar of a lion. Except this time, instead of one roar, there were two roars.

 Chapter 639 Clash Of The Roars.

    Jarkon didn''t get to figure out why there is another roar because of the explosion that urred between him and Soverick. He was thrown by the force of the explosion and the crater was expanded. Soverick was also thrown back by the explosion. Hended gracefully unlike Jarkon who was thrown about like a rag doll. He expected the explosion so he wasn''t caught off guard by it.


    "Not bad for an amateur." He said as he roused himself from the pain he felt.


    He caused the explosion. It wasn''t the explosion that hurt him. He had to sacrifice some of his divine sense to replicate Jarkon''s divine ability and it hurt him a lot. The explosion is what urs when two energy-carrying waves of vibration with the same frequency, amplitude, and wavelength but in opposite directions meet. The energy they are carrying gets released haphazardly into the environment.


    His roar shed with Jarkon''s roar and created the explosion. But he didn''t get away with copying the ability. His divine sense was torn by his action. It is expected since Jarkon himself was weakened by the divine ability. He has a pretender should suffer more.


    He scoffed when he noticed Jarkon trying to stand up after the explosion. Then he gave chase again. Jarkon sensed him just likest time. He has be weaker thanst time so he would very much like to let things take their course and ept defeat but his divine ability activated again without his control further siphoning energy from him. And again there was an explosion.


    He sailed into the air helplessly. He thought it would be likest time but it wasn''t. Soverick burst through the explosion and punched him hard. The punch mmed into him with a force far greater than the explosion. He was catapulted backward with a speed far faster than he could achieve on his own.


    "How are you so strong?" Jarkon shouted in indignance.


    It is true that Soverick is stronger than him despite the suppression. He expected it and he expected his defeat. But the strength that Soverick is showing is vastly superior to his best estimate. It shows a vast disparity between them that he doesn''t understand. So he shouted in indignance. But Soverick didn''t answer.


    Then he stopped moving all of a sudden. He was flying through the air one moment and the next he was stationary. The sudden loss of momentum made his consciousness flip exactly like the demolished grasnd has be. It took a while toe to. When he did, he saw Soverick staring at him intently.


    Those four unnatural eyes were staring at him. They have golden pupils and are surrounded by a multicolored ring that shifts like a kaleidoscope. One might call them beautiful but he can''t appreciate the beauty of Soverick''s eyes. Only one of them is actually focused on him. The other eyes are busy with something else. It looks very weird and honestly intimidating. They make Soverick look cross eyed. But he doesn''t find it funny. The intensity of the single eye is already unnerving. He would be terrified if all four of them focused on him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The two of them are standing within a giant misshapen bowl in the ground. Their fight had shifted the soil all around them.


    The child of the ne smiled at him. "Lucky you. You have barrier armor. One of the best that can be found in this entire challenge. It isplete and it also has arge supply of energy. What are the odds? I bet you stumbled upon them didn''t you?"


    Jarkon had a lot of things that he wanted to say as Soverick held him like a child.


    He wanted to say, "You could have not killed all those people but you did. You could have not killed my brother, but you did. You could have not attended thispetition but you did and now I am here. I hate you. I hate you so much."


    There is so much that he mes Soverick for one of which is Soverick''s decision to attend thepetition. He was tasked to follow and guide the three sages when they went to convince Soverick to attend thepetition. He was there when Soverick decided and said that he would participate.


    Soverick was being persuaded to participate in thepetition but he ultimately made the decision of his own volition and free will. He on the other hand did not attend thispetition of his free will. He had to attend it once he found out that Soverick will be attending. His bloodline will not let him sit still and ignore an opportunity to safely deliver a blow to the child of the ne. So he wants to curse Soverick for the part he yed in ruining his life. Unfortunately for him, his bloodline had other ideas. He was forced to say something else.


    "You are not worthy of being the child of the ne and you are not worthy of the power thates with it. I will hunt you and I will continue to hunt you till the day I die."


    Jarkon''s eyes can see more than Soverick''s giant glow of positive Karma. He can also the potential that has been bestowed to Soverick by the ne through the title of a child of the ne. There''s a power behind that title. It is not limited to infinite energy. Jarkon can tell it is a great power. He feels awe and fear for it. It is the major reason why he can never be talked into fighting Soverick for anything.


    Only those that don''t know the full meaning of Soverick being the representative of the ne will attack him. He knows the meaning, and yet, here he is against his will. While he feels awe and fear, his bloodline only feels disgust and righteous indignation that such a power is bestowed on someone like Soverick. He will do whatever he can do, impotent or not, to get rid of Soverick.

 Chapter 640 WORLD HAMMER.

    The positive karma cannot discourage the bloodline of the lion of justice to let Soverick go. He must atone for his sins with his own blood. Nothing less than that can appease thepelling need of his bloodline for justice to be served.


    Soverick waved his other hand dismissively at Jarkon''s speech. "Yes, yes. That''s a standard issue. I guess you hate me. I understand and I also don''t care. A lot of people hate me. You''re just another insignificant one that forms themunity of haters. I can wipe thousands of you with a wave of my hand."


    Jarkon gulped in fear. He knows that Soverick was boosting about the ease at which he can dispatch his haters. Soverick doesn''t care about Jarkon. He cares more about the armor that he is wearing. So he is paying more attention to the armor. His right hand is holding Jarkon up while he examined his armor with 3 of his eyes.


    The armor is nothing like the Origin artifacts in the real world. It is based on different rules and so works differently but he is still able to analyze it. He is looking for a way to crack it open so that he can ess the soft weakling within and end this fight. He has to kill Jarkon or the determined shit won''t leave him one. His eyes roamed over it looking for a weakness he can exploit.


    He frowned the more his eyes inspected the armor. The armor is made up of many pieces of equipment and Jarkon has all of them so the armor is at full power. The armor is special in that it is not sturdy or durable. It instead uses the divine sense of its wearer to create a barrier around it to block all physical and magical damage.


    This barrier is very strong and it is fuelled by energy cells within the armor. The energy cells are also at maximum capacity. This Jarkon is one lucky guy. Both his armor and the barrier are at maximum power. Either he found all the pieces for the armor and its energy cells in one spot or he found them in different ces and they just happened to be what he exactly needs. It all reeks of favoritism and he knows who is favoring Jarkon.


    Soverick said, "You''re one tough tortoise. This shell you have on you will make things difficult. Fortunately, I have just the right thing to use."


    "You will never be able to ovee justice," Jarkon yelled at him.


    "We''ll see about that?" He said.


    Then he flung Jarkon into the air. It gave him time to set up his move. He activated WRAITH OF DEATH: WORLD HAMMER. All of his eyes glowed and focused on a spot. The gravity field at that spot began to twist and churn as it resisted his control. It buckled and moved as he willed it. It began to flow in a circle. Then it formed a whirlpool. Space twisted and warped in that spot. Light refracted and twisted because of it. That spot has be very dangerous already but he isn''t done yet.


    The whirlpool began to suck in momentum and world power. The twisted space became rigid but it continued to flow. World power formed teeth within it like the edges of gears within the whirlpool. The teeth ebbed and flowed with the constant push of twisted space. Soverick finished just in time for Jarkon to fall in. The whirlpool snapped shut around him like a trap.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His armor saved him from being crushed to death immediately. It formed a barrier to protect him. All the teeth began to go to work and began grinding rhythmically against the barrier. It''s like the world is trying to crush him from every direction. The energy of his energy cells in the armor began to deplete at an exponential rate.


    Soverick nodded appreciatively. "That''s how you get into a tortoise. You crush its shell with a hammer."


    Jarkon tried to free himself. He activated his bloodline ability. His golden fur began to glow with a golden light. The light spread out from him but it was stopped by the jaws of the trap. The destructive shockwave was released. Unfortunately for him, its effects were muffled by the whirlpool.


    The whirlpool held on and continued to crush him.


    Jarkon couldn''t do anything to defend himself within the world hammer. His divine ability is not strong enough to affect world power. That didn''t stop him from mouthing off though.


    "Coward. Why don''t you use the power of the child of the ne to kill me? Or are you too ashamed to use it? Have you realized that you are unworthy of it? It is toote now. You have been condemned."


    Soverick just shook his head at the rubbish that Jarkon is spouting. He didn''t feel the need to exin himself to a weak fool blinded by hatred from within his bloodline. And neither will he use the power he recently acquired from his title. His privilege as the child of the ne increased when he became a transcendent. It is a great power that he doesn''t want to use. He certainly doesn''t need it to crush a bug.


    So he watched with contentment as Jarkon''s armor caved in after its energy cells ran out. The barrier it created was destroyed and Jarkon was next. His soft squishy body becamepromised immediately. He was saved by the brand on him. It saved him from the fate of being ground to death.


    Soverick nodded. His eyes dimmed but he didn''t go blind. He can manage this without over-exerting himself. The whirlpool died down with an explosion. All that energy and world power within the confines of twisted space and gravity went rogue when he let go of his control of them. It is thest effect of the move.


    Anything within the whirlpool will be hard-pressed to survive that explosion if they survived the initial crushing force within the whirlpool. Jarkon is not one of the special ones that can survive the first phase of the attack. It is just as Soverick thought of him. He is simply a nuisance. The armour that the arena spirits decked him in didn''t change that about him.

 Chapter 641 Hound Dog.

    Jarkon''s armor saved him from the twisting forces within the whirlpool which would have rented him apart. If he survived even that, then the explosion would have sealed his fate. He would have been stretched apart by the pulling force of the whirlpool as it tries to regain its normal state.


    It is one thing to withstand external pressure. It is another thing to withstand internal expansion. You need to be durable and sturdy for you to withstand the first but you need to be stic and capable of expanding into a great size against your will near instantaneously for you to withstand the second effect of the WORLD HAMMER. Those two qualities are different if not opposite to each other and rarely do they exist in the same person at the same time. They certainly won''t appear within a simple nuisance like Jarkon.


    Soverick came to examine what was left after the explosion.


    "It''s just as expected. They gave him something I can''t use if I manage to defeat him." He said when he saw the tiny pieces of the armor scattered about.


    What''s left of the armor is unsalvageable. It is just bits and pieces crushed beyond recognition. He had to break the armor open to kill the person within but that also removed the option of using the armor for himself after killing its previous owner. It might just be a coincidence but he has decided to err on the side of caution and believe that it was intentional.


    He shrugged and said, "No use crying over broken armor no matter how top-grade it is. I''ll just have to find my own."


    Then he jumped out of therge crater and resumed his journey across the grasnd. He is sure that he will find something soon because there is a limit to how much maniption the arena spirits can do to deprive him of good artifacts. He just needs to move to two zones away from where he is. The zones closest to him might also have been rigged against him but he is sure to find good things two zones out.


    They won''t be able to deny him from getting something good for long. This means they will be trying other things to stop him soon. More fights like the one he just had with Jarkon will probably happen soon. He will wee them because the fight will not be entirely fruitless. Anyone that can resist him so someone that has to be astounding or at least above others in skill. That also means that they will likely have feats for him to take after killing them.


    Jarkon had feats and he acquired 3 feats from Jarkon after his death. It means Jarkon had at least 6 feats or 7. If it were 8 feats, he would have received 4 feats instead of 3. Or that''s how it should have gone if he were a normal person who doesn''t have ess to thew matrix. Soverick took everything that Jarkon had to offer.


    That''s how he knows that Jarkon did in fact, have 7 feats and not 6. It is because he extracted 7 feats from Jarkon when his brand was saving him. That moment of vulnerability in the brand caused by the need to save Jarkon from death created a window of opportunity that he was very quick to exploit.


    "I''ll take the extra 4 feats as the payment of my services. I taught Jarkon a lesson. I should get paid for it." He thought to himself happily.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The thought of Jarkon brought to mind their bloodline.


    He said with mirth, "Probably gained his feats by actively hunting criminals. He just doesn''t have anything better to do. Everyone with that bloodline is like that. They surely have a weird bloodline. They must be very lucky or they won''t have survived."


    The rule of society in the void universe makes it that the bloodline of the lion of justice should have been wiped out long ago. They made a lot of enemies by putting their noses where it doesn''t belong and interfering in matters that don''t concern them. Being a hero in the void universe is not a healthy lifestyle.


    They should have all been killed and would have been wiped out If not for the support of the racial council. It is ironic that an eternal bloodline, one that is supposed tost forever, is the cause of death in its own lineage. It isn''t exactly a rare situation. It happens in bloodlines where the ancestors are suicidal, manic, and crazy.


    The ancestor of the lion of Justice was crazy about justice to dangerous levels. Fortunately for them, they have the right type of crazy that the racial council needed. They have the qualities that one will favor in a breed of hound dogs.


    The racial council wanted a policing force to give a semnce of order to the ne. Anyone can do anything in the ne, but they must not go too far or the ne will be too chaotic. There has to be a force for reckoning if bnce is to be kept. Who best to use than the suicidal fools hell-bent on upholding justice?


    So the racial made them their hunting dogs and established an empire for them where their bloodline can proliferate in safety. It helped the bloodline to continue despite the self-harming tendencies of its possessors.


    It is without a doubt that their bloodline is strong. It would have been stronger if it were not so focused on hunting evil and delivering justice. Their eyes lost the usual power of the battle sage monkeys in favor of identifying criminals and locking on them.


    Once someone with the bloodline of the lion of justice locks on to someone, it is near impossible to escape their hunt unless you leave the ne. Even then, there''s nothing stopping them from leaving the ne to chase after you. The racial council saw this and was impressed.

 Chapter 642 A Boon To The Entire Race.

    They can find criminals and their targets of investigation easily with their eyes but they lost every other ocr ability that could have strengthened them. But that''s okay. After all, that ability to track and find the target through any type of environment or situation is what is really needed in a hound dog.


    The roar of the lion of justice makes them difficult to be ganged up on and overwhelmed with numbers. The wave of destruction that they produce is arge area of attack with strong crowd control effects. It grants them the confidence to always go forward without the worry of being overwhelmed. The divine ability is powerful with few disadvantages. The slow shockwave isplimented by the fast spiritual light attack.


    The most ring disadvantage of the ability is that it weakens them. Even he wasn''t exempted from it. He had to pay the price of using MIND OVER POWER to simte the ability by sacrificing some of his divine sense. He can regenerate it with time but it is painful to lose it.


    They have a good set of abilities but it would have been better if they set out to be destructive in the first ce. For example, if their divine ability could be concentrated on a single target. It would have a longer range and it would cost fewer resources to use so they won''t be weakened as much when they use it. Then their bloodline will be more powerful.


    He shook his head as he thought of the possibilities of their bloodline ability, "What a moron for an ancestor. He condemned his descendants to stupidity."


    He knows about thepelling that their bloodline exerts on them but he doesn''t care. Only action matters and Jarkon tried to kill him. It is difficult if not impossible to discern if he really wanted to do it or if he waspelled to do it. But one thing is sure, and that is that Jarkon tried to kill him. Jarkon''s bloodline will not exempt him from the repercussions of what he tried to do.


    Besides, it is a good thing to try and kill stupid people. What he did with Jarkon is a boon for the battle sage monkeys. Stupidity ruins the potential of a race to survive. In a normal situation, stupid people rarely live long because of the survival of the fittest. But the descendants of the lion of Justice are not weak so they survive longer than they should.


    The bloodline of the Lion of Justice needs to be wiped out for the good of the race. Their bloodline should be eliminated for the stupidity it imposes on others. If he manages to wipe out the entire bloodline of the lion of Justice, then no one will be forced to do something stupid like being a hero. So Soverick was being a saint as usual. The real evil entities are the bloodline of justice and the Arena spirits.


    Jarkon might have been used by his bloodline but was definitely used by the arena spirit. He was a tool for their agenda. The arena spirit also took advantage of his doggedness to try and eliminate Soverick. They made a mistake choosing Jarkon as their tool. He was faulty and stupid.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Jarkon was a tool used to attack him. A tool is not inherently evil. It is the wielder that is evil. Even then, the tool has to be capable of what it is being used for or it will hurt itself. Jarkon was not capable of what he was being used for and he suffered for his ipetence.


    Soverick can''t be med for not showing mercy just like a rock cannot be med for shattering a blunt axe. It doesn''t matter even if he is med for it because he doesn''t care. He killed thousands of people because they wanted to fight him. What''s one more nut job who is way over his head?


    Thepetition continued like so. People meet each other, fight each other, and kill each other. It was a chaotic free for all with an element of order. The objectives are clear. They are to try and reach the center of the arena or acquire as many feats as possible before they die. They can achieve these objectives any way they want.


    The objectives add the element of Order to the challenge but the numerous ways of achieving them created Chaos. The Unified Skill Index is not apetition with organized fights. People don''t face one fighter once in an enclosed ring and try to beat them to reach the next stage. The real world is not so orderly. The real world is chaotic. The real world is not fair most times and thepetition should reflect that unfairness.


    That unfairness showed in a very ring way. Thest man standing made it fairly obvious that only one person can win but some people thought it is a good idea to join forces. This idea is not unique to certain people and neither is it limited to a special set of people. A lot of battle sage monkeys thought of it and did it.


    The idea tobine forces became adopted pretty quickly because it wasn''t suggested during this challenge. The idea for corporation was rmendedst challenge because of one person. Very few are like Soverick that arepeting alone. And many are those that believe they need to band together to defeat him. It just so turns out that cooperation is a good idea to fight others apart from the child of the ne so many people banded together in this challenge.


    Cooperation is amon thing that happens in the world. Banding together to augment your strength is how society is formed. So it is not cheating when people form teams. It is just the way of the world to seek strength in numbers. A team of 2, 4, or even 10 is alright. It is eptable. But an army of a thousand is cheating. Unfortunately, there''s nothing stopping people from forming an army.

 Chapter 643 Daylight Robbery.

    It is definitely unfair that some created an army when everyone is supposed to be working on their own. It doesn''t matter that some created an army with their divine ability by enving or coercing people to work with them. It is still unfair but such is life.


    The female battle sage that tried to take control of Soverick surely would have been able to gather a sizeable following. She did it in the previous challenge and could have done it again. It is her current predicament that has saved the world from her scourge in this challenge.


    Thepetitors have Soverick to thank for this good deed. But does he get the thanks that he dubiously deserves? No. Instead of giving him all their precious stuff, he is attacked by one such army as soon as he leaves the 7th ring and reaches the 6th ring. The ungrateful bastards.


    Soverick was walking towards the center of the arena calmly looking for a good loot box when he sensed a lot ofpetitors in the distance. A lot ofpetitors means a lot of loot and a higher chance of possessing very good loot. So he veered in their direction.


    "Surely they must have something good. That many people cannot be useless." He said to himself in encouragement as he sped towards the army.


    So maybe they didn''t attack him. Maybe he attacked them to get what they have. Maybe he wanted to rob them of their hard-earned loot. But it is their fault for not handing it over to him when he asked them for it nicely.


    Soverick bolted to meet the army. He suddenly appeared before them standing a short distance from their front lines. The army froze. First, the frontlines froze. The ones behind them had to stop when they couldn''t go any further. Some of them even stumbled. The entire army stalled immediately. There was no movement or talking. One can hear a pin drop and sense the chill that spread throughout the army.


    He dered to them. "Hand over all that you have on you and I''ll let you go."


    So he didn''t exactly ask for their things nicely. It still doesn''t matter. They should have allowed him to rob them and be on his merry way doing more good for the race. If these people had been in Arena 28, then they would have folded like paper dunked in water. The structural integrity of their body, will, and mind would have caved at the mere sight of this walking Cmity. They would have done everything he asked for in less than a heartbeat.


    Unfortunately for these people, they didn''t witness the catastrophes he caused. It is one thing to hear of his feats and it is another thing to be around him when he earned those feats. These people have only heard of his notoriety and have been spared numerous traumatizing experiences so they are still willful.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They know of the child of the ne and the ck obsidian crown on his head indicates that he is beyond a King. But they are thousands and he is just one. If they as an army can''t stand up against the oppression of a single man who should be their equal, then of what use is their tant cheating?


    He is one man trying to rob an army. Will they just roll over? Will they allow him to rob them and be on his way? No, they are not. The arena spirits spawned people of like minds who have not been exposed to him and fattened them up so that they can dispose of Soverick. It is their next best option. They understand that one person cannot eliminate Soverick even if that one person has been made near invulnerable with powerful armorplete with full-energy cells.


    The arena spirits would have loved to let the other kings gang up on him but those champions are notorious lone hunters. The next best thing is a bunch of riff-raff decked out in artifacts and in possession of several high-quality healing pills. Their pills will actually heal them and keep them in the fight much longer.


    They have prepared this army as best as they can. This is not an army that can be taken out by destroying its leader either. They were not hastily made into an army. They were a group before thepetition so they can adapt very quickly to a loss in leadership. Soverick will have to fight if he wants to get anything from them.


    Soverick watched the army for their reaction. None of them made any movement despite his very reasonable ultimatum. They don''t want to give in but they know it is a bad idea to fight the child of the ne so they don''t want to make the first move. They would rather he left them alone. Unfortunately for them, he is hell-bent on robbing them. Stuff like this happens in real life too. It may not be fair but it happens so it is also allowed.


    "I will take your silence as a no." He sighed and said. "I wanted to avoid a confrontation. But you have left me no choice."


    He had been genuinely hoping that these people would simply surrender. It is unlikely but one can surely hope. What he wants is a good weapon and some armor if he is lucky. He doesn''t want a fight. A sh with him is likely to leave armor destroyed and in pieces. He is a killer and his skills are ill-equipped for harmless incapacitation. He doesn''t have skills that can disable the army without damaging his future loot.


    Gravity maniption would have been very useful. He will be able to make them submit with ease. But it is not an option right now. It is on lockdown because of the no-flight ban in this challenge. Gravity maniption is a good way to fly so it is not currently allowed. That leaves very little option for harmless incapacitation.

 Chapter 644 Freedom.

    "I guess I''ll have to make do with just their weapons." He said out loud to himself.


    His words drifted into their minds like the whispers of a ghost. It is like that because none of them can pinpoint where the voice came from. They heard his words but he has disappeared from their vision. The army panicked and began looking about for him but no one can see him. That didn''t make them rx though. They brought out their weapons and the special consumables that they found. They prepared for an altercation despite the absence of an enemy.


    "Look there." Someone said and pointed in the direction of what they saw. "What''s that?"


    It didn''t take long for them to spot an oddity. Something appeared a short distance beside their nks. More of it continued to appear. It is especially ring when it happened after a confrontation with the child of the ne. It is toote to stop though. Clumped as they are, they made easy targets for the phantom spears that suddenly appeared around them and started to shoot at them.


    Soverick is running around the army while forming thousands of mind weapons. Numerous golden spears surrounded the army and impaled them like the bolts of a ballista. More spears were formed to rece the expended ones in a circle of unending attacks. They are being attacked from every side with nowhere to go. He has sessfully cornered an army of ten thousand and is whittling down their numbers.


    The leader of the army shouted to everyone. "Quick, defend yourselves. Prepare ranged attacks and shoot something."


    They can''t just sit back and ept their fate. Orders were sent throughout the army and it roused them to withstand the iing threat. Those bearing shields were sent to the perimeter of the army to defend against the spears while ranged attackers were ordered to shoot at something. The army just needs an opening in the constant all-epassing attack for them to be free.


    A lieutenant asked their leader, "What should we shoot at?"


    Their leader had no answer. They still can''t see their oppressor. Soverick is too fast to be sighted much less targeted. They might as well be targeting the wind and hope that they are lucky enough to hit a fly with their arrows. In fact, they will be better off hitting an imaginary fly in the wind because a fly can''t catch an arrow and fling it back at them as Soverick can.


    Ranged attacks aren''t the only failed response. The shield defenders are failing too. Their shield might be strong but their strength is not enough to stop the spears. The spears push them forcefully into the army or knock them off their feet. Then the spears resumed the carnage on the undefended army. Everything is falling apart around them.


    A desperate lieutenant asked the leader, "Should we use the explosive consumables?"


    The leader yelled a reply, "You''re still asking me that? When are we going to use it then? This is the child of the ne. Do you hear me? It is the child of the ne. Use everything we''ve got. Use it all damn it."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    There is no use holding back. The spears are whittling them down from the edges inward. They should have run before Soverick finished setting up his attack. There''s no escaping it now. They have to use everything they have including dangerous consumables that they found in loot boxes.


    Explosions began to rock the grasnd as the consumables were used. Small primed devices were thrown randomly around them. The small devices exploded after being triggered, throwing up dirt and destroying the spears. There are also explosive projectiles used to target the spears. The explosive projectiles would fly forward and explode when the explosive payload at the top of their arrow-like head is triggered through a collision.


    These explosions urred en mass and they seeded in disrupting the onught of spear attacks. The phantom spears were destroyed by the explosion faster than they could be replenished which created escape routes for the army.


    "Run for it. Run for it." The leader shouted himself hoarse ordering them to escape. "Run for your lives."


    He didn''t need to have bothered. They can all see that they have to take advantage of the short reprieve they have gotten. So everyone ran for it without his encouragement. They scattered in different directions. The army became an unruly mob of people trying to escape for their lives.


    The leader himself chose a direction and ran all the while shouting to everyone else to run for it. The leader moved beyond the range of the explosions. It was a little difficult to transverse the ruined grasnd without sight. The explosion created smoke and dust that reduced visibility while the uneven ground required careful threading but he did.


    "I can''t believe it. We escaped. I escaped." He said in disbelief.


    He can''t believe that they escaped a violent encounter with the child of the ne. He doesn''t know what Soverick is capable of but what he has heard of the child of the ne indicates that it will not be unusual for them to all die to Soverick. He felt tion and relief like never before that his expectations didn''te true.


    The leader thought to himself, "Maybe the child of the ne is not as strong as feared. He is suppressed after all so it is understandable that won''t be able to take on ten thousand of us."


    He is not mocking Soverick for being alive. He understands that Soverick is suppressed. So it should note as a surprise that at least one person escaped from an army of thousands being besieged by one man. It might be unfair for an army to fight a single person but it is only fair that at least one person should escape in a situation where the one man is victorious. So he will excuse Soverick''s failure to kill all of them.

 Chapter 645 Counting Chicks.

    Soverick is certainly victorious. He won against an army. It is a great achievement that should be more than enough for the child of the ne. The leader thought it is. Unfortunately for him, things haven''t quite ended yet. They say that one shouldn''t count their chicks before their eggs have hatched. It is so that one wouldn''t run head first into a wall of fire that suddenly sprang up moments after celebrating their freedom.


    The leader escaped the zone of low visibility. Then he stopped because he ran into a wall of fire. His eye widened when he saw it.


    "This is too much." Hemented.


    The wall is the only thing he can see as he looked forward. It is too tall to jump over and it extends all the way around the army. The leader knows because he looked around for a break in the wall but he found nothing. The army has been surrounded by a wall of fire. It is literally blocking their path to freedom.


    "This can''t stop me. Surely it can''t be that thick." He said as he ran forward.


    He decided to brave the mes. Fire is dangerous but that''s if it has enough time to burn. He intends to create a barrier around him with his solidified divine sense, rush through the wall of fire, ande out on the other side before the barrier is destroyed or before he dies.


    He isn''t fortunate to have barrier armor. Those are very rare. So he will be injured by the mes but he might escape. The damage will be minimal if he is fast enough. Surely the wall of fire won''t be that thick considering its incredible length. It is only reasonable for one to hope for that.


    He ran head-first into the fire with the determination to escape. It takes a brave person to do what he did and a brave person deserves to escape. He couldn''t see where he is going in the me or through his divine sense but he continued to run forward. When there is a Will, there is a way.


    He ran forward through the zing wall and he was rewarded for his efforts. He was right about his conjecture. The me wall isn''t thick. It seems the child of the ne couldn''t create a wall of fire that long and also thick enough to burn them to death. He was wrong about escaping though. He was right about the inadequate thickness of the wall of fire but then, he ran face-first into an actual wall behind the wall of fire.


    Beyond the wall of fire is an earthen wall. This earthen wall is obscured by the mes so they didn''t see it. Only those that ran into the fire and reached its end get to realize that it is there. For many of them, they don''t even know what they ran into. They were running forward very quickly one moment as the fire burned them and the next, they have fallen on their butt from colliding with something they cannot run through. It is rather unfortunate.


    Things are not over for those that were able to quickly recover from the brief setback. They have to run back the way they came from to leave the wall of fire. But who can easily remember the way back after being disoriented by the collision? Even if they did, the earthen wall has effectively doubled the thickness of the wall of fire. It is enough thickness to burn them to death. So no one escaped.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The leader experienced excruciating pain as the fire went to work on him. He resisted as much as he could which slowed down his death. It was painful to experience but he didn''t do it because he believed he could escape. He had the presence of mind to ry what happened to his lieutenants over the soul talisman. It is important that his death informs others about the danger of the obstacles to their freedom.


    He shouted through the mind link as he died, "Something is blocking the way out of the fire. Don''t run into the mes. Use consumables! Use consumables!"


    He warned them until he couldn''t maintain his consciousness any longer and was removed from thepetition. He is a good leader. Brave and dedicated to his army. He might die but his followers must live. He sent the information to all of his lieutenants so that whichever one is still alive can take charge.


    The fire hadn''t done as much damage to the army as the spears. Not a lot of people are brave enough to run headfirst into the wall of fire so there is still a lot of them alive. It is not cowardice but rather a sign of sanity.


    A lot of lieutenants were sane enough not to jump into the fire. They were alive to receive their leader''s message. They got the information he acquired at the cost of his life and rallied the army. It came at an opportune time too because the wall of fire is closing in on the army. Sane or not, in time, they will have no choice but to be roasted in the mes.


    The explosive consumables were used again. The army has a lot of it but they decided to be more efficient with it this time. They targeted a single point in the wall of fire to break through instead of scattering their ammunition.


    Their effort bore fruit. A section of the wall of fire and the earthen wall behind it was destroyed by the explosions. They were able to see what was behind the obstacle and what they saw made their heart sink. There''s another wall of fire a short distance from the first one.


    "Try another direction." A lieutenant ordered quickly with a shout. "Try another direction now."


    They can''t lose hope yet. It could be that Soverick healed this broken section of the wall as soon as it was breached. If so, then they just have to destroy it faster than he can heal it. It is their only chance. The alternative is worse.

 Chapter 646 A Healthy Attitude.

    The soldiers perked up at Lieutenant''s order. Their dwindling hope rose and they rushed to bombard multiple sections of the me barricade with explosives. They destroyed it easily enough but it did them no good.


    Someone dropped to their knees and wailed to the skies, "We are doomed."


    A lieutenant kicked the doomsday crier and rebuked him. "Shut your mouth. You have to maintain a healthy attitude and keep the morale up."


    Another one said in awe, "How can you make two walls of this size and still maintain it?"


    This person''s words drew the attention of others.


    "That is one hell of a healthy attitude." The doomsday crier marveled at the one who spoke.


    The lieutenant that rebuked the doomsday crier said to him, "I don''t mean him. Don''t be like him. He is crazy."


    The one they said was crazy because of his so-called healthy attitude just shrugged. They are doomed but that doesn''t mean they can''t admire what doomed them. She is just being open minded enough to appreciate the work that has gone into putting them in this situation.


    The first barricade of fire and earth is almost a kilometer long. It formed a circle around the army of the ten thousand. The second wall isrger than that and yet Soverick can create and maintain them simultaneously. The breaches in the first wall are being healed as they watched and the wall is creeping slowly toward them.


    This is not some fireball that will explode after being released. It is a constant torrent of mes being channeled in two different locations. Then there is the earthen wall behind them. So Soverick is manipting two different elements, keeping them going, and doing all that in two different directions.


    "Shut up every one of you." Someone shouted to get everyone''s direction. "We are not dead yet. We can''t give up until we are dead. We must continue forward."


    That roused everyone. This feat of the child of the ne is impressive but it is bound to fall apart if they put more pressure on him. Could he be capable of creating and maintaining a third wall? If he is, then they will ept defeat. They will give up if there is a third wall. But they will continue to fight until then.


    "Let''s go." Someone shouted and the army responded.


    They roared as they funneled through a single section of the broken wall. They decided not to disperse their efforts and instead focus in one direction to breach both the first and the second wall quickly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The first barricade began to fall and wasn''t replenished when everyone funneled out of it.


    Someone pointed at the breaking wall of fire and said, "You see that. He can''t keep it up. Continue rushing forward."


    That''s thest thing this person said before going up in mes.


    Soverick was running in between the two barricades he set up so one of them is on his right side and the other one is on his left. Creating the walls was easy. Maintaining them on the other hand is very difficult. His divine sense has been suppressed so it is not enough to maintain a channeling of this size. What he did to replenish the depletion of the first barricade is by employing swift addition.


    That''s why he is running. He is constantly adding more to the barricades. It looks like one intact structure because he adds more mes to it faster than it can deplete. At first, he only set up one barricade. He set up the second one when he saw them preparing their explosives.


    "They haven''t given up huh." He chuckled to himself.


    He can see whatever they are trying to do through his eyes and thew matrix. He saw and heard the speech. He also saw them deciding to push him to his limit. They were right about something though. He can''t maintain more than two barricades at the same time. But he doesn''t need to since they have funneled themselves in one direction. So he stopped replenishing the first barricade and began bombarding them with fireballs.


    Balls of fire flew from him towards them. Everyone in between the first and second barricades got a load of fireballs to their face. Sure, they can pressure him. And sure they will get their freedom if they breach the second barricade. But they have to get past him first and reach the second barricade before they get their freedom.


    Explosives are great for those that can''t usews in this arena but those that have mastered thews of fire in thisw matrix don''t need them. The army found out the wrong way how effective natural explosives are. The first ones to exit the breach in the first barricade were blown to bits. Soverick threw enough fireballs at them to drown them. They would have drowned if it was water that he threw at them in such arge amount.


    "Scatter." Someone shouted before being scattered into the wind by another ball of fire.


    The ones behind him heeded his advice and scattered in different directions. The rest decided to take different openings in the first wall but they were met with the same thing. The problem with their escape is that they have to funnel themselves through the first wall. It made them perfect targets for elimination by explosions.


    If they are too slow, then Soverick will be able to replenish the first barricade and attack them. If they are too fast in funneling out of the first barricade, then Soverick will ignore the first barricade and contrate all his firepower into eliminating them. They have literally been caught between a rock and a hard ce. Or in this case, between a wall of fire and another wall of fire.


    Soverick ran around the army between the two walls of fire and punished anyone that tried to escape the first wall. Fire bombarded them again and again until the first wall healed and sealed the breaks within it. Then he made the first barricade shrink to corner those still within it.

 Chapter 647 Stealing Is Good.

    The survivors within the first barricade have to use more explosives to break the wall if they want to escape the rapidly shrinking wall of fire. They do that only for them to be rewarded for their efforts with more mes to the face in the form of a carefully formed and strategically tossed ball of fire.


    Some of them tried to give Soverick trouble. They have some understanding of thews of this world. They used earth, water, wind, and even fire to fight back. It all ended in their defeat. There may be a lot of them but they are not fast enough to be a threat to Soverick. He could already move faster than some mana entities as a vitality core stage refiner. He has maintained his advantage in speed through his progression in refinement.


    He is currently moving at the speed of a king ofw despite the suppression while they are moving at the level of transcendents. That''s a difference of two levels of refinement. He has the empowerment of momentum through the 9 golden orbs on his back to thank for that. His mind is also much more versatile than theirs and he has better control.


    They can create spells of the same power as him because of the suppression but he can create 20 times more than anyone of them can in the same amount of time and control them so well that he is already creating more spells before the previous ones are extinguished. So they were too slow to react to his bombardment of spells and too slow to fight back. They are the proverbial sitting ducks.


    He overwhelmed the trouble makers fire and he went on to ground the army down little by little. The first ring of fire shrunk and crushed thest bit of the army. Then he went about picking up the things they left behind. Their generosity was unwilling and involuntary. But he is not picky. He will ept it anyway. He found a lot of good things inside their space rings and he had as many weapons as he wanted.


    "Killing people for their stuff is always better than looking for your own stuff." He said cheerfully as he raided the things his dead enemies left behind.


    He can see what''s inside loot boxes and where loot boxes are but it is not better than simply taking other people''s stuff. He earned more than 20 feats from killing all of them. Their leader has two feats which is impressive. Only a few had 1 while the rest were featless.


    Getting a feat in the survival challenge is very difficult. Only 18 out of 10,000 managed to survive the challenge and receive the survival feat. That''s a much better survival rate than his own arena.


    Those with just 1 feat should be safe from him but he took everything they have when he killed them. The stuff they have more than makes up for the time he wasted because of their refusal to let him rob them blind without fighting back.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He doesn''t need to worry about feats anyway. He will get half of the feat of everypetitor in the challenge as long as he is thest man standing. Acquiring feats is the drive for the challenge but it ultimately ends with bing thest man. If you can kill someone and take half of their feats, you will lose half of all your feats if someone kills you. Everyone will eventually die until half of everyone''s feats reaches the only person that is not killed. That means thest man standing will get half of everyone''s feats.


    The only way to leave this Challenge with more feats than you came in with is to kill and acquire more than twice the amount of feats that you came in with before you die. That way, the loss of half your feats after your death will leave you with more feats than you had originally. Ultimately, it is thest man standing that will benefit the most. It is why he mustn''t die and why he must have a weapon. Preferably a high-quality weapon that will grant him ess to world power. Unfortunately for him, he didn''t get one.


    "Seems like the arena spirits know what they are doing." He muttered as he riffled through the loot of his now-dead foes.


    He spent almost an hour going through the many space rings that he found but he didn''t find a high-quality weapon. Jarkon''s de was good but it didn''t have ess to world power. It might be good enough for Jarkon but it is not for Soverick. He doesn''t need a weapon that is not an upgrade of his fists.


    His body and mind are already deadly to those with armor and weapons. Those same armor and weapons will not strengthen him. He can forcefully manipte world power with his eyes but it will be more efficient if he has ess to it. He was hoping this army will have one.


    It is a matter of percentage. He was hoping that at least one in 10,000 people have what he wanted but it seems that the weapon he wants is rarer than that. Either that or the arena spirits made it so that none of them will have it. He won''t be able to get it from them in case he manages to kill them.


    He shrugged. "I should have seen thising. No matter. I''ll get one soon enough."


    None of the soldiers used a weapon with world power against him. If they had, then he would have singled that person out and taken the weapon. There was the possibility that the person that had it didn''t know how to use it. The only way to be sure is to kill every one of them and check out their weapons. It''s not like asking them will work. He already tried asking them for something and they didn''t listen to him. That''s what caused the fight in the first ce.

 Chapter 648 Surety In Strength.

    People call themselves civilized but be deaf or unwilling to understand spokennguage at certain times. For example, when you ask people to give up their stuff without a fight. Selective deafness urs which leads to the exhibition of acts of barbaric violence.


    It is fortunate that he is well-versed and very convincing in the acts of barbaric violence. Action speaks louder than words anyway. And a strong gist speaks the loudest. So Selective deafness is not a bad thing for him since he has the strongest fist.


    The fight was an efficient use of time for him at the end of the day. He got feats out of it and a lot of high-quality healing pills. There are some other consumables like the explosives but he doesn''t care for those. The explosives will be useless in a one-on-one fight with him. He is too fast to be caught off guard by it. He might even be able to kill his enemy before they can bring out the explosive and use it.


    He resumed his journey across the arena for a weapon. It is his major goal right now. It will empower him beyond his current level. He knows he is unprecedentedly strong but he also knows he is not perfect. He has weaknesses that can be exploited. He might not be aware of such weaknesses but that doesn''t mean they don''t exist. The only way to be sure that he remains the strongest is to get stronger. Those that are stagnant be irrelevant.


    Putting his weaknesses aside. There might not be a single person that can beat him, but there''s a high possibility of a group of strong individuals ganging up on him. As the child of the ne, he is a verified threat to those that want to be thest man standing.


    He is an obstacle that they must eliminate if they want any chance of being thest man standing and everyone that sees him will know the threat that he poses. The ck crown on his head makes his threat level pretty obvious. It will not be far-fetched for the kings in this arena to gang up on him in order to eliminate him.


    He could escape from a fight if he were in the real world. Unfortunately for him, he is not. The arena will shrink as the days go by. His mobility will reduce until he has no choice but to fight. So he has to be ready for that eventuality. He can''t march towards the 1st zone without a reliable response for what he might meet there.


    In this challenge, he can''t run away from any threat. He has to face it, ovee it, and be thest man standing. If he doesn''t be thest man standing, then he will lose half of his feats and thest man standing will be the person with thergest number of feats.


    That also means he might lose the next challenge too since feats are very important for it. So losing this challenge might cost him two vulnerabilities of the core. He understands his situation very well and is highly motivated to win. The arena spirits also understand and will try to make sure he doesn''t win. He can only find surety is more power.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The days went by as the challenge progressed. The external rings starting from the 7th ring were destroyed one for each day that psed. The ring to be eliminated is first covered with a miasma of corrosive gas. The gas breaks down everything on the ring both organic and inorganic. Everything on the ring is melted down before the arena is made to shrink into nothingness. The process takes one hour so whoever is still on the ring when the miasmaes gets some time to escape before they are doomed.


    Somepetitors didn''t wait for their rings to be eliminated before they made it to the 1st ring. Actually, mostpetitors didn''t wait for the deadline before vacating a ring. But these few that rushed towards the 1st ring as quickly as possible believed that they could actually win the challenge and be thest man standing. There are some that rushed there just to watch the fight for the winner but they are in the minority.


    It could have been baseless or founded confidence, delusion, or simple curiosity to see the cool fights that made these people rush toward the 1st ring. Whatever it is, only those that went there to satisfy their curiosity actually seeded in their endeavor. The rest had their expectations subverted because all of them had to stop at the 2nd ring.


    They stopped because they couldn''t go any further. Something is blocking their path to the 1st ring. This something was created by the sole person in the Zeroth ring. This thing has cut short the progress of everyone who wants to enter the 1st ring.


    They will have to go through what''s blocking them if they want to go any further but they are not eager to brave the barricade. Their unwillingness may be due to the fact that they have seen many people try to enter the first ring and give their life for the failure of their efforts.


    The person blocking the way wasn''t the first to reach the 1st ring. Salvini was the first person to reach the 1st ring. She was lucky enough to be teleported close to it but she didn''t go straight for it. She first looted the loot boxes around. She didn''t need to see what was inside it to know if it contains loot or not. She can see what wille out of the loot box before she breaks it.


    Sometimes, she will break boxes with monsters inside them because she can see that killing the monsters will give her good loot. That happened a lot too. She must be really lucky. That''s what she thought. She has no reason to think otherwise. Not everyone is as familiar with the workings of the arena as Soverick. And only one person in the entirepetition has earned the ire of the arena spirits by doing something they shouldn''t be doing.

 Chapter 649 The First Challenger.

    Salvini found some armor and a spear that granted her ess to world power very quickly. She found other things to bolster her strength then she went on a hunt to double her feats. A lot of people with feats died by her spear. It was after she had more than doubled her feats that she went to the 1st ring. No matter the oue of the challenge, she will not be found wanting.


    "It seems I am the first. Now I have to defend it." She said as she reached the zeroth ring.


    The zeroth ring is a small white and smooth spot on the ground that is wide enough for one person to stand on. It is like a white blemish in this naturalndscape. The entire arena will be destroyed leaving this white spot and a 3 meters space above it. Since flying is banned, only the person within the circle will be thest man standing. Everyone else can watch on or try to kill the person in the Zeroth ring before the 1st ring is destroyed.


    She reached it first but she knows that doesn''t mean that she has won the challenge. She has to defend it from challengers and she knows that they wille. She will try her best even though she knows that the likelihood of her winning is very low. There are a lot of individuals that are threats to her despite her ability to predict the future. These individuals began to arrive one after the other.


    The first person toe to the 1st ring to challenge her was the Soul Fire, another king like her. This red-furred battle sage monkey walked unhurriedly to the 1st ring and gazed at the zeroth ring. The Soul Fire stopped as she slowly examined their surroundings. Litori appeared to be contemting her course of action. She looked harmless and wasn''t doing anything visibly dangerous.


    Salvini wasn''t fooled by the disy. She lept to her left suddenly. She lept because she had been attacked. The air where she was standing rippled a little. It is the only indication of the attack that narrowly missed her. Litori had pretended to think while she sneaked attacked Salvini. There was no movement from her to indicate her intentions. Her attack was untraceable, deadly, and fast. Salvini couldn''t block it even though she saw iting way before it was made.


    But Salvini didn''t show fear. She grinned. "That''s very bad of you. You should greet someone before..."


    She didn''t finish what she was saying because she had to dodge again. This time she didn''t stay idle after dodging. She had to retaliate because the fate of a targeting board is to be riddled with holes. The spear in her hand cackled with power and she thrust forward.


    Numerous grey phantom spears materialized in the air around her. They were about to sail forward when they stopped. She failed to attack Litori with it because she had to dodge again. Litori attacked her several times so she had to keep dodging or risk a one-hit instant death. It was more like she was hopping about, contorting her body in different ways and dodging in strange ways to keep Litori from predicting her position.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Enough of this." She growled in frustration.


    Her current situation won''tst long. It has only been 10 seconds and she has had to dodge death 10 times. That is very bad and unpromising statistics in a fight. If not for her ability to predict the future then she would have died 10 times over. She can''t continue like this or she will slip up and be done in. All Litori needs is one mistake from Salvini for her to be put down.


    She ran off and then began circling Litori. Staying in the Zeroth ring limited her options and movements. She has to give up her position for now if she wants to get out of this alive. She began running around Litori at the top of her speed. Litori couldn''t attack her with precision now that she is moving too fast so Salvini had breathing room to attack.


    She didn''t get close to Litori. That will be suicide. The shorter the distance between them, the less time that she will have to dodge the spirit attacks. So she stayed far away while she shot phantom spears at her opponent. She made sure not to get cocky. One hit from Litori and she is doomed. She knows that, so she made sure to evade the attacks that came her way even as she retaliated.


    Litori frowned at the situation. She is a king too and this is not the first king she is fighting. She defeated thest one. It was tough but she won at the end of the day because the fight was always in her favor. This fight on the other hand is not going her way.


    She was the one attacking in her previous fight with a king while her opponent struggled to defend themselves. That fight ended quickly as most of her fight have. But Salvini is managing to defend and attack at the same time in this fight. Salvini''s attacks are deadly too. Litori has to defend herself or get skewered with phantom weapons.


    Litori produced a dry white clump in her hands. She sprinkled it into the air around her like dust. The white dust met the barrage of phantom spears and the mechanism of control over them. She wrestled control of the phantom spears from Salvini and then turned them against her. Now Salvini has to dodge her own phantom spears and the elusive spirit attacks from Litori. Litori took the opportunity while her enemy is distracted to spread her domain.


    Salvini fell into a disadvantage really fast. Dodging Litori''s attacks is enough of a problem already, adding her phantom attacks is just too much. The problem is that her phantom attacks being used against her are just a distraction. If she gives them her attention, it will open her up to Litori''s spirit attacks.

 Chapter 650 Hegemon Of The First Ring.

    Her armor can protect her from the physical damage that will be inflicted by the phantom spears used against her but Litori''s spirit attacks will surely bypass the defenses of her armor and deal a deadly blow to her. So her phantom attacks are not a threat despite looking like so. They are just the visible attacks. The invisible attacks are the deadly ones.


    She was contemting ignoring her phantom attacks to focus on a means to retaliate when she saw something in her future vision that made her eyes widen. She turned and ran immediately. Her phantom weapons hit her back over and over again but she ignored them. She focused on running away and dodging the spirit attacks that came her way.


    She let her armor do its job and protect her from the physical attacks while she dedicated most of her attention to the spirit attacks. It was until she ran away from the 1st ring and entered the 2nd ring that she finally stopped running. She looked back at Litori who calmly went to stay in the Zeroth ring.


    "Fuck." She cursed. "The first challenger and I caved."


    She used to be in the Zeroth ring just a few moments ago but that changed immediately the first challenger came. She didn''t see what she escaped from but she saw what would have happened to her had she stayed anywhere in the 1st ring and that was enough for her to retreat. She saw it as clear as day. She would have started burning from the inside out until she died. Her death would have urred moments after being hit. All she could do to avoid that fate was to escape from Litori as fast as possible.


    "It seems my good luck has ended. I faced an ephemeral me wielder and survived. That is enough to drain whatever luck I have. I better not tempt fate anymore. I should go and hunt for more feats." Salvin said to herself.


    She shook her head at the Zeroth ring and decided to hunt for more feats. She knew bing thest man standing is almost impossible but the quick defeat stung. Her spection about her inability to be thest man standing was confirmed but it did not give her the pleasure it ought to do since her conjecture was confirmed at the hands of Soverick''s littermate.


    She already lost to Soverick once so losing to his littermate too is not encouraging at all. It doesn''t help that Litori is an ephemeral me wielder. Wielders of the ephemeral mes are very dangerous and difficult to deal with but that doesn''t excuse her loss. It doesn''t change the fact that she has lost to Soverick''s sister. So she would rather shore up her future in thepetition by hunting for more feats than think about her defeat.


    Litori''s attacks were soundless, traceless, and unblockable. Salvini could track them based on what will happen to her if she stayed in her course of action. She would have died if not for her ability to predict the future. Someone that couldn''t see the future would have died without knowing what killed them. Ephemeral me wielders are that dangerous. They are incredibly rare because of the Soul affinity needed for them. Even those with the affinity of the soul might not be able to wield their powers so well.


    Litori did more than master her abilities. She excelled at it. The domain that she set up covered the entire 1st ring. It would have killed Salvini had she continued to stay around. Litori took the Zeroth ring and is using her domain to prevent other challengers from even getting close to her. The entire 1st ring turned into a death zone.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The first unsuspecting challenger that approached her nearly died after having their emotions turned into fuel for her mes. Only a quick immediate retreat saved the person only for them to be killed after Litori fired a concentrated spiritual attack at the weakened person. Even Salvini with foresight wouldn''t have been able to dodge the spiritual attack because of the weakness caused by being in her domain. The unsuspecting fool stood no chance.


    The disy warned others. No one approached the 1st ring any further. If no one can enter the 1st ring, then no one can fight her to im the Zeroth ring at the very center of the Arena. If this continues, then Litori will be thest man standing.


    Ghaster''s POV.


    Litori is not the only sibling of Soverick enjoying sess. Ghaster is too. He defeated Amegle. It was a narrow victory. She put up a good fight. Her natural armor and weapons gave her an advantage in a ce where no one had weapons. She was also a very skilled fighter with highly precise battle Instincts. Unfortunately for her, lightning was his weapon. He was faster than her and he could hit harder too.


    His victory might have been a close one but the rewards of that battle were massive. He can still feel the changes even now. It was subtle at first. He stepped easier and moved smoother. It was the easy things, easily overlooked, that showed the first signs of improvement.


    Things became obvious when he suddenly had an epiphany andprehended more of thew of lightning. He somehow became synchronized with the world enough to reach the third step of mastery.


    The changes didn''t end with acquiring one with the world. He became sensitive to danger and he became able to differentiate between fortune and traps. His luck soared to the sky. He became able to always find his way around to acquire what he needs.


    If he needs a weapon, he found it in a loot box. If he needs a ce to hide because of the people chasing him to get his new shiny weapon, he finds it very quickly. If he needs people to kill without much trouble, he finds them too. While in his hiding ce no less. Everything seems to be working well for him.

 Chapter 651 Payback.

    He was looking for a weapon when he stumbled upon a loot box. He didn''t even consider the result of his actions because he didn''t sense any danger. He broke the loot box and found a very strong de. Some people saw him get the weapon and they attacked him. He could have avoided them if only he had been careful and observant of his surroundings. He could have hidden and waited for them to pass by before breaking the loot box but he didn''t because he didn''t sense any danger.


    He was wrong about that. His new instinct for danger gave him false confidence. The box wasn''t dangerous but the 10 or so people that attacked him are very dangerous. He fought them but they were too many for him. So he ran away from them and they gave chase. He was able to escape due to his superior speed and he found a ce to hide in the city of stone that they are in.


    He is hiding on the 3rd floor of a building. The city is filled with such buildings of stone. It is a jungle of structures made out of stone. The stones aren''t precious or enchanted. They are ordinary stones created from a hardened mixture. The city is abandoned and derelict so there''s no one upying the buildings. He was able to lose his pursuers within the maze of buildings and hide in one of the buildings.


    The room he is in is empty and dusty but it granted him a good view of the ones chasing him now fighting for their lives. The ones that tried to take his weapon were ambushed as they were looking around for him by another group. The two groups make a total of 20 fighters. Their numbers are dwindling fast because of the generous use of explosives. Ghaster is watching and waiting. He is waiting for them to injure themselves well enough for him to finish them off.


    He believes it will happen. The world has been moving to his whims ever since he beat Amegle. It is like he became lucky or he suddenly became talented at doing things. He gained a sort of intuition for making the right decision. And right now, his intuition is telling him to wait for the opportunity to appear. He can choose to escape but he chose to wait because his intuition has not been wrong so far.


    His wait bore fruit. The opportunity arrived after their number was reduced to 6 with 4 on the winning side and 2 on the losing side. The group that chased him to kill him are the ones losing. They were ambushed by a group with arger number so it is expected. They fought well though. They should have been annihted but they managed to cut down a lot of their enemies before their defeat. Now they are being cornered by enemies that ambushed them just like they tried to corner him. The world itself is punishing them for trying to hurt him.


    His lips curled into a feral grin at the opportunity that has been delivered to him by fate. His pursuers are to be his prey.


    He said to himself with anticipation, "It''s my turn now."


    Then he turned into a bolt of blue lightning. He flew from the building he was in, circled around the back, and approached from behind the winners. He appeared behind the unsuspecting 4 with his weapon raised high. Both of his hands gripped his de tightly. The other 2 saw him and their eyes widened in panic. They have seen something like this before. It decimated some of their group earlier before they were ambushed. So they are very afraid of what''s going to happen next.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Their weird behavior alerted the 4 that are cornering them. One of them looked behind just in time to see Ghaster bring down the de. There was a sh of light as lightning fell from the sky on the 4. A torrent of blue lightning poured down in a great pir onto his enemies.


    "BOOM."


    There was a massive explosion that rocked the earth. The violent energy of the lightning entered their bodies and wrought untold destruction. Their bodies dried up and cracked. Then the thunderp of the lightning shattered their bodies to dust. They disappeared before their bodies broke apart leaving him with the other two.


    The other two were mmed by the residual force of the thunderp. They were thrown against the wall behind them and almost knocked unconscious. They struggled to stand up but they did nothing after that. They have nowhere to go and their backs are literally against the wall. Their eyes were glued to the figure obscured by smoke and dust. They can see his sparkling eyes and they can hear his lightning-frazzled hair sizzling and popping. If they are to escape then they must go through him.


    The dust finally cleared to reveal his figure. He was still grinning at them.


    "Remember me?" He asked them.


    They remember him. He was the one they were chasing before. But now, there is a massive smoking crater between them. It is a crater that he created. The bodies of those who were there earlier are nowhere to be seen. The same thing could have happened to them. The only reason why they are alive is because he soared them. But that has not alleviated their fears. So their refusal to speak is understandable.


    They know that they are probably going to die so they don''t have any interest in humoring their killer. The two parties just stared at each other. One side outnumbers the other but it is the outnumbered party that is confident of victory. The crater of melted and scorched stone ground beneath them can attest to how destructive lightning can be. They are live because of his mercy. But he didn''t spare them without hoping to get paid. They have much to pay for.

 Chapter 652 Interruption

    Ghaster was waiting for them to make a move. He knows he should kill them quickly but he wants to toy with them. Power is euphoric. He became able to do some things with lightning that he never thought he could do. To be honest, he stumbled on the revtion but it empowered him the same. That power is his now and it feels great to have. It feels even better when there are others whock power.


    These people who have not yet managed to learn thews of this world are no match for him. If not for their use of explosives, they would have been hunted like rats with no way to fight back. Instead, they chased him and sent him running like a rat. But the world works in mysterious ways. He is here for payback now. He is not a rat anymore. He is the predator.


    The feeling of hunting is a good feeling to experience. He doesn''t aim to be thest man standing in this challenge. He just wants to fight and fight to his heart''s content. He was to wield lightning as a hunter and unleash it on his prey. So he waited for them to move. One of them did move. She brought out an explosive from her space ring and tried to jug it at him.


    Her movement was quick. The explosive appeared in her hand in the blink of an eye. All she had to do was throw it at him. Then she will cause it to explode. She failed to throw it. She spasmed instead as a bolt of lightning shot from his outstretched hand to her. She shook and fell to the ground with her eyes rolled far up into her head. She might have been fast but lightning is faster.


    Starting from transcendence, injuries be a serious matter. The elements of the body and soul are not separate any longer. So she just had both her body and mind fried with lightning. It is a nasty experience to endure. Her body continued to shake on the ground even after Ghaster stopped channeling the lightning. Her partner watched with dread.


    "Wasn''t going to work anyway," Ghaster said to her unconscious form.


    Explosives are thrown. They go off when the person with spiritual control of them wills them to explode. The explosion is deadly but it is only effective against those that can''t move. You have to throw it first at the target and there''s no way someone with freedom of movement will not dodge. Transcendents move at a mind-boggling speed which makes targeting them very, very difficult.


    Only talented individuals that can target where someone will be can use explosives effectively. Such talented individuals won''t need explosives in the first ce. So her attempt to use an explosive on him wouldn''t have worked on him anyway. She is not one of those talented individuals and even if she were, he is too fast to be targeted. They also don''t have the numbers to try and overwhelm him with explosives anymore. It is just two of them and he can react to both of them.


    Of course, she didn''t hear him. She is preupied with spasming and mind-cutting pain. It is of no harm. His words were for her partner. Ghaster said it so that he will try something different. What fun will a showdown be if the two of them try the same useless thing? It is best that the partner learn from her mistakes and try something else. Preferably something fun.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He was waiting for his prey to move. But his fun was interrupted. A nearby group heard the thunderp and saw the descent of lightning. It is not a normal urrence. They figured that it must be due to some treasure and they are confident of wrestling ownership of the item from whoever had it. It is why the first group came to hunt Ghaster in the first ce. They are partly right. The power he has shown is abination of his new skills and the de in his hands. ess to world power whenbined with lightning maniption is a deadlybination.


    "Good. More people. More fun." Ghaster said with excitement.


    His instincts to do battle began to rear their head. He did not feel unhappy with the interruption of his showdown. As they say, the more the merrier. It is a party and all are wee to join. He has the confidence to fight and escape if he needs to because of his skill, weapon, and speed. He began looking forward to the appearance of the group after hearing their footsteps rushing toward him.


    Ghaster''s blood turned cold when he saw the leader of the group. His craving for a battle turned into a warning of danger immediately. This group didn''t approach him because of their foolhardiness. Their leader is a king. One of the most talented beings in the challenge that the sage had hopes for. It is why they are confident in subduing him.


    He became pensive as the king approached. His eyes stayed glued to the golden crown on their head. His instincts are telling him that he has to take this fight seriously. This person is dangerous and he will have to try his best to defeat them. The chances of victory are not absent. The odds are 50/50. He can win and he can lose. The problem is thepany following the king. Even now, they just keeping.


    ''They must be more than 100 of them.'' he thought to himself. ''This is not looking good for me.''


    What he saw while observing his surroundings is not good news. He began considering retreating. He can''t face off 100 people. He looked around and realized that they have the ce surrounded. That isn''t going to stop him from escaping though. He can manage it now when they are still in disarray and he should escape before he can''t. He might not be able to retreat if the two sides join in battle.

 Chapter 653 Stupid And Rash.

    The King whistled appreciatively when she saw Ghaster. "What do we have here?"


    She would have attacked instead of talking if she thinks he is weak but the sight of the tendrils of lightning slithering across his fur and sparkling in his eyes discouraged her from attacking outright. Common sense dictates that someone who has be one with lightning must be very dangerous. So she decided to try some diplomacy.


    "You seem to be a wielder of lightning. Those are pretty rare."


    Lightning wielders are rare. Lightning is not a natural element. It is more of an invocation of power. It is fast and highly destructive. To get lightning to listen to you and manifest is very difficult. To wield it like a weapon is a sign of true talent because lightning as a weapon can destroy its wielder before it bes a threat to others.


    She walked up to him and stopped about 100 meters away from him. That is pretty close enough.


    "I am the stone empress. What is your name?"


    Ghaster took a fighting stance instead of answering. He got ready to move at the first sight of an attack. He may look ready to fight but he is nning to run. The mention of her name spooked him and helped him make up his mind about running away. If there is something that lightning is weak to, it is earth and someone that can turn others to stone with a look is not someone you should lety their eyes on you.


    She chuckled despite his silence. "Silence is good too. I am not here for your words. I am here for your weapon. You see, I have been looking for something of that quality. Hand it over and I''ll let you go."


    Ghasterughed. "You must think I am stupid."


    The fact that they are both talking and not fighting means that both of them are wary of the other. After all, what is needed for a fight is one willing party, not two. So the two of them don''t want to fight because they don''t like their chances. Giving up his weapon will tip the scale in her favor. Maybe they will fight then. He will surely be doomed when that urs.


    She replied to his question. "I don''t think you are stupid. I was hoping that you were stupid. I hear that lightning wielders are rash and stupid."


    Ghaster felt insulted. He might be rash but he is not stupid. Or maybe he is stupid. Staying here and listening to her talk is certainly not a smart idea.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She chuckled when she saw his angry face. "It seems that my hopes are to be dashed. I must admit that I do not want to fight you. It will cost me a lot to get that weapon if we fight. But I don''t have a choice. I must have that de. So I must fight you. You don''t have a choice either. You will lose. I have this ce surrounded. You can either give up the de easily or go down messily. I am guessing you want to go down messily."


    She doesn''t want to fight because of her followers. She could have taken an army with her but she didn''t because numbers don''t matter to some individuals. She is one of those individuals. An army is no different from one person if they can''t resist her eyes. That''s why she chose talented elites to follow her. Ones that can be really helpful when she needs them. So her followers are actually useful. They are not expendable riff-raffs. She prefers not to lose her elites but she is ready to do anything for the weapon in his hands.


    Ghaster didn''t reply. He just stared at her. There''s no way he will give up his weapon without a fight. The person in the most awkward position is thest guy of the fight group that ambushed Ghaster. The two of them were staring at each other before. Now Ghaster is staring menacingly at another person. He doesn''t know if he is allowed to leave or not. He wants to leave but he knows that being the center of attention is bad. So he stayed frozen and motionless. Maybe they will ignore him if he pretends not to exist.


    Their awkward staring contest was interrupted by a noise. The loud noise ising from a ce far away from their location. They looked in its direction and saw the after-effects of an explosion. The explosion must be massive because they saw the giant plum of smoke created by it from such a far distance.


    Someone snickered audibly. "Someone created a mega explosion again. I pity the person they used it on."


    What the person said made the stone Emperess'' followersugh. They are clearly light-hearted enough tough. Ghaster would haveughed too if he were not in such an unfavorable situation. It is because the people who were affected by that explosion will be in a much bigger situation than him.


    An explosion created from thebination of hundreds of explosive consumables rigged together is very dangerous to be around. Something thatrge will rip virtually anyone apart. But funny enough, noises that indicate a violent battle didn''t end. It continued and increased in tempo sharply.


    "It seems the people they used the mega explosion on didn''t diepletely." Someone else observed.


    The sounds of battle died down soon after. But there was still one reurring noise. This noise got louder as whatever is creating it got closer to them. The stone empress''s minions rushed toward her and surrounded her. They took up positions to guard her. The two sides ceased hostilities to determine the new intruder. Or so Ghaster thought before he lost control of his body.


    The stone Emperess smirked and said. "So stupid."


    It turns out that he really is stupid. Maybe there is some truth to the rumors that lightning-wielders are rash and stupid. It could be that lightning has fried their brain cells. It is either that or she lucked out in encountering Ghaster who is stupid and rash. Now he will turn into a statue of stone.

 Chapter 654 Two Giants Or One Small Battle Sage Monkey.

    She attacked while Ghaster was distracted trying to figure out what was making all that racket. He began to turn into stone. He tried to run but his movements were sluggish. She caught him unawares and got a head start on him. A grey stoneyer began appearing over his body until his entire body was encased. He made sure to re hatefully at her throughout the transformation. Unfortunately for him, his eyes aren''t capable of killing people on sight. ring only made him look like a statue of a bitter battle sage monkey.


    Meanwhile, the entities making the noise continued to approach their position by bulldozing every building in the way. Tall structures of stone broke and fell to the ground in the wake of their battle. It is like two giant creatures are running amok in the city of stone. Nothing could stand in the way of the creatures. Buildings cracked and the road split apart. It created a cacophony of noise that made it seem like the jungle of stone is being demolished.


    The entities finally reached them. They prated a building close to them passing through the walls as if they are wet paper. Then the fighting entities collided with another building opposite their position. This time, the entities couldn''t go further after exhausting their momentum.


    The Stone Emperess and her followers expected to see two giants but what they saw was a short obscured figure. The short obscured figure was standing above something thaty at his feet. Then the figure bent low and did something to the thingying at his feet.


    Dust obscured the figure of the entity so all they could hear were cracks of thundering from within the dust cloud. The dust also refused to dissipate. Whatever is going on within the cloud is disintegrating the surrounding stone and throwing up more dust into the air.


    The stone empress and her group had to be content with the sounds of whips breaking the sound barrier over and over again. They heard the crack of thunder followed by the sound of thuds as if someone is hitting a mountain with hammers. It happened again and again. It was very terrifying.


    "Finally." Someone spoke from within the cloud of thick dust. "Up you go then."


    Then something passed above the stone empress really fast. It flew at mind-boggling speed and it collided with another building. Then whatever that thing is exploded on contact with the building. It struck the wall at a ridiculous speed and turned to mush. The building groaned at the impact before it too copsed.


    The stone empress felt dread. It''s a tangible feeling that crept up her back and made the fur on her back stand up. It is a very clear sign that she is in danger. She didn''t spare Ghaster a look even though he began to break free from his prison of stone.


    She didn''t get to finish his transformation earlier because of the sudden intrusion. Layers of the stone began to fall off of him once she took her eyes off him. His scowling face was thest part of his body to be covered and it is the first to be uncovered so he saw what happened next clearly.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The dust cloud began to die down without the strenuous activity that was kicking it up. Something made him freeze. He sensed a cascade of a frightening amount of energy from within the dust cloud. That energy was then tossed in his direction. He wanted to run but he can''t. Most of his body is still frozen. Fortunately, the attack wasn''t aimed at him.


    All that energy formed a de arc that mowed down the stone empress''s group. It cut them down as they were standing. None of them could resist. The Stone Emperess died too without being able to resist. It happened so fast that it was mind-boggling. It is as if all that energy just sprang into existence instantly and then it disappeared after splitting everything in its path. A king and the majority of her 100 guards were killed just like that. With a single attack.


    The stone empress and the ones that surrounded her are no more. Their deaths were swift and painless. Her remaining followers saw what happened and turned tail. They ran away as fast as their legs could take them. None of them looked back much less tried to avenge the death of their leader.


    They are elites in both body and mind. Plus it doesn''t take much mental gymnastics to realize that it is a bad idea to fight whoever killed the Stone Emperess. So they didn''t decide to do something foolish like confronting the attacker.


    Ghaster gulped. He felt thirsty all of a sudden. His body seemed to think that he needs water which is absurd. He should have been happy about her death but that emotion found it very difficult to take root within him. The attack that wiped out most of the stone empress''s group missed him narrowly but Ghaster didn''t feel rxed.


    Whoever could dish out something like that is not someone he wants to be around. Unfortunately for him, breaking out of his stone cage is slow going. So he put in more effort to escape before the entity attacked again.


    The entity muttered audibly, "What an inferior material. They are doing it on purpose. I haven''t found one good weapon all this while."


    Ghaster froze again. The entity spoke close to him so he heard their voice much clearer. He froze because he recognized that voice. He stayed frozen still as the rock on his body finished dropping to the ground. He saw the entity walk out of the dust cloud while examining something in his hands.


    Ghaster was right about who the voice belonged to but he wasn''t happy. Happiness refused to propagate in his mind. Something else is stopping him from feeling happy. He recognized the person and he only felt dread. It was Soverick. His dread increased the closer Soverick got to him.

 Chapter 655 My New Weapon.

    Soverick appeared to be examining a spear. He was turning it over and over in his hands with his head bent focusing on the spear. He has a ck crown on his head and some golden orbs orbiting his back. Ghaster doesn''t know what the ck crown means and he doesn''t need to. He has also never seen the golden orbs before. This Soverick that he is seeing seems totally different from the one he knows.


    But he didn''t let his confusion and ignorance get the best of him. All he needs to know is that he is in a bad situation. It is all because Soverick is getting close to him. He has never had a much greater need for a miracle than right now. He wishes dearly that something will happen that will make this encounter not be a disaster.


    The weapon that Soverick was examining turned to dust just as Soverick struck it with his finger. It cracked all over and broke apart. The fragments turned to dust before reaching the ground. The internal structure of the weapon has beenpromised after he forcefully pumped world power into it. It managed to produce a strike despite it not being made for such an act. The act itself destroyed it just like the groups of people that the strike swept away.


    Soverick looked up from his musings and spotted what attracted him here in the first ce. He smiled and said, "There it is. My new weapon."


    If not for the weapon, he wouldn''t have decided toe here at all. He wouldn''t have been attacked by a King and his group that thought they could take on the child of the ne. They even rigged an amalgamation of explosive consumables of some sort to eliminate him. They thought they could kill him. They thought wrong. It is obvious how well that n of action went for them.


    That hair-brained idiot didn''t dy him too much anyways. He used the King as a plow to destroy every obstacle on his path here. Then he beat the person up to tenderize their flesh. It made their body explode after being thrown and smashed against a building.


    It was after he confirmed the weapon that he looked at his wielder.


    "Ghaster, is that you? You sure have changed." Soverick said as he pped his hands in eagerness. "You have a weapon and you also have some feats. Talk about a double jackpot. My double jackpot of course. It must be bad being you right now."


    He sensed the Weapon and Ghaster through thew matrix of the Arena. He also knows that Ghaster is about to be killed by someone else. But he didn''te here to save Ghaster. He came for the weapon and he would have done the same thing were it another person holding the weapon.


    He continued walking towards his prize unconcerned about Ghaster''s furious face. He is here for the de and he will have it. The wielder doesn''t matter. That means the anger of the wielder doesn''t matter either. As far as he is concerned, the de is already his. He won''t stop, no matter the faces that Ghaster makes at him.


    Ghaster may be trying to make himself look adorable by making faces like a child to avoid being robbed but he is making faces at the wrong person. Soverick would rob and kill a real child who has something he wants. A grown-up pretending to be a child won''t make him show mercy.


    Ghaster overcame his dread to shout. "Stop right there."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick didn''t stop. He kepting leisurely. The only thing that has changed is the smirk of amusement tugging at his lips.


    Soverick asked. "And why should I?"


    That''s a good question. Ghaster considered it and answered. "The weapon is mine. I won''t give it up."


    Soverickughed. "That''s funny. You know, I have always found you funny. You are funny and stupid. Litori is smart but she is such a bore. You? You''re something else."


    Ghaster fumed but Soverick wasn''t done. "If you want to keep something then you have to fight to keep it. I take what I want from those that I can take it from. Unfortunately for you, I am here for your life and your weapon. You will have to do your best to stop me."


    Soverick spread his arms wide and said, "Go ahead. Take your shot."


    Ghaster''s instincts screamed certain death to him, that he should run and not look back. His new instincts are telling him that nothing good wille out of this encounter. But he didn''t run. It is not because he realized that he can''t escape. Yes, he can''t escape even if he tried. But no, his brain is too preupied to realize that yet.


    He didn''t choose to escape because of the dread that he feels from Soverick. It reminded him of the very first fight that he had with Soverick. They were month-old babies when the fight urred. Soverick hadn''t even touched him to defeat him then. Even now, he doesn''t know how he lost that fight.


    His dread of Soverick had faded into fear, awe, and anger since then. It was like he stopped being able to sense what an immense danger Soverick is to him. But his recent improvements seemed to have changed that. That dread came back in full force. He knows now with uttermost certainty that he will lose. That is why he must fight. He must always fight against hopelessness or his heart will forever be shrouded with dread at the mention of Soverick.


    "I am not the little boy I was before." He said to himself for encouragement.


    He has changed over the years. He has be better. He defeated thatdy that Soverick defeated. It is proof that if he continues to strive for progress then he will get sess. If anything, fighting Soverick will let him gain knowledge about him and this is the best opportunity to get it. Soverick will never be this weak again.

 Chapter 656 Oppose The Heavens.

    "I may lose. But I will always fight." He said to affirm his will.


    So he got into a stance. He bent forward and put one foot in front of him. He cycled his energy and lightning bloomed all over his body. He was like a caterpir evolving into a butterfly. Lightning is his cocoon. It has forged his body. It has forged his mind. And it has forged his character. He is one with lightning now. He is a lightning wielder.


    Tworge wings of blue lightning formed behind him. The same lightning went into his de and amplified it. The wings flickered slightly. Then he shot forward towards Soverick. His environment became a blur as he shot forward toward his target.


    ''So fast.'' he thought to himself. ''I am so fast.''


    He has never been this fast before, not even in the real world. Something seemed to click within him at that moment when he decided to defy Soverick. His bloodline awakened with a roar. It is the bloodline of heavenly punishment. It is a bloodline that will oppose even the heavens, take heaven''s lightning for itself, and use it to punish its enemies. If he can oppose the very heaven itself, it will never ept defeat to Soverick.


    He promised himself, ''I will fight as long as I can. I will always fight.''


    Ghaster became the embodiment of lightning. Power courses through him. His iplete body ofw allowed lightning to synchronize with him as if he were a titan ofw. He brought up his de and called down lightning from the heavens.


    Soverick was still standing with a smirk on his lips and his arms stretched wide. That''s what Ghaster saw before Soverick moved. The world has slowed down in his perception. Nothing should escape his sight. And yet, he only saw a blur when Soverick moved. It was a dash. Soverick stepped on the ground with one foot. His position shifted sideways near instantly. The ground where his foot smashed onto is cratered. It kicked up a lot of dust.


    Fortunately, he is not blind. He saw what Soverick is trying to do through his eyes and his divine sense. He can also react to his due to the amplification of his mind by lightning. His instincts red up and he flicked his lightning wings before he knew that he did. That enabled him to abort his current attack and narrowly dodge a punch thrown at him from his right.


    He didn''t get to rest after that narrow escape. Another punch came at him almost immediately. He dodged that too. Soverick is fast. Almost too fast to react to. The major problem is that his movements are simple. A single step will take him arge distance near instantly. He can also abort his motion and turn around near instantly with another single stomp of his feet.


    But he is fast too. His perception is top notch so he can always keep track of Soverick. And his instincts help him not to get fooled by the feints that Soverick throws at him. He managed to keep up with the barrage of attacks. He even managed to counter-attack but he stopped doing it because they are not effective against Soverick.


    Soverick wouldn''t dodge an attack. He would calmly and easily deflect it aside with his body. Lightning stung him but it could not get a purchase on him. Then he would use the opportunity to counterattack. Those counterattacks are too much dangerous. Ghaster was almost done in by one of them so he decided to defend and distance himself from Soverick. Unfortunately, Soverick stuck to him like the color white on white clouds.


    The two of them shed around like two fireflies having a mating ritual. They flickered about never stopping for long in a single ce. Each ce they went to gets destroyed. Buildings copsed and the ground began to crack. The city of stone started to copse all around them. Soverick did most of the damage. The destruction to the city is because of his missed attacks and his stomps. All Ghaster did was run around.


    "Is this what you wanted to do in a fight with me? Do you just want to run around?" Soverick asked with a mocking tone."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Ghaster roared. "Enough"


    Lightning sted out of him. It exploded into his surroundings. Soverick was caught by the st. He was thrown across the city before smashing into a building and destroying it. The entire building copsed onto him. Tonnes of reinforced stone fell and buried him. The city quieted down for a few seconds.


    The fighting stopped and so did the destruction to the city. Ghaster looked around at the city. He noticed that it has be different from what it used to be. It is as if an earthquake hit the city and caused massive copse to its structures.


    The silence became marred by a rhythmic thumping. This thumping ising from where Soverick was buried. He wants to get out so he is punching his way out. Stone and rocks flew into the air with each punch. The punches also caused booming sounds that felt like thumping.


    Soverick came out from where he was buried. He looks no worse. That means he looks pristine and spotless. He doesn''t look like someone who was buried a few moments ago.


    He pped and said, "That''s not so bad. Is that all you''ve got?"


    Ghaster replied. "You are a bully. Do you know that?"


    Soverick began tough. He doubled over and held his stomach as heughed. Hisugh resounded across the devastated city. Heughed until he couldn''tugh anymore.


    Then he shook his head and asked, "You think I am a bully? Tell me, have I bullied you?"


    "Yes."


    "That is so funny. You are such a naive and ignorant boy. It is obvious that you haven''t grown over these past few thousand years."


    "I am not naive." Ghaster interrupted him with a shout.


    Soverick continued without care. He said with a cold determined voice, "I''ll show you bullying."

 Chapter 657 Bullying Is A Fact Of Life.

    Bullying is an act of intimidating a person to do something they would rather not do. Or it can be persistent acts intended to make life unpleasant for another person. Ghaster believes that Soverick is a bully. His existence bullies others. He has condemned numerous others to mediocrity just by existing and excelling.


    Ghaster more than anyone else knows the pain of being constantly intimidated by the glory of his brother into constantly training without rest. It is something he would not do if Soverick isn''t pressuring him so much. He tried and tried to catch up to his brother all to no avail. What''s worse is that he has to continue hearing about Soverick''s greatness everywhere he goes. His life has be unpleasant for it.


    Soverick knows all of these. He can see it too. But he doesn''t care. You can''t please everybody so there''s no use trying. Whatever you do, someone somewhere will have a problem with you and say you did something bad to them. And he doesn''t think what he has been doing is bullying.


    Bullying is done repeatedly and with the intention to gain something from it which could be simply the pleasure of causing pain to someone. His existence might be unpleasurable for others, but he wasn''t causing them harm with the intention to gain something from it. Besides that, it doesn''t matter even if he wanted to bully everyone else. Bullying is the right of the strong.


    He can bully Ghaster just as the first sage can bully him. Bullying is not right or wrong. It is just a fact of life due to the differences in power. The weak don''t have a choice but to be bullied. He is not somewhereining about being bullied despite being constantly manipted to do the sage''s bidding. He is always moving forward with the sole aim of bing stronger. But just for this moment, he will actually enjoy bullying Ghaster. He will cause him pain for the sole intention of gaining pleasure from it.


    Soverick divine sensetched onto the momentum of the world. Momentum was then forced into a specific shape as instructed by his mind based on the foundation of his solidified divine sense. Several golden fists appeared in the air around him. These phantom weapons number around a thousand.


    "Prepare yourself," Soverick said, then he attacked.


    He bolted forward with his numerous golden fists leading the way. Ghaster''s eyes widened in fear. He didn''t think it was possible. He has never seen such a sight in thepetition. People have used phantom weapons sure, but not like this. They are not as powerful and they are not as numerous. Phantom weapons are aids to others, not actual things that can threaten his life.


    He didn''t stay idle. He sped forward to engage Soverick. He roared and roused all the lightning within him. Then he channeled it and as much world power as he can manage into his de. He swung down his de at the iing tide of fists. A massive wave of lightning was ejected from the de in his hands. This massive wave struck the golden fists and resulted in a massive thundering explosion.


    The explosion rocked the world. It was loud and it was bright. He was too close to it so he wasn''t spared from the st. His mind nked out as he mmed face-first into something. When he came to, he was flying backward instead of forward.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Then his flight was rudely interrupted by the wall of a building. The wall cracked with the force of stopping his flight. It groaned as fragments fell from it to the ground. But the damage on the wall cannot bepared to the damage to his body.


    He was moving forward so fast but he collided with something that had a higher momentum than him. The momentum was so great that it forcefully killed his speed and sent him back the way he came. It is why his mind nked out. It ismendable that he came to mid-flight. But he would have regained consciousness when his back smashed into the building sending jolts of pain through his body.


    He tried to stand but failed when a searing pain cut through his mind as well as his body. It was worse than everything he just experiencedbined. He opened his eyes with a lot of effort. His mind felt sluggish but he was able toprehend what he saw. Soverick was standing in front of him using his sword to stab his chest. That''s what''s causing the mind-numbing pain and general body weakness.


    Soverick said to him. "Thanks for the feats and de. It is very generous of you."


    He doesn''t even know how he ended this way. He was attacking but now he is dying and Soverick is thanking him for the weapon. His bloodline ability helps him to slow the world down and elerate his thoughts and yet he can''t figure out what happened during thest sh. He seemed to have lost the weapon somewhere in the transition between attacking and being skewed to a wall.


    "You are not bad for someone who is not a king. You even performed better than some kings. You have potential. You really do. But you are naive and ignorant. Whining andining won''t do anything good for you. Only strength matters. Pursue strength above all else. Because as you are right now, you are not worthy enough to be bullied by me."


    That''s thest thing Ghaster heard before his consciousness cked out for good. Soverick finished him off. He pumped a torrent of energy into the body of his younger brother to make it explode. Ghaster''s brand saved him while Soverick took all of his feats.


    He really did try to bully Ghaster but Ghaster died too quickly. He was ying around earlier. But Ghaster died after one sh when he decided to be serious. Ghaster is not worthy bullying material. How is he to be bullied when he can''t take a beating? He died without even knowing how he died.

 Chapter 658 Good Blade.

    The only one that knows what happened during theirst sh is Soverick. They are all at the zero mark and are not getting any assistance from the world during this challenge. But that doesn''t make them equal. He could fight hordes of rank 4 monsters as a rank 0 and kill some of them. So he is much faster and stronger than the otherpetitors because of the 9 golden orbs on his back.


    Ghaster had his own advantages. His bloodline made him very fast while his instincts helped him to utilize the speed to great effect. Unfortunately for him, he is not strong enough to withstand the explosion created by theirst sh. He was stunned by the explosion.


    Soverick is physically empowered. His speed is just a side effect of that physical empowerment. He can take on more damage than anyone in thepetition can so he wasn''t fazed by the explosion. He went through it and took advantage of Ghaster''s stunned state to attack him. It was the simplest solution. Ghaster is as fast as him so that was the easiest way to kill him without using his eyes or the nullification domain.


    Even the spectator of their fight didn''t see what happened clearly. The remaining guy from the first group was standing close to Ghaster. He wasn''t attacked by the stone empress and Soverick''s attack missed him too. He was standing there motionless when Ghaster fought Soverick.


    Then both Ghatser and Soverick disappeared. The two of them ignored him and fought all over the city. The man looked left and right but didn''t see anyone. So he bent down and picked up the unconsciousdy on the ground. Then he escaped with her. It is a good thing too or the copsing building and the explosions could have killed him.


    He didn''t run away though. He stopped when he reached a safe distance and chose to watch the fight. Even so, he didn''t see how Soverick managed to close the distance between him and Ghaster. He has an inclination about what happened but he can''t believe it.


    Soverick noticed them but he didn''t bother with them. He would rather stare appreciatively at the de in his hands than try to kill some trash. The two actions don''t need much effort but one is more pleasurable than the other.


    "Nice de. Nice quality too." Heplimented the weapon as he caressed it. "It is much too good for Ghaster anyway. It is better in my hands."


    It is a ck metallic de with a blue crystal edge. There are inscriptions on the metallic part of the de. The crystal is translucent and it is bing more translucent as the blue color is fading. It is blue because thest person to use it directed lightning into it. It is changing now that it has changed owners. He uses pure world power so the crystal edge will stay clear. It makes the de look much thinner than it really is.


    He said to the de, "Now to the first ring. I will y everything that blocks my path with you. With you in my hand, nothing can stop me from bing the Last man standing."


    Then he resumed his journey to the 1st ring. He has everything he needs so he decided to move on to the next important agenda.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Meanwhile, a lot has changed in the first ring. A lot more people tried to enter the 1st ring but they failed. Their death warned others of the dangers so they stayed in the 2nd ring and waited for something to change. Some began to fight amongst themselves but no one ventured into the 1st ring anymore.


    Only ignorant neers that think themselves smarter or stronger than the others try to enter the 1st ring. They will sneak and creep along thinking themselves wiser until they go up in mes. The 1st ring has be a death zone. Anyone that enters it dies. Litori held that position with an iron grip and gave no quarter. That all changed when someone with more means arrived.


    Salvini went and brought someone that she is sure can usurp Litori''s domination. She said to the person as she pointed at Litori. "See, I told you, brother. We have to do something or she will win."


    Her brother Salvin is also in this joint arena. Salvini found him and told him about the child of the ne''s sister. He was busy enjoying himself by facingrge groups and putting his title as the one-man army to the test. He thought it was too early to try and take the 1st ring. It has only been 3 days of the challenge after all. But he followed her when she came to ask him. Any information about the child of the ne interests him. Soverick has beaten him before so he wants to see how good his sister is.


    He licked his lips as he gazed at Litori. "The child of the ne''s litter seems to be strong. His litter mates certainly match ours in prowess. The youngest one of his litter beat the youngest one of our litter."


    Salvini huffed. "She cheated. Her attacks can''t be blocked. You better be careful or you will fall here. Her domain is insidious. Anyone within 100 meters of her will be attacked and they will die.


    Salvin nodded in agreement. "Yes, yes. I can see that. An ephemeral me wielder. Very rare. And very dangerous. Thankfully she is suppressed or even I might have no chance."


    "I don''t think so. The oue of a battle between you both will be close even if she isn''t suppressed. You are both lethal. You might both kill yourself. But I don''t think there''s a way that she can kill you without a significant chance of her dying herself. Don''t forget, you are also suppressed."


    Salvin cocked his head. "Maybe that''s true. All I am saying is that there''s a better chance of victory now that she is suppressed. No one canin about that in a fight."

 Chapter 659 Bloodline Of Soul Fire.

    "Then get on with it. Just watch out for her tricks. She can take control of phantom weapons." Salvin warned him.


    Salvin shook his head and spoke confidently. "She can''t take control of my phantom weapons. No one can."


    He began making his way toward the dreaded 1st ring. The people in the 2nd ring made way for him. They recognized him and his sister. The two of them are from the lineage of sages. Their bloodline might not be purely that of the first sage but they are powerful. They stepped back and decided to watch. Everyone wants to see if Litori has finally met her match. Salvin stopped at the edge of the 1st ring. He didn''t step into Litori''s domain.


    His confidence in winning this battlees from the limit of her domain. She is suppressed in body and mind just like everyone else. She can''t extend her domain farther than 100 meters meanwhile his phantom weapons have a farther reach. He has a farther reach due to the coboration between his eyes and his divine sense. His eyes and divine sense work hand in hand to create his ability. So his phantom weapons can attack up to 110 meters away from him. It is a very small difference but it is enough.


    He began creating phantom weapons. des, arrows, knives, spears, javelins, and many more began to pop out from his eyes. Theye out small and erge when they are outside his eyes. More of them came pouring out of his two silver eyes. He sent a sizeable amount of the grey phantom weapons to attack Litori while he continued to make more.


    Litori became vignt immediately after she saw him. She was prepared for his attack before he stepped forward to attack her. He also took a lot of time preparing to attack her. He didn''t say that he was going to attack but she didn''t need him to announce his intentions. She can see enough to know that she has a challenger. So she was ready for him when he finally attacked.


    Some dry white ashy matter was already in her hands by the time the phantom weapons shot towards her. She calls it psionic matter. It is harvested from the spirits of people. The people that she got it from don''t need to be killed by her. She can harvest the spirit of those who die as long as they are close to her when they die.


    Her bloodline awakened when she became a mana entity. At first, she could attack others with her ephemeral me. It is a me that burns from within her target as long as she ignites it with a spiritual attack. The attackes out from her eyes. Her eyes became able to see spirits after she became a transcendent. Ka was the first spirit that she harvested to create psionic matter.


    The psionic matter when sprinkled on things, helps her to override the spiritual control of those things. The things that she can override can either be real weapons or phantom weapons. Anything being controlled with the divine sense is susceptible to her usurpation.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She sprinkled some psionic matter now at the approaching phantom weapons. They turned into motes of glittering dust that blew onto them. They fell on them but the phantom weapons continued towards her. They wobbled but they resisted her control and remained under the control of Salvin. She had to dodge them or risk being torn to shreds.


    She ran around evading the phantom weapons and continued sprinkling more of the psionic matter on them. She would sometimes use the whip in her hand to block some. It was very tough to evade the phantom weapons due to Salvin''s excellent control. She had to change her position a lot and even moved far away from the Zeroth position. She struggled to evade at first but it became easier and easier for her to protect herself from the onught of the phantom weapons.


    Salvin feels like a hammer is hitting his mind. This particrly ufortable phenomenon started when Litori sprinkled that white dust on his phantom weapons. He didn''t lose control of his phantom weapons but he began to lose his concentration.


    The battlefield became two and both demanded his attention. One is the physical battlefield that he is winning and the other is the spiritual battlefield that he is also winning. The problem is that he shouldn''t be fighting on two battlefields at the same time. There''s only so much his mind can take.


    He needs his mind to create phantom weapons and control them. That has been all he ever needed his mind for. A third need suddenly appeared, one that he is not especially versed in. He needs to task his mind to maintain control of his phantom weapons now. It has never happened that someone wants to wrestle his weapons away from him. This sudden, third need is ufortable and distracting. It is making him sloppy at performing the other two needs.


    The first major impact apart from the sudden headache is the drastic reduction in the number of phantom weapons he can create. He has to fight tooth and nail to keep control of the ones he has created and Litori is still bombarding them with more psionic matter. He has a feeling that creating more phantom weapons will give her more avenues of attacks and open his mind to more stress.


    His hesitation to produce more phantom weapons didn''t discourage Litori from focusing on the ones he has produced though. She kept sprinkling the psionic matter on them and they began to slow down. The battlefield shifted then.


    The second impact of the spiritual stress is that his control over the phantom weapons that he has already created became bad. The phantom weapons are wobbling too much now and they have slowed down in speed. They are of little threat to Litori. He is still winning the spiritual battlefield. But he is losing the physical battlefield.

 Chapter 660 Spiritual Vs Physical.

    Litori tried to move closer to him now that she doesn''t have to worry too much about the phantom weapons which means it is his turn to run and evade. He can''t let her breach the distance between them to 100 meters or she will be able to attack him.


    "This is a disgrace. I am the one-man army damn it." Salvin said through gritted teeth as he ran.


    He discarded his pride and chose to run. It is disgraceful but it is better than losing to her. He hasn''t lost yet so anything can change. The two of them are ranged fighters with pretty lethal weapons. Litori''s spiritual attacks are just as dangerous as the phantom weapons that he uses.


    He has a longer reach so he should be winning but Litori''s specialty has made him lose focus. He has be ineffectual at what he is capable of. Now he is running away from Litori so that she won''t finish him off. It is highly unlikely but the one-man army is being chased by a single person.


    The two of them ran around the 1st and 2nd zone trying and failing to kill each other. The onlookers gave them a wide berth. They retreated to the 3rd zone where it is safe. Stray spiritual and physical attacks won''t reach them there. They watched on with trepidation and awe. Any one of these two fighters can take them all on but it looks like spiritual attacks trump physical attacks.


    "Something has to change," Salvin muttered with determination. "There''s a first time for everything."


    He let go of the phantom weapons. They went under Litori''s control immediately. It hurt his pride to do it but he is already running away from her so it doesn''t hurt as much. It is the first time something like that has ever happened to him. He has been defeated by a single person before but this is the first time someone will steal control of his phantom weapons. His phantom weapons have been robbed from him because he gave them up.


    Giving up control of his phantom weapons freed his mind from the stress of the spiritual pressure. He became able to produce more phantom weapons without any mental stress which he did as he ran for his life. He didn''t attack her with them but kept them hovering around him. He waited for them to increase in number. They almost reached a thousand before he retaliated. He didn''t need to turn around to set his phantom weapons to attack her. They attacked Litori from every direction.


    Litori used the phantom weapons under her control to defend herself. Phantom weapons shed with phantom weapons. The sh broke them and made them useless. The rate at which the phantom weapons broke made it obvious that defending herself so aggressively is a losing battle.


    The battlefield has be solely physical. She will have to sprinkle more psionic matter to shift the battlefield but it won''t be enough to quickly stop the thousand phantom weapons that are trying to cut her apart. The phantom weapons in her control are less than 50 and she can''t even control them as well as Salvin. She became overwhelmed immediately. Only one thing can save her.


    "Fuck," Salvin swore when he saw what she did.


    Litori is running away. The range of his ability has been suppressed too. It is longer than that of Litori but he still needs her to be within his reach or his phantom weapons will fall apart before reaching her. So he gave chase.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The hunter became the hunted. He harassed her over and over again cutting her down little by little. She tried everything she could do but Salvin is the master of phantom weapons. She was using the slight dy to sprinkle psionic matter but it won''t be enough. It will not be nearly enough to cause him any trouble before he kills her.


    "I''ve got you now." He grinned in anticipation.


    She is obviously on herst legs. She has been umting a lot of injuries and she is close to her limit. He was waiting for victory when her domain suddenly increased in size. Her domain should be shrinking not expanding. That''s what should happen when a transcendent is injured and weakening.


    "What ugh..." Salvin eximed in surprise.


    He couldn''t evenplete his shocked question of inquiry. She was running and he was chasing her. Then all of a sudden he experienced a spike of emotions. Then those emotions erupted through his body likeva in a volcano. The description is very urate since he is on fire because of it. He looked at the distance between them and it was 110 meters. He should be out of her attack range.


    ''Unless...''


    He managed to put everything together but it is toote. He turned and ran. She expected it too so she followed him closely as soon as he made the decision to run. It was toote for him. Her domain isrger than he thought it was. He can''t escape it quick enough to out a safe distance between them.


    The only way to survive is to not have any emotions. That''s something he can''t do even if he can control his emotions. He has been feeling a lot of different things thetest of which is excitement. All his emotions have now turned against him. He shrieked as he died. His emotions became the fuel for the fire that killed him.


    Litori didn''t smile at her victory. Her face remained the same cold expression that she wears. She had pretended that her domain can only reach 100 meters like everyone else. Salvin thought he had an advantage due to his divine ability. The truth is that she also has an advantage due to her divine ability too and it is more than that of Salvin.


    Her domain can extend to 120 meters. It is a secret that she kept as a trump card to use when she is really desperate. She has to sacrifice some of her spirit permanently to achieve this boost in her divine sense. Salvin pushed her to that desperation.

 Chapter 661 Two Birds With One Stone.

    Litori didn''t smile and neither did she feel joy for her victory. But she intends to enjoy looting her dead enemy. She took one step toward the things he left behind before she had to stop. She became alert immediately because she sensed a sudden attack on her. Someone entered her domain and is gaining on her with a weapon poised for an attack.


    Litori was stunned. She isn''t stunned because someone is taking advantage of her weakened state after a fight. That ismon and to be expected. She is stunned because It shouldn''t be happening in the first ce. Her domain is always up so the person ought to go up in mes. And yet, they are fine and dandy as if immune to the effect of her domain.


    She didn''t let her surprise distract her though. She attacked them even before they reached her. Using the phantom weapons to defend herself is too cumbersome, stressful, and slow. They will not be fast enough to intercept this person. So she used her spiritual attack. An invisible arrow came out of her eyes and shot forwards toward her assant.


    The arrow struck the person head-on. It did nothing. There was no feedback from the person. There were no emotions to ignite. There is only a cold and steely will to kill Litori. Litori''s eyes widened in shock. This has only ever happened once and it means her doom. There''s nothing else she can do. 120 meters is very short for transcendents and this person is already 20 meters away.


    A spear entered her chest and came out the other end. Litori took a step back both because of pain and shock. She held the spear as she looked at the face of her killer. The person didn''t seem happy at having killed her. Their face remained equally cold just like hers.


    "Who would have thought that you can extend your divine sense? Salvin surely didn''t." The person spoke without inflection. Their voice was cold, without tone or emotion. "I lied too by the way. That''s obvious now. Anyway, thanks for killing my brother."


    That''s what Litori heard before she died. Her body had taken too much damage. Her mind couldn''t hold on anymore so her brand activated to save her consciousness from damage. It was only after her body disappeared that her killer smiled. Their cid face rippled and changed as it became ovee with emotions.


    Salvini grinned to herself. "Killing two birds with one stone is great. The only thing better is killing three birds with one stone."


    She pretended to be weak to Litori. It is part truth and part deception. She is indeed weak to spiritual attacks and the mes of an ephemeral me wielder. It is just that Litori''s attack has a weak spiritualponent. What makes her attacks deadly is that it uses emotions as fuel. The weak spiritual attack ignites emotions to create a lethal effect. The spiritual attack itself does almost no damage to its target.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The obvious solution is to eliminate your emotions. Then the spiritual attack won''t get a hold on you. Salvini can eliminate her emotions. It is not easy to do especially when you are in a dire situation. Her fight with Litori was dangerous. She could have died if she had stayed around. There was so much going on then that it made it difficult for her to eliminate her emotions. But she survived and had time to meditate and eliminate her emotions.


    Her pure bloodline of the first sage grants the control of her emotions. It is very important to be able to keep your mind tranquil when you look into the future. It will prevent you from going mad and fracturing your mind. A cold mind is also good for scheming. It helps to control the fate of people ording to your whims without a shred of mercy or pity.


    So she is capable of eliminating her emotions and returning for a second round against Litori but she didn''t do so. An enemy that you can defeat is not a threat anymore. Instead of going after immediate benefits, she looked to the future for long term gains. She began nning for people that are real threats to her. Some of those people that she can''t defeat or ovee are her brothers.


    Salvini is the weakest of the three of them. It is a fact that has been tried and tested several times. Salvos can roast her with one move regardless of her ability to see it before it happens. His attacks are undodgeable and unblockable. Salvin can defeat her with his multitudes of phantom weapons. They will attack her from every direction and angle. It doesn''t matter if she can see theming or not. His attacks are blockable but undodgeable inrge enough numbers.


    Salvini knows that she can''t defeat her two brothers. At least, not by herself. That''s where Litories in. Her spiritual attacks are dodgeable but not blockable. Salvini knows that Litori is lying about the length of her domain. That makes her the right tool to kill Salvin. All she had to do is bring Salvin over toe and fight her. He would certainly do it. To not do it is to admit that he is afraid of Litori.


    He certainly won''t admit that he is afraid not when Litori has already seeded in defeating Salvini. Admitting defeat before the battle is to admit that Litori alone is enough to defeat the two of them. How is he to defeat Soverick, his rival, if Soverick''s sister is already enough to put him in his ce? Pride won''t let him give up without a fight.


    Even if he is pragmatic enough to admit to his fears it won''t happen because of the little things that Salvini said to him. She told him that Litori''s limit is 100 meters. He saw and confirmed it with his own two eyes too. Seeing is believing. So he has no reason to doubt it. After all, everyone is limited to 100 meters. Salvin thought that he was special to have arger domain than everyone else. He had a huge surprise in store for him.

 Chapter 662 A Concoction Of Violence.

    To be fair, pride isn''t what made Salvin fall. He would have surely chosen to retreat if he knew he didn''t have a chance against Litori. He would have escaped for his life. Then return with arger amount of phantom weapons. But he didn''t know about Litori''s trump card. It is ignorance that doomed him. Ignorance is not a thing that Salvini struggles with. It is a tool to bring about her expected end.


    He knew that if her domain wererger then he might lose. That misinformation gave him the confidence of victory since he can''t control his emotions. Then there''s her saying that he should be careful of her taking control of his phantom weapons.


    Suggesting that he be careful of such a thing is an affront to him. He had to fight her there and then to prove that it has never been possible for him to lose control of his phantom weapons and it will never be possible. He fought her and died to her. Then Litori died to her. She used one stone to kill two birds and got half of both their feats.


    She didn''t turn Litori on Salvos because she knows better than that. Salvos will destroy her with one move. Fortunately for her, Salvos doesn''t seem to be in this arena. If he were, his presence will be known by now. People will be hit by his stray attacks all over the ce. Fire will be everywhere. Salvos ushers in hell wherever he goes to. Since Salvos isn''t here, that leaves these people around her as the next obstacles to achieving her aim in this challenge.


    A lot of people have umted around the 2nd ring. They came to win the challenge or to watch the fight. They were all blocked from gaining ess to the 1st ring but they waited. Their patience was rewarded with the sight of two specialists duking it out. Spiritual attacks went against physical attacks and won. The Salvini jumped in after the fight to end Litori. Litori''s reign of terror has ended. The Zeroth ring is now avable for the next candidate of thest man standing.


    They didn''t wait for Salvini to start the fight. Everyone started fighting amongst themselves immediately. Chaos descended in the 2nd and 1st rings. It became a free for all. The 1st and 2nd rings became the area for fighting for the kings in this arena. The only time they stopped fighting amongst themselves is to gang up on any intruders.


    It is like they have an unspoken agreement among themselves. They are not going to allow some random person to take advantage of their fighting and be thest man standing. If anyone is to be thest man standing, it has to be a King.


    It will be a disgrace for a normal person to win no matter how talented they are. Kings fought kings and monopolized ess to the second ring. They are very strong so they managed to do it easily. Those that aren''t kings had to resort to the use of numbers to fight back.


    The various armies that tried to use the strength of numbers to overwhelm these best of the best failed terribly. Kings were not chosen lightly by the first sage. But the thing about having numbers on your side is that you don''t give up easily. So the armies converged on the kings in a bid to remove them from the challenge.


    Even people that aren''t part of any army joined in to fight the kings. After all, the kings are the best contenders for the title of thest man standing. They know that is highly unlikely for untalented people like them to win. But they aren''t going to make it easy for the kings either. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The only powerful person exempted from the rat race is Soverick. He continued to search for barrier armor. He is very fast so single-target attacks will be easy for him to dodge. He wants assurance against area-of-effect attacks. He wants to be prepared for thebined might of the other kings in the arena. He took his time in searching for protection. There''s no rush anyways. It is thest man standing that wins not the person that kills the highest.


    It is only the third day of the challenge. There are four more days to go so there''s no reason for him to rush. He would rather prepare for whatever he might meet there. The other kings might think he is not in this arena if he doesn''t show up early. They will let down their guard and fight amongst themselves. He can then swoop in on thest day to take the win. So he took his time to prepare.


    He reached the 1st ring on thest day of the challenge and found only one person waiting for him. This person managed to survive the grand fight fest that took ce for more than 3 days to im the Zeroth ring. He looked around the ce and analyzed the mana stream for the events that urred recently. He was impressed by what he saw.


    He is so impressed that he had to p. He saw the concoction of violence that took ce here for what it truly is. His eyes captured the information in the environment and his mind went to work on it. He managed to put together the strings of events. Scenes shed in his mind ording to the order that they urred. So he isn''t fooled at all. He knows she cooked up this oue.


    His p rang out in the shrunken arena. The two of them are thest ones alive in the arena. All around them are the broken pieces of weapons, armor, and other tools for battle.


    "Well done. Indeed, well done. I am impressed."


    She smiled at him. "I''m d you like it Soverick."


    He spread his arms wide gesturing to their surroundings, "Nice going."


    She bowed and curtsied. "I might have a hand in it. It is nice of you to notice."

 Chapter 663 Causality Vs Fate.

    Soverick saw it all. A grand free for all took ce here and it continued for more than a day. It was a bout of savage bloodthirsty killing. There was a generous use of explosive consumables. Salvini might have had a hand in it. A few words here and there, when she went looking for Salvin, might have riled up some people. Those people might have sworn to try their best to stop her from bing thest man standing.


    It will be payback for how she hunted them in the previous challenge. These people, having learned that they are not enough to kill her because of their failure to do so in the previous challenge, might have recruited the help of a lot of people. They are after Salvini and only her. But the other kings don''t know that. All they know is that they won''t let some normal person take the title from them so they will fight everyone else that isn''t a king.


    The kings were ignorant and so they were used as tools in her scheme. But not him. He on the other hand knows that she caused everything. He can''t see the future like the sages. But the past his is domain. He can see the flow of events and now everything culminated into this oue. Causality gives him knowledge. And knowledge gives him power.


    He also thinks it will be an understatement to think she had a small hand in it. She sessfully muddled the water. Then she swam in it like some aquatic creature. The others arend creatures. They are out of their depth and in a hostile environment while she is right at home. No one noticed until it was toote. Now they are all dead.


    "So what next?" He asked her. "Do we fight until the death of one of us?"


    Salvini shook her head and answered. "I am afraid that I will lose. I can''t see the future whenever you''re around or when you''re involved."


    He nodded in understanding while caressing his de. "Is that so? Then fuck off."


    She obeyed and stepped away from the zeroth ring. "I did all of this for you and I am offering the title to you. I only ask for one thing. I want you to use the power of the child of the ne to kill me. I want my death to be of the highest honor."


    Soverick attacked immediately. He used WRAITH OF DEATH: DANCE OF THE SPECTRAL WIND. He swung his de haphazardly. Arcs of destructive energy were produced by his de but they didn''t travel in the world of manifestation. They traveled through thew matrix and appeared beside Salvini like intangible spectra. They surrounded her from every direction and enveloped her. She died quickly as they tore into her.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He watched her get ripped apart and eliminated but he didn''t let his guard down. He watched his surroundings for a trap and made sure that she is really dead before he started walking toward the zeroth ring. Even then he was careful. He inspected his surroundings thoroughly most especially where he is stepping on. His caution is warranted considering who he is up against. He has already gotten half of her feats and he could feel the arena making the changes that are to happen when someone is thest man standing but he didn''t let down his guard.


    Pride goes before a fall. If he doesn''t want to fall, he has to be vignt and humble enough to admit that he is not invulnerable or all-powerful. There''s one word that urately describes Salvini and that word is snake. She is a snake and she is a very good one too. She is patient and has restraint. She always looks out for long-term goals instead of short-term benefits.


    The best time to get him will be when he thinks he has won. She might have set a trap to kill him and rob him of his victory even after her death. It seems far-fetched but he isn''t willing to underestimate her. To underestimate someone of the bloodline of the sages is utter foolishness. It is a suicidal move to do that when he knows that Salvini can be more of a psychopath than Litori.


    Nothing happened as he waited for the challenge to end. Still, he remained vignt and will continue to remain so until the challenge ends officially. This entire situation smells of a scheme to him. He was expecting to find a worthy opposition waiting for him here in the 1st ring. Instead, he found a single person.


    That isn''t odd. It is certainly possible for only one person to survive. That''s the aim of the entirepetition. But the chances that someone will survive the messy and chaotic fight that took ce here are very low. Luck is the most important factor in determining that oue. But Salvini removed luck from the equation.


    She managed to get everyone else killed directly through her fighting skills or indirectly through her guile. She did all of that only for her to seemingly give up the title to him without a fight. It is not a wonder that he will be highly suspicious or think that he might be in an illusion.


    The ability to see the future is great. It is the main ability of the first sage. Manipting the present to get an expected future is what made the sage great. It was not because of his ability that the sage is so revered or why his enemies began calling every member of his race battle sage monkeys. It is the ability to gain power from that ability that made them fearsome.


    The ability to see the future gives you knowledge. But knowledge is not power. The correct application of that knowledge gives you wisdom. Wisdom is also a synonym for cunning. Cunning when applied to their every action gives them power. It is not like his use of causality. He doesn''t need to be cunning to use the information he has. That is both a strength and a weakness.

 Chapter 664 Ignorance Is A Weakness.

    The past can''t be changed but the future is variable and full of possibilities. He can only use the information he got from causality to make decisions in the present. He is informed about the past butrgely ignorant of the future. As for those who use fate, they know the implications of their actions despite being ignorant of the past. But have to anticipate every oue and prepare for them. Some of their actions don''t make sense in the present. But they will be obvious in the future.


    The first sage is cunning and so are those with his bloodline. They can''t be trusted one bit and you can always be sure of one scheme or more from them. Whatever they do has to have an underlying meaning. Giving up her position and asking for him to kill her with the boost from his title don''t make sense to him. But it must have some meaning that he doesn''t know about.


    ''What is her aim?'' he asked himself as he walked to the zeroth ring.


    He doesn''t know what she wants. He is not foolish to think that she did all of this to woo him. To think that is to believe that Salvini is stupidly in love with him and she is anything but stupid. She may really be in love with him or she is faking it, but she is in no way stupid. She must have something she aims to achieve with this.


    The only clue that he has is that she nned for the two of them to be thest two. It can be for whatever reason that only she knows about. Then she asked him to use his boost from the ne to kill her. He would be damned if he does that.


    It might be that she expected him to do that and wanted him to do it. But that doesn''t make sense. It also doesn''t matter anyway. He would have killed her no matter what. He doesn''t trust whatever she says just like he doesn''t trust the first sage. He is doing the Sage''s bidding because he is getting something out of it.


    One thing is to be expected though. Whatever Salvini does must benefit her one way or the other. The repercussions of her actions might not be immediate but they will certainlye. His ignorance wouldn''t change that at all.


    ''Legion must fix this weakness of ours if it is to be perfect. It is not enough to see the past. Both the present and future must be ounted for. It is my mission to fix this issue. If there is a perfect eye, then I will achieve it.'' He promised himself.


    Legion aims for perfection and perfection can not be achieved when ignorance of any type remains a weakness. That has to be rectified or any perfection achieved will be meaningless. Fortunately, nothing untoward happened now. Thepetition ended as soon as he killed Salvini. It took a while for the arena to be changed but it happened. It also happened after he reached the Zeroth ring.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He noticed something as he stood there. There is something written on the nk ground of the zeroth ring. It is written in mana so it will be invisible to others but not to him. Someone left a message for him. That person must have been here in the Zeroth ring and that person must also know that he can see the past.


    ''This is another reason for me to acquire a way to know everything.'' he said to himself.


    No one should know what his abilities are. He certainly didn''t tell anyone. He even remained hidden ever since he became a transcendent. But the sage found out about it regardless of his secrecy. This message is not from the sage. Which means another person has learned about what his eyes can do. He has some idea about who it is but he is not certain. He needs to be certain about everything. Or he will be a tool to be used by those that are certain.


    The cores of the arena finished their synchronization and began to end the challenge. The arena resonated with his brand and a key appeared within it. The key is proof that he won this challenge. It is not the only thing that was given to him. The feats of others that were killed by the arena when they didn''t leave the rings quickly enough were given to him too.


    It should be easy enough to leave a ring that is to be destroyed before it is destroyed. It is easy in practice but reality shows differently. Most of those killed by the arena were pushed to die that way. Enemies waid them and gave them no choice. They can''t go forward or backward anymore. It is either that they die to the arena or go forward and die at the hands of their ambushers.


    Very few died to the arena through negligence and ipetence. They are all at least transcendents so they are smart enough to escape a doomed ring before its destruction. But quite a few chose that method of death voluntarily. They decided not to leave a ring and get killed as it is destroyed. Dying to others will result in a loss of half your feats. They figured that dying to the arena is a loophole that they can exploit. They were wrong. All deaths in the arena will lead to a loss of half of their feats.


    All those feats came to him. In addition to the prodigious amount he got from Salvini and the ones he killed himself, he has a total of 321 feats. The feats stayed with him but the key has to leave. He allowed the key to go and trailed behind it with his consciousness. He guided the key to making contact with the small gap in the core of the arena. He didn''t do this because of his boundless generosity.

 Chapter 665 Problems For The First Sage.

    The core of the arena sensed the key and had to ept it. It needs the key before it can join the fullwork of arenas. So it opened itself despite knowing that he is there waiting for this exact chance to pounce.


    Soverick pounced at the vulnerability that appeared. He dug in and tried to break the defense in one fell swoop. His efforts were not enough. The other arena spirits helped in resisting him. He only got halfway through. His progress was dyed by their defense so the key left him behind. Then the vulnerability closed up faster than he could take full advantage of it.


    He sighed and said to himself. "This will have to do for now. One more and I''ll get my price."


    One more victory and he will finally get through the core of an arena and get the knowledge he craves. He is patient enough to wait for it. The arena spirits won''t be able to keep him away for long. Thew of order within the core will be his when their defense fails the next time hees calling.


    He turned his attention to his environment. He is in a white world even bigger than the arena for the 2nd challenge. All of the arenas are to join with the others for the 3rd challenge. Only the best 3,000,000 of this challenge will be able to move on to thest challenge. He is not the only one in the arena. There are a few others too. They are thest man standing in their own 2nd challenge. The number of people in the arena will increase when thepetition starts.


    He chose to sit and meditate. He can''t go far or interact with others for now so he decided to focus on the core and get as much advantage as he can.


    POV OF The First Sage.


    He looked at the third challenge. It is the final challenge for the battle sage monkeys before the two races are joined in battle. Battle sage monkeys think it is the 3rd challenge of thepetition. They are wrong. This is thest challenge and where the simplepetition ends. The fourth challenge is where the major stakes for the two administrators lie. Everything has gone well up to this point. It is here that problems will start to crop up.


    The sage watched all the eliminatedpetitors in stasis. They will be removed from stasis and transported to thebined arena when the third challenge begins. For now, they are above the arena in their various white worlds.


    35 arenas passed the first challenge.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The others who failed to kill the rank 10 monster in their arena were sent to keep Salvospany. They missed the opportunity to increase their feats with the second challenge. So none of them can be thest man standing. Their failure to defeat the rank 10 monster in their arena destined them to be fodder for the second and third challenges. It has made it unlikely that they will be able to fight for the side of the battle sage monkeys in the fourth challenge.


    For the ones that defeated the rank 10 monsters, theybined with some arenas for the 2nd challenge. Once every group has acquired ast man, then the third challenge will start. All of the arenas of the battle sage monkeys will bebined for the third challenge. That means all 4.5 million battle sage monkeys willpete now in the same arena.


    Thisbination will bring a lot of problems. The first and major problems are caused by Salvos. He has been kept away from the general popce for now. He was alone in the first challenge so he could go all out and he wouldn''t disrupt anything important. Then the failures of the first challenge were sent to keep himpany for the second challenge. Theirs is not an enviable experience.


    Salvo''s arena is thergest in the second challenge with thergest number ofpetitors. 5 arenas were joined together to form a group for the second challenge which makes a total of 7 arenas and 7 people that became thest man standing since only 35 arenas killed the rank 10 monsters. That left the remaining 10 arenas to bebined with Salvo''s arena.


    His arena is at least double the size of normal ones. He was up against a million otherpetitors including 10 other kings. Their numbers, opposition, and schemes of any kind were all for naught. He became thest man standing easily enough. Now he will be in thebined arena for the third challenge and everyone will be forced to suffer his existence.


    The first problem will be an increase in the amount of coteral damage because of Salvos. Salvos is indiscriminate with his attacks. All thepetitors will be at risk of untimely death. That will ruin the bnce of thepetition.


    The second problem here is that Salvos is too strong for his own good. Apart from his existence being unfair to others, a sh between him and Soverick will surely kill one of them. Those two are too dangerous to be taken lightly or to hold back for during a fight. They will attempt to kill each other swiftly and expediently.


    It is a pity because the first sage would like to keep them both. Unfortunately, only one person can have the divine crown. Funny enough, it was his idea to make each race choose a divine crown. It was supposed to strengthen one side while weakening the others considerably.


    It was an attempt to reduce the prowess of 8 out of the 9 paragons of the Vipers in exchange for strengthening one of them. It mattered because he had to create a champion to lead the battle sage monkeys. Without a champion, then they will surely lose. In a way, the first sage ced all his eggs in one basket with the divine crown and now it hase to bite him in the ass.

 Chapter 666 Scheming Is Tricky.

    This is all because the sage didn''t expect Soverick to be so impressive. Salvos was to be the undisputed leader. But Soverick has risen to the task. It is unfortunate that there can not be two tigers on one mountain. The divine crown that the first sage sought to use to strengthen one battle sage monkey will cause conflict between Salvos and Soverick.


    The third problem is the progress that Soverick is making in breaking into the core. It is ahead of time, far ahead of time. The sage expected something like this to happen. He didn''t foresee the situation exactly but he knew that it could happen. He expected that something will happen to help Soverick and expedite his gaining ess to the core. He is the child of the ne after all.


    There''s more to being the child of the ne than gaining ess to infinite energy. Very few know what else it entails since it is a rarity to encounter. The best person to know what it fully means to be a child of the ne is him the first sage himself since he was also the first child of the Virut ne.


    The first sage knows it means to be connected to the fate of the ne in more than energy. The ne will protect him and help him. Two of such help are scrambling the scrying on the child of the ne and the other is supplementary luck.


    Soverick won''t suddenly be lucky but certain events will take ce that will assist him whenever he is doing something that will help the ne. He may not know it himself but the hands of fate do.


    An example is having a person that is daring and can project their consciousness out of their body, appear in the same arena as Soverick. This person is perfect to be used as a tool to break the defense of the arena core. And they came.to Soverick themselves to volunteer for the job. One thing or another, would have happened to help Soverick in getting into the core because he is the child of the ne. It is good in a way and also a problem in another way.


    It is good in that Soverick will gain knowledge before the fourth challenge. Knowledge is power after all. This will help Soverick in the fourth challenge. The problem is that he won''t be able to control Soverick anymore. After all, the knowledge within the core is the only thing that Soverick cares about. The first sage will have to find another bait or reward to encourage Soverick.


    ''It was not enough after all. I expected it and I have done all I can do. I just hope that all of this is worth it.'' The sage sighed and said to himself.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He had to find a way to motivate Soverick without telling him of the real purpose of the challenge. That is one of the uses the two administrators must adhere to in thispetition. They can''t tell anyone about the true nature of thepetition and its stakes. Thepetitors must think it is a simple affair. It will prevent them from being of one mind working together.


    It was the serpentine world god that made that rule. Vipers don''t have problems of division and it wouldn''t matter if they do. Their paragons are all that they need. Battle sage monkeys on the other hand have issues with cooperation. They alwayspete amongst themselves and won''t cooperate until they are forced to. That means they will be divided throughout thepetition and might eliminate each other.


    The first sage would have loved to make acquiring the information in the core easy but he needed something to motivate Soverick and it also couldn''t be easy so that the paragons of the Vipers won''t be able to do it too. The cores in the arenas of battle sage monkeys are the same as in the arenas of the Vipers. The difficulty had to be set just right so that it is possible to be broken into but it has to be that only Soverick would be able to do it. The first sage did all of this so that his side could win.


    Both administrators want to win. To make things fair, the conditions of the two sides are kept the same. That means the Vipers went through everything the battle sage monkeys went through. Unfortunately for the battle sage monkeys, that didn''t mean they have the same chances as the Vipers. It is not a matter of skill. The battle sage monkeys have one child of the ne while the Vipers might as well have 9.


    Almost nothing can breach that gap. The first sage tried his best with what he has but everything wille crumbling down if Soverick kills Salvos and then refuses to win thepetition once he has gotten his knowledge from the core. The first sage would have lost both his first and second choice without recourse to fall back on. As has been stated before, the first sage ced all his eggs in one basket. It is the recipe for disaster.


    The sh between Salvos and Soverick is inevitable. Salvos is not Salvini. Salvini won''t fight a losing battle. She won''t even start it at all if she knows she will lose. Salvos can''t see the future but he will still fight even if he did. He is one of those stubborn people that will face all opposition. He is like Ghaster except Salvos has always won every fight.


    There''s no way someone that has only tasted defeat once in his lifetime will back down frompeting for the divine crown. Fortunately, the sage has nned for everything. It is just that it might not work. That''s why the sage is wary. If it doesn''t work, then the battle sage monkeys will surely lose the fourth challenge and he too will lose the bet and what he aims to achieve by winning the bet.

 Chapter 667 Who Will Bear The Crown?

    The 3rd Challenge.


    All the groups finished their 2nd challenge and crowned theirst man standing so all the arenasbined to form thergest white world. The people in stasis were woken up and teleported to the arena. Soverick noticed that his ck obsidian crown disappeared. Several world spirits appeared and spoke to them. They were saying the same thing in the same voice and at the same time so their voicesbined too.


    "The 2nd challenge has ended. It is time for the 3rd challenge. The 3rd challenge is titled ''Who bears the crown?'' Those of you with crowns will have noticed the disappearance of your crowns. Don''t worry, you can get another one. Anyone here has the chance to get a crown and anyone can get any crown."


    "There are 5 types of crowns and they represent 5 ranks of designation. From the lowest to the highest, it is bronze, silver, gold, obsidian, and divine crystal crowns. They represent the ranks ofmander, general, king, emperor, and divinity."


    "The crowns will be scattered throughout the arena and their locations will be highlighted with a beacon so they can not be hidden. You can take any crown. You just have to keep it till the end of the challenge for it to be yours. The challenge willst 1 day."


    "The crowns are important for thest challenge. If you can''t get a crown, make sure to get a lieutenant slot. They will determine the assistance you receive from the world and what your designation in the army will be. So strive hard and strive well to get a good crown. You have gotten a taste of the assistance of the world in the 1st challenge. You didn''t get it in the 2nd challenge but you will get it in this challenge and the next."


    "For the 3rd challenge, the amount of world assistance you get is based on the number of feats that you have. The greater the number of feats you have, the more chances you have to secure a crown for yourself. As for the 4th challenge, the crown that you manage to get in this challenge will determine how much power you get from the world."


    "This 3rd challenge will eliminate some of you. As it has been stated, only 3 million out of the 4.5 million of you will be allowed to move on to the next challenge. You will be eliminated permanently from thepetition if you don''t make the 3 million. So try your best to earn higher scores. If you are eliminated, you will be sent back to the ne."


    They finished the introduction of the challenge with a question. "We ask you this, WHO WILL BEAR THE CROWN?"


    Their voice amplified each other''s and echoed through the white world. The world responded to the reverberation and began to change. The ground became hard and rocky. It turned into the surface of a mountain and the sky appeared. Clouds formed in the sky and wind blew across the ground.


    Soverick found himself in arge in between two pyramids. The in is t, rocky, and smooth. There is a gold crown on the pyramid to his left and a silver crown on the pyramid to his right. There are also crowns on top of the pyramid in front of him and behind him. These pyramids are very tall and also very far away from him.


    Soverick shook his head in wonder. "The arena must be veryrge."


    The arena has be onerge rocky in dotted with pyramids. On each pyramid is a crown indicated by the pirs of light on top of the pyramid. The pirs have the same color as the crowns and they reach the sky so they can be seen from afar. These pirs of light are how he can tell which crown is on the pyramids because the crowns are too small and too far away to see.


    The pyramids are small whenpared with the size of the arena despite them reaching a thousand meters tall. They are like tiny outcrops on thergerndscape that formed the arena. It is an arena formed out of all of the previous 46 arenas and it contains 4.5 million battle sage monkeys so it is veryrge.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He checked his brand for his personal information and for information about the third challenge. His brand has been updated with the guidelines of the third challenge so it is important for him to update himself on the rules and regtions. He checked his progress too.


    His brand shed with his updated information.


    NAME: Soverick Ghastorix.


    POWER: 0.


    DESIGNATION: NONE


    SCORE: 145,893,731


    RANK: 9


    FEATS: 321


    His score has increased by about 90 million but he has been demoted from being number 1 out of all 4.5 million of them. It is because he didn''t kill a lot ofpetitors during the second challenge. He was a picky killer then. He only killed those with feats. He didn''t kill as much as Salvin, Salvini, and Salvos. If not for the fact that those with feats have high scores then he won''t be in the top 10 at all. Salvos himself nearly killed a millionpetitors so he is number 1.


    He was interrupted from inspecting his brand by a strange event. A portion of the Arena turnedpletely red as if saturated with fire. This portion happened a great distance from his location but he can see it. It is a very visible event. The sky and everything between it and the ground turned into a burning hell. No one can miss that.


    His gaze hardened. He muttered grimly, "Salvos."


    What he just saw can only be caused by one person ording to his knowledge. Only Salvos can output so much power and damage everything with reckless abandon. Anyone, anywhere, can get attacked without notice. Salvos will be a great threat to him and everyone else in this challenge.

 Chapter 668 Nowhere To Hide.

    He returned his attention to his brand after the fire died down. He noticed that his crown and the designation thates with it had been removed. He will have to work to acquire one in this challenge. It will be easy to do since he has 321 feats. There are at most 7 other people with around the number of feats that he has. They are the ones that can match him in the amount of assistance he gains from the world in this challenge. They will be hispetitors for the divine crown.


    "What do I do now?" He asked himself after looking through his brand.


    There is only one divine crown. It is the most important crown and it is unique. As for the rest, there are 2 emperor crowns, 5 king crowns, 10 general crowns, and 100mander crowns. All of them have keys but with varying strengths. The divine crown has thergest key and most powerful key. It will have the highest benefit for his pursuit of knowledge.


    The key of the divine crown will be able to create the biggest vulnerability within the defense of the core. It should be clear what he should do and what he should aim for. He would have done it without a question had he not seen Salvini''s message that she left for his eyes only. She was the one that wrote the message within mana that he found in the Zeroth ring of the previous challenge.


    "I''ll try my best. The rest is up to him. I will not give up my chances for nothing." He said and started running in the direction of the rainbow pir.


    The rainbow pir is the beacon of the divine crown. Unlike other crowns, this beacon is calling out to others. It might have something to do with the mesmerizing colors of the pir and the way they dance. It has a luring effect on thepetitors.


    The effect is not powerful. It wouldn''t suddenly make someone who hasmon sense to try and im the divine crown whenmon sense states that they should run away from it. The luring effect will only work on those who are undecided about pursuing the divine crown. They don''t havemon sense so it will tip the scale for them to do something stupid like trying to get the divine crown.


    The divine crown is meant for the best. Which in Soverick''s opinion, should be him. There are other people who believe that they should be the ones to get it and there are others who think they can get it if they are lucky enough. The fools who believe in luck will be the most affected by the calling of the rainbow and they will make up about 97% of thepetitors for the divine crown.


    He can''t fly so he has to run. He ran in the direction of the divine crown while he contemted his current situation and the obstacles he might face.


    The assistance of the world during this challenge didn''t make him stronger. It didn''t remove the suppression of his power or remove the bans on levitation. Feats mean more chances to fight for a crown after death.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His 321 feats mean that he has 9 extra lives. He will be respawned every time he dies and he will lose half of his feats for each death. His feats will reduce from 321?161?80?40?20?10?5?3?1-0 which each death. 9 extra lives mean that he has 10 chances to get a crown. That''s the advantage that feats are granting him. Those without feats will die once and be taken away by their brand.


    He won''t be eliminated easily in this challenge. It gives him a high chance of getting the divine crown. Things seem pretty good for him but he is not so sure about it.


    He shook his head and muttered, "This cannot be easy."


    It all seems very easy to him. Thest person standing in the previous challenge gets two major advantages in thispetition. They are the only ones that get to keep their weapons and whatever they had on them by the end of the challenge. The rest don''t get anything. Then there''s the number of feats that thest man standing gets. It gives them a lot of chances.


    Those advantages are rewards for proving that they are the best in their Arena or at least, the luckiest. But why would people who are supposed to be the best need several chances? The feats they got didn''t give them power. It gave them the opportunity to make mistakes.


    If someone managed to be thest man standing, the odds are that person is very skilled. He, for example, is very skilled and he doesn''t need many chances to respawn. He has never died in thispetition and he also has the advantage of a high-quality weapon which makes his death even more unlikely. So why will he need the opportunity to return after death?


    Either this challenge is not as simple as it looks to him or the chance to respawn indicates the importance of those with feats aspared to those without feats. It could also be both. There might be some hidden difficulty he is unaware of.


    There are some obvious points of difficulty in the challenge. The first problem is decision-making and sticking with it. You have to choose an aim and try for it. The aims of thispetition are the crowns. If you''re unlucky and you are toote to get a particr crown that you are aiming for, then you have to be chasing after it.


    There won''t be only one person chasing after a crown. There is a limited number of crownspared to the 4.5 million amount of people. That is the second problem. If you''re the first one to get the crown, you have to keep it till the end of the challenge. The beacon on the crown will ensure that your position will be constantly known and people will chase you from every direction. You will have nowhere to hide as long as you carry a crown.

 Chapter 669 Golems.

    Those are pretty obvious problems and warrant multiple lives for the people who have a lot of feats. They will be skilled and they might want a crown. That means they have to face off against the world even if they get the crown. No matter how skilled they are, they will always be vastly outnumbered without being able to hide.


    Anyone with a crown can run but they can never hide. That doesn''t mean there can''t be any hidden problem. So he decided to be vignt and very careful. Salvos is already a hidden danger. If the hell bringer is not enough to make him alert, then the problems that he can''t anticipate will do the trick. There''s also Salvini and the people banding together to make his life very difficult in this challenge. So he has a lot to look out for.


    He continued to run towards his target. The rainbow pir is unmoving which means that no one has gotten to it yet. It is a very long distance away from him so he still has a long way to go before he gets there. The odds are someone else will reach it before he does. But he can''t give up. So he ran as fast as he can. That''s the only thing he can do. His feet stomped into the rocky ground as he ran. He left cracks behind as his footprint.


    The first hidden problem became known as he was running toward the rainbow beacon. Someone reached the summit of a pyramid along his path and grabbed the crown on top of it. Then the person began running in his direction. Soverick wouldn''t have cared about that at all. It was the crown of a king. The golden pir that it produced indicated as much.


    The crown of a king is below that of an emperor and further below that of the divine. It is beneath him and there''s nothing to gain from killing thedy that acquired it. He doesn''t want a crown that is of low value and will draw problems for him so he ignored thedy. His opinion of thedy changed as soon as she stepped off the pyramidpletely.


    The pyramid began to shake immediately after the crown left the boundary of the pyramid. Then it broke apart into individual cubic boulders. The giant boulders then morphed and turned into giant earth golems. The pyramids are made up of assembled golems.


    Each golem stood at least 5 meters tall. They have different shapes and sizes but all of them are dangerous looking. He can tell that much because they all bear weapons of various kinds. Anyone carrying a weapon is dangerous. And that''s just what''s visibly dangerous about them.


    These golems began chasing the thief that stole their crown. Their thin sturdy legs hit the ground in quick session and gave them incredible speed that they used to give chase. The des that they have as arms were used to kill the people that were on the pyramid before the crown was taken off the pyramid. Those sharp des also promise painful retribution to the crown thief.


    The sharp spikes jutting out of their armored body made them look fearsome. That fearsomeness is further exacerbated by their number which is in the thousands. They chased her like a tide of vengeful spirits intent on delivering retribution.


    Her situation doesn''t concern him so he would have dly been on his way. It just so happened that she is running his way. The rocky ground began vibrating with increasing frequency as she ran in his direction. The golems are heavy and strong enough to make the ground shake as they stumped after her.


    Soverick took one look at her and said, "She won''t make it."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Her behavior irks him but he has nothing to fear. Those golems are fast. They also have ranged golems with bows for arms and mana-created arrows. Thedy has to constantly dodge the projectiles or risk turning into a porcupine. It slowed her down further. The horde of golems will be able to reach her before she brings her trouble to him. It seems that his serene life will not be disturbed despite the evil wish of others to do so.


    He remained alert though. She might do something stupid like throwing the crown to him to redirect the ire of the golems. He was expecting something to go wrong and something did go wrong. She jumped in his direction.


    He can run away and escape. But doing so will derail him from his straight path toward the rainbow pir in the distance and it would also give her the opportunity to do something troublesome again. He decided to end this right here and now.


    He leaped into the air to meet her. He brandished his fist for a punch that will blow her to pieces. She noticed his hostility and his intentions. But she couldn''t dodge him. Flight is still banned and she has surrendered her mobility for a brief respite from the golems. Unfortunately for her, she has jumped from the frying pan into the fire.


    "Please, let me go. We can work together."


    She panicked and begged him as he rose to meet her. Her words didn''t save her. One punch to her chest and she was pulverized.


    He caved in her chest and grabbed the crown in one smooth series of movements. Then he threw the crown far away and out of his way. The golems followed the crown and left him alone. Their priority is securing the crown. Hended and continued his trip peacefully.


    "Shit." He swore when he noticed that the rainbow pir had begun to move. "I have to move at max speed."


    The rainbow pir is moving directly opposite his position. It is increasing the distance between them and he has only 24 hours to secure it. The arena isrge and the pir might be very far from him. If he intends to get it then he has to continue chasing it through thick and thin.

 Chapter 670 Crown Chaser Or Score Chaser.

    There is no assurance that what he is doing will be of any use or that he will be rewarded for it. That''s another hidden problem. He might just run through the entire challenge with nothing to show for it all because he has his sight set on the divine crown. The only thing he can do is run and stick to running. He can also hope that the golems protecting the crown will kill the person with the crown and retrieve it for him.


    The problem of the golems ended pretty well. The crown was thrown away from him and itnded very close to someone else. This person had seen what happened when the first person took the crown. The sight of the horde of golems and the arrows that sailed toward those that are close to the crown discouraged this person from grabbing the crown.


    More arrows were fired toward this bystander. They barely survived the hail of sharp arrows and that''s when they had chosen to run at the first sight of the crown instead of grabbing it. They would have surely died if they had decided to move closer to the crown.


    One of the golems grabbed the crown. The others surrounded this particr golem and escorted it back to their original spot. Then they climbed on top of one another and became a pyramid again. The crown returned to its rightful ce at the top of the pyramid as if nothing happened. Only the ones that saw everything that happened know that the pyramids are not as innocent as they look.


    This kind of thing happened everywhere in the arena. It turned out that thepetitors aren''t the only enemies that they have to face in regard to keeping the crown. The number of golems that the pyramids create is constant for all types of crowns l. But the strength, speed, defense, skill, and intelligence of the golems increase drastically the higher the rank of the crown is.


    "What do we do now?" Someone asked.


    A lot ofpetitors came out and surrounded a pyramid. They know what will happen if the crown leaves the pyramid. The only way to prevent the pyramids from transforming is to never let the crown leave the boundary of the pyramid. That means whoever has the crown will have to stay on the pyramid while enemies hound them from every side. It will make defending the crown very tedious to do.


    Defending the crown on a pyramid as thousands of people rush towards you from every direction is not a one-man business. You will need a group of people to defend you against the onught of enemies. Even those with a faction and an army will be hard-pressed to defend a crown on a pyramid. The loss of mobility due to the restraint is critical and will make keeping the crown nearly impossible.


    "How about we destroy the pyramid before taking the crown?" Someone suggested.


    Another observed, "I have already tried. Whatever makes up the mountain is nearly impossible to destroy unless it bes golems."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Even if we could destroy it then we will not be able to get weapons." Someone else interjected.


    Thepetitors didn''t know about the golems when the challenge started. They just know that weapons can be acquired by killing monsters. It is in the guidelines that were sent to their brands. Only thest people standing during the previous challenge have weapons so everyone else needs weapons and armor. That means they need to kill the golems as they are the only monsters avable in this challenge.


    Besides the need for weapons, they also need high scores to qualify for the next challenge. It is obvious that getting any crown, no matter how low its value, is a pipe dream for most of them. The number of crowns cannot satisfy up to 200 out of the millions ofpetitors.


    The rest of them have to be realistic and prioritize their scores. Killing golems will give them marks and improve their chances to qualify for the next challenge. That''s the smart decision to make. It is the decision that most of them will make since there are very few who want to be disgraced and sent home disqualified.


    Somepetitors with feats or some others with confidence want crowns while others want a good score. All thepetitors can always check their scores and position so they know how well they are doing. The need for crowns or scores ssified thepetitors into two major groups. They are the crown chasers and the score chasers.


    The different needs and motivations of the different sses ofpetitors spurred cooperation. They can work together to achieve their aims. Crown chasers need defenders and defenders need scores. So thepetitors began to form groups and factions. Crown chasers found score chasers to work with.


    There is nothing that says that a person can''t be both after scores and crowns. Anyone can do that but it is not realistic. And neither can the two be done very well. One will have to focus on one and give up the other. Take Soverick for example. He is chasing after a crown. All of his time is spent on that instead of killing people for scores.


    If he bes lucky to get a crown. Then he has to make the decision between running to keep the crown or fighting to keep the crown. Fighting to keep the crown will give him scores but it will make it easy for him to be surrounded and overwhelmed. So he might lose the crown because he chose to fight.


    It is best to focus on one thing. That will provide a higher chance of sess in that thing. But investing all of one''s attention on a single thing means that one will get nothing if one fails at it. All of these problems can be solved if one has a group of people to rely on. Hence, the recruitment of score chasers by crown chasers.

 Chapter 671 Dilemma Of The Crown Thief.

    Somepetitors decided to band together and eliminate the golems first. Someone will take the crown and taunt the golems with it. The rest will kill the golems and they willpete for the crown after the golems have been eliminated. They faced the first problem immediately. Who will hold the crown while they eliminate the golems?


    Who will be the person to hold the crown? Can that person be trusted not to try and use the golems to eliminate the others? Can they be trusted not to run away with the crown? Who is ready to hold the crown knowing full well that they are next to be vanquished after the golems have been destroyed? Even if all these questions are answered and a solution is found, the next problemes along quickly after that.


    The person that grabbed the crown in this particr group is ady. They were quick to find a solution because they swore oaths. Oaths are a good foundation for cooperation. You might not trust the person, but you can trust that they will fulfill their oaths as long as they don''t want to harm themselves critically.


    Thedy picked the crown and escaped the boundary of the pyramid with it. The golems formed up and gave chase. The group began fighting the golems as soon as they transformed. That was a bad idea. The golems have low levels of intelligence but they are not stupid. They know how to prioritize well enough.


    The crown is very important but it is not as important as the obstacles blocking their path to the crown. The golems understood that they need to clear the obstacles if they want to get the crown. The assants are the obstacles so the golems turned on their assants and began eliminating them quickly. They ignored the crown thief no matter what she did. No amount of unting or taunts turned their attention from destroying the obstacles.


    Some groups faltered at this point. They expected the golems to be drones with a single-minded focus on regaining the crown. They were shown the errors of their ways by being quickly overwhelmed and defeated. Watching their mates being cut down easily and inrge quantities made their morale plummet. So they gave up and ran away. They scattered with the golems cutting more of them down with arrows and such.


    It was only after the crowd ofpetitors had dispersed that the golems turned their attention to the crown thief and began hounding them. Their n to cooperate failed spectacrly because the golems are not fools.


    Fortunately for other more fortunate groups, they arerge in number. They were not prepared for the intelligence that the golems showed but they met the challenge with equal power nheless. They fought the golems and destroyed some of them. Some of them gained weapons which made fighting the golems easier. The second problem reared its ugly head soon after. They were betrayed.


    The betrayal came in different forms to the different groups who were able to reach this stage. For some, it turned out that their solution was in fact wrong. The crown thief ran away with the crown. Nothing in the path said that the crown thief had to stop when running away. The oath only said that the crown thief has to give up the crown once the golems have been eliminated.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The crown thief ran away from the golems and continued to run while the others fought the golems. If the crown thief isn''t here, then they wouldn''t be able to ask it to give up the crown for fairpetition. In such situations, the people left behind have to choose between continuing fighting or chasing after the crown. Most people actually want to continue killing the golems. They know their worth and don''t think themselves worthy of having a crown.


    The problemes with the ones that believe they should have the crown. These groups of people are few in number and it shouldn''t be a problem if they leave. The issue is that some of these people are smart enough to realize that even if they get the crown, they need a group to defend it from others. Or they will be submerged by enemies from every side. So these people take their group with them and break up the fighting force. Their corporation failed at this point as the golems overwhelm the rest. Then the golems began chasing after the crown thief.


    In other situations, the betrayal is not from the crown thief. Most people selected to be crown thieves are weak or without allegiance to groups. It is a precaution in case the crown thieves betray the rest. They will be easy to subdue.


    It easy to overwhelm weak crown thieves. It also makes it easy for the crown thief to be overwhelmed by a few people who are not part of their cooperation while the others are busy with the golems. So they were attacked by opportunists and the crown was stolen while most of them are busy with golems. Then the decision to give chase or stay put is put forth again.


    Even if betrayal doesn''t take ce because of the cohesion, oaths, and coordination of the group, it doesn''t stop another group from lying in wait. These opportunists will wait for the first group to fight the golems. Then they will pounce when they are weakened. It is a prettymon urrence in the Arena.


    Two things soon became clear as people fought against themselves and against the golems. It is that a group is needed and that a powerful being is also needed. If a crown is to be secured, there is a need for strong cooperative strength and powerful individual strength.


    The perfect group must haverge numbers of foot soldiers and a very powerful person as the leader. Having numbers is obvious. The more people are in your group, the more powerful it is. But that alone is not enough to secure a crown. A group needs someone very powerful to keep the crown secure.

 Chapter 672 A Subtle Coercion.

    A powerful person doesn''t mean a skillful person or someone with a powerful divine ability, it means all those things and most importantly, it means having feats It is that powerful person that must carry the crown. They are tomand their group from afar where they are safe so that the golems don''t focus on them. This person will also be very difficult to ambush and they will be able to respawn if they are killed.


    A group thatcks numbers will be overwhelmed easily and a group thatcks a powerful leader can be eliminated by someone who has both powerful skills and divine abilities and can also respawn. The respawn became a cheat for those with feats. It granted them the chance to return after death and fight again. Powerful individuals with feats have no problem acquiring a crown but they need a group to maintain the possession of the crown.


    The third challenge started with chaotic engagement. Everyone was fighting everyone else and they also fought the golems. People were snatching crowns from each other and running about trying to hold onto the crowns. There was violence and mayhem everywhere. But that changed quickly after the first hour. The reality of the situation and the difficulties of keeping a crown set in.


    The reality of the situation is that not everyone can get a crown and most are better off prioritizing scores. The violence simmered down and people began to form groups. Then conflict slowed down. The leaders of groups had to think very carefully about who to fight and how to fight.


    A group is moreplicated than an individual. A group is strong but itcks the mobility of an individual. You can''t just attack someone and run away. The leader has to take into ount the safety of their subordinates. The dynamics of a group created the need for structure and the efficient transmission of orders. The chain ofmand was then introduced.


    A group needs Order to function efficiently. Order was introduced by the lieutenant system. Lieutenants are the executors of the one that bears the crown. They execute the will of their leader either through personal action or delegation. They are the second inmand of the leader.


    Each crown has a limited number of lieutenant slots. The lowest rank ofmander has a single lieutenant slot. The number of slots is in inverse corrtion with the number of crowns. Commander crowns are 100 in number and have 1 slot each as opposed to the single divine crown with 100 lieutenant slots.


    The lieutenant system fostered cooperation and the formation of a hierarchy within a group. Most importantly, it allowed for the unification of two or more groups. Different groups can join hands using the lieutenant system instead of fighting. They will be able to defend the crown better.


    The slots of lieutenant are used as negotiation and bargaining chips because those slots are valuable too. Lieutenants will also receive the assistance of the world in the next challenge so they are also coveted.


    There are some rules that govern the use of the lieutenant system. Only those that are in possession of the crown for at least 1 hour can appoint lieutenants. Lieutenants can not be changed by the bearer of the crown once they have been appointed but all slots will be open for reappointment as long as another person gets hold of the crown for an hour.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The lieutenant system allowedrge and vast armies to be created. The chaotic individual fights became structured skirmishes and engagements between armies. Many groupsbined their might when their leaderse to an agreement with the crown and the lieutenant slots.


    It made a single person fighting for the crown a disadvantageous endeavor. An army can kill a feat owner several times over. The total number ofpetitors is after all more than 4 million. There''s only so much a single person can do against an array of 100,000 people.


    So the crown and lieutenant system is subtly makingpetitors put themselves into leadership roles and enforcing the order needed for an army to work. Thepetitors arergely unaware of this coercion. They will just suddenly realize that whoever doesn''t conform to this system of cooperation will find it difficult to either be a score or crown Chaser. This realization will then pressure them to conform.


    Soverick became aware of this trend early on. He didn''t ignore it because he thinks he is above it. Even he knows that he might need the help of an army for the uing challenges. But his job right now is to secure the crown. Someone else is already taking care of getting him manpower.


    He said to himself, "It better be enough or my enemies will drown me."


    The conflicts raged on all around Soverick. He ignored all the conflicts as he passed by. His eyes remained focused on the rainbow pir. The conflicts didn''t disturb him much. It helped that he is a blur most of the time so people didn''t notice him at his full speed. He didn''t face much opposition but his path was blocked sometimes. He can always avoid small blockages butrge blockages like a horde of golems or two shing armies can not be avoided. He has to go through them which he always did.


    He would just swing his de and create a massive arc of energy to precede him. His attack tore every obstacle apart. It didn''t spare the ground either. It carved the hard rock of the ground creating a canyon. He would then pass through the deep canyon unbothered by the fight on either side of it.


    Most of the fights he passed by get interrupted whenever he passes by despite his effort to ignore them. Thepetitors can''t be med for scattering to the winds when a deadly attack tears through their numbers like a knife through butter. That''s justmon sense.

 Chapter 673 An Underlying Problem.

    People get scared by the unknown. They get extra scared when the unknown is very dangerous. So it ismon sense for them to scatter when something unknown and dangerous kills a lot of them in the blink of an eye. They still don''t rx after he is gone if they find out that it is the child of the ne that just wrought destruction among them. If he can creep up on them the first time, he can do it again.


    The only time he has ever stopped is when he has to. That happened quite often. He would be running when all of a sudden, the world in front of him turns into a fiery inferno. It was always like a wall of fire suddenly appeared to block him. This wall reaches the limit of the sky and is entrenched deep into the rocky ground.


    He has to stop if he doesn''t want to injure himself. He would simply sign at the sight. Then he would resume running across the devastated ground after the attack is over. There is nothing that he can do about it that won''t negatively affect his aim for the divine ne. Besides, this problem is not only his. Everyone in the Arena is suffering from it too. If they care a lot about it, then they should fix it themselves. The odds are that they will fail at it.


    Soverick ran and kept his eyes on the rainbow pir throughout his dash. He kept his eyes on his prize and didn''t stop for anything. He saw the rainbow pir move back and forth as people took it and lost it. There has been a lot of activity with the divine crown but it mostly stayed in the same spot.


    "The golems protecting it must be very strong. That is both good and bad." He observed to himself.


    The fact that the divine crown has not moved away from its original position means that the golems have always been able to recover the crown. It is a good thing since he won''t have to run around the arena like some unfortunate stalker. It is a bad thing because the golems have to be very strong for them to always recover the crown despite the activities around it. They might be a big problem for him when he goes there to get the divine crown.


    He didn''t let that observation stop him. It isn''t pride to believe that he is the person most likely to get the divine crown. It is not because he deserves it. It is because he is the strongest. If he, as the strongest can''t get the single most powerful crown guarded by the most powerful golems, then who else has the chance to get it? Maybe Salvos but Salvos will need to contend with him after that. He is probably the only one that can stop Salvos in thispetition. Numbers don''t matter against him.


    Soverick continued on his mad dash towards what can be considered his destiny. Even the strange fluctuations that his brand is producing didn''t distract him. The fluctuation is mostly harmless. It only makes people aware of his identity when he is close to others. The other function is unfavorable to him but it is ultimately harmless.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Every beacon starts to glow brighter the closer he gets is them so everyone will know when the child of the ne ising for their crown. It is an announcement of sorts. He doesn''t care about the announcement of his presence. He is inevitable. Nothing can escape him even if they know he ising for them. He will get what he wants unless he is stopped. Running away will not save them from him.


    The fluctuations he is producing can be used to track his location. So thepetitors that are too far away from him know which direction he is in. Some decided to use this nifty arrangement to track him. An undercurrent has been moving beneath the conflict for crowns. Some people have issues with Soverick which they hope to hash out during this challenge. It is these people that are very interested in knowing the location of the child of the ne.


    People from all over the arena began to converge on his location. He is mostly ignorant of therge mobilization. He is aware of what''s going on around him but since no one can keep up with him it doesn''t look like people are trying to converge on his location. The arena is massive so despite his ability to sense the things around him with thew matrix, he is not able to figure out the massive amount of people converging toward him.


    But he does know to expect abined attack soon. He knows a lot of people hate him and he has seen enough in the first challenge and the second challenge to expect it. It will probably be this challenge because everyone has been ced in the same arena. People of like minds cane together easily now. There is no barrier in the way of forming a coalition meant to put the child of the ne in his ce.


    He met some people on his way. They usually stop as if waiting for something. But they never notice him pass by unless they are close enough to his path to sense him with their divine sense or they are very far from his path to notice the blur. Sometimes they chase after him but he will lose them with his speed. So he didn''t worry about anything. Not until he sensed a threat that put his entire being into overdrive. He has to move immediately or he will die.


    It happened without any warning. There was no sign or indication of it. But his intuition zed an rm like never before. He felt thew matrix bing turmoil around him. He activated WRAITH OF DEATH: WORLD BREAKER immediately. He took a step forward, his body shed and he disappeared only for where he was to suddenly be submerged in mes.

 Chapter 674 Errors And Limits.

    Actually, an entire area in the shape of a cone for thousands of kilometers was converted into mes from the sky to the ground. Everything burned. It was an act of selfbustion. The world was forced to burn itself.


    The attacksted for one second before it ended. It had done cataclysmic damage during that time but the mes persisted for a while before disappearing. The ground had turned tova because the rocky surface melted.


    The pyramids are intact and undamaged but the environment has been scarred. The air has be hot furnace air and all the oxygen was consumed by the mes. This entire ce has be uninhabitable and hostile to life all in the space of a few seconds.


    Soverick appeared soon after. He appeared some distance away from where he disappeared. He is not unscathed. His entire body has been seared by the all-epassing mes. He lost ayer of flesh. He survived because he escaped the worst of the mes but he is terribly injured.


    His golden fur has be ck and burnt. It has even disappeared in several ces to show the nd flesh beneath. The white robe that the first sage gave him has burned away. He has what can be considered fourth-degree burns. It would be fatal to a mortal. But he will survive it easily despite the agressive nature of the attack.


    His burns want to spread all over his body. They want to burn and burn until there is nothing left to burn. But he is much too strong to be troubled by the residual effects of an attack after he survived the main effect. He willed it and he began to heal.


    The danger is notpletely over. He has to protect the sole of his feet with momentum so that theva on the ground won''t do more damage to him. In fact, the entire shield of momentum on his body is being strained to protect him from the heat that can melt metal. He looked around with a scowl as his injuries healed.


    He muttered angrily. "He is not even here and he still damaged me. That boy has be more than a nuisance."


    Staying in thew matrix didn''t protect him from the attack. It only made him take control of his essence and actively resist the mes. Salvos isn''t here and he wasn''t aiming at Soverick. Soverick and everyone within Salvos''s range of attack are just bystanders. And yet, he almost died. As for the others, they surely died.


    Salvos'' attack is actually rooted in the world of concepts in thew matrix. The attack manifests in the world of manifestation as hell on earth. It is an unavoidable, undodgeable, and unblockable attack. No matter what you do, you will be hit by it. You can survive it though. But that''s if you''re strong enough. Those that aren''t strong enough will turn into mes and die.


    "Come what may. I''ll show that guy who is the boss." He promised vengeance. "I beat him before. I can do it again."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Soverick shook himself free after healing. His golden fur became shinier than ever. Then he continued his journey toward his objective. If there''s someone who can use the fluctuations of his brand to harm him badly, that person is Salvos. Salvos has the best chance of killing him singlehandedly. It will be a tough fight if they fight but he has a good chance of winning.


    Transcendents have conditional immortality. They can easily convert Origin energy into health, stamina, and power. It is like they are an engine that consumes Origin energy. They might as well be golems with Origin energy as their core. They can reinforce their defense and increase their strength with Origin energy.


    The major problem that transcendents face is that there is a limit to how much they can do. Like any engine, the soul body has a power output limit and efficiency. That limit is why they are still kible. The limit is not imposed on them by the world. It is an intrinsic value based on their existence.


    Even the universe has its own limit. Everything you do changes the world. Simply existing changes the world. The universe can amodate these changes up to a limit before entropy and chaos be too much for it. It is then that the universe ends.


    Any system has a limit on how much change it can amodate before it losses structural integrity. The soul body is like that too. Your existence has fused with your consciousness so any changes to you affect your consciousness. You can morph your body and rapidly heal due to this fusion but changing your existence too much will cause your consciousness to crash.


    Your body is fused to your mind so your identity, personality, and concentration are affected by the changes to your body. The mind can break once you reach the limit of its malleability by changing the body too much. Healing bes easy but pain can reduce your concentration and fighting prowess because your consciousness is not whole until it has also fully healed.


    This weakness of existence is exploited usingws. Your consciousness is forced to change by injecting thews of the world into your body through attacks. You gain a certain amount of control when youprehendws. You can use that control to attack someone from thew matrix. The errors in their existence need to be purged and corrected before the injury can be healed.


    The presence of errors within their existence slows down the healing of transcendents and pushes their existence to the limit of what they can do. They be weaker and weaker. Their existence will then break once they have reached the limit of their tolerance to errors. That''s howws are used to kill transcendents.


    Salvos is terrifying because everything within his sight starts to be overwritten with thew of fire from thew matrix. He injects arge amount of the error of fire into everything he sees both living and inanimate. He practically drowns everything in the error of fire. This quickly overwhelms the limit of everything.

 Chapter 675 Common Sense Is Uncommon With Them.

    The world is aplex mix of concepts and concepts are made of blends ofws. These then manifest as the physical world that we see. A person is made of several concepts of life, matter, energy, and soul. Salvos''s attack makes thew of fire overwhelm the otherws and throws everything out of bnce.


    But it is worse than that. He doesn''t just create random errors, he infuses everything else with fire so that even if you survive his attack, the damage of thew of fire will still be lingering in your body. And fire wants to spread as long as it has been started. So even if you survive being dunked in ake of fire, theke of fire will continue to be with you.


    Only those that can actively defend their essence from maniption can resist him such as titans ofws with their body ofws. None of thepetitors are titans ofw. Which makes Salvos a very terrifying force. Soverick can admit to that. But Salvos is not unbeatable because everyone has a weakness. Every system has a limit to the amount of changes it can undergo so Salvos must have a limit.


    If Soverick can admit that he has a weakness then everyone else has a weakness. Even world gods have weaknesses. World gods are terrifying but they are also terrified of Chaos entities. Chaos entities have been designed to capitalize on the weakness of world gods. Ironic enough, the strength of world gods is also their weakness. It is just that others can''t use it against them but Chaos entities were made to be world enders. They destroy realm trees and can infiltrate the world of world gods.


    If World gods have weaknesses, so does Salvos. You just have to be able to survive his attack for a very long time before you can get the chance to use it. That''s if you can even find his weakness. If not, then it will all be a waste to endure having your existence pumped full of thew of fire.


    Again, it depends on the person. If you can''t use the weakness then it is not a weakness. It might even be their strength as seen in the case of world gods. If he the child of the ne can''t exploit Salvos''s weakness, then it is unlikely for Salvos to be defeated by anyone in this challenge. Then they are all done for. He has to defeat Salvos for the good of all battle sage monkeys.


    Soverick ran and ran moving ever closer to the beacon. He doesn''t know what he might meet there so he feels a little anxious. Salvini''s message is the major cause of his anxiety. He can''t trust her so he has to keep his mind sharp and his de ready.


    The closer he got to the rainbow beacon the brighter it shined. Then it began to pulse as if to herald hising. Whoever is holding it has to know by now that he is very close. He turned around a pyramid to the location of the crown and he saw the current bearer of the crown. He couldn''t help but frown.


    He expected a group or an army arrayed before him ready to thwart his objective of acquiring the crown. But he is only partially right. There is a group here not an army. They are very few in number and It just happened to be the worst group to antagonize him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They are currently fighting the golems of the pyramid but they tossed the crown to the golems when they saw him. The golems were appeased as soon as they received the crown. They retreated and formed back into a pyramid. The dead golems were healed by the arena and put back into ce to make the pyramid whole again. As for his enemies, they came together to form a squad as they watched him. It is obvious that he is their objective, not the crown. They were waiting here for him.


    He smiled despite their enmity. He couldn''t help but ask them. "When did those of the bloodline of the Lion of Justice begin to use theirmon sense? I know it ismon and all but I thought you lot were allergic tomon sense."


    It is Jarkon. He brought members of his family to fight him this time around. They have the characteristic golden fur with a mane around their necks. They are also equipped with weapons and armor. It is not the barrier armor but it will protect them from being instantly killed by one of his attacks. They even have two shields.


    They are a small squad of 5 but they are terrifyingly effective. Their divine ability makes them very potent against both people and golems. They have had sess against otherpetitors and they can surely take a crown for themselves if they try really hard. Numbers don''t work on them after all. But they aren''t satisfied with that. They have a much greater goal.


    His question is warranted seeing as they came to oppose him in a group. He wouldn''t have been surprised had Jarkone to attack him again and alone. Common sense has never been their strong suit. It is not an insult but a verified fact that anyone else can observe to be true.


    One of themon sense and basic survival instincts that theyck is self-preservation. They always throw their heads into dangerous matter that doesn''t concern them all because of justice. They will also continue to pursue that ideal regardless of the danger to their life. So he is surprised that they chose to fight him together instead ofing at him separately like a bunch of idiot. Common sense is notmon with them.


    Jarkon didn''t answer him. He looked away from Soverick. The guy seemed to be sulking about something. It might have something to do with his previous defeat.

 Chapter 676 Confidence In A Rushed Plan.

    It was someone else in their group that answered him.


    Arge female spoke. She towered above the others and is also in front of their group. So she might be their leader.


    She said with a sneer, "Unworthy child of the ne. Do not mind our presence. Just go ahead and take the crown. It is what you came here for after all."


    She chose to ignore the question because he is right. They didn''t be a group on purpose. They were just lucky enough to be deployed close to the divine crown. They all thought of the same thing. They might be able to track him but they also know where he is headed. They know that he will surelye for the divine crown. So they switched things up and decided toe here where they met each other.


    It was a coincidence that they met each other. It happened because they all think alike. They became happy at seeing each other because their n is more likely to seed together instead of alone. Members of their family get stronger the more there are in a single location hunting a single target.


    They used their powers to kill the golems and equip themselves. They have also been able to rebuff any riff-raff that tried to im the divine crown. One use of their divine ability and people withmon sense who were lucky to survive always run for their life. The rest were unlucky to survive their divine ability.


    Several groups came to take the crown too but they all failed. The 5 of them would always return the crown to the golems any time they are about to be overwhelmed by numbers. Then they will use their divine ability to fight back and eliminate the group.


    Now they are going to do the same thing. Soverick will have to take the crown from the pyramid himself while they will try to hamper and sabotage his efforts.


    He asked them. "Why don''t I just kill you first?"


    Soverick gleaned their n as soon as he saw them return the crown. He expected them to throw themselves at him headless of caution. Their nning surprised him. He didn''t expect them to n at all. He thought they would just throw themselves at him. Still, their n is full of holes. He can just get rid of them first.


    "You''re wee to try." Thedy that answered said to him with confidence.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They are ready for him. He has to fight them or they will interfere with his efforts to get the crown. It will be more difficult for him to acquire the crown while fending him off. Even if he does acquire the crown, then they will always be able to track his location with the beacon. That means he has no choice but to try and get rid of them now.


    They know what he will do since he is smart and they are ready for it. It might not be the best n but it is the only one they have against him. If they can''t beat him in a 1 vs 5 fight then they can''t beat him at all. There are only five of them in thispetition. So unless they get allies to help them, this is all they''ve got.


    Jarkon sighed as he readied his spear. He thought to himself. ''This is stupid. We could have gotten allies if we weren''t so picky with the people that came here."


    He hates this n. He thinks it is stupid. They can do better but they have been in a rush just making things up as they go without proper nning. The major obstacle to proper nning for them is their one-track mind. For example, they can choose to run away and harass Soverick as he gets the crown instead of forcing him to fight them immediately. That will be more efficient but it also means that Soverick can choose to escape which they can''t have. So they have to confront him right here and now.


    They also didn''t need to confront him alone. Some people came here earlier with the proposal to join forces against Soverick. It was a good idea but the 5 of them refused because they would have to leave the crown and join up with the others in this coalition. The gathering point of this coalition is farther away from here and they only n to attack Soverick when they have arge enough army.


    They refused because leaving the crown means that they won''t be able to fight Soverick as soon as possible. The people that came with the proposal tried to convince them but that ended when two of them were attacked by all 5 of them. It turns out that the ones that brought the proposal had bad Karma. The 5 of them can''t go out of their way to hunt others with bad karma since Soverick is their current target but that changes when the people with bad karmae to them.


    What else are they supposed to do? Are they to ignore the ring bad karma and be patient and work with thisrge army that they are creating to take out the greater evil that is Soverick Ghastorix? No. They have to be short-sighted and quick-tempered and they have to attack Soverick with their small number. Jarkon thinks this n is stupid but here he is, a semi-willing participant in the stupid n.


    Jarkon wasmenting inwardly about his circumstances when his eyes narrowed all of a sudden. He braced himself for battle.


    Then he swore inwardly, ''Shit. Here we go again.''


    Soverick has disappeared from his vision again. It is uncanny how there are no signs of it going to happen. He will be standing one moment totally carefree and talking. Then he will be gone the next. There is no shift in his posture at all. You will literally blink and you will never be able to open your eyes again because a de has gone through your head. You won''t see how you died much less when he moved.

 Chapter 677 Luck Or Not.

    Soverick''s speed and the way he moves are mind-boggling because it is something one should see if flying were not banned and they can use their mind to levitate. But that is not the case here. Everyone needs to move their body to move. Except it seems that Soverick is already moving without any changes in his posture.


    They were not caught off guard by the sudden development. They were ready for him.


    Soverick is too fast for their eyes to track. You have to keep your eyes constantly open and focused on Soverick. But even that won''t help you. Thankfully, they expected this because of the information that Jarkon gave them about theirst fight.


    He was about to reach them but he stopped all of a sudden. Thedy in front of the squad of 5 had activated her divine ability. She was hoping to catch him within the range of the destruction wave but he stopped just at the edge of the field of destruction.


    There was a sh of bright golden light. Then an invisible wave of destruction was expelled from her body. It destroyed the ground that she is standing and everything for 100 meters. It also obliterated everything within that range except for her 4 otherpanions with the same bloodline as hers. All five of them are levitating just above the smooth crater that she has formed while Soverick is at the edge of the crater looking at them with a smirk.


    "Nice try." He said to them.


    They didn''t say anything in reply. He wasn''t caught in the trap but they weren''t disappointed. The other 4 used the opportunity when he stopped to try and corner him. They dashed forward using the empowerment of the wave of destruction to approach him from the sides even as the destructive wave rampaged about hoping to corner him.


    This exchange happened in less than a second. Soverick seemed to have been suddenly catapulted forward only to hit an invisible wall that protected him from entering a zone of death. He had moved from his top speed to zero almost instantaneously. It also happened to have urred at the very edge of the range of her divine ability.


    It proves their suspicion that he can somehow tell when they are about to activate their divine ability and he can also predict the range. Jarkon told them so but they didn''t believe it. They didn''t believe it either when he said Soverick copied his divine ability.


    They didn''t believe it but they were hoping that Soverick will try the same thing now. He will find out that 5 of them using their divine ability against his 1 will be an unfortunate match-up. Unfortunately, he didn''t do that either. He was either lucky which is good for them. Or he could tell that it was a bad idea. Which is terrible for them.


    They are prepared for him either way. Jarkon''s loss was not a waste. They are hoping to corner Soverick now with the information they gained at Jarkon''s expense. The bloodline of the lion of justice will be glorified through them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Their divine ability doesn''t harm them and the members of their bloodline. Instead, the power of the wave is amplified. It resonates with their bloodline and is amplified. Every member of their bloodline that is within the range of their divine ability acts as an amplifier and a new focus. So it spreads farther than normal and is stronger too.


    The destructive wave should have a single source which is the person that activated their divine ability. It will then extend from that source and die down when it reaches its maximum range but each one of them can reflect the wave and act as another source to further extend the range of a single use of their divine ability. This will allow them to maximize the use of a single destructive wave to make it seem like 5 of them used it at the same time and after one after the other simultaneously.


    They use their numbers to maximize their divine ability so if they manage to surround Soverick then he won''t be able to escape them. The wave will ping around each one of them and box him in. So while Soverick stopped at the edge of the first wave, the other four moved closer to him to catch him off guard.


    They had to stop to defend themselves when he swung his de several times at them. Thin and fast translucent des shot at them. If not for the way the air warped with their passage, they wouldn''t be noticed until they enter the range of a divine sense.


    The 5 justice seekers stopped and prepared to defend themselves. Their courage returned when the translucent des entered the divine ability and were ground down by the destructive wave still around them. Their divine ability could protect them from his attacks as they thought.


    They stepped forth again to corner him. But unfortunately, the wave had died down leaving a crater around them. Soverick stood at the edge of the crater and smiled at them. It was a bright and radiant smile. For the first time, they noticed that Soverick was actually handsome.


    They didn''t notice that fact about him before because his face was always frozen cold and his eyes were always looking down on people. But now, he looks terribly handsome. His smile animated his perfect face and his twinkling golden eyes are mesmerizing. That just made them angry.


    Then he said, "I''ve got you now."


    They got even angrier. The fact that he is handsome didn''t change the dangerous situation that they are in and his white teeth did not ease the tension they felt. He is still a liar, a cheat, and a killer. Most importantly, he is still trying to kill them. The threat to someone''s life has a way of keeping them focused. And in this case, they are more focused than ever before.

 Chapter 678 One Down.

    Soverick made the next move. He began running around the group and bombarding them with attacks. Fast and thin translucent des rained down on them from above in every direction. The 5 of them are within the crater so the attacks seem to being at them from above and from every direction.


    It is as if a rain of death is falling upon them. But they are not afraid. Another one of them used their divine ability to protect them. Light shed and a wave of destruction was expelled. No physical or magical attack can harm them when the destructive wave is active.


    This bes even more so when there are five of them close to each other. The duration and power of the wave of destruction are amplified. The translucent des be too weak to be a threat to them after weathering the power of their divine ability. They were able to push forward towards him but Soverick kept producing more attacks.


    The second divine ability expanded the crater because of their attempt to get closer to him. He has to run a longer distance around them now but that didn''t deter him. He continued to harass them with his attacks.


    One of them said to the others. "This is bad. He is boxing us in."


    It was then that they realized their problem. Soverick was boxing them in. It looked like they are slowly pushing him back but they are being prevented from doing more. They can do more if they are allowed to spread out between the intervals of using their divine ability unfortunately for them, Soverick is pressuring them with his attacks at every moment. They don''t have any moment of reprieve.


    They can''t rest at all. They either have to defend themselves against him the natural way with their own power or use their divine ability. They can''t continue to use their divine ability because it is too energy consuming and it weakens them. With the situation of things, they will run out of power soon and then they will have to face his attacks on their own while also weakened.


    They can also scatter. He can''t stop all of them from getting away but getting separated is a bad idea. It will render the advantage of their numbers useless and he will be able to pick them off one by one. Increasing the distance between themselves will increase their range for a while but they won''t be able to defend each other from him until they be too separated to amplify each other.


    They can''t see him because he is a blur around them but they can near his haunting voice. "Have you realized it now? I told you that I have got you."


    They ignored him and made up their minds quickly. They decided to stop using their divine ability for a while despite the fact that they hope he will simte it as he did with Jarkon.


    It is a good idea. It ismon sense to stop using their divine ability right now and prevent Soverick from pushing them to their doom. But no sooner had they stopped that someone was sent flying. You can''t expose any weakness to Soverick or you will regret it. That is alsomon sense.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    They stopped using their destructive wave so the translucent des came through unhindered. They used their weapons and shields to block the attacks. There was the sound of weapons shing as they defended themselves. His attacks were deceptively strong so they were pushed back as they defended. Each one of them had their issue to deal with so they didn''t notice that Soverick had sent a lot more attacks toward one of them. He didn''t attack them equally.


    Before, he was harassing them, keeping them on their toes by attacking them from every direction. He still did the same now but he swung his de several more times in a second in the direction of one of them. There was no difference in his speed or the frequency of attacks of the others so they didn''t notice that he gave someone special attention until it was toote.


    While the others received 3 attacks and had to do all they could to defend themselves, only for them to be pushed back, one of them had to block 10 attacks alone. She tried to defend herself with her shield but she was quickly overpowered by the strength of the attacks. She lost an arm and part of her legs to the attacks. She was also sent flying out of their squad formation like a rag doll.


    Soverick anticipated it. He was waiting for it and he was ready when it happened. He appeared like a phantom behind her back as she was flying out of the crater. She was dazed so she couldn''t react when he attacked her. He swung his de and cut through her body from shoulder to hip. She was wearing armor but it did nothing to protect her from physical contact with his powerful de.


    The world power-infused de cut and kept cutting. There was no resistance whatsoever. It came in contact with her shoulder, traveled through her body, and finally exited through her hip. Her mind and body were split apart. She opened her mouth to scream only for her to ck out. Her body was ripped apart by the world power that has invaded her existence. She was hurriedly saved by her brand from taking further damage so she disappeared before she exploded into gore.


    "Nooooooo!" One of the remaining 4 screamed.


    The rest of them had just seen one of them get killed. It made them angry and furious but they can''t lose sight of what''s important. They have been weakened by the loss so they held back despite the fury within them to rush at Soverick and butcher him. Their self-control threatened to slip when they heard his casual remark.


    He said, "One down, four more to go."


    AUTHOR NOTE:


    We have monthly question and answer sessions for GREED on the discord channel. The reward is the LOA Code. Join the discord if you''re interested

 Chapter 679 Not Lucky.

    He believes that victory is already his and he spoke as if the oue of their fight cannot be changed. He has been saying so and nothing has happened to indicate otherwise. He said he has got them. Then one of them dies early into the fight. At this rate, they will be defeated. It incensed them and threatened to overwhelm them. Their golden fur began to shine and vibrate. It was releasing a low humming sound into the air.


    If there is something apart from crimes that make those of the lion of justice bitter, it is seeing the wicked strive and prosper. It is their life''s mission to cut down the wicked and it seems they will fail here. Even worse, they know that their failure is because they are not capable enough. They are too weak to put the child of the ne in his ce.


    They also know If they are to cut the child of the ne down, it will not be by strength since they arecking in that aspect. So their bloodline sought to empower them more. Unfortunately, wishes are not horses. Wishing for something doesn''t make it true. Soverick is still stronger than them even after the boost in power.


    Soverick resumed harrying them. Attacks came at them from every direction. They had to use their divine ability to protect themselves. Otherwise, another one of them will be separated from the herd and promptly culled.


    The fight continued with Soverick pressuring them. One misstep and they will lose their life. So they remained focused. They had to be. However, it also wasn''t enough. Despite their resolve to see justice served and their willingness to do anything to achieve it, they got tired. One of them faltered while trying to activate their divine ability. It left them vulnerable to his attacks for a moment and another one of them was sent flying.


    Soverick activated WRAITH OF DEATH: DANCE OF THE SPECTRAL WIND instead of attacking directly. His attacks were transported through thew matrix onto the separated person. They were attacked from all around and torn to shreds. Their armor and body suffered the same fate. Their body disappeared but the armor remained because it doesn''t have a brand. The pitiful state of the armor is an indication of what they were spared from.


    "Damn you Soverick Ghastorix." The remaining 3 roared bitterly at the top of their lungs.


    Soverick smirked at them. "You thought you could fool me. You failed."


    It turns out that he wasn''t lucky earlier when he stopped at the very edge of the divine ability. That''s why they failed to trick him now.


    The person that faltered didn''t really falter. It just looks like it. They were hoping that will fool him but apparently, it didn''t.


    The person failed to activate the divine ability intentionally. Soverick saw didn''t know that at first so he simply took advantage of the opening. He selected one of them and separated them. The shoddy performance of the person he selected in defending themselves clued him in that something was up.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    That person defended well enough to protect themselves from harm while also making sure to be propelled outside. That made things obvious to him. You can''t eat your cake and have it. You can''t defend yourself well and also act incapacitated without cluing him into the fact that there is a scheme afoot.


    They hadmunicated amongst themselves to bait him. So they were all eager to be separated. If he had capitalized on the separation by moving close to the person to cut them down as he did to the first victim, then he would have received a prepared divine ability to his face and the others would have used that opportunity to try and surround him. That is if he doesn''t die outright from the blow.


    Their n failed because they can''t fool him. He saw that the person that was sent flying wasn''t injured. His eyes saw through the armor down to their body. He also saw the activation of thew fragments within the bloodline in their body. Fragments of light and destruction were being infused with Origin energy and loading up on power.


    It was as clear as day to him. So he knows that the person is not in fact dazed and vulnerable. They are just pretending to be so while secretly activating their divine ability. That''s how he was able to stop in time when the firstdy tried to trap him with her divine ability. The future is a mystery to him, and the past might be fuzzy, but the present is ever clear to him.


    He also knows that each use of their divine ability weakens them. Thew fragments in their bloodline that activate their divine ability is not aplete concept. Using a higherw like destruction is having its toll on them. He just has to keep the pressure on them and they will cave in.


    He exposed his nice teeth with a charming smile and said to them, "Two down, three more to go."


    The remaining three changed their n. They stayed together but they began moving about to prevent him from using that strange unseen attack on them. He didn''t bother to waste DANCE OF THE SPECTRA WIND on them. Any strong attack that he uses on them will be nullified by their divine ability so it is more efficient to use up their divine ability with simple but dangerous attacks. Then he will take advantage of any vulnerability that they show.


    He resumed harrying them knowing that they will fall soon enough. They have been fighting for less than 5 minutes but they are already weakened. The constant activation of their divine ability has left them weakened. Their spirit is worn out. The range and duration of the destructive wave have also reduced now that they are three. Their defeat is only a matter of time whether they believe it or not.


    AUTHOR NOTE:


    We have monthly question and answer sessions for GREED on the discord channel. The reward is the LOA Code. Join the discord if you''re interested

 Chapter 680 A Second Chance.

    They don''t need him to tell them how bad things are but he did. He is considerate that way.


    "Can you feel it?" He asked them.


    "I can. I can feel it. It is in the air. I can smell the dank odor of defeat and also taste the sweet taste of victory."


    His voice settled down into their minds like an anchor. And like an anchor, it weighed them down. They became heavier emotionally and mentally. They can''t hold on anymore after being pressured constantly. One of them failed to activate their divine ability so they were unprotected.


    He swooped in like a shark. He bared his sharp teeth at them and took arge bite out of them. His de shed several times in a second. They faced a barrage meant for 5 as a consequence of that mistake. The 3 fell at once. They can''t defend against his barrage of attacks after bing weakened so they were shredded.


    "Five down and none left." He remarked at the devasted ruins of their battle.


    There are severalrge and smooth craters everywhere with several thin cuts on the surface of the ground. The rocky ground has been smashed, ground into dust, torn, and stripped to create a scene of destruction.


    Most of the damage is not his fault. He didn''t do much damage to the environmentpared to them. His attacks were sharp and targeted. He ripped grooves into the ground to create the thin cuts but their divine ability demolished the ground with craters everywhere.


    He would be hard-pressed to survive a full-on st of their destructive wave. Despite their formidable divine ability, they lost because they couldn''t bring it to bear against him. His eyes see more than others do so he can counter abilities and ns even before they are executed. It is another situation in which information trump''s raw power. They were ignorant. So they became enemies to be toyed with.


    He turned his back on the ruins of their battle and began making his way to the pyramid. The fight has ended and it is time to reap the benefit of his hard work. The rainbow pir shined brightly on top of the pyramid. He looked at it with a smile as it thrummed audibly.


    Something happened behind him. The three that he killedst were respawned. One of them has 3 feats while the others have 2 feats so they have an extra chance.


    Respawning is a tricky business. You can''t know who can respawn and even if you do, it won''t be helpful because there is no strict rule that determines when someone that dies must respawn.


    If you die, you can''t respawn immediately. You have to wait for at least a minute. You will be in an ethereal form on the battlefield for that period of time.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    You will be aware of what''s going on around you but you won''t be noticed or be able to interact with the world. Once one minute is up, you can choose to respawn or not. You can decide to wait for an hour before you respawn. It is up to you.


    Some use this opportunity to catch people unaware. For example, you can wait for when they have let their guard down and turn their backs to you. Then respawn to deliver the coup d''etat grace on them. How do you know when they have let down their guard? If they say something like "five down and none left" then it is an indication that they have let down their guard.


    The 3 of them were respawned with renewed vigor. Their armor is in tatters and it isid at their feet. It didn''t disappear with them when they were saved by their brand so they will have to pick them up and equip them again if they want to use them. They didn''t bother with them anyway. They have been given another opportunity and it is one that they can use to catch their target unprepared. They couldn''t be bothered with weapons or armor. Their divine ability is more than enough for them.


    "We separate now and nail him from every direction at once. He won''t be able to escape us. I''ll take the center. You take the left and you take the right." Their appointed leader informed the other two.


    The others nodded in agreement. It is a good n. They will corner him and nail him from every direction with their divine ability. They can''t use their previous n because it has been proven that it won''t work. Their number has also been reduced for their previous n to be effective. They have only one chance now and they intend to make good use of it.


    If only wishes were horses, then even justice nutjobs can ride. They wish to kill Soverick Ghastorix. It is clearly a wish because they are not putting in the necessary work needed to bring it to pass. It is also a stupid and unrealistic wish. What will their attempt change even if they seed in killing him once? He has more feats than them so he can alwayse back. Are they hoping to kill him again and again? What will they use to achieve it?


    They are clearly just wishing for his death and downfall. It is simply wishful thinking. Thankfully, reality has a way of drowning dreamers. Their wish was not fulfilled. In fact, they didn''t get to move before they died again.


    Soverick "somehow," noticed them despite being out of divine range. He attacked them as soon as all 3 of them respawned without turning back. They prepared to defend themselves only for translucent des to tear into them from every direction again. They didn''t have armor and they were caught unawares by the attack. They died quickly.


    They yelled at him before they were killed. "You have not seen thest of us. You haven''t seen the end of justice. "


    "We may have failed but the world will move to punish you. Others will do what we couldn''t do."


    "Retribution for your crimes and sins ising to you soon. You will regret what you did."

 Chapter 681 Let Them Come!

    They swore and cursed at him. He didn''t pay any attention to what they are saying. They are ignorant fools warning him about the troubleing his way. He doesn''t need their help. He is more than capable enough to notice the uing challenge. He simply shrugged after killing them. Then he resumed his attempt to secure the crown. He is sure that none of them will respawn behind him this time around.


    Unfortunately for this sorry 3, Soverick knew the number of feats they had so he knows that they can respawn. In fact, he made sure that they will respawn together by eliminating the other two who didn''t have feats first so that he can eliminate them all at once again. It was not a coincidence that the 3 of them that could respawn were killed thest.


    Jarkon was one of the useless two. He came chasing after Soverick and had all of his feats taken. It is a wonder that the others even have enough feats for respawning since they are such busybodies that prioritize chasing bad people over doing well in thepetition.


    They respawned after he has gone some distance away from them so his divine sense can''t sense them. It is a good n but he sees with more than his divine sense. In a twist, they were the ones to be caught unawares.


    He soon reached the pyramid. It is a very tall andrge neatly constructed structure. It would take a long time to climb it. So he bent his legs down and he jumped. He jumped up and reached the 1,000 meters height of the top of the pyramid. Then hended beside the divine crown.


    His feet struck the stone used to make the pyramid with arge force but it didn''t crack. The ground he jumped off from has been cratered. That''s what should happen when a great force beyond the limit of a material is applied to it. The stone of the pyramid on the other hand can handle the impact of his fall. His eyes examined the pyramid before he shifted his attention to the divine crown.


    The divine crown is a crystal crown. It is transparent and it refracts light into various colors which makes it look like a circlet carved out of a precious gem. He bent down and picked it up. The beacon of the divine crown began thrumming stronger as soon as he touched it. It also started creating a visible wave of multicolored light that spread out from the beacon in every direction.


    "What a snitch." He said then he sat down. "What I have to do now is defend it."


    If anyone doesn''t know that the child of the ne is very close to the divine crown, now they must know that he has acquired it. The crown is announcing that the child of the ne hasid its hands on it so that those that don''t want exactly that to happen will hurry on over to take the crown from him.


    Even now, people have started to surround him. They stayed far away from him but a ring of people has been formed. That ring is getting thicker and thicker by the moment as more people join it. They are not here to congratte him. There are some that will actually like to congratte him but they are in the minority. Most of the people that have formed a ring around the pyramid are here to have a piece of him.


    "This isn''t going to be easy. But nothing good is easy to acquire. Then again, I am not so easy to beat." He said to himself.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He looked at the enemies that havee to besiege him. His eyes hardened in determination. Then he said confidently, "They want to bring me down. Let theme."


    He looked to the west where his major adversary ising from. "They don''t think I should be the best. Let theme."


    He looked to the north where the foolish areing together to beat him with numbers. He smirked and said, "They want to drown me. Let theme."


    Then his eyes found Salvini in the arena. She turned to look at him despite the great distance between them. A savage smile appeared on his face. His eyes glinted sharply. He said again. "Let theme."


    Let theme. He is ready for whatever they will throw at him. He might die. But he will never be disgraced.


    He is surrounded on all sides by enemies. He should run. That is a good idea. Staying in a single location without moving will make him a good target. But he decided not to run. They wille to him. And he will put them in their ce. Or at least show that if he can be taken down, it will not be easy.


    His decision to stay is not solely because of pride. If his life is in real danger, then he will consider running. In fact, he will already be running if he is outmatched and outnumbered. Fortunately, his life is not in any real danger. He will resurrect if he dies. So he will give it his all.


    But he is staying for three major reasons. The first reason is his image. Running denotes weakness and the weak are hunted. He managed to kill the 5 stubborn muscle heads that held up the pyramid so his enemies are currently afraid of him. They will stay away from him for now until they have the confidence of overwhelming him.


    If he runs now, the table will turn. All these people will think he is afraid of them and will give chase. With his position constantly broadcasted, they will try to box him in and they will seed in it. He is not afraid of them so he won''t run. He will sit here and make an example of whoever is foolish enough to oppose him.

 Chapter 682 The Enemy From The West.

    This is a very important moment for him. A lot of people are watching this currently. Whatever he does will define his image for a very long time. If he is to rally people behind his banner when the era of conquestes, then he can''t show any weakness. It will not do for the child of the ne to be seen running for his life.


    The second reason he is not running is the golems. The pyramid will turn into golems once he leaves the boundary with the crown. He saw them fight before the justice nutjobs returned the crown to them and he has to admit that they are very powerful. Their defense is ridiculously strong. A powerful attack is needed to deal any damage to them. The justice nutjobs were able to kill the golems and earn good weapons from them due to their powerful divine ability.


    Then there is the speed and power of the golems. He can surely handle them if given time but he doesn''t have time or leisure. He is currently surrounded by vultures and opportunists. No one hase forth to challenge him yet because of his reputation. They all heard the announcements of his feats so they know what a tough nut he is. Word of his battles has also spread to some extent so people are wary of him. That will change when he is preupied with golems.


    They understand that he is an unstoppable force of nature. But he won''t remain unstoppable when he is busy with golems. At the least, he will be less unstoppable. All they have to do is make him slip up or make a mistake, then an arrow can nail him or a de can cut him. If they attack him enough, the golems will do their work for them unless he gives up the crown. So it will be like what the justice nutjobs failed to do but on a grander scale.


    He doesn''t want to give up the crown because to give up the crown is to give up the initiative. Anything can happen to the crown as long as it is not within his hands and he won''t entertain that possibility. He also doesn''t want to fight golems and be besieged by people from all sides so he will sit on the pyramid and wait. The one that gets the crown is the one that has it when thepetition ends not the person who kills the most or holds the crown for the longest. So he will wait.


    The third reason why he won''t run is currently on its way. It is apelling reason to stay here on a pyramid with the crown in his hands. Everyone in thepetition knows that he has the crown now so the ones that werete to the position of the crown or those that have issues with him wille to him.


    Selecting a battlefield is important to achieving victory. He knows himself and he knows his enemy. He intends to take advantage of the information he has about his enemy at his current location. So he will wait and let his enemye to him.


    Meanwhile, more and more people arrived to join the circle of observers around the pyramid. He continued to wait unflustered as people arrived. Then all of a sudden he moved. He activated WORLD BREAKER and he disappeared leaving the crown behind. The world turned into an ocean of fire immediately after he moved. Hell suddenly descended on the pyramid and its vicinities.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The world was baptized in mes for a second before the attack ended. Soverick reappeared on top of the pyramid to find that almost half of the ring of the multitude of people around him have disappeared. A patch of smokingva ground has reced where they used to stay. Behind them, some distance away is the first enemy that he is waiting for. This enemy came from the west bearing death and fire.


    Soverick assessed his situation calmly. His body is damaged a little from the attack but he survived. Most of his strength is conserved and he is ready to fight. He stood at the top of the pyramid calmly as he healed while Salvos came matching to him.


    Salvos, the hell bringer, the herald of fire. He has white fur like those of the bloodline of the sages. He doesn''t have the bloodline of the first sage but that of another sage. That has not weakened him though. He is the strongest of the three current generations of sages for a reason.


    Evolution causes changes but only favorable changes that provide strength and improve chances of survival are transmitted from one generation to the other because the weak are eliminated.


    If the Origin ancestor of Salvos''s bloodline was weak, he wouldn''t have be an origin god in the first ce and his descendants wouldn''t have survived. The ability to increase the concentration of thew of fire in everything is a strong ability. The sage that is the Origin ancestor of Salvos made it his concept. Now Salvos is privileged to wield such a powerful divine ability without working for it.


    Salvos matched towards Soverick with utter confidence. He didn''t walk in an imposing manner. That is for those with something to prove. He doesn''t have anything to prove. His dignity is innate and the world is beneath him. Everything bows to his mes so why should he be concerned about them or their opinion? They will eventually sumb to his mes so they might as well be dead men walking.


    He didn''t spare the multitude of people around him a nce. His closed eyes remain focused on the top of the pyramid where most of his attention is. The only one who is worthy of his attention is on the pyramid. The remaining people are but chaff to him. He killed half of them now without even trying. That''s about 150,000 thousand people in less than a second.

 Chapter 683 A Case Of Loser-Blindness.

    They stepped back in fear of him. Some of them turn around and escaped for their lives. He watched them go without feeling any joy or pride for the fear that show for him. They are weak dregs. Their opinion doesn''t matter at all whether it is positive or negative. They are to be discarded or fed to lowly beasts.


    It is not pride to feel the way he feels about them. It is but the nature of the world. Those people are simply not worthy of being graced with his attention. It is a fact that no one will want to look at or eat chaff when there is something better to look at and feast their eyes on. So Salvos ignored the retreating weaklings and focused on Soverick.


    He frowned a little when he noticed that Soverick is still alive. Not only is he alive, but he is also rather unharmed. It made him displeased and also rather pleased. He is displeased because he had wanted to take out the child of the ne with an ambush attack but he failed. Soverick suffering serious injuries from the attack would have also been good enough. Unfortunately, his attack amounted to nothing.


    The people that died are just mere insignificant dregs. They are like the ants that one kills as one walks. He doesn''t bother with them just like one wouldn''t bother with the ants. So he is not happy that he managed to kill tens of thousands of them. But he is somewhat pleased that Soverick didn''t die with just a single attack. It proves that Soverick is truly different from the riff raffs and he is worthy of his attention.


    Salvos isn''t wearing his blindfold anymore. His eyes are closed and ready to be opened at a moment''s notice. He approached the pyramid with the caution that a fellow apex predator deserves. He is not going to take any chances with the child of the ne. He is confident of victory but that doesn''t mean he will underestimate the child of the ne. That''s why he tried to ambush his target.


    He pped his hands as he moved closer. He can still see with his eyes despite them being closed. It is how he knows that Soverick survived that inescapable attack with only some injuries which are already healing. He has to admit that he is impressed. So he pped to show how impressed he is.


    "It seems you haven''t changed. You are as strong as ever. You''re even stronger. You have also be a sage." He said to the child of the ne.


    He can recognize the robe that Soverick is wearing despite it being in tatters.


    Soverick jumped down from the pyramid with the crown in his hands. His two feet stumped the ground when hended. He allowed the force of his descent to disperse into the ground. It created an explosion of the ground. Stone and rock were ejected around like shrapnel.


    He walked out of the crater that he created. Then he squinted as if he has difficulty seeing. He even ced his hand above his eyes to help him see better.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Then he said, "Salvos, is that you? I almost couldn''t recognize you. It''s no fault of yours of course. I just find it difficult to notice those that I have defeated before."


    Soverick paused. Then he wondered aloud. "Maybe it is your fault. If you hadn''t lostst time, maybe I would have recognized you easily. It is a shame really. So how about we agree that is both our fault that I can''t recognize a loser?"


    Salvos didn''t get angry. He can''t get angry. He is like a walking torch carrying a me. The torch doesn''t get angry. It just feeds the me silently and does its job. In this case, Salvos''s job is to see the world in mes. So he didn''t get angry because of the jab.


    It is his life''s mission to impose his sight on the world, not the other way around. The world doesn''t influence him so Soverick''s mocking won''t get to him. His emotions remained cool and tempered like steel forged within the fires of the abyss itself. But Soverick is right though. He did lose to the child of the ne thest time they fought.


    Not a lot of people were impressed when Soverick became the child of the ne. The opportunity to be the child of the ne was given to only vitality core stage refiners. Mana entities and above couldn''t enter the divine dungeon. There were a lot of people who believed him to be lucky.


    They were not there to witness the events that preceded the formation of the army and his fight to help the battle sage monkeys get a foothold within the divine dungeon. They thought his achievement was undeserved despite the tales that vitality core stage refiners that witnessed the events told.


    They didn''t trust the reports of the other vitality core stage refiners not because they thought they were lying, but because they thought they might have exaggerated things. Vitality core stage refiners are mostly blind. They can''t see mana as mana entities do and they can''t seews like transcendents do. So how are those that can see better believe the blind?


    Salvos and his siblings were one of those people. They wanted to see what is so great about him. They wanted to test his worth so they challenged the child of the ne. Theirs was just one of the many challenges made to the child of the ne. Soverick didn''t pay attention to the numerous challenges that came his way and he wouldn''t have paid attention to the three of them if they were not the current generation of sages.


    Soverick was genuinely interested in them so he entertained their challenge. All three of them lost to him and they lost spectacrly. It was a victory by andslide. They were old aplished mana entities and they couldn''t beat a new mana entity. That knocked some sense into their heads.

 Chapter 684 Drowning In An Ocean Of Fire.

    Salvos replied to Soverick confidently, "That was in the past. Things have changed. I have changed and I will defeat you today."


    He has no shame. Besides, things have changed. Soverick was a beginner mana entity back then while he and his siblings were about to be transcendents. Now they are transcendents while Soverick is a king ofw. Things have changed since then.


    Their divine abilities have increased in power after awakening further. Salvos has only ever tasted defeat once and that was to Soverick. He will wipe out that blemish by defeating Soverick now and taking the crown for himself.


    Soverick spread his hand wide and said, "Is that so? If you''ve not noticed. I survived your attack."


    Salvos spoke as he walked closer to the pyramid. "I noticed. But that only means you require a longer attack for you to be defeated. It is something I can do. Today, I will defeat a sage."


    Not only is Soverick the child of the ne, he is also a sage. That is double titles that bring double honor and glory. It also means the one that defeats Soverick will get to be honored too. He will be that one today. He is not a sage or the child of the ne, but he will make do with the title of the one that defeated both.


    He stopped 10km away from the pyramid. This is where he ns to attack Soverick from. While others are suppressed to a range of 100m and their best have a range of 120m, his range of attack can reach 12km. He knows that the child of the ne is strong and fast so he won''t tempt fate by getting close to him. So he will stay here 10km away where he is safe and he will bombard Soverick from afar.


    Soverick sneered at him. "Why don''t you give it your best shot then."


    "I will," Salvos replied curtly. "Don''t die too soon."


    Then Soverick waited for the attack. If his heart could beat then it will be thundering in his chest because of nervousness and if he still has hormones then his bloodstream will be flooded with adrenaline right now. He doesn''t have a heart so he remained calm and stoic.


    But under hisyer of calm is the coiled impetus for violence. He doesn''t need adrenaline for him to be more than prepared for fight or flight. He is always ready to output 100% of his abilities and more when he needs. He is a perfect engine of destruction ready to be unleashed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The perfect control of transcendental is a peculiar thing. It is a result of the fusion of the mind and body. He doesn''t need to be nervous for his body to be ready for peak performance even though he has a lot to be nervous about. Salvos is not an easy opponent. Any opponent that can harm him is not easy at all.


    Soverick has won all of his fights without his enemies being able to harm him in the slightest. They hardly even touch him much less harm him. Salvos on the other hand is more than capable of killing him. If it will be damaging to his image for him to be chased around by people, then it will be cataclysmic to his image for him to be bested inbat by a single person. He is confident though because he has a n. He just has to wait.


    His patience was soon rewarded. He felt it before Salvos attacked. Then he saw it as soon as Salvos attacked. A massive spring of fire erupted from Salvos within thew matrix. The spring of fire ejected an ocean''s worth of fire into the world. The ocean of fire flowed out of him to drown everything else.


    Salvos looks like a volcano within his vision. He doesn''t need his intuition to tell him that he is in danger. He can see iting even before it was created so he sprung into action immediately. He was gone into thew matrix before Salvos opened his eyes. The world turned into mes soon after.


    Soverick reappeared in less than a second on the slopes of the pyramid in the opposite direction that the attack came from. Even with his anticipation and speed, he was still struck by that attack. His fur is slightly burned but not by much.


    The major problem is that the burn wants to propagate itself and spread further into his body. He can handle and purge it. It would have been worse had he not seen that the attack wasing. It would have also been bad had he remained in thew matrix. He would have more to deal with than some stray effects.


    He purged the errantw of fire from his body quickly while the pyramid protected him from the rest of the attack. Then he waited for his opportunity.


    He can see fire all around him. The left and right side of the pyramid is currently submerged in mes. The mes reach the sky from the ground. The fate of whoever is in the mes can not be pleasurable. An ocean of water can drown someone. The pressure can even crush them to paste. So an ocean of fire is an overkill. It is just cruel.


    The attacksted more than a second. Soverick smiled as the clock ticked by. The world was wrung and twisted into producing mes against its wishes. It made him smile the more it went on.


    Salvos extended the duration of the attack to make sure that Soverick will die. It has been proven that the child of the ne is a tough cookie that needs more than a second of exposure to his attack for him to be killed. He wants to make sure he gets Soverick this time. It will not do for him to fail at killing the child of the ne again especially since he has a direct line of sight to Soverick this time.

 Chapter 685 Concept Of Immutability.

    Soverick began to umte power as he waited. World power and momentum fused with his being. His existence engorged on power to its brim. Golden cracks appeared on his body. He gripped his de tighter in preparation to strike. He waited some more for the opportunity.


    The attacksted a whole 10 seconds. Soverick felt it as the insidious infection of thew matrix receded. The world rxed as if to breathe a sigh of relief. That''s when he struck.


    He activated WRAITH OF DEATH: WORLD BREAKER fully this time. He took a step forward instead of submerging himself into thew matrix immediately. His being split into two. Then he split again as he took another step. Then the four mirages he has be fused and submerged into thew matrix.


    He saw his target as soon as he entered thew matrix. Salvos is a sphere of fire in this world of concepts. He is not an active volcano anymore This sphere of fire isrge and brimming with barely contained power. But it won''t be able to eject fire into the world for the time being.


    There are several other concepts around Soverick. The closest one is the concept of immutability that covers the pyramid he is standing on. This concept of immutability protected the pyramid and also served as a shield for him.


    It is a rule that the pyramids cannot be damaged before they turn into golems. Soverick counted on it or else he would have been roasted by that 10 seconds attack. It is not a coincidence at all. He chose this battlefield for this exact reason.


    Now that he has survived the attack, it is time for him to strike back. It is time for a counterattack. He locked onto therge sphere of fire. It has dimmed. It is an indication that Salvos cannot use his ability soon. Then Soverick shot forward.


    Salvos used a 10 seconds attack. It is the first time in a long time that he used that. He usually used a second or two at most. He has never needed more because those that survived a one-second attack usually sumb to their wounds. Even kings ofw can be killed by a two-second attack. All it needs is a single touch of his mes for their existence to be infiltrated by mes which will cause their consciousness to be crippled. They won''t be able to resist at all with a crippled consciousness.


    He had to use a ten-second attack now despite the short period of weakness just to be sure of defeating the child of the ne. It is practically overkill but he isn''t willing to underestimate the child of the ne at all. It shouldn''t be a problem. He will be ready to go before Soverick respawns.


    His eyes dimmed and closed when he was done. It was then he realized that he couldn''t see the child of the ne anymore. He smiled for the first time in a long while. He had to. It is a momentous asion to have defeated the child of the ne. "Looks like I''ll be the divine..."


    He didn''t get to finish that statement before he cked out. Four unseen attacks struck him. It was like his existence was punctured by 4 spikes. Like a balloon impaled by 4 nails, he burst into pieces. That would have been the end of him if not for the brand on his body. The brand removed him from the arena as soon as possible preventing him from sustaining more damage. Then it infused him with restorative energy to help rebuild his body.


    His body healed in less than a second but he wasn''t paying attention to it. His consciousness awakened still confused and stunned. People don''t just die for no reason. So there must be a reason why he died.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Maybe someone snuck up on me." He reasoned to himself. "No that''s impossible. I would have noticed an ambush with my divine sense."


    He was still wondering what had happened to him for him to be an apparition. His new existence as an apparition allowed him to witness the scene of the child of the ne popping up beside where he died. He realized that Soverick is still alive and it must have something to do with his death.


    He cocked his head in confusion. "What happened? I thought I killed him."


    He can''t see when he uses his attack. His eyes be blinded by the radiance of fire. It is a perfect reflection of what is going on in the world. He can only hope that what he is looking at dies before he closes his eyes. It has never been a problem before. Everyone that he opens his eyes to always disappears. So he thought he had killed the child of the ne when he didn''t see Soverick standing in front of the pyramid anymore.


    He realized what he did wrong soon after. "The pyramid. I see."


    He had rampaged throughout the arena without a care in the world. Golems and people fell to him without much effort. One thing that he noticed was that the pyramid didn''t get destroyed. He knows that the pyramids can''t be destroyed before they turned into golems but it has never mattered because whoever he looks at disappears.


    Somehow Soverick had survived contact with his mes and managed to get behind the pyramid to use it to block the rest of his attacks. Then Soverick somehow crossed the distance of 10 kilometers in a second or so and managed to kill him without him knowing about it.


    "But how?" He asked himself.


    He can''t figure out Soverick did it. The pyramid is veryrge. So Soverick had to move arge distance to hide behind it. Soverick wouldn''t be able to do that while enduring his divine ability. The only possible exnation is that Soverick managed to evade his divine ability.


    Then he shook his head. "It seems my divine ability attack is not unblockable as I once thought." He wondered to himself.

 Chapter 686 I Can See You.

    Salvos hadn''t thought the pyramids significant since no one has ever used them when he targets them. For one, he won''t be attacking someone behind a pyramid since he can''t see them. Whoever he attacks never survives it because his attack is nearly instantaneous.


    A single touch of his attack will infect their existence, slow down their mind and concentration further making them susceptible to the rest of his attack. He had thought anyone he attacked was doomed. It seems he was wrong about that just as he was wrong about his attack being unavoidable.


    Soverick''s eyes locked on to him while he waited.


    "Didn''t expect that did you?" Soverick asked smugly.


    "I''ll just respawn and we''ll go again," Salvos replied indignantly.


    He was thest man standing in his arena too and he has many feats. He can afford a death and more so he hasn''t given up yet. Their fight isn''t over till none of them can respawn.


    Soverick said again. "I''ll just have to kill you again."


    Salvos shot back, "Not if I kill you first."


    "You can''t kill me when I am this close to you. You''re doomed."


    Salvos was about to retort when he realized something odd. He ismunicating with Soverick. He shouldn''t bemunicating with Soverick or anybody. He is an apparition right now. He can see and hear the world but he can''t interact with the world in any way and those on the other side can''t interact with him. Soverick shouldn''t even be able to see him much lessmunicate with him.


    ¡¤?¦Èm Gears shifted in his head quickly. Realization dawned on him. Then he looked at Soverick again. He saw the smug look on the child of the ne and he had to reassess Soverick again.


    "What is your divine ability?" He asked curiously.


    "I can see you." That is what Soverick said.


    Salvos felt fear as those four eyes focused on him. They are actually staring directly at him. Soverick isn''t just looking at a random spot as he thought. He won''t back down because of fear though. His face grew cold and his eye narrowed. His eyes zed into life as soon as 10 seconds passed after hisst attack. He became ready to fight again.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He said with confidence, "We will just have to see if I am really doomed or not."


    His voice contained an emotion for the first time since they started talking. He thought the oue of their fight is set in stone. He would attack and Soverick would die. After all, no matter how special Soverick is, he can''t survive a 10-second attack.


    He was right about that but the fight didn''t go his way. Soverick avoided the majority of the 10-second attack by using the environment. It is not fair to him and he feels cheated. He wanted to beat Soverick so badly but he has been cheated out of his victory.


    Soverick nodded and waited for him to respawn. Salvos respawned a minute after his death. He respawned less than a meter away from Soverick. His eyes were already opened before he was respawned so the world turned into mes as soon as he returned to it.


    He died immediately after so the mes died down and the world returned to peace again. Soverick was ready too. He didn''t have to activate the wraith of the world with them being this close. One swift swing of his de decapitated the hell-bringer. The pain of thew of fire burning him didn''t hinder him in any way.


    Salvos was saved from further damage by bing an apparition again. He has to admit that he is doomed as long as Soverick stays close to him. Soverick was damaged by that attack. The full brunt of the attack fell on him for a split second. He can see the child of the ne healing the burns both internal and external without flinching.


    Soverick has shrunken into a burnt and ck husk of his previous self. So he managed to damage Soverick but Soverick endured the pain and beheaded him. His only hope is to respawn faster than Soverick can heal.


    Unfortunately for him, 1 minute is more than enough time for Soverick to heal. Soverick can see him and Soverick can speak to him. It also seems that Soverick can determine exactly when he decides to respawn. As long as Soverick stays close to him, he will always be able to decapitate him again and again. So yes, he is doomed.


    Soverick asked with a grin that showed all his teeth, "What do you think?"


    He has Salvos checkmated. Salvos has numerous weaknesses whenpared to him but the most important two are what Soverick used to beat him. The first weakness is not really a weakness but more of a trait. It is that Salvos'' attack is not instantaneous. His eyes induce the invocation of thew of fire in the things he sees at the speed of light and the changes ur starting with the things close to him first and then it spreads out.


    The speed of light is very fast but the problem here is that his attack takes time to induce thew of fire. Objects close to Salvos must change first before the object farther away does. So there''s a slight dy between the changes. The speed of light is very fast so this dy is not noticeable in short distances.


    Whatever he sees doesn''t just go up in mes, the effect spreads outward from him at a speed much slower than the speed of light. So while the attack reaches everything almost instantaneously, its effect is dyed. Heavier and more durable objects with moreplex concepts take more time to bepelled. But in the short term, the dy is too short to be noticeable.


    So he decided to focus on the dy in the effect of his attack and the only thing that can give him enough dy are the pyramids.

 Chapter 687 The Situation Fits.

    The concept of immutability on the pyramids prevents them from being changed by any attack including Salvos''s powerful divine ability. This stall in the process increases the dy time for the divine ability indefinitely and will thus protect whatever is behind them.


    Soverick just has to be able to anticipate when the attack wille so that he won''t be overwhelmed by the divine ability. That is something easy for him to do. He can literally see the attack brewing before it is activated. So he was able to run and hide in time.


    The second weakness that Salvos has is that he must rest his eyes for every second that his eyes are open. He can''t keep his ability constantly activated. His eyes need to cool down after each use creating a window of opportunity for him to be approached.


    The problem is that the range of his attack is veryrge and people can''t survive long exposure to the gaze of his attack. So Soverick needed enough time to close in on him. 3 seconds would have been more than enough.


    If his n hadn''t worked then Soverick would have had to use his power as the child of the ne to survive the divine attack and get close to Salvos. Salvos will be done for as long as he gets close enough to him. He is faster and stronger. Salvos couldn''t defend the de strike because it cut him as soon as he respawned. There''s no escaping for the hell-bringer now.


    Salvos knows that but he replied. "Anything can still happen. I just have to be patient."


    He refused to admit defeat. Yes, he is doomed right now. But that''s as long as Soverick is next to him. Anything can happen to change that. One such thing is the struggle for the ownership of the divine crown. It is currently in Soverick''s hands. Anyone cane up anytime to challenge him for it. And by the looks of things, that is highly likely to happen.


    Soverick has a lot of enemies after all. In fact, he is literally surrounded by them. So Soverick will have to make a decision between staying here and fending off those that want the divine crown. Salvos believes that he just has to be patient and he will get his due.


    Soverick nodded as he had expected that answer. "It doesn''t matter what will happen. The truth is that I killed you twice in a row already. Even if I am distracted in the future, anything you achieve will be with the aid of someone else. It is undisputed that you can''t beat me on your own."


    Salvos shot back. "And neither can you. You used the pyramid against me."


    "I used the environment. It is not cheating. It is outsmarting the enemy" Soverick corrected.


    Salvos didn''t back down. "That''s just semantics. I will also wait for an opportunity toe from the environment."


    He should have defeated Soverick if not for the initial advantage that Soverick gained by using the pyramid. So he will also wait for an advantage offered to him by the environment. He has never relied on the environment before but if Soverick can use external objects to his advantage so can he.


    Soverick sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. "Alright. I hope this works out. Salvini said you owe her. She said I should tell you that the password is X1av7-ujk3+l9ei"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Salvos was stunned. "Really?" He asked in surprise.


    "Really."


    "How can I be sure you''re not lying? For all I know, you might have used your eyes to help you determine the secret." He asked skeptically.


    Soverick shrugged. "She said to tell you that the situation fits."


    Salvos thought about it. He thought very hard about thepetition but he didn''t find anything odd about it. So he said to Soverick, "Fine then. You win. I''ll leave you to it."


    He had to admit that the secret code is valid. The security question also convinced him. If he had sensed anything odd about thepetition then he would have refused to ept the code or defeat. It will mean that Soverick got the code somewhere else not from Salvini. But the code is valid since he can''t figure out anything odd about thepetition. He can trust Salvini to be more perceptive than him in determining if the situation is serious or not, odd or not. So he will back down for now. It is because "the situation fits."


    As descendants of sages, they have different codes for various scenarios. It is something like a privatenguage between them but of a higher significance. The three of them aren''t ordinary people.


    They might not look like much but they are the current rulers of the empire of sages. They have advisers but the point is that they hold important positions in the ne and there mighte a time when their actions and decisions will have arge consequence on the fate of the Virut ne. This moment is one of them.


    In a way, Soverick has invoked a truce by using one of their codes. Salvos is to stand down for a greater purpose. He doesn''t know what that purpose is since he can''t see the future as Salvini can but he still decided to ept defeat because Soverick actually defeated him and he is currently doomed. Dragging the fight will waste time and power that will be better used if there is a greater purpose at y here.


    If he had won their fight, he wouldn''t have backed down at all. He will continue until Soverick is finished. But for now, he will back down and pick up their fight another time.


    "Swear it." Soverick insisted.


    Salvos made the Oath, "I swear it on my Origin that I will not attack you or antagonize you intentionally for the rest of this challenge if you do not attack me or antagonize me for the rest of this challenge."

 Chapter 688 The Warning.

    Salvos didn''t go back on his word. His eyes remained closed after he respawned. He snorted and turned away from Soverick. He felt disrespected that Soverick wouldn''t rx even after he swore an oath. Swearing on your Origin is the harshest and strictest oath that you can swear. It is unbreakable. Breaking the oath will lead to the breaking of your Origin.


    It is so severe that Origin gods will die immediately and never resurrect if they break that kind of oath. Yet Soverick is still looking at him with calm wariness. He can see it in the child of the ne''s posture that he can attack at the drop of a hat.


    He didn''t say anything though. He promised not to antagonize Soverick so he will leave calmly with as much self-respect as a defeated man can muster. At least, now he can say that their fight had not officially ended and his defeat is not set in stone.


    Soverick watched him go while still on alert. He is ready to move as soon as something suspicious happens. What he was afraid of happened. Salvos turned to him so he bolted forward. They were still close enough for a physical attack so he used his superior speed to reach him. He braced himself against the torrent of fire that Salvos''s eyes produce but it didn''te. His de stopped at Salvos''s neck when he saw the smirk on his face.


    "Don''t test me," Soverick growled at the smirking idiot. "Or you might just regret it."


    He was very close to beheading Salvos. If not for the absence of that glow in his eyes or the telltale signs of the activation of the divine ability, he wouldn''t have stopped at all.


    Salvos grinned. "Just wanted to see how quick you are."


    Then his face grew serious. He said to Soverick. "It seems you are working hand in hand with Salvini. Note that I said "It seems you are" and not "You are". It is because everything is not what it seems with Salvini. The only thing that is certain with Salvini is that she will do what''s best for the ne and what is best for her, not what''s best for you. So you should watch your back."


    Soverick withdrew his de. "Thanks."


    "You''re wee. I have lived enough with her to know that she can sacrifice anyone to achieve her aim. You are not above that. I wouldn''t want my rival to suffer ridicule now. Only I should ridicule you."


    Then he waved goodbye before leaving. Soverick also returned to his pyramid. He did a lot of thinking along the way.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He is suspicious of Salvini but he has to admit that he is grateful for Salvini''s tip. It prevented the worst of a full-blown sh between him and Salvos. A sh between them without external aid is sure to lead to his victory but he will have to use powers and abilities that he would prefer to keep hidden.


    Salvini''s tip saved him from going all out on Salvos and wasting some of his respawn chances. Salvos is the only one that can kill him. Even if he brings everything he has to bear, there is still a chance of death because Salvos'' attack cannot be dodged. You have to survive it. If he were not so suppressed then things might be different but he is. The two of them can''t be fighting when there''s a third enemy. So it is smart to avoid wasting his time and powers on Salvini.


    It is not that he suspects a third enemy who might take advantage of their fight. He knows with full certainty that there''s a third enemy who intends to take advantage of any weakness that he disys and he also knows who the person is. The person has not been in his arena previously but that has changed now that everyone is in the same arena.


    He knows that they are nning something big for him. He saw traces of it around the arena and around the justice nutjobs. Someone is recruiting people en masse to deal with him so he is grateful that his fight with Salvos ended without too much trouble. He just doesn''t trust Salvini yet. Even her brother said he shouldn''t trust her.


    He knows his enemy and he knows their aim but he doesn''t know why Salvini is helping him or what her aim is. He saw what Salvini did and how she defeated Litori and the others so he knows that it is folly to trust Salvini. It doesn''t help that his enemy is very simr to Salvini. They are both scheming female battle sages.


    It is also suspicious that Salvini told him not to go and hunt his enemies. She ims that going after the hidden enemy to disrupt their n will be time-consuming and distract him from securing the divine crown. The reason she gave is correct and sounds reasonable.


    It seems like she is really helping him since her message has been useful so far. But he will wait until she makes do with the rest of her promise before he dares to make up his mind about her. For now, he will wait for the inevitable sh.


    Several situations shed in his mind about the uing events. It might just turn out that he has been yed all along and that it would have been better for him to go all out to destroy Salvos right now. Salvos is terrifying on his own. He and Salvini working together is a threat that can surely end him.


    Salvos is stubborn and innately proud. He came to fight Soverick and failed. Soverick might just have convinced him to work together with Salvini with the code he gave. After all, he doesn''t know what the code means. Salvini didn''t tell him what it means in her message. He can''t even trust her if she told him the meaning.


    "I hope I won''t regret this." He thought to himself.

 Chapter 689 Inevitable Clash.

    Salvos only promised not to harm or antagonize him intentionally. So it is very possible that Salvos will still antagonize him. Soverick doesn''t know if he made a mistake or not by letting Salvos go. It is not a good feeling. There is so much that he will lose if things go wrong.


    "Legion cannot continue forward in blindness. Something must change or we will walk into a wall. Or worse we will walk into a trap. We must gain sight so that what happened with Zerkon and Zernon will not happen again." He said to every clone of Legion.


    He has said it before but he is emphasizing it again because it is very important. They began discussing a way to fix this problem of their''s. Brute strength is not enough. There''s a need for information to make the best possible decisions. Or Legion will be toyed with the same way he toys with his enemies because of the advantage of his sight.


    He reached the pyramid in seconds. Then he leaped to its top and took the crown. Next, he sat down to meditate. He has to be ready for whatever wille. The crowd of people that used to surround the pir scattered when almost half of them were doused in all-consuming mes. They stayed away for a while before they returned to besiege him.


    A lot more people came as time went by. At first, Soverick wasn''t worried. Then the number of people reached more than a million. He is just one person. If all of these people attack him then he will have a lot of trouble on his hands. Fortunately, he knows that not all of them are his enemies. Some of them came here to cheer him on or to assist him. The time for that wille. For now, both his enemies and his allies are content with staying back and watching.


    People were trickling into the barricade and adding themselves to it little by little. There is the asional group but nothing more than 100. Most of the people here are clueless about what is toe. The ones that know are probably his enemies. The rest of the clueless people will divide and show their allegiance when the timees. Therge groups won''te until it is time to fight. Their numbers will probably reach two million by then.


    He saw all of these happen and he sighed. "It would have happened one way or the other."


    His situation is not that serious. He won''t fight all of the people surrounding him. But most of them have been turned against him by his enemy. They have used his closed-off personality to turn people against him.


    He is not a social person and he has made a lot of enemies. It is only proper that it wille to bite him one day. But even if he were a popr person, what is about to happen will still happen. They will just find another reason to antagonize him. Today is inevitable. Thepetition has given his enemies an opportunity that they can''t let pass them by.


    He realized that he might fall today. He doesn''t consider himself infallible and unbeatable. A million is a veryrge number to fight. A person might not be able to defeat him but a million can. Even if he has the sin of pride and underestimates people, he is not so foolish as to underestimate 1 million people.


    But he didn''t feel despair. They surrounded him like a dam made of mountains. He looked at the barricade of people with the determination of one that wants to break mountains.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "If I will fall today. Then I will show them what it takes to put me down."


    They will certainly pay a heavy price if they intend to kill him. He will make sure that if he is to fall, he will not fall dishonorably. Their aim to discredit him won''t work. He will use the boost his title as child of the ne can grant him if he has to. And he will bring down damnation on all of his enemies.


    The firstrge group soon came. They are more than 100 thousand in number. It is not a single army but one formed by a coalition ofrge armies. They have numerous crown bearers wearing the crowns of kings and others but none of them are wearing Emperor crowns.


    One other peculiar thing about them is that they do not look like an unruly crowd of people. They are formed into ranks. They maintained their formation as they marched uniformly. It made them look like a real army.


    They came marching forward with an unstoppable momentum towards Soverick. The barricade of people around the pyramid split apart to let them pass. If they don''t make way for the army then they will be overrun and trampled upon by the soldiers. So the army formed a wedge of power through the barricade as they made their way to his pyramid. They didn''t stop at the front of the barricade like the others. They continued marching forward until they reached the pyramid.


    The person at the head of the group shouted to him. "Permission toe aboard?"


    Soverick shook his head at her antics. He replied. "Granted."


    Salvini and a small detachment from the group ascended the pyramid. Soverick stood up to them. This would be the moment of truth. He will get to find out if he made a bad decision in trusting Salvini. Things can still go wrongter on but this is the most defining moment. It will determine quickly if he has been deceived.


    All of them stopped 2 meters down from him. He looked at them and realized that they are exactly 100 in number. Some of them are the ones that Salvini defeated during the second challenge for her to acquire the position of thest man standing which she then gave to him. Litori is also among them. She is pointedly avoiding looking at him.

 Chapter 690 Trust The Results.

    He said to Salvini, "I did as you asked. I didn''t go after the trouble maker and I spared your brother. I also stayed here at the pyramid. I hope for your sake that you have prepared what you promised. I will not be taken for a fool."


    She sighed before replying. "Don''t be like that Soverick. I am helping you. Trust me."


    "I find that very hard to believe." He said to her.


    "Suit yourself. Don''t trust me. But you can at least trust the results. You didn''t chase after the troublemaker. That would have wasted your time and the divine crown might have slipped out of your grasp by then. I know for certain that she went in the opposite direction of the crown. It would have been a waste of time."


    "And don''t act like sparing my brother was you doing me a favor. I helped you not to waste your resources. You would have needed to activate your title to defend against his mes and if my knowledge is right, the power of the child of the ne ces a heavy burden on you. It would have also been a waste for you to fight him until one of you can''t respawn anymore."


    She finished with a smile, "As you can see, I am helping to make things more efficient for you."


    She makes a good point but Soverick refused to be swayed so easily. His eyes remained cold and calcting as he scanned her and her escort.


    ¡¤?¦Èm "We will see about that. Just know that I will hunt you down if you take advantage of me." He promised her. "I will hunt you to the end of the world. Nothing and no one will stop me from delivering retribution upon you."


    She said to him, "Do you know that you look very handsome when you''re trying to be menacing? Your good looks are making it difficult for me to take your threat seriously."


    He changed the subject, "What''s next?"


    She rolled her eyes at him before replying, "What''s next is that I will help you ovee the next obstacle on your path. You need my help to..."


    He cut her off. "I don''t need your help. I can do that by myself."


    He might fail and be overwhelmed but he doesn''t need her help. He isn''t so helpless that he needs her help. If he were helpless then he would ask Legion-1 for help and use his domain to crush these people. If he were pushed to the brink he can get divine life energy and heal himself.


    He also has other abilities that he is not willing to use. The truth is he is far from helpless but he won''t use all his powers here unless he absolutely needs to in order to get keep the divine crown. He can''t use the full repertoire of his abilities in a world fragment made by a world god in the middle of nowhere with no way for him to escape from said world god if it decides to break its Oath to protect him.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Salvini replied sarcastically, "I am sure you can do everything yourself. But a leader shouldn''t do everything on their own. So stop being difficult and let me finish. As I promised. I will provide you with Lieutenants as long as you are in control of the divine crown."


    She gave him the spot of thest man standing as a gift. It is a show of allegiance if she is to be believed. She left a message written in mana on the Zeroth ring in the second challenge. The message contained some information, instructions, and a n for action for the third challenge.


    What made him decide to join hands with her is that she has knowledge about the troublemaker that has been stirring enemies against him in the background.


    That knowledge also made him very suspicious of her. He knows that the troublemaker is very much like Salvini so her having that knowledge might mean that she is the troublemaker itself. Soverick decided that either way, he wants to have her within his sights. It is to keep his friends close and keep his enemies closer.


    "Are these your offering?" He gestured to the 100 of them and asked.


    "Yes. They will serve you well." She answered.


    He spared them a nce. In light of his suspicion, her escort of 100 might be an ambush team. The multitude of people that formed the barricade might be a distraction to fool him so that she can bring a group of 100 elites close enough to him.


    It is a good n too. 100 elites that will all attack at once will catch him off guard and might sessfully overwhelm him. Even if they fail, there are still the 2 million people surrounding him. He has been practically cornered.


    "How did you convince them? I don''t think they are so devoted to me that they will be willing to subordinate themselves to me."


    She shrugged. "Let''s just say that I have a talent for persuasion."


    He knows the answer already. He asked her to see if there was something that he is missing. He can see it in the mana stuck to their figure. The event is also very recent so it is vivid and easy to see. Salvini went around the arena convincing people to join her cause either by persuading them through words or through a beating.


    It was difficult at first but it became easier as she umted arge group. More people joined her cause when they saw the number of people on her side. It also helped that she knew which ones could be persuaded and how to persuade them.


    The leaders of the groups followed her and brought their faction along until she formed this group 100 thousandrge. He also saw that some of them actually liked him. Most of them are neutral about him. They came for the benefit of following him like Litori who is just for the power that she will get as his subordinate. If not for that power, then she doesn''t want to be anywhere near him.

 Chapter 691 New Lieutenants.

    There are people that hate him among these 100. But they are smart enough to let go of their hatred for actual benefits. The subordinates of the divine crown will get assistance from the world equal to that of the Emperor crown. Such a power is very tempting.


    That''s why these people will rather have their subordinates wear the crown of kings that they acquired. They chose to be his Lieutenants instead. It is an optimal way to acquire the power of Emperors since there are only two Emperor crowns.


    So these people aren''t here to do him a favor. They are here to acquire a power that they can''t acquire another way. The reason that they are here has more to do with their GREED than with her persuasive talent. But it cannot be denied that she is instrumental in bringing them here.


    Salvini has amassed a worthy group. They are at least very strong with many of them being designated kings. There doesn''t seem to be anything fishy even after a thorough inspection but he is still skeptical until everything is done. Even then he will still watch his back. An unwatched back is a good target for stabbing.


    "So what do you think? Are they enough?" She asked him.


    He replied, "They are enough. I ept your offering and I offer you the positions of my lieutenant in exchange."


    She smiled brightly and said, "We ept."


    Then she stepped closer to him. He offered her the crown. He held it out to her while he kept his hand on his de and ready. Salvini is not supposed to take the crown. She is to touch it and make the oath to be his lieutenant. Then she is to step away and let the next person take the oath.


    But he held on to the crown tightly and strengthened his grip on his de as he offered it to her. Anything can go wrong now and he is ready for it. He didn''t let it show in his demeanor. He remained calm and ready to inflict immense violence when needed.


    She came forward and gripped the crown. The two of them held it as she swore. "I Swear to be the lieutenant of the divine crown. I shall protect its wielder from harm to the best of my abilities and execute their will to the best of my abilities."


    Then she let go of the crown and stepped aside for the next person. He didn''t sigh in relief or rx. There are still 99 more people to go. That''s 99 more chances for something to go wrong. If there is a 1% chance of something going wrong then something will go wrong. So he remained very vignt as they came forward.


    Nothing went wrong. They stepped forward one by one and made the oath then they stepped aside. It was all very uneventful. Even then he didn''t rx around them. Things seem to be going too well for now and the other shoe is bound to fall anytime soon.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He is right to worry. The fact that they swore the Oath doesn''t mean he is safe from them. The oath ensures that if he will be betrayed then it won''t be outright. His lieutenants will try to protect the wielder of the crown to the best of their abilities. What''s important to notice here is that they didn''t swear allegiance to him. The thing they swore allegiance to is the divine crown.


    They swore to be the lieutenant of the divine crown. The crown is a separate entity and the wielder of the crown can be anybody. Their position as lieutenants will be safe if another person wields the crown unless that person changes it. So he is notpletely safe.


    He understands his precarious situation just as he understands that this is the best that he can get. Most of them don''t know him personally and have no reason to be loyal to him. They came for benefits so he doesn''t have many expectations from them.


    It wouldn''t even matter even if they swear allegiance to him directly. He is still going to be skeptical about everything as long as Salvini is involved. Apparently, she only cares about the ne because of her bloodline or about herself. He doesn''t see how her actions her helping the ne so she must be after something else, something more personal that he can''t figure out yet. It can''t be because of her affection for him so it is probably something sinister.


    Either way, he will use her as a tool and wouldn''t let down his guard for a moment. If he views her as a dangerous tool then he can work with her. He just has to be careful with her as one will be careful with a dangerous tool like a knife or a sword.


    "It''s time for you to show me what you can do. Get rid of the golems." He said to his Lieutenants as he descended the pyramid with the crown on his head.


    They are to execute his will and right now he wishes for them to get rid of the golems before the major fighting starts. He doesn''t want the golems to distract him while they fight.


    "If you say so, boss," Salvini replied. Then she turned to the rest and shouted, "You heard the boss. Get rid of the golems."


    She rushed down to catch up to him. The two of them walked down in silence for a while. The pyramid began to rumble as soon as he stepped off of it. He didn''t turn back to face the angry golems that the pyramid as be. He hasckeys to deal with them. It is a much better sight than the child of the ne struggling with the golems himself.


    The group of 100 thousand which has now be his army parted and created a path for him to pass. He caught looks of awe and worship on some of their faces as he passed by. No matter their feelings towards him, he is a legend made flesh and they all respect him if only for his prowess. The strong will always be respected or at least feared.

 Chapter 692 Confession.

    Then the army joined together behind him after he passed by. They turned to face the golems. His lieutenants led their soldiers to fight the golems. He reached the end of his army and turned towards the multitude of people waiting by the edge. He stayed quiet and chose to sense everything going on around him.


    "What are you thinking about?" Salvini asked him.


    She seems cheerful which is an anomaly in and of itself in this situation. This is a serious situation. He for sure can''t be cheerful when someone is out there seeking to discredit the title of the child of the ne. This entire thing is an endeavor to make him look bad. They want to prove that he is nothing special and that he can be defeated. It will reduce his hold on the denizens of the Virut ne and make it difficult for him to gain support if the image of the child of the ne is besmirched.


    The title of the child of the ne is sacred. It is a position thates with honor and power. Most of that poweres from honor. The ne will empower him more if the people of the ne have faith in him. Their honores with faith.


    Salvini would have certainly failed to bring her group here to serve him if he wasn''t the child of the ne and if he wasn''t a sage. Power alone will not be enough to make 100 talented peoplee to subordinate themselves to him. They will rather decide to take the crown from him if they find him unworthy. But his image tempered their Greed and allowed for their cooperation.


    He will lose a lot of his power as the child of the ne if his prestige is tarnished. It is that prestige that the troublemaker is targeting. People would rather fight him or disagree with him rather than follow him.


    His prestige is at its highest right now. He is the child of the ne and he is a sage. He is untouchable but his prestige isn''t. His prestige is both his strength and his weakness. Even though it is ephemeral, it can be targeted. The troublemaker just needs to show that he is not perfect, all-powerful, or infallible. He is unbreakable but public opinion isn''t.


    He answered without looking at her. "I am thinking if I can fight everyone here on my own."


    He just has to fall once for his image to take a hit. What they need is a single defeat either by a million people or one person for them to create a weakness in his prestige. So yes, this situation is too serious to be cheerful.


    He also can''t be cheerful when the person beside him can betray him any moment now. His enemies and his supposed allies might even be working together. He has to be prepared for the worst. So he is thinking about his chances of facing everyone including his allies at once.


    Salvini shook her head and said with slight pain in her voice, "You still don''t trust me. Can''t you at least trust my affection for you? The love of a woman is strong and potent. It can ovee all things. I might just be doing this so that my lover won''t look bad. The simplest exnation is probably the correct exnation. I love you so I care for you."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He was quick to offer a rebuttal, "I am not your lover. Even if I am, that doesn''t mean I am safe from your schemes. Love goes hand in hand with betrayal."


    She looked deeply into his eyes as she said, "Not everything is as it seems. Thispetition is more than it seems."


    "I know that thispetition is not as it seems." He said to her with a re. "I might not know what you are after, but I am not ignorant of that much."


    He knows that there''s something up with thepetition but he doesn''t know what exactly is going on. He just knows that the first sage baited him here and wants him to win it. He is like a hired goon or something. He also knows the realm lord has something to do with thispetition.


    The fact that Salvini also knows that something is up about thepetition didn''t make him trust her. It did the opposite. Now he is even more suspicious of her. After all, she was the one that gave him the 6 sheets of paper that baited him. She started all of these. Maybe she is setting him up.


    They remained in silence for a while. Then Salvini sighed. "This is so difficult to do. I can''t use my future vision anytime it is rted to you so it is difficult for me to convince you since I can''t predict your reaction to me. This is why I like you. You make our moments together feel real and special. I want to be always around you."


    He didn''t say anything. He doesn''t have anything to say to her confession so he won''t say anything. The fact that she expressed interest in him doesn''t mean that he should reciprocate or even acknowledge it. Her confession might just be a way to dull his suspicion of her. It won''t work on him. She isn''t done anyway.


    "Anyways. What I am trying to say is that you might not be able to trust me but you can trust your intuition as the child of the ne. You will know that what I am doing is for the good of the ne once you invoke the power of your title."


    He grunted and said, "We''ll see."


    He hasn''t used the boost from his title ever since he became the child of the ne but people have been asking him to use it recently. First, it was Jarkon, then Salvini. She has mentioned the boost twice now. There must be something going on and it is probably rted to his title.

 Chapter 693 Looking Silly.

    Soverick''s eyes narrowed as thoughts whirled through his head. He has noticed a pattern. It is little at best. It can be considered as grasping at straws but it is something. Jarkon asked him to use his title to kill him. Salvini also did the same when it became just the two of them.


    It is absurd but it is almost as if she wants him to use his title. That makes him highly suspicious. He knows that something can be gained when he uses his title. But she shouldn''t be able to gain it in thepetition. After all, he can''t die in thispetition.


    That didn''t put him at peace though. Because if anyone can pull something impossible off, it might be Salvini. He himself has managed to kill apetitor despite the respawn and resurrection mechanism of the Arena. It will be an underestimation of Salvini to think she can''t pull it off somehow.


    He asked her, "What is it like to use the title of the child of the ne?"


    She winked at him and replied, "You''ll see."


    "If you''re not going to tell me then say so. Trying to y tricks on me won''t work. It only makes you look silly."


    "I gave you an answer." She argued.


    He said coldly without looking at her. "It is just not the answer that I wanted. You said you will be useful to me. You said you wanted to help me. Was that all a lie?"


    She insisted, "I am trying my best. I have tried my best. But some things can''t be done."


    He didn''t say anything anymore. He kept looking around him. He is looking at everything and anyone but not her.


    "I guess I should leave." She said quietly.


    He maintained his silence. She nodded and made to leave his side but then stopped and turned to him again.


    "You know what. You have some me for all of this. This wouldn''t have been so difficult if not for what you did." She said as she gestured to their surrounding.


    "I know."


    That surprised her. "You do?"


    He replied still focused on the horizon. "Yes, I do know. I am not like you people with the bloodline of the sages. I may not be able to see the future but I can see well into the past so I know how all of this happened and I know what part I yed in letting it happen."


    She moved closer to him and asked. "Would you have done otherwise?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "No. I would have killed all those people again if only to spite them. The fact that I know what they were nning doesn''t mean that I have to restrict my actions. It just means that I can beat them in their own game."


    "So you do not regret it by a little bit?"


    That question made him pause before he answered. "I do regret it. At that time, I didn''t know that thispetition will be held. If I had known then I wouldn''t have caused the cmity of the child of the ne. Thispetition gave them an opportunity that wouldn''t cost them their lives to try and put me down."


    He paused and sighed before continuing. "It doesn''t matter anyway. From what I know, there''s nothing I could have done to curb them. They would havee after me anyways. Thispetition just granted them an opportunity and they intend to capitalize heavily on my action to give themselves an advantage."


    "It is good that you are not clueless."


    Her words made him re at her but she wasn''t deterred.


    "You can think of the bright side of things. If you achieve a spectacr victory here then it will only empower you. I know that you can eke out a victory on your own but that isn''t good enough. That''s why I am here. I will help you to achieve a spectacr victory. Then you can turn your situation around and disarm the opposition."


    This current adversary that he is about to fight began their work a long time before thispetition. Actually, their enmity started even before he was born. Any child of the ne would have faced them just like the first sage faced them.


    It is an hatred older than him. Nothing he could have done would have stopped them from being enemies. His action of killing all those people when they came to challenge him didn''t cause the problem. It only granted them ammunition in gathering supporters for their cause.


    Salvini is right about the opportunity that this problem is granting him. They aim to besmirch him but if he turns the table on them and defeats them soundly then it works in his favor. He just doesn''t know what''s in it for her. Those with the bloodline of the sages always put the ne first. They will always do what''s good for the ne. But that doesn''t mean that they can''t have selfish reasons for it.


    Sages are known to have ns within ns. There''s no reason why they can''t have two or more aims for their ns. So Salvini might have a selfish reason. He doubts that bing a lieutenant for the divine crown is reward enough for her helping him.


    Sure, his lieutenants will have the same world empowerment as the emperor crowns in the next challenge but Salvini can get an emperor crown if she wants and she can even have her own lieutenants. So what does she really want by helping him?


    He is already in one tussle with the first sage. Salvini is an extra burden he can do without. But she stuck to him and offered to help him. She also expects him to believe her actions to be selfless simply because she said it is good for the ne.


    He let his thoughts stew in his head for several moments.


    Then he said suddenly, "I have a question for you. I am sure you have the answer to it and that you can answer me if you want."


    It is a question that he has wanted to ask her right from the moment he saw her message.

 Chapter 694 Looking Silly Is Good.

    He has a lot of questions that he has wanted to ask her ever since he saw her message. But this question is the most important one that he can get an answer to.


    "I don''t like where this is going."


    He continued with his inquiry despite her reluctance. "How long have you been pretending not to know about my divine ability?"


    Her reply wasughter. She covered her mouth andughed. He nodded to himself. Her reaction is answer enough for him. She isughing because she found something funny. It is probably his ignorance that is making herugh.


    He should have known that his divine ability is not secret anymore when she brought 6 sheets of paper at that meeting to invite him. She obviously prepared for his ability to see the past in mana. She just prepared badly so it looks like she didn''t know.


    He thought the 6 sheets were a coincidence since she had more sheets and other methods prepared. But now he knows that it was not a coincidence that he didn''t see anything important about her when he inspected her past during that meeting.


    All he saw was the hours that she spent working on a way to look mysterious. He saw thousands of sheets of paper and many more. They conveniently luded every other thing about her recent past without rousing his suspicion.


    He thought to himself, "She is a threat to be eliminated."


    Her ipetence fooled him. She made herself look foolish so that she will be underestimated. She is doing the same thing right now. One might call ady in love pinning after someone that will never return her love to be foolish. But it might be concealing something else that she doesn''t want him to see.


    He said she was acting silly earlier. Maybe that''s what she wants him to believe of her. He has seen how dangerous she is to others. The ending of the second challenge is more than enough proof of her cunning and ruthlessness. He saw it and even experienced it. But this is the first time that he fully realized how dangerous she is to him.


    It is hrious that he has been very suspicious about her right from the start. And yet, this still happened. The worst part is that it happened in the past which is supposed to be his forte. But he remained blind to it.


    He was undecided before about her. But now he is certain of what he wants to do to her as soon as he gets the chance.


    "Don''t be so gloomy. It was a harmless prank. Don''t you find it funny?"


    He agreed with her. "It is funny."


    No matter his grievance about being fooled, it is true that it is funny. He wouldugh were he not the butt of the joke.


    "You really think so?" She asked excitedly. "I knew you will see the fun side of it. That''s why we are so perfect for each other."


    "Hmmm." Is all he said.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    They returned to silence again. Only the sounds of his army fighting the golems behind him could be heard. There''s also the sound of the movement of feet as more people came to join the barricade. A small group of 100 suddenly appeared and blended stealthily into the barricade.


    The 100 of them are too small to be noticeable. Their actions would have been ignored too because of their small number. Things didn''t end there. The group began to change the barricade into a formation. They scattered amidst the people and directed them. The changes didn''t escape his notice. He noticed the movement and the arrangement of the barricade into an army. It seems the fight will start soon.


    He asked Salvini a question that has been bothering him. "Do you know what is going to happen in thispetition?"


    She tilted her head as she considered his question. "Sort of. I didn''t know at first, but I have been getting glimpses of the future."


    "What do you think thispetition is for?"


    She shook her head. "It has different and numerous purposes. Thispetition aims to achieve a lot of things. Which one do you mean?"


    "You''re not going to give me the answer I want will you?"


    "No, I won''t. I''ll get into a lot of trouble if I do. That is unless you be my partner. Partners aren''t supposed to keep secrets from each other so it is understandable that I tell you. So what do say, will you be my partner?"


    "I''ll pass." He replied without thinking about it.


    "Think about all the good things we can do together. Think about our kids. They will be able to see the future and the past. They will be perfect."


    He snorted in disdain. "Why will having perfect kids make me decide to be your partner?"


    "For two reasons. One, the process of making the kids will be very pleasurable. Trust me on that. As for the second reason, our kids will create a wonderful legacy for us."


    "I''ll pass." He rejected her again. Her words didn''t convince him.


    At this point, nothing can convince him to be so foolish as to entertain any romantic thoughts with Salvini. He will have to be drugged and mentally rendered invalid before it will happen. Unfortunately, that wouldn''t work either. Legion-7 won''t allow it. And there are other clones of Legion that won''t stand by and watch even if Legion-7 fails.


    He is more concerned about his own legacy and pursuing his own perfection, not the perfection of his children. He knows that the ability to see the past, present, and future will be a useful ability. He doesn''t need her to tell him that. He knows it and he already has a n to fix that issue in himself. That n doesn''t need her to be his partner.


    In fact, he had several ns for it. One of those ns was to hunt her and use her eyes to build an artifact that will enable him to see the future. But he discarded that n. He is not the first one toe up with a n to hurt the lineage of sages and it has never worked.

 Chapter 695 The Child Of The Plane 1

    You can''t ambush children of the sages. If the kids can''t see iting, their parents will surely will. Considering that their parents are part of the racial council with the power of world gods and the children are leaders of one of the three sanctioned empires in the ne, it will be a very bad idea to try and kidnap them. Practically nothing can save him from that folly. So he has decided to go with a better alternative. He doesn''t need her for his n.But that doesn''t mean he won''t try to kill her if he can get away with it.


    "Am I not good enough for you? Is that why you don''t want to be my partner?" She asked him.


    He ignored the question.


    "Suit yourself then." She said with a scoff. "I hope you''re ready. It is about to start."


    "I can see that."


    He can truly see it starting. Severalrge groups began to arrive all of a sudden. They arrived from different directions and separately to throw him off. His troublemaker is among one of the groups and she is hoping that he won''t be able to pinpoint her among the mass of people. She thought wrong.


    He knows about her and what she has been doing even before he met her. She appearing here is just putting a face to the image he has in his mind. It has also made her a physical entity that he can hurt.


    He didn''t jump to conclusions though. She might be a decoy. Someone meant to throw him off. He is right to be careful since he knows that she isn''t the real problem. There is arge force that is against the child of the ne. She is just a vessel for it.


    So he didn''t go after her immediately. Instead, he activated his title of the child of the ne. If it is a fight that they want, it is a fight that they will get. He felt his existence and located the connection between him and the ne. He sent his wishes through that connection. The Will of the ne responded immediately and positively.


    The air became charged immediately. The wind tingled the skin. A low current went through every battle sage monkey present in the world fragment. They felt a shock that made them shudder involuntarily. It caused them to look around warily for what was amiss.


    All they felt is a sort of charge in the air which is bing stronger and stronger. Every one of them can sense a storming. They can feel it in their bones and in the atmosphere. It is in the air and in their body. They can taste it as much as they can feel it.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The current passing through everyone left their body with a sudden jerk. It was like something was pulled out of them. They felt weakened as if they lost some of their strength due to low stamina. It is a feeling that those with soul-bodies shouldn''t feel since they have unlimited Stamina.


    Meanwhile, a thin golden thread flew out of their body and rushed towards Soverick. It looks like a ray of light left their bodies and converged on Soverick. His Aura began to rise. His very presence began to pressure everything around him. The ground he is standing on ttened as gravity increased and pressed down on it.


    The same thing happened in the realm of high heaven but on a muchrger scale. Everyone that was born in the Virut ne felt the pull and they instinctively knew which direction the pull is from. They also know the source of the pull and to whom what is being pulled out of them is sent to.


    They don''t know what the pull is for or why it happened but they suddenly became aware of something connected to them far away. This phenomenon happened to every entity that was born in the Virut ne and is below the level of origin gods no matter where they are in the void universe.


    They were all weakened slightly and what seemed to be golden rays of light left their bodies. The golden threads vary in size depending on the faith of the people in the child of the ne. The threads are thicker as long as they think he is strong and capable of protecting the ne. It gets thicker the more they are willing to support him and it bes thicker the more they are willing to help the ne to thrive.


    Those are the three factors that determine the quality of their contribution to him. Strength, Support, and Survival of the ne. The child of the ne must be strong. They must believe he is capable of protecting the ne. They must be willing to support him for the survival of the ne.


    Some threads are tiny and weak while some are thick and strong. It all depends on the three factors. His strength, their support for him, and their support for the ne. But no matter what, everyone that was born in the Virut ne will contribute something regardless of their feelings towards him. All these threadsbined in him instantly.


    The people in the arena felt a sudden pull on them and turned to look at him while the people in the Virut ne looked toward the sky at him. They all saw a golden lightning bolt descend from the sky and hit him. The golden threadsbined to form a cocoon of light around him. He was shining so brightly that they couldn''t look at him directly.


    Soverick was experiencing a series of changes. He had his eyes closed because he needed to concentrate on himself. He can''t afford to let himself be distracted by external information through his eyes while a sudden influence is rampaging throughout his body.


    It is almost too much to control. The power is so much that he feels he can roar and kill everyone with just the sound of his roar. The power that has been bestowed onto him is not his. It is just being lent to him temporarily. That''s why it is fighting his control.

 Chapter 696 The Child Of The Plane 2.

    The power he received wants to be set free. It wants to run without direction but he won''t let it. He wants to wield the perks thate with this power as he sees fit. So he forced the cocoon to bend to his will. His loss of control of his gravity maniption also receded.


    He rose into the air as if levitating with the support of the people. He is never alone in a fight as the child of the ne. All he needs to do is call for support. It is up to him now to utilize the contributions efficiently.


    The first thing he did is to gain total control of the threads. It is necessary seeing as most of the threads are directionless. The cocoon of light warped and shrunk down. The threads fused together into one so the cocoon became a golden bolt.


    He became wreathed in the golden bolt. It infused his body and mind. It clung to him and moved around his body like another limb he didn''t know he had.


    It looked like a golden snake around his fur entering his body sometimes anding out of his ear other times. His eyes were like four multicolored stars as he stood in the air and gazed down at everyone.


    He is flying despite the ban on flight in this challenge because the rules of the world fragment can''t affect him anymore. He has broken them through his empowered will. The suppression on him loosened and his strength was unlocked until he reached both 100% of his body and mind.


    It is because he directed the power to the shackles of the suppression. The shackles couldn''t be broken but they can be pushed back. The world fragment is not suppressing a single person anymore. It has to suppress billions of weak people joined into one and it is failing at it.


    This is the first time since he became the child of the ne that he will activate the ability thates with it so he felt surprised and slightly overwhelmed by it. The power is immense and heavy. It would be too much to control for a lesser being but Soverick is more than capable of controlling it.


    He can see the individual threads that make up the golden bolt and he can control them. They are hundreds of trillions in number. Their number threatened to overwhelm him. But they are weak individually so they can be manipted with rtive ease. It helps that they are without a direction and a will so he can impose his own direction on them. A very strong mind like his can achieve it quickly.


    The irony is that the tiniest and weakest threads are the most difficult to control. They resist his maniption stubbornly. The people that they came from don''t believe in him or don''t like him so their support for him is very small. Their negative feelings towards him were passed on to their contributions which made the weakest threads resist his control.


    The threads formed a channel between him and the ne and he felt a will descend on him through it. It is a will of scattered thoughts and wants. It seems to be a creation of an amalgamation of interests and wishes but one thing is clear from the will. He felt trust, faith, and assurance from the will to him. It is stark, clear, and pure. He immediately knew that he has the support of the ne in this endeavor.


    The will of the ne doesn''t know what is going on in the clearest of manners. It just knows that what he is about to do will benefit the ne and it is willing to support Soverick in order to achieve it. He became confident with the assurance. He didn''t need the assurance since he has power but it helped in determining his value in the grand scheme of things. It is always nice to know that he is appreciated.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    ''It seems Salvini was right about thepetition being important to the ne. But that doesn''t matter now. I am whole again and that''s what matters.'' He thought to himself.


    Then he began tough. He spread his arms wide andughed. He has gained strength and his fears have melted away. It felt like a huge burden has been removed from his shoulders which in actuality is what happened. His body and mind are whole again after the suppression on them has been removed. He feels confident and bold. All of his reservations have gone away. Strength will beat schemes when there is enough of it.


    He gained assurance just as he gained power. The power that apanied the assurance led to more tangible things.


    He said as heughed, "I am free."


    He unleashed his power into the world. His divine sense spread out in its enormity. It covered a kilometer and more easily without stopping. Everyone around shivered as it passed by them. It felt like someone just spread a wet nket over them. They felt the weight settle down all around them. It isn''t heavy but it is there.


    His divine sense screamed within their minds with exuberant exhration, "FREEDOM."


    His mental scream sted their minds. It was not pleasant. If they were in the main world, his divine sense wouldn''t be an anomaly but they aren''t. ording to the rules of this world fragment, something this powerful should not be used.


    Everyone is supposed to be limited to 100 meters or at most, a little more than that. No one is supposed to have a divine sense that is 10 kilometers wide. A lot of them are also shackled to the transcendent level. But he has removed the suppression on himself. It is an anomaly that cannot be rectified.


    He exhaled in sweet relief. He doesn''t need air but the pleasure of being free from shacklespelled him to. Air rushed out of him with a sound that echoed in everyone''s mind too. They understood then that Soverick has changed in more ways than one. He doesn''t look powerful for nothing. He is actually powerful too.


    A/N: There is a Character creation mission on the discord page. If you want a character named after you and you want to determine the type of character, then see about fulfilling the mission.

 Chapter 697 Judgement.

    He has all their attention. So he started speaking to them. "I suppose an introduction is in order."


    An introduction is in order because he is not the same Soverick that began thispetition with them. He has changed. He has be his real self. They will be facing his real self from now on and they should know that. Whatever they thought they should expect from him will be overhauled. They will be underestimating him terribly if they stick to his previous image. His previous self was nearly unstoppable. He is actually unstoppable right now.


    "I am Soverick Ghastorix. I am the child of the ne."


    Everyone in the area for 100km heard him. He did not amplify his voice. No, his divine sense spread out that far to speak with them. That isn''t the limit of his divine sense too. It is still spreading.


    He said to them, "Today we have gathered here to judge me worthy."


    Then he began tough.


    "Haha..." Heughed as everyone looked at him but he didn''t care.


    He threw his head back andughed. He found everything hrious really. They couldn''t do anything to him in the real world so they decided to use the opportunity when they have nothing to lose to clip his wings. They are weak and foolish.


    He knew they are weak and foolish. But he was wrong to ever consider them a threat to him. The difference between them has be stark now. That difference is so much that it isughable that they ever challenged him.


    He resumed speaking with them after he was doneughing. "Imagine that. I am to be judged. It is funny, is it not? My users havee forward and they intend to judge me. Woe is me if they find me unworthy." He said with sarcasm.


    He smiled now. His lips parted into a feral grin. His mood may be affected by the empowerment more than he expected but it is weed. He feels liberated and he feels happy. He didn''t even know that he was sick before until his sickness was removed. How can he not be happy?


    His smile and the apanying emotions were transmitted to his audience. They know that he is happy bordering on the happiness of a drunk. They know that he thinks nothing of them. He thinks of this entire thing as a farce and he didn''t hide his thoughts from them.


    He even said it out loud so that the people in the ne will hear him say it. "Who are these users of mine? What makes them worthy to judge me? ME!"


    He became agitated as he spoke.


    "Where were these users when I broke the blockade into the divine kingdom? Where were they when I led a million of my equals to battle a thousand times our numbers? Where were they when I brought the gods to their very knees?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    His voice rose in tandem with his agitation. He clenched his fist tightly and his eyes shine sharply.


    "I didn''t be the child of the ne by chance. I wasn''t bestowed the title by birthright. I wrought miracles with my very hands. I became the child of the ne because I beat 1 million others into submission. Then I led those 1 million to break our enemies."


    His voice became calm and low. He said, "Do you know what we went through? Do you know how we fought? Do you know how long we fought? Do you know the pain we experienced? Do you?"


    He paused to let his questions sink in. Then he gave them his answer. "Do you? I don''t think you do. Because if you did, then we wouldn''t be here. You got your Origin energy. And like some ungrateful mutt, you havee to bite the hand that fed you. You havee to judge me. Me of all people."


    He thinks that they are sheep and he is a wolf. They are lucky that he chose to be their Shepard and protector, not their predator. Why would he give a fuck about their judgment? What does the opinion of sheep matter to a wolf? They will be delusional to believe that they have a hold on him and he wants them to know that.


    He challenged them boldly, "Come at me. Come at me and test my mettle. Do you want to see if I am worthy? Come at me and see. Do you believe yourself worthy to be my user? Come at me and I''ll show you what makes me worthy."


    "WHO IS MY ACCUSER?" He asked them with a mighty shout.


    His transmitted thoughts shifted from his confidence to his daring challenge. He wants his user to show their face. He wants them toe forward and state his transgressions. He dared them toe forward and he made it known in subtle undtions of his emotions that he will make them regret it.


    He is the child of the ne so he is the star of the ne. He earned it because he was the best. Now that he has be the child of the ne then he has the tools to be the mightiest. So he is the best and the mightiest. If youe close to the sun then you must be ready to get burned. If you get close to the sun with the intent to challenge it then you must be crazy.


    His question is both a challenge and a threat. Who will step forward to use him in all his glory and power? Who will dare to when they know that the consequences of such an action will not be merciful? Who will admit publically that they tried to do something as crazy as challenging the sun?


    "I am your user." Someone answered the call.


    The crowd in that area stepped away from her immediately. They rushed to create distance between themselves and her. No one wants to be near her right now when the cross hairs of the child of the ne is focused on her.


    A/N: There is a Character creation mission on the discord page. If you want a character named after you and you want to determine the type of character, then see about fulfilling the mission.

 Chapter 698 The Source Of The Rumors.

    Soverick smiled. He didn''t need to turn around to see her because he was already looking at her right from the start. His dare was more to her than everyone else. He wanted to see if she would still go through with her n even in the face of his power. Apparently, she is not a coward.


    It is a good thing that she stepped forth. It will make sure that all her efforts in creating this situation will not go to waste. She knows that Soverick knows about her. He has been looking at her since he started his speech. That can''t be a coincidence.


    She also knows that she will suffer no matter her decision toe forth. Her end will be the same if shees forth or not. Soverick will make sure to make an example of her. Running is not an option for her anymore so she stepped forward to admit what she has done.


    Creating this situation is an affront to Soverick and he will make sure she suffers for it regardless of her decision to go through with it or not. So she had no choice in the matter. It also helps that she can''t die in thispetition. That gave her the confidence to step forth. She walked forward as the crowd separated for her to pass. Soon she was at the center of the barricade opposite Soverick.


    Her position is not by a coincidence. She had picked it to be as far away from Soverick as possible. It is partly due to her hatred of the child ne and her need to stay a safe distance from him. Her hatred is not a logical thing and she knows it. She may hate him because her ancestor hates children of the ne but it also gives her pleasure to antagonize him.


    Her hatred is just one of the reasons why she is scheming against him. Soverick is a big fish in the waters that is the ne. He is an important person in the ne and a strong obstacle to ovee. It is fun for her to create problems for Soverick and she will be happier to see him stumble. She let her hope in his failure and her fear of him to strengthen her resolve and prevent her from flinching under his intense stare.


    His stare is definitely intense. It is as if he wants her to wither and die under his re. That''s what she thought of his gaze. He on the other hand doesn''t think much of his stare. He is simply inspecting her. He has no intention to intimidate her that way. He has done nothing more than to ce his attention on her.


    Soverick said to her. "Lady Amari of the bloodline of secrets. State your grievances."


    He didn''t ask for her name or introduction. He knows that and more. So he asked her to state her grievances immediately. He wants them to cut to the chase immediately. Shees from a reclusive bloodline. It is a bloodline that is as old as that of the first sage but it doesn''t belong to any sages. That''s because her ancestor refused the title of Sage.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Her pitch-ck eyes with tiny spots of light in them like the stars in the sky on a dark night indicate her bloodline. She is a seer and one of the descendants of the keeper of secrets. Her bloodline is both why she hates him and why she is a threat to him. She used to hate him when he was just the child of the ne. Her hatred for him has doubled now that he is also a sage.


    He asked her to state her grievances even when he knows it. He first found out about her plots on the day that is now referred to as the cmity of the child of the ne. He saw it in the past that some of the people there that day were being manipted by an unseen hand.


    A more specific inquisition revealed that she is the one behind the rumor that whoever defeats him will be the next child of the ne. That rumor is why people flocked to the Ghastorix main city to fight him in the first ce. She told people that his title can be taken if he is defeated.


    The rumor is partly true. His title can be taken from him but it can''t be done by a simple defeat inbat. The best way to lie is to mix lies and truths together. She used that method to tell a great lie. Her half-truth galvanized people into trying to challenge him.


    They coveted his title so they came to fight him. She hoped to make hime out of the safety of the Ghastorix main city into the open where he can be assassinated. But he didn''te out no matter how much people mored for a fight with him. Then her ns went to ruins when he simply killed everyone.


    He came out finally. But he didn''t stay outside for long enough for some forces to attack. He waved his hand once and returned to the city where he stayed ever since. He didn''te out once. She didn''t let that setback stop her. She picked up the pieces of her broken n to create the current situation.


    She has been scheming and nning against him for a long time. She has shown resourcefulness and the ability to stay hidden while she maniptes. You wouldn''t know it just by looking at her. She is a tinydy with a frail body. She is wearing a dress much too big for her. It seems like a robe that envelopes her thin body. It is not a facade. She really is as weak as she looks.


    She is the reason why the Cmity of the child of the ne happened. People don''t know that. They me him for it. He was a voluntary aplice to that particr Cmity. But she hase forth today under the guise of righteousness to use him.

 Chapter 699 There Is No Blame.

    She tried to straighten herself and look proud as she used the child of the ne.


    "On the day 47th of the year 4th in the 13027th origin cycle of the sage calendar, you Soverick Ghastorix killed 11,289 transcendents and more. You injured 2,018 lords ofw, and injured 453 kings ofw."


    Then she became silent. All the transcendents that came to challenge him that day died. Some lords ofw also died but no kings ofw died.


    Soverick smiled and asked. "What is my offense?"


    He asked her to state her grievances and she began talking of his kill count. So what? What does it matter that he killed that many people on that day? Is that day a holiday and the racial council said no one must kill on that day?


    What offense has hemitted? He would very much like to know. Or is she helping him in boosting? If that is the case then he doesn''t need her help. He is already proud of himself and he doesn''t need external assistance to raise his ego. He might just burst from having too much ego.


    She continued. This time she spoke with more confidence, "Such casual murder is unbing of the child of the ne. I find it callous and heartless. The child of the ne should not act like that."


    They both know that she is half to me for what happened that day. She might not know that he knows. He does know but he won''t point fingers. He won''t shift me because there is nothing to me. Trying to shift me means there is something to be med for.


    He doesn''t feel that he has done anything wrong in killing those people. And he won''t me the person who used those people as bait to draw him out to kill him and who is currently using their death to besmirch him. Everyone can do whatever they want. That includes killing thousands without care.


    So he said, "I see.


    Then he asked with undisguised disdain. "But so what? What are you going to do about it?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    On what ground do they even dare to judge him? Those that will judge must have power over the ones that they judge. He has all the power here so who will dare to assume themselves worthy of judging him?


    It will be another thing if the first sage is the one berating him for how he acted that day. He will have to listen in that case. It will be another thing entirely if the first sage himself had not killed thousands of battle sage monkeys himself. What he did will be unprecedented in that case.


    All those things didn''t happen. But some unknowndy that he can snap like a twig is so full of themselves as to judge him. He didn''t say anything about what the sage did or didn''t do. He just made sure to let it known through his mental transmissions that he is not sorry and he will not apologize for his actions.


    He made his feelings known. Within them are his thoughts about the threat of her judgment. He let everyone know that she can bring on whatever it is she thinks she can use to reprimand him. He is ready to ept the consequences of his actions. And he smiled through it all. It is not feigned calmness. He is truly calm and amused.


    Lady Amari tried not to frown but her body shifted ufortably. She is notfortable being put in the spotlight like this. The stares of people as they all look at her are like a burden on her emotions. But that is the least of her current problems. This was not the way that things were supposed to go. She had poisoned the mind of others and arrayed them to fight Soverick. They were supposed to fight and not engage in chit-chat.


    From what she knows, Soverick has always been a warrior of little words and more actions. He doesn''t speak much. He just acts and lets his actions speak for themselves. That''s how he convinced millions of Vitality core stage refiners to follow him into battle. He crushed the bickering leaders and broke the will of others to resist. She expected that, not this exchange of rhetoric.


    This conversation is making her look like a fool. It is making her reason for assembling her opposition seem foolish but she has to continue. Because if she does not, Soverick would have proven his point. And yet, she is smart enough to know that she is being manipted. She will get what she wants but it will not be in the way she wants it or envisioned it. A fight might still happen but she will have lost her moral high ground. So she tried to regain that superiority.


    She gestured at the people around them and said, "That is what we are here for. We are here to judge you. It is the people that give you your power as the child of the ne and it is the people that must show you the errors of your ways."


    She appealed to the pride and ego within everyone listening to her. She made it seem like they are all important as opposed to Soverick''s imperious gaze as he looks down on them. She is trying to Stoke their indignance at his behavior and turn public opinion against him. Public opinion is the weapon that she can wield readily. It is also the right weapon to wield if she is to damage Soverick''s image and prestige.


    Soverick pped excitedly and said to her. "That is right. This is jungle justice. I like it. Might make right. I have done something you don''t like and you have assembled your might in the form of a mob in hopes that it will make me see the error of my ways. I quite like that. Let''s do it then."

 Chapter 700 Victory Or Justice.

    Then he turned his attention to everyone else. "This judgment will be a contest of might. But it will be based on the opinion of the people. Two mobs shall sh. Who''s side are you on? Who will you follow to battle? Who do you want to lead you?"


    "I said something to the conve of Vitality core refiners when I asked them to follow me to battle. That has always been my t and why I was appointed the child of the ne."


    He raised his clenched fist and said, "I am unstoppable. Follow me, and I''ll give you victory. Stand against me and I''ll see you broken before me. As long as you are on my side, only victory will do. If you want victory, then you will follow me."


    His voice was apanied by his raging intent. Everyone could feel and taste his anger. It is a tangible and purposeful thing since it is directed at those who will be his enemies. They can feel his longing to break his enemies and all who will stand against him.


    They can feel that the child of the ne is ready to do battle and he is asking them where their allegiancey. There is going to be a battle. That much is sure. But whose side will they be on? All of them began muttering and their allegiance began to sway in Soverick''s favor.


    Lady Amari didn''t like the situation one bit. Things have not been going her way at all. First Soverick forced her toe forward. She already nned for someone else to spearhead the usation but the person was scared stiff by the pressure of his divine sense. Plus he was looking directly at her. The cat was already out of the bag.


    Then Soverick forced her toin about what he did wrong like she is a childining to their parents about an injustice done to her on the yground. He has effectively ridiculed her in front of the entire ne. Then he went on to drive the final nail into the coffin of humiliation.


    He didn''t say he did or didn''t do something wrong. He said, ''I have done something you don''t like.'' Her moral high ground took a hit with that sentence. Then he went on to say ''Might make right'' and that he likes it. He made it look as if she doesn''t like him so she gathered a group of thugs to beat him up.


    Soverick didn''t try to talk them down or talk them out of the fight. He eagerly asked for it. It all concluded in the fact that they will fight now. But it makes her no different from him. She wants to get her way with power just like he believes he can do anything as long as he is strong enough. The battle will determine who is right or wrong but Soverick has also managed to change it to victory or defeat.


    They are here to judge him but it is not a matter of right or wrong anymore. It is now a matter of victory or defeat. Which do they want? Do they want to follow the child of the ne with a record of sess and a history of oundish feats or will they follow ady that is previously unknown?<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Most importantly, do they want to fight the child of the ne only to be defeated? Battle sage monkeys like battles but they like victory in battle more. They prefer to follow a leader than van grant them victory. So which one of the two of them can grant them victory in battle?


    Soverick has changed the tune of the story into a simple battle with victory and defeat as the stakes. It is debatable if the cmity of the child of the ne is right or wrong. But Soverick didn''t debate. He didn''t even bother to defend himself or argue his way out of it. Instead, he pointed out the one that is undisputable about him. He is strong and capable, and he has never experienced defeat. She has to stop the swaying of public opinion or she will have no support in the uing battle.


    So she yelled, "This battle is of great significance. It will determine if what the child of the ne did is right or wrong. He is supposed to be our guardian and protector. Can we in good conscience allow his transgressions to go unpunished?"


    They stopped muttering to listen to her. The arena became silent because of it. She can talk now without raising her voice but she did the opposite. She wants to be heard more than anything.


    She raised her voice even higher. "Think of all the people that died that day. Think of the loss of fathers and mothers, of sisters and brothers. They died because they wanted to see their child of the ne. Their offense was because they adored him. They traveled great distances to see him. For many of them, it was a pilgrimage. It may be normal for viins to behave that way but it is not right for the child of the ne to behave that way. He killed thousands of innocents that day."


    She left out the part where she instigated people to go and trouble the child of the ne. She left out the assassins that were to attempt to kill him if Soverick epts the people''s challenge to fight. She left out the part where she spread false information about how to take his title. These people don''t need to know all of that. All they need to know is that there were some innocent people there that day and those innocents died an unjust death.


    She pleaded with them with a weak strained voice, "Fight for justice! Fight for justice! Fight for justice!"


    She said it three times with tears in her eyes. It is a pitiful image so they pitied her. They also pitied her cause.

 Chapter 701 The Best Of A Bad Situation.

    Battle sage monkeys like to battle. But they like to win battles more. Most of all is that they like to fight for a worthy cause.


    Sure, victory is good, but it doesn''t matter if you lose. As long as your cause is worthy, your loss will be remembered, and your sacrifice will be honored. That is why there are heroic spirits. So the most important thing is the cause. She is crying out for their deadrades. What cause is greater than that?


    Someone else called out. "Fight for justice."


    Another person joined in to cry out, "Fight for justice."


    Many more people took up the cry of a worthy cause, "Fight for justice."


    It started with only her. Then some of her people picked it up. They are the ones with pure hatred for Soverick in their heart. Nothing he will say can soothe them or change their minds. They began shouting it, and more joined them. The ones that joined in were convinced by the cause. They truly believe that they are fighting for a worthy cause and that they are fighting for justice.


    Soverick is insurmountable. He is a behemoth of power. But so was the Viper race. It was supposed to be a losing war, but the battle sage monkeys rallied for a worthy cause. And they won. It is highly likely that fighting Soverick will end in a loss, but if they don''t try at all, then they can never win.


    You lose all the shots that you don''t take. It is until they rally and give it their all that they can have any hope of victory. So they joined the cry to fight for justice.


    But Salvini started her own chant before the opposition could pick up too much momentum. She yelled enthusiastically, "Fight for victory. Fight for victory. Fight for victory."


    The group of 100,000 that she brought with her took up her chant quickly, and they raised their voice above others. They have arger number on their side because the call for justice has not really picked up a lot of supporters yet, but despite their best efforts to overwhelm the call for justice, they failed to do so. The call for justice couldn''t be put out.


    There are some who decided to pick up the call just because of the overwhelming opposition not to. They picked the side of justice to feel heroic. Fighting for the losing side takes a lot of bravery, which they want to show.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The two different phrases were picked up and announced by different people with different aims. The entire multitude of people used these chants to pick a side. Then the crowd split up. Those that wanted to fight for victory stood behind Soverick''s back and formed up. In contrast, those that wanted to fight for justice stood in front of him and against him.


    He didn''t speak throughout the separation. He was silent as a rock. He has achieved what he wants to achieve. A divide has been created, and the topic has been shifted. But he made his opinion known by increasing the weight of his divine sense on those that stood against him. It was like they were burdened with a rock.


    The opposition was struggling to stand straight without faltering by the time the division waspleted. The pressure discouraged people from standing against him, so it is not a wonder that 60% of the poption sided with the child of the ne.


    Lady Amari remained silent too. She has said her piece. Even if he didn''t pressure them, the final tally would have been 50/50. It wasn''t supposed to be like that. But that''s the best she is going to get after Soverick muddled the water. It made her wonder what would have happened had she not prepared extensively for this encounter.


    She had been swaying public opinion in the background beforeing here. She used emotions and the promise of power to turn people to her side. Powerful people who didn''t care about the deaths that urred at the cmity of the child of the ne became enticed by the prospect of snatching the title from Soverick. She came with the cards stacked in her favor, but that all changed after Soverick spoke.


    She nned to surround him and attack him from all sides. She nned to overwhelm him with numbers. Somehow, he knew her ns. And he sessfully created a divide with his speech. The ones that wanted to take his title took one good look at him and gave up. Only the die-hard haters and the thrill seekers stayed with her. But they are too few to stand any chance of victory whatsoever. Fortunately, her cry for justice brought in enough supporters so that her side would not look like a joke.


    Anyone can tell at first nce that the opposition that she created will be massacred. They don''t look like a joke, but they don''t look like an army that has any hope of victory either. It is a sorrowful thing to see your schemesid bare and demolished. It certainly doesn''t help that her target, the child of the ne, is looking at her with evident mockery.


    She has failed, and she knows it. He knows it, so everyone knows it. But she still has to go through the motions, or it would have all been for naught. She cannot give up now. She will at least make a statement. This very act has sown the seed of descent. It has created a precedent, and it has certainly created conflict. That is already enough for her to go through with it.


    This event is the first of its kind in this generation. But it won''t be thest. More conflict with the child of the ne will arise. His rtionship with the people will be soured, and public opinion will be divided against him. Even her defeat can be used in the future. It is making the best of a bad situation.


    She just has to suck up to it and be trounced in front of the audience of the entire ne. It was what she was hoping would happen to Soverick, but it has been turned against her.

 Chapter 702 Those On The Sidelines.

    The multitude of people divided to each side, but there are some people who decided to watch from the side instead of joining any of the sides. Most of them were part of the barricade previously, but they left when they decided that they didn''t want to have any hand in what was about to happen. There are also some people who didn''t join or have any intention to join from the start. They stood afar and watched the show.


    "That Soverick might be strong, but this wouldn''t have happened to me though." Salvin boasted to his single audience.


    "It couldn''t have happened to me either." His audience Salvos replied.


    Salvin said with a smirk, "Yeah. They will be crazy to bring many people against the one-man army and the hell-bringer."


    The two of them have the only two emperor crowns in the challenge. They are ck crowns on their head which they earned without the need for a faction or an army. The enemies they had to beat for the crowns had armies. It didn''t do them any good. It also wouldn''t do anyone any good if they want to use the strength of numbers to ridicule them. They are not the one-man army and the hell-bringer for nothing.


    Salvos frowned. "Don''t call me that."


    He finds the title the hell bringer to be a little tasteless. It makes him seem demonic and evil. He just doesn''t care about whether people die or not when he uses his ability. That doesn''t make him evil now, does it?


    "I''m not calling you that. Everyone is calling you that. You''re a terror. Do you know that? People are afraid of you." Salvin said to cate him.


    Salvos relented. Pride won over his dislike for the title. He nodded gently and said in understanding, "I am indeed a terror. Their fear is understandable. Maybe it''s okay to be called the hell bringer."


    "Trust me. It is okay. It is not as cool as being the child of the ne, but it is okay."


    Salvos''s frown returned with a vengeance, and he turned his angry face to Salvin. Salvin raised his hands in mock surrender to the hell-bringer.


    "What? Am I wrong? Can you beat him in this mode?" He said as he pointed at Soverick.


    Salvos took one look at Soverick, and the anger drained out of him. His shoulders slumped. "I can''t. He doesn''t need to y any tricks on me in his current state. He is tooplicated to be usurped by my divine ability. He is like a star in my vision. He is the star of the ne. To look up at the star is to be burned."


    Salvin coughed. "A yes or no answer would have been good enough."


    Salvos ignored him and continued speaking with mncholy. "It''s too bad that I was born too early. If I were a vitality core stage refiner when the divine dungeon was created, then I would have had a chance."


    Salvin agreed with him. "You would have had a chance, but you probably would have failed."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He agreed, but he is also being realistic. Salvos re returned. He jumped at Salvin, and they began to fight. They wrestled and pulled each other''s hair or ear.


    "I could have liberated origin energy if I was given a chance," Salvos said as he punched his brother in the face.


    Salvin made his case as he punched his brother in the stomach, "Forget it. It''s not possible. There''s no difference between those with bloodlines and those without bloodlines at the vitality core stage. The gods did it that way so that the invaders won''t have their divine abilities. You wouldn''t have awoken your divine ability then. What use would you have then?"


    They fought and argued with each other like they always do. The three of them usually engage in this kind of brawl. It is something that has been with them since they were kids in Colts. They always argued, and their arguments led to fights. It is not a serious fight, so they don''t use their divine abilities.


    Salvin maintained that the chances of them conquering the dungeon were very low. The report they got indicated the problems faced in the dungeon would have been too much for them to ovee. The very first problem, where the invaders were ambushed and killed as soon as they entered the divine dungeon, is more than enough to stump them. That problem did stump others until Soverick came along. Salvos had to ept reason despite his reluctance to. They separated after slugging each other for a while.


    "Maybe you''re right. Soverick was always special, even before he became the child of the ne. Maybe that''s what''s needed to be the child of the ne." Salvos said while dusting himself off.


    Salvin stood up too. He grinned and asked, "Does it peeve you that someone without the bloodline of any sage has taken up the mantle of the child of the ne like the first sage?"


    Salvos snorted. "I would roast you right now if not for the thousands that will also die with you if I attack."


    "So you do care about the people you kill. Who would have thought the hell bringer had a soft squishy heart?" Salvin mocked.


    They returned to casually chatting and watching the show.


    Salvin shook his head and said. "I pity him. I truly pity him. Salvini has sunk her fangs into him. His end is close by."


    "Yeah. He is doomed." Salvos agreed. Then he asked, "Do you know what she is after?"


    "I don''t know, but the options can''t be much. Maybe she is after his title. Maybe that''s what they created Soverick for. We were born too early, so maybe Soverick is the ceholder for the title so that someone with the bloodline of the sage can get it. It will be just like the time of the first sage again."


    Salvos had to agree. "It could be that. He has never used his ability as the child of the ne, but Salvini just happened to be close by as he uses it for the first time. That can''t be a coincidence."

 Chapter 703 Scapegoat.

    Salvin nodded. "Whatever it is that''s going on, Soverick is in big trouble."


    As the current generation of sages, they get frequent updates about Soverick. Besides, it will be almost impossible for everyone on the ne not to know when he activated his call for help. So they know that Soverick has never used the ability, and they know its importance if his title is to be taken from him. Knowing everything that they know, they believe that Soverick''s situation is not good.


    Salvos broke the silence. "He is good though. He is very talented. Too bad that he is unlucky. I''ll miss him when he is gone."


    Salvin turned to him and asked, "Are you not going to save him from our sister?"


    "No. It is his fate, and I don''t care enough to interfere. If he is so special, then he should be able toe out of this alive."


    Salvin didn''t believe him. "Sure. Leave it to fate. I just don''t find it surprising that you wouldn''t help someone that beat you twice."


    Salvos raised his fist at him and threatened. "Do you want to have another go?"


    "Sure. Resort to violence when I say the truth. The truth always stings, doesn''t it?"


    Salvos retorted. "Says the person that was defeated by Soverick''s sister."


    "She lied and cheated. Her domain is bigger than she let on. She defeated me by cheating. She is a cheat." Salvin yelled the reason why he was defeated, but Salvos didn''t care. He mocked his brother more. "What''s worse is that Salvini took advantage of you. She used you. And it could have all been avoided. You of all people should have known that she could defeat Litori if she wanted."


    Salvin sighed and rubbed his face. "I know. But I wanted to defeat Soverick''s sister."


    Salvosughed. "Look where that got you."


    His brother shot back angrily, "Look at what your fight with Soverick got you too. He defeated you, didn''t he?"


    Salvos became silent. Then he said, "So we have already been defeated by two of them. They don''t even have the bloodline of sages. This is a poor performance for our side."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Salvin got an idea which he shared eagerly. "You know what? I have a better alternative to watching this fight. This oue is set anyway. How about we find their brother Ghaster and show him a good time?"


    Salvos grinned. "Yes. We''ll take turns with him. We''ll beat him ck and blue for the suffering his two siblings have caused us."


    "Let''s aim for ck. He already has blue fur. His injuries won''t show clearly with bruises that are blue."


    The two of them grinned evilly and set out to find Ghaster. Innocent Ghaster became the target of their hatred. He is the scapegoat for the crimes that Soverick and Litorimitted. He will pay for their crimes by getting bullied.


    These two brothers would rather fight someone than watch this fight. The oue of the battle and the struggle between Soverick and his user doesn''t concern them. The bottom line is that Soverick is doomed one way or another.


    They suspect that Soverick is in trouble, but they aren''t going to do anything about it. Salvos, Salvin, and Salvini, were born together by the same parents. They are siblings, but in reality, they might as well have been born by different parents because they have different ancestors.


    They awakened different bloodlines, so they have different ancestors. The two boys awakened the bloodline of some other sages, but Salvini awakened the bloodline of the first sage. What''s most important is that their ancestors are all sages.


    That difference in bloodline set them apart from each other. For some, the difference in bloodline will create a divide among siblings such that they won''t resemble or act like siblings at all. As for the two brothers, they don''t have the bloodline of the original sage so they rarely know what''s going on.


    The ones with the bloodline of the first sage have a way of always working together to achieve their aims. They scheme together and execute ns without actually talking to each other or meeting each other. It is like they are in a psychic club or clique where they know what''s on each other''s minds and what their part is in a n.


    The two of them are out of the loop so they don''t care. It doesn''t make them feel bad or left out because they are both stronger than Salvini. And even if they feel bad, they won''t interfere in what is going on. No matter their differences, they are all descended from sages. They won''t betray each other.


    Sages were titled so for their great work for the ne. It is their duty to serve the ne as the descendants of sages. So they won''t act until they are sure that what they are doing is good for the ne. They are not sure of anything about thispetition and Soverick''s situation so they won''t act. But they will not interfere either. They will leave Salvini to her schemes. Soverick is on his own. He won''t get help from them.


    The uing battle is being witnessed by almost everyone on the ne. The sky of the ne shows the fight. Everyone can just look up and see the millions of people arrayed against each other on two sides. There was no announcement for the fight, but people tuned in because they felt the pull when Soverick called for support. It was a sudden change in their existence, and so they sought to find out what was going on.


    This change didn''t go unnoticed in the void universe. Origin gods that were born in the Virut ne felt the pull, but nothing came out of them. They have broken away from the realm, so they can''t support the child of the ne even if they want to. Only the realm lord can receive support from them. But the origin gods felt the pull and realized that something had happened in the ne. So they paid attention to what''s happening in the ne.

 Chapter 704 Inherited Hatred.

    World gods of the Virut ne felt it too. It drew their attention to the ne. Even sleeping world gods woke up. All of them turned their eyes towards the realm of high heaven no matter where they were in the void universe. It was then that most of them realized that they had a new child of the ne.


    The racial council informs them of the happenings of the ne but not a lot of them care about it. They are ageless titans of the void universe. Most of their connections to the ne have be too thin to keep them emotionally invested. It is not that they don''t care about the ne. They care a lot about their home ne, but they don''t just care for its origin cycle to origin cycle developments.


    It is like having an ant colony as a pet. You care about the general well-being of the colony, but you can''t bother to know about the day-to-day development of each ant in the colony. At some point, when you have numerous other ant colonies or other types of pets that take your attention, you won''t care about the day-to-day developments of the entire colony. Everything is alright as long as the ant colony is in good shape.


    World gods are like that. They don''t pay attention to the Virut ne, but they will be there for it if it is about to be destroyed or have its existence threatened. That''s usually the upper limit of their concern for the ne, but now they care about what''s going on in the ne. Their interest was piqued, so they actively inquired about what was going on. They soon found out about thepetition, and they tuned in to watch.


    Some world gods are aware of the current state of the ne. There''s one particr world god that has been paying special attention to the events of the ne since the appointment of the new child of the ne. In fact, this world god was watching thepetition all along, so they are aware of why Soverick is activating the call for support.


    This world god seethed. Their emotions boiled within them. It affected their form and their environment. A storm had been brewing in that part of the void universe since the beginning of thepetition, but now it has erupted.


    Dangerous spatial eruptions began urring. Energy is forced to expand within theyers of space. Then it will erupt after the pressure is too much for space to contain. Space became fragmented due to the explosion of energy urring within its fabric. It all culminated in a storm of destabilized space and Chaotic energy.


    Space and gravity became turbulent because of the storm. Reality itself got bent out of shape to the very limit of its permissible changes. Anything that is not a world god will be shredded into bits by the storm. It is all because this world god is very angry.


    This world god embodied the storm itself. She is like the eye of the storm as the world rages and quakes around her. She is also the storm. Her physical manifestation embodies the storm, and her emotions fuel it.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The storm will die down if her emotions calm down, but that can''t happen. At least not yet. The very sight of Soverick is enough to make her very angry. His continued existence means a continuation of her anger. He infuriates her without doing anything. But seeing him use the power of the child of the ne has sessfully broken all the restraints on her emotions. Her emotions broke like a dam through her and into the world. The world began to suffer because of it.


    She will only calm down if the real Soverick dies immediately. Until then, she will rage, and the world will suffer. She has no concrete form. Her manifestation is physical, but it doesn''t have a fixed shape. She is the storm, and the storm is her.


    Any being that is not an Origin god will go mad just by gazing upon her form. The way she is warping the world will warp their minds. Simply gazing at her will infect you with her caustic emotions. Only those that have fused with their concepts and have their existence held together by it can resist the infection of her wrath.


    "He must die. He must die. He must die. He must die. He must die"


    She continued muttering it over and over again. It is her intent, and it rang through her being and into the world over and over again, whipping the storm into a frenzy. Her intent is the only piece of order within this storm of rampaging Chaos. Even so, it will still make weak entities mad. It is what they will be reciting over and over again. Those words and the intent behind them will be burned into their psyche, and it willpel them to see it done.


    She is saying it again and again because it is what she wants. She wants to see it done, but she can''t do it herself. She knows she can''t move to eliminate Soverick because of who is involved in the currentpetition. She knows the true objective of thepetition just as she knows who is behind it. She hates both Soverick and the first sage.


    Her hatred for the first sage is probably higher than her hatred for Soverick. It is not odd at all. Soverick hasn''t done anything to offend her more than simply existing. Meanwhile, the first sage was the first child of the ne and the first one she hated of the two. The first sage is the reason why she hates those with the title of the child of the ne.


    Like an inherited bloodline with its benefits and detrimental effects, the title of the child of the ne alsoes with unsavory problems. One of those unsavory problems is the hatred of people. In this case, the hatred of a world god. Soverick inherited this hatred when he became the child of the ne.

 Chapter 705 Keeper Of Secrets.

    The current problem that Soverick is facing can be traced back to her, which in turn can be traced back to the era of transcendents. She is of the same generation as the first sage and was supposed to be the child of the ne. She lost that opportunity because she was cheated out of it. Even more, she was cheated out of the glory for her hard work and contribution too. It has made her very bitter.


    Everyone knows the first sage and respects the sages. History states that the first sage led the battle sage monkey to glory. History is urate, but it didn''t mention her efforts toward the victory that they acquired. All the sages shed blood and tears to make the battle sage monkeys what they are today. That much is true, but there are some exceptional sages who went beyond the norm and did exceptional monumental feats.


    There are very few exceptional sages. She is one of those sages just like the first sage, and she did just as much work as he did, if not more, in securing the victory of the battle sage monkeys. All she wanted was at least equal recognition. That''s the least that she deserved. Unfortunately, she didn''t get it.


    The first sage could see the future and predict oues. He was always on the front lines in every battle, so he was given the title of battle sage. His tricks, ns, schemes, and battle prowess were instrumental in giving the battle sages monkeys their victories. He led them to victory despite overwhelming odds.


    She, on the other hand, was more of a backstage actor. She didn''t follow the original path of their divine ability like the first sage. Her bloodline had a slight mutation that became the foundation for the creation of the bloodline of secrets. Her divine ability made others call her the keeper of secrets.


    She couldn''t see the future like the first sage. Her ability allowed her to recognize truth and lies. She can identify the purpose of a thing just by looking at it, and she can see the secrets that people are hiding.


    Her ability is not as shy as that of the first sage, and it didn''t help her battle prowess, but it made her a seer. She was so good that the best strategists came to her for help. She was the informant that provided some of the information that the sage used to make battle ns. He didn''t need her, but her help let him create perfect ns.


    They say that seeing is deceiving. It means that what you see can deceive you. The fact that the first sage can see something before it happens doesn''t mean he knows what it means. He can see how a rock will settle if it is rolled from the top of a mountain down to its base. He will tell you the path it will take and everything it will collide with even before the rock is pushed.


    That is impressive, but the first sage doesn''t know what the rock truly is. It looks like a rock, but it is actually the egg of a dragon encapsted in ayer of stone. She can see it to be what it is. That''s her gift. Her knowledge will prevent the sage from doing something stupid as rolling a dragon''s egg.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The first sage came to her for advice on several asions for her knowledge. Her identification skills helped her in creating the first mana weapon in the entire ne. That gave the battle sage monkeys a fighting chance to defend themselves from the Vipers. She was the one that identified how to kill the paragons of the Virut ne.


    She was also the one that identified the weaknesses of the Vipers and their ce of hiding when their empire fell. Her contribution led to the defeat andplete eradication of the Vipers. How can seeing the future help with locating the hidden sanctuaries of people? It was her that could point out the hidden pockets of Vipers living in secrecy. It is not an easy thing to wipe out an entire race down to thest one. Some might even say it is impossible. But she did it.


    She did all that and more, but she wasn''t given credit for it. Everyone praised the one that was always at the front lines. He was the one they saw. He led them to battle, so they attributed their victories to him. That is not his fault, but he didn''t correct them or mention her contributions.


    The least he could have done is to mention her and what she did. He would always give speeches thanking all the sages for their contributions, but he would never mention her specifically. So the people thought he was just being humble and never thought highly of other sages.


    The sage forced her into being perceived as mediocre by lumping her together with the other sages. Only the select few that were in the know, like the other sages, appreciated her for creating the weapons that vanquished their oppressors. She didn''t mind that. She was content with being hidden and guiding the race from the shadows. That changed when the first sage was appointed the child of the ne for his contributions to the ne.


    How does one be the child of the ne? You contribute enough to the ne and change its fate significantly. You also have to be very capable and strong. That was an unknown knowledge in the era of transcendents. Another unknown knowledge at that time is how to kill a dragon.


    The gate of the ne is always opened during the era of transcendents. Once the gate has been opened, manaes in and renders the origin waters obsolete. The ne gains ess to the ancient battlefield, and transcendents gain ess to Origin energy that can be found there. And just like any gate that opens, ess is both ways. Other races also gain ess to your ne. It eventually stops being your ne if you can''t defend it from those that want to take it from you.

 Chapter 706 Can Never Forgive.

    Just like most nes that gained ess to the ancient battlefield, the Virut ne was also invaded. They were unlucky or, in this case, very lucky to be invaded by a dragon. It is normal to be invaded, but it is abnormal to be invaded by a dragon. The young dragon took a fancy to the ne and decided to make it its turf. Young, it may be, but it is not an easy opponent by any means. It didn''t help that other races were attacking them too.


    Dragons are proud and highly territorial. They only shareirs when they are reproducing. The young adults leave toy im to their own turf, where they will sleep most of the time. This dragon came to the Virut ne and settled down. It decided that the entire ne was its territory.


    Then it asked for obedience and gifts from the illegal upants of its territory. The battle sage monkeys refused, so the dragon got angry. It is the right of thendlord to get rent from its tenants, after all. It killed wantonly and couldn''t be stopped by anybody. The first sage tried and tried, but he failed to kill the dragon.


    He created the first three steps of weapon mastery as a transcendent, but it wasn''t enough to kill the dragon. He could fight off the dragon and even defeat the dragon with help, but he couldn''t kill it. It was too difficult to injure the dragon critically.


    His foresight didn''t help him enough because he didn''t have enough information. He didn''t even know what a dragon was. It is something he has never seen. All he knows about it is that it is a terrifying flying beast that spits unquenchable and highly destructive fire.


    They were all ignorant of dragons back then. They were ignorant of a lot of things because they had been holed up within a ne the entire time, so no one knew about the weakness of a dragon. It was her, the keeper of secrets, that saved the day again.


    She was the one that told the first sage about the dragon scale and the dragon heart behind it. All it took was one look from her to spot the weakness of the dragon. She told him where to stab to kill the dragon and how to use the dragon''s heart to empower himself.


    The first sage took her advice and fought the dragon again. He seeded in killing the dragon and acquired the dragon''s heart to be more powerful. It turned out that he didn''t need the dragon''s heart to be powerful. He was crowned as the child of the ne for his act of killing the dragon. The ne deemed him worthy of bearing the fate of the ne instead of her.


    The first sage then led the then ocr monkeys to beat back their invaders and acquireplete control of the ne. The alternative would have been the defeat of the battle sage monkey and the subsequent subjugation of the ne by the invaders or closing the gate, which would cause the ne to dry up.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He prevented the alternative fates of the battle sage monkey. They were able to keep the ne to themselves, and he did even more. He led the ocr monkeys to rampage through the ancient battlefield so that they would have space to cultivate there. Whenever anyone from the myriad of races in the realm saw one of them, they would remember the battle sage. It was then that their race was renamed the battle sage monkeys.


    The entire race was named after him. It is such a great honor. But what about her? He could never have defeated the dragon without her aid except by luck. Even his ability of foresight only helped to keep him alive against a dragon. How was he to know to stab a particr scale amongst thousands of scales which have also shown to be very durable? How was he to know that one particr scale is weak and which one it is?


    It was the information that she provided that killed that dragon and saved the ne. But he took all the glory. He didn''t even give her the heart of the dragon since he didn''t need it anymore. The selfish bastard gave it to his partner. He said she needed it more.


    It has always been the first sage that received all the glory and honor, and she is sick of it. He was the first transcendent. He was the one to open the gate of the ne and the one to kill the dragon. He was the one to be praised while she was relegated to the shadows. She was supposed to be the one to be the child of the ne. She deserved it, but she wasn''t given it.


    That''s why she hated the first sage and why she will always hate anyone that has the title of the child of the ne. She also hates the racial council. The racial council was established by the sages. It is full of all those that enabled the first sage to rob her of every glory that belongs to her. They are also being led by the first sage, so she refuses to be a part of it and refuses the title of sage.


    Her hatred for the first sage and Soverick is something that can never be forgotten or forgiven. A world god doesn''t forget anything. To suggest it is an insult. She can forgive, but she can never forget. It will also be very difficult to forgive the transgressions against her.


    She is not a mortal with poor memory. Her emotions and anger have not been reduced by time. It is something that can never happen because she can recollect her emotions and events vividly as if she were there again.


    It is ridiculous to think that world gods will forget a transgression and give up on revenge because they don''t care anymore. It is like saying that all the world gods that the realm lord offended when he liberated the life trees will forgive him. That can not happen.

 Chapter 707 Knowledge Of Secrets.

    She can surely forgive, but it won''t be because of the erosion of time. The Sage hasn''t done what needs to be done for her to forgive. She hates the first Sage, so she hates Soverick too. She hates Soverick, so her descendants also hate him. Lady Amari is one of her descendants. Lady Amari has been working with others that hate Soverick for one reason or another to undermine him.


    Their efforts have all been fruitless so far. It all looks like childish attempts to her. She is sure that she can do better if she gets involved, and she also wants to get involved so that she can kill Soverick, but she won''t. Her anger is still burning fresh, but it hasn''t clouded her judgment. She can be rational despite her hatred.


    She knows enough about the first Sage to know that she won''t seed if she tries anything. There are other reasons why acting personally is a bad idea. The first Sage would have surely expected things like sabotage, so it won''t work. Rationality dictates that she stay away from this particrpetition. It is not an overreaction. It is a decision based on her vast knowledge of the first Sage, the Void Universe, Soverick, and most importantly, the entity that calls itself Legion.


    The first Sage never loses. Any person that deals with him is at great risk of losing everything they own, but the Sage never loses. An investment is risking your resources for arger return. You can lose your investment if it fails. The first Sage might fail, but he doesn''t lose anything. At worst, he might draw even without gaining anything, but he has never ever lost his investment.


    She has never been good with ns and schemes. That''s more of the first Sage''s talent. She is more of an investigator and researcher. Her set of skills won''t help her to win a confrontation with the first Sage. She has to admit that the first Sage is verypetent, and she hates him for it.


    The first Sage''spetence makes her hate him. It also makes her fear him. Her hatred for him bleeds into her hatred for Soverick. She knows that Soverick was created by the schemes of the Sage for his purpose, so she hates him. That means she can''t move against Soverick directly without drawing the ire of the first Sage. So she has to be content with the effort of her bloodline descendants.


    The bloodline of the sage care for the ne, while her own bloodline hates the child of the ne and covets the title too. Soverick already had enemies before he became the child of the ne. She is not able to deal with Soverick directly, but her descendants can.


    It is frustrating that she can''t act herself, but it is also good that her descendants are the ones making trouble. It will keep her from taking risks and putting herself in danger. This entirepetition might be a trap. She certainly doesn''t want to fall into a trap set by the first Sage.


    That serpentine world god that the first Sage is toying with might try to eliminate the Sage''s greatest hope in one way or the other. Or other world gods might try to get to Soverick now that he is out of the realm tree. Those are actions that she will advise against with good intentions.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    It is because this entirepetition might be a farce to catch a very big fish. World gods are very big fishes if you know how to catch them. And it is just like the first Sage to be always prepared to catch a big fish. If the Sage could bait Soverick, then Soverick can surely be a bait to others too.


    So Rationality and logic dictate that she keeps her disy of anger to just fuming and kicking up a fuss. She is rational, so she will do just that. This tantrum of hers is not nearly enough for her. But she can only remain content with that and the knowledge that the child of the ne in thepetition is not a battle sage monkey.


    The child of the ne just looks like a battle sage monkey. It isn''t a battle sage monkey. It is some entity known as Legion. This entity is masquerading as Soverick. She doesn''t know a lot about this Legion because something is blocking her view of it every time she looks at it. The only thing she can see past the Universal artifact in Soverick''s soul is Cosmic energy. A lot of cosmic energy can blind even a world god.


    The realm lord has many Universal artifacts that she knows about. She knows that he gained most of them by breaking the rules of the Void universe. She doesn''t know how he got the one called a system. That one has been with him since he was born.


    Those Universal artifacts are very powerful. Only the best of the best in the void universe have one. She has one, but she isn''t going to mess with the realm lord. She knows what she had to do to gain that one. That''s why she won''t mess with others with a universal artifact. At least she won''t mess with someone that has multiple universal artifacts.


    The realm lord has Universal artifacts, but he doesn''t have ess to cosmic energy. Meanwhile, Legion has cosmic energy and a universal artifact. She is sure of one universal artifact, but there can be more. She doesn''t know because of all the cosmic energy that Legion has.


    She wouldn''t mess with the realm lord, so there''s no way she would mess with this Legion. Cosmic energy is the root of POWER and AUTHORITY in the void universe. Cosmic energy is used to turn the ephemeralprehension ofws into tangible Authority in the void universe. That tangible Authority is converted into a concept. The property of concepts being indestructible because of cosmic energy is what makes Origin gods immortal.

 Chapter 708 Pretentious Anger.

    World gods can do so much more with cosmic energy. And only a very strong world god can have as much Cosmic energy as Legion. A strong world god in possession of a lot of cosmic energy and at least a universal artifact makes Legion an entity that she doesn''t want to mess with. She will rather watch the sh between it and the first Sage. So her disy of anger is just for show. She doesn''t actually n to interfere in thepetition. But appearances matter.


    She hates the Sage, so she should hate Soverick. Therefore she should be angry, and her descendants will be angry with Soverick. But she won''t interfere herself because she seems to fear the Sage. It is all ording to what the first Sage will expect of her. She doesn''t want to behave otherwise so as not to make him suspicious. It wouldn''t do for the first Sage to dig too much into things and find out that Soverick is an imposter.


    She is mad and very angry outwardly. But she is snickering inwardly. She is expectant of the Chaos that will ensue. She is hoping that Soverick will deceive and cheat the first Sage. She is also snickering at the serpentine world god that the first Sage is toying with. He doesn''t know the first Sage as much as she does. That''s why he made the foolish decision of having a bet with the first Sage.


    Foresight is great, but being the Keeper of Secrets has its own perks too. The two world gods are shing while using thepetitors for their own purposes. The Sage thinks he is so great. He is ying the serpentine world god and baiting Soverick to do his bidding. But she knows things that he doesn''t know. That is a pleasure in itself.


    Back To Soverick.


    ''I shouldn''t have been worried at all.'' He thought to himself.


    Honestly, he doesn''t know what he was worried about before. The answer to the question of his capability in taking on everyone here is that, yes, he indeed can take on everyone here. He was afraid of being ganged on because he had never used the ability of the child of the ne before. The simple act of removing the shackles on himself is already enough to guarantee his victory. He should never have been worried at all.


    He has always held back in using the call for support because he can''t use it in secret. Everyone will know where he is and that he summoned their support. The ability is also not infinite. It can run out with use and will need time to refresh. The people of the ne that he gains his support from can''t give it to him forever.


    Then there is the fact that it bes possible to steal his title by killing him when he is in this state. Every person born in the Virut ne is connected to him through his title. This connection bes strongest when he is in his current state. If a person born on the Virut ne kills him when he calls for support, they can take the connection he has to the ne and to its people and graft it onto themselves.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    That is how to steal his title. Very few people know this. Lady Amari is one of those people. She didn''t tell people the exact truth, but it is partially true that whoever defeats him can take his title. She just never mentioned that they have to kill him in this state to achieve it.


    Lady Amari is the smallest threat among those that want to kill him. He is aware of other threats. Kings ofw and even sovereigns that want to kill him. The cmity of the child of the ne offended a lot of people. So there are a lot of reasons to want to kill him.


    Most of his enemies are held back by the threat of the racial council. It has been announced that anyone that tries to kill him will be the enemy of the racial council. He doesn''t care too much about those threats. It is not that he doesn''t consider them a threat. It is because anyone that considers the racial council a threat is not enough for him to worry about.


    He can take on a Sovereign ofw and not die. Several Sovereigns will definitely be able to kill him. Not to talk about other Origin gods out there who will like to take a piece of him. It is just difficult to consider them significant when he has felt the gaze of world gods on him. World gods won''t hold back because of the racial council. He expects them to make their move to kill him if they truly hate him, and he expects that the racial council won''t be able to keep him safe from them.


    The gazes of world gods on him have been fleeting but numerous. Several world gods have paid attention to him ever since he became the child of the ne. He knows that one mistake is enough to end him where he is to be at their mercy. He just has to give them a chance. The first Sage was able to do so. Other world gods can too.


    His death will earn his enemies the ire of the racial council, but his death, while he calls for the support of the ne, will also earn his enemies a new child of the ne. The racial council might not go to war as long as they have a child of the ne. There''s no need to fight for him in particr. They certainly don''t like him. He is not of the lineage of the sages, after all.


    So if his enemies want to kill him and avoid a fight with the racial council, they will want to do so when he is in this state. He decided not to encourage them to act by giving them the incentive to. But now, he can finally act and vent his frustrations.

 Chapter 709 Poor Schemer.

    He activated the call for support because he believed that he was safe to act within this world fragment. It is not a baseless belief. He has the Oath of the first Sage to reassure him. He also can''t die permanently in thispetition, so he should be safe.


    He has had many threats, and he has been afraid because of them. Lady Amari is just one of his enemies. She may be small and insignificant, and her death here may be temporary, but he will allow himself to enjoy it. What is life without the little pleasures?


    Now that it has been decided that he will crush her. It is time to decide how he will crush her. He can do it on his own. He has the power to. He hasn''t used the call for support much yet, but what he already has is enough for him right now. The call for support makes him do what he can do, but he does it better and more powerfully. He was already more powerful than his enemies. Now that his shackles have been removed, he outsses them by miles.


    He would prefer to crush his enemies on his own. He can do it too. He is strong enough to do it. Unfortunately, he shouldn''t. If he is toplete the public image that he started to build with that speech, then he mustn''t acquire victory on his own. He can''t go on to massacre the opposition on his own. It will be another Cmity of the child of the ne again.


    He has to stick to the narrative. If he destroys his enemies with a group by his side, then it will be just a battle for victory, and it will show that those that are on his side will get that victory. Also, no one will be able to me him alone for the cmity. He wasn''t the one that instigated the fight, and he didn''t kill everyone alone.


    ''I hate this. I have removed one shackle, but I am being bonded by another.'' He thought to himself.


    He hates to do things this way, but it is the logical option if he wants to create a favorable public image. The boost from his title broke the shackles of the suppression of the world fragment on him, but the need for a good image has shackled him again. Lady Amari was right. His poweres from the people, so he needs them to think favorably of him. But this need for good public opinion is binding him with rules. He has the strength to do what he wants, but he can''t do what he wants to do how he wants to do it.


    "So, should I call everyone?" Salvini asked him.


    He replied curtly. "Yes. Make it quick. I''ll show you guys how to trample on your enemies."


    "Sure thing, boss." She saluted and went to call his lieutenants.


    He looked at his enemies as he waited.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Smart move." Hemented when he saw Lady Amari''s new position.


    Lady Amari is not much of a fighter, so she retreated deep within her army. She surrounded herself withyers andyers of people. He will have to go through them if he is to get to her. It is a smart move. The death of a leader will be demoralizing to the army, just like cutting off the head of a snake will make the snake nearly harmless and on its way to death.


    To be fair, Lady Amari is not exactly a snake. She may be smart, but she is not as good a schemer as Salvini is. She knew secrets and some stuff about him, and she used it to n, but she didn''t n for every oue. Shecks the foresight that Salvini has and the wealth of information that he has.


    Lady Amari is not the type to spend more than 90 hours creating some sheets of paper with different things written on them for different scenarios so that it will look like she can predict the oue of a conversation and simultaneously use it to hide information about herself.


    Shecks subterfuge in her ns and the creativity to create ns within ns. He picked her scheme apart and found nothing beneath it. She seems to be someone who really hates him. She doesn''t even n to gain anything by going against him. Her motive is pure, undiluted hatred. It was disappointing to him in a way but also refreshing. It is good to know that people like Salvini and the sage are rare.


    Lady Amari is also looking at him and inspecting his army just as he is inspecting hers. Their eyes met across the distance. He grinned at her. His grin made her flinch and turn her eyes away. Even now, she is still scheming. It is a pity that she is doing it poorly. He can see her putting things in ce in the background despite looking like she is doing nothing. She knows his victory is set in stone, so she is trying to taint his victory.


    It is all wrong. A good schemer will not be making schemes right now. All the schemes should have been made before this encounter. All the cards should have been yed, and all the dominoes should have been set up. Things should be falling into ce right now. But instead, she is trying to make the best of the current situation. It is all wrong because she shouldn''t be scrambling for the best. It should be expected. It should be inevitable.


    He knows what she is doing, but he doesn''t care at this point. Her little scheme doesn''t matter. The oue is set. Her defeat is certain. She is only trying to dress it up nicely to make it look good. She is trying to rob him of a perfect victory.


    As for him, victory is victory. He can decide to thwart her scheme, but the cost of trying to get a perfect victory is too much for him to care. A perfect victory is not worth it, so he won''t bother with a perfect victory. He is not a picky person. An overwhelming victory will just have to do.

 Chapter 710 Let Loose The Dogs Of War.

    We are all set." Salvini returned soon after.


    All his lieutenants have surrounded him. Now would be able a great time to embarrass him. His lieutenants turning on him in front of everyone will be quite the show. Fortunately, the oath will not allow that to happen. That kind of tant betrayal cannot happen.


    The oath has not clouded his judgment or given him false confidence. Their oath ensures false loyalty and nothing more. He is still on the lookout for a betrayal and has been doing so nonstop since they met him. He is highly suspicious, but he acted with the confidence of someone that can not be betrayed.


    For now, they are on his side. His lieutenants came with their groups who would lead the other troops into battle. They number almost two million in number.


    "Good." He said as he looked them over.


    He began to address his side. "The battle will start soon."


    He pointed at their enemies. "We are to face them. Tell me, what do you see?"


    One of his lieutenants answered. "Enemies."


    Many more gave their answers. "Obstacles." "Warriors."


    Many answers were provided by his eager troops. Then silence returned when he raised his hand.


    "You''re all right. You just don''t see what I see. I see the defeated. I see dead men walking. Their fate was sealed the moment they decided to stand against us. Their end is inevitable. They will be defeated."


    His voice resounded with uttermost confidence. It ignited the confidence within all of them. They all already have a little confidence inside of them. It is the difference between the two armies. His soldiers are not here for a noble reason, nor are they fighting for a noble cause. They are fighting for victory, and they have that confidence within them that they will achieve it. So his words made their victory a matter of course. It also ignited that little confidence in them.


    Their enemies, on the other hand, don''t have any confidence at all. They are fighting against an overwhelming opponent, so they don''t believe that they are going to win. They are full of fear and are hoping for a miracle.


    He pointed at their enemies and said to his soldiers, "They will be defeated by you."


    He let that sink in before he continued. "Why will they be defeated by you? Because you are fighting on my side. Because you are fighting on the side of victory. Victory is not a question here. Victory is certain for us. The question is, what kind of victory you will achieve."


    "Will you break their flesh?" He asked them.


    His soldiers roared in affirmation. "Yes."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He asked again, "Will you break their bones?"


    They roared, "Yes."


    He roared too, "Will you cut them open and spill their guts?"


    They roared their answer, "Yes."


    "Will you take their broken bodies as your bounties?"


    They went back and forth, roaring about how they will defeat their enemies. He fanned that ignited confidence into bloodlust. They all have confidence because they are on his side. Can they possibly lose? No. They know that, and their enemies know that. Now they just have to put in the work to im the victory that they want.


    "Follow me then, and I''ll offer you their broken bodies as bounties. Will you join me in this feast of blood and flesh?" He asked them.


    "Yes." They roared even louder.


    Their roar resounded across the battlefield and sent chills down their enemy''s spines. If those fools didn''t know before that they made the wrong choice, now they know it for certain. Now they know that their defeat is certain. Fear began to creep out of the depths of their mind into their bodies.


    Then Soverick pointed at them and ordered his army with a great shout, "Get them!!!"


    He led by example by being the first to move. He flew slowly above his army instead of bolting straight for the enemy so that they could keep up with him. His lieutenants followed closely behind him while the rest of the soldiers took off running after them. They advanced like bloodthirsty beasts craving blood and flesh.


    Soverick had fanned the mes of confidence into a craving for violence. They don''t want just victory anymore. They want to break and toy with their enemies. They want to fight and have fun fighting. This battle will not be a fight. It will be a massacre. His soldiers are like the dogs of war. He has stoked their rage. Then he unleashed them on his enemies. He has let loose the dogs of war.


    The battlefield became chaotic even before the two sides met. Lady Amari''s side began to break up before the actual fighting started. The morale of her troops is very low, so the sight of their enemies matching on them in an imposing manner made deserters of many of them. As for Soverick''s side, they began to fight among themselves. Lady Amari had nted betrayers on his side. They reared their head in hopes of disrupting the momentum of his side.


    Even if he wins this battle, nothing will change the fact that his troops are not of one mind. His haters might say that it is his fault for not fostering cooperation among his soldiers and that he is not fit to lead. He doesn''t care about that. He is leading a mob, not an army. A mob is not organized, but he will still lead them to victory.


    He will show his haters what makes him fit to lead. He didn''t turn back or address the chaos behind him. He continued moving forward toward their enemies to bring them down. His lieutenants followed him, and so did the bulk of his army.


    They kept their eyes on him and followed him. He is their great leader that will lead them to victory. They will continue to rush forward if he is rushing forward. His army didn''t stop despite the chaos. It continued to move forward, albeit with less momentum. But that is already enough for him.

 Chapter 711 Victory By Mob Action.

    The weak morale of his enemies broke even further when he got within a kilometer of them. A heavy gravitational field settled on their shoulders and brought them to their knees. The gravitational field covered more of his enemies the closer he got to them.


    This initiative of involuntary submission started from their front lines and then extended back to the bulk of the army. So their enemies were kneeling down in waves the closer Soverick got to them. That is not a posture meant to be taken when you have an army running toward you and calling for blood.


    The ones at the back that saw the soldiers in front of them kneeling down knew something bad had happened. No matter how talented someone is, fighting on their knees is a very bad idea. It is either they are doing it on purpose because of a stupid reason or because they are beingpelled to do so, or they may be surrendering.


    Whichever one it is, it is not a good thing for an army to kneel. So the ones at the back tried to run away, but the people behind them that are not aware of the changes boxed them in. The dy in running away doomed them. They should have run before the battle started. That''s when they could because it is toote for them now.


    Soverick got closer, and more of his enemies experienced what it felt like to have a force in the thousands of tonnes resting on their shoulders. It is not the weight of the world, so they were not crushed. It is just the weight of the very bad decision to oppose him. They were forced to kneel, and the wave of kneeling continued.


    Things got worse for their enemies when Soverick''s side got within 100 meters of them. That is the distance needed for ranged attacks because of the suppression of divine sense.


    He ordered his eager soldiers, "Attack."


    Ranged attacks flew from his soldiers toward the opposing side. It was carried out eagerly and inrge quantities. Their enemies, on the other hand, didn''t respond in kind. It seems that they are preupied with something else. They were on their knees, struggling to move. It looked as if they were not taking the battle seriously. They paid for their negligence soon enough. His soldier''s spells and physical ranged attacks easilynded on them, which led to the mass decimation of his enemies.


    He led his soldiers to destroy their enemies. He himself didn''t do much. He just stayed ahead of his troops and prepped their enemies with his gravity field for the ughtering that urred. It was indeed a ughtering. A ughter fest, if you will. They were on their knees as spells bombarded them. Those that luckily survived regained control of their bodies to move after Soverick passed them by, but they were too weak and too few to fight off the ravenous beast that followed behind him.


    His promise was fulfilled. It was a feast of blood and flesh, with his side engorging themselves in violence. Now no one can me this entire thing on him alone. He can even say he was simply going for a stroll, and he wouldn''t be wrong about it. He didn''t do anything noteworthy apart from his attack on Lady Amari.


    He didn''t kill her. Killing her will be too easy. She tried to kill herself, though. Unfortunately for her, gravity is sometimes called a bitch for a reason. A concentrated burden of a heavy dose of gravity made her unable to move an inch. He captured her and cut off parts of her body again and again after they healed. He didn''t injure her too much. He damaged her just enough to keep her close to losing consciousness from the pain. Her brand didn''t activate, so he could continue his ministration of pain without interruption.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "What do you have to say for yourself?" He asked her after removing all four of her limbs and part of her torso.


    She didn''t flinch when he cut her with his de, and she remained silent even now. She is lying on the ground with gravity pressing down on her. Her wounds aren''t bleeding. Her body is like a structure made of puzzle pieces, so her injuries look like a portion of her was torn out. Those portions are restoring themselves piece by piece as she regenerates. That''s how soul bodies work.


    Her rate of regeneration is very fast. Arms and legs regrow in real-time. He didn''t use anyws so that she would be able to regenerate quickly. It is so that he will be able to cut her again and again without waiting for too long. After all, he is not after her death. It is the best he can do in this situation. Things would have been better if he had his new forged artifact with him. She will surely scream when her consciousness is pierced and hijacked by an unliving thing.


    Salvini came up beside him. She said to him. "She is tougher than she looks."


    He grunted in reply. Their victory has not softened his stance towards her. He is still wary of her. Lady Amari was the one that responded to her presence.


    "I know a secret of yours." She said to Salvini.


    Salvini''s eyes narrowed. "Is that so?"


    She nodded. "It is rted to him, isn''t it?" She gestured with her head to Soverick.


    Salvini folded her arms confidently. "I don''t think I know what you''re talking about."


    She, in fact, knows what Lady Amari is talking about. She can''t predict the future if it is rted to Soverick, but she can predict her moods and reaction to some things. So she knows that it is a secret that she isn''t worried about being divulged. She narrowed it down since it is rted to Soverick. She had said it so many times, but Soverick didn''t believe her. Maybe now he might believe it if someone else says it.

 Chapter 712 End Of The Third Challenge.

    Lady Amari scoffed. "You know what I am talking about. Get me released now, or I''ll say it."


    "Unfortunately for you, I cannot do that. You''re the child of the ne''s prisoner, so I cannot release you. I believe that you should be punished even harder for your offense against the child of the ne." Salvin said. Then she turned to Soverick. "I think you should up the pain somehow. She obviously isn''t in too much pain, or she wouldn''t be so chatty."


    Soverick looked at Salvini with intense scrutiny for a while before answering. "Maybeter. I want to hear what she has to say."


    He has been alternating his gaze between the two of them earlier. He knows that there is something going on here, and he would very much like to find out. It seems Salvini is trying to hide something from him. So he watched Salvini''s reaction to his rejection intensely to clue him into what was going on.


    Salvin shrugged. "Suit yourself."


    Lady Amari smiled. "I know that you''re pretending not to care. I will say your secret either way. You love the child of the ne."


    Lady Amari can tell that Salvini is pretending, but she doesn''t know what she is pretending about. So she told the secret that she knew and hoped to see something interesting.


    Nothing happened. Salvin didn''t change or react, and Soverick continued to look between the two of them, trying to decipher the hidden game that these two her ying on him. He knows that Lady Amari can see secrets. That doesn''t mean she is speaking the truth or that she isn''t trying to trick him. He knows that she has tricked others with half-truths before, so he must take whatever she says with due vignce.


    He finally spoke, "You talk too much."


    He returned to cutting her when he couldn''t figure out what was going on. And no, he is not paranoid. He knows that something is wrong. He started feeling it as soon as the call for support was activated. The consciousness of the ne didn''t tell him much, but it gave him enough to intuit that what he was doing would help the ne and also that he was in danger.


    Unfortunately for him, he can''t do anything with the little information he has, at least not with Salvini constantly stalking him and the arena spirits always aware of everything he is doing in the Arena. He doesn''t know his enemies and his friends, so he has to be careful. For now, he will torture the leader of the rebellion against him.


    He wasn''t enjoying torturing her. In fact, he found it time-consuming, but he had to do it to serve as a warning to others. The entire ne is watching right now, and he wants them to know the consequence of acting against him. If they think his killing them is a sin, then they should prepare themselves for more because torture is not beyond him.


    The third challenge ended on that note. Lady Amari didn''t make a sound throughout the ordeal. He loped off her limbs even as his troops rounded up thest of her army. Her reaction to the treatment ismendable. She flinched whenever his de cut into her thin, weak body, but she didn''t cry.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    She may be trying to undermine the severity of what she is going through, or she may be trying to show herself as unbreakable and unremorseful. He doesn''t care. What matters is that others will ask themselves if they can go through what she is going through without crying.


    The end of the third challenge was her salvation. The world around them greyed out and disappeared. Thepetitors were teleported against their will again. For a lot of people, the end of thepetition couldn''t havee sooner. Soverick was d when it ended. He got thest key to create the vulnerability he needed to crack the core as soon as the 3rd challenge ended.


    For others, the third challenge was too short. One of the people that groaned when the third challenge ended was Ghaster. Two bullies ganged up on him and prevented him from escaping. One of them had a cloud of phantom weapons that surrounded him. He couldn''t escape, so he had to entertain them with physical violence.


    You would expect that to be a bad thing, but it wasn''t. They took turns beating him up, and he fought back with everything that he had except for his divine abilities. His bullies didn''t use their divine abilities either. They wanted to let the fightst, so they challenged him to a brawl, and he epted their challenge.


    They fought for a long time. Then they became friends. Something about Ghaster''s straightforward personality and his hatred for Soverick endeared them to him. They spent the rest of the time chatting until the third challenge ended. The end of the third challenge cut short their pleasurable discussion, so Ghasterined as he was teleported away.


    POV OF THE CO-ADMINISTRATORS.


    The serpentine world god snorted and mocked, "It is about time your side finished. I thought I would be here forever."


    "Your side was early by just a few hours. They were not that early." The first sage argued.


    "Whatever. My point still stands. My side finished first while yours finishedst."


    It was the sage''s turn to snort. "That doesn''t prove that your side will win. It only proves that your side iszy."


    The two of them didn''t look at each other as they threw jabs at one another. They have been doing that recently, and usually, the first sage wins their exchange. But victory went to the serpentine world god in this round of exchange. It is an undeniable point that the serpentine world god''s side finished the 3rd challenge and has been ready for the 4th challenge for hours now. It is due to an advantage that they have over the battle sage monkeys.

 Chapter 713 Unity And Strength.

    The battle sage monkeys have just finished the third challenge, while the other side has finished for quite some time. It is because the other side was able to finish the second challenge quickly. The challenge for thest man standing didn''t cause too much of a divide among them.


    The normalpetitors killed each other in a free for all, and thest one sacrificed themselves to their paragon. So the paragons became thest man standing without any effort. They werezy about it, but they were also efficient.


    Their society is United that way. They are a society with a strict and clearly defined hierarchy. Paragons alwayse first, and they always get the best. In turn, the paragons always protect the members of their society. It is the basic foundation of their society.


    This sort of privileged stratification of society usually causes strife in some societies, but it works to unite them. Paragons are born special, and their divine ability works to unite their race, so their race is very united. Paragons also need their society to prosper. After all, the better their society is, the stronger paragons are. They are very simr to Soverick in that way. They both gain power from the people of their ne.


    Battle sage monkeys, on the other hand, are not united. They must each fight for what they want or what they believe they deserve. Everything is up for grabs in their society. If you want something, then you must take it. Hierarchy is determined by strength.


    Salvos thought he deserved the divine crown despite there being a child of the nepeting for it. He didn''t give up. He even went to challenge the child of the ne. Salvos didn''t let prestige and title stop him from trying to take what he wanted. Strength was to determine who deserved the divine crown.


    Strength reigns supreme with the other side too. It is just that paragons are born special. Paragons will grow up to be strong, and non-paragons can never catch up to them. Paragons are like gods to the normal vipers. They are respected, feared, and worshipped.


    The arrangement of social hierarchy ensures that there is no dissent in their society. There is conflict, but it is quickly resolved by the will of the people. It can be said that paragons are the ideals of themon people given life. So they are a united people. Themon people will certainly not fight their paragons. They also won''t win even if they do.


    Most conflict in their society is between paragons. Paragons don''tpete with normal people. Theypete among themselves. Their conflict is also resolved quickly with a fight to the death. The weaker paragon is killed and absorbed by the stronger paragon.


    All the power in the society is fixed. It is because their poption is finite. The lesser the number of paragons, the stronger each paragon is. They don''t have to spread the power of their society too much. So it is not a good thing that there are just nine paragons among the 3 million Vipers that qualified for the 4th challenge. It means that each paragon will have an average of 300 thousand normal people as their anchors.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    That is not a lot for a paragon to have in this age and time. That kind of number would have been considered a bit much in the era of transcendents when paragons were still few in number. But the Vipers have swelled in quantity and quality in their ne since that era. Things would have been worse for the battle sage monkeys if the first sage had not ced a limit on the number of people that could participate in the fourth challenge.


    If the slot for participation were open and unlimited, the paragons would have called for everyone that met their requirements. They have arge poption because they don''t send their transcendents to the tower of heaven forpulsory participation.


    Viper paragons cherish the lives of their people. Every single one of them is important to the paragons. Their people are the foundation of their powers, so they encourage reproduction, not culling like battle sage monkeys do.


    So the Viper race is veryrge, and yet the paragons have tight control over them. They can have 100 million participants in thepetition instead of a mere 3 million if only they are allowed to. They would have won thepetition hands down that way. Even so, the unity they have is admirable. It is nothing to scoff at. They wouldn''t try to sabotage their paragons, whose duty is to protect them.


    Meanwhile, battle sage monkeys fight amongst themselves all the time. They will even scheme and pick fights with the protector of the ne. Only the racial council can order the forces of the ne around. They would have surely behaved better and helped Soverick instead of antagonizing him if the first sage had told them, but the sage wasn''t allowed to do that.


    The sage wasn''t even allowed to tell the inhabitants of the Virut ne about the enemy that they would be fighting in thepetition. That would have surely spurred the entire ne into action. But he couldn''t, so the initial interest in thepetition was very low.


    Not many thought much of thepetition. Only those that cared about the plot ofnd around the tower of trials cared about thepetition. The rich and powerfulbatants of the ne surely don''t care about it. They have Origin energy in their cities, so they would rather cultivate than fight for something they don''t need.


    The racial council had tried to woo the people of the Virut ne with all sorts of perks so that they would participate in thepetition. It is the major reason why they decided to endorse the Unified Skill Index as a substitute for the trial of heaven.


    The racial council even made it so that there won''t be any death in thepetition. They made it a safe alternative to the trial of heaven. It was meant to make people less afraid so that they will attend thepetition and fight for the battle sage monkeys.

 Chapter 714 The Bloodline Of The Eye Of The Sage Strikes Again.

    Sensitive individuals should have gleaned enough by then that thepetition is very important to the racial council. Why would they change an ancient tradition of their race for a simplepetition? Unfortunately, it still wasn''t enough. If Soverick''s intention to attend thepetition wasn''t announced, then the number of participants wouldn''t have been up to a million at all. Soverick''s notoriety and poprity drew thergest number of participants to thepetition.


    Soverick''s very attendance was needed to bring in people. Even then, they came to gang up on him and beat him up, not to support him like the Vipers supported their paragons. It all culminated in that final battle of the 3rd challenge. The serpentine world god also didn''t tell his people about who their enemies would be or the purpose of thepetition, but he didn''t need to. He called thepetition a training session, and Vipers flocked to attend just for the honor of it.


    The first sage thought back to the ending of the third challenge, and he couldn''t help but sign. "It all ended on a nice note. I couldn''t have asked for a better oue. I have to thank Salvini somehow. She did the best with what she had."


    That ending is the best he could have gotten. The vipers didn''t fight each other at all. The paragons called for support, and the vipers around them rallied to their cause. Then they systematically took down the golems. The paragons fought amongst themselves for the divine crown and the other crowns. Then they distributed the rest to their most noteworthy subordinates. It was that simple for them.


    They spent the rest of the time just waiting while the battle sage monkeys were at each other''s throats. Still, that oue is the best he can get. Soverick has shown himself to be strong, and he has united a bulk of the battle sage monkeys to his cause. He didn''t antagonize everyone despite being capable of doing so. He has proven his worth as a leader.


    Now they know that no matter what their opinion of him is, he will give them victory when it matters. It will matter soon because nothing short of unity will do if they are to defeat the Vipers. Salvini was instrumental in the development of this oue. She moved on her own and allowed everything to flow nicely.


    Her sess in preventing Soverick and Salvos from killing each other over and over again impressed him. And he didn''t even order her to do so. She didn''t know anything about his nning and scheming for this entirepetition, but she moved in line with his will.


    She gathered lieutenants for Soverick. That wasn''t to help him, as she stated. It is to strengthen the battle sage monkeys by creating morebatants with the power level of Emperors. It is obvious that Soverick doesn''t need their help. He could have resolved the conflict all on his own, so he wouldn''t have asked people to be his subordinates. That means 100 positions for Emperors would have gone to waste.


    She sage smiled. "That makes two of my lineage that has had a hand in Soverick''s fate."


    The child of the sages created the divine dungeon. The child of the sage also provided information about the god''s arrangements of troops, theyout of the divine dungeon, and the rules of its operation. Those enabled Soverick to be the child of the ne. Now Salvini ensured that Soverick used the boost from his title within thepetition.


    If Soverick was on his own, then he might have targeted Amari right from the start. He would have considered cutting off the head of the serpent and rooting out the problem before it started. It would have certainly dyed his acquisition of the divine crown, which would have led to his loss.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Salvos would have acquired the divine crown if Soverick had beente to it. But Salvini intervened. She suggested an alternative that Soverick took. He got the divine crown and also used the Call For Support. It is killing two birds with one stone.


    It was not the first time that she had done something so efficiently in thepetition, and neither was it needed. But the sage still found it amusing how her mind works. He finds it especially funny how she managed to distract Soverick while doing it. She reminds him of himself. No matter how careful or suspicious someone is of the first sage, they will still fall into his trap. It is simply inevitable.


    Salvini''s knowledge of the situation and her actions to amend them is not a breach of the rules that he made with the serpentine world god. He didn''t tell her anything or hint at anything. She found out on her own due to her bloodline. There is no rule against the use of divine abilities.


    She may not know the full extent of the situation since it involves world gods, but she knows that they will fight Vipers in the fourth challenge, so she worked towards conserving their strength and unifying them against amon enemy.


    Of course, she probably has her own agenda. Those of the first sage''s bloodline are unpredictable like that. You can''t know their true aim because there is no true aim. They have multiple things that they want to achieve and multiple intertwined ns to achieve them. So you can''t evade them.


    He sobered up after his short moment of amusement. He watched as some of thepetitors that were killed in the third challenge were healed and sent back to the ne, while some were healed and sent to the fourth challenge.


    "It is alling together." He said to himself.


    His little ns and arrangements will culminate in the 4th challenge. The format of the third challenge wasrgely influenced by him. The arrangements he made required a strong person who would get the crown and a group of others who would protect them.


    If they don''t band together and cooperate, then the golems will get them, or the others will chase them around for the crown. The Lieutenant system provided a means for this cooperation. It is a sort of preparation for the fourth challenge. You could call it a practice in leadership and followership.

 Chapter 715 All For The Good Of The Plane.

    Everything since the beginning of thepetition was for the fourth challenge. The announcement of feats in the first challenge made people know the achievements of the strong.


    The visible crowns that the designated kings had during the first challenge were a subtle rmendation by the first sage. It tells thepetitors who he believed to be strong. It is all so that thepetitors will be able to make an informed decision about who to follow. When there is an undisputable icon, the people can use it as a rallying point and be united.


    Arge portion of that preparation would have been destroyed by Soverick''s and Salvos'' conflict. A conflict between the two of them could have spiraled out of control. The consequences within the third challenge are trivia as to how it will affect their cooperation during the fourth challenge.


    It would have all culminated in a disaster for the fourth challenge. The battle sage monkeys will be divided like never before. Their chances of victory will also fall below 50% if they also try to undermine each other during the fourth challenge.


    The sage has to admit that this happened because he underestimated Soverick. He didn''t focus on Soverick right from the start. He had to have several options avable since he couldn''t predict Soverick''s actions.


    Soverick was coerced into participating in thepetition mainly to draw morepetitors from the battle sage monkeys and to crack the core of the Arenas. It was until he showed his worth that the sage realized that he was a better option as the leader.


    "Speaking of unpredictability. That Soverick is a handful." The sage muttered to himself.


    There are a lot of ns that the sage put in ce. Thispetition has many purposes. One of them is to get rid of Soverick. It is one of the ns that the first sage had for Soverick before he realized Soverick''s worth. The first sage hasn''t changed his mind, though. He has stopped underestimating Soverick, but he still wants to rece him as the child of the ne.


    Lady Amari is not the only one seeking to remove him. Everyone that knows how to take the title from Soverick has entertained the thought several times, and no one knows better than the first sage on how to remove the connection between Soverick and the ne and graft it to another host. Salvini is not his enemy. She just looks like one because she is fulfilling his will.


    Soverick might be conscious of the danger he is in or oblivious to it. It doesn''t matter since he can''t do anything about it. He had already lost the moment he took that brand upon himself and connected to the pir that brought him into thepetition.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Soverick was very eager to participate in thepetition. He wanted to gaze upon thew of Order of the sage. The first sage was also eager to see him participate in thepetition for many reasons. So they don''t owe each other anything. The sage can take the title since it was his descendant that gave it to Soverick in the first ce.


    The only thing that would have saved Soverick is if he didn''t activate the ability of the child of the ne within the world fragment. It would have been difficult for his connection to be removed then. But Salvini made sure that he used it. She yed the part of the helper and viiness at the same time. Soverick was surrounded on all sides by enemies. He couldn''t even trust his allies. The only thing that he could trust was his strength. It pushed Soverick to activate the boost from his title.


    Soverick brought his connection with the ne into the arena when he called for support. Then he went on to crack the core of the arena, thereby creating a connection between himself and the core. Now the first sage is certain of sess. The next step is finding the person who he will make the next child of the ne.


    The n wasn''t sure to work. It is a method to remove the title of the child of the ne without killing the current holder. It has never been done before. The best method to take the title is to kill Soverick while he is in his strengthened state after calling for support. But the first sage swore an Oath that made Soverick feel safe enough to attend thepetition. So the first sage had to find another way to take the title from him.


    The sage promised that no harm woulde to Soverick from him or the other world gods during thepetition. So he can''t harm Soverick outright, but there are workarounds to that promise. For one, Soverick can bring harm to himself by creating a connection between himself and the core of a world fragment.


    That shouldn''t normally happen unless Soverick goes out of his way to crack the core of an arena. Then he might have to leave his title behind if he is somehow killed during thepetition. That will be difficult to achieve, but the sage and descendants can surely find a way.


    The sage also promised that the racial council would try its best to protect him as long as he remained the child of the ne. So Soverick might find himself killed when he has outgrown his usefulness. Then the connection will be given to a proper sage with the foresight to use it. Soverick''s end is inevitable because he attended thispetition.


    The sage thought about it and decided to go through with his n for Soverick. "With Soverick gone, the era of the battle sage will dawn again."


    The first sage doesn''t hate Soverick, just as he doesn''t like Soverick either. He is not aiming for Soverick''s end because of a vendetta or hatred. He is only concerned about the welfare of the ne, not Soverick. He cares about the ne, so he will do what''s best for the ne regardless of Soverick''s feeling about it.

 Chapter 716 Two For The Price Of One.

    Soverick has shown himself to be talented. But it is someone of his lineage who has the best of the ne at heart that should be the child of the ne. The first sage cares about the ne, so his descendants also care about the ne. They can be trusted, unlike Soverick.


    The ability of foresight will also make the best use of the title. It will be like the days of old when he was the child of the ne. His descendants will bring glory to the ne again. For now, things will go ording to n. He just needs to encourage Soverick to continue now that he has gotten ess to the core of the arena.


    SOVERICK POV


    The third challenge ended with him in possession of the divine crown. The world and everyone entered a stasis while the world spirits prepared the stage for the final challenge. Meanwhile, the divine crown created a key through the brand of its wielder. That key traveled to the core and created a vulnerability in the defense of the core as it was epted. He punched through that vulnerability and gained ess to the core.


    "Finally." He said in excitement.


    He can hardly wait to get his metaphorical hands on the loot that he has been after all along. He had to jump through hoops for it. It is finally his, so he is very excited.


    His mind entered the core immediately, and he found himself within a white world. This time the world is not empty. It doesn''t have the eye of the first sage, either. It does have what he wants. What he wants are multiple threads of different colors meshed together to form fabrics.


    These fabrics are in multidimensionalyers. They constitute the space-time continuum of the white world. It is how white light is actually made of varying bands of light, which leads to the creation of different colors after being separated. The fabrics are the true wealth of the core. It is what he has been craving for.


    The core also gained ess to his mind through the channel he created. The arena spirit can use that opportunity to attack his mind, but it left him alone without disturbing his mind. It continued to hover around the white space like an angry presence.


    The core is the spirit, and the spirit is the core. So in a way, he has gained ess to the arena spirit. It is understandable that it is unhappy with him. He ignored the moody spirit. He is not afraid of a mind attack. The sage promised him protection. He used his connection to the arena spirit of 28 to ess its connections with the other cores in order to gain their wealth of information.


    He has been feeding on the echoes of thew of Order of the first sage. Now, it is time to feast on the real deal. His exploration of thew matrix can be likened to his examining the footprint of a giant for information about the giant. Sure, he can make inferences about height and weight, including race, but it can''tpare to seeing the truth with his own eyes, even if it is only a tiny corner of the truth.


    The cores also contain information about the entirepetition, including guidelines and time table. They are connected to each other and work together based on the instructions to create the arenas. Then he found some other cores that are totally different from the ones belonging to the first sage. He recognized their different make and thew of Order that made them. That made him realize their origin.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "This must have been made by that other world god. That means that the sage and this world god are responsible for the arenas that hold thepetition." He thought in understanding.


    He felt slight resistance from the cores from the other side of thepetition when he tried to ess them. They don''t know him and have no reason to give him ess to their cores. The cores that the serpentine world god made refused to share information with him.


    He is a stranger to them. So he shed thew of Order that he took from the rank 10 monster he defeated in the first challenge. Resistance fell away, and they gave him ess to their cores immediately. That purew that he took opened the door to the cores without the need for keys or vulnerabilities.


    Now he has ess to two differentws of order instead of two. He came for onew of order but he is getting two. He didn''tin at all. He plunged greedily into their depths and soaked up information as fast as his mind could transmit it.


    Thews of order are massive. They are the foundation of a world after all. He will need at least an Origin Cycle for him to get everything about a single one of them even with the help of Legion-7. That''s the lowest estimate. He doesn''t have that much time. So he better make use of what he can now.


    "Is this real?" He questioned himself when the reality of the situation came crashing into him, along with the data he was imbibing.


    He should be engorging himself on the core instructions, but he was distracted by something he saw. He has gained ess to various information and data that the world fragments collected on everypetitor, but that is not as significant as the knowledge that the battle sage monkeys are in apetition with another race.


    The full information of the fourth challenge entered his mind as the world fragments containing the battle sage monkeys joined with those containing the Vipers. He became informed about the format of thest challenge.


    "So this was why he wanted me here." He eximed.


    He got information about their opponents too. He found out about their total number and the number of paragons they have. He wasn''t surprised about the existence of Paragons. He knows about them. In fact, one of Legion''s clones is a paragon for another race. So the cheat-like ability of the paragons didn''t surprise him.

 Chapter 717 [Bonus ] Another Incentive.

    "So what do you think?" The first sage asked him.


    He didn''t flinch due to the sudden appearance of the eye within the space of the core. He expected the first sage toe once he got ess to it. Their meeting always happens when he has sessfully cracked a puzzle. First, it was the mystery of the cards, then the time he cracked thew matrix of his arena, and now.


    "I know you had an ulterior motive for thispetition, but I am still shocked by the implications. You asked me to win thepetition. Doing that will make me offend this other world god. Please tell me thispetition is not serious and that the other world god is easygoing." Soverick asked.


    The first sage didn''t answer. He doesn''t have anything to say to Soverick''s question, and he doesn''t think the question is worthy enough for an answer from him.


    Soverick sighed in resignation. Everything he knows points to the seriousness of thispetition. Thispetition involves about 100 world fragments joined together to stage a battle between two different races. World fragments are very expensive. Origin gods will kill to have one, and yet, 100 of them were created for the sole purpose of thispetition.


    World gods can make world fragments. But surely, it can''t be that easy to make 100. Two world gods won''t spend that much time and resources on a baselesspetition. Millions of participants were then transported to the prepared arenas. The two different races that arepeting are also sworn enemies. Battle sage monkeys have even managed topletely eliminate the Vipers from the Virut ne.


    As if the previous bitterness between the two races is not enough, they have also involved their child of the ne and their paragons. The conflict involves world gods, and it is being broadcasted on both nes for all their inhabitants to see. World gods are powerful, but there''s no way they did all of this on a whim or for the fun of it. They are not that bored. He knows all of these, but he was hoping he was wrong about his conclusion. He was hoping that thispetition would not be too serious. The first Sage''s silence dashed all of his hope.


    "Alright. That''s a foolish question, I suppose. Let me make another stupid request. Please tell me that there''s no stake in this."


    The eye chuckled at him. "You know better than that, Soverick Ghastorix."


    "Damn it." He swore.


    Yes, he knows better than that. If the situation is serious, then there must be stakes. But he can also hope. He has to hope there are no stakes because any stake that involves the interest of world gods cannot be simple. Even the smallest stake, which is respect and bragging rights, is not simple considering that they are world gods of two different races. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The oue of thispetition will shame one race or another. That is an entire race and an entire ne being disgraced. He wished he had gotten involved in it at all. World gods are terrifying enemies. And he will make a world god his enemy no matter the oue of thepetition. He will have offended the other world god if he wins. Worse still, he will offend the first sage if he losses.


    Soverick groaned. Then he asked, "Please tell me you didn''t bet using me as a stake or with anything rted to me."


    The first sage replied, "You can be certain that I did not do that."


    Soverick felt relief. It is a bad thing to act against the interest of a world god. It is a worse thing to be one of the items that are at stake. But now that he is sure that he is not part of the stakes, he wants to distance himself from thepetition. He can''t exin his situation to the other world god. The only one he can convince is the first sage.


    So he said, "Your n to lead me by the nose to fight for you has failed. I am sure you are not surprised. You probably nned for it too. So what is it that you will offer me to fight for you now? Will it be a boon or threat?" He asked the first sage.


    The deal was that he would participate in thepetition for the support of the racial council and that he would get to ask the world god for one thing if he won. He has participated in thepetition and will get the support of the racial council as promised. Winning thepetition is another thing entirely. Winning it is also offending a world god. One wish is not enough for him now. He would prefer if the first sage said he doesn''t need to win anymore.


    The first sage replied. "You are right. I expected it. I will offer you another request to encourage you to win thispetition."


    The sage didn''t say he didn''t need to win anymore. The sage upped the ante. The previous encouragement was the bait of knowledge. Soverick got a taste of it during their first meeting. He couldn''t get a lot of that white space back then, but what he got was already valuable. It was when he entered the world fragment that made this arena that he realized the immense opportunity that he had been given. He first had to crack thew matrix, then the core, to regain ess to the white space. The sage estimated that he would gain ess to it after the fourth challenge.


    The difficulty of the core was made that way. It was not to be impossible to crack within the period of the challenge, or Soverick won''t try at all. It was supposed to be within his reach, so he will continue to try everything possible to gain ess to it. Winning all of the challenges would have granted him ess to the core eventually, but Soverick expedited the process by repurposing someone''s consciousness as a means to attack the core.


    Now Soverick has gotten what he wants, and he doesn''t see the need to offend a world god just to win. The sage has to encourage him with something else for him to win the challenge. It is another incentive to win.

 Chapter 718 Legion-7S Appetite For Laws.

    Soverick considered the reward. He is honestly swayed. A request from a world god is very powerful. The opportunity to make more requests is a very tempting offer.


    "Make it three requests, and you''ve got yourself a deal," Soverick demanded more.


    The sage refused to budge. "It is just two and no more."


    "Come on. The requests aren''t evenpulsory. It is not like you have to do whatever I ask. You get to decide if you want to do it. So make it three requests."


    "It is already a fortune to ask a world god for something. You can use it to ask for wealth or Authority in the racial council. It is up to you. You don''t get more than two wishes from me."


    He ns to have Soverick killed during or after thepetition, so it might not matter how many requests he gives him since he wouldn''t be able to use it, but the sage won''t do that. Things might not work out, and he doesn''t want to test fate. He would rather prepare for both eventualities and not shoot himself in the foot. This is why he doesn''t lose. He always prepared for his own failure.


    "Alright. Two requests. Can I request that you protect me from the other world god?" Soverick asked.


    "You don''t need to do that. It will be a waste of your request. I already promised you that the racial council would do everything that it could to protect you. What could be better than that?"


    The sage discouraged Soverick from making the request. If Soverick makes the request, then the sage will be forced to tell him that his days are already numbered. Soverick is already doomed the moment that he took the raww of order of the serpentine world god into himself in the first challenge. He was already informed that thew of order of a world god is part of their existence, but he didn''t realize the full implications.


    A world god is immortal as long as theirw of order exists. That means that they can resurrect from anything that they create. Origin gods need their original essence and soul fragments to resurrect, but all a world god needs is a piece of paper that they made.


    It will take a lot of time, and they need a lot of energy to rebuild their world, but it is possible. Soverick didn''t swallow a piece of paper that a world god made. He did more than that, so he has iting for him. He will surely die.


    There''s nothing the sage can do to protect him apart from Soverick giving up thew of order. If Soverick makes that request, then the sage has to tell him about it. As long as Soverick remains ignorant and thepetition is still going on, then the sage can keep what he knows to himself.


    Soverick nodded. "I''ll keep my requests to myself for now. I should wait to win until I make requests. How do I reach you when I am ready?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "You can draw my attention by pinging myw of order. I will be able to hear it from anywhere in thew matrix of the void universe." The sage replied.


    "Okay. I''ll call you when I have made up my mind. Wish me luck for thest challenge."


    "Good luck." The sage said and disappeared.


    Soverick turned his attention to thew of order in the core. It is like the gene code of the first sage. The things that he can do and he is doing with it have never been done before. To witness such a boon so clearly is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity.


    Even an immortal will cherish it. Origin gods will kill for this opportunity to see how thews of the universe can be fused into one supremew. This Supremew is strong enough to be independent of thew matrix and carve out a section of it for itself. Thisw is the foundation of a world. It is also a solution to a lot of problems.


    One of the problems that it will fix is the fusion of Soverick''sws. Unlike the bloodline of the first sage, which is based on only thew of fate, his own divine ability is based on Space, Time, Causality, and the basicws of the world. These four basic groups enabled his eyes to be much more versatile than that of the first sage, as can be seen from his skill set. It also means that bing a titan ofw will be very difficult for him.


    The immense task of fusing hisws is an undertaking that can get him killed. The first sage knows his eyes and some of what they can do. He also knows how difficult it will be to fuse it. That''s why he chose hisw of order to bait him. The two of them arepatible since they are of the same race with ocr powers.


    The little piece of thew of the order he got from the first meeting helped him to finish his skillset before thepetition. If he gets enough of it, then it might help him to fuse all hisws into one.


    As for that of the serpentine world god, Legion-7 is guzzling it as fast as he can. Legion-7 and thew of order of the serpentine world god are verypatible. Legion-7 is also an expert on devouring and assimtingws, so he is making faster progress than Soverick.


    The two of them are not the only ones that will benefit from thews of order. Every Legion will benefit from it. They all know whatever one of them knows. The knowledge that he and Legion-7 acquire will help every one of them to be titans ofw safely and eventually be Sovereigns.


    So he should be satisfied with what he already has. But he is greedy for more.

 Chapter 719 Winning From Failure.

    He is not going to try and win thepetition just because of his greediness. There''s another reason why he should win. The sage gave him the carrot in the form of more requests. That is tempting, surely. But there''s also the implied stick.


    The offer of more requests is tempting because the favor of a world god is precious. It is a must-have. That means that the anger of one is very precious too. But it is something to be avoided at all costs. It is doubly so when that world god is effectively in control of the ne you reside in.


    Back To The Sage.


    The sage continued watching the proceedings of thepetition as if nothing happened. He thought about the change of prospects, and he couldn''t help but smile. He knew that Soverick could get ess to the core before the end of thepetition. He could have doubled down on that possibility to prevent it, knowing that he might fail, or he could prepare for it and sought to benefit from it instead.


    He chose to prepare for it and benefit from it. Time has shown that he made the right decision. He didn''t that need that confirmation to know it was the right decision. He is always prepared for his failure, so it ismon sense to win from his failure too. To prepare for something and not take advantage of it is just foolishness. And he is definitely not foolish.


    That is one of the reasons why he allowed the serpentine world god to tamper with the rank 10 monster in Soverick''s arena. The first sage believed that Soverick would see the true value within the monster. The first sage was right. Soverick saw it, and in his greed, he sought to make it his own.


    Then Soverick went ahead to make thew of order his own because of the first Sage''s subtle encouragement during their second meeting. Now he has gained ess to the cores and their information. It is not allowed, but it is also not against the rules.


    It is not against the rules because the serpentine world god didn''t anticipate that something like that was possible at all. He did not think that a king ofw under the suppression of the world fragment could in any way threaten the integrity of the cores of the world fragments, much less break past their defense and gain ess to them. The first sage anticipated it, and he is gaining the benefit of that anticipation now.


    Gaining ess to the core is like gaining administration privileges within an organization or within a world. The two world gods created the world and set instructions for the game yed within it. They set the rules. Then they stood back and watched. Everything went well until someone broke into a core. Someone gaining administration privileges is very bad and should be prevented. But it is not such a bad thing if that person is on his side.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The first sage could have lost everything if Soverick had decided not to win thepetition. That''s why it was important to convince Soverick to win thepetition. Soverick could already do a lot with just control of thew matrix. He will be able to do more now that he has control of a core. The sage made sure he would use his privilege to the best of his abilities to win thepetition.


    ''I have to admit that he ispetent." The sage said. Then he shook his head and said, "But I don''t want someone that I can''t work with to be the child of the ne.''


    The sage thought of what will happen at the end of thepetition, and he couldn''t help but pity Soverick. He is a picky person with a very high standard. He is a world god, after all. It will take a lot just to draw his attention, but he has to admit that Soverick is one of a kind.


    He really respects Soverick, and he thinks highly of him. If he didn''t think well of Soverick, then he wouldn''t have allowed him to be the child of the ne at all. But that doesn''t mean that he cannot work towards Soverick''s death. Admiration and murder are not mutually exclusive. Soverick is great and all, but he will be discarded for who the sage believes is a better candidate.


    Being a world god means that they usually consider things in the long term. By the long term, it means millions of years. Being a sage with the ability to see the future means he has more foresight than most world gods. World gods don''t care for little things that will be dead by the time they wake up from a nap. He does, and he makes those little things align with the business of the future that he desires.


    Things change rapidly for world gods, and if they don''t expect you to still be around when theye out after getting busy with their inner world, then you don''t matter. It is why world gods only listen to origin gods and those with the potential to be one. They also only respect the opinions of Origin gods that have the potential to be world gods.


    The sage can say with uttermost certainty that Soverick has the potential to be a world god. That potential is more than enough for him to be respected. It is just a pity that he became the child of the ne. His fate is intertwined with the ne''s too much. Soverick may be disregarded by the racial council for being young, but the truth is that he is very important to the sess of the ne during the era of conquest.


    The first sage cares a lot about the performance of the ne during the era of conquest, so he cannot watch on without meddling in the ne. That includes meddling with the life of the current child of the ne.

 Chapter 720 Cheating First Sage.

    The first Sage needs someone with whom he can work hand in hand to improve the ne. Preferably someone that knows his will without him speaking about it. Someone that cares deeply about the ne and doesn''t need to be baited or bribed to do something for the good of the ne. Someone that can bepletely trusted. Soverick is not any of those things.


    Soverick became the child of the ne because he had a use, and he can be removed when they consider him no longer useful. It is not because he is a bad child of the ne. No, it is the fact that there could be a better alternative. Soverick is on the path to bing a world god, while Salvini doesn''t have a definite path to that level of power yet. But Salvini can make that path possible. That''s the difference between the two of them.


    The Sage is particrly impressed with how Soverick controlled the overflow of power when he summoned assistance from the ne. It was his first time, but he got control of it perfectly. The Sage didn''t have that kind of control when he was the child of the ne. He had to train it to get it. It was difficult, but he managed to do it because he could achieve anything as long as it is possible. That''s the innate advantage that foresight grants you, which Soverick doesn''t have.


    Soverick is great and all. He is strong, and he is talented. But power means nothing if you can be bossed around. He has been pulled along the Sage''s scheme like a mule. He is a pawn. He may be a very valuable pawn, but he is a pawn nheless. He could have asked for three requests from the Sage, and he would have gotten them if he insisted. He is that valuable, but he didn''t know his worth, so he was taken for granted.


    Soverick could have gotten four requests if he yed his cards right, but he settled for 2. That wouldn''t have happened to Salvini. She may not be able to predict the oue of her words during a negotiation with a world god, but she can predict her emotions and reactions to what the world god would say if she said some things. That would have helped her to make the best of the situation. If something is possible at all, then Salvini can achieve it. Meanwhile, Soverick doesn''t know what''s possible and what isn''t. It is a shame, really.


    Besides that, the first Sage wouldn''t have needed to convince her or bribe her with much since it is for the good of the ne. She can be trusted to always put the ne first. Soverick, on the other hand, put his self-interest and self-preservation first.


    He can''t be faulted for it since everyone does it, but it bes a w when there is someone else who wouldn''t have done it. It gets worse when he doesn''t take full advantage of the situation despite putting himself at risk.


    Soverick can''t make the best of the situation, so he will be reced. It is not done out of hate for Soverick or love for Salvini. It is done for the good of the ne. They don''t need to kill him to do it, thanks to the Sage''s ingenious n, but it is best if they do so. It will make the person that his title is grafted to be inplete control of the title.


    The first Sage remained calm as he thought about his ns. He didn''t show any indication that he had a meeting with Soverick, and there''s no way for his co-administrator to tell. The serpentine world god did find out that Soverick gained ess to a core though. It is an event that cannot be hidden.


    "Look at that. Your so-called champion finally seeded in breaching the core of an arena." The serpentine world god grumbled to the first Sage.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "I see." The Sage responded without enthusiasm.


    "That''s all you''re going to say? Someone from your side just breached one of the cores of the arena, and all you have to say is I see."


    "What can I say? That I am sorry that my champion is so brilliant? That I am sorry that none of your paragons are talented enough to do the same? Or that I am not showing enough happiness at cheating you? Which do you want?" He spoke with the same bored countenance.


    It is not the reaction that the serpentine world god wants. For one, it is not a reaction that someone that is sorry would show. Then there are those insulting questions. It made him angrier than he already was, but the Sage continued to fan his mes of anger.


    The Sage said, "You know what? Maybe I shouldn''t apologize for that first one. Soverick is one of a kind, after all. It is not your fault that none of the billions of Vipers in your ne are this talented. It is a shame, really. I mean for you. It is a shame for you. It is my luck to have someone as talented as Soverick on my side. As for you, it is a shame."


    The serpentine world god couldn''t take it anymore. "Bullshit. What luck? You obviously exposed him to yourw before thepetition. How else would he have cracked thew matrix? He was overly familiar with it right from the start."


    The Sage shrugged. "Maybe he has been exposed to it. What would it have changed had you also exposed yourw of order to one of your race that is a king ofw?"


    That made the world god pause. He knows the answer to that question, and it made him shut up. A king ofw that is exposed to thew of order of a world god will have their existence overwritten. That is another way to say that they will die and cease to exist.

 Chapter 721 The Indignance Of Prey.

    To be exposed to a falsew of order is both a good thing and a bad thing. It depends on whether you can handle it or not. Kings ofw surely cannot handle it. First, they will be enlightened when they see the Secrets and truths that thew of order represents. Then their minds will expand as it tries to fit the enormity of what they are seeing into their mind.


    Infinity is a known concept, but it is only a concept. It is not a reality. Visualizing infinity is an act beyond weak beings. There''s a limit to the size of numbers that their mind can grasp urately before it begins to blur. 1000 isrger than 100 and 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 is muchrger than 1,000,000,000,000. That much is sure. But at some point, therge numbers don''t make much of a difference. They are allrge.


    To see thew of order of a world god is to try and visualize the infinite. Weaker beings think that the universe is infinite. It is not infinite. It is just expanding faster than their mind can keep up with. So there is always more to see when they try to quantify the size of the void universe. They can''t even quantify howrge it is in the past, much less howrge it is in the present.


    To weaker beings, the void universe is effectively infinite. It doesn''t really matter to them if the void universe is infinite or not. Their lives are not changed by that information. It makes no difference to their peace of mind if the void Universe is infinite or not. That changes when their mind is forced to expand way beyond its limit for them to visualize andprehend howrge the universe is.


    World gods are not asrge as infinity, and theirw of order is not infinite, but it is still veryrge, and unlike infinity that can''t be made manifest, theirw of order exists. Trying to stuff it into the mind of a king ofw is sure to make their minds explode. The information will overload their minds and stretch their consciousness until they explode mentally and physically.


    Even titans ofw are not safe from it. They have a budding concept, so they can resist somewhat, but they will not be able to help themselves from trying toprehend the ultimate concept. Their iplete concept will be overridden as they go mad. Sovereigns ofw will be able to resist the impulse to look at the supremew, but that means that they can''tprehend it at all.


    The threat of a broken mind is just the minimum. They won''t be left alone with their broken minds and bodies. Their broken existence will be forcefullymandeered by thew of order, and then it will begin to rewrite their existence in its image. After all, it managed to rewrite a corner of the void universe into a world. It will be easy work to overwrite a broken entity that is not offering any kind of resistance.


    In summary, the person that witnesses hisw of order will be a mindless or raving lunatic with mutations that have warped their existence. That won''t be of any use to him in thepetition.


    So no, it wouldn''t have helped the serpentine world god if he had exposed someone to hisw of order so that they would be able to crack thew matrix of their arena. That is a very dangerous idea bordering on stupidity. He wouldn''t subject anyone to be exposed to hisw unless he wanted to kill that person.


    That, in turn, begs another question. Howe Soverick is not some raving hideous mutated lunatic? Howe Soverick is capable of looking not only at onew of order but at twows of order? That question upied the serpentine world god''s attention and smoldered his anger.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He noticed that Soverick''s soul was very powerful for a king ofw. His soul can match even Sovereigns ofw, but he doesn''t have a concept to protect him at all, so it is still strange that thews of order haven''t had any visible effect on him yet. Soverick ought to be a horrible-looking thing warped by thews of order. He should look like an entity with many tentacles, limbs, or many eyes and not the wellposed person he is seeing.


    It is honestly extraordinary that someone like Soverick exists, but that doesn''t help his situation. He would have marveled if he were a spectator and not someone who has a lot to lose by Soverick being special. His grievances with the Sage are still there, and his feeling of being cheated hasn''t gone just because Soverick is capable of extraordinary things.


    So he managed to grumble despite feeling slightly impressed with Soverick. He said to the first Sage, "You''re more of a snake than I am."


    "Why, thank you." The Sage replied with a cheerful smile.


    The Sage replied with more disy of emotion than he had expressed since their conversation startedbined. He knows that the serpentine world meant it is a derogative remark, but he chooses to take it as apliment. He is a snake, and they are all tiny mice running for their lives, trying to hide from him.


    He chooses to believe that he is a predator while the serpentine world god is expressing the indignance of a prey. Unfortunately, the indignance of prey is worth nothing in this world. Predators won''t even get indigestion from the indignance of their prey.


    ''I haven''t lost yet.'' The serpentine world god told himself.


    He chose to encourage himself instead of indulging his urge to attack the first Sage. They made a pact not to attack each other or makeany move against the other side during thepetition. That means he cannot kill Soverick despite how easy and indirect it will be. He also cannot attack anyone in the Virut ne for the duration of thepetition.


    NOTE: I have dropped another hint about Legion-7 in this chapter. I hope you noticed it.

 Chapter 722 Target Soverick Instead.

    Attacking the first Sage wouldn''t end well anyway. The two of them have fought before, and it was a draw. The serpentine world knows that the two of them were holding back during that fight. He had thought he had the upper hand though. But now he is not so sure. The Sage might have been ying him then so that he wouldn''t look like a threat.


    ''Now I am second-guessing myself. Fuck that snake.''


    He turned his eyes to the first Sage as the anger boiled within him. Recent events have shown that everything is not as it seems. He can''t be sure about anything until it has been confirmed. Even then, it might have an ulterior purpose. It is making him unsure of himself, and he hates that. He is very angry at the Sage because of it. He would like to fight the Sage to the death here and now just to be sure of who is stronger between the two of them. He would like to know for sure whose world isrger and whose Will is more powerful.


    He is a world god, and he has never heard of a king ofw capable of looking upon thew of order of a world god. So it can not be a coincidence that such a being just happens to exist when there is such a bet between two world gods of two different races with a very heavy stake.


    Something like Soverick doesn''t exist in nature. That means Soverick was engineered for this very purpose. Meanwhile, he doesn''t have anything secret nned or a trump card to win thepetition. All he had and still has are his paragons.


    Now Soverick has gained ess to the core of an arena. He can do a lot with that. For starters, he can convert all the crowns except the divine crown into Emperor crowns. Imagine that? Now the battle sage monkeys will have 117 Emperor crowns at their disposal while his side will have just 2.


    He has faith in his paragons. Having an emperor crown is not nearly enough to match a paragon, but 117 people who have the highest level of assistance from the world fragment is too much for the rest of the Vipers.


    ''I can''t believe I mocked him for having only one champion. Now the jokes on me.''


    He didn''t prepare because he thought it was a simplepetition. The three challenges before were just preparation, and they didn''t matter much. That''s why he let the Sage design the first three challenges while he took care of the fourth challenge. He didn''t care that the Sage got to prepare three challenges while he only prepared one because he thought the fourth one was the most important one while the first three were fake preparatory challenges.


    He was right about that, at least. The first Sage used the first three challenges to prepare for something. It is apparent that the Sage put a lot of thought and consideration into his own section. All of the first Sage''s preparation is nowing to bear fruit. Meanwhile, the things he nned for the fourth challenge are definitely not enough now.


    He thought that the fourth challenge was the main challenge since it was the challenge that would determine the oue of their bet, so he designed it to be favorable to his Vipers. He just didn''t expect 117 emperor crowns and the 10 king-level lieutenants that woulde with each Emperor crown. Who could have expected such an overkill? Certainly not him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The only reason why Soverick can''t make all the other crowns divine crowns is that he can''t. The world fragment can only support the assistance up to the emperor level. It was the first Sage that introduced the divine crown into the system. The serpentine world god didn''t care when the Sage set the power of the divine crown to be the sum total of the other crowns.


    He didn''t think much about it because the highest amplification it can provide is up to the level of a paragon, and both sides were supposed to have a divine crown. That will change now that Soverick can upgrade the other crowns.


    Both sides will have the same divine crown, but one side will have 117 Emperor crowns as the base of its strength, and the other will have 2 emperor crowns or less. That means Soverick''s divine crown will be several times more powerful than the divine crown of the Vipers.


    Unlike the other crowns that are part of the world, the divine crown is an external item that was plugged into the world fragments. So it cannot be changed even with administrator privileges of the arenas. Its function is already set. Now he knows that the Sage made it that way so that none of them can tamper with it. If not, he will try something right now and be willing to pay the price to change its function.


    ''I must remove that Soverick no matter the oue of thispetition. He is a thorn in my side, and it will hurt the cunning Sage.'' the serpentine world god promised himself.


    The serpentine world god directed his anger at Soverick. He will make Soverick pay for the pain and trouble that he has gone through instead of the Sage. If his suspicion about the Sage being capable of predicting every situation is right, then it will not be a good idea to target the Sage.


    A world god is supposed to be immune to scrying of any kind. Even origin gods are highly resistant to scrying. Scrying a world god is to scry the different things that make up their world, including all the living things within them. It should be impossible to do, and any person that attempts it should receive a bacsh for it.


    The bacsh is so powerful that it can be likened to colliding with a world god. Origin gods that attempt it die straightway while world gods get injured. So if the Sage managed to do it, then he should not be messed with.


    Soverick, on the other hand, is a very easy target. Soverick''s death won''t even cost him much effort to execute, so he will kill the child of the Virut ne even if the Vipers win this bet.

 Chapter 723 The Fourth And Final Challenge.

    Soverick and the others were spawned after the arena was set. The battle sage monkeys with ancient bloodlines all felt it immediately. They knew as soon as they were spawned that a fated enemy was among them. It started as a chill from deep within them and extended to an ufortable tingling in their extremities. Then their bloodlines became agitated.


    "Do you feel that?" One of them asked the people around them.


    "What is that feeling?"


    "Something is wrong."


    "I feel weird."


    They mored amongst themselves, looking for the cause of their difort. It is a disconcerting feeling to have their instincts warring against reality. Their bloodline is activating the mode of fight or flight that weak creatures feel. As transcendents, lords, and kings ofws, they have soul-bodies, so they shouldn''t be affected by such a thing.


    Yet, they feel as if an enemy is near, and they should get ready to fight or escape. But they can''t see their enemies either. The major problem is not the absence of an unseen enemy. It is that they should have perfect control of their body even if an enemy is around them.


    All 3 million of them that qualified were spawned on a single side in the arena. They are close to each other, so the confusion that a portion of them are feeling is causing spreading amongst them and creating a disturbance.


    "Stay away from me. Stay away from me, or we''ll fight." One of them said to those around them in agitation.


    This person brandished his weapon and forced others to stay away from them. This urrence is not unique. The instinct to prepare for a great enemy is making themsh out at their surroundings. They can''t see what''s causing them to be this irritated, so they are directing their aggression toward what they can see.


    It is not their fault. They know that the battle sage monkeys around them are not their enemies. That''s why a great fight has not started yet. It is not every one of them that is feeling paranoid and agitated. Actually, only a small portion of them are feeling weird. The rest of the battle sage monkeys are just on high alert and ready to fight.


    The highly alert battle sage monkeys were startled at the reaction of the weird people, but they didn''t take offense due to their aggressive behavior. They are aware that something is wrong and that there is something dangerous around them. They also know that the dangerous things are not the battle sage monkeys around them. The battle sage monkeys around them are the only ones that they can trust in this weird situation. So they held themselves from going all out.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The feeling of aggression is just one of the reactions to the presence of a sworn enemy. Some other people aren''t taking it so well. Their bloodlines activated within them with a boiling sensation. It is not a pleasant feeling at all. But it is also making them recollect some things. These strange memories are shutting them down. At least they aren''t bing violent.


    Ghaster is shaking. He has been spawned at the very front of the battle sage monkeys. Other battle sage monkeys with crowns were spawned in a single line in front of the others. Their lieutenants were spawned behind them, followed by groups. People in a faction were spawned close to each other, so everyone has someone familiar close to them.


    Ghaster has the crown of one of the 5 king crowns, so he was spawned at the head of the battle sage monkeys. He has not examined his environment since he was spawned. He doesn''t know their spawned arrangement or who was spawned close to him. He started shaking immediately after he was spawned, and that shaking only increased with time. His body is reacting violently because of the memories that have been invoked within his bloodline.


    Ancestral memories are never clear. They are called memories, but they are more like intents or wills. You don''t remember how your ancestor learned to fight with a sword with your ancestral memories. You only instinctively know how to fight with a sword like your ancestor.


    Ancestral memories just make you fight better, as if you''re remembering how to fight. It is like someone with amnesia doing things that they have forgotten how they learned. It is like muscle memory. You fight without really thinking about it. It is something ingrained in your psyche. It is never clear, but the memories Ghaster is getting right now are different. They are clear memories with vivid images and distinct emotions.


    The memories came to him unbidden. He lost his perception of the present. The past came rushing to him like a tide. He didn''t resist, so it drowned him easily. But he didn''t suffocate. There are no issues withpatibility, so the memories embraced him. The memories are his, and he is the memories. They are one through all of time as joined by the immortal lineage of Heavenly Punishment And Destruction.


    FLASHBACK


    He can see himself running. He is running, and he is angry. His heart is beating wildly in his chest. It is threatening to burst out of his chest cavity. His beating heart is pumping blood through his body. This blood is saturated with Mana. So his heart is responsible for pushing Mana into every part of him.


    He apanied his heart in its efforts by breathing rhythmically. He is not breathing in a random manner. He inhales and pulls mana-rich air into his lungs. The Mana is then absorbed by his blood, where it flows to his heart and is pumped through his body. His rhythmic breathing ensures that Mana cycles his lung in sync with the beating of his heart. It makes his body a deep well that Mana enters without pause in an unobstructed flow.


    He can feel energy thumping through him. It is thrumming wildly through him. The cycling of energy is immense. He is taking in too much energy because his heart is beating too fast. While there is no obstruction to the flow of Mana, he can''t control this much energy. But he needs it for what''s about to ur.

 Chapter 724 Must Not Stop.

    He can''t control his heart either. It thumped wildly in his chest. If his heart were not beating so fast, then he won''t have this problem of having too much energy and being unable to control it. Unfortunately, his heart is beating so fast because of all the adrenaline flowing through his body. He can''t control that too. Adrenaline is flowing so much because he is afraid.


    He is in fight or flight mode. It culminates in having too much energy in his body. The energy within his body threatened to go out of control. No one should wield energy like this. It can damage his body. It is not safe, and yet he is pumping even more Mana through his body.


    He held on to his energy by sheer force of will. There''s a lot he can''t control already. He can''t control his heart, and he can''t control his fear, but he will be damned if he doesn''t control the energy within his body.


    But stubbornness doesn''t make everything all right. Having this much energy is having its consequences whether he can control it or not. The strain is making his body shake. His mind is fraying at the edge despite keeping things together. He is losing it.


    He didn''t let go though. He just knows that he has to fight. He has to fight, or all is lost. So he continued to run forward. He has to find them. He must find them now and use all the energy he has to fight them. It is his part, and he must not fail.


    His determination helped to hold him together mentally and physically, but its effect was minimalpared to his anger. He is angry. He is so very angry. Being angry is good. The anger helped him maintain focus.


    It is dark all around, but he can see with his glowing eyes and with his divine sense. They are currently in a forest. There are more ocr monkeys like him with bright eyes, all running towards the same thing. They are his brothers and sister-in-arms. Joined together by amon goal. A goal that only death will stop them from. And he is at the head of the group, so he can''t stop. He must not stop for anything.


    His eyes continued to burn with a blue glow fueled by too much Mana and maintained with anger. He is so focused that he almost doesn''t feel his serious injuries. A missing arm is a very serious injury. It makes him feel a little off bnce. That is something that focusing cannot help him ignore. Still, he made sure to step forward surely, or he would fall behind.


    He created footholds in the air with his abundant Mana and stepped on them instead of the forest floor. Then he put one foot forward, followed by the other. Slow and steady, they say, wins the race. One foot after the other, whenbined with a rhythmic breathing pattern and overflowing Mana, does not create a slow mana entity. He is bolting through the forest like a passing gale. If not for the forest trees that he has to watch out for, he would be even faster.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    His narrowed as his divine sense spotted a tree. He had to swerve a little to avoid it, so his speed dropped. Having to avoid the trees is dying him, and it is not good. It is preventing him from venting all the pent-up energy within him. His energy overload problem will ease off if he is allowed to actually use his energy to its maximum capacity. Unfortunately for him, it is dark, so he has to be extra careful. Too fast, and he would m into a tree. That will be bad right now. He mustn''t stop for anything.


    If it were in the daytime, he would be able to use his eyes to see better. His divine sense is very urate, but it has a very short range of 100 meters. That''s a distance he can move in a second or less. If it were daytime, his less urate but farther-range eyesight would enable him to navigate the forest better. After all, they are not called ocr monkeys for nothing.


    It ismon sense that it is a bad idea to fight at night. But they had no choice. He is angry because they have no choice. It is another thing that he just has to do. They had to attack at night. They were the ones to initiate the attack, and yet they were the ones struggling. They ambushed their enemies at night, and yet they were struggling. He is so very angry that they are struggling.


    He thought to himself in anger, ''One shouldn''t have only a single choice and yet be failing at the only choice they have. It is not fair.''


    Their enemies can see very well at night better than they can. In fact, their enemies can track prey better at night than during the day because of their ability to sense heat signatures from living creatures. So it is obvious that the ocr monkeys didn''t choose the nighttime to attack because of the advantage of visibility. They chose the night because it is colder.


    The cold affects their enemies. Their enemies can see better, but they are sluggish at night. Their enemies are sluggish, and yet the ocr monkeys are still struggling against them. It is a pity. It is also unfortunate, but he cannot stop. He must not fail, or they will all fail. It is his part, and he mustn''t fail. That''s what he kept telling himself that.


    He is not the only one running forward. He can see them. Hisrades are also rushing ahead. They are members of his squad. They used to be 100. Now they are 42. They faced a hurriedly mounted defense from their enemies and overcame it. They lost 58 of their members to the 60 defenders. It was a victory, but it was a shameful victory.

 Chapter 725 So Very Angry.

    One hundred prepared ocr monkeys fought 60 sluggish and unprepared defenders and lost 58. It is a shameful victory. What would have happened if they had fought their enemies in the day when their blood was hot? What would have happened had there been 60 of them to fight against 60 of their sluggish enemies? He doesn''t like the answers to those questions. So they had no choice but to attack at night, but they were barely able eeking out a victory. It is making him angry.


    They won the first encounter, but he is still angry. How many of them will survive this encounter? He is durable for a mana entity, but he is not in good shape. He is missing an arm and part of his chest where the arm was connected with. There is arge wound on his skull where more than 20% of his head is missing.


    He is in a critical situation, and his situation is not getting better the more he loses blood from his injury. Running through the forest so fast is causing the wind to peel at his wounds. Pumping so much energy through his body is preventing him from healing. He should be in pain, but he is not. He is just angry.


    Anger is easy. Anger is good. It upies the mind and stops you from thinking too much about things. Memories of the gruesome death of your brothers-in-arms won''t fester in your mind. The cries of pain that yourrades made as they were shredded won''t bother you. The screams were torn out of them just like his arm was torn from him. But it doesn''t matter anymore. He can''t think of that. He must focus, and anger is good for that.


    He needs focus now more than ever before. Losing blood is making him feel lightheaded, and he needs to focus right now. He can hear their enemies just ahead. They are rushing about in the dark. It is probably another defense for their settlement. So the fight is almost upon him. He can''t falter now. Neither can he stumble. He has to focus, and the anger is good for that.


    The enemies are close, so he followed protocol. He created a signal with his divine sense. It rippled slightly against the divine sense of those around him. Hisrade beside him sensed it. Then she transmitted it to the others. The ocr monkeys beside her sensed her signal and transmitted it. Soon their wholepany knows that their enemies are ahead.


    He is at the head of theirpany, so he is the first person to sense the enemies. His warnings are good. They are needed if they are going to have any chance against their enemies. No one should be caught off guard in the kind of dangerous battle that is toe.


    He rushed ahead, only for his pupils to shrink suddenly and for his speed to slow down. Something in front of him moved. It was standing still before. It was still like a statue. Then it moved, and that was the end of things, usually. It went from being still to being in front of him in the next movement. Its yellow vertical pupils glowed brightly in the dark and served well to entuate the state of hatred that the Viper fixed on him as it sought to rip him apart.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He knew that it moved, but that''s all his divine sense gave him. If not for his special glowing eyes, he would only be able to see who tore his throat out and how it was torn out. If not for his eyes, he would never be able to react to the absurd speed. But the world was slow in his vision, so he saw the Viper move slightly slower.


    Fortunately, he has a strong body. His good friend Hadrick made sure he could create the best vitality core in his previous stage. He also has a mana focus of the element of wind, so he is also fast. His eyes saw the iing threat, and his body was strong enough to react to the iing threat, so he was able to react to the attack.


    The same cannot be said for hisrades. They don''t have the advantage of a strong body like him. The vipers tore into them with reckless abandon. Have you seen a hungry dog of any kind go at a piece of flesh or bone? The dog will use all of its teeth with gusto to tear its prize apart. The same thing happened here. Hisrades became the prize to be torn apart.


    If not for their ability to cast spells which the Vipersck, then they wouldn''t be able to match up to them at all. Even so, their resistance was pitiful. Arms were shed and cut off or gripped and ripped off from the body. Body parts were crushed or torn easily. Chests were caved in, and heads were smashed apart. The ocr monkeys were dying en mass.


    He has to focus on his attacker so he can''t spare them any attention, but he can hear it. He can hear the sound of flesh being dug into and torn. He can feel the sudden spike in the concentration of Mana in the air as manaden blood came free from the bodies of hisrades. He can sense the snap of bones caving in under the encouragement of external pressure.


    He can hear it all, so he knows that they are losing for sure. That made him even more angry. The ambushers have be the prey. They have special weapons that can use Mana. The vipers only use their bare hands to fight. They have the advantage of the initiative, and the vipers are sluggish.


    They are 42, and the vipers are only 20. They should be winning. They should be winning by andslide. But reality is not a matter of wishful thinking. They have done everything to prepare, and yet they are barely able to survive. It is not fair at all. It made his anger erupt from within him. It threatened to overwhelm him.

 Chapter 726 Features Of Vipers.

    He is so angry. He roared to the sky because of it. He fought and fought. He swung his battle axe and gave it his all. He has to win. They have to win. It is their part, and they must not fail. They must not fail. He knows this, so he fought with all he has.


    He swung his axe and created vales of wind des with every swing. He tore the ground asunder and fell trees in waves. He and his enemy moved through the forest like twin bolts of lightning. He tried his best. He really did. But he couldn''t put his enemy down.


    He stepped on the air and walked on it as if it were the ground. His affinity with the wind also makes him very light and fast. The ability to walk in the air allowed him to attack from every direction. He became a whirlwind of rage and violence. His blood sang within him. It roared in his ears. He could hear what it wanted clearly. It wanted vengeance. No, it craved vengeance.


    Unfortunately, his enemy can also utilize air walking and is even doing it better than him. He has two legs, but he can''t surpass the range of movement that the single tail grants the Viper. A single twitch of its muscr tail is capable of shifting its position and posture in a myriad of ways.


    The Viper is capable of matching his omnidirectional movement in the air by simply slithering, and if he gets too close to the tail, then he will receive ashing capable of tearing chunks out of him for his error. So he has to be wary of the tail and not let his anger get the best of him.


    The movement of the tail and the body aren''t independent either. Sometimes, the tail stays still while the body is made to move and bend as if it were the tail. The Viper was able to use this ability to weave through this attack without being touched. Vipers have somehow made having a single limb better than two.


    Vipers are weak. Theyck physical strength. That''s why his enemy didn''t try to parry or block his attacks. They also have poor talents for magic and weapon innovation. So the Viper isn''t capable of ranged attacks either through spells or through ranged weapons. But that''s where their weakness ends. The rest of their features are strengths.


    Vipers are fast. They are very fast. They are mind-boggling fast. Whatever is important should be repeated for emphasis, and it is important to know that Vipers are fast. Their speed is the type that makes you widen your eyes in shock moments before you die.


    They don''t have an abnormal top speed for their level, but they can elerate to their top speed in a sh. That''s why this Viper can dodge his attacks very easily and why it can always counterattack. This speed is not a product of their divine ability. Meanwhile, he needs the use of his divine ability to keep up with the Viper.


    Vipers also have sharp ws. They have four fingers on each of their two arms, unlike ocr monkeys with five fingers. Ocr monkeys have the numerical advantage of appendages, but their fingers are blunt, while the ws of Vipers can shred rock into pieces. That''s why he is losing more of his flesh the longer the fight is going.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He is strong and fast, but it is all for naught if he can''t hit his prey. Meanwhile, his prey is always able to get within his guard and counteract. The Viper just needs to touch him to gorge him of his precious flesh. He, on the other hand, has a powerful weapon, but it is going to waste in his hands. He is angry because of it.


    The battle ax in his hand is not aplete waste. At least it is dangerous enough to make the Viper evade. If not for the battle-ax, then he won''t be standing right now. He is just dying slowly instead of dying immediately against the Viper.


    Vipers have highly defensive scales that make injuring them very difficult. They are like Apex predators. They hunted the ocr monkeys with impunity. The creation of weapons that can harness mana is a boon that gave ocr monkeys the opportunity to fight back. But that''s all he has been able to achieve it. Unfortunately, fighting back is not nearly good enough.


    He is trying his best, but his best is not good enough to kill his enemy. His best is good enough in the grand scheme of things. He may not be able to kill this Viper, but he is at least holding it back. This Viper is one of the favored of their so-called gods, so it is very strong. By holding it back, he is giving hisrades the chance to eliminate the others.


    So he is not wasting his effort and his lost flesh in a futile fight. He knows that, but he is still angry. If this is the strength of one that is favored by their gods, then what about their so-called gods?


    He didn''t think about the answer to his question. He focused on his anger, and his anger made him focus. He pushed his enemy back as they fought. He looked to be the superior fighter, but he was the one losing flesh and bleeding. He didn''t feel pain, but the umting wounds exerted their toil on him.


    Bleeding means he is losing blood, and losing blood means he is losing mana. Mana needs his blood to get to his muscles. So while he feels like he can fight forever, his body can''t. He is slowly weakening, and that means death.


    Fortunately, there are others besides him. They have finished killing the other defending vipers, and they havee to help him. 3 ocr monkeys appeared beside him and tilted the battle in his favor. They whittled down the Viper even as it slithered and curled away from their strikes. It couldn''t avoid all of their attacks, so their new weapons could finally cut into it.

 Chapter 727 2 Ocular Monkeys = 1 Viper.

    The fight continued, but he wasn''t paying much attention to it. He has lost too much of his blood, so his mind is straining to remain conscious. But that isn''t why he wasn''t paying attention. He was too angry to pay attention. All he saw his red in his vision. His body went through the motions as he hacked and shed, but he wasn''t paying attention. His mind kept reying the information of their ambush. He needs it to fuel his anger.


    42 ocr monkeys fought 20 vipers. He held one down, so 41 ocr monkeys fought 19 vipers. They outnumber their enemies 2 to 1 and even have some left over. But only 3 out of that 41 survived. The ocr monkeys had to sacrifice 2 of their numbers for each Viper that they yed. It is pitiful, and it is worth getting angry over.


    He is angry at the world. The world is cruel. The world is not fair. It doesn''t favor anyone, no matter how hard they worked for something. You get what you get, and that''s that. Vipers have been blessed too much by the world. They are far from perfect, but what they have is already too much.


    Each Viper that he sees reminds him of the more talented ocr monkeys. They were born blessed too, and no amount of effort on his part could breach the gap between them. He would be a nobody without Hadrick. He is angry at the unfairness of this world, and he will remain angry at it until he can break the shackles of the world. His anger reinforced his promise to himself to never give up.


    "I will always fight. I will never give up. As long as I have a breath within me, even the heavens won''t be able to put me down." He swore this very oath in anger. And it will stick with him forever.


    They won. They finally killed the favored Viper. They lost 2 of their number to kill it because of itsst-ditch effort. Four of them surrounded it, and they still had to sacrifice two to kill it. It has been proven again that a single Viper is as good as two ocr monkeys, even when outnumbered. Things would be worse if the Vipers were not outnumbered. They would shred through the ocr monkeys like a farmer harvests wheat. After all, their ws are as sharp as shears.


    The twost survivors of his squad of 100 stood watching silently. They know that their mission has not ended, and they have to keep moving, but they are tired, and they are worn out. He knows he can not take another step forward, or he will copse. His body has been pushed beyond the limit, and it cannot do anymore. He is giving it all he has just to keep standing. Asking for anything else from him is simply unreasonable and ridiculous.


    The other survivor was saying something, but he didn''t hear it. It could be that he is too weak to hear what is being said, or the speaker is too weak to speak audibly or coherently.


    "...survived, huh?"


    He was able to catch thest part of the sentence. It was then that he realized that he was being spoken to with a divine sense. That made it obvious that the fault in the line ofmunication was on his side. It turns out that his mind is too scrambled to parse mentalmunications.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The realization that his mind was breaking down didn''t do anything to him. He can''t feel any emotion right now. Even anger is seeping away due to physical and mental weakness. If he had the strength, he would shrug because of the understanding that he can''t process information through a divine sense anymore.


    He is too weak to care about anything right now. But hispanion seems to still possess strength and activeness. He spared hispanion a side nce. Even that took a lot of effort.


    He doesn''t recognize the person. It could be that the injuries on the person made them unrecognizable to him. The person is also covered with w marks and blood. They are missing most of their face. Their nose and lips are gone, and one of their cheeks has been turned into a useless p of flesh hanging by the side of their mouth. So no, this person couldn''t have spoken with their mouth even if they wanted to. He is definitely losing it.


    They have other injuries too. Broken ribcage with ribs jutting out of their chest beneath torn armor. The Viper''s w had passed through the new armor in an attempt to destroy the heart. He can even see their heart beating through their chest. So the Viper failed. If this person didn''t have the armor, then they wouldn''t be standing now. Mana weapons and artifacts didn''t turn the ocr monkeys into unstoppable killers. They have only made them stand a chance at defeating their enemy.


    The person continued talking, but he wasn''t listening. He can''t listen even if he wants to, so it is best that he doesn''t bother to strain his frail mind.


    "Yeah." He managed to return after a while.


    They survived, and he would very much like to spend this time recovering, not engaging in conversation. His receding anger threatened to rise again, but it fell t. He just doesn''t have it in him anymore. Hisck of anger made him amenable to the conversation. It also made him think a conversation with someone that might die soon is a waste of time.


    He grimaced. He really hated thinking. Thinking made him unsure and indecisive. He prefers to be angry. It makes him decisive and focused. He was thinking about what to do when he felt the iing threat. It is like a star hurtling towards his position, and it is very angry. If he had any doubts about what was about to happen, then the angry shout that came next dispelled them.


    The iing entity yelled. "I will end you!"

 Chapter 728 A Viper Paragon.

    He didn''t try to escape his fate despite the feeling of impending doom creeping up on him. He is too weak to do anything anyway. He didn''t even turn to look at his executor. No, he stood still and sighed. He has given his all for his race. He doesn''t have anything to give to save himself.


    "I was right. Talking was a waste of time." He thought to himself.


    He indulged himself with the thought that he was right about not engaging in a conversation. It really is irrelevant to engage in a conversation with someone that is about to die. All that talking will mean nothing now. The only difference is that he is the one that is about to die. All that talking was a waste to him regardless of his death. He didn''t hear a single word of it after all.


    He was so detached from the world that he didn''t notice hispanion rushing towards him. Then he suddenly shifted. He was pushed aside, so he saw the attack meant for him cleave hispanion apart. The de of light went right through hispanion from head to toe. Blood sshed onto his face. The look of surprise remained on his face as he fell.


    He hit the ground only to be joined by hispanion soon after. Hispanion wasn''t smiling or chatting anymore. They just have a grim look frozen on their face. It is a pure look of determination and sacrifice. The look wasn''t diminished by their split torso and their organs spilling out of the safe confines of their body.


    "What now?" He asked himself.


    He doesn''t know what to say or what to do. He was supposed to die, and he had epted that. But hispanion chose to save him. Why? What use is him being alive? He can barely move. He could die any moment now. He almost died when he was pushed roughly to the ground. mming into the ground almost made him lose what little life he has left within him. So of what use is him being saved?


    He decided not to worry about it since he is notpletely safe yet. The entity that attacked him is getting closer. That feeling of impending doom returned. It crept all over his body and made him shiver involuntarily. He also felt warmer as the entity came close to him. The entity is the source of the heat and the fear that he is feeling. One made him warm, while the other made him shiver despite the warmth.


    The entity came. It is big for a Viper. It was 4 meters tall, so it towered above him. That is too big for a mana entity. It has four arms instead of two, and it is shiny. It is very shiny. That''s what he saw. He was looking at the Viper with his divine sense since his eyes were focused on the ground. His divine sense couldn''t sense anything apart from size and energy readings.


    The Viper is big, but it contains enough energy to make it titanic. The quantity of energy he was struggling with earlier looks patheticpared to the amount of energy that this being is simply giving off. It is unnatural that a mana entity should contain so much energy. They should explode with nothing left of them.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    ''So this is their god. What could be holding its existence together and keeping it from bursting apart?" he thought to himself.


    It is a mana entity just like him, but it has so much energy interwoven into it that it should be a Colossal being. Its already big size is not nearly enough to contain the amount f energy that he can sense from it. The energy he was struggling with and was making his body shake in pain looked like a candle to the bonfire that is this Viper. This being shouldn''t exist. Something like that shouldn''t exist as a mana entity. It has too much energy woven into its existence that it looks like a small star made of mana.


    There is no way he can face this entity, even if he is whole and brimming with energy. The situation is hopeless for him. He will die immediately after being saved. Hispanion saved a dead man walking. Hispanion''s death will be in vain. It is an unfortunate pity.


    Another person suddenly appeared. It is an ocr monkey like him. This ocr monkey struck a blow at the Viper. The Viper wanted to kill the ones that murdered his partner, but he had to protect himself from the attack, so it turned its attention to the assant. Their fists struck each other. Thunder cracked, and light shed. Then the two of them began a fast pace bout.


    Thunder boomed as they shed. The air howled. It was rilled up into a frenzy. Energy was discharged in bursts of light. A storm of destruction descended. The energy discharge shattered everything they came in contact with. Trees were felled. They broke like weak twigs and caught fire like kindling.


    The collisions between the twobatants created shockwaves that rocked the forest. They circled each other at speeds that left him reeling. He couldn''t keep track of them. He only saw shes of light like sr res from a star. He held his breath and only released it when the two of them moved away to fight somewhere else.


    "What kind of power is that?" he asked himself in disbelief. "Just how is it possible?"


    He knows that the Viper is a paragon. That''s what the sages called them. He also knows that the battle sage monkey that interfered was a sage. He always wondered how strong those paragons are, so now he knows that it will take a sage to hold one of them back. That means that a mana entity paragon of the Vipers is equal to a very talented battle sage monkey that is a transcendent.

 Chapter 729 The Determination Of A Soldier.

    He has heard of their strength, but there is nothing like seeing it for himself. He still can''t believe what he just saw. His disbelief is warranted. After all, what kind of power can make a mana entity be capable of matching a transcendent?


    This power is probably the reason why a mana entity can contain such a colossal amount of energy. He knows what makes paragons different from normal Vipers. It is because of their divine ability. But he doesn''t understand how a divine ability can be so powerful.


    He needs his divine ability, powerful mana weapons, and armor to match a normal Viper. He is clearly no match to a Viper of his same level that also has their divine ability. If he is this outssed with a Viper that is a mana entity, what about paragons that are transcendents? A transcendent ocr monkey is needed to hold back a paragon that is a mana entity. Who will hold back a paragon that is a transcendent?


    "What will we do? We only have transcendents."


    That question sapped him of something he didn''t think he would ever lose. He felt his hope dwindling. He felt himself lose his fighting spirit. Ocr monkeys only have transcendents and nothing more. So what hope do they have to take on paragons that are transcendents? Is a better future for Ocr Monkeys a hopeless quest? Did everyone that died tonight die for a foolish dream? Are they to be hunted forever?


    The battle continued even as hey there and spiraled into a deep well of hopelessness. The hissing of the paragon rang out throughout the forest. It hissed and cursed with pure fury. It couldn''t get to him because of the transcendent, but that didn''t stop it from promising retribution.


    "I won''t kill you for what you have done. I will crush the will to live out of you. I will take everything that you care about and destroy it right in front of you. Then I will subject you to eternal pain. You inferior creature will have the rest of your life to rue the day that you harmed your superior. Your entire inferior race will suffer for this impudence."


    The transcendent also spoke to him. She said to him through her divine sense, "Keep going. I''ll hold it back."


    He asked incredulously, "Keep going? With what?"


    The transcendent replied, "You''re a soldier. You remain a soldier until the battle is over or until you''re dead. Remember what you''re fighting for. Remember what yourrades died for."


    The transcendent and the paragon left his position and disappeared from his range of observation. He stayed lying there on the ground helplessly while he thought about that answer. The transcendent didn''t answer the question he asked, but she gave him something to think about.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He is not half a person right now. He still has his mana weapon, but what good is it when he can''t use it? It was useless before, but now he can''t even swing it around anymore. He has given his all, and he can''t give anymore. What else is there to give? What can he do?


    The world is not a fairytale. He will not suddenly gain strength because he is determined or because he deserves it. He envies the power to match a transcendent as a mana entity, but right now, he will dly take the power to move without cking out. He wished to scream to the world that he has nothing left to give, but he couldn''t, or the only lung functioning in his chest will give out, and he will die.


    "But I am a soldier." He said.


    Unfortunately, he can''t rest yet. The battle is not over yet, and he is a soldier. He is a soldier fighting for freedom. That''s what hisrades died fighting for. He owes it to them to fulfill the mission. And he owes it to hisstpanion to make his death worth it.


    ''A soldier doesn''t give up. They will not give up until death. I still have my life.'' he thought to himself.


    He looked at hispanion, and the answer dawned on him. That grim look of determination made him realize what he still had. Hispanion had saved him. He may be weak and broken, but he still has his life. And where there is life, there is still hope.


    He adopted the same grim look on his face after making his decision. He doesn''t have strength, but what makes him different from all the dead bodies around him is the life force within him. The life force within the bodies of the dead is being converted to death force rapidly. Their body is breaking down, and mana is leaving them. The process is unstoppable and involuntarily done for them, but he can do so himself.


    He has an intimate connection with his life force. It is because he had very little of it as a weak boy. He was weak and frail. He couldn''t fight for good trees because of his weakness. Then he met Hadrick, and he had all the vitality he needed. His sick, frail body was suddenly infused with life force. But he remembers that state of deprivation, and he can force himself to return to it.


    He can push himself to death on his own terms. He was going to die anyway, but he wasn''t dead yet. His life must be worth something. A soldier must always continue fighting until the battle is won and the mission is aplished.


    So he beganbusting the mana in his blood. He didn''t use it to reinforce his body or strengthen himself. His body is too broken for it to be of any use. Instead, he used it as the spark to burn his life force. His life force began burning, and it turned into death force. Death force is bad for the living, but the process of transformation from life force releases a lot of power.

 Chapter 730 The Promise Within The Bloodline.

    A red aura appeared over his white-furred body. He rose from the ground when he shouldn''t be standing. He had broken bones in several ces in his limbs. Some patches of his skin are pping loose, and some of his organs havee free. His body is nowhere capable of performing the feat of standing.


    He should be crippled by pain and the actual physical disabilities that he has acquired this night, but his mind is too worn out to care. Besides, that doesn''t matter anymore. What does it matter if the structural integrity of his entire body has been severelypromised when he has power?


    He has power, and that is what he needs. He sacrificed the lost skin and organs for power. He doesn''t need them, just like the dead do not need their organs. His body became lighter as death force umted within him. He became a literal dead man walking.


    The death force managed to breach his unresponsive mind, for him to feel a searing pain. It is a warning that what he is doing is very dangerous, but he doesn''t mind. What does a little pain matter to someone that is ready to die?


    He took a step forward, and he stumbled. He snarled in anger. He has power, but his body is failing him. He became angry again, and everything else didn''t matter. He became focused again. All that remained in his mind was his aim. He has to finish his part of the n so that they can win.


    He willed it, and his body answered. The red aura thickened and stuck to his body. His body knitted itself back together. The red aura turned into a tangible force that strapped his broken parts onto each other. Death force became the glue that held him together. It is just a temporary solution. His body will fall apart soon. So he has to achieve his aim in the meantime.


    The details of his part of the n shed in his mind before he cked out. He is to join a squad, and several of that squad will assault a small tribe of Vipers. The mana entities like him that form the squads are to kill everyone in the vige so that the paragon will be weakened. The paragon will be easily kible after it has lost all members of its tribe.


    So his part is to kill every Viper. That is his mission as a soldier. That''s what he must achieve until he dies and life leaves his bodypletely. His mind narrowed down on that and only that. He lost his reasoning as he focused on that primal objective. His mind nked out while his body moved to fulfill the duty of a soldier.


    "Every Viper Must Die." He muttered.


    Then he turned into a crimson blur in the forest as he rushed towards the vige. Both children and the elderly have to be killed. Every Viper must die. He kept repeating that to himself. Every Viper must die. Every Viper must die. Every Viper must die. That''s what he remembered about the rest of the night.


    Back In The Present.


    Ghaster was muttering it to himself too. "Every Viper must die. Every Viper must die. Every Viper must die."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    His eyes became bloodshot as his body continued to vibrate. His bloodline woke up with that ancient promise. Every Viper must die. His mission is notplete as long as he lives and breathes and as long as any Vipers exist. He is a soldier, and he mustplete his mission.


    He may be battered. He may be broken. But as long as that promise is not fulfilled, then he cannot rest. His bloodline will see to it that the promise is fulfilled. Too many people have died for the freedom of the race for him to rx while Vipers exist. Their sacrifice will not be in vain.


    "Every Viper Must Die." He roared it to the sky, and lightning erupted from him.


    He became a blue maelstrom of blue lightning. A storm of energy whipped about in a frenzy around him. Then the blue lightning turned crimson too as he became agitated. A red hue appeared on his body. His blue fur straightened and became red sharp lightning-infused spikes.


    He was on the verge of losing his mind when his mind suddenly caught fire, and his emotions burned out. He became dull and listless. He couldn''t feel anything. But that wouldn''t stop his bloodline. A wave of zing anger burned in his eyes. That anger took over his psyche. He could only focus on one thing. He began looking around for his targets. He searched, but he couldn''t see them, and it was causing him to be frustrated.


    "Where are they?" He shouted. "Where are the Vipers?"


    Someone replied to his question, but he didn''t understand what they said. His mind can''t parse the information contained in the mental transmission. Then he realized that he recognized the mental fluctuations of the person. The faint recognition made him shift his attention to the person. His mind began to clear up with the change of focus.


    "Think about something else." The voice said to him, "Think about something fun to distract yourself. I thought about the eldest and his stupid face. I thought about beating him, if only once. What do you think about that? Do you want to beat the eldest too?"


    Litori''s soft mummers drew his attention, and he couldn''t help but nod. Sure, Vipers are to be killed, but beating the eldest is also good. In fact, beating the eldest is his lifelong dream. Punching the eldest'' smug face will be very fun. Besides, Vipers don''t exist anymore. They are all dead. So the mission has beenpleted while Soverick is still too much of a talented freak.


    His eyes began to clear up. He realized that his mission was over. He is not a soldier anymore, and the war has ended. The oppressed ocr monkeys are no more. They are battle sage monkeys now. And they are inplete control of the ne. There is no more threat to him apart from Soverick.

 Chapter 731 A Council To Unify The Race.

    He nodded in agreement and said to her, "Yes, I want to beat the eldest too."


    His anger bled out of him. It was reced by frustration caused by Soverivk''s existence. The Crimson lightning clinging to his fur turned blue again. Then the lightning storm died downpletely. He is still feeling some unease even though he doesn''t know why. He can''t remember what he experienced that made him so angry anymore. It is like a distant long, forgotten dream.


    "What happened to me?" He asked her.


    Litori rolled her eyes. "It doesn''t matter if you don''t remember."


    "Hmm." He shrugged.


    He can''t remember what happened apart from the activation of sometent ability of his bloodline. It is a dangerous but powerful ability that trades his life force for power. It would leave him crippled if he were a mana entity. The injuries caused by the ability can only be healed with lots of pure vitality. He can get pure vitality from Hadrick, but he doesn''t need it now. He has a soul body, so he can recover from any injury. Using the ability will only cause a loss in his cultivation. He can recover it with some resources.


    This sort of thing happened to many battle sage monkeys. Most of them don''t remember exactly what their bloodline was trying to tell them. Some of them awakened something important. They awakened the memory of a skill or an ability. For some others, they remembered what they felt and saw vividly. The rush of memories from the past brought forth some significant events that can not be forgotten.


    Litori remembered what happened and realized why her ancestor decided to specialize in attacking the mind and soul. It was to create a virulent mind disease that spreads very quickly within a race. It is meant to wipe out an entire race. Races that have the paragon divine ability are especially susceptible to this ability.


    Salvini remembered her ancestor''s promises. She remembered the battle that decided the fate of the battle sage monkeys, who used to be called ocr monkeys.


    Many Origin Cycles Ago At The Battle That Made History.


    She is tired, so tired. She has tried and tried, but the end is yet toe. She has to continue giving because she has more to give. There will be no rest until thest of the Vipers have been put down. Even the unhatched eggs must be crushed wherever they have been hidden. She has no choice because she has seen what will happen if it is not done. They started this fight, and they must finish it. That''s what she is thinking as she stands in front of her army.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Even now, she can see it. She can see that tiredness in the ocr monkeys arrayed before her. They were all weary and tired, but they answered her call when she made it. They are not soldiers. They are but men and women fighting for a greater cause. They are fighting for his cause, and he might just lead them to their deaths. Today will determine if their cause is a fool''s dream or not. What is certain is that most of them will surely die today. That part is indisputable.


    They used to attack the Vipers little by little. They ambushed small tribes in the night and made sure to eliminate every single one of them. Ocr monkeys have been hunted for ages, but it is their turn to fight back. Still, they kept their retaliation under wraps. They didn''t want the Vipers to know that they were being hunted. The silence helped them to reduce the resistance they faced.


    Their decision to be silent about eradicating the vipers was a good one. They were able to do much during the silent war, and the casualties that they suffered, even with all the advantages stacked on their side, made it obvious how bad things would have gone if they were in an open war. Theck ofmunication between the Viper settlements helped the race genocide to remain a secret. Unfortunately, all good things muste to an end. The Vipers may be divided into tribes, but they became aware when enough tribes went missing. Now, the vipers are here for revenge. They are here for their pound of flesh and to beat back their unruly prey.


    The ocr monkeys had banded together and overwhelmed the Vipers little by little. Each of their attacks turned out to be an ambush that ended in Pyrrhic victory but a victory nheless. They lost their advantage when the Vipers began tobine their tribes. It is very easy to bring an entire race together when decision-making is up to a few individuals. The agreement of the paragons of their race brought all the Vipers together as fast as possible.


    "If I survive this, then I must create a governing body to unify the race." She promised herself.


    There is a lot she envies about the Vipers. They are too powerful, and their divine ability is too strong. But the most important advantage that the Vipers have is unity. She can''t copy the other advantages that the Vipers have. So she will copy their unity. She will create a council that will unify the race if she survives the uing ordeal.


    Then she chuckled to herself. She found it funny that she is nning for a future when there might not be a tomorrow for her.


    "It seems I am still well of mind enough to n."


    That''s who she is. She is always nning. It is ingrained within her to expect the unexpected. She is nning for a future that might not be. It is both a result of her personality and divine ability. That''s why she won''t give up her divine ability when the timees to choose a path. There''s nothing better than the ability to foresee all possible events. With it, she will be unstoppable. Powerful beings will act ording to her whims. They will dance to her tune.

 Chapter 732 Situ The God Emperor.

    She shook her head and gazed at her so-called soldiers. Her gaze couldn''t help but contain pity. It is both pity for her and for her people. Things were already difficult before. Now it has be delusional to say that they will be victorious over the Vipers. They have next to no chance of sess. Death awaits most of them because they answered her call.


    The ocr monkeys have lost the advantage of surprise, but they cannot stop. They have to continue. She promised Sawyer. She promised Dana. She also promised Manate. She promised them as they sacrificed themselves so that she and Ravin would be able to escape on that fateful night.


    They were hunted by the Vipers, but her friends gave their lives for her. She promised them that she would end the Vipers, so she could not give up now. All the ocr monkeys that will die today will die because she has a vendetta against their oppressors.


    She can''t give up now anyway. The Vipers have be aware of their atrocities. The Vipers will not rest until thest of them have been wiped out or enved. They were hunted for food before. Now, only very or extinction awaits them.


    She is certain of this future because she has seen it. It is either the Vipers or them. That didn''t make the decision easy to make either way. The fact that you must fight doesn''t mean that you will fight or that your decision to fight will make things easy. It also doesn''t mean that you will win.


    It is mostly the case in the situation when you''re forced to fight that you willck confidence. And she isn''t confident at all. Not when she can feel what she has to ovee to achieve this promise. People mostly fear the unknown. There is very little that is unknown to her. And yet she feels fear. It is because the knowledge of what she fears has not made her confident.


    Even now, she can feel it. The transcendent Viper that they call the God emperor. He is the Emperor of the Vipers. Emperor Situ is the strongest of the paragons of Vipers. He is somewhere at the center of the army of vipers. She doesn''t need to look much farther to determine his location. His presence and existence weigh heavily on her mind. He is like an insurmountable mountain-made flesh.


    Situ had rushed to attack them when he got word of what they were doing to his people. Situ rushed ahead of his army to confront them. He didn''t wait for the other paragons toe together or for his empire to rally. He came to put an end to the killing of his people all by himself.


    Some might it call it foolishness or overconfidence to face an army on your own. But it was not the case for Situ. Situ alone held back all the transcendents of the ocr monkeys and their army. He went on a rampage against the full power of an entire race, and he stood his ground. He did more than stand his ground, he also pushed the ocr monkeys back. Now she knows why he was called Situ The Unbreakable.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    One Viper stopped the entire battle might of the ocr monkeys in its tracks. It took all the sages to match him. Even then, they had to be careful not to lose their lives to him. What are they to do now that Situ''s army hase to join him? One might say that their situation is hopeless.


    A paragon that is a mana entity is already a force to be reckoned with. It requires a transcendent to match them. They knew that the Emperor would be a force to be reckoned with. They expected a fight with him to be difficult. They were wrong. He is very strong, but that isn''t the most difficult part they have with him. Situ is also immortal. He is unbreakable.


    Paragons gain their strength through the empowerment of their people. The connections they have with members of theirmunities empower them to levels beyond extraordinary. They be a force of nature. They be the embodiment of the will and power of a race.


    For instance, a mana entity that is a paragon gains a 10% increase in mana regeneration and a 30% increase in mana storage for each connection that they have. A paragon of a small tribe of a thousand Vipers will have 100 times mana regeneration and 300 times their mana pool. It is an empowerment that makes them at least 100 times more powerful than a normal mana entity. If they have a connection in the tens of thousands, then they be 1000 more powerful than a mana entity.


    That small empowerment from a small tribe makes the paragons a foe that another mana entity can''t match. It is why a transcendent has to be present to fight them. Even then, there have to be others that will cut down those connections by eliminating their sources. This will weaken the mana entity enough to be killed.


    Things change when the paragon is a transcendent. Transcendence is breaking the limits. Paragons have already broken the limit as mana entities, so transcendence makes them break the limit on death. They will remain alive as long as they still have their connections. You can kill them, but they will resurrect immediately by sacrificing a single connection.


    Situ is an emperor of millions of Vipers. That means he has to be killed millions of times before he can stay dead. The strength of his connection makes killing him nearly impossible to achieve. The empowerment of a Transcendent has been reduced by 100 times since mana entities can''t really affect a transcendent, but millions of connections are still a force to be reckoned with.


    Situ knew the worth of the power that could be gained from having a monopoly over his race. That''s why he killed and stole the connections of other rivals to make himself the sole Emperor of his race.

 Chapter 733 One With The World.

    Situ killed any new transcendents to maintain his position as the only transcendent that the Vipers have. That effectively removed his weakness and also made the boost of the entire race go to him alone. He is a single man, but he is more than enough. He alone is worth more than 30 transcendents and the tens of thousands of mana entities that the ocr monkeys have.


    The ocr monkeys wouldn''t even know that Situ couldn''t be killed if not for the mad Emperor sacrificing himself to kill their transcendents. He is terribly strong. Each strike of his felt like the manifestation of the anger of the world. Yet, he would fight recklessly without dodging just so that he could harm his foes.


    Situ used the tactic of mutually assured destruction in all of his engagements. He doesn''t have to worry about dying, so why care? The trade of a single connection for the life of a transcendent is also worth it for him. Each connection is some ordinary viper somewhere. There are millions of them avable. While each transcendent of the ocr monkeys is rare and valuable.


    That''s what they faced and why they lost. Situ would have ground them to dust eventually. They don''t have a million transcendents to spare. In fact, they don''t have more than 30 transcendents in total. So they had to give ground to Situ.


    She was the first transcendent in the entire ne, and she taught the others how to break through too. But they don''t even have enough transcendents to match the Viper paragons that are mana entities. What they have cannot hold Situ back either. So how will they deal with the army of Vipers, the thousands of paragons, and Situbined? They are the side with the most transcendents, but they are still the ones that are disadvantaged in this conflict.


    ''It is up to them now.'' She told herself as she looked at the flying entities above her own army.


    She is not foolish. She knows how bad things are for them. She knows the odds are stacked against them. A one in ten chance ofing out of this alive is a generous estimate of their chances with the situation of things. She wouldn''t have called the ocr monkeys for this battle if she did not have something up her sleeve though. Her n will rely on the levitating transcendents.


    Paragons are strong because of their connection with their people. She can''t connect with her people, so she has been trying to find a source of power to connect to. She tried and found the world to be a viable option. The world isrge and powerful. If she can borrow some power from the world, maybe she will be able to match the paragons.


    She tried and finally seeded in forming a connection with the world. It is a state she calls One with the world. With it, she can use the world itself to empower herself. She had to master herself and the flow of momentum within herself and throughout the world to synchronize herself with the world. It is what she has up her sleeve. It is their only chance. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    She believes that this skill has more potential. What she has achieved is just the third step. There should be a fourth step and more. But they don''t have enough time for her to create more. This third step is very powerful and it will have to do for now.


    Things won''t magically go in their favor because of the power of the world. She is only one person, and she will only be able to match Situ in strength. There are still the Viper paragons that are mana entities to contend with. Then there is the hopelessness of a fight with Situ. His people have to be wiped off before he can be killed. Every Viper must be wiped out, or the fight with Situ will never end. Situ will remain as long as a single Viper exists.


    So the battle today is not about killing Situ. They will gain nothing that way. That''s why she taught the other transcendents how to connect to the world. They were able to get it quickly due to the perfect control over their bodies. It will give them the edge over the paragons that are mana entities.


    She has nned as best as she can for the uing battle. The fate of the battle is in the hands of the transcendents and the soldiers that answered her call. Her job is to stall Situ while every mana entity here will be incredibly useful. The more Vipers they kill, the weaker Situ bes.


    They answered her call and came under her banner to see the liberation of the ocr monkeys. About a million ocr monkeys answered her call despite the immense casualties that they have experienced so far. She is tired, but so are they. She can''t stop, and they can''t stop too. Not until the battle is won.


    Someone came to her and informed her that the battle was about to start. It was Ravin that came to talk to her. She nodded at her and gave one of her rare smiles. Ravin returned the smile. She thought about her affection for Ravin and the future they might have together. She thought about the children they might have and how beautiful they would be since Ravin would be their mother.


    She could have those children if she ran away to hide from the Vipers. She can live a short but peaceful life if she stops fighting. That is a possibility. Running away will also save all these people from the fate of death. Then Ravin will be safe, and they can live a quiet, happy life somewhere where no one can find them. They will have beautiful kids.


    Unfortunately, she can not run away. She made a promise to her deadrades, and she will not rest until it is fulfilled. Herrades are no longer alive but she is and she will make sure that their childhood dream of liberating the race will be achieved.

 Chapter 734 The Promise Of The Bloodline Of The Eye Of The Sage.

    She shook her head to dispel the image of a happy family. The promise that she is going to make soon will make her future with Ravin too distant to be realistic, so there''s no use thinking about it at all. Even if she survives today, it will be a while more before she can be together with Ravin and have beautiful kids.


    Her head swerved sharply to observe the army of Vipers. Unlike the ocr monkeys, they don''t look nervous, and they aren''t in formation like proper soldiers. It is obvious that the Vipers aren''t soldiers. Normal Vipers have no need to fight when they have paragons. But they are here because their paragons arranged them to be so.


    Both armies areposed of soldiers of necessity, but only one army is truly confident. The Vipers are all looking in the same direction that she is looking at too. She can feel Situ finally moving, and so can they. Situ is their source of confidence, but he is the source of dread for the ocr monkeys. His movements mean that the Vipers are also done with their preparations.


    She muttered quietly, "It seems it is time. We will try our best. Let fate decide who is worthy."


    Then she rose up to her feet and into the air to address her soldiers. She rose to a height where they could all see her. It is important that they see who is sending them to their deaths.


    She said to them, "We must fight."


    She paused before continuing. "We have to fight."


    Her words echoed across the in. It reached the tired men and women, and it barely settled within them. He has stated the obvious. They wouldn''t be here if they didn''t know already that they had to fight.


    "As I look at all of you, I see the faces of the tired and the weary. You have had to fight at night and then spend the day rushing toward the next tribe for weeks now, so you are tired. You are tired, and you are weary. But you are here. That''s what matters. That is what counts."


    She sighed and let some of her own tiredness show. Then she rubbed her face before continuing. "We are here because we have to fight. We will die today. We know that. We are against a terrible enemy, and yet we fight. We do not fight for wealth or glory. We fight for our future. We are toy down our lives for our children. Think of them as you die today."


    She isn''t going to delude them about their fate. They are going to die today. But she will give them a worthy purpose to die for. It is the least she can give them. Every soldier should die for a worthy purpose, or their sacrifice will be in vain.


    "Think of what you have gone through. Think of the suffering our people have endured. Think of the yearly hunts that the Vipers visit on us. Think about being forced to migrate and think about the treasured trees you had to leave behind. Think of the children you left behind. They are hungry right now. They are hungry and weak. They do not fight anymore, and they do notugh. They are weak because they rarely have food to eat. They are waiting for death."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Our children should not suffer. They shouldn''t have to sleep with nightmare-ridden dreams, and we shouldn''t have to watch all of this while being helpless." She shook her head. "It is not right. It is just not right. They deserve better."


    "Tell me, have you eaten today?" Most of her soldiers shook their heads at her question.


    "I know. I have not eaten either. I don''t need to eat, but I still remember the starving nights. The nights when I had nothing to eat. Those were nights that I slept with a weak and shaking body. It is not that we arezy. We are a hardworking race. But we still don''t have food to eat."


    "And why is that? We have been forced to live in barrennds. Still, we struggled. We worked hard and nted in the barrennds. We had to look forward to a poor harvest, but that didn''t stop us from trying. Then we are forced to flee when the Viperse to hunt us. The fruits of ourbor are left behind for our enemies to take. We don''t get to harvest what we suffered and toiled for. It is a poor harvest, but it should have been ours. It is not right. We have suffered enough."


    She raised her voice to them. "We must fight now before it is toote. We must take up arms before we are too weak to fight. We must fight for our future. If we are to die today, we die for the children."


    "Imagine a ne that is controlled by us. Imagine a ne where we can go anywhere unafraid of Vipers. Imagine a ne where all our children have more than enough to eat. Imagine a ne where they are strong and healthy enough to fight amongst themselves. I promise you today that I will give it to you. I will continue to toil for that future. I swear it on my heart and origin that the Virut ne will be ours someday. Your deaths will not be in vain. I swear it."


    She swore, and her Oath echoed through fate and karma.


    "Join me today so that we may die for our children." She raised her voice and shouted, "For our children."


    They roared too. "For our children."


    She raised her spear to the sky and roared, "For our children."


    Then they rushed forward to meet the Vipers. Ocr monkeys followed the battle sage into battle despite being tired and hungry. 92% of the ocr monkeys that fought that day died. That is more than 900,000 ocr monkeys. Their death was not in vain.

 Chapter 735 Ignorance Of Bloodlines.

    Back to the Present.


    Salvin muttered to herself. "The ancient promise. For our future. For our children."


    Her ancestor made that promise to his race that day and has fulfilled it many times over. The Virut ne is their''s now. Battle sage monkeys control it. They don''t have problems with food anymore. Their mortals are kept safe from the violence and suffering of the cultivation world. Those that want to fight can fight however they want. But the effect of the promise has not ended yet.


    Many people died that day just so that the first Sage could fulfill his promise of wiping out the vipers. If not for him calling them to die that day, they wouldn''t have died. They would have had their lives. It might be a short-lived life full of suffering, but it will still be their life.


    The Sage asked for their lives, and in exchange, he would give their children a better future. He meant that promise, and he truly cared about his race. He fought for the liberation of his people against a superior race that oppressed them.


    It is a wonder that he managed to achieve the liberation that they fought for. Some sacrifice along the way is to be expected. But the Sage still felt guilty. He fulfilled his promise and even did more for the race. His descendants were also forced to fulfill that promise and more even until today.


    She sighed. She knew some of the Sage''s bloodline descendants hate the bloodline, and they hate the Sage. It is difficult to care about something when it happened before you were born. It is doubly difficult to care about the promise when Vipers have disappeared.


    She herself didn''t care about it at all. She didn''t hate her bloodline, but she didn''t adore it either. But that has changed now that she witnessed and experienced the events that brought about that promise.


    Now she knows why she feels bad if she has a chance to do something that will benefit the ne but refuses to do it. Her bloodline neverpelled her to make decisions, but she will still feel loss and anguish whenever she makes decisions that are detrimental to the ne. It used to bother her before that she felt uncontroble emotions. But now it won''t anymore.


    She now knows what it meant for the ocr monkeys to go to battle knowing that they would die, but they went either way just so that their kids won''t go through what they went through. She knows how bad it hurts to lose lifelong friends that you grew up with. She knows what it feels like to send suffering men and women to their death for a dream of freedom and for vengeance. She knows all these and more.


    She is now better informed about the situation of the ocr monkeys before the liberation of their race. Ocr monkeys were nomads when the Vipers ruled the ne. They couldn''t stay in one ce for long because the Vipers always raid them every year.


    That''s apart from the asional hunts that will happen whenever Vipers want to feast on them. There is a yearly cultural tradition of the Vipers to hunt them throughout the ne. It made life difficult for ocr monkeys.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Then there was the meat very. Ocr monkeys were enved but not forbor. They were reared for food. Vipers didn''t think much about the monkeys. To them, ocr monkeys were soft and furry. They were weak, and their meat was delicious. The nomadic lifestyle of the monkeys made it difficult for them to sustain themselves, but there were better off than monkeys reared in captivity with lots of food so that they would be eaten.


    Things were already bad, but they could have gotten worse. The paragons of the Vipers were considered gods and were worshipped as such. Sometimes they would sacrifice ocr monkeys to those paragons.


    The ocr monkeys had to fight back and liberate themselves at that point before it became toote. The Vipers already had an immortal emperor that they worshipped. Things would have be hopeless if Emperor Situ had be a god. Or worse, be a child of the ne.


    Bloodlines are very powerful things. They are especially powerful if theye from an immortal. The hopes, dreams, aspirations, love, hatred, talent, instincts, and skills of the ancestor are contained within the bloodline. The bloodlines seek to recreate this ancestor. This impetuses with both the good and the bad. But both the good and bad have a reason or more for them.


    Maybe Jarkon would stop being grumpy about the maniption of his bloodline if he knew that his ancestor was raised as a pet to be eaten. Maybe he wouldn''t consider thepelling need to enforce justice to be so bad if he experienced what it feels like to watch your father and mother killed, chopped up, cooked, and eaten. Maybe that experience will traumatize him as it did to his ancestor.


    Maybe he will understand if he knows that his ancestor betrayed an ocr monkey that was nning to help all the captives escape in exchange for freedom. His ancestor became a warden for other ocr monkeys. He was afraid to die, so he snitched on his race. But then he had to watch other ocr monkeys die on a daily basis.


    The freedom he bought with blood paid dividends with more blood. That experience wore on the ancestor of the Lion of Justice. It changed Jarkon''s ancestor to be an ocr monkey that couldn''t bear to see injustice anymore in any form whatsoever.


    Salvini shook her head in pity. "I was so ignorant. We were all so ignorant." She said.


    She feels pity for herself and for every battle sage with a bloodline. They have enjoyed the work of their ancestors without the knowledge of what their ancestors went through to achieve them. No one that bes an immortal walked through a bed of roses to achieve it. Sure, the descendants know that it was difficult. But they can not really envision just how difficult it was.


    A/N: If you haven''t give your review on Webnovel, you should do so now. y your part in keeping GREED going. Let more people know how good it is.

 Chapter 736 Situ Was The Prefered Choice.

    You can know that swimming through ake of fire is bad, but you can never know just how bad it is until you experience it. Your bloodline also ensures that you will never know just how bad it is. It will make things easier for you. You won''t have to swim through ake of fire to achieve what your ancestor achieved, so you will remain ignorant of what it feels like.


    Salvini felt grateful for the advantage of her bloodline and the fact that she would remain ignorant of what it meant to swim through ake of fire.


    She thought to herself, "No one shouldin about their bloodline without having the full knowledge of how that bloodline came to be. That''s just ungrateful."


    "My ancestor has done his part. And now, we also must do our part for the ne." She said with steely determination.


    She didn''t know what would happen by the end of thepetition when she asked Soverick to join it. Thepetition was obscured in her future vision back then. But things started to be clear to her as the inevitable moment approached. Now she knows exactly what they will face, and she cannot help but be concerned.


    In the past, she would have done her best and let whatever will happen to happen. But now she truly wishes for Victory over the Vipers. She wishes for victory just like her ancestor wished for victory on that day, and she also knows how bad things are for them, just like her ancestor did.


    The first Sage faced a single transcendent and toiled over and over again for years to put him down. It is all because this single transcendent was a paragon. Their battle and fights urred several times over a span of decades. Things were that difficult. But he seeded at the end of the day.


    The Vipers are back, and they are much stronger. They have 9 Emperors. The battle sage monkeys aren''t so helpless this time. They have a child of the ne, but will that be enough? Soverick will have to face off 9 paragons in thispetition if they are to be victorious.


    She became worried and spared Soverick a nce. He is nonchnt and absentminded. It''s like his mind is somewhere else. He didn''t look worried, and that calmed her down a little. She shouldn''t worry if Soverick is not worried. Then her fears began to rise when she realized that Soverick might not know what they are up against. He can''t see the future like she can. She reached over to him to speak with him.


    "Hey, what do you think?" She asked him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Soverick didn''t respond. His attention is somewhere else. He hasid his eyes on true power, and he can''t take his eyes away from it. The first time he gazed at such glory was when he was a mana entity in the divine dungeon. His mind froze over immediately as he gazed at the truth of mother high heaven''s existence. His mind would have exploded if he had not hurriedly looked away back then.


    He hase a long way from that point. He can fully utilize the capacity of his mind, and more so, he can even look upon thew of order of the first Sage with impunity. Things would be easier if he could steal the falsew of order. Unfortunately, he can''t take thew into himself since it is part of the core, so he has to copy it. That needs the full capacity of every mind of Legion. They have to stop whatever they are doing to concentrate on what his eyes are currently seeing.


    He felt a tug within him while he was busy with the core. His connection to the ne is informing him of a mild agitation of its citizens. Some battle sage monkeys are being riled up. He knows why they are being riled up, so he isn''t worried. The will of the ne didn''t tell him it was urgent either. The hatred between the battle sage monkeys and the Vipers doesn''t concern the ne. In fact, the ne liked the Vipers more than it liked the ocr monkeys.


    All the creatures that were born within a ne are the children of that ne. The will of the ne won''t choose a side during their conflict unless one race is actively damaging the ne. Then the will of the ne will decide to support the other race so that the offending race will be removed or stopped.


    Every ne wants a very strong race that can defend it, and the Vipers were very good. They were practically a lesser version of dragons. They had simr control over mana with dragons and hadrger mana pools. They were also immortal. And most importantly, they were not dragons. What more can a ne ask for? But some snotty monkeys that were discontent with the status quo started a rebellion and ruined everything.


    The first Sage qualified to be the child of the ne because of his feats in holding back Situ for decades. But the Will of the ne didn''t appoint him then because what he was doing was actually bad for the ne. Situ was supposed to be the child of the ne if he didn''t be a god. Forming a connection with all the people on the ne would have made Situ almost unkible and unrivaled.


    Situ would be as powerful as an Origin god within the ne, and he wouldn''t be suppressed either. The first Sage came and ruined everything. The ne didn''t change her mind about him until he killed that dragon. nes don''t like invaders normally, but they hate dragons even more.


    Killing that dragon made the will of the ne reconsider the first Sage as the best choice for the child of the ne. After all, he has managed to defeat both the lesser version of a dragon and a real dragon. Plus, the Vipers were no more. What else could be better than the first Sage? Even then, the ne didn''t allow the first Sage to change the name of the ne.


    AN: I hope you are looking forward to the clone of Legion that is a paragon.

 Chapter 737 Ocular Or Battle Sage Or Furries.

    Situ was the one that started calling the ne the Virut ne. He has been Emperor for thousands of years, so the name stuck. If he wasn''t so untalented because of his race''scking intelligence, then the first Sage wouldn''t have reced him. His six arms didn''t give him any advantage over the Sage when it came to fighting with weapons.


    The first Sage could have reced the name if he wanted, but he knew what the ne thought about it, so he didn''t bother. If he had gone ahead with it, then the ne would have reduced its support for him.


    So while the battle sage monkeys totally hate Vipers, the will of the ne misses them. If not that these Vipers are from another ne, then the will of the ne will just snort and ignore their conflict. But it is the Virut ne against the Tarat ne, and there are big things at stake here, so the ne will support him with its best.


    Soverick didn''t spare anyone his attention because he felt there was no rush. The fight had not started yet, and they still had time to prepare, so he wasn''t worried. He didn''t answer Salvini''s question, and he didn''t move when their enemy was finally shown.


    The other side of the arena suddenly became transparent. It was like there was a wall there before, and it disappeared now. It disappeared and showed a hill simr to the ones that the battle sage monkeys are on.


    There is arge group of living beings on the other hill too. These living beings are scaled. They have a torso that ends in a single long muscr tail. They have two arms that end in 4 fingers with sharp ws. They also have yellow vertical pupils on top of slightly protruding serpentine jaws.


    A Battle Sage Monkey shouted in shock, "Vipers."


    Battle sage monkeys with bloodlines thate from ancestors that experienced the oppression and liberation of their race will recognize these beings anywhere and anytime. There are a lot of memories and instincts tied to the Vipers. So they all recognized these serpentine beings.


    The battle sage monkeys became agitated again. Their reaction became severe now that they could see what had been riling them up. Meanwhile, the Vipers on the other side of the hill were pointing andughing at them.


    They were saying something like, "Don''t they look like our pets back at home?"


    "The ones at home all have white furs, but these ones have different colors of fur. But they are unmistakably furries. They are just assorted furries."


    "Yes, they are very soft looking."


    "They also have nice flesh."


    "What? Do you eat your pets? They are family. Eating them is gross."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "I didn''t admit to that. I just said that they are delicious. I have stated a fact. There''s nothing wrong about that."


    Another Viper interjected, "The fact that you kept them for pets is just wrong. They belong in the wild to be hunted."


    "Yes. They are ves and asionally game for hunts. The furries are bad for pets. They are too stubborn and willful. It is too difficult to domesticate them. You also mustn''t allow them to be strong, or they will fight back. They are bad pets."


    "That''s because you didn''t get furries that have been bred for their obedience. If you treat them right, they will behave properly."


    They were chatting amongst themselves about their enemy. They didn''t know that they would be facing furries in thest challenge, and they found it to be funny. They don''t have any traumatic or anxiety-inducing memories about the furries that they have at home. They only have pleasant memories.


    The furries have soft white fur. Their meat is delicious and they make for goodpanions if trained well. There''s absolutely nothing for them to be afraid of about the furries.


    The Vipers were the top predators in their ne, and they subjugated all the other races without even trying. They lived as they usually do, and one day they suddenly realized that they had conquered their ne. It was that easy for them, and they expect this battle to be easy too. This battle with the furries could be a mock battle to simte the yearly hunts that they have back home. It shouldn''t be anything more serious than that.


    The agitation of the battle sage monkeys or furries was about to be too much to handle. They were already rushing forward to fight the Vipers and roaring at the top of their lungs. But they stopped when the giant phantom of an eye appeared above the battle sage monkeys.


    The first Sage had recorded a message for them to hear. He is the one that will address them instead of the arena spirits. The agitated monkeys rxed immediately when they saw the eye. They know who it represents just as they recognize the Vipers despite not ever seeing a Viper personally, and it fills them with confidence.


    They are still agitated, but they are not afraid anymore. Their bloodline knows that there''s nothing to worry about when the battle sage is leading them to battle. They will follow him anywhere he goes, and he will give them victory like he always does. He has never disappointed them, so they will always have faith in him.


    There are others with opposite reactions too. The presence of the first Sage filled them with fear instead of peace. Some of them felt hate and animosity towards him. Not everyone likes him, but they all stopped fixating on the Vipers because they know that the first Sage will deliver. He always delivers.


    The Sage began to speak, and people listened, all except Soverick.


    "There have been many theories about the origin of a race''s divine ability. No one has been able to figure out how to create a desired divine ability in a race, but there has been some advancement in determining some of the factors that affect divine ability. First is the element of pure chance. The random assortment ofw fragments from our origin core makes a divine ability what it is. That means that any divine ability is possible."

 Chapter 738 Prove Your Worth.

    His voice is calm and soothing. It pulled their attention and made them forget that there was a sworn enemy right in front of them. They calmed down as they listened to him speak.


    "The second element is the environment. A race doesn''t awaken its divine ability until the mana stage. That means that a race has to live in its environment and survive for a while before it gains its divine ability. Their adaptation to their environment might have influenced the creation or expression of their divine ability."


    "There are exceptions to this, as some races are born at the mana stage. But for others, it is spected that the environment affects the divine ability because it has been observed to be so in many cases. This phenomenon is most clear regarding elementals. Their divine ability is simr to the conditions of their environment, and it helps them to survive better in that environment."


    His calm voice suddenly changed. His tone became serious. Those listening to him know subconsciously that he is about to speak of something important.


    "The third element is origin and bloodline. Bloodline is self-exnatory, but the origin of the race is not. Not every life within the realm tree was created by the will of the realm. Life also came from outside the realm. Some races have changed immensely from what they once were, either due to the environment or interaction with an external source of life. You know this much, don''t you?"


    They nodded subconsciously. They know about the changes to a race through external influence. For example, races change if they have demon ancestors. Demons are very fertile and can create offspring through reproduction with other races. Those offspring will eventually eliminate an original race. The divine ability of the race will change in such situations.


    "In the case of battle sage, our original race is also about to be eliminated. Survival of the fittest means that obsolete abilities get eliminated. Our original divine ability is bing rarer to encounter in our people. It used to be a very good divine ability in the past, and it helped us to survive in the environment we found ourselves."


    "We could never have survived without our ability to slow the world in our perception when we fought the Vipers. They were too fast, and we were too slow. If we couldn''t see them move, then there could never have been any resistance. You cannot resist what you cannot see."


    Then the Sage sighed. "But times have changed. Our divine ability has changed. It has be better at other things, just as it has becking in some things. The Vipers have gone extinct for many years, so it didn''t matter if we had our former divine abilities or not. Now the Vipers are back."


    He let that confirmation settle on all of them. Then he continued, "The Vipers are back, and they are stronger. But never fear. We, too, are stronger. We are not as hopeless as we once were. We are no longer ocr monkeys." Then he asked them, "What are we?"


    They roared their answer to him, "We are the battle sages."


    He asked again. "What are we?"


    "We are the battle sages."


    That is their answer to his question. It is an answer that they knew deep down from within their very being. It is an answer that they gave without much thought. It is also an answer that gives them pride. They are battle sage monkeys. They live to battle, and they die to win.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    They felt the eye smile at them. "It is good you know that. Your ancestors fought to give you that title. Your ancestors defeated the vipers. They fought tooth and nail. They shed blood and flesh. They were outmatched, but they won. It is your turn now. You have to do your ancestors proud. You have to win. You have to show the worth of your bloodlines."


    He proimed to them with a raised voice. "You have to honor your ancestors. You are not prey. You are not weak. You are battle sage monkeys. Do your ancestors proud and fight to defend the title of battle sage."


    "For your ancestors!" He roared.


    They shouted and yelled in reply, "For our ancestors."


    "For our ancestors."


    "For our ancestors."


    They shouted three times. They were shouting full of conviction and apanied it with jumping.


    They jumped up and down. They pumped their fist into the air, and some mmed their fists against their chest. Gone is the fear they had. They feel they can''t lose. It is because they have to win. They have to make their ancestors proud. They are soldiers now, and soldiers don''t feel fear.


    The Vipers are strong, so they were scared. But that only means that the vipers should be taken seriously. The battle sage monkeys must not let fear dictate their emotions. Strong or not, the Vipers were defeated once before. Their entire race was wiped out by their ancestors. Not one of them survived to this day. So what is there to fear?


    The battle sage monkeys became of one ord. They are to fight for their ancestors. Every one of them has a bloodline, so they all have ancestors. Their ancestors might not be ancient, and they might not have fought the Vipers, but every single one of them has an ancestor. They might hate the Sage or be afraid of him, but they want to make their ancestors proud. It is a challenge to their very bloodline.


    The Sage wasn''t addressing them directly. He was challenging the bloodline within each and every one of them. Those with ancient bloodlines want to make their ancestors proud by replicating the victory over the vipers. While those with new bloodlines have to justify if their bloodline and the changes it caused to the divine ability of their race are worth it.


    They have to test their mettle and see where theye out against the old divine ability. They must prove their worth by showing that they can ovee the Vipers just as the old divine ability did.

 Chapter 739 Consequences Of Betrayal.

    Thepetitors themselves don''t know the true effect of the first Sage''s speech. After all, they are but ignorant pups. Thepetitors are held by their hands and guided to greatness. They have footsteps that have been highlighted for them to follow. So the guardians are the ones in control.


    If the first Sage wants thepetitors to bepelled to try their best, then all he has to do is convince the bloodlines who are the guardians. The bloodlines will do what he wants. Some of those bloodlines remember the experience of following him to battle. They remember the pain and theradery. They remember what it means to be battle sage monkeys.


    Thepetitors are ignorant of how the title of battle sage monkey was earned. But today, they will prove that they are worthy of the title. They cannot cower or fall. They have to do what they do best. They will do battle and die to win, for they are battle sage monkeys. The ultimate glory for them is to die for their race. Their bloodlines will not have it any other way.


    Only Soverick was irreverent. He didn''t listen to the speech, so he sure won''t be manipted by it. His bloodline has no sway over him. He is his bloodline. And he wants more than anything else to suck the first Sage dry of his falsew of order. Unfortunately, he can''t get his way. He doesn''t have the time. So he will do something that might give him the time. He will try to win thispetition and get his two requests.


    Thepetitors were still chanting excitedly even after the eye disappeared. They only became silent when they felt the full aura of the current child of the ne. He released the full pressure of his power on them to draw their attention to himself.


    "Form up." He yelled at them.


    They scrambled as they all fell into position. They stood straight in a formation. Each one of them is one meter away from the person beside them, in front of them, and behind them. A single shout from him and they transformed into an army. They listened to him because he was worthy of leading them. Apart from his title as the child of the ne, he is also the strongest.


    He rose to the air a little bit so that he could overlook all of them. He had his arm folded on his chest as he looked down at them imperiously. His golden fur reflected light and made him look regal. The nine golden orbs floating and rotating behind him reinforced that image. He inspected them and found their arrangement passable. Then he gave them an indication of his approval with the slightest nod.


    "We are at war." He said to them. "You''re soldiers. You must listen to orders. It doesn''t matter if it makes sense. You will listen to it either way. The first Sage led our ancestors to fight the Vipers. Most of them were not strong. They barely had anything to eat. They were tired and hungry. They were not strong, but they answered his call, and they obeyed when he asked them to die. That makes them soldiers."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Most of them died that day just to hold back the paragons of the vipers. We did not have enough sages to match their paragons, so our ancestors died in droves to hold them back. Our ancestors were weak and desperate. But they were more than that. They were soldiers. They came together under a single g, and they died for a single cause."


    His voice grew colder and colder as he spoke.


    "We might have been enemies before. But right now, you''re soldiers. Act like one. Honor your ancestors. Defend your title. We will go into battle soon. Know that your every act and deed is being witnessed by the entire ne. Do not shame your ne. Do not give the entire ne a reason to reject you. Act like soldiers worthy of being called a battle sage."


    He paused to let his words sink into them. It is necessary to express the severity of the situation to them. There''s nothing worse than insubordination, betrayal, and internal sabotage during a war. It will undermine their efforts and affect their chances of victory.


    He has to dissuade whoever wants to do it because it is something that is likely to happen. After all, they were at each other''s throats not long ago. Some people might just do it to make him look bad. A defeat will make him look very bad and will also make him lose his two requests from the first Sage.


    He can''t have internal conflict right now. So he threatened them with the repercussions of the act. It is better to do it than to rely on the Sage''s speech. He threatened them subtly, but they know now that if they betray him, he will turn the entire ne against them. The people of the ne will get behind him too, because they are watching. No one will side with a traitor.


    In fact, he doesn''t need to do anything to the traitor himself for them to be killed. The racial council is sure to strike a heavy blow. The might of a world god can not be taken lightly. Origin gods will swarm wherever that person is until they are ground to dust. The people of the ne will join in hunting the traitor without being asked. The entire ne will be hostile to them.


    He told them of what would happen so that the stupid ones among them that don''t think things through will know what to expect if they go through with their traitorous deeds. He doesn''t mind. He is the leader, so it is his job to do the thinking for them. Now they won''t have ignorance on their side when they betray the ne. It will be a well informed decision that is to be rewarded with full punishment.

 Chapter 740 Connections And Nodes.

    "We still have some time before the battle starts. I will converse with those that acquired crowns during thest challenge. They will be themanders and leaders of this army. It doesn''t matter if you''re a good leader or have leadership qualities. You will not lead in this army since you didn''t get a crown. You will listen to orders, or you will pay the consequences." Then he asked them with a stern voice, "Am I clear?"


    "Yes, sir." They roared.


    He ordered. "Call memander."


    They roared again. "Yes,mander."


    He gave them another slight nod before he continued. "Think carefully before you disobey any order. Make sure that you can pay the price when a world godes asking for it. I know that simply bringing the name of a world God might not convince you since most of you don''t know how powerful a world God can be. So I will tell you a short tale. Listen and listen well."


    "An origin God once offended a world God and he was cursed to die forever. His immortality was turned against him. He began to wilt and decay as he lived. He became as weak as an aged mortal who can''t even stand. All he could do is stay in bed and groan in pain. And yet, he couldn''t die. An origin God will always resurrect after death. It is just a matter of time. The curse of the world God made him resurrect immediately after he dies. Then he resumes his suffering."


    Some of them shivered when they heard the cautionary tale. It is to be expected. Even Soverick had swallowed nervously when Guntu, the eye of destruction, told him. To die forever is not a pleasant experience. The origin God will wish he isn''t immortal just for the sweet release of death.


    He continued after the short pause, "Imagine bing a decaying, dposing, and wilting being while being alive. Imagine having your existence, your body, and your mind decaying bit by bit. Imagine a suffering without an end. That''s what can happen to an Origin God."


    "Your ancestors are Origin gods. If they can''t afford to offend a world God, I don''t think you can. I repeat, think carefully before you disobey any order. Make sure that you can pay the price when a world Godes asking for it."


    "For now, you will stay in formation until told otherwise. You will not make any noise, and there will be no movements. All forms ofmunication are restricted to the usage of divine sense from now on. Do you understand me?"


    "Yes,mander." They all roared their assent.


    He gave them another nod before descending. He thought to himself, "I am impressed. The Sage sure knows how to rile up a crowd."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He can see that most, if not all, of the bloodlines within thepetitors are activated. They are beingpelled to act like soldiers, and they don''t know it. He would like to take credit for their orderly behavior, but he knows that he is not that charismatic.


    "He is not even here, but he is still pulling strings with a few words. The first Sage will be a terrifying enemy." Then he thought to himself in relief. "Fortunately, we are not enemies. I just have to take care of Salvini, and everything should be alright."


    The first Sage has a terrifying ability to manipte people. He has felt the effects himself, and he has seen it in others. So he is relieved that he is not the first Sage''s enemy. After all, there is no reason for them to be. He hasn''t antagonized the first Sage, and he is winning thispetition for the first Sage.


    Plus, he is obviously the best choice for the position of the child of the ne. Surely the first Sage is aware of that. There is no need for him to be afraid of recement. To top it off, the first Sage promised to keep him safe. The only one he should be worried about is Salvini.


    Those with crowns walked to him and surrounded him after hended. He waited for every one of them to get into position before he started speaking.


    "Everyone here knows about Vipers, but not everyone knows what their divine ability is. In fact, information about their divine ability has been lost in history. It wasn''t lost by chance. The sages did it deliberately. It was to bury everything about Vipers."


    "I must say that they did a good job of it. But we need every information that we can get to beat them, so I''ll tell you what their divine ability is. Vipers have a virtual cirction system that connects every one of them together. It can be likened to the heart and the blood vessels, but this system cannot be seen in the physical world."


    "Every Viper is born as a part of this unseen cirction system. Most of them are born as part of the vessels. They don''t gain anything from their divine ability. But there are some special Vipers that are born as the node of the system. These nodes then form connections with the vessels like the heart and the blood vessels."


    "These special individuals are called paragons. They be more powerful the more vessels that are connected to them. The normal Vipers exist to augment their paragons. That is their divine ability. It is the ability to empower the few so that they can protect the many."


    "In the past, the nodes be immortal when its carrier achieves the soul body. That means that transcendent paragons were capable of instant resurrection with their strength and bodypletely intact. They can''t be killed until every vessel has been cut off or destroyed."


    "That has changed today. Their divine ability has changed with time. It has be versatile, but they have also lost their immortality. Of course, there are some that are still immortal, just like the bloodline of the sages still exists today. So be prepared for an elongated battle."

 Chapter 741 Preparation For Battle.

    He began speaking about the uing battle after exining the divine ability of the Vipers.


    "There are good news and bad news about the uing battle. First, the bad news. They have nine paragons. There could have been more, but that means the power of each one will be weakened. Nine of them is just perfect to put their power at the Sovereign level."


    Paragons are stronger the more connections they have. The world fragment has limited their connections to a total of 3 million. The more paragons they have, the fewer connections each one of them can get and the weaker they will be overall. Instead, they chose quality over quantity. Everyone else is limited to the transcendent level while they are at the Sovereign level.


    "None of you can match them, so you will have to leave most of them to me. The second bad news is that the Vipers are stronger than us individually."


    What he just said made every one of them frown, but they didn''t interrupt him. It is one thing for the paragons of the Viper to be way out of their league. That is to be expected, or the sages wouldn''t have decided to wipe out every single one of the Vipers. But saying that even the normal Vipers are stronger than the battle sage monkeys individually is bordering on insult.


    The paragons are strong because of their divine ability. How, then, can the normal vipers without their divine ability be also stronger than battle sage monkeys with divine abilities? They would like to argue, but they have to take his word for it for now. He has to know what he is talking about. And if they don''t agree, then they will just have to prove him wrong when they fight the Vipers.


    "In the past, the ratio was at least two battle sage monkeys to one Viper, and that is when we had all the advantage. It was mostly worse than that when the conditions were normal. It could go as high as three battle sage monkeys to one Viper. The conditions are normal right now, so they are much stronger than us. All of you must expect a difficult fight."


    He can see that they don''t understand why he said what he said. So he began to exin his reasons.


    "We may all be suppressed, but you know that we are not equal. Their body is much stronger than ours. We can match them for speed and reactivity right now, but the defense of the scales on their body is much stronger than ours. We have armor, and they have armor too. We use weapons, and so do they. So this fight will be difficult and prolonged."


    He doesn''t have any memory of the events that happened in ancient times. After all, his bloodline is fairly new. Fortunately, he found a lot of information about the Vipers in the core. He also found this information about battle sage monkeys too. He knows about the strength of both sides and canpare them with a certain level of uracy.


    "Now for the good news. We are also strong, and we have various powerful divine abilities, so the ratio is less than two to one. It is somewhere between 1 and 2. Some of us are also much stronger than them. I am referring to all of you here with crowns."


    "You lot are heads and shoulders above other battle sage monkeys because of your talents, divine ability, and skill. This has made you above the normal Vipers too. Your strength will also increase when I upgrade your crowns to the Emperor rank."


    That surprised them. They feel like asking him about what he meant, but he hasn''t opened the floor up for questions, so they remain quiet about it. All of them kept quiet except one person.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Ghaster asked excitedly, "Really, eldest? Can you really do that?"


    He has a king crown, so having an emperor crown will be great for him. There were only two emperor crowns, and he couldn''t get those. He asked the question because he is used to questioning Soverick. Soverick may be their leader, but he is also his eldest.


    Litori gave him a re, but he looked at her in confusion. He doesn''t know what he did wrong. He doesn''t even know that he did anything wrong. After all, he is just asking his eldest a harmless question. He has said much worse things to his eldest before.


    "Yes, I can make the upgrade. Your amount of Lieutenants will also increase. They will have the power of kings too." Soverick answered the question, then he red at Ghaster and said to him with a cold voice. "Don''t interrupt me again."


    Ghaster shrunk on himself. Soverick''s re is more meaningful than Litori''s. That re made him realize he had done something wrong even before Soverick said what he did wrong.


    "As I was saying. You will be much stronger with the assistance of the world up to the level of a titan ofw. That is not enough to match a paragon, but it will be more than enough to bully the normal vipers. You will be unmatchable by the normal vipers when I downgrade their crowns to the lowest Captain level."


    That made them excited. Soverick''s assurance that they would be of major use to the battle invigorated them and filled them with confidence. Some of them even thought to themselves that they would give fighting a paragon a chance to see just how strong the famed paragons are.


    They still don''t understand how transcendents like them can have the power of Sovereigns. Soverick might just be exaggerating. They believe that they should be able to do something against the paragons since they will get the highest assistance from the world.


    Soverick continued, "And now for thest good news. The paragons are limited to 3 million connections. That means that no matter what, we will win as long as we kill every one of the Vipers."


    A/N:


    If you want to speed up the rate of release and get bonus chapters then vote for GREED. Give me your power stones and I will give you extra chapters if you meet the voting goals.

 Chapter 742 Fail Safes.

    "Winning is possible for us, and we can aim toward it. It is going to be arduous, but it is possible. If they were connected to their ne, then this battle would have been hopeless for us. Complete eradication would be a dream. Fortunately, they are not."


    He looked at them sternly as he said to them, "Overall, this battle is in our favor. We have a better chance of victory than our ancestors. We don''t have to wipe out an entire race of billions of Vipers. We just have to kill 3 million. And we also have 3 million on our side. I will do my part, and I want you to do your part. My part is to face the paragons all by myself, while your part is to wipe out their soldiers. I won''t fail in fulfilling my part. That''s just not possible. That means the only room for error is on your side."


    He is not being unfair in his statement. He can''t fail, and it is not based on blind confidence. He has enough information to anticipate what is likely to happen for him to know that he is more than capable of facing all of the paragons together. It will be very difficult, but he can do it.


    His confidencees from his title of his child of the ne and the divine crown. He has Sovereign level strength already because of the removal of suppression on him due to his call for support. That means he has the same level of strength as the paragons.


    He has yet to see how entities with the same level of power as him can defeat him. Adding the power of the divine crown makes him unmatched as a Sovereign. It is like giving a tiger wings. As long as there is no dragon to put him in his ce, he will soar about unmatched under the heavens.


    "I will upgrade your crowns, and you will select your lieutenants. But before that, we will discuss our battle ns, and you will ask me the questions that you have. We will arrange the army ording to the battle ns that we will finalize here. Then we will do battle."


    They began nning for the battle. They spoke generally about the troop''s division and distribution. They also spoke about their tactics to win the battle. Salvini made a lot of contributions to their strategy. The crown bearers asked him some questions about the things they were unclear about. Then he upgraded their crowns after that, so they went to fill in the increased slots for lieutenants and to arrange the army.


    Then he set to work changing the battlefield and the winning condition. Changing the battlefield or the condition to win a challenge is a set process. The battlefield or the winning condition can''t be changed unless there are two votes in agreement.


    When the serpentine world god wanted to sabotage the dragon and the rank 10 monster, he had to ask for the first Sage''s permission. He couldn''t just go ahead and make those changes without getting another vote in agreement.


    The guidelines for thepetition state that there must be two votes in agreement for any changes to thepetition. That means that the two administrators must agree. It wouldn''t mean anything else as long as there are just two administrators. Now there are three administrators. It bes apparent that all of the administrators are not needed for a change to ur. Just two are needed.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Soverick made the proposal, and the first Sage agreed. Then the changes began to ur. They were slight changes that didn''t go against the format of the challenge. A g appeared on the hills where the two opposite armies were standing. The gs are 10 meters tall, with the battle sage having the white g and the vipers having the ck g. The serpentine world god didn''t like the changes, but he couldn''t do anything to stop it.


    That''s just the change to the battlefield. Soverick proposed for another winning condition to take full advantage of it. In order to win, a side must grab the opponent''s g and bring it back to their base while their own g is defended.


    The former winning condition is fighting to thest man. The side that remains after the other side has beenpletely eliminated wins thepetition. He didn''t remove that condition, he just added to it.


    He can''t remove the winning condition. The Sage made sure of it. The Sage made sure of a lot of things. They are fail-safes put in ce in case Soverick goes rogue. The Sage is not so stupid as to believe that Soverick cannot betray the battle sage monkeys. If betrayal is possible, then there can be betrayal, and it can be from anyone. So the Sage nned for it.


    The racial council still has to protect Soverick even if he betrays them because the promise states that he will be protected as long as he is the child of the ne. The Sage knows that if he can twist that promise in his favor, so can Soverick. The fact is that he just doesn''t trust Soverick. If Soverick were of his lineage, maybe he would trust him more. Unfortunately, Soverick isn''t.


    So the Sage put in ce fail safes. One of which is the need for agreement from another administrator to make changes to the challenge. It is so that Soverick can''t just go off the rails and cause rampant chaos that won''t benefit anyone. Soverick might just decide to destroy thepetition so that no one wins.


    In apetition, there are three oues. There''s win, loss, and draw. The bet between the world gods is about winning and losing. There is no condition for a draw. In fact, a draw will render everything the Sage has done for thispetition useless. There shouldn''t be a draw ording to the arrangement of thepetition, but that can change if a third administrator starts to meddle with things.


    A/N:


    Have you written your review? Do you vote everyday? Are you supporting GREED in any way? If not, then don''t be surprised if GREED is dropped. I assure you that your inactivity is not helping GREED in anyway. It is worse if you are not reading this on Webnovel. Then you might be killing GREED yourself.

 Chapter 743 Preparing To Fail.

    If Soverick is discontent with something, bitter, or just crazy, he can create a draw just to spite both sides. It sounds crazy that Soverick would want to offend two world gods instead of just one, but it is certainly possible. That''s why there is a winning condition and why that winning condition cannot be changed. Another thing that cannot be changed is that there has to be a winning condition. Soverick can only add more winning conditions.


    A sharp de can cut your enemy just as it can cut you. This is especially true if the de is double-edged. Even a single-edged de is capable of impaling its wielder if he or she falls on it. This can happen either through carelessness or pride. As they say, pride goes before a fall.


    The Sage sharpened Soverick so that he could cut his enemies. He also knows that Soverick can cut him too. So he won''t be careless with Soverick or feel that Soverick can''t betray him. That''s why he had a conversation with Soverick to turn him to his side. He promised Soverick two requests if he won thepetition.


    He didn''t order Soverick around. He is a world God, after all, and Soverick is a puny king ofw. He has the right of power to order Soverick around. He could have done that. But he didn''t. Instead, he offered Soverick a pleasant incentive. That was to safely turn Soverick to his side. He won''t need to do that anymore as soon as his ns for Soverick are fulfilled.


    It is not an understatement to say that the first Sage nned for every possible oue. The only thing that can possibly stump such a clever schemer is somethingpletely unexpected. Anyone that takes him for granted be they world gods, will regret it immensely. The serpentine world god is a very good example of this. The powerful ancestor of Vipers failed to prepare. He was only preparing to fail.


    The fourth challenge is a mixture of changeable things and unchangeable things. The unchangeable things were suggested by the Sage. First, there is the need for a win condition. Then there is the recorded message. The Sage''s speech was recorded before thepetition, and it was nned to be yed at the start of the fourth challenge. It can''t be changed.


    The Vipers also listened to a recorded message from their world god. Unlike the Sage''s message that roused the battle sages and made them take the uing battle seriously, the serpentine world god''s message was for the Vipers to think of this battle as a hunt. Just like any hunt, the Viperspete to have the highest kill.


    The serpentine world god promised to reward the Viper with the highest kills among the paragons and the normal Vipers with a request from him. Both the serpentine world god and the first Sage made promises of requests from them to motivate their key fighters, but the difference in their speechy in the attitude and seriousness that they imposed on their sides.


    The hunt and the highest killpetition is a good approach to a conflict if one side is overwhelmingly stronger than the other and there is no need to be particrly careful. That''s what the serpentine world god thought of the battle sage monkeys before thepetition.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    His opinion of the battle sage monkeys has changed now, but he can''t change the message he recorded, and neither can Soverick. The battle sage monkeys will be facing this challenge together as an army working together, while the Vipers will be facing it as a harmless hunt because of their recorded message.


    As for the changeable things, they were the mechanisms designed by the serpentine world god. He didn''t set a limit on the win condition. He didn''t set a limit on the duration of the challenge or set down any rules. This means that Soverick can make a lot of changes too. Adding a single more winning condition is just half of what he can do.


    "The sage really did a number on his opponent." Soverick thought to himself.


    He is clear about the situation and can see some of the machinations of the Sage. It is enough for him to glean some of the nning that went into bringing about this situation. What he knows has made him pity the other world god.


    The first Sage has really done a number on his opponent. It is an indisputable fact. But he kept his thoughts on the situation to himself. There is no use spouting his belief of how screwed the other world god is. Some things are best kept within the mind. Even then, one''s mind is not safe from world gods. So he removed that troublesome thought from his mind and thought of other more useful things that won''t make a world god cross with him if they peeked at his thoughts. He analyzed the situation, made ns, and waited for the fourth challenge to start.


    The fourth challenge started when the barrier separating the two sections of the arena was raised. Now the two sides can interact with one another. Technically, the two sides don''t have to fight. There is no rule that says they must be at each other''s throats at all times. They can frolic and interact peacefully with each other. But the chances of that happening are almost zero.


    The battle sage monkeys hate the Vipers, and the Vipers want to hunt the battle sage monkeys. They would have rushed at each other, craving blood, if not for the changes that he had made. Now both sides have to think about the repercussions of their actions. Not everyone can attack the other side. Some have to defend their g so that it will not be taken. They can lose the challenge if their g is stolen.


    The battle sage monkeys have formed into squads and groups. Each group is apanied by its leader. The 117 emperor crowns with their ten lieutenants plus Soverick''s own 100 lieutenants make for a total of 1387 troop leaders. They form the three levels of leadership in the army. Each leader flew above the group that they were in charge of as they went into battle.

 Chapter 744 Gold Is Better Than White.

    Only crown bearers and their lieutenants can fly in the arena. The rest are foot soldiers. Both sides have the same amount of crowns, but they have different amounts of lieutenants. Most of the crowns of the battle sage monkeys are emperor crowns with ten lieutenant spots, while most of the crowns of the Vipers have been demoted to the lowestmander crown with one lieutenant spot. So battle sage monkeys have a higher amount of airborne forces.


    Soverick is the one responsible for the changes to the crown. He created a massive advantage for the battle sage monkeys. Being airborne means they have arger range of movement. They will also have a wider view of the overall situation, and they will be able to easily move to any location that needs assistance to support them.


    They have 1387 leaders and airborne forces, while the vipers have 234. There''s also the difference in the strength of the crowns. The least of airborne forces are at the level of the king crown, while the highest of the Vipers are at themander level. That is a difference of 3 levels.


    The two sides responded differently to his tampering with the crowns. Most of the battle sage monkeys were ecstatic about it. Some were not happy that their hard work had been invalidated, but the fact that their side would have more advantage cated them. Everything will be worth it if they win.


    As for the Vipers, they were confused. All of their crowns except the divine crown have been changed to the lowestmander crown. They lost most of their lieutenants when their slots were reduced to just one. The change caused a lot of confusion. They wanted answers and reasons for the change, but no one answered them.


    Soverick saw all of these happening. It is one of the perks of being an administrator. He can see everything happening in the arena, and he is updated with real-time statistics about each side. He could also answer the Viper''s questions. He thought about ying a prank on them and gloating but decided otherwise. He doesn''t want to antagonize the other world god any more than he already has. Things are going well for them, but his sense of danger hasn''t been reduced yet. So he can''t be carefree yet.


    "Go and bring me victory." He said to his army.


    The battle sage monkeys roared a battle cry as they rushed forward to meet their enemies.


    They cried, "For Victory."


    "Let the games begin." He said to himself as he waited.


    He watched the battle sage monkeys go to battle while he waited by their white g. He is the only one that will defend the g. He sent the others off to retrieve the gs of the Vipers, but he doubts they will be sessful at that. The other battle sage monkeys are unable to help him directly. They will be most useful by thinning down the vipers, which will indirectly weaken the paragons.


    He didn''t have to wait long before the paragons reached him. They left a trail of destruction through the battle sage monkeys as they passed by. No one could stop them, and the crown bearers didn''t bother. He had ordered them to let the paragons pass. The ones that suffered were the foot soldiers that couldn''t make way for them. They were trampled on and discarded easily by the paragons.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The first iing paragons are very fast, and they areing for the g directly instead of bothering the rest of the battle sage monkeys. If there were no gs, then they would have focused on the normal soldiers and run amok. He wouldn''t be able to predict their actions.


    He would know where the paragons are located and what they are doing had he not added the g-capturing winning condition. But it will be inefficient to face them that way since they will be everywhere. The g made them focused and predictable. It made them not bother with killing the soldiers.


    There is still the huntingpetition, but the person that grabs the g and returns with it will win thepetition anyway, so the g is the current priority of the paragons. He is defending the g of the battle sage monkeys. That means they will have to go through him if they want to get the white g.


    There are 9 of them with seven different divine abilities. There are two speedsters, two brutes, one defense buff, one attack buff, one immortal power, one spell tower, and one immortal link. The immortal link and the defense buff stayed back to defend their g. The attack buff and the spell tower led the army of Vipers to attack the battle sage monkeys. The two speedsters, two brutes, and the immortal power came for the g.


    They were nine, but they had to break up their forces into three groups because of the gs. Now he has just five to fight instead of all nine at once. The immortal link and the attack buff are pretty weak, though so it is effectively 8. His five opponents trampled through the army of battle sage monkeys as they rushed toward him.


    The speedsters are the first to reach him. Their divine ability allows them to speed up their agility, dexterity, and perception. They are capable of reaching speeds beyond what Sovereigns are capable of. They tore through the army of battle sages without being seen at all. The only signs of their passage are the dissected battle sage monkeys and scattered body parts.


    The two reached Soverick quickly. They traversed therge battlefield in 30 seconds. One was faster than the other, but the difference in speed wasn''t that much. So they reached him at practically the same time. They began circling him in a blur.


    "Well, what do we have here?" One of them said. "It is a little furry defender."


    The other one observed. "He has golden fur. I must say that it looks better than the ones we have at home."


    "Yes. Gold looks better than white. The rest of the furries here have different types of furs. It is weird and mostly unpleasant to look at. But this gold one is definitely better."

 Chapter 745 One Down.

    They fawned over him.


    "He even has pretty eyes. He will look really good as a pet."


    "Or as a stuffed animal."


    "No. Alive is better."


    "I am just saying he will look good dead too."


    Now they began to argue and bicker about which state he will be better in, whether dead or alive.


    "It''s too bad that we can''t keep him. That will be lovely."


    "We can''t keep anyone of them. They are just simtions. They are not real."


    "I just want to keep this gold fur. I''ll be content if we can keep the assorted furs of what we kill here. They will be a big hit if we take it back home."


    "I know right?"


    They talked openly as they circled him so that he can hear what they are saying. They areplimenting his golden fur. It is different from the white one that all the battle sage monkeys have in their ne. Those without bloodlines are bing extinct in the Virut ne but the opposite is the case in their ne. There is no bloodline for battle sage monkeys in their ne.


    Someone has to be a transcendent before they can transfer the lowest type of bloodline to their offspring. That can''t happen when battle sage monkeys aren''t allowed to be transcendents. The best they can reach is mana entity but such battle sage monkeys are more valuable for meat than the others so they are specifically hunted.


    A mana entity can regenerate almost every physical injury as long as it is not their head is intact. That regenerating factor can turn them into a renewable source of flesh. They will continue to regenerate even when their minds break down and they be catatonic.


    The two speedsters began talking to him when they finished with one another.


    "What are you supposed to be?"


    "Were you supposed to stop us?"


    "How do you n to do that?"


    "Are the furries giving up by putting just you here? Is that it?"


    "These furries are stronger than they should be but I guess that they are still stupid. How do they expect one person to stop us?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Maybe they left you here for your beauty. I suppose you''re supposed to seduce us or make us croon over how adorable you are."


    One of them crooned. "You are adorable."


    The other one agreed. "You are so adorable."


    Then theyughed. Soverick stood where he was without moving. He didn''t react to their words at all. His eyes tracked their speed and determined the best course of action. He stayed still now because he has to. They are very fast. They are just a blur around him. And they are two of them so he has to be careful.


    One of them mocked him. "Look at him. He is frozen in fear."


    The other one said, "Maybe we should stop scaring him."


    But the one "I''ve had enough of this. He is no fun. He is not making any tricks. I''m taking the g."


    It ran towards the g to grab it. Its hand was outstretched towards the g to take it when Soverick moved. The Viper had changed directions from its circr path around him and entered the zone of optimal distance from him. In other words, the Viper has be closer to him.


    His body shed with a sudden golden lightning when he moved. There was a short tussle. Then he was on top of the first speedster when the light on his body died down. The light has died down but the golden lightning remained shing around his body.


    "No, you don''t." The other one said and tried to grab the g too.


    The second speedster ran face-first into a torrent of mes. Its eyes widened as itshed its tail sideways. It managed to jump out of the way at thest moment. It didn''t get time to rx because more fireballs wereing for it. Fortunately, it was fast enough to dodge. It was very difficult to dodge because the fireballs were timed perfectly. It was as if his movements were being predicted but it managed to dodge even then.


    The speed of a speedster means that it will dodge as long as there is a path of survival. The second speedster managed to dodge the interwoven attacks when something fast, bright, and undodgeable smashed into it. A beam of white light collided with the Viper and threw it a great distance. It became airborne while a fireball began trailing after it in the air.


    The Speedster was dazed. That light beam stunned it heavily. It bypassed its scales and scrambled its mind so it can''t react to the iing fireball. It would have died if not for the timely assistance of another paragon. This new paragon flew into the path of the fireball meant for the speedster. Paragon and fireball collided in a fiery explosion.


    The explosion threw this neer backward but it was unscathed. It was totally unharmed by the fireball and the numerous ones that hit it afterward. Soverick had sent numerous fireballs to ensure the death of the speedster. This paragon blocked all of them with its body.


    If not for the force of the explosion then this new paragon wouldn''t have moved at all. Its ck scales were unharmed. Instead, they shined with a metallic luster. It is as if the fire from the explosion polished them. It is a disy of power that is meant to mock his effort.


    "So the brutes are here already," Soverick said dryly. "It''s okay. My spells are not my strong suit anyway."


    The power ofws cannot exceed the capacity of the world fragment. He can''t increase the prowess of his spells since the limit of thew fragments of this world is the emperor level. The divine crown can only increase the physical assistance of the world to him. So his spells remain at the emperor level. They are not his strong suit, meanwhile, his physical strength has been empowered.


    A/N: There is a Character creation mission on the discord page. If you want a character named after you and you want to determine the type of character, then see about fulfilling the mission.

 Chapter 746 More Guests To The Party.

    More paragons began to arrive after the little bout. Another brute with white shiny metallic scales arrived. The two brutes stood in front of the shaking and clearly distraught speedster. Thest to arrive was the immortal power. It has red scales and its size is somewhere between the brutes and the speedster. Speedsters have small bodies while the brutes are broad and huge.


    The three neers stood in front of the speedster and protected it. Even so, the speedster is still shaking and its eyes are wide open in shock. It cuts a sorry figure. The speedster couldn''t believe what had happened and it couldn''t believe what it is seeing right now. In fact, all four of them couldn''t believe what they are seeing.


    Soverick is standing with one of his feet deep within the chest of the other speedster. This speedster is missing the bulk of its tail because Soverick cut it off with his de. He had swung his de at the speedster just as it was about to grab the g and his de cut through its hip without resistance.


    The event shocked the victim more than the pain caused by the event. The fact that it was harmed by a furry at all stunned him rather than the pain of losing its tail. It fell to the ground only for Soverick to stamp its chest with his foot. That nailed the speedster down and stopped it from moving entirely.


    It gave Soverick the chance to try and nab the other speedster without interference. But he too couldn''t move. Or he would have chased after the second speedster himself instead of usingw spells.


    His foot had gone through the whole chest. If it still had organs, then he would have crushed every organ within the chest and the spine. As it is, the chest has been sted open to amodate his foot. That''s why the speedster is not moving at all.


    He did all of that while also shooting spells at the other speedster. If not for the brute with their enhanced physical defense and strength then the other speedster would be dying too. He considers the result of his effort to be subpar. But the paragons don''t think so.


    The sight is surprising to the other paragons. It is like Soverick impaled the speedster with his whole foot. It wasn''t that difficult to do since speedsters have below-average physical attributes. They are light, have low mass, low body density, and low physical defense. So anyone can impale a speedster with their foot as long as they have average physical strength. It is just that they haven''t ever seen a furry do it.


    Soverick coughed to draw their attention away from the body lying around his feet. It was then that they took a good look at him. He has four strange eyes and golden fur. He is more than 2 meters tall but that is only short to them. The smallest of the paragons is at least half a meter taller than him. Some of them like the brutes reach 5 meters in height.


    All of them are way taller than him. They literally look down on him. But he has something that none of them have though. He has some sort of golden lightning bolt writhing around him. They have seen something like it except the lightning bolt isn''t golden like his. The sight of the golden bolt entering and leaving his body filled them with dread.


    "Let me introduce myself." He said when they looked at him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "I am Soverick Ghastorix. I am the child of the ne of the Virut ne. What are your names?" He asked them.


    They were stunned again. It is not every day that a damned furry dares to talk to them with such confidence. Furries are usually cowering at their feet where they can be stomped to death just like he did to theirrade. Even then, he spoke to them as if his foot is not sharing the space that the liquified organs of their friends should be upying had they been solid.


    So it is not a wonder that they remained silent. They were too shocked to speak. They would haveughed that a furry killed a paragon were they not seeing how easy and effortless it had been. It all seems like a dream or a hallucination or worse, it could be a nightmare. They are desperate to wake up from whatever this is, not to indulge in it.


    The remaining speedster slumped to the ground and moaned. "Vitain is dead."


    Soverick said to console the distraught speedster, "Don''t worry. He isn''t dead yet. He is only dying. Death is not possible during thepetition. He will disappear soon."


    A battle sage with so much injury would have cked out already and be removed from thepetition to prevent their death. But vipers have a lot of vitality and they can keep functioning as long as they still have their connections. They share the pain they are feeling across their connections so that they can keep fighting. The speedster at his feet has been stunned and incapacitated but it is not dead yet. It is dying and will die if nothing is done to save him though.


    Right." The distraught speedster said in realization. Then it shouted to the others. "Quick, we have to save him."


    It was shocked by the sight and even more distressed because he thought that the speedster would die. It has forgotten that death wasn''t possible for them in thepetition. They never had a need for that feature in thepetition because they never died in thepetition. The death of a paragon is a monumental thing.


    Every Viper connected to a dead paragon will feel the pain of their passing. So they can all feel some of the pain that the near-death speedster is going through since all of them have been connected through the immortal link. Also, if a paragon is killed by another paragon, then their connections will be taken so they never even tried it during thepetition. That''s why the speedster was so distraught.


    A/N: There is a Character creation mission on the discord page. If you want a character named after you and you want to determine the type of character, then see about fulfilling the mission.

 Chapter 747 To Take Seriously Or Not.

    One of the brutes decided to step forward to fight Soverick. It looked like the other brute except for the different color of its scales. It has thickly corded muscles that show beneath its scales and a thick muscr tail. The form of the brutes is bigger than the slender form of the speedsters. This brute believes that what it has should be able to handle Soverick. It is also very angry at Soverick''s nonchnt attitude towards them.


    "Don''t." The red-scaled immortal power among them said andid a hand out of the six arms it has on the chest of the brute.


    That action stopped the brute from going forward. The immortal power is smaller than the brutes but it can exhibit great strength if needed. The brute frowned and was about to question ask why not but he kept quiet when the immortal power shook its head.


    In any other situation, the two of them will be fighting right now. They are equals. One of them can''t tell the other what to do. The immortal power doesn''t have any authority over the other paragons despite possessing the original divine ability of their race.


    cing a hand on the brute''s chest and stopping him from doing something is to challenge his authority as a paragon. The brute would haveshed out had he not seen the severity of the situation shown by the dread in the eyes of the immortal power.


    The immortal power initiated a secret conversation between them through the immortal link.


    "Something is not right. You all saw what happened. He took on two speedsters and incapacitated one. He would have gotten the other too if not for interference. We have to take this seriously and delicately." He said to them.


    The brute he stopped didn''t agree. "You just said he would have gotten the other one if not for interference. Clearly, he can''t handle three of us. There are four of us here. That should be enough to deal with him."


    The immortal power insisted, "The fact that we need four of us to take him on means that this situation is already out of control. When have we paragons needed more than one of us to face a foe? The furries left him behind to guide the g. Either they are confident in his prowess or they have given up and decided to leave one person just for show. Clearly, it is not the second option. What we have seen indicates that it has to be the first option. So we have to be cautious."


    That silenced any objections. They had to listen to him because he is right and because they respect him. If anyone can lead them it is him. It is just a shame that he doesn''t have that qualification. He has their original divine ability but he was born toote.


    The child of the ne for this generation has already been chosen. There will be no more child of the ne until the current generation one bes an origin god. If the child of the ne were here then he would lead them. Unfortunately, he is a Sovereign ofw and thispetition is just for kings ofw and below.


    "What is going on?" The immortal link asked them.


    The immortal link is the opposite of the immortal power. Instead of taking the connections and using them for power and immortality, the immortal link bes a nexus that connects the entire race. It acts as a heart for the paragons and allows the sharing of power between them. The immortal link is weak itself but its presence within thepetition is practically cheating since it is capable of shifting the total connections of 3 million to a single paragon when needed.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The immortal link has other powers such as creating a connection for information between the paragons. They can use the connection to talk and share memories across any distance. The immortal power used that connection to share what they saw with the rest of the paragons so that every one of them knows what they are dealing with.


    "That is one nasty furry. How is it so strong?" The spell tower asked.


    "He said he is the child of the ne of his ne." One of them answered.


    She rified herself. "I know that and I can see the bolt of power on it. I meant that how did a furry be powerful enough to be chosen by the will of the ne as its protector? I didn''t know that furries can hold that title. Imagine that."


    Sheughed a little. It is honestly amusing that the will of a ne will select a furry as its protector. She can''t believe it happened despite seeing the lightning bolt on Soverick. She can''t believe that a ne could get that desperate.


    Sheughed and asked. "I mean. What kind of messed up situation will lead to a furry bing a child of the ne? He is even pretty looking. I just want to hold him in my hands and pet his fur."


    She is obviously not taking Soverick seriously. She has seen the memories of the short fight with Soverick but she still can''t take him seriously. Soverick is strong. That much is undeniable. But anyone will be strong if they be the child of the ne. A rat can fly if wings are attached to it. But that doesn''t make it equal to a skyrat that was born with wings. Soverick is strong but they are not the same.


    A brute agreed with her. "This is a simtion after all. Anything is possible in it. But nothing is real."


    "There are a lot of things we didn''t know about furries until today. We have learned a lot. I think we should keep an open mind. Anything is possible here after all." The immortal link provided.


    The immortal power insisted, "So let''s take this seriously. Real or not, it doesn''t change the fact that the gold-furred furry is a threat. Threats have to be handled seriously or we will be eliminated by the threat."


    A/N: There is a Character creation mission on the discord page. If you want a character named after you and you want to determine the type of character, then see about fulfilling the mission.

 Chapter 748 Humiliation.

    The spell tower groaned. "What is the worlding to? Are we to fear a furry now? Simtion or not, I think this is disgraceful to us paragons."


    The immortal power said in agitation, "We will fear whatever furry that can incapacitate a speedster in moments and still try to kill the other one. Now shut up if you don''t have anything useful to say "


    That outburst silenced any more voices of dissent. They all began to take the situation seriously. They started by sharing their opinion of the situation one after the other.


    The speedster said, "I think that it might be a mistake to have them roaming around the ne. If they are capable of bing what this furry is then they are a threat that must be eliminated. We should wipe them all out when we get home."


    He has already been traumatized by the short experience. A literal furry almost killed him and it killed the other speedster. They are not some normal paragons. Each one of them was specially selected for this event. The idea that a furry of any kind, real or not, can actually threaten them does not bode well for him.


    The spell tower shut down that fear-mongering as soon as possible. "That''s a stupid idea. We are not afraid of furries. We are a superior race that can never be overthrown. It can never happen. Now, let''s focus on the threat they pose in this simtion."


    The spell tower insisted. "But, a simtion can be based on the real world. If it is possible at all, then furries are a danger to us."


    The ck brute asked, "How will we wipe out all of them? They are very fertile because they are so weak. It will be a futile endeavor to try and eliminate every furry in the ne."


    He actually sides with the speedster but he doesn''t think that eliminating the furries is realistic or feasible.


    The spell tower on the other hand is about to blow her lid. She yelled in frustration, "That is a preposterous idea that furries could ever challenge us. Nothing could ever challenge our supremacy as long as we have a child of the ne."


    The speedster and the brutes have nothing to say against that. The will of their ne selects the immortal power that manages to kill all the other immortal power in the ne during their generation as the next child of the ne. And there''s always a child of the ne present within the ne.


    Thepetition for child of the ne starts as soon as the previous child of the ne ascends. During that time, every immortal power will be aware of every other immortal power and their location within the ne. Thepetition will only end when there''s one immortal power left alive between the stages of transcendent and king ofw on the ne.


    Thepetition has be something of a tradition. It is a tradition that has ensured the supremacy of the Vipers over their ne. They faced invaders and sessfully repelled them. Vipers cannot be overthrown as long as they have an immortal powerhouse that can fight Origin gods within the ne.


    The speedster finally relented. "That''s true. The reason why the gold-furred furry is a threat is because it is a child of the ne. That can not happen in the real world when there''s already a child of the ne. There can be only a single child of the ne at a time."


    He even sighed in relief. But the spell tower still won''t have it.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "It doesn''t matter if there''s a child of the ne or not. I maintain that there''s no way the Will of the ne will select a furry to be..."


    She was interrupted.


    "Shut up all of you." The immortal power shouted within the link. "Forget about conceptual problems and focus on the problem we have on hand. We are at risk of defeat and humiliation. If you''ve forgotten, we are currently being watched by our entire ne. A defeat here will not be taken lightly."


    His rebuke hurt their pride. A peer shouldn''t talk to them like that, but they have to admit that he is right. It is already bad enough that one of them has been incapacitated. It will be worse if they all face this furry and are defeated.


    The immortal power continued. "Now let''s focus on what we are up against. He has a divine crown and he has the title of child of the ne. He can''t be taken lightly."


    They all agreed on that point. Except for the usefulness of the divine crown.


    "The divine crown is useless. That thing is weak so let''s focus on his title alone." Someone added.


    Their divine crown is weak because it has thebined power of 117mander crowns as opposed to the one that Soverick has. Theirs is at best a match for the crown of the king which is the level of power that the lowest lieutenants of the battle sage monkeys have.


    The immortal power shot down that proposition, "We don''t ignore anything. We take this seriously and we take everything into ount."


    That paragon grumbled a bit about overreacting while another paragon asked, "What do you suggest we do?"


    "na shoulde here to assist us. That will bring up our numbers to 5 and it is very important that we have a magical expert on our side. It is clear that this furry is also very capable with spells." The immortal power suggested.


    na, the spell tower agreed, "That''s a good idea. Why don''t we alle and eliminate him once and for all?"


    "Because we can''t take the furries for granted anymore. It will be a bad idea if we focus all our top strength here and leave ourselves vulnerable in the other aspects. Someone has to guard our g or we risk losing. We will look like fools if that happens."


    "You''re right." She admitted after thinking about it.

 Chapter 749 Threads Of Spirituality.

    749 Threads Of Spirituality.


    It is a surprise that they found someone of Soverick''s caliber among their opponents. It is unexpected but it happened. It is also unexpected and furthermore, unlikely, that there is someone else that is very strong among the furries. If that were to happen and if they have focused all their top-level strength here, then they will look like fools. They will be very surprised but they will also be fools.


    The speedster drew their attention to something very important, "We also have to save Vitain. He is not dead yet. It will not do for a paragon to be killed by a furry even in a game."


    "That''s true." They all agreed.


    The entire battle is being shown in two nes, not one as they thought. It''s being shown in the sky for everyone to see. Vipers are not the only species alive in their ne. Furries are there too and they are also watching the show.


    The fact that they are being watched wouldn''t have mattered if they were winning easily. It would have been a good thing. It also would still be okay if they won strenuously, but it will be very bad if they lose in front of everyone. The furries will see a paragon get killed by another furry. That is a shame to their entire race. And it might also give the furries wrong ideas.


    The paragon that dies and brings such disgrace to their race had better hope that they stay dead forever. The rest of them that did nothing and watched as a paragon was smashed to bits will also share in this eternal shame. So they have to rescue the speedster whom Soverick has inserted his foot into and is wearing like a shoe.


    They were nning amongst themselves while Soverick was busy with something else. The lull in battle has notsted 5 seconds despite everything they were talking about. Their minds are very fast so they have a very fast transmission of information.


    The paragons nned to bring in the spell tower. She is at the center of the arena leading the Vipers into battle. She is much closer to them than the other paragons defending the g and she is much more useful for what they need. The immortal link is weak, the defense buff needs to defend the g while the attack buff needs to lead their army so she is the best for their situation.


    It is the best option since she is the only one that managed toprehend thews of this world. The other paragons hadn''t cared enough to make any effort inprehending the newws whereas she has an advantage inprehension, concentration, mental processing, and spiritual power. She had to stop bombarding the battle sage monkeys with spells so that she can help them but it is a worthy trade.


    Soverick was not idle while they nned. Three of his eyes focused on the victim at his feet while thest one was watching the others. He bore into the body of the Viper down to its cells and past that to the energy flow of its existence. He saw the makeup of the connection within the body of the Viper.


    They are like threads that fill up every part of their existence. The threads are spiritual in nature. They can''t be interacted with or severed in the physical realm but they are capable of effecting changes in the physical world. Another clone of Legion has seen something like this before. It is the clone that is the expert in soul matters.


    "Legion-7 will be able to take advantage of this if he were here." Soverick thought to himself. Then he smirked. "Of course, he is here. He just can''t show himself."


    Legion-7''s expertise with the soul will enable it to take advantage of the spiritual threads. Unfortunately, this is not a random hidden location. As far as Soverick knows, there are at least two world gods watching his every move. There could be more. So Soverick will have to focus and deal with this problem on his own.


    He can''t risk Legion for anything. But that doesn''t mean he can''t acquire more information about the Paragons work. It won''t help the clone of Legion that is a paragon since his ability is different from the Vipers. But it will certainly help Legion-7 in taking better advantage of the falsew of order of the serpentine world god.


    The threads in the incapacitated speedster''s body are twitching threads. They have a potential difference between them that enables them to transmit energy and information nearly instantaneously.


    This empowers the muscles and makes them fast. It empowers the nerves and makes them faster at sending impulses and information. It also empowers their energy delivery and utilization system. The twitching nature of the threads is what makes the speedster fast.


    He diverted two of his eyes to inspect the other vipers after his inspection of the one at his feet. One of his eyes is still watching the incapacitated Viper. He isparing the data about their connections. He found out that the behavior and structure of the threads in the different types of paragons are different.


    He is content acquiring more information while they wait because it is good for him. The paragons weaken the more time passes. He can even see it happen within his vision. Some threads loosen and suddenly disappear from their bodies when one of the normal Vipers dies.


    "Interesting." He muttered to himself.


    He was enjoying the sight when he noticed that one of the paragons was rushing from the battlefield toward his direction. That urged him to action.


    "I guess it''s time to move." He said with a sigh.


    They all focused on him at that moment. A bad feeling rose within them. The other speedster even swallowed nervously.


    "I wonder what will happen when I do this." He said and loped off the head of the Viper at his feet.


    The paragons cried out in dismay. The most vocal one was the speedster. Soverick''s act of killing the paragon is like something out of a nightmare to him.

 Chapter 750 Play Time Is Over.

    His movements were quick. It happened so fast that they couldn''t react or do anything to stop him. His de cut into the neck of the Viper and it disappeared. The head of the Viper didn''te off since it was saved by the world fragment but he wasn''t disappointed. He saw all the threads snap off at once. The sudden disconnection of that many threads created a type of energy that would be imperceptible in lower quantities.


    This energy existed in the brief window when the connections were disconnected. The threads are exposed to the physical world during that instant. It had escaped his notice before because it was too small to notice but now he saw it and he also knows that if he has the right tools he can snatch these threads and take them for his own.


    "Very interesting." He mused out loud amidst the cry of the Vipers.


    They are very unhappy about what he did. They were hoping to rescue the Viper and save him but Soverick dashed their hope. He ignored their cries of anguish and focused on the behavior of the threads. He saw them dip down into their spiritual state and then disappear. He doesn''t have the tools to take the threads for himself. He is not a paragon. He doesn''t have a heart that the connections can attach to. So he watched as the immortal link took the connections.


    He rubbed his chin and said, "I am learning more and more today."


    The spectacle of the Viper''s death gave him some ideas about how to use the boost from his title as child of the ne. He found the behavior of their threads to be simr to his connections with the ne. He knows the true state of the connection with the ne but the Vipers and their connections enlightened him further.


    His connections are for whatever he wants to do with them. They are malleable, unlike the threads of the Vipers. The only one with malleable threads like his is the immortal power. The immortal power even has better control of the threads than him. The immortal powers are capable of using the threads to keep their existence anchored to the world. That''s how they gain immortality. He is far below that level of control.


    He cracked his neck and swung his de twice as if testing it.


    He told them, "ytime is over."


    The speedster took a step back in fear. He smirked. Then he took three steps forward and disappeared. The vipers briefly saw his body split three times into 8 figures before he disappeared. Then he appeared in their midst. Only the other speedster was able to react to his sudden appearance.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The Speedster''s eyes widened when he suddenly appeared among them. It took more steps back. Soverick took one quick nce at it and ignored it. He turned to the brute on his left and his de shed multiple times as he struck the brute over and over again.


    The speedster managed to take two steps back before the reality of its situation caught up with it. One step was okay but two steps is not. Two steps are too much for it. The second step stressed its body past what it can handle considering its new state. Two lines appeared on the face of the speedster after it took the second step. The two lines extended from its head to its torso. The Viper split into three when the two lines expanded. Then it disappeared as the arena saved it.


    There is a saying that one shouldn''t take two steps after being shed with a de two times. Actually, one shouldn''t move at all if they can help it. Most people can''t move after suffering such injuries but the speedster was too fast for its own good. It is so fast that it moved faster than it can feel pain and realize that it shouldn''t move. Maybe it wouldn''t have moved if it knew what Soverick had done to it.


    Soverick ignored the speedster because it was already dead. It just didn''t know it yet. He has to be the mature one if one of them is going to be foolish. He already killed the speedster with a DANCE OF THE SPECTRAL WIND before he activated WORLD BREAKER. That''s two targets that he took care of before appearing in their midst. So he focused on the third target. The white brute will be the focus of his wrath.


    He moved with a flicker faster than the wind itself. In fact, he can cut the wind itself with how fast his de moved. He was fast before but employing his boost from the ne to speed himself up made him much faster. It also made him attack faster.


    His hand moved like lightning and his de struck his opponent with the force of a hammer. Each strike between his de and the flesh of the brute created a sound akin to thunder. An explosion of force took ce as the de made contact with flesh. Shockwaves battered everything around them.


    He expected to split the brute apart into gory chunks but he was disappointed. His de cut into the brute but it was like he was cutting into metal instead of flesh. His blows are as heavy as a hammer but the brute is as durable as a mountain. It will take a lot for a mountain to be broken.


    He managed to cut deep furrows into the brutes so that the brute became tattered but he won''t be able to kill it before the other brute finally reacts and interferes. The brute''s white pristine scales have been marred. Deep lines spread across its body like the valleys of mountains. But the bulk of the mountain is still standing.


    He kicked the misshapen carved-up brute away from him while he turned to the brute that just realized that something is terribly wrong. The brute is a little slow but it has not been a second yet since he appeared in their midst. The ck-scaled brute threw a punch which Soverick disabled by pushing his arm aside with his de. Then he switched his boost to strength and punched the brute in the face.

 Chapter 751 The Brutes.

    His hand smashed into the ck-scaled brute''s face. The two body parts made violent contact with it each other. A spark was created, which was followed by an explosion. The ck-scaled brute was knocked flying by the force of the explosion. He flew just as the other brutended on the ground in a heap of broken flesh. Soverick flexed his arm as he turned to the first brute that he attacked.


    "That is not good." He muttered after observing his hand.


    He didn''te out unscathed from the short exchange of blows. He was the one that did most of the dishing out but his hand suffered for his generosity. His hand was crushed. He had damaged his arm simply by punching the ck-scaled brute.


    On the other hand, the brute that he punched came out of the collision without any injury. The brute was disoriented and was sent flying but that is all he suffered. Soverick isn''t surprised though. Brutes are very durable and very strong. He can boost his defense, speed, strength, perception, spirit, and vitality just like an immortal power, and just like an immortal power, he can only do one at a time. So he can''t have improved strength and defenses at the same time. He has to choose one.


    Brutes have the advantage of having two enhanced attributes at once. Their fixed connections grant them both strength and defense. So while he might be stronger than them, he will face the consequences if he punches them because his defense iscking. He knew this, but he did it anyway. It was to give him the opportunity to finish what he started.


    He turned to the white-scaled brute just in time to see it already regenerating. The bone-deep injuries he caused were already knitting themselves back together and all his work will be rendered useless soon.


    "This is also not good," Soverick observed to himself.


    It turns out that the threads of brutes enhance three attributes, not two. It also seems like the brute has gotten more threads. He has killed two paragons already so the rest will get stronger. The avable connections will be shared by 7 instead of 9 so there''s more power for each of them now.


    He groaned, "Now they will heal faster too."


    Now that they have more connections, they will be stronger, have increased defenses, and they will also be able to heal faster. Brutes were built to be able to take severe punishment to their body and also have the ability to return from near-death conditions. He has to hit them faster and harder than they can recover.


    So he activated WORLD BREAKER again and took three steps toward the healing brute. He split himself into 8, rbined, and entered thew matrix. He found his target in thew matrix. Then he smashed into the brute there. He was rebuffed as if he hit an stic surface. Then he rematerialized in the world of manifestation.


    "I''m not going to do that again." Heined as he stumbled.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    His injuries are so bad that he can''t even stand properly. He came out of thew matrix without one-third of his body. Large portions of his body have disappeared exposing the white paper-like material that makes up his body. This injury extends from his head down to the half that is left of his right foot.


    He groaned. "I should have just stuck with punching them in the face."


    He groaned and this time he really felt some pain. That attack didn''t work out as he thought. It turned out badly. In fact, it turned out worse than when he punched the brute in the face. Using world breaker on the brute was a bad idea. He failed to do any damage to the brute itself despite injuring himself. He did damage the threads on the brute but that''s only because they covered him like a cocoon and protected him.


    It was like the pyramid in the third challenge. The threads formed ayer around the brute that he must ovee if he wants to damage the brute. He failed to ovee the defense of the threads and was rebuffed. It caused a bacsh that hurt him. The brute was already injured but he still managed to make Soverick suffer.


    "Now what?" He asked himself.


    Splitting himself into more specters will not be a good idea either. It will be like the dragon situation all over again. He already injured himself using just 8 specters. He will have to go into aa if he pushes himself to 128 specters. 8 specters should have been good enough. It requires little energy from him and it can be activated quickly. It leaves behind a tear in space that is almost imperceptible and heals instantly unlike the tear he created when he fought the dragon.


    8 specters are good enough for people with a soul body. They don''t have the defense of their concept manifestation that the body ofw that a titan has to protect themselves. 8 specters were good enough for the power immortal. That guy''s body unraveled like soggy noodles when Soverick smashed into him. He was Soverick''s second target after he dealt with the speedster.


    "Speaking of my second target..." He said as he looked at the spot where the immortal power was still standing.


    The immortal power hasn''t moved despite all the action going on around him. He isn''t doing so well after the first WORLD BREAKER was used on him. That was after the DANCE OF THE SPECTRAL WIND was used on the second speedster. Soverick dealt a fatal blow to him but he is immortal. He should have disappeared but his existence remained anchored to the world despite his existence bing warped beyond what a living being should be.


    So he is dying and resurrecting over and over again. He has been afflicted with this problem since Soverick appeared in their midst so he is too busy to bother with anything else. Soverick saw all of these and smiled. The paragons on the other hand had differing opinions when they saw what has be of their once intact mate.

 Chapter 752 Immortality Can Be A Curse.

    The immortal power finally lost his shape. The speed of resurrection couldn''t keep up with the effects of the damage to his existence anymore. His body folded upon itself in ways that are surely notfortable. Even an unfeeling cardboard box should not be folded, wrinkled, creased, andpressed into a ball like that. It is simply inhumane.


    He is in so much pain that he can''t think straight. He is dying over and over again. He feels the pain of his death each time he dies. The only thing he is experiencing right now is that pain. If there is a fate worse than death, then this is it. But he can''t end it. His immortality has be his curse.


    "At least something is going well." Soverick nodded appreciatively.


    The immortal power has been effectively neutralized despite the fact that he can''t die. The problem is that he can''t heal the damage done to him. He is not a titan ofw with a body ofw so he is always resurrected with the damage to his existence. His body keeps copsing under the pressure of what Soverick did to him.


    The best thing is that a Viper in the arena dies each time he dies and resurrects. It is the best of both worlds for Soverick. Now he could hold on for the Vipers to wipe themselves out trying to resurrect their fallen immortal power.


    "I don''t envy you anymore." Hemented as he watched the copse ur again and again.


    He can''t use the connections he has with the ne to be immortal since the connection is just being shared with him. He is not the heart or node of the connection. The will of the ne is and it shared its connection with Soverick. Soverick is not the host of the connection. He is a guest and guests can''t use the connections to remain immortal. If he dies, he dies for good.


    Meanwhile, the will of the ne will exist as long as one of its inhabitants is still alive and as long as the ne still exists. But Soverick will surely die if the ne is destroyed. The destruction of the ne will lead to the demise of the will of the ne and it will drag Soverick down with it. So he is a guest that might have to pay for the power lent to him with his life in case the host dies.


    He used to envy the immortal power because of its control over its connection but what the immortal power is going through right now is not enviable at all. In fact, no one should be made to experience the copse of their mind and consciousness over and over again. It is just cruel. It is also nice to watch.


    Soverick smiled to himself. He let the sight of the carnage that he has wrought soothe him as he boosted his regeneration. His missing flesh returned swiftly with the boost to his regeneration. He knows he doesn''t have a lot of time to heal and rx before he has to get back into the fight so he decided to enjoy this while he has the opportunity. It is the little pleasures that make life worth living after all.


    Soverick''s happiness was cut short when he noticed that more threads were being infused into the immortal power. The increase in the connection increased the Immortal power''s resilience and slowed down his copse.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Soverick turned toward the direction of the Immortal link and scowled. "Troublesome little shit. Disrupting my fun."


    Each paragon has an average of 333,000 connections. The immortal link gave up all his connections to the others so they each had 375,000 threads. The death of two Paragons increased their allotted connection to 500,000 threads. That is a huge boost. But that still wasn''t enough to save the immortal power.


    So the Immortal link reallocated all their connections and added the bulk of it to the Immortal power. It safely removed some connections from the other paragons and grafted them temporarily to the immortal power. The Immortal power''s copse slowed down and eventually stopped when he got more than 2,000,000 threads infused into him.


    "I can work with this." Soverick shrugged and epted the situation.


    He does not like the change. He finds the Immortal Link''s meddling to be troublesome but he epted the situation because it is to his advantage. Adding 2 million threads to a single paragon is to limit the rest to 1 million. The paragons have effectively been weakened just to prevent one of them from dying.


    The Immortal link has removed his fun but he can still work with what he has. He will just have to turn his attention to the other paragons. They will be more fun now that they are weakened. They have no choice in the matter. He will squeeze out the fun from them.


    The immortal power finally stopped dying. He is still copsing since he can''t heal what Soverick did to him but its body and form have stabilised. The rate of copse has been reduced to a crawl. It is cause for celebrations but the immortal power has other ideas.


    A cry tore out from his throat, "Ahhhhhhhhh!"


    The cry spread far and wide. It was loud and it was bone-chilling. If they had blood, his cry would have cuddled it. The immortal power''s deformed existence was finally straightened out. He is no longer crumped up like a piece of discarded paper but all he wants to do is cry in pain.


    He appeared in his spot, whole and hearty, and he screamed in pain. He hasn''t been able to scream and express the pain he felt all along through an emotional outburst so it all came out now that he has the chance. He screamed and screamed without end. He would have continued screaming for all of eternity if he was allowed to. His scream ended when Soverick put a de through his neck.

 Chapter 753 Crybaby.

    There was the option to cut off the immortal power''s serpentine mouth. But he went for the neck. He didn''t just stop after shutting off the cry. He tried to remove the power immortal''s headpletely from his shoulder. The immortal power died because of Soverick''s overzealousness in shutting him up.


    "What a crybaby," Soverick muttered. "I''m sure it wasn''t that bad."


    He is speaking from experience. The consequence of his fight with the dragon in the first challenge is the most painful thing he has ever experienced. But he still had the mind to sneak into thew matrix and decode it secretly while he healed. So he knows what it feels like to have the framework of your existence crushed. Then again, he and other clones of Legion have been unnaturallyfortable with pain.


    The cry of pain ended but Soverick didn''t leave. He enjoyed ending the misery of his enemy so he stayed close to the immortal power to do it again. The immortal power resurrected soon after. He had a good look as Soverick swung his de and beheaded him again.


    That happened several times as he waited for the brute he punched to catch up to him. Having speed makes time seem slow. He can do a lot of things while others are slow as if they are moving through tar. It hasn''t been two seconds since the immortal power was stabilized, but he has done a lot in that period. His injuries healing nicely and he has beheaded the immortal power 4 times already.


    The immortal power resurrected again. But this time he screamed to the immortal link through their connection.


    "Kill me." He roared. "Please kill me. Kill me now."


    He didn''t ask for help or to be saved. He asked to die. Even that was a struggle to say through all the pain. And the pain is so much. It is all he can feel. It is an overwhelming sensation of excruciating pain. So it is not a wonder that he wants his ordeal to end through death.


    It is as if there is a crack in his mind which there is. The crack is supposed to expand and kill him but it can''t now that his existence has been buffed up and made more resilient. But the crack is still there. It hasn''t gone so he is still feeling the pain caused by it. It is like an itch that he can''t scratch. Except this itch is a fracture in his existence.


    The crack has rendered him useless. He can''t think straight or use his abilities. He has be a liability on the Vipers so he wants to die for two reasons. He wants the pain to end and he wants the 2 million threads to be put to good use.


    "Goodbye." The immortal link said.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The immortal link used the permission he had to the immortal power to reduce his connection back to 500,000. That made him sumb to the crack in his existence. He copsed and the immortal link used that opportunity to sever all his remaining connections. The loss of all his connections made the immortal power copse for onest time. He didn''t resurrect anymore. Soverick''s fun ended abruptly.


    "I really hate that immortal link," Soverick grumbled before he turned his attention to the brutes.


    The ck-scaled brute is rushing towards him while the white-scaled brute is still injured and nearby. He kicked the white-scaled brute away. Then he rushed towards the ck-scaled brute and he began the arduous process of cutting it down. His de shed. There was a bang. Then a small groove appeared on the body of the brute.


    Soverick just sighed and resumed his work. He wasn''t discouraged by the low return for his effort. He needs to chip at the brute like a wood carver slowly chipping away at a block of wood. That''s what he needs to do to bring it down and that''s what he is going to do.


    His de shed several times just as he shed into different positions around the brute. The brute couldn''t react to him at all and was helpless against him. But that''s where his advantage stopped. The explosions and shockwaves caused by the impact of his de striking the brute are like empty barks without a bite.


    The defense of the brute increased again with the death of another paragon. So it will take at least 5 seconds to chop up the brute into pieces. That is a lot of time for him. It is frustrating that he has to spend so much time just cutting away at someone to kill them. Fortunately, he is not the only one frustrated in this situation. The ck-called brute in question is not having such a nice time either.


    The brute roared angrily. It is the only thing he can do sessfully in this situation. It turned asionally to try and catch Soverick but his tormentor is already gone by the time the brute moves. All he can catch are the fleeting afterimages that Soverick left behind.


    "Help me." He roared.


    He couldn''t help but ask for help despite the fact that there is no one close by to help him. The second brute is still healing and the spell tower is still on its way here. Soverick is so fast that he is even managing to bombard the healing brute with spells to slow down its regeneration while still attacking him. Fortunately, he is not alone, he is connected to a being that can help him. So he received help immediately.


    Soverick frowned when his de shed into the brute but only made an even more shallow wound. The defense of the brute has suddenly be stronger. His attack cannot cut as deep as it used to be. In fact, he is only creating surface wounds now instead of shallow grooves. It will take at least a minute of constant attacks before he can break down the brute. And that''s only if the brute doesn''t heal at all.

 Chapter 754 Interference Of The Immortal Link.

    Soverick saw what caused the sudden empowerment. The connections with the brute suddenly ballooned in number. It is not the increase in threads due to the death of the immortal power. The immortal link is messing with him again by increasing the threads of the ck-scaled brute to 2 million.


    "This is just not fair." He grumbled.


    He is not one to care about fairness. But it seems to him that he is fighting more than one person at a time. And he can''t harm the other person that is assisting the one he is fighting because they are at a safe distance. It wouldn''t be unfair if he could also use the assistance of Legion in this fight. Unfortunately, he can''t, or he will be creating trouble for Legion. After all, it will be very odd for him to have a domain. Not to mention that it is the domain of a world beast. That will surely turn some heads. But it is fine if the immortal link assists the other paragons at a safe distance.


    "So unfair." He grumbled his grievances onest time.


    He scowled and pretended to continue to attack the brute. Others won''t be able to tell what the immortal link is doing so they won''t know what to do in this situation. He continued to strike the brute but half of his attacks were redirected to the fallen brute through the use of DANCE OF THE SPECTRAL WIND.


    His sneaky move yielded abundant results immediately. The poor brute was diced into pretty quickly by the sudden attacks that appeared around it. The redistribution of power to the ck-scaled brute left him weakened and ready to be taken advantage of.


    The period of abundance didn''tst long. It was interrupted when the immortal link became aware of the danger. The white-scaled brute would have died had the immortal link not hurriedly allocated more to him. That made the ck-scaled brute vulnerable so it got injured again. Soverick capitalized on this weakness for a while until it was also rectified by the interfering immortal link.


    The interference of the immortal link created a situation where he couldn''t finish off any of them. In fact, things turned against him. Power was redirected from the other paragons that don''t need it to the brutes. Instead of getting more injured, they became better. They healed and even began fighting back.


    Their fighting back was ineffective though. Four of them couldn''t hold him back so just the two of them arecking. He can run circles around them and he did. He couldn''t hurt them significantly but he didn''t let up. He can strike them again and again. So he did.


    He became a whirlwind around the two brutes as he ran around them and cut into them. His form couldn''t be seen and neither could his de. The only indication of an attack is the spark of light that is created when his de makes contact with the skin of the brutes.


    Their skin has been hardened into some kind of metal that protects them. So there is no explosion or shockwaves when he strikes them. Just the high-pitched ringing of the impact of metal against metal and the sh of light from the sparks.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The three of them were in this stalemate when the spell tower joined them. She flew forward and stopped above them. Then she began constructing spell matrixes. She didn''t construct one. She constructed 10 at first. That increased to 20 when she added 10 more to it. She continued to add more until there were more than 100 spell structures in the sky and even were still increasing. She is capable of casting more than 100 spells simultaneously.


    Some people are proud of their ability to cast two spells simultaneously or Double cast. Some can triple cast and more. What they can do is already impressive for ordinary spells Spell matrixes are different from normal spells. They are more taxing. They require maintaining a constant connection with thew matrix.


    Spell matrixes are permanent structures ofw and divine sense. They will stay in existence and continue to work as long as divine sense is supplied. That means that they exert constant pressure for their existence to be maintained. You can''t just create a spell matrix like casting a spell and forget about it.


    One will be exceptional to be to maintain 2 spell matrixes at a time but the spell tower can create and maintain 100 at a time. Her spiritual threads help her to make the calctions, adjustments, and maintenance of the spell matrixes for her. It is frankly cheating. All the paragons cheat in one way or the other but the spell tower takes cheating to the next level.


    Her concentration and consciousness have been boosted to abnormal levels. Origin gods can cast powerful and massive spell structures that can do more damage than her but they can''t cast as many spell matrixes at a time as her. She may not have quality on her side but she has a lot of quantity on her side.


    "She should be called the one-man army, not Salvin," Soverick said in appreciation.


    Even he had to admit to being impressed. A spell caster is a cannon of destruction. They are capable of spewing forth destruction in waves upon waves. The spell tower is capable of doing that multiply by 100 times. This entire ce will be thrust into the center of a Cmity if she is allowed to fire her waves of spells. It will be unending carnage and he can''t allow that.


    He used his gravity control on all of them. The atmosphere became heavy and pressure settled on all three of them. The world became their enemy so all of them fell to the ground. The brutes managed to keep fighting despite the heavy gravitational force slowing them down.


    They couldn''t fly anymore because of the increase in gravity but they were able to keep standing. Their thick muscr tail coiled with unmatched strength and kept them upright. Fortunately for him, the spell tower doesn''t have a muscr tail coiled with unmatched strength.

 Chapter 755 The Spell Tower.

    The movement speed of the brutes slowed down to a crawl but it is of no actual consequence. It is not as if their speed was useful before. They were sitting ducks to Soverick before and they are still sitting ducks now. They have just be slower sitting ducks.


    The same cannot be said about the dainty spell tower. The abrupt increase in gravity tore her from her lofty height in the sky. Her mind is very powerful but it could do nothing against the hostility of the world and the increase of her own gravitational field. She smashed to the ground where Soverick was already waiting for her. His eyes twinkled in anticipation of the ughter that is toe.


    It was until his de neared her that he realized that it was futile. He was still a meter away from her when her hundreds of shields activated. They flickered into existence and zed within his vision likeyers of shiny nkets. Hundreds of these shiny nkets have formed the most secure defense that he has ever seen. They formed a crystalline protective cocoon around her.


    His de struck the barriers around her and managed to get 11 of them with a single attack. He rushed to attack quickly in hopes of overwhelming her defense before it can regenerate. Unfortunately, he was pushed away when the barrier suddenly increased to thousands.


    "What the fuck?" He groaned. "This isn''t fair."


    He thought he hadined about unfairness for thest time but he simply had toin now. What he saw caused him toin. The paragons are already this strong as kings ofw with just 3 million connections. How strong will they be if they were in their ne where they can get ess to billions and trillions of connections? Who can defeat that?


    Granted that they were specially chosen for their talent so these 9 are excellent paragons amongst others. Also, thepetition within the ne wouldn''t allow them to have these many connections to themselves. Even so, this is too absurd. It will need a sovereign with real concepts to kill these paragons. And they are just kings ofws.


    "This is pissing me off." He growled in frustration.


    It is not a surprise anymore why the first sage decided that their entire race must be wiped out. They are too dangerous to have around. There''s no way the first sage can feelfortable or at peace with Vipers in the ne. If it were him, Soverick will also wipe out their race. He will do it out of petty anger and sheer jealousy. He doesn''t need a good reason. He will wipe out their entire race just because they are pissing him off.


    If he were not under the suppression of this world fragment, then he will wipe the floor with these amateurs. The world fragment shackled 99% of his body and mind. Most of the boost he got from the ne is being used to break the suppression on him.


    If he were not suppressed and he had his normal power at the Sovereign level then these paragons would be gone by now. His boost from the ne will be put to better use. Then he will show them that he can cheat better than them. If he could get the assistance of Legion, then he will show them that there is no one that can cheat more than him.


    The battle raged fiercely. Soverick''s eyes darted about independently and swiftly as he kept track of everything going on around him. Nothing escaped his sight. Not the way the brutes are feinting in order to deal him a heavy blow and certainly not bow the spell tower is modting her spiritual fluctuations to fool his sense.


    He sneered and said, "Silly tricks."


    She thinks she can pretend to create false spell matrixes in different locations spread apart from each other by increasing the alpha waves of her divine sense. It is a good trick that might fool others. But not him. He can see when her divine sense actually forms a connection with thew matrix and also when it is simply pretending to form the connection.


    As for the brutes, they have a different fighting style that is very different from the steps of momentum. They believe they can use his unfamiliarity with it to fool him. It will certainlye to them as a surprise that he knows the underlying principles of their own skill system just after seeing it being used for 30 seconds.


    He rolled his eyes at the brute and he advised with good intentions, "Don''t bother."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The ck-scaled brute didn''t listen to him. He continued with his punch toward Soverick. Soverick dodged. He can move away from the brute easily but he decided to teach him a lesson. The punch made contact with flesh. Then the scales on the arm used to punch shimmered and suddenly dispersed the force that they have been storing. This force exploded in the face of the white-scaled brute who was too slow to evade.


    "See," Soverick said as he mmed their head against each other. "See what you did. I told you not to bother but you didn''t listen."


    He knows when a simple punch is actually a loaded punch. He knows that they use their scales as anchors to store and redirect force. It is a pretty clever skill system. It is a pretty clever system. And he also knows that the gravitational field on them has slowed them down and also made their punches deadly because they can redirect some of the force slowing them down into their attacks.


    So he only made sure to use his de to make contact with them when he made them trip over themselves. Then he used his de to beat them as theyy there. It is truly beating because he is not doing any noteworthy damage despite the sharp edge of the de and the fact that his de is infused with world power. Some bruises that heal are the best that he can get from them.


    A/N


    Power Stones Goals:


    400PS - 1 Extra Chapter.


    600PS - 2 Extra Chapters.


    750PS - 3 Extra Chapters.


    1000PS - 5 Extra Chapters.


    Golden Tickets Goals:


    100 Golden Tickets - 1 Extra Chapter.


    150 Golden Tickets - 2 Extra Chapters.


    200 Golden Tickets - 3 Extra Chapters.

 Chapter 756 The Right To Be Frustrated.

    He beat the brutes while also tampering with the spell towers'' efforts to cast spells. He would rip apart her spell matrixes before they formed by using his own divine sense to disrupt their connection with thew matrix. They have about the same spiritual power but she is the one that needs order to cast the spells. All he has to do is sow discord and Chaos. That is easy to do because destruction is easier than creation.


    Again, that''s the best he can do to her. The immortal link will redistribute the threads and boost the spell tower so that she can form more shields if he tries to do more. It is frustrating him to no end. He isn''t fighting 3 paragons. He is fighting 4 of them at once and he can''t do anything to hinder the 4th one.


    He has to watch helplessly as the immortal link makes things difficult for him. The meddlesome paragon will immediately switch the target of the boost to whoever he focuses his attention on next. He needs to focus his attention and damage output on a single one normally for him to kill them. But the immortal link is making it impossible to kill them one at a time.


    "Just you wait. I have just the thing for all of you." He promised with his four eyes zing with the metaphorical mes of anger.


    Then he kicked the spell tower to relieve some of his anger. His foot didn''t make contact with her. Her several barriers protected her like nkets. She bounced about because the force of his kick is enough to break her had it made contact with her. But it didn''t so she is fine and dandy. Just a little disoriented from all the kicking and disruption of her spell matrixes.


    He didn''t let that get him down though. He can see them and what makes them powerful. He also knows how to bring them down. It''s just not ready yet. In the meantime, he will press them more and more. The immortal link''s interference in his fight has weakened the other paragons. That will make them easier for the other battle sage monkeys to handle. It is just a matter of time before the Vipers fall. This is only dying the inevitable.


    "I take it back. Maybe Trisklil was on to something about taking this furry seriously." The spell tower said to the others.


    She didn''t think there was anything to fear about any furry, child of the ne or not. But certain pieces of evidence have surfaced to indicate otherwise. Maybe, just maybe, that whiny and clearly traumatized speedster was on to something. She admitted, "Maybe, this furry is a nightmare brought to life."


    "You don''t say." One of the brutes said sarcastically.


    The immortal link yelled at them. "Stop talking. I need to concentrate."


    It is not so difficult to admit that the speedster was right in light of the current situation. Soverick continued to attack the three of them and forced them to be on the defensive. And this is despite the assistance of the immortal link. They know that one small mistake on the part of the immortal link can cause their death so they stopped using the immortal link''s channel tomunicate. They need him to concentrate on keeping them alive.


    As they are, they havee close to death several times. This nightmare of a furry would always capitalize on any mistake that they do. He would zone in on any opening and rip it open with his de. Sometimes it happens without them even knowing what mistakes they did in the first ce.


    Only the timely assistance of the immortal link has brought them back from the brink of death time after time. They live on the edge. Their hearts are practically in their throats. If Soverick is angry, then they are so angry that will murder his family and anyone rted to him for what they going through. They will do so at the drop of a hat if they get the chance.


    He would destroy the spell matrixes of the spell tower with his divine sense as soon as she starts to create some and increase his attacks on her to force her on the defensive. Then he will switch to the brutes and harry them. It is as if he has eyes everywhere. He was a blur of motion that could attack them from any direction either through direct attacks, phantom des, or even invisible attacks.


    Their fight is honestly spectacr. Both parties are bringing out their full potential and fighting to their best capabilities. But one party is a single person and the other party is 4 paragons. They understand that he is a child of the ne, so he should be strong but logic and emotions don''t really go well together.


    Understanding doesn''t change the fact that they are being yed around by a single person. He literally kicked them about like balls but he is the one that is frustrated. He has no right to be angry for not being able to kill them. They are the offended party here. They should be the frustrated ones. Only them have that right.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Four paragons. Two brutes, one immortal link, and one spell tower. They are being pressured into passivity by a furry. And the best the paragons can do is eke out a measly stalemate. It is a shameful reality that the paragons have to suffer. That shame only increases the longer their stalemate continued. Their stalemate continued like that for a while.


    On the frontlines


    "Has it really been less than 2 minutes?" Salvini asked herself as she looked around.


    Her sight is filled with scenes of utter andplete carnage. The battle has not started for more than 2 minutes but she had to ask herself that question. She needs to remind herself of the time because she doesn''t want to believe that the amount of damage that she is seeing was created in such a short amount of time.


    A/N


    Power Stones Goals:


    400PS - 1 Extra Chapter.


    600PS - 2 Extra Chapters.


    750PS - 3 Extra Chapters.


    1000PS - 5 Extra Chapters.


    Golden Tickets Goals:


    100 Golden Tickets - 1 Extra Chapter.


    150 Golden Tickets - 2 Extra Chapters.


    200 Golden Tickets - 3 Extra Chapters.

 Chapter 757 A Useless Death.

    Things have not been going well for the battle sage monkeys. Things have been bad in that only the battle sage monkeys have suffered carnage and destruction. It looks like meteors and stars have fallen on their side of the battlefield. The spell tower decimated them in the tens of thousands. She really did a number on them. And in less than 2 minutes too.


    She didn''t know what to expect from the paragons of Vipers despite the fear that has been ingrained within her. She expected them to be fearsome. That is to be expected because the first sage is not someone to be easily scared. There had to be something to make the sage fear for the survival of the battle sage monkeys. She knows what those concerns are today because she has almost died several times in the span of two minutes.


    First, it was the speedsters. Those Vipersshed through their army like whips. She was in the direct path of one of them. It would have been a sure death that she didn''t seeing because she couldn''t see the speedster at all. If not for her future vision warning her, then she wouldn''t have jumped away at thest moment before the speedster reached them.


    She saw something hit her in her future vision and then there was darkness. Every fiber in her being screamed danger then, and she jumped sideways and kept running. She warned herpany to run. She yelled to them to run. If not for the fact that she is their superior officer and they have to listen to her they wouldn''t have obeyed her.


    She must have looked really silly running around and shouting for others to run when the two armies hadn''t even met. The ones that didn''t listen and the others that didn''t hear her must have been bewildered.


    They must have asked themselves, "What is going on there?" Or "What are they running from? There is no enemy or attack."


    Then they would have thought nothing ever again because a lightning bolt of a green-blue colornced through the army leaving nothing but dismembered body parts in its wake.


    The ones that died were saved at thest moment and ced in stasis until they healed. Then they were ejected from thepetition. That would have been her fate had she not moved. But she would have died if they were in the real world without any assistance.


    She stood no chance whatsoever despite knowing that it wasing. The speedster is just too fast for her to react to. It reminds her of fighting with her brother Salvos. Sometimes, seeing a threat doesn''t change the fact that you can''t resist the threat. It brings a feeling of hopelessness.


    Such a hopeless situation rarely happens to her. But when it does, it makes her feel humble. You can get easily carried away when you can see the future and predict oues. All it takes is a dose of inevitable destruction to remind you of your mortality.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The threat of the speedster was flitting. It came quickly and passed just as fast. But next came the spell tower. She flew above the battlefield where she set up shop. Spell matrixes after spell matrixes materialized in the sky above them. They formed so fast that Salvini thought she was imagining things. Her eyes boggled at the sight. It almost made her miss the brutes and the Immortal power.


    These paragons did not create the ruckus one will expect from beings of their size as they rushed forward. Their passing was silent despite their humongous size. The brutes towered above every battle sage monkey. Their arms were as thick as some battle sage monkeys and they had four of them. The muscles of their body strained beneath their ck and white metallic scales.


    You would expect such cmities made flesh to be as loud as rocks as they passed by but they didn''t. The wind didn''t howl as they streaked through the air. If not for the sound of flesh impacting flesh as they struck the battle sage monkeys then you wouldn''t know that these giants walked among them.


    They were big but they were also very fast. So even though they were seen, they couldn''t be avoided by themon battle sage monkeys.


    The speedsters cut through the army and took a thin slice out of it but these ones bulldozed their way through and took a chunk out of them. A battering ram couldn''t have done a better job. That is if it were fitted to be used against small moving targets instead ofrge unmoving obstacles.


    Fortunately, they didn''t focus on the battle sage monkeys. They were just passing through. Even that thought didn''t calm her down. They were just passing through but the damage they did is already sizeable. What if they decide to settle on them? What will happen then? What kind of destruction will they wreak?


    Salvini didn''t need to look further for the answer to that question toe to her. The spell tower finished her arrangements in the sky and rained down cmity like no other upon them. Fire fell from heaven and consumed them. Rocks dropped on them and crushed them or buried them alive. Water and ice sliced into them and froze them. Wind buffered them and chopped them apart. Worst of all, there was no end to the cmities. It happened again and again over arge area.


    The spell tower came and took them all on and Salvini was helpless. The wave of cascading spells was a threat that she could see but could do nothing about. Soverick had said that they should avoid the paragons and focus on the normal vipers instead.


    He said that they shouldn''t waste their effort and lives on something so futile. He said the lives of everyone will be worth it if they can kill at least one normal Viper. That''s what he asked of them. It is so that they won''t die a useless death.

 Chapter 758 A Simple Request.

    Soverick didn''t ask for heroics or special performances. It was a simple request that bristled some people. He even told them not to mess up his simple request. He had said that he wasn''t asking for something difficult from them. They are to aim for normal Vipers and only normal Vipers. He made to emphasize what he wanted them to do.


    His request was simple but they were not happy with it. After all, he was asking them not to take on the more difficult enemies. They thought that he was exaggerating the power of the Paragons. They thought he was underestimating them. They thought he was too proud and full of himself to believe that he could handle the Paragons that came his way on his own.


    She herself thought he was overacting. Now she knows that they all thought wrong. She can see what will happen to her if she flies up to confront the spell tower. She will be shredded to nothing. Soverick was right, for them to face a paragon is to waste their life away. It is to die in vain.


    She has seen the truth that they can''t fight a paragon at all. The sky is obviously not the path of salvation. She stuck to the ground and hid amongst the normal troops. She is literally using her soldiers as defensive materials but she is barely surviving. She is using the best of her foresight just to keep herself alive. Asking anything else of her is foolishness. So Soverick was not foolish when he made his simple request.


    The spell tower has made both her, someone with the power of an emperor, and her weak crown-less soldiers equal. They are all scrambling for their life on the ground.


    In the face of death, every mortal is equal. Only the strength to ovee death can separate the mortals. Salvini doesn''t have the strength to ovee this death. So she is a weak mortal just like the rest of them. She is running and scrambling for her life just like them.


    She is staying alive just so that she will be able to fulfill the request of killing a single Viper. But there is a problem with that. It is true that she can''t take on a paragon but she can''t do anything else since the normal vipers are not here yet. The paragons ran ahead of their army. They are much faster than the normal vipers so they left them behind. The problem is that she may not be able to survive in this hell where she has found herself before the normal Vipers reach her.


    The world was booming. There were thunderps and thundering explosions. There was fire and brimstone. It was hell on earth. Battle sage monkeys were dying everywhere. They are being mowed down in the thousands. The spell tower was on a roll. She might just finish them off before the normal vipers arrive. Then it all stopped. The world returned to silence.


    Salvini saw it before it happened and had to hold back the impulse to sigh in relief. It was until the spell tower actually left that she allowed herself to sigh in relief.


    She asked, "Has it really been less than 2 minutes?"<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The end of the world has been abated. The spell tower stopped bullying them and left them alone. Salvini looked around at the destruction that she can see and she had to ask herself if it has only been 2 minutes. If anyone had been in her shoes then they too will ask themselves that same question. It is especially pertinent when your sense of time is warped by your ability to see the future. You have to make sure you''re still sane and not just seeing things.


    "To think they have a soul body like I do." She observed.


    She had topare herself to the paragons. She has a soul body like them. She is just a transcendent and they may be lords or kings ofw but they have all been rendered somewhat equal. The paragons aren''t even using any crowns while she on the other hand is already empowered to the limit of the world. They have no augmentation from the world like her and yet the difference between them is so massive. She can only imagine how powerful they will be in the real world without the limitations ced on them.


    Then she looked back at the direction that the spell tower left in. It was the direction that they came from. It is where their g should be.


    She shook her head and said, "I hope that he will be alright."


    She wished him well. That''s the best that she can do for Soverick. She hasn''t seen the full capabilities of the paragons but what she can see is enough to know that they are very tough to deal with and Soverick has to deal with 6 of them. 2 speedsters, 2 brutes, 1 immortal power, and 1 spell tower will all focus on him.


    Salvini is not envious of that sort of attention. She has seen what happens when one of the Paragons focuses on something and it was disastrous. So she can only imagine what kind of cmities will be spilled forth upon Soverick with the 6 of them focusing on him and hope that she doesn''t have to experience the cmities herself.


    She doesn''t envy him at all. In fact, she wants no part to do with it at all. She used to think that if the paragons were so powerful, howe only he should defend their g? She still doesn''t think that Soverick is capable of handling every one of them but that doesn''t mean she will go and help him. There''s no way she will join in on the carnival that is ying back there. If he can''t defend their g then they are done for and that''s that. There''s nothing she can or wants to do about it.

 Chapter 759 A Kiss From Soverick.

    She used to think that the introduction of the g was a bad idea. She doesn''t think that anymore. It can be said that she is a firm believer in the g. It has dragged the focus of most of the paragons and that is good enough for her for it to be a good idea. In fact, it is a genius idea. It will spare the rest of them from trauma if they lose. They have peace now because the paragons don''t need to focus on them to win. That is very good in her opinion. It''s not like they can win in any other way.


    Her moment of respite was cut short when the army of Vipers became close to them.


    She shouted to everyone, "Get alive everyone. I want you on your feet if you''re not dead. We have our targets iing."


    They began to regroup so that they can put up resistance against the Vipers. It would have been impossible to put up any meaningful resistance if the spell tower were still here. She will be too busy trying to keep her life for her to fight against them. The battle sage monkeys would have been ughtered like easy prey. Fortunately for them, the spell tower isn''t here.


    "Look alive people. Look alive because it is time to die right." She yelled to rouse her soldiers.


    Someughed at her joke. They can now die right without the spell tower. Their life can mean something soon. They formed up despite the carnage around them and the sight of the paragon leading the Vipers to battle.


    "Don''t bother about that one. He is harmless." She pointed to the paragon and said to her soldiers.


    Her soldiers were getting uneasy when they spotted the four-armed figure. It has silver scales and it is taller than the other Vipers. It is also flying in the air with its arms folded on its chest like some war god. Battle sage monkeys have had a bad experience with paragons so they are very afraid of one. She has to do something to alleviate their fears.


    "What, you don''t believe me? Soverick said so and I believe in the child of the ne. Don''t you believe in the child of the ne?" She asked them.


    No one answered but they know that she is right. They believe in Soverick and if he says that the paragon is harmless then it should be harmless.


    "The child of the ne is currently fighting 6 paragons right now. If he can handle six of them then all of us should be able to handle just one harmless paragon." She told them.


    They muttered in agreement. If she had not added harmless to qualify this paragon then none of them will agree with her. They might even think that she has lost her mind. They experienced what a paragon can do so there''s no way all of them can handle a paragon unless it is "harmless."


    She said to cheer them up, "How about this? If we survive this, Soverick is going to give every one of you kisses. I know some of you like him. You want to kiss his lips?"


    It made themugh. They don''t see Soverick kissing anyone. The image is just wrong. So theyughed. There are others that truly wish to kiss Soverick though. Those ones decided to fight better and survive. They might just get that kiss from him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    She nodded in satisfaction. "That''s the spirit. Now look alive and give them hell."


    She stood in front of her soldiers in preparation to join in battle with the vipers. Her heart will be thundering in her chest if she had a heart. She might even be crippled by fear despite what she said about the paragon being harmless. She didn''t lie about that. Soverick did say the attack buff paragon will be harmless. But harmless to Soverick might be dangerous to others.


    She has to fight despite her fears. They all have to do their part and their part is to reduce the connections avable to the paragons. Their part should be easy. The attack buff paragon is not fearsome individually so they should have a chance of sess.


    "Ranged attacks now." Shemanded with a shout."


    Spells flew from the battle sage monkeys and covered the Vipers. Their spells bombarded their enemies and created serious causalities. She smiled at the sight.


    "Again." She yelled.


    The results of their attack made her very happy so they repeated it over and over again. The battle sage monkeys bombarded them with spells and ranged weapons while the Vipers could only retaliate with physical ranged attacks.


    None of the Vipers can use spells. It is theplete opposite of the spell tower which was dishing it out like a one-man army. The vipers hadn''t bothered toprehend thews of this world because there was nopetition amongst them or impetus to do so. It is a massive oversight on their part. Now it ising back to bite them.


    "Withdraw with slow synchronized steps." She ordered them.


    The battle sage monkeys stepped back as one and continued to step back while constantly flinging spells at their enemies. The vipers continued to approach them despite the decimation being visited upon them before the two armies even met.


    A lesser army would have broken apart due to the massive disadvantage. But the Vipers didn''t lose morale. They are not a army so they don''t care about morale. They are selfish hunters who only care about how much prey they can kill. The death of the other paragons doesn''t discourage them, it only made them happy to losepetitors. Now, there will be more prey for them.


    So the Vipers continued to run forward eagerly and they are faster than usual thanks to the paragon empowering them. They are reducing the distance between the two armies so she ordered her side to step back so that they can continue to bombard the Vipers with spells for much longer.

 Chapter 760 Losing On All Fronts.

    "Payback does taste sweet." She muttered to herself just before she engaged in a physical confrontation with the Vipers.


    She can only dy the inevitable. The two armies crashed into each other eventually. The battle sage monkeys have already settled the score with their bombardment of spells. In fact, they have killed more of the Vipers than the spell tower killed of them.


    The two armies are more or less equal in number now. It doesn''t mean that the spell tower is weak. It is in fact, aplement that it took an army to match the damage that she did in about the same amount of time. It is a bigpliment indeed. The only people capable of outputting so much damage alone are her brothers.


    She wormed herself deep into the side of the Vipers. She is not a stranger to being cornered by enemies on every side. She has nothing to fear because she will survive as long as there is a path of survival. She followed that path of survival and her soldiers followed after her. It was easy to break into their formation because the Vipers didn''t have much of a formation. They are more of a loose band of hunters than an army.


    She finally began to wreak havoc on the Vipers after getting deep into their formation. Now she can let loose safely. The spell tower won''t be able to fire her spells indiscriminately anymore. The normal vipers are no match for her despite the buff they received from the attack paragon. Being Soverick''s Lieutenant has strengthened her to the Emperor level so she is much too strong for the normal vipers. She killed them and made her way toward the attack buff paragon.


    All themanders like her are aiming for this paragon too. That is their battle n. They intend to gang up on the "harmless" paragon and eliminate it. They also have to do it quickly before it is toote. If what Soverick told them about the attack paragon is true, then he has to be eliminated before its full poweres to bear.


    The attack buff didn''t join the battle. It stayed at the back of the army while overseeing the battle happening below it. It still has its arms folded but it is frowning heavily right now. The situation on the side of the furries'' g is making it frown. The situation of the battle is also aggravating it making it frown heavily.


    "This is not going anything like what I thought it would go like." Itined with some fear.


    This paragon expected resistance. They all expected resistance. There''s no way an equal amount of furries with the same level of strength as them won''t give them some resistance. But they also expected victory and they expected the victory to be swift and easy. They were supposed to overwhelm the furries. It is not baseless confidence either. It is because they have paragons and 9 of them too.


    They came into this battle with confidence and it is not because they are blind fools. They may be proud because of being paragons but having that poweres with struggling and a lot of suffering. The existence of Paragons in the society of Vipers United them but it''s like every society, there is always division, strife, andpetition.


    All strife falls on the shoulders of paragons since the lives of each and every one of their normal Vipers is too precious to lose. That means being a Viper is to put your life in danger for the lives of the group of people that are connected to you.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Paragons need connections. They need people to follow them so that they can be empowered. This very need creates conflict among Paragons. They kill each other to take the connections of their foe. Theirpetition weeds out the weak paragons and strengthens the strong ones.


    So being a paragon has not been all rainbows and sunrises. They are all battle-hardened and have faced their fair share of danger multiple times over. It is their experience that gave them the confidence that they will beat the furries. After all, the furries have no paragons.


    But things are not going at all as they thought. They are not on their way to victory. They are not even close to victory. Losing is a more reliable prediction of their fate with the way things are going. For starters, their paragons suffered and are still suffering at the hands of the champion of the furries. That''s when things started to go wrong.


    They took the champion of the furies seriously because all paragons fear their own child of the ne more than they fear another paragon. Unfortunately, that wasn''t good enough. They never stood a chance. All their caution was for naught.


    Three paragons are dead, three are being toyed with while the rest are helpless to help because the furries are not easy prey as they thought. He is being targeted by some normal but powerful furries while the paragons defending their g are being attacked too. So the Vipers are being pressured from all sides.


    There are three points of conflict in this battle. There is the location of the furries'' g. They are losing that without a doubt. There''s the battlefront where he is right now and they might lose it. The defenders at his back are also struggling with defending the g of the Vipers. So no, things are not going at all as he thought. It is more urate to say that things are going downhill.


    "What do I do?" He asked himself and the others anxiously.


    He had to ask for directions because he doesn''t know what to do. If he is honest with himself, then he will admit that the sight of Salvini is scaring him. She is the closest one to him among all themandersing for him. She is more than a kilometre away but he doesn''t want her toe any closer to him.


    A kilometer is much too close for hisfort because he can see how easily she is dispatching every Viper thates her way. They are like children before her spear. Those normal Vipers are stronger than him so he will not fare much better at her hands.

 Chapter 761 The Attack Buff.

    Salvini has the same color of fur as the furries back in his ne but she is very different from them. She is fearsome and powerful. It is a very odd sight to see in a furry. He is not afraid of her because of how fearsome she looks. He is afraid of her because she is actually fearsome. Terrifying even.


    Her power will mean nothing to him if he were powerful himself. It is just that he is not powerful. He is not meant to be a Frontline fighter. He is more of amander. He doesn''t get any personal boost or empowerment from the connections he has so his personal strength is not greater than that of a normal Viper. His strengthy in what he does for others. He makes those connected to him stronger the more they die.


    "At this rate, the most influential paragon will die the most shameful death." He said to himself. "I will be mocked forever."


    The attack buff is a type of paragon that forms a connection with an army. These connections remain even after the death of the soldiers in the army. It remains in the form of power that is shared equally among the remaining soldiers. This power then gives every soldier a boost to their strength.


    So the strength of an army is kept constant regardless of their numbers. The more soldiers you kill, the stronger the remaining soldiers get until thest few soldiers still alive gain the strength of paragons themselves. This ability has made the attack buff the most influential paragon in their ne. But now, he is going to be killed by a normal furry and not the champion of the furries.


    Attack buff paragons evolved from the original immortal power divine ability because of the need for a powerful army. Conflict amongst vipers is limited to paragons but invaders don''t respect their rules. Invaders and enemy races will kill normal vipers without care. In fact, normal vipers are targeted in order to weaken paragons.


    Paragons might be strong but they are few in number and can''t be everywhere at once. Attack buff paragons turn normal vipers into threats on the level of paragons. So the weakness of the Vipers is turned into their strength but in exchange, the attack buff paragon itself remains weak.


    The attack buff paragon makes killing normal Vipers to weaken the paragons a foolish tactic.


    They just need a lot of death among those that are connected to the attack buff paragon to strengthen the remaining of them. That''s how his boost works. But that won''t happen if the attack buff paragon dies early on. In fact, his boosts will disappear if he dies.


    That''s why he doesn''t fight at all and is always protected by normal vipers. But he doesn''t have any confidence in his troops to protect him against the fearsome furry that ising straight towards him. She and the other furries have somehow identified him as the major threat and areing directly to kill him early before the army of Vipers gets too strong.


    "It is almost like she knows what I can do." He said with suspicion.


    Most enemies will target the other more powerful paragons or the soldiers. No one will put the harmless paragon in their sight especially since he is at the very back of the army. They will have to go through the entire army to get to him. Most people will rather focus on killing the normal vipers surrounding them to weaken the paragons. But the fearsome furry ising straight for him. It can''t be a coincidence at all. He won''t believe it to be a coincidence.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    At The Location Of The g Of The Vipers.


    Soverick nned out three prongs of conflicts by introducing the g. The Vipers just can''t attack them for the g of the battle sage monkeys, the battle sage monkeys should also attack the Vipers for their g. Just as the addition of the gs provide an easier way for the Vipers to win so does it for battle sage monkeys to win.


    The entire battle will end in favor of either side that is able to get the opponent''s g. It would have been an easy victory too had the Vipers neglected to protect their own g. But they had the good sense to leave some paragons behind to defend their g. Three battle sage monkeys were selected to acquire the Viper''s g. The three of them stood some distance from the ck g and spoke among each other.


    "So we just attack again and again. That''s what Soverick said we should do." Salvin said to the other two.


    Ghasterined. "I don''t like this one bit. The others are fighting but we are here wasting away our strength."


    Salvin''s exnation of what they should do didn''t make him happy despite him knowing it to be true.


    Salvos shrugged. "I don''t mind. At least I can go all out right now."


    The three of them didn''t join in the fighting taking ce in the middle of the arena. They rushed here to grab the g just like they nned. Salvos wasn''t allowed to attack so he has not been able to let loose. His attack is indiscriminate. It doesn''t care for foes or allies so he can''t use it anyhow. His attack is also powerful but not powerful enough to be a threat to the paragons.


    He can''t use his attack before the two armies join in battle because he will draw the attention of the paragons and be swiftly eliminated. The paragons are too strong for them to be injured by his fire attacks. The threads in their body will resist the incursion of thew of fire. Using his attack will draw their attention instead. And they will prioritize eliminating him first before they go for the white g.


    Besides his safety, he can''t use attacks that will kill too many normal Vipers until the attack buff Paragon has been eliminated. That''s the same reason why Salvin was asked toe here. Anyone that can deal a great deal of damage quickly to the Vipers will be a boon to the attack buff paragon.

 Chapter 762 The Defense Paragon.

    If Salvos and Salvin were allowed to go all out in killing the normal Vipers, then they would have created more paragons that they can''t fight. Soverick would be the one to deal with more paragons on his hands. So rather than take on more problems, Soverick sent them here where their damage output will be put to better use.


    Ghaster apanied them to provide quick help or response since he is faster than the two of them. But he is not happy about it. Salvin on the other is quite happy about the arrangement. Soverick imed that they will have their use here so he is eager to let loose.


    The three of them made it here without any problems. They have emperor crowns and they have very strong divine abilities. The army of Vipers couldn''t stop them. It was until they got here that they encountered a problem. This problem made them stop in their tracks. They are waiting for Salvin to create more and more of his phantom weapons so that they can begin their attack. He couldn''t create them before or he will draw attention to himself. The sky above them became filled with thousands of phantom weapons as they waited.


    "Let''s start now. The sooner we can begin the better. I can always create more phantom weapons." Salvin said.


    Salvos spoke, "So we go ording to the n. I attack and Salvin attacks in the intervals in between my attacks. Ghaster will watch our surroundings and make sure that we are not ambushed."


    Ghaster kicked the ground in frustration but he agreed. "I''ll do my job. It is boring but I''ll do it."


    Salvos nodded then he said, "Make sure to stand back. I am about to start."


    The other two got behind him as he faced the contingent of Vipers surrounding the g. There are about 100,000 vipers guarding the g and there are two paragons with them. One of the paragons is the problem that made them stop. With her here, they can''t go any further.


    The problematic paragon stood in front of the Vipers and directly opposite Salvos. She watched as Salvos''s eyelids began to lift, then the world before her disappeared. She stepped back and raised her four arms instinctively.


    Fire swarmed the space between them. It overwhelmed the world and threatened to drown out all the Vipers but it stopped right in front of the paragon. A barrier suddenly appeared in front of her. It protected the paragon and all the vipers behind her. The barrier formed a separation that the fire couldn''t breach. It is as thick as a wall and transparent like ss.


    The barrier was already there before the attack. It was what stopped the three furries from going any further. But she had to ensure that it was still there when that attack hit. Her quick reaction ensured that she was ready to reinforce the barrier because its initial strength is definitely not enough to stop the bombardment of fire.


    "This is impressive." She observed from her position behind the barrier.


    She has never seen anything like it. The fire attacked every point of the barrier. The barrier is so wide that it separates the portion of the arena from the rest but the attack could get to the majority of it. All she can see beyond the barrier is fire. It caused her to marvel.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Her awe turned into slight fear when her barrier began to crack. It was being pressured from most of its surface and the stress is getting too much for it.


    "I need more power." She shouted to the immortal link through their mind link.


    The immortal link is the other paragon with her. He is standing some distance behind her but she doesn''t dare to take her attention away from the struggle she is facing to speak with him. So she shouted telepathically.


    "I know." The immortal link answered without taking his head out of his hands. "We are at our limit. I''ll try my best though. Doltosi and Xenden will have to experience some pain for a while."


    They are at their limit of resources. It is taking all they have to hold Soverick back from killing more paragons. The fight at the battlefront is reducing their resources fast and Salvos'' attack is demanding more of what they don''t have. So the immortal link withdrew some threads from the two brutes to reinforce the defense paragon.


    The immortal link cursed in agitation, "That cursed champion. He is too strong."


    The defense paragon said through her intense focus, "I know right? I have always wanted to see how strong our child of the ne was for myself. Now I am not so sure that is a good idea."


    The immortal link winced when it noticed that Soverick''s de had cut arge groove into the white-scaled brute. He muttered in pity, "Poor Xenden."


    Then he winced when his concentration almost slipped because of mental fatigue. "Poor me." He said in pity as pain rankled his mind.


    The defense of the two brutes was weakened a little but even that is enough for the champion of the furries to start to injure them again. He is like the death reaper constantly knocking at the door and looking for any weakness to break into the house. A small crack in the wall can be quickly expanded and turned into a new door if care is not taken.


    If a crack appears, it is sure that the champion of the furries will take advantage of it. That much is certain. He will always find it and use it. It is the immortal link''s job to shift the position of the cracks so that Soverick will have to start all over again with taking advantage of the cracks.


    The immortal link is doing a fantastic job of it but the champion is too fast. He will find the new crack and switch to it without missing a beat. This means the immortal link has to switch the threads around as fast as possible to keep up with Soverick. All the switching is causing his head to hurt.

 Chapter 763 Scatter Or Not.

    This battle is giving the immortal link a massive headache that is threatening to split its head open. The champion of the furries can''t affect him directly but the indirect consequences of interfering in the fight against the champion are already almost too much for him to bear. He held his head in his hands while he assessed the situation through his link to the other paragons.


    The defense paragon strengthened her barrier and was able to hold on for the duration of the attack. The pressure of thew of fire pressed on her defenses for 10 seconds before it stopped. Then a swarm of phantom weapons began striking the barrier. They hit the barrier as fast as possible like thousands of very angry people knocking on a door for it to be opened. She could handle it fine but the problem is that the amount of phantoms was increasing.


    Salvin''s attacks created a steady pressure that increased slowly. Then Salvos'' attack came suddenly again. It hit her mind like a sudden unforeseen punch. She almost cked out. This time she stumbled despite being prepared.


    "More power." She yelled at the immortal link again.


    Their situation has be more desperate than what it was 10 seconds ago when she asked for more power but he had to fulfill her request. The alternative is much worse. So the immortal link weakened the brutes a little more and even took some from the spell tower since she is essentially useless right now. He gave the defense paragon more power to tide them through.


    The situation didn''t improve. They would have been okay with a stalemate but It continued to get worse. The alternative attacks of steadily increasing pressure and a sudden blow to the mind are putting a strain on the defense paragon. It would have been a strain that she is more than capable of withstanding were it not for the focus of most of their connections to defend against Soverick.


    They are being pressured on all sides. Something has to change. They can''t continue like this or they will experience defeat. The immortal link and the rest conversed anxiously amongst themselves.


    The attack buff paragon asked himself and the others anxiously, "What do I do?"


    This was when Salvini got within 1 kilometer of him. He was the one that initiated the conversation for a change in the course of action and he did it because of fear. They haven''t been trying to work together ever since the immortal power was eliminated. The loss of the paragon that can somewhat control them dissolved any corporation between them. But that has changed now that they are desperate.


    The attack buff told them of his predicament, "I doubt I can hold on for much longer. I will have to retreat at some point but there are furries behind me too."


    He is truly in a predicament. In front of him his Salvini and the othermanders. Behind him are Salvos, Salvin, and Ghaster. He is about to be checkmated.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The spell tower offered, "The best we can do right now is form up and concentrate our power in one ce. We will be able to protect you that way. Surely the champion of the furries won''t be able to handle every one of us."


    If theye together then they will be able to utilize their powers. The brutes and the defense paragon will be able to preupy the champion of the furries enough for her to get space to utilize her spells. Things will change for them once she is able to set up her spell matrixes. That''s what she thinks will help them turn the tables.


    The immortal link disagreed, "What if we scatter? Their champion will have toe looking for each of us at that point. As long as I am safe behind the barrier then I can empower just one of you each time he fights you. We will be able to use just one paragon to dy him while the rest of you can eliminate the other furries around and limit the reduction of our connections."


    The two ideas have merits which they discussed to a great length but they are more inclined towards the idea of the immortal link. His idea is sound and will invalidate Soverick''s n to bunch them up. They are also more inclined to listen to him because the position of leadership has fallen to the immortal link. He is the glue that is literally holding them together. But there is another reason why they will listen to him rather than another paragon.


    In the absence of an immortal power, the immortal link is next on thedder of honor. In fact, immortal links are very much appreciated more than immortal powers. Their ability is rarest and they don''t fight with other paragons for connections at all. Connections don''t boost them at all so they don''t benefits from it.


    In fact, they are weed by other paragons and used as the focal point for alliances among Paragons. It is because their divine ability only benefits other Paragons. Their divine ability don''t empower them, so immortal links don''t fight for connections and are not killed for their usefulness to the entire race.


    Child of the ne across generations have also loved immortal links. To kill an immortal link is not only to offend all the Paragons that the immortal link is allied with, but it is to also offend the child of the ne.


    But even so, they were undecided on what to do. The spell tower was insistent on them bunching up so that she can be protected. She needs that protection to bring out her full power in a short amount of time. She really wants to bombard the champion of the furries and show everyone in the ne her greatness. So she continued to argue with them about what to do.


    Their decision was made for them when the attack buff said hisst words to them. "This is it for me. I wish you all good luck."

 Chapter 764 Lets End This.

    Salvini got to the attack buff. Then his link was severed and so were the connections he had with the army of Vipers. His death had a great impact on the Vipers for several reasons. For one, a paragon was killed by someone other than the champion of the furries. It''s like a paragon being killed by a normal Viper. It brought low the prestige of the paragons. His death reduced the morale of their soldiers since they saw it happen. It happened right in the midst of them too.


    His death also weakened them physically. They lost the empowerment that they had and became easy prey to the battle sage monkeys. Without the attack paragon around, Salvini and the other paragons can now unleash spells and wanton destruction on the Vipers without any worries. Things have officially be very bad for the Vipers.


    "Let''s scatter." The immortal link said with finality.


    The spell tower agreed reluctantly, "Fine."


    Back To Soverick.


    Soverick kept all three of them together. He ran up to the spell tower and kicked her. Her barriers protected her but that didn''t stop her from being tossed towards the brutes. He would kick them or use his attacks to keep them together anytime the distance between them increased. That made them close together so he could run around them and attack them from every side.


    This process continued without a problem. They were trying to fight and resist him so they never bothered with themselves being so close together. Being close wasn''t a problem for them when they had the problem of surviving Soverick on their mind. But things changed when they decided to split up. They stopped trying to fight him and decided to run in different directions.


    Soverick narrowed his eyes at the change. ''It seems they are nning something.''


    The brutes stopped trying to fight back and the spell tower stopped trying to make more spell matrixes. The difficulty of keeping them together increased with them actively trying to get away from him. He doesn''t know what went on in their links or what they spoke about but he knows that the attack buff just died. If he were the one on the losing side, he would do something to change the situation too.


    "It seems you''re desperate to go. Well too bad. You''re going nowhere." He mocked them then he activated his nullification field.


    Their environment ground to a halt. The small typhoon that he created as he circled them froze and disappeared. Momentum ceased and motion stopped. Everything was supposed to stop. It didn''t. The paragons spread their domain and broke his nullification field. His nullification field shattered and motion resumed.


    The paragons are too powerful to be constrained by him. Their connections will always feed them momentum even if he cuts them off from the momentum in the environment. Unless he can stop all the Vipers in this arena, he can''t stop the Paragons.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Fine. Let''s end this." He gazed at them and said, "WRAITH OF DEATH: ECHOES OF THE PAST."


    The nullification field was broken but it made them pause for a split second. It did its job and that''s enough for him. He has had enough of their fight. So he decided to end it now. He activated one of the moves of his skill set on them.


    He used that split second to make his four eyes fuse into one. Then he used the ECHOES OF THE PAST. The three of them were bunched up close together so the violet light that emanated from his single eye covered all three of them.


    Timetched on to the three paragons and they began to peel open. All the injuries that they have suffered recently suddenly appeared. Every bruise and every cut, every painful blow and every blow that they shrugged off all returned instantly.


    Every injury that they suffered and healed from recently appeared together at the same time. The injuries bypassed their defense because they already suffered it. They might have forgotten about those injuries but they left their marks in time. He simply dragged them from the past to the present. The past was made to echo in the present and determine their future.


    It was too much for the paragons. The brutes screamed as their skin unfurled and wilted like the petals of a flower under a very hot sun in the dry season. All the little and big damages that he did to them may have looked like a waste of time when he was doing them. But together and all at once, they became fatal. The arena saved them before they turned into peeled and mashed-up tuber.


    As for the spell tower, she survived. He hasn''t managed to touch or harm her physically. The only thing he ever did to her is subject her body to intense and crippling gravity, tear her spell matrixes apart before they are formed, and break her barriers over and over again. He has done nothing to harm her life.


    So the damage he did to her now is mainly mental. All of that happened to her again and at once. Someone else will have had their mind blown, shattered, and scattered to the wind. But not her. She is a paragon after all. She is made of stronger stuff than that.


    The sudden injuries and pressure on her mind would have overloaded her consciousness and made it burst open like apromised dam but she survived. Her threads empower her mind and concentration so she was able to withstand the pain and the mental injuries. She came out of that move with a mild case of mental stun. In other words, she was just stunned. She will be able to recover soon.


    Soverick didn''t give her that chance. Being stunned made her barriers fall. She is unprotected for once. She is vulnerable and ripe for the taking. And he intends to take advantage of her. His single eye gleamed dangerously as he moved into action.

 Chapter 765 Progress For Legion.

    The spell tower didn''t respond to the shouts of the immortal link. Her senses and perception have been cut off. Silly her, she doesn''t know that this is not the time to be unaware of what''s going on around her. For the reaper hase calling and the door is wide open.


    He moved beside her in the blink of an eye and shed his de at her as fast as lightning. He put all the power he can summon in such a short amount of time into the attack.


    His crystal de shown brightly. Its brightness was a match for his glowing eyes filled with violent intent. He brought his de down to see destruction done and to see his enemy undone. He wants to see her existence unraveled and made bare before his very eyes. All his anger and frustration were poured as a torrent into his de to form this single deva attack.


    His de sang an eerie and mournful tune. It vibrated under the weight of world power that Soverick overloaded it with in reckless abandon. Then the sharp edge of the de howled like a tempest as it was brought down. There was an explosion even before the de touched the paragon. There was a lone barrier on her. It set off the unstable energy within the de.


    The resistance of the barrier was pitiful. It shattered like ss in the face of the thundering explosion. The de and the exploding power shredded through that barrier and sought to tear the spell tower apart. Her body would have been scattered into the wind in any other situation.


    She didn''t know what killed her. First, there was a mental blow. Then there was a physical blow that finally overwhelmed her consciousness. She passed away from the stun.


    He nodded and said, "Good riddance."


    He really is pissed with the Paragons. They are too strong. But he is also pleased with his performance. He is pleased that he could handle so many Paragons who are kings ofw just like him on his own.


    Legion-6 is supposed to be a paragon. Back when Gehaldirah acquired the body parts for the race that Legion-6 is to reincarnate into, he had to skulk around and avoid the Paragons of that race. Gehaldirah was afraid to draw their attention or ire. But now, he can hold his own against multiple paragons. It is an indication of the progress that Legion has undergone.


    "More is yet toe." He said to himself.


    Perfection is still a long way to go. For now, he will handle the obstacles toward that goal one at a time. At this moment, the Vipers are the obstacles to be ovee. They are standing in his way to victory. Victory means two requests from a world God, so they must be eliminated.


    He turned his eyes to the far side of the arena. Then he disappeared in the direction of the other g. A tempest followed behind him as he flew in the air. The air was wiped into a frenzy because of him. The tempest passed above the fighting on the battlefield where it stopped.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Soverick appeared above the fighting armies. The battle sage monkeys looked at him with wide eyes. They don''t know why he is here. He shouldn''t be here since he was supposed to be guarding their g. The Vipers didn''t know him so they kept fighting without paying much attention to him.


    "7," He said to all of them. "That''s the number of paragons that have been killed."


    Both the Vipers and the battle sage monkeys were very surprised at his deration. They can hardly believe their ears. The Vipers didn''t believe because of their respect for the paragons while the battle sage monkeys couldn''t believe it because of what they experienced at the hands of a paragon. The little they have experienced from them shows them to be worthy of the title of paragon.


    "Lies. You''re telling lies." Some of the Vipers mored. They refused to believe what he said.


    Soverick didn''t say anything to them. He continued with what he came here for.


    He sneered and said, "I am going now to kill the other 2. I want all the Vipers wiped out before I am done. We will wipe them out to thest man standing just like our ancestors did."


    He repeated himself, "Did you hear what I said? WIPE. THEM. OUT."


    Then he left. He left behind the echoes of his words. WIPE THEM OUT. His little speech had a visible effect on the battle. The battle sage monkeys became invigorated. They know Soverick and can count on him. If he said he killed all 6 of the paragons that tried to take their g that means he killed all 6 of them. Now he is saying with full confidence that he wants to kill the other two. It means that they have nothing to fear. Their morale rose and they fought with renewed vigor.


    The reaction of the Vipers was mixed. Some of them believed what he said and it had a negative impact on their already low morale. They already saw one of their paragons being killed and they are currently losing without a paragon in sight. If their paragons are still around, why are they not helping now that they are needed?


    Most of the Vipers didn''t believe what Soverick said. He is just a furry and he said he wants to kill a paragon. Some of them saw the attack paragon die but they also know that the attack buff is weak. Their other paragons are very strong. There is even an immortal power amongst them.


    How can those powerful paragons be killed by some furry? How can an immortal paragon be killed by something other than another immortal paragon? It is simply unbelievable that a furry can stand against an immortal power and survive, much less kill it. After all, the immortality of an immortal power ensures that they can''t be killed.

 Chapter 766 WIPE. THEM. OUT.

    The Vipers have faith in their paragons and will not believe otherwise unless they see the deaths of their paragons with their own eyes. So Soverick''s attempt to besmirch their paragons with lies only spurred them on. They became emboldened and they fought to wipe out the disrespect on their paragons.


    The battle raged harder than ever before. The battle sage monkeys were winning before but now they are winning faster. The morale of the staunch believers amongst the Vipers might have increased but it only made them more reckless. The Vipers were never an army so they can''t coordinate amongst themselves to fully utilize their numbers. Their defeat is inevitable now that their paragons are gone while themanders of the battle sage monkeys remain.


    Soverick soon arrived at the location of the g of the Vipers. He flew above the trio and observed their work.


    "So you killed 7 paragons? That must have been very cool." Ghaster said to him.


    His deration reached everywhere within the arena so these three heard it including the Vipers and their remaining paragons.


    He replied without looking at Ghaster. "I killed 6. Salvini killed the attack buff."


    His eyes remained focused on the shield. There is a cloud of phantom weapons numbering in the tens of thousands above them. The cloud will retreat for Salvos to turn everything in front of them into fire then the cloud of phantom weapons will return to attack the barrier. The area between them and the barrier has turned into ake of bubblingva. Even the air is simmering with heat.


    Ghaster grumbled "Salvini killed one? That sucks. I wanted to kill a paragon."


    "It was the weakest one." Salvin tried to appease him.


    Ghaster shook his head and said, "Still, a paragon is a paragon."


    Salvos interrupted them to give an update. "The barrier has gotten stronger. It is not even flinching anymore."


    "I know." Soverick replied, "But we don''t have to worry. The ball is in our court. They are the ones losing and will continue to lose if nothing changes. They will make a desperate move soon or we will win without any issue"


    His words assured them so they continued their routine. The barrier has gotten stronger. The death of 7 paragons has made it so that all the connections can now be concentrated on the defense buff. The barrier is the product of all the connections avable to them right now. He can see it fluctuating at a rate close to 2 million oscitions per second. That tells him there are still about 2 million vipers alive. That number is constantly reducing and reducing fast. Soon it will fall so low that there will only be 100 thousand Vipers left. They will be the ones behind the barrier.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He could try to brute force the barrier and break it but there is no need to do it. He has all the time in the world and can afford to wait. The same cannot be said about the remaining paragons. The sight of Soverick scared the hell out of them.


    "He is here. Their champion is here." The defense buff said anxiously.


    "I can see that. I am not blind." The immortal link replied with slight irritation.


    He is not blind. He only has a mild case of headache. His headache has reduced since Soverick killed the recent 3 Paragons. Even when things were heated and his headache was very bad, he was not blind. So he can see that the furry that killed 3 Paragons in one second is finally at their doorstep.


    She ignored his irritated tone and said urgently to him. "It seems you have to make that move."


    The immortal link sighed. He is reluctant to go that far but he has to agree with her. They have been pushed against the wall so to say. He doesn''t like to do what he is about to do but he has no other choice. He knows what their fate will be if he doesn''t make the move.


    "Fine. But there is no turning back." He warned her.


    She turned back to face him. Then she said with determination, "Do it.


    The immortal link did what must be done without hesitation. He stabbed his hand into her chest. His hand prated her rib cage. Then he flooded her body with his energy. She allowed it to happen without retaliating. She didn''t resist at all. Her eyes remained cold with determination as his energy reached critical levels. Then she was saved by the ne from suffering further damage to her consciousness. She disappeared from the world fragment.


    The death of thest paragon connected to the immortal link made all the connections in the arenatch on to him. He is not supposed to be connected to the normal vipers directly. He is a heart for other paragons not a heart for normal vipers so the connections fell into him and pulled on any link he has with any other paragons. His ability to create links was further empowered to create an active link with someone that he is vaguely connected to.


    The immortal link seeded in making that active connection, then he pulled that paragon towards him. The arena cut off this world from the rest of the void universe but this seclusion couldn''t stop the immortal link from summoning the most powerful immortal power of this generation just like it couldn''t stop Soverick from linking with the people in the ne through his title.


    A child of the ne is always connected to everyone that was born within the ne. That is so no matter the distance or barrier. Which means the immortal link is connected to the child of the ne. This connection is tenuous at best. It is but a single thread that connects them and the connection is passive. So the immortal link eliminated all the other connections it has to pull on that single connection. He called for help from his child of the ne.

 Chapter 767 The Full Immortal Power Divine Ability.

    A figure appeared above the immortal link. It is a phantom figure with a grey outline but it is undoubtedly a Viper. It is also a Viper Paragon because it has ten arms. The Phantom Viper enveloped the immortal link and continued to expand. It grewrger andrger.


    The Phantom Viper towered above everything in size after it has finished growing. Paragons arerge but the ones they have been fighting are kings ofw at best. This being is a Sovereign ofw and it has the size to show for it. It is standing 10 meters tall from the base to the top of its head. That is twice the height of a paragon. It must be longer than that since the tail has not been factored into its height.


    Another peculiar difference between it and the other paragons is the white crown on its head. It is more of a crest made of scales so it is part of its body instead of an external item for adornment. Its scales would have been white were it not for its phantom state making it grey.


    The body of the immortal link can be seen within the giant phantom. The immortal link is unconscious. It is the child of the ne that is in control and it seems to have a problem with them. The child of the ne of the Vipers hissed loudly as it looked at them. It was a hiss of challenge.


    Soverick smirked and said to Ghaster, "You said you wanted to kill a paragon. Here is one. Have at it."


    Ghaster gulped. He gulped because he felt fear despite being giddy with excitement. He is ready to dash forward at any moment but his fear is holding him back. It is not cowardice but the instinct of self-preservation. Something is gnawing at the back of his mind warning him not to take this lightly. So he decided to think before he acted.


    Unfortunately for him, he doesn''t have time to think. Enemies rarely give one time to think and n. One must always react. In this case, it was his allies that acted before him. Salvos opened his eyes and heralded theing of hell. The barrier had fallen with the death of the defense paragon. That left nothing to stop the avnche of fire that fell on the vipers and their child of the ne.


    "Hey," Ghasterined. "No fair. I wanted to kill it."


    Salvos shrugged. He attacked and he is not remorseful of it. He would do it again if he could.


    Salvin shook his head with regret. "I was toote."


    That made Ghaster re at him too. It seems everyone wanted to get a bite of his prize so that he will have none.


    "No need to bicker. It is not dead." Soverick told them.


    The torrent of fire ended to reveal the result of that attack. The vipers were unscathed. Not one has died or been injured. Theke of fire has extended a few meters forward because of the dy in deploying the barrier but they are all safe. The child of the ne seeded in protecting all of them by deploying the defense barrier just in time. One of its phantom wed hands is supporting that barrier now like a shield.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "My turn," Salvin said before making his phantom weapons attack.


    "No way. He is mine, " Ghaster cried and turned into a lightning bolt.


    The two of them attacked the child of the ne. They could work together without impeding each other so they went for it. Soverick chose to watch.


    "How did it block my attack?" Salvos asked dejectedly.


    He has not been able to let loose in this challenge. He couldn''t attack randomly, but his attacks have always been blocked when he does attack. He thought he would finally do a great deal of damage when the barrier disappeared but another one appeared.


    "It is what it is. An immortal power can do everything the other paragons can do if not better once they achieve the third awakening at the titan ofw stage. That''s why it could block your attack."


    The divine ability of Immortal power is the original divine ability of the Vipers. It is actually overpowered. The original divine ability of the battle sages has almost disappeared because of its difficulty but the original divine ability of the Vipers is still relevant and even popr despite the difficulty of progressing with it.


    Even the tradition of selecting a new child of the ne has not reduced the number of Vipers that want to be immortal powers. Only one immortal power between the stages of Sovereign and titan ofw will remain alive on the ne after the battle royale between them. And yet, more people wish to remain as immortal powers when they be titans ofw.


    It is all because the divine ability of the immortal power is so powerful. First, they get normal empowerment that every type of paragon gets, then they get immortality which is unique to them. As if that isn''t enough, an immortal power can do everything the other paragons can do apart from that of the immortal link once they be titans ofw. The power and versatility of the divine ability are only tempered by the fact that it cannot do the things it does as well as the other paragons.


    A brute will be able to get a higher return on defense and strength per connection than an immortal power. That is, a brute will be stronger and more durable than an immortal power with the same amount of connections. But the brute will only be able to gain strength and defense empowerment from the connections.


    Besides that, no paragon can match the child of the ne because the will of the ne has given it all the connections avable in the ne. With every connection in the ne at their disposal, the child of the ne has enough quantity to be able to outmatch any quality.


    No brute can match a child of the ne in strength and defense because it won''t have enough connections to empower it to the level of the child of the ne.

 Chapter 768 Big Words From A Loser.

    The summoned Phantom Viper can utilize all the abilities that the paragons used. Salvos''s divine ability didn''t work on the defense paragon so it won''t work on this phantom. That doesn''t mean that Salvos is weak. He would have been able to fight the other paragons and kill them, especially the speedsters and the spell tower but the brutes and defense paragon would have shrugged off his attack.


    "Is that really a good idea to leave them to attack it," Salvos asked. "It seems very dangerous."


    Soverick shrugged. "We can afford to y around a little. The child of the ne has not changed anything. We are still killing the Vipers. They have only gotten a fighting chance. We will still win when it has been weakened enough. So let them y."


    The child of the ne is not really here. It is just a phantom with a portion of the strength of the child of the ne. The child of the ne is not supposed to be here so it is being anchored here with the avable connections present in the arena. It will disappear when all of its connections here have been cut off.


    That''s why it created that barrier to protect the Vipers by its side from death. It needs them to be here. Its presence has only granted the Vipers an immortal paragon that is also capable of attacking since all of their strong attackers have died.


    The two of them watched Salvin and Ghaster attack the child of the ne. It stepped out from among the Vipers to fight them. It also kept a barrier in front of the Vipers to protect them. It is actively protecting the remaining Vipers and it is also fighting Ghaster and fending off the thousands of phantom weapons.


    Salvin and Ghaster attacked with everything that they have but theirbined effort is not enough to defeat it. It could create barriers to protect itself from the phantom weapons. The barriers are very thick and are as multyered as the barrier of the spell tower. But it didn''t need to do that.


    Its numerous arms moved as fast as a speedster''s and are strong as brutes such that they destroyed the phantom weapons with a single hit. The ones that couldn''t be destroyed can''t get past the defense of his body either. It also used tens of spell matrixes to distract and hamper Ghaster.


    If not for the child of the ne having to do a lot at once then it would have eliminated Ghaster already. Even then Ghaster is struggling. His speed is not doing him any favors right now. He is barely managing to keep up with the phantom Viper and all his effort is spent on evading the spells. He has not been able tond a single attack with the heavy-looking hammer he is carrying about.


    Ghaster grew frustrated the longer the fight went without him making any useful hits. He took a risk to get near the phantom. He thought he dodged a spell sessfully as he approached from behind the phantom Vipers, but he didn''t see the tail thatshed out and whipped him.


    His instincts saved him at thest moment. He is not familiar with fighting with a Viper but his bloodline is so he managed to dodge the tail. But he couldn''t dodge the backhand that the phantom viper sent his way. He was mmed away with a single smack. The arm was too fast to dodge and also too strong to block.


    The phantom Viper capitalized on the weakness of his situation. It turned most of its attention towards Ghaster''s flying figure and punched out at him with two of its hands. Ghaster would have been turned into pulp were it not for Salvin''s timely interference.


    The phantom weapons increased their attacks on the barrier protecting the Vipers and sought to capitalize on the phantom''s distraction. The phantom Viper had to divert more of its connection from speed and strength boosts to maintain the barrier. Even then, one of the fists of the phantom Viper struck Ghaster in the head and catapulted him across the sky. Hended face-first on the ground. He stood back up groggily and hefted his lightning hammer despite the dent in the side of his head.


    He yelled at the phantom, "You will pay for that."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Then he rushed back to the fight. Soverick and Salvos entertained themselves with the fight. Their serene observation was disturbed when Salvini arrived.


    She rushed towards them shouting, "Give him to me."


    "Can I fight him too?" She asked when she got to them.


    "It is all yours," Soverick told her.


    "Yippee." She eximed in joy and joined the fight.


    The tune of the fight changed immediately. The fight turned from the harmless harassing of the phantom Viper into a bothersome harassing. They are still outmatched by the phantom Viper but now they are bothering it. It has 10 arms but that isn''t enough anymore to easily fend off its assants.


    "Will you note and fight me yourself? Are you so cowardly?" The phantom Viper bellowed at him.


    "Come at me then." Soverick beckoned to him with his hands.


    He has all the time in the world. It is the phantom Viper that is desperate. If it is so desperate, then he shoulde and fight him. As for him, he will not go and fight a needless fight no matter how many taunts are thrown his way. It is especially so since he can''t end the fight at once. He still remembers clearly what happened to him thest time he used WORLD BREAKER on a brute. He is not going to repeat that now.


    He is not particrly interested in having another brawl with what is essentially a super brute. The normal brutes were already tough to deal with. So he won''t let himself be talked into a fight.


    It spat angrily at him. "Coward."


    Soverick rolled his eyes. "Pretty big words from a loser." He mocked.

 Chapter 769 Victory In The Fourth Challenge.

    The phantom viper wants to fight Soverick. Soverick is the champion of the furry just as it is the champion of the Vipers. If it wins the fight, then it will be able to regain some of the honor that the Paragons lost. But it also has to protect the other Vipers. Because if it doesn''t, they will die and the Vipers will surely lose this battle. That will be bad no matter how much honor it manages to regain.


    The Phantom Viper is able to maintain the defensive barrier that protects the normal Vipers but it has to be close to them for the barrier to remain standing. The barrier he created surrounds the 100,000 vipers in a dome instead of separating them from the arena entirely like the defense paragon did. It is to conserve power.


    The barrier configuration also allows the Vipers to move with it but someone has to protect their g. They can''t touch their own g or carry it about so trying to do anything else other than defending the g and the vipers will force it to make a mistake.


    ''What a pitiful child of the ne.'' Soverickmented on behalf of the phantom Viper.


    The child of the ne of the Vipers is very talented. It is Immortal and it has various abilities. In any other situation, all of the little things disturbing it would have been killed without any issue. Unfortunately for it, it is in a very sticky situation of not having enough resources.


    It has to do a lot of things at once. It may have all the avable connections to do them seperately, but it has to do them at once since it is the only paragon left. It has to divide the resources it has for defense, strength, speed, barrier, and perception. So it is spreading itself thin between all the needs and things that need its attention.


    The major problem that the child of the ne is having is the need to protect the Vipers around the g. If it discards them, then it will be able to go on a rampage with the little resources that it has. But it will also lose its immortality if those Vipers die.


    As it is right now, it is weakening because of the death of the other Vipers on the battlefield. The good news is that it will remain immortal as long as there are still some Vipers around. So it decided to handicap itself in favor of immortality. It will remain immortal as long as those 100,000 normal Vipers are alive.


    That''s another reason why Soverick didn''t bother to fight it. He would have preferred for the phantom Viper to go on a rampage. Then he will have a chance of killing it. He can''t kill it right now because it has immortality. Whenbined with the defense of a brute, it means he will have to work hard to kill it and his hard work will go to waste because it will resurrect.


    Even if he manages to kill the Phantom Viper, he will have to do so at least 100,000 times before he can finally im victory. It is for that very reason that the Phantom Viper prioritized its defense and the protection of the source of its immortality. As long as it has the 100,000 vipers and the g, then the fight will never end.


    Unfortunately, you can''t eat your cake and have it. The phantom Viper can''t do everything despite its ability to. It doesn''t have the luxury and the resources to. It has weakened itself by ensuring the protection of the 100,000 vipers. So Soverick let others fight it to the death while focusing on getting as muchw of order from the two world gods as he can take.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    More people soon joined them. They were trickling in after eliminating all the Vipers avable to them. Soverick let all themanders join in the fight. The phantom Viper had weakened enough to be handled by Ghaster alone so it was just being bullied by everyone. Still, it refused to give up. They killed it over and over again because it resurrected every time.


    It became a grind. They will kill the phantom Viper but it will heal before it is expelled at the cost of the life of a normal Viper. It will need to be killed 100,000 times before it dies. Soverick decided to put an end to it when the phantom viper became weak enough.


    "Everyone should withdraw in the next 10 seconds. If you don''t then be prepared to die with the phantom."


    He ordered them to withdraw so they did very quickly. Everyone left the phantom Viper alone. It stood much shorter than it used to be in front of the barrier.


    The phantom Viper sneered at him, "Are you ready to face me now? What a coward. It is shameful of a champion such as you to wait until I have been weakened so."


    Soverick didn''t reply. He said to Salvos. "Fire in the hole."


    Salvos assented and brought the mes. The barrier has been weakened far too much to withstand his attack. It shattered and fell to let fire ravage the charges that it was supposed to protect. All the normal vipers were killed so the phantom lost its anchor to the arena. It disappeared and the Immortal link followed after it. There was nothing left except the ck g when Salvos'' attack ended.


    Soverick said to them "We won."


    The battle sage monkeys roared in excitement, "We won."


    They cheered and whistled and shouted and celebrated. They have won the battle. It is a source of joy. They didn''t need to take the gs of the Vipers. They killed all of them down to the veryst just like their ancestors did. Soverick smiled a little. He is also happy that they won. He gets two wishes from the sage for their victory. He can''t wait to cash it in.

 Chapter 770 The Walk Of Shame.

    The spirit of joy and celebration of the battle sage monkeys was not shared by their opponents. The Vipers experienced the opposite. The people of the Virut ne danced and celebrated after watching the epic fights and the victory of the battle sage monkeys. It is a joyous event for them. They mored to see more of such events.


    As for the people on the Viper''s ne, the epic fights didn''t improve their mood. They can''t be happy because their paragons took a lot of beating in those epic fights. Then the battle ended with a shameful bullying of their child of the ne and the eventual defeat of the Vipers caused by a single blow from a furry. It is a battle that they don''t want a repeat of so no one was moring for more.


    Those who died in the fourth challenge were healed and returned to their ne. The first person to die on the side of the Vipers was not a normal Viper. It was a paragon. A lot of people have died before the death of this paragon but they were furries so they don''t matter. What matters is that a paragon died before a normal Viper.


    Vitain the speedster was the first Viper to be killed and he was teleported to the pir he entered from. It just so happens that all the paragons entered through the same pir and this pir is in the presence of the child of the ne and other dignitaries of the ne.


    So Vitain the speedster, a very fast Viper, died very quickly as if death was a race that he wanted to finish at the top. He found himself beneath the very angry stares of the child of the ne and numerous powerful entities the weakest of which are titans ofw.


    The hall they are all in is the court of the emperor. It is the seat of power of the entire ne. The child of the ne controls the court of the emperor. All of these people came to watch thepetition here. None of them knew what it was meant for. They were all told that it was a training exercise. They came to while away their time and maybe enjoy themselves.


    They didn''t think it was important at all. Only the insistence of the serpentine world god to select the best paragons of specific divine abilities between the rank of transcendence and king ofw made them take thepetition seriously. So there was already apetition in the ne to select the paragons that will participate in the training exercise.


    None of them had any inkling of what was toe. So they had to be coerced intoing here to view thepetition. Many of them hadined about it but they couldn''t refuse a world god. They came but they all thought it was a waste of their time. Their thoughts about thepetition changed when they saw who the Vipers were to fight. It was then that they realized why it was a training exercise.


    They thought the serpentine world god was trying to prepare them for the era of conquest and what was toe when they will have to fight numerous other races. That is an important reason for a training exercise but none of them took it seriously though. After all, the opponents are to be furries. Theyughed and smiled when they saw how easily the paragons tore through the army of furries to get to their g. Their smiles froze on their face when the two speedsters were manhandled likemon riffraff.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The frozen smiles on their face died down to be reced by a grim look when Soverick introduced himself as the child of the ne. They understood immediately why he was so powerful when they saw the signs of the boost on him that can onlye from having the title of child of the ne. Everyone turned their heads and nced at their own child of the ne. They know what it means to be a child of the ne so they know how terrifying this furry can be.


    Then Vitain appeared beside the pir. So they all turned their grim faces towards the unfortunate fool who was lucky enough to be killed first. No one said anything. They all just stared at him. The poor speedster wilted under their stares. Their gaze could actually kill him.


    The weakest person here is a titan ofw while he is just a lord ofw. Their very presence is a heavy pressure to deal with. That heavy pressure bes freezing when their attention is actually turned toward him. And there are hundreds of them here pressing their attention onto him. He can''t even stand straight and look up, much less walk in shame.


    Thankfully they soon turned their attention to the sphere rotating above the pir. The sphere is rotating and it shows what''s going on in thepetition. Everyone can sit at any angle and see the same thing on the screen of the sphere. It is showing the entirety of the arena on its surface. Only those with extraordinary eyesight can actually make out anything useful. Those with poor eyesight will only see a blur of indistinguishable colors.


    All of them here have more than enough visual acuity to see everything going on the screen at the same time but they are all focused on the appearance of Soverick within the group of paragons. It was then that the death of the second speedster urred.


    The second speedster appeared beside Vitain but no one spared him any attention. They are all looking at the state of the immortal power. His poor body shriveled and bent out of shape. His arms and his tail became attached to his body at odd angles.


    He doesn''t even have a neck anymore. It is as if his head was pushed down so that his neck was crushed into his chest. It is a painful sight to look at. So it must be surely painful for the immortal power who is experiencing the extreme body contortion.

 Chapter 771 High Quality Simulation.

    Then the immortal power copsed inwards. Some of the viewers winced at the sight. They have seen their fair share of gruesome deaths but this is painful to see because the person is still alive. They can just imagine the pain he must be going through for that to happen to him over and over again. The immortal power crumbled like a box of paper. Then he was inted again. Only to be crushed again.


    The poor immortal power was ejected soon after. He was still shaking like a leaf. His life was saved but the traumatic experience will never leave him. He will forever know how his entire being was vited again and again. His body was forced to do things it shouldn''t do and his mind was bent in ways that a flexible mind shouldn''t be made to do. He has felt terrible things that words alone cannot describe.


    The viewers spared him a nce before returning to watch the show. Some gazes were full of pity and others were full of scorn. He was supposed to be their leader and he messed up. He messed up so badly that one of his subordinates had to kill him or he would have dragged down their entire team.


    Next came the spell tower. They all had high hopes for her. They hoped that she will help to curb the champion of the furries but they were disappointed. They watched her get pulled down from the sky and smashed into the ground. They watched her spell matrixes get destroyed with brute force. It must have hurt the champion''s mind to do it but he didn''t flinch.


    It should be hurtful for the two of them involved considering that they are smashing their divine sense against each other. The spell tower has a robust consciousness empowered by several threads so it is expected of her to manage with the repercussions of the violent intrusion.


    She ought to outmatch the champion and continue to create more spell matrixes while he struggles to keep up. But it was not so. He managed to keep up with her numerous attempts to cast spells and push her shields to the limit all the while he continued to toy with the two brutes. His existence stumped hers and made her presence useless so she was of no help.


    The child of the ne observed, "She shouldn''t havee to help at all. She should have stayed put on the battlefield and killed the furries instead ofing here to make a fool of herself."


    He is watching the fight attentively. His eyes are narrowed at the spectacle. He can see the minute changes in the boost of the champion. The lightning bolt surrounding the champion changes regrly. The changes ur in a split second but he can see them as the champion suddenly bes stronger or faster depending on what he needs. His evaluation of the champion increased. The champion''s maniption of the boost from his title is seamless and near perfect.


    They watched the champion fight with three paragons. It was not an umon sight. Their child of the ne can toy with 10 paragons that have millions of threads themselves. So they have seen it happen but it is still a painful sight because the paragons are being toyed with by a furry. They felt better that it was another child of the ne that is doing it. The stalemate between the three Paragons and the champion was broken when the attack Paragon died.


    It didn''t matter that the attack paragon is weak. His death is the final strike to drive home the point that the furries can not be taken lightly. Because someone other than the champion of the furry is the one to kill the attack paragon. Things went downhill from there. The champion of the furry ughtered the three Paragons with a move that sent chills down the viewer''s spine.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Is that thew of time?" The child of the ne of the Vipers asked himself uncertainly.


    He is inwardly shocked. His pupils would have shrunk involuntarily and he would have be agitated when he saw that sight if he didn''t have perfect control of his emotions. He has been seeing a lot of weird and special moves from the champion of the furry. First, it was the World Breaker which even he cannot understand how a king ofw managed to pull off.


    Then there was the silent de attack that was transmitted unseen through space. That attack was responsible for splitting the second speedster into three parts. The child of the ne recognized it to be thew of space. As if that isn''t enough, the champion of the furry also used thew of time for a move that eliminated three Paragons at once.


    His evaluation of the champion has only been increasing but he was reluctant to give him a perfect score because of prejudice. But now, he has to admit that maybe, the champion is perfect. After all, the champion seems to have mastered or is mastering thew of light, darkness, fire, earth, water, air, space, and time. That is 8ws already of which anyone of space or time is more than enough to be a force to be reckoned with.


    "I wish I can kill this champion." He thought wistfully.


    The increase in the evaluation of the champion also increased the threat level of the champion. So the child of the ne wants to get rid of the champion. Any threat capable of endangering his life has to be eliminated. If he had his way, he will go and kill the champion now. Unfortunately, he can''t reach thepetition ground. The only thing he can do right now is watch and hope to be summoned soon.


    He got his wish pretty soon. The champion of the furries proudly dered how many paragons that have been killed. The viewers bristled with silent anger when Soverick sneered and dered that all the Vipers were to be killed down to thest of them.


    "This simtion is of high quality. It has even managed to annoy me." The child of the ne said.

 Chapter 772 The Nightmare Is Real.

    The defense paragon was ejected soon after. Then the child of the ne was summoned. He didn''t leave his seat since his physical body couldn''t go to thepetition. He sent his consciousness over and took over the immortal link. The surrounding viewers were rmed a little when he activated his boost from his title. White lightning converged on the child of the ne from every direction and he used it to boost his mind.


    But try as he might, he couldn''t force his consciousness to carry over his power through the immortal link. He was forced to use just the 2 million connections avable in the arena as opposed to the 2 quadrillion connections avable to him. That means he was restricted to 0.0000001% of his total boost.


    Then there is the limit on his base power. He is using less than 1% of it because of the suppression of the world fragment. Nothing he can do can change it. He is not a participant in thepetition since he didn''t register. He can''t even register since he is a sovereign ofw. It is skirting the rules at best and cheating at worst for him to participate. There''s no way he will be allowed to do more than that. So he was forced to fight a hopeless battle.


    Everyone, be they titan or sovereign ofw, watched with rapt attention and they made sure to school their facial expressions. They knew what the oue will be but they have to watch it lest they offend the child of the ne. They also have to not show disappointment or any negative emotions while they watch. That will surely make matters worse.


    They watched him fight until he became too weak to fight. They watched the champion of the furries refuse to fight him and let the other furries beat him up. They watched him die again and again until he finally died in the zing inferno of Salvos'' attack. Then the screen went dark.


    The hall was plunged into silence. The silence was so thick that the arrival of the immortal link through the pir almost went unregistered. No one said anything about anything. They waited for the child of the ne to say something first and ask for their opinions. But the child of the ne was brooding. He had all his 10 arms resting on the wide armrest while he bowed his head. He is thinking about what he just saw.


    He spoke to them after sorting out his thoughts. His reptilian mouth was shut as he used his divine sense tomunicate with them. First, he asked them a question.


    "Do you know the lesson I have just learned?"


    No one said anything. It was a rhetorical question so they shouldn''t answer. They wouldn''t answer even if he wanted their opinion. They are too afraid of him to give him their opinion.


    Paragons are elevated above themon people but the child of the ne is high above the other paragons. He is a sovereign ofw like many of them but they are not the same. He has managed to kill several origin gods as a Sovereign. He killed origin gods both within the ne and in the immortalnds. They are merely Sovereigns and titans ofw. They have to fear him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    So they remained silent and waited for him to answer his own question. He did after a while of poignant silence.


    He said to them, "I have just learned that no one should be underestimated. Even I, in all my glorious splendor and extraordinary might should not underestimate anyone."


    He fears origin gods because they are the ones capable of killing him but he has never had any reason to think much of others that are weaker than him. But today, he learned not to underestimate anyone. Any race can go beyond the potential of their race and the limit of their divine ability to learn powerfulws like thew of space or time or both. So no race should be underestimated.


    "Do you know what made me learn that lesson? I will tell you. It was not the champion of the furries. He is a champion so he should be special. It was those three white furries that don''t look like they have a bloodline were the ones that made me learn that lesson."


    He conjured the image of Salvos, Salvin, and Salvini just to make sure they all know which furries he is talking about. He didn''t need to do so. The three of them are very notable to the vipers at this point. There are only three battle sage monkeys with white fur among all three million of them. Thepetition is open to only those with bloodlines so pure white fur is absent except for the bloodline of the sage.


    He noticed that they were listening but none of them were taking what he said seriously. So he said, "The furries in the training excercise were real. They are not a simtion."


    That Information was surprising but it didn''t affect the titans and Sovereigns ofw that have been to the ancient battlefield. They have seen numerous types of races so they are not surprised that powerful furries exist out there in the realm aside from their ne. It did bring things into perspective though. Now they know that the world god didn''t create fake furries to bully the Vipers.


    The paragons on the other hand felt as if their world was rocked. The fact that what they went through is actually real is notforting. The fact that the nightmare of a furry is real will make sure that the trauma of Vitain the speedster will not heal. After all, that champion exists somewhere in the world.


    And the fact that the Will of a ne chose a furry to be a child of the ne left the spell tower stunned. It also makes their loss more despicable. Now they can''t give the excuse that the world god made them fight unrealistic enemies.

 Chapter 773 Lesson Learned.

    The child of the ne smirked when he saw the reaction of the 9 paragons. He too was a little rattled by the knowledge that the furries that just beat them are real. It shook his worldview if he was being honest. It really drove home the need not to underestimate anyone. Not even the weak creatures that they hunt for sport in his ne.


    He has always been extraordinary all his life so he looks down on others a lot. First of all, he was born a paragon. That is special in and of itself. He was born above normal Vipers. He was born unique and made to achieve great things.


    Being born a paragon of Vipers is special because paragons don''t give birth to paragons. It is not a matter of bloodline or ancestry. Anyone can be born a paragon. Normal vipers can give birth to paragons and origin gods can give birth to normal vipers so it is very special to be born a paragon.


    He wasn''t born in the lineage of an origin god so he wasn''t like the deviant paragons. He didn''t have any bloodline so his divine ability was not diluted or changed. His humble origin made him an immortal power. Being an Immortal power is both a curse and a blessing. In both cases, it is an honor. He decided it was a blessing.


    Unlike others whomented their fate, he considered it his fortune to be alive when the previous child of the ne became an origin god and left the ne. That left the mantle avable for him to take. He was very confident, but to other immortal powers, they were worried that they were probably going to die in the struggle to be the next child of the ne.


    Some immortal powers left the ne and gave up all their connections to be as weak as normal vipers in order to preserve their lives. He didn''t and his confidence was proven not to be unfounded bluster when he managed to be thest Viper standing in a battle royale of immortal powers between titans ofw and Sovereigns throughout the ne.


    He has always been confident in himself. He always thought himself above others and he was rewarded with the title of the child of the ne. His pride was justified when he got the title and his pride was further elevated because of the title. The title meant that while the other paragons are limited to having connections with just the Viper race, he has connections with all the races in the ne including the races that hate him like the furries. So he is truly above every other paragon.


    He became unmatched in the lower realm. Only origin gods could threaten him. Origin gods have been known to put the immortality of some headstrong immortal powers to the test. Those immortal powers found their ability to resurrect wanting. Many child of the ne met their ends that way. That''s why he stays in the ne even though he can fight Origin gods.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He learned to fear and never underestimate an Origin god. But those are origin gods. They deserve to be feared. But now, he is learning not to underestimate something that he has killed and eaten several times. He still remembers the taste of furries in his mouth. It is a memory that he associates with the mere mention of furries. He thinks of them as food. So yes, it rocked his worldview that there is a real child of the ne out there that is also a furry.


    But he epted the reality of the situation and moved on. He didn''t remain stubborn or let the knowledge harm him. Instead, he learned a lesson from it and made it his life''s mission to kill that furry that has made a mockery of the title of child of the ne.


    He continued solemnly, "I too am shocked to realize that the furries are capable of reaching such great heights. They are currently no match to paragons on their level but they can be if they somehow get the boost from the ne. Then they will be like their champion. What set''s us apart from them is our ability as paragons. Beyond that, then we will grovel at their feet. We as paragons are better than them, but how many paragons are therepared to the number of furries in the ne? We are surrounded by all these white furries with the potential to be a danger to us."


    His words unsettled his listeners but no oneined. He is the child of the ne so he canpare a prey species to them however he wants. Besides, if they are being reasonable, which most of them are, they have to admit that the three white furries are truly remarkable. They have to admit to this fact because their opinion of the situation doesn''t change the fact that those three white furries are truly remarkable.


    There are other notable furries in thepetition but those white furries show them what the furries in their ne without bloodlines are capable of. The little they have seen of them shows that only the boost from their connection makes paragons better than them.


    Even so, paragons are better. The furries might have potential but they have actual power. And that potential is all conjecture. Why will there be only three white furries among 3 million furries? Why weren''t there more white furries participating in thepetition? Surely there has to be a lot of white furries in their ne too. This indicates that those three white furries are special. If they are special, then even if the furries have potential, there is a 3 in a 3 million chance that they will amount to anything remarkable.


    Meanwhile, the chances of being a paragon in the Viper race are 1 to 1000. The Vipers obviously have a better chance of being superior to the furries. So the titans ofw and other sovereigns didn''t feel as strongly as the child of the ne about the threat that the furries might pose to them.

 Chapter 774 Punishment.

    The child of the ne looked at everyone''s reaction to his rant. He didn''t get anything because they all had calm introspective expressions but he knows that not many agree with him. He knows why and he understands why they wouldn''t agree with him. Their reluctance is because it is a lesson that he has learned.


    They haven''t learned that lesson because they haven''t experienced what he experienced or seen what he saw. They didn''t feel the rapid switches and near-perfect control of the champion of the furries. They haven''t looked directly into those four eyes of the champion and felt him unravel their existence. They have no reason to fear that champion and wish to eliminate it.


    Only he understands why he has decided not to underestimate the furries anymore. They don''t because they haven''t seen the relevance that he imbibed. He won''t bother with them because they don''t need to learn that lesson.


    There are two ways to learn. It is either through personal experience or through witnessing the experience of others. Learning from personal experience is very painful. Anything painful to someone of his level is something that can very well kill him if there is enough of it. So he hopes to avoid pain as much as possible. Avoiding pain means killing that champion now while it is still a king ofw.


    But that''s his own personal agenda. He isn''t going to force others to learn that lesson or do anything to prevent his fear froming to pass. That''s why he is not going to crack down on the furries in his ne. He won''t order the total extinction of the furries. As the child of the ne, he gets power from every being born on the ne. That means each furry is as valuable as a Viper to him. There is no qualitative difference between them when ites to the boost that they give him.


    The era of conquest ising. He will need every strength he can get to protect the ne if he is still the child of the ne when ites. He can''t stab himself in the guts by weakening the ne. So he won''t eliminate the furries. But something has to be done about the embarrassing performance of the Vipers during thepetition. A lesson must be learned from that experience. He will not have it any other way.


    So he turned his gaze to the 9 paragons huddling beside the pir. His gaze turned cold and steely.


    He spoke with a cold voice of reproach. "You have shamed us. You have shamed the ne and you have shamed Vipers. Most importantly, you have shamed me. In summary, your performance was shameful. I am very disappointed, to say the least."


    The paragons cowered beneath his gaze. They are regretting their participation in thepetition. They thought that it was an honor to win the nar preliminaries to participate in thepetition but now they know that it might be the event that caused their death.


    The child of the ne continued, "You will be punished for your failure. But first, I want to see if you have learned anything from this experience. You all know what happened, tell me what you would have done differently to win."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The 9 paragons began talking with enthusiasm. After all, their very lives depend on it. They offered alternative ns of action to win thepetition. One of the problems that caused their defeat is that they fought against the battle sage monkeys without much knowledge and information about their enemies. They believe that they now have a better chance of sess since they are better informed. So they gave many ns that will ensure victory with the information that they have. The major cause for victory was the suggestion that the immortal power gave.


    "We shouldn''t have focused our strength in one ce. That''s what made us lose. We should have remained mobile and prioritized the other furries instead of the g while I keep their champion at bay. Their champion is the one that requires the use of most of our connections. I will be able to match him with my versatility and 2 million connections."


    The child of the ne nodded in agreement as he listened to their suggestions. He agrees with the immortal power. The support of 2 million connections from the immortal link and his ability to boost his defense, speed, strength, and others will be more than enough to match Soverick or at least hold him back. Soverick won''t be able to get to the rest once they scatter and none of the other furries will be able to take on the paragons.


    The immortal power won''t die easily now that he knows to be careful around Soverick and any death that doesn''t damage his existence will not be able to incapacitate him. He will be able to resurrect and keep fighting indefinitely. Meanwhile, the rest of the furries will be killed to thest. Only then will the Paragons go for the g if they have to.


    The child of the ne raised one of his hands to silence them.


    Then he said, "You have made good suggestions. It seems you have all learned something and your shameful defeat was not a waste. I will not take your life because of that. Your punishment will be the loss of all your connections."


    The 9 paragons sighed in relief that their life will be spared then they wilted under the blow of the punishment. To lose all their connections is to be no different from normal vipers. It is a fall from grace that cannot be recovered from in this time and age. Competition for connections is very serious and cutthroat in their ne. They will be too weak to bepetitive in thepetition for connections. They are essentially being crippled.


    "Any objections?" The child of the ne asked them in a calm soothing voice.

 Chapter 775 Viper Upgrade.

    No one objected despite the ring fact that the person least affected by the punishment is the immortal link. The immortal link has no need for connections so in a way, the child of the ne is punishing only 8 of them. They know that immortal links are always favored by generations of the child of the ne so they aren''t going to ask why the immortal link isn''t getting punished.


    Also, asking won''t really be a good idea for them right now. They are already in big trouble. There''s no need to dig their grave by questioning the child of the ne''s decision. The child of the ne''s voice was calm and he seemed to be open to questioning. But questioning him in front of all these titans and Sovereigns ofw is just a one-way ticket to death, or worse.


    They all kept quiet even though their power and authority in the ne is alling to an end. The one most affected of them is the attack paragon. He has an army of Vipers that he has managed to boost to the level of paragons which makes him the strongest of the 9 of them. To lose his connections is to lose his entire life''s work. It is hundreds of thousands of years worth of time and resources going down the drain.


    "That''s good." The child of the ne nodded when no one objected or asked any stupid questions.


    He said to them, "Now give up your connections."


    The eight of them felt a tug on their connections. They could resist and refuse but the child of the ne just has to kill them to remove their connections. So it is a choice between their lives and their connections.


    They all gave up their connections. They can always start again on the ne or take a small group of Vipers to another ne and start there. On the other hand, they won''t be able to do any of that if they die. Of course, the immortal link didn''t give up anything. The thought of that made their pain feel worse.


    They made the wise choice but they felt the pain of having their connections removed from them. The threads bonded to their existence and that empower them were severed from them. It is something that should only happen when they die but they have to live through the pain just because they were the best among their equals and were given the privilege to represent their ne.


    "You are dismissed."


    The child of the ne ordered them to leave while he spoke with the various powerhouses that came to watch the event. The paragons bowed wordlessly and left. The attack paragon rushed out and made his way toward the portal of the ne immediately. He is a paragon but he is weak and extremely defenseless right now. There are normal vipers that will very much like to kill him.


    Any normal viper that is at least a transcendent can take the heart of a paragon as long as they kill one. That is, a normal Viper can be a paragon as long as they are transcendent and kill another paragon. So he is a prime target right now and he will like to escape the fate of bing the target of a hunt. Then there are the other paragons that he has offended and bullied over the years with his army. Now is a good time for vengeance since he doesn''t have any power to resist.


    Meanwhile, The Two World Gods.


    Thepetition has ended. The two co-administrators are having a nice chat within the world fragment that they used to monitor thepetition.


    "So you won." The serpentine world god said through gritted teeth.


    "It would seem so. I still can''t believe it. This is so unexpected. I am so surprised. You said you would win. You were so sure of it. I would never..."


    The disgruntled serpentine world god interrupted the tirade of the sage. "Yes, yes, spare me the mockery."


    The sage looked at him with pure innocent white eyes and said, "That''s not mockery. I haven''t even started yet. It is just slight teasing."


    His co-administrator didn''t believe him. The serpentine world god huffed and red at him with naked hostility. So the first sage gave up on the mocking.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He said, "Fine. I won. Give me my due."


    His request made the serpentine world god dete. His righteous anger and indignation bled out of him instantly. Mockery or not, he has to pay the sage since he lost the bet. He began racking his brain for an alternative that will let him off of paying his debts. The sage rolled his eyes at the sight. This is something that has happened every time after the serpentine world God loses a bet.


    ''This guy has a serious gambling addiction.'' the sage thought to himself in amusement.


    The serpentine world God finally thought of something to escape his debt. "How about this? Let''s..."


    The sage interrupted him quickly. "Don''t bother with anything else. I am not interested at all. Give me what you owe me."


    "But..."


    "No buts."


    "Hear me out."


    "Give me my money."


    "You will like this. We.."


    "No more bets."


    He tried to offer an alternative but the sage remained obstinate.


    "How about I give you something else?" He asked the sage hopefully.


    The sage smiled. His smile was like that of a vicious shark''s. It was all teeth and it promised violence. The serpentine felt an ominous sensation when he saw the smile. He knew then that the sage won''t let go once it gets a hold of him. And that the sage has in fact, gotten a hold of him. Why else would he feel as if something bad is about to happen?


    The sage started slowly. "I could do that. I could ask for something else."


    His calm voice did the opposite in calming the debtor. That ominous sensation crept to every part of the serpentine world god''s body.

 Chapter 776 Asking For A Heart Is Wrong.

    "But what do I need? What can I get from you? Let me see." The sage pretended to think about his request for a while before speaking.


    He sighed first then continued. "There is really nothing that I need from you. There is one thing that I might be interested in but I don''t want to make it feel like I have put you up against a wall or something. So remember, I am just asking. You can say no if you want."


    "Just ask." The serpentine world god said in exasperation.


    He is not at all convinced by the theatrics. He knows that the sage already has something nned. There is already something that the sage wants from him. He just hopes it won''t cause him too much pain to give it up.


    The sage said innocently, "Okay, I''ll ask since you are so eager. Give me control of your ne for the era of conquest and I''ll remove the 6 folds increase on your debt."


    "Are you mad?" The serpentine world god asked with obvious rage.


    His voice was loud because of the absurdity of the suggestion. The request that the sage made is a request that he never thought could be asked for. It''s like asking someone with one heart for their heart. Technically you can ask for it but you shouldn''t no matter how much you need it because the person only has one heart. They need their heart. To ask for their heart is to ask for their death. You might as well just ask for their death and be done with it. That''s what the serpentine world God felt about the request.


    His ne is very dear to him. Even if he doesn''t need it, he won''t give it up easily. But he needs it very much so he won''t give it up for anything. The era of conquest ising and he needs to be in control of the ne or at least have some control of it so that he can have some stakes in the realm. To ask it of him is to ask for his heart.


    It was the Sage''s turn to try and convince him. "I know you''re not the only one in control of the ne and I am not asking you to make enemies of all of them. I am willing to pay them off if you help me negotiate a price. You will also benefit immensely from it. Isn''t it a good proposal? Think about it."


    The serpentine world god calmed down. He also pretended to think about his answer. Then he said calmly, "You must be mad. You must be out of your mind. Or you must think that I am very stupid."


    The sage shrugged and said, "Your loss. Now pay up. Our deal was that you would pay me when I ask for it. You swore an oath to it so you will pay me now because I want it now."


    "You won''t get away with this." The serpentine world god promised.


    He took out the things that he owed. Some of them took him millions of years to acquire. It is a wealth that will make world gods weep. The serpentine world god did weep as he gave them up. It was a silent weeping but that doesn''t reduce its veracity.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Even his heart bled. He loves gambling but he hates losing. Everyone hates losing but the few times they win makes gambling worth it. This loss is the greatest loss he has ever incurred. It has wiped out all his wins and his love for gambling. He is so close to swearing that he will give up on gambling.


    One of the things he gave up are world hearts. They go by many names, realm core or realm hearts etc. They are the foundation of a realm tree and are very important for an origin god to be a world god. They can be called priceless in a sense but they do have a price. The price is the lives of the trillions upon trillions upon trillions of lives that were lost in the process of acquiring them. Each heart is a realm tree and all its inhabitants were doomed to oblivion to get the heart.


    These two world gods made a bet with the lives of an uncountable amount of people as stakes. They mayugh and quarrel with each other like normal people do but they are not normal and they are not people. They are gods of worlds. They can end the lives of anyone for anything they want and they will do it no matter the amount of lives needed to be sacrificed. All world gods have shed their own portion of blood. It is why they are referred to as predators.


    "It was nice doing business with you." The sage said happily after receiving his due.


    He tried to make light of the situation but his co-administrator was not amused. "Just you wait. I will get back at you once this is over."


    "I am looking forward to it." The sage replied in a cheerful manner as he examined the package that was sent to him.


    "You better. You won''t be able to escape me."


    The serpentine world god''s bitterness didn''t affect the sage. He has really stuck it rich this time so he is very happy. The next thing that happened made the sage even happier. But he still pretended to be angry about it.


    "I must say that you''re not a god of principles. I expected you to kill my champion. I thought it was beneath you but you went through with it anyway. It seems you have no qualms about picking on the weak and I was wrong about how low you could go."


    The serpentine world god sneered with glee. "Don''t worry. The same thing is going to happen to you and everything that you care about."


    They red at each other and refused to speak with each other. None of them left yet because they still have something to do. They are waiting for someone so that they can put an end to this wholepetition business.

 Chapter 777 Testing Project.

    The person they were waiting for came soon after. The two of them winked out of the world fragments and appeared somewhere in the void outside the realm tree of high heaven. An elf with green skin, blond hair, and golden eyes was waiting for them.


    "I came as soon as I got your message." The elf said to them.


    The sage said, "That was less than a minute ago. So you left the realm tree and transversed millions of kilometers in seconds. I am impressed."


    "It is nothing. I am used to it by now. I have been running about a lot recently."


    The sage nodded in understanding. He asked with feigned concern, "Does this have anything to do with the continents that have been disappearing recently? I hear that a lot of people are looking for the culprit and there are some people who believe that you did it."


    The realm lord became livid. He scowled as he said with utter conviction, "They are all lying the bunch of them. They are trying and failing to besmirch my good name. Who will believe such absurd tales of an origin god stealing continents? They are not even trying toe up with something more realistic and convincing." He won''t change his tune even when there is damning evidence of his responsibility in the thefts.


    The two world gods looked at the realm lord lying with a straight face. They know he did it. A certain sparkon showed a video of him using authority to shrink a continent before stealing it. But he denied it with vigorous and righteous anger as if he has been slighted by the usation. They would have marveled at his skill if they too couldn''t lie as well. Even so, they have to appreciate a fellow artist and his work.


    The sage moved on, "Anyway, the performance of the relocation pirs was too notch. They were able to transport about 10 million entities between the level of transcendence and king ofw across millions of kilometers in an instant. They were able to do it without congestion and at great efficiency. There was not a single case of error throughout the 10 million attempts at translocation. The relocation pirs maintained their structural integrity and data fidelity across several operations of transmission. I have the report made out."


    The elf was surprised. "10 million? That''s arge sample size. How did you manage that?


    The first sage gave the elf a ck crystal containing all the data they have collected from the performance of the pirs they used to move the participants from the nes to the arenas.


    The elf went through the data quickly. Then he nodded in appreciation. "Wonderful. I knew I could count on you two to test my project sessfully. I see that you made it into apetition to increase the sample size. That''s a great way to get a lot of testers and they did it free of charge."


    The realm lord has been very busy with his very important project. He is in a hurry to finish preparing it so he outsourced some of the testing to others. His project is grand with a lot of new features being put in ce. Some of those features need testing to determine their feasibility and examine them in operation for faults.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The testing of the transmission pirs was given to the sage and the serpentine world god. The two of them expressed interest in helping him and they would be paid for it. It was the two of them that decided to turn the testing into apetition between their two nes. That way, they would be able to get a lot of volunteers from their ne to participate in the testing without being paid for their services.


    "I hope there was no problem." The elf asked them.


    The mention of thepetition made the serpentine world god frown. He has been quiet so the realm lord thought he was being moody but now he knows that something is wrong. So he asked them.


    The sage replied cheerfully, "We made a bet."


    "Ah. I see." The elf said to the frowning world god, "So you lost and you probably lost a lot. I can imagine your loss. It must have been veryrge to get you so down. Didn''t I say that you should be careful of the sage? You should have known that something is off when he asked for a bet."


    The sage smiled and cleared the realm lord''s misunderstanding. "He was the one that asked for us to bet not me. And what do you mean that he should be careful of me? Am I such a bad person? He is the gambler that suggested betting. How is this my fault?"


    The serpentine world had had enough. "Let''s stop wasting time and move on. You said you were busy. I am very busy too and would like this to be done with as soon as possible."


    The realm lord agreed. "That''s true. I am busy. But I would like to hear how this happened. I am sure it will be interesting and worth me wasting some of my time. I need something fun to cheer me up."


    The first sage offered graciously with a smile, "Don''t worry about it. I saved the entire process and the story within this. You can enjoy it at your leisure."


    Then he handed the realm lord another world fragment. The serpentine world god groaned. He is sure that the story of his epic loss and how it happened will be a staple among world gods and origin gods by the next origin cycle meeting at thetest. The story of the embarrassing loss of a world god will make for a very good party entertainment at the meeting that the realm lord holds every origin cycle. He would have to convince the realm lord not to embarrass him any further by sharing that story.

 Chapter 778 The Reward For Testing.

    The elf nodded appreciatively. "I have to thank the sage for his gift. It is so thoughtful. The sage is always thorough in everything he does. Even when screwing you over."


    The realm lord looked at the serpentine world god when he said hisst statement. That is to let him know that he will certainly be sharing the story. He might even share the videos so that everyone can know what specifically happened.


    The realm lord continued. "Let''s end this then. As I promised, I will offer you another allocation in my project. So are you willing to ept it?"


    "I am very willing to ept it." The sage answered immediately.


    The realm lord promised them a reward. It is an opportunity for them to invest more in his project. They have to pay for the investment but it is highly sought after right now. If not for this opportunity, then they wouldn''t have helped him to test his project. They built the pirs ording to his blueprint and tested them for an opportunity to pay for an opportunity to earn Authority.


    "That''s good." The elf said then he turned to the silent serpentine world god.


    The serpentine world god was silent. So the realm lord asked, "What about you?"


    "Can we postpone the deadline? I am kind of poor right now." Came the reply from the serpentine world god.


    The elf facepalmed and stifled hisughter. He only chuckled and managed to say, "It was that bad huh? Unfortunately, we can''t postpone it. I will be done in an origin cycle or less. Then the era of conquest will start. I''m sorry but I can''t wait for you."


    The sage took that opportunity to intercede, "Can I take his allocation since he can''t afford it?"


    The serpentine world god sputtered in outrage, "You swindler. This is what you were after all along."


    The sage didn''t spare him any attention. He remained focused on the elf. The elf felt that he has been ced in aplicated situation. He asked the serpentine world first, "Are you sure you won''t be able to get the funds soon?"


    The serpentine world seethed and replied through gritted teeth. "No."


    The realm lord sighed and said, "Then I am afraid that I will have to offer this allocation to the sage. He has the resources and I did promise two allocations to be divided amongst you."


    "That is a good idea." The sage agreed readily. "It will not do for such an opportunity to go to waste."


    The serpentine world god looked at the sage and his calm expression with hatred in his eyes. He lost thousands of origin cycles worth of stuff. What he needs for the allocation is a small portion of what he lost and he can probably recover the amount he borrowed or make some effort but he can''t spend it on the allocation.


    He is currently in a deficit. He can''t afford what can be termed a luxury. He already has some allocation in the project and getting more will be very good but getting more is not advised in his situation. It is not a good idea to spend money on luxury fashion when there is no food to eat.


    The sage on the other hand is swimming in resources. He can afford more than 10 allocations if the opportunity to invest that much is made avable. All because the sage stole his wealth. His fury threatened to overwhelm him. His thousands of arms moved to deliver vengeance but he stopped when the elf spoke.


    The realm lord said to the serpentine world god, "I can see that you intend to fight the sage but I wouldn''t rmend it. It would be foolish of you to believe that the sage''s scheme has ended with this win. You might be ying further into his hands by fighting him."


    The serpentine world god was not convinced. He continued to stare hatefully at the sage. Nothing can change his mind from having a battle with him now. He has nothing left to lose so he will go for it.


    The realm lord interrupted his thoughts with some well-meaning advice. "Don''t think that you have nothing left to lose. There is always another low no matter how low you are currently. How about you take a walk? Let your mind settle. Think about everything that happened and what could go wrong. Thene back and fight him with a n in mind. Don''t just rush into this with anger as your only directive. Facing the sage in ignorance is bad, as you well know. Facing him in ignorance and anger is worse. I assure you."


    The serpentine world god thought about it and he felt that the realm lord made sense. It is a good idea to have a n. He has always been many steps behind the sage in their partnership andpetition. He lost badly because he didn''t expect the unexpected. He gave a nod of appreciation to the elf then he flew away to think.


    "You just spoiled my fun." The sage said.


    "I did it because you spoiled my fun too. You must have an inkling about what I am aiming for so you know I need my world gods. It is not about the resources anymore but the number of world gods participating. The more world gods are invested in this project of mine, the better. So you have cost me one more world god."


    The realm lord has a lot of resources and can get more if he wants. What he can''t get easily are world gods. The more world gods that are invested in his project, the more world gods that care about its sess. In a way, he will be getting the backing of several world gods. Those backings are more important to him than some wealth. In the void universe, there are some things that wealth cannot buy.


    The sage nodded. "I know and I have something to make up for it."

 Chapter 779 The Race Among World Gods.

    The sage waved one of his hands towards the array of world fragments. One of the world fragments broke off from the connection and flew towards them. The sage then handed it over to the realm lord.


    He said, "Take that aspensation. It has data about world suppression mechanics and power analytics. You can improve on the design instead of making something new. It will surely cut down on the time needed to prepare your project."


    The elf took the small piece of artifact that the world fragment has be. He fiddled with it and he smiled.


    "This is a great gift. It will be very helpful to me." Then he shook his head and said. "You are always thorough andplete with your ns. It makes you a great helper and it will make you a terrible enemy. I don''t know if I should be d or not."


    A world fragment is a very powerful artifact for an origin god. The realm lord doesn''tck them. He can create them himself but this one is still good. It is so good that it has pacified him for the loss of an investor. But it has also raised some fears. No one should know what his project is except that it is involved with authority so no one should know what should be helpful for his project.


    He has made sure to keep his project secret through a lot of things. Some of the projects that he gave other world gods to test are even fake. But what the sage gave him is something really useful to his project. Especially the power analytics. It is very important when you want to create a standardized power system that is separate from the power system of the void universe but also in line with thews of the void universe so that there will not be rejection.


    This is how the participants in thepetition were able to assimte seamlessly into the Arenas despite the Arenas being created by anotherw of order. The participants didn''t have any concepts but they weren''t exposed to the supremew of order of the world gods and were not rejected or modified by it. A participant had to go out of his way to make contact with the supremews.


    If say, he the realm lord, wants to create a power system in an enclosed space separated from the void universe for any reason, such that this power is dependent on only the rules in the enclosed space and so that this power system ispatible with beings of the void universe. In that case, beings from the void universe will be able to go to that enclosed space without being rejected or worse, modified to fit thews of the enclosed space.


    Or say, if he wants to venture into an enclosed space withws and a power system that are different from those in the void universe. As a being of the void universe, this information will help him make himselfpatible with thews in the enclosed space such that he is not rejected or worse, modified to fit thews of the enclosed space.


    The information about power analytics has many uses. It could be a simple coincidence that the sage gave him something useful or it could be because of a harmless deduction that the sage made from the clues that he let slip. Or it could be something else like scrying which will be bad because the sage will be very informed about his project.


    In a normal situation, this gift can be considered harmless but this is not a normal situation. Nothing is ever normal when you''re dealing with the sage. You can never know when you''re being yed by the sage. The fate of the serpentine world god is proof of what could happen when you underestimate the first sage.


    The white monkey spread his hands harmlessly and said, "Come on, I''m harmless. You will be a world god soon but until then, there''s no need for us to be enemies. Let''s enjoy the little time we have together."


    The elf nodded in resignation. He understands the situation too. In fact, he sent the conflict between world gods into overdrive with his project. So he knows that there is a race among world gods and only one person can win it. He is not a world God yet so technically, he is not part of the race yet.


    A fool will believe that and let their guard down with the sage. He is not a fool. The fact that he is a future threat is already enough reason for the sage to want to eliminate him. At least, that''s what he will do if he were in the sage''s shoes. So he will remain guarded.


    "I''ll be going now. I have a lot to do and you have a visitor."


    The realm lord exchanged a nod with the sage before he left. He was there then he was gone. The only sign of his departure is the undting spatial waves. The realm lord had used something rted to thew of space to surf the universe. It is only rted to it on the surface but it is not a concept and neither is it purely thew of space. The sage knows the signs of a supremew when he sees one.


    "What a talented elf. It is a pity that this world is a rat race." The sage said in mncholy.


    Sometimes the sage thinks the void universe is cruel. The signs are obvious that it was designed. But the purpose of the design isn''t. What can be seen of this design shows a cruel and unforgiving world. It fosters excellence andpetition.


    The sage thinks that the realm lord is very talented. The realm lord is surely more talented than most people in the void universe but which origin god isn''t talented? Talent is important but it is not nearly enough.

 Chapter 780 The Child Of The Sages Plan.

    Anyone that seeds in acquiring immortality has strived for it with hard work or acquired it through privilege and talent. No origin God is a slouch. They are all talented in their own way. But apparently, that isn''t enough for the creator of the Void universe.


    The void universe continues to pit these talented people against each other. They are immortal so there''s no permanent loss. They can always be set up against each other and used to sharpen each other again and again until something unknown happens.


    "But the universe is ending soon. Whatever the creator wants to achieve had better ur soon or we the world gods will tear the universe asunder." The sage thought to himself in glee.


    Yes, the universe is cruel. Yes, it pitilessly pits immortals against each other. But that''s what makes life exciting. The thrill of thepetition and the reward that awaits. It gives immortality a purpose and the excitement needed to endure it. It is even better if you''re an entity that schemes and maniptes the immortals to do your bidding. What is immortality without a greater aim?


    The sage shook his head as he thought about the uing events. The era of conquest ising. Then the realm lord''s project will go live. The void universe will be riled up by the consequences of the project. Then world gods will battle for what is left of the universe as it ends.


    The first sage said in anticipation, "It will be glorious."


    Someone moved closer to the sage after the realm lord left. This person is also a battle sage monkey. He has white fur and eyes that shift their colors constantly. Energy is bursting from the figure of this person. It makes their edges uneven and shifting. The boundary between them and the world is blurred because of the pulsating of massive energy density contained within the person.


    "So I waste." The person said.


    "It was just a few seconds." The sage said.


    "A few seconds is arge margin. He is too powerful for an origin god."


    The sage had to agree. "He is. He will make a terrifying enemy as a world god."


    "So ancestor, what was the oue?" The person asked.


    "I baited him well and he fell for it. We made several bets and I won. I was able to buy his allotment of the investment."


    "That''s good. It seems that the Soverick boy is dead now. I noticed that he didn''t return with the others."


    The sage nodded. The person sighed and said, "That''s a pity. But it was also expected. He has yed his part well. He will be remembered for his contributions to the ne."


    The sage agreed. "Yes, he will. As for you, you will be rewarded for your contribution too. You did well in setting up the creation of a child of the ne. I will reward you with one of the slots I have in the realm lord''s project."


    The child of the sages smiled. He bowed and said, "Thank you, ancestor. I am immensely grateful."


    The sage shook his head and said, "You deserve it. It would have been very difficult to swindle that fool if we didn''t have a child of the ne. You were instrumental in it. I have given you the opportunity to earn Authority. It will be up to you to make full use of it."


    The child of the sages bowed and said, "I will ancestor."


    The person who came to see the sage is the child of the sages who orchestrated the creation of the divine dungeon and the subsequent creation of the child of the ne. His information and nning were instrumental in the victory that Soverick acquired over the gods. Not many know of his contribution to the creation of the child of the ne but those that did know, are the ones that truly matter.


    They had begun to n for this even long before Gehaldirah was born. The child of the sages could have be a world god already. He has met the requirements and his ancestor can help him with the resources he needs. If not, he can always look towards the other powerful sons and daughters of the sages for help. Then there is still his mother. So he nevercked the opportunity to be a world god. But he refrained from bing one because he wants to participate in the realm lord''s project.


    They didn''t exactly know when the realm lord''s project will be or what it will be. After all, the realm lord hadn''t announced it before they became aware of it. But they knew that it is very important and will set off a bloodbath in the void universe. The child of the sages knew from a long time ago that he must participate in it. There is a great opportunity there for him.


    He could ask for resources to be a world god from the first sage. The sage would have helped him since he is an excellent descendant. But he couldn''t ask the sage for a slot to participate in the realm Lord''s project. The slot is more precious than the resources to be a world god.


    In the void universe, some things are more precious than money or resources. The opportunity to acquire Authority is one of those things. So he had to prove himself worthy of it. That''s where Soverickes in. The child of sages engineered the creation of the child of the ne.


    A thousand mana entities can surely destroy a mountain if each one of them attacks once. A single mana entity can also destroy a mountain after several attacks, probably with a thousand attacks. They needed a mana entity that couldbine the strength of a thousand mana entities to break a mountain in one attack.


    That''s what paragons do and that''s what a child of the ne is. Soverick was to be their champion against the paragons of the Vipers.


    A/N: I hope you remember what the child of the sages told Guntu the artist when Guntu asked they wanted to do with Soverick. That was in Volume 2.

 Chapter 781 The First Sages Plan I.

    Soverick was not targeted specifically for the position. The fact that he became the child of the ne was not personal or orchestrated.


    The was cast and whoever was too big for the would have been captured. Or in this case, whoever was too big for the would have be the child of the ne. So Soverick has only himself to me. He was too powerful and talented for his level. He stood out amongst his peers and was captured for it.


    It was also his existence that triggered the war against the gods which allowed the creation of the divine dungeon. The child of sages simply choreographed the war in his favor to get a slot in the realm lord''s project.


    ¦Ñ¦Á¦°d¦Ás¦­¦Ïvel The child of the sages had to go to all these lengths for the opportunity because the realm was not offering it to Origin gods even if they have supremews and are about to be world gods. The realm lord only offered the opportunity to world gods.


    Every world god of some importance and standing who originated from the realm of high heaven is offered an allocation of 10 slots. They can choose to ept it or not but the realm lord refused to give them more no matter how many resources they offer him.


    That''s how valuable the slots are. Origin gods don''t get them at all while world gods get just 10. He can''t very well go and ask the first sage for one out of those 10. He has to help the first sage gain more so that he too will be able to get one.


    But if they want more, they have to take it from another world god. Now, killing a world god for it won''t work. Killing an origin god is already difficult and pointless much less a world god. That means they must try other means to acquire the slots from other world gods.


    Some people will be stomped and have no way to go about it. How do you get something much more important than the realm heart of a world from a world god? You either invade their world and try to steal it or you convince them to give it up. Some might bet with the other world gods for the slots but that is likely to fail.


    First, most world gods will be very careful not to bet on something that important. Yes, the allure of gaining more is good, but half-bread is better than none. And world gods aren''t that stupid. Plus, the oue of a bet can go both ways, if they bet, they might lose their slot instead of gaining more. So a bet is not the way to go unless the oue can be engineered, anticipated, or predicted in one way or another.


    Even if that were possible, who will bet with the first sage knowing that if it is possible for the oue of a bet to be engineered, anticipated, or predicted, the first sage is the one most capable of it? So they can only bet with someone that doesn''t know the first sage or underestimates the first sage.


    This has only increased the difficulty of acquiring more slots through betting. They have to find a world god that underestimates the first sage and they have to bet on something other than the slots because no world god will want to bet on something so valuable even if they underestimate him.


    The slots are more valuable resources. So they decided to bet on resources. These resources have to be the type orrge enough quantity that will indirectly affect the acquisition of more slots. After all, resources are still needed to get more slots from the realm lord if the opportunity for it arrives. That means that they have to bet enough resources that a world god won''t be able to afford to pay for the investment needed to pay for their slot or to acquire more slots.


    That raised the difficulty to absurd levels. Every world god can bet one resource here and there, but not many world gods can bet enough to be broke. Plus what if they are broke? What are the chances that an opportunity wille up for the acquisition of more slots? All the scheming and nning wille to naught if there is no opportunity to acquire more slots.


    The need for the opportunity to acquire more slots limited their options severely. After all, the realm lord wasn''t giving more than 10 slots to each world god no matter how much they beg, threaten, or try to coax with resources. But the sage is not one to give up. He knows that there is a chance of sess so he didn''t give up.


    If there is a chance of sess, then he will find it. He will align events until his favorable future is brought to pass. The first thing he did is to suggest to the realm lord during one of their meetings about delegating. It was a harmless suggestion. The first sage made sure not to mention anything about the project or the preparation for it so as not to make the realm lord suspicious.


    The realm lord took the first Sage''s advice to delegate but in a different way that maximizes his benefits. He began offering projects to world gods. They will bid for it with their resources. The ones that win will help test the project. Then the realm lord will offer them more slots for the project. The realm lord is practically asking people to pay him so that they can help him so that they can get the opportunity to pay for the opportunity to get Authority.


    It is honestly absurd in the face of it but it was a great sess. World gods scrambled to bid. The realm lord auctioned the rights for world gods to help him and they paid him for it. The realm lord thanked the sage for the suggestion. That was a long time ago. The sage didn''t bid on any project until the next opportunity appeared.

 Chapter 782 All Is Well That Ends Well.

    The next opportunity appeared when the first sage found a world god that is famous for his love of gambling. It was pure coincidence that this world god also turns out to be from the race of Vipers. That created a sort ofpetitive atmosphere between them. One of them might think that they have something to prove. They might think that they have to prove their superiority and the superiority of their race above the other. That person wasn''t the sage.


    The first sage had been passive in previous auctions but decided to bid for the same project that this gambling world god is bidding for. Their working together seemed like a chance at first sight. It must have been pure coincidence to others. But it wasn''t to the realm lord. That''s why the realm lord went out of his way to warn the serpentine world god to be careful of the sage.


    The serpentine world god was warned and advised to be suspicious of the first sage. We know how that worked out. Gambling addiction, plus the need to prove superiority and a well-meaning warning to be careful of the person you want to prove superiority to equals a certainty of bets.


    Things fell into ce and the sage began working his magic on the bets. Their bet started from a little amount of resources until it erged into a colossal debt. The ball was in the Sage''s hands right from the start. He had been nning it before the serpentine world god even knew he existed. The sage could have decided to stop at any time but he continued to ept the bet proposal. After all, he needed his Co-administrator in arge debt.


    The serpentine world god was a perfect target but the sage wasn''t passive. He didn''t let things just work themselves out. He set up some things. The sage was the one that suggested that they turn the project into apetition so that they will get testers easily. This suggestion was made very early in their cooperation to test the project. And like most suggestions made by the sage, it was a good idea and it was helpful. It was also harmless at first nce.


    The sage decided to go that route not because of the opportunity of acquiring testers but because the child of the sages had managed to produce the child of the ne. It was something the sage couldn''t do himself since he can''t enter the realm tree anymore.


    His suggestion for apetition seemed harmless when he made it. It became something else when the serpentine world god was pressed too far into debt. It was the gambler that decided that they bet on the oue. The two world gods worked hand in hand to reach this oue. Nature didn''t take its course and things didn''t happen to y out the way they did naturally.


    The sage did most of the work though. He set up the situation so that it will always turn out well for him. Everything was orchestrated every step of the way. And now they have won. They have acquired 20 more slots. It was what the first sage was after all along with thepetition.


    The Sage''s suggestion to take over the serpentine world god''s ne was genuine though. It would have granted the sage another angle to acquire more slots. The serpentine world god refused but it did nothing to stop himself from being taken advantage of. The main objective was to get the serpentine world to be as poor as he could get and then take advantage of its situation. Either he gives up control of his ne or he gives up his allotted slots. Whichever way, the sage would have won.


    "Everything ended well." The child of the sages said.


    "Yes. It worked perfectly. Almost too perfectly." The sage replied with a bit of concern.


    ¦Ñ¦Á¦°d¦Ás¦­¦Ïvel "You think something will go wrong?"


    The sage replied, "I have a feeling that something bad will happen soon. It has nothing to do with you and it should be resolved pretty easily but it has the potential of escting into something else in the future."


    The child of the sages was surprised. "But what can it be? Everything worked out well. Could it be the other world god?"


    The child of the ne believed the sage. He knows enough to always trust in the intuition of fate. The first sage is undoubtedly the best when ites to intuition and if he says something will go wrong soon then something will definitely go wrong soon.


    The sage replied, "Don''t worry about it. I will face it when ites."


    The two of them separated and returned to their life of scheming and maniption. Life moved on after thepetition. Soverick was proimed dead and Salvini was made the new child of the ne. It came as a shock to the inhabitants of the ne when news of the previous child of the ne''s death spread out. It was said that Salvini challenged him and he lost to her. She took his title as the victor.


    Some people didn''t believe it. It is only natural that there would be some doubts, but no one doubted the results when they saw a video of the fight. Only the part where he was killed was shown. The rest was hidden to protect the information of the new child of the ne.


    Some people felt bad for the death of Soverick but they are not as many as those that were d for his death. His family members didn''t feel much about his death either. Their lives were not impacted greatly when he was alive so he will not be missed now that he is dead.


    His fans honored him for his feats but they turned to the new child of the ne soon after. Soverick must have been weak for her to seed in defeating him. They worshipped him because he was strong but now he is not so they will worship the new child of the ne. Strength is worshipped while weakness is abhorred.


    A/N: Now you know what Soverick died for. It wasn''t personal. His death was just a side quest for the first sage.


    How do you rate the first sage as a Viin? Is he even a Viin? He is an antagonist. And by coincidence too.

 Chapter 783 The Death Of Soverick Ghastorix.

    ?


    Life moved on after this. The conflict around the tower of trials has been quelled. Plots were allocated based on performance in thepetition and based on luck in the lottery. People trained and prepared for the nextpetition. Everything seemed to be going well as it should. The only one worried about something going wrong was the first sage.


    Back To When The Battle Finished.


    The world spirit sent a message to everyone still present.


    "Congrattions on winning the fourth and final challenge. Your scores and your rankings have been tallied. As promised, the best 10,000 will get a plot around the tower of trials in the Virut ne. The higher your rank, the closer you will be to the tower of trials and the higher the concentration of origin energy."


    "As for the rest, only the best 10% of the 3 million that participated in the fourth challenge will get the rmendation of the racial council to fulfill the requirements for adulthood. You can always try again during the nextpetition if you didn''t manage to get what you wanted. Congrattions again on your victory and goodbye to you."


    They all began to disappear. This time they aren''t being healed and put into stasis, they are all being teleported out of the world fragment and back to their ne. They all came out through the pir that they came in through.


    Soverick continued to smile as he was transformed into an energy form containing his consciousness. He has a lot to be happy about and a lot to look forward to. He couldn''t wait to return to the ne and cash in his requests.


    "That ended well. Maybe I was just being paranoid. Nothing bad has happened." He said to himself.


    He checked his brand onest time before it disappeared.


    NAME: Soverick Ghastorix.


    POWER: Rank 10.


    DESIGNATION: DIVINE


    SCORE: 131,783,469,215


    RANK: 1.


    FEATS: CHAMPION


    His performance made him happy. It means he won the top prize and he is looking forward to getting it. His score was thest thing he saw before he lost consciousness. Then he was transmitted back to the pir he emerged from.


    The stream of energy that he has be was being transmitted when it suddenly morphed. It changed and warped along the way to the extent that it could not be recognized anymore. The supremew of the serpentine world god overwrote his existence. It seeded too because Soverick is not an origin God with a concept to protect his existence.


    Everything that made up his existence was warped beyond recognition. They stopped being simr to Soverick in any way possible. If Soverick had a life-saving method that is not on par with thew matrix of the universe itself, then he will fail to resurrect. Even if he somehow resurrects, he won''t be Soverick anymore. Then his existence was defragmented and scattered. This ensured his permanent death.


    Soverick''s transmission failed to maintain its integrity and the pir failed to transform it back into Soverick. It is the first time that the pirs failed in their transmission. They didn''t fail once during the 20 million times they were activated until this very moment. It is not a surprise considering that it is a world God that tampered with the process.


    The serpentine world god effectively turned him to dust and scattered him into the wind. There is noing back from that. Soverick is well and truly dead. Only the immortality afforded by the universe to the Origin gods could have saved him because there is nothing to save as he is right now. He is not Soverick anymore by any definition.


    Any method apart from thew matrix of the universe will fail to resurrect him unless that method can resist and undo the work of a supremew. Even the soul sphere can''t undo the damage to him. That''s what happens when you work with world gods. It is highly likely for you to get burned.


    But Soverick knew that. He wasn''t a fool. Even if he were, there are other clones to remind him of the danger of world gods. But Soverick didn''t need to be reminded of the dangers of world gods. He saw the supremews of a world God and he knows what it can do. So he was prepared for this eventuality. It will be foolish of him not to be prepared. Soverick is a lot of things, but he isn''t a fool.


    Somewhere deep down in the world of concepts, Legion-7 stirred. The Titanic beast of an entity awakened from its slumber. The world around it is a miasma of colors and concepts. Reality is blurred here because this is not the world of manifestation. This is thew matrix itself. Transcendents are capable of sensing thew matrix. Sovereigns gain ess to thew matrix. Origin gods be a part of thew matrix. Legion-7 dwells in thew matrix.


    This titanic beast is in the shape of a jellyfish. The bulk of its body is like that of a jellyfish with ck flesh. It even has thousands of thin fments that emerge from the underside of its body. It also has the smooth muscr tentacles of an octopus.


    The head of the beast is the part that looks like a jellyfish. It is smooth and has no eyes. It is as smooth as a gem. It even has the faces and edges of a gem. This gem-like head has arge face surrounded by 8 other small faces.


    The beast began to light up as it became active. Spots of light appeared within its dark body. The main face of its head is the brightest. It is full of energy and power and it glowed with several multicolored dots of light.


    The spots of light in its body make it look like a beautiful creature. Each tiny spot of light has different colors whichbine to make the beast as beautiful as a rainbow if not more beautiful. The beast has an ethereal beauty to it that can mesmerize weak minds. It is like a beautiful hybrid of jellyfish and octopus.

 Chapter 784 Legion-7.

    The 8 small faces of the beast''s gem-like head are usually dull in contrast to the light of the entire entity''s body. But one of the small 8 faces is lit up with a tiny almost inconspicuous spot of light. Legion-7 didn''t do anything about the light when it appeared. First, he consumed the remnants of Soverick''s existence including the falsew of order within it. Then he began to evolve thanks to help from Helios.


    It was after it woke up that it decided to do something about the light. The main face transferred some of its energy into that small face so it began to glow brighter. What was in the small face became visible. The tiny light within it turned out to be a fragment of a soul. It is the soul of a battle sage monkey.


    A small golden monkey appeared on that facet of the gem-like head. Then the light from that small face transferred down from the head to one of the thousands of muscr tentacles. A bright line appeared on the ethereal monster. This line formed a link between that facet with a golden monkey in it and a tentacle. The line continued from where the tentacle joined the beast''s body down to its very tip.


    Then the soul fragment was transferred. The golden monkey passed through that line of light and used it as a connection for transportation to its destination. The tentacle it passed through is very long. It winds and winds and separates from the mass of other tentacles onto ces far far away.


    The tentacle left the deep side of the world of concepts and ascended into the world of manifestation. It emerged unseen in a spiritual form into the head of a battle sage monkey in the Virut ne. This spiritual connection is akin to the connection between every individual born in a ne and the will of that ne.


    The battle sage monkey that the tentacle connects to doesn''t have a bloodline so it has white fur. The battle sage monkey is also very weak. It is only at the mana entity stage. What''s odd about this battle sage monkey is that her movements are robotic. Her eyes are unfocused and she moved with slow motions and sudden jerks when she turns around.


    This weirdness is further obvious when she is rushing towards somewhere which she is currently doing. People look at her strangely as she rushes past them through the bustling city without grace or agility. She is constantly bumping into people or obstacles. They make way for her quickly or she simply pushes them aside. Her movements are puppet-like but they are purposeful and she is strong. She reached her destination pretty quickly. It is a tree.


    She climbed the tree quickly and entered the house at the top. Then she closed the door to the tree house and made sure to secure it by pushing a table against it. There is a lock, atch, and an array for locking the door but she can''t use them because she doesn''t have the fine motor control needed to operate them so she resorts to using the table.


    She makes sure she is alone before the change began. Her eyes suddenly began to shine. It shined a strange bright golden light. Then she fell to the ground and began to spasm. The light in her eyes continued to shine brightly. It increased in brightness as her body jerks and morphs. Her body is warped forcefully by a foreign unseen influence.


    She contorts violently because of how unnatural the changes are. Her body is broken up, crushed, reformed, and remolded very painfully. But she doesn''t whimper or make any noise for the pain. Her broken body is sessfully reformed quickly as a result of the Divine life energy that is also poured into her body through the foreign soul. This assistance helped to fuel the changes in her body.


    Her fur bes golden and she bes taller. She grows another pair of eyes above her normal two. The new eyes are also glowing golden. Power and energy are infused into her body to strengthen it beyond what she had. Her organs and the entire circtory system are broken down, changed, and morphed to fit a different mold. The matrix of her existence is changed into that of another.


    9 tiny golden orbs sprouted out of her back and began to growrger. A golden monkey appeared in the soul space of her body and a soul sphere appeared within that golden monkey. There was no resistance to this invasion because there was no soul in her body. There was only a tentacle in the soul space and it is the one that delivered the soul fragment.


    The golden monkey went on to assimte the body with assistance from the spiritual tentacle that used to inhabit the body. The change urred over a period of hours. A golden-furred battle sage monkey had appeared by the time it ended. An invisible ck orb appeared and began floating around this golden battle sage monkey.


    Meanwhile, Legion-7 woke up fully after it has changed its body. Absorbing thew of order of a world god almost tore it apart but it survived and has grown stronger. It has be capable of taking in more Cosmic energy from Helios. It wants to leave the safety of the deep end of the world now that it has finished its transformation.


    The titanic beast lifted one of its main limbs. Arge muscr tentacle was raised which then began to glow a white light. Then it was used to sh forward. The white light shed and a gap appeared in the path of the light.


    The tentacle tore a line through the fabric of the world. It created a tear from thew matrix to the world of manifestation. The other muscr tentacles gripped the edges of the tear and widened it. The tear expanded as it tore further. Then the beast forced his way through the hole to the other side.

 Chapter 785 It Is Time For A Meeting.

    ?


    A titanic octopus monstrosity entered the tear but a humanoid statue came out from the other side. The humanoid statue stepped through the tear into a new environment in the physical world. The statue has a smooth shiny surface like that of silver. It has a pair of hands and legs. It doesn''t have any eyes on its head. Its mouth, nose, and ears are missing too. This is not a strange sight in this ne. There are other simr-looking creatures roaming around. Most supreme beasts look like this.


    Back To Soverick


    Soverick opened his new eyes and moved his new body. He looked around himself and noticed that he is a strange unknown environment. The environment stopped being unknown a moment after. He sat up and rubbed his head a little. He feels a slight headache which is very odd in a soul body.


    "It seems I was killed. This body is strange and it is not entirelyfortable." He muttered.


    Then he winced when he felt residual pain from his death. "Too bad for Soverick v1. Too bad for me."


    Thest thing he remembered was the information in his brand then a lot of pain and he was suddenly here. That pain is still lingering with him. It might never disappear. After all, he has been changed by that experience forever.


    Legion-7 attached himself to Soverick again. It entered his consciousness and uploaded received information about the previous owner of his body. He found out about the death of his previous version through it.


    "Wow." He eximed. "I knew that I could die and I did. But the sage and his lineage actually shafted me so badly. How did they do it?"


    The information came to him as a shock. He couldn''t believe that his name was besmirched and that there is actually another child of the ne. After all, he wasn''t killed by someone from the Virut ne and he wasn''t killed in his boosted state. So it came to him as a surprise that a child of the ne still exists when it should have ended with him.


    "I guess the first sage expected and nned for my death. He even took advantage of it. Poor Soverick v1."


    "Now that the mourning is over, I have work to do. It is time for Soverick v2 now."


    He is not the former Soverick and neither is he the real Soverick. The real Soverick is in a state of both being dead and alive. The real Soverick never participated in thatpetition. Legion knew to expect the worst so they prepared a back up so to say. So in a way, the Soverick that attended thepetition was never the whole Soverick. It was a part of Soverick and Legion-7.


    He stood up and left the house. He explored the city and acquired up-to-date information about the world atrge before he decided to contact the sage. He wasn''t hoping to gloat but he had requests that he is owed for his performance in thepetition. He must collect what is due to him. So he activated thew of order of the sage by making mana waves with the same fluctuations of the supremew.


    "Reminds me of the message within the sheets of paper." He said. "How nostalgic."


    The response came immediately. He felt a powerful Will try to pull his mind away.


    He smirked and said, "Not this time."


    Out In The Void Universe


    The sage''s worries turned out to be warranted as usual. He suddenly sensed a fluctuation of hisw of order somewhere in the realm of high heaven. It is not from the world fragment that he gave the realm lord. It is from the Virut ne.


    The sage smiled and shook his head. "Colour me surprised."


    He would have been shocked were he not familiar with immortality and resurrection and with Soverick''s penchant to do the unexpected. Immortality and resurrection shouldn''t work with someone that is not at least an Origin god. So this should have shocked the sage but he is merely surprised.


    He said to himself, "That Soverick is full of surprises."


    The major reason why he isn''t surprised is that the anomaly is from Soverick. Soverick has shown several times that he can make the impossible very possible. Apparently, if he canprehend the supremew of a world God, he cane back from the death caused by one.


    So he tried to pull Soverick''s consciousness into his mind space for a meeting. His smile faded away when he didn''t get the response that he should get.


    "Huh. What''s going on?" The sage asked in confusion.


    He is confused because Soverick''s consciousness is not moving at all. It is as if he is pulling on a mountain and not the flimsy stone that he is familiar with and hase to expect. It has made it so that he can''t force Soverick to meet with him. This shocked him more than Soverick''s resurrection.


    Even an origin God cannot deny him of a meeting, not unless they have a supremew themselves. The best an origin God without a supremew can do is maintain consciousness in the real world despite having part of their mind in the sage''s mind space. So the sage is very stumped about why he can''t drag Soverick''s mind like he used to.


    The first sage chuckled and said, "I knew I was going to regret using my supremew as bait but I didn''t think it wille so early."


    Soverick couldn''t possibly have acquired a supremew in the short period of his death to his resurrection. The only way he could havee into contact with a supremew is during thepetition. This made the first sage believe that Soverick''s understanding of his supremew is what''s making him resist the pull on his mind. The first sage is wrong and he will soon find out just how wrong he is.

 Chapter 786 It Is Time To Pay Up.

    ?


    Back To Soverick.


    The Will of a world god pulled and pulled but his mind remained immovable. It refused to be sucked into an unknown space. So the Will pushed instead. It wanted to barge into his mind. His mind rebuffed its attempt again. It is not a matter of strength. It is a sh of Wills. He doesn''t have as much a strong Will as the sage but his mind is anchored by a very powerful entity. The sage will have to ovee Legion-7''s ability to manipte souls for it to gain ess to his mind.


    He waited until the brutish attempts stopped before he opened his mind up formunication. He has proved his point so he allowed the sage to appear in his mind. A white eye appeared within a dark space. Soverick''s mental space is ck like the void. The eye and the golden monkey stood opposite each other above an abyss of darkness.


    At the bottom of the abyss is an octopus monstrosity. It is the source of light in this dark world. The octopus monstrosity is what the illusiondy that tried to control Soverick saw. Back then, Legion-7 looked more monstrous because it was an amalgamation of severalws that he has devoured. But Legion-7 has fully reformed the body of the beast now thanks to the serpentine world god.


    The eye observed the dark mind space for a while. Then it regarded the octopus monstrosity in the abyss that leads to nowhere. The first sage can only see one portion of it because it is sorge and because the abyss is so deep. What little he can see is very disconcerting. There is a thin tentacle that extends from the golden monkey down to the monstrosity in the abyss. And that''s not good.


    "You''re not Soverick." The sage said. "What are you?"


    The sage is sure that this isn''t Soverick. The way Soverick died ensures that he will stay dead unless he is an Origin god. What the sage is seeing right now proves to him that this person is not Soverick. It looks like Soverick and acts like Soverick but it is not Soverick. It is certainly not the one he pulled into his mind space for their first meeting.


    The golden monkey shrugged. "It doesn''t matter what it is that I look like. I am a battle sage monkey and I am Soverick to you. That is what I know to be true. You promised him something so you promised me something. Soverick did his part so I am here to collect my debt."


    The sage knew it to be the truth as absurd as it sounds. That''s what is perplexing him further. He can sense truths and lies when ites to themunication of the mind so he is sure that the entity he is speaking to believes itself to be Soverick.


    He spoke, "I see. So what do you want?"


    The golden monkey smiled and replied. "First I would like an exnation. I participated in thatpetition because of your promise of safety. You even swore an Oath to protect me. It seems my trust was misced."


    "I tried to protect you, I really did. But the other world god killed you before I could help. He used hisw of order that you imbibed from that rank 10 monster to kill you instantly. Nothing could be done." The sage exined.


    "Is that so? What about this nonsense about Salvini defeating and killing me?" Soverick asked.


    He knows how he died. What he doesn''t know is why his death was falsified to glorify someone else and destroy his reputation.


    The sage replied, "Your death would have destabilized the ne. They needed their hero and it is only right that I give them someone to look up to. Salvini is not a bad option to be the child of the ne."


    Soverick nodded at the exnation. "It is fortunate that you just happened to have my connections attached to the core of the world fragment ready to be grafted to someone else."


    The eye glinted sharply but it restrained itself. There was no outburst for Soverick''s usations. The first sage continued to exin calmly, "It is all a coincidence really. Your act of tampering with the core created a link between you and the world fragment that came in handy after your death. It is a fortunate coincidence if I ever saw one." The sage said with a straight face or in this case, a straight eye


    Soverickughed. He pped and said, "Good one."


    The sage watched himugh without feeling any guilt or shame. He did what he did without remorse and for the good of the ne. It benefitted him but that doesn''t mean he will feel guilty. He won''t even feel guilty about destroying a realm much less causing the death of a single person. Guilt is for weaklings. You shouldn''t feel guilty for killing and robbing. The day you start feeling guilty for taking or doing whatever you want is the day you deserve nothing.


    Soverick spoke. "You know, I noticed that the core connected with me when I gained ess to it. I suspected you will do something against me. I thought that you will trap my consciousness within the core and force me to do your bidding. I knew you know how to take my connections by killing me but I never thought you will do it. After all what''s to gain by having me killed and who else can be a better child of the ne than me?"


    Then he paused and shook his head. "I guess I was being full of myself. Knowing you and your intelligence, I never thought you will try to rece me because I am the best child of the ne ever. I thought I was too good to be reced and I thought you needed me for the era of conquest. I guess I was wrong. I was very wrong."

 Chapter 787 Prove Your Identity.

    The sage replied as if empathizing with him. "It is unfortunate. Fate works in mysterious ways. It seems you were not fated to defend the ne during the era of conquest. It seems you were fated to serve another purpose and be reced after you have served your purpose."


    "Fate is very fickle. All in all, the child of the ne is irrelevant to the survival of the ne during the era of conquest. The ne is strong enough to thrive without the child of the ne. It is a good thing too. The lives of so many should not rely on the one. That is just too much responsibility for a single person to bear. Don''t you think so?" The sage asked him.


    "Oh. I see." That is all he could say.


    Soverick understood what the sage is trying to tell him. He wasn''t made the child of the ne to defend the ne. He was created to win thatpetition and be reced. His existence wasn''t needed for the era of conquest. The ne would have survived without him then so they reced him as soon as he served his purpose. He shouldn''t think so highly of himself that the entire ne needs him to survive. It is as the sage said, the lives of the many should not rely on the one no matter how special or unique that one person is.


    He shook his head and said, "But that''s no way to treat a sage of the ne. You destroyed my good name and took my title away. I am a very reasonable person. I am sure I would have agreed to give up the title if I was asked nicely and offered a worthy price."


    "That might not be what fate wanted. You would still be alive in that case, and the title will always be yours as long as you''re still alive. So it was rather fortunate that you died the way you died. It eliminated a lot of problems which have only now arisen again." The sage said with that same sharp glint in his eye.


    The sage is honestly unnerved by the current situation. Soverick is alive and Soverick is in front of him. But the Soverick in front of him is not Soverick. It is also not a clone either or an avatar. It is Soverick in body and mind. They arepletely the same in consciousness, mind, memory, and energy fluctuations but this isn''t Soverick. He honestly doesn''t know what he is looking at.


    He is right too. Soverick being alive has brought up a lot of problems that should be dead. The first sage would like to eliminate them now. He would like to move to kill this Soverick or whatever it is immediately. But he doesn''t know if it will work. If it doesn''t work, then he would have aggravated the situation.


    So he calmed down. But he did speak his mind. "It is bad that you are alive."


    Soverick nodded. "That''s true. I am alive. That means the title is still mine. And I also have to bear the shame of the story of my death. What will I tell people when they see that I am alive and that I am still the child of the ne?"


    The sage decided to call his bluff. "Why don''t you take your title back? I am sure the people of the ne will be excited to know that you''re still alive. It shouldn''t be a problem for you to do if you''re the Soverick that became the child of the ne."


    Soverick shook his head, "You know what would have happened if I had done that before calling you. I am not a fool and as I said, I can be very reasonable. For the right price of course."


    If he really is Soverick then he would be able to call back his connection to the will of the ne. But that will be impossible if he is an imposter. The sage wants to see if he is really Soverick by using it as a test but Soverick doesn''t want to. If he tries and seeds, then he will be the child of the ne. That will undermine the story that has been woven about him and put him firmly against the sage bloodline. The sage might just decide to make his death true again.


    He is not afraid that the sage will seed since another Soverick cane and pick things up where they left them. He is just afraid to die. No one wants to die. He can still feel the pain from thest death. And that is just the best oue. The first sage is not the serpentine world god. The first sage is greater and also a user of fate. The first sage might be able to track other Legions through him. So no, he doesn''t want his title back.


    The sage insisted, "Sadly, I find it difficult to believe you are the child of the ne. You will have to show me proof."


    The sage highly suspects that this being in front of it can recall the title of child of the ne back to himself. But he isn''t sure of it. This Soverick is trying to fleece him by ckmailing him. His ims will amount to nothing if he is fake. The sage won''t pay the price that Soverick is asking for until he sees some hard evidence that the original child of the ne is alive. He won''t be fooled by some theatrics. He has to be sure. He can''t just capitte to anyone thates up and ims to be Soverick.


    Soverick rolled his eyes and said, "Fine. But your payment has increased. I will be collecting payment for the damages that I am about to incur."


    He activated the call of support after speaking. He used the connection he has with Salvini. It is the connection that every person born in the ne below the level of origin god has with the child of the ne. If it responds to him, then he is the rightful child of the ne. If not, then he is dead meat. Or the equivalent of one.

 Chapter 788 End Of Posturing.

    Chapter 788 End Of Posturing.


    The will of the ne answered his call and the title was forcefully separated from Salvini and attached to him. Multitudes of golden lines converged onto him from every direction to form a golden lightning bolt around him. The bolt is even visible in the mind space. It is visible and indisputable proof of his identity.


    "I hope you are happy now." He said to the sage.


    "No. No, I am not." The sage replied calmly. "I am not happy at all."


    Soverick sighed. "Of course, you are not happy. Who could have seen thating?"


    He has proven that he is the child of the ne but the sage is not happy. He expected it to be like this. The sage can''t be happy now that he has proven beyond all reasonable doubt that he is a threat to the lineage of the sage. The only way for the first sage to be happy is if he dies and stays dead. If he didn''t have a way out of this, then there will be no negotiation between them anymore.


    "Now leave. I''ll call you again. And you better not ask me to do this again."


    He pushed the sage out of his mind space before he could say anything. Then the tentacle attached to him pulled him down to the depth of the abyss.


    "Fuck you." He cursed as his soul was fragmented again.


    He could have been removed safely but his soul needed to be destroyed so that the connections of the child of the ne will go back to Salvini. He had to die once he proved himself as the child of the ne. It was what he was dreading and it was as painful as he expected it to be. He felt his consciousness copse painfully before he cked out and ceased to exist.


    The process of his resurrection started again after his death. His soul sphere found its way back to the root of Soverick within Legion-7. Then another connection was formed to another shell that has been prepared within the Virut ne. He could be resurrected in any other shell within the other nes that Legion-7 has infiltrated but Legion doesn''t want to give the sage too much information about what they are capable of.


    The first sage probably suspects Legion to be a multi-racial entity that has infiltrated the Virut ne and many other nes. There is no need to give him proof of that. If Legion can help it, then it will remain an entity that might be multi-racial and has only infiltrated the Virut ne to the first sage.


    A new Soverick was then uploaded from the soul engram of the Original Soverick that Legion-7 is in possession of directly into the new husk. The husk was morphed by the ability of Legion-7 to form another clone of Soverick. The soul of the husk has been subjugated a long time ago so there was no resistance and they are just a mana entity so they have a body imprint already. Their body imprint is then overridden and reshaped into those of Soverick''s. And that''s how a new Soverick was created a few hourster.


    "So I''m v3. V2 got killed because of the death of v1. I hope that doesn''t happen to me." Soverick said after waking up.


    No one wants to die and this version doesn''t want to die either. They will die if Legion needs them to just like the original Soverick would but the original Soverick doesn''t want to die either. Each clone of Legion can die for Legion but death is very painful and unpleasant. It bes increasingly unpleasant when you have the memories of two previous deaths.


    Each version believes itself to be the real Soverick. They are right in a way. They have something that the original Soverick had that makes him Soverick. But that thing can be saved and transported from one Soverick to another by Legion-7. It can also only be possessed by one Soverick at a time so trying to create numerous Soverick''s won''t work. Legion-7 has tried it before so they know that it will end badly. Very bad things will ur.


    This mechanism of resurrection is a copy of how origin gods remain immortal. But it is only a copy. He is not immortal. He loses a part of himself each time he dies and resurrects like this. It makes him iplete despite Legion-7''s best efforts to keep him whole. The missing parts of his existence cause him to feel constant pain. It is not as bad as the immortal power''s, but the mild headache of V2 has increased to a bigger headache in him. It is something that will only get worse the more he dies until his existence copses.


    "Nothing beats being an Origin god." He murmured as he rubbed his throbbing forehead.


    "Let''s get this over with." He said before calling the sage again.


    The sage responded quickly but he didn''t try to force a meeting this time. Soverick allowed himself to be invited into the mind space of the sage. He has already proven himself capable of resisting so there''s no need to go through posturing again.


    Now the first sage knows that he could have avoided the first meeting between them when his mind was pulled into the mana within the sheets of paper. And the first sage also knows that he was aware of the danger and had a n for it when he decided to attend thepetition. He is not some ignorant child that will y with fire without knowing or preparing for the possibility of being burned.


    "I am more than Soverick Ghastorix. I am Legion and I am never alone." He said to encourage himself as he went to face off against a world god.


    He is going into the first sage''s mind space to continue their meeting where he will demand forpensation for all the physical and mental injuries he has suffered because of the sage. He needs all the encouragement he can get.

 Chapter 789 Clash Of Assurances.

    Chapter 789 sh Of Assurances.


    The golden monkey appeared in a world of whiteness. The phantom of a titanic eldritch octopus stood above him with one of its tentacles anchored into the golden monkey. It indicates that he is currently connected to Legion-7. He is not alone. He thinks it is assuring. But the first sage had other thoughts.


    "You are an abomination."


    That''s the first thing the sage said. The first sage felt thetest Soverick die. He saw the title of child of the ne shift and attach to Salvini again. He sent out people to thest location where he sensed Soverick and they found a dead broken body.


    Someone with a soul body shouldn''t leave behind a body and even if they did, their body shouldn''t rot in the short amount of time since the death. But here is another Soverick in another location within the ne. As for the previous body, it has decayed beyond the point of recognition.


    Soverick rolled his eyes at the sage, "Why, thank you. Now, enough of thepliments. Let''s get back to business. And don''t ask me to prove myself again."


    The fact that he managed to make a world God flustered did not improve his mood at all. He also doesn''t like the sage. The sage is responsible for him dying twice in a roll. His opinion of the sage is at an all-time low.


    "What do you want to give up your title and to maintain the facade of your death forever?" The sage asked with a very severe and cold tone.


    He went on a tirade, "I wantpensation for my unjust treatment. You failed to protect me like you said you would. I want reparations for the emotional and mental damage I have gone through. I also want it to ount for the recent traumatic experience that you made me go through just to prove myself. If you can''t trust me, who will ever trust me now after you ruined my good name and made my death aughable matter?"


    "Enough!" The first sage interrupted. "Am I to assume that thispensation will be different from the two requests that I owe you?"


    "Yes." He replied without hesitation.


    The sage stayed silent for a while. The single eye stared down at the golden monkey while the golden monkey red back.


    "Fair enough." The sage agreed.


    Soverick also nodded. He knows that his death was actually nned by the sage. The sage knows that he knows that too. He is certain of this not because of the false news about his death but because he thinks very highly of the sage. The sage is capable of protecting him if the sage wanted to. He died because the sage didn''t want him to live. The false news can be exined away with an excuse but his death is proof that the sage wanted him dead.


    Some might think it is incredibly foolish to now show that he is alive and well, and even go further as to negotiate with the one that wants him dead and took advantage of it. It is not foolish if you are capable of killing yourself anding back from it. Even that world god that wants you dead will think you are an abomination after seeing what resurrected you.


    Even so, he was delicate about it. He hasn''t used the sage of murdering him and he doesn''t need to. They are civilized people. The sage could have brushed him off and ignored him if he thought nothing of him but the sage has never thought less of Soverick. That''s why they are even talking and negotiating.


    The sage knows that Soverick has great potential and should never be underestimated. He knows that he should expect the unexpected from Soverick and that was before he thought Soverick was a single entity. Now he knows that there is more to Soverick figuratively and literally. He can''t brush Soverick off and neither can he kill him now for good so he wants to appease him. Or at least, pretend to appease him.


    The sage asked him. "So what would you like aspensation?"


    He answered. "I want a world fragment with yourw of order inside it. I wasn''t done with it thest time. It is not easy to envision an entire world in my mind."


    "You mean this world?" The sage asked and made the phantom of arge world appear.


    Soverick could see some details about the world. The world is veryrge. It is spherical and there arendmasses created in the shape of concentric circles around an ind at the very center. Living things live on thend masses and in the water that separates them. There is arge tower that reaches the sky on the ind at the center of the world.


    The whole thing looks like an eye when viewed from above so it looks like the sage summoned the phantom a gigantic eye into his mind space. The phantom of Legion-7 looks like a dwarf to the phantom of the world. That world is the assurance of the first sage just as Legion-7 is the assurance for Soverick. But Legion-7 is obviouslycking.


    Soverick nodded and said in affirmation, "Yes, that world."


    "Then no."


    The sage rejected his request and made the phantom of the world disappear.


    Soverickined. "Why not?"


    The first sage replied, "I have realized that I made a mistake to underestimate you. Let me tell you that it was supposed to be impossible for me to underestimate you but you proved me wrong. I have realized that by underestimating you, I have made a fool out of myself in exposing myw of order to you. I did not expect much toe out of you seeing it but I know now that I was wrong. I was very wrong. I will not make that mistake again and I will not expose myw of order to you any longer."


    The first sage dered solemnly, "It shall never happen again."


    The mind space quaked and reverberated with that deration.

 Chapter 790 The Matter Of Compensation.

    ?


    The sage hasn''t been his usual jovial self since this little problem with Soverick surfaced. He is usually yful with Soverick because he always had ns and events move ording to his predictions. Things moved ording to his Will and people behaved ording to his whim so he is always confident and very difficult to shock. But he has been shocked pretty recently.


    The things he has seen have boggled his mind. The octopus monstrosity that is the foundation of Soverick''s existence is like nothing he has ever seen. It reminds him. He can''t believe that such a thing is wearing the a prominent battle sage monkey as a disguise and he didn''t know all along. He has also learned his lesson so he won''t make the same mistake again.


    They say hindsight is perfect. The sage can say now with uttermost certainty that revealing hisw of order to Soverick was foolish. He didn''t know that it was foolish back then. He knew thew of order would entice Soverick but he thought that it would be too big for Soverick to take a meaningful bite out of it.


    Hisw of order was supposed to be a big bait that Soverick will break his teeth on. It turned out that Soverick has very monstrous teeth. So he was wrong about that. He can''t change the past. But he can learn from it. So no, he will not be fulfilling Soverick''s request to see more of hisw of order.


    Soverick didn''t give up. "Come on. But I didn''t even see up to 1% of it. What''s there to fear?"


    "That doesn''t help your case and nothing can change my mind." The sage refused to budge.


    "Fine," Soverick grumbled. "I want a realm heart then."


    This time the sageughed. Some of his power began to leak out of him. The mind space began to shake. Soverick became pressured andpressed by a heavy force. It pressed into him from every direction.


    The sage spoke with concealed anger so his voice remained calm, "Who do you think you are? What do you think you''re worth? Do you think yourself worthy of the heart of a world? Even an origin God is not worthy of a realm heart. Do not disrespect me or my intelligence."


    Soverick cowered beneath the might of the world god. He was forced to. He has no choice in the matter. He is outssed in the strength of Will. He realized that he could die again or his mind could be fractured. He could have Legion-7 pull him out from the Sage''s mind space but he endured it.


    "I am a sage." He managed to say.


    The first sage paused his tirade when he heard what he said.


    "You also promised to protect me."


    That made the first sage begin to calm down. He said to Soverick, "You have made a good point. But that doesn''t change my mind. You are not worth the heart of a world."


    "We can''t go anywhere if you keep shutting down my offers." Soverick maintained. "You have to meet me halfway here."


    The eye narrowed at him. The sage said, "You are up to something. I can feel it but I can''t tell. What are you scheming?"


    "Hey." Soverick said with a maligned tone, "I was the one that died here remember? I was in my forge doing my thing in peace. You were the one that came to me and convinced me to participate in thepetition. I am the victim here."


    His speech did nothing in reducing the Sage''s suspicion of him. If anything, the sage became even more suspicious. But he decided to move the negotiation along.


    "I will meet you halfway. You''re not worth a world heart but you''re worth the fragment of a world heart. I shall give you a world spark. It is very important for it to be part of the heart of a world. You should be satisfied with it."


    Soverick frowned as he spoke. "Do you take me for a fool? Do you think I am an ignorant fool? A world spark is the most useless fragment. I don''t want it. Give me something better."


    The sage snorted. "You won''t get anything better. That''s the best that I can do for you."


    "Is this how you''re going to be when I make my requests?"


    "This is not a request. You said so yourself, this is different from a request. What will you ask for your requests if I am already giving you the heart of a world for simplepensation? You are weak. Your life and your honor are not worth the heart of a world."


    Soverick yelled, "This is not a simplepensation. I died and you failed your oath."


    He didn''t dispute the fact that he is weak. The sage is also not wrong about him not being worthy of a realm heart.


    The sage yelled back, "I didn''t fail my oath. I promised that the racial council will protect you as long as you were the child of the ne. I tried my best but I couldn''t protect you from yourself. You were the one that tried to digest thew of order of a world god. You killed yourself."


    Soverick threw his hands up. "If you say so."


    He did not mention that the sage was the one that encouraged him to pick up threads because that will just be a childish retort. He was the one that read meaning into what the sage said. The sage never said he should take thew of order of the serpentine world god. So in a way, he was suicidal and the sage never promised to protect him from himself.


    "Does that mean I can ask for a world heart when I make my requests?" He asked hopefully.


    The sage struck down his hopes. "I make no promises."


    "Let''s finish the matter of mypensation first. I am not satisfied with the world spark. I want information."


    The sage asked dourly, "What information do you want?"


    "Don''t worry. It''s something simple. It is practicallymon knowledge so it is not some priceless information."


    The sage refused. "Every piece of knowledge that you don''t know can be priceless information. What determines if it is priceless to you or not?"

 Chapter 791 Oath Of Assurance.

    ?


    He ignored the Sage''sment and asked his question. "What does the realm lord''s project have to do with the era of conquest?"


    The question made the sage pause. He asked, "You know about the realm lord''s project?"


    Soverick replied. "I know he has a project but I don''t know what it is or what it is about. Hence my question."


    He and Legion know that the realm lord is preparing something very important that may or may not be rted to the era of conquest. Legion-1 has been doing some work for the realm lord. That''s how Soverick was able to recognize that the pir that transported him to thepetition arena had something to do with the realm lord.


    Legion-1 has seen a lot of tools like that. The realm lord has been busy but the things he is working on don''t seem rted to the era of conquest as far as Legion knows. So Legion wants to know how they are rted so that they can fully utilize the knowledge that Legion-1 has acquired. Hence his question to the first sage. After all, if anyone is to know, it is highly probable that the first sage does.


    "I see. The fact that you already know he has a project is impressive enough. Most world gods only know that he has a project and what it is about but we don''t know what it is." The sage eyed him strangely and asked, "How is your questionmon knowledge?"


    Soverick defended shamelessly, "Every world god knows about his project so it ismon knowledge."


    The sage refused. "Only world gods know it. You''re not a world God and you don''t know it. Everyone else doesn''t know it. It is notmon knowledge because world gods know about it. It is notmon knowledge by any definition at all."


    "Are you going to answer the question or not? I didn''t die again to prove myself for you to withholdmon knowledge from me."


    He ignored the topic of whether his question is priceless or not,mon knowledge or not because the sage is technically right. So he won''t engage in the argument because he will lose it.


    The Sage sighed. "Fine. I''ll answer it. But how can I be sure that you will not cause any trouble for the ne."


    That''s what they are negotiating about. Soverick asked forpensation for his death. What will happen if he doesn''t get hispensation? He can''t target the sage so he must target something important to the sage. He has proven that trying to eliminate him won''t work. He is as difficult to kill as an origin god and even worse is that he is within the ne where the sage can''t reach him.


    Soverick has proven himself to be a worthy threat to the sage''s ns. He has also proven himself not to be ignorant about the world. He knows what a world spark is and he also knows about the realm lord''s project. The sage was hoping to wow him with the useless fragment of a world heart but Soverick wasn''t fooled.


    Soverick also knows that the knowledge of his question ismon knowledge among world gods. If he knows that, then it is likely that he also knows that the performance of the ne during the era of conquest is important to the sage. In a way, Soverick has shown that knows where to hit the sage.


    Power without wisdom will be wasted. But Power with Wisdom makes for a troublesome enemy. Soverick has shown his power and wisdom to the sage. The sage has taken him seriously because of it. That is why the sage is even bothering to negotiate with him. That also means that the sage must have the assurance that he won''t try and get revenge on the ne after they are done.


    "I can swear an oath but do you really want me to? We both know how easy to twist words to one''s advantage. Besides, we know each other well. We are not strangers at this point. You should just trust me." Soverick said.


    The sage was not deterred. He insisted, "Just do it."


    "But I still have another request after you answer my question."


    The tone of the sage became cold. "You still want more. What else do you want? I am warning you now not to take me lightly."


    "Don''t worry, it is just a small thing. I want to be able to fight and maybe kill Salvini to wash away the stain on my name. It shouldn''t matter if you made the right choice and she is better than me at being the child of the ne. I won''t take away her connection and she can even fight me with it."


    The sage considered his request and didn''t find any problem with it. He too wants to prove himself right to Soverick. It is a matter of pride. He thinks that as a descendant of his bloodline, Salvini should be better than Soverick. If she isn''t, then he might not be Soverick''s equal either at their level. That means Soverick has more potential than he had.


    If Salvini actually loses to Soverick even as the child of the ne then he made a very stupid decision to make her the child of the ne. He is willing to allow the challenge because her death wouldn''t matter much to the survival of the ne. It is as he said earlier, the ne will be able to survive without their child of the ne. He was being honest about that.


    So he agreed with Soverick. "Okay. You may fight her."


    What he didn''t say is that he is looking forward to how Soverick can possibly defeat a talented battle sage monkey empowered with the will of the ne. That will provide more insight for him into the nature of whatever Soverick is.


    "Do you care to bet on the oue?" Soverick asked.


    The sage didn''t need to think too much about that question before he replied. He replied immediately.


    He said, "No. I am not going to fall for that."


    He just swindled someone with bets. There''s no way he will open himself to that kind of damage.

 Chapter 792 Heart Of A Realm.

    ?


    Soverick edged him on. "Aw,e on. Don''t you have faith in your choice? You should have faith in Salvini."


    The sage answered frankly, "No, I don''t have faith in my choice. I have had a lot of reasons to question my choices recently. Now make the Oath."


    "I, Soverick Ghastorix, swear upon my Origin that I will never try to sabotage the Virut ne and reduce its chances of sess in the era of conquest as long as my position as sage is still recognized, as long as the first sage gives me thepensation and requests that we will agree upontest by the next week and as long as I am allowed to challenge the Salvini."


    He made the Oath. Then he asked the sage, "Is that good enough for you?"


    "Good enough." The sage agreed begrudgingly.


    They never agreed to maintain his position as a sage. Soverick added that part in his oath for assurance. It means that he will still have a say in the racial council. But the sage decided to allow it. Soverick already promised not to sabotage the ne and that''s what''s important.


    "Now spill," Soverick said eagerly.


    The sage conjured a round object. It is arge sphere shining brightly. It is like a small star and it might as well be a star since it looks like one. It is entirely white and it isrger than a ne. There are runes on the surface of the sphere that seems to be projected outwards into its surrounding.


    The runes form a sort of holographic projection into the surroundings which makes the sphere brighter and bigger than it is. The runes are very difficult to see but their projection makes their existence known. The projection of runes forms another sphere of holographic material around the round object.


    Soverick was staring at the object with intense fascination. He was captivated by the beauty of the sphere. It is clearly an object of great power but it isn''t producing any energy fluctuation or pressure. It seems to be in perfect bnce with the world around it. It would go unnoticed if he was not looking directly at it. It is then that the brightness of the sphere is pushed into his face. If he turned his back to the sphere then he wouldn''t notice the white light that it is producing at all.


    "That is the realm heart." The sage said.


    "Wow." That was all Soverick could say.


    He is too smitten and mesmerized to say more.


    The spherical object is beautiful. It remained beautiful as it was made to break apart next. Its outeryer broke into pieces like fragments of ss and floated away. What''s left of the sphere is a smaller sphere surrounded by a ring of light. The ring of light is shining an intense white light that makes it difficult to be seen. It is almost as if the ring is fashioned from supepressed white light.


    The sage removed the white ring of light from the small ball within it. The ball then split into two equal halves without the ring holding it together anymore. The removal of all that light allowed him to see what the ball is. The first half of the ball is made of purews. It has no form or shape now that it has been freed from the influence of the other two. It is pure information and order. Just looking at it made his mind be infused with unbidden knowledge.


    This half will be invisible to lesser minds but he can see it and so he will be forced to ept the information of its existence. It is as invasive as the supremews of world gods. But it seems more powerful because it actually has the support of the void universe. He can feel fluctuations of cosmic forces from it.


    Time and space seem to be in a constant state of flux around it. There is no beginning or end to it. Onlyws and information trying to overwrite all of existence. He had to look away from it less his poor mind gets injured again. He ignored the stirring of Legion-7 and looked to the next half.


    The second half is a translucent crystal with a seemingly infinite amount of edges and faces. It seems to be constantly changing and shifting in shape, size, form, and colors so he is always seeing a different side of it. But the side he is seeing is just a fraction of what the crystal can shift into.


    As the crystal shifts, no form is repeated. Every change is new and previously unseen. Whatever this half is, his mind is not powerful enough to take in the entirety of its presence. It is as if infinity has been forcefully given shape and form. But that doesn''t stop it from being infinite. Because it is his mind that has given it its form and his mind is not capable of quantifying or limiting infinity.


    Infinity is boundless but his perception is wed. So he can''t know what the crystal is in its entirety. All he knows for sure is that it contains the infinite possibilities of Life. Unlike the other half which is forceful with its influence, this half is beckoning to him to ept it. This temptation is simr to the one experienced when one encounters godhood. It is the temptation of evolution.


    But he knows he mustn''t sumb to this temptation so he looked away too. It is a dangerous temptation because evolution without direction or the power to fuel it will lead to ruination at best. If he is unlucky and he actually has the power to fuel it, then without a direction, that he is certainlycking, he will evolve forever.


    Evolution without direction is evil. Infinite Evolution without direction is a curse that even an immortal wouldn''t want to bear. The artifacts pressured him with the yoke of their existence. He had to take a step back from them. He had to yield to them. They are beyond his level of existence. Only the help of Legion-7 prevented his existence from shattering into pieces right now.

 Chapter 793 Sabotage During Negotiation.

    ?


    There is a saying among mortals that you shouldn''t try to look upon the visage of a god. They are right. Some information should not be known and some knowledge should not be acquired. Like so, some visage shouldn''t be gazed upon. At least not with eyes that try toprehend everything they see.


    The first time his mind was almost ruined because of what his eyes saw was when he gazed upon the form of mother high heaven. He still cannot do so right now. Funny enough, a mana entity without his eyes can gaze upon her without any issues. A Sovereign ofw or any other clone of Legion can do so too. After all, they don''t have his eyes or see what he sees.


    It is not a matter of power. It is a simple sh of existence. To know about someone is to be aware of their existence. His eyes take that awareness to another level. Data about what he sees enters his mind for it to be processed into information so looking at mother high heaven is imbibing data about her existence into his own existence.


    His existence and her existence will sh within his mind. It is a dangerous thing to do without a concept to protect and keep his existence free from the influence of her existence. But now he has been made to look at the literal heart of mother high heaven.


    It might be harmless for someone without his eyes to look at in the real world. But this is not the real world. This is mind space with a meeting of the mind. Anyone will see what he saw regardless of their possession of the eyes he has because Conjuring these fragments is the same thing as the first sage directly pouring the knowledge into his mind.


    Anyone can call him paranoid but Soverick believes that it was not a mistake that the heart was conjured for him to look at and its fragments generously exposed for him to examine.


    He looked at the first sage and smiled. Then he said, "Nice try."


    The sage was amused too. "I am impressed. It seems you are made of stronger stuff. Now we can continue this negotiation since you didn''t be a raving beast."


    "That is fortunate." He said through gritted teeth.


    He is honestly rattled. It was a trap and he walked right into it. He was so close to dying forever or worse, taking all of the vulnerable clones of Legion down with him. The supremew of a world god without the empowerment of their world was not enough to kill him, but the heart of a realm tree might be able to do the trick because it always has the support of the void universe.


    If that had happened, then he would be effectively neutralized. The first sage is sure to benefit immensely from it. Especially since he already swore the Oath. It won''t be his fault that Soverick can''t handle the things he asked for.


    After all, if he can''t gaze upon the remnants of a dead realm tree then he shouldn''t be negotiating with a world god in the first ce. He is in the big leagues now. He should at least be able to pretend to wear the same shoe size as the big yers if he wants to look like one of them. Fortunately, he has Legion-7. He was able to pretend very well.


    "Do you know what these are?" The sage asked.


    "Yes, I do. The ring of light is the world engine. The abstract manifestation of information is the world spark and the crystal of infinite faces is the world seed."


    "Good. So you know what you will get."


    He said in resignation, "Yes. I''ll be getting the crappy one that no one uses."


    The sage corrected him, "You mean the world spark which is a very powerful but underappreciated artifact. I am sure you will find a use for it. You are resourceful and have surprised me several times. I am sure you will think of something."


    He wasn''t convinced. So the first sage said, "If you can''t use it, then I am sure your friend over there can find a use for it."


    The sage is referring to Legion-7. Soverick''s eye became cold. He thought to himself, "This snake and his tricks. He is still trying to push me towards death even now."


    "What does this have to do with my question?" Soverick asked so that they can move on and away from Legion-7.


    He doesn''t see the significance or the rtionship between a realm heart and the significance of the realm Lord''s project. He also has a feeling that the sage is testing his knowledge or at least leading him on. He can''t just stand there passively and watch the sage try to manipte him. So he is trying to hurry the sage up.


    The sage was silent before he began to talk. "Your question is about aplicated subject so I will start with the era of conquest. As you know, the era of conquest starts when the realm lord of a realm tree is about to be a world god. A realm tree without a realm lord won''t have to go through this problem. They will be safe from world gods forever till the end of the void universe. Then they will end with the void universe."


    Soverick interrupted, "I know this."


    The first sage said with barely concealed anger, "Don''t rush me. You either let me finish or you don''t get your answer."


    "Please continue." He relented with a sigh of resignation.


    The ball is practically in the first sage''s court. Only he can determine their direction and pace. This is the first sage''s mind space and he is the one answering a question. So Soverick can only go with the flow. It is very dangerous but he has to bear with it or walk out of the meeting entirely.

 Chapter 794 How To Become The Realm Lord.

    ?


    For all he knows, walking out might be what the first sage wants him to do. The failure of the negotiation will be his fault and not the sage''s. If he is sure of anything, it is that the first sage doesn''t like him and is actively frustrating him so it is not a wonder why he is tempted to leave. But he can''t let the first sage win so easily. So he stayed.


    The sage continued, "The world spark is the representation and manifestation of a concept but at a higher order. In other words, it is a more powerful version of a concept because it is made by the void universe itself and not from the mind of any inhabitant of the universe. It is a creation of the void universe so it is imbued and empowered with the cosmic forces of the void universe."


    "The world spark is the spark that starts the world engine and gives shape to the world seed. It contains the programmed mechanisms that all realm trees possess, hence it gives direction to the world seed and since it is from the void universe, it gives world engines ess to cosmic energy and more. It started a realm tree but every realm tree that still has it will die with the universe when the universe ends."


    "Did you know that?" The sage paused to ask him.


    "No, I didn''t." He admitted to his ignorance.


    "So shut up and let me do my exnation."


    It seems the sage is still sore about being interrupted earlier. Soverick didn''t say anything now because he can''t say what he has in mind to defend himself. That will only get the first sage angry and slow things down. The sage said he should shut up. So he shut up and listened.


    "The world spark is made from very powerfulws. It is so powerful that it binds a realm tree to the void universe. It is the foundation of the realm tree and its anchor to the void universe. With it in a realm tree, no world god can enter the realm tree because they will have the assistance of the void universe in repelling world gods. But that connection with the void universe is what drags down a realm tree with the void universe while world gods will survive easily."


    Soverick thought to himself, "That''s why almost no one uses the world spark for anything and why Legion-7 will be putting himself in trouble if he actually fuses with the world spark."


    He kept his thoughts to himself and continued listening attentively to the first sage.


    "Fortunately, there is a way out. As powerful as the world spark is, it is only made up of 6ws. Theplexity of the world spark is near perfect such that no being cane up with a concept of suchplexity and power, but there are beings that can certainlye up with concepts of 6ws. That''s where realm lordse in."


    "Wow." He eximed. "So that''s why a 6w concept is needed to be a realm lord."


    "Wrong." The sage was quick to shut him down. "Anyone can be a realm lord. They can do it either through the eptance of the will of the realm or by force. You can be the realm lord if you ovee the resistance of the will of the realm but you can only do that if you''re a world god yourself. It is not even possible for anyone to force it. The realm heart will crack if you try to force a fusion with it. which will lead to the destruction of the realm itself."


    The first sage paused tough.


    Then he said, "I remember that some dragons tried to do it some time ago. They tried to forcefully make a realm lord without the Will of the realm''s permission. It was before the realm lord was chosen. That was a long time ago but I remember it as clear as the day. They tried to usurp the will of mother high heaven and gain control of the realm. They failed pretty badly."


    The first sage''sughter died down but he was still chuckling. "You didn''t see it so you won''t realize the scale of the entire endeavor. Immortal beings like me remember it clearly. I am sure the entity most clear about the events that urred will be Mother high heaven. She still hates the dragons to this day."


    "I see," Soverick muttered.


    "Anyways, there''s another option to be a realm lord. Anyone can be the realm lord of the realm tree as long as the world seed agrees with that person. It is the opposite of bing a realm lord by force. But since the consciousness of the world seed or the will of the realm is not stupid, it will not ept anyone with a concept made up of less than 6ws. Even then, the will of the realm can refuse an origin God with a 6w concept either because the will doesn''t like that origin god or because there is another origin god with a better concept."


    "Oh," Soverick said in realization.


    He has just realized that the requirement to be a realm lord is not set in stone. What''s most important to be a realm lord is the eptance of the will of the realm or the ability to ovee the will of the realm forcefully.


    The amount ofws in a concept doesn''t entitle an Origin God to the position. The fact that you meet or go beyond the 6w requirement doesn''t give you the right to the position. It is all up to the will of the realm. The will of the realm can choose a 6w concept origin god to be the realm lord instead of an 8w origin god that it doesn''t like.


    Soverick asked, "Does that mean that the realm lord probably has more than 6ws in his concept?"

 Chapter 795 The Reason For The Era Of Conquest.

    ?


    The first sage chuckled before he answered. "It is most definite that he has more than 6ws in his concept."


    "How manyws do you think he has?" Soverick asked.


    The first sage''s eye glinted with amusement as he answered, "More than 6."


    Soverick wasn''t satisfied with the answer. "I see that you don''t know."


    "No, I don''t." The sage admitted. "No one knows how manyws he has. But everyone knows that the Monarch of High Heaven is very talented. What I do know with uttermost certainty is that the concept of a realm lord is near impossible to match theplexity of a world spark. Something created by the void universe is near perfect if not perfect itself. But the concept will do as long as the realm lord with the 6w concept has the help of the world seed which is in direct control of the will of the ne. That makes the situation be two fragments against one."


    The first sage asked him, "Do you see where I am going with this?"


    He replied, "The world spark can be sessfully forced out by the will of the ne working together with the realm lord and then reced with the concept of the realm lord to liberate the ne."


    "You are correct to make that conclusion." The sage was satisfied with his answer so he continued.


    "Now you saw what I did in order to separate the realm heart, did you not?"


    "I saw it," Soverick replied in the affirmative.


    "It is a disy of theplexity of the realm heart. The world spark and the world seed are joined together and bound together by the world engine. To separate the realm heart into fragments will lead to its destruction. This destruction is inevitable no matter how powerful the concept of the realm lord is. So how then can the realm tree not destroy itself in the process of trying to liberate itself? I''ll tell you what it does. The realm tree scrapes other realm trees for parts to heal itself and make itself whole."


    "Oh. So that''s the era of conquest. That''s the reason we attack other realm trees. It is to sacrifice an entire realm for the liberation of our realm."


    "Yes yes. That''s one of the major reasons. There are other benefits apart from survival. The realm tree gets more world engines so that the realm can produce more energy. The world seed grows stronger by consuming other world seeds so that the realm can expand. And the concept of the realm lord is upgraded into a world spark."


    "Those are just three extra benefits or reasons for the era of conquest. There are many other hidden reasons and benefits. Apart from those are reasons why others want to help the realm tree seed in the era of conquest. They can use this opportunity to have the realm lord owe them a favor."


    "I see," Soverick said.


    "You know the reason for the era of conquest. You know it is unavoidable if a realm is to liberate itself from the ne. Now let us go into how the realm lord''s project affects the era of conquest. That is your main question after all. Or should I stop here?"


    Soverick answered, "You can continue."


    "Very well. I shall continue." The first sage said. Then he paused before he started speaking again. "You know the realm lord can''t force others to do his bidding and no matter how powerful he is, he will be fighting the full force of another ne. So he needs help and assistance. By offering help, you can get something from the realm lord. The power of the favor is limited like your requests of me. The realm lord can choose not to honor it but he will as long as you ask for what you should ask for. Most Origin gods will ask for his assistance in destroying a realm tree so that they can get a world heart to be a world god themselves."


    "Of course, not any riff raffs can just get the realm lord to owe them something. The realm lord will only owe favors based on the contributions to the sess of the era of conquest. The best way to make a high contribution is to be in charge of the ne. You will be able to direct the forces of the ne and make significant contributions in a war that spans across two worlds with trillions upon trillions of lives. There''s only so little that you can do as a single entity in that kind of war so many are scrambling for control of a ne right now."


    "Now, the era of conquest doesn''t need world gods. The strongest fighters will be Origin gods. But the era of conquest will not be independent of the influence of world gods. World gods can supply both sides with resources even if they can''t participate in the war personally and origin gods can resurrect infinitely as long as they have the resources to do so. So the number of world gods involved in the war will determine who will win the era of conquest."


    "The realm of high heaven should win pretty easily since we will be fighting a realm tree without a realm lord. So the enemy can be said to be doomed. But it just so happens that the realm lord of the realm of high heaven is not very liked. In fact, the Monarch of High Heaven has a lot of enemies. He is very notorious in the upper realm for his madness but the major reason why a lot of powerful people hate him is because he stopped the exploitation of the life trees in the home ne of the high elves."


    That came as a surprise to Soverick.


    He couldn''t help but ask, "I know about the liberation of the life trees in the high life ne. But it was such a long time ago. Was the war that bad? Howe they still hate the realm lord for it after all this time?"

 Chapter 796 The Patience Of Immortality.

    The major reason why he began to hate the realm lord is because of the theft of life essence from the high life ne by demons. The demons didn''t destroy the life trees. They just took their flowers but that was enough to make him angry at the realm lord. Now he knows he was being naive and ignorant back then. His thoughts and opinions of the realm lord don''t matter without the strength to effect the change he desires. And the changes he wanted back then we''re stupid too.


    Maybe he could have stopped the Invasion of his ne by demons if he had the strength to. But he would have faced a lot of opposition from the other powerful high elves even if he had the strength. It is not like there is no one in the entire ne or across the entire ancient history of high elves who didn''t know what the realm lord was doing by allowing demons to attack them.


    The fact that he didn''t know back then doesn''t mean no one else didn''t know. So other high elves knew about it, but that didn''t change their opinion of the realm lord and neither was it enough for them to stop the invasion either. It is mostly because the realm lord was doing more good than bad. The invasions allowed the elves to fight and experience war in a controlled situation. In fact, no Sovereigns participated in the war. The demon lords that invaded would have stood no chance against a Sovereign ofw.


    So in retrospect, it is obvious that the highest authorities in the ne were aware of what was going on but didn''t interfere. The high elf council used the war to strengthen their poption and eliminate weaknesses. It is simr to what the battle sage monkeys do when they send their youths to the ancient battlefield to participate in the trial of heaven.


    The realm lord has done a lot of good for high elves already. He is a legendary figure that will never be forgotten as long as high elves exist. The ban on the exploitation of life trees is the most important achievement of the realm lord. The realm lord had to offend a lot of people when he stopped the exploitation of life trees. There was a war that shook the realm anand the ne of high life but he won at the end of the day. But it turns out that his glorious act will one daye and bite him back.


    "Is it that bad?" Soverick asked. "I mean, it was such a long time ago and life essence has no use to origin gods much less world gods."


    "The fact that you asked that question shows that you''re not that old and that you don''t know the full requirements of bing a world god. That means you are not a world god yourself or are not rted to one." The sage said. "So how did youe across the information about the realm heart?"


    That question sobered up Soverick. He remembered that this is not a meeting between friends. Each of his actions and words are examined for further information about him. His seemingly harmless question has clued the first sage in that he doesn''t have a close rtionship with a world god.


    He didn''t let that fluster him. He defended his ignorance without shame. "It is true that I am very young and if you haven''t noticed, I haven''t met the first requirement to be a world God yet. I don''t have a supremew. I will ask mother high heaven when I am ready. That''s how the first world gods knew how to be world gods and probably how you found out too so there''s no reason for you to feel smug just because you were born thousands of origin cycles before me."


    He is very young but he doesn''t feel my shame because of it. He is less than 10,000 years old while Legion-1 is about 8 origin cycles old. Ghoto and Mih are tens of origin cycles older than him. The sage on the other hand is multiples of thousands of years older than him.


    He has achieved a lot in the little time that he has lived and he is here talking to a world God face to face. His parents will never achieve what he has achieved and some Origin gods have never met a world god. That is more than enough for him to be very proud.


    The eye of the sage looked down on him with a condescending gaze simr to the one you would give an ignorant child.


    He continued, "When you have lived long enough you be able to wait and bid your time. Having all the time in the world means you can n for the long term. Patience is a virtue that all eternal existence will learn in time. That alone is enough reason why I have the right to be smug. If you had it, then you wouldn''t have asked that question."


    They stared at each other with neither one giving ground.


    The first sage continued, "The realm lord''s offense was not forgotten. It was only shelved for a better time when he will be pressed, desperate, or pushed against a wall. The era of conquest happens to bring his enemies this opportunity. His offense is so great that he has enough enemies to drown out the realm of high heaven. You may find it difficult to imagine how great of a sin hemitted due to your young age and its apanying ignorance so I''ll show you how important life trees are."


    The sage brought forward the crystal gem with infinite faces. "This is the world seed. It is the foundation of life in a world. It is the seed that bes the tree that you see. The world spark gives it form and direction while the living things within the realm give it a consciousness. That consciousness is known as the Will of the Realm."

 Chapter 797 How The Realm Lords Project Is Related To The Era Of Conquest.

    The first sage was speaking, "The Will of the realm and the realm heart breaks when the realm tree is destroyed. So when a world god destroys a realm tree, they don''t get the full realm heart but the fragmented parts. This is not a big problem. An origin god that wants to be a world god just needs the world engine and the world seed. They will use their Supremew as the substitute for the world spark. They can be a world god with these three."


    "The problem is that a world made up of just those three is an imperfect world. It is a world capable of life but it has a big weakness. It can allow life to exist within it and life will rise up from it given enough time. But without the consciousness of all life, there is little control over the appearance of life. That is to say, the urrence of life is random and out of the control of the world god."


    "Life is very important to a world god. It is very important for a lot of reasons. But control over the life within the world of a world god is absent so the urrence of life is random. Now control over life can be acquired if the world seed is paired with a sentient nt that has the energy transmutation ability. It is even better if the nt can create life energy specifically. And it is best if the nt can create life essence. Are you seeing where I am going with this?"


    "So life trees are very important to origin gods that want to be world gods and to other world gods who want control over life in their world. By stopping their exploitation of life trees, the realm lord has offended a lot of very powerful people. He cut off their path of progress to power." Soverick said after a dawning realization.


    He didn''t know that life trees were so important. He always thought that their only use was for life essence. He has now gained a newfound respect for the realm lord. The realm lord offended a lot of people by liberating the life trees. It must not have been easy to do.


    People kill each other for money or if their source of livelihood is tampered with. The realm lord went further than that. He blocked a source of great power. It is understandable that there will be many people pissed off by his actions and would want revenge on him.


    The mention of energy transmutation ability also made Soverick think of Hadrick and the tree father. Now he knows what will happen if someone powerful hears of them and decides to target them.


    The first sage continued, "A world will eventually awaken and create a will once there is enough life within the world. That''s how the realm trees awakened themselves in the first ce but it will take a very long time. I am talking about millions of years. It could even be billions of years. It is time that can be shortened to mere thousands, maybe even just hundreds of years with a life tree."


    "His act of liberating the life trees offended a lot of people. So a war between two realm trees during the era of conquest will now be the continuation of the war of life trees. That means a lot of origin gods and world gods will help the other realm tree so that they can use it to gain ess to high heaven through the war. The realm lord needs a lot of origin gods and world gods on his side too if he wants any hope of winning."


    Others would be doomed in such a situation but not the Monarch of High Heaven. He created a project with a very enticing reward. This project will hold after the era of conquest. The reward for this project has attracted a lot of world gods and these world gods have to protect their investment. They won''t get anything if he dies so they have to get involved in the war on his side during the era of conquest."


    The first sage finished his exnation. "Now you know how the realm lord''s project rtes to the era of conquest. I have answered your question in a satisfactory manner. I might even say that I have gone beyond and above."


    Soverick nodded. It has been quite the journey with one mind-blowing revtion after another. He knows that the sage is hiding some things from him since he also knows more than has been revealed. But what the sage has revealed is more than enough for him to be satisfied.


    ''It seems everyone is a schemer.'' He thought to himself. ''But why did the realm lord save the life trees."


    The sage and his descendants schemed against a world god by using him to win a bet. Then they discarded him after they were done with him. The realm lord is also scheming to use his project to tie many world gods to his ship so to say, so that everyone will help him if his ship starts to sink. But all of these can be avoided had the realm lord notpletely stopped the exploitation of life trees.


    He could have just reduced the exploitation to a minimal level and even taken advantage of the scarcity to gain favors and more resources by auctioning life trees to the highest bidder. But the realm lord didn''t do that. He stopped the exploitationpletely and offended everyone involvedpletely. It sounds foolish, short-sighted, and heroic.


    Soverick doesn''t think that the realm lord is a benevolent person who will do something that will hurt him without getting any benefit from it. A powerful person like the realm lord surely didn''t get to where he is today by being foolish. And it is clear that the realm lord knows how to scheme. So there must be something that benefited the realm lord when he stopped the exploitation of life trees.

 Chapter 798 Further Negotiations.

    ?


    "This could be bigger than I think." Soverick thought to himself.


    It is certain that the realm lord has benefited or will benefit by stopping the exploitation of life trees. What isn''t certain is what the benefit it. It might not even be about the life trees at all. If the realm lord is half a good schemer as the first sage and is capable of thinking multiple steps ahead, the benefits might be rted to the enmity created by stopping the exploitation of Life trees.


    The more he thought about it, the more shaken he got. It could be that the realm lord is somehow benefiting from having enemies. It seems absurd but it is also possible if there is an angle to it that he doesn''t see. And that''s just one of the possibilities he came up with. It is an average one too.


    "Maybe I am overthinking this. I guess I''ll just have to find out and see if I am right."


    He wants to know what the realm lord is up to. There''s clearly something to be benefited going on about the life trees. His ignorance has made him unaware of the possibility. But now he knows about the possibility of a benefit and he is terrified at the possibilities. So he will try and find out. Knowledge is power after all. Plus the benefits could be massive and he wants to take part in them.


    "I am sure you are satisfied with my answer. Let us move on" The sage urged him.


    "I am satisfied despite the fact that you omitted what the reward the realm lord is using to entice world gods."


    He may be satisfied but he has toin. It is also an obvious omission. The first sage didn''t mention anything about the project despite his careful exnation. It is almost as if he wants to use the deluge of information about the era of conquest to blind Soverick to that omission.


    The sage replied with an amused glint in his eye, "That will be another question. You''re free to use one of your requests to ask for it."


    Soverick refused. "Nice try old man. I am very satisfied with yourpensation for my death. It seems to me that the realm lord has to go through a lot just to be a world god. I hope all his effort will be worth it."


    The sage scoffed. "Ignorant boy. I think highly of you but sometimes you just disappoint me when you ask such silly questions. Of course, it will be very much worth it. You don''t know what he will get when he seeds and how powerful he will be after the transition."


    "Oh. Enlighten me then."


    The sage would have rolled his single eyes if he could. Instead, he settled for snorting. "Nice try young man. But I wasn''t just born a million years ago. Make a proper request if you want to know."


    Soverick shrugged. "It was worth a shot. Now on to my two requests. Should we go back and forth or should we just do this straight up?"


    He moved on quickly after his failure to get extra free information from the sage. Apparently, the sage can''t be fooled so easily because he is more than 10 Origin cycles old.


    The first sage replied, "Straight up I suppose."


    So he decided to skip the negotiation and skip straight to something that he is sure he can get.


    "I want to use my two requests to ask for the two otherponents of a realm heart apart from the world spark."


    "Dream on. You''re looking to bite more than you can chew. You won onepetition among mortals. There''s no way you will get what origin gods spend most of their eternal life to acquire as a reward for your victory in it." The sage refused.


    He frowned, "I see that we will have to go back and forth then."


    The sage wasn''t deterred at all. "Bring it on then."


    He brought it own. "I want aplete realm heart for one of my requests. You owe me for my services."


    "So what if I owe you? Your services are not worth that much. All you did was win apetition between two nes and prove which ne is better. It was easy for you too. I made sure it will be easy. You just had toe in and finish what I started." The sage said. Then the sage lied. "Anyone could have done what you did." He also added some truth, "In fact, I had several options apart from you so don''t think so highly of yourself."


    Soverick was indeed paramount to the sess of thepetition but he doesn''t know that and he doesn''t need to know that. The sage already said that the knowledge that you don''t know is priceless. Soverick doesn''t know how important he was for the sess of thepetition. So he is going to continue paying the price of his ignorance until he doesn''t have anything to pay with anymore.


    This is a negotiation with high stakes. The sage is surely not going to help his opponent to get a good deal. He is going to sprinkle his truths with lies and manipte Soverick until he reaches his preferred oue.


    Soverick insisted, "What about the bets and the stakes with the other world god? It can''t have been that simple."


    The sage refused to budge. "No, it was not simple. But it is also none of your concern."


    "How can it not concern me? I died because of it." Soverick argued.


    "No no. You can''t y the dead card anymore. You died and I paid for yourpensation. You''re obviously alive right now so that won''t work on me. Besides, what ismon between world gods will look like a big and highly significant thing to you. So you can''t really understand our bet. But if you insist, I will increase your reward if you can guess what we bet about apart from realm hearts."


    A/N:


    Surely you must have thought about it. What are the things that the first sage gained from the serpentine world god? I have provided a window into some of those things. You know what a realm heart and its fragments are now. You also know what they can do. So can you guess what other things constitutes the wealth of a world god?

 Chapter 799 The Art Of Negotiation.

    ?


    That question stumped Soverick. He thought and thought about it but he can''t figure out what it could be. The sage is right. He is very ignorant about world gods and how they live their life. He doesn''t even know what might bemon to them because he is only pretending to be capable of wearing their shoes. He is an ignorant pretender.


    "Is it about the era of conquest?" He tried something that he thinks might be right.


    "No, and that wasn''t a proper answer. You need to tell me what kind of favor it is.


    "Is it about the realm lord''s project?"


    "No." The sage replied. He didn''t lie this time. They never bet about the realm lord''s project as the reward. That was just fortunate happenstance that the first sage gained extra slots to the project.


    Soverick gave several attempts but he failed every one of them. Legion has seen a lot of things but they are not old enough or powerful enough to know what makes world gods kick. He was thinking of giving up when he remembered something.


    "What about Chaos blood?" He asked.


    "No." The sage lied. "Those are too valuable to wager."


    Chaos blood was actually one of the items that the first sage won. But he never made an oath about being honest so he doesn''t have to be truthful. He will lie, cheat, and kill to get his way. There''s no way he will let himself lose in a negotiation.


    "What about cosmic energy?"


    "You must be joking. At least Chaos blood can be acquired. Cosmic energy cannot be acquired without stealing it from the universe. And that requires taking it from the stars. No one is foolish enough to risk such a preciousmodity. So no." The sage said trustfully.


    "I give up."


    Soverick gave up on guessing what they bet on but he didn''t give up on trying to get something good. He tried and tried but the sage didn''t let him have his way. He had to settle for a world engine for both of his requests. So instead of getting a single world fragment for a single request, he had to make do with getting a single fragment for two requests.


    In summary, he got a world spark, information about the era of conquest and how it is rted to the realm lord''s project, and finally a world engine. These are his rewards for acquiring victory in the Unified Skill Index.


    Soverick said with resignation. "You''re cheating me."


    "No, I am not and I will very much like you to refrain from ndering an old pious man without proof. Do you agree to the terms or not?"


    "Fine. I agree. So when do I get what you owe me?" He asked the first sage. "You should remember that we set a time and you have an obligation to fulfill your own side of the bargain before a week is up so you can''t stall me if that is your n."


    "No. I won''t do that. I don''t n to stall you or else word will spread around that I am not honorable. You cane and get what we agreed upon now in the void outside the realm tree."


    Soverick nodded. "Great, I''ll see you soon then."


    Then he forcefully withdrew from the Sage''s mind space. He didn''t wait for the sage to let him go. It might be rude but it is pleasurable to remind the first sage that he is not at his mercy.


    His mind returned to his new body in the Virut ne. His face became cold. His jovial aura and his recent subservient demeanor disappeared. He is very angry with the sage. He is not the only angry one either.


    The sage got him killed him and would have surely eliminated him one way or the other regardless of his participation in thepetition. It was so that Salvini would get his title. But that wasn''t enough of a blow. The sage had to sully his name and make a mockery of his death too. Then the sage made him die again just so he could collect his rightful reward.


    "What a joke. Salvini couldn''t beat me even when I was in my base form. She could never beat me when I was boosted by my connection. She had no chance of ever defeating me." He muttered angrily.


    He has a lot of reasons to be angry at the sage but one that makes him most angry is the story they weaved of his defeat at Salvini''s hands. It is a wonder that people believed it. He hasn''t shown his full power but the things he did is enough to allow people to make an informed decision about who will win in a fight between them. But they believed the made-up story. That just goes to show how much faith and trust they have in the lineage of the sage.


    Salvini could never beat him without his title. He had the stats of a Sovereign and he was very skillful. The boost from his title brought him to the level of an Origin God without the Authority of one. And he was just a king ofw.


    Yet, people believe that Salvini defeated and killed him. It was the same Salvini that cowered before some Paragons while he fought and killed 6 of them alone even under the suppression of the world fragment. They saw all of these and yet they believed the bogus story. It is honestly a wonder.


    He is very angry. But he reined in his anger.


    He sighed and shook his head. "I am weak. World gods are powerful. I tried my best."


    He told himself the reason why he has to go through everything he did. He was forging peacefully in his forge when he was dragged into this. His peace was forfeited and so is his forge. He was killed and disgraced in his death. If he had not been prepared for sabotage, he would have lost his life permanently.


    He has the right to be very angry. He would like to go on a rampage throughout the ne but he can''t because the person behind everything is a world god. He is weak and world gods are very powerful. The best he can do is just to keep himself alive despite the machinations of a world god to have him dead.

 Chapter 800 It Is Not Over Yet.

    He is very weakpared to a world god. That''s why he had to expose some of the secrets of Legion or the sage wouldn''t have taken him seriously. In fact, the sage might have decided to hunt him down immediately. There wouldn''t have been any negotiations. The sage could send thousands of Origin gods after him and they will kill him again and again until his mind actually fractures from the deaths.


    The sage is scheming and pragmatic at all times. Soverick had to avoid the fate of being hunted down by showing the sage how difficult it will be to end him. The sage could end him but he decided not to do so because it will take a lot of resources.


    And antagonizing Soverick means antagonizing whatever entity or entities Soverick is. The ne will take the brunt of the sh between the two of them. The first sage certainly doesn''t want anything bad to happen to the ne so that its performance during the era of conquest will not be hindered.


    The sage weighed the option and decided that the cost of trying to eliminate Soverick it is not worth it. So the sage gave him payment that is less than what it will cost to send immortal mercenaries after him. That''s why they negotiated hispensation and reward at all.


    He died because of the Sage''s scheme and it was hurtful. He would very much like to have his revenge. But the sage gave him a warning. The warning is that world gods know how to wait and n for the long term. The sage even used the realm tree''s situation as a warning. It is to tell him that if he is to go on a rampage now, he better be prepared for the future consequences.


    The fact is that he can disregard that warning and go on a rampage. He can do that either because of foolish anger or because of confidence in the strength he will have in the future. If he did, he might get away with it or he might be like the realm lord who will be beset on all sides by enemies in his moment of need. Either way, he will not be able to get anything from the sage if he went on a rampage in the ne and harmed the Sage''s benefit.


    The story of the realm lord is both a warning and advice. He died and nothing can change that. He could go for short-term benefits like destroying a lot of infrastructure in the ne and killing people thereby gaining himself several world gods and the racial council of the Virut ne as enemies. Or he could focus on the long-term benefits by negotiating with his killer and getting two out of the fragments of a realm heart for his death.


    He chose longer-term benefits. It is the choice that will make his death worth something and will also help Legion. He is a pragmatic person who makes decisions using logic instead of emotions. The benefits outweigh the costs so he willy low and ept the insult. Besides, revenge against the sage is not ruled out yet. He just has to be patient and farsighted.


    The opinion of the weak doesn''t matter anyway. There is no justice for the weak. He is angry but it is of no use because he is weak. Mindless anger will only hold him back for now. He can return to the anger when he is strong enough. Then he will have the right opportunity to exact the revenge that he deserves.


    "I wonder what will happen next. Either way, I have to be prepared." He said as he looked upwards in the direction of the void. "It is not over yet."


    He made good with the sage and he settled the matter of his death andpensation for his efforts in thepetition. But that doesn''t mean that he is in the clear with the first sage. That doesn''t mean he is safe yet.


    The process of negotiation was fraught with dangers and pitfalls. But the danger hasn''t ended yet. The sage didn''t make any oath not toe after him again and he didn''t force the sage to make one because he doesn''t have any leverage to do so.


    You can''t make a smart person do something beneficial to you willingly if there''s nothing for them to gain from it. The only way to achieve that is to force them to do it because they won''t do it willingly. He would like to be safe from the sage but that''s just what he wants. He can''t make the sage promise to stay away from him like the time he made the sage promise to keep him safe during thepetition.


    The sage had to promise him back then so that he will attend thepetition. Even that promise didn''t work out so well. It didn''t prevent the sage from finding a way to get rid of him. His current situation is more perilous. Back then, he still had some use. Right now, he has been discarded and much worse is that he has be a thorn in the side of the first sage. Not having leverage is just the tip of the iceberg of his problems.


    In fact, he didn''t have any leverage in the entire negotiation apart from the fact that he could resurrect. That''s why he couldn''t demand for anything. The best thing he could do is retain his position as a sage of the ne. Which he managed to smuggle into his oath. That will prevent the sage from turning the entire ne against him and openly going after his life. That just leaves the hidden and subtle approach.


    One such subtle approach is asking him toe to the void to receive the things he asked for. That means he will be able to finally meet the first sage face to face and not through a meeting of the minds. Some will be ecstatic about the opportunity to meet a world god who is also a hero of the race. But he can''t be ecstatic because it is a good opportunity for the first sage to freeze him.

 Chapter 801 Onward To The Void.

    A world god can freeze him and prevent him from resurrecting forever. Even an Origin god is not safe from a world god much less him. He is not a naive fool to think that the sage won''t betray him when they meet. The sage doesn''t even need to do it himself, he could have arranged for someone else to kill him after he leaves the ne.


    Anything can happen to him when he leaves the safety of the ne but he doesn''t have an option. He has to go despite the fact that he dreads the meeting. He can''t avoid meeting the first sage because the things he negotiated for can not be brought safely into the realm tree.


    They can be brought into the ne but they are contraband so they will be seized by mother high heaven. He can attempt it but he will regret bringing them into the realm tree. The fragments of a realm heart are incredibly dangerous and also powerful. The will of the realm won''t allow them to be in the realm for any reason. To bring them here is to give them to her.


    That means he must go up to the void to receive his reward. He could also send someone on his behalf but how is that person to prove that they are for him? They will need to know thew of order of the sage and use it to summon the sage. He doesn''t know anyone apart from himself and Legion that has that knowledge.


    If he were foolish, then he will send another clone of Legion in his ce. That will let the sage know that Soverick has shared the knowledge with others and the sage will be aware of the clone. That is a very bad idea.


    So in summary, he has been checkmated. Even the basis of his Oath that the sage has to give him his things in a week won''t save him. The sage can give them to him and also freeze him. His rewards are bait right now. He can choose to go or he can remain in the ne in rtive safety. But no matter what, it won''t stop the sage from scheming against him.


    "I have to go." He said to himself and other Legions. He warned them, "Prepare to lose me forever."


    If the first sage is truly after him, then staying in the ne will not bepletely safe for him either. And staying in the ne will invalidate his second death and all the stress he had to go through during the negotiation. He doesn''t have a choice if he is to collect what he deserves from the sage. That is the way of the world. You don''t get what you deserve. You get what your strength is enough to acquire. If you don''t have enough strength, then prepare to die for biting more than you can chew.


    "It may all be worth it at the end of the day." He said as he flew up into the sky.


    He gathered his wits and encouraged himself. Then he began the dreaded trip to the void. He flew up into the sky as fast as he can. His speed reached 20 times the speed of sound so it took him less than an hour to reach the boundary of the ne in the sky. The distance between the ground surface and the boundary of the ne in the sky is usually less than 25,000 kilometers.


    "Here goes nothing." He said as he breached the boundary of the ne.


    He didn''t waste time at all. If one is to harm themselves or do something painful, it is better to do it as fast as possible. So that the ordeal will be over soon. He did the same here. He breached the barrier at the top of the ne as quickly as possible. It was like going through a film of force. Then he appeared within the void between nes.


    There is no divine ne attached to the Virut ne anymore so he was able to leave the ne without any issues or interference. The Virut ne looked like arge obscured bubble within a sea of nothingness. There are otherrge bubbles within this sea. Some of them have rings of light around them that can be seen from outside the realm tree. nes with rings of light are nes with divine nes still attached to them.


    He swam away through the sea of nothingness to the boundary of the realm. Only transcendents can move in this sea of nothingness. They have to use their solidified divine sense to grab thew matrix and pull themselves to move. There isn''t matter in the space between nes but there is thew matrix. Any being that needs to breathe such as a Mana entity or below will suffocate here. Movement is the least of their troubles.


    He continued to swim away from the bubbles of nes. There is nothing to see but unending darkness. There is no sound so it ispletely quiet. It makes for a dreary journey. It didn''t help his mood since he might just be going to his doom right now. But he continued. He doesn''t know when the boundary of the realm ends but he knows that it will end. He kept swimming until he reached this boundary.


    He knew when he exited the boundary of the realm because his environment changed suddenly. He was surrounded by nothingness before but then he swam head-first into an ocean of void energy. The progress didn''t uplift his emotions. Void energy made the nothingness feel better. He actually felt suffocated by the pressure around him.


    Void energy is oppressive and corrosive. It isn''t light like Origin energy. It is very heavy and powerful. He felt pressure from the weight of the energy around him. He had to create a barrier around himself to protect him from the corrosive properties but he couldn''t stop from being pressured. It is like he is at the bottom of an ocean which he very well might be. The pressure is trying to break his barrier to get to him. Then it will eat away at his existence and kill him.

 Chapter 802 First Physical Meeting With A World God.

    I hope this doesn''t take long." He said as he signaled for the first sage.


    His barrier won''t hold on for long. He is as strong as a Sovereign but he doesn''t have a concept to resist the corrosive properties of void energy. A titan ofw won''t be able to perfectly utilize their concepts to resist void energy either. They too will be invaded and corroded by the oppressive void energy. It is why Sovereigns are needed if anyone wants to leave the realm tree for the upper realm. He iscking in that aspect so void energy is wearing him down gradually.


    He is not meant to be in the void of the void universe. He can''t survive here. It is just a matter of time before he dies. The incredible pressure and the corrosion will kill him in a few minutes. He shouldn''t need a few minutes if everything goes well. If everything doesn''t go well then being able to survive indefinitely in void energy won''t help him one bit. Any problem with a world god is surely greater than the ability to survive in the void.


    He looked back and saw the realm tree. It stands tall and looks majestic. He can''t see how tall it is because he is so close to it. The leaf of the realm tree that he came out from fills most of his vision. The rest of the tree can be seen just behind the leaf. He can see enough of the realm tree to know how big it is. It is massive. It is also an indication of how big world gods are. The sight doesn''t fill him with confidence for his uing meeting.


    He will need to approach the leaf he came out from if he wants to enter the Virut ne again. The pressure of his situation and the dread of the uing meeting is making the leaf look pretty enticing right now. Everything around him is telling him he doesn''t belong here. That he should run back to the safety of the realm.


    "How I wish I could obey the warnings." He thought wistfully.


    He doesn''t need the hostile environment to feel like leaving the void. He is not suicidal so he likes safety. He doesn''t want to be here but he can''t leave yet. So he continued to wait for what he came for. Fortunately, he didn''t wait for long before the sage arrived. He felt it before he saw the first sage.


    He just knew that something powerful wasing. The world changed and he could sense this change. Theing of the sage is an anomaly in the void universe. A world god should not be in the light side of the universe so the light side had to amodate something that shouldn''t be here. Soverick tried to keep his calm. It became increasingly difficult to do so as the changes in the surroundings peaked. Even the light side of the universe is not calm because of the advent of a world god. So it is very difficult for him to be calm.


    The world was shaking, literally. He felt the intense vibrations in thew matrix and in the world of manifestation too. The ocean of void energy became turmoil as if it is preparing for a storm. Random energy conversions began to ur and matter began to transform without impetus. Something is throwing the world out of bnce. The unpleasant changes intensified until the perpetrator appeared.


    A titanic white battle sage monkey tore space apart and stepped through it. It rose from the tear in space like some god and towered above Soverick in all its glory. He couldn''t see the full size of the monkey at all. It is that big.


    Soverick''s heart sank. His tenuous hold on his calmness slipped and broke apart. Fear filled every inch of his existence. But he didn''t run away. He stayed still and expected his death or worse.


    The sage arrived with a body instead of a simple manifestation. It does not bode well for him. No entity that isn''t immortal can witness this sight and not feel fear. Even immortals are smart enough to fear world gods. As for him, every instinct that he has screamed immensely danger.


    It is not a matter of being smart. It is a matter of basic self-preservation and the need to continue living. There is no doubt about it. He knows it down to his non-existent bones that he is not safe at all. He can die at any moment. Or worse, he can die forever.


    "It is such a nice day today." The sage said to him.


    "Yes, it is." He managed to say.


    He was expecting some shenanigans from the sage. Something like being frozen or killed immediately. He didn''t expect them to be making small talk at all. That didn''t make him feel safer though. It only made him more alert. Which is futile in his situation.


    Being alert and suspicious won''t help him at all. If a world god wants to y and toy with him before he kills him, then that world god will y and toy with him before he kills him no matter how alert he is to that possibility.


    The sage remarked idly, "The world continues to move on and change is inevitable. Only those that can go along with the times will survive the iing tides."


    "Yes, yes." He said. Then he gathered his courage. "So what''s the deal? Are you going to give me what I came here for or not?" He asked.


    He is in a hurry right now. And as much as he will like to engage in chit-chat with the sage, he doesn''t have the time. Yes, he should be afraid and yes, he is very afraid. But that doesn''t mean he will roll over easily. Fear and courage can go hand in hand. It is important that they do since fear is of no use.

 Chapter 803 A Lot Of Whys.

    The sage stared at him with twopletely white eyes. Soverick did not wither under the stare. Instead, he focused on the fact that the eyes are not white. They just look white just like light looks white. Those eyes are made up of millions of pupils too small to see individually all possessing different colors but arranged in such a way that they blend together and look white.


    In fact, the entire white fur of the monkey is made in such a way. It is a mixture of tiny vibrating strings weaved in a mesh of delicate intricacy and bnce. It reminds him of the white world and the multicolored fabrics ofyeredw that makes it up. It is not a surprise that it is so. The supremew of the first sage is the first sage after all.


    The sage spoke. "Hmm. Why did youe? You are either an ignorant fool, a brave fool, or a confident fool. Which is it?"


    "I am neither. I am simply ready to sacrifice myself. I am no fool. I know how precarious my current situation is and I have no delusions about what could go wrong. As for you, you either give me what I want or you will regret it." He stated confidently.


    If there is one thing that he is confident about right now, it is that he knows he is in big trouble. He is no fool who believes that the sage won''t harm him. He is not ignorant of his situation, or have false confidence, or is stupidly brave. He is just a clone of a greater entity and he is willing to sacrifice himself for the good of that entity.


    The first sage didn''tugh. He didn''t even chuckle. He took what Soverick said seriously.


    "Is that so? You are sure that I will regret it if I don''t give you your reward?" The sage asked.


    The question seemed harmless. The tone itself that the sage used to ask it was casual. It was as if the sage was mocking Soverick. But Soverick felt the hostility in the question. He didn''t get it directly from the sage. The world sensed the hostility in the sage and he sensed it from the world. So he got the underlying message. The sage is ready to crush him like a bug if he says one wrong word or lies.


    He threatened the sage and the sage threatened him. It is tit for tat. That didn''t stop him from speaking his mind. He said, "I am not alone. I have people who will avenge me."


    The sage said nothing. The world became quiet. The rolling waves of void energy stilled. But the pressure intensified. This is not the calm before the storm. This is a silent storm ready to explode on to him. The sage is not currently doing anything to him but Soverick doesn''t feel peace. He feels as if a guillotine is hanging over his head. The sage is judging him. He will die if he is found wanting.


    Suddenly the sage spoke and the pressure disappeared. "I always thought you were a loner. You behaved as such and kept to yourself. I didn''t think you had people who will avenge you. I would have taken you for a liar but I know that you''re telling me the truth. You believe so and the river of fate believes it too. I will really regret it if I were to kidnap you and keep you in stasis forever. I wonder how that will happen."


    Soverick kept quiet. He has said his piece. He didn''te here with confidence. He knows he is weak and powerless but he is not without help. He has made his situation clear. It grates on him but it is up to the sage to make the decision. He is the weak, passive party in this encounter.


    The sage broke the silence. "There are several reasons why I should apprehend you. I want to know that entity within you. I want to know if you''re that entity or if it is different. I want to know how you resurrect. I want to know if you''re a clone of someone and I want to know whose clone you are. I want to know why you are here and in many ces at once. I want to know what you have to do with a world beast. I want to know why you have ess to cosmic energy. I want to know why I can''t see your entire life. That is a lot more whys than I amfortable with. I also don''t want to give you your reward. So tell me. Should I apprehend you?"


    Soverick remained silent. The first sage''s three tails swung around in agitation. Then they vibrated and became four. The four shook again and became five tails. Soverick doesn''t know what is happening. But whatever it is, it is not good for thew matrix. What seemed like harmless swinging of the tails is actually causing thew matrix to shred.


    "There is only one reason why I shouldn''t. I can apprehend you but I will regret it. Regret is a big deal to a world god. It is making me further curious. I want to know how apprehending a king ofw will make me regretful. So what do I do then?" The sage asked.


    Soverick still didn''t say anything. Anything he says can and will be used against him so he kept quiet.


    "I will tell you something. I admire you. You know how to sort out your priorities. I think you have the potential to be powerful. But power is not everything in the world. In this world are the yers and the pawns. Anyone can be yed both willingly or unwillingly, even world gods. The realm lord is using world gods to protect himself but we allow it to happen because we want something from him. That can change when he finally seeds. All the world gods that he has used cane back to bite him."

 Chapter 804 Some Advice.

    "It is just like this simplepetition. It was simple to me but it was big to the participants. But they can never fathom how really big thepetition is. They were yed and they remained ignorant of that fact. You were also yed but here you are, outside the realm trying to get something that you had the gall to negotiate with a world god for from that same world god that orchestrated your death. It is very impressive honestly."


    "As I said, you''re either an ignorant fool, a confident fool, or you''re a very brave fool. But you say you are not. Howe? You were used and you know it. And yet, you stille forward with the willingness to die. I want to know why? Why will a genius like you be willing to sacrifice himself? I really want to know why. But I don''t want to have youe back to bite me like the world gods are going toe back and bite the realm lord."


    Soverick maintained his silence while the first sage also became silent. The world hadpletely stilled now. It is like the effect of the nullification domain except even thew matrix is frozen. Only those two white eyes and six tails are moving. The eyes of the first sage sh asionally and move around rapidly as they observed him. Soverick knew then that the first sage is definitely using some scrying ability on him.


    The first spoke after seeing enough. "I have decided then that my curiosity is not worth it. I want to settle our karma right here and now. I won''t tempt fate any longer. So I will let you go. But do you still want me to give you what you are owed?"


    Soverick finally spoke. "Yes. That''s what I came for. Without it, my Oath will not go into effect and I and my allies will be forced to seek reparations for the injustice that I endured elsewhere."


    The first sage chuckled then. "Fine. You will get what you are owed. Allow me to give you some advice. Power is not everything. You need something else if you don''t want to be a pawn. And most importantly, do not threaten a world god that is already finding it difficult to hold back from shredding your existence and getting to its foundation."


    The sage said before he tore space again and left.


    Soverick watched the sage leave. He didn''t let himself breathe a sigh of relief even when he was sure that the first sage is truly gone. The absence of the crushing pressure didn''t alleviate his fears one bit.


    Instead, he turned his attention to the package that the sage left behind. It is a small spherical object. He reached to it with his divine sense to probe it. The sphere didn''t resist him at all. His divine sense entered it and joined with it easily. He realized what the sphere is immediately.


    "Oh no." He eximed.


    His divine sense detached from it immediately and he flew away from it in fear. He looked and waited but nothing happened. The sphere remained inert as it floated in the void. He calmed down in the silence that ensued. Then he grinned after understanding the first sage''s n.


    He thought to himself with a sneer. "That sly old bastard."


    The sphere is a world fragment. It contains the two things that should be his. He should have been happy that he got a world fragment too but he is not because it is a world fragment made by the sage. It contains the supremew of the first sage. That''s why he was shocked at first. He expected it to be a ploy. But nothing happened so he realized the ploy isn''t short-term. The presence of the supremew means the sage will be able to keep track of the two things within the world fragment and what he does with them.


    He is out here in the void. He can''t return to the realm tree with the package. That means he must take it somewhere in the void and give it to someone or someone wille and collect it from him seeing as he can''t survive well in the void. The sage will be able to use the exchange to find out who he is in contact with.


    All that speech about fate and settling karma is just a smokescreen. It is true that the sage will regret it but he hasn''t given up yet. He wants to find out what Soverick is relying on first before he makes a move. The first sage is being cautious and sneaky.


    Soverick smiled and said, "What a thieving conniving bastard. Unfortunately, the jokes on you."


    His body broke apart after saying that. Some ethereal tentacles burst out of his body and grabbed the world fragment. These dark tentacles filled with dots of light pulled the world fragment into the mess of Soverick''s body and the hole within it. Legion 7 used his body as an anchor to tear space and drag the world fragment away. Void energy destroyed the traces of everything and the location returned to serenity.


    He is not without a course of action. He is willing to die again not to give the sage what he wants. It is all so that the first sage won''t acquire more information about Legion-1. Fortunately, he didn''t have to die again. His spirit was saved by Legion-7. What he gave up was the host or the vessel he is inhabiting. The Sage''s expectations will be subverted just as it happens to the things that Legion-7 gets involved in. The person that enved Legion-7 is still mad about that.


    "Time to go and meet Shannon." He said after he woke up in a new body.


    Soverick''s consciousness was removed from his current body so he didn''t have to die. Then he was deposited in a new body in the Virut ne. It is to maintain a presence within the Virut ne and to meet with his former director of academics at the Ghastorix Academy.

 Chapter 805 The Search For A Star.

    Soverick received a message some time ago from director Shannon about passing on her legacy to him. He has been busy with learning to forge so he didn''t have time for her. He has time for her now. He can''t return to his previous life of forging and research since he is supposed to be dead.


    Her concept of virtual creation will go well with his understanding ofws in helping him and all of Legion be the best titans ofw that they can be. That is for the future. As for now, he will have to avoid public sightings and focus on fusing hisws together to form a concept.


    He woke up in a new body and got dressed. He found a type of flexible armor among the possessions in the house. It is in the form of a band of a long and thin ck fabric which he has to roll tightly around his body. It covered every inch of his body. It even covered his head and his facial features. The armor wrapped around him and made him look like a ck mummy. He got a ck cloak that he wore before he left the house. Then he scuttled about in the city like some fugitive that doesn''t want to be seen.


    "I used to be a celebrity that will be worshipped wherever I go. Now, I am not supposed to be alive and I have been shamed in death. But it was worth it. I would do it all again if I could." He said as he disappeared from the small city he woke up in.


    Legion considers how things turned out to be worth it. Just thew of order that he got from the sage and the serpentine world god makes his suffering worth it. He was used by the sage who obviously had no intention of letting him go after being used. He also lost his title as the child of the ne and was also disgraced but he managed toe out of it with something worthwhile.


    The title was a means to an end and the end was to be someone of sufficient authority within the ne so that he will have a significant influence on the war during the era of conquest. He is a sage now with some amount of authority within the racial council so he doesn''t need the influence of the title. The title of child of the ne was going to be temporary anyway.


    The title brought him infinite origin energy but he doesn''t need it anymore. Legion-1 and Legion-9 are capable of doing that now with the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. The power boost from the title would have been great to have. Losing it means he will have to find his own source of power then.


    He will only settle for a power that ispletely his and cannot be taken from him. It will be a source of power that will be with him when he bes an origin god and maybe more. It is possible to acquire a power that is theirs with the things he got from the sage.


    The world spark and the world engine will be used for great things by Legion. The world engine is very powerful and will be easy to use but the world spark is practically useless. Only demon gods can bear to use something like it. Any other person that uses it will gain power but they will also die with the universe.


    He knows that a demon god can use a world spark to be a world ender but he put on a show to refuse the world spark. He belittled it and even asked the first sage for information in addition to the world spark. There was no way for the first sage to know that he knows a demon that will appreciate a world spark without trying to kill Soverick to get it.


    The first sage wasn''t the only one ying tricks during their negotiation. So Legion will find a use for the world spark and grow stronger. They will then visit retribution on the sage when they are strong enough and when the opportunity presents itself.


    As for the first sage, he noticed how Soverick escaped. He wasn''t upset too much. He observed to himself. "This Legion is an enigma. It is a previously unseen anomalous existence. It is also a dangerous existence. I must be very careful going forward."


    He already tried and failed to scry Soverick. It should be easy to scry Soverick now that he is not the child of the ne anymore and doesn''t have the protection of the ne. But it wasn''t easy at all. The first couldn''t get a clear picture. All he got were fragments. A star seemed to be blocking his vision. The star was too bright to look past. The first sage didn''t understand what he was looking at. But he understands that Soverick is more than one.


    The first sage thought to himself, "At least, I made sure that he got an iplete realm heart. Now I just have to watch out for him acquiring the remaining one."


    He is not happy with the oue of the negotiation but he is satisfied because he has prevented Soverick from acquiring all the necessary fragments needed to be a world god.


    It is his belief that Soverick is trying to acquire the world fragments to be a world god. It doesn''t have to be for Soverick''s personal use. It could be that Soverick is trying to get the fragments from someone else. But since Soverick didn''t get a world seed, he will need to get it from somewhere else. That will create an opportunity for the first sage to acquire more information about Soverick and whoever he is working with.


    It is an avenue of information that might be of help if his current trip doesn''t work out. He is on his way to inspect the stars around the realm of high heaven. The first sage might not understand that the star he is seeing in Soverick is arge body of cosmic energy, but he knows that Soverick is in the realm of high heaven and therefore might be somehow rted to the stars of the realm. That is just simple deduction.

 Chapter 806 A Dead Rival.

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    A Few Days After The Death Of Soverick Ghastorix.


    The death of Soverick Ghastorix hit some people more than others. His immediate family members didn''t care that much about his death. Death is amon thing. While his death is notmon, they aren''t especially emotionally attached to him for them to care much about the circumstances of his death. The one that reacted to the news of his death in any way is Ghaster.


    Ghaster was distraught for many days after the death of Soverick. He walked about in a daze for days. He was always muttering iprehensibly to himself. It was like he lost his soul and motivation for life. People that didn''t know him enough thought he was mourning the loss of his brother. His family members know that isn''t the case.


    "He can''t be dead. That''s preposterous. That Salvini couldn''t have defeated him much less kill him. Something is off here. She must have schemed against him somehow." Ghaster muttered to himself.


    He can''t believe that Soverick is dead. The news of Soverick''s death came as a shock to him. Soverick is someone who he thought could never die. He thought Soverick was undefeatable so he was very surprised when he heard he was defeated by Salvini. He knows a little about Salvini and her brothers so he knows that Salvini shouldn''t be able to defeat Soverick. He finds the entire thing suspicious.


    Soverick didn''t use his boost and he was suppressed by the arena but he still beat Salvos. Salvos is supposed to be the strongest among the current generation of sages so how did Salvini, the weakest of them defeat and kill Soverick? It doesn''t help that the said fight took ce in the arena when everyone had gone. The sage said he removed the resurrection option so that the honor of the challenge will be upheld and that''s why Soverick didn''t resurrect after death.


    He can''t believe that kind of story when he witnessed the prowess of the paragons and Soverick''s strength. So how is it that Salvini defeated Soverick? That question always brings him back to what Salvos and Salvin told him about their sister. They always said that she is a snake and that she shouldn''t be trusted. They told him that Soverick is in trouble but he never believed them. Then this happened. He finds it iprehensible.


    He tried to exin his confusion away. "Maybe I am overthinking this. Maybe she was just hiding her strength. She is the bloodline of the sage after all. Scheming is in her blood."


    Every exnation for the death of Soverick alwayses back to the bloodline of who killed him. Salvini has the bloodline of the sage so he believes that she must be strong and what she did must be good for the ne. He respects the bloodline too much to suspect foul y. She must have beaten him in some way that he can''t think of.


    "Maybe he had a weakness and she exploited it. That will exin how she beat him. She must be very strong." He assured himself.


    That''s how he spends most of his days. He goes through a cycle of disbelief, confusion, and eventual conviction only to repeat it all over again. Mih and Ghoto tried to help him move on. They took turns trying to convince him about how Soverick''s death can happen to anyone so he should cherish his life more. Litori didn''t bother putting in any effort in helping him. Her life has not been changed in any way by Soverick''s death and Ghaster''s descent into madness wouldn''t affect her either so she doesn''t care.


    Ghaster wasn''t muttering this particr day. He has been very quiet. He stood by the window of his room and looked out into the city. This window is the one that Soverick used to sit on as a baby when they lived together. Soverick would sit on it and watch the city or the squabbling babies. He would watch them without interfering no matter how much they bruised or injured each other.


    This is also where he met Hadrick for the first time. A vine entered the house and fed him with vitality to heal the injuries he sustained in his fight against litori. Staying here brought back some pleasant memories. He can''t help but feel nostalgic.


    He looked into the city now without focusing on anything in particr as he thought about their past. Mih walked in and stood beside him. She waited a while but he didn''t respond to her presence. He didn''t seem to have sensed her so she ced a hand on his shoulder to draw his attention. He nced at her for a brief moment before he turned his attention back to the city.


    Mih said to him, "You miss him don''t you?"


    Ghaster turned his attention to her. He looked at her as if she is mad. He had a look of incredulity and genuine concern for her mental state. He even asked her.


    "Are you alright mother?"


    He believes that her question begs his own question. How will she say that to him if she isn''t mad or going crazy? How can she even think that he misses Soverick?


    She smiled at him. "I am fine. Thank you for asking. I meant that you miss what he represents to you."


    He shook his head and denied her. "I don''t miss anything about him. I am d he is gone. I am just surprised about how he died."


    She nodded in understanding. Then she exined herself, "I didn''t say you liked him. You just miss him as a rival. He has been a big part of your life. He represents an obstacle that you wanted to ovee. His death means you won''t be ever able to beat him. You''re aimless now that he is gone."


    Ghaster wanted to refuse her at first but he began to see some truth in what she was saying. She is still wrong about why he is sad like this but she is right about how he won''t be ever able to defeat Soverick.

 Chapter 807 A New Rival.

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    "Maybe you''re right." Ghaster conceded.


    He has been feeling a little down ever since Soverick died. Maybe it is because he didn''t know what Soverick meant to him until he lost his rival. Maybe that''s why he feels aimless, lost, and without motivation.


    "But so what if you are right?" He asked, "Soverick was the greatest battle sage monkey since the time of the sage. It has even been announced that he has be a sage for his talents and his contribution to the battle against the Vipers. He is the greatest rival one can ask for but now he is dead and I have no one else to sharpen myself against. How am I to move on with my life?"


    He went on an unexpected tirade. He didn''t know he had so much to say about Soverick until he started speaking. It was then that he realized how much Soverick meant to him.


    He sighed. Then he asked, "What should I do?"


    Mih gave the suggestion that she has prepared for this attempt to cheer Ghaster up. "What you need is a new rival. You need someone you can aim to beat"


    Ghaster nodded. "That sounds like a good idea."


    Mih was encouraged. "Isn''t it? I rmend you choose the current greatest battle sage monkey of our generation."


    Ghaster''s eyes widened in realization. "You don''t mean Salvini do you?"


    Mih gave a nod of affirmation. Her answer made him gawk.


    "But she is of the lineage of the sage."


    Mih folded her arms against her chest as she asked him. "So what? What if she is? Does it mean that she can''t be your rival? Does that mean that you can''t beat her?"


    Ghaster made another attempt to convince her of the absurdity of her proposal. "But she is the child of the ne."


    She moved closer to him."Wasn''t Soverick also a child of the ne? Didn''t you fight him?"


    "That''s different. I didn''t know what it meant to be the child of the ne back then. I was ignorant so I fought him. I am not ignorant anymore."


    She moved her face close to his and looked him in the eye. "Are you afraid of her?"


    He looked away from her and avoided her gaze. He is afraid of Salvini. It is not the kind of fear and dread that he had for Soverick. Soverick was an insurmountable mountain to him. Soverick was an obstacle that he wanted to scale but will never punish him for failure in his attempts. He could always expect to be ignored by Soverick or looked down upon. But if Soverick pays attention to him, only then he will experience pain.


    Throughout it all, he respected Soverick. Even now, he admires Soverick despite the pain that Soverick caused him thest time. He knows enough now that Soverick could have been much more severe in his treatment. The strong are always respected. He has always respected Soverick since they were kids but he didn''t want to admit inferiority. That''s what caused him to be in conflict with Soverick.


    He fears Salvini but he doesn''t have any feeling of respect or admiration for her because he doesn''t think she is strong. He considers Soverick to be a mountain while he considers Salvini to be a giant snake. Soverick is stoic, strong, and somewhat predictable while Savini is sneaky and unpredictable.


    His opinion of her is not only because of what her brothers told him but also what others said of her. Everyone in the ne saw how she hunted the people of her arena. They saw how she yed her brother against Litori and then killed Litori. They also saw how she instigated conflicts in the 2nd challenge in order to eliminate everyone else and be thest man standing. She is devious and sneaky. If not for Soverick being in the same Arena with her, then she would have won.


    It is not that she is not strong. He believes she is strong since she has to be to ovee Soverick. The major reason why he dreads her is that Soverick fell to her. If someone as strong as Soverick can fall prey to her then what about him? So he finds it very preposterous that his mother wants him to go after her.


    But he won''t tell his mother that he is afraid of her. So he said, "Fine. I''ll make her my rival. I''ll fight her with every opportunity that I get."


    Mih didn''tment about his shifty behavior or the pause he took before answering her or the fact that he didn''t answer her question. She nodded and said, "That''s good."


    The two of them then stood together by the window to watch the city. They continued like this for a while. A peaceful silence settled amidst them.


    "I thought that Salvini girl liked Soverick. That''s what I saw on the show during thepetition. To think that she would be the one to kill Soverick." Mih shook her head in wonder. "What a world."


    What she said did not make Ghaster marvel. He would have shivered involuntarily if he were not in perfect control of his body. What Mih said reinforced how cunning Salvini is. She did and said things that made it feel like she liked Soverick. Then she killed him at the end of the day.


    ''Maybe that''s how she got him. She made him let his guard down only to backstab him.'' he thought in fear.


    He decided then and there that he is only going to pretend to his mother that Salvini is his rival. Earlier when he lied, he also nned to put in some half-hearted effort to make his false conviction look real.


    He thought it was a good n that will fool anyone including his mother. But now, he is not going to take the rivalry seriously or half-heartedly lest he jeopardizes his life. If anything, he will try to avoid Salvini as much as possible so that he won''t end up like those that Soverick has traumatized.

 Chapter 808 Nostalgia For What Is Lost.

    Ghaster knows that he is rash but even he has survival instincts. His instincts tell him to stay away from Salvini so that''s what he will do. He thought he had a chance against Soverick. Now he knows he was wrong and that he was courting death. He won''t make that mistake twice.


    They returned to silence again and watched the city. They aren''t seeing anything interesting but Ghaster just felt like watching the city. He is feeling nostalgic and depressed and watching the city makes him feel a little better. It reminds him of a better time. A time when he was young and carefree and when Hadricks used to sneak him treats, y with him and give him vitality.


    Ghaster sighed at the memory. Mih is wrong about why Ghaster is feeling so down. He is sad because he is missing someone or something. It is not because he is missing Soverick as a rival. He is confused but he doesn''t really know why. Soverick''s death is the major thing that has happened recently. That''s why he is fixating on it.


    But something else has happened in the Ghastorix main city that he doesn''t know about. It is a monumental event that is making him feel a sense of loss. It is also why looking at the city is making him feel a little better. If he knew about what happened in the city a few days ago, then he will understand why he is like this.


    There is someone missing in the City. It happened a few days ago. Ancestor Guntu, the eye of destruction, came to the city on a secret and important mission. It was a few hours after the death of Soverick was announced. Guntu didn''te alone. He came with a hundred other Origin gods. Only 10 of them are in the open. The rest are disguised and hiding around. They will only appear if needed.


    The 100 origin gods didn''t enter the city. They stayed outside and dispersed so as not to draw attention to themselves. Then the 10 origin gods with Guntu included entered the city and went down to the bottomyer of the city. They passed through the only ess point in the barrier that lead to the vast underground forest.


    The forest seems to be under the open sky. There is sunlight cascading down from above and clouds can be seen moving across the sky. It doesn''t look like a forest underneath a city at all. At least the creatures living in it don''t think so. The forest is their home and to them, it is real as real can be.


    The forest is real and so are the creatures within it. The singing birds and the chirping insects are real. There are numerous exotic creatures and nts that live in this forest. They were brought from other nes to liven up the forest and make them beautiful. Some of them belong to the Virut ne but have long gone extinct. There are herbs here that will set titans ofw to war.


    There are different types of trees in this forest but a certain type of short trees are most prominent. They are many of them too. Each different tall tree has a short tree beside it. These short trees are in the shadow of the tall trees. It could be that the tall trees have stunted the growth of the short trees or the short trees were nted directly next to a tall tree.


    Guntu and the other 9 origin gods that apanied him passed through the forest toward their objective. They can see far into the nature of the forest so they can''t get lost. They know that the clouds in the sky are real but the sky isn''t real. They know that one of the rabbits in the small family of 7 blue rabbits munching on leaves and watching them is not real. Only 6 of the rabbits are real.


    They can see the false trees and the fake path produced by the protective array of the forest. They can see all this because they are Origin gods. It will be very difficult to fool their soul-force-empowered senses. Origin gods can see beneath the world of manifestation so any illusion or deception based on the world of manifestation cannot fool them. They are a part of thew matrix after all.


    They shouldn''t need their innate ability to perceive the world to navigate the forest in the first ce. They should have been allowed to pass directly through since they are guests here, not enemies. But Ancestor Hadrick wanted them to test the defenses. So they are testing the defenses despite the fact that it is dying them.


    They can plough through the defenses to save time but that will be destroying the defenses and not testing it. There is a difference between the two. Ancestor Hadricks was very clear about what it wanted from them. They have to take time for testing and be careful about it. No one wants to get into trouble with the ancestor so they chose to simply test the defenses.


    They found Ancestor Hadrick at the center of the forest. It is a very short tree with dark green bark and leaves. The tree is also crystal-like as if it is made of stone, not wood. Its color and form make it look like a tree carved out of a giant emerald gem. The tree is short at about a meter tall and it has a small amount of leaves but its trunk is thicker than it is tall.


    Ancestor Hadrick''s main body looks like a green fat drum of precious stone that grew some leaves. It is more of a stump of a once gigantic tree. It would have looked like a stump but it didn''t have its top cut off. It just looks like a really short but wide tree.


    All 10 origin gods bowed at the tree and offered greetings.


    Hadrick greeted them, "Wee to my humble abode."


    Guntu stepped forward and spoke, "We havee to escort you ancestor Hadrick."


    He is the oldest and the strongest one that was sent here so he is in charge. He is not the oldest descendent but he has been around in the realm tree for a while so he was made to lead this small squad. It is so that a new face will not attract attention. He has been here for a while and he participated in the war against the gods. No one will suspect the Ghastorix family of being up to something if they see him.

 Chapter 809 A Tirade Against The Propaganda.

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    The tree spoke in his mind and asked him. "Guntu, my boy. Is everything in ce? It doesn''t look like everything is in ce. There are only 10 of you here. Where are the rest? Don''t tell me you half-assed this."


    He nodded and replied. "No, ancestor. Everything is in ce. There are 90 others outside the city. They will apany us to reach the void..."


    Hadrick interrupted sharply, "Did you say 90? I asked for 1,000 guards and you bring me 100? It seems you don''t really care about me. You''re all grown up now so you don''t want to listen to me anymore. And you''re immortal so you don''t care if you die. I am not immortal. Poor me. I will be abducted on the way. I am sure of it."


    Guntu didn''t want to interrupt Hadrick but he couldn''t bear to listen to the tirade andmentations. They are also on a tight schedule so he interrupted.


    "We didn''t disregard your safety ancestor. We care a lot about your safety. We have 100 origin gods here. They will apany us outside the void where we will meet the remaining 900. We didn''t bring that many Origin gods to the ne so that we won''t draw attention. The 100 we brought has been noticed already. But no one will investigate us openly because of the death of the former child of the ne."


    Hadrick was pleased to hear that there are really 1000 origin gods meant to guard it. It has always been cowardly and cautious of everything. It wouldn''t move from here unless it is sure that nothing will harm it after leaving. So it pleased it to hear that theyplied with its request. But its pleased mood plummeted at the mention of Soverick''s death.


    Hadrick said angrily. "Which death? Soverick didn''t die like somemon street rat. He was murdered. His death was orchestrated right from the start. I was there when they came to ask him to attend thatpetition. They wanted him to attend so that they will kill him. It was all nned by the sage."


    Hadrick doesn''t believe the propaganda one bit. It was there when Soverick first refused to attend thepetition. It was there when people from the empire of the sage brought the invitation. Soverick refused them. Hadrick was there when they finally sent Salvini and some other geniuses from other Empires. It was then that Soverick agreed to attend. He went to thepetition just as they asked. But he didn''t return from it.


    What could be so special about a messypetition that he must attend? Could it be a coincidence that they begged Soverick to attend only for him to not return and the girl that came to convince him suddenly became the child of the ne? No. It couldn''t be a coincidence and Hadrick refuses to believe it is.


    Hadrick is also not one of the people that will blindly believe the lineage of the sage because of respect and blind faith. It has been alive before the first sage was even born. So it will say its piece of mind without holding back. And in this case, where Soverick is one of the few friends it has, it has a lot on its mind to say.


    Hadrick continued with slight agitation, "I mean we all saw what he did. We saw how well he could fight. Didn''t you see how he destroyed that dragon? Didn''t you see how he demolished those paragons? That''s just what we know about his strength. If I know Soverick and I believe that I do, then he must be hiding more of his strength. How can that weak little cross-eyed girl defeat him? It is all bullshit. It isplete and utter bullshit. They must take us for fools. They must believe we are idiots. I am no idiot and I won''t be treated like..."


    Guntu interrupted Hadrick again, "Please ancestor Hadrick, refrain from besmirching the sages and their lineage."


    "But they besmirched Soverick with this scandalous death. He didn''t even get to die with the honor he deserved. This is shameful. This is utterly andpletely..." Hadrick was about to resume its tirade.


    Guntu spoke up quickly, "We can''tin about what happened no matter how it happened. There are a lot of people who know that something is fishy with the way he died but we of all people can''tin."


    "Why not?" Hadricks asked.


    Guntu looked around shiftily. He said, "You know why."


    Hadrick snapped impatiently at him. "If I knew why I wouldn''t be asking you."


    "Fine." Guntu sighed before he continued. "Because the first sage gave Ancestor Ghastorix a world engine."


    Ancestor Ghastorix had long reached the requirements to be a world god. He has a supremew that is strong enough to resist thew matrix of the universe. He has also absorbed enough energy to liberate his existence from thew matrix. He has descended past thew matrix and found his life anchor. All he needed were the resources and tools to build a world.


    All Origin gods would like a realm heart but not everyone can get one. A realm heart will enable them to make the best world that they can but since they can''t get one, they have to make do with second-rate materials.


    Those second-rate materials are also expensive and some of them have to be crafted with special knowledge. After all, they are supposed to be the foundation of worlds. They can''t be ordinary materials. Most of them can only be bought from some world gods which adds anotheryer to the difficulty of acquiring them.


    Some Origin gods will decide to wait for the era of conquest so that they will have a chance at gaining the realm lord''s favor but that is a long shot. It is not certain to work out. A realm Lord is needed for the era of conquest but it is uncertain when the realm will gain a realm Lord or if it will ever gain a realm lord.

 Chapter 810 Soverick Was Sold Out.

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    The difficulty of a realm lord appearing is evident in the void universe. There are several realm trees without realm lords and origin gods above all else knows how difficult it will be to create a 6w concept. They couldn''t create one. So are they to wait for someone to create one and be realm lord when they failed?


    The answer to that question is evident. In the void universe, a realm tree with a realm lord appears no more than once among a hundred realm trees. Sometimes, a thousand realm trees are needed to encounter one with a realm lord. That''s at best a 1% chance that a realm tree possesses a realm lord or worse, a 0.1% chance. That is not good enough to wait for.


    Ancestor Ghastorix has been an Origin god for more than a thousand origin cycles before the Monarch of High Heaven was born. He and the really old origin gods didn''t know when the era of conquest wille and they can''t wait based on the remote chance that it wille. He couldn''t wait for something that might never appear.


    The end of the universe ising. If Ancestor Ghastorix is to save himself and the people he cares about, then he has to be realistic. He can''t wait on something that might never happen or bet on making enough significant contributions during the era of conquest. He is just one of the millions of Origin gods that will participate in that war and he can only be in one ce at a time. How is he to stand out?


    All these uncertainties make waiting for the era of conquest look foolish. So Ancestor was willing to reduce his potential for something more realistic and he had been saving towards it. Fortunately, Soverick came along. He became the child of the ne and the racial council approached Ancestor Ghastorix. They gave him a world engine for him to surrender all the rights he had to his descendant.


    In a way, they were offering to buy Soverick from him. The racial council didn''t say it like that but he understood the implications of the offer. He would have no right whatsoever over Soverick and wouldn''t be able toin about whatever they decide to do with Soverick.


    He took the deal because it was a good deal and because he can''t say no. No one in their right mind can say no to the racial council and he certainly wouldn''t have gone to war for a single descendent of his that he doesn''t even know. It is a war that he will surely lose too.


    Besides, the racial council could have gone ahead with their ns for Soverick without his consent. They are stronger than him. But they spoke to him first and offered himpensation. His refusal wouldn''t have changed the oue either way. The first sage will not be deterred by the refusal of one origin god.


    The Ghastorix ancestor also respects the first sage to refuse him. He was there when the Vipers still existed. He fought along with the sages and the first sage to vanquish the Vipers. He respects the first sage too much for him to be an obstacle to something that will benefit the ne.


    So instead of antagonizing the first sage, it was better to take advantage of the situation. He took that deal on behalf of all the Ghastorix family so they can''tin now no matter how much injustice they feel about Soverick''s oue.


    Hadrick understood immediately. "Ah. That''s true. So we have been bribed. Our mouth is supposed to be full because of what has been stuffed into it. Unfortunately, I have a very big mouth and arge appetite. Soverick is worth more than a world engine."


    Guntu coughed awkwardly. That got Hadrick''s attention. It asked, "What is it? Don''t you agree that Soverick is worth more than some world engine?"


    Guntu replied with a question of his own. "Do you know what a world engine is and how much it is worth?"


    Hadrick answered his question. "What''s a world engine and how much is it worth?"


    Guntu sighed. The other origin godsughed at his misfortune. They found the situation funny.


    Hadricks snapped at them. "Is something funny?"


    They froze at the question. Then they hurriedly shook their heads. "Nothing ancestor."


    Hadrick picked one of them out. "B. Do you think you can dare tough at me? I''ll share funny stories about you with all your friends. We''ll see how you like that. Do you remember that time when I used to spank you for stealing?"


    B groaned. "I wasn''t stealing. I was just tasting it. Your spanking was unjust. You were just bullying me."


    Hadricks disagreed. "It is stealing because the pie was not yours and you ate it."


    B insisted, "If she didn''t want people to eat her food then she shouldn''t have left it outside."


    Hadrick retorted, "She ced it outside for it to cool."


    "I beg to differ." B disagreed.


    The two of them began to argue whether B truly stole the 5 tes of pie many origin cycles ago when he was a vitality core refiner. It is a rehashed argument as old as time. Hadrick believes he stole it. B believes he was just tasting the pie and that it doesn''t matter that he ate all 5 tes of pie because he was simply tasting it. He believes that he should be thanked for what he did because he did thatdy a favor. Her pies didn''t even taste good.


    Guntu had to be the voice of reason again. He interrupted the passionate exchange of ideology and philosophy about the concept of ownership. "Let me answer your question ancestor Hadricks. Then you can return to embarrassing B."


    "In a moment," Hadrick said to him. Then it said to the other origin gods, "As for all of you, I am going to tell everyone your deepest darkest secrets. All of the ne will hear of them unless you tell me what was so funny."

 Chapter 811 The Worth Of A World Engine.

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    The 9 of themmunicated amongst themselves and decided on a scapegoat. They have been threatened. And if they know ancestor Hadrick enough, which they do, they know that it will make do with the threat. They don''t want their secrets to reach the ears of some of their immortal enemies. They will literally never hear the end of it.


    If ancestor Hadrick, who hasn''t left the ne ever, can threaten them with their embarrassing secrets after all these years, it will only get bad when someone that can move around the void universe gets a hold of it.


    They pointed to one of them and said, "We wereughing because we remembered the time Densilki sat on a spike instead of a chair."


    It wasn''t what they wereughing about but it actually happened. They used to prank themselves as kids. They made a chair that looked fine but will fall apart once someone sat on it. The buttocks of the unfortunate person will then be forced to impale itself on the spike positioned for that very purpose. Densilki was a mana entity when it happened so he survived the catastrophic damage. They used tough about it and they are bringing it up right now to save their dignity.


    Densilki yed along nicely. Heined, "It is not funny. I almost died you guys."


    Hadrickughed at the memory. It witnessed that particr event and still remembers it. It said to them, "That did happen. It was funny too. Densilki lost a lot of blood from his butt."


    Itughed some more before saying, "I will take it but don''t think that you fooled me."


    If it could re, it would fix a stern re on them right now for trying to get away with their crime.


    Then Hadrick asked the silent Guntu. "So what were you saying about the world engine?"


    Guntu felt bad. This entire situation is making him feel bad. He should not and he should never be the reasonable one. He is a prankster. He is supposed to join in making fun of others and telling jokes. He wants to do all those things but he can''t because of the seriousness of the situation they are in. He is the current leader of the 100 origin gods on this expedition so he has to be responsible.


    His position has made it necessary for him to restrain his impulses and remain level-headed. So he will exin to Hadrick what a world engine is so that it can quitining about Soverick ande with them. He won''t tell them that they should get moving instead of wasting time talking because that will only make Hadrick dig down and refuse to move.


    "A world engine is one of the three important parts of a realm heart. It is in charge of every energy control, transformation, and maniption that takes ce within a ne. It transforms void energy into mana, origin energy, and origin essence at the highest efficiency. It is responsible for producing the power that allows the entire realm tree to operate."


    "Hmm. I have some questions."


    Guntu replied in the calmest and gentlest tone that he can muster. "Go ahead ancestor Hadrick. Ask any questions you have. I promise to answer to the best of my abilities."


    Hadrick began to ask questions. They spoke for a few minutes about the world engine and the realm heart. They spoke about the realm heart and its fragments because Hadrick didn''t know about them either. Guntu made an analogy of the three fragments to make them easily understood. Hepared them to the aspects of existence of an entity.


    The world spark is the body of the realm tree. It gives its form and interacts with the physical world for the realm tree. The world seed is the soul, mind, and consciousness of the realm tree. It is responsible for life and it represents the will of all life within the realm tree. The world engine is the origin. It functions as the power source and energy transformation center of the realm.


    Like a living thing, the body, soul, and energy don''t work alone. Most of the effects we see in the realm tree and its process are due to the interaction of the threeponents. The world spark contains the code and programs that the world engine runs on. The world seed is the bedrock of the realm tree. It is the one that uses the power from the world engine to run and it is given form by the world spark. The three of them work together in harmony to create and maintain a realm tree.


    "I see. So you''re saying that the world engine is needed for a world to run. A world engine can be created by a world god which is very expensive but the one from a realm tree is of the highest quality and is ultra-expensive. Meanwhile, Ghastorix had to use all his savings to acquire a measly life fragment from mother high heaven. He could never have gotten the world engine with the resources that he saved. Is that all?" Hadrick asked Guntu.


    "That''s all."


    "Hmm. In that case, we really shouldn''t beining about what happened to Soverick. Exchanging him for a world engine is totally worth it in my opinion. I am sure that Soverick will be understanding if he got to find out." Hadrick said after understanding the value of the world engine.


    Actually, Hadrick doesn''t think Soverick will be understanding. The Soverick it knows will never be understanding about his death. But Soverick is dead so what does his opinion matter? Hadrick did care about Soverick. But again, Soverick is now dead. It is useless to hang on to feelings that are now irrelevant.


    The ability to move on quickly is a lesson it has learned over the long period of time it has lived. This is not the first time that it is experiencing the death of someone dear to it and it will not be thest. At least, they got a world engine out of Soverick''s death this time. That''s good enough for Hadrick.

 Chapter 812 Escort Mission.

    "Can we go now?" Guntu asked carefully.


    "Yes, we should. I understand why Ghastorix asked for me now. I mustn''t bete." Hadrick said then it pulled itself out of the ground.


    The forest began to rumble. The shaking earth made the trees in the forest sway about. Birds and animals ran about looking for shelter. It looked like an earthquake was passing through the forest. The city above didn''t notice anything. Its foundation is not anchored to the ground but on top of arrays so the vibration from below wasn''t transmitted to them.


    The ten origin gods waited patiently as Hadrick pulled itself up. Some of the short trees scattered throughout the forest sank into the ground and were pulled toward the main trunk. The roots that had been dug far below into the earth and all over the ne were also extracted. All of them were drawn into the main trunk. It took a lot of time because the rootwork is extensive. Hadrick has established them over millions of years after all.


    Guntu tried not toin as they waited. But he allowed himself the freedom toin inwardly, "This is what we should have started with when we came. In fact, this should have been done before we came."


    This waiting is a waste of time to him. It is grating on his nerves that he has to wait for something that could have been done before they got here. But it wasn''t. And instead of it being done when they came to get the ancestor, the ancestor had to have them waste time chatting.


    He kept his opinions to himself and waited with the others. Nothing can be done to speed up the process after all. Hadrick wasn''t in the mood to chat as it coalesced its existence. So the origin gods spoke amongst themselves for the hours it took.


    "Alright, I am done," Hadrick said after packing itself up. "I''ll enter the prepared artifact and you move me."


    The main truck didn''t increase in height as it gained mass. Instead, it widened and became thicker. It remained 1 meter tall while it got as thick as 100 meters in diameter.


    Guntu nodded and produced a ck box. He inputted energy into the box and it began to expand in size. He dropped it to the ground and moved away from it to allow it to grow. The ck box grew bigger and bigger until it became bigger than Hadrick''s weird stump tree form. A ck swirling portal opened beside it which Hadrick forced itself to enter. Then Guntu touched the cube again and willed it to shrink.


    The ck box shrank and Guntu picked it up. He said to the other Origin gods. "I''ve got the package. Let''s move."


    His tone was very serious despite the fact that he is itching to y a prank with the box. He held himself back from doing something that he will regret. He has been trusted with this important responsibility. It is of the uttermost importance to the Ghastorix family. Messing with it in any way will make him offend a world god. He was already afraid of the Ghastorix ancestor before he became a world god and there are very good reasons for that fear. Things will get worse for him if he makes a mistake now with this mission.


    ''I''ll just save it forter. Besides, I don''t want to offend another will of the realm. They are all mean and drunk on power.'' He said to himself.


    He promised himself to prank otherster. He can''t prank Hadrick anymore. Hadrick wouldn''t have moved if Ghastorix hadn''t needed it and if Hadrick too didn''t want freedom. So he can''t mess with the wishes of a world god and the freedom of Hadrick without facing dire repercussions.


    The ck box was personally forged by Hadrick to ensure its safety. If he tinkers with it or with Hadrick in any way then he will have offended the future will of the Ghastorix world. He has offended Hadrick before and also mother high heaven. Hadrick always retaliates but its punishment has never been as severe as the punishments of mother high heaven. That will change soon so he better not offend Hadrick in any way.


    His words reached all 100 Origin gods. They got into formation with him and escorted him into the world above. He also secretly contacted the Origin gods in the void and told them of their progress. All ten Origin gods left the forest and went back into the city. They didn''t draw any attention to themselves. Even the Sovereigns of the family didn''t know that some Origin gods were moving about in the city. The Ghastorix family did this to keep their mission secret.


    Some people noticed the Origin gods. They are all Origin gods themselves so they were able to notice the soul force fluctuations of the covert origin gods of the Ghastorix family but they don''t know what they are doing. Not a lot of people know about Hadrick and those that know about the nt living underneath the city don''t know about what''s special about the nt.


    The only person other than some world gods of the racial council, who noticed the Origin gods and also knew what they are doing is Soverick. He was standing on a mountain very far away from the city. The top of the mountain he is standing on is covered with thick dark clouds so his figure is not visible.


    There is not much to see even if he can be seen. There is a ck cloak covering his entire body. It conceals his figure and makes it difficult to tell what race he is much less how he looks and what his identity is.


    The cloak has a hood that covers his head. Beneath that is a gray durable fabric wrapped tightly around him from head to toe like a mummy. He has a white mask on his face with the number 2 written in ck on it.

 Chapter 813 Half Bread.

    ?


    His nine golden orbs are nowhere to be seen while his conspicuous eyes are hidden by the white mask. Beyond all of these measures is the mirage of space that he created to mask his position. He won''t be visible ideally but whoever is capable of seeing through the camouge he set up will only see a ck-robed person. No one will suspect his identity.


    He stood calmly at the top of the mountain as the icy wind raged violently. Thunder and lightning from the dark clouds ravaged his surroundings. The top of the mountain he is on is currently experiencing a heavy thunderstorm. But none of it affected him. He was unmoved and still like a statue. The world seemed separated from him. He is a lone pir of stability in this storm.


    He would not be noticed by someone close to him even if they look at him directly. He is like a phantom. His eyes pierced through the world to bring his vision to the main city of the Ghastorix main family.


    His vision went past the clouds, past the barrier of the outer city, and past the barrier that separates the forest from the inner city. He saw everything while standing tens of thousands of kilometers away. Nothing could hinder his gaze and nothing could hide before him.


    He saw the Origin gods enter and leave the city. He also saw when Hadrick entered the ck cube. He knows what''s happening and what''s going to happen. His eyes gazed longingly at the ck cube in Guntu''s hands.


    He sighed and said, "Weakness is a sin."


    He knows what''s happening and he also knows how valuable Hadrick is. He would like to have Hadrick to himself but he can''t because he is weak. He can''t fight a single origin god yet and there are 10 of them. He would have ambushed them and attacked them if he could get away with it.


    It would have been possible if he still had his boost from the title of the child of the ne. But that would mean he won''t be able to keep his actions and identity secret. Everyone will know what he is up to once he draws upon the call of support. So his situation will still be the same had the sage not crossed him.


    That''s the problem with temporary power that doesn''t belong to him. He can lose it anytime. The title of the child of the ne was bestowed to him and it was taken away. But Legion is already working to fix it.


    Legion is doing some experiments and is building an artifact of great power and they need a nt that can transform energy to use for the experiments. They can use Legion-9 but that''s the same as cooking your own hand to determine what the flesh of your race tastes like. You can do it and your hand will heal after being cut off but it will be very painful.


    Legion can handle pain but this experiment is very dangerous. The artifact they are building is at a grade that is at least a world fragment. Legion is messing with very strongws of the universe that creates bacsh due to failed experiments. Legion-9 could die and he could die permanently if care is not taken.


    It is not a risk they are willing to take lightly. They want to avoid the risk altogether if possible. That''s where Hadrickes in. They can use Hadrick for the experiment. That means Legion wants to get their hands on Hadrick but their weakness is holding them back from doing that and achieving what they want.


    He then grinned to himself. "Half bread is better than none."


    The strength of an Origin god is not nearly enough to kidnap Hadrick. He will think twice about it if he could fight Origin gods and kill them. Hadrick has always been connected to people in high ces. There are a lot of Origin gods that will rally to aid their Ancestor in times of need. Legion can''t handle that many immortal enemies currently.


    That is besides the fact that ancestor Ghastorix is in the process of bing a world god. To target Hadrick is to offend a world god in the making. So Legion is very wary to target Hadrick themselves. But that doesn''t mean they can''t take advantage of the situation. If they can''t have Hadrick to themselves, then they will just have to make do with something else.


    Soverick continued to watch patiently. He saw the Origin gods leave the city. He saw more Origin gods gather around each other with Guntu in the midst of them. About 100 Origin gods are going to escort him and his precious cargo to the void.


    Everything was going well for the Ghastorixs. The mission was proceeding smoothly. Then he saw Guntu stiffen suddenly. Guntu paused. The team of Origin gods around him also stopped. They all had surprised and uncertain looks on their face.


    Soverick grinned. "It must have started." He muttered.


    He was right about that. That is of course because he knew to expect it. The 900 origin gods of the Ghastorix family in the void were attacked by a thousand enemy Origin gods. It was sudden and it was unexpected. It caused Guntu to be wary while it caused Soverick to smile.


    The attack could be rted to what the Ghastorix family is currently transporting or it could be by chance. The Origin gods of the Ghastorix family don''t know. But they sent the update to Guntu to inform him of the development. He can''t join them in the void right now. So he is to stay in the ne and wait for further updates.


    Soverick raised his head into the sky. He can''t see past the barrier around the realm and into the void but he knows what he would see if his eyesight could reach that far. The 900 origin gods of the Ghastorix family are facing opposition in battle. They are doing well even though they are outnumbered. They are fighting back and they are winning. The fight will take a while but they will win at the end of the day. They are a ferocious bunch. Unfortunately, it won''t be enough.

 Chapter 814 A Heist.

    The origin gods of the Ghastorix family are excellent fighters. They will win in a situation where they are not outnumbered. But Soverick wasn''t impressed.


    He returned his gaze to the group of 100 origin gods and muttered. "They better hurry up."


    He isn''t referring to anyone in particr. His remark can be addressed to both the ambushers and the ambushed. Guntu ordered the group of origin gods to continue moving. They maintained their mobility and moved randomly across the ne. Doing so will make their group more noticeable but it will prevent them from being cornered and surrounded.


    It was a good idea but it didn''t work. The ambushers were ready for them. A thousand origin gods sprang up and converged on them from every direction. It was an avnche of enemies. Guntu''s face paled. He looked at the cube in his hands and sighed. He is stronger than all the attackers. None of them can match him but he has to limit his power or he will draw the attention of mother high heaven. She will punish all of them if he went overboard.


    He can''t use his full power unless he uses his domain. But they are outnumbered. In a situation where they can use their full power, their enemies will easily defeat them. It is a thousand against their hundred after all. So he and the other 99 origin godsbined their soul force and tried their best to resist falling under the domain of the ambushers.


    A terrible but controlled fight ensued in the ne. Guntu fought while hoping for one of their ambushers to be stupid enough to break the limit themselves. That''s the next best thing that he can hope for. Then mother high heaven will have to interfere and punish all of them for fighting in her realm.


    But that won''t happen. The attackers don''t need to break the limit when they outnumber the Origin gods of the Ghastorix family ten to one. They are not the desperate ones. He is desperate but even he can''t break the limit. He has already broken it just recently when he started the war to end the gods.


    Breaking the limit so soon will result in targeted punishment. Mother high heaven will take something precious from all of them as the price for their sin but she will be extra difficult with him. She is very intelligent and nothing can be hidden from her in her ne. She will know what to target and take from them. He can''t risk losing the ck cube to her so he can''t break the limit and neither can any origin god from the Ghastorix family. All in all, he thinks the situation is hopeless for them.


    Soverick thinks so too. He thinks that the situation is hopeless because a hundred can not take on a thousand no matter how skilled they are. The limit of the ne will limit the advantage of skill and encourage the advantage of numbers. His opinion of the situation remained the same when ten thousand origin gods suddenly appeared in the void and reinforced the Ghastorix family.


    "So they hid the bulk of their forces. That is smart. It doesn''t change anything either way." He said when he learned of the situation.


    He can''t see into the void but he still got information about the fight because someone participating in the fight informed him. The Ghastorix family had prepared more than he knew about. Unfortunately, he expected them to have prepared for a lot. So it doesn''t matter despite the fact that the fight in the void is quickly being won by the Ghastorix family.


    It is because the fight going on in the void is just to stall for time. The ambushers did not n to win it. The focal point of this heist is the fight going on the ne.


    The thousand ambushers will quickly overwhelm the 100 defenders and snatch the ck cube from them. The entire thing will devolve into a long drawn-out war once the ambushers have gotten what they came for. That doesn''t concern him though. What concerns him is whether the ambushers get the cube or not.


    The Ghastorix family thought their operation was secret that''s why they didn''t want to draw attention to themselves by bringing too many Origin gods into the ne. The ambushers on the other hand wanted to steal things in the open so uttermost secrecy doesn''t matter to them. They would have brought more origin gods but they just got the information about the extraction. They didn''t have time to prepare for more.


    "What a beautiful sight." He eximed as he watched their fight


    The Origin gods were fighting in the sky. They stayed very far away from the ground so that they won''t damage the ne and offend the racial council. The racial council wille for reparations if they damage the Virut ne. So their fight took ce above theyer of clouds.


    The people on the ground didn''t notice the fight. Very few people can see past the cloudyer and even fewer that can noticed the fight. Either way, it will be toote for anyone to interfere. The 100 origin gods won''tst more than a few seconds before they arepletely destroyed.


    Everything was going well. The information the ambushers got was urate. The number of protectors was correct just like they expected. They will get their hands on the item of interest soon enough. Unfortunately, things went wrong at the moment when they were about to reap the rewards of their thieving effort. Several floating war machines surrounded the fighters. They appeared suddenly and interrupted the fight.


    These machines look like floatingndmasses. They are actually flying fortresses equipped with enough weaponry to tear a suppressed origin god apart in the blink of an eye and there are hundreds of them. They will tear through every origin god here in seconds and they will be able to receive reinforcements too. They also have a powerful barrier around them. It is a barrier that can''t be broken easily by suppressed origin gods.

 Chapter 815 The Charlatan.

    ?


    There are soldiers in the fortresses but they are not the main fighting force. Each fortress can churn out golems in the thousands to field an army. The fortresses are armed to their metallic teeth. This is a force ready for war but they only surrounded the fighters. They didn''t shoot their ranged weapons but they took aim.


    The fighting stopped immediately. Every origin paused in the air. The sight and the feeling of having matter disruptors and energy destabilizers with other assortments of deadly cannons trained upon them froze the origin gods.


    A loud voice rang out from each fortress and said the same thing. "Cease all Hostilities. This is the patrol guard of the Virut ne. Please leave if you''re not an indigene of this ne or exin your purpose to the racial council of the ne. You have a minute to decide. After which, the racial council will be forced to intervene."


    It was an ultimatum. The ambushersmunicated amongst themselves to decide what to do. It didn''t take long for them toe to the conclusion that they have to cease fighting. That much is clear. It is either that or face the might of the racial council.


    Whates next is also obvious. They can either give up and leave or give up and have a discussion with the racial council exining to them what they came for and why they must have it. Stealing is not a big deal amongst Origin gods. If you don''t steal, how else are you supposed to get stuff? Besides, free stuff is always the best stuff to get.


    So the racial council will not criticize them for their robbery. They adhered to safety protocols and didn''t harm the ne. The problem is that this was supposed to be a quick heist. Stopping it now will give the Ghastorix family time to respond better to the situation.


    The cube and what it contains will surely disappear while the ambushers are questioned. The patrol didn''t ask for indigenes to exin their purpose so the Ghastorix family will be able to get away with the cube. The ambushers discussed and chose to give up. They scattered and disappeared.


    Soverick watched all these happen. He also saw that the flying fortresses escorted the Ghastorix family members too.


    He grumbled to himself. "What a bust."


    Then he shrugged and said, "I get paid either way."


    The heist failed because of the interference of the racial council. They were not supposed to interfere. The heist was supposed to happen quickly before any reinforcement can interfere. It is obvious that someone influential in the ne knew about the heist and chose to interfere.


    He looked around and tracked the series of events back to its source. His gaze locked on to a certain battle sage monkey. She has white fur and eyes that change color. She is standing in a room in the capital city of the Empire of Sages. She is also staring right back at him. Her face is scrunched up in a frown. There is a great distance between them but it seems that they can see each other.


    He sneered and said, "What a chatan."


    He can see her clearly. She can only sense his gaze and the direction he is looking from but she is acting as if she can see him. He is the real deal. She is and has always been a chatan. That''s what he thinks of her. Her bing the child of the ne has not changed his opinion of her.


    She mouthed to him. "This is not over."


    He scoffed at her. The failure of the heist doesn''t impact him much. He just wanted to take advantage of the information he had so he sold information about Hadrick to a group of origin gods. He was to be paid three levels of reward for his information. The first payment was the upfront payment for the information. The second one is payment for the validity of his information after it has been confirmed. He would have received a bigger third payment if the origin gods had seeded in getting Hadrick.


    The loss of the third payment is bad but anything is better than nothing. He is just d that he got to use the information he had. It would have hurt him more if he simply watched such a great opportunity pass him by without gaining anything from it. That is just against his principles. Acting on the information will also help Legion.


    The money they gained from the information will be used to research the artifact that they are making.


    He could have sold a world god the information instead of selling it to a group of Origin gods. He will get a better pay that way and the world god might actually seed in kidnapping Hadrick so he will get a third massive pay.


    But he chose not to bring in a world god because they are difficult to find and because he doesn''t want to mess with two world gods at the same time. He was burned severely thest time he did that. What''s worse is that the repercussions are not over yet. Both world gods are angry at him and want him dead. So he chose to restrain himself to one world god this time around.


    He is already crossing his ancestor by sharing this critical piece of information. He doesn''t need to add more to his te. He only managed to secure his life after being used and discarded from thest time he messed with two world gods. There''s no need to test fate anymore.


    Besides, his ancestor is a new world god, he is the prime target if Legion has any reason to target a world god. Now that the thieves have failed, it means that Ancestor Ghastorix will get Hadrick. He will be able to track his ancestor''s world through Hadrick if they bond with each other. Hisw of causality and his eyes can do that.

 Chapter 816 Sovericks Secret.

    ?


    He doesn''t need to know thew of order of ancestor Ghastorix to find the coordinates of his world. It is not like he can ask his ancestor to show him hisw. So in a way, the failure of the heist is also good for him. Salvini thinks she got him today but she is wrong. If she were anything more than a chatan then she will know that she has won no victory over him. Her ancestor yed him around but he also learned to y others around and to never lose. It is as they say, what doesn''t kill you will make you stronger.


    All in all, the way things turned out is not too bad for Legion. He doesn''t feel much anger or hate toward the one responsible for the failure of the heist. He looked at her with apathy. There is no hatred in his masked eyes. Only the calm evaluation of a murderer looking at a dead man walking.


    She mouthed more words to him. She said, "Come to me. We have to talk."


    He sneered and looked away from her. He fixed his gaze on a location within the ne. There is a rock among other rocks in that location. His eyes analyzed that rock and acquired its spatial coordinates. Space warped and shifted as his eyes got to work on the information he has acquired. Then he disappeared from where he was standing on the mountain.


    A rock appeared where he stood and dropped to the ground of the mountaintop. It is the same rock that he analyzed. Meanwhile, he appeared where the rock was. It is a location close to a city. This city is thousands of kilometers from the mountain. His figure warped again. Space enveloped him and he disappeared. He reappeared in a house within the city. This is a short-distance teleportation unlike the first one. He doesn''t need an anchor for it so nothing reced him in his previous position.


    He doesn''t have anything to say to Salvini and neither will he subject himself to her presence or her words. He would like to go and kill her right now but he is not strong enough. He can match a Sovereign without much effort. Meanwhile, she is the child of the ne. The boost from her title can only bring her up to the king ofw level at most. But her title will make it possible to resist him despite her being Several times weaker than him.


    It is obvious that he can kill her easily. But she probably won''t fight him herself and even if she did, she definitely won''t fight him fair. Others will definitely interfere in their match. Unlike him, she has the full backing of the racial council because of her bloodline. That is how she gained control of the defense of the ne. He can''t fight off the floating fortresses yet so she is safe from him for now. He will return to meet her when he can put her down with certainty.


    NAME: Soverick Ghastorix (Legion-2)


    TITLE: Child Of The Virut ne.


    RACE: Battle Sage Monkey.


    BLOODLINE: Unknown Royal bloodline.


    POWER LEVEL: King of Law.


    PHYSIQUE: Iplete Body Of Law.


    HP: INFINITE


    STAMINA: INFINITE


    ENERGY QUALITY: Origin Energy.


    ENERGY QUANTITY: 32,425,279,817


    VITALITY: 1,900,000,000,000


    ENDURANCE: 1,900,000,000,000


    STRENGTH: 1,900,000,000,000


    AGILITY: 1,900,000,000,000


    PERCEPTION: 1,900,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 1,900,000,000,000


    AMPLIFICATION: 100


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 10,000,000,000 (B)


    LAWS


    1. Fire: 100%


    2. Light: 100%


    3. Earth: 100%


    4. Water: 100%


    5. Air: 100%


    6. Darkness: 100%


    7. Space: 100%


    8. Time: 100%


    9. Causality: 100%


    10. Fate: 100%


    11. Soul: 100%


    12. ughter: 100%


    13. Devour: 100%


    14. Blood: 100%


    15. Life: 100%


    16. Creation: 100%


    17. Destruction: 100%


    18. Death: 100%


    19. Lightning: 100%


    SUPREME LAWS


    1. Order: 0.003%


    2. Chaos: 0.001%


    3. EYE OF THE SAGE: 0.1%


    4. VIPER HEGEMONY: 3%


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 100%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): FIRE (DIVINE), WATER (DIVINE), AIR (DIVINE), EARTH (DIVINE), LIGHT (DIVINE), DARKNESS (DIVINE), SPACE (DIVINE), TIME (DIVINE), CAUSALITY (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Healthy.


    He is a king ofw but there is no king ofw like him. People don''t know how different he is because they are ignorant of his capabilities. But even in their ignorance, they are impressed and awed by the fact that he became a king ofw in less than 10,000 years.


    They marvel at the fact that heprehended awpletely in less than 10,000 years whereas those with bloodlines, no matter how special, need at least an Origin cycle. Those with impure bloodlines like his father Ghoto and those without bloodlines like his mother Mih need 10 times that amount.


    But he is far more special than the genius they think he is. He didn''tplete onew in less than 10,000 origin cycles. Hepleted 19ws. Admittedly 5 of them are from Legion-1 and other clones. But the remaining 14 are the results of his own efforts alone.


    He and Helios became transcendents through the help of divine life energy and we''re able to realize the full potential of their Origin souls. Their individual stats started at 1,000,000,000. Then it ballooned as they received the amplification from the universe as the reward forprehendingws.


    Each breakthrough provided an Authority of 10 and a stat amplification of x10. So the breakthrough to the king ofw provided an Authority of 100 and a stat amplification of x100 for eachw that heprehended. Heprehended 19ws which bring his individual stats to 19 X 100 X 1,000,000,000 or 1,900,000,000,000 or 1.9 x 10^12.


    A normal Sovereign ofw has a stat of 1,000,000,000 and an Authority of 10,000 which brings their power to 10^13. His Authority of 100 and stats bring his power output to 1.9 x 10^14. This is why he is sure of fighting a Sovereign to a standstill.


    A/N:


    I hid a secret from you. Did you notice the absence of the stats screen throughout the volume? If you noticed it, now you know why I hid it from you. Soverick Ghastorix is a beast. He is what people call a hidden dragon and crouching tiger. Pay attention to thews that he hasprehended because there is more to it. In thosews lie some secrets and hints about the other clones of Legion.

 Chapter 817 Is A Perfect Eye Possible?

    If not for the elusiveness of thew of Order, Chaos, and some otherws that he can''t get ess to, then he would haveprehended more than 19ws. The VIPER HEGEMONY and EYE OF THE SAGE are two of his prize possessions. He looted those during thepetition.


    It is both a pity and a good thing that he couldn''tplete them. Toprehend the supremew of a world god is to know them. But you can''t know a world god without them knowing you back. After all, to know them is to have their existence within your existence.


    They are theirws. If you have theirws in your mind then you have them in your mind. The simple knowledge of a supreme being is already enough to influence you. If not for the danger of having the first sage grow from within him, then he would have dyed thepletion of thepetition to give himself enough time toprehend the two Supremews.


    Heprehended all of these in such a short amount of time because of his eyes that can see and decryptws ever since he became a transcendent. It is clear now that he hid most of the capabilities of his eye during thepetition. He only used his skill set and his ability to see through things. But his eyes are capable of so much more.


    His eyes are very special. They will be even better if he bes a titan ofw with the 9ws that his eyes contain. But that isn''t good enough for him. Why stop at 9ws when he can do more?


    A 9w concept might be difficult for others but not for him. He is a king ofw that is already capable of building top-grade Origin artifacts. Top-grade artifacts contain concepts. They are artifacts that only special individuals with energy transmutation abilities or control of the kaw matrix like origin gods can build.


    He is neither and yet he can forge concepts and even go further as to create a new type of weapon system. It would probably have been difficult to forge a 9w concept even with his extraordinary ability but the inheritance of Virtual Creation has reduced the difficulty immensely. So why limit himself to 9ws when he can do more and when he hasprehended 18ws?


    He can''t use all 18ws surely but he can definitely use more than 9ws as long as he can create the image of the concept that he needs. Thankfully he is not lost in that aspect either. He already has an image in mind thanks to the supremew of the first sage. His divine ability was created because he influenced his eyes with Origin essence as a fetus. Surely he can do better now that he is all grown up.


    He has a lot of advantages at his disposal so there is no way he will not attempt to fix his ws in hopes of achieving perfection. Some dread breaking through to titan ofw but he is looking forward to it because it is an opportunity for him to create a better path for himself.


    If there is a way to acquire a perfect eye, then he will try his hardest to acquire it. The first sage imed that it doesn''t exist, but that isn''t enough to discourage Soverick. If the first sage can be wrong about him once, then the first sage can be wrong again.


    Salvini''s POV


    She shook her head when Soverick didn''t appear next to her. She knows he cane to her just as she knows that he was somewhere far away in that direction. She wanted to talk to him. There are some things that they need to hash out and discuss. Unfortunately for her, Soverick is not willing to speak to her. She can understand why he is like that but that doesn''t make her situation less precarious.


    She looked at her future again. Her vision of the world changed. Several versions of the next moment appeared in her vision. They are like oveys of the present. She can see multiple future realitiesyered upon one another.


    She pushed her vision further to show events that are likely to ur farther into the future. The images in her sight increased exponentially the more she pushed further. Her head began to ache and her mind was strained. Her vision began to narrow as it frayed and darkened at the edges.


    The images became blurry and indistinguishable. But she didn''t stop. She continued to push for more. The images got blurrier even though they lessened in amount. The only thing recognizable in them is a person in a ck hooded cloak. The reduction of images continued until she only saw darkness. She saw this person before her vision disappearedpletely. Her divine ability didn''t fail her. It just ceased to exist at that point.


    She closed her eyes to stop the vision and rx her mind. "It seems I am still going to die."


    She doesn''t know how she dies yet. It is still very far into the future so it is uncertain. What she can see of that uncertainty is blurry at best. But she can tell that she will die and that it has something to do with Soverick.


    She doesn''t know if it is Soverick for sure but there are certain hints that point out to it. The most important hint is that her future vision first showed darkness when the sage made the deal with Soverick. Soverick swore his Oath and a darkness that her eyes can''t pierce appeared in her future. It was at that point that she knew that she will die. So her death has something to do with him. It can''t be a totally unrted coincidence.


    She told the first sage about the premonition of her death when it appeared. Her ancestor had been very quiet. Then he told her about his encounter with Soverick. She had been shocked that he was still alive and that he was the reason why she lost her title for a few moments. But she grew more shocked the more she heard about him.


    A/N: Is a perfect eye possible? If you think it is, then what is your idea of a perfect eye? I want to know.

 Chapter 818 A Chance For Survival.

    Apparently, Soverick is part of some kind of abomination and he may not be a battle sage monkey despite looking like one. At first, the first sage thought it was an attempt to infiltrate the ne by some unknown entity. If not for the fact that Soverick was the child of the ne then the first sage would have done everything to eliminate him.


    The fact that Soverick proved himself to be the child of the ne assured the sage that he was born in the ne and recognized by the Will of the ne. The trust of the collective consciousness of the ne in Soverick reduced the first sage''s suspicion of him.


    She had asked the first sage to kill Soverick but the sage had said, "I can''t do that and I don''t want to. He is a sage of the ne. I can''t go around killing sages because of a difference of opinion and I want to see if you will survive this. He said that I should allow this to happen in order for me to prove that I made the right choice choosing you over him. That is a reasonable request. You have to prove to me that I made the right choice and you have to do it on your own without my help."


    The first sage created a problem for her and he decided to let her deal with it. She has to admit that she wanted the title when Soverick first got it. She thought he was unworthy. She thought it was a blemish for someone other than the lineage of the sage to be the child of the ne. It was supposed to be the lineage of the sage that should be selected to protect the ne. Anyone else is not worthy of that responsibility and the honor thates with it.


    Then her opinion changed when he defeated her and her siblings. The feats that he achieved after that reinforced the fact that Soverick deserved it. He deserved it more than her simply because he earned it while she couldn''t. So she wasn''t nning to take it from him and neither did she know that the first sage was nning to do it. In fact, she liked Soverick very much and still does. She would like to be in a rtionship with him but he wants nothing more than to kill her now.


    "This is bad." She muttered. "I just want to exin myself to him. He should at least hear my own side of the story."


    She can''t me him for his reaction towards her. It must look like she had a hand in his betrayal and the besmirching of his name after he died. But that is only partially true. It was until the 4th andst challenge in thepetition that she knew what would happen to him with certainty. But she had some inkling before then.


    Things were already toote for Soverick from the moment he decided to participate in thepetition. The first sage had his teeth sunk into him. He couldn''t escape anymore. Nothing could be done to change it and even if it could be done, she couldn''t betray her bloodline. She can''t do that for him anyway. He isn''t worth betraying the ancestor of her bloodline for.


    So she took advantage of the situation. She asked Soverick to use his title to kill her during the 2nd challenge when she gave up the title of thest man standing to him. She helped him prevent a fight with her brother Salvos. She helped him fight off Lady Amari. She did her part in distracting him and she was rewarded for it.


    Soverick died and she became the child of the ne. It wasn''t easy for her. She had to watch the one that she cared for die while knowing that he would die. But instead of helping him, she took advantage of his death. It was painful to do but she did it anyway because her ancestor wanted it.


    She had her doubts about it but those doubts disappeared when she awakened the memory of her ancestor:s promise. The knowledge about her ancestor''s good intentions for the ne strengthened her resolve. If her ancestor could sacrifice his friends, his love life, and his peace for the good of the battle sage monkeys, she too must be able to sacrifice a love that has a low probability of being realized.


    That was to be the end of it. Unfortunately, it led her to this problem. Soverick wants to kill her now and he doesn''t want to listen to her own side of the story. She doesn''t know if it will if Soverick knows how difficult it was for her but she has to try everything in the face of death.


    The most unpleasant factor about the problem that she has gotten herself into is that Soverick cannot lose. The two of them are supposed to be after each other''s life but she can''t kill him. A world god already gave it a fair shot and still failed. What can she do then?


    Killing someone that is after your life is the best solution to get rid of that problem entirely but killing Soverick is not a solution at all. She has to find a way to convince him or change his mind. That''s why she tried to talk to him today.


    The alternative is to make herself immortal. But will Soverick wait for her to be an Origin god before hees to kill her? The darkness in her future vision indicates that he won''t wait. She is in a very sticky situation and it is all because her ancestor decided to rece Soverick.


    "At least, today went well." She said to encourage herself.


    She was the one that nned for the flying fortresses to interfere in the earlier heist. She has been scrying the people rted to Soverick since she still can''t scry him. So she found out that something bad was going to happen to Hadrick and it will benefit Soverick somehow. So she decided to sabotage the heist. Now a world god will owe her a favor for the help that she rendered in a critical time of need.

 Chapter 819 Legion Is A Target.

    <h4>Chapter 819 Legion Is A Target.</h4>


    ?


    The help of a world god can be used for a lot of things. For one, she can use this help to freeze Soverick or curse him. Or she can gain the assistance of thousands of origin gods to hunt Soverick. There''s so much she can use the help of a world god for. Her father doesn''t want to help her but the Ghastorix ancestor can.


    Her aim to escape death is not hopeless. She can avoid this inevitable future somehow. That much she knows. She just doesn''t know how to avoid her future death. She can see in her future vision that there are multiple possibilities in her future but it will get to a certain point when it will start to dwindle until she dies. That means there is a certain critical point in the future when her death will be certain. But until then, there are multiple paths of survival.


    She will know when this critical point is as her deathes closer to her. Until then, she is in the dark. It is another reason why she was hoping to meet Soverick. Meeting and speaking with him can shed more light on her situation or help her to avert her death.


    She is even willing to give up the title if Soverick will ept it and stop trying to kill her. It might be dishonorable but she doesn''t care. She is facing an enemy that she cannot manipte and cannot kill. This enemy can also kill her. Dishonorable or not, it is a wise move to give up her title if it will guarantee her life.


    She looked to the sky and muttered. "And it all started because I wanted him to participate in thepetition. I could have stopped it but I didn''t. Now we have to fight."


    This entire thing could have been avoided if she hadn''t tried to encourage Soverick to attend thepetition. Things went downhill from there. Soverick even warned her during the third challenge that he will hunt her down if she takes advantage of him. She didn''t take his warning seriously. After all, he was going to die. What harm could he bring to her after his death?


    In a way, she has some me for how everything turned out. She knows this so she steeled her heart and deadened her affection for Soverick. Her eyes became cold as steel. She became determined then and there.


    She dered to herself. "I have some regrets. But what has happened has happened. Nothing can change that. But if there is a way for me to survive then I will make it so. I am of the bloodline of the first sage. We don''t give up until the end. And the end is always favorable to us."


    She made this deration and began to move to bring it into effect. If there is a way to survive then she will make it happen. That is the way of the lineage of the sage. They will always win as long as there is a chance.


    Besides, the stakes are stacked in her favor. That is one thing that the sage is right about. She is the child of the ne and she has the bloodline of the first child of the ne. There are so many things that she can do to prevent her death. There are people that she can call upon and resources to aid her.


    She must and will find a way or another to coerce Soverick into giving up. It will be her shame and the first sage''s if she can''t pull it off. Her situation is not entirely hopeless. She knows that something called LEGION is Soverick''s source of strength and also his weakness. She will target this LEGION and see where that leads her.


    She reached through her soul to themunication talisman attached to it. Then she contacted the team that she has assembled to find Legion. A sullen face appeared before her.


    "How goes the preparation?" She asked.


    Jarkon sighed and replied with visible reluctance, "It is going well."


    Salvini became annoyed because of hisck of enthusiasm. "Stop pouting. You have the chance to do something great for the ne."


    "I don''t want the chance. Give it to someone else. Please, Salvini, I''m begging you." He pleaded with her.


    Salvini exined. "You have no choice in the matter. You''re the only one that locked onto him in the ne. The others only have a trace of him in the Arena. I need you to take point on this."


    "But Soverick is already dead. I don''t see the point of this. Just let me live my life in peace."


    He looked at her with tears in his eyes. It is a little shameless for a grown man and transcendent to try and look cute. The fact that he is failing at it has made himpletely pitiful. Unfortunately, Salvini wasn''t moved.


    Salvini shook her head. "There is no other way. I have information that Soverick had some friends. Those friends are very angry because of his death. They are nning despicable and evil things to do to the ne as retribution for his death. A lot of innocent people could die because of this and you have the rare opportunity to stop this from happening."


    Jarkon yelled. "Salvini, No!"


    But it was toote. She didn''t stop. She said the magic word toplete her maniption. "Your ancestor would do this for justice and peace. Why can''t you?"


    The bloodline of the lion of justice rose unbidden within Jarkon. His golden bane puffed up and moved without a wind. He feels like roaring in dominance but he didn''t. Jarkon tried his best not to sumb to that impulse. But that''s the best he could.


    He looked at her with bloodshot eyes and he said as he gritted his teeth in anger. "I will find those friends of Soverick. They will not be able to hide from me in all of the realm. I will find them as long as they have had any contact with Soverick. Of this, I promise. No evil shall be allowed to ur while I have knowledge of it and can prevent it."

 Chapter 820 Pointless Expedition.

    <h4>Chapter 820 Pointless Expedition.</h4>


    "Thank you very much Jarkon. I believe in you. The hope of the ne lies on your capable shoulders."


    Jarkon''s eye twitched. He is not pleased at all. He said, "Thank you for bringing this to my knowledge. You are not an evil maniptor at all."


    Jarkon realized he was wrong. He had thought there was no one that he could hate more than Soverick Ghastorix. He was very wrong about that. What''s worse is that he can''t hurt Salvini in any way much less kill her unlike how he could hurt Soverick. They are both children of the ne but his bloodline is biased.


    His bloodlinepelled him to try and kill Soverick but it is doing the opposite now. It ispelling him to disregard his hatred for Salvini and chase after some people that might not even exist for an indeterminate amount of time.


    Salvini took advantage of the stupidity of his ancestor and his bloodline. She is sending him to hunt vague enemies that he knows nothing about. He doesn''t know if they exist at all. He doesn''t know if Salvini is lying. But what''s most important is that his bloodline doesn''t care if they exist or if Salvini is lying.


    His ancestor will always move to action no matter how small the chance of evil is. It is uttermost stupidity. And his ancestor has been taken advantage of several times through it. His ancestor has been deceived many times because of his chivalrous spirit. But his ancestor has never regretted falling for those tricks. As long as there is a chance that evil exists and he can prevent it, his ancestor will always act. Therefore, he too must act. After all, if his ancestor can do it, why can''t he?


    Plus his bloodline loves Salvini for getting rid of the evil Soverick and avenging his brother that died. It doesn''t think there is any reason to question her. Salvini is the epitome of righteousness in its opinion. So it will willingly do her bidding especially when it is for the good of the ne.


    Salvini frowned when she heard what he said about her being evil. "I will advise you to watch your tongue Jarkon."


    "Why?" Jarkon asked fearlessly. "Will you get rid of me just as you did to Soverick? I don''t even know who is more evil between you and Soverick."


    Salvini''s frown eased up. She smiled. "I see what you''re trying to do. It won''t work. Go and do what I asked you to do."


    Then she cut off themunication. Jarkon felt helpless.


    "Seems I can''t get her to kill me." He mumbled in regret.


    He will do anything not to spend the remainder of his life on a wild goose chase. That includes taunting a very dangerous person in hopes that they will kill him. If the remainder of his life will be filled with suffering then he would rather not be alive. Unfortunately for him, he is not so lucky. Salvini saw right through him.


    "I will try my luck somewhere else. There has to be someone who will kill me out there." He said to encourage himself.


    Then he turned to the team that he has assembled for this mission. They are a total of 10 of them. They have varying power levels but all of them have the bloodline of the lion of justice. It is evident in the fur and the mane around their neck. This is an elite scouting team that will search for traces of Soverick Ghastorix in the realm of high heaven.


    He is the weakest but the most important member of the team. And it is all because he locked on to Soverick before thepetition. He was able to find Soverick during the second challenge. Salvini hopes he will be able to use his ability well. Four other members are the ones that locked on to Soverick during the third challenge. He and they fought with Soverick at the pyramid beside the divine crown. They lost.


    The rules of the arena are fuzzy so their uracy is not as high as his. But they will be useful nheless. The other five have excellent tracking that is even better than his. They will be able to also track any of Soverick''s associates as long as they get a trace of them. They are the best of his bloodline when ites to tracking. They are SWIFTESCAPE, ALUINE, DOUBLELINE, JETTASTIC, and UED.


    He has no doubt that if Soverick, who is known as a loner and doesn''t socialize, has any associate or friend in the high heaven realm, they will find them. They are that good. He is confident of their prowess. But he doubts they will find anything at all.


    "Gather round," Jarkon yelled.


    They congregated on his position. He took a deep but useless breath before addressing them.


    "You know the mission. I don''t need to speak more about it. I have just received the go-ahead from the child of the ne. So we are doing this even under the threat of death."


    "The child of the ne has decreed that we start the search for his associates in the ancient battlefield. So we will head there immediately. Then we will go wherever our instincts lead us from there. Evil can''t hide from us."


    "I know some of you are wondering about the purpose of our mission. I suspect that some of you think it is a waste of time. I am a reasonable leader. I am willing to listen and pass on any issues you have about this mission to the child of the ne. I have it on good authority that she is very kind. She will listen to your issues and address them. So does any of you have any objections?"


    There were no objections. No one wants to defy the will of the new child of the ne. They don''t know what''s special about her, but they know she managed to defeat Soverick so she must be more terrifying than Soverick.

 Chapter 821 Onwards To The Ancient Battlefield.

    <h4>Chapter 821 Onwards To The Ancient Battlefield.</h4>


    All of them here know the terror of Soverick Ghastorix. He killed thousands of people with a wave of his hand. He toyed around with paragons. He was undefeatable. The terror of his existence is still fresh in their mind. If they don''t want to cross Soverick, then they certainly don''t want to cross Salvini. So they remained silent.


    Jarkon nodded and said, "That''s good."


    But he cursed inwardly. He was hoping for an objection. He will take anything to dy this mission.


    "Let us go to the ancient battlefield in search of this Legion that Soverick has amassed tomit evil in our ne."


    And so they left the Virut ne in search of Legion. They are going to the ancient battlefield because Salvini said so. They actually found a lot of traces of Soverick in the ne. But instead of investigating these traces, Salvini said that they should leave the ne entirely because any trace they find in the ne is useless.


    Of course, Jarkon knows that most of the traces are harmless. All the people that Soverick has ever had contact with have traces of his Aura and soul fluctuation. His mother does and so does his father and a lot of people in the Ghastorix family. Their only crime is ever meeting Soverick. That doesn''t make them evil.


    Even so, Jarkon wanted to investigate them just so that he won''t have to leave the ne. A wild goose chase in his home ne has to be better than a wild goose chase on the ancient battlefield. The ancient battlefield is more than a thousand times bigger than the Virut ne. And he has to search for and investigate anyone that has ever met Soverick there.


    The fact that they met Soverick doesn''t make them evil too. Soverick has never left the ne from the information they have of him. So the people with traces of him are likely to have been in the Virut ne and have met him here. They can''t be called evil for that. He has to investigate them and have proof of their suspected "evil n against the ne." That is going to take a lot of time. It is not a wonder why he is not looking forward to this. There doesn''t seem to be any point in it whatsoever.


    Meanwhile Guntu and what''s left of his group finally made it to the void. They were escorted by the flying fortresses all the way to the edge of the ne. The remaining 20 origin gods out of the initial 100 met up with the vast array of thousands of origin gods in the void. Guntu was surrounded immediately. They formed a thick protective cocoon of Origin gods around him. If anyone wants to reach him, then they will have to go through thousands of Origin gods to do so.


    Guntu finally felt safe. He sighed in relief. Then he brought out the cube and willed it to expand. The ck cube appeared in the void. Its portal was opened by its side. Hadrick wille out soon and the one that she is to meet is already here.


    No one was paying any attention to the cube. They were all looking at the vortex that appeared beside the cube. The vortex didn''t just swirl void energy around. It was shredding and churning the space in that location into chunks and then into dust. Anything and everything within the vortex was being torn apart and ground down by a Will that couldn''t be defied.


    The vortex is powerful but it is quite small. It is only about 3 meters wide. The hands that tore up from beneath the vortex are also small. They are also pure ck but that isn''t peculiar at all. There are myriads of races with different forms and different looks so theplexion of this being isn''t peculiar. The only thing that is out of ce is that this being is small for the physical manifestation of a world god. But that''s understandable since this is a new world god and his world is notplete yet.


    The being came out of the vortex slowly. The majesty of his presence spread far and wide. Space froze because of this being. Void energy in the surroundings was riled up. It began to sizzle as if charged with power. The Origin gods watching felt a tingle down their spines when they saw this being. They felt fear despite him being their ancestor.


    Ghastorix looks like a ck obsidian statue. His features are sharp as if carved from a rock. He doesn''t have any fur on his body so his skin is very smooth. It glistens and shines with sheen. He has three tails attached to his lower back. One of the tails is ck, another one is blue, and thest one is golden. The three tails sway gently without touching. They are the three states of his Supremew and they must not touch.


    He has hair on his head but they are more like sharp solid spikes. They are ck just like his skin and they protrude out from his scalp like the spines of a porcupine. They are at least 10 centimeters in length. One can see little sparks jumping from spike to spike. Those sparks are sometimes blue or gold. There are actually three sparks but the ck ones can''t be seen because they merge really well with the ck spikes.


    Then there are his eyes. They are glowing brightly with pure white light. There is no pupil or iris. He has two white orbs of light as his eyes. His eyes are in sharp contrast with his ck sculptured body. They also sizzle with white sparks because of their unstable energy state.


    If anyone can be described as looking like a god, then it is Ghastorix. He has both the presence and the demeanor of a godly being. He looks small but the origin gods can sense the shadow of a great being behind him. The shadow is cast because the universe has to bend around his existence the way light is obstructed by an opaque object. This shadow isrge because, unlike their weak uprehending eyes, the universe is aware of the true measure of his existence.

 Chapter 822 A Gift For Hadrick.

    <h4>Chapter 822 A Gift For Hadrick.</h4>


    Ghastorix''s eyes stared coldly and sternly at the world. His sharp face remained frozen without a smile. He is a god that acquired his power on his own. He doesn''t need anyone. He stands alone, impervious to thews of the void universe. Every single move of his brings reality to submission. His Will must be made manifest.


    The other origin gods looked away at the sight. They know the look on their ancestor''s face. It is the same one he has when he is about to scold and punish someone. They signed in their heart because they know that their ancestor is very angry at someone. The target of his anger tends to lose its normal shape and form when Ghastorix bes angry. Ghastorix is very angry right now. He has probably never been more angry than this moment. Someone targeted Hadrick who he has risked his life for several times. So the origin gods are afraid of what''s going to happen to the target of his anger this time around.


    ''Who will we fight this time around?'' Guntu thought to himself in pity.


    He doesn''t know exactly who will bear the brunt of Ghastorix''s anger, but he knows that they have something to do with the people that ambushed them. Salvini already informed them that the thieves have an informant in the ne and promised to help them find that informant.


    As for them, they will surely target the group of Origin gods that tried to steal ancestor Hadrick from them. Guntu is very angry at them, but he can''t help but pity them because the one that they have angered is Ghastorix The Lightning Of Heavenly Punishment. Any Origin god will pity the target of anger of a world god. But Ghastorix was already terrifying before he became a world god.


    Ghastorix waited patiently as Hadrick came out of the cube. The short but wide stump of the emerald gem tree expanded into the void. Hadrick saw Ghastorix and it shouted.


    "Is that you Ghastorix? You''re all shiny and shy now. Come here and give me a hug."


    Hadrick is very excited. It has been a very long time since it saw Ghastorix and it is excited to be reunited with its partner. Ghastorix finally smiled. His face split into a grin as his anger bleed out of him. His smile was rigid but it was genuine. Hadricks has that effect on him.


    Hadrick wasn''t terrified by the white light that threatened to escape when he parted his lips. They are the same white light shining from his eyes. It is like Ghastorix is a vessel with a dangerous power sealed within him and about to be unleashed with any careless movement. But Hadrick thinks that he is cute. Powerful or not, Ghastorix is still that thin boy who cried when sitting on her because he was being picked on ages ago.


    Ghastorix went forward and hugged the tree stump.


    He said to Hadrick in a gruff baritone voice. "I have missed you. I have missed you very much."


    "I have missed you too," Hadrick replied.


    A small ck statue with three moving tails is hugging a short, round, and veryrge tree stump in the void. It really is a sight to see. They stayed hugging for 4 hours and 23 minutes. It was then that they separated. Their observers kept track of the time they spent hugging. Then money changed hands amongst the origin gods after Ghastorix and Hadrick separated.


    Apparently, some Origin gods lost some money while some gained some money because of the amount of time that they spent hugging. The origin gods standing guard watched the entire thing silently though some of them snickered within themselves and shared jokes amongst themselves.


    Their ancestor is usually so gruff and stern. This is the only time they are seeing him smiling when it doesn''t involve a fight. They didn''t think anything apart from violence could make their ancestor happy. But no one hurried them on or interfered with their hug. No one is that stupid.


    They also didn''t mention the bets they made either. Their ancestor might not like the fact that his descendant bet on whether he will disy any public affection for Hadrick.


    "I hear you need my help," Hadrick said after separating.


    Ghastorix nodded. "Yes, I do."


    He put his arm forward and a shiny core appeared within it. This shiny core is the life fragment that he bought from mother high heaven. She sells it to Origin gods that are about to be world gods and she also tells them how to be world gods. But she only does this for origin gods that were born in her realm and became origin gods by using Origin essence that they got from the trial of heaven or through the tribtion for ascension that Sovereigns can go through.


    So any origin god that wasn''t born in her ne or used other methods to be an origin god like using the purged origin essence of an origin god will not enjoy the services that she offers. They won''t be able to be world gods unless they get a realm heart somehow. Ghastorix attended the trial of heaven several times and got Origin essence. He used all his savings of thousands of origin cycles which is millions of years to acquire this life fragment.


    The life fragment is the next best thing after a world seed. People that are familiar with it will notice that it looks like the dungeon core of a certain divine dungeon. It also looks like the Authority of a Celestial Supreme. Of course, they might be mistaken. No one can be sure that the two are the same unless they do an intense analysis of the core. The fact that they all shine brightly like a small star doesn''t mean that they are the same.


    Ghastorix offered the life fragment to Hadrick and asked. "Hadrick. We have known each other for a very long time. You were there for me when I was at my lowest. You raised me up and strengthened me. You were my treasure and you will always be my treasure. You deserve to be treated like a treasure and you deserve to have freedom. I promised you freedom and I havee to pay it. It is not enough for what you''ve done for me but it is the start. Here take it and be free."

 Chapter 823 Freedom For Hadrick.

    <h4>Chapter 823 Freedom For Hadrick.</h4>


    "Oh my. What a precious gift. Thank you."


    Hadrick hurriedly took the life crystal. A tree branch snatched it out of his hands and brought it to the stump. The tree absorbed it and began to glow. It shone brightly for a while and then its light died down. The light disappeared to reveal ady clothed in a dress made of green leaves. Her hair is ck-green just like her eyes but her skin is white.


    Thisdy is very beautiful by any measure of beauty. She possesses an ethereal beauty that transcends race. She doesn''t have any obvious secondary female characteristics but she doesn''t need them to look beautiful. Her elegance and her stature are wonderful and more than enough to convey her beauty.


    The origin gods watching were surprised. Some decided to let themselves gawk. They couldn''t believe what Hadrick turned into. They never considered ancestor Hadrick to be of any gender. Hadrick had always been the one that spanked them when they misbehaved or sang lubies to them or cradled them, or cheered them up when they were sad. But they never thought of it as a mother figure.


    Hadrick would heal them when they are injured from fighting or ying pranks. They could always count on Hadrick. To them, Hadrick was both a father, a mother, and a very close friend. Hadrick was never a male or a female to them despite their suspicions that their ancestor might have feelings other than friendship for Hadrick.


    Only Ghastorix wasn''t surprised. Hadrick hasn''t changed from his own perspective. She was always beautiful to him. But the smile on his face widened significantly at the sight of her liberated form. His smile changed toughter when she began jumping about in excitement like a child.


    She was jumping about and shouting, "I am free. I am free."


    She has been liberated from the curse of ascension. She used to be stuck in her state of mid tribtion but that is no more. She couldn''tplete the tribtion anymore because she is too powerful and needed to be eliminated. But that won''t happen anymore now that something very powerful has evolved her life form. She can now go anywhere and also get stronger. So she is very happy and is jumping around for joy.


    Ghastorix watched her jump around with a smile on his face. He opened his arms wide when she rushed forward to hug him. The two of them embraced again. This time, it is a ck statue with 3 moving tails hugging a whitedy clothed in green leaves. Some Origin gods wished they could shed tears at the sight. Unfortunately, they lost their tear ducts and tear nds when they became transcendent.


    Hadrick and Ghastorix stayed like that for a long time. A ck statue of a man held onto a white ntdy. There are unspoken words between them but their feelings are known to each other. They don''t need to talk and they don''t want to talk. They just want to hold on to each other forever.


    It took a longer time for them to separate from their hug. They didn''t separatepletely this time. They still held on to each other but they can now talk face to face


    "Thank you." Thedy said to him.


    He brushed her hair away from her face and replied with a silent smile. She smiled in return. Her emerald green teeth sparkled like gems.


    "So what now?" She asked him.


    He had an answer prepared. "I''ll take you around and we fight people. You always loved hearing the stories about my fights but now we can participate in them together. We can fight as much as you want and make history together."


    She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure? Are sure that there is nothing more urgent?" She asked him.


    "Nothing for now. It''s just me and you fighting people." He replied.


    She sighed and said. "Spill the beans. Guntu already told me about what the life crystal is for."


    Ghastorix turned his head sharply in Guntu''s direction. It was a sharp abrupt movement that exceeded the limit of thew matrix. There was the crack of thunder as the world sought to catch up to that simple movement.


    His eyes zed sharper as he locked onto the cowering figure of Guntu. He would have let the pressure of his existence re up were Hadrick not so close to him.


    "100." He said simply.


    Guntu deted immediately. He didn''t bother toin or make excuses. It was Hadrick that asked him for the information. He had to give it to her so that they can move early. It was not his fault but it wouldn''t help him. He knows enough about ancestor Ghastorix to know that excuses won''t work.


    His punishment has been dered and there is no use trying to weasel out of it. But he tried anyway. Comining doesn''t work on Ghastorix but there''s another yer in this power y now. So he pouted at Hadrick pitifully. His silent request for help was answered.


    "Don''t bully the poor child." Lady Hadrick said sternly to Ghastorix.


    "Fine." Ghastorix relented. He said to Guntu, "Make it 50."


    Lady Hadrick didn''t say anything but her frown has not disappeared so Ghastorix conceded again. "How about 20?" He asked her.


    "20 is good." She epted the reduced amount.


    So he said to Guntu, "You hear that? Make it 20."


    Guntu smiled and waved to Hadrick. She waved back at him. Then she turned to Ghastorix.


    "Now out with it Ghastorix." She said to him with a smile.


    Ghastorix grumbled inaudibly for a while before he finally answered. "I am making my world. It is almostplete but it needs theponent of life. You will be perfect for that position. You should know that I can build my world without you so you can refuse. It will just make my growth slower but nothing beats being with you. So what do you say?" He asked her hopefully.

 Chapter 824 Hadrickomanikai.

    <h4>Chapter 824 Hadrickomanikai.</h4>


    The sparks in his hair increased rapidly as he waited for her answer. He is not nervous about her answer. He will be okay regardless of her decision. But he is agitated. Hence the increase in the sparks in his hair.


    Her answer will determine a lot of his strength as a world god. But most importantly, her answer will affect their rtionship. They can either be closer or be estranged.


    Sheughed as she replied. "What do I say to what? You haven''t asked me for anything."


    He smiled and said, "That''s true."


    He realized his blunder. So he coughed and asked again. "Lady HadrickomaniKai, will you do me the honor of being the will of my world and be bonded with me for the rest of eternity?"


    "Yes, I will." She said as she hugged him.


    Then she whispered in his ear, "We will make wonderful babies together."


    He smiled at her remark. She is right. The two of them will be creating life. She will be creating life by using his essence and hisw of order. In a way, they are a couple now. They are also the truest couple. Their marriage is unbreakable and it will be enforced forever. The two of them will be bonded for all of eternity. They will be together through thick and thin. They won''t be able to get rid of the other one even if they manage to suppress them. Any other type of marriage is a shampared to theirs.


    This time, their hug didn''t take a long time. They had barely been hugging for a few minutes when Hadrick separated.


    She said to him, "Let''s go start now. You''ll show me your world and we''ll start on the babymaking. We have eternity together so we can fight at another time."


    "Alright." Ghastorix epted.


    He produced a ck shard and offered it to her. She took it and absorbed it quickly. The two of them grinned at each other. The bonding between them is mutual which is a good thing. He could have forced her to be the will of his world. He is vastly stronger than her so it will be very easy to do but that wille back to bite him.


    You should not force someone that will have great power over your world to be the will of your world. That is a recipe for disaster. It will lead to a bad ending unless you suppress them. But why bother with getting the will of a world early if you''re just going to suppress them? That''s why he didn''t try to bribe her with the life crystal. The position is eternal so it should not be taken with malcontentment and ill feelings.


    He also cares deeply about her. She is more than his friend so he doesn''t want to force her to do something that she doesn''t want to do. He can always get another will of the realm if she disagrees but he can never change his will of the realm. It is better to lose his umted wealth than to be stuck with an angry partner for all of eternity. It will hurt to lose his savings but he can make more as a world god.


    Her figure became faint after absorbing the ck shard. Then she disappearedpletely. She has merged with him and his world now. She can''t leave his world ever again. But he gave her some of his willpower so that she can manifest within the void universe. Her figure appeared again in front of him.


    He can choose to never allow her to manifest in the void universe but she can also choose to do things he wouldn''t like within his world. By bing the will of his world she has be his equal within his world. It is best not to antagonize your equal in anything. It is wiser not to antagonize your equal in the control of your world.


    "Alright let''s go." She said eagerly.


    "Form up everyone," Ghastorix ordered with a shout.


    All the origin gods became attentive immediately.


    Ghastorix exined where they will be going to them. "We will pay the Tinoko brothers a visit. It will be mostly small stuff. We won''t harass them too much."


    The origin gods shared augh. They found their ancestor saying he won''t harass the Tinoko brothers too much to be funny. They rarely attack someone without it going out of hand. This short fight might be the start of a thousand years feud between them and the Tinoko brothers.


    "We will not fight them if they pay up. But things will get nasty if they don''t. It''s the usual. Everyone except Guntu will participate in it. Deploy the battleships." He ordered.


    Great big ships appeared in the void. The ships look like submarines but only the lower half is made of thick opaque material. The upper half is transparent so they can see through it. There are windows on the lower half too for those below to see out from.


    The ships don''t need the transparent upper half or the windows to show the outside world since each ship is a world fragment. Anyone can see the outside from the inside with a 360-degree point of view. Ghastorix wanted them to look that way for the aesthetic.


    It is one of the perks of having a world god on your side. And being that world god, you get to make cool world fragments to your taste. If you want ships that look like pirate ships then you get ships that look like pirate ships. 10 of these great big ships were deployed in an imposing manner.


    Lady Hadrick squealed in delight. "You got the ships I wanted. They look so wonderful."


    "Yes. It''s just like we nned to do. We will ride ships and raid the upper realm. Nothing will stop us. We will go wherever we want to go. Will you join me on this adventure?"


    "Yes, please." She replied in delight.


    It has always been her dream to roam the world without fear instead of having to hide and be stationary. Now her dream will be fulfilled so she is very happy. Legion is also happy for them. Soverick grinned when he felt the bonding of Hadrick and his ancestor. It is a grin of anticipation.

 Chapter 825 There Is No Crime Without Law.

    <h4>Chapter 825 There Is No Crime Without Law.</h4>


    Everyone entered the ships, all except Guntu. He has to stay back until his punishment has beenpleted. He watched all of them leave with a sour expression. Some of the origin gods looked back at him with pitiful gazes or mocking gazes as they boarded the ships. The ships lit up with sparks of blue lightning then they zipped away in a sh of light. A thunderp was left in their wake. The shockwaves stirred the void energy and smashed into Guntu''s sour face.


    He sighed and said in regret. "Ahh. And I wanted to go on the first ride. I wanted to see how powerful they are."


    This is the first time that those ships will be used. They were prepared for this special asion. The Ghastorix family used to use less powerful ships before. Ancestor Ghastorix has been very busy with his world so he didn''t bother to make one until Hadrick was toe. He then made time out of his busy schedule to make them.


    This was to be their first use and he is missing it all because he told Hadrick what was so important about her. It wasn''t his fault either. She was the one asking all the questions so he told her about the world engine, the other fragments of the realm heart, and her usefulness in all of it. Now he is being punished for being obedient.


    "I''ll miss the fighting and the piging," He grumbled to himself.


    "On the bright side, I only have to kill 20 origin gods." He cheered up and decided toplete his punishment as soon as possible. He disappeared as he flew away to find some poor unfortunate origin gods.


    The Ghastorix family in the upper realm is a war band. That''s a nice way of saying that they are pirates. They have also been called a gang too. They go around fighting, killing, and robbing people of their wealth.


    But they have never been called criminals. That will imply that what they are doing is illegal or a crime. There are nows in the upper realm so you can''t break anyws. Whatws are you going to create that will dissuade an immortal?


    What they are doing is just a hobby. It actually started because Ancestor Ghastorix is a battle maniac. He likes to fight but fights are expensive. Origin gods need origin essence or soul stones in order to reform their existence as soon as possible when they die. The cost of the resurrection is higher the stronger they are and the faster they want to resurrect.


    An origin god that is about to be a world god needs a ton of resources to resurrect and their resurrection will take a very long time. So ancestor Ghastorix decided to earn money with his fighting. He was already fighting everyone that he meets, he might as well earn something too. That isn''t illegal. It is turning a hobby into a profitable business venture. If there is any crime here, it is the crime of passion.


    The Ghastorix family steals and piges, but that doesn''t mean that they will be okay with it when someone tries to steal from them. The attempt to steal Lady Hadrickomanikai from them will be answered with great retribution. It is not an obligation for them to seek revenge. It is an opportunity for them to fight. It is something that both Ghastorix and his descendants are always craving.


    Ghastorix didn''t force his descendants into fighting and robbing with him. His descendants joined him in it on their own because they are all restless troublemakers who love to have fun and fight people or y pranks and tricks on people. That''s how the war band was formed.


    His descendants don''t need to fear him anymore since he is an origin god just like them but they do because they of all people know about his dogged determination and his love for battles. Take Guntu''s punishment for example. He has been asked to go and kill 20 origin gods in 20 years. It was reduced from 100 origin gods in 100 years.


    Fighting is fun normally but it bes a chore when it is too much and it is forced upon you. That is the punishment. Too much of anything is bad and it gets bad quickly when you''re not interested in it. He can refuse to kill those 20 people but Ancestor Ghastorix wille after him and kill him for as many people as he failed to kill past the time limit. If he fails to kill 6 less origin god by the time 20 years is over then he will be hunted by ancestor Ghastorix until he has been killed 6 times.


    There have been rebellions against his tyranny. It is to be expected since his descendants are rule breakers too and are very determined. His descendants have banded together many times to try and kill him in return. They sought to teach him a lesson by letting him have a taste of his own medicine.


    They soon understood why he is the original owner of the concept of heavenly punishment. His fusion of lightning and destruction is unparalleled. It is all fun and games when he uses the blue form of his concept but that changes when his concept switches to its ck form.


    Pure destruction lightning is one hell of a beast to contend with. Ghastorix bes terrifying when you add in immortality and his unparalleled determination. You will have to call for a truce after a million years of constant fighting.


    The golden form of his concept on the other hand is what he used to be a world god. It is the Supreme form of his lightning. It is literally world-destroying lightning. Some call it heavenly lightning but there is nothing heavenly about it. It is better off being called abyssal lightning because it causes terror and despair with the cmity that it created as if it came from the deepest abyss.

 Chapter 826 Ghastorix Gang.

    <h4>Chapter 826 Ghastorix Gang.</h4>


    It''s all good though. The members of their family fight. That''s why they are together. Ghastorix will fight anyone including them if given the chance. They understand him and he understands them. They followed him because they respect him, because they have fun with him, and because he makes them rich.


    Their violent behavior has given their war band a terrifying reputation in the upper realm. They get paid with money as soon as they show up to a ce. So they don''t have to fight to get resources anymore. It''s why they are called a gang since they collect protection fees from others now. That reinforced the willingness of his descendants to stay in the war band.


    Ghastorix has be a world god and Hadrick has joined them too. The level of their war band has increased. It is a good thing for the members. They have a world god to themselves now. That means that they will get richer and their path to bing world gods has been opened too. They just have to meet the requirements for a supremew.


    Many Origin gods will give their all to be part of the war band. They will give up their wealth and kill as many people as needed to have the assistance of a world god. World gods are so rare and the ones that appear don''t care about Origin gods. They are self-sufficient and all-powerful. That''s why so many Origin gods will jump at the chance to have the world god owe them a favor by participating in the era of conquest. So killing 20 Origin gods is a mild cost to pay for Guntu to remain within the good graces of his ancestor.


    Back To The Dark Side Of The Universe.


    There was apetition. It was to test a project. Thepetition went well without a hitch. The realm lord was happy and satisfied with how well it did. The participants from the Virut ne were satisfied too. The first sage was very happy with it. Soverick didn''t regret participating in it. The only ones that were not satisfied with thepetition are the side that lost. Most disgruntled above all else is the serpentine world god.


    Deep within the dark side is a bubble of space. The serpentine world god is dwelling in this space with a physical manifestation. He is busy working on something right now. He has been busy ever since the end of thepetition. He can''t afford to be rxed andzy now that he has been taken for everything he had. He has to fight and he has to build stuff.


    He is building a sword. He isn''t forging it like a cksmith would forge a sword from metal. There is no beating of heated metal into shape with a hammer. He is building the sword like one will construct a house. The variousponents are in different sizes and shapes. Theye together around the core of a star. The star is dead since it was ripped out from thew matrix but its core still contains a lot of power that can be used as the core for this sword.


    The sword is a beautiful work of art. It is like pieces of a puzzle being meticulously assembled. It can cut through a ne when it ispleted. He is making a lot more of it to empower the inhabitants of his world. They are going on a world war against the world of another world god so they need to have top-notch weapons.


    This weapon has to be appreciated as its worth can be gauged at a nce. Unfortunately, its crafter is not in an artsy mood. He doesn''t care about how the sword looks or how pretty or how powerful it looks. The serpentine world god is on a war path. He is moody and stewing silently as his numerous arms moved about to construct the sword.


    He lost thatpetition badly. He lost so badly that he didn''t gain anything out of it. They say what doesn''t kill someone makes them stronger. That will imply that they learned something from the bad experience and became better for it. The serpentine world god has not be stronger. He didn''t learn anything useful from the loss other than the sage is a terrifying schemer. But that isn''t going to help him one bit in defeating the first sage.


    The sage even cheated him out of the reason why he decided to test the project for the realm lord. So he lost thepetition, his wealth, and the slots into the realm lord''s project. He would have been better off not even bothering about helping the realm lord at all. As if that isn''t enough, the sage also shared the news of his defeat far and wide. So he lost his honor too. He became an all-around loser.


    "To think I have been humiliated to this extent." He said angrily through gritted teeth.


    His ordeal is very shameful. It is a blemish that will never be cleaned from his life. He lost badly and lost enough to be broke. It even got worse when the sage spread lies that he failed to kill the champion of the Virut ne. He knows for sure that he killed that stupid Soverick. He used the physical manifestation of hisw to tear Soverick apart and he felt it happen too.


    There''s no way Soverick cane back out of that unless he is an origin god. He also confirmed that he killed Soverick when he couldn''t sense that fragment of hisw of order anymore. Soverick has truly disappeared from his radar so he must be dead.


    He told people that but no one believed him. No one believes him. They think he is trying to lessen his shame. It really is shameful that a world god will fail to kill a king ofw so it is not a wonder why they would think that he is trying to reduce his shame.

 Chapter 827 New Visitors.

    ?


    He swore vehemently, "I will have my revenge. I must have my revenge."


    He must have his revenge one way or the other. There is no way he can let this go. He has to make the sage regret something. He has his eyes on just the right thing to attack. He will target the new child of the ne of the Virut ne. A new one appeared immediately after Soverick''s death. It is obvious that the sage had been prepared for him to kill Soverick and that the sage cares about the title. If the sage didn''t care about the title, then he wouldn''t have ensured its continuation.


    He also heard that the new child of the ne is a descendant of the sage. She is also not an origin god so she isn''t immortal. Killing her should hurt the sage and the performance of the Virut ne during the era of conquest. He already sent out assassins that will do the job for him. These assassins are ck-robed, hidden, and non-descript so they will not be traced back to him.


    He promised himself, "If I can kill the previous child of the ne, then I can kill the next one. This time, I''ll make sure that there won''t be a substitute for the title."


    The serpentine world god continued his preparation for the war of worlds. He was busy with this when he received another visitor. A world god knocked on the space he created.


    "Who is it?" He asked. "I am not in the mood for visitors. Say what you want and leave. Or breakthrough the barrier if you want to fight."


    The visitor asked, "Do you want to kill the first sage?"


    "What is that to you?" He asked with a snort that sent a shockwave through the space. He didn''t stop working on the sword.


    "I can help you kill the first sage."


    That drew the serpentine world god''s attention. "Tell me how?" He asked.


    "Allow me toe in."


    He chose to acquiesce. "Fine. Come in."


    But then his eyes narrowed and he rose up when the visitors entered his space. He became ready to do battle when he saw who his visitor are.


    "Is this a joke?" He asked with unconcealed anger. "Do you take me for a fool?"


    His visitors are battle sage monkeys. One of them has white fur like the first sage. The other has no fur. It is smooth like a statue and ispletely ck. The white one has one tail while the ck one has 3 tails. The tails are blue, ck, and golden.


    What''s even more infuriating to the serpentine world god apart from their identities as world gods is the fact that the white one also has special eyes. The two eyes arepletely ck with white specks scattered around the surface. Those eyes are peering at him and he knows that his secrets are not safe from them.


    The white battle sage monkey said, "We bear you no Ill will. We are sincere about forming a corporation with you to take down the first sage."


    The serpentine world god doesn''t believe her. "Swear to it." He said.


    What are the odds that battle sage monkeys who are of the same race and from the same ne as the first sage are here to help him? He would rather believe that they are part of the first Sage''s scheme against him. So he demanded that they swear an Oath on their world about their sincerity.


    "I, the keeper of secrets, swear it upon my world that I am sincere about cooperating with you the Viper of hegemony to kill the first sage at least once."


    "I, the lightning of heavenly punishment, swear it upon my world that I am sincere about cooperating with you the Viper of Hegemony to kill the first sage at least once."


    The serpentine world god wasn''t satisfied with their oaths. He sneered and said, "Nice try. It seems you still think I am a fool. Make a better Oath or we will fight right now."


    The two of them swore about their sincerity. But sincerity counts for nothing. They might be since about killing the first sage and they might actually hate the first sage a lot, but that doesn''t mean they are not helping the first sage now. That''s the thing about oaths. You have to pay attention to the wording or you will be deceived.


    He has been deceived just recently so he is very wary. Besides, he is not foolish as to fall for that simple deceit. The fact that he was ripped off sideways and upside down by the first sage doesn''t mean he is foolish.


    The white battle sage monkey said, "It was worth a shot."


    "I, the keeper of secrets, swear it upon my world that I am not working with the first sage in any way and I will not mention this meeting or its oue to anyone."


    Ghastorix also swore the same Oath. He hatred the first sage very much. If it were up to him, he won''t stop at killing the first sage only once. This hatred is partly due to Soverick''s death. If Hadrick was not fooled by the propaganda, he above all else can not be fooled. He knows that the first sage took advantage of the most glorious descendant of his to win a bet. The first sage then killed his descendant and reced him with a descendant of his.


    If the first sage had not made an offer he couldn''t refuse, he might not be here right now. If Soverick hadn''t died, he might not be here right now. If Salvini hadn''t reced Soverick, he might not be here right now. If Hadrick hadn''tined about Soverick''s unjust treatment, he might not be here right now.


    And to top it off, if the keeper of secrets hadn''t approached him and told him about the first sage''s bet, what the first sage gained, and also expressed the intention to ally with him, then he might not be here right now. All of these little things piled on top of each other to make him determined to kill the first sage.

 Chapter 828 From Frying Pan To The Fire.

    He started to dislike the first sage when he was approached by the racial council and offered a deal to give up all his responsibility and right to Soverick to them. He had no choice but to agree. He was an Origin god and also a battle sage monkey. He couldn''t fight back or refuse. The smart decision was to agree to the deal. He even benefited greatly from it. But that doesn''t mean he is alright with it.


    The thing he hates the most is oppression. He will never submit to oppression. He will keep on fighting even against the heavens. The other thing that he hates is disappointing the hopes and dreams of people that rely on him.


    He didn''t give up even when he was near death during the war against the Vipers. He continued to fight. He was willing to give up what little life he had just so that the hopes and dreams of the battle sage monkeys will not be let down.


    Hadrick helped and believed in his so he risked his life in the tower of heaven and stood up against heavenly tribtion for his beloved. His descendants rely on him so he was willing to sacrifice his potential as a world god to create a safe haven for them for when the universe ends.


    But then the first sage came along andbined the two things he hated the most into a deal. The first sage asked him to betray one of his descendants. He had to give up that descendant because the first sage is stronger than him. He did it for the other descendants. If not for that responsibility, he would have refused and fought a world god as an Origin god.


    He couldn''t refuse back them. The first sage would have had his way no matter what. His family is in the ne and they might suffer for his rejection. So he just went along with it. Then Soverick died and was reced by Salvini. He might have let it go if it was someone from another bloodline that reced Soverick. But it was someone from the same bloodline as the first sage. It is as if the first sage believes that his own bloodline is better than the bloodline of heavenly punishment.


    Soverick doesn''t have his bloodline, but he is still a descendant of the Ghastorix family. Soverick helped the first sage to gain a lot of wealth and was killed for it. Ghastorix''s love for his race and his respect for the first sage could not stop him from hating the first sage anymore.


    He decided not to kill Salvini because of her new title and because she helped him keep Hadrick safe. But her ancestor is going to pay for his crime. Then the keeper of secrets came to him and everything clicked together to result in himing here.


    He is not so weak anymore. He is a world god now. That means he has the right to challenge the first sage. He nned to do so after his world stabilizes. But he knows he still can''t beat the first sage. At least not alone. Fortunately for him, the keeper of secrets allied with him. If he gains one more ally, then he is confident in killing the first sage at least once.


    Ghastorix spoke solemnly, "I will fight the first sage. I will fight him for my descendant that was killed unjustly and for myself that was made to concede. I will always fight against oppression. Therefore, I, Lightning Of Heavenly Punishment swear upon my world that I am not working with the first sage in any way. I swear it that I won''t betray you. I swear it that I will not give up until the first sage dies at least once."


    The serpentine world god was satisfied with their Oaths. He let down his guard a little bit. In fact, he became happy. He has tried to find allies to help him fight the first sage but all the world gods it contacted refused. Now it has received helpers.


    "Wee, wee." He said to them happily.


    Then he asked them, "What is your n?"


    They began to discuss how they will bring death to the first sage. The keeper of secrets is the major nner. She is also the foundation of their cooperation. After all, she is the one that brought all three of them together. One might call her a mastermind.


    She knew about Ghastorix''s hatred for the first sage. So she told him about the bet, Soverick''s part to y in it, his death, and how much the first sage gained from it. But she didn''t tell him that Soverick is still alive. Ghastorix doesn''t suspect it either. He doesn''t know what Soverick really is.


    She is using the hatred of the Ghastorix and the serpentine world god to further her schemes against the first sage. They nned together for a long time then they went their separate ways after swearing an oath to cooperate with each other.


    The keeper of secrets chuckled and thought to herself, "Now I know how that cunning snake feels when he toys with people. All these brainless idiots who have power butck sight are tools to be molded to ones wish."


    The serpentine world god thinks that he has escaped the situation of being toyed around. He is wrong. One might say that he has just jumped from a frying pan to fire. He is the strongest one among the three of them but he is the one that is mostly likely to suffer the most. Who knows if he will suffer more than what he has already suffered because of this cooperation to deal with the first sage.


    He is the strongest one but he is just the coteral damage of the sh between the first sage and the keeper of secrets. His strength doesn''t make him a yer. He is still a pawn. It is just as the first sage said to Soverick, strength isn''t everything needed to control one''s fate. The keeper of secrets is able to use her advantage in information and knowledge to manipte two world gods for her purpose.

 Chapter 829 Wisdom Is The Principal Thing.

    ?


    Someone once said, "Wisdom is the principal thing, in all your getting, get wisdom and understanding."


    You can''t get wisdom if you don''t have understanding. And you can''t get understanding if you don''t have information. Soverickcked information and he was toyed with. The serpentine world godcked information and was toyed with. He is still being toyed with. Ghastorix became a world god. But he is still the bull-headed fighter who prefers to fight than to think.


    He is still the soldier he was as a mana entity who obeyed orders until his dying breath. The fact that he has be a world god has not made him amander or a general. It has not made him a yer. He is still a pawn.


    Power is important. But information, knowledge, wisdom, and cunning are more important. Those whock them will have a weakness that will make them pawns. Without wisdom, Legion cannot be perfect. Soverick has learned that much. So he has taken it upon himself to rectify that weakness.


    The solution to that weakness is to be omniscient. It might not be possible to achieve in the void universe or it might not be possible to achieve at all. But Soverick will try. His goal is to first achieve the perfect eye. Then he will see how things go from there.


    THE END OF VOLUME 4.


    INTERLUDE.


    The era of conquest ising. The realm lord can announce its start anytime soon. It will have severe ramifications for the realm of high heaven and everyone that wants to take part in it is already preparing. Origin gods are preparing for it and world gods are investing resources into it. A certain space dragon is preparing for it too.


    A massive mountain of a beast is sleeping in the void outside of the realm of high heaven. It is the divine dragon of the world god rank. This dragon is sleeping on a bed of solidified space. The world itself is thefortable bedding for it to sleep on. There is no other material that can withstand the weight of a creature that is tens of thousands of kilometers long. Even a ne will copse.


    Weaker creatures will use their solidified divine sense to pull on thew matrix of the world to move in this environment but space freezes and liquifies ording to the whims of this beast. It doesn''t pull on the world to move, it makes the world push it to move and the world listens because of the supremew that this dragon wields.


    A smaller dragon is sneaking up on the world god. It is a dragon that is just 1 kilometer across so it is a very small dragon. It has four wings on its back. Each one of them is thin and translucent. The scales of the dragon are white crystals that bend light and space to obscure the dragon. It is very difficult to sneak up on a world god but this dragon is doing it his best try.


    The small crystal dragon made sure not to make any fluctuations, be it physical, spiritual, or energetic so that it won''t wake up the big dragon. It had to limit its speed of approach to a crawl but it is worth it if it can catch the big dragon off guard. It crept forward slowly as it approached the big dragon. This process took years of patience and dedication.


    The little dragon chuckled and thought to itself. "I''ve got you now old man. It''s time to show you how bad it is to wake someone with a shout."


    It finally got close to the head of the big dragon but it didn''t get too close. It doesn''t want to startle its target. Any wrong movement from the bug dragon could kill him. Just the closed eye of the big dragon is bigger than the little dragon''s entire body including the length of its wings.


    The little dragon raised itself up and opened its mouth to give a great shout. It was startled when the eyes of the big dragon opened suddenly. Two great red suns with blue lightning running across their surface suddenly appeared in the void. They cast their gaze on the little dragon trying to be sneaky.


    The big dragon mmed the little dragon with a roar. "Rarw"


    Space rumbled and tumbled. It was bent out of shape and warped by the roar. Then it was fractured and scattered. The little dragon was blown away and dragged into a vortex of space turbulence. A whirlpool of distorted space pulled on the little dragon. des of fractured space swept around it. The dangerous fractures in space can fracture the little dragon too. It had to struggle not to die. It needed its best flying skills and the maniption of space toe out of the whirlpool alive.


    The small crystal dragon slumped on top of one of the big dragon''s ws after it came out of the vortex. It is obviously tired after straining itself to survive the disastrous effect of the prank of a world god. The shadow of death shrouded it for a while there.


    "I got you," Tssandulighafan said whileughing.


    Even hisughter is still causing the very environment to quake dangerously. The sound waves that he is making are putting too much pressure on space. Origin gods that pass through this environment will experience the equivalent of slipping on a stone and breaking their necks. The dangerous space will bend their bodies out of shape and fracture them. That is not enough to kill them but they will be very sorry that they were there to hear a world godugh without restraint.


    Dylganihlined. "Not fair."


    His father roared inughter even more. "You thought you could sneak up on me. That is so silly. So silly."


    "When did you find out?" Dylganihl asked in indignance.


    Tssandulighafan answered smugly, "Right from the start."


    "You cheating old man. You could have stopped me when I started. I wasted 31 years creeping up on you for nothing."

 Chapter 830 The Dragon Spirit And The Origin Of Dragons.

    ?


    Dylganilh had to literally creep up to a world god. It had to be done slowly and diligently without any mistakes. It took him exactly 30 years, 4 months, 6 days, 12, hours, 32 minutes, and 13 seconds to get close enough to the head of his father. He did it because he thought it was going to be worth it. He was apparently wasting his time.


    His father didn''t see a problem with him wasting his time. He dered with too much joy, "It was fun for me so I allowed it."


    "I think that I should just give up." Dylganihl said sullenly. "I am not the ignorant origin god I used to be. I have a supremew so I should know that it is impossible to sneak up on a world god. Maybe I should give up on pranking you entirely."


    "We both know that you won''t stop trying. Don''t worry though, you will have a much better chance when you be a world god. Then you will be able to sneak up on me." His father encouraged him.


    "You really think so?"


    His father answered with certainty, "I am certain of it."


    Dylganihl became excited at the prospect of sneaking up on his father. He is surprised or excited that his father thinks he will be a world god. That is a foregone conclusion. If he can''t be a world god, then no one can. On the other hand, the fact that he will be able to sneak up on his father means he is not a mediocre world god. After all, there are very few world gods that can sneak up on him.


    "Now, tell me why you havee?" Tssandulighafan asked.


    "I have made some progress in the preparation for the era of conquest."


    He came to inform his father of his progress in the preparation for the era of conquest. Dragons are scattered throughout the realm of high heaven. They have a home ne but it is overpopted and dragons don''t like to share territory so they leave the ne when they be young adults to find their own turf.


    It means they are a scattered force. Bringing them together is difficult without the aid of the dragon spirit. Dylganihl had to painstakingly gather his friends and acquaintances over a period of 3 origin cycles before he umted enough dragons for his cause. It would have taken longer if not for his ability to bypass divine nes and go to any ne.


    "That is good. You are doing well. I am sure that you won''t have any problems making a high enough contribution to the sess of the era of conquest." Tssandulighafan said.


    "I won''t be a problem at all." Dylganilh agreed. "I wish we could have used the dragon spirit. Things would be so much easier and more fun."


    Tssandulighafan disagreed. "What you have is already enough. The dragon spirit cannot be controlled by a single person and it cannot be taken lightly. It will only move when there is something important to the entire dragon race. A mere era of conquest is not enough to rouse it."


    The dragon spirit is the residual spirit of the dragon ancestor. Dragons are not a race that was created in the high-heaven realm. They were introduced into the realm by the dragon ancestor who left behind his Will when he was leaving the realm. That Will became the dragon spirit.


    The dragon spirit is connected to every dragon and it serves the function of overseeing and ensuring the safety of the entire dragon race that originated from the realm of high heaven. It is the only one that can do so since no dragon is worthy of leading other dragons. Dragons can''t have dragon gods because of their pride. Their pride also won''t let them elect someone to make rules for them.


    The dragon spirit can call all the dragons to arms when they are threatened but the era of conquest is not enough for the dragon spirit to be agitated. Frankly, the era of conquest is not a threat to the dragon race. The destruction of the entire realm won''t affect dragons much. Most of them are already in the upper realm and the rest can escape. The weak dragons can be protected and moved away.


    The dragon spirit is too objective to care about the destruction of the realm of high heaven. The destruction of high heaven is certainly bad but it is only bad because it is the home ne of the dragon. They will certainly miss their home ne if it gets destroyed. But dragons have be too powerful a race to be bothered by the destruction of one realm tree regardless of whether it is their home ne or not.


    The dragons of high heaven are not the only dragons in the void universe so dragons won''t cease to exist in the universe if the realm of high heaven is destroyed. The dragon ancestor was so powerful that he seeded several realm trees with his descendants. And to top it off, dragons are just like world beasts, they can be world gods without the assistance of the realm tree.


    Dylganihl said wistfully, "It would have been cool to have the dragon spirit on our side though. All the dragons will take flight. I have heard of it but I have never experienced it. We will crush realm after realm in our wake. We dragons will be unstoppable."


    If the dragon spirit were to support the high heaven realm then no amount of scheming by disgruntled world gods can make the realm lose in the era of conquest.


    Tssandulighafan sighed as he reminisced. "Ahh. I have experienced two of the wars initiated by the dragon spirit. That was ages ago when I was very young. The dragon spirit has fewer and fewer reasons to call us to arms because there have been fewer things that can threaten us. We all raced to the skies and answered the call. Then we congregated on a nasty parasitic race. We burned down ne after ne thest time to eliminate that race. It was so exciting. I saw some of my old uncles and aunts that I thought were dead."

 Chapter 831 Scheme For The Era Of Conquest.

    ?


    Tssandulighafan recalled his experience. His memories were projected outwards into the world and created a disy of images and sounds that he experienced. Dylganihl watched and listened with rapt attention. He saw a sky filled with an uncountable amount of dragons. They came in various colors and sizes.


    They blot out the sky as they swarmed a race that was propagating by infecting other races. These parasitic race can''t reproduce on their own. They need to use other races as incubators for their eggs. The dragon spirit wouldn''t have bothered with the race had the parasites not turned their attention to the dragons.


    A dragon youngling was infected so the dragon spirit became very angry. It called for theplete elimination of the parasitic race and the dragons answered the call. The dragons couldn''t tell the infected and the non-infected apart quickly enough so they didn''t bother. They burned down entire nes. It was scorch-earth tactics that


    were very effective.


    All of these were shown clearly for Dylghanihl to experience. Gone was the void and its corrosive energy. In its ce is a vivid holographic recollection of past events. It felt as if he was there when the events took ce.


    Dylganihl marveled at he sight. "What power. Even his thoughts have be matter."


    The images were created without the active maniption of the world. The event happened like this and so they will appear again because the one that remembered them happening like this is a world god. He thought about it and his thoughts were reflected in the world.


    Tssandulighafan finished his story with a round of apuse from his son. He smiled a little while Dylghanihl pped enthusiastically. The holographic imagery flickered and disappeared. The world resumed its not normal state.


    "What about the recent time that the dragon spirit moved? I heard it moved against the will of the realm. How did that happen?" Dylganihl asked.


    Tssandulighafan frowned. "That was a mistake. It is something that has happened several times but this time it was because of the mistake of the will of a ne. Something unprecedented happened. We had a young dragon so outstanding that the will of a ne was impressed with it. It was so impressed that it forgot why dragons are hated by other nes and made him the child of the ne. That turned out to be a mistake. That dragon usurped the will of the ne using the dragon spirit. That wasn''t enough for the dragon too so it went after the will of the realm too. As you might have heard, that didn''t go so well. He paid for that mistake with his life."


    "Wow," Dylganihl eximed. "Some people have gall. I like that."


    His father nodded in agreement. "I''m sure you would have done it too if you had the chance. I know I would have done it. Unfortunately, I was never given the chance. I wasn''t born in a stupid ne. All the nes I ever visited quaked before my might. The will of the ne felt fear and roused up the entire ne to fight against me."


    The two of them sighed in pity that they missed such an opportunity. They don''t find anything wrong with trying to subdue the will of the realm. If there is anything that they feel is bad, it is that the dragon failed and that they didn''t get the opportunity to attempt it. The two of them began thinking of how they can recreate such a thing.


    "Unfortunately it is impossible for me to ever experience it. I can''t enter a realm anymore. But it is not toote for you. It will be difficult to do though. You will need someone born in the same ne as you to be a child of the ne then you have to rob them of their title by killing them when they are using their connection to the ne. But what are the chances of that."


    Dylganihl''s eyes began to glow wickedly. He got an idea that might just work.


    "I''ve got an idea."


    "What is it?" His father asked eagerly.


    Dylganihl told his father about his idea. "How about we do this?"


    "It could work but we need to do this and that during this," Tssandulighafan said as he offered suggestions.


    The two of them began to scheme and n like two viins. They even chuckled evilly asionally. Tssandulighafan roared inughter after concluding the n while Dylghanihl had a wide face-splitting grin.


    Tssandulighafan said excitedly, "I can''t wait for the era of conquest to start."


    Dragons don''t usually scheme. They have power on their side so they don''t usually scheme. But these two are troublemakers. They steal, pige, and scheme all the time. This time they are scheming to do something positively viinous during the era of conquest. They had worked on their n for a few hours before they were done. It had to be something serious.


    Dylganihl said with some fear, "This is genius. It will surely work. But it is going to cause trouble. The realm lord will not be happy"


    Tssandulighafan assuaged his fears, "Who cares about trouble? Let''s do it."


    They don''t care about any trouble that they are going to cause to either the realm lord or the will of the realm. They are immortal so they have nothing to fear. Plus they have a world god on their side. Tssandulighafan is willing to go through with the ne just because of his hatred for the realm lord. There''s no way he will give up on it since it is going to be fun.


    Dylganihl agreed. "We will handle trouble when ites. Plus if it works, then we can force the realm lord to do whatever we want."


    Tssandulighafan said wistfully, "Imagine that."


    He doesn''t like the monarch of high heaven for taking the position of realm lord so this is a good opportunity for him to get back at that pompous high elf. Tssandulighafan can''t wait for the era of conquest toe so that he can enact the n. The two of them began to literally imagine what they will ask from the realm lord if they seed.

 Chapter 832 Lets Start With Helios.

    The things that the two of them can ask for are endless if their n seeds. They will not be restricted to the usual things that everyone will ask the realm lord for if they win a favor from him. The usual favor has to do with bing a world god. They don''t need his help for that. They might be participating in the same era of conquest as others, but they are not like others. They are dragons.


    A single realm tree can make billions of Immortal origin gods while a single realm heart can create only a single world god. That means that not every origin god can be world gods with a realm heart no matter how talented or special they are. Their chances are reduced even further by the fact that some world gods are actively destroying the already insufficient realm trees.


    Then there is the problem of theck of strength. Origin gods can''t take on a realm tree on their own. All these means that some Origin gods have to go for less optimal options to be world gods. They could use the help of the realm lord for these options and the ones that want to take on a realm tree on their own will have a chance to do so if they get the realm lord''s help. So the realm lord is needed by all origin gods. That will change in the case of Dylganihl if he seeds in his scheme. The realm lord will be the one that needs him and he will be able to ask anything from the realm lord.


    The peculiar thing about this situation is that Dylganihl doesn''t need to do what he is nning. He doesn''t even need to participate in the era of conquest. His father can get him a realm heart. He can also get the resources to make a subpar world on his own with the resources that he has acquired through stealing. Other origin gods are participating in the era of conquest because they have to and because this is a rare chance but he is doing it just for the fun of it.


    He already has his supremew and can be a world god anytime he wants to. But he doesn''t care about bing a world god because he doesn''t need to. He has a father that is a world god. Besides, bing a world godes with certain restrictions. He won''t be able to enter the realm of high heaven ever again.


    That means he won''t be able to go to his favorite restaurant on the ancient battlefield where they always wee him with open arms and free food. He can''t miss that by bing a world god. It will be a travesty. The people that own the restaurant will certainly miss him if he bes absent for so long.


    So he would rather remain an origin god and enjoy the perks of a world god through his father without actually being a world god and suffering the restraints of being a world god. If there is anything else that he wants, it is to find a way to ckmail and strongarm the realm lord into doing his bidding.


    This is not the first time he is doing something like this. He didn''t need to attend the trial of heaven to be an Origin god but he did it anyway. It is a matter of pride and a need for achievement. Most importantly, it is about having lots of fun. That''s why he won''t ask his dad for a realm heart and he won''t be satisfied with a subpar world. He will make waves during the era of conquest and have fun too.


    VOLUME 5:HELIOS POV


    The tides are turning as they always do. Nothing is constant except change. The era of conquest ising. The lord of the realm has announced that it cane anytime now. It caused a flurry of activities and different kinds of changes throughout the realm.


    Origin gods are gearing up and shoring up their defenses for what is toe. World gods areying down their cards and nning for the future. nes are changing hands. Everyone that intends to participate in it is preparing as best as they can. It is a tumultuous time for the realm of high heaven. Different principalities and powers are vying for power and resources. It is causing conflicts throughout the realm.


    The power of a single person is insignificant whenpared to an entire realm. That is unless they are world gods but the era of conquest will not feature world gods. The main battlefield will be fought by weaker beings. That is why many people are trying to take control of nes. They want to increase their influence in the era of conquest and therefore increase their significance and contribution.


    Their need for control has plunged numerous nes into war. The Virut ne is mostly peaceful because they are united under the banner of a single governing body. Even then, the removal of the divine ne allowed demons and anyone to invade their ne. They were able to hold out and stem the tide of war and chaos through overwhelming power but the same can not be said about others.


    Zargoth ne underwent a period of world war and world-shaking strife which lead to the change of power in the ne. Numerous living things died both of the race of giants and that of other races. The ne is recovering right now. It is experiencing peace but even that is being threatened.


    There are revolutions against the superpower of the ne. Many people want to wrestle control of the ne from the kingdom Of Life. These revolutions were started by external forces that have gotten ess to the ne now that the divine ne isn''t there to stop them anymore. Numerous origin gods want to take a piece of the pie that is the Zargoth ne.

 Chapter 833 What To Do With Cosmic Energy.

    <h4>Chapter 833 What To Do With Cosmic Energy.</h4>


    Helios knows all of these despite his position far up in the void above the realm tree. He is a star. He is young but he is very big for his age. He hasn''t been a star for more than ten thousand years but he put some older stars to shame. His growth rate hasn''t ended either. It is all because he is not a normal star. He is the super child born of the fusion of order, chaos, divine energy, and origin mes. In a way, he is a superstar.


    He is also the child of the Zargoth ne so he remains connected to his ne and is aware of the things urring within it. He can''t actually see anything going on in the ne. He uses his connection with the will of the ne to get information about the events of the ne. His information is pretty urate because the will of the ne is very aware of almost everything going on in the ne.


    The information that Helios acquired this way has helped the tree father to put down the revolutions efficiently and help Legion maintain control of the ne. But the help that he renders is more than that. His existence has benefited Legion in ways beyond their imaginations.


    He became a star and got ess to cosmic energy. His unique connection to thew matrix made him know that his cosmic energyes from a pool or many pools that hold oceans'' worth of cosmic energy. He can''t tell if they are one or many because of his insignificance but he knows that the source of cosmic energy is veryrge.


    There is a lot he doesn''t know about the source of cosmic energy but he can understand why world gods will want it for themselves. Cosmic energy is very useful for many things. He and Legion have begun to explore this usefulness. They couldn''t use Cosmic energy at first but that has changed. That''s just the start. Their ignorance about Cosmic energy will also be solved in time.


    Helios gets a supply of what he considers a lot of cosmic energy as a star. It was when he traced the connection of cosmic energy back to its source that he realized he was being naive. His horizon was further broadened when he saw that his immense supply of cosmic energy is but a trickle. It was painful to realize since he had ess to such a thing but they couldn''t use it.


    They couldn''t use cosmic energy for much even when they got the Authority of the Celestial Supreme from the Zargoth ne. The tree father was able to strengthen the inner world so Legion-1 could eat stronger origin gods but that wasn''t taking them anywhere. That changed when a clone of Legionprehended aw and invoked thew matrix for the bestowal of cosmic energy.


    The universe sought to reward that clone forprehending aw. So the Will of the universe invoked an intent within thew matrix to bestow this clone with cosmic energy. This intent didn''t only affect thew matrix, it also initiated a change within Helios, and his store of cosmic energy was stimted.


    Cosmic energy flowed out of him without his permission or control through the soul sphere and into every clone. It was searching for the clone that caused the invocation of the universe but it entered every clone in its attempt because they are all connected. That marked the second time that cosmic energy moved for Legion and it led to more significant changes than the increase in the strength of the inner world of a world beast.


    The bestowal of cosmic energy from the universe acted normally. It found the clone thatprehended thew directly and helped him form his Authority. The supply of cosmic energy within Helios acted differently. It wasn''t under the direct control of the universe and neither was it under the control of Helios. It was within Helios and therefore connected to every one of Legion. It was stimted by the invocation so it moved to carry out the action dictated by the Will of the universe and it did so in every clone.


    That was the first time that cosmic energy flowed through the connection of the soul sphere and actually did something useful to Legion. What''s odd is that it didn''t return to Helios after it was done. It never stopped flowing out of him and into the others. The invocation kick-started it but didn''t do anything to stop the flow. A connection of cosmic energy then formed between them and it wasn''t cut off even after the universe was done with its bestowal. This is why any being, be it a world god or otherwise, will see cosmic energy in the clones and be blinded by it.


    The constant connection made cosmic energy suddenly more malleable to them. Helios''s supply of cosmic energy didn''t get the instruction to be deactivated after the universe stopped its bestowal of cosmic energy. Helios'' cosmic energy was still looking for something to do and it was amicable to change. They still couldn''t control it actively so it did whatever it wanted to do.


    The cosmic energy changed Legion-7 the most. It helped him to be who he is today. He went from a recently freed ve into a being that feed onws. Legion-7''s reaction with cosmic energy shed a lot of light on how it works. Unfortunately, they don''t have what it takes to take advantage of that information.


    They couldn''t do more with cosmic energy even though they understood that it needs some sort of instruction for it to be controlled. Something from the universe was capable of directing it and theycked that thing. That would have been all there is to their use of cosmic energy until that changed too. Some world gods foolishly offered Soverick a good view of their Supremew. That changed everything.

 Chapter 834 The Plan For The Artifact.

    <h4>Chapter 834 The n For The Artifact.</h4>


    The two world gods didn''t know what they were doing or the significance of their actions. It is already unprecedented that a king ofw can see theirws and not go mad. How are they to know that this small king ofw is also connected to a free-flowing supply of Cosmic energy and that by exposing him to their supremews, they are adding kindling to the furnace within him? Their mistake is one that anyone can make.


    If they knew his full situation then they wouldn''t have shown Soverick theirws. They would have disregarded theirpetition to seize him just for the cosmic energy that he has. They didn''t know so they felt they were ying with him.


    Soverick on the hand didn''t bother to enlighten them about this mistake. His encounter with theirw of order was not by chance. He knew what he was looking for right from the start. That''s the most important reason why he attended thepetition even though he feared for his life.


    The more Soverickprehended of theirw, the more the cosmic energy within every Legion was stimted. Whatever he knows is known by every one of them after all. They finally got what they needed to make cosmic energy move.


    In a normal situation, when a personprehends aw to a certain extent, cosmic energy is bestowed on to them to create an Authority over thatw within their origin. But this situation isn''t normal. Soverick and all of Legion were notprehending some ordinaryw of the universe. They were notprehending a concept either. They wereprehending a supremew, a fabricatedw of order created through the fusion of many other concepts. It was aw that could contend with thew of order of the universe and hence, it can invoke cosmic energy.


    Legion-7 had been using cosmic energy before to sustain himself in the void universe since he is not supposed to exist in the physical part of the void universe. Aw devourer is an abomination that even the void universe abhors. The addition of a supremew made Legion-7 be independent of the void universe like a world god.


    He was infused with more cosmic energy as theyprehended the supremews of order. The changes to him were rapid and uncontroble. They initially caused him to mutate wildly. That''s why thedy that wanted to control Soverick''s consciousness saw a deformed entity in his consciousness.


    He was able to finish his evolution when Soverick v1 died by swallowing thew of order of the serpentine world god and Soverick''s deformed existence. All the infusion of cosmic energy into him at that point enabled him to evolve once and far all despite the danger of consuming a small part of the body of a world god.


    Aeternus and Legion-1 also went through their own changes. Most of the other clones didn''t. But that isn''t the end to the use of supremews. The stimtion of cosmic energy ended when Soverick stopped getting ess to the Supremews but Legion now knows how to actively manipte cosmic energy on their own. The knowledge that they have cannot be taken away from them.


    They know now what they need to have to fully utilize cosmic energy so they know what to aim for. Cosmic energy is powerful so it needs something very powerful to manipte and give it direction. It needs a supremew. It could be thew of order of the void universe, a falsew of order of a world god, or thew of Chaos of the abyss.


    Supremews can only be acquired from world gods or Legion can make theirs but it is a long way to go. What they can achieve in a rtively short time is thew of order and thew of Chaos. It is a rtively short time whenpared to the time it will need for them to acquire a supremew of their own.


    Thew of order of the universe is arguably the most powerfulw of the universe. It is a difficult andplicated power that is powerful enough to nullify otherws. So it is going to take at least one origin cycle toprehend it even with all of them actively using all their mental prowess to assist Helios.


    Thew of Chaos is also just as powerful. It is capable of scrambling the otherws. It is also much more difficult toprehend than thew of order. Thew of Order has a pattern to it. The pattern is veryplicated. Theplex patterns are moreplicated than some supremews and theplexity of the world spark. But at least it has recognizable patterns. Thew of Chaos on the other hand might as well be infinite randomliness.


    The twows are very rare and difficult to encounter. It was after they attempted toprehend it that Legion finally understood why the realm lord was very interested in the Chaos energy that Aeternus possessed. It is impossible to learn thew of Chaos without it. They are opportune to learn thew of Chaos so they won''tin about its difficulty.


    Helios is the only one that canprehend thew of Order and Aeternus is the only one that canprehend thew of Chaos. They have been making progress despite it being really slow progress. So Legion has turned its attention to something that can strengthen them in the short term. It is also something that will be with them forever.


    They want a power that will belong to them. It will be a power that can''t be taken away from them. The best source of that power is the shard of power that they possess. Soverick managed to do powerful things with it but he always received a bacsh.


    So Legion has to create an artifact that can reduce that bacsh and enable them to use the shard of power more frequently. It will be a stop gap until they be world gods and are capable of controlling the shards of powerpletely.

 Chapter 835 The Fate Of The Abyss.

    This artifact must be very powerful. Fortunately, they are not without resources for them. They have a world engine, a world spark, some fragmented knowledge of Supremews, and a supply of cosmic energy. They have to do something great with these things or they will disappoint the first sage and let down his generosity to them.


    Legion aims to build this artifact with these items. They will use Soverick''s expertise at weapon forging, the tree father''s ability to transmute energy to create the artifact, Legion-7''s maniption of thews, and the immense mental power of all of Legion to create it.


    It will be a very powerful artifact and a source of power that will be with them forever. In the meantime, the world is not going to wait for them. Things are moving fast throughout the realm. Power is changing hands and wars are being waged. Even the demons and the abyss are being affected.


    AETERNUS''S POV


    Demons are strange creatures. They are weird but they are also unique in that they are present in every realm. Every realm tree has an abyss where demons live so demons are a race that ismon throughout the void universe. Their purpose is to create strife for each ne and push them toward greatness through violence.


    The abyss is a feature of the universe in every realm tree. Each realm tree has a different abyss attached to it. But what happens to the abyss when the realm tree detaches itself from thew matrix of the universe after the era of conquest?


    The purpose of demons is understood. So is their source. What will be of them after the era of conquest is also known. The abyss will disappear. A ne will be created for them if the realm lord is willing to have them. If the realm lord isn''t willing to have them then there will be no ce for demons in the realm anymore.


    Demons will be fugitives in the realm without the abyss. Sin energy will die off when the abyss disappears so demons won''t be able to regenerate energy anymore. This won''t affect demon nobles and above but it will affect the entire demon race.


    The lower-ranked demons will die off and the absence of the abyss will also prevent the creation of new demons so the entire demon race will eventually be history. This is known with certainty. So what are demons to do if they want to avoid that future? The answer is that they don''t care and nothing will be done.


    Powerful demons know what will happen if the abyss is lost but they don''t care. Demon nobles and above don''t need sin energy anymore. They can live on mana and that is enough for them. They don''t care about the other demons or what''s going to happen to them. The ones that care are the weak high-rank demons and below who need sin energy but they can''t do anything to change the situation.


    How are high-rank demons to make enough contribution to the era of the conquest and make the realm lord owe them a favor? High-rank demons are equivalent to mid-gods or lords ofw at most. They won''t be of much use in a battlefield full of immortal Origin gods. Their fates might as well be sealed. They have to be stronger and be demon nobles before the era of conquest ends.


    It is fortunate that demons will have much bigger problems if the realm actually loses the era of conquest. High-rank demons won''t have to worry about sin energy because every demon will die except demon kings and above. The defeat of the realm tree is a much more serious situation. Even the demon kings and demon gods that survive won''t even have the luxury of bing fugitives in the realm because there will be no realm.


    If not for this unptable situation that will ur if the realm tree were to lose in the era of conquest, then nothing would be done about the fate of Demons and no demon will care about the oue of the era of conquest. Demons are just too selfish to care about the fate of others including their entire race.


    Powerful demons began looking towards their own situation. Demon lords are hoping to perform enough during the era of conquest so that the realm lord can make them demon kings. His Will can substitute for that of the abyss and make them demon kings of the realm.


    They will be like demon kings of the abyss in that they won''t be able to progress beyond that rank but it is still good. Any progress is good. Half-bread is better than none. For a lot of demon lords that have had their path blocked by a demon god, this is the opportunity they have been waiting for.


    As for demon kings. They want to be demon gods. Demon kings of the abyss are stuck where they are. Their fate is intertwined with the abyss. They can''t make any progress and they can''t survive if the abyss is destroyed. So they must help the realm tree survive and they must make enough contribution to its victory so that the realm lord will keep the first ne of the abyss.


    The other type of demon kings don''t have to help the realm tree. They can survive even if the abyss and the realm tree are destroyed. They will only lose the opportunity to progress. On the other hand, if they help the realm lord, they will have a shot at reaching the pinnacle of their existence and be demon gods.


    Then there are demon gods. They are the pinnacle of the race of demons. The next step for them is to be Chaos entities. The chances of that happening will be very slim to almost impossible if the abyss is lost. So demon gods decided to involve themselves in the preparation of the era of conquest. The already chaotic situation in the realm became more chaotic.

 Chapter 836 Demon Gods.

    Demon kings are as powerful as Origin gods except that they don''t have true immortality. Demon gods on the other hand are more powerful than normal Origin gods and they also have true immortality. But that isn''t good enough for them. They are the equal of origin gods with Supremews but they can''t match world gods. So demon gods want to be chaotic entities. They want to be feared as world-enders and eldritch beings.


    The path to bing a Chaos entity is very tricky. Demon gods need to evolve to be chaos entities but the assisted evolution of demons ended when they became demon kings. That is the maximum level that their mark of sin can take them. The rank of demon kings should be thest rank for demons but then they force themselves to evolve by fusing with their mark of sin.


    The mark of sin is a very powerful item bestowed by the abyss. It is a fragment of the abyss so it contains some of the power of the abyss. That power elevates demon kings to demon gods and grants them control over all the Authority associated with that mark of sin.


    But that isn''t enough for demon gods. They take it further by trying to exploit the potential and power present within the mark of sin of every demon with their sin. A single mark of sin has enough power to create a demon god. Imagine what the power present within trillions of marks of sin can do. It is the very height of selfishness for them not to only take Authority but to deprive other demons of any power at all.


    The presence of a demon god prevents the creation of demon kings with their sin. The presence of a Chaos entity prevents the creation of any demon with their sin. Demons with their mark of sin will stop growing and will stagnate forever while their mark of sin will disappear forever from that abyss of the universe.


    It is not a wonder why such powerful beings won''t care about the destruction of the abyss. If not for the effect it will have on them, then they wouldn''t care about the destruction of the entire realm.


    This act of ultimate selfishness is the only way for a demon god to be a Chaos entity. Their mark of sin is the one that usually initiates and controls their evolution but it can''t help them anymore since they have fused with it. But that spark of evolution that they have lost is still present within other demons. They just need to siphon it, fuse with it, and finally evolve to a greater state of existence.


    It is fortunate for lesser demons that while the way to be a Chaos entity is known, actually bing one is not easy. If it were easy then lesser demons will be robbed of their potential quickly andpletely. Lesser demons have the difficulty of capacity to thank for their continued existence.


    It is said that one should be careful not to bite more than one can chew. The same adage works here. Demon gods need the capacity to absorb so much potential from other demons before they can siphon it. They need to be a worthy vessel for all that power so that they will evolve and not explode.


    It is a tricky thing to be a chaotic entity because there is no one way to do it. There are various ways to achieve it. It is all about absorbing enough powerful objects to expand their existence and capacity. There is the use of world sparks. It is certain to cause a demon god to evolve but that is out of reach of demon gods. Where are they going to get a world spark?


    So they go for the most avable option. They try to destroy divine nes and absorb the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. Demon gods use this method to expand their Capacity. They will then evolve after absorbing enough of the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. All the demons with their sin will be doomed then.


    It can be 10 or 20 Authority of the Celestial Supreme but it will eventually work. It is what they n to do. It will just take time since each divine ne can only provide one Authority of the Celestial Supreme. But then a new and much more certain option became avable. They can create enough contributions in the era of conquest for the realm lord to assist them in acquiring a world spark.


    Demon lords, demon kings, and demon gods all have their personal issues and selfish agendas to deal with. It all involves attacking nes and taking control of nes. They do all of these without the incentives for the era of conquest. But theing of the era of conquest has put them in overdrive.


    So the activity of demons has increased all over the realm. But it is only for their personal benefit. As long as they gain more power, none of them will bother to avert the unfortunate fate of demons after the era of conquest. So the future of demons is set in stone if it were up to them. But then the realm lord came to them with an offer that they cannot refuse. This offer will not only save the demons, but it will grant them so much more.


    --------------------------------


    Aeternus is currently in his ne. His is the 1969th abyssal ne. It is a t circrndmass. It is different from the irregr or mostly square shape of the nes in the realm. There are many volcanoes on his ne. Some are erupting while others are simmering down after erupting and preparing to erupt soon. Every mountain is a volcano and none of them are dormant. This is not surprising to find in an abyssal ne.


    These active Volcanoes are either currently erupting or preparing to erupt. There is no dormancy in their activity. They all have their tops opened revealing the red-hotva within them. The sky of the ne is filled with thick ck ash clouds that the volcanoes pump into the air while the ground is filled with rivers ofva flowing throughout the ne and falling over the edge of the ne.

 Chapter 837 A Throne Fit For A King.

    <h4>Chapter 837 A Throne Fit For A King.</h4>


    His abyssal ne is split into ring-like domains based on the concentration of sin energy. The external ring at the very edge of the ne is the domain of fledglings. A ck vine-like nt upies the areas at the edge of the ne without streams ofva. The streams ofva flow over the edge like a waterfall into somewhere below while the ck vine reached up to the edge of the ne from somewhere below.


    The ck vine is called the demon sire. It is responsible for the production of newborn demon fledglings in all nes of the abyss. The demon sire is said to be an extension of the tree of sin that is situated on the 1st ne of the abyss. The tree of sin reaches down into the abyssal nes like the energy pir reaches down from the energy sea.


    The demon sire is a very prolific nt. It producesrge sulent-looking fruits. These fruits are definitely not edible. It is because they are not made for eating. They contain gestating demons.


    Therge melon-like fruits will burst open when it is ripe and expel the demon fledglings into the ne. The fledglings will fight each and grow stronger. Their need for sin energy will increase as they get stronger so they will move inwards into the ne to get to the ces with higher concentrations of sin energy.


    nts form the base of the food chain in a normal ne in the realm but it is sin energy that forms the base of the food chain in an abyssal ne. Demons need more of it in higher concentrations as they get stronger. Without it, they won''t be able to regenerate their energy stores and they will stagnate before they are eventually killed off.


    The need for sin energy fuels thepetition which further leads topetition for space. Space bes smaller the higher the concentration of sin energy is. The ultimate aim of all demons within the ne is to take control of the center of the ne and be the demon lord.


    The center of the ne is where the entity at the top of the food chain resides. Unfortunately for them, this is not a natural ne. There will be no demon lord in this ne. Someone else already owns the entire ne.


    At the center of the ne is arge tower. It is a massive ck tower that reaches halfway into the sky. That is a height of tens of thousands of kilometers. On top of this tower is a giant sphere of red fire. This sphere looks like a red star and it is ringed with the halo of a golden crown. Arge ckish-purple pir falls down from the sky and enters the star from the top.


    The ckish-purple pir falling from the sky is the energy well of the ne. It passes through the star and continues down into the ck tower below. The light of the star provides light for the ne while the energy well provides the sin energy that every demon uses within the ne.


    Aeternus is sitting on a throne at the top of the ck tower. His throne is a tall and grand structure. It was constructed by using the bones of his enemies to stretch and force the body of another demon king into forming the shape of a throne.


    This demon king offended him. It was an offense worthy of death but Aeternus in his infinite kindness didn''t kill the demon king. He took some of the demon king''s bones out of their body and used the bones to stretch the boneless body into the shape of a throne.


    The demon king is very much alive and aware. He is just in so much pain that he can''t thank Aeternus for his kindness. It was a great kindness, really. But to be honest, it is also the best decision Aeternus ever made as a demon king. He doesn''t regret sparing the life of the demon king because the throne is veryfortable. It is a throne fit for a king.


    The throne has great lumber support. He really has topliment the demon king for being so useful. Unfortunately, the demon king in the throne is much too muddle-headed to appreciate apliment. Aeternus''s words are precious so speaking to the throne will be like wasting pearls on a pig since the throne can''t hear him.


    The throne is standing close to the energy pir and beneath the star above his head. The ne sprawled far below him. He can see everything going on within it and he is aware of everything going on in the ne. He is like a god in his divine kingdom.


    The ne is his personal domain so nothing here is hidden from him. He can also go anywhere within the ne and do anything he wants. He uses the ne mainly to create soldiers for his armies. He has a structure of incentives to encouragepetition within the ne so the demons in his ne are always fighting each other.


    He is not paying attention to the killing currently going on in his ne. He sat on thisfortable throne made of a living demon king while he went through his activities in the other nes. This is his body but he has avatars doing his bidding all over the realm. So he may look like he is rxing and cking off, but he is bringing death, pain, and destruction to numerous nes right now.


    He hasn''t changed physically in all these years. He has grown stronger though. It is because of all the sessful invasions that he has performed. At least, that''s what he tells people when asked about how he managed to grow so strong so fast. He lied but it is their fault if they believe his lie. No one should easily believe the words of a demon.


    One of his avatars is currently attacking a very important ne to Legion. It is a ne popted majorly by elementals. They still have their divine ne so he is currently in the Armageddon of the ne waging war on the defenses of the gods.

 Chapter 838 The Miracle Of Useful Gods.

    <h4>Chapter 838 The Miracle Of Useful Gods.</h4>


    The shape of the elementals in this ne is weird but they are very strong. They are holding themselves very well against the demons. Theyck physical prowess but they don''t need it. Their energy maniption is impable so their ability to craft spells is outstanding. Each Elemental is a cannon made for bombarding the enemy with spells. They might look chubby but that''s only because they are full of power.


    It is unfortunate that their enemies are demons. Demons have no weaknesses either physical, magical, or spiritual. Demons can''t utilize all of the three but they have defenses and resistance for all three of them. Theck of weakness has helped Demons invade several nes and fight different types of races without a handicap. They are able to keep their strength no matter what type of special race they encounter. The elementals of this ne are just another race that might fall to the onught of the abyss.


    Elementals don''t have rigid bodies usually. Their physique is purely energy-based and it isn''t humanoid. These elementals are spherical in shape and look very simr to the elements that they embody. Fire elementals look like giant balls of burning me. Water elementals look like giant balls of raging water. Wind elementals look like tornadoes and earth elementals look mostly like spherical giant boulders.


    Those four are the major types of elementals but they aren''t the only types. There are also light and darkness elementals. They aren''t in the shape of a sphere. They are like pirs of energy. These are rare to see but they are the strongest gods.


    Aeternus smiled as he watched the army of demons sh with angels and gods. Armageddon is filled with so much death and violence. It brings him pleasure to watch. It is a matter of life and death for most demons, angels, and gods. But to him, the war is an entertaining process before he acquires victory.


    "That''s it. Fight and die. Show me the meaning of your life at the edge of violence."


    He is further impressed with the performance of the gods. The entire pantheon of gods of this ne is strong. It is because the gods are actually useful to the mortals.


    Serving a god in this pantheon can increase the elemental affinity of the believers that corresponds to the god. So having faith in the god of fire will improve the elemental affinity of fire. The same happens with all elemental gods. This is a boon that those without royal bloodlines will kill for.


    Those with royal bloodlines have divine affinities so they don''t need the help of elemental gods. But they also wouldn''t serve gods even if they didn''t have divine affinities. Their ancestry won''t allow it. As for those without roral bloodlines, any method to increase their elemental affinity is a miracle. Hence the increase in faith in the gods of this ne and the power of the gods. It is why the gods are pushing the demons back.


    "Show me the true worth of divinity. This will not be enough if this is all you have."


    He is not worried or concerned that the gods are winning. They are killing demons quickly because of their high quality but they don''t have the quantity to contend with the demon army. More demons swarm the battlefield no matter how much they are killed.


    The gods are useful so they have a lot of believers. It has made them strong, but their usefulness also restrains them. Any god that isn''t useful in this ne will not progress and grow stronger. The people only believe in gods that will actually help them. A god of archery or hunting cannot increase the archery or hunting skill of its believers. But a god of fire can increase the elemental affinity of fire and hence improve their speed of cultivation and power indirectly.


    So a god of fire will be prioritized over a god of archery. This prevented other gods and other races from bing Celestials. Only the elementals managed to be Celestials and no two Celestials can have the same domain so it limited the amount of Celestials that they have in the pantheon despite them being open and peaceful to each other.


    There are 10 Celestials in total. One for fire, water, wind, earth, light, darkness, ice, Nature, metal, and lightning. They would have had more if the mortals of the ne were more amodating. This situation resulted in the high quality butcking quantity of the gods.


    Aeternus knows a lot about this ne despite having not gained ess to it yet because the tree father has an avatar here. The Tree Father was not epted in their society. He can heal and increase the growth of nts but that isn''t as useful as providing an increase in elemental affinity. Plus most gods can heal injuries and strong people don''t care about the increase in good due to the increase in nt growth.


    The inhabitants of the ne didn''t go all out to eliminate the avatar but it wasn''t weed. The people of the ne don''t need the avatar just like they don''t need any other gods apart from the elementals. The ones that need the avatar only want his parts after they have killed him.


    The ne doesn''t want the tree father and the Celestial of Nature and nts also wants to absorb the tree father to grow stronger. The ne can be considered a bust to the tree father. It is not useful for anything so Legion decided to attack and pige the divine ne. So Aeternus has a lot of information about the ne and could prepare well for the invasion.


    The ne is resisting very well despite his informed ns. They have a lot of grand gods and the entire pantheon ispletely united. If not for the fact that he brought other demon kings with him then he wouldn''t have any chance of victory at all. After all, a single demon king surely can''t handle 10 Celestials. That''s just impossible.

 Chapter 839 Terror And Fear.

    <h4>Chapter 839 Terror And Fear.</h4>


    The three demon kings attacking this ne stood at the very back of their army as they watched the ongoing fight. Their Heralds used to stand around them but they have been sent to lead the demon army into battle. They are needed to fight the grand gods.


    Aeternus is one of the three demon kings. His avatar is a tall dark red armored monster. He has ws the size of knives on all four of his giant arms. His dark red skin is not smooth at all. It is lined with sharp tiny spike-like thorns. There are other spikes that extend from his elbow and knees that reach lengths of a meter. These spikes can be used as improvised spears.


    His head doesn''t have any eyes, mouth, lips, nose, or ears. It is a horrible-looking faceless head with a crown of golden thorns ringed around it. There are four red horns with golden tips on his head. There''s also a dark round spot in the middle of his face but it doesn''t look useful. It seems significant only because it stands out against his red skin.


    He has four dark wings made of ck ming feathers on his back. The four wings are pping and holding him up in the sky. This gives him a good view of the entire battlefield. It also enables the defenders to gaze upon the terrible visage of the monster that has brought death and destruction to their peaceful lives.


    What they see is terrible indeed. His broad armored torso ends in two thick trunk-like legs. The armor he is wearing is thick and heavy ck armor that covers his entire torso, some parts of his arms, and his legs. He drives fear into their heart just from the sight of him.


    Everything about him makes them afraid including his choice of weapon strapped to his back. It is for when the spikes and de-like ws are not enough. By the looks of the spikes and ws, rarely will his ymore be needed.


    The ymore has a grey-colored handle attached to a sharp ck de filled with shimmering red runes. They know his ymore is sharp because every divine sense thates close to it to examine is split apart. Many a weak god has died from gazing on the edge. The thought of what the edge can do to them if it touches them fills them with terror.


    The gods that are fighting for their lives and dying to protect their ne know that they are dying for nothing. They know that this invasion will not end as long as he still stands. He is their source of terror and the root of their cmity. But to him, this war is just business as usual. It is as stimting as a morning jog. If not for its importance, he would end it now.


    He levitated in the air while the other two demon kings nk him. The female demon king is a demoness of lust. She is also a subus. She has ck bat wings and hooven feet. She has a slim tail attached to her back that swings about yfully. There are two cute ram horns on her head and a bosom the size of watermelons. Her breasts are what one will call knockers. They can actually knock someone unconscious.


    Her waist is tiny and her hips are wide. She has thick legs and a cleavage that is to die for. Her face is perfectly symmetrical with a beauty beyond theprehension of mortals. Her red beckoning lips and yful eyesplete the seductive ensemble. Her scantily d attire does nothing to hinder the disy of her physical gifts. It instead makes her overwhelmingly seductive.


    The color of her lingerie-like attire is red like the color of her lips and it has some ck strips holding it together. She is a temptress and a very good one too since she embodies lust very well. Her body is lust incarnate and she has the golden crown on her head to show how sessful she has been at embodying lust.


    Anyone who thinks the only thing dangerous about her is getting drowned by her generous bosom will find that they are very wrong. He looks like terror incarnate but they will still look at him in defiance and fight him despite their fear of him. As for her, the defenders are too afraid to even look at her.


    They have had a lot of examples to show how dangerous it is to look at her. Numerous gods have given up fighting because of her. They ignored the battle on around them and rushed towards her to worship her. They would rather die to him than sumb to her so they are more afraid of her. If they sumb to her, they will lose all their self respect and die in eternal shame when their own friends kill them so that they don''t spill any secrets to her.


    The other demon king is a demon king of wrath. It is a reddish fire-breathing snake demon. It has a humanoid torso but its head and lower body are that of a snake''s. It has two arms each holding a short curved weapon. The de of the weapon is ck while the hilt is red just like the scales of the demon king.


    The demon king has two eyes zing with white fire. Smoke ising out of its nostrils and liquid red fire is leaking from beneath its scales to the ground. It is likeva is leaking through a tight container. Theva doesn''t drip to the ground. It is scattered about by the wind of the pping giant wings of fire on its back. It also has a golden crown on its head to indicate that it is also a demon king.


    The three demon kings are cooperating to invade this ne. A single demon king is already a problem for a ne but three is an existential crisis. Aeternus was the one to reach out to the other two for coboration. He is just one demon king and unless he wants to expose the secret of his crown, he can only attack with a single avatar instead of more.

 Chapter 840 The Calamity Of Demon Kings.

    <h4>Chapter 840 The Cmity Of Demon Kings.</h4>


    A demon king is the equal of a Celestial and there are 10 Celestials in this divine ne. He can''t take all of them on. At least, someone of his apparent strength should not be able to take on all of the Celestials. It is expected that he will die several times. While he can return after death, he will just be wasting his Authority in resurrecting so it is better to ask for help. Which he did.


    These two epted his request despite his fearsome reputation for killing demon kings. They are strong and they believe that they will be able to protect themselves from him. After all, if he was so strong, he should be able to invade the ne alone and not share the loot from the divine ne.


    The three of them are overlooking the fight while waiting for the right chance to interfere. Theirbined aura pressured the entire divine ne. The three of them are about 10 kilometers tall so they overlooked the battlefield like insurmountable pirs. Every being in the divine ne knows that they are around. Their presence cannot be hidden. It sits on their back and presses them to the ground. Their presence has made it difficult for the defenders to stand because it feels as if they are bearing the weight of the sky.


    But they are much worse than the pressure they exude. The pressure is just a byproduct of their existence. They themselves are like a terrifying malignant tumor that is about to explode anytime or a guillotine that can fall and behead them anytime. This invasion will continue as long as they will it. No one can have peace until they have been expelled from the divine ne.


    This invasion has been going on for more than a hundred days. It is a very short time for an invasion but things will get worse the longer it continues. The aura of the demon kings will make the defenders mentally tired. It is mentally tasking to resist the demonic influence of their presence but that isn''t the major problem.


    The three of them have been throwing demons at the gods non-stop. There is no end to the demons no matter how many they kill. The gods have had to defend or risk the demons running rampant throughout the divine ne. They are clearly winning but they are also losing troops that they use to defend their divine kingdoms. It is an inefficient sacrifice to make for taking care of the symptoms but not the cause of the disease.


    One of the reasons why gods are difficult to kill in their divine kingdom is because of the number of troops that they have. Remnants of the souls of their believerse to their divine ne after their deaths. These remnants serve their gods in the divine kingdom and can be turned into angels.


    The angelic host is the main defensive force of the gods. Each angel is very precious and it will require thousands of years to create an angelic host. Gods need their believers to die and divine energy to create more angels. It wouldn''t be a problem if the rate of their loss of angels isn''t high. They will be able to replenish it quickly and resist the invasion indefinitely.


    But they are being invaded by 3 demon kings. Aeternus alone is in control of almost 100 nes. That is trillions of demons under hismand. They will run out of troops at this rate. That means the defenses of their divine kingdom will fall precariously. They can''t allow that to happen or they will fall into a precarious situation even if they manage to repel the demon invasion. The only way to end the invasion early is to get rid of its root cause.


    "It seems they are about to move." The subus said.


    Her voice can only be described with the words "silky", "sultry." and "slippery" It is slippery so it slips past most mental defenses to invoke sexual images in the minds of those who hear her. They will see, hear, and feel emotions of adultery, fornication, hot passionate sex, and mind-blowing orgasms.


    Her voice tantalizes the senses. It tempts with promises of very fulfilling sexual intercourse. Those that sumb to these temptations stop fighting andy down their lives at her hooven feet.


    If one is doubtful of her temptations, you just have to take a look at her body to know that she can surely deliver. Just the sight of her smooth skin and curvy body can make anyone, be it a man or woman, impotent or not, sexual or asexual, to be weak in body and mind. It will not take much for them to sumb to the sweet voice of the siren of lust.


    Her voice did nothing to Aeternus. He remained calm like a peacefulke. The snake demon king on the other hand was affected. He got angry when he heard her voice. It is because unwanted cravings appeared within him. He wanted to grab her and do unspeakable things to her body. He wanted to possess her body and wreck her mind with wave after wave of pleasure before he explodes a torrent of discharge into her.


    But he remembered who she was and he got angry that he was aroused like that. She is not some weakling that he can do whatever he wants to. He will pay heavily if he attempts it.


    So he growled angrily at her, "Why don''t you shut your mouth you slut."


    His reaction to her is admirable. He was able to resist her mental coercion. Lesser beings would have lost their minds when they heard her voice. Their period of momentary mental weakness will turn into a lifetime of very to her. The only pleasure they will have is the pleasure of serving her for all of eternity. It will be their destiny to smile even as she drains them of all life. Anger is better than any of that.


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    A/N: This is the bonus chapter for meeting the voting goal. Vote more and get more chapters. Don''t forget golden tickets too. You are about to reach the next goal.

 Chapter 841 The Celestial Of Metal.

    <h4>Chapter 841 The Celestial Of Metal.</h4>


    The growl of the demon king reverberated throughout Armageddon and caused the fighters to enter a frenzy for killing. His voice induces wrath. The emotion of anger will rise up unbidden upon whoever hears it and they will lose their minds to it if they indulge. They will fight, fight, and fight until they die. They will continue to fight even when their mind breaks and when they go insane. Wrath doesn''t need the best of minds to be realized. It only needs a willing mind and an able body.


    The subus giggled yfully. "What will you do if I don''t shut up? Will you stuff my mouth with something big perhaps? I have to tell you that it will take a very big and thick..."


    "I see them. They are on the move." Aeternus interrupted before they start fighting.


    He can see that the snake demon king is already fuming. mes areing out of his nose instead of his mouth. The subus queen is riling him up and she knows it so he has to be the reasonable one. He drew their attention to the true enemies before they could start fighting each other.


    The Celestials of the ne are finally moving. They had stood above the battlefield like unmovable Tyrants before. But now they are making their moves. It seems like they have had enough of the invasion and want to put an end to it quickly.


    The snake demon king turned his attention to the Celestials. His fiery eyes widened a little. He couldn''t help but say, "They are going all out too. Why the rush? They aren''t even going to test us."


    The subus queen agreed, "It seems that they want to get rid of us very quickly and without any mistake."


    All the Celestials are rushing towards them at once. Not one, or two, but all ten of them. They are in a kite formation. They have basically arranged themselves in such a way that they formed a kite but the corners of the square have been tilted to be at the front and back, left and right. Their Celestial Supreme is at the head of this formation. It upies the corner at the front facing the demons.


    The Celestial Supreme of this pantheon is the Celestial of Metal. It is a sphere made out of numerous bent des and weapons interwoven and forced together. The Celestial Supreme gains a boost when it is the leader of a war party and its followers are also strengthened so it makes sense that it should lead them into battle.


    The Celestials obviously put some thought into their formation. They didn''t just let their Celestial Supreme lead them into battle simply because he is the strongest and the leader of the pantheon. They have not let the sin of pride blind them now in such a serious moment.


    "That Celestial Supreme is very strong." The subus queen said with a giggle. "I like a big strong man."


    The snake demon king''s eyes twitched. It was about to say something when Aeternus interjected. "Yes, he is very strong and very talented."


    He has some information about this strong Celestial Supreme. The Celestial of Matal wasn''t the first god to be a Celestial, unlike Zernon. It wasn''t even the second one either. The first Celestial that the ne produced was the Celestial of War.


    The Celestial of War and Wealth became the Celestial Supreme due to its achievement of being the first Celestial in the whole ne but it lost its title and its life to the Celestial of Metal who was the third Celestial to ascend.


    The Celestial of Metal went on to absorb the domain of war, wealth, weapons, and crafts. The domain of war went well with the domain of metal and wealth. War is the highest consumer of metal. War is also the sh of wealth. The richest side acquires the most metal and weapons. Then they win the war.


    The cause of most wars is the conflict for wealth and the umtion of metal is an indication of wealth. So those three domains went well together. But that wasn''t enough for such a genius and ambitious Celestial. It eyed other domains and sessfully fused them to raise its existence.


    The domain of weapons is the Celestial domain which includes archery, spears, swords, clubs, axes, hatchets, maces, etc. It includes every weapon made of metal. The domain of crafts is the alternative to weapons. Metal can be used for more than just making weapons. It is used to make a whole lot of other things too.


    So the Celestial of Metal has 5 domains and the Celestial Authority making it a level 6 Celestial. That is a very strong Celestial. It is 3 levels more than Zernon of the Zargoth ne. The Celestial of Metal alone is a force to reckon with. Unfortunately for the demon invaders, It is not the only Celestial with multiple domains.


    The Celestial of Nature that is at the very back of their formation also has multiple domains. She is the spherical formposed of vines, leaves, flowers, and the asional fruit hanging on. It is her original form and it has not been changed despite the absorption of domains of the Hunt, Farming, Seasons, Mountains, and Rivers. She has 5 domains all linked to Nature.


    She has this much because she is the second god to be a Celestial. She has had a lot of time to cultivate her domains. She can choose to fight the Celestial of Metal for the position of Celestial Supreme since they have the same amount of domains but that will be an act of foolishness because she will lose terribly.


    She couldn''t fight the Celestial of War and Wealth, so it would be ill-advised to fight the one that defeated him. She is currently the oldest god alive but she is also the weakest. That is why she is at the corner that is at the back of the formation. The domain of Nature and its associates are not powerful domains. She wanted to rectify her weakness by absorbing the new Celestial of life that is in the mortal realm in the form of a tree. 6 domains will give her more quantity even if she iscking in quality.

 Chapter 842 Strength And Unity.

    <h4>Chapter 842 Strength And Unity.</h4>


    The snake demon king''s attention returned to the uing fighting. He licked his lips on his protruded jaws. He said in anticipation, "They are all strong. It is good that they are strong."


    Then he asked Aeternus, "Your information is urate right?"


    Aeternus replied, "Yes, it is. Nothing has changed."


    The subus queen wasn''t so optimistic about their chances. "I prefer it if they are weaker. I won''t mind their number then. But each one is so strong and there are so many of them. They are also united too. This is going to be difficult."


    "Just stick to the n," Aeternus said.


    All the 10 Celestials used elemental domains to be Celestials thereby stopping others from bing Celestials. This is because Elemental domains are the most valuable domains. The other types are not appreciated in the ne. This reduced the number of Celestials in the ne but it also enabled them to monopolies the Celestial domains to just 10 of them.


    Instead of fighting each other, they decided to divide up and absorb the other Celestial domains first. The 10 of them worked together to prevent other Celestials from forming in the other domains while they grew stronger. They monopolized all the power in the divine ne to just the 10 of them.


    The Celestial of fire absorbed the domains of the forge and volcanoes. The Celestial of light absorbed the domains of healing, Justice, and order. The Celestial of water absorbed beauty and love, sex and fertility, oceans and seas. The Celestial of Earth absorbed the domains of strength and power, Oaths, and peace. The Celestial of darkness absorbed the domain of Night, Death, and the Underworld.


    Each Celestial is at least level 4. They are all stronger than Zernon. It is what Unity on arge scale creates. Sure there ispetition and the asional war but it has only made them stronger for it. Order when bnced and tempered with Chaos creates the best oue.


    Aeternus warned them, "Everything has been arranged. This ne is very rich so we will get a lot of loot if we win. Their believers are very strong so they offer their gods a lot of wealth as sacrifice. But they won''t be able to interfere. We just stick to the divine ne ording to the n and everything will be ok."


    The subus queen said to him, "Don''t worry. We will show these pompous Celestials that numbers are not everything. We will show them the terror of demon kings."


    The ne is also bountiful and fertile despite the fact that they are always warring against each other. They fight but the fight only makes them stronger. The boost to the elemental affinity of the believers makes it so that they have a lot of strong cultivators and enables the ne to produce these stronger cultivators very fast. In fact, this ne is so sessful that they have a lot of world gods.


    The ne has produced a lot of Origin gods and world gods but they didn''t try to get rid of their gods because they are actually useful to them. The tree father has been having a lot of problems because of the strength of the inhabitants. A lot of them want to kill it.


    That''s why Aeternus doesn''t n to attack the mortal ne. His aim is more realistic than that and to achieve that aim, he needs to have other demon kings with him. They had and still have reservations about attacking such a powerful ne. But the incentive of all the wealth that the gods must have due to the prosperity of the path of divinity in the ne is too much for them to pass over.


    The demon kings he has with him are not weak. They are both level 5 demon kings. Both of them are also demon kings of the abyss. There are no demon kings of demons or demon kings of kings for wrath and lust anymore because of the existence of the demon gods of lust and wrath. The advantage of being demon kings of the abyss is that once they be demon kings, they will never be removed from it.


    The disadvantage of being a demon king of the abyss is that they won''t be able to progress to demon god but its perks make it a worthwhile decision sometimes. In this situation, the perks ensure that they will always be able to attack this ne until they are too weak to be a threat.


    They are immortal as long as they remain demon kings and as long as the abyss exists so they can only be temporarily banished to the abyss. They will sacrifice some Authority to resurrect but they will always be able to return to fight again.


    "Let''s get ready to fight." He said to them.


    The subus queen giggled as she pulled out a whip. "You seem to be in a hurry too. I like fast and hard sometimes but I always prefer slow and steady. Don''t you think so?" She asked Aeternus.


    He ignored her. The snake demon gave a feral grin as it swung its curved des eagerly.


    "Let me have at them." It said as it grinned.


    It is bubbling in excitement. It has already forgotten about its little spat with the demoness earlier. All it wants right now is to have at the gods. Its wish will be fulfilled soon. They all prepared themselves for the uing battle.


    They also shrunk their body size down to a couple of meters from the 10 kilometers that were. Size isn''t all that matters in a fight of their caliber. In fact, size doesn''t matter at all. In this case, size will be against them. They can maintain their strength no matter their size. Whereas being big will make them an easier target to hit. So they reduced their size.


    There are only three of them but they are not afraid of the uing battle despite being outnumbered. The war between demons and gods is not a war that can be ended with a single battle. It is a slow grind that wears down both side until one of them breaks down and capitte.

 Chapter 843 Winning Condition.

    <h4>Chapter 843 Winning Condition.</h4>


    The Celestials can kill all three of them but they will lose in this exchange as long as one of the Celestials dies. Gods grow stronger by absorbingpatible domains but demon kings grow stronger by absorbing Celestial Godhoods. That means demon kings can absorb any Godhood as long as it belongs to a Celestial.


    Every Celestial is food for a demon king. They are not picky at all. It makes them grow stronger faster than Celestials. What makes things further in their favor is that dying only makes them lose some of their Authority, not their strength.


    Each new demon king is a level 1 demon king. They need to absorb 3 Godhoods to be level 2. Then 5 more Godhoods to be level 3. Then 7 more to be level 4. Then 9 more to be level 5. Then 12 more to be level 6. That means each demon king has absorbed at least 24 Godhoods of Celestials to be level 5 demon kings. They might have more than that.


    Death means the loss of a single Godhood. A new level 5 demon king will be relegated back to level 4 if they are killed. Their death will reduce their amount of Godhood from 24 to 23 thereby causing their relegation. But these demon kings have more than 24 Godhoods of Celestials. They might die but their strength will be preserved at level 5.


    The Celestials have decided to work together to grind down the demon kings. They will win when they eventually kill the demon kings to a level where they are too weak to be a threat. But they will lose as long as a single one of them dies. That will reduce their overall strength and make it easier for another one of them to be killed again when the demon kings return for the second round.


    The challenge for the gods is to keep their strength constant throughout the duration of the war. This war can continue for many origin cycles. So the demoness of lust was right. Their conflict is a race. Hitting hard and fast is good sometimes but this race is one that can only be won by being slow and steady.


    The gods have to work together or they will be divided and subsequently conquered. That''s why they came together as one. The three demon kings on the other hand did not fight as one. They have less to lose so they are not as worried. The major reason why they are not fighting together is because it is very difficult for them to be team yers.


    The snake demon licked its lips before shouting, "Come and get a piece of me."


    Then it shot forward. It pped its wings of red fire and soared into the air against the 10 gods. He can''t wait to fight already. Aeternus was the one that suggested that they wait. The demon king of lust agreed with him so it was two against one. Unfortunately for them, that isn''t enough for the demon king of wrath to hold back. If it were up to it, then they would have attacked earlier instead of being attacked. The sin of wrath is not one with patience and it likes to be proactive in a battle instead of being reactive.


    The subus queen shook her head in mirth. "It seems he has forgotten the battle n. He is so spontaneous and exciting. How about you? Are you also exciting?" She leered at him.


    "We stick to the battle ne. Follow my lead." He told her.


    He wasn''t troubled too much that someone already disregarded his carefullyid out n at the beginning of the battle. He reminded them several times to stick with the n but this still happened. He wasn''t concerned though. This is just a slight hup. It is expected when working with demons. He can''t expect them to be as united as the gods. It is already a sess that he was able to avoid infighting among them before the battle.


    Aeternus pped his four ck wings and shot forward. His speed was so fast that he overtook the snake demon quickly. He zed forward and left a dark smoke trail behind him. The Celestials stayed in tight formation as the two sides approached each other. They did not let the fact that the demon kings are not acting as one let them rx their guard. They will only rx when all three of them have been eliminated.


    The snake demonined as Aeternus passed it by. It yelled, "Not fair."


    Then it seemed to have realized something. Things were supposed to go this way so it shouldn''t beining. It shut its mouth and put in more effort in keeping up with Aeternus. It flew faster and stuck to the smoke trails that Aeternus left behind. Aeternus left his partners way behind. He advanced forward like an unstoppableet. He didn''t seem like he intended to stop. His bare face was expressionless as he continued on his flight path without slowing down.


    The Celestials on the other hand began to frown. They will collide with him if they continue on their current path. They have to either divert their path and make way for him or they will have to block him. They don''t want to make way for him because they are a group. There are 10 of them and one of him. The one that should make way is him, not them. So they decided to block him. Even better, they decided to attack him. The best defense is an attack after all.


    The Celestial Supreme said to the other Celestials, "We will continue forward no matter what. I will slow him down and we will gang up on him. It is best that we kill him before the other two catch up. Let''s do this quickly and we will have a semnce of peace in a few hours."


    They voiced their assent and continued to follow their leader into battle just as they have always done. He has brought them victory before and he will surely do so again.


    ---------


    A/N: Bonus chapter for 600 votes.

 Chapter 844 The First Exchange.

    <h4>Chapter 844 The First Exchange.</h4>


    This is not the first time that they are being invaded by demon kings and this won''t be thest time. The fight with demons is eternal. They have even fought 5 demon kings working together and they managed to be victorious. Three demon kings working on their own will be a walk in the park. This battle will be done in a few hours at most and they will be able to return to their lives soon.


    The metal ball that is the Celestial Supreme tightened as they became closer to Aeternus. It doesn''t have a face so tightening the weapons that make up its body is the way for it to prepare itself both in body and mind for the uing collision. It was never up for question if they would choose to block Aeternus or not. The Celestial Supreme is their strongest Celestial and he did not be the strongest by giving up ground during a battle.


    That is the thing about metal. When it possesses an edge, it cuts through all opposition. That''s why Metal is the element with the highest cutting power. The Celestial of Metal is the sharp edge of this formation. It is its job to cut through all opposition. Then its followers will grind down the chunks of those that he breaks apart. Aeternus is about to collide with the sharp edge of this formation and the Celestial Supreme intends to make sure that he will regret it.


    Three silver phantom des suddenly appeared above them. They are colossal things more than a kilometer in length. They appeared in the sky of the battlefield and swung down upon Aeternus. Other phantom weapons began to appear around the sphere of tightly wound weapons. The Celestial Supreme is going all out.


    Several phantom weapons appeared in different shapes and sizes around the Celestial of Metal. Shields are the predominant ones. They formed an imcable defense around the Celestial of Metal. Then Several des formed and began rotating around the Celestial of Metal, just beyond the shields.


    Anyone that wants to get to the sphere must pass through the blockade of weapons and shields. That is unlikely to happen. Most be mince meat before they get into closebat with the Celestial of Metal.


    The shields will dy them enough for the des to go to work on them. That is for when they approach him. Even if they don''t, therge phantom des descending from the sky are a deadly attack to contend with. So the Celestial of Metal is more than happy to attack from afar and grind down its enemies from within the safety of its shields.


    Aeternus wrapped the four fingers on one of his meaty thick hands around the hilt of his ymore. He brought the ymore forward from where it was hooked to his back. All four of his hands sped around the length of the hilt. They each held on to a portion of the hilt, then they separated from each other. The 10-meter ymore was divided into four. Each one is simr to the other and they were held by the four huge red arms.


    A torrent of powerful chaos energy entered the ck de of the ymore and made the red runes on it shine with a deep red light. The ck de shined too as if coated in blood. Then he spread his four arms apart and pped his wings to make himself roll in the air. He swung the four ymores in a wide circle around him and made them discharge thepressed energy within them.


    Four arcs of energy flew upwards against the descent of the silver phantom des. His arcs of energy are just 10 meters long. They are very tinypared to the 1-kilometer phantom des descending on him like the wrath of heaven. Size isn''t all that matters in a fight of their level. In fact, it is almost irrelevant. But in this case, size won in the sh.


    The small arcs of energy cut into the middle phantom de and failed to cut all the way through. They met with a resistanceparable to cutting into a real and tough colossal weapon. The four energy arcs cut halfway into the phantom de and got stuck inside of it because of the resistance they encountered.


    By every look of it, Aeternus''s attack failed to rebuff the phantom des but he didn''t attack the phantom des again. He made more arcs of energy but he sent them forward to attack the formation of Celestials.


    He didn''t pay the phantom des any more of his attention despite the fact that he had only attacked one of them instead of all three. The one that he even attacked is still whole and it is continuing its descent towards him. His attention was takenpletely by the Celestials. They have all begun to attack him and the threat they pose is immediatepared to the descending phantom des.


    The Celestial of Metal is not the only one attacking him as they get close to each other. Torrent of fire, Lances of light, des of darkness, spikes of earth, water des, and earthen boulders are raining down on him. It is an avnche of attacks if there was ever one. He had to defend against them or risk being torn apart before the colossal phantom des get to him.


    Several ck arcs of energy flew forward from his ymore as he swung them over and over again. The arcs shed with the avnche of attacks and destroyed a portion of them. This paved the way for him to continue moving forward. Unfortunately, he can''t move forward easily.


    He has sessfully neutralized the attacks but the phantom des finally finished their descent. It is time to pay the piper. He neglected them earlier but he can''t now. Even then, Aeternus didn''t bother with them. He can''t dodge anyway. That''s why the Celestial of Metal attacked with 3 des instead of one.

 Chapter 845 The Price Of Arrogance.

    <h4>Chapter 845 The Price Of Arrogance.</h4>


    The one in the middle is directly on top of him. The other two nk it and are meant to catch him if he decides to shift his position to dodge the middle one. If he wants to dodge the three attacks then he will have to shift his position entirely and get out of the way of the Celestials.


    But he doesn''t n to do that. He didn''t shift during the time the Celestials were approaching him and he won''t shift now that they are right on top of him. So he must pay the price for his arrogance.


    The three phantom des came close enough to strike him. He didn''t dodge so the one in the middle was about to make contact with him. It chopped down aiming to split him in half. He finally paid attention at thest moment. One of his arms swung a ymore against the middle de.


    The two physically different des struck each other. One fell from the sky while the other struck from below. Aeternus''s defense was a halfhearted swing with minimal power behind the strike. It was as if he was swatting at a fly. And yet the middle de shattered. It shattered easily into fragments.


    The phantom de shattered because it was weak. It looked whole but it wasn''t whole. It had been severelypromised from the inside out. Something ate through it from within. It has be nothing more than arge fragile de. He knew this so he didn''t consider it a threat.


    The other two phantom des swung down past him harmlessly. The Celestial of metal would have frowned if it had a face to frown with. It would also have growled in frustration. Instead, its metal parts vibrated and quivered in agitation. A screech of metal grinding on metal rang out from him. It is a screech of frustration.


    It told the others, "Careful. That Demon King is weird. It wields an energy with corrosive properties."


    It shouldn''t have bothered to. The Celestials found out how corrosive his energy could be immediately. The flurry of attacks that Aeternus sent forward had shed with their own attacks earlier. He managed to create a small hole in their attacks but that wasn''t the end of it. The ck arcs of energy tore through their attacks and continued to spread outwards. Each sh between their attacks and his didn''t end there. Defeat and victory were not decided immediately.


    The ck arcs of energy from Aeternus''s ymore always rendered the attacks they collided with useless even if they were outmatched in power. Anything that touches them will be made useless after being eaten away. It is as if they are fighting against something acidic with metal.


    In the case that the arcs of energy won the initial sh, they will then explode into a small cloud of ck energy and spread themselves into the surrounding attacks. The dispersed ckish energy will then erode the surrounding attacks. It unnerved the Celestials.


    "It doesn''t matter. There''s more of us than him." The Celestial of Nature said.


    Her words are not mere encouragement. It is the truth. They outnumber Aeternus 10 to 1. They can output far more attacks despite the fact that he has four weapons and four arms. They don''t have arms and they don''t need them to attack. They attack with their minds and each one of them can produce 10 attacks at a time. There are also 10 of them. He is outnumbered in every way possible. Their attacks continued to advance on Aeternus even though his attacks could take out at least two of theirs on average.


    The snake demon and the subus took in a deep breath when they saw all the attacks approaching Aeternus. They wanted to stop or at least pause and reevaluate their situation. Thebined might of the Celestials is that intimidating. The volume of their attack can literally drown them if it is water and if they are mortal. But they didn''t stop because Aeternus didn''t stop. He continued to approach the Celestials which is ording to the n. So they tried to keep up.


    Aeternus continued his futile resistance. He continued to create arcs of energy against the onught of attacks. The arcs of energy had a lot of sess. They managed to carve out a path for him within the avnche of attacks. He managed to move closer to the Celestials little by little despite the resistance.


    In a fight with weaker beings, what he has achieved is good enough. Unfortunately for him, these are Celestials and they are also elementals. They have perfect control of their attacks. So even though he seeded in creating a tunnel within the avnche of attacks, the tunnel copsed behind him as the Celestials controlled their attacks to move and upy the vacant space.


    He became surrounded immediately. All of his effort was negated. They shut off his forward path and they also shut off his retreat by making some attacks to nk him. Then they attacked him from every direction. He can manage to create a break in the attacks when attacked from the front, but can he do so when attacked from behind, left, right, up, and down?


    At the rate of things, he will be drowned before he gets within effective range of the Celestials. The Celestials saw all these happen but they became more vignt instead of bing happy. Their attacks will not seed unless Aeternus is stupid. He is a demon king and no demon king is stupid. They can be rash but not stupid. So Aeternus can''t just rush headfirst into their attacks and die. He has to have something up his sleeve and they have to be ready for it.


    "Stay alert. Keep our ranks close." The Celestial of Metal warned his fellow Celestials. "Prepare yourself for a desperate Move. Demons are known to be sneaky and scheming."


    Aeternus is not stupid and he is not blind despite him not having any eyes. He can see well enough and he can process what he sees toe to the conclusion that he should be in a sorry state if things continue the way they are.


    Common sense dictates that he should take a step back immediately and regroup with the other demon kings. Doing so will invalidate his efforts but he will survive after paying a price for his arrogance. But he paid no heed tomon sense because he doesn''t needmon sense.

 Chapter 846 The Trump Card.

    It is as the Celestials feared. Aeternus is not foolish. He will not be in a sorry state despite how everything looks. In fact, he is no danger at all. He can pass through the onught of attacks unscathed without doing anything if he wants to.


    But he has to act as if he is in danger. He will do what they expect him to do in this sort of situation. He will reveal what is supposed to be up his sleeve. Because without this trump card, he should be in a sorry state. It is only normal for him to reveal it now to get out of danger.


    The ck round spot on his face suddenly bulged. It is like something is inside his head and is struggling toe out. The bulge expanded outward then it copsed inwards suddenly. Everyone expected an explosion from his face so they were surprised when the bulge copsed to be a whirlpool instead. The strange development of Aeternus''s face didn''t end there.


    The whirlpool on his face looks to be very deep. Its depth is deeper than the thickness of his head. His head shouldn''t be able to contain such a phenomenon. It is either that the space within his head isrger than it seems or that the whirlpool is connected to a distant location and not within his head. It could be anything considering that this is a demon king. Demons are weird and strange.


    If they were informed, which they are not, it could only be one thing since this is an avatar of a demon king formed through the use of chaos energy, soul force, and the crown of a king. The whirlpool mixed those three separateponents together and released them in the form of a beam.


    A ck beam was suddenly ejected from Aeternus''s face. The beam is the same width as the ck spot on his face so it is thin. The most important property of the beam is that its speed is very fast. It reached the Celestials almost instantly after it was released.


    The Celestials were caught off guard by the speed and power of the attack. The beam tore through all the attacks in its way, the shields around the Celestial of Metal, the sphere that is the Celestial of Metal, and all three Celestials behind this powerful Celestial Supreme including the Celestial of Nature at the very back of the formation.


    The ck beam went through the avnche of attacks and into 4 separate Celestials in the blink of an eye. It didn''t stop its damage there. The beam turned to the left with a slight movement of Aeternus''s head. So the beam tore sideways through the Celestials that it skewered like a kebab. Then it went on to slice into the 3 Celestials by the side of the formation.


    The Celestials were in a kite formation. The Celestial of Metal was at the front and the Celestial of Nature was at the very back. There are two Celestial between the two of them. Then there are three Celestials on each side of this line. The four Celestials in a straight line took a critical hit despite them being ready for Aeternus''s attack.


    That beam was just too fast to do anything against it. No defensive measures would have worked either way. The beam tore through everything in a straight line including the shields that the Celestial of Metal put up and the other defensive measures that the other Celestials had equipped.


    The three Celestials on the side were more fortunate. They had seen what happened to the first four that were hit so they tried to dodge. The beam injured two of them slightly andpletely missed the one at the far corner of the formation.


    One of the Celestials that was hit roared in anguish, "What in all of creation is this?"


    But no Celestials had the mind to answer. They were all transfixed on what happened next. The four Celestials that were hit first including their Celestial Supreme fell from the sky. They are not dead yet but they are very close to it. Horror came unbidden within the Celestials that could still maintain their flight. If they had eyes, it would be bulging in shock right now.


    Something that fast and deadly does not perform a lethal perforation of your existence without death bing very close to you. The Celestial of Metal was vaguely aware of its situation but it doesn''t know more than the fact that its condition is critical. It can''t even fly anymore. That''s something that a mana entity can do but it can''t do. The world has disappeared in its vision. The only thing it can see and feel is encroaching darkness.


    Even then it was able to tell them something as it fell. "Finish...the..the...fi....fight..qu..quick.quickly."


    Its mind stuttered as it said that to them. Then everything became dark and it surrendered to its fate. Four gigantic entities fell from the sky pitifully. The ball of metal, the ball of vines, the pir of ice, and the pir of light fell and smashed into the battlefield below.


    Such powerful beings wereid low by a single blow. Their unceremonious descent created a lot of Chaos on the battlefield and took some lives on impact. All the soldiers on both sides began to run away from them when the fallen Celestials started to ooze ck corrosive smoke into the environment.


    Four out of 10 Celestials have been effectively put out ofmission with a single move which leaves six more Celestials. The Celestials still outnumber the demon kings by 2 to 1 but things are not in their favour. None of them have confidence in the fact that they outnumber the demon kings.


    Things would have been against them had one of them died during the process of banishing the demon kings. That kind of victory would have been categorized as a pyrrhic victory. So four casualties at a time is a catastrophe.


    But it gets worse. Their leader has been downed, their formation has scattered, and none of the demon kings has been killed. Things can only go downhill from here.

 Chapter 847 Or So They Thought.

    They can''t stay close together or they will risk Aeternus taking out more of them with a single shot. So the remaining Celestials stayed in a loose mobile formation with a wide distance between each of them. They were able to stop themselves from panicking and reforming their forces just in time for Aeternus to collide with them.


    The Celestials had scattered earlier when the beam hit their formation. They ran for their lives from the ck beam of death. That made them stop paying attention to their attacks. Aeternus kept them busy with escaping with their lives while he expanded the pathway created by the beam. He used his normal attacks to destroy the obstacles in his way and quickly reached the Celestials.


    The beam was on for a total of 5 seconds before it was shut off. It is a short amount of time but it is very long in a fight of their level. Aeternus had be too close to be rebuffed by the time the beam was off. So they could only reform and sh with him. Their mission is still on. It is just that they are on a very short time limit. They have to eliminate the demon kings quickly so that they can help the four downed Celestials recover.


    The Celestial of Earth is at the head of their new formation. He is the one with the strongest defense after the Celestial of Metal. So he was the one who shed with Aeternus in close quarters. The remaining five will support him with ranged attacks.


    If done well, they can still kill Aeternus fast enough. Or so they thought. Aeternus allowed his Chaos energy to enter the world around him in the form of a domain.


    A ck cloud suddenly exploded out of him. His Chaos energy is always ready to rampage but he has been holding it back. So it is very eager now that it has been given permission. It covered all the Celestials quickly robbing them of their sight and senses. The Celestials finally panicked.


    They had been on edge because of the beam of death. Then this happened. It seems to them that the world suddenly darkened and became hostile to them. A corrosive energy enveloped them. It began to tear into them. This finally made them panic. They scattered in every direction looking for a way out.


    The round ball of reinforced rock didn''t know what hit it. The Celestial of Earth couldn''t see anything in the shroud of darkness. All it knew was that Aeternus was supposed to be in front of it. So it attacked its front with all its might. Earth spikes and boulders assaulted where Aeternus should''ve been. Unfortunately for it, it did no good.


    Aeternus saw everything that happened. He could have dodged the attacks. He could have circled sideways and attacked his blind foe from the left or right. But he didn''t because he doesn''t need to.


    He went straight through the attacks fearlessly. They struck his body harmlessly as he passed through them. He swatted aside the ones that blocked his way. Then he got close to the Celestial of Earth and cut into it with all four of his ymores.


    "Arrrrrrrr." The Celestial of Earth screamed in pain.


    His arms shed and a Celestial screamed. It was a soundless scream. Both sound and spiritual transmissions cannot go through this cloud of Chaos energy. So no one saw or heard the Celestial of Earth die.


    It was a swift but very painful death. Aeternus cut into the ball several times until the sphere broke down. The Celestial of Earth was helpless against him. It couldn''t do anything to defend itself. It was blind and its attacks are useless against Aeternus.


    The structural integrity of the Celestial of Earth''s body and mind was severelypromised by its injuries. It couldn''t take any more so its existence copsed. A brown sphere glowing with a subdued light appeared from the remnants of the Carved up body of the Celestial of Earth. It signified the death of a Celestial.


    Aeternus took the Celestial Godhood that appeared and kept it in his personal space. It is a space created by his Authority and attached to his soul. It is not the inventory given to him by the realm lord. He doesn''t trust the realm lord enough to keep his things there.


    Then he turned his attention to the other fleeing Celestials. He wielded his powerful soul force to form three chains and swung the chains at three separate Celestials. The chains wrapped around the three Celestials. Then he pulled them back to him and he proceeded to massacre them.


    It was a ughter. That''s the only thing that it can be called. It was not a fight. A fight needs substantial resistance. These Celestials couldn''t put up any worthy resistance so it was not a fight. They are no different from choice meat being carved up and devoured in the most ruthless way possible.


    This oue is not an unexpected scenario since this avatar of Aeternus has the strength of a level 10 demon king. Level 10 is the highest level of Authority that a demon king can have. That means that he has reached the requirement to be a demon god. The attack that took out 4 Celestials at once is not his trump card. It is just a casual attack.


    None of the Celestials can threaten him. They can''t harm him alone or together even if they attack all day long. His body is made out of his Authority so it will require a level 10 Authority to even scratch it.


    Other demon kings are not like this. Their body and souls are separate entities. Their Authority only empowers their attacks, sin abilities, and spells. It doesn''t reinforce their body like his. It is a perk of having his body warped by Chaos energy ever since he was an unborn demon. So his body is created out of his Authority since he has the Authority of Chaos.

 Chapter 848 Hidden Strength.

    Other demon kings can create barriers that will be able to match the defense of his body but they will need to actively put up that defense while he doesn''t. It means he didn''t need to worry about the Celestial of Metal''s attacks and the joint attacks of all ten Celestials. He could have just waltzed through them but he hid his strength. He can go all out now that he is covered by the cloud of Chaos energy. No one will see what he is capable of. Even his victims won''t be able to see. And if they can, they won''t be telling tales after he is done with them.


    He practically ripped the three Celestials apart. He dug his hands into their bodies and pulled their Godhoods out from within them while they were still alive. They tried to resist but it was all futile. They were no more than petnt children to him. He ripped out their hearts as easily as taking candy from babies. He watched the life leave them as their bodies fell apart.


    He could have killed all five Celestials but he let two go so that his strength will remain hidden. No matter how special his energy is, it will raise eyebrows if he manages to kill all 5 Celestials by himself. He left the other two for his twopanions while he kept the 3 Godhoods.


    The current Aeternus can be said to be Cmity incarnate. He has grown so much that he can take on the strongest demon kings. The story that other demon kings know for a why such a newly crowned demon king is so powerful so quickly is that Aeternus has a source of Intel that helps him to find vulnerable nes so that his invasions are always sessful. They believe he killed a lot of Celestials to acquire the strength he has in such a short time.


    It is a usible exnation for his strength. After all, if a demon king is very lucky, then they can quickly gain strength from invading nes. Invasions usuallyst tens of thousands of years but good Intel can reduce the time it takes to destroy the defenses of a divine ne. But they are wrong about how strong he is and how he acquired his strength.


    He has been a demon for a total of 10,000 years. That is one-tenth of an origin cycle. He grew so strong in such a short amount of time because of Cosmic energy. The activation of Cosmic energy within Helios, when a clone of Legionpleted aw, created a lot of changes within Legion. Legion-1''s concept of life came into contact with Cosmic energy for the first time and didn''t let go.


    His concept of life devoured cosmic energy like a tick engorging on blood. Legion-1 practically swelled and was in danger of literally exploding. They tried to save him but nothing could be done to stop his concept from being empowered by cosmic energy.


    Legion-1 can control his concept but he can''t control cosmic energy. None of them can control cosmic energy except for Legion-9 the tree father, who has a limited maniption of cosmic energy. However, the tree father can''t actively control cosmic energy. He can only coerce cosmic energy within the Authority of the Celestial Supreme at best so he couldn''t stop cosmic energy from doing what it wants.


    Cosmic energy was activated and it invaded the mindwork through the soul sphere. Then it refused to leave. It pumped itself into Legion-1 just like it did with Helios until Legion-1 exploded. Legion-1 did not be a star like Helios. His soul exploded and he died.


    His inner world wasn''t destroyed by his unusual death. He didn''t even stay dead for long. He was resurrected very quickly thanks to the Authority of the Celestial Supreme within his world and therge amount of Cosmic energy that they have ess to. It helped his soul to be reconstructed quickly.


    His resurrection took less than a month but Legion-1 was not the same when he returned from death.


    Legion-1 had be frayed at the edges. The boundaries of his existence had be unfixed. He had imbibed too much Cosmic energy so his existence began to sense the dark side of the universe. His concept has grown past the limit of what an Origin god should have.


    All Legion-1 needs is a supremew and the necessaryponents to build a world. Then he will be able to safely descend to the dark side of the universe and be a world god.


    Other Origin gods need to fuse with more concepts containing cosmic energy andws with the aid of Origin essence to achieve what he did. It is something that takes thousands of origin cycles. It is already phenomenal that the realm lord could achieve it in 100 Origin cycles. He achieved it in 3 Origin cycles after bing an Origin god.


    But he wasn''t exactly thrilled by how it happened. It wasn''t a pleasant feeling to be inted and popped like a balloon. Thankfully his death granted him a reprieve from Cosmic energy. He wasn''t force-fed by cosmic energy anymore.


    The same thing happened to Legion-7 but he could control his evolution due to his ability to devourws. The biggest change to him was when he consumed the Supremew of order of the serpentine world god It evolved to be a massively powerful eldritch being.


    All of Legion had one change or the other including Aeternus. Even the unborn clones were affected. As for Aeternus, his Authority of Chaos also engorged on Cosmic energy. He didn''t explode from it because his Authority had a clear limit. It can''t go beyond level 10 so it had to stop growing.


    The only one that wasn''t affected by the free and adamant flow of cosmic energy is the tree father. Celestial grade Authority of a Celestial domain can''t grow stronger. That is the limit of what it can do.

 Chapter 849 Soul Force + Authority.

    <h4>Chapter 849 Soul Force + Authority.</h4>


    The only way Celestials grow stronger is to imbibe more domains. They are unlike Origin gods and Demon kings who sacrifice concepts and Celestial Godhood respectively to grow their Authority. But the tree father won''t remain in his stagnant situation for long.


    So Aeternus has reached the limit of the path for a demon king. He can''t initiate his evolution yet because his evolution is not normal. He has to contend with primordial chaos to be a demon god. So he is waiting to fullyprehend thew of Chaos before he attempts the fusion with his mark of sin.


    The Godhoods he is acquiring are for the tree father to grow stronger since he doesn''t need them anymore. He much prefers to empower himself with soul force.


    His Authority was changed due to the shard of power and he has be able to utilize soul force in ways that the other clones can''t. So he has been using Soul Force for a lot of things. The current weapon that this avatar is using is made out of soul force. The ck armor on his body was also made out of soul force. Even the avatar was made out of soul force.


    Soul force can also work together with his Authority seamlessly to create stronger attacks. Godhood can''t empower him anymore but Soul Force can. His soul can produce soul force on its own since he is a fragment of an Origin god''s soul. But the soul force that he produces on his own is not as powerful as the soul force that Legion-1 produces. And thanks to the soul sphere, Legion-1 can give him some soul force.


    So Aeternus can use both his Authority and the power of Legion-1''s very powerful soul. That''s how this level 5 clone is strong enough to take on the entire pantheon. This means that even a demon king with a level 10 Authority won''t be a match for his main body.


    So one might wonder why he is here working together with two other demon kings to subjugate a divine ne. After all, he can take on the entire Celestial Pantheon on his own with just a single avatar. If he can subjugate the ne on his own, why is he working with two demon kings and why is he hiding his strength too?


    Aeternus waited patiently within the cloud to pretend that he was still fighting while the others were fighting outside. The subus queen used her whip to fight the Celestial of Lightning and the snake demon king used his curved des to fight the Celestial of Wind.


    Those two Celestials are the fastest among the 6 Celestials still alive. The Celestial of Light is the fastest Celestial but she was downed from Aeternus''s first attack. She wasn''t fast enough to dodge the ck beam. These two are the next fastest but their speed won''t be able to help them evade their fate.


    The Celestial of Lightning is a giant purple snake with wings. Its entire body of about 70 meters long is made of lightning so it is very fast. It zaps about with lightning speed and it produces attacks using lightning bolts. Each of its attacks is apanied by a sh and a boom of world shaking thunder.


    The subus queen can''t keep up with the speed of the Celestial of Lightning but she doesn''t need to. Her red whip is fast enough to hinder the elusive Celestial. She wields the whip so well it is like a sentient snake in her hand that is capable of tracking and constricting whatever it gets a hold of with considerable strength.


    The whip is thin and long but it is very strong and durable. It is also very sharp so it can slice through very tough metal and it can decimate flesh. It strikes with the force of a club while simultaneously cutting like a de. The area where it hits is pulverized.


    The whip will first slice open the spot it hits with unparalleled sharpness. Then the head of the whip gets into the wound and ejects explosion force that mimics blunt trauma. This makes the wound expand from the inside out and explode. The whip can also extend for a long distance and split apart at the edge. When coupled with her proficient wielding, it bes a very deadly weapon.


    The Celestial of Lightning fell into a disadvantage quickly because of the whip. Its powerful attacks can level a mountain and tuurn it into a crater but Its attacks couldn''t hit the subus. Her body always turns into red smoke when she''s hit either by lightning bolts or physical attacks. Subi are very good with illusions so a demon king subus must have top-notch illusion-based sin abilities. The Celestial of Lightning can''t tell where she is so it is hitting her illusions.


    The Celestial of Lightning couldn''t make effective attacks because of the illusions and thepromise of its senses also affected its defense. It couldn''t dodge the whip attack because it saw hundreds of whips instead of one. It doesn''t know which one is the real one so it has to pay with its flesh as its price for being fooled.


    The whips gouged out chunks of its body and soul. It felt pain throughout its entire existence. The pain is so great that it could cry. Its injuries umted until it became desperate. So it activated an area of attack ability.


    The purple snake of lightning formed a domain of lightning around it. The domain formed a sphere of lightning around it that smashed and destroyed everything within the domain to ashes. It also allowed it to acquire urate information about everything within the domain.


    A domain grants higher control of an area by creating direct ess between that area and the soul. The Celestial of Lightning used this ess to bypass the illusions. It was able to find the subus this way. It locked onto the demon king of lust and gave chase immediately. One of them must die and it will either be through destruction by lightning or by being bludgeoned to death by a whip.

 Chapter 850 The Levels Of Power.

    <h4>Chapter 850 The Levels Of Power.</h4>


    Unfortunately, the fate of the Celestial of Lightning is still sealed. It is just a level 4 Celestial while she is a level 5 demon king. The fact that it can now spot her and attack her directly doesn''t remove the disadvantage of strength. It has only stopped the subus queen from toying with it until it dies.


    The subus queen formed a barrier around her that protected her from the field of lightning and the target lightning strikes while she empowered her whip with more power to deal deadly blows. The level 4 defense of the Celestial couldn''t save it from being threatened.


    The level of Authority is not an absolute indicator of strength. A Celestial or a demon king with a level 4 Authority can harm and kill a Level 6 Celestial or demon king. It is all about opportunity and skill. Two fighters with two des of varying lengths will have different chances of victory if they fight. It is obvious that the one who brought the knife to confront the other with a sword is at a disadvantage. But it has happened, though rarely, that the person with the knife wins the fight through the utilization of better skill or opportunity provided by in luck.


    A stronger Authority is like having a longer reach and a higher damage output. But skill is very important. So is the amount of enemies. A single level 4 demon king will have a lot of difficulties taking on a level 5 demon king much less one that is level 6. But two level 4 demon kings or three of them will surely have it easier to vanquish a level 6 demon king.


    They are not like Aeternus. The body and soul of demon kings are separate. It has the advantage of preserving the bulk of their power when they die. The injuries of the body won''t affect the soul. It is good since the Authority of a demon king is concentrated on their souls. Their body can be empowered by their divine rank energy and their Authority but it isn''t like Aeternus whose body is literally made out of his Authority.


    To Aeternus, the length of the knife doesn''t matter, you will have to get through the tough armor that he is wearing. If your weapon is not good enough to ovee his defenses, then he doesn''t even need to kill you with his own de. He can bludgeon you to death with his armor-covered fist.


    Aeternus faces some disadvantages too since his death leads to the loss of an entire level of Authority instead of just a single Celestial Godhood. If he somehow dies, his Authority will fall to level 9 immediately. He won''t die since he is not here. So to be more precise, the Authority of the crown in this avatar will fall to level 4 while the other demon kings will still be at level 5 if they die once.


    The Celestial of Lightning has a lower level of Authority and there''s just one of it fighting the subus queen. It doesn''t have the advantage of a bigger weapon with a longer reach or higher damage output. And it doesn''t have the assistance of others. So it was vanquished after a few minutes of fighting.


    It fought admirably and with impressive tenacity. The element of lightning is highly destructive so it was able to critically injure the demon king of lust several times before it died. But that is all it managed to do before it sumbed to its injuries and fell apart.


    The Celestial of Wind also suffered the same fate. It took a longer time for it to die since its near-formless tornado body could minimize damage from attacks to a certain level. It also couldn''t damage the demon king of wrath because of the strong defense of its red scales. The two of them couldn''t damage each other properly so their fight became a slugfest.


    The Celestial of Wind formed several wind des that rotated around itself to strike the snake demon. The snake demon also used his curved des in an unrelenting pursuit to damage his foe. He struck at the Celestial of Wind in a frenzy fueled by agitation, anger, and excitement. He became a whirlwind of attack fighting against an actual tornado. They hit each other over and over again until one of them finally died.


    The snake demon was severely injured by the time the fight ended. He had many open wounds leaking blood fire from his to the ground. Had the fight continued for a little while more, then he would have been the one to die not the Celestial of Wind.


    The oue of the fight would have also been entirely different had their opponents been different. The whip of the subus wouldn''t work against the Celestial of Wind because of its formless body and the snake demon king is too slow to threaten the Celestial of Lightning.


    The destructive lightning would also be able to overpower the defense of the scales of the snake demon king. These things would have changed the oue of the fight. So it is fortunate that the demon kings chose opponents that they can fight effectively.


    Their decision of opponents was not by chance. It was ording to the information that Aeternus supplied to them. They could have died without that information. It is obvious that Aeternus doesn''t want them to die. He certainly didn''t give them the information to ensure the sess of the invasion. He can win on his own.


    The subus queen finished her fight first so she was watching by the side. The snake demon had roared valiantly into the air after his victory. He noticed that the subus queen was giggling coquettishly at him.


    "What so funny?" He asked with a growl.


    "Nothing. You''re just so manly. Very manly and very dominant." She replied with a wink.


    The snake demon smirked. "Yes, I am very manly. It is high time you noticed it."


    Then it began a sermon about how wrath makes a man and how violence should be the tool to solve every problem.

 Chapter 851 Suspicious Energy.

    <h4>Chapter 851 Suspicious Energy.</h4>


    The subus queen rolled her eyes. She was expecting a different reaction but the snake demon missed the fact that she was flirting with him. He would have gotten pissed if he knew that she is trying to arouse him. He is high on battle victory right now so he remained oblivious to her attempts.


    She asked innocently, "Do you want me to help you keep that Celestial godhood? You cane over to my pce to get it. I will make sure to entertain you very well."


    Her body trembled almost imperceptibly but the demon king of wrath noticed. He noticed that the subtle vibration of her body made her heavy mammary nd shake enticingly. The two mounds swayed and beckoned to him.


    It was then that the demon king of wrath caught on to the fact that she is trying to use her wiles to pull a fast one in him. But he didn''t get angry. He is currently too happy to bother with her. He just snorted a stream of mes through his nose and kept the godhood in his personal space.


    Then he turned his attention to the dark ominous cloud standing above the battlefield.


    He said with longing, "The fight must still be on. It must be one hell of a fight."


    The subus queen nodded. "Yes, it must be. But it is ording to the n. So you can''t join in."


    The snake demon king was disappointed. He asked, "What if he needs help? This isn''t exactly ording to the n."


    "We will wait to see if he needs help. Until then we do nothing. Everything worked out well despite the slight deviation from the n so it should be okay."


    Everything is going well. The invasion is likely to seed even though there was a change to the n. Aeternus provided the information about the ne and he nned their assault. He was to spearhead their fight against the Celestials. He was supposed to scatter them while the other demon kings would then concentrate on one Celestial and kill it before the others could help.


    They don''t know how he would do it but they have some faith in him because of the little they know about him. They know he is strong enough to capture and imprison level 4 demon kings. So they had some hope for his strength and he didn''t disappoint them.


    The Celestials didn''t scatter like they nned but they killed more than one Celestial so things are going beyond their expectations. At the rate of things, they won''t have to die at all. Their invasion will seed with a single attempt.


    The snake demon remained skeptical. "He did well but he is fighting 3 Celestials right now. It can''t be easy and we can''t help him because of this cloud. He might need our help and we won''t know about it. I don''t like this."


    The subus queen observed the cloud intently. She has been suspicious of something about Aeternus. She decided to hear the snake demon''s thoughts about it. Demons of wrath are usually straightforward.


    "Don''t you think the reaper is too strong for a level 5 demon king?" She asked him.


    The snake demon king shrugged. "It''s that weird energy that he uses. It is corrosive and dangerous. It is like poison. And he can also umte it as a trump card."


    "That''s what I am asking about. Where did a level 5 demon king get such powerful energy? The energy is like poison. A little amount of it can lead to a lot of damage." She said.


    Then she pointed at the four Celestials on the ground. The four Celestials have broken down into pieces. Their Celestial Godhoods have be exposed among the ruins of their bodies. It is safe to say that they are all dead. But the ck energy is still wreaking havoc on the surroundings. There is a ck ooze at the spot where they died. This ooze is spreading everywhere and destroying everything it touches. It covered arge distance in the short time that they were fighting.


    The snake demon king took one look at the four dead Celestials and asked her, "You mean that he is level 6 and he is hiding his strength?"


    She rolled her eyes and groaned. "I am not talking about his power level. He is level 5 by the way. I can sense it clearly. What I am talking about is the energy he is using. It is strange. It is very strange."


    The snake demon king became confused. "What''s strange about it? Demons of grudge and spite have this type of energy. It doesn''t disappear. It sticks to its targets and will continue to harm them until they die. They also have the ability to umte their hatred and grudge so there''s no problem about that powerful attack of his."


    The snake demon king''s exnation didn''t ease her suspicions. She asked, "But is he a demon of grudge or a demon of spite?"


    "I don''t know."


    "My point exactly. No one knows what type of demon he is. All we know is that he is a level 5 demon king. There is so much that we don''t know about him. He just suddenly appeared and he is so strong. Strong enough to capture a lot of demon kings."


    The snake demon king shrugged again. "What''s there to fear about him? He is a level 5 demon king like you said and we are also level 5. So what does it matter if he has a weird energy? I am sure I can take him."


    The subus queen sighed and stopped trying to share her concerns about their mysterious partner. If there is someone that can help her to figure out the secret about Aeternus then it is certainly not this snake demon king. His stance that he can take Aeternus on because they have the same level is fundamentally wrong. Levels are not everything when ites to power and survivability of demons.

 Chapter 852 The Reaper.

    ?


    The two of them are level 5 demon kings and they had to struggle to kill level 4 Celestials in a one-on-one fight. Meanwhile, Aeternus is currently fighting 3 Celestials at the same time after killing 4 other Celestials at once. One of those four Celestials also includes the Celestial Supreme of this ne.


    The proof that Aeternus is not what he seems to be is right there in their face but the snake demon king can''t see it. It is either due to in ignorance, pride, or blind confidence. Either way, Aeternus is very weird. This ck energy that he produced is very weird.


    ''I just hope this cooperation will end on a good note. Then maybe I can celebrate by fucking the brains out of this dunce.'' She thought to herself. Then she licked her lips while ncing at the snake demon king.


    She likes to have sex, she likes to bring powerful individuals to their knees through pleasure, and she also likes violent and strong sexual partners. Aeternus and this snake demon meet all of her criteria for a long session of mind-blowing sex. Unfortunately, Aeternus doesn''t seem to have feelings. He is like an emotionless robot. All her flirting and teasing don''t get any reaction from him. He is always calm and detached.


    She would love to break Aeternus''s will through waves upon waves of sexual pleasure. It will fulfill her fantasies and it will also let her crack his secrets. He is sure to spill his deepest darkest secrets when his mind is clouded with unending pleasure. So it is unfortunate that he doesn''t reciprocate her charms in any way.


    She can try to actively seduce him but it might lead to him taking it as an offense. It has happened before. A subus queen tried to seduce him and it led to a fight. That subus queen disappeared since then. She has never been seen after that fight.


    Word is that Aeternus has turned her into a chair or something like he always does with his captives. He is notoriously wicked to those who offend him. That''s why they call him Reaper. He kills without hesitation at the slightest offense. So she doesn''t want to test him. She is still wary of his corrosive energy. Besides, she isn''t out of options for someone to have fun with. The snake demon king also meets her criteria. He is strong and he is violent.


    Aeternus is not an avable option which leaves the snake demon as the next best. She knows that her "feminine charms" are having an effect on him. That''s even without her actively trying to charm him. He seems to be angry at her when she flirts but that''s good enough for her. Any reaction is good.


    He just shows anger because that is the predominant emotion that demons of wrath disy. That anger will go nicely with sex. She just has to grind down his resistance.


    ''He can discharge all his anger on me once I get him in bed. I''ll take everything. I am pretty flexible and very amodating.'' She thought to herself in anticipation.


    The snake demon king didn''t know what she was thinking about. He saw her looking at him weirdly and licking her red lips. That put him on alert immediately. He growled menacingly at her.


    "Stop whatever you''re nning. I will kill you if you dare."


    He doesn''t need to think too much to know what she could be thinking about and he doesn''t want her to set him as her target. So he tried to threaten her so that she would stay away from him.


    His aggressive disy didn''t deter her at all. It only spurred her on. She purred seductively at him. The snake demon king''s eyes narrowed in anger. He felt threatened and when he feels threatened, he attacks.


    He did immediately. He shot toward her to strike her. He is not one to be reactive to threats. He likes to be proactive. Demons of lust fight with sex and demons of wrath fight with physical violence. So he intends to fight her now before she uses her charm on him.


    Aeternus came out of the cloud at that point. The cloud dispersed behind him. The two of them paused to look at him.


    He shook his head and said, "I was only gone for a little while and you''re already at each other''s throats."


    "No, we''re not at each other''s throats yet. I would like him to get into my throat. I can swallow really well. But he is dying." The subus pouted cutely whileining.


    The snake demon king couldn''t take it anymore. It moved forward to pounce at her but Aeternus interrupted again. "We are not done yet. Let''s get to their divine kingdoms before they getpletely destroyed."


    The Celestials are dead so their divine kingdoms are defenseless. Their divine kingdom is also where they keep their wealth. They have to get to it before the divine kingdoms arepletely destroyed. The divine kingdom will start to fall apart with the death of the gods so they have to rush.


    The snake demon king relented. Aeternus makes a good point. The wealth of Celestials is a better alternative than fighting the subus queen. He looked around and noticed that the defense of the ne was falling apart. The death of the Celestials hit them hard.


    The angels of the Celestials died after the death of their creator thereby removing their strongest forces in the angelic host. This allowed the Heralds of the demon kings to rampage across the battlefield without opposition. Even grand gods are not safe from the Heralds.


    The snake demon king also noticed the 5 very shiny cores on the ground. Four of them are Celestial Godhoods. The fifth one is the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. The fifth one is the most valuable and also the most dazzling. It is the biggest core on the ground.


    The eyes of the snake demon king couldn''t help but stare at it with longing. The contract of partnership that they signed couldn''t stop him from having some thoughts about Aeternus''s loot.

 Chapter 853 A Crack In The Partnership.

    Even demon gods want the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. A demon king that absorbs it will have an upgrade of at least one whole level in their Authority. It is an instant rank up so it is more valuable to higher-level demon kings than lower-level ones.


    Unfortunately, the Authority of the Celestial Supreme belongs to the Reaper. It undoubtedly belongs to him because he killed the Celestial Supreme himself. So the snake demon king can''t have it.


    He thought to himself, "But I can get one of the other four if I y my cards right."


    Greed took root in his heart and he smiled. He flew down toward the ground of Armageddon to where the 4 Celestials died and where their godhoods are.


    The demon king of wrath said to the two of them as he moved to take one of the Celestial Godhoods. "I guess the subus queen and I will take one Celestial Godhood each. You, Reaper, can have the remaining two and the Authority of the Celestial Supreme since you''re the one that killed them."


    He thought to himself in pride, "Who says that demons of wrath can''t scheme?"


    The snake demon king feels proud of himself. He didn''t ask for a Celestial Godhood and he did not express his interest in one. He is already moving to grab it while simultaneously pulling the subus queen onto his side. They don''t have any right to the items but there are two of them and only one of the Reaper.


    If the Reaper and the slutty subus can overrule him about how they should attack the ne then surely he and the slutty subus can overrule the Reaper on how to share the loot. That''s what the snake demon king thought. It thinks it is very slick and cunning about the whole thing. The grin on its face is both for its happiness at getting something that doesn''t belong to it and its happiness at getting away with taking something that doesn''t belong to it.


    While it is impressive that the demon king of wrath can scheme, it is unfortunate that his scheme is shallow and that the demon king he is scheming against is very unreasonable. Aeternus attacked him immediately. He shot a ck de of energy at the snake demon. The snake demon king was startled. He expected Aeternus to reject his request and not attack outright.


    He defended himself quickly so the ck de of chaos energy didn''t dissect it. It was a hasty and messy defense. He managed to use his curved de to block the attack just in time. The de of energy scattered when it struck its curved de. Some of it sshed onto his reinforced scales and began to corrode it.


    ck spots began to spread over his body. The snake demon king hurriedly purged the corrosive energy. He isrgely unscathed but the damage to his image has been done. The snake demon king red resentfully at his assant but he got a dismissal in return. Aeternus didn''t even look at the result of the sh. The attack was casual and not meant to kill. Then he ignored the snake demon king and moved to retrieve his loot.


    He said to them as he flew by, "These 5 are all mine including the loot in their divine kingdom."


    He spoke with a tone of finality. It made him sound stubborn and unreasonable. The snake demon king became furious. He felt that the reaper could have said something first instead of attacking outright. There was no negotiation or diplomacy. It means the Reaper doesn''t think he is worthy of those. Theck of respect is ring and obvious.


    So is it, a demon king of wrath supposed to just take the attack and do nothing? No, it will not. He will not take such treatment from another demon king. It is worse that it is a demon king on the same level as him that disrespected him so tantly. He was about to fly off his hinges but calmed down when the subus queen signaled for him to wait. So he exhaled slowly. Blue mes were ejected from its nostrils. They are hitter than the normal red mes that he produces.


    "Calm down. Let''s talk about this. Let me give it a try." She said secretly to the snake demon king.


    The subus queen didn''t want to get involved even after the snake demon king roped her into his agenda. But she couldn''t help but feel pain that she won''t have a share of more loot. Godhoods aside, the wealth in the divine kingdoms is enormous. The Celestials have lived for a very long time and have umted wealth for millions of years.


    Some Celestials in other nes with an average belief in Gods are wealthy enough to employ the services of Origin gods. Even Ode, the Celestial of Battle in a ne with a low amount of respect for gods could tempt 3 Origin gods to work for him despite their fear for the racial council.


    This ne on the other hand has a very high respect for god with a high amount of the poption believing in gods. It is not an understatement to say that an origin god could build a world and be a world god with the amount of wealth avable here.


    Just imagine that. The Celestials have umted enough wealth to build a world. That is no small thing that anyone can look over. The Authority of the Celestial Supreme is already enough to tempt demon gods. Demon gods will certainly go crazy at the amount of wealth here.


    All that wealth is there for the taking now but Aeternus alone will get 80% of all of it while the two of them will share the remaining 20% amongst themselves. It makes her heart ache in longing just from thinking about it. It is one thing to not give them a piece of the godhoods but it is another thing for him to keep all that wealth to himself. She won''t have it if she can help it.

 Chapter 854 A Reasonable Request.

    Unlike the short-sighted snake demon king of wrath, she has her sight in the wealth and not the godhoods. It is rare to encounter so much wealth. It is not easy to take it either. There are just about 100,000 nes in the entire realm. It is highly unlikely, but If all of them have rich Celestials in their divine ne and if all of them were subdued, the amount of wealth will only be able to fund 100,000 origin gods to be world gods.


    100,000 is the maximum amount of world gods that thebined wealth of all the divine nes in the realm can create. That is not nearly enough for all the origin gods of the realm of high heaven because on average, each ne has produced 1,000,000 origin gods across the tens of thousands of Origin Cycle that the realm of high heaven has existed.


    Even then, origin gods can''t take on divine nes because they will be suppressed. They will need a lot of them to defeat the Celestials. The thing is that Celestials won''te out to fight enemies as long as they are not demons. Demon kings can shrug off the suppression of the divine kingdom so it is better to fight them off together. That way, the demon kings won''t divide and conquer them.


    But Celestials won''t do that to origin gods because the suppression of their divine kingdom will render Origin gods nearly powerless. Origin gods won''t be able to encounter the wealth that they have encountered today because they are not engineered predators for gods like demons are. But that doesn''t make the wealth that they have encountered today to bemon amongst demon kings either.


    She said, "Reaper, you should share some of the loot with us. You asked us for help and we answered. We came to help you subjugate this divine ne. You wouldn''t have been able to have this kind of victory if we were not around. It is undeniable that you needed us. You wouldn''t have asked us for help if you didn''t need us. It is only right that you appreciate us for the help that we have rendered."


    She started by using him. Then she eased up with her request. She said, "Don''t worry. We are not asking for much. We don''t want the godhoods. You can keep them. Just give us another 10% of their wealth in their divine nes. We will share it amongst ourselves."


    She made a logical argument and proposed a reasonable proposal forpensation. She asked for just 10%. That will increase her share by 5%. She can get more if she cheats the demon king of wrath by seducing him with sex. Surely, 10% is not too much to ask for even if the Reaper is the cornerstone of the victory of their invasion.


    It is rare that they find a ne whose information is so thoroughly known that it is like walking into a park and stealing candies from babies. The demon kings didn''t attack at all. They stayed back and observed the gods. Then the Celestials came to them and everything went ording to Aeternus''s n. This could have been very different had Aeternus not been here. His contribution to the sess of the invasion is monumental and indisputable.


    The two other demon kings could have died without his information about the weakness and strength of the Celestials which helped them to pick favorable opponents. Aeternus cut down an invasion that should take 10,000 years on average which usually ends in failure and turned it into a sessful invasion in less than a year.


    They should be very grateful to him. But the wealth they are talking about here can make demon gods droll. They should at least talk about getting arger share from Aeternus before giving up. She has to try to get more or she won''t feel alright at all. Besides, what does Aeternus want to do with so much wealth? He is not a demon god that wants to be a Chaos entity and neither is he an origin god that wants to build a world.


    He should be more open to sharing. If he wasn''t so strong then she would have made the two of them attack the reaper immediately and steal from him instead of talking it out.


    Aeternus made his stance known. "You eat what you kill. That''s the way this works."


    He said his piece and continued with grabbing the Celestial Godhood. The subus queen''s face fell. She said all of that and he still refused. What Reaper said is the truth.


    It doesn''t matter that he called them to this ne. Every demon king takes what they manage to kill and nothing more than that. He didn''t employ them and neither did he ask for help or a favour. They cooperated together and they will share the bounty based on the amount that they contributed.


    What they did can be considered a business. The three demon kings came together and invested their power, time, and manpower in the form of soldiers. Their investment paid off so they will be paid based on the percentage of shares that they have in the business. That''s how cooperation among demon kings works.


    He isn''t going to pay them if their investment had failed neither is he going to reimburse them for the loss of their manpower or Celestial Godhood. So why will he pay them when the investment was a sess? That''s just scamming.


    Their profit should be good enough for them. She knows that but she was hoping that Aeternus could be reasonable about it. He should act reasonably by trying to bribe them and making them swear oaths to keep his newfound wealth a secret.


    She said with meaning. "Are you sure about that? Having too much wealth might be bad for your health. It is best you share so that you don''t bite more than you can chew."

 Chapter 855 No Brain And No Brawn.

    ?


    She is threatening him. In this world, it doesn''t matter that you worked for something and that you deserve it. You get what you can take and keep what you can protect. Can the Reaper protect what he will soon get?


    This is wealth that will entice demon gods. They might not be able to do anything about it but Demon gods will surely kill for it. It is in the Reaper''s best interest to bribe them so that they will keep their mouth shut. Being headstrong is just folly.


    Aeternus didn''t address her veiled threat. He ignored her and picked up all the Celestial Godhood. Then he turned his back on the two of them as if they weren''t there. He began to fly in the direction of the divine city where the rest of his loot is.


    The divine city is far away from Armageddon. It is a smallndmass where divine lords and visitors to the divine ne stay. Above the divine city are the divine kingdoms.


    The divine kingdoms are like clouds in the ck empty sky. The clouds have different shapes and different colors. Some of them are striped and some of them are spotted. All of them are bigger on the inside than they look on the outside.


    Aeternus was looking at the clouds at the highest point. They are the biggest and there are 10 of them. These 10 clouds are already crumbling apart. They will break apart until they will be useless derelicts.


    Aeternus decided to head to thergest clouds before his wealth disappears. It will be a shame if he doesn''t get anything after all the work he has done just because he is dyed by some greedy demon kings. So he pped his ck wings and soared in the direction of his wealth.


    Meanwhile, a storm was quietly brewing behind him. The snake demon king was fuming angrily because of Aeternus''s dismissal. The color of the mesing out of his nostrils has changed from red. Blue fire poured out of his nose as he breathed in and out angrily. He wanted to attack Aeternus but he ultimately held back. He held back even though he is very angry because Aeternus is ultimately right.


    The dismissal and the fact that Aeternus gets to keep all that wealth pissed him off but that doesn''t mean he will attack Aeternus straightaway. He is injured and Aeternus doesn''t look injured. So he is being reasonable which is apudable for a demon of wrath. That doesn''t mean he has given up though. He ns to make Aeternus pay one way or another, directly or indirectly. His ns changed when the subus queen began to talk.


    She started with a harmless statement. "I tried my best but it seems it won''t work. He just doesn''t take the two of us seriously."


    The snake demon king nodded in agreement. He can''t talk right now. He is busy trying to hold his anger in. He can''t do both at the same time so he nodded and grunted.


    The subus queen nced at him briefly before she continued. "It is not a wonder that he doesn''t take us seriously. He said to me that I am just a brainless slut."


    The snake demon king has to agree. He thinks she is a brainless slut too. He doesn''t disagree with the Reaper about that. Then he heard what she said next and his eyes narrowed into slits.


    "He also said that you''re a brutish moron who is not even good at what brutish morons should be good at."


    The snake demon king released a hold on some of his anger to ask a question. "What does that even mean?"


    "I asked that too. I mean, you''re such a strong and powerful demon king so how can you be a brutish moron. He said that you''re all brawn and no brain."


    The snake demon king gritted his teeth at the insult. It is a terrible blow but it is one that he is used to so he can manage. But that wasn''t the end. The subus was still talking.


    "He said that you''re only good at strength, that''s why you''re a brutish moron."


    Another blow struck him. He was about to shrug even that one off but more just kepting.


    "He said that he has more brute strength than you so you''re not even good at what you''re supposed to be good at."


    That did it. Out went logic and in came Wrath in full swing all geared up for war. The snake demon king''s eyes narrowed into slits. He is ready to tear the so-called Reaper apart and show him how wrong he is about strength. But the subus added one more jab to make sure.


    She said, "He said that he is stronger and smarter than you so you might as well be a good-for-nothing demon king."


    The snake demon king roared and shot towards the Reaper. His fury knows no bounds. His honor and the one thing he is good at have been trampled upon several times. The disrespect is just too much to take so he will fight the Reaper to the death.


    The subus queen snickered as she watched him go. "What a fool."


    It was very easy to rile him up. She didn''t even have to try hard. Aeternus did say those things about the snake demon king to her. To be fair, he also said bad things about her to the snake demon king. He called her a brainless slut.


    So she wasn''t lying about Aeternus saying those things. She hadughed when Aeternus said them but now she is using them against him and it is filling her with a pleasurable thrill. The snake demon king doesn''t think she is lying either because Aeternus told him worse things about the subus queen too.


    All she did was use some of her charm to affect the demon king of wrath while she said those words. He reacted with anger just as he always did. But this time he turned that anger towards the Reaper instead of her.

 Chapter 856 All Mine.

    <h4>Chapter 856 All Mine.</h4>


    She would have preferred to join in the fight and kill Aeternus. She would have done just that instead of sending the snake demon king off if there was a definite chance of victory. But there isn''t a definite chance of victory. She doesn''t think the two of them can win against Aeternus. That means that the snake demon king is going to his death, alone. She will join in in case she is wrong and the snake demon king actually threatens Aeternus. Then the two of them can kill him together.


    She muttered in anticipation of the uing fight, "It is so good to manipte others. It is almost as good as sex."


    Subi are not particrly strong demons. They have a lot of abilities rted to charm, seduction, and illusion but theyck outright firepower either in terms of physical or magical output. They have to be maniptive with what they have since it is foolish to use brute strength.


    She engineered this fight and will reap the benefits if there is one to be had and she will do so without risking anything. It is a great feeling. Even the death of the snake demon king will benefit her. She will take his own portion of the wealth before he returns.


    That great feeling ended when Aeternus turned to address the threat. Aeternus was going in the direction of his loot when the snake demon king attacked. He was moving slowly. It has been proven that he is very fast. He managed to overtake the snake demon king earlier so he could have left the snake demon king behind if he wanted to escape.


    Unfortunately for the snake demon king, he didn''t want to escape. In fact, he was hoping that something like this would happen. He sensed when the snake demon king decided to attack him. All he did was turn back and recreate the ck beam of energy. The beam tore through the snake demon king''s chest and ripped arge hole into it.


    The snake demon king was stunned by the blow.


    He struggled to speak. "You said it was a one-time trump card."


    Aeternus replied, "I lied."


    The snake demon king fell to the ground helplessly. He is still alive but the injury made him lose control of his body so his body also erged into his full form as he fell down. His small body returned to its 10 kilometers tall original snake form. He crashed into the ground and shook the battlefield with a little earthquake. The snake demon king can be said to bepletely neutralized. If nothing is done to help him, he will die a remorseful death.


    The subus queen''s happy feeling turned sour immediately. Her heart sank further when Aeternus turned his faceless head to gaze at her. She tried tough but all she could manage was a nervous smile. Aeternus was not amused.


    He said to her, "You better leave immediately or you''ll regret it."


    The nervous smile on her face froze. She wanted toin. She wanted to exin that she wasn''t the one who tried to fight him. She wanted to lie that she had nothing to do with the snake demon king''s decision to fight him.


    But she couldn''t say anything. She felt a terrifying feeling of danger. It helped her know that Aeternus is very serious. He will definitely kill her if she doesn''t leave. The wealth she has to leave behind is not worth her life so she scrammed as quickly as possible.


    She activated her Authority to open a portal back to the abyss. The activation took a minute but she didn''t stop even though Aeternus ignored her. He formed some grey chains with his soul force and used them to bind the snake demon king.


    The chains bound him up from head to toe. Then they grew ck spikes that bore straight into the snake demon king''s body so it seemed that he is bound with thorny vines. Then Aeternus stopped the rampage of chaos energy within him from killing his captive.


    The subus queen saw all these happen. She couldn''t help but swallow nervously. The snake demon king isn''t going to die anymore but she felt more pity for him. She has heard about something like this happening to a lot of demon kings and things didn''t end well for them.


    Aeternus captured them and no one heard from them anymore. The ones that he released have a tail to tell about how being alive can be worse than death. At least if the snake demon king died he will resurrect in the abyss but now he won''t have that chance. He might be imprisoned forever. She was so afraid that she entered the portal as soon as it was opened without looking back.


    "Hmm. Hateful bastard. You will regret this. I''ll be back and I''ll pay you back in a greater amount." She thought to herself as she left the ne.


    She has lost a lot of things today. The Celestial Godhood that she got can''t make up for her soldiers and the wealth that she is leaving behind. So she won''t let this unjust treatment go. Aeternus will be visited with her retribution in the near future.


    It was already in her n to scheme against him before but it was just an idle thought then. Now, it is a must for her to get back at him. She won''t be satisfied until her vengeance has been visited upon him.


    Aeternus went about his business after that. He raided all the divine kingdoms even the ones belonging to grand gods and high gods. Low gods were not spared either. The entire divine kingdom was piged like some defenseless vige being robbed by pirates.


    He doesn''t have to share them with his partners at all so he was happy. His main body chuckled evilly back in his abyssal ne.


    "It is all mine as it should be." He said.


    He is amused for reasons other than the fact all the wealth of the entire pantheon is now his.

 Chapter 857 Generous And Reasonable.

    <h4>Chapter 857 Generous And Reasonable.</h4>


    His soldiers went from divine kingdom to divine kingdom killing and piging. The piging didn''t stop until every god had died. Even the divine city was looted. He took the bulk of the wealth while his dukes and their subordinates helped themselves to what was left. And that''s only because it wasn''t worth the effort to take them himself.


    There was so much wealth that the looting took a few days before it waspleted. It is wealth that would have made Ancestor Ghastorix whistle in admiration. If he had this, then he wouldn''t have had to sell out his descendant for a world engine.


    Origin gods are wealthy but it costs a lot to resurrect the more powerful they are. They fight a lot and they die a lot which drains their resources. Getting more resources also won''t happen without fighting which will further lead to more deaths. So rarely does an Origin gode into contact with this kind of wealth.


    Aeternus considered the wealth and nodded in appreciation. He said to himself, "This will fund our project and ensure that it will be ready as soon as possible."


    He attacked the divine ne for a lot of reasons. The Celestial Godhoods will help to strengthen the tree father. It is particrly important that the tree father is strong enough to manipte the amount of energy that they are using to build their project.


    As for reaching the next rank after Celestial, that is still a long way to go. They don''t even know if it is possible. The tree father has umted about 100 domains spread across his avatars. They won''t know if that is enough until he fuses them back together. But they have to be sure because there might not be a way back once they are fused. So they are umting as many Celestial domains as possible for the tree father.


    The wealth that Aeternus has acquired will also be used to fund the different parts and research for the project. Salvini tried to hamper Soverick''s attempt at acquiring wealth but she failed because she failed to ount for the other clones.


    Aeternus has been raiding divine nes for their wealth all for the project that the whole of Legion is working on. It is a project of immense significance. Legion-1''s inner world is beingbined with his knowledge of arrays and formations, Soverick''s forging expertise, the tree father''s energy maniption and transmutation ability, Legion-7''s expertise with the soul andw maniption abilities, and finally with some other powerful parts like a world engine, Authority of a Celestial Supreme, Celestial Godhood and World Spark.


    What they are building is technically a world fragment but it will be more powerful than that. It will be another ss of weaponry on its own. It is very powerful but it also needs a lot of materials for the project. What they are doing is unprecedented. Soverick and the others have to do research and sometimes they fail. Failure leads to a loss of expensive material.


    So Aeternus is doing his part in bringing the Artifact topletion by contributing wealth. That''s not why he brought two demon kings to take the ne with him though. He can take on the divine ne on his own but he brought along two weak demon kings that he can kill.


    Despite how it looks, he didn''t lure them here to be killed. He even gave them information about the Celestials so that they wouldn''t be killed in battle. No matter what, they must not be killed in this ne.


    That''s why he captured one demon king instead of killing him after being rightfully provoked. It was the snake demon king who tried to steal from him and who attacked first. He is only defending his interest. He also let the other one go despite her being sneaky and scheming. One might say that he is being generous and reasonable. Anyone who says he is devious and scheming will also be right.


    Aeternus finished the looting then he waited for his soldiers to leave the divine ne. He waited for all of them to return to the abyss before he himself left. Some of them went to his ne but most of them went to other nes of the abyss. Most of his direct subordinates are demon lords. He gave them anotherpetition where the aim was for them to go and subjugate an abyssal ne by themselves.


    Thepetition with Beelta as the kill target needed all of them to work together because they were not as strong as Beelta individually. So he beefed them up with some divinity and sent them to kill other demon lords and take over the energy pir of the ne by themselves. Those who failed to do it within the deadline were hunted and killed by his heralds.


    So he has a lot of demon lords as subordinates. The ones that haven''t be demon lords yet are still new. They need time and resources to be strong before he sends them out to be demon lords. He will raise up their stats to the maximum level and then send them off to invade a ne on their own.


    Demon dukes are the equivalent of demon lords so his subordinates aren''t strengthened directly when they be demon lords. But the house of chaos is strengthened which gives a boost to everyone within the house.


    This boost is a result of his ability called Divine House. He also gets to control the resources of multiple demon nes. It has made sure that his army is always full for all the invasions he has been having recently.


    A single abyssal ne can provide hundreds of billions of battle-ready mid-rank demons so more than 50 nes are supplying him with trillions of soldiers. He nevercks in soldiers because of it. Some of them are returning to their ne now. While the ones from his ne and his heralds will return to his own ne.

 Chapter 858 Return To The Abyss.

    <h4>Chapter 858 Return To The Abyss.</h4>


    ?


    He made sure to drag the bound-up snake demon king through the portal too. After all, this demon king of wrath has be part of his loot. He doesn''t want to lose any of his loot. That''s what made them fight in the first ce. It will be ironic if he forgets the demon king of wrath.


    The entire divine ne began to copse immediately after he left the ne with the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. The divine ne has lost its anchor so it has lost its purpose.


    The only option that the divine ne has is the tree father in the mortal realm. Now the tree father has be the only god in the entire ne. It has to rely on the tree father for its continued existence.


    The divine ne fell to the earth and finally turned the tree father''s avatar into a truend god. He still can''t move but now he has the power of a domain. The people on the ne don''t have much option to direct their faith anymore. They have to ept the tree father now or live without a god since there will never be any more gods.


    Things might not go well for the tree father though. The effects of the changes to the divine ne are very bad to the ne. First of all, the ne is now defenseless. Anyone can enter the ne without using the nar portal.


    The people of the ne are not like the Zargoth ne. They are very strong and can actually do something about their thoughts. They might not be open to an entity that suddenly appeared a few years back. They might suspect the tree father for what happened now that the new unknown Celestial is still around while the other gods are dead.


    The fact that the tree father is the only god is both a good thing and a bad thing. There are a lot of transcendents, kings ofw, titans ofw, and Sovereigns here in this ne. There are origin gods produced by the ne and world gods too. Being the only god and also an easily essible god means that all of these powerhouses can get to the tree father if they decide to kill or control thest god. But whatever happens, Legion has benefited from the destruction of their divine ne and nothing can change that.


    Back To The 1969th ne Of The Abyss.


    Arge portal opened beside the ck tower at the center of the ne. The tower functions as the abyss altar in the ne. It is the only one in the entire ne so any demon that wants to leave the ne muste here. They must also have his permission to use the tower.


    Aeternus uses the tower to monitor traffic in and out of his ne. He is aware of every destination and location that those who leave or enter his ne are going to oring from. He doesn''t want to make the same mistake that Beelta made that led to her defeat in the Zargoth ne.


    A lot of portals suddenly appeared around the tower. Millions of demons poured out of them as they returned from the recent invasion. It took a few days with the use of multiple portals before they eventually left the ne they invaded. Then a muchrger portal opened up beside the tower. Aeternus''s avatar stepped through the dark swirling portal into the ne.


    The thick trunk-like feet of the avatar stepped onto the hot worn-out stone ground. He felt the difference in the environment immediately. There is a high concentration of sin energy in the air. He could taste the sin energy if he had a tongue. The air is also hot. It is so hot that water will find it extremely difficult to exist as a liquid. There can''t be any water anyway. The thick ashes in the air and on the ground will turn any water into thick sludge.


    The avatar stepped fully out of the 10-kilometer-wide portal. It dragged a special package through the portal too. The snake demon king is bound by grey chains attached to his body by long spikes that go through his body and exit at the other side. The spikes are more than 100 meters long since the snake demon king is in his 10-kilometer form.


    Those ck spikes have prated both his body and his soul. They prevent the two from being separated or escaping. They also ensure that the prisoner won''t be able tomit suicide in order to escape.


    There is a strong barrier that has formed a cocoon around the captive. The barrier is greyish and translucent so it can be seen that the snake demon king is unconscious. The hole in his chest is not spreading but it is still there in all its gaping glory so he is in a lot of pain. The barrier has effectively cut him off from the outside world. No one can sense him and he can''t sense the world around him either.


    The avatar spread its four ck feathered wings and took to the sky. It is in its small form so it looks weird that a 10-meter-tall being is dragging a 10-kilometer Colossal being. The avatar is smallpared to the snake demon but the snake demon is also smallpared to the size of the ck tower at the center of the ne. It took more than a minute for Aeternus to reach the top of the tower while dragging his package. He wasn''t slow. The tower is just so tall.


    The avatar reached the top and dropped off the captive unceremoniously to the top of the tower. Then it continued to fly up. It reached the Star at the center of the ne above the tower. Then it entered the golden halo around the star. Its body broke apart immediately and it turned into a golden crown. The golden crown began to circle the star.

 Chapter 859 Harvesting His Loot.

    <h4>Chapter 859 Harvesting His Loot.</h4>


    The golden halo around the star is actually made out of several crowns of demon kings. The light bounces off of them as they revolve around the star so it looks like the star has a halo around it.


    Each crown is an Avatar that he can use anytime to do his bidding anywhere in the realm or abyss. And unlike the avatars of other demon kings, his avatars have the power of Authority.


    The snake demon kingnded heavily on the smooth ck atone on the top of the tower. He shook violently but he didn''t wake up. Aeternus was on his throne. His body is even smaller than 10 meters tall. He is still less than 2 meters so the Colossal demon king dwarfs him by orders of magnitude.


    The difference in size doesn''t diminish his majesty though. He sat confidently as a king gracing a captive with the pleasure of his presence. Unfortunately, his captive doesn''t appreciate the value of his presence. The snake demon king remained unconscious.


    Aeternus didn''t take offense to the behavior. He doesn''t really need his captive to be conscious for what he wants to do to him. He raised one arm towards the snake demon king and pulled on his chains with his mind.


    The bound demon king flew towards his hand. He must weigh thousands of tonnes the equivalent of millions of kilograms but he flew forward as if he was just a light feather. There was no resistance or struggle whatsoever. So his being unconscious is probably a good thing.


    The snake demon king flew towards Aeternus headfirst to Aeternus''s outstretched hand with his head. The head and hand collided like two mountains striking each other. Aeternus and the demon king of wrath were unmoved. But the throne groaned because it had to bear the brunt of the collision.


    Aeternus caressed the head of his prize for a while. The head alone is bigger than him many times over so he only managed to caress a small inconsequential part of the head. Still, he did it because he is someone that appreciates his loot.


    "Wee to my divine ne." He said in greeting, "It is a pleasure having you here."


    It is only right that he wees another demon king no matter the way they came to his ne. The snake demon king is still unconscious so he didn''t hear the greeting. Aeternus did it anyway because being polite didn''t cost him a thing. It is what separates the civilized from the savages.


    Then he said, "It was nice working with you."


    He activated his Chaos energy within his target. The wisps of ck energy in the demon king''s body went into a frenzy. They began to rampage uncontrobly. The snake demon king''s eyes shot open immediately. His mouth spread open too. He used his mouth to utter the loudest scream that his weakened body could muster.


    He screamed in pain. His entire being is being wracked by an existence-destroying pain. Even a demon king will scream. This scream was more of a roar. It caused the air to quake like thunder. And it traveled to the far edges of the ne.


    The worst part is that his soul wasn''t spared from the damage. His soul couldn''t leave his body to return to the abyss because of the chain. It is very bad since Chaos energy can damage the soul too. So his body was eroded as well as his soul. It happened gradually and painfully. Aeternus could have sped up the deed but he wanted to enjoy the cries of pain.


    He hummed to himself in appreciation. Even the demon king that he warped into his throne stirred due to the cry of pain. Something about the primal iprehensible sounds resonated with its addled and broken mind. His throne felt aradery with this suffering demon king.


    Aeternus executed his captive and he enjoyed the process. Then it ended when the colossal body of the snake demon king broke downpletely into chaos energy. The once titanic figure became a pool of ck energy. The only thing that could identify him as a demon king is the golden crown hovering above the ck pool. The golden crown is the most valuable thing about the snake demon king.


    The snake demon king must have a stash of wealth in his personal space but Aeternus can''t ess it. Probably no one will be able to ess it ever again now that the owner is dead. Not unless he left a way for it to be essed which is improbable since he is a demon. There is no reason for demons to share how to get their wealth with others. Their selfishness will not allow them to.


    "This will do nicely," Aeternus said as he beckoned to the golden crown.


    He is not a picky person. This shiny golden crown will have to be enough for him. He smiled and his golden eyes shone in anticipation as the crown flew to him. It sank into his skull and into his soul.


    His soul glowed resplendently. It appeared around his head as a phantom. It looks like a bright round gem. There is a thick golden ring around it. There are also other golden rings hooked into the ring around his soul.


    The thick golden ring around his soul looks like a key chain while the attached golden rings are like the keys. The extra golden rings are attached to the main ring that is bound around his soul. The new golden ring approached this gem which is his soul. It moved and attached itself to the main ring. The two of them made contact and fused to form the attachment.


    Then the soul phantom copsed into his head and disappeared. Aeternus''s golden eyes began to shine brighter with the addition of another ring. There are more than 30 golden rings already on his soul so this might be the straw that finally breaks the camel''s back.


    -------++++


    A/N: Bonus chapter for reaching the voting goal.

 Chapter 860 Patient Machinations And Meticulous Scheming..

    <h4>Chapter 860 Patient Machinations And Meticulous Scheming..</h4>


    His entire soul will shatter if he can''t withstand the pressure brought about by the addition of the new crown. But he isn''t worried at all. His soul has been reinforced by the Authority of a Celestial Supreme. That is why it is in the form of a solid gem and not just a mass of soul power without a definite shape.


    The Authority of the Celestial Supreme serves as the anchor of a divine ne. It is strong enough to handle thousands of Celestial Godhoods. Meanwhile, his soul has grown much stronger with the increase in the level of his Authority. The addition of the two makes it so that he is more than capable of handling a hundred crowns.


    The glow in his eyes died down after a few moments. It returned to its original state where it is only glowing faintly but it is a little brighter than before. It is almost unnoticeable since his eyes were bright before.


    The addition of another crown to his repertoire led to some changes. He became more powerful but that isn''t clearly visible. Some other visible changes urred. A new ring appeared around the star at the center of the ne. It joined the others in circling the star. The other change that urred was that the throne that he was sitting on groaned slightly. Aeternus has increased in mass so the strain on his poor throne has also increased.


    At the point that Aeternus has reached, only a demon king or an equally powerful entity can be used as his throne. He is both heavy physically and spiritually and anything weaker will break if he makes his full weight to settle on it. So he didn''t decide to use another demon king just for the fun of it. It is fun to have a demon king as his throne but it is also useful.


    He can surely make a seat strong enough to withstand his mass but he prefers this throne so that his visitors will see what he did and believe that he did simr things to the other demon kings that he captured. They will then spread the rumor about his viiny to others. So it is necessary that he sit on a demon king so that others will be fooled about what he actually does with some of his captives.


    He is a king of kings so the crowns of other demon kings make him stronger. But he can''t go around killing demon kings wantonly or demon kings will hear word of it and decide to gang up on him to eliminate him. So he decided to weave a false story about what he does with his captives to avoid suspicion. It is a story that took a long time to set up. He did it a little by little over time.


    First, he captured some demon kings. These demon kings offended him so he was justified in seeking revenge. He tortured them heavily and then let them go. They spread the news of their horrific experience to everyone. What he did isn''t unusual. He isn''t some psycho that tortures demon kings for pleasure. He did it because of revenge. So no one thought much of it or suspected anything.


    Then he captured more demon kings. Some offended him while most didn''t. He released the few that offended him so that they could tell others about the unfortunate thing that happened to them.


    As for the innocent ones, he took their crowns and killed them permanently. He made sure never to kill them in front of anyone. Those that he kills never return and nothing is heard about them. They will never be able to tell anyone that they were captured wrongfully.


    What the other demon kings will hear is that he captured some more demon kings that offended him. He tortured them, and eventually released them. After all, they have witnesses to the event. That''s why he will ask two demon kings to apany him in invading a ne when he can do it himself. It is so that he can capture one and release the other as a witness.


    It is important that there is a witness to see his act of capturing demon kings. It is so that other demon kings will know what he did with the captives. They will assume he captured them for a power fetish. A witness will also have detailed information about his strength and why he captured the demon kings. It is important that they know because people, be they demons or normal races, do not fear what they think they know.


    They will know that he is not an unreasonable maniac. All the captives that he captured did something to offend him. They will know that he can be worked with as long as they don''t do something to piss him off. He will be able to ask other demon kings for coboration that way. They won''t have any reason to fear him so they will continue to ept his offer for coboration. Some will even still look down on him and underestimate him because they think they know his strength.


    If he did everything secretly, then assumptions about him would go wide. No one will know how strong he is and why he captured the demon kings. They will fear him because of that. No one will want to associate with him.


    It is very important that they think that they know what he does with the captives. It is so that they will not suspect him of being a king of kings. After all, demon kings gain nothing by killing each other. And that''s also why he must not kill and take the crown of another king in any ce outside the privacy of his ne. It is practically announcing that he is an outlier.


    All his patient machinations and meticulous scheming are done because most demon kings know each other. Kings of the abyss don''t have a ne to themselves so they all stay on the 1st ne of the abyss. Theymunicate with each other and share rumors.

 Chapter 861 The Rumor Mill.

    <h4>Chapter 861 The Rumor Mill.</h4>


    The disappearance of one of them will be noticed quickly. They will ask questions and investigate what caused the disappearance of the demon king. This way, he won''t be investigated because they believe that they know what he is up to.


    They will only say, "He offended the Reaper? That''s is entirely his fault. I hope the Reaper will release him soon." And they will move on.


    Rumors spread like wildfire in the rumor mill so he decided to take advantage of it instead of failing prey to it.


    He kept up this facade by not killing the kings of demons that he captured. Most of the demon kings that he released are kings of demons. Kings of demons have nes. While they keep to themselves mostly and stay within their nes, they also have friends or partners that they work with to invade nes. It will also be quite noticeable that they have died since their ne will disappear when they are killed.


    There''s no way to hide his murder of kings of demons. So if he wants to kill one, he makes sure to go to their ne and kill them there. He will make a show of it so that no one will suspect him of ulterior motives. No one will question why the ne of a king of demons disappeared and why the demon king itself died. They know that the demon king offended the Reaper and died for it. Such a thing happens a lot. There''s nothing much to know or see about it.


    All of his acting and lying is stressful but he enjoys it. Sure, he is doing it to keep his nature hidden and himself safe. He learned about mob action when the high-rank demons of the ne he grew up in came together to eliminate him. So it is prudent that he tries not to rile up the other demon kings and demon gods.


    But he also does it because he enjoys it and because it enables him to reel in the really big fish. Fear is not a proper tool to catch prey. If the prey is afraid of him, then they will run away from him. Fearless prey are bold enough to offend him thinking that they can get away with it. That gives him the proper cause to retaliate.


    Most importantly, when there is a witness, then there is bound to be retribution. This retribution is bound to be big if the witness also knows that he has a lot of wealth. He has found that the best way to lure prey is to dangle irresistible bait at them and also cheat them out of their own share of wealth. He didn''t have to wait for long before his bait reeled in a big fish.


    ------------


    Attacking a demon king''s ne is tricky business. First, you have to find their ne in the abyss. It is what a group of 5 demon kings is doing right now. The subus queen and four other demon kings came together for a single goal. That goal is to assault the ne of a demon king and force him to hand over his wealth. They don''t n to kill him. At least not until he hands over his wealth. To achieve that, they will use words and force when necessary to coerce him.


    Again, their main aim is the Wealth of the Reaper. It is what the subus queen used to tempt these other demon kings to join her. Killing him will not grant them any benefit. Every demon king has a personal space that they created with their Authority. They store their wealth in that space. The space is secure and can only be essed by the soul of the demon king. So killing the Reaper is not their aim. They will not gain anything that way.


    "Does anyone of you have any problems with it?" A canine demon king asked.


    To be precise, it is just one of her heads that asked the question. The other two heads are ring at the other demon kings, daring them to have any objections to what she said. While the head that asked the question is smiling innocently, the ruthless gaze of the other two heads is not encouraging to the demon kings.


    This demon king is the leader of this expedition. It is a massive dog-like creature with three heads. She belongs to the race of hellhounds. Her fur is blood-red with sharp rough hair that will tear apart anything that they brush against. It is needless to say that she can''t be petted without sufficient courage and protection.


    Her fur is the least harmful part of her body. That title goes to her three heads full of sharp silver teeth and a tongue fashioned out of mes. The sharp de-like ws on her six limbs do note close to the kind of damage that those silver teeth can do. A single bite can rip the demon kings she is looking at in half.


    This hellhound, who is also a demon king of wrath is one of the friends of the snake demon king and also the leader of this group. She wasn''t elected into that position through a vote. She is the leader because she is the strongest. The fact that the subus queen initiated the formation of the group does not grant her the privilege of being the leader. That honor goes to the only level 7 demon king among them.


    The other demon kings respect her and have no problem with the hierarchy. They also have no problem with the proposed method that they will use to distribute the Reaper''s wealth after they have it. The hellhound demon king proposed that she would take 40% of the wealth while the remaining four of them would take 15% each. Then she asked if they had a problem with it.


    One of her heads asked amicably. The other two are ring at the four of them as if daring them to speak up and give her a reason to use her intimidating teeth on them. It is clear to them what their answer must be.

 Chapter 862 The Search For The Reaper.

    <h4>Chapter 862 The Search For The Reaper.</h4>


    The hellhound demon king is looking at them as if she wants an opportunity to prove that her teeth and the abundance of them in her three jaws are not for show.


    Who would dare to say that they do not agree? Even the subus queen who was cheated out of the leadership position can only smile and express her agreement while secretly cursing in her heart.


    "Let us go since everyone agrees. I have another meeting today that I have to attend. I want to get this over with as soon as possible." The hellhound said after seeing that no one disagreed with her.


    "Let us go since everyone agrees. I have another meeting today. I want to get this over with as soon as possible." The hellhound said after seeing that no one disagreed with her.


    So they left the first ne of the abyss and plunged into therge body of purple water at the center of the ne. This sea of purple water is the original energy well. It extends down below to the other nes and provides energy to them. It is also the bridge that connects all the ne''s together so they will be able to ess every ne through it.


    The group of demon kings sank into the energy well and found themselves in a world of darkness. Everything is dark as long as you use your eyes to see. They are demon kings with powerful divine senses and Authorities so they don''t need their eyes. They were able to navigate their way through the energy sea.


    The energy well is like an ocean of liquified energy. It is vast and it is powerful. The energy contained within its waters will make a high-rank demon explode on contact. Fortunately, high-rank demons can use their powerful mind to create a barrier that separates them from the purple water so that they are not overloaded with energy.


    Demon kings don''t need such precautions. The energy in the ocean isrge but it is too weak to affect them more than the asional tickle. So they should be rxed as they transverse through the sea. What is odd is that they are rxed. They shouldn''t be rxed since they are going into a demon king''s ne to fight him. That is a very dangerous act because the ne of a demon king is where they are the strongest. So they shouldn''t be rxed at all. But they all are.


    They are rxed because they have no reason to fear. They have even agreed on how they will distribute the Reaper''s wealth. And their leader is talking about a meeting she wants to go to after this fight. It is as if sess is already within their grasp. As if there is no other alternative oue. It is not baseless confidence though. They have a level 7 demon king while the Reaper is level 5. What could go wrong?


    So they were rxed as they tried to find the Reaper''s ne. It is a tricky thing since none of them know where it is. His ne could be anywhere in the abyss. The energy sea doesn''t pass through every ne in one single path. It separates a tributary from itself that supplies the nes of the abyss. So it is connected to every ne but that means that they will have to examine the end of every tributary to find the Reaper''s ne.


    The hellhound demon king ordered with a growl. "Everyone should scatter and look for it. I''ll stay here and oversee the situation. You should return to me when you find it so that we can form up and attack it together."


    The four demon kings nodded and agreed wordlessly. They separated to look for the Reaper''s ne. At the end of each tributary is arge ball. They can peek into the ne if it is a normal ne without a demon king. A ne belonging to a demon king will resist peeking. So they will have to knock and ask for information politely or forcefully enter.


    They can also use less aggressive methods like sensing the energy of the ne. Every demon king has a unique energy and aura signature that can be used to identify them. Using this non-aggressive method is urate but it takes time. It will take them hours before they can find the Reaper''s ne that way. They have to use it though because barging into the ne of a demon king without permission is an act of war. One enemy is already enough for them. There''s no need to acquire more.


    "This shameless dog. How can I be so unlucky?" The subus queen asked herself while examining the energy signature of a ne.


    She isining because the four of them are doing grunt work while the hellhound is not doing anything. They will spend less time searching if the hellhound joins in but she has refused to work and she will also take the bulk of the loot.


    She didn''t want to invite the hellhound demon king. She had to because the hellhound demon king came to her asking about the snake demon king. Apparently, the two of them like to wrestle. There is no benefit in killing each other so demon kings form connections with themselves. So the hellhound demon king came looking for the subus because the snake demon king told her about his coboration.


    The snake demon king told the hellhound about the two partners that he was working with. The hellhound doesn''t know much about the Reaper but the subus queen lives on the first ne and is very popr. The subus queen had to spill the beans about the snake demon king being captured.


    She downyed the event so that the hellhound wouldn''t know about the Reaper''s wealth but it was all for naught. The hellhound was going to rescue her wrestling partner no matter what. But then she found out that the subus queen was already forming a group to attack the Reaper.so she decided to tag along.

 Chapter 863 A Waste Of Good Celestial Authority.

    <h4>Chapter 863 A Waste Of Good Celestial Authority.</h4>


    The subus queen wouldn''t have minded if all the hellhound demon king did was tag along. No one will say no to free help. Especially when the help is level 7. But demons don''t do things in moderation. The hellhound demon king took over the group and became its leader by force.


    The group that she formed contained four demon kings including her. All of them are level 5 demon kings. The subus queen would have very much liked to keep it that way. She intended to put together 5 demon kings with level 5 Authority. That way, she will be the leader and she will be able to take the bulk of the wealth. She was to take 30% while the rest took 17.5%. But the presence of a level 7 changed that.


    Having a level 7 among them has granted them confidence but she doesn''t think it was worth it. She doesn''t think that they didn''t need the boost in confidence or the power of a level 7 demon king. Five level 5 demon kings are already more than enough to pressure the Reaper into giving up his wealth. They will barge in forcefully into his ne and threaten him with violence. They will also swear an oath to leave him alone and not kill him after he has surrendered most of his wealth.


    The use of only violence will not make a demon king give up their wealth. They have to be given a way out or they will get desperate and resort to extreme measures. The subus queen had everything all nned out. 5 is also the right number that ensures that one of them will die if they fight the Reaper. The reaper might want to test his chances first knowing that they won''t kill him without getting his wealth. So it is probable that they would have fought if 5 of them had shown up.


    If they are 6, the reaper will give up directly without a fight. If they are 4, the reaper can take out one of them with his ck beam which will leave 3. He has a much higher chance of sess against 3 enemies. But if they are 5 and the reaper manages to kill 1 of them. 4 is still a good number to subdue him quickly. That means there will be more loot for the remaining four.


    All of that won''t happen anymore now. The reaper will capitte as soon as he sees five of them with a level 7 demon king. He is reasonable enough to realize that he stands no chance at all. Then she will take just 15% of his wealth. She can''tin though. She isn''t strong enough to ask for more and 15% of Aeternus''s total wealth is bound to be a lot too.


    If she doesin, it is certain that she will be on her own in that regard. The others surely won''t agree with her. The presence of the level 7 demon king has only reduced their percentage of the loot from 17.5% to 15%. That''s a worthy trade for the extra power. The one that suffers the most because of the addition of the demon king is her. Her initial pay of 30% got shed in half.


    She couldn''t prevent the hellhound demon king from joining her group but she took some precautions. She has to be afraid of the hellhound for the very same reason that the Reaper will be afraid of the hellhound. The Hellhound is stronger than her and she can''t trust her leader not to capture her to force her to give up her own wealth after they robbed the Reaper.


    They only made an Oath not to act against each other until the loot has been secured unless their lives are in danger. Anything can happen after the heist. So she made sure to inform someone of her general ns so that someone would look for her in case she disappeared.


    She didn''t just stop at making ns in case of betrayal. She also made sure toin and grumble about their indefatigable leader while she searched for the Reaper''s ne. It took a few hours before they found his ne. All five of them gathered at the tributary leading into his ne.


    The golden crowns on their heads made them stand out amidst the dark purple water. The light from their crowns showed their rxed features. The battle is nearly upon them but they are still not nervous or anxious. They took turns to check out the energy signature and confirmed that it is the Reaper''s. The bubble that represents his ne is covered by a dark film of corrosive energy that the Reaper is known for.


    "So this is the ne. It looks reinforced and stronger than normal. Did he use the Authority of a Celestial Supreme to reinforce his ne? What a waste of resources." The hellhound demon king grumbled unhappily.


    The Reaper''s ne looks very strong and sturdy. It is not normal at all. nes should not have external defenses. Their true power is realized when you are within their boundary instead of when you are outside. So the absurd defense of the Reaper''s ne is odd. But there is an exnation for it.


    Some demon kings use the Authority of the Celestial Supreme to strengthen their ne. It will make it very difficult to forcefully barge into and it will also make the demon king extra strong in their ne. It has no other benefits though so it is considered a waste of good resources.


    It is much better to absorb the Authority of the Celestial Supreme to gain a level or exchange it with demon gods for other things. She knows a demon god that is very open to deals and will be very happy to get a Celestial Authority.


    One of the demon kings said in excitement, "The Reaper must be very rich. He has to if he strengthened his ne to this level. We are in luck."

 Chapter 864 Cocky And Rich.

    <h4>Chapter 864 Cocky And Rich.</h4>


    ?


    Another demon king said, "Yes we are in luck. But odds are that he is probably stronger now too."


    "Even so, wealth awaits us."


    The hellhound demon king said to them, "You''re very lucky that I followed you now. Your little get-up wouldn''t be able to take him on."


    The increase in the defense of the ne is minimalpared to the increase in the power of Aeternus. He should be as powerful as a level 6 demon king normally but the reinforcement makes him as powerful as a level 7 demon king within his ne. That means that had the hellhound not been here, then they would have returned empty-handed, or worse, they would have died.


    "Who will do the honor of gaining us entry?" The hellhound demon king asked the other four demon kings.


    They are still going to attack the Reaper. The enforcement of his ne by the Authority of the Celestial Supreme is at a level 5 Authority. That means Aeternus is still Level 5. The empowerment of his ne will make him level 7 at most. They can manage him at level 7.


    He would be level 6 if the external enforcement was level 6. That will make him level 8 within his ne which is too powerful for them. That''s how things work. They can obviously see that the defense of his ne is at level 5 so they believe that they have nothing to fear.


    It is one of the reasons why powerful demon kings don''t use the Authority of a Celestial Supreme to empower their ne. It will make their strength obvious to those who are outside the ne. Defense is good but mystery is a better deterrent to passersby. No one will want to offend you if they don''t know how strong you are. But the reaper is too cocky and rich for his own good.


    The subus queen offered, "Let me."


    Her revenge is not going ording to her n but she wants to enjoy it anyway. She wants to be the first one to enter and see that faceless head of his. She wants to smirk andugh in glee. She wants to see his fear and despair mixed with regret. So she offered to be the first to enter his ne. She wants to herald the retribution that she orchestrated.


    The hellhound replied, "Go ahead then. And be quick about it. You guys have already wasted a lot of my time searching for the ne."


    The subus queenined inwardly, "We wouldn''t have spent that much time if you had joined us to search."


    She kept her thoughts to herself and focused on the ne that she is about to barge into. The bubble that is the ne is smaller than the space that it contains but it is stillrger than the 10 kilometers form of the demon kings. The tributary of the energy seapletely submerged the bubble so all the demon kings are floating in the purple water.


    The subus moved forward to the bubble. Her dainty ck bat wings fluttered behind her and her thin tail swung around because of her excitement. She can hardly wait to force her way into the bubble and make her demands.


    The defense of the ne is stronger but it won''t stop her from getting in. The increase in defense is mostly a side effect. It is a sign to tell them not toe and mess with the demon king inside the ne. That only makes her happier. It means she will get more wealth from the Reaper.


    The defense is at level 5 and so is she. She can break it with a little effort. She was about to strike the bubble but it rippled slightly. A small whirlpool appeared on its surface. It is a door that will grant them free ess to the ne. Apparently, she doesn''t need to barge in. She is being invited in.


    A look of surprise appeared on her face. Then her face fell in disappointment. She was hoping for a grand entry. But it seems she won''t get it.


    She thought angrily to herself. "It''s all that shameless dog''s fault."


    The subus queen is unhappy with the current situation but the hellhound is quite pleased. All three of her headsughed, chuckled, or smiled.


    "What a reasonable demon king." She said. "I''ve changed my mind. We won''t cause him any problem if he cooperates peacefully."


    The reaper had sensed the intruders and he decided to be reasonable instead of resisting. He must have realized that he stood no chance once he sensed the level 7 demon king among them. His behavior impressed the hellhound demon king and made her feel respected. She decided that she would cut the Reaper some ck. She will just rob him and won''t damage his ne in any way. It is a reward for him for being so respectful.


    She warned the others, "You hear that all of you? We rob and we will free who we want. Then we will leave. There will be no unnecessary violence if he doesn''t initiate it."


    "Yes."


    "It is as you say."


    They all agreed with her.


    The Hellhound demon king nodded her three heads in satisfaction. It is truly nice to be respected. Unnecessary violence will be avoided. This will ensure that she finishes early and gets to attend the meeting that she has after this. It is a secret meeting that the demon god that she is allied with is holding.


    Then she snapped at the subus queen, "What are you waiting for? Lead the way already. We don''t have all day."


    The subus queen entered the whirlpool after being prompted. The others followed after. A whirlpool had appeared in the sky within the ne. It is a veryrge whirlpool and it appeared very close to the center of the ne. A Colossal subus queen came through the whirlpool into the ne. She entered it head first with a wide grin of anticipation on her face.


    "This is it." She thought to herself. "I am going to have so much fun."


    -------------


    A/N: Bonus chapter for reaching the voting goal.

 Chapter 865 Damnation.

    <h4>Chapter 865 Damnation.</h4>


    The subus queen felt the change in the atmosphere immediately after she entered the ne. It is a distinct feeling of alienation that lets her know that she is on someone else''s territory. This ne has a Sovereign and she isn''t the one. She knows without a doubt that the Sovereign of this ne can suppress her. But she isn''t worried.


    The feeling is a warning to her to behave herself. But she doesn''t care. Instead, she spread her presence wantonly and with reckless abandon despite that warning. She feels no fear of being in his territory and feels no need to hold back.


    The air stagnated due to the pressure of her existence. The demons in the ne were pressed to the ground no matter where they were. Some demons directly exploded. But there was no Chaos. The abrupt massacre didn''t rile the demons up. There was only deadly silence.


    The subus queen smiled smugly. This is something she wouldn''t be able to do in a normal situation and on her own. It is also something she doesn''t even need to do. The Reaper must already know that she is here and he must know who she is so she doesn''t need to announce her presence but she did it anyway. She did it with the smugness of someone who won a game.


    "He thought he could cheat me. I have won now. Maybe I should ask him to have sex with me. I should make it one of his conditions for surrender. I want to humiliate him with sex." She thought to herself.


    Then she roared with a mighty shout, "Reaper, where are you? Is this how to greet guests? Show yourself."


    She is putting up an imposing manner in someone else''s territory and she likes it. The wide smile on her face is a very good indication of how much she likes it. She also didn''t need to ask where the Reaper is. She can feel his presence and tell where he is. He seems to have a weight that he didn''t have before. That weight is pressing on her and warning her that he is dangerous. But she isn''t afraid.


    It isn''t odd that his very presence is threatening her now unlike before. He is supposed to be stronger in his ne after all. The fact that he used the Authority of a Celestial Supreme to reinforce his ne exins why he seems very heavy and dangerous. But no matter how powerful he is, she has more powerful allies. So she isn''t afraid.


    "Not bad." She said haughtily as she observed his ne.


    She knows where he is but she didn''t address him immediately. She wants him to stew in fear and trepidation before she swoops in to rob him of everything that he is worth. So she took her time to examine the ne. She turned around with a dramatic ir to face him when she was done observing his ne. It was then that her eyes caught sight of the core of the ne.


    Her eyes narrowed at the sight. Her pupils literally became as tiny as pins. There is nothing special about his ne but the core of the ne is very special. In fact, it is too special. The bright star is not the anomaly that is making her take a long look to ascertain what she is seeing. It is the golden halo around the star that is the cause of her agitation. To be precise, it is what makes up the halo that caused her to squint her eyes.


    "Oh shit. Reaper is an abomination." She cursed silently in a voice that is barely a whisper. "We are doomed."


    They are very smallpared to the star that they cycle around but she can see the crowns that make up the halo and she can see that they are 36 in number. She understands the implication immediately. Now she knows what the Reaper does with his captives. She also understands why his ne has an increased defense.


    "We are doomed." She repeated even weaker than the first whisper.


    It is almost like she is having difficulty speaking. The pressure of the Reaper''s existence is finally having some effect on her. It is making it difficult for her nonexistent lungs to expand and breathe. She seems to be suffocating or drowning in an ocean of regret.


    She feels regret because they were wrong. The Reaper didn''t need to use the Authority of the Celestial Supreme to reinforce his ne. He doesn''t need it at all. Any ne will be very strong too after being reinforced with 36 crowns.


    If that is true, then the apparent external defense of the ne must have been a lie. She shouldn''t have been able to break into the ne at all. Unfortunately for her, she didn''t have to. The door was opened to her immediately. It was not the respectful invitation she thought it was. It was the beckoning of death.


    The Reaper didn''t let them in easily because he was afraid of them. He let them because he didn''t want them to realize that his ne is too strong and be scared off. All of these understandings mmed into her mind and brought a single word to mind. That word is "Abomination."


    "We are doomed." She thought to herself.


    She can''t speak anymore. She can only think. Most of what she is thinking about is how she regretsing here and how the Reaper is an abomination. He is a demon king that feeds on other demon kings.


    And much worse than that, he is a demon king who will be able to feed on other demon gods once he bes a demon god himself. He is a demon king that will definitely reach the rank of Chaos entity if he manages to be a demon god.


    That means he is a predator that she shouldn''t have messed with. She knew all of this toote and it made all her strength leave her body. Hence the overwhelming feeling of regret.

 Chapter 866 Despair.

    ?


    The regret soon turned to weakness. The sensation of impending doom assaulted her mind and weakened it. She knows that she will not get out of this ce alive. She will disappear like the others that were never heard from ever again.


    Her heart sank and her emotions bled out of her. The world became grey and dark. It became hopeless. She couldn''t feel anything apart from despair. Her previous happiness is nowhere to be seen.


    The heaviness of the Reaper''s presence settled on her mind and consciousness and threatened to drown her in hopeless despair. She ignored the warning that his presence conveyed earlier. Now she knows what sort of situation she is in. The heaviness of his presence is a reminder that she is in danger and this time, it is not an illusion that she can ignore.


    She stood there frozen as her partners in crime entered the ne.


    "What are you doing just standing there and gawking?" Someone asked in jest.


    But she didn''t answer. She continued to hawk at the core of the ne. Her partnersughed.


    "Maybe she saw something so expensive she couldn''t believe her eyes," They said.


    Then they traced her line of view and also froze.


    "What in the damnable abyss is going on?" Someone managed to ask but no one answered. They saw what she saw and they despaired. There was no other feeling that could rece that emotion.


    Some of them became angry at her and some cursed in order to dispel their despair. Her face was ck and unresponsive as one of the demon kings used her of treachery.


    "You betrayed us, didn''t you? You brought us to feed him. You brought us to our death."


    This demon king used her in a loud voice tinted heavily with outrage and anger. But he didn''t do anything to her despite his obvious anger. He is just shouting to try and fight off the overwhelming feeling of despair. But it is all to no avail. Their fate is sealed and they know it. So despair crept into their minds and settled in.


    If they have any hope of living in this ce it is through the Reaper''s benevolence. But he wouldn''t let them go after knowing his secret. Even an oath will not suffice. They will surely die for knowing that he is an abomination. So the anger slowly bled out of the shouting. Even the loudness of the shouting decreased until silence reigned over the mind and emotions.


    The ck reaper could have hidden the crowns that made the halo around the core of the ne. Those crowns are pure manifestations of the real ones attached to his soul. The external ones can be withdrawn. All they would have seen upon entering his ne is that the core is bigger and more powerful than normal. They will easily attribute it to the use of the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. Their ignorance might save them.


    But he didn''t do that. He let them see his crowns for a reason. That reason cannot be good. That helps them to narrow it down to the highest possible option. The Reaper showed them his crowns to let them understand that he will surely kill them.


    "What do we do now?" One of them summed up the courage to ask.


    They tried toe up with a way to survive to starve off the despair. Escaping is not an option. They can''t escape unless they destroy the core of the ne. That''s why you don''t enter the ne of a demon king unless you''re absolutely sure you can kill that demon king within their ne.


    You don''t barge in or ept their invitation either without the strength to overpower the demon king once you enter the ne. Otherwise, you will be at their mercy. So they are at the Reaper''s mercy. They are as helpless as the proverbial meat on the chopping block.


    The worst of the situation is that the Reaper hasn''t moved one inch. They know where he is and they can see him. He is sitting calmly on his throne at the top of the ck tower in the center of the ne. The fact that his throne is fashioned out of a demon king is unsettling enough but it is the face-splitting grin on his face that informed them that he is toying with them.


    When a demon king toys with someone, then they should expect a lot of pain in the near future. The way the reaper disyed his red teeth also indicates that he will enjoy the pain he inflicts on them very much. All of these is making their heart sink and making it extra difficult not to feel despair.


    The Reaper looks different from what they usually see of him. He has red fire crystal skin. There are four horns with golden tips on his head. And there is a ck me burning from the top of his head. The ck me is scattered and makes his head look like he has hair.


    There is a golden ring within the ck mes burning on his head that matches his zing golden eyes. Those same golden eyes are fixed on them. In them, they can see how little he thinks of them. They can see that they are doomed. That feeling is not undermined despite the Reaper looking like a dwarf.


    No demon king should be that small. Even their reduced form is 10 meters. They are currently in their 10 kilometers tall while he is 1.7m. But the threat they feel from him is real and that''s all that matters.


    "What is going on?" Someone asked indignantly with a great shout. "I don''t have time to waste. Get a move on damn it."


    It was the hellhound demon king that asked that question. She is thest to enter the ne. She entered and saw all of them standing still while staring vacantly at the center of the ne. Their cking off is wasting her precious time and she isn''t one to hold back her displeasure so sheined.

 Chapter 867 Everyone Must Know.

    They should be harassing the Reaper right now and making demands not wasting time by standing around doing nothing. It seems they were waiting for her to do the honors. She appreciates the consideration but she has a meeting that she wants to get to soon.


    "I guess I''ll be the one to...." Her words caught in her throat.


    She caught sight of the core of the ne. All three jaws of her three heads opened and ckened in shock. Then she turned around and ran. She tried to run back into the closing whirlpool. She mmed ineffectively into it. It rebuffed her attempt to force her way through. It is like she hit a sturdy wall.


    She didn''t give up though. She continued to try until the whirlpool shut down and disappearedpletely into the sky. Her hope of escaping back the way she came died out. That hope was little to begin with but it was something. Now it is gone.


    Despair was about to set in but she rejected it resolutely. "I have to inform the demon god that there is an abomination here." She said to herself. "Everyone must know that there is an abomination here. Everyone must know."


    Then she rushed towards the edge of the ne. She rushed upwards and soon met an invisible barrier. The barrier is stic and capable of nullifying physical force. So she was thrown back by the rebound force.


    She rushed up again and wed at the barrier. Her sharp ws tore at the barrier but it couldn''t get a purchase. There was no friction or resistance from the barrier so there was no damage to the barrier either. It is like she is cutting an infinitely regenerating slime.


    She gave up on wasting her effort quickly. She knows that pure physical attacks won''t work on the barrier. Her attack was done purely out of frustration. So she got serious and attacked the barrier with all her power. Blue fire came out of one head, green fire came out of the second head, and red fire came out of thest head. The three firesbined to form a torrent of violet me. The violet mes struck the barrier and actually damaged it.


    This me is special. The blue fire is a special me that deals extra damage to magical or energy-based beings. The green fire is specifically for spiritual beings while the red fire is hellfire. Hellfire destroys physical beings or objects and it won''t go out until it has nothing else to burn. The fusion of the three mes creates a fire that can burn all things, theoretically.


    The violet me is a special sin ability of hers. It is capable of damaging a barrier made out of spiritual, energy, and physical forces like the barrier around a ne. So the barrier got damaged immediately. It became ck as if it scorched. She expected the ckened area to spread before a hole is torn in the barrier but that didn''t happen. The spot she hit remained ck and didn''t spread no matter how much fire she poured onto it.


    She stopped using her mes after a full minute to examine her progress. The ck spot also receded and the barrier became transparent again. All she can see is a world of fire and volcanoes behind it That is the reflection of the ne. There is nothing out there. But she desperately wants to get past this barrier into the nothingness.


    "I have to tell the demon god." She said again with resolution.


    Then she resumed her attack. But it is all futile. Chaos energy seeped from the barrier and coated it ck. Then the chaos energy resisted her attacks. Nothing she can throw against it can bypass the barrier. But she keeps telling herself that she needs to inform the demon god. She needs to get out to inform the demon god of the abomination she found. And she needs to do it physically because she can''t use anymunication methods once she entered this ne.


    The ne of a demon king is their dominion. She can''tmunicate with the outside world and she can''t ess her personal space within this ne. She is for all intent and purpose under the Dominion of the Reaper. He might as well be a god in this ce. He would have been a false god had she been stronger. Unfortunately, she isn''t, so she will be dealt with ording to the whims of the Reaper. That is not something she is looking forward to.


    She was attacking the barrier when she suddenly shifted. Space seemed to fold and warp around her. Her world sort of flipped. Then she found herself back with the group she came in with. She turned to run again but she wasn''t moving despite her best attempts at reaching the barrier again.


    Space was shrinking and stretching around her to make her efforts futile. She finally gave up when it sank into the thick skulls of her three heads that there is no way to leave and there is no use trying to. She is well and truly fucked.


    "No. I can''t die here to an abomination."


    She shouted towards the smirking figure on the throne made of a demon king. "CARNAGE will try to look for me. My death won''t go unnoticed for long. I will be avenged and you will be destroyed."


    What she said is mostly true. She really has connections with a demon god. CARNAGE can be level-headed sometimes. One can have a nice conversation with it during those times when the demon god decides to resort to other avenues apart from violence. They will find that CARNAGE is a very shrewd businessman. It likes to make deals.


    That''s how the hellhound demon king got to know it. They became close after their deal and she is supposed to attend a meeting that CARNAGE will hold in a few hours. So the demon god will certainly notice that she is not around. The demon god won''t care much since they are not so close but it will certainly ask around for her whereabouts.

 Chapter 868 Desperation.

    It is a coin toss on what could happen when CARNAGE finds out she is missing. The demon god might choose to investigate further when it finds out that she can''t be reached or overlook her absence because it isn''t so strange that no one can reach her. She might be invading a ne and she doesn''t want anyone to know so she kept her whereabouts secret. But if the demon god investigates and actually discovers the Reaper, then his days will end.


    The Reaper''s smile widened despite her threat.


    That wasn''t the reaction she wanted. So she made sure to drive the point home. "Every demon god will hunt you once they know what you are. You will have nowhere to hide. You have to release me now or CARNAGE will look for me."


    If CARNAGE or any demon god finds out that the Reaper is an Abomination, then they will all try to kill him. It is not an unprecedented situation. Abominations have existed before and they have been killed. Any demon king is hunted as soon as they are determined to be king of kings.


    Demon gods eradicate any king of kings. It is not because of the threat that they pose to them now but because of the abomination that they will be as demon gods. Kings of kings be able to absorb demon gods when they be demon gods. That is something other demon gods can''t do. But it is not a good thing at all.


    A demon god is already a creature bordering on chaos. They have no fixed form and are like budding eldritch beings. Fusing with their sin and bing the manifestation of their sin makes them struggle with their sanity. So absorbing each other is not a good thing at all. It will create a being of pure madness that raves and lives only for destruction.


    Such a being is an abomination that threatens every demon and every ne within the realm tree. The abomination will eventually be eliminated by mother high heaven but they would have harmed other demon gods first. So every demon god endeavors to get rid of any king of kings that they encounter before they can be a threat.


    Absorbing other demon gods for power is a shortcut to power but it is one that the price is too much to pay. The worst thing is that no one will be able to know the price they will pay until they have paid it. Then they will forget about the price because the price they paid is their sanity. There is no stopping the creation of an abomination once a demon god absorbs another demon god.


    The Reaper continued to smile. The mockery and disdain in his eyes are obvious. She knows she must look and sound like a fool to him. She knows that her threats are unlikely to work. But what other choice does she have? She has none. Her life is at stake so she decided to risk looking like a fool and spouting foolish things for the chance that she might live. She is that desperate.


    Aeternus or the one they call "The Reaper" wasn''t fazed by her ominous words. He finally stood up from hisfortable throne. Then he took a step forward. That single step echoed throughout the ne. It struck fear into the hearts of all who heard it. That step also brought him before his five guests.


    The five demon kings flinched. They took a few steps back to create space between them. They know that it is futile but they still did so in order to maintain a vague sense of safety.


    They thought his presence felt heavy before. They are changing that evaluation of him now that he is so close to them. The gravity of his presence is overwhelming. It is almost suffocating. They don''t breathe at all but they can feel a tightness in their chest. Even their beating hearts are struggling to pump blood through their bodies. His presence weighs on them spiritually, physically, and mentally.


    Unlike them, Aeternus is actually feeling happy right now. He said with a smile, "Truly, the best way to set a trap is to use bait."


    Then he spread his arm wide and grinned at them. "Wee to my ne my esteemed guest. I rarely have visitors so I am happy that you visited me like so."


    "Please let us live. We will..." one of them began begging for mercy but they shut up when they found that their mouth couldn''t move anymore.


    Space froze around their lips so they can''t use their mouths to talk. The person can stillmunicate with their divine sense but they didn''t because they got the hint. They are to keep quiet until he permits them to talk.


    "Where was I?" He asked them, but no one answered. It was a rhetorical question. They are not supposed to answer and they shouldn''t answer even if they want to.


    So he continued without interruption. "You are at my mercy so you will do as I say. We will y a game. You lot will fight and kill each other. You will entertain me with your death. I might let thest person alive go if they entertain me well enough. That will be after extensive binding oaths and contracts. But salvation is possible. Do you understand me?"


    Their faces changed when they heard what he said. They were listless before. But their faces went through a series of changes all because of hope. Their death was certain a moment ago. They were to die and nothing could save them. That was certain. But that has changed now. There is uncertainty about their future.


    The uncertainty is both good and bad. But it is hopeful. It means that they might die or they might survive. Despair receded within them like a tide. Hope sparked in the darkness that it left behind. They have something to look forward to now.

 Chapter 869 Battle Royale.

    ?


    Aeternus watched their change in emotions with glee. He is enjoying himself tremendously. The worst thing you can give a hopeless person is hope. They will do anything and give up everything for that hope.


    He chuckled to himself. "This is good. This is very good."


    If he had said with certainty that he would free thest person, they wouldn''t have believed him. They will understand his words to be an attempt to rile them up. They won''t believe him because they think he is toying with them.


    But he offered uncertainty and with it came hope. Now they don''t know if he is toying with them or not. They don''t know if the hope is real or false but it is hope. It is the speck of light in an otherwise dark dungeon. They will grasp hold of this opportunity so that they won''t lose it. After all, there is nothing to lose but their lives itself. They are going to die anyway. But by fighting well, they stand a chance of surviving.


    "Do you understand me?" He asked them again.


    "Yes, Your Excellency. We understand."


    "We understand you very clearly."


    They replied in the affirmative. All of them answered his question except the hellhound. All three of her heads red daggers at him. She doesn''t want to indulge him. Her behavior made him chuckle. Even her stubbornness is amusing to him.


    He ignored her and continued to address them, "Now, you will form three teams. The Level 7 stick in the mud will be on her own. The remaining four of you will split into two teams of two each. The three teams will fight each other in an open match until only one team is left. That is the first round. Take note that you must work together with your teammates within the first round. You mustn''t hurt or attack them. There will be serious consequences if you do. I will make sure of it."


    He let the severity of the situation sink into them by giving them a hard stare. They all looked away from his direct line of sight except the hellhound who maintained her re. But even she had to look away from his bright golden eyes because of the increasing pressure his attention brings to her.


    "The first round will end when only one team is left. That might just be one or both of you in a team. If you''re two, then you will fight each other in the second round. Whoever attains victory in the second round and does so in an entertaining manner gets a chance to survive."


    "Only one person can live among all of you. So pick your partners carefully. You have a day tomunicate amongst yourselves and pick partners. The partnership should be mutual. You can''t force someone to be your partner. If you don''t have a partner by the end of the period to select one, then you fight alone in your own team."


    He asked them, "Any questions?"


    None of them had any questions. They shook their heads quickly indicating theirck of questions. Except for the hellhound who remained stubborn. But even she had to shake her head when the space around her head pushed her head side to side.


    He pped excitedly and said, "Then, let the game begin."


    He released his hold on them and returned to his throne by bending space to his will. He is the Sovereign of this dominion so he knows everything going on within it and he can go anywhere too. It is not easy work. It can be stressful sometimes. He is a hardworking demon king and he needs entertainment to relieve his stress. That''s what these five demon kings are here for.


    He will watch them kill each other and be happy about it. He made sure to demarcate the space they are in from the rest of the ne so that their fight won''t affect the nice ne that he worked so hard to set up.


    The demon kings stared at each other and began scheming. All four of the level 5 demon kings considered each other. They were partners in crime a few minutes ago. They banded together toe and rob the Reaper. Now they are to fight and kill each other until only one remains. Their contract of non-violence won''t protect them now. They have to fight each other if they want to live. The uing conflict is unavoidable.


    All 5 of them are enemies but one of them will be their ally for the first round. So they are torn about who they want as their partner. Ideally, they want a strong ally that will be of help to them in passing the first round. They also want an ally that they can defeat if they need to. But everyone else wants the same thing.


    No one wants to pick a partner that is strong enough to kill them. That also means that they don''t want that person to be their enemy either. They are at an impasse. The only alternative is being alone for the first round but that is a worse idea. They will have to fight two against one.


    They don''t know what to do. Only one person knows what they want to do. And that person is the one without any allies. The level 7 hellhound will have to fight on her own. She is strong on her own, but that''s why she knows that whatever these four choose, all of them will gang up on her in the first round.


    They have to eliminate her with their full strength early on or none of them will stand a chance against her. So she sought to eliminate her threats early.


    The hellhound opened her mouth and prepared to st the four of them to smithereens. Killing one of them will make her chances of survival higher but she doesn''t need to concentrate on a single person thanks to her three heads. She can attack 3 of the 4 of them at once and she decided to do just that.

 Chapter 870 A Message.

    ?


    Her maws opened to reveal glistening sharp teeth. Her throat lit up with a red, blue, and green fiery glow. Three mes flickered within the jaws of her three heads. Then her jaws mped shut suddenly.


    All three of her heads red at the culprit who foiled her n. She growled and bared her teeth at him. Aeternus smiled and waved to her. He admires her resourcefulness but no one will spoil his fun.


    A day went by for the selection of teams. Then the fighting started. Everything went just as Aeternus expected, the four of them focused on the level 7 demon king. She was cornered very quickly.


    "You will regret this. My death will be avenged. You will be destroyed." She roared as she struggled to fend off her assants.


    She is strong but there are four opponents. A normal demon king will struggle with two opponents but she has three heads so she can manage. But four is still too much. They are going to kill her soon. So she screamed and cried out in indignance.


    Aeternus was watching with a small smile on his face. He doesn''t take her threats seriously. This entire thing is entertainment to him. He is in his backyard having fun by watching people kill each other. Then he will bury their bodies in his backyard where no one will find them. Nothing serious can possiblye out of it.


    He believes he has nothing to be afraid of. But something unprecedented suddenly happened. It made his face change. The smile on his face died off and was reced by a grim look. A strong wave of power was forcefully injected into his ne. The wave entered his ne and was ejected into the surroundings from the pir of energy. An aura spread out with the wave. It made everything and everyone freeze.


    Aeternus stood up from his throne in surprise. He muttered in shock, "A demon God."


    The aura that apanied the wave is that of a demon God. It is certainly a surprise. The wave entered his ne without his permission and it even froze everything within it. He is the only one still moving and that''s because he is the sovereign of the ne. The other demon Kings are frozen in the act of whatever they are doing.


    Aeternus prepared himself for a fight. A demon God is very powerful but he is not so easy to defeat either. His chances will depend on how much power the demon God is bringing with its manifestation. He should be able tomit suicide as long as he has time to prepare.


    No, he doesn''t intend to fight a demon god. He is already preparing to kill himself at the sight of a demon god. A demon god is that dangerous. So he examined everything in his ne instantly for an intruder. But he couldn''t find anything out of ce. He can''t find anything outside his ne either.


    He was looking for his enemy when the next change happened. The wave spread throughout the ne. Then it bounced off the boundary of the ne and returned to the purple energy pir in the sky at the center of the ne. Itbined with energy at the top of the pir before suddenly exploding to release the intent stored within the wave.


    Aeternus rxed after understanding the intent. "I shouldn''t have worried."


    The wave contained a message. It is a summons for an abyssal meeting. The wave is an invitation to an unprecedented meeting for all demon Kings and demon lords in the abyss.


    WRATH sent the message to everyone, not him specifically. It is an abyss-wide summons not an interference by a demon God to rescue the hellhound demon king. The demon God also guaranteed their safety from other demon gods during the meeting by swearing on its sin.


    The frozen demon Kings and everything in the ne were released when the wave exploded. All five of them heard the message within the intent. They paused their fighting and looked at Aeternus. They want to know what he ns to do with them now.


    The hellhound demon king looked smug. She said to him, "You hear that. There''s going to be a meeting. Everyone was informed. CARNAGE will definitely notice it if I am not there. You can''t kill me now."


    "Something momentous must have happened. Could it be about me?" Aeternus asked himself uncertainly.


    This kind of meeting is very rare. It hasn''t happened in more than 100 origin cycles or 10 million years. Something very important that concerns the entire abyss must have happened for the summons to be sent out. It could be about him so he is not sure if he should attend or start preparing for war. The demon God might be calling everyone for a nned assault on him and his ne.


    "I should be fine as long as I am not killed by a demon God. I''ll attend the meeting. Let me see what all the fuss is about." He thought to himself.


    He decided to attend the meeting. He is prepared to fight and he is prepared to die.


    "I should be safe as long as I am not killed or captured by a demon God."


    Then his gaze turned to the five demon Kings fighting. His gaze became hard and cold as ice steel.


    "As for these ones, I won''t take any chances."


    He extended his hand to them and exerted his control over the ne. The entire ne began to pressure the demon Kings from every direction. The pressure became so great that space solidified like tar around them but they were still unharmed. So he shot des of Chaos energy at them. They couldn''t escape since they couldn''t move. They watched as death approached and crushed them.


    Chaos energy ravaged them. It destroyed their souls and their bodies. Then he added their crowns to his collection. Their crowns entered his skull and five crowns were added to the Halo around the core of the ne.

 Chapter 871 The Intelligence Of A Demon Of Wrath.

    <h4>Chapter 871 The Intelligence Of A Demon Of Wrath.</h4>


    Now they will have a part to y in adding more crowns to his collection. Others will gaze upon their crowns around the core of his ne and be filled with despair. He has acquired 41 extra crowns in total. But he isn''t too happy about it.


    "My fun has been ruined." Heined. "Just a little more and the fight would have peaked."


    He wasn''t going to take any chances with them so he killed them and cut short his fun. There are a lot of uncertainties surrounding the summons so he doesn''t want any more uncertainties. Their death has made it certain that nothing can be gotten from them that can be used against him. He was going to kill all of them anyway. It just isn''t fun this way.


    "Let''s see what this is about. Do I run or do I fight? I have to find out." He said as he sat back on his throne.


    One of the crowns around the core of the ne detached from it. The crown began to glow a red light. A red shadow appeared beneath the crown as Chaos energy was infused into it. The red shadow solidified and was infused with powerful soul force. Then the red shadow became an entity of divine flesh and blood. It grew four wings, four arms, two great horns tipped in gold, two thick trunk-like legs, and finally a ck armor apanied by a ck ymore.


    An Avatar of his was formed quickly. It has the same red and translucent crystal-like skin that he has but it has no face on its head. He created an exit out of his ne so a whirlpool appeared in the sky. The Avatar flew up into the whirlpool and left the ne. It entered the energy sea and began making its way to the source.


    He met a lot of demon kings on the way. Apparently, he is not the only one making this trip to the first ne of the abyss. They all looked solemn and quiet. None of them talked or asked what the summons could be about because they didn''t expect the others to know. A summons like this has never happened as far as anyone can remember.


    All of the demon Kings that he met are just avatars at the level of demon lords. No one has an Avatar with the strength of a demon king like him. Most of them, if not all of them, didn''te in their real bodies because demon gods are known to have a great appetite.


    Demon gods are always seeking to expand and be greater than what they are. These demon Kings don''t feel safe. They might go to the meeting and never return if they go in their real bodies. So it is better to be careful despite the promise by the demon god that they will be safe.


    Their Avatars flooded the energy sea as they swam toward the surface. Not all of them are demon Kings. There are some avatars belonging to demon lords. Those avatars are very weak. They are hollow bodies formed out of half-divine sin energy not the Divine energy of demon Kings. These avatars can be popped like fragile bubbles. They are that weak.


    No one that he can see is attending the summons with their real bodies. There might be some that he is unaware of who are present with their real bodies but they will be few in number. It is because toe with their real bodies is to be very brave or foolish or both. That''s why they all looked at him weirdly. They don''t know that it is only an Avatar so they think that he is attending this meeting with his body.


    One demon king asked him. "Are you a demon king of wrath?"


    The implication of that question is a question of his intelligence. He just snorted and continued on his way.


    "Ignorant fools." He thought to himself.


    He ignored the odd looks and the inquisitive gazes and focused on observing his environment quietly.


    He breached the top of the energy sea and came out to the 1st ne of the abyss. His avatar appeared above a massive purple sea. It doesn''t look like a sea because it doesn''t have waves or storms at all. Its water is as heavy and thick as mercury and it is as calm as a peacefulke. The exit of several avatars didn''t even create any ripples on its surface.


    The energy sea is a calm body of liquid energy. The surface of its purple waters reflects light as if they are frozen solid. One can watch it for its beauty. But Aeternus wasn''t watching the scenic view. His gaze went past the floating structures above the energy sea and focused on the 10 clouds above the floating structures.


    The floating structures have a ring-like base. There are pirs on this ring. The pirs are in the hundreds. They are not identical. In fact, the pirs look old and decrepit. They are broken here and there. Some are much shorter than others. Even the ring is chipped in several ces with cracks spreading through it and the pirs above. It is obvious that this structure hasn''t seen much use or maintenance in a long time.


    Above the pirs are some floating thrones. Each throne is free-standing and above the pirs. They don''t have any contact with the pirs so they just levitate there silently. Aeternus doesn''t care about the ring and the floating structures. He is more concerned about the presence of demon gods floating above the structure of the abyssal conve.


    "This meeting has to be very serious. All of them are here. All 10 of them." He thought to himself. "I don''t see how this can possibly end well for me or for everyone. Something very bad must happen soon."


    The clouds of energy are demon gods. They are more like seas of energy, but they float in the air so they look like clouds. But unlike normal clouds, these cloud are not light. They feel heavy because of the weight their presence ces on their surrounding. These clouds must not fall or the earth will shatter.


    ----------


    A/N: Bonus chapter for reaching golden ticket goal.

 Chapter 872 Recipe For Disaster.

    <h4>Chapter 872 Recipe For Disaster.</h4>


    Demon gods don''t have a fixed form. The shackles of the rules of the void universe that binds them are in the process of being broken. They are simr to Origin gods with supremews. Each cloud is different. Some might look simr with the same color but they arepletely different.


    WRATH and CARNAGE are both in the form of a red cloud. But one cloud is a floating sea of red fire and the other is a floating sea of blood. They are both red and they both influence everything that gazes at them with violence but they are different fundamentally. They are also very powerful.


    What''s worse is that they all came with a significant portion of their strength. Each cloud is asrge as a continentalndmass. That is enough energy within them to drown a hundred demon kings. As if that isn''t enough, there are all 10 of the demon gods of the abyss here. It is a practical recipe for a disaster so he doesn''t see how this can have a happy ending. He is just being realistic.


    "If this is about me, then I am screwed. I am very screwed. I should kill myself as soon as possible." He warned himself.


    Then he began to make his way to the floating structures. The floating structures can bepared to the council chambers of the gods. Except that it is for the rulers of the abyss. Some Divine nes hardly use them. The abyss hasn''t used them in more than 10 million years. Gods cane together to make decisions that affect them but demons are not United enough for that to happen.


    Demon Kings rarely kill each other because they don''t benefit from it and death for them isn''t permanent but that doesn''t make them friendly with it each other. There are other reasons to fight such as wealth and power. It will take a superior power like a demon God to bring them together.


    Even that will be difficult because demon gods are not trusted. An Oath that ensures the safety of the demon gods is needed to assure them before they can even have a meeting. And that will only happen when there''s actually a matter that concerns all of the abyss. Such a thing hasn''t happened in a long time.


    Aeternus flew up with vignce and uttermost caution. He is ready tomit suicide at the drop of a hat. The death of an Avatar shouldn''t matter to him if he is killed by another demon king. But getting killed by a demon God is more than a problem for him. It is a cmity for him and probably for all of Legion.


    It will be how the son of the sages managed to kill gods through their avatars. The main bodies of gods died with their avatars. This will be much worse than that because any demon god that manages toy their hands on him might be able to also get the other legions through him. This is because a demon God is a virus. Those clouds are an amalgamation of tiny chaotic elements in the form of sin.


    Demon gods are the embodiment of sin. That means that they are the manifestation of a sin. They have fused with their mark of sin and gained authority over that sin. They can use that privilege to turn whatever theye in contact with into their sin. It is like how chaos energy tries to break down and turn everything that is touched into more chaos energy.


    Demon gods are invasive gues. They cannot be killed even by world gods. They can only be resisted or forcefully overwritten with a supremew. If they are not sessfully resisted then you will be a part of them.


    If one of them gets him, then it will be able to get his main body and it will also be able to get the other clones of legions. This is why he thinks the other demon kings who came in avatars and believe that it is enough to keep them safe are ignorant. They questioned his intelligence but they are the stupid ones.


    He should not be here. He should be running away. But running away is useless if they are already on to him. So he has to take the risk to acquire information. He can''t just run away in ignorance. It may be what they are expecting.


    Besides, if they are specifically targeting him, then the message of a summons shouldn''t have been sent to him. They would have kept their knowledge of him a secret, moved secretly, ande for him already. But they called a meeting for all rulers. This meeting should be dangerous only because he is in the presence of several demon Gods. That is unless this entire meeting is just to bait him. Anyway, he will find out soon.


    The 10 floating seas noticed him. He is one of the few that came in their main bodies. He also has an energy that is very simr to theirs within him. Their interest was piqued immediately. They extended their senses to him to inspect what''s so special about him but their probes were rebuffed by ayer of soul force.


    They are more powerful than him but Legion-1''s soul force is strong enough to resist them for a time even if they make direct contact with him. They will eventually break the defense of the soul force since Legion-1 doesn''t have a supremew. But for now, their indirect probes will remain ineffective on him.


    The development surprised the demon gods. If they had a doubt before, they now know for sure that Aeternus is not what he seems. No demon king should be able to resist their inspection. They began conversing about him amongst themselves.


    "Looks like I have been made." He sighed and thought to himself.


    He felt it as they scanned him. Theyer of soul force on him engaged with several intrusive and powerful forces and began to be depleted. It is as good as any sign that he is already in big trouble.

 Chapter 873 3 Sides Of Desire.

    <h4>Chapter 873 3 Sides Of Desire.</h4>


    There''s no two ways about it. He is in trouble and that is a fact. He put ayer of soul force around him because he can''t rely on luck that no demon gods will have any designs for him after they sense his energy signature. Reality has proven his caution to be right and not to be overacting or baseless paranoia.


    Other demon Kings can only feel a certain threat and a corrosive aura but demon gods are intimately familiar with his kind of energy. In fact, they are made of corrosive energy that will overwrite whatever it touches. So they will want to understand why he is the way he is and they will not be polite about it.


    The guarantee of safety from WRATH can be subverted. After all, it is only a single demon God that invited them and made the Oat to protect them. There are 9 other demon gods here. Anything can happen so he protected himself.


    A casual inspection of him will be very bad apart from the fact he has Chaos energy. They will also notice that this body doesn''t contain a soul despite having a crown. That will make them realize that he is a king of kings. So they will want to get him at all costs. If they didn''t know that he must be killed before, they would after a simple inspection.


    The soul energy is not only to prevent scanning on him. It will also protect him and give him enough time so that he will have the opportunity to self-destruct before they can touch him or his energy. His main body will be able to escape through a portal in his ne.


    So he didn''t just wander into what can bepared to a lion''s den without sufficient preparation. He has made sufficient preparations. It is funny that all his preparations are for him to be able to kill himself before it is toote.


    He continued to rise above the sea unperturbed. He didn''t show any indication that anything was amiss or that he sensed their scanning. What they have found out about him is not as bad as what he doesn''t want them to find out so he is still in the clear. That can change at any moment but he must remain calm and collected.


    Fortunately, his head doesn''t have a face so his work has been cut in half. He doesn''t have to school his face. He just made sure to keep his posture and bodynguage regal. He mustn''t look like prey or he will be treated like prey. If he looks confident, then they might think twice before they attack him. All he needs is that moment of hesitation for him to kill himself.


    He flew past the ringed base and the pirs attached to them. He rose even higher and picked a throne which he sat on. The thrones are for demon Kings while the pirs are for demon lords. He sat down and even rxed his posture. Meanwhile, the demon gods were observing him intently while discussing among themselves furiously. Many of them want to swoop down and snatch him up right this instant. They want to disregard civility and indulge in their desires.


    "I want him. I want him now."


    "I must have him now."


    "Give him to me. I just want a little taste."


    Three different demon gods mored for him.


    Demon gods are beings without restraint. They are the very definition of their sins. They gained control over their sins but they were also influenced heavily by their sins. GREED, GLUTTONY, and ENVY want to get him immediately. But WRATH, CARNAGE, and LUST are against it. While the other four demon gods are on the sidelines content with just watching.


    SLOTH is not actually against grabbing Aeternus. It is against doing anything at all that''s why it is on the sidelines. It wouldn''t havee here had it not been dragged by WRATH. If not for being dragged, then it will be somewhere else sleeping.


    As for the other demon gods on the sidelines, they don''t care about Aeternus enough to try and get him or try to protect him. PRIDE certainly doesn''t give a hoot or half about the weird demon king. It believes that it is special, unique, and the best thing in existence. Anything else is lower quality and not worth its attention.


    The one that led the side of reason and decorum is WRATH. WRATH clearly has a vested interest in having this meeting go well. It brought theziest demon God here and it doesn''t want a demon king to be attacked in front of everyone at a meeting that he called for an important aim. He swore to guarantee the safety of everyone who attends the meeting and he will make sure of it.


    The disruption that attacking Aeternus right now will cause will hinder their ns for the era of conquest. For once in the history of the abyss, all the rulers have toe together and they need to unite. The demon gods need everyone''s help. CARNAGE and LUST backed WRATH up so they are at a stalemate on what to do about Aeternus.


    They discussed more about him. They agreed to hold off on attacking him until the meeting is done with. And the attack has to be done discretely or the other demon Kings will get nervous and the demon gods will lose their credibility. It won''t help their unity if a demon king is killed by a demon god.


    "Fine." GREED said. "I will get himter."


    It agreed to the proposal to hold off but it couldn''t stop looking at Aeternus. Greed pulled at its mind the more it looked at Aeternus. It wants to get to the bottom of Aeternus''s secrets but it can''t, for now. So it decided to ask a question.


    "Hey, you." It called out to Aeternus. "You''re the newest demon king. Are you not?"


    It didn''t wait for an answer. "Why did youe here in your main body?"

 Chapter 874 First Round Of Scheming.

    <h4>Chapter 874 First Round Of Scheming.</h4>


    The cloud of blue energy didn''t change as it asked its question. A wave reverberated out of it containing its intent and message. The question is harmless. It just looks like the demon god is curious about him. A lot of people are curious about why he came in his main body too.


    Aeternus replied calmly. "It wouldn''t matter if I came with my main body or not. I am doomed if a demon God wants to get me. Besides, the esteemed demon God of wrath swore to protect us from other demon gods."


    What he said is true. It doesn''t matter in which form you appear before a demon God. Your death is all but certain. Even the demon lords are not safe. If a demon God can forcefully send a message to all the rulers of the abyss within their ne, then a demon God can reach demon kings or demon lords no matter where they are through their avatar of sin energy.


    He used that reasonable reason to mask that he is an avatar himself. It also shows reasonable fear and respect of the demon gods. But GREED wasn''t satisfied.


    It asked again. "That might be true but what about the other demon Kings? Do you not think it is appropriate to guard yourself against them."


    Everyone was paying attention to the conversation. All the demon lords and demon kings are interested in the conversation between a demon God and a demon king. Their exchange is public, not private so everyone can hear what they are talking about.


    This question seems valid too. It might be true that he can''t protect himself from a demon God but there are other threats here besides demon gods that can harm him. The other demon Kings might use this opportunity to harm him and set back his progress. What if a fight breaks out? That is highly likely to happen when more than two demons are in a ce. Coming here in his main body is overlooking the others as a threat.


    Aeternus shrugged and said, "I can handle myself."


    Yes, he can handle himself. The demon gods know that much about him. Someone who can resist their probing can surely handle himself. But by making it known like this, the attention of other demon Kings will be drawn to that fact. And the result is unpleasant.


    The other demon Kings thought he was being foolish or just brave foring here in his main body. But they know now that it is because he is confident in protecting himself against other demon kings. They know now that he is proud and doesn''t fear them. That ruffled some feathers.


    Aeternus appears foolish and courting death since they can feel that he is just a level-5 demon king. They want to bring that death to him. It is what GREED was aiming for.


    Aeternus is not the only demon king here in what appears to be their main bodies. But he was specifically targeted by GREED. The questions seem harmless on the surface. Beneath the harmless surface is a nefarious purpose.


    The questions are meant to create a divide between Aeternus and the other demon Kings. It is so that a believable excuse can be created when Aeternus inevitably disappears. After all, it is possible that a demon king decided to teach him a lesson in humility by killing him and destroying his ne too.


    GREED didn''t say anything after that. But the damage has been done. Aeternus chuckled and said to himself, "I am sure of it now. Doom ising for me."


    He knows that trouble ising for him soon. He can''t hide his strength in front of a demon God. To seed in hiding his strength from the probing is already saying that he is very strong.


    He also couldn''t say that he can''t handle himself. That will show that he foolishly came here with his main body without fear. No one will believe him if he said that since he gave a very good reason for why being here in the presence of a demon God with or without an avatar doesn''t matter.


    It wouldn''t have helped if he had lied and was believed. Showing foolishness will make him a weak target for the other demon kings. So he is screwed either way. He knows this but he still chuckled to himself. He isn''t amused at the danger he is. His chuckle is but a nervous release of emotions. He is afraid but he is not willing to let fear cripple him.


    "This is rock bottom. Things cannot get worse than this." He said to himself.


    Now this is a logical conclusion. He knows demons areing for his life. He knows he is in serious danger of death. But he isn''t afraid of death as long as he dies on his own terms. As long as a demon god doesn''t kill them then his death will be nothing but a minor loss of a crown. Sure, the entire abyss will hunt him down after they realize what he is. So what could be worse than that? Nothing actually, but his situation became worse.


    His throne began to rise after sitting on it. It is an indication of status by power. The throne will rise to a height based on their influence in the abyss. Their influence will determine the number of votes that they have during any voting session of the abyssal conve. So the higher the throne, the more votes you have.


    The height that the throne rises to is based on a culmination of factors. The most important is your personal strength. In other words, the higher your level of authority, the higher your throne will rise. His throne rose to the maximum level that a level 10 Authority should have.


    He can fool lesser demon kings by using a weak crown in his avatar, but he can''t fool the abyss. The abyss is very aware of his true strength. He can''t even fool demon gods about his strength. We''ve seen how that worked out. So now, everyone knows he is a level 10 demon king instead of the level 5 that he appears to be.

 Chapter 875 Payback For Greediness.

    <h4>Chapter 875 Payback For Greediness.</h4>


    His true power has been revealed for all to see. The rulers of the abyss understand that he found a way to hide his strength from them. And they have now realized that he is more dangerous than he seems. All his pretending have unraveled to show his true sneaky self. So no one will underestimate him when theye after him to kill him. But the progression of events from bad to worse didn''t end there.


    It is as they say, when it rains, it pours. It is pouring right now. His throne didn''t stop after reaching the maximum height based on personal power. It continued to rise higher. The next factor that contributes to the height of the throne is the power of the ne of the demon king. This factor is how strong their ne is. It goes without saying that his ne is very strong. It is probably the strongest since he is a demon king of kings with more than 40 crowns.


    His throne began to draw attention as it rose higher. The conversation with the demon God has already made him a noted figure. Then he said he could handle himself around other demon kings. That could have been baseless bluffing but they can see now that there is some truth to what he said. His throne has risen above 90% of the other demon kings. But that isn''t enough for it. His throne continued to rise when the third factor of influence came into y.


    The third factor that contributes to the height is the strength of subordinates. The strength of subordinates is a determinant of influence in the abyss and overall strength. Every demon noble has a house with subordinates who have sworn oaths of allegiance. The power of their house is also an indication of their power and influence.


    A demon king will have strengthened their house over the period of bing a demon lord and then gaining Authority. So every demon king has arge number of subordinates apart from their Heralds. But not every demon king has demon lords as subordinates.


    Each demon lord stood on a pir beneath the thrones. Some that are rted or friendly with each other stood close to each other. This is especially the case when they are part of the faction of a demon king. Each demon lord only has a single vote. But their existence adds to the significance of a demon king if they are sworn subordinates of that demon king.


    In the case of Aeternus who has 72 demon lords as his subordinates, then the addition to his influence will be very high. So his throne experienced another massive increase in height.


    "It just keepsing." Heined inwardly as his throne rose higher and higher. "If there is any chance that I can avoid the fate of being chased by the entire abyss until I die, it is zero now."


    He didn''t know about the principles of the abyssal council or the mechanisms by which influence is determined. If he knew, he might have rethought his n toe here. He certainly would have rethought making his subordinates demon lords. He just wanted to have more soldiers so that he would be able to invade a divine ne on his own.


    "I think this is payback for all the demon dukes that were unjustly killed for my greed." He thought in jest. "This will make sure that I join them."


    A lot of demon dukes died to fulfill their mission to be demon lords. He sent them on that mission. Some died during the mission and he killed some for failing the mission. 10 demon lords as subordinates is enough. Most demon kings don''t have that. But he didn''t stop at that. He nned to have all 100 of his subordinates be demon lords. He let his greed run rampant. Too much of anything is bad. Now it hase back to bite him in the ass.


    He rose higher for a while until his throne stopped. He finally stopped but he couldn''t breathe a sigh of relief. He is not the highest demon king but he is in the top 3. So the damage has been done. If he didn''t stand out when he came with his body, or when he spoke with a demon god, or when he said he could handle himself among hundreds of demon kings, he surely stands out now. He stands out very well.


    He has eyes on him from every direction. The thrones are arranged in a circle but they have different heights. Then their influence was calcted. Each level of authority grants 1 vote. So there is a maximum of 10 votes for personal strength. The power of the ne adds another 10 points. Thest is the strength of subordinates which also adds another 10 points for a total of 30 points.


    He got 10 votes for personal strength. The points for their ne are calcted based on percentile. He is in the 99th percentile so he got 9 points. The first abyssal ne is the strongest ne, not his. So he didn''t get 10 points for the strength of the ne. It is better than what Kings of the Abyss got. They don''t have a personal ne so they only got 1 point. Only Kings of Demons and himself got more than a single point.


    Thest factor brought in 9 points for him. He is not the only one to think of making their subordinates demon lords. There are others that have done so too and they did it way before him. He is a new demon king but he has very strong subordinates so he managed to reach the 80th percentile. It brings his total to 28 points.


    The first two demon kings have 28 and 29 points. If he had eyes, they would be narrowed at the first two demon kings right now.


    "These two are highly suspicious." He thought to himself. "I might not be the only one."

 Chapter 876 What Demons Are Good At.

    <h4>Chapter 876 What Demons Are Good At.</h4>


    He doesn''t have eyes so all he can do is fixate his divine sense on them and scan them without restraint. He wanted to get to the bottom of their strength. It is pretty rude to scan another demon king so intensely but he doesn''t care. He is already in danger. A little more danger can''t hurt. But he failed. The two of them sessfully defended against his probe. That only reinforced his suspicion.


    "Interesting."


    He finds it interesting that there are two demon kings ahead of him who are apparently strong enough to defend themselves. What''s more interesting is that he found two more demon kings whom he couldn''t ascertain if they were using an avatar or not. These four demon kings appear to be in their main bodies like him. And like him, no one is sure if they are avatars without souls.


    He thought to himself with a smirk, "The only reason I can think of for being unable to inspect them is if their crown is stronger than mine. I am a level 10 demon king and also a demon king of kings with 41 crowns. So..."


    He can only be sure of what he is. He can''t be sure of what others are. But the possibility is very high. He returned his attention to his surroundings. His gaze swept through all the demon kings present and he assessed their situation and power from the information provided by the abyss about their influence. Others are also examining him. Especially the ones that he just disrespected by scanning.


    Their individual points aren''t shown. But their total influence is disyed just above their heads for everyone to see. They can''t exactly say how well he performed in each section but they know he did very well. After all, he has an average of 9 in every section.


    That means that he is better than 90% of the demon kings in every section. It is a very impressive performance for the newest demon king amongst a total of 271 demon kings.


    It is also a very suspicious performance. It hasn''t even been one origin cycle since he became a demon king. They didn''t even know of him as a demon lord. He suddenly became a demon king and surpassed 270 other demon kings who have been demon kings for millions of years. It is very suspicious indeed.


    If he wasn''t interesting enough or suspicious enough to the demon gods before, he is now. Every demon God turned their gaze full of interest onto him. He didn''t seem perturbed by the attention. He remained calm. He even sat casually with his four thick arms folded against his chest. He isn''t going to give them the satisfaction of a reaction no matter how long they wait.


    A demon God noticed something odd. So it asked. "Shouldn''t there be more than 271 demon gods? Last I counted, there should be more than 300 demon kings. What happened to them?"


    It was LUST that asked. She noticed that there were fewer demon kings than normal present at the meeting.


    WRATH also discovered the anomaly. "That''s true. There are more than 60 demon kings missing. Did they decide not to attend despite the fact that I swore an Oath to guarantee their safety? Those damned scoundrels." It yelled in anger.


    WRATH got angry immediately because of the absence of some demon kings. It felt insulted that its oath was not enough to assuage their fears of being in the presence of demon gods.


    "I will not allow this to go unanswered." It roared and sted everyone with its shout.


    Aeternus spoke up while other demon kings were cowering and trying to look small, "Not all of them bailed out of this meeting because they were scared. Some of them can''te because they have been captured and held against their will. I, myself have captured 3 other demon kings."


    He came forward to clear himself before someone else said something to incriminate him. It is public knowledge that he captures demon kings. But if he owns up to it then it will be a quirk or fetish and not a suspicious point.


    Besides, what he said is something that other demon kings do too. Of the 80 or so demon kings missing, he is only responsible for 50 of them.


    WRATH calmed down. It muttered, "That''s true. Bad luck for them then."


    If they are captured, then so be it. He can''t say that they should be released unless he is ready to force the demon kings to let go of their captives or pay for their liberation. The fact that they are captured means that they are not worthy enough to be here.


    In any society, only free people can vote. ves and prisoners can''t. They don''t have that right and don''t have any say in determining the affairs of the society. If he wasn''t surprised about the absence then he wouldn''t have bothered to ask about them.


    But some demon gods have reasons to be bothered. In fact, some of them are very concerned about the missing demon kings. Some of the missing demon kings are their subordinates. It is one thing to miss an internal meeting of their faction. It is another thing to miss an abyss-wide meeting without any information or excuse.


    So CARNAGE had to ask. "What about Cerberus? Where is she? Do you have her captured too?"


    That question was directed to Aeternus. He can''t pretend to not be capable of capturing a level 7 demon king now that his power and influence have been unraveled. So he did what demons are very good at.


    He replied calmly, "I don''t know who that is your Excellency. What does she look like?"


    He lied. It was a tant lie that he did with a straight face. It helped that his face is actually nk. The truth is that he didn''t know her before today when she entered his ne and he has never associated with her before. He denied knowing her entirely to throw away any link between them and it might work too since he just met her today.


    -------


    A/N: Bonus chapter for reaching golden ticket goal. I will release the one for voting goal tomorrow.

 Chapter 877 What Cerberus Is Up To.

    <h4>Chapter 877 What Cerberus Is Up To.</h4>


    CARNAGE was not convinced by what Aeternus said. It would have narrowed its eyes if it had any eyes to narrow. Instead, it hummed and asked suspiciously, "Is that so?"


    Aeternus didn''t need to answer that question and he doesn''t want to either. The fact is that nothing he can say can clear him. Anyone can say anything so he could be lying or speaking the truth. Either way, no one will believe him. So he kept quiet.


    He didn''t need to answer. Someone else spoke up.


    A level 4 demon king said, "I heard from a subus queen who is a friend of mine that she and 3 other demon kings are going somewhere with demon king Cerberus."


    This nosy demon king is a demon king of envy. It has a small stature which puts it as 6 kilometers tall amongst the other 10 kilometers tall demon kings. It is also in the form of a worm with wings and horns. It is not a snake because it is segmented with multiple sections joined together.


    "Where did they go to?" CARNAGE asked.


    The demon king hurriedly replied, "She didn''t tell me where. It could be the Invasion of a ne. All she said to me was that if she disappears, then it is probably Demon King Cerberus''s fault."


    What the demon lord of envy said made everyoneugh or snicker quietly. They are very familiar with situations like this. It is very clear to them that this subus queen was informing others of her arrangements in case she disappeared. She also did not say exactly where she was going or what they were going to do there to maintain secrecy. It is obvious that there is some sort of benefits involved and she doesn''t want the person she told to get wind of it and interfere.


    "Is that subus queen here now?" CARNAGE asked.


    The demon king replied with a shake of the head. "No, Your Excellency."


    That finally settled some of the suspicions of CARNAGE. It seems that Cerberus''s absence can be exined by her being busy with something. She could probably be outside the abyss which will exin why she didn''t receive the message for the meeting. The benefits also won''t allow her toe even if she heard the summons.


    If there is something that it is sure of from what it heard, the benefits have to be very big because she was supposed to have a meeting with it earlier. It is a meeting for CARNAGE to inform those in its faction about what this current meeting is about. They were supposed to use the early ess to the information to their advantage. She missed that meeting so the benefits have to be greater.


    "Let this meeting start then." WRATH called the meeting to order.


    "I am sure most of you are surprised by the summons and this meeting. You must suspect a lot of things. I assure you that this meeting was called for a very important reason. It is a momentous reason that affects all of the abyss."


    "The era of conquest ising. This era will bring a lot of changes. It brings both good things and bad things for everyone. One thing is sure and it is that the era of conquest will affect everyone. It will also affect the demons. For those that don''t know, the abyss will disappear after the end of the era of conquest. It doesn''t matter if the realm of high heaven seeds or fails. The abyss will cease to exist."


    If the realm of high heaven seeds in the era of conquest then it will detach from thew matrix and leave behind the abyss. If the realm of high heaven fails, then it will be destroyed along with the abyss. So the era of conquest marks the end of the abyss no matter the oue of the era of conquest.


    "We have little we can do to change the fate of the abyss. The abyss will end no matter what and the demons will end with it. But that has changed. I am here to tell you that the realm lord of the realm of high heaven met with all the demon gods of the abyss. He offered us a deal to preserve the demons. He has a grand n for the realm and he wants us to be a part of it."


    The announcement of WRATH evoked surprise and shock from the demon kings. Not all of them were surprised though. Some of them have heard of this information from the demon gods that they are involved with. Aeternus wasn''t surprised to hear about it. He knows a lot about the era of conquest and the realm lord so he is not surprised that the realm lord is recruiting the demons. After all, the realm lord is also recruiting world gods.


    So he took the announcement in stride. What he isn''t sure about is what the realm lord wants of them. He doesn''t understand what use the abyss will be since their total strength is weak. A single powerful ne in the realm can exceed the top-level strength of the entire abyss.


    There are about 300 demon kings in the abyss. Meanwhile, the Ghastorix family alone can produce thousands of Origin gods. The Abyss has 10 demon gods. Meanwhile, the Virut ne has more than 30 world gods. So, of what use are the demons and the abyss?


    WRATH said to them, "The specifics of the deal with the realm lord can not be exined yet. If you want to know, then you must join the coalition of the abyss. It will require you to swear an oath of loyalty. The abyss needs to be united for this deal to be carried out without problems.


    "So all of you must vote or you can leave. I have sworn that you will not face any danger from a demon God during this meeting. So you can leave without worry or concern about your safety. You are in no danger whatsoever. For now."

 Chapter 878 Impudence.

    <h4>Chapter 878 Impudence.</h4>


    The demon kings and demon lords were surprised by the need for secrecy about the deal that the realm lord offered. An oath is not a small thing to make. Breaking it will lead to dire consequences. So some of them are not willing to subject themselves to one. Especially when they don''t know what exactly they are going to bind themselves to. So the demon God''s assurance of safety filled them with relief. That relief turned into fright when they heard the demon God''s next words.


    "You have nothing to worry about if you leave. The only thing you might have to worry about is your safety after this meeting. The coalition of the abyss might need to consolidate the entire strength of the abyss and unify our forces and resources. You might encounter unfortunate events during the process. It will be very unfortunate. But it can be avoided if you swear loyalty now."


    They understood immediately, both the literal and the subtle threats from WRATH. They can swear loyalty, or they can prepare to be forcefully annexed by the coalition of the abyss. It is the threat of a demon God. They can be sure that they will face unfortunate events if they don''t swear loyalty.


    Everyone became lessfortable. They began to fidget. They are demon kings and demon lords. They control a domain and have many subordinates. Demon gods are strong, that much they can admit to. But that doesn''t mean they want to be bossed around. Even if they are bossed around at the end of the day, they will resist a little and they will still have feelings of dissatisfaction and indignance.


    They are all unwilling with the offer but no one said anything. They too are leaders. So they know how it will go when someone stands up to them. None of them wants to be the scapegoat that will teach the others a lesson and make them fall in line. So no one said anything. They all kept quiet.


    The only sound that can be heard is the howling of the wind. The demon gods also didn''t say anything. They were content with watching the demon kings squirm ufortably.


    Everything was silent. That was until someone raised his hands up. It was Aeternus.


    He said, "I have a question."


    GREED snarled, "It''s you again."


    "Go on." WRATH interrupted. "Ask your question."


    "Thank you, your Excellency. I am sure the coalition of the Abyss is a good idea. But we don''t know that for sure. We are ignorant and cannotpare with the infinite wisdom that your excellencies possess. Forgive us for this sin."


    GREED interrupted, "Ask your question ant. Do not bore us with tales of your stupidity, ignorance, and weaknesses."


    Aeternus ignored the rabid demon god and continued, "You have told us the detriment of not joining this coalition. Is there anything you can tell us about the advantages of joining this coalition? For example, will our safety from Demon gods be extended to everyone within the coalition for as long as the coalition still stands? Can we attack other demon kings in the coalition or is that limited to those not in the coalition?"


    The other demon kings and demon lords were nodding in agreement as he spoke. There is a lot that they don''t know about this coalition. The demon gods don''t need to give them information about the deal. But surely, they can give them information about the benefits of the coalition.


    "What other effects will joining the coalition have on us? Do we have to release the demon kings we captured if they ept to join the coalition? Do we have to pay taxes in any form? What are our contributions to the coalition supposed to be? Is the coalition meant only for secrecy? If so, then we don''t need to create a coalition. We can just swear to secrecy and that will be all. And most importantly, why does it matter that we join the coalition? You''re demon gods. You are much stronger than us. What do you need us for? What is it that we can do that your excellencies can''t?"


    He asked a lot of questions. Then he finished his questions with a humble request.


    "I ask these questions not in disrespect, Your Excellency. But so that you can enlighten us and shine some light on our ignorance. I hope you will do us this small favor, Your Excellency."


    The demon kings and demon lords would have given him a standing ovation if their safety were assured. They would have stood up and pped. And they would have done so for a long time. But they are in the presence of demon gods. So they will limit themselves to nodding subtly while they watch if Aeternus will be struck down for his impudence.


    "Impudence." PRIDE roared.


    Apparently, someone thought he was being impudent too.


    PRIDE is one of the demon gods on the sidelines about going after Aeternus. It is a little curious about Aeternus''s weird energy but it won''t bring itself so low as to capture him. Whatever it is about Aeternus, it is beneath it anyway. This meeting is also beneath it. Even the other demon gods are beneath it. So it ignored Aeternus and everyone else.


    It didn''t participate in the discussion and it doesn''t n to. But Aeternus dared to question a demon God. He dared to show disrespect. Its pride won''t allow it. Aeternus should know his ce and not mouth off. He should just swear loyalty and be done with it. In fact, every demon king and demon lord here should just do what they are asked to do immediately.


    "You dare to question a demon God? You dare?" PRIDE asked Aeternus with a calm but serious voice.


    Then it said to everyone else, "Who here agrees with him?"


    The spiritual and physical pressure of the demon god of pride sted all of them with that question. They felt the question m into them with the force of a hurricane. The tone of the question itself is calm. But it is clear to everyone that the demon god of pride is very angry.

 Chapter 879 Second Round Of Scheming.

    <h4>Chapter 879 Second Round Of Scheming.</h4>


    No one said anything. They were not going to show support for him even when a demon god is not obviously incensed and they have not be stupid enough to show any support now that it has be obviously dangerous to do so. It was dangerous to show support for him earlier. But now, the danger has be sorge that it is clear and obvious even to stupid people.


    Aeternus kept quiet and everyone suddenly became mute. It''s not like they can talk anyway. The pressure of the existence of a demon God began to settle on them. It felt like they were carrying the weight of the sky as it was falling on them. Aeternus and the other level 10 demon kings can talk but they will be very stupid to say anything. To say anything, no matter how servile or submissive, is to court death.


    "Enough." WRATH sighed and said.


    It interfered in the suppression too. It brushed away the pressure with a flick of exertion.


    "Why?" PRIDE roared back.


    "This is a civilized meeting. If we wanted to force them, we would have cornered each of them in their nes and made them swear the oath. We asked them toe here so that we could meet eye to eye. He is not disrespecting us by asking a question after he has admitted his ignorance?"


    "Fine." PRIDE relented and returned to being a silent observer.


    What PRIDE hates the most is disrespect. It can get angry because of it. Now that it has been stated that it is not disrespect, it can settle down.


    The God of wrath looked at Aeternus and considered how to answer the questions. The questions are loaded with several implications. It has to consider them very well or risk falling into a trap.


    First of all, guaranteeing the safety of all the members of the coalition from Demon gods is not something that only it can guarantee. That means that it has to make the other demon gods swear to stay away from the demon kings and demon lords. That means that they can''t touch Aeternus if he joins the coalition.


    "What a sneaky scheming bastard." WRATH grumbled to itself.


    It already told the other demon gods that they could grab Aeternus after the meeting. Asking them to swear not to go after him or anyone else will be very difficult. It is a very difficult request. Aeternus knows that. That''s why he offered some incentives. His following questions were the incentives. Asking if they can attack other demon kings who didn''t join the coalition will encourage the demon kings to join the coalition.


    His following questions are both incentive and critical. Aeternus offered to free his captives if they want to join the coalition. It is an olive branch or a bribe of some sort to the demon god of wrath since it seems to care about attendance. Then he wanted to know what else he has to give up by asking what taxes they have to pay in the coalition.


    Now, if all of that doesn''t work, Aeternus pointed out the fact that the demon gods must need them for something. Why else would they want the demon lords and demon kings to join the coalition? If the demon gods are so capable, why can''t they fulfill the realm Lord''s deal on their own?


    In a way, Aeternus is making a subtle threat. The demon gods can force them. But at what cost? Forcing them can also lead to bad unwanted consequences. So will the demon gods guarantee their safety or not? If they don''t guarantee the safety of everyone who joins the coalition, what''s to stop the demon gods from snacking on them? What will be the difference between those who joined and those who didn''t join?


    And if his safety is not guaranteed, then he might as well create a lot of trouble for the demon gods now. He is going to die anyway. So he might as well hurt them too.


    So yes, the questions are loaded with meaning and have serious consequences. They made WRATH angry. If there is something that is simr between the demon gods of pride and wrath, it is that they get angry easily. They just have different things that make them angry. PRIDE is snobbish and gets angry at any disrespect. But WRATH can get angry at anything and anyone for any reason.


    So yes, it is very angry with Aeternus. And it was d to see that PRIDE became angry too. It was looking forward to PRIDE pressuring the demon kings into submission with its questions. But of course, the prideful smuck took it too far.


    WRATH grumbled to itself, "I shouldn''t have expected restraint from a demon God."


    Things would have worked out had PRIDE restrained itself to asking those questions in indignance. But it went ahead to pressure them with its power. That forced the demon God of wrath''s hands because it swore to protect everyone that came to the meeting from demon gods. It had to interfere because of its Oath. Now it has to answer the question all because a demon god didn''t show restraint.


    It could brush the question aside but it understood the threat that Aeternus added to the question. In fact, all the other demon kings understand that threat too. They know now that they shouldn''t be servile because the demon gods must need them for something. So they have a basis for confidence which was further reinforced by the behavior of PRIDE.


    If they weren''t so useful, PRIDE would have attacked them directly instead of pressuring them. After all, the demon God of pride didn''t swear to protect them. But PRIDE didn''t kill them so it must need them alive for something.


    Aeternus didn''t say anything. He waited calmly for the answer of WRATH. He has said what he wants to say. It is up to WRATH now. The demon God can choose to address his question or not. But it has to say something. Whatever it says will determine his next move. So he waited in silence with the other demon kings.


    -------


    A/N: This bonus chapter is a mistake. I just learned that I have published all the bonus chapter that I owe you guys. Now you owe me one bonus chapter.

 Chapter 880 The Crux Of The Matter.

    <h4>Chapter 880 The Crux Of The Matter.</h4>


    WRATH finally spoke after several seconds of silence. "The coalition of the abyss is a good thing. I will tell you why it is a good thing. For starters, the demon gods will not be leaders of this coalition. This coalition is a union of the entire manpower of the abyss by swearing an Oath of cooperation with the will of the abyss."


    "The realm lord met with us and offered us the deal. But the most important thing he needs is the cooperation of the will of the abyss. He won''t get the cooperation of the will of the abyss with just us. For that to happen, the will of the abyss must be called into action when two-thirds of the total influence of the demon lords and demon kings agree to it."


    "This two-thirds of influence will be calcted for every demon king that has ever existed, for every ne that exists in the abyss, and for every Authority that has been bestowed by the will of the abyss. Do you understand why we need everyone now?"


    What WRATH said is enlightening. They finally understand why the demon gods need them and why they can''t kill them. They can coerce the demon kings but they can''t eliminate them because each demon king that doesn''t vote is a vote against what they want.


    Another important thing is that there is no way to know what the demon kings vote for. So forcing them will not work. The demon gods have to convince them to vote for it. The demon kings with the highest influence and votes are also the highest priority to convince.


    Aeternus ruminated on this information and came to some conclusions. He thought to himself, "I see. It seems the realm lord is up to something. That schemer has turned his eyes toward the abyss."


    The realm lord needs the will of the abyss for something but he can''t order it around. It is because the will of the abyss is not a part of the realm tree. It is a part of the universe and it is present in every realm tree.


    In fact, the abyss and the realm tree are at odds with each other. Any being other than a demon thates to the abyss will be hunted by all demons in a frenzy induced by the hostility of the will of the abyss.


    The realm lord himself should know about this. He once had toe to the abyss to escape a hunt for his life. He has experienced the hostility of the abyss personally so he knows that the abyss can not be bossed around by him. He needs the help of the abyss but he won''t get it no matter how pushy or influential he is. Two-thirds of the influence of the abyss within this realm tree must be in agreement for it to move and for him to receive that help.


    The demon God continued. "There will be no leaders if the coalition is formed. Every decision will be taken by vote. No one has any obligations toward one another. You don''t need to pay any tax. In fact, you might not need to do anything once the coalition has been formed. You can choose to stay out of the rest of the deal once the coalition has been formed. You will only need to make any effort if you want to enjoy the benefits of the coalition."


    "In summary, you don''t need to do anything after the coalition is formed. There are no rules to adhere to as a member of the coalition. You can choose to continue with the deal or not. Is everything clear now?"


    Aeternus raised his hand again.


    WRATH practically growled as it asked, "What is it this time? Take note that you are walking on thin ice here. Make sure not to make me angry. I can be very nasty when I get angry."


    Aeternus took note of the threat but didn''t back down. The demon god tried to sideline what he cares about the most. He won''t allow that to happen. At least not peacefully.


    "Thank you, your Excellency, for exining the aim of the coalition to us. But there is something I might have an issue with." He said.


    GREED interrupted him again. "Is that so? Do you have something that you have an issue with? I sincerely hope it won''t be thest thing that you have an issue with."


    WRATH sighed. Then it said, "Let him talk."


    WRATH knows what Aeternus is going toin about but it can''t stop it now. After all, it has given the demon kings all the ammunition that they need to be obstinate. They were suspicious before about why the demon gods were not threatening them with violence. But now they know for sure. So it has to address Aeternus''s so-called "issue."


    "Thank you, your Excellency. What you have exined is very insightful. Correct me if I am wrong. I was able to glean that you can''t force us to swear loyalty and create the coalition of the abyss. But you can force us to do anything after the coalition has been formed. It is like you said, we have no obligations towards one another. It means that you are not obligated to protect us at all. Any demon god can take advantage of us. They can force us to participate in the deal and they can take our benefits from us."


    "Just shut up, will you?" GREED asked with a shout.


    "So what do you want?" WRATH ignored the shout and asked Aeternus.


    "We are only useful for now. That will change after the coalition has formed. We don''t require protection from other demon kings. We hardly fight and killing each other is a hassle at most. But demon gods are a real threat to us. In light of this information, it will be best if the demon gods promise not to act against us if the Coalition is formed."


    "You imbecile. You ant. I will break you." GREED roared as it attacked.

 Chapter 881 Attack Of Greed.

    <h4>Chapter 881 Attack Of Greed.</h4>


    GREED had had enough of Aeternus. So It attacked him immediately with a shout. A tendril of green poison-looking energy extended out of the cloud that is the demon god of greed andshed at him.


    This thin and string-like tendril of energy fell on him in the most harmless manner but he isn''t deceived. He is sure that he will be cut in two if it touches him. All of his clones and avatars will not be spared from the damage either. GREED will be able to reach every one of them.


    Death came for him abruptly. But the tendril was knocked aside by another tendril before it reached him. It is a red fire whip that belongs to the God of wrath.


    The two whips shed in a violent explosion. The explosion produced shockwaves that shook all the thrones and the demon kings sitting on them. The shockwaves also struck the surface of the energy sea below and made it create high-rising waves. This turbulence passed through the energy sea into every ne in the abyss.


    Every demon felt a sudden spike in the concentration of sin energy followed by a sudden drop. They also felt a spike in their emotions mostly anger and greed. This shift in sin concentration and emotions continued over time. They will reduce until the concentration returns to normal. That is if the energy sea is not agitated again.


    "Don''t test me." WRATH roared in unbridled anger.


    "Or what?" GREED asked menacingly.


    A fight is about to break out. The other demon gods that were watching the show had to interfere immediately. A fight will surely happen once WRATH bes angry. So they have to cate him.


    The demon gods all began to argue amongst themselves. Some of them, headed by GREED don''t want to swear to stay away from the demon kings. They have several reasons for their vehemence. It has to do with the restriction of their freedom and demon gods don''t like restraint.


    There are also some benefits involved that swearing that oath will hinder. The others are willing to make the sacrifice of swearing the oath so that they can get a chance at bing world-enders. Swearing the oath will actually make the demon kings be at peace and be more productive which is a good thing for them. But it is not a good thing if they want to get Aeternus.


    Aeternus continued to sit calmly. He appeared to be at ease while he was shaking within. If he had sweat nds, he would be sweating profusely right now. His sweat nds will be gushing out with saltden water to cool his body but it will not be enough. The heat of the abyss will make nothing ever be enough. The presence of angry demon gods that want to murder you after thoroughly turning your existence inside out is just icing on this very very hotva cake.


    "That was close." He said to himself.


    He almost died right now but he didn''t. He knew what he was doing so he knew it was a possibility for him to be attacked and to die. But he did it anyway. He continued to pressure the demon gods despite GREED''s warnings.


    WRATH tried to fool him but he wasn''t fooled. What WRATH said about not having any obligations towards each is a convenient way to sidestep the major issue. In a way, WRATH was saying that everyone is on their own. That wasn''t okay with him so he pushed further. His safety is the major issue so he can''t allow it to be sidestepped.


    WRATH had to answer Aeternus''s questions but that doesn''t mean it had to answer every question. It spoke to great lengths about freedom, absence of tasks, and no obligations in hopes that the demon kings would feel assured that they aren''t swearing to do something that they don''t know about or will be forced to do.


    If the demon kings only need to vote to form the coalition and they have no responsibility to the coalition, then there is little to no problem with swearing. But Aeternus wasn''t assured. He knows his life is in danger. So he can''t be assured. He had to pressure the demon gods to grant them their safety.


    So he ignored the threats of GREED. After all, what''s the worst that can happen? It is that he will be attacked. That is no different from his current situation. He will do anything to avoid it including dragging the other demon kings into it.


    Now, if he isn''t given his safety, no demon king will feel assured to vote for the coalition. They know that if the problem of their safety is so important that a demon god wanted to kill him to shut him up about it, maybe they shouldn''t be so eager to swear the Oath since it won''t change their situation with demon gods and it won''t eliminate the danger that they pose to them.


    The demon gods argued amongst themselves for a long while. Then WRATH asked Aeternus, "Are you saying that you won''t vote if we don''t swear the oath to cease all violence between demon gods and demon kings apart from self-defense?"


    Aeternus shook his head, "I never said that. I will still vote. I just said that it would be best if the demon gods swore not to attack us. It will foster unity amongst the rulers of the abyss and help us be ready for the era of conquest."


    The demon God understood more than what he said. Aeternus will certainly vote. That much is certain. But if the oath is not sworn, then he won''t vote for the coalition to form. After all, there is another option other than "yes" in a vote.


    "Who else is of this opinion?" WRATH asked the other demon kings.


    No one said anything. They maintained their silence but their silence spoke volumes. They are definitely of the same mind as Aeternus but they aren''t going to say so. It is for the same reason that they want the demon gods to swear the oath. They are afraid of the demon gods. So they will vote, but they won''t vote for what the demon gods want.

 Chapter 882 Why So Greedy?

    <h4>Chapter 882 Why So Greedy?</h4>


    The demon gods resumed their silent argument. WRATH asked the others, "How are they to work together with us if they are this afraid of us? Their fears are valid too. We can take advantage of them when the Coalition is created. We should just swear the oath and be done with it. We don''t need to take advantage of them anyway. If the Coalition is created then we will have a sure way to be world enders without the need to eat demon kings."


    The number of votes that Aeternus has alone is enough for his opinion to be taken seriously. Adding the other taciturn demon kings has made it imperative that they swear the oath of non-violence. Most of the demon gods are convinced to sign the oath. But one of them is not.


    "I don''t care. I am not doing it." The demon god of greed refused.


    WRATH almost pooped his lid. "I think I should just kill you right now."


    GREED wasn''t intimidated. "Go ahead and try, blockhead."


    LUST intervened quickly. Things are escting fast. They have already reached the stage of name-calling and insulting. The obvious next step is violence because WRATH hates name-calling the most.


    LUST gave a suggestion. "Calm down everyone. Let us take a vote among ourselves. We will do as the majority agrees."


    But GREED remained obstinate. "I don''t care about what the majority votes for. I won''t swear the oath and that is final."


    "You won''t be a part of the coalition if you don''t swear the oath." WRATH threatened.


    That gave GREED pause. It had to reassess its priority.


    "Just swear the oath and let''s move on," GLUTTONY interjected.


    That helped GREED to make up its mind. It said, "I guess this is goodbye."


    "Are you sure?" LUST asked in a cold tone. "You should think about this clearly. You shouldn''t be rash."


    GREED didn''t reply. It turned and left the first ne of the abyss silently. The cloud that represents GREED began to fly away. It is the green oozing and hissing cloud of energy. One can see various artifacts in the sea of green energy. But the artifacts have been corroded as if treated with something caustic.


    The other demon gods watched it go with various emotions. They are not entirely surprised by GREED''s decision. They know the real reason for its stubbornness.


    "It seems GREED has made up its mind." WRATH said. "That insatiable bastard will be our enemy from now on."


    GREED remained adamant and refused to swear the oath. Its refusal is not solely based on the fact that it won''t be able to get Aeternus. Aeternus is a small matterpared to the benefits that the formation of the coalition will bring. GREED is refusing because it wants to eat its cake and have it too. It is being greedy. It wants to have the benefit of the coalition, getting Aeternus, getting any other demon king, and getting a fourth benefit.


    Every demon God can be stronger by eating demon kings. So stopping them from attacking demon kings is cutting off that path for them. It is a terrible thing to ask GLUTTONY. But GLUTTONY is ready to forgo that opportunity for the significant chance to be a world-ender. Unfortunately, that is not enough for GREED. Nothing is ever enough for greed.


    There is a fourth benefit apart from the benefit of the coalition, Aeternus, and the other demon kings. This fourth benefit is very big. It can only be acquired if the realm of high losses in the era of conquest. The destruction of the realm of high heaven will create enough power to enhance a single demon God and lead to the sublimation of their existence.


    In order words, there is a chance for a demon God to be a world-ender if the realm of high heaven loses the era of conquest. That is what GREED is after. For it to be able to get this benefit, it must attack the realm of high heaven and cause wanton destruction that will undermine the realm tree''s chance of sess.


    Betrayal, sabotage, murder, and everything else is allowed. That''s what demons do after all. The demon God with the highest contribution to the loss of the realm tree gets to be a world-ender. That was one of the alternative ns for the demon gods. The realm lord knew that so he bribed them with another way to be world enders.


    The realm lord offered the demon gods an alternative so that they wouldn''t try to make the realm fail in the era of conquest. Demons can participate in the era of conquest on behalf of the realm tree and they will be rewarded for their efforts based on their contribution. They might not be a world-ender since it will require a lot of effort and contribution but they will certainly get something.


    Destruction is easier than creation. So the demon gods might choose to work against the realm tree and destroy their preparations since it will be easier to do. But they might not get anything from that avenue. Only one demon God can be a world-ender if the realm fails. The rest will get nothing.


    That avenue is open to every demon but it is not sure of any reward as opposed to the realm Lord''s bribe. But the realm lord didn''t stop there. He offered them a deal. This deal is very tempting. All the demons have to do is form a coalition and swear not to betray the realm tree at all.


    That put a stop to GREED''s ambitions. It wanted to work for the realm tree and get some benefits. But it also wanted to sabotage the realm tree too so that it could qualify for the benefit of bing a world-ender if the realm tree loses. It wanted to eat its cake and have it.


    Nothing will ever be enough for GREED after all. So it already had its mind made up to try and undermine the formation of the coalition beforeing here. It would have done something to create Chaos and divide the rulers of the abyss even if Aeternus were not here. Its n would have worked if there were other greedy demon gods. But apparently, it is the only demon god not enticed by the realm lord''s deal. It is the only greedy demon god.


    -------


    A/N: This is the bonus chapter for golden tickets reaching the 150 goal. As for the bonus chapter for 700 power stones, you won''t be getting it because you guys owe me one.

 Chapter 883 Choosing Sides.

    <h4>Chapter 883 Choosing Sides.</h4>


    "Let''s swear the oath and form the coalition. We have chosen our side. We must not lose." WRATH said to the others.


    It might seem foolish for GREED to give up on the coalition since siding with the coalition will give it the assurance of a reward. But it isn''t foolish because it is the only demon God that isn''t part of the coalition. That means if the realm tree loses in the era of conquest, it will be the only demon God in the running to be the world-ender. It will certainly be a world-ender even without doing anything to sabotage the realm tree.


    The others won''t be able topete with it because of the realm Lord''s deal. The realm lord didn''t need to offer them that deal for demons to help the realm. Everyone and anyone is allowed to join in to help the realm and the realm lord will reward them if their contributions reach a certain level.


    The realm lord is rich but he can''t afford to reward everyone for helping. They have to make a significant amount of contribution before they can be rewarded. That means being rewarded is uncertain if you help the realm tree. You have to make a lot of contributions. But the realm lord offered them the deal which will make it certain that they get a reward. In exchange, they can''t act against the realm tree.


    Since every other demon God is epting the deal, only GREED can act against the realm tree and reap the benefits if the realm tree loses. But that''s only if the realm tree loses. If the realm tree wins, then GREED is still not a fool because it can still earn rewards if it makes enough contributions to the realm tree. Talk about eating your cake and having it.


    If by chance the realm tree loses, then the 9 demon gods will get nothing and will be the foolish ones. So in a way, the demon gods have chosen sides. They will act either for victory or defeat of the realm tree. It is all because the realm lord coerced them to choose sides instead of working on both sides.


    Those on the side of victory get certainty of reward but they can also lose everything and get nothing if the realm tree loses. This will ensure that they do their best to make sure the realm tree wins in the era of conquest.


    WRATH said to the demon kings, "We have all decided to swear the oath. All except for GREED. We will not protect you from GREED. But he won''t force you to do anything rted to the coalition either. It will be just like the past. You will all have to find a way to protect yourself. I will go first."


    "I WRATH swear upon my sin that I will not attack or harm a demon king or demon lord that joins the coalition without being provoked or without it being warranted. I might harm a demon king or demon lord but it will not be intentional, malicious, or with the motive to cause harm and it will not be without a valid reason. I swear this upon my sin with the will of the abyss as the witness, judge, and enforcer."


    An oath sworn upon their sin is very powerful and binding. If broken, it will lead to serious damage to their sin. The sin is the foundation of their existence. The smallest damage that they will incur is a fracture. They can''t die but the fracture will be very debilitating. It can be likened to someone breaking every bone in their body and still being alive. The fracture can be healed but it will be very expensive to do so. So it had better be worth it to break the oath.


    That is just when the oath is sworn on its own. The consequences of breaking an Oath be even more debilitating when you add the will of the abyss as the witness, judge, and enforcer. That fracture created if the oath is broken will never heal because the abyss will constantly open it and try to expand it.


    The best situation is for the fracture to remain for as long as the demon God remains a demon. That is most likely forever since there are only two highly unlikely ways for a demon God to stop being a demon. The first is to be a world-ender which is very difficult in a normal situation. It bes nearly impossible to achieve with the fractures.


    The second is to die which is very difficult. Demon gods can be killed, but you will need a very powerful supremew for that to be achieved. But that wouldn''t solve the problem of the fracture. Death is certainly worse thanrge painful cracks in their existence.


    The worst situation in case the oath is broken is for the fracture to eventually kill the demon god. So WRATH was very serious with its oath. It showed its sincerity to work with the demon kings and demon lords.


    The other demon gods took turns swearing the oath. Aeternus watched this calmly. He didn''t let his unhappiness show. GREED didn''t join so he still has one very powerful enemy out there. It is an enemy that he has provoked several times too.


    He also isn''t happy because he has to join this coalition to get any safety from the other demon gods. He doesn''t know exactly what the coalition is about so he is wary of it. He is doubly wary of it because it has something to do with the realm lord. Anything that has something to do with the realm lord is always tricky.


    Unfortunately, WRATH swore to stay away from only those who joined the coalition. It is a threat in and of itself. The oath shows its sincerity but that use shows its deviousness too. Now if Aeternus doesn''t swear loyalty and form the coalition, he will have more than one demon god knocking on his door.

 Chapter 884 Sellouts.

    WRATH spoke after all the 9 demon gods had finished swearing the oath. "Now that the unpleasant part is over. Let''s get down to business. I will put the creation of the Coalition up to vote."


    WRATH sent a tendril of energy into the dark orb at the center of the ring formation. The tendril contains an intent that was delivered to the will of the abyss. The will of the abyss then put the intent up for voting. All the demon kings and demon lords must cast their vote in a period of a minute.


    They can choose to vote for it or against it and no one will know what they voted for. Those who don''t vote at all will be counted as voting against it. That means every dead demon king or imprisoned demon king like a certainfortable throne, is voting against the intent. The intent will be epted when two-thirds of the total influence of the abyss agrees to the intent.


    The intent says, "Let there be unity of the abyss through the formation of a coalition of all those that agree and vote for this coalition to be formed. The coalition will work together with the will of the realm of High Heaven to ensure the victory of the realm of High Heaven in the era of conquest. The members of the coalition cannot act against the interests of the realm of High Heaven as pertaining to the era of conquest."


    "The members of the coalition will be rewarded based on their contributions to the victory of the realm tree. The coalition will have a lowered requirement for contributions and will have ess to every possible reward. The existence of the coalition means that there will be a ce for demons in the realm of high heaven if it wins in the era of conquest. The coalition of demons is..."


    The intent continued on and on. There are a lot of uses and conditions thate together with that single intent. The demon gods didn''te up with these specific uses. They came from the realm lord and were part of the deal he offered them. They also came together as a package deal so they have to agree to all of them. Nothing can be changed about the intent.


    Aeternus read through the intent carefully. He wants to know what exactly he is voting for. It will be disastrous if he somehow signs his soul away. He would rather have the demon gods chase after him than do that.


    Fortunately, he didn''t find anything fishy about the intent. It is mostly ording to what WRATH said. There is no obligation apart from the fact that those who are part of the coalition cannot act against the realm tree concerning the era of conquest. The rest are harmless and are just there to ensure fairness for the demons.


    But Aeternus doesn''t feel like agreeing to them easily because he is not making the decision for only him. He is part of a whole so this agreement might affect every other clone of Legion. It is not that he wants to sabotage the realm of high heaven. But he wants any clone of Legion to be able to if the opportunity arises.


    After all, benefits are the priority, not loyalty to the realm tree. It is certain that some people will try to bribe the forces of the realm of high heaven and he wants Legion to be able to take advantage of the war. In a way, he is very greedy like some other demon god that cannot be named.


    "It is not being greedy. It is just being practical. It is better to have the option to betray the realm of high heaven and not need it than to need or want to betray the realm and not have the option to." Aeternus said to himself. "That''s just being practical."


    The oue of the war doesn''t affect Legion as a whole. They just want to be there so that they can benefit from it. This agreement might ensure that they have to help the realm tree if they want to get any benefit. The alternative is to be like GREED. He can just refuse to vote and walk away.


    Unfortunately, he is not so brave. GREED doesn''t fear the other 9 demon gods because killing it will be very difficult. But Aeternus is very easy to kill right now. Legion should be safe if hemits suicide sessfully. But it will be another thing entirely if he fails to kill himself before a demon god gets him. So he sighed and voted in agreement.


    The abyssal orb at the center of the ring formation began to glow darkly after a minute had passed. It signified that the intent was passed sessfully. Another intent entered the abyss and exited the abyss. It was the will of Mother High Heaven. The coalition has formed and it was agreed that it will work together with the will of the abyss.


    "Look at what we have be." He shook his head and said to himself. "We have lost our honor and prestige. We were supposed to be feared but now we have be hiredckeys of the realm. We sold out. The realm lord doesn''t need to be careful of us anymore. What a letdown. What a shame." Hemented because of the fading honor of demons.


    This is the first time that mother high heaven has entered the abyss. She doesn''t have any right in the abyss and has no control whatsoever over demons. That has changed now. She has be their partner. Worse, she is sort of their boss now.


    Mother High Heaven worked together with the agreement of the will of the abyss to reach out to everyone that voted. Each one of them was then given a brand. It is a brand that Aeternus is very familiar with. It is simr to the marks given to those that attend the trial of heaven. It is also simr to the one that Soverick had for the Unified Skill Indexpetition.

 Chapter 885 Change Of Heart.

    ?


    The brand is very useful. It informs them of specific missions that mother high heaven wants to bepleted. It will also keep track of the efforts of everyone towards thepletion of the missions and report the data to Mother Heaven for the calction of their contributions. They will able to see their contribution points through it without having to ask the realm lord or mother heaven.


    "Let me have a look at what we sold our souls for," Aeternus said as he went through the reward list.


    Then he chuckled to himself. "Maybe it isn''t so bad."


    There is information within the brand about the rewards that they can get and the number of contributions needed to exchange for it. The sight of the good things there startled even Aeternus and he has seen a lot of powerful items.


    Life essence and origin essence are average items on this list. There is Celestial Godhood and the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. There are top-grade artifacts like his ymore and world fragments.


    It is a mind-boggling sight. There are even world sparks, world engines, and world fragments but they are currently unavable. They will be avable once the era of conquest starts. The amount of contribution points needed to acquire them is also veryrge.


    The requirement of contribution for these three items makes it almost impossible to acquire without luck and highly significant effort but the most important thing is that is possible. It may be difficult, but it is now possible through the coalition.


    It is almost impossible to acquire them in a normal situation but the coalition has made the opportunity avable to them. So Aeternus changed his opinion of the coalition when he saw the list. He is allowed to. He is a demon with no integrity.


    He looked at the clouds of energy and thought to himself.


    "No wonder WRATH and the others called for an abyssal conve and no wonder they swore the Oath to stop hunting demon kings. They know what they are doing."


    It will be difficult for a single individual to achieve enough contribution points for the most valuable items but it is possible for demon gods. Demon gods are not a single individual. They are sins. Sins are arbitrary. Theyck definite form and most importantly, sins don''t adhere to rules. Those who sin are rule breakers. Demon gods are sins themselves. They exist to break rules.


    All in all, it is a good sight. It relieved some of the Ill feelings that all the demon kings felt when the will of Mother High Heaven entered the abyss. Demons don''t like outsiders in the abyss. They respect Mother High Heaven because she is powerful but she doesn''t have jurisdiction in the abyss.


    The coalition of the abyss brings a good opportunity for advancement but it also subjects them to the scrutiny of mother high heaven. She will be able to know whatever they do now and if she catches any of them betraying the realm tree, they will be done for.


    It is an unpleasant feeling for them. Again, it is not that they intend to betray the realm of high heaven right from the start. But they just want and like the freedom to be able to betray the realm tree. It is called freedom. They are demons, not some docile race.


    Aeternus shrugged. "It is bound to happen anyway. The era of conquest ising."


    The era of conquest will change a lot of things. No matter how it ends, the abyss will be no more so this is a worthy trade for the abyss. The deal doesn''t only impact demon lords, demon kings, and demon gods. It also affects the whole abyss. If the realm tree wins the era of conquest, the entire abyss won''t disappear anymore.


    The firstyer of the abyss will be kept and the other nes of demon kings. They will be under the supervision of Mother high heaven then so this situation is just expediting the inevitable. It is either that or they lose the abysspletely. As they say, half-bread is better than none. Even if the bread is bitter, you will eat it because you are starving and have no other choice. Demons are without any other option.


    WRATH began to address them, "That went well. I am sure that those of you that have joined the coalition know the full details of the deal that the realm lord offered us. As you can see, it is as I said. You can choose to not participate and watch as the others take in contribution points and benefits. You can be sure that you won''t be cheated by the realm lord since this is enforced by both the will of the abyss and mother high heaven."


    The God of wrath spoke with a smug tone. It is obvious that it is very pleased with itself. It is smug because the demon kings were reluctant at first but they must have all had a change of attitude after seeing the benefits that the realm lord is offering them. As for WRATH, it is after the world spark.


    The world engine is too expensive and it won''t lead to evolution. There will be two World Sparks avable if the realm tree wins. The realm lord will also be able to acquire more. World Sparks are mostly useless to other beings but it is a boon to demon gods. So the realm lord is buying their power cheaply.


    Then it bid them farewell. "It was nice doing business with you. You''re free to go now. As for those that didn''t join the coalition, I wille to pay you a visit very soon."


    WRATH sent out a weak wave after speaking. The wave struck everyone. The wave passed through those that didn''t join the coalition. But the members of the coalition rebuffed the wave. They are protected by the Oath of non-violence from the demon gods so the wave avoided them. This privilege is for only those who joined the coalition. WRATH used this method to sift them and mark its targets of retribution.

 Chapter 886 Carnage Vs Wrath.

    <h4>Chapter 886 Carnage Vs Wrath.</h4>


    It said to them gleefully, "One shouldn''tmit the grave sin of making WRATH angry. You will find out why pretty soon. When I am done with you, you will wish for death but death won''te because it is afraid of me."


    Excitement radiated out of WRATH in waves, meanwhile, fear and dread coursed through the ones who didn''t vote in agreement or didn''t vote at all. They began to plead.


    "Please, your Excellency. Give us another chance."


    "We will join now."


    "Please forgive us. We were foolish."


    "Please let us join."


    None of them begged for their life. They were stupid not to vote in support of the Coalition earlier so they didn''t bother to beg for their lives. They made a foolish decision earlier but they are not that stupid as to believe that WRATH will spare them if they don''t join the coalition.


    There''s no way WRATH will let them go after insulting it like that. It called them to a meeting. It promised safety. It shed with other demon gods and upheld that safety. It listened to their whining andints. It even made the other demon gods swear not to attack them. And yet, they didn''t vote.


    They are so done for. Begging for their lives will be an insult to the demon god. It will aggravate the demon god if they beg because it means they think it is merciful. The only way for them to be safe from him is if they are part of the coalition. So they are begging to join the coalition.


    "Fools," CARNAGE shouted at them. "The coalition is already formed. You can join anytime. Why are you begging WRATH?"


    The demon kings and demon lords were at first stunned when they heard what the demon god said. Then they swiftly essed the abyssal orb with their divine sense and rushed to swear the oath of loyalty needed to join the Coalition. It turned out that CARNAGE was right. They don''t need to beg now that the Coalition has formed. Any demon lord and demon king can join freely.


    WRATH turned its attention onto the one that spoiled its fun. It had all these fools at the palm of its non-existent hands and it could y with them in any way it wished. It wasn''t going to kill them. It wanted them to leave the meeting first so that its first oath would stop being in effect. Then it will be able to act against them. It will heavily extort them before allowing them to join the Coalition. It needs a lot of resources to prepare for the era of conquest. But it can''t do all of that now.


    "Why did you do that?" It asked with a cool tone.


    CARNAGE answered smugly, "I just wanted to mess with you that''s all. It was harmless fun. There''s no ill intent here."


    That''s a lie. It had ill intent. It didn''t want WRATH to have its way and get more resources. It also didn''t want any demon god to take advantage of them and get more powerful. Any demon god can extort them but the resources will be too small if they all do it. That small amount of resources is not good enough for it so it made sure that none of them will get anything at all. If it can''t have arge portion of it, then no one will get anything. That''s Carnage for you.


    WRATH obviously doesn''t believe CARNAGE. But it doesn''t need a reason to not believe right now. It is already very angry. All the anger from the insult of the demon lords and demon kings plus the unvented anger from GREED became focused on CARNAGE. But it didn''t attack. It knows it will be a waste of time. So it will target something precious and vulnerable that belongs to CARNAGE.


    WRATH asked menacingly, "Weren''t you trying to take over another ne? How is it going?"


    CARNAGE answered with a rxed tone. "It is going well. I have almost gotten total control of the ne."


    WRATH threatened, "Is that so? It will surely be a shame if someone were to interfere and ruin all your work."


    "That''s impossible. The only trouble I have is one stubborn Warrog and one other prideful shit of a creature. They are resisting and spoiling my work. But their resistance is futile. They will be ended soon and I''ll get control of the ne."


    "Maybe I can help you. Why don''t you tell me the nar coordinates? I can help you destroy all obstacles. I am very good at that." WRATH suggested with very clear ill intent.


    CARNAGE snorted and said, "Dream on."


    WRATH leered, "I won''t need your permission if I find that ne myself."


    "Then you better start looking." CARNAGE shot back.


    Then it flew away leaving the fuming demon God of wrath behind.


    WRATH yelled at it, "I will find it. Do you hear me? I will find it and I will mess around with it. It will be harmless fun and I won''t have any ill intent."


    Carnage didn''t forget to give it some encouragement. The snarky and self satisfied demon god shouted back at WRATH, "You are wee to give it your best shot."


    Silence returned to the abyss. But WRATH is definitely fuming. Everyone can see it. Its cloud is boiling and erupting withva and fire. Red lightning is shing through the cloud of fire. Thunder is booming and creating shockwaves that are creating massive waves in the cloud. So it is very clear that WRATH is very agitated.


    It is very angry but it doesn''t have an outlet for its anger. It roared in frustration. Waves of spiritual pressure smashed into everything around it. Then it red at the demon kings and demon lords. It is as if it is going to attack them. But it didn''t. It can''t do anything to them so it flew away too.


    The other demon gods dispersed too except SLOTH. The clear white fluffy cloud that looks like a colossal sheep remained still without movement. The only sound that can be heard from it is the intermittent swishing of energy in it that sounds like snoring. It is probably asleep.

 Chapter 887 A Bad Situation.

    <h4>Chapter 887 A Bad Situation.</h4>


    Aeternus decided to leave too. There''s no use staying here anymore.


    "I am d that I came." He said to himself as he entered the purple energy sea.


    This meeting was eventful and very useful. He learned a lot of things. He knows now that he has not been suspected yet of being a king of kings. The demon gods would have never allowed him to join the coalition if they suspected him. In fact, they wouldn''t let him talk at all. They would have grabbed him and inspected him down to his soul. Then they would have eaten him.


    "I have also found a worthy foe. I wonder how it will feel to tear the crown of a king of kings out of their soul and absorb it?"


    He also learned that he might not be the only demon king of kings. He noticed some odd demon kings who came with their main bodies and also possessed a heavy presence. It can be easily mistaken for them being very strong. But he knows better than that.


    They came in their main body. So it is either that they are just strong and ignorant, or they are like him and don''t thinking in main body or avatar makes a difference in terms of safety from a demon god, or they are really like him and their main body is just an Avatar created from the crown of a dead demon king.


    They are also very strong. Some of the demon kings of kings that he noticed are one of the two that have more influence than him. Odds are their strength and influence is as a result of possessing numerous crowns.


    The existence of other demon kings doesn''t make him angry. In fact, he feels the opposite. He is happy that there are other demon kings. It is mostly because three of them are level 10 demon kings which is strong enough to give him a challenge. He can "challenge" these demon kings or have a "spirited session of sparing" with them since there is nothing that says members of the coalition can''t fight each other.


    There''s also no reprimand in case the "challenge" goes out of hand. It is a good thing because he definitely wants the "challenge" to go out of hand. He wants to see how strong he will be by absorbing the crown of another king of kings like him. It should be better than the crown of a normal demon king.


    He turned his thoughts toward other clones of Legion. It is because of something CARNAGE said.


    "I do hope Legion-6 is doing well. He has a lot to contend with. The ancestor of all vampires in the realm of high heaven is after him."


    Legion-6 is a Warrog. He is on the ne that CARNAGE is trying to subjugate. Aeternus is up against GREED while Legion-6 is up against the ancestor of vampires. The powers of GREED are unknown but the prowess of the ancestor of vampires is well known. CARNAGE is a cmity to whichever ne it puts its attention on. Those nes always fall. It is just a matter of time.


    Then he shook his head and said, "It won''t do me any good to worry about Legion-6. I have myself to take care of."


    He noticed several demon kings watching him as he flew down into the energy sea. They don''t look like they want to offer him wealth. They are looking at him as if he is wealth that they want to take a piece of.


    His situation is not looking good. He is not a secluded figure anymore. There are a lot of eyes on him. He has gotten the attention of several demon gods and demon kings. It is not good news at all. The least of his problems is that he won''t be able to get away with the things he used to do. His every move and action will be scrutinized.


    But that is the least of his problems. He has gotten most of the demon gods off of his back but he has painted a nice target on his back. There are a lot of demon kings that want to hit that target. Some of them are following him now to know where his ne is.


    Some of them are doing so for personal reasons while others are doing the bidding of demon gods. Demon gods sent them to test, track, or apprehend him. The demon gods swore not to use violence against them, but that doesn''t mean they can''t act against him indirectly. They have demon kings that do their bidding which they can use against him.


    All of these problems palepared to GREED. He can take on other demon kings and he would very much like to do so. It is after all what he wants. For clueless demon kings to enter his ne only to be consumed and added to his crown. But he can''t do that now.


    The existence of GREED will not let him rx. It will be okay if GREED underestimates him and sends a weak clone. It will be game over if the demon Godes with a full-powered clone. Either way, GREED will be aware that he is a king of kings once it enters his ne. So he can not risk it all.


    In summary, he is not safe at all. He is screwed badly. That is why his main body is currently very busy preparing to run away and sequester himself. Aeternus is calling all of his direct subordinates right now. They are all returning to his ne. Meanwhile, this avatar is wandering around to fool the demon kings that are watching him.


    He even spotted the avatar of a demon lord tracking him. A demon lord should be afraid of a demon king in a normal situation. But that fear is superseded by the fear of a demon God. His situation has gotten so bad that weak demon lords that he can tten with a p are sniffing around for weakness.

 Chapter 888 Desperate Situations Call For Desperate Actions.

    <h4>Chapter 888 Desperate Situations Call For Desperate Actions.</h4>


    Aeternus muttered expressionlessly, "When it rains, it pours. It is raining mangy cats and rabid dogs now."


    He can onlyin, he can''t do anything to the demon lords. He can destroy the avatar but that wouldn''t change his situation. So he will wander about. That will distract his watchers enough for his main body to finish its preparations to run away.


    --------


    Aeternus looked at his ne with a slight twinge of sorrow. What he will be doing next will hurt him but he has to do it or risk his life. It is not in the nature of Legion to take risks to their life when they are clearly outmatched. They will run if it means getting to live and being able to fight another day.


    Legion doesn''t rely on luck. They anticipate oues, n for them, and act before the threat arrives at their doorstep. Reacting to danger is not the way for someone who wants to achieve greatness. They have to be proactive and prepare for the worst oue beforehand even if they have to do something that will hurt them. It is all for a greater purpose.


    His subordinates stood quietly before him on the ck tower. They came as soon as he called them. They are all taller than him but he feels several orders of magnitude taller than them because he is sitting on another demon king. His throne is enough to kill them so they don''t have any confidence in their height. They are not even worthy for him to sit on. He will literally crush them with his butt.


    He waited until all of them arrived before he spoke to them.


    He said to them. "We will be going into hiding for a while."


    His deration surprised them. They felt shaken to their core. Hiding means trying to evade or escape from danger that cannot be fought off. So things have to be very serious if someone like Aeternus is hiding.


    Aeternus chuckled despite the frozen atmosphere.


    "It is not the first time I did something like this and it will probably not be thest time either. Some of you know the story of my early days. I tried to run when the entire group of high-rank demons in a ne targeted me. I hid myself away for two hundred years when a demon lord turned the entire ne against me. Now I am hiding again."


    "It should note as a surprise. After all, I am not the strongest entity in the void universe. I am not even the strongest demon in this abyss."


    He said it so casually like hiding is a normal thing but his subordinates still didn''t rx.


    He moved on. "I am sure you have some questions but I can only tell you that it is above your station. All you need to know is that it is because of the era of conquest. The era of conquest isn''t even here yet but it is already creating a lot of changes. Some are being swept away while others are rising higher."


    "I don''t want to be swept away so we will hide now to preserve the bulk of our strength for when the era of conquest finally arrives or when I am able to face the threats that are forcing me into hiding. Until then, we hide."


    "The good news is that we are only hiding from the abyss. I am strong enough to ess other nes so we won''t be bored or remain stagnant. We will still have enemies to fight. We just won''t be able to use all of our resources anymore."


    "That is all. You can pick anywhere on the ne to stay. We are going to be here for a long while so you should make yourselffortable while I set things up."


    His subordinates bowed wordlessly and left. He sighed again after they left. What he is about to do is a desperate act for a demon king with a ne. Having a ne is good. It gives one a strong base which enhances their strength. It is also a weakness because the ne is stationary. It means he can be found. If he wants to hide his ne, then he will have to detach it from the abyss.


    It is an absurd action to detach a ne from the abyss. It is something that only desperate demon kings will do. It is on the level of what Stelios did when his consciousness was fractured. Detaching a ne will weaken him further so it is clearly not the correct solution to a threat.


    The weakening will continue until the ne itself is destroyed. So this desperate act is not a permanent solution either. It is only to starve off death for a while in hopes that something good will happen in the meantime. Something good has to happen or detaching the ne will certainly kill him.


    He has not been pushed to this point yet but he will do it now before enemies arrive at his doorstep. It will probably be toote for him then.


    "I''ll be back." He promised himself and the abyss. "And when I return, the abyss itself will quake in my presence. Nothing will stand in my way."


    Then he gave amand to the core of the ne. The ne shook immediately. It rumbled as a terribly loud roar went through the ne. The roar is the sound of the ne tearing itself away from the abyss. The waterfall of sin energy from the energy sea began to thin down. The energy pir shrunk until it disappearedpletely. The shiny core at the center of the ne began to flicker. Its light dimmed. It will continue to dim until it dies out.


    Detaching the ne from the abyss is very bad. The tributary of the energy sea gets cut off so the supply of sin energy stops. The ne will start to be destitute and the demons within it will suffer. It is just like what will happen to the whole demon race if the abyss happens to die off.

 Chapter 889 Fugitive Demon King.

    <h4>Chapter 889 Fugitive Demon King.</h4>


    All the demons till the high-rank level need sin energy. A low concentration of sin energy will prevent them from growing. The absence of sin energy will cause them to start to die. The sin energy in their body will escape forcefully into the surroundings and they will weaken. They can prolong their lives by eating each other but they are doomed unless sin energy is made avable again.


    The detachment of the ne will also cause it to be disconnected from the demon sire so there won''t be production of new demon fledglings. Demon nobles and the demon dukes will be alright in the absence of sin energy.


    But the ne needs the energy. It won''t be able to run without a constant supply of energy. A prolongedck of energy will cause it to start to break down. Any demon king that detaches his or her ne will need to reconnect it soon or risk losing the entire ne and bing a ne-less demon king.


    These things haven''t happened yet but he can see the beginnings of them. They will surely happen if nothing changes about his situation. Fortunately, Aeternus doesn''t need to do that. He has always had an infinite supply of energy so he is not helpless in that aspect.


    He chuckled deprecatively, "I am a fugitive demon king. I haven''t fallen so low as to be a ne-less demon king."


    He switched the supply of energy from the energy sea to his own soul. Infinite chaos energy flowed directly to the core of the ne. The shiny core was flickering earlier. It shut down now that this new energy entered it. The light it was giving off died downpletely and the ne was plunged into darkness.


    The core didn''t die. It just wasn''t designed to be used with chaos energy. It can use it to sustain itself without burning up because it is connected to Aeternus''s soul. But that''s all it can do with chaos energy. It can''t produce light at all.


    Aeternus shrugged and said, "It''s alright. Demons don''t need light anyway."


    The ne will survive and that''s all that matters. Every demon can see in the dark. High-rank demons and above don''t even need eyes anymore once they get their divine sense. The only advantage of eyes is that it has a farther range.


    He can make his chaos energy flood the ne to rece sin energy but it will be counterproductive. Only his direct subordinates with his chaos spark within them can use his chaos energy. The rest will be destroyed.


    So either way, he will lose most of the demons in his ne apart from his direct subordinates. They will die because of theck of sin energy. He is already losing ess to the other nes that his subordinates are the demon lords of. His subordinates left those nes for their safety. The loss of those nes and the demons in his ne means that he will lose his entire army. It can''t be helped. It is the price for safety.


    He sat on his throne as he oversaw all the changes to the ne. His eyes shone brightly like two golden stars. He inspected both the internal situation of the ne and its exterior. He rxed when he didn''t notice anything out of ce.


    His ne detached from the abyss with arge disturbance. There was no one there to see it. His avatar is doing a good job of distracting his enemies so they are distracted.


    "I will probably lose that avatar at the end of the day."


    That is what he thought as he became a runaway demon king. His ne began to wander around the energy sea. It sank further below into its depths where it won''t be found. No demon God will be able to find him easily now. He made sure everything is in order before he closed his eyes. The two golden stars of his eyes shut down as the 1696th ne of the abyss became a wandering ne.


    ---------


    Somewhere Far Far Away.


    Somewhere deep and far below the energy sea of the abyss is a veryrge ocean. It is where all the energy seas of every abyss in the void universee from. The water of thisrge ocean is purple like that of the energy sea but it is very thick. It is thick and highly viscous like blood or tar.


    This water travels from the ocean and rises in what can be considered an upward direction into the abyss. This direction applies to entities that can only see the world in 3 dimensions. To those who can see in more dimensions, the water of this ocean copses into the abyss from the direction of lower space-time. It doesn''t rise into the abyss.


    If you want to trace the source of the bloodlike liquid that formed the ocean, you will need to delve further below this ocean. Of course, any being that can do something like that needs to be a world ender at least. Only such a being can withstand the pressure of the ocean depths and the pervasive nature of this bloodlike liquid without being corrupted. A world god cannote close to these depths or riskplete death.


    But even a world-ender will have to cut the trip short. This is because the bloodlike liquid changes the further below you go. Its purple color darkens. It bes violet. Then it bes ck. It is a deep ck that looks very simr to the energy that Aeternus uses.


    The bloodlike liquid has be almost solid by now. The pressure it is emitting will crush any being. A world-ender will feel like an ant encased in a diamond. The solid ck energy has also be so corrosive that it will corrode anything and anyone with just a memory of it. Anyone who so much as thinks about it or sees an image of it will be corroded both in body and mind.

 Chapter 890 What Sits Down Below The Abyss.

    <h4>Chapter 890 What Sits Down Below The Abyss.</h4>


    ?


    It is unlikely that any being in the void universe can reach these depths. Even the Apex entities of the void universe will not be able to go further. But anyone who manages to survive and push forward will find that there is nothing at the base of this ocean apart from a barrier and a pir.


    It is not a disappointing sight at all even though it is questionable if any being in the void universe can see or hear anything here. Their senses will surely be still functional if they can survive this depth. But their surroundings will be too chaotic to make sense of. There is nothing to perceive that can be understood except the pir.


    The pir stands out in this world of incoherent nonsense. It seems to pierce the barrier at the bottom of the ocean. The pir is farrger and taller than 10 realm trees stacked on top of each other. But its size is the least awesome thing about the pir. There are golden, red, and blue runes written all over this pir. The runes shimmer and gleam dangerously.


    The pir is not smooth. It is rough as if made of rocks or bricks stacked together. The ck solid matter that is the bottom of the ocean gushes out from the seams in the pir. This highly corrosive matter is also wearing away at the pir.


    So the pir is weakening steadily but it will take at least an eon for significant damage to be done to the pir. That means the void universe will end before the pir is damaged by the ck matter that can destroy everything and everyone within the void universe.


    The pir is good and all but we are not here just to see a pir at the bottom/center of the void universe. We are here because Aeternus triggered something when he detached his ne from the abyss. Actually, Aeternus has been sending triggers down to this pir every time hees in contact with the energy sea of his abyss.


    Each time he exits and enters the energy sea, his chaos energy reacts with the energy sea in an imperceptible manner. It is a tiny and undetectable reaction but it is by no means inconsequential. These triggers travel down from the energy sea of his abyss to this ocean and down to this pir where it is transmitted to a certain location.


    Now where is this location that it is being transmitted to? It would have been irrelevant if Aeternus had not detached his ne from the abyss. Detaching his ne created a massive reaction in the energy sea and the abyss. A roar was created as his ne was sundered from the tributary of the energy sea attached to it. It was a massive and highly significant trigger that was sent down to this pir and to the location.


    Now this location is difficult to exin. The physics is strange because time and space are warped in this location. Time and space might not even exist there. But one thing is certain, this location is outside the void universe.


    -------


    In a location outside the void universe is dark gloom. It is a darkness and it is nothingness. There is nothing because nothing can exist. All is ANNIHILATED. Nothing should exist in the presence of ANNIHILATION. Anything in the presence of ANNIHILATION will eventually be nothingness. It is just a matter of time. ANNIHILATION above all else is absolute here. But there is a being here.


    This being is darkness itself. It is not distinguishable from the nothingness of its surroundings. It is impossible to tell where this being ends and where the nothingness begins. All is nothingness and darkness.


    If not for the chains binding this being then you wouldn''t know that anything exists here. Even so, it looks like the chains are binding emptiness.


    This being is bound with chains. The chains are numerous. They are white in stark contrast to the entity and bind the entity into a tight ball. These chains are stuck onto the entity with several spikes. The entire setup looks like a ck ball bounded by glowing white chains in a ck room. All you will see are the chains and the special spikes that keep the chains on the ball.


    These spikes are a sight to see. They have golden, red, and blue runes written on them. These runes shimmer and gleam dangerously. The spikes themselves are not smooth. There are seams and crevices on their surface. It is as if they were created by stacking rocks.


    There is also something peculiar about these spikes. There are small circr objects at the base of the spikes. These small circr objects are flexible materials. Each one of them has many colors. But all of them have one spike going through them.


    The spikes pass through the small circr objects which then press on the chains. It is as if the circr objects are used to keep the chains from moving and rattling.


    But that isn''t the only purpose of the circr objects. The spikes shimmer. They siphon the blood of this entity each time they shimmer. This is done to weaken this being and prevent it from recovering. The blood is then deposited into these circr objects.


    It will not be odd if these circr objects are farrger within than what they look like from the outside. How else are they able to store therge amount of blood siphoned from this entity? After all, it would be an understatement to say that this entity isrger than a universe.


    This being is a veryrge entity but it is bound up pretty tightly by what appears to be a muchrger apparatus. One might say it is imprisoned. It is almost impossible to say how long this being has been imprisoned for. It is also very difficult to say how long this imprisonment willst. Time doesn''t work in a linear manner here and space is not 3-dimensional. But one thing is sure, this being will escape one day.

 Chapter 891 ANNIHILATION Has Decreed It.

    <h4>Chapter 891 ANNIHILATION Has Decreed It.</h4>


    Nothingsts forever. These chains and their impable sealing apparatus will be worn down one day and break. Then this entity will be free. ANNIHILATION has decreed it. So it will be so. It must be so. Nothing will stop it from happening. It is just a matter of time.


    Even now, some of the multicolored circr objects used to keep the chain from rattling and getting loose have worn out. Some caved in and some burst out in a tiny explosion. Their absence is felt because the spike they are attached to has be loose. Nothing is tightening the spike to the chains so the chain can rattle and it can be pulled off. There are even some spikes that have erodedpletely and have fallen off.


    Each of these faultspromises the sealing array and will lead to the eventual freedom of this being. That isn''t possible right now. There are so many spikes and their circr objects are still intact. It will take a lot more circr objects to give out before the entity can be free. The structural integrity of the entire sealing array is still high because the focal point is still intact.


    The focal point is a veryrge spike that runs through the entire length of this being. Unlike the other spikes that dig into its flesh alone, this particr spike is longer and directly prates the being from top to bottom. So the bound-up spherical form of the entity has a spike going through it. This spike also has a circr object. It has two in fact. There''s one at the top and another one below.


    These two circr objects arerger than their counterparts and they are also capable of regenerating. They have been eroded and destroyed several times but they always return. They also twist in the opposite direction and tighten the ckened chains caused by the absence of the other circr structures. Their presence maintains the focal point and the structural integrity of the entire sealing array.


    For now, this entity will continue to suffer in silence. That was until this entity began to receive some triggers. They started a little at a time. They were weak. But they grew stronger over time. It was like an itch this entity couldn''t scratch. It was a constant irritation. This entity didn''t feel it though. Its entire existence has been sealed so it can''t sense anything. Its consciousness has been forcefully coerced to shut down.


    So it is sleeping. But these triggers are adamant. They are like calling someone''s name as they sleep. This entity''s name was being called each time the triggers came. The triggers are the call of CHAOS and they areing from one of therge circr objects that serves as the focal point of the sealing array.


    The seals are good for a good while so these little triggers would have gone without a reaction. But then a massive trigger came. The trigger is sorge that it went through the entire spike into the flesh of this being. This is also thergest spike and it goes through the whole entity. So the trigger was transmitted throughout the entire existence of this being. It woke up this being immediately.


    Its eyes opened. They opened to reveal nothing. It has many eyes but not one of them can be seen just as its many limbs can''t be seen. But if the eyes could be seen, and if this being could feel emotions, and if this being could disy its emotion in its eyes, one would see confusion in its eyes. It is because this being is very confused about what woke it up.


    But that doesn''t matter now. What matters is that it is awake. A chain reaction started because of its awareness. Awareness returned and with it came knowledge. And with knowledge came hatred. Hatred begat the need for retribution. The WILL of ANNIHILATION empowered that need for retribution and pushed the timeline for NOTHINGNESS forward. This further led to many changes in the sealing array.


    It is finally awake. And because it is awake, the corrosive nature of the ck matter increased subtly. It is just a slight increase. The sealing array is very strong after all. So it won''t cave in simply because its prisoner is awake. But this slight increase has also increased the erosion rate of the spikes.


    The ck corrosive matter also gained direction in what it should corrode. It stopped corroding therge circr objects that can regenerate and focused on the other ones that can''t regenerate. It is just a matter of time for this entity to be free. But that timeline has been moved forward. ANNIHILATION has decreed it and it shall be so.


    -----------


    The Lumen ne.


    The era of conquest ising. It has led to a lot of changes. Violence and conflict have increased all over the realm of high heaven. Everyone is vying for power and control. So everyone is warring against each other. This led to a lot of destruction in the realm.


    Mother high heaven and the realm lord watched it all happen without interfering. It might seem counterproductive that a realm preparing for war is having so much infighting. It ismon sense that unity should be fostered instead of conflicts.


    One might wonder why nothing is done to stop the loss of lives and property. But Mother High Heaven didn''t interfere because the true fighting power of a realm is not themon man or the people living within the realm tree. The true fighting power of a realm is its Origin gods. The realm tree that has produced the most Origin gods has the advantage of fighting power. The realm that can field the highest amount of immortal soldiers wins in the era of conquest.


    Ironically, those who don''t need the realm tree to survive are its true fighting power. Origin gods live outside the realm. The only negative impact of losing their realm tree will be the increase in the difficulty of bing world gods.

 Chapter 892 The Red Eclipse.

    <h4>Chapter 892 The Red Eclipse.</h4>


    But it is understandable that the realm tree will rely on the immortals since the major aim of the realm trees is to create strong and powerful origin gods. The trial of heaven is done to ensure that.


    While the era of conquest is bringing mass culling of the poption of the realm tree, such a thing isn''t new. It has been happening for quite a while. The will of the realm culls the weaklings of its poption every origin cycle through the trial of heaven and produces immortal soldiers with the resources avable.


    Of everyone who attends the trial of heaven, only 20% of them survive. The remaining 80% all die and hundreds of origin gods are produced each origin cycle. So people have always been dying. The rule of survival of the fittest has always been upheld. The era of conquest has only ramped things up. The increase in deaths doesn''t affect origin gods much so it is allowed to happen.


    Mother High Heaven has to choose who to prioritize and side with between Origin gods and the inhabitants of the ne. She has to choose very carefully considering that the entire fate of the realm hangs in a bnce. So she chose to prioritize the benefits of the original gods. After all, you can''t go wrong when you bet on immortality. If origin gods fail or are defeated, they can always try again as long as they have resources.


    This decision allowed origin gods to rampage throughout the realm in search of a ne to control and in the umtion of resources. Mother high heaven won''t interfere unless Origin gods are destroying a ne. Anything else goes. The conflicts have turned nes upside down politically and metaphorically.


    The Lumen ne is one of the nes that has been turned upside down. Except this is not because of the era of conquest. The problems of this ne had started long before the era of conquest was announced to be imminent.


    The fight for control of the ne has now be a matter of significance due to the era of conquest but it didn''t use to be so. It was just about a demon God who liked to cause destruction and mayhem. The problems of this ne started because this demon God loves Carnage.


    The Lumen ne is a very fine ne. It is the opposite of the Zargoth ne in that it is highly fertile and it used to have a lot of vegetation. The entire ne used to be covered by trees and forests because the ne was under the control of some tree people. That has changed though. The ne is still under the control of the tree people but the trees are dying or are dead.


    The tree people have been in control of the ne since time immemorial. Their control has been challenged across the history of the ne but they have remained unshaken as the overlord of the ne. The tree people are talented with nature magic but they were also blessed to be in the possession of the fountain of life.


    They have talent, power, and cause to dominate the ne but they never did. They policed the ne and tried to keep everyone happy. They didn''t be ruthless overlords who exploited everyone on the ne for their own benefit. This is because the tree people are a kind race.


    They do not like war and strife. They try to settle conflicts amicably. They didn''t eliminate the Warrogs for continuing to disrupt the peace of the ne. The Warrogs are a race of war and conquest. They like to battle and are the ones responsible for the uprisings, rebellions, and world wars that have urred over the history of the ne.


    By all ounts, they should be put down and eliminated. But the tree people will just beat them down, kill their paragons, scatter theirmunity, and keep their poption down. The tree people believe themselves to be shepherds and guardians of the ne. They will prune and trim, and they will redirect or transnt wayward nts, but they will never destroypletely or eliminate them.


    The Lumen ne is very lucky to have such overlords. Everyone lived in peace and prosperity. The ne grew stronger and stronger. They produced Origin gods and world gods. It was all going well. The trees grew nice and tall. Then everything changed one day when the sun in the sky became obscured by a blood moon.


    It happened on an unassuming day. It was in the afternoon. The sun was high and bright in the sky. It was a little windy that day but there were no clouds in the sky. But the day suddenly began to dim. It was as if something was blocking the sunlight.


    People looked up and saw that a dark circr object was covering the sun like an eclipse. The inhabitants of the ne were startled. But that''s all they felt. Such an urrence is not a rare thing considering the power that can be achieved through the path of perfection. They thought a powerful person was using a spell that happened to block the sun.


    There was nothing to worry about. They were wrong about that. Their mere vignce turned into apprehension and fear when the sun didn''te out again for the rest of that day. Night fell to reveal the object that blocked the sun. This object is a red circr celestial body like a moon. The Lumen ne has never had any moon. So this moon is new and strange, to say the least.


    Then the day came but the sun remained blocked. They hoped that this blockage would be removed by the time the sun came up but the light of the sun remained blocked and the day remained dark. This didn''t change the following day. Or the following year. Or the following Origin cycle. The sun has not shown its splendor since the day of the red eclipse.


    -------


    A/N:


    Can you guess which clone we are going to see next?

 Chapter 893 The Favorite Race Of CARNAGE.

    <h4>Chapter 893 The Favorite Race Of CARNAGE.</h4>


    The Lumen ne has been plunged into darkness ever since. nts need light. They need a lot of light to grow. The darkness impacted them the most and they started to die. But that''s the least of the problems that the attention of a demon God brought to the ne.


    The temperature of the ne began to fall in the absence of the light of the sun. Snow fell and the ne was plunged into darkness. A lot of living things died because of these changes. The cold and scarcity of food are the main causes of death. But life will survive. Life will always survive when there is ample Mana.


    If given time, nts that don''t need light and can survive the cold conditions will evolve and spread throughout the ne. The absence of light will cause an eleration in nts for survival in darkness. This happened in the Lumen ne. Coniferous nts capable of withstanding the cold reced the lush forest. It happened quickly too because of the guidance and encouragement of the tree people.


    Unfortunately for the Lumen ne, its problem has only just started. A demon God doesn''te and block the light into a ne just for the kick of it. Freezing conditions and famine are not exactly entertaining to watch. Demon gods are not that bored. The next cmity came swiftly when the Lumen ne got infected by a gue meant to remove all of life. This is all because CARNAGE targeted the Lumen ne.


    The major reason why CARNAGE targeted this ne is that it has elves living within it. Some people call the tree people elves. There are several types of elves. There are sun elves, moon elves, high elves, normal elves, and tree elves. The tree people are tree elves. They were originally tree spirits but were blessed by the fountain of life and became the tree people.


    CARNAGE doesn''t target elves because he hates them and wants to vanquish them throughout the realm tree. In fact, of all the races in high heaven, elves are its favorite race. It is all because it can create its descendants from elves.


    Demon gods are invasive organisms. They are a conglomeration of viruses with a single aim which is the subjugation of everything. They live to bring all of existence under the banner of their sin. They do this either by infecting everything or propagating their sin.


    Demon gods don''t do all these because they have to. They do them to grow stronger. Propagating their sin increases their energy capacity and will allow more energy and matter to bind to them. It can be likened to a vessel. Pouring water into a vessel with an empty space will lead to the vessel withholding the water. But water will just spill off if you pour water into a full vessel.


    So demon gods need to increase their capacity so that they will grow stronger if they absorb something full of energy like a demon king. The energy of the demon king won''t go to waste. It won''t spill off. It will be a shame to eat a demon king for nothing. Only GLUTTONY can eat without limits. The other demon gods need to propagate their sin.


    One way to propagate sin is to create a race that spreads that sin. CARNAGE has tried to modify other races but the percentage of survival is very low. It is like Aeternus and his chaos spark. His subordinates have a change in race when they fuse and evolve with his Chaos spark but the chances of surviving the procedure are very low.


    Aeternus had to modify his chaos spark for it to have a hundred percent evolution sess. He cut back on some of the properties of his chaos spark to achieve that.


    What Aeternus did was impressive. He managed to change his mark of sin as a high-rank demon. But he has not been able to have any sess ever since he became a demon king. It should be noted that his subordinates became a source of Chaos umtion to him and they empowered him. So creating a race is a very good way to grow stronger as a demon.


    Creating a race is a very rare and special ability. Demon kings are rarely capable of doing it. But it is something that all demon gods can do. CARNAGE has fusedpletely with its mark of sin so it too is capable of creating sin abilities and creating races that will gain divine abilities rted to it. It has tried several races but they haven''t been as sessful as the elf race.


    Elves of all kinds are very amodating of the sin of Carnage. It could be because they are malleable or because their nature is the direct opposite to Carnage. Opposite attracts sometimes and sin likes to bring opposition to heel so that might exin why elves are highlypatible with Carnage. The demon god of wrath ispatible with ogres and orcs. They create rage beasts that WRATH is known to be the ancestor of.


    CARNAGE targeted the Lumen ne to grow stronger. The ne has a divine ne so it can''t get into the ne directly to reach the elves it craves for. It had to attack from the void outside the ne.


    A massive red cloud of boiling and violent blood approached the bubble that represented the ne in the void of the realm. Then the cloud covered the entire bubble. The cloud had to stretch itself but it managed to engulf and seal the bubblepletely.


    This development caused the sun to darken. The light of the sun can still reach the ne but it has to be filtered through the red cloud. Most of its light has been blocked by the presence of the demon God. Themon inhabitants of the ne were only perplexed by the change. They thought nothing much of it. But a great fight had started in the void outside the ne immediately. Several Origin gods had assembled and attacked CARNAGE.


    ---------


    A/N: Bonus chapter for reaching the voting goal of 500 power stones.

 Chapter 894 War Against CARNAGE.

    <h4>Chapter 894 War Against CARNAGE.</h4>


    There was a swift and violent reaction to the red eclipse of the lumen ne. Some people didn''t take this event lightly. They thought that there had to be something very wrong when the sun was blocked. An eclipse is not normal. These powerful individuals could also sense the demonic influence spreading throughout the ne. What''s more, is that they couldn''t leave the ne because the nar portal had been blocked by a spawn of CARNAGE.


    To observant people, all of these signs were an indication that there was something very wrong going on in the ne and that it probably had something to do with a demon God. Specifically the demon god of Carnage.


    So the different families contacted their origin God ancestors. Even world gods heard of the unfortunate development but they couldn''te to help. World gods are not allowed in the realm tree. So the responsibility of freeing the ne fell to the Origin gods. Thousands of them came to the rescue.


    Arge battle ensued. The Origin gods bombarded the red energy sea covering their ne with attacks. CARNAGE also fought back. It grewrge tentacles made of blood in the form of different weapons and fought against the horde of origin gods. The weaponized tentacles shed against the downpour of attacks.


    It was an epic war of might and power. Hundreds of thousands of origin gods fought against a single demon God but they failed to dislodge it. They were like tiny flies disturbing a giant octopus. A single swipe of the octopus''s tentacle is enough to swat away scores of flies.


    CARNAGE came prepared. It came in a form with a lot of energy and power to spare. It could also replenish itself by absorbing Origin gods. Its tentacles would grab Origin gods and pull them into itself to feast on them. The only ones that could resist it were the Origin gods with supremews. They can cut off the tentacles and even destroy them.


    The Origin gods with supremews were capable of thinning down CARNAGE but they were too few in number. There were only 16 of them out of all the hundreds of thousands of origin gods. So they couldn''t stop CARNAGE quickly enough for it to not infect the ne with the gue of Carnage.


    As CARNAGE was fighting the Origin gods in the void, it was also fighting the gods in the divine ne. A rain of blood was pouring down from the sky onto the ck ins of Armageddon. The droplets of blood in the rain hit the ground and turned into blood clones. The blood clones then attacked the divine ne in numbers too much to count.


    The hosts of the divine ne were fighting and are still fighting back these blood clones and preventing them from gaining ess to the mortal realm. Gods and angels have taken to the battlefield to defend their ne from the incursion of a cmity. This is not an ordinary demon invasion. The invasion of demon kings is very much preferredpared to this.


    Some of these blood clones are humanoid. They are formedpletely with red blood but they have legs and arms. Otherse in various forms and have numerous arms, legs, appendages, tentacles, and other sorts of limbs attached to their form so most of them are far from humanoid. It would be an understatement to call them the stuff of nightmares.


    Even the humanoid ones are horrific-looking. Their legs are misshapen and their arms are weapons. Some blood clones are insects. The blood clonese in different shapes and sizes. They have different amounts of power too which is rted to the amount of blood that makes them. So the bigger they are, the more powerful they are.


    All the clones are feral. They have no intelligence whatsoever. There is only one thought in their nascent consciousness. This thought makes them snarl and bite everything. They w and try to rip whatever they can reach. They only exist for Carnage.


    The blood clones are an extension of the will of CARNAGE but he is not controlling them so they operate solely on instincts. There are too many to control them personally. There are billions of these blood clones and they are trying to break through the barricade set by the gods.


    The only restraint on them is their inability to harm themselves and other blood clones intentionally. Without those restraints, they will not be of any use. But now that their priorities have been set straight, they can be unleashed on the gods without worry and with reckless abandon.


    But even so, the gods held their own against the tide of blood. This is because the blood clones are generally weak. None of them have authority so they are no match for Celestials. Unfortunately for the gods, there are plenty of blood clones to fight for several Origin cycles.


    The weakest of the blood clones is at the low God level while the strongest is at the Grand God level. The gods have the upper hand in strength and they are able to eliminate a lot of the blood clones but more are just being made as quickly as they are being destroyed.


    The blood clones don''t need to be strong. They just need to get to the mortal realm. Then they will be able to propagate endlessly by feasting on the life within the ne. In fact, all of them don''t need to reach the main ne. A single one is enough for the Will of Carnage to be fulfilled.


    The gods were at a stalemate. They have quality but it is not enough. They fought for decades but the blood clones are endless. The gods will be overrun if they rx just for a little bit. They had to maintain the barricade and fight constantly or they will lose the ne.


    Their strength also diminished as time passed. They are losing manpower but the blood clones seem endless. Things are not looking good for them. It is all because of a demon god. This demon god is the equivalent of an Origin god with a supremew in terms of quality. But it apparently outmatches any origin god in terms of quantity.

 Chapter 895 The Calamity Of Demon Gods.

    <h4>Chapter 895 The Cmity Of Demon Gods.</h4>


    CARNAGE is capable of fighting hundreds of thousands of Origin gods and billions of angels and their gods at the same without losing immediately. It is even gradually shifting the tides of victory in its favor. That is not something a demon king can do.


    A demon king needs an army and maybe some allies to invade a ne. The invasion will alsost numerous years. Victory and defeat won''t be determined until after numerous shes. One side will give up eventually. It could either be the gods or the demon king if they fail to maintain their strength.


    A demon God on the other hand can take on a ne on its own. It is almost always a losing fight for the ne if a demon Godes prepared to take on a ne. A demon God bes highly terrifying when they be world-enders.


    World gods fear world enders so much that they don''t want toe across the slightest traces of one or fight one at all. It is because the fight will not end until one of them is subsumed and overwritten. Every encounter with a world ender is a death match. There is no negotiation or truce. Death is the only result of every interaction with them.


    You can''t get rid of a World ender once ites in contact with you. There''s nothing that can prevent a fight with that world-ender. And that fight is a fight to the death. The fight is eternal until one of them dies. World enders have the persistence of chaos energy. They will continue to remain a threat that will follow you everywhere no matter how well you try to hide.


    Demon gods don''t have the power or virulence of world-enders. But that''s alright. They are not fighting world gods. What they have right now is more than enough to roam the realm with impunity. They can even take on an entire ne with a single clone.


    A world god when asked about the chances of the Lumen ne said, "You might be stronger than demon gods and world-enders, but all they need is a little weakness. A little opening in your defense and they will take root forever and continue to spread without end."


    But the Lumen ne tried its best. They didn''t give up without a fight. This is a matter of life and death to them after all. They won''t just throw the towel in because a world god said there is no way to defeat a demon god. They fought back and were able to stop CARNAGE from entering the mortal realm.


    Their defense is admirable. Those on the path of perfection and divinity set aside their differences and worked together in the face of this unprecedented cmity. Origin gods held the demon god''s attention so it couldn''t focus all its strength on the gods and bypass their defenses. And the gods did a splendid job in holding back the blood clones. But a weakness appeared.


    A house might be so secure that it is impossible to break into. But forceful breaking and entering is not the only way to gain ess to the house. You can use a key that you stole or someone from the inside can open the door for you. The demon God went with the second option. A weakness appeared from within the ne itself.


    Demons are very good with deals. Their society needs deals and oaths to keep itself together or it will crumble. They need binding oaths to work together because they are all treacherous. They don''t trust each other. Deals and oaths keep their society functioning.


    Demon nobles can form a house because of the oaths of allegiance. The heads of the family can share their power through this bond of allegiance. Demon gods take it further. They can create races through the oath of allegiance by sharing their power. If there is anything that anyone needs in life, odds are it is most likely the need for power.


    --------


    Within The Lumen ne.


    The sun was eclipsed by a red object. This red object remains at night even when the sun is absent. It stays in the sky and casts a red glow on the inhabitants of the ne. This makes the inhabitants be easily irritable. They became prone to anger and fits.


    For some of the inhabitants, the effect of the red moon is that they hear strange whispers. The whisperse from everywhere, both outside the mind and from within the mind. These whispers drive most of them mad. But as for those that remain sane after hearing the whispers, they get an earful of promises of power. Some disregard these promises as crazy talk, but others don''t.


    A boy was being bullied. He needed strength to fight back against his oppressors. He was recently beaten. He just gained some new bruises and injuries so he hid under his bed. He is hiding from his mother and his sisters. He doesn''t want them to see him. They might ridicule him or beat him again if they see him.


    Their society is a matriarchal society. The females are higher on the hierarchy and are more privileged.


    His mother and sisters abuse him both physically and emotionally. They call him hurtful words and beat him until he bleeds. He has both physical and mental scars to show for his years of abuse.


    They aren''t wrong though. He is weak. It is because he was born that way. The males in the society of dark elves are weaker than the females but he is weaker than normal. He is of lower status even among the males. This has made him the target of ridicule and jest from both sides.


    He was sobbing silently under his bed when he heard the whispers again. He has been hearing them for a while. But the whispers rang more clearly in his head than ever before. It is as if he has suddenly be more attuned to the whispers. It is as if he has be more epting of CARNAGE.

 Chapter 896 The Light Of The Red Moon.

    <h4>Chapter 896 The Light Of The Red Moon.</h4>


    Voices echoed in his head. They whispered to him, "You''re weak. They know that. That''s why they are bullying you. You know it to be true too. You''re weak. That''s why you are hiding instead of confronting them."


    "That''s not bad. A weakling should know his ce. That is wisdom. You know your ce. That makes you wise. But you are still weak. You will still be beaten."


    The voices rang in his mind over and over again. "You are weak. You are weak. You are weak."


    Theyughed and they mocked him over and over again. He couldn''t stop them and he couldn''t ignore them. He couldn''t deny what the voices said either. It is true. He is weak. But knowing it has not done him any good. There is nothing he can do to change his situation. What use is the repeated mocking if the only thing it gives him is a headache?


    "But what can I do?" He whimpered as he held his head in pain.


    The voices became silent immediately. His headache subsided too. He thought he was hallucinating when a single clear voice spoke to him. "I can help you. You are wise. You have asked for power because you know that you are weak. So I will give you power. I will make it so that no one can ever hurt you again."


    Wonderful promises poured into his mind in a clear and coherent manner. There is no chance that he didn''t hear them or misheard the promises. He heard them loud and clear in his mind. So he heard what was said after the deluge of promises, "All you have to do is swear allegiance to Carnage. Give your all to me and I will give you strength beyond your wildest dreams. You will be untouchable."


    That is a tempting offer but it is also highly strange if not suspicious. The boy thought the whispers he was hearing were his inner voice. But this voice ispletely different from what he usually sounds like in his head. He is sure of it because the whispers have be very clear. He can sense the difference urately. They don''t echo anymore and they don''t hurt his head. It is as if he is dreaming. He might wake up soon and all of these will disappear.


    The promise of power is too alluring so he asked even though he might be dreaming, "What do I have to do?"


    The voice answered, "Just say ''I swear my everything to Carnage''."


    The boy is not so smart but he isn''t exactly stupid either. He understands the implication of the oath so he knows that he will be swearing himself into very. But he is already a ve. He is a ve in his society. Males are not just second-rate citizens, they are ves in his society. They are only maintained for procreation and menialbor. It is the females that are the warriors. So he is a ve and he will never have ess to power.


    Besides, this oath means nothing if he is dreaming. And if this is actually real, there is no way he will pass off the opportunity to gain power. If this oath will grant him power, then he will take it.


    So he swore. "I swear my everything to Carnage."


    The voice in his head began tough. It is a diabolicalughter that rang out from within the boy''s head, into the world, and throughout the settlement of the dark elves. Everyone around could hear the strangeughter that seemed to be echoing all around them.


    It is obvious that CARNAGE is very excited. It has finally gained ess to the ne.


    The voice said, "What a stupid boy. You have made the right choice. You have made CARNAGE happy. So I shall grant you what you seek."


    The boy sold out his soul for nothing. He didn''t ask for anything at all. He just up and gave his everything to CARNAGE free of charge without any conditions. CARNAGE can choose to fleece him but it needs someone on the inside to open the door. So it granted him what he wanted. It granted him the power of Carnage.


    A blood-red crystal appeared in front of the boy. It seemed to have coalesced out of raw moonlight from the red moon above. The crystal shone with a bloody light that illuminated the bottom of the bed. It shone on the face of the frightened boy.


    "Take it. It is what you want." The voice told him.


    CARNAGE can force him to take the crystal but it didn''t. It needs the boy to maintain his will. Robbing him of his Will will turn him into a mindless spawn like the feral blood clones. CARNAGE doesn''t want a mindless spawn so it urged the boy. The boy overcame his fear and touched the crystal. The crystal melted on contact with his finger and flowed into his body.


    The boy screamed out in pain. His scream echoed throughout the settlement while the voice in his head continued tough. So the scream and the strangeughter mixed in and echoed everywhere together. The dark elves in the settlement were startled and confused. They were afraid but they didn''t run. It is understandable that they didn''t run. But they should have.


    He began shedding tears of blood. His skin cracked. Blood bled profusely from those cracks. His screams grew louder as his body tore apart and blood pooled at his feet. The blood spread away from the boy. It seeped outside the room and covered everything. It turned into an ocean of blood that submerged the entire settlement.


    Everything living within the settlement died immediately. They were buried and their life force was taken from them. They died before they drowned. Their flesh desated within the blood leaving behind empty and dry husks.


    Then the blood receded back to the boy. It formed a cocoon around him. This cocoon has veins on its surface. Blood is pumped through the veins in synchronization with the thrumming of the cocoon. The cocoon is beating like a heart. It is also glowing ominously with the same red light as the red moon.

 Chapter 897 Let There Be Carnage.

    <h4>Chapter 897 Let There Be Carnage.</h4>


    It took a while for the boy toplete his transformation. The cocoon broke apart into thin kes of blood to reveal a handsome young man. He has the dark skin and the pointed ears of his original race. But he also has red pupils and four red fangs in his mouth.


    His dark hair has be blood red and his skin has be smooth like ceramics. He is very handsome despite the long red ws on his hands. Anyone will attest to it regardless of their sex.


    He examined himself after the changes.


    "I am not a boy anymore." He said.


    Even his voice has changed. It has be deep and sonorous. He has lost the whimpering quality of his manner of speech and assumed a more confident tone. It is because he is fearless now. He can feel the power coursing through him. It is a power unlike any other. He is not a boy anymore. He has be an ancestral Vampire. A Primogenitor of the Will of Carnage.


    "Finally," The voice in his mind roared in triumph, "Let there be Carnage."


    The ancestral vampire''s red pupils shined brighter with that promation.


    He promised solemnly, "Yes, my God. Your Will will be done. There will be Carnage throughout the ne. Everyone will know the glory of your existence."


    He is not the whimpering boy that hid under his bed anymore. He won''t run away from his oppressors anymore. He has be the tool of a demon God and demon gods forge really powerful tools. So he is very powerful now. He has been uplifted to be a superior creature.


    This forging of powerful tools urred in several ces in the Lumen ne. Severe weaknesses appeared in the defense of the ne. Many that were weak became strong and many that were strong became stronger. CARNAGE managed to infiltrate the Lumen ne despite all the attempts to stop it. The allure of power is too powerful.


    This infiltration led to more than the creation of ancestral vampires. There is a side effect to the creation of ancestral vampires. Life was stolen to create ancestral vampires so a life debt was created. All the living beings in the vicinity of the new ancestral vampire were robbed of their life when their blood was siphoned.


    The universe struck back against this abnormality. The Law of order was invoked. The dry husks began moving. Then they stood up snarling and growling. Their body is weak and fragile but they are determined and unstoppable. They began shuffling towards their targets.


    All those who died because of the siphoning of life force were resurrected. They became mindless undead that were not under the control of the demon god. They only exist to set right what has gone wrong. They are to recover what was stolen.


    This mindless undead then proceeded to fulfill the aim of their existence. They roamed thends looking to regain the blood that was taken from them. It is just that they are willing to take this life debt from anyone theye across. Anyone who has some blood within them or flesh is attacked by these undead in a bid to restore what was taken.


    It is unfortunate that no matter how much blood they take, it will never be enough. They will be eternally hungry and thirsty for life until what was stolen ispletely returned. Unfortunately, CARNAGE and its spawns don''t have any n to return what they have taken. So these undead became the scourge of both the living and the unliving.


    -----------


    It is safe to say that the Lumen ne has gone to shit. It has been turned upside down. Almost everyone can tell that something is very wrong with the ne. People are confused and afraid. The feeling of despair has never been higher in the ne until this era.


    As for the Warrogs, things are just business as usual. So the sun has been blocked. They don''t need light to see so they don''t care. In fact, they prefer the dark. They like to hunt at night, now they can hunt whenever they want.


    So the trees are dying. They don''t like to eat nts anyway. Their diet is purely meat-based. It wasn''t until prey became scarce that they felt the impact of the changes to the ne. The cold temperature and the falling snow didn''t affect them at all. They have a thick fur that instes them and keeps them warm.


    The absence of technology andmunication kept them mostly ignorant of matters happening in the ne. The Warrogs are a simple race. They live in simple settlements and live very simple lives. They fight each other fornd and they reproduce. You might call them a backward race and you will be right.


    The tree elves hate technology and changes to their forest. They are in charge of the ne so they banned technology throughout the ne. So technology is generallycking in the ne but the Warrogs are something else. They are on another level of ignorance that cannot be exined by the ban on technology throughout the ne. They are still in the age of using Stone and wooden tools. They still engage in tribal warfare.


    The other races have advanced in forging, art, and music but the Warrogs have very little to be appreciated culture-wise. The poption of Warrogs in the ne has been forcefully separated into smaller societies so that they don''t band together. Their poption is kept down through regr "pruning" so that history will not be repeated.


    It has been shown that the Warrogs will start to be violent when their poption reaches a certain amount. They will band together and be a nuisance because of their bloodthirsty nature.


    A world war will ur once an emperor arises from among them. It leads to devasting damage to the forest so the tree elves prevent such an urrence by all means. They kill any newly created transcendent from among their poption. It is so that another Emperor Warrog is never born.

 Chapter 898 The Warrogs Are Dead.

    <h4>Chapter 898 The Warrogs Are Dead.</h4>


    The Warrogs are treated like feral beasts. They are sentient beasts at best and are treated as such. The quality and quantity of their poption is kept down. It is not cruelty. It is a necessity for peace. Things used to be worse than this. Warrogs were more violent and highly fertile. They were treated as pests meant to be destroyed on sight.


    Back then, Warrogs were snarling and violent beasts. That was at the time when they were major contenders for the control of the ne. They had several emperors the likes that haven''t been seen since then. Their society of war and violence flourished under the leadership of their Emperors. They were a mighty force to contend with.


    The Warrogs were rightfully strong and more deserving of the position of the overlord of the ne. But the tree elvesid their hands on the fountain of life. They empowered themselves with the fountain and managed to defeat the unruly Warrogs. That ended the First great world war.


    There were two more world wars after that but they didn''t amount to much. It only led to bloodshed and unnecessary deaths. The tree elves became angry because of it. They sought to prevent world wars from ever happening again. That''s what started the Warrog "pruning" process.


    As things are, the Warrogs will never be that great anymore. Their heyday is gone. Their days of glory are behind them. They will never be able to trouble the ne again or start world wars. It is not only because of the restrictions that the tree people have ced on them and their poption. It is mainly because the tree people used the fountain of life to change the Warrog''s race.


    This happened after the defeat of the Warrogs during the First Great World War. Their Emperors were killed so no one could protect them. A select group of Warrogs was changed while the rest was eliminated. The few surviving Warrogs were made weaker and easier to live with. So the original Warrog race is dead.


    The Warrogs of today will never achieve what their forefathers achieved because they are no longer their fathers. The ancient Warrogs are no more.


    The fountain of life didn''t change much about the Warrogs. They still look the same. But the probability of their divine ability appearing has been drastically reduced. Their divine ability has also been severely stunted. So even if their divine ability appears, it will never be as great as the ones of the past.


    These changes to their divine ability weakened the entire race and made them more docile. Theyck the power that drove their violence. They have be more malleable to control. So the pruning n went without a hitch. The ne has received peace because of it.


    The tree elves are a peaceful people. But they can engineer an entire race and make them more docile. It is all to maintain the bnce of the ecosystem. Too much of anything is bad. But so is the absence of a thing. For that reason, the tree elves would rather control than eliminate the Warrogspletely.


    This is the situation that Legion-6 was born into. The ne is heading towards destruction and his race is under the heels of another race. To be a Warrog in this ne is to be enemies with the tree people and to be in danger because of the demon god.


    Legion didn''t choose this ne but he chose this race. To be precise, Legion chose the original race of Warrogs in another ne. That ne is in total control of the Warrogs.


    He chose the Warrog race because it is the only race where the chance of being a paragon is directly proportional to the soul potential of the individual. His soul fragment should have a guaranteed chance of bing a paragon because of it.


    The ne he wanted is a good ne to be reincarnated intopared to a ne that has drawn the attention of a demon God. In fact, any ne is a much better optionpared to the current Lumen ne.


    That''s just the start of his problems. It has been stated that the Warrogs arergely unaffected by the changes to the ne. But they have their own problems to deal with. They havee a very long way from their rabid days but they haven''t gone far. It is why Legion-6''s mother is currently fleeing for her life.


    The Warrogs are humanoid with a mix of lupine and bovine features. They have a lupine headplete with sharp canines within a protruded mouth on their face and sharp, tall, erect ears on their head to match. But their torso isrgely bovine in that it is thick, broad, and very muscr unlike what is to be expected in lupine creatures.


    Warrogs are creatures of great strength due to their bovine features. But they also possess great agility and speed. They have four limbs. Two upper ones and two lower ones or two arms and two legs.


    Their hands end in 5 wed fingers with an opposable thumb which makes them capable of using tools. Their legs take on another bovine feature. The two legs are shaped like those of wolves but it ends in hooves. They thenplete their entire look with a long furry tail and a pair of long, sharp horns on their head.


    Legion-6''s mother is skipping through the cold forest. Only one of her smooth and long horns is intact. The other one has broken off leaving a bleeding wound on her head. It is a fresh injury. It happened a few minutes ago. She doesn''t want more wounds on her body so she is running as fast as she can.


    Her hooves help her get traction on the ground covered with a thickyer of snow. It is a good feature to have because she currently doesn''t have the leisure to watch her steps and walk carefully. The terrible state of the frictionless ground is the least of her worries right now.


    --------


    A/N: Bonus chapter for reaching the voting goal of 700 power stones. We are about to reach the next goal for golden tickets too.

 Chapter 899 Heavily Burdened.

    <h4>Chapter 899 Heavily Burdened.</h4>


    Her hair is blown aside by the wind to reveal her face. She has brown fur with small white dots on them. Her eyes are also brown. And they are full of fear. She is very afraid. She is not running for the pleasure of it. She is running because she has to. And she is also running out of time.


    The most notable feature about her is therge udder attached to her lower abdomen. It is an indication that she is very pregnant. The mammary nd of the Warrogs is usually small in size when they are not pregnant. It is empty when not needed but bes full when the female is pregnant.


    This arrangement allows females to not be impeded when they are not pregnant. Their fighting strength is not hindered by the extra weight. But it is not so for Cuthalin.


    Cuthalin is currently heavyden. She is full of children and her stomach has bulged to show how far along she is. As if that isn''t enough, her udder is also full and it is attached to her already bloated stomach.


    It is obvious that a pregnant Warrog should not be running. It is not safe at all. But she is running. She is running quite fast despite the load that she has been burdened with. She needs that speed right now or the ones chasing her will catch up to her. While it is undeniable that she can be faster, this is the best that she can do.


    Cuthalin ran as fast as she could. She ran both for her life and that of her unborn children. She didn''t let the cold deter her or let the unstable ground stop her. She didn''t let the bleeding injury on her back stop her. It is painful to run but she ran tirelessly with the strength that only a mother can possess and trailed blood as she passed. This world is cruel. It doesn''t care for anyone or their circumstances.


    The world is not fair and it doesn''t care about what someone deserves. A pregnant mother shouldn''t be running for her life alone under the dim light of the blood sun in a thin forest filled with fir trees and on a ground that is heavilyden with snow. Even if she was, she shouldn''t be escaping alone. A Warrog without a pack to run with is one that will soon meet with death.


    But that is the situation for Cuthalin. She has to escape to where she doesn''t even know, to survive. Unfortunately, shecks the strength. They will catch up to her soon. She can hear the faint sound of howls behind her. Her pursuers are gaining on her. They are not burdened by her special situation. And they are in a pack.


    As if all their advantages are not enough, the blood she is leaking will lead them straight to her. They don''t need their sensitive nose to track her. Their acute eyes are enough to keep her within their sights. So she can run. But she can not hide from them. If not for the sudden inexplicable strength that she began to gain when she got pregnant, then she wouldn''t have made it this far.


    She was running when she saw her salvation. It was a dark spot almost indiscernible in the dim lighting. But she saw it very clearly. It is a hole in the ground. It is a tunnel that leads to the Underdark.


    She dashed towards the hole as fast as her hooven feet could carry her. She reached the hole quickly and hurriedly went in. She didn''t think twice about her decision to enter despite being warned all her life about the dangers of the Underdark.


    The entrance to the tunnel was at the foot of a hill nearby and continues downward. So the tunnel is slopey. She managed not to skip and fall. Her hooven foot helped her to keep her bnce but it is her skills as a warrior that helped her to navigate the rocky uneven floor of the tunnel.


    The tunnel entrance led to a series of other tunnels heading in different directions. She doesn''t know which direction to take so she just took whichever one is easiest to navigate. She runs and runs until she can''t run anymore. It is not because she is tired down to her bones. It is because she has run into a dead end. She can''t run forward anymore.


    She tried to turn when suddenly a pain ran through her body. It shocked her more than anything else. It left her rooted where she was standing. The pain came from her abdomen. So she eximed, "My babies."


    She hurriedly felt her body for anywhere that it might hurt. It is as if her babies heard her cry. Her water broke and the muscles of her abdomen contracted again. The contraction brought with it a pain that she couldn''t deny this time around.


    "Arghhhhhh." She screamed as a cry of pain tore unbidden out of her mouth.


    Her babies areing. It is not good news at all. She isn''t ready and the conditions are not safe. Her environment isn''t even clean. She is in a dark cold tunnel running for her life. This is not the condition that she wants to give birth. But her babies don''t know that. They areing now no matter what.


    She is alreadyte into her pregnancy and the vigorous exercise that she just engaged in finally kickstarted the birthing process. The contractions increased in strength and intensity. This is not falsebor. Her kids wille now whether she likes it or not.


    She rested on the wall while cradling her bulging stomach. Then she sat on the ground slowly despite the stinging pain of the wound on her back. The sharp surface of the rocky wall scraped against the cut on her back and sent spikes of pain through her.


    It is something that will cause her to jump in pain at any other time. But her attention is somewhere else right now. There is a source of greater pain in her body.

 Chapter 900 Laboured Labor.

    <h4>Chapter 900 Laboured Labor.</h4>


    Herbor has started in earnest. Her muscles contracted and rxed in waves to push her babies out. She tried to encourage the process but she is too tired. She is supposed to be breathing hard and in a pattern that works well with the contraction.


    Unfortunately, she can''t. Running for her life is finally taking a toll on her. Her lungs want air but her muscles are too tired. Her breath has be shallow because the muscles of her ribs aren''t doing their job. All she feels is a pain in her chest instead of the satisfaction of a deep breath.


    She began to sob. Tears fell down her face when she realized that she couldn''t push. She tried and tried but her muscles were not listening to her. They are too fatigued. Her contraction began to weaken so the pain ofbor reduced drastically. Her babies won''t being out after all. But it isn''t good news. She sobbed as life slowly left her.


    "Why?" She wailed in sorrow.


    Her body is still trying to get rid of the matured parasites within her but she is too tired. She has nothing left to give. So her vitality began to drop. She is only a vitality core stage after all. There is a limit to the amount of Vitality that she has in her body. Running around pregnant while bleeding and going intobor when tired and wounded will have repercussions. She knows her fate is sealed so she wept.


    She went to the heavens. Her every son carried forth her deep sorrow. Her pain echoed through the tunnel in waves. She hoped for a miracle then. She hoped for salvation. But the heavens didn''t listen to her. All her crying is a waste. There is no salvation to be had. Her body weakened until her chest stopped risingpletely.


    She muttered with herst breath. "Life isn''t fair."


    That''s what she managed to say before her death. If there was any doubt about the unfairness of life, those doubts have ceased to exist at this moment. She has just lost her partner and her tribe. She needed to continue his bloodline. But now she will lose her babies and her life.


    Life isn''t fair. Only the fittest will survive. Apparently, her partner is not fit enough. He couldn''t protect her. And she is not fit enough. She will die with her unborn babies within her. Their weak bloodline will end here to make the world a better ce for the strong. The weak will cease to use part of the limited resources so that the strong can grow. That is what the heavens want to see. It doesn''t want to save her.


    Hermentation rang hollow through the dark tunnel. At least her pursuers aren''t chasing her anymore. They probably fear the Underdark and are not desperate enough to go in after her. She will be able to die alone in peace. That is a silver lining.


    But Legion-6 had other thoughts. He is the first to be birthed because he actively jostled for that position. He has been ready for a long while in the womb. The pregnancy didn''t have an elongated duration because his divine ability didn''t need much augmentation.


    It is a divine ability that used only onew and it was augmented by thew of ughter to make twows in total. So he only spent a couple of years in the womb, unlike Soverick. The only problem he faced was the contamination of fragments of thew of life in his divine ability.


    The fragments diluted the budding concept of the divine ability but it was of no issue for him. He has fullyprehended thew of life and even formed a concept based on it. So he used thew fragments of life to enhance his divine ability. It didn''t dy him much but his siblings in the womb did. So he is very eager to escape from the womb. Unfortunately for him, the birthing process stopped short.


    "What''s going on? Is my motherzy?" He asked no one in particr when he stopped moving.


    He was within the birth carnal when the pushing force began to weaken. He stopped moving forward. He became stuck within the birth carnal. He also noticed the dwindling blood flow from his mother through the umbilical cord. He needs vitality from her or his body will die and he will die too.


    He became agitated. "This is bad. Something is wrong with the female vessel I am using. I can''t die like this. I have big ns."


    He is an unborn child without the support of his mother in a tight space that is supposed to squeeze and eject him but is failing in its purpose. There is no air for him to breathe here and he very much needs air. He will die here if nothing is done about it.


    He is not willing to die so he drew support from the soul force of Legion-1. Legion-1 is the only support he can get right now since he was born even before Soverick Ghastorix. Soul force passed through the soul sphere into his soul where he redirected it into his divine ability.


    His body is currently too weak to withstand the power of such a level. The connection between his powerful soul and weak body is tenuous at best. Reckless use of soul force will lead to damage to the Origin connection to his body. It is not an injury that can be healed by anything he has ess to currently.


    He could die if things go out of hand and his connection to his body is severed. He can have irreparable injuries if he is not careful but he doesn''t have a choice. It is either this or certain death. He chose to risk it. Anything is better than certain death. So soul force from his soul entered the divine ability in his body and he activated it on his small ws.


    --------


    A/N: Who wants to guess what his divine ability is?

 Chapter 901 The Rising Hunger.

    <h4>Chapter 901 The Rising Hunger.</h4>


    The ws on his tiny paw arms suddenly elongated. They glowed a dark light that he couldn''t see. He redirected them to his surroundings and applied them to the wall of the birth carnal. The 10 ws tore every obstacle to shred.


    He didn''t need to use force at all. A simple touch of his ws and flesh parted easily. Blood poured forth as a consequence of his actions. It tried to drown him. But he held his breath. His body rebelled against him. It wants air so it wants to breathe.


    Actively stopping himself from breathing is counterproductive toward that aim. He may not drown from the blood but the absence of air will still kill him. He needs to breathe and soon. But not blood.


    He has control over his body. It is not perfect but it can surely stop himself from breathing in blood. He used his ws to dig his way out into the world. His arms shook because of tiredness but he continued without rest. The next struggle that he faced was squeezing himself through the path that he dug.


    His ws are sharp but he is very weak. He is also tired and hungry.


    "I am so hungry." Heined.


    There is no food or air down here so he pushed his head forward and stretched his neck as much as he can. He struggled until he finally breached the surface.


    The first thing he did as soon as got out was to breathe in air. His small nose stuck out from the bleeding injury as he breathed in and out. He regained his strength beforepleting thest leg of his journey. It took a few minutes of struggling. He didn''t mind because he was not in any danger of suffocating within her anymore. The hunger on the other hand has only gotten stronger.


    A tiny Warrog pup was born that day. He wasn''t technically born since he came out of his mother''s lower abdomen instead of through the birth carnal. He also came out himself by his efforts and not through the assistance of his mother. Either way, he was finally born.


    No one took him to care for him when he came out. There was no apuse for his victorious struggle against death. He looked around and found no one except the vessel he parasitized for the past couple of years.


    There is arge injury on the stomach of the vessel that is bleeding out. It was caused by his actions. It is also the true cause of her death. She would have died but his actions expedited the process.


    "So this is my mother." He said as he examined her. "She seems dead. This is not good."


    He stood on top of her belly and observed her. Her eyes are closed shut and there are still trails of tears down her cheek. He knows she died pretty early and it was probably due to his actions but he feels no remorse. It was either him or her. He is a selfish and greedy person so he chose himself. It is the survival of the fittest.


    He is more concerned about why he needed to dig himself out of her. It might be natural for other races for the young to dig out of the mother but it is not natural for Warrogs. It is problematic for him.


    "What do I do now? I am very hungry." He mused to himself.


    The hunger within him has increased further. It is like a twisting feeling within his stomach. It is only a mentalpulsion from his body to eat. It is not actually harmful. But it is getting worse and worse.


    If there is a regret that he has about killing his mother, it is that she won''t be able to feed him. He is very hungry right now. The act of using his divine ability took its toll on him physically in more ways than it should. It is because his divine ability affects his stomach. Activating it is making him very hungry.


    "Where are we? Is there anyone around? Why is a pregnant Warrog in such a dark dangerous tunnel?" He asked himself.


    He has so many questions. There are a lot of odd things about his current situation. He can shelve his hunger for now but he doesn''t know anything in this new environment that he has been born into. He doesn''t even know who his mother is. Most importantly, his instincts are warning him that he is in a dangerous environment.


    The tunnel is dangerous somehow and he shouldn''t be here if he wants to keep his life. He has a feeling of being watched. It is an unpleasant feeling that is making his back tingle. It is tingling only because the fur on his back is too wet and slick to straighten in rm.


    "First things first. I have to leave this ce. I''ll just find my way around. I am sure I can survive on my own."


    He decided to stop worrying about the unknown and focus on what he knows. He knows that this ce is dangerous. His intuition is tingling and buzzing with a warning. He knows he has to leave or risk death. So he began his journey to salvation.


    He is sure that unless he is unlucky, he should be able to survive. Fortunately, he didn''t have to roam blindly about. His nose picked up a recent blood trail that led outside.


    "This is good. The first problem has been fixed. I won''t get lost now."


    He dropped from his mother''s belly and began making his way toward the only exit in the tunnel. His tiny paws stepped gently on the ground as he tried to walk. He stumbled several times before he got the hang of walking. It was an arduous process that he only managed to do by walking on all fours.


    He can''t manage two-legged walking yet. That is something that his currently weak body cannot do. No amount of control can achieve it.


    -------


    A/N: Extra chapter for reaching the golden ticket contribution goal of 200. I have updated the goals. Check them out. Let''s aim for 250.

 Chapter 902 Food For Thought.

    <h4>Chapter 902 Food For Thought.</h4>


    It is a funny sight. A small Warrog pup struggling to walk. He is still clumsy even with crawling on all fours. His fur is covered with blood and fluid but there are small isted patches of white fur that can be seen beneath the grime. He has two small ck nobs on his head. They are his ungrown horns.


    He left the corpse of his mother and his unborn siblings behind. He can surely rescue his unborn siblings but he doesn''t want to. He has no need for them and any effort he puts into them will be unlikely to be worth it. What does he want with four weak troublesome pups?


    Besides, the effort needed to free them is not something he can do easily. It will require damaging his body or divine ability further. He is not willing to do that for some people that he doesn''t know or care about.


    But he had to return to the corpse pretty soon. He hadn''t gotten far before he returned. His stomach was growling strongly. He has a royal bloodline of his own so he shouldn''t require sustenance. He should be able to subsist on only mana in the environment but his divine ability which is the very basis for his royal bloodline is demanding food. It is a repercussion of using it so early.


    He can control the urges and continue moving since he can force his body to do what he wants because of his powerful soul but he doesn''t have full control over his divine ability. He can forcefully activate his divine ability and deactivate it but he can''t escape from its repercussions. It is not exactly a bad thing. Eating will appease his divine ability and reduce the damage to his body. He knows that. That''s one of the reasons he returned.


    "At least you''re still good for something." He said to his dead mother before he began the rather enjoyable process of eating her.


    He began to eat his dead mother who he killed. His teeth tore into her easily and he gulped down her flesh. He wasn''t reluctant about it. He needed to eat and food was avable. So why shouldn''t he eat? Morals and ethics don''t bind him. Those don''t matter to him. The goal to achieve perfection is supreme to him.


    He was being pragmatic when he decided to eat her but his mind changed as soon as he began. Her flesh was divine. It tasted sulent. Her blood felt like nectar in his mouth. He knows it is due to his divine ability but he has to admit that eating her tasted wonderful.


    The divine ability of Warrogs is the major reason why they were rabid and violent. They always feel hungry anytime they use it and flesh tastes good when they satiated that hunger. Eating felt so good that it was pleasurable to do on its own.


    Thepelling of the divine ability is two-sided. It uses the stick-and-carrot approach. The stick is the unpleasant twisting feeling in their stomach while the carrot is the enhancement of the taste of flesh. When eating feels so good, then there is no reason to starve themselves. They have to use their divine ability whenever they want to acquire worthy prey so it makes them send themself down a spiral of addiction.


    Legion-6 knows that violence feeds their addiction to eating so they are always fighting. They fought other races and amongst themselves. If not for their paragons who brought order to their society, they would have eliminated themselves a long ago.


    He said to himself, "I hope I can get in touch with the ruling ss of this ne very early. They should protect me since I am so weak. No paragon will watch me suffer."


    He has his hopes of safety on getting in touch with the paragons. As long as it is as he remembers, the Emperors of the Warrogs have strict rules about the treatment of new paragons. He won''t be bullied so early because of his weakness. It will give him a chance to get his footing and the opportunity to fulfill why he was reincarnated as a paragon.


    Legion-6 ate his motherpletely except her bones. He didn''t spare his unborn siblings within her. He ate everything. Nothing was left out. It was just too good. His unborn siblings weren''t of use to him before but they have fulfilled some usefulness to him now.


    His stomach continued to crave more food despite him paying back the price for using his divine ability. What''s strange is that his body didn''t get bigger than his 10-centimeter form. He ate and ate until there was nothing left to eat anymore. His stomach epted it all withoutining. No one will believe that he just ate someone at least ten times his size and many more times his weight.


    He licked his lips after he was done eating. Then he remarked. "That tasted better than I thought."


    He has never eaten flesh before. Gehaldirah didn''t eat anything apart from life essence. He didn''t need to eat anymore after bing a mana entity. So this experience is very new to him.


    He has never considered eating flesh before. But he didn''t need to. He will do whatever it takes to acquire power. It is a plus if what he has to do is pleasurable. Eating his mother is one of those things. Her flesh was pleasurable to eat.


    He sat down with a distended belly. He has engorged himself very well. It brought a lot of changes to him. He felt a rising heat from within his stomach. It wants to erupt throughout his body but he can control it.


    "What should I do now?" He wondered.


    The heat within his stomach is very important. He can stop it from doing what it wants to do but it will be beneficial to him to let it do what it wants. The problem is time and ce. He isn''t sure he has the luxury of time in such a dangerous ce while the heat erupts. He won''t be able to move while his divine ability does what it wants so he will be in a vulnerable situation if he lets it.

 Chapter 903 What Comes After Eating.

    <h4>Chapter 903 What Comes After Eating.</h4>


    He said after thinking about it. "Let''s do it. I need all the strength I can get right now."


    If he were a single entity whose entire life depended on this decision, then he would decide against allowing his divine ability to do what it wants. But he is not alone. His death will not be the end of Legion. He can take risks that he would be too cautious to otherwise.


    Hey on the ground and stopped impeding the heat in his abdomen. The heat spread throughout his body wantonly. It filled every inch of his body to bursting. His body became full of so much energy and vitality. It is the energy and vitality that he got from his recent meal. Then his divine ability got to work on modifying his body by using that energy and vitality.


    "Hmpf." He groaned as the first tear appeared on his small body. "This is going to be painful."


    Cracks began to appear on his body as his skin tore. His body cracked due to his divine ability. One needs to tear down something before rebuilding it so his body is being torn down. His muscles tore open and his bones broke. His organs shifted as they erged within him. Blood pooled beneath him from all the injuries that he is suffering.


    "This had better be worth it." He growled.


    His body is going through excruciating pain. It shouldn''t be so in a normal situation. In a normal situation, his divine ability should only awaken when he bes a Mana entity. A Mana entity''s body will be more malleable to change so the upgrade will be less painful. But he activated it early and he fed his divine ability too. So his fragile body is being made to go through the pain of an upgrade now.


    This pain is something that will kill any other cub. It will also traumatize mana entities with weak will. But he isn''t any simple cub. He is special so he must do special things and endure special pains. After all, there is no gain if there is no pain. And there is no special gain without special pain.


    The pain will be worth it. He is growing stronger and it is visible. It is all he needs to see to know that he made a good decision to allow his divine ability to get to work on his body.


    His little body erged quickly. He went from being 10 centimeters in length from neck to rump to increasing to a meter long. Everything about him grew bigger and stronger. His divine ability digested the food he ate and empowered his body with it.


    This is the major reason why he decided to indulge his hunger and eat his mother. It is not because of the twisting hunger in his stomach. He is better than that. It is because it will not only alleviate the symptoms of using his divine ability. It will also make him stronger and he will do anything for strength as long as he can do it.


    His ancestors were addicted to violence because of the taste of food but he won''t be like them. He is not a base creature that can''t control himself. That doesn''t mean he won''t get addicted to violence. But if he does, it will be by his choice and because of his strength. Violence will be a tool to further his goal, not the goal itself.


    Strength above all else is supreme. If one is to be the fittest, then one must be the strongest, or one won''t survive. He reincarnated to acquire strength and he will pursue it even if he has to doom an entire ne to Oblivion. It will all be worth it as long as he bes stronger. So what''s a little pain? It is nothingpared to what Legion-3 is currently going through and has been going through for years.


    The thought of Legion-3 distracted him from the pain of his body. He wondered to himself, "It is probably a mistake to create a demon clone. We had no idea that Chaos is attracted to demons. Where does Chaos energy evene from?"


    He allowed himself to think about the conundrum of Chaos energy while his body broke apart and was reformed several times. Finally, he went through thest change. His broken bones fused together and were covered by muscles that reattached themselves and healed. Then all of them were covered by ayer of skin and fur.


    The pain ceased then and his body stopped breaking itself. His horns have grown out on his head. They are ck, straight, and very pointy. They look quite dashing even though they are small. He stood up and was able to stand on his two hooven feet.


    "What a wonderful surprise. I am at the Vitality core stage already." He said in amazement. "That''s good. This will make things a whole lot easier."


    He examined himself and felt the vitality core within his stomach. His divine ability formed one for him. He skipped the body forging stage and jumped to the vitality core stage immediately.


    He expected to strengthen himself to the peak of the body stage. That is more than enough strength to move better. Walking around in an unfamiliar and dangerous environment as a baby will lower his chances of survival drastically.


    His current strength surprised him a little but it is also understandable when he thought more about it. The flesh he ate was from someone at the peak of vitality core stage so it is reasonable that he was able to form his own vitality core from eating all of her flesh. It is just strange that it formed in his stomach instead of his heart like normal races.


    "Let me unlock my spirit and check the stat screen."


    Unlocking the status screen requires an awakened spirit. His new form can withstand the awakening of his spirit so he decided to do it.

 Chapter 904 Not Bad For A Day Old.

    <h4>Chapter 904 Not Bad For A Day Old.</h4>


    It was easy to do too. All it took was a thought and a tiny portion of his soul leaked out into his body and into the environment. He gained a divine sense immediately.


    NAME: Legion-6


    RACE: Warrog.


    BLOODLINE: Unknown Royal bloodline.


    POWER LEVEL (BODY): Vitality Core (1% Conversion)


    POWER LEVEL (SOUL): Soul Awakening


    PHYSIQUE: Body ofw(Iplete)


    HP: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    ENERGY LEVEL (BODY ): Vitality


    ENERGY LEVEL (SOUL): Mental Energy


    VITALITY: 100


    ENDURANCE: 93


    STRENGTH: 82


    AGILITY: 113


    PERCEPTION: 1,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 200


    LIMITER (BODY):55%


    LIMITER (SOUL):0.0000002%


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 20(A)


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 35%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): LIFE (DIVINE), DEVOUR (DIVINE), SLAUGHTER (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Healthy


    "Not bad for a day old." He said appreciatively.


    The stats for a Vitality core refiner is between 100 and 200. Only his Vitality and Spirit have reached that point. His other stats are stillcking. His stats are well below what a normal vitality core should have but it is extraordinary that he gained this much power in a single day of being born. It shows how impressive the divine ability of devouring is.


    "It is time to get out of here."


    He checked himself onest time before he began to run. His recent upgrade has made escaping from this ce easier. He could hardly crawl before but now he is running. It took a while to get used to his body but he soon became able to bolt at full speed.


    His white fur was ruffled by the wind as he ran. It was a wonderful feeling. He is not a weak stumbling pup anymore. The upward slope of the ground doesn''t give him any problems anymore.


    "Finally, there is a way out. It seems it is nighttime outside." He said excitedly when he spotted the opening.


    It was easy for him to navigate the maze-like tunnels to find a way out. He just had to follow the blood trails. His nose is very sensitive like his eyes. He can see and smell very well in the dark. So he doesn''t need light and isn''t bothered by the darkness in the tunnel. But that changed when he left the tunnels and appeared under the sky.


    "What the heck is that?" He asked in surprise when he saw the round blood moon in the sky.


    He expected it to be nighttime since he didn''t see light shining into the tunnel from the entrance. But he didn''t expect to see a blood moon. A blood moon is not natural at all. It is something that he has never seen before.


    A feeling of dread filled him the more he looked at the blood moon. He feels that what he is looking at is very unnatural. There''s also the constant feeling of being watched. He thought it was due to the danger he felt in the tunnels but that feeling hasn''t disappeared. It is as if he is being observed by something and it might be the unnatural blood moon.


    He asked in bewilderment. "What is going on here?"


    The ne he is supposed to reincarnate in should not have a blood moon. Gehaldirah has been to the ne to pick the materials for his reincarnation. All Gehaldirah had to be careful of were the paragons. There was no ominous moon hanging over his head.


    He is not the only one with the questions. There are others in his vicinity who are also very perplexed by the situation. They are a squad of Warrogs. They are stationed here to watch the entrance and make sure that the female Warrog that entered earlier doesn''te out again.


    She might have used the tunnel as a tactic to discourage them from chasing her before she returns and runs away. Their pack leader doesn''t want that at all. They might be reluctant to enter the Underdark but that doesn''t mean they will allow her to fool them.


    Their pack leader wants to make sure that she dies and that every trace of her partner is removed from this world including his descendants. That''s why the pack leader positioned a squad here to watch the tunnels. They were expecting a brown-furred female Warrog, not some strange white-furred Warrog speaking in anothernguage.


    They are already jumpy by staying close to a ce so dangerous. The sudden appearance of an anomaly has put them on high alert. They have a lot of questions that they want answered.


    "Hey, who are you?" The squad leader of the pack asked with a shout.


    That drew Legion-6''s attention. He didn''t notice them earlier because of the short range of his divine sense and he was preupied with the strange red moon.


    He observed them carefully. "These are Warrogs. That is good. I am not entirely lost."


    He identified their race immediately. He is relieved to discover that they are Warrogs. They are 6 in number as far as he can see. They are not holding any weapon of any kind. It is not as if they need it. The best weapons that they can make are not better than their natural weapons.


    They have a piece of leather clothing tied around their waste to hide their private parts and they are adorned with several pieces of jewelry made of bones and teeth. The jewelry is in the form of nes worn around the neck or just woven into their hair. Some of them have tattoos on their bodies.


    He thought to himself, "They are a squad of 6. The biggest one must be the alpha. The others will be her betas. I must be careful of her."


    There''s one Warrog amongst the six of them that is distinct from the others. She is a female but she is more physically endowed than the others. She is taller and her muscles are bigger too. Even her horns are longer. She has a bigger presence than all of the rest and she threatens him the most so he paid more attention to her.

 Chapter 905 Truly Lucky.

    <h4>Chapter 905 Truly Lucky.</h4>


    This female Warrog has braided hair that reaches her waist. There are a lot of teeth and bones braided into her hair. The rest of the Warrogs are a mixture of males and females but they are smaller than her. He can feel that all of them are stronger than him though.


    He examined them and they examined him in turn. They saw that he has pure white fur with ck horns. But most importantly, He is just a youngling. He is a little above a meter tall while the smallest among them is 1.5 meters tall. The Alpha is more than 2 meters tall. So he doesn''t look dangerous to them at all.


    He also smells weak and his posture is weak. He doesn''t look like a warrior at all. Some of their fear was reduced immediately. They let down their guard and began to approach him.


    "Are you deaf, young one? Who are you?" The leader asked again.


    This time she asked with a calm voice.


    Legion-6 groaned. He heard her the first time. He didn''t answer because he doesn''t understand hernguage. He is surprised that she is speaking anguage that he doesn''t know. Gehaldirah made sure to learn thenguage of the Warrogs when he collected the Warrog materials. So he used his divine sense tomunicate with her.


    He said to her, "I am a wanderer. An Omega."


    He scrambled for an exnation from the information that he knows about the Warrogs. He knows a bit about their culture and behavior. The best he can say is that he is an Omega. It is the least threatening thing that he can say to describe himself.


    His reply made the Alpha nod. She is an awakened Warrog so she has a divine sense. Everyone in her squad is awakened too so they understand what he said. She epted his reply as a reasonable reason for why he is alone.


    She didn''t just believe him because he said so. She tested him by trying to draw out his inner beast but she failed. That means he is either an Alpha or an Omega. Whichever one it is is not a threat to her. An Alpha without a squad is at their weakest and an Omega this young is no threat at all.


    So she asked about the other thing that she is concerned about. "Why did youe out of an Underdark tunnel?"


    Legion-6 understood her question and what she was referring to from the way she asked it. Communication with the divine sense is not about words. It is full of meaning and emotions. What he said earlier was that "I am a wanderer. I stand alone in the hierarchy." Standing alone on the hierarchy means he is an Omega.


    Her question about the Underdark is also full of meaning. When she said Underdark, she meant "the holes in the ground with the terrifying darkness." So he is able to understand that she is afraid of the tunnels. She has to be very afraid if she uses the meaning of terrifying to describe it.


    She is probably terrified of it which means a lot. After all, she is a peak vitality core stage refiner. Whatever she is afraid of about the tunnel must be terrifying. He learned more from her questions about the world than she is learning from him.


    He answered her question somewhat sheepishly and ashamed. "I got lost."


    His reply gave her pause. She scrutinized him closely. Then she began tough. She walked up to him and pped him on the back. He stumbled because of the impact. He almost fell over.


    "She is truly stronger than me." He thought to himself.


    The othersughed too. They surrounded him and smelled his scent. If they noticed anything strange about him, they didn''t show it. They remained friendly with him. But he noticed that he has beenpletely surrounded.


    "This can''t be a coincidence." He thought to himself.


    "You are one lucky youngling." The leader said afterughing.


    He scratched his head innocently. "I can''t believe that I survived. I am truly lucky."


    The leader asked nonchntly, "Did you meet a pregnant female by any chance? She has brown fur with white spots."


    "No, I didn''t." He shook his head and replied. "But I saw some blood trails. I followed them up the slope and found this entrance. It is my lucky day. I thought I was going to die."


    Her question was nonchnt but that is only to downy the severity of the situation. She smelled the scent of the pregnant Warrog on him. So it would be highly suspicious if he had said he didn''t see or meet her. But his exnation assuaged any suspicion she has of him. Their target was bleeding. That''s how they tracked her to this location. So it must be a coincidence that this youngling has her scent on him.


    "It must truly be his lucky day." She thought to herself.


    Then she said to him. "You are a youngling and an Omega so you must be on a pilgrimage looking for a totem pole to indenture yourself to. Why don''t youe to my pack? I am inviting you."


    "I will be honored. Thank you very much." He replied eagerly.


    She made sure to point out, "I am inviting you to the tribe. As an Alpha of the pack, I have that right. That doesn''t mean you will be allowed to indenture yourself to our totem pole or allowed to stay in the pack. That will depend on the pack leader."


    He thanked her again. "This much is already enough. I am very grateful."


    She nodded after making everything clear. Then she said to him, "These two will take you to the pack. Follow them."


    Then she picked out two of her squad members to send him to the pack. The remaining four will continue to stand guard until another squades to relieve them. That''s their mission given to them by the pack leader. The words of the pack leader arew so she will continue to watch the tunnel entrance for as long as they must.

 Chapter 906 Caution And Brawn.

    <h4>Chapter 906 Caution And Brawn.</h4>


    The Alpha watched Legion-6 go silently. She waited for them to leave her sight then she said to her squad, "Leno and Piar. You two should trail after them and watch them secretly. Don''t show yourself unless you have to help. Protect them and kill the boy if he does something suspicious."


    Leno and Piar bowed. "Yes, Tesrat. We will do as you say."


    The two of them didn''t question why their Alpha is sending four Warriors to watch and escort a weak Omega to the park. That is a lot of manpower to waste on a single harmless person. She ordered them and they simply obeyed. They left immediately.


    Tesrat nodded. The first two Betas that she chose to take the white young Omega to the pack are the strongest after her. They are more than able to contain him if he decides to escape. The other two are precautions in case she has underestimated him.


    She is clearly overreacting. Just one of her squad mates can subdue the young Omega. But it is hard not to overreact to anything thates out from the Underdark. If Legion-6 is an Omega then he won''t try to escape. Everything should be alright if he really is what he ims to be.


    She can''t tell if he is truly an Omega or an Alpha in disguise. That''s why she feels she must be extra cautious. She can''t tell what he is but her pack leader will be able to. So he must meet their park leader at all costs. She doesn''t mind sending four Warriors to make sure of it. If he is an Alpha then he will be in a lot of trouble.


    She thought to herself. "He is young so the pack leader should be lenient with him even if he is an Alpha. I will get credit either way."


    Then she returned to standing guard.


    In her opinion, Legion-6 is very young so he will be treated kindly if he is an Alpha. He will be treated even better as long as he has not been inducted into the hierarchy of another pack. The pack leader will wee him with open arms in that case. It will just require a show of force or the use of physical violence topel him.


    Everything will be alright if he is an Omega as he said. Either way, she will get credit for bringing new blood to the pack and strengthening the pack. They just went through a bloody battle so more strength is needed. So she has something to gain either way by inviting him to the park.


    Still, she didn''t let the reward that she might get cloud her judgment. She made sure to take precautions so that she won''t be punished too much if this goes badly. She is a warrior and an Alpha. She didn''t reach where she is today by being foolish and easily deceived. Life as a Warrog is very harsh, brawns are not the only requirement to survive. Caution is a very important quality to have as a leader. The severe punishments from the pack leader have taught her that lesson.


    ------


    Back To Legion-6


    Legion-6 was nked by two Betas. They are stronger than him so he kept his guard up. He acted nonchntly but he is wary of them. His situation is not optimal. He is not in control at all. That means someone can subject him to their whims so he is not happy. He is wary because he doesn''t trust them at all.


    Being among stronger entities that might be hostile doesn''t make him servile or make him give up. It does the opposite. His will to resist is prepared and ready despite being outmatched. He is alert more than ever before.


    He doesn''t n to escape but that doesn''t mean that violence still won''t be visited on him. Everything seemed to have worked out with his encounter with the Alpha but that''s what it seems like. He is not sure if everything is really alright. She said he is to be taken to a pack leader but who is to say that they are not kidnapping him for nefarious purposes?


    He said he is an Omega and they should respect that so they shouldn''t be violent with him but that''s just the rules of culture. Rules andws are meant to be broken. Rules bind the weak and subservient but the strong are above rules. These Warrogs are strong so they can choose to disregard the rules and kill him.


    He should expect violence. That''s ording to the little knowledge he has about Warrogs. The Warrogs that he knows are incredibly violent. So it is just good thinking to prepare to fight. He is not entirely hopeless. He will make them regret fighting him even if he dies. It is the least that he can do.


    "It must have been tough on you to brave the wild at such a young age." The Beta by his right said.


    "Yeah. You even got lost in the Underdark and survived." The other one by his left said to him.


    He nodded and agreed with them. "I am a very lucky Omega."


    Then he thought to himself. "They are as disciplined as I learned. This is good for me."


    The Betas did not talk at all since the time they met him. Only their Alpha and he spoke. That''s because their Alpha hadn''t permitted them to speak. The hierarchy in their society is very strict. That''s what happens when there are paragons in a society.


    Squads are led by Alphas and numerous squadse together to form a pack that is led by the pack leader. The orders of their superiors arews so the Betas didn''t speak despite the fact that squads are very close to each other. They waited until they left the vicinity of their Alpha before they spoke to him.


    It is a good thing for him because it shows that they still follow some of the rules that he knows of. So he will not be entirely clueless about his current situation and he can seek refuge with the rules.

 Chapter 907 Like Father Like Son.

    <h4>Chapter 907 Like Father Like Son.</h4>


    They spoke to him more along the way. They wanted to know about his travels and the tribe he came from. He made something up to regale them with. They enjoyed his story very much. He made sure to keep it as urate as possible and also to ask them questions about their tribe. This way he learned more about them. Along the way, he noticed that they were following the trail left behind by his mother.


    "Is thedy you were looking fore from your pack?" He asked them. "Is she lost?"


    They hesitated a little bit about answering his question. But they ultimately decided to tell him since he is an Omega. Omegas stand alone and are free from the conflicts of tribes.


    One of them answered. "No, she is not from our pack."


    "She came from the park that used to control this territory. Our tribe attacked hers and took over the territory." The other one finished.


    "I am guessing that the pack leader of her tribe didn''t surrender." He said after making sense of what went on.


    "No, he didn''t." A Beta said with gritted teeth. "The bastard was very stubborn. He caused a lot of unnecessary bloodshed. We lost a lot of pack members because of him."


    The other one interjected, "What''s worse is that he is still alive."


    The two of them began to rant andin. They became animated because of the anger they feel toward the dishonorable pack leader. Legion-6 realized that they have a lot of pent-up feelings of anger and frustration at the pack leader of his mother''s pack.


    It is not as if these two are new to the violence of conflicts between packs but this particr battle between packs takes the cake in making them frustrated. They are very frustrated because the pack leader didn''t surrender.


    Conflicts between packs are verymon. But like all societies with paragons, the fight is limited to the paragons. The Alphas, Betas, and pack Leaders fight. In the best situation, the fight is limited between the pack leaders. But sometimes it extends to the other paragons. In the case where a side is losing, the pack leader ought to surrender to limit the bloodshed and also to earn amnesty from the victor.


    But this pack leader didn''t surrender. What''s worse is that he ran away while forcing the remaining paragons of his own pack to continue fighting. His paragons continued fighting because they had to obey orders. They fought to thest man standing while the dishonorable pack leader escaped. So the winners had to shed more blood than necessary for them to win.


    "Let me guess again. Thatdy must be rted to the pack leader in some way. Is she his daughter?" He asked.


    "Yes, she is rted to the park leader. But she is not his daughter. She is one of his mates. She is even pregnant with his children."


    "You are very insightful. You were able to guess it easily." One of themplimented him.


    He smiled in appreciation of thepliment. Meanwhile, his mind went through all the information he has about Warrogs. In a normal situation where the rules of engagement are obeyed, the conflict between tribes is supposed to make the tribes stronger. They are supposed to have more manpower.


    In that situation, the pack leader is allowed to leave with his mates and children. The park leader will give up his or her park for the safety of themselves and their close rtives. But since the park leader unted the rules and refused to surrender, he is to be hunted and everyone rted to him is to be put to death.


    "What a dishonorable park leader. He disgusts me." Legion-6 joined in disparaging the pack leader who he has realized is his father.


    "Yes. He disgusts me."


    "So much unnecessary death."


    Legion-6 insisted vehemently, "He should be found immediately and killed. All his family should be eradicated for his sin."


    They agree with him. "They should all die. It will bring peace to our dead warriors."


    It is not out of ce for him to mour for the death of his father and family. He is behaving like his father. Apparently, he inherited the traits of a traitor from his father. It is just right that he will sell out his family.


    Their conversation continued after that outburst. Legion-6 led the topic of their conversation toward areas he wanted to know. He did it discreetly to avoid looking out of ce or alien but he didn''t have to be bothered. The two Betas felt closer to him after he joined them to insult the dishonorable pack leader. They felt aradery with him so they spoke without restraint.


    He is an adorable youngling who is also an Omega who might be part of their tribe soon. They feel that they have no reason to be careful with what they say around him. He was able to learn about the environment, the situation of the Warrogs, and the tree people.


    His conversation with them helped him determine that this ne is not where he is supposed to be. He wasn''t sure when he saw the blood moon but he is very sure now. It is either that, or the climate, society, and geography of the ne he aimed for as changed drastically. It is not good for him either way.


    They finally reached the settlement of the pack. It is situated on a mountain that can only be easily essed through a valley. So the tribe is located between two mountains. The entrance of the valley has a wall erected with piled-up rocks. There are sentries on top of the wall and guards by the gate. The valley can be essed by climbing the mountains that nk it but it will be very difficult.


    Ironic enough, Warrogs can climb mountains very well. So the wall is not a problem for Warrogs who want to ess the valley. But the walls protect the tribe from other wild beasts that live in the forest. Warrogs are Apex predators but they have contenders. Legion-6 observed all of these as he approached the wall.

 Chapter 908 Dangerous Situation.

    <h4>Chapter 908 Dangerous Situation.</h4>


    He also noticed the signs of a recent battle. There are a lot of dead Warrogs around with missing body parts. There are blood pools everywhere and scattered body parts. The body parts probably belong to some of the corpses who are missing some. The wall isrgely intact but it is marked with blood in several ces and the ground in front of the tribe has been wrecked.


    "The battle must have been very fierce." He said to hispany.


    "It was. The two pack leaders are very strong, that''s for sure."


    "It is a strength that we will never possess." The other one said in envy.


    His partner agreed with him. "Yes." Then he said to Legion-6, "You might be as strong as them if you live long enough."


    Legion-6 smiled and shook his head. He said modestly, "I am still young. That''s a long time away."


    "But you have the possibility of gaining that strength. That is what is most important." One of them said with barely concealed jealousy.


    The other Beta red at his partner who immediately shut up. Legion-6 noticed the interaction between them. He is very surprised by what happened. He doesn''t know why a Beta will be jealous of him.


    So he asked. "Why can''t you be as powerful as the pack leader?"


    They looked at him strangely. "Do you not know or are you joking with us?"


    He chuckled awkwardly. "Of course, I know. I just wanted to mess with you for messing with me. Who wouldn''t know such a thing?"


    The Betas chuckled too. "So you are a joker."


    "I am not really a joker. I just wanted to liven the depressing atmosphere."


    The jealous one said with a grunt, "It is clear that you are a bad joker. Your attempt sucked. It couldn''t have worked. Who doesn''t know that Betas can''t be mana entities? Only Alphas can be Mana entities and be pack leaders."


    The other sensible Beta rushed to Salvage the situation. He feels that they shouldn''t anger an Omega. So he said, "It is not as if it used to be like this. I heard from the Shaman that every Warrog could grow as strong as they wanted in the past. But that changed around here. The ones that are not paragons at all can''t reach the Vitality core stage while the paragons that are Betas can''t be Mana entities. It may not be like so in every pack in the world so not everyone will know about it."


    The jealous Warrog scoffed but he remained silent. The exnation for how the young Omega''s joke might have worked is far-fetched but he is not going to refute it because he understands the underlying motive for the exnation.


    Legion-6 on the other is very surprised by the information.


    "If this is true for the whole race, then they will be very weak." He thought to himself. "What could have caused it? Or are the Betas testing me right now? Are they spouting false information to test my knowledge?"


    He has a lot of questions but he can''t ask them. He has already messed up by revealing his ignorance. He can''t allow his ignorance to be confirmed as real and not a joke. So he didn''t ask any more questions about why Betas can''t be mana entities. He also chuckled when he heard the exnation. He didn''t refute it or agree with it.


    He became alert immediately and watched their reaction. But the two Warrogs didn''t seem suspicious of him. If they are suspicious, then they must be hiding it very well so Legion-6 didn''t let go of his guard against them.


    "If what they said is right, then Warrogs are not influential in the ne. That is bad for me. But that is in the long run. On the other hand, if what they said is wrong and they are testing me, then things are very bad for me in the short run." He thought to himself.


    "I don''t know which one is better." He concluded. "I don''t like this. Being weak is bad."


    On one side is the weakness of an entire race. If the warrogs are struggling to be mana entities while the tree people are struggling to be titans ofw and beyond, the difference between the two races will be toorge which will make Warrogs second-ss citizens in the ne. Second-ss races don''t live well in a ne.


    It is unlikely to be the case since Warrogs have divine abilities. Races with divine abilities are always the contenders for Overlords of the ne so the Warrog race shouldn''t have fallen so low but he is hoping for it to be true at this point because he will be in immediate danger if it is not.


    The three of them moved closer to the wall. It was then that he noticed an oddity about the corpses.


    "What happened to the other bodies?" He asked because he noticed that the amount of dead bodies is much less than what to expect from a single park much less two who fought and damaged themselves to arge extent. There are only 23 dead bodies here after all. That is too few casualties.


    One of the Betas answered. "The deceased Warriors of both packs have been taken. These ones are the rtives of the traitorous pack leader that we could find."


    "Oh." He nodded and said. Then he thought to himself, "So these are my family members. They are so unlucky."


    He said nothing after that and they also became silent. It made the silence bigger and more prominent. He tried not to behave skittish but he is truly on edge. He feels as if he is walking on a ledge that can crash at any moment.


    He doesn''t know why they became silent but he doesn''t like it. He is very sure of why he became silent though. He became silent so that he can listen better. He needs to listen very well if he wants to notice an ambush and react early enough.

 Chapter 909 The Pack Leader.

    <h4>Chapter 909 The Pack Leader.</h4>


    The sight of his dead family members didn''t fill him with dread such that he became silent. It reminded him that he is in a precarious situation. He is rted to the traitorous pack leader so he is one of the targets to be hunted and killed. His current escorts might be his attackers soon. The chances of that happening increase the closer they get to the pack.


    They approached the gate where there are two Warrogs standing guard. He noticed a tall white segmented pir inside the valley. It is sorge that it can be seen from outside the walls. It is taller than the walls and it got taller the closer he got to the gate. The pir has many things written on it. They are written with blood. They are indistinguishable words written on it and drawn figures but they are all red against the white pir.


    "Who is this?" One of the guards at the gate asked them when they got close enough.


    This guard is a female Beta. She recognizes the other two apanying him by looks and scent so she was asking about Legion-6. She asked in their localnguage. The two Betas who apanied him exined the situation to them in their localnguage.


    Legion-6 didn''t get anything from their conversation but he didn''t interrupt. He waited calmly, listened attentively to the environment, and watched their bodynguage. They spoke for a short while before they were allowed to gain ess to the valley.


    They informed him after they entered the valley. "There is a burial ceremony going on. The pack leader will be there. So we are going to the burial ceremony. You should be solemn when we get there. You know how important burials are."


    He nodded in agreement as he observed the valley. There is a worn path that leads from the gate to the base of the mountain. The path also ascends the mountain and leads all the way to the top. The worn path is the main road. There are other paths that branch away from it.


    The two mountains on the side have been dug out to create several caves and caverns. Wood and stone are then used to construct external sheds and other structures attached to the caves. These are the living conditions of the Warrogs.


    The two Betas led him across the main path towards the white tall pir. The pir is at the foot of the mountain and there is arge group of Warrogs surrounding the pir. The crowd is formed of Warrogs of all ages and sizes. They are all scantily d. The only piece of clothing on them is the asional leather skirt. He didn''t look at anything much once heid his eyes on the pack leader.


    "Wow." He said.


    "Right?" One of the Betas grinned at him and asked.


    He admitted readily. "Yeah. Your pack leader looks very strong."


    He is not surprised by what he saw but it is an exceptional sight nheless. The three of them are still far away from the crowd but he can already see the park leader. The titan of a Warrog is easily twice as tall as the Warrogs around it. The pack leader literally stands out of the crowd.


    He expects the pack leader to be much stronger and he has even seen bigger Warrogs but the difference in their size made him fully understand and appreciate how tall the pack leader is. He reaches the park leader''s knees in his current state. That difference is not for show.


    Not only is the pack leader tall, but he is also full of too much mana. That much Mana in his body should make him explode. It should at least make it very difficult for the park leader to not grimace in pain with every movement. But he didn''t explode because the Mana is tightly bonded to his existence through spiritual threads.


    From what he can feel, the current amount of Mana within the pack leader is not his limit. It is about half of his capacity. That''s why Mana is currently funneling into the pack leader furiously. So instead of feeling pain, the park leader is still growing stronger and his feeling refreshed. This process of strengthening is happening as Legion-6 watched.


    "This park leader must be consolidating his newfound strength after annexing a tribe." He thought to himself. "It is impressive to see. I am in big trouble though."


    He was a Sovereign ofw when he first saw the Warrogs. Back then, he was mildly afraid of them. They were stronger and taller than him so he feared them. But he could escape if he remained careful. And even though they could pummel him back then, they couldn''t kill him easily. Gehaldirah''s concept made it very difficult for him to be killed.


    That is not the situation here. He is very weak in a situation where violence is very easy toe across. He won''t have a say if this goes wrong and violence is visited upon him. It is a dangerous situation to be in since he is very kible. But he has no choice in the matter. He has to continue pretending and hope that his cover holds up. It is the fate of the weak.


    He got to see more of the pack leader the closer they got to the assembly. The pack leader has mostly brown shaggy fur. There is also a sort of mane around the head and neck of the Warrog. It is his hair. He has a lot of hair. It is so long that it extends across his spine, and ends in his tail.


    The growth of the pack leader''s hair is not restricted to his scalp. It grows on his head, neck, and back before finishing on the tail. He also has a set of impressive curved brown horns. One of them is chipped at the tip but that does nothing to reduce how intimidating he looks.

 Chapter 910 Burial Ceremony.

    <h4>Chapter 910 Burial Ceremony.</h4>


    Legion-6 and his escorts joined the crowd. The crowd made way for them when they noticed the two Betas. They made their way through the crowd until they reached somece close to the center where the pack leader was. They stopped there and waited for the ceremony to be over. The pack leader was speaking when they arrived. He noticed their arrival but he didn''t stop talking.


    "...and so we willy our fallen warriors today in the embrace of their ancestors. They fought bravely and with honor. They have done me proud so I shall allow them to be in peace with our ancestors."


    The crowd listened silently as he spoke. No one moved or spoke. Even the children were quiet and solemn. The entire atmosphere of the assembly was solemn. A lot of warriors died today so they are being buried at the totem pole. It is where all their ancestors have been buried. It is an act that is more than a simple tradition. There is some significance to the act of sending their warriors to their ancestors.


    The pack leader ordered solemnly. "Carry them to the embrace of their ancestors. Let them be at peace."


    Some warriors came forward and began carrying corpses to the pir. A wizened old Warrog stood by the pir. This Warrog is as tall as the Alpha that he first met but that''s only if he straightened himself. His back is bent and he has grey hair on his head. His fur is thin and aged. The skin beneath it is wrinkled too.


    The wizened old Warrog is the shaman and the only Omega of the tribe. The shaman dug into the corpses of the dead warriors for their vitality cores. He used a knife and his hand to split open the chest cavity and remove their hearts.


    The vitality core is within the heart. The hearts he dug out arerger than usual and very strong. The shaman then crushed the heart against the white pir or totem pir. It is as if he smeared the pir with the heart. Then corpses are thrown into a fire that burns them to ashes.


    The white pir began to glow brighter the more hearts were crushed against it. It absorbed each heart as if it were made up of porous absorbent material. It soaked up the crushed heart leaving only the blood smear. These blood smears form a contrast against the white surface of the pir.


    The pir absorbed the hearts and glowed brighter. The blood smears on its surface also began to move about on its surface. The speed of their movement increased as more warriors were buried in it. There are a lot of corpses because the dead warriors of both packs are being buried.


    It is not the fault of the warriors of the opposing tribes that their park leader didn''t surrender. They would have been their fellow pack members now had the dishonorable pack leader surrendered. What matters is that they listened to their pack leader even when they had lost. They fought honorably to thest man standing and they will be honored with a proper burial.


    The pack leader has given them that privilege because they obeyed orders even in the face of death. Besides, they have the right to be buried at this totem pole. Some of their ancestors were buried in it too. This totem wasn''t this big earlier today. It is bigger because the totem pole of the two tribes has beenbined. It has grown stronger just as the park leader is currently growing stronger.


    Only the family members of the dishonorable pack leader won''t be given a burial. Their corpses are to be left outside the city to rot. They will never enjoy the embrace of their ancestors because of that decision to not surrender. It is a punishment that is part of the culture of the Warrogs.


    Legion-6 thought to himself, ''It is as if it is alive.''


    He is talking about the pir. The pir became very bright. It brightened the dim environment and shed light everywhere. Legion-6 felt spiritual fluctuations from the pir. There is a lot of spiritual energy within it. The totem contains the umtion of thousands of years of Warrogs. So it is able to disy spiritual fluctuations that should only be seen in living things.


    The pack leader continued to speak after everyone had been buried. "Our warriors have gotten peace. They will rest today and some will take over their mantle. The world moves in a cycle of life and death. We have lost some warriors today and we will gain some warriors today. Let us bow our heads in respect for our ancestors."


    Everyone bowed their heads including Legion-6 when he noticed that everyone else was bowing. He felt the spiritual fluctuations of the totem pole reach a peak before it suddenly exploded. A wave of spiritual energy swept the crowd of ten thousand. The wave passed through everyone and even reached past the gate at the entrance of the valley.


    He felt the spiritual fluctuation m into him. It didn''t sh with him as it should when spiritual power from two different beings meet. Instead, it drilled into his body like a fish in water. It reached within him to his core and tugged at his divine ability. It wanted to activate his divine ability but he restricted it.


    Nothing happened for a short while. The surroundings remained silent. But the spiritual fluctuations finally took effect in others. He heard growls from several ces in the crowd.


    The pack leader shouted. "Secure them now."


    Several warriors scattered into the crowd. They found the sources of the growls quickly. One of those sources was close to Legion-6. He saw a young female Warrog growl. Her teeth and nails began to grow out. They elongated into monstrous things.


    Then she fell to the ground. Her body began to spasm and shake. It looked like she was having a seizure or a fit of epilepsy. Her body began to undergo more changes as she shook.

 Chapter 911 A Silver Lining.

    <h4>Chapter 911 A Silver Lining.</h4>


    First, her fur grew wildly. Then she bent on herself. Her legs elongated and bulked up. Her arms also bulked up but they did after twisting around. The bones and joints of her arms changed rapidly. Her skin didn''t break despite all the changes. It expanded like an stic material to amodate the changes. But her muscles were not spared from the changes. They morphed and changed with her skeletal structure.


    In a short while the female Warrog changed and became unrecognizable from the upright humanoid being that she was before the spiritual fluctuations acted on her. She became a gigantic four-legged savage beast. Her fur had grown out and her size had increased. She is much bigger than her previous form. Even her horns have increased in size. She is also feral. It seems the changes disrupted her consciousness. She reverted to instincts because of it.


    She stood up on all fours and howled to the moon. Then she turned her attention to everyone in her vicinity. She has been given a wide berth but that is not going to be enough. She intends to inflict violence on others from the look in her feral eyes. She is very big so she will be able to cover the short distance between her and her closest target easily.


    Fortunately, she didn''t have to go looking for a fight. The warriors beside her began their work immediately after she was done with the change. Each changing Warrog was assigned to a squad. The squad surrounded them and the Betas began to beat them.


    A fight ensued. The Betas punched and kicked her despite her being bigger than them. She fought back as best as she could but she was outnumbered. Each one of the Betas is also stronger than her. Her size is not doing her any favors. So she became wounded very quickly.


    The Alphas in the squad watched the ill-treatment without interfering. They only moved after their charges had been beaten until they were too weak or injured to fight back.


    The Alpha stood above the beaten beastly girl and roared at her, "Submit."


    It was amand from one paragon to another. It is a way to determine hierarchy. Betas will obey and submit. Then the Alpha will force them to transform back to their previous forms. Most of the ones that changed because of the spiritual fluctuations of the totem were handled this way. They transformed back to their humanoid form after a round of beatings.


    The changelings are not the same as they were before they changed though. Their humanoid form has been changed by the ordeal too. They have lost some weight and have thinned down. Some of them even have visible rib cages due to the loss of body mass.


    Some others in the beast form didn''t listen to the Alphas. They either roared back in defiance or resisted in other ways. They are Alphas too so they won''t listen to another Alpha even if they are broken and bruised. Other Alphas have no hierarchical leverage over them. So the Alphas will beat them again and drag them to the center of the assembly where the pack leader is.


    The beastlydy beside Legion-6 is one of the Alphas. She refused to submit so she was beaten again so that she won''t resist while being dragged. She was dragged with 11 other potential Alphas to the pack leader. A single growl from him finally did the trick.


    The growl reverberated through their bones and echoed throughout the valley. Those who are Alphas will listen to him. After all, he is the Alpha of Alphas. They are merely whelps and are nowhere strong enough to defy him so they will listen.


    Only those who are Omegas won''t listen. Omegas stand alone. They don''t listen to anyone. In that case, they will be expelled out of the pack and into the wild. Most of them die in the wild. It is rare but some will enter the Underdark and never return.


    But some of them will be lucky enough to survive in their savage state. They will transform back to their humanoid forms on their own and regain their senses. But they cannot return to their tribes. They have to find another tribe that will take them. It is called a pilgrimage for indenture.


    All 11 of the potential Alphas transformed back to their humanoid form. It was a messy process that is no doubt very painful to experience. Their humanoid form has also be leaner. The activation of their inner beasts took its toll on them. None of them were an Omega so they all listened to the pack leader. Omegas are rare despite the special method that the Warrogs are using to evoke their potential.


    The pack leader inspected the new paragons with satisfaction. He said to himself, "The harvest this time is good. Our ancestors have been good to us. I am satisfied."


    They say that half-bread is better than none. This situation is half of a bread, but the pack leader is satisfied nheless. Warrogs didn''t need this method to be Paragons in the past. Every one of them could grow stronger on their own while some were paragons. That was the full bread in which they had both the quality of paragons and the quantity of warriors on their side.


    But now, most Warrogs can go their whole life without forming their vitality core. The invocation of the spirits of their ancestors is needed to forcefully awaken the dormant potential within them. This process has led to the creation of more Paragons than there were in the past but the Paragons are weaker than they used to be. There is only half a bread of quantity now.


    The totem pole is an anchor for the spirits of their dead ancestors. It is a physical anchor for the connection between the dead and the living. The connection between the Warrogs is the spiritual anchor. The power of the physical anchor is then converted to real power through the spiritual anchor.

 Chapter 912 The Cons Of The Awakening.

    <h4>Chapter 912 The Cons Of The Awakening.</h4>


    The dead warriors can awaken new warriors by transferring their own potential to the living and awakening theirs with it. This is possible because races with Paragons are beyond social creatures. They have a bond akin to a spiritualwork that connects all of them. They can be connected even with their dead.


    This method of awakening has ensured the existence of paragons within their race. The stronger the totem, the more paragons can be awakened. And since only Paragons can be vitality core stage and more, the Warrogs have been able to maintain some level of strength.


    The fact that they are still able to awaken paragons despite the curse on them is a silver lining. Which pack leader will not be satisfied? But the harm has already been done. The Warrogs don''t have ess to their main divine ability anymore. Their Paragons are but empty vesselspared to the ancient paragons.


    This process even has some detriments. The forceful awakening of the Paragons by the totem pole forced a Vitality core to be formed. That''s not how a Vitality core should be formed normally.


    The vitality of the body should be more than what the body can contain and then form a focused organ to store it when the vitality reaches a certain threshold. But by forcing the creation of a vitality core, vitality is siphoned from the body to create the core.


    That''s why the paragons are leaner when they return to their humanoid form. They will recover physically, but their potential will never recover. So they are not only weaker than ancient paragons, they also don''t have ess to their divine ability to eat flesh and empower themselves with it. But the pack leader is satisfied because the alternative is worse.


    Legion-6 was perplexed as he watched the proceedings. He made sure not to show it on his face as questions whirled through his head.


    He knows what the totem pole is. It is a semi-religious and cultural symbol for the ancestors of the race.


    Other races have something simr to it. They form shrines dedicated to certain warriors and heroes. The worship of the shrines leads to the animation of their statues or spirits in the form of ancestral gods. Those ancestral gods then go on to be heroic spirits.


    What the Warrogs have is a little different but it is essentially an anchor for past warriors. Other races strengthen themselves by using the powers of their ancestral gods. They turn their totems into actual fighting manpower. But the Warrogs are using the spiritual umtions in the totem to awaken themselves instead of transforming it into an ancestral god. It all seems like a weird way to waste the potential of the totem pole to him.


    He believes that it will be better for more sacrifices to be made to the totem pole and then it should be weaponized as an ancestral god. That''s because he doesn''t know about the unfortunate situation of the Warrogs. He doesn''t know that they need this process or they will die out. He didn''t ask any questions though. He remained quiet like the others and observed intensely.


    The newly created Paragons were carried away. Then the pack leader spoke to them.


    "Rejoice, for today we are joined by more brothers and sisters in arms."


    "We have lost somerades today and we have gained some more. But no matter what, we will always have our loved ones with us. They might not be with us physically but they are with us spiritually. And one day, we too may join them. And live forever in the embrace of our ancestors."


    Then he raised his hand to the sky and shouted, "Glory to the brave and honor to the mighty."


    Everyone else joined him in shouting. "Glory to the brave and honor to the mighty."


    Then the crowd dispersed. Everyone went on their way leaving the shaman who was still busy with the totem and watching the fire. The pack leader also remained where he stood. Legion-6''spany nudged him and began walking towards the tower of a Warrog. Legion-6 followed them with mild trepidation.


    He feels only mild trepidation probably because he is not afraid of death. But his fur straightened the closer he got to the park leader. It is not a reaction to his fear. He is not afraid of the park leader despite being outssed. That doesn''t mean he will do something stupid because of pride. Pride and potential don''t mean strength. He can die now whether he knows his potential or not, whether he believes he is in danger or not.


    His body definitely knows that he is in terrible danger. It is reacting weirdly because he seems to be approaching a storm and not a living entity. The whirlwind of invisible mana around the park leader is causing his fur to be charged. That''s why it is straightening against his wish. If that isn''t enough indication of how much danger he is in then nothing can be enough. He will be too foolish to be saved.


    He was already struggling to breathe by the time he got close to the park leader. He was struggling to breathe in because the air keeps being sucked out of his lungs. Then there is the pressure around him that is making it difficult for his chest to expand.


    The little air he managed to breathe in was not even useful to him. It is ozonized and charged so it is more dangerous to breathe in than to risk suffocation. All of these are simply because he is in close proximity to the Alpha of Alphas.


    He bowed with the Betas when they bowed. He doesn''t want to disrespect this powerful entity and have his life cut short just one day into it. You have to respect someone who is so tall that you only reach his knees. Such a person just needs to sit on you or kick you to kill you.

 Chapter 913 Defiance Is My Way.

    <h4>Chapter 913 Defiance Is My Way.</h4>


    The pack leader sniffed the air with his wet ck nose. Then he said, "I smell an Omega."


    He turned to them and asked, "Are you the Omega?''


    Legion-6 nodded calmly.


    "You look like an Omega. You are not suppressed by me. And it seems you are also stupid. You are not afraid of me. I smell no fear in you. Instead, I smell a determination to fight. Your body reeks of it. Do you think you can fight me? Should I teach you fear?"


    Legion-6 panicked then.


    "It seems that things are about to go bad." He thought to himself. "Either way, I will not go out without a fight."


    Death is sure if they fight. That''s what he believes. But he is not so outssed that he won''t fight. He can deal a blow to the pack leader at the cost of his life. And he could be wrong about the certainty of death. But if he doesn''t fight, he will never find out.


    He is in fight mode but he made sure to remain calm. He bowed and said to the pack leader, "Myck of fear for you doesn''t change your might and power. I am an Omega. Defiance is my way."


    The pack leader stopped looking at him intensely. He turned to the two Betas and said to them, "Speak."


    "We were stationed at the entrance of the Underdark watching for the escaped mate of the dishonorable pack leader when he suddenly came out of the entrance. We examined him and questioned him. He told us that he is an Omega that got lost. He was lucky enough to find the blood trails left behind by the mate. It is from a wound we made on her back. Our Alpha instructed us to bring him to you."


    The pack leader then returned his attention to Legion-6. He began to examine the youngling intensely. The silence continued for a minute before he spoke.


    "What''s your name?" He asked Legion-6.


    Legion-6 coughed to clear his throat before answering. "I don''t have one."


    He didn''t cough because he was intimidated. He wanted to lie and make something up but instincts told him that doing so would be very bad for him. There is something about the piercing gaze of the park leader that tells him that it will be a bad idea to lie. He has to either speak the truth or don''t speak at all.


    The truth is that he doesn''t have a name that people call him and he is also Legion-6. So he chose the harmless but still truthful answer.


    The park leader asked another question. "Why are your teeth, horns, and ws ck?"


    Again Legion-6 carefully chose the truth that he replied with. "I was born this way."


    He didn''t say that he doesn''t know because he does know. His teeth, horns, and ws are ck because of his divine ability. The Warrogs that he knows have these features too. ck teeth and ws are the signs of paragons. Their fur might be different but those body parts are always the same. They are always ck.


    So it should be obvious to any Warrog why he has ck ones. But the fact that he hasn''t seen any other Warrog with them and the pack leader asking him means it is odd here and that he has to be careful of what he says about it.


    "Hmm." The pack leader said nomittally.


    Silence descended heavily on them since no one was talking. The Betas aren''t saying anything and the park leader is just content with ring at him menacingly. The silence is double ufortable due to his difficulty in breathing. If not for his vitality core, then he will be tackling suffocation with the ufortable silence.


    Then the park leader nodded. "You are wee to the Iron Fur pack. I give you this permission as the pack leader of the tribe. I know you are on a pilgrimage and you want to indenture yourself to the totem of the pack but I can''t give you that permission."


    "I want another Omega in the pack especially since the shaman is bing old. But the right to indenture yourself to the totem can only be given by the Shaman. I am sure you know this. After all, you are an Omega too and defiance is your way." The pack leader said with a sneer.


    "I understand and I appreciate you giving me the chance."


    "I hope for your sake and mine that you have something worthy prepared. Do you have something worthy prepared?"


    "Yes, I do," Legion-6 replied in affirmation.


    "Good. That''s good." The park leader nodded. "I hope you gain a name soon. It will be a pleasure to give you one if the ancestors don''t."


    Then he said to the Betas, "Take him to the Shaman and return to your post. Tell your Alpha, Tesrat, that I will send someone to rece her squad and she should see me immediately after she returns to the valley."


    The pack leader left them after giving his instructions. He began to ascend the mountain while the Betas took him to the Shaman. The shaman is still close by so they didn''t need to go far to look for him. The shaman was sitting by the bonfire when they got to him.


    He noticed something about the shaman when he got closer to him. There are a lot of tattoos on the body of the shaman. They are both on his skin and fur. The tattoos don''t have any special or meaningful shape. The only odd thing about them is that they are the same color as the smears on the white totem pir.


    The tattoos are like someone scattered red paint all over the fur. Some of the tattoos are circr. Most of them have irregr shapes and none of them are squarish with straight lines as edges. They have no rhyme or purpose. But there is some beauty in their randomness.

 Chapter 914 Blow Your Mind.

    <h4>Chapter 914 Blow Your Mind.</h4>


    "The pack leader said we should bring this Omega to you. He wants to indenture himself to our totem." One of Betas said.


    Then the two of them left him with the old Warrog.


    "So you want to indenture yourself to my totem pole?" The shaman asked him with his divine sense.


    He replied. "Yes. It will be an honor."


    Actually, he doesn''t want to indenture himself to some totem of some weak backward pack but he has to in order to keep up his cover. He is not like other Omegas. He is strong enough on his own and he has thew of ughter within his divine ability which he is intimately familiar with so he doesn''t need the assistance of a totem.


    The old Warrog spit into the fire. Then he grumbled and said grumpily, "I don''t care if you will be honored or not. You have to be very convincing or I won''t allow you to indenture here. You will have to look for other tribes if you disappoint me. I don''t care that I am old and dying or that this pack needs a recement, you better do a good job of convincing me or I will reject your request."


    ''Grumpy old coot that is already one foot into the door of death.'' Legion-6 grumbled inwardly.


    The Shaman can grumble and so can he. But he can''t grumble outwardly or it will severely hurt his chances of getting an agreement from the old coot.


    Omegas are like that. They are stubborn and don''t like to listen to anyone. It is why the pack leader cannot order the shaman to ept him despite being stronger than the shaman. The way Omegas interact with others is different from the way Alphas and Betas interact. It is by mutual agreement, not a show of force. No one can order them around.


    He thought to himself in resignation. "If I were in the ne I was supposed to be in, I wouldn''t have to go through all of this. I wouldn''t have to beg to indenture myself."


    He said to the Shaman, "I am sure we cane to an agreement."


    The Shaman warned him, "We better do. Or no indenture for you."


    An indenture is a process whereby an Omega forms a bond with the totem of a pack. Omegas are exiled from their pack so they can''t form connections with the totem of their pack. They have to look for someone else to allow them to form a connection. Hence the need for a pilgrimage.


    Binding to a totem is not a frivolous endeavor done out of reverence or culture. Everything that doesn''t give you strength or power is frivolous. Omegas are capable of enhancing their mental prowess with totems. So Omegas be more powerful when they bond with a totem. The bigger and older the totem, the more power they get from the connection.


    In the situation where a pack doesn''t have a totem, an Omega can start one with them. The sacrifices and burials made to the totem will strengthen it. So a new totem cannotpare with an old one with a long history of sacrifices and burials.


    Omegas don''t need a pack to make sacrifices. They can hunt on their own and strengthen their totems with what they kill. But a single person cannotpare to the power of a pack. The manpower of a pack will speed up the rate at which the totem is strengthened. So an already-established totem with a pack is always preferred.


    But old and powerful totems with the support of arge tribe aren''t just lying about waiting for someone to bond with them. It is highly likely that someone is already in control of it. New Omegas need the permission of the Omega in control of the totem to agree to share their power. So they must have something to convince the one in control.


    "I have something here that will surely impress you. I dare say that it will blow your mind." Legion-6 told the old Omega.


    The Shaman scoffed. "I doubt that. I very much doubt that. I have lived a very long and fulfilling life. I have seen a lot of things. Things that you have never seen or heard of. It will be very difficult for you, a youngling, to impress me. As for blowing my mind, it is almost impossible for you to do so. My spirit is reinforced by the spirits of more than ten thousand ancestors. My mind cannot be blown literally or metaphorically. I will eat sand if you... If you... If..."


    The Shaman''s words caught in his throat when he saw what was in Legion-6''s wed hands. His eyes boggled and his words caught in his throat. He swallowed before speaking.


    "Am I seeing things?" The shaman struggled to ask.


    Legion-6 smirked. "What do you think?"


    He is holding a small whirlwind in the palm of his hand. It is a spell created by manipting wind. Its authenticity can be easily verified by sensing with the divine sense that the shaman has. So the shaman should be able to know what he is doing and that it is real.


    "I think it is real. I also think it is very possible. But it is highly unlikely. So it is more likely that I am hallucinating. I am old after all. Yes. That''s it. I am hallucinating."


    "Stop messing around and tell me what you think."


    The Shaman came to his senses. Then he asked, "Where did you get this?"


    "I found the spell parchment in the Underdark." He lied.


    He can lie to the Shaman. The shaman is not a Mana entity with a weird intuition for sensing truths and lies. So he can lie. He chose to use a spell to dazzle the Shaman due to his observation of the Warrogs of this ne in the short period that he has encountered them and from the things he has heard from the Betas.

 Chapter 915 The Totem.

    <h4>Chapter 915 The Totem.</h4>


    He has seen enough of the Warrogs to know that they don''t have spell legacies. They haven''t studied the intricate control of mana. Their society is still at the tribalistic stage. He decided to use a spell to impress the old Warrog. It seems he was right.


    Most races that delve into spell crafting have arge poption of Mana entities. Mana entities are close enough to Mana and can perceive it better to know that it can be used for much more than strengthening the body. They will then make research into magic to strengthen the soul which will also benefit Vitality core stage refiners.


    Vitality core refiners have limited lifespan, Mana perception, and spiritual resources to create spells. They are like the Shaman here. They will get old before they can make meaningful progress in the development of spells. This bes doubly difficult if they don''t have a writtennguage and a method of knowledge preservation.


    He has only seen one Mana entity from amongst the poption of more than ten thousand so Mana entities must be rare around here. Warrogs aren''t also good with spells because they don''t need them. Their divine ability makes magic useless to them. So he made the conjecture that spells are rare here. The way the shaman was surprised by his disy confirmed his conjecture.


    So he lied about where he got the spell. It will otherwise blow the Shaman''s mind if he hears that it is a simple ything that he came up with just now. Someone who has mastered severalws, who has wielded world power, who has created a concept, and who has a fragment of an eternal soul cannot have difficultying up with a whirlwind spell. Someone like that also doesn''t need a totem but someone like that has to act like they need one to avoid suspicion. Besides, joining a pack will give him benefits in knowledge and manpower.


    "You''ve been to the Underdark?" The Shaman asked in disbelief.


    He said proudly, "Yes, I have."


    "You must be one lucky Omega. And you even brought back up a spell. I wish I had half your luck."


    Legion-6 wants to know what makes the Underdark so terrifying but he curbed his curiosity.


    He said to the shaman. "You can also try your luck and go to the Underdark. You never know if you''re lucky enough until you test your luck."


    The shamanughed. Then he smiled and said, "Alright. I find you very convincing. Show me the spell information and I''ll give you ess to the totem."


    Legion-6 smiled too. "That''s not how this will work old man. You add me to the totem first and I''ll give you the spell. Note that I have nothing on me. So the spell is in my head. This is the only way you will get the spell. That is unless you n to take a trip to the Underdark and test your luck as I suggested."


    The shaman''s smile broadened. "Good youngling. You''re not as naive as you look. But see, there''s a problem with that arrangement, what if you give me fake information and I can''t cast the spell? What do I do then? You would have cheated a weak and nearly senile old man. That''s too bad."


    Legion-6 rolled his eyes. "You will have to take the gamble old man."


    The Shaman shook his head. He doesn''t n to cheat Legion-6. He would have allowed him to gain ess to the totem after verifying the spell. But that would have taken time. Legion-6''s way involves a gamble. It is a gamble that he is willing to take. He is not insulted or feels disrespected that Legion-6 doesn''t trust him. Omegas are like that. They trust no one but themselves.


    So he said, "Go ahead. And be quick about it."


    The shaman urged him so Legion-6 extended his divine sense to the white pir. He let his mind touch the totem. Then he ventured into it with his divine sense when he didn''t face any resistance.


    His divine sense met with an ocean of spiritual energy. Within that ocean are several little stars. The inside of the totem is like a dark night with the atmosphere made of spiritual energy that can be felt. The little stars flow about in this ocean of spiritual energy like a school of fish or a swarm of fireflies.


    There are tworge stars within this school of fish. They produce light that overshadows the light of the other little fireflies. One of the stars is the connection of the Shaman. This connection has a swarm of tiny lights revolving around it. There are many more tiny lights in this dark world but the little swarm around the star is the limit of what the shaman can handle.


    The other star is the connection of the pack leader to the totem. There are no swarms around the star of the park leader. It is because the park leader gains his empowerment as a paragon from the living while Omegas gain empowerment from the dead.


    "So these are the so-called ancestors." He thought in wonder.


    The little stars are what''s left of the warriors that are buried within the totem. They won''t empower an Alpha of Alphas. But the presence of the star of the pack leader gives him the right to deny the admission of some people both living and dead to the totem. That''s why it is important for the pack leader to grant warriors the right to honorable burials or they won''t be able to rest with their ancestors.


    If the pack leader doesn''t agree then the remnant of the warrior will not be epted into the totem. This right is of no consequence to the dead. The dead don''t care if they are buried or not. It is the shaman that this restriction impacts the most. After all, the shaman is the one who needs more remnants of the dead to gain power. A limit on his supply of those remnants will affect him negatively to arge extent.

 Chapter 916 A New Name.

    <h4>Chapter 916 A New Name.</h4>


    Despite the Shaman beingrgely autonomous, he has to do some of the things that the pack leader asks for in order to remain useful to the pack. The shaman must be valuable to the pack. Give and take must ur between the two parties or the pack leader will begin to oppose the Shaman in every way.


    The pack leader doesn''t gain anything from the little lights but he has more control over them than the Shaman. This is because the little lights are remnants of warriors and warriors always listen to the pack leader. In this way, the pack leader will be able to affect the source of power of the Shaman to arge extent if he is dissatisfied with the Shaman.


    "This can be considered a symbiotic rtionship between the paragons and the pack," Legion-6 said in understanding.


    "Will my presence here be weed?" He asked. Then he smiled. "I can onlye back and teach them a lesson if it is not."


    So the totem is amon ground for cooperation between an Omega and the pack. The totem belongs to the pack and can strengthen an Omega, so an Omega has to work for the pack. Legion-6 is now joining this cooperation. The two of them, both the pack leader and the Shaman can work against him now. They can refuse his attempt to bond with the totem pole but he has their permission so everything went smoothly.


    If his spirit is strong enough, he can overwhelm their resistance and add himself to the totem forcefully. It just so happens that his spirit is strong enough. Fortunately, he doesn''t need to. It is both for his good and for theirs that he doesn''t need to force his way into the totem.


    He let his spiritual energy flow into the totem through his divine sense. There was no pushback so a third giant star appeared within the totem pole. Many little lights flocked to the new star. They swarmed around it and began rotating around it. His star became a whirlpool that is sucking in all the stars. The stars aren''t resisting either. They are rushing towards his star eagerly.


    "Whoa, easy there," he thought to himself when he noticed that almost every little star in the totem wanted to start rushing in the direction of the new star.


    He can allow all of them toe but that will show more than necessary of his capabilities. He will infringe on the benefits of the Shaman if he reduces the number of lights rotating around the Shaman''s star and he will also make the pack leader suspect him of being more than what he seems.


    So he reduced the strength of his soul even further. This cut down his influence in the totem. The whirlpool around his star settled down immediately. The fuss around his connection died down. The number of lights that swarmed his star is about half of the Shaman''s.


    The little lights swarmed his connection the way that flies are attracted to light. They came because he is living so he can supply them with spiritual energy. But his spiritual energy also attracts them to him because he is an Omega. The little lights circled his connection excitedly as they guzzled on his spiritual energy in exchange for granting him power. They whispered a single word to him.


    "Ragnarok! Ragnarok! Ragnarok!"


    They repeated it again and again. It is what they are calling him. His soul is so strong that he can end their world within the totem by attracting them and pulling them out of the totem. So they called him world ender. He can end their world by wishing to.


    The Shaman said to him, "I see that you have been named. Congrattions."


    He smiled and replied, "It is a pretty good name."


    The name pleases him.


    "Good for you." Then he urged Legion-6 again. "Hurry up and give me the spell."


    "Here you go, old man." He said and passed the spell framework to the shaman through the divine sense.


    The Shaman became lost in thought. His eyes became unfocused for a while. Ragnarok used the time to observe the changes that forming the connection with the totem has made to him. The little lights didn''t make his soul stronger but they increased the malleability of his spirit. He has be capable of creating more Mana threads for lesser spiritual power.


    His soul is very strong but he has to limit how much of it he can use currently. If he couldn''t perfectly control his soul then his body would be pressured by the burden of an overpowered soul and explode. The limit he put on his soul also affects how well he can control Mana.


    Mana is not controlled as a whole entity. A point of contact is made between Mana and the divine sense. This creates a single thread of control. Many people can create many threads at once. They will just have poorer control the more threads that they create.


    So there is a choice to be made between the quantity of threads and the quality of threads. He can create 10 threads of Mana that he can create perfectly. Any more than that and he will start to lose control or risk breaking the limit he ced on his soul. But the influence of the little lights helps him to maintain perfect control for up to 20 threads without burdening his body.


    It is a significant improvement that will improve his spellcasting. The cost is the spiritual energy that the little lights are siphoning from him. He has a lot of spiritual energy so he doesn''t mind the loss. It is a worthy exchange for more power.


    He was brought out of his musing when he heard the sighing of the old shaman.


    Ragnarok thought to himself, "It seems he is done assessing the spell. I wonder if he will know that it is a fake spell."

 Chapter 917 Country Bumpkin.

    <h4>Chapter 917 Country Bumpkin.</h4>


    If the Shaman is not familiar with spells, then he should not be able to tell functioning ones apart from defective ones. That''s what Legion-6 thought when he gave the Shaman a faulty frame for the spell. The spell looks authentic but it can''t be cast.


    A little spell like that is nothing to Legion-6 so he should be able to give it away. But the fact that he should and can doesn''t mean he will. They are two separate things. It is in his nature to always maximize benefits. The right to indenture himself to the totem is not enough benefits to grant the Shaman a working spell.


    He thought to himself in amusement, "It doesn''t matter if he can tell it is fake or not. I will deny it if he says it is fake. He can''t do anything either way. I have already bonded with the totem."


    "So. How was it?" He asked the Shaman.


    "It was enlightening. It was very enlightening. I can''t cast it yet but I can tell that it is very profound. It has also answered some of the questions that I have about the life-giving energy around us. I am in awe of this spellwork. It is really beautiful to look at." The shaman praised it.


    Ragnarok resisted the urge to roll his eyes or make fun of the old shaman. The best way to describe the Shaman right now is a vige boy who is seeing a city for the first time in his life. The worst way is that the Shaman is an uncivilized person seeing ss for the first time and marveling at it.


    He doesn''t even know that the ss is faulty and might break any moment. The broken ss can cut the Shaman and make him bleed just like the faulty spell can cause a bacsh on his mind if he tries to cast it. Legion-6 might be the only Shaman of the pack if that happens. That event will surely maximize the benefits of indenturing to the totem.


    He thought to himself without shame or guilt, "It will be an unlucky mishap that has nothing to do with me. If anything, the Shaman will have me to thank for the life lesson of not messing around with spells of unknown origin. I am generous that way."


    This is a lesson that is inevitable in the endeavor to discover the power of spells and when researching spells. He is not going to deprive the Shaman of that lesson by giving him a functioning spell. That''s just cruel.


    He did not make fun of the Shaman. Instead, he asked about something more important. "Why is there nothing like the spell above ground?"


    The shaman sighed again. This time he sighed in sorrow. He became silent before answering the question. "It wasn''t like this in the past. There are some stories and myths that tell of a grand and prosperous time for Warrogs. In those times, Warrogs roamed thends with impunity. Warrogs piged and burned however they wished. We had a great civilization back then. It was full of powerful emperors that threatened to take over the world. We were prosperous."


    The Shaman became silent again. A look of nostalgia appeared on his old, wrinkled, and tattooed face.


    "What happened?" Ragnarok asked impatiently.


    "We fought the tree people and we lost. Our race fell from grace. It is said that we were also cursed. No one knows what really happened. But the tree people who defeated us are still present in the world. They have spells like the one you showed me but they prevent such knowledge from getting into our hands. Our race is being oppressed. Only the emergence of an emperor can save us."


    The shamanpsed into another fit of mncholy.


    He roused the shaman again with another question. "Then why is the spell in the Underdark? Shouldn''t it be above the ground?"


    He was the one who lied about finding the spell underground but the Shaman is the one that believed him. The Shaman even rationalized that the spell must belong to the tree people. He wants to know why something that belongs to the tree people should be in the Underdark.


    The Shaman shook his head before replying, "You''re so young. I should tell you our tales and myths before I die so that you can pass them on to the next generation. As Omegas, we are free from the conflict between packs, so it is our job to be historians. We are to save our stories and history so that they won''t die out."


    "So why is the spell in the Underdark?" He asked again.


    "Youth and impatience. I was once impatient too. Those were decades ago. I have be subdued and old now. Time has not been kind to me. If only I could break through to the next stage. I would be able to prolong my life. Unfortunately, I am too old. Death ising for me soon. I will never..."


    It was Ragnarok''s turn to sigh. He asked for the third time, "So why is the spell in the Underdark?"


    The Shaman tsked. "I envy your youth. The tree people that defeated us have a terrible power. Some say that it came from a great artifact and others say a great being granted them the power. Either way, that power is great and precious. It caused a rift between the tree people. They were undecided on how they should use it so they divided. Some of them went to live underground."


    "The underground used to flourish too but it was hit by a terrible cmity hundreds of years ago. The underground civilization has long since be a ce of taboo and perilous danger. The spell you found is probably from one of the tree people that went to live underground."


    The shaman sighed again. Ragnarok didn''t bother him anymore since he has gotten the answer he wanted. He began to ruminate on the things he learned.


    "It is certain that the underground is dangerous. I felt it. But what can make an entire underground civilization be a taboo?" He asked himself."

 Chapter 918 No One Is Special.

    <h4>Chapter 918 No One Is Special.</h4>


    "Those tree people are also elves. The way that the shaman described them looks very simr to elves. So some elves went underground because of some great power. What is this great power? I should find out since I don''t really have any priorities."


    He has been going with the flow since he reincarnated. It is necessary for one to be flexible and adaptable in a strange unknown environment to survive. He went with the flow and he will continue to go with the flow because he doesn''t have any major aim apart from bing an origin God again.


    He reincarnated for the purpose of understanding the secret of the power of paragons. That is something he can achieve by simply being alive. Then he will be an Origin god if it bes necessary to add the power of paragons to the repertoire of Legion in order to achieve perfection.


    This great power that the elves have is a good distraction that might benefit him or Legion so he wants to find out. He also wants to know why there is a red circr object with a demonic influence blocking the sun.


    "There''s also the constant feeling that someone is watching me. I must get to the bottom of that." He told himself.


    He first had the feeling of being watched as soon as he was born. That feeling hasn''t disappeared. He has a very strong perception so he should be able to tell if he is being watched with a divine sense but he can''t feel the fluctuations of any divine sense locked onto him.


    The fact that he is unable to pinpoint who is spying on him cannot be good. He is being constantly spied on so his situation is not safe at all. As if that isn''t enough, the fact that he can''t determine how he is being spied on indicates that whoever is doing the spying is stronger than him. That means the spy is at the Origin god level at the least.


    "It is just one problem after the other." He thought to himself.


    The shaman said to him, "Come to think of it. It is said in those stories that the ancient Emperors had ck horns, ck teeth, and ck ws."


    Ragnarok replied by pointing at himself. "You mean like my own?"


    He first expressed shock. Then his expression changed to that of excitement. He asked in excitement, "Do you think I am special? Do you think I can be an emperor too?"


    His questions cracked the shaman up. The old coot beganughing. He even hit his thigh and held his stomach as heughed wholeheartedly. Ragnarok put up an insulted expression.


    "What is so funny?" He asked sullenly.


    The shaman wiped away tears from his eyes. "Oh, youth." He said wistfully.


    "Stop saying that." Ragnarok insisted.


    "I have to say that. What other reason is there for you to think that you can be an emperor? It has to be youthful innocence and confidence. Your ck horns don''t make you special. No one is special."


    "Oh, youth." The shaman said again to spite Ragnarok.


    "It isn''t that funny."


    "Everyone thinks they are special and meant for great things when they are young. So in a way, you are not even special in having false confidence." The shaman said then he began to roar inughter again.


    Ragnarok sat on a log by the fire. He looked pissed off but he isn''t. He knows he is special. He just doesn''t want others to know that. But one has to be smart about how to hide. Sometimes, hiding something in the open is better hidden than some secret location.


    That''s why he didn''t reject the Shaman''s suspicions about the color of his horns. Instead, he acted like a hopeful and naive youth who doesn''t know the danger he is in. His im that he might be special became ridiculous. The fact that he confirmed the suspicion reduced the authenticity of the suspicion.


    The shamanughed his old heart out. Then he became serious. "You are officially a shaman now. I will teach you the ways of a shaman. You must have felt the boost from the totem. It is truly something, isn''t it?"


    Ragnarok replied with false excitement, "It is wonderful. I have never felt so powerful."


    The Shaman nodded in pride. "The totem just got bigger today. I can''t even use its full capabilities. It is because Sauron sessfully annexed another tribe. The fusion of totems is a boon to me and you."


    "It is truly a boon. This way, we won''t be weaker than Alphas." Ragnarok agreed. Then he said, "I heard about the recent fight. It was a fight to the death because the pack leader of the other tribe was dishonorable."


    The shaman''s face darkened. He said seriously, "Don''t always believe what you hear. Nothing is as it seems on the surface."


    His interest became piqued immediately. He asked, "Why don''t you enlighten me? What really happened?"


    "I will. After all, it is something that you should know as a new Shaman of the pack. It all has to do with the political situation of this mountain range we live on. There are 11rge packs in total living on this mountain range. The iron fur pack that we are part of is just one of therge packs."


    The shaman began exining the situation of the pack and the mountain range. Sauron, the park leader of the iron fur park is young and ambitious. He just reced his father as the pack leader. It was an amicable session. His father got old and sacrificed himself willingly to the tribe''s totem to strengthen the pack.


    Sauron took over the park but he wasn''t satisfied. He wanted to empower himself further by annexing another park and increasing both the living space and the poption of his pack. That made him target the sharp tooth pack.


    -----


    A/N: This is the bonus chapter for reaching the 250 golden tickets contribution goal. Thank you very much for your support.

 Chapter 919 The Art Of War: Warrog Edition.

    <h4>Chapter 919 The Art Of War: Warrog Edition.</h4>


    The conflict between the Iron Fur and the sharp tooth pack didn''t start and end in a single day. It has been going on for a long time. In that period of time, Sauron had been using some less-than-honorable tactics to weaken the sharp tooth tribe. They are tactics that is usually frowned upon.


    He would ambush their warriors when they went out to hunt. He didn''t attack them personally so that it wouldn''t be considered bullying but he made the warriors of the iron pack attack those of the sharp tooth without any reason. They attacked and killed the paragons of the sharp tooth pack without being officially at war with them.


    Those preemptive strikes caught the sharp tooth pack off guard. They couldn''t defend themselves against the sudden attack. This way, Sauron reduced the manpower of the sharp tooth pack and also weakened their pack leader.


    A paragon gets a boost based on the number of connections that they have. For Warrogs, Betas are at the bottom of thedder, they don''t get any boost. Alphas get a boost from the amount of Betas that they can subjugate and control while the Alpha of Alphas gets stronger the more people are in the pack.


    It doesn''t matter if they are nameless, Betas, or Alphas. They will strengthen the pack leader as long as they are part of the pack. This is how it is for other races too except that Paragons only awaken at the Mana entity stage. It is different for Warrogs because they have a method to forcefully awaken their divine ability. So to weaken a pack leader, you just have to use the method to weaken any paragon. Which is reducing the poption under their control.


    Warrogs are honorable to a certain degree. No one touches the Nameless. The nameless are the normal Warrogs. They haven''t awakened their divine ability yet, so they don''t have names. They are identified through scent and physical features. It is only when a Warrog awakens that they are given a name. A name has toe from a superior so it cane from an Alpha, the pack leader, a Shaman, or the totem pole.


    Awakening as a warrior and getting a name is a glorious thing. But as long as you don''t have a name, you won''t be targeted by the conflicts of the hierarchy or between packs. It is, as they say, The Nameless Are meless. That means that Sauron had to target the warriors if it wanted to weaken the park leader of the sharp tooth pack. Even he is not as dishonorable as to attack the Nameless.


    His shameless but logical tactics bore fruit. It was a sort of siege on the sharp tooth pack. They couldn''t hunt without being attacked. The pack leader of the sharp tooth pack wasn''t foolish. He recognized what was going on and he tried to make a full fight ur between both packs but Sauron wasn''t willing to see that happen.


    Sauron refused to have a full battle between both packs. The only choice the pack leader had was to either go and attack Sauron in the location of the iron fur pack or personally lead his warriors to hunt. Sauron will have to face him if he wants to attack his warriors.


    The pack leader of the sharp tooth pack took thetter option. He led his warriors out to hunt. That was his preferred option because the iron fur pack is located up the mountain while his park is located at the foot of the mountain. He would be at a disadvantage in terrain if he attacked the iron fur pack.


    The pack leader of the sharp tooth pack took his warrior out to hunt but Sauron wasn''t stumped. He descended the mountain and attacked the valley where the sharp tooth pack was located. Sauron didn''t kill or harm any nameless. He killed only the Paragons still in the settlement. The pack leader''s pregnant mates like Ragnarok''s mother Cuthalin were also present but Sauron didn''t touch them either. He only killed the guards and warriors left in the valley.


    Sauron yed ording to the rules but he was shameless about it. No one can say that he was dishonorable. He made sure to follow the rules of war between packs. He didn''t touch the nameless.


    But the pack leader of the sharp tooth pack didn''t think so. A lot of his sons and new Paragons were killed that day. They were too young and weak to hunt. They still needed training before they could control their beast form properly so the pack leader left them back at the settlement where they should have been safe.


    Ragnarok''s father thought they would be safe. They ought to be safe in their own house but Sauron killed them. He killed them despite their young age because they were Paragons. Sauron had been killing the current generation of warriors before but that wasn''t enough for him. He turned his attention to the future generation too. That was the straw that broke the camel''s back.


    The pack leader of the sharp tooth pack took his hungry and angry warriors on a crusade. He ascended the mountain and assaulted the iron fur pack. He wouldn''t take no for an answer this time. He took the fight to them after being harassed for so long. It became a do-or-die affair. He wanted a fight even if it was a bad idea.


    He was going to pige and burn no matter what Sauron thought of it. So Sauron had to fight. They fought a bloody battle at the gate of the iron fur''s pack. The sharp tooth pack was incensed with righteous anger while the iron fur had arger number of warriors and most importantly, they were well-fed warriors The oue of the fight was set in stone.


    Sauron won the sh easily. He defeated the pack leader and chased the sharp tooth pack down the mountain. The defeated park leader was supposed to admit defeat but he refused. He didn''t give the order to surrender and until he dies, his orders must be obeyed. He himself escaped so Sauron gave chase.

 Chapter 920 Potential For Greatness.

    <h4>Chapter 920 Potential For Greatness.</h4>


    The battle continued on while the mates of the defeated pack leader escaped for their lives. Sauron failed to kill the park leader. He then sent his warriors after the escaped mates with the intention of wiping out the descendants of the former park leader of the sharp tooth pack.


    Ragnarok thought to himself in jest, "Fortunately, my father had the good sense to run. He may be weak, but he knows how to escape well enough or I wouldn''t be born."


    Sauron would have surely caught up to Cuthalin had he chased her himself. Then Ragnarok wouldn''t have been born at all. Fortunately, pack leaders aren''t meant to do menial tasks like hunting weak targets or hunting in general.


    The Hunt for Cuthalin and the other mates was a move born out of anger. Sauron just wanted to punish the pack leader by killing his loved ones. He wasn''t going to chase after them himself.


    He couldn''t chase after them even if he wanted to. His father and his father''s mates ran in different directions. Sauron surely couldn''t split himself to chase after all of them. So he sent his warriors after them. Even then, it was too much for his mother to bear. Things could have beenpletely different had Sauron not been preupied with hunting his escaped father.


    The shaman said after he was done with the story, "So you see. Everything is not as it seems. The dishonorable pack leader was very emotional and very angry. He couldn''t let Sauron have the remnants of his pack after what Sauron did. He was dishonorable but Sauron was shameful. I would have probably behaved the same way if I were in his shoes. The loss of a child is a painful thing to a father."


    Ragnarok nodded in understanding. Then he looked up the mountain and asked. "Are you really sure you should be saying this in public like this? The pack leader might not like it if he hears."


    The shamanughed again. "What? Are you saying that I should be afraid that Sauron will get angry? I know Sauron very well. I was there when he was born. I gave him his name when he awakened."


    "Oh, so you are very close to the pack leader."


    "I am close but I am not saying that my familiarity with Sauron will save me from his wrath. I am saying that I know Sauron enough to know that he won''t get angry because of what I just did. If he hears us talking about it, he will onlyugh in amusement."


    "He willugh?" Ragnarok asked with a strange expression.


    "Yes, he will justugh. Do you know why?"


    Ragnarok shook his head in reply.


    "It is because Sauron understands that victory and power are above all else. What does reputation mean? What is it worth when you''re weak? Can reputation save you or make you stronger? Maybe it might. But one thing is sure, strength is strength and power is power no matter where you get it from or how you got it. He won and now he is stronger for it. His pack expanded to almost double."


    "What about the loser? The loser ran away with its tail between its legs. The loser lost everything. Even the refusal to surrender that he did to spit on Sauron didn''t affect Sauron much. A pack leader gets most of his or her strength from the Nameless. And you saw what happened today too. More warriors were created because the totem is stronger. The spoils go to the victor and the victor writes history. As for the loser, he promised to return for vengeance. Is that really possible now?"


    Ragnarok shook his head. He understands that vengeance is but a wish. It is not a right. Even if it were a right, the world is not obligated to fulfill it for you. No matter the wrong or injustice that you have experienced, you have to bear with it if you are weak.


    Strength is required for everything. The loser needs strength to exert vengeance on Sauron but the possibility of it ever happening has fallen low. The pack leader of the sharp tooth pack couldn''t beat Sauron when he had a pack. How will he do it now without a pack when Sauron has also be two times stronger? Only luck or a miracle can help the loser change the situation.


    Ragnarok agrees with the Outlook of Sauron. The winner takes all while the losers lose everything. Only strength matters. He ate his mother for strength. Things might not have gone well for him had he not eaten his mother. He would have had to crawl slowly across the floor of the tunnel. It would have been very difficult for him to go up the slope of the tunnel with his strength. He ate his mother and he survived. That''s all that matters at the end of the day.


    "Sauron isn''t so bad. He has the potential for greatness. He is just shackled by rules." He thought to himself.


    He admires Sauron a little. The pragmatism he has heard about Sauron is something he finds to be a good character. Of course, whenpared to Sauron, he is more evil. He and Sauron are not the same.


    He would have killed everyone be they Nameless or not if he could get away with it. He would have killed his father if he wanted the position of pack leader instead of waiting for him to get old. Sauron is not bad. But he cannot eat his own mother for power like Ragnarok did. It is because Sauron still cares about the rules of society.


    He thought to himself, "Rules are for the weak. They are meant to corral the sheep into a herd. The strong on the other hand stand above rules and the society. Those who allow rules to shackle themselves are still weak. Sauron needs to learn that or he will forever remain weak. The unwillingness to do anything for power will not make him great."

 Chapter 921 Two Sides Of The Same Coin.

    <h4>Chapter 921 Two Sides Of The Same Coin.</h4>


    Ragnarok asked the shaman, "Where are the Omegas in the pack? There should have been one in the sharp tooth pack since they had a totem. But I see only you."


    He is working towards bing the only Shaman in the pack so he wants to know if he will have anypetitors.


    The old shaman replied, "Yes, there was a shaman. She was still in the prime of her life. That is both a good thing and a bad thing. Being young means that she has a lot of potential. But that also made her as naive as a youngling like you."


    Ragnarok rolled his eyes at the subtle remark. He said, "I know what you''re doing old man."


    The old Shaman didn''t address his suspicions. He continued innocently, "She didn''t want to be a part of Sauron''s tribe after the way everything turned out. She said she wasn''tfortable with the way Sauron took the tribe. So she left."


    "I assume that''s why you think she is naive," Ragnarok said.


    "She is a naive fool. She missed out on thebined strength of the totem and braved the wild just because she couldn''t bear to see some bloodshed. Bloodshed is bloodshed no matter how it was carried out and war is war."


    He asked, "So she is gone just like that?"


    "She probably joined another pack. That''s the best thing that can happen to her but there''s no other pack in this mountain range with a totem as strong as ours."


    Ragnarok and the Shaman had a lengthy conversation that day. The old shaman spent the rest of the dim day and many dim days after that inducting the new Omega into the ways of the shaman. It is his duty as the one that allowed Ragnarok to be indentured into the Shaman profession.


    Ragnarok soaked up the teachings and the stories like an eager student. He settled into the tribe easily as the new shaman. He has nowhere he has to be. He is already a paragon so all he needs to do is keep his head low and survive long enough to be an Origin God.


    Unfortunately, things rarely work out the way we want them to. There are dangerous undercurrents in the Lumen ne. Ragnarok''s mere existence added more flux to those dangerous undercurrents. He stayed in the iron fur park silently without causing any trouble or making waves but his mere existence led to changes that he couldn''t foresee.


    The paragon system of Warrogs has a hierarchy. The connection between Warrogs is just a part of their divine ability. But their divine ability has been diluted so they only awaken the paragon part which is based on the connections between each other. Even then, they are not allowed to be transcendents because they will get ess tows and be able to interfere in the workings of their divine ability.


    But that''s just the external problem. It is a problem caused by the wood elves and the fountain of life. The change that Ragnarok caused is an internal problem or maybe it is an opportunity. Only time will tell. He awakened the divine ability of an Omega. That action set other events into motion unbeknownst to him.


    The issue here is that Omegas work together with an Alpha. They don''t work for the alpha, they work together with one. The Alpha leads the living while the Omega leads the dead. So the Alpha and the Omega are opposite sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other in the hierarchy.


    To be precise, he awakened the divine ability of the Executioner. The Executioner is an Omega that acts alone and gains strength from the dead. The corresponding Alpha divine ability is the Emperor. The Emperor is an Alpha who works with an erged pack that can be asrge as the entire race itself and also gains strength from the living.


    Another thing is also known about them, there is always an Emperor for an Executioner and vice versa. It has always been that way in the history of Warrogs. It is just that the Executioners are not well knownpared to the Emperors. As it is, an Executioner has been born, which means that an Emperor must be born too.


    Remnants of dead Paragons can still remain in this world. In a situation where those warriors had faith in a God, those remnants would have gone to the divine kingdom of that God. Those remnants can be empowered by their god to be angels. The Warrogs are able to achieve something close to that to empower themselves because of the spiritual connection that they have with each other.


    This spiritual connection exists on a veryrge scale. It mimics the connection between every being born within the ne and their ne. This connection binds all Warrogs together. The existence of an Executioner creates a void in the hierarchy that must be filled by the connection.


    Ragnarok''s existence evoked the creation of an Emperor just as the dead warriors evoked the activation of the dormant divine ability within other Warrogs. A Warrog fetus somewhere awakened the divine ability of the Emperor. The resistance of thew fragments within the divine ability couldn''t stop the determined will of an entire race.


    Thew of devouring within the fetus became whole again. It was apanied by thew of earth which Emperors have instead of thew of ughter. But things didn''t end there.


    This special event was witnessed by two entities. The first entity is the one that cursed the Warrogs. This entity goes by the title of Fountain of Life. The fountain of life is also the one that was watching Ragnarok.


    Ragnarok has been under its surveince ever since before he was born. This surveince existed even before he was born. The fountain of life has been monitoring him from the very moment he reincarnated into the fetus. He drew the fountain of life''s attention when he began tampering with his divine ability.

 Chapter 922 The Child Of The Lumen Plane.

    The fountain of life doesn''t know that he reincarnated. It only knows that some changes were made to Ragnarok''s divine ability and that he awakened the original one. It doesn''t know that Ragnarok made the changes but such a thing couldn''t escape the notice of the fountain of life. But the fountain of life didn''t do anything about it. The Fountain of Life chose to simply watch.


    The fountain of life is a powerful entity. It is not threatened by Ragnarok despite sensing that he has a very powerful soul. Ragnarok surely has potential but potential doesn''t equate to strength. Potential needs safety and time before it can be Strength. A dead genius is no different from a dead moron.


    The most important reason why the fountain of life chose to abstain from killing Ragnarok for breaking the curse is that it is in a stalemate with the demon God of Carnage and it wants Ragnarok to help it. These are dire times after all.


    The fountain of life doesn''t expect Ragnarok to help out of the good of his heart. From the little it has seen about him, Ragnarok has very little good in his heart. But Ragnarok has to help out of necessity. He has to help or the demon God of Carnage will kill him.


    The demon God of Carnage is not going to target him personally. The aim of the demon God of Carnage to subjugate all life and propagate Carnage endlessly will surely lead to it facing off against Ragnarok. So the Fountain of Life chose to watch instead of taking action to eliminate Ragnarok.


    The fountain of life is so powerful that it has the entirety of the ne under its surveince. So it noticed the creation of an Emperor immediately too. It would have noticed even if it were not that powerful. After all, the curse on the Warrogs has been deactivated twice on the same day. So it noticed this unborn future Emperor. The will of the ne also noticed the creation of the Emperor.


    The will of the ne is the second entity that witnessed the creation of a future Emperor. But unlike the fountain of life who could afford to wait and see, the will of the ne is very desperate and anxious. The will of the ne is being threatened directly by the demon God of Carnage. It is facing an existential crisis because even it, a mere will, is not safe from the hands of a demon God.


    A demon God is a vile universal virus. It will spread and rewrite everything ites into contact with, be it spiritual, elemental, or physical, to create more of itself. The will of a ne is not safe from it either. The will of the ne is connected to every living thing within the ne so the demon God of Carnage can reach it through the living.


    In fact, it has been fighting a losing battle with the demon God of Carnage for hundreds of years now. To a demon God, there''s no better meal than the consciousness of all life within a ne. It is a delicacy to it just as much as the heart of a world or world god is to a Chaos entity.


    The will of the ne was losing at the start of the battle and it is losing faster since the demon God is also simultaneously attacking the living things in the ne while directly attacking its will. The will of the ne can be likened to the ultimate Paragon. It is connected to every living being in the ne. It is unfortunate that it cannot use that strength personally. So it needs a worthy defender that it can bestow its strength to.


    There hasn''t been a worthy target for the position of defender of the ne these past few hundred years. The tree people dominate the ne but they are also the favorite target for the demon God of Carnage.


    The tree people are vulnerable to the sin of Carnage. It will be game over if the will of the ne makes a connection with one of the tree people only for that tree person to be turned into the spawn of the demon God. That will create a direct connection to the will of the ne for the demon God. In summary, that will be the literal end of the ne.


    The will of the ne didn''t have a good choice apart from the tree people. The other races are weaker and don''t have a divine ability. The Warrogs are good but they have been crippled by the fountain of life so they can''t fully utilize the boost from the will of the ne. They still have their connections but the boost will go to waste because there''s nothing to use it for.


    The fountain of life diluted their divine ability with the fragments of thew of life on purpose. It ensured that the will of the ne will not be able to use the Warrogs to fight it. So the Will of the ne didn''t have a good choice that will fully utilize the power of the ne. That changed when Ragnarok appeared.


    The will of the ne would have chosen him immediately if his boost was aligned toward the living, not the dead. The Will of the ne represents the will of the living and the power gained from them. That power would have gone to waste on Ragnarok. But the will of the ne wasn''t disappointed. Another opportunity arose because of Ragnarok and it took it.


    It made sure that Ragnarok''s existence sessfully invoked the creation of a future Emperor despite the resistance of the curse of the fountain of life. This new unborn Emperor is the perfect vessel for its power so the will of the ne selected her.


    The will of the ne selected the Empress as the child of the ne. It created a bond of power with the unborn fetus. It didn''t wait for it to be born before it made the selection. It wasn''t going to leave anything to chance. It also wanted to craft the empress into the perfect weapon to use against the demon god.

 Chapter 923 Changes To The Plane.

    Of course, this impatience drew the attention of a third party. The demon God didn''t notice Ragnarok but it surely noticed this unborn Empress. It is fighting the Will of the ne so it noticed that the movement and actions of the Will of the ne within a living being in the ne. The demon god began to move its forces to eliminate her.


    The will of the ne knew that its activities wouldn''t go without being noticed but it did it anyway. It did it for several reasons. The first reason is the chance to mold the Empress into a bane to Vampires. So it swapped out thew of earth in her divine ability for something more dangerous to Vampires.


    The second reason and the most important one is the supply of infinite energy that the fetus will get through their connection. This will ensure that the fetus grows to its best potential and also speed up the development process. That wouldn''t protect the new child of the ne. After all, potential is not equal to strength.


    So to keep the child of the ne safe, the will of the ne made a deal with the fountain of life. The two of them are enemies normally. The fountain of life is an invader and the will of the ne hates invaders.


    Their enmity is worse because of what the fountain of life is. The Will of the ne has tried to eliminate the fountain of life before and they were still at each other''s throats just before the demon god came to their ne. But the fountain of life epted the deal for the greater good.


    It is good for the fountain of life to have two potential people who can help with the fight against the demon God of Carnage. Besides, it doesn''t hate or want to kill the Will of the ne. It is just defending itself against the attacks of the Will of the ne. If it wanted to, it could have done something worse than cursing the Warrogs.


    The Fountain of Life''s decision to protect the child of the ne led to the mobilization of the tree people. The fountain of life has always had a beneficial rtionship with the tree people. So it got the word out to them about protecting the Warrogs.


    The fountain of life didn''t tell the tree people anything specific since they can be easilypromised by the demon God of Carnage. It only told them to protect the Warrogs but didn''t mention anything about Emperors or Executioners, who they were, or where they were. The fountain of life even sent out its own forces to help out.


    All these changes happened in the ne without Ragnarok noticing. He thinks his reincarnation and birth went smoothly apart from the problem of his dying mother. He thinks he just has to keep his head down and stay low for him to avoid trouble. He is partly right. He will bepletely right if the three main forces in the ne are not aware of his existence and are not interested in him.


    ----


    In a City Controlled by the Tree People.


    This city is called Lush Mountain. It was named so because it was formed by massive evergreen trees that are as tall as mountains. The trees formed a thick forest that has resisted change for millions of years.


    Lush Mountain has been one of the abodes of the tree people since ancient times. They built shelters on the branches of trees and around the trees. None of the trees were removed to create space for the tree people. The tree people lived inplete harmony with their environment so no harm came to the trees.


    Despite the limitations of space due to the size of the trees, the tree people managed to create a sprawling city with high-rise structures. The trees are skyscrapers if one isn''t picky with the term. Roads of vines were formed between trees. There aredders everywhere that were used to reach tall ces for those who can''t fly. As for those that can fly, there is no problem at all with getting anywhere.


    This city is a utopia for the tree people. This utopia was threatened when the sun was blocked. Theck of light and the plummeting temperature threatened to destroy the city. The Vitality of the trees was put to the test.


    The tree people had to do something they hated to do in order to preserve the city. They built a barrier around the city to protect it and created an artificial source of light within the enclosed city to preserve the city.


    The city was saved but the tree people were not happy about it. They were not happy because what they did to save it interfered with the natural order of the world. They had to iste the lush mountain from the rest of the world for their selfishness. It goes against everything that they stand for. They are supposed to be guardians of the forest that maintains the natural order of things. They aren''t supposed to interfere with nature.


    Some might say that they are nitpicking and being hard on themselves. After all, the blockage of the sun is not natural and they are only rectifying the disorder caused by the advent of the demon God. That reasoning elevated the mood of the tree people but it didn''tst long because they had to do more things that they ought not to do in order to preserve the world.


    The lush mountain is not the only forest in danger because of the demon God. Are they to iste the entire ne and create an artificial sun? They refused to do that. So they watched as their beloved trees wilted and died.


    They mourned the loss of their forests as they nted new trees that could survive in the low light and cold temperatures. It was a ne-wide recement of trees. Many tree people cried and mourned the death of so many trees.

 Chapter 924 Shameless Enough.

    <h4>Chapter 924 Shameless Enough.</h4>


    Something as absurd as the death of more than 70% of trees in the ne was never anticipated by the tree people. It is a nightmare for them.


    They realized they were overreacting when the real nightmare came. The spawns of the demon God appeared amongst them. Many of them sumbed to the temptation of power. Most of the spawns appeared from within the dark elves that lived underground. It wasn''t much of a surprise to the wood elves since those elves were already evil.


    It came to them as a shock that some tree elves also sumbed to the whisperings of the demon God. It couldn''t be helped. The tree people are all about bnce and peace but there has to be a ck sheep in a flock of sheep. It is a matter of probability. After all, the dark elves used to be tree people so the tree people can be evil too.


    A nightmare descended on the tree people who are also called wood elves and the dark elves. It led to war, suspicions, hate, and strife that divided the elves for hundreds of years.


    The nightmarested for hundreds of years. Then peace came to the wood elves. The wood elves were able to easily purge the abominations. The sun is blocked but its light still shines on the upper world. It made the upper world not conducive to the abominations. Some of the abominations could go out during the dim day but the fountain of life could always tell where they were hiding in the upper world so they were forced underground where they continued to fester. So the wood elves regained peace.


    This peace which hassted for hundreds of years has finally been disturbed. Something is making the demon God target the upper world again. The fountain of life has informed the council of the leadership of the wood elves about the movements of the abominations. The Fountain of Life also made an absurd request that the wood elves don''t want to do at all.


    ----


    The council of leadership is currently meeting in Lush Mountain. They are meeting to decide their n of action due to the recent developments. Thousands of Sovereigns ofw are attending this meeting. The meeting is taking ce in an open-air za formed by the joining of the ttened branches of numerous trees. The Sovereigns are seated in a circle around the chairman of the council.


    One of the sovereigns asked incredulously, "What did you just say?"


    The representative of the Fountain of Life who also happens to be the chairman of the leadership council replied, "I said that the Fountain of Life asked us to protect the settlements of the Warrogs."


    The distraught Sovereign spoke, "I heard you the first time. I am not deaf and slow of mind. I just wanted to see if you''re shameless enough to repeat such a scandalous request." Then the Sovereign sneered, "It seems you really are shameless. You disgust me."


    The chairman of the council sighed. She is usually not someone that hostility is directed at. She is an impartial party meant to streamline the voting process and make sure that order is kept. She herself can''t vote. She is the representative of the fountain of life so it can''t be seen that she is being biased or trying to put in motions that favor the fountain of life.


    The wood elves respect the fountain of life. They have a lot to be thankful to the fountain of life for. The fountain of life helped them when they were weak and allowed them to survive and even be the overlords of the ne. But some of their awe and respect have diminished the stronger they have be. It doesn''t help that the recent generation of wood elves has not met or seen the fountain of life in millions of years.


    The absence of the fountain of life has not made it a myth. There are records and memories of the fountain of life in their bloodlines. There is also the historical civil war of the tree people caused by the blessing of the fountain of life. So it is certain that the fountain of life existed. What they aren''t sure about is its current situation.


    The fountain of life might be weak now or even dead. At least, those are one of the reasons they came up with for its prolonged absence. It should have be an Origin god after such a long time. Maybe it died during the tribtion or at the tower of heaven. Or maybe is has be an origin God and left the ne so there''s no reason to fear it within the ne.


    Only the representatives of the fountain of life im to remain in contact with it. But that doesn''t help the situation. It has alienated the representatives. After all, what could be so special about them that the fountain of life will only reveal itself to them and not to the rest of the wood elves?


    The representatives of the Fountain of Life also have wings. They are not bird wings with feathers but scaled bat wings. Wood elves don''t have wings so it has further set the representatives apart from the others. The only respect that the wood elves have for the fountain of life is the respect ingrained in them due to their bloodline. But that respect cannotpare with the hatred that they have for the Warrogs.


    The Warrogs terrorized the tree people. They ate everything both trees and tree people alike. They even ate non-living things too. They destroyed everything wherever they went. The days of the world wars were the worst times for the tree people. It took all they had not to wipe out that race once and for all. Some of them wanted to wipe out the Warrogs. It caused a lot of arguments and bitterness among the tree people.


    The ones that wanted to wipe out the Warrogs left at the end of the civil war to leave underground. The remaining tree people on the surface are the ones that held to the values that made the fountain of life choose them in the ce. They settled themselves to be content with crippling the Warrogs.


    But now the fountain of life wants them to also protect the Warrogs. It is like asking them to throw a party for someone who murdered their parents and siblings. It is utterly shameless to ask them to do that.

 Chapter 925 Kill The Warrogs.

    <h4>Chapter 925 Kill The Warrogs.</h4>


    So the Sovereigns refused toply with the request of the fountain of life. They shouted and disagreed en mass. The za became rowdy and noisy despite the usual calm disposition of wood elves.


    The representative of the fountain of life remained silent and bore the criticism. It turned out to be a good idea. The sovereigns stopped shouting when they got no response from her.


    So someone asked her, "Why does the Fountain of Life want us to protect the Warrogs? Surely there must be a valid reason for this absurd request."


    She answered, "The spawns of the demon God areing to the surface and they will target the Warrogs. They cannot turn the Warrogs but they can feed on them to strengthen themselves. Protecting the Warrogs is in our interest."


    They understand her reason and they also expect it because they know why the suggestion is a good one. But they made her say it so that they could propose a more pleasant alternative that could achieve the same thing.


    Another sovereign said, "We know that the spawns feed on all life and are strengthened by the feeding. Why don''t we get rid of all the Warrogs? That way, the spawns of the demon God won''t be able to get to them and use them against us."


    That''s what they want. Rather than spend time and effort to protect the Warrogs, they prefer to get rid of the Warrogs once and for all.


    The representative sighed and asked. "What about the other races in the ne? Do we also get rid of them or are we to only eliminate the Warrogs? Is that what we are now? Are we butchers? I thought we were guardians. Isn''t it our job to protect and to maintain the natural order of life? What will separate us from the dark elves if we start killing wantonly?"


    They couldn''t answer her. Her questions made them feel deeply ashamed. They hate the Warrogs a lot but they are not killers. They would like to visit pain on the Warrogs for the loss of many trees bonded to them but they are not the dark elves. They are wood elves and they respect all life.


    They agree with her but that doesn''t mean that they will protect the Warrogs. She has only convinced them not to kill the Warrogs. She still has a lot to do if she wants to convince them to protect their hated enemies. So the argument continued for a long while after that.


    Even after they agreed to protect the Warrogs, they didn''t do it to the best of their abilities. They were negligent. Their negligence allowed the following events to ur.


    --------


    100 Years After The Birth Of Ragnarok. The Rising Mountain Range.


    The Rising Mountain Range is a geographical feature formed with several mountains joined at the edges in a continuous linkage. It is the location of one of the settlements of the Warrogs. Specifically, it is also where Ragnarok is staying. This mountain range is currently home to 2 tribes. They used to be 11 but they became just 2 today.


    Ragnarok stood on top of a peak. There is a very tall white pir behind him while there is arge poption of Warrogs beneath him. The white pir is stained with red marks and blotches. It has grown taller over the years just as the Warrog poption has increased.


    His eyes roamed the scenery of the mountain range. He found Warrogs everywhere he looked. All these Warrogs belong to the iron fur pack. A single pack has erged so much that they upy the entirety of the mountain.


    "There must be at least a million of them." He said to himself.


    The iron fur pack has annexed most of the other packs and they have also subdued the environment to make it more suitable for living. Just today, Sauron defeated another pack leaving just one other one. The poption of the pack has ballooned from 10,000 that it was a hundred years ago to about 1 million now. That is remarkable growth.


    The sess of the iron fur pack is partly due to Sauron and partly due to Ragnarok who is the current and only Shaman of the pack. The previous Shaman grew senile and mad in his old age. Then he didn''t wake up one day. They found blood running down his nose. It was a tragic death. But the old shaman wasn''t missed.


    It is disputable if Ragnarok is solely to thank for the prosperity of the pack, but the changes to the environment are mostly due to him. He has achieved things that the old shaman didn''t. No one misses the old shaman because of it.


    Someone called to Ragnarok from behind him. "Shaman Chief, there are some warriors here for your blessings."


    He replied without turning back. "I will be there soon."


    The acolyte that called for him nodded and stood waiting patiently.


    Ragnarok continued to look at the changes to the environment. He can see tall structures built out of hewn rocks. These are used as houses for the pack members. It is an upgrade from the usual cave living conditions of the past.


    There are other developments, mostly based on the use of rocks as building material for a lot of things. Warrogscked tools and methods to work rock and create things out of rocks. But that has changed thanks to him. They have furniture, utensils, weapons, and tools made with rocks now.


    All these changes urred in thest hundred years because of the "Shaman Chief."


    "Shaman Chief." He thought to himself with a chuckle.


    It is a title that belongs to him automatically since he is the only Shaman of the pack. That was also when the iron fur pack began its meteoric rise. Both the pack leader and the Shaman were ambitious so they worked together and brought glory to the pack.


    The pack has changed a lot and so has he. He is not a vitality core stage refiner anymore. He has made the leap to be a Mana entity.


    -------


    A/N: Bonus chapter for reaching the 500 power stones voting goal. Let''s see if we can reach 300 golden tickets before the month ends.

 Chapter 926 Strength Is Supreme.

    ?


    It was a matter of course for him to be a mana entity but it was considered a momentous achievement by the Warrogs. A party was even thrown for him. Itsted 7 days and 7 nights. He managed not to snicker, sneer, or mock them through the period of festivities.


    "Only strength is supreme."


    He doesn''t care about the respect and adoration of the Iron Fur pack. All he cares about is his strength. Bing a mana entity is not enough for him to be content or happy about. The only thing about him that impresses him is his divine ability.


    The vitality core within him has erged and be a ck ball with 9 spikes. He is bigger and taller now. He reaches over 4 meters tall when standing. That is the height of Aeternus and Soverickbined.


    His white fur is marked with some red tattoos. One of the horns on his head ispletely red. All in all, he looks like a tribalistic Shaman of a backward race.


    The changes he has undergone are much deeper than that. Soverick has be the child of the ne so he has unlimited ess to Mana and origin energy. The tree father has also awakened so he has ess to divine life energy. Mana and Origin energy is currently not useful to him. Divine life energy on the other hand is a blessing to him.


    His divine ability has awakened officially when he became a Mana entity. Its current ability is to devour living things or the flesh of living things to empower him. He hasn''t had many opportunities to use it because his preferred targets are Mana entities and Mana entities are very rare toe across.


    Vitality core refiners don''t even add 1 stat to him anymore if he eats one whole. Mana entities are the next best thing that eating will grant him power. But the only Mana entities around here are pack leaders. They are rare and he can''t eat them.


    A shaman can have a problem with a pack leader and even fight one to the death but that shaman has to give the pack leader an honorable burial unless the pack leader has broken some rules and is dishonorable.


    Pack leaders rarely fight. And even when they do, they rarely kill each other. A pack leader can surrender when it bes obvious that they are going to die if they don''t. Their life will be preserved if they do so.


    Pack leaders uphold the customs and rules of the society. They will surely be noticed if they go missing. It will also be very weird if he is picking fights with pack leaders for no reason, kills them, and then eats them. It will draw the attention of the overlords of the ne to himself if he acts out of ce.


    So all in all, he has not had the chance to taste a Mana entity. But he has been able to strengthen himself through other methods. The first one and his best method is divine life energy.


    Helios could absorb Mana to grow stronger and then use life energy to break his limits. As for him, he cannot absorb Mana, but he doesn''t have any limit at all. He can continue to grow stronger and stronger the more he eats.


    Divine life energy is easily absorbed by his divine ability and turned into power for him. Unfortunately, the tree father doesn''t have infinite divine life energy. The tree father needs faith to create divine life energy and faith is finite.


    He is also not the only clone that needs divine life energy. Legion-7 is currently the one that needs it the most. He needs it or he might die. So Ragnarok has to limit how much divine life energy he uses and look for an alternative to strengthen himself.


    He turned to the normal way that the shamans use to strengthen themselves. Omegas use thew of ughter in their divine ability to strengthen themselves. That also involves killing. But killing anything will work. They use what they kill to form power tattoos.


    These power tattoos are the red tattoos on his body. That''s why they say Omegas empower themselves with the dead. The red tattoos empower the Omega just like the connection that an Alpha of Alphas forms with the park empowers them.


    He empowered himself and also learned more about his environment. He learned of the numerous problems facing him. He is now sure that the object covering the sun is a demon God.


    He doesn''t know the exact demon God but he knows that his situation is not good at all. He is yet to have a solution to that problem but that''s understandable. There''s nothing he can do against a demon God right now. He needs a lot more strength to be anything more than a bug to a demon God.


    He also learned about the oppression of the Warrogs by the wood elves. He learned about the bitter and violent history between the two races so he understands why the Warrogs are being controlled and manipted.


    This mountain range is one of the scattered settlements of Warrogs. There is arge distance between each settlement. It ensures that the Warrogs are scattered and can''tmunicate with each other. If they can''tmunicate with each other then they won''t be able tobine their strength either.


    His search into the methods that the wood elves use to control the Warrogs also led to the suspicious weakening of the divine ability of the Warrogs.


    He thought the presence of the fragments of thew of life within his divine ability was a personal and singr situation. But he has not seen or heard of any other Warrogs with the ability to eat things and grow stronger from it.


    So he is rtively confident that the Warrogs have suffered a cmity and that it probably has something to do with the curse inflicted on them by the wood elves. And he is also sure that he is the only paragon with the full divine ability of Warrogs.

 Chapter 927 Slow And Steady.

    ?


    There are a lot of things that he isn''t sure about yet. He thinks it is the demon God that is watching him but he isn''t sure yet. He also doesn''t know what makes the Underdark so terrifying. There have been a lot of rumors and scattered stories about some beasts or undead but nothing urate has been determined.


    Reliable information about the Underdark is rare because there is no witness who has seen the terrifying beasts and the fact that it has been hundreds of years since they werest sighted. Warrogs have a low lifespan of 200 years without bing mana entities and they have no record-keeping system. They don''t even have writtennguage. So most of their history has been lost or reduced to tales.


    "Slow and steady wins the race." He said to encourage himself.


    He would like to go all out on a killing spree to strengthen himself. He is not one to be subdued for so long, but he has to show restraint in this uncertain environment. The nail that stands out gets hammered. He doesn''t want to get hammered especially when he doesn''t need strength urgently.


    There are a lot of forces and powers that he doesn''t know or understand so he shouldn''t risk danger for quick strength. It is better to grow steadily while being rtively unknown. What he knows is already enough danger to him much less the unknown.


    So he held his impulse to kill despite the daily ravings of his stomach. He doesn''t need the story about the tree people eliminating suspiciously violent Warrogs to control himself. He is not a beast that can''t control his instincts and impulses. The fact that he can''t go about killing and eating any pack leader has only made him more cautious.


    "Alright. Who is here to be blessed?" He asked the acolyte.


    "It is Warrior Tesrat and her squad." The acolyte replied respectfully.


    He nodded and turned towards the totem pir. The totem pir has be almost a hundred meters tall now due to the additions over the years. It has also be a lot more powerful than it used to be. It was moved to this peak so that everyone in therge area of the park could see it.


    He would like to use it for his own purposes but he isn''t strong enough to handle Sauron yet. He has to be able to fend off Sauron if he wants to tamper with the spiritual foundation of the park. Sauron will definitely want his head for what he wants to do with the totem.


    He gave it one final nce before he turned away. He went on a path that led to his abode on the peak. There is a shelter made of felt, wood, and rocks at the end of the path. It is a tribalistic-lookingrge structure adorned with several animal bones.


    It is a grand structure of opulence in this pack. That''s what other Warrogs think of it. He can''t disagree with them more. He thinks the only thing right about his abode is that it isrge enough to contain him. As for it being luxurious, it is far from it. It cannotpare to the luxury of Helios''s life as the son of a god.


    Some people are waiting for him outside the shelter. They are all Betas and they are about 10 in number. They all bowed wordlessly as he passed by. None of them met his eyes or dared to look at him for too long. They fear him for his power. But they also revere him for his position as Shaman.


    That makes two very important reasons to respect him. He ignored them and entered his abode. It was after he was gone that they raised their heads.


    There are three people waiting for him in the shelter. They are seated in the visitor seats. One of them is a female. She is bigger than the two male Betas sitting beside her. She smiled when she saw him. All three of them stood up to wee him.


    "Wee, chief shaman Ragnarok." She bowed in greeting.


    The other two also bowed.


    He said to them, "Wee to my humble abode. Please take a seat."


    They sat down and he sat too. Sheughed and said, "You''re a big shot now. I remember the day I found you at the entrance of the Underdark. You have be so strong and influential right now."


    He nodded in agreement. "Yes. How time flies."


    "I remember you were so small that I could smack you around. I did smack you and you almost fell. You were that small Omega Warrog that was lucky enough to survive the Underdark."


    Then sheughed and said, "Now you''re twice as tall as me. I can''t try to smack you around anymore. I will fail at it and might get smacked around for my impudence instead."


    He is truly taller than her. She used to be the one that towered over him back then. A single p of her hand on his back made him stumble back then. He might just break her back if he subjects her to the same treatment now.


    He smiled too, "You have also be stronger."


    She shook her head wistfully. "I have be stronger but not as much as you."


    She has increased the number of Betas in her squad to 12. That''s twice as many as her previous amount of Betas. She has be almost 2 times stronger than she was. It is a significant amount of improvement but itcks whenpared to him.


    What she knows about his strength already outsses hers. And he was just a youngling when she found him a hundred years ago.


    He encouraged her. "At least you''re still alive and you still have more good years left. You too can be an Alpha of Alphas. It is just a matter of time if you continue to work hard."


    He advised her like a good shaman would. It is his job and he is very good at it.

 Chapter 928 The Calamity That Is Sauron.

    ?


    He is not just saying useless words for encouragement. Tesrat has be older but she still has at least 50 years to try and coerce her cells to switch to metabolizing Mana for vitality. She is still alive and it is better than what some get. Sauron has been fighting a lot of wars these years so a lot of warriors from the original Iron Fur pack have died. It is a boon that she still has her life ahead of her.


    "Yes, I suppose you''re right. But what are the chances of me bing an Alpha of Alphas?" She asked.


    He replied, "It is very high if you ask me. You have shown progression all these years. You haven''t stagnated so there is still hope for you."


    His reply made her sigh. She understands that life is precious because she has lost many Betas over the years. But things are not looking good for her. She is getting close to death and her situation will only get slightly better even if she bes a Mana entity. Sure she will get more lifespan but she will be expelled from the pack too. Sauron is not willing to share his pack with another leader so he has not taken a second inmand.


    Any new Alpha of Alphas from the pack is free to challenge him for the position of pack leader or just leave the pack with their life. But Sauron is constantly expanding and taking every good ce avable on the mountain range. New Alpha of Alphas have to go to unsafe ces to start their own pack. It is not a good prospect for her or a good encouragement for her to be a Mana entity.


    "Who can live as an Alpha of Alphas under the shadow of Sauron?" Shemented.


    Ragnarok didn''t reply. His silence made her chuckle deprecatingly. She thought to herself, "You bear part of the me for the current situation."


    She thinks Ragnarok is also to me for the current unptable situation for new Alphas of Alphas. But she didn''t dare voice her thoughts.


    Sauron has be a hegemon in the surroundings. The iron fur pack is an overlord and their chief shaman is someone that other Omegas are begging to teach them. Sometimes she thinks it will be better if she stays a member of this pack because she doesn''t want to be an enemy of this pack. She has seen what happens to the enemies of the Iron Fur pack over the years.


    He looked at the pile of animals by the side and spoke, "So you''re here for your blessing. Have you decided on which one you want?"


    She replied. "Yes. We want the 13 protective charms, 1 healing blessing, and 12 power charms."


    "That will cost you 27 offerings. As an old friend, I''ll make it 25 offerings. I will also throw in a free power charm for you toplete the blessings for your squad." He told her.


    She smiled and said, "Thank you so much, Chief Ragnarok. You''re a lifesaver."


    He waved away her praises, "Don''t worry about it. What are friends for?"


    She told him why she wanted his blessings. "One of my Beta is injured. He broke an arm. He can heal it but we don''t want to risk it. The charms are for each of us."


    He nodded in understanding. "Bring the one that needs healing first. Then everyone should take turns"


    The animals in the pile are offerings for him. They are in exchange for his blessings. His blessings have be quite popr all around the mountain range for their power and usefulness. It is one of the major reasons for the strength of the iron fur pack.


    Sauron is very strong. He has no match throughout the mountain range but Sauron is only one person. He is the backbone of the tribe but he can''t be everywhere at once. The strength of his warriors is also very important. Ragnarok has managed to double the strength of the warriors and effectively double the strength of the tribe. Even Sauron himselfes for the blessings.


    It is the job of the shaman to strengthen the warriors but the other shamans are not like him. They only offer a single blessing which is the power tattoo. They bestow it upon warriors using the dead prey that they bring as offerings. Those power tattoos are permanent but they cost two offerings for a single one.


    A warrior will need at least 10 power tattoos before they can experience a significant increase in strength. That means a warrior will need 20 offerings for them to see a 1% increase in their power. They will need exponentially more offerings to gain more power. The amount of offerings needed might be higher than that depending on the skill of the Shaman.


    As for him, there are several blessings that he offers. There is the healing blessing which is just a healing spell. Warrogs have very strong regeneration abilities. They can heal broken limbs but they cannot regrow severed limbs. His healing spell can heal detached limbs as long as they are rejoined and he can heal almost every sickness so it is very popr.


    There are other blessings like the protective charms which is just a tool that creates a protective barrier for a short while. It is from a simple barrier spell but the Warrogs don''t know it. They think it is a divine blessing since it can block any type of attack.


    The power charm is another consumable tool that empowers its users for a limited time. He used a wind spell which makes the user faster. Its users experience a sudden boost to their speed so it gives an illusion that they are stronger. They attack faster and move faster due to the spell. Hence, they believe that gained extra power.


    Ragnarok thought to himself in ridicule, "Sometimes, being among ignorant people isn''t such a bad experience. I can sell them off and they won''t even have an inkling of it."

 Chapter 929 The Terror Of Ragnarok.

    ?


    Thest charm is the body armor charm created with an earthen armor spell. It creates a thickyer of earth around its users that can protect them from physical blows and adverse physical conditions.


    Speed is reduced but this body armor charmsts until it is destroyed as opposed to the temporary protective charm. An Alpha has used it to survive the anger of a pack leader before. That was the moment that his name began to terrorize the mountain range.


    All four of his blessings are very powerful since he is a Mana entity so it is like a cheat for vitality core stage refiners to have. So they are very popr. They are also very rare and precious since he is the only one capable of making them.


    Many Omegas want to learn from him and many park leaders think about him and dread the day they will have to fight the iron fur pack. His blessings make it so that an Alpha can contend with a pack leader for a short while or decimate other Alphas. They also make Sauron a tiger that has grown wings.


    His charms and blessings are not free. They each cost a single offering. It is very cheap considering their power but he makes up for it by making the charms temporary. That means that the Warriors keeping back for more. They use the charms for more than fighting and hunting.


    The charms have increased the survivability of the Warrogs and helped them to clear out previously uninhabitable locations. It is why the Warrogs are already all over the mountain range.


    Dangerous heights, unstable footholds, and fragile ice grounds have stopped being a barrier to expansion. It allowed the poption of the park to expand and also increased the demand for his charms.


    The Warrogs of Tesrat''s squad approached him one by one for their blessings. They remained bowed as they approached him. He is already much taller than them without them bowing. Lowering their heads has made them much smaller to him. Fortunately, he is sitting while attending to them so he doesn''t need to bend to put his hands on them.


    He healed the first one with the broken arm. The injured Beta can heal it on its own but it will take time. She will lose her strength and the amount of prey that she can get in that period of time. Her injury will make her be a burden on her squad since they have to take care of her during that time.


    But a healing spell is quick and cheap so they came to him for it. By making healing cheap, it has be essible to everyone so even the weak nameless which are the bulk of the poption of the park can afford to pay him for his services. That way, he uses the entire manpower of the tribe to hunt for him.


    Then he gave each of them their charms. He did so by drawing a remnant of a warrior from the totem pir and fixing it on the warrior''s fur. Then he infused the remnant with his spiritual energy in the specific structure of the spell that he is casting. The spell became infused in the remnant and can be activated with a thought by the warrior.


    All it costs for him to bestow a blessing is his spiritual energy which he has a lot of because of his powerful soul. The remnant of the warrior is not even used up. It returns to the totem pir after the spell it holds is used up. All he does is cast the spell and receive an offering for each cast. It is a massively profitable business for him.


    He didn''t teach the Shamans that came to him to learn. They came with what they considered precious knowledge and information but he doesn''t care about those. He doesn''t even value the spells and they were effectively created by an Origin god. What can they possibly produce in this stunted environment that can impress him?


    The only thing he cares about right now is that he has a monopoly. He aims to keep things that way. Virtually nothing the Warrogs can give him can convince him otherwise.


    Tesraly said to him after he was done. "Thank you for the blessings, Shaman Ragnarok. We will leave now. Have a nice day."


    "You too. Good hunting."


    "Good hunting." She said and bowed again before she left with her squad.


    They left with 2 offerings since he reduced how much they had to pay by 2. He became alone in the shelter after she left. So he turned his attention towards the pile of offerings. The red horn on his head glowed bright red. Then it turned to dust. The red dust blew around him with the wind. It formed a trail of red dust in the air.


    The red dust rotated idly around in the air but his body was already reacting to the release of his ughter anchor. The red tattoos on his body turned to dust too. They joined the trail of red dust in the air. The red dust trail has be a small cloud of red dust now.


    Then he redirected it towards the pile of offerings. The red cloud moved swiftly and pounced on the dead bodies. They consumed the offering down to the bone. Even the bones disappeared too after a while.


    The red cloud became bigger after extracting the death essence from the offering. He made it return to his body. The red cloud swarmed him but didn''t consume him. They turned into the numerous red tattoos on his body. His red horn has also reappeared in its rightful ce.


    The whole red cloud is something that all Omegas have. It is the activated manifestation of the power tattoos. An Omega gains strength from the dead and from killing. They use a part of their body as the anchor for the power that they gain from killing.

 Chapter 930 Hard Work And Diligence.

    ?


    This anchor is the point of connection between the Omega and the essence of death that they take. The anchor also prevents the Omega from being overwhelmed by the death essence. He used one of his horns because it is a manifestation of his divine ability. The horn contains somew fragments of thew of ughter so it is a very good anchor for the death essence.


    Thew of ughter is the orthodoxw that empowers through killing. So using his horn allowed the efficient extraction of death essence. In other words, he gets more power from each dead thing. It goes well with the fact that he doesn''t have a limit on the amount of death essence that he can handle.


    He felt the changes to his body andmented silently, "It added less than 0.5% boost."


    He shook his head. "It is too little. But little at a time makes big."


    Then he looked in the direction of the totem. "Of course, big at a time is always best. Saving little at a time cannotpare to stealing someone else''s savings."


    He has his eyes on the totem. Other shamans improve their capacity for death essence by using the amplification of the remnants of warriors within the totem pir. The bond with a totem pir strengthens their souls and their anchor but he doesn''t need that.


    In fact, he wants to convert the entire remnants in the totem into death essence and use the whole totem to strengthen himself directly. He is sure he can handle it just as he is sure that Sauron will want his head if he tampers with the totem.


    Omegas gain death essence from any dead thing. It can be what they killed or what someone else kills. It is always best to be what they killed personally and the extraction should be done immediately after death.


    But Omegas have limited power and time. It is more efficient to use the entire manpower of a pack to hunt for you. That''s why he blesses the pack in exchange for offerings. It is even better to use the thousands of years of umtion of several packs contained within a totem pir to make death essence. Unfortunately, that is a no-go for him as of now.


    He chuckled to himself. "I will do it or my name isn''t Ragnarok."


    Other shamans can''t do this because they are not strong enough to pull out the remnants from the totem for their use. They also don''t have the capacity to take advantage of therge amount of remnants in the totem even if they can. He can but he wants to make sure that the boost he gets from it will make him strong enough to handle Sauron if he does it. Because there is no going back once it is done.


    As for now, his stats are like this.


    NAME: RAGNAROK (Legion-6)


    RACE: WARROG


    BLOODLINE: Unknown Royal bloodline.


    TITLE: CHILD OF THE VIRUT PLANE.


    POWER LEVEL (BODY): Mana Body (98% Conversion)


    POWER LEVEL (SOUL): Soul Reformation (Complete)


    PHYSIQUE: Body ofw(Iplete)


    HP: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    ENERGY LEVEL (BODY ): Mana


    ENERGY LEVEL (SOUL): Spiritual Energy


    VITALITY: 2072


    ENDURANCE: 1934


    STRENGTH: 1792


    AGILITY: 2102


    POWER (DEATH ESSENCE): 2,660%


    PERCEPTION: 1,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 2000


    LIMITER (BODY): 70%


    LIMITER (SOUL): 0.000001%


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 100(B)


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 55%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): LIFE (DIVINE), DEVOUR (DIVINE), SLAUGHTER (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Healthy


    The normal limit for Mana entities is 1,000 stats. He has broken that limit a long time ago. His Mana affinity increased from 35% to 55% because of his breakthrough into Mana entity. His spirit was also able to expand to twice the normal level because of his strong body. But the most important change to him as a Mana entity is the new POWER stat. It is a stat that is limited to only paragons.


    It is the representation of the amplification that they possess due to their connections. This amplification is in the percentage and it can be used on any one stat at any point in time. His stat is from death essence so it can''t be used to boost his Vitality and to improve his spirit.


    Death essence can''t heal wounds so it can''t be used to speed up his Vitality. His spirit is also required to control and restrain death essence so that he is not consumed by it. So his spirit is exempted from the amplification too.


    These limitations are only applied to him and other Omegas. Alphas and Alpha of Alphas don''t have these limitations. They get their POWER boost from the living so their boost can amplify every stat that they have.


    He sighed and said to himself. "I have more work to do."


    Then he called to the acolyte waiting outside. "Bring in more people."


    There are always more people who want his blessings. They form a long line of people waiting along the path that leads up to his abode from the foot of the mountain to the peak. Each person has at least one offering for him.


    It is a constant and steady supply of prey and power for himself. He has acquired a 2,660% boost because of his efforts these past few years. He only stops asionally during the day to take breaks.


    The breaks are for him to rest and recover his spiritual energy. He doesn''t actually need the breaks. Spiritual energy is a low-level type of soul energy. The rate at which his soul regenerates it is faster than he can use it. So he doesn''t need breaks. But it will be odd to others if he is constantly making blessings without taking any breaks.


    The acolyte brought in the next batch of people and he blessed them. This went on throughout the day and even into the night. He doesn''t need to sleep so he doesn''t close for the night. It is not suspicious for a Mana entity to not sleep so he gets away with it. He has worked constantly like this for decades umting strength.


    ------


    A/N: Bonus chapter for reaching the 700 power stones voting goal. I will release an extra chapter tomorrow to thank DOUBLELINE and everyone for their assistance in helping GREED reach top 100 in the golden ticket ranking for the first time.

 Chapter 931 Omega Vs Alpha.

    ?


    A 2,660% boost is something that other Omegas will be proud of. They will marvel that he managed to acquire this much in his lifetime. They might just lose their minds if they know that he aplished this much in less than 100 years.


    Their reaction will be understandable. After all, even with his 81% death essence extraction efficiency, which is very high, he had to extract death essence from approximately 5,000,000 animals. He couldn''t have killed that much on his own even if he was killing at all times. That''s the advantage of having a pack working for you.


    As for other Omegas with lesser extraction efficiency, they will need to kill above 8,000,000 for them to achieve what he has. They can''t achieve it because most of them don''t have arge pack to rely on. It will be a miracle if they achieve what he has achieved in their lifetime of 200 years.


    His arrangement also brings with it several disadvantages. The major disadvantage is the reduction in death essence that he gets from the offering because he didn''t directly kill the animals himself.


    Then there is the further reduction due to the dy in the extraction of death essence. Those he blesses have to wait hours before meeting him and their offering will be long dead even before they bring it to him. This reduced the efficiency of his extraction of death essence to 53.2%.


    The third factor that limits how much power he gets from the offering is their strength. The offerings are at best at the Vitality core stage. He is a Mana entity so their death essence is less useful to him. Mana entities are rare around here so it wouldn''t do if he went to kill on his own.


    All of this reduces the boost he gets from the offerings but it is much better than him hunting himself. Even if he hunts on his own and extracts with the highest efficiency of 81%, he will need to kill 3,280,000 animals to achieve what he has currently achieved.


    That is not efficient at all. Plus he would have drawn the attention of the overlords of the ne if he was responsible for so many deaths. He didn''t do that. He stayed low and worked diligently. His reward for bus diligence is that he can strengthen a single stat to 26 times its original power. That is a tremendous boost. But it isn''t enough for him.


    He is a greedy person. Nothing will be enough for him if he can get more and get away with getting more. But the major reason why his current achievement is not enough for him showed up when it was nightfall.


    He was attending to someone when he felt a tornado of Mana rushing towards him. It brought an ominous feeling as if a disaster is about to strike or that a storm is brewing. He wasn''t rmed by the feeling. He has felt it asionally so he is familiar with it. He calmly finished with the person he is blessing. Then he left his shelter to see his visitor.


    He found the pack leader standing at the edge of his peak overlooking the tribe. His brown fur ruffled silently in the wind. Ragnarok can see that the wind is not ordinary. It is a cyclone of Mana surrounding the pack leader.


    Sauron had his arms folded on his chest like a war god. He is as tall as ever but he hasn''t grown taller over the years. So he and Ragnarok are about the same height now. Ragnarok is not intimidated because of his height anymore but he is still wary of Sauron. Sauron hasn''t grown taller but he has grown much stronger over the years.


    Ragnarok approached him calmly. He greeted him, "Wee to my abode, Pack Leader."


    He didn''t bow in greeting to Sauron. Sauron is much stronger than him for sure. The pack leader has a power boost of at least 10,000% so he can improve a stat by 100 times. That is more than Ragnarok''s boost and his base stat, but that doesn''t mean he has to bow. Technically, they are equals in the hierarchy so there''s no need for a show of deference between them.


    Sauron turned to him and smiled. "My wonderful shaman. You''re my lucky star. Have I ever told you that?"


    "Yes. You say that every time we meet." He replied.


    Sauron nodded. "Yes. I believe that what''s important has to be said repeatedly."


    "I am honored by the high praise."


    Sauron shook his head. "You deserve it. Today''s easy victory is mostly due to you. The Grizzly w pack surrendered very early into the fight. My warriors are stronger than theirs and it became pretty obvious quickly that they would lose if they continued to fight and they would lose badly."


    Ragnarok remained modest. "I am d to hear that. I was only doing what''s best for the pack."


    "Do you know that I didn''t lose a single warrior today? There were some wounded but I didn''t lose a single life. Instead, I gained an entire pack for myself without a single loss. This is all thanks to you." Sauronughed merrily at his sess.


    Ragnarok on the other hand remained stoic. "I was just doing my job. But I appreciate that my efforts have been noticed."


    He was doing his job and it was for his own benefit too. It wouldn''t do for his hunting manpower to be reduced. A fall in the power of the pack means a reduction in the offering brought to him. That is a very important reason to see that the pack prospers. But it still left a bad taste on his tongue.


    His blessings have had a tremendous effect on the iron fur pack. The warriors became stronger and the life expectancy of the nameless grew. The birth rate increased exponentially and the death rate fell precipitously. There was no limit to poption expansion for the pack because the environment became easy to subdue and ovee.


    All of this worked to strengthen both Ragnarok and Sauron over the years. What''s worse is that Sauron got arger boost from it than him. A 10,000% boost is what an Alpha of Alphas gets from a pack that is reaching a million in number.

 Chapter 932 Iron Nail Vs Iron Fur.

    That''s the advantage of the path of the Alphas. It is their reward for the duty of building a settlement for their people and growing the poption. As for Omegas, their path is the killing path. Instead of killing and going on a rampage, he has helped Sauron build his pack. It is the best decision for him but it helped Sauron more than him so it feels like he is working for someone else.


    "This sucks." He thought to himself.


    He wants to go on a rampage. His inner beast wants it too but he knows that he shouldn''t. He is not a fool. Sauron is already powerful like this. If Sauron had his full divine ability then he would be able to break his limit and be much stronger. That means Sauron will go on a rampage. He will begin to kill pack leaders wantonly because it is prey at his level that will strengthen him the most.


    That will in turn raise a red g which will bring the might of the wood elves if noticed. These are the same wood elves that cursed the Warrogs in the first ce. Drawing their attention won''t end well.


    The rules of war and engagement were not initiated by Warrogs. Normal Warrogs are violent. They kill what they defeat. But the wood elves crippled them and also gave them rules that they must abide by. Breaking the rules is an indication that someone is bing violent and needs to be put down.


    So if he doesn''t control his impulse and his yearning for quick strength then he will draw unwanted attention to himself. So he has to suck it up that he helped Sauron to grow stronger more than he helped himself.


    Sauron remained oblivious to his inner thoughts. The pack leader continued speaking but in a more serious tone. "Things have been good for the Iron Fur pack but that ends soon. The next step will be too much to ovee."


    Ragnarok felt the change in the demeanor of the park leader. He asked carefully, "Do you mean the allegiance of the Iron Nail pack?"


    "Yes. The Iron Nail pack is trouble. But that isn''t the only problem that I am facing currently. Even if I defeat the Iron Nail pack, what do I do next? Am I to die as an Alpha of Alphas? I will be dying as a glorious one but is that all I am to amount to?" Sauron asked.


    Ragnarok himself sighed. He doesn''t have an answer to Sauron''s question. The Iron Nail pack is thest remainingrge-scale pack left on the mountain range. It isn''t an ordinary pack. All the pack leaders that Sauron has defeated over the years came together to form an alliance. Park Leaders rarely cooperate because the boost of the park will be shared among the park leaders based on their control and influence.


    Such an arrangement causes a lot of problems in the hierarchy and leadership of the park. It rarely works. But Sauron''s existence has pushed them that far. A worthy threat has brought those defeated park leaders together.


    The other choice is to start anew with a few close friends and families somewhere on the outskirts of the mountain range. They will struggle just to survive. Then Sauron wille and annex them when they get big enough. So they decided to band together now when they still have a meager chance against him.


    Each park leader is not a threat to Sauron individually. After all, he defeated them in the past and they have only be weaker now. But the Iron Nail have quantity on their side. They have more pack leaders in their pack. It is obvious that they came together because of Sauron. They even renamed the pack to Iron Nail. Because an Iron Nail is much harder than iron fur. They are hoping their Iron Nail will pierce the Iron Fur.


    Sauron will not be able to fend all of the pack leaders off in case of conflict. There are more than 10 of them. 5 of them or even 7 can stall Sauron while the others decimate his warriors. So Sauron has to be very ready to make serious losses if he wants to ovee the Iron Nail pack.


    The Iron Nail pack will be very challenging for Sauron to take. At any other time, he will be very excited about the challenge and will be looking forward to victory. But he sees nothing for him after the Iron Nail pack is defeated so he is depressed. Only death awaits him after oveing the Iron Nail pack.


    Sauron is a very ambitious Warrog. He wishes to conquer the entire Mountain range. That is something his father or anyone before him has never done, but that isn''t enough for him. He wants to take a step further and be a transcendent. But he can''t do that because any Warrog that manages to be a transcendent will be hunted and killed by the wood elves. It has happened every time.


    The surveince and investigative methods of the wood elves are unfailing. Any park leader who breaks the rules of warfare several times or who tries to be the next Emperor is killed without fail.


    So Sauron has a tough decision ahead of him. This decision doesn''t have anything to do with the Iron Nail pack. It is whether to be a transcendent or not.


    He might die trying to be a transcendent. If he dies, then all his hard work would have been for nothing. If he bes a transcendent, then the resistance of the Iron Fur pack bes inconsequential. He will be able to defeat them easily. But what next then? How is he to resist the might of an entire race that is much stronger than his?


    That is the conundrum in his heart. He is about to achieve something that no Alpha of Alpha has done. He will soon be the ruler of the whole mountain range. But several Alpha of Alphas have be transcendents before him and none of them have ever survived. If they have, then they are nowhere to be seen.

 Chapter 933 Another Test Subject.

    <h4>Chapter 933 Another Test Subject.</h4>


    Sauron did note tonight for a blessing. He came to talk to Ragnarok about the issue of transcendence. He finds his chief Shaman to be very talented, intelligent, and full of ideas. Maybe Ragnarok can give him advice about what to do.


    As for Ragnarok. He avoided the earnest and expectant look that Sauron was giving him. Even he doesn''t know how he will pull it off. He can''t leave the ne to seek a better situation in the ancient battlefield.


    If he is right, then the Lumen ne has been surrounded and barricaded by a demon God. If that is so, then there''s no going in or out of the ne. Even if that were possible, no clone of Legion woulde here because of the presence of a demon god. This ne is trouble. There is no use sacrificing the whole to save the one. So he is alone.


    Then there is the surveince of the wood elves. His only guess about how to avoid the wood elves right now is the Underdark. If he can ovee the terrifying danger in the Underdark, maybe he will be able to hide from the constant gaze on him and the supervision of the wood elves.


    But he doesn''t know what the danger in the Underdark is yet, so he doesn''t have an inkling how to ovee it. The only other option is to wait for a moment that the wood elves are preupied with the demon God and take advantage of that to hide.


    "What do you think I should do?" Sauron asked him.


    "Your only option is toe to a sort of agreement with the tree people. Everyone wants something. You just have to find out what they want and they might give you what you want in exchange for it." He replied.


    He doesn''t have any good ideas. But that doesn''t mean that he can''t give bad ideas to Sauron. Even if he has good ideas, he will keep them to himself. There''s no way he will give up the opportunity to use Sauron for an experiment on how to avoid the wood elves.


    "That''s a good idea." Sauron brightened when he heard the advice. Then his face fell when he thought about it. "But that will need me to leave my pack and the mountain range."


    The tree people don''te in contact with the Warrogs unless the Warrogs have done something wrong. The tree people will thene to deliver punishment. So if Sauron wants to meet them, he either has to do something wrong or leave the mountain range to meet them. He can''t take his pack with him if he leaves the mountain range. At least not the entirety of it.


    He can take his warriors at most but the bulk of his poption and his strength are the nameless. Someone else can take over the poption he leaves behind and cut off most of his strength. That will leave him weakened and vulnerable. That is not a good state to be in right now considering that he has a lot of enemies.


    That is the problem or disadvantage of the path of Alphas. They are bound to their people so they cannot leave them. Only Omegas can move around unrestrained and unweakened. Alphas have been shackled by their source of power.


    Sauron was contemting his situation when he noticed something abnormal. He sensed that an evil entity had entered his territory. It is a powerful entity too. His gaze locked onto the direction he felt the threat. It is at the entrance of a valley between two mountains. It is the previous location of the now-destroyed Sharp Tooth pack.


    "I have to go now." He said to Ragnarok before he flew into the air.


    "What''s the matter?" Ragnarok asked in confusion.


    "Someone is attacking the park," Sauron replied with a cold gaze and an even colder voice as he sped off.


    Ragnarok watched Sauron fly off. Then the look of confusion on his face turned into a frown. He had noticed the strange entity before Sauron did. It was abination of his intuition and his strong perception. The entity is a threat to him. That''s why his intuition picked up the danger way before his divine sense did.


    What''s more, is that he sensed something evil and familiar from the entity. What he sensed made him frown.


    "This can''t be good." He muttered.


    He looked up at the sky. It is currently night time and the ne is darker than usual. There is a blood-red moon glowing proudly in the sky. There is a demonic influence permeating the ne from the blood-red moon. This influence is alsoing from the direction of the strange entity that has encroached on the territory of the Iron Fur pack.


    Ragnarok''s mind began to work on overdrive to figure out the situation. What he came up with was not good. The situation is not promising at all.


    "I''ll know what it is when I see who it is." He said.


    Then he took to the sky and flew in the direction of the uing conflict. He soon reached the valley. He stopped on top of a mountain beside it and watched the events transpiring below.


    Sauron is in front of the wall blocking the valley. He is in the air looking down on the intruder. As for the intruder, he or she is cloaked in a ck robe. Only their eyes are visible. The eyes that they revealed are red. They shine brightly under the darkness of the hood.


    Ragnarok''s eyes narrowed when he saw the intruder. He eximed, "A true nightwalker. It is a goddamned true nightwalker. This exins a lot."


    He looked up at the moon again. Then he shook his head and said. "I am so screwed."


    What he sensed earlier was the aura of blood and death associated with vampires. But he was wrong. The intruder is not some ordinary vampire. It is a true vampire or what others call an ancestral vampire or a true nightwalker. It is the immortal origin of vampires. It is a primogenitor that can only be created by the demon God of Carnage.


    ------


    A/N: I thank everyone again for your support and appreciation of GREED. This is the bonus chapter I promised.

 Chapter 934 Xigger.

    <h4>Chapter 934 Xigger.</h4>


    That means the demon god blocking the sun is the demon God of Carnage. It is either that or there is another demon God at y here. Either way, he is screwed. It doesn''t matter if there is one or two demon gods. One is more than good enough to squash him. It is like an ant worrying about the number of mountains falling on it. That worry is meaningless.


    He examined the aura of the intruder closely and discovered something strange. "It is weak. It is just a transcendent. It must be a new ancestral vampire."


    A transcendent is a threat to him but it doesn''t change the fact that this ancestral vampire is very weak. The weakest power of an ancestral vampire is transcendence. Even the tree father can create several transcendents to serve him. That doesn''t mean that the potential power of the nt spirits created by the tree father is the same as that of an ancestral vampire.


    Ancestral vampires can reach Origin god or demon king level on their own while the tree nts can only borrow the strength of the tree father to go beyond the level of transcendence.


    What''s more, ancestral vampires can create more of themselves. And they are also immortal. So this weak ancestral vampire must be rtively new for it to be so weak. Probably not more than 10 years old. Vampires get stronger the older they get and the more prey they feed on.


    He said to himself, "There is hope. But it depends on the attitude of the ancestral Vampire."


    The face-off between the intruder and the pack leader continued.


    Sauron yelled at the intruder. "Identify yourself. You''re on the territory of the iron fur pack and you''re not weed."


    He can also sense that the intruder is a transcendent but he isn''t cowered. He is the pack leader so he must uphold the authority thates with his position.


    The intruderughed. "Have you forgotten me, Sauron?"


    That response confused Sauron. He smelled the intruder again and sensed nothing familiar about him or her. He can''t even sense anything apart from blood and death. He racked his brain for when he might have met this person but he can''t remember.


    "Do I know you? Who are you?" Sauron asked.


    The intruder replied. "I am count Xigger. You can call me Emperor Xigger."


    Sauron became shocked when he heard that name. He doesn''t recognize this person but he certainly knows that name. His suspicion was confirmed when the intruder removed the cloak over their head. A hornless Warrog was revealed.


    Sauron recognized the Warrog immediately. The white fur of this Warrog has changed to ck but the horns that he broke are still there. Even the jagged edges of the broken horns are the exact same marks that he caused when broke off the horns during their fight 100 years ago.


    "Xigger. What happened to you?" Sauron asked in surprise.


    It is the Xigger he knows but they are not the same anymore. First, he smells of blood and death. His fur has changed color. His teeth and ws have also changed colors. They are red just like his eyes. Xigger has also lost some weight. He is thinner and his features smoother. Most importantly, he is a transcendent now. Xigger is not the former pack leader of the Sharp Tooth pack anymore. He is an Emperor now.


    Xigger said proudly, "What? Are you surprised? Are you shocked? I am an Emperor now. I shall follow in the footsteps of Emperor Fenrir the greatest emperor. I shall unite the entire Warrog race. Then I shall bring them to victory. But first, I will pay you back for what you did to me."


    Sauron was shocked as he listened. Then he began tough. He raised his mouth to the sky and roared inughter. He finds Xigger''s deration to be very amusing.


    He pointed at Xigger and asked, "You think you''re worthy of walking in the footsteps of the Great Emperor Fenrir? Do you think you can unite the entire race? Do you think you can pay me back for your defeat? You?"


    Then he stoppedughing and shook his head. "No. I don''t think so. You''re too weak to do any of those things. You were a loser back then and you''re a loser now. You may be an Emperor, but you''re the weakest Emperor ever. You''re a disgrace to the great history of Warrogs."


    It is safe to say that that wasn''t the response that Xigger was expecting. His red eyes shed in anger. Then he jumped up at Sauron. He shed at the pack leader with red de-like ws that glowed in the darkness of the night.


    Sauron caught Xigger''s arm with a swift movement. He had a strong hold on the arm such that Xigger couldn''t free his arm no matter how much he tried.


    Then Sauron punched Xigger in the chest.


    Xigger was blown away. It felt like he was struck by an explosion. He was sent flying by a single punch. His chest caved in and erupted out of his back and the ground exploded into a cloud of dust where hended.


    Sauron had a sneer on his face. He threw aside the arm that Xigger left with him. Then he began to transform. His body seemed to balloon in size. His jaw elongated and his limbs bent. He became bent so that he stood on all four limbs. He turned into a nightmarish monster with horns and fangs.


    Xigger stood up from the ground in shock. He couldn''t believe that he was neutralized so easily. There is arge hole in his chest where Sauron struck him. But he wasn''t paying attention to it. His gaze is fixed on the transforming park leader. Besides, the hole is currently healing quickly. It was sealed offpletely by the time Sauron was done unleashing his inner beast.


    Xigger gazed upon Sauron''s new form with a look of shock on his face. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing. This form is muchrger than the one he witnessed 100 years ago.

 Chapter 935 The Pleasure Of Violence.

    <h4>Chapter 935 The Pleasure Of Violence.</h4>


    Xigger asked in shock, "How are you so strong?"


    Sauron''s beast form grinned. It was a feral grin that showed his teeth. All his teeth are sharp canines meant for tearing and only tearing. They sparked like white pearls in his mouth. So his grin sent chills through Xigger.


    Sauron replied, "You''re not the only one that progressed over the years. I have also grown. Though your progress is disappointing."


    He paused to sneer and said, "You look like an emperor but you are not an Emperor at all. You have forsaken what makes us Paragons. You are a disappointment to your race. I will show you the error of your ways. You will not be able to escape today."


    Then Sauron pounced on Xigger. Xigger gave up immediately. He turned to run but it was futile. Sauron caught him quickly and tore into him with his teeth. Xigger was meat and Sauron has many canines. Sauron introduced his teeth to the meat that Xigger is and the expected oue urred. Xigger was torn apart. It wasn''t a fight, or a brawl, or a tussle. It was a one-sided beating.


    It was a beating carried out without an ounce of respect from Sauron. A mana entity dished out disrespectful violence onto a transcendent. He tore Xigger apart limb from limb, again and again, no matter how Xigger regenerated or screamed in pain.


    And Xigger did scream. He screamed at the top of his lungs. It was as if he was being raped. The pain he felt as his existence was vited was too much for him to keep quiet about. Sauron''s teethtched onto his body and ripped it to pieces. Those pieces of his body came together and became whole once again. Only for Sauron to rip them anew.


    And Sauron enjoyed it. He growled and roared in excitement as he demolished his prey. He experienced a feral glee. It is a vestigial effect from the glorious days when Warrogs gained pleasure from violence. Pleasure thrummed through his body in waves. All he wants to do at this point is to rip and tear Xigger forever.


    Ragnarokmented, "So shameful."


    The cry that Xigger made is shameful for an ancestral vampire to make. He has never met an ancestral vampire. They are very rare and highly respected. But most vampires that are not mad are refined and dignified. It is because they were formerly elves.


    Xigger somehow became a vampire but he is putting the race of vampires to shame. No elegant person should scream like that. Xigger ought to bear the pain and suffering like a noble. Instead, he is screaming like some maiden being vited. That makes two races that he is putting to shame. The Vampires and the Warrogs.


    "So he is not a paragon anymore," Ragnarok observed with disappointment.


    Xigger called himself an Emperor earlier. He was wrong to call himself that. The fact that he was a Warrog and now a transcendent doesn''t make him an Emperor. He has be affiliated with death and blood while Emperors need a connection to life. So Xigger doesn''t have any external boost to himself while Sauron with his boost is able to trounce him as a Mana entity.


    Ragnarok wasn''t surprised by the oue of the fight. He was only disappointed. Mana entities have stats between 200 to 1000 while transcendents have stats between 10,000 and 100,000. That means that Xigger is at most 100,000 on a single stat.


    Xigger''s stats are probably lower than that since he is a young ancestral vampire while Sauron has at least 100,000 because of his 10,000% boost. The boost is just the lowest estimate he gave Sauron. If Sauron had a boost a boost of 10,000% and was also a transcendent, then he would be able to swallow Xigger with one bite. That is the power of a true Emperor.


    Ragnarok wasn''t the only one to watch the fight. Many Warrogs were rmed by the screams so they came to watch the show. A crowd formed at the wall of the settlement. They witnessed the debauchery that urred and they cheered for their pack leader. No one cheered for Xigger. Not even his son.


    The regenerative properties of an ancestral vampire worked against Xigger. He didn''t die when his head was crushed. Not even when his head was cut off. He had to be killed again and again before he ran out of blood to regenerate with. His pain was unending.


    Sauron finally killed him after a lengthy session of chopping him up. Xigger turned into ashes and was scattered into the wind. Sauron transformed back into his humanoid form. His body shed mana like putting off a robe. It was to make him lose the body mass he gained when he transformed into his beast form. He assumed his tall and dashing figure again. You wouldn''t suspect that he is capable of turning into a beast.


    Sauron spat on the ashes. He said with a sneer, "What a loser."


    He is actually shocked and surprised by the vitality that Xigger showed. He has never seen something like that. But he can''t disy fear in front of his pack.


    He thought to himself in relief, "Besides, there is nothing more to worry about. He is already dead."


    Then he returned to his peak. He flew up the mountain and away. That marked the end of the fight.


    But Ragnarok didn''t think so. He shook his head and said, "This is far from over."


    They say, when it rains it pours. It is either that this event is a simple and isted event or it means something more. If it means something more, then the woes of the Iron Fur pack are not over. Things are just getting started.


    He looked at the moon again and sighed. "It turns out that the Iron Nail pack is not the only current obstacle and the wood elves are not the only source of trouble in the ne."

 Chapter 936 Seek Greatness.

    <h4>Chapter 936 Seek Greatness.</h4>


    Ragnarok doesn''t think that Xigger will give up. Sauron probably doesn''t know much about Vampires. If he did, then he wouldn''t be so carefree. The iron fur pack has made an enemy of an ancestral vampire. That can''t end well.


    -----


    The Iron Fur pack returned to peace and quiet. They resumed their daily life and were not disturbed for weeks. It was the peace before the storm. Ragnarok thought so and was making preparations for the storm that was toe.


    Meanwhile, violent waves surged beneath the scene. The storm that concerns the Iron Fur pack is focused around the new ancestral vampire that the demon God of Carnage created.


    Somewhere far below in a series of tunnels is a dark cave. This cave is void of life at first nce. There was nothing in the darkness but the smell of death and blood. But if one could see in the dark, then one would see several figures attached to the roof of the cave.


    These figures are upside down with their feet touching the roof. They have dark robes covering their figures and they are unmoving. They attached themselves to the top of the cave because beneath them was a path that passed through the cave. Unaware travelers will pass through the cave ignorant of what hovers above them.


    They could be asleep. That could exin why they are unmoving. Or they could be dead. That can also exin why they are unmoving. These people are both dead and sleeping. They are dead during the day so they sleep during the day. Theye alive at night. And it is almost nighttime. The sun officially set on the surface and it was then that these people awakened. Their eyes opened suddenly to reveal crimson eyes.


    They fell to the ground and righted themselves. Their cloak stayed close to their figures despite the acrobatic spinning they had to do in the air to make their feet touch the ground first. They looked at each other andmunicated wordlessly.


    "There''s only 6 of us."


    "Master isn''t here. It seems he didn''t return yesterday.


    "Where is the master?"


    They are troubled by the fact that their master is not with them. He is usually with them by the time they wake up. Their master doesn''t need sleep as much as they do so he is usually awake by the time that they wake up. They are just new fledglings. Masters don''t usually leave fledglings while they are weak.


    The 6 of them were confused by the absence of their master. Their confusion only increased when one of them fell to the ground. The one that fell began to shake and toss. They jerked around so that their cloak was removed to reveal a Warrog. A blood-red light began to effuse from the Warrog on the ground. The Warrog''s body shifted and changed rapidly. Then the light died down and the figure stood up. It was Xigger that stood up not the one that fell down.


    He said to his fledglings, "We have work to do. Follow me."


    Then he took off. The remaining 5 followed wordlessly after him. They have so many questions but they don''t dare to ask. They used to be Alpha Warrogs so they know the use of discipline and their position in the hierarchy. Bing a vampire spawn has only reinforced the need to strictly follow the protocols of hierarchy.


    Someone higher up the hierarchy in the society of vampires canpel the lower-ranked ones to do their bidding. Xigger is the highest in his lineage. So he canpel everyone in his lineage to do whatever he wishes. That includes using their bodies for his resurrection.


    The 6 figures sped through the tunnels and navigated them with expert precision. They soon reached the surface. They came out through a tunnel very close to a certain mountain range. Xigger didn''t stop there. He has a destination in mind so he went there directly. He used to be a pack leader in this mountain range so he knows his way around.


    "I just need to feed and grow stronger. Then I will be able to beat that Sauron. I have immortality. I can die as many times as needed so I will surely be able to beat him at the end of the day." He said to himself.


    That is his current aim. He wants to grow stronger and revisit the Iron Fur pack. He isn''t going there right now. He will first look for prey to feed on and strengthen himself. Then he will return when he is confident of his capability of exerting revenge.


    A voice spoke to him, "Is this really necessary? You''re the first of your kind. You can do better than this."


    The voice came from within his mind. It wasn''t his inner voice that spoke. It was a different voice from his thoughts. Xigger didn''t flinch. He recognized the voice that spoke to him. It was the same voice that offered him a deal for power when he was at his lowest a few years ago.


    "I have to exact vengeance. I lost everything. I lost my mates and all my children. I lost my pack. I was made to wander the world like a homeless fugitive all because of that dishonorable Sauron. All my loved ones were hunted and killed. He must pay for what he did to me. One as dishonorable as him should not be a pack leader."


    The voice sighed. It said, "Mortals and their stupid aims. You can achieve greatness but you don''t try to. Instead, you cling to the loss of the past. Set your mind upon greatness. Let go of the shackles that bind you."


    "You promised me vengeance." Xigger insisted.


    The voice relented. "Fine. Do whatever you want. Then you must fulfill your portion of our deal."


    Xigger promised. "Don''t worry. I am honorable. I will fulfill my promise."


    The voiceughed. "It''s not like you have a choice. My Will will be done whether you like it or not."

 Chapter 937 No Use For Regret.

    <h4>Chapter 937 No Use For Regret.</h4>


    The Voice in his head dered, "CARNAGE will be made manifest through you regardless of your opinion about it."


    Xigger''s eyes shed with uneasiness. He gritted his teeth in determination.


    "There''s no use regretting now." He told himself.


    "That''s right. Regret is futile at this point." The voice in his head read his thoughts and replied.


    He can''t regret it now. It won''t change anything. He already took the bait of power. It was dangled in front of him at the moment when he needed it the most. He took it and he turned into an ancestral vampire. Now he has to do the bidding of this strange and powerful being.


    It loathed him to be under the control of someone else since he was an Alpha of alphas before. Even worse is that his thoughts are not safe from this entity. But he got the power he wanted and he has not yet taken revenge. So there''s no room for regret yet. Maybe he''ll feel regret after he is done with his revenge.


    Xigger can also read the minds of lesser entities so it is not a surprise that the one that calls himself the Supreme of Carnage can read his mind. That''s just one of the many prices he has to pay for the power that he received.


    Xigger doesn''t have any privacy of thought. His mind can also be tampered with. It is not being done now so that he can maintain his sense of self. But it can be der or when he refuses to fulfill the will of CARNAGE. Any freedom he has now is but an illusion of it.


    "What will do you about your descendant that you sensed?" The voice asked him.


    "I will take him with me and protect him. I don''t know how he managed to survive to this day. But no loved one of mine will ever be in danger again." Xigger promised himself.


    The voice inquired innocently. "What if he doesn''t want toe with an abomination like you?"


    "He doesn''t have a choice. I am his father. Sons listen to their fathers."


    "Hmm. Sons listen to their father." The voice in his headughed and mocked him. "But you don''t look like his father anymore. He certainly wouldn''t recognize you if he had seen you before. You are also not a Warrog anymore. So you would be this strange abomination that wants to kidnap him? Why should he listen to you?"


    "Because I am stronger. He must listen because I am stronger than him. Then he wille with me and I''ll protect him."


    Theughter of the voice in his head increased. It asked him, "How is that different from kidnapping?"


    Xigger became irritated at that point. He is both irritated at himself and at the powerful entity he is enved to. He wanted to say, "I don''t have to exin myself to you."


    But that isn''t true. So he reined in his irritation and he exined, "It is different because I love him and will care for him. I only mean to do him well. My intentions are kind."


    The voice wasn''t satisfied. It continued to needle Xigger. "Is that really good for your son? How will you protect him? The surface belongs to the wood elves and the Underdark is full of bloodthirsty beasts who would like nothing more than to have a taste of fresh meat. And he is fresh meat by the very definition of it. You''re just a weak ancestral vampire. You don''t have the strength to protect him at all. Maybe it is best to leave him alone."


    Xigger screamed inwardly at the voice in his head. "I am not leaving him. If I need strength, then I will find strength. If I need more strength then I will find more strength. That''s all there is to it."


    The voice in his head didn''t get angry. Itughed merrily and loudly. It spoke as it cackled, "This is good. I can use this. It is good that you want strength. Strength can only be acquired through Carnage and bloodletting. The will of CARNAGE will be fulfilled. It seems that your descendant will be useful to me after all."


    Xigger barked at the voice. "You will stay away from him. You promised you wouldn''t touch my descendants."


    "Yes. I promised not to act against your loved ones directly or indirectly. But you don''t have to worry about me. I am not your enemy at all. By the looks of it, I am the only friend and helper you have in the world. Your enemies are around you and you are all alone in the world."


    Xigger snorted and continued his journey.


    The voice spoke to him again. "You have to hurry with whatever you''re going to do. The wood elves have already sensed you. They have sent a contingent towards this mountain range. They seem to be scouts for now. They are few in number. Then again, they don''t need numbers if they have strength. I can''t sense anyone particrly strong but I can''t be sure. The surface is the domain of that God-forsaken White Bitch."


    The voice began to rant. "She can cloak herself and prevent me from sensing her so she might as well be close by silently watching you. Something with so much life should be so obvious to me. It should be like a torch in the dark. Then again, it is entities that have mastered life that can hide themselves very well. I hate that White Bitch."


    Xigger nodded absentmindedly as he listened. He ignored the ranting but he took the warning to heart. He might hate his current situation as a subordinate but he has to admit that his boss is verypetent.


    Warnings like this have saved his life several times. Sauron couldn''t put him down for more than a day but there are others out there in the ne that can put him down for much longer or maybe forever.

 Chapter 938 The Last Bastion Of Resistance.

    <h4>Chapter 938 The Last Bastion Of Resistance.</h4>


    This unseen and unknown white bitch that Xigger has been hearing about can also kill him permanently. Something that can rile up the self-proimed Supreme can not be taken lightly by him. So he has to be very careful.


    The warnings from the voice in his heade in handy for that. Now he knows that the wood elves are already acting against him. He can prepare to either avoid them or fight them.


    If not for the rantings and the feeling of having an unwanted visitor in his mind who can read his thoughts, then his boss would be close to perfect. The usefulness of the warnings overshadows the asional ranting and intrusive thoughts so he will ignore them for now.


    Xigger spent the bulk of the night skulking around the mountain range for prey. He was very disappointed. Most of the mountain range has beenmandeered by the iron fur pack. He can see the boundary of their territory in his vision. It is a line that he can sense by smell and can ascertain by the asional piles of skulls used as warnings to intruders.


    Sauron has not invited him into his territory so the territory of the iron fur pack is hostile ground. He will alert Sauron immediately if he dares to step into the hostile territory. Then there will be a repeat of yesternight''s unfortunate events.


    "Goddamn it." He yelled and punched a nearby rock in anger.


    The unfortunate target of his anger exploded into shards and dust. Xigger is angry because he can''t find prey. He can sense a lot of prey past the boundary but he can''t touch them or risk the ire of their protector. He doesn''t want to fight Sauron again because another death will only weaken him further instead of strengthening him. That''s the opposite of what he aims to achieve.


    "Sauron has almost taken over the entire mountain rangepletely. How did this happen in just 100 years? Is that Sauron so great?" He asked in anger.


    Now he knows why Sauron is so strong. He still can''t believe it though. He was gone for 100 years and so much has changed. He was a pack leader for more than 200 years and he didn''t achieve the amount of sess that Sauron has achieved. It makes him feel inadequate and also very angry.


    Sauron''s sess is definitely extraordinary. It is something that can only be achieved through extraordinary means. He would like to know how Sauron achieved it. Unfortunately, no one will answer his question. His fledglings remained quiet and as unmoving as statues. They don''t know the answer to his question. This is their first time in the core of the mountain range.


    "Fine. Let''s keep moving." Xigger ordered with a resigned bark.


    He looked at the ice-capped mountains with a determined gaze. "Sauron can''t have annexed the entire mountain range. I refuse to believe it. There must be somewhere his grubby paws haven''t touched."


    They kept looking around the mountain range for more targets on the mountain range. He kept to the edge of the mountain range and avoided the core. Xigger is hoping to find arge pack or at least a park that has established itself, not some roaming packs of Warrogs. Such a target will provide a lot of food for him.


    His search bore little fruit becauserge packs don''t live at the edge of the mountain range. Only struggling packs live there. He had to return to the core of the mountain range and he roamed around the entire boundary of the Iron Fur territory. His search didn''t disappoint him because he came upon thest bastion of resistance against Sauron''s tyranny. He found the Iron Nail pack.


    His eyes lit up with greed when he saw the ptable prey. The fledglings behind him also sensed the teeming life within the settlement. The scent of blood and life appealed to them. They wanted to rush forward and indulge themselves but they held back. They didn''t let their bloodlust cloud their judgment. Xigger''s presence is very instrumental to their willpower. Without him here to help them keep a leash on their instincts, they will be no different from rabid animals.


    "So there is onest ce present on this forsaken mountain range that Sauron hasn''t imed as his. This is good. They will be able to hold out against the dishonorable Sauron well enough." Heplimented the iron nail pack.


    The Iron Nail Park is well-defended. They are holed up within a mountain that was hollowed out by the pack Leaders working together. It is clear that this pack is very careful and cautious. They don''t let the fact that they have several pack leaders go to their heads. Having several Mana entities is good. It should deter Sauron. But what if it doesn''t?


    The Iron Nail pack has the answer to that question. Things will be very bad if Sauron is not deterred. Their Mana entities are threats to other Alphas and Betas. But they are no threat to Sauron. So Sauron can attack them alone. They outnumber him and can surely resist him but he will be able to escape if he wants.


    That means Sauron cane and kill some of them before escaping. He can whittle down their numbers with time until they break. So they dug into a mountain to avoid that. They will be able to defend themselves easily with a literal mountain around them.


    There is only one entrance and one exit into the mountain settlement. The entrance is well camouged so it wouldn''t be easily identified. Xigger would have missed the settlement had he not sensed the scouts and guards posted outside and the sound of hearts beating within the mountain.


    "Take out the guards silently. I will gain ess to the mountain and go straight for the pack leaders. Kill the rest. You have permission to feed as much as you want after we have gained ess to the mountain range. Do you understand me?"


    "Yes, Count Xigger." They replied.

 Chapter 939 Bad Luck.

    <h4>Chapter 939 Bad Luck.</h4>


    The Fledglings understand more than he said. They understand that they are not to eat at all until the defenses of the pack in the mountain has been breached. They understand that if they allow themselves to be distracted during the process of clearing out the sentries, then they will taught a very painful lesson worse than death.


    Xigger said to them. "Go now."


    The five fledglings blurred away from him. They moved at speeds nearing the speed of sound. Their steps are also silent. Each one of them has the strength of Mana entities. The sentries were no match for them. They can kill any guard as easily as snapping the neck of a chicken with a single hand.


    But they didn''t go around killing the guards with reckless abandon. They aimed for the Alphas in each squad first and killed them silently. Then they killed the Betas as fast as possible. That is the most effective way to get rid of the sentries without alerting the pack.


    It is very important for the Alphas to be killed first or the intrusion will be discovered quickly. As former Warrogs, they know that a squad is a close-knit group. They are closer to each other than family members. There''s a bond between all of them so they will know when one of them dies.


    The Alpha in the squad is the glue that binds them together. Getting rid of the Alpha will stun every member of the squad for a time. This will render the Betas vulnerable for a short period of them. It will allow the Vampires to eliminate the Betas before they can raise an rm.


    An Alpha is easily identifiable. They are bigger and stronger. They stand out in their squad. Their group also revolves around the Alpha. Each squad is spread around the mountainside. They are also camouged by the snow so it will be very difficult to notice them if one is not looking for them.


    A divine sense will be able to sense them but that''s only at a close distance. They will also be able to sense any intruder through their divine sense if they get within range of each other. After all, a divine sense works both ways unless there is a disparity in strength. If you can sense someone of your level, then they can surely sense you too.


    The guards aren''t relying on their divine senses to notice intruders. They stayed hidden while they use their sight to scan the mountainside. They have the advantage of being hidden and will be able to see unsuspecting Intruders.


    Unfortunately for them, their advantage of sight did not work well against the fledglings. The five fledglings approached the squads individually and from upwind so that their scent would not give them away. They used their blood sense to spot the sentries no matter how well they camouged themselves. Then they struck the squads as quick as lightning after identifying the Alpha. Each Alpha glows brighter in their blood sense so they didn''t make a mistake.


    The fledglings moved well and quickly. They did a good job. Xigger followed their progress by monitoring the disappearing signals of life on the mountainside. He wants to get the Iron Nail pack off guard so that none of them will be able to escape from him. He doesn''t want word of his activities reaching Sauron so soon. For that, he needs the element of surprise on his side despite being overwhelmingly stronger than his prey.


    Things were going well until they didn''t. A fresh Alpha was acting as a sentry. This Alpha has just awakened so he is weak. He isn''t as strong as some Betas and doesn''t have the blood vitality that makes Alphas stand out. He shouldn''t be allowed out at all but he is talented enough to be able to make a Beta submit to him already so he was deemed ready for active duty. That''s ording to the culture of Warrogs.


    He was with another squad when they were attacked. The Alpha in this squad was to teach him how things were done until he could be on his own. He was rightly overlooked during the initial attack to eliminate the Alpha because he is weaker. The stronger Alpha was eliminated while he remained standing. He wasn''t stunned as Betas should be. It was a mistake and it cost them their element of surprise.


    The young Alpha raised his snout into the air and howled. Air rushed out of his lungs and reverberated after leaving his lips. The sound of his howl echoed throughout the mountain. That is as clear as any rm needs to be.


    "They had one job." Xigger groaned andined. "I guess it is my bad luck."


    He rushed towards the mountain as fast as possible. He was noticed immediately after he got close enough to the mountain. The boundary of the territory of the pack is absent because of the muddled hierarchy of the Iron Nail pack. The pack doesn''t belong to one person so no pack leader will know about an intruder. That''s why they had sentries outside. It worked out well. They were warned before the attack. Unfortunately, that didn''t make them prepared for the attack.


    The Iron Nail pack has been on edge because of Sauron. They expected Sauron to attack them any day and were prepared for him. It is their bad luck that it wasn''t Sauron that attacked. There is arge rock at the entrance that Sarock would have needed to spend time on to break before gaining ess to the mountain. Xigger doesn''t need to break this rock.


    There are holes along the mountainside where lookouts can see from. That''s all Xigger needed. He locked his gaze with the frightened gaze of the lookouts. They became frozen and their eyes zed over.


    "Open the door." Hepelled.


    His voice entered their mind without resistance. Their will shattered under the intrusion of his order they obeyed. Xiggermanded 5 lookouts that way and they obeyed him immediately. They all began to turn the mechanism to lift the heavy boulder at the door.

 Chapter 940 The Price Of Eternal Life.

    <h4>Chapter 940 The Price Of Eternal Life.</h4>


    Xigger smiled in appreciation. He appreciates them taking the initiative to grant their would-be murderer ess to their secure fortress. It is moments like this that he appreciates that he is not a Warrog anymore.


    The traitors were stopped by others before the door could be opened halfway. That is already enough for Xigger. His figure standing at the entrance copsed into a puddle of blood. The blood slithered into the small gap that opened for him. Then he reformed within the mountain.


    The voice in his mind said with giddy joy, "Let the Carnage begin."


    He smiled too. "I am going to enjoy this."


    He went straight for the pack leaders. They shine brightly in his vision so he can always find them. They are pitifully weakpared to Sauron so he was able to round them up easily. He would grab them and cut off their limbs so that they wouldn''t resist. Then he goes and captures the others.


    None of the pack leaders were able to escape him. It is mostly because they were not trying to escape. They wanted to resist so they rushed towards the gate. They thought they were up against Sauron. Their defenses shouldst a while against Sauron.


    They thought wrong. Sauron cannot stun them with a single gaze. Sauron''s hands can''t morph into a rad de that is sharp enough to cut through flesh and the bone thaty beneath it. Sauron is not immune to the goring of their sharp horns. Sauron cannot weaken them through the single drop of blood that came out from their wound. It is safe to say that they underestimated Xigger severely.


    It was until he captured all of the park leaders that he allowed himself to indulge. First, he and his fledglings went on a rampage. They butchered and killed every person they saw in the pack. A bloody battle was fought within the mountain. It was more of an all-you-can-eat buffet dinner for the Vampires.


    Blood flowed freely. It was spilled and it was drunk. Blood should be constrained within vessels in the body. That''s the safe option necessary for living but it was made to flow freely into the environment. The Vampires wined and dined that night. They lost themselves to the reverie of abundant blood.


    Xigger returned to the disabled pack leaders after feasting. He was intoxicated so he stumbled a bit. He found them sound and safe. They are already healing. All he did was cut off their limbs. It is not enough to kill them. They would be able to heal their injuries in time.


    Fortunately for them, Xigger has something to help them heal faster. He mped his jaws down on their necks and drank from their life force. Then he cut himself and made them drink his blood.


    He said to them. "What is taken should be returned. But I suppose my blood is more valuable than yours. Just take it as a gift."


    Then he smiled wickedly. "It is a gift that you will have time to repay with your eternal life."


    They didn''t hear a word he said because they began to convulse as soon as his blood entered their body. He was speaking with disoriented and incoherent Warrogs but he didn''t mind. He looked on in anticipation to see what woulde of his generosity.


    The blood that he made them drink began to shine within them. It spread throughout their body creating glowing lines as it traveled within their blood vessels. The blood eventually permeated their entire bodies. It made them glow a dull red color.


    They convulsed and thrashed about throughout the process. Their bodies tried to resist the foreign influence invading their existence. But their resistance failed. The invasion is from a higher existence after all. Their resistance is bound to end in failure. Their body stilled after being fully invaded by the blood. Xigger waited expectantly.


    The voice in his head said, "This is the moment of Truth. Will they ept CARNAGE and evolve or will they reject the blessing and be destroyed?"


    If it were any other race then the conversion into vampires will certainly fail. But the Warrogs have fragments of thew of life within them. So there''s now a chance of sess in the transformation. That chance will determine if they die or be pseudo-eternal beings.


    Xigger didn''t have to wait for long. 5 out of the 11 pack leaders rejected the blessing of Carnage. They couldn''t resist it but they were not willing to sumb to the invasion so they broke down into puddles of blood. The other 6 began to change. Their fur fell off from their skin as if they were shedding. Their bodies became bare, but not for long. A new fur grew over their bodies and covered them.


    This fur is red in color. It is fine and smooth as opposed to the previous coarse one. They underwent other changes but the sight of the red fur signifies their assimtion into CARNAGE. Xigger watched on with interest.


    This sort of change that he is witnessing shows him just how powerful his patron is. A being that can create this sort of change without even being around must be very powerful. He only has to look inward into his body to know how powerful the voice in his head is. But it is these external changes that really drive the point home.


    The voice marveled at the sight. "I have never thought that there is another race that can be brought into the fold of CARNAGE. I have to thank that white bitch. She did a nice work on your race. If only she will work for me. But she is too proud. Am I, a demon God, the Supreme of Carnage, not worthy enough to be served? Imagine the good we can do together. Together, we can spread CARNAGE to every race. I hate that White Bitch."


    The demon God began to rant again. Xigger didn''t say anything. He just listened while he waited for his new fledglings to be created. They greeted him after awakening.

 Chapter 941 The Notion Of Good And Evil.

    <h4>Chapter 941 The Notion Of Good And Evil.</h4>


    The 6 of them bowed and said, "We greet Count Xigger."


    Their greeting was respectful and deferential despite them knowing that he killed their family and friends and everyone that they cared about. He looked at them with a sneer. He can see the hatred hidden deep within their eyes. He doesn''t need to use his authority over them to know what they truly think of him. He has been in their shoes in the past so he is intimately familiar with their loss.


    He briefly entertained a show of strength to discipline them and put them in their ce. It is not needed since they will obey him absolutely regardless. But he is still giddy from his earlier indulgence. He wants to shed more blood.


    "Maybe just a little." He thought to himself. "It doesn''t hurt to show them that nning for revenge is futile."


    The voice in his head chuckled and said to him, "You have be the devil that you hate."


    Scenes of what he just did shed in his mind. The sounds of the cries of pain and the sights of grisly injuries that he caused suddenly bombarded his mind. His exhration fell immediately. He suddenly felt the impact of what he had just done.


    "It is for the greater good." He replied.


    He didn''t let guilt or regret influence him at all. He tried to convince himself of his motive.


    "If you say so." The voice is clearly not convinced.


    The voice knows that he enjoyed it. He doesn''t want to admit it as he should but the voice is not going to call him on his hypocrisy. Instead, the voice offered him advice.


    "Know this, there is no good or evil. They are just social constructs meant to keep a society together. It is a notion used to herd sheep. If you are not part of a society, then it is right for you not to obey the rules of that society."


    "What do you mean?" Xigger asked.


    "Is it bad to kill? Society will say that it is bad. But that same society will kill members of another society and honor the act. Soldiers are honored for their actions of killing other soldiers. The society does so that more of them will be encouraged to risk themselves in service of that society."


    "The ties of the society bind mortals together but also divide them. Everyone is selfish. They can care about the ones that are close to them or members of their own society but another society is fair game. So don''t be burdened by the concepts of good and bad. Concern yourself with what you want to protect and what you will kill in other to protect what you love or care about."


    Xigger listened and he was surprised. The voice in his head is usually edging him on to kill and murder everything and everyone. This is the first time that it is saying something logical and reasonable. It is surprising to hear something other than the requests for Carnage or the ranting about the disrespectful white bitch.


    He finds that he agrees with what the voice said. Then he realized that he has been swayed by the words of a demon. Demons are present in every culture. They are said to be very cunning and persuasive. Their sweet tongue can talk a saint down the path to the abyss.


    So he said, "Nice try. But I don''t agree. I killed members of my race for my own selfish benefit. What I did was wrong. I will make sure to atone for my sins."


    The voice snorted. "The notions of wrong and right are but shackles for the weak. Break out of your limit. Pursue greatness and only greatness."


    Xigger refused. "I like the way I am. It is the notions of wrong and right that help me keep my humanity and restrain my impulses. Without it, I would be a wild animal."


    "I have seen it again and again. Power without an evolution of the mind is nonsense. A fool with power is just a powerful fool. Power doesn''t make one great. You are still a fool."


    CARNAGE has seen this situation several times. Because of its blessings and deals, mortals gain power and immortality quickly. It is a power that they didn''t work for and they shouldn''t have in a normal situation. This power corrupts but it doesn''t change who the mortals really are. It just makes them reveal their true self and indulge in the reverie of pleasure. Unfortunately, they remain the same weak-minded naive fools that they are despite the power that they possess.


    Xigger didn''t retort. He believes in his moral superiority and he believes that his stance on right and wrong, good and bad, will help him from falling deeper into the clutches of the evil being in his head.


    "As long as I make up for my evil, everything will be alright."


    "How do you propose to do that?" The Voice asked.


    Xigger answered with determination. "I will unite the Warrogs and fight back against the oppression of the wood elves. Then I will find a way to free my race from their curse."


    The voiceughed. "What a fool! Then again, I like working with fools."


    Xigger ignored thement on his intelligence. He left the mountain with all his fledglings.


    "Toote now. You have enemies iing. The wood elves have caught up to you. They seem to be transcendents." The voice in his head warned him.


    "How many?" He asked.


    "Just two." The voice replied.


    "Perfect. Just perfect." He said while grinning. "It seems that my luck has turned."


    He did not gain much strength from snacking on Mana entities and weak Vitality core refiners despite the amount that he killed. The quality of the blood matters more than the quantity to a vampire. He needs worthy prey if he wants to grow stronger as a predator. He is a lion. He is not a cat. He can not grow fatter by living on mice.

 Chapter 942 A Baron Or A Viscount.

    Chapter 942 A Baron Or A Viscount.


    The problem of finding worthy prey is a problem that he won''t be able to solve on this mountain range. He was thinking of making his way to other settlements or cities upied by other races for his meal. So it is a fortune that appropriate prey came readily to him.


    He told his fledglings. "Wait here for me."


    Then he bolted forward to meet the wood elves. The two wood elves noticed him with their divine sense before he reached them. They became surprised despite expecting to meet a vampire.


    "It is really a vampire." One of them said in surprise.


    The other one shouted at him. "Quick prepare for it. You know the drill."


    The first one snapped back. "I know the drill. It is just one so we fight."


    The two of them are young. They have never encountered vampires in their life. Vampires are abominations that have not been seen on the surface for a long time. So seeing a Vampire is a novel experience for them.


    The two of them are just scouts meant to check out this Warrog settlement for sightings of vampires. They are not to engage the vampires if they find one. They are to return and report as soon as theye upon vampires. But they can fight and capture a single vampire for questioning if they find one that they can handle.


    One of them recited what they were taught about Vampires after sensing Xigger''s strength. "It is just a baron which is the equivalent of a transcendent. That means it is a mature vampire. It will be strong but it won''t be able to use blood spells yet. We can take it on."


    His partner rolled his eyes and said, "Yes. I know this. A vampire needs to be a viscount before it can use blood spells." Then he said in excitement, "This should be easy."


    They stood together with their backs against each other and began reviewing the knowledge that they have about Vampires. Vampires have ranks and strengths. Each rankes with different abilities that empower them. By preparing for what to expect, they will be able to easily ovee the vampire. They are confident that they will be able to ovee any vampire that cannot use blood spells.


    Vampires that can use blood spells are very dangerous. They have more than brute strength in their arsenal. Vampires can''t use Mana at all. They have lost ess to it so they can''t cast spells. That has left them with only their enhanced physical strength to fight with. Blood spells rectify that weakness. It grants them a means for ranged attacks.


    Vampires that use blood spells are more dangerous than that. The ability to manipte their blood also grants them the ability to create more of them. That means a viscount is not only dangerous because of their blood spells but because they are rarely alone. They usually have a coven of lesser vampires that obey their every order. But this vampire is just a transcendent and is also alone. So they believe that there is nothing to fear.


    "Remember, we are not to kill it. We are to capture it for interrogation." The second one warned.


    The first one smirked. "It''s not as if it will be easy to kill a vampire. They regenerate very well like us. It should be fine as long as I don''t stab its heart."


    Vampires used to be feared when they appeared in the ne. They were unknown abominations created from wood elves. It was difficult to tell them apart from normal wood elves at first. But that has changed. The fear of the unknown is great. Vampires are not unknown anymore. So they are not feared.


    Vampires have a heart of blood that is very simr to the heart of nature that wood elves have. This heart is the source of the divine ability of wood elves and most elves. But elves lose their weakness when they be transcendents. That is not so for vampires. Their heart remains until they be Marquises which are the equivalent of titans ofw. It is a weakness that makes them easily kible.


    The two brown-skinned elves waited vigntly. Their green hair flowed freely in the wind. And their green armor filled them with confidence. They were not cowered at all that a vampire was running straight for them. They responded immediately after Xigger entered their attack range. They waved their hands and the trees in the surroundings obeyed their will.


    Roots erupted from the ground to ensnare Xigger. Branches fell from the sky to beat him and restrict his path of retreat. Vines suddenly grew out of the ground all around them to form a domain of nts. All the nts in the domain turned into dangerous weapons meant to kill efficiently.


    Xigger was within the domain but he wasn''t scared. Both of his hands shone and a blood-red saber came out of them. He whirled the sabers around and cut through every obstacle on his path.


    The duo of wood elves saw his actions and eximed at the same time, "Blood spells."


    They didn''t even look at each other before turning and running. They chose to escape immediately because they were wrong about who they were fighting. Xigger is not a baron even though he seems to be a transcendent.


    They would be correct to call him a baron were he a normal vampire. But he is not a normal vampire. He is an ancestral vampire. As the origin of his lineage, he possesses the ability to wield blood spells that viscounts can wield and he can also use the ability of a count.


    He used the ability of a count now and it sealed the wood elves'' fate. These are transcendents like him so he has to be serious in fighting them. They are not the mana entities that he can bully. He has to be careful not to be injured at all or it will slow down his progress. Fortunately, they are not like Sauron who didn''t give him the chance to spare enough blood for a domain.

 Chapter 943 Over My Dead Body.

    Chapter 943 Over My Dead Body.


    He has entered within the range of their domain and they are also close enough to him to be within his domain. He decided to end the fight quickly. A blood ocean erupted out from him and enveloped the surroundings. The escaping wood elves were surrounded immediately.


    "We are doomed. It is a blood domain." The first wood elfmented.


    A blood domain signifies a strength that is at least a Count. The sight of one struck this wood elf with hopelessness. His mind and body froze in fear. It is not involuntary. He has simply given up. A voice in his head said he should give up and he did willingly.


    "Snap out of it." His partner shouted at him.


    But he didn''t snap out of it. He remained frozen in despair and didn''t dodge so a blood spear impaled him right through his chest. The blood grew within him. It sprouted several spikes that protruded out of him. Then he was consumed by the blood. His body shriveled up as it was sucked dry by the spike. The remaining wood elf was captured so that he would be brought into the fold of CARNAGE.


    "This is good. My very first wood elf fledgling. You will be strong and you will be useful to me." Xigger said to the frightened wood elf.


    The voice in Xigger''s head agreed. "Yes. The will of CARNAGE will be fulfilled."


    The wood elf struggled within the ocean of blood but it held onto him like tar. His movement was restricted. He had to jerk about just to move but the blood restored him to his previous position by snapping back like stic rubber. His efforts to escape were futile.


    He was finally able to get a good look at Xigger as he approached. He saw a Warrog with red fur. This Warrog has a mouthful of red, sharp but jagged teeth. It is a sharp contrast to the neat and orderly fangs that vampires usually have.


    "What are you? You''re not a normal vampire. You don''t look like one and you can use blood spells. You''re not supposed to be able to use blood spells." He asked again in panic and confusion, "What are you?"


    Xigger dered. "I will be your new master."


    "Over my dead body." The wood elf said and willed a mechanism within his armor.


    The mechanism came alive and the green armour exploded. The wood elf within the armor was scattered into the blood ocean.


    The voice in Xigger''s head said in disdain, "Looks like he would rather die than be a vampire. What a disappointment. These wood elves don''t know what they are missing out on. Maybe it is your fault. Your looks must have scared him off. He doesn''t want to turn out like you. Other vampires are handsome and beautiful but you''re an ugly mutt."


    Xigger shrugged. "I would have preferred a stronger fledgling. But this is good too."


    The death of the wood elf benefits him. His blood domain absorbed the fragments of the wood elves. It strengthened him so the wood elf did not turn out to be a waste.


    Then he returned to his fledglings and continued to roam the mountain range for prey. He found some roaming packs and other packs on the outskirts of the mountain range. He also found more scouts that he fed on. But he couldn''t turn anyone of the wood elf scouts into Vampires. They would rather die than submit to him.


    His hunting urred over a period of weeks. It was a period of engorgement for Xigger. He grew stronger rapidly. Then he returned to Sauron when he became confident of his strength.


    And so it was that Xigger returned to the iron fur pack. He didn''te alone either. He came with hired help in the form of many Mana stage fledglings. He appeared with his group at the same location of his previous defeat.


    Then he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Come and face me dishonorable Sauron."


    The shout echoed over arge distance throughout the mountain range. Xigger didn''t wait for Sauron to find him. He announced his presence grandly. He needn''t have bothered. Sauron came over as soon as he sensed the intruder. He was understandably confused and surprised that Xigger was the intruder.


    "Didn''t I kill you?" Sauron asked.


    "I am immortal. I can never die." Xigger replied smugly.


    Sauron didn''t make any snidements this time. He can sense the change in Xigger and in the situation. Xigger is much stronger than before. Xigger is also here with more enemies.


    "Maybe I didn''t kill you very wellst time. I will make sure to rectify the situation this time around." He said to Xigger.


    Then he howled to the night sky. His howl is different from other Alphas. It is heavy and baritone. It causes a deep reverberation that can be felt within the bones. It caused a thrumming within those who heard it.


    Sauron''s howl originated from deep within his chest before it came out from his mouth. It formed visible soundwaves as it spread out from his mouth. Every warrior who heard the howl became agitated immediately. They have been summoned by the Alpha of the pack and they must obey.


    The first thing that they did was to howl to signify that they heard the call and that they were on their way. So howls resounded throughout the mountain range. The night became alive with howls and growls.


    Then the warriors began to shift after howling. They unleashed their inner beasts. Their form erged while they became bent so that they now run on all fours.


    Next, they began running toward the pack leader. Betas followed their Alphas and the Alphas led the way to the Alpha of Alphas. The march of footsteps began to rise. Thousands of heavy paws struck the mountain as the warriors converged on the valley. Loose rocks and sand began to shake and vibrate. It is as if a group of migrating animals were stampeding.

 Chapter 944 Run With The Pack.

    Chapter 944 Run With The Pack.


    Sauron grinned a wide grin. He felt power fill him in abundance. Ites from the acknowledgment of his warriors. Their respect and their courage infused him with Strength. Their unwavering loyalty and undeniable trust in him filled him with pride. It is enough for him to swell. And he did. He began to swell as he transformed.


    He said to Xigger, "Ha, what a feeling. It is the feeling of being a part of a pack. Immortal or not, this is a feeling that you will never have. You''re not one of us anymore. You''re an abomination. You are shunned."


    Xigger''s face fell. Sauron''s words hit a nerve. It is true that he will never run with a pack ever again. He can hear them howling all over the mountain range. They have been called so they will answer. The noise of their howl rises in a crescendo like the beating of war drums. It is the sound of a pack that is about to ride forth. It reminded Xigger of what he used to have. And it brought back the pain of what he lost when he became a vampire.


    Each member of the pack will be made stronger because of the bond between them. A lone Beta is not as strong as a Beta in a squad. A Beta in a squad of 4 is not as strong as a Beta in a squad of 6. The same goes for Alphas. But above a squad is a pack. No amount of bonds within a squad canpare to the bonds of a pack and the strength that it provides. And at the top of the pack is the pack leader.


    Xigger used to be a pack leader. He used to always have his pack mates at his back. He used to always trust that they would follow him to hell and back. And they did. They died so that he could escape. They died so that he would avenge them. They never failed him. They were his brothers and sisters in arms. They were his family.


    He used to instinctively know where each one of them was in their formation. He used to share in their pain and joy. He gave that up for the chance to be immortal. He will never experience that feeling ofradery ever again. He will never run with a pack ever again.


    Heck, he can''t even transform into his beast form anymore. He will never rest with his fallen brethren and bless the future generations even in death. Sauron is right. He is an abomination. And he has been forever shunned by the connection that binds every Warrog.


    It is at this point that regret couldn''t help but surface within him. Tears came unbidden from his eyes. He fell to his knees and he wept. He wept tears of blood for his loss.


    "It is all your fault." He said between sobs.


    He is an abomination now. And it is all Sauron''s fault. It was also his fault. He was weak and he couldn''t defend what he cared about. But it was Sauron that pushed him to where he is today.


    He roared, "For that, you must die."


    Then he howled and rushed towards Sauron. Sauron also roared and met him inbat. Vampire Warrog and Warrog Paragon shed in the air. It was a flurry of action. They tore at each other. Blood spells carved into Sauron just as Sharp ws ripped into Xigger.


    They sought to destroy each other. None of them gave up a single step. They fought with their ws and teeth to take the life of the other. It was violent. And it was beautiful.


    Blood spells shed red and ws shed silver under the light of the red moon. The two of them became an intertwined bundle of physical exertion and violence. They howled and they growled. But none of them yipped or cried. They couldn''t feel the pain of their bodies being rendered structurallypromised. They only felt boundless bloodlust and the need to protect what they care about.


    Xigger had no blood to bleed no matter how injured he became. His rubbery form was ripped but it joined together soon after. As for Sauron, he is filled with boundless mana. The blood loss from his injuries didn''t slow him down at all. He was regenerating more blood and healing his injuries just as fast as he was injured. By the looks of things, it seems both of them can go on fighting forever.


    The pack soon joined their pack leader. Thousands of different predatory beasts on all fours emerged from the valley and the two mountains that nked it. They rushed downwards into the valley. They are huge monstrosities with figures rippling with packed muscle fibers beneath their fur.


    Their front two paws are as thick as bears'' while their hind limbs have thick thighs and thin forelimbs that end in hooves. They also have sharp horns that gleamed in the night. These horns alone make them deadly. They can gore anything in their way. No cavalry can stand in their way. They run forth with the momentum to crush everything in their path.


    They are in the tens of thousands. That is a force to be reckoned with. They were not rowdy and chaotic despite their numbers. They didn''t collide with each other or block each other''s path as they rushed forward. They moved like a single entity with each part working as a whole. Theymunicated with each other without even doing it consciously. The enemies that they will be facing are mighty but none of them feels fear.


    The pack doesn''t feel fear. Why feel fear when you''re not alone? You''re never alone in a pack. Everyone will give their life for the other. But the priority is always for the ones at the top of the hierarchy. Betas will protect their Alphas and Alphas will protect the pack leader. It is with this determination that they shed with the numerous Mana stage vampires that Xigger brought.

 Chapter 945 Revel In The Violence.

    Chapter 945 Revel In The Violence.


    Xigger brought quite a number of fledglings with him to fight. They reach 100 in number. The Vampires are vastly outnumbered but they are also stronger individually. The two forces shed with no one gaining an advantage.


    The Vampires clustered around each other. It is pack behavior from their previous race. It is a habit that brings them no real benefit right now apart from preventing them from being overwhelmed. So the Vampires formed a small stronghold within the tide of Warrogs that attacked them from every direction while Xigger and Sauron tore at each other in the air.


    The will of the ne was watching this spectacr event. The fountain of life was also watching everything with interest. The two of them remained silent as they watched. The demon God of Carnage was not silent. It was moring for more Carnage and violence.


    Its voice rang loudly in Xigger''s mind as it egged him on, "Tear him apart. Rend his existence to pieces. Open up his insides to the chilling air of the night. Let his blood wet the earth and let the earth drink freely of it until it is drunk. He caused all your pain. He caused all your suffering. So make him feel pain. Make him suffer. Revel in the violence of it. Let there be CARNAGE."


    There was Carnage. Blood was spilled everywhere. Life was made to make the transition to death. Life force turned to death force inrge amounts. The soul was liberated from the shackles of the body. And it was beautiful.


    The light of the moon seemed to shine brighter that night. Its light shone upon this grotesque beauty and made the blood seem to glow in the night. The world was covered in a red hue that was intensifying the more blood flowed into the earth. The aura of blood and death thickened in the valley. It permeated everything including the body and soul of everyone in the valley.


    Ragnarok was watching. The stench of blood and death wafted up to him in his position at the top of a mountain.


    He observed to himself. "Violence and demons truly go hand in hand."


    The smell of blood and death reminded him of the first time he experienced something like this. It was with Gehaldirah when the Life ne was attacked by demons. His eyes were opened by that experience and his life was changed forever.


    "How nostalgic." He murmured.


    He has been watching right from the start of the battle and he witnessed the initial sh between Sauron and Xigger. What he saw allowed him to finallye to a decision.


    He observed silently, "Sauron and Xigger are evenly matched. The Warrogs and the Vampires are also at a stalemate. The fight can go both ways. The Vampires are tireless. They can hold on for hours. The Warrogs will tire but they have the advantage of numbers. The Vampires will surely lose if the sunes up. Even Xigger cannot bear the sun. He has to escape. Anything can happen between now and sunrise. If the Vampires don''t win by sunrise then they will die. I think it is time to make a move."


    The oue of the battle is indeterminate. Anyone can win. He is screwed if the Vampires win. He doesn''t care that Xigger is his father. The fact that Xigger seeded his mother doesn''t mean that Xigger can''t kill him. Parents eat their young all over the realm. Xigger is also a vampire that feeds on life. So he is practically food to his father. The only thing he can rely on is his strength.


    He is weaker than Xigger so he is not safe at all with Xigger. But that will change if he has enough strength to defend himself. He will have the chance to negotiate with Xigger. Vampires are bad but it is not a problem for him. Strength is what reigns supreme. If you''re as strong as a vampire, then you can speak on equal terms with one.


    His situation doesn''t get better even if the Warrogs win. Xigger was defeated and killedst time. Then he returned much stronger. The same thing can happen again. Xigger will only wear down the Iron Fur pack. That''s what Vampires do. They spread like a disease and grow stronger over time unless they are permanently killed.


    A viscount is already a serious problem. They can spread the vampirism gue. But they have to rest in between the creation of fledglings. They can''t create fledglings wantonly. Each fledgling that they create will weaken them. That is not the same for an ancestral vampire. Xigger can create thousands of fledglings in a single nightpared to a viscount that can probably create a new fledgling every month.


    So the Iron Fur pack is in big trouble regardless of victory or defeat. An ancestral vampire is a terrible entity to be enemies with. He doesn''t have a way to kill Xigger permanently. Even if he does, he won''t do it because he will be risking the vengeance of every vampire in the ne. Ancestral vampires are sacred. Killing one is an unforgivable sin.


    Every vampire in their lineage will die if an ancestral vampire dies. There''s no way the other ancestral vampires will allow such a threat to them to exist. He will be hunted everywhere. He already has wood elves as enemies. He doesn''t want to add Vampires to his list of enemies.


    It is not even individual enemies. It is making enemies of an entire race. It is better to make an ally of a race so that they can protect him from the other race. An ancestral vampire is a good person to facilitate gaining the help of vampires. The Vampires will be able to help him resist the wood elves. If he will suck up to someone, it is clear who he should suck up to.


    His eyes glinted as he said, "I guess I will go with n B."


    -----


    A/N: Is it just me or is CARNAGE the best cheerleader?

 Chapter 946 Plan B.

    Chapter 946 n B.


    He knew something like this could happen after Xigger''sst defeat. He expected it so he has already made ns for his actions when Xigger returns. He has three ns. n A is to run immediately if Xigger has an overwhelming advantage. n C is to stay and do nothing for now if Sauron has the advantage. n B is to tilt the chances of the battle in his favor. For that he needs strength.


    He grinned evilly as he turned to look at the tall white totem on his peak. His golden eyes shined brightly in the dark. His ck teeth and the darkness of the night made it very difficult to know that he has bared his teeth in a grin. A Warrog that sees the manner with which he bared his teeth will know that something bad is about to happen.


    "I guess your world is about to end." He said to the upants of the pir.


    Then he reached through the connection between them. His divine sense lit up like a re within the totem. The remnants of the warriors flocked to this re like moths to a me. He waited until he had grasped every single remnant. Then he ripped the remnants of the dead warriors out of the totem pir.


    The totem pir shined brightly as it tried to resist. But resistance is futile. It is but a rock standing in the way of an ocean. It will be eroded and ground down as time passes. That fate happened immediately. The totem began to turn to dust even as it shined brighter.


    White motes of light were created from its wreck. These white notes of light formed a bright cloud in the dark of the night. The cloud swarmed eagerly toward him. They seem happy but they are actually sad. A sorrowful moaning fleeted through the wind without a source. It is the mourning of the spirits of the ancestors for the loss of their home.


    Ragnarok could hear the moans but he didn''t care about it. He activated his anchor immediately. His left horn fragmented into red kes. The tattoos on his body glowed and removed themselves from his fur. They joined the red kes to form a small red cloud.


    The white motes of light met with the red cloud. The two clouds didn''t sh at all. The white motes didn''t resist so they were assimted easily. He is the only shaman and Sauron is currently busy in a life-and-death fight. So there was no resistance at all. Even if there was resistance, it wouldn''t help against the might of Ragnarok''s soul.


    The sound of mourning increased as the white lights sumbed. They didn''t want to die so they begged him but it was futile. The red cloud absorbed the white motes and bludgeoned in size. It became 4 times bigger. The red cloud became sorge that it obscured his figure. It is both a qualitative and quantitative improvement of his power tattoos. His boost jumped from 2660% to 10,600% immediately.


    "Hmm, Power." He said as he felt the strength within him. "There''s nothing quite like the feeling of power."


    Then the red cloud converged on his body again. His left horn appeared on his head. It is redder than usual and his red tattoos are livelier than normal. They are shifting across his white fur. He moved his body around to practice some movements. He found his movements easier to aplish and faster in execution.


    "I like n B." He said before he began to shift.


    His fur rippled and the muscles underneath it shifted. His bone changed. They changed position and form. He got bigger but not as big as Sauron. Sauron''s boostes from the excess Mana tied to his existence through the connections he has. As for him, his boost is from death. Death doesn''t go well with Mana so he doesn''t increase exponentially in size.


    So he just became 5 meters in eight instead of the 8 meters that Sauron is. He is not as big as Sauron but he has power. That''s enough for him.


    He activated his beast form and changed into a giant white beast with shing red tattoos on his fur. He has ck teeth and ck ws. One of his horns is red while the other is ck. His eyes shone a bright golden light from within. It is because of his immensely powerful soul.


    His inner beast has been awakened. And it thrilled him to no end. He howled triumphantly to the sky because of it. It made him feel giddy and excited. He can feel a sort of thrill throughout his body. His beast is out in its full form and it is hungry. It is hungry for action and something more. Then he leaped down from the peak he was watching from towards the battlefield.


    Both Sauron and Xigger noticed the iingbatant. Sauron was shocked and furious. He was the first to sense the changes that just urred. He had wanted to march over to Ragnarok and beat him up for what he did to the spiritual foundation of their pack.


    Unfortunately, he is currently very busy. He has his hands full and he is fighting for his life. So he can''t discipline Ragnarok right now. His mood changed when he noticed that Ragnarok wasing towards them.


    "Maybe it wasn''t such a bad idea." He grumbled inwardly.


    What Ragnarok did isn''t so bad anymore now that he ising to help him. An Omega usually doesn''t join the conflicts of the pack so he appreciates what Ragnarok is doing. Ragnarok''s help will surely be instrumental in killing Xigger. He won''t admit to needing the help though. And he will still punish Ragnarok. The punishment will just not be as severe.


    He didn''t think otherwise of Ragnarok''s motive. There''s no way that he suspects that Ragnarok will help the enemy, Xigger the abomination. That is just crazy and Ragnarok is not crazy. Ragnarok is the most level-headed and smartest Shaman he knows. There''s no way he would do something so foolish.

 Chapter 947 I Am Your Father.

    Chapter 947 I Am Your Father.


    Xigger was shocked too when he noticed the giant white beastly Warroging towards them. For a minute there he thought he was the oneing. Ragnarok''s beast form reminded him of his own beast form. He used to have white fur too. His conversion to vampirism changed that for him.


    But he didn''t dwell on what he lost for too long. He is in a critical situation in which the addition of an extrabatant will cause a drastic impact.


    He would like to believe that Ragnarok ising to help him but he knows that it is highly unlikely. What are the chances that Ragnarok will know that he is the father and still have enough familial love for him despite his current look and assist him in his fight against Sauron?


    So he shouted to Ragnarok, "I am your father. Don''t help Sauron. I am your father."


    The shout startled Sauron. His eyes of his beast form widened. He realized something then. It is that he has never seen Ragnarok''s beast form and that his beast form is very simr to that of Xigger''s. He realized that maybe Xigger is not lying about their rtionship. A Warrog can help his father if that father is perceived to have been cheated and treated unjustly. And he did cheat Xigger out of his pack.


    He began to suspect Ragnarok''s real intentions foring over. Besides, if Ragnarok wanted to help, he didn''t need to destroy the totem. The assistance of any Mana entity no matter how weak is enough to tilt the scales of the battle. But if Ragnarok wanted to betray him, then destroying the totem is just appropriate.


    So Sauron shouted at him, "Stay away Ragnarok. You''re not needed here."


    Ragnarok didn''t stop because of the two shouts. He already knows that Xigger is his father. Sauron learning about it doesn''t change the situation. He continued to approach steadily. He is going to do what he wants to do regardless of their opinions about it. His ck teeth began to glow in preparation for his meddling. He infused it with as much Mana as he could.


    Sauron and Xigger became flustered. They didn''t know what to do. Their confusion wasn''t enlightened when Ragnarok informed them of his intentions. He gave them a shout in return, "Don''t worry, I aming to help."


    They became more confused. Who is he going toe and help? They don''t know. But they can''t give ground in their current fight or any weakness will be taken advantage of. If they are to separate, it has to be mutual. They both have to pause at the exact same time and take a step back. But are they going to do that? No, because they don''t trust the other one to really pause and not take advantage of the other. So they continued to fight.


    Ragnarok reached them. Mana has been infused into his teeth. He unleashed his divine ability immediately when he got close enough. A phantom of two ck bony jawsplete with teeth flew out of his mouth. This phantom jaw is bigger than his head. It caused the two fighters to feel dread. They felt a trepidation of threat and danger when the jaw came close to them. It made running a very good idea.


    They both decided at that point to pause and separate their fight. Unfortunately, the jaws were too fast and too close. The phantom jaws mped shut on his target. It was toote for Xigger to dodge. There was an audible crack as the upper and lower jaw tore through flesh and crashed against each other. That crack was followed by a cry of pain. The ck phantom jaws took arge bite out of Xigger''s side. So he cried out in pain.


    The phantom jaws disappeared after finishing their malicious mission. The damage had been done. Xigger was given a deliberating injury in one move. Ragnarok is already bigger than him so the phantom jaws which are bigger than Ragnarok''s head took a veryrge bite of him. He is missing more than half of his body because of the damage. He looks like a half-eaten snack that has been nibbled on.


    Sauron was shocked into stupor. His mouth hung open. There are two reasons why he is shocked so much. The amount of damage that Ragnarok did caused him to marvel. The sight of the phantom jaws also evoked some understanding. He has heard tales of the exploits of ancient Alphas of Alphas and those of Emperors. There is something peculiar about those tales.


    Many of the stories are not urate anymore due to the passage of time. But what the stories are always consistent about is the mention of the biting power of those legendary figures. It is said that their mouth could expand and chomp down on their enemies. Sometimes, they are even capable of swallowing an enemy whole with a single bite. Such a thing has not been seen before until now.


    Sauron looked at Ragnarok and said, "So that''s why your teeth and ws are ck."


    It can be considered a coincidence that Ragnarok has ck horns, teeth, and ws like the ancient Warrogs. But it can''t be a coincidence that he can also do what ancient Warrogs have only been reported to be capable of doing. Ragnarok must be like the ancient Warrogs.


    Ragnarok didn''t pause after that attack. He pounced on Xigger and sought to finish what he started. Xigger didn''t resist either. That bite injured both his mind and body. He could not gather any strength to plead, much less fight Ragnarok off. So Ragnarok took several more bites out of him with his teeth before he could regenerate. He ate him up faster than Xigger could regenerate.


    Sauron watched the fight without interfering. He doesn''t have the presence of mind to continue fighting. What he has experienced today has shocked him to his core. It was until Ragnarok finished that he found it in himself to talk.

 Chapter 948 Hail The Executioner.

    Chapter 948 Hail The Executioner.


    He asked Ragnarok. "Why can you use the Doom Chomp?"


    Ragnarok was cleaning the blood off his fur by licking it. He didn''t stop when he heard the question.


    He replied without looking at Sauron, "I guess you saw that. Of course you did, you have eyes and you are not blind."


    That wasn''t the answer that Sauron wanted to hear and the way that Ragnarok spoke to him rankled him. He didn''t feel an ounce of respect from the shaman of his tribe. Then he remembered the destruction of the totem pole and his displeasure turned into anger.


    He growled at Ragnarok and yelled, "Stop what you''re doing and answer me."


    Ragnarok stopped licking himself. He turned his head towards Sauron and fixed his golden eyes on the park leader of the Iron Fur pack. Sauron took a step back in fright. It was an involuntary movement that he regretted immediately. It caused his anger to rise further. He stepped forward and closer to Ragnarok. His form and posture became threatening.


    "Answer the question." He demanded again with a growl.


    Ragnarok''s golden eyes twinkled in mirth. He is in his beast form so he can''tugh the way he would like. He can grin though. And he did. He raised his lips and grinned. All his teeth were bared at the pack leader in defiance.


    It is a disrespectful gesture. It is also a threatening gesture. Sauron saw it so he pounced at Ragnarok. Ragnarok wasn''t caught off guard. He was expecting it. That''s why he grinned. He pounced in return and the two of them began to fight.


    One small white-furred beastly Warrog faced off against a much bigger brown-furred beastly Warrog. It shouldn''t happen in normal circumstances. An Omega and an Alpha have no reason to fight. But threatening gestures have been exchanged and neither one of them is willing to back down. So they must fight.


    The two of them boosted agility first with their POWER stat. That made them very fast and have a high momentum. Then they switched the boost of power from agility to strength. They need strength to gain an advantage in the physical confrontation that is about to ur when they sh. Sauron has a boost of 12,840% with a stat of 1,000 in strength. Ragnarok has a boost of 10,600% and a strength stat of more than 2,000.


    It is obvious who will win. But Ragnarok also has the expertise of the steps of momentum. The battle sage monkeys used the maniption of momentum to beat stronger opponents. It is sufficient to say that Sauron never stood a chance.


    He lost the eleration behind his forward momentum when he switched his boost to strength. Ragnarok on the other hand maintained his momentum when he switched to amplifying strength. Then Ragnarokbined his high momentum with his higher strength to collide with the pack leader.


    They knocked into each other Sauron was knocked down immediately. He was sent flying in shock. It is the umpteenth time that he will be shocked this night. It is also hisst. Ragnarok elerated further instead of being slowed down by the collision.


    He didn''t lose momentum during the sh. He used the momentum of the two of them to elerate so he caught up to Sauron quickly. Then he bit down on his neck. His jaws crashed against each other like steel traps. They ripped through flesh as easily as snapping twigs. Then he tore off the head of the pack leader.


    It was quite a sight to see. The smaller Warrog won the fight against the bigger Warrog in a single sh. But Sauron didn''t give up without resistance. He tried to tear into Ragnarok when his neck was bitten. He seeded with that much. His ws managed to make deadly contact with his opponent''s body.


    Ragnarok is strong but momentum cannot boost his physical defense and the boost from POWER cannot boost his physical defense right now because he is using it for strength. He has a barrier around him though. It stopped all of the damage. He didn''t even feel the blunt force of the blow.


    Sauron would have carved a terrible injury in his body were it not for that barrier. He did his best. It is unfortunate that he is outmatched in every way possible. Ragnarok is not only an Omega with an unprecedented amount of boost. He is also an Omega with fighting skills that have never been seen in the ne and spell-crafting skills that will make the best spell crafters in the ne shudder in shock.


    It is verymon for those on the path of the soul to have barriers. If they are like Ragnarok, they will have more than one barrier. Sauron breached the first barrier and failed to prate the second one with his ws. The fourth barrier up to the twentieth barrier remained fine.


    On the other hand, Ragnarok overcame his defenses easily. He tore Sauron''s neck apart and crushed his spine with a single bite. Then he separated the head by pulling it away from the body.


    The damage was too much for Sauron to take. His body reverted back to its humanoid form. His form became smaller so Ragnarok towered over him. His body has been separated from his head but he is still very much alive. In fact, he can recover from his injuries if he doesn''t lose too much Mana from blood loss.


    He coughed blood as he struggled to speak. He said, "Hail the future Executioner."


    He was not begging for mercy. He is simply acknowledging Ragnarok and giving his respects. He knew this when he decided to fight Ragnarok. But he went ahead to fight because he didn''t want to bow to Ragnarok regardless of his potential as a future Executioner.


    Ragnarok is still a Mana entity and Ragnarok disrespected him so they had to fight. His honor will not allow it any other way. But he lost. His loss and his respect for the ancient Warrogs made him offer his respects as hisst breath.

 Chapter 949 Sharing Problem.

    Chapter 949 Sharing Problem.


    Ragnarok chomped down on the smaller head and swallowed it whole. Pleasure like no other courses through his body. He is thrilled and he is excited. He opened his mouth and howled at the moon.


    "Awoooooooo."


    His howl rang out through the valley. It echoed off the mountain walls and reverberated within the bones of everyone within the valley.


    That howl was pleasurable. It is a howl of victory. He announced his victory after being cooped up for so long. He finally put down Sauron who has been hanging over his head after a hundred years of lying in wait. But that isn''t enough for his inner beast. It wants to fight and kill more but he shut down his impulse immediately.


    He looked around to find that the fighting had stopped. Everyone is watching him with their eyes fixed on him. Even the Vampires are looking at him. They have stopped fighting each other. The Warrogs have the Vampires surrounded so they can''t escape after the death of their leader.


    A Warrog suddenly stepped forth. She is currently in her beast form so it is not easy to recognize her but Ragnarok did. She is Tesrat. He can smell her identity from her and he knows her eyes even in her beast form.


    She stepped forward and bowed to him. Then she said, "All hail Lord Executioner."


    Every other Warrog bowed down too and gave him their respect. They have to. The rules of hierarchy dictate it. Ragnarok killed Sauron fair and square without any tricks. He is stronger. He is also a future Executioner. Their opinions of him and their previous allegiance don''t matter. He deserves their respect and so they will give it to him.


    Ragnarok stared at her intently. She is the one who brought him to the Iron Fur pack. She has gotten closer to him over the years. She is also the first one to acknowledge him after he killed Sauron. She has shown her loyalty to him. But all of that doesn''t concern him. He is more concerned about the power vacuum and what it means for the Iron Fur pack.


    Sauron is gone. The iron fur pack is without a leader. A vacuum has been created. Nature abhors vacuums. A vacuum will be filled up soon. A park that has tens of thousands of Paragons and up to a million nameless will have a veryrge Vacuum. That means Nature will seek to fill up that vacuum as soon as possible. That means there will be a new leader for the Iron Fur pack very soon.


    There are two options for Nature to use to fill up the Vacuum. The first is fragmentation. The iron fur pack will split up. Several new pack leaders will rise from the pack and divide the pack or some external pack leaders wille and divide the pack. The second option is the ascension of a new pack leader from within the pack that the pack will ept readily and unify with.


    Ragnarok can sense that the second option is what will happen. There is a vacuum that creates pressure for a new pack leader to arise. This pressure is present within the connection that binds the entire pack. In the absence of a pack leader, any of the Alphas can be chosen and elevated to the position of pack leader.


    The Alphas that are close to bing Mana entities are more likely to be selected. That means that Tesrat is most likely to be the pack leader.


    He grinned menacingly and said, "I can''t have that now can I."


    The fact that they hailed him doesn''t mean he gets to be the pack leader. An Omega cannot be a pack leader. The new pack leader will be chosen from either of the two options. But he can''t have that. It is the one thing that he and his inner beast that thirsts for violence can readily agree on.


    The first option will break up the iron fur pack and destroy all the work that he has done to raise the iron fur pack to this level over a hundred years. While the second option will hand over a hundred years of his work to someone else. Either way, he won''t benefit from it. He can''t allow that to happen.


    The red horn on his head broke apart into a cloud of red fragments. The cloud moved away from him and descended on the Warrogs around him. He cast a spell at the same time.


    A Lance of fire shot forward from him and impaled Tasrot. It went through her chest, past her lungs, and out through her stomach burning every organ along the way. Her eyes widened in shock as she died.


    "Why?" She managed to ask.


    He answered without shame or guilt. "I don''t like to share."


    The Lance of fire had struck her in the chest. It tore a hole through her. That alone is a grievous injury but it didn''t end there. The fire from the Lance began to burn her from within. It spread from her chest onto her entire body. She went up in mes. It was a painless death. She was already dead before the fire went to work on her.


    Then he began to kill everyone around him. He used his spells for maximum damage output. The spells he used are produced instantaneously and have a wide range of attack. Plus he can cast more than 20 at a time.


    He bombarded everywhere with fireballs. The Warrogs wailed as they died. That''s the only thing that they can do. He is stronger than their pack leader so they are no match for him individually. He can also use spells that they have no way to resist with their numbers.


    They tried to run away from him. So they scattered in every direction. But that also meant that he didn''t have to worry about defense at all. He can bombard them wholeheartedly. After all, they have given him their backs to practice on.

 Chapter 950 You Reap What You Sow.

    Chapter 950 You Reap What You Sow.


    Everything descended into Chaos and Carnage then. He rose into the air to get a great view of the valley. Then he bombarded the valley efficiently with his aerial advantage. He killed them with spells while the red cloud of ughter absorbed the death essence from his fresh kills.


    Things got really hectic when he finally set up his magic arsenal. A magical structure made up of his divine sense created solely for the transformation of his spiritual energy into fireballs by fusing it readily with atmospheric mana. It was like Armageddon descended upon the valley. He stood above everything in the air while he rained down destruction on them.


    He targeted the Alphas mostly. That incapacitated the Betas and stopped the pack froming together as a whole. They couldn''t work together and coordinate their actions due to the absence of their Alphas. That hampered their attempts to escape. He managed to kill thousands of them but many of them escaped. The Vampires also escaped in the Chaos.


    "Just 6 thousand out of 9 thousand. That''s barely passable for a massacre."


    He fought the remaining warriors who are 9 thousand and he managed to kill 6 thousand of them in 10 minutes. Other mana entities will feel pride that killed 10 vitality core stage refiners every second. But he holds himself to a higher standard. The only thing that makes him feel refreshed and pleasureful is the fact that the Warrogs howled in misery and pain as they were ughtered.


    He shrugged. "I tried my best. They are not the main course anyway."


    His inner beast is practically skipping in excitement and anticipation at the prospect of the main course. The ughter that just took ce has only wet its appetite despite drinking deeply of the death essence of the in Warrogs.


    "Let''s go harvest what we have nted." He said.


    Then he flew into the mountain range and began killing the unsuspecting Nameless. They are his main course. He has fattened them up nicely over these hundred years. He has sowed for so long. It is high time he reaped what he sowed.


    The Nameless were not worried despite the sound of fighting and destruction that they heard. They are not involved in conflicts so they felt safe. After all, nameless are meless. They were wrong to think that. Ragnarok doesn''t care about some rules of warfare. He only cares about power. Killing them will give him that power so he will kill them.


    The poor Warrogs cried and screamed. They didn''t even beg because they didn''t know who was killing them. All they know is that fire is falling from the sky. To these weaklings who have always been sheltered by the pack and have always loved in peace even when their packs were defeated, they can''t fathom that a Warrog will hurt them and their eyesight is too weak to see the figure in the sky producing the mes that is sending them to the afterlife inrge numbers.


    Disaster visited the Iron Fur pack that day. Ragnarok killed to his heart''s content. He killed everything that he could kill, even infant Warrogs and pregnant mothers. He killed both the aged and the young. He showed no mercy at all. The entire mountain range was demolished with fireballs and the ice turned red from all the blood that was spilled.


    Those are the only signs of his massacre. His red cloud didn''t leave any dead bodies behind. So the once prosperous mountain range became a destendscape of destroyed shelters, copsed caves, and blood-soaked ice. There was no dead in sight. He only stopped when the pack became too scattered for him to chase.


    About 700 thousand Warrogs died that night. They provided fresh death essence for him. He got a boost of 2900% from the killing. It is more than the 100 years'' worth of offerings that he received. He received millions of offerings but they can''tpare to the killing that he did over one night. It makes the total boost from his POWER stat reach 14,500%


    He grinned and said, "I like n B very much."


    n A was to do nothing if Sauron had everything under control. He would have waited patiently for a chance toe. And a chance wille too.


    Sauron can''t kill Xigger permanently so Xigger will alwayse back. His opportunity to take the totem pole will certainlye. n C was to take the totem pole and escape immediately. He would have done that if Xigger was massively more powerful than Sauron. His chances of beating Xigger will be too low for him to risk it. So he better escape.


    n B is the best of both worlds. He got to eat an ancestral vampire and a pack leader. He also got to harvest the farm that he had been growing for a hundred years. The conditions were right for him to take advantage of it.


    If he had taken the totem pole to strengthen himself but it turned out that he was wrong about the effect it would have on him then he would have had a way out of the tricky situation.


    He will be able to exin to Sauron that he did it to help and save the pack if the totem pole didn''t make him stronger than Sauron. Unfortunately for Sauron, he was right and he became stronger than Sauron. So he didn''t need to fear Sauron anymore.


    He could have chosen to help Xigger but he is not one to put his life in the hands of someone else. Especially not when that person is theckey of a demon God.


    There is no guarantee that Xigger will listen to him or help him. Even if Xigger wants to, there is no guarantee that Xigger will be able to protect him. He can only rely on his strength and that of Legion. Those are the only things he canpletely rely on for his safety.

 Chapter 951 Fugitive Warrog.

    Chapter 951 Fugitive Warrog.


    Things are not guaranteed to be good for him even if Xigger agrees to help him and the demon god is amendable to a cooperation between the two of them. It will just be a repeat of his stay in the Iron Fur pack. He will be recing Sauron with the demon god and working hard for the Vampires instead of the pack.


    It is all because he doesn''t have the qualifications to be treated as an equal by the demon god. At best, he will be a desperate and weak Warrog seeking favours.


    So he decided to get rid of everyone else and take the entire pie for himself. He did what would give him the strength to protect himself and only that. He knows that when you need to rely on someone for safety, then you are weak and your fate is not in your hands. He doesn''t like to live under someone else''s grace or thumb.


    "I am a fugitive now. It is best to escape." He said after taking onest look at the mess he has created.


    His inner beast wants to chase after those who escaped. It wants him to hunt them down till the ends of the earth. Then it wants him to relish the chase by crushing them in his jaws with a single bite.


    Unfortunately for his inner beast, that is a stupid idea. The ne is not his to do whatever he wants to do or just to run about in freedom. He ignored thepulsion for violence. Then he chose a direction and flew away from the scene of the crime.


    His life is in his hands now. He has to take care of it because no one else will. That''s how he likes it anyway. But no one will want to take care of him after what he has done. They will be more inclined to do the opposite.


    He has offended a lot of people with the massacre he just performed. He doesn''t regret his actions but he understands that a lot of people will not be pleased with what he did. The most important one of them is Xigger. But there''s also the paragons that escaped. They are weak but they are not inconsequential. They witnessed what he did and have information about him. That is going to give him trouble.


    "Things would have been smoother if only Sauron and Xigger didn''t separate." Heined a little.


    He used the Doom Chomp because he wanted to get both Sauron and Xigger. They were intertwined together in their fight. He was hoping to take out both of them at once. But they were suspicious of him and decided to separate at thest moment.


    That saved Sauron''s life but he didn''t know what''s good for himself. He should have escaped when he had the chance. But he didn''t. Then he even had the gall to announce that Ragnarok is the future Executioner before dying.


    Sauron confirmed his identity so a lot of Warrogs know about the future Executioner. It will make some very angry wood elvese looking for him. That''s why he will escape now and try to hide.


    -------


    The repercussions of Ragnarok''s actions are widespread. Wood elves were already sniffing about the mountain range. They found the wreckage he left behind after he was gone. A preliminary investigation pointed out that the destruction was not caused by vampires. They determined that it was caused by a spell caster of fire. That itself is perplexing.


    Vampires don''t use Mana spells and they are definitely afraid of mes. So it can''t be vampires. It also couldn''t be Warrogs. Warrogs don''t have the spell heritage to use spells.


    It isn''t wood elves either. Tree elves can use spells but they don''t like to use basic Mana spells. They prefer to use spells fueled with their nature Mana. Wood elves also hate fire spells the most. It harms them and their trees.


    So they were very confused about the cause of the destruction. Then they interrogated some warriors of the Iron Fur pack. The information that they gained shed a lot of light on the situation. But they still couldn''t believe that a Warrog did it.


    "You mean to tell me that a Warrog of a backward pack like yours created hundreds and thousands of balls of fire in a minute?" A wood elf asked.


    The Warrog replied in agitation, "Yes. Yes. He did."


    The wood elves didn''t believe it one bit. Even they can''t cast spells that rapidly and they are to believe that some ignorant Warrog managed to do so. The reliability of the information was put into question when they heard the warriors saying that the Warrog responsible for the Carnage is also a future Executioner. Theyughed off the rantings of the warriors as derision.


    The tree elves decided not to believe the warriors at all. It is a decision that was made after considering the presence of vampires. They found Vampires and they also saw signs of the use of blood spells. That means that a vampire that is at least a viscount was there. Which also exins the sightings of many vampires. Such a powerful vampire can alsopel the minds of weaker beings to make them believe wrong information.


    The viscount probably hypnotized the warriors so that they could give false information to the wood elves and misdirect the wood elves. Theck of dead bodies is also something that a vampire is capable of doing.


    The craters all over the mountain range and the fire damage can be caused by dropping ming rocks all over the mountain range to mask the traces of the Vampires. It is borate but it is possible.


    The wood elves thought they had figured everything out. Their train of thought is very reasonable. Besides, things like this have happened before. Vampires do it to mislead pursuers. But this vampire went too far. It made a mistake by fooling the Warrogs into believing that all of the damage was caused by an Executioner.

 Chapter 952 Mighty Suspicious.

    Chapter 952 Mighty Suspicious.


    An Emperor or Executioner has not been seen since the curse of the Warrogs by the fountain of life. The wood elves will be foolish to believe that one appeared here after many Origin cycles of absence and killed members of his own pack at the exact same time that a viscount is roaming around the mountain range with its fledglings. That is very suspicious.


    Besides, the representative of the fountain of life has not informed them of the appearance of an Emperor or Executioner. Such a thing cannot escape the notice of the fountain of life. The wood elves would have been notified of the existence of the Executioner just as they are notified of the existence of transcendent Warrogs.


    This so-called Executioner can also cast spells. That is already enough for the wood elves to know that there is something fishy about this fictional Executioner. Since the fountain of life has not said anything, then all of these must be bogus without a doubt. So theyughed off the news of an Executioner and focused on the traces of the Vampires.


    ---


    The wood elves pursued the Vampires with a determination to eradicate every one of them. They have lost a lot of their members recently so they have a score to settle with this viscount that is causing trouble around.


    The chase also became very urgent. The representative of the fountain of life warned them to protect the Warrogs so that something like this wouldn''t happen. They failed and allowed the Vampires to engorge themselves on the blood of hundreds of thousands. Which means that they will be getting stronger and more difficult to deal with.


    So they sent lords ofw and even kings ofw after the Vampires. They are very serious about the hunt this time.


    The vampire in question who is responsible for the atrocious acts against the Warrogs is still in slumber. Ragnarok''s bites weakened him more than normal. It will take more than a day before he can hijack a fledgling of his to resurrect. In the meantime, the three main forces that witnessed the atrocious event had different reactions to it.


    The fountain of life didn''t do anything. It didn''t tell the wood elves about what it saw. It kept mute because the death of hundreds of thousands of its property doesn''t matter in the long run. It is just d that Ragnarok didn''t fall into the hands of the Vampires. Besides, it has a lot of assets. The entire surface of the ne is its. It can trade in a few of them just to strengthen Ragnarok.


    The will of the ne couldn''t do anything even if wanted to. It has done all it can do by selecting a protector. But it too gave a sigh of relief that Ragnarok is safe. It cares because it doesn''t want Ragnarok to fall into the grasp of the demon God and because it still has a use for Ragnarok.


    An Emperor is notplete without its Executioner and neither is an Executionerplete without an Emperor. Life and Death must be one to bring out their full power. So Ragnarok is still important to the will of the ne and it was relieved that he managed to get away. Only the demon God of Carnage is very bitter and anxious.


    The demon God of Carnage''s sight is not as clear as the fountain of life''s and the will of the ne''s so it has to rely on what the Vampires saw to get a vivid image of the events that transpired that night. What it saw made it very excited and also very frustrated.


    "I can''t believe it. It is an Executioner in the flesh. What are the odds of finding him? I knew one should exist because of that Emperor but who would have thought that Xigger''s useless obsession would lead me to him? This is too good to be true. This is just too good to be true. I must get my hands on him. He must be weed into the fold of CARNAGE." The demon God ranted to itself.


    "And the Carnage that he wrought. It was so beautiful. It is the most beautiful thing that I have seen on this deary ne. He is already so talented. Imagine what he can do once he is in the fold of CARNAGE? He will be glorious."


    "I must have him. He shall be mine. He will be a missionary for CARNAGE."


    If there is a word that the demon God of Carnage can use to describe Ragnarok, it is that he is "perfect." Ragnarok is perfect simply for what he did that night. He killed his father, then he killed his pack leader. Then he visited destruction on his pack and even went further to massacre the Nameless of his pack.


    He did all of this without the emotional gripes and whining that Xigger would go through. He did it all without beingpelled to. He did it even when he didn''t need to. He did it simply because he wanted to. To the demon God of Carnage, voluntary Carnage is the most beautiful form of art.


    The demon God wants Ragnarok for more important reasons than his beautiful works of art. The will of the ne has found itself a champion. In the demon god''s opinion, the will of the ne made a very good decision. They know that the Warrogs have more potential than the wood elves. The original tree people didn''t have any divine ability. Their current divine ability was given to them by the fountain of life.


    In a way, the fountain of life is the ancestor of the wood and dark elves. The tree people were supposed to lose the ancient world wars but the fountain of life chose them for its blessing. It chose the tree people for the same reason that the demon God is after the tree elves. They were highlypatible. So they were blessed. The blessing turned ordinary nt spirits into a divine race.

 Chapter 953 Infinite Patience.

    Chapter 953 Infinite Patience.


    The blessing of the fountain of life turned into a curse on the Warrogs because the original Warrogs had their own divine ability which wasn''tpatible with thew fragments of life. The fountain of life had to curse the Warrogs because even with the blessings, the tree people were of no match to them.


    So the will of the ne chose a Warrog as a good champion and the demon God also wants his own champion. The future Executioner will do nicely for that position of honor.


    The demon God of Carnage was aware of the existence of the Emperor but it couldn''t find her. It had no hopes of finding the Executioner even though it sent out vampires to attack the surface of the ne. So this is a lucky encounter for the demon God.


    It is good news but the situation also made the demon God very frustrated.


    CARNAGEined, "What do I do now? How do I get him? This is so frustrating. I shouldn''t have promised that Xigger anything."


    There were multiple points of attack that the Vampires used to attack the surface but they were all futile. It was the new and hopeless Xigger that helped the demon god to find the Executioner. This is why the demon God is so excited. It is also why the demon God is frustrated.


    Ragnarok isn''t just any Warrog. He is a rtive of Xigger. Xigger made a deal with the demon God that he would do the bidding of CARNAGE. In exchange, the demon God will give him power and won''t do anything to those rted to him by blood.


    Xigger was reluctant when he took the offering of the blood crystal. He was not a young naive boy who hadn''t seen the world. He was a pack leader who had gotten to an all-time low because someone sneakily bypassed the rules to cheat him. The offering of the blood crystal came to him when he needed it the most. But that didn''t mean that he wouldn''t be suspicious of free power.


    He knew he would probably be losing his freedom. But he made sure that what he was fighting for would be safe. It will be of no use if he has power only for his loved ones to be taken from him by the same thing that granted him that power. He might lose his power, but he made sure that the demon God would make the oath in their deal that he wouldn''t go after his loved ones directly or indirectly.


    The demon God of Carnage didn''t think much of the promise back then. Xigger was the first Warrog that could hear him in the ne and the first race other than elves to hear him in any ne. Thebination of his despair and the fragments of thew of life within him worked to make him be in tune with the demon God. It was a first and he represented an opportunity for the demon God to expand his sin into another race.


    Getting ess to another race within the ne would open more avenues of attacks for the demon God against the will of the ne. The safety of Xigger''s useless and insignificant descendants, at that time, was a small price to pay for the demon God to get ess to the Warrog race.


    That was what the demon God thought back then. It turned out that one of Xigger''s loved ones was not an insignificant Warrog in some backward pack. That insignificant promise has be the shackles holding back the demon God from going after Ragnarok now.


    That doesn''t mean the demon God is out of options. It just has to be smart about it. It can''t give up because of a little technicality. Ragnarok is too good to be given up. The two of them are verypatible based on personality alone. Ragnarok will also help the demon God to resist the will of the ne. So the demon God schemed while waiting for Xigger to resurrect.


    Xigger was resurrected two days after his death. That is one dayter than the time it took him to resurrect after Sauron killed him. He took over the body of a fledgling and used it to recreate his body.


    It was within a cave in the Underdark. He didn''t do anything when he reincarnated. He just sat down on the ground and looked into the air without focusing on anything. He cked out when Ragnarok killed him so he is just getting to sort through his emotions.


    Xigger is very shocked. That''s his foremost and most pertinent emotion. He can''t believe what he saw. The fact that his son killed him didn''t shock him. It was not a surprise to him at all. He suspected that something like that could happen when Ragnarok was rushing towards him and Sauron.


    What he can''t believe is what he saw Ragnarok used to attack him. The image of that ck phantom jaws snapping shut on him kept ying in his mind. It is all he can see and think of.


    "A penny for your thoughts?" The voice in his head interrupted his thoughts.


    "Hmm? How long was I out?" He asked.


    "Two days." The demon God answered.


    "I see." He said then he became silent again.


    The demon God waited patiently for him to speak. An eternal being has infinite patience. There''s no need to rush Xigger. Rushing him can also be counterproductive. So the demon God waited patiently.


    "Did I really see those ck jaws?" Xigger asked after stewing in his thoughts for a while.


    The demon God remained the ever-presentpanion in need. It replied, "Yeah. You did."


    "What does it mean?"


    The demon God chuckled. "You know what it means."


    Xigger sighed. "I was hoping I was wrong."


    He knows what it means. He just didn''t want to ept it.


    He muttered as he reminiscenced, "The jaws of doom. The Doom Chomp."

 Chapter 954 A Fathers Love.

    Chapter 954 A Father''s Love.


    Then Xiggerughed depreciatingly. "Can you imagine it? My own son is an Executioner. He is the hope of the Warrogs. I am so shocked and surprised."


    The demon God grumbled to itself, "You can''t imagine my own shock and surprise. How I wish he was not your son."


    The demon god made sure to keep that thought to itself.


    Xigger stoppedughing. He said mournfully, "His mother would be so proud. Who is even his mother? I don''t know which one of my mates bore him. His mother is probably dead. Maybe that''s why he hates me. I didn''t protect him and his mother. I would hate myself too."


    The demon God quickly interfered before he went down a spiral of regret and depression. "So what now." It asked.


    It doesn''t want to rush Xigger but some things can''t be allowed to happen either or it will be detrimental to the demon god''s ns.


    Xigger stood up immediately when he heard that question. "I must protect him. He is not just my son anymore. He is the hope of the race. He is made for great things. It is his destiny to save the race."


    "And how do you intend to protect him? You''re weaker than ever." The demon God dashed his hopes.


    "Ah. That''s true." He said.


    His strength has fallen to the level he was before he fought Sauron for the first time. It is what caused the dy in his resurrection.


    He smiled and said, "That boy of mine really took a bite out of me."


    He feels pride that Ragnarok did a good job in killing him. It means Ragnarok will be a good Executioner.


    The demon God interrupted again. "I''m sure you must be proud. But forget about protecting him. You are weak. You can''t even protect yourself. The wood elves caught up to the iron fur pack. They are on to you right now. They are chasing down every one of your fledglings. There are lords ofw and kings ofw among them. They won''te down into the Underdark but they will copse the tunnels and seal the entrances and monitor the surface for the next few years."


    Xigger became aghast. "What about Ragnarok. Did they kill him?"


    "I am telling you to worry about yourself. You will have to dig another tunnel if you want to get to the surface. There''s no way that they won''t notice you doing that. They will attack you as soon as you reach the surface. There''s no way to protect him now. They might even summon up the courage to descend down the tunnels after you. You did kill a lot of their members and they think that you massacred the whole iron fur pack. They are really mad at you."


    The original tree people are capable ofmunicating with trees and the wood elves still possess that ability. They will be able to use the tree roots in the ground to monitor the surroundings so they will know when a tunnel is forming. Things are not good for Xigger right now. The demon God made sure to emphasize that Xigger is not safe while ignoring Ragnarok.


    To an unsuspecting person, it will seem like Xigger is more important to the demon God than Ragnarok. But Xigger doesn''t care about his own situation right now. He cares about Ragnarok and he is only bing more anxious the more Ragnarok''s situation is glossed over like that.


    Xigger''s immortal heart skipped. "What did you say happened to the Iron Fur pack? They were massacred? Is Ragnarok safe?"


    The demon God sighed like an unwilling partner. It reluctantly gave up information about Ragnarok. "Don''t worry about him. He was the one who massacred the pack. He killed them all. Your fledglings saw it happen. Then he ran away. The wood elves think that you did it. They are after you for it. So your precious son is safe for now."


    Xigger was shocked. "Why did he do that?"


    "It is an Executioner thing. Have you forgotten? Executioners gain strength from the dead. He killed the pack leader and as many other pack members as he could kill. Then he ran away. It is obvious that he did it because he needed the strength. After all, there is an immortal vampireing after him and there''s the hunt of the wood elves to worry about. They will hunt him if they find out about his existence which he had to expose to kill you."


    "You imed to be his father but he doesn''t know that and Vampires are liars so he doesn''t have any reason to believe you. What matters now is that he is safe despite the amount of trouble that you have put him into."


    All Xigger heard is that Ragnarok is in a lot of trouble. He doesn''t care that he killed so many Warrogs. It was his fault for attacking their pack in the first ce. If he hadn''t attacked the iron fur pack, Ragnarok would have lived his life in peace. But he brought in problems for Ragnarok and Ragnarok did what he had to do for strength.


    The love of a father well up from within him and it brought fought pain. He is no stranger to this pain. It is the pain he felt while running away from Sauron as the guilt of his failure to protect his family and his pack knawed at him.


    "I must save him," Xigger said anxiously. "It is just a matter of time before the wood elves find out about him. I am his father and I can not sit back and watch him die. Not again. I will go looking for him even if you don''t help me."


    The demon God sighed again. "Fine. I will help you. You''re pushing my hand. Have I mentioned that I don''t like you doing all these irrelevant things? This is just a waste of time. Forget your family. Let go of your mortal shackles. Aim for greatness." The demon god advised sincerely.

 Chapter 955 A Mourning.

    Chapter 955 A Mourning.


    Xigger insisted with determination. "Greatness is of no use to me if I don''t have my loved ones to share it with."


    "What a fool." The demon god said.


    But it went on. "You won''t listen to me but I will help. First, you need strength. He is stronger than you so you can''t help him now even if you manage to get past the wood elves and find him. You will also lead the wood elves to him if you don''t get rid of them before going after him. So don''t worry for now. Your son is safe right now. I swear it on my Sin as the demon God of Carnage."


    Xigger calmed down after hearing what the demon God said. The demon Godid out a pretty convincing case. He is too weak to be of any help to Ragnarok and the most help he can offer Ragnarok is to eliminate the wood elves and keep his location secret. Plus the oath that the demon God made assured him of the safety of Ragnarok.


    "What should I do then?" He asked.


    "You will use the brief period of time that your son is safe to strengthen yourself. That means you need blood from powerful organisms. You won''t get that in this mountain range. That''s why you should join the attack on the surface. Take another tunnel through the Underdark and join up with the Vampires attacking the wood elves."


    Xigger agreed. "Yes. I am an ancestral vampire so I will grow stronger very fast."


    The demon God continued. "Leaving the mountain range will also draw the wood elves away from here. It will make it easier for your son to escape unnoticed. Then you can return when you have the strength to protect him. Don''t worry. I can help you find him."


    Xigger sighed. "You''re right. I was being hasty. The most important thing for me to do now is to acquire strength. Let''s go and attack the wood elves."


    Xigger gave orders to his fledglings through their connection. They all scattered into the Underdark and met at a rendezvous point. Then they went to the surface together to join the attack on the surface. Xigger became stronger and also amassed more fledglings. He increased in both quality and quantity.


    The demon God smiled to itself. "I have sessfully wound him up. I just need him to explode next."


    The demon God convinced Xigger to let Ragnarok go for now. If there is someone that wants toy their hands on Ragnarok the most then it will be the demon God. But the demon God convinced the only person who could let it have Ragnarok to do otherwise.


    The demon God can''t act against Ragnarok personally and neither can it make some other vampire go after him. The only one who can act against Ragnarok is his father himself. So the demon God will use Xigger to get Ragnarok.


    It would have been impossible to reach Ragnarok through Xigger if Xigger had the good sense not to stubbornly and willingly shackle himself with the burden of familiar obligations. He has great power and the potential to be great but he allows himself to be led about by his emotions and his perceived responsibility to his loved ones. This is why the demon god called him a fool.


    It is as the demon god once said, power doesn''t make a fool smart. Xigger is foolish so he will be used as a tool. But the demon has to be patient so that everything will go without a hitch.


    Everything it said about Xigger''s situation is true. It never lied to Xigger. But it didn''t need to lie. It can twist the truth to its purpose very well. Xigger is currently too weak to save or apprehend Ragnarok. The demon God on the other hand has infinite patience. It will wait for Xigger to be stronger and lead him to Ragnarok. Then its n will unfold.


    "I will have him. He will be mine." The demon God said andughed sinisterly to itself.


    ------


    The entire race of wood elves was under attack. The ones looking for Xigger searched the mountain range but couldn''t find any vampires. They stationed some scouts while the rest returned to defend their cities. The mountain range regained its peace again after they left. The survivors of the iron fur pack returned to the location of their devastated pack.


    A few thousand Warrogs met in the valley where Sauron and thousands of their fellow Warrios died. They came together for his burial and the burial of all the warriors who died there that night. There are no bodies to bury but then again, a burial is useless even if if there are bodies to bury. A burial is a useless affair to the dead. It is only useful to the living so theck of a body doesn''t matter much.


    The atmosphere is mournful as a burial should be. There are even some warriors crying. Others are not crying because they can''t cry anymore. They have cried all the tears that they can produce. All of them have shed tears at one point in time since that dreadful event.


    This burial is highly significant to them. They are not crying because of the severe injuries on many of them. Some of them are even missing limbs. But they miss Sauron the most. They feel the pain of his absence and the pack far more than the pain of some missing body parts.


    Sauron was the greatest pack leader in recent thousands of years. He managed to unite most of the mountain range. He was strict and he was powerful. His warriors could rely on him and the Nameless under his reign prospered. They didn''t have to change packs often so they were very stable. The pack was very sessful for a hundred years. But it is all gone now. It is a terrible thing. It is a tragedy.

 Chapter 956 What Next?

    Chapter 956 What Next?


    A pack leader is an integral part of the hierarchy. The death of one should be mourned. The death of one who tried to fight off the Executioner is even more tragic. Sauron tried to save them when he found out that Ragnarok was an Executioner. They didn''t understand why he fought a future Executioner until he died and the Executioner turned on them.


    Sauron did his job as the pack leader until hisst moment. He wouldn''t give up an inch for the interest of his pack. But now he is gone. It is an understatement to say that he will be missed. They can heal broken limbs, but they can not heal detached limbs. Just like detached limbs, they may never recover from the loss of Sauron.


    The Alphas present stepped forward one after the other to say some words about him.


    "I remember when he defeated my former pack leader. He did it with a grin on his face throughout the entire fight. Sauron was strong. He believed in strength and he did right with the strength he had. He can be hard on others in another pack but he is kind to those he considers his. And we were his. We were his family. He protected us. He was always there for us. We could always count on him. But now. He is gone."


    The speaker paused to choke back a sob. She wiped away a tear from her face and continued. "He is no more. We have lost a tyrant and a protector. He will be missed."


    Another Alpha spoke. "He was great. He did great things. It felt great to be in his park. We could feel his greatness across our bond when we ran with him. He was the bestmander that you want to lead you to battle. He made us feel great. With him at the head of the pack, we were part of something great. But now we are mundane again. Sauron will be missed."


    The burial continued for days. Every Alpha said something about him. Most of them said nice things about him. They are not lying about those nice things. They truly believe he is good and kind. They are not just saying so because he is dead. Other people such as the defeated pack leaders and one very disgruntled ancestral Vampire might only have bad things to say about Sauron but not them.


    They bid their farewell to an icon. Then they huddled together in silence for hours. Someforted the others that were crying while others remained silent for days.


    The loss of Sauron is very impactful to them because he was very impactful on their lives when he was alive. Sauron was great so they feel his absence greatly just as they feel the absence of Emperors that have not been seen for hundreds of thousands of years.


    The connection between pack members goes both ways. They share strength and emotions. It was great running in a pack that wasrge because the boost from their numbers was great. Everything was good under Sauron''s reign. Then they lost it. It is a loss that they feel deeply.


    They felt their connection with him ripped apart and shredded when he died. It was a very painful experience. Then the Executioner damaged them further. He took the lives of theirrades after taking the life of their pack leader. They have arge piece of themselves missing now. The executioner maimed them in both body and mind. So now they mourn for all that they have lost.


    The mourning did not continue forever. The Alphas met after the burial.


    Someone asked everyone, "What do we do now?"


    They are aimless and without a purpose without a leader. This above all else is disconcerting. Without a pack leader or an Alpha of Alphas, there can be no pack. Warrogs are not meant to be without a pack. Even Omegas work together with packs to achieve their aims.


    "We need to avenge Sauron and every warrior that died?" Someone suggested immediately.


    "Yes, let''s do that."


    The sentiment for vengeance got a lot of agreement from the Alphas. But not everyone thought it was a good idea.


    Someone rebutted, "How do you suggest we do that? We are up against a future Executioner that killed Sauron. We are not even mana entities yet and even if we are, we are of no match to him. He will kill us all. Or were you not there when he rained down fire upon us."


    This doused their enthusiasm for vengeance. The reality of the situation is that Ragnarok is too strong for them. Sauron was not nearly enough to defeat him. They are not Sauron so they will definitely not be enough to bring the Executioner to justice.


    "Let''s find the future Emperor. Only the Emperor can match and control the Executioner." Someone suggested.


    "That''s true. There is always an Emperor with an Executioner. The two of theme in pairs."


    Another person shut down the idea. "That''s just a myth. Even if it were true, how are we to find the Emperor?"


    "We will spread around the ne and look for the Emperor. We will soon hear news of them if they exist."


    "Are you senile? What do you mean we spread around? We are not meant to scatter around. I believe we should just stay together and rebuild."


    "We should just rebuild. Looking for an Emperor that might not exist sounds like a waste of time. The Emperor might not exist and they might not help us even if they exist."


    Another one shot back, "The Emperor will help us. Emperors are always against Executioners. The Emperor will certainly punish the Executioner for harming Warrogs. That''s the way it has always been."


    The Alphas began to argue. They kept their difference of opinions to just the sh of words, for now. They just mourned a loss so they are not keen to add more to their losses.

 Chapter 957 Fairy Tales.

    Chapter 957 Fairy Tales.


    "What do you mean that''s the way it has always been? Did you experience it yourself? Were you there when it happened? Stop spouting legends as facts."


    "Then what do you want us to do? Should we give up on revenge because it seems impossible? Then the Executioner will get away with his crimes. The Emperor is our only hope."


    Someone said with visible agitation, "Shut up your mouth. You said it seems impossible. That''s an understatement. It is impossible. You want us to look for revenge through children''s stories and fairy tales."


    "Look at us." The agitated Alpha said with a yell. "We are not children anymore. We are adults and adults have to face reality. The reality of the situation is that we are weak and cannot do anything against the Executioner. It is a much better use of our time to rebuild than to chase after fairy tales."


    It is a reasonable and rational argument not to base a decision on myths and legends. There are a lot of uncertainties concerning the n to look for an Emperor. It is true that while they can''t bring the Executioner to justice on their own, an Emperor should be able to. After all, ording to the legends, the two are a pair and are usually of equal strength. But there are a lot of problems with that proposed solution.


    An Emperor might not exist. If it does exist, there''s no guarantee that they will find it. And so what if they find an Emperor? So what if they have equal strength with an Executor? So what that Emperors and Executioners are like fire and ice. So what if the Emperor and Executioner don''t see face to face? What is the guarantee that this Emperor will help them?


    Even being optimistic, this entire solution is based on fairy tales. They are not reliable and things might not work out even if they were. The whole thing might turn out to be a wild goose chase. Most importantly, revenge on the Executioner will not bring back what they have lost. Sauron and the rest are dead forever.


    But this logical argument didn''t holdplete sway over the Alphas. It certainly didn''t hold sway over Lamd who was courting Tesrat and hoping to make her his mate. She was the first to bow to the Executioner and she was rewarded for her loyalty with being the first to die. He can''t let it go at all.


    Unfortunately, Lamd is not in charge of the pack. No one is. All the mana entities in the surroundings have been hunted by Xigger. So there is no pack leader yet. The Alphas have to vote and agree about something before a decision is made.


    This decision about what to do needs a major consensus for it to be decided upon by the coalition of Alphas. So the Alphas voted. They cast their vote by dropping sticks into two different piles that represent the two options. Then the sticks were counted.


    The result was known even before it was counted. One pile is bigger than the other so the option that will win is clearly visible. Still, someone counted the sticks in the presence of everyone and announced the result.


    "It has been decided upon through public vote that the Coalition of Alphas will stay here and rebuild our pack."


    The decision was not contested. The majority has spoken so it will be so, for now. There was no argument and no fight broke out. But it caused a silent rift to appear among the Warrogs. It is a rift that might eventually tear the pack apart.


    On one side are those who want revenge. Lamd is understandably among them. He has two options. The first and the best one is to be a mana entity very quickly and take over the pack. He would be able to use his authority as the new pack leader to do as he wishes. He will be able to order the pack to seek the Emperor so that revenge will be visited on Ragnarok. The second option is to leave the pack on his own to find the Emperor.


    "I will try and be the pack leader first." He told himself. "I can always fall back on the second option if I fail to be an Alpha of Alphas and take over the pack."


    The other side of the rift also knows about this ring point. Their vote only counts until someone with enough authority arises from amidst them to render it invalid. So every Alpha tried their best in theing days to break through.


    But breaking through to be a mana entity is not easy. The switch of the cells from using internally produced vitality for metabolism to using externally supplied mana is not so easy to achieve. It is extra difficult when they are not even aware that mana exists.


    The body is a stable system. Each part works together in harmony. They also resist external changes. The body does this to maintain the consistency of internal conditions. Not every condition is safe for the body. So the body fights against the changes of external influence. The body heats itself up in a cold environment or loses heat in a hot environment.


    Switching to using mana will lead to radical changes all around the body so the resistance of the body to mana is very high. Still, Lamd tried. It is a race that he doesn''t want to lose. He needs to be a pack leader if he wants to have revenge for the love of his life. Unfortunately for him, wishes are not horses. Someone else became a mana entity before him.


    He knew he had failed when he heard the howl. It is a deep resonating howl that struck him and pulled at him. The new pack leader is calling the paragons to him. He can resist now by running away. The pack leader won''t be able to chase all of them so soon.

 Chapter 958 The New Pack Leader.

    Chapter 958 The New Pack Leader.


    Lamd sighed in sadness. "Looks like I have to leave."


    He had made up his mind to run away but he recognized the howl and who it belonged to. It belongs to someone on his side of the rift.


    He smiled after the realization. "This is good too. I can still get my revenge."


    He stood up from where he was meditating and left his cave. He found his Betas already waiting for him at the entrance. They heard the howl so they came to him for their orders. The four of them are looking at him intensely.


    One of them asked him. "What are we doing boss? Should we make a run for it?"


    Their allegiance remains with him. They listen to him for now, not the pack leader. That will only change when their Alpha submits to the new pack leader. Until then, they will run away with him as long as he says so.


    He yfully rubbed the head of the one who asked him. He grinned and said to them. "I am d that I can always count on you. You have always been there for me. But I have good news. We won''t run today. Things are good for us."


    His Betas cheered andughed. They will run with him. But it is not a good idea to run. Warrogs are not meant to be alone from a pack. Bing fugitives will be very difficult for them. Their strength will be weakened and they will be alone. Survival will be very hard for them. So it is good news that they don''t need to run.


    His smile waned as he watched their happy faces. They used to be 10 but now they are 4. 6 of them died that night when Ragnarok unleashed hell on them. 3 of them died to save him. That is half of the total that died. It is because Ragnarok specifically targeted the Alphas. He knew the Betas would protect the Alphas so he took advantage of their bond to kill more of them. The death of an Alpha will also stun the Betas and turn them into disarray.


    "The Executioner took advantage of the bond that makes us stronger. For that, he will pay." He said to them. "Let us go and offer allegiance to the new pack leader."


    He howled into the sky. His howl joined the howls of the other Alphas. Every Alpha that intends to answer the call will howl to show their willingness to do so. As for the others that don''t want to, they will slip away silently. His Betas joined him in howling and joined him in transforming into their beast form. Then they ran in the direction of the howl of the pack leader.


    The new pack leader has been howling for a long while She continued to howl even when Alphas brought their squads to her. The Squads sat on their haunches and waited for her. She stopped howling when she didn''t receive a reply for a few minutes. Whoever was going toe will be here already. She looked around the squads that answered her call. It was not what she expected.


    "I am pleasantly surprised. I didn''t expect many of you toe when you heard my voice. I expected the majority of you to run away since it was the majority that voted against looking for an Emperor. I am impressed by your loyalty. The dedication that you have shown me is a sign of trust and I promise not to betray that trust. I swear that with your help, I will create a pack that will prosper. We shall not want for anything."


    The Warrogs howled in agreement with what she said. There is more than 90% of the survivors here. She expected to see 30% since she is from the minority faction. It is understandable for the majority to refuse to heed her call. But they came and she understands why.


    It is because while the majority wants to settle down, they also want a pack leader and want to be part of a pack. They miss being part of a pack. It is in their nature to aggregate towards a pack leader and they don''t feel strongly negative against her to not let themselves obey her. So they came to her.


    She made her promises and they agreed with her. A pact was made through that agreement. And the connection between them formed at that point. The pack became whole again.


    The new pack leader spoke after the bonding ceremony. "I know that many of you have questions about the direction that I want to take the pack. You can step forward and speak your mind when I select you."


    Lamd stepped forward with the others. He has questions that he wants to ask. Unfortunately, he wasn''t chosen first. Someone else was chosen.


    That person is a female Alpha. She asked the question that everyone is concerned about. "So when do we go looking for the mythical Emperor."


    This female emphasized the word "mythical." She would put air quotes to buttress her point if she could in her beast form and if it were not disrespectful to do so.


    She smiled and replied. "I understand why you asked that question. You assumed that we are going to look for the Emperor because I belong to the minority faction."


    Her words didn''t make Lamd feel good. He doesn''t know where she is going but he doesn''t like it all. So he blurted out, "But we are going to look for the Emperor right?"


    The new pack leader growled and snapped at him, "Know your ce. You are not to speak until allowed and neither are you to interrupt me. Do you understand?"


    He shrunk down on himself andy with his belly to the ground. It is both an apology and a showing of submission.


    "I understand." He replied weakly. "I am sorry for interrupting you pack leader."

 Chapter 959 Lamplad The Determined.

    Chapter 959 Lamd The Determined.


    The park leader turned away from him and continued speaking. "We will not be looking for the Emperor. We have the Nameless here that needs our protection. Are we to leave them here to fend for themselves? Who will protect them? They will die and it will be our fault. So we won''t go looking for an Emperor that might not exist. That is a gamble that I am not willing to y especially since it will certainly cost us the lives of poor defenseless Nameless."


    She paused to gauge their reactions. "I hope you can understand and sympathize with the Nameless. For the Nameless are meless."


    The Warrogs howled in agreement. To be specific, it is the majority of them that howled in agreement. Some were not in agreement so they didn''t howl. Those in the majority are very d with her stance. It is those in the minority that have some problems with it.


    The pack leader''s speech convinced some of those that wanted revenge and the feeling of being part of a pack convinced more of them. But there are some that remained stubborn and unconvinced. Lamd is among those few.


    The pack leader knew this. She can also see it in his behavior. His posture is that of submission but his eyes are that of defiance. It is clear to her that he won''t give up until he dies.


    So she said to them, "I am an amodating pack leader. I understand that some of you are bent on revenge. I will not rob you of that chance. You can leave the pack right now and go looking for the Emperor. You can leave if the dead is more important to you than the living. You have my word that you have my permission to leave and that I won''t do anything to you if you decide to leave."


    Lamd was quick to jump at the offered chance. He took one look at the pack leader and bowed. His gaze and his opinion about her have truly changed.


    He said to her, "I appreciate the offer that you have granted us and I promise to return to inform you if we find the Emperor. You will remain my pack leader for the kindness that you have shown me today."


    His opinion has changed. He doesn''t think she is a traitor anymore, but his resolve has not been removed. He expressed heartfelt gratitude. Then he turned his back on her and left the pack. His squad followed him and so did the others who were bent on revenge.


    The pack leader watched all of this happen without doing anything.


    "What a fool." She thought to herself.


    She is calling Lamd a fool for his decision. He is not the only one to have lost someone dear to the ws of the Executioner. She lost people too. Her parents were killed by Ragnarok. That''s why she wanted revenge.


    Sauron, who was her hero was also killed by Ragnarok. But she didn''t have the strength to defeat Ragnarok so she sided with the minority to look for the Emperor. That was until she became the pack leader. She got a taste of power and it brought her a new perspective.


    What she said about the Nameless is true. She can feel them out there wandering and in danger. Their existence is calling to her instincts to protect them. The Nameless are meless and that''s true. The Nameless are also the major source of her power as a pack leader. They strengthen her which she in turn uses to boost her warriors.


    Their existence has awakened a thirst for power within her. She wants to protect them and make them prosper so that she can be stronger. She wants to care for them like a shepherd to his sheep and watch them grow. She doesn''t want to leave them to go wandering around aimlessly. Most importantly, she doesn''t want to give her power to the Emperor.


    What''s more important than not finding the Emperor is actually finding the Emperor and having to submit or die. She might not find the Emperor, but if she does, then she will have to offer allegiance. She would have gone through the stress of searching for her power to be taken from her.


    She knows that her power is not much in the grand scheme of things. It is not asrge as that of Sauron so she knows it is definitely not significant whenpared to Ragnarok who is just a mana entity like her. But it is her power and she isn''t willing to give it up. If Sauron couldn''t stand up to Ragnarok and live, then she would definitely fail to stand up to the Emperor and live.


    All she wants to do is build a pack to the best of her abilities, build a great settlement, and maybe be the overlord of the mountain range just like Sauron. The people that want revenge will get in the way of that. Lamd will not give up. He would sow descent among her warriors and umte those of like minds. Then they will break away together. That will disrupt her pack.


    She could kill him and those that are like him but she chose to let them go. Maybe it was their fear for her or her disy of magnanimity or their reluctance to leave a pack, the ones that decided to secede from the pack are less than 10%. They would have been more had she allowed Lamd and his ilk to have time to convince more Alphas to their cause.


    She can afford to let go of some of her warriors. After all, the bulk of her strengthes from the Nameless. It hurt her strength in the short run but it is better in the long run. She lost some manpower but she has won theplete loyalty of the remaining 90% and more of the ones that ran away when they find out that she is the new pack leader. She even retained the loyalty of the ones who left including Lamd. It is why she is so derisive of him.

 Chapter 960 To Become A Farmer.

    Chapter 960 To Be A Farmer.


    Lamd didn''t hide his emotions and he couldn''t control himself when things didn''t go his way. He could have pretended to be obedient. Then rushed back to his cave and broke through into a mana entity. He could then use his new power to bring away more of her warriors or even challenge her for the position of park leader.


    But he was foolish and impatient. She knew what he was up to immediately and was able to manipte him easily. He didn''t even suspect a thing and he still respects her. She had no choice but to be derisive of him.


    To be fair, she isn''t the only female who has been derisive of Lamd in recent history. Tesrat was also derisive of him. He liked her but she didn''t like him. He was too boring and thick-skulled. That''s what Tesrat would always say about him.


    Lamd is kind and loyal. He is honest and humble. He is also strong but not as strong as Tesrat. They are all good qualities for one to have in a mate. But he was boring and mentally unimaginative.


    He was also without ambition. He never considered bing a mana entity and controlling his own pack. It is obviously a bad idea to consider bing a pack leader with Sauron around but Tesrat didn''t like the fact that he didn''t even consider the possibility. His whole life would amount to nothing special with that kind of mindset. Tesrat didn''t like that in a man so his love wasrgely unrequited.


    Lamd knew that. He also thinks that he could have changed her mind. But she is dead now and he will never get the chance to change her mind. So now he is wandering aimlessly for someone to help him get revenge. Some might call that foolishness. Others will call it being romantic. Those sorts of people will also say that Love conquers all.


    As for the new pack leader. She believes that only power and wisdom conquer anything. So while she acts kind and understanding, she is screaming inwardly to herself, "It is mine now. It is all mine."


    -----


    Ragnarok''s existence and actions caused a lot of changes to the ne. The Iron Fur pack gained a new pack leader and began to rebuild their home. Some of them left to search for the Emperor in the myths. The wood elves are currently fighting the Vampires all over the ne. They are using their divine ability to control nts to rebuff the bloodsuckers.


    The Warrogs bent on revenge are not the only ones searching for an Emperor. The vampires are also searching for this Emperor. Amongst them is a certain Primogenitor who is eating his way through the wood elves with a fiery anger and dogged determination that is unmatched.


    The ne is in turmoil but Ragnarok is not affected by this turmoil. He is in a ce where life is almost absent. Ragnarok chose to run northwards when he escaped. The north of the ne is mountainous. It has several mountains in long unending chains. The north is home to the tallest mountains in the ne.


    The north is also a very cold ce. It used to be cold before the sun was blocked. So now, it is frozen into an ice age. Life was already finding it difficult to survive there. There is nothing there now except frozen mountains and an Executioner on the run for unjust crimes.


    "This ne is too stuffy. One cannot rear people as food. This is too harsh a ce to live in." Heined.


    If he had his way, he would create another pack and rear them for a hundred years. They will help him hunt for that period of time. Then he will kill most of them after a hundred years. He will leave just enough to create the next generation and proliferate for a hundred years. Then he will repeat the culling.


    He dreams to be a farmer. It is an honest profession. The cycle of sowing and reaping will help him grow stronger silently. Unfortunately, he couldn''t realize his dream because he couldn''t leave the mountain range for other settlements without being discovered by the wood elves.


    The wood elves were looking for suspicious characters and a lone Warrog that is also at the mana entity stage is mighty suspicious. He had to avoid the patrolling teams of wood elves when he tried to leave the mountain range in any other direction. The only direction he could take was toward the uninhabitable north.


    "I miss the Iron Fur Pack." He said wistfully as he flew against the tempest of icy wind. "There was no stress or struggle in my days as Shaman."


    He thinks fondly of his time as the Chief Shaman of the Iron Fur Pack. He was at peace and fulfilled. He is truly grateful for their hospitality. Unfortunately for them, he has a strong principle of not mixing business and pleasure.


    His time with them was pleasurable but it was ultimately business. Business is all about profits and loss. He couldn''t make a loss so he killed them. Still, it was a pleasurable experience being a Shaman so he thinks fondly of them as he battled the winds of the north for each step he takes forward.


    There is a strong barrier around him that is protecting him from the environment. He needs it because he might as well be flying through a typhoon of ice. He would be frozen into a sculpture of ice without it.


    The north is very windy in normal circumstances. Now the winds are heavilyden with snow and ice. They reduce visibility to no more than 1 meter. And that''s because of his excellent sight as a mana entity. Lesser beings won''t be able to see their hands if they stretch them in front of them.


    Fortunately, he has a divine sense that can reach 1,000 meters. His barrier is also very powerful so it istes him from the cold winds. He would have been frozen dead without his barrier a long time ago. So he is managing quite well despite the adverse conditions.

 Chapter 961 Cant Complain.

    Chapter 961 Can''t Comin.


    Ragnarok was even able to smile and reminisce about the past. "Reminds me of the ice trial during the trial of heaven."


    The monotonous environment of pure white reminds him of the first trial in the trial of heaven that Gehaldirah attended. He was supposed to keep moving through the cold temperature and bleak icendscape for an unknown distance.


    The temperature was much colder than this and he had to survive for years in that small world of ice. His current situation is simr to that ordeal but it is nowhere as difficult.


    He said to himself, "If I could survive the trial of heaven, then I can definitely survive this. I will see where it ends."


    He is no stranger to dreary and boring situations so he wasn''t discouraged by theck of stimulus in his environment. He continued to fly for months on end without stopping. It is but a fraction of the years he spent in the ice trial.


    There is mana in the air so he doesn''t need sustenance. His soul is eternal so he doesn''t need to sleep. His mind is perfect so he can maintain his concentration and his body can continue to work under his control. There are no life sources in his surroundings so he can''t feed but he still managed to grow stronger on his trip. Divine life energy from the tree father fed his divine ability and increased his stats.


    NAME: RAGNAROK (Legion-6)


    RACE: WARROG


    BLOODLINE: Unknown Royal bloodline.


    TITLE: CHILD OF THE VIRUT PLANE.


    POWER LEVEL (BODY): Mana Body (98% Conversion)


    POWER LEVEL (SOUL): Soul Reformation (Complete)


    PHYSIQUE: Body ofw(Iplete)


    HP: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    ENERGY LEVEL (BODY ): Mana


    ENERGY LEVEL (SOUL): Spiritual Energy


    VITALITY: 20,124


    ENDURANCE: 12,830


    STRENGTH: 13,913


    AGILITY: 11,100


    POWER (DEATH ESSENCE): 14,500%


    PERCEPTION: 1,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 10,000


    LIMITER (BODY): 70%


    LIMITER (SOUL): 0.00001%


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 1,000(B)


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 55%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): LIFE (DIVINE), DEVOUR (DIVINE), SLAUGHTER (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Healthy


    He has managed to digest the delectable food that he ate. Xigger''s flesh can be said to be very nutritious to him. It was tough to digest the flesh of a transcendent but he didn''t give up. He struggled with the indigestion for weeks before he seeded and it caused his stats to balloon in size.


    A normal mana entity''s stats stop at 1,000 points while a transcendent''s stats starts at 10,000. He is not a transcendent but he has stats above 10,000 points. His boost from his POWER stat further makes it so that no transcendent can match him.


    He is very strong for a mana entity. Abnormally strong even. But that hasn''t made him feel safe. His pursuers might be lords ofw or Kings ofw. He doubts the wood elves will send titans ofw after a mana entity but he could be wrong.


    Then there are the Vampires which he just made new enemies of. He is not afraid of Xiggering after him. He is afraid of other vampires and the wood elves. Xigger is weak but there are other stronger vampires.


    The wood elves must have Sovereigns ofw if they managed to remain the overlord of the ne despite opening their nar portal. Lords ofw can match his speed without using their Authority and Kings ofw can overtake him without using their Authority. It is another matter if they use their Authority. So he is doomed without a Sovereigning after him.


    Besides all of that, he can still feel he is being watched. It is a constant unpleasant feelinging from every direction so he believes he has a lot of reasons why he is not safe. That''s why he doesn''t n to stop running at all.


    He ns to continue running and running while strengthening himself as much as possible. He won''t stop until he reaches the edge of the world. He doesn''t know what he will do when he gets there. It will depend on how strong he is when he gets there and if he acquires more information about his situation.


    For now, he will continue to grow stronger. If he didn''t have a limit on how much he could grow, he would have broken through to transcendence immediately to acquire more strength needed to protect himself. But he doesn''t have a limit, so he can''t be a transcendent yet.


    It is both fortunate and unfortunate that he doesn''t have a limit. It is fortunate because it will allow him to build a terrifying foundation as a mana entity. With such a foundation, he might be able to kill Origin gods without being one. He cannot give up such a chance by being shortsighted.


    It is unfortunate for him because he will remain a mana entity without a solidified divine sense and the ability to use Origin energy in the meantime. He has potential but not strength. But he needs strength to protect himself. So his situation creates a dilemma. He is to choose between improving his potential or gaining immediate strength.


    He chuckled to himself and said, "It is what it is. And I can''tin. I must notin."


    He really can''tin. There are very few races that don''t have limits to stats. Those races are legendary races with terrifying power. They are collectively called supreme races.


    The one thates to his mind most easily is the dragon race. Dragons don''t have any limit but what''s most terrifying is that they don''t need to do anything to grow stronger. They can just spend years sleeping and they will continue to grow stronger without end.


    Other lesser races with royal bloodlines can also grow stronger in their sleep. But they have a limit at which point their bloodline will indicate that it is time to break through. As for dragons without a royal bloodline, nothing can stop them from growing stronger as long as they have ess to mana and origin energy. They will then break through when they feel like it.

 Chapter 962 Dragon Supremacy.

    Chapter 962 Dragon Supremacy.


    Dragons with bloodlines are even more unreasonable in how they umte strength. Not only do they have ancestral memories they can also borrow power from their ancestors.


    He on the other hand has to eat and get life force for him to grow his stats. He can''t just sit somewhere and continue to grow stronger. He has to be proactive to take advantage of hisck of limits. A dragon beats him in that aspect.


    What''s worse is that a dragon beats him in the aspect of his POWER stat too. He can''t even boast of that to a dragon because Dragons have that too. Theirs is even better. Normally, paragons gain a boost from external sources. Dragons are very different in that aspect. They gain their boost on their own by relying on their dragon heart.


    A dragon''s heart is their weakness and also their source of the POWER stat. It is like a core within the dragon. It is simr to the inner world of a world beast but it doesn''t contain an empty space.


    The dragon heart distills a force called the dragon force. It amplifies their stats and enables them to dominate mana and origin energy. They can use their dragon force to cast spells without the need for spell structures. That''s why they are called the dominators of magic.


    Dragons are better in everything. They would have been better than him too were he not a reincarnated being. A dragon his age cannot match him in power and strength. That is if the dragon decides to sleep instead of actively cultivating.


    Dragons are on another level. They are not called the supreme race for nothing. He can''ty im to having superior experience over a young dragon. A dragon descendent with a royal bloodline can give him a run for his money when ites to experience.


    They have bloodlines on top of their innate superiority. They also have something that other races don''t get from their bloodlines. They have what is called an ancestral bestowal. It is possibly an ability unique to dragons in the entire void universe.


    They gain this bestowal from any dragon in their lineage that is still alive. This bestowal is also moreplete than the instincts gained from bloodlines. It contains clear and vivid memories. Its only weakness is that it doesn''t give them instincts. But it gives them clear information about a wide range of things.


    They gain skills and special abilities directly from their ancestors. And if that is not enough, they can be bestowed power from their ancestors for a short while so a young dragon cannot be easily bullied by someone stronger.


    It is not an understatement to say that dragons are almost without weakness. They would be perfect if not for the weakness of their fragile heart. Even with that weakness, It is almost as if the other races are trying to catch up to them. If not for that weakness then no one would stand a chance against them.


    Dragons are surely terrifying, but no matter what, a dragon his age can''t match him in the power of the soul. That is something that is exclusively his. That is something he gained from the hard work of his previous self.


    "No dragon can match me in the area of the soul. Unless that dragon is Legion-8. Then I am no match." Then he chuckled and said, "In my own defense, Legion-8 is not a dragon."


    Legion-8 is the dragon clone. He has all the advantages of a dragon and more. He doesn''t have the weakness of dragons and he also has Ragnarok''s soul power. So Ragnarok can''tpare himself to Legion-8.


    He shouldn''tpare himself to a dragon anyway. There are no dragons in this ne. What he can and shouldpare himself to are Vampires. Those are some of his strongest enemies in this ne.


    Unlike wood elves who have a limit on stats, Vampires don''t have limits on their stats. Sacrificing their origin has unlocked their potential. A young fledgling equal to a mana entity can engorge on so much blood that they canpare to a king ofw in terms of raw stats. Vampires are terrifying parasites.


    They are in this ne where he is and they will also be his enemies. This in itself is more than enough reason for him to cherish the fact that he doesn''t have a limit on his stats either He mustn''tin about it at all. Without it, he wouldn''t be able toe close to the mythical races in potential at all. He is also better than Vampires in that his diet is not limited to blood.


    ------


    He spent his days just flying and growing stronger. This continued for a few months. He didn''t experience anything different until he came close to the edge of the ne. He is thick in the midst of the frozen tundra at that point. The air was frigid and all form of water was frozen including the vapor in the air.


    It made breathing very difficult for him. The very air could freeze his nose, airway, and lungs. He had to create a domain of fire around him to heat the air.


    "This is not a ce for life." He observed idly.


    It is alsopletely dark here. The light of the sun that reaches this part of the ne is sparse, to begin with. The eclipse of the sun has plunged it into total darkness.


    There should be no life here and he likes things as they are. But it was here that he began to sense life. It made him pause his flight.


    "There are signs of life. Am I in trouble?" He asked himself.


    It is expected that this cold and dark location should have no life. So he was surprised that he sensed life. At first, he thought they were his pursuers. But he changed his mind when he sensed the life force to be very weak. They are also in front of him, not behind him. Their life force is too weak for someone that can overtake him. They couldn''t be his pursuers.

 Chapter 963 What Lies Beneath The Mountain.

    Chapter 963 What Lies Beneath The Mountain.


    "Let me see what this is all about?" He said and resumed his journey.


    He decided to continue going forward since he didn''t sense any threat or danger from the life forces. His fear melted while his curiosity peaked. He moved closer to the source of life and came upon a tall mountain.


    He muttered thoughtfully. "This is weird. They are within the mountain and they are also calling to me."


    He examined the mountain so he is sure that the mountain is thergest mountain that he has ever seen. He is also sure that the source of life ising from within the mountain. It ising from its base to be precise. He can''t find any entrance be they tunnels or caves into the mountain. It is one solid block of frozen colossal rock. He would have turned away if he hadn''t sensed something calling to him from within the mountain.


    "This isn''t a trap is it?" He asked himself. "I can''t sense danger. Also, what are Warrogs doing so far to the north?"


    Someone is calling to him from within the mountain. It is a mental call using the connection unique to his race so the call seems to being from a Warrog. He is clear about the call but it doesn''t seem right. Warrogs should not be this far north. He wants to know what''s at the bottom of the mountain but he is weary of traps.


    "I will just take a peek."


    His curiosity won over quickly when he didn''t sense any danger. He promised himself to run at the first sight of danger. Then he began tunneling into the mountain. He activated his Doom Chomp. Arge and ck phantom bony jaws materialized from his mouth. He directed it at the mountain and took arge bite out of it.


    The phantom bony jaws carved into the mountain and crushed the rocks creating space there. He created more Doom Chomps one after the other to dig his way into the mountain. He made quick progress with his method of digging. But the mountain is incrediblyrge. It is almost 1,000 kilometers thick at the bottom. That means he has to dig about 500 kilometers worth of rocks if he wants to get to the center of the base.


    It didn''t help when the tunnel he created closed up behind him.


    "Great. Now I have to dig my way up again. Maybe this is why some people got stuck within the mountain in the first ce. This had better be good."


    He thought about giving up and going back to his dreary life as a fugitive. But he didn''t give up. The call waspelling him toe. He noticed the subtle effect of the call on his inner beast. He feels that it is very important to find out what is within the mountain so he decided to indulge his curiosity since there is no danger in sight.


    Digging is more taxing work than flying. What''s worse is that the mountain can heal itself. The crushed rocks reassembled themselves and filled in the tunnel. Then the cracks healed soon after. He has to continue digging or risk being entombed by the mountain. It is all very discouraging. But he didn''t give up.


    It may be clear to others that this mountain is not natural at all. No natural mountain heals itself. It didn''t scare him though. Neither did it seem odd. He has seen more peculiar phenomena than a mountain that heals. It only made his curiosity increase. He wants to know what''s at the base of the mountain and why some people are stuck within it.


    So he continued digging even when it took weeks. The farther along he went, the more he couldn''t give up without finding out because he would have to dig his way out again and all his work would be for nothing.


    Fortunately, nothing bad happened to him during the digging. Nothing out of the ordinary urred apart from the healing mountain. In fact, it was a boring and uneventful dig. It is all thanks to the understanding of the entities that he is digging through. These entities didn''t move or make a fuss as he dug. They simply healed the damage that he did while continuing to watch him silently.


    Ragnarok dug into the mountain unaware of the entities surrounding him. ording to his senses, he is surrounded by no living things. He didn''t consider that the mountain is a living thing despite the fact that it can heal.


    The ability to heal is not limited to living things. Artifacts can be imbued with the ability to restore themselves and some natural substances have a sort of imprint or memory about their previous state and seek to restore it by healing, so his mistake is understandable.


    Victory goes to the strong. He is strong and very determined so the victory of reaching the middle of the base of the mountain came to him after 9 weeks of digging. He found himself in a dark cavern.


    He stepped out of the small shrinking tunnel he dug into arge open space. His examination revealed a rough surface of the inner side of the mountain. He also found the source of life that he has been sensing. The life force ising from several giant beasts that have been shackled with numerous white chains. The chains are white like the frozen rock.


    These beasts have horns on their head. They have protruded jaws that reveal some canines on both sides. Their fore limbs end inrge wed paws while their hind limbs end in hooves. The beasts all have different colored thick fur. They have also all been forced to lie t with their arms and legs spread apart by the chains that pinned them to the ground. This is the most pertinent feature he observed apart from their familiarity.


    His eyes shrunk at the sight. "This is a prison." He said to himself in understanding.

 Chapter 964 Something That Should Be Long Dead.

    Chapter 964 Something That Should Be Long Dead.


    The posture of these beasts doesn''t look pleasant. Their current posture restricts freedom of movement apart from the less obvious pain from the stretched limbs. When this observation isbined with the sight of chains that forced them into this unpleasant position, it is safe to say that the beasts are imprisoned.


    A voice said to him, "Don''t be shocked. This is just a prison for Warrogs."


    The speaker even chuckled at him.


    He turned to the source of the voice. He saw arge Warrog beast that dwarfed him. This beast has ck and red fur. It also has two ck horns, ck ws, and ck exposed canines. Its eyes are trained on him right now.


    All the prisoners are Warrog beasts. They have different shapes and sizes. They also have a different number of tails. The one that spoke to him just now is one of the smallest. But all of them have ck horns and ck ws.


    "No." He said. "This is not a prison for mere Warrogs. This is a prison for ancient Warrog paragons."


    His mind reeled with the implications. He couldn''t help but ask. "How are you still alive?"


    These beasts are all Emperors and Executioners. They are all transcendent too. And they are not ones without theirplete divine ability. They are ancient paragons that have not been seen for several hundreds of origin cycles. That''s tens of millions of years.


    It is normal at all that they are still alive. Transcendents don''t live past a single origin cycle. There are exceptions to this norm. Dragons don''t have a concept of lifespan so they don''t have any limit on how long they live.


    In the early days of the realm, dragons thought they couldn''t be killed too. They thought they were immortal. That belief has proven untrue. But those are dragons. These are Warrogs. These Warrogs have managed to live without origin energy for almost a hundred million years trapped under a frozen mountain.


    He doesn''t think they are immortal so it should not be possible. But that is not the major reason why he is surprised that they are still alive.


    "Wee, young Executioner. I was an Executioner too. I was a great one. That''s why I could live till today and still have the strength to speak. You will find that we paragons will continue to live as long as our people believe in us." The speaker replied.


    He shook his head at the reply. "That''s not what I am asking about. I can infer that from what I have seen. I meant how is it that the wood elves did not kill you?"


    He is surprised that the wood elves didn''t kill the paragons. The wood elves can surely kill the paragons if they are strong enough to imprison them. After all, subduing and capturing is more difficult than simple killing. So why did the wood elves not kill them?


    "Who are the wood elves?" The Executioner asked him.


    He replied. "The tree people."


    The Executioner chuckled. Then she said, "Let me show you."


    Her divine sense interacted with his. Then she passed across a memory to him. He saw himself as a colossal beast of raw power. He trampled over the earth unmatched. He ate whatever he wanted to eat which were the tree people at that time.


    The tree people were full of energy if a little bitter to the taste. But energy is necessary to grow stronger so he will bear with the bitter taste and eat them. It helps that they are easily digestible because of the high content of life force and vitality within them.


    He was attacking one of their tree havens when something strange happened. An individual suddenly appeared above him. This individual had the green skin of wood elves. It even had green hair and eyes. It looked like a wood elf but it had wings. It is a weird sight. But he didn''tugh. He felt threatened by the weird flying wood elf.


    The world came alive in the presence of this individual. nts sprouted from the earth in every direction. These nts are as tall as mountains and as thick as boulders. They are certainly taller than him. He growled at the nts and activated his divine ability.


    His 7 tails became straight immediately. They spread out in the shape of a fan on his behind so he looked like a peacock. He opened his jaws wide and regurgitated a ck ball. The world darkened with the appearance of the ck ball floating a short distance from his mouth. Then the ball began to pull on the world.


    It was like gravity was warped. Space all around him bent into a curve. It created an expanding funnel that led to the ck ball. Everything was sucked into this spatial tunnel and into the ck ball.


    Stones levitated and flew into the tunnel. Sand and trees too. Mana wasn''t spared either. The trees were sucked into the ball along with everything. Nothing was spared. He was devouring the world whole.


    But his situation didn''t change. The flying wood elf could produce trees faster than he could swallow them. The tree branches and thick vines coiled around him and tightened their hold. They were like chains that bound him. His mouth was forcefully closed and he waspletely sealed up within a giant ball of nts. He saw nothing but darkness for a long period of time.


    Light reappeared after a long time. It reappeared when he found himself chained within the cavern of a mountain. He has been here ever since. There were others like him here. Each one of them was a powerful Emperor and Executioner. There were more at that time and more joined over time. But their numbers dwindled as they died. The memory ended there.


    He spent a few seconds to break down the memory and imbibe it. He did it to avoid an identity crisis.


    "So you''re Gator." He said after reviewing the memory.

 Chapter 965 Executioner Gator.

    Chapter 965 Executioner Gator.


    "Yes. I was Executioner Gator." She replied. "I was great. The tree people were supposed to be our prey. We could kill them any time we want. But suddenly some of them began to fly. The ones that could fly were also capable of using the energy of the world beneath. They were stronger than us. But they are still weak. They didn''t kill us. They just imprisoned us and left us to rot and die."


    He muttered. "I see. I understand how you were defeated. You were not weaker than them. It is just that you didn''t have Origin energy to use your divine ability to its full potential. Meanwhile, they somehow got ess to origin energy."


    "What''s origin energy?" Gator asked.


    "It is the energy of the world beneath. It is an energy superior to mana. It can only be gotten on the ancient battlefield."


    Gator asked again. "What''s the ancient battlefield?"


    "That''s the ce that connects all the nes. You get ess to it when you open the nar portal. Origin energy is very powerful. Unfortunately for you, it is not freely avable in a ne."


    "What''s a ne and a nar portal?"


    He exined patiently, "This entire world is a ne. It is just a small part of the entire realm. There are more than 100,000 such nes in the realm."


    Gator asked in confusion. "What is this realm you speak of? Is it the whole of existence?"


    "No, it is not. It is just one of an infinite amount of realm trees in this universe."


    "Wow," Gator muttered in awe.


    The Executioner was shocked by the new knowledge. It kept quiet for a while to process the realization that this ne is not the whole of existence.


    "There is so much in all of existence. I never thought so. And you said, "In this universe." Could there be more universes out there?"


    "We don''t know yet. But we will find out in time."


    Gator asked anxiously, "Tell me about this nar portal that leads to the ancient battlefield and the wonders of the universe."


    He sighed before he began to exin. "It is a gate. It is circr in shape. It needs the solidified divine sense of a transcendent to open. You Emperors and Executioners are transcendents so you should be able to open it."


    Gator was surprised immediately. She said excitedly, "I know that gate. We found it a short while before the tree people became stronger. The Executioners didn''t care about it. We just want to hunt and grow stronger. But the Emperors wanted to expand. They were wary of the gate because they didn''t know where it led. But curiosity and their need to conquer finally overwhelmed their caution."


    "I don''t like where this is going." Ragnarok thought to himself.


    "So an Emperor opened it. I wasn''t there when it happened. But I heard a great white beast entered through the gate. It was unlike anything that had been ever seen. It was as beautiful as the best of gems. It sparkled brightly like a star. It was marvelous. It..."


    She began describing just how beautiful and special it looked. That continued for a while. He did not interrupt her or attempt to bring back the attention of the Executioner lost in recollection. Every detail in her description might be useful in identifying the entity that entered the ne.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t get anything useful from her.


    He thought to himself in pity, "The Sight of the weak is blind to the wonders of the world."


    The world that the weak see is but a small portion of reality. The fact that the Warrogs "saw" this entity doesn''t mean they "saw" the entity. And even if their eyes were somehow capable of seeing this entity in its entirety, their minds were definitely unable toprehend what they saw. The best that Gator can provide are abstract descriptions of what her mind used to rte to the sight.


    She eventually returned to the main topic. "I myself was not there that day. But I heard that the beast was very strong. Everyone there cowered before it when it appeared. They couldn''t even take a look at it."


    "It was that strong?" He asked.


    "Yes, it was. Even the Emperor was not spared from this suppression. The only thing that the Emperor saw about the beast apart from its immense beauty is that it is white. But the beast didn''t kill anyone. It just said, "This ce is mine now." Then it flew away and disappeared. It was never seen after that."


    "Well, this is very bad." He thought to himself after hearing what Gator said.


    Gator hasn''t seen much of the world so she doesn''t understand what went wrong. Gator doesn''t realize the link between the entity that entered the ne and the sudden strength of the wood elves. He on the other hand now knows how the tree people got ess to the Origin energy that they used to suppress the paragons.


    He also understands why the wood elves suddenly gained the ability to control nts. From what he saw in Gator''s memories, the tree people weremon nt spirits. They were weak and attached to a tree that they called home. They were also almost ethereal like elementals.


    They fell apart in the jaws of the Executioners so Gator is very familiar with just how fragile their body was. But they suddenly gained flesh and became wood elves after the entity thatid im to the ne entered the ne.


    The reason why he feels that he is in trouble is because the wood elves became stronger while the Warrogs stagnated. It is obvious that this great entity chose the tree people over the Warrogs. The reason why that was done is something he is not clear about.


    If it were him, he would have chosen the Warrogs. The Warrogs are clearly stronger. Whatever the reason is, it means that the wood elves have a backer. It is also a backer that is capable of improving an entire race either through personal strength or through the use of a powerful tool.

 Chapter 966 Freedom For All.

    Chapter 966 Freedom For All.


    Either way, it means the backer is very strong. They had to be at least at the level of a titan ofw if it was through personal strength. And that was hundreds of Origin cycles ago. That is more than enough time to be an Origin god over and over again. Even the tree people would have produced many Origin gods since then despite the fact that they started from scratch.


    What''s most worrying to him is that this backer is probably going to be his enemy since he is a Warrog. He isn''t just any type of Warrog either, he is a Warrog paragon just like the ones that were imprisoned here.


    Gator interrupted his musings. "You are the first free paragon that I have seen ever since we were trapped here. What happened to the Warrogs outside? Why didn''t they send someone toe and free us all these years? We have been calling for help for many years."


    He answered with a shake of his head, "There has never been any Emperor or Executioner with aplete divine ability since you lot disappeared. In fact, any transcendent Warrog is hunted and killed by the wood elves. The wood elves didn''t kill you but that is not the same today. It seems that they have changed their no-violence strategy against the Warrogs."


    Gator was shocked. "The tree people did that?"


    "Yes. They subjugated the entire race. But didn''t you hear what I said? There has never been any Emperor or Executioner since you disappeared from the world. The transcendent Warrogs didn''t have your divine abilities. The divine ability of the Warrogs has been lost. I am the only Executioner that has appeared in millions of years."


    "Why?" Gator asked in agitation. She tried to rise from her prone state but the white chains held her down.


    He shrugged. "I don''t know. I should ask you that. All I have heard was that we were cursed or something."


    Gator slumped. "No wonder no one came to help us. Only Emperors and Executioners can hear our call for help."


    "You were calling for help? Why have I never heard it?" He asked.


    Gator turned sorrowful. "We called for help but no one answered our call. We became weaker as the years went by. There was a time when the support of our people fell drastically. It happened after we had all been locked up. Most of the Emperors died then. Only the greatest Emperor Fenrir survived."


    "But Emperor Fenrir has be too weak to speak now. Even we Executioners who rely on ourselves were not spared from the ravage of time. The call became weaker as we became weaker until I was the only one left who could make the call. I thought we were doomed here but I didn''t give up. It is fortunate that I didn''t give up."


    "No wonder I could only hear you when I came so close." He nodded in understanding.


    "Couldn''t you have killed yourself?" He asked. "Living in chained seclusion for all of that time couldn''t have been easy."


    A hundred origin cycles is a very long time. It is the lifespan of a king ofw. That was approximately the time that the monarch of high heaven became the realm lord of the realm. A lot has happened in the realm in one hundred origin cycles but Gator spent all of that time imprisoned.


    Some people go into seclusion for a long time toprehendws or to forge artifacts but Gator couldn''t do all that. She is still a transcendent even after all this time. And she couldn''t move around. He wonders how she was able to maintain her will to live all these years.


    Gator grinned maniacally, "It was not easy. That is an understatement. It was very difficult. It was torturous. It was hell."


    Then she crackled inughter.


    "Most of the Executioners became mad. But there was no end. The shackles that bind us prevent us from moving to inflict serious injuries on ourselves. The chains also prevent our energy from mobilizing. So we can''t control our energy tomit suicide."


    Sheughed again. "But I survived. I survived."


    The look in her eyes was that of glee and excitement. There was also a hint of madness. It is subtle. It is as if there is more of the madness lying underneath the surface of mental stability.


    He sat down in front of Gator. His entire body is the same size as her head. She is many times bigger than him but he is not intimidated by it.


    He said to her, "Sucks to be you that''s for sure. So the wood elves just left you here to rot? That seems harsh."


    Gator nodded eagerly. "It didn''t seem harsh when they locked us up. The flying wood elves told us that we could free ourselves if we could. The restraints aren''t particrly strong. We can surely destroy it if we have ess to our divine ability or any modicum of strength. So an Emperor or Executioner who wasn''t captured should be able to free us. That''s why we called for help. We thought we had hope then. It turned out that our hope was a mirage."


    Sheughed. "It was a mirage."


    This fit ofughter continued for another while.


    He let her revel in her insanity for a while. Then he said, "You are lucky that I came by and decided toe here. I almost gave up several times. I should be able to free you when I be an Executioner."


    That seemed to bring back her slipping sanity. Her eyes focused on him immediately. Gator became excited immediately. "Yes. Lucky us. An Executioner has finally arrived after all these years."


    He smiled at her. "I can understand why you are happy. Your freedom is at hand. Your freedom will be good for me too."


    He thought about it and realized that saving these Paragons would be good for him. He is up against an entire race with a powerful backer or maybe two races with powerful backers. Both the wood elves and the Vampires will not be easy to deal with alone.

 Chapter 967 Why Not?

    Chapter 967 Why Not?


    It will do him a lot of good to release the paragons who have a lot of pent-up aggression against the wood elves. They will help to draw attention away from him and also assist him in resisting the two races. He can use every help that he can get right now so freeing them is good.


    Gator smiled in return. "So we just have to wait for a few thousand years more. I can handle that. Then I will have my freedom."


    He nodded in agreement. "Yes, my breakthrough to transcendence can take a few thousand years. But there is a way to shorten it."


    He can break through now if he wants. The major thing dying him is his stats. He wants to acquire as much as he can now before he breaks through. That could take a thousand years or less if the conditions are right.


    Gator became happier. "What is it? What can shorten the time it will take for you to break through?"


    She became happier at the prospect of gaining freedom quickly. She can wait for a few thousand years more. After all, she has been here for millions of years. But gaining her freedom earlier is better.


    Ragnarok replied with a smirk. "Isn''t the solution obvious?"


    Then he shed her a smile. He made sure to expose his very sharp and good-looking teeth at her.


    She got the hint immediately so she paled and shrunk down upon herself. Her eyes widened in fear. Her 7 tails straightened and spread out.


    She tried to appeal to him, "Don''t do this. I know you''re an Executioner. But you have to think about the bigger picture here. You can''t take on the tree people on your own. So you can''t be selfish. We all failed by working alone."


    Ragnarok nodded in agreement. She made a good point. But she wasn''t done yet.


    "The greatest Emperor is here and I am also the greatest Executioner. And yet we failed. Freeing us will earn you much-needed support. Eating us will only give you short-term benefits. We need to work together or you will fail."


    That is another good point but she had even more to say.


    "Besides, we are the same race as you. You can''t do this to us. We have suffered a lot. Free us and let us work together towards achieving freedom for all of Warrogs. Think of the spirit of corporation between members of the same race towards a greater goal."


    He nodded in agreement. "You''re right. I am not foolish. I have thought about all you said. I think freeing you is good. But eating you will be better. Don''t worry at all. I am not alone and I will be the greatest Executioner after I eat you. I will handle my enemies on my own."


    Freeing the paragons is good. He can say that is true. But eating them is better. At least it is better for him. There are two options for him, both of which are good. But he doesn''t make decisions with emotions. Camaraderie doesn''t work on him or influence him. He makes decisions after considering the pros and cons.


    The pro of releasing the paragons is that they might be of assistance to him. It is not definite that they will help him. He can''t rely on gratefulness to keep them in line. He himself will kill someone who just helped him if it will benefit him. So he can''t trust the paragons to be useful.


    He knows that the original Warrogs are incredibly violent. They might just attack him to eat him. They have been locked up for many years so they will be very hungry and he is a good-looking morsel of flesh. A single bite from Gator here might kill him immediately.


    The paragons are a danger to him. Releasing them might not turn out to be a good idea. An oath can ensure their loyalty but many of them can''t make oaths at this point in time. They are too weak for coherent thought. That means they are currently too weak to be of assistance to him.


    He will have to prep them up by feeding or giving them Origin energy. So they will just be useless burdens on him if he releases them. Worse still, they will be rabid burdens on him that he might have to put down anyway or they seed in killing him.


    After all, all they need is a good bite of him. They don''t need a lot of strength to do that. So why will he go through all that much trouble and danger if he can just cut to the chase and choose the option that is assured to benefit him now?


    There are a lot of reasons why eating them is more appealing to him. He does not like sharing so he doesn''t want to help them. He is a selfish person who can only rely on his personal strength. The only use the paragons will be for him is to distract his pursuers away from him. That means he will release them only to let them go. That is just a waste of resources that he can use to strengthen himself now.


    If he can only rely on himself, it makes sense that he should prioritize his personal strength above all else. Hence, he is going to eat them to shorten the time he needs to break through. Eating them will ensure that he bes an Executioner the likes that have never been seen. He is also not alone, he has Legion, so he is confident in himself.


    He rose from his sitting position and approached her.


    He said to her, "The only reason why I should save you is out of kindness and for the good of the race. But I am not kind. And I don''t care about my race. So you will get my teeth."


    "Please don''t," Gator pleaded with him. She struggled to move away from him but the chains held her down.

 Chapter 968 Free Things Are The Best.

    Chapter 968 Free Things Are The Best.


    "Don''t bother resisting. You are chained. You wouldn''t be of any good even if you were not. You are too weak to fight my enemies." He circled her and approached her neck from her side.


    He said to her, "You should know what happens to the weak as an Executioner. They be prey to the strong. Isn''t that how you managed to create 7 tails? You ate and ate to your fill. I am just following in your footsteps."


    "Please don''t," She pleaded some more.


    His words didn''t convince her not to fear for her life. He is right but she wants to live. She has suffered all this while for freedom. It is not fair that she will be killed instead of freed by the one and only chance of freedom that she will get. Unfortunately, Ragnarok didn''t listen to her pleas.


    He said to her, "Don''t worry. I will try to make this quick. That''s all I can promise. Your death will be painless if you don''t resist. That part is up to you. But you will surely die. And I will be stronger for it."


    "Rejoice! The wood elves will regret the fact that they didn''t kill you. For they will have had a hand in creating the strongest Executioner that this ne has ever seen."


    He made sure to stay away from within reach of her jaws. She is tied down without the ability to move her energy but that doesn''t mean that she is harmless. A good physical bite from her will be devastating considering that her head is his total size. So it is a good idea not to tempt fate. It will be utterly stupid if he falls prey to her after talking big.


    He approached her from behind. Then he produced a Doom Chomp. The ck phantom''s bony jaws opened wide and shut down on her back. She howled in pain.


    He tore out a chunk of flesh from her back that was quickly withdrawn into his stomach. It made her scream in pain. It is a sorrowful cry of anguish and pain. He wasn''t moved at all. He knows that she is a transcendent and she has perfect control of her body. So it was her choice to cry.


    The only reason why she would lose control and cry is if the injury surpassed the limit of her tolerance. He hasn''t done much damage to her. The Doom Chomp isrge but she is muchrger than him. The flesh he tore off is less than 1% of what she has to offer so her cry is a show to invoke pity and sympathy from him. Unfortunately for her, she is barking up the wrong tree.


    The injury that he caused didn''t bleed. It is because there is no blood within her. Her wound showed a ck matter that was supposed to be her flesh. The flesh is uniform without any differences like bones or muscles. It is not surprising to see. She is a transcendent after all. It is also not surprising to see that she can''t heal. She doesn''t have Origin energy to regenerate. So killing her will be very easy.


    "This is too good." He thought to himself.


    He is both happy and cautious. He has checked the surroundings very well and there''s nothing in the cave apart from the chained Warrogs in this cavern under the ice mountain.


    Gator is like delectable meat on a silver tter offered to him. It is all very suspicious to him. But he can''t find anything amiss. And she will strengthen him. So how can he resist?


    The answer is that he can''t resist and there''s no reason to. So he continued the good work of feasting on his ancestors without fear. It is not the first time he is doing something sphemous by eating something he shouldn''t eat. The first time was good. It helped him survive. But this time will be better.


    It is going to take hours to eat all of them but he isn''t discouraged. If he can spend weeks digging down here, then he can surely spare hours to eat and digest the prize that he found here. He deserves it after all. He worked really hard for it.


    The Cavern became loud. It has been a long time since any of its upants made any sort of noise. They haven''t moved or spoken in years. They don''t have the energy to waste on it. But right now, Gator is bent on breaking the silence and she is doing the best that she can do with the little energy that she has. Her cries didn''t change anything though. Ragnarok didn''t stop and the others couldn''te to her aid. The other paragons can''t even move at all. No one can save her.


    "Free things are truly the best." He said to himself in pleasure.


    His inner beast is experiencing boundless joy. Both his inner beast and rational mind agree with his current actions. It is for different reasons but the agreement makes the act even more pleasurable. He is both efficient and indulgent at the same time.


    The feeling of killing two birds with one stone has added a unique vor to the act of eating his ancestors. It makes him feel a little bad that he will lose his inner beast when he bes a transcendent and takesplete control of his body.


    He is enjoying himself but Gator isn''t. It is not his fault really. He promised to make it quick but he is one little guy with a small bite size. There''s only so much he can eat at once. He wishes he could eat her up faster for both their sakes. But he can''t. So he just tried his best. That''s the least that he can give her for her generosity.


    He tried his best to gobble her up as fast as possible but it took a while. Gator suffered through it all. She was being literally eaten alive. It is a suffering that she has inflicted several times on others in the past. She just never thought that it would be her turn one day.

 Chapter 969 Waste Not. Want Not.

    Chapter 969 Waste Not. Want Not.


    He didn''t get to finish Gator and enjoy all she had to offer. He ate about 50% of her before her injuries overwhelmed her. She is weak and her mind is tired from the pain of being eaten slowly. So the matrix of her existence copsed.


    The bond of soul and body broke apart. Her body began to break down when he reached the limit of what she could handle. He tried to eat more but it all disappeared before he could get 5% more.


    "What a waste of good food." He grumbled aloud.


    He is truly pissed. What he hates more than not taking advantage of a situation is to take advantage of it and watch it go to waste despite his best efforts. Wastage makes both his rational mind and his beastly instincts angry.


    "If only I had a bigger mouth." He mused aloud. "I would be able to swallow her with one bite."


    His voice rang out through the Cavern so it is certain that its remaining upants heard him, but none of them stirred. He shrugged and selected another target. He doesn''t have a bigger mouth so he just has to continue with what he has. The thought of how big of a mouth he would get after this feast made him content for now.


    His next target didn''t move to acknowledge him or speak to him through divine sense or otherwise. He doesn''t mind being ignored. They don''t have any obligation towards each other. His target may not greet him, show him respect, or acknowledge his existence in any way but he will still try his best to eat them up as fast as possible. He is not a petty person.


    In fact, he likes food that is silent and doesn''t move. So he got cooperation from this target. It didn''t resist at all. But he had to pay a price for the cooperation. The limit of this one is smaller than that of Gator. It broke apart when he was 40% into eating it.


    He grumbled when the Executioner scattered into the wind. "Weak and useless even in death."


    This target had 5 tails. That''s 2 less than Gator. It means that the divine ability of this one has a lesser power and capacity than Gators. Gator''s highly efficient divine ability allowed her to get more from what she ate and grow faster. It made her the greatest Executioner. So she had arger stockpile of death essence to sustain her than this one. It is why she is the only Executioner that can still speak and move.


    He got to work on the rest of them. They are all Executioners except one. None of the Executioners have 7 tails like Gator. The highest had 6 while the lowest had 3. The ones with the lower number of tails didn''t give him much. They broke apart quicker than the others. He only managed to get 10% from the ones with 3 tails.


    It was difficult, but he finished eating all the Executioners. That left one more paragon. It is thest and only Emperor. It is also the greatest Emperor in the history of the Warrogs of the Lumen ne.


    Ragnarok walked over to the prone and chained Emperor. It isrger than the Executioners. Emperors arerger than Executioners so the difference in size is not surprising. But this Emperor is veryrge. It has 8 tails which is 1 more than Gators but it is at least five times bigger than Gator.


    This Emperor is at least 10 meters tall justying there on the ground. It must be taller than that if it could stand. It will probably be at least 20 meters tall. Its length is 100 meters from snout to tail. It is a very big Warrog. Ragnarok''s full size won''t be enough for a single bite of him, much less an augmented bite with the doom chomp.


    His teeth ached and his jaws felt sore from all the eating. After all, the flesh of the transcendent paragons was very tough to tear and it is going to be very difficult to digest too. But he is still looking forward to eating thisst paragon. Just the thought of the amount of stats that he would gain from it made his fatigue and soreness inconsequential.


    He examined this paragon with obvious greed in his eyes. Then he moved closer to it. The Emperor is situated on the other side of the cavern. It is some distance away from the Executioners. It is also the only one on this side of the cavern since the other Emperors have died.


    He made sure to keep his distance from the massive beast.


    Then he licked his lips in anticipation and said, "The best forst."


    "I know, right?" The emperor said.


    He was taken aback by the reply. He moved away from the Emperor quickly. Then he checked his surroundings for any anomaly. But the only ones here are the two of them. So the reply must havee from the clearly sleeping beast.


    "You can talk?" He asked.


    The Emperor opened its eyes and snorted. Then it replied, "Isn''t it obvious now? Why would you think that I couldn''t talk? I am an Emperor. I will remain alive as long as my people exist and believe in me. My strength has reduced over the years but I am still an Emperor. I am not like the Executioners who rely on themselves. I have people that rely on me that I can also rely on."


    Apparently, he could still move all these years and he can talk. He doesn''t seem to be slightly insane like Gator. This Emperor is both sound physically and mentally.


    Ragnarok asked in annoyance. "Why didn''t you say anything earlier if you could talk?"


    He thought Gator was the only one who could speak since she was the only one who spoke or even moved when he entered the cavern. He didn''t know and neither did he expect that the Emperor in the far corner who survived the death of the other Emperors is in fact not within an inch of death himself and is not barely clinging to life.

 Chapter 970 Freedom For Knowledge.

    Chapter 970 Freedom For Knowledge.


    The Emperor replied smugly, "It is not my fault that you chose to assume that I couldn''t speak. I don''t have to prove anything to you."


    Then the emperor asked him, "Would it have changed anything if I could talk?"


    Ragnarok didn''t say anything to that. He would still have killed everyone and he still nning to eat this one too. He likes silent food but he is not one to shy away from the work needed to make his food silent.


    The Emperor chuckled at his silence. "You''re an Executioner. You''re all the same. You''re all stupid and selfish. You only care about yourself and not others. I knew right from the moment that you entered the cavern that you would take advantage of the situation. Your hunger for power makes you so predictable. Trying to convince you not to eat them would have been a waste of time and energy."


    He didn''t refute the Emperor. Instead, he asked with a sneer, "So why are you talking now? Why didn''t you remain silent and let me eat you in peace? I am still going to eat you. So do you want to beg for your life?"


    "I am not going to beg for my life. I just said that trying to will be a waste of time. I want to impart some wisdom to you before I die. You may be an Executioner but it seems you are thest paragon of the race. I shouldn''t let the wisdom of our race go to waste."


    Ragnarok was surprised again. He didn''t expect the Emperor to try and help him. It is thest thing that he expected. That''s why he became suspicious immediately.


    "What do I have to give you for this so-called wisdom? Perhaps you want me to free you."


    Knowledge is power and he can do with information from someone who lived in ancient times but he isn''t going to allow himself to be fooled. Even if he will be fooled, he won''t make it so easy.


    The Emperor scoffed at him. "I want my freedom and I will appreciate it if you will free me but I know you won''t do it for free. So I will offer you free information which might pique your interest. Then I will ask you to free me in exchange for hearing the remaining information."


    Ragnarok couldn''t help but be impressed. He chuckled and nodded appreciatively. "Logical and concise. I like you. You don''t intend to beg, but you still want your freedom so you intend to offer me a deal. That''s a good idea. But I must say that it will be very difficult for me to be impressed. But you can have a shot at it."


    "Trust me, you will be impressed." The emperor said smugly, "I know how Executioners think so I know what might appeal to you. You Executioners should all be put down for the good of the race. But your existence is still of some use to the race. You will strengthen your Emperor with your life."


    He asked the Emperor, "What do you mean by strengthen my Emperor with my life?"


    "Don''t you know? Emperors and Executioners are a pair. They are destined to kill and absorb each other. It is best to do so as an Alpha or Alpha of Alphas before you be an Emperor or Executioner. That will ensure you develop a lot of tails during your breakthrough."


    "That''s how I became the greatest Emperor. I got 8 tails by eating my Executioner when we were both at the Alpha of Alphas stage. She was very strong so her death served me well."


    "Do you mean the spikes on my core? I know about that. But there is no Emperor with me. I am the only Executioner in the ne. So I have to make do with eating you guys."


    His mana core is different from normal cores. It has a focal point but it has been taken over by his divine ability instead of an element of mana of his own choosing. It urred because his divine ability resides mainly in his core. His horns, ws, and teeth are just expressions of his divine ability.


    It is because of his divine ability and thew of devouring contained within it that makes his core ck. It is a swirling vortex of darkness. It also has 9 spikes that protrude out of it. It is as if something wants to grow out of his core.


    He knew it was important to let it grow. That''s why it is very important for him to gain a lot of stats before the breakthrough. He also knows about its significance. He learned about this through the information that Gehaldirah got about the Warrogs. That information didn''t contain the knowledge about the pairing of Emperors and Executioners. But it doesn''t matter since there is no other Emperor in existence apart from him in the ne.


    The Emperor insisted. "You''re wrong about there not being an Emperor. There is always an Emperor. Emperors and Executionerse in pairs."


    He shook his head. He doesn''t think there is an Emperor but he doesn''t intend to argue with the Emperor. It might be normal for an Emperor to be born at the exact same time that an Executioner is born and vice versa, but that is in a normal situation where the race still has its divine ability.


    This is not a normal situation. The Warrogs in this ne have been stunted. Executioners and Emperors can''t be born at all from the current Warrogs. He had to make his own way to be an Executioner.


    From the little information he has acquired, he understands that his existence is a miracle. He believes that the dilution of his divine ability by the fragments of thew of life was not an anomaly that happened to only him and he doesn''t believe that another miracle can ur to produce an Emperor. The Warrogs are just not capable of that.

 Chapter 971 An Offer He Can Refuse.

    Chapter 971 An Offer He Can Refuse.


    In fact, he only looks and acts simr to an Executioner. His divine ability is different from theirs deep down. But he won''t tell the Emperor that. The Emperor might be full of knowledge that he doesn''t know, but he is just an old thing that has been imprisoned for millions of years.


    The Emperor noticed that he didn''t believe what it said. It didn''t bother to press the point. It moved on to something else. "How will you get arge number of tails then without an Emperor? Your potential will be stunted."


    "What about the Executioners that I ate?"


    "That won''t do. You can eat other Executioners and Emperors and it will help you but you will never realize your full potential without eating your opposite. An Emperor and an Executioner are different faces of the same coin. But they are separated into different individuals. You need the corresponding face of your coin to be whole again. You need the life that is your direct opposite to your death to realize your full potential."


    "I see," Ragnarok said. "But there is no Emperor and I am not going to dy myself and waste my time by looking for an Emperor that doesn''t exist."


    "Hmm. You must be strapped for time. Are you being pursued?" The Emperor asked.


    "You don''t know the half of it. The tree people as you call them are after me. Then there are the vampires too."


    "What are vampires?"


    "Another type of enemies."


    He is not in the mood to exin certain concepts to his food any longer.


    The Emperor said in understanding, "Hmm. That will exin why you are here when no one has evere here. You were desperate and on the run."


    "Now that we have gotten over that, spill your secrets," Ragnarok demanded.


    "Watch your tone boy. I am thousands of times old enough to be your father. You will respect me."


    Ragnarok sneered. "Do you want your freedom or not? Or do you want me to start eating you now? You better spill your guts or I will spill it myself."


    The Emperor grunted. "You are one shameless mutt. I would smash you to pieces if I were not chained right now. The only thing impressive about you is that you are tenacious. It is impressive that you dug through the mountain to reach here. But apart from that, you are as shortsighted and stupid as other Executioners."


    "I didn''t dig the mountain to receive yourpliments. I know how great I am on my own. I don''t need your help in inting my ego old man. Now tell me why I shouldn''t start eating you this instant," He demanded more forcefully this time.


    "Fine." The Emperor relented. "I will make you an offer you cannot refuse."


    Ragnarok said in exasperation, "Just get on with it."


    The Emperor''s eye twitched but he continued, "This information is rted to the source of the power of the tree people. I mean the powerful energy that they were using."


    Ragnarok asked, "Do you mean origin energy? The energy that involves the below world. I know about it."


    "Let me finish you impatient gnat. I know you know about it. I heard you say it can be found in the ancient battlefield but not in the ne. It is obvious that the tree elves got it somehow and that you will need it to match them. I can tell you how to get it. Are you interested?"


    Ragnarok asked incredulously, "Let me see if I am getting this right. You''re offering me the information about how to get Origin energy, right? Are you offering ME that information? You''re not even offering me Origin energy. You''re only offering me how to get it."


    The Emperor said proudly, "You will surely get this origin energy from the information that I will give you. But you have to release me first before I say it. That is the deal I am offering."


    Ragnarok began tough. He fell to the ground andughed. He finds it understandably funny that someone is offering him ess to Origin energy in exchange for their life. He gets as much Origin energy as he can use and more from Soverick. He doesn''t need a second-rate source that will be finite. He would rather eat the Emperor for power.


    Hisughter rang through the empty cavern. The Emperor was confused by hisughter. It asked him, "What''s so funny?"


    The question made Ragnarokugh harder. He understands the confusion of the Emperor. To such an ancient being, origin energy is very precious and valuable. It is also valuable to him but he doesn''t need to get it from others. The Emperor doesn''t know that so its confusion is understandable. But that only amuses Ragnarok more. It made himugh harder.


    "This is the so called offer that I can''t refuse?" Ragnarok asked in between his rounds ofughter.


    The Emperor became pissed when theughter continued for a while. It pursued its lips in anger. It was about to shout at Ragnarok but stoppedughing immediately. Then Ragnarok jumped straight to his feet. He turned away from the Emperor and looked towards the wall of the Cavern.


    Gone is the atmosphere of amusement he had before. His tail and ear have straightened immediately. The Emperor saw all of these and understood immediately that something serious had happened.


    It asked Ragnarok, "What is it?"


    "Danger." He replied.


    Ragnarok focused on what he sensed. He can''t get a good feel for it yet but his sense of danger is tingling rapidly. What''s worse is that he is sensing the danger from every direction. It is as if he is surrounded by enemies.


    That is why he stoppedughing. The mountain walls are obscuring his senses so he doesn''t know what the dangers are despite them being so close to him. If not for the faint sense of danger then he wouldn''t even know that there is anyone around him.

 Chapter 972 The Search Party.

    Chapter 972 The Search Party.


    He was still focusing intently on the mountain walls when the mountain itself began to shake. A massive vibration went through the mountain. He stumbled as the ground cracked open. A massive gorge appeared in the cavern. It split the cavern apart quickly. He levitated in the air so as not to fall into the chasm that opened on the floor.


    The crack that split the cavern didn''t originate from the cavern. The crack came from the mountain walls. The entire mountain is being split apart. It is shaking andrge icy rocks areing loose from it.


    "This can''t be good."


    He was right. There was a loud roar as the mountain began to separate. The cracks turned intorge rifts that continued to widen. The ground was shaking from all the vibrations and explosions caused when therge rocks hit the ground.


    Hemented as he dodged the falling rocks. "This is bad. Someone is bringing down the entire mountain on me. They have caught up to me and they must be very strong. It seems I will die here today."


    He expected the mountain to fall down on him. After all, that is the only logical reason why a lifeless mountain will start to shake and break apart. He believed that his pursuers had finally caught up to him and that it had to be a very strong one since they had managed to cause such a veryrge mountain to copse.


    He is both right and wrong. A strong pursuer has caught up to him but the mountain is not falling down on him because it is copsing. The mountain is not falling down because someone is breaking it. It is rising up because it can do that on its own and because it wants to.


    The rocks that fell down are just debris attached to their body. The mountain is not made from a single entity. These entities separated when the mountain rose up. There are exactly a hundred of them that formed the mountain. Each one is a colossal thing about a thousand kilometers tall.


    Ragnarok didn''t know that. He is very busy with keeping himself alive. As for now, running around for his life is the highest priority on his agenda. Chunks of rock fell down so he had to evade them or risk being smashed. It was not easy at all. He had to use his physical strength and spells to fight his way out.


    His divine sense helped mostly. It gave him a wider sense of everything around him so he could n the best route to escape. Without his divine sense, he would only be able to fight what''s right in front of him and probably fly into a dead end formed of debris toorge to evade. Then he would be crushed.


    Fortunately, he survived. He managed to weave his way through the avnche of falling death. But he was not ted when he reached a sufficient height to be safe from the rocks. What he saw didn''t make him happy at all.


    He is effectively surrounded by what appears to be 100 colossal ice golems or some special race of ice elementals. The fact that he didn''t sense them at all made him unhappy but it also indicates how much danger he is truly in.


    What truly made him unhappy was the sight of the pursuer that caught up to him. It is a single person on top of a sea of blood.


    He gritted his teeth and muttered angrily, "Xigger."


    -----


    A few Moments Ago.


    A Massive Warrog with blood-red fur and red teeth flew across the icy desert. This Warrog is 11 meters tall. It has 2 red and tall horns. Their body is the epitome of perfection. It is muscr and toned in the right proportions


    This Warrog is also dressed in a very expensive white amour that one might identify as something that royalty wears. The armor is white because it is made out of bones. Some wouldn''t think they are made out of bones because of the intricate way that they were designed. After all, bones would rather break than be forged into fine armor.


    The bones were not gotten from willing or unwilling donors. They are the bones of this Warrog. They grew out in various parts of its body to form the armor. There is also a red cape attached to the shoulders of this Warrog. It forms a striking contrast to his white armor.


    This Warrog is a Vampire but it looks very different from what Xigger used to look like. That''s because Xigger has grown much stronger as an ancestral vampire. A lot of blood from powerful beings can do that to an ancestral vampire.


    A voice said from within his head, "You have to hurry. The wood elves know where you are right now. They are chasing after you now. That white bitch must have told them. They will be here soon."


    "I am going as fast as I can." He replied.


    "You better hope it is fast enough."


    Xigger asked anxiously, "Are you sure that I am going in the right direction?"


    His red eyes scanned through the frozen north as diligently as an eagle looking for prey but he couldn''t see much apart from endless mountains of ice and snowy wind. If not for the demon god, he wouldn''t know where to go in order to find his son.


    The voice said confidently, "Don''t worry. You are going in the right direction. He went this way before he suddenly disappeared a few weeks ago."


    "Are you sure he isn''t dead?" Xigger asked in concern.


    The voice replied with exasperation. "No, he didn''t die. How many times will you ask me that question, you foolish mortal? And how many times do I have to exin it to you before your slow mind understands it?"


    "Just tell me," Xigger asked in desperation.


    He needs the confirmation. It is all he can rely on right now. He is clinging to it to ward off thoughts that his son is dead and that his search will be fruitless.

 Chapter 973 The Responsibility Of Fatherhood.

    Chapter 973 The Responsibility Of Fatherhood.


    "His life force didn''t wane and disappear. It suddenly winked out of existence so I couldn''t find him. It is more probable that he became hidden from me. But I know he is still around here somewhere. Just keep going forward. You will find him soon."


    Xigger nodded and clung to that hope.


    "Expect a fight. I suspect that the white bitch is involved in this somehow. Only it can hide someone from me. And there''s no way it will make this easy."


    Xigger grunted and continued to fly forward. He wished he could pick up speed but it is as he said. He is already moving as fast as he can. He is already moving very fast at 40 times the speed of sound but he wants to be faster because he can''t wait to meet his son again. He endured the constant worrying of his son and the pain that it caused him for years. But now he can''t wait to protect his son and do his duty as a father.


    He looked around his environment and considered the time that he had been flying for and he couldn''t help but be impressed with how far Ragnarok had gone.


    He asked the voice in his head, "How did he manage to cover this much distance? I have been flying for more than 2 days now and I haven''t caught up to him yet."


    "He flew non-stop for over 8 years straight. He didn''t fly in a straight line either. He flew around in circles sometimes to lose trackers."


    "That must have been difficult."


    "I''m sure it was. He did well in escaping. It would be very difficult for ordinary people to find him. It is a pity that entities that are very much out of the ordinary are the ones after him."


    Xigger felt sorrow well up deep within him. The thought of what thest surviving member of his family had to go through made him feel bad. He can only imagine the kind of dedication and pain that Ragnarok went through and the fear that pushed him to continue traveling for years without rest.


    He promised himself. "I wish it never happened. But it did. So I will make sure that it doesn''t happen again."


    The voice in his head scoffed. "What he did is impressive. It shows that he can protect himself on his own without your help. He is not a child anymore. He is a mana entity soon to be a transcendent. He doesn''t need you in his life. You don''t think so and are willing to risk your safety again because you think he needs you."


    Xigger sighed and said, "Okay. I know you don''t like my son. I can tell that you don''t care about him. That is all right. He is not your business but I want you to be patient with me until I secure him. Then I will conquer the ne and give it to you."


    The voice grumbled for a while before speaking up. "Fine. I will hold you to that promise. But I will just say two things. One, you are also putting him in danger right now. The wood elves will be alert to his existence soon enough since you are leading them straight to him. If this fails, you would have risked your life and his life for nothing."


    Xigger''s eyes became cold immediately. "Then this won''t fail. It mustn''t fail. I won''t let it fail. I will do anything to keep him safe."


    "We''ll see about that. As for the second thing, it is that you can have more children. You''re an ancestral vampire so you can reproduce. Reproduction is a good alternative if you want someone to love and dote upon so badly."


    Xigger refused. "Reproduction doesn''t make one a father. It is the bearing of the responsibility of fatherhood that makes one a father. It is the act of protecting your loved ones that makes you a good father. My father was a good father to me so I will be a good father to my son."


    The demon god tried to convince him onest time. "Whatever. I am sure people will understand if you ditched this boy. He did kill you once. Which kind of son kills his own father? I''ll tell you, it is the kind of son that doesn''t deserve to be loved. People will understand if you kill him in revenge for what he did to you?"


    "I don''t care about what others think. Their opinion doesn''t matter. I am a father and I will do my duty as a father no matter the cost. That''s what matters."


    The voice grunted. "I hope so. I really hope all of this will not be a waste of time and energy because you are going to regret it if it happens to be so."


    Xigger ignored the warning of the demon god. He doesn''t think there''s more to it than what he already fears. He too fears that he will be putting his son in danger by chasing after him and he doesn''t want to regret it.


    The voice said to him after a while, "Get ready. We are close to where he is hidden."


    Xigger flew for a few hundred kilometers more and came up to thergest mountain that he has ever seen.


    The voice in his head whistled appreciatively. "This is one tall mountain."


    Xigger wasn''t concerned about the mountain. He spread his divine sense around searching for Ragnarok but he couldn''t find any trace of him.


    "Where is my son?" He asked with a roar. "Where is Ragnarok?"


    The demon god sighed. It too wants to find Ragnarok but it has the least powerful senses among the three of them fighting for control over the ne.


    The fountain of life can see everything on the surface. That''s how it knew where Xigger was heading. It alerted the wood elves who gave chase immediately. Its advantage of sight cannot be contested by the other two.

 Chapter 974 Ice Golems Or Ice Titans?

    Chapter 974 Ice Golems Or Ice Titans?


    The will of the ne can see everything happening in the ne both the surface and the Underdark so it probably knows where Ragnarok is. But it cannot do anything with the information it has. There''s no faction for it to order around to do its bidding. At least not yet.


    As for the demon god of Carnage, its main body, or at least the body it is using to attack the ne is still outside the ne. It can only rely on its spawns to serve as its source of vision and also its vague sense of life.


    Ragnarok would have been better hidden from the demon god in a crowd of living things. But he ran to the end of the ne where there is no life whatsoever. His life force shone to the demon god like a torch in the dark.


    The torch was hidden here by something but the demon god can still sense the heat from the torch. Ragnarok also left a trail of energy and life that ended abruptly at the base of the mountain. All these clued the demon god to where Ragnarok might be.


    "He is within this mountain. You have to break it down." The voice told Xigger.


    Xigger nodded. He manifested his domain immediately. A sea of blood appeared beneath him. It is arge body of blood kilometers in size. He was about to fashion the sea of blood into a weapon to smash the mountain when the mountain began to move on its own. The mountain broke apart to reveal 100 unknown entities.


    "What are those things?" He asked.


    He called them things because, despite the fact that they are moving, he can''t sense any life in them. And he is an expert in identifying living things so he should know when something is living or not.


    The voice in his head eximed, "No way."


    "Are they ice elementals?" Xigger asked again.


    "No. They are not elementals. They are golems. Calling them that is even too good to be true. Golems should have energy circuits with energy flowing through them. But these are just a clump of ice-given life."


    "If I didn''t know better I would think they are lifeless marites that are too big. They must be the handiwork of that white bitch. I didn''t even sense them so close. They must belong to the white bitch. Only she can make life hidden from me in this ne. That must be how your son became hidden."


    Xigger didn''t need further confirmation. He saw Ragnarok appear from amidst the colossal ice golems. He became relieved immediately.


    "Did they capture him?" He asked.


    "I don''t know. But I do know that they won''t allow you to reach him and that wood elves are catching up to you as we speak."


    The demon god didn''t lie to him. It knows more than it let on. For example, it knows that the ice golems are here to protect Ragnarok from it. It also knows that the wood elves and the white bitch aren''t exactly a single force or faction.


    If the wood elves and the fountain of life were close and if they worked together, then the wood elves would have caught up to Ragnarok all these years. After all, the white bitch knew about Ragnarok but didn''t tell the wood elves all this time.


    But Xigger doesn''t need to know all of that. All he needs to know is that he has enemies both behind and in front of him and that they are running out of time for him to get his son. That was enough for Xigger. He attacked immediately.


    The sea of blood swept forward. It expanded and rose high into the air like a tsunami. The ice golems rushed forward to engage. The two sides shed immediately.


    Ragnarok saw all this happen and couldn''t help but be unhappy.


    "What is this guy''s problem?" He asked himself in exasperation.


    He is more concerned about the presence of Xigger than the Ice Titans. The Ice Titans are unexpected but they are exactly the type of enemies that can suddenly appear. Xigger on the other hand is the enemy that shouldn''t appear.


    "So I killed you once and you chase me to the end of the world." He grumbled. "You are an ancestral vampire, you can literally get over it but you didn''t."


    Then he looked around him at the ice golems. "I don''t even know where to begin."


    He truly doesn''t know what to think or ask about these colossal beings. They are the danger he felt but he felt them only because they began to move. He would have remained ignorant of their existence otherwise.


    Fortunately, what he thinks about the situation is not important right now. He is surrounded by beings that are much stronger than him and that''s what''s most important.


    He also noticed something really important. That is that he is being ignored. The Ice Titans are rushing forward to fight Xigger the persistent ancestral vampire that won''t let a grudge go. So he chose a direction and ran.


    He doesn''t know why the mountain is formed of Ice Titans or why the Ice Titans are fighting the ancestral vampire but he doesn''t intend to find out. His curiosity isn''t enough to make him stick around anymore.


    The two parties are at least at the king ofw level and he is a mana entity that can give lords ofw a run for their money. He is outranked and outmatched right now so he chose the option that his sense of self-preservation dictated.


    Xigger saw Ragnarok run away and he became even more relieved because he could go all out now without worrying about injuring his son. He retrieved the blood domain back to himself. The sea of blood fell onto him and wrapped him up into a red armor. The armor itself is a malleable liquid in the shape of a colossal four-legged beast with wings made of des of blood.

 Chapter 975 Pride And Prejudice.

    Chapter 975 Pride And Prejudice.


    Xigger rushed at the ice golems and engaged in closebat with them. His mighty and bloody ws crushed and tore them apart while the wings of blood des on his back sliced them apart. His ministrations led to the rapid loss of body mass of his opponents.


    The ice golems are numerous and they are also strong. But their body is still made of ice. It is very tough ice that can break some strong metals but it is still ice. Even the white armor on their bodies is made of ice.


    The icecked the defense necessary to withstand his blood attacks. Their only saving grace is that they can heal indefinitely. Their bodies came together no matter how many times he broke or crushed them. So it became a battle of attrition.


    The ice golems surrounded the blood beast from all sides and pounded at it with their titanic fists and whatever they had on hand. They wielded clubs and weapons made out of ice. Some had arms in the shape of swords, spears, hammers, and clubs.


    They can''t use spells so they can only rely on physical attacks. They used all they had to try and crush Xigger. It was not enough because Xigger remained safe deep within his armor of blood. The blood beast is a cocoon of blood that is capable of both defense and attacks.


    The Colossal Blood beast took on the hits without issue. Its malleability makes it capable of withstanding high physical impacts. It would ripple with each attack before returning to its previous form so it is as if the ice golems are beating stic foam. It can also regenerate easily. It healed the little damage that they managed to inflict on it so they can''t get to Xigger hidden within.


    Meanwhile, the ws of the blood beasts are hard and sharp. Those ws rend the ice golems apart with each hit. And the 200-meter-long wings of blood des rotating about on his back cut the ice golems apart. He did not sumb despite being besieged on all sides. He even managed to use the proximity to his advantage. He doesn''t have to go far looking for targets to hit.


    Despite the sess of Xigger''s attacks, the ice golems just put themselves back together and keeping back. So the two sides fought each other to a standstill. They can both regenerate so their fight will not end soon. It gave the forces backing them some time to chat.


    "Do you want to bet on who will win?" The demon god of Carnage asked.


    The fountain of life replied, "I am not betting or making any deals with you."


    "I am sure we cane to an agreement. Work with me and we can do great things." The demon god tried to convince the fountain of life.


    "I can do great things on my own."


    "Where is your source of confidence from you stubborn and prideful cretin? Is it from the Will of the ne? The Will of the ne will fail you. I will devour it and trample on this ne when I am done with it."


    "Or is it your confidence in your puny strength? You may be special but you are weak. I can break your existence and your pride as easily as I kill Origin gods. Surrender to me and you will have salvation. Oppose me and you will fall prey to CARNAGE."


    The fountain of life snorted and refused to talk anymore. This is not the first time that they are having this conversation. The demon god can''t find it but it can sense that the fountain of life''s sense covers the entire surface. So the demon god can contact it by broadcasting openly.


    The fountain of life hears the broadcasts and sends out its own messages. The two of them use this method to engage in conversations through their senses without meeting each other. They can talk about anything but the only thing that the demon god wants is to recruit the fountain of life. It is honestly an insult to the fountain of life for it to be asked to be a subordinate of a demon god.


    The fountain of life is not as powerful as a demon god but that isn''t the issue. Pride is the issue. The fountain of life believes it has too much self-worth to be any demon god''sckey. So it ignored the demon god and focused on the fight instead.


    The ongoing fight went on for an hour before it began to have an ending. The white ice golem stopped beingpletely white. Traces of blood had mixed into the material that makes up their body. Those traces increased as time passed making the once pristine ice body reddish as if tainted by blood.


    They have actually been marred by blood. The blood discolored them and also inhibited the healing of the ice golems. So it became very difficult for the ice golems to reform their bodies after they got broken. This is very important because their bodies get broken a lot.


    Xigger did a number on them. They shouldn''t have any form with how much damage he inflicted on them. But they always recover. So he made blood from his domain seep into their broken forms. The voice in his head told him to.


    The blood he mixed in enhanced their regeneration briefly so that their injury healed as fast as possible. Their broken forms regenerated faster because of the blood. This quick regeneration also made sure that the blood was assimted into their flesh before it could be ejected. This is how Xigger managed to invade the ice golems with his domain.


    Xigger fought slowly and with patience. It wasn''t until the white ice golems becamepletely red that he dealt the final blow. He shattered them and they didn''t regenerate anymore. Then the blood within them returned to him. It dragged along the flesh of the ice golems to him. They were consumed which further strengthened him. It took 3 hours but he finally defeated all 100 of them.

 Chapter 976 Meeting Your Hero.

    Chapter 976 Meeting Your Hero.


    The blood beast shrunk after the fight. It has be even bigger from absorbing all the ice golems. But it is being recalled into his body now. Xigger appeared after the sea of blood disappearedpletely into his body. He has be even taller now. His height has increased to 13 meters after growing an extra 2 meters.


    He looked in the direction that Ragnarok ran to and said, "It is time to get my son."


    "There''s someone still alive down there. I am impressed that they are still alive." The voice within his head informed him.


    "Are you sure? So there''s more than Ragnarok imprisoned down there. Who are they?" He asked the voice.


    "I don''t know. I can''t get anything specific. But it doesn''t matter. Your son is within your reach now. You should get him as soon as possible." The voice urged him to go after Ragnarok now.


    Xigger said, "I have to save this person if they are a Warrog."


    "What about Ragnarok?"


    Xigger insisted, "My son is still alive and well. He hasn''t gone too far. Besides, I won''t take long. I will just check to make sure."


    The voice in his head grumbled some more about stupid acts of heroism but Xigger didn''t change his mind. He only cares about two things. That is his son and the Warrog race. He will not feel good leaving a Warrog that he can easily help to die. So he created a blood hand.


    The hand of blood seeped into the wreckage of the mountain and dug out the only living being at the bottom of the mountain. Arge Warrog with red fur and 8 tails appeared from beneath the rubble.


    Xigger''s eyes widened when he saw who it was. Even the voice in his head was very surprised.


    The voice eximed, "Someone must be up to some trickery. It is either that or this is not an Emperor."


    "A Warrog Emperor in the flesh. I thought they were all dead. How is one still alive?" Xigger asked.


    "He was imprisoned and I couldn''t sense him well because of the shackles on him. I didn''t sense him at all when the mountain was here. It is probably that White idiot''s doing. It doesn''t like killing so it would rather imprison its enemies instead of outright killing them. What a wuss." The voice snickered in Xigger''s head.


    Xigger broke the shackles on the Emperor immediately. The Emperor had been quiet since. He could sense that Xigger is more powerful than it and it is also helpless to defend itself. It recognized Xigger to be a sort of Warrog but it had never seen such a strange Warrog. So it kept quiet. Then it was surprised when Xigger freed it.


    The Emperor introduced himself. "Thank you for granting me my freedom. I am Emperor Fenrir. Who might you be?"


    Xigger would have fainted if he could faint. But he can''t faint. Instead, he fell to his knees and bowed his head. He said, "I pay my respects to the greatest Emperor of Warrogs. I am beyond exhrated to see you alive and well."


    This Emperor is a hero of the Warrog race that he looks up to. Almost every Warrog looks up to Emperor Fenrir the greatest emperor of all time. He grew up hearing tales of the mighty Fenrir so he can''t help but be overwhelmed with emotions. Meeting Fenrir is that overwhelming.


    Fenrir was taken aback. He understood the implication of the act of submission that Xigger disyed. He said, "So you are a Warrog. How are you like this? I thought the Warrogs were being oppressed by the Tree people. How did you be so powerful?"


    Xigger sighed and replied, "I am sure that you have a lot of questions. But I do not have the time to answer them personally. I have to get to my son."


    "You mean that Executioner? He is still alive?" Fenrir asked in surprise. "I thought he would have been killed by the crashing mountain."


    "He is still alive and it is my duty to protect him so I have to meet up with him before the tree people catch him. It is also my duty to make sure that you are safe or at least well-informed about the situation of the ne. So I will give you some of my memories. I hope it will help you keep yourself safe. The tree people are really oppressing us and they are killing every paragon of our race."


    He gave the Emperor a strand of his memories. A silver of his solidified divine sense separated from him and was received by the Emperor.


    The Emperor bowed and said, "Thank you very much for this gift. I see that even though you have lost your way, you are still a true Warrog who still has honor and self-respect. I hope we can meet again."


    He bowed in return. "I hope we can meet again."


    Then he flew off to catch Ragnarok. The voice in his head was quiet. The demon god didn''t say anything to him because it is too happy right now and it isn''t sure that it can keep its happiness out of its voice. It is best to keep quiet so that Xigger will not be suspicious of its source of happiness.


    "Two for the price of one. Let me see those two bitches try to stop me now." The demon god thought to itself in glee. "I know that the conversion is highly likely to fail since this Emperor has not been bestowed with thew fragments of life but I can surely hope."


    Xigger continued chasing after his son. Meanwhile, the Demon godughed to itself. The prospect of gaining two paragons is a very happy thing for the demon god.


    ---


    Emperor Fenrir watched Xigger go before running away himself. His great form dashed across the icyndscape with incredible familiarity. He didn''t seem like a stranger in a newnd. And it is not because of the memories that Xigger gave him.


    A voice rang out in Fenrir''s head, "That Xigger is admirable. It is unfortunate that he is an abomination."

 Chapter 977 Not Hero Fenrir.

    Chapter 977 Not Hero Fenrir.


    Fenrir replied. "That Ragnarok is the opposite. He is not an abomination yet but he is worse in character."


    The voice in his head scoffed. "Character is for mortals. Only power is important."


    "I apologize then, your Lordship fountain of life."


    The fountain of life said, "No offense taken. Your thoughts and opinions matters not. What matters is that my n failed. I wanted to convert him into my champion despite his unsavory nature."


    "I tried to tell him about the source of origin energy but we were interrupted before he could ept my deal," Fenrir exined.


    "I know. I was there. The father of the boy came early. I am sure it must be that deranged Red fool''s doing." The voice said.


    Fenrir considered his words carefully before he said them. "Excuse me for saying this, but I don''t think Ragnarok would have epted the deal. He wasughing for some weird reason. Maybe his mind is already broken. Eating that many transcendents as a mana entity cannot be without its adverse effects."


    "It doesn''t matter if he is mentally deformed or not. He will change his mind once he senses and experiences the power of Origin energy. Origin energy is several levels above mana. Even a stupid transcendent will be able to tell the difference. Did you not also change your mind after sensing it despite being stubborn at first?"


    Fenrir had to agree. "You''re right my Lord. Power is all that matters and Origin energy is a source of power. Executioners selfishly chase after power. He would have definitely agreed to be your champion."


    The fountain of life warned him. "It is toote for that now. The deranged Red fool has made his move. It will be difficult to stop him now. You are not safe either. If I know him, he wille after you too. Follow the n and move to the next step of it."


    Fenrir acknowledged. "Your will is mymand."


    Fenrir is a representative of the fountain of life. The fountain of life speaks to his mind directly like the demon god speaks to Xigger''s mind. The fountain of life also advises Fenrir like the demon god does.


    Xigger met his fellow pawn in this grand game and didn''t recognize that Fenrir was working for another master, specifically the opposition to the conquest of CARNAGE. Even the demon god didn''t know.


    On Xigger''s part, he couldn''t imagine that a great hero of his and the entire race of Warrogs could be in the same situation as him. As for the demon god, there is just very little that it knows about the history of the ne. It came recently to the ne, meanwhile, the fountain of life has been here for a very long time.


    Fenrir heeded the advice of the fountain of life and ran across the north based on the directions dictated to him. He didn''t think at all about how it feels to follow orders like some good soldier. He has been a pawn for too long. He was a pawn even before Xigger was born. Obedience, while strange to an Alpha and a great Alpha such as him, has be ingrained in him over the millions of years of servitude.


    Fenrir was very unwilling to bow his head to another at first. He didn''t submit when he was asked to bow his head when the fountain of life first entered the ne. The fountain of life was many times stronger than him but he would rather die than serve.


    He felt envy and longing for origin energy when he was captured by the other representatives of the fountain of life. It was then that he was exposed to origin energy and felt the difference in power. But he still didn''t capitte then because of his pride.


    He remained stubborn in captivity. That changed when all the Warrogs in the ne were ughtered until very few remained. The poption of Warrogs stopped being enough to sustain the Emperors. All the Emperors died. He would have died too if he hadn''t begged for another chance. The fountain of life heard his pleas and saved him.


    It turned out that he wasn''t strong enough to face death with pride when he could live as a servant. He took the alternative and became a representative. He gained limited freedom but he wasn''t allowed toe out in the open. A Warrog representative would have created quite an uproar and outcry amongst the wood elves. It would have caused another round of conflicts.


    A lot of wood elves would have surely defected and be dark elves. So his existence became a secret. He wasn''t allowed to leave the prison where he was jailed. He became the warden while the ice golems acted as the prison guards.


    That was his situation until Ragnarok came to the North. He was only allowed to move recently and that too in secret. This time, he moved specifically for Ragnarok. The fountain of life wanted to use a hero of the race for the recruitment mission.


    The Fountain of Life has always been aware of Ragnarok''s movements. It was the one that directed the wood elves to surround the mountain range where the Iron Fur Pack used to live. It gave them directions such that the perimeter was secure except for a little gap that a Warrog on the run could sneak through. That gap didn''t happen to lead to the north of the ne by chance.


    It knew when he reached the mountain and allowed him to enter it because of its interest in Ragnarok. It knows that Ragnarok will definitely eat those other Executioners. Ragnarok killed members of his pack for power. What do some weakened old paragons count for?


    Ragnarok was to eat them and then be convinced by a respected paragon of his race to join the light side of this conflict. He would have had his fill and therefore be open to the idea of more power.

 Chapter 978 The Plan For Ragnarok: Light Side.

    Chapter 978 The n For Ragnarok: Light Side.


    Origin Energy was supposed to seduce Ragnarok since it would make him very powerful quickly. After all, from what the fountain of life knows about his divine ability, he should be able to devour Origin energy to grow stronger when he bes a transcendent.


    It was expected that Ragnarok would be resisted to bing someone else''s subordinate especially since he is a paragon and an Omega at that. His apparent thirst for power, selfishness, and greediness were supposed to ovee his unwillingness to be the fountain of life''s subordinate in such a short amount of time.


    Unlike Fenrir who was too loyal to his race until death threatened to take him, Ragnarok has shown that he has no ounce of loyalty to his race. Hence it should be easy for him to ept the fountain of life even though it is the one responsible for the loss of the Warrogs in the ancient world wars, their subsequent curse which crippled their divine ability, and the many years of suppression that followed.


    It was a great n. The fountain of life had thought about everything. Unfortunately, the dark side interrupted the process of initiation.


    The fountain of life promised, "If I can''t have him then no one will."


    The fight for the ne is a tussle between the two biggest investors and the will of the ne. Everyone else is a pawn for them to use. The fountain of life wanted to im Ragnarok as its champion just as the demon god wished to do too.


    That''s why despite being informed of Ragnarok''s position in real time, the fountain of life didn''t move to kill him. And despite knowing that Xigger wasing, it was unwilling to kill Ragnarok. But now that its ns have backfired and failed, it will have to make sure that Ragnarok cannot be used against it.


    ---


    The ignorant Xigger found his son soon after. Ragnarok was running for his life as fast as he could but 3 hours was not nearly enough to create arge enough distance to escape. Not since Xigger is more than 4 times faster than him. He would be also found easily in this arctic environment even if he escaped.


    Xigger called out to his son. "Wait Ragnarok. I havee to save you."


    Ragnarok sighed and stopped running. He didn''t stop because his father asked him to. He doesn''t believe a vampire is here to save him. He stopped because he knows he can''t escape. Since escaping is futile, he got ready to talk to avoid death or fight if it bes necessary. When flight fails, then it is time to switch to fight.


    Xigger stopped a short distance from him. The two of them stood in the air surrounded by a world of white and icy wind.


    "Do you really care about me?" He asked Xigger.


    "Yes, I do. I care about you a lot. I want to protect you. I couldn''t protect your brothers and your sisters. I failed my pack and your mother. But I don''t want to fail you. Trust me. I only mean well."


    Ragnarok asked skeptically, "So you are not angry about me killing you earlier?"


    Xigger shook his head. "Why will I be angry? You did the right thing to prioritize the pack over a stranger who calls himself your father. I am also immortal. Look at me. I am whole again. And I am even stronger than ever before even though I have died several times since you killed me."


    "I see. Then I want to ask you to leave me alone. I can take care of myself. If you really care about me then you will leave me alone." He said.


    Xigger refused immediately. "I am sorry but I cannot do that. I have to protect you which means that I have to take you away now. There are wood elvesing after you right now. You are not safe at all and I cannot let you go knowing that."


    Ragnarok considered what his father said and his own situation. He considered if he should ept this offer for protection from Xigger despite hisck of trust. He doesn''t want to ept Xigger but he doesn''t have a choice.


    That''s the situation of the weak. He is not strong enough to escape and neither can he reject Xigger. He doesn''t know if his father is lying to him about the wood elves but he does know that Xigger can do anything to him regardless of his opinions on the matter.


    "Please. Let me protect you. Give me the chance to show you how much I care." Xigger pleaded.


    Ragnarok sighed. He was about to agree when he stiffened again. He sensed danger again. But he didn''t run. In fact, he doesn''t know what to do. One thing is sure though. Running won''t help him.


    He asked Xigger, "Ok. Be honest with me. What is it that you want with me? You are stronger than me so there''s no need to mess with me like this. Why are you ying these games with me?"


    He honestly doesn''t understand what Xigger is up to. Xigger is already here and he is stronger than him. Xigger can surely catch him and take him away. So he doesn''t understand why Xigger wille with hundreds of Vampires to surround him.


    He is currently surrounded in every direction and they are closing in on him. He can''t run away at all.


    Xigger on the other hand disyed a look of confusion. He asked, "What is going on here?"


    Ragnarok scoffed. "Now I know you''re toying with me. Vampires can be sadistic but this is taking it too far. I know I am not strong enough to warrant this much manpower so they must be here for something else. Don''t pretend anymore because I can sense them. The jig is up. I know you are up to something."


    Xigger must have thought that he wouldn''t be able to sense the vampires until they were too close to him but he is much stronger than that. He sensed the Vampires from more than 10 kilometers away.

 Chapter 979 Distraught Father.

    Chapter 979 Distraught Father.


    Xigger has a stronger divine sense so he should have sensed them before Ragnarok did. But he is pretending not to know about them. That means that he is toying with Ragnarok. Ragnarok decided then that he won''t be fooled.


    Xigger maintained his look of innocence and refused to admit it. He even pleaded with Ragnarok, "Please trust me, I don''t know anything about this."


    Ragnarok didn''t argue anymore. He stayed silent and contemted his options. He can''t run and he is weak so he is at the mercy of Xigger. The only thing he can do ismit suicide.


    He said to cheer himself up. "It wouldn''t be so bad. I won''t be the first clone to fail their mission. Legion-7 didn''t even reincarnate properly and he was enved. At least I reincarnated into the race that I was supposed to reincarnate in. I will die but I can be reincarnated again. Legion-7 can''t since he is still a ve. So my situation is not the worst one."


    He is ready tomit suicide and die. Legion-1 has a limit on the number of clones or main bodies that he can have because of the amount of soul channels that Gehaldirah constructed as a transcendent. So his death will open up a slot that Legion-1 can use to create another clone. Then he will be reincarnated again.


    He will have failed his current mission and will need to start again somewhere else but it is still better than being in Legion-7''s shoes.


    Xigger observed Ragnarok''s silence with visible pain in his expression. He is not pretending to be hurt. He feels hurt that his son will think that he is up to something sinister. This was to be the moment he unites with his son and then they be happy ever after. So he is very angry at the cause of the distrust in his son.


    That anger finally had room to vent when several vampires appeared very close to them. They had him and Ragnarok surrounded. He saw how it must look and he understood why Ragnarok would think he was ying with him.


    "What are you doing here, Malekit?" He asked with an angey roar.


    He did not need to roar. In fact, he did not need to shout to get his question across. A quiet use of his divine sense is more than enough to transmit his question. But he is very angry. So he made it clear by roaring in anger.


    The leader of this band of Vampires came forward. He doesn''t seem to be perturbed by the roar of anger. His face remained impassive as he stood at the opposite end of Xigger so Ragnarok was in the middle of them.


    Malekit has the long pointy ears of elves. He has white porcin skin and green hair which indicates that he was a wood elf before he became a vampire. Turning into a vampire bleached his skin of the green tint but his hair maintained its original colour. This hair of his is very long too. It extends down to his feet.


    Ragnarok observed this new vampire with weariness. It has all the features that one will need to identify it as a vampire. There are the red eyes and the fangs. Most important is the aura of death around the vampire. This aura is very strong right now. Malekit is not tallpared to Xigger. But he is taller than Ragnarok with his height of 8 meters. That is twice his height. So Ragnarok is understandably wary.


    Malekit shed his fangs at Xigger. He has four white gem-like fangs that sparkle which indicates that hees from the pulchritude lineage of vampires. That''s why his hair color was maintained after he became a vampire. Every vampire herees from the pulchritudo lineage. Theye in different colors and sizes but they are all beautiful like their ancestor.


    Malekit spokenguidly, "Don''t be rude Count Xigger. I would appreciate it if you called me by my title. I know that youe from a backward and ugly race but courtesy is a very important thing in modern society. You should learn some manners."


    Xigger became further agitated by the subtle insult. It is either that Malekite doesn''t care that he is angry or that Malekite doesn''t realize that he is angry. Either way, his roar of anger has gone to waste.


    Xigger growled and showed his ck fangs. "Answer my question or nothing will stop me from tearing you apart right now."


    Malekit tsked. He doesn''t let his fear for Xigger show but he understands that he has to answer the question or Xigger will attack him. Saving face and looking good to his subordinates won''t save him then. So he said, "You should be grateful to me and to the Supreme of Carnage for asking my Mistress to keep you safe."


    "What is this about?" Xigger asked the voice in his head.


    The demon god had been silently and happily watching the show. It was initially after Ragnarok and only him. Who would have thought that Xigger woulde across an Emperor? It is because the white bitch is too much of a weakling who doesn''t like death. This created a boon for the demon god.


    Xigger is the demon god''s lucky star. He helped the demon god find two paragons very quickly. But the demon god didn''t ask Xigger to turn the Emperor back then. It knows that Xigger wouldn''t want to but he also doesn''t need Xigger to help turn the Emperor because it already has some Vampires close by that will do the honors.


    Instead, it let Xigger find his son, who is the demon god''s main target, quickly. This enabled its machinations for Ragnarok toe into y. Some of those Vampires have finally taken the stage that was meant for them.


    The demon god can''t target Ragnarok directly and it also can''t act against Ragnarok indirectly. But the definition of indirect is a tricky thing. Asking other vampires to go after Ragnarok without CARNAGE going after Ragnarok itself is certainly an indirect action against Ragnarok. But there is a loop hole.

 Chapter 980 The Plan For Ragnarok: Dark Side.

    Chapter 980 The n For Ragnarok: Dark Side.


    The demon god answered Xigger''s question. "I was worried about you so I told some Vampires to follow you for protection."


    Asking other vampires to go and reinforce Xigger and keep him safe is certainly not acting against Ragnarok indirectly or directly. After all, the demon god has the right to order its Vampires to do its bidding as long as it doesn''t send them after Ragnarok.


    The demon god is just protecting its asset. It is allowed to do that. The fact that Xigger will be close to Ragnarok and therefore make the other vampires close to Ragnarok is but a coincidence.


    It will also be a mere coincidence that has nothing to do with the demon god if one of those vampires takes a fancy and decides to turn Ragnarok without being prodded or influenced by the demon god.


    Everything will be an unfortunate coincidence. That''s what the demon god nned. It is asking the other vampires to go after Ragnarok without asking the other Vampires to go after Ragnarok. It is not indirect so it doesn''t break the Oath.


    It is a demon god that likes making deals. Part of the reason it likes deals is to get its way without using violence while most of it is the pleasure it gains from taking advantage of loopholes in agreements.


    Surely the demon god cannot be asked to stop asking its Vampires to do things just because of the other consequences of their actions or the coteral damage that might ur along the way. Even if he was asked, surely the demon god can''t be asked not to look out for its assets. That''s just harsh. A good businessman will not make such an Oath. And the demon god is a very good businessman. Even better, the demon god is a demon and not a man.


    "Why didn''t you tell me about it?" Xigger asked.


    The demon god lied, "It was just backup in case of the worst. You didn''t think of it and you wouldn''t appreciate it if it was not needed so I kept it to myself."


    It didn''t tell Xigger about this special favor of asking other vampires to protect him. Xigger wouldn''t understand and he wouldn''t appreciate the kindness that the demon god is showing so he doesn''t need to know. All Xigger needed to know was where Ragnarok was and all he needed to do was to continue chasing after his boy and find him.


    Xigger was surprised but he wasn''t angry. He felt grateful actually. He started to say, "That''s good. I am sure that I can work something out with the Pulchritude Primogenitor. I am grateful that you care for my..."


    He stopped when he heard what Malekit said next, "Hmm. This Warrog is special. He is the most powerful of the vermins that I have seen. He looks beautiful too."


    Xigger yelled at him. "Don''t get any ideas you pervert. That''s my son."


    "Oh," Malekit said in surprise. Then he began to grin. He said, "Is that so? I wouldn''t have thought so. Who would have thought that such a beautiful thing cane from an ugly thing."


    Xigger stepped forward menacingly. "Yes, it is so. So back off."


    Malekit did not back off. Instead, he stepped forward to assess Ragnarok better.


    "Hmm. He has nice white and lush fur. I want to run my hand through it. I am sure it will be thrilling." Mkit said with longing.


    Xigger threatened. "Well, you can''t. I will drain you of everything you are if you so much as touch him."


    Malekit nodded as if in understanding. He raised his hands and backed off. "My apologies."


    Xigger''s wrath waned a bit. The gesture of surrender calmed him down so he continued, "I appreciate you looking out for me. I am sure that we cane to some sort of understanding concerning thepensation that..."


    Malekit interrupted. He said, "I have made up my mind. I choose him as my prize foring to protect you."


    Xigger''s eye twitched. He roared in anger, "You can''t choose him for anything. He is mine."


    Then he bolted forward to smash Malekit apart. He has had it with Malekit already. He wants to put the disrespectful Vampire in his ce and show him who is superior here.


    Malekit stepped back immediately. He is afraid of Xigger even though they are both counts. It is because Xigger is an ancestral vampire with almost infinite ess to blood power from the demon god whereas he gets a limited and small amount of blood power from his creator Mistress Pulchritudo.


    He knows how terrifying Mistress Pulchritudo is so he can''t underestimate Xigger at all. It is also important to note that Xigger represents the creator of the devouring lineage. His lineage is terrifyingly strong and feared amongst other vampires. So Xigger himself will be a terrifying force to reckon with. He is the Primogenitor after all.


    Malekit has a lot of reasons to fear Xigger. He wouldn''t have angered Xigger no matter how much he hated Xigger unless he had something that boosted his confidence. He brought that thing out now in his moment of need. A blood writ appeared in front of him. It appeared just in time too or Xigger would have actually torn him apart.


    Xigger stopped when the blood writ appeared. It appeared right in front of him. He is only an arm''s length away from Malekit but he stopped to read the blood writ.


    The blood writ is a blood-red sheet of paper with words written on it with golden blood. It is a binding contract issued by the demon god itself. This is not the first time he has seen something like it. He signed it once when he became a vampire so he is familiar with it.


    Xigger eye''s shrunk when he read it. Malekit seemed to have regained his confidence. He stepped back a little from the outstretched wed hand of Xigger''s before speaking. "The Blood Writ says that Ancestor Pulchritudo should send someone to protect you and in exchange, she can im something of yours. So Iy im to this son of yours on her behalf."

 Chapter 981 Fun Time With Ragnarok.

    Chapter 981 Fun Time With Ragnarok.


    "You did this?" Xigger asked the voice in his head.


    The voice replied without guilt, "I might have said that she can take something of yours, whatever it is."


    Xigger scowled and produced his own blood Writ. He shook the blood writ at Malekit and said, "You have to choose something else. This writ says that the demon god doesn''t have any power over my loved ones. Your Writ will not be enforced by the demon god if you choose my son."


    Malekit sighed. "I am appalled that such crassnguage ising from you. I would prefer it if you would call ourmon ancestor the Supreme of Carnage."


    Xigger said to his face, "I don''t care about what you prefer. I say and do what I want. Now scram before I actually turn you inside out."


    Malekit''s face hardened. He doesn''t like Xigger normally. Xigger is from a lowly race that is beneath wood elves so he has disdain for Xigger. Then there''s the jealousy that he has for Xigger being an ancestral vampire. It is an insult to him that a mutt got to be an ancestral vampire. He is afraid of Xigger despite his hatred but Xigger has taken things too far right now.


    So he said, "It is not about what I want. It is about what my Mistress wants. Surely you will honor her wishes. I am here on her behalf after all."


    Xigger didn''t realize the trap he was falling into even until now. He still shouted at Malekit, "I don''t care about any of that. He is my son and you can''t take him no matter what."


    Malekit grinned immediately. His grin spread wide. The situation has escted from a simple matter ofpensation that can be resolved over some snacks and diplomatic talk. Malekit has sessfully brought it into the domain of honor and Xigger took the bait by slighting the honor of an ancestral vampire.


    Malekit already made the request so he can''t take it back anymore or the honor of his ancestor will be damaged further. His ancestor doesn''t need to fear a young ancestral vampire so he should not take any step back in this conflict. The blood writs are not needed anymore. Strength is about toe into y.


    He said to Xigger, "I am sorry that you feel that way. My Mistress went through a lot to ensure your protection. Is it too much for her to ask for your son? You refused to give her what is due to her. You even went so far as to disregard her honor. That is an offense that I cannot take lightly."


    Xigger simmered down immediately when he heard the usation. He has learned enough about the prim and proper society of vampires in the past few years to know that he is treading on fragile ice.


    He tried to diffuse the situation. "I didn''t disregard her honor. I only said that she can have something else."


    But Malekit wasn''t having any of it. He is like a dog with a bone. He isn''t going to let it go until he has had his fill of fun with it.


    He addressed the vampires he came with, "You all heard what he said. We came all the way here for him but he is too selfish to give us what we asked for. He even disregarded the honor of our ancestor. I am sure that you remember that I argued againsting here to save this selfish and ungrateful count when our ancestor asked me during court to travel after him."


    They remember such an event clearly. Malekite was very vocal about opposing the rescue. He would have spoken about it even if he wasn''t the one that the Primogenitor is sending on the mission. But he was extra motivated to act against Xigger since he was the one chosen to go to the frozen and barren north.


    Malekite continued maliciously, "It is my shame that I was right but I cannot let our ancestor be shamed too. That''s why we will take that white beautiful Warrog or die trying."


    The vampires said nothing. They have been immobile like statues ever since this conversation started. They remain immobile now even after hearing that deration. But their eyes glowed a red light. It is all Xigger needs to know that they are all in agreement with Malekit. The honor of their ancestor has been called into question so they have to defend it. Xigger realized that he was in deep trouble toote.


    Malekit taunted him. "What will you do now o mighty ancestral vampire?" Then he licked his lips and said, "We will have him one way or the other and we will make sure to enjoy him very well. Don''t worry. It won''t be painful for him for too long. He will grow to like it after some time. You will be surprised by how adaptable living things are."


    Xigger''s red face would have paled if he had blood to lose in the blood vessels of his face. He is strong but he is alone and there are hundreds of them. They can overwhelm him with numbers. He won''t be able to defend himself and also defend Ragnarok. That means that they will get Ragnarok from him.


    He is of the opinion that every vampire is a pervert. It is because they don''t have any distinction between the sexes when ites to sexual activities. He finds it abhorrent as a Warrog but the Vampires of the Pulchritudo take it too far. They use animals, nt parts, and nonliving things in their sexual activities as long as they are beautiful and pleasurable.


    He has seen what they love doing in their past times. The memory of thousands of vampires writhing and gyrating in an orgy of the flesh will never leave his mind.


    It is horrible for him to think of what they will do to Ragnarok if they get their hands on him. Ragnarok will not be able to refuse the orders of whoever turns him into a fledgling. His poor son with a great future will be damaged beyond recognition.

 Chapter 982 Xiggers Options.

    Chapter 982 Xigger''s Options.


    Three options appeared in Xigger''s mind. They are his only way out of this sticky situation. He looked at Malekit and said, "Are you sure about this? You will regret it if you don''t back off. I can assure you of that."


    Malekit sneered. "Maybe I will. But you will certainly feel pain now and I find that it will be very pleasurable."


    That didn''t work so it leaves two other options. Xigger already tried to leverage his immortality to make Malekit back off but it didn''t work. It seems Malekit is ready to throw caution to the wind in favor of short-term gratification. The second option is to kill Ragnarok and spare him the gruesome fate with Malekit.


    "Fine. You win. But I will make sure that you regret this." Xigger said then he moved away from Malekit.


    He flew to Ragnarok and grabbed hold of him. Malekit didn''t say anything or move. He just stood there and watched Xigger''s actions. He is enjoying what he has caused and he wants to see more.


    "Please make my day and run." Malekit thought to himself.


    He wants Xigger to run. That will make this even more enjoyable. There''s nothing more enjoyable than chasing an ancestral vampire. He doesn''t actually want Ragnarok. He is only using him to get to Xigger, his father.


    He also doesn''t want to die. So he won''t initiate the fight with Xigger despite all his talk about defending the honor of his ancestor. His main aim is to humiliate Xigger and he would prefer to do that without a fight. The issue is that he has to fight if Xigger initiates a fight. He can''t take back what he already said so he would prefer it if Xigger runs.


    So he watched as Xigger took Ragnarok by the arm. Ragnarok didn''t run away. He is already surrounded so escaping is not possible.


    He smirked at his father. "I guess that you can''t protect me. In fact, you are bad for me. I always get into more trouble when you are around."


    Xigger sighed. "I guess you will hate me more after this."


    "Oh, I think I hate you more than en...." Ragnarok''s words got caught in his mind. It is because something is crushing his throat.


    It happened so fast. He was talking then his neck was twisted and Xigger had bitten his neck. He felt it as eight sharp fangs pierced the flesh of his neck and entered his body. Then he felt nothing but pain after that. He is still aware of everything going on around him but his body has stopped responding to him. He fell from the sky so Xigger took him into his arms where he began to spasm violently.


    "This is bad. I''ve lost control of my body." He thought in panic.


    He needs to control the energy within his body to make it go out of order tomit suicide. He has lost control of is body so he can''tmit suicide in the traditional way. He can stillmit suicide though. He just needs to summon Legion-1''s domain. The power of the domain will fracture his existence and kill him. So he calmed down after the initial moment of panic.


    He began to scheme after he calmed down. He got greedy.


    "I wonder how this works."


    He wants to know how vampires are made and what their source of power is. He wants to know how races are created and get hints about the power of supremews. It is all because he doesn''t want to make his reincarnation a waste.


    Any information that might be useful to Legion is weed even if he has to trade his life for it. At this point, Legion has never experienced a supremew. He is the first clone toe in contact with it so Legion doesn''t know that it is very dangerous toe into contact with a demon god in any way.


    His experience coupled with Soverick''s encounter with the first sage informed Legion of the danger of Supremews. Legion became more curious about it but took precautions when Soverick was going to attend the Unified Skill Index. His experience also made Aeternus ready tomit suicide to preserve Legion.


    That is all in the future. But currently, Ragnarok, in his ignorance, decided to wait until he has no other choice but tomit suicide to do so. He turned his attention to his body to understand what was going on with him. A foreign power has entered his body. It is of a higher existence than any concept. This power is so strong it is almost invible.


    The power of CARNAGE entered his body through that single bite. Then it went to work on modifying his body. It faced no resistance whatsoever in its attempt. It is after all on par with a falsew of order. Even though the supremew didn''t enter his body or act directly on him, the power of CARNAGE was made manifest through the power of blood.


    His body couldn''t resist this power even if it wanted to but his body didn''t resist it all all. His body did the opposite. This power didn''t need to coerce or force his body to ept it or adapt to it all. His core drew the power of blood towards it eagerly and willingly while his white fur turned red.


    Thew of devouring within his core is responsible for the active pulling force. It pulled eagerly on the power of blood. The power of blood entered his core and met with the budding concept within it. It was thew of life that ensured 100%patibility with the power of blood. So there was no need to force his core to ept and adapt to the invading force.


    The power began to change his core. First, his core became saturated with the power of blood. Then thew of life was overwritten and changed into thew of blood. All the while, thew of devouring absorbed the supply of blood power without prejudice or restraint.

 Chapter 983 True Or False, Order Or Chaos.

    Chapter 983 True Or False, Order Or Chaos.


    "So this is a falsew of a false supremew." He said in understanding. "It must be a falsew of Chaos. It certainly doesn''t behave like the truew of order that Helios encountered."


    His understanding of the world changed. Just as there is a truew of order and many falsews of order, which are supremews, there are truews and falsews, which are derivatives of the truew of Order and the falsew of order respectively. The authenticity ofws doesn''t determine their strength or power. It just determines their origin.


    Truewse from the void universe through the truew of order while falsewse from falsews of order. And just as there is aw of order and its false counterparts, so there is aw of chaos and its false counterparts.


    Ragnarok was aware of these but he has never seen supremews in action apart from Helios''s and Aeternus''s encounters. His current situation is different from theirs because Legion didn''t know that Chaos also had its false counterparts.


    The sin of Carnage is a false counterpart of thew of chaos. It is a supremew that expresses itself as the power of blood. The sin of carnage is capable of creating falsews like thew of blood but it needs thew of life to be present within the target.


    It is because Carnage is the medium between life and death. It needs life to convert to death. Without life, there can be no Carnage. This is why other races apart from elves are not susceptible to the gue of Vampirism.


    Ragnarok observed these changes with slight fear.


    "It seems this is how every form of Supremews work. They are always trying to overwrite one''s existence no matter if they are true or false, order or Chaos. They are incredibly dangerous."


    He knows what''s going on with himself. He is being transformed into a vampire. It is a glorious and beautiful thing the way the power of blood is overwriting his existence. It is also a fearful thing because he knows what happens to fledgling vampires. They don''t have a Will of their own. They have to obey their superiors.


    "I think I shouldmit suicide now when I can." He thought to himself.


    He realized that a supremew is very dangerous especially one that belongs to a demon god. The supremew is not acting on him directly, only its derivative, the power of blood, is acting on him through Xigger. But he is not willing to stick around for things to get worse.


    He thought his curiosity had been satiated but there was another change. It caused him to dy his suicide. No vampire up to date has ever had a divine ability based on devouring. The other Warrogs don''t count because their''s is an iplete divine ability.


    In a normal situation, those exposed to blood power through a bite will have their bodies forced to transform. They will be vampires if they arepatible with the changes. Their souls will be forced to ept the mark of Carnage and be forcefully modified by it.


    But he has a devouring ability. It is also one that has sessfully been modified by the power of blood and has also engorged itself to the brim with it. Thews in his concepts have been changed so his concept has changed. The next step for it is evolution.


    Since he is not in control of his body and there is a lot of power being supplied to it, his divine ability decided to go through with that evolution right now. His divine ability initiated the breakthrough to transcendence without him. But transcendence needs his soul. So he was forcefully drawn back to his body.


    "This is remarkable. So this can happen too?" He said in wonder.


    He finally gained control of his body but he can''t stop the process anymore. The breakthrough has started. He has to break through now and have his soul fuse with the power of blood. His existence will be bound to the demon god forever. It is something that he cannot allow to happen. He immediately rejected the mark of sin when it tried to attach to his soul.


    "I''d rather die." He thought to himself.


    He couldn''t stop his body from betraying him but that is not the same with his soul. His soul is his personal domain and he hasplete and total control over it. He would rather die than have his soul subjugated by the demon god so he resisted the fusion with the Mark of Carnage.


    His refusal led to immediate detrimental effects. His body began to break down because of the rejection of the soul. The link between body and soul was being severed. He will die soon.


    "I guess it is time." He thought to himself with a mental shrug. "I won''t have to kill myself. That''s good too."


    Then he wondered to himself. "What will happen if I die like this? Will I turn out like Legion-7 or will I return to Legion-1?"


    He became curious again. Even other clones are curious. They want to know if Legion-7''s situation is unique or if it is possible for every clone. He decided to have a natural death to confirm it. He is not concerned about death if it can help Legion. After all, ignorance is bliss.


    Ragnarok''s previously modified body began to break down. It softened in his father''s arms.


    Xigger was surprised by the resistance. "Why?" He asked Ragnarok.


    He can sense that Ragnarok is verypatible with the power of blood so he can''t understand why there is resistance.


    The voice in his head answered with unprecedented calmness, "It seems your son has a very strong will and a very powerful soul. He would rather die than be a vampire."


    "Ragnarok. ept the changes. Be a vampire and we can remain together forever." Xigger pleaded with his son.


    Ragnarok struggled to say, "Fuck you."

 Chapter 984 I Giveth And Taketh Away.

    Chapter 984 I Giveth And Taketh Away.


    Xigger began to cry. "Please. Please don''t die. I don''t want to lose you."


    Ragnarok didn''t say anything else. He can''t anyway. His new red fur turned bloody as his skin cracked and bled. His body began to soften like rubber. Then his thick rubbery flesh began to liquefy. He was bleeding from everywhere including his skin, eyes, and mouth. It looks like he is melting into blood. It feels even worse than it looks because he is alive through it all.


    "This boy is taking things too far. He is too stubborn." The demon god roared unwillingly.


    It wanted to be calm about everything but it is the most agitated one here. It is even more agitated than Xigger and cares about Ragnarok more than Xigger. It wants Ragnarok to live and be its champion. All of its schemes and orchestrations have led to this moment but it will go to waste because of the stubbornness of one boy.


    "I understand his resistance. He doesn''t want to be an abomination like his father. He doesn''t want to lose his way like I have lost my way." Xigger said through his tears. "I understand that he wants glory in death. I am willing to let him go."


    The demon god yelled in his head. "Shut up you weakling. You''re always crying like some loser. You are no use to me. I am taking things into my own hands."


    Xigger was surprised by the outburst. He didn''t think the demon god cared about his son at all.


    "But he wants to die. I say we should just ept it and move..."


    He felt pain in his heart the next moment. His dead unmoving heart suddenly constricted painfully.


    "What are you doing?" Xigger eximed in panic and pain.


    His chest shone brightly with a red light that seemed to being from within him. His torso became translucent so that the light was brighter. A round object could be seen in his chest. It is the source of lighting from within him. It is also his heart.


    "You have outlived your use you stupid and ignorant creature. I don''t need you anymore." The demon god told him.


    Xigger dropped his doughy son to the ground. He clutched his chest as he fell to the ground too.


    "But you promised me power. You can''t take it from me. You mustn''t."


    The demon god sneered. "I promised and I gave you power. I gave it to you and I can take it away. I am God. There is nothing that can stop me from taking my power away and giving it to someone else that I deem fit for it."


    To be precise, there is nothing in their contract that says that the demon god can''t retrieve the power that he gave.


    Then the demon god dered, "Hear me Xigger Reynfair, I hereby deem you unworthy and unfit for my power. It shall be henceforth taken from you. Take sce in the fact that your son shall inherit your power. May he do better with it than you did."


    Xigger fell to the ground as a pool of blood. A red crystal rose from his liquified remains. The red crystal shone brightly. The red light that it produced could not be obscured by the thick snow for a long distance. Every vampire fell to their knees and bowed.


    "Great Is The Supreme Of Carnage." They said in adoration and worship. "Let the Will of CARNAGE be done and Let CARNAGE descend to the earth."


    The other vampires had gazes of fervent worship while Malekit looked at the red crystal with envy and greed. He wished he could run up and take it. But he can''t. The power thates from the heart of Carnage can only be bestowed not taken forcefully. So he had to watch on as the red crystal flew over to Ragnarok and sank into his chest.


    An ancestral vampire will resurrect if killed by using the body of any fledgling in their lineage. There is a connection of the power of blood between the ancestor and every vampire in their lineage but fledglings are used as vessels for resurrection because fledglings have no right whatsoever in the hierarchy. Fledglings are at the bottom rung. Ragnarok is a fledgling now or partly fledgling and it was due to his father. This connection is used to transfer blood power between them. But now the demon god is using it to transfer the origin of blood power between father and son without breaking the Oath that it made with Xigger.


    "Now live," CARNAGE said in anticipation.


    Ragnarok''s body ballooned in size with the introduction of the heart of Carnage. It was like he was inted with a sudden gust of air. It was power and not air that invaded his body. He would have exploded if his body were not 100%patible with Carnage.


    Fortunately, his body has already been primed by the mark of Carnage so his body epted it and began another round of changes. It is more like it resumed its breakthrough. But it took another path that was not originally avable to him.


    Vampires are like demons. They are descendants of a demon so it is normal for them to be simr to demons in several ways. They have a simr power system except that Vampires use the power of blood and blood energy instead of sin energy.


    Vampires also have a mark on their souls that determines ranks and regtes their evolution just like demons do. One of the most important simrities between Vampires and demons is the separation of body and soul.


    Demons have a separate soul and body which is their source of immortality as seen in demon kings. Ancestral vampires with the heart of Carnage also have this same system of immortality. Their souls will fuse with the heart of Carnage and gain immortality from it. In this way, the bulk of their power is maintained after death. The demon god wants to do the same thing to Ragnarok.

 Chapter 985 Pros And Cons Of Vampirism.

    Chapter 985 Pros And Cons Of Vampirism.


    Ragnarok''s body and soul are currently separated. He refused to fuse them so that he wouldn''t be a vampire. His active rejection during the process of breakthrough led to his body and soul further separating. He is dying because his body lost the support of his soul.


    So the demon god decided to grant his body another support so that he would continue to live. But the heart of Carnagees with more perks than an infinite supply of the power of blood and blood energy. The heart of Carnage is like the chaos spark. Ites with the power of evolution capable of creating an entirely new race as long as there ispatibility. Ragnarok''s body ispatible so he began to evolve.


    First, he became a giant round blob of red flesh. The flesh began to shape itself ording to the blueprint present within his divine ability. A red skeletal skull came first. It grew out from the blob of flesh. The skull became covered by skin and flesh. Horns came next. Four great red horns sprouted from the horn. Then limbs came next. They popped out from the blood as bony limbs at first before being covered with flesh.


    A strange Warrog beast was born from the blob of flesh. It was hideous at first because of theck of skin. Muscles and blood vessels are in full view of the world. The flow of blood through them can be observed too. It matches the very audible sound of the heart beating within the ribs of the creature.


    The creature remained hideous as it expanded further. Its body grew at different rates so some parts expanded faster than others. It led to a fracturing of bones and the tearing of muscles. Blood leaked everywhere. It doesn''t help that there are no eyes present within the skull of the creature. There are 6 empty eye sockets with crying tears of blood.


    The creature finally entered into thest phase of changes after growing to be 50 meters long. Eightrge jagged and curved fangs grew out of the jaws of the creature. All the teeth in the jaws are sharp canines and are ck but these eight are special. They don''t have the smooth shape of the other teeth. They are rough and look like makeshift des carved from rocks.


    The tails were thest to grow. They popped out from the rump of the creature one after the other. They didn''t stop popping out until there were 9 of them. Then fur covered the thin tails and the entire body. Therge creature with ck fur and red stripes finally stopped growing or changing.


    "That troublesome Xigger," CARNAGEined. "He has created a problem for me even in death."


    It has done everything to make Ragnarok live but Ragnarok is still refusing to be a Vampire and he has also refused to ept his body. If Xigger hadn''t made the Oath to protect his loved ones, CARNAGE would be free to do anything with Ragnarok right now. But it can''t be violent. It has to persuade the stubborn champion that would rather die than be a vampire.


    "I know you can hear me." It said to Ragnarok.


    Ragnarok didn''t say anything.


    "You want to die but you can''t die yet. Not with my heart of Carnage in your body. Even death cannot save you. CARNAGE will not be denied its prize in death. Your whole existence is mine from now on in life and death."


    Ragnarok still didn''t say anything. But CARNAGE didn''t give up.


    "It is in your best interest to run now. Wood elves areing and they don''t like Vampires. Imagine evesting servitude to me even in death. If you think being alive is bad, being dead will be much worse."


    The beast stood up. It wobbled a bit and its paws struggled to find purchase on the slippery ice. Then ck ws appeared on the paws and grabbed the ice so the beast was finally able to stand. It chose a direction and began moving. It was slow at first but it soon picked up speed.


    Malekit watched the creature run away with envy.


    He grumbled to himself, "Good things should not be given to uncivilized mutts."


    Of course, he made sure to keep this thought to himself. He doesn''t dare to disobey his primogenitor much less the Supreme of Carnage. He may be dead, but there are worse things than death. Just the thought of those things made him shiver.


    Then he shook his head and stood up.


    "Let''s go now. We have our orders. We are to create a trail to distract the wood elves." He said to his subordinates.


    The group of Vampires ran together in another direction. The wood elves that were pursuing Xigger are about to reach them and the demon god doesn''t want Ragnarok to be captured so it had the Vampires distract them. The sun is also about toe up so they have to hide underground somewhere.


    Vampires are not active during the day. It is a serious weakness they have. It is not the light of the sun that weakens them. The light doesn''t need to touch them for it to be their weakness. This weakness just like their strengthes from their supreme ancestor. The demon god bes weaker when the sun rises above the ne.


    Blocking all that light and heat is a serious matter. Light and heat speed up the rate of reaction. The demon god of Carnage is an energy being in a state of stasis between life and death. Light and heat try to remove it from its stasis. It causes the demon god to redirect some of its power to keep itself together. That diverts the power of the blood that flows to the vampires and weakens them.


    So sunlight indirectly weakens vampires. It causes vampires to sleep. Stronger vampires with arger supply of the power of blood sleep less but all vampires be weakened during the day, even ancestral vampires. Of course, direct sunlight will fry vampires and turn them into dust.

 Chapter 986 The Job Offer.

    Chapter 986 The Job Offer.


    ?


    There is no light here in the north but getting caught up in a fight with the wood elves during the day is a bad idea. So they all ran. As for Malekit, he is sullen about the entire thing. But there''s nothing he can do about it. He wants power like every person and he is ready to do anything to get it. Unfortunately for him, he is a vampire. He is limited on how to acquire power and he is limited on how strong he can ever be.


    He will never match an ancestral vampire in power in the same rank and neither will he reach the highest height that ancestral vampires can reach. The only way to solve that is to get his own heart of Carnage. It is too bad that he just lost the only chance to get it.


    He couldn''t fight and kill Xigger in a challenge for his heart and Xigger is the youngest ancestral vampire. The other primogenitors are much older and much stronger. Malekit is tough for a vampire and he is older than Xigger but he still couldn''t match Xigger. His situation is all but hopeless. Thankfully, there is a silver lining in all of his misfortune.


    "On the bright side, Xigger is dead and he won''te after me for revenge." He said to himself.


    That is truly something to be thankful for. But then he remembered that Xigger''s son is the new Primogenitor of devouring and he couldn''t help but shiver again.


    -----


    Back to Ragnarok.


    He ran away after the changes in his body finished. He regained control of his body once it became stabilized by the infinite supply of the power of blood. He is still in the process of breaking through to transcendence but he is no longer in danger of dying currently.


    He is currently safe from death but he has acquired a special type of problem. This problem is not rted to hisck of eyes. His body has be a prison for his soul. He already tried and failed tomit suicide in every way possible. Legion-1''s domain couldn''t be summoned because the pressure from his body was too much.


    "I might have bitten more than I could chew." He said in regret.


    Ragnarok had been observing the changes going on in his body. He did it as he continued to resist the influence of the power of blood on his soul so he can say for certain that he is Helios except that the supremew seems to have worn the battle over his body and half his existence.


    The major source of the problem is the heart of Carnage. It is producing pressure on his soul through the nearly infinite supply of the power of blood. The only good news is that his soul is still safe and sound. At least for now.


    The power of blood increased drastically when the heart of Carnage was inserted into his body but there was no increase in the pressure he felt on his soul.


    The mark of Carnage is forceful. It is either to be epted or rejected and die. But the heart of Carnage is different. There is a very important thing that must happen before it has any sway on his soul.


    The demon god came to ask for that very thing. A voice appeared within Ragnarok''s head.


    "What an admirable young man. I am very impressed with you." The voice said to him.


    "What an honor to have the demon god of Carnagee to visit me." He drawled.


    "You know of me?" The demon god asked in surprise.


    He replied, "Yeah, I do. I also know what''s going to happen next."


    "Hmm. Let''s put business aside for a while. Let''s talk about more pleasant things like how it is an honor to you for me to be here to talk to you."


    Ragnarok snorted. "You should just get to the chase and say what you want."


    "Mortals and theirck of patience." The voice grumbled in his mind. Then it said what it was aiming for. "You are a wonderful creature. Do you know that? I hope you know that. You need to know your worth so you will know how much of a loss it would be if you died or lost your free will. I hate to make you a puppet."


    "Is that a threat?" Ragnarok asked as he ran across the ice.


    "You are capable of great feats of Carnage. I have seen your works of Carnage and I must say that they are beautiful. You have a powerful divine ability and a powerful soul. I think we can do great things together. Why don''t you ept this power that I am offering you?"


    "I thought as much. You''re a demon god but you''re still a demon. At the end of the day, all you want from me is my soul. Why don''t you take it yourself? You already have my body." He asked defiantly.


    He is actually not as carefree as he seems. He is very afraid because he is currently talking to a demon god. Even worse is that he is actually in contact with the energy of a demon god and it has overwritten half of his existence.


    He can prevent himself from fusing with the energy but that won''t stop the demon god if it wants to kill him. He is not the only one in danger currently. He suspects that the demon god can reach all the clones of Legion through him.


    The bond between his body and his heart of Carnage seems unbreakable. The heart of Carnage will follow his soul anywhere. It won''t be a problem if he dies and resurrects in one of the fledglings in his lineage. But it will be a cmity for Legion If he goes to Legion-1 in death.


    All of Legion is in trouble all because of that single bite from Xigger and his reluctance to ept a mediocre existence. His curiosity earned him knowledge but at a cost that he is not willing to pay.

 Chapter 987 Sweet Tongue Carnage.

    Chapter 987 Sweet Tongue Carnage.


    He is of the opinion that the demon god put the heart of Carnage into his body because it sensed his powerful soul. His powerful soul probably intrigued the demon god who then decided to create a bigger connection between them so that a stronger channel would be formed between them.


    He expected the demon to try and kill him immediately for his soul instead of talking to him. So he asked why the demon god was not being forceful with him. After all, he is already trapped.


    The voice in his head sighed. "I like your determination. I don''t want to perform a forceful takeover so that I will not rob you of your will and originality. Originality is needed for Creativity and Creativity is needed for Art. In other words, I want to preserve what makes you special so that you will create more works of Art. It is so that CARNAGE will be stronger."


    Ragnarokughed in his mind. He decided to call the bluff of the demon god, "That''s a lie. If I know demons and I know them very well. I know that they like to lie. There are only two reasons for not doing something. It is either because you can''t do it or because you don''t want to."


    He said confidently, "If you are saying that you don''t want to, then there must be a very good reason for it. The reason you gave is not good enough. I don''t think I am special enough to warrant the heart of Carnage. You can give it to anyone you want. So there must be something going on that you are not telling me."


    The voice in his headughed too. "That''s smart. But you''re wrong about your conclusion. You really are special. You have a powerful soul and a powerful divine ability. I need you to be my champion of Carnage in this ne. That can only happen if I don''t overwrite your existence."


    "Do you truly want me to believe that you''re not curious about why I have such a powerful soul?" He asked.


    "Oh, I am very curious about it. I would like to get to the bottom of it but you being my champion is a much more important matter so I will keep you alive. Besides, you will tell me in due time when we be good friends. You will find me to be a good listener."


    "Good friends like my father?" Ragnarok asked.


    "Exactly. We are such good friends that I will feel bad about doing something bad to you. He wished for you to do great things and I am going to give you that opportunity. All you have to do is offer me your allegiance and soul."


    He sneered. "This demon must think I am naive and stupid because I am young," He thought to himself.


    That''s the only exnation he cane up with for why the demon god would say that it will feel bad about doing some bad things to him. He would be stupid indeed to believe it after he witnessed the death of his father.


    So he asked. "Right. And yourmitment to my safety doesn''t have anything to do with the Blood Writ that you sighed with my father?"


    He saw the blood-red sheet of paper and what was written on it when Xigger pulled it out to show to Malekit. He was suspicious of its validity in light of the death of his father but he is certain about it now that the demons decided to lie.


    The voice in his head chuckled. It is not at all ashamed of being caught in a lie. "You sly little boy. I see that you are aware of it. Why are you pretending not to know why I am not being forceful if you already know?"


    He asked in return, "Why are you trying to fool me?"


    "Tit for tat then. I must say that this is much better than your father. He was such a fool and a bore. I hope you won''t disappoint me. That might force my hands."


    Ragnarok agreed. "Yes, he was a fool. He was a fool for making deals with a demon god."


    "Now don''t say that. I am an honest business person. I make deals that fit my customers. Your father cared about his loved one and he got what he asked for. Don''t mock him for it now. After all, it''s his deal with me that is currently keeping you alive right now."


    Ragnarok smirked and said, "Right. But that safety will onlyst until you find a loophole to go through."


    "Don''t be so suspicious. It is not good for your health. There''s no need to be so suspicious of me. I mean well for you. I can give you power and authority. I can give you wealth and pleasure beyond your wildest dreams. Do you want the whole ne to yourself? I can give it to you. Just offer me your allegiance."


    That didn''t sound convincing to Ragnarok and he noticed that the demon god didn''t deny his usation. Instead, the demon god asked for his soul again.


    "I am fine. Thanks for the offer but I don''t deal with demons." He refused without mincing his words.


    He has regained some of his confidence after confirming that the demon god can''t act forcefully against him right now. That only means he is currently safe from the demon god not eternally safe so he can''t let down his guard. But he and all of Legion gained a brief moment of respite and stopped being nervous that they would be wiped out soon.


    The demon god on the other hand is not happy. It grumbled and said, "You should change this stubborn attitude of yours. I won''t take it to heart though. I am very patient. I can wait. In the meantime, you have to get to safety if you don''t want to die. The sun is about toe up and you are part vampire. Your body will start to break down so you need to stop and let it rest."

 Chapter 988 Sales Demon God.

    Chapter 988 Sales Demon God.


    "Fine then. It is the curse of my existence. I will to hide from the sun."


    He agreed to hide. Then he snickered, "How powerful can you be when the sun weakens you? Even the lowest ant does not turn into dust in the sun. Vampires are a disgrace just for that weakness."


    The demon god didn''t take offense at his mockery. It took on a tone for lecturing, "The sun provides energy for the activities of life. It is not an understatement to say the sun is the source of life. But I take life and put in it a state of transition between death and life. The sun tries to break that state of transition. The energy it produces makes my form unstable and for my state to decide on life or death." Then the demon god sighed in pity, "It is honestly a hassle."


    Ragnarok didn''t stop snickering as he ran on the ice. "You call it a hassle but I call it a weakness. Your descendants are forced to sleep because of it and they are weak to light and fire. Plus they can''t use mana or origin energy because they are out of sync with the world. You can call it whatever you want but it doesn''t change the fact that your descendants are weak because of you."


    Vampires might terrify mortals just like demons are the stuff of their nightmares, but powerful beings don''t fear vampires or demons. Vampires are theckeys of a demon god. They are like vessels of gods. They have a maximum level that they can reach and they have severe weaknesses. If anything, they are pitied. Even Gehaldirah who was nothing special could defeat a Duke easily without a fight.


    The only vampires that are terrifying are the primogenitors or the ancestral vampires. The rest of the Vampires, which is most of them, cannotpare with those on the path of perfection. If not for theck of a limit on their stats then they will be a useless race. Even then other races who have limits on their stats use origin energy and the authority ofws to match them.


    He isn''t a full vampire but he is already suffering from the negative effects of this type of existence. He has to hide somewhere and rest so that his body doesn''t fall apart. His situation also makes it so that he can''t fly anymore.


    His soul is currently out of sync with his body so anything that needs the maniption of his spirit is currently not avable. He can''t fly or cast spells. Not unless he allows his soul to fuse with the heart of Carnage and bes a Primogenitor. But he won''t do that. His current weaknesses are nothingpared to the disadvantages of bing a full Vampire.


    The demon god didn''t get angry about him mocking the Vampires. It is a salesperson at this point and it is trying to convince Ragnarok to buy what it is offering in exchange for his soul. So It won''t get angry. That''s just bad for business. It will smile and maintain a cheery attitude. After all, a customer is always right even if that customer is a little runt that it can squish to death.


    It just chuckled and said, "It is good that you are aware of the weaknesses of Vampires. It will help you to preserve your life when you fully be one of us. I won''t have to teach you like I did for your father."


    Ragnarok stopped grinning. He scoffed. "What makes you think I will be one of your spawns? Has my rejection not been enough indication that I would rather die than be a vampire?"


    The demon godughed. "What a young and pure boy. You are a breath of fresh air, do you know that?"


    Ragnarok snorted and ignored the question.


    The voice in his continued confidently, "I have seen this situation several times. Many mortals will say that they will rather die than be vampires. But they change their minds in time. It is either because of the need for power or the need for immortality."


    Then it asked him, "Do you know that vampires don''t have restricted lifespans like those on the path of perfection? You can live forever as a vampire. All you need to do is offer your allegiance to CARNAGE."


    "Of course, nothing is perfect in this world. There are pros and cons to everything. You are seeing the cons now so you remain adamant about your decision. That can change when you start seeing the pros too. You might just be open to Vampirism in time. It wouldn''t be a first. You are a mortal. Mortals change their minds all the time. I can wait for you to change your mind."


    "We''ll see about that," Ragnarok said.


    That''s all Ragnarok could say about it. He is sure that he won''t change his mind. He is not some mortal. He has a great aim that he is willing to sacrifice his life for. Something like eternal life and meager power won''t tempt him to be ackey to a demon god and be eternally yoked.


    Legion as a whole will also suffer if he bes the subordinate of a demon god. Their entire goal will be derailed because of him. The full extent of the damage is unknown but it won''t bode well for Legion when there is a clone that obeys another and will snitch on them to the demon god.


    Those are logical reasons as to why he won''t offer his soul. He has other illogical reasons to remain obstinate. His pride will never allow him to do such a thing when another clone of Legion is a demon who wants to be a demon god.


    Aeternus is currently a high-rank demon hiding within the domain of high-rank demons and hiding from the demon lord Beelta hounding him. But the future can change. There is already a n to liberate Aeternus and empower him. Aeternus can go far and also be a demon god. What wille of him then as theckey of another demon god? It is already too shameful for him to think about. He would rather die.

 Chapter 989 Carrot And Stick.

    Chapter 989 Carrot And Stick.


    He is certain that time will not change his mind about servitude to the demon god of Carnage.


    It was the demon god''s turn to snicker. "Don''t pretend to act tough. We both know that you want to live. If you didn''t then you wouldn''t have stood up to run away after I bestowed my blessing of Carnage upon you. If you didn''t care about your life then you wouldn''t have agreed with me about your safety and choose to hide now. And this happened after you disyed a willingness to die. It shows that you can change your mind in the right circumstances."


    The tone of CARNAGE became harsh. It had tried to be understanding. It dangled the carrot which are the benefits of being a vampire. But now it is bringing out the stick.


    "You want to live and that''s fine. But we are joined together now whether you like it or not. Your body is mine till eternity. And through it, I have a hold on your soul. I can''t do anything to your soul right now, but I can kill you by simply taking away my blessing. It is mine after all."


    "You will die without my help. Then I can have your soul in death. It will be fragmented and you will have lost your will but it will be mine to do whatever I please. You are at my mercy. Without my permission, you will never be able to be a transcendent."


    It made sure to show just how big and powerful the stick is. Death, eternal servitude as a drone, and stagnation in strength for as long as he remains stubborn while being alive.


    "And even if you be a transcendent, you will have to ept the mark of Carnage and fuse with your modified body. You have no future in sight without me being in the picture. Your stubbornness is admirable but we''ll see how far that takes you."


    The demon god fell silent after fully disying his stick. He has spoken about the carrot and now the stick is known. It doesn''t n to use the stick yet, but it will have to if Ragnarok remains stubborn. It understands Ragnarok to be smart so itid down its cards so that Ragnarok can get the full picture and make the smart decision.


    Ragnarok sighed. He doesn''t have anything to say about what the Demon god said. He can''t refute anything about it. He suspects that it is all true. He isn''t certain about the repercussions of dying while in contact with a supremew. After all, he is the first Legion to experience this. If he is certain that it won''t affect Legion, then he will try his best to die.


    But if it will affect Legion as CARNAGE said, then his death will be problematic for Legion. CARNAGE might be lying about its grasp on his soul. CARNAGE might be lying about a whole lot of things and his worries might be unnecessary. But he doesn''t know. So he must live.


    "At least now, No Legion will take the risk ofing into contact with a demon god."


    He truly wants to live so that he can y his part in helping Legion achieve perfection. As a clone with that obsession, he can only take sce in the fact that his current situation is not a total waste and that he has increased Legion''s knowledge of the power of supremews.


    He would like to do more, but he is currently shackled together with the demon god. He won''t be able to help Legion in his situation despite being alive. Only a miracle can save him.


    He doesn''t believe in miracles normally. He believes that only strength reigns supreme. But in this situation, the power of a world god is the minimum needed to save him. Legion currently doesn''t have that kind of power. That doesn''t mean that he will give up though. He will continue to strive for perfection. When there is a will, there could be a way. And when there is life, there is hope.


    He found a cave in the mountains just as the sun was about toe up. He entered the cave and copsed it on himself. Then he took a look at his stats.


    NAME: RAGNAROK (Legion-6)


    RACE: ???


    BLOODLINE: ???


    TITLE: CHILD OF THE VIRUT PLANE


    POWER LEVEL (BODY): ???


    POWER LEVEL (SOUL): ???


    PHYSIQUE: ???


    HP: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    ENERGY LEVEL (BODY ): ???


    ENERGY LEVEL (SOUL): ???


    VITALITY: 1,000,000


    ENDURANCE: 1,000,000


    STRENGTH: 1,000,000


    AGILITY: 1,000,000


    POWER (DEATH ESSENCE): 0


    PERCEPTION: 1,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: ???


    LIMITER (BODY): 0%


    LIMITER (SOUL): ???


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): ???


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 0%


    LAW AFFINITY: ???


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): BLOOD (DIVINE), DEVOUR (DIVINE), SLAUGHTER (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Scrambled Existence.


    He muttered to himself, "This is not an encouraging sight. This is not encouraging at all."


    His situation can be surmised as a Scrambled Existence. His body is essentially corrupted while his soul is refusing to fuse with it during the process of bing a transcendent.


    There is a lot of unknown because of his scrambled existence. The system can''t work well when his soul and body are so in disassociation. Through it all, there is good and bad news.


    The good news is that the limiter on his body has been removed. It is probably because of the heart of Carnage or because he is partially a transcendent. He can finally use the full power of his soul. Unfortunately, he can''t use any power of his soul right now because of his scrambled existence.


    Another good news is that his physical stats have all reached 1,000,000. This is also mostly due to the heart of Carnage. All the paragons that he ate wouldn''t have helped him much after gaining 100,000 stat points in each of his attributes. The heart of Carnage then pushed it further. It could have been higher if his existence was not out of bnce.


    -----


    A/N: I hope you now know why Aeternus did not dare to risk it and decided to be a fugitive. It is as they say, "Once bitten twice shy."

 Chapter 990 Patience Tempers Greed.

    Chapter 990 Patience Tempers Greed.


    Ragnarok said with a sigh, "Power corrupts and great power corrupts greatly."


    His body has gained a lot of power but it is power that came through a shortcut and requires a sacrifice of his soul to wield. It is not a rare situation in the void universe for a great being to grant weaker beings power but it alwayses with a disadvantage.


    This kind of power will corrupt him so he won''t have any of it. The fact that a mana entity like him has stats that rival lords ofw and he can gain more doesn''t tempt him at all. He is not happy about it. Even his greediness knows its bounds.


    He thought back to thest time he was greedy and where it led him and he couldn''t help but chuckle. It brought back memories of the taste of powerful flesh in his mouth.


    "Greediness is bad but it is certainly enjoyable when it is going well."


    He certainly enjoyed eating Gator and the other Executioners so it wasn''t bad that he sumbed to his greed. But killing those paragons seems like a waste now. Their death is clearly of little use to him now that he has the heart of Carnage. The heart of Carnage also helped him to gain 9 tails. That means his divine ability will be able to reach its full potential.


    The next bad news is that he lost his boost from POWER because of the modifications to his body. His forceful evolution removed the runes of power from his body and destroyed the anchor in his horn. His scrambled existence has also made it impossible for him to gain any more boost from his POWER stat. At least not in his current state.


    That isn''t the most important bad news. He has also lost his affinity to Mana and probably his connection to Laws too. He already knew that it was likely. But to have it confirmed like this despite his scrambled existence indicates how certain it is. He can recover his POWER stat but he might never recover from the disconnection to mana.


    "I am not even one yet but I already hate being a Vampire," He said with certainty.


    He is in an unnatural state of transition between life and death. Going back means death while going forward means envement to a demon god. He doesn''t know what to do. But for now, he will hide and take things one step at a time.


    Aeternus might be a demon god and the others might be world gods too. They will be able to help him defeat the demon god. He will just have to be patient and survive till then. CARNAGE is not the only one that can be patient. Patience is an important quality to have if one is to be greedy and smart.


    ------


    Somewhere In The Lumen ne.


    A group of Warrogs just came out of a forest. They are exactly 23 in number. They look tired and worn out. Most of them spot scars from healed injuries here and there. Some are missing horns, eyes, arms, or even ears. This group of Warrog dragged their hooven feet along. They just came out of the forest into a green in.


    "Are we there yet, Boss?" One of them asked.


    Lamrd replied, "We are almost there. It should be just past this hill."


    This group of Warrogs is a pack. Lamrd is their leader. He is not an Alpha anymore. He is a pack leader now. He became a pack leader during the journey to find the Emperor of fairy tales.


    This group of avengers has changed a lot after they left the mountain range. It has been 100 years now. Many of them have died. Some to old age. But that isn''t the reason why their number which used to reach a thousand has fallen to 23 in number.


    Warrogs are a social people with a strict social hierarchy. It is not natural to move around even in a pack. They will face several challenges and dangers that will weaken them and kill them. They also have low morale. Death is normal, but it has to count for something for it to be honorable or it will be a wasteful death.


    These remaining Warrogs are not sure if all the deaths that they have witnessed will amount to anything. It is difficult to be excited when there is no substantial thing, be it a home or a family to fight for. They set out to avenge the death of their loved ones but many people that should have lived have died for their aim of vengeance. Was it really worth it? That''s what is on their minds.


    All except Lamrd. He is a Warrog of unparalleled determination if there ever was one. The years of suffering and witnessing death have not cowered his bravery. It has only made him stronger. He is also sure that he will soon achieve his aim. They have gotten several misleading information that led them to a dead end but this particr attempt will surely work.


    Lamrd said to himself, "I can feel that I am getting closer to the Emperor. Just a little more and I will meet them. Then Tesrat will be avenged."


    He can feel himself getting closer to an Emperor or something that feels like an Emperor. The others can''t feel it because they are not pack leaders like him. It is a special sense that seems to indicate something pulling him towards a more powerful variant of his race.


    "Don''t worry. We will certainly meet the Emperor this time." He said to his pack.


    Someone grumbled. "You have been saying that for quite a while now."


    Another one joined in. "You have said that several times and you were wrong."


    He assured them. "I promise to let you go if you want to go after we look at the city. You don''t need to continue looking if you are tired."


    He is very sure that this settlement is where the Emperor can be found so he feels confident enough to promise them freedom and safety in the city. The group of Warrogs continued to walk despite their weariness. The promise of finally locating the Emperor and peace spurred them on.

 Chapter 991 Routine Search.

    Chapter 991 Routine Search.


    They crest the hill past the ins and sighted a small city. They can see several Warrogs milling about both young and old. It seems to them that this city is a settlement for Warrogs. The group became excited immediately.


    "I can feel it. We are very close." Lamrd said in excitement.


    The others are also happy but they are happy for other reasons. They are happy that they have finally found a Warrog settlement where they can stay for a long time. It is good that they are finally reaching the Emperor here but they don''t intend to leave this settlement no matter the oue. This ce will be theirst stop no matter what.


    Lamrd led his group into the city. Then they scattered to search for traces of the Emperor. They spent the entire day looking but they couldn''t find any traces. The Warrogs of the city don''t know about any Emperor. They have never heard any news or felt any indication of there being an Emperor amongst them.


    So Lamrd was disappointed. It didn''t help that he lost the sensation of the Emperor as soon as he entered the City. The same thing has happened every time he gets close to the Emperor. Unfortunately, there is nothing he can do about it. He decided to sleep over for the night and try to convince the others to continue the search the following day.


    The dim day darkened into total darkness at night. Nighttime is the time for abominations and depravity. The forces of darkness came out to y in the night. A particr contingent of Vampires dug themselves out from the ground like the unnatural undead that they are. Then they moved wordlessly as one.


    They have been doing what they are currently doing for years now. It is a routine at this point so there''s no need to talk or waste time. They followed the trail left by Lamrd and his group of Warrogs. The light of the red moon and their excellent eyesight made the night as clear as day to them.


    They are about 100 of them in number and they are being led by a Count. That''s a powerhouse at the level of a king ofw. The rest of the vampires are at least transcendent. That means none of them are fledglings.


    This kind of force which has a minimum of 100 Barons, is orders of magnitude stronger than Lamrd and his rag-tag group of tired Warrogs. So it didn''t take them an hour to cover up the distance that the Warrogs traveled in the whole day.


    They came upon the settlement of Warrogs. It is less active now that it is nighttime. There are fewer Warrogs moving about. Most of them are sleeping. A few light sources can be seen here and there.


    The leader said to the group, "You know the drill. Fan out and search the city. Report if you find anything suspicious. I want you back here in 10 minutes."


    They indeed know the drill. So they scattered immediately and searched for their prey. The divine sense of each one of them is capable of covering most of the settlement since they are at least transcendents so one of them can search the city on their own. But they didn''t do that. The settlement was separated into segments for each one of them to search and each segment was searched meticulously.


    The Vampires used their sense for life to spot every living thing and they used their sense for vitality to search for any Warrog that might be special, unique, or extraordinary in any way. Powerful or special beings will have a lot of vitality due to the power that they are hiding within them.


    It didn''t take them 10 minutes to search the entire city even though they were slowed down by being careful. They moved like thieves, silent and unnoticed through the city. Each house was examined and searched without the inhabitants being any wiser for the breach of privacy. Then they returned to report their findings to their leader.


    The leader of a squad of 10, a viscount said to their leader, "Count Desmond, we can''t find anyone that might look an Emperor."


    More Viscounts came forward with their reports. It was all the same thing. None of them found the Emperor. Others might think the Emperor is a fairy tale but they believe that it exists. So they have been searching for it. The failure to find it did note as a surprise to the only count here. This failure has urred several times in the past so they are somewhat numb to it.


    Count Desmond asked the Viscounts, "Hmm. I must ask you this. Are you sure the entire city was searched carefully without any omission or mistake?"


    He knows that he has been sent on a wild goose chase. He isn''t the only team searching for the Emperor. The odds that he will find the Emperor are low even though the group that he is tailing is promising. Still, he has to ask to make sure that the entire city was searched so that he can report to his superior after doing his due diligence.


    The Viscounts answered in the affirmative. They searched everywhere including the sewers. Basements and secretpartments didn''t elude them. There is nothing stronger than a normal mana entity in the city. And that''s the pack leader who they can snap in two like a twig. She is not Sauron by any means.


    Count Desmond went on to report their findings as he has always done every night for the past 5 decades. He reported to his superior, a Marquis. The Marquis reported to a Duke and the Duke reported to the Primogenitor of their lineage.


    He received a reply from his superior immediately which is quite odd. He became agitated because of the oddity but the message he received made him feel relief. He can even admit to being a little happy.

 Chapter 992 Celebration Night.

    Chapter 992 Celebration Night.


    It is a rarity for a vampire as old as him to be happy. Happiness is so rare toe by since his emotions have been dulled. The message is so good that he can smile right now but he kept his face devoid of any emotions. He remained calm as he addressed the Vampires waiting for him.


    He said to his subordinates, "I have good news and great news. The good news is that tonight will be thest night of our mission. Word has passed down from the primogenitors to stop looking for the Emperor. Our mission is over."


    Then he allowed himself to smile a little, "As for the great news, we are to wipe out this settlement and be on our way."


    The Viscounts and the Baron couldn''t help the smile that appeared on their face. It really is great news. They have immortal lives but it is not good to spend it on fruitless endeavors. Count Desmond saw the expression of happiness on their faces.


    He thought to himself, "Ha, the excitement of youth. How I long to be young. I wish I wasn''t a Sec."


    He was selected for this mission because he is of the lineage of the Sec. Every vampire here is of the same lineage. They have the ability to remain intensely focused and attentive to a single activity for a period of years. Those of the Lineage of Sec have unparalleled determination. They never give up. But it also affects their other emotions. It causes their repertoire of emotions to deaden faster than the other vampires.


    Their lineage makes them immune to pain and torture. And it makes thempletely reliable when bestowed with a task. You can trust that they won''t be distracted during a mission, be bored, or lose control over their thirst for blood. They will be faithful hound dogs that you can always count on. Tonight, these hound dogs will finally be let loose. It is a long timeing.


    He said to them, "Let us feast gentlemen anddies. Tonight we celebrate."


    The Vampires returned to the city in glee. They remained silent as they crept into the houses. Some entered through windows and others through openings in the roof. They didn''t need to but they did to maximize the utility of food. They have found out that the more work is put in to acquire food, the more satisfying it is.


    The Vampires crept up to their oblivious prey and sank their fangs into them. Everyone they bite bes alert immediately. No amount of sleep can mask that stab of pain. But their prey can''t do anything but struggle uselessly.


    The awakened Warrogs will feel too weak to move their limbs much less fight back. So they have to watchpletely aware and in pain as life is drained out of them. The initial weakness increases slowly until it bes too much for them to remain awake. They will then fall asleep again. The feeding on their life force will forcefully lull them back to sleep and further into the embrace of sweet death.


    As for the Vampires, they savored the feeling of life-rich blood swirling in their mouth and swallowed it down their throat. They could have dulled the pain of their victims and even made the bite pleasurable. But they didn''t. They wanted to feed on both the pleasure of their blood and the pain in their prey.


    It is a joy unlike any other to drain the sweet life out of someone and watch them die. Many vampires lose themselves to it. They be ravenous beasts with unlimited cravings for blood. But never the vampires of the Sec. Control and focus is the advantage of their lineage. Their focus is so sharp that it can cut everything in their path if given form. Even their fledglings don''t have any problems controlling their thirst.


    So this Baron can surely stop anytime she wants. She can decide not to kill the person that she is feeding on. But she didn''t stop at all because tonight is the night of celebration. She fed on blood until thest drop just as she had always done to the inhabitants of the settlements that Lamrd has visited in the past. This will be thest settlement so there is even less need to spare the lives of the inhabitants.


    As for Lamrd, he was taken alive for interrogation by Count Desmond. The rest of his party were in in their sleep. Lamrd was sleeping when he felt a cold touch on his face. He opened his eyes to see a fair maiden with glowing blood-red eyes looking down on him.


    Her eyes glowed with a mesmerizing radiance in the dark. She has golden hair the colour of wheat that reaches her feet. The ck cloak she is wearing does not cover up the beauty of her form. She is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. She also looks like a wood elf so he knows that he is in deep trouble.


    His eyes shot wide open immediately. He tried to speak but his intentions suddenly disappeared. His mind nked out. He couldn''t form coherent thoughts anymore. Trying to think was like grasping at straws. He doesn''t even know who he is or where he is anymore. All he can see are two beautiful glowing red eyes.


    An intrusive force delved into the depths of his scattered mind and imposed an external will on it.


    "Tell me, what is your name?" Count Desmond asked him.


    He answered without hesitation. "I am Lamrd."


    "Where are you from?"


    "I am from the Warrog settlement of the ice mountain range close to the north."


    Count Desmond went on to ask several more questions. Lamrd answered every one of them truthfully to the best of his ability without holding back or hesitating. The questions were harmless at first. They were about him and where he came from. He was d to answer them. He would do anything to please this fair maiden. So he didn''t notice the deviation of the questions in his eagerness to be obedient.

 Chapter 993 A Discarded Pawn.

    Chapter 993 A Discarded Pawn.


    The questions shifted to areas of his goal. What he hoped to achieve. Where he has been these past few years. Who he spoke to. How he knew where to go. What he felt when he approached this settlement. How sure he is that it is an Emperor that he is sensing. Where he is heading next. Lamrd answered every question and Desmond ryed the answers to his superior.


    Desmond said to him after the peaceful interrogation. "Thank you Lamrd. You have been very helpful."


    "It is my pleasure to serve." He replied with a sincere smile.


    He is not pretending. It truly is a pleasure to serve. His mind is no longer burdened by any other thoughts. He is carefree now since he has to focus on just one thing. And that''s answering the questions of a fair maiden. Who wouldn''t want that for themselves?


    Desmond nodded. "Good. Now turn your head to the side and expose your neck to me."


    A sharp spike of resistance swept up in Lamrd''s mind. To expose his neck is a sign of submission and willingness to ept death. He is not willing to ept death. His dampened emotions surged then. He realized that he has so much he still wants to do and people he wants to avenge. All of that will go up in mes if he dies now and all his efforts will be for nothing.


    He tried to speak, "Tesrat..."


    He could only say one word because while admirable that he could resist at all, unfortunately for him, the spike of resistance was too weak to be of significant help. He is a mana entity. There is no way he can resist the mental maniption of a count.


    It doesn''t matter how powerful his determination is, how strong his will is, or how strong his obsessions are. Power is ultimate and he iscking in power to resist the mental influence of an entity the equivalent of a king ofw. He is weak. The weak are to be prey to the strong. So he turned his neck after hesitating briefly.


    Desmond''s eyes shone brightly in tion when he saw the hesitation. "This is going to be good." He said in anticipation.


    He bit down and drained him of all his life. He was not disappointed. Resistance made his meal more enjoyable. Something about the re of the preservation instincts of the prey makes the blood of the prey richer and more vibrant.


    Lamrd died that night. He died as a bloodsuckerplimented his blood. His hopes and dreams died with him too. He will not be remembered for what he has done. It is because he is weak and insignificant. Even if he was remembered, he would only be remembered as a fool who went in search of a fairy tale.


    Lamrd failed. He was a weak pawn that has outlived his usefulness so he is not needed anymore. His death didn''t ur in obscurity though. There are several individuals who noticed it. Some of them overlooked it but one couldn''t.


    ----


    Fenrir was staying in a cave on a mountain. He was using his connection with his race to monitor them. It is one of the perks of being an Emperor. The connections to those who believe him in are especially strong. After all, he was the greatest emperor. He has been elevated to a godlike figure in their minds. This ability made sure that he was never bored in prison.


    He saw Lamrd''s moments. He could have helped the poor Warrog resist thepelling of the Count but he didn''t. It wouldn''t have changed anything either way. Lamrd was too weak and Fenrir was too far away to help. But that doesn''t mean he will take the death of such an honorable Warrog lying down. Especially since this has been happening for quite a while now. Many Warrogs have died unjustly and he has been made to witness their deaths.


    "This can''t go on." He said with irritation and anger.


    He stood up from his crouching position. Then he left the cave. He appeared outside and was hit with a flood of bright light. It is currently night time but it is as bright as the day here. He felt the heat as the light shone on him. It looks and feels like he is underneath the re of a particrly bright summer sun.


    Any vampire thates close to this area will meet their end. It is a good protective measure against the invasion of the bloodsuckers. Wood elves use sun crystals to create this kind of situation but the Warrogs don''t have sun crystals. They had to find their own way to produce sunlight in this forsaken ne. Only this settlement was able to achieve it. The other settlements are not so lucky.


    Fenrir looked toward the source of light and sighed. He doesn''t want to do what he is about to do but he feels that he must. He feels he must take a stand after what he just witnessed. So he ascended the mountain.


    He said to himself, "Honor is not tested when it is easy. Honor is disyed when there is resistance. Honor is glorified in the presence of fear."


    Only warriors that remain brave and honorable when they should be afraid are glorified. He is afraid but he will go. His form expanded rapidly to his full size as he climbed the mountain. It took him a much shorter time to reach the mountain top because of the increase in his stride. His cave is also high up into the mountain so the distance he has to cover is short.


    He reached the mountaintop in less than a minute to find a familiar scene. The mountain top has been shaved off into a t and smooth surface. Floating some distance above the t surface is a bright star. It is a small yellow star and it will be considered microscopic whenpared to normal stars in the void but this star is big for a source of light in this ne.

 Chapter 994 Admonish And Be Admonished.

    Chapter 994 Admonish And Be Admonished.


    This star is the source of light that brightens the surroundings for kilometers. It is the bane of Vampires. Its light secures this mountain range from the gue that is the bloodsuckers. It is the aim of Fenrir''s visit.


    He said to himself again, "Honor is glorified in the presence of fear."


    Fenrir summed up his courage to get closer to the star. The star is not hot. It is just bright and difficult to look at. Its most intimidating feature is its size. Fenrir is already a great beast that stands at a height of 20 meters from his shoulder to his paws. But even he looks smallpared to this star. This star is also stronger than him so he has more cogent reasons to be careful of his words other than a difference in size.


    He started, "Greetings, Emperor..."


    He was interrupted immediately. "Are you here about the death of Lamrd?"


    The Emperor''s voice was calm. It was smooth and without pressure. It is also feminine.


    "Yes." He replied carefully. "I am here about his death. I am also here about the death of his group and the settlement he..."


    He was cut off again.


    "Do you think my methods unsavory?" The Emperor asked with the same calmness.


    That question gave Fenrir pause. He does think her methods are unsavory. He thinks her methods are treacherous. He thinks she is dishonorable for what she did. He clearly has a lot to say about what she did but saying it out loud like that can be offensive so he restrained himself.


    A smile tugged at his lips. "Look at me being all careful and cautious." He thought to himself.


    He chuckled inwardly when he realized that he had paused for quite a while now. He has been silent while reviewing his options. It amused him that he could be so cautious because he was never one for being tactful and careful.


    He has always been boisterous and outspoken, but his years in imprisonment have sobered him. It is not the years of imprisonment that did most of the work in tempering his temper. He is mostly careful now because he went through his imprisonment and the suffering of it because he was boisterous and incautious enough to open a gate that he was ignorant of its destination.


    He, the greatest emperor of Warrogs, brought upon the Warrogs the cmity that almost wiped them out and relegated them to being a subdued race. That fact will always haunt him. Now he thinks things through before saying them.


    He is also not the strongest Warrog anymore and he is nowhere close to being the strongest being in the ne so it is best to be humble. Hence his hesitation.


    The star got impatient. He has been silent for too long so the Star said, "Don''t mince your words with me Fenrir. Say whatever you want to say. I know what you think of me. You think that I am a disgrace to the race. You think that I have forsaken the interests of my people for the other races. You think I have no morals and that I am unscrupulous like an Executioner. Say your thoughts or be gone from me."


    Fenrir sighed instead ofshing out. He felt a twinge of anger for being spoken to like that. But he reined it back. He would have certainly created a scene were he a young pompous Emperor.


    Instead, he spoke calmly, "You know my thoughts on the matter. I don''t think you should have done what you did. You are an Emperor. Your duty is to protect your people and make them prosper. But you''re using them as bait and disposable pawn."


    The star retorted, "You are wrong, old Fenrir. My duty is to the ne."


    Fenrir finally snapped. He yelled at the star, "What about your people?"


    His voice didn''t calm down. He was still shouting as he spoke, "They suffer all over the ne but here you are doing nothing. Instead, you use people looking for salvation as bait. They had faith in you. They searched for you for over a hundred years but you led them on. Have you no pity? Have you no mercy? They suffered for you but you just discarded them like chewed-up bone."


    The star didn''t get angry because of his outburst.


    She stated without remorse. "What I do, I do for the good of the ne. You can not understand. Your vision is limited and your perspective is skewed. I am the child of the ne and not just the Emperor of Warrogs. Everyone in the ne is my subject including the wood elves. I have to consider everyone equal."


    "But," Fenrir tried to speak.


    "I am not done." The Star interrupted him with a raised voice.


    Her voice is raised but it is still delicate. It is like raising the loudness of a musical note. It is still pleasant on the ears and not grating to listen to. She said in that pleasing voice, "The fate of the many is greater than the fate of the few so I sacrificed the few to buy more time for the many. It is something that I must do in the face of the cmitous threat that we face. Even your patron, the fountain of life cannot hope to match the Supreme of Carnage. I do what must be done so that the entire ne can survive."


    Fenrir finally got to say what he wanted to say, "But there is more to life than survival. There is honor and respect. Without those, then we are no different from rabid beasts."


    The star retorted calmly, "All is fair in war, and make no mistake of it, we are at war."


    That didn''t sit right with Fenrir. It didn''t sit right with him at all. It rubbed him in a very wrong way. So he started, "You are not worthy of..."


    "SILENCE!" The star roared at him in anger.

 Chapter 995 We Are At War.

    Chapter 995 We Are At War.


    Her voice is no longer pleasant to listen to. It is now chilling to the bone. The brightness of the star formed a sharp contrast to the chill that her presence was emitting.


    The star continued to speak. "You better be ready for the full consequence of your next words because I shall not hold back if you say them. I shall not hold back to punish you for any disrespect to my person."


    The star was changing as it spoke. First, it expanded. It seemed to balloon in size. Then it unfurled to reveal its true nature. The spherical covering around the star separated into 9 great tails.


    The tails are sorge that they give the impression that the star is very big. Those tails are attached to a smaller being. It is a giant yellow-furred fox about 50 meters tall but her tails are much longer.


    Other Warrogs have rough and rugged forms like those of bulls but this one has the form of a fox. She also has two white great antlers on its head instead of horns and she has hooves for all four of her feet instead of paws on her front limbs to further differentiate her from other Warrogs.


    This great beast was floating in the air and looking down on Fenrir as it rebuked him. Her 9 tails moved around as if moved by the wind. The light in the surroundings ising out of her. That''s why she looks like a star. She is a thing of ethereal beauty and form but none of that beauty can be seen now. Chilling anger is radiating outwards from her. The stern look in her ring white eyes is very intimidating.


    "You should know your ce Fenrir. The world is bigger than what you think. Notions of honor and respect are for those who care about the opinions of others. The opinion of others does not matter right now. We are on a sinking ship. I am doing everything I can to keep the ship afloat. That includes tossing over unnecessary cargo."


    "You do not need to respect me or like me for it. I do not need that from you. But you will watch the words you speak to me. This world is bigger than you. I am bigger than you. Do you understand me?"


    The two Emperors stared at each other for a while. None of them relented until Fenrir spoke.


    "They had hope and you threw away their hope. They had faith in you but you disregarded their faith. Hope is precious and Faith is fragile. Remember that. To lose it is to be no different from your selfish Executioner. He also sacrificed members of his race for power. Look how that turned out for him?" Fenrir said. Then he turned away.


    He turned away and left back the way he came. He has said all he can say without jeopardizing his life. Rinoz knew of Lamrd''s existence. She knew of his hopes and dreams. She knew what Ragnarok did to Lamd and what Lamd wanted from her. And yet she led him and his group on a wild goose chase. She used her connection with him to fool him. She led him by the nose all over the ne. He didn''t know that he was being tricked by the being he had faith in.


    Rinoz did the same to many Warrogs looking for their Emperor who was to save them. She did it to fool the Vampires and keep herself hidden while she grew in peace. She didn''t need to. The light she produces is enough to protect her from the Vampires. But she wanted to be extra sure of her safety. After all, Vampires wield more power than their undead selves. And those sources of power are not vulnerable to light.


    It is a smart thing to prioritize personal safety. But that''s not the only reason why she did what she did. She doesn''t want to expose her ability yet so that the Vampires won''t be able to find a way to counter her. So she sacrificed Lamrd for her protection.


    It was not only Lamrd that was sacrificed. All the Warrog settlements that Lamrd passed by when searching for the Emperor were also raided by the Vampires. They too were killed. The Emperor who is supposed to save and protect them actually led predators to their doorstep so that they would be killed in their sleep.


    Fenrir doesn''t like what she did at all. Rinoz may be smart but she is dishonorable and wicked. Sacrifice is inevitable in war but she didn''t need to make the sacrifice she did. She simply wanted to for assurance. That is not a trait that an Emperor should have.


    He is rightly angry, but he can''t stop the sacrifices from happening because he is not strong enough to sway her. And he is certainly not strong enough to stop her. That is despite not being a weakling himself.


    He looked through this weird construct that appeared when he was in prison. It tells him his strength which is a good thing, but at first, he thought he was going mad. It is only now that he knows that it is not unique to him. Almost, everyone in the realm has it.


    NAME: FENRIR


    RACE: WARROG


    BLOODLINE: NONE


    TITLE: HERALD OF THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE


    POWER LEVEL: KING OF LAW.


    PHYSIQUE: SOUL-BODY


    HP: INFINITE


    STAMINA: INFINITE


    ENERGY QUALITY: Origin Energy.


    ENERGY QUANTITY: 12,831,512


    VITALITY: 151,784,924


    ENDURANCE: 133,435,619


    STRENGTH: 174,725,771


    AGILITY: 118,382,734


    PERCEPTION: 109,298,451


    SPIRIT: 111,843,293


    POWER: 101,093%


    AMPLIFICATION: 100


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 100,000 (C)


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 60%


    LAW AFFINITY: 10%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): EARTH (RARE), DEVOUR (EPIC).


    LAWS:


    EARTH: 100%


    DEVOUR: 41%


    STATUS: Disappointed And Angry.


    It is obvious that he is not the weak obsolete Emperor he made himself look to Ragnarok. He is a king ofw and he could have released himself from the shackles in the prison without Ragnarok''s help.

 Chapter 996 Power Rating.

    Chapter 996 Power Rating.


    Fenrir is not the weak transcendent that he made himself out to be. He was also not in any danger when the mountain copsed on him. He was alright after all, and he could have dug himself out had Xigger not saved him.


    If Ragnarok knew the true depths of the Emperor''s power, then he wouldn''t want to be anywhere near him. Then they wouldn''t be able to speak and the Emperor won''t be able to sell him on the idea of bing a herald to the fountain of life.


    It is not Ragnarok''s fault that he was fooled. He is cautious enough. But he relies on his perception and his perception can be fooled. Those who are proficient with thew of life are especially good at concealing the aura and signs of life. Ragnarok didn''t know he was digging into the body of an ice golem and he didn''t know that the Emperor he was speaking with was a king ofw.


    Legion is usually sensitive to such things but Ragnarok is up against a worthy foe this time around. His foe could even fool Xigger and the demon god so it is not his fault that his perception was fooled. He is just outmatched.


    The difference in power rendered his caution and his knowledge about the ability to hide life signs irrelevant. He was oblivious to the trickery because they meant him no harm. There was no danger so his intuition didn''t sense anything out of ce. The fountain of life truly ounted for everything to fool him.


    Gehaldirah used to mask his life aura too. It is a technique that he uses with his concept of life to imitate the ability to hide that those with the concept of darkness have. The tree father can do it too and he did it to great effect in the Zargoth ne. Zernon was frustrated mightily by their antics. It is their turn to be frustrated now.


    Ragnarok doesn''t know who is watching him, only that he is being watched. The fountain of life can be very close to him and he wouldn''t even know. If he couldn''t determine the strength of the Emperor who was right in front of him, then he wouldn''t be able to identify the fountain of life that hid the life aura of the Emperor even if he were looking right at it.


    It is obvious now that the Emperor is not a weakling. He has stats that are at least 10 times the amount that a king ofw who has onlyprehended onew should have. He has the stats of the weakest Sovereigns ofw. It would be urate to say that he has done well for someone without a royal bloodline.


    Other transcendents would have been stagnant all these while in a ne without Origin energy but he used all the time that he had to himself and the origin energy he got from the fountain of life toprehendws.


    Ragnarok couldn''t have suspected him of being a king ofw. Someone without origin energy can''tprehend or usews. He didn''t know that the Emperor was already a representative of the fountain of life. The title of Heraldry granted the Emperor origin energy and life energy which boosted his Stats to an extraordinary level.


    If not for Fenrir''s poor talent and low connection tows, he would be stronger as a result of the more than 100 origin cycles that he has lived. Poor connection tows is not unusual in races with paragons. It is a detriment to having connections with other members of their race and getting a boost from it. That connection obscures their connection with the world.


    Emperor Fenrir has the same amount of Authority one will see in a king ofw who hasprehended onew. But he also has his boost from his POWER stat which normal kings ofw don''t have. As he is, he has a power rating of 10^13. That is gotten from multiplying any of his stats, by his Authority, and his boost from his POWER stat.


    A normal but talented Sovereign will have a stat around 1,000,000,000 and an Authority of 10,000 which will result in a power rating of 10^13. That means it will take a fairly powerful Sovereign ofw to match Fenrir in power. That is a spectacr amount of strength for a king ofw. But he has to walk away from Emperor Rinoz, who is a transcendent, without initiating a fight because of the fear for his life.


    Emperor Rinoz has been blessed. If there is such a thing as a child of destiny, or a child of heaven, or a child of blessing, then it would be Rinoz. Rinoz is a paragon so she has the power stat and gains power from connections.


    She is also the child of the ne. She, therefore, has a connection to every being in the ne. That means she is lucky to have boosts from trillions of connections. That is a tremendous amount of boost and a tremendous source of power.


    As if that isn''t enough, the Will of the ne also made a deal with the fountain of life so that Rinoz would get ess to origin energy toprehendws and life energy to grow her stats. So it is not a wonder that a king ofw who is a paragon and backed down from a fight with a transcendent.


    Fenrir may have been the greatest Emperor, and even though the Warrogs are dregs of what they used to be in their heyday both in terms of quantity and quality, he never stood a chance against someone as special as Rinoz.


    He still wouldn''t be able to match her if the poption of Warrogs suddenly exploded from their meager numbers of a hundred million to billions and they formed an Empire with him. It is because Rinoz will grow stronger too with the increase in the poption of Warrogs. It is but a losing game for anyone topare to her.


    ------

 Chapter 997 Enemies On Both Sides.

    Chapter 997 Enemies On Both Sides.


    Emperor Rinoz snorted delicately after Fenrir left. Two streams of steam were ejected out of her nose.


    "What an old coot set in his ways." She muttered to herself.


    She is powerful and proud. She has the right to be. It is not baseless confidence or delusional arrogance. She is truly a force to be reckoned with. But she lied when she said she didn''t care about the opinions of others. She doesn''t care about the opinion of most people but she cares about those of two people. One of them is Fenrir.


    The other person she admires is the fountain of life who gave her ess to such a powerful energy and helped her to grow up faster. She is just a little over 200 years but she was able to be a transcendent while those born at the same time as her are mostly dead or dying because they have reached the end of their lifespan.


    The best of her age mates are mana entities. That is nothingpared to her. This is thanks to the fountain of life. Fenrir may not have had such arge impact on her life but she admires him for what little he has done.


    She is a child of the ne. But she is first and foremost, an Emperor of Warrogs. She grew up hearing about the tales and exploits of Emperors. It was Fenrir who raised her. He told her about the good old days of the Warrogs. He told her about how the ne belonged to them and about how they could trample anywhere.


    The stories she heard were not diluted fairy tales. She heard them from someone who witnessed them firsthand. She also heard them from someone who is arguably the greatest Emperor of all time. Fenrir''s feats are still being told to this day. The Warrogs still believe in him. She better than anyone knows that what he told her is true.


    Fenrir is so great that he has not been forgotten even though he has not been seen in millions of years. That''s partly due to the fact that he is still alive. Somehow, the Warrogs know deep down that he is still alive and that he wille to liberate them.


    He failed them with his absence all these years. But then he trained her to be his protege. So all that expectation has now fallen onto her.


    His feats might not be enough for her to respect and adore him. But the fact that he managed to acquire 8 tails certainly cemented her respect for him. She has had the best things possible just for her to have the maximum amount of tails. Fenrir didn''t have the luxury she is enjoying but he still turned out extraordinary. So she cares a lot about what Fenrir thinks about her.


    It might be the fact that she is still a young Warrog. She has not lived up to 300 years and she has spent most of that time hiding. The person she has met most of the time is Fenrir who trained and raised her. So her life experiences can be calledcking. It will certainly exin why she wants to make Fenrir proud of her.


    And more than that, she wants the Warrogs to be proud of her. She wants to be renowned with tales of her feats being told across several generations. But she can''t prioritize that wish. She is not only an Emperor. She can''t just go about doing whatever she wants just for the sake of the Warrogs and their adoration for her.


    The ne is in danger and the hope of the ne rests upon her shoulders. She has to think about the bigger picture. And that means prioritizing her life above everyone else. If she doesn''t, then she will be risking the loss of hope for the liberation of the ne.


    Her life is precious. It is certainly more precious than any Warrog, no matter how many years they spend looking for her and no matter how desperate they are in their search for her. She definitely can''t let them find her. That will lead the Vampires to her.


    It is true that she could have done nothing. She could have just watched as the vampires followed the clueless Warrogs searching for her. But she decided to take advantage of the situation. Rather than watch Lamrd waste his life away on a wild goose chase, she used him and the other Warrogs looking for her to lead the Vampires around. It is all so that there won''t be any chance of her exposure right now.


    Things have to be considered carefully before she can expose herself to the world. As things are right now, the wood elves have to be cated or they will turn on her if she reveals herself to the world.


    Vampires consider Warrogs food and they consider her an enemy to their subjugation of the ne. Those are non-personal and logical reasons for their enmity. But Wood elves hate Warrogs with a passion.


    Her enemies will be both the Vampires and the wood elves if she is exposed now. So the other representatives of the fountain of life have been working to convince the wood elves through the council of Sovereigns about the benefit of having an ally in a Warrog Emperor.


    It might seem like a good idea to ept any help that they can get. But help from a hated enemy who is also strong enough to threaten them and make the Warrogs rise up is a very bitter pill for the wood elves to swallow.


    The Heralds of the Fountain of Life have held a conve to allow her to reveal herself. This conve started when Fenrir escaped from his prison over a hundred years ago. The Vampires failed to catch him because they underestimated his strength. The wood elves that were in pursuit of the vampires also saw him and they failed to apprehend him. But his appearance revealed to them the existence of a hidden force of Warrogs.

 Chapter 998 Keep Running.

    Chapter 998 Keep Running.


    The wood elves think that no Warrog paragons exist. They are angry with Warrogs and would like to harm them in one way or the other but they can''t. They have to remain content with the knowledge that the Warrogs can never rise up again. Imagine their surprise when they found Fenrir.


    The fact that Fenrir has existed since ancient times has not made the wood elves amendable to the cooperation of the two races. He was supposed to be dead. They were told by the representatives of the fountain of life that all the paragons of the Warrogs were dead. But it turned out that the wood elves were living a lie.


    The trust of the wood elves in the fountain of life and its representative is at an all-time low. It doesn''t help the Vampires im that a lot of the ancient paragons were alive until recently. While there is no certain proof of that im, the fact that an ancient Emperor is still alive, or worse the revtion that all the ancient paragons were alive until recently will invalidate the reason for the civil war among the wood elves.


    The major reason why the dark elves seceded from the wood elves is that the dark elves wanted to use their divine ability to siphon life from the Warrogs. The dark elves couldn''t devour power from anything like the Warrogs can but they can absorb power from living things. So they wanted to keep the paragons alive and use them as sources of power.


    The ancient paragons were to be turned into living engines to farm power. But the Heralds of the Fountain of Life said that it wasn''t allowed and that the paragons should be killed. The imposition of their moral views on the dark elves made them resist and separate from the surface.


    So the revtion that the Heralds actually lied is not a good thing at all. The situation has only gotten worse when the fountain of life kept the existence of an Executioner secret only to reveal it now that the Executioner has fallen into the hands of the Supreme of Carnage.


    She and Fenrir have been kept hidden for their safety since then. This mountain range has been hidden by the fountain of life so both the Vampires and the wood elves won''t be able to find her easily. She won''t be able to show herself until the issue with the wood elves has been resolved. So she and Fenrir continued to wait. They didn''t receive this go-ahead until 12 yearster.


    ----


    Back To Ragnarok.


    He is running for his life. His wed feet scrambled around the ground seeking purchase as multiple explosions rang around him. The ground beneath his feet is breaking up so it is difficult to run. He also can''t run in a straight path or he will make it easy for him to be targeted. He has to zig-zag to avoid the vines erupting from the ground and trying to trap him.


    The Vines are responsible for making the ground so perilous. Their forceful movement through it is breaking it apart. If they manage to snag him once, then he will be done for. He doesn''t have a divine sense anymore so the best he can do is zig zag. But that''s the least of his problems.


    The threat of the Vines is slowing him down. It is making his pursuers catch up to him. There are nt soldier puppets with all sorts of weapons chasing after him. There are also green-skinned wood elves in the sky flying after him in pursuit. He is surrounded by danger on all sides. The Vines are the least of his problems.


    "Keep running. They are almost here." The voice in his head yelled.


    He kept quiet and kept running. He is running as fast and as carefully as he can. He would surely be able to escape faster if he could fly. Unfortunately, he can''t. Not in his currently scrambled state. So the wood elves are gaining on him.


    Kings ofw are currently chasing him. He is nowhere fast enough to escape or strong enough to fight them. But he ran anyway because he didn''t want to die.


    Behind him is an ocean of weaponized nts. In the front lines of his pursuers are the Vines. There are so many of them that they look like arge wave rushing to submerge him. It might as well be arge moving forest of vines seeking to submerge him.


    Each vine is as thick as a tree and they are surely strong enough to snap him in two if they get a hold of him. And there are thousands of them rushing after him. They tear up the ground and make the earth quake as they rush after him.


    Behind the wave of vines are the nt soldier puppets. They are trees with limbs and wings that enable them to run or fly. There are tens of thousands of them. Each one is no more than 2 meters tall so they don''t look intimidating to his 50-meter figure despite the shields and spears or swords that they are carrying with them. But their strengthy in their numbers. He will be doomed if they surround him.


    Behind the nt soldiers are the wood elves themselves. They are very far away from the nt soldiers. The Vines and nt soldiers were created at the edge of their domain. The wood elves are very far from him so they created the Vines to attack him from afar. They wouldn''t need the Vines soon because they are quickly catching up to him. But they still have the Vines and that''s very bad for him because the closer they get to him, the closer the Vines are to him.


    The demon god encouraged him again, "Just a little more and they will get here."


    He didn''t need to be told for him to notice when help finally arrived.

 Chapter 999 Deceit.

    Chapter 999 Deceit.


    Three Vampires advanced on his position with a speed far superior to his and that of his pursuers. The disy gave him confidence that he would be saved.


    His confidence was rewarded when a single move cleared away the Vines and submerged the nt soldiers.


    One Vampire brought down both its hands towards the ocean of weaponized nts and made its domain of blood descend upon it. A blood-red wave crashed into the green wave of nts. The blood-red wave won.


    The domain of blood doesn''t have any fixed shape so it can flow into gaps and small spaces. But it can change its shape and be deadly very quickly by turning into sharp des. The Vines beat on the blood domain in futility while the blood tore up the Vines from within. So his immediate problem was solved quickly.


    The other two Vampires flew past him to engage his pursuers. He didn''t stop to watch how the fight would turn out. He continued running and running as he had always done since the 10 years he became a half-vampire. He would only stop to hide. Then the chase will resume during the night. The wood elves were always able to find him despite the demon god''s best efforts to hide him.


    The demon god said to him, "You should be safe for a while. This whole area is vampire territory."


    "That is until daytime." He said.


    "Yes. That is until daytime. But you will be safe when you get to the devil''s pit."


    "If you say so." He replied.


    Then he made his way towards the devil pit. He wasn''t hunted along the way but he didn''t rx. Plus the sun ising up. He hurried along because he wants to reach this so-called haven before the sunes up.


    The trip was mostly peaceful except for the asional pestering of the voice in his head.


    "So have you decided to ept my power yet?"


    Ragnarok replied as he has always done, "Not yet."


    "Ok."


    And they returned to silence. He finally reached his destination.


    "This is the devil''s pit?" He asked in bewilderment.


    "Yes, it is." The voice replied. "What did you expect it to look like?"


    "Eerily enough, this is exactly what I thought it would be."


    A nine-tailed ck-furred giant beast stood a far distance from a crater in the ground. The crater is massive. It is arge pit dug into the earth. It is surrounded by a forest of blood trees.


    These blood trees look like a cross between a cactus and a porcupine. They are very tall. Each one is taller than him but they don''t have leaves. Instead, there are long spikes that extend from the bulbous branches. So they look more like bloated skeletal trees.


    The blood tree forms a forest around the crater. Their red color makes the area look covered in blood  There are many Vampires in the forest. They are guards monitoring all activities within the forest. The Vampires haven''t noticed the beast yet because it is a far distance from them. That will change if the beast gets closer to them.


    "So you are saying the whole surface is under the surveince of the fountain of life?" Ragnarok asked.


    The voice in his head replied. "Yes. The surface is her domain."


    "That is pretty strong. The fountain of life must be very strong. And you can''t find it either. That''s difficult to believe." He said skeptically.


    The demon god scoffed in his head. "That white bitch isn''t that powerful. If it is so strong, why does it not leave the ne and fight me? It is hiding in the ne and yet is being pompous. Anyone can hide in a ne. But not anyone can besiege a ne by themselves. Just wait until I get ess to the ne. Then it won''t be able to hide from me."


    It dered with anger, "No one will be able to hide from me. Everything will be mine and mine alone."


    "Hmm. I don''t think that the fountain of life is as strong as you. But this whole thing about it watching the entire surface might just be a lie. The fountain of life might not be in this ne at all."


    "Why would I lie to you?"


    Ragnarok replied with a sly grin, "To make me believe that the surface is not safe and to get me underground or get me into the hands of this primogenitor who you say will protect me. I know that someone is constantly watching me. That might just be you not the fountain of life."


    "That does make sense." The demon god admitted.


    "You have also said that you can''t find the fountain of life. It might not be in the ne at all. How can you be sure that the so-called representatives are not just using the name of the fountain of life for their own benefits?" He asked.


    The demon god replied with a tone of certainty, "I have spoken to the fountain of life. I am sure it is in the ne."


    Ragnarok said with a scoff. "So you say. I don''t believe anything you say so how will I believe that? What do you have to say to defend your integrity and prove that you are not lying to me?"


    The demon godughed. Its malevolentughter echoed through his mind with a grating sensation.


    "Funny mortal." It sneered, "It seems you do not know your full predicament, or you know, but you don''t want to admit it. If you are ignorant then let me inform you of your precarious situation. Call it a favor."


    "The wood elves have been hunting you for 10 years on the surface. If not for my help and all the Vampires that were sacrificed to keep you safe, then you would have been captured or killed long ago. It is undeniable that the surface is dangerous for you, while it is uncertain if the underground is safe."

 Chapter 1000 Creepy Symphony.

    Chapter 1000 Creepy Symphony.


    ?


    "I won''t mention the sincerity I showed by keeping you safe. That doesn''t matter, and it could just be a ploy to deceive you. But you don''t have a choice about going underground."


    It continued disdainfully, "The wood elves are currently busy with a meeting. Their Sovereigns are tied up in the meeting while their origin gods are trying to reim the nar portal, and their titans are protecting their cities. They will have time for you when the meeting is over. We don''t know when the meeting will be over, but it can happen anytime soon. You will have Sovereigns chasing you when that happens. So you either try your luck underground or surely get killed on the surface."


    Ragnarok sighed. He said, "You win."


    "I always win." The demon god retorted smugly.


    Ragnarok didn''t argue anymore. He decided to go to the crater. It is the closest entry into the underground that is big enough to contain his size. He has roamed the surface hiding and running for 10 years just to get to this ce. He found several entrances on his way, but they were too small for him to go through.


    He can''t control the size of his body currently because of his scrambled existence. So he has to go through here and try his luck as the demon god said. It is just very difficult for him to feel safe when there is a primogenitor guarding the crater.


    Thest Primogenitor that he met put him in this unpleasant situation in the first ce. He might just be walking to his doom. Unfortunately, things are as the demon god said. He doesn''t have much of a choice if he wants to live. It is uncertain if the Vampires will kill but it is certain that the wood elves will not be satisfied until he is dead without any traces left.


    He is in the faction of the Vampires now. That means the wood elves will kill him on sight. He was already on their kill list as a Warrog, but the fountain of life was not actively trying to kill him back then. Now the fountain of life is apparently actively trying to kill him. He can''t seem to escape from the wood elves chasing him. They always find him no matter where he goes. He could never have survived to this point without the help of the Vampires.


    "Here''s to hoping that the Vampires will continue to be helpful," he said as he drew close to their area of surveince.


    It grates on him to rely on someone else for protection. It pains him to be at the whims of others and to hope for goodwill and luck to keep him safe. But he doesn''t have a choice. So he didn''t change his mind and turn away from the crater. He didn''t run when the Vampires noticed him. He stayed still while they responded to his presence.


    About a thousand Vampires surrounded him quickly. They all look identical. They are different in shape and size, but they all have the same face as if they are siblings. Their ring red eyes trying to bore a hole into him didn''t unnerve him as much as the simrities in their looks. The weirdness of the situation only increased when they spoke at the same time.


    They said the same thing in different voices. "Wee, Ragnarok, to my humble abode. I hope that my hospitality will please you."


    Their different voices blended into a single harmonious voice. It sounds like a symphony of sound and would be considered soothing and pleasant to listen to by others. But Ragnarok considered it eerie and creepy.


    He grumbled inwardly, "So you told her that I wasing."


    "It is to ease your passage through her territory," the demon god said.


    "What else did you tell her about me?" He asked.


    The voice in his head chuckled mysteriously.


    Ragnarok snorted inwardly. Then he said to the Vampires, "I thank the Emperiti Primogenitor for her hospitality."


    The Vampires asked, "Am I correct to assume that the Supreme Of Carnage told you about myself and my situation?"


    "Yes. I am also sure that it told you about my situation too. You probably know all my secrets now."


    The Vampires tried to alleviate his fears, "I have been informed about your situation. But that is no reason to be afraid. There is no need to be cautious around me. We are both Primogenitors, and the Supreme of Carnage obviously has great ns for you, so no Vampire will harm you."


    He lied, "I don''t feel that I am in danger. In fact, I feel safe already."


    "Good. I want you to feel safe. The Supreme of Carnage said that you have trust issues."


    He grumbled inwardly to the demon god, "How am I to trust you when you tell people things about me without my knowledge or permission?"


    But he smiled and said to the Emperiti Primogenitor, "Surely you understand why I don''t trust anyone. I have had to run around and escape danger for more than 10 years. It has been a harrowing situation for me which all started because the father who I should be able to trust found me and turned my pack upside down. It turned out that I was right not to trust him. All he ever did for me is to bring me trouble."


    "Your cautiousness is understandable. But you have nothing to worry about here. You are among friends," they said to him at the same time.


    All of them spread their arms wide in a weing gesture. They even smiled to show just how harmless they are. The Emperiti Primogenitor must have thought it would make him less agitated. She is very wrong.


    Ragnarok simply smiled and nodded. He didn''t let his agitation get the better of him so he didn''t run away. If he didn''t have a choice, he wouldn''t want to be anywhere near the Emperiti Primogenitor of all vampires. Being around any Primogenitor is bad enough. Being around the Emperiti Primogenitor is just in terrifying.

 Chapter 1001 Ugly And Feared.

    Chapter 1001 Ugly And Feared.


    "My days may be numbered." Ragnarok thought to himself.


    He is very clear about his precarious situation. On one side are wood elves that want to kill him and the other side is a terrifying Vampire Primogenitor that definitely has some unknown ns for him due to the fact that she is literally the mouthpiece of a demon god. Even if the demon god is taken out of the equation, Emperiti is more than enough to make him consider death at the hands of the wood elves.


    If the Emperiti Primogenitor were not so terrifying, she alone wouldn''t be able to hold back an entire army of wood elves and continue to guard the devil''s pit on her own for so long despite numerous attempts by the wood elves to destroy the crater.


    Vampires are feared for their ability to increase their numbers very quickly. From the little he has learned about her from the demon god, he knows that the Emperiti Primogenitor embodies that fear.


    "Follow me then, Spawn of the Devourer." The Vampires said to him as one.


    Then they scattered in several directions. Only one of them remained. He had taken a step back due to their sudden movements. He thought he was about to be attacked. He still thinks he will be attacked anytime so he didn''t rx when the Vampires went away from him.


    He promised himself, "I may be walking straight into an ambush or some nefarious n but they won''t catch me unawares."


    It is the least he can do since he is around an entity he cannot trust. This is mostly everyone apart from Legion so his current behavior is not unusual or out of ce. He is always ready for attacks from others. He may be extra skittish due to his scrambled existence but is always cautious.


    Thest Vampire didn''t say anything about his odd behavior. He didn''t mention anything about it either. He simply moved closer to it. The two of them then began their journey to the devil''s pit.


    The Vampire doesn''t look remarkable. It looks like any vampire except that it has very dark skin. It has ck hair, red pupils, and four red fangs. It doesn''t have any powerful aura either. It looks to be no more powerful than a transcendent. It is a little taller than 2 meters. It is difficult for him to tell if it is male or female.


    Vampires are mostly identical in shape, and figure due to their heritage as elves. But the Vampires under the Emperiti lineage furtherplicated things. They make it so that there is no distinction in the facial features of all of them. An ignorant person might call the Vampires in her lineage siblings.


    The vampire said, "You know, I met your father once."


    "Really? What was he like?" He asked for the sake of making small talk.


    "He was a ravenous mutt. He was unliked by most, if not all, of the blood lineages. I thought I was scorned before, but I got to see what real scorn and dislike is."


    "That is not surprising to hear. He wasn''t liked by Warrogs either. He was a sore loser and a troublemaker. I bet the Vampires didn''t like him because he was ugly."


    "Most of the dislike towards him is because he was ugly. But his existence terrified most of the Vampires too. His lineage also gave him a bad reputation."


    "What reputation?" Ragnarok asked with mild curiosity.


    "It is already bad that he was a Warrog. Everyone, be they wood elves, dark elves, or vampires, hates the Warrogs. Bing a vampire didn''t make him more liked. It did the opposite. Those of the devouring lineage reminded the Vampires of the ancient times when Warrogs killed and fed on anyone."


    Ragnarok had be interested now. "What is so special about his lineage? The demon god didn''t tell me anything about him."


    He has an inkling of why the demon god is keeping information about his father from him. It is a smart thing to do too. So he is interested in any source of information that will give him an inkling into the arrangement between his father and the demon god.


    The Vampire replied, "It is all because he could feed on other vampires."


    That surprised Ragnarok. "He could? I thought no vampire could feed on others. The undead gain nothing from the undead. In fact, vampire blood is supposed to be toxic to other vampires."


    The vampire chuckled. "You are right about that. The undead are not supposed to be able to feed on the undead. We need life and only life. The living was supposed to be our only prey. But Xigger was an anomaly. Both the living and the undead could be his prey."


    "You can imagine how other vampires felt about him. But their reaction to him became worse when they found out that he grows stronger if he feeds on other vampires. It meant that he had a motivation to kill other vampires and he did so to great effect."


    "I see. I would be very afraid of a powerful predator too. I know the feeling."


    The Vampire smiled faintly. She understands the hidden message within thatment but she didn''t point it out.


    "That wasn''t all. The vampires of his lineage could also feed on other vampires. They also couldn''t control their thirst. It was a terriblebination. A violent predator creating more violent predators. You can imagine what happened."


    He nodded in understanding. Poor control of blood craving in fledglings will lead to aggressive behavior until the thirst takes over their mind and they descend into madness. The fledglings be ravenous beasts that will attack anything. This is amon problem that gues Vampires. It is most prevalent in fledglings. They are not used to their new state of existence yet so theyck control.


    But no matter what, they don''t turn their aggression on other vampires unless they stand in their way of getting more living blood. This is because there is no benefit in attacking other vampires.

 Chapter 1002 Variant Vampire.

    Chapter 1002 Variant Vampire.


    The reluctance of the fledglings to attack other Vampires will obviously change if they can also feed on Vampires too. They wouldn''t care where the bloodes from. They will kill anything as long as it moves. They will be predators to both the Vampires and the living.


    He said in understanding, "So his Lineage became a gue and a curse on other Vampires. He as the source of that gue was despised."


    "Exactly," The vampire said in agreement. "He is also ugly which is another great crime so was very despised."


    Ragnarok thought to himself, "It is something that has never happened before amongst vampires. Then again, no Warrog has ever be a vampire. So Xigger was that special. I know now why the demon god wants to recruit the fountain of life so badly."


    Vampires feeding on other vampires has never happened before. It is because they have always been of a single race. They all came from elves, so despite the differences in Lineage, there have never been such drastic differences in their feeding habits or looks.


    That changed when a Warrog with an innate, albeit suppressed, divine ability to devour became a vampire because of the curse of life in that divine ability. Xigger managed to awaken a lesser version of his divine ability and created a superior lineage that could feed on both the living and the undead.


    The demon god will surely want to explore the full potential of Carnage through this opportunity. It has seen what good things can happen if other races be Vampires. Some of the weaknesses of the vampires can be fixed through this opportunity. Unfortunately, the so-called white bitch is not willing to serve a demon god.


    "Xigger''s lineage became a scourge on vampires. Imagine that. Isn''t it funny? Your father was a monster among monsters. He was a Warrog that could still feed on us even though we became Vampires." The vampireughed again.


    Its entire body shook, and its voice cackled maniacally as itughed. Ragnarok observed this weird behavior without passing judgment.


    It continued speaking afterughing, "His lineage was particrly violent. Most of his fledglings lost control. As you might know, fledglings that go mad are usually stronger because of high synchronization with the power of Carnage. But those of the devouring lineage were a force to deal with. They fell into the embrace of Carnage so well and so thoroughly that they were stronger than normal. It enabled them to feed on numerous Vampires and be as powerful as counts in less than a year."


    The Vampire stoppedughing. It shook its head and continued. "That''s something that the most blessed Vampires need thousands of years to achieve. It is an impressive achievement. It came at the cost of other vampires so the blood Lineages were not going to see it continue."


    "That is more than enough reason to antagonize the devouring lineage. The fact that such powerful were also mad ensured that every Lineage could cooperate to eliminate his lineage. Things became so bad that they were hunted wherever they appeared. It is easy to identify them too. They have ugly ck fangs like yours."


    He doesn''t agree about his fangs being ugly. They may be jagged but they are sharp and that''s all the beauty that they need. But he won''t argue with her because the purpose of his fangs and his numerous other sharp teeth is not to look good. Besides, there is a bigger issue at y here.


    "Why wasn''t Xigger killed?" He asked.


    "Xigger was a Primogenitor. He couldn''t be ganged up on. He could only be challenged by someone of the same rank as him. It is obvious what the oue of that would be considering his advantage in blood power. His lineage didn''t have that benefit so they were hunted."


    Then she said with a smile. "You don''t have that benefit either. At least, not until you be a full Vampire."


    Ragnarok spoke. "I see. So you are doing me a favor by helping me instead of killing me on sight. Or you are just pretending to do me a favor so that you can lure me into the devil''s pit and kill me?"


    The Vampireughed. "It is good that you are smart. But I am not going to kill you. I just told you that most Vampires will try to kill you if they get the chance to. Instead, many of them have been fighting the wood elves for you. It is due to their help that you are here right now. And why is that? Why is it that Vampires that hate you are helping you and even dying for you?"


    "Because of the Demon god." He replied immediately.


    The vampire tsked. "That is crass and coarsenguage. Demon is such a bad word. Call the greatness the Supreme of Carnage. But you''re right. It is because of the Supreme that you are here."


    The vampire pointed at the sky after saying so. He looked up to where she was pointing at. The red moon in the sky is actually an eye. He started seeing the moon as the eye of the demon god since he was forcefully shackled with the heart of Carnage. It enabled him to know just how much trouble he was in.


    The demon god is like a giant looking through a tiny tear into a small world. Or a normal-sized person looking into a bottle through its top. Everyone in the bottle are the ants that the normal-sized person is looking at. He is an antpared to the demon god. The only thing protecting all the ants is that the current opening is too small for the demon god to reach into the ne.


    There is a war going on right now in the divine ne or outside the ne. It is a war to stop the demon god from entering the ne. If the defenders lose, then the demon god will finally enter the ne in all its bloody and gruesome glory.

 Chapter 1003 A Lot Of Lies.

    Chapter 1003 A Lot Of Lies.


    The ne will be doomed when CARNAGE gains entry into it. He will be doomed too. He won''t be able to resist the demon god then. So he didn''t feel reverence like other vampires as he looked at the bloody eye. He only feels fear and a heavy heart.


    The Vampire continued, oblivious to his feelings. "Now, the Supreme of Carnage can boss us Primogenitors around. We will obey because he is supreme. We understand that the sacrifices we are forced to make will be worth it for the fulfillment of Carnage. It is all so that the Supreme will finally be able to descend into the ne and usher in the era of Carnage. But not everyone is okay with it. No one wants to help something that they would rather kill. So are you getting where I am going with this?"


    Ragnarok understood what she was insinuating. "Yes, I do. I should appreciate every primogenitor for the kindness that they have shown me. Maybe I should do something to show that appreciation. Something to repay them for their sacrifices."


    "You''re almost correct, Ragnarok. You should indeed appreciate us primogenitors for our sacrifices to ensure your survival but I don''t care about the other primogenitors. So I don''t care if you repay them or not, although I advise that you do. I am only concerned about myself and the favor that I am currently doing for you because the Supreme of Carnage asked me to, and only because the Supreme asked me to."


    Ragnarok chuckled. "I see. So you want me to repay you in particr for the favor that you have shown me. Let me guess, you already have something in mind that will make up for your coerced generosity."


    "Ha. I knew I could talk with you." The Vampire pped in agreement. "Your father was such a dull bore. You on the other hand have a good head on your shoulders. Your mother must have been the smart one."


    The Vampire pped once. But that was the only reaction it showed. It seemed to haveplimented him but its facial expression didn''t change at all and its red eyes remained fixed forward as it ran towards the devil''s pit. It is clear to Ragnarok that this is no joking matter. She is very serious about it.


    So he wasn''t surprised when it turned its head and fixed those eyes on him with a hard stare.


    It said, "I want an origin god from you, Ragnarok."


    Ragnarok became surprised again. "You are just a Duke? I can''t believe it. How did you manage to hold out against so many Sovereigns?"


    Then he chuckled. "Ignore myst question."


    The vampire shook its head andughed. The sound ofughter came out of its lips but there still wasn''t any facial expression to go along with it. It was unnerving to see.


    "I understand your surprise. You expect me to be a monarch because of the power I have shown. Unfortunately, I am not. I have been endowed with a lot of quantity when ites to power, but Ick quality. And quality of power is needed to kill an Origin god."


    It sighed. It was yet an unnatural disy. There was no exhtion or facial expression to apany the gesture.


    It said, "I am still a Duke, so I hope you will remember my good deed and get me an origin god so that I might be a monarch."


    "I will try my best." Ragnarok lied.


    Lying is very easy to do as opposed to subduing an Origin god. He can lie all day about his intentions to acquire an Origin god and it will be easier to do than fulfilling a single one of the lie.


    The vampire pped in what can only be described as a facade of excitement. "That''s good to hear. I am sure that you are sincere enough about your promise to sign this blood writ to its effect."


    It brought out a rough parchment of red paper dripping with blood. There are golden words written on it. Ragnarok stopped to read the words. He can run and read at the same time but he stopped to rectify the situation. He is not going any further until this has been sorted out. If it isn''t sorted out, then he wants to be able to escape.


    The words on the blood writ state that the Emperiti Primogenitor promises to protect him in her territory and will not do anything untoward to him or harm him in any way. And in return, he will do everything to get her an Origin god as soon as he is able to. The Oath will be witnessed and enforced by the demon god.


    Vampires can''t swear using the will of the abyss since they are not demons. They also can''t swear using their origin because they have lost it. Theck of origin makes it impossible for them toprehendws that don''t descend from the demon god of Carnage. It also makes it impossible for them to be Monarchs without killing an Origin god.


    A Duke is the equivalent of a Sovereign. But they can match origin gods because of theck of limits on their stats. Primogenitors can easily do this with the boost of the heart of Carnage. But that apparently isn''t enough for the Emperiti Primogenitor. She has failed to kill an Origin god for one reason or another, and she wants him to help her with it. In exchange, she won''t make his life a living hell.


    She is threatening him. And he is smart enough to notice the threat. This entire conversation was not ordinary small talk. She didn''t say all that because she was bored. She set it up for this very moment. He can either sign the blood writ or suffer the consequences. The demon god won''t care about whatever she does to him as long as he is "alive," so to speak.


    -----


    A/N: Bonus chapter in appreciation of DOUBLELINE''s and everyone else''s golden tickets contribution.

 Chapter 1004 Disrespect.

    Chapter 1004 Disrespect.


    There is a lot of distance between alive and dead. A lot can happen in that space between them. He is also an undead with a body that can heal very well. So that distance is very wide. It can contain a lot of painful things and excruciating experiences. She has made her stance clear that she won''t take no for an answer. He probably won''t be allowed to turn back and leave without facing resistance from her.


    He looked at the vampire smiling innocently and sighed. It is disying facial expressions this time. Its smile is natural but it is not a good sign to him.


    He thought to himself, "It is not your fault. You''re like the ant feasting on the supple flesh of an elephant that has been brought low by a pack of lions. You feel like you can take advantage of me because I have been brought low by circumstances. It is not your fault at all."


    He has been brought low. He was once a Sovereign. He was weak but he had the respect of one. Then he became an origin god and achieved eternity. Now he is being bullied by a Sovereign. She is basically exploiting him. The deal she is offering is not fair. It is not fair at all. He either has to take it or be refused refuge. But it is not her fault. He is weak so he can be cheated. He feels gravely insulted more than cheated.


    But he smiled in return. "I have no reason not to sign the blood writ. My promise was sincere. I would do anything to prove it to you even though you don''t believe me."


    He didn''t dy anymore. It is best to do something painful quickly and get it over with as soon as possible. So he cut himself and smeared his blood on the parchment. His blood sank into the paper and created a connection between him and the Oath. He felt it settle on his unstable existence like a heavyweight.


    He thought to himself, "I am certain that the demon god has something to do with this. They probably hope to use my promise to force me into conflict with the wood elves."


    Honestly, he is not surprised that he has been strong-armed into making an unfair deal. He expected something like this to happen when the demon god made the devil''s pit his only option for safety. If not for the fact that there is no time limit on the contract for his promise to be fulfilled, he wouldn''t have signed it at all. He would rather take his chances with torture. At least, he would still be alive no matter how bad things get.


    "Thank you very much," the Vampire said after taking away the blood writ. "I am just doing this so that you will feel at home in my devil''s pit without fear. Now you know that I will do my utmost best to protect you. You can be rest assured of your safety."


    "Right. You are very magnanimous," he said while trying his uttermost best to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.


    "I think so too," the Vampire agreed.


    They resumed their journey to the devil''s pit. The two of them moved at a very fast speed. The world blurred past them as they weaved through the blood trees. The Vampire continued to make small talk. She informed him of the things going on in the ne.


    "I heard that the wood elves are contemting an agreement with the Warrogs. The fountain of life wants a cease-fire between the races," the vampire told him.


    "I have heard about it. The demon god told me. Apparently, there is an Emperor out there that is my other pair. She is also very strong. Her existence is single-handedly bringing back the glory of the Warrogs. It is understandable that the wood elves will feel threatened. It will be very difficult for them toe to a peaceful resolution with the Warrogs considering their history."


    The vampire shook its head. "There are a lot of reasons why the wood elves will be against the Warrogs. But they don''t have a choice right now. A force that can threaten them is a force that can threaten us, which is a force that they can use. Their cooperation is just a matter of time. At most, they will fight each other after the Vampires have been destroyed."


    "You were a dark elf when you became a vampire. I expected that you will hate the Warrogs," he observed.


    "I don''t hate the Warrogs. Maybe some dark elves hate Warrogs, but most of us don''t hate them. Dark elves have always been pragmatic. We wanted to use the Warrogs to strengthen ourselves. But the fountain of life refused. It didn''t want us to use our divine abilities that way. The Warrog paragons are the best candidates for power siphoning, but they are not the only ones we had our eyes on."


    "We wanted to take power from other elves too. The fountain of life didn''t like it at all. The disagreements caused a lot of problems which eventually led to the separation of our races. It is the wood elves that still hate Warrogs. They continued to protect the Warrogs despite their hatred. That hatred has festered over the years within their bloodline without an outlet. It is like protecting someone whom you want to kill without gettingpensation for your efforts. You will be pissed off too."


    "Right," Ragnarok drawled.


    He ignored the small jab that she just took at him and thought about the real reason why dark elves are different from wood elves despite being of the same race initially.


    Both the dark elves and the wood elves have the same divine ability. This is because the tree people as a whole were blessed by the fountain of life. The blessing increased their simple ability tomunicate with trees into an ability that made them closer to nature and enabled them to bind themselves to living things.

 Chapter 1005 The Great Divide Of The Tree People.

    The tree people were supposed to be a race that could slightlymunicate with trees. But then the fountain of life came along and they became able tomunicate with not only trees, but with animals too. After achieving transcendence, they became able to control nts and elerate their growth.


    Their divine ability awakened further at the titan ofw stage to make them capable of creating life bonds with any living thing. This binding is pretty simr to the connection of the soul sphere between clones of Legion. But Wood elves can only bind with a single entity.


    They can use that binding to assist the entity with energy, vitality, and life force. That means they can heal the entity acrossrge distances and also prevent the entity that they bonded with from dying.


    The gift of the fountain of life is a great upgrade to them and a curse to Warrogs. It enabled the tree people to gain dominion over the ne. After all, the tree people gained the help of the whole ne with their divine ability. nts and animals helped them to fight the Warrogs. It is understandable that the Warrogs lost. They had been weakened, their paragons had been subdued, and the whole ne was against them.


    That should have been the end of that story. The world war ended with a happy ending for the tree people. The problem came when some smart wood elves sought to fully utilize the capability of their bond. Instead of giving through the bind, they sought to take.


    They can turn the bond against any being, either nt or animal, by enving that being or forcefully siphoning their life force to strengthen themselves. They didn''t do that earlier before because they needed everyone but now they don''t. They wanted to strengthen themselves by using the living resources of the ne.


    It should have been allowed. After all, it is their right now that they are the overlords of the ne. However, the fountain of life forbade it. Anyone who siphoned life force from others would be punished. It didn''t help that they couldn''t hide that crime.


    Any wood elf that misuses their divine in that way experiences a physical change. Their green skin turns ck just like the way a green leaf dies. This change in skin color identifies someone who has used their divine ability for bad things.


    As stupid as it sounds, differences in skin color were the first and greatest thing that caused a divide among the wood elves. Dark-skinned wood elves became discriminated against by the general popce. It caused hostilities to simmer in the dynamics of the interaction of the race.


    Then the hostilities exploded when some dark elves banded together to kidnap the incapacitated Warrog Emperors and Executioners that were captured. The dark elves that perpetrated the act were selfish and power-hungry. But they were also weak. So they were killed by the representatives of the fountain of life. That created a spark for the hostilities to burn.


    The representatives of the Fountain of Life were willing to kill members of their race to protect other races who used to kill and harm them. It made the rebellious dark elves ask usatory questions. Is it that the dark-skinned wood elves are considered lesser than Warrogs? Or worse, the dark elves are not considered part of the wood elves anymore.


    A simple kidnapping gone wrong became a hate crime, and the criminals became martyrs. The race split apart when they started choosing sides. Some sided with the fountain of life, while others sided with gaining power at all costs. It led to a civil war which the dark elves lost. The wood elves have the representatives of the fountain of life on their side and the fountain of life itself, so their victory was assured.


    The dark elves lost the war and decided to retreat underground to avoid the control and authority of the fountain of life. At least, that''s what the demon god told him to further convince him to head underground to hide. It could all be a lie.


    Ragnarok still isn''t sure the fountain of life is in the ne at all. He knows there was someone who came into the ne and helped the wood elves, but that person should have be an Origin god by now. So much time has passed since then that it seems usible that the fountain of life could be fake.


    He asked his Vampire escort. "How sure are you that the wood elves won''t be able to get to me underground? It would be mighty foolish of me to go through so much effort to get here only to be disappointed."


    The devil''s pit has been able to repel the wood elves before, but that was before it would protect him. He is a very important entity of interest to both the demon god and the fountain of life right now. The wood elves might try everything they can to get him. And the devil''s pit might not be able to handle their fervent attacks. He has paid a lot for this protection and he wants assurance for it.


    "Don''t you worry about your protection. No wood elf can get you in the devil''s pit. They will have to go through me to do that." It stated confidently, then its tone changed into that of uncertainty, "I am not sure that I can stop that Emperor that is your pair though. The Supreme of Carnage says that she is very strong. She is the child of the ne, after all. She is the literal defense mechanism of the ne against Vampires."


    The Vampire nced at him and said meaningfully, "Your chances aren''t looking good no matter how I look at it. Your stubbornness to ept what you have to be is also reducing the time you have to grow stronger. If you were to embrace your destiny now, then you might be able to match the Emperor."


    He shrugged. "I think the title of child of the ne is overrated."

 Chapter 1006 Communication Issues.

    ?


    As someone who has managed to be a child of the ne once, he believes he has a say on how overrated the title of the child of the ne is. The Vampire on the other hand believed that what he said is nonsense.


    The vampire scoffed. "Overrated, he says. You are speaking in ignorance. Do you know what it means to be a child of the ne? How many children of the ne do you know? She is a rare existence meant to be a channel for thebined power of the ne."


    Ragnarok fell silent. He didn''t say anything despite having a lot to say about the title of the child of the ne. Sure, the Emperor will be much stronger than Soverick because of her POWER stat, which Soverickcks. Her POWER stat will help her fully utilize the connection to the ne. But that doesn''t mean Soverick can''t kill her.


    She is a young ignorant child with power while Soverick is a seasoned killer. Soverick hasn''t used the boost from his title yet but Ragnarok is sure that he will have better control of it than her. He will y her around like the child she is with the power of his eyes. So he doesn''t think much about the title. He cares more for the wielder of the power. But the Vampire took his silence as defeat.


    "I heard from the Supreme of Carnage that Emperors be stronger if they eat their pairing Executioner. But you don''t have to be worried too much. The Supreme of Carnage is notckingpared to the will of the ne either. You just have to be the channel for the power of the Supreme of Carnage if you want to match her."


    He didn''t say anything anymore. He appeared to be deep in contemtion. Meanwhile, he was having a talk with the voice in his head.


    He asked, "Did you put her up to this?"


    "Of course not. Primogenitors are very close to me. They are the closest thing I have to children. I inform them about thetest developments in the ne to keep them prepared for anything. So I told her about you refusing my blessing but I didn''t tell her to badger you with words until you submit. I have tried that myself and it didn''t work."


    He snickered to himself. "Like I would believe you."


    It is the major problem withmunicating with demons and smart people, if you don''t make a contract with them, then it is the uttermost foolishness to believe whatever they say. He is a smart person and he believes the demon god is one too. He lies very well and easily to get his way. That means the demon god can too.


    His entire situation might be a lie. Maybe death might be able to save him from the clutches of CARNAGE. He is only certain that his body is currently his enemy and has be the home ground of CARNAGE in his existence just like Aeternus''s and Helios''s bodies betrayed them. However, he isn''t willing to test his hypothesis because the consequences of failure are too high.


    Even so, he allowed himself to use the demon god. "I don''t believe that you didn''t put her up to this."


    The demon god chuckled dismissively, "I don''t need you to believe me. You will fall into my grasp soon. You have no choice. It is just a matter of time. I always win."


    The vampire interrupted his mental argument. "The Supreme of Carnage didn''t put me up to this. I am just giving you good advice."


    "This is frustrating," he grumbled inwardly.


    The demon god can''t hear his thoughts unless he projects them outward, but the fact that their conversations are not secret is already rubbing him the wrong way. There are advantages to having a very powerful being in your head that you can talk to. You can learn so much about the world that you didn''t know.


    Information from everywhere gets to you easily. The disadvantage is that your information also gets to others easily. It is something that he doesn''t like at all. He isining to the demon god and the Emperiti Primogenitor is being informed that he isining and informed about what he isining about.


    Probably every primogenitor knows about him, how he looks, where he is currently, and how much he doesn''t like the demon god and Vampires in general. Everything that is known about him is known by every primogenitor who can then tell everyone in their lineage. It reaffirmed his Will not to sumb to the demon god.


    The vampire continued, oblivious to his inner thoughts, "I am trying to convince you to be our champion because we Vampires want the war to end too. We won''t have to sleep during the day anymore if the Supreme of Carnage removes the barricade that it has formed around the ne. The removal of the barricade will also let us leave the ne and explore the realm. It is a good thing for everyone if you take up your responsibility."


    The Vampire made a lot of good points. If the demon god stops locking down the ne with its entire body, then it won''t have to face the full brunt of the power of the sun anymore. That means all the Vampires that this body of it jas created will not have to sleep during the time that the sun shines its light on the ne. They won''t be weakened during the day either but they will still be susceptible to fire and light.


    That will improve the standard of living of the Vampires and remove one of their most crippling weaknesses. It is a convincing reason for why the Vampires would want the war to end quickly. But it is not a good enough reason for him to be a ve to a demon god. Nothing can convince him to shackle his existence like that.

 Chapter 1007 Emperor Of The Undead.

    Ragnarok feels that he doesn''t even need to be selfish and greedy to reject bing the vessel of a demon god. Being smart is more than enough reason for him to refuse.


    "I''ll think about it." That''s what he said to her.


    But he has thought about it for long enough and his answer will remain no.


    "That is good enough for me," It said. "I can''t ask for more than that."


    Ragnarok thought to himself in jest, "You can but I will say no all the same."


    The two of them finally made it to the devil''s pit.


    "Wee to my humble abode," the vampire said to him.


    They have crossed the lip of the crater to its center. The two of them are looking down at the gaping maw of the pit that leads to the underground. The crater seems to have been formed by a meteor or arge rock hitting the ground. It has a wide lip but the pit itself wasn''t formed by the resulting explosion. It is too smooth and narrow to be something created by chance.


    "It seems to be drilled like a well," he said to the voice in his head.


    "Yes, Emperiti dug it herself. It was dug during the first war of the encroaching darkness when the Vampires from the underground invaded the surface. Emperiti wanted toe out from the Underdark at this point, but a Sovereign ofw had other ideas. The sovereign dropped something very big on her to stop her. It was spectacr."


    "I''m sure it was." He said before returning to inspecting the pit.


    There is a band of metal at the very edge of the pit and what appears to be cylindrical columns of metal around the walls of the pit that look like the supports used in walls to stop them from copsing inwardly. It makes the devil''s pit look like a veryrge reinforced well.


    Heplimented his host, "It looks nice. The top-grade origin artifact support system is a nice touch. I heard the creation of the devil''s pit was full of spectacr events."


    The Vampire epted hispliment, "Yes, it was. I was very young back then when it happened. I have grown much bigger since then. The Devil''s Pit has been a very importantnding stage and point of invasion into the upper ne ever since its creation. The snobby wood elves have tried their best to take it away from me, but I have always thwarted their ns."


    He nodded. "So I''ve heard. I can see why too." He said as he looked at the sleeping army of the primogenitor.


    The walls of the pit are lined with rows upon rows of sleeping Vampires. This is nighttime so they are not sleeping because they have to. They are sleeping because they are not needed.


    "There must be millions of them here." He said to his host.


    He tried to sound appreciative but he is not. He is a little intimidated by the sight. The pit is about a kilometer in diameter. There are steps that lead down to its depth. Those steps upy a small portion of the inner wall of the pit. The rest of the wall is covered with sleeping Vampires. They reach farther down the pit than his eyes can see.


    The vampire nodded and looked proud of itself. "It is something, isn''t it?"


    "Yes, it is." He managed to say.


    The sight of all these vampires reminded him of why the Emperiti Primogenitor is considered weird and is feared by other Vampires. This vampire that he is talking to is both the primogenitor and not the primogenitor. It and the others that he saw earlier are also very simr in features to the millions of vampires that he is looking at right now. Even without the knowledge he has of her, he knows that it is highly unlikely that they were born that way.


    The thousands of vampires guarding the devil''s pit are mostly weak. These sleeping ones are the real backbone of the security of the devil''s pit. There are tens of thousands of Dukes among them. Those are the equivalent of Sovereigns ofw. As for Marquises and the rest, they are too much to count.


    This is not an army. It is a horde. It is not a wonder how the primogenitor has been able to defend the pit all by herself. Vampires call her the Emperor of the Undead, the Abominable gue of Undeath, or the horde of ghouls. Some of those titles are used aspliments while others are used as slurs.


    Vampires of her lineage are called ghouls because they behave like ghouls, and she multiplies herself the same way that ghouls spread themselves. Other Vampires need to bite a living person to turn them. As for her, a single scratch from any one of her Vampires will infect a living being and turn their body into a Vampire in her image.


    The Vampires that she creates will also be mentally dead unless she actively gives them orders. Otherwise, they will either run amok or stay asleep if she wills it. That''s why they are likened to Ghouls. They are not real Ghouls though. Real ghouls are more terrifying.


    "This is an unrted topic, but where are the Ghouls?" He asked the Vampire.


    There are always ghouls whenever Vampires appear in a ne. He realized he hadn''t seen them at all.


    The Vampire replied, "They have all been eliminated."


    "That''s good." He said.


    He is actually impressed that they managed to eliminate the Ghouls. But he is not surprised that they managed to do so. The Vampires have the help of the demon god after all.


    "Let me take you to where you will be staying for the foreseeable future," the vampire said to him.


    He followed it down the steps in the pit. They didn''t go all the way down. The steps branched out left and right at several intervals into the surrounding stone. They took one of those branches and entered arge hollowed-out space. The space is sorge that they managed to build a very impressive-looking castle into it.

 Chapter 1008 Safe And Secure.

    Chapter 1008 Safe And Secure.


    There is arge wall that reaches the ceiling built in front of the castle to block entry from the devil''s pit. The wall extends from the ceiling to the ground and from left to right. There is a gap at the center with a movable heavily reinforced gate. The gate is open right now. So he noticed living beings going around the castle through the gate.


    "Are they your familiars?" He asked.


    The Vampire answered, "Yes, they are. You know vampire ethics. You do not harm or hurt the familiars. The mad bloodthirsty vampires of the devouring lineage didn''t respect the ethics. It is one of the reasons why they were killed. I am sure that you will behave better than them."


    "I''ll manage." He said.


    Familiars are the living extensions of vampires. They are subordinates who were not necessarily recruited willingly. Mental maniption is needed to persuade someone to be loyal to a vampire so much that they are willing to sacrifice their lives for the Vampires.


    Vampires need familiars. They protect them when they are asleep. Familiars also run errands for them during the day and provide them with food when blood is scarce. Some of them died to protect him during the day while he was running for his life on the surface.


    The high importance of familiars to the Vampires has made them neutral entities in conflicts between Vampires. Familiars are not to be harmed or hurt, just like the Nameless of the Warrogs. They are also not to be used as a fighting force between Vampires. They are to fight only the living.


    Many of them are dark elves. He also noticed several Sovereigns among them. He can''t harm them even if he wants to. They are strong enough to kill him. In fact, he should be the one wary of them.


    "This ce is a fortress both inside and outside." He thought to himself.


    A primogenitor is a force to be reckoned with, especially one as old as the Emperiti Primogenitor. She has had several years to umte her power and resources. Most of the Familiars were raised for this purpose. They were brainwashed from a young age to serve and it takes an average of 20 Origin cycles for the level of Sovereign ofw to be achieved. 20 Origin cycles are small to someone who has lived for more than 100 Origin cycles. That''s how she has so many Sovereigns as familiars.


    Sovereigns are almost impossible to enve. They are too old and too smart to swear their loyalty to someone. They are also too strong to mind control by any Vampire that is not a Monarch with Origin god-level prowess. Capturing them won''t work either since they can alwaysmit suicide. It will be very difficult to convince a Sovereign who doesn''t want to be enved to a vampire to be a familiar.


    So raising Sovereigns is a good way to get powerful familiars, just as gods raisepatible vessels for themselves. Children are raised and brainwashed right from a young age so that they are not opposed to the idea of bonding with a Vampire when they be transcendents. Some of those transcendents then go on to be Sovereigns.


    The method is called catching them young. The young and the ignorant are very easy to convince. The Vampires they grew up with their entire lives are their lords and kings. So it makes sense to swear to serve royalty just like any knight will swear loyalty to royalty.


    The Emperiti Primogenitor is so strong that she has arge number of both living and undead creatures as part of her forces. She is secured both during the day and at night. Her sovereigns will at least be able to dy during the day for her dukes to awaken in the night. The defenses of the devil''s pit, her immense forces, and her immortal nature have helped her to remain in control of it for millions of years.


    Ragnarok observed, "This ce seems secure."


    "It is secure and also beautiful." The Vampire corrected.


    They walked past therge movable gates into the castle grounds. The ce isn''t dark despite being underground without ess to the light of the sun or moon. He noticed several light sources. Most of them are bioluminescent. There are some light-producing shrubs and mushrooms. There are also non-biological sources of light, glowing stones that produce a mild light that isn''t harmful to Vampires.


    All the light helps to bring out the beauty of the Castle and its surroundings. The various colors of light themselves create a beautiful atmosphere. Then there are the flowers nted around the castle''s ntation. The ntation contains different types of nts. Some are used as food for the familiars.


    Then there are grazing animals like deer and antelopes. It is a scenic view for those who appreciate a beautiful environment. But Ragnarok can''t appreciate it. All he can think of is the rows upon rows of motionless and identical vampires standing just outside the walls. He can''t help but think of how easy it will be for them to subdue him.


    He thought to himself, "This ce could make for a very good prison."


    The beauty of this ce does not mask the underlying danger present here. It is very secure that much is certain. But if his enemies can''t get in, then he probably can''t get out either. He would have turned away when he saw them. It is only the blood writ and his helplessness that are making him confident enough to stay here.


    Ragnarok stayed in the devil''s pit under the protection of the Emperiti Primogenitor. He didn''t bother to go to the underground proper, so the fountain of life still knows where he is. But the demon god told him not to worry too much about it.


    Apparently, he is being used as bait to lure the wood elves to attack the devil''s pit. The wood elves didn''t take the bait. They fear the Abominable gue too much to fight her without Origin gods on their side.

 Chapter 1009 The Call.

    Chapter 1009 The Call.


    Ragnarok experienced peace for the first time in a long while. He isn''t being chased by anyone anymore, and he can rest without fear. That doesn''t mean that the conflict within the ne has subsided. The giant storm that started to brew when he was born continued to brew within the ne. Only its direction has changed.


    The Vampires were aggressive at first when he was born. They attacked the surface from every direction, looking for something important. But they have retreated now. It seems that they have found what they were looking for. They have gone from being active to being passive meanwhile the opposite happened to their enemies.


    The retreat of the Vampires didn''t make the wood elves happy. They can''t be happy since the Vampires still exist and are proliferating silently below the surface. The longer they wait, the weaker the gods defending the ne be and the weaker the Will of the ne bes due to the infiltration of the ne by the Will of the demon god.


    If they want peace to return to the ne, they have to uproot the Vampires entirely. But they can''t go underground to fight the Vampires on their home turf. The underground has been a safe haven for dark elves for a long time, and it continued to be so for Vampires. The fountain of life can''t see down below, and the Underdark is very dark. There are also little nts for the tree elves to use to aid them in fighting.


    Fighting underground is apletely bad idea for wood elves. They have made numerous attempts to test that theory and it has held true. The darkness and the small fighting spaces in the tunnels serve as an advantage to Vampires. Wood elves always return with massive losses after every excursion to the Underdark.


    Fortunately, all hope is not lost. A Warrog that is a bane to all vampires has been born. This Warrog is also the child of the ne. The wood elves had to ept a truce between the two races despite their hatred. They are desperate for help so they will take any help they can get.


    This truce has a lot of impact on the Warrogs. For one, their mana entities or Alphas of Alphas are allowed to be transcendents now. They won''t be hunted anymore. They also won''t be forced to live in different settlements withoutmunicating with each other.


    The most important change of all is the freedom granted to the two Emperors of the race. This freedom means that Emperors can create an Empire again. They can amass an army onto themselves and be the backbone of a Civilization.


    An alpha needs a squad and an Alpha of Alphas needs a park to show their full strength. An Emperor needs an army too. An army is millions of Warrogs that will run with the Emperor and do the bidding of the Emperor. To create an army, an Emperor will have to put out "The Call."


    Ragnarok was resting peacefully in his castle when Emperor Rinoz put out the call. He heard it deep in the earth where he was. He would have heard it no matter where he was in the ne. The Call is more of a spiritual announcement than a physical one. It uses the connection between all Warrogs to inform them that an Emperor exists and that the Emperor is calling them to battle. The Warrogs who hear the Call and answer it be part of the army of the Emperor.


    The power of the Emperor determines how far their call will reach and howpelling their call will be. The existence of other Emperors will also affect the effect of the call. In the case where there has not been an Emperor for such a long time, then every Warrog alive will hear the call.


    In the case where the Emperor making the call is the child of the ne, then every being in the ne will hear the call regardless of their race. The whole of the ne will know today that the Warrogs have a new Emperor and that they are on the rise once more.


    And in the case where the Emperor is as powerful as Origin gods, then the call isn''t just a spiritual announcement anymore. It bes a physical phenomenon that can be felt by every living being in the ne. The physical phenomenon in this case was the appearance of a star in the sky. A bright Celestial body rose in the sky in the ne.


    The light of this star shone so brightly that, for the first time in more than 100 Origin cycles, people experienced normal daylight again. Some people who had never experienced daylight didn''t understand what was going on. They felt fear and trepidation for the unnatural ball of light that appeared in the sky.


    This star is a phantom manifestation. It is not real, but it felt very real. It produced light and heat that felt like the light of the real sun. Then this star turned into the bright head of a fox with antlers on its head. The fox opened its mouth and roared.


    "Rawrrrr!"


    Ragnarok was deep in the earth, so he didn''t notice the physical phenomenon. But he did notice the effect of the roar. He was lying down on the earth, so he definitely noticed the shaking of the earth. The roar of the fox caused the earth to rumble intensely all over the ne as if arge group of animals were migrating and stampeding. It caused him to wake up with a jolt.


    "What''s that?" He asked.


    The demon god replied with a sigh. "The Child of the ne has finally been unveiled."


    "Is that so?" He asked in mild surprise. "She seems very strong."


    He was wondering why the unveiling of the child of the ne would cause so much ruckus when the spiritual impact of the Call hit him. It was like the aftershocks after a massive earthquake. The spiritual impact is also massive, which says a lot about how powerful the force that made the entire ne shake is.

 Chapter 1010 Utter Disregard.

    Chapter 1010 Utter Disregard.


    He is a Warrog and also an indigene of this ne, so he felt the spiritual impact. It opened up the connection between him and Emperor Rinoz. She used the connection to speak with him directly. A ghostly apparition of a yellow fox with 9 fluffy tails and white antlers appeared before him. This apparition is bigger than him, so it is looking down on him.


    "Submit." The apparition said to him.


    He snorted. "I''ll never submit."


    "I am your Emperor and also your child of the ne. You will submit to me." She said imperiously.


    "Ha," Heughed.


    He truly finds whatever this is very funny.


    "I know who and what you are and I am not impressed. I hope you didn''t think that whatever you have going on would be enough for me to submit to you. You''re an antpared to a demon god. I didn''t submit to a demon god, so why will I submit to you?"


    Rinoz said to him as a matter of fact, "It is admirable that you resist the demon god. But you have no choice anymore. You will submit one way or the other. So submit to me. I can save you from being bonded to an abomination."


    He was not convinced. "I am not as stupid as you think. I won''t be trading one master for another." He replied.


    She insisted. "Stop being so stubborn. You have no choice. You are weak. ept your fate and choose a better master."


    He stood up and roared at her. "I am no one''s ve. I would rather die than be enved. I was named Ragnarok by the ancestors of my pack. I am meant to end worlds. But that wasn''t enough for me. I killed those ancestors and fulfilled their prophecy. My potential will not be reduced to the level of destroying worlds and I will not fall so low as to be someone''s ve. This world will end before that happens."


    She fell silent. Then she left. The apparition disappeared.


    Ragnarok snorted. Then heid back on the ground. He truly feels insulted.


    "They just keeping at me one after the other." He thought to himself.


    First, it was Emperiti and the unfair Oath. She took advantage of hispromised situation to fleece him. Then it is this young Warrog who thinks she has the right to be his master.


    It is one thing for her to think so, it is another thing to actually ask him to his face. It screams utter disregard and he won''t take it. He has to suffer the recruitment of a demon god. The demon god is stronger than him and has him in a chokehold. But he won''t suffer the same thing from Rinoz.


    The voice in his head spoke, "That was admirable, I must admit. I thought for sure that you would jump at any chance to rid yourself of me. But she is right about something. You have no choice and you need to stop being so stubborn. Stop being a child already and ept your situation. Nothing will change about your situation."


    He ignored them both and went back to sleep. He knows what it means to be a ve. Legion-7 is a ve currently. He had to be. He was forced into it. Death couldn''t even save him from that very. As for him, his situation is bad. He can admit to that. But he is not a ve yet. He is still a free person. And he would rather die or see this world perish with everyone present within it than be a ve to anyone.


    The voice in his head urged him onest time. "She is very strong. You won''t be safe in the devil''s pit if shees after you. You will need to go deep into the Underdark, but you can''t because of your size. Even if you could go down, that won''t stop her from chasing after you. She will still be able to get to you. Running is not the way. You need strength."


    He didn''t say anything. If shees to kill him, then he will run. If he dies and he bes a ve, then so be it. But he will not be a ve willingly. He hasn''t fallen so low.


    ---


    Emperor Rinoz.


    "I must admit." She mused aloud, "I didn''t expect that kind of resistance from him."


    Fenrir snorted. "I am not surprised by his rejection. I told you that it would happen. All Executioners were once Omegas. They don''t bow to authority. They won''t submit to any authority no matter how strong it is."


    She sighed. "I know, but I thought he would ept my help. He needs help so he should have been d to receive mine."


    "You mistook his resistance to the demon god to mean that he is willing to help the ne. Unfortunately, he doesn''t hate the demon god because he doesn''t want the demon god to win. He hates the demon god because the demon god wants to enve him. It is the same thing you wanted to do to him."


    "But mine is different. He will be free from the hold of the demon god and within the embrace of his race again. How is that not better than his current situation?"


    Fenrir shook his head, "He doesn''t care about anything, including the fate or theradery of his race. I was there when he ate all the past Executioners. Executioners don''t care for cooperation and the bounds of society. Your so-called help is just another form of very to him because he would have to listen to you and do whatever you want if he is to continue living."


    She looked at Fenrir. She could hear what else he didn''t say about her. He didn''t call her naive, but she heard it in his words and in the tone he used to say them. Fenrir thinks that she was naive to believe that an Emperor would submit.

 Chapter 1011 The Drums Of War.

    Chapter 1011 The Drums Of War.


    She truly thought that Ragnarok would ept her help. All he had to do was allow the will of the ne to invade his soul through his connection to it. His body would belong to the demon god while his soul would belong to the will of the ne. They would fight for his existence, and whoever wins will be his master.


    Ragnarok has a very strong soul, or so she has heard from the fountain of life. His soul should be stronger than his body which will give the Will of the ne an advantage over the demon god So the Will of the ne should win if Ragnarok works with it and is cooperative. He will have to bind his existence to the ne in that case. It is the price to pay for his freedom.


    He won''t be a child of the ne like her and he won''t gain any other benefits apart from his freedom from the demon god. It should be enough for him since he will be helping the ne. She thought it should have been enough. It turns out that she was wrong.


    "Maybe I was being naive," she admitted.


    Fenrir wisely chose to keep any agreement he has about that statement to himself. Rinoz eyed him suspiciously but he didn''t say anything.


    Then she dered, "He has refused my hand of assistance, and that''s on him. His resistance is admirable, but we cannot risk him falling into the hands of the demon god. He will be a powerful force of darkness if that happens. So we will assault the devil''s pit to kill him."


    "Can he truly be killed?" Fenrir asked.


    He has his doubts about the need to kill Ragnarok and Rinoz''s main reason for doing so. He believes that she might be angry at him because of the rejection and might want to make Ragnarok regret it. He believes it is a better use of their time to attack the Vampires in general rather than a heavily fortified outpost.


    But he can''t say those things for fear of angering Rinoz. Instead, he asked about the possibility of killing an ancestral Vampire permanently. After all, very few of them have been sessfully killed permanently.


    "Don''t worry. He is not a full ancestral Vampire yet. I can kill him permanently as long as I have the support of the Will of the ne."


    "Alright. If you''re confident then it is okay. It is good to know that we are not going to waste our time trying to kill him."


    Rinoz said confidently, "He and any other Vampire will surely die once I make my move. I am the bane of Vampires. I was crafted for this very purpose."


    "What do you think he will do?" She asked Fenrir when he continued to remain silent.


    "He will fight. That''s for sure. He will fight to the bitter end. But he will also die honorably. That''s what an Executioner is at the end of the day."


    She nodded. "That will do. His death will still help me. Maybe I can get a tenth tail." She joked.


    Fenrir shook his head at her joke. "A tenth tail is not possible. Nine is the limit. Ten is impossible."


    "I know, old Fenrir. Learn to get a joke," she smiled and said. "We are at the cusp of war. I am so excited."


    Fenrir smiled. "Ah yes. The drums of war have been beaten. The horns of adversity are blown. The Call has been made. It is going to be your first run. It is going to be quite a ride. The rush of energy will be such a wild torrent."


    She nodded earnestly. "Yes. I can feel it. I can feel it rising within my body. It is calling to me. I want to run. I want to fight. I want to..."


    Then she howled. Her howl reverberated through the air. It descended from the mountain top down to the Warrog settlement below and beyond. Several howls answered her call. They came from all over the ne, wherever the Warrogs were.


    The Call has been made, and it is being answered. Active connections are forming between her and every Warrog that has answered the call. Even now, several Warrogs are rushing here to meet her. Those Warrogs have a bright star mark on their foreheads.


    They are in their beast form too. They are faster in this form. They will be able to reach her quickly. The mark on their foreheads marks them as belonging to the Army of Emperor Rinoz, the child of the ne. They won''t tire or break as they run until they meet her. The boosts and empowerment they get from her increase the closer they get to her. This boost is drawing them towards her.


    They feel a thrill as they get closer to her. The star mark on their foreheads also shines brighter and shows them the way. They will be able to run both day and night without exhaustion. The connections also affect her. She feels closer to her people than ever before. She feels their wants and needs. She feels their joy and sadness.


    Above all else, she feels their need for freedom. They want to let loose. They want to run with the wind. They want to run unrestricted all over the ne and they want to trample everything beneath their feet. It empowers her. It thrills her.


    "We will ride for the devil''s pit once the army has fully congregated and take it by ourselves. We will do what the wood elves couldn''t do," she dered in her excitement. "We will run, and we will win."


    "I hope we will win," Fenrir thought to himself. "I really hope so."


    He can see that Rinoz is excited, and he understands why. It is not a fault to be excited. Her determination is also admirable. But taking the devil''s pit is going to be very challenging. The wood elves haven''t failed for no reason. Sure, the Warrogs will be empowered when they are in her army. But she can only boost them to the transcendent level at most. That is not nearly enough.

 Chapter 1012 The Third Great War.

    Chapter 1012 The Third Great War.


    Even if all the Warrog paragons congregate here and join her army, she will only have a few tens of million soldiers at most. But that won''t happen because the nameless still have to be protected. So about ten million paragons wille. That means, at best, they will be able to match the Emperiti Primogenitor in quantity. As for quality, they are sorelycking in that aspect.


    Millions of transcendents can''tpare to a handful of Sovereigns. The Emperiti Primogenitor doesn''t have a handful of Sovereigns. She has tens of thousands. Their hope can only be ced on Rinoz and her strength. Hopefully, that will be enough for their victory.


    War has erupted in full swing. The wood elves are calling it the third great war for the liberation of the ne. It began with a sudden attack by the Vampires on the surface. The vampires have retreated, but it is the turn of the wood elves to press the offensive. This wave of offense is being led by the child of the ne. She ran with millions of Warrogs to assault the devil''s pit. Her aim is clear to everyone. She met resistance as soon as she got there.


    -----


    She arrived during the day, so the Familiars were the first to face her. The gate of the devil''s pit was opened, and thousands of Sovereigns came out to fight her. They flew out of the devil''s pit as soon as the alert went up about her presence. They were ready for her attack, so they weren''t caught unprepared. Besides, it is very difficult not to notice the rising of the sun in a ne that has been dark for millions of years.


    The day became brighter the closer she got to the devil''s pit. Her entire body lit up the dim day and chased away the darkness. That is a ring and obvious hint announcing her presence. The Sovereigns attacked in carefully formed formations. That was their mistake. She howled at them. Her jaw opened wide, and a tiny ball of light was ejected out of her mouth.


    It was as if she had shot a shooting star with her mouth. The star flew at a very fast speed. It seemed it had simply blinked to its target. Then it hovered in front of the Sovereigns. They had put up shields because they expected a collision and a subsequent explosion.


    The collision they expected didn''t happen. Instead, they felt a force pulling them toward the star. The small bright star exerted a pulling force on everything around it. It caused everything to levitate and fly towards it.


    Stones and rocks were the first to be levitated, followed by the soil of the ground itself. The wind picked up as air was pulled too. The pulling force increased in range and power too quickly. The Sovereigns were caught off guard despite their preparation.


    Their shields weren''t helping at all. They were being pulled with their shields too. They tried to resist by summoning the creatures they were bonded with, but nothing helped. Anything and everything within the range of the pulling force was drawn into the small star.


    The star was getting bigger as it assimted everything it managed to suck into itself. It was growing stronger every moment it remained in existence. Non-living things like soil and rocks strengthened it just as living things like the Sovereigns and their summons. Anything would strengthen the star as long as it had energy and mass within it. Even the surrounding air and mana were capable of strengthening it.


    The grip of the star on its surroundings increased exponentially. It experienced a jump in strength whenever a Sovereign was absorbed. The star became so powerful that a sort of whirlpool formed around it. The whirlpool was formed mainly by the air. The air howled and screamed as it was ripped away from the world into the star.


    "So beautiful," Fenrir said as he gazed at the faraway destruction being wreaked.


    The star had be brighter and bigger. The light it was producing had turned from red to yellow. All in all, it looked beautiful despite the havoc and destruction it was wreaking.


    Rinoz smirked and remarked, "And also deadly."


    The now yellow star reached its limit, and then it exploded. There was a very loud bang. It forcefully ejected all the energy within it after reaching critical mass. Everything within the range of its pulling force and some distance beyond was decimated immediately. The explosion caused the air to expand rapidly, which led to the creation of a shockwave.


    The shockwave was so loud that it traveled to the far edges of the ne where it could be heard. So, everyone must have heard the bang that it produced. It also produced a bright light that shone onto the entire ne. Arge pir of smoke rose up into the sky from the explosion site. People could see and feel the effects of the explosion from thousands of kilometers away.


    "That is very deadly," Fenrir said in admiration.


    "Are you jealous that your divine ability can''t do that?" Rinoz asked with a grin.


    "I can''t be jealous of anything about you if I want to remain sane. We are not the same," he said to her while still looking at the destruction that has been wrought.


    There is another crater now beside the crater that leads down to the devil''s pit. This crater is much deeper despite being smaller. It is also lined with red-hot molten rock. It makes it look like the opening of a volcano. It is a sight to marvel at. Rinoz achieved it with her Origin energy empowered divine ability and the other perks that she has.


    He said to her in excitement, "If you can dish out this much firepower, then we might just win this."


    "Don''t worry. We are going to win this," she said confidently. "There is nothing that can stop me. We shall trample every obstacle that stands in our way of Victory."


    -----


    A/N: In honor of The Third Great Ninja War.

 Chapter 1013 Base-full Confidence.

    Chapter 1013 Base-full Confidence.


    NAME: RINOZ


    RACE: WARROG


    BLOODLINE: NONE


    TITLE: CHILD OF THE LUMEN PLANE


    POWER LEVEL: TRANSCENDENT


    PHYSIQUE: SOUL-BODY


    HP: INFINITE


    STAMINA: INFINITE


    ENERGY QUALITY: Origin Energy.


    ENERGY QUANTITY: 2,421,746


    VITALITY: 120,572,925


    ENDURANCE: 112,725,783


    STRENGTH: 101,668,563


    AGILITY: 102,292,878


    PERCEPTION: 100,034,031


    SPIRIT: 100,101,884


    POWER: 1,000,000,000%


    AMPLIFICATION: 1


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 100,000 (C)


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 60%


    LAW AFFINITY: 15%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): LIGHT (RARE), DEVOUR (EPIC).


    LAWS:


    LIGHT: 0.001%


    DEVOUR: 0.0001%


    STATUS: Excited.


    She has the right to be very confident. She has a power rating of 10^15, which is 100 times stronger than Emperor Fenrir. A new Origin god has a power rating of 10^14 which means she is about 10 times stronger than a new Origin god.


    She doesn''t have a bloodline, and her affinities are not special. What makes her special is that she is a child of the ne and also a paragon. That is the only way that a transcendent can match an origin god in power.


    The boost from every living being in the ne is not a small thing. A 1,000,000,000% boost is not a small thing at all. And she has enough Origin energy to fully show off her strength. With Origin energy, her stamina and health are infinite. With Origin energy, she canbine all her stats into a single one to experience another boost.


    She is not like the previous paragons at all. Just the ess to Origin energy is more than enough to beat them. Transcendents don''t need Origin energy but arge part of their strength will be absent without Origin energy.


    The ability to shift their existence into one aspect such as the ability to fuse the stats of Vitality, Endurance, Agility, and Spirit into Strength will be absent without Origin energy. She has Origin energy, a powerful divine ability to use it with, and many more. So she is confident of victory. Nothing can stop her at all.


    ----


    Back to Ragnarok.


    He heard the bang of the explosion and felt the quaking of the earth again. It is more severe than thest time. It is not the silent vibration of the earth but the violent shaking of the earth.


    He grumbled. "This is getting out of hand. At this rate, this Emperor will destroy the ne with the frequency at which she is shaking it. Even the ne has a limit to how much stress it can take before it breaks up."


    The voice in his head said, "It will take much more than that. The level of power needed to destroy the ne is more than that, and the damage to the ne needs to be more frequent than this. It is very difficult to achieve the amount of damage needed to destroy a ne because those that can output that kind of power are mostly origin gods."


    Ragnarok agreed. "That''s true. Mother High Heaven will interfere as long as whoever has that power is an Origin god and is also not an indigene of the ne. But that''s not my point. This ce can still copse on me and kill me."


    The two of them fell into silence again. Other Vampires would be asleep during the day, but he is not a full vampire yet. His body gets too weak to move during the day, but he is very well aware of his environment. So he knows that the child of the ne is right at his doorstep.


    "What are you going to do now?" The demon god asked him.


    "Nothing. There''s nothing to do. I am currently too weak, so I can''t even escape," he replied.


    The demon god suggested, "You can escape as long as you fuse with your body andplete your breakthrough. You will still be weak during the day, but you will certainly be able to escape deeper into the Underdark."


    "I know that," he said.


    He knows that and yet he hasn''t fused with the heart of Carnage. Ignorance is not his problem right now.


    The demon god warned, "She is very strong, Ragnarok. You will die if you don''t take this seriously."


    "I also know that."


    "Then why are you not doing what needs to be done to live?" The demon god asked in exasperation.


    "You know why," he replied calmly.


    The demon god chuckled. "Yes. I know that. It is because of your short-sighted stubbornness."


    "See? For once we are of the same mind."


    The demon god was not amused. "This stubbornness of yours is wearing thin on my patience. It has been over a hundred years since you came here to hide. I expected that the reality of your situation would have caught up to you by now."


    "You were wrong." Ragnarok pointed out unapologetically.


    The demon god scoffed. It was sure that Ragnarok would be convinced by now. Time should have worn down his determination and the sight of the power that the Emperiti Primogenitor wields should have tempted him and convinced him to switch his allegiance to the dark side. But Ragnarok remained stubborn even after a hundred years of helplessness.


    This is not enough to deter the demon god though. The more Ragnarok resists the more it wants his soul. Precious things have to be worked for.


    The demon god started from another angle, "You do know that it is not a sign of weakness to be the subordinate of the strong. It is especially not a weakness to be my subordinate. I am a demon god after all. A little more, and I''ll be a world-ender. Doesn''t that make me worthy enough to be your superior?"


    Ragnarok sneered and said, "Is it not enough."


    "And why is that?" The demon god asked with slight amusement. "Do you even know the kind of power a demon god has or what a world-ender is?"


    "I do not need to know that. All I need to know is that you are stronger than me. But that''s temporary. Everything changes. I can be stronger than you if given time and opportunity."

 Chapter 1014 Lost Potential = Death.

    Chapter 1014 Lost Potential = Death.


    His reply made the demon godugh. It roared in his head withughter of derision. "You? You believe that you can be stronger than me? You?"


    Ragnarok didn''t reply. But his silence is answer enough.


    Then the demon god yelled in his head. "Stop daydreaming you ignorant boy. Do you think you can acquire my level of power just because you try or have talent? You must be delusional."


    It was CARNAGE''s turn to feel insulted.


    "Do you know what I had to do to reach where I am now? I will tell you. I started killing right from the moment I was born. I killed every day of my life. For every step that you have taken in your life, I have killed 10 people. I killed a ne''s worth of beings and then consumed them to reach where I am."


    CARNAGE is truly insulted. It didn''t acquire its power through a bloodline and it didn''t get any help from anyone. It was born in a hostile environment. Everyone around it was its enemy. It wasn''t born special. Every demon is born the same just with different marks of sin. It grew up level by level through killing. It became a demon king of Carnage and then became the first of them to be a demon god.


    CARNAGE is a unique existence in the abyss. There is no other demon god like it. And it is all due to its effort over hundreds of Origin cycles. Trillions of demons died whereas it seeded. It has many reasons to be proud. But some mutt in some ne who has not lived for up to a thousand years believes that it can acquire his power.


    It said with disdain, "As for you, you will be incredibly lucky to be an Origin god. And I eat Origin gods as snacks. So why don''t you wake up to the real world? You are about to die. Do something to stop that. If you die now then you will never achieve your lofty dreams."


    Ragnarok wasn''t affected by the mockingughter. He replied calmly, "I have potential. You can''t deny that. I can be anything. I can be great or end up mediocre. But bing your ve or subordinate, as you call it, will lead to the death of my potential. I will never be great. It is the same as dying to me. So I don''t care if I die now to the child of the ne. I would rather die than shackle myself willingly to you."


    The demon god grinned menacingly. It said, "You know, I am very curious about how you know about Origin gods and demon gods. You seem to know a lot about them for someone who has never left a backward settlement. It probably has something to do with your powerful soul. Are you the clone of some Origin god?"


    "No, that doesn''t make sense. The clone of an Origin god can''t be this weak. You could be a special enigma. But why do you exist and what could be so special about you? These are difficult questions. Fortunately, I will be able to find out if I assimte your soul forcefully. I should do that now since you don''t care about your life. I might have lied earlier about not being able to do anything forcefully with you. I am a demon, after all."


    The demon god ended its musing with a threat.


    Ragnarok snickered. "Don''t try to threaten me like that. It won''t work on me. You are a demon god so you are not benevolent. Everything you do must gain you some kind of benefit. You haven''t forcefully assimted my soul and it can''t be out of kindness. Your abstinence must be rted to some kind of benefits or you simply can''t do it."


    The demon god sneered. "Is that so?"


    Then it asked, "Do you want to find out?"


    Ragnarok ignored the question. He went on to strike while the iron was hot.


    "It could be that you are holding back because you won''t gain much if you forcefully assimte my soul. You will destroy my soul in the process. You know that, and I know that. So it is better for me to ept the assimtion willingly. You will be able to get more then. I will even have to answer any question you ask me."


    "It could be that you can''t assimte my soul forcefully and have only been bluffing. Besides, even if you can assimte my soul forcefully, you are not desperate enough to do so. If you were that desperate and willing to lose me then I need to be in actual danger."


    The voice in his head was strangely quiet. But that didn''t stop Ragnarok.


    "For that to happen, you won''t make your forces fight the child of the ne. You will let her get to me and actually threaten my life. Only then will you forcefully assimte my soul. Assimting my soul is a desperate move that a smart person like you will only do when you have tried and failed at everything to pressure me to ept assimtion willingly."


    The demon god fell silent. Then it said, "You are too smart for your own good."


    Ragnarok snickered. "That is something that both of us can agree on."


    "Being smart is not always a good thing. And it surely isn''t the solution to the problem that you are in. Mark my words mortal, I will have my way one way or the other. I always do. I will not be denied my prize."


    Ragnarok scoffed. Then the two of them became silent. The sounds of explosions rocked the world around them. But even with danger so close to them, Ragnarok''s mind and thoughts are somewhere else. He has so much to think about.


    He isn''t as carefree as he is behaving. He has been shackled with the heart of Carnage for more than a hundred years now. He was hoping for a miracle to free him but the window for miracles ising to an end. He is running out of time. So he is testing the boundaries of the demon god and trying to see the limits of its abilities.

 Chapter 1015 Unstoppable Child Of The Plane.

    Chapter 1015 Unstoppable Child Of The ne.


    His major problem here is not death. He is not scared of death at all. What he is afraid of is having thework of Legion exposed to the demon god after his death. This possibility remains because Legion-1 has gone to inquire about demon gods and has found out that anything is possible with a supremew.


    He is up against an entity with a supremew so it is possible for his soul to be forcefully assimted. It is also possible that death will not save him from the demon god. But he hasn''t given up. He won''t give up until he is dead.


    His best bet for freedom was for the tree father to assist him in breaking through. The supply of divine life energy and his powerful soul will fight against his body. The n is to cut off his body from his existence. It will kill him, but it will also cause his connection to his body to be severed.


    He got that idea from Rinoz''s stupid attempt to help him. Unfortunately, a lot can go wrong with that n. The demon god might actually be lying about not being able to do anything forcefully to him. He can''t risk the whole of Legion because the demon god said that a blood writ based on itself is stopping it from attacking his soul.


    It might be true that the demon god is unable to do anything to him because of the Oath he made with Xigger. But it is also true that the demon god certainly can break his Oath if the benefit is ample enough.


    If the demon god was lying about it, then it must be waiting for him to show more of his secrets or do something interesting under his false sense of security. And if the demon god was being truthful about its incapability to assimte his soul forcefully, he definitely shouldn''t give the demon god ample reasons to break the Oath.


    Getting the help of divine energy from his soul will certainly make the demon god curious. It might not be enough for the demon god to break the Oath, but it will surely fight to retain the connection with him. Then he will have to show his overly powerful soul and expose his soul force to fight off the demon god, which indicates his connection to an Origin soul. So that n was eliminated for being too risky.


    The best thing that he can hope for right now is for the demon god to consider him not worth breaking an Oath for when the child of the nees to kill him. He is relying on luck which he doesn''t like. But he doesn''t have any other choice.


    Unfortunately, even that is unlikely to happen. He has some guesses about the so-called child of the ne, and he doesn''t think she will be able to get to him considering what he knows about the title of child of the ne and the Emperiti Primogenitor''s defenses.


    His next best bet is for Helios to figure out something useful from the experiment that he is conducting with the body that Beelta left behind in the divine ne of the Zargoth ne after her defeat. Maybe something about Origin energy or Chaos energy will liberate him from the demon god.


    That is even too much for him to ask for right now. He will be grateful if he is killed by whatever Helios is cooking up without the demon god being able to do anything to him. Origin energy causes demon flesh to explode after all. Maybe his body and the heart of Carnage can be destroyed, and he can die in peace.


    ---


    Emperor Rinoz is powerful. She managed to kill many Sovereigns ofw. Hundreds of Sovereigns died to her in a single attack. Many more were injured. That is very impressive. However, she also has a ring weakness. Her weakness became evident to certain beings early in watching the live recording of the fight.


    No one knew of this weakness before. It is understandable since no one had any information about her. If they had, perhaps things would have turned out differently. The Sovereigns ofw that died to her wouldn''t have perished so easily.


    If her weakness had not been identified quickly, a lot more deaths would have urred as they tried to figure out her weakness. They might have eventually figured it out after several rounds or by chance. But they didn''t need to.


    The Vampires, including a demon god and several other Primogenitors, were observing the event. Thus, her weakness was identified after her first attack. The demon god informed the Emperiti Primogenitor of it, who then ordered her familiars to retreat. Instead of fighting Rinoz and defending the devil''s pit, they returned to the devil''s pit and sealed the opening''s gate.


    Sovereigns are exceedingly fast, so they managed to escape quickly enough. The other, less powerful familiars were less fortunate. Some were lucky enough to survive, but most were killed by Rinoz, who was shooting Star Novas everywhere in excitement. Explosions rang out again and again because of her.


    She noticed the retreating Sovereigns, but she didn''t care. She didn''t think she had a reason to worry. After all, their reaction is not strange. Her enemies are supposed to run terrified for their lives after witnessing her disy of power. Thus, the retreat was not unexpected. Besides, she didn''t want to leave the other slower Warrogs behind.


    She killed everything in sight and advanced with her army toward the devil''s pit. They reached the edge of the crater. She stood imperiously at the edge and looked down at the sealed pit.


    The pit was about 1 kilometer wide, indicating that the gate sealing it must be monumental. It had runes that empowered it and even emitted fluctuations ofws. It could be deduced at first nce that the gate is very powerful.


    Addressing her army, she dered, "Here we are. They said that we wouldn''t be able to take the devil''s pit. Yet, here we stand at their very doorstep. It is because we are unstoppable."

 Chapter 1016 What Goes Up...

    Chapter 1016 What Goes Up...


    The Warrogs howled in agreement. They had the devil''s pit surrounded as they howled in victory. The sound of 10 million beings shouting at the top of their lungs is truly a loud sound. It is as if the Warrogs want everyone in the ne to know of their recent sess.


    Then they became silent for their Empress to continue.


    "The ves of the Vampires have failed to stop us. They ran away in defeat before the might of the Warrogs. Soon their masters will fall to the death that our jaws will bring. This moment marks the rise of Warrogs'' glory forever."


    Then she raised her delicate snout and howled. Her soldiers howled with her too. They were filled with confidence and excitement. They had a very strong Emperor who would liberate their race. Nothing could stand in their way.


    Emperor Rinoz fired a Star Nova down into the bottom of the crater. The star shot out of her mouth at great speed. It struck the gate and then bounced off of it like a rubber ball. The star bounced to the far side of the gate, where it began to pull and devour everything it couldy its gluttonous mouth on. Rinoz knew it wouldn''t work even before it exploded.


    "What just happened?" She said in shock when her Star Nova bounced upon striking the gate.


    She is powerful, surely. No one can deny that. But she is young. Herck of time to fully grow is stopping her from showcasing her full potential. One of the limits imposed on her is herck of knowledge and experience. She can''t discern what happened despite seeing it ur.


    It was Fenrir who understood why her divine ability bounced off the gate. His heart fell immediately.


    "I have heard of this before. This gate is not ordinary. It appears to be an origin artifact," he said to her.


    She asked in frustration, "What does that have to do with anything?"


    Fenrir patiently exined, "It containsws within it. The gate was forged withws. It needs the power ofws to harm it. Do you understand now?"


    She understood immediately. She doesn''t know anyw. The reason why she doesn''t know anyw is because she is too young. She hasn''t been a Transcendent for more than 200 years. Talented people with royal bloodlines and the ancestral memories thate with it will have both thew fragments and instincts toprehend aw in at least 1 origin cycle. That is 100,000 years.


    As for others, it will take longer. Mih was 50 origin cycles old as a king ofw. She had no bloodline whatsoever so it took her a long time toprehend aw. Her husband, Ghoto, had a royal bloodline of low purity and it took him at least 10 origin cycles to be a king ofw.


    It is understandable that a young girl like her without any bloodline and poorw affinity will not haveprehended anyws in so little time. It is no shame. In fact, she is doing well enough for herself already. She has much to be proud of. Unfortunately, what she has achieved is just not good enough for what she is currently attempting. Some might say that she has bitten more than she can chew.


    Fenrir thinks she has bitten more than she can chew. But he is not going to say that to her face. Especially not when she is currently angry. And she is very angry. It can be seen inly on her frowning face and her strained demeanor.


    Fenrir chose to watch the effect of her divine ability just like Rinoz.


    "I hope I am wrong." He thought to himself. "I truly hope so."


    All the sound in the world was drowned out by the shrill whistling sound of the Star Nova exerting its influence upon the world. Soil and rocks responded. Wind and mana answered. Everything responded except for the gate.


    The gate is a heavy object anchored deeply into the earth. Its foundation runs through the surface down to the Underdark. It refused to budge, and the Star Novacked the Authority to move it. Then the Star Nova exploded, utilizing all the condensed energy within it as fuel. The edge of the crater where it was positioned was ttened by the explosion.


    The explosion yielded its customary effects: a blinding sh of light, a deafening boom, and finally, an intense st of heat. All of this transpired. However, the gate remained intact after the dust cleared. In fact, more of the gate was revealed. The size of the gate exceeded that of the pit. Every newly revealed surface remained pristine and unharmed. It was not a sight that the child of the ne wanted to see.


    Emperor Rinoz''s eyes twitched. She roared in frustration and defiance. Then she fired more Star Novas at the gate in anger. This time, she ensured they didn''t have too much momentum. So the Star Novas did not reach high speeds. They stopped close to the gate''s surface and did not bounce off.


    Several Star Novas detonated very close to the gate. The gate shook, and the environment quaked due to the impact of the multiple explosions. Nevertheless, the gate remained intact. It didn''t even shake. It refused to be cowered by her brute force.


    The sight of this failure seemed to have drained her of something important.


    She struggled to say, "I can''t believe it. I just can''t believe it."


    She can see the result as clear as day, but she can''t believe it. The gate''s smooth surface shone from being polished by the explosions. It reflected the light that she produces passively back at her. It is as if it is mocking her.


    Sheined to Fenrir, "But I am as powerful as Origin gods. The fountain of life told me that. This shouldn''t be happening."


    She sounded aggrieved like someone who has been deceived or cheated. Fenrir remained silent.

 Chapter 1017 Brain Vs Brawn.

    Chapter 1017 Brain Vs Brawn.


    Fenrir doesn''t know what to say. He has only heard about Origin weapons from the other representatives of the fountain of life. He has never needed one and they are also expensive to buy so he has not gotten one.


    He isrgely ignorant of them which is understandable since only wood elves are capable of producing Origin weapons. Warrogs don''t even have the legacy for ordinary spells. Where will they get the knowledge to forge Origin weapons or the Origin energy needed to forge them? They don''t even have mana weapons yet and they have ample mana around them.


    His silence irked her. It isn''t what she wants right now.


    "Answer me." She shouted at him. "Give me an exnation now."


    He was forced back after she got in his face and pushed him. There is no doubt that she is desperate for an exnation. She must get it or she will take out her frustration on him.


    He almost roared back at her. Her behavior is disrespectful to him. It is a challenge that he ought to beat down. But he is not a reckless youth anymore.


    "Let me ask the fountain of life." He said to appease her.


    He could also ask the demon god and the Vampires. They surely know why someone as powerful as her is unable to break down their gate crafted with the concept of unbreakable defense. This gate is what one will call a top-grade artifact. It is something that needs an Origin god to make. It is more powerful than the high-grade artifact that the Sovereigns that the first Star Nova killed possessed.


    While everyone was distracted by the effect and power of the Star Nova, the demon god noticed other things. Those things are hidden andrgely inconsequential even if noticed. What the demon god noticed is that the Origin artifacts that the Sovereigns were wearing were not destroyed.


    The Sovereigns and their artifacts whether defensive or offensive were absorbed by the Star Nova. The Sovereigns died due to the pressure and heat. They tried and failed to resist with their concepts but the difference in power was too much. Their existence was overwhelmed so they died but their artifacts remained. Those artifacts were then scattered during the explosion.


    It is understandable that they will be missed. After all, there was the blinding light, the thundering bang, and the st of heat to look at. The tiny artifacts that looked like debris were easily missed. But the demon god noticed that they were ejected outwards from the explosion and that they were the same ones that the Sovereigns had.


    That led to the conclusion that they didn''t need to fight the child of the ne. At least, not right now when she doesn''t even have any Authority or concept. If she can''t destroy high-grade Origin artifacts then it is highly unlikely that she will be able to damage a top-grade artifact that contains a concept.


    Of course, she will be stronger in time when sheprehendsws. She will be terrifying even. But until then, they are safe from her. They will have time to make more targeted attacks that will capitalize on her weakness.


    Word came from the fountain of life shortly after. Fenrir ryed them to the frustrated child of the ne. The information contained a lot of knowledge but not one solution to her current dilemma.


    "This is nonsense." She yelled in frustration. "What is the fountain of life up to? Why did she let this happen?"


    Emperor Rinoz was about to lose her mind because she didn''t know what was going on. The news she heard isn''t good though. They were informed fully about what Origin artifacts are. But knowing something doesn''t mean that she will be able to ovee it.


    Origin artifacts are fragments of origin gods. They are like the body parts of Origin gods. This is true because Origin gods are not living things. They are immortals.


    Origin gods have been forged through the path of perfection into bing a concept. They are entities that have fused with concepts. They have to show their mortal forms within the realm. It is because of the suppression on them.


    Without the suppression, Origin gods will be revealed to be more of manifestations of concepts than living things. Some of them are weapons and some of them are destruction made incarnate. But they are not living things.


    Rinoz heard more from the fountain of life. She found that despite having the power output equivalent to those of Origin gods, she can''t kill them without a concept of her own. She didn''t know this earlier because she has never fought an Origin god. It is understandable since she was in hiding most of her life.


    If she did fight an Origin god, she would find out that she can defeat them here in the ne where they are suppressed but she can''t kill them. She won''t be able to capture them and neither would she be able to kill them. It is because raw power is not everything. It is the difference between special attacks that target a weakness and an attack that ys to the strength of the target.


    Fenrir remained silent in the face of her frustrated yells. He simply shook his head inwardly andmented, "The downfall of pride. Maybe wisdom is more important than brawn."


    Rinoz has a lot of brawn but very little wisdom on how to use it effectively. It is not her fault. She is young and their race is ignorant. Unfortunately, she and them don''t know better.


    Brute force is great to have, but it is not good to use brute force blindly. It is why tree cutters don''t try to fall a tree or chop wood with a club. They use a sharp object that can amplify their strength.


    Transcendents can be killed with brute force. Their soul body can be forced to undergo energy and matter transformations beyond their limit by overwhelming their existence with power. But that isn''t efficient.

 Chapter 1018 Divine Ability Vs Concept.

    Chapter 1018 Divine Ability Vs Concept.


    The best way to kill transcendents is to inject their soul bodies withws. This will make their existence impure. It will slow down their healing and bring them to their limit quicker. This also has the advantage of using a lesser amount of energy and power.


    The efficiency of brute force reduces as life evolves. A Sovereign ofw with a body ofw can still be forcefully broken apart with brute force. But brute force besrgely useless against an Origin god.


    Laws are what give brute force efficiency. They are what give power the sharp edge needed to cut down a tree better than a club. Rinoz doesn''t have the sharp edge needed to efficiently use her raw power. Shecks any sort of Authority. So she will need the assistance of Origin weapons to harm Origin gods at all.


    She is but a brute. Power without the means to exert it is power wasted. She can rely on her raw power and her divine ability to bully Sovereigns. Sovereigns haven''t fused with their concepts so they can still fall victim to her divine ability.


    If not for the raw power that she has, then her divine ability wouldn''t be able to harm Sovereigns at all. It is because her divine ability is lesser than the lowest grade of origin weapon. The lowest grade of origin weapon contains at least 1% of fully activatedw fragments of a single purew. Her divine ability doesn''t have that. It has scatteredw fragments fused together in a facsimile of an iplete concept.


    Her divine ability is simr to that of the concept of a titan ofw. The major difference is that her iplete concept doesn''t have any Authority. What''s worse is that she doesn''t even know anything about thews that make it up. So how can her divine ability match up with a top-grade artifact with aplete concept?


    She got the answer to that question today. No matter how much she attacked the gate with it, it won''t break open for her. She tested this hypothesis several times. She refused to believe the word of the fountain of life so easily.


    The gate was bombarded with as much power as she could summon. She even drew upon the boost that she bestowed on her army. The Warrogs dimmed while she became brighter. But all her attacks amounted to nothing. There wasn''t even any crack on the gate.


    Fenrir thought to himself with slight pity, "We have lost."


    ------


    Back To Ragnarok.


    "So she was a bust at the end of the day. There was nothing to fear after all." Ragnarok said. "I was right. The child of the ne was overrated."


    He can hear the continuous bangs of ineffective explosions from where he is. They are the evidence of the validity of his disdain for her and her title. He once expressed that disdain to the Emperiti Primogenitor and he was rebuked for it. He doubts Emperiti will do so now.


    He expected that she would fail. Others might not have any information about the power that the title of the child of the ne brings but he knows. He knows that the power can only boost what the wielder is already capable of. It can''t do more than that. There needs to be a foundation to take advantage of the boost. Rinozcks that foundation because of her age.


    The demon god grumbled inaudibly in his mind.


    Ragnarok asked with a hint of amusement. "What are you unhappy about? Shouldn''t you be happy now that I won''t be killed by her?"


    "I was hoping that she would be able to pressure you with the threat of death and make you finally see reason." The demon god admitted.


    "Is that why you wanted me to stay close to the surface?"


    The demon god didn''t reply. It grumbled again.


    Ragnarokughed. "It is your fault that you found me such a good ce to hide. I noticed the top-grade gate but I didn''t think much about it. But you, in your infinite wisdom chose this ce for me to hide. And you also pointed out her weakness. Your arrangements led to her downfall. I must say that I might have misjudged you. You might be a great god."


    The demon god ignored his teasing. It said, "Actually if I was so great, I should have known about her weakness before it became so ring."


    "So you have some gaps in your knowledge after all. No one is omniscient after all. How could you know about her when you haven''t ever seen an existence like hers? She is unprecedented. She is not only a child of the ne, she is also a paragon. Tell me, how many children of the ne have you encountered?" Ragnarok asked.


    "Several actually. It is themon defensive response of the will of a ne against an existential crisis. So I have actually fought several children of the ne. But I have not seen one created from the fusion of a paragon and the title. Races with paragons are very rare. I expected better from her. She is honestly a disappointment."


    "Do you see? You have weaknesses just like everyone else. You might be a big shot capable of making the will of nes quake in fear but you are still ignorant about a lot of things. You still have a long way to go before you are perfect. How can I then be your ve and limit my future forever?" Ragnarok said.


    The demon god sneered and said, "You are very lucky that Emperiti cares a lot about the devil''s pit and built the barricade around it with top-grade origin artifacts many years ago. If she didn''t, then you wouldn''t be mouthing off now."


    "Then I have to thank her. I find her hospitality to be of the highest quality. The defenses must have cost a lot to make."


    "Yes, they cost a lot. Vampires can''t forge and they can''t use origin artifacts either. Emperiti kidnapped the descendant of an origin god and threatened to turn the descendant into a "soulless vampire" unless the origin god forged the defenses for her." The demon god exined.

 Chapter 1019 Too Smart For His Own Good.

    Chapter 1019 Too Smart For His Own Good.


    "How ballsy. It sure helps to be unkible by even an Origin god." He said in admiration.


    From what he knows about the battle between the Vampires and Wood elves, many Primogenitors have died and some have died permanently. But Emperiti has never been killed once. If they can''t kill her at all, then there is no way they can kill her permanently.


    He thought she would be very strong because of it. But she hasn''t be a Monarch yet. She is just a Duke. Even so, she was able to use her Sovereign level strength to force an Origin god to build defenses that further ensured that she wouldn''t be easy to kill.


    "I wonder what the foundation of her immortality is." He thought to himself.


    The voice in his head said to him, "You too can be powerful and nearly immortal if you be a Primogenitor."


    He ignored that and changed the subject.


    "No matter how costly it was to create, the defenses are working well. It was well worth it to make an origin god her enemy. It was unexpected that the defenses would save my life. But it is good. It is better than good."


    Actually, he suspected that Rinoz would fail to get to him. He noticed the level of quality of workmanship used to build the defenses of the devil''s pit. He also knows how the title of the child of the ne is supposed to work. It should only enhance what someone is capable of doing. It cannot give them abilities that they don''t have in the first ce.


    A very strong transcendent is not the same as a Sovereign no matter how powerful that transcendent is. There is a difference in the state of existence that raw power cannot ount for. But he wasn''t sure it would work since it is such a ring weakness. He expected her to at least have a solution for such a thing. Apparently, she is young and ignorant. She was blocked by a lifeless object.


    He is also certain that he won''t die easily even if the gates to the devil''s pit are resolved easily. Because if he was so important to the demon god, then it must do everything to protect him. If the demon god needs him alive as it has always said, then it would try everything it can to keep him alive.


    "I guess it is more sleeping for me now," Ragnarok said with a yawn.


    "Luck will not be on your side forever. You will run out of it and will have nowhere else to go but to ept the goodness of CARNAGE."


    "Don''t be so glum. Shouldn''t you be happy that Rinoz has a weakness? Why are you so unhappy?" He asked.


    Of course, he knows why the demon god is unhappy. He is just asking to add salt to the injury.


    The voice in his head didn''t answer for a while. The demon god is disappointed for another reason. It didn''t n to get Ragnarok killed at all. It is expected that she will fail. In fact, the devil pit has been reinforced with familiars from other primogenitors, and several other primogenitors havee around to help Ragnarok and to kill the child of the ne if the demon god had underestimated her.


    Ragnarok wasn''t made aware of these developments. He was supposed to feel the threat of death in his ignorance. This threat of death should have then convinced him to be the champion of the dark side. However, he wasn''t moved by the prospect of death. Or if he was, it wasn''t enough to make him sumb willingly. This is why the demon god is disappointed.


    The demon god warned him, "Don''t be so sure of your safety yet. All she needs is a top-grade artifact of her own and she will surely be able to breach this wall in time."


    He wasn''t fazed at all. He shrugged and said, "Stop trying to scare me. I know that. I also know that you won''t wait until she gets one and returns to kill me. You will try your best to kill her now that she has a weakness that you can exploit. If you kill her, then you won''t need me anymore right?"


    The demon god said with annoyance, "I think I already said you''re too smart for your own good."


    Ragnarok is right. The top-grade origin artifact used as the gate is just a minor hindrance. It has been breached several times in the past by Sovereigns and origin gods. Even titans ofw can harm it.


    The main function of the defenses is to support the wall and prevent the wood elves from trying to copse it or infiltrate it with tree roots and other nts. It wasn''t meant to actually block their entry. At least not for long. So Rinoz can breach it with her own Origin artifact. But it is unlikely that the demon god will wait for that to happen.


    It is clear now that anyone encapsted in Origin artifacts will bepletely safe from her divine ability. That can be used to make familiars immune to her. They will be able to kill her if they can get close enough to her. The Vampires are already making the preparations to kill her. The familiars that managed to escape her equipping better Origin artifacts right now to kill her.


    Ragnarok smiled smugly but he wasn''t exactly happy with the development. It is both good news and bad news for him that Rinoz can be killed. Rinoz has stopped being a threat to him in the meantime which is good. But things will probably be bad for him if the Vampires manage to kill her.


    He won''t have any use as a champion to the demon god. The demon god will surely not release him in that case. A demon doesn''t let go of something good no matter how much they don''t need it.

 Chapter 1020 Turn Around.

    Chapter 1020 Turn Around.


    It is the nature of demons to be selfish and greedy. They don''t like losing something and they don''t like sharing. A demon god above all else will never let go of something that is partially theirs. So there will be no happy ending for him. There won''t even be half a happy ending for him. That ship will sail away into oblivion if the demon god can forcefully assimte him and believes that he is not needed alive anymore.


    -----


    Back To Rinoz.


    Another Star Nova reached its critical state and went off in a massive explosion. It was ineffective just like the numerous previous ones. She got ready to attack again. If there is one thing that is admirable about her, it is that she doesn''t admit defeat easily. But Fenrir interrupted her.


    "We have to go now." He said to her.


    Her head turned to him in a sh. The movement was very fast and she had a look of annoyance on her face. She asked in anger, "Why?"


    It is obvious that there will be serious consequences if her question is not answered with a worthy reply.


    Fenrir stepped up instead of backing down. "I know that you are angry. But we have lost and..."


    She bared her teeth and roared at him, "We haven''t lost yet. We haven''t lost until I say so. The Vampires are hiding. That means that we have not lost. They have toe out from there at one point and I will kill them when they do so."


    He snapped back at her. "Snap out of it. You''re letting your anger blind you. The Vampires wille out. That''s for sure. What do you think they will have nned now that they have seen what your divine ability can do and what it cannot do."


    She wanted to explode and put him in ce. She already took a step forward towards him. Her hooven foot is already raised and ready to be smashed down. She advanced on him and prepared to deal him a heavy blow because a superior doesn''t allow insubordination from an inferior in the hierarchy. Fenrir is inferior to her. So he will be punished for disrespecting her.


    Then what he said sank into her head. She paused and looked at the gate. The full implication of her failure finally made itself known to her. If she is powerless against a lifeless object, then what will be her fate when a living being equipped with one of these objects confronts her?


    "You''re right. We have to go." She said.


    Then she roared, "RETREAT"


    The army turned around immediately on her orders. It hurt her pride, self-esteem, and ego to watch them leave in defeat. But she knows when she is beaten, and this time, she is more than beaten. She is in trouble. She can admit that she is in a dangerous situation despite the damage to her pride. That''s why she agreed with Fenrir that they need to go. But she didn''t and will not apologize for how she treated him.


    The child of the ne ran away with her tail literally tucked between her legs. Unfortunately, she can''te and go however she wishes. She can never hide again. It is one thing to never show herself all her life. It is another thing to walk straight into the territory of a Primogenitor with an army in tow.


    There''s no way she will be allowed to leave without some retribution. Familiars chased after relentlessly. They want to kill her and they also want to keep track of her position now that they have leverage on her.


    Keeping track of her position is the easiest thing to do. She is practically glowing and shining like some stupid show-off. All of that showing off hase to bite her in the back. The familiars can keep track of her easily and the demon god can too. She won''t be able to hide from the gaze of the blood moon anymore.


    It is her turn to run for her life now. Vampires gave chase all over the ne. They converged on her position very quickly. Her very life is in danger of being extinguished. It was at this point that the wood elves joined in the struggle. They stood on the side of the child of the ne. They protected her and fought for her. They had to step in for her even though they didn''t want to because she is their only hope.


    The wood elves believe in her despite her failure. Her failure has only highlighted her potential. She will be able to do more if given time. They came to this conclusion and decided to help her without being needled or coerced by the representatives of the fountain of life.


    Things would have been different had they supported her when she went to attack the devil''s pit. Things would have been different had they advised her or at least sent a wood elf to apany and advise her. Her failure to breach the gates might not have happened.


    They didn''t support her before because of their hatred andck of faith in her. They are supporting her now because of the hope they see in her. Their involvement led to the resumption of active violence between the Vampires and the wood elves. War raged across the surface again.


    Everyone forgot about Ragnarok for now. Everything that is happening doesn''t concern him. He is still at an impasse with the demon god and he has refused to ept the help of the Will of the ne. He is in a situation where he wishes for a clean death that will not implicate Legion.


    His situation changed when the universe suddenly stopped. A group of ignorant entities messed with powers beyond theirprehension. They brought together some forces that have never met and shouldn''t meet. The universe stopped to rectify the error that they made. Then it resumed with none the wiser about it. The change it brought about wasn''t hidden though.

 Chapter 1021 Interrogation.

    Chapter 1021 Interrogation.


    Ragnarok was still reeling from the shock of the event that just took ce. He was on the brink of death. It is true that he had been hoping for death but he did his best to avoid it when true death was offered to him. All he had to do at that point was to give up but he didn''t. It became apparent that the burden of the demon god was just training for what he had to go through to survive Helios''s experiment. Legion survived because of his tenacity which was mirrored in the other clones. They didn''t give up. Not one of them. Their obsession kept them struggling and fighting for survival. And they won. Their souls were not consumed by the Origin fire. He would like to take some time to think andmune with other clones. But the voice in his head wouldn''t give him that time.


    "What happened to you?" The demon god asked.


    The demon god is usually thest one to notice when something monumental urs within the ne. But it is the first one to notice this time since what urred is directly in connection with it. It knows without a shred of doubt that something has happened to Ragnarok. Ragnarok didn''t answer. It is not because he is totally ignorant of his situation. He knows what happened to him. He was there after all. He witnessed everything that happened to Legion as a whole. They nearly died. But they didn''t. He is alive. But he doesn''t know what his current situation is or what the ck orb rotating around him is or what it does. That means he has an answer to the demon god''s question. But he is not going to say it. In fact, he is not going to answer any questions at all. He doesn''t want to at all. That rebellious tenacity and his unbreakable determination not to serve surged within him. Unbeknownst to him, the ck orb responded to his Will, and his Will was solidified.


    That means he has an answer to the demon god''s question. But he is not going to say it. In fact, he is not going to answer any questions at all. He doesn''t want to at all. That rebellious tenacity and his unbreakable determination not to serve surged within him. Unbeknownst to him, the ck orb responded to his Will, and his Will was solidified.


    "What is going on, boy?" The demon god insisted.


    Ragnarok nodded as if he understood something. He said, "So you didn''t see that."


    "See what?"


    This time the voice of the demon god is higher than before. The demon god felt something but it was fleeting. It was like a hitch in the rhythm of its existence but it doesn''t know if it was real or if it imagined the hitch. All it knows is that something is very different about Ragnarok. It can''t tell what it is so it wants to know.


    Unfortunately, Ragnarok is not in the mood to answer questions. Instead, he probed, "I guess you can''t see that ck orb."


    The demon god suddenly calmed down. It said, "You have changed. It seems you have gone mad. Your soul fluctuation is disying erratic behavior. If I didn''t know any better, I would think that you just suffered damage to your soul. What happened to you now?"


    Ragnarok smirked. "Why don''t you try and find out yourself?"


    The demon god went silent. The silence made Ragnarok grin.


    "You can''t, right?" He asked while grinning.


    The demon remained silent. That''s all the answer that Ragnarok needed. He can feel the difference. His intuition is telling him that he can do it. After all, Legion-7 just did it. If Legion-7 can do it, so can he.


    He doesn''t know why or how. The best exnation he can think of is the experience he just went through and what it did to his soul. But he isn''t sure of it. His uncertainty is understandable since he doesn''t know what the origin me is and what it is capable of. But the ignorance of the demon god gave him the confidence to go ahead with his conjecture. Besides, he has nothing to lose. If it doesn''t work, his situation will remain the same. "Here goes nothing." He said.


    He moved to resolve his scrambled existence. He acted as if he wanted to resume his breakthrough to transcendence. His soul exploded out of his soul space. He and the other clones expected resistance since he doesn''t have the permission of the demon god but his divine sense spread throughout his body unencumbered by the influence of the demon god in his body. His soul drove the consciousness of the demon god out of his existence. Then his divine sense enveloped his colossal beast form and sealed it from the demon god. A thin film of spiritual barrier formed a cocoon around him. This cocoon isted him from everything else including the demon god''s connection to his body.


    What he did was essentially form a domain around him. But he is just a mana entity. His domain should not be powerful enough to block out a demon god. In fact, the domain of an origin god is not enough for that either. A domain eventually bes a world. Only a world can lock out a demon god just like the ne locked out the demon god. Even then, the demon god still found a way to spread its influence into the ne. He is not a world god so this should not be able to ur. But he knew it would happen. He knew it immediately when he felt the pressure on his soul from the demon god suddenly disappear. This happened immediately after he survived the baptism of Origin fire. He felt then that he could reject the demon god from his existence.


    "It worked." He said in disbelief and excitement.


    Then heughed as hard as he could. He yelled, "FREEDOM."


    He expected his body to detach from his existence so that he could die in peace. He didn''t expect the channel within his body for the demon god to be cut off. The guillotine hanging over his head is no more. The mark of Carnage pressing against his soul to enve him has been expelled from his body along with the voice in his head. It is a very good reason to be excited.

 Chapter 1022 Three-Eyed Freak.

    Chapter 1022 Three-Eyed Freak.


    He is free but his situation is not yet done. He still has a lot to do.


    He said to himself, "I still have to break through. But first, I have to take care of the heart of Carnage."


    The shackles binding him to the demon god have disappeared temporarily. It is only temporary because the demon god still has an anchor within his body. He can feel the demon god trying to worm its way back into his existence. It is unfortunate for the demon god that it is not a contest of strength. The demon god remained locked out no matter how much it tried. This wouldn''t be so if it were a contest of strength. He is nowhere strong enough to beat the demon god in any struggle so the demon god ought to be able to break past the cocoon that sealed him. But the rules have changed. The demon god is failing to reconnect to the heart of Carnage because Ragnarok is not the same existence anymore. No one who has been touched by the Origin me will remain the same. He is something unknown. Even he doesn''t know what he is.


    "What do I do?" He asked himself and all of Legion.


    This sealed cocoon is only as strong as his spiritual power. It can be broken physically or spiritually by a tangible force applied externally. That means it can''t keep him safe indefinitely. Someone wille to break it soon so he doesn''t have time to waste. He must decide on what to do with the heart of Carnage now that he has gained some respite from the demon god.


    The demon god will regain ess to him if the barrier is broken and he doesn''t want that. He can choose to expel the heart of Carnage now. That will separate him from the demon god permanently. Or he can do something fueled by greed for power. It didn''t take long for him to make a decision. He decided to do something fueled by his greed for power. It was not a difficult choice to make. It is not difficult for Legion at all. He said to himself, "I will just kill myself if it doesn''t work out." His greed might be his undoing. But he is willing to go through with it even at the risk of death. So he pumped soul force into his divine ability within his body. The ck core within his body with 9 spikes absorbed the soul force readily. It will absorb anything ites in contact with as long as it has the power. That means it can absorb the heart of Carnage with the empowerment of soul force. The heart of Carnage was pulled into the spiked ck core. It didn''t resist at all because itcked the will of the demon god. It is just a defenseless object of great power. There is no way he won''t try to take a defenseless object of such power. If it causes a bacsh, then he will kill himself to avoid implicating Legion. Fortunately, it didn''te to that. He grinned in excitement. "Like taking sweets from demon fledglings."


    It was too easy. It certainly doesn''t feel like he is stealing from a demon god. It feels like he is bullying weak demon fledglings. The heart of Carnage was absorbed immediately. He turned it into a rune of power in ordance with the path of Omegas instead of breaking it down into energy. The massive amount of blood energy within it was turned into death essence, crystalized and anchored to the core of his divine ability. A small red ring appeared around one of the 9 spikes on the core. He shook his head at the sight. "Only one? What an insatiable glutton." Then he grinned. "It is just how I like it."


    He resumed his breakthrough now that he is free of the demon god and everything rted to it. The cocoon around him fused with his body. His soul was pulled out and made to attach to his body. Then divine life energy poured in from the soul sphere. It filled him up as his potential increased. His breakthrough urred without a hitch. No one disturbed him or interfered within the few minutes that it happened. His Colossal body began to shrink after he became a transcendent. He reduced in size until he became just 10 meters tall. He also morphed during the process into his humanoid form. Then the cocoon around him broke. He appeared before his waiting audience with confidence and without shame despite being naked. He sighed and said, "Ah, freedom."


    His voice spread out around him in waves of pressure. It is as if there is a terrible beast within him peeking out through his voice. All those who heard it fell to the ground from the sky. They couldn''t fly and they couldn''t raise their heads to look at him. The pressure from his existence forced them to bow their heads. Only one person could remain standing in the cavern. But he ignored her in favor of examining his form. He doesn''t have fur all over his body like Warrogs do. His skin is smooth like an elf''s. It is probably due to the heart of Carnage and his previous identity as a high elf. That and his long, smooth ears are the only things he has inmon with high elves. His other features are unlike those of elves. For starters, he has three eyes. Two of his eyes, which are the ones on the left and right are normal. They have pupils, iris, and scleral. The pupils are gold. The iris are red while the scleral are ck. This arrangement formed a red ring around a golden spot on a background of ck. The third eye in the middle of the two and on his forehead ispletely red with several ck concentric circles within it. There are ck 9 circles on the red background without any pupils. It is as if he has 9 iris that encapste each other.

 Chapter 1023 Power Is Good.

    1023 Power Is Good.


    There is a red halo on his head in between his horns. It is nestled nicely between his two long and ck horns. That is not where the weirdness about him ends. He also has other features that are simr to those of Warrogs. He doesn''t have a snort anymore. But he has long and white bushy hair on his head, the 9 fluffy tails attached to his behind, and his ck hooven feet. One of his tails is red while the others are white like his skin.


    Hisplexion ispletely white. Some might call it unnaturally pale since it is as white as ice. But it is undeniable that it gives him an otherworldly grace and beauty. It makes him as beautiful as any elf or vampire. His face is smooth with lips that cover his teeth. It is only when he grins like he is doing right now, that his ck fang-like teeth are noticeable. He doesn''t even have ws on his hands anymore. They have shrunk into tiny ck fingernails. He looks incredibly handsome. The only blemish on him is the deep red scar on his chest. It seems to have been created recently because it is red and fresh. It is also glowing with a deep red light and it is pulsating as if there is something beating underneath it. The scar is like a red crystalline patch on his body. It is translucent so one can see into his body through the scar. It forms a sharp contrast against his white smooth skin. Apart from that and maybe the red halo on his head, he is the most handsome Warrog-Vampire Hybrid ever.


    He flexed his hand and tightened it into a fist. His ck fingernails dug into his smooth baster skin. The grin on his face is unnaturally wide. It is almost splitting his face in half. His sharp ck teeth make him look like a humanoid shark. It is because all of his teeth are sharp canines.


    "Power is good." He muttered to himself, "It is very good."


    He is in a good mood. The gold pupil surrounded by the red ring seemed to shine brighter with his mood. His good mood wasn''t spoiled when the thralls of the Emperiti Primogenitor began to enter the cavern. They rushed in like a tide and filled up both the air and ground of the cavern. They surrounded him. Then they started to speak. "What have you done?" They asked him in one voice. "Why do you look like a monarch?"


    Thousands of vampires are currently surrounding him. They all look alike like siblings. They bear the same face and they spoke to him as one entity. It is disturbing and grating to hear. But he doesn''t care anymore. He is in a good mood.


    He said to her, "Go away. I can''t eat you. You are of no use to me."


    The disregard irked her. But she didn''t move to attack him. The thralls spoke again. "You are not of the dominion of Carnage anymore. Your protection as enforced by the blood writ doesn''t apply anymore. So I can attack you now."


    "Is that so?" He asked idly.


    She meant what she said as a threat but it sounds like good news to him. The fact that the blood writ that he sighed can''t protect him anymore from her means that he has been removedpletely from the jurisdiction and authority of the demon god. She said to him, "I won''t kill you now if you eptmunion with the Supreme of Carnage."


    His two eyes continued to look around while his third red eye looked upward. He can see the blood-red moon from down beneathyers of earth and stone. The blood moon is still the eye of the demon god that he began to see when he became a half-vampire. But he is immune to the influence of the demon god now. He doesn''t hear any ravings from the moon or have any strange voice in his head. There is no way he will willingly form a connection with the demon god that she asked for. She is barking up the wrong tree.


    He ignored her and turned his eyes to more pleasant sights. His red third eye can see all living and undead entities around him and beyond. They are after all his prey now. It is just right that he can find them better. The only one that he doesn''t want to bother with is the Emperiti Primogenitor. The Emperiti Primogenitor is scattered about throughout the ne. He will have to kill and devour two-thirds of her existence for him to steal her heart of Carnage. Unfortunately, that is too much of a hassle. So he won''t bother.


    All the soldiers here in the devil''s pitprise about 20% of her existence. All the millions of thralls that he saw are part of that 20%. She is also constantly expanding herself. She is the main tool used by the demon god to infiltrate the living things in the ne and acquire enough spiritual influence to fight the Will of the ne. Killing her will surely set back the demon god by tens of thousands of years. But it is too difficult to do. He can''t eat her and he doesn''t care about the struggle between the ne and the demon god. So he will turn to something else that he can eat. His red eyes looked around searching. He found something strange and dangerous deep within the earth.


    "So that''s where they are. I wondered where they had been. Emperiti told me that they were all dead. She lied to me." He muttered.


    What he saw made him surprised and also a little wary. It is an area of sealed darkness deep within the earth. He didn''t notice it before until he got his new eyes. But even so, the discovery didn''t te him. He decided to avoid it for now. He continued his search for a better target. He was hoping to see the fountain of life but he can''t see anything that stands out. So he found the closest primogenitor to him.

 Chapter 1024 The New Monarch In Town.

    Chapter 1024 The New Monarch In Town.


    "It seems this will be difficult. It is best that I prepare myself." He said after evaluating the strength of his target.


    His target is very strong. It is much stronger than him so he decided to increase his power. He recalled his understanding of aw that would directly enhance his divine ability. He knows a lot ofws. Any one of them will certainly increase his stats and give him authority. But his divine ability isprised of only thew of ughter, devour, and blood. He knows only thew of ughter among the three of them. So he chose thew of ughter.


    He called thew of ughter and he tried to use it with the Origin energy he gets from Soverick. His divine sense has solidified so it can interact with thew matrix now. He tried to stimte the aspect of ughter within thew matrix and it sensed him. The universe sensed that this was his first time using it. It also sensed that he has umted a 100%prehension of it. So thew matrix was invoked.


    Cosmic energy was bestowed on him. The amount that was bestowed is so much that it created a visible phenomenon in the ne. A pir of blood descended on him from the sky. The pir passed through the earth to strike him within the Cavern that he was in. The disy didn''t surprise him. It is strange but Helios has experienced it so it is not new to him.


    But this disy didn''t sit right with everyone else in the ne. There are a lot of anomalies and several questions that they want to ask.


    The Emperiti Primogenitor asked the most pertinent question. "How did youprehendws?"


    She is shocked. He can hear the shock in her tone. Her shock is understandable since he looks like a Monarch. The Eye of blood on his forehead and the Halo of Carnage that he possesses indicate that he is a monarch. That means he is an origin god equivalent of a vampire.


    That requires theplete fusion with the heart of Carnage. It is something that only a Vampire can do and Vampires can''tprehendws apart from thew of blood. And yet, he hasprehended aw that is not thew of blood. He did so with unnatural ease too.


    Ragnarok ignored her. He checked his Stats instead.


    NAME: RAGNAROK (Legion-6)


    RACE: BLOOD TYRANT(HYBRID)


    BLOODLINE: Unknown Royal Bloodline.


    TITLE: CHILD OF THE VIRUT PLANE


    POWER LEVEL: KING OF LAW


    PHYSIQUE: INCOMPLETE BODY OF LAW


    HP: INFINITE


    STAMINA: INFINITE


    ENERGY QUALITY: Origin Energy.


    ENERGY QUANTITY: 819,245.


    VITALITY: 100,000,000,000


    ENDURANCE: 100,000,000,000


    STRENGTH: 100,000,000,000


    AGILITY: 100,000,000,000


    POWER (DEATH ESSENCE): 1,000,000%


    PERCEPTION: 100,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 100,000,000,000


    AMPLIFICATION: 100


    LIMITER (BODY): 0%


    LIMITER (SOUL): 0%


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 100,000,000(C)


    LAWS:


    SLAUGHTER: 100%


    OTHERS:


    MANA AFFINITY: 100%


    LAW AFFINITY: 40%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): BLOOD (DIVINE), DEVOUR (DIVINE), SLAUGHTER (DIVINE), DEATH (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Rxed.


    He is not a Warrog anymore. And neither is he a vampire. He was a mutant Warrog before. But now he has be something entirely different thanks in part to the Shard of Power and the heart of Carnage. He is a creature meant to hunt other creatures. He is a creature superior to Vampires with none of their weaknesses.


    He is a king ofw now but he is much stronger than a Sovereign. He started out with 1,000,000,000 stats because of the potential of his soul and the assistance of divine life energy. That increased by 100 times when he jumped from transcendence to lord ofw, and finally to king ofw. He also gained 100 Authority. This is thanks to theprehension of Legion-1.


    But his biggest gain is from his decision to absorb the heart of Carnage. It modified his race and also gave him a massive boost in his POWER STAT. The heart of Carnage is a great item of power. The fusion with it makes Primogenitors capable of fighting origin gods. In his case, it granted him a boost of 1,000,000%.


    That is a lot of power. Everythinges together to bring his power output to 10^17. He did more than regain his freedom. He also gained the power to utilize his freedom as best as he can in light of the dangerous situation he is currently in. His greed didn''t fail him this time around.


    His power output is way above the output of Sovereigns. That''s why he is not scared of the thousands of Sovereigns surrounding him. The only entities that he is currently afraid of in the ne are the demon god and the fountain of life.


    He was brought out from his thoughts by Emperiti.


    She shouted at him. "What are you?"


    She asked with a shout because he had been ignoring her.


    His eyes focused on her again. He can see thin red blood threads that identify her thralls. He can also see some other Vampires that have snuck in that are not her thralls.


    He thought to himself with a smile, "It seems every Primogenitor is focused on me right now."


    The Emperiti Primogenitor was watching the changes he was going through. That means the demon god is watching and that every Primogenitor is also aware of what has happened to him. So it is not a surprise that every Vampire in the surroundings is congregating in his position.


    But his smile only widened. He decided to answer her question.


    "Don''t you recognize me?" He asked her with mirth in his eyes. "I am the answer to your prayers. I am what you have been asking for. I am the messenger of death, the champion of Carnage, and the son of the devourer. I am all you have ever wanted in your savior and more."

 Chapter 1025 The Devouring Maw.

    Chapter 1025 The Devouring Maw.


    Emperiti didn''t say anything about his im of being the savior of Vampires. Instead, she sent for more thralls. He can see more and more Vampires rushing towards him. Their movements couldn''t be hidden through the thick walls of the underground caverns. Every living thing, including Vampires, can be tracked with his third eye.


    The amount of thralls that have woken up and are rushing towards his position isrge. He doesn''t think they are here to wee and acknowledge him. It made him shake his head in disappointment.


    "You don''t look happy to see me. Why are you afraid?" He asked her.


    She finally spoke. "You are not what we wanted."


    "But I am what you get." He said to her, "Don''t be a child. Be content with what you get. Rejoice and make merry. Look upon the fruit of yourbor and be happy."


    His words did not manage to convince her to be happy. She is far from being happy. She is filled with fear because of what she has seen. The other primogenitors are also not confident against the threat that Ragnarok poses. The only one who doesn''t seem to think that things might go downhill for them is the demon god. It can only be called the foresight of a high-level lifeform.


    Its voice rang out through their minds. "Fascinating. This is just fascinating. I have never seen this before."


    The demon god is very excited by the changes that Ragnarok has undergone. It was the one that ordered her not to interfere with his breakthrough. She didn''t think much of it then. But she isn''t so sure it was a good idea now. After all, he was supposed to be a transcendent and not a Monarch-ss Vampire.


    The demon god continued to speak with excitement. "First it was Xigger and now it is Xigger''s son. Their lineage never ceases to amaze me. They always bring me something new."


    "But he is not a Vampire anymore." She insisted.


    The demon god replied. "That''s true. But that is a minor inconvenience. I''m sure we cane to an arrangement. I am always open to a deal. Make him an offer."


    The demon god of Carnage is still confident even in this situation. It has never lost a ne once it decides to attack it. So this ne will fall and Ragnarok will eventually fall into its hands. It is just a matter of time. It can be very patient for that time. So it is not afraid of Ragnarok at all.


    The confidence of the Demon god bolstered the courage of the Emperiti Primogenitor. She tried to convince Ragnarok onest time. "Do not think that the Supreme of Carnage can not do anything to harm you anymore. The blood writ that your father signed has also be invalid because you destroyed the anchor that it is based on. All of the Vampires cane after you now. Your strength doesn''t mean anything. ept the blessing of the supreme of Carnage or rue the day you went against the wish of a Supreme."


    He said absentmindedly, "Let theme."


    He ignored her and levitated into the air. Then he began to fly in the direction of his target. The Emperiti Primogenitor on the other hand had decided that she had had enough of his disregard for her. She instructed her thralls to attack. All the Sovereign level Vampires attacked immediately. Blood spells flew towards him from every direction. Then the world turned ck.


    A ck phantom expanded outwards from him and spread to everything in front of him. It spread far and wide to envelop everything within 100 meters in front of him. This includes the Cavern he is currently in, the ground beneath it and the roof above his head.


    He exerted a little force so the ck phantom was activated. It produced a suction force that ripped everything around it into it. The phantom couldn''t be seen clearly. But the strong thralls managed to see, for the briefest moments, that it was arge maw. Then they saw nothing as they were swallowed and consumed by the maw.


    Mayhem descended onto the Cavern. Earth, flesh, and blood all became victims to the devouring power of the ck maw. Then there was a crashing sound simr to the crash of thunder. It was as if there was an explosion in the Cavern. The already fragile cavern began to copse due to the explosion.


    The Maw hadn''t exploded. It had only broken down everything and retracted back into him. The empty space it had left behind and the sudden disappearance of the suction force created the implosion of air.


    He said in disappointment, "It is just as I thought, each thrall is her clone. They don''t have any heart of Carnage."


    "But then, many drops of water make an ocean."


    Each Vampire contains a small amount of blood power. It is nothingpared to what he gained from his own heart of Carnage. A normal vampire pales inparison to the value of a Primogenitor to him. Unfortunately, Emperiti has hidden her heart of Carnage all too well.


    Even so, he is not willing to let the thralls go. He can see through his third eye that all of them are scattering and escaping now that they know that they are not his match. There are millions of them here in the devil''s pit. So even though only the strong blood power of Dukes is useful to him at his current level of power, it is still a pain to watch all of them disappear like that.


    The red halo on his head shed and then expanded instantly. It covered up an area of 5 kilometers around him instantly. This area became shrouded in total andplete darkness. It formed a ck sphere that was 5 kilometers in diameter.


    Then it retracted just as abruptly as it expanded leaving nothing behind. There was only deathly silence and the faint howling of the wind through the empty space.

 Chapter 1026 Breaker Of Rules.

    Chapter 1026 Breaker Of Rules.


    Ragnarok''s figure was shown after the domain disappeared. He appears to be standing in the air surrounded by a sphere of emptiness. The absence of what used to be around him didn''t cause anymotion. They disappeared so silently that It was as if there was never anything around him. Only a smooth surface was left behind at the edge of the domain.


    He observed his work with solemnity, "I might never be able to achieve this on my own."


    Everything around him for 5 kilometers is now gone. He stood in the air under the open sky and admired his work. The ceiling of the Cavern is no more now. The castle that he used to stay in and the thousands of Sovereign that upied it a few minutes ago have disappeared.


    Their disappearance was not for naught. His boost from POWER had increased by over a hundred thousand percent. Both the amount of POWER he gained and the ability to consume so much at once are not entirely due to his own power. And he might never achieve it because of how precarious his situation is.


    He looked into the sky where he felt a probing gaze fall on him. He knows whose gaze it is so he took the warning to heart.


    He thought to himself with a smile. "Looks like Mother High Heaven isn''t happy."


    He used a domain in the ne so it is understandable that she is not happy. If he were an Origin god, then he would be in a lot of trouble right now. But he is not and he is also an indigene of the ne. As long as he doesn''t cause destruction to the barrier of the ne with his domain then she won''t punish him. But she is still not happy.


    He chuckled inwardly. "She is frustrated. I think that must be how the Watcher must feel."


    He is an anomaly. His existence breaks rules and causes Chaos. He is not an Origin god but he can wield an Origin domain. What he did is not allowed but Mother High Heaven can''t punish him because it is not within the rules to punish kings ofw like him.


    She is unable to punish him and it reminds him of the angry Watcher. The Watcher had dared them to be World gods and face the consequences. It may be ironic, but Legion is also looking forward to meeting the Watcher. The alternative is to never be world gods and Legion is not going to do that. Instead, they are more inclined toward breaking everything in their path to acquire perfection.


    He said with anticipation. "They disdained our ignorance. Theyughed at the thought that we think they are world gods. But we survived and we are stronger for it. What doesn''t kill us will only make us stronger."


    He took onest look at his handiwork. Then he decided to leave. His next target is deep underground so he has to go underground.


    He stretched forth his hand towards the obstacle in his path. A small ck maw came out of the palm of his hand. It is about 1 meter long so it is smallpared to the maw he used earlier. It became smaller when he used soul force topress it. The small maw shrunk and copsed onto itself. It became a tiny orb of darkness.


    He activated its devouring power and then sent the tiny ck orb forward. The orb stayed a short distance from him as it began to pull everything into itself. It warped the air around it to create a small domain of darkness. The orb tried to expand. It wants to destroy everything but he didn''t let it go out of control. He kept it moving forward to clear a path for him.


    The orb came into contact with the edge of the crater that he formed. It pulled rocks into itself and created a space for him. He pushed the orb further into the ground so that it can create more space for him. His divine ability became a drill for him to tunnel into the ground. It ripped stone and earth and devoured them. Then it sent the energy it acquired to him to strengthen him.


    That''s the basic function of his divine ability. It breaks down everything to strengthen him as long as hees in contact with it. It is an offshoot of the original ability of Warrogs. Warrogs can eat anything and grow stronger from it. Living things are the best source of power for them to eat. Inorganic things have little benefits unless they are powerful items full of Origin energy.


    But these rocks have no Origin energy in them. The amount of Origin energy within them is several times lesser than the cost of using his divine ability. He will gain more power from consuming Origin energy directly than consuming these rocks.


    It might seem better to just sit somewhere and consume Origin energy instead of using it for this. But it is an investment to him. Besides, it is not as if he has to ration his Origin energy supply. He has a near-unlimited amount of it. He can use it to dig and also consume it at the same time.


    He is using the title of the child of the ne to its fullest extent. He doesn''t get the boost that Soverick gets but he doesn''t need it. The infinite supply of Origin energy is good enough for him. Divine life energy is better but it has a limited supply.


    He can just sit around and grow stronger every day. But he is not going to do that. Sitting around is for those who are content. He will be growing stronger but it will never be enough for him. Legion will always go for more if they can get more. He can get more. Hence the need to get to where he is heading.

 Chapter 1027 The Disturbance.

    Chapter 1027 The Disturbance.


    "If I want something, I should go and take it." He said with a determined gaze as he dug into the ground. "Everything is for the taking for those who are capable."


    Then he said with a chuckle. "Besides, the demon god owes me."


    There is no need for him toe up with a justification for his uing actions. For him, there is no good or evil. There is only want and the power to acquire what is wanted.


    If he wants something, and he has the power, then he will get it. The fact that he wille into conflict with the demon god as a result is purely coincidental. He is not motivated by revenge.


    Sure, the demon god tried to enve him. But that''s in the past. Legion is only concerned about benefits. He will still do what he is about to do even if the demon god hasn''t tried to enve him. And if there were no benefits to be had, then he might let bygones be bygones.


    He tunneled into the Underdark with a single-minded focus in a straight line to his target. Nothing could stop him. His divine ability devoured everything in front of him without issue. The only thing that might count as a slight hup urred along the way. It didn''t stop him though.


    He was distracted early into his hunt. Someone used the connection he has to the ne tomunicate with him. That person first tried to project themselves to him but something blocked the transmission. He seems disconnected from the world despite his connection to the ne. So the person settled for sending their words over to him.


    "Ragnarok, I must say that you are very impressive." Emperor Rinoz started.


    He replied, "I on the other hand find you to be disappointing."


    That''s the truth. He really is disappointed in her. She had all that power and yet failed all because of a stupid reason. He understands the reason for her ignorance but that doesn''t stop him from being disappointed in her.


    He continued tunneling while he spoke with her. As for Rinoz, she became silent.


    He asked impatiently, "I don''t have time to waste. State your business and be gone."


    She said with a cold and stern voice. "I will let this slide because you have no respect for Authority."


    That made Ragnarokugh. He chuckled. "That''s stupid. I have respect for Authority. There are a lot of people that I respect and fear. I just don''t respect you."


    He has respect and fear for a lot of people. There is the realm lord, demon gods, and any world god. His respect and fear for them are a result of self-preservation. He is proud. But he knows who he shouldn''t mess with. As for Rinoz, she isn''t one of the people he fears, respects, or admires.


    He still wouldn''t respect her were she stronger than him. He will be indifferent to her because he thinks she is a lucky girl who was granted great power but can''t use it efficiently because of ignorance. But now she is weaker than him and also full of herself so he thinks she is a joke.


    "I don''t need your respect." She dered stubbornly.


    He told her, "That''s good. Because you won''t get it."


    "I am here on important matters. The will of the ne told me about what you did in the devil''s pit. You managed to create an opening in it. The Wood elves are currently moving there to take full advantage of the opportunity you have given them. From what the scouts have seen, the situation is promising for the wood elves. I think..."


    He interrupted her. "And why should I care about any of these?"


    She took a moment of silence before she continued. It is probably to stop herself from saying something she will regret. "We understand that you have freed yourself from the grips of the demon god. We don''t know how you did that and how you became a king ofw so soon but we know that you are currently at odds with the Vampires and that''s all that matters..."


    He interrupted her again. "Let me guess. You want me to work with you."


    "Will you just let me finish what I want to say?" She asked in anger.


    "No." He replied. Then he asked. "Did you ask for my permission before you initiated this conversation?"


    "I don''t have to ask for your permission. I am the child of..."


    He interrupted. "Wrong answer. The correct answer is that No, you didn''t ask for my permission. So I have to listen to you talk but I don''t have to make it easy for you to say what you want."


    "That''s not right. I''ll have you know that...."


    He interrupted again. "It is clear that you don''t respect me. If you don''t respect me then I won''t respect you. Respect goes both ways."


    Actually, he is lying. He still wouldn''t respect her even if she respected him. Only strength matters.


    "Fine. You can make things as difficult as you want. But it won''t stop me. As I was saying. The tree elves want to work with you. They are prepared to give you asylum and protect you. We can do great things together. We can liberate the ne from the clutches of the demon god."


    "No." He said.


    "Is this about all that time that the wood elves tried to kill you? I am sure you can overlook it and look to the future for..."


    He cut her off. "You asked and I said no. I don''t have to exin myself to you."


    That made her snap. "Guess what? You have to exin yourself to me. I am your Emperor and also your child of the ne. I am stronger than you and have higher Authority than you so you will listen to me."


    He grinned. "You are an amusing little girl. You are ignorant and naive, but you''re amusing. You remind me of a blue-furred battle sage monkey that I know. Unfortunately, you don''t have his talent and determination. The only simrity between you two is that you''re both ignorant, naive, and stupid."

 Chapter 1028 We Are Not The Same.

    Chapter 1028 We Are Not The Same.


    Rinoz doesn''t know what a battle sage monkey is but she doesn''t need to know to be angry because of what he said. If anything, she is certain that he is making up that race just to insult her. She may be ignorant, but she is certain that there is no such race as a battle sage monkey in the ne.


    He can feel it through the line ofmunication just as he can see her power going wild in her body with his third eye. She is livid. Her emotions are boiling over through the connection. Her reaction reminded him of Ghaster and it made his grin wider.


    She retorted in anger, "You are proud and foolishly stubborn. You relied on luck to escape from the demon god and you think that makes you special. Do you think that you are stronger than me because you are a king ofw while I am still a transcendent? I will let you know that you are the ignorant one. I am as strong as Origin gods. You probably don''t even know what those are. You are the stubborn, ignorant, and naive one."


    She is very angry. It became obvious as she ranted and spewed forth insults. Ragnarok continued to smile. Everything that she said is reinforcing what he said about her being ignorant. She doesn''t know how strong he is but she foolishly believes that she is stronger than him.


    Her ignorance this time is not excusable. If she were as strong as Origin gods, howe she failed to defeat the devil''s pit? Or does she think that an Origin god would be stomped by a lifeless gate? If she does then she is more ignorant than he thought. Besides that, If she were stronger than him, howe he seeded where she failed?


    These are important questions that she overlooked. She should have answered them before she assumed anything. It shows that theck of information is not the sole reason why she is ignorant.


    He decided to see what she thought so he asked her calmly, "If you are so strong, howe you failed to take the devil''s pit while I seeded?"


    She replied with a raised voice. "Isn''t that because you have some Authority empowering your divine ability? It was also easy to do since you acted from within the devil''s pit while I had to attack from the other side of the gate. You are nothing special Ragnarok. Do you hear me? You are nothing special."


    She was almost shouting by the time she finished speaking. That didn''t anger him. It is like speaking with a child throwing a tantrum. The child is being silly at best. It is nothing to take seriously.


    He said to her, "You are half right. You are not as stupid as I thought. I did have the advantage of Authority. But that is not the whole picture. You are still ignorant. If you were not ignorant then you would know that you are not special either. Do you know what makes a child of the ne special? I''ll tell you. It is not the title. Anyone born on the ne can be given the title. But only special, unique, and talented individuals who have proven themselves are given that title to protect the ne. As for you, you were the next best thing avable."


    She retorted, "If I am not special, then you are worse than special. I am the child of the ne. What are you? You are just a Warrog that ran around for his dear life. You are a coward. Why do you feel as if you are better than me? You are merely a king ofw."


    He almostughed then. She is using the fact that he was chased all over the ne to belittle him. That doesn''t make sense. He was chased because he was special. Both the fountain of life and the demon god wanted him. As for her, she was the one who hid away for most of her life. She is the coward here not him.


    But he didn''tugh. He decided to mock her more.


    "We are not the same thing. I came first. Then you appeared thanks to the assistance of the will of the ne. I am the real deal. You are a fake, a copy of my greatness. All you havees from me and what you have should have belonged to me."


    "That''s not true." She shouted at him. "It is preposterous. It can not be true."


    He chuckled. "See? That''s why I called you ignorant. The demon god told me of your Origin but you don''t know."


    "You are lying. It must be lying too. I don''t believe this."


    "Believe whatever you want to believe. Ask the Will of the ne about it if you dare."


    "This changes nothing. Even if it is true, then you were also lucky to be born with the full divine ability. That is no different from my situation. We were both lucky to be born with something we didn''t work for."


    He shook his head before he asked her, "Have you evere face to face with a demon god? Have you had a demon god attached to your existence? Have you ever had a demon god speaking directly into your mind? No, you haven''t. I repeat. We are not the same."


    "That doesn''t matter. You obviously escaped so it must not be that difficult. Besides, I have the Will of the ne on my side. That is the equal of the demon god. You don''t have that. You are on your own. So you are right. We are not the same." She said proudly.


    He had to sigh. She is wrong on so many levels. It isughable to think that a demon god is equal to the Will of the ne. How can something that wants to eat something be equal to the food that it wants to eat? How can a predator be equal to its prey? Who thinks like that?


    -----


    A/N:


    Power Stones Goals:


    1000PS - 1 Extra Chapter.


    1300PS - 2 Extra Chapters.


    1800PS - 3 Extra Chapters.


    2500PS - 4 Extra Chapters.


    Please do your part in supporting GREED. Vote for GREED.

 Chapter 1029 Ignorant Child And Ignorant Child Of The Plane.

    Chapter 1029 Ignorant Child And Ignorant Child Of The ne.


    The demon god came for the ne. Not the other way around. The demon god has not been beaten back or sent running. And yet, Rinoz believes that the Will of the ne is the demon god''s equal.


    It isughable and ridiculous that someone will actually think that. It is worse that she had the guts to say it too. She should be ashamed of herself. The Will of the ne is struggling to defend against the demon god. The fact that it chose Rinoz as its means of attack means the Will of the ne can never win.


    He thought to himself in pity. "If a child of the ne is this stupid then the ne is doomed."


    It is normal and eptable for a child to be ignorant. But it is uneptable for the child of the ne to be ignorant and stupid. The survival of the ne have been ced on the shoulders of an ignorant child. It is like building castles on sand.


    The fate of the ne is uncertain and she thinks that she is better than him. That is mostly due to her ignorance too. There is a lot that she doesn''t know about him so she thinks they are the same.


    She couldn''t be more wrong. They are worlds apart in knowledge, skill, and power. He became a Sovereign and he became an Origin god. Then he reincarnated and broke a t of the universe.


    He exists in different bodies. He has lived life as a battle sage monkey that killed gods and ended the era of gods in the ne. That Battle sage monkey also became the child of the ne for his excellence on the ne.


    He wasn''t selected due to the desperation of the will of a ne that is in danger. He was selected because he killed Celestials that are many times older than him at the same level of power. He was selected because he decided not to take power and be the next Celestial Supreme. He was selected because he decided to bring Origin energy into the ne and strengthen it.


    He has lived the life of a demon who is now a demon king. He has lived as the son of a Celestial who is bing something out of the ordinary. He has lived as a hybrid tree created by the fusion of divine energy and Origin essence. He has lived as an abomination that was hunted and eventually enved only for him to break himself free a few minutes ago.


    He has lived numerous other lives and has seen various things. He has broken the ts of the universe twice now and he ns to do more. To say that he is not special or unique is a joke. But he won''t take it seriously. After all, she is but an ignorant child.


    If she were not so ignorant, then she would know that toe in contact with a demon god is something that the fountain of life itself will not be able to get away with unscathed if at all. And the fountain of life is by no means weak. It was able to fight off the will of the ne for millions of years before the demon god came.


    He said to her. "We are done here."


    He has had enough of her. He is not willing to indulge her anymore. She is not worthy of it. She is too stupid to have intelligent conversations with.


    She screeched at him, "We are not done until I say so. You will listen to whatever I want to say..."


    He smiled and remained silent as she droned on. He said nothing no matter what else she said. This is not the first time that he will have someone in his head speaking to him that he can''t shut off. At least this time, he doesn''t have to live in fear that the demon god will suddenly act against him. Her voice might be annoying but it is also amusing to him.


    -------


    Within The Mind Space Of The Supreme Of Carnage.


    This mind space is an open red world. There is no sky or ground. It is just empty space tinged in red. This ce is not inside the body of the Supreme of Carnage. It is just the mind of the Supreme of Carnage. So it isn''t odd that the howling wind sounds like the cries of pain and despair.


    Nothing can be seen in this space, but a lot can be heard and felt. The Aura of Carnage within creates mirages of scenes of killing and the shedding of blood of different types of creatures. This space is a mentalscape that all Primogenitors have ess to. It is a privilege that only those with a heart of Carnage can enjoy.


    Monarchs rarelye here unless they need to have an important meeting with each other. The Supreme of Carnage has ess to their minds so information transfer has never been a problem. Buting here themselves allows them to shorten the time it takes information to reach each other. They are here this time with Ragnarok as the main agenda.


    There are 31 of them here. They are different in various ways. There are differences in height and form. But there is no difference inplexion. The red color tainting the world is also tainting their skin, hair, and eye color. So they all look like statues cut of red stone. Most of them have a red halo on their heads and an eye that ispletely blood-red containing nine rings encapsting each other.


    Those two features mark them as monarchs. Primogenitors get them when theyplete the fusion with the heart of Carnage. The blood-red eye is actually the eye of the Supreme of Carnage. It is the same as the one that Ragnarok possesses.


    The supreme of Carnage sees the world through that eye. It is better than using the sight of weaker vampires. So everything a Monarch sees is automatically seen by the demon god.


    -----


    A/N: If you haven''t written your review on Webnovel and you don''t vote for GREED everyday, then you should be thankful that Legion is fictional because I am fairly certain he would be pissed with you and he would have no scruples in doing something unpleasant about yourck of support.


    Yes, I am threatening you with a fictional character. It hase to that. You forced my hand.

 Chapter 1030 Eliminate The Blasphemer.

    Chapter 1030 Eliminate The sphemer.


    The only one amongst the Primogenitors who doesn''t have a Halo is Emperiti. The other Primogenitors are monarchs except for her. She is here in her partial form which is a cloud of dust. The dust is actually a cloud of tiny living things. They are smaller than mites and present in all her Vampires.


    These mites replicate and transmit themselves very quickly. All they need to infect someone is to enter their body through any wound. Then the infected will turn into a Vampire and be one of her numerous thralls. That''s why she is called a gue. She spreads Vampirism like a disease.


    The Primogenitors are always quiet and regal during these meetings. It is a behavior that they adopted from their previous lives as elves. Elves are always graceful andposed. So they are able to remainposed despite the seriousness of the issue at hand. They are arguing right now but it looks like banter at a party.


    "I think we should watch him further before we make any decision." Someone suggested.


    "What else do we need to see about him, Marlinto? He used the domain of an Origin god. That already confirms him to be a threat. All threats are to be eliminated."


    This Primogenitor is talking about killing but her tone is calm and her demeanor is noble. She spoke like a judge passing judgment. It is just business and nothing personal.


    Marlinto chuckled. "If he is a threat, then he is the lowest threat possible. There''s no need to fear him."


    Another Primogenitor interjected, "He is already a threat from what we know about him. What about what we don''t know about him? And there is a lot that we don''t know about him too. How did he break off the influence of the supreme of Carnage? How did hepletelyprehend aw in less than a thousand years of being alive and less than a minute of being a transcendent? How is he using the domain of an origin god without being an origin god himself? What kind of existence is he? What is he doing right now? Where is he right now?"


    This Primogenitor raised his voice as he spoke. He is clearly agitated. Something about this topic of conversation is personal to him. It broke the decorum of the meeting. It also caused everyone to pay attention and take what he just said seriously. The barrage of questions made everyone quiet. It is because they don''t have an answer to it. They don''t even know where Ragnarok is anymore because the demon god lost sight of him once he left the devil''s pit.


    "Calm down. You are getting agitated over nothing." Someone said to him.


    That didn''t work. The agitated Primogenitor did not calm down. "Don''t tell me to calm down. Of course, I am agitated. You''re taking this too calmly. I said we should kill Xigger but you didn''t listen to me. It is true that Xigger wasn''t a threat to us but things have changed now. Ragnarok is stronger than his father and he can also eat Vampires. We must put an end to this before it gets out of hand."


    That silenced the opposition. It is not because they are in agreement. It is because speaking about killing a Primogenitor, especially a special one with the ability to devour, will anger the Supreme of Carnage. That''s why they didn''t kill Xigger when he killed and ate a lot of Vampires from their lineage and some of their direct offsprings.


    This Primogenitor doesn''t have such misgivings. Others may choose to be silent now so as not to anger the Supreme of Carnage. But not him. His descendant died to Xigger and now, Xigger''s descendant is about to do the same.


    He said with agitation. "There is no need to hold back. He is not a Vampire and he stole his power from the Supreme of Carnage. I think it is just right that we try to take back what was stolen."


    Someone spoke up in agreement after seeing that the Supreme didn''t smite the agitated Primogenitor. "There is so much we don''t know about him so I propose that we eliminate him before he bes too much of a threat."


    Marlinto chuckled again. He said confidently, "We don''t have the answer to those questions. That''s why I propose that we watch him further so that we can learn more about him."


    He doesn''t think there is anything to worry about Ragnarok. He is confident in his survivability. His stance to watch Ragnarok now is not because of his hidden altruistic side. He wants to know how Ragnarok has achieved what he has. It might unlock a previously unknown path of power for Vampires.


    A Primogenitor supported Marlinto, "He is a level 1 threat or a level 2 threat at most. He couldn''t even kill Emperiti. What''s there to worry about?"


    Another said in disagreement, "That doesn''t count. Stronger Origin gods have failed to kill Emperiti."


    Emperiti also joined in. "He killed millions of my Lineage and caused the devil''s pit to fall. He is going to do the same to you too. This is after we already sacrificed a lot to protect him. He is a blight that has to be removed."


    The previously calm atmosphere of discussion became rowdy. The Primogenitors are divided on what to do about Ragnarok. They are not only trying to convince each other of their stance, but they are also hoping to convince the Supreme of Carnage to support them.


    Some believe that while Ragnarok used the domain of an origin god to destroy the defenses of the devil''s pit, it is not enough to consider him a threat.


    His actions made them lose the entrance of the devil''s pit. The wood elves will want to use the devil''s pit to stage attacks on the Underdark so it is the turn of the Vampires to defend. They have to copse the devil''s pit or retake it from the wood elves.

 Chapter 1031 Here Comes The Man Of The Hour.

    Chapter 1031 Here Comes The Man Of The Hour.


    The consequences of his action are certainly a big problem for the Vampires. But the person that caused it is not nearly as big a problem. He is around the strength of a new origin god so he isn''t that dangerous.


    But there are others who believe that he should not be excused because he is a weak threat. They believe he is too strange to be spared. They believe so because there are a lot of things they don''t know about him and what they do know about him is unsettling.


    First, he broke off his connection with the demon god. They as primogenitors know how difficult it is to achieve that. It is not even possible by their knowledge. Or in this case, it isn''t supposed to be possible.


    Then he took the heart of Carnage and used it to be some kind of Vampire without a connection to the demon god. He should be here in the mentalscape of the Supreme just like them but he is not. There ought to be 32 Primogenitors here. But Xigger is no more and his recement has shuned them.


    He practically stole from the demon god. Then he used an origin god domain. All of these things are mind-boggling. They are very curious about it. You would expect the entity that was stolen from to be incensed. But the Supreme is only amused.


    The primogenitors are then arguing about what to do because the demon god hasn''t given them an explicit order about what should be done about Ragnarok. Most of them are for killing Ragnarok.


    The opinion to eliminate Ragnarok is not purely because he is an unknown threat. They never liked him and his lineage before. He has also offended them by helping the wood elves take over the devil''s pit. This is after they all sacrificed numerous familiars and subordinates from their lineages to protect him.


    They never liked Ragnarok in the first ce. He is the sessor of the lineage of the devourer. That is already enough reason to kill him. They don''t like him more now that he repaid their kindness with evil.


    Others like Marlinto don''t think that drastic measures should be taken against him. Ragnarok is clearly an interesting entity. Marlinto believes that it is not toote for Ragnarok to join the dark side. The two sides argued amongst themselves while some had no opinion of the matter and chose to watch.


    Marlinto insisted with a tone of finality, "I don''t care about what you all think. It doesn''t matter how much of a threat you think he is. The demon god hasn''t said anything about him so we can''t kill him."


    "You are wrong about that. The demon god didn''t say anything about him. That means we can do anything to him. Anything, including killing him."


    Someone interjected. "How about we just capture him?"


    It was Drastoic who spoke. He is the physically strongest Primogenitor. He and Sec, the most skillful and focused, and some others have been quiet in the meeting. They chose to watch and see. But Drastoic grew tired of waiting. So he suggested a middle ground.


    "No."


    "No."


    The two sides rejected his suggestion immediately. Capturing Ragnarok is apromise that neither side is willing to take. They will be able to monitor him closely and also get some information from him if they capture him. But it is not what either side wants.


    One side wants to kill Ragnarok immediately while the other side wants to convince Ragnarok to join them. Capturing him will not help them in convincing him to help them kill his Emperor and destroy the resistance of the wood elves. It also won''t alleviate the hatred of those who want to kill him. Compromising won''t work. Those that want to kill Ragnarok might torture him which will make him look at the dark side even more unfavorably.


    Marlinto suddenly began tough. His outburst drew everyone''s attention. He said, "My forces have sighted this Ragnarok. It seems he has stumbled into my territory. I will meet him and speak with him. This is an opportunity to make him join us."


    Drastoic nodded while Sec remained silent. The others stopped talking so the argument died down immediately. There is no use arguing anymore. Marlinto will do anything he wants. So they chose to watch. Marlinto opened up his senses to the others so they could see what he saw and hear what he heard.


    They saw Ragnarok enter Marlinto''s domain. He drilled a tunnel through the earth into arge empty space. This space is kilometers wide and tall. It isrge enough to contain a city, which it does. There is arge castle at the center of the Cavern with walls reinforced with metal and stone. The defenses didn''t stop Ragnarok from gaining ess to this city. But it did alert the inhabitants of the city to the intruder.


    Ragnarok drilled through the top of the Cavern. He appeared just above the castle at the center of the city. He flew down with otherworldly grace. His white smooth skin reflected the gentle artificial light to make him look extra handsome. Even the deep and glowing reddish scar that marred his flesh only made him lookpelling.


    His red hair waved behind him as he levitated slowly toward the castle. He stopped when he sighted his target. Monarch Marlinto flew up with his hands spread wide to wee him. Marlinto is also smiling. His regal robe of white and purple ruffled light around him. The red halo on his head produced light that showed a very handsome ckplexioned face.


    "Wee to my domain, Ragnarok," Marlinto said with open arms.


    He is genuinely happy to see Ragnarok.


    "I am d to be here," Ragnarok replied.


    He too is genuinely happy to see Marlinto.


    Marlinto smiled. He asked, "What has brought you to my humble abode?"


    "I have two missions. I was hoping to speak directly to the demon god first. I want to request something from it."


    -----


    A/N:


    Power Stones Goals:


    1000PS - 1 Extra Chapter.


    1300PS - 2 Extra Chapters.


    1800PS - 3 Extra Chapters.


    2500PS - 4 Extra Chapters.


    Please do your part in supporting GREED. Vote for GREED.

 Chapter 1032 Comportment And Etiquette.

    Chapter 1032 Comportment And Etiquette.


    Marlinto said cheerfully, "It is very good that you are open to working with the Supreme of Carnage. I am sure we can work something out. We Vampires are open to working with you."


    Then he said, "How about we take this conversation inside like proper royalties? I have this rare supply of immacte blood that is positively delectable. It was harvested from a priest so it contains traces of divine power. The divine power adds a spicy vor to it that normal bloodcks. You will find it absolutely delicious if you can bear the burning sensation."


    He was enthusiastic about the rare blood but Ragnarok rejected the invitation. "That is not necessary. I don''t intend to stay for long. The reply to my question will determine how much friendly we be."


    "That''s disappointing," Marlinto said with slight sadness. "We shouldn''t let business deter us from enjoying the finer things of life."


    "I insist," Ragnarok said with a cold gaze.


    "Fine. So what do you want?" Marlinto asked after shaking his head in pity.


    "I am willing to stay out of the conflict between the Vampires and the Wood-elves. I won''t help either side. And in exchange, I want to be allowed to leave the ne."


    Marlinto chuckled. He said to Ragnarok. "Let me guess. You also want the Supreme of Carnage to promise not toe after you in any way."


    "Yes."


    Marlinto stayed quiet for a short while before he began to speak. "Lucky for you, I have an answer from the demon god. He usually ignores stupid requests like..."


    Ragnarok interrupted him. "What did the demon god say?"


    His time is much too precious to listen to some nagging.


    Marlinto''s face slowly became cold. His smiling face and charming attitude became nowhere to be seen. All his facial expressions died down. He said with a cold tone, "The answer is no."


    "Tell the demon god to reconsider."


    Marlinto answered very quickly. "The answer remains no."


    It is obvious that he didn''t wait for an answer from the demon god. He is rejecting Ragnarok to spite him.


    "Is that the final answer of the demon god?" Ragnarok asked.


    "What do you think?" Marlinto replied with a question of his.


    The two Monarchs became silent. They stared intently at each other. On one side is a devilish being with three eyes and dark horns. This monarch is naked, barefoot, and bears arge red glowing tattoo on his chest. On the other side is a hornless and regal figure whose beauty will be attested by both sexes as exquisite. This monarch looks the part of a monarch, unlike Ragnarok who looks like a fiend.


    Ragnarok spoke. "I guess I should move on to my next agenda."


    He truly is in a hurry to achieve what he came for. But Marlinto wasn''t pleased.


    "You are just like your father. Both of you are rude, uncivilized bumpkins. Power has not changed that about you." Marlinto said with his cold face.


    Ragnarok cocked his head, "You speak as if there is something else more important or as important as power."


    "Yes, there is. It isportment. It is etiquette. Power and Immortality withoutportment are hollow. You barge into my territory without permission. You do not honor me by putting on something to cover your nakedness and neither did you respect me by epting the invitation to my table. Instead youe here naked and make demands of me as if this is your territory. Then you interrupt me when I am speaking. I have tried to be cordial to you but you are no different from a lowly beast. My attempt to be cordial was obviously a waste of time."


    Ragnarok nodded as if he had understood something.


    "I see. You are confused about something. It seems you have a misunderstanding about me. Will you allow me to clear this confusion so that we can return to an amicable rtionship?" Ragnarok asked.


    "Please, by all means, do."


    Ragnarok stated as a matter of fact. "I do not respect you and I do not think I should respect you. I am sorry if that wasn''t clear right from the start."


    Marlinto''s face didn''t change. He said, "That does clear things up."


    Yes, it clears things up. If he knew this right from the start, he wouldn''t have wasted his time and offered up his rare blood to Ragnarok. Now he knows that it is not that Ragnarok can''t be respectful, it is just that he didn''t bother to be respectful.


    He asked Ragnarok. "So what is this second request that you speak of?"


    "I didn''t need toe here to speak to the demon god. Emperiti would have been enough. But I didn''t have leverage back then. I am here to get one."


    Marlinto understood the threat but he just scoffed. "Do you think you can take me on? Do you think I am easier to handlepared to Emperiti? She is just a Duke."


    Ragnarok replied honestly. "You are in one ce and I can actually hit you. That''s a plus in my opinion. Emperiti is too slippery to use as a bargaining chip."


    Marlintoughed. Hisugh echoed throughout therge cavern. He finds what Ragnarok said both funny and insulting. Of course, the insult is much greater than the amusement. This meeting is being watched by the other primogenitors and Ragnarok has disrespected him in front of them after he advocated for peace with Ragnarok. He isughing at himself for bing such aughing stock to the other primogenitors.


    He stoppedughing but remained grinning. "You have made a very big mistake you ignorant mutt. You have just made thest Vampires on your side turn against you. I shouldn''t be surprised but I am. I should have seen thising. You are from a race of beasts. You have no concept of nobility and the respect it deserves. You need discipline to be shown your ce. Will you permit me the honor of teaching you a lesson?"


    Ragnarok grinned too. "Go ahead. Give it your best shot."


    "This will be good. I haven''t fought in a long time." Marlinto said still grinning.


    Ragnarok encouraged him. "I promise to make it worth your while."


    "Good good. Prepare yourself. I will not be easy to deal with."

 Chapter 1033 Primogenitor True Form.

    Chapter 1033 Primogenitor True Form.


    The two of them aren''t speaking with their mouths. They aremunicating with their minds so the onlookers can''t hear what they say to each other. To them, it just looks like the monarchs are levitating in the air and grinning at each other. It is as if they have an inside joke that only the two of them know about. They didn''t know of the violence that is currently brewing within them, waiting for an outlet.


    But the grinning didn''t stop. It became weird and unnatural but it didn''t stop. Soon the onlookers had more pressing matters to deal with. They felt the two Monarchs release the pressure of their existence in every direction.


    It is as if the monarchs want to crush each other with their pressure. The onlookers paled immediately because of it. It is not a good sign at all. It is as they say, when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. They are the grass here.


    Things became weirder when Marlinto''s tongue extended from out of his mouth. The red organ continued to lengthen until it reached his waist. That was the signal to every onlooker to run for it. They turned around and ran so they didn''t see Marlinto''s lips split apart.


    His lips split open and so did the skin of his face. His skin wiggled and ked away because something within Marlinto wanted to get out. The skin all over his body also split and fell away to allow what was beneath toe to the surface. A bloody figurerger than Marlinto came out of the skin shell. It is as if the skin was caging something. Now it is free.


    This being has a bloody skull for a head. The skull doesn''t have a lower jaw. It has sharp and long canines attached to the upper jaw. The rest of his body is just a mass of tentacles attached to the base of the skull where the neck should be. One of those tentacles is Marlinto''s tongue.


    Marlinto''s red and bloody octopus body continued to increase in size after being liberated. It grew sorge that the top of the bloody skull reached the roof of the Cavern.


    The bloody octopus asked with pride, "Do you still believe that you can take me now?"


    Ragnarok shrugged. "Size isn''t everything." He said.


    Marlintoughed. "That''s good. You are not intimidated by my true form. You are brave for such a young mutt. Let me break that bravery of yours. Let me show you the error of your way. There''s nothing better than witnessing the horrors of the deep to know your ce in the world. It will make you learn some discipline. That is if you don''t die."


    The octopus swung a tentacle at him. The tentacle is bigger than him. It created a shadow that covered him directly. It fell from the sky like a giant wall. Ragnarok responded by swiping his small hand to meet therge tentacle. His white pristine hand morphed ording to his will. It expanded into arge wed paw. The long ck ws on his paw sliced the tentacle to pieces.


    "Good move," Marlinto said whileughing.


    The chopped tentacles turned into blood that flowed back to the red octopus. His sliced tentacle healed immediately and became anew. That is why he is not angry at the damage at all.


    Ragnarok agreed, "Yes, this is good."


    His paw shrunk back into a small hand. He brought his hand to his lips and licked the blood on it. He doesn''t need to lick his ws to clean it of blood. The blood on the ck bony ws is already being absorbed quickly through them. But he did it anyway. And he did it while staring provocatively at Marlinto.


    He taunted the Vampire, "You taste like snail meat. I don''t like snail meat. It is slimy and boring."


    Marlinto wasn''t fazed. He mocked, "It is because you have shallow tastes. You don''t know what''s good when youe across it."


    "Then I should educate myself further on the taste of your flesh."


    His body expanded explosively. It is as if he was inted abruptly. He became arge horned beast more than 100 meters in length. This beast has white fur. But his fur can''t be fully appreciated because he is covered head to toe with ck bone armor. Only the fur of his paws and tails can be seen.


    He has 9 long furry tails and a red halo between his giant ck horns. One of his tails is red while the others are white. The horns are the same color as the sharp teeth. They are both ck like the thick bone armor on his body.


    "So disgusting. You look horrible and ugly." Marlinto said.


    Ragnarok sneered and replied, "Look who''s talking. You are a dung calling a dung beetle smelly."


    His lips spread to reveal a mouthful of ck canines. The small patch of red tattoo on his bone armor glowed more than usual. He is ready to do battle.


    The two colossal entities stood against each other. The eyeless body skull of the red octopus inspected the beast while the three eyes in the skull of the beast are focused on the octopus. Then they charged at each other wordlessly.


    Marlinto sent an avnche of tentacles against his enemies. He is still bigger despite the upgrade to Ragnarok. So it seemed as if he was about to bury Ragnarok. This burial will not be painless. The tentacles morphed and grew spikes. It is more likely that Ragnarok will be ground to paste by the tentacles before he is buried.


    Ragnarok spread Legion-1''s domain. He didn''t want to for fear of angering Mother High Heaven. But he has to now that he has seen that he is no match for Marlinto head-on.


    A ck dome epassed the two of them and most of the underground cavern. Everything within the dome was destroyed all except the red octopus. It continued to glow brightly against the darkness like the red moon in the night.

 Chapter 1034 Fish In Water.

    Chapter 1034 Fish In Water.


    Soul force blossomed from his soul and pushed thew matrix aside to create a domain. Matter and energy were subjected to the will of a superior being. They broke down to their base form within the domain. Houses and the Castle in the Cavern were destroyed. They disappeared as the domain spread outwards. But the power of the domain didn''t stop Marlinto at all. The spiked tentacles he wields struck down on Ragnarok unimpeded by the domain.


    Ragnarok didn''t expect the domain to do anything to harm Marlinto. A domain can''t harm a Monarch be they Vampire or Origin god. Not unless it is used together with a concept, which he currentlycks. So he wasn''t surprised that Marlinto was able to resist destruction.


    The domain didn''t even separate Marlinto from thework of Primogenitors. Marlinto has a heart of Carnage so he remained connected to the demon god. The only change apart from the destruction of the environment is that the two of them have disappeared from the Underdark.


    They appeared in a dark world. Everything around Marlinto disappeared. But he wasn''t flustered by the sudden change and the overwhelming darkness surrounding him. He knows that Ragnarok has seeded in shifting the battlefield to a location more advantageous to him. He also knows how to escape from the domain. All he needs to do is kill its creator. So he wasn''t afraid at all.


    Unfortunately for him, dispelling this domain will not be easy to do. Ragnarok doesn''t n to make it easy at all. He funneled origin energy into his divine ability. Then he opened his mouth and unleashed a ck beam from his mouth.


    The ck beam merged with the darkness perfectly so anyone that needs eyes and light to see will not be able to see the attack. But Marlinto was not caught off guard. He had been ready for something fishy. He expected it after seeing how powerful Rinoz was in person.


    So he was not going to underestimate Ragnarok despite his mocking and calling Ragnarok a mutt. That cautiousness helped him to react quickly to the sheer power of the beam. He noticed the beam with his divine sense and didn''t underestimate it.


    He brought up a lot more of his tentacles to block the beam.


    Even so, he was caught off guard when the beam tore his tentacles to shreds. He had to rush to defend himself. The beam was so powerful that it only stopped when it was about to reach his skull.


    He couldn''t help but feel slight fear. "I can''t believe that I underestimated you."


    He didn''t know the true power of the attack until he came into contact with it. The ck beam is actually full of little ck orbs. They are too small and packed together so they look like a single beam of light.


    And the ck orbs are superpressed maws empowered with Origin energy and reinforced with soul force. In a way, the ck beam that looks like a single attack is hundreds of thousands of doom chomps. It is why the ck beam tore through the avnche of tentacles.


    He said with seething anger. "I hope that is not the best you can do because it is not nearly enough to kill me."


    Then he took the initiative to attack. His massive body swayed as more tentacles sprouted from his neck. Then he smashed the new tentacles at Ragnarok.


    "You are a bug the likes that should be smashed. I will do something your father should have done when you were born. I will kill you."


    He is truly angry now. It is because he lost a lot of tentacles defending that attack and he can''t heal them easily like he didst time. This is because his destroyed tentacles were devoured by the beam.


    It is one thing to be angry that Ragnarok disrespected him. But if Ragnarok is strong enough to harm him, then the way Ragnarok treated him earlier is not disrespectful. He can ept that if he were alone with Ragnarok. After all, Strength is to be respected.


    But he is not alone with Ragnarok. The other Primogenitors are watching this fight and they have seen how he was almost severely injured by a single attack. He can hear them mocking him. So now he must redeem himself by destroying this source of shame.


    He continued attacking Ragnarok as more and more tentacles were created. They sprouted from the base of his neck like tiny red vines then they grew into the great appendages that were threatening Ragnarok''s life.


    Ragnarok dodged the attacks easily. He doesn''t even need to actively move for him to move. He willed it and the world moved him far away from the tentacles. He is like a fish in water in this domain and he can control the water with his soul force. So the water moved him about without him using his limbs. He dodged while he maintained the ck beam from his mouth. Both attacking and evasion were aplished easily.


    The domain of an origin god is not for killing. It is for gaining absolute control over their environment. Marlinto is doomed if he doesn''t find a way to restrict Ragnarok from moving about. He is a Monarch so he is not suppressed by the domain even though it belongs to an origin god. But his attacks are useless because of the increase in Ragnarok''s evasive ability.


    It would be better if Marlinto had his own domain, then he would be able to fight for control over this space with Ragnarok and gain some advantages. He might even be able to nullify the domain. But he is a Vampire without an origin. He can''tprehendws and he can''t use this sort of domain that relies on the path of perfection.


    Fortunately, he is not helpless. He was able to kill an Origin god as a Duke and use the concept of that Origin god as a sacrifice toplete his fusion with the heart of Carnage. If he can kill an Origin god before he became a Monarch, then he can surely fight against the domain of an Origin now that he is a monarch, and a strong one at that.

 Chapter 1035 Youre Not A World Beast.

    Chapter 1035 You''re Not A World Beast.


    Vampires have their own advantages and they have their own domain. He just needs to spread his type of domain. Since his domain is him and he is his domain, the activation of his domain led to another growth spurt.


    Blood spurted out from within him like a spring. But it didn''t spread outwards to form a blood domain. It became his flesh which led to him getting bigger and bigger. Soon he grew to be 3,000 meters in height. That still isn''t the end. He is still growing thanks to the infinite supply of blood power from the Supreme of Carnage.


    He roared with pride. "Behold the might of a Primogenitor. Look at the immensity of my existence and feel insignificant."


    Ragnarok''s eye twitched. "I can admit that I am a little jealous."


    The ck beam that he is attacking with is very dangerous. It is cutting through the tentacles like shears cutting foliage. Marlinto''s tentacles are also not regenerating as they should. The ck orbs are absorbing them to get stronger and their devouring power is getting stronger the more they devour.


    One would expect Marlinto to shrink but the opposite is happening. He is growing bigger and bigger because of his domain. His tentacles are bingrger and more numerous. It reminded Ragnarok of his cheat which is the infinite supply of Origin energy. Now he has met someone who is not afraid of being exhausted.


    He is a little jealous because he too could have gotten ess to an infinite supply of blood energy if he had be a normal Primogenitor. But he cut off the demon god and was also cut off from the source of blood power.


    Marlinto mocked him. "You''re just a little jealous? That''s good too. A little more and you will feel despair."


    His height has grown to 5,000 meters now and he is still growing. He is like a mountain of writhing flesh and tentacles glowing brightly in this dark world. And unlike a normal mountain, each tentacle of his can smash a mountain to pieces.


    Ragnarok cursed. "Fucking Vampires and their absurd amount of stats."


    He is most clear about the situation. He knows that Marlinto is aiming to break the domain from within by pressuring his soul. He aims to achieve this by taking advantage of his absurd amount of stats.


    Vampires have no limit to the amount of stats that they can umte. They just need to feed on more blood to grow without limits. The older they are, the more stats they have. Marlinto is very old. He is ancient. He is the first of his lineage with an infinite supply of blood power from the demon god. So he has a lot of stats and a lot of blood power to amplify them.


    An origin god has upwards of 1 billion stats in each of their attributes. A vampire Monarch on the other hand doesn''t need to create more concepts and use them to absorb Origin essence so they have enough stats to drown an Origin god. Marlinto intends to do just that to him.


    He is currently trapped in a cage so he wants to be so big that the cage breaks from within. It is the next best option since he can''t kill Ragnarok.


    He is facilitating the process by pulling on more blood power from the world god. So he is inting rapidly. Ragnarok should be feeling the pressure of having to contain such arge and powerful existence within his domain.


    Ragnarok shouted at him. "Red Skull. Do you think you''re a world beast or something?"


    Marlinto replied with a roar and more violent attacks with his tentacles.


    Ragnarok snickered and said, "1 don''t care what your mother told you to give you confidence. But you are not a world beast."


    A world beast can''t be ced under a domain. They are one of the few entities that are immune to the effects of domains. Anyone who tries to suppress them under a domain will face a bacsh on their soul when the domain fails.


    Meanwhile, the domain of world beasts is very strong. It is for the same reason that domains don''t work on them. They have a world within them. That''s one of the reasons why Origin-level world beasts are not hunted by Origin gods. It is too dangerous to do so since they won''t be able to restrict world beasts and stop them from using their divine ability.


    He is making fun of Marlinto because the Vampire Primogenitor is mimicking the existence of a world beast. Marlinto probably won''t get the joke since he doesn''t know that the domain he is currently fighting against is from a world beast.


    This domain is not a cage that he can break. If he knew, then he would definitely choose not to waste his time. Ragnarok isn''t feeling the effect of the increase in Marlinto''s size. So yes, Marlinto is surely wasting his time.


    Marlinto doesn''t know that he is wasting his time. Instead, he thought Ragnarok was mocking him.


    He roared at Ragnarok, "Don''t ever mention my mother you foul uncouth beast."


    "Why not?" Ragnarok asked. "Did she beat you? Did she smack your butt?"


    "Why don''t you hold still and let me show you what she did to me?"


    Ragnarok did not hold still. He continued to escape while making fun of Marlinto by using the abuse he endured as a child at the hands of his mother. It is a cliche among dark elves. Probably both Marlinto and his father were smacked around by his mother.


    Marlinto didn''t take kindly to reminiscing about his past. His gigantic form chased after Ragnarok to grab him. Thousands of tentacles waved around to impede Ragnarok''s movement from every direction but it was all futile.


    The space within the domain contracted and expanded as Ragnarok wished it. A small gap within the encirclement of the tentacles becamerge enough for him to pass through while the distance between him and Marlinto expanded.


    ----


    A/N: For reference, mount everest isn''t up to 9,000 meters tall.

 Chapter 1036 Hours Of Fighting.

    Chapter 1036 Hours Of Fighting.


    ?


    The battlefield is Ragnarok''s. He is in total control of it and it is veryrge too. It could be asrge as he wants it to be or as small as he wishes. It is veryrge right now because of the titanic octopus within it. The space doesn''t seem to have an end and no one can interfere in their fight since it is an enclosed space so he has all day. He stayed out of reach of the tentacles while he sniped at Marlinto with the ck beam of devouring.


    He can do more damage with his bite and his ws but he is not willing to risk letting Marlinto get his bloody tentacles on him. He might be crushed without being able to fight back. Marlinto is much stronger than him. So being cautious is wise. Except that his current attack is not enough to threaten Marlinto.


    A vampire can regenerate with blood power. That regeneration factor bes unbelievable when you have an almost infinite supply of blood power. Ragnarok is devouring the blood power as fast as he can but it cannot put a dent in the supply of a Primogenitor. Still, he didn''t rush. He didn''t do anything else either. He had nothing else that he could use so he kept up with what he was already doing.


    ----


    The other primogenitors are watching the fight. They are not worried about the oue. They are evenmenting cheerfully about it.


    Someone couldn''t help but say, "Marlinto was right. This Ragnarok is obviously special but he is nothing much. I think we overestimated his level of threat."


    They didn''t believe Marlinto before but seeing is believing. Now no one can take Ragnarok seriously without being considered a joke. Ragnarok is just a bug that knows only to run.


    "That may be true for now. But Ragnarok is very young. He still has more room to grow and he can grow even faster by devouring Vampires. I believe we should eliminate him now that we have the chance."


    "I agree. Marlinto was wrong about Ragnarok being amendable to the Vampires. The Warrog mutt obviously can''t be brought to our side. If he can''t be with us, then he is against us and should be eliminated."


    "That is truly Marlinto''s mistake. He thought that Ragnarok would be reasonable now that he has power."


    A Primogenitor sneered, "Marlinto thought too highly of a Warrog. They are just beasts that should be eliminated or used as prey no matter how strong they be."


    "I don''t think we should eliminate the possibility of cooperation yet. Ragnarok asked for cooperation."


    "He asked to leave the ne in exchange for not siding with anyone. That is not cooperation. That is an insult. He truly believes we would let him go after what he has done."


    "He is dead now anyway. I doubt anyone apart from the Supreme of Carnage can talk Marlinto out of killing the poor boy."


    They chatted cheerfully amongst themselves. Most of their talks were about how Ragnarok has bitten more than he can chew. All he is doing is running around like a headless chicken. A single mistake will lead to his end. They can''t take him seriously as a threat or as a future ally. He doesn''t have the strength to be either.


    Only Drastoic had something else to say. "This Ragnarok is special. I think we are underestimating him. Marlinto has not broken his domain yet and it has been hours since the fight began. That is extraordinary for such a weak entity to achieve."


    That made them pause. They know what Drastoic said and while they think it is special, it won''t change Ragnarok''s fate. It doesn''t matter that Ragnarok has been able to withstand the pressure of the existence of an enemy that is vastly more powerful than him within his domain. That won''t do him any good because he doesn''t have the strength to kill Marlinto. But they don''t want to argue against Drastoic.


    Drastoic is the first Vampire of this ne. He is also the strongest. He is a dark elf like most of them but no one canpare to him in terms of strength or influence. So no one wants to outright say that Ragnarok shouldn''t be admired to his face. They agreed unenthusiastically with him and resumed their chatting. But the conversation entered a lull because of that interjection.


    The quiet Sec finally spoke. He said, "Marlinto is now 9,382 meters tall. It has also been 12 hours, 40 minutes, and 40 seconds since the fight started."


    That drew everyone''s attention. They considered what he said but they didn''t get it.


    "That''s true. The fight has gone on for almost 13 hours now."


    "This Ragnarok is truly something. I can''t believe he survived for that long." Someone said in admiration.


    Someone snickered and said, "More like he ran for that long."


    "It is easy to survive when all you have to do is run."


    That caused them tough. But they are all feeling uneasy. It is just that no one wants to show it or admit it. They feel that something about this fight isn''t right. Ragnarok has survived for too long for him to be underestimated. There must be something about him that has enabled him to fight a Primogenitor in mere hours from when he was a mana entity.


    "Marlinto must be very pissed right now. It must be such a shame that he can''t even kill such a pest after so long and so much effort."


    "It is a shame indeed. He even used his true form and he failed. This is disgraceful but also fun to watch."


    Theyughed and jeered as they watched the fight. Marlinto can hear them but he is not saying anything to defend himself. Any excuse he gives will be an admittance of weakness. He doesn''t want to admit weakness and neither do the other Primogenitors. They all want to believe that Ragnarok will die soon after enduring the onught of the true form of a Primogenitor.

 Chapter 1037 When The Sun Comes Up.

    Chapter 1037 When The Sun Comes Up.


    The true form that Ragnarok is fighting is not from just any Primogenitor. It is Marlinto''s true form. Every Origin god level being has one. It is a form that is the manifestation of their concept. To unleash it is an indication that Origin gods are taking the fight seriously.


    Monarchs don''t have concepts so their form is rted to the demon god of Carnage in one form or another. This is because they fuse with their domain of blood which came from the demon god. Marlinto''s form is special. It is the spitting image of the god of Carnage.


    The red octopus form of Marlinto is very strong and also capable of fighting many opponents at a time. He has the highest regeneration amongst all the Monarchs because of it. That has enabled him to survive ambushes and even kill his ambushers despite being outnumbered. And yet, he is struggling to kill one Ragnarok.


    They are not afraid that Ragnarok can kill Marlinto. But if Ragnarok can survive this fight, then he is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with. That is something they don''t want to admit about a boy who is less than a thousand years old.


    Sec sighed. They didn''t get his point the first time so he has to speak again. But he doesn''t like to speak. His sigh drew the attention of the primogenitors. They know he doesn''t like to talk so whatever he says must be important.


    He said with a tone of finality, "Ragnarok will win."


    Drastoicughed and asked, "Why is that so?"


    Sec refused to speak anymore. He kept his face calm and focused his attention on the fight instead.


    Drastoic shook his head. "The fight will end soon. That much is a given. Ragnarok has had hours but he has only used it for running. How can he turn the tides now that he is running out of time?"


    They thought about it. The fight has been going on for almost 13 hours. The nightsts for 16 hours. It is currently a few minutes to sunrise. About 19 minutes to be exact. That is not enough time for Ragnarok to kill Marlinto even if he has hidden his strength. Or could it be possible that Ragnarok will kill Marlinto in that time before the sunes up?


    They shook their heads in disagreement. What they are more concerned about is that the fight will end soon since the sun is about to rise. So their fun time will end soon. They can see and hear Marlinto screaming in frustration in the domain.


    "Come here, you runt. Come here and let me kill you." He yelled.


    But Ragnarok didn''te over to be in. He continued to run around no matter how Marlinto screamed for him to stop running.


    Marlinto swore in anger, "I will hunt you for the rest of your days. I will hunt you to the ends of the earth. Nowhere will be safe enough and no one will be able to protect you from my wrath."


    Ragnarok responded in kind. "I doubt you can hunt me to the ends of the earth. I will be at your mother''s. She will give you a talking to if you daree to her ce."


    "Atrocious!" Marlinto yelled. "Stop using crude tactics like some barbarian. My mother is already dead. I killed her and I will kill her again if shees back to life. Nothing will stop me from killing you."


    "So you don''t deny that if your mother were alive she would give you a talking to."


    Marlinto roared. "RAGNAROK!"


    "Too bad that your mother is dead. You need ashing right now. I am sure she will be very happy to smack some sense into that thick skull of yours."


    The two of them engaged in batter as they fought. Ragnarok did most of the talking but it wasn''t a chore. It is his pleasure to do so. Marlinto on the other hand stumbled about like an enraged giant. If they were in the material world then they would have done massive damage to the ne. They would have surely caved down the Underdark at this rate.


    Marlinto is now a Collosal being the size of a demon king. He is 10 kilometers tall and 3 kilometers wide. His tentacles reach 100 kilometers in length and are hundreds of meters thick. There are also tens of thousands of them. As for Ragnarok, he remained in his 100-meter tall beast form. The beam of dark light that he is burning his Origin energy to create is just 1 meter in diameter.


    The difference in size is ring. A single tentacle will surely kill him. That''s for certain. He won''t survive it just like an ant won''t survive the smack of the hand of a giant.


    His best attack is also not enough to harm a single tentacle. It is like he is using a toothpick to fight off a giant hellhound. A toothpick is not even enough to fight off an ordinary dog. It might cause the dog to yelp before it rips you apart. The toothpick will only cause a hellhound to feel a slight itch. So he kept his distance from Marlinto throughout the fight.


    Marlinto suddenly stopped moving. He said, "I don''t know why your domain is sorge and so powerful that you are able to contain me. I don''t even know how you have an Origin domain, but this fight will end here. The sun is about toe up. I am done ying with you anymore."


    He is not going to chase Ragnarok anymore. It is ineffective anyway. Plus it is just a few seconds to the rise of the sun. He is just going to wait for the domain to copse when the sunes up. Then he will escape.


    Ragnarok smirked and asked, "What about the sun?"


    Marlinto stared at him like a fool. He asked in derision, "Are you senile?"

 Chapter 1038 Ragnarok The Fraudster.

    Chapter 1038 Ragnarok The Fraudster.


    Ragnarok replied with disdain. "I might be a little crazy but I am sure that I am in full possession of sound mental faculties. It is your state of mind that needs scrutiny here."


    Marlinto stated as a matter of fact. "Vampires don''t fight in the day."


    "You''re stating the obvious. I know that Vampires don''t fight in the day. They go to sleep. Except for Primogenitors. You are not telling me anything that I don''t already know."


    "If you know, then why are you asking stupid questions?"


    Ragnarok ignored the question. He looked at Marlinto with anticipation and said eagerly, "I have never seen how weak Primogenitors get in the day. I am looking forward to it."


    Marlinto asked incredulously, "What about you? The sun will cripple anything with the heart of Carnage. This domain of yours will break when the sunes up. Are you suicidal? We should hide ourselves away or the wood elves will take advantage of our weakened state."


    "You are misunderstanding something."


    "Why don''t you enlighten me?" Marlinto asked.


    Ragnarok shook his head. "I''d rather not say for now. Experience is the best teacher. It is better that you experience it yourself. You will remember it better."


    "What nonsense are you talking about?"


    Marlinto doesn''t understand what Ragnarok is saying. But Ragnarok refused to rify things. The sun came up soon after. The supply of blood power was cut off from the Vampires. Every vampire fell asleep except the Primogenitors.


    Everything happened just as it should. Marlinto became weakened when his supply of blood power was cut off. He is still stronger than Ragnarok though since he has a lot of blood power within himself. The only weird thing is that nothing seems to have changed about Ragnarok. His domain remained. So the fight continued.


    ----


    The primogenitors became silent and solemn. The way the fight is progressing is out of their expectations. Apparently, Ragnarok is a monarch who doesn''t rely on the demon god for his existence. Or more urately, he looks like a monarch but he isn''t a monarch at all.


    They thought he got most of his power from the heart of Carnage and that he had only disconnected it from the demon god. Apparently, they thought wrong. That halo on his head is just for show and he doesn''t have their weakness to the sun. What''s worse is that they have just got word of a massive movement of the wood elves. The wood elves are attacking.


    "What can we do?" Someone asked.


    Drastoic answered. "There is nothing we can do. He is within a domain so we can''t interfere. It is also in the day so we can''t act even if we want to."


    That silenced all of them. There''s nothing they can do but watch as everything unfolds. Even the demon god was moved. It finally joined their conversation. The red world of the mind space quacked as it spoke.


    "So that''s how it is. He didn''t keep the heart of Carnage. He must have converted it somehow. That would have required something powerful to do. It would have required power at the level of an Origin god to steal my heart of Carnage. Considering that he managed to push me out of his existence then it might as well be a power on the level of a supreme."


    The demon god had its suspicions about Ragnarok. All it had were suspicions after all, it had never encountered this sort of situation before. No one has been able to steal its power. But things are bing clearer now. Ragnarok not only has the power of a domain, but he must also have soul force and a supremew.


    Unfortunately for the demon god, it realized this toote. It made itugh. Itsughter caused the mentalscape to quake.


    "I have been fooled. I stayed with him for years and I didn''t realize that he was hiding so much from me. I knew he must have had a great secret because of his powerful soul but I didn''t know it was so great."


    Itughed some more. It is not theughter of amusement. It is theughter one would use to mock themselves.


    "He fooled me. All that time, I thought I had him cornered and desperate. He must have been mocking me for my foolishness. He listened to me drone on and on as if he was helpless and then he stole from me."


    The Primogenitors put in extra effort to be quiet. They didn''t say anything or show any emotion as the world quaked around them. They still kept quiet even when theughter died down.


    "Sec was right. Ragnarok will win. Marlinto was also right. Ragnarok should be made an ally instead of an enemy."


    The attention of the demon god caused them a surprise. But that did nothing to raise their spirits. The confirmation that Marlinto will lose has dampened their mood. It seems that Sec has noticed that Ragnarok doesn''t possess a heart of Carnage and wouldn''t be afflicted by the sun.


    "Will Marlinto be able to resurrect?" Drastoic asked the demon god.


    The demon god didn''t answer. Instead, it asked a question. "What do you think about that, Sec?"


    The ever-silent secr replied because he has to. "No."


    Even so, he only said one word. It made the demon godugh.


    Then it said to Drastoic. "There you go. You have your answer."


    Drastoic face became rigid. "I see. I think I understand why he is to be our Champion."


    "Yes. You will see it happen and you will know why." Then it said to every one of them. "Look before you. Remember this moment. History is being created right in front of us. Have you been blind to it? Ragnarok is the first creature of his kind. There is much that is unknown about him. But what we do know is enough to tell that Marlinto is doomed. Ragnarok used the heart of Carnage to upgrade his existence. He did that without my permission. He certainly doesn''t need my permission to kill Marlinto."

 Chapter 1039 Fearless In The Face Of Death.

    Chapter 1039 Fearless In The Face Of Death.


    Ragnarok''s existence is like someone stealing the Chaos spark from Aeternus and using it to evolve without swearing loyalty to him. It is absurd and should be impossible. The ability to evolve subordinates is under the domain of the Oath of the lord. The Oath is not a formality. It is a necessity for the subordinate to bepatible with the life essence of the Lord so that there won''t be rejection.


    A lord can''t force someone to evolve with his energy or any other power from their life essence unless they swear that Oath. That means the demon god can''t even give away its heart of Carnage for free without any attachments even if it wants to. If Ragnarok can bypass all of that, what''s stopping him from killing Marlinto for good?


    "If you are right..." Drastoic started. Then he paused. He rephrased what he was about to say. "Since you are right, then Ragnarok is truly a threat to us. What if he refuses to ally with us?"


    Origin gods can kill Monarchs so this is not the first time that a Primogenitor will die. Primogenitors are the properties of the demon god and part of its existence so even death can''t liberate them as long as the demon god of Carnage still exists. But a death within the domain of an Origin god will kill them forever.


    But Ragnarok is not an origin god yet. He is still weak and he is running away from Marlinto. If he is allowed to grow stronger as an enemy of the Vampires, then Vampires will have nowhere to live in the ne.


    The demon god assured them. "There''s nothing to worry about. He wille around when he sees reason."


    A Primogenitor muttered in disbelief, "It turned out that Marlinto was wrong about Ragnarok not being a threat. It is just right that he is the one to suffer for the consequences of that underestimation."


    The demon god was right. History is being made before them. They watched Ragnarok begin to turn the tide. It was very slow and it wasn''t obvious at first. He is cutting a mountain with a knife after all. But he is surely making progress. That''s what happens when you have a very sharp knife and the mountain is turning into sludge because of the sunrise.


    The dark beam of devouring is very sharp. It was insignificant before when Marlinto could regenerate endlessly. It is now a serious problem for Marlinto since he doesn''t have ess to infinite blood power anymore. He has a finite amount of blood power. He was chipped down little by little as the Primogenitors watched. He struggled to defend himself but that only sped up his demise.


    It took hours for his mountainous body to be shaved down. It urredyer by painfulyer. Ragnarok engorged himself on Marlinto until the primogenitor became just a tiny red skull that couldn''t defend itself.


    Ragnarok stepped on the skull with his paw. He looked down at the struggling skull with mirth in his eyes. Their situation has been reversed. He is now the colossal one while Marlinto has be tiny.


    "How low you have be." He mocked.


    Marlinto roared at him in defiance, "Just kill me. The pride of a Primogenitor will not be trampled on. I may be gone but the Supreme of Carnage remains forever. You will rue this day for the rest of your miserable life."


    "It seems you are not ignorant about your situation. I admire your pride. But it will really hurt you if I kill you."


    "What''s a little pain? I have died numerous times before and I have always recovered to fight another day. The only difference today is that I will die for thest time." Marlinto insisted. "I can not be defeated even in death."


    "Do not worry about being lonely in death. I will send more Primogenitors to you if I don''t get my way."


    "Then get on with it. You called yourself the bringer of death so go on and bring death to me. I Marlinto do not fear you."


    The Primogenitors watching couldn''t help but feel immense pride and anger as they watched. They didn''t say anything to the helpless Marlinto. They all remained silent as he confronted death.


    Ragnarok replied. "You''re fortunate that I didn''te solely for your death. I came to get safe passage out of the ne. I was hoping the demon god would be amendable to the deal. But I was wrong. I didn''t have enough leverage to convince the demon god. I am sure I have enough now. Don''t you think so too?"


    Marlinto didn''t answer. The silence made Ragnarok chuckle. "That''s alright. You don''t need to talk. I am sure the demon god is aware of everything happening now."


    The empty sockets of the red skull he is trampling on began to glow red light. A familiar voice came out of the skull.


    "Ragnarok, Ragnarok, Ragnarok. You have impressed me. I wish I coulde down myself to say so."


    "But you can''t," Ragnarok said pointedly.


    "No, I can''t." It admitted.


    The demon god is currently preupied with fighting off the effect of the sun. It can''t take over Marlinto''s body to fight. The connection between the Primogenitors and it is currently at its weakest because of the sun. The effect of the domain has strained it further.


    The demon god also pointed out. "But it seems you don''t have any problem with the sun. How did you manage to maintain your strength in the day?"


    "You know how."


    "It pains me to say, but I am ignorant of how you pulled off that trick. If I knew how I wouldn''t have asked. I certainly wouldn''t have let Marlinto fight you to see what tricks you have up your sleeve."


    Ragnarok sneered, "And if I wanted to tell you then I wouldn''t have been so cryptic."


    "I see." The demon god said without anger.

 Chapter 1040 Break Down In Negotiations.

    Chapter 1040 Break Down In Negotiations.


    The demon god knew that Marlinto was probably going to die when Ragnarok showed up in his territory. But it didn''t warn the Primogenitor or tell him to escape. It is all to acquire more information about Ragnarok.


    It is not angry about Ragnarok''s rejection even though it risked Marlinto''s life for information because it is confident of victory. It is a confidence brought about by grasping the whole situation in its hands. After all, it literally has the whole ne in its grasp.


    Ragnarok continued, "I have no intention of enlightening you. This meeting is not for that. You know what I want."


    "Yes. I know that. You want to leave this dying ne. You also want me to swear that I won''te after you. I thought Marlinto gave you my answer to that question."


    "That was before. Now I am about to kill one of your Primogenitors and can kill more if you refuse me. What is your answer now?" Ragnarok asked.


    It was the turn of the demon god to change the subject. It did so with a question. "Do you know why I haven''t descended into the ne yet?"


    Ragnarok decided to entertain the demon god. He shrugged and said, "The divine ne?"


    "You are correct as usual. It brings back the good times we have spent together. How we quibbled and argued. I think back fondly on those memories. Have I mentioned that you are very intelligent?"


    Ragnarok rolled his eyes. "I am intelligent but your question was easy. You are obviously out there in the void. The only thing stopping you from entering is the divine ne. It is not about intelligence but information."


    It said with a chuckle. "You must forgive my surprise then. It is after all impressive that a Warrog from a backward tribe, that is less than a thousand years old and has never left the ne is aware of the nature of gods, their divine ne, and its function in protecting the ne."


    The demon god is insinuating that he is more than he seems. Ragnarok didn''t deny or admit anything. He stared down the red skull with silence.


    The demon god continued. "Now for the difficult question. Do you know why the Vampires have not been able to take the divine ne? Do you know why they are wasting their time fighting in the mortal ne instead of ushering their supreme into the ne?"


    "I heard it has something to do with a god of light in the divine ne," Ragnarok replied.


    "Correct again. I told you that if I remember that correctly. There is a Celestial of light in the divine ne. It has been weakened terribly because the absence of light has strangled its faith. But as long as it is still there, the divine ne will remain a restricted zone for vampires. So we are stuck trying to expand my will throughout the ne instead. I will gain ess to the ne once I usurp the will of the ne. That was my only choice."


    "The will of the ne decided to foil even that opportunity for me by creating a champion that can wield the power of light in the ne. Things were at a dead end for me until I could break through the divine ne. But then you disyed enough power to fight a Primogenitor and showed yourself immune to the effects of the sun. I can only imagine how powerful you would be if you had the assistance of infinite blood power."


    It paused before it asked. "What do you think my answer to your deal is now that you have this information?"


    Ragnarok didn''t have to think too much about the answer to that question. He knows that those on the path of perfection will get suppressed in the divine ne but not Vampires. They are like demons and dragons in that their source of power is not based on the universe itself. The suppression of thew matrix and the authority thates with it doesn''t affect them. So Vampires ought to be able to kill gods in the divine ne.


    They are a little weak to divine energy more than those on the path of perfection but that''s only if they get injured. It bes another story if there is a Celestial of Light in the divine ne. Vampires will get injured as soon as they enter the divine ne. They are weak to light and divine energy. Thebination of the two is fatal. Only someone without those weaknesses and who possesses immense strength will be able to threaten the divine ne so that the demon god can descend easily. There has been none until now.


    Ragnarok replied, "I''m guessing your answer to my demand is no."


    "Correct again. I wasn''t going to let you go before. You broke my hold on you. As if that isn''t enough, you even stole from me. How do you expect me to let go of you with those grievances? But I am a kind and merciful god. I am sure we can work something out. You have proven yourself quite resourceful after all. I will let you go after you help me gain entry into the ne."


    "Are you sure about your decision?" Ragnarok asked calmly. "I will not ask again. I will try my best to make you regret it if you don''t let me go."


    "Imagine that. You think you can threaten me now that you have little power. Howughable." The demon god didugh.


    It roared inughter. "How old are you again? Your entire lifespan is but an insignificant moment in my lifespan. I control powers far beyond yourprehension. Do you think you are capable of resisting me because you managed to escape from me?"


    I don''t think so. If you were so strong, you wouldn''t need my permission to leave the ne or the guarantee that I would note after you. Feel free to gallivant about like you own the ce. You only have until I gain ess to the ne so you should cherish your freedom now."

 Chapter 1041 Source Of Blood Power.

    Chapter 1041 Source Of Blood Power.


    Then the demon god stoppedughing. It spoke in a voice that was both hot and cold at the same time. "Let me warn you. You are either for me or you''re against me. I will be waiting for you to change your mind. Till then, the entire force of vampires wille for you. If I can''t have you, then no one will. If you won''t help me, then you will go down with the ne. Either way, I will have the secrets that you hold dear."


    Its voice made Ragnarok shiver while also scalding him like steam. It didn''t make him cower though. He affirmed his will and did what he had to do. He didn''t say anything anymore. All that needs to be said has been said. So he bent down and swallowed the skull whole. His divine ability got to work on the remnant of the primogenitor immediately.


    He has eaten the soup, the dish made from the delectable ingredient that is a Primogenitor. The soup was highly nutritious. It made him stronger by increasing his stats. But it isn''t enough for him. It is time for him to eat the meat of this dish.


    The heart of Carnage is one delicious meat. It was a little tough to digest. It felt like he swallowed a hard uncooked tuber whole. His stomach became bloated and heavy The heart of Carnage struggled within him. It kicked about and shook everything. It wanted to break out of him because the demon god was fighting to keep control of it.


    Unfortunately for the demon god, its resistance is too low to fight back. The sun is still up and Ragnarok is within the domain of a world beast, not in the ne. Plus the effect of the shard of power is still present. The Will of Carnage in the heart of Carnage was silenced so the struggling waned and he sessfully digested it.


    Another intricate tattoo glowing brightly red appeared on his body after digesting the heart of Carnage. Another one of his tails turned red from white. And another spike on the core of his divine ability gained a red halo on it.


    The initial red scar on his body formed by the tattoo erged to cover more area of his skin. The only side effect of his meal is that Marlinto will never be able to resurrect again now that the foundation of his existence has been eaten. He will not be missed.


    He said with anticipation. "2 down, 7 more to go."


    They say that if one of something is good, two must be better. In his situation, 9 is best. His divine ability has room for 9 hearts of Carnage. He certainly wouldn''t deprive himself of something that can help him grow stronger when the opportunity is avable.


    Devouring origin energy increases his stats while devouring the heart of Carnage increases his POWER Stat. He can devour living things to increase his POWER Stat but nothinges close to the supply of blood power within the heart of Carnage.


    The Virut ne gives Soverick infinite origin energy while the demon god gives primogenitors infinite blood power. This blood power is already in a state between life and death. It makes it very easy to convert it to death essence. It is because he converts it into death essence that daylight doesn''t have any effect on him and he has soul force to thank for being able to digest the heart of Carnage.


    "I don''t have infinite blood power like the Primogenitors. But it is okay. If I want more, I should just get more."


    His thoughts drifted to how to get more blood power. And since there are entities that walk around with blood power within them, what he has to do is clear. It is not even a chore at this point. It is something he is looking forward to.


    He will surely be able to get a lot more POWER if he maintains the connection of the demon god with the heart of Carnage. A steady supply of blood power is good. But he won''t do that because the demon god is not so generous as to give him something without asking for anything or getting anything in return. So he has to make do with the amount of blood power present within the heart of Carnage.


    He thought back to the fight and he couldn''t help but grin. The amount of blood power he got from the heart of Carnage the first time was very limited because he wasn''t a monarch then. He wasn''t even a full vampire. So he had to maximize his benefits from the heart of Carnage this time around. He decided to wring Marlinto dry of everything he had.


    He said with a chuckle, "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Marlinto will be missed."


    The domain he borrowed from Legion-1 allowed him to lock Marlinto away so no one could interfere in his feast. And what a feast it was. It is all thanks to Marlinto. Marlinto drew heavily on the supply of blood power in order to break his domain. Ragnarok devoured hisrge body to increase his stats by more than 100 billion points each. That is probably just 10% of Marlinto''s total stats.


    10% is already highly efficient for someone on his level. He is a king ofw devouring an Origin god-level entity after all. There will be a lot of wastage since most of Marlinto''s existence is beyond him. If not for his possession of soul force then it would have been impossible to harm Marlinto when he fused with his domain or digest his body parts.


    The best thing that he got from Marlinto is the heart of Carnage. He can get stats on his own by devouring origin energy or by devouring living things. But the BOOST thates from the heart of Carnage is the best and fastest way to increase his POWER stat.

 Chapter 1042 Sorrounded.

    Chapter 1042 Sorrounded.


    He made up his mind. "I should target Primogenitors for now. I can then change my focus to other sources when my divine ability is full."


    He can go about killing and murdering but it can''tpare to a heart of Carnage. The returns for killing random people will be too low and it will take a lot of timepared to the harvest from a primogenitor. So he decided to focus on Primogenitors for now. He will begin a massacre when he can''t eat any more hearts of Carnage.


    NAME: RAGNAROK (Legion-6)


    RACE: HUNTER


    BLOODLINE: Unknown Royal Bloodline.


    TITLE: CHILD OF THE VIRUT PLANE.


    POWER LEVEL: KING OF LAW.


    PHYSIQUE: INCOMPLETE BODY OF LAW


    HP: INFINITE


    STAMINA: INFINITE


    ENERGY QUALITY: Origin Energy.


    ENERGY QUANTITY: 12,020,759.


    VITALITY: 231,728,639,829


    ENDURANCE: 223,927,163,928


    STRENGTH: 246,828,933,722.


    AGILITY: 207,737,638,138


    POWER (DEATH ESSENCE): 2,712,223%


    PERCEPTION: 230,882,829,932


    SPIRIT: 251,317,353,478


    AMPLIFICATION: 100


    LIMITER (BODY): 0%


    LIMITER (SOUL): 0%


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 250,000,000(C)


    LAWS:


    SLAUGHTER: 100%


    OTHERS:


    MANA AFFINITY: 100%


    LAW AFFINITY: 40%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): BLOOD (DIVINE), DEVOUR (DIVINE), SLAUGHTER (DIVINE), DEATH (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Rxed.


    A single heart of Carnage earned him at least 1,000,000% in boost the first time. If he lets the dish simmer very well and soak up more vor, which he did in the case of Marlinto, then he can even earn a 1,550,000% boost from it. The addition of 150,000% that he got from the millions of Emperiti''s thralls and familiars makes for a total of 2,700,000%


    He chuckled to himself after digesting his prey. "I am sure the Vampires must be livid by now. This is sacrilege to them. I stole from their supreme and I killed an entire Lineage of Vampires. Even Xigger wasn''t this notorious and they hated him for it. I can just imagine the looks on their faces and their hatred for me."


    His strength has increased from 10^17 to 5 X 10^17. That''s more than 5 times his previous power output. That is a lot considering howrge his stats were before. But that''s not the only thing that he gained from killing and eating Marlinto. He also gained the hatred of the Vampires and the pleasure of stealing from the demon god.


    What he did is sacrilegious to Vampires. It is the ultimate disrespect to their supreme and a sin that can only be atoned for with his death. Others believe that the heart of Carnage is to be bestowed. But he doesn''t think that. He doesn''t believe that any power that is bestowed is true power. If it can be bestowed, it can be taken away.


    Xigger learned that lesson the hard way. He on the other hand has no respect for the power that is bestowed. He believes only in the power that he gained himself. Even the title of the child of the ne is not secure. That''s why Legion is currently working on a way to create their own source of infinite energy.


    They nned to use the Authority of the Celestial Supreme to do that. So they schemed to kill Zernon for it. Unfortunately, that won''t work anymore. The god of fate toyed with Helios, Aeternus, and the tree father in the Zargoth ne. The god of fate used them to be the Celestial Supreme and they can''t do anything to him. But that won''t stop Legion. They will continue looking for a way to be reliant on themselves and only themselves.


    He also won''t stop trying to make himself stronger when there is a way to. He just has to take what he wants regardless of the hatred of the Vampires. If anything, their hatred only makes his hunt more pleasurable.


    He said in anticipation, "It is time for the next target."


    There are a lot of Primogenitors in the ne. He only needs 7 more hearts of Carnage toplete the capacity of his divine ability. So he has to resume his hunt.


    He withdrew his domain after digesting Marlinto. The dark world shrunk around him. It disappeared into his mind through his soul to the soul sphere and back to Legion-1. The disappearance of the domain made him appear in the Cavern where the fight started. Except the cavern isn''t the same anymore.


    The entire ce has been scorched with mes and demolished by explosions. This is not purely due to his fight with Marlinto. Most of the fight took ce within the domain so it didn''t affect the world.


    He is only responsible for therge crater that formed when his domain crushed everything it came in contact with when it was activated. Even that crater has been overshadowed by several other types of damage. Someone other than him must be responsible for the destruction of the underground space.


    He doesn''t have to look far for what caused the destruction. The ones responsible for the damages are still around. In fact, they are very close to him.


    "This is not good." He said when he realized his situation.


    He is surrounded. There are thousands of wood elves around him. They are looking at him with very hostile gazes. Most of them are irrelevant to him. He could sneeze and they would keel over. The 3 origin gods surrounding him are another story entirely. His roar will not harm them much less his sneeze.


    He chuckled and said, "I''m guessing you guys are not here to wee and congratte me."


    One of the origin godsughed. She asked, "What makes you think that?"


    She, like the rest of the Origin gods around him, is very leafy. They look like detached parts of some nts that have be sentient. Thedy that spoke is the smallest one. She looks like a delicate pink flower. She has several pink petals that have shiny spots on them as if sprinkled with glitter. The flower that she is is not attached to a stalk. She is a free-standing flower.

 Chapter 1043 Betrayal.

    Chapter 1043 Betrayal.


    Ragnarok turned to her and replied. "Because this looks like an ambush."


    It doesn''t require a lot of brain power to figure that out. He is surrounded by enemies who have been trying to kill him for many years. It is obvious that they have ovee their fear of the Underdark to get to him. The source of their confidence is also obvious. It is the three origin gods around him who are in a position that very much resembles an ambush.


    Sheughed again. She has no eyes but he knows that she is amused right now. That amusement would show in her eyes if she had them. He can tell that she is amused because she transmitted her amusement to him through her divine sense. She wants him to know how amused she is and it grates on him. But other than that, he is not intimidated by their presence at all.


    He observed the Origin gods calmly. Her petals waved slightly and glittered in waves instead of at once as sheughed. Her demeanor is free without worry. The other two that nk him are not so carefree.


    One of them said, "We shouldn''t joke around big sister. He killed a Primogenitor. It is also Marlinto The Insufferable. He is very dangerous."


    "Hmm." She hummed. Then she asked the third one. "What do you think we should do Fia."


    The third origin god replied, "We have our mission. We do our mission and nothing else."


    The two other origin gods are rather alike in shape and form. Both of them don''t look humanoid at all and can be mistaken as tree trunks. They have short branches that look like they were cut off and have a scanty amount of leaves attached to the trunks but they don''t have crowns or roots.


    They are both much taller than their sister and they are also more woody. Their form is made from a hard and sturdy woody material that makes them look resilient as opposed to their delicate-looking sister. One of them is green and Viny while the other ispletely solid and brown.


    The three origin gods don''t look like the Sovereigns that they came with. The sovereigns are still humanoid. They look like normal wood elves with green skin and grey hair. They have two arms and two legs adorned with fingers and toes. Those extremities are extremelycking in the origin gods.


    The wood elves also have eyes and other apparent sense organs. Those organs are purely cosmetic but at least the Sovereigns lookplete instead of looking like parts of nts.


    "What is this mission of yours?" He asked after observing them.


    "Congrattions on killing a Primogenitor," Thedy Origin god said. Then she asked, "How did you do it?"


    She ignored his question while asking her own question. It is an indication of who she thinks has the upper hand in this encounter. He is muchrger than them so he looks like he can kill them with a single swat of his paw. They are shrubs while he looks like a monstrosity.


    But that''s not how power works at the origin level. They have a concept and he doesn''t. That''s a very important difference between them. That difference has emboldened her to dismiss him and to think little of him.


    He ignored her question and turned his attention away from her towards someone who might be better to speak with.


    "You must be the reason they found me." He said to Rinoz.


    Emperor Rinoz is also here. She is pretty subdued currently. She is even trying to look inconspicuous but her nature is making that impossible to do. She is producing light which makes her stand out in this dark environment.


    "I did it for your own good." She replied. Then she looked away.


    It seems she feels guilty for something. Or why would she not want to look him straight in the eye?


    Her behavior made him smile. He said, "I find that very hard to believe. You see, when people say they are doing something unpleasant for the good of others, it is for their own good most of the time. I am speaking from experience. My father tried to do a lot of things for my own good. I didn''t want him to but he didn''t listen."


    "My father felt guilty for the death of his loved ones and he wanted to make up for his loss with me. He wanted someone to love him. But his actions despite them being with seemingly good intentions only brought me problems. I am sure you know what I am talking about so I don''t need to regale you with my story. I would like to know what you will gain by snitching on me. You owe me that much since you betrayed me."


    She shot back at him. "You will watch your tongue Ragnarok. I didn''t betray you and neither did I snitch on you. I am not your subordinate so I don''t have to tell you anything. We have no bond of loyalty between us since you refused to submit to me when I asked several times. You refused to ept me as your child of the ne and your Emperor. So I can do whatever I want and I don''t need to care about your feelings about it."


    He curled his lips in disdain. "You have produced a lot of excuses for what you did. But that''s not what I asked you. I am yet to hear what you will gain from giving up a Warrog to the wood elves."


    He thinks less and less of her. If she didn''t feel guilty then she shouldn''t give excuses. He doesn''t think less of her that she betrayed him. He will do so too if it benefits him. He thinks less of her because she feels guilty about it.


    He said to her in disgust, "You have so much power and yet you still remain trash."

 Chapter 1044 Lies And Truth.

    Chapter 1044 Lies And Truth.


    Thedy origin god interjected. "Stop badgering the poor girl Ragnarok. She did what she did for your good and that of the entire race of Warrogs. She didn''t betray you because we wood elves and Warrogs are allies."


    Ragnarok felt his disregard for Rinoz increased further. He asked, "Please tell me that you didn''t betray me for nothing. Tell me that you gained or will gain something from this."


    Riniz wanted to speak but she was interrupted by the origin god again. "She is gaining the support of the wood elves and also acquiring protection for you. She didn''t lie. This is for your own good. You were wrong earlier too. We are your weing party."


    "My apologies then. I jumped to a conclusion." He said without a shred of sincerity. In fact, he is not even disying any emotions. He is alert and ready for battle despite what she said.


    The pink flower shimmered warmly as she said, "Your offense is forgivable. Any careful person would be skeptical about being surrounded by powerful strangers. They will also be afraid if those strangers are more powerful than them and outnumber them 3 to 1."


    "It is good that you understand. Can we get this weing party over then? I have ces to be and things to do." He said.


    "I am sorry but we cannot have a party in such a dump. I mean look around you. Isn''t this ce just dreadful?" She said.


    Ragnarok asked suspiciously. "Can we skip the party entirely? I don''t want it."


    She refused innocently. "I am afraid not. The party is a must or our trip here will be a waste."


    "Then I am fine with this location. I find that the craters give this ce a fearsome atmosphere. I like that."


    She refused that too. "This ce is uneptable. You will have to follow us back to our city. We have prepared the party there for you."


    He deadpaned. "Imagine that. What a surprise."


    "It is a surprise right?" She agreed. "You have nothing to be worried about when ites to your safety. We will escort you. As you can see, we are strong enough to protect you. In fact, we can hold off three enemies that are as strong as you."


    Ragnarok didn''t say anything. His stance says it all. The sharp glint in his eyes is not needed to convey his intentions. They know that all hell will break loose before he goes anywhere with them. So they fell into silence. No one wanted to make the first move.


    Then someone foolish broke the silence. "Juste with us Ragnarok. It will be good for you. I was being ignorant earlier. I didn''t know that you were so strong. There''s no way I could anticipate that you were strong enough to kill a Primogenitor. But no matter how strong you are, you need Origin energy. Blood power is great but you can be stronger still with Origin energy. The fountain of life can give you ess to Origin energy if you promise to ally with the wood elves."


    Ragnarok wanted to gawk. He is stupified by what she said. So he asked her, "Are you stupid?"


    That made her angry. "You are the stupid one. Stop being prideful and ept the help of the fountain of life. You will have a better chance of beating the demon god with our help. All the Vampires will surely hunt you now that you killed a Primogenitor."


    He turned to the pink flower and asked, "I don''t think you three are stupid and I would like you to at least respect me enough to believe that I am not as naive and ignorant as her."


    The pink flower tutted. "Stop using such insulting words. It is not her fault after all. We told her what she just said. If we didn''t, then it would have been more difficult to convince her to tell us your location."


    "I thought Alphas couldn''t be lied to. How did you manage to deceive her?" He asked in surprise.


    "Truth and lies are overrated. We didn''t lie to her. All we said is that Origin energy is strong and it will make you stronger if youbine it with blood power. She assumed you didn''t have Origin energy on her own. We didn''t tell her that."


    Rinoz interrupted. "What''s going on here?"


    He replied, "They deceived you is what is going on here. How could you think that I don''t have Origin energy? I used an Origin domain. How did you think I did that without Origin energy?"


    She was first confused. "What''s an Origin domain?"


    Ragnarok said in wonder, "And you thought you could beat Origin gods but you don''t know what an Origin domain is."


    That made her realize the crux of the matter. She became aghast. "They lied to me?"


    The pink flower corrected yfully, "No dearie. We didn''t lie to you. You lied to yourself."


    Ragnarok shook his head. "Don''t you see? You are being yed and used. How can you trust them to be your allies? And you wonder why I refused to submit to you. You''re a stupid girl."


    Rinoz couldn''t reply. She is still shocked by the situation.


    The pink flower spoke on Rinoz''s behalf. "Don''t badger the innocent girl. She didn''t know so it is not her fault."


    "Enough of this." He roared. "I am not going anywhere with you. Are we going to fight or not?" He asked in anger.


    "Watch your manners, young man." She warned him.


    "Or what?" He asked.


    "Or we will subdue you and have youe with us involuntarily. That will be very painful. We need you alive so we won''t maim you too much. But what we will do to you will make the trip unpleasurable." She replied as if she wasn''t threatening him.


    He wasn''t deterred at all. "I am Ragnarok the Omega. I stand alone. I won''t be coerced by force to do anything. I don''t and I have never been subdued by threat of violence. You will actually have to show me what you can do of you want to subdue me. And from what I can see, you three are not enough for it."

 Chapter 1045 Domain Trouble.

    Chapter 1045 Domain Trouble.


    The brown trunk-like origin god attacked him without warning. One of its stubby branches extended sharply towards him like a spear. He was prepared for it so he retaliated with his domain. Warning bells rang through their minds as soon as he initiated the summoning of his domain. They can sense, even before it was deployed, that it is dangerous to them. It came to them as a surprise that anything that he could produce could threaten them. The least of their expectations is that his domain is a threat to them. But that didn''t stop them from trying to run away.


    The origin matrix warned them of the impending danger. It is a perk of being an Origin god with an actual origin and concept that is connected with thew matrix of thew universe. Their perception and intuition get a boost. But they failed to evade the danger despite getting advanced warnings of it. A domain is not something that can be dodged. It can only be resisted.


    She shouted at the other two origin gods, "Stop it now."


    The three of them summoned their domains to resist the danger. They are no supposed to do so within the ne but they would rather face Mother High Heaven than be caught in his domain. If they limit the influence of their domain, the punishment will be much lesser than death.


    Three domains shed with Ragnarok''s from the edge. They ought to push his back and even copse it since it is 3 of them against him. But they failed in doing that too. The domain managed to envelope them after a slight dy.


    The four of them disappeared from the Cavern in less than a blink of an eye. They appeared in a dark empty world. The three origin gods tried even harder to resist immediately after they realized that they were in his domain. The critical word here is "tried." They tried really hard but they failed to even maintain their domain. It was their own domains that copsed not his.


    "What are you?" The pink flower asked in genuine fear.


    She is afraid despite being immortal. The inability to dispel the domain of another origin god indicates a wide disparity in strength. The fact that they couldn''t even maintain it after they were enveloped means that their concept willck the support of thew matrix of the void universe. They are alone against him.


    But that isn''t the reason why she is afraid. Those two reasons will only mean her possible death. They mean that she is weak. But the domain also means an ignorant death. It means she will never know how she died. That is something that she fears. Especially when it is caused by a being that is not an Origin god yet.


    She asked another question since he didn''t answer the previous one. "Where did you get this domain?"


    Ragnarok ignored her question. He asked yfully with a menacing grin, "Are you afraid? Do you feel despair? Don''t mind my presence. Feel free to feel despair."


    He is the yful one now meanwhile she has stopped being yful. She is serious and on high alert as if she is about to fight for her life. It amused him to turn the tables on her.


    The green tree trunk said in defiance, "We are not afraid."


    The brown tree trunk buttressed that assertion, "No, we are not afraid of you."


    Their reply made the pink flower calm down. It said to Ragnarok, "There''s three of us and one of you. Why should we be afraid?"


    His grin widened as he watched them form up to face him. He told them, "That''s very wrong. You should be afraid. You should be very afraid. But don''t worry. I will show you why."


    His bony armor changed as he spoke. He grew bone spikes all over his body. A de grew out from his elbows and his ws extended out of his paws.


    These guys are not like Marlinto. They have lost support right from the start of the fight. They are also not a danger to get close to. So he intends to use his full capabilities on them.


    The pink flower tried to reason with him. "You shouldn''t do this Ragnarok. You have the potential to be strong and to be an ally for the wood elves. You have gained favor with the wood elves for killing a Primogenitor. We truly do not mean you any harm. Killing us will destroy the favor you have with us. You will have both wood elves and Vampires as your enemies. You will have nowhere to go in the ne. You will be hunted day and night without peace. Please rethink your actions."


    He opened his mouth and roared at her. A ck beam was ejected out of his mouth towards her. That is his reply to her.


    The brown tree trunk intercepted the attack with its body. It ced itself in the direct path of the ck beam so the beam hit it instead of the pink flower. The ck beam shed with it and was sessfully resisted. But the brown tree trunk was pushed back.


    The brown tree trunk roared furiously as it resisted with all its strength. But it kept being pushed back. It is because the ck beam is gettingrger and stronger. So the origin god expanded exponentially. It grew into a giant treant with many branches as arms and many roots for legs. Its arms are crossed in front of it to resist the ck beam. There is a green barrier of soul force between it and the ck beam.


    The other two used the opportunity to attack Ragnarok. The green tree trunk grew and spread itself into arge forest of thorny Vines. Every inch of the vines is reinforced with soul force so they can''t be destroyed with an attack without soup force.


    The green trunk spread those thorny Vines towards Ragnarok while the pink flower glowed and unfurled into something like a sunflower. She then discharged some pink pollens that wafted towards him.

 Chapter 1046 Secret Agent For CARNAGE.

    Chapter 1046 Secret Agent For CARNAGE.


    His two attackers are nking the brown treant so the pink pollen ising from the right and the carpet of thorny vines is attacking him from the left. He ran forward to meet them. This is his domain so he knows what he is dealing with. He knows exactly how powerful the attacks are and what the concepts of the origin gods are. So he wasn''t surprised by what happened next.


    The ck beam in his mouth exploded outwards. It wasn''t a real explosion. It is more of a scattering or dispersion. He was forcing the small beads of devouring into the form of a beam. Now he stopped holding them together so they scattered into the environment and began to wreak havoc.


    His three opponents did not like that change. They turned to defend themselves which turned out to be a bad idea. The ck beam is actually made from thew of devouring, ughter, and blood. These threews each are stronger or equal to thew of life that their concepts are made of.


    Together, the threews are deadly to thew of life. They are extra deadly when they are empowered by the soul force of an Origin god. If they knew, they would have felt despair earlier when he asked them. But there''s no need to worry, he promised to show them why they should feel despair and he will fulfill that promise.


    An origin god with a domain will be able to suppress the beads of devouring with their domain. It will help them to resist it while they think of a near-impossible way to make thew of life beat thew of devouring or ughter or blood.


    But they don''t have their domain and they also don''t have ess to thew matrix for their intuition to fully activate. So they remained ignorant of the danger until thest moment. They only thought the beads were dangerous but they didn''t expect it to be lethal.


    The beads of devouring spread like a cloud of locust onto them. Then they began to devour everything that they came in contact with just like actual locusts would devour nts. Their defense of soul force defended them but it was being gnawed and devoured rapidly.


    "What''s this?" She asked in surprise. "Are you not working together with the demon god? This isn''t thew of blood."


    She is surprised because this reaction is not supposed to happen unless her concept is especially weak to the attack. And thew of blood that Vampires wield shouldn''t behave like this.


    Ragnarok didn''t answer her question. He asked a question in return. "You thought I was working together with the demon god?"


    She didn''t get angry because of his disregard. She replied. "We are not naive like Rinoz. There''s no way we would believe that you escaped from the demon god. But if you are truly not working with the demon god there is no need for us to fight."


    The beads are not ck because he made them in that color. ck is their natural color based on thew of devouring. He is not trying to fool them by changing the color. He is not secretly a vampire. But that doesn''t mean he is willing to work with them.


    They know too much about him for him to leave them alive. Besides, they are too weak for him to take the risk of cooperating with them. If he can fight them, then are not good enough to ally with.


    He dashed their hopes. "Just die already."


    Instead of holding back, he produced more and more beads of devouring. The supepressed phantom maws that make them up have an appetite that is inversely proportional to their size. Their defense of soul force was finally breached.


    Thedy Origin god was the first to fail. She screamed when the beads of devouring finally made contact with her petals. "Nooooooo!"


    Her concept offered little resistance to the power of ughter and devouring. Ragnarok let the beads of the devouring rampage as much as they liked. He won''t get blood essence from the three origin gods. That means he won''t be able to increase POWER stat. So he doesn''t have to hold back at all. He let the beads of devouring engorge on them as much as they wanted.


    The beads erged quickly. They got bigger and stronger. They ate faster the stronger they became. He could watch and wait but he doesn''t want to risk anything. He jumped to the ce that needed him the most. He attacked the brown treant.


    He doesn''t need to fight the other two personally. The beads of devouring ate the Thorny vines rapidly. The green trunk origin god produced more at a faster rate but his forest has stopped growingrger. He is just pouring fuel into the fire inrge quantities hoping that the fire will be drowned.


    All he is doing is stalling death. The beads of devouring will ignore him as long as he produces the Vines for them to eat. But their appetite is increasing rapidly. He will be next on their menu if he can''t keep up with their exorbitant demands.


    As for the pink flower, she is already dying. She is the most fragile of the three of them. Her concept of Enthralling Flower is of no use here. The pollens that she produced are meant to enve living beings. It is extremely dangerous to living things but the beads of devouring are not living by any definition of it despite their appetite.


    Her concept makes her the most powerful of the three of them. She has a lot of powerful beings that she has enved with it. She would have been able to summon them here if she had her domain. They are not origin gods but there are hundreds of thousands of them. If she had her domain, she would have been able to summon an army''s worth of defenders and helpers.

 Chapter 1047 Domain Disadvantage.

    Chapter 1047 Domain Disadvantage.


    Her concept of Enthralling Flower can''t enve Origin gods but it can reduce their fighting strength and can render them powerless inrge enough amount. She is so powerful that it can affect numerous Origin gods at once. She bes a terrifying force to deal with whenbined with her army.


    Her concept gets to be disyed fully in wars but now she is defenseless and powerless to resist. The beads ate her pollen eagerly without any effect and were already eating into her. She can''t even summon her ves to stall the beads of devouring. She will be dead in moments.


    Thest one is the toughest one here. His concept The Father Of Treants makes him a giant walking tree. He is very slow but he is very strong. That strength of his is useless against the beads of devouring. Hitting them is a waste since they are too small individually.


    Fortunately, he is also too tough to be damaged by the beads so they are in a stalemate. The resistance of the thick barks on his body prevents him from being torn to shreds by the beads. That''s why Ragnarok continued to focus his beam on him to push him away from the others.


    She wailed and cursed again. "Ragnarok! You little piss of shit. You will regret this."


    She knows now that she has underestimated Ragnarok. No one but an Origin god should have soul force. Ragnarok wasn''t pretending with the demon god to put up a show. But things have gotten to this step where death is certain for her so she is not going to apologize.


    Ragnarok teased the treant. "Why don''t you go and help her?"


    But he didn''t go to help her. He can surely rush to help her and he will probably seed in saving her. But that will open him up to Ragnarok''s attack. She is immortal anyway. It is not worth it to risk himself for something that is not needed. So he stood his ground and shed with Ragnarok head one.


    He swung his heavy fist at Ragnarok''s head while Ragnarok opened his mouth wider than before.


    His jaw expanded abruptly and mped shut on the extended arm.


    There was a loud crash in Ragnarok''s mind as his teeth smashed against the gnarly arm. It felt like he just bit into stone. There was a bacsh that he felt deep into his existence. He would have bitten more than he could chew were it not for the supply of soul force that he is getting from Legion-1. It made his teeth rip through his opponent''s defense.


    His opponent tried to pull his arm back but nothing came out of Ragnarok''s mouth. His ck teeth cut through the arm cleanly. Only a torn stub of an arm came out of that struggle.


    The Father Of Treants didn''t scream or cry in pain. It felt nothing despite losing his entire arm. He used one of his other hands to punch Ragnarok. His makeshift fist made of bunched-up branches smashed into Ragnarok''s skull.


    Ragnarok''s head was knocked aside by the collision. His skull is still intact. He was just rattled by the force. His bone armor did its job well. But he felt the power of that punch deeply. Fortunately, the two of them are matched equally in strength.


    He has more than 200 times the stats of a one-star origin god. He doesn''t have a concept but he has the help of his boost from POWER, AUTHORITY, and most importantly he has Soul force to make up for the difference. Altogether, he has more than 50,000 times the power of a one-star Origin god.


    His soul force might be weaker but it ensured that he could harm them at all. No amount of stats and Authority or raw power will harm something fueled with a concept. Another concept or soul force is needed for it. He has everything needed not to be at a disadvantage with this Origin god.


    The two of them began to brawl. They have equal strength and are simr in size, but Ragnarok is faster than his opponent. His divine ability is also deadly to the Father of Treants.


    He used the ws on his paws to rip and tear. He used the horns on his head to gore and impale. He used the teeth in his mouth to bite and crush. He even used the de on his elbows to slice his enemy when he could. Each of his attacks deprived the Father of Treants of more of his precious body parts.


    The Father of Treants could regenerate but it is a losing fight. He has nothing more than brute force in his arsenal. The absence of his domain hasn''t crippled the father of Treants as it did for the pink flower or the vine forest. His strength has only been cut by half since it can''t create a favorable environment for itself.


    A treant needs solid ground to put its feet on so that it will be able to fully utilize its strength. The Father of Treants could have had a higher strength and tougher defense if it could root itself in the ground. Unfortunately, it can''t. So it was torn apart little by little. The others died while they were fighting.


    The pink flower died without much resistance. The Forest of Subjugation also died soon after. He has fed the beads of devouring to bursting. They then devoured the hand that fed them.


    The beads that used to be tiny have be more than 10 metersrge. The pulling force around each of them interacted with each other to warp space and matter within the domain. The Forest of Subjugation was torn apart between them. They devoured him like rabid and hungry wolves.


    The Father of Treants will soon join them. Nothing he did could harm Ragnarok. His punches couldn''t get past the bone armor. The wooden spikes that grew out of his body could only inconvenience Ragnarok. All he has to do is evade them with the help of the domain.

 Chapter 1048 Resolution To Turn The Tables.

    Chapter 1048 Resolution To Turn The Tables.


    ?


    The treant''s bulking body has been reduced to broken scraps. He has lost both his arms and legs so he can''t fight back anymore. If not for the spikes around him, then he would be finished already.


    He asked Ragnarok, "How are you so good at fighting? Aren''t you less than 1,000 years old?"


    He was outmatched in power and abilities so he tried to resist with skill. He figured that since he was older, he should have more experience than Ragnarok in a brawl. He finds out that Ragnarok is even better than him.


    Wood elves are not fighters in the first ce. They rarely fight with their hands or with melee artifacts. He is the outlier. But his years of experience cannotpare to the 6 steps of weapon mastery. He stood no chance at all. It was as if he was fighting a veteran killer and not some youngling who stumbled into great power.


    Ragnarok snickered at him. He said, "You are already at death''s door. What use is any information to you? You won''t remember it anyway."


    The treantmented. "We made a mistake. You are not young Warrog at all. You must be an Origin god in disguise. Maybe that Rinoz girl deceived us. Imagine that. We were actually fooled by her."


    Ragnarok didn''t engage in the conversation further. He brought down the cloud of strengthened beads of devouring to finish the job immediately. The beads couldn''t do anything to him earlier. But they have grown stronger after engorging on two other origin gods. They were able to shred through his tough woody defense now.


    Ragnarok watched as they pulled the Father of Treants apart little by little with a cold gaze and alertness. He has not rxed yet so there is no way he will engage in banter in this critical moment. He will only rx when his enemy is good and dead.


    Talking is a waste of time. It is also time that something unfortunate can happen. He will not be able to rest easy until he kills every one of them. So he made the final blow as soon as possible. Then he withdrew the domain and returned to the world.


    He found the Cavern to be empty. All the Sovereigns and Rinoz that were not engulfed by his domain have escaped. The short dy that the Origin gods created with their own domains was enough to allow some of them to escape. The rest were unlucky and died when the domain tore them apart.


    His eyes of life found those that escaped easily. They are heading towards the surface to regroup with more forces of the wood elves. He won''t be able to catch up to them since the distance between them isn''trge.


    His fight with the Origin gods didn''t take as much time as Marlinto''s but it still took 2 hours. The wood elves and Rinoz will be able to reach a stronghold before he catches up to them if he chases them so he decided not to run after them.


    But he can''t stay still. It is likely that the wood elves will not like the fact that he killed three of their Origin gods. They might move to attack him. That will be in addition to the Vampires who are definitely angry with him and are out to get him.


    He considered his situation carefully. "I have seeded in making enemies of the wood elves and the Vampires. It is bad but there is a solution. I just have to give them something else to worry about."


    That solution is clear to him. They will leave him alone if something else takes away their attention. It is just that the solution might be dangerous to him too and he will regret it if it doesn''t work out.


    He said with determination, "I have nothing else to lose. I have offended both parties. All ties have been severed. It is time to turn the tables on all of them."


    His eyes had found something interesting deeper into the ground when he was searching for a target. He ignored it because it was too dangerous and because he couldn''t eat it. It wasn''t worth the risk and effort before. There was no benefit for him in that direction. That has changed now.


    He turned his sight towards it now. Deep underground is a blight created by the universe to correct the chaos going on in the ne. This blight is dangerous to every living thing including him.


    This blight is so difficult to deal with because it won''t disappear until the error created by the demon god of Carnage has been corrected. This will only happen if all the Vampires are wiped out from the ne. Until then, it will rampage throughout the ne.


    The blight will also target the food sources of the Vampires to starve them. This blight is so dangerous that it had to be sealed and hidden deep within the ground. If not for his eye of life, he wouldn''t have found it.


    "This is a crazy idea. I could die." He said with a grin. "But what have I got to lose? If the game is against me, then I will destroy the rules and make a new game."


    He is desperate right now. He is so desperate that he is willing to kill himself for a way to turn the tables. He is very powerful but he is only one man. He can''t take in all the Vampires or the wood elves.


    The Vampires have the demon god while the wood elves have the all-seeing fountain of life and the immortal Origin gods. He will surely be found. It is just a matter of time. Then he will be surrounded.


    Even if he manages to evade the hunt, it is a matter of time before the demon god gains ess to the ne. He will be in very big trouble then. He is still an ant in a bottle that will be crushed by the demon god when it finally enters the bottle. That threat is still far off. But the threat of many Origin gods and Vampires is very close by.

 Chapter 1049 Progress Through Fighting.

    Chapter 1049 Progress Through Fighting.


    The Vampires can''t hunt him now since it is still daytime. The wood elves on the other hand are already rallying. It will only be a matter of hours before more Origin gods are sent after him.


    He has until nightfall to do something or the entire Underdark will be hostile to him. The Underdark is their home ground after all. The wood elves might not be able to enter the underdark easily but that is no constion to him.


    "There is no use waiting for death. If I am going to go down, then I''ll bring everyone down with me."


    He might die soon, but he will at least make sure to be a thorn in the neck of everyone on the ne. His n doesn''t need him to die. The danger to his life is when the n fails. But he is willing to do it anyway and risk his life just to trouble everyone else.


    He thought about the demon god and the look on its face when it finds out what he did. He thought about the wood elves and the look of terror on their faces. He pictured blood draining from the pale bloodless faces of vampires and he couldn''t help but snicker.


    He reaffirmed his Will. "Is it not death? I am not scared of death. If I die, it will be on my own terms. That is how I like it."


    His eyes glinted sharply as he made up his mind. His form morphed and he returned to his humanoid form. His pale white form has acquired another spread of tattoos on the skin of his torso. The tattoo is red and vivid. It looks like someone drew something on his body with blood.


    His three eyes searched for his target again. He found it quickly thanks to his third eye.


    He observed to himself. "It seems to have shifted. That isn''t natural."


    He knows where hest saw them but their position has shifted. They are still down in the earth but their location seems to have shifted to the right.


    What he saw didn''t discourage him. "Someone is actively trying to hide them. It won''t matter who when everything goes up in me. Everyone will suffer together."


    He produced arge ck phantom maw from his hand. The maw is more than 100 meters wide. It is not translucent like the previous ones that he used to produce as a mana entity. It is thick and sturdy like the toughest rock. It also doesn''t need to bite to devour things. Everything around it is being actively drawn towards the mouth where they disappear for good.


    He shrunk the maw down into a small ck orb. He also produced two more maws which he shrunk down to create a total of three small orbs. He made the small orbs revolve in a circle while activating them to their maximum limit.


    The space within the circle and outside of it was darkened and flickered because of the devouring force. It is because the devouring power of the three orbs amplified each other. The space around the orb was forced to bend and funnel matter into the three orbs. It formed a zone of devouring around the three orbs.


    He then pushed this configuration downwards toward his target. The soil and air along the way were ripped apart and devoured at a much faster rate. It is faster than when he used a single ck orb and concentrated all his power into it.


    The sight of achievement made him nod in appreciation. "I am getting better at this."


    He just got his divine ability so he has not yet fully mastered its full capabilities. He knew how to use it instinctively when he got it and he also had some of Gator''s memories about how it works. But his divine ability is different from those of Executioners. He can create more than one maw at a time so it has more potential.


    "II should fight more. Fighting does help to bring out the full potential."


    He used to rely on a single maw when he first became a transcendent. Then he developed the ck beam that utilized many maws when he fought Marlinto. He got the idea to create a field of devouring that amplifies each maw when he fought the Origin gods. The sight of the beads amplifying each other when they devoured the forest of vines inspired him.


    The three beads cut through the ground as if parting water. There was no significant resistance against them whatsoever. It is different from the situation earlier when he was digging towards Marlinto. His bead of devouring dug a way for him. But it had to actually struggle to do so.


    They are currently so fast that he is practically flying through the ground unimpeded as if he were flying through the air. He will be able to reach his target very soon.


    A spiritual force of some kindtched onto his divine sense as he was digging toward the doom of the ne.


    "Who is this?" He said in annoyance.


    He is annoyed that someone he doesn''t know has found him and also forcefully initiated a conversation with him. If they can do this, then they can watch him with their divine sense without his knowledge.


    The voice said, "I am the one they call the fountain of life."


    That startled him. He didn''t expect to hear from the great and powerful fountain of life who shaped the course of history and made the weaker wood elves be the overlord of the ne.


    Then he smiled. He asked, "To what do I owe this honor?"


    "You are not stupid Ragnarok. You know why I am speaking with you. Don''t y dumb with me." It said in irritation.


    Yes, he knows why the fountain of life has initiated this conversation. He is not stupid after all. That doesn''t mean he will make things easy for the fountain of life. He will have fun because that''s all he wants from it. He is not going to change his mind.

 Chapter 1050 Reasonable At All Times.

    <h4>Chapter 1050 Reasonable At All Times.</h4>


    Ragnarok said with mirth, "If I knew that you would speak to me once I decide to threaten the living things of the ne then I would have done it a long time ago."


    It said to him in a stern voice, "This is not a joking matter Ragnarok. You intend to put trillions of lives at risk."


    He nodded in agreement. "It is obvious that it is not a joking matter. This matter is very serious or you wouldn''t have reached out to me at all. You certainly wouldn''t have done so in the Underdark where your divine sense is supposed to be unable to reach. I wonder how you have managed to do this?"


    "That is not any of your business."


    Ragnarok scoffed at that reply. The demon god told him that the fountain of life couldn''t monitor the Underdark. That''s why the dark elves moved here. Apparently, that is a lie. It is either the demon god lied or the dark elves were deceived.


    The dark elves might actually be right and so was the demon god. In that case, this person that he is speaking to is not actually the fountain of life. It could be anything but it is certain that something is fishy here since he is speaking with the fountain of life here in the Underdark where its influence is not supposed to be able to reach.


    The voice said to him in that cold stern voice, "What you need to know is that you must stop what you are about to do. I have truly been watching but I have only once acted against you. That was when you were being hunted by the wood elves after you became a vampire."


    "Is that so?"


    "It is so. I didn''t want you to fall into CARNAGE''s hands so it was not personal. What you are about to do is personal. It will be ill-advised to add me to your list of enemies now. You had help from the Vampires before so you could escape from me. You have no one now."


    "What''s what I am about to do your business anyway? It is not as if you will be threatened by them. You are much too strong for that." He asked but he didn''t stop digging.


    "This ne and everything within it is mine. The wood elves are my pets. Even the dark elves are mine. They exist for my pleasure and my pleasure alone. I could have wiped them out but I didn''t. I let them live here in the Underdark. They amused me so I let them live. The demon god stole some of them from me. That is a grave offense. But it doesn''tpare to what you are about to do."


    Ragnarok snickered. "Hmm. So you are just a perv? You like to peek at people when they don''t know you''re watching."


    Clearly, he is not taking this seriously. The fountain of life became even more dissatisfied with him.


    It said to him, "Focus on the important matter."


    He chose not to focus on the important matter. He said, "The demon god said that you don''t like to kill because you are weak. I think you didn''t kill the dark elves just like you didn''t kill the Warrog paragons because you truly do not like death."


    If this voice truly belongs to the fountain of life, then it has always been aware of what is going on in the Underdark. It could have wiped the dark elves out if it wanted to. So clearly it didn''t want to. It chose to let them go after they rebelled against its rule.


    He refuses to believe that the mercy it showed is simply because it was amused with the dark elves. He refuses to believe that. No one as powerful as the fountain of life should be that bored.


    Sure, it can be amusing to spy on weaklings who think they are safe from you. But there has to be more than that for someone as powerful as the fountain of life to spare them. Or it could be that the fountain of life really doesn''t like to kill?


    Personally, Ragnarok doesn''t care. He is just speaking about it because he is trying to avoid speaking about what''s truly important. He will speak about anything except his current agenda. It is all to have some fun before he does something that might kill him.


    The voice growled at him. "You are ying with fire Ragnarok. I assure you that I can kill you if I want to. And right now, I am about to unleash a world of pain on you if you don''t be serious."


    "Fine. I will stop what I am about to do. But only if you give me safe passage out of the ne."


    If he can leave the ne sessfully then there is no reason for him to bother with the conflict between the ne and the demon god. He is always reasonable as long as there are benefits to be had.


    The fountain of life seemed to have calmed down. Its tone became lower. It said, "That can be arranged. You can take the nar portal but it is currently in control of the Vampires. Join the wood elves to take it and you will be able to leave the ne."


    Ragnarok wasn''t fooled. He said, "You can''t say that I shouldn''t act dumb while you act dumb. You can''t say that I am not foolish and expect me to believe that I can take the nar portal with the wood elves."


    "What do you mean?"


    Ragnarok''s mental voice rose. "If it were so easy to leave the ne, you would have taken the nar portal and left. You are obviously much stronger than me. If you couldn''t take the nar portal, how do you expect me to take it from the Vampires guiding it? You must think I am foolish and I find that insulting."

 Chapter 1051 RAGNAROK Is No Pawn.

    <h4>Chapter 1051 RAGNAROK Is No Pawn.</h4>


    "Here I thought you were going to make a deal with me but it seem that you just want to insult my intelligence."


    The fountain of life scoffed at him. "You are jumping to the conclusion again Ragnarok. This is just like that time when you assumed that every paragon in the prison apart from Gator was too weak tomunicate. Didn''t Fenrir show you the error of your ways?"


    "Of course, you saw that."


    That made the fountain of life snicker. "Saw it? I orchestrated the whole thing."


    Ragnarok wasn''t surprised. He said calmly, "Oh."


    "You aren''t shocked?"


    Ragnarok did a mental shrug. "I have long since known that the struggle of the ne is a game between three yers. There is you, the demon god, and the Will of the ne. Everyone else are pawns including the Vampires, wood elves, and even Rinoz. It does note to me as a surprise that you had something to do with a prison full of Warrog paragons that were captured by wood elves. After all, you are the yer in control of the wood elves."


    The fountain of life was not impressed. "I should have had you killed you when I noticed your conception."


    That made Ragnarokugh. "So were aware of my conception? You probably let me live because you thought you could use me. But you have realized now that I will be no one''s pawn. Unfortunately, it is toote for regrets."


    Heughed for a long while before he got back to the issue at hand. "Will you tell me about how I am jumping to conclusions this time around?"


    "What if I don''t want to leave?" It asked him.


    Its answer confused him. He asked with a doubtful tone, "Why would you not want to leave this doomed ne? What could be so great about this ne that you would be willing to risk yourself for it?"


    "I already told you. This ne is mine. I am not giving it up without a fight."


    Ragnarok snorted. "I wish I could believe you."


    "What can I do to make you believe me?"


    "It is simple. Go and take the nar portal. Then you will have the right to negotiate with me."


    The voice rejected it. "I can''t do that. Taking the nar portal will expose me. I can''t show myself or the demon god will know where I am."


    Ragnarok rolled his eyes. "Then how are you supposed to be fighting the demon god when you don''t actually do anything? Staying hidden is the direct opposite of antagonizing the demon god."


    What he asked for is reasonable. He will stop what he is about to do if he is offered a way out of the ne. But the so-called fountain of life refused to do it. He is finding this situation to be more and more fishy. The fountain of life or whoever this person is must be surely up to something. If that something is to fool him, then whoever this is won''t seed.


    It yelled at him, "I don''t have to exin myself to you."


    "You kind of actually. You called me remember? You were the one that reached out to me. You are the one that has something to ask of me. So you have some exining to do. It is the least you can do if you want me to listen to you."


    "This is yourst warning Ragnarok. Cease what you are about to do"


    Ragnarok didn''t stop. In fact, he would have sped up if he could. This conversation is already grating on his nerves.


    He raised his voice and asked angrily. "Or what? What are you going to do to me?"


    "Tell me. I want to know. Have you ever been shackled with a demon god? Have you ever been in a situation wishing you could die without your soul falling into the demonic ws of a demon god? What can you do to me that is possibly worse than that? Do you n to lock me up in a prison for tens of origin cycles as you did to the other Warrog paragons? Or do you actually n to kill me this time? What is it you n to do? Tell me. I want to know. I really do."


    The voice said nothing.


    He continued with a sneer of disdain, "Don''t threaten me if you don''t have the power to back it up. I don''t respond to threats of violence. I will only sumb to actual strength. You are strong but I have looked at the face of death and smiled at it. Your power, no matter how great, cannot beat that."


    Then he calmed down. He even smiled. "Besides. I am probably heading to my death right now. It is not wise to threaten me with more death. You have to think of something better. Offer me something useful or I will destroy this ne that you cherish so much."


    The silent voice finally spoke. "Think about all the people that you will get killed."


    Ragnarokughed. "If you''ve been watching me as you imed, you would know that I won''t care about that."


    It actually knows that he doesn''t care about that. After all, it watched Ragnarok kill and eat the paragons of his race. He didn''t help them by releasing them. That opportunity could have been used by him to be a hero for his race. But he didn''t care about his race. He only cared and still cares about himself.


    He continued tough, "You are either lying about being the fountain of life or you are fishing because you have no better option. Either one isughable."


    The voice sighed. Then it said, "Run and keep running. That''s the only thing you can do because you can never hide from me. If you survive this, then you will have me to contend with."


    Ragnarok snickered again. "You have to line up after CARNAGE. You are not the first person that wants me dead. But I doubt you will line up behind the demon god seeing as you are scared of it and can''t show your face around it "

 Chapter 1052 Useless Words.

    <h4>Chapter 1052 Useless Words.</h4>


    He isn''t too concerned about the threat of the fountain of life. It has not changed anything because he has always considered the fountain of life and the demon god to be threats to his life. It is because they are stronger than him. That wouldn''t change even if he tried to please them. So he might as well do whatever he wants if he is going to die.


    He asked yfully, "Are you really the fountain of life? I am shocked that you would threaten me for doing a good thing. You should be d that I''m trying to get rid of the Vampires. Why are you antagonizing me? You should know that some good people will suffer in order for the evil people to be eradicated. It is just a small sacrifice to save the ne. Think of the greater good and help me instead."


    The fountain of life didn''t agree with him. It said onest thing. "Run and keep running."


    Then it cut off the connection between them.


    "That''s just rude," Ragnarok said with a slight smile.


    Then he shrugged. "What''s one more enemy that already tried to kill me before? Does it even count as a new enemy?"


    He resumed his journey. Unfortunately, he didn''t get far before another person decided to speak with him without his consent. He just sighed and listened. He has no choice after all.


    A phantom of a yellow fox with nine tails appeared beside him. It said, "Ragnarok, I want to apologize for bringing the wood elves to you. I was fooled and..."


    "Do you have something you want to ask me? If you do just get on with it and let''s be done." Ragnarok interrupted and demanded rather rudely.


    Emperor Rinoz held in her retort. "I understand why you don''t think favorably of me. I want to say that I am on your side. The Will of the ne wants me to thank you for what you are about to do. If you survive this, you can always count on me and the Will of the ne for help."


    "Thanks for offering but I don''t need your help. I am self-sufficient. I have all the help that I need."


    He rejected her goodwill immediately. He can be cordial with her if he is in a good mood but he can''t ept any help from her. She is stupid, ignorant, and unreliable. She is a burden because of those characteristics despite the power that she wields.


    Besides, he is self-sufficient. He is Legion and Legion is with him. He has all the help he needs and he can trust Legion. He has a supply of soul force and the domain of an Origin god from Legion-1. That has helped him a lot.


    That isn''t the only thing that he has from Legion. He has a supply of origin energy from Legion-2 which he is using to activate his divine ability and to grow. He has a supply of divine life energy from Legion-9 which he can use for quick healing. He also has the supply of Cosmic energy from Legion-4 which he doesn''t know how to use yet.


    Legion is notplete yet. It isn''t perfect andpletely self-sufficient yet. It still has a long way to go. For now, he has unconditional support andplete trust in them. That already trumps whatever Rinoz can deliver.


    Rinoz hasn''t helped him at all. She tried to enve him and she brought Origin gods to him. She is an incapable and ignorant person who he can''t trust. She is theplete opposite of Legion.


    She is just a puppet in the struggle for the ne. If he needs her power, then he will just take it. He doesn''t need her to give it to him. It is better for him to have her power since he can trust himself.


    This resolution made Ragnarok think to himself, "If I survive this, I should n to kill her."


    Then he asked her impatiently, "Is that all?"


    "I misjudged you. You are a true hero. You have done more good for the ne than I ever did and you are about to do more. I just wish that you wouldn''t do this alone. It is not a weakness to ask for help." She insisted.


    He thought inwardly. "What a useless child of the ne."


    What she said is true. He has done more good for the ne than her. He has killed more Vampires and more Primogenitors. His Primogenitor kill count is one but it is still better than hers and he has killed millions of Vampires. What he is about to do might also liberate the ne. It makes Rinoz more of a stupid figurehead than an actual Emperor.


    He thought of something so he asked her. "Actually, I need help with something. Can you grant me a way out of the ne?"


    "There''s no way to escape." She said to him.


    He asked. "What about the nar portal?"


    His question made her agitated. "Don''t go there. That''s a dead end. The strongest Vampire guides the nar portal. His name is Drastoic. He is undefeated even in the day."


    "Then what use are you to me?" He asked in irritation. "You''re just buzzing in my ear like some fly that I can''t swat. You offer me nothing but useless words. Even the demon god was more helpful than this. At least it could tell me important information."


    "I can offer you power. I can even share part of my power with you. You just have to submit..."


    "Shut up." He shouted at her. "Just shut up and leave me alone."


    He received the silence that he asked for immediately. The phantom fox disappeared from his vision and left with Rinoz''s annoying voice.


    His eyes glinted sharply. He thought to himself, "It seems I haven''t made enough enemies yet. I should add one more when I get the chance. I kill this Rinoz if only for the power that I will gain from her."

 Chapter 1053 The Hidden Danger.

    Chapter 1053 The Hidden Danger.


    He hates this ne. They call it the Lumen ne which means the ne of light. Maybe the ne was truly bright in the past but its name is ironic now. The Lumen ne is now a cold dark ce filled with war and danger.


    This ne was not his choice in the first ce. He was unlucky to be here in contrast to how lucky Soverick is. But he has tried to make the best of what he has. He has done well for himself thanks to the assistance of Legion.


    But his situation is still grim though. There is no way out for him. He remains trapped in a bottle with the demon god looking down condescendingly at him. That''s why he has thrown caution to the wind and is willing to offend everyone.


    Since he can''t escape his fate then he will share his grim fate with everyone. Let them partake in some of his pain. He doesn''t need an important reason to do so. He is willing to do it just for the fun of it. But he has good reasons. There is no path of survival for him in this ne. He can''t leave the ne. In that case, he will make the ne unptable for everyone. Maybe then, the blockade on the ne will be lifted.


    What he is about to do is certainly a crazy thing to aim for. But it also has another benefit of making the ne useless to the demon god apart from punishing everyone. This might make the demon god give up on the ne and will create an opportunity for him to survive.


    The major struggle in this ne is because all three major factions are fighting each other to gain control of the ne and the life within it. If by chance, arge amount of the living things in the ne including the Vampires die, and the ne bes uninhabitable, then they might lose interest and stop fighting.


    As for his hatred towards the child of the ne, Rinoz has given him enough reasons to get rid of her if he can. Her constant irritation is annoying and he hates how she canmunicate with him anytime she wants.


    As if that isn''t enough, she can use herbined ability from her title and connection to him as Warrog to find his location which she then exposes to those who want to harm him. That is more than enough reason to kill her.


    He managed to get away thest time Rinoz brought enemies to him. He might not be so lucky the next time around. But those reasons are not needed to kill her. The power she has and represents can be stolen if he kills her. This incentive will tempt him to kill her even if she were a saint who has never offended him and has instead helped him on several asions.


    No one bothered him for the short period it took for him to reach his destination. But he had to stop along the way because something was blocking his way.


    "What is this?" He asked in surprise.


    There is some sort of spiritual barrier in his way. It was invisible until he actually got close to it. It reminded him of the tree father''s ability to hide. The barrier is also much stronger than what a weak Celestial can make.


    "This must be how they hid them from the world. It is a seal and I bet it is the fountain of life''s work."


    The blight should have been rampant in the ne ever since Vampires appeared in the ne. That is the natural order of things. It is always the case in other nes where Vampires reside. It is only after a struggle that the blight will be defeated.


    But he hasn''t seen the blight in the ne at all. Not even the slightest signs of them. He asked Emperiti about it and she said that the blight had been defeated. She lied to him. It turned out that they had sealed them away.


    Even the fountain of life is probably in on it. It is the entity that is capable of hiding things from him and has hidden many things from him. If not for his third eye then he wouldn''t have known about its existence. Besides, with the way the fountain of life surveys the ne, there is no way that it wouldn''t be aware of this seal.


    "It must have been too strong to be defeated so they sealed it away. But I have found it now."


    He has some suspicion about why the fountain of life would choose to help the Vampires seal away the blight but that''s a worry for the future. For now, he shrugged and broke the barrier. He is stronger than a weak Celestial so it wasn''t much of an issue for him. His three beads of devouring pierced the barrier and he passed through.


    "Here we go." He said in anticipation. "This is the moment of truth."


    He can sense the ominous presence of what is ahead of him now. He couldn''t sense it before because of the barrier. Now he knows that what he is doing is very dangerous because his instincts are warning him and telling him to turn back. But he didn''t turn back. He chose to dig deeper.


    He broke through ayer of earth into an open space. The space here is very dark. It is pitch ck so he can see the numerous pairs of tiny red lights that are fixated on him. Then the sounds of feet shuffling started immediately.


    All those tiny lights began to get closer to him. He is up at the top of the cavern so the entities that the eyes belong to begin to climb the walls to reach him.


    He said in disdain, "So slow. This will take forever. What use will you be to me if you are this slow?"


    The ghouls are too slow. They walk slower than a mortal that hasn''t even started the body-forging stage.

 Chapter 1054 Ghoulish Problem.

    Chapter 1054 Ghoulish Problem.


    It will take forever for the ghouls to reach him at their current speed. They won''t be dangerous that way. He was a little disappointed by it. He expected them to be dangerous. But if they can''t threaten him then they won''t be of much use to him.


    But he knows that they are more than they seem. He has never seen one. Not even Gehaldirah has seen one. Legion has only heard tales of them. Their origin is tied to Vampires. Where there are vampires, there are ghouls. They are supposed to be very dangerous.


    If ghouls aren''t dangerous, then no one would have gone to great lengths to seal them within this space. Even the fountain of life created a barrier to hide them and it warned him against releasing them. He also wouldn''t feel a faint sense of existential dread from them despite how slow they are. So he still has high hopes for them.


    "Let''s see what makes you guys special." He said.


    Then he began to move closer to them. He intends to test their power and not kill himself. He is not that stupid to underestimate things that can kill Origin gods. So he moved cautiously. He chose a specific ghoul and moved closer to it while avoiding others. He reached within 1km of the ghoul and prepared to attack it from a distance but then the ghoul disappeared.


    "Hmm?" He eximed in surprise before he was attacked.


    The ghoul was crawling on the wall. It dug its long bony fingers into the hard rock and used it as support to ascend. The hard rock parted easily as if it was dipping its fingers into water. The ghoul didn''t jump when it got within 1km of Ragnarok. It just shed forward as if propelled by an unseen force. Then it struck Ragnarok instantly.


    Fortunately, he was ready for the attack. He was on guard so he managed to block the hand that tried to grab his head. Then he kicked the ghoul away immediately. The ghoul flew back and crashed to the ground. Ragnarok also flew back the way he came from. It is more like he ran back the way he came.


    He examined the stump of his hand as he ran, "That is plenty dangerous for something that can''t fly." He said through gritted teeth.


    His hand is regenerating but it is very painful. It is the most painful injury he has ever experienced apart from when Gehaldirah separated his body from his soul. This time, the ghoul tore out the aspect of his existence that is his hand.


    The injury is so great that his hand shouldn''t be able to regenerate at all since he is not an Origin god. His Origin soul didn''t help him in that aspect. If not for divine life energy, then he will remain handicapped forever.


    "And this is the result when I managed to block the attack." He said in wonder. "I can only imagine the type of Carnage that they will wrought in the world above."


    He can only imagine, for now. His imagination wille true soon enough. The ghouls have been awakened after being in stasis for several years. They have been locked down here for so long with no one powerful enough and crazy enough to dig through the hardened earth to reach this ce and break the barrier to release them. The tunnel he created will lead them to the upper underdark and to the surface. From there, disaster will spread like an uncontroble blight.


    "I better leave before more of them attach themselves to me. They will get stronger soon. It is best to be out of their way." He said and ran away without turning back.


    He can''t underestimate the ghouls anymore. He has been taught a lesson to know better. That''s why he has decided to run away so that the Ghouls won''t target him. It is a good idea too. The ghouls have awakened from their slumber after sensing life. So they will begin to grow stronger. That means that they will get faster and their range of teleportation will be longer as time passes. It is not wise to be around them when that happens.


    Their weakness was used against them to lock them away in the past. There was no life within their area of detection so they went into stasis. Their range of detection reduced further and they became slower until they slept.


    They won''t sleep now that they have sensed life once again and when there is a path for them to seek more life. They will soon be able to fly too. Anything around them will be the target of their hunger.


    The Life that was stolen from them in the creation of Primogenitors must be returned. They will hunt and hunt but it will never be enough. Every living thing and Vampire will suffer because of their endless hunger. They won''t rest until every Vampire in the ne has been destroyed.


    That''s the future that Ragnarok has released on the ne. It is what the fountain of life warned him about. As for him, he is running away for his dear life. He dug another tunnel and copsed it behind him to make sure that they won''t use it to reach him.


    The ghouls climbed the walls to reach the opening he created in their cavern. They followed the initial tunnel back the way he came to the surface. They didn''t pay attention to the new tunnel he created because it is copsed. All of them did that except a single one.


    The Ghoul that attacked him didn''t climb the hard earthen walls. It walked right through them. It didn''t phase through the earth and the earth didn''t be intangible for it to pass through. The earth simply parted for it without resistance.


    The ghoul walked in a straight line toward Ragnarok without pausing at all or giving up. Everything in its way made way for it without resistance. Walking through water is more difficult than the way it walked through the earth to get to him.


    -----


    A/N: I hope you remember where such simr creatures have appeared in GREED. Specifically in this volume.

 Chapter 1055 Hide Away.

    Chapter 1055 Hide Away.


    "I didn''t see thising," Ragnarok said ruefully.


    He is honestly afraid. His entire existence has been put on high alert ever since that attack. He knew instinctively that the danger wasn''t over when he escaped. His intuition wouldn''t let him rx after the skirmish with the ghoul. Now he knows just what kind of problem he has gotten himself to. He is in a situation where he knows that he is fighting for his life. The threat of the ghoul is that serious to him.


    The ghoul has locked onto him and hising straight for him. It is passing through every obstacle in the way as if they are not there. The ghoul can always find him no matter the distance and no matter which direction he runs in. It will just pivot toward his new direction and start moving closer to him.


    He didn''t know that the ghoul could lock onto him. If he did, he wouldn''t have tested it. He was monitoring the ghouls as he escaped so he became aware of the outlier early on. He tried to lose it but nothing he did helped. The ghoul could always find him. It didn''t stop for anything and just continued walking through the earth as if it were air towards him.


    "I''m screwed this time."


    This is a very big problem because ghouls are very difficult to kill. He knows this much. If they were easy to kill, they wouldn''t have been sealed. As long as there are arge amount of ghouls, then even an Origin god isn''t safe.


    The best time to kill a ghoul is at the moment of its birth. But these ghouls are ancient. They are as old as the oldest Primogenitor. He can forget about killing it but he has to find a way out because the ghoul is bent on killing him.


    "I hope this works or I will burdened by the ghoul forever." He said to himself.


    He did the only thing that he thinks can make a ghoul lose him apart from death. He summoned Legion-1''s domain and hid in it just like Soverick told him to do.


    Soverick had said to him, " I just got the information you wanted. Ghouls will manage to kill everything except Origin gods. Even Vampire Primogenitors are not safe from them. Origin gods can escape the hunt of a ghoul by dying to it. The ghoul will stop chasing after an Origin god after killing it once. Even hiding in a domain can only be temporary."


    This is all the information that Soverick could get out of Hadrick. An ancient being like Hadrick has never seen ghouls but has heard something about them.


    The information is not encouraging but Ragnarok decided to try the temporary measure first. He is not an Origin god so death by evisceration is not the way for him to avoid the ghoul. He could also leave the ne. That will make the ghoul give up on him because their mission is bound to the ne. But that is currently not possible for him.


    Hiding is the only method that he can try to escape. It has to work or this chase will continue for all of eternity or until the mission of the Ghouls has been aplished and all the Vampires in the ne have been eliminated.


    Soverick wasn''t so optimistic. The battle sage monkey said with a sigh, "It will be a shame to lose you just after we got you back from the demon god. It is also your fault this time again. You were too nosy."


    Ragnarok scoffed. "If I die then all of Legion will know not to mess with ghouls."


    He is in no mood to engage in banter so he kept his reply short. He hid in the dark world and waited patiently. He can''t see what''s outside the domain and whatever is outside can''t sense him either. It should keep him hidden.


    If it doesn''t keep him hidden, at least, the ghoul should not be able to barge into his domain. It shouldn''t but he isn''t sure. He is mostly ignorant of what exactly their powers are. That''s what he is what led him into this predicament in the first ce.


    He waited for an hour before he withdrew the domain and returned to the world. The ghoul had stopped moving in his direction after he disappeared. It began roaming about to find another target. It had begun to weaken since it didn''t have a target locked on anymore. It lost its ability to push aside every obstacle in its way and it became slower. So it could only return the way it came.


    It was doing that when Ragnarok returned to the world. Its red eyes glowed brighter briefly then it swived instantly in his direction. It began to tunnel itself towards him again.


    "Ohe on," Ragnarokined. "This can''t continue."


    He is not willing to see if he can kill the Ghoul. Soverick said that he heard that their numbers never reduce. They only increase in amount. It is not a wonder why they are like that. Thew of order had to create something immortal to hunt immortal creatures.


    The Ghouls are hideous, ugly, and terrifying to look at while their preferred target, the Vampires, are handsome and beautiful. But Vampires and Ghouls are both deadly abominations regardless of how beautiful or ugly they are.


    "What do I do now?"


    His options are limited. He can always hide in his domain. That option has made him rx a little bit but he is not content with that. His life is no longer in danger anymore, but he wants freedom.


    The other option is to try and see if he could kill it which sounds like a bad idea to him. He doesn''t want to be close to the ghoul at all since it can teleport to him. Also, their body is very tough. He knows that through personal experience.


    ------


    A/N: It hase to my knowledge that some of you have forgotten the first appearance of the ghouls. Please refer to the creation of the first Primogenitor.

 Chapter 1056 Sacrificial Offering.

    Chapter 1056 Sacrificial Offering.


    The ghoul took a full physical hit from him and was unscathed. From what he can see, they have something like theplete body ofw a titan ofw. Except that thew that formed their body is thew of order so it is as resistant as the bodies of Origin gods.


    They are also very strong apart from being durable. The ghoul was able to tear his arm away instantly with a single grip while it wasn''t injured at all when he kicked it. All of these show that he should avoid more encounters with the ghoul. But how can he do that if he can''t evade the ghoul?


    His eyes suddenly lit up with an idea, "If I can''t lose it, then I should offer it something better."


    He got an idea that he thought might work. He didn''t think much about it and he decided to execute it immediately. He doesn''t have the leisure time or the opportunity to be picky so he used his eye of life to scan around for a scapegoat that he can sacrifice.


    He is looking for something that the ghoul will prefer to attack above him. He found the perfect target immediately and began digging in its direction. His eye of life had locked on to his target while the ghoul had locked on to him. The two of them moved through the earth like a train.


    He breached another underground space after a few minutes of digging. This underground space is upied by several covens of vampires. The Vampires are just waking up but they are notzying about like they usually do.


    The atmosphere seems hectic. The Vampires and their familiars are rushing about to evacuate as soon as possible. The leaders of the covens can be seen anxiously directing their subordinates to pack quickly.


    It seemed to him that they were trying to leave the underground caverns as soon as possible. What he heard confirmed his conjecture.


    "Be quick." They yelled. "The ghouls areing."


    "How did they find out so soon?" Ragnarok asked himself after seeing all the activities.


    He expected them to still be ignorant of the cmitying their way since the demon god couldn''t track him. But they have obviously be aware that the Ghouls have been let loose. That means someone told them. The only ones who knew his whereabouts were the fountain of life whom he still can''t find and Rinoz. One of them must have told the Vampires.


    "Or maybe they have a method to detect the ghouls. They managed to seal them the first time. This is not the first time that the demon god is facing Ghouls either. It must be an expert at defeating them considering the sess of the Vampire race throughout the realm."


    He thought of a reason why the Vampires might have be aware of his crazy antics. It is very likely that he is right. It is certainly more likely than the fact that the fountain of life or Rinoz betrayed the ne and warned the Vampires.


    "If I am wrong and someone did betray the ne, then the ne is doomed far more than I thought."


    "But if I am right and the Vampires found out on their own, then I mustn''t allow the demon god to defeat the Ghouls this time around." He looked back at his pursuer and sighed. "I shouldn''t have kicked the ho''s nest. But if this works, then I will help the Ghouls."


    The ghouls are dangerous but he is still not going to give up on them. They are the only ones he can count on to harm the Vampires in a devastating and significant manner. He is counting on them to render the ne unptable to the demon god.


    He made up his mind to help them in their mission. Then he flew straight towards the strongest Vampire that he could find. This Vampire is surrounded by other vampires so they should prove a more worthy target than him.


    The Vampires noticed him flying at them. One of them began to shout, "Who are y..."


    Then they shut up and paled when they recognized him. He is the only monarch with horns that they know. And if they don''t know him, then he must be a new and previously unknown monarch. There is only one Monarch that fits the bill.


    They turned on their heels and ran for it. He is notorious amongst the Vampire kind right now.


    Just yesterday, a few hours ago, some Vampires died in their sleep. They didn''t wake up after sleeping when the sun came up. Their bodies broke into a pool of blood wherever theyy.


    These ones that survived noticed the missing vampires and also noticed something peculiar. All the Vampires that died have one feature inmon. They all had weirdly long tongues when they were alive and they could regenerate from having their heart crushed. It meant that they were of one lineage and there is only one reason why Vampires of the same Lineage will die en mass like that.


    The death of an entire lineage of Vampires spread panic through the Vampires. Something like that has only happened during the first war against the wood elves which led to the Vampires being forced to stay underground. The fact that it happened to the lineage that is most difficult to kill is the most frightening part of the loss.


    They then found out that this was caused by a single malevolent force. That same malevolent force that killed a Primogenitor who is supposed to be most unkible just happens to be at their doorstep right now. It is understandable that they will panic.


    Ragnarok wasn''t in the mood to allow them to escape. He directed the three deadly beads of devouring to attack them. The beads didn''t kill them. He only crippled them by smashing their heads. They are still alive and are regenerating quickly. What will happen to them in this incapacitated state is another thing entirely.

 Chapter 1057 Small Fries And Big Fries.

    Chapter 1057 Small Fries And Big Fries.


    "Have fun." He called behind him as he flew away from the Vampires and out of the underground space.


    He crippled every Vampire that he could in a straight line across the underground space. Then he dug through the wall at the other end and left the space. He is not willing to stay and see the oue of his sabotage.


    "What was that about?" One of the Vampires asked the others.


    Ragnarok came and went just like that. They expected more from him. They expected mass destruction and a killing spree. It is what is expected from any Vampire in the devouring lineage but he didn''t kill anyone.


    Someone suggested. "We are probably not his target. He is definitely on his way to fight another Primogenitor. We just happened to be in his way so he decided to have some fun with us."


    "You don''t say. He didn''t even kill anyone. He just trashed them." This person then sighed. "It must be nice to be so strong."


    That made themugh deprecatingly. They are not worthy targets to the Monarch Killer so he yed with them instead of killing them. If he wanted to kill them, all he had to do is to kill their Primogenitor. That will surely eliminate more of them that way. So they understand why Ragnarok won''t be interested in ughtering small fries. His efforts are better spent on the big fries.


    They returned to work trying to leave. It was then that his pursuer came. The ghoul dug its own tunnel into the underground space. It entered the light for the first time. The light showed its features. It is a hairless creature with arge gaping maw on its face.


    Its shriveled and tight skin ispletely ck. It clung to its bones so tightly that it looked like a mummy. It doesn''t have any ws. Only its mouth looks dangerous because of the abundance of misshapen teeth.


    Its red eyes glowed brightly for a brief moment when it sensed other living things. But it remained locked on Ragnarok because he is higher on its list of priorities than living things. So it continued to chase after Ragnarok.


    But its pursuit made it detect more things other than normal living things. It sensed the undead who are the primary target of its existence. Its eyes glowed for a longer albeit still brief moment. Then it gave up on Ragnarok and turned to the Vampires.


    The Vampires took off immediately when they sighted the abomination created by thew of order. They shouldn''t have bothered to run because they might as well be standing still as it ughtered them despite the fact that they were running. The Ghoul warped from one Vampire to the other. It disregarded speed and shed around turning the Vampires into dust with a single touch.


    It targeted the strongest first. Then it moved on to the weaker ones. It would warp to a vampire and simply touch them. Then it will unravel their existence by taking back the blood power that makes up their foundation. The Vampires turned into statues of ashes that broke apart once they hit the ground.


    The Ghoul killed the Vampires quickly without much effort. There was no fighting it. It is after all something made to destroy them. The ghoul also got stronger the more it killed. The life force in the blood power that it absorbed strengthened it rapidly. Its eyes glowed brighter and brighter. Its range for warping increased from 1 kilometer to 10 kilometers and more. But it didn''t chase after Ragnarok anymore.


    The Vampires scattered so some of them managed to evade death eventually. That doesn''t mean that they escaped. The Ghoul has locked on to every one of them. Nothing and no one can stop it from killing them apart froming across a better target.


    Such targets include origin gods and primogenitors. If it doesn''te across any primogenitors or origin god in its hunt for the Vampires then it will turn its attention to other living things starting from Sovereigns ofw.


    It is only after it has eliminated every vampire and living thing that it has locked onto or within its detection range that it will start toe after Ragnarok again. But that is unlikely to happen. The Underdark is full of Vampires and living things. Then there are the asional primogenitors. It has a lot of targets here for it to be busy with for a long time.


    Ragnarok breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that he was not being chased anymore. "That was close. Now I have to make sure that the Vampires suffer what I have just gone through."


    He has escaped for now. This short experience has given him quite a fright. It is mostly because he doesn''t know much about the Ghouls. He doesn''t know their strength and weakness so he doesn''t know how to fight them. Fighting something dangerous in ignorance is bad. It is extremely bad if you can''t even avoid the fight with the dangerous thing.


    The person that could have helped him couldn''t. Soverick can''t see past the energy cloud that is encapsting the whole ne so he can''t assist him with information. He had to get rid of the ghoul or risk losing more of himself.


    But now that he is free, he has to take advantage of the situation. People say he is selfish and he can admit that he has a sharing problem. But asionally he bes generous enough to share his pain and suffering with everyone. For starters, he must make sure that the Ghouls are not sealed up again.


    The only way to seal the ghoul that chased him is to put it in a confined space with only its current targets that it has locked onto. It will start to sleep when it has killed everything it can kill. That is unlikely to happen soon when the underground spaces are virtually connected to each other and are full of Vampires and familiars. But it happened before so it can surely happen again.


    ------


    A/N: Ragnarok is patient zero so it is his duty to spread the disease. No one can call him selfish now.

 Chapter 1058 Delay Tactics.

    Chapter 1058 Dy Tactics.


    He expects it to be difficult to seal the Ghouls and it should be nearly impossible to seal the particr one that chased after him. After all, Ragnarok is one of its targets and he is still alive. It will never rest as long as Ragnarok is still out there. But that is not enough to guarantee the spread of the blight.


    He intends to help the ghouls actively spread throughout the Underdark and the ne. And he won''t let whatever the Vampires used to seal the Ghouls before work again. They will have him to contend with too if they want to seal the Ghouls. So he went around disrupting the Vampire''s response to the ghouls.


    The Underdark was thrown into disarray due to the ghouls. The Vampires resisted but they couldn''t stop the onught that ensued. The ghoul that Ragnarok led around was the first one to attack the Vampires. It enjoyed a lot of sess due to catching them off guard. But the Vampires rallied soon after. They know a lot about ghouls so they began to fight back with the knowledge that they have.


    To be urate, it was their familiars that were doing all the fighting. Vampires can''t touch Ghouls unless they are Monarchs. A single contact is enough for a ghoul to kill anything less than a Monarch. Vampires that haven''t fused with a heart of Carnage unravel with a single touch from ghouls.


    Fortunately, all hope is not lost. The Vampires are notpletely helpless to ghouls. Ghouls are terrifying but they have a ring weakness. The Vampires aimed to use their weakness against them.


    Ghouls are like golems. They have predefined protocols and instructions that determine their actions. They can make decisions but they are not intelligent so they can''t adapt to tricky situations.


    Ghouls have a priority list that they follow to the letter. At the top are Primogenitors that aren''t Monarchs followed by Monarchs. Origin godse next. Other types of Vampirese after Origin gods. Then other living thingse after Vampires. Ragnarok is in thisst category. And so are the familiars.


    Ghouls will continue to attack Vampires with a single-minded focus and ignore every Sovereign ofw no matter how many Sovereigns ofw are around them. They won''t change their target from Vampires no matter how many times they are attacked by the Sovereigns ofw.


    The programming of ghouls to prioritize Vampires makes them rigid in responding to aggression. Ragnarok was able to use their programming to escape from the hunt of a ghoul. So the Vampires readily threw their familiars at the Ghouls to stall them while they ran away.


    Ragnarok curled his lips when he saw their tactics. "Sure enough, the Vampires are more informed than me about the Ghouls. I can''t let them seed."


    He stuck around to watch how the Vampires were resisting the Ghouls. He made sure to stay at the limit of his divine sense which is more than 100 kilometers away from any Ghoul. He is doing this so that he can interfere in the resistance efforts of the Vampires. But he didn''t get the opportunity to do so. The ghouls didn''t need his help.


    The ghouls surely have an obvious weakness, but it brought limited results to the Vampires when they tried to take advantage of it. Familiars can only injure the Ghouls at best. A Ghoul will never stop as long as it is locked onto a target. They are immune to spells of any kind during that period of time.


    Any use of Origin energy,ws, or mana to stop them will be nullified and broken apart before reaching them. Either that or they would wash over them harmlessly if it is too strong to be broken. It is exactly how the earth parts way for them. Reality seems to warp around ghouls to ensure that they seed in their hunt. Only physical attacks can harm them in any way.


    While physical attacks can bypass the operation of thew of order, it is not every physical object that is capable of harming ghouls. Any inanimate obstacle in their path will simply give way for them. Ragnarok saw some Vampires that tried to hide within fortified bunkers. But the ghouls simply teleported past the obstacle in their way to reach the Vampires.


    He shook his head in pity. "I learned that lesson the hard way."


    These Vampires didn''t survive their mistake. Only living things or Origin artifacts can block the ghouls for a time. The ghouls won''t be able to teleport through Origin artifacts or living things but that''s only if there is no opening or breach. Any slight gap is enough for the ghoul to warp through. Even without gaps, it will only protect them before the ghouls destroy the obstacle in their way.


    The Sovereigns ofwbined their physical prowess with Origin artifacts but it still brought them limited results. It is because no matter what they do, the Sovereigns could only attack the ghouls, but they couldn''t manage to kill them.


    In fact, they can''t even stop the ghouls. Anyone or anything that blocks their path will be attacked. But as long as the Familiars attack them from the sides, the ghouls will ignore them. The priority of the ghouls will change instantly once there is an obstacle in their path. That means the familiars are nuisances to the ghouls instead of being obstacles.


    What''s worse is that they are ineffectual nuisances. The bodies of Ghouls are as tough as the Origin weapons that the Sovereigns are wielding. So the Origin weapons create sparks when they sh with the bodies of the Ghouls. Then those weapons break after several hits. Contact with ghouls seems to destroy Origin weapons too.


    The Ghouls are also very strong so they can''t be knocked back. The best that the Familiars could achieve is slowing down the Ghouls. Because they can''t break down the Ghouls no matter how many Origin artifacts that they sacrifice.

 Chapter 1059 Let The World Burn.

    Chapter 1059 Let The World Burn.


    Sure the Sovereigns managed to break off some parts of the ghouls once in a while. But those parts simply warp back to the section where they were detached from. The only consequence is that the ghouls get weaker. But they won''t stop their hunt and they will continue to grow stronger the more Vampires they kill.


    Ragnarok observed to himself. "I shouldn''t have been worried for the ghouls. The Vampires have prospered in the Underdark. It is working against them now."


    This tactic of using Familiars to slow down Ghouls is just a preventive tactic. It might have worked when Vampires were few in number when the ghouls were just created. But now the Underdark is full of Vampires. There is too much stimtion for the ghouls.


    The dy tactic of the familiars is not working because there are too many Vampires within the warp range of the Ghouls. The Ghouls will simply ignore everything including physical and spiritual barriers to appear before their target. That will put the Ghouls within warp range of even more Vampires. In some areas full of Vampires, the Ghouls were effectively jumping from one target to another.


    The ghouls be stronger with each kill and each Vampire that they kill also results in the death of all the Familiars bonded to them. So the dy tactic using Familiars fell apart quickly.


    Ragnarok shook his head as he watched all of these happen. " The only way to stop their reign of terror is to keep Vampires far away from each other.


    But even that isn''t going to stop them from still chasing after the Vampires that they have locked on."


    He knows the terror of the ghouls so he knows what the Vampires need to do. The Vampires definitely do too but they are too many of them and all of them are running for their lives. It is spreading the blight of ghouls further around the Underdark and making it difficult to put their knowledge into action.


    A vampire might be safe after avoiding every ghoul. But all their effort will be destroyed as long as another Vampire that has been locked ontoes close to the safe Vampire. That will bring the ghouls over.


    Nothing can stop the Ghouls from chasing after any Vampire that they locked on. A singlepromised Vampire will doom an entire Cavern of safe Vampires. So the ghouls umte more targets in the process of chasing after their current targets. It was a massacre unlike any other.


    Ragnarok saw all these and he couldn''t help but chuckle sinisterly. "Burn. Let it all burn. Feel my despair. Feel my pain."


    He made sure to stay as far away from the ghouls as possible. It will not do for him to enjoy the suffering of the ghouls only to implicate himself and join in their suffering. But he still put in the effort to disrupt the defenses of the Vampires.


    Thanks to his efforts, the blight of ghouls became a rock rolling down a hill. It kept umting momentum as time passed. Soon it would be unstoppable.


    -----+-+++


    Somewhere In The Underdark.


    A particr Vampire held a Ghoul at arm''s length. This Vampire is tall and buff. Her arms are thick like tree trunks. Her body is like that of a titan. She is burly and buff. It is a very odd look for a Vampire.


    Vampires are slim creatures of grace and poise. They don''t look like brutes who are all brawn and no brain. This particr Vampire surely has the look of a brute. Her hair is long but scattered over her head. It looks more like a wild bush than hair.


    Thisrge space is the territory of this Vampire. This territory has been attacked by a single Ghoul but it is still peaceful. It is because this Vampire is in this territory. Sure the Vampire is strong. But that isn''t the reason why the ghoul ignored everyone else familiar and vampires alike to attack this single Vampire. It has something to do with the red halo on her head.


    The ghoul warped straight through everything to appear in the Castle where this Vampire was having a meeting with the dukes of its Lineage. The Ghoul appeared directly in front of the throne she was sitting on. The dukes all paled when they saw the Ghoul. Then they rxed visibly. They are safe as long as they are in the presence of their Primogenitor.


    "This is bad news." She said as she toyed with the ghoul.


    The rabid ghoul is trying to reach her. It has its hands outstretched trying to grab her. But she is keeping it away from her by pushing it away with her long thick arms. The Ghoul is growling in frustration because of it. Its red eyes stared hatefully at its target while she stared back at it with her red eyes. They both have red eyes which they are using to re at each other.


    Someone standing beside the primogenitor spoke. "It doesn''t look so bad. You have things handled by the looks of it."


    She snorted. "That''s because there''s only one of it. I won''t be able to fend them off if they are more than 4. They will tear me apart. I won''t be able to escape them. It will be a nightmare."


    Her eyes zed over in terror as she spoke. She is speaking from experience. She has seen such an event happen. It ising to her now and it is bringing with it the terror she felt back then.


    A single Ghoul is trouble enough for normal Vampires. The most frustrating part of Ghouls is the constant pursuit. You can only run from them. You can never hide. Then it will be the end of the road for you when you enter their warp range. Things go downhill from there since you won''t be able to run again. The ghouls will stick to Vampires like the ck color sticks to coal.

 Chapter 1060 Safe House.

    Chapter 1060 Safe House.


    No Vampire can hide from the ghouls. They don''t have Origin domains. But even origin gods who have Origin domains can never hide from them forever. Primogenitors, no matter how powerful will eventually fall to the ghouls once they have a lock on it. It is something that she has seen before.


    Imagine it if a thousand Ghouls have locked on to a single vampire. That is something sure to happen to a Primogenitor. Every Ghoul will target them above everything else. They might have fused with their heart of Carnage as Monarchs, but a thousand Ghouls have a way of grinding them down and killing them forever.


    The eyes of the Primogenitor became lost as she recollected the past. She was weak then when it happened. She saw the event through the eyes of that primogenitor. The Ghouls were in the hundreds. Theytched on to that Primogenitor like ticks and leeches. The Primogenitor was buried under their weight. Then she lost vision from that Primogenitor forever. It marked the death of that Primogenitor.


    What she remembers the most is the pain. She didn''t feel it personally but it left an impression on her. It was a pain unlike any other. No sort of pain resistance or tolerance will help her if the Ghouls get their hands on her. Her very existence will be fractured by their hands. They will tear her apart like rabid wolves.


    That event urred many Origin cycles ago when the ghouls were few in number unlike now when they are practically endless. Due to therge amount of living things present in the Underdark, the ghouls are reproducing at a frightening rate.


    If the ghouls are not hunting Vampires, then they are reproducing. Just thinking about it made waves of fear rise from within her cold dead heart. And there is only one person to me for all of this.


    "Ragnarok is truly a madman."


    She didn''t dare to me the demon god despite the fact that CARNAGE had a hand to y in the creation of Ragnarok. If CARNAGE hadn''t targeted Ragnarok and hadn''t given him a heart of Carnage which granted him the eye of life that he used to find the ghouls, then all of these wouldn''t have happened.


    Unfortunately, her thoughts are seen by the Supreme so it is best to keep troublesome thoughts away. The Supreme is unlikely to get angry at that usation but it is possible. And if it is possible then she must avoid it at all cost because the wrath of the Supreme is not easy to bear. She is powerful, but she is not free.


    The same person who spoke earlier asked, "Monarch Danah, what do we do?"


    The question drew Danah from the terrifying memory and her thoughts. She answered with a sigh, "Frankly I don''t know. We were discussing how to address the threat of the ghouls earlier. But things have obviously changed now. There is a ghoul in my throne room."


    The ghoul in question snarled and snapped at her. She backhanded it in irritation. The ghoul flew through the air then it disappeared. It instantly appeared in Danah''s face. Its hand was reaching for her blood-red eye with ck rings. She was quick to block its attempt. Then she put it at arm''s length again. The ghoul won''t warp to her as long as she remains in contact with it.


    She became frustrated by it. It reminded her of the time she had an insistent admirer. It was Pulchritudo the sex deviant. That putrid pervert wanted to have a taste of her "masculine flesh" and wouldn''t take no for an answer.


    He was always leering and pestering her. He was even stalking her. It was irritating, frustrating, and embarrassing. But at least Pulchritudo could be evaded. And Pulchritudo didn''t want to kill her. The ghouls also want a taste of her flesh but they only want it to rip the life out of her.


    So Danah roared at her dukes. "You best make sure I don''t die. If I die, you will all go down with me."


    All her dukes had rushed to her as soon as they heard about the ghouls. They know that they will be safe from ghouls once they get close to her. The ghouls will ignore them for the Primogenitor. She is higher than them on their priority list so they came to take advantage of her. She is their safehouse.


    She was okay with it earlier because none of them brought any ghoul with them. But that has changed now. Her dukes didn''t say anything. They kept mum. The only sound that could be heard in the throne room was that of the snarling and struggling ghoul who desperately wanted a literal taste of her masculine flesh.


    Her assistant spoke up. "I have locked the entrance to the territory and I have also activated the defenses. No Vampire will be able toe through."


    "They better," Danah said in frustration. "Or I will kill them myself. I won''t go down alone."


    She roared at her dukes, "You hear me? I won''t go down alone."


    Her assistant sought to change the subject from the morbid topic of death. "I have also moved all the Vampires in our territory away from the walls. The outer area of our territory has been vacated."


    Danah was appeased a little and only for a short while. With her territory secured no duke or any other Vampire will be able toe close to her. That will keep the Ghouls away for a while. But it won''t keep them away forever.


    Danah said, "Your ns are good. You have a good head on your shoulders. But this will not be enough. What else do you have nned?"


    Her assistant was silent. He knows how big of a problem they have. The Ghouls are on a rampage. They will get stronger and their warp range will increase. Soon they will be able to warp to where Danah is at the center of her territory from outside her territory.

 Chapter 1061 Who To Blame?

    Chapter 1061 Who To me?


    Something has to be done about the Ghouls or Danah is going down soon. Her death will bring down all of them with her. But the assistant doesn''t have a solution to offer. The ghouls are just too rampant and no Vampire, not even Primogenitors, wants to risk their life to corral the ghouls away.


    Danah looked away from her assistant in disappointment. She shouldn''t be disappointed in someone weak since even the strongest Vampires are hiding away instead of banding together to get rid of the Vampires.


    She has no right to shouldn''t be disappointed in her assistant about the fact that there is no viable n to escape the ghouls because the ghouls are spreading faster and farther than they could be contained. The entity she ought to be disappointed in and probably angry at is the Supreme of Carnage who has locked them in the ne and refused to allow anyone to leave.


    But she can''t be angry at the Supreme of Carnage. And she is already angry at Ragnarok for another reason so she has to find another target to me. Her assistant and her dukes are viable targets so she is angry at them.


    She asked them with a tone tinted with anger, "How did this Ghoul evene here? Who brought it into my territory?"


    Her assistant looked down in fear as he answered. "I don''t know."


    Danah became furious. But she knows that it isn''t her assistant''s fault. So she turned her furious gaze to her dukes and asked. "Who is the fool that brought a ghoul to my doorstep?"


    No one could answer. They don''t have the answer. And even if they did, they wouldn''t answer. All her dukes and even her assistant are buff giants like Danah. Some of them are even bigger than Danah. They have bigger muscles and are much taller. But no one said anything for fear of bearing the fault and therefore bing the target for punishment. They didn''t even look her in the eyes.


    All these muscr Vampires looked down, up, or anywhere else that was not in direct line with Danah''s sight. Everything else has suddenly be more interesting. Danah''s eyes twitched and her red eyes began to brighten in anger.


    The assistant interrupted the brewing storm. "There''s someone here to see you."


    "Who?" Danah asked.


    "It is the Emperiti Primogenitor." The assistant answered with a weird look.


    Danah ignored the weird look and said. "Bring them in."


    The assistant coughed awkwardly, "She is outside the territory. She asking for us to open the gates for her."


    Danah turned her third eye toward the single gate of her territory. She saw several Vampires outside of it on their knees pleading. They are pleading for the gates to be opened so that they can enter. The number of the Vampires is increasing steadily as moree to join them.


    All the Vampires outside the gate are afraid and panicking. It didn''t induce any pity in her. She snorted and continued to search. She found her target soon. It is a single Vampire who is calm, unlike the other Vampires. Danah can see the red fment that runs through this Vampire and extends into the distance like strings on a puppet.


    Danah understood immediately why her assistant was behaving weirdly. She nodded to herself. Then she said to her assistant, "Listen and listen carefully to me. You will not open that gate for anyone. Do you hear me? I said no one."


    "But she is a Primogenitor." The assistant tried to exin. "We shouldn''t anger a Primogenitor."


    If it were up to him, he wouldn''t open the gate for anyone. But this is a Primogenitor asking for entry. Sure Danah said he shouldn''t open the door, but when two Primogenitors fight, it is the poor Vampire caught in the middle that will suffer most.


    The two primogenitors are immortal in normal situations. They can fight and make upter. Danah might then offer him up as a scapegoat for refusing Emperiti''s entry into the territory. It will be he who will bear the brunt of this disrespect to the Emperiti Primogenitor.


    Danah red at him. "I will smash your head in if you don''t stop talking."


    The assistant nodded and kept quiet.


    Danah continued, "Use your brain. Emperiti has something she wants to say to me, and she can say it withouting here. But she didn''t. Instead, she came to my doorstep. It is clear that she is bringing trouble to me."


    Danah had to insist on not meeting Emperiti physically. She exined the reason to both her dukes and to other primogenitors through the link that they have. So Emperiti heard her.


    "You are right. I am in trouble. The Ghouls have locked on to my spawns. They are not giving up despite all the sacrifices that I have made. They are after me. I need your help." The Emperiti Primogenitor exined her situation.


    Danah remained impassive. "I can''t help you."


    "Please. I am just a Duke. I am not a monarch yet. The Ghouls will kill me easily if you don''t help me."


    The Emperiti Primogenitor is linked to all her spawns. This has made it very difficult to kill her in most circumstances. The death of one thrall won''t affect her at all. But the Ghouls locked on to her when they locked on to a single one of her lineage.


    The ghouls not only locked onto the thrall, they also locked onto the puppet master controlling the thrall. This means they have locked on to every Vampire in her lineage through that single thrall. They won''t rest until she is dead so every one of her thralls must die too.


    She is as vulnerable to Ghouls as normal Vampires because she is not a monarch yet. She hasn''t fused with the heart of Carnage. She needs to consume an Origin god to elevate her existence and the person who was supposed to help her has broken the medium for the Oath.

 Chapter 1062 A Way Out.

    <h4>Chapter 1062 A Way Out.</h4>


    The Ghouls are chasing her thralls everywhere and she can''t fight them off. She needs help or she will die. In fact, there is one ghoul chasing after the spawn right outside of Danah''s territory. It is only a matter of time before it gets here. Then it will kill the spawn and go after other spawns wherever they are. The advantage of numbers that she usually wields with impunity is only dying her death right now.


    Danah heard everything and realized how much danger Emperiti was in but that only made her affirm her decision not to help. If a Primogenitor like Emperiti with millions of bodies is already having trouble with the ghouls, then she with a single body shouldn''t avoid trouble at all cost.


    She said, "Watch this."


    Then she raised herrge arm and turned her hand into a fist. That fist fell like a hammer on the ghoul. The hit shattered its skull and ttened it into the ground. She didn''t stop there. She stood up from her throne and began to pummel the ttened Ghoul.


    Her two fists smashed the Ghoul again and again with so much force that the ground was shaking. She broke the ground beneath them with the force of the impacts. The two of them began to fall down the earth as it caved in beneath them. Her fists pulverized the rocky ground beneath them. It kicked up a lot of dust and caused cracks to spread throughout the floor of the hall.


    Her Dukes looked on with slight apprehension and fear. They will survive the copse of the hall but they don''t want Danah to copse it on them. Fortunately, she stopped short of bringing the hall down on everyone.


    Danah jumped out of the hole that she dug. She returned to her throne and sat on it. The pit that she dug is dusty but everyone could see what is happening within it. The Ghoul has been shattered. Its body has broken apart like porcin. The shards have been further broken into dust. But that state didn''tst long after she stopped punching it.


    The pieces of the ghoul shot together like stic rubber. And the Ghoul was whole again. It warped to Danah again to resume its futile attempt at killing her. She used one arm to block its advance so the stalemate continued.


    Danah simply sighed. "I can''t help you. You can see that for yourself. Only Drastoic and Sec can help you. But they are guarding the ne portal. They won''te to rescue you."


    What she didn''t say but wanted to say is that, instead of using Drastoic and Sec to help them, the Supreme of Carnage is using them to block them from leaving the ne.


    Ragnarok has seeded in making the ne a living hell for the Vampires. The Vampires want to leave too but CARNAGE has refused to let anyone out. It barricaded the ne mostly because it had to cut off external support for the ne.


    A powerful ne like the Lumen ne has produced a lot of Origin gods. If those Origin gods are allowed to assist the ne, then the ne will never fall to the Vampires. If CARNAGE is to use the Vampires to weaken the Will of the ne by spreading the gue of Vampirism, then no one must interfere.


    CARNAGE has important reasons for not allowing anyone to leave. The most important reason is so that Ragnarok, who has offended it severely, will not be able to weasel his way out of the ne. The hatred of the Supreme of Carnage for Ragnarok is understandable, but Danah''s life is at risk so she is not in agreement with the blockade. But she won''t say so.


    Emperiti asked with a tone full of desperation, "What do I do?"


    "I advise you to run to Drastoic and Sec at the nar portal. That''s what we did thest time. We rushed to the surface. We made the Ghouls the problem of the wood elves. They had to help us then."


    "So we need the help of their origin gods or we are doomed," Emperiti said with a shake of her head. "I doubt they will help us after we betrayed themst time."


    Danah insisted. "Yes, we need their help and we are at their mercy. But they have to help us no matter our differences. We may have backstabbed them after they helped us seal the ghoulsst time, but they are truly immortal. They didn''t die permanently so they will get over the betrayal. Besides, they have to get over it and help us again. If they don''t, then the ghouls will destroy every living thing in order to starve us."


    Emperiti sighed. "I will be somewhat safe if they could sacrifice one of their Origin gods to allow me to advance. I might even be able to fight the ghouls with my superior numbers but I doubt they will help me."


    Danah was surprised. "Are you certain that you can hold off the ghouls if you be a Monarch?"


    "Yes, I am. Once I fusepletely with the heart of Carnage, then I won''t have a vulnerable body and my thralls will be immune to the ghouls just like any Primogenitor. I won''t be able to destroy them but I am certain that I will be able to hold them back. After all, I have more thralls than them."


    Danah was impressed. "This is good. This is a solution that we can work on."


    She became excited at the prospect of a solution. She called the other Primogenitors and informed them of what Emperiti said. It turned out that it is not news to them. Emperiti had informed them of the possibility but they are not certain it will work.


    Emperiti wasn''t alive during the first purge of the ghouls so they are not certain she will be able to hold off the ghouls and she also doesn''t know the full extent of the sacrifices that the Origin gods made to seal the ghouls before they were betrayed by the Vampires.

 Chapter 1063 A Dilemma For Solution.

    <h4>Chapter 1063 A Dilemma For Solution.</h4>


    The two cmities on the Origin gods reduced their numbers in the ne significantly and helped the Vampires to establish themselves quickly. The Vampires prospered in the absence of the ghouls after weakening the resistance of the ne, but they might need the Origin gods now.


    On one hand, they could kill one Origin god to help Emperiti advance. On the other hand, they need the help of the Origin gods, and killing them while asking for help is unlikely to help them gain the support of the Origin gods.


    The circumstances created a dilemma. They can help Emperiti, but if it doesn''t work, then they will not have any chance with the Origin gods. It is a serious decision to make considering that the Origin gods will certainly be able to seal the ghouls if they choose to help and hunting Origin gods is not easy at all.


    The decision was put up for a vote by the entire Primogenitor Council. The oue disappointed both Emperiti and Danah because the Primogenitors decided to wait and see first. They will help her be a Monarch if the Origin gods refuse to assist them in sealing the ghouls.


    Danah was furious. "We shouldn''t wait and see at all. We should grab every opportunity we have right now before the ghouls be too much to deal with."


    The assistant interrupted again. "We have a problem." He said anxiously.


    Danah started to say, "No problem can be greater than the Ghouls. I don''t care about anything else right..."


    The assistant didn''t let her finish. "We are under attack. Someone is breaching the defenses."


    Danah roared in anger, "Someone dares to attack my territory? Have I fallen so low or have people be so desperate as to ignore my power?"


    "No. People have been attacking earlier but I didn''t mention it because their attacks were useless. This time, someone strong is actually breaking through the defenses."


    That surprised Danah. She thought she was being insulted earlier because people were attacking her defenses. Such an action is understandable and expected. People will do desperate things when their life is on the line. They would rather disrespect her and worry about the consequencester if it will save their lives. She was just creating a fuss when she roared. She didn''t intend to do anything about it. But things are clearly different if someone is actually breaching her defenses.


    As a Primogenitor who is also a monarch, her territory is very secure. The entire space is encapsted in Origin artifacts. It is a sealed bubble that belongs to her. Anyone can attack the defenses. But not anyone can breach them.


    Her defenses need a power level of at least Origin god or Monarch for them to be breached. That means an Origin god or another Monarch is attacking her.


    She thought to herself excitedly. "It is unlikely to be a Monarch since they are all running for their lives. If it is an Origin god, then it will be good news. We might be able to use it to help Emperiti advance. It seems good things are finally beginning to happen."


    She prepared herself for battle. Then she asked with a steely gaze. "Who is it that is breaching my territory?"


    Danah also swept her eye of life through the walls of her territory and saw the culprit. Her eyes widened then.


    The assistant all but yelled in terror. "It is Ragnarok."


    Danah deted immediately. Her previous anger is nowhere to be seen. She would have taken any other type of Origin-level threat apart from Ragnarok. There is a chance that she can reason with others. But it is certain that Ragnarok is after her life.


    The event of Marlinto''s death solidified the enmity between Ragnarok and Vampires. They were already at each other''s throats then and he didn''t need to release the ghouls to solidify that hatred.


    "So it is not enough that he would unleash the Ghouls on us. He is even helping them." Danah said in anger.


    "What do we do?" The terrified assistant asked.


    The assistant is very terrified. After all, Ragnarok, the Primogenitor killer, is knocking on their door.


    Danah sighed. In this situation where Ghouls are running amok, a breach in her defenses is a bad thing. It is a very bad thing. But there''s nothing she can do to stop it. She was just making a fuss earlier because she wasn''t willing to leave her territory to remove the people attacking her defenses.


    In fact, she is not willing to leave the center of her territory for anything. To move closer to the walls at all is to make herself closer to the Ghouls. The walls will be useless once she enters their detection range.


    So she can''t do anything to stop Ragnarok. That will be risking her life. And sitting here is not good either. That is just waiting for death. All the Vampires outside her territory will feed the ghouls until they are strong enough to warp straight to her at the center of her territory from outside of it.


    She sighed and thought to herself in pity, "He had toe just when salvation was on the horizon."


    She couldn''t help but remember what Ragnarok called himself. He had said, "I am the answer to your prayers. I am what you have been asking for. I am the messenger of death, the champion of Carnage, and the son of the devourer. I am all you have ever wanted in your savior and more."


    What he said were all lies apart from the part of him being the son of the devourer and the messenger of death. He is no champion of Carnage and he is not the savior of Vampires. They didn''t want this crazy and rabid mutt bent on killing all of them.


    She announced to everyone with a tone of finality. "I am leaving."


    She is already standing up from her throne.


    "What do you mean?" Her assistant asked in surprise and fear. It felt like the world wasing down around him.

 Chapter 1064 Vampire-Napping.

    <h4>Chapter 1064 Vampire-Napping.</h4>


    Danah repeated. "I don''t know about you. But I am not staying here to die. So I am leaving."


    Her assistant pleaded with her. "Please don''t leave us your majesty. What would we do without you?"


    Her dukes became afraid immediately. Without a pir to hold up the sky for them, they will be crushed when the world falls down. They asked her hurriedly, "Where are you going, your Majesty?"


    She gave them an indifferent nce and said, "I am going to the surface. I will see you there if you make it."


    Danah left her throne. She picked up the ghoul by its head. Then she picked a direction. And then she ran for it. She plowed through walls, doors, and any obstacles in her path like a bull. Nothing could stand in her way when she collided with it.


    Her dukes scuttled after her immediately. She is their only hope so they can''t let go of her. Of course, they won''t be able to keep up with her but that won''t stop them from trying.


    They trailed after her like chicks following a mother hen. They saw her pick a spot in the walls of the cavern and break through it with a smash. They filed through the hole she left behind but they couldn''t find her anymore. She was gone from their senses just like that.


    "Damn it. She is too fast." One of the dukes said.


    One of them asked. "What do we do now?"


    She is a female vampire. But you wouldn''t know that because she looks no different to the other buff vampires. She has the same barbarian physique as Danah their Primogenitor.


    "What''s there to think about? The answer is clear. We continue towards the surface. That''s where salvation is."


    "What about the Ghouls? They could be around right now."


    "Then some of you will die. As for me, I am going to the surface. Staying here means assured death. The surface is our only hope."


    Most of them agreed with this sentiment. There is no salvation here in the Underdark. They kept all the Vampires away from the walls earlier. It was to prevent the Ghouls from locking on them and warping into the territory. That would have failed if a Ghoul with a very wide detection range came near the Cavern. It would bypass the defenses and start to hunt them.


    Staying in the city meant waiting for death. It is uncertain when their death wille. All they know is that there is death beyond the city. But at least, they had the Primogenitor to take most of the danger from them. Things have changed now. The defenses have been breached and their Primogenitor is gone. The Vampires that were locked out cane in. They will also bring along with them their troubles and woes.


    Most of the dukes agreed. So they left for the surface. They bemoaned their fate and some even felt bitter about being left behind by Danah. But they didn''t give up just yet. There is still a chance to survive so they took it.


    If it is any constion, their Primogenitor Danah who left them behind hasn''t reached the surface. She was dyed by someone who held her back. In fact, she never stepped foot outside of her territory. Instead, she was fighting for her life while her Dukes ran to the safety of the surface.


    It is not for theck of trying. She too wanted to go to the surface but a domain engulfed her as soon as she broke her outer defenses. She was scooped into a dark world immediately by the person who had been waiting for her just outside her territory.


    Danah assumed a fighting stance immediately after she appeared in the dark world. She appears to be ready for a fight. But there was no one to fight. She couldn''t find anyone in this dark world so she was looking around vigntly.


    A voice said, "It seems I was expected."


    She swiveled in the direction of the voice.


    "So it really is you, Ragnarok," Danah said with a scowl.


    Ragnarok bowed briefly. "It is me. And I must say that it is a pleasure to meet you."


    "The pleasure is all yours. Now let me go if you don''t want to die." Danah threatened.


    Ragnarok shook his head in pity, "I am afraid that I cannot do that. I would like to spend more time with you. At least until the sunes up."


    She said confidently, "I know what you are doing."


    "I am sure that what I am doing is pretty obvious. I have done it twice already and you have witnessed it both times. It will be negligence orck of foresight on your part if you don''t know what I am up to right now."


    She maintained her courage and said, "Well, it won''t work."


    Ragnarok wasn''t discouraged. He said, "I am fairly certain that it would. It didn''t work thest time, but it should work this time around."


    The two of them stood looking at each other in the ck empty world. They said nothing. Only the ghoul that Danah had gripped by the head was making a fuss. It wants to eat her but she has it at arm''s length.


    Danah asked in irritation, "Is your n to bore me until sunrise?"


    Ragnarok smiled. "Far from it. I was hoping we could engage in spirited conversation till the sun came up. I have a lot of issues that I would like your input on. It is most especially about..."


    She interrupted him, "Surely you must have something better nned. You can''t have waid me just to chat."


    Ragnarok wagged his finger at her. "Let''s not go falsely using me for something I didn''t do. You ran into me. Not the other way around. And it waspletely by chance too. I didn''t way you."


    What he said made her roll her eyes. It is obvious that Ragnarok is not treating her seriously. There is no way that she will believe that he didn''t actively try to nab her. Not after his recent fights with Primogenitors.

 Chapter 1065 Between A Rock And A Hard Place.

    <h4>Chapter 1065 Between A Rock And A Hard ce.</h4>


    She wouldn''t believe him even if she put aside his recent fights with Primogenitors. She chose the direction that she thought was safe. She chose a boundary of her territory that ispletely sealed and hardened earth. There was no tunnel in that area so no one should be there.


    Ghouls could be anywhere outside her territory. But they are most likely to be around other vampires. All of the Vampires were in the pathways that led to her territory. So it should be unlikely that Ghouls would be within the walls. She was right. There were no ghouls there. But she was nabbed as soon as she left her territory.


    She left her territory a very far distance away from where Ragnarok was attacking. So he had to have shifted his position closer to hers. Clearly, their meeting wasn''t by chance. If only she knew that there were no Ghouls around her territory and that the single Ghoul attached to her right now was brought to her territory from a very far location, then she would know how deeply orchestrated their current meeting is.


    Even so, Ragnarok will deny any usations that he nned to force her out and nab her. He will deny it no matter the evidence.


    He pleaded with her. "Our meeting was by chance? It is by fate so why don''t we enjoy it until the sunes up?"


    He is begging as if he isn''t nning to kill her. Danah wanted to curse him for his shamelessness.


    "Marlinto was wrong about you not having etiquette. You sure know how to behave like two-faced nobles."


    Ragnarok shrugged. "Marlinto was wrong about a lot of things."


    "So we are just going to talk until you try to kill me?"


    Ragnarok nodded. He is okay with just talking. He doesn''t think she will oblige him but he is not willing to make the first move. Not after what happened in his previous fight with a Primogenitor. He can be leisurely about this fight since he is not the desperate one.


    Danah sighed. "The demon god already expected that you will try to take advantage of the situation. But things were already toote when this ghoul showed up."


    Ragnarok chuckled. "Trust me. I know that."


    He knows how well the demon god has nned for him to take advantage of the Chaos. Danah is not the first Primogenitor that he has attacked since he released the ghouls. She is in fact the third one.


    The first one escaped from him while he ran away from the second one for his dear life. But he has learned his lesson and perfected his n. That''s why the first thing he did was to lock her in a domain so that she wouldn''t escape and why there is a ghoul attached to her right now.


    "Seems I am going to die," Danah admitted.


    He nodded in agreement. "I am certain of it. My n should work this time. That Ghoul should do something in the presence of the demon god. I just need to wait for daytime to weaken you. Then I can kill you."


    Danah looked at the ghoul in her hand and couldn''t help but feel bitter in her cold dead heart.


    She said to him, "I would rather die quickly than let you consume me."


    "I wouldn''t advise that," Ragnarok said to her as he stepped back. "Let''s be reasonable here. It is better to die to me than to test fate."


    He tried to persuade her against what she is about to do. He would very much like her to just ept her death. But she didn''t listen to him. What she was afraid of has finally happened. But she isn''t going to run away from her inevitable death. She will face her fears and hope that she will survive.


    She wants to test fate. So she did the same thing as the second Primogenitor. It won''t save her but it will give her a chance for survival. It is her best option now that she is between a rock and a hard ce. So she let the demon god descend to her body.


    One of her eyes ispletely red with ck concentric circles within it. The other two are white with red pupils and iris. They are her normal eyes. But both of her normal eyes becamepletely red with ck concentric circles within them when she opened herself to her Supreme.


    Her body was supposed to morph into the image of the demon god. She was supposed to erge into a red moon that possessed tentacles. She was supposed to be able to send him running for his life.


    He was prepared to run for his life. Unfortunately for her, the demon god refused to descend. So those changes didn''t ur.


    Ragnarok asked carefully, "Did my n work?"


    Both of Danah''s eyes returned to being white with red irises.


    She stumbled at first. Then she said to him in frustration, "Fuck you."


    He pped merrily. "That''s a good sign. You are not happy so my n must have worked."


    The first Primogenitor was very fast. He was too fast for him to get close to and engulf with his domain. So the first Primogenitor escaped. As for the second one, she made the demon god descend into her. Doing soes with very heavy consequences. Her will was eroded in exchange for the demon god to descend.


    Ancestral Vampires are like vessels to the demon god. But demon gods are chaotic and their sins are virulent. Any vessel that they descend into gets overwritten over time.


    The longer the descent, the more their will and identity are eroded. It is a slow death. No Primogenitor would be willing to allow the demon god to descend through them in a normal situation. But this situation is far from normal.


    Danah had no choice and the demon god had dered that Ragnarok has to be eliminated at all cost whatsoever.

 Chapter 1066 Doing Things The Hard Way.

    Chapter 1066 Doing Things The Hard Way.


    Ragnarok had pissed off the Vampires and their demon god. He has killed two Primogenitors and he will surely kill more if he is not taken care of. Then there is the recent atrocity of releasing the Ghouls. It is certain that Ragnarok can''t be left to wander about freely. So the demon god decreed that whoever he approached next would be sacrificed to eliminate him.


    Even so, the first Primogenitor that he approached ran as soon as it got wind of him. That Primogenitor didn''t want to die either by his hand or to the demon god. He didn''t disobey the demon god since he never met with Ragnarok.


    As for the second Primogenitor, she couldn''t get away from him so she was locked in battle with him. He wanted to do the same thing he did to kill Marlinto. He would waste their time and wait for the sun to rise.


    That Primogenitor was sure to die anyway so she did what the demon god asked for. The demon god descended in all his might and glory into his domain. He ran for it immediately. He didn''t even bother to fight to test the strength of the demon god. He couldn''t allow the demon god to touch him at all.


    That''s the most important thing. He mustn''t let the demon god touch him in any way or he will be shackled again. He has learned his lesson the hard way. The first time was a mistake but he won''t let the mistake ur for a second time.


    He could also tell that the demon god''s avatar was at the Supremew level for an Origin god. There''s no way he could match that. So he withdrew the domain and ran for it. It was a close call too. The demon god was ready for him so he shouldn''t have escaped at all. If not for the ghouls whom he now owes his life to, he would have died.


    Every Ghoul in the ne turned their eyes toward the location that the demon god used to enter the ne. All of them detected the demon god and rushed towards it immediately.


    They discarded every prey that they were hunting and went straight for the source of the blood cmity in the ne. As for the Ghouls around the demon god, they warped directly to the red moon. Then they began to fight it. This intervention allowed him to escape.


    "I will get you Ragnarok. Nothing will save you." It had roared in anger.


    The demon god didn''t bother to fight the ghouls. It roared unwillingly and detached from the vessel. The red moon that the second primogenitor had be deted immediately so it became easier for the ghouls to tear it apart. They destroyed the vessel and consumed the heart of Carnage.


    The lucky ghoul that ate the heart of Carnage became a super ghoul. This super Ghoul ispletely white instead of ck. It looked like an albino ghoul. Its eyes were not red anymore. They had bepletely ck like twin pools leading to the abyss.


    Ragnarok witnessed the whole thing even while running away. He didn''t let the promise of vengeance from the demon god bother him too much. He chose to dwell on what the presence of the ghouls meant and how to use them better to his advantage.


    "You know that I almost died the previous time but I didn''t because of the ghouls. In hindsight, It just makes sense that the demon god itself will be the main target of the Ghouls. I should have thought about it really." Ragnarok admitted to his unwilling audience.


    "Hmm." Danah provided nonmittally.


    Now that she has no choice but death, nothing can move her. Her motivation has died and her eyes are nk. She is only waiting for death.


    Ragnarok wasn''t discouraged by herck of attention. He continued excitedly, "I learned that I should let the ghouls lead the attacks on you Primogenitors and follow their leads. Look how it turned out in this situation. All I had to do was to lead this ghoul here. It immediatelytched on to you and didn''t let go at all."


    He got Danah''s full attention immediately. Her eyes glowed brightly in anger. The color of blood became obvious in those eyes. She truly wanted blood now and she trained her very angry eyes on him.


    "You let the Ghoul enter my territory? You brought it to me?" She asked with eyes fully zing now.


    "Technically yes, but actually, the answer is no. I didn''t so much as lead the Ghoul here as it was the one that chased after me. I was just passing by when I came across your territory. Then the Ghoul ignored me. Can you believe that? It is so rude."


    He continued talking without care. Her angry looks didn''t faze him. After all, he did promise her a spirited conversation right until he kills her. What kind of diabolical host would he be if he doesn''t actually talk her down until death seems more ptable?


    Danah on the other hand doesn''t appreciate the fact that he orchestrated her death. She thought the ghoul attached to her was her bad luck. Now she knows it was his n all along. The demon god doesn''t want to descend only to be eaten because of the ghoul. The demon god doesn''t want to create another white ghoul. The previous one is already proving itself to be a real problem.


    She roared in anger. "I will kill you."


    She is going to die but she is going to die on her own terms. She definitely won''t listen to him anymore. So she roared and began to transform.


    Ragnarok''s eye twinkled in mirth. He advised with the best of intentions, "We can do this the hard way or we can do it the easy way. I rmend the easy way. Resistance is futile. Just ept your death. I promise to make it quick."


    -----


    A/N: And that ends the release of bonus chapters for a while. I hope you guys enjoyed it while itsted. I thank DOUBLELINE for his gift again. It meant a lot.

 Chapter 1067 The Hard Way.

    Chapter 1067 The Hard Way.


    Danah refused to take his well-meaning advice. Her already buffed body expanded further. She became a giant more than 100 meters tall. She also grew two more pairs of hands. One pair is above her normal arms while the other is beneath it. She also grew a pair ofrge white wings. The white feathers on her wings each bear a single red eye. So her wings are full of eyes. Then she rushed towards him.


    The smile on Ragnarok''s face died down. He frowned when he sensed her ability. "I take it back. I will not make your death peaceful at all. It will be as painful as it can be."


    Then he ran away from her. Danah has decided to make things difficult for the two of them. He has to actually fight her and struggle to kill her. She won''t get a painless death because of her stubbornness. He will make sure of it.


    She rushed towards him with the ghoul in one of her six hands. Her white ugly wings were also spread wide. But they are not for flying. All the eyes on the feathers focused on Ragnarok''s fleeing figure and bombarded his mind with spiritual attacks. They are attacks that he can''t evade or block.


    He stumbled when he was struck by the attack. His eyes glinted sharply as he held back his pain. He would have shrugged off the spiritual attack of anyone less than an Origin god. But Danah''s spiritual attacks are not only at the Origin god level, they are well above it.


    The spiritual attacks smashed into his soul through the defense of soul force around it and shaved off a fewyers of his soul. He felt his existence and consciousness shake painfully. Cracks began to appear on his body from the point of collision which is his back.


    He resisted the urge to groan. It is a useless urge but he is in so much pain that it seems reasonable. Her spiritual attacks want to stun him and knock him out. The pain he is feeling is one of the things preventing him from falling asleep.


    Hemented his fate. "I didn''t expect such strong spiritual attacks from a brute."


    He did some research about the Primogenitors. He was especially interested in the ones he would target. So he found out that Danah''s Lineage have the ability to stun their enemies with their punches. It didn''t seem like a threat to him then. He thought all he had to do was not let her touch him.


    No one knew about the function of her true form. At least not the weak dark elves that he tortured and interrogated. Maybe the Vampires would have known more but no amount of torture can make Vampires speak about the powers of their Primogenitors to a known primogenitor killer.


    The Vampires and their familiars were restricted from telling him anything useful so he came into this fight with false confidence and was caught off guard. Danah''s blow affects his concentration and consciousness in ways that he can''t defend against.


    He is not a real origin god so he doesn''t have the resistance of one. His soul might be asrge as those of Origin gods because of his stats, but it is not as durable. He doesn''t have a concept to protect his existence.


    The soul force that he is using to protect himself is also weak. Legion-1 is after all a new origin god. So the soul force didn''t block out the attacks. He had to experience soul-searing pain from the constant bombardment of his soul.


    He shouted back at her. "I know I lied when I promised to make your death quick, but you''re going too far."


    She roared as she chased him. "Fuck you."


    Hemented to himself. "I''ll just take it as a lesson not to underestimate any of these Primogenitors."


    He got carried away earlier by his sess at stumping the demon god and the fact that the Primogenitors were willing to sacrifice themselves to kill him. Now he has been reminded not to underestimate them.


    Most of them are way of his league in power. They can kill him easily if he makes a mistake. But he has been able to kill them because of his domain, soul force, and their weakness during the day. It made him belittle them.


    Danah is a good lesson in learning not to underestimate Primogenitors or anyone who has managed to reach the Origin god level. She is someone who can surely kill him if he doesn''t have a domain.


    No matter how much stats he has umted, she has umted more because she is more than a thousand times older than him and she has had ess to as much blood power as she needed for most of her life. So she has superiority of stats and raw power.


    He is certain that she can defeat him easily if he doesn''t have a domain because of his current desperate situation. Her spiritual attacks work when the eyes on her wings can interact with the divine sense of her target. She then passes the soul attack directly into the target''s soul. He can''t suppress her divine sense so he has to bear the spiritual attacks.


    He is already struggling with her spiritual attacks. If her immense physical strength was added into the mix, then he would be done for. The odd thing is that he would be able to contend with her physical might partially even without his domain. His domain helps him to nullify her advantage in physical stats but it fails to help him with the spiritual attacks that he is vulnerable to.


    He thought to himself. "But I can''tin. Without a domain, she would beat me up both physically and spiritually. I just have to endure till the sunes up."


    He isining now from just suffering from a portion of her full power. He would be too stunned to escape from her if they were in the real world. She would be able to pummel him into dust.

 Chapter 1068 Enigmatic Ragnarok.

    Chapter 1068 Enigmatic Ragnarok.


    Danah asked him. "Are you pretending Ragnarok? Or are this weak?"


    He didn''t reply which emboldened her.


    "You''re an enigma. You are weak and yet you manage to bring down powerful beings. How do you do it?" She asked again.


    Ragnarok finally replied. "I will tell you if you stop attacking. Let us return to the peaceful times when we chatted."


    "What peaceful times? You wanted to kill me."


    "You also wanted to kill me but we were able to maintain decorum and chat about the state of the world like civilized people."


    Danah smiled and said confidently, "We will see who will kill who."


    She is a vampire. Her best sense is her perception of blood. She has smelled blood from Ragnarok. Blood and weakness go hand in hand. She could smell his leaking existence the moment she struck him with her Shrieking Wings. It made her confident of her chances to survive this encounter.


    Ragnarok knows that he is in a dangerous situation right now. His concentration is suffering under her spiritual attacks. He is suffering so much that he can''t control his body. But thanks to his domain he doesn''t have to move himself to actually move.


    The space of the domain is pushing him forward while his mind is too preupied with weathering her attacks. If he loses his domain, then she will be able to kill him. She realized this very quickly so she focused all her blood power on her Shrieking Wings.


    The red eyes on the white feathers glowed brighter. Spiritual power surged forth from them and mmed into Ragnarok''s mind. If they were in the ne where sound could be transmitted, her feathers would produce a shrill irritating cry that can be heard.


    But sound can''t be transmitted in this world so her wings her silent. That doesn''t mean that their lethality has reduced though. Not when she is giving it everything she''s got.


    She noticed the effect immediately. Ragnarok''s tantalizing smell increased abruptly. Her divine sense caught whiffs of his existence chaffing away into the world. That made things certain if she didn''t believe the cracks on his body.


    She became joyful. A grin appeared on her face. "A little more and he will crack."


    It is a joyful thing to have the fate of death turned away at thest moment. She will live so she is happy. She is happy so she decided to improve the flow of blood power into her wings at all cost. She sacrificed her physical strength to make her wings growrger. Herrge body shrunk while her wings erged. They soon becamerger than her body so she looked like a butterfly.


    Ragnarok noticed the changes going on behind him. He knows that he could deal devastating attacks on her body in the state that she is in. But he didn''t turn back because he was already having difficulties staying awake. Everything he has within him right now is for remaining conscious and running.


    The domain seemed to go forever. Ragnarok ran for his life as if he were in an infinite marathon. A tidal wave of spiritual power struck him from behind and drowned him. Fortunately, he doesn''t need to breathe or he would drown to death. Even then, his thoughts slowed down to a crawl.


    He had only one thing on his mind. "Run. Run. Run. Run. Run."


    This special treatment continued for hours. Her confidence turned to uncertainty and confusion as time passed.


    "What kind of being is this Ragnarok?" Danah asked herself in confusion. "He just doesn''t make sense."


    She has found a lot of things to be contradicting about Ragnarok. At first, she didn''t think her spiritual attacks would work on him. It is mostly a nuisance to other beings on her level. It divides their attention and makes them distracted.


    At most, their fighting prowess would be hindered a little. She then takes advantage of those distractions with her physical prowess. They won''t be able to resist her well because they are also resisting her spiritual attacks.


    That''s how she fights Origin gods and other Primogenitors. She didn''t think a distraction would help her in this situation. But she did it either way because it was the only thing that she could do. She certainly couldn''ty her hands on him despite how much she wanted to.


    But then her spiritual attacks actually worked on him. She felt his soul give in under the pressure of her attacks. His soul was actually getting diminished. It was being ground down and eviscerated little by little.


    It came as a surprise to her. But it also gave her hope of breaking this domain. If she pressured his mind too much, then his domain would drop. Or so she thought. Unfortunately, the domain didn''t drop even after she put pressure on his soul for hours.


    And it is not because her efforts have no effect. They have a profound effect on his soul. His soul should have crumbled long ago. He shouldn''t even be able to control the domain anymore to move. But he is still controlling the domain and his soul is also healing the damage to it rapidly. The regeneration is so fast that it is keeping up with the damages caused by her attacks.


    It made her wonder. "If he could heal from such serious injuries, why is he susceptible to them in the first ce?"


    His reaction to her attacks doesn''t make any sense to her. He is not an Origin god but he has a very powerful domain that rivals those of Origin gods. He is not an Origin god so he is weak to her spiritual attacks but he has a regeneration factor that Origin gods don''t have. Only Primogenitors with infinite blood power can heal from fractured existence the way Ragnarok is but he is not a Primogenitor. He just doesn''t make sense.


    She didn''t let the pressure off though. Her confusion wouldn''t let her give up yet. Her life is on the line after all.

 Chapter 1069 The End Of The Way.

    Chapter 1069 The End Of The Way.


    Danah continued to attack him until the sun came up. Then her power waned. Her white wings practically withered. The red eyes on them shrunk to be dry and shriveled. The tide of spiritual power stuttered and shrunk. Then it became a trickle that could manage more than a tickle on his existence.


    It was then that Ragnarok turned to her. He had his head in his hands. The cracks on his body made it obvious to her that a single hit and he would be destroyed. Salvation is but a step away from her. So it was with dismay that she watched as those cracks healed.


    Ragnarok''s rigid face rxed. The mind-racking migraine finally waned.


    He let go of his head to look at her. "It is my turn now. I am speaking the truth now. I promise to make this as painful as possible."


    First, he ejected the Ghoul from his domain. He doesn''t need it anymore now that the sun is up. The demon god can''t descend anymore. He also doesn''t want the Ghoul to take advantage of the weakened state of the Primogenitor and steal what is rightfully his. Then he got to work Danah. He promised her pain. He will deliver on it.


    It was sometime during the afternoon that he finished with Danah. He decided to be this early only because he had more things to do during the daytime. There are other Primogenitors to kill and the day is the best time for him to hunt so he removed his domain and returned to the world.


    Danah''s city has be ravaged by the time he reappeared. Ghouls had turned the ce upside down in their hunt for Vampires. Most of the powerful Vampires had gone to the surface but some remained behind because of ignorance. They became the food for ghouls.


    He looked at the sorry state of the Vampires and consoled them slightly. "If it helps, Danah and those that escaped are not doing so well either."


    A lot of the Dukes died along the way to the surface but some of them reached the surface. The ones that survived had to hide somewhere to rest during the day. They nned to resume their trip when night fell. Unfortunately for them, none of them will wake up again. They turned into a pool of blood in their sleep a few seconds ago.


    Danah''s death caused an emptiness to appear in the poption of Vampires. Every vampire in her lineage and every familiar bonded to those Vampires died along with their Primogenitor. That is the death of almost a hundred million entities instantly.


    He said proudly. "Here I am, doing my best to help the ne. What is Rinoz doing now I wonder?"


    He thought of Rinoz briefly because he still had the intention to kill her. Then he put her aside to think about his next steps. The first thing he looked out for was the particr ghoul that he lured over to Danah and kicked out of his domain. He can''t find the ghoul anymore.


    The ghoul had wandered away and had changed targets to other Vampires so he didn''t see it when he returned to the world.


    He shrugged to himself. "If there is one thing that this ne doesn''tck right now, it is ghouls. I can always find another ghoul."


    Then he scanned the ne for his favorite targets and what he saw made him smile. "This is good. It seems they got my warning. I should pick off the ones that I can now."


    The Primogenitors now know that he is working with the ghouls in more ways than a madman should. Their n to sacrifice one of themselves to eliminate him won''t work anymore.


    Staying in their territory also won''t work since Ragnarok is crazy enough to actually let a ghoul lock onto him. He will just lead more Ghouls to their territories and let those abominations attach to them. Then he will kill them.


    They decided to escape to the surface before he came after them. So most of them are on the surface right now. It is also currently daytime. These are perfect conditions for a hunt.


    "Good. Very good. They are vulnerable and ripe for the taking. That''s how I like them." He said in excitement.


    Then he hurried off to the surface. He thought of the demon god and he couldn''t help but grin. He expects the demon god to be fuming right now. It is because CARNAGE must absolutely hate what he is doing. What he is doing is not much but it is honest work. CARNAGE hates honesty hence the anger.


    His eyes of life that he gained from consuming the heart of Carnage helped him lock onto their positions. They can run but they can never hide. He nned a straight path to the closest one and went directly for it.


    He saw a lot of destruction along the way. The Ghouls have torn the Underdark apart. They have created new tunnels everywhere in search of their targets. They ignored him while they killed every Vampire that they sensed or had a lock on.


    He smiled when he considered the suffering of the Vampires. It is the fulfillment of a promise that he made to the demon god. He promised to be a thorn to the Vampires but this is turning out better than he expected.


    It encouraged him to continue getting stronger so that he could damage them more but it is not his major motivation. He is not afraid of death. He will be satisfied as long as his life brings fruitful results to Legion. That is his greatest motivation.


    He is the only paragon among the clones of Legion and his POWER stat is providing information to Legion about the shards of power. After all, the POWER stat is an external force that amplifies power in various ways much like the way the shard of power does.


    ----


    A/N: There was a mistake yesterday. I uploaded this chapter before the previous one. I have rectified that error now. Sorry about that.

 Chapter 1070 A Team Player.

    Chapter 1070 A Team yer.


    So he intends to explore the full limit of his POWER stat. He must find out how it works and what strengthens it so that Legion will be able to figure out a way for the shard of power to benefit every clone.


    Maybe one day, a clone of Legion will be able to form a connection between all the clones and facilitate the sharing of their power just like paragons do. He has to do his part for that which means he must reach the limit of his divine ability.


    If he has to kill a lot of Vampires for that, then so be it. It is a sacrifice that he is willing to make. If it means that he must hunt Primogenitors for their heart or Carnage to increase the boost from his POWER stat then so be it. He is a team yer above all else. The threat of the demon god looming above him won''t discourage him from the greater goal of perfection.


    The information he is gaining about the demon god will also help Legion in their struggle with demon gods. At least, Aeternus learned from him to run away as soon as possible. Legion knows for certain that getting locked in a limited space by a demon god is a bad idea. That''s why Aeternus didn''t try to rely on his powerful ne to resist the demon god.


    Things might look bleak for Ragnarok, but the aim of perfection still remains alive and strong within him.


    "The only one ruining my fun is this new guy." He said with a scowl.


    He is referring to the white Ghoul. The white Ghoul is much more suited to killing Vampires than him and it also has an eye of life. It got its eye of life the same way Ragnarok got his which is through devouring a heart of Carnage. So it can track and lock onto the Vampires wherever they are in the ne. That has made it very dangerous to Vampires since they can''t hide from it. But that''s just its basic ability. It has more up its undead sleeve.


    Ragnarok shrugged and said. "Maybe I shouldn''t be too greedy. I can''t get all of them either way."


    Then he took his eyes off the white Ghoul and returned it to his next target. He said In anticipation, "You escaped from me the first time. But you won''t escape from me this time."


    He has decided to hunt the fast but cowardly Primogenitor that escaped from him. This Primogenitor is the fastest Vampire in the ne. Every vampire in his lineage is very fast.


    The true form of this Primogenitor is that of a legless red-feathered falcon. He is very fast in his normal form but he can''t be restricted by anything once he unleashes his true form. He bes intangible and untouchable. But all of that will fail him because the sun is up. He won''t be able to run from Ragnarok.


    ------


    On The Surface. In A Secret Location.


    There are 8 figures in this secret room. They are all seated in chairs around arge circr table. There are 41 chairs but the other 33 are empty. The atmosphere in this room is not cordial at all. The figures are frowning or scowling. Their bodynguage is generally not calm. They are not saying anything but the air is thick with the stench of defeat.


    They have just had a call from some of their associates and it was full of bad news.


    One of them sighed and said. "We just lost three more of us. Our strength has reduced further. Maybe the others are right. Maybe we should just give up on the ne."


    "Yes. It was already a losing fight. The news of the reappearance of the ghouls has not made things promising." Someone agreed.


    "It is a pity though. All of our families and descendants will die. Our immortal bloodlines might actually get cut off here. What an irony."


    They allughed. Some of them couldn''tugh so they chuckled. What this person said is truly amusing. Their bloodlines are supposed to be eternal but that will be put to the test soon.


    "It is not a surprise though. We are up against a demon god after all. The end of our bloodlines is the least of our problems."


    "And this Ragnarok has not made things easier. He is messing things up even more."


    The 8 of them are in general agreement. They are ready to give up. There used to be 41 of them here on the ne. That is a veryrge amount of Origin gods to have in a ne. Origin gods don''t like being in the lower realm at all. Most of them were stationed at the ancient battlefield. But they were able to get into the ne when the nar portal was first attacked by the Vampires.


    They have been resisting the Vampires since then. They also helped to quell the ghouls thest time they were active. It is because they couldn''t bear to see their precious ne ravaged by ghouls. The ghouls could have given them victory, but what kind of victory would it have given them?


    The answer to that question is a near-lifeless ne. The wood elves didn''t want that. They were divided over stopping the ghouls or letting them rampage throughout the ne. The decision was made when the fountain of life interfered. It dered that the ghouls must be sealed.


    So the ghouls were sealed. The Origin gods were the once that bore the danger of doing so. They sacrificed themselves to attract the majority of the ghouls and lead them to a hidden enclosure. Then they sacrificed themselves by dying to the ghouls so that the ghouls lost their targets.


    The fountain of life sealed the ghouls while the rest of them destroyed the few amounts of ghouls that couldn''t be lured. They used their concepts and domain to kill the ghouls.

 Chapter 1071 State Of Things.

    <h4>Chapter 1071 State Of Things.</h4>


    Ghouls can be killed with the right tools. Death by concept within an Origin domain will kill them. The problem is that it is difficult to do if the ghouls are in the millions. Then the Origin god would be killed in their own domain. That''s why ghouls would target Origin gods when Primogenitors aren''t around.


    Origin gods are above normal vampires on their attack priority because while Origin gods aren''t the cause of the problem, they are a threat to their mission of getting rid of the Vampires. These Origin gods did interfere with the mission of the ghouls. That particr endeavor cut down their number within the ne from 41 to 31.


    Then the Vampires betrayed them and used them to create more Monarchs. It reduced their number from 31 to 14 and increased the number of Monarchs from 15 to 30. That particr event turned the tide of power irreversibly away from them.


    The Vampires came into control of the ne. The Origin gods had to hide themselves because the Monarchs would try to gang up on them as soon as they made themselves known. The only time they could move around the ne was in secret and during the day.


    The status quo was maintained for as long as the demon god sealed the ne. The number of Origin gods couldn''t be replenished since those who died needed time and resources to resurrect and they couldn''t resurrect in the ne. If not for the god of light in the divine ne, then the ne would have fallen.


    That is how bad things are looking for them despite their best efforts. Now, they just heard talks that some Origin gods are already quitting on attacking the demon god from outside the ne. That will reduce the pressure on the demon god which will cause it to break through the blockade of the divine ne.


    As if that isn''t enough, the gods are getting worn out too. They are running out of resources and manpower to fight the demon god. The fight with the demon god has been going on for more than a million years after all. So even if the origin gods don''t quit, the demon god will enter the ne soon.


    Another Origin god sighed and said. "We have tried our best. We have given it our all. But we can''t continue like this. There is no more hope for victory and there is no oneing to help us anymore. I agree that we should give up."


    "If they have given up on breaking into the ne maybe we should give up on keeping it safe."


    "The ne has changed anyway. It is not the one we knew and loved."


    The Origin gods don''t want to give up because they love their ne. They used to be able to recite the names of every tree in their favorite forest. But those trees are dead now. The precious bnce of the ne has been destroyedpletely. All of these are reasons or excuses for why they shouldn''t continue fighting.


    This is not the first time that they are having this conversation about epting defeat and giving up. They were about to leave the ne a few years ago. But they were given a reason to stay and keep fighting.


    They were given 2 reasons actually. The fountain of life was that convincing. The emergence of Rinoz and Ragnarok gave them hope of a resurgence. Rinoz alone represented a solution to the Vampire problem. She could be the god of light in the ne and save the ne from the oppression of Vampires. They didn''t like Warrogs but they are immortal so they can put aside their dislike for the greater good of the ne.


    It is because of their Authority as immortal ancestors that the wood elves decided to ovee their hatred for Warrogs and work with the child of the ne. The Sovereigns and most of the wood elves didn''t want to. But they changed their minds when they were asked to choose between working with Warrogs and Origin gods or working without either.


    The Wood-elves decided to get Rinoz to work with them so that the Origin gods wouldn''t give up on them. But they had to break her in. She was too proud and too stubborn. She wanted to do something that the wood elves had not been able to do.


    The wood elves were not happy with her n. But they didn''t advice her not to do it or stop her. They just watched as she made the call and amassed an army. They waited for her inevitable defeat and swooped in to save her.


    Rinoz''s pride was broken by that defeat. Her inability to take the devil''s pit revealed her ignorance. It did so better than if they had told her that she was ignorant. She became open to suggestions after being saved. It meant that they would be able to use her better.


    They were able to use her to find her counterpart. Then the Origin gods sent 3 of their numbers to get Ragnarok too. That didn''t turn out so well. It showed them just how difficult an Executioner can bepared to an Emperor.


    They can admit that the oue of that encounter is totally their fault. They underestimated him and disrespected him. Then he went and did the unthinkable. He broke past the barrier that theyid down together with the fountain of life and released the Ghouls. That was honestly going too far for revenge.


    Now the ghouls have returned and they have been presented with the same question that they had to decide on when the ghouls first appeared. Unfortunately, they are not in the mood to bother with that question. They don''t care anymore. Even Rinoz''s potential is not enough to keep them within the ne. They have decided to give up now.


    They chuckled and considered how to break the news to their descendants. They are immortal but the demon god has put the fear of death in them. They must not die to it or they will resurrect as new and weak Origin gods.

 Chapter 1072 Ignorance Of Death.

    <h4>Chapter 1072 Ignorance Of Death.</h4>


    Normal death for immortals only takes time and resources for them to recover. But death to a demon god will also take away their power. They don''t want the effort and Origin essence of about a hundred origin cycles to go to waste due to death so they don''t want to die despite being immortal.


    Three phantom figures suddenly phased into existence in the secret room. They are holographic images of three separate origin gods.


    The Origin gods turned their attention to their guests.


    One of them spoke. "It is nice of you to join us."


    Each one of the holographic figures took their seats. It made the number of Origin gods return to 11.


    One of the holographic figures is a female. She has pink hair and pink eyes while are skin is green. The other two look more like brutes. They have pretty simr figures except one has green hair and green skin while the other has brown hair and brown skin.


    The green one said, "Apologies, but we can''t make it physically to the ne anymore. There was a flood that blocked the road here."


    That made the present origin gods chuckle. The flood that blocked the road will be the demon god barricading the entire ne. The three of them have resurrected after being killed but they can''t return to the ne anymore. They can''t do so for the next hundreds of years at least even if the ne is open. They are still in the process of reconstructing their existence.


    The female with the pink hair grumbled. "I don''t suppose you know how we died."


    "Oh, we know that." Someone offered.


    The Green origin god asked in surprise. "You do?"


    He certainly doesn''t remember how he died. But that is understandable since he was killed by Ragnarok in a domain. Thest memory he has of his meeting with Ragnarok was the release of a domain that they felt was a threat to them.


    They struggled and failed to escape the domain. Everything after that is total darkness. The other origin gods could have information he doesn''t have. But it is highly unlikely since his death urred within a domain so he is very surprised that they have information at all.


    The one that offered grinned. "Look at your face. It is so priceless. Of course, we know how you died. You died to a young Warrog that isn''t up to 1 origin cycle in age."


    The other origin godsughed. The green origin god''s face froze over. Then he slumped in his seat angrily. The other two also joined him in frowning. The pink-haired origin god rolled her eyes at the grinning origin gods.


    "I would have thought you bigger than that." Sheined. "Look at youughing at us for dying after you sent us."


    "You thought wrong. You thought very wrong" The origin god said to her. Then his voice became colder. "You have been very wrong about a lot of things recently."


    She sighed and epted the criticism. "I didn''t think he would be much trouble. How was I supposed to know that he could defeat us?"


    It isn''t just this Origin god that is angry at the 3 of them. A lot of them are very angry too. They are onlyughing because it is no use being angry. But that doesn''t mean they won''t say something about it.


    Another one interjected with a rebuttal. "You should have known that he would be a lot of trouble when he killed a Primogenitor. You should have at least suspected it. The least you could have done was to show him some respect. It is the least you could have done."


    This sentiment was supported by a third Origin god. "Your failure led to the release of the Ghouls and the further reduction of our forces within the ne. You have not only failed us, you have failed our descendants and the ne that our ancestors fought for."


    "You are to be med for this cmity. And to think we chose you to bring him because your concept could bring him here peacefully. Instead, you messed things up and threw things further out of bnce."


    "We expected more from you."


    They have a lot to say about how disappointed they are with her actions and the consequences it has brought onto the ne. They may be immortal but they have sentiments and attachments. It doesn''t feel good to try so much and still fail to preserve the ne that they love so much.


    The pink-haired Origin god tried to exin. She said, "In my defense, he is but a child. I treated him like a child because I expected him to be like a child. He is less than an Origin Cycle old for god''s sake. The realm lord took 2 origin cycles to be an Origin god. That''s the realm lord. Ragnarok is just a Warrog. A mutt. I think it is understandable that I didn''t think highly of him."


    "He could have been working hand in hand with the Vampires to deceive us. Maybe Marlinto isn''t truly dead or maybe he is and the demon god wants Ragnarok to infiltrate our forces. Either way, I thought he must have something to do with the demon god. How else did he acquire so much power so soon? Only Primogenitors can grow so strong so fast because of blood power."


    "Our death confirms that there is something suspicious about him. He was able to kill us which means he must have the power of a Monarch or Origin god at his disposal. I think my decision to antagonize him helped to prove that there is something suspicious about him."


    She made good points. But the origin gods are not having it. "You were supposed to bring him over peacefully. The key word here is "peacefully." There shouldn''t have been any fight whatsoever with Ragnarok regardless of the suspicions or not. But you forgot why we chose you and your brothers to bring him. If you didn''t, then you wouldn''t have acted out in indignance because of his age."

 Chapter 1073 What Went Wrong.

    Chapter 1073 What Went Wrong.


    The Origin god continued angrily. "And your belief that he is affiliated with the demon god is wrong. The first thing he did immediately after his death was to release the ghouls. He has personally killed two more Primogenitors apart from Marlinto at this moment while the ghouls have led to the death of four. Does that sound like something a secret spy for the demon god would do?"


    She was shocked. "Howe? How did he kill us then if he is not affiliated with the demon god?"


    That is what she is most concerned about even now. They heard from the fountain of life that Ragnarok used a power simr to the domain of an Origin god to destroy the devil''s pit.


    But that power is only simr and the thought that a Warrog of less than a thousand years could have killed Marlinto is absurd hence her suspicions of foul y. Their death has not made things clearer. They can confirm that the domain is dangerous to them but it has only created more questions.


    Someone couldn''t take it. They asked, "Is that what you should concern yourself with right now? The ghouls have been released!"


    Someone else said sarcastically, "But there is no need to worry too much. What you have done has only cost us the ne and all our descendants. What is there to worry about?"


    Sure Ragnarok is too young to have the power that he has disyed. It is understandable to underestimate him or even suspect him of colluding with the demon god. But that doesn''t excuse her behavior and its consequences. She was supposed to use her concept to subdue him. It should have worked since he wasn''t an Origin god yet.


    Her green brother came to her rescue, "I think she makes a good point. There is something suspicious about Ragnarok."


    "It doesn''t matter if she makes a good point. She failed and has thus doomed the ne. That''s all that matters."


    The brown brother also spoke, "ns change. Our original n was based on the premise that Ragnarok was weak. That changed when we actually met up with him. There were a lot of suspicious points about him. And besides, he attacked first. We had to defend..."


    Someone interrupted, "He attacked first because you pressed him. You shouldn''t have pressured him toe along in the first ce. You were supposed to lure him toe with you."


    The two sides began to argue. Both sides made good points. The original n was to go there and take advantage of his fight with the Primogenitor. They were to help him by ganging up on Marlinto and killing the Primogenitor by using the day to their advantage. Then they were to convince him gently toe with them and join their side. Her life subjugating pollen was supposed to be very useful to achieve nonviolent persuasion.


    They truly meant well about Ragnarok. Even if he was working with the demon god, the fountain of life would first try to save him and convert him into its representative. Then they would have strengthened him to the best of their ability. They would have given him a lot of living things and Vampires to kill for him to convert to death essence.


    They nned to gain another Champion that would at least be able to keep Rinoz in check and would be firmly within the control of the fountain of life. But the Origin gods they sent to get him didn''t y by the book when they got there.


    The three Origin gods were fighting and killing the Familiars who were protecting the sleeping Vampires. Then all of the familiars dropped dead and their Vampire masters liquified to blood. That meant their Primogenitor, Marlinto, had died. She didn''t believe that he truly did it on his own. She thought he was working with the Vampires to deceive them.


    It is not a far-fetched suspicion considering that the source of Ragnarok''s power is blood power. He even looks like a monarch. Are they to believe that he truly cut himself away from the demon god and is still using blood power to amplify himself? Or could it be a ruse to deceive them? She clearly chose to believe thetter. After all, even the realm lord was not so extraordinary himself.


    The rest of the events that followed are history. Ragnarok killed the three of them and he broke the barrier that sealed the ghouls in revenge. The only people capable of such a thing were the Primogenitors who have be Monarchs and the Origin gods of the wood elves.


    Only they could find where the ghouls were sealed in and have the strength to break the barrier that sealed them. No one in these two groups was crazy enough to do so. Not even the Origin gods. After all, they sacrificed a lot of their numbers to seal the ghouls the first time.


    They made that sacrifice with the understanding that no one in their right or even unsound mind would go and release the ghouls. No one ounted for a disgruntled, crazy, cornered, desperate, and suicidal origin god-level powerhouse. No one could have imagined that such a powerhouse woulde from the Warrogs either. But it happened. And now the ne is doomed.


    The origin gods said their piece. Theyined and assigned me where it ought to be assigned. It is because they are really angry. It is not a pleasant feeling to lose where they grew up. It is not pleasant at all to see their descendants and their race massacred in droves. It bes doubly hurtful when the ne is very important for the era of conquest.


    Without the ne, they will have reduced influence in vying for resources and authority when the era of conquestes. That''s one of the most important reasons why they have resisted the demon god for so long.


    They didn''t want to give up their base and foundation without a fight? If they can''t even protect their home ne, how then are they to acquire another base for the era of conquest?

 Chapter 1074 The Ancient Taboo.

    <h4>Chapter 1074 The Ancient Taboo.</h4>


    The wood elves considered the fight for the ne an investment. But the demon god is making that investment very costly while the first appearance of the ghouls threatened to make the investment a waste. The seconding of the ghouls is the proverbialst nail in the coffin of their ambitions for the ne.


    The Origin gods became silent after arguing. That silence ended until one of them sighed and asked, "So are we of one ord?"


    One of the origin gods replied. "Yes. We will do just like this Ragnarok and go all out. If we can''t win, then we must make sure that the demon god wins very little."


    Some were quick to reject. "No no no. We vetoed that."


    Someone else rolled their eyes and said. "We are not going to cause further damage to our beloved ne. We are not barbarians."


    The origin god wanted destruction and mayhem sighed. "Fine. We will just watch then."


    She mmed the table despite agreeing with the decision of the majority. "I am just so angry."


    "Yes, we know. We are angry too. But the least we can do is not to add to the burden of the ne."


    They tried to convince her not to go about wreaking havoc because of vengeance. Most of the Origin gods have decided to give up on the ne. The issue is what to do before giving up or how to give up. Some would like to simply watch while others want to hurt the demon god by damaging the ne.


    Another person suggested a middle ground, "How about we just target the Vampires? Let''s go for onest blowout before we leave the ne."


    That suggestion had a lot of Origin gods in agreement. It is something they wouldn''t consider normally because they are outnumbered against the Primogenitors. But things have changed now. The Primogenitors are running about for their lives. They are currently scattered and unable to mount an ambush.


    Most of them have left the protection of their territory and are on the surface. They are prime targets to be killed. The Origin gods won''t even worry about the ghouls either. They will just kill as many Vampires before they die.


    The Origin gods were conversing amongst themselves and nning their assault when they received a request formunications. They would have ignored it had it note from the chairman of the ne council.


    She is the representative of the fountain of life after all. She deserves to know that they are pulling out of the fight. Maybe the fountain of life will be able to help them with the locations of the Primogenitors too. So they took the call.


    "What is it?" One of the origin gods asked.


    She started. "I have bad news."


    That made the origin godsugh. It was not the reaction that the representative was expecting so she was visibly confused.


    They told her. "What is one more bad news? Go on. We have a piece of bad news for you too."


    That didn''t calm her down at all. But she continued nheless. "Rinoz has run away."


    The origin gods were not moved. Some shrugged while others yawned. This would be catastrophic news at any other time. Now, it is just another one of the signs that they are on a sinking ship. The water just keeps rushing aboard. And soon this ship will sink.


    She continued when she didn''t get any reaction from them. "She is not working for us anymore. And I have it in good reason that she might be working against us."


    The pink-haired origin god asked, "Is this because we tricked her into giving us Ragnarok''s position? What a child."


    Another origin god added. "It is refreshing really. This is how a child should behave. They fail to see the bigger picture."


    They didn''t take the threat of Rinoz seriously. After all, what''s the worst that the child of the ne can get up to? There isn''t another secret stash of hidden Ghouls that can be found with the eye of life or with her connections to the ne for her to release. Besides, the ne is going through a tough time now. How strong can she really be?


    If anything, they find her reaction to being tricked to be refreshing. It is like a child throwing a tantrum to them. It is amusing instead of being rming since they are forsaking the ne. It is just right for the child of the ne to forsake them too.


    The representative corrected their assumption. "She didn''t quit being our ally because she was tricked. She turned against us because some wood elves tried to use the forbidden ritual on her."


    That stopped the origin gods cold. They turned to the sphere in the middle of the table that showed the real-time image of the representative.


    "What did you just say?" They asked in shock.


    They really didn''t see thating. The representative filled them in on what exactly happened. Apparently, some wood elves were discontent with working with the Warrogs. They could have done something foolish likeshing out and attacking Rinoz to kill her. That would have been expected due to the bloodline hatred.


    But these wood elves didn''tsh out. They considered the situation very carefully. They understand that the treaty with the Warrogs is because of Rinoz''s potential. They also understand that the wood elves need her help. They need her to realize her potential and help them beat the Vampires. So eliminating Rinoz, while therapeutic, wouldn''t solve the problem that is the Vampires. Hatred or not, they still need Rinoz. Or to be more specific, they need her potential.


    So they decided to take her potential for themselves by using the forbidden ritual. It is the method of binding wood elves to a living thing and forcefully using the living thing as a source of power. Vitality and energy can be siphoned from victims of this bond. It is exactly what some wood elves wanted to do to the captured Paragons which led to the civil war that split the race into two many Origin cycles ago.

 Chapter 1075 Rinoz Must Go.

    Chapter 1075 Rinoz Must Go.


    An origin god spoke after some silence for contemtion and wonder, "No wonder Rinoz is angry. No one can me her. I would be pissed too."


    The others nodded and agreed. None of them seemed agitated or at least affected by the fact that some of the wood elves had broken the ancient pact with the fountain of life. The fate of the wood elves is theirs and theirs alone right now.


    They will not have the help of the Origin gods. They will bear the consequences for that action alone. And if the race has a civil war again, then so be it.


    The representative of the fountain of life on the other hand wasn''t amused. She said, "I think you will want to know how Rinoz escaped."


    That piqued the interest of some of the Origin gods. "Yes, how did the na?ve pup escape?"


    "What does it matter how she escaped? All that matters is that she did and she is our enemy now."


    Another origin god mocked. "See how low the wood elves gotten nowadays that they will fail an ambush against an ignorant target."


    The representative all but shouted, "She had the help of the ghouls."


    "So what?" The pink-haired origin god asked with a shrug.


    The representative calmed down. Then she said, "What I am about to tell you will prove why the request of the fountain of life should be fulfilled."


    An origin said with a tone of finality, "I should stop you right there before you go any further. We are giving up on the ne. That means we are not doing the fountain of life any more favors. If it wants something done, then it shoulde out from wherever it is to do it itself."


    The revtion took the representative by shock. She ryed the information to the fountain of life. Then she regained herposure after she heard what the fountain of life said.


    She spoke to them, "Regardless. The fountain of life still believes we can work together. It is especially important in this case. Rinoz must be eliminated at all costs."


    It was the origin gods'' turn to be surprised. "Do you not mean Ragnarok?" Someone asked her.


    They expect and will understand if the fountain of life has a vendetta against Ragnarok. After all, Ragnarok released the ghouls which the fountain of life wanted sealed. They are not foolish. They know that the fountain of life must have a reason for helping the wood elves. That reason can''t be benevolence. The fountain of life must have a n for the wood elves and for the ne.


    They don''t know that n but they suspect that Ragnarok has jeopardized it with the release of the ghouls. So the fountain of life should hate Ragnarok. They also don''t like Ragnarok and will dly help the fountain of life get rid of him if they have the chance.


    Rinoz on the other hand has been really helpful to the wood elves. And from what they heard earlier, Rinoz was the one slighted by the wood elves. They don''t see how Rinoz suddenly became the enemy that must be eliminated at all costs instead of Ragnarok.


    "I said and I meant Rinoz." The representative insisted. "The fountain of life is particr about her elimination."


    "What is this about?" Someone asked curiously.


    She replied, "It is like this. It happened when she was about to be captured. She..."


    What the representative of the fountain of life said set the room into an uproar. She exined why Rinoz ought to be eliminated and it finally agitated the origin gods. But they still decided not to do anything about Rinoz. They are done helping anyone. Besides, they want to avoid the ghouls so they will avoid Riniz too.


    The representative left in a huff after she expressed the disappointment of the fountain of life in no vague terms. The origin gods weren''t moved. They returned to nning how they would attack the Vampires.


    ----------


    Ragnarok is having a good time. He popped into existence deep in the ground. It is technically the surface but he is in the ground because that''s where the Primogenitor was hiding.


    He licked his lips. "That was the fifth heart of Carnage. Four more to go."


    The Primogenitor he just killed is his fourth. It makes a total of 5 hearts of carnage plus the one he got from his father.


    He snickered and said, "I want to see CARNAGE''s face right now. It must be so red."


    All in all, he is having fun hunting and killing the Primogenitors. What could be better is if he can see how pissed off the demon god is right now. He can''t so he will use his imagination.


    "I should get going now. I am sure that I can get a third one if I hurry."


    He has killed two Primogenitors in the span of hours. There are still some more hours of daylight left that he can take advantage of. So he picked his next target and rushed towards it.


    Unfortunately, he waste to his target by a step. He managed to reach the poor weakened Primogenitor but someone got there before him. It is something to be urate, not someone. This something suddenly warped beside his fleeing target.


    It was a white ghoul. Then thousands of ghouls appeared around the Primogenitor. They surrounded the Primogenitor and buried it with their bodies. Ragnarok made sure to stay very far away from themotion. He even ran back to avoid it.


    He didn''t stop until he was more than 50 kilometers away. Only then did he feel safe enough to watch. The fight didn''t take long. The ghouls soon scattered to reveal what they buried.


    The Primogenitor isn''t dead yet. But it has be too weak to move after exhausting its limited store of blood power to protect its life. The white Ghoul held the poor Primogenitor up by the neck. The Primogenitor has been beaten within an inch of its life. It was too weak to resist.

 Chapter 1076 The White Ghoul.

    Chapter 1076 The White Ghoul.


    Ragnarok said with some bitterness, "That should have been mine."


    The prize is there to take but he didn''t go forward to take it. Instead, he watched from a safe distance.


    The once beautiful Primogenitor now has dark skin has patches of red, blue, and brown bruises. The assortment of bruises is all Ragnarok needed to know of how much this Primogenitor has suffered. Its suffering had reached the point where it couldn''t heal all the injuries that were inflicted on it.


    The white ghoul turned to regard Ragnarok. The two ck orbs that it uses as eyes were locked onto him. Then it shook the Primogenitor in its hand as if to taunt him toe and take it. There were no pupils or other features in those ck eyes but Ragnarok could sense ridicule in them.


    Ragnarok didn''t take the bait. He was more concerned about the intelligence of the white ghoul. Other ghouls don''t do anything apart from hunting and killing with a single minded focus. But this one seems smart enough to do other things.


    It sneered at him. Then it opened its mouth wide. Its mouth erged into arge maw with several circr rows of teeth. But it didn''t bite down. It pushed the Primogenitor whole into its mouth with its two hands. The Primogenitor was crushed by the rows of teeth and swallowed whole.


    Ragnarok watched as the white ghoul stuffed its face. The Primogenitor struggled ineffectively. It kicked its feet and tried to stop its ugly fate. But it was like a child struggling ineffectively against a strong adult.


    The white ghoul swallowed it whole and crunched it up. Then the Ghoul snarled at him. He turned around and ran immediately. Any Ghoul is trouble that he doesn''t want anything to do with. This white Ghoul is something else. It is something more dangerous. It is not trouble. It is lethal trouble.


    He has seen it do terrible things. What he has seen of the white Ghoul''s capabilities has truly made him afraid for his life. He won''t mess with it like he did with one of the Ghouls. That experience is already enough to tell him how badly it will end if he messes with something that serves as a warp beacon to other Ghouls. He will be surrounded instantly if that ghoul gets near him.


    Someone chose that moment when he was fleeing for his life to chat him up.


    "I respect you Ragnarok. You have done a lot for the ne and you are also a Warrog. You may be unruly and disrespectful, but you have been helpful in your own way. So I will do you a favor. Stay out of our way."


    Ragnarok felt like rolling his eyes. He didn''t roll his eyes because if he did, he might be blind and retarded because of the amount of ridicule that he has for Rinoz. His eyes might roll too far into his head.


    "She just can''t help it, can she?" He asked himself.


    She is calling to warn him about something he doesn''t even know about. It is as if she is looking for every reason to call him. If he didn''t know any better, he would think she was in love with him and not simply stupid.


    "Then again, there is no reason why she can''t be both. Love does make people stupid and only stupid people fall in love. I should not underestimate her. There must have been something in her that the will of the ne saw. She might have great potential for stupidity."


    So he just sighed and asked her, "What is it this time around? What have I done wrong?"


    Rinoz replied with a haughty tone. "I appreciate what you have done for the ne. But you should stop now. Stop hunting the Vampires. You are weakening the ghouls that way. No lion likes to have their food taken from them. If you continue to steal food from the ghouls, then you must be prepared to face the wrath of the lions. I won''t hold the ghouls back from hunting you anymore."


    Then she cut off the call.


    "What is going on?" Ragnarok asked in confusion.


    He ispletely bewildered. He has a lot more questions now.


    "What did she mean by "Stay out of our way?" and what does "I won''t hold the Ghouls back from hunting you anymore?"


    He understands that she called to warn him or maybe it was a threat. It seems to him that she called him to brag but he doesn''t where she gets her confidence from or the source of the leverage for what she asked of him.


    Are the Ghouls and her working together now? Or even worse, can she control or influence the ghouls in any way? If she does have the leverage that she ims to have, then she will be a terrible foe to deal with.


    "That won''t stop me though. I never respond to the threat of violence. Only true strength can make me capitte."


    He decided not to listen to her. He can''t just be afraid of her because of what she said. If he does that, then anyone can just tell him off. He has to see something tangible about the threat that she poses to him before he will take her seriously. He hasn''t seen that yet so he will continue to hunt Primogenitors. Then he will hunt and kill her.


    If he were that easy to threaten then he would have capitted to the threats of the demon god and the fountain of life. He didn''t listen to them and he won''t listen to her either.


    -----


    Far Away On The Surface.


    Fenrir looked worried. That''s because he is very worried. Rinoz has amassed a very powerful force but he can''t help but be worried. He took one look at the so-called army that Rinoz is so proud of and he couldn''t help but have his stomach recoil in fear, apprehension, and disgust. This is a bigger and more powerful army than the army of Warrogs but it doesn''t fill him with confidence.

 Chapter 1077 Impending Doom.

    Chapter 1077 Impending Doom.


    It certainly doesn''t help his fear that Rinoz has had a falling out with the fountain of life and the wood elves. Those two are the strongest entities in the ne and the strongest factions apart from the Vampires. As if that isn''t enough, she is enemies with the Vampires too.


    The situation looks like the preparation for a disaster. Everything seems to be heading towards that eventuality and he has been caught up in it against his will.


    He muttered to himself, "What will I do if a war breaks out? I don''t even know where my loyalties lie right now. Is it to Rinoz or is it to the fountain of life?"


    He is experiencing a crisis of identity alongside the impending crisis of the ne. What''s worse is that he doesn''t seem to have a choice in the matter. He doesn''t want to be here but Rinoz made him. It is just like how the fountain of life tortured and forced him into servitude.


    He had toment to himself, "How low I have fallen. It turns out that I am no better than Lamd."


    Lamd was a pawn and he died a miserable death because of it. He used to be a great Emperor and he has grown stronger than he was. He thought those were enough to give him control over his life but it seems he was wrong. The fountain of life used him and now Rinoz is using him. It appears to him that he too is a pawn.


    "I hope I do not end up like Lamd."


    That is what he is most worried about because pawns rarely have a good end. But he couldn''t dwell for too long on it. He heard a stern voice call to him. His master was calling.


    "Come to me now."


    It was a tone that brooked no denial. He sighed and began making his way towards Rinoz. She is at the center of her army so she can be easily found. All he has to do is fly toward the bright star in the very middle of the army.


    The soldiers of this army are mostly airborne. Very few of them are on the ground. Rinoz is off the ground too  Some of them are also above Rinoz. So the army is in a spherical formation around Rinoz.


    None of the soldiers spoke to him or even looked at him as he passed by. He is not even sure that they can speak. After all, he hasn''t seen them speak at all. They just hung there in the air like emotionless sentries. If not for the obvious fact that they were levitating and that their red eyes were glowing, he would think that they were corpses.


    They look like corpses. It is not his bias against them that is making them call them corpses. Their bodies are shriveled. They are lean and their skin is dry like those of mummies. Most of them have ck skin. But there are some of them that have dirty green skin. And all of them are clearly of elven origin.


    "This is a deviant facsimile of the alliance with the tree people. It is unnatural. But power is power so maybe it is alright." Fenrir tried to reason with himself.


    He is trying to exin away his dislike and disgust for the source of power that Rinoz has dipped her hand into. But he couldn''t help but ask, "But why is she perpetuating more violence?"


    He understands that Rinoz is very angry with the wood elves. They did try to enve her. That''s after they tricked her. But she escaped and now she has be stronger for it. Shouldn''t she focus on the Vampires and eradicate them? At least that''s what he thinks is the best thing to do now.


    He can only shake his head though. He doesn''t dare to question Rinoz anymore. She is not the girl that he raised anymore. She is a genocidal warlord now. So he kept his thoughts to himself when he reached her.


    Rinoz is a beautiful thing. She is a creature of delicacy and beauty. Her yellow fur and the radiance of light around her cast her in a good light. Her 9 fluffy tails move around yfully while her twin antlers grace her visage with some elegance. She haspletely white mesmerizing eyes.


    Her enchanting eyes are locked onto the elven city that she is about to attack. And there is a fire in those eyes. There is no kindness or delicacy. No one who gazes upon them now will be enchanted. Everyone can tell just how angry she is by looking at her eyes. And the target of her anger is the elven city.


    It is as if she wants to set it on fire with her eyes. That is not possible for her. But she won''t back down until the city goes up in mes. She is only waiting for more ghouls toe to her. And they are congregating really quickly too. The white ghoul beside her is making sure of it.


    Every Ghoul within its warp range is warping directly to it so they don''t have to cross arge distance to get to her. Fenrir saw this and couldn''t help butment inwardly about the fate of the elves and the innocent people amongst them.


    "Maybe I have be soft with age." He said to himself. "The ughter of wood elves is a good thing for Warrogs. I shouldn''t pity them so much."


    He hated the wood elves all that time when he was imprisoned. He swore to deliver a massacre on them and to restore the glory of the Warrogs. That has changed in time. His resolve to see the wood elves trampled as they were beneath the feet of Warrogs in ancient times has faded. Maybe that''s why he doesn''t feel good about what Rinoz is nning to do.


    The White Ghoul was the first one to turn its attention to Fenrir. It regarded him with those eyes of total darkness. Then it growled.


    Rinoz spoke. "I agree too. He will do nicely."

 Chapter 1078 The Sun Eater.

    <h4>Chapter 1078 The Sun Eater.</h4>


    It seemed to Fenrir that Rinoz and the ghoul weremunicating. And it seemed they weremunicating about him. It made a sinking feeling to descend on to him. He can''t help but feel apprehensive that something bad is about to ur to him.


    He has been feeling that something bad will happen but he thought it would surely happen to the ne and not to him. But now he has reasons to believe that Rinoz has a n for him and he might not like it so much.


    "What is going on?" he asked.


    Rinoz chuckled. Then she turned to look at him. Both of her eyes became fixated on him. Including the eye that she is now missing. So an empty socket is staring at him. It is a blemish on her. She did not escape the wood elves without losing something. She could heal it but she left it on as a reminder of her naivety.


    Ragnarok had called her that many times but she didn''t believe him. He called her ignorant and na?ve. He said she was being used but she didn''t believe him. Now she has a reminder of that folly so that she will never forget.


    She turned her eyes away after inspecting him to look at the city.


    She answered him. "I am currently waiting for the Ghouls to congregate here. Then I will wipe out the wood elves from the face of the ne."


    "What?" Fenrir eximed.


    His question was about what she nned for him but her answer, though wrong, is too important for him to overlook.


    "You want to wipe out the wood elves entirely? I thought you just wanted to attack this single city and some more to abate your anger."


    Rinoz said with a stern voice. "Then you were wrong. I mean to remove the wood elves from the ne. They are a blight on this ne."


    Fenrir didn''t get the hint that she was currently angry. He continued to badger her. "This is foolishness. Why will you punish an entire race for the sins of the few?"


    "You should ask your patron. The fountain of life should know the answer to that question. It is after all the major reason why the wood elves have to be eradicated. The fountain of life is the reason for their rise so it is the reason for their downfall."


    Fenrir became speechless. The fountain of life has not been talking to him recently. Thest thing he heard from it was for him to prepare for war. Then its voice was cut off.


    "I don''t think whatever is going on warrants the extinction of an entire race. Let''s just talk this out with the wood elves. I am sure that a peaceful resolution can be found. The wood elves are a peaceful people after all."


    That made Rinoz snort. "Peaceful people? You dared to call them peaceful after everything they have done to the Warrogs?"


    Fenrir spoke to answer. "Yes, I think¡­"


    Rinoz cut him off. "You are wrong. But it doesn''t matter even if you are right about them. Their nature doesn''t matter right now. I am not eradicating them because of their nature or because of their betrayal of me. I am eradicating them because they have sided with an enemy of the ne."


    Fenrir asked in confusion, "How have they sided with the enemy? The wood elves have always had the best of the ne in their hearts. They have always tried to keep the peace of the ne. They are the most faithful and helpful race."


    Rinoz didn''t answer his question. She asked him, "Tell me. Why were you named Fenrir?"


    Fenrir grunted. "You know the answer to that. I don''t need to tell you again."


    And he doesn''t want to tell her again. She ignored his question so in his own way, he is ignoring her''s too.


    Rinoz smiled at him. "You told me it was because you liked to howl at the sun. It was a behavior you had since you were a little child. When asked why, you said it was because you wanted to eat the sun. You said the sun looked good to eat. You wanted to have a taste of it. Your father then named you Fenrir. You were named Fenrir, the sun eater."


    Fenrir wasn''t impressed. "So what? What does my name matter?"


    He is not particrly proud of his name. It wasn''t because of something special or unique about him. He wasn''t named for his talents, skill, or strength. His father named him because of a childish antic. It was also a weird childish antic. He howled at the sun instead of at the moon. And he wanted to eat the sun. Those are silly things that he has grown out of. But his father decided to let it stick with him forever.


    "Don''t be so gloomy," Rinoz said to him. "Cheer up. I have a way for you to achieve something simr to that. In a way, you will be my sun eater."


    Fenrir thought he misheard. "Are you of sound mind?" He asked Rinoz.


    He is not mocking her. He is genuinely concerned for her mental health. If she is of sound mind, then she should know that he can''t eat the sun. The sun is too big to eat. It is too hot for him to go near. And most importantly, the sun is very far away. That is an obstacle that he can''t ovee. She shouldn''t take his name so seriously.


    Rinoz smiled further. "Do it." She said.


    "Do what?" Fenrir''s words got caught in his throat.


    His eyes widen too. The white Ghoul is suddenly in front of him. It also has its hand on his throat. The vice-like grip of the white ghoul is crushing his neck.


    "What is going on?'' He asked in a panic.


    He can still speak with his mind. His mind is currently flustered so his panic was expressed vividly. He has somehow be the same size as the white Ghoul. He is in his beast form and he towers above the white Ghoul. But the Ghoul''s hand has a death grip on his neck.

 Chapter 1079 Redemption.

    <h4>Chapter 1079 Redemption.</h4>


    Fenrir also isn''t looking down on the Ghoul anymore. Somehow the size difference between the two of them had disappeared. It is either that he has shrunk without his knowledge or that the white Ghoul erged to match his size without his knowledge. His divine sense confirmed it to be the former. He has shrunken and it is still going on.


    Space seemed to have turned into frozen rock around him. The frozen space is also contracting and forcefullypressing him. It is why he is shrinking and why a small ghoul can wrap his tiny hand around his neck without him being able to fight back. It is something he has never seen or experienced before so it is making him panic.


    Rinoz said in a soothing voice. "Rejoice. For soon you will be the bane of the Vampires. You will gain the ability to hunt all things and be unstoppable in your hunts. You might even get to eat the sun."


    The white Ghoul then bit him. Its wide and toothy mawtched onto his neck and almost snapped him in two with the force of the bite. Thew of order rushed into him from the white ghoul. It rewrote his existence for a single purpose.


    Pure agony shot through his whole being. He opened his mouth to scream but he couldn''t scream. His mind was overloaded immediately by the Injection of thew of order. He couldn''t resist at all. His body began to shake and spasm. His bones cracked and his joints snapped. His life force was drained and reced with something cold. His wide eyes became bloodshot until they turnedpletely red and even began to glow.


    His life shed before his eyes and he couldn''t help but think to himself, "I am Lamd after all. I am also a pawn."


    That was hisst thought before darkness enveloped his mind. He lost weight and body mass very quickly. His ck shiny fur fell away and his skin became tough and wrinkled like aged leather. It made him look like a shriveled copy of himself.


    Then he was inted ever so slightly. He regained some form of posture but he is not the same anymore. He will never be the same ever again.


    It is as if he was hollowed out to make room for something else. That something else is the imperative of thew of order.


    His existence was overwritten swiftly, albeit inefficiently, and without care for order. The priority of this change is for a single purpose and the directives to achieve that purpose. He became a ghoul whose whole existence is for the eradication of ghouls in the ne.


    "The first Warrog Ghoul," Rinoz said in anticipation. "And also one of the representatives of the fountain of life."


    This is an important asion for the Warrogs. The once-great Emperor Fenrir has now be the first Warrog ghoul. He betrayed the Warrogs by bing theckey of the fountain of life but he will be able to redeem his honour soon.


    Rinoz let the connection between Fenrir and his patron open up. She had previously locked it up when she was betrayed. Now she let it open up so that thew of order within Fenrir can get ess to the fountain of life too.


    Nothing seemed to happen for a while. Then the ground seemed to shift just a little bit. That was nothing drastic but Rinoz grinned happily.


    "That will teach the traitor. It will be weakened for a while. I will use that time to eliminate its influence from within the ne."


    Then she said to the white Ghoul. "Feed him a heart of Carnage."


    A ghoul warped to the white Ghoul. This ghoul has green skin, unlike the usual ck one. It is a recently created ghoul from the wood elves. This ghoul also has a helpless Vampire in its embrace.


    The vampire is hugged tightly so that it won''t be able to escape. It is just a precaution. The Vampire won''t be able to escape now that it is weakened and it is daytime.


    The Primogenitor is not burning up in the sun but it has be too weak to put up any resistance. No primogenitor will be able to maintain their strength after they have had to endure both the sun and the pleasantness of Rinoz''s presence.


    The white Ghoul took the Primogenitor and sent the ghoul away. Then it fed the Primogenitor to Fenrir. Fenrir gobbled up the Primogenitor quickly. Then he began to change into a white Ghoul. His body hardened further while his shriveled ck skin becamepletely white. His red eyes also turned into orbs of pitch ck. It was then that a fraction of his mind returned.


    He growled to Rinoz. Rinoz heard his true meaning. Fenrir had said, "We follow you. You child of the ne. So you lead."


    He didn''t recognize anything about her apart from her being the child of the ne. One might call him sentient. But he is not intelligent. And he is not Fenrir. Fenrir is no more.


    Rinoz nodded. She epted the loyalty nheless. The Ghouls do not obey her because they find her to be a great leader or inspiring. She is simply the tool or mouthpiece of the will of the ne and they are the tool of the will of the universe. The two of them can work together to achieve the same aim.


    They have strength while she has intelligence which they are sorelycking. Now, no one will be able to dy Ghouls with familiars anymore. She can order them and help them make intelligent decisions.


    She asked the new ghoul, "Do you have it on lockdown?"


    It growled in the affirmative. She sighed in relief and thought to herself, "That''s good. I didn''t kill my mentor for nothing."


    Then she said to it, "Seek it. Find it wherever it is in the ne."


    It nodded. Then it warped away.


    Her eyes grew cold after the new white ghoul disappeared. "It can''t hide anymore. I will find it wherever it is. Then I will end it."

 Chapter 1080 How To Work With Ragnarok.

    <h4>Chapter 1080 How To Work With Ragnarok.</h4>


    Then she exined to the first white Ghoul, "As for you, the first agenda on the list is to expand the Ghouls. And we will use the wood elves for that. It is killing two birds with one stone."


    The first white ghoulined with a growl that only she could understand. It said, "What about that pesky Warrog?"


    Sheughed. "Leave him be. He won''t listen to reason and he certainly won''t obey me. He is also helping us keep the Vampires busy while we umte our forces. What he is doing is a good thing."


    "Ok." It said with the same growling and epted her decision on it.


    It wants to remove Ragnarok for many reasons but the child of the ne said no. So it won''t bother with Ragnarok anymore.


    Rinoz shook her head and thought to herself. "That''s the only way to ask him to do something. It is by asking him not to do it. I would have been surprised had he listened to me."


    She didn''t really want Ragnarok to stop hunting Primogenitors. The reasons why he should stop are real and true. But what he is doing is good for her. She has ced all her attention on the wood elves for now. She needs someone to keep pressuring the Vampires.


    Ragnarok might have refused had she asked him nicely to keep attacking the Vampires or he might have decided to take advantage of the situation to create more chaos that wouldn''t benefit her in any way.


    So she didn''t make that mistake. She has learned from all her experiences of asking Ragnarok to do anything. He will always refuse. She used that knowledge to her advantage now. She asked him to do the opposite of what she wanted. Ragnarok is hunting the Vampires with increased fervor because he thinks the ghouls are also after the Vampires.


    "He is so predictable. He doesn''t like to share his prey." Sheughed onest time.


    Then she looked around her to see the millions of ghouls surrounding her. They are weak individually but even so, each one can handle a Sovereign. A million of them can destroy any opposition.


    This is already arge amount of power in her grasp, but she is increasing it further. It will surely weaken the boost she gets from the ne but it is better this way. She will be able to get rid of the wood elves in one fell swoop.


    Power is power. If there is a lot of it to be gained from the undead, then the undead are to be prioritized. Killing her mentor and turning him into a Ghoul must also be done if it will give her an advantage in her fight for the ne.


    Her eyes almost teared up when she remembered the look her mentor gave her before he died. It was full of pain and usation but it is still better than the look that the white ghoul he became gave to her. The white Ghoul doesn''t remember her anymore. It just looked at her with a nk stare. She too can''t recognize anything of her mentor''s within those ck eyes.


    "I am sure Ragnarok would be okay with this if he was the one to sacrifice his family and mentor. He is selfish and stubborn. He can also handle pressure well." She thought to herself.


    She admires Ragnarok. She didn''t use to. Her admiration for him began when she realized how na?ve she had been. And when she realized what it took to be stubborn and determined against the opposition of the whole ne.


    Ragnarok could kill his entire park and paragons of his race for power. She thought she was tougher than him or at least as tough as him because she could sacrifice Warrogs to Vampires to create misdirection. However, sacrificing those Warrogs cannotpare to sacrificing her mentor. But she did it. It is something that she probably wouldn''t be able to do before her recent change in character.


    She has gone through a lot since she escaped from the underground with the wood elves when Ragnarok fought the three origin gods. The wood elves tried to capture her and bind her. They would have seeded had the white Ghoul note to save her.


    If she was her previous petty self, she would have decided to wipe out the wood elves for what they did to her. The addition of the ghouls to her arsenal and her hatred for what was done to her didn''t make her decide to wipe out the wood elves. The betrayal of the fountain of life led her to make that decision.


    It all started when the fountain of life asked the will of the ne to dissuade Ragnarok from freeing the ghouls. The Will of the ne did the opposite. It sent her to encourage Ragnarok instead.


    One might wonder why the Fountain of life chose to have the ghouls sealed instead of letting them lose on the Vampires. That reason is why the Fountain of life is unhappy with the ghouls killing everything in the ne while the Will of the ne is happy to work with the ghouls.


    The Fountain of life had briefly worked together to create Rinoz. That cooperation ended when the Will of the ne chose to encourage Ragnarok to release the ghouls. But that''s not the major reason that the fountain of life turned against the will of the ne.


    It is not as if the presence of the ghouls in the ne doesn''t have any negative side effects on the ne or that the will of the ne is ignorant of those side effects. The deaths caused by the Ghouls weaken her as the child of the ne. The boost from her title has fallen precipitously because of them.


    So it is not exactly pleasant for her to have ghouls in the ne. Still, the will of the ne wants more of ghouls. It is because ghouls are the most powerful weapons that the Will of the ne can use to destroy all the enemies of the ne.

 Chapter 1081 A New Side Of Ragnarok.

    <h4>Chapter 1081 A New Side Of Ragnarok.</h4>


    "With more of the Ghouls at our disposal, we will surely be able to eliminate all the invaders of the ne," Rinoz said to encourage herself. "The fountain of life will be dealt with. Then the Vampires will have what''sing for them. The ne will finally have peace. It will be liberated from oppression and the sacrifice of Fenrir will be worth it."


    The peace of the ne is her main mission. She is the tool of the will of the ne so she will see it fulfilled. The first invader, the fountain of life, has joined hands with the second invader, the demon god, to overthrow the Will of the ne. The two of them are directly attacking the consciousness of all life in the ne.


    The Fountain of Life is using the blessing of the wood elves and the curse of the Warrogs as the influence for its point of attack on the will of the ne. It is using thew fragments of thew of life in both the wood elves and warrogs while the demon god is using the Vampires as the influence for its point of attack.


    So eradicating the wood elves, which are thergest source of influence for the fountain of life will weaken its attack on the will of the ne. It will also strengthen the Ghouls and lead to the eradication of the Vampires. It is killing two birds with one stone.


    It is just like the decision she made to turn Fenrir into a Ghoul. His transformation managed to hurt the fountain of life and he also locked on to it. The fountain of life won''t be able to hide anymore because of the sacrifice of her mentor. It is also all in the name of peace for the ne.


    --------


    Ragnarok couldn''t help but be filled with dread when he saw the army.


    "Is this the power of a child of the ne?" He asked himself and the other clones.


    He is standing in the sky more than a hundred kilometers away from Rinoz. His position is out of the range of his divine sense but his three eyes can help him see that far. He doesn''t want to interact with the ghoul army with his divine sense at all lest he provoke a cmity for himself. What he saw didn''t encourage him at all.


    Soverick shrugged. "I wouldn''t know. There are no ghouls in the Virut ne."


    They knew very little about ghouls in the first ce and children of the ne are also rare. They didn''t know that thebination of the two could create something so terrifying. Soverick who is the most capable child of the ne amongst them hasn''t even used the boost from his title at all so the full capabilities of the title are still not well understood much less thebination with ghouls.


    He said after some contemtion. "I don''t think it is a good idea to try to kill her in this situation."


    The tree father snickered. "Look who has be cautious. You used to be able to throw yourself at death without caution."


    Ragnarok scoffed. "This is justmon sense. The current Rinoz isn''t something I can kill. It would be a waste of my life to try."


    "It is good that you are cautious because no amount of divine life essence will heal from the injuries that a million ghouls would do to you."


    Ragnarok nodded in agreement. He came to put Rinoz in her ce and take all her power but what he found discouraged him from it. It would be folly to attack her in the middle of her ghoul army. Now he understands where she got her confidence to threaten him.


    "I know I can''t kill the ghouls currently. But what if I use a lot of Origin energy to create a devouring singrity in her army?"


    He can picture the effect of that kind of powerful move. Rinoz is a source of light. She is the star of the ne. But his move should create a phenomenal like a ck hole that should devour or at least, incapacitate the ghouls which should give him enough time to kill her.


    Soverick considered it carefully. "It could work. But what if it doesn''t?"


    He can also picture that situation. He created a ck hole that is ripping everything into it apart from the ghouls who are capable of ignoring everything around them and warping directly to him.


    Ragnarok considered it carefully. "I could probably hide from them in my domain if my attacks fail. They shouldn''t be able to reach me in a domain, but that white ghoul gives me a sense of a fatal threat. There''s something terribly dangerous about it."


    His feeling of palpable danger is more than his intuition. He has a guess about what could.ake the white ghoul so dangerous. The domain of an Origin god works because the Origin god has fused with thew matrix and the void universe gives them the permission to create a space in thew matrix where only thews and concepts they wield has any effect.


    This makes it so that any entity, living or not, without a concept to protect their existence will die in an Origin domain if they don''t have the permission of the controller of the domain.


    So the domain of an Origin god is essentially a perk given to them by thew of order. It might not work against an agent of thew of order doing the work of the void universe. Trying to use what the void universe gave them to cheat the void universe might end in a disaster for him.


    He dered to himself and to the others, "I give up"


    He decided not to create more trouble for himself. He already has enough trouble on his hands with the vampires and the wood elves. The ghouls have done enough good for him. It would be best not to add them to his list of enemies. He didn''t unseal them to fight with them.

 Chapter 1082 Recruitment For A Cause.

    <h4>Chapter 1082 Recruitment For A Cause.</h4>


    Even if he did unseal them to fight them, the first experience of the relentless pursuit of a ghoul as taught him the lesson not to mess with them. He can lead a single ghoul around but doing that with a million of them sounds like a good way to court unnecessary death.


    He took onest look at Rinoz before leaving resentfully. "This Rinoz will get what''sing for her. She managed to take the fun out of the ghouls."


    He doesn''t regret unsealing the ghouls since they served their purpose well. But he doesn''t like that Rinoz hasmandeered them away from the purpose he had for them. He unsealed them to create chaos and death in the ne but Rinoz is robbing him of his fun.


    The other clones tried to encourage him.


    "At least we now know why the Rinoz was thanking you when you were about to unseal the ghouls. Knowledge is always weed."


    "We also know what fate awaits pawns. We must never be the pawn of anyone."


    "We already knew that. It ismon sense to us. Fenrir''s death has not enlightened us about it."


    "What I find funny is that while Rinoz might feel bad for killing her mentor, she won''t take the me for his death. She will probably me someone else for forcing her hand while she was the one that killed him."


    "What a naive girl."


    "She is a naive girl with a lot of power."


    "I wonder what she will do with all that power."


    "As long as she creates enough Chaos in the ne, I will be okay with her taking control of the ghouls."


    The clones chatted within Ragnarok''s mind as he resumed his hunt for the Primogenitors. His mind is always filled with thoughts from sources other than his own. They are his constantpanions. The only time they ever stopped activelymunicating with him was when a certain demon god decided to inhabit his body. Apart from that dreadful period, he is never alone.


    -----


    The ne was thrown into chaos as Ragnarok wished for. And for once, Ragnarok is just a side character in the chaos. None of it is his fault. At least not anymore. He may have started it but Rinoz has chosen to finish it.


    He doesn''t know much since he is busy with hunting, but what he has heard was an eye-opener.


    He couldn''t help but exim when he heard it. "That little naive girl grew some backbone and went crazy. Good for her."


    Apparently, Rinoz went on a murdering spree and was killing wood elves throughout the ne. The fountain of life didn''t take kindly to such wanton ughter. It condemned her and Ragnarok. It called them the twin stars of doom.


    Ragnarok wasn''t offended by the condemnation. He thought to himself, "The Star of Doom. I like that."


    His surprise didn''t end there. He was surprised again when the fountain of life tried to recruit him to its cause. It offered a lot of things to him but Ragnarok didn''t care for them.


    The fountain of life didn''t offer him a way out of the ne so he didn''t bother to listen to it. He focused on what he could get his greedy paws on without muchplications. His preferred game right now is the Primogenitors. Asking him to help get rid of Rinoz is not on his agenda. Not when she is in control of the ghouls.


    It was not a difficult decision for him when he decided to turn down the fountain of life. Unlike what everyone believes, he was not born less than 10,000 years ago. He has more life experience and wisdom than that. So he knew that there was something fishy when the fountain of life asked him to kill Rinoz.


    He would have refused to help even if he didn''t know that Rinoz had taken control of the ghouls because thest he heard, the fountain of life and the child of the ne were allies. But something happened to turn them against each other such that they now want to kill each other. And when he asked what this thing could be, the fountain of life evaded his question.


    He had said, "So you want me to get into the middle of this like some headless chicken who doesn''t have any brain and doesn''t know its right from its left? I don''t know why you are fighting but I am to join in and pick sides? Count me out please."


    The fountain of life didn''t tell him what turned them against each other. It had to be something big for the fountain of life to ovee its hatred for him ande to ask him for help. After all, thest time they spoke, the fountain of life promised to chase him all over the ne and kill him. Now it is asking for his help.


    As ttering as that was, he said no to the request. The most important reason is the army of Ghouls that surrounds Rinoz at all times. They are enough to deter him from having any ideas about her. So he stuck to killing and eating primogenitors. He used his Ghoulish method of hunting to kill Primogenitors.


    In other words, he made sure that a Ghoul had attached itself to the Primogenitor. Then he would waltz in to take advantage of the unfortunate situation. Most of them falsely used him of plotting their demise. He always denied it.


    Just because he made a ghoul find them and attack them so that he could kill them easily doesn''t mean it is his fault that they are going to die. He likes killing them but It is all the demon god''s fault.


    If he had his way, he would be out of the ne already, not chasing after Primogenitors like some hound. But beggars can''t be choosers. He is just making the best out of an unfortunate situation. He shouldn''t be med for trying to make a living in these trying times.

 Chapter 1083 How To Become A Titan Of Law.

    <h4>Chapter 1083 How To Be A Titan Of Law.</h4>


    Ragnarok managed to satiate his divine ability in this way. He killed and devoured his 9th Primogenitor who cursed him to a horrible death while it died.


    Ragnarok didn''t bother with the curse. He has received too much of it for another one to make a difference. Instead, he focused on the core within him which is his divine ability.


    "Looks like it is time for another evolution."


    His divine ability began to evolve again after consuming the 9th heart of Carnage. His 9 fluffy tails have been turning from white to red with each heart of Carnage that he ate. The red tattoo on his body has been expanding too. They changed again with thest heart of Carnage. In fact, his entire being began to change.


    The hearts of Carnage are full of potential apart from blood power. He doesn''t get blood power anymore from the Supreme of Carnage but the potential inherent within the hearts remained after stealing them from it.


    This potential is enough to bring a transcendent to the level of an Origin god. A single one made him have the base power of a Monarch as a transcendent. 9 of them are apparently enough to make his divine ability evolve into a concept.


    He considered his options first. "Soverick can help with the concept so I don''t need this. But this is free help that will help create a perfect concept."


    The clones discussed it and decided that he should go ahead with the evolution. They are mostly interested in how the evolution willpare to normal breakthroughs to the titan ofw stage. His experience will assist the other clones in their breakthrough.


    Ragnarok first chose toprehend morews. The number ofws he has in his concepts are few in number which might limit its power. He firstprehended thews of devour with the help of Soverick. Then he added thews of Fire, earth, air, water, light, and darkness. This made for a total of 9 in addition to thews of devour, ughter, and blood.


    The next thing he did after bing a king ofw in all thesews was to find somewhere to hide. He found a hidden location deep in the ground. Then he deployed his domain and hid within it.


    He and the other Legion then worked together on the image of his concept. It would have been difficult for him to do but he is not alone. This is not the first time that all of them are working together on an image. Their cooperation with Aeternus to recreate and reflect the attack of the god yer in the Zargoth ne was more difficult than what they had to do for his concept.


    Then they were working with 9 Authorities but now they are working with 9ws. Laws are easier to manipte than authority. Especially when thews are theirs and they haveprehended them. Plus this is not the first time they are creating a concept.


    He seeded in creating the image he needed after 10 years. The image is a mental projection of the interaction of thews that he is going to use. This image is very important to be a titan ofw. Without it, one will be without a direction during the process of bing a titan ofw. It needs familiarity with the interaction ofws to create.


    The image is the least requirement to start a breakthrough. The fact that a king ofw has an image doesn''t mean that they will survive the process. Their image might be too big and too difficult toplete so they will die before they create the concept. Or the image is wrong so they will never be able to create the concept.


    The image is certainly big. If not for the help of the heart of Carnage then Legion would have no confidence that Ragnarok would seed. But Legion is certain that the image is correct because of Soverick''s familiarity withws. So they began with the process.


    In a location close to Ragnarok and yet far away from him, 9 stars formed a ring of light. They are his Authorities granted to him by the void universe for the fullpletion of 9ws. They are also the raw materials to create a concept. He started the process bymanding them to explode.


    The dark world of the domain shook with the explosion. 9 stars became supernovas. They expanded to the limit creating a point of intersection between them. Ragnarok and the other clones focused on that point of intersection and used it to pull the essence of the stars together.


    The essence of the stars is scattering into the surroundings. They are leaving his Origin into the world outside through his body. If he doesn''t create a concept before they finish scattering then he will die.


    Cracks are already spreading throughout his body. His essence is leaking through those cracks. But the speed is slow. This is thanks to the divine ability and bloodline in his soul body. It formed a weak barrier that insted and absorbed the essence.


    Ragnarok didn''t waste time. He began pulling the essence back and with it the divine ability in his body. His divine ability entered his Origin and fixed itself at the point of intersection. Then he willed it to evolve with the potential of the hearts of Carnage.


    People who have a divine ability will not have to start from scratch in making a concept. But it makes bing titans ofws more difficult for them. This is because their divine ability will have strict requirements if they intend to follow its path.


    Those without a divine ability can make any image they want. They will have to start from scratch which will be difficult and challenging but those with divine abilities can only make one image. Whatever image they have must be perfectlypatible with their divine ability or they will never be able toplete it. But Ragnarok is different. He is greedy.

 Chapter 1084 The First Titan Of Law.

    <h4>Chapter 1084 The First Titan Of Law.</h4>


    Those with a divine ability can refuse to follow the path of their divine ability and therefore avoid the difficulty. At least they will be able to use their divine ability as a reference point to create a good image. But they can''t eat their cake and have it.


    However, Ragnarok is greedy. He intends to use another image for his divine ability. It should have been impossible but he didn''t encounter this difficulty. Thew of devouring within his divine ability began to operate at full force thanks to the potential of Monarchs.


    He has 9 hearts of Carnage for 9ws. Any resistance of his divine ability for the image he used was ovee by the potential. A whirlpool appeared in his domain that absorbed all the essence and used it to augment itself ording to the image he had for it.


    The huge amount of potential did more work in creating the concept than all the 9 clonesbined. At one point, they didn''t have to do anything apart from maintaining the image. 8ws fused in a ring around thew of devouring used as the dominantw. Hence the concept of the bottomless abyss was formed.


    He said calmly. "It worked."


    The breakthrough went without a hitch. He became a titan ofw with a concept. If he were any other titan ofw they would be ecstatic and jumping for joy that they survived the process and have be more powerful. But he is not a normal titan ofw. This is the second time he is making a concept and he wasn''t worried for his life.


    He said to the other clones. "I guess I am the first titan ofw."


    Legion-5 was quick to douse his pride. "Get in line. I was the first Sovereign. A titan ofw is stillcking."


    "You cheated. You stole your power."


    Legion-5 didn''t feel guilty about that. "And so did you."


    That made Ragnarok give up. He cheated too and he did steal the hearts of Carnage. Even now the benefits of the hearts of Carnage are not over.


    Ragnarok noticed it immediately. "It seems it isn''t over yet. The body ofw is about to form."


    He said with anticipation, "I wonder what it could be."


    He is looking forward to the side effect of his breakthrough. It is something that he has never seen before. Other titans ofw won''t experience this because they didn''t rely on the potential of Monarchs to breakthrough. Only something strange and unique like this can get him excited.


    A red cocoon formed around him. His form and features changed within the cocoon. No one noticed the changes happening to him. They didn''t even pay attention to him because they were busy fighting each other. They turned the ne upside with Carnage but the demon god of Carnage was not happy.


    Ragnarok finished his evolution but he didn''te out of the cocoon. There is nothing important enough for him to risk his life for him in the ne. He can kill Primogenitors and he will get more boosts to his power and some more stats. But the ne is too dangerous right now. He would rather consume Origin energy to grow his stats in safety than risk bing the target of the Rinoz who is wreaking havoc all over the ne with the ghouls.


    It is just not worth it to prowl around the ne when the poption of ghouls has experienced a boost and when he can sit quietly and grow stronger on his own.


    He stayed hidden and out of mind while he continued to grow stronger by consuming Origin energy. Meanwhile, he is engaging his mind to help other clones that need it. Sometimes they need it toprehend aw quickly. Aeternus and Helios are the ones who need this help the most in that aspect.


    Sometimes, he helps Soverick to figure out how to build the artifact that they are working on. This hidden state continued for more than a thousand years.


    ------


    THE CURRENT STATE OF LEGION.


    Ragnarok stagnated but Legion continued to progress. Helios gained ess to cosmic energy. The cosmic energy made Legion-1 and Aeternus grow stronger. But the two of them reached a teau.


    Aeternus needs toprehend thew of Chaos to grow stronger while Legion-1 needs a supremew. Only Legion-7 doesn''t have a limit to how much stronger it can get on cosmic energy. Even Legion-8 is not so gluttonous with cosmic energy.


    Legion-7 hase a long way since he gained his freedom. It likes consumingws and authority. The invocation of thew matrix and its subsequent activation of cosmic energy made cosmic energy bind with his existence the way cosmic energy binds withw fragments to form Authority. So Legion-7 became a living Authority. As if its existence as a spiritual entity was not weird enough.


    His situation as a living Authority makes it that Legion-7 doesn''t follow either the path of perfection or divinity. He is an abomination that way.


    The Authority of a lord ofw evolves into the Authority of a king ofw when aw has been fullyprehended. So Authority grows stronger the morews areprehended. Legion-7 has the same growth requirements as Authorities. He grows stronger the more aw isprehended. Except multiplews also make him stronger. Soverickprehended a lot ofws which made Legion-7 grow to absurd extents.


    Legion-7 could continue to grow stronger the morews itprehends or devours. He cam also consume the seed of power of Sovereigns to grow stronger. Consuming items that are supposed to be indestructible made Legion-7 nearly indestructible too. Even world gods will have a hard time destroying him.


    Legion-7''s spiritual existence makes him be a special connection between all the clones of Legion. This connection is also one that is capable of cheating death by anchoring the soul to the world even after death. It is what immortal power paragons of the Viper race do to gain their immortality.

 Chapter 1085 Life Insurance.

    <h4>Chapter 1085 Life Insurance.</h4>


    The kind of immortality that Legion-7 created is one where the clones of Legion can resurrect without the help of the void universe or the soul sphere. So in a way, Legion-7 became the foundation of independent resurrection for Legion. They are one step closer to perfection because of it.


    The spiritual connection of paragons was enough to do amongst the clones. Legion-7 was easily able to connect most of the clones. They are already of the same soul so they are allpatible. The only ones that couldn''t be added to thework were Legion-3, Legion-4, Legion-6, Legion-8 and Legion-9. The other 4 were sessfully insured against death.


    If Legion-2 were to die, he would return to life as long as Legion-7 is alive. This was proven to be true when Soverick died a few years ago. The power of a world god utilized across arge distance couldn''t kill him, but Ragnarok is on his own because Legion didn''t want the demon god detecting their intrusion into the Lumen ne.


    CARNAGE has sealed the ne in more ways than physical so there would be a spatial and spiritual intrusion during the process to insure Ragnarok so they didn''t try to insure Ragnarok. Legion-7 might be spiritual, but that''s not going to help him against CARNAGE, because a demon god can kill the Will of a ne.


    The will of a ne is a spiritual entity that is very difficult to threaten but the demon god has managed to do so without even being in the ne. Legion-7 has also managed to threaten the Will of a ne before so it knows just how dangerous the demon god is.


    So Legion decided to turn his attention towards utilizing the knowledge that Legion-6 has acquired. This knowledge is about how POWER is transmitted across individuals in a race to create paragons. They have the requirement to utilize this knowledge since all that is needed for races with paragons is a spiritual connection between them.


    Legion has met that requirementpletely so they became focused on the acquisition of POWER through the shards of power. The major problem that they have faced in this attempt is exactly how to utilize or even wield POWER. The shards of power are not responsive at all to them.


    Soverick already figured out how to fix that though. They need aw matrix and a supremew. They don''t have that yet, so Soverick rmended a substitute. That substitute is the artifact that they are working on.


    The clones of Legion have been doing all they can to acquire resources to build this artifact. Thanks to his demon army, Aeternus is the clone with the highest contribution of wealth. That fact remains true even after he had to run away from the abyss. No other clone has been able to match the wealth of several divine nes.


    ------


    Within The Inner World Of Legion-1.


    The inner world of a world beast shouldn''t have any entity within it. At least not when the world beast is at the origin god level. But this world beast has 4 entities within it. There is the ckish-purple-scaled monster that resembles a hybrid of a reptile and a shark. There is the green elf that we are familiar with. There is also a golden fur battle sage monkey and a multicolored spiritual entity floatingzily in the sky of the inner world.


    This sight would be strange to other world beasts. But the state of the inner world of this world beast is pretty normal to Legion. They have been doing it for quite some time thanks to Legion-7.


    The ability to change bodies easily is one of the abilities that Legion-7 has made avable to the clones that have been insured. A new body was created for Soverick in this inner world for him to be here. The rest would like to be here to work on the artifact together but not all of them are insured yet.


    Aeternus and Helios are absent because of this reason. Legion-7 can''t work with Chaos Energy yet. Shifting Aeternus''s soul is too dangerous to do. As for Helios, he can''t be moved at all. Legion-7 can do it but that will mean severing his connection with thew matrix of the universe. That will cut off their supply of cosmic energy and probably kill him forever. Shifting him will certainly maim him so he can''t be here physically.


    Legion-5 can''t be here either. It is mostly because his absence will be noticed in his ne. Several Origin gods and his other powerful rtives will notice that he is gone. He isn''t like Soverick whose absence won''t be missed. The greatest Authority of his race hasn''t tried to kill him yet.


    Ragnarok obviously can''te. He has not been connected with Legion-7 yet. Legion-8, the dragon clone, is still an egg. It is better to leave him to hatch. But he is here with his mind. All of the clones are here in mind if not in body.


    The inner world of Legion-1 is not the barren but intact world that it used to be. Its surface has been ttened and melted into ayer of cratered rock. Cracks extend from the craters all over the surface and deep into thendmass. Some pieces of earth have detached from the edges of thendmass too.


    That''s just the changes to the physical portion of the world. The energy contained within it has also been thrown out of order. But that''s not a problem that Legion cares about for now. There is bigger fish to fry or there wouldn''t be 4 clones of Legion at the same ce.


    Legion-1, Legion-9, and Legion-2 are on the ground of the inner world. They are positioned in such a way that they form an equteral triangle. Legion-7 is in the sky above them at the very center of this equteral triangle. So their positions formed the corners of a perfect pyramid.

 Chapter 1086 The Nascent World Fragment.

    Chapter 1086 The Nascent World Fragment.


    The pyramid that they formed is invisible of course. But it is very important that they position themselves this way. It is so that the artifact that they are building won''t copse from an imbnce of spatialpression. At least that''s what Soverick said.


    They understand what he means and they agree with it. The spatialpression tangent is just one of the things that need to be in harmony for them to sessfully build this artifact. There are a slew of other factors that need to be bnced too.


    This artifact, or its nascent form, is a sphere of energy and matter in a state of transformation flux. At the very center of the sphere is a white core. It is the authority of the Celestial Supreme. It is the foundation of the entire artifact. All the pressure of the otheryers of the sphere rests on it.


    Fortunately, it is very durable so it won''t break. If it can serve as the foundation of a whole divine ne, produce Authority, and maintain the production of divine energy by making mana avable to the gods, then it can surely handle being the foundation of one world fragment.


    This Authority of the Celestial Supreme is also the major point of anchorage for Legion. Without it, Legion will have no control whatsoever over what they are building. In that case, they won''t be trying to build an artifact. All they will be building is a very powerful bomb.


    At the very edge of this sphere is a thin andpressed ring of light. One can see energy in the form of light elerate around the ring of light. This eleration of energy is the basic function needed for the advanced function of high-energy transformation.


    The ring of light is stable just like the authority of the Celestial Supreme. This band of light doesn''t move physically or spiritually. But its function causes the entire middle of the sphere to oscite. As the world engine, most matter and energy transformations into power ur within it. Legion-1 is the one operating it.


    The innermost and outermostyers of the sphere are pretty stable. It is the middle of the sphere that needs a lot of their attention. This middle requires the effort of both Legion-7 and Legion-2 to give it form while both Legion-1 and Legion-9 try to keep its budding form together so that it doesn''t copse.


    A copse of the middleyer is a very bad thing. It is a very dangerous thing. The devastation that has urred within the inner world will testify to that. The inner world changed because of the explosions. It is also why Soverick has died once and why the tree father has almost died three times.


    Legion-1 bore the bulk of the explosion when the tree father was at risk those three times. Legion-1 had to take the brunt because the explosion is not the mere sudden discharge of energy. Thews of the world, including space and time are affected by the explosions.


    The death of Soverick has confirmed that anyone who dies in that explosion might never be able to resurrect. If not for the fact that the Soverick that died is just a shell and a clone of himself, then he would be lost forever. The tree father is not ensured yet so he is at risk.


    Legion didn''t want to risk the tree father at all. If they had their way, they would have used someone else to test the artifact. Unfortunately, they couldn''t get an entity that is innately capable of energy transformations. So they did everything they could do to make sure that the tree father survived.


    Surviving the explosion of the middleyer is not an easy thing to do. Even Soverick who has always been quick to escape when he notices something wrong died once to it. He was too slow one time and he paid the price for it.


    Legion-1 and his inner world have suffered from the 3rge explosions and the 5 small explosions. If not for the fact that the world is the domain of both Legion-1 and Legion-9 and has also been strengthened with cosmic energy, then it would have been destroyed already. That''s just one of the consequences of trying to turn the inner world of a world beast into a world fragment.


    They could have built the artifact outside Legion-1. They wouldn''t have to always take the brunt of the explosion but Soverick maintained that it was a must to do it this way. It is so that the world fragment will be organic and hence be a part of their existence instead of being an external object that they have limited control of.


    This artifact has proven itself to be very difficult to build. The middleyer of the sphere is the core both in terms of function and difficulty. It is built of cosmic energy andw fragments plucked from thew matrix.


    Cosmic energy ising from Helios and into the Authority of the Celestial Supreme beneath it. The tree father then pushes the cosmic energy out of the Authority of the Celestial Supreme where Legion-7''s tentacles nab it. Then Legion-7 weaves it together withw fragments all ording to the instructions of Soverick to create the middleyer.


    Soverick''s job is to oversee the entire forging process. It is arguably the most difficult job. His mind and that of the other clones that couldn''t be here are working full time on making massive calctions based on what he sees. But the difficulty of his work has only been lessened slightly despite the immense assistance he is getting.


    His eyes track the energy flow and change while he transmits his intent to the other three. They don''t need to speak. They all know what each other is doing, and what they have done. Thanks to Soverick, they know what they should do and how it could affect the entire system.


    Everything is in a state of delicate bnce. It didn''te easily. They acquired it through synchronized effort both mentally, spiritually, and physically. The bnce is needed if they are to seed in building their ownw matrix. Even if it is a facsimile of it.

 Chapter 1087 How To Build A Law Matrix.

    Chapter 1087 How To Build A Law Matrix.


    Legion-7 strings up the cosmic energy from the Authority of the Celestial Supreme into a tapestry withw fragments. He is the one with the best ability to maniptew fragments. His maniption is not perfect but he is the fastest at it.


    The tree father has better maniption of cosmic energy but he is slow. He can''t keep up with the requirements for thew matrix but he helps to move things along by correcting small mistakes and making the threads of cosmic energy more malleable so that Legion-7 can manipte them easily.


    Legion-1 has to make sure that there is no resistance between his inner world and the buddingw matrix while simultaneously reducing the bacsh from the buddingw matrix on his inner world. Every little addition to the middleyer is actually being engraved on his Origin core.


    It is a very painful process and it is disorienting to Legion-1 but he has to endure it to maintain bnce. If he doesn''t, then thew matrix of the void universe will seed in squashing their budding creation which will lead to the creation of the explosions that they dread so much.


    Soverick is the main forger. He tracks every change with his eyes and transmits the information to others. This is to make sure that Legion-1 is not too amodating to the buddingw matrix at the exact same time that Legion-7 adds a very powerful portion of thew matrix while there is a surge or underflow of cosmic energy from the Authority of the Celestial Supreme.


    It is very important for Legion-1 to be amodating to the changes going on in his inner world. But he can''t be too amodating or he will allow room for thew matrix of the void universe to swing into action. They have to keep a tight lid on the boundaries of the buddingw matrix because thew matrix of the void universe will always resist any otherw matrix. That''s why world gods need their supremews to contend with the universe.


    They don''t have a supremew but they have an inner world. They just have to make sure that there are no gaps for the intervention of the void universe. If there is a gap in the amodation and resistance of the inner world to the buddingw matrix, then an explosion is what will ur next. It has happened enough times that Soverick doesn''t need to predict it. He can see the explosioning from a mile away.


    As of now, those events haven''t happened yet. So the middle part is still stable. The middleyer looks like a ball of yarn made of light of various colors weaved into parallelyers that look like stained ss panels. These parallelyers extend vertically from the inner core to the outeryer of the sphere.


    There is space between each of theyers. This space is filled with golden lightning. The lightning is caused when theyers shift and vibrate across the space that connects them. The electromaic field holding theyers together to form the middleyer asionally discharges electricity in the form of golden lightning.


    Theyers of woven ss must not touch each other. They must remain apart or the golden lightning will umte as they ovee the threshold potential. Then they will seek to leave the middleyer. There are only two directions for them to go and they will follow the path of least resistance which is the world around them. Hence, an explosion will ur.


    It is Legion-9''s job to keep the trillions ofyers apart for more than a decade. His control of the Authority of the Celestial Supreme gives him privileged ess to the middleyer from within. He keeps theyers apart by removing the wayward energy discharge that forms the golden lightning and maintaining the resistance between theyers.


    He has been doing a good job of it for the 14 years that they have spent on building this version of the artifact. He doesn''t get tired mentally but it is still very taxing. It is as if his and their existence are being stretched. It is not a wonder since they are trying to build something that no Origin god should be able to build.


    If they seed at all, it will be because they tried to build it within Legion-1''s world. Trying to make it organic increased the difficulty for finesse but it also made it possible to build. Without the need to make thew matrixpatible with Legion-1, they wouldn''t need to care about bacsh. But they also won''t have the necessary resistance needed to hold thew matrix in ce while simultaneously fighting back the void universe.


    They certainly don''t have the power of a world god needed to both simultaneously craft and keep aw matrix in line. No amount of mind power for calctions and the ability to see reality the way Soverick does can ovee that requirement. Sometimes, the gap in power cannot be ovee by wisdom and intelligence. Only power will do. Building a world fragment is certainly one of those things.


    So Legion is trying to do something that has never been done. They are trying to create a substitutew matrix to control the shard of power by building it within an inner world as a substitute for building it in the external world because they don''t have power to and are hoping that they will get power if they seed. What they are doing is crazy. But it is all for power. They are about to be done so they will know if they seeded or not.


    Legion-7 put thestyer of thew matrix after weaving it together. He was very careful in this action. He has to ce it so that it doesn''t touch the two otheryers on both sides. But the gap for theyer is too thin for him to be certain if he is careful enough. He can only trust Soverick''s eyesight for this.

 Chapter 1088 The Reveal.

    <h4>Chapter 1088 The Reveal.</h4>


    "Did we do it?" Legion-7 asked after finishing the cement.


    This is the first time that they will reach this stage after they started working on it more than a thousand years ago. None of them dared to breathe a sigh of relief. Even the Legions that are not here have most of their attention tuned in to see what wille of their endeavor.


    "It hasn''t exploded yet which is a good thing. So let''s wait and see," Soverick replied.


    The middleyer is vibrating and osciting in a unique manner. It is creating a sound like no other. But weak beings can''t hear this sound. This is a good thing. The frequency of the sound is so high that any weak being that can hear it will be mad immediately.


    The problem is that the sound can be understood by anyone who can hear it. It is just full of so much information that their minds will implode from trying toprehend it. Generally, only transcendents with a solidified divine sense can hear it and safelyprehend the information contained within it. A mana entity with a powerful soul might regret being able to hear the sound of thew matrix they built.


    Soverick gave thew matrix one final observation. None of theyers touch so each of them is like multicolored leaves shaking in the leaf. They look packed tightly against each other but they both attract and resist each other in equal amounts.


    This bnce of attraction and repulsion has been kept fairly constant right from the moment that there were just two of them. Now there are close to a billion of them within the 200-meter sphere that they have formed.


    The forces of attraction are both gravitational, electromaic, and spiritual. They are in flux at every moment. The force of rejection of Layer B for Layer A must increase at the same amount in the same amount of time in synchrony with the increase of the force of attraction of Layer A for Layer B. This little interaction must ur in bnce 1 billion such times in a millionth of a second for the middleyer to be stable.


    Soverick gave his verdict. "It looks good to me."


    "This is the moment of truth." The tree father said in anticipation.


    Then he controlled the Authority of the Celestial Supreme to start the operation of thew matrix. Mana and Origin Energy was made avable to thew matrix. It caused the middleyer to start rotating around the core. The pitch of the sound of thew matrix increased drastically because of it. Visible and non-visible light shed from the arrangement in multiple frequencies.


    They didn''t need to wait for long to see the result of their actions. They built theyers perfectly. Eachyer interacted with the whole in perfect harmony while still behaving as independent individuals with their own properties. It is just like thews within aw matrix work. The sound the middleyer created was a perfect symphony of the greatest music to the ears.


    Everything looked good. The world engine was supposed to kickstart now. It was supposed to create power and bring the entireyers into perpetual motion for infinite possibilities of the billions of states to be derived.


    The world engine was supposed to power the interaction of the differentyers so that concepts, or facsimiles of them could be created. Then the underlyingw of order within the specific arrangement was to be made manifest. But the world engine refused to move. So thew matrix stuttered. Then it moved towards the dreaded oue.


    They didn''t say anything. They all wordlessly tried to prevent the copse from happening. All four of them injected their divine power or soul power into the golden sphere through their divine sense. They tried to keep theyers stable. But theyers couldn''t be stopped. They areplete now so they must interact. They will do so with or without the world engine.


    The best that Legion could do was to keep theyers in the path that had been devised for them. So the underlying order would be maintained. But it will not be in the form that they wanted. Theyers pulled energy from the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. They consumed all the Origin energy like a glutton as theyers fell into each other like dominos.


    There was a sh of multicolored light within the inner world. Thew matrix of the void universe within the inner world shed in response. Layers of multicolored tapestry just beneath the world of manifestation were revealed for an instant. They are usually invisible but they were brought to the surface forcefully. Then they were gone just as they came. A bright multicolored ball was left in their wake.


    Soverick rubbed his eyes and his head. Legion-1 said, "I suppose that wasn''t so bad."


    The green elf examined the multicolored ball in curiosity. He poked and prodded it with his divine sense. Then he actually touched it with his hands.


    "Did we just create a seed of power?" he asked after finishing his examination.


    Legion-1 agreed after thinking about it for a while. "At least thew matrix of the void universe thinks so."


    Thew matrix vetted the product and chose to allow it to exist so it must be something lesser than the world god level and could be a functional concept since it is part of thew matrix now.


    The multicolored hybrid of jellyfish and octopus in the sky added his thoughts. "I don''t think it is that simple. I believe that this is Authority and not just any seed of concept."


    Helios said, "They are the same thing."


    Legion-7 didn''t agree. "The seed of concept is self-manufactured while Authority is bestowed. They are different."


    The dragon clone supported Helios. "Their difference only goes as far as their process of acquisition. They are basically the same thing. They are both manifestations of POWER in the void universe. And who is to say that Authority cannot be created?"

 Chapter 1089 Building Progress.

    <h4>Chapter 1089 Building Progress.</h4>


    Legion-7 opposed once again. "What about the differences inposition? Authority isposed of cosmic energy and a facet of thew of order. Seeds of power are made of cosmic energy and a conceptposed of a variety ofws. They are not the same."


    If Helios could roll his eyes he would. It would make for an amusing sight. Unfortunately, he is a star. Rolling his eyes would be amusing for the same reason why he can''t roll his eyes. He doesn''t have eyes.


    For now, he settled with expressing his disagreement by saying, "Both Authority and Seeds of power are made of cosmic energy andws. It is that simple. Seeds of power are different from each other just as authority is made of different facets of thew of order. No seed of power is the same and no Authority is the same. They possess the same differences so they should be the same."


    Aeternus supplied, "And don''t forget the Authority of demon kings. They are all made from different facets of thew of Chaos. But they are the same apart from little differences."


    "My point exactly." Both Helios and the dragon clone said at the same time.


    Legion-7 didn''t take a step back. "But that difference is not insignificant. I should know. I have eaten a lot of both types. Authority is made from Supremews while seeds of power are made from derivedws of order."


    Then they began to argue. Thoughts and opinions swarmed through their minds in harmony despite their passionate disagreement. It is as if they are building a structure with conflicting ideas.


    Each one of them has a different perspective of the foundation of this structure and their opinion of what the structure should be. They make changes to this mental structure by submitting their perspective. They remove and add certain ideas at different thought cycles. They reject or ept several opinions until the structure isplete. They increase their overall understanding of the subject matter this way.


    This difference of opinion is because even though they have the same memories, they do not have the same consciousness. Memories are not the same as experiences. They all have different experiences which causes them to be different.


    The most impactful difference is the body that they reincarnated with. They each reincarnated in different bodies or different energies and fused with it to create a new consciousness different from the original one. So they have different perspectives on everything but by bringing these different perspectives together, they form a better whole.


    The only two not joining in the argument are Legion 1 and Legion 2. Legion 1 usually joins in the thought process but he is too tired right now. That forging attempt took the most toil out of him. He provided the soul force that they used for the 14 years of the recent experiment so his mind is taxed.


    He also had to bear the brunt when the buddingw matrix copsed. The bacsh to his Origin core is quite severe. Thankfully his soul is notpletely fused with his inner world. If not, he might have to go to sleep for a while.


    Soverick on the other hand didn''t join because he doesn''t join their arguments. He is the impartial judge and arbiter. His job is to make sure that the mental structure that they are building doesn''t copse.


    He uses his divine ability to determine the best direction that they should take based on what the others have suggested. He determines what is added and what is removed from the mental structure. They will do this until the mental structure has beenpleted.


    This is a division ofbor. It is like how the tree father was the only one to inspect the concept that they made up close. The other three didn''t interact with it until they were sure that it was safe.


    The tree father himself only went forward after Soverick had done a cursory inspection with his eyes. Then he used his control of the inner world as the Celestial hybrid of this world to guard against any ident. That meant that if anything had gone wrong with the concept, Legion-1 would have borne the brunt again.


    They all work together and use both their strength and weaknesses to create something bigger than a single one of them. A world fragment is one of those things that is bigger than any one of them. It is what they just tried and failed to build. Soverick felt he had to remind them of the main issue so that they don''t get derailed.


    So he said, "We created a seed of power without actually going through the deadly process of trying to break through to be titans ofws. It is a happy oue. But it is not the oue we wanted."


    "How about we fixate on the fact that we just created Authority? How is that not breaking a t of the universe?" Legion-7 diverted the topic of the conversation.


    Helios agreed. "That''s true. It may be because we didn''t actually build Authority. What we built is a concept. We need thew of order and its permission to build Authority. We clearly don''t have those."


    "How is theprehension going for you?" Aeternus asked Helios.


    "It is slow, but I''ll still beat you to the punch," Helios replied lightly.


    Aeternus chuckled. "It is not exactly an achievement. You have everyone''s help to decipher what you sense meanwhile there is nothing to decipher about Chaos."


    Soverick sighed at that. "There has to be a pattern to it that you don''t see. I might be able to see the pattern if I see pure Chaos."


    "But I need to master thew of Chaos if I am to project pure Chaos for you to see. So you can''t see pure Chaos and help meprehend it unless Iprehend it first." Aeternus replied.


    Legion-7 added. "Supremews are too dangerous. The Chaosw is more so than others. I wouldn''t even eat it if it were offered to me."

 Chapter 1090 Generous Shannon.

    <h4>Chapter 1090 Generous Shannon.</h4>


    They began talking about the supremews again. Soverick let it happen because it is good for them to divert their attention momentarily. It will be detrimental to a single person trying to achieve what they aim for. Going on tangents like this will be a waste of time for a single person if the tangent doesn''t benefit the main point at all.


    But they are not a single person. They can afford to go on a tangent because theirbined residual mental power will make up for the distraction. They are still thinking about the main issue but they are stuck on what they should do. So they are thinking of something rted to the problem that might help them out.


    Soverick arranged all their different thoughts in order. First is their knowledge of concepts and authority. They thought about how the two of them worked and where they got their power from.


    Authority is powerful because it is based on facets of supremews. Seeds of power are the nascent state of supremews. They are concepts. Concepts and Authority are different, but what they have inmon is cosmic energy. It means that technically, they can make Authority just as they can make concepts.


    Soverick interjected again to add the main issue. "I had a n for our breakthrough to titans ofw. This has improved on it but we still have the issue of the world fragment to deal with. We won''t still be able to create thew fragment at this rate even if we are all origin gods. Should we give up on it for now? Maybe we should revisit it when Legion-1 gains a supremew."


    He can only state the obvious anytime they have a mental argument. His position is to be neutral. The obvious here is something that they all can agree on. It is an irrefutable fact that will stabilize the mental structure and prevent it from copsing.


    The fact is that they already had a n to be titans ofw based on the legacy he acquired from Shannon. This n was so good that it would make their chances of breakthrough almost 90%. And that is even when they try to build concepts with 6ws.


    The risk that apanies the use of morews increases remains constant up to 9ws. But then it bes nearly deadly to use more than 9ws. It is as if there is a barrier to the creation of a concept with 10ws.


    So the virtual creation concept legacy that he got from Shannon is still not enough to fuse all of hisws. But then this happened. They made a concept with more than 10 concepts while trying to make aw matrix. All in all, their endeavor to create a world fragment has not been a total waste of their time. But they are far from achieving what they seek.


    The clones became silent. They don''t have a response to Soverick''s question. On the one hand, they can focus on concept creation since they can achieve that easily. They will preserve a lot of energy, time, and resources that way.


    On the other hand, if they can create a concept as a by-product, then the power of a world fragment can only be imagined. They just have to bear the waste of resources and effort.


    "Speaking of which. Didn''t you kill Shannon for her Legacy? Her death is bing more and more useful to us."


    "Yeah. We wouldn''t have attempted forging aw matrix without the knowledge of the virtual creation. She has helped us a lot."


    Soverick and the others chuckled at that memory. Shannon wanted to give him her legacy. He dyed until the end of thepetition to meet with her. He had already been proimed dead by that time so he couldn''t swagger into the Ghastorix family. He had to sneak in.


    Fortunately, Hadrick had left the main city by then so sneaking in was very easy. He found Shannon and killed her immediately. He didn''t want her to tell anyone that he was still alive so he killed her with one strike. He also wasn''t interested in hearing whatever she nned to say.


    Besides, the best way for him to get her legacy is to see it for himself. That needed her body to be destroyed for her dying concept to be exposed. Then he used his eyes to analyze the structure and function of her exposed concept.


    He acquired that knowledge and it improved their chances of bing titans ofw. They attempted to forge aw matrix because of the knowledge of virtual creation and identally created a concept. This happy ident has made it possible for them to attempt the creation of a 10w concept without the danger to themselves.


    It will take a lot of tries and resources but they will be able to do it without actually putting themselves in danger. They won''t have to face the repercussions of the judgment of thew matrix the way it judged the multicolored concept after it was created. The judgement will ur independent of them so they won''t be consumed if they fail.


    They also won''t be on a time crunch when they are creating a concept like Ragnarok. Legion-7 can always pluck morew fragments ofws that they haveprehended from thew matrix while they have all the cosmic energy that they need.


    The leaking of essence that urs during the breakthrough won''t affect them. So they won''t be in any form of danger even if they fail to make the concept. In a way, Shannon''s death is a boon to them that just keeps giving.


    "Let''s get back to the main issue," Soverick said to them. "All of these are good. But it won''t solve the problem of the world fragment."


    They began to consider the problem again. They know where everything went wrong. The world engine refused to move. It needed a supremew to set it into motion but they don''t have one. That is not a problem that can be solved easily.


    -----


    A/N: Bonus chapter for 100 golden tickets goal.

 Chapter 1091 Lacking Attributes.

    <h4>Chapter 1091 Lacking Attributes.</h4>


    The world engine is not the only problematic part of their endeavor. Cosmic energy needs supremew to control it too. If not for the activation of the cosmic energy within Helios by the void universe when Soverickprehended aw, then it wouldn''t have flowed into their mindwork and strengthened them.


    As it is, they still don''t have a way to control cosmic energy properly.


    Legion-7 was able to manipte cosmic only after consuming a supremew himself and by using the innate attraction between cosmic energy andw fragments to make cosmic energy do what they wanted it to do. Even so, his control of cosmic energy is far from being optimal.


    The World engine on the other hand cannot be coerced. It either switches on or it doesn''t. They have tried and failed to activate it. And Soverick doubts they will be able to remove its resistance to maniption unless there is a supremew to work with.


    These are all facts that they know about. So should they quit now and try againter?


    Legion-1 asked. "What are the chances that my supremew will work for what we want?"


    Soverick gave his reply after some thought. "There is a 100 percent chance that the world engine will start. But there might be other problems apart from that."


    He didn''t need to actually reply for his answer to be made known. Every Legion has ess to information that he has ess to. But that''s in the past. By asking him, he has to review his memory and update his conclusion of the information he possesses which gives Legion an updated analysis from his perspective, not the previous conclusion.


    The fact that they have ess to his memory doesn''t mean they have ess to how he thinks. They especially don''t have ess to his eyes. That is something that is entirely unique to him.


    Legion-1 said to every one of them, "I see. It seems it is certain that the world fragment is going to give us more problems than what we are facing. That needs to be factored into our decision-making."


    The problem of the world engine is just thetest problem. There''s no guarantee that another type of problem won''t pop upter in the forging process. In fact, it is most likely that another problem wille up. They are not building an ordinary world fragment after all. They are building a substitute that will enable them to use their shards of power.


    Soverick added, "It is not just about the requirement for a supremew. We still need the shards of power to work. That needs a very strong supremew. But more problems can crop upter."


    Legion-7 buttressed his point. "The world fragment must have a strong enoughw matrix that can withstand the bacsh of thew of order of the universe. But that''s not the only problem that mighte up. The shards of power might not bepatible with thew fragment. It might refuse to work at all so all our efforts might be in vain."


    Legion-6 spoke. "We shouldn''t give up. We can''t give up."


    That made them all chuckle. Giving up is a funny notion to them. It is something that they won''t do unless there is a threat to their overall goal. Currently, gaining control of the shard of power is not a threat to their goal of perfection, but it is a burden and it is slowing them down.


    It is best that they give up. It is best that they focus on bing world gods first. The shards of power will surely work then. But that''s for a single person with limited resources both financial, mental, and physical resources to worry about. As for them, they will continue trying because they can. They can afford to fail several times.


    Legion-7 continued. "What we need is a supremew. Does it have to be ours?"


    Soverick shook his head. "It doesn''t need to be ours but which world god will help us? And which world god can we trust even if they offer to help? The first sage is certainly not one of them so we should forget about hisw of order within his world fragment."


    "Besides we can''t get a world god to help us even if we are open to that option. It is something that can''t be done easily even if we have the resources to buy their help."


    That made the dragon clone chuckle. He said, "We certainly aren''t giving up something that can draw the attention of a world god and make them help us. That is shortsighted."


    "So world gods are out of the picture."


    Legion-4 suggested. "How about we build our own world engine? We might be able to reduce the requirement to activate it that way."


    He is a builder and very versed in the art of rune making. The others have his memories but they don''t have his experience and neither did theye up with his innovations. His perspective is unique in that he believes that anything can be built with the right tools. Hence he suggested that they should circumvent the problem of the unresponsive world engine by building one.


    "That sounds like a good idea. We will be able to control something we built ourselves."


    The tree father disagreed. "We can surely build a world engine but it will not be as good as the one thates from a realm tree. It will be very weak and highly inefficient. Most importantly, it won''t be able to manipte cosmic energy. We will need a supremew for it to be able to do that."


    Aeternus said, "What if we build something that looks like a world engine but its only function is to kickstart the world engine? The first sage''s world fragment cane into use that way."


    "But that could destroy it?" The dragon clone said.


    Aeternus shrugged mentally. "If we can''t use it then it should be destroyed."

 Chapter 1092 Substitute For Substitutes.

    <h4>Chapter 1092 Substitute For Substitutes.</h4>


    Aeternus is a demon. All of Legion are selfish but Aeternus embodies the ideology of taking whatever they want and destroying whatever they can''t have. So if they can''t have the world fragment, they might as well use it as kindling to kickstart their world engine. They don''t need the first sage''s agreement to do that.


    The tree father was skeptical about it. He expressed his skepticism, "But it will only work once even if we manage to get it working. We will need several attempts to get ourw matrix working perfectly since there might be several problems in the future. A single-use solution is not good enough."


    Legion-1 also expressed his thoughts about it. "Plus it will be very dangerous to do it. The first sage will surely not be happy if we tamper with his supremew. His unhappiness might bring problems for us if he manages to find my location. That is a possibility since we will be using his world fragment within my inner world."


    They began to brainstorm how to build a kindling engine that would act as a world engine that would then kickstart the main world engine so that they could use the main world engine to power aw matrix that they would build to transform Legion-1''s inner world into a world fragment that can bear the bacsh of thew matrix of the universe and help them to use the power shards.


    It is quite an overwhelming task that is bing moreplicated as time passes.


    Soverick groaned. "It is as they say. Nothing is as simple as it seems."


    They have truly underestimated the difficulty andplexity of creating a world fragment without the power of world gods. They knew it was going to be very difficult and he expected some changes along the process to increase that difficulty. They thought they could handle it with the wealth of skills and talent that they had at their disposal. But things are getting more and moreplicated for that single goal.


    Their confidence was not baseless. After all, there are very few that could match Soverick''s forging skills, even fewer that could perform energy transformation as well as the tree father, and practically no one who could match Legion-7 maniption of cosmic energy at the Origin level.


    When these things arebined with Legion-1''s inner world and the virtual creation legacy, who wouldn''t think they couldn''t build a world fragment? Apparently, they were wrong. The distance between an Origin god and a world god is too wide.


    But they didn''t give up despite the difficulty. They can''t give up because the reward is too high to give up on. If they give up and focus on bing world gods, they will surely be able to build a world fragment as world gods, but it would have no use to them then. It is now that a world fragment will benefit them immensely.


    So ideas were traded. Some were shot down while others were raised up and buttressed. The major problem now is how to take advantage of the world fragment of the first sage to kickstart their world engine. Legion has decided to use it as the kindling they need.


    This world fragment contains theplete false supremew of order of the first sage. It is a treasure that neither Soverick nor Legion-7 can use or take advantage of for fear of the first sage''s scheme.


    For one, they can''t even open it or the first sage will get the location of Legion-1''s inner world. That is obviously bad. Even if they risk the sage finding out about Legion-1, there is nothing they can use the supremew for without the first sage''s permission. Soverick can''tprehend it without exposing his mind to the first sage. That is something that they must not do unless they are ready to fight the first sage.


    This is because there is no way they can avoid gaining the first sage''s attention as soon as hees in contact with the supremew. The sage will be able to observe him and his location during the process. Even if they manage to circumvent those risks,prehending too much of the supremew is courting death in its purest forms. He will literally have the first sage in his mind. That is opening a back door into Legion for the first sage.


    A falsew of order is not as virulent and insidious as a falsew of Chaos. It does not instinctively try to overwrite all of existence but it is capable of it if the owner is willing to do so. The owner is thew itself so toprehend thew is to have the owner of thew in your mind.


    As if that isn''t dangerous enough, toprehend the falsew of order of a world god is usually seen as examining them for weaknesses. After all, you are analyzing their existence. It is an act of war which might lead to retaliation. This retaliation will also ur throughout his existence hence why Legion is not willing to risk it.


    The supremew present within the world fragment that the first sage gave them is mostly useless to them because of the danger it brings. Legion-7 can''t eat the supremew either despite his love for devouringws. The supremew is too pure andplete. It willpletely overwrite Legion-7 if he attempts.


    Legion-7 was badly affected when he devoured the serpentine world gods''w. It was pure and it was a little of it and yet he was forced to mutate. If not for cosmic energy helping him to assimte thew and evolve, then he would have died.


    So they have decided to sacrifice the world fragment. But the challenge of taking advantage of the world fragment is not an easy one. They have toe up with a n that can work, has a high chance of sess, and won''t endanger them too much.

 Chapter 1093 CARNAGE Is Humane.

    <h4>Chapter 1093 CARNAGE Is Humane.</h4>


    Soverick oversaw the entire brainstorming process. His eyes and mind created the links between them. He charted possible oues and determined the feasibility of the ns.


    Soverick''s eye lit up suddenly. He got an idea which he made known to every one of them immediately.


    "I have a way to make the kickstart engine work. It can work without the danger of the first sage and can work more than once. It will also make thew matrix that we create morepatible with the shards of power."


    They all thought seriously about it and tried to work out the kinks in the n. It is a serious thing if Soverick makes a suggestion. He will only do so when there''s a feasible n for them to work with. That means the mental structure ispleted. Now they must consider whether to ept or reject the suggestion. It is a decision that they will make after ironing out the details.


    But they soon realized something unavoidable.


    Legion-1 said to them, "It seems we must be willing to make a sacrifice. This n is too risky. It is likely that we will lose everything so it is best that we decide now to lose something to avoid total loss."


    It was their turn to state the obvious so they stated the obvious immediately, "Let''s do it."


    All of them agreed. The idea might not work. The kickstart engine might copse and they might risk themselves in vain. But they will take the risk. It is because the oue, if sessful is too good to pass off. There is no reward without risk and anything good is worth fighting for.


    Sure they can hold off until Legion-1 acquires his supremew. But that will take time. Probably 3 origin cycles or more. And that''s with the assistance of all of them.


    Even the realm lord took about 100 origin cycles before he had his own supremew. That''s just the public information. It could be less than that. The point remains that 3 origin cycles is already mind-boggling fast. But 3 origin cycles is not nearly enough.


    The era of conquest ising. It can be announced at any time now. They can''t be found wanting when it does happen. They need power that can match the strongest origin gods. This power has to be the equal of acquiring a supremew. So if they have to make some sacrifices to shorten that time, then they will.


    ------


    While Legion schemed and nned, the ne has gone to shit. Things have be so chaotic that everyone is just attacking whoever theyy their eyes on. There are no friends whatsoever and there are no allies.


    Everyone might as well be in a free-for-all battle royal. Vampires, wood elves, and ghouls are attacking each other without restraint while the Warrogs and the other races suffer in between.


    The major reason for the chaos is the rampage of the ghouls. Their numbers have swelled in quantity recently. This is all thanks to Rinoz. The poption of the ghouls expanded exponentially as Rinoz led them to destroy more and more elven cities on the surface.


    Ghouls reproduce through bites. They bit the wood elves and shared the directives of thew of order with them. A single bite is capable of turning a weak mortal into a ghoul with the power of a Sovereign.


    It is arge amount of power and a mind-boggling progress too but people aren''t lining up to get bitten. The price for that power is too much to pay. It makes CARNAGE''s offer more humane. At least vampires get a facade of free will.


    The rampage of the ghouls continued for a long period of time until the second white ghoul found who it had locked on. The fountain of life had done its best to resist. But it seems its best is not good enough to keep a white ghoul away from it forever.


    The fountain of life couldn''t hide anymore. The world shook that day and the majesty of the fountain of life was finally revealed.


    It all started with an earth-shaking roar. The earth first shook. It rocked back and forth like a cradle. Then it split apart.


    A deep crack appeared in the ne. This crack traversed the entire north of the ne. The north is cold and icy so it quickly gave way. The roar from deep within the earth then erupted from the crack. It caused ice and earth to erupt outwards.


    The eruption in the earth was not volcanic but it was dangerous nheless. Ice scattered all over the ne. These are huge chunks of ice and not small hail stones. They might as well be meteors of ice mming into the earth and wrecking devastation all over the ne.


    Storm clouds also appeared in the sky. They are not made of ash but snowden clouds. The little light that managed to get past the demon god was blocked out. The ne was thrown into total andplete darkness. The day becamepletely indistinguishable from night.


    A sinkhole began to form in the north. It started from the point of eruption and spread outwards. It was as if there was a giant cavern in the ground. Earth and ice fell into this giant cavern in the ground. The entire north and some of its surroundings were swallowed up.


    It was amid all this darkness and destruction that a fantastic beast emerged from the sinkhole formed by the eruption. It rose from the ground and spread its wings like a majestic creature.


    The fountain of life bestowed the world with the glory of its presence after so long of being deprived of the privilege. It is a terrific beast of cataclysmic proportions.


    Rinoz saw it and her eyes widened in awe. "It must be at least 20 kilometers in length." She said.


    This is the first time that she is seeing the fountain of life and she couldn''t help but be impressed. She can see the fountain of life like most of the things still living on the ne. Almost everyone in the ne can see it because it is sorge and so high up in the sky.

 Chapter 1094 Ignorant Gnat.

    <h4>Chapter 1094 Ignorant Gnat.</h4>


    The fountain of life is a majestic creature that seems to be adorned with sparkling gems. The gems seem to reflect light from an unknown source. They sparkled in the darkness of the ne so that all could see the majesty of the fountain of life.


    No one could deny this majesty. All who saw the fountain of life stopped wondering why the fountain of life doesn''t show itself. Something asrge as it should not move around for the sake of the world. After all, it is a flying mountain.


    But the fountain of life is moving around now. And more than that, it is flying. Four wings extend from its back. These wings are 20 kilometers across. They are also adorned with gems. The gems are on its tail and head too.


    The fountain of life has a rather small head. One might call it delicate. It has two smooth horns that lie t on its head and extend to its neck. These horns are white. They don''t sparkle like the white scales on the fountain of life so they don''t look like gems. But its eyes do more than sparkle. They glow brightly like two stars.


    The light produced by those eyes seems to almost render reality transparent. They make it so that the fountain of life''s gaze can pierce the veil of thew matrix.


    Those eyes are fixed on Rinoz right now. The fountain of life has two of them so the pressure from the fountain of life is double. Rinoz understood that the fountain of life was angry from the gaze that it was giving her. She knows that the fountain of life is not looking at her because she is the only source of light in the dark ne. With angeres violence. The expectation of violence brought up fear within her involuntarily.


    Rinoz summoned the courage to say, "So you have finally stopped hiding."


    It was a very difficult task so speak. She had to fight the urge not to bow. An aura of raw, iridescent energy enveloped the world. It battered Rinoz''s mind and body. It is a formless pressureing from the fountain of life. The levitating colossus was exuding an overwhelming presence of divine might.


    The air around it rippled with pulsating waves of ethereal light, and motes of luminescence danced in its wake like celestial fireflies. This divine aura is an unmistakable sign of the creature''s god-like nature, warning all who behold it of the impending cataclysmic force they face.


    Everyone that is not a titan was frozen. They couldn''t protect themselves from this overwhelming presence of world power so they became subject to its pressure. They lost their will to fight. All they wanted to do was to obey. Rinoz didn''t sumb to the pressure. She could speak. So she did. But she shouldn''t have spoken.


    The fountain of life roared, "YOU DARE!"


    It is tant, unmasked, unmistakable, and totally disrespectful to say that it was hiding. So it roared in anger. An awe-inspiring sound emerged from its mouth. Its roar is a symphony of power and authority. It alluded to pride and the hidden ferocity of the fountain of life.


    This sonic force shattered mountains, ruptured the earth, and caused storms to begin ravaging the ne. Hurricanes streaked through the ne. But no one ran. They are too frozen to run for their lives. They died where they stood. Their bodies broke apart and joined the wind as dust and ashes.


    These much death and destruction are but heralds of what more is toe. The fountain of life still has more in store.


    It said to her, "You gnat. You small inconsequential gnat. You ignorant existence. You shouldn''t have forced me out into the open. There are some things that should not be revealed or the light of their existence will blind the dim uprehending eyes of weak gnats such as you."


    Riniz said in defiance, "I had to. You are an invader and I am the savior of the ne. I am the hero of the people and I must rid the ne of you."


    "Well, well, well¡­ Look what we have here. A tiny morsel daring to challenge a titan of power made manifest. How utterly amusing. Tell me, our brave little hero, do you truly believe you stand a chance against the convergence of the might of creation and the power over life?"


    The fountain of life''s eyes glowed with a malevolent gleam as it continued its ridicule. Its majestic divine aura of majesty and world power billowed out of its gargantuan form to batter Rinoz.


    Rinoz was pushed back and against the earth. She couldn''t speak anymore. But that''s alright. The fountain of life is not interested in hearing what she has to say anyway.


    "I''ve seen countless warriors like you, boasting of courage and valor. But in the end, they all sumb to the realization of their own insignificance. Your bravado is as fleeting as a candle''s me in the face of the infinite cosmos. You have seen nothing of what this world is made of and you will die as nothing in the grand scheme of things."


    The creature of raw power let out a deafening roar which caused the air to crackle with energy, as if mocking her.


    "You think you''re a hero? That is not something to be proud of. That is a title. It is not a power. Heroes are but ephemeral beings, flickers in the grand scheme of existence. They are but dust that will be swept along the river of time as dead and forgotten things. That is because they were weak. Being a hero is nothing to be proud of if you are weak. You are nothing but a joke if you admit to being a hero when you''re weak."


    Rinoz finally managed to collect herself. The power of the ne converged upon her due to her title. She glowed brighter like a star. She became the star of salvation and the light of hope in the darkness. Everyone in the ne who gazed upon her had expectations rise within them.


    -----


    A/N: I''m taking bets. Who do you think will win? Rinoz or FOL.

 Chapter 1095 A Terrifying Sandwich.

    <h4>Chapter 1095 A Terrifying Sandwich.</h4>


    Rinoz refuted in anger. "I am not weak. I have the entire power of the ne supporting me. I am strong."


    "Your reign of terror ends now." She dered with a great shout, "I will kill you today."


    The fountain of life sneered. It couldn''t take her seriously. This was a girl that it had watched grow up. This was a girl that had reached her current level of powerrgely due to its help. This was a girl that is alive today thanks to its mercy.


    It said in ridicule, "I am a force that you cannot possibly imagine orprehend. You don''t even know what kind of power I wield and you dare to call yourself strong. If you knew my full might then you would be running for your dear life now. You are but an ignorant child granted a modicum of power and you have let that power get to your head. You are nothing and you will die as nothing."


    The fountain of lifeughed and itsughter rumbled through the ne, vibrating through every living and nonliving thing. It shook them to their very core.


    "But go ahead, little hero, show me what you''re made of. Dance with destiny and embrace your inevitable demise. Your death will give me what I need to reshape this world in my image."


    "Beyond, the power of creation."


    Then the world turned upside down without warning. At least that''s what Riniz thought. The earth beneath her turned into wind and the air above her turned into earth. But not for long. The fountain of life was just removing the earth beneath her to make room for the type of earth that it created above her.


    Earth returned beneath Rinoz. She became sandwiched between the twoyers. The earth that the fountain of life created is not the normal earth of the ground. It is far from it. It is a substance that looks like mountain rocks but is as hard as a high-grade Origin artifact. It is also very heavy so Rinoz was crushed between them. The light went out in the ne as she became ttened between twoyers of earth. But Rinoz isn''t dead yet.


    The fountain of life brought the sandwich that she created towards itself. Rinoz was several thousands of kilometers away from the fountain of life. But that didn''t save her. The divine sense of the fountain of life has spread to every part of the ne so it can manifest its power anywhere in the ne.


    It brought the sandwich before it. Then it willed the earth to turn to solid fire. The earth maintained its mass, density, and heaviness so that it was still crushing Rinoz. But it has also taken on the properties of fire so that it can burn her to death.


    Rinoz is not who she used to be. She has weakened severely ever since she sacrificed the living things in the ne to the Ghouls. The Ghouls grew while the boost from her title fell.


    She has been weakened by a thousand times. Her boost fell from 1,000,000,000% to 1,000,000%. She might have been able to resist being captured by the fountain of life when she was at her strongest, but that is not so now.


    Even so, Rinoz struggled with all her might. She ejected a massive nova that exploded all around her. A terrifying suction force broke out from within the sandwich of fire and earth. It caused the fountain of life to struggle to control its creation.


    They tussled for a short while before the Nova exploded. The sandwich or fire and earth were blown apart by the terrifying explosion.


    The explosion harmed Rinoz but it also freed her, if only temporarily. She was thrown away by the explosion but the fountain of life was already creating earth around her to capture her again.


    Still, this was enough time for Rinoz to retaliate. She urged the ghouls to attack. They responded to her order while she tried to fight off being captured again.


    She stretched out her 9 tails around her to hold back the two giant bs of earth created above and beneath her. Her tails served to prevent the bs from crushing her while she produced more Novas to destroy them.


    Meanwhile, the fountain of life wasn''t having a good time despite how carefree it looked. The ghouls have attacked it. The white ghoul that used to be Fenrir had used itself as a beacon to warp other ghouls to itself. So millions of ghouls appeared around it and went on to attack the fountain of life.


    The fountain of life looks carefree even though it is being attacked by millions of ghouls because there is a barrier around it that is preventing the ghouls from even touching it. This is the same barrier that was used to seal the ghouls in the first ce.


    Usually, ghouls can pass through barriers as long as they are not reinforced with soul force. Even then, they can break those kinds of barriers that they can''t pass through with brute force. So this barrier that has stopped the ghouls must have met the two requirements of reinforcement and power.


    This is quite a surprise considering that the fountain of life is not an Origin god. It has managed to reinforce its barrier with something equivalent to soul force and it is powerful enough to hold back not one ghoul, but millions of them.


    It is an achievement that is not without its burden. That burden is affecting its power of creation and preventing it from capturing Rinoz easily. The fountain of life can''t hold back the numerous ghouls who are still increasing in number while also trying to crush Rinoz.


    Rinoz was able to use the distraction to her advantage. She had to strain herself to the limit trying to keep the earth bs apart. But she did it. It eased off the fear in her heart. It made hercent. She was proven wrong very quickly.

 Chapter 1096 The Victor.

    <h4>Chapter 1096 The Victor.</h4>


    The fountain of life changed its tactics from brute force. It stopped trying to crush Rinoz so the earth bs shattered into dust because of an explosion. Rinoz didn''t have the time to be happy before another round of attack began. The air around her turned into spears.


    It happened suddenly so it seemed to Rinoz that she had always been at the center of a spherical formation of sharp earthen spears. One might call it a prison but they would be wrong. It is an execution method because the spears are trying to impale her.


    Unlike the two bs that she could hold back with her tails, these spears are too numerous for her 9 tails to restrict. She created a barrier around her with her solidified divine sense. It stopped the spears from impaling her but at the cost of Origin energy.


    The sounds of shing and explosions could be heard as the two beings battled. The ghouls struggled ineffectively against the barrier of the fountain of life while Rinoz struggled against the spears trying to impale her, and the fountain of life struggled to keep the ghouls away.


    Their strange situation formed an equilibrium of struggling. The bnce would be broken by the ghouls. Victory and defeat hinges on whoever is the first to stop struggling. It could be Rinoz or it could be the fountain of life since the ghouls are relentless in their effort.


    The ghouls won''t stop struggling and they are also increasing in number by the moment. If the fountain of life fails to kill Rinoz before its barrier is broken then it will be defeated. Unfortunately, that is a difficult thing to achieve because its ability to kill Rinoz is reducing with the increase in the number of ghouls.


    The power of the spears is decreasing every moment. So as time passes, the burden on Rinoz is reduced. All she has to do to win this battle is to oust the fountain of life. Unfortunately, she couldn''t do that much.


    "Oh no," She eximed.


    The fountain of life sneered, "That''s what you get when you bite the hand that fed you."


    Rinoz had bitten the hand that fed her. She went against the fountain of life, so she stopped getting Origin energy from it. Her title doesn''te with a supply of Origin energy because the ne is barren of it. What she has been using is the amount she saved from when the fountain of life used to give her Origin energy.


    Now she has run out of Origin energy. She couldn''t produce novas anymore and her barrier weakened drastically. A single spear poked through the barrier and it shattered. The rest of the spears were free to impale her body. Rinoz became a porcupine because of it.


    The pain was searing hot. It scorched her mind instantly. The physical injury to her body also caused her mind to fray. She cked out immediately.


    This made her defenseless against what came next. The spears of earth changed into fire. They becamences of fire embedded into her existence. What happened next was expected. Her body began to burn. She burned while the light that she produced dimmed.


    The fountain of life said with disdain as it watched her die, "I told you that you had overestimated yourself."


    The fountain of life asked Rinoz to show what she was capable of. Rinoz didn''t disappoint. She tried her best and managed to threaten the life of the fountain of life. But she failed eventually.


    Her power was not be underestimated. But the reason why she failed has proved that the fountain of life was right to think little of her. She had the assistance of ghouls and still failed. The fountain of life had to ridicule her because of her failure.


    The fountain of life said in anticipation, "Go on and die. Give me the payment for my services."


    It gripped the white Ghoul tightly in one of its ws while it watched the current child of the ne die. It didn''t take long. Rinoz had been skewed and Fire was pouring into her weak soul body. Her body and soul was incinerated like kindling. She couldn''t even cry out in pain as her consciousness fragmented.


    Her body was crushed and ravaged by the fire. She turned into dust that scattered into the winds. It is as the fountain of life said. It is a joke for someone weak to stand out and call themselves a hero. They will be remembered as weak and foolish.


    Rinoz died and her connection with the will of the ne was cut off in her death. They snapped back like overextended stic strings. The will of the ne reeled back in pain. It felt the pain of the loss and so did every being still alive in the ne.


    The fountain of life saw the spiritual threads being detached with its true vision. It had been waiting for this exact moment when the will of the ne would be vulnerable. So itunched a spiritual attack with all its power against the will of the ne.


    It used the fragments of thew of life that it imnted on the wood elves and Warrogs as the foundation for the attack. The Will of the ne had been weakened by the attack of the demon god and the massacre of the ghouls so the fountain of life seeded without much effort.


    The fountain of life was satisfied. Its anger receded a little because of its sess. But it made sure to scold Rinoz one more time. "What a silly child. I invested in her and she sought to bite the hand that fed her. At least her existence was not a waste."


    The white ghoul growled at it but the fountain of life didn''t care. It scoffed and turned its attention away from the ghouls.


    The ghouls also stopped attacking it The fountain of life is not a being that they can attack anymore. The fountain of life has be thergest shareholder in the ne. It has acquired over 50% of the spiritual Will of the ne so it is not on the list of the priority of ghouls anymore.


    -----


    A/N: If you lost your bet, you have to dance right now wherever you are. If you won it, then you have to dance too. One is for shame and the other is for triumph.

 Chapter 1097 Aftershocks.

    Chapter 1097 Aftershocks.


    The white Ghoul won''t obey the fountain of life since the will of the ne and it are not in sync or harmony. But it won''t attack the fountain of life anymore either. To do so is to harm the will of the ne. So it left to hunt other targets.


    The fountain of life expected it to give after acquiring 50% of the Will of the ne. Unlike Rnioz, it doesn''t gain any boost from the title. This is so despite the fact that it is helping the Will of the ne to stabilize Itself and fight against the demon god.


    So in a way, the fountain of life is doing the Will of the ne a favor. But in exchange, if the fountain of life dies, then 50% of the Will of the ne will die too. The ne will surely fall to the Will of the demon god then.


    "Now where is that troublesome Ragnarok?" It said to itself. "He has been useful so far against the demon god. But it is now time to put an end to him."


    The fountain of life is not in league with the demon god. It didn''t seal the ghouls because it is in cahoots with the Vampires. It has always been against the demon god. It even helped the will of the ne and Rinoz fight against the demon god.


    Yes, it is an invader, but it has been peaceful all the origin cycles it has stayed in the ne and things would have remained like so if not for the stubbornness Will of the ne. The main cause of its conflict with the ne is because the Will of the ne knew what it was after in the ne so it made Rinoz go after the wood elves and try to kill it.


    The fight with Rinoz, Rinoz''s death, and its takeover of the spiritual Will of the ne are just business. It is nothing personal. Now that it has secured itself into the ne, it doesn''t need Ragnarok anymore. It can kill Vampires and others on its own. It doesn''t even have to anymore. The Ghouls will do that for it. Then the Ghouls will disappear once the Vampires are gone. That leaves Ragnarok as thest thorn to remove.


    The fountain of life asked in irritation, "Where has that little bug hidden himself?"


    Ragnarok has killed Origin gods. The fountain of life has also killed Origin gods. Is not an Origin god just like Ragnarok isn''t an Origin god. But it is assured that it will be able to kill Ragnarok. So it is confidently searching for Ragnarok but the fountain of life couldn''t find him. It caused the fountain of life to be irritated.


    It used its divine sense to search the whole ne now but it didn''t get a trace of Ragnarok. Even its true sight that can see through matter can''t find Ragnarok so the fountain of life had to give up. "Whatever. I will kill him when he shows his face."


    It couldn''t find Ragnarok so it decided to troublemaker when he shows up. It decided to sleep in the meantime. That''s what entities of its race like doing the most. But it didn''t get to rx before it was attacked by the only force in the ne that would dare to antagonize it.


    Two entities approached the fountain of life quietly and with the goal of violence. The Fountain of life wasn''t surprised by their appearance. It would have been surprising had they decided not to take advantage of its weakened state to get rid of it.


    It said nonchntly, "So you have shown yourself. I have been expecting you."


    The two uninvited guests, onepletely ck and the other invisible, attacked the fountain of life. Their fight ended quickly and the ne returned to silence. This silence is rtive. The ne isn''t being shaken by explosions and earthquakes so it is silent in a way, but the will of the ne has been thrown into Chaos by the after-effects of the fights.


    Just as an earthquake has aftershocks, the fight between the fountain of life and Rinoz led torge consequences for the ne. Rinoz died. That is bad news for the ne. Her absence caused the ghouls to resume their wanton rampage on all life in the ne.


    The good news is that the ne will soon be rid of vampires. That hasn''tpletely removed the threat of the demon god but that is progress in the right direction. Unfortunately, it is difficult for the inhabitants of the ne to appreciate this fact. In fact, some of them hate the ghouls more than they hate the Vampires.


    This is the situation that Ragnarok found when he came out of hiding. His Origin domain was removed so his cocoon was revealed. Then a wed hand broke the red cocoon. The rest of Ragnarok''s body came out from the opening he made.


    He was still humanoid but his body expanded as he came out of the cocoon. He has note to y but to fight and to fight at his fullest capacity so he unleashed his unique body ofw right from the start. It caused another eruption to ur from deep within the earth.


    This eruption is not as impactful as the previous one. He is not as big as the fountain of life and the earth is already cracked. The earth gave way easily without much resistance so his body continued to grow to his full length without restraint.


    He grew to be massive in size. It is as if he is a demon king. He grew to be a kilometer tall so he cast a shadow over entirendscapes. He appears to be a muscr hexapedal creature. His six limbs are thick and end inrge wed paws.


    He is sorge that the very earth shook when he rested his weight on it. It is not a pleasant experience for a ne that has been battered and bruised by several explosions, eruptions, and earthquakes.

 Chapter 1098 The Beginning Of The End.

    Chapter 1098 The Beginning Of The End.


    Ragnarok is not a Warrog or a vampire. He is a creature that has never been seen before. He is a hybrid of demon, warrog, and Vampire. He is covered with ayer of ck bone armor embedded with what looks like red scales. These scales are glowing runes and symbols, pulsating with mystic energy. They are not physical things.


    "Rawrrrr!"


    He roared with a Colossal maw full of ck teeth. His teeth are also embedded with the same glowing red runes. And so are the horns on his head.


    And what a sight his horns are. Atop his head is a crown-like crest of antlers that emanate an iridescent glow. And between them is a red halo.


    Intricate runic patterns, resembling cosmic constetions, adorn the antlers and his entire body.


    These runes pulse with the telltale signs of blood power. Anyone who thinks so will be mistaken because it isn''t blood power but the power of thew of ughter.


    The light of the runes is simr to the pulsing glow of his third eye. This eye saw all of life in the ne. He also saw those in between that are transitioning to death. Amongst these beings transitioning between the state of death and life is the Emperiti Primogenitor. He was paying attention so he saw her permanent transition to death.


    A red stalk with a spherical crown of fluffy tuft appeared in the location of the devil pit. The tuft are actually the blood trees that line the devil pit so the red stalk is veryrge. It is like arge red and demonic-looking dandelion.


    But this dandelion is not fearsome despite how it looks. It is just as harmless as a normal dandelion. Apparently, the fact that it is a Primogenitor didn''t change its nature.


    The Ghouls have cornered the Emperiti Primogenitor now. They found her main body after getting rid of all her spawns. She has nowhere to run but she also can''t stay hidden in the ground anymore. So she tried to fly away.


    It is a pitiful sight really. She can''t move on her own. The winds have to move her like a real dandelion. And though the ne has been windytely because of all the storms, that isn''t going to save her from the grabby hands of the ghouls. They swarmed the helpless floating dandelion and tore it apart.


    Hemented idly, "The ne has changed so much."


    He watched the Emperiti Primogenitor die and many others. The once lush ne has be broken and barren. Forests have been destroyed and even the very earth itself uprooted. He sees death and destruction everywhere he looks. There is little life and what little he sees is barely hanging on.


    The Ghouls are after everything and they won''t stop until the Vampires are gone. Unfortunately, Drastoic and Sec have been able to keep the nar portal defended. The Vampires have formed a little stronghold there that has managed to withstand the scourge of the ghouls. So the Vampires won''t be eliminated soon which means the ne has to continue to suffer.


    Hemented, "What a pitiful sight."


    Then he offered generously, "The ne shouldn''t suffer like this. Let me finish what I started. I will put it out of its misery."


    He was the one that unleashed the ghouls so it is just right that he ends the suffering of the ne. So he extended his ten tails from behind him into the world.


    His tails are like phantom organs. They are made up of an intricate formation of red runes infused with beads of devouring. They do not have a solid and fixed form like the rest of his body. So they extended like tentacles outwards from him. They resembled the plumage of a peacock after extending. They are truly beautiful. That beauty remained even as they began to devour the world.


    He spread his tails apart so that they would have a wider range. Each tail is about three times his height. That means they are 30 kilometers in length. The red runes within them shimmered and glittered. They held the beads of devouring together in the vague shape of a tail. They also made the devouring power of the beads work together instead of against each other. So that they will be able to tear the world apart better.


    It does look like the world is being torn. The tails cut the air and earth like a knife through butter. They rip and then they crush the parts that they cut apart with the overwhelming power of devouring. They grow stronger the more they devour and then repeat the whole process. That can only be called tearing the World apart.


    This is the effect of his concept at work. Matter was broken into energy and devoured along with all the energy around the tails. It was like an opening had been created in a dam. The bonds that held the world together were broken and what made the world what it is was then siphoned into Ragnarok.


    His tails punctured the world and like a balloon, it deted as it expunged some air. So it is not a wonder that a storm kicked up. What Ragnarok is doing is unnatural and very dangerous to the ne. But the world can''t stop it from happening. It could only kick up a fuss. The howling of the wind and the sound that the earth made as it was shredded are simply the moans of a helpless world being crushed. They are the cries of a dying being.


    This event didn''t go unnoticed. The will of the ne, the fountain of life, and the demon god noticed it. Even the helpless mortals noticed it. Therge destructive storm that started is all the indication they need. Because at the center of the new storm is a glowing red and ck beast.


    There are some irregr crystal pirs on Ragnarok''s back. These are the sources of light that can be seen for thousands of miles. It made him stand out from within the eye of the storm. Mortals saw him and they knew then that the world would end because of him.

 Chapter 1099 The Bottomless Abyss.

    Chapter 1099 The Bottomless Abyss.


    The thick crystalline pirs on his back are like mountains on the back of mountain shifting tortoise except that they are more in number and vary in length. Their appearance makes it more urate to call them lodestones rather than mountains. The 9 of them ount for most of his weight.


    They were previously unseen before Ragnarok began to engorge himself on the world. But they began to glow an eerie blue glow as they stored the energy he devoured within himself. They shined brightly in contrast to the darkness around his 10 tails.


    The light he is producing does not feel one with hope as Rinoz''s did. He doesn''t look like the hope of the ne at all. There is a dark whirlpool around him while he is the light at the eye of the whirlpool. No one mistook him for salvation. Instead, He looks like the herald of the end of the world.


    "This is new." He thought to himself as he watched the Carnage that he wrought.


    The world is screaming because of him. Even he is surprised by the power of his concept. He knew instinctively what his new tails could do after his breakthrough and evolution. After all, they are organs that he and the other clones designed themselves.


    It was just an image when he was a king ofw. Now they are part of his body and part of his soul. So he knew what to expect when he activated his concept. What he didn''t expect is how powerful it is.


    It is certainly more than his expectation. And it is all because of the shard of power rotating around him. He used to ignore it most times because of its uselessness. But the shard of power has be far too useful now.


    The shard has taken a liking to his concept. He can see that his tails have gripped thew matrix tightly and have pulled on it. They also wanted to puncture the world of manifestation down to thew matrix below but he stopped them. It is taking everything within him not to damage thew matrix. That will put him in a lot of trouble.


    There is a difference between destroying the material world and destroying the underlying fabric of the ne. One will be ignored by the will of the realm as long as he is an inhabit of the realm. The other will receive swift retribution from Mother High Heaven regardless of his position as an inhabitant of the ne.


    Mother high heaven will ignore him even if the ne is going to be destroyed. As long as he is not an Origin god, she will leave him to be punished by the will of the ne and the other inhabitants of the ne.


    On the other hand, destroying the underlying fabric of the ne will draw the ire of Mother High Heaven. That''s why he decided not to be an Origin god. It is also why he dialed back his divine ability and decided to remain content with causing the very fabric of reality to bend to his will instead of letting the shard of power get him into trouble.


    He didn''t harm thew matrix. But he made it make the world of manifestation twist and contort to his will. Even gravity itself was affected as the world was pulled into his tails. The once stable space now convulsed, forming an expanding funnel that drew everything towards his ten tails.


    With an irresistible force, the surroundings were caught in the swirling tempest of this spatial tunnel. Stones once grounded firmly, were wrenched from their resting ces, soaring through the air in a mesmerizing dance of chaos.


    Sand and trees were torn from the earth''s embrace, uprooted, and thrust into the relentless vortex. Even the very essence of mana, that ethereal life force, found itself ensnared, sumbing to the overwhelming pull.


    In an overwhelming disy of might, nothing was spared from the devouring power of his tails. His tails can''t be seen now. They seem nketed by darkness. They are the source of this darkness. Everything they pulled disappeared into this darkness. Trees, majestic guardians of thend, vanished into this darkness without a trace.


    Ragnarok felt pleased with him despite the screaming and howling of the world. It might as well be music to his ears because he is happy. He is happy about the enhancement of his concept by the shard of power. It has given him something to look forward to about the creation of their world fragment.


    The shard of power hasn''t helped him since he broke away from the demon god. If it has helped him since then, then he hasn''t noticed. But then it came into effect once he activated the concept of The Bottomless Abyss.


    His concept is supposed to create a bottomless abyss but he is not powerful enough to create it. The shard of power is willing to give him this power. It wants to rip a hole through the ne down and down to create a true bottomless abyss.


    This is a strong proof of the power that the shards of power can grant Legion. As long as they have something on the level of a supremew, they might be able to harness the potential of the Shards of power.


    He said to himself as he looked around, "I should enjoy this now while itsts. I may not have the chance to anymore considering the danger of the n."


    He decided to enjoy the destruction he was causing. It is a wonderful sight too. At least he thinks so. The ne itself seemed to tremble as the very ground became a battlefield between the relentless effort of his tails of darkness and the resistance of the world of manifestation.


    But others don''t think it is a wonderful sight. In the face of this epic and overwhelming disy of power, the very foundation of reality trembled, leaving those who bore witness to this cataclysmic event shaking in fear.


    Even the Will of the ne and the demon god both cried out in dismay. They are dismayed for different reasons but everyone felt the end of the worlding and they felt fear.

 Chapter 1100 What Is The Fountain Of Life?

    Chapter 1100 What Is The Fountain Of Life?


    The reason for the fear of the will of the ne is obvious. The demon god on the other hand felt fear for the ne because it didn''t want to see its food destroyed.


    The two of them want to go down and stop Ragnarok immediately. But they can''t. Fortunately, there is someone nearby who won''t stomach what Ragnarok is doing.


    The fountain of life roared in total anger, "RAGNAROK. YOU INSOLENT BEAST. STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING RIGHT NOW!"


    The glorious white beast rose from the ground in all its majesty and glory. That roar of its struck the world like a hammer. Ragnarok felt thew matrix vibrate just as the world manifestation vibrated. It is obvious that the roar was not an ordinary sound.


    Ragnarok eximed, "A dragon!"


    Any beast can have beautiful white scales and four wings. Even the presence of the majestic aura or the possession of an imperious gaze doesn''t mean that the creature is a dragon. But only a dragon can use a dragon''s domination. He can sense the unmistakable use of dragon force. Dragon force is unique to dragons. It always tries topel the other races to bow and submit.


    "How have I never seen you?" He asked. "I still can''t see you with my eye of life."


    He has a lot of questions about the presence of a dragon within the ne. But the most pertinent one is how he has never found the dragon until now. He can sense that the dragon is not an Origin god so it should not be able to hide from him.


    He doesn''t care about why a dragon is in the ne or what the dragon has been doing in the ne all these years. He would like to know why even now, he can only see the dragon with his two normal eyes. His eye of life which is supposed to be able to see living things is not working on the dragon at all.


    The fountain of life roared as it flew towards him, "Impudent. I told you to stop what you are doing."


    He has been ordered to stop. But he didn''t stop what he was doing. Instead, he deigned himself worthy of questioning a mighty dragon. It is an utterck of respect. So the fountain of life attacked immediately. It wanted to get its ws on Ragnarok and rend him limb from limb. But smashing him will do for now.


    The fountain of life reached over to Ragnarok. It sought to change the world around him. It tried to turn the air to earth but it failed. Both the air and earth it turned into were consumed immediately and indiscriminately. Everything around Ragnarok was being consumed. That gave the fountain of life pause.


    It said in surprise. "How did you be a Sovereign ofw?"


    It is truly shocked. The fountain of life has even stopped approaching Ragnarok. It is just flying around Ragnarok at a distance. It wasn''t afraid when it first sensed Ragnarok. It wasn''t shocked either despite seeing what was happening with thew matrix when Ragnarok activated his divine ability. That''s how its own divine ability works too.


    But it is very shocked now. It just used a very powerfulw enforced with dragon force and it failed. It is a p to the face. The fountain of life would be stupid to ignore the fact that its highw in the form of a concept has been usurped no matter how lowly it thinks Ragnarok is.


    So it used its true sight on Ragnarok. Ragnarok couldn''t hide his power from its gaze. So it is noticed that he doesn''t have a divine ability anymore. Instead, all of his soul body has been permeated by fragments ofw.


    The fragments ofw are not in a small location as seen in a divine ability. It means he has a concept now and it is in his Origin core. The addition of the fact that he is not leaking essence and was able to hide his aura in the first ce proves that he is a sovereign now. It is mind-boggling to think that he became a Sovereign in a little over ten thousand years.


    "Just what are you?" It asked again.


    Ragnarok didn''t answer that question. He had other things to think about.


    "Ah. I see." He said. "You are a dragon of creation."


    He sensed the changes in his surroundings when he was attacked. He was able to determine whichw the fountain of life used based on which section of thew matrix was activated when she interacted with it. He is actually very versed in thew of creation. He has Soverick to thank for that.


    He continued talking. "That isn''t all. You also use thew of life. How ambitious. Youbined two very powerful highws together. Do you want to die?"


    He shook his head and said, "It is no wonder why you are not a Sovereign ofw yet."


    Then he sat on his haunches and continued to converse leisurely as if his tails were not ripping the world apart. "That isn''t everything about you, right? You are a divine dragon. That means you are at least a titan ofw and have been to the void outside of the realm before. But you didn''t go to the upper realms. Instead, you returned to a lower ne and have stayed here for a hundred origin cycles. What could you be after?" he asked in jest.


    The fountain of life was surprised by what it heard. "How did you know that I am a dragon? You have never left this ne. I should know, I watched you for most of your life."


    Ragnarok tutted yfully. "It is of little consequence now. What matters is that I know why I can''t see you and why you are still a titan ofw. It is obviously because of the fusion of thews of creation and life. That will grant you very powerful perks." Then he sneered, "But they also demand a lot for you to master the concept that you created with them. Could that something be the Life crystal in the ne?"

 Chapter 1101 Clash Of The Titans.

    Chapter 1101 sh Of The Titans.


    The fountain of life was taken aback by what he said and the question he asked. It eyes narrowed at Ragnarok. Then it said, "You know too much. I am now sure that you are working with the demon god. Only it and the Will of the ne know what I am and what I want to acquire in the ne. Your enmity with CARNAGE has just been pretense. I must admit that it is a good n. The two of you fooled me. But your schemes end here."


    "It seems we must fight." Ragnarok agreed with a glint in his eyes.


    He didn''t try to exin himself to the fountain of life. Any chance of negotiation has gone out the window. They will fight.


    Actually, he is willing to negotiate for peace with the Fountain of Life. After all, his goal is to destroy the ne and not fight the fountain of life. But the fountain of life wants him dead now that he knows its aim in the ne.


    He knew something like this could happen but he said it anyway because he is not afraid of the fountain of life. He is not afraid that it will think that he is working with the demon god because of the information he knows that he shouldn''t possess. With strengthes confidence.


    The fountain of life said in anger, "I should have killed you when you were born."


    Ragnarok grinned and smacked his lips. He mocked the fountain of life, "This is the second time you are saying that."


    "Important things ought to be emphasized."


    Ragnarok shrugged at that. "If it is so important then you are in luck. You have your chance to rectify that mistake now. Why don''t youe and give it a try?"


    He flexed himself while the fountain of life shot toward him. He moved his six paws about on the shattered earth. It is a difficult thing to do due to the heaviness of the crystalline pirs on his back. But he managed to do so. He even began running towards the fountain of life.


    His six paws mmed into the earth and caused it to quake and shatter. He could fly but he wants his ten tails to remain in contact with the ground. The ground is the foundation of the ne after all. It is the best ce to start building a bottomless abyss and he won''t let the fight distract him from his main goal.


    The fountain of life swooped down on him. It is as if an eagle is about to catch a rat. The difference in their size and their beauty made it look like that. The fountain of life is beautiful while he looks like some abomination. So yeah, it''s like a majestic eagle about to capture a rat. But a rat can''t fight as well as Ragnarok.


    Ragnarok raised his four front paws to grab the massive hind limbs of the fountain of life. Two of themtched onto the hind limbs of the dragon while the other two switched between wing at the head or the wings of the dragon.


    He used his grip on the hind limbs to pull the dragon to the ground. The fountain of life didn''t like that. It snapped its jaws at him. Its jaws bit him on the shoulders and its teeth sank into his flesh. Then the fountain of life poured forth its dragon fire into Ragnarok.


    The jaws of the fountain of life lit up with a bright white light as a beam of dragon breath poured into Ragnarok in close contact. He felt pain but he ignored it to summon his domain.


    The power of the soul of an Origin god expanded outwards from him powerfully. It sought to dominate a portion of the world. The domain destroyed everything in its way and enveloped the two titanic fighters. But it could notplete its encapstion because an explosion urred between them.


    It was not an explosion caused by a rapid change in matter and energy. This explosion was caused by two opposing forces shing. The domain of a dragon shed against his domain and they rejected each other. It led to a bacsh of force that spread out as a form of shockwave between them.


    The two of them were separated forcefully by the explosion. Ragnarok didn''te out of this separation looking good. He is missing most of his shoulder because the fountain of life tore it away from him.


    The injury on his shoulder is healing now but he has a muchrger injury on his entire body. The bacsh of the domain fell to him. It caused cracks to appear over his body. He is in a sorry state whereas the fountain of life has not been injured at all.


    "Dragon Force." He said with eyes zing with excitement.


    His domain is very powerful because it belongs to a world beast. But the domain of a dragon is nothing to scoff at either. Actually, their domains are quite simr in that they both have an inner world. It is not surprising since dragons and world beasts have simr ancestors.


    So his domain couldn''t get any advantage over the dragon force of the dragon. And a bacsh urred when the fountain of life refused to allow itself to fall under his domain. The resulting bacsh was born by him. It injured him severely because the domain he used in the first ce was not his.


    He is terribly injured but he is not angry at all. He is not even concerned. He felt carefree enough to say to the fountain of life, "Do you know that I have a dragon friend?"


    "Is that so?" the fountain of life said as it swooped down at him again.


    Ragnarok is in a sorry state right now. There''s no way it is just going to watch him heal. It is also not going to allow Ragnarok to distract it with what it considers as petty talk. It intends to capitalize on his weakness so it attacked.

 Chapter 1102 A Bite To Die For.

    Chapter 1102 A Bite To Die For.


    The fountain of life repeated what it did earlier since it worked so well. It swooped down to grab Ragnarok.


    Ragnarok weed the attack in the same way. He grabbed the ws and pulled the fountain of life to the ground. Then he bit the thick thigh of the fountain of life instead of trying to drag it down.


    He opened his jaws which were lined with ck teeth. The red runes on the teeth glowed brightly for a brief moment before he mped his jaws shut on the fountain of life. His teeth sank deep past the thick metal-like defensive scales. They broke like fragile ss under the force of his bite.


    He tasted the sweet flesh beneath the scales. Then he swallowed. The devouring ability of his concept was activated within his mouth. A loud roar came from the fountain of life in response to the bite.


    The fountain of life had also bit into him. But it is not in the mood to use its dragon fire like it didst time. All it wants is to get away from Ragnarok immediately. It tried to push him and wed at him to push him off. But Ragnarok held on tightly as he devoured the life essence of the fountain of life.


    He brought up his tail to help him in this endeavor. The ten of themtched onto the fountain of life tightly. They acted like tentacles that he used to keep his hold on the fountain of life.


    The fountain of life roared again in anguish.it demanded with a shout, "Let me go."


    Ragnarok offered in good spirits, "I think my Dragon friend will be very strong."


    He truly thinks the dragon clone will be strong. He is not just saying that to distract the fountain of life.


    The fountain of life roared again, "Let me go you rabid mutt."


    Ragnarok advised, "Don''t be so reckless or I might tear your thigh away. We wouldn''t want that now would we?"


    He is sincere with that advice. Tearing away the thigh of the dragon will tear away a part of the consciousness of the fountain of life and injure it severely. The fountain of life shouldn''t want that. Even if it does, Ragnarok doesn''t want that to happen because he needs the thigh that he is biting to remain a part of the fountain of life so that he can continue siphoning the life of the dragon.


    The fountain of life didn''t listen to his advice. It struggled in his deadly embrace with all of its might. The two of them fell to the ground in this struggle.


    His ten tails are powerful but they couldn''t get past the defense of the scales of the divine body. So he just used them to hang onto the fountain of life. Meanwhile, he continued to feast on the body, soul, consciousness, memories, and even the concept of the fountain of life.


    It is a very painful experience to have the essence of your existence leak out of you uncontrobly. It is almost as if the fountain of life is bleeding which is something that titans ofw don''t do. Even transcendents don''t bleed. Not unless a vampire bites them of course. Then they will be made to bleed.


    Some have said that a vampire''s bite is pleasurable. But this is nowhere pleasurable. There''s no way that Ragnarok can mask the pain of feeling one''s existence actively broken down and siphoned. It is not a wonder why the fountain of life is willing to pay the price of a thigh and the massive injury the loss of the thigh will cause to it just to get away from Ragnarok.


    Ragnarok wouldn''t even bother to mask the pain if he could. He is not a Vampire. He won''t make his prey feel good. He is better than them. Even Vampires are his prey. He has devoured too many of them. Instead of trying to make the experience pleasurable or just mildly painful, he chose to maximize the devouring power of his jaws.


    The fountain of life roared. It opened its jaws and ejected its dragon fire at him in desperation. A torrent of white mes poured out of its jaws onto him. The fire didn''t burn him physically. It targeted his own life force and began burning it.


    The defense of the bone armor didn''t block the white mes at all. The white mes got into his body and used his life force to fuel and grow itself. Soon his entire ck and reddish body was covered in the white mes.


    It is painful. But he doesn''t care. His life force is being replenished faster than it is depleted. He has numerous sources of life force to dip in. First is the world that he devouring even now. Next is the origin energy from Legion-1''s inner world. Then there is the divine life energy from the tree father.


    But he hasn''t needed those yet. He gets more than enough from the fountain of life to heal faster than he is being damaged. So the fountain of life is just burning the life essence that he stole.


    It made himin, "Some people don''t have the good sense not to waste things."


    The fountain of life didn''t defend itself. It even increased the intensity of the dragon fire. The two of them tussled over the earth. They rolled about and crushed mountains. They remade thendscape into a total mess.


    Their fight was not without interference. Ghouls swarmed them as they fought. They tried to get to Ragnarok but their bodies broke apart whenever they came close to him. Then they were swiftly devoured by his tails. The darkness around him is a death zone for everything both living, non-living, and undead.


    The way the ghouls died and the sight of their meaningless struggle while being destroyed frightened the fountain of life. Their fate will be its fate if this continues. After all, it is also within the influence of the darkness.

 Chapter 1103 The Great Life Crystal Anchoring Plan.

    Chapter 1103 The Great Life Crystal Anchoring n.


    Ragnarok''s tails couldn''t do anything to it before but that is changing now that the defense of its scales is reducing constantly. The devouring is also reducing its strength so its chances of escaping are reducing by the moment.


    Unfortunately for it, the darkness is devouring any type of creation it uses its concept to create so it couldn''t bombard Ragnarok the way it did with Rinoz. It decided then that it must not remain within Ragnarok''s embrace any longer. So it summoned its domain when all else didn''t work. Ragnarok did too.


    He felt thew matrix be agitated immediately after the domain of the fountain of life was deployed. He couldn''t allow himself to fall under the domain of a dragon. He might not be able to break out of it once it happens. After all, the dragon is the real deal with an inner world right here whereas he is just borrowing the domain of a world beast. So he nipped any future problems in the bud by evoking his domain.


    The two domains shed and there was a bacsh again. The bacsh of force exploded between them. It caused the two of them to be separated again. The fountain of life seeded in escaping from his grasp while he bore a bacsh that created cracks all over his body. He also has the dragon fire still burning on him.


    The fountain of life isn''t looking too good either. Its sparkling scales have dimmed in brightness and it has reduced in size. That''s just the physical effects of what he did to the dragon. The spiritual and conceptual effects are beyond what the eye can see.


    "Ah. Dragon force. It has helped you again. If you are already this strong, it means that my dragon friend will be very strong too. Don''t you think so?" He asked the dragon as his body healed.


    The fountain of life didn''t say anything. It isn''t even flying. It is on the ground some distance away from Ragnarok practically heaving and breathing heavily despite having no need for air. Its mind is swooning, its vision is blurry and its perception of the world is messy. And much worse is its missing memories. Ragnarok scrubbed them from the matrix of its existence. That means it will never recover them. After all, it is not an Origin god with an immortal soul imprint.


    "Who are you and what did you do to me?" It asked in fury.


    "You are not going to get the life crystal with this sort of performance. You have to show me that you didn''t waste your time waiting in this ne."


    The fountain of life is reeling. It is battling with its mental identity and its purpose. It is finding it difficult to identify itself and its name. It doesn''t know those things for certain much less why it is in this ne and why it is fighting Ragnarok.


    But everything came into perspective when it heard what Ragnarok said. It remembered what it came to the ne to do. It is a significant pursuit that it spent more than 100 origin cycles on. That''s a veryrge portion of its memories which it still has.


    It said as if recollecting something forgotten, "I remember now. I have to get the life crystal of the ne. I have to raise the poption of the ne to a veryrge amount to make the life crystal more anchored towards the ne instead of towards the ancient battlefield. Then I must look for it and take it when I find it."


    That''s why it chose the wood elves when it came to the ne. It preferred a race without a divine ability over a supreme race with limitless potential. The Warrogs would have produced very powerful beings but the fountain of life didn''t choose them because they wouldn''t have let life prosper on the ne.


    The Warrogs needed to kill and eat to grow which would hamper its ns. So it chose quantity over quality. That''s also why it didn''t have the Warrog paragons killed or eliminate the dark elves. It is because the more powerful individuals were alive in the ne, the more the pull on the life crystal towards the ne.


    It n is why it spread its divine sense to every corner of the ne. It was constantly monitoring the ne because it was looking for the life crystal. It wasn''t to snoop on people. All of this came rushing back to its mind as it recovered its purpose in the ne.


    It also remembered why it did all of this and spent 100 origin cycles watching and waiting for a life crystal.


    "I need the life crystal to anchor my concept to my inner world. It will make me have control over the concept and sessfully be a Sovereign. I will also be a great origin god." It said slowly as its purpose returned to it.


    Ragnarok mocked. "You need the life crystal because you overstepped. You created something you couldn''t control. Not many titans ofw require something so powerful to be Sovereigns ofw. My dragon friend will not have that problem anyway. He is too powerful for any concept."


    Everything came to the fountain of life then. It is true that it created something it couldn''t control. It is a foolish decision for a dragon to create a concept with more than onew. But it did so because the concept is very powerful.


    It tried to fuse two highws into something more powerful. It is a concept that will grant it control over all of life and modify it to its wishes.


    It was able to improve the tree people with its concept and curse the Warrogs. It was even able to attack the will of a ne with it. With this sort of potential, it might be able to take on the will of a realm once it bes an Origin god. The path to bing a world god would be sure then.

 Chapter 1104 Lesson Learned.

    Chapter 1104 Lesson Learned.


    The concept the fountain of life made was very powerful but it couldn''t control it yet. That meant t couldn''t be a Sovereign of life. It is a powerful creature that can already kill Origin gods but it will die as a titan because it bit more than it could chew. That would be very pitiful and it didn''t want that for itself. So it sought to empower its inner world and grant it control over the concept. That''s why it came to this ne.


    The Fountain of life said after understanding its motives and purpose, "The Life crystal is very important to me. That tiny Warrog girl threatened my chances of getting it so I killed her. You are threatening it now so you must die."


    Ragnarok said with glee, "Is that so? Then bring it on. I am not going anywhere." Ragnarok said with glee.


    He is fit and ready for battle. His body has fully recovered. The dragon mes have been devoured and the cracks on his body healed. The crystalline pirs on his back have grown brighter. Their blue light shone brightly against the ck and red bone armor that they were attached to. He can go for another round of fighting without any issue.


    He even moved closer to the fountain of life in his eagerness to start fighting but the fountain of life jumped back from him. It kept a safe distance from him so Ragnarok stopped chasing after it. He focused the devouring power of his tails on his environment. It made the crystalline pirs on his back glow brighter.


    The changes going on with Ragnarok as he devoured the world did not elude the eyes of the fountain of life. It could see and understand that its chances of getting the life crystal are getting smaller and smaller the brighter the crystalline pirs on Ragnarok''s back get. It made it want to rush forward to stop Ragnarok but something was stopping it from moving forward.


    The fountain of life regarded him silently. It has forgotten the name of the tiny Warrog girl that it killed but it can''t forget that it is Ragnarok that made it forget the tiny Warrog girl''s name. Something is clear to it now and that is that it must not get close to Ragnarok. So it circled Ragnarok while keeping its distance. Then it fired a beam of dragon fire at him.


    The dragon breath came in the form of white mes in a straight path to Ragnarok. He didn''t dodge. He used one of his tails to block thence of fire. The reddish-ck tail shed with the dragon breath without an explosion. There was no explosion because the tail swallowed the fire as it came.


    Ragnarok advised with good intentions, "This isn''t going to work. Devouring trumps life and devouring trumps creation."


    The fountain of life knows that. It already tried to use thew of creation and it failed. So it is not a surprise to it that its dragon breath failed too. But it is out of options to attack.


    It is a dragon of life and they are the weakest type of dragons when ites to attack power. It is best at healing and manipting life. Its concept will be powerful against other beings that don''t devour everything thates close to it.


    Ragnarok continued to advise, "Your concept has been nullified so if you want to stop me, you will have to get close to me physically. How about that? Don''t you want the life crystal anymore?"


    He is trying to goad the fountain of life into getting close to him. It is not that he doesn''t have range attacks, but he can''t use them now that he is focusing on destroying the ne. So he wants the fountain of life toe close enough for him to take a good bite out of it.


    But the fountain of life didn''te closer. It made him frustrated and also proud of himself. His concept, bottomless abyss, will eventually turn him into a bottomless abyss.


    At this point, it is already difficult to harm him since everything around him gets devoured. It would be very difficult to kill him as an Origin god when he literally bes the bottomless abyss. He is looking forward to it.


    Ragnarok attacked when the fountain of life didn''t try anything else. He opened his mouth and exhaled. A bright blue beam of energy came out of his mouth and struck the fountain of life right in the chest. It caused the crystalline pirs on his back to dim but it also threw the great white dragon aside in a fiery explosion of fire and earth so it is worth it.


    He rushed after the fountain of life immediately to take advantage of its situation. But the dragon took to the air before he got close. He could chase after it but that will mean he has to stop devouring the ne. So he remained on the ground.


    The fountain of life took one more look at Ragnarok. It said, "A dragon never forgets. We never forget."


    Then it flew away. Ragnarok watched it go for a while before he started tough.


    He shouted at the retreating dragon, "Where is your pride? Show me your dragon pride. I stand here to end a world. Hopes and dreams shall end today. Many lives will end. Will you let your hope die here today too? Will you watch as I bring this ne to oblivion with your hope with it? Or will you fight if only for your pride?"


    The fountain of life didn''t reply. It has learned many valuable lessons in its short encounter with Ragnarok so It just flew away and entered its sinkhole in the north. It chose defeat over death.


    Ragnarok considered chasing it but decided against it. The fountain of life will just run away again. Instead of going on a wild goose chase, it is much better to destroy the ne. Anyone that wants to stop him will have toe to him.

 Chapter 1105 Limitless.

    Chapter 1105 Limitless.


    If anyone cares about the ne enough to want to stop him then they wille to fight him. He doesn''t need to go looking for them so he made himselffortable in the center of the all-devouring whirlpool. He said to himself, "It is a pity really. To be a dragon and to be the weakest one. But Legion-8 will never have that problem."


    The fountain of life is a majestic dragon. But it is giving up. It is not just giving up the fight, it is giving up its hope and its future. It is a dragon of life and it wants to strengthen itself. So itbined thew of creation with its divine ability.


    That was too much for its dragon heart to bear so now it needs the life crystal that Mother High Heaven used to seed the ne, supply mana at the beginning of the ne, and manipte life within the ne to strengthen its inner world.


    The life crystal is precious. Origin gods have to pay a lot of wealth to get it from Mother High Heaven. The alternative is to somehow steal it from her. It is difficult to steal from the Will of the realm but it is possible. The fountain of life was making a lot of progress in it too.


    Then the demon god came along. The ne suffered when the light of the sun was blocked. The temperature of the ne fell, and many nts and animals died. It set back the progress of the fountain of life for many Origin cycles.


    What''s worse than the infection of Vampires in the ne is that the ghouls came with the Vampires. The ghouls threatened the fountain of life''s n far more than the Vampires so it had them sealed. Then war broke out between the wood elves and the Vampires.


    Fortunately, things eventually settled down when a new equilibrium was achieved. But then he came along and ruined everything. He released the ghouls again and now he is going so far as to destroy the nepletely.


    100 origin cycles worth of effort will go down the drain. It made Ragnarok feel pity for the fountain of life and pride for Legion-8. He felt pity because the fountain of life reminded him of Gehaldirah. That was where he started too. The weakness of thew of life that high elves had made him decide to ovee his weakness and helped him to reincarnate.


    He hase a long way from then. Now he is proud of himself and Legion-8. He is specifically proud of Legion-8 because the dragon clone will not need a life crystal to strengthen his inner world just to fuse two highws. Legion-8 doesn''t have the weakness of dragons. And without that weakness, Legion-8 will be limitless.


    He decided not to bother with the fountain of life anymore. Instead, he looked up at the sky and shouted, "Take a good look at your creation o powerful demon god."


    He spread his fore paws wide and said, "I am your creation but I was referring to the ne. The destruction of the ne is my fault but my existence is your fault so the destruction of the ne is your fault. I hope the Carnage that I have wrought pleases you."


    He is standing at the bottom of a whirlpool. The whirlpool is formed beneath him by the flow of the earth towards him. It is formed above him by the howling wind being dragged into him. So it is as if he standing at the center of a sinkhole in the sky and the earth. Both the earth and sky are sinking into him.


    There is a tornado above him that is funneling the air and the skies towards him. Beyond the whirlpool is a broken world. The skies are dark because of the heavyden storm clouds. The entire ne is dark too and would be dark even if there was nothing blocking the sun.


    But darkness is the least of the ne''s problems. The weather is violent because of all the storms tearing the ne apart. Lightning bolts of various colors are failing from the dark storm clouds to the ground. The ground is further cratered by the discharge of energy in the lightning bolt.


    The whirlpool is widening and so is the tornado in the sky. Soon they will cover the entire ne and consume it. Then there will be nothing left of the Lumen ne.


    "See all this Carnage that I have wrought and marvel." He said proudly. "You should be proud of me. I could never have gotten to this point without you. You wouldn''t give me a path to survival. You wouldn''t let me leave the ne. You wanted to subjugate me. So now I will make sure we will lose it all."


    He had once said that the ne would be destroyed before he willingly epts someone as his master. He had said it to Rinoz when she came to offer very to him. The demon god heard him say it back then but it definitely didn''t think it was possible. Now it wille to pass.


    He said triumphantly, "If I am to die, then everyone and everything is going down with me. Nobody will gain anything now. For I am Ragnarok. I am the world ender."


    Ragnarokughed maniacally after his speech. His voice cackled as he lost himself toughter. But no one could hear him. His speech was drowned out by the sound of the world dying. All everyone could hear was the roaring tempest and the thunderps. There is too much going on in the world for him to be heard.


    There is the sound of the earth splitting and rifts in the ground expanding. There is the sound of the wind howling as violent storms twist and churn. There is the sound of thunderps and the explosion they made when they touched the ground. There is also the sound of fire raging and consuming as it spreads throughout the ne.


    -----


    A/N: Bonus chapter for those sweet sweet golden tickets.

 Chapter 1106 Suicide Bomber.

    Chapter 1106 Suicide Bomber.


    The lightning bolts started the fire with their explosions and the storms fanned them into an all-consuming inferno. Ragnarok watched this happen from his position in the middle of the whirlpool. And heughed as he watched the world burn before him.


    He doesn''t care if the demon god heard him but the demon god did hear him. Two people approached him. The storm didn''t affect them. And neither did the devouring power around him. They look like a single person. This person that they look like is a ck statue. The statue is made from a pitch-ck opaque crystal material so they seem to be absorbing all of the light around them.


    It is already difficult to see what this person truly looks like at all so it is much more difficult to see that they are two people. There is a red halo on top of the statue''s head and a third eye on its forehead. As for the second halo, it is in the form of arge loop around the ck statue. So Ragnarok is sure that there are two Vampires. That is unless a single Vampire has two Halos.


    "Herees the demon god''sckeys." Ragnarok mocked. "What do you want? Do you want to fight me too?"


    The statue didn''t talk. The air around them was suddenly whipped into a frenzy. It is a small localized event that only urred in the area around the ck statue. Air moved swiftly along the red loop around the ck statue. But this wind is not normal. It is ck so it looks like thin strips of ck air are rotating around the statue quickly.


    It all happened in a sh. The thin strips of ck air congealed into one ck strip and suddenly elongated towards Ragnarok''s head. Then it returned to the ck statue with a snap like an stic substance. It returned to its form as ck wind moving along the red loop.


    They attacked him before he could deploy his domain. It was so fast that he couldn''t react. He doesn''t even know that he was attacked. His consciousness simply darkened as a splitting pain tore through his existence.


    The effect of that move showed a little after. The ground split apart starting from where the ck statue was standing all the way to Ragnarok and beyond him. This split was a small and smooth cut that divided thend.


    It also divided Ragnarok. He separated into two halves. The two halves fell away from each other to fall to the ground. The wind and the whirlpool began to die down immediately when his tails broke apart. The world began to calm down.


    "That was surprisingly easy," Drastoic said. "I thought it would be more difficult since Danah was certain of his extraordinary regeneration before his death."


    Sec grunted. His grunt made Drastoic chuckle. "I know that I shouldn''t count my chicks before they hatch but this looks good. He isn''t dead yet but we can cut him up for as many times as we want to make sure of it. Everything looks¡­"


    That word died down in his throat. The crystalline pirs on Ragnarok''s back began to shine brightly. They were also divided so there are two portions of them opposite each other. Sparks started toe out from the surface where they were sliced. These sparks turned into blue arcs of lightning. The lightning bolts collected into a ball of highly unstable energy between the sliced crystalline pirs.


    The ck wind picked up immediately around Drastoic. The wind shed toward the growing ball of lightning and cut it in half. But that didn''t help the situation. The two halves rejoined but they have changed color now to be purple. The lightning has be more destructive because the energy state of the discharge has be more unstable. That cut made it more unstable.


    "I see," Drastoic said.


    Sec didn''t need to say anything before he admitted. "I know, I know. You were right."


    Then he sighed. "To think I didn''t learn my lesson to keep my mouth shut when we failed to kill the fountain of life."


    They had tried to kill the fountain of life before and they failed. That was after the fountain of life had fought with the child of the ne. They sought to eliminate it in its weakened state and they seeded in splitting it apart. It divided into two sections just like this and he gloated. Only for the fountain of life to heal immediately.


    The two parts of the fountain of life rejoined in the blink of an eye. Nothing they did worked on the fountain of life after. It was capable of healing even as it was being cut. Now they are having a repeat of that situation.


    It is not exactly a repeat. The fountain of life was immune to their ability to cut anything. It wasn''t damaged or injured after several cuts. It was as if they were cutting a slime that could regenerate endlessly.


    On the other hand, Ragnarok is highly susceptible to their ability. They can kill him if they want to, but they risk having all this energy that he has devoured from the ne explode. It will surely crack the ne in half if it does explode. That''s the least that can happen. The ne might very well break up into many more pieces or be obliterated.


    So Ragnarok is threatening them with his death. They have to watch him heal or watch the world destroyed. The choice is theirs.


    Drastoic mused to himself, "Did he think this ahead or is it a coincidence?"


    It could be either but Drastoic wants it to be a coincidence that even the death of Ragnarok will lead to the destruction of the ne. Because if it is not a coincidence and Ragnarok nned for this, then either Ragnarok is determined to destroy the ne at all cost including his life or he is just holding the ne for ransom.

 Chapter 1107 Too Much Carnage.

    Chapter 1107 Too Much Carnage.


    n B it is then," Drastoic decided.


    n B is to talk Ragnarok out of destroying the ne if they can''t kill him. They have to switch to it despite the fact that they can kill him. Whichever the reason is for the sudden appearance of a bomb when Ragnarok is near death, it doesn''t change the fact that they don''t want the ne to be destroyed.


    So they waited for him to regenerate. He didn''t disappoint them either. They were afraid he wouldn''t be able to recover from having his existence shed in half. After all, most entities would have cked out at that point and be meat on the chopping block even if they didn''t die. But it seems Danah''s observation of Ragnarok''s extraordinary regeneration was not baseless.


    But his regeneration still took time. Drastoic found himselfining after 2 minutes of waiting.


    "How long is this going to take? Do we have to wait and watch him heal like some babysitters?"


    What''s worse than the fact that they can''t kill Ragnarok is that they have to protect him and make sure that no one kills him. It is all because of the bomb he has strapped to his back.


    Drastoicined again. "Maybe we should have tried talking first."


    He is truly regretting not trying to talk Ragnarok out of destroying the ne first. It is just that most negotiations don''t work out so he decided to end the trouble early. Now he has to wait and protect Ragnarok.


    The ck wind around him moved faster briefly. Drastoic saw it and muttered, "I know you don''t mind waiting but I don''t have the focus you do."


    Fortunately, they didn''t have to wait for long. Divine life energy sped up Ragnarok''s recovery. His natural healing and the assistance of divine life energy made him heal from the grievous injury to his existence.


    The two halves of his body grew tentacles that attached to each other. They pulled his body together and he began to heal. The storm of unstable energy became stable as he healed. It receded back into the blue crystal pirs on his back.


    The two Vampire Primogenitors watched in awe. "That was quick," Drastoic said. "That''s the fastest since Marlinto."


    A ghoul appeared beside them. It warped to them from a distance unknown. The ck wind shed and the ghoul was broken up into dust. It was sliced up so many times in such a small amount of time that the different parts of its body were scattered to the wind. That hasn''t killed the Ghoul. It will recover ande after them again. But it will take a long while to do that.


    "Pesky ghouls," Drastoicined.


    The Ghouls are just that to him. They are pesky like flies. They can''t harm him in any way no matter their number. Nothing can harm him. But they won''t give up. They harass him by pilling on him. Unfortunately, they can''t even harass him anymore with him and Sec working together. They will be broken apart before they cany a hand on him.


    The white Ghouls didn''t even bother with two of them. They chose to focus on the defenseless Vampires that have chosen to camp out at the nar portal. These Vampires, be they Primogenitors or not, are all defenseless now that they lost their protectors.


    Drastic and Sec couldn''t return to protect them now. They have to make sure that Ragnarok heals. So they watched as they became the twost Vampires in the ne. It was not a pleasant feeling at all.


    Drastoic said through gritted teeth, "We really should have talked first."


    Ragnarok finally put himself back together. His ten tails formed and began to devour the ne again. The apocalyptic whirlpool and typhoon started once again.


    He said smugly to the two primogenitors, "Nothing can stop the fate of the ne. Not even my death will stop it."


    Nothing will stop the destruction of the ne. He has beenbeled as expendable by Legion so even his death won''t stop the destruction of the ne. He doesn''t need to be alive for all the energy that he has siphoned from the world to go berserk.


    This energy will also be supplemented by origin energy and soul force from the other clones of Legion directly into his dying existence so that he can go out with a bang. It is because Legion has decided that they either get their way or this ne must be destroyed.


    So he said proudly, "This world will end and I will have fulfilled the prophecy of my name. I am Ragnarok and I shall end this world."


    Drastoic stated, "You will die if the ne dies Ragnarok. The demon god will never let this slight go."


    "I know that. There''s no way the demon god will let me go or all the origin gods of this ne." Then he said with a smile, "But it is okay since I am ready to die anyway."


    "Will you change your mind if you can leave the ne? The Supreme of Carnage is willing to grant you safe passage out of the ne."


    Ragnarok sneered. "It is a little toote for that. I warned that pompous demon god of what would happen if it didn''t let me out of this ne. I told it that it would regret it for not leaving me a path of survival. So here we are." He said as he spread his thick pawed hands to indicate their surroundings. "Let the world burn and let it crack beneath the insatiable devouring power of Ragnarok the bottomless abyss. Bear witness to my works and marvel."


    Drastoic was not in the mood to appreciate the art that Ragnarok was creating. He said hurriedly, "The Supreme of Carnage has seen the error of its ways. It has also seen the length you are willing to go for your conviction. What you are doing is beautiful. No one likes Carnage as much as the demon god. But there is such a thing as too much beauty."

 Chapter 1108 The First Primogenitor.

    Chapter 1108 The First Primogenitor.


    Ragnarok feigned ignorance, "What do you mean about too much beauty?"


    Drastoic tried to exin to him, "Your art aims to eliminate everything. If you continue with it, there will be no one left to appreciate your art and nothing left to appreciate when you are done. So the Supreme of Carnage wants you to stop and in exchange is willing to cease hostilities between us. What do you think about a truce?"


    "What kind of truce?" Ragnarok asked with interest.


    "The kind where you ask for anything you want in exchange for ceasing the destruction of the ne."


    "Hmm." Ragnarok considered it. "Is the demon god willing to leave the ne if I ask?"


    "You can ask for anything but that."


    Ragnarok snorted. He is irritated that he can''t make the demon god leave the ne but he didn''t give up. He decided to find a way to give the ne a fighting chance against the demon god.


    So he asked, "Then for starters, I want to put an end to the ghouls. Life needs to recover even if I stop destroying the ne. I am certain the demon god wants that too."


    Drastoic''s face fell. "You want the end of the Vampires."


    "Yes."


    Drastoic asked again, "Let me be clear. You are asking for the death of the two of us."


    Ragnarok nodded again. "Yes, I am."


    "Why?" Drastoic asked while struggling to remain calm.


    It is one thing to watch other Vampires die. He could bear with that sacrifice because it was important to keep Ragnarok safe. But now Ragnarok is asking for his precious life.


    Ragnarok replied. "If the demon god won''t leave, then what will change about the situation? Why should I spare the ne if it is still going to fall? I am only asking for relief for now. The death of the Vampires will make the Ghouls disappear and bring the ne some peace for it to recover. Besides, it is not as if there will be anything left of the ne for the demon god if the Ghouls are allowed to run their course for much longer."


    Drastoic received an instruction from the demon god. The instruction made him frown. He didn''t like it at all. But he went ahead to offer Ragnarok what the demon god wished for.


    "Fine. You will have your way." He said through gritted teeth.


    They watched as the other vampires died. It didn''t affect them so they can live with it. But now they have been asked to give up their lives. It is against their every instinct. They want to live. They even have the strength to protect themselves. But they don''t have any choice. It will be done because the supreme of Carnage wishes for it.


    It loathed the supreme of Carnage to get rid of all its spawns because a mortal demanded it. It will have to start all over again. It will be easier to do considering the bad state of the ne. And it is also a good thing for the demon god. The absence of the Ghouls will be a boon to it. It will let life recover on the ne which is what the demon god is after in the first ce.


    It has already lost most of its spawns, two more will only hurt a little more. So the demon god decided to ept the request despite being forced to. It may be a humiliating request, but the demon god of Carnage is a demon god of deals. He likes making deals and Ragnarok has something that it wants.


    The demon god instructed Drastoic, "Ask him if that is all."


    "What else do you want?" Drastoic asked Ragnarok with barely concealed anger.


    "I want to be granted that safe passage too."


    Drastoic asked in bitterness and anger. "Is that after or before we die?"


    His anger couldn''t be concealed any longer.


    Ragnarok replied with a smile, "I will leave but it has to be after you two die. I must watch you die myself. Then I will leave this ne to fate. I would have done enough damage and enough assistance in equal portions to it."


    Sec spoke for the first time to Ragnarok. "Must you see all Vampires dead if you will leave the ne? The ne will still fall."


    Ragnarok replied with a grin, "Call it being petty. Call it whatever you want. I don''t have to exin myself to you, but I will. I want the demon god to actually regret not letting me leave earlier. You two are just coteral damage. It is nothing personal."


    Drastoic shook his head in pity. "So this is how I will end. I thought I couldn''t be harmed by anything. I thought I would live forever."


    He is the very first Vampire in the lumen ne. He still remembers the night when he became an ancestral vampire in the Underdark. It was a night after he was abused by his mother and sisters.


    He had the mental, emotional, and physical scars from years of abuse. But those scars disappeared when he became an ancestral vampire. He became immune to injury and to pain. He became as tough as the strongest, hardest, and toughest material beneath the level of world gods.


    Bing an ancestral vampire granted him his heart''s desire. He would never be injured again and he would never feel pain again. He thought he had ovee all his weaknesses and that he would live forever.


    But it turns out that the source of his power is the same thing that will kill him. It turns out that he still has a ring weakness. He became immune to the world, but only because he was a pawn of the demon god. And pawns are to be sacrificed. He is not immune to that.


    Drastoicmented, "Now I will die. And it won''t be a glorious death like I thought. I will die as coteral damage."


    Sec joked, "You thought you would need to be dropped into a star for you to be killed."


    Drastoicughed at the joke. Hisughter had a twinge of sadness.

 Chapter 1109 True Love.

    Chapter 1109 True Love.


    As if being sad about his uing death is not enough, Ragnarok decided to pour salt on their injuries. "This is why I didn''t want to be bonded to the demon god. Whatever I achieve can be undermined and whatever strength I have can still be taken away. He giveth and he taketh away as it pleases him. Only a fool can rely on an uncaring entity."


    But Drastoic doesn''t regret making the decision to be an ancestral vampire. He has led a better life than he could have ever had. And this end is still way better than being killed by a female dark elf after he couldn''t reproduce anymore. Now he will die because he has outlived his usefulness to a supreme being and not to so some mortals.


    So he recovered immediately. He let his feelings of sadness die. Then he said to Ragnarok, "The Supreme of Carnage is ready to make the Oaths if that is all. This time we will rely on both the Oath of your Origin instead of only a blood writ. Make your Oath to cease the destruction of the ne after our deaths and the demon god will also make the oath to let you go once you stop destroying the ne."


    Ragnarok chuckled at their precaution. It is understandable since he has gotten away with breaking one blood writ in the past. That''s because the demon god stopped having jurisdiction over him. Now they want him to swear upon his Origin. Any Oath he makes on that will affect all of Legion, not only him.


    He watched calmly as Drastoic presented a blood writ to him. The indestructible Primogenitor said to him, "Sign this blood writ and swear upon your origin. We know you have one so don''t try to fool us. The deal won''t go through if the Supreme doesn''t feel the feedback of your Oath."


    Ragnarok read through the blood writ andughed. He shook his head. "I am not making or signing any Oaths."


    Drastoic smiled too. He is d to hear Ragnarok''s refusal but he pretended to be unhappy about it. He said sternly, "That is not very sporting."


    "I don''t care." Ragnarok remained adamant. "I don''t need to make any Oaths here. It is the demon god that needs to convince me by making Oaths. I on the other hand have nothing to gain by destroying the ne. I will leave if safe passage is guaranteed for me."


    Drastoic smile widened. "Let me get this. You want the Supreme of Carnage to swear upon its name to let you go if you stop destroying the ne after we die. Meanwhile, we have no guarantee whatsoever that you will stop destroying the ne after we die. Is that it?"


    Ragnarok replied sinctly, "That''s it."


    "Good. Good." Drastoic said.


    He is d that Ragnarok is being unreasonable. This might save him from the fate of death.


    But then he received new instructions and his happiness froze. His eyes widened in disbelief. Then he said, "The demon god agrees."


    He can''t believe that the demon god who has always been tyrannical will agree to a one-sided oath. He watched with sorrow as the blood writ glowed and as a white name appeared on it. The word CARNAGE appeared on it. The appearance of that name and title has sealed his fate.


    Then Drastoic began to change. His ck crytal body turned into ck flesh. The ck statue became an ancestral vampire with dark skin and long tapered ears. He has silver hair that was whipped about by the wind. He looks handsome now that he has lost the protection of his true form. He doesn''t look intimidating anymore.


    As for the ck wind around him, it lost its color too. It became ordinary wind after Drastoic withdrew his true form. Now it will struggle with cutting Sovereigns apart instead of being capable of instantly splitting anything. The wind sighed and became another ancestral vampire.


    Sec the Wind Carver appeared beside his long-time friend and partner. He is also a dark elf with silver hair. Thebination of the Indestructible and the Wind Carver has made them capable of great things. That''s how they were able to defeat Ragnarok with a single attack. That attack itself was also indestructible. He stood no chance of resisting them after being caught off guard like that.


    But now they have been separated. It is a painful experience for them. However, they are still one in mind and emotions. The two elven men embraced and kissed each other affectionately. Tears streamed down their faces as they spoke soothing words to each other.


    "The end hase. We will no longer be able to cut everything in our path together. Goodbye."


    "I love¡­"


    Ragnarok interrupted the lovely moment by mming a tail on the two of them. He crushed them into the earth and began devouring them. They didn''t resist since the demon god didn''t want them to.


    Ragnarok ridiculed them with a sneer. "What a touching moment."


    He got the confirmation that every Vampire in the ne had died after killing the two of them. The ghouls fell down to the ground and broke apart. Their bodies broke apart into a material that is rich with nutrients. All the lives they have taken were returned to the earth.


    It is as if their bodies aren''t the indestructible thing that primogenitors struggled to break apart but are instead made up of fertilizer. The soil became enriched and highly conducive to nt life because of their remains. All that needs to happen for the ne to recover is for the fire to stop burning, for the storm to end, for the whirlpool that is swallowing the ne to end, and for light to shine all over the ne.


    Ragnarok said to himself, "I guess I should go now. After all, the nar portal can be opened now."


    But he didn''t move to leave. He continued to devour the ne. The fire raged on and the storms intensified because the typhoon remained. This caused the frequency of the lightning bolts to increase while the giant whirlpool continued to devour the ne.


    ----


    A/N: This chapter will shut up all those who say I do not have a single bone for romance in me. I mean you INFERNOX.

 Chapter 1110 Another Round.

    <h4>Chapter 1110 Another Round.</h4>


    Heughed maniacally as the destruction of the world intensified. He didn''t get a response since all the mouthpieces of the demon god in the ne had been eliminated. But he is sure that the demon god must be furious at him.


    He became more assured of his conjecture when he saw the red moon disappear from the sky of the ne. Apparently, CARNAGE had given up on the ne so he smiled gleefully.


    But his smile faltered as the ne cracked in half. It caused a sound like the loudest thunder to reverberate throughout the ne.


    The stress on the ne has be too much. A deep trench that reached the bottom of the ne appeared. And within that trench is a most glorious sight.


    "What is that?" He asked aloud in shock.


    What appeared within the trench was a ball that seemed to be made of purews. It has no form or shape. Thews within it don''t interact to form concepts. It is a ball of pure information and order.


    Just looking at it made his mind be forcefully infused with knowledge of the cosmos and the workings of the world.


    Simply looking at the ball or being aware of its existence is forcing his existence to embrace high-order information. It is information that is beyond him and it is as invasive as the supremews of world gods.


    "Is that the life crystal?" he asked. "No, it is not. It shouldn''t be the Life Crystal. I sense cosmic energy from it."


    He is very familiar with cosmic energy so he knows it when he sees it. He doesn''t know what the life crystal should look like but he doesn''t think it should have cosmic energy.


    Then he said in determination, "It doesn''t matter. I must have it."


    Gone is his fixation on destroying the ne. He has something to live for now. He must have that thing, whatever it is. It has cosmic energy so it must be very powerful. That means he must have it.


    He is not the only one who has regained a new will for life. The fountain of life also saw this marvelous ball. After all, it shone with resplendent light that reached the sky.


    The ne didn''t be bright because the light it produced was not physical light. It is the light of knowledge and enlightenment meant for only those who can see its source. Those who can see this light, either sumb to it and die or withstand it but still yearn for more of it.


    "Is that the life crystal?" the fountain of life asked too. "This appears to be more powerful than I imagined. If I can get it then I will surely be a Sovereign ofw."


    Here lies its hopes and dreams. This is what it has been searching for all along. It couldn''t find it for 100 origin cycles but the ne gave it up as it was dying.


    The ne exposed its roots to the world. The fountain of life felt like it could just look at it for all of eternity and bask in this light of enlightenment. But it saw Ragnarok move towards it.


    Its eyes shed with anger and determination. It made up its mind immediately.


    "I must have the anchor of the ne. It is rightfully mine."


    The anchor is rightfully its. After all, it has done the bulk of the work for the anchor of the ne to show like this. It has managed the ne all these years and let life thrive all over it. This strengthened the anchor. All Ragnarok did was destroy the ne and make it show up. Anyone could have done that. So the life crystal should be its and no one else''s.


    It is far away so it used ranged options. Its divine sense gripped the world of manifestation and it bent it to its will using its concept. The earth shook and broke. The broken pieces came together to formrge humanoid structures. The created humanoid structures were then infused with life to be earth golems.


    Thousands of giant earth golems 10 kilometers tall were created like this. They swarmed Ragnarok from every direction. The fountain of life knows that they can''t beat him but they should dy him while it catches up.


    The earth shook massively and cracked again as the earth golems stomped toward Ragnarok. The added stress of a thousand 10-kilometer-tall giants running over its fragile surface is pushing it over the edge.


    Ragnarok observed his surroundings, "The ne ising apart. I have to rush or it will be toote."


    The ne ising apart. If ites apart before he gets the life crystal, then he will lose the life crystal forever. The anchor will return to mother high heaven. So he has to rush. He didn''t bother to fight the earth golem. He barreled through them while using his tails to tear apart anything that tried to hold him back.


    They tried to form a wall in front of him to block him. They stood side by side and back to back while some other earth golems went to grab the life crystal. But he cut off their n before it finished. He opened his maw and ejected a blue beam of energy at them. The beam tore apart every obstacle in his way and created a path for him.


    He was able to get to the life crystal before the ne gave uppletely. The fountain of life also reached the life crystal at the same time as him. The two of them began to fight for the ownership of the treasure. It was the start of their second round of fighting.


    They used their domains to rebuff each other. It caused explosions to ur between and around them. Ragnarok used his tails and the energy storage in his crystal pirs as a powerful means of attack to win the struggle. His powerful beam of energy flew around and cut through everything in his way.

 Chapter 1111 Bad Luck For CARNAGE.

    <h4>Chapter 1111 Bad Luck For CARNAGE.</h4>


    The fountain of life on the other hand conjured more and more earth golems to pile on him. It didn''t want to get close to him at all despite its determination to get the life crystal from him. It seems it is still afraid of Ragnarok''s bite. It has a reason to fight but that reason has not clouded its judgment or made it forget the lesson it learned a few minutes ago.


    "You have to do better than that, dragon. If you intend to get this life crystal, you must be willing to put your life on the life for the slim chance of greatness."


    The fountain of life didn''t retort. It noticed that Ragnarok suffered each time their domain shed so it focused on using the bacsh to wear him down without engaging him further. It is a good n. Unfortunately, Ragnarok can heal faster than itself.


    The fountain of life is a dragon of life coveting the power of creation. But even it had to marvel at the regeneration ability of Ragnarok. It could sense the powerful life-giving energy welling up within Ragnarok each time that he got injured.


    They fought each other in an earth-shaking battle. The earth was literally shaking. It was falling apart too. More cracks appeared because of the earthquakes that they caused. The shockwaves of the explosion caused by the sh of their domain were like hammers striking the fragile ne.


    The ne became fragmented with each explosion and the life crystal was about to disappear. Meanwhile, there was another struggle going on outside the ne.


    ----


    In The Void At The Time That Ragnarok Killed The Last Vampires.


    "How dare that scoundrel?" The demon god yelled angrily.


    Its form quivered in anger. The red cloud of energy around the ne rippled slightly. The demon god was truly angry. Ragnarok killed his vampires but didn''t stop destroying the ne. It is about to destroy the divine ne and the origin gods that used to hound it have given up. But all of that will go to waste now all because of one Warrog.


    As if that wasn''t enough, another bad thing happened to the demon god of Carnage. Another red cloud of energy began to approach the ne. This red cloud is not a sea of blood like itself. It is a sea of fire. This sea of fire is boiling and rolling like a tumultuous sea. Red lightning can be seen moving across its surface from time to time.


    The demon god saw it from afar and couldn''t help but swear in outrage. "In the name of the abyss and all that is unholy."


    "What is WRATH doing here? How did this muscle head get the nar coordinates of the ne?" The demon god of Carnage asked.


    It said with a sneer, "Someone must have told it. It must be those Origin gods. It seems they didn''t give up their ne without trying to make things difficult for me."


    Then it chuckled. "Well, it doesn''t matter anymore. Everything is going downhill. The ne is worthless now. I should just leave."


    Somehow the demon god of Wrath found out which ne CARNAGE is attacking and where it is. It is the final nail in the coffin for the ambitions of the demon god of Carnage for the Lumen ne. It won''t be able to get this ne anymore now that Wrath is here.


    Wrath can really keep a grudge and it is still angry about how the demon god of CARNAGE interfered with its extortion of the demon kings after the meeting to create the coalition of the abyss. Wrath did promise to interfere in the acquisition of the ne then. It is never going to let that grudge and numerous others go. Especially not when the opportunity for retribution has been presented to it.


    "This muscle head should be called the demon god of Grudge and revenge instead of Wrath."


    With WRATH here, the demon god of Carnage can kiss its chances of getting the ne goodbye. It is not as if there is anything to get anymore. Ragnarok will destroy it soon. So the demon god of CARNAGE withdrew its cloud from around the ne. It stopped attacking and barricading the ne. Its actions caused the red moon in the sky of the ne to disappear.


    "I better prepare." The demon god said, "I could use a fight right now."


    With WRATH here, a fight is likely to happen and CARNAGE wants to prepare for that fight. So there CARNAGE was, a sea of blood waiting for the sea of fire toe so that they would fight. The sea of blood is smaller than the sea of fire but the demon god of CARNAGE is actually looking forward to the fight.


    The worst that will happen is the death of this body. It has numerous bodies scattered throughout the realm so it is willing to sacrifice this one for some fun. It has to do so or WRATH will continue to follow it around until it gets its vengeance.


    But then a new development urred in the ne moments after the demon god stopped barricading the ne. CARNAGE sensed it immediately because it was close to the ne and because it was still attached to the consciousness of all life in the ne.


    It turned its attention to the ne in surprise. It saw the ball of purews and eximed, "That is no Life crystal. That is more than a measly Life crystal. I must have it."


    It became excited at the appearance of the strange treasure "This is my lucky day. So this ne will not be a total waste to me after all."


    It nned its course of action. "I should barricade the ne again and wait for it to get destroyed. Then I will be able to have it to myself."


    It wants to get this powerful artifact that has appeared but it can''t enter the ne. So it decided to surround the ne again and block both entry and exit. Then it will be able to get into the ne after it breaks up.

 Chapter 1112 Revenge Is The Sweetest.

    Chapter 1112 Revenge Is The Sweetest.


    The ne won''tst longer anymore. The fact that its anchor has been exposed means it is very close to its end. When it ends, the demon god ns to kill both Ragnarok and the fountain of life for the artifact.


    Then it remembered that it wasn''t alone. There''s someone else here that could threaten it. It made the Supreme of Carnage groan andin. "Of all the time for this muscle head to show up, now is the worst time."


    "I have to stop WRATH. Let me distract this me head for a while."


    It doesn''t want to fight anymore. A fight is thest thing on CARNAGE''s mind now. So It sent out a portion of its body to fight the demon god of WRATH. It should dy WRATH and buy it enough time for the ne to end. Unfortunately, the dy tactic didn''t work. The nested longer than it should have. The demon god of WRATH arrived before the ne copsed.


    "Revenge is the sweetest thing I know." WRATH said with unbridled excitement when it got close.


    CARNAGE tried to talk it out of fighting, "Let''s talk about this. We can make a deal. I will pay you for my slight to your prestige and the other little things I have done to offend you."


    "No." WRATH refused. "I don''t want your payment. If I want something I will get it. You made a fool out of me. So I will make a fool out of you too. I will make sure that you fail to acquire this ne. I will see it destroyed even if I have to."


    It is obvious that WRATH came for a fight and only a fight will satisfy it. It didn''t want to listen to reason at all. It swept forward like a badgering ram to crash into the demon god of CARNAGE. CARNAGE had to stop barricading the ne again or risk losing the fight early. Doing that meant it had to reveal the fact that there was a great artifact in the ne.


    "What do we have here?" WRATH asked,pletely intrigued. "Is that not a world spark? What is a world spark doing in a ne? How did it even get into the realm?"


    WRATH is understandably confused. The great treasure that has appeared seems to be a world spark. Such a thing should not be in the realm. Mother High Heaven would have snatched such powerful objects as their effects on the realm can be catastrophic.


    CARNAGE spoke since the cat was out of the bag. It mocked WRATH, "Stupid demon who can''t think. Can''t you see that it is not an ordinary world spark? It is more powerful but more subdued."


    WRATH didn''t take offense at being called stupid. It took another look at the powerful treasure. Its gaze passed through the divine ne to see the only thing it could see in the ne. Despite the distance and the obstacle of the divine ne, it could see the light produced by the treasure and assess its worth.


    It had to admit after its inspection, "You''re right. It does look special."


    Then it roared inughter. "This just keeps getting better and better. I was right. Revenge is truly the sweetest thing ever."


    They are not that familiar with world sparks since such a powerful thing is so rare. And treasures of that level don''t appear within the realm. Mother High Heaven won''t allow it. But they will recognize it once they see it. That''s how the demon gods knew what the treasure could be immediately after they saw it. They sensed what they should expect to sense from a world spark from it. And that is a path to bing a world-ender.


    They have only seen a world spark once and that was when they saw the reward list after that the realm lord offered them for being a part of the coalition of the abyss. It was only once but they can tell that this treasure that has appeared is more powerful than what they saw on that list.


    It is a mystery why such a thing is within a ne and why mother high heaven would allow it. But they are not concerned about the mystery for now. They will try to figure it out when they haveid their hands on it.


    "It is mine." WRATH dered grandly. "Get out of my way bloodsucker."


    "You will have to get past me to get it." The demon god of Carnage said as it stood in the path of WRATH.


    "That shouldn''t be difficult to do." WRATH said as it continued to barrel forward.


    CARNAGE sent most of its body to engage WRATH. It kept a small portion close to the ne to deal with acquiring the artifact. It is clear that it is going to lose. But the saving grace is that it is not going to lose quickly. All it has to do is dy WRATH, then everything should be fine as long as it gets its hands on the powerful artifact.


    The two red clouds shed. The result is what one would expect when twondmasses of energy and power collide. Space quaked and energy was discharged in the form of violent res that ripped matter apart. Lightning crashed about in the void. Tentacles, whips, and other appendages struck each other. The two demon gods ripped into each other''s existence with reckless abandon.


    At their level, defense is futile. If you can attack, you can surely be attacked. And if you can harm the other, you can surely be harmed in return. So it is a race of damage output vs. any form of regeneration. Normally, therger demon god wins. And the demon god of WRATH is wayrger, so it will win.


    But that won''t end the fight. Not by a long shot. Several bodies of both demon gods are converging on their position right now. This is a fight that will take a few hundred years to see a winner. After all, the prize is the opportunity to advance and be world-enders.

 Chapter 1113 Little Bitch.

    Chapter 1113 Little Bitch.


    The demon gods are hell-bent on getting that special world spark. They will do everything they can to get it. It is a struggle not unlike themon struggle in the abyss. The fittest will survive and the Victor will be stronger.


    It is for this once-in-a-billion-year opportunity that CARNAGE and WRATH are willing to sacrifice hundreds of millions of umtion to acquire. But then something finally went right for the demon of god of Carnage. The ne which is about 5 billion km square finally gave up.


    The surface of the ne has cracked all the way down to its foundation. There was a sharp crack as it detached from thew matrix. It stopped being a ne at that point. It has lost its connection to the realm tree so it is just a chunk ofnd, air, and water floating in the void.


    A chunk ofnd, air, and water cannot resist the pressure of the void on its own. The divine ne was the first to go. It cracked and fell inwards like the shell of an egg. Air was siphoned out of the ne into the void after the barrier around it was breached. Then the brokennd masses were shredded by the void.


    In the midst of all this are two tiny beings fighting for the treasure. They are probably big whenpared to the inhabitants of the ne. However,pared to the debris of a broken ne and two even bigger red clouds smashing into each other, the ck hexapod and the white-scaled lizard are small beings jostling each other like children.


    Transcendents and above can survive in the void. The smart ones who care about self-preservation, which is all of them, left the wreckage of the ne in a hurry. They want the treasure but there are two demon gods around. The presence of such malevolent entities deterred them. But not Ragnarok and the fountain of life.


    Ragnarok is currently in possession of this special treasure. He held it tightly against his chest while he used his ten tails to batter the fountain of life. He focused on defense and fleeing the destroyed ne. The fountain of life couldn''t do anything to stop him.


    The fountain of life roared in frustration. It yelled at him, "Curse you Ragnarok."


    Ragnarokughed victoriously, "You have failed little dragon of life. Shame on you."


    The fountain of life is bigger than him but he has the right to call it little because he is right. The fountain of life has failed. It could hamper Ragnarok when the ne was still around and it could use its earth golems. But the ne is no more. It doesn''t have earth to turn into golems or even air for the fountain of life to transmute with the power of creation. All there is is the dark cold void.


    If it couldn''t stop Ragnarok from acquiring the world spark when the ne was around. It surely can''t do so now when there is nothing for it to work with. It is also running out of time to make a decision. A portion of the demon god of Carnage is rushing towards them right now. It is a small portion but it isrger than the two of thembined.


    "Curse you." The fountain of life yelled again.


    Then it chose to escape. It gave up on the treasure and split ways with Ragnarok. Ragnarok also ran for his dear life. It didn''t surprise him when the demon god chose to chase him and not the fountain of life.


    CARNAGE roared at him. "Stop right there Ragnarok you little bitch."


    Ragnarok snickered. "That''s no way to speak with a gentleman. I won''t stop unless you ask me nicely."


    "Just wait until Iy my hands on you. You will know that the wrath of a demon god is not easy to bear. I will crush you like the ant that you are."


    Ragnarok didn''t beg for forgiveness. Instead, he provoked the demon god further. He said, "Stop lying. You don''t have hands. You can''ty what you don''t have on me."


    "Enjoy your brief moment of arrogance you little shit. It will end very soon."


    The demon god of Carnage is right about that. It is much faster than him. It is gaining on him as fast as possible. It is falling towards him like a giant funnel of energy and power. He will copse if he is struck by this funnel.


    "You better hurry up. I am running out of time." He shouted in his mind to Legion-7.


    Maybe if he throws the treasure far away from himself then the demon god will stop chasing him. But he didn''t give it up. The major reason is that he is greedy. He doesn''t want to give up something that is already his.


    The second reason is that this treasure is special. Legion is in possession of a world spark that they gained from the first sage so he knows that this is not a world spark. It is something more than a world spark. It is all the more reason why he should not give up the treasure.


    But the most important reason is because there is a way for Legion to get away with this treasure and more. He might die but Legion must get this world spark or something greater. Otherwise, his effort will be in vain. So he must escape with it.


    Legion-7 is seeing to his escape right now. It has extended a tentacle through the soul sphere into his existence. Legion-7 began annexing his soul immediately so that he could resurrect Ragnarokter.


    His soul is being consumed by Legion-7 but he didn''t resist or panic. Instead, heughed at the rushing tide of red blood about to reach him and made sure to provoke it onest time, "The fountain of life failed. You have also failed. Watch meugh. It is thestugh and it is mine."

 Chapter 1114 Legion Vs CARNAGE.

    Chapter 1114 Legion Vs CARNAGE.


    They say those whoughstugh best. He isughing right now while CARNAGE is grinding its nonexistent teeth. Heughed as his body was torn apart from the inside out. Space was torn out from within him so his existence was also ripped apart.


    The soul sphere warped out of existence because of his death. It went back to its anchor. The only thing left where he was was a tear in space and a dark tentacle with different colored dots of light within it. This tentacle is grasping the giant ball of light that Ragnarok was holding earlier. It pulled on this ball and tried to drag it through the tear in space.


    "NEVER!" Came the angry roar of the demon god of Carnage.


    Ragnarok died but that is inconsequential right now. What matters is that a third party killed him and is about to take advantage of the situation. This entity is after the special world spark. That has more than crossed the bottom line of the demon god.


    It is not about to lose the only thing that it will get out of this entire endeavor to invade a ne to a third party. No one is going to take advantage of him.


    It too broke through space after the tentacle. It swarmed after the tentacle past the world of manifestation and down into thew matrix. It even began to burn itself to gain enough power and speed to break thew matrix.


    CARNAGE is truly giving it its all. It broke past thew matrix in its chase. But it was all for naught. Legion-7 was too fast. The world below is its domain and besides, he wasn''t running away, he was pulling back his tentacle. So he was able to lose the demon god.


    The tear he created in the fabric of the world copsed and so did the tunnel that his tentacle passed through. The demon god roared in anger as the spatial tunnel copsed.


    Legion-7 found himself in the inner world of Legion-1. He heaved a sigh of relief.


    "That was too close." He said.


    "Do you think you lost it?" Legion-1 asked.


    "I don''t know," Legion-7 admitted. "There is still too much that we don''t know about the powers and abilities of demon gods to know for sure."


    "Hurry," Soverick said. "It ising."


    The four of them began to move after that warning. There was no speaking or questioning. There was only action. If Soverick is right, then a demon god is about to invade the inner world of Legion-1. It is a catastrophe caused by their greed.


    "Greed might be the end of us." The tree father said as it threw the special world spark into the artifact that they had built.


    They were working on creating the Kickstarter before the special world spark appeared in the Lumen ne. It is a powerful artifact that can destabilize the structure of a supremew so it should be capable of destroying the world spark.


    Soverick knew that the demon god wasing because the world spark left trails in thew matrix. He can see the trails himself so he believes that the demon god can see it too. The demon god is tracking its location through those trails. So they intend to destroy the object creating the trails so that they can hide the location of the inner world.


    "If this fails, then all of this would have been for nothing. Far worse than that is that we will lose far more." Legion 1 said.


    They smiled at that. The atmosphere seems jovial but they are all tense. They are risking a lot right now. If the Kickstarter fails to destroy the special world spark, then they are doomed. If the demon god can''t actually see the trails, and the special world spark is destroyed, then they would have lost the special treasure.


    If the Kickstarter seeds in destroying the special world spark but toote for them to hide from the demon god, then they have lost the treasure and they are also doomed.


    A lot could go wrong. But there is also a fourth option. It is the most risky option. They will lose the special artifact but they will gain more if the n seeds. This will put them in far more danger. But Soverick has nned for it so they believe that it will work.


    If the n doesn''t work, then are more than doomed. Their aim for perfection might end here despite the contingency ns that they have. And it all hinges on whether CARNAGE can find them or not.


    They got their answer immediately. Soverick was right, as he usually is. The demon god tracked the world spark. It broke through space into the inner world and directly appeared beside the special world spark. So it was tracking the trails. It managed to reach its target before Legion destroyed it.


    CARNAGEughed in glee as it scooped up the special world spark. "It is mine now. All mine. I will ascend. I will be glorious. I am to be death, the destroyer of worlds. World gods will quake before me."


    It roared in excitement and pride even as it began to fuse with the special world spark. It is not going to waste time at all. It is not going to risk anything going wrong when the world spark is finally within its grasp.


    All of its bodies in different parts of the void universe broke through space and appeared beside it immediately. They were teleported across space to join this body in evolving into a greater existence. Today, a world ender will be born.


    The red cloud of blood began to grow bigger and bigger. Its state of existence rose higher and higher. There is no way that the inner world of a world beast can tolerate its size much less its power.


    CARNAGE isn''t even targeting them. Just the mere presence of its existence will destroy Legion-1.

 Chapter 1115 The Kickstarter.

    Chapter 1115 The Kickstarter.


    Fortunately, the artifact that the demon god is in possesses constantly expanding space and time coefficients.


    Soverick grinned at the sight. It was a savage grin of madness and desperation, "All or nothing." He said. "We do this or we break."


    They are at the precipice now. The demon god is right here in their inner world. It is also in the Kickstarter since that''s where they ced the special world spark. It means there is no going back for them.


    They have to risk everything now and seed or lose everything. So the Kickstarter was started. The artifact began to move. It lit up suddenly and began to whirl. Time sped up within it while space expanded.


    The Kickstarter artifact was built in the form of figure eight or the infinity symbol. It is two loops joined together at their edges. The first loop, which is white, was constructed using divine energy from the tree father to give cosmic energy shape. The Authority of order that the tree father possessed was used as the anchor of cosmic energy.


    The demon god or soon-to-be world-ender is inside this loop. It is rotating around this single loop over and over again. Space is expanding and time is progressing faster than the rate of time in the void universe within it. This was achieved as a result of thebination of cosmic energy and the divine authorities of order, space, and time.


    The white loop is a small world free of thews of the void universe. So time and space can be warped within it. All it costs apart from the initial cosmic energy requirements is energy to run it. That energy is being provided by the tree father through the Authority of the Celestial Supreme present at the center of the white loop.


    So the demon god is allowed to freely elerate forward through time around and around the loop. The increase in the flow of time has made it so that its breakthrough is urring at a fast speed rtive to the time of the void universe while the expansion in space has made it so that its breakthrough is not affecting Legion-1''s inner world.


    The adjoining loop which is the ck loop was constructed painstakingly by using chaos energy from Aeternus to bind with cosmic energy. It was not easy for Legion-7 to construct this loop. Chaos energy is not a very good base. It is not obedient at all. If not for the fact that it was willing to bond with cosmic energy, then it would have been a futile attempt to use it.


    Legion-7 was sessful so there are two loops with opposite energies. One is order and the other is Chaos energy. Constructing them this way gave the arrangement a difference in potential. The two loops are just rearing to go at it. They want to meet and copse.


    They want to bnce the difference in potential and reach zero state, but they are prevented from doing so because the tree father is maintaining a closed loop in the white loop while the world fragment at the center of the ck loop is preventing it from copsing.


    This world fragment was given to Soverick by the first Sage. It contains theplete falsew of order of the first sage. It is doing a fine job of resisting the copse potential of Chaos energy. But they can''t make it do more than that.


    What the world fragment is currently doing is just a natural reaction. It is not going to Kickstart a world engine because it is not its natural reaction to do that. It needs the Will of the first sage for that. Or a little encouragement. Legion intends to give it that little encouragement.


    "Let it rip," Soverick ordered.


    The time dtion within the white loop has reached a critical point. Any more and it will be a catastrophe. The tree father is not a world god. He doesn''t have enough power and energy to keep it going past this point. That will cause all the time they have expanded to contract suddenly. It will snap back like an stic band.


    The flow of time won''t go back to zero after contracting like that. It will enter the negative, if only briefly. This negative will spill forth into Legion-1''s inner world since the loop would have obviously copsed at that point. So yes, it would be catastrophic if the time dtion is not eased off.


    Fortunately, catastrophe can be avoided for now. The demon god has sessfully be a world-ender. So the tree father did as Soverick said and let it rip. The closed loop within the white loop became open. It became connected to the ck loop and able to freely interact with it.


    The two loops want to copse into each other. This caused the freestanding world-ender within the white loop to be forcefully attracted by the difference in potential. It shot into the ck loop carrying the time dtion with it.


    The supremew in the world fragment at the center of the ck loop attacked the world ender immediately. It was an instinctive reaction. The carefully maintained bnce in the ck loop was upended by the presence of the world-ender. This caused the ck loop to copse.


    This copse was a violent thing. Time had been messed up and so was space. These fundamental cosmic forces all came crashing down on the supremew and world-ender. The two opposing entities were evenly matched. None of them gave up ground so both of them were forced to pay the price for bacsh. They were torn, and crushed into their basicponents. Matter and energy were converted into power in a big bang.


    Legion was ready for this big bang. Power expanded outwards from the copsed loops leaving only the remnants of the two supremes at the center. This power then fell into the open arms of the world engine which was ced around the two loops so it encapsted them. The golden ring roared to life as power poured into it. The world engine had been kick-started.

 Chapter 1116 A Cycle Of Destruction And Creation.

    Chapter 1116 A Cycle Of Destruction And Creation.


    The world engine was a golden band of light. But it became a sphere of golden light once it began to work. The sphere of golden light surrounded and sealed in the copsed two loops. The world engine began converting cosmic energy into cosmic force.


    It is now capable of performing the energy-to-matter transformations, power-to-authority interactions, andws-to-concept manifestations needed to run aw matrix. However, its operation won''tst.


    The world engine needs a sustained input of power for it to work with cosmic energy and void energy as raw materials for it to work. The Kickstarter has only provided a short burst of power. The burst is very powerful but it is not sustained. They don''t have a supremew to make it sustained.


    Meanwhile, there is a debt of time and space to pay within the sphere that the world engine has be. The false order of the first sage and the world ender have been reduced to their basic forms tethering on destruction.


    Their power was squeezed out of them to start the world engine. Fortunately, they are capable of destroying worlds themselves so they can''t be killed by something like this. It is not exactly a good thing for them though.


    The two of them are alive so they have to deal with the negative coefficient of time and space. The seal of the world engine ensures that only they will suffer the consequences and not Legion-1''s inner world.


    Space had copsed at that point. It began to expand after the copse but it couldn''t expand past the world engine. Time began to rewind within the world engine too. It rewinded back to the point before the copse.


    The world engine provided the energy and power needed for these reactions to ur by taking them from the void universe. It resulted in making the events that urred within the sphere unravel and reset. Everything returned to point zero.


    The ck loop of Chaos was reconstructed from the provided energy as time rewinded. The world fragment reappeared in its rightful position at the center of the ck loop. The white loop also reappeared and the world-ender was sent back inside the white loop.


    The world ender returned to the time when it was rotating around this single loop over and over again. At this point, Space is expanding and time is progressing faster than the rate of time in the void universe within it. The tree father could still handle the progression of events and energy requirements at that point.


    The white loop is a small world free of thews of the void universe. So time and space can be warped within it. All it costs apart from the initial cosmic energy requirements is energy to run it.


    Unlike earlier, the energy is being provided by the world engine through the Authority of Celestial Supreme present at the center of the loop. So the world ender is allowed to elerate forward through time around and around the loop far beyond what the tree father could allow.


    But the world engine faltered after it had used up the initial burst of power. This interrupted the flow of energy through the Authority of Celestial Supreme to the white loop. The closed system of the white loop fell. It became open and free to react with the ck pool again.


    The world ender reached the ck loop again and the supremew of the first sage attacked the new World Ender again. There was a copse followed by another release of power. The power entered the faltering world engine and sustained it for another round. It used its power to force the world ender and the supremew to pay the debt of time again.


    Everything reset to the point when the tree father could handle the requirements for the time warp. This time, the world engine is more powerful than the previous cycle so it could push the eleration of time a little further. This support is still temporary so the copse happened again. This led to a much stronger copse and the release of more power for the world engine.


    The cycle of operation ured smoothly like well-oiled gears in a clock. Reality was smashed apart against the supremew and world ender. The energy and matter used to set up the Kickstarter were converted into power through the copse. The world engine remained working through it all. It gained more and more power with every cycle.


    "It worked," Soverick said in part disbelief and part relief.


    Then he slumped down. "It worked." He muttered again in excitement.


    He repeated it again, this time with pride. "It worked."


    He is not the only one surprised. Legion-7 couldn''t believe it. "It actually worked. This fucked up idea of yours actually worked."


    "If world gods can do it so can we," Legion-1 said proudly.


    The tree father chuckled and said, "But we are not world gods."


    Aeternus agreed. "No, we are not. We are better. We are Legion."


    They all felt immense pride in their achievement. They have performed a miracle. It is something they ought to be proud of and they let themselves be. They baited a demon god. Then helped that demon god to be a world-ender. Then used the world ender and the supremew of the first sage to kickstart their world engine.


    It is one fucked up idea if there ever was such. Even world gods would be wary of world enders and wouldn''t want to get in touch with one but they decided to make one themselves.


    Helios muttered, "I still can''t believe it worked."


    Soverick felt offended. "I said it was going to work and it did."


    "But even you were not certain it was a good idea."


    Soverick defended himself smugly, "I was not certain it was a good idea only because it had never been done. But I was certain it would work. I have seen it work so it should work. It worked so I was right and that''s all that matters."


    -----


    A/N: Does this count as nuclear fusion or fission?

 Chapter 1117 How It Went Down.

    Chapter 1117 How It Went Down.


    They decided not to argue with Soverick anymore. They have had this argument before they decided to go with the n. Soverick doesn''t like people doubting his creations. He takes pride in envisioning a future and bringing it to pass. Anyone that doubts him his doubting the uracy of his eyes.


    "You''re just too greedy. We are all too greedy or we wouldn''t have agreed to let Ragnarok destroy a ne to anger Carnage."


    "This is why we are greedy. It is to achieve greatness." Soverick thought to himself and others.


    "It is good and all but we have lost a world spark," Helios said.


    The dragon clone said with sadness. "Yeah. And Ragnarok experienced his first death. Poor Ragnarok. He reminds me so much of myself."


    That made themugh. Of course, Ragnarok reminds all of them of themselves. He is them after all. He always did what they would have done. They would have chosen to lie low in the Iron Fur Pack and make it grow only to destroy it for power when they had the chance.


    They would have chosen to experience the transformation into a Vampire to acquire information about Supremews. They would have stubbornly refused to willingly enve themselves to a demon god.


    The craziest moment was when Ragnarok decided to eat the heart of Carnage instead of expelling it out of his body. It was almost as if he hadn''t learned his lesson from the previous times he tested fate.


    That depicted how greedy he was and what type of risk he would take for power. It is simr to how greedy they all are too. If they were not so greedy, they would have only focused on trying to save Ragnarok instead of risking him to bait a demon god. It is clear that they could have saved him if they wanted to. But they wanted to make it a certainty that CARNAGE would follow him to the ends of the realm for revenge.


    Soverick said, "If he hadn''t tried to figure out how vampires were created, maybe we wouldn''t have this."


    "Yes. We have Ragnarok to thank for that. He foolishly tried to experience the overwriting of a supremew."


    "Now Aeternus is running away from anything with a Supremew."


    They chuckled and chatted animatedly to the background of the world engine roaring to life again and again. The interval between its shutdown and start-up is getting shorter and shorter.


    Soon the world engine will just be humming in constant operation instead of roaring to life every couple of seconds. And it would be because Ragnarok was suicidal enough to try to experience the Vampire transformation.


    Ragnarok didn''tmit suicide when his father bit him. It was that dy that put Ragnarok on the path of vampires. Legion became extremely aware of the power of a demon god and how the sin of Carnage works through that experience. Then Ragnarok went on to consume many more hearts of Carnage.


    The information he risked his life to acquire wasn''t deemed important back then. Not until Soverick came up with the idea to use the demon god as a sort of reagent in a cosmic reaction needed to make the Kickstarter work. Then it was decided that they would use the demon god for their Kickstarter. And for that, they needed to bait the demon god.


    The upgraded world spark is the world spark that the first sage gave them but pumped full of cosmic energy. It was done mainly to render the world spark inert so that Legion-7 could interact with it without the threat of fusion and to render it harmless to Mother High Heaven.


    If they hadn''t rendered it inert, Legion-7 would have fused with the spark and therefore be a part of the void universe. He wouldn''t be able to slip the world spark into the ne when Carnage removed the barricade and Mother High Heaven wouldn''t have allowed it in the realm at all. That was very important to the n to bait CARNAGE.


    The other benefit of infusing the world spark with cosmic energy is that the world-ender it created would not be too weak as a new world-ender. That is very important or it might lose out to the false order of the first sage and create too much imbnce.


    Legion-1 said to Legion-7, "No one noticed when you ced the world spark in the ne. I was afraid the n would fail there."


    "Ragnarok''s performance was too notch. They were all focused on him. He was going to destroy the ne after all. And the demon god of Wrath distracted the demon god of Carnage. It was a good idea to leak the coordinates of the ne to it."


    It was truly a remarkable performance on Ragnarok''s part. It was so good that the demon god stopped covering the entire ne so Legion-7 could invade it. Legion-7 could have saved Ragnarok then but he didn''t. Instead, he nted the world spark. And Ragnarok also made sure everyone took the bait with his acting.


    "Speaking of Ragnarok, what do we do with him now?" Soverick asked.


    Legion-7 had the answer to that question. "I was able to back him up so the first step of unification is almostplete. I can create another body for him."


    Soverick nodded. "That''s good. We might need him to help us take care of the Vampire problems. He likes hunting Vampires. He will have a lot to do soon."


    The others are aware of the problem that Soverick is referring to. The demon god of Carnage has be a world-ender. Most world-enders end the race that they created when they were demon gods. After all, they don''t need theirckeys anymore. They can''t grow stronger by creating a race or expanding their sins anymore. They need to consume a world or a realm heart.


    The Vampires should be useless burdens now. They should all be eliminated for siphoning power from CARNAGE and not being of any use to it. But the world-ender of Carnage didn''t do so. Instead, it is broadcasting its position to every Vampire that it has created and to their Lineage. It is calling them for help and pulling them towards Legion-1. It is a call that they cannot ignore or refuse.


    ----


    A/N: What did you think was the reason why Ragnarok was destroying the ne? Surely you must have suspected his motives. But I doubt there''s anyone here who thought he was doing it just to anger CARNAGE.

 Chapter 1118 A Work Of Art Or A Bomb

    Chapter 1118 A Work Of Art Or A Bomb


    Legion-7 muttered, "CARNAGE is truly ungrateful. We helped it to be a world-ender without the need to expand its capacity for power and absorb the marks of sin of other demons of Carnage. It became a world ender very quickly and quite easily too but it is sending Vampires from every ne it has invaded at us."


    The tree father chuckled, "I don''t me Carnage. We too would be very angry after everything that has happened."


    "I don''t think so. I think it is just fair for it to pay us back for the use of a world spark and the cosmic energy within it with its servitude. So what if it has to suffer a cycle of destruction for at least the next 10 Origin cycles?"


    "It doesn''t matter if we are at fault here. We still need to handle the threat of the Vampires since we can''t hide from them."


    "We''ll just run away. They can''t fight us if they can''t catch up to us. We will get back to them when we can eliminate them in one fell swoop."


    They discussed the threat of the Vampires as if tens of thousands of Primogenitors were not rushing towards them right now. They haven''t be stronger after making the world engine work, they still need to use it to build the world fragment, but they are not scared of some Primogenitors. Not after they have trapped a world-ender and used it as kindling in their Kickstarter.


    They have messed with powers that are supposed to be way out of their league. As it is, there is a higher chance of CARNAGE killing them than some vampires seeding in killing them. The Kickstarter they have created can be a terrifying bomb if it explodes. The hatred of Vampires is the least of their concern.


    So they moved on to their next ns.


    Legion-1 stated, "Let Ragnarok rest and be an Origin god as soon as possible. He and every one of you will be of better use to me as Origin gods. We will be able toplete the first phase of unification then."


    He also added to their agenda, "As for now, I can take care of the vampires myself. It will be easier if you help me to construct my second concept. I need to start working on my Supremew but I can''t do so until I have an Origin divine ability for my core."


    Soverick nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a good n. The Vampires might be stronger than usual now that their Supreme is a world-nder. Also, CARNAGE might be able to descend into one of them. We are not certain of what a World ender is capable of."


    Aeternus chuckled, "I guess this is our chance to find out."


    Soverick shook his head. "I''d rather not find out. At least not with personal experience. We might end in a situation worse than Ragnarok''s when the demon godtched onto him."


    The tree father ended the discussion. "We can only do what we can do and right now, it starts with a second concept for Legion-1."


    Legion-7 said excitedly, "Let''s make a concept. It is time to see what this perpetual engine is."


    Soverick corrected, "You mean pseudo-perpetual engine. It is not aplete perpetual engine yet. It is just a prototype. And it is one that is rife with many faults."


    The tree father rolled his eyes and said as they got to work, "Yes, we know it is just a prototype. It is not apletely independent system yet. We are using the bacsh from thew matrix of the void universe initiated by tampering with the cosmic forces of time and space to grind down two immortal entities and take advantage of their immortality and energy from the void universe to produce power to kickstart our world engine. We know it is not perfect. But perpetual engine sounds better than the pseudo-perpetual engine you want to call it."


    Soverick insisted. "It is far from perfect. It is climbing uphill a mountain of debt in bacsh. The world engine is getting more and power but it can''t do so forever. The sorry world ender and thew of order of the sage are paying the debt now but we will have to pay for it when we try to rece the Kickstarter with our own supremew."


    *Besides its fault, its foundation is based on the first sage not being suicidal. If the first sage decides to go down and take us out with it, then we might have a lot of problems on our hands."


    What he said is true. The Kickstarter is working well but it won''t be like so for long. The major reason why is it working in the first ce is that it was able to break down the world ender and supremew for power through their antagonistic reaction. That power was more than enough for the world engine to start and also power the Kickstarter.


    Of course, the world engine used void energy and cosmic energy from the void universe to supplement itself so it is not an independent system that doesn''t need an external supply of energy and assistance. But what''s worse is that they don''t have control over the engine anymore. It has started and can''t be stopped, not unless they want to break it.


    Each cycle of the Kickstarter produces more power than it needs to keep the world engine running. That means the extra power is used to warp space and time within the Kickstarter because they don''t have any control over it anymore.


    As more and more cycles ur, more and more power is avable and used to warp space and time. The deviation of space and time increases rapidly leading to more negative space and time coefficient debt.


    All of that debt will have to be paid when the Kickstarter is stopped. So when they try to rece the Kickstarter with their supremews in order to acquire control over it and the world engine, they will have two very mad powerful entities and a massive debt to pay back to the void universe on their hands.


    This scenario is the best-case scenario. The Kickstarter can be faulty before they are ready to rece it with a supremew. One of the reasons it can be faulty is if the first sage decides to destroy it from within.

 Chapter 1119 The Second Main Concept.

    Chapter 1119 The Second Main Concept.


    They are certain that the first sage would be angry about what they have done. But currently, the Kickstarter is an isted space and time. In a normal situation, the first sage shouldn''t know that they are responsible for making a world-endere into contact with his supremew.


    This is an expected reaction since they are too weak toe into contact with one and shouldn''t be crazy enough to mess with a world-ender. The first sage shouldn''t me them for it because of this. Even if he finds out somehow and mes them for it, Ideally, the first sage shouldn''t be able to do anything about it and ideally, the first sage shouldn''t try to do anything about it.


    The first sage should be safe because the istion of space and time is preventing the escape of the world-ender. But if the first sage decides that he is willing to have his world destroyed in exchange for bringing down Legion, then the istion of the Kickstarter will be tested by the might of a world god.


    What they have built is a ticking time bomb. It just looks like a perpetual engine. It is not. It is incredibly useful since just the by-products of its operation include Origin essence, Mana, and Origin energy. It is how the realm tree produces the Origin essence, mana, and Origin energy it uses to maintain the realm and to reward survivors of the trial of heaven.


    These resources are apart from its main output of cosmic force so the world engine is a boon to Legion far more than its ability to get aw matrix running, but it is also creating problems for them. The Vampires areing for them and the first sage mighte for them.


    They can''t even fight the first sage. They can only hope that Soverick was right about what the first sage thought happened. In the meantime, they will prepare for more than 10,000 Origin god-level Vampires hunting them across the void universe.


    It is a good thing that Legion-1 is very far away from the realm of high heaven right now. The mission that Legion-1 did for the realm lord took him far away from the realm. That will buy them some time to prepare for the battles toe.


    Legion-1 asked Helios, "Do we have enough time to build the concept?"


    "Ues we do. But this perpetual engine better be worth it," Helios said. "You should see what I am seeing. CARNAGE has been very busy."


    He is close to the realm tree and can see a lot of events urring around the realm tree. He saw the amount of Vampires flooding the void and he couldn''t help but be concerned.


    These Vampire Monarchs are the upgraded version. They are not the Primogenitors who have a fatal weakness to light. All of them are without weakness to fire and sunlight now that their Supreme ancestor is a world-ender. If the world engine doesn''t work for them then they will have risked their lives and angered a lot of enemies for nothing.


    "Stop doubting me. It will work," Soverick said confidently. "We should have enough time to make the second concept. We will add thews of earth, fire, water, and air to the mainw of space. It should be easy to do and shouldn''t stress your core too much."


    "Let''s add thew of life too so that it won''t sh with the first concept."


    "But won''t that make them fuse?"


    "There is no problem if they fuse as long as their power is preserved."


    "Let''s do it. We will work on thew matrix after we get everything we need for a better try."


    They got to work as soon as they had made up their minds. The period of discussion they had after the Kickstarter started working has not been up to a minute. The exchange of thoughts is very fast but they feel like they have to rush with building the second concept.


    They started out as if they were building aw matrix. But they aren''t using the world engine because they don''t need it to make a concept. Creating a concept is something they can do easily on their own.


    The four of them got to work immediately. Legion-7 is doing most of the work but the other two are helping while Soverick is overseeing the process. They used just fragments of thews of space, life, fire, earth, wind, and air. With the concept, Legion-1 would be able to teleport through most obstacles.


    This second concept is very important to Legion. It is not a concept to make Legion-1 a two-star Origin god. He has already reached the limit of the power of Origin gods thanks to the infusion of cosmic energy into his first concept. This concept that they are building is going to be his second main concept.


    This concept is so important that they have put the n to build aw matrix for them to be able to use their shards of power at full capacity on hold for now. It is true that they have to rest and acquire some other things so that they will be able to build a better world fragment. But most importantly, this second concept has to be exquisite and it will require their full attention to make itplex.


    Legion-1 has two divine abilities so he can have two separate concepts at the origin level. It is unheard of in the void universe for an Origin god to have two main concepts but it is also unheard of that a Sovereign managed to separate their bodies and soul, then use only the soul to be an Origin god by possessing the core of a world beast.


    So technically, Legion-1 is the fusion of two races. He is a high elf in soul with the concept of life, and a world beast in body with the divine ability of world devour. This special situation has made it possible to have two main concepts.

 Chapter 1120 Complexity Over Quantity.

    Chapter 1120 Complexity Over Quantity.


    Legion chose a world beast for several reasons. One of the reasons is for the inner world. It has granted them a very powerful Origin domain and it has served as a domain for Legion-9. The most important reason is still the fact that the core can be assimted into his existence without issue. When he possessed the core, it created a new body for him immediately.


    His situation is very unique. He is not only different from other Origin gods but other Origin god-level world beasts aren''t like him either. They don''t have a separate origin soul in their inner world like him. Their soul within their inner world, their body, and Origin have be one. He on the other hand has a separate Origin soul and an Origin body.


    His inner world is currently independent of his Origin and soul so the divine ability as a world beast still exists. That means that he can upgrade it to the original level. It can be said that he is still in the process of bing a full-origin god despite the fact that he has reached the threshold to create a world.


    The concept they are creating will upgrade the divine ability to the Origin level. They could use morews but they are settling for a sixw concept. This is because the number ofws in a concept is not a direct determinant of the power of that concept.


    Complexity and function are more important in a concept than the number ofws. A concept with a lot ofws will have a wider range of functions, adaptability, and growth potential, but it might becking inplexity.


    Complexity is very important in making the concept actually powerful. It bes exponentially difficult to make a conceptplex the morews it has. That meansplexity is indirectly proportional to the number ofws.


    Everyone can agree in most cases that quality is always better than quantity. Besides, they have limited time on their hands to make a concept with too manyws and still maintain itsplexity. So they intend to focus on theplexity of the concept to make its function irresistable.


    Soverick has alreadyprehended mostws of the void universe including thews of space that they need to enhance his core. His knowledge whenbined with Legion-7''s maniption ofw fragments means that not only would they be able to build a sixw concept, they would be able to make it almost as sturdy as a singlew concept.


    They finished the construction pretty quickly. They have had several years of practice at this point and they are not trying to make aw matrix that will fail and be a concept. They are setting out to make a concept which is much easier to do than aw matrix.


    A concept is just the representation of the interaction ofws. It is the oue or behavior of aw or a group ofws when they interact with each other and the world. Aw matrix is an interwoven contract made up ofyers of numerous interactingws that are open to having any type of interaction they possibly can in such a stable situation that they don''t destroy each other and also interact in an underlying manner and hence, produce certain concepts far often than others.


    They aren''t making something capable of deriving numerous concepts without imploding on itself but just a single concept. Soverick was already capable of creating top-grade artifacts that contained concepts on his own without the help of others and they have had experience in creating concepts through Ragnarok so they finished just shy of a year.


    That is a very short time to break through into the titan ofw stage. Most people who spend that short a time to construct their concept and be titans ofw have probably failed. Even Ragnarok spent a hundred years on his breakthrough and he had help from the hearts of Carnage he ate.


    "It is ready," Soverick said.


    Legion-7 let go of his hold on the spherical ball ofws that they were working on. The ball began to shrink without a foundation. But this time it didn''t implode on itself. Legion-7 controlled its contraction so that the formation and linkages within the concept were maintained. They don''t want it to be unusable like the first one that they made by mistake.


    The white phantom sphere shrunk until it became a white crystal just 1 meter in size. Then thew matrix of the void universe appeared to vet it. A tapestry woven of threads of light but in the visible and the invisible spectrum sprung into existence for the briefest of moments. It disappeared without making any changes.


    The clones of Legion did not sigh in relief. They were not concerned about the oue at all. Soverick was highly confident of the integrity and functionality of the concept they created so they were all confident that it would pass the inspection of the void universe and not be rejected.


    Even if it were rejected, it would have no negative impact on them apart from the loss of time and effort. Their existence would not be impacted too much if it exploded because it couldn''t withstand the pressure of the void universe.


    Legion-1 took the concept and pressed a bead of origin essence into it. It began to glow so he threw it out of his inner world into the empty space of his origin. The origin essence and cosmic energy within it prevented it from being destroyed in his Origin.


    The concept expanded once it got out of his inner world. It got as big as a star. Then it encapsted his inner world from the outside. Legion-1 willed it to shrink and began fusing with it.


    "Now that that''s done. Let''s make some preparations and have a period of rest before we get to work on making our Law matrix. It is going to take a while and it won''t be easy." Soverick said with a grin.

 Chapter 1121 Planning For The Future.

    Chapter 1121 nning For The Future.


    Legion-7 agreed, "Rest is good. Legion-5 has something important he needs my help with."


    "I also have work to do here," Soverick said as he focused his eyes on the world-ender within their world engine.


    "Let''s hurry up though. I want to use the perpetuation engine as soon as possible." The tree father said.


    They are all excited to finally put the world engine to use. The first sage gave Soverick the World engine without thinking he would be able to use it soon. The first sage was wrong. They will show him just how wrong he was.


    They will rest and make some preparations. Then they will begin building one of ninew matrixes. Soverick has changed his n for the world fragment that they want to build. He wants something that will be easy to upgrade in the future with 9 supremews.


    This kind of adaptability is important since the world engine and the Kickstarter will be dismantled in the future. If they are to upgrade it, then it must work in tune with them when they have achieved Unity.


    He intends for them to build eachw matrix individually and around the world engine. Now that they have a world engine running, it can act as the foundation for thew matrix so they don''t need to build it within the world engine and struggle to keep it stable at every point.


    This arrangement will allow for controlled interaction between thew matrixes if needed and also bestow the world fragment much-needed adaptation and reliability in case of errors.


    The world engine is a giant spherical object. It spans about 100 kilometers in diameter. The firstw matrix will be in the form of a band of interwovenws. In other words, it will be in the form of a loop around the world engine. All 9w matrixes will form a loop around the world engine.


    Thews that make up thew matrixes are not important. Only stability, integrity, strength, and continuity are important. But since there will be a point of intersection where all 9w matrixes meet, it has be important to make all thews simr and their configurations identical so that there won''t be any rejection between them. This requires a lot of nning before they can even attempt to build it.


    "You were right. This is not going to be easy." Legion-7 said after discovering Soverick''s n for the world fragment, "How long do you think it will take."


    "It will take at least 10 times the amount of time we nned for a singlew matrix and upwards of 32 times if wee across problems along the way. So at least 10,000 years and upwards of 30,000 years."


    The tree father said, "That is without the time needed for nning."


    "Right." Soverick agreed. "But the time could be shorter if Legion-5 seeds with his project. Things should be easier then."


    Legion-7 stated, "Or it could take longer because you want to make something more difficult."


    "Maybe." Soverick didn''t deny it. "But it shouldn''t reach up to 50,000 years."


    It will be easy to build eachw matrix separately. With the world engine already here, they have a foundation. So they will just be stacking fragments ofws in a 4-dimensional state.


    But now they can''t stack just anyw fragments in any way they want. They have to repeat the exactw fragments they used in the first one and in the exact same format 9 times in a row without making any mistakes. It is not going to be easy and it won''t be quick either.


    On the other hand, Legion-5''s sess could make things easier or more difficult. After all, no one knows if he can achieve what the dragon ancestor was born with.


    If he does seed and they manage to get the shards of power under control, then they would have enough power to face a demon god like CARNAGE alone instead of leaking the coordinates of the ne to its rival WRATH.


    --------THE FIRST SAGE


    The first sage felt it when the first copse of space urred. There was no way he couldn''t feel it. Every manifestation of his Supremew is a part of his body so there was no way he wouldn''t feel one of his hands being crushed in a vice. The separation of time and space couldn''t ck that painful perception.


    He was understandably startled by the development. So he used his Supremew to divine the situation. The full picture was painted being painted in his mind. Then his perception of the world hit a roadblock. The picture being painted in his mind became blurry as if he was looking at it through a fog from a very far distance.


    "What is going on?" He asked himself.


    He had to ask that question because the answers didn''t make sense. He knows that a part of his body is being crushed. That is usible in the void universe. Anything could happen.


    He also knows that the part of his body that is being crushed is in contact with a world-ender. That much is clear to him and despite the fact that it is unlikely, it is possible. The pain of the world ender is also clear to him. It rings loud and clear through the fog blocking his sight.


    He even knows that the fog blocking his perception is a difference in the coefficients of time and space. To be specific, the time is swinging back and forth like a pendulum while the space is expanding and shrinking like a balloon.


    All of these are clear to him. Individually, they make sense. World gods like him are capable of limited maniption of cosmic forces of the universe and they are capable of warping those cosmic forces to their extremes within their world.


    But it is highly likely that his supremew would coincidentally find itself in the inner world of a world god together with a world ender and the two of them HAPPENED to be smashed against each other. So this must be a scheme.

 Chapter 1122 Planning For The Future II

    Chapter 1122 nning For The Future II


    The first sage asked himself, "But why?"


    It should be a scheme against him but he can''t figure out the purpose. He is cunning and smart but he cannot phantom what purpose something like that would be done. Surely it is possible. A world god could do it but what would the world god have to gain from doing it?


    He too could go and court death to invite a world-ender into his inner world and then use another world god''s Supremew to beat the world-ender to death while simultaneously warping the coefficients of time and space in his world.


    So yes, he could do it. But for what purpose? He can''t fantom that. The situation doesn''t feel like something that happened by chance. So someone did that intentionally and he doesn''t know why. That is the most grating thing about this situation. He doesn''t like ignorance. If he can''t even guess the motive and what is to be gained, how is he to predict oues?


    "That aside. Something has to be done about this. I may not know why but I cannot let this continue."


    He can break the fog blocking his perception and find where his Supremew is. He would be able to withdraw his supremew then. But that would also mean that the world-ender would be free to trace his supremew back to his current world.


    He can''t have that right now. A war between him and the world-ender had already started the moment they made contact. This war is unlikely to end unless his world gets destroyed. He might be able to avoid that fate but he will need time for preparation. So he refrained from breaking the fog yet.


    "Huh?" He muttered. "The disparity in the coefficient of time and space is widening. This is strange."


    He was thinking about what to do when he noticed something odd. The fog was thickening. It is strengthening at a rapid pace.


    This is both a good thing and a bad thing. It is good that the prison around the world ender is getting stronger so it is unlikely for it to break out. A prison made of energy or matter can never hold a world-ender ender but a sturdy boundary created by a difference in the coefficient of time and space which is constantly osciting in parameters at an increasing frequency is sure to keep that world-ender locked up.


    The bad news is that it is getting more difficult for him to break the fog too. If the world-ender can''t escape, then it is unlikely that he will be able to break the prison. That means he won''t be able to start the fight when he wants to.


    He said with determination, "I can''t remain passive in this."


    He used his Supremew to gaze into the future by using his fate as the beacon in the sea of infinite possibilities. His fate is very powerful so he can even use it to peek into the future of other world gods.


    It costs him a lot to gaze upon the future of world gods. The minimum cost is bacsh which he expected now but he didn''t receive it. His vision peered into the future seamlessly. It is almost as if the entity responsible for the fog is not a world god at all.


    The first sage saw his future. He saw his fate intertwined with a star. He saw an angry ocean of blood in a golden sphere of light. He caught a glimpse of a ck statue wielding three forms of lightning and he saw even more things.


    What he saw made him smile. He said to himself, "I see."


    "How ambitious of them."


    He couldn''t help but be impressed. "This is good too. Only this is capable of making things worth my time."


    He moved into action with that serene smile on his face. What he saw has cleared things up for him. There is only one being that he has seen in his future vision as a star. It has helped to narrow down the culprits and those involved in this scheme.


    He is more rxed now. In fact, he is looking forward to the future. The fear of the unknown is the greatest fear. But if it is not unknown, then there is nothing to fear.


    ------


    A VERY LONG TIME AGO IN A FARAWAY LOCATION ON A SMALL ROCK FLOATING AROUND A STAR.


    Jason is standing above the world center. It is not the tallest building in the world and neither is it at the center of the world. But it is the location of the highest seat of power on the. Anyone who has ess to this building is truly an important person in the grand scheme of the and beyond. So standing atop it feels like standing at the top of the world. Or so Jason used to think it felt like.


    "Feels like any other ordinary building now." He muttered to himself. "And I am at the top of the world."


    Beneath him for about a kilometer is the base of the world center. There is an entire city built around the world center so he can see buildings and people everywhere he looks. And everywhere he looks, he sees a thriving society. This vigor and sess are not made apparent in the sight of high-rising buildings expensive cars or people wearing expensive clothing. No, this vigor can be seen in theck of the homeless, beggars, or the jobless.


    This society is a society that has eliminated unemployment at all levels. World hunger has been defeated. In fact, starvation is a long-forgotten phenomenon. And it is all due to him. But even this sight of his greatest achievements feels drab and boring now.


    "Nothing pleases me anymore. I think it is time I leave." He said aloud.


    "Leave and go where, sir?" his assistant Todd asked.


    It was then that he remembered that he was not alone. But that didn''t change his mood. The world has lost its color. He has to find what he is looking for because this world is no longer good enough for him.

 Chapter 1123 President Of The World Federation.

    Chapter 1123 President Of The World Federation.


    He said to his assistant, "I have to find Supremacy, Todd."


    Todd chuckled. "Sir, if I may, there is nothing more beyond your position. You have unified all of mankind both on earth and beyond. You are the leader of the world government that you created. What more is there to find?"


    Jason''s eyes became cold with determination. "You are right. There is no more supremacy to be had here. I must find it somewhere else."


    Todd didn''t understand but he didn''t question the president of the World Federation about it. He considered it to be another quirk of a genius mind so he simply shook his head and moved on to pressing matters.


    He said, "You have a meeting with dimir Guirriro in the next 5 minutes about discussing the issue of mining rights in sector Alfa184 on Mars."


    "Right." Jason drawled. "Mars. The stars. The World. The Universe."


    Meanwhile, he was having a chat with an invisible system which awakened a few days ago.


    -SYSTEM FULLY INITIALIZED.


    -THE COORDINATES OF A REALM TREE HAS BEEN FOUND AND LOCKED ON.


    -REINCARNATION DRIVE PREPARED.


    -SYSTEM INTEGRITY AT 100%.


    -OBJECTIVE: REINCARNATE AND SEARCH FOR SUPREMACY.


    -REQUIREMENTS: DIE.


    This is what is currently in his vision. It is like an invisible holographic disy that everyone has nowadays. Only he can see it but he can''t recollect when he installed this system with his neural link. It feels as if he has been hacked or had his mind hijacked.


    "How am I supposed to believe you? You are asking me to die." He asked for the umpteenth time.


    -I CAN''T ENFORCE BELIEF AND TRUST.


    -I CAN''T FORCE YOU TO DO ANYTHING.


    -I CAN ONLY DO WHAT I HAVE BEEN PROGRAMMED TO DO.


    -I HAVE DONE WHAT I AM PROGRAMMED TO DO.


    -IT IS YOUR CHOICE TO DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.


    -YOU WILL DIE SOON ANYWAY.


    -YOU ARE NOT IMMORTAL YET.


    -YOU WILL BECOME IMMORTAL WHEN YOU FIND THE PATH TO SUPREMACY.


    He held his head and shook it. This is the same answer that he receives every time. The system has done what it said it was programmed to do. It has shown him snippets of his previous incarnations.


    It was a shock to see. He has been several races in the past but mostly human in the past 1,000 years. That''s because the reincarnation drive hadn''t fully activated before he died so he simply reincarnated in the same race. But now he has lived a life long enough for the reincarnation drive to transfer him to a different reality.


    As absurd as that sounds, that''s what the system told him. He has asked for more exnations but the system has said he was free to believe it or not but it is not obligated to convince him.


    As for the other times he was other races, it was due to theplete activation of reincarnation. But it has never locked on to a realm tree so the system has always been searching. And when he asked why, all the system said was that they were searching for Supremacy.


    Each incarnation failed to find this supremacy just as he has failed to find it. Fortunately, there is a chance to find supremacy in the current target of the reincarnation drive.


    But all of that is hearsay. How is he to believe whatever the system is saying? He himself doesn''t remember his past lives. And yes, he has been questioning the meaning of life recently. That doesn''t mean he has to listen to an unknown system tell him that what he has achieved is inadequate and he should die for it.


    Anyone can question their life and that is right to do so. It is normal for someone who has achieved what he has achieved to question his life too. But that doesn''t mean he has to entertain death from certain hallucinations that he can''t seem to cure.


    "Maybe I''m going crazy." He muttered.


    -THAT IS FALSE.


    -YOU ARE NOT GOING CRAZY.


    -YOUR BRAIN IS UNDERDEVELOPED BUT YOUR SOUL AND MIND ARE FULLY FUNCTIONAL.


    He nodded and said sarcastically, "Right, I''m not insane. Or I am so insane that I am unique."


    -THAT IS FALSE.


    -YOU ARE NOT INSANE.


    -YOUR BRAIN IS UNDERDEVELOPED BUT YOUR SOUL AND MIND ARE FULLY FUNCTIONAL.


    Jason snorted inwardly at the system''s inept perception of sarcasm. But the system is not wrong though. He doesn''t seem to be insane or crazy. That is one thing that all the technology at his disposal has confirmed.


    He has performed and undergone a lot of tests which all conclude that he is mentally sound and there is no problem with his brain. But all those technologies can''t find the system either. So maybe they are not so urate.


    Apparently, if the system is to be believed, it is attached to his soul and not to his body or anything in the physical world of manifestation. That''s why it can''t be sensed. Or maybe the technology he has at his disposal can''t be trusted after all.


    He had to stop thinking when he felt his head throb painfully. He groaned and said, "This is giving me a headache just thinking about it."


    Then he joked to alleviate the stress, "Maybe I am super insane. My superpower is insanity."


    -THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SUPER INSANE.


    -THERE IS SUPER INTELLIGENCE BUT YOU ARE NOT SUPER INTELLIGENT YET.


    -THAT WILL REQUIRE YOU TO UNLOCK YOUR FULL MENTAL PROWESS.


    -THIS RACE DOESN''T ALLOW FOR THAT.


    -YOUR CURRENT BODY IS TOO WEAK AND YOUR STATE OF EXISTENCE IS FAULTY.


    He rolled his eyes but that''s all he could do in the face of probable mental sickness. He wished he couldugh but that might just lead him down the derangement hole that this so called system has dug for him. After all, if it is a figment of his imagination,ughing because of it is usually the first sign of mental sickness.


    "Can''t you show me more?" He pleaded.


    The system became silent. It didn''t even bother to reject his request.

 Chapter 1124 The Path Of Supremacy.

    Chapter 1124 The Path Of Supremacy.


    So he roared in anger, "Help me believe!"


    "Is everything alright, Sir?" Todd asked in fright.


    He screamed out thatst part. He didn''t even realize that he was screaming. It made him realize how far gone he already is.


    He ignored Todd and demanded from the system.


    "Help me to believe. Show me that I am not going crazy."


    -YOUR CURRENT FORM HAS LIMITED WHAT CAN BE TRANSMITTED TO YOU.


    - YOU ARE TOO WEAK TO BEAR THE SLIGHTEST BRUSH WITH YOUR PSYCHIC ENGRAM.


    --AWAKENING YOUR ENGRAM CAN LEAD TO CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCES TO YOUR CURRENT PSYCHE.


    -IT MIGHT AFFECT YOUR FUTURE REINCARNATIONS.


    "Do it!" He demanded again. "I don''t care. I am already crazy so go for it. I am in charge of the system, right? Then you have to listen to me."


    -ARE YOU ASKING FOR A PROTOCOL OVERRIDE USING YOUR ADMINISTRATOR PRIVILEGE?


    "Yes, I am."


    -AS YOU WISH.


    -I WILL TRY TO PRESERVE THE BULK OF YOUR PSYCHE BY LIMITING THE TRANSMISSION TO EMOTIONS AND JUST A SNIPPET OF SUPREMACY.


    -THAT IS WITHIN THE PARAMETERS THAT YOU SET FOR SAFETY


    -PREPARE YOURSELF.


    -EMOTION TRANSMISSION STARTING IN 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...


    Jason doubled over. He grabbed his head as he swooned. What he felt shook his fragile existence. He was rocked like a leaf in a storm. Things he had never felt before or experienced or thought possible to experience came rushing back to him like a long-forgotten memory.


    First, there was peace. He could roam about the cosmos unhindered. Then came fear. Something happened to the cosmos. It was almost split in half. It is not a feeling. He can see the crack that spread across the cosmos threatening to break it.


    Next came shock. The Supreme of the Cosmos had been killed. He couldn''t believe it. He didn''t know that such a thing was possible. The Supreme had always been untouchable. He thought that would remain so for all of eternity.


    Next came ambition. If the supreme is gone, then it is finally possible for someone else to be the supreme. He wants to be the next supreme. He needs to find the path of supremacy. He needs to go to...


    He cked out at that point. The alien emotions and thought processes were too much for him to bear. The temperature of his brain had increased to its limit and had shut down for safety. Even then, the damage had been done.


    -REBOOTING CONSCIOUSNESS.


    -CONSCIOUSNESS REBOOTED.


    He didn''t get to remain unconscious for long. The system woke him up like it had been doing whenever he went to bed for the past few days. Apparently, sleeping is not a normal status in its parameters. In the great n to find Supremacy, sleeping was not ounted for.


    Jason woke up reluctantly with a massive migraine. Todd was standing over him with a look of concern and worry etched over his young face. Jason pushed away his aid and stood up. His lips were set in a faint grin.


    Todd asked in concern, "Are you alright, sir?"


    Jason doubled over inughter. His body shook asughter tore out of him unwillingly.


    "I have never felt better." He managed to say in between bouts ofughter.


    Todd was not convinced. "I have called for help. They should be here any moment now."


    Jason straightened up immediately. His demeanor changed and his eyes brightened. His gaze became sharp and solemn.


    He dered, "I have to find the path of supremacy."


    This time it wasn''t with the tone of uncertainty. It was with the tone of finality spoken by a determined man. He now knows that he has to find Supremacy. He is fully convinced about that fact. It was the fear that convinced him.


    The grand cosmos was almost split in half and the supreme died. That left the position of supreme vacant. But what''s most important here is that the supreme died.


    He wants to know what could be so powerful that it could kill the supreme. That means the supreme wasn''t supreme. He has to find out because whatever that thing is, it is the true supreme. And whatever is capable of killing that thing is the next true Supreme. He wants to know so that he can ovee all of them. That is the path of supremacy.


    "The path of supremacy is the journey. It is not the destination. It is constantly seeking to better one''s self. It is never stopping. Always seeking the next power. Always conquering. Always Superior. And it is to be truly immortal." He said after being enlightened.


    One might say that he has gone mad. They will not be wrong. Some might say that he has been brainwashed. They would be right too. Some might say that he is no longer Jason. They would be wrong about that.


    He was never Jason to begin with. He was just a slumbering being dreaming in a state of inaction. Jason is simply the product of his dreams. And his dreams are aimed at finding supremacy.


    Heughed again. It is all so funny to him. He has tough at the absurdity. Gone is his serious demeanor. He can''t be serious anymore with everything he knows. Jokes are the best disguise for truama both emotionally and mentally.


    Todd was very concerned. "What is going on sir?"


    Jason didn''t answer. He ran across the top of the world center and jumped to his death. They didn''t want him to die. Drones flew into the air to grab him. He had to use his authority to override their functions. It was only then that he could m into the ground just as he wished. He did so all the whileughing and giggling like a madman.


    His death was a death that shook the world. The leader of Earth, the colonies of the moon, and Mars died just like that and through suicide too. The world will never be the same without him. They mourned him.

 Chapter 1125 Reincarnation.

    Chapter 1125 Reincarnation.


    Meanwhile,


    -REINCARNATION DRIVE ACTIVATED.


    -PERFORMING TARGET LOCK.


    -TARGET LOCK DONE.


    -PERFORMING PHASE SHIFT.


    -PHASE SHIFT DONE.


    -ACTIVATING THE WARP DRIVE.


    -WARP DRIVE ACTIVATED.


    -PERFORMING CROSS DIMENSIONAL WARP.


    -CROSS DIMENSIONAL WARP DONE.


    -INTEGRATING WITH SOUL CYCLE OF THE WORLD SEED.


    -INTEGRATION COMPLETE.


    -REINCARNATION SUCCESSFUL.


    Several yearster in the realm of high heaven in the ne of high life, a high elf baby was born. His mother gazed at him with love while his father spoon-fed him life essence from the life tree. The world of green, red, and beauty glittered in his vision.


    "Where am I?" Jason asked in shock.


    But he couldn''t speak. All that came out of his mouth was garbed nonsense. That same mouth has ckened now as Jason gazed upon the new world he is in. It is a world of beautiful nts and birds and graceful animals. It is a sight out of fantasy. It is¡­


    His thoughts were interrupted.


    -ERROR RENEWING PSYCHIC PARAMETERS.


    -ERROR RENEWING PSYCHIC PARAMETERS.


    -ERROR RENEWING PSYCHIC PARAMETERS.


    -ERROR RENEWING PSYCHIC PARAMETERS.


    -ERROR RENEWING...


    The line of errors filled his mind and his vision. It was all he could think of and see. His mind slowed and he became blind as the words red loudly into his ears. Then he woke up with a start.


    Monarch High Heaven woke up from his meditation. At least that''s what he set out to do before he began to dream about his past. Despite being a dream, it hadsting effects on him even when he woke up from it. He could still feel the effect of the loud ring sound on his mind.


    He groaned because of the pain in his mind. The pain brought with it shes of unknown emotions.


    "This again." He muttered as he held his head. "Just how powerful was I?" He asked with a shake of the head.


    He knows why he is feeling this pain despite being an Origin god. It is because he damaged his psyche in hisst life. The memories of that life as Jason and the scar of feeling the emotions of a much more powerful being followed him to this reincarnation.


    The vision Jason saw damaged him so much that his soul couldn''t be renewed. It made it so that he didn''t forget his past life. That is very bad because it that meant he couldn''t forget the pain of seeing something he shouldn''t have asked to see in his past life.


    That pain remained even though he has be an Origin god with an immortal soul. It is as if that vision gave him an eternal scar. It might not be eternal and it could just be that he isn''t strong enough to heal it yet.


    That would exin a lot since he hasn''t been cleared by the system to ess the memories of his past life yet. Thankfully, he doesn''t need any more convincing from the system since he has the memories of his past life. The reurring dream and its apanying pain has taught him to be patient and obedient.


    His ever-presentpanion, the system, spoke to him.


    -YOU WILL KNOW EVERYTHING SOON.


    -YOU JUST HAVE TO BECOME A VERY POWERFUL WORLD GOD WITH A VERY POWERFUL WORLD.


    -THAT WILL ENABLE YOU TO BEAR THE BURDEN OF THE ENGRAM OF A HIGHER LIFE ORDER WITHOUT DAMAGING YOUR EXISTENCE FURTHER.


    "I know." He said. "I am already doing that. Then I will know how to start on the path of supremacy."


    He doesn''t know where the path of Supremacy is or how to find it but he is certain that he is not on it yet. After all, he has yet to reach the level of power he had before he made this gamble.


    He doesn''t know how strong the previous him was either. He can only take clues from the fact that he can''t awaken yet despite being the realm lord of a realm tree on the verge of bing a world god. So despite making a lot of progress, it is not even enough to awaken his true self.


    He was deep in thought and in action at several locations when he was alerted to an important event that had taken ce in the realm.


    -NOTICE: THE DEMON GOD OF CARNAGE HAS BECOME A WORLD ENDER.


    It was not the Mother High Heaven that informed him of this change. He has his own information acquisition methods both dependent and independent of the realm heart.


    He ordered immediately, "Tell me everything."


    The whole procession of events that led up to how the demon god became a world-ender was shown. It started from exactly when Ragnarok was reincarnated and continued to the present. It showed the demon god disappear from the realm tree to an unknown location.


    Then he received the information of the evolution of the state of existence through the mark that the demons epted when he made the cooperation deal for the era of conquest with them.


    He mused to himself, "I am guessing the unknown location is Legion-1''s inner world."


    "What are they doing with a world-ender? Don''t they know how dangerous they are?"


    He is aware that Ragnarok was acting when he tried to destroy the ne and when he changed his target when the world spark appeared. This couldn''t escape his eyes because he saw one of the clones dropped the world spark off.


    CARNAGE chased after Ragnarok. It disappeared and then became a world-ender soon after. This series of information makes it highly likely to him that Legion is the one that created the world-ender. But just like every reasonable person, he doesn''t know what goal Legion was aiming to achieve by creating a world-ender.


    "Could they be after Chaos blood? But it is too dangerous to mess with a world-ender as an Origin god. Even world gods aren''t so daring. There must be something I am missing."


    He doesn''t like missing out on something so important. Apart from the fact that he doesn''t what Legion''s motive is, he wouldn''t have known that they made a world-ender if not for the contract that he had made with CARNAGE as a demon god.


    That contract has been nullified now and he knows that it is because CARNAGE is a world-ender who isn''t allowed in the realm. But he doesn''t know if Legion seeded in their scheme or if they made a mistake that led to the creation of a world-ender.


    ----


    A/N: I wish I had a system. I want it so bad. I would give one of my kidneys for it. Who has a system for sale?

 Chapter 1126 The First One.

    <h4>Chapter 1126 The First One.</h4>


    He is inclined to believe that Legion failed because he doesn''t see how they could have seeded with the creation of a world-ender. But he knows that he is making that assumption based on ignorance and he doesn''t like to be ignorant.


    "I don''t like this." He said to himself. "I don''t like it at all. I was happy when he took the attention of the WATCHERS away from me but this has gone too far. It is like making a bomb within myself. It can only have bad endings."


    Then he asked, "Where is Ragnarok right now?"


    He can''t find CARNAGE anymore but he is certain that Ragnarok has something to do with its disappearance so he wants to find Ragnarok.


    The system replied.


    -HIS TRACK WAS LOST WHEN HE BROKE FREE FROM THE DEMON GOD.


    "Really?" The realm lord asked. "This happened even though he had his monitoring service still attached to him."


    -HIS POSITION OR ANY OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT HIM APART FROM WHAT WAS IN THE MONITORING SERVICE COULD NOT BE DETERMINED.


    -BUT THE WILL OF THE REALM COULD KEEP TRACK OF HIM.


    -SO DATA FROM THE REALM HEART WAS USED TO FILL IN THE GAPS IN THE MONITORING SYSTEM.


    Apparently, Ragnarok has blocked the monitoring service of the stat system attached to him. However, he could still be tracked because he was in the realm. But, Monarch high heaven was not relieved. He became unsettled at the news that not only was Ragnarok able to detach himself from the demon god without being an origin god, he was also able to detach himself from his monitoring service.


    Even the data about his stats couldn''t be acquired. His location couldn''t be determined and he would have remained hidden from the realm lord if not for the fact that he was in the realm and nothing in the realm could hide from the realm lord.


    He demanded, "Show me the logs."


    He didn''t bother to me the system for not notifying him of such an important event because many such events are urring everywhere at every point in time and he couldn''t keep track of them all. Especially not when he is busy with his project.


    It is not as if he could have changed anything even if he were aware of it when it happened. He is limited by what he can do as a realm lord. So he focused on reviewing the logs to see if he could figure out the reason for Ragnarok going incognito.


    "This happened at the exact moment that Helios became a star and when Soverick gazed upon me."


    "It happened quietly so I didn''t pay attention to it. It was also hidden because I could still get information from him not just from the monitoring service."


    "If I didn''t know any better, I would say that it was nned. But I know better. Even so, this can''t be simple. The clones exhibited bizarre and unexinable disys of strength at the same point in time after breaking aw of the universe. I am smart enough to realize that this has to be all rted." He muttered.


    His system is different from the Will of the realm. It doesn''t have as much Authority as Mother Heaven, but it is more helpful. He can use his system to snoop and monitor Mother High Heaven so he is very surprised that Ragnarok could escape the monitoring.


    When coupled with the strange behavior of the clones of Legion which started at the same time, he is certain that something very important is going on with Legion.


    -IT IS SUSPECTED THAT HE MIGHT HAVE POWER OVER ONE OF THE COSMIC FORCES.


    That made the realm lordugh.


    "I agree that the way he destroyed the ne is suspicious. His devouring power is too powerful, but that doesn''t equate to having ess, much less power over any of the Cosmic forces."


    -A SPIKE IN THE FLUCTUATIONS OF COSMIC FORCES WAS NOTICED WHEN HIS DEVOURING ABILITY STARTED.


    -ANOTHER SPIKE IN THE FLUCTUATIONS OF COSMIC FORCES WAS NOTICED WHEN SOVERICK GAZED UPON THE TOWER OF HEAVEN.


    -DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER EXPLAINATIONS FOR THESE PHENOMENONS?


    He replied, "I do not know. But it doesn''t matter now. He is just a small fish in the big ocean. He is remarkable. But he is small. He has the potential to be great. In the meantime, I will be a world god and I have the information I need. I will surely know what is going on then."


    That''s what he has been looking forward to. He wants to awaken his sleeping ENGRAM and connect to all of his previous incarnations including the very first one. The first version of himself was the strongest. He was the one who created the system.


    The consciousness of the first one is so powerful that he can''t handle it right now as an Origin god. He has to be a world god with a truly remarkable world to bear the burden.


    That''s why he had to be realm lord despite the shackles thate with the position. It is only by bing a realm lord can he make the most powerful world as a world god.


    Unfortunately, he can''t go and kill Legion now because of those shackles. But everything should work out when he finally bes a world god after the end of the era of conquest. Then he will see if the sacrifices he has made were worth it.


    "It will be worth it," he said with determination.


    -YES IT WILL BE.


    -THE PATH OF SUPREMACY WILL BE FOUND.


    He nodded. He is sure that it will be worth it for him to suffer restrictions on his freedom such that he is not able to nab a being weaker than him and dig out all its secrets. He has to stand by and watch without being able to act.


    It is like being a shepherd for someone else''s flock. He can''t harm the flock in any way despite everything he is doing to cater for them. Of course, he is being paid handsomely for his work but nothing can be good enough when you can''t do what you want to do anytime you want to do it.


    ----


    A/N: What''s the difference between Legion and Jason''s reincarnation?

 Chapter 1127 Buried Past.

    <h4>Chapter 1127 Buried Past.</h4>


    The realm lord''s situation is not hopeless though. He has already achieved so much without his full knowledge or the full capabilities of the system. He can only imagine what he will achieve when the first one awakens again.


    "There is a lot I don''t know. But that will end soon. I will find the path of Supremacy. No one will be able to stop me then."


    His confidence is not baseless. He is confident of his sess because no incarnation has been able to match the first one and he has never heard about anyone reincarnating apart from Legion.


    The first one had to have a very important reason for subjecting himself to multiple incarnations. There must be something he is looking for. He is about to find it soon.


    That question will be answered in this incarnation. The only thing that stands in his way is the era of conquest. If he can ovee that, which he will, then nothing can stand in his way anymore.


    THE END OF VOLUME 5.


    ---------


    THE BEGINNING OF VOLUME 6.


    ---Somewhere In A Lush ne.


    This is a ne full of vitality. It is covered with traces of life as far as the eye can see. There is a green color everywhere you look. The poorest biome you can see on this ne will be the grasnds and prairie. The rest of the ne is filled with forests andkes.


    The skies of the ne are filled with clouds heavilyden with water and the air is humid. Even the ground is wet. It is because rain is amon urrence in this ne.


    The ne looks peaceful and prosperous. But beneath all the signs of vitality are scars of death and suffering. The forests and the trees they contain mask ruins of a terrible past.


    Thekes were not created naturally. No naturalke should be so narrow and have beds that end in a sharp concave. Beds should be t. But these water beds look as if they were cut into thendscape.


    Thekes seemed as if they were formed by filling the injury in thendscape with water. This hypothesis bes convincing because of the narrow width but the long straight length of theke. Theke doesn''t meander. It cuts straight across the ne. It passes through mountains, valleys, ins, and forests all the same.


    One of the forests that theke passes through at the edge of the ne contains a ruin. It is arge structure that has sunken into the ground. Vines, moss, and other nts have covered the ruin. They and the other elements of nature have worn the ruin into a state of decay. This ruin is certainly old. It is ancient and heading towards total destruction. But it is not forgotten.


    There are people who remember what used to be in this ce before the forest came and covered it all up. These people remember the city that used to be here. Many don''t long for those days anymore. But some people want a return to those times. They don''t see a forest of prosperity. They only see the decay of the past and the relics buried beneath the forest.


    Some of those people are determined enough to bring back that past. They are so determined that they are willing to do anything to make it so. So the ruins have not been forgotten and the past that they represent is more than remembered, it is longed for. It is for that agenda, that some people are conversing within the ruin right now.


    ----


    If you go down from the surface to the ruins below, you will realize just how big this forest is. It is because the structures of the ruin are massive. The doorways and rooms are sorge, it is as if they were made forrge people. Most doors reach 70 meters tall. Some doors are as tall as 100 Meters. And yet, the trees of the forest buried theserge structures with their roots. They must be some prettyrge trees.


    The ruin should be quiet apart from the asional sound made by animals making a living in this ghost of archaic times. But you will hear the sound of many footsteps right now. It is either that there are many people here or there is a single person here with many legs. Either way, the ruin seems full of activity because of the footsteps.


    If one follows the sound of the footsteps through the decrepit and mossy structures, one wille to find the people making all the noise in this ancient ce. There are 5 people meeting here. Each one of them is about 10 meters tall. And yet they seem tinypared to everything around them.


    These people are conversing silently. It is their footstep that is making all the noise. The ruin literally shakes each time they strike it with their feet. These people sure seem heavy despite looking so smallpared to their surroundings.


    "What is the n?" One of the people here asked.


    This person has purple skin and purple hair. She has a form and posture that indicate that she is female, at least to others of her race. She might not look feminine to other races at all because her body is marred with scars and she is muscr. So she looks fearsome.


    She also appears to be the leader of her group. There are three others standing behind her while she faces the person she just asked a question with her arms folded on her chest and a frown on her face.


    The person she asked wasn''t cowered by her demeanor or by the fact that he was a single party facing off with a party of four.


    He answered with a calm but cutting tone, "You know your part and that''s all that is required. You do your part and we do ours."


    Thedy''s face began to morph. Her previous frown changed into a scowl. Everyone could tell that she was getting angry.


    -----


    A/N: We have the mass release today. This bonus chapter is for it. I will release the bonus chapter for the golden ticket goal of 250 tomorrow.

 Chapter 1128 Powerful Enough To Kill.

    Chapter 1128 Powerful Enough To Kill.


    She didn''t open her mouth but there was evident anger in her mental transmissions.


    "What did you just say?" She asked in anger. She continued in that same angry tone. "You want me and my forces to go into battle without knowing what you are nning? You want us to go into battle as ignorantmbs to the ughter?"


    "Yes." Came the calm reply.


    He didn''t bother to deny her usation or sugarcoat it. Thedy snapped then. It is both disrespectful that he didn''t sugarcoat it and utter disregard for their lives that he didn''t deny it. There is no way she will allow him to live. She lunged forward only to be held back by the three behind her.


    "Calm down,dy Tanya." They said to her.


    "He looks dangerous."


    "We shouldn''t fight our allies. That will only weaken us."


    They made good points so Tanya calmed down. It is easier to do now that the divinity that influences her towards anger is no more. But that doesn''t mean that she has been appeased. She won''t take the offense lying down.


    She said to the man, "Then you can forget our involvement. We will not waste our lives away. I don''t know what you have nned but I do know that the forces of the kingdom of life are very strong. We will die if we so much as take a single step into the territory of their sphemous god-king. We won''t fight a hopeless battle."


    The man looked at her in silence for a while. Then he nodded. "I can''t tell you what we n for fear of betrayal. Just do your part. Come with your forces and we will show you something that will make you fight with us."


    "Bullshit," Tanya yelled.


    She lunged again and her attendants held her back again.


    "You don''t trust us but you want us to trust you?" She yelled angrily. "In your dreams. What if we should be the ones that should be careful of you and not the other way around? We don''t know anything about you after all."


    It was only after yelling out her frustration that she calmed down. She didn''t make any movement to attack anymore but her three followers held on to her nheless. They are not using her of being a hothead. They are just being extra careful. There''s no harm in that.


    It is a good thing that they were being extra careful too. Or all hell would have been let loose by what the man said next.


    "Silence child." The man said.


    "Let go of me." Tanya shouted at them as she struggled for freedom to unleash well-deserved mayhem, "Let go of me this instant."


    They didn''t let go so the man continued speaking in the absence of violence. "Use your head for once and not your anger. Of what use would it be for us to fund you all these while? We gave you food and weapons and you think we want to betray you. You are nothing without us and you dare to be so presumptuous. Do you think we have nothing else to do with our time and resources than to fatten up some lost sheep for ughter?"


    "I said let go of me," Tanya shouted again.


    The man didn''t stop at calling them lost sheep. He moved closer to the snarling Tanya. Then he ced his hand on her head and said, "Heel now and behave yourself or I will put you in your ce."


    Tanya was furious at first at being talked to like that. Her anger turned into surprise when she felt the force being applied to her from that single hand. It felt like someone ced a mountain on her head. The hand was so heavy that the man didn''t need to apply any force for Tanya to slowly kneel before him. Through it all, there was a look of shock and fear on her face as her body buckled and caved against her will.


    He spoke to her in the tone of the elder addressing the ignorant junior, "Do you see now child? If I wanted to kill you, there would be no need to go through so much stress."


    Tanya calmed down. She has to in the face of true strength. "I see. I will do as you say."


    She still doesn''t believe him. She knows that having strength enough to kill someone doesn''t mean you can''t toy them around for pleasure. So the fact that the man is strong enough to kill her doesn''t mean she is not in danger. Actually, it is the opposite. She is in danger because he is strong enough to kill her. And that''s why she will do what he says. If only to prolong her life.


    "Good." The man said and took away his hand. "You will be rewarded for your obedience. The era of gods can never return but you can be the next god-king of the ne."


    Tanya''s eyes widened. Anger threatened to spill out from within her again. She held it down so she only frowned. She didn''t explode.


    But she couldn''t help but ask, "You said before that you could bring back the era of gods. Were you lying to me?"


    "I lied." The man replied with a straight face absent of any guilt. He even dared to chuckle. "The era of gods is gone forever. It can never return. There can be only one god in the ne and that is the position of god-king."


    Tanyaughed. "So I was right not to trust you earlier. And now you want me to risk myself all because of the promise that you will make me god king?"


    "Yes." Came the confident reply.


    She asked in indignation, "Do you take me for a child?"


    "Yes, I do. That''s why I call you child."


    Tanya didn''t speak anymore. She was afraid that she would lose her temper if he tried to express her opinion in any way. So she pressed her lips into a thin line while her eyes red at the man as if about to spill fire from her eyes.

 Chapter 1129 A Costly Lesson.

    Chapter 1129 A Costly Lesson.


    The man wasn''t concerned about her bottled anger. He said confidently as if chastising her, "Don''t sound like you are doing me a favor. You need me. You need to believe me. It is your only choice. You can''t get stronger without the path of divinity. That is your only path forward. So you have to believe me or ept the fact that you will not grow stronger forever."


    Tanya said, "You are not my only choice. I could submit to the god-king and swear fealty to him. I am sure it will ept me and will grant me strength."


    The man asked with a slight smirk, "But you are not going to do that are you?"


    Tanya''s anger began to return. "Why not?" She asked with eyes zing with rising anger. It seemed that fire would really spill forth from her eyes at any moment.


    The man answered confidently, "Because you are angry and you will remain angry until you get revenge. You will not get that revenge if you submit to the god-king. Any power that you gain from the god-king will not be enough to challenge and defeat the god-king. So I am your only choice for retribution."


    Tanya''s anger rose to a peak. But she didn''tsh out. It is a silent and controlled anger. It burned slowly, silently, and intensely within her. Apparently, she didn''t need divinity to fuel her anger.


    She said, "When can we begin?"


    The man nodded. "Take this and use it to mark yourself. It will obscure you and keep you hidden from the gaze and senses of the god-king. You will be fine as long you don''t get too close to him. Keep to the edges of his territory."


    The man handed them a ck t circr device. The device has circles on its t surface that twist and copse towards its center. It makes the surface look like a whirlpool that is sucking everything into it. Tanya took one look at it and looked away immediately. The other three behind her were not so lucky.


    "Don''t look at it." She yelled at them.


    But it was toote. They remained fixated on the device even as they broke apart into dust and were sucked into the whirlpool on the device.


    Tanya screamed, "Noooooo!"


    "What happened to them? Bring them back." She demanded.


    The man answered unapologetically, "I can''t. They are dead."


    "Why? Why didn''t you warn us?"


    "I wanted to see if you still have your survival instincts. And I also wanted them to die. I can only trust you with what I have said today. The other three had to be removed. We are close to our goal now. I cannot entertain any error. Do you understand me?"


    It was both a disy of power and a threat to her. If the man could kill them without moving, then he is not to be trifled with. So Tanya nodded despite her feelings of anger. It turns out that she doesn''t need people holding her back to stop her fromshing out.


    The man continued to offer the device to her.


    "Take it and use it with your divine sense."


    She took the ck device without looking at it.


    The man smirked and said, "I don''t need to warn you now that you shouldn''t look at it or allow anyone else to use it. You have seen what it can do yourself. You can use it when you are in danger. Even the god-king will be affected for a short while. It will give you time to escape from him."


    She nodded and ced the device carefully into the pouch strapped to her waist. She surely would have been suspicious if she had been told not to look at it without seeing what it could do herself. A live demonstration with test subjects has driven away her doubts about the device.


    All it had to take was for her close friends to die. They are a part of the few that stuck with her when her father died and the church of storms copsed so it hurt to lose them just for a lesson.


    She stood there watching the man silently. She has a lot to say. Unfortunately, she shouldn''t say them or risk making the death of her friends in vain. So the two of them stood staring at each other in silence while Tanya clenched and unclenched her fist. The silence was broken by the sounds of footsteps.


    Tanya''s head swiveled towards the direction of the iing people. "Was I followed?" she asked herself.


    Then she remembered the consequence of divulging information about this meeting to anyone. So she hurriedly said to the man, "I didn''t tell anyone. Maybe those three did or they just followed us to make sure we will be safe."


    The man said calmly, "Trust me, they are not one of yours."


    "But they sound like a lot of people. And we are out of the kingdom. Where could such a forcee from?..."


    She realized the answer to that question soon after. Her face paled with that realization.


    "Oh no." She eximed. "Did they find out already? How did they know? I thought the god-king couldn''t see beyond the bothers of his kingdom. Has he be that powerful already?"


    She began to panic because if what she feared was right, then the ne would fall firmly under the control of the god-king. The outskirts of the ne will no longer be hidden from the god-king so rebels like her won''t be safe here anymore.


    The god-king was able to im arge portion of the ne to itself when the whole pantheon of gods was still present and strong. Now that the gods are no more, there is no one to resist him. No one except this man and the group he represents.


    But she doesn''t trust them at all. She might as well be on her own and she definitely cannot resist the god-king alone. So she would be doomed if the god-king could see outside of his kingdom.

 Chapter 1130 The Encounter.

    Chapter 1130 The Encounter.


    "You are wrong. The god-king can''t see beyond his kingdom. If he could, I would know. The intruders are not after you or me. They are just passing by on an expedition." The man observed without turning his head to look or search. "They are just a squad of demorgorgs walking without urgency. It seems they are out hunting for demons."


    That calmed Tanya down a bit. The news that the operation is not exposed to the god-king is good news.


    The man advised, "But you should go before they get here. They don''t know about you yet so we should not make it so now."


    "What about you?" She asked.


    "Trust me. I can take care of myself."


    That was enough to reassure her. Tanya took off immediately. She heard the man say behind her, "Use the artifact. Just touch it with your divine sense and ept the mark. It will keep you hidden."


    The man''s shadow solidified after Tanya had gone. It rippled like water as something rose up from within it. An entity came out of the shadow. This entity ispletely ck so they look like a shadow.


    There are also strange circles all over their body. These lines and circles flow around a single point on what counts as the head of this entity. The lines and circles then copse into the point to make it seem like there''s a whirlpool on their face.


    The whirlpool is not for show. Light in the surroundings is pulled by it and falls into this entity''s face. Light is sinking into them, darkening the room. Darkness is spreading outwards of this entity like a tangible thing.


    "What do you want to do now? Should we go?" The darkness asked the man.


    The man shook his head. "I want to see what''s so special about these demorgorgs."


    The darkness disagreed. "That is a bad idea. We are already close to our goal. I don''t think any distraction is a good idea. I think we should just leave. They won''t be able to catch that descendant of yours as long as she has my mark."


    "I just want to fight. Is that so bad?" The man shrugged and asked.


    "Yes, it is bad." Came the reply.


    "Don''t worry. I''ll make sure there is no trace or evidence." The man assured.


    "That''s even worse. There should be traces left behind by any normal force that will fight them. Leaving no trace behind will make it extra suspicious."


    The man nodded. Then he said, "You should fabricate the traces then. Make it look like a demon fought and destroyed them. Make something up. Anything believable will do."


    The darkness didn''t argue anymore. "I suppose it is believable that demons killed the demorgorgs. Demons fight demorgorgs a lot, but they mostly use hell fire so I will have to improvise."


    The man nodded. "See? There we go. You take care of the aftermath and I will fight in peace. It is called the division ofbor?"


    "Why don''t you let me do the fighting? You should n for the aftermath."


    The man refused. "No, we can''t switch. The basic requirement for the division ofbor to work is specialization. I am better at fighting and you are better at subterfuge."


    The darkness sighed. "You just want to fight, don''t you? Is it because of your descendant?"


    The man nodded. "I saw what she has be. She is of good stock. She still has the innate ability to make reflex decisions and the blood of anger still flows through her veins. But she has fallen so low without divine power. She ought to be the next god of lightning and storms but her future has been cut off by this so-called god-king."


    "You should be d that you still have a descendant. None of mine survived the culling of the gods. The lineage of darkness has ended."


    "I know. I am just angry because of her situation and I want to expel my anger in apletely healthy manner."


    The darkness shook his head. "You lightning heads and your penchant for violence." He muttered as he sank back into the shadows.


    The demorgorgs came soon after. They are men and women of various colors. Some are green with purple hair while others are red-skinned with blue hair. They are of different assortments. But they are all muscr and they all have ck tattoos on their bodies.


    These tattoos are like chains that cover their entire bodies. And on their wide muscr backs is an image drawn by the ck ink used for the tattoo depicting a panicking face frozen in a mid-scream or other expressions of anguish and fear.


    No two tattoos are alike. They are all different but they all depict a frozen face. This face belongs to a head with horns. The horns are also different. Some heads have a single horn while others have three or four. Some heads have a single eye while others have more. The faces arepletely different, but they are all frozen in that state of panic, fear, or anguish.


    These strapping men and women were quiet as they walked together. They are 21 in number but the only sounds that could be heard were the sound of their feet striking the ground and the sounds their weapons and armor made as they chaffed against each other.


    No one spoke. They matched in total silence. The chain-like tattoo covered even their face so they looked menacing. They have the demeanor of soldiers. They are disciplined and orderly. It showed when they noticed the single man. They all stopped as one.


    The woman at the head of the squad signaled to the others. Then she asked the man with her divine sense, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"


    She doesn''t think this man is a weakling who got lost in an ancient ruin. He looks like an ordinary giant but no giant of order that is at least a transcendent is ordinary.


    -----


    A/N: Bonus chapter for the 250 golden tickets goal.

 Chapter 1131 The Unquenched Anger.

    Chapter 1131 The Unquenched Anger.


    How else will a giant of order be so small if they are not a child? This man must be at least a transcendent to change his body size like that. But she has it in good authority that he is more dangerous than that.


    Her tattoo is tingling in warning so she knows this man is definitely a threat to her. That''s why she wasn''t forceful or angry when the man didn''t answer her. He simply smiled at her. She made more gestures to her squad with her hand.


    She told them to "Prepare for battle." While she said to the man, "We are demorgorgs of the kingdom of life. Our current objective is backed by the god-king. To oppose us is to oppose the god-king."


    The man finally spoke. He said, "Run."


    They didn''t run. They formed up and brought out their weapons to fight. The man sneered. Then he brought up his hand and produced a ball of light in it. One might think it is a ball of light because it is so white. They would be wrong to think so.


    The leader of the demorgorgs saw the ball of light and her eyes widened. It wasn''t only her that had an adverse reaction to the sight. They all felt danger and heard the call of death.


    "Wait¡­" she tried to say.


    "Toote." The man said.


    He had already warned them so the ball of light turned into a white snake and dashed at the leader. She roared as she defended against the attack. Her tattoos glowed a dark ominous light. A terrifying phantom force erupted from her. It formed a dark maelstrom of energy around her. She took hold of the maelstrom and stretched forth her hand towards the white snake. The maelstrom was forced into the shape of her hand. It formed a giant phantom of a ck-wed hand that shed with the white snake.


    There was a sh of light apanied by the boom of thunder. The ruin shook with the force of the collision. But it was not a collision. It was more of an explosion.


    The phantom disintegrated as soon as it touched the white snake. It could not resist at all. The dark energy that made up the ck phantom hand scattered forcefully in an explosion that created heat sts.


    The snake prated it all the while disintegrating it as it passed. Then the snake tore through the leader too. The shockwave that shook the room urred because the leader was made to explode.


    The same thing happened to the other demorgorgs. Their leader who is equivalent to a king ofw couldn''t mount a significant defense. They are clearly outmatched. But they didn''t run. They fought until thest man. The sight of theirrades burned to ashes didn''t discourage them.


    The man''s eyes gleamed as he watched their death. He could have killed them all instantly but he didn''t. He watched them die while smiling. His eyes glowed with the same white light of the lightning snake. His eyes zapped and sparkled dangerously with tiny popping sounds that resembled tiny thunderps as he watched. He is excited by the show.


    "Mortals and their fragile life. It is always fun to see life leave their fragile existence." He said with a face flushed with pleasure.


    The darkness rose from the man''s shadow after all the demorgorgs were dead. It had a strange being in its hand. This being is humanoid. It has a dark hairy skin, two ram-like horns on its head, and two ck wings on its back.


    The darkness said to its captive. "Use your ability here. Make sure to destroy everything you see with it. Focus on the scorched surfaces."


    The high-rank demon replied, "Your wish will be done."


    "Good. Get to it then." It said and released the high-rank demon.


    The demon got to work immediately. It began to attack the surroundings with fire. Balls of mes were used to destroy the surroundings. The explosion of fire changed the ruinspletely. It even hid the sighs of the explosion caused by the lightning snake.


    The darkness said to the man, "I hope you have been appeased now."


    The man snorted. He didn''t say anything. So the darkness continued. "It doesn''t seem like it. You are still angry. Maybe even more angry. Then all these demorgorgs died for nothing and you have angered the god-king for nothing."


    The man eximed in anger, "Fu#k the god-king."


    He truly wasn''t appeased by killing the demorgorgs. That amount of violence is not enough to quench his anger. It boiled within him and threatened to spill over.


    He said in anger, "I should just go there right now and destroy the god-king myself. He should fear me, not the way around. I used to rule this world. Storm and Lightning obeyed me. If tales of my might have been forgotten then I should write new tales."


    "Well, you can''t fight him. We don''t even know if you will win. But it doesn''t matter if you can win. We will go ording to n. And that is to corner the god-king. You know we can''t kill him yet. We need him. Look at what he has done to the ne."


    The man had to agree. "That''s true. The ne has changed. But it looks worse than what I remember it to be."


    "No, it doesn''t. It looks vibrant and alive."


    "I don''t think so. The ne looks sick with all the green that I see everywhere."


    The darkness sighed. "Your aesthetics have been warped by violence. Anyway, the ne is doing very well thanks to the god king. I heard things got really bad in the past. Zernon really drove the ne to its knees. He almost killed the ne. But the god-king saved the ne and managed to bring it back to life. There aren''t any more deserts. Forests abound wherever you look. And there are the demorgorgs too. What do you think about them?"

 Chapter 1132 Freedom Vs Immortality.

    Chapter 1132 Freedom Vs Immortality.


    The man shrugged as he answered, "The demorgorgs are not bad."


    He doesn''t like them but he can be objective enough about their power. It is the least he could do after killing them.


    The shadow continued, "Bad or not, we need manpower for the era of conquest."


    The man finally relented, "I have heard you. We are not going to kill the god-king, yet"


    But his eyes continued gleaming dangerously. He was staring at the demon with those gleaming eyes. The poor demon shook in fear when he sensed the gaze and the evil intent that apanied it. It tried to run. It dashed towards the nearest escape but it was toote. The lightning snake dashed towards it.


    The high-rank demon paled when it sensed the shadow of death. A ck tentacle rose out of the demon''s shadow and pped the lightning snake aside. It saved the demon from dying.


    "Come on." The man cried out. "Let me kill it."


    The darkness tutted. "We have to let it go. We can''t let the single demon responsible for all these damages die here. What will the investigators think when you kill the demon? They will surely think a third party witnessed the event and took advantage of the fight to kill the injured demon. Then they will start looking for a third party. They will start looking for us."


    "Kill joy." The man muttered.


    The demon sighed in relief and continued to escape. But the ck tentacle in its shadow tripped it.


    It fell to the ground pleading, "Please spare me. I have done everything you asked for. I''ll do anything else you want. Spare me."


    The shadow didn''t listen. It made the ck tentacle dig into the demon''s head and straight into its mind. The high-rank demon screamed in agony as its mind was vited. Its mind was scrambled in a very painful and careless manner. Any type of tampering with the mind will be painful but this is mind-breaking and it is intentional.


    The mind of the demon actually broke. It was then that the ck tentacle let it go. The demon had be quiet now. Its eyes were unfocused. It is walking in a shambling daze. It can''t even move its left leg so its right leg is made to pull its whole body. The two of them watched the demon scramble away like a drunk.


    The darkness said, "There. Now it won''t remember us and no method to read its memories will work. It has be easy prey to the other demons. Any investigator will follow its trails and forget about us. We should leave now. We don''t want to be here when another teames to investigate. We wouldn''t want you to have to eliminate them."


    The man said, "I don''t like you following me around. You are ruining my fun."


    The darkness retorted. "I don''t like following you around and keeping you in line either. But you are definitely not reasonable so you can''t be left alone. The others wanted me to follow you to make sure that you don''t create trouble for us."


    The man sighed. "I am so powerful and immortal. Yet, I have a babysitter. What kind of fate is this?"


    He is not foolish. He just can''t take things seriously since he can''t die. After all, what''s the worst thing that could happen to him? His fear of the repercussions of his actions has been dulled by immortality.


    The darkness chastised, "It is a fate that is required in order to achieve something greater than immortality. The era of conquest is our opportunity to take the next step. You will have to bear with the sacrifice of holding back."


    "Fine. But I get to kill the god-king when we are done with him." It said that then it turned into a lightning snake itself.


    Its body broke apart into tiny lights. It is as if he put off his mortal shell. The energy within him became free. It formed the white snake and zipped out of the ruins leaving behind a thunderp that shook the ruins down to its foundation. If not for the fact that the ruins are buried and supported by the earth on all sides, then the simple repercussion of leaving the building would have destroyed it.


    ----


    The ruins returned to peace and quiet for a short while until someone came to investigate. But nothing useful came of their investigation. So the death of an entire squad of demorgorgs was taken as an unfortunate ident.


    If not for the fact that everyone in the squad died then it wouldn''t have been mentioned to the leader of the demorgorgs. If not that the only signs to the enemy that killed them turned out to be a high rank demon that died soon after then the Leader of the demorgorgs wouldn''t have bothered to mention the event to the Godking at all during his daily meeting with the god king.


    Hak was kneeling in front of his god. He has his head bowed and his hands joined together in prayer. He is praying to his god and his god is actually listening. It is not a delusion either. His god is a real being that he can see and others can also see.


    He doesn''t need faith and delusions to sense the majesty or see the physical body of the king of gods. His god king stands before him in all his wonderous glory. All he has to do is look.


    Hees here every day to the inner sanctuary to meet his god and to pray in its majestic presence. It is prayer but he is actuallymunicating with his god instead of it being a one-sided conversation.


    He said to his god, "A squad of demorgorgs died in one of the ruins of the old cities. All 21 of them including their 4-star squad leader died."


    This is just one of the numerous reports that he has brought to his god. He knows that the god-king probably knows about all of these but he says it anyway to prove that he is doing is job right and that he also knows the things he should know.

 Chapter 1133 The God-king.

    Chapter 1133 The God-king.


    The tall and majestic tree that had been silent finally spoke, "Hmmm."


    The tree father doesn''t have any mouth so he spoke with his divine sense. What he said can also be heard without a divine sense. His branches are swayed in such a way that the air that moved through them was made to vibrate to make that sound. So Hak heard his god through both spiritual and physical means. He bowed his head lower because of it.


    The tree father asked him, "What do you think of the death of an entire squad of demorgorgs? So many haven''t died like that in a long time."


    Hak considered the question carefully before he replied. "The leader of the squad was a four-star demorgorg. It would have required a demon noble to kill her. Demon nobles have not been seen ever since the demons were banished. They have been hunted to near extinction which will exin why the traces of one were not found at the sight."


    "Instead, we found traces of a high-rank demon. The difference is clear to us. We demorgorgs are highly sensitive to traces of demons so we are sure that there was no demon noble there since we didn''t sense the unified energy signatures of one."


    The tree father interrupted. "I know all these. What I want is your rmended course of action. It is your men that died after all."


    "In light of this anomaly, I rmend that we expand and intensify our investigations. At least, we will be able to get the true perpetrator and avenge my fallen brethren. And in the case where we find that demon nobles have managed to find a way to survive in the ne by hiding their energy signatures, then we might be able to crack their method and capture more of them to expand our ranks."


    The suggestion sounded good to the tree father so he agreed. "Do that. I will support you with one of my vessels."


    "May your grace and mercy abide with us forever," Hak said in worship.


    The tree father is curious about their deaths. He couldn''t see beyond his kingdom but he made arrangements inside each demorgorgs to sense their conditions and collect data to improve his research. So he was able to sense their deaths.


    It came to him as a surprise when they all died in the span of time less than a second. It made him understand that their deaths were not simple. That''s why he wants to apany the team that goes to investigate with one of his vessels. At any other time, he wouldn''t care so much about a few of his properties dying.


    He asked Hak, "Is there anything else?"


    Hak replied, "I am sure you know but I want to say nheless that a new batch of candidates are going toe soon for their initiation into the order."


    "Everything has been prepared for them?"


    "Yes, my god."


    "Good. You may leave. We will resume ourmunion tomorrow."


    Hack nodded and turned to leave. He is in his full Colossal form so he is 10 kilometers tall. It is a size that hasn''t been achieved by giants of Order in a long time because of the terrible energy requirements.


    Thest giant of order to reach this height was the champion that led them to the ancient battlefield. There was a lot of Origin energy there to sustain such a height. But it was the terrible Origin energy consumption that made giants of order into outcasts that were rejected and shunned.


    There is no Origin energy in the ne but Hak can still reach this height because he is a five-star demorgorg. His tattoo doesn''t look any different from that of other demorgorgs. They are ck chains that seem to bind him tightly. There is also a face frozen in anguish on his back.


    The chains are actually binding something within him. He used to be a priest of the sun god, but now he is a priest for the son of the sun god and he has a demon lord trapped within his body. It is why he is so tall and why he can fight a titan ofw despite being a transcendent. But even with his height, he still looks smallpared to his god.


    He had to be at his full size just so that he could approach the god-king quickly. Without the current boost to his height, he wouldn''t be able to scale the roots of the god-king since he can''t fly. Even now, the roots are up to his waist. That means some roots are 5 kilometers above the ground level. That is their thickness and not their length. They are practically mountains.


    That''s what others will think when they see them. They will see the roots that look like rolling mountains that extend for kilometers on end. They won''t be able to see the Titanic tree which the roots belong to unless they are far away from the mountain range.


    He on the other hand has the pleasure of seeing the full form of the godking. But he only dares to take quick peeks. He keeps his head bowed most of the time. It is partly due to his immense fanatical obsession and mostly because he is still a transcendent.


    Gazing on the glorious form of a god as powerful as the god of Life, Sun, and Order is a very dangerous gambit. He has burned out his eyes before in an attempt to do so. Fortunately, he managed not to fry his mind because he gazed too long at the majesty of the god of gods.


    He thought to himself ruefully, "To think I raised him from when he was a baby and here I look like a babypared to his size."


    The size difference always brings back memories of his days taking care of Helios. He always knew that Helios was made for greater things since he was a demigod, but Helios had gone far beyond his highest expectations.

 Chapter 1134 The Right Choice.

    Chapter 1134 The Right Choice.


    The ancient Sun god, Helios'' father died, his demigod brothers and sisters died, and even the gods died but he is still standing and he is standing strong. No one could have predicted this oue when Helios was sent off by the people of the sun city.


    At most, they thought he would acquire a feat that would help him be a god himself. Then the world war happened where the gods fought each other. Helios survived that and also survived the invasion of the demons. Now the gods are dead and the demons have been banished from the ne.


    Hak couldn''t help but marvel when he thought about everything that had happened in the past thousand years. "I made the right choice in supporting Helios.


    Some say that he betrayed the sun god. Those people are right but he doesn''t care. He knows he betrayed the sun god for his son. The sun god was ancient and stagnant. Then his son came along and reced him. It was the same son that he himself was entrusted with to raise.


    Besides the attachment he had to Helios which had a part to y in his decision to stick to the son of the sun god, the sun god couldn''t give him the power he received from Helios. So Helios is the better option. History has proved it to be so. Supporting Helios was the right choice while the sun god is nowhere to be found.


    -----


    The tree father was at peace despite the news of the death of 21 demorgorgs. He is being informed a little more than a month after the deaths have happened so the situation has lost its urgency. It is not that he is uncaring about the deaths. He is as caring as someone who cares a lot about their possessions. But he has a lot of demorgorgs so he is not too hurt by the loss.


    Even now, more demorgorgs are being trained in several camps across his kingdom. Some will be created soon today during the initiation ceremony that takes ce every month. He gets a constant flow of demorgorgs for him to be hung up about the death of 21 of them.


    Demorgorgs are the main fighting power of the kingdom of life apart from the nt spirits. They are the creation of both the Tree Father and Helios. The fusion of their knowledge of runes, divine energy, and sin energy produced this fruit which is an alternate path of power for the giants of order.


    The demorgorgs function as the policing and military force of the kingdom since he doesn''t want to and shouldn''t use his vessels for everything. It is best that his believers are used for such matters. When their ability to safeguard the ne is added to their usefulness as believers and research subjects, it makes giants of order very useful and Legion very efficient with resources.


    Giants of order are trained right from a young age in academies dedicated to producing soldiers with exceptional mental resilience. This training continues for years during which they are instilled with discipline andplete loyalty to their god king. Some might call it brainwashing. They would be wrong to do so.


    The trainees only be demorgorgs after they be transcendents. It is at that point that theye to the tree father for the initiation. The tree father is the only entity that can perform the rites after all.


    A four-star demorgorg came soon after with a bunch of recruits. The recruits are fresh out of the academy. They have met the requirements to be demorgorgs.


    The four-star demorgorg led them to the outer sanctuary where the roots of the tree father stop. That is where the mountain range ttens into the surrounding forest. That''s where the initiation will ur. The recruits are too small and weak to get past all the roots and trees that form the inner sanctuary.


    The four-star demorgorg led the way while the recruits followed in a straight line like ducklings following their mother. They kept their head bowed in reverence despite their awe. They can see the top of the tree father from here. Their position is far enough to see where the crown of the god-king meets the boundary of the sky.


    The crown itself isposed of three types of leaves of fire. The mes that make up the leaves have three colors, white, orange, and green. So there are white, Orange, and green leaves.


    These leaves in addition to the glowing white branches and trunk make anyone who gazes upon the tree understand beyond any doubt that the tree is special. This beautiful sight is only overwhelmed by the fact that the god-king is so tall that he reaches the sky.


    The four-star demorgorg ordered his recruits with a shout, "Stand at attention!"


    All 11 of them stood straight immediately and saluted with their right hand formed into a fist over their chest while their left hand was by their side. They waited like that for a while until the wind started to blow. It was a gentle wind that rustled their hair yfully.


    Many of them were overwhelmed by the development. They have seen their god and see him every day but this is the first time they are feeling his attention on them. They want to cry or shout or jump. They want to do something to express the joy welling up within them. But they kept theirposure. They didn''t even smile. Though some of them shed silent tears, none of them broke their form.


    The wind flowed around them and inspected them closely. Those that pass the inspection are then initiated. Leaves that detached from the god-king himself came to them along with the wind. These leaves of three colors were then deposited on their bodies.


    Most of them shook and stifled some sounds as soon as the leaves touched them. The leaves look like tongues of fire. They are actually tongues of fire. They are real mes that burn and consume.

 Chapter 1135 Initiation.

    Chapter 1135 Initiation.


    The skins of the recruits became the recipients of the attention of the burning leaves. The leaves licked their skin and burned it like any fire would do. But they don''t burn haphazardly. The wounds they leave behind form ck lines that look like the drawings of a chain.


    The process of initiation is very painful. Fire licked their skin to form patterned injuries. The dormantw fragments in their skin were activated with divine energy. The divine energy of Order was used so thew fragments were reinforced instead of beingpletely destabilized.


    The process of reinforcement was apanied by the destabilization of the divine energy of the sun. Thew fragments were broken down by the divine energy of the sun and then reshaped with the divine energy of Order. So it is like a metal smith using heat and some extra metal to weld pieces of metal together. All of these led to the creation of simple ck lines on their skin.


    The recruits have to endure the process or it will be ruined if they move. It is not that the tree father cannot make the runes even if they move. It is the fact that they do not have the mental resilience strong enough to withstand the pain. In that case, the rune will be useless on themthem even if it ispleted.


    It is a difficult process but it is not one that they are not prepared for. They exercised painfully for most of their life. Their bodies and minds have been broken several times by the intensive training. The pools of diluted divine life energy in their academy healed and put them back together for them to repeat their exercise so they are no strangers to pain.


    The bodies of the initiates are strong and their minds are resilient. Besides, they are transcendents, they have perfect control over their bodies. They just have to will themselves not to move. How difficult is that?


    It is not that difficult since only 3 of the 11 failed. Or it seems to be very difficult since 3 of them failed despite years of preparation and perfect control of their bodies. 2 of them moved away from the embrace of the wind to avoid the pain so the flow of leaves to them stopped. The 3rd one jerked away in agony. Their tattoos became iplete because of their actions.


    The three that stopped were dejected but they didn''t make any sound orints. They remained in line with the others. It was only after the initiation for the others waspleted that the leader gave the order to move. The initiates followed after him wordlessly.


    He didn''t turn back to his initiates as he said, "You three will return to the academy for another round of training. You can return for another try when you have been deemed fit. Know that this is yourst chance. If you fail it, then you will not be able to serve the great god as a demorgorg. For the rest of you, you will continue to follow me. You are not demorgorgs yet until you get your first star."


    This group of the leader and his initiates separated once they reached the edge of the outer sanctuary. There were soldiers waiting for them at the edge. These soldiers are different from the ones that patrol the edge of the outer sanctuary. They are trainers of the academy.


    These trainers took the initiates with iplete tattoos back to the academy with them. As for the remainders, they followed the four-star demorgorg just as they were instructed to do. Their entire bodies from head to toe have been etched deep with the chain that binds them.


    This chain is not fixed in position. It is moving about. In fact, it is jiggling and nging against each other like normal physical chains. It is as if they are draped with actual chains and not tattoos of chains.


    The behavior of their chains is different from that of the full demorgorg leading them. The chains on the body of the four-star demorgorg are taut and tight. It is as if something is straining against it.


    The initiates also don''t have a face on their backs like the full demorgorgs do. They will soon acquire the face. It is what they are going to get now to be full demorgorgs. Each one of them is excited but they culled that excitement in favor of focus. They will need that focus soon.


    The four-star demorgorg led them to a gatedpound. The security at the gate let them in quickly once they saw that they were a group of initiates. Such a sight is verymon to them.


    The initiates were then led to an ess vault that led to an undergroundplex. Thisplex is where they will get their first star. They have been training for it all their lives and have been here several times so they were not spooked or scared of the unnatural sounds of moaning and groaning that can be heard from the cells within theplex.


    The cells are all identical. They are small secured rooms that closely resemble prison cells. Each cell is separated from the others by thick enchanted walls made of metal.


    Theplex itself was built by the god-king himself. It is arge underground structure that is more than a kilometer long and wide. It is highly fortified and secure.


    Theplex looks like a prison because it is a prison. Each cell contains a demon. It can be said that the demons are imprisoned, which doesn''t seem odd as that is the only way to contain a demon. But the conditions of their imprisonment will make one pity them.


    The initiates were led to the first level which is for low rank demons who are the equivalent of mana entities. They had to pass through severalyers of security protocols just to reach this rtively harmless location. Below this level are more powerful and sinister demons. They can''t handle those yet so they will stop here.


    ----


    A/N: Bonus chapter for 1000 power stones.

 Chapter 1136 How To Become A Demorgorg.

    Chapter 1136 How To Be A Demorgorg.


    Their four-star demorgorg said to them. "You know what to do. I will give you 5 minutes toplete the binding process."


    The initiates know what to do. They have seen it being done before and have trained for it. So they scrambled toward their assigned cells without hesitation. They had gotten ess cards which they used now to open the doors of the cells.


    Inside the cell is their target. It is a demon pierced through from all sides by runic spikes. The spikes extend from the walls and pin the demons at the center of the cell. Each spike has prated the demon from one side to the other so their sharp tip can be seen after passing through the flesh of the demon.


    The demons are different in size and shape but they are all bleeding and have been bleeding for years. Their unptable situation has weakened to the extent that they are too weak to open their eyes or react to the existence of an intruder. Their current weakened state will make them easier to subdue.


    Each initiate got to work immediately. They ced their hands on the demons. The loose chains on their body reacted immediately. They unwound and unraveled. Then they detached from the body of the initiates and iled about like thin tentacles.


    The chains are still connected to the initiates at their roots. They are all connected to the backs of the initiates.


    The iling chains thentched onto the defenseless demons and sank into their bodies. The chains didn''t encounter resistance because they were intangible. But then they began to drag the demons towards the initiates. Something intangible shouldn''t be able to do that.


    The spikes jutting through the demons withdrew at this point into the reinforced walls so that there was no resistance to the pulling of the chains. This singr action caused so much pain that the demons cried or screeched in response to their suffering.


    But the initiates didn''t stop. The demons were pulled until they came into contact with the chest of the initiates. Then they were pulled further until they actually sank into the skin of the initiates just like the intangible chains that bind them. It was like a rock falling into the water, they caused small waves to ripple across the skin of the initiates.


    Every initiate fell to their knells in agony at that point. They had trained for the initiation by withstanding being beaten by hot rods. The pain of that kind of training is double-fold. There is the physical impact of the rod on their bodies and then the searing of their bodies by the heat of the rods.


    The hot rods practically cut into their bodies. They were scarred and healed repeatedly by the experience. It was to prepare for this moment. But that experience is mildpared to the initiation process.


    Their training only affected their bodies. The chains on the other hand had to be seared on their bodies and their souls. Even that doesn''tpare with the agony that they are feeling now as the demons were thrust upon their existence.


    Fortunately for them, the chains got to work on what they were designed for. The demons are being enved but the existence of the initiates has to be remolded into a prison that can take advantage of the envement.


    The initiates trained for this too. They were made to carry a rock around for days. The rock got heavier over time. But they couldn''t drop it for anything. They had to carry it with them whenever they moved or worked and it had to be on top of them whenever they slept.


    It was stressful and painful at first. But they got used to it andpleted their training. They were told several times that it couldn''tpare to the actual thing. But you can''t really know the burden of assimting another entity''s existence into yours until you actually do so.


    Carrying heavy boulders does not do it justice. This is extra painful because it is a demonic entity that they are trying to assimte, not a lifeless rock. Besides, the rock was outside their body, and couldn''t resist. That is not so for the demons. If it is any constion, the process is painful for both the initiates and the demon being enved.


    The weakened demons had woken up from their stupor when the spikes were withdrawn. It was agonizing to have their wounds reopened but their pain has only increased as their broken bodies were forced into shapes that would have been painful had they beenpletely healthy. It is just right that they would resist this callous treatment.


    The demons tried to escape this unnatural grasp of their existence but they failed. A low-rank demon cannot resist the divine power of a low god much less that of a Celestial.


    Some lucky demons died then and there. Their existence was unfoiled and they became free of pain in death. The unlucky ones that survived the pain have their existence warped into a tool for power.


    Thew of order in the skin of the initiates and the divine power of order in their tattoo worked together to form a divine Stigmata which functions as an engine that siphons power from the demon imprisoned within it.


    The tree fathermented to himself and Helios, "The process is still excruciating and dangerous"


    He can see what''s going on here. This perception of his is not special at all. He can see everything that goes on in his kingdom. He knows when someone enters it or leaves. He can kill anyone here too. He might as well be omnipotent and omniscient in his kingdom for all intent and purposes. At least, it has always seemed so the numerous times his might has been tested.


    He has been following this group of initiates since they left the sanctuary. He is particrly interested in their progress because the rune they are using is a new upgraded version. There is no physical difference from the previous ones so it will be very difficult to tell. The difference is supposed to be in how efficient they perform.

 Chapter 1137 Sovericks Invented Artifact.

    Chapter 1137 Soverick''s Invented Artifact.


    The rune to create demorgorgs was not created in a day. It all started with Stelios''s rune that he made on Helios''s back. Helios studied it and came up with changes that the tree father applied when he finally got ess to Helios within the ant queen''s abode.


    It was then that Helios tried to break through and Stelios tried to take advantage of the situation only to be cornered and have half of his Celestial power ripped from him.


    That was the first divine engine. It is a tool not made out of metal like most artifacts, but made out of flesh and blood given form by the presence of the fragments of order that giants possess. Its main function is to take advantage of another powerful being''s existence to empower its wielder. It will siphon power and energy from its target for this purpose.


    The divine engine could only do so for gods at first. But the gods are dead so that made them not an option to use. Soverick then perfected it by creating the tool that can take advantage of any existence including an Origin god''s. What the tree father did next is to adapt that creation to the giants of order to take advantage of the avable powerful beings around them. Those powerful beings are the demons.


    Aeternus brought the demons to the Zargoth ne. He also created a portal that led to the abyss. Mana and sin energy flooded the ne through the portal. Demons did too. The tree father and Aeternus used the demons to make the areas outside the kingdom of life inhospitable and unamodating of life. They also decided to use demons to strengthen the giants of order. That''s how the demorgorgs were created.


    It is a good thing that the demorgorgs were formed. The portal is closed now so the supply of demons, sin energy, and mana ended with it. Aeternus also went into hiding which made controlling the demons difficult.


    The demons actually became the enemies of the Kingdom of Life because of his absence. It was the demorgorgs that could fight them. Giants are usually resistant to spells. The demorgorgs took that resistance to another level. Spells created by sin energy will be directly negated. It made demorgorgs the bane of demons.


    Demorgorgs could also finally use spells themselves using sin energy. Itpleted the characteristics needed for them to be called demon hunters and it sealed the fate of the demons.


    The demons were beaten. They were hunted, captured, and used to create more demorgorgs which led to their inevitable defeat. The war against the demons led to the dwindling of their numbers and their scarcity. Demon nobles haven''t been seen in a long time because of the mass hunting. That''s why the elimination of an entire squad of demons cannot be taken lightly.


    The leader of that squad had a demon noble sealed within her rune. It would have taken at least one demon noble and probably more to not only defeat her but also kill her and her entire squad. But the investigation revealed that there wasn''t any sign of a demon noble at the crime scene.


    If the demon nobles have found a way to hide, then this might be an opportunity to discover how they did it and increase the ranks of four-star demorgorgs. In a way, the loss of the 21 demorgorgs might lead to a boon for the demorgorgs.


    These initiates are nowhere near that level of power. A low-rank demon is the equivalent of a mana entity meanwhile each of them are transcendents. The empowerment that low-rank demons give them won''t make them powerful enough to fight lords ofw. But they will be able to fight other transcendents that use Origin energy or demigods and they can growrger than 1 kilometer thanks to sin energy.


    "Let''s see what can be improved." The tree father mused to himself as he observed the process closely.


    The Demons that didn''t die were warped into living tools. The chains have dug into them earlier to drag them. Those chains then went in to sear themselves into the demon''s existence. They prated past the body of the demon to its soul and then its mark of sin.


    A face frozen in pain then appeared on the back of the initiates. The chains have also be taut from binding the demon. The pain the demons are going through dwarves what Ghaster went through when Soverick used him to test his artifact.


    The divine Stigmata is more advanced than Soverick''s initial creation after years of development. It made Mana in the atmosphere funnel into the frozen and terrified faces on their back. It entered the demons in the rune and was converted to sin energy so the demons wouldn''t degenerate or weaken as Ghaster did. Even their wounds will heal so they can be in good health through their eternity of agonizing servitude.


    Sin energy is then siphoned out of the demons into the chains all over the demorgorgs body. This has made giants of order gain ess to energy other than the origin energy. Sin energy is better for them since they can''t cast spells with mana or origin energy but they can cast spells now with the sin energy.


    Thew of order on their bodies doesn''t break sin energy apart as it does to mana and Origin energy. Instead, it will give it form based on their thoughts. It had to bepelled to do so by divine energy the way Helios was able to use Origin energy too.


    The four-star demorgorg said to them, "Well done. Congrattions on acquiring your first demon."


    The initiates smiled and only smiled. That''s all they can manage to do right now. The initiation has ended and there is no more pain but the demons are recovering within them which is increasing the burden on their existence so talking is a chore they can''t manage to do right now.

 Chapter 1138 The New Demorgorgs Vs The Old Demorgorgs.

    Chapter 1138 The New Demorgorgs Vs The Old Demorgorgs.


    The four-star demorgorg understood their plight so he just smiled and didn''t rush them to stand.


    The tree father was watching them while inspecting the data he was receiving from their runes. He is of the opinion that while the initiation process is difficult and will need some getting used to, it is great for the giants of orders. It is still great even though 2 initiates didn''t survive the process.


    These two died. They are different from the other 3 who failed because their demons died or the 3 who failed because they couldn''t hold still during the tattooing. They can start again with other demons after a period of rest and training but these 2 can''t.


    The burden was too big for their existence. Their bodies broke apart as their consciousness crumbled. They died and scattered to ashes leaving behind a ball formed by the chains binding a demon tightly.


    The leader said to the three that failed, "Two of you whose demons died will use the vestige that was left behind while thest one will pick a new demon to use. You will do this after resting for some days."


    The 2 balls can still be used. It is usually how demons are transferred between demorgorgs. As long as the rune isn''t damaged, a dead demorgorg will leave behind this ball which another demorgorg can assimte.


    The three initiates paled when they heard that they would have to try again. They thought the death of the demons they tried to enve would disqualify them. Apparently, that is not the case and the pain they just went through was in vain. They couldn''t help but feel fear despite their faith in their god.


    Their leader roared at them, "Snap out of it. Fear is a sin and a weakness. You cannot be afraid if you want to subdue a demon. Remember your training!"


    That calmed them down. They thought back to their training, specifically the weakness that they must avoid. They must avoid exhibiting the sins of demons. Emotions like wrath, lust, fear, etc are weaknesses that demons can exploit.


    A demorgorg must have an invible will and perfect control over their emotions. It is not as important as the earlier versions of demorgorgs which were at risk of being corrupted by the demons they subdued.


    Back then, the demons couldmunicate with their host and use that link to break the mind of the host causing their death. Even though that is not so anymore, weaknesses in emotions will increase their chances of failure so they steeled their will and got rid of their fear.


    Their leader went on, "I am sure you will seed after this painful experience. All of your trainingbined cannot help you prepare yourself more than this short brush with death could. Have you ever heard of a demorgorg dying while changing their demons? No, it doesn''t happen. That''s because they are already used to it. So be more confident in yourself."


    What the leader didn''t say is that it used to happen in the past. It is only recently that the rune has be better at upgrading a demorgorg from one star to two stars and more. Demorgorgs rarely die now due to the upgrade process.


    He might have omitted a crucial detail but he is right in that their chances of survival have increased after this failed experience. The initiates can see the wisdom that led to that conclusion and why the 3 who failed the tattooing part of the initiation were sent off. would have probably died if they attempted to acquire their first star.


    The tattooing is nothingpared to actually assimting a demon. If they couldn''t handle the tattooing then it is highly unlikely that they would be able to handle the assimtion. As it is, they might still die even if they return from training and seed with the tattooing. After all, seeding in getting the tattoo does little to prepare them for assimtion much less when they fail.


    "Let''s go!" The leader shouted at them.


    Then he grabbed them and the vestiges with his solidified divine sense and carried them away. He knows that if they can''t speak, there is no way they will be able to walk. As they are, they will be stuck on their beds for many days toe.


    The underground prison for demons returned to serenity after they left. All that could be heard were the asional moans of agony and shrieks of pain. But that is normal to hear here so it is peaceful. In fact, total silence would be considered out of ce here.


    The tree father observed to himself, "So a survival rate of 75%. That isn''t bad. It is worth it at least."


    6 out of the 8 of them survived the process. The survival rate can be increased if the tree father adds divine life energy to the rune on the initiates. This will heal them and keep them alive during the assimtion of the demon. A 100% survival rate can be ensured that way.  But the tree father isn''t going to spend divine life energy on that.


    Demorgorgs were created to assist him and reduce his usage of divine energy. They take some of the burden of running a kingdom off of him. While the investment of divine life energy into creating demorgorgs at 100% is low, Legion is not willing to ept that expenditure. Especially when there are other clones that need it.


    Divine life energy is useful for a lot of things. It is used to speed up growth in Ragnarok, Legion-5, and Legion-7. It is also needed for healing and the reconstruction of bodies for Legion-7 to use his ability.


    The supply of divine life energy is not infinite and is not enough for all of Legion''s needs. As it is, even if the clones don''t need it urgently, the tree father won''t spend it on some weaklings. He would rather save it for when the clones need it. It is better to have divine life energy and not need it than to need it and not have it.

 Chapter 1139 Limits To Quantity.

    Chapter 1139 Limits To Quantity.


    ?


    Besides, they already made an investment of divine life energy in the healing pools at the various academies for training future demorgorgs. That little investment brought about a return of 60% survivability on average. That is good enough for Legion.


    The initiates left the demon prison. They all left happy. They have finally be what they trained all their lives for. They can''t be sad anyway. They are alive and that''s enough to be d for. Those who failed and should be sad are already dead.


    In this way, the tree father has put the giants of order to good use. The initiates are practically on par with demigods right now. It is something that runes and Stigmatas couldn''t achieve. A demigod had to be the offspring of another god.


    The process of acquiring that power is clearly very dangerous but it is worth it because there is no other option for giants of order to acquire power in the ne. Demigods don''t exist anymore since the death of the gods. In fact, all the demigods that were transcendents and had fused with the divine power of their parents died together with their parents.


    The way that the gods died implicated their descendants. Chaos energy is insidious that way. Every trace of their divine power was destroyed so that the gods wouldn''t be able to resurrect in any way.


    The only descendants of gods that survived that ordeal are those that were still mana entities when the gods died. But the survivors lost their runes. All runes in existence stopped working once all the gods died and the Authority of the Celestial Supreme was taken away.


    The only person who can create runes and even do more to allow giants of order to acquire the power to fight titans ofw is the one and only god-king. Every other giant of order is stuck at the transcendent level because of thew fragment of order in their bodies. They can''t learnws and they can''t use mana. This leaves the order of demorgorgs as the only path forward despite its danger.


    "This still needs some work," Helios said. "It is too dangerous and it has a limit."


    "I agree that it is too dangerous but unless I am willing to sacrifice some of my power, I don''t see how we can get through this limit. There are no gods apart from me."


    "I suggest that we return to the Original use of Soverick''s project. It would certainly be an alternative capable of breaking the limit of power of the demorgorgs and also reduce the danger."


    The tree father considered the suggestion and thought it was a good idea. "It could work but it is going to be dangerous to start it as we are. It would be easier to have Soverick on our side but he is still busy working on the concept for his eyes."


    Helios insisted. "We will just have to do this without him. The time is ripe and there is an opportunity to test it soon."


    "Then let us shall."


    And so they began work on the next generation of amplification. What they have achieved already is exceptional. They have sessfully created a path of power that is different from the normal paths of power. It is something that has been tried several times in the past.


    Some have seeded in creating a means other than the path of perfection to strengthen beings but most have failed. The order of demorgorgs is a sess but it is not good enough for Legion.


    The major problem with the demorgorg system is that it is dangerous. Transcendents are too rare to encounter amongst giants of order. They don''t have bloodlines to help them after all.


    The current output of transcendents that they have achieved is a result of the intensive nurturing of the giants with normal life energy from nts engineered by the tree father and grown to provide it. But even then, some of them die during the breakthrough.


    No amount of resources can eliminate the danger of breaking through to transcendence without a bloodline, life essence, or divine life energy. Only those three can guarantee a breakthrough to transcendence. So the supply of transcendents is too low for them to be wasted when they try to be demorgorgs.


    Even if they have unlimited transcendents, they don''t have unlimited ess to demons. Demons are essential parts of the demorgorgs. Without a demon to assimte, there can be no demorgorgs. This creates a shunt in the number of demorgorgs that can be created even if there are unlimited transcendent giants.


    The scarcity of demons is a real problem right now even when there is a limited supply of transcendents because the portal to the abyss is closed. Aeternus had to do it to ensure the safety of the Zargoth ne. It stopped the supply of demons for demorgorgs to work with.


    The process of capturing demons is also not easy. Many of them die during the capturing process. After all, it is easier to kill than to capture.


    It doesn''t help that the rate of suicides among demons has increased because of the existence of demorgorgs. Demons can sense the other demons trapped in their bodies and the pain they are going through. Most of them would rather die than go through that.


    As if that isn''t enough to limit the supply of demons, the process of assimtion is also dangerous to demons. Some of them die during the process.


    The process of creating a demorgorg is dangerous to demons because they have been weakened before the assimtion begins. But if they are not weakened, their resistance will be too much which will make the stress on the giants too much and will lead to the death of giants.


    Divine life energy cannot be used to solve this issue because the weakness of demons is a good thing. At least if demons die, the giants can try with other demons. But if a giant dies, that is a permanent loss for the demorgorgs.

 Chapter 1140 Limit To Power.

    Chapter 1140 Limit To Power.


    The demorgorg system is dangerous to both entities despite all the advancements that Legion has made to streamline the process. It is not as dangerous as the situation Helios was in when he tried to break through and assimte the Celestial power of the sun god, but these people are no Helios.


    Helios was trying to be a transcendent while absorbing the divine power of a Celestial. The giants on the other hand are already transcendents but the tree father had to make the process more dangerous to the demons for the giants of order to have this level of survival.


    Now if the danger to both giants of order and demons is eliminatedpletely, the demorgorg system will still be obsolete because it has a limit of power. The highest rank achievable for the demorgorgs is five stars. That is the equivalent of a titan ofw and it requires a living demon lord to be sealed within a transcendent.


    The demorgorg system cannot seal a demon king. That is just impossible. The divine power of a Celestial cannot bind a demon king without a violent reaction. This reaction will turn the body of the giant of order into a battlefield and kill them.


    If it were possible to seal a demon king, it would require a massive cost in divine energy and the constant assistance of Authority. That means the tree father will only be able to maintain a single six-star demorgorg and he will have most of his power diverted to keep the demon king sealed as long as the six-star demorgorg exists.


    That is a foolish trade because a six-star demorgorg will only have the strength of a Sovereign at most. This is because the seal will have to cripple the demon king to reduce its resistance and use it which will lead to a reduction in its output.


    Already, the cost of a five-star demorgorg is prohibitive. Demon lords are unique. There can be only one in an abyssal ne. That further limits the maximum amount of five-star demorgorgs that can be created. So there is a limit to the quantity and quality of power even if there is an unlimited amount of transcendents and demons.


    As it is, the only five-star demorgorg in existence is Hak. A demon lord is rare but it wasn''t difficult for Aeternus to acquire some. But it was extremely difficult for giants of order to assimte the lowest rank of demon lord.


    The giants of order are only transcendents after all. It is already a miracle that someone managed to assimte a weak demon lord. Powerful demon lords like Beelta with half-divine stats are impossible to assimte by the current giants of order.


    The good news is that no demon lords went to waste during the process of assimtion. The assimtion didn''t endanger them enough before the giants of order died.


    Even four-star demorgorgs who have spent thousands of years with demon nobles sealed within them and have be used to it cannot withstand the pressure of a demon lord. A demon lord is connected to an abyssal ne after all. The only one that seeded had a lot of help from the tree father.


    Hak was and is still being reinforced by the divine power of the tree father the same way the tree father assisted Helios during his breakthrough. Except he isn''t using any of his divine life energy. The divine energy of order is resisting the energy well of the abyssal ne and is preventing Hak from being overwhelmed.


    This can be done for other demorgorgs too. More five-star demorgorgs can be created that way. In fact, the tree father can sacrifice some of his divine power to empower the giants instead of using demons, but what use will the demorgorgs be then?


    If they need his help to have power, then it is better for the tree father to keep his power for himself and use it when needed. It will be a waste to go through that route when that divine power can be used to assist Legion. Even if they go for this inefficient method, the best that they can achieve is still the five-star demorgorg.


    They have no way to seal demon kings and no way to give giants of order ess to their Authority without it being detrimental to Legion. That means they won''t have any Sovereign level forces.


    The demorgorgs are supposed to be useful for protecting the ne and assisting the realm in the era of conquest. If they don''t have Sovereigns then they can''t even attempt to achieve those objectives. That''s why the Tree father and Helios decided it was time to create a better system.


    -------


    The tree father and Helios worked while their enemies also worked in the background. Tanya reached the borders of the kingdom of life after making her preparations. The border of the only stable kingdom is very apparent. It is stable because it is not at the threat of being destroyed by demons.


    The ne has recovered nicely since the world war and the demon war that urred after. The demons have sunk down to the depths of ruins where they hide. But somee up asionally to feed on poor souls.


    Any settlement outside the borders of the kingdom of life can be destroyed at any time by demons. There is no helping it because the only forces that can resist them are the demorgorgs and guardians of the god-king.


    She stands before the border now. It is unmistakable. It is not an arbitrary line in the ground on a map. It doesn''t shift or change across seasons and political fluctuations. The border is visible and indisputable. It is there for everyone to see because it has the might of the god-king to enforce it.


    The translucent barrier that she is standing in front of marks the beginning of the kingdom of life. Any demon that sees it knows it is a no-go area. Rebels, like her, also no that they can''t trespass unnoticed. That is until today.


    ------


    A/N: This bonus chapter is my gift to all of you for Christmas and boxing day. I hope you enjoyed yourself wherever you are. Thank you for the gifts that you haven''t sent.

 Chapter 1141 A Foundation Of Lies.

    Chapter 1141 A Foundation Of Lies.


    The barrier stands in all its glory staring down at a group of rebels who n to infiltrate it. It didn''t give Tanya confidence at all. Tanya said to her council, "I will go first and look around just as we nned. We willmunicate and move ording to the situation." The four other leaders of the rebellion nodded. Two of them are former demigods like her that survived while the other two are not. The other two are like Tanya''s dead servants. They were lucky to be transcendents on their own. Demigods or not, all five of them want to be gods. That''s the major aim for banding together and resisting the kingdom of life. Of course, their followers don''t know that. They don''t know that their leaders have selfish motives. These ignorant followers fall into two major categories. The first category is the conspiracy theorists who believe that the tree father is responsible for the invasion of the demons and the death and destruction that was unleashed on their ne by the demons. This group also believes that the god-king is evil because he uses some addictive pollens to create loyalty in his followers. No one listens to them of course. People just shake their heads and wonder where they get their preposterous ideas from. History has stated clearly that the sun god and the tree of life, who are the same by the way, helped to protect the people of the ne when the previous god-king who was a dictator and mad that people weren''t listening to him, unleashed the gue of demons on the ne. This knowledge ismon sense so the conspiracy theorists must be nutjobs. It doesn''t help that some of them believe that the god-king came from outside of the ne when it ismon knowledge that the ne is sealed. The extremists im that this information was leaked by the gods before they disappeared and they even im that the god-king is working with the demons which is absurd since the forces of the god-king are the ones that fight and kill most of the demons. The second category of ignorant followers are the ones who believe that the kingdom of life ought to help the whole ne to prosper instead of themselves. They believe that the god-king shouldn''t horde his power for only his believers and that the god-king should strengthen everyone else with the demorgorg system or at least bestow them with some divine Stigmata so that they can better survive out in the wilderness. The extremists in this second group believe that the kingdom of life should actually reim the whole ne for the race of giants instead of sitting peacefully in their kingdom. They want all the avable power and resources of the kingdom of life to be used formunal benefits. They want food and shelter without doing anything. These two groups were very eager to join a rebellion against the kingdom of life. At least the first group has a made-up but worthy reason to target the kingdom of life. The second group ought to target the demons instead of asking for free things such as public welfare and healthcare. Either way, it is their fault that they are following lying leaders. The leaders promised peace and prosperity as the goal of their rebellion. They promised a rebellion that would make things better. Their followers came with them to risk their lives for that. But all the leaders want is to be new gods and share in the power of the god-king. They want the kingdom of life to im the wilderness so that they can start their own churches without the harassment of demons. The leaders didn''t tell their followers that their true aim was to rece their oppressors. Tanya also didn''t tell them that there can be only one god so here they are. A rebellion for peace and prosperity built on a foundation of lies. "Go ahead." "We have your back." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "You can always count on us."


    The other leaders said encouraging words to her despite the fact that they believed that she would die soon. She is going into dangerous territory and might never return. The risks are too high and she didn''t have to go. In fact, as the leader of this rebel group, she shouldn''t be the one to test the efficacy of the stealth method that their sponsor gave them. But she has to. That''s what happens when she goes to a meeting with 2 other transcendents and is the only one to return alive. You lose trust and influence. Tanya imed that the artifact that was meant to help them killed the two transcendents that went with her. That exnation didn''t relieve the other leaders. It did the opposite. It made them trust the artifact even less. They didn''t trust it more when they witnessed others dying for not heeding her warning and looking directly into the artifact. It made them fear for their lives. Now she has to prove that it works or die trying.


    She took onest look at them. There are about 16 of them here. 5 leaders and 11 followers. They are all the transcendents they have in their rebel alliance. The rest and majority of the alliance are at their other base camps. 2 of the followers here are hers. The others have 2 followers each except for one other demigod that has 3. She used to have 4 followers. But two of them died recently. So her influence fell in the alliance and took with it her voting power. It is another reason why she couldn''t refuse this mission when everyone voted for it. The majority wanted her to risk her life to test the artifact she brought and she didn''t have the power to veto it. All of them are standing around under the canopy of the forest. They are waiting for her to take the step that will take her beyond the borders.

 Chapter 1142 Disgusting Green.

    Chapter 1142 Disgusting Green.


    The giants of order are in their normal size so all of them are around 100 meters tall. Even then, the trees around them are still taller than them and create shade to cover them. The sight of the trees made Tanya angry. It made her more angry than the fact that she was being thrown to the wolves. She thought to herself. "There didn''t use to be trees. All these parts were covered by fine grainy brown desert sand. Winds blew across it to create enchanting dust storms. All of that beauty has been overshadowed by trees now. They are like vermin. They cover everything."


    Her favorite color is brown. She hates the sight of green. But now the green covers everything. Trees were things that were rarely seen before. Now they have disfigured the entire ne. They grow to titanic size and cover everything including the giants under their shade. It is a travesty that she cannot forgive. She promised herself, "When I be god-king, I will remove every tree. The storms will be able to ride free then. The glory and beauty of the ne will return."


    That is for the future and she has to seed in this infiltration mission first so she bid farewell. She said to the rebels, "For freedom." All of them raised their fist wordlessly as a show of support. Then they watched as she disappeared behind the barrier. Unease began to rise among them as they waited. The barrier is translucent so they can see thendscape vaguely through it. But oddly enough, they can''t see any living things behind the barrier so they can''t see Tanya at all. The barrier makes it so that the kingdom of life seems far away in another world despite being close to them. It is an illusion of course. There could be an army waiting for them on the other side and they wouldn''t know right now. It will be toote when they go over the barrier and find out. Fortunately, Tanya didn''t meet an army on the other side. She didn''t meet anyone or anything. All she saw was the same sickening green that she left behind. Just the memory of the time she tried to see if they were edible is causing her non-existent stomach to riot. She decided to focus on her mission to avoid thinking about bitter green leaves and disgusting tree bark. She examined her environment thoroughly to determine her position and ensure that she was safe. The barrier runs through a forest. So she is in another part of the same forest that she was in earlier. She knows which direction to go to reach the center of the kingdom since the barrier is behind her. She chose that direction and started walking towards it. It took some time to leave the forest and reach civilization. It is mainly because the forest she is in is veryrge and the kingdom of life is muchrger. The kingdom covers a third of the ne after all. It is thergest kingdom in the history of the ne as far as she knows. She could expand into her full Colossal form to walk faster but that will announce her presence. She didn''t do that despite her frustration because the trees weren''trge enough to obscure her Colossal form. So she will be discovered easily. That''s not her mission. She is to move around silently and test the efficacy of the artifact. That means she is not supposed to make it easy to be spotted. It didn''t take long to spot the god-king. His form stood like a tower that reached the sky. "He must be at least 50 kilometers tall." She estimated fearfully. "Maybe more. How did a tree get this big?"


    She can see the tallest tree through the break in the tree cover. It reaches the limit of the ne after all. The width of the tree must be hundreds of meters too. It is probably wider than she is tall in her colossal form. That is a tree that can surely hide her Collosal form but she didn''t not marvel at the sight. Instead, she felt disgusted and abhorrence for it. That disgust mixed in with her fear which made her decide then and they that she wouldn''t get close to it no matter what. "He wasn''t thisrge before. I guess the god-king grew stronger." Then she shook her head in disgust. "He may be strong but he is ugly. That is the ugliest thing I have ever seen."


    She said that to alleviate her fears but her disgust does very little to mask her fear. It could be seen in her eyes and in the way she stepped forward in hesitation. She has suddenly be reluctant to move closer to the tree. Trees are normally unnatural. But that is her opinion based on her limited experience and knowledge. Trees might be a normal sight in other nes. She is willing to concede that. But she doesn''t think that something that big can be natural in any ne. That is the root of her fear. The power of the god-king is evident in its size. No one can gaze upon his form and doubt his might. Not even she can do so. Not with her knowledge of how the god-king became the only god in the ne and how there can be only one god now. Others will look at this form and be filled with awe. But she feels fear and she would like to turn back now. Unfortunately, she can''t. She has to move forward knowing that each step she takes forward makes it difficult for her to escape if things go wrong.


    "If all these work out then all of this power will be mine." She said to encourage herself.


    She is scared and it is not because of an irrational fear of the god-king. Many have attempted what she is trying to do and failed. No one has ever managed to infiltrate the kingdom of life.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 1143 Victory Comes To The Bold.

    <h4>Chapter 1143 Victory Comes To The Bold. </h4>


    ?1143 Victory Comes To The Bold.


    Anyone who enters the kingdom of life through any ce other than the gates will be visited by the guardians of the god-king soon after. They always know when someone has crossed the barrier and can always find the intruder. They will question her if they find her. And if she is found wanting, then there will be no escaping for her.


    She above all else knows how terrifying the guardians of the god-king are. She is aware of how they killed the vessels of the previous Celestial Supreme. The guardians are more terrifying than the god-king because, unlike the god-king, they can leave the borders of the kingdom of life and also wield his power if only temporarily.


    The guardians are transcendents like her but they can surely kill her even without drawing upon the divine power of their god-


    king. It is because she has no divine power or Origin energy. She has no runes and no stigmata. They may both be transcendents but they are not the same.


    She doesn''t have her divine ability anymore either. So if she is discovered, which should happen anytime soon if the artifact isn''t working, then she can kiss her dream of bing the next god-king goodbye.


    Still, she continued. She walked for more than half an hour until she left the forest. Then she went to the nearest city. She blended in and tried not to look out of ce. Next, she moved around the city.


    She stayed around the edge of the city as if the ease at which she could leave the city would help her escape if she was found. It is false hope but it is something and she desperately needs something right now.


    Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as she walked around. Everyone around her is her enemy. She is literally in enemy territory. One wrong move and she will die.


    It was an ordeal despite her mission being toy low. She kept expecting demorgorgs or the guardians to show up and apprehend her. She kept expecting the god-king himself to strike her down. She had to remain alert constantly and it drained her mind. Her wound-up state made her jump at the slightest odd sight.


    Her worst fears didn''t happen but she wasn''t relieved yet. She still has to leave the lion''s den safely to consider this infiltration a sess. Relief finally came when she exited the barrier after a day in the kingdom.


    The rebel leaders had gone by the time she returned. It is partly because they didn''t think she would return. But it is mostly because they didn''t want her to lead demorgorgs to capture them.


    They had all scattered so she had to reestablishmunication with them through their secret methods. The leaders soon met to hear her report of the mission. Then they sent more rebels to ascertain the validity of her report.


    Things went well for the rebel alliance. Nothing unfortunate happened and they weren''t discovered. Apparently, the artifact could really hide them from the god-king. The sess emboldened them to increase their level of infiltration.


    This is how 11 transcendents infiltrated the kingdom of life. They spent a month in enemy territory collecting information, food, tools, and weapons. Then they returned to their base with their loot. They brought with them almost everyone in their group the next time they came. So more than 1,000 rebels entered the kingdom of life unseen.


    Tanya''s rebel alliance prospered. They could enter and leave the kingdom of life unseen. They used their newfound wealth to recruit more followers to their cause and they used the artifact to entice other rebel groups to join them.


    In this way, their rebel group grew in quantity and quality. It didn''t take long for them to reach 10,000 in number. These are ten thousand people who now have a mark from an artifact created by an Origin god.


    -------


    The kingdom of life can be described as the only light in the otherwise dark ne. It is not a wonder why some people would yearn for it. The kingdom is very epting but these rebels don''t want to be a part of it because they don''t want to be under the control of the ruler of the kingdom.


    Their resistance caused them to be cast into the dark. But now they have found a way to bypass that restriction. They have found a way to enjoy the warmth and safety of the light without having to put in any effort to add to its kindling.


    In the metaphorical darkness are also predators. Unlike the prey who hide in the darkness and yearn for the light but are reluctant to be exposed to the god-king, these predators are after the god-king himself.


    Someone said in the darkness, "It is time."


    These words opened the floodgates. Several entities that have remained hidden came out of the darkness into the light of day to bring the denizens of the day into submission. They stopped hiding behind the scenes. They made themselves and the power they wield known to the world.


    About a hundred entities appeared outside the border of the kingdom of life. They look like ordinary giants. Except that they could fly. No ordinary giant of order can fly. Not even transcendent giants of order. So despite their ordinary looks, no one would see them and be fooled into thinking they are ordinary.


    But even their harmless visages changed when they crossed the border. Tanya crossed the border in fear and healthy trepidation but they did so with confidence.


    Then they unleashed their true form as an announcement of their presence to their unwilling host. Their physical forms changed into abstract and metaphorical manifestations.


    Everyone within the ne became aware of their presence immediately after they entered the borders of the kingdom. Even the ordinary mortals became aware of the presence of these apex predators. They had to look towards the source of the dangerous pressure bearing down on them.

 Chapter 1144 The Request.

    <h4>Chapter 1144 The Request. </h4>


    ?1144 The Request.


    The origin gods have different forms and they are in groups. Each group contains origin gods with simr forms. One group is full of shadows and dark entities of various shapes and sizes. Most don''t even have definite forms. They are masses of energy that are constantly shifting in shape and size.


    Another group is full of giants made of wind and lightning. This group consists of entities that are mostly humanoid. Some groups contain humanoid books or statues made ofyers of paper. Some are just towers of books and others are a single colossal book.


    There are several types of groups here that a knowledgeable person will identify as the domains of the previous grand gods. The only group absent is the group of the sun domain. After all, no grand god of the sun has passed the trial of heaven and gone on to be an Origin god.


    And so the true enemies of the kingdom of life moved. They are the backers of Tanya''s rebel alliance. They are the ones who gave her the artifact. They are the ancestor of gods. Each one of them used to be a grand god until they were reced. They are all Origin gods now. And they have returned to take their share of the ne now that Zernon and the divine ne are no longer here to stop them.


    An apparition appeared in front of them. It is a humanoid figure made of green leaves with bright yellow eyes and a head of hair made of white fire. The apparition is hollow and translucent so it is clear to the Origin gods that this is not his true body.


    This apparition smiled and said, "Wee to my kingdom. What can I do for you?"


    He is all smiles and being polite because he is acting like a good host. He didn''t even need to show an apparition to acknowledge their presence. He could have spoken to them with his divine sense that is spread throughout his kingdom but he decided to consume some divine energy to be a good host. The Origin gods didn''t appreciate his action though.


    "You are the god of life?" Someone asked him rather rudely.


    The apparition continued to smile. It said, "Surely you must know who I am. Or are you lost?"


    He didn''t call them stupid or ignorant for asking that question but he might as well have considering that he is using them of losing their way and stumbling into his kingdom like fools.


    Texira stepped forward. His translucent body made of wind erged just a little and the hair of white lightning on his head glowed brighter. He said with anger, "Watch your tongue, lowly god."


    He has always had it in for the god-king so he was quick to rebuke him.


    The apparition asked in a voice bereft of any tone. "And why should I?"


    Many more origin gods behind Texira stepped forward to support him. They were storm gods like him. "It seems you are the ignorant one. We are immortals. You are just a god. A lowly Celestial like you should know how to speak to his betters."


    "Is that so?" The apparition asked.


    Then numerous other apparitions appeared. There are 98 more apparitions to be exact. That makes for a total of 99 apparitions which match the exact number of Origin gods here.


    The tree father folded the arms of his apparitions confidently and smirked. "If I am so lowly, howe you brought so many of you to confront me? Why didn''t youe alone." He asked in derision.


    The storm gods took in the sight and became prepared for battle. The tree shook his head at them. If they needed him to duplicate his apparition to take him seriously then they don''t know what they have gotten themselves into.


    He warned them kindly, "You are in big trouble."


    This is what they get for barging into a god''s domain. The rules of reality bend to the will of the god within their domain. Their authority makes them a Sovereign here. That''s why it is a bad idea to fight a god in their domain. It is a worse idea to fight a Celestial in their domain that happens to be empowered by the divine ne.


    But these so-called immortals even took it far. They dared to disrespect the god in his domain. They dared to think the god would be subservient to them because they came inrge numbers.


    The tree father had half a mind to show them the error of their ways now. Fortunately, he is not alone in that thought. The storm gods also want a fight.


    Some of the previous gods of knowledge stepped forward quickly to mediate before this turned into a full-blown war.


    The leader of the gods of knowledge said, "We are not here for battle."


    All the apparitions spoke at once. "Then what are you here for? I already asked this question. It was the second thing that I said to you ever since you barged into my kingdom. But you didn''t answer. Instead, you started to disrespect my hospitality. That looks to me like you want a fight."


    She maintained. "I assure you that thest thing on our agenda is a fight. We want to make a deal with you?"


    "At the risk of repeating myself, I will ask again. What do you want?"


    A third group stepped forward. It is a group of Origin gods that used to possess the domain of power and might. They are the ones that still look like giants the most. Their form is burly and muscr. Each one also has an armor around them.


    They were the ones that answered his question. "We have seen what you have done with the ne. It is very good. The ne has be better in our absence. We admire you for your effort and we would like to join you in doing good things for the ne."

 Chapter 1145 Knowledge Is Power.

    <h4>Chapter 1145 Knowledge Is Power. </h4>


    ?1145 Knowledge Is Power.


    "Oh yeah?" the tree father asked. "Then get the fuck out of my kingdom and start your good work outside my borders. There is plenty ofnd there."


    The faces of the Origin gods changed. They frowned at the tant disrespect. They are only pretending to be angry though. Everything is going ording to their n. After all, they didn''t even have to ask to take part of the ne for themselves, and the single most powerful person in control of the ne didn''t tell them to leave the nepletely and refuse to share it. Things are going very well for them by every definition of it.


    So the god of knowledge was the only one who smiled while others looked furious. "We appreciate the generosity and would like to extend it to you too. We are forming a coalition to protect the ne against outsiders and we would like to invite you to join. We will assist each other and¡­"


    "Let me stop you right there. I won''t be joining any coalition. I don''t care if outsiders invade. They can have whatevernd that they can fight for. I only care about my kingdom. And as you can see, it is doing well."


    She didn''t give up despite the setback, "I insist. Everyone needs help sometimes."


    "I am doing well on my own. I don''t need help." The Tree father remained adamant in his rejection.


    "I see. It would be such a shame if we formed the coalition without you. You would be our enemy instead of our ally. That would be bad for you." She threatened indirectly.


    "Is that any different from what you have done currently? Have you not joined your hands together already? Are you not my enemies? Do you see me quaking in my boots?"


    That honestly stumped them. They didn''t expect that he would refuse to join them because joining them seemed like a good idea. After all, it is better to be friends with 99 origin gods than be their enemies. That''s justmon sense.


    If the tree father was headstrong and so against them, he should have rejected their request to take over some parts of the ne. But he didn''t reject them. So they expected that he should be amendable to the cooperation. Apparently, he is not. Fortunately, they have more ns. There are more ways to skin a godly cat.


    He asked them impatiently, "Is that all? If all you''vee for is to acquire my permission to share in the ne then you should leave now that you have it."


    The goddess of knowledge smiled coldly this time around. "Are you going to make us?"


    All the Origin gods red their auras as one. They havemunicated amongst themselves and have decided to use the forceful approach since the diplomatic approach isn''t going to work. They can''t ask the tree father to provide the things that they are after to them as alliance mates now. They have to force him to hand it over.


    The tree father looked at them and smiled without fear. He said to them, "Tell me. What is it that you really want? And what is it that you rely on to fight me in my kingdom? Because if this is all you have to face me, then you might be in over your heads. Why don''t you call for reinforcements before it is toote?"


    Texiro almost lost his top. He can''t believe that this god would think that 99 of them can''t take him on so he wanted to roar in anger because of the underestimation but someone cut him off.


    One of them answered. "Most of us will die. But it doesn''t matter. We are immortal."


    That''s the foundation of their confidence. He is all-powerful here in his kingdom. They don''t even have the advantage of numbers and they can''t use their domains. The restrictions on them would be worse if they were in a proper divine ne. They wouldn''t be able to use thew matrix at all or their authorities.


    Most reasonable origin gods wouldn''t dare to barge in on the divine ne in that situation. Not unless the gods have been weakened themselves.


    Unfortunately, the divine ne has anchored to the main ne itself. This will allow those on the path of perfection to exhibit their strength just as it allows him to fully exhibit his strength in the main ne. That is why he is confident in his ability to defend his kingdom. He is not like other gods who are restricted in the main ne.


    The Tree father became solemn. He appeared to be thinking deeply about his dilemma. Then he asked them, "I have to ask again. Are you sure this is all of you? I still don''t see how all of you can threaten me."


    Texiro lost it then. He roared, "You pompous god. You fool. This is all of us and we are more than needed to subdue you. Your pride and dominion will be broken today."


    Even the calm god of knowledge who was supposed to act like the good interrogator was also incensed. She warned him sternly, "Knowledge is power and we are not ignorant. We know your weaknesses and your strengths. We didn''te here without a n for sess. You on the other hand don''t know anything about us."


    She is not bragging. She knows that one of his weaknesses is that he can''t leave his domain at all. That''s why he didn''t bother to reject their request to share in the ne. One can only keep what they can protect and not what they worked for or deserve. He worked for the entire ne but he can only protect his kingdom.


    These origin gods know that. They know his prowess. They know that he seems to have reached an unprecedented level of power that none of them can match. None of them have a supremew so they can''t match him. Most of them have average strength as origin gods. So they know that most of them will die. But they don''t care. They are immortal.

 Chapter 1146 The Hidden Marks.

    <h4>Chapter 1146 The Hidden Marks. </h4>


    ?1146 The Hidden Marks.


    They are prepared to die. But they are not foolish. They are also prepared to win. So when the entire kingdom of life froze by the divine Will of the god-king, they were prepared. The previous gods of darkness activated the marks that the rebels have on themselves.


    The kingdom of life had frozen. The air itself became amber. Both the dust in the air and the soil in the ground had frozen. Nothing except the Origin gods could move at all because of the power that the tree father exerted on his domain.


    The tree father was ready to fight but he had to stop when he noticed the activation of an external influence in his ne. Some people who had remained hidden from him before shone in his awareness.


    But it isn''t good news. These people stopped being hidden only because what was hiding them before had stopped doing so and turned its power into something else. Then pirs of darkness rose up from every rebel that had the mark on them. These formed thousands of dark pirs in the frozen kingdom.


    "What have you done?" The tree father asked calmly.


    Texira said with glee, "You have been handicapped."


    Someone else buttressed his point. It was one of the previous gods of darkness and night. The translucent shadow said, "Those pirs are bombs. They will explode if I so will it."


    This is the second thing that they have to rely on. They are immortal but immortality alone won''t be enough to get what they want quickly. Besides, their immortalityes at a costly price. They would rather avoid that cost. So they bided their time and schemed. They aimed to target the weakness that all gods have no matter their power or situation.


    The tree father might be able to use his full power here but he hasn''t eliminated his need for faith. He will weaken once his believers have been eliminated. That''s why they think he is lowly despite the fact that he is stronger than them. They can''t respect him because of his weakness.


    The tree father calmed down but he didn''t release his will on his kingdom. He asked, "Why do you want to go to this extent? If you do this, then it will meanplete and total war between us. You will have no part to im in this ne. I will not rest until you have been eliminated from the ne."


    Texira was quick to gloat. "We know. But do you see us quaking in fear?"


    The god of knowledge spoke. "We have offered you an olive branch of cooperation but you refused our good grace. We won''t hold back now that it hase to this. You could have done this easily but you chose to be difficult."


    All the phantoms of the Tree father said in exasperation, "Just get to the point already."


    There''s no way he will believe that the Origin gods are going to this extent just because they want him as part of their alliance. Even if it were so, there must be a benefit that they will gain if he joins that alliance. He wants to know what they truly want now that he knows what the hidden things are and how it is rted to them.


    She stated with a re, "We want the secret to the demorgorgs. We want to know how you made them including the rune schematics."


    He said to them, "It won''t be of any use to you. It can only be created by a god and I am the only god. Your best bet is to make me create demorgorgs for you."


    Texira sneered and said, "That is not for you to worry. We will solve that problem after we get the information."


    The tree father''s orange eyes burned brighter. He asked, "Is that so? What will I get out of this exchange?"


    An Origin god was quick to reply, "Nothing."


    She was corrected. "Not nothing. We won''t blow up your kingdom. You will get that much from us."


    He shook his head. "Then I am afraid that we cannot have a deal. I will only provide the information if you swear to leave the kingdom of life alone forever and to keep the secret of demorgorgs to yourself."


    Texira was quick to correct him. "You are mistaken. This is not a deal. You do not have a choice. We will decimate your precious kingdom if you don''t hand it over. That is both a threat and a promise that we will make good on."


    His eyes shed at that point. "It looks like this will go nowhere."


    He has taken several steps back in this encounter. First, he gave part of the ne. He was also willing to give up the process to create demorgorgs. Demorgorgs are already obsolete. Legion can give it up in exchange for peace.


    Most importantly, they won''t be able to use the information without his divine power of order even if they manage to create a god to help them. That means they will need him after they get the information but they won''t be able to do anything to him if they swear to leave his kingdom alone. So they will have to beg him if they want his help to create demorgorgs.


    As it is, they refused to swear that Oath so he can''t let them have the secret of demorgorgs because that will surely make them try to kill him. They believe that they have leverage over him because of the bombs that they smuggled into his kingdom. What''s to stop them from using it after they get what they want?


    Admittedly, the bombs will harm him, but this ne is not his only foundation. He has several other nes with a lot of believers. He is Celestial Supreme in only this one ne but he won''t be harmed too much if they detonate the bombs. Even so, he can''t allow them to trample over him. Not when a fight with them will benefit him.

 Chapter 1147 Blow By Blow.

    <h4>Chapter 1147 Blow By Blow. </h4>


    ?1147 Blow By Blow.


    "It seems we must go to war." He said to them.


    "Go ahead. Do your worst." They said fearlessly, "Just know that we will retaliate in kind. You will have no ce in this ne."


    The tree father stopped holding back. He has been cautious because he doesn''t know anything about them but that is out the window now. The knowledge that this is all of the Origin gods will have to be good enough for him.


    So he consumed the divine energy of order and the sun ording to his divine Will by the empowerment of his divine power. His divine power easily overrode the resistance of thew matrix since he is in his domain so his divine will was made manifest.


    Several stars suddenly appeared around them. They were created with only divine energy. They arerge spherical objects that shine like stars. They are also not harmless like stars. The origin gods can tell that much.


    The spherical objects produce light because of the presence of the divine energy of the sun. They can feel the amount of energy within each star too. It is a lot. The situation doesn''t look promising since the stars have cannons that are pointed at them.


    As if that wasn''t enough, all the pyramids all over the kingdom were activated too. Their tops began to glow brightly. They too are umting massive amounts of energy which they will release at a thought from the god-king.


    The god of knowledge warned him, "You do not want to do this."


    She is wrong. He in fact wants to do this and has been looking forward to it ever since he noticed the nk area in his senses. All he wanted to confirm is that these were their only Origin gods and that they were the ones responsible for the spies. Her warning went to waste on him now that he is sure that a third party is not involved in this.


    He gave the go-ahead. His Authority ignited the weapons and the world turned white immediately. Bright and thick yellow beams of energy shot out from the pyramids inrge numbers toward the origin gods from every direction. The death stars in the sky also released the sameser attacks.


    The attacks were as fast as light so they couldn''t be dodged. The Origin gods were bombarded and torn apart by the power. Each body part of theirs that was touched simply turned to dust. Even their defenses were not spared. Thesers prated them easily.


    Their concept couldn''t protect them against the Authority of a Celestial so it was a massacre. But the massacre didn''t ur without retaliation. The origin god of darkness activated the bombs immediately. The thousands of pirs of darkness in the ne expanded and swallowed the kingdom. They covered more than 50% of the ne.


    The Origin god said, "You will regret this."


    If they explode now it is not an understatement to say that they will level the kingdom. But the tree father wasn''t concerned. It will be a massive loss but it is one that he is ready to suffer.


    Someone advised the Origin god of darkness, "Target his body."


    They know that these apparitions that they are fighting are not his true body. They will deal a massive blow to his source of faith if they damage his kingdom but they will damage more than his source of faith if they target his body.


    They might even be able to kill him so the Origin god of darkness agreed. He made the marks leave their host and fly into the air. They became dark moths that flew towards therge tree at the center of the kingdom.


    The tree father couldn''t stand and watch anymore. It is not that he is pretending that the tree is his main body but he can''t have his connection to this ne severed so he roused his divine power.


    Ake of golden fire appeared around the massive tree. It formed a barrier that could both attack and defend him. The fire burned the ck moths as they tried to rush through it. The violent reaction between theke of fire and the marks created explosions in the sky.


    He sneered at the gods, "You shouldn''t have been greedy. Now you gain nothing."


    The explosions depleted a lot of his divine energy but it didn''t damage him or the kingdom. But the Origin gods were not disappointed.


    Some of them roared in encouragement, "Continue to fight. We can exhaust him with a little more effort."


    One of the advantages that Celestials have over other gods is that they can store an infinite amount of divine energy. So the older a Celestial is, the more difficult it is to kill them. Their many years of umtion will make them formidable.


    But the god king has not been a Celestial for up to 2,000 years and they have caused him to use a lot of divine energy to defend his main body. They didn''t have a high hope of defeating him in a single fight before, but that has changed now.


    The origin gods resisted with renewed Vigor. They know they might die but they want to make their death count. They roared in anger and overturned the world. Origin energy gushed out of them like a tide.


    Even though they can''t infuse their attacks with soul force due to the suppression of the realm, thew matrix still went into overdrive trying to make their will a reality because of their numbers. Fire burned everywhere. Water gushed and ripped everything apart. Lightning boomed. Light shed. It was quite an impressive sight. But it only that because no real damage was done.


    The tree father used his apparitions and divine power to form a barrier around the Origin gods. The barrier separated them from the rest of the kingdom. All their attacks couldn''t get past the barrier while his own attacks could reach them. But he had to spend a lot of divine energy to resist the attacks.

 Chapter 1148 Supression Of Gods.

    <h4>Chapter 1148 Supression Of Gods. </h4>


    ?1148 Supression Of Gods.


    Some roared again, "Just a little more. A little more."


    This is a battle that they are losing and they know it. They are very angry and frustrated. But they are not disappointed even though their attacks are not having any visible effect on him. This is because he is spending divine energy.


    His consumption of divine energy must be very high to resist all of them so well. He might be strong but they still have the advantage of numbers on their side. That''s why they brought all the Origin gods in their alliance to fight him. His expenditure of divine energy is 99 times the amount he would have spent if he fought a single Origin god.


    They have to use the thought that they are depleting his divine energy as encouragement because the other choice is not good. This fight won''t end unless one of them dies and gives up. Those are the options because they can''t escape. He has blocked his border to deny entry or exit.


    They are stuck here with him until he is done with them or until he can''t keep them here anymore. So they have to remain encouraged or give up and allow him to do whatever he wants with them.


    The tree father snickered at them. "This is why you should not attack a god in his domain."


    Gods can be ridiculed. They can be insulted for their weakness. They can be killed even. But unless you are an Origin god with a supremew or a demon, it is a very bad idea, foolish even, to fight a god in his domain.


    There is no difference between 1 and 100 enemies on the path of perfection to a god in his domain. No matter the amount of attackers, they will be suppressed just the same. This is not aplete domain since it is not his divine kingdom. He can''t suppress thempletely but he can still bully them.


    As it is, only one death star of the hundreds of death stars is real. The rest were created with his Authority and divine power. He can create more at the cost of divine energy. As long as a god is superior in divine power and has divine energy to wield that divine power, they will remain invincible.


    "I don''t have angels. But I have death stars."


    He replicated one death star into many to fight a hundred origin gods. He would be able to do the same to a thousand weak Origin gods. It is just unfortunate that he doesn''t have a host of angels to fight with him. Even demons will be wary of such an arrangement.


    "It is time to get back my dividends on divine energy." He said with anticipation.


    He has made an investment in divine energy and it is now time to reap the fruit of hisbors. So he produced some small ck spheres with golden runes etched on them. Then he directed the ck spheres towards the origin gods to take advantage of theirpromised situation.


    The bombardment of his death stars didn''t kill the Origin gods immediately. They are tougher than that. But it injured them severely. Each attack is a blow from his Authority after all. The ck spheres then moved close to the Origin gods battling for their lives and jumped on them.


    First, the ck spheres attached themselves to the Origin gods. Next, they liquified and began to cover them up.


    "What is this?" One of them asked as a thinyer of golden metallic fabric began to spread all over his arm.


    He tried to shake off the strange thing. It wasn''t harming him in any way but he doesn''t have something unknown attached to him. That''s justmon sense, however, the strange object didn''t let go of him. The origin god still didn''t panic even when his entire arm was covered.


    "Fiar, do you know what this is." He asked one of the gods of knowledge.


    "No. I don''t. I have never seen it before. But it is better to be safe. Get rid of it."


    "I have tried that but it is not working."


    Fiar decided to pay some attention to this origin god and the others that were affected by the strange object. His face changed immediately. He doesn''t know what the objects are doing but he suspects what they are capable of based on how they are acting.


    "Commit suicide immediately. I think it is a seal."


    "A seal? But I don''t feel any restriction in space or time."


    "Just do it. Better safe than sorry."


    Killing Origin gods obviously won''t work to get rid of them. Alternate methods have been searched to effectivity neutralize them without killing them. Sealing is one of them. If the god-


    king wants to get rid of their advantage of immortality then sealing would be a good idea hence is suspicion.


    This object is not acting like a normal seal should but the god of knowledge cannot think of any other function for it. What other function could they possibly have when they are obviously not doing any damage? Besides, the god-king would not do something useless in a fight.


    "Alright." The origin god said in reluctance.


    He doesn''t want to die even though they nned to die. Resurrecting is expensive and it doesn''t seem worth it to die because of a threat that might be nothing at the end of the day. It might be that the god-king is trying to fool them.


    This is highly likely since seals are very difficult to produce. It is is going to be more difficult for a god to acquire. But it is as the god of knowledge said. Better safe than sorry. Getting sealed is worse than dying. So he tried tomit suicide.


    "What the fuck?" was all he managed to say before he exploded.


    An origin god can kill themselves. They just have to make the energy within them explode out of their Origin into their existence without will and direction. The only thing that can stop it is the seal of a world god or an incredibly powerful seal.

 Chapter 1149 Between A Rock And A Hard Place.

    <h4>Chapter 1149 Between A Rock And A Hard ce. </h4>


    ?1149 Between A Rock And A Hard ce.


    This strange object is not an incredibly powerful seal as they thought. It didn''t stop the Origin god from killing himself so he was able tomit suicide by explosion. But not all of his existence was destroyed. That is why he eximed just before he died.


    He noticed that his energy refused to enter his arm which was covered by the strange object. So it remained intact after his explosive death. That arm was thrown around because of the explosion.


    Fiar, a god of knowledge, saw this and couldn''t help but exim, "Oh no."


    Now technically, the origin god isn''t dead yet. After all, his arm is still intact. He began to regenerate from that arm. An origin god can regenerate from a tiny drop of blood much less a whole arm. Unfortunately, the strange object was covering up the parts that regenerated as soon as they regenerated.It is what Fiar saw that made him realize that they might be in bigger trouble than they expected.


    This realization hit Fiar hard because he saw this origin god wasn''t the only one tomit suicide to avoid being sealed. A lot of them had listened to his advice. And now they are being entombed alive.


    He shouted, "Beware of the strange device. It is a sealing device."


    He wasn''t certain of it before but now he is. Unfortunately, that hasn''t helped their situation because the strange object is not behaving like a normal seal.


    The tree father watched all of them struggle with slight amusement. He finds their struggle amusing because it will lead to nothing. The game is over as long as the device touches them. The only way to escape it is to cut off the part that the device has attached to and give up on that part forever.


    Committing suicide is the worst idea. The device would have sealed up more parts of their body by the time theypletely regenerated. Cutting off the part that is already sealed is giving up on it forever. But it is better than getting their whole existence sealed forever.


    "Destroy it." They yelled at each other. "Destroy it quickly."


    They couldn''t remove the strange object so they began targeting themselves and each other in a bid to destroy the seals. The tree fatherughed at the sight. They don''t know what he knows so they look foolish to him.


    Their foolishness is understandable since what they are doing is the next best thing to do. It is bound to fail because if they can''t beat him, then they can''t destroy the artifact. After all, it is supported by his divine power and they are not powerful enough to beat him.


    The strange object was built with his Authority as a foundation and reinforced with cosmic energy. The reason why it can''t be detached and why the sealed part won''t detonate when is because of the divine power of order within the device.


    The immortality of origin gods is based on thew matrix of the void universe and the foundation of thew of order that it stands on. The seal uses his divine energy of order to enhance their connection to order and uses cosmic energy to bind them further with thew matrix. It makes them unkible, even by themselves, but at a price.


    In fact, he is not harming them. He is doing them a favor by not letting them die. Isn''t that immortality? They are the ones that want to harm themselves. He on the other hand is the righteous god that can not bear to see death.


    The device will spread all over their existence in the way thew fragments spread and form ayer around giants of order. And just like thew of order in giants, it will seal them from the world. Soverick made sure of that feature when he designed the schematics.


    The device is also very sturdy. It won''t break easily. It will defend the captives just like thew of order defends giants of order. It is like an armor that protects them.


    So while the device is not as fancy as the seal of Origin gods and doesn''t use restrictions of space or time to seal captives, it does the same job as a seal. And even better is that it actually protects its prisoners from death.


    He is being generous. The seal and the other functions of the device are just side effects of his generosity. Surely he can''t be med for that?


    The origin gods don''t share his point of view. They think his gift is evil so they try to destroy it. Even if they could, the continuous attacks of his death stars won''t let them.


    They either have to focus their attention on the device or defend themselves against the onught of attacks. If they don''t protect themselves from the death stars, they will die and regenerate only to find that they have been sealed further.


    They are in a pickle. Or what some will call between a rock and a very hard ce. It is not an understatement to say he has put them in a hopeless situation. But some were lucky. Thesers from the death stars cut them away from the sealing device. It made them realize how to get out of their predicament.


    "Cut it off. Cut off the seal."


    Word spread around quickly that the method to free themselves from the seal is to cut it off. They took that advice to gain a temporary reprieve from their situation.


    It is only temporary because the only way out of this is if they manage to escape. Unfortunately, there is no way to escape. The border has been sealed so they can''t go back.


    They are being bombarded from the front so they can''t go forward. Their bodies are then broken apart by thesers. The only thing left is their sealed parts. So they will have to regenerate from the sealed part and be sealed further.

 Chapter 1150 More Attacks.

    <h4>Chapter 1150 More Attacks. </h4>


    ?1150 More Attacks.


    This happened over and over again. The battlested for hours. The tree father wasted a lot of divine energy that he gained from the multiple nes. The expenditure caused him to wince with heartache.


    His heartache eased up because none of the Origin gods died. All of them were sealed so his divine energy didn''t go to waste. The 99 golden balls returned to him with their content. They are bigger in size and heavier too.


    "This is nice." He said in appreciation.


    "This is very nice," Helios agreed.


    The two of them chuckled evilly to themselves as ifughing at an inside joke.


    The death stars disappeared as he willed them to do. The pyramids returned to their dormant state and all but one apparition disappeared. His consumption of divine energy fell. He turned his attention to the fruit of hisbor.


    He has 99 of the devices before him. Each one has aplete Origin god sealed within it. None of the Origin gods died before he could use the seal on them. It is not by chance. He nned not to let any one of them go right from the start of the fight.


    It is too risky to let even one of them escape for many reasons. For one, information about him would be leaked. That is very bad when fighting people who have immortality. The escapee might return with more helpers and with a better strategy after learning from the previous mistake.


    It is also very important that news of his power is not spread to the other groups of origin gods that have invaded the ne. This is because the previous gods of the ne are not the only forces targeting the Zargoth ne.


    The other Origin gods stayed back to wait and see how the conflict between the previous gods and the god-king would turn out. They are waiting to take advantage of the fight if the opportunity appears. That is why he wanted to make sure that the group of Origin gods was rted to the hidden spies.


    "I don''t want disturbance but I hope more Origin gods barge into your kingdom."


    "I agree. We have a lot but more Origin gods will be weed."


    "The conversion of divine energy into raw materials seems highly efficient."


    "We have Soverick to thank for that."


    They have more Origin gods than they nned for but they are looking forward to more attacks. The other groups will surely fear him when none of the Origin gods that attacked him return. Fortunately fearing him doesn''t mean that they won''t attack him again.


    Their immortality will give them the courage to attempt an invasion again. They may prepare better because of their fear oof him. But theck of information will make their nscking.


    That''s how to deal with Origin gods. You either seal them or kill them in a way that will prevent the transfer of information when they resurrect. The second option is the go-to option because sealing is too difficult when they canmit suicide. So the other groups of Origin gods will not consider that he sealed the Origin gods.


    It is not carelessness. The choice to ignore that possibility is a decision made based on the fact that no god or celestial has or can seal an Origin god. His enemies are not the first sage. Even the first sage cannot n for the unexpected. Sealing is part of the expected oue but it is unprecedented for it to be done by a god.


    They won''t be safe even if they n for sealing because his sealing is different. No origin god has ess to cosmic energy and divine power of order to create such a powerful seal. So no matter what they n, they will alwayse up short.


    "We have a lot of work to do," The tree father said in anticipation.


    His divine power surged like a tide. It undid the damage that the Origin gods had done to thendscape around the border and restored it back to its previous condition. With the absence of the death stars and the glowing pyramids, it is as if nothing ever happened here.


    Then the tree father disappeared with the seals. Helios said in anticipation, "It seems the second generation of our alternative power system will be a sess."


    "Yes. We have the raw materials for it. But how do we go about it? Should we go ording to Soverick''s schematics or should we create one more suited for giants of order?"


    Helios said after thinking about it, "Let''s go for the one suited for the giants of order. It is costly but nothing goodes cheap."


    "Besides, we can afford it."


    That made themugh because they were not the ones who would pay for the cost of the procedure.


    "Yes we can afford to use cosmic energy and our raw materials are immortal. They can''t go to waste so we can also afford failure."


    The thought of the pain that the Origin gods would go through filled them with joy as they began working on the power system that would render the demorgorg systempletely obsolete. The raw materials will be Origin gods instead of demons. They are using Soverick''s newly created weapon system as the basis.


    This weapon system was created a few thousand years ago before Soverick was betrayed by his ne. It hase a long way since its first initial testing with Ghaster. Helios and the tree father have improved on it.


    The ability to seal entities is just a side effect of the artifact. Soverick added that part to ensure that the sealed Origin god wouldn''t be able tomunicate with the outside world and call for helpers.


    The major function of the artifact is to transform what it sealed into a weapon. This artifact that Soverick created has the potential to surpass Origin artifacts in that it can have the power of a full origin god instead of being a part of an Origin god. So it can be useful to Origin gods far more than top-grade artifacts but below world fragments in power.

 Chapter 1151 The Origin Stigmata System.

    <h4>Chapter 1151 The Origin Stigmata System. </h4>


    ?1151 The Origin Stigmata System.


    The Tree father and Helios can bring that potential to reality. They can use the sealed origin gods to create weapons that anyone can use. These weapons are even useful to Origin gods so they will surely be of help to the giants of order.


    Unfortunately, the giants of order won''t be able to bring out its full power. They are just transcendents. They can''t fully utilize more than a high-rank origin artifact. Only Sovereigns ofw can fully utilize a top-grade artifact with a concept in it.


    So giving the giants of order sealed weapons would be a waste. That''s why Helios decided to deviate from Soverick''s schematic and create something specially suited to giants of order.


    They n to use giants of order as external containers to seal the artifacts with the Origin gods inside of them. They will create a rune that will synchronize with the artifact and empower the giants. It is possible since Soverick created the artifact by copying the mechanism of the divine engine used to seal Stelios.


    This rune will need the divine power of order and cosmic energy used in the artifact for it to work perfectly. The Original divine engine did not need cosmic energy but it is necessary for this one or it won''t work at all.


    Giants of order are already struggling to seal demons. There''s already a high death rate and they can''t even seal demon lords so there is no way that they will be able to seal origin gods who are the equivalent of demon kings.


    The artifact is already sealing the Origin gods but they need a way to fuse with the artifact to use the Origin gods within it That''s why they need to add cosmic energy.


    If they use cosmic energy, then each rune will be more expensive than Origin weapons. Inparison, a divine Stigmata, which is the most powerful rune, only needs divine energy which can be easily made by every god. What they intend to create is more than that.


    The rune will be powerful but it will be more expensive and each giant that they use it on will be a preciousmodity that they can''t discard easily. Fortunately, they have a lot of cosmic energy to spare for it.


    Helios said excitedly, "This could work. The fragments of order on their body will form the external container of the seal. It will integrate seamlessly into the artifact without rejection. It will be the greatest creation beneath a world fragment. We should call it an Origin Stigmata. Or an Origin engine."


    It has been his dream to create something more powerful than divine Stigmata ever since he encountered it when he was adopted by the sun god. His dream is finally being realized due to the contributions of other clones.


    The tree father is concerned about more than what they should call it. He rmended, "What if we tweak it like this? It will turn the sealed Origin gods into pseudo-authority for the giants. And if it is done well then it will anchor the giants to the origin gods. It will make them immortal unless their Stigmata are destroyed. They will be unstoppable."


    Helios wasn''t so sure. "It will be very difficult and tricky. The Stigmatas have to be very durable such that it won''t copse when its bearer is critically injured and on the verge of death."


    "I can manage it. My energy transformation ability should be able to get it done."


    "We still have to figure out the regeneration factor for the giants. The fact that they won''t die because they have the Origin Stigmata doesn''t mean that they will be able to return to fighting shape quickly."


    "Hmm. That''s a good point. I am thinking of an infusion of divine life energy."


    "No, that''s too expensive."


    "We might need to bear the expense if we want to secure them. They are too valuable to lose."


    "Let''s create an apanying rune that will utilize the origin gods as a source of vitality and life force to heal them."


    The Tree father didn''t agree. "It won''t work. It is already a miracle to use Origin gods unwilling for power. Their concepts won''t allow them to be used that way. Plus it will be bad if it works. The concepts of the origin gods can use that rune to bypass their seals. They will erode the integrity of the seals and escape. Or they might just kill their host indirectly that way. It would be the return of the inside demon incident."


    "Hmmm. That''s true." Helio''s considered it again. He didn''t notice that w earlier. "How about we use their connection to thew matrix to create a drape of thew matrix on the giants? We will use their fragments of order as anchors for thew matrix. I will create a rune independent of the Origin Stigmata for this and it will act like an armor that will protect them."


    "That''s a good idea. It should be able to achieve the protection of the body ofw at least."


    Helios said in anticipation, "And they will finally be able to use Origin energy too."


    "But will there be enough fragments of order on their bodies after we are done with making the Origin Stigmata?"


    That question doused Helios'' enthusiasm.


    "It is going to be difficult." He admitted. "It is going to require skillful utilization of thew fragments."


    "And probably many rounds of refinement and optimization of the Origin Stigmata before you can get extra fragments of Order for what you propose."


    Helios regained his enthusiasm as he imagined the effect of their sess. He said excitedly, "If we seed then giants of order will finally be able to show a fragment of their full potential."


    The Tree father wasn''t so impressed by their prospect, "They can''tpare to Legion-5 but it will be enough to use them for the era of conquest."


    Helios grumbled a bit, "Only dragons can bepare to Legion-5."

 Chapter 1152 A Side Project Vs The Main Project.

    <h4>Chapter 1152 A Side Project Vs The Main Project. </h4>


    ?1152 A Side Project Vs The Main Project.


    It may be unfair topare the giants of order to Legion-5 but the Tree father didn''t change his stance. "My point still stands."


    "What they will achieve will be good enough."


    "You have a point." The Tree father conceded. "They will have at least the power of a Sovereign ofw. That will be easy to achieve. It will be very difficult to get them stronger than that though."


    "That will depend on the quality of the Origin Stigmata. The era of conquest can start anytime so we better get started."


    The two of them brainstormed while working on the n. Other clones joined in from time to time but most of them were busy with other things. This project hasrge implications for Legion but it is just a side project.


    It is a side project because it doesn''tpare to what Soverick is currently working on and it is not their highest priority. So most of the clones are helping Soverick with the immense calctions he needs for the 9-axisw matrix he is making.


    Soverick has made his concept and just like Ragnarok, he became a Sovereign ofw easily. It was easy to acquire control of his concept with his powerful soul and knowledge ofws. In fact, his breakthrough to Sovereign ofw was instantenous after he infused his concept with soul force.


    The addition of his better eyesight and the natural treasure that is his 9 golden orbs of momentum as prototypes for the shards of power has made building the world fragment easier to do. But it is only easier. It is by no means easy to do. Not by a long shot.


    A singlew matrix is already difficult to build without a supremew. 9 intertwinedw matrices that don''t reject each other but enhance each other is a tall and difficult order. That''s why any avable mental prowess of the clones is dedicated to assisting Soverick in creating the mental schematics for the world fragment.


    No one can assist Helios and the Tree father in their ambitious endeavors. If not for the fact the sealed Origin gods can be used by the clones even if the two of them fail to empower the giants, they wouldn''t be allowed to spend precious time and resources on them.


    The two of them are fine on their own. They are more than enough for this. Sometimes they argue and disagree on some things but they make progress faster than two people working together should.


    They have ess to the same information but they see things from different points of view. One is a special Celestial that isn''t in the realm and the other is a star with a weak connection to the ne as the child of the ne. This grants them different perspectives on everything.


    Their thought process is different. Plus they see what the other can''t see which helps them to paint a better picture than if they were working alone. They are the embodiment of the saying that two good heads are better than one.


    The system that they are working on will be perfectly suited to Giants because of the weakness of Giants. Their divine ability has limited their potential. But that''s only because thew of order doesn''t want to ept external influence on them. However, thew of order is perfectlypatible with Origin gods.


    Each Origin god is a living concept and is fused with thew matrix. In this way, they resemble other concepts produced by the interaction of thews derived from thew of order. So it won''t be a problem for them to create a Stigmata that substitutes demons for the sealed Origin gods.


    If they seed, and they will, then none of the giants of order will die during the process of epting this power due to ack of rejection. The giants of order will feel a little burden but their existence won''t be stressed to the point where it breaks because thew matrix of the void universe is already supporting the Origin gods.


    Thew matrix will carry the origin gods for the giants of order while they use their divine ability to take advantage of the origin gods. Legion will help them achieve this by fashioning a rune from their divine ability that will siphon power from the sealed Origin gods.


    This system will be many times better than the previous demorgorg one but it still has some limits. For one, the supply of origin gods is more limited than the supply of demons. Besides, they might not be willing to capture more Origin gods because of the prohibitive cost of making the seals and divine energy.


    So the number of giants of order they can empower will be reduced. Even their n to make it so that multiple giants of order can use a single origin god for power will not ovee that problem.


    But the giants of order with this system will be much stronger. Even if the two of them do their absolute worst in making the Stigmata, the giants of order will all have power that is at least at the level of a five-star demorgorg like Hak. That means the minimum power that they will get is equivalent to that of titans ofw. So this system beats the demorgorgs in quality.


    The other limit is that no other race will be able to use this system so Legion won''t be able to use it for any other race that they gain control of. There is no solution for this. The advantage is that this system ispletely safe so no giant of Order will be wasted for its use.


    "First we use the demorgorg system to weed out the weak. Then we select the most sessful of the demorgorgs to bear the Origin gods."


    "We shouldbine the two systems for the maximum efficacy of the Origin god system."


    "It is a good idea. The demorgorg system will make sure that only those that can draw the maximum power from the origin god system will be used."


    -----


    A/N: Think of their Origin Stigmata project as a side quest while gaining controll of the shard of power is the main quest.

 Chapter 1153 The Aftermath.

    <h4>Chapter 1153 The Aftermath. </h4>


    ?1153 The Aftermath.


    They discussed as they worked. They don''t need the demorgorg system but that doesn''t mean they are going to let it go to waste. They can avoid a lot of deaths of giants of order if they abolish the demorgorg systempletely but they are not going to do that because they want to maximize the use of the Origin Stigmata system.


    Demorgorgs that can withstand demon noblesfortably, which are the four-star demorgorgs, will have arger capacity for power and can draw more of it from the sealed Origin gods.


    A lot of demorgorgs will die for a single four-star demorgorg to be created but it is a sacrifice the giants of order have to make. If Legion can utilize precious cosmic energy to maximize the efficiency of the Origin Stigmata system then they can surely sacrifice giants of order to make sure that the cosmic energy doesn''t go to waste.


    ----


    The kingdom of life resumed its peaceful atmosphere with none the wiser about their brush with death. The world resumed like nothing had ever happened. All they know is that some terrifying beings appeared all of a sudden and disappeared just as they came.


    No one knew that the god-king spent a massive amount of divine energy to iste them and protect them. The tree father did it to prevent the Origin gods from escaping but they don''t know that and they don''t need to.


    The tree father didn''t correct them when they praised him for protecting them and driving away the invaders. He did do that but not because of them. No one will ever know about the truth of the fight because the participants of the fight have chosen to remain silent about it.


    But some are not at peace. They saw when the Origin gods entered the kingdom. A particr giant of order even noticed one of the Origin gods and found them to be incredibly familiar. This giant of order doesn''t know that the intruders are Origin gods. But she knows that they are powerful and that they are enemies of the kingdom.


    "How can they juste and go like that? Something must have happened." Tanya asked herself in bewilderment.


    She is certain that the entities that came are enemies because she recognized one of them as the giant of order that gave her the artifact beneath the ruins of the ancient giant cities. She was impressed by the pressure of their existence and expected a fight. It was supposed to be a fight they would win too. But she was disappointed.


    The enemies of the kingdom came inrge numbers but nothing can be seen of them after their entry. They are not around and it is as if they were never here.


    She was frozen for a long time and she saw nothing during the period of stasis. These are all signs that the enemies had been defeated or that they hade to an agreement with the god-


    king.


    Tanya looked around uneasily. She doesn''t know what happened either. But she felt a slight tingling on her palm where she had marked herself with the artifact. She looked at it now and her eyes widened.


    "It is gone!" She eximed.


    She growled, "I knew I shouldn''t have believed those fools."


    Her heart is filled with immense regret. She had been wary and cautious before she met her sponsors. She lost that cautiousness when the sess of infiltrating the kingdom filled her with confidence.


    Now she knows that if they were so strong and could take down the god-king, they shouldn''t have had any need for her. They told her to infiltrate the Kingdom of Life to get supplies and more followers so that they could attack the kingdom together. It is obvious now that it was a bad decision for her to go along with their schemes.


    Her sponsors have either been defeated or they have betrayed her. Either way, the mark is no longer on her palm. That means she is exposed to the god-king.


    "Fuck." She cursed.


    Then she began to run towards the border. She is exposed without the mark to hide her so she is trying to escape. She didn''t use her full form to run despite her desperation to be away from here as soon as possible. It is faster but she will stand out.


    She also didn''t inform the other rebels. If they haven''t noticed the disappearance of the mark by now then they should die. She is not going to do them the favor of informing them. Not when she doesn''t want them to escape together with her. That kind of movement is bound to draw attention and suspicion.


    She weaved through the buildings of the city she is currently in at her fastest speed until she left the city entirely. Then she chose a direction closest to the border to run towards. It is a straight line towards freedom so she will be able to make it in the shortest amount of time without using her Colossal form.


    She didn''t get far at all. She saw a green being looking at all from outside the city. The being is vaguely humanoid but it is made of nt parts and not flesh and blood like the giants. It is levitating in the air and watching her silently. It is as if it has been waiting for her right here.


    "A guardian." She eximed in despair.


    She had been expecting and dreading this oue but she still felt shock and fear when it happened. There is just one guardian and she is in an open environment but she has been cornered nheless.


    "Surrender, " The Guardian said.


    It didn''t speak with a mouth. Its divine sense made the words and it also expressed the confidence of the guardian.


    She fell into despair immediately. If a guardian is here then it means that the god-king knows exactly where she is. It means she can not escape. The guardian is just a meter tall while she is 40 meters in her stunted form. She is much bigger than the guardian. Unfortunately, her size won''t give her an advantage here.

 Chapter 1154 Sweet Revenge.

    <h4>Chapter 1154 Sweet Revenge. </h4>


    ?1154 Sweet Revenge.


    She more than others knows the power behind the vessel of a god. It is a good idea to surrender. She felt like kneeling and begging for forgiveness. Surely the god-king will ept her if she swears an Oath of allegiance. She is a rare transcendent after all.


    But then she remembered that the god-king is Helios. It is the same Helios that killed her twin brother. It is the same Helios that betrayed his father and reced him. Not only did he do that, but he also killed the other gods and killed her father.


    She doesn''t care about her father but she cares about the Legacy that she lost because of his death. If not for Helios, then she would be a grand god by now or about to be one.


    To top it all off is the death of her caretaker, Aunty Vint. Helios'' uprising led to the death of the only being who was her true father and mother. If the Colossus had note to save her from the ant mound and kept her hidden then Tanya wouldn''t have survived till today. Even then, Aunty Vint had to sacrifice herself to protect her so she must get revenge for the only person she ever cared about.


    All of these memories rekindled the slumbering anger within her. So she didn''t surrender. She roared and unleashed her true form and then her colossal form. Her body grew to a height of 100 meters. Then she erged by ten times to be 1 kilometer tall.


    She roared valiantly, "Die!"


    Then she lurched downward with her massive fist. She means to smash the guardian down to the ground and preferably kill it. The winds howled with the power of that punch and the ground cracked because of the pressure imposed upon it by her colossal feet.


    The guardian on the other hand remained silent andposed. It wasn''t moved by the valiant disy. Vines erupted from its small figure like a volcano. They formed into a long while that pped Tanya''s face.


    The whip created a loud smacking sound simr to that of an explosion. Tanya''s head was pushed to the side and her punch missed. Many more vine whips grew out of the guardian and struck Tanya all over.


    They are whips but they hit like hammers. Tanya couldn''t resist the numerous attacks. She fell face-first to the ground immediately and kicked up arge cloud of dust.


    The vines continued their assault on her even when she was on the ground. She was beaten and tied up quickly by the vines. Then the vines tightened into chains that bound


    The guardian used herpromised position to cover her up in a cocoon of vines. Then it began to squeeze her as if it was trying to break a nut. She had two choices. Either return to a smaller form voluntarily or involuntarily.


    Tanya''s resistance was weak. She has incredible physical and magical defense as evidenced by theck of injuries despite the beatings. She also has terrifying brute strength. But without runes or stigmata, she can''t bring her full strength to bear.


    The guardian is a transcendent like her. It didn''t even need much effort to subdue her. It stunned her, overwhelmed her, and then captured her swiftly. This is the sorry fate of giants of order.


    The best weapons that they can use because of thew of order in their body are mundane weapons that the vitality core stage uses. They can''t even use mana weapons because thew of order will render it useless just as it destroys spells thate close to them.


    Thew of order in their body granted giants of order immense physical and magical defense but it has also limited their potential and power. They are trapped within a body that cannot be harmed easily but they can''t put their great strength to efficient use without weapons. That''s why they created runes.


    But the gods are gone so they don''t have runes, divine Stigmata, or special divine ability from their godly heritage anymore. While other transcendents use origin weapons and Origin energy to amplify their strength, giants of order have nothing to fully utilize their strength much less amplify it.


    The death of gods crippled the giants of order while the kingdom of life is the only source of power for the giants of order. This is why the origin gods had toe and attack the tree father for the secrets of the demorgorg.


    whatsoever because any giant of order that they raise will be useless. If the giants of order can''t fight in the era of conquest then it is useless to bother taking control of a ne. They might as well fight on their own.


    The other option is to bring in races from other nes but that won''t work either. There is a reason why giants of order are the only ones to survive in the ne and why they were beaten back from the ancient battlefield. They are the former gods so they know that it won''t work.


    ----


    Tanya was not the only that was captured that day. Demorgorgs and guardians were dispatched en mass to round up the spies and infiltrators. A lot of manpower was roused for this agenda but only a few of the spies were captured in the city. The rest managed to escape the kingdom of life.


    The tree father could have captured all of them at once if he wanted to and he could have blocked the borders so that none of them could escape. But that will cost divine energy. He has already spent a lot of divine energy in the fight. These rebels are not worth him spending more divine energy.


    Besides, it is a good thing to let them go. He made sure to mark every one of them so that his guardians could track them. The escaped rebels led his demorgorgs and guardians straight to their bases of operation and their numerous hideouts.

 Chapter 1155 The Mindset For Greatness.

    <h4>Chapter 1155 The Mindset For Greatness. </h4>


    ?1155 The Mindset For Greatness.


    The spies that escaped implicated the other rebels in their bid to escape pursuit. That way more than the 10,000 that infiltrated his kingdom were captured. It provided him with a lot of experimental materials. It is what they should do. After all, he saved their lives from wicked Origin gods that made them into suicide bombers.


    Then again, the Origins may not bepletely wicked. After all, they granted the rebels a way to resist the kingdom of life. The mark they were given wasn''t useless. It hid the rebels from his sight just as it was promised to do. He couldn''t see them but he could see traces of their absence.


    It was like seeing the footprints of an invisible man walking on sand. He was startled when he first saw the footprints but couldn''t see what created them. That''s how he knew that something was up.


    His entire kingdom is his domain. It is like a body of water which he can sense every inch of. But bubbles suddenly appeared in the water. He can''t see what is within the bubble but he can sense its presence and determine its size.


    Maybe another god would have been deceived by the marks but not him. He has the domain of order which increases his perception and control of the world. The previous Celestial Supreme was able to use the domain of order to monitor the entire ne and the main ne wasn''t even his domain.


    The origin god of darkness and those with rted concepts are the best at hiding. Even his domain of life can only simte their ability to evade detection by manipting life signatures to blend in with the environment. So they thought they could pull a fast one on him and smuggle in bombs throughout his kingdom.


    It is a good n but they underestimated him. He could have disabled the bombs earlier but he decided not to startle them. If they were startled then he might not be able to lure them into painful eternal servitude.


    He has already gotten what he wanted from the spies. They were suicide bombers for the Origin gods and bait for him. So he sent his servants to capture them. It is what his guardians and demorgorgs were made for. To reduce the burden on him.


    While none of the spies caught his attention, he noticed Tanya. But he couldn''t be bothered to move against her personally. He could have acted to make fun of her and gloat about his power but he didn''t because he had better things to do.


    He saw her fight with his guardian just like he sees everything in his kingdom. Her performance made him say, "She is weak, mentally and physically. She may be at an advantage but she doesn''t have what is needed for greatness."


    He said that because he looked down on her. Unlike Tanya who is blinded by anger, Legion tries not to let their emotions blind them from their greater aim. Tanya couldn''t let her anger go. She would rather perish than let her anger go.


    Legion has been angered by several people but they have never prioritized revenge over tangible benefits. Aeternus didn''t rush to kill Beelta for petty revenge. Instead, he used her for an experiment. He would have done the same to her had she not tried to kill him.


    Helios was raised to be possessed by Stelios but Helios didn''t kill him when he had the chance. Instead, he used his father for another experiment. They could have left the god of fate alone despite using them had he not taken something they wanted.


    Soverick didn''t let anger and revenge cloud his judgment. He put them aside and negotiated for benefits from the one who schemed for his death. Legion still has ns for Salvini, the first sage, and the demon god of GREED who made Aeternus run for his life. But they won''t discard everything for revenge.


    If something won''t make them stronger then they won''t bother with it. They might be biased against Tanya considering that she is against impossible odds to acquire power. But it is true that as she is, she can never acquire greatness.


    Thew of order has shackled Her and there is also him blocking the path of divinity. She is weak and her story will end as one of the numerous casualties in the fight of Origin gods to im territory in the realm of high heaven.


    ---------


    The fight between the tree father and the invading Origin gods is just a mild situationpared to the rush for the grab of power throughout the realm. Almost every vulnerable ne experienced war and the intensity of conflicts increased the closer the era of conquest approached.


    The tree father is in a favorable situation, unlike other gods. He can defend his kingdom and his source of faith while other gods have to watch as Origin gods rampage about in the ne.


    Some gods that dared to resist were wiped out along with their entire pantheon. If not for the fact that the divine ne protects the ne from external invasion, then most of the divine nes would have been destroyed and gods would be on the brink of extinction in the whole Realm.


    The tree father was attacked in almost every ne his avatars are but he doesn''t have those problems because he doesn''t need the divine ne to survive. He is also not weak at all but he still gave up on most of his nes.


    Each avatar has more than one domain and ess to the pool of divine energy that he harvested from several nes. And since he is on the main ne, he can go all out in the ne. On the other hand, origin gods have to be careful in the ne for fear of destroying thew matrix of the ne and exposing it to the void.


    Their maniption of thew matrix is their strength but it is holding them back in the realm. Even so, the tree father gave up on some nes because the fight wasn''t worth the expenditure in divine energy.


    --------


    A/N: What do you guys think of the first sage''s vision? In other news, happy new year to everyone.

 Chapter 1156 The Supreme Of Beasts.

    <h4>Chapter 1156 The Supreme Of Beasts. </h4>


    ?1156 The Supreme Of Beasts.


    The Tree father enjoyed more defeats than victory in his fights throughout the realm. He suffered a lot of losses because, despite all his advantages, he was also at a massive energy disadvantage.


    The Zargoth ne is one of the few nes that the divine ne has helped him to form a dominion. He could corner the Origin gods in the Zargoth ne because of his dominion. But there aren''t dominions for him in other nes so his avatars died under the relentless assault of immortals.


    Origin gods used their immortality to the fullest advantage. They rampaged all over the realm of high heaven in a bid to gather resources and manpower. So despite the presence of a powerful Celestial in a ne to stop them, they still won.


    Some races fell and were enved throughout the realm. They lost control of their ne because of war. Meanwhile, some other strong races like the battle sage monkeys didn''t even feel the chaos caused by war. Their lives continued the same.


    And some stronger races even went further to invade other nes to expand their power. The Viper race is one of such races. They invaded two nes. One of them is the Virut ne.


    But no matter what, no race couldpare to the aggression of the Supreme Beast race. The Supreme Beast race and their supreme alliance have been invading and plundering nes for thousands of origin cycles. They didn''t need the incentive of the era of conquest to crush other races and im more territory for themselves.


    The advent era of conquest hasn''t changed much for them. No one dared to invade the numerous nes that they controlled and they didn''t rush to invade other nes just for the era of conquest. They are just invading nes at their own normal pace.


    Of course, this normal pace is still frightening considering that the Supreme Beast race is a war-like race that thrives on very despite the fact that they call themselves a civilization. It is their belief that it is their mission to spread civilization to other races.


    They do this through war and invasion because it is the most effective means of spreading the gospel of civilization. Violence is the best method to pass a message across after all. No matter the resistance of your audience, they will listen to you after you beat them up. very is the best way to ensure that the gospel is not only heard, it is carried out and experienced.


    Some people call the Supreme Beast race evil and racist. It is not a far-fetched im. But the Supreme Beasts aren''t bothered by the opinion of the lesser races. They believe that other races are beasts while they are supreme. That''s why they call themselves the supreme beast race. The only race that they think is their equal are the dragons, and maybe the Phoenix race. Any other race is to be enved.


    ------In The Steris ne.


    The entire ne has been roused for war. They are on high alert. The strongest race of the ne, the Stellos, have gathered all the power that they can in the ne and have brought them to defend the nar portal.


    The stellos are a humanoid race of earth elementals. Their divine ability allows them to absorb light to grow stronger. This divine ability is what has drawn the supreme beast race to invade their ne.


    The Stellos are born as small beings with brown or ck rocks as their bodies. Their divine ability awakens when they be mana entities which makes them capable of feeding on the light of the sun.


    They arezy like most earth elementals. They like to sleep most of the time. They are not a violent race at all. If left alone, they won''t move at all. They absorb light energy and use it to fuse mana to themselves so they grow stronger and stronger even when they sleep. They are simr to dragons in that way.


    While other races in the ne fought and killed each other, the Stellos were silently growing stronger. They increased in power as well as size. The races around them thought them to be growing mountains. And since they didn''t move, they were considered harmless.


    Their earthen body was refined by the light of the sun day in and day out until they became translucent like crystals as transcendents. Those who choose the path of their divine ability as titans ofw awaken their divine ability further. They bepletely transparent like ss.


    They might look like ss figures but they are not fragile like ss. They are as tough as Origin-infused Diamond. At this stage, it bes nearly impossible to defeat them. Their divine ability bes terrifying to experience.


    At first nce, the Stellos race is strong but not special. Their physical defense is very high so it is difficult to harm them with physical attacks but they are weak to fire elemental attacks. Their strength is mediocre and their speed is only average despite the increase as they get stronger.


    All these traits aremon to earth elementals. But what made the Stelios truly terrifying was their ability to refine their body into the sharpest weapon. They use light to increase the innate hardness of their body and can transform this hardness into sharpness by transforming their bodies into weapons capable of cutting everything else.


    A Stellos can turn their appendages into weapons with unparalleled sharpness. It is a terrifying advantage over other races who have to research weapons and spend resources to buy them. That''s how they became the undisputed masters of the ne.


    They are peaceful but they are at the top of the food chain because nothing could threaten them. Anything that tries to will be cut to pieces with a single attack. Unfortunately for them, their incredible defense and sharp weapons have drawn the gaze of a powerful race.


    Despite the power the Stelios possess, they live in peace with others. That''s why the current resistance force assembled to defend the ne is full of several types of races in the ne. Everyone wants to protect their ne together.

 Chapter 1157 Lazy Overlords.

    <h4>Chapter 1157 Lazy Overlords. </h4>


    ?1157 Lazy Overlords.


    Every stage of the Stellos is different in physical form from the others but the variety that they bring to this assembly cannotpare to the variety that the other races ount for. One can see nt people, beast people, and Stellos of different types as far as the eye can see.


    There are more than 2 billion entities in this resistance force. And this is just from an hour of a call to arms. If they had more time, they would be able to assemble more people to defend the ne.


    At the head of the resistance are the leaders of the ne and the strongest beings here. They are discussing the situation of the invasion.


    A Stellos said, "I just got word that the stronghold on the ancient battlefield has fallen. The enemies will be here soon."


    This Stellos looks like an elemental of fire but its fire is liquid so its figure seems to be formed fromva. It is a Stellos that became an Origin god through another path different from their innate divine ability.


    "So fast?" A Dezu asked in surprise. "It has not been more than an hour since they attacked. How can they be so fast?"


    The avatar of the Celestial Supreme sighed, "That is not surprising. I heard that the stronghold is not that strong."


    The leaders of the other races kept quiet even though they agreed with what the Celestial Supreme said. They didn''t look at the Origin god Stellos so that it wouldn''t look like they are ming him and his race for the cmity that has befallen them.


    They don''t know why the Supreme Beast race has attacked them. If they did, they would probably me the Stellos. As it is, they don''t even know what the Supreme Beast race is but they know why the stronghold fell so quickly.


    The stronghold that is meant to protect the nar portal on the ancient battlefield is very weak. It is very weak because the strongest race in the ne was too peaceful andzy to take defending the ne seriously. They didn''t unite the other races despite being the strongest. They just slept around all the time.


    The conflict between the races made it so that no single race could control the stronghold. Any race that controls the stronghold is not only responsible for protecting the ne, but they also control who leaves and enters the ne. That means whoever controls the ne controls the importation, exportation, emigration, and immigration of the ne. That is a lot of power for one race to have.


    The races of the ne tried to control the stronghold together but the strife and conflicts made it impossible to do so. They were always fighting for benefits and sabotaging each other. So they decided to give the Stellos control of the stronghold.


    The Stellos on the other hand didn''t care about who was in charge. They were the strongest so they could do whatever they wanted regardless of whoever was in control. That''s why they didn''t join the other races in fighting for control of the stronghold.


    The other races gave them control because they thought they would be impartial. They were right about that. The Stellos didn''t care about what others were doing so they were impartial. They were toozy to bother. They just wanted to sleep.


    But that also meant that they were toozy to be strict in the control of the stronghold and in its protection. That''s why the stronghold was too weak to put up much of a fight. It fell in less than an hour of fighting despite the presence of a defensible fortress equipped with the best defense systems that they could buy.


    The other races didn''t care about the weakness of the stronghold in the past. They used it to their advantage for smuggling. They were even released when they were caught smuggling by the Stellos.


    The Stellos were too amodating. They don''t like violence, stress, and noise so they were taken advantage of by the other races. Now it hase to bite them. So they can''t point fingers now that they are reaping the repercussions for their negligence.


    The Stelios origin god didn''t say anything in the face of that silent usation. He is the only origin god of his entire race here in the realm of high heaven. He is also the only Origin god in the whole ne so he has the highest authority.


    The suppression of the realm on origin gods makes it so that Origin god-level Stellos can''t sleep in the realm. That is too much to sacrifice to ensure the safety of their ne so all of them left the ne and the ancient battlefield. They thought nothing could threaten them so they didn''t worry about an invasion. They were wrong.


    Another leader asked the origin god Stellos, "When can Stellos reinforcemente?"


    The Celestial Supreme shook his head and said, "It is not possible for reinforcement toe. The invaders have surrounded the ne with battleships and war fortresses. Nothing can leave or enter the ne even if the divine kingdom falls. A single person might be able to slip through but certainly not an army of origin gods."


    The Origin god Stellos encouraged them, "Don''t worry. We are currently negotiating with the leaders of the enemy. We just have to hold on till theye to an amicable agreement. And if their leaders don''t know what''s good for them, we will trample them."


    The leaders became at ease at that. They have faith in the Stellos Origin gods. Their divine ability is tyrannical at that stage. Their divine ability is made up of just twows, earth, and light, but it is so powerful that nothing can stand against them. They can cut through everything and every barrier.


    The leaders spent the rest of the time discussing how they would defend the ne. They didn''t have to wait long before their enemies came through the portal gate. The portal shed briefly as the enemy soldiers came through. There were only three of them.

 Chapter 1158 Surrender And Accept Civilization.

    <h4>Chapter 1158 Surrender And ept Civilization. </h4>


    ?1158 Surrender And ept Civilization.


    The resistance force expected an army so they were waiting for more soldiers toe through the portal. But no one came after the first three.


    "Maybe they sent negotiators," They thought to themselves.


    That is a valid exnation for why just three enemies have entered the ne instead of an army. So they focused on the three enemies. Not only are they few in numbers, but they are also underwhelming to look at. They look like white dolls without hair, eyes, nose, mouth of any kind, lips, or ears. They are humanoid with two arms and two legs but they are featureless. They are so smooth they are creepy.


    The three of them stood together in the air with their arms crossed as they overlooked the resistance of 2 billion arrayed before them. The robes they wore fluttered in the wind. There was no concern on their face. Then again, they have nothing on their face so there''s nothing to indicate their emotions.


    One of them said imperiously, "Surrender to the will of the Supreme Alliance. Resistance is futile. Let the Will of the Supreme Alliance bring you enlightenment and civilization."


    The leaders of the resistance looked at each other and nodded to the origin god Stellos. The stellos stepped forward to speak. "I have received news that there is a negotiation going on between our leaders and yours. I propose that we wait for the conclusion of the meeting before we proceed to battle."


    The Supreme beast in the center said, "I, Xick10736A, have received themission to subdue the Steris ne from and for the Supreme Alliance. I have not received any order to do otherwise so I will proceed ording to themission. I do not care for any negotiation. I will only stop when I am ordered to by the Supreme Alliance. Until then, will you surrender or should I make you surrender?"


    The Stellos Origin god said angrily, "Then you will have to make us surrender. I warn you that your leaders will pay a much bigger price for any damage that you cause to the ne. You have already caused considerable damage to us in the ancient battlefield so I advise you to hold on till the end of the negotiation. Go back and inform your army."


    The Supreme Beast replied, "We are the army."


    The Stellos''s heart sank. He didn''t want to believe it so he warned them sternly, "Do not joke in such a serious situation."


    There are just three of them while there are more than a thousand Sovereigns ofw here including him an Origin god as the defenders. He can''t believe that the three of them can defeat the resistance force.


    The three might have defeated the stronghold easily but the stronghold fell because the strongest forces there were just kings ofw. Sovereigns might not be able to kill an Origin god but they can surely hold one back if they are strong enough because Origin gods can''t use their strongest power here without breaking the limit.


    He warned them again with his confidence renewed "Go back and inform your superiors of our resolve."


    The three of them didn''t return.


    The supreme beast that spoke said, "Refusal to surrender to the Will of the Supreme Alliance has been confirmed. Proceed with the elimination of all resistance."


    "You will regret this," roared the Stellos in anger.


    The other leaders sighed in regret. "What a waste." They thought to themselves.


    They had wanted to attack the invaders as soon as they came through the nar portal but the Stellos suggested that they speak first so that a cease-fire could be reached.


    They didn''t want to impede the negotiation process so they allowed him to waste a perfectly good chance to gain an advantage. They feel it is another reason why they shouldn''t give the Stellos race responsibilities. The Stellos are bad leaders.


    The supreme beasts didn''t listen to him. They didn''t appreciate his good graces for not attacking immediately and took no heed to his warnings. Instead, they attacked immediately.


    The one in the middle attacked first. A hole appeared in her smooth head. It formed into a mouth without lips or teeth. She then opened her makeshift mouth wide and screamed. A shrill wail like the cry of a banshee came out of her mouth.


    Her cry resounded throughout the world. It was so loud that even creatures without ears could hear it. It was so painful to hear that their existence vibrated in agony in tune with the scream. Almost everyone who heard it was mentally stunned. But that wasn''t all.


    Her scream created a shockwave that riled up the air. A wave appeared in front of her mouth and spread outwards from her. This wave was a materialized sound. It was a medium for her to transmit energy. So everything in the path of the sound wave was forced to receive her energy.


    Her scream made the air thrum and the earth shake. People were stumbling where they stood. It is partly because of the mental disorientation and mostly because of the shaking earth.


    The scream soon reached a crescendo which caused the defenders to begin to explode. They were overloaded with the external source of energy pouring uncontrobly into their body without their consent.


    More and more shockwaves materialized from her mouth and struck the army. It was like a tsunami causing the ocean water to rise and drown out everything in its path. Everything in front of her was damaged. The ground cracked and turned to dust because of the high-frequency vibration of her cry.


    The defenders who didn''t explode immediately cracked and bled their essence through their cracks. Titans ofw who suffered this injury will have a reduction in lifespan even if they survive this battle. At least, their situation is better than the Stellos.


    The scream appeared to be a single attack but the victims on the receiving end no that they were suffering from more than one ailment because of the sound waves.

 Chapter 1159 The Poor Stellos.

    <h4>Chapter 1159 The Poor Stellos. </h4>


    ?1159 The Poor Stellos.


    The sound waves aren''t only vibrations and energy. They contain some sort of spiritual attack that is wearing down their soul. It also contains an element of illusion that is reducing their resistance.


    It is abination attack in a single move. The illusion is weakening their will to fight while the other physical and spiritual attacks battered them nonstop.


    The Stellos are worse than those who were king away as the sound waves battered them. The scream struck them and they shattered directly without any resistance. This is just because of the physical vibrations from the sound.


    Earth is weak to sound after all. The Stellos have a high resistance to physical attacks but the sound waves are at a frequency that enables them to bypass the potent defense of the Stellos.


    Other races could still struggle and resist but the Stellos were like fragile ss that broke at the slightest touch. Only the Sovereign-level Stellos were still alive but they couldn''t move at all. The strongest race of this ne had been effectively neutralized and with one attack too. That''s why this Supreme beast is one of the ones that was sent to attack this ne.


    The second Supreme beast followed up with another attack. Two wings appeared behind her back. They are thin translucent wings that resemble those of butterflies. A pair of segmented antennae appeared on her faceless and featureless head. And a hole also appeared in her chest.


    The hole expanded and filled up her torso as if hollowing her out. This is because the inside of the hole is filled with total darkness. Nothing can be seen within it.


    But then some things began toe out from the darkness. These things buzzed as they pped their wings. The sound of their flight was silent at first. But it increased as more and more of them came out of the hole.


    Soon a horde of buzzing insects hade out of the hole. They filled the sky like a dark cloud. Then the insects expanded after they came out from the hole in her chest. They changed from the tiny insignificant ants that they were into giant ants that are 10 meters in length and 2 meters in height.


    The buzzing of their wings created a loud irritating sound that drew the attention of the mentally stunned defenders to them. Dismay and shock broke through the illusion lulling them. They finally felt something other than drowsiness. Their stupor was broken by the threat to their life. Unfortunately, their renewed Will to live didn''t change their situation for the better.


    The defenders were awake to see the appearance of the ants. They even witnessed the transformation of the ants into their giant versions but they couldn''t stop it. They were busy struggling to resist the first attack.


    That first attack is still working on them. The continuous high-


    pitched scream is scrambling their consciousness by constantly damaging them. They are constantly having their minds and bodies yed.


    All the physical and mental prowess at their disposal is already being used to stay alive. They couldn''t form magical attacks in their painful situation.


    They could still move, albeit with a painful struggle, so they rushed towards the three Supreme beasts like a tide. Unfortunately for them, the damage to their existence increased the closer they got to her. They had to slow down or risk their consciousness copsingpletely. Only the Origin god Stellos could continue moving forward through the sound attack.


    The origin god was incensed. He can''t believe that every Stellos apart from him had been incapacitated or killed instantly. And this is from a single attack of a single supreme beast. He doesn''t need to wonder why the fortress fell so quickly and why no information managed to reach him apart from the fact that they were attacked.


    The Stellos stationed there wouldn''t have been able to put up any worthwhile resistance against this scream. Especially not when they were caught off guard. And now the entire ne is about to be defeated.


    Everything hinges on him now. He can see that even though the scream is not lethal to anyone who is at least a titan ofw and isn''t a Stellos. It gets more dangerous the longer it continues and it is also being used to buy time for the second wave of attack that is sure toe.


    The sky above the three Supreme beasts is already covered with giant ants and more are stilling from the hole within the second Supreme beast. If he doesn''t interrupt the army that they assembling right before his eyes, then they are bound to lose.


    He flew forward despite the painful wail ringing throughout his existence. He is able to move and handle the sound attack because he is an Origin god and because he didn''t use their race''s divine ability to be a titan ofw.


    He had added thew of fire to their divine ability. He lost the immense defense of his divine ability but he gained superior speed and range for his attacks. Most importantly, it helped him to ovee their race''s weakness to fire and now it has helped him to withstand this sound attack.


    He used his superior speed now by turning into aet that streaked in the sky towards the supreme beasts. It is a slowet but it is still powerful and cannot be ignored. He also used his superior ranged prowess to createve whips from his body which heshed at the invaders like a whip.


    Theva whips shed with light as if exploding but they only elerated. They appeared in front of the howling supreme beast with a might that could surely split a mountain in half. Sess was right in front of him. But then someone interfered.


    The third supreme beast that hadn''t done anything since the start of the battle finally moved. One of his hands shed and grabbed theve whip. Then he tore it with a pull.

 Chapter 1160 Multiple Tools At Hand.

    <h4>Chapter 1160 Multiple Tools At Hand. </h4>


    ?1160 Multiple Tools At Hand.


    The action of the third supreme beast grabbed the origin god Stellos'' attention. He turned his angry gaze onto the unassuming Supreme beast.


    He said, "It seems I have to go through you."


    The supreme beast didn''t say anything. He has note here to talk or chat. He came to subdue the ne. And that only requires him to fight.


    He flew into the air to sh with the Origin god Stellos. He had to go through the shockwaves created by the first attack but he wasn''t hurt. Instead, the shockwaves that he came in contact with him were sted apart by his body. They were forced to make way for him.


    This inadvertently allowed the defenders to gain some respite and surge forward but they were soon drowned by the shockwaves that came after. They even regretted getting close to the source of the sound.


    The origin god Stellos saw the way his opponent approached him. He knew he had to take him seriously. However, he can''t unleash his real form with reckless abandon or risk breaking the limit of the realm and attracting Mother High Heaven''s wrath. So he formed more whips that heshed at the supreme beast flying to him.


    The supreme beast didn''t move away from the path of the attacks. He didn''t dodge because the supreme beasts behind him would have to bear the attacks if he evaded them. He didn''t bother to block either. He flew straight at them so they fell on him for his negligence.


    But instead of the explosive damage that was expected, theve whips slipped off the body of the supreme beast like oil on water. They just rolled off of him. Meanwhile, the supreme beast became faster.


    Although it wasn''t obvious, the supreme beast had used a divine ability just then. He absorbed the kic energy of the whips as soon as they came in contact with his body so they couldn''t hurt him because theycked enough momentum to break through his second divine ability that granted him unbreakable defense.


    He then used the absorbed momentum to elerate. This increased his speed which he took advantage of by forming a punch with his fist. He mmed that punch into his opponent. The poor Stellos was sent flying even though he created a wall ofva whips to defend himself.


    It was not a pleasant feeling to be sent flying but he was then pulled back when the supreme grabbed hisve whips and used them to bring the Stellos to him. The Stellos was struck again and sent flying again only for him to be pulled again.


    The Stellos was ready this time around. He resisted the pull while simultaneously bombarding the supreme beast withvaets.


    Thevaets acted like slime after hitting the supreme beast. They smashed against him instead of exploding. Then they slipped off his body just like wet slime would.


    Meanwhile, the supreme beast continued to pull the whip to bring the Stellos closer. He was seeding despite the resistance because the Stellos wascking in strengthpared to him. The Stellos knew this too so the Stellos destroyed the me whip himself. That prevented the supreme beast from pulling him back a third time after he was struck yet again.


    Unfortunately, that didn''t improve his situation. The supreme beast activated another divine ability. Lightning fell from the sky andnded on the supreme beast and his surroundings. Everything that the lightning bolts touched was disintegrated by the destructive power of the attack.


    Even the Stellos took quite a lot of damage from the lightning storm. He expected the supreme beast to be safe from the attack but apparently, the lightning storm didn''t discriminate.


    However, the supreme beast was not injured by the attack. Instead, his speed was improved immediately. His first divine ability could absorb the energy of the lightning to elerate and empower him physically so his strength also improved.


    The supreme beast was able to catch up to the flying Stellos and struck him with yet another divine ability. This ability makes anything the supreme touches unstable enough to disintegrate them. Whenbined with his lightning energy, it makes it explosive. The Stellos Origin god was thus bombarded with a rain of explosive fists. Each contact with his body created explosions after explosions.


    This urred as the lightning storm raged above them. So he was being attacked in three different ways simultaneously while his enemy seemed to be getting faster and stronger.


    The Stellos couldn''t defend at all. He isn''t fast enough to evade the fist much less the lightning from the sky and he is not strong enough to fight back under the suppressive effect of the shrill scream.


    Even when he managed to endure lightning strikes and lightning fists to retaliate, his attacks were useless against the defense of the supreme beast meanwhile his own defense was bypassed by the explosion uring within him. Each hit was decaying his form. He could only take a beating helplessly.


    "What are you?" The Stellos asked in shock and a little pain.


    He has truly never seen anything like this person. He is an Origin god so he knows why he is losing. It is because he has only one concept that he can use meanwhile the supreme beast seems to have multiple concepts that are enhancing each other.


    He is creative with the way he is using his concept but it can''tpare with having numerous concepts at his disposal. The Supreme beast simply has more tools to use.


    What''s worse is that the concepts enhance each other so that the supreme beast has no weakness whatsoever. He is superior in strength, speed, defense, and lethal attack capabilities.


    The Supreme beast even managed to st the army of defenders below and anyone that came close to where the two Supreme beasts were fighting with lightning. The lightning directly prated them and caused them to explode. They don''t have a concept to protect their existence so a single hit made them explode.

 Chapter 1161 The Art Of Planar Subjugation.

    <h4>Chapter 1161 The Art Of nar Subjugation. </h4>


    ?1161 The Art Of nar Subjugation.


    The rest of the defenders that were not hit by the lightning were not in a good situation either. The first supreme beast that attacked finally stopped. The destructive sound wave ceased only for the nightmare of the ants to descend on them.


    The shrill scream ended only for another round of loud buzzing to begin. The first Supreme beast has stopped because her attack harmed everyone indiscriminately. The sound waves would harm the ants too which is bad. So without the scream, the ants could feast without worry.


    Besides, the sound waves aren''t needed anymore. She has done her part to eliminate the strongest race here. All of the Stellos have died now and the army of ants has finished assembling. If she were not here, then the Stellos would be able to shred the ants apart.


    Even the third supreme beast would not be unscathed from the all-cutting power of the body of the Stellos. His ability to rob attacks of their kic energy won''t work if he is directly split in half with a slight touch.


    The second Supreme beast gave the order. Her two antennas twitched and the ants responded immediately. They swarmed the defenders like locusts ravaging nts. More than 30% of the 2 billion defenders were already dead. 40% were gravely injured or near death, while the remaining 30% were injured. Not one of them is uninjured and this is just from the first attack. The job of the ants is to finish off the rest.


    All the ants have the physical strength and defense of titans ofw. They don''t have the ability to move world power like real titans ofw and they surely can''t match Sovereigns but they outnumber titans ofw and sovereigns ofw 100 to 1.


    Their numbers seem to be endless. They poured out from the second supreme beast like a leak in a dam. The defenders were overwhelmed with numbers. Their morale broke before their bodies followed after.


    As for the Origin god Stellos, he was finally killed after a few minutes of fighting. This is very rare for an Origin god to die within a ne. Even if they can''t fight back, they are usually capable of escaping. But this Stellos could not escape so he met his demise.


    This freed up the third supreme beast who then began to kill off other stubborn defenders. The fightingsted for hours but the ne eventually fell. More bloodshed took ce in the following days as the Supreme beasts rooted out rebellions.


    The rebels held out waiting for reinforcements but the reinforcements never came. The Origin God ancestors of the Stellos failed toe to a peaceful agreement with the Supreme Alliance. In fact, they were mocked and directly killed by the Supreme Alliance.


    It might look like a whole ne fell to just three invaders but it is not exactly so. Some Supreme beasts had already infiltrated the ne unknowingly. They collected data and identified the strengths and weaknesses of the races living in the Steris ne. The information that they acquired allowed the Supreme Alliance to create an efficient invasion force.


    Most invasion done by the Supreme Alliance is usually carried out by three supreme beasts. There will be at least one supreme beast that targets the weakness of the races in the ne. There will be another one that carries an army with them to supply soldiers needed for subjugation.


    Then there will be a supreme beast that is strong in every aspect and doesn''t have any weakness. This one will be the most versatile one and will be responsible for a wide range of situations. Theck of weakness and their durability means that they will be able to handle unforeseen circumstances and idents.


    This is how the Supreme Alliance invades nes. It is an art that they have mastered over the years and they have had no need to change it with the advent of the era of conquest.


    The invasion of Steris urred before the realm lord announced that the era of conquest was about to ur. So the supreme alliance didn''t invade Steris for control of the ne in preparation for the era of conquest.


    To them, invasion is a normal thing to do. It is their destiny to lead. And they didn''t increase the frequency of invasions because they didn''t need to. They are more than prepared for the era of conquest


    The Steris ne fell to the gospel of civilization that the Supreme Alliance is generously spreading. The fact that the Supreme Alliance gained a new supply of ves and a new source of powerful divine ability is just a reward for their generosity in spreading civilization to every race.


    They are a race that thrives on conquest and grows stronger from it. That''s how they managed to gain control of nearly 30,000 nes in the realm of high heaven. If there is ever a race that Legion covets their divine ability the most, then it is the Supreme Beasts.


    -----THE BIRTH OF LEGION-5


    Legion-5 was born 3 origin cycles after the meeting where the realm lord announced that he had met the minimum requirement for the era of conquest. His birth was not without its difficulties but he managed to survive.


    The difficulties he encountered were not as simple as the failure of his mother to deliver him because Supreme beasts don''t be pregnant and they don''t gestate their young within them. Their normal mode of reproduction is byying their offsprings as eggs like reptiles and birds. That''s what Gehaldirah knew of them.


    But Legion-5 is currently not in an egg. He is the growing fruit of a nt. The fruit looks like an egg but no one will mistake it for an egg. After all, eggs are not attached to nts. They are objects that stand alone and are meant to be self-sufficient. But Legion-5 is attached to a nt in a simr manner to how demon fledglings are gestated.

 Chapter 1162 Eating Your Cake And Having It.

    <h4>Chapter 1162 Eating Your Cake And Having It. </h4>


    ?1162 Eating Your Cake And Having It.


    This situation is the first problem he faced when he reincarnated. It isn''t a strange situation because he is not the only unborn Supreme Beast in the same situation. The nt that he is attached to is in possession of thousands of other fruits simr to his.


    This nt is in arge vat of transparent liquid and one can see the form of the fetal Supreme Beasts through the thin skin of the fruits. No one will look at this setup and think it is strange even though Supreme beasts ought toy eggs. This is because something happened to the Supreme beasts that Gehaldirah wasn''t aware of.


    Supreme beasts are strong. The ability to have more than one divine ability has made them a terrifying force in the realm of high heaven. But even with their power and influence, most people haven''t heard about them or seen one of them because they are too few in number.


    They don''t attack a whole ne with three just because they are proud. They are proud but that isn''t the only reason to subjugate a ne with so little. Supreme Beasts attack nes with a few soldiers because they are small in number and because they don''t need more.


    Their small poption is mostly due to their divine ability. Their divine ability has reduced their fertility drastically just as it has made them stronger than they ought to be.


    It ismon knowledge that the fertility or the ability of organisms to create offspring is inversely proportional to the power of that organism and the fertility of a race is also inversely proportional to the potential of the race. So the stronger a race or individual, the lower their ability to reproduce.


    A race with high potential will have low fertility. While a race with high fertility will experience a reduction in fertility the stronger the members of the race be. That''s why it is easier for mortals to give birth than for transcendents to produce offspring. And it is why dragons have low fertilitypared to pigs.


    These twowsbine to create low fertility in the supreme beast race. They are strong individually and also as a race. A weak Supreme beast will find it difficult to reproduce much less a strong Supreme beast like a Sovereign ofw.


    These two rules also apply to Origin gods. It makes it almost impossible for them to reproduce. Fortunately, there is an exception for origin gods. If they want a child desperately, then they will have a child. It just depends on how much they are willing to give up to have that child.


    They can have a 100% chance of producing offspring as long as they procreate with another Origin god and are willing to use some of their Origin essences. The descendants born in this way will also be able to reach the Sovereign level with certainty. If there is any disadvantage it is that this method is expensive and the offspring will have no choice but to take the path of their parent.


    Legion-5''s father is an Origin God. His father is also in control of a whole ne on behalf of the Supreme Alliance but his father will not produce offspring the expensive way. That method ensures quality and certainty but the supreme beast race doesn''t want quality in their offspring because their offspring will have the same divine ability as them.


    They want quantity so that their offsprings will not have the same divine ability as them. That will preserve the potential of their offsprings. Potential means that they can perform better than their parents and that possibility is better than quality that are copies of their parents.


    Offsprings that can reach the sovereign level with certainty cannot deviate from the concept of their parents. The Supreme Alliance doesn''t want that. Unfortunately for them, they have a problem with fertility. If they don''t produce offsprings with certainty, then it will be very difficult to produce offsprings at all much less inrge quantities.


    In order to fix this problem, they adopted a special method of reproduction. It is a method to eat their cake and have it. It will increase the quantity of offspring that they produce without the need to spend Origin essence to create each offspring.


    This method should not exist but the Supreme Beast race is capable of achieving the impossible thanks to their ability to use many divine abilities. The method was created when a particr origin god Supreme Beast engineered a nt concept for reproduction by fusing the demon sire with the life tree and some other divine ability. In a way, it copied the way that Supreme beasts were derived from elves.


    The demon sire is the creator of demons. It is a branch from the tree of sin. The supreme beast that created this method used it has its first divine ability. So the tree of sin was the primer. Its prodigious fertility wasbined with other divine abilities and special nts like the life trees to enhance it. This led to the creation of the Supreme Mother, one of the directors of the Supreme Alliance.


    The nt that Legion-5 and other fetuses are attached to is just one of the independent branches of the Supreme Mother. His father and mother used their essence to pollinate the flowers of the nt given to them. The nt then produced thousands of fruits. In a way, each offspring has three parents, not two.


    The nt can''t stop the eggs from failing to hatch but it can increase their chances of hatching by eating the eggs that died and using them to supplement the other eggs that are still viable. This seemingly advantageous arrangement created Legion-5''s first problem.


    This is because for the soul fragment to sessfully reincarnate, he must take over an unborn child. First, the soul fragment must destroy the fragile soul of the born child if it is present, and then take over the body. It is a simple procedure and Legion-5 seeded in this without any issue.

 Chapter 1163 One Law.

    <h4>Chapter 1163 One Law. </h4>


    ?1163 One Law.


    The issue arose when the supreme mother sensed that his egg had died. The supply of supplements and nutrients that he was receiving from it stopped and was then reversed to the other eggs. The supreme mother was breaking him down to ensure that the other eggs would survive.


    He didn''t know the danger he was in since he had just reincarnated and his soul had just awoken. He was the 4th soul fragment to awaken so he became Legion-5. All of his attention was on his divine ability. He didn''t have a divine sense to see the situation he was in so he remained ignorant of this problem for quite a while. Besides, he couldn''t do anything even if he did know.


    "It is just as I expected. The divine ability has thew of life." He said after observing his divine ability.


    Gehaldirah has done a little research about Supreme Beasts before he reincarnated so they are notpletely ignorant of what to expect. The major problem why they don''t know more is because Gehhaldirah couldn''t get ample research material to analyze. If the stone race is overprotective of their young, the supreme alliance is super overprotective of their young.


    The creation of the supreme mother has only prevented them from going extinct. It has not solved the problem of their low fertility. So they care too much about their young just like the stone race.


    They are worse than the stone race in being overprotective in that they are strong enough to protect their young. They are so strong that even the high elves couldn''t offend them. So Gehaldirah couldn''t get a lot of materials to work with despite paying arge sum of money to traffickers.


    Gehaldirah couldn''t afford to offend them. If Origin gods are scared of the racial council of the Virut ne, then a mere Sovereign has to be very scared of the Supreme Alliance. Even the realm lord suffered at their hands.


    The supreme alliance was the major force that stood against Monarch High Heaven when he wanted to be the realm lord. So Gehaldirah had to pay a high price to purchase a small body part of a young supreme beast.


    It wasn''t the whole body of the dead supreme beast that he got despite the price he paid. It was just a piece of flesh which is surprising since the traffickers he went to were supposed to be the best in the very market.


    The small piece of flesh wasn''t enough for deeper studies but it was enough to set three targets for a soul fragment to reincarnate into. The reincarnation worked on the first try so here Legion-5 is.


    The memory of the difficulty of getting the flesh of Supreme beasts evoked within Legion-5 the reason why Gehaldirah made it a must to reincarnate into a Supreme beast. It then led to a sense of satisfaction within him for having seeded.


    He couldn''t help but look toward his future with anticipation, "This had better be worth it."


    He continued examining the divine ability to find why it is so powerful but what he found dampened his enthusiasm. He couldn''t find any otherws apart from thew of life.


    He muttered to himself skeptically, "It has just onew? I can''t believe it. How did they manage to be so strong?"


    What he got from his preliminary examination of the body part before reincarnation indicated that their divine ability must contain thew of life. He couldn''t be sure of others since the sample was too small to be certain.


    Now he has reincarnated and can''t believe what he seeing. He suspected that they have thew of life in their divine ability but he didn''t expect the divine ability to be made up of just thew of life.


    He is surprised because there is very little information about the divine ability of the supreme beast race. Many people want to know how a race can have and use several divine abilities. He is looking at the divine ability right now and still can''t believe that a singlew is responsible for it. It is also thew of life that high elves have.


    "How is it that their ownw of life made them so strong while our own made us so weak?" He questioned.


    He knows that the samews can produce different effects when turned into a concept but the disparity is too much. High elves and supreme beasts have the same amount ofws and it is the same exactw so he finds it quite difficult to believe that one divine ability allows high elves to have a high affinity with mana, ess to natural mana, and the ability to transform to other types of life forms while the supreme beasts have the divine ability to use multiple divine abilities.


    "Are the Supreme beasts rted to elves in any way? Who knows? There is very little information about their Origin and history but it might be true."


    He shifted his attention to other parts of his body when he was done examining his divine ability.


    "Maybe my parents are ordinary. There is no bloodline in my body."


    He also can''t find any trace of a bloodline in his body. The onlyw fragments in his body are in his core where his divine ability is. His parents have to be ordinary because even transcendents will leave behind a weak bloodline as long as he is not too far from their lineage.


    "Wait, there is a change."


    He was inspecting himself when he noticed a change in his situation. The weakening of his body caused the connection between his soul and his body to be dyed so he heard from Legion-2 and others about the increase inws in their divine ability before he experienced it too.


    His soul formed a connection with his new body so he got to make contact with his divine ability. The Origin essence he brought with him also began to affect it. Severalw fragments were attracted to it so it got bigger.

 Chapter 1164 Salvation From The Title.

    <h4>Chapter 1164 Salvation From The Title. </h4>


    ?1164 Salvation From The Title.


    This change didn''t go unnoticed by others. The branch of the supreme mother noticed it too. It informed the person in charge of this hatchery. The branch is in one of the numerousrge vats in a muchrger metal structure underground. This underground structure is the size of a city. It is one of the three hatcheries in the ne where the future generation of supreme beasts are produced.


    This hatchery alone has 3 origin gods protecting it while the whole ne has 10 Origin gods on standby. The supreme beast alliance will attack a ne with 3 Origin gods but they will station 10 Origin gods in the ne to protect their young.


    One can imagine just how much importance they ce on their young. The slightest changes to the condition of the eggs are passed across to the administrators of the hatchery immediately.


    Legion-5''s father was in charge of the ne, and all the hatcheries, and most importantly, this particr change happened to one of his unhatched offspring so he was informed.


    "A mutation?" His father asked.


    His Sovereign subordinate replied, "Yes, his divine ability is mutating but the mother nt has determined him to be dead. I think he is a chimera."


    "He will not make it. Bring his corpse to me when he dies."


    "I will do so Monarch Tellos."


    They are not going to do anything about the information about his mutation. They would have been excited about a mutation had it urred before the mother nt determined Legion-5 to be unviable. But now that he has been determined unviable. It means he can''t survive the gestation process and will surely die under the siphoning of the mother nt.


    Nothing can save him. It is already difficult to hatch without the mother nt. It bes impossible to hatch when even the mother tree determines him to be unviable. So his father has reconciled himself with his death.


    There are more than 10,000 fruits but less than 100 of them will survive. The death of one is not something to fret about even if it has a mutation. In fact, it is a good thing. His father will be able to use his corpse for research after his death.


    Legion-5 wasn''t assisted in any way but they began paying more attention to him so that they could take his corpse as soon as he died. He on the other remained ignorant of his situation until he started sensing that his body was dying.


    "What''s going on? Is my mother dying too?" He asked himself.


    That''s the only exnation that he can think of. He doesn''t have any information about the reproduction methods of the Supreme Beast race. He can only sense that he is connected to another entity which is the situation with viviparous reproduction.


    He shouldn''t be connected to another entity if it is oviparous reproduction. An egg is a closed environment after all. It is this entity that he is connected to that is killing him. That''s why he came to the conclusion that his mother was dying.


    Heined. "What do I do now? I am not Legion-6. I am not strong enough to break out of my mother. Will I die and fail to reincarnate like Legion-7?"


    He doesn''t know what to do. He is still gestating so he is very weak. His undeveloped body is yet to adapt to his soul and it will take longer to finish growing because of the changes to his divine ability.


    He has only spent 40 years out of the hundreds of years needed for normal supreme beasts to gestate. He can''t survive outside of the womb yet like Legion-7 who was already ready to be born. At this rate, he might die like Legion-7.


    His death seemed to be foregone. It is slow but he is dying slowly. The mother nt is killing him. His situation could be alleviated if they cut off the mother nt from him. He is not like the other helpless eggs. He can surely hatch on his own.


    Unfortunately, he isn''t growing at all. He is doing the opposite. His body is degenerating as it is being broken down. Those who should help him are instead watching him like cycling vultures waiting for him to die so that they can take advantage of him.


    Things changed when Soverick became the child of the Virut ne some 14 yearster. Mana rushed into his soul and into his body through the soul sphere. Helios and Ragnarok took advantage of the supply to grow stronger but no one needed the mana as much as Legion-5. It was really a life and death matter for him. His body had already be gaunt. If not for his powerful soul, his existence would have broken apart sooner.


    He sighed in relief. "Soverick saved me. Unfortunately, Legion-7''s situation is not so good."


    His situation has changed. Death has been starved off. His body began to develop better. This change didn''t go unnoticed either. His watchers were baffled by the changes.


    His father went through the report about his condition over and over again. He asked incredulously, "Are you sure this is correct?"


    "Definitely sir. I checked several times. These readings are urate with a certainty of 99.9999%. He has stopped dying and is growing stronger."


    The doll-like Origin god was silent for a while as he considered the situation. He couldn''t figure out why a dying egg that had beenbeled as unviable suddenly regained vitality.


    He thought to himself, "Hmm. Maybe it has something to do with his mutation."


    His mind fixated on that possibility and greed appeared within him. "I have to know if it is because of his mutation."


    He made up his mind so he said to his subordinate, "Cut him off from the mother tree. It seems he is resilient. Let''s help him by removing the burden of the siphoning."


    The Sovereign subordinate suggested carefully, "But he could die. He is doing well now so we should probably just leave him be."


    ----


    A/N: Bonus chapter for 100 golden tickets goal.

 Chapter 1165 The Incubator.

    <h4>Chapter 1165 The Incubator. </h4>


    ?1165 The Incubator.


    His father shook his head. "If it is what you think it is, then he is a burden on the others. He will affect the others if he remains attached to the Mother nt. But if he is not a burden, then he should survive without the mother nt."


    That is logic that he couldn''t argue against. The subordinate could only agree and cut the fruit that Legion-5 was in away from the mother nt. He was then carried away and ced in an incubator. The incubator was then attached to him to supply some nutrients that he might need.


    The subordinate said, "I hope you can survive."


    Legion-5 is doing well and they don''t know why but that doesn''t mean it is a good thing for the other eggs. His father believes that Legion-5 has found a way to continue using up resources from the mother nt to grow. Those resources are meant for the eggs that are still viable.


    The surbodinate on the other hand wants Legion-5 to remain in the mother nt. They don''t know why he is growing instead of dying but as Supreme beasts who have been tasked by the Supreme Alliance to do their best to ensure the survival of all eggs, he wants him Legion-5 to remain with the mother nt and not be abandoned to an incubator.


    If the incubator could help to hatch eggs, the Supreme Alliance would be using it instead of the mother nt. So his chances of survival are very slim at best. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to help him.


    The major issue here is that there is no right and wrong decision despite the motive behind the two decisions. Legion-5''s father might be right and Legion-5 is bad for the other eggs. That will lead to the death of more eggs.


    Even if his father is wrong and the subordinate is right, only Legion-5 will die. That is a sacrifice that they can make for the sake of the other eggs. It is a smart decision to risk one instead of the many and it will hold under the scrutiny of the Supreme Alliance.


    If there was an obviously correct decision then Legion-5 wouldn''t be cut off like that even though his father is the one who asked for it. His father is not having offsprings because he has a hole in his life that he wants to fill up with children. The supreme alliance asked him to fertilize the mother nt with his essence together with the essence of another Origin god to produce offsprings.


    That''s how the eggs and Legion-5 came to be. His father will be rewarded for each egg that sessfully hatches. So the supreme alliance is the one that has the rights over Legion-5, not his father. If the subordinate disagrees with the decision then he will report to the supreme alliance.


    The subordinate didn''t disagree so Legion-5 was ced in the incubator. The subordinate could only hope that Legion-5 would survive so that he would gain more rewards from the Supreme Alliance.


    One of them wants him to die while the other wants him to live but the more hatchlings that survive, the more the reward for both the subordinate and Legion-5''s father. In one way or the other, their motives are based on benefits.


    Legion-5 is ignorant of everything going on in his surroundings. He only noticed that he was an egg after a while of the absence of the sensation of connection to another being.


    "What is going on out there? Why don''t I have a mother anymore? Is she dead? Why am I not dying?"


    He has so many questions but very little answers. It is grating to live in ignorance especially when he is aware that there is a lot going on that he doesn''t know about. But he stopped worrying about it after a while when there were no noticeable changes to him.


    Life continued for him. He was gestating on his own without support just fine. His father and his caretakers ought to be d but the two of them had different reactions when Legion-5 didn''t die immediately and was actually growing stronger.


    Legion-5''s father said with regret, "So I was wrong. He is not a chimera after all. I expected his body to copse without the support of the mother nt. Looks like I won''t get to use his corpse for my research."


    He isn''t happy at all that Legion-5 is still alive. The reward of the supreme alliance doesn''t motivate him as much as his pursuit of knowledge. He is not like his Sovereign subordinate who needs to make contributions in order to gain the assistance of the Supreme Alliance in bing an Origin god.


    If he seeds in making a contribution that will affect the whole race of supreme beasts through his research, then bing a world god will not be a faraway dream. Unfortunately, the mutated egg is not an undead beast or a chimera with an unstable body that causes the Mother nt to consider him unviable.


    He narrowed his eyes at the report. He is suspicious of its validity so he decided to extended his divine sense down to the hatchery to the incubator that Legion-5 is in. His divine sense scanned the life fluctuations of the egg andpared the data collected to his observation.


    He was disappointed to discover that there was no mistake. Everything pointed at the same thing. The egg was thriving. However, the disappointment didn''t reduce his interest in the anomalous egg. His curiosity has only increased in light of the new information.


    "His vitality is astonishing and his soul activity is off the charts. He will surely hatch at this rate. How did an egg go from unviable to super viable?" The Origin asked himself.


    He has so many questions too but very few answers. Unfortunately, he won''t be able to get his answers despite being the father and being an Origin god.

 Chapter 1166 The Famous Experiment.

    <h4>Chapter 1166 The Famous Experiment. </h4>


    ?1166 The Famous Experiment.


    He thought to himself, "I can strangle it so easily. It will be so easy to do. I don''t even need to use force. All I need to do is inject my divine sense into his egg. It will surely destabilize the egg and lead to his death."


    He is contemting killing the egg. He truly wants to kill it to satiate his curiosity. A measly egg is a worthy price to pay for the increase in his knowledge. It will be easy to do too. Unfortunately, he can''t.


    He is not even allowed to scan the egg directly with his divine sense. He had to use external measurements like temperature, air intake, air outtake, etc to determine the internal conditions of the egg. His divine sense is too powerful and might affect the egg so the Supreme Alliance banned him from doing it.


    He can''t kill the egg unintentionally much less kill the egg intentionally because of the duty contract he signed. So he had to watch the egg thrive and thrive.


    The Subordinate was also watching with intrigue.


    They watched Legion-5 closely with different motives but both of them were stunned when the life signsing from Legion-5 rose sharply until they surpassed the other eggs who have always had the support of the mother nt and were never used as nutrients to be siphoned for the others.


    His father stopped watching at that point. He made that decision after roaring in frustration. As for Legion-5, his life was carefree after that near-death experience. Mana came from Soverick so he was growing stronger quickly. His divine ability mutated with the addition of fire, water, air, earth, light, and darkness.


    "That makes 7ws. It is not like Soverick''s 9w divine ability but it is still going to be very difficult to use to be a titan ofw."


    "I''m all for the increase in versatility for a divine ability but how does this divine ability expect me to create a concept greater than a sixw concept? If it was so easy, people would have done it and the realm lord wouldn''t be so special."


    He tried to keep a positive attitude due to the mutation but he couldn''t help but worry about his future. Even the creation of a bloodline due to the flooding ofw fragments in his body didn''t ease his worry.


    He doesn''t think a bloodline can help him in creating a concept like it does to normal beings. After all, he can Comprehendws faster from thew matrix thanprehending them from his bloodline. So what he sees from his bloodline is not assistance but a reminder of the difficulty that he is to ovee if he wants to awaken his divine ability further in the future.


    "We''ll get to it when we get there. I''ll just hatch for now."


    His divine ability is a problem for the future. He is just over a hundred years old and he hasn''t hatched yet so he tried to stop worrying for the moment. His attempt to enjoy a carefree life came to an end when Helios wanted to perform the experiment that would bring Chaos energy into their mindwork.


    He warned them, "We have to be very careful about this. Legion-8 and I are still in our eggs. We are not like the rest of you. We won''t be able to resist Chaos energy at all if it gets to us. We will surely die."


    This Chaos energy is not the weak one that Aeternus encountered as an unborn demon. Aeternus is a demon king now with a divine level Chaos energy capable of killing Celestials and Origin gods.


    Even the ymore that he got from the realm lord can''t resist Chaos energy anymore and has been destroyed. Legion-5''s soul is still a weak fragment so he will surely be snuffed out if the Chaos energy gets to him.


    "What are you scared of? I will be the one that will bear the brunt of the Chaos energy." Legion-1 said.


    Aeternus joined in, "And I will be the one that might be killed if things go wrong."


    It is true that the Chaos energy will first to Legion-1 and Aeternus will be killed by the tree father if anything goes wrong. But Legion-5 didn''t back down. "You two are prepared to die, but not me. I haven''t lived and I haven''t done anything yet. And I believe that I have the greatest potential among all of us. Even Legion-8 doesn''t have as much potential as me. He is just a dragon. His divine ability didn''t get an upgrade because of origin essence so he will be an ordinary dragon with a more powerful soul."


    Legion-8 refuted. "I won''t be ordinary. The power of a dragon is dependent on the soul so I will be very strong as soon as I am born meanwhile you will be a weak hatchling."


    Soverick joined in, "Legion-5 makes a good point. Legion-7 is enved and Legion-6 is shackled with a demon god. That''s two out of 9 of us that aren''t doing well. It will be bad if we kill Legion-5 and Legion-8 too."


    Aeternus shrugged. "Legion-6 and Legion-7 have be a waste unless they die. As for Legion-5 and Legion-8, we will still be able to do something useful with the slot that will open when they die."


    "That''s true." Legion-1 agreed. "I can remake their soul fragments as long as I live. We will lose their divine abilities but it is a risk worth taking."


    That made Legion-5 twitch. "What reliable clones I have. They are already nning for my death and recement."


    If he dies, then he will be reced by another soul fragment. That soul fragment will have his memories and those of others but it won''t be him anymore. It won''t have his point of view and his divine sense. He would be gone so he doesn''t want to die if he can help it.

 Chapter 1167 Green With Jealousy.

    <h4>Chapter 1167 Green With Jealousy. </h4>


    ?1167 Green With Jealousy.


    But death is not his greatest fear. His greatest fear is death without a purpose. Legion hates wastage. They hate making losses. To have his entire life be a waste is not something he is looking forward to.


    Helios had to step in. "No one is dying okay? It is just a short experiment. It won''tst more than 2 seconds. Maybe less. I just want to see how Chaos energy reacts with thew fragments of order in my body. I will be slightly injured at most. It shouldn''t affect you and Legion-8 at all."


    "Fine. Just get it over with." Legion-5 said.


    The tree father prepared with Aeternus and Helios. Then Chaos energy went from Aeternus to Legion-1 and from Legion-1 to Helios. The rest is history.


    When Legion-5 came to, a ck orb was revolving around his egg. It passed through the incubator as if it were an intangible phantom. No one could see it either. Only Legion-5 could see it but he couldn''t control it.


    An atmosphere of dread settled within the mind link. Silence and a profound appreciation for life pervaded their consciousness. They are still reeling from the impact of what they just went through. It is unbelievable that they survived it.


    Legion-5 said dryly, "It is fortunate that I don''t dislike saying ''I told you so" and that I don''t even have to say it for all of you to hear it."


    That made them chuckle. It loosened the mood a little.


    "Let''s see if we are any different." Legion-1 proposed.


    They immediately checked their existence to see if there was any change. There were no obvious changes. Even their stat screen didn''t notice anything different about them. The first one to notice a change was Legion-7. His bond was broken and he ran away immediately.


    "What a lucky bastard," Legion-5 muttered. "His useless life became meaningful just like that."


    Legion-7 was still struggling to escape but he still had enough mind to retort. "I was enved and it wasn''t because I was useless. I possessed something important that was coveted hence why I was enved."


    "We all have what you have that was coveted. Anyone of us could have been enved so you''re not that important."


    "Who got thew of the soul?" Legion-7 asked.


    Legion-5 admitted, "You did."


    "Did thew of the soul save Aeternus or not?"


    "It saved Aeternus."


    "Did you get thew of the soul?"


    Legion-5 tried to excuse himself. "I have not hatched yet. I haven''t had the chance to..."


    Legion-7 would have none of it. He insisted, "Did you or did you not get thew of the soul?"


    The two of them argued for a while. It was short because they were interrupted. Aeternus was the next to discover a change. It was a positive change too.


    The ability he was trying to create by modifying his mark of sin worked with soul force. Then Soverick was next. His eyes fused together and he gazed at the realm lord.


    "What lucky bastards," Legion-5 said in unconcealed jealousy.


    "I can see you." Soverick mocked.


    Soverick''s eyes pierced through the void between the two nes and locked onto his frail form within the egg. That only made Legion-5 more jealous. Everyone is getting something from the shards of power apart from him. Legion-6 broke from the demon god and Legion-4 is bing a star. Then Soverick reeled in pain.


    Legion-5 snickered, "Serves you right."


    Soverick received a bacsh. His eyes separated forcefully and he even became blind.


    "It is only temporary," Soverick said with relief.


    Legion-5 continued to mock him, "I hope for your sake that it is temporary. If it isn''t then maybe we should get rid of you and try for another useful clone."


    He is still salty about the talk of recing him. They risked his life and now they are gaining benefits from it. But he isn''t getting anything out of the danger they put him through.


    Soverick suggested, "These ck orbs are the distition of infinite possibilities. They are raw power made manifest. I think we should call them the shard of power."


    Legion-1 observed, "These shards of power are powerful but they are also dangerous. They are uncontroble to random in their effects."


    Aeternus spoke to Legion-5, "Maybe it is not a bad thing that you are not affected by it at all. The consequences might be too dangerous for you to bear. We might have to rece you then."


    Legion-5 was not appeased. "Fuck you Aeternus. You think I can''t sense the smug sense of superiority you have right now?"


    "I am superior to you. I am a demon king and you are still gestating."


    "I''m taking this long to gestate because I have a lot of potential. I am better than all of you."


    "You can''t be superior to the demon king of Chaos. All will be destroyed and damned to oblivion by my hands."


    "Mighty cocky for someone that almost died as an egg. If not for Legion-7 and Soverick you wouldn''t even finish gestating."


    "You wouldn''t be alive without Soverick either."


    Soverick interrupted them. "I think we can control these shards of power. Their potential might reduce if we gain control of them but the raw power within them can be tapped."


    Some were open to the n. They said, "That sounds like a good idea."


    But Legion-5 was quick to reject it. "That sounds like a bad idea. We are not messing with something that nearly killed us."


    Soverick said confidently, "It won''t kill us. Trust me. I am very good at building artifacts."


    His confidence is based on his eyes. He has been able to see andprehendws easily as if he is reading them directly from thew matrix instead of trying to decipher them. His eyes have also pushed his forging skills to the apex so he has the confidence that he will be able to find out the function and purpose of the shards of power.


    But Legion-5 isn''t buying it. "We are not doing whatever you n until I have hatched."

 Chapter 1168 The Backup Divine Ability.

    <h4>Chapter 1168 The Backup Divine Ability. </h4>


    ?1168 The Backup Divine Ability.


    Fortunately, he is not alone in this thought. The other clones agreed to let him and Legion-8 hatch first before they begin another round of dangerous experimentation. They didn''t know that the previous one was going to be so dangerous. If they did, they would have prepared better before they tried it.


    Now they know that the shards of power are powerful but also capable of random things. They won''t risk what they have in Legion-5 and Legion-8 for something that is not certain.


    Legion-5''s tune changed after the agreement. He began looking forward to controlling the shard of power. "I want to hatch quickly so that we can start working on the shard of power."


    He doesn''t want his near-death experience to be in vain. He has already been through the dangerous moment but nothing hase out of it for him. He can bear with it for now since he is not the only one who can''t use the shard of power for anything.


    "There''s me, Legion-8, and the tree father. We can be patient till we hatch."


    His patience thinned when the tree father got something from it. He has lost the restriction of domains. He doesn''t need to fuse domains to possess them so he can have more than one domain as a Celestial.


    "That''s fine too. There''s still Legion-8. We can be patient until we hatch."


    But things didn''t go ording to n. Legion-5 was pushed to the limit of his patience.


    Helios started, "About that..."


    Legion-5 interrupted him, "Don''t say it."


    He was willing to bear with being unable to get anything out of the shard of power because he was not the only one who hadn''t gotten anything. So it came to him as an unpleasant shock when Legion-8 also got something. What Legion-8 got surprised all of them. It even affected Soverick.


    "This is unprecedented," Soverick muttered. "I have gotten ess to thew of creation through you. Let meprehend it so that we can see how it will affect Legion-8."


    "This is not fair. I am not the one with the highest potential anymore." Legion-5ined.


    The others were not saddened by the change to Legion-8. They are greedy so the more the merrier.


    Helios said with anticipation, "This is great. We will surely be able to punish the dragons for their impudence now."


    The reason why Gehaldirah chose to make a dragon clone is because of their power and because he wanted an insider amongst the dragons. With someone on their home ne, Legion will be able to find the dragon''s breeding grounds.


    Legion has not given up on their revenge on the dragons. They hate dragons and also covet their power. Reincarnation has given them the opportunity to do both. But now the shard of power has given them more than they can ever imagine. Legion-8''s inner world suddenly gained ess to somews that none of them has the talent for such as thew of creation and destruction.


    Things progressed rapidly and beyond their expectations from there. Helios gained cosmic energy and used it to strengthen Legion-1''s inner world so Legion-1 got something from the shards of power too. The only one who hadn''t gotten anything yet was still Legion-5.


    His jealousy reached its peak when Soverick finallyprehended the fullw of creation. That invoked thew matrix and made cosmic energy agitated. It swarmed from Helios to every clone. Legion-1 exploded. Aeternus reached level 10 immediately.


    Legion-7 began using cosmic energy to devourws. Legion-8''s inner world also changed with theprehension of thew of creation and cosmic energy flowed into his world to strengthen it too.


    Legion-5 had to watch all these happen without gaining anything. It didn''t even end there. Legion-8 made another breakthrough. His inner world evolved yet again after thew of creation was added to it. He can now add morews to it. So instead of his inner world weakening with the addition of morews it was strengthening.


    Legion-5 couldn''t take it anymore.


    "Let me give it a try. We are both unborn in eggs. I can''t just watch without gaining anything." He said said with determination.


    "But whatw should I try to add?" He asked the others.


    Legion-2 proposed, "Add thew of devouring. It goes well with thew of life. We also have the schematics for the divine concept from Ragnarok. It will be good if we have a backup since Ragnarok is probably going to die."


    "Even if you can''t replicate Ragnarok''s divine ability, thew of devour should unlock your limits on stats." Legion-1 said.


    "That sounds like a good idea," Legion-5 said in agreement.


    Then he asked, "But thew of creation and destruction is good too. Shouldn''t I use one of them?"


    Soverick advised him, "Leave those ones to Legion-8. We don''t know their effects yet and addingws to a divine ability is very dangerous. It is best to use Ragnarok as a model to reduce the risk."


    Soverick''s advice was sound so he had to listen to it. He had to give up on trying to emte Legion-8. It is already too dangerous to add aw to a divine ability intentionally. A divine ability is not a concept which he is free to addws and this addition is not the natural mutation caused by Origin essence. Anything can go wrong with it if he is not careful.


    In fact, some might say he is courting death trying to change his divine ability in the egg. The other clones certainly think so but they are not telling him not to try it because are truly prepared to rece him with another Supreme beast if he dies. They were not kidding about that.


    Even so, they don''t want him to try something too dangerous. They would rather he die trying to create a backup of Ragnarok''s divine ability since Ragnarok is unlikely to survive the Lumen ne.

 Chapter 1169 A Lesson Learned.

    <h4>Chapter 1169 A Lesson Learned. </h4>


    ?1169 A Lesson Learned.


    Ragnarok has escaped from the demon god but his fate is still sealed since he can''t leave the ne. So they want to have a copy of his ability. Ragnarok''s death won''t affect them much in that case. They already have the information they need to know about how Paragons acquire and use POWER, how supremews work, and how dangerous demon gods are.


    Their advice is good to follow since he is not like Legion-8 who has an ancestor to emte. In a way, Legion-8 did not randomly change his divine ability, he is just making it more simr to his ancestor''s.


    So he turned his attention towards Ragnarok to get more detailed information about his divine ability. It is important to do because Ragnarok had just be a transcendent. His divine ability has evolved after consuming the heart of Carnage. It is different from the one he was born with.


    "Now which one should I emte? The old Warrog Omega divine ability or the new Warrog Hybrid divine ability?"


    Ragnarok had just fought some Origin gods after fighting a Vampire Primogenitor and is currently on his way to release the ghouls. He had a lot on his mind but he still gave Legion-5 some advice. "Use the old one. You will need to add at least twows to your divine ability if you want to copy the new one. Even then it might not work because you don''t have a heart of Carnage."


    Legion-5 considered the advice silently before deciding to take it. It will be dangerous to work with just thew of devour. Adding thew of blood to his divine ability will increase the risk exponentially. It will increase the number ofws in his concept from 7 to 9 which is scary. Even kings ofw die when they work with too manyws when they want to be titans ofw.


    "If I want more then I will add it when I be a titan ofw. I''m only greedy, not suicidal."


    The other clones didn''t bother to correct him on thatst part. Being greedy and suicidal are not mutually exclusive and Ragnarok has shown just how far they are willing to go for their greediness. Besides, if he wasn''t suicidal, he wouldn''t attempt something that can leave him crippled or worse, kill him.


    Legion-5 was hopeful about his attempt but the other clones didn''t think it would actually work. This is an unprecedented situation after all. Mutation in unborn offsprings is rare to begin with. No one has documented the effect of the possession of Origin essence in unborn offspring. So no one could anticipate what cosmic energy could do to a gestating entity.


    What they do know is that they have not been able to move or control cosmic energy. It had always done what it wanted in the absence of a Supremew to give it direction. So the other clones were not disappointed when Legion-5''s attempt to add aw failed.


    Nothing changed no matter how much he used soul force to control thew fragments of devour to try and add them to his divine ability. Cosmic energy refused to move and his divine ability refused to take the initiative to ept the neww matrix.


    Legion-5 was disappointed beyond words could describe.


    He barely heard the tree father''s suggestion, "Why don''t you try to use Origin energy to stimte your divine ability?"


    He perked up with that suggestion and tried it immediately. He drew Origin energy from Soverick through the soul sphere and into the core in his body. His divine ability epted the Origin energy and it activated immediately.


    Legion-5 roared in pain. "This hurts. It hurts so much."


    "I guess it is a bad idea to try and use Origin energy before you be a transcendent."


    "It is especially bad if you use it with an undeveloped body still in the egg."


    "That''s a lesson learned I guess."


    Legion-5 roared at them, "Stop chatting about it and help me!"


    His divine ability didn''t ept the fragments of thew of devour because he gave it Origin energy. It instead it tried to activate but it was too weak and his body was undeveloped so it was injured instead.


    His injury healed when the tree father gave him divine life energy. His pain also disappeared. He noticed that his body had be stronger but he wasn''t in the mood to appreciate that development.


    "I failed again."


    Soverick gave him a new suggestion, "You should use Origin energy and soul force together. Use Origin energy to activate your divine ability and use soul force to force it to fuse with thew fragments."


    "That could work. Soul force can controlw fragments while Origin energy can activate the divine ability."


    "It will be painful but you can heal your injuries if you fail."


    "What if I injure my divine ability?" He asked with slight annoyance.


    He is certain that the suggestion will lead to pain and it might lead to more than that. Divine life energy can''t heal his divine ability if it gets injured because his divine ability is not only flesh and blood, it containsw fragments which nothing can heal.


    But Soverick brushed his concerns aside, "So what if you injure your divine ability? You are already aware and prepared for this risk. It is nothing new."


    "Do it. You have already gone this far. Might as well see it to the end."


    Actually, he is not enthusiastic about changing his divine ability anymore but the clones won''t allow him to stop now. He must finish what he started or die trying.


    "What supportive clones I have." He said with sarcasm as he tried the new suggestion.


    He was gripped by pain immediately. His undeveloped body spasmed involuntarily because of the pain. But he continued to direct Origin energy into his divine ability while simultaneously controlling thew fragments of devour from thew matrix to approach his activated divine ability.

 Chapter 1170 Busy Legion.

    <h4>Chapter 1170 Busy Legion. </h4>


    ?1170 Busy Legion.


    The core within him that contained his divine ability began to swell. It was imbibing thew fragments just like it did when Origin essence influenced it to do. There was resistance and it was painful but Legion-5 was still happy.


    He eximed, "It worked."


    "Don''t stop. Remember the n."


    "I know."


    The happiness of sess didn''t alleviate his pain. His body was shaking because of the pain but he had to continue using Origin energy and soul force to pullw fragments of thew of devouring into his core ording to Ragnarok''s divine ability.


    He continued this self-torture for 10 minutes before his divine ability refused to improve anymore. He had to stop at that point no matter how greedy or masochistic he was.


    "It is not nearly enough but it will do." He said to console himself.


    He tried his best to mimic Ragnarok''s divine ability but it came up short. The two divine abilities are not the same. Thew of life is the core of his own while thew of devouring is the core of Ragnarok''s divine ability.


    He also has 6 otherws in his divine ability while Ragnarok has just thew of life. Then there is the absence of the connection to death that Ragnarok has as a paragon. He can''t simte that.


    The other clones also felt bad that Ragnarok''s divine ability couldn''t be saved.


    "It will be good if Ragnarok doesn''t die. But what are the chances of that happening?" The tree father said.


    Soverick said, "His chances of survival are too small. But we can still try toe up with something. We should at least try to save him. Anything is possible if we get more information and the appropriate opportunity."


    "I don''t think that is a good idea. We can''t mess with a demon god. We don''t have enough information about what a Supremew is capable of and the little we know of it says that we shouldn''te in contact with a Supremew at all."


    Soverick had to agree. "We will revisit the n if we can acquire more information about Supremews."


    "But what are the odds of that happening? Which Supremew will be exposed to use to analyze without danger? Ragnarok almost died to get us the little we know of Supremews."


    They began discussing the problems of Supremews but Legion-5 didn''t join them. He returned his attention to his divine ability. He doesn''t think that Ragnarok will survive. If anything, they might all be implicated if they try to save him so he is not going to spend time thinking about how to save him.


    The clones also have that opinion. The fear of a Supremew is enough to strangle their Suicidal tendencies because a Supremew can threaten their goal of perfection.


    Their fear is not baseless either. It is not the fear of the unknown. They have heard of what world gods are capable of. Even Origin gods with a concept to protect them can be cursed to a life worse than death.


    There is no way they are going to risk that. Even Ragnarok is ready to die so that they can avoid it. That''s why he went to release the ghouls. The other clones are also prepared for his death. It is why they wanted Legion-5 to copy his divine ability.


    Besides, Legion is currently busy with a lot of things. Aeternus just became a demon king and is currently building his ne, Soverick is busy learning how to forge, Helios and the tree father are working on a demorgorg system that imitates the divine engine, and Legion-7 is trying to survive.


    Only Legion-1 is somewhat free but he is not going anywhere near a demon god. So unless theye across some information that can impact a demon god, Ragnarok will remain without help and he will die.


    Legion-5 would rather focus on the only thing he can do which is his divine ability.


    He said with a sigh, "This is not good enough."


    His divine ability has be more powerful but it can''tpare to the progress that Legion-8 has made. Legion-5 is not satisfied but there is nothing useful that he can do about it. So he whiled his time away by going along with the other clone''s struggles.


    Legion-7 fought with an entire ne. His existence is an abomination and the will of the ne he escaped to felt threatened by him so it created a child of the ne to get rid of him while it also rilled up the entire ne to hunt him down. Even thended gods have joined in the fight against him.


    The hatred of the gods for him is understandable since they are the favorite food for Legion-7. He can''t even me the gods for trying to kill him. He can''t me the void universe for joining in to eradicate him either.


    Legion-5 lent his mental prowess to whichever clone needed it. There is always a need for it by Soverick who isprehending morews and learning how to forge while analyzing Hadrick''s existence so that he can track the traces in reality that Hadrick produces.


    It is boring workprehendingws but the clones make up for it with their entertaining lives. Ragnarok has gone mad with despair. He is hunting Primogenitors with the aid of ghouls to make the demon god regret not letting him leave the ne.


    Aeternus is invading nes and winning by using the information he gained from the tree father. The tree father is also umting domains like a library. Each of the avatars of the tree father is working towards reaching the limit of what Celestials are capable of.


    Helios is just rolling around in the sky while Legion-1 is helping the Realm Lord prepare for his project. Everyone is doing something except Legion-5. Even Legion-8 is busy with something even though the two of them are still in their eggs.

 Chapter 1171 Unnatural Weakness.

    <h4>Chapter 1171 Unnatural Weakness. </h4>


    ?1171 Unnatural Weakness.


    Legion-8 had ancestral trials to go through while he had nothing. If not for the mindwork and the entertainment it brought, he would be tempted to break out of his egg early.


    Legion-5 remained in his incubator for hundreds of years. It was almost a thousand years after his reincarnation that he finally got his freedom. He stopped growing for a while. His egg sensed that his potential had been saturated so it began to crack. He doesn''t have neighbors in the womb to dy him so he hatched as soon as he was ready.


    "This can''t be right. I am still weak." He said to himself when he sensed the change.


    He can sense that his body is still weak. It is so weak that he can''t move it much less use it to break out of his egg. But his egg doesn''t care. Air entered through the cracks in the shell and reacted with the contents of his egg. The content began to turn bad and toxic. If he doesn''t leave his egg soon then he will be poisoned to death.


    Fortunately, he is not without help. The managers of the hatchery noticed his situation and came to his rescue. They took out his egg from the incubator and cracked it open with care. Then they brought him out of the egg. His body is soft like a worm''s. In fact, he looks like a white worm with a squishy head and small ropes for limbs.


    The managers wiped off the liquid on his body and ced him in another incubator. Apparently, he is not done yet developing. He still has another round of development to go through before he can be considered fully gestated.


    He is not the only one in this situation. All the hatchlings were ced in incubators in a sealed room that contained thousands of them. They are all white and soft like worms. It is the only side effect of using the Mother nt to reproduce instead of a natural egg.


    The Mother nt prioritizes the survival of the hatchlings over their development. Development uses too much nutrients and causes too much stress on the eggs. It is much better for the eggs to develop the bare minimum to survive on their own.


    This mechanism reduced the requirements for the eggs to hatch. Then the incubators will supply them with the nutrients needed for them to develop. At this stage, they are not in danger of dying anymore.


    While is it normal for all of them to use an incubator, Legion-5 did stand out. He thought he was weak but he was at least two times as strong as the other hatchlings.


    It is not a spectacr achievement since the other hatchlings couldn''t even breathe on their own. The muscles needed for inhtion were not strong enough to help them breathe in and out. So he is still weaker.


    They are all weaker than normal offspring that can walk and eat immediately after they are born. They needed an extra attachment of tubes for breathing. He didn''t need it but he was given one just in case in addition to the tubes for nutrition. They needed the nutrition tubes because none of them developed teeth.


    Legion-5 couldn''t believe the abysmal condition they were all in. He said to himself, "This can''t be natural. The offspring of powerful creatures shouldn''t be born this weak. How are we to survive on our own without parents? We can''t even hold our heads up ourselves."


    It came as a surprise to him since he expected the offsprings of a powerful race like Supreme beasts to be capable of surviving on their own like the offsprings of other powerful creatures.


    He has only ever seen this kind of weakness in the offsprings of weak beasts that haven''t reached the mana entity stage. They are weak and have little potential so their offsprings are also weak.


    But each hatchling was born with a vitality core within them so there is no doubt that they all have high potential. Unfortunately, no one bothered to exin to a baby why he was weak so he remained ignorant of it.


    The only thing that made him rx was that he wasn''t the only one born weak and there were caretakers caring for them night and day. The only issue is that he was ced in a tiny sealed space but it wasn''t a big problem because he couldn''t move.


    "What''s the situation?" Legion-5''s father asked.


    The sovereign replied, "We got 113 hatchlings from this batch."


    Legion-5''s father observed, "That''s more than 10% of the expected output."


    "Yes. We were lucky."


    That''s the exnation that they cane up with for why 13 extra hatchlings were produced from Legion-5''s batch. They don''t know that the siphoning of Legion-5 by the mother nt helped the others greater than it should. His supply of mana from Soverick was shared with them for a short while and it increased their survivability.


    The ignorance of his caretakers made them ept it was due to luck and chance.


    "What about the mutant?" His father asked.


    "He survived and sessfully hatched. It took him 219 years more than the others but he managed to hatch. He is significantly stronger than the others in his batch."


    His father asked, "Did his potential increase, or is the increase in strength due to his prolonged gestation?"


    "We don''t know." The Surbodinate said in reply.


    His father threw aside the report and said, "You can leave."


    "As you wish."


    The powerful Origin god was left alone with his thoughts. He was silent for a while then he chuckled.


    He thought to himself, "I don''t know if I want him to survive the blood crucible or not."


    He wants Legion-5''s body. That can only happen if Legion-5 dies and he gets clearance to examine the corpse. But if Legion-5 dies in the blood crucible then he won''t get his intact corpse. He certainly won''t get the part that he needs the most for his research. On the other hand, he doesn''t want Legion-5 to survive the blood crucible.

 Chapter 1172 The Motivating Stories.

    <h4>Chapter 1172 The Motivating Stories. </h4>


    ?1172 The Motivating Stories.


    If Legion-5 dies in the blood crucible then he will at least get something from his body. But if Legion-5 survives the blood crucible then it is almost impossible for him to die until he bes an Origin god. It will be toote for him then. Unfortunately, he doesn''t want to cross the Supreme Alliance so he can only watch his chance slip away.


    He said to himself, "His mutation is probably nothing. It is unlikely that it will be significant. There is no need to stress myself on something that might turn out useless."


    He said that to help himself give up on his motives for his son. It is self-deceptive but it is likely true too. Legion-5 is not the first mutant that he will encounter in his mission as the guard overseer of the ne but none of them have amounted to much.


    Legion-5''s situation is just peculiar and their some unanswered strangeness about his circumstances. That doesn''t mean he will be useful to advance his research on maximizing the potential of Supreme beasts. So he stopped thinking about Legion-5.


    Legion-5 on their hand spent an extra 2 years in the second incubator. His soft body solidified to be something rubbery. It is harder now but it is still stic.


    "I can''tin much." He said to himself. "At least I can move now."


    Movement is good but he wasn''t allowed to leave his incubator yet. The managers of the hatchery waited until 1024 hatchlings were matured physically and had developed an immune system before taking them out of the incubator.


    "Where are they taking me now?" He thought to himself. "Are they taking us to be tested?"


    Legion-5 was ced in a cart on a train. He was wheeled around therge metallicplex to ces unknown. No one had mentioned anything about where they were going. The only thing he has heard ever since he was born was from the speaker in the vault he was ced in.


    The speaker used their divine sense to speak to all of them. Most of the hatchlings didn''t know what was said at first but they learned quickly through the transmission of feelings.


    All of them were born at the vitality core stage with awakened divine sense which is very odd. They have strong souls but very weak bodies. This is the opposite of most races. Legion-5 suspects that their race was engineered to be this way because it is not natural for hatchings and newborns to have awakened souls. They might have weak bodies but it is always apanied by weak souls.


    Stories were read to them in the incubator day and night by the speaker. The stories were mainly about fighting and survival. There was a story about a man who was stranded on an ind. It is the favorite story of most hatchlings.


    The stranded man had to survive against bad weather, diseases, wild beasts, hunger, and attacks from cannibals. The man didn''t die. He survived and thrived. He managed to outsmart the indigenous people on the ind and subdued them. He enved all of them and became the king of that ind.


    There was another story about a group of kids who were stranded on an ind with limited resources. They fought each other for resources to survive. They even killed and ate each other.


    Most of them died due to external environmental factors through attacks from wild beasts and sickness from eating bad food but some of them managed to survive by being smart and ferocious. Their numbers were reduced until only a few survived.


    The third story is about conquering foreignnds and colonizing them. The protagonist exploited the resources of the colonized territories to develop a great empire. A lot of stories were read to them but all of them was about killing their enemies, surviving at all costs, and thriving on the corpses of their enemies.


    "This is brainwashing." Legion-5 had said when he heard the stories and noticed theirmon themes.


    He found it weird that the first thing that the young impressionable minds of the hatchlings experienced were stories about fighting and winning those fights.


    He found it extra weird that the hatchlings don''t have a bloodline so they don''t have any instincts or resistance to the subtle mental influence. Domination and superiority were hammered into their heads. All of them wanted to be conquerors after listening to the story for years.


    He only listened to them for 2 years. But there are others that have been there for double that time. They are not like him who has an extra source of potent sustenance. So it wouldn''t surprise him if all of the hatchlings had been sessfully brainwashed.


    He personally didn''t care for the stories. It is not that he disagreed with the themes. He is just not a naive baby who knows nothing of the world. He has already done most of the things in the stories so it was boring to listen to.


    If not for the fact they were told regrly that they would be tested on the knowledge that they had acquired from the stories, he wouldn''t have bothered to listen. That''s why he is expecting them to be taken to have the test right now.


    He grumbled to himself, "I''m not worried about any tests. I can ace any test. In fact, I don''t care about any test. I just want to move around and see the world."


    He paid attention to the stories so he wasn''t worried about any tests. His memory is perfect and his intelligence is certainly ahead of his peers. It is not much of an achievement since his peers are babies. That''s why he is not concerned about the test at all.


    What he wants to do is to be able to finally move and explore. He can walk now but he hasn''t been able to because they sealed all of them in a tiny space. It makes him feel as if he is a prisoner.

 Chapter 1173 Picking Out A Livestock.

    <h4>Chapter 1173 Picking Out A Livestock. </h4>


    ?1173 Picking Out A Livestock.


    Unfortunately, he doesn''t have any say right now. None of his caretakers listened to him whenever he asked to move around. They would just smile at him or ignore him entirely. None of them even bothered to exin anything about his situation to him.


    The thought of his situation made him grumble again. "That Soverick was lucky to have parents he could y around with. He could even demand his own private space in someone else''s house."


    That recollection made Legion-5 chuckle. He said to the other clones, "His parents were weak physically and mentally. None of us have ever had it that good."


    "My father wanted to possess me so your situation is not so bad."


    Legion-5 rolled his eyes. "You have to retire that story. It makes you seem innocent and abused but things didn''t turn out that way for you."


    The two of them began to argue about whose situation was worse. Aeternus didn''t join in and neither did Ragnarok. They didn''t have parents at all so they don''t have any right to argue about how bad their situation at birth was.


    The hatchlings were taken out of the hatchery through a series of tunnels. They had to stop several times for security checks. The matured hatchlings were monitored closely for any anomaly or negative effect of being exposed to unfiltered air. Those that so much as sneezed were attended to with care. Those who couldn''t take the exposure were taken off the train at the checkpoints and returned to the hatchery.


    The train finally stopped at an underground structure. The matured hatchlings were taken down and ced into a vehicle with numerous seats. They were buckled tightly to their seats and examined twice to make sure that they were all safe and secure. Then the vehicles began to move through this new underground structure.


    Their guide spoke to them as they moved along. "If you look to your left, you will see some of the livestock that we rear here. There are several assortments of them. The Supreme Alliance subdued different nes to get this much livestock of so much variety. Pick one that you like from the first 3 levels. It will be prepared for you to eat as your first meal."


    The bus was made of a hard transparent material so they could see everything around them. Legion-5 could see that there was arge circr structure at the center of this area. The road they are riding on is attached to the external part of the circr structure like a stairway.


    There is a space between the circr structure and the surrounding structures. These surrounding structures have several levels that can be seen from the buses as they rise higher. On each level are many people of different types of races within cages.


    "ves." Legion-5 thought to himself when he saw the surrounding structures.


    The guide called them livestock but they can also be called ves. There are several types of them too. Each level of the cells contains livestock of different power levels. The ones at the first level are just mortals. They be stronger as they rise higher on the road. He even saw transcendents but they are at the fourth level.


    While the livestock have different races and power levels, all of them are shackled and restrained in limited living quarters. And those living quarters don''t lookfortable at all.


    Mana entities and transcendents don''t excrete so their cells are very clean. But they are very cramped and don''t have room to move around in. All of these told Legion-5 that they had more inmon with ves than livestock. Because some livestock have better living conditions.


    Legion-5 wasn''t surprised by the sight. He wasn''t moved either. He has seen a lot of this before. But the other matured hatchlings are not him. This is the first time that they are out in the world. Everything they see is novel to them. They marveled and pointed out the windows as they made their picks on which livestock they wanted to eat.


    He thought to himself, "The supreme alliance is very terrifying. No wonder the realm lord had topromise with them back then when he wanted to stop the exploitation of life trees."


    He is uncertain of the strength of the Supreme Alliance, but it is the way that they raise their young that he finds more terrifying. The other hatchlings don''t have any bloodline so they don''t have any ancestral memories. That means their mindset is clean and malleable.


    The first thing these highly impressionable minds heard in their life were stories of subjugation, killing, domination, and survival at all costs. Then they were shown ves as if this was a normal farm.


    The hatchlings are being raised to believe that enving other races and killing them for food is normal. They don''t question it either because they don''t see anything wrong with it. One cannot know the abnormal if they haven''t seen or experienced otherwise.


    The buses passed through the severalyers so they were shown the full stock of tens of thousands of livestock. Then they reached the top of the circr structure where they were unloaded by their guide and attenders.


    Each hatchling was handled meticulously and carefully. They were unstrapped gently from their seats. Then they were wheeled to special seats that were ced around an empty circr space.


    "So it is a colosseum," Legion-5 said in realization.


    He now knows where they are and what the structure is. It is an arena for fighting. One might mistake it for an ordinary arena for harmless sport but the knowledge of the presence of livestock made Legion-5 understand the purpose of this arena.


    The ongoing fight on the ground at the center of the arena confirmed his guess. The matured hatchlings were ced on seats with a good view of the violent and bloody fight.


    Their guide said, "You will spend a few hours here enjoying yourself before your test. Your selected livestock will be brought up and prepared for you to eat here."

 Chapter 1174 A Fancy Restaurant.

    <h4>Chapter 1174 A Fancy Restaurant. </h4>


    ?1174 A Fancy Restaurant.


    The hatchlings barely heard what the guide said. It is because they were not listening. Most of them were focused on the ongoing fight at the arena in the Colosseum. Some were confused by the sight but others were visibly excited. Their eyes were gleaming with excitement as they watched.


    People were fighting and dying before their young eyes. To be urate, livestock were fighting each other before their young eyes. To them, livestock aren''t people with rights so the violence didn''t repulse them.


    The hatchlings picked their favorite fighters and cheered them on. Soon they were chanting "Kill! Kill! Kill!"


    They are the only ones in this massive arena so the thirst for violence didn''t infect them from an external source. They are solely responsible for their thirst for violence. It came from their young minds. It made Legion-5 wonder how terrifying the adults would be.


    Then the livestock they chose were brought up to the stands in chains. They had been washed and cleaned. All of them are naked and have both their hands and legs chained.


    Some servants who were not chained brought these livestock forward. There was no supreme beast doing manualbor. All the manualbor was done by servants who were from other races that had been subdued.


    The servants also brought forward a chopping b and arge assortment of knives with the livestock. They set the chopping


    b on the ground and began sharpening the knives.


    The hatchlings cooed at the gleaming knives. Some of them asked, "Can I touch it?"


    Their guide replied, "No. It is too dangerous for you. It is for the cooks to use."


    The servants who appear to be cooks were dressed in white clothing. They juggled the knives to amuse the hatchlings. The hatchings apuded and cheered loudly but the livestock were not amused. The sight of the knives and the heavy wooden chopping b marred with knife scars filled them with dread, not amusement.


    Most of the livestock began to cry. They begged tearfully, "Please spare me. I promise to serve you with all I have forever and ever. Please. I will do anything. Just spare me."


    The livestock were intelligent enough tomunicate with them but the matured hatchlings were not moved by the pleas. Instead, they snickered at the sight and cheered on their cooks. The pleas didn''t change their minds. If anything, it only served to whet their appetite. They just watched a fight to the death. Now they will satiate their thirst for violence with the flesh and blood of others.


    Soon the livestock were picked andid on the b one by one. They didn''ty down obediently. They struggled against the cooks who dragged them to the b. They did this while crying and begging. Their voices were louder and more desperate but so were the voices of the hatchlings. The hatchlings were practically whooping and hollering at this point.


    The cooks are ves themselves but they ughtered all the livestock one by one right in front of the matured hatchlings without hesitation. If they pitied the livestock, the cooks didn''t show it at all.


    Their actions were smooth and professional. They skinned the livestock, cut away tendons, and removed bones. Then they cut their flesh into small chunks which they seasoned. The seasoned food was then offered raw to the hatchlings that selected the livestock.


    Each hatchling has a cool servicing them. The cooks brought the te of meat to their seats as if the hatchlings were in a restaurant. Legion-5 felt the divine sense of the guides inspecting the food before the hatchlings got them.


    He thought to himself, "They are probably making sure the food is not poisoned or dangerous."


    He was also given his food. It is a bloody steak fresh from the source. He epted it quickly and gave it a try.


    He said in anticipation, "Time to put my teeth to work."


    "This is actually good." He eximed.


    "It tastes so good and juicy. Is it because of the meat or is it the seasoning?" He wondered.


    He had selected a livestock that caught his eye. He didn''t do so because he had to. He did it because he wanted to. The addition of thew of devour into his divine ability was mostly a disappointment but it did give me the ability to grow stronger through eating. So there was no way he would give up an opportunity to eat the flesh of a mana entity.


    Besides that, his chosen livestock was a creature that seemed like a hybrid of nt and flesh. It was humanoid but that didn''t deter him at all. Instead, it intrigued him. He wanted to know what it tasted like so he selected it. He would have selected it just for that reason alone.


    The livestock had fur and leaves growing out of its skin. It reminded him of elves so he was looking forward to seeing what it tasted like. And he didn''t regret choosing it despite how weird it looked. It tasted wonderful. It could also be because of the skillful seasoning of the cook so any livestock will taste good.


    The hatchlings were eating to the cries and pleadings of more livestock being ughtered and butchered. It didn''t disturb them. Their miserable cries of pain and agony were like music to their ears and their pitiful struggle was like a show to apany their meal.


    He enjoyed his meal but not every hatchling enjoyed theirs. Most of them ate their food regardless of how weird it tasted. Everything is still fresh and unique to them and they want to try everything. But there were some that refused to eat their food. They even threw a tantrum.


    One of them threw the food aside and cried, "It tastes bad."


    The cry drew a lot of attention including Legion-5''s.


    Legion-5 snickered and thought to himself, "It is not a wonder why it tastes bad. You selected a slug beast. Of course, it is going to taste awful."

 Chapter 1175 Food For Thought.

    <h4>Chapter 1175 Food For Thought. </h4>


    ?1175 Food For Thought.


    He is not sure how bad the flesh of an uncooked slug would be but he is certain that it will be slimy thanks to the mucus that its previous owner produced in copious amounts due to fear at the moment of death.


    He chuckled to himself. "There is probably no amount of seasoning that can make that taste good."


    Then he returned to eating his delicious food. He thought that would be the end of the tantrum but he was wrong. Their guide didn''t ignore the hatchling. Instead, the Sovereign ofw went over to the hatchling and cated him.


    "Is it that bad?"


    The hatchling nodded while sniffling pitifully. He managed to speak through his tears, "It tastes very bad. Very bad. Do I still have to eat it?"


    The guide used his divine sense to bring some napkins. Then he used the napkins to wipe away the tears of the snorty hatchlings as he said, "Don''t worry, you don''t have to eat this one if you don''t like it. You can have another livestock. You can have as many as you want and as much as you want before your test. Don''t worry, we have an endless source of livestock from our breeding program so you can have anything."


    The hatchling calmed down then. He stopped crying and looked around. Then he pointed at his cook, "Can I have her?" He asked hopefully.


    That drew Legion-5''s attention. He paid attention to what the answer would be. The cook is different from the livestock. She is talented and within the employ of the Supreme Alliance. That ought to count for something.


    The guide answered without hesitation, "Of course, you can have her. You can have anyone that is not part of your race. It is your right."


    The hatchling became happy immediately. He smiled and pped cheerfully. His reaction was the opposite of the cook''s. She is a humanoid being with marine features. She has fins and gills but possesses two legs and no tail. Her eyes widened in fright and those fins of hers trembled.


    She fell to her knees immediately, "Please, spare me, young master. I will make better food."


    Glee appeared on the face of the hatchling as he watched the cook grovel. This is someone that amused the hatchlings a few minutes ago with knife juggling but she is to be the target of those very knives.


    The guide asked the hatchling, "What do you say? Do you want to eat her or do you want her to make better meals?"


    The hatchling answered with excitement and anticipation, "I want to eat her."


    It is not an answer made out of malice. The hatchling made the decision to eat her because she amused him earlier.


    The hatchling thought to himself, "If she is talented and can juggle knives, then she must taste good."


    That innocent answer sealed the fate of the cook. Her neck was broken by the solidified divine sense of the Sovereign guide.


    The guide then ordered, "Bring another cook to prepare this one for him to eat."


    Legion-5 watched in disbelief as another cook was brought up. This cook got to work on preparing the previous cook as food.


    He thought inwardly, "So this can happen too?"


    He is not the only hatchling in disbelief. The other hatchlings didn''t know that what just happened was possible. Now that they have seen it happen, they began to have their own ideas. Some of them began toin about their food too. They also demanded to eat their cooks.


    Legion-5''s disbelief turned into shock as he watched the cooks that ughtered livestock a few minutes ago get ughtered one by one. It didn''t end there. A hatchlingined up to five times and demanded to eat the cooks five times in a row. He only tasted a little part of the prepared cooks or didn''t even bother to taste it before heined and requested for another cook to be killed.


    Their guide didn''t rebuke them. He gave them whatever they wanted. He did say to them, "You can have anything you want as long as it is not a member of our race."


    That emboldened the hatchlings. They wanted to see the limit of the generosity but the guide just smiled at them as he ordered for the deaths of cooks and warriors that usually fight in the arena.


    Legion-5 expected the other shoe to drop at any time. He expected some negative bacsh from the excessive demands of the hatchlings but they never came. He couldn''t fathom why because he didn''t know that this was a tradition.


    The guides will give every hatchling whatever they want just as they too were given whatever they wanted as hatchlings. It is a tradition that must be upheld for every member of the supreme race. The fact that they are above every other race is drilled into them at this point with this tradition.


    Legion-5 thought to himself in wonder, "So servants and livestock are the same thing to supreme beasts."


    At one point, the hatchings demanded to kill and cook their meals themselves. Their guide held down the cooks and any livestock they wanted so that the hatchlings could try to kill them.


    The hatchlings could kill mortal-level beings with the des they have ess to. They are weak but the knives are very sharp. Even then, the kill was bloody. They couldn''t cut through bones so they stripped the livestock of their flesh until they died of blood loss.


    However, they couldn''t kill mana entities no matter how hard they tried. They were just too weak. All they managed to do was torture the mana entities with several cuts which healed quickly.


    That didn''t surprise Legion-5. A mana entity can regenerate their whole body as long as the soul space in their head is still intact. The time it will take depends on the power of the focal point in their mana core.

 Chapter 1176 Paradise.

    <h4>Chapter 1176 Paradise. </h4>


    ?1176 Paradise.


    These mana entities are weak but some scratches to their skin are not nearly enough to threaten them. So the guide helped the hatchlings to kill the mana entities. The hatchlings then went to work preparing their meals.


    They don''t have any cooking skills but they still tried. Their food was tasteless and bad. So they soon lost interest in eating. They just went ahead with killing the livestock without eating it. Then they started a food fight. They were throwing the flesh, blood, and entrails of their butchered livestock at each other. The stand became messy with blood and different body types.


    Legion-5ined to himself. "Now this is getting out of hand. This is just wastage."


    He hates wastage. He can take pleasure in violence but only if it serves a purpose. Violence for violence''s sake sounds like a waste of time he can be using to get stronger. As someone who can get stronger through devouring, the sight of all this food being wasted pained him.


    He doesn''t have the efficiency and power of Ragnarok''s divine ability but he also doesn''t have a limit on growth. The wasted food is wasted power to him. So he didn''t join in the food fight. He ate his food calmly.


    He was protected from the Carnage by the solidified divine sense of the guide. It formed a cocoon around him and the other hatchlings that just wanted to eat so they weren''t disturbed.


    He has seen a lot of things and done a lot of things but he is still surprised. He is not surprised at the disregard for life but at the indulgence of the whims of the hatchlings. He expected better of such a prestigious race.


    He can''t believe that such a powerful race raised their young this way. They ought to have copsed if supreme beasts grew up to indulge themselves without learning about consequences.


    He thought to himself, "Children have no concept of right and wrong. But this going too far. They should be taught about the consequences of their actions. They will surely grow up into mad sociopaths this way. Something is wrong here. This method of raising the young doesn''t seem sustainable."


    "Or could this be the test?" He asked himself, "Are they trying to separate the calm andposed ones from the stupid ones that have no restraint?"


    He can''t figure out what the purpose of this exercise is so he just busied himself with ordering more and more food. He needs to so as to blend in. It would be odd behavior if he didn''t take advantage of the privilege.


    But he also wanted to taste the different races that he had ess to. Their gruesome deaths and the flying body parts and blood didn''t reduce his appetite.


    Ragnarok butchered a park of a million Warrogs that he watched grow up without batting an eye and he is currently the major reason why numerous Vampires and Wood elves are dying in the billions. Those things didn''t affect them and this won''t either.


    The Hatchlings spent about 4 hours enjoying themselves. Then the guide finally moved to stop them. All of them were carried off to be washed. Then they were returned to the hatchery but they weren''t ced in the vault they used to live in. They were ced in small rooms where they were to sleep.


    "It isn''t much but it will do," Legion-5 said after checking his room.


    It is a single room that is about 3 meters by 3 meters. It is many times bigger than the previous 30 centimeters by 60 centimeters incubator he used to live in. It is still a small room but he is only about 50 centimeters tall so it seemsrge to him. And it is definitely more spacious than the cells of the livestock so his situation could be worse.


    He slept off immediately because of his full stomach. It was something that couldn''t be helped. His body is too weak for it to digest the powerful flesh he ate.


    He woke up energetic and refreshed. Then he was brought to the Colosseum to eat again. He had his choice of what he wanted to eat but it had to be a mana entity being. And he wasn''t allowed to return until his guide was certain that he had engorged himself to the brim. Then he was washed and returned to his room.


    The same thing happened the next time he woke up. He was brought to the arena where a bloody fight was held for his entertainment and tes of food were brought to him. Their Supreme beast guide encouraged them to eat as much as possible. He could eat as much as he could get but he soon reached his limits.


    Soon it became too much for the hatchlings. Eating is nice and all but it became repetitive and boring. They even lost interest in killing for fun. Theyined about it but their guides refused this time around.


    Their guides finally drew the line and they refused to budge on it. The hatchlings weren''t allowed to leave until their stomach was practically bulging. But they had to sleep because of it.


    Sleep robbed them of time or energy to do anything after eating. But they didn''t get any rest after sleeping. Their body was forced to engorge itself again as soon as it was done with the previous meal. So it wasn''t surprising that the fickle hatchlings wereining.


    "I don''t know what they areining about," Legion-5 thought to himself. "All we have to do is eat and sleep. That isn''t so bad. Not unless they are fattening us up to kill us. Then that''s very bad."


    Their lives are restricted but it doesn''t seem bad. All the hatchlings that have matured had to live a life of debauchery. They were fed to bursting with the flesh of mana entities. Then they slept. Only to awake to more food. It feels like paradise to Legion-5. As long as this all-you-can buffet is not a prelude to their demise, then he is fine with it.

 Chapter 1177 Cannibalism Is An Acquired Taste.

    <h4>Chapter 1177 Cannibalism Is An Acquired Taste. </h4>


    ?1177 Cannibalism Is An Acquired Taste.


    Thousands of ves were killed every day to feed them. If there were any hatchlings that couldn''t bear the miserable cries of agony or the sight of blood as the livestocks were ughtered, then they must have gotten used to it by now.


    Some hatchlings became bored of death. The death of livestock couldn''t excite them anymore and the life of livestock became worthless to them. Other living things that aren''t Supreme beasts might as well be insignificant ants to them.


    Some hatchlings, on the other hand, became conditioned by the cries for mercy. The cries invoke their appetite for flesh. They may be tired one moment but they begin anticipating food as soon as a livestock is forced onto the chopping b.


    Despite this development, their guides didn''t let them stop from eating more livestock. Legion-5 knew what their managers were up to. He is even grateful for it so he made sure to eat as much as he could every chance he got.


    Even then, it was a surprise to him when he slept one night and didn''t wake up for days. His mind was aware but his body refused to be active so he couldn''t wake up.


    "Is this the endpoint?" He asked himself. "Are they going to harvest us now? Did they drug us to kill us?"


    It was a terrifying experience. His mind was awake as it has always been whenever he sleeps. But the sensation of being locked in a corpse has always been short. However, he didn''t sleep for a few hours this time. His body slept for days which made him suspect that the Supreme beasts might be the reason why he couldn''t wake up.


    After all, nothing is truly free. Especially not food. He just might have be the next high-quality livestock. It wouldn''t be a strange oue if they decided to eat him because, in most civilizations, cannibalism is the next luxury after very.


    When powerful and rich entities of a civilization are tired of eating other races, they usually turn their greedy gaze toward their own race. It is a perverted pleasure that usually leads to the ruin of the civilization.


    His mind was locked in his body the whole time but he knew what was happening around him through his divine sense so he didn''t panic throughout the whole experience. This is because despite how odd his situation was, no one entered his room with or without a sharp knife.


    He found it difficult to rx though. Anyone will be anxious when they are wrapped in a thick material that binds them. This material grew out of his body but the thought that he wouldn''t be able to move even if he woke up didn''t fill him with peace.


    He did wake up after some days. He was also right about being unable to move. Fortunately, someone spoke to him as soon as he woke up.


    A divine sense reached into his room and said to him, "Don''t panic. It is just a cocoon created when you are molting. You are safe. You just have to struggle a little and you will be able to get out. You have 5 minutes for you to prepare before you begin your test."


    Legion-5 finally rxed. He thought to himself, "So it was just a harmless evolution. It is good that they were just trying to push us to be mana entities and not engorge us for the sake of eating us."


    He had suspected in addition to the cannibalism option that the motive of the guides was to push them to break through and be mana entities by forcing them to eat every moment they were awake until they couldn''t eat anymore.


    He was correct about the purpose of the forced engorgement but he didn''t know that it was going to happen like this. Thanks to his clones, he has a lot of experience bing a mana entity. But none of them have ever experienced a molting.


    His consideration for the forced breakthrough was based on the fact that the hatchlings don''t have a bloodline so they don''t have the assistance of their bloodline to be mana entities. That means they have to struggle like the other races to be mana entities.


    It was strange for him to see that in such a powerful race. Most offspring of strong races don''t struggle with the Mana entity stage at all. It is another odd thing to see in the Supreme Beasts.


    He doesn''t know why they are not trying to make the original race extinct with bloodlines but he knows that by force-


    feeding the hatchlings the flesh of mana entities, their body will be more inclined to make the switch to metabolizing mana to create vitality. After all, you are what you eat and the Supreme beasts have a lot of powerful food.


    That''s the major reason why he ate a lot. He doesn''t need the flesh to be a mana entity since he is a mutant with a bloodline. But he did so that there would be an exnation for why he became a mana entity less than a year after he was born.


    He was not the first among his batch but he is still early. He is earlier than a lot of the other clones too. Soverick took about 2 years while Ragnarok took about 100 years. He is the fastest yet.


    He didn''t get to feel d about it before Legion-8 interrupted. "Don''t go being proud yet. I will surely beat your record. I am already a transcendent."


    Legion-5 ignored the unsolicited bragging and muttered. "He is not even hatched yet and he is already feeling pompous. Dragons and their pride."


    He observed his environment instead. He is within a dry and soft thick fabric-like material. It is the cocoon created out of theyers of his molting skin.


    It might have been his skin before but it doesn''t feel like skin anymore. If not for the constant monitoring through divine sense and the devices attached to his body, he might have done something he shouldn''t do as a hatchling.

 Chapter 1178 Usefulness Or Death.

    <h4>Chapter 1178 Usefulness Or Death.</h4>


    ?1178 Usefulness Or Death.


    He moved around and finally dislodged the cocoon. Then he took a look at his stats.


    NAME: Legion-5


    RACE: SUPREME BEAST RACE


    BLOODLINE: Unknown Royal bloodline.


    TITLE: CHILD OF THE VIRUT PLANE.


    POWER LEVEL (BODY): Mana Body (1% Conversion)


    POWER LEVEL (SOUL): Soul Reformation (Complete)


    PHYSIQUE: Body ofw(Iplete)


    HP: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    ENERGY LEVEL (BODY ): Mana


    ENERGY LEVEL (SOUL): Spiritual Energy


    VITALITY: 523


    ENDURANCE: 510


    STRENGTH: 537


    AGILITY: 501


    PERCEPTION: 1,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 500


    LIMITER (BODY): 70%


    LIMITER (SOUL): 0.000001%


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 50(B)


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 85%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): LIFE (DIVINE), DEVOUR (DIVINE), LIGHT (DIVINE), DARKNESS (DIVINE), FIRE (DIVINE), WATER (DIVINE), EARTH (DIVINE), AIR (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Healthy


    He is a fresh mana entity that''s why his stats are just a little over 500 and why the mana conversion percentage of his body is very low. His divine ability makes it so that it won''t take long to increase his stats to the maximum of 1000 that most mana entities reach. He also doesn''t have a limit so he will reach beyond it.


    "It seems Supreme beasts also have a high mana affinity. It is not like the 100% of high elves but it is still high. I don''t have ess to natural mana. That may be because supreme beasts don''t have it or because I tampered with my divine ability and became a mutant."


    One thing he noticed apart from the awakening of his divine ability is the fact that he has an unusually high mana affinity. It is higher than most of the other clones at this stage. But it is not as high as high elves.


    He suspects that thew of devouring might have suppressed the potential of thew of life which caused theck of ess to natural mana in exchange for breaking his limits.


    Then again, it might be because he still has Soverick''s title of child of the ne and the infinite supply of energy thates with it. He and Legion-8 are the only ones who possess this while they are still gestating. It could affect their growth process in ways they didn''t know it could.


    It is just like how they were unaware that Origin energy from the title and soul force could be used to change the divine ability of fetuses. So maybe the title stopped him from getting the natural mana that elves usually possess.


    He shrugged at that. "I don''t regret tampering with my divine ability. The limitless potential is more than enough to exchange for natural mana."


    Legion-8 took the opportunity to brag again. "Your mana affinity can''tpare to mine though. I have 100%. It is not even special. Every dragon has 100% mana affinity."


    Legion-5 shot back. "We will see who is better between us when I am done developing my divine ability."


    Dragons are not superior to Supreme Beasts. Legion-8 might be a superior dragon but Legion-5 intends to be a superior Supreme Beast to match him.


    Legion-8 wasn''t deterred. He took up the challenge, "We shall see."


    Legion-5 made up his mind then and there to make sure to take a dragon''s divine ability. But then he calmed down and checked his divine ability again. He found something wrong with it.


    He told the others, "I have a problem. I might have messed up with my divine ability too much. I can devour living things to grow stronger now which I don''t think other Supreme beasts have. But I can only use one divine ability. My capacity seems to be stunted."


    The other Legions were surprised. But they epted it. Soverick said, "We all knew it was possible when you were tampering with it. It is a consequence of our greed. And it isn''t exactly bad. You have Ragnarok''s basic ability as a backup. That will do."


    The others were of the same mind. If they were on their own, then they might not have made the decision to tamper with their divine ability but they are not on their own. They can afford to take risks. Such risky attempts don''t always end well. They knew it could happen so they are not surprised that it happened. They have been lucky other times too. It is about time they be unlucky.


    Aeternus was the most considerate. He cated Legion-5 by saying, "Don''t worry about it. We can always kill you if you turn out useless."


    Legion-8 snickered though. "I have won already. You won''t be able topare to me even if you manage to get a dragon''s heart. You don''t evenpare with Ragnarok."


    Legion-5 ignored Legion-8 and the other clones. What Legion-8 said is the truth though. He only managed to copy Ragnarok''s basic ability. He didn''t get his potential for devouring at all. He can''t project the devouring force out of his body. He doesn''t even have one tail.


    He also didn''t get Ragnarok''s ability to boost himself what death essence so he doesn''t have a POWER stat. Even if he manages to get a dragon''s heart, he won''tpare to the current Ragnarok who is eating the hearts of Carnage to strengthen himself.


    It seems devouring didn''t only stunt ess to natural energy, it also removed his ability to acquire many divine abilities. And all he has for it is his ability to eat and raise his stats to the limit of his soul.


    He remembered what Aeternus said so he rxed. "Death is always an option and it is a better option than being useless."


    He decided to end things and give his slot to another clone if he became useless. Legion doesn''t want anyone that won''t add to their goal of perfection.


    The main reason why he was reincarnated into a Supreme beast is for their multiple divine abilities. Legion already has Ragnarok for devouring and POWER. So if he can''t achieve what he was reincarnated for then he will be killed.


    "Besides, Ragnarok might not survive so I might be useful again. After all, I tampered with thew of Devour because he might die."

 Chapter 1179 Ancient Shapir

    <h4>Chapter 1179 Ancient Shapir </h4>


    ?1179 Ancient Shapiro.


    He became cheerful at the prospect of Ragnarok''s demise. It made his life regain a purpose. Then he left his room. His guide was already waiting for him at the entrance.


    He said, "Congrattions on your sessful molting. You are fully mature now. Follow me for your test."


    The two of them began walking through the facility. This is the first time that Legion-5 is allowed to walk through the facility on his own feet. He was always in a cart the previous times they had to go somewhere.


    He has grown taller too. He is a little over a meter in height which is more than twice his previous height but he is smaller than battle sage monkeys which means he is shorter than the average height in the realm. He can even be considered a dwarf. Except that he is more ugly than a dwarf.


    He has two eyes, a mouth, and two holes on his face for nostrils. He doesn''t have a nose or an external ear. Just two holes on the sides of his head that lead to his inner ear.


    No one can call him handsome. Not with his exposed nostrils that make his face appear creepy and scary.


    He thought to himself, "I don''t care about looks but I wish my senses were not so bad."


    His senses are truly bad. His eyesight is poor because he doesn''t have eyelids. He has a transparent crystal barrier in front of his eyeballs that protects his eyes from injury but not from light so his eyes are constantly exposed to light. This made them develop to absorb as little light as possible so that they wouldn''t be damaged.


    He doesn''t have a nose and the apanying nerves for smelling so his sense of smell is bad. He doesn''t have an external ear to collect sound waves so his hearing is bad too.


    His divine ability has shunted the nerves of touch and pressure in his skin and body so he won''t feel pain when he shifts. But that has also shunted his sense of touch.


    The only good sense he has left is the sense of taste. The rest of his senses are so bad that he is no better than a mortal. He is a mana entity that has senses on par with mortals.


    It should be strange but he recognizes that his ugliness and his poor senses are the effects of his divine ability. His divine ability makes him featureless so that his body can easily shift and transform.


    The thought of his shifting divine ability made him begin to look forward to the divine ability that he would take. It might just be one divine ability but it hasn''t dampened his enthusiasm for it.


    But he will need freedom for him to search for a suitable target so he asked his guide, "When can I leave?"


    The guide chuckled. "Aren''t you that talkative mutant boy? It seems you are still bent on leaving. As I have said every time you asked me when you can leave, you will leave when you are a full Supreme beast."


    Legion-5 wasn''t happy with the reply. He wants to leave this ce and learn about the ne, his race, and many other things. Besides, that answer appears to be an excuse. What does being a full Supreme Beast mean?


    So he asked in irritation, "What else is there that I have to do to be a Supreme beast? I have awakened my divine ability."


    His guide shook his head. "You have only be a mature Shapiro. The Shapiro are the ancient supreme beasts. They are tiny and weak beings that were supposed to be wiped out. We were called white goblins as a slur."


    "Huh,"


    That caught Legion-5 off guard. He knows what goblins are and they are very ugly. They are also very weak and they reproduce like the ants that they are. Goblins are weak pests. He can''t believe that the great supreme beasts would bepared to them.


    "Then again, we are very ugly." He thought to himself in understanding.


    But he is still young and should be ignorant so he can''t appear to know what goblins are. So he asked, "What are goblins?"


    "Goblins are a mortal race that is considered beasts in some ces. They are very weak."


    "But we are not weak."


    His guide agreed. "We are not. But the ancient Shapiro were. The change came when the first supreme beast found a way to make the whole race evolve. You are not a supreme beast until you have undergone this process of evolution."


    "What process is that?" Legion-5 asked in curiosity.


    "It is called the blood crucible."


    Legion-5''s excitement suddenly fell. He said, "That doesn''t sound good. That sounds dangerous."


    His guide nodded. "Correction, It is good but it is dangerous. You will be forged in the blood crucible. You will be a supreme beast if you survive it. What''s not good about it?"


    Legion stated, "The danger that apanies the process."


    "As in any forging process, impurities must be eliminated and quality hammered in. Some don''t survive the process. So it is dangerous. But that doesn''t take away its merit. Quality is always better than quantity."


    Legion-5 began to realize that his life might actually be in danger. He wanted to know the probability of him dying so he asked, "What is the rate of survival?"


    "1 in 256."


    He eximed, "That is too much."


    His guide encouraged him, "Don''t worry. If you are strong enough, the whole experience will seem like a 1 in 8 chance of survival."


    "With due respect, you can''t be serious. That is still too dangerous."


    His guide stopped and turned to him. He said with a grave tone, "To the true Supreme beasts, there is only us and livestock. We are Supreme and must be above all else. If you are not supreme like us, then you are a livestock. You have seen what we think of livestock and what we do to them. Do you understand why you must go through the blood crucible?"

 Chapter 1180 Another Round Of Sacrifice.

    <h4>Chapter 1180 Another Round Of Sacrifice. </h4>


    ?1180 Another Round Of Sacrifice.


    Legion-5 nodded in understanding at the question.


    "That''s good." His guide said and returned to walking.


    He said again, "I like that you didn''t throw a tantrum. It isn''t going to help you but it is good that you didn''t waste our time with it. I hope for your sake that you be a supreme beast. The alternative is death. The supreme alliance birthed you and it will not have it any other way."


    Legion-5 followed after his guide. He has a lot on his mind none of which is how to escape. He has seen enough to know it is futile. He doesn''t even know which direction he should escape in. And his guide is a Sovereign ofw.


    He has seen several Sovereigns since he was born and sensed several Origin gods in this underground structure too. So he has epted his fate. What he needs to do now is move on and find a way to survive.


    "If I can''t survive amongst my pairs, then no one should be able to survive." He thought to himself with slight amusement.


    He has a lot to rely on so he is confident of survival as long as there is a means for survival. As long as survival is based on strength and not chance or luck, then he should be able to survive.


    He asked, "What is the blood crucible?"


    "It is your test." The guide replied,


    "Do you mean the test that we were told about in the incubator?"


    "You will see."


    They got to a checkpoint where they were examined and then they were allowed into another section of the underground building. The whole underground structure is asrge as multiple cities. It has several hatcheries, colosseum, vaults, and cubicles for mature hatchlings to live in. But it has only one location for the blood crucible in the entire ne.


    He was taken to the location for the blood crucible immediately. He found out along the way that he wasn''t the only one. Several other guides wereing in with fresh mana entities like him. They were all taken to arge hall where they were made to register.


    "I don''t have a name. What do I register with?" He said to his guide.


    "None of you young whelps do. You will get one when you pass the blood crucible. If you don''t survive the blood crucible, then you won''t get a name. After all, dead men don''t need names."


    "Wow." Legion-5 thought to himself. "It seems the supreme alliance takes this blood crucible very seriously."


    It is not the first time he has seen them take something seriously and most times when they do it, they always take it too far. They took the feeding session too far. First, they allowed the hatchlings to kill and eat whatever they wanted. Next, they made it a must for the hatchlings to eat.


    Now they have made it a must for every hatchling that has be mana entities to go through the blood crucible which has a survival rate of 1 in 256. That''s the very definition of taking something too far. They are okay with the fact that only 4 out of a thousand of them will survive the blood crucible after spending a lot of resources to make them be mana entities.


    They were so serious about the blood crucible that he didn''t have to wait at all for the registration. Someone came to attend to him immediately. It was another supreme beast that is a Sovereign ofw.


    The weakest supreme beasts he has seen are all Sovereigns. They are strong but he didn''t respect them for it. But he couldn''t help but look at them differently now that he knew about the blood crucible. Every supreme beast is apparently the one that survived out of 256. They deserve his respect for that.


    He was given a number instead of a name. Then he was assigned five life-bonded ves.


    His guide said to him, "You have three teachers. One is your teacher for history. The other will teach you martial arts and how to fight. And thest one will teach you magic and spells. They will teach you what you need to survive in the blood crucible."


    "The other two life-bonded ves are your caretaker and your servant. Your caretaker will take care of your meals and dietary needs while your servant is there for your cleaning and misceneous needs. All five of them are bonded to you so they will die when you die. That will give them the incentive to make sure you survive the blood crucible."


    He nodded when he heard that. He is not even surprised that 5 lives will be risked in exchange for his survival. If he survives and these 5 live, that still means that 1270 other ves died because of the death of 255 supreme beasts. That is way less than the tens of thousands of livestock that the 255 Supreme beasts are to be mana entities.


    "5 lives for 1." He said to himself afterpleting the life bond. "That doesn''t mean a supreme beast is worth just 5 lives. But only 5 lives are needed for survival so only 5 need to die when a supreme fails to survive."


    His soul space felt a little pressure after the process. He has taken over the life and death of five people after all. He can kill them with a thought and they will also die immediately he dies. Their existence relies on his existence from now on until they are free. That means a total of 1275 sacrificed lives might die with the young supreme beasts since these five are not necessarily going to survive the blood crucible even if he survives.


    His guide warned him, "I suggest that you do not terminate them on a whim because you will not get any recement until you be a full supreme beast. I am not saying you can''t kill them. You can do whatever you want to them. They are yours to do as you wish."

 Chapter 1181 Fear Of The Unknown.

    <h4>Chapter 1181 Fear Of The Unknown.</h4>


    ?1181 Fear Of The Unknown.


    He realized something and he couldn''t help but feel amused.


    He thought to himself in amusement, "They didn''t need to put us in control of the lives of the ves but they did."


    It seems to him that these ves are truly important for the survival of the blood crucible. Any irascible Shapiro that kills them might regret it. But their guides still gave the young and rash Shapiros power over the lives of the five. He couldn''t help but think about the food fight that happened during their feeding sessions.


    He thought to himself, "They might just regret it this time around."


    He was then taken to the end of the hall with his five ves. There was a door at the end that only he and the ves entered. His guide wished him well and turned back. The door mmed shut and was disconnected from the hall. Another door reced the one that was closed. It will lead to another room and not the hall he came from.


    As for him, he looked around at his room and at the memory crystal he was given. The memory crystal contains all the information he needs to know about the blood crucible. He extended his divine sense into it and absorbed the knowledge within it. It took him less than a second to do so. Then he began tough.


    "So that is it." He said as heughed.


    "I was scared for nothing."


    The fear of the unknown is the greatest fear. He was afraid of the blood crucible earlier because it sounded dangerous and because he didn''t know what it entailed. Now he knows what the blood crucible is and why he shouldn''t be afraid of it.


    He also knows how the supreme beast can have so many divine abilities while he only has one. He knows why their divine ability of shape-shifting became the supreme ability to use many divine abilities.


    He said to his caretaker, "Get me something to eat. Keep iting until I say otherwise."


    To his history teacher, he said, "Bring all the memory crystals you have. I will ask you questions if I don''t understand anything."


    His history teacher nodded despite having some reservations about his order. The old ram man thinks he should take things slowly but he can''t refuse the order of his young master so soon for fear of death.


    Then Legion-5 said to his martial arts teacher, "Go and spend your time somewhere else with the magic teacher. I will call you if I need you for anything."


    The old martial teacher actually spoke back. He asked, "When will that be? I rmend that we start your training as soon as possible. We have less than 3 months to prepare you for the blood crucible. That is very short but we can surely put in some progress if we spend all of our time training. Your magic teacher can also help improve your magic resistance even if you can''t learn how to use spells."


    He nced at the old male and said, "Do as I say. And don''t ever question me again. Do you understand me? It is best that you know your ce."


    The old man nodded and said, "I apologize my lord. Forgive my impudence."


    He turned to thest ve, "You will be in charge of cleaning after me. I am not interested in relieving any sexual urges yet. Just make sure this whole building is clean and help the cook to prepare my food. I have a feeling that it will be at least a two-


    man job."


    The female servant nodded hastily and ran to join his caretaker. He watched her go for a while before he shifted his attention to examine his environment. His servant is someone with a subus bloodline. She didn''t happen by chance. She was bred this way and trained on how to use her bloodline advantages. Her purpose is clear to him but he is not interested in sex.


    Then he went to the dining room and sat down to wait for his food. He switched on the screen on the wall. The entire wall lit up and showed a fighting ring. It is a small round arena with a green field of grass and a barrier around it.


    There are people fighting to the death there right now. They are Shapiros like him. Only one of them will survive. For someone to survive the blood crucible, they must fight 8 increasingly stronger enemies and survive.


    He snickered when he saw how the Shapiros were fighting. "What dangerous blood crucible. I can''t believe I was ever scared of it. They fight worse than Ghaster as a baby."


    The two fighters are mana entities but they are fighting worse than battle sage monkeys that are babies. They will surely beat battle sage monkeys that are babies like Ghaster but that''s only because they are much stronger than babies. They are mana entities after all. But their fighting skill is abysmal.


    It is not their fault either. They don''t have bloodlines and ancestral memories or instincts. The fighting skills they have is what they have learned in just a few months at most. So they have tried their best with the time that they have been given. But he can''t take them seriously at all.


    His 5 origin cycles of fighting experience from Gehaldirah are already enough to topple them. He doesn''t need the fighting skills that Soverick has umted. That''s why he won''t bother to train. He would rather spend time on eating. His divine ability ensures that he will get stronger the more he eats. That is more efficient, effective, and worthwhile than training. It makes eating a better use of his time.


    Of course, his current actions look like that of a fool to those who are watching him. Instead of training, he has taken to eating. He seems like a wastrel who doesn''t realize how much danger he is in. Their expectations for his survival fell through the roof.

 Chapter 1182 Luxury Before Death.

    <h4>Chapter 1182 Luxury Before Death. </h4>


    ?A certain Origin god couldn''t help but be excited when he saw that?Legion-5 was about to enjoy himself instead of throwing himself into harsh training.


    That Origin god thought to himself in anticipation, "Maybe I will get something from his body after all."


    Many entities believe that he is not going to survive the blood crucible. They think so because the blood crucible is no joke to normal Shapiros who have been raised in peace and with the best luxury since day one.


    It wille to them as a shock when they find out that they have to fight and kill each other to survive. These are hatchlings that don''t know anything about fighting for survival apart from what they heard in stories. However, he is no stranger to danger. So he will justy back and rx.


    He looked around hisrge house and nodded appreciatively. "I could get used to this. Even Soverick didn''t get one. Maybe my situation isn''t so bad."


    He was jealous of Soverick''s weak parents before but this house has made up for any grievances he had with the Supreme Alliance. Soverick''s parents might have been pushovers but even Soverick didn''t get a whole house to himself.


    Soverick had to manage a single room with two other troublemakers. Then Soverick had to weasel his own room from his parents. It is true that he has to fight and kill other Shapiros who are essentially his brothers and sisters, but it seems like a worthy exchange to him.


    Besides, he would have found a way to kill his siblings even if there wasn''t an official opportunity to do so like the blood crucible. It would have been very difficult to find and kill 254 of his siblings on his own so he felt that he should be grateful to the Supreme Alliance for making everything easy for him.


    The information he just acquired has made him understand why the blood crucible is very important to the Supreme Alliance. So he is extra impressed that they bothered to pamper them during the process.


    Just thinking about it made him snicker again. "They understand that the blood crucible is very dangerous and yet they tried to make the process as stress-free as much as possible. I shouldn''t be surprised by it but I didn''t know that the Supreme Alliance has so much money to burn."


    They gave him a big house. So he has a whole house all to himself for the short period of time that he might have before he dies in the blood crucible. He can''t leave his house but he doesn''t have to since it has every amenities that he could ever need.


    Apparently, If he is to die in the blood crucible, the Supreme Alliance wants to make sure he will enjoy his remaining time until he does. Other Shapiros might be too wound up and anxious to enjoy the amenities provided but not him.


    He can see that they the Supreme Alliance has done its best for the Shapiros. They also gave him five ves to increase his chances of survival. He got two old guys as his teachers. The two of them are free citizens of the ne. They didn''t need to risk their lives to make him survive the blood crucible but they did it to get a better life for their descendants.


    The magic teacher is the only young teacher he has. She is risking her life to increase her citizenship level. As for the cook and servant. They have always been ves right from when they were born. They were raised and trained for this very purpose.


    His caretaker or cook''s purpose is to cook for him and see to his dietary needs. Foodden with mana is very good to have during intensive training. It will help the Shapiros grow stronger and faster. He may not need to train, but her services will not go to waste.


    He thought about his servants and shook his head. "I won''t get rid of them now. They serve little purpose now but it doesn''t serve any purpose for him for me to get rid of them either. They might be of use to me in the future so I will let them be for now."


    Ideally, he is supposed to allow them to do what they are trained to do. Unfortunately for them, he doesn''t need their expertise. His history teacher is unnecessary but he is here to answer any questions he has about the supreme beast race. His martial and magic teachers who are supposed to be the most important ones are the most useless ones to him.


    His situation has flipped. The truly important ves to him are the other two. His cook and servant aren''t meant to increase his chances of survival directly but their use has increased now because he only cares about the food that they will bring him.


    He thought about killing the other three since they are a waste of space but he decided otherwise. He isn''t going to get rid of the useless ones because their continued existence doesn''t affect him negatively. Their death on the other hand might affect him negatively. It is as they say, it is better to have something and not need it than need something and not have it.


    "I have the soul crystals you asked for, young master."


    The historian brought the first batch of memory crystals to him as he waited for his food. They are in a rack and they contain information about various topics. He was supposed to go through them and ask his history teacher for advice or exnation. He could also be toozy to go through them and instead rely on his history teacher to read them to him. But he is not going to do any of that.


    He picked up the memory crystals one by one and went through them quickly with his divine sense. He absorbed the knowledge within them without any stress then he waved the old man away.

 Chapter 1183 The Ancient Dilemma.

    <h4>Chapter 1183 The Ancient Dilemma. </h4>


    ?What he learned improved his already good mood. He couldn''t help but brag to Legion-8. "Looks like ourpetition isn''t done yet. You haven''t won yet."


    "Hmm. I know it is unlikely but you can still die in the blood crucible."


    Aeternus joined in, "That will be very funny and very embarrassing. It is like Soverick losing to baby Ka."


    It would be truly shameful if he died in the blood crucible to some young ignorant mana entity whereas Soverick fought mana entities that are ancient gods with many years of fighting experience and didn''t fail.


    It would be as shameful as being defeated by Ka as a baby. Ka is a battle sage monkey without a bloodline. Soverick didn''t lose to those who had bloodlines so it would be terribly shameful to die in the blood crucible.


    They joked about it but Legion-5 took it seriously. It is unlikely for him to die but he decided not to let his pride get the better of him. Pride goes before a fall after all. He is confident of his victory but he won''t let overconfidence be his doom. The repercussion of failure is death. So he decided to take the blood crucible seriously and make sure to use it to increase the amount of divine abilities that he could use.


    He decided to review what he learned about the history of Supreme Beasts. The ancient supreme beasts, or Shapiro were weak. They were short and weak physically and magically. They didn''t take after the positive aspects of their demon or elven ancestry.


    Not only, did they not have the physical strength of demons or the magical prowess of elves. Their senses were also bad. If not for their ability to shapeshift, then they wouldn''t have survived at all.


    It was their ability to shapeshift that set them apart from other creatures. If not for it, they would have been as useless as the goblins they were asionally called. Or worse, they would have gone extinct and be forgotten.


    The ability of the Shapiros to shapeshift awakened at the mana stage. It didn''t make them powerful like it does to high elves. They still remained weak since they couldn''t copy the physical prowess of creatures they shapeshifted into.


    Their shapeshifting was only skin deep or at the surface level. They might look like someone but they didn''t possess the strength of that person. But their shapeshifting did make it easier for them to avoid predators.


    They could hide themselves by disguising themselves. The one thing they were very good at was assassinations. It is because, unlike high elves, they could maintain their shapeshifting forever and not just for short bursts of time. They used this to their advantage and made a name for themselves as the Skin Changers. It made a lot of races fear them instead of mocking them as white goblins.


    But for all the terror that they struck in the hearts of others, their demon ancestry made it very difficult for them to be transcendents. Their half-demon body was weak and had stunted their potential. Most of them couldn''t survive the breakthrough process.


    So it took a long time for the race to achieve a high transcendent poption and for their divine ability to awaken a second time. It was then that they realized that they could copy the divine abilities of others too. This is a terrifying ability. It increased their power immensely. But the curse of their ancestry never left them.


    The Shapiro are not real demons of envy like their parent who raped their elven ancestor. Their ability to steal other divine abilities came from their ancestor but it also came with severe disadvantages.


    Divine abilities are not like the abilities contained within the mark of sin. They are nascent concepts that contain the life signature of the entity they belong to. This made it so that the very act of imbibing the divine ability of others contaminated them and made the Shapiros unable to grow stronger any longer.


    It is the same situation that urs when a titan ofw at the end of their lifespan decides to fuse with the seed of power of a fallen Sovereign. They will be weak Sovereigns with eternal life but they will not be able to be Origin gods unless they gain the help of Mother High Heaven through the trial of heaven.


    The ancient Shapiro experienced the same thing. Any transcendent that steals the divine ability of another will remain a transcendent forever. Their newly gained power became stunted just like their height and their senses.


    There was an obvious solution to it. And that is for the transcendent Shapiro not to steal divine abilities at all. They were not willing to let their divine ability go to waste so they looked for another solution.


    The next solution they found was to fuse with a stronger divine ability that would raise their potential instead of crippling them or fuse with a second divine ability from a stronger entity for them to advance. Fortunately, these two solutions are not mutually exclusive. They could be performed together. However, both of them had their own issues.


    The issue with the first one is that they were weak without a divine ability so it was difficult for them to acquire the divine ability of stronger creatures. After all, creatures with a powerful divine ability are very strong themselves.


    The problem with the second is that the Shapiros only have the capacity for one divine ability just like the current Legion-5. They couldn''t get another divine ability after their first one.


    So if they settled for a weak divine ability so that they could get the strength to hunt strong creatures with powerful divine abilities, they would be stuck with the weak divine ability and be incapable of using the new divine ability.


    The ancient Shapiro sought to find a solution for this crippling problem. They tried a lot of things which didn''t work. The solution they found at the end of the day was obvious in retrospect. It was to steal the divine ability of another Shapiro.

 Chapter 1184 Socially Accepted Cannibalism.

    <h4>Chapter 1184 Socially epted Cannibalism.</h4>


    ?If they can gain the divine ability of another race, why not take the divine ability that will allow them to take the divine ability of others? They did and they realized that the divine ability of another Shapiro doesn''t take up their single slot, instead, it adds to it. At the end of the day, the perfect divine ability to increase their potential is the divine ability of another Shapiro. It solved their problems and more.


    This obvious solution came with a lot of problems too. It doesn''t work for transcendents. The awakening of their divine ability a second time makes it impossible to increase the amount of divine abilities they can take. That means they had to increase their potential and the amount of divine abilities they could take before they became transcendents. That is how the blood crucible was born.


    The Blood Crucible is all about cannibalism. Members of the same race are fed to each other to strengthen the divine ability of the survivors. The young Shapiros have been raised well. They have been fed the best delicacies and enjoyed luxury since they were born. Then they will be made to eat each other.


    Cannibalism for strength is amon activity in the realm of high heaven. Beasts eat each other to grow stronger. Demons do so to great effect. Other races also do it to increase their potential. Warrog paragons do it to increase the potential of their divine ability.


    Cannibalism is so rampant in the realm of high heaven that there are parents who produce offspring just to eat their young. That''s exactly what the ancient Shapiro did first to increase their potential. They ate their young. It was the Supreme Alliance that established the blood crucible.


    While eating other Shapiros increases potential, the amount needed for subsequent increase bes exponential. Two Shapiros with one slot are needed to create a Shapiro with 2 slots for divine abilities. Two Shapiros with two slots are needed to create a Shapiro with 3 slots. Two Shapiros with 3 slots are needed to create one with 4 slots.


    All in all, 256 Shapiros with one slot are needed to create a Shapiro with the maximum number of 9 slots for divine abilities. Therefore, 256 are fed to each other until one with the maximum potential is created. That''s why even though there are many hatcheries in the ne churning out almost a thousand hatchlings every year, only 4 or fewer actually be supreme beasts after passing through the blood crucible.


    His guide didn''t undery how dangerous the blood crucible is when he said that the chances of survival are 1 in 256. Ragnarok just has to fight and win 9 battles straight so things don''t look so bad. But only one out of 256 Shapiros will survive the blood crucible and be true Supreme beasts epted by the Supreme Alliance.


    The blood crucible has brought order to the race. It has stopped the barbaric act of killing and eating their young. Now the young eat each other. That is much better.


    The blood crucible has also stopped the use of their young as currency. Widespread and socially epted cannibalism brings out the worst in a civilization. Any child was potential food for the ancient Shapiro. These are the reasons why the blood crucible was enforced despite the fact that it reduced the reproduction of the race to abysmal levels.


    In the past, despite the widespread cannibalism, it was rare for a Shapiro to achieve the maximum potential for their divine ability. This usually urs only in the rich and already powerful. But the blood crucible has made it so that every Shapiro at the transcendent level has maximum potential.


    The act of achieving maximum potential increased their strength enough for them to be worthy of being called Supreme Beasts, but it also made it so they could barely reproduce. Maximum potential meant stunted reproductive ability and poption decline.


    This is why the Supreme beast that created the mother nt is honored for saving the race from extinction. She became one of the leaders of the supreme alliance by making it possible for the race to reach its maximum potential and still reproduce enough to keep churning out full Supreme beasts through the blood crucible every year.


    Legion-5 learned about these and more. He learned about the Supreme Alliance, its mode of operation, and its contribution system. It enlightened Legion about the operation of one of the most powerful races in the realm.


    Legion knew that the supreme beast race was extremely powerful. But they didn''t know how they became so powerful. Now he knows and he is already looking forward to the divine abilities that he wants to acquire.


    "We will see which is greater, a dragon''s divine ability or a supreme beast''s." He thought to himself in anticipation.


    The Supreme Alliance has about 20,000 nes under its control. It is not by chance they managed to aplish this. They canpete with dragons in raw powerfortably. This is despite the fact that they have a limit on their stats. It is because of their ability to enhance themselves with multiple divine abilities. Their quantity more than makes up for theck of quality of divine abilities.


    The pursuit of power through the umtion of divine abilities also made them enemies with a lot of races. They had to fight other races and invade nes to get divine abilities. Even if they didn''t, other powerful races wouldn''t have spared them since they were too much of a threat.


    Their divine ability is why the Supreme Alliance invades nes so much. They turn nes into farnd to rear livestock. It has made them umte a lot of divine abilities but they are always hungry for more.


    The Supreme Alliance has the details and information of more than 100,000 races. Unfortunately, he can''t get ess to the information yet. He knows the seven most popr divine abilities though. They have been very important for the supreme race to subdue so many nes. These abilities are called the great seven.

 Chapter 1185 The Seven Great Divine Abilities.

    Chapter 1185 The Seven Great Divine Abilities.


    ??The seven great divine abilities are popr among supreme beasts both for their power and the powerful enemies they have had to make to acquire them. The information of the 7 was among the memory crystals he read. There is the dragon heart used by supreme beasts that walk the path of singr power without weaknesses.


    Every supreme beast wants a dragon heart which leads to the enmity between the dragon race and the supreme race. The two races hate each other so much that they fight as soon as they see each other.


    Dragons are very powerful, but even they cannot escape from having their divine ability stolen. Their divine ability may be weaker than the Original after it has been stolen, but its weakness is made up for bybining it with other divine abilities. This alone has made it possible for the Supreme beasts to match dragons.


    The second great divine ability is the life tree divine ability gained by fusing with the heart of a life tree. It makes the supreme beast almost impossible to kill and they can also heal others. This obviously made them enemies with the high elves and the realm lord.


    The realm lord was hunted when he was selected to be realm lord. He was a Sovereign ofw when he was selected so he could still be killed. Many people wanted to kill him before he became an Origin god and fused with the realm heart.


    A lot of individuals and organizations joined the hunt for him and managed to threaten his life several times. The Supreme Alliance was a major contributor to his problems back then. They didn''t want someone from the high elf race to gain enough power to stop them from exploiting the life trees.


    They failed to stop his ascension at the end of the day. But Monarch High Heaven had to settle with them when he became a realm lord because the Supreme Alliance was too powerful. They can''t harm him but they can fuck up the entire realm if they go all out against him.


    The third great divine ability is from the metal race. It is a sinister divine ability that made a single supreme beast subdue an entire ne on its own. Those who know it either admire it or fear it. Its name, the Metal Fire, is forever etched into their memories.


    The fourth great divine ability is the bug queen. It allows a supreme beast to have the power of an army on their own just like the metal race divine ability. The difference between them is that one is flesh-like while the other is metallic and kind of sinister.


    The sinister power of the metal race can only bepared to the sinister capability of the fusion of the fifth and sixth divine abilities. That''s how powerful the metal fire divine ability is.


    The fifth divine ability is called disease and gue while the sixth one is called undead lord. Disease and gue kill en mass while the undead lord divine ability raises the dead as an army. Each one is powerful on its own but they need to bebined to reach the kind of power that the metal fire divine ability has.


    The seventh divine ability has been lost to time. There is only one supreme beast in existence that has it. The supreme beast was lucky to get this divine ability and then she went ahead to try and parasitize a dragon with it. She could parasitize any other race and the dragons wouldn''t care. But the supreme beast wanted to show off.


    This single act of pride enraged the dragon spirit. It called all the dragons in high heaven to wipe out the race with the divine ability. The dragons didn''t target the Supreme Beast race because they were already fighting them and the outbreak of massive war between them will only strengthen the supreme beasts.


    So even without the supreme beasts enving that race en mass, that poor race was eliminated by the dragon race. The dragons burned down every ne where they lived. It is all because their divine ability was too powerful for their own good and the dragons couldn''t let it exist for the Supreme beasts to use.


    Legion-5 shook his head in wonder and pity, "So even a strong divine ability is not enough to survive. What bad luck."


    Just hearing about the extinction of a whole race because of their divine ability made Legion-5 whistle in admiration. The race with the seventh great divine ability is dead now so he can only imagine just how powerful their divine ability was. But he is certain that that race can''t be stronger than the supreme beast race no matter what.


    Each great divine ability is very powerful on its own, If they are brought together, then one will be unstoppable. The Supreme Beasts are capable of doing so which gives them the right to call themselves Supreme Beasts.


    At the end of the day, Supreme Beasts and Shapiro have just one difference and that''s the ability to have more than one divine ability. This singr difference is why they were able to tussle and sometimes enve the races that owned the seven great divine abilities.


    He shook his head in awe. "It is not a wonder that the realm lord had to reach a settlement with them. I always wondered why he allowed them to produce life trees in the realm. They are just too powerful."


    The realm lord stopped every race from producing life trees in the realm except the Supreme Beast race. That concession has always been a thorn in the side of the high elves. They were extra bitter about it since the realm lord didn''t bother to give them an exnation for his concession.


    Now he knows why even the realm lord couldn''t let the high elf keep their monopoly of life trees. A fight with the Supreme Alliance would be too costly to the realm. There may be other concerns but it is certain that the Supreme Alliance is not to be trifled with.

 Chapter 1186 Taking Advantage Of The Situation.

    Chapter 1186 Taking Advantage Of The Situation.


    ??Just thinking about the kind of power that made the realm lord wary made Legion-5 say with longing, "I want that power. I want the power to make the realm lord think carefully before crossing me. I was to be the hope of Legion even if all else failed. All else hasn''t failed apart from Lehion-6 and Legion-7. But I am more than capable of making up for their loss."


    Legion used to fear the realm lord. That fear has receded ever since they broke thew of the void universe the second time. It is difficult to fear the realm lord after experiencing a small amount of the might of guardians and watchers. Even so, Legion still intends to fight the realm lord so they need the kind of power that will give the realm lord pause.


    They may not fear the realm lord anymore but that hasn''t changed how powerful he is and how much powerful he will be if he is allowed to have his way with the void universe. Legion is not nning to watch on the sidelines. If something is good for the realm lord then it should be good for them so they must have it.


    He stopped thinking when his food was brought to him. The entire 2-meter by 10-meter table was filled with food. It is enough food to drown someone as short as him but he wasn''t daunted.


    He advised his cook, "You better rest while you can. This is not going to stop for the nearest future."


    She shook her head quickly, "Do not worry, young master. I don''t need to rest at all. I will bring as much as you want to eat. Thank you for your consideration. I am very grateful."


    He nodded and said, "I have warned you now and you didn''t listen. You can''t say you weren''t warned in the future."


    She still didn''t take his kindness. "I am a highly trained cook, young master. I don''t think I will ever get tired of cooking."


    "Alright. Keep iting until I say otherwise."


    "Yes, young master."


    Legion-5 didn''t say anything anymore. He began eating. He ate for hours but his table was never empty. It was always full. The cook became tired after a month of nonstop cooking. She is a mana entity but the ingredients she is working with are at the mana entity stage too.


    She has to kill and butcher the mana entity livestocks fresh so that the mana in their body won''t dissipate. Then she has to cook them in such a way that the concentration of mana in the flesh is increased and the flesh is easily converted to absorbable vitality.


    It is not easy to prepare a single dish at all. But she has been doing so for more than a month. He doesn''t n to stop at all because he literally grows stronger by eating and there is free food here.


    Ragnarok had a better devouring divine ability but he didn''t get to eat mana entities because of their scarcity. He on the other hand doesn''t need to hunt or even prepare his food. There''s no way he won''t take advantage of this kind of luxury. To do otherwise is to waste it and Legion doesn''t like wastage.


    So he ate and ate without stopping. His servant and 3 teachers had to join the cook in preparing his meals after a month of constantly eating.


    He thought to himself as he stuffed his mouth, "It is good that I didn''t kill them one month ago. They have shown their usefulness."


    Five mana entities worked day and night to make food avable for him. It continued like this for 3 months. He had to take a break because of his first fight in the blood crucible.


    He dabbed his mouth and cleaned his face. Then he rose from the table and said to them, "Use the next few minutes to take a break."


    His servant called after him, "Young master, I have a change of clothes for you."


    "I''ll think about it when I return."


    She offered a change of clothes because he looked absolutely filthy. The clothes he is wearing are dirt-resistant but his body has umted a lot of debris from 3 months of eating. What he should do right now is have a bath and change his clothes. Unfortunately, he doesn''t care about how he looks.


    At any other time, he wouldn''t care if he were naked. But this time is the time when he shouldn''t care about how he looks at all. After all, he is not going to a party. He is going to eat someone. His feeding frenzy has not ended yet. He is just taking a break to acquire some dessert.


    It is a struggle for cannibalism. There is no need for him to look good for such an event. He left through the only exit in the house without shame. There are no windows so the exit is the same door that he used to enter the house. It has been unlocked and it led him to the arena instead of the hall he used for registration.


    There is another door on the opposite side of the arena from which another Shapiro came out. This Shapiro is to be his opponent in this death match. They examined each other as soon as they met. They didn''t bother to greet each other. In fact, his opponent is looking at him with open hostility which is expected.


    His ves switched on the screen after he left. Anyone in the blood crucible can watch any match to entertain themselves or to gather information about other fighters. The screen showed their young master in walking nonchntly as if he is not about to engage in a fight to the death.


    "He is not even in a fighting stance." The martial teacher said after groaning. "It was fun while it started."


    The history teacher agreed. "We are doomed."

 Chapter 1187 Honour In Death.

    Chapter 1187 Honour In Death.


    ??The magic teacher shook his head. He said hysterically, "I can''t ept death yet. I am still young. You two are old so you can die. I still have a lot to live for."


    The martial teacher scoffed. "It doesn''t matter that we are old. You''re going to die the same as us. There are no two ways about it. All he did was eat and eat. His chances of survival were already low at 1 in 256 but he reduced it further to 1 in 1,000. We are all doomed."


    The history teacher nodded in agreement and said, "I think he knew that. That''s why he didn''t bother to train at all. He only had 3 months of preparation while some lucky ones had 11 months. What could he achieve in that time?"


    "So he just decided to give up?" The magic teacher asked incredulously. "Our lives are on the line here."


    The history teacher replied angrily, "Yes. He decided to give up and enjoy himself with the little time he had rather than suffer for nothing. I might have done the same thing."


    As for the caretaker and the servant girl, they didn''t join the conversation at all. They are not like the other 3 who can speak their minds about the young master in his absence. They are not free men. They were raised as livestock and trained as ves so they know that their lives mean nothing. There is no useining about their impending death. They have seen it happen several times.


    The martial teacher said, "At this point, I don''t know if I want him to survive. He will just make us cook nonstop if he returns. Maybe the sweet release of death is not such a bad thing. My aged body can''t take much of this. I was already prepared for death when I signed up for this but the nonstop hardbor has made me regret my choice toe here."


    The history teacher rolled his eyes. "All you did was cook and you''reining. What if he actually wanted to train and he had 10 months of time to do so?"


    "It seems we are really going to die." The magic teacher wailed loudly. All the strength appeared to leave his body along with thest of his hope. Hemented, "He didn''t choose any weapon to fight with."


    They saw on the screen that their young master didn''t choose a weapon to fight with. He forewent weapons and went into the fight with his bare and soft hands.


    The martial teacher scoffed and said, "Of course, he shouldn''t choose a weapon. He doesn''t know how to use one. It is better for him to fight barehanded."


    The history teacher rolled his eyes, "You make our young master look smart. Maybe he doesn''t know that he can''t fight with a weapon and just doesn''t want to bother to waste his time with futile resistance."


    The magic teacher still isn''t willing to ept her fate, "He should at least resist. Maybe he would be lucky."


    The martial teacher didn''t agree. He said, "I doubt that. Luck won''t help him this time around. His opponent chose the baul. It is very good for ranged attacks so our young master will die very quickly."


    "If it is any constion, he will die with honor."


    That didn''t console the magic teacher. The young woman refused to ept it. She maintained her stance verbally. "I don''t want to die."


    Sure enough, Legion-5 was bare-handed while his opponent equipped a bauling. The bauling is a two-handed tubr weapon that shootsrge projectiles. It is heavy and has a slow firing rate but it is certain to cripple its target with a single hit. It has a high sess rate due to therge distance between the opponents and the inability of the inept supreme beasts to dodge.


    The match started with the ringing of a loud bell. Their young master rushed forward and stumbled. He fell down face first. His three teachers shook their heads at the sight. They felt ashamed, angry, or resigned to their fate.


    They know they will die but their young master is dragging it out and making them miserable before their death. Their young master''s fall affected even his opponent. The baul they shot toward him missed when he fell.


    Therge spherical projectile struck the barrier at the other end of the arena with a loud crashing sound. The onlookers winced at the sound. They can imagine just how bad things would have gotten had their young master not stumbled and fallen on his face in the middle of a fight.


    The opponent began loading the bauling for another shot. He was cranking it so the gears moved the next baul into ce and wound the springs. Meanwhile, their young master rolled on the ground and picked up a stone from the grassy ground.


    The magic teacher pped his head and groaned, "What is he going to do with a stone? Does he want to throw it? Isn''t it a little toote to decide to use weapons now?"


    The other teachers didn''t say anything. They are resigned to their fate and things are moving in the direction they expect. A makeshift weapon like a stone can''tpare to a baul. It wouldn''t change the situation for the better.


    But their young master didn''t throw the brown stone as an improvised range attack. Instead, he clenched it hard in his hand. Then everyone''s eyes popped open when ayer of hard earth grew from his clenched fist and began to cover his entire arm.


    The martial teacher asked anxiously and slightly excited, "Is that a spell? Did you teach him a spell?"


    The magic teacher answered with irritation, "What kind of foolish question is that? I didn''t teach him anything. I was spending my time cooking with all of you. You were there too."


    "So what is he doing?" He asked.

 Chapter 1188 The Bounty Of Death.

    Chapter 1188 The Bounty Of Death.


    ??No one could answer that question. They just had to continue watching. They saw their young master run to meet his opponent. He was weaving about as he ran so that it would be more difficult to target him.


    His tactic seeded. His opponent fired the bauling and missed him. But the distance between them is reducing which will make dodging more difficult to do.


    The Martial teacher groaned, "He has a good head on his shoulders. But if only he had learned some movement techniques, he might be able to dodge this."


    Their young master''s movements while good at confusing his enemy are also sloppy to the trained eye. He was making unnecessary movements that wasted his energy and reduced his speed. If he was faster he would have covered the distance of a kilometer by now. But he was slow so he made it possible for his opponent to prepare the bauling for a third shot.


    Their young master didn''t try to avoid the next baul. The distance was too close for dodging so the only thing he did was cover his head with his two arms like some child as if that would stop his opponent from aiming for his head. So the next shot went straight for his head. It struck his arm and broke some of the earthenyer. The stone defense didn''t break so he wasn''t hurt.


    This was the first time that he was hit so they were able to see the defensive power of theyer of brown earth around him. They also found a new appreciation for the fact that he waspletely covered in the hard earth by the time he reached his opponent.


    The eyes of the teachers gleamed with hope and excitement because their young master had bepletely covered in the brown stone. He looked like an earth elemental. It was exciting to see but it was terrifying for his opponent to look at.


    His opponent dropped the bauling quickly and took out his sword from the scabbard. Then he swung it at their young master. Their young master''s left fist expanded into arge, t, and vertical piece of stone. The makeshift shield that his hand had be collided with the sword while his other fist struck his opponent in the head.


    His opponent extended their neck and moved their head backward so that his punch would miss. Their elongated neck created a distance between where their head should be and where it is.


    Unfortunately for them, their young master seemed to have anticipated the evasion and could also elongate his body parts. It also appeared that their young master could elongate his body parts more than his opponent so his fist was able to reach the head.


    There was a loud ng sound of the sh between metal and stone. The shield was nearly cut in half by the sword. A little more and it would have cut off the whole arm. But no one paid attention to that because of the sound of a head exploding. It was apanied by a gory sight too.


    His opponent''s head was smashed open by his heavy fist. Their young master took the sword and stabbed it into his opponent''s face to kill him. He didn''t even wait for the next instruction before he began cutting his dead opponent open.


    It was as if he was in a hurry. He used the sword to cut open the chest to reach the mana core. Then took out the beating heart and ate it. His face and hands were covered with blood but he didn''t appear to care. He didn''t care about his mangled arm either. The only thing that he cared about was eating the spoils of battle.


    Meanwhile, the sounds of cheering and jubtion could be heard in his room. The magic teacher was shouting joyfully, "We won! We won! We won!"


    The history teacher was stunned. "That''s it? We won just like that?"


    The martial teacher shook his head in disdain and muttered while smiling, "Unruly young people."


    But he didn''t rebuke the enthusiastic celebrator. He too was happy that they won. Everyone was happy.


    The caretaker reminded them. "The young master is on his way back. We should be ready for him."


    So they scrambled to wait for him by the door. Legion-5 found them arranged in order before him when he entered.


    He said to them, "I hope you enjoyed your rest. I am going to clean up now. I better find more food on the table by the time I return."


    They mored in reply, "Yes, young master."


    He nodded his head and went to have his bath. Then he returned and began eating again. That''s how he intends to spend all his time in the blood crucible. The martial teacher tried to rmend that they train a little. Legion-5 cut off both his legs and ate them. He can regrow it since he is a mana entity but that experience taught him not to bother Legion-5 when he is eating anymore.


    Legion-5''s first match roused a lot of people. His father and some others had always been paying attention to him because of his mutation. But more people began to pay attention to him now that they know more about his mutation. This number increased the more Legion-5 showed his prowess in subsequent battles.


    "I really want to get his body." His father said in agitation as he flipped through Legion-5''s matches.


    He has changed his mind about his interest in his son after seeing his first match. The change was instantaneous. He was part of the ones that expected Legion-5 to die. In fact, he was looking forward to it. But he was disappointed and his longing to gain ess to his son''s body for experimentation soared dangerously.


    It is safe to say that he has be obsessed with his son. He is so obsessed that he has been reviewing the matches over and over again. The next phase of obsession is stalking.

 Chapter 1189 Healthy Obsession.

    <h4>Chapter 1189 Healthy Obsession. </h4>


    ?Legion-5 could be seen on the screen fighting right now. The video is moving at a very fast pace and only the highlights lingered.


    In the first scene, he is shown to have transformed his arms into des of silver. He used a metal spoon that he brought from his house to shape his body instead of a stone from the arena. Not only did the silver form a hardyer on his body, but he was also able to tten his arms and shape them into des.


    "How did he do it? Can he control his flesh perfectly or can he control the metallicyer perfectly? Is he using the metallicyer to forcefully transform his body or is the metallicyer a part of his body and he can control it easily?"


    He has so many questions and they keep increasing the more he watches the matches. His soared interest in his son is because a Supreme beast shouldn''t be able to shape his body into an inorganic material at all.


    Supreme beasts can shapeshift but it is very limited shapeshifting. They can only change how they look and some of their physical features as mana entities. These changes are limited to the size and length of their body parts. It is not until they be transcendents that they can change their soul fluctuations.


    Transcendents can change their arm into weapons. It would be fleshy weapons but it would still be useful. But Legion-5 is not a transcendent. And even transcendents can''t change their flesh into inorganic matter like rocks and metals. This is why he has be noticed by a lot of Supreme beasts.


    Another one of Legion-5''s fights was reyed. In this scene, his left arm was a silver de while his whole body was brown. He used both the metal spoon and the stone. His opponent was a very capable fighter with a malleable body that could stretch and bend to a small extent but she couldn''t beat him. Her flexibility allowed her to perform attacks that rigid bodies shouldn''t be able to perform but he still cut her apart with a de formed from his hands.


    His father''s eyes shined with the light of greed. He muttered to himself, "Even another mutant died to him. This is unprecedented."


    The Supreme beast he just killed is another mutant that hatched a long time before Legion-5 so she had a lot of time to train than him. She could also shift herself into two modes. She could make her size swell and bulk up physically such that her strength increases.


    She could also thin her muscle mass to attain a wider range of flexibility and sticity than the normal Supreme beast. The two modes can''t be used at the same time and it is clear which mode she prioritized.


    The thin mode weakens her but it also makes her movements difficult to grasp and increases her movement and attack speed. The thin mode makes her wield the des in her two hands with blinding speed. She had hoped it would help her to get one over Legion-5. It is clear now that while blunt force couldn''t ovee his defenses, it is unlikely for her other means to work either.


    Legion-5''s father shook his head as he watched. The other mutant is not his descendant but he is not d that his descendant managed to defeat her. Most fathers would be d that their offspring are better than those of others but not him. He is more focused on cracking the secret of his offspring than celebrating his sess.


    Several more scenes were shown of Legion-5 using his shapeshifting ability in ways that no other Shapiro had ever used before. Shapiros have limited body transformation. That is the basis of their shapeshifting. But while they could only morph themselves and use it to hide, Legion-5 can give his body the properties of inanimate things by touching them. It made his father want to dissect and examine him immediately.


    "He really is a mutant." Another origin god said.


    Legion-5''s father grunted.


    The Origin god continued, "How unlucky for you. You''re not going to get anything from this."


    His fathermented, "If only we were in the days before the Supreme Alliance. I would be able to do with him whatever I please."


    The Origin god snickered. "Unfortunately, we are not in those days. And things are better for it."


    Monarch Tellos as he is poprly referred to, or Hentria791,473,923B as he is called by the Supreme Alliance, considered what the other Origin god said but he didn''t refute them.


    Things are better with the Supreme Alliance. The race has prospered because of their rule but some freedom has been infringed upon. It is the disadvantage of having a governing body. You can''t do whatever you want including using your own son for experiments, eating him, or using your son to barter anymore.


    "What is your evaluation of him? Do you think he will survive the blood crucible?" His father asked.


    The origin god didn''t think about the question before she answered. "Of course, he will survive. He has been fully analyzed and the verdict is that unless he is very unlucky, he will survive."


    "You''re that confident of him?"


    "Yes, I am." The Origin god replied. "He is obviously an amateur at fighting. He is too clumsy and he doesn''t even know how to control his body. But that isn''t his fault either. He is too young. But that divine ability of his will ensure his survival. Those poor Shapiros are doomed as his opponent."


    His father had to agree. "Yes. Armor isn''t allowed in the blood crucible but he gets one. He also gets stronger the more he eats. He is like the original demon ancestor of the Shapiros. Eating made them stronger. But even the original demon ancestor couldn''t change their body into metal. At least not our demon ancestor. I doubt any Supreme beast will be able to survive thebination of armor and power."

 Chapter 1190 The Rule Of Law.

    <h4>Chapter 1190 The Rule Of Law.</h4>


    ?Tellos considered how he would have fared had he faced his son in the blood crucible as a young Shapiro. His sess in his blood crucible wasrgely due to luck. He had more time to train and his toughest opponents got rid of each other. But he wouldn''t be so lucky if his mutant of a son had participated in the same blood crucible. He would have be one of the 254 Supreme beasts sacrificed to create a 9-slot Supreme beast.


    "My point exactly. He will surely survive with his armor so you better prepare to name him and be ready to have him be part of the Supreme Alliance. You should get your eyes off of him because you can''t get him."


    His father sighed. "If he wins, then he will be the first supreme beast to be produced in this ne this year. So his name will be Agrivo839,371,456A."


    The other origin god nodded and said, "Take your eyes off of him. Go and capture a demon or something for your research. You can''t do anything against another Supreme beast. At least not until they be immortal."


    "But I don''t want to give up on this chance. I feel like he holds the potential for the next evolution of our race. His mutation has increased his target of evolution from the organic to the inorganic. Just imagine the application. We might not need a Supremew to be world gods anymore. We can just be worlds on our own just as we don''t need to create concepts to be Origin gods. If I crack this then I might be one of the leaders of the Supreme Alliance."


    His listener ignored him and said, "If he survives, he will be the first of our litter to join the Supreme Alliance. The others in his batch haven''t be mana entities yet."


    Legion-5''s father got the message. She is not interested in whatever potential her son has unlike him. She won''t change her mind no matter how much he exins the importance of his research. He is not proud of his son and she doesn''t care too.


    He grumbled and said, "Just say what you came here for."


    She didn''t take his grumbling to heart. They don''t owe each other anything. Just because they bore offspring together doesn''t mean they are friends. It was a business arrangement that they were paid for.


    She said what she came for. "The location for the rite of passage of the next batch has been decided. It is called the Steris ne. The ne isn''t special in any way but the rite of passage is special. The higher-ups on the Supreme Alliance are paying some attention to it."


    "Is it because of theing era of conquest?" his father asked.


    She replied, "Yes. The supreme alliance wants to empower the younger generation as soon as possible."


    He snorted. "Of course, they are not going to empower us adults. We are too old to be cuddled."


    She chuckled. "That''s how the supreme alliance works. They take care of the younglings and then work them to the bone when they be adults. So there''s no need to envy them. They will repay everything that the Supreme Alliance has invested in them and maybe more."


    They became silent then. The screen continued to show more of Legion-5''s fight. He turned his hand into a spiked mace that he used to bludgeon an opponent that hid within several reinforced barriers. The poor Shapiro thought that he could prevent death by focusing on making strong mana barriers. He thought wrong.


    "Can he turn into air or is his transformation limited to solids?" His father asked out of the blue.


    "I think I should go." She said and stood up to leave.


    His father continued speaking as if he didn''t hear what she said, "I think I will just work with him when he bes an Origin god. I should prepare him well so he doesn''t waste his potential though. I think I am going to ask to be his mentor."


    She said before leaving, "Keep on dreaming. It is what our ancestors did to lead us to the state of supremacy. If your dream seeds, then you deserve to be one of the leaders of the Supreme Alliance. Just don''t overstep your bounds. Thews of the Supreme Alliance cannot be broken. You can''t force him to do anything until he is matured or you will face the wrath of the Supreme Alliance. They are very protective of their goods."


    His father muttered, "I am not stupid."


    No, he is not stupid. If he were stupid then he would have done something to sabotage Legion-5 while he was still in the egg or after he hatched. He knows his boundaries and the limit of the patience of the Supreme Alliance. The Will of the Supreme Alliance is supreme. Their rules cannot be transgressed. Not even by a Supreme beast.


    It is those rules that make the lives of livestock worth less than grass. It is those rules that make every Supreme beast that is not immortal be under the protection of the Supreme Alliance. Those rules were not made by weaklings. Several people have tried to go against those rules. None of them are around now to tell the tale of their attempt.


    Anyone who crosses the Supreme Alliance is either cursed by a world god or captured and sealed forever. He doesn''t know which one is worse. Being cursed means they will not be healthy but they will have freedom. Being sealed on the other hand means some torture andck of freedom.


    "Either way, it is a bad idea to cross the Supreme Alliance."


    Legion-5''s father thought of a rare case and he couldn''t help but say, "Well, not everyone that went against the Supreme Alliance has been incarcerated. One person seeded in going against the Supreme Alliance and is still free. They even managed to cross the Supreme Alliance several times."

 Chapter 1191 A New Name.

    Chapter 1191 A New Name.


    ??He thought to himself with a glint in his eyes, "So it is not as if there is no precedent of sess of crossing the Supreme Alliance."


    Then he shook his head to get rid of that thought. The fact that someone seeded doesn''t mean he would seed. That person also had the help of a powerful person in the realm so they could remain hidden in the realm tree. And despite their sess, they can''t leave the realm tree or they will be apprehended. These are all reasons why he shouldn''t cross the Supreme Alliance. At least not for just one mutant.


    ----


    Legion-5 now known as Agrivo839,371,456A survived the blood crucible. He was given that name after hisst match. He was led to another hall where hepleted his registration as a supreme of the supreme alliance. His soul aura was recorded and his details were acquired before he was given an identity.


    "What a weird naming sense," He thought to himself as he looked at the mark on his hand.


    This is the naming style of the Supreme Alliance. They have several nes they control and have several hatcheries on those nes. If given the name Agrivo839,371,456A, it would mean he was born in the Agrivo ne in the year 839,371,456 since the establishment of the Supreme Alliance as the first of his batch in that year.


    The Supreme Alliance doesn''t believe in the use of random names. They believe that random names are a waste of opportunity to trulybel their young generation. With this system, they already have a lot of information from the name and can track more information easily.


    So the names are more like designations. The individual supreme beasts can call themselves anything they want but the Supreme Alliance will always know them by that designation.


    Any supreme beast without this designation is not a full member of the Supreme Alliance yet. The physical sign of being a part of the Supreme Alliance is the mark on his hand. It is currently invisible to others so only he can see it. He can make it visible to others as a form of identification. It also serves as a method for the supreme alliance to inform him of tasks and such.


    It is a convenient tool. But the more he looked at it the more he finds it unpleasant. This mark is the only way that the Supreme Alliance can ascertain his identity. Anyone who looks like him in every way and doesn''t have this mark will not be epted as him by the Supreme Alliance.


    "It feels like the mark of a ve." He muttered.


    He has seen such a mark on the livestock that they ughtered when he was a hatchling. It doesn''t mean that he is the same as them but the fact that he is still not allowed to leave the ne is making their situation a little bit simr.


    Sure no one is going to kill him for pleasure but he doesn''t have the freedom to do anything he wants either. And if he runs away, they will be able to find him through his mark. It is making his situation more and more simr to livestock.


    Apart from the fact that there are rules he must adhere to, he is also still being monitored just as he was monitored right from the day he hatched and maybe even before then. That''s why he had to use only his divine ability to survive the blood crucible. It is the only thing that he has an exnation for.


    There''s no way he can exin his fighting skills if he disys them. He has never fought once in all of his life and they know that he didn''t train at all. No, no one will believe he is a fighting genius. The best he could show was a crude fighting sense, excellent situation analysis, and efficient decision-making.


    In other words, he had to pretend to be lesser than what he was. And he has to continue doing so until he bes an Origin god.


    He shrugged, "I am not a stranger to pretending andying low. Patience is a virtue that I am excellent at. And besides, I can''tin about the situation."


    He is currently on the surface of the ne. He is not a Shapiro or hatchling anymore so he was moved to the surface. His house is bigger now. That is an understatement. His living quarters are the size of a small city. It is an enclosed ecosystem separate from the ne.


    There are hundreds of rooms in his city and several amenities for him to use. He may not be allowed to explore the ne but the Supreme Alliance made sure that he won''tck for anything in his luxurious cell.


    His three teachers have left his employ. They were taken away and reced with a host of other servants that do his bidding. So his big house is not empty. Most of the rooms are upied by his servants. He is the only Supreme beast in the city so he is the only master here.


    He doesn''t care about those things. What he cares about is the fact that he can get as much life essence as he wants. The Supreme Alliance asked him to be a transcendent in at most 100 years. He is to train during that time and then break through to be a transcendent with the aid of life essence.


    He doesn''t need life essence to be a transcendent. He is not like the other helpless Supreme Beasts without bloodlines to help them. They need life essence to keep them alive and heal their injuries during the breakthrough. It can be said that with enough life essence, the chances of a breakthrough are certain.


    If Ka had life essence during her attempt then she would have seeded in bing a transcendent. Unfortunately, she didn''t and she failed. All the training and the wealth that Mih spent on acquiring items with vitality for her were a waste.

 Chapter 1192 All You Can Eat Life Essence.

    Chapter 1192 All You Can Eat Life Essence.


    ??Mih couldn''t get life essence for Ka because it is very valuable and rare to encounter. The problem is that the supply is limited while the demand is nearly unlimited. Everyone wants life essence but they can''t have it.


    Even Sovereigns ofw need life essence for the tribtion to be Origin gods. So how can a weak mana entity with the help of a titan ofw get it? However, he can get as much as he wants as a Supreme beast. ess to Life essence is his birthright. He doesn''t have to kill or pay for it. He just has to ce the order and it will be brought to him.


    The ease by which he could get something like that made him shake his head in wonder. "They must have life trees nted somewhere. It is the only way that they can match high elves in the amount of life essence they can provide."


    This is not the first time he has gained ess to as much Life essence as he wants. Gehaldirah also nevercked in life essence. He even took a bottle of Life essence away while other Sovereigns ofw were looking around for a drop of it.


    It was Life essence that he drank to solidify his soul when he separated it from his body. That was a very important factor in the sess of his endeavor of reincarnating.


    His ess to a lot of life essence was because high elves had life trees all over their ne. So Supreme beasts must also have some life trees nted somewhere. The alternative is that they are stealing it from the high elves but Gehaldirah was not aware of that as a high elf and even stealing might not be enough to provide for such an abundance of Life essence.


    Legion-5 doesn''t need life essence to be a transcendent. He can break through on his own. Even if he can''t, he has the help of the tree father. But the opportunity to get as much life essence as he wants is still very important because he can use life essence to be stronger.


    He might be limited in his freedom currently but he will ensure anything as long as he is getting stronger and the goal of perfection is not infringed upon. He might not like the fact that he has to stay somewhere but he has to admit that his situation is undoubtedly better than most clones.


    Helios couldn''t move around however he wanted and yet he made it work. It is not as if he would move around right now even if his freedom were not limited. Legion is not a busy body and they never get distracted about their true goal. He won''t move around when he has all he needs to get stronger delivered to him.


    Soverick had freedom but he didn''t move around the Virut ne for sightseeing. He focused on training himself and growing stronger. The four-eyed battle sage monkey freak is doing just that currently. He is the child of the ne but he is not courting death by moving around the ne. Instead, he locked himself up in his forge and focused on learning how to forge.


    Even Ragnarok would have been content with staying still. All Ragnarok wanted to do was to raise a pack like a farm and harvest them asionally to grow silently. If not for his troublesome father, he would have had his wish.


    Legion-5 on the other hand doesn''t need to struggle so much. He can live in luxury while growing stronger. He doesn''t need to hunt for powerful creatures like Aeternus to grow stronger. His ancestors, the Supreme Alliance, have prepared everything he needs to break through and the other clones of Legion have prepared all the skills andws that he needs after he transcends.


    All he needs to do is try and fix the weaknesses of Legion. That''s what he was reincarnated for. His ability to use many divine abilities is to be used to enhance the other Legions and fix any of their shorings.


    So he ordered for Life Essence at the earliest chance he got. Then he moved around his house and did whatever he wanted until life essence was delivered to him. It came in a bottle containing 50 centiliters of life essence. That is more than 1,000 drops of life essence.


    The bottle contained a white and viscous liquid that can be mistaken for milky phlegm. But unlike phlegm, this liquid is valuable. Each drop of it is enough to guarantee the sess of a breakthrough to transcendence and a few drops is enough for a Sovereign to survive the tribtion to be an Origin god.


    "Sovereigns literally kill themselves for this." He said in admiration, "I truly cannotin."


    He had and still has some reservations about the wealth and power of the Supreme Alliance. They are very strong and have been restricting his freedom. He is not naive enough to think that everything is alright because they are giving him nice things. He knows that nothing is truly free.


    Unfortunately, he can''t beat them. That is not a surprise since even the realm lord has failed to do so. Still, he is not without recourse. He is a Supreme beast so he can go along for the ride. It is as they say if you can''t beat them, join them.


    He is willing to join them wholeheartedly to enjoy their wealth. The alternative is to go against an entity that is capable of giving their descendants so much life essence under the nose of the realm lord. He is smart so he has decided to work with the Supreme Alliance for now.


    He is not cowered or willing to bow to the supreme alliance but he won''t go out of his way to antagonize them. He won''t try to break their rules or escape from the ne. If there is a way for him to remain in the good graces of the supreme alliance then he will do so.

 Chapter 1193 Suffering For Legion.

    Chapter 1193 Suffering For Legion.


    ??Legion-5 made up his mind and said, "If I can kill and eat my mother to pursue perfection, I can surely pretend to be meek while enjoying the finest luxury in the realm of high heaven."


    Then he said to the other clones with righteousness, "I am doing this for Legion. If not for Legion, I will not condone this restriction of my freedom."


    "Right." They snickered. "Sure you are."


    "More like you''re greedy."


    He ignored the biased condemnation of his willingness to sacrifice his freedom and opened the bottle. Then he took out a bead of life essence. He did so by turning the bottle a little over its cover. A small round heavy and translucent bead separated from the others and fell into the cover.


    This could be done because each drop or bead of life essence is a separate entity. They are individual petals of the flowers of life trees. The fact that they are liquified doesn''t mean that they have fused and mixed.


    He put this drop of life essence on his skin. It was assimted immediately. He couldn''t help but sway drunkenly and fall to his back. He is conscious and he can move but it isn''t easy to move. His body feels heavy and his mind feels groggy. It is as if he is in a dream.


    This state didn''tst long under the effect of his divine ability. The small spring of life essence within him was devoured and assimted. He was up again in less than a minute. He can move around as good as before. He can even move faster and longer too. His body feels full of energy and stamina.


    He smiled. "This reminds me of the first time Gehaldirah tasted life essence as a baby. His body and mind couldn''t take it and fell asleep for over 2 months."


    Legion-8 grumbled, "Yes, we get it. You are spoiled. You don''t have to keep talking about it."


    Legion-7 said with envy, "I wish I had life essence right now. It will go a long way in keeping me alive."


    "I could get you some if we can meet somehow." Legion-5 said.


    Legion-2 came to the rescue, "I will n a route for you Legion-7. But you have to get to the nar portal of the ne you are on. There''s an army waiting for you every step of the way though. It is not going to be easy."


    They spent a while advising Legion-7 who is in a very dangerous situation right now with the whole ne working against him and the universe rejecting his existence.


    The universe wants to kill him and the Will of the ne he is in wants to kill him early just to make sure nothing could go wrong. Soverick is using his eyes to see through the ne and then provide information to Legion-7 to help him navigate the ne.


    Legion-5 returned to his life of luxury after advising Legion-7. His divine ability may be a weak copy of Ragnarok''s divine ability but it granted him the potential for limitless growth. That means he doesn''t have a limit on his stats. He can keep growing as long as he has something good to eat and as long as his existence is not in danger of copsing from eating something dangerous.


    This continued for 10 years until he wasn''t growing anymore. He was losing life force just as fast as he was gaining it. His body has surpassed the equilibrium of atmospheric mana. Mana cannot support his existence anymore.


    This is because he is a mana entity who usually relies on mana to provide vitality for him. He has too much vitality in his body now so he is losing it to the environment. He won''t be able to keep his vitality if he doesn''t bind it with something to his existence or gain perfect control of his body.


    Another side effect is that he has be a fat giant. His head, torso, and limbs have be so fat that his whole body looks like that of a slime. Even the increase in his height has only made him look like a colossal slime. He is over 5 meters tall now and he looks terrifying. But for a different reason other than his height.


    He was already ugly when his body had definite shape and form. Now he looks like a very ugly slime. He is even as slow as a slime in movement. His body is very strong but he can''t control the excess strength. It has instead be a burden for him.


    "I guess there is such a thing as too much of life essence." He muttered groggily.


    "It is time to break through."


    Others will take this process seriously. They will meditate to prepare their minds. They will go through the process with trepidation and utter caution. But not him.


    He did it as if he were strolling through a garden. He waspletely frivolous about it. His divine sense locked onto his body easily. Then he used his body as an anchor to pull out his soul. He draped his soul over his body and fused them together without any issue.


    His body began to shrink after he seeded. He became 3 meters tall and humanoid again.


    "I am no longer a fat slime. That is good." He said as he checked out his body. "I still look like a slime but I am humanoid now."


    His form is translucent now. That''s why he looks like a humanoid slime. It is as if his flesh is made from slime material. It has honestly made him more handsome as a Supreme beasts.


    Supreme beasts are usually creepy-looking. He has the same physical features as them, in that he doesn''t have any mouth or lips anymore, he doesn''t have nostrils, eyes, or ears. But he is also translucent so he looks like a featureless crystal statue instead of a creepy iplete doll.


    Then again, he is very strong so it wouldn''t have mattered if he were creepy. No livestock is bold enough to mock him for how he looks.

 Chapter 1194 Second Awakening Of Divine Ability.

    Chapter 1194 Second Awakening Of Divine Ability.


    ??NAME: Agrivo839,371,456A (Legion-5)


    TITLE: Child Of The Virut ne.


    RACE: Supreme Beast.


    BLOODLINE: Unknown Royal bloodline.


    POWER LEVEL: Transcendence(Soul-Body).


    PHYSIQUE: Iplete Body Of Law.


    HP: INFINITE


    STAMINA: INFINITE


    ENERGY QUALITY: Origin Energy.


    ENERGY QUANTITY: 2,673,841


    VITALITY: 2,000,000,000


    ENDURANCE: 2,000,000,000


    STRENGTH: 2,000,000,000


    AGILITY: 2,000,000,000


    PERCEPTION: 2,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 2,000,000,000


    AMPLIFICATION: 1


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 200,000,000 (C)


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 85%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): LIFE (DIVINE), DEVOUR (DIVINE), LIGHT (DIVINE), DARKNESS (DIVINE), FIRE (DIVINE), WATER (DIVINE), EARTH (DIVINE), AIR (DIVINE).


    STATUS: Feeling Greedy For Divine Abilities.


    He doesn''t just look handsome, he is also strong. His stats showed him just how powerful he is and he was impressed.


    "Life essence for the win."


    He has reached the limit of stats for most Sovereigns as transcendent and he has life essence to thank for it. He is doubly satisfied with it because he is the first of the other clones to achieve this kind of power as a transcendent. It is only twice what the other clones managed to achieve at his level and he wasted most of the life essence into the surroundings but he is still impressed with himself.


    He felt his existence next. Being a transcendent is apletely different feeling from being a mana entity. The first difference is the feeling of control. He can feel and control the skin of his hand to rx and contract.


    This action might look insignificant but it disys what it means to have perfect control over the body. In the past, he could only move major muscles and body structures attached to those muscles through the contraction and rxation of muscle fibers. Now he can move every part of his body including his skin.


    He would be able to move his hair, even facial ones if he had them. Only in this way can he use theplete and total amount of power that his body is capable of. And not only that, he can convert his speed stats into strength with the aid of Origin energy. In fact, he can convert all his stat into strength for a brief moment.


    So not only does a transcendent have perfect control over their power, but they also make up for their weakness briefly with Origin energy. Any stat can be converted into the others as long as there is Origin energy. The limit is that his consciousness will start to fracture if he tries to create more strength than his total amount of stats.


    "All in all, being a transcendent is way better than being a mana entity. I wouldn''t have wasted more of the life essence if I had decided to take them now."


    He knew that taking the life essence as a mana entity would cause most of it to go to waste and he even knows why. The existence of a mana entity is more powerful than a vitality core refiner since it relies on mana instead of innate vitality. Unfortunately, it is also limited by mana. A mana entity can''t go beyond what mana is capable of bestowing.


    In this way, even if someone has infinite life essence, they still need to evolve to be stronger and fix their weakness. In a way, the essence of the path of perfection is disyed. It is to achieve perfection through targeted evolution.


    So using life essence in such arge amount would cost most of it to waste. But he did it because he was hoping that having a lot of stats would unlock the potential of his divine ability like it did for Ragnarok. It is unfortunate that he didn''t awaken any potential.


    The potential for thew of devour appeared to have been tapped out and it didn''t awaken anything rted to it as a transcendent. He didn''t grow any tails. Not even one. Meanwhile, his divine ability as a Supreme beast has awakened further. He can now shift his existence into that of powerful inorganic substances.


    "Let''s test it out first. If I didn''t know better, I would think the ability to shift into inorganic substances is more powerful than the ability to steal divine abilities."


    The second awakening of his divine ability filled him with anticipation. He couldn''t wait to test it out so he went immediately to find a weapon. He found a mana weapon quickly to test with. He didn''t use Origin essence because all he could find were mana weapons.


    The mana weapon was a short de. The de dissolved into his hand as he grasped it. Then his whole hand changed into the metal not just his skin.


    He grinned in excitement. "The high elve''s shapeshifting doesn''t have anything over mine."


    He can already imagine the possibilities. For one he would not even need to try as much to survive the blood crucible if he had this ability. Back then, his divine ability could only use ordinary inorganic substances like stones and spoons. But his flesh upgraded the assimted material into mana weapons with his flesh.


    So he wasn''t at a disadvantage in the weapon area. That''s why he didn''t pick a weapon to morph with. He was already formidable back then but this new ability takes it further. He could justy down and his enemies would find it difficult to kill him as he is. They will surely be able to harm him but his injuries won''t be more than scratches. It made the ability of high elves to shift their bodies into that of powerful creatures look average.


    "I have to try an Origin weapon next. I doubt it would work but if it works, I will have a bodyparable to that of a titan ofw as a transcendent."


    Origin weapons are more powerful than mana weapons because they contain fragments ofws. The fragments they contain are also why he doubts he would be able to assimte them. Law fragments that are not part of the bloodline and divine ability are poisonous to transcendents.

 Chapter 1195 Soul Body Vs Body Of Law.

    Chapter 1195 Soul Body Vs Body Of Law.


    ??Externalw fragments affect the consciousness and also limit the amount of stats that transcendents can transform with Origin energy. They also slow down their healing so it is unlikely for an Origin weapon to be easily assimted. But if it works, then he would gain the powerful body ofw of titans ofw.


    This kind of body ofw is not like the weak one gained through bloodlines. Bloodlines grant less than 1%w fragments in the body whereas a true titan ofw that broke through from a long ofw and whose existence experienced the baptism of the loss of essence from their Origin has a body ofw that ranges from 20% to 80%.


    That means they will be able to resist up to 20% to 80% of damage from attacks and also gain the amplification of world power by 20% to 80%. A body ofw is the next stage of evolution on the path of perfection and it is something to look forward to. Especially since he would be getting it earlier with a soul body.


    He was admiring himself with his divine sense when his mark of identification alerted him to amunication request from an Origin god. He reached into it with divine sense and activated themunication talisman within it. A hologram that only he could see appeared in front of him.


    The Origin god said, "Congrattions on bing a transcendent. I have been assigned to mentor you about the path of power that supreme beasts take so that you won''t lose your way and waste the potential that the Supreme Alliance sacrificed 254 Shapiros and other resources for."


    The mark spoke directly to his mind so only he could hear it. The transmission of the voice contained inflections and expressions of emotions so he was able to hear the grave importance of thest part.


    He bowed to show respect. "I appreciate the Supreme Alliance for its help but isn''t an Origin god too much as a mentor for a transcendent?"


    "An Origin god is probably too much for other races but not for Supreme Beasts. This mentorship program was implemented by the Supreme Alliance to ensure that every Supreme beast bes an Origin god. It has enjoyed a lot of sess so we have a lot of Origin gods. So there are a lot of Origin gods to spare to mentor transcendents. The program has created a virtuous cycle. More Origin gods mean we can train more Origin gods and the Supreme Alliance is all about efficiency."


    "As it is, you have more than a 90% chance of bing an Origin god. That is more than 90 times the normal chances of other races. You will be an Origin god as long as you do not squander your potential. The other 10% of supreme beasts that fail to be Origin gods do so only because they want to experiment and try other means. They want to be exceptional and they failed entirely."


    "90% chance? That sounds good." He said.


    The chance to be an Origin god as a transcendent is very low. After all, one has to be a lord ofw, king ofw, ovee the deadly breakthrough to a titan ofw, manage to gain control of their concept before they run out of time, then manage to acquire Origin essence or survive the tribtion.


    He is truly impressed with the Supreme Alliance. First, it was the 100% chance to be transcendents and now it is the 90% chance to be Origin gods. High elves have achieved the first but the second is still beyond them. They have only achieved a 50% chance of bing an Origin god.


    If someone has a 50% chance of survival for each of the five stages, they would have a chance of 3.125% to be Origin gods. Of course, 50% is for situations where the person is not killed along the way. It doesn''t ount for external problems apart from the inherent difficulty of the path of perfection. It is no wonder why others have a less than 1% chance to be Origin gods.


    The failure of high elves in bing Origin gods despite having ample life essence is because most of them are weak-minded. They have relied on their bloodlines for most of their life and they almost never fight because they don''t have any threats. Their Willpower is weak so their mind is destroyed during the mind tribtion.


    Their body is strong but that isn''t good enough to be an Origin god. Only those that don''t have any weakness in body, mind, and soul will pass the tribtion and be Origin gods.


    Life essence can ensure a breakthrough to transcendence but it can only improve the chances of bing origin gods. The tribtion is still dangerous. Still, even that 50% is already enough for high elves to feel proud. They don''t participate in the trial of heaven because of life essence.


    He thought to himself, "Then again, high elves have higher fertility than Supreme beasts and a higher poption so they should have more Origin gods than Supreme beasts."


    Unlike high elves, Supreme Beasts have no bloodlines. And even though they have life essence too, they do not rx on theirurels. They are always fighting to acquire more divine abilities because that is their source of strength.


    The fact that some Supreme Beasts don''t always use the tried and tested tribtion method to be Origin gods reminded him of something. He remembered seeing some Supreme Beasts in the trial of heaven.


    He said to himself, "That would exin why some Supreme Beasts still attend the trial of heaven. They are trying something different. But what is it that they are trying?"


    "I appreciate your help." He said to the Origin god.


    Then he asked respectfully like a young Supreme beast would, "What should I call you, sir?"


    He wasn''t timid since he wasn''t raised that way but he expressed due respect like someone who was fed nicely and forced to fight his peers for his life by his Superiors should.

 Chapter 1196 The Culture Of Thievery.

    <h4>Chapter 1196 The Culture Of Thievery. </h4>


    ?He might not have been taught respect but he has been taught the meaning of hierarchy and that Origin gods are stronger than the Sovereigns ofw who were his caretakers who forced him to participate in the blood crucible. The Caretakers were his whole world for a while so he showed respect to this being higher on the hierarchy.


    The origin god replied, "You can call me Tanc830,428,723C. I am also known as Volcanic Fist but you can simply call me Mentor. Volcanic Fist is my title. I am known as Monarch Volcanic Fist apart from my identification number."


    "I think I will call you, Tanc830,428,723C." He said to his mentor.


    "Very well then," Tanc830,428,723C said. "Now let''s get to business. I am sending over all of the information that we have on you and the information about the different paths of power of Supreme Beasts to you right now. It will inform you about the observations of the Supreme Alliance on you and inform you about the world atrge. Take your time to digest it while I introduce you to the path that we take to acquire power."


    He received a data file immediately. It was transmitted into his mind directly so he could read it while listening to his mentor.


    His mentor said to him, "Supreme beasts are thieves. That''s the foundation of our power and divine ability. It is also what we are good at. We steal what we want and kill whoever stands in our way of acquiring anything we have our eyes on."


    "This has been our way of life right from the days of the ancient Shapiro. Our ability to shapeshift helps us to blend in and hide. It made us the perfect assassins and thieves. We killed and stole as we pleased. And most importantly, we got away with it."


    "This continued until the era of transcendents in our home ne. On a side note, our home ne has been destroyed by the dragons so one of the major quests of the Supreme Alliance is to destroy their home ne and the dragon spirit."


    That took Legion-5 by surprise. He didn''t expect such a powerful race to have suffered such a loss. He knew that they had a lot of nes under their control so he didn''t expect that they didn''t have their home ne. But then he thought about it and understood that dragons are one of the very few that can make the Supreme Alliance homeless.


    He said to his mentor, "I assume we have destroyed the dragon''s home ne in return."


    He knows as a fact that this is not so. The dragon home ne is still in the realm and his clone is on it. But he didn''t ask why it hadn''t been destroyed because a young Supreme beast shouldn''t know that.


    His mentor snorted as he replied. "It is one of the fervent wishes of Supreme Beasts to destroy the home ne of the dragons but we haven''t been able to find it. The Supreme Alliance will reward you handsomely if you manage to find it. You will be able to build a world with the reward they will give you."


    "Now, let''s return to the main issue at hand. Where was I?"


    Tanc830,428,723C looked at him intently as he asked that question so Legion-5 knew it was not rhetorical. He replied, "You were saying something something about our culture of stealing continuing until the era of conquest."


    "That''s good. It appears you were listening. I don''t know if you read our history or not but you have to pay attention as this is important."


    Legion-5 nodded so his mentor continued. "As I said our way of life didn''t experience much change till the era of transcendents. Because we had difficulty bing transcendents, we were the veryst in our home ne to be transcendents. This led to the great boom of the second awakening of our divine ability."


    "The ancient Shapiro encountered their first problem after they acquired their great boon. They awakened their divine ability a second time so they became able to not only steal people''s identity, they became able to steal divine ability too"


    "This boom came at a price. They became able to impersonate people at a deeper level since they could copy soul fluctuations and divine abilities but they couldn''t get away with it. They became stuck and unable to progress further once they stole someone''s divine ability."


    "That problem was solved using the blood crucible and it created you. By stealing the divine ability of another Supreme beast, we unlocked more of our potential and made it so that a single divine ability couldn''t stop us from growing."


    "The ability to have more than one divine ability solved the problem of stagnation. But there was always another solution. I will mention that solutionter. For now, we will focus on what can make you be an Origin god with at least 90% certainty."


    Legion-5 listened raptly. He knows about the blood crucible and its purpose but he doesn''t know about the unique method of bing Origin gods that the Supreme Beast uses. He thought there was only one path to true immortality. So he asked, "Isn''t the path of perfection the only way to be Origin gods? Is there a better way?"


    His mentor replied. "You are right. The path of perfection is the only way to be Origin gods. But as Supreme Beasts, we do not need to go through the same methods that others use to acquire power. We are Supreme. Our existence is meant to raise livestock and then feed on them."


    "We let others take the path of perfection and then we steal the fruit of theirbor. The path of Supremacy is the path unique to Supreme beasts in which we take the power of others on the path of perfection for ourselves. That means you can be a Sovereign ofw right now with 100% certainty if you want to and with just a little effort on your part."

 Chapter 1197 The Path Of Supremacy.

    <h4>Chapter 1197 The Path Of Supremacy. </h4>


    ?"What?" Legion-5 asked with clear disbelief and confusion. "Didn''t the data you sent say that it takes an average of 20 Origin cycles to produce a Sovereign and the chances of a transcendent bing a Sovereign in the realm is 1 in 1000 transcendents? So how can it be so easy to be a Sovereign right now?"


    He had an inkling as to what the answer to that question would be but he asked it to ensure that he truly understood and to maintain his facade of a young ignorant mind.


    Tanc830,428,723C chuckled. "I am impressed that you have finished assimting the data file I sent to you. But the information about the path of perfection it contains pertains to livestock. It is for other races that have tobor on the path of perfection. All we have to do is kill a Sovereign and absorb their seed of power. We are thieves and the best thing we are good at is stealing."


    "Wouldn''t that leave any side effects?" He asked uncertainly. "It says in the file that titans ofw can take that route to be Sovereigns ofw too but they can''t be Origin gods anymore."


    "You sure ask a lot of meaningful questions. That''s good. But I hope this is thest time I have to say this. I won''t repeat myself so listen and listen carefully. All of that information is for livestock that have tobor on the path of perfection. Do you understand me?"


    He still doesn''t understand how Supreme beasts manage to be Sovereigns ofw with a 100% understanding. What he does know is that if what his mentor said is true, then it is not strange that Supreme beasts have a 90% to be Origin gods.


    Still, he nodded and said, "I understand. We steal. It is in our nature to pige and rob. If we want something we take it. We don''t work for things."


    His mentor chuckled. "Very good. I know you''re confused and I will exinter. But I believe that it is important for you to understand our culture and have that mentality."


    "It is a must that you have that mentality early on. It is part of what makes us Supreme. The early supreme beasts didn''t understand this. They were short-sighted and they were too weak to kill Sovereigns. They used their slots for divine abilities to steal the Authority of lords ofws and kings ofw. This caused them to remain stagnant as transcendents because Authority is not in the soul body or divine ability."


    "They wasted their potential because they didn''t set their sights on the top. Only those that stole the hearts of dragons or were lucky enough to encounter a seed of power maintained their potential."


    "We are Supreme beasts. Others are beasts and livestock and we are the Shepards. We rear them for their abilities and power. Then we take them for ourselves. Other races be Supreme when they acquire origin gods. We on the other hand have always been Supreme."


    Legion-5 was impressed by this mentality but he is not entirely convinced. He still thinks there has to be a catch somewhere. After all, the path of perfection is supposed to be literally perfect. How could the Supreme Beasts be better than it?


    He thought to himself, "Maybe it is something like the demorgorg system that Helios and the Tree father are working on. It is highly likely since the Path Of Supremacy appears to rely on the path of perfection and is not self-reliant."


    He still has his doubts. But he didn''t voice them. He is going to do his own research and ascertain the truth himself. He was going to do his own research anyway. It is not right to believe what a stranger says straightaway.


    He asked the one thing he can''t let go though. "I would like to get the full picture. You said something about some Supreme Beasts not following this path. I want to know why."


    Tanc830,428,723C replied, "This has something to do with the alternative solution to the stagnation dilemma of the ancient Shapiros. The Ancient Shapiro couldn''t progress on the path of perfection after they stole the divine abilities of other races. Some decided to increase their potential so that they could steal more while others decided not to steal at all."


    "As long as you don''t steal a divine ability, your divine ability will not be scrambled and will remain pure. In other words, you can be a lord and king ofw on your own as long as you remain pure andprehendws. It is just thatprehendingws is very difficult for us because of our demon ancestry."


    "Our connection to Laws is very low. On the other hand, we have a rtively high mana affinity due to our elven ancestry. Unfortunately, mana affinity is essentially useless to transcendents and above. The difficulty inprehendingws made this other solution obsolete. Those who abstained from stealing divine ability eventually gave up on it."


    Legion-5 was enlightened. "I see. So there was a solution different from our way of life but it was inefficient and difficult."


    His Mentor agreed with him. "Exactly. But some supreme beasts still go through this path despite the difficulty because of the advantage it could bring. This advantage is rted to our divine ability. We are already this strong after 2 awakenings. Imagine how strong we could be if we don''t scramble our divine ability and allow it to awaken a third and fourth time?"


    "Oh," Legion-5 eximed. His eyes gleamed, "The other 10% that refused to take the Path Of Supremacy are the ambitious ones."


    His mentor snorted. "They are ambitious alright. They are very ambitious. They are greedy and are not satisfied with what they already have. So they risk immortality for more power. It has led to mostly failure."


    Legion-5''s became excited, "So there are those that have seeded?"

 Chapter 1198 No Fairness In The World.

    <h4>Chapter 1198 No Fairness In The World.</h4>


    ?His mentor replied with a hint of disdain in his tone. "Yes, there are those that have seeded. We have a lower chance of sess than other races if we struggle on the path of perfection. The chance is as low as 1 in 100,000 transcendents to be an Origin god. Still, there are those that have seeded and we have gained information about them."


    That difficulty took Legion-5 aback for a while. But he didn''t let the fact they have a 0.001% chance on the path of perfection deter him. He asked expectantly, "Do we gain unlimited divine abilities?"


    "No, we do not gain unlimited divine abilities. At least not in the same sense."


    His expectation was let down. He was disappointed and mostly confused. So he said, "That can''t be right. I would expect something difficult to have a high reward. If we don''t get unlimited divine abilities, why do some 10% keep trying it?"


    His Mentor roared inughter. "You are still young so you still have time to learn this lesson. The world is not fair. There is no fairness at all. The difficulty of a process doesn''t determine the quality of the reward and hard work doesn''t mean you will seed. There are things such as luck and talent. They undermine hard work and difficulty. We are Supreme beasts because we are talented in stealing. Doing anything else because it is difficult doesn''t mean we will get something better."


    His Mentor was stillughing. He wasughing at some unknown joke because Legion-5 certainly didn''t know what was so funny.


    He understood the unfairness of the world but he expected a high reward not because of the difficulty but because of the aim. Since the aim is to awaken the divine ability further, then the reward ought to be high. At least, he has never heard about the further awakening of a divine ability to be a waste.


    His Mentor didn''t keep him guessing. Tanc830,428,723C stoppedughing and exined. "After the third awakening at the titan ofw stage, we be able to steal a divine ability with a touch. Imagine how powerful that is. It means we don''t need to kill an entity to steal its divine ability. We can take it through physical contact."


    "It is powerful alright. But ites with a catch. The theft is only temporary. The entity we stole from will be unable to use its divine ability or concept during that time. They will regain control of it only after we have lost control of it."


    Legion-5 said in understanding, "So we deprive others of their divine ability temporarily without killing them."


    But then he shook his head. "That isn''t exactly powerful. It would be difficult to touch an enemy during battle unless we get close to them. But that will put us in danger."


    His mentor agreed. "You are right. But you are missing something."


    Legion-5 realized it immediately after it was pointed out. "Because the theft is temporary, we don''t have a limit on the divine abilities that we can use. We can take another one after the divine ability returns to its previous owner."


    "Correct," His Mentor said with a smile. "You have a good head on your shoulders."


    Legion-5 ignored thepliment in favor of focusing on the implications of the further awakening of the divine ability. His mind was filled with the many possibilities and he couldn''t help but be impressed.


    He said, "That kind of flexibility is not bad. It doesn''t seem like a waste of time and effort to pursue further awakening"


    "It is not bad at all. In fact, it gets better after the fourth awakening which urs after bing Origin gods. At that point, we can steal concepts for as long as we want. It is still temporary but we don''t lose control of the concepts involuntarily. Also, we can steal the concept of someone we have already touched before without touching them again."


    Legion-5 said, "So in that way, will can create a library of divine abilities that we can choose from at any time. Isn''t that unlimited divine abilities?"


    "Yes. Out ability steal might as well be permanent and in unlimited numbers because unlike those who didn''t awaken their divine ability further, they can swap divine abilities. The only limit is that they can only use 9 divine abilities at the same time. But they can change it easily."


    "Wow," Legion-5 eximed. "That''s two powerful. Why is the Supreme Alliance not endorsing this?"


    Tanc830,428,723C snickered. "You are already impressed but that is not the end of what they can do. If they manage to turn their divine abilities into concepts, then they can have multiple supremews and maybe multiple worlds instead of one. But that''s purely theoretical. There are a lot of Origin gods that awakened their supreme ability to the fourth stage. But none of them have ever be world gods."


    "Why?" he couldn''t help but ask.


    "Because there is no way for them to sacrifice concepts to develop their own concept. Their divine ability will hold on to the concepts temporarily and then lose it if they so much as swap for another divine ability. There is no permanent fusion so there is no way for them to progress at all. All of them are stuck being one-star Origin gods."


    Legion-5 was stunned. "All that potential and no progress?"


    "Don''t be so surprised. The world is about bnce. Such an extreme divine ability that doesn''t conform to the rules of the void universe stagnates when it reaches a dead end. Normal world gods are already so powerful. Can you imagine how powerful a world god with multiple worlds will be? Unfortunately for Supreme beasts, our divine ability can''t grow on its own."


    Legion-5 can only imagine how powerful a world god with multiple worlds would be. He can''t envision it urately because he doesn''t know the full power of world gods. But it is not the first time that he would be imagining it because that''s Legion''s aim.

 Chapter 1199 All Eyes On You.

    Chapter 1199 All Eyes On You.


    ??Legion aims to beat the realm lord and other world gods so they have to n to be better than them. The realm lord already has the most powerful world possible. Legion can''t beat him or terrorize other world gods unless they be a realm lord too. But that''s impossible. There''s already a realm lord in the realm of high heaven so there can not be any other realm lord. Which leaves the alternative of multiple worlds.


    Legion already has a n for this but another opportunity has shown itself. It has grabbed their attention. Every clone is listening to this conversation right now.


    "Is there really no way for them to be world gods?" He asked with a frown.


    "None whatsoever. The Supreme Alliance has tried a lot of things. There is a special and powerful energy called cosmic energy. It is so valuable that it is very important to world gods. The Supreme Alliance used this energy to raise some of them from one star to the limit of power of the void universe but they remained stuck on it. They couldn''t create a Supremew because of the same reason why they can''t grow their concept on their own."


    "The only possibility for progress for them is if they find a way to be world gods without supremews. But that''s impossible. Even then, it is unlikely that they will be able to create multiple worlds. It is already difficult to make a single world for those with Supremews. It is safe to say that the dream of multiple worlds is dead."


    Legion-5 nodded in agreement. He doesn''t think that it is possible to create a world without a Supremew. He should know since Legion-1 has a world. It is a small world but no matter how powerful it bes, it can never make Legion-1 as powerful as a world god.


    Tanc830,428,723C continued, "But they haven''t stopped trying to find a way to be world gods. They are obviously stubborn and proud people who refused to take the normal and assured path with a 100% chance of sess. They are worse than that because they actually seeded against the low odds to be Origin gods. So they are proud, stubborn, geniuses and are immortal. There is no way they will give up and they have immortal lives to keep trying and looking for a solution."


    "So which path will you take? The assured Path of Supremacy or the Path of further awakening?" Tanc830,428,723C asked.


    "Can I take some time to think about it?"


    "You can as you should. It is a very important decision and not one to be rushed. But you have 90 years to make up your mind. The Supreme Alliance gives each new Supreme beast a hundred years to determine their future path. You have spent 10 of it to be a transcendent. Use the remaining time to think. You can always reach out to me if you have any questions."


    Legion-5 bowed again. "Thank you very much."


    He is showing his respect to foster goodwill. He doesn''t really respect this Origin god but if he can bow to Stellos then he can bow to a real immortal.


    Tanc830,428,723C didn''t cut off the connection yet. He said, "I am not sure if I should tell you this because it will definitely affect your decision but I think I should inform you because it is important information. Some people have taken notice of your divine ability and the mutation it has undergone. They have high hopes for it and have informed several other Origin gods about you so you have a lot of eyes on you."


    That didn''t surprise him. He expected to draw some attention so he wasn''t too concerned. "Why do they have high hopes for me?"


    "They believe that your ability to interact and take on the properties of inorganic and non-living objects is the breakthrough they need to find a way to be world gods. It has been postted that if you continue to awaken this divine ability further, you might be able to take on the characteristics of a world or at least a world fragment and be a world god."


    "Oh." He said with mild surprise.


    He is very concerned now. He thought his mutation was valuable but he didn''t think it was valuable enough to concern the future of Supreme Beasts. When he remembered that the culture of Supreme Beasts is thievery, he couldn''t help but be concerned.


    His concern for his future changed to dread when he remembered that several desperate Origin gods need a way to be world gods without a Supremew.


    He groaned inwardly. "This is Legion-7 all over again. Except this time, they might just steal my divine ability instead of enving me."


    Legion-7 chuckled in his mind. "It is the woe of the gifted. Everyone will cover our gift."


    The clones began working on ns to address the new threat and also the future of Legion-5 in light of the new information and the potential of his divine ability.


    He diverted his attention to ask his Mentor, "Should I be concerned for my safety?"


    "You should be very concerned. But you don''t have to worry until you be an Origin god. They can''t do anything to you until you be immortal. They might lose interest in you if decide to take the assured Path of Supremacy and take on a divine ability. It is unlikely but it is possible. They will surely remain highly vested in you if you take the path of further awakening."


    "That doesn''t sound good." He said.


    He wouldn''t be concerned if they were normal one-star Origin gods. The current Legion-1 can eat a lot of them at once. But these origin gods are capable of robbing others of their concepts indefinitely. That makes them very dangerous. When the fact that some of them have also reached the power limit of the light side of the void universe is added to the mix, then they be very dangerous.

 Chapter 1200 Expect The Worst.

    Chapter 1200 Expect The Worst.


    ??Tanc830,428,723C saw that he was agitated but he chuckled. "Things aren''t so bad. They might not apprehend you forcefully. Not everything has to be violent. We are the Supreme Beasts. We invade and plunder, steal, and enve regrly but we rarely fight amongst ourselves. They will definitely approach you and they might just request to work together with you or examine your concept thoroughly. There''s no need for violence. You might even be able to use this opportunity to benefit the whole Supreme Alliance and gain a lot of benefits from it."


    That didn''t assuage his fears. There is no way that he will allow someone to examine his concept thoroughly. That means he will open himself up to them so they can examine his existence. They will surely find the soul sphere then and any other secrets that they can see. He would rather they kill him than allow them to examine him.


    Besides, relying on others to be kind and non-violent is foolish. One should always expect the worst in others. He believes in this and he knows that violence to get what he wants is not even his worst behavior. So how can he expect others to be non-violent?


    To expect kindness and stupidity from others is to underestimate them. Legion won''t do that because it is a tried and tested method for failure. As for benefiting the whole Supreme Alliance, that''s just not going to happen. He doesn''t like sharing and he would rather grow powerful enough to rob the whole Supreme Alliance.


    But he didn''t vocalize these opinions. He said to his mentor, "Thank you Tanc830,428,723C for the information you have provided to me. It has been truly helpful."


    "Hmm. I think it is important for you to know so that you won''t make a decision in a vacuum. There are a lot of people with their eyes on you wishing for you to take the path of further awakening. It is a dead end but they will trouble you if you don''t choose it. You shouldn''t choose that path for them but for your own potential. So if you reach a dead end you will have no one to me but yourself."


    "That''s all for now. I will send you the list of divine abilities and their potential for growth that the Supreme Alliance haspiled. It will help you in making your decision."


    Legion-5 asked tentatively, "Can I also get information about the requirements to be a world god?"


    "That is good too. It is always good to see the bigger picture. It will help you to consider your decision through its far-reaching consequences. Alright, I will send it over too."


    "Thank you, Tanc830,428,723C."


    His mentor waved away the appreciation. "It is my job to assist you in making full use of your potential. Take note that you won''t be able to ess the information I send unless you swear it upon your origin not to divulge it to anyone else. It is the property of the Supreme Alliance and they don''t joke around with theft of their property or betrayal."


    "You should swear the oath because the information will help you determine your path. Once you have ess to it then you will know that there is nothing overly special about the path of further awakening. Supreme Beasts have been doing just fine with the normal path. In fact, we are doing more than fine. We are Supreme."


    The connection was cut off then leaving Legion-5 in silence to stew on his thoughts. First, he went through the information they had on him. They have data on everything he has used to morph his body and they even have data on how long it takes to morph his body.


    The information isn''t something he doesn''t know himself. He knows that it takes longer to shift his body into something more powerful. Stones don''t take as much time as the metal spoon he used. Stones also don''t use as much energy to maintain the shifting. That is something they don''t know with certainty. But they postted about it.


    They are also not certain if the changes to his body are permanent or temporary. The fact that the changes disappeared is not conclusive evidence that they are temporary. It may be that they could be permanent but he removed them or they are temporary and will disappear regardless of his efforts to keep them.


    He knows that the changes are temporary but will remain for as long as he has the energy to maintain them. He also knows that he can shapeshift into other creatures just like high elves. All he needs is their flesh as the temte to morph into. He will have the physical strength and features of creatures that he shifts into but not their divine ability.


    "In a way, I am just a high elf but with more potential. The path of further awakening will increase this potential but it is a dead end."


    High elves can shift into creatures that they are familiar with. They don''t need the flesh of the creature for a temte. They can shift into animals or nts, but they can''t shift their form into inorganic matter.


    He on the other hand can shift his form with inorganic materials. This difference is due to the extraws that make up his divine ability. If his divine ability awakens further, it will get stronger.


    But now he knows that the ability to temporarily take on the features of others is not exactly a good thing to have. Theck of permanence is especially bad for an Origin god. Without it they won''t have a permanent concept so It may lead to a dead end on his path of perfection.


    Then he went through the information about world gods and the general requirements to be world gods. It is information that will fill in some of their ignorance about what world gods are capable and made of.

 Chapter 1201 Cheating With A World Spark.

    Chapter 1201 Cheating With A World Spark.


    ??"ording to this, a world is built with a realm heart as the foundation. Only an inhabitant of a realm who is an Origin god can see and interact with the realm heart. But only an inhabitant with a sixw concept can fuse with the realm heart to be a realm lord. So that''s why Monarch High Heaven had to be an Origin god to be the realm lord despite being selected by the Mother High Heaven when he was a Sovereign."


    This is the first time Legion ising across information about the realm heart so all the clones are intrigued. The information states that the only way to acquire aplete realm heart is to be a realm lord. Even then, the realm heart won''t bepletely his. This is because there is a powerful Will that represents the interests of all living things in the realm and is bound by certain rules.


    The mentalwork of the clones increased in activity as they discussed.


    "Do other world gods have this problem? Do they have a Will in their world that prevents them from gaining total control of their world?"


    "It is too early to specte about that right now. Let''s focus on how to be world gods first."


    "We still have a long way before that. We still have Unity to achieve and this information might affect it."


    Legion-5 continued to read while they discussed. He is paying attention to the discussion but he is also uploading more information to thework. This is important since the information might affect their discussion and ns.


    They found out that there is no other way to get a realm heart unless the world is destroyed. If it is, then the realm heart would break and be fragmented. Some parts will be lost but some parts will remain. The parts that remain her are known as the three fragments of the realm heart.


    "The world seed, the world engine, and the world spark. They are very valuable except the world spark."


    They found out that the world spark is the least valuable part of a realm heart. No one uses it because it contains a lot of rules and is a channel for the Supremew of order. It can''t be used by other Supremews so it is not valued.


    This didn''t surprise Legion since the Supremew of order is very stubborn. The fact that some people try to trick and cheat others with a world spark didn''t surprise them either.


    What did surprise them is the fact that the only ones who have a use for it are demons. It made the clones of Legion chuckle amongst themselves. No one gives demon gods world sparks because no one is that generous and no one wants to create a world ender but they have a demon clone who can take advantage of this seemingly useless fragment.


    Legion-4 spoke. "Maybe one day we would be able to turn the scheme to cheat us with a World spark against whoever tries to cheat us."


    "We will take their world spark, use it to make Aeternus evolve, then return to rob them with Aeternus. It will be glorious."


    They can already imagine the scheme and the victorious smile they will have after they turn the tables against whoever tries to cheat them. It made them promise to do so if they get a world spark.


    Legion-5 stopped fantasizing and returned to the matter at hand. "I see why they think I can be a world. It is highly possible. But it will be difficult."


    The information they have about him is mostly useless to him but the information about the requirements to be a world god enlightened him. Now he knows why the desperate and stuck Origin gods are hopeful about him. He too would be hopeful if he were in their situation.


    He didn''t know how important his mutation was because he didn''t know much about Supreme beasts. Now he knows that his ability to take on the properties of both organic and inorganic matter has a lot of potential.


    A world is both organic and inorganic. It both living and non-


    living. It is both a physical object and a manifestation ofws. It is aplicated thing with three foundations. It seems like his divine ability if strengthened enough, can take on the properties of a world and make him a world god without a supremew. Unfortunately, he is not certain it would work.


    The world is a very big and powerful thing. There has to be a reason why a supremew is needed for Origin gods to be world gods. And there has to be a reason why there is an energy requirement for it too.


    He can skip the need to sacrifice concepts to reach the energy requirement by imbibing cosmic energy with his concept. But that might not make him a world god if he manages to turn his concept into a world. It might just make him an Origin god with an inner world.


    World beasts and dragons both have inner worlds but they are not world gods. He could gamble and see if he could achieve it but it is a gamble that might lead to him being permanently stuck as an Origin god. And even if he seeds in bing a world god, it will be a waste if he is not able to ovee the weakness of the temporary divine ability limit. After all, if his world is temporary, then he might lose it.


    "This is a difficult decision." He muttered to himself.


    As he is right now, any changes he makes to his body are temporary unless he steals a divine ability and makes it permanent. But his divine ability will change and stop awakening if he steals a divine ability. The two choices are mutually exclusive. He can''t have both permanence and further awakening.


    The difficulty in making this decision lies in the fact that he needs the permanence and further awakening for him to be a world god without a Supremew.

 Chapter 1202 Pros And Cons Of Permanence.

    <h4>Chapter 1202 Pros And Cons Of Permanence.</h4>


    ?"This is crazy. The two paths are contradictory. I have to either choose the path of permanence and lose further awakening of my divine ability, or choose the path of further awakening and lose permanence and therefore lose the chance of having a Supremew."


    "But I need my divine ability to awaken further if I want it to be powerful enough to shift into a world engine. But if I awaken it further and it bes powerful enough to shift into a world engine, the shift will be temporary so I won''t be able to do anything permanent with it. Either way, I can''t be a world god. I need both permanence and further awakening."


    A world engine is a powerful piece of machinery. It is way more powerful than an Origin weapon so It is not something that his current divine ability that can''t assimte Origin weapons safely can assimte.


    He has tried to assimte an Origin weapon and he did seed but it was a she guessed. The fragments ofw contained with it poisoned and tried to kill him. It is easy toe to the conclusion that a world engine would not be safe for his health.


    Then he got an idea, "Why am I thinking like them? I am not them. I am not a supreme beast. I am Legion."


    He can be a very powerful Origin god just like world beasts and dragons if he simtes the conditions of a world within himself. But unless he has the foundation of a world spark or supremew, a world engine, and a world seed, he will never be as powerful as a world god.


    Even if he gets all of them, unless he is able to hold onto them permanently, then he will not be able to be a permanent world god. His power will be temporary and one little change might make him lose the power forever and have to start all over again. That is unless he takes a shortcut.


    He began to review the information that Tanc830,428,723C sent to him. He swore not to divulge it but every Legion has ess to it too. They poured over the information and brainstormed together. First, they split the two paths into pros and cons.


    The path of permanence relies on the ability of Supreme Beasts to steal divine abilities and make them theirs without any repercussions. They use that to be Sovereigns easily. They are unlike titans ofw that use seeds of power of dead Sovereigns but can''t be Origin gods because they can''t fusepletely with the seed of power.


    The seed of power was created step by step by a transcendent from lord ofw to creating a concept as a titan ofw and gaining full control of it as a Sovereign. It contains their image, their soul imprints, and possesses their Origin as its source. The soul imprint is the major reason why others can''t fuse with the seed of power of another being to be Origin gods.


    Titans ofw can use the seed of power but it isn''t theirs. It will always reject them if they try to fuse with it. But Supreme beasts can break this resistance by changing their own existence to fit that of the seed of power.


    "Supreme Beasts are the ultimate shapeshifters. Their high-elf ancestors can''t do this. This is the enhancement from their demon ancestor." Legion-5 said in admiration.


    "Reproduction with demons doesn''t always end well. I am certain that there are other offsprings of the union of high elves and demons that did not turn out so well." Aeternus said.


    Legion-1 joined in, "That is true. But they are probably all dead now."


    The discussion of hybrid offsprings brought to their minds the demonic beasts that live in the abyss. They are offsprings of demons with other races. That''s the reason why they can survive in the abyss considering the hatred of the abyss for other creatures.


    But those demonic beasts don''t have marks of sins and their potential has been stunted. Most of them stop growing after bing low-rank demons which are the equivalent of mana entities. They are rated as food by other demons.


    It is rare for anyone of them reach the high-rank. Aeternus found one such talented demonic snake that he turned into his subordinate. Xander is an outlier among demonic beasts because most of them are stunted physically, mentally, or spiritually. The handicap makes them go extinct.


    Very few are like Supreme beasts who acquired favorable features from their parents. Even then, Supreme bBeastseasts had to go through a period of difficulty before they could realize their potential.


    Their high mana affinity and skin changing saved them for a while but it quickly became obsolete when the era of transcendents began. If the ancient Shapiro had failed to evolve then they would have been forgotten by now or would have been raised as food by some other strong race.


    Legion returned to browsing the data about the path of permanence. The path of permanence enables Supreme beasts to ascend to be Sovereigns easily and to have 9 divine abilities. This is very powerful but is not without its own cons. For one, all the divine abilities or concepts that are stolen must not conflict with each other or they will be lost when a Supreme Beast bes an Origin god.


    Each supreme beast has 9 slots thanks to the blood crucible. Supreme beasts can be a Sovereign today and proceed to breakthrough to be an Origin god immediately after. This can be done easily as long as the supreme steals just one seed of power. In exchange, they will lose their other 8 slots.


    As for others that have more than one seed of power as Sovereigns ofw, they mustprehend all thews contained within the concepts and fuse them. Theirw affinity might be low but the eternal life that they have as Sovereigns will give them more than enough time toprehend thews needed as opposed to the limited 10 Origin cycles lifespan of Lords ofw.

 Chapter 1203 Two Birds With One Stone.

    <h4>Chapter 1203 Two Birds With One Stone. </h4>


    ?In addition to thewprehension requirement, all the concepts must not antagonize each other and they must also improve each other. The effect of each seed of power must have a positive effect on the others. It is in this way that they can be fused after thews that make them up have beenprehended. The seeds of power that don''t match the others will be lost during the breakthrough to be Origin god.


    The other disadvantage of this process of breakthrough is that Supreme beasts will be the weakest Sovereigns ofw. Their chances of passing the tribtion are abysmal because they did so through the process of step-by-step strengthening by the universe through the lord ofw and finally sovereign ofw. They will even be weaker than titans ofw that became false sovereigns.


    But this problem is rectified easily with life essence which the Supreme Alliance has copious amounts of. So Supreme Beasts can increase their stats easily to match true Sovereigns. That''s why any Supreme beast that takes this path is almost assured of bing an Origin god.


    Eternal Life and life essence make it so that they don''t have to rush. The only problem they might face is the loss of some of their divine abilities that don''t synchronize with the others.


    Legion-5 shook his head when he saw this. "Supreme beasts won''t even need to get life essence from others if they use one of their slots to fuse with the heart of a life tree. They will have all the life essence they want. Supreme beasts are too powerful. The only thing they have to watch out for is to matchpatible divine abilities."


    Soverick spoke. "And the problem of synchronizing divine abilities can be easily solved. The supreme alliance has documented every divine ability they have and what it synchronizes with."


    "That''s if you want to ze a new path. If you want you can just copy the arrangement of divine abilities that others have taken and you won''t have anything to worry about."


    "The supreme beasts have it so good. It is as expected of a race that can match dragons."


    "But then again, how powerful are dragons if Supreme beasts need to go through all of these to match them?"


    Theyined and marveled some more before they focused on the other path which is the path of further awakening. They used the information about it to analyze Legion-5''s situation.


    Legion-5 decided on a n after some thought. "The problem of bing a world god without a supremew should not be the priority. If we put that goal aside then the decision bes easier."


    "What do you suggest?"


    "I suggest that I focus on what I was reincarnated for and that is to strengthen Legion as a whole. We already have a n for multiple worlds through Unity so it is better if I focus on eliminating our weaknesses. If and I say if by chance, I manage to achieve the goal of bing a world god without a supremew along the way, then that will just be a bonus."


    He apanied his suggestion with concrete ns to achieve it. His suggestion made the other clonesugh.


    Legion-1mented on his n. "You are being greedy. I like it already."


    Aeternus added his thoughts too. "You want to eat your cake and have it. But your n can work and it doesn''t affect our goal so it is a great n."


    "It will also help Legion-7 so I think you should go for it," Soverick advised.


    "Yes, there''s nothing to lose. Remember when you thought you had just one slot for divine ability and we thought it was because you were greedy? You felt a little regret, didn''t you? We all did. But we epted it because the risk was worth it. The risk is worth it now. So go for it."


    "Yes, what''s the worst that could happen?"


    Legion-5 replied, "I could get Legion-7 killed."


    Legion-7 didn''t agree. "I doubt that. You are not as strong as the person that enved me. I didn''t lose myself back then so I doubt I will lose myself to you. Besides, we are one. We are Legion. There shouldn''t be any rejection between us."


    Legion-1 also agreed. "This is a good idea. This will give us important data about the ns for unity. You will be the first phase for unity."


    His n sounds as if he is giving up on bing a world god without a supremew but he isn''t. Instead, he has only decided to not prioritize it. He is still going to try to achieve it. This has reduced the chances that he will achieve that lofty goal but he won''t risk losing the purpose for his reincarnation. So he is being greedy but he has not lost sight of the greater goal.


    Legion-5 decided to go with his n after everyone agreed with it. "Let me get started with the first move. I already got free information about the realm heart, its fragments, and the requirements to be a world god. Let me see if I get more from these people."


    Soverick snickered. "They think they are smart and you are an ignorant child. I hope they don''t think you''re foolish or they will regret it."


    Lehion-5 called his mentor immediately. "Tanc830,428,723C, I have made my decision."


    -----


    Legion-5''s father was watching Legion-5 on a screen when he suddenly got a call. It is showing Legion-5''s current actions so he saw his son call someone before he too was notified of a call. He epted the request formunication after identifying its sender.


    The person on the line asked, "What is this I heard about Agrivo839,371,456A? Everyone knows about him now. They are asking me for information about him. Did you do this?"


    Legion-5''s father replied calmly, "I had to. The Supreme Alliance refused my petition to be his mentor. I had to put pressure on some of my friends and call in some favors."

 Chapter 1204 Behind The Scene Scheming.

    <h4>Chapter 1204 Behind The Scene Scheming.</h4>


    ?The person he was speaking to asked angrily, "And you thought it was a good idea to make other people gang up on him?"


    "Yes, it is a good idea. It will pressure Agrivo839,371,456A. And it will also make his potential a matter of interest to the supreme alliance. Now they will take things seriously and it won''t be just my matter anymore."


    Legion-5''s mother dered angrily. "I want it to be known that I have no part to y in this."


    "Rx. What is the worst that could happen? I haven''t broken any rules."


    "You are ying with fire." She said and cut the call.


    That took his father by surprise. "Why is she agitated so much? Could she have sensed danger?" He asked himself.


    Legion-5''s mother is a scout. That means she has divine abilities that improve her perception and escape abilities. She can sense danger even when there are no apparent signs or cause for it. She excels at hiding from danger and sessfully escaping from it.


    It is a repertoire of skills that a scout should have seeing as they are mostly alone in a ne when they infiltrate said ne. So he took her agitation seriously. If she is so distraught then there must be danger. Unfortunately he can''t identify where the danger coulde from. He is not a scout so he can''t sense hidden danger. If the danger were apparent then he would know by now.


    He began to think of the possible sources of danger. "Maybe someone powerful willpete with me for Agrivo839,371,456A. But I don''t care. I only want the truth and the benefits it will bring me for making it known."


    "Or maybe it will cause a war between the supreme beasts and other races. Maybe the realm lord will target me."


    The secret to how to be a world god without a supremew won''t only help the supreme beasts that are stuck. It will help every Supreme beast. If they have that information, they will be able to mass-produce world gods just as they are able to mass-produce Origin gods.


    That secret might also draw the attention of other races. It will certainly cause a war if the method of bing world god without Supremews is applicable to other races. That will give them the incentive to have conflicts with the supreme alliance even if they were not previous enemies.


    Then there are the enemies that the Supreme Alliance has made over the long period of their existence. A lot of races are enemies with supreme beasts. A lot of Origin gods are angry about the way the supreme beasts invaded their ne and enved their race. They won''t want to see the supreme beasts grow stronger. It will be like when the dragons decided to destroy every trace of the seventh great divine ability.


    They don''t even need to hate the supreme beasts to go to war with them. They will go to war with them simply because they covet this secret. The supreme alliance can take on everyone but there is one person that even they are wary of. That person is the most influential and powerful being in the realm of high heaven.


    There is already a cold war with the realm lord. Things are getting frosty between the realm lord and the supreme alliance the closer the era of conquest is getting. The secret might escte this ear into full-blown war. But that doesn''t concern him much as long as he gets the benefits that his son''s mutation will grant him.


    He was wondering where the threat and danger maye from when someone called him again.


    "I have done what you asked. I told Agrivo839,371,456A about the attention that other origin gods have on him. He just told me that he has made his decision. He has decided not to go with the path of further awakening."


    His father was distraught. "That''s bad. That''s very bad. Didn''t you nudge him?"


    "You know I can''t do that. The Supreme Alliance is very strict about this. I swore an Oath so I had to be unbiased. All I did was provide him with all the information he needed to make his decision. The consequences of his decision are his and his alone to bear. I don''t want to be responsible for any regrets or I will pay the price for it. What you''re paying me is not enough for me to do that."


    "Fine, Volcanic Fist. I will just take it as my failure. At least I have tried my best." His father said.


    Tanc830,428,723C had more to say. "There''s more."


    "Is it more bad news?" his father asked sourly,


    "I am not sure. I think it is both good news and bad news."


    That piqued his father''s interest. "Oh. Then tell me."


    "He made a request. He said he hasn''t given up on how to be a world god without a supremew yet and he might have a way to achieve it without further awakening. But he needs something to test his hypothesis. He needs a world seed."


    His father cursed out loud. "Where am I going to get a world seed?"


    "I don''t know and I don''t care. I have said what he asked for. My work is done." Tanc830,428,723C said then he cut the call.


    Legion-5''s father began pacing around. He suddenly eximed, "I see. What a smart boy. He wants to use the path of permanence to be a world god without a Supremew. That is actually a good idea."


    Then he shook his head. "It is too difficult. He is biting more than he can chew. How will his divine ability be able to cross the threshold of concepts and take on the properties of something that is close to a supremew in existence?"


    "What use is that? Even if it is possible, where will I get a world seed? And if I have a world seed, I will just use it on myself."

 Chapter 1205 Peeking And Snooping Around.

    <h4>Chapter 1205 Peeking And Snooping Around. </h4>


    ?Legion-5''s father mocked himself. If he had a world seed then he wouldn''t be desperate about cracking the method to be a world god without Supremews. He needs the method to gain contribution points so that he can buy what he needs from the Supreme Alliance to be a world god.


    He already has his Supremew so he doesn''t care personally about how to be a world god without a Supremew. What he cares about is the points that the discovery of such a process will grant him.


    It is for points that he epted the mission to provide his essence to produce the next generation of hatchlings. It is for points that he is guarding this ne for the Supreme Alliance. It is because of these contribution points that Tanc830,428,723C became Legion-5''s mentor.


    Everything that every Supreme beast is doing is to gain contribution points from the Supreme Alliance to pay for everything that was invested in them and to pay for the other things that they want. Not many Origin gods are carefree and jobless to work for free.


    "This is not only my problem. I will spread the news. I am sure there has to be someone richer and more desperate than me out there. Let''s see what will happen."


    So Legion-5''s father decided to broadcast Legion-5''s request for a world seed to others. He is in a ne and his existence is subdued thanks to his Supremew. It has the benefit of helping him to ignore the unpleasant effects of the suppression of the realm. His subdued existence also makes it very difficult to sense that someone is watching him and has been watching him for quite some time.


    Soverick who was watching Legion-5''s father couldn''t help but feel some regret. "I still can''t read direct soul-to-soul mental transmissions. Maybe Legion-7 will be able to track these encrypted spiritual fluctuations. We will have to wait and see."


    He can see across nes thanks to the shard of power but he can''t see information transmitted through soul-to-soulmunication that uses soul talismans. This is despite the fact that his concept enables his eyes to see information transmitted through direct divine sensemunication.


    It is very rare for eyes to be capable of seeing sounds much less see information in divine sensemunication but he is still not satisfied with his concept. He wants to be able to decrypt the information in infinite distance soul-to-soulmunication.


    If he could, he would be able to hear everything that Legion-5''s father is saying in his calls and not just what he says to people who are close to him through his divine sense.


    Unfortunately, he can''t so he returned his attention to what he truly came here for.


    "I am sure that Legion-5''s father must be colluding with that Tanc830,428,723C. I quite liked him but it seems that he has a big mouth. It is unfortunate that he is immortal and has a Supremew. We won''t be able to seal him at all."


    He inspected the whole ne again before he took his gaze away. This is not the first time he is peeking on this Origin and the ne. He has been doing it for quite some time. He was there when Legion-5''s mother and father met.


    He heard what they said so Legion now knows about the rite of passage, its possible location, and its importance. But it also seemed that Legion-5 noticed him peeking at them. He can''t read thoughts but he saw that she stiffened a little when he gazed upon them.


    However, that didn''t deter him from peeking again. He is not going to give up such a good way to acquire information. If not for the fact that he can only hold on to this state for a few seconds at most before going blind then he will be doing it all the time.


    As for this time, he has been watching Legion-5''s father since Legion-5 made the call to his mentor. It could be a coincidence that this Origin god received a call immediately after Legion-5 ended his call with his mentor. But it is definitely not a coincidence that this person eximed, "Where am I going to get a world seed?" out loud.


    Legion is hopeful for a world seed but they don''t count on it. After all, it is such a very important and powerful object. They have their own ns so they won''t rely on others. But that doesn''t mean they won''t try to fleece others.


    The request for a world seed is both a hopeful request and a test to see just how desperate those who have their attention on him are and gauge the level of importance that they ce on him. It is also a bait so they are hoping to catch a big fish.


    --------++THE RITE OF PASSAGE.


    Legion-5 made his decision about his future path and informed his mentor about his next action.


    His mentor asked him, "Are you ready for your rite of passage now? You still have some time to make your decision. You have 89 years and some months to be exact."


    Legion-5 shrugged. "Let''s do it now. There''s nothing else for me to do."


    "Actually there are a lot of things for you to do. You should use this time to train yourself and learn how to fight. The rite of passage is not dangerous at all but it will determine how much assistance you get from the Supreme Alliance towards acquiring divine abilities."


    Legion-5 didn''t change his mind. "If it is not dangerous then why do I need to learn how to fight?"


    Tanc830,428,723C replied, "Because you might need to fight. You should acquire knowledge and life experiences. You might need to lead and make decisions as a leader."


    Legion-5 considered the suggestion for a while. Then he tried to convince his mentor. He started his attempt with a question, "What is the rite of passage?"

 Chapter 1206 Rite Of Passage.

    <h4>Chapter 1206 Rite Of Passage.</h4>


    ?Tanc830,428,723C replied, "It is a test of wisdom and also a learning exercise. You have proven your ability to fight and survive in the blood crucible. The reward for it is that your potential has been maximized. But it is another thing if you can realize your potential."


    "The Supreme Alliance doesn''t want to waste its resources on someone stupid. So you will be ced in any environment that will pressure you in hopes that the pressure will bring out your potential. The rite of passage will also increase your life experiences and broaden your horizon so that you will be able to pass the tribtion to be an Origin god."


    Legion-5 asked, "So it is a test of intelligence?"


    "Mostly, yes."


    "Then I have nothing to wait for. Intelligence cannot be increased no matter how much time I have."


    Tanc830,428,723C didn''t agree. "You have spoken like a true ignorant child. Innate intelligence cannot be increased but there are other factors that determine intelligent decision making. There is knowledge and wisdom from experiences. I advise you to umte knowledge and experience before you participate in the rite of passage. You haven''t experienced much at all."


    Legion-5 asked, "Isn''t the rite of passage a learning exercise? Won''t I learn when I participate in it?"


    "It is also a test. It is a test that you can fail. It is a test that you can''t fail because your performance in the rite of passage will determine what kind of immortal you will be and what kind of power you will have as an immortal."


    Legion-5 still didn''t back down. "I am sure I will do fine."


    Tanc830,428,723C sighed and said, "It is my job to advise you to take some time. I have done that. Do you still intend to start the rite of passage as soon as possible?"


    Legion-5 replied confidently, "Yes. I want to start it as soon as possible."


    His mentor grumbled for a while. "I thought you were smart but it seems you''re still too young. This decision is rash but I will honor it. The next rite of passage is in a year. Let me see if they have a slot for you. I will get back to you about the details soon. I hope for your sake that there is no avable slot."


    The call went dead for a while. It left Legion-5 with his thoughts. The rite of passage might be very important and difficult for other Supreme beasts but he can''t take it seriously since the blood crucible wasn''t dangerous to him.


    A lot of Supreme beasts died in the blood crucible. Only 1 in 256 survived. If he could pass the blood crucible easily, then he should be able to pass the rite of passage which his mentor has stated isn''t dangerous at all.


    The major reason why he wants to have the rite of passage so soon is because he doesn''t have anything useful to spend his time on. Luxury and rxation are good and all but Legion only cares about the increase in strength and progress towards the path of perfection.


    Even Legion-8 who has not hatched yet is very busy in the egg. Legion-8 is undergoing trials to gain ancestral bestowals which is full of information about dragons. Legion''s knowledge about the origin of dragons and some secrets of the world is increasing rapidly through Legion-8''s efforts. The other clones are also busy and Legion-7 needs him to meet up soon so Legion-5 can''t sit around doing nothing.


    Besides, from what Soverick overheard, this rite of passage is important and there will be a lot of resources. He has to take advantage of it. It is not in his nature to let such a good opportunity go to waste.


    Tanc830,428,723C called back after a few seconds. He said, "I don''t know if you are lucky or unlucky. There is a slot for you. The location of the rite of passage is the Steris ne and the race of interest there are the Stellos. I will send you all the information you need to have about them to you so you can prepare."


    Legion-5 knew that but he still asked, "What is the Steris ne?"


    "It is a new ne that was subjugated 3 Origin cycles ago by the Supreme Alliance."


    "What''s the rite of passage going to entail?" Legion-5 asked.


    "You will find out when you get there. It changes depending on the mood of the supreme alliance and the current situation of the ne."


    "What about my request for the world seed? Is there any update?"


    Tanc830,428,723C replied with a mental chuckle of amusement, "Don''t count on it kid. What you asked for is very big and very powerful. And you are very weak. They are not certain it won''t go to waste if it is given to you."


    Legion-5 said with slight disdain, "If they don''t try then they have already failed. They shouldn''t expect anything good if they are not willing to put in the effort. A world seed is worthy of being risked for the chance to be a world god."


    His mentor did not agree. "It is easier to talk than to take action. It is even easier to fail in action than to seed. You don''t know the value of a world seed so you don''t know what it takes to risk losing it."


    Legion-5 didn''t deny it. "I may be ignorant but I am not the desperate one. They are. I am also risking my life so I am not entirely clueless about the risks involved."


    Tanc830,428,723C did a mental shrug. "You are right about that. You also have something valuable to lose. But you should forget about it for now. You won''t be able to receive it until you be a Sovereign even if the world seed is avable. That''s the minimum power required by the Supreme Alliance to leave the ne."

 Chapter 1207 Passive And Active Mutations.

    Chapter 1207 Passive And Active Mutations.


    ??Legion-5 was not surprised by the overprotective nature of the Supreme Alliance but he still asked his mentor with an aggrieved tone, "Why not?"


    Tanc830,428,723C replied sternly, "Because it is thew and it is for your own good."


    But then he soothed his tone as he continued, "In a normal situation, you won''t be able to leave the ne until you be an Origin god. The Supreme Alliance doesn''t take risks with their investment. But this situation is not normal so you might be exempted from the norm. You should be grateful for that."


    "Alright. Thank you very much for the information."


    "You are wee. And onest thing. Don''t joke around with the rite of passage. Your sess and failure within it affects me." Tanc830,428,723C said before he cut off the call.


    Legion-5 scratched his smooth chin as he muttered, "Interesting. So he gains something from my performance in the rite of passage. Too bad that I don''t care about him."


    He will do what''s best for him and Legion and only that. If he cared about his mentor then he might have heeded his advice even if there was no need to rush. He doesn''t have any reason to dy normally. There is nothing important for him to learn. The other clones have acquired all the knowledge he needs and he doesn''tck in life experiences.


    The fact that he can get life essence also makes waiting to grow slowly by devouring Origin energy from Soverick a waste of his time. But there is a need to rush. There is a very important reason other than the acquisition of strength for him to rush the rite of passage.


    He needs to meet up with Legion-7 as soon as possible because Legion-7 can''t hold on for much longer. He needs Legion-7 for his n and he needs to save the desperate clone so it is killing two birds with one stone.


    Legion-5 began preparing for the rite of passage. He got an update on his n a few hourster.


    Soverick said to him, "I have inspected the Steris ne. It has just been invaded and conquered by the Supreme Alliance. I see resistance in the ne but that''s only because the Supreme Alliance hasx control over the ne. They haven''t invested much manpower into defending it. I see just one Supreme Beast in the whole ne for now. So it should be easy for Legion-7 to sneak in."


    Legion-5 nodded. "That''s great. We will meet up in this Steris ne."


    Legion-7 joined in their mental conversation. "That''s good. I have met a strong schemingdy that I can''t defeat and the void universe is not giving up on eradicating me. I think I am just going to give up. There is just too much bullying."


    The clones encouraged the weary Legion-7 but none of them pitied him. They are not even angry too much about his enemies because they know that Legion-1 deserves what he is getting. Despite how what he said about bullying, he was the aggressor.


    Only the interference of the void universe can be considered bullying and deserves some pity. Even then, they can understand why the void universe would want to eradicate Legion-7.


    Soverick has given them the stamp of approval on the Steris ne so they moved into action immediately. Legion-7 gave up resisting his enemies and decided to retreat to meet up with Legion-5 in the Steris ne.


    If Soverick had deemed the Steris ne too risky a ce to meet, then the n would need to be changed. He might even need to abort his ns for the rite of passage.


    Fortunately, they didn''t need to abort the n so they began to prepare for it. They have all the information they need about the ne from the Supreme Alliance and more thanks to Soverick''s investigations. Everything should go well with coordination from Soverick.


    A year went by then Legion-5 was picked up by his mentor. He met his mentor for the first time.


    Tanc830,428,723C looks like any normal creepy Supreme Beast. He is featureless, creepy, and has a doll-like visage that makes him look like any other Supreme beast. Except he is red and not pale white like the others.


    "Must be due to his mutation. It must be a very powerful mutation then." Legion-5 thought to himself.


    He has gone through the information about divine abilities and theirpatibilities so he knows about changes in physical appearance due to some divine abilities. These changes usually appear only when divine abilities are being used. They don''t cause permanent changes to Supreme beasts.


    But some powerful divine abilities still affect Supreme beasts even when they are dormant. They are so powerful that they cause the Supreme beast to change too much physically. That usually means they have some passive effect constantly affecting them.


    "Are you ready to go?" Tanc830,428,723C asked him.


    His mentor is blind and doesn''t have any eyes but Legion-5 still felt a massive pressure on his shoulders due to his mentor''s attention. His mentor''s divine sense felt like a heavy cloak draped over him.


    Legion-5 eximed inwardly, "It is unmistakable. This is dragon might. This guy must have stolen a dragon''s heart."


    "Yes, I am ready to go." He replied to the question.


    Tanc830,428,723C nodded. Then he enveloped Legion-5 in his divine sense. He wrapped it around him like some delicate egg. Then he lifted Legion-5 gently off the ground and shot towards the edge of the ne. Tanc830,428,723C made sure to cushion his charge from the bacsh of his eleration.


    Legion-5 wasn''t surprised by the way he was being handled. Other races will be surprised by the care and attention that an Origin god is giving to a transcendent. They will still be surprised even if Tanc830,428,723C were his father because an immortal rarely cares about mortals like that.


    But that''s just one of the things that separate the Supreme Alliance from the other races. They care a lot for their young ones.


    A/N: I hope by now you''re getting some inkling as to why a certain multicolored tentacle monster would appear in a ne where there are a lot of Supreme beasts.

 Chapter 1208 The Tradition Of Protection.

    Chapter 1208 The Tradition Of Protection.


    ??Each young supreme beast doesn''t even know their parents but it doesn''t matter. The Supreme Alliance is all they need and the Supreme Alliance will do its best to take care of them until they achieve immortality. He can''t ask for a better parent than them.


    As long as a Supreme Beast is not an Origin god, then he or she is not yet fully matured in the eyes of the Supreme Alliance. They will dote on them until they achieve immortality. In that way, the return on their investment is certain.


    "I hope you took everything that you might need."


    Legion-5 replied, "I did."


    His mentor reminded him, "Good. Tell me if we are going too fast or if you get nauseous."


    "I''ll do that." But he thought to himself, "What are you, my nanny?"


    He can onlympoon inwardly. It is because he knows that this care for the young is more than just business. It is a tradition. It is their culture and Tanc830,428,723C is not his nanny.


    This tradition started because of the enforcement of the Supreme Alliance for the protection of the young. Back then, the young were viewed as food, or at best, they were considered currency. So their enforcement received a lot of support from the young they protected and raised into Immortality.


    Those immortals then repaid the kindness shown to them by protecting the next generation. This way, the protection of the young quickly became a habit for every Supreme beast. The Supreme Alliance was able to overthrow other organizations and gain total control of the race through this method.


    There were other older and powerful organizations that governed Supreme beasts before the Supreme Alliance came along. Those organizations mocked the Supreme Alliance for coddling its members. They said they would grow up soft and weak.


    Time as shown that they were wrong. The Supreme Alliance abolished the eating of the young and fostered the eating of other races. They proved that intra-racepetition is not important for the creation of a strong race as long as there is the existence of inter-racepetition.


    Others would think the envement of other races is the foundation of the prosperity of the Supreme beasts. They would be wrong because the foundation is the tradition of the protection of the young. It is that and their powerful divine ability.


    This tradition would be more exaggerated if there was bloodline and ancestral memories of the cannibalism of the young. Every young Supreme beast would be able to appreciate the care even better.


    Even so, the tradition seeded in proliferating across several generations despite theck of bloodlines because of the actions and pride of the Supreme Alliance. Tanc830,428,723C''s mentor took care of him and took pride in it, so Tanc830,428,723C too will take care of his charge and take pride in it.


    Just thinking about it made Legion-5 more impressed with the Supreme Alliance. He thought about every race Legion had ever encountered but he couldn''t find one thatpares to the Supreme Alliance.


    Legion-5 thought to himself, "This is even better than the unity of the racial council of the Virut ne. For supreme beasts, the supreme alliance is their creditor and benefactor. It is their parents and their home. It is their race and theirmunity. What a doctrine."


    Some might mock those who care for their young too much, but they won''t do so for the Supreme Alliance. The care for their young is also a statement. They are a powerful, confident, and united race that goes out of their way to guard their young so jealously is a statement or warning to other races not to mess with them.


    No race or entity that knows about this tradition will mess with defenseless and weak Supreme beasts that they happen toe across without fear of retribution from the Supreme Alliance. When they consider that the Supreme Alliance is not just a governing body, but also the entire race of Supreme beasts, then they have to be wary about taking advantage of a young Supreme beast.


    It is as much a statement to outsiders as it is to the members of the Supreme Alliance. Every immortal Supreme beast knows the bottom line of the supreme beast so they aren''t shocked or angry when the Supreme Alliance asks for them to go to war to rescue one of them or to avenge the death of a young one.


    It makes them feel more loyalty to the Supreme Alliance. They know that they can always count on the Supreme Alliance. They are so united that even Legion-5 doesn''t want to leave them despite knowing about their brainwashing since they were hatchlings and being aware that this protection is also a form of indoctrination.


    Tanc830,428,723C said to him, "We aren''t going to take the nar portal but I am taking you there to see something."


    They soon got close to the nar portal. In front of it is a sea of bones. The bones are of different shapes and sizes. They obviously belong to different races. But they are all old and weathered.


    "What do you think happened here?" Tanc830,428,723C asked him.


    "A lot of people died here."


    Tanc830,428,723C wasn''t satisfied with his answer, "Be more specific. It could be that a lot of people were buried here. They could have died elsewhere. If they died here, why do you think they died here?"


    It is not a difficult question for him. There are a lot of bones in front of the nar portal. It could be a weird burial tradition of the races in the ne but he doubts that they will choose to bury their dead in front of a doorway where people leave and enter the ne through.


    "They might have died defending the ne. Races that care for their dead enough to bury them usually do so in safe and secluded ces." He replied.

 Chapter 1209 To Despair.

    Chapter 1209 To Despair.


    ??Tanc830,428,723C was finally satisfied with his answer. "Good. I like your use of ''might'' and ''usually''. It denotes that you are not certain of your conjecture and your answer was not in blind confidence."


    He said, "I will clear your doubts. This sea of bones is called a sea of despair. Take note that we call it "a" sea of despair and not "the" sea of despair. What does that tell you?"


    Legion-5 replied after thinking, "It implies that there are a lot of this."


    Tanc830,428,723C nodded in agreement. "Yes, there are many seas of despair. But not in this ne. There is only one in this ne. There is one in almost every single ne of the 20,000 nes that the Supreme Alliance controls in the realm. Why do you think that is the case?"


    Legion-5 wanted to roll his eyes but he doesn''t have eyes to roll. It has only been a decade since he was hatched but he is already tired of being treated like an ignorant child.


    Still, he answered, "Because the Supreme Alliance killed a lot of people in the nes."


    Tanc830,428,723C nodded and said proudly. "This conversation is the start of the rite of passage. My mentor also took me to see a sea of despair when I was about to begin my rite of passage. He said to me just as I will say to you and you will say to your junior in the future, "Do you know why it is called the sea of despair?"


    "Before I could answer, my mentorughed. Heughed like this." Then Tanc830,428,723Cughed.


    Hisughter was weird because he didn''t have a mouth tough so he had to create a mouth on his face tough. This mouth was also weird because it was iplete. It didn''t have teeth or tongues. It is more of a hole in his face where air is pushed out in the form of a bellowingugh.


    Tanc830,428,723C eventually stoppedughing.


    Then he said, "The answer is obvious, isn''t it? It is because they despaired. We came knocking and they tried all they could to defend their ne. Men and women, billions of them came of one mind to defend against the might of the Supreme Alliance. They failed. And they despaired."


    Tanc830,428,723C stopped looking at the sea of bones and turned to Legion-5. "I have it on good authority that only one Supreme beast attacked and subdued this ne. She alone brought this entire ne to its knees. She alone made billions of people despair."


    "Only one?" Legion-5 asked feigning surprise and awe.


    He is only half impressed because a clone of Legion has also managed to bring a ne to its knees. Ragnarok didn''t manage to defeat everyone in the ne like the Supreme beast did but he seeded in causing the destruction of the ne.


    Tanc830,428,723C confirmed, "Yes, Just one Supreme Beast."


    Then he raised his hands wide and side, "Behold her works and marvel at the glory of the Supreme Alliance."


    "Let us go."


    They continued on their way after the short pause. Tanc830,428,723C tore past the barrier of the ne and entered the void between nes. Outside the ne is a ring of metal that encapstes the entire ne. It is an unnatural phenomenon.


    The bubble that is the ne looks as if it is shackled by the ring. The bubble is smaller in the void but the ring has to be absolutely massive for it to surround the whole ne. There are also numerous floating fortresses patrolling around the ne.


    Tanc830,428,723C said as they flew away, "This is the nar defense system of the Supreme Alliance. It is meant to keep our nes in our possession. Won''t it be silly if we lose a ne after invading it?"


    Legion-5 wasn''t surprised by the sight. Soverick had seen this earlier. It is one of the reasons why they ruled out this ne as the meeting point for him and Legion-7. The ne''s security is too high.


    Tanc830,428,723C shed his identity mark so that the surveince system would let them through. They left the ne and moved quickly in the void. His mentor spoke to him on their way.


    "You are a Supreme Beast. We bring despair to races. You must do well in the rite of passage so that you too can embody this Will. We are Supreme."


    Legion-5 couldn''t help but ask, "If we are so great, why haven''t we taken over the whole ne."


    Tanc830,428,723C chuckled. "It is all the realm lord''s fault. He is suppressing us. What a pompous high elf. He became the realm lord because we didn''t even try to take that position."


    "I don''t understand. What do you mean by we didn''t try to take the position? If the position is so powerful why didn''t we try to take it?"


    He asked that question because what Tanc830,428,723C said sounded like a weak excuse from someone who failed to achieve something but doesn''t want to admit inferiority. It sounds like something a prideful dragon would say.


    "Let me exin it to you. The requirement to be realm lord is to be the first Origin god produced in the whole realm with a 6w concept. We Supreme Beasts have only two paths and none of them involves learning manyws. The path of further awakening only requires a singlew, thew of life. While the path of permanence disqualifies our divine ability from that position."


    "The path of further awakening is already difficult and whoever attempts it is considered an outlier. And that''s just the difficulty of onew. It is madness to try to acquire a 6w concept when we are stronger than Origin gods with 6w concepts only to fail. So we didn''t try at all. We remained content with the path of permanence and missed out on the position of realm lord."


    That exnation still didn''t convince Legion-5. It still sounded like an excuse to him. Just more borate.

 Chapter 1210 Debilitating Weakness Or Not.

    Chapter 1210 Debilitating Weakness Or Not.


    ??"We were content with the path of permanence but that doesn''t mean we didn''t try to take over the ne. We are not the only ones that tried. The dragons also did and they failed."


    Tanc830,428,723C chuckled and tried to hold back hisughter. "They failed spectacrly."


    He failed to hold back hisughter. He said as heughed, "Those stupid dragons."


    Legion-5 thought to himself, "I don''t know what''s so funny. You both failed."


    His mentor continued afterughing, "We both failed but our attempt was not as stupid as the dragons though. We decided to invade every ne and take them over before a realm lord was born instead of attacking Mother High Heaven directly. It is obvious that we also failed before the realm lord was crowned. Now the realm lord interferes in our invasion and inhibits us from taking over more nes."


    Legion had never heard of this during his time as a high elf so he asked, "How does he interfere?"


    "That is currently above your level of Authority. You will surely know when you be immortal. In the meantime, you can work towards finding a way to target the realm lord. The Supreme Alliance has issued a mission to find the weakness of the realm lord. If you find that weakness, then the Supreme Alliance will make you a world god as soon as you get your Supremew."


    Legion-5 was perplexed. "What use will his weakness be when he is already so powerful?"


    His mentor chuckled a little. "There are ns to rece him. His weakness will be very useful for that."


    Legion-5 understood immediately. He said in understanding, "The Supreme Alliance intends to steal his position just as we steal divine abilities."


    "You are right. It is not a n that we just came up with. We don''t need to work hard like other races. We are Supreme and we take whatever we want. We also wanted to take his concept when he was a Sovereign. That''s why we hunted him. But he survived and went on to be the realm lord. Even so, we still haven''t given up on that n."


    "That sounds very important. Should you really be telling me about this?"


    Tanc830,428,723C shrugged. "Don''t take it too seriously. This mission is not a secret. We have broadcast it to everyone who will listen. The Supreme Alliance has made it known that we want his weakness. It is not out of ce either. We are not the only one who wants to know his weakness."


    Legion-5 thought to himself, "And you wonder why the realm lord is interfering in our invasion of other nes."


    Apart from the surprise he feels at the audacity of the Supreme Alliance, he also feels that the realm lord antagonizing them is well deserved. After all, they have made it clear to the realm lord and everyone else that they are trying to rece him. This is after they tried to kill him when he was a Sovereign.


    He doesn''t think the n to acquire his weakness and use it against him will work though. It is not because he thinks the realm lord is perfect but because the realm lord has gone too far on the path of perfection for him to have a debilitating weakness. After all, the path of perfection literally aims to eliminate weakness.


    He thought to himself with slight ridicule, "The realm lord is already immortal, possesses a Supremew, and has the power of a realm behind him. If he has a debilitating weakness then no one is safe."


    His mentor continued. "The Supreme Alliance has issued many missions like that. They have been unfulfilled for a long time and will probably remain so forever. The mission to destroy the home ne of the dragons is also one of them."


    Legion-5 nodded and said, "I remember that one."


    "You should not forget it. The destruction of their home ne is not only for revenge. It will also cripple the dragons because it is the only ne in the realm where they reproduce. You can imagine just how much they are guarding it. It is another mission that can''t be fulfilled because their home ne moves around in the realm and has encrypted spatial coordinates."


    Legion-5 replied, "I won''t forget about it but I doubt I can help where many of my predecessors have failed."


    His mentor found his reply to be expected. He said, "You are not wrong about that. The only mission that I know that has a fair chance of being solved is discovering a divine ability that is worthy of bing the 8th great divine ability. If you find that, then you will improve the strength of the whole Supreme Alliance and will be rewarded with the resources to be a top-tier world god."


    "Another great divine ability?"


    Soverick''s eye shed in Legion-5''s mind. There is also Legion-8, and Legion-9 a hybrid Celestial with the ability to have gods as his avatars. Then there is Ragnarok who is capable of destroying a ne on his own and Helios the star. Most of the clones of Legion are unique and powerful. They can count as a great divine ability.


    He thought to himself proudly, "The Supreme Alliance might be ahead of us in the quantity of divine abilities but we are not behind on quality. We will make more progress when I fix our weaknesses."


    Most of the clones have a divine ability that can count as a great divine ability. Only Legion-1 has a somewhat general concept but he has two of them. Even so, that makes 8 of them with great divine abilities which is on par with the Supreme Alliance''s number of great divine abilities.


    They could get a lot of wealth but they aren''t going to give up any of the clones for a reward from the Supreme Alliance. They aren''t even going to have descendants to give their bloodline and then sell to the Supreme Alliance because they are selfish. They won''t share their power, instead, he is going to take from the Supreme Alliance to enhance Legion.

 Chapter 1211 A Strange Greeting.

    Chapter 1211 A Strange Greeting.


    ??That n is the reason he was reincarnated so the progress that Legion is going to make filled him with anticipation.


    He thought of his n so he asked his mentor. "What will I get if I discover a way to be a world god without a supremew?"


    Tanc830,428,723C chuckled. "Sure. That could work. It will be very difficult to do though. What you are asking for to test your conjecture is already one of the rewards if you seed. So you''re asking for them to have faith in you. If you fail, you will probably die and they would have wasted a world seed. I doubt there is anyone that desperate and rich enough to test your hypothesis. But I could be wrong."


    Legion nodded and asked a question that had been bordering him ever since they entered the void. "Are you sure that we won''t get lost?"


    Tanc830,428,723Cughed. "Don''t worry. I won''t get lost. One of the functions of the ring around the nes that we have subdued is to serve as a beacon. I just have to know which ne I want to go to and follow the directions that the Supreme Alliance gives me through the ID."


    He said in relief, "That''s good."


    He knows that movement within the void is tricky. There is no sense of direction apart from up. And that is even rtive to the ne you leave behind. You can be sure of the ne you left behind but you can''t be sure of other nes. They all look like bubbles and their rtive position changes in the void.


    So movement between nes by using the void while feasible, is very difficult to do. That''s why transcendents and above who can move within the void prefer to use the nar portal to move between nes.


    Not unless they are going to the ancient battlefield which is very easy to find in the void. All they have to do is go to thergest bubble in the void which is also the bubble that all other bubbles rotate around.


    ------


    Legion-5 and his mentor spent the short time it took them to fly between the nes chatting. Legion-5 asked most of the questions while Tanc830,428,723C replied to most of them so the trip wasn''t boring at all.


    Time passed and they reached their destination quickly. There is a halo around the bubble that is their target. There are floating fortresses around it too. But there isn''t a ring around the ne yet.


    He wasn''t surprised by the presence of the divine ne or the absence of aplete defense system but he still expressed surprise and doubt.


    "Are you sure this is safe, Tanc830,428,723C?" He asked. "There is a divine ne here."


    An Origin god will lose their connection to thew matrix and the power of a concept in a divine ne. So they be nearly powerless in a divine ne. The banishment ofws in the divine ne makes it a location that those on the path of perfection can''t enter without significant risk.


    But Tanc830,428,723C scoffed. "So what if there is a divine ne around the ne and it is full of gods? We are Supreme. We bring despair to mortals and gods alike."


    He shed his identity mark to the patrols of floating fortresses and then plunged into the halo around the ne without care. rms rang throughout the divine realm immediately after he made contact with it. It made most of the gods and certainly, the Celestial Supreme know that there was an Origin god intruder immediately.


    While the process of entering the divine ne seemed instantaneous for the two of them, the divine ne had a few seconds of advanced warning. So there was an attack waiting for them when they went through the halo.


    A spear of golden fire streaked through the sky with heaven-


    shaking might. Its power was so great that it caused the whole divine ne to howl. The attack itself was not special but it was being amplified by ththe divine ne. It was as if the whole divine ne was attacking them.


    Tanc830,428,723C snorted. His snort was not a simple disturbance of sound caused by the vibration of matter. It was the agitation of matter through the sudden discharge of energy by him thereby expressed as sound.


    His snort spread to every inch of the divine ne and it brought with it a heavy psychic pressure. He punched forward and space exploded. Fragments of space literally turned into fire andva and exploded like a miniature star.


    The explosion caused by his fist was concentrated towards the direction of the attack like a cone. The cone of fire shed with the spear of golden fire and created another massive explosion.


    Light shed and a storm of red violent energy raged and ravaged everything in its path like a hurricane. Matter was forcefully converted to energy through the shredding of its structure as if in a blender. Then the energy was consumed by the hurricane to increase Its power. Even the space around them was thrown into disorder. But Legion-5 and his mentor remained safe.


    Legion-5 didn''t even feel any increase in heat and neither was he affected by the howling energy storm. The scene of destruction urring before him might as well be a movie. It didn''t affect him at all because of the protection of his mentor.


    Tanc830,428,723C took one nce at the one that attacked him and said, "Be obedient and wait for your death with patience. It isn''t time for that yet."


    Then he left like that. The Celestial Supreme watched him go with golden mes pouring out of his eyes but he didn''t do anything to stop them. That punch had intimidated him. He had already given it his all by using the amplification of his title on the intruder and it failed. So he had to be content with letting the Supreme beast go.

 Chapter 1212 A Dragon Among Lions.

    Chapter 1212 A Dragon Among Lions.


    ??Tanc830,428,723C left the divine ne with a swagger. He was literally in a pack of hungry and angry lions but they just watched him go. It is because while they are lions, he is a dragon.


    Legion-5 said, "You must have fused with a dragon heart."


    Tanc830,428,723C didn''t confirm or deny it. "Why do you think so?"


    "You do not have a Supremew and yet you could match the Celestial Supreme in the divine ne. Plus you exuded psychic pressure which dragons are known for."


    Tanc830,428,723Cughed. "That''s a good observation. You are wrong about something though. It is not that I don''t have a Supremew. I just didn''t use a supremew."


    Legion-5 eximed. "Oh. That''s my mistake."


    He doesn''t think he made a mistake. He knows for a fact that Tanc830,428,723C doesn''t have a Supremew because he knows what to expect when someone has a Supremew and he can sense it.


    But there''s no reason for him to be adamant about it seeing as he is just a child. So he admitted to his mistake. However, he asked a trick question. "If you didn''t use a Supremew, what did you use to disy that kind of power in the divine ne?"


    He asked because he always thought only Supremews, divine power, demons, and dragons could operate within the divine ne. He didn''t sense Supremews, divine power, or demonic power from his mentor so he would like to know if the Supreme Alliance have found another source of power independent of thew matrix.


    Tanc830,428,723Cughed. "You are not wrong about your conclusion. I was just teasing you."


    Legion-5 pped in excitement. "So I was right."


    "Yes, you were right. I fused with a dragon''s heart. It is one of the great divine abilities after all. It was the first divine ability that I fused with. Everyone that participated in my rite of passage wanted it but only a few could get it."


    "I am d that you could guess that. You also asked some intelligent and interesting questions along the way. You must have spent some time studying. That''s good. It seems your chances for a decent performance in the rite of passage are not totally hopeless."


    Legion-5 said with modesty, "I did study hard."


    He actually did. He devoured all the knowledge that he could get his hands on. So that statement can be verified as true by his mentor.


    Tanc830,428,723C said seriously, "Knowledge is good but it is not the same as wisdom. For example, what are the two types of dragon hearts that we can fuse with?"


    "There are two types. The first is the pre-origin. It is good for its highpatibility with other divine abilities. The second one is the post-origin dragon heart. It is good for its power but it is highly selective and notpatible with other divine abilities."


    "That is knowledge. Now this is wisdom. Which one did I fuse with?" Tanc830,428,723C.


    Legion-5 thought to himself, "This guy is trying to trick me."


    But he answered after some time to think. "You used the post-


    origin dragon heart."


    "Why do you think so and which alignment did I fuse with?"


    "I believe you fused with the post-origin dragon heart because your attacks are very powerful. If it is post-origin, then you must have fused with the fire alignment which is the heart of a red dragon. That is why your fire attack is so strong. I bet it is why you are called Volcanic Fist."


    Tanc830,428,723C chuckled. "I am an Origin god. Whatever dragon heart that I picked has obviously fused with the other divine ability so it is not clear why my divine ability makes my fire attack so powerful. You won''t be able to determine why it is so strong unless you know which other divine abilities I fused with."


    Legion-5 asked the most important question. "So was I right?"


    Tanc830,428,723C sighed but admitted. "Yes, you were. I did fuse with the heart of a red dragon. But it was a lucky guess on your part. You had a 50% chance of getting it right. It is clear that your deduction process is not why you got it right."


    Legion-5 said smugly, "But I was right."


    "Forget that. It is not the point I was trying to make. I was trying to show you the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is great but unless you are able to apply knowledge from various fields to solve tricky real-life problems, then it isn''t wisdom."


    "The answer you should have given me is that it is impossible to know which heart I fused with unless you know all the divine abilities that I fused with. That''s wisdom not the repetition of the knowledge you have."


    Legion-5 used, "So you were trying to trick me."


    "I was.". His Mentor admitted it. "Don''t be surprised by it. Almost everything in the world is a trick. Nothing is as clear as ck and white. Nothing is what it seems at a nce. It is something that you can only learn with experience. Experience will give you wisdom and you will be able to identify the tricks in tricky situations with wisdom. Do you understand me?"


    "Yes, I understand." He said but inwardly he snickered. "You are trying to trick me but I have already tricked you."


    He knew that he was being tricked and he knew the correct answer to that question. But he didn''t state it. He didn''t state that the information avable was not enough to make a correct and informed assessment of what dragon heart he fused with. Saying it would have made him look too smart for his age.


    It would surely have impressed Tanc830,428,723C but it might also make him suspicious of his "genius" charge. So Legion-5 decided to look subpar. It is all part of his plot to trick everyone into thinking he is just an above-average young Supreme beast.

 Chapter 1213 Rearing Dragons.

    Chapter 1213 Rearing Dragons.


    ??Tanc830,428,723C didn''t know what Legion-5 was thinking about. He continued to speak with the tone of a teacher, "That''s good. The earlier you understand the difference between knowledge and wisdom, the better for you. The acquisition of wisdom is a very important reason why we hold the rite of passage. It is necessary to acquire it if you are to survive the body, soul, and mind tribtion to be an Origin god."


    "Many races do something like this to broaden the horizon of their young generation and ensure that the resources used on them will not go to waste. Some races rely on the trial of heaven to weed out the weak and help their young gain experience. Some rely on creating false enemies for their young generation to fight."


    Thatst one made Tanc830,428,723Cugh. He shared the reason for his amusement. "Like the high elves. They are our ancestors and they used to be worthy of that title. They were a mighty race that used to be able to withstand war and pressure from multiple enemies at once. They suffered but they managed to defend the bodies of their ancestors from exploitation. Then the realm lord came and they lost their sharpness."


    "They never fight anymore or have conflicts with others so they live in peace most of the time. Peace has made them rot in body and mind. It made their ascension rate to Origin god fall below 10% despite the abundance of life essence. They were so far gone that the leaders of their race had to allow demons to invade them asionally so that they would gain experience."


    "Anyways, the need to acquire wisdom and life experience, especially the experience needed to survive, is amon thing across many races. We don''t go so far as to put all of you in a sealed arena and make you fight to the death until only a few of you are left alive as some races do, but we will put you through some things that will force you to make intelligent choices or be left behind by your peers."


    Legion-5 asked skeptically, "Didn''t we go through the blood crucible and only a few of us survived?"


    Tanc830,428,723C snorted. "That doesn''t count. The blood crucible is more of a trial of luck than skill. There was no equal opportunity to survive in that some had 11 months to train while some had 1 month and we were not even allowed to choose our opponents. It was all random. We were just kids given dangerous weapons to kill and eat each other."


    They breached the divine ne and entered the main ne. Then they fell from the sky towards the ground.


    Tanc830,428,723C asked him, "We are about to reach our destination. Do you have any other questions?"


    "You said that dragon hearts are limited and not everyone in your rite of passage could get one. Why is that so? Why not rear dragons like we do other races?"


    That made Tanc830,428,723Cugh. "Rear dragons. That is funny and so audacious. You think like a Supreme beast."


    Legion-5 asked in confusion, "What''s so funny about it?"


    "It is not your fault that the idea of rearing dragons is funny now. It wasn''t funny when the Supreme Alliance tried to do it. But they failed terribly. The dragons attacked the Supreme Alliance in a frenzy. They could track every egg due to the dragon spirit so there was no way to rear them in secrecy."


    "The dragon eggs also refused to hatch after a while. The first batch that hatched in captivitymitted suicide. It couldn''t be stopped no matter what we did. They could always tell when they were in captivity and would refuse to live because of their pride."


    "The rest became informed whenever a dragonmitted suicide around them and refused to hatch. We were getting next to nothing for our effort and wasn''t worth it to continue trying to rear them because of the hostility of the dragons. Then the dragons began targeting our hatcheries so we had to call a truce with them."


    Legion-5 observed, "So the dragon race can match the Supreme Alliance."


    Tanc830,428,723C couldn''t refute that. "In a way yes. But that''s only when the dragon spirit unites them. Other than that dragons are mostly alone and are targets for easy pickings. So that''s what we did. We gave up on rearing them and decided to just hunt them. The dragon spirit won''t do anything as long as our actions don''t threaten their whole race."


    "We have been able to maintain rtive peace with them by limiting the amount of dragons we hunt. But that has also made dragon hearts rare and difficult to acquire in the rite of passage. You have to meet the requirements for a dragon heart very early or you will miss out on one of the great divine abilities."


    "That will be all for now. We are here."


    Legion-5 looked around at their destination. There is a pir at the center of the ne. It is a mechanical pir made of gleaming steel and moving gears. At the top of the pir is a t square tform surrounded by mechanical airships and floating fortresses. The tform is much wider than the pir so it looks like andmass while the pir is its foundation.


    Legion-5 looked towards the direction of the nar portal. He doesn''t have eyes so he had to extend his divine sense in that direction. It drew the attention of his mentor.


    "What are you looking at?" Tanc830,428,723C asked him.


    He lied. "I was looking at the sea of despair."


    He was looking for Legion-7.


    Tanc830,428,723C nodded. "There is a sea of despair here too. But it is not as grand as the one I showed you. Three Supreme Beasts took down the ne not one. The defenders were also poorer in quantity and quality. They put their fate in their Origin ancestors. They thought that their ancestors would be able to pressure the Supreme Alliance with violence or convince us to give up the ne."


    Tanc830,428,723C snickered. "It didn''t turn out well."

 Chapter 1214 Feigned Generousity.

    Chapter 1214 Feigned Generousity.


    ??Then he said seriously. "Prepare yourself. We are about to meet the invigtor in charge of your rite of passage. He will be in charge of your safety for the next hundreds of years."


    "The Invigtor is the only Supreme beast stationed in the ne. At least on the surface. There might be more hidden. No. There should be more hidden."


    "He built this whole tform by himself using one of the great divine abilities. You might say this whole tform, the ships, all the golems, and cannons are part of his body. Can you guess which divine ability it is?"


    That drew Legion-5''s attention. He looked around again before he gave his reply. "It has to be the Metal Fire divine ability from the Metal race."


    The information about it shed in his mind and he couldn''t help but be impressed. The Metal fire is a special fire that can convert earth into metal. It sounds simple but it is very powerful.


    Tanc830,428,723C chuckled and took him to the tform. "You were a little bold with your answer. But you''re right. It is the Metal Fire divine ability. The Invigtor alone can take over the whole realm and turn it into his body. So trust me when I say we are not that helpless against the realm lord."


    Legion-5 asked, "Will Mother High Heaven allow that to happen?"


    "No, she won''t. Her existence makes it a very bad idea to try to usurp the realm lord but she is bound to be injured if we decide to go against her," Tanc830,428,723C said proudly.


    Legion-5 became officially impressed. Anything that can injure the Will of the Realm is enough to impress him.


    "The Metal fire is too strong."


    Tanc830,428,723C agreed. "It is a very powerful divine ability that a lot of people dread. A lot of those people tried to destroy it and the race it came from but they failed. The Supreme Alliance has also perfected the method to raise and rear them. If not for the fact that it is very difficult to actually extract the metal fire from the race it belongs to without dissipating and its inability to preserve it so it has to be used fresh then the supply of it would not be limited."


    Legion-5 agreed, "It is truly a pity. But that''s how the world is. The truly good things are hard toe by and even harder to acquire."


    Tanc830,428,723Cughed hard. "Look at you spouting words of wisdom like some aged man who has seen through the vicissitudes of life."


    Legion-5 chuckled along with his Mentor. He is amused because he has truly seen through the vicissitudes of life.


    The two of them dropped to the edge of the tform. Tanc830,428,723C had already introduced and identified themselves and the invigtor had confirmed it so they were not prevented from approaching the tform or attacked when theynded.


    A slender golem came forward to greet them. It isrgely humanoid with two arms and legs. It doesn''t have a skin so theponents that make it up are visible. Theseponents are gears, blocks, levers, and screws enchanted with runes.


    Tanc830,428,723C said to him, "Follow it. It will bring you to your temporary quarters. You will be called for an assembly when the others get here and the rite of passage starts officially."


    Legion-5 nodded. "Ok."


    He was handed over to the golem while Tanc830,428,723C spoke with the invigtor.


    "Greetings Mechanical Emperor." He said to the open air.


    He is not speaking to anyone in particr. His divine sense covered the whole metalndmass trying tomunicate with it. But that''s enough formunication.


    The invigtor''s voice boomed in his mind. "You rascal, Volcanic Fist. What are you doing here?"


    The voice of the of the mechanical emperor sounded as if it wasing from all around him which is true since everything around him is the mechanical emperor.


    Tanc830,428,723C replied, "I brought over my charge, Agrivo839,371,456A for his rite of passage."


    "I can see that you scoundrel. I meant what are you doing here with a charge when you don''t have a Supremew? Why are you working for the Supreme Alliance when you don''t need to."


    "Some of us aren''t as great as you. We have to start working hard now before we get our Supremews so that the Supreme Alliance will help us. We don''t have the grand n to take over a realm on our own to be world gods like you. We are not so tyrannical."


    The Mechanical Emperorughed. "Don''t you patronize me you mischievous rascal. What do you mean by some of us? Only people like you who can ignore the suppression of the ne without a Supremew cane and start working for the Supreme Alliance ahead of time. Normal people aren''t like you so don''t try to im the identity of one. You are another type of tyrant is what you are. No one is mming headfirst into every obstacle and trampling it like a bull."


    Tanc830,428,723C denied the allegation. "Not true. Those allegations are false. If I was tyrannical then I would have wiped out the divine ne for their insult to me."


    "Who are you fooling? You didn''t wipe out the divine ne only because they were left there for the young ones. Don''t pretend to be generous."


    Tanc830,428,723Cughed hard. "Maybe I am a little like you. But I have my mentor to me for that."


    "I sure hope your charge won''t be like you. Things are alreadyplicated as it is. I don''t want a troublemaker on my hands during this rite of passage."


    "You have no need to worry. Agrivo839,371,456A is smart andposed. He may be stubborn sometimes but he isn''t headstrong like me so he shouldn''t give you any problems."


    The Mechanical Emperor didn''t believe him so he said sarcastically, "I''m sure he won''t give me any problems."

 Chapter 1215 Demolition Expert.

    Chapter 1215 Demolition Expert.


    ??It is not that the Mechanical Emperor thinks that Tanc830,428,723C is lying. He knows that Tanc830,428,723C means well with his statement. But he also knows that Tanc830,428,723C didn''t be Agrivo839,371,456A''s mentor by chance.


    The personnel in charge of the Mentor-Charge fixing prioritizespatibility between the mentor and the charge. They do this based onpatibility in personality and behavior.


    This means that Agrivo839,371,456A and Tanc830,428,723C were paired together after a thorough analysis of their behaviors found them to bepatible. So if Tanc830,428,723C is headstrong and problematic, odds are that Agrivo839,371,456A is headstrong and problematic too.


    Tanc830,428,723C tried to defend himself, "I don''t think I was that troublesome."


    The Mechanical Emperor roared inughter. "You don''t think you were that troublesome? You were building bombs and blowing everything apart. You were a pyromaniac and you tried to burn down the whole ne."


    "I didn''t think it was possible to burn down the whole ne that''s why I tried to do it. I thought I was going to fail so there was no harm in trying."


    "But you tried by spending decades to rig almost a million bombs into the crust of the ne. Then you used the bombs to threaten and extort people. You eventually activated the bombs which risked the lives of your fellow Supreme beasts and damaged the ne so much that it took 10,000 years for it to recover enough to be mined. Even now after 8 Origin cycles, it still bears some of the injuries you inflicted on it."


    Tanc830,428,723C maintained, "But I failed to burn down the whole ne so I was right to think it was impossible. Also, in my defense, I wouldn''t have activated the bombs if they hadn''t called my bluff so they had some me in this."


    The Mechanical Emperor yelled, "That''s not the point. The point is that you tried to burn down the ne. Who does that? Troublesome people is who."


    Tanc830,428,723C quickly changed the subject from his troublesome past. "I have to ask. Why are you here as the invigtor? You don''t need the contribution points and even if you did, you clearly have enough to be a world god."


    The Mechanical Emperor snorted but replied, "The waters have deepened ever since the realm lord announced theing of the era of conquest. Several powerful entities have awakened from their slumber and the realm has be chaotic. The Supreme Alliance cannot take any chances with the rites of passage. They requested for me toe here and make sure everything goes well."


    "Are things so bad?" Tanc830,428,723C couldn''t help but ask. "Who is so desperate as to offend the Supreme Alliance?"


    "Yes and no. Things aren''t so bad that people are desperate enough to offend the Supreme Alliance. It is just the same old threat. The Shadow Lurker has arrived in this ne. It was expected that she would meddle in the affairs of the Supreme Alliance since she has been doing so recently. But I didn''t expect that she woulde to my ne. Things are going to get hectic."


    Tanc830,428,723C cursed. "So that''s what the Supreme Alliance meant by telling me that this rite of passage is special and significant. It is clearly bad but they didn''t state it. I shouldn''t have brought Agrivo839,371,456A to this rite of passage."


    "Don''t worry. That''s why I am here. I will protect all of them. They are the future power of the Supreme Alliance. At most one of them will die. It is a necessary Sacrifice."


    Tanc830,428,723C could only sigh. "I hope Agrivo839,371,456A isn''t so unlucky. But if he is then it would be his fault. Anyway, I am d you are here. I will leave now. Take care."


    "You too." The Mechanical Emperor said.


    The Mechanical Emperor returned to maintaining his vignce of the ne. Most of his attention is towards the nar portal. That''s where he sensed the obscure and hidden entity that entered the ne. His senses cover the whole ne but he still can''t find the shadow lurker.


    The only time he sensed her was when she entered the ne. The disruption of the teleportation probably made her expose her aura quickly before she recovered and covered it up. Her presence here means that some young Supreme Beasts would die.


    The greatest taboo to the Supreme Alliance is the murder of their young. They go to war for that kind of thing. Not only does the Shadow Lurker seed inmitting the taboo, she also gets away with it.


    The Mechanical Emperor wishes that he is wrong but he is sure it is the Shadow Lurker who entered the ne because any entity that can remain hidden under the gaze of a Supreme Origin god and enters a ne without identifying itself during the time that a rite of passage is about to start in a ne that just fell under the control of the Supreme Alliance has to be the shadow lurker.


    That''s how she behaves. She has infiltrated nes like this many times in the past andmitted the taboo soon after. From the looks of things, it seems she will do it again.


    The Mechanical Emperor said with determination, "This time will be thest time she terrorizes the Supreme Alliance. The n will seed and this venture will be herst. Not even the realm lord will be able to save her."


    Then he asked. "Have you found her?"


    A voice from an unknown and unseen being replied, "I have eyes on her. She is staying around the nar portal. She hasn''t dared to approach yet."


    Another voice from another unseen being spoke, "We will get her. This is what we were made for."


    The Mechanical was satisfied with their reply. The Supreme Alliance has put a lot of effort into this rite of passage. He is one Origin god but he might as well be an army of Origin gods. As if that isn''t enough, there are other Origin gods in the ne apart from him.


    -----


    A/N: In Tanc830,428,723C''s defense, his attempt to demolish the ne broadened the horizon of his peers and resulted in a record breaking ascension rate of 96%. That''s something to be proud of in my book.


    A/N: This bonus chapter is for the voting goal. We didn''t meet it but I want you guys to have it because you guys haven''t gotten a bonus chapter for a while now.

 Chapter 1216 Trouble Is Coming.

    Chapter 1216 Trouble Is Coming.


    ??This two invisible entities have been here ever since Legion-5 arrived. But neither he nor his mentor noticed them. There could be more than two of them in the ne apart from the Mechanical Emperor. If there are, they are all prepared to catch that hidden entity that just entered the ne a few hours ago.


    The tform remained calm despite the malice brewing in the background. Supreme beasts continued to arrive from various nes throughout the day. And the tform cast arge shadow over the earth. It can be seen from every corner of the ne. It stood tall as the symbol of the new overlords of the ne. Anyone who gazes upon it will know that the ne has been subjugated.


    -----Back To Legion-5


    He was taken to a room to rx. He can''t rx though. Legion-7 is running out of time. He has seeded in infiltrating the ne but Legion-5 can''t meet with him now.


    He can''t leave the tform yet and Legion-7 can''t infiltrate the tform. To attempt to do so is to attempt to infiltrate the body of an Origin god. Legion-7 is not going to take that risk so they have to wait a little longer before they can meet.


    Legion-5 waited for a half day before they were called for the assembly. A golem came to inform him and bring him to the venue of the assembly.


    He asked, "Is it time for the rite of passage?"


    "No. You have to be briefed first. We are going for your briefing now."


    "What will the rite of passage entail?"


    The golem replied somewhat apologetically. "I am sorry but I do not have the answer to that question. The information about the content of this rite of passage is confidential. But there is no need to worry. You will be informed during the briefing."


    "Is there anything you can tell me about the rite of passage?"


    "Certainly. There is an entity that will invigte the rite of passage. This entity is also the one that will brief you."


    "Can I give you orders?"


    "Yes, you can. But your authority is only enough to ask me questions. You can''t order me to do anything else."


    He didn''t have any hope of ordering the golem since he knew that it was part of the body of the Mechanical Emperor. But he tried anyway partly because he was curious and because he would like to ask the golem to open up its chassis so that he could examine it. His divine sense can only see its surface but Soverick is curious about what lies beneath the surface.


    He tried asking the golem to open its chassis but it refused to. It stated that it is against its defensive protocols to open its chassis to someone without enough authority. He pestered the golem with more weird requests until they reached their destination.


    His questions made the Mechanical Emperor sigh to himself. "I guess I was right. Trouble ising."


    Legion-5 entered arge circr hall. The hall looked like the insides of a sphere. The ceiling and the ground were curved just like the walls. There were other young supreme beasts in the hall. There was a total of 100 of them looking around and greeting each other.


    The golem said to him. "Please follow me to your seat."


    Then it led him to an unupied seat. The seat was a ck sphere. It appeared to be made of a malleable material in a fluid state. It was bouncy but not enough to repel him so it felt like he was sitting on a soft cloud. The ck sphere shifted itself to match his buttocks perfectly.


    All the supreme beasts were assigned to seats at the edge of the room so they all sat side by side in a straight line that formed a circle. At the center of the room was a ck me. It was burning quietly in the air without any support or source of fuel.


    Legion-5''s divine sense brushed it for a brief moment before he retracted it in rm. His divine sense had been burned.


    "That''s the true body of the origin god. It is the metal fire." He said in wonder.


    He thought he knew a lot about divine abilities thanks to Gehaldirah''s obsession with them but he was wrong. The Supreme Alliance knows more than him. They are probably the highest authority on divine abilities in the void universe. He had seen the information about the metal fire so he was intrigued and wanted to inspect it up close. Unfortunately, he couldn''t. Not without severe damage to himself.


    The metal fire isn''t really a me despite looking like one and behaving like one. It is made of thin vibrating metallic fments. The fments are like worms. They wiggle and clump together to form that ck me. The me is incredibly fragile and it goes out quickly because the fments are weak. Despite this weakness, the metal fire cannot be underestimated.


    It isn''t hot at all and it isn''t producing heat but it burned his divine sense when he touched it. And that burning is just a warning to mind his own business. The metal fire can do more. So he decided to just mind his business. He took his seat and the assembly started soon after.


    The ck me spoke to them. "Wee to your rite of passage. I am your invigtor Regee771,823,138B. You can call me the


    Mechanical Emperor. My job is to ensure fairness, the adherence to the rules, to record your actions, authenticate them, and protect you. I will do this until you are handed over to your mentors at the end of the rite of passage."


    "You all must know that you are participating in a rite of passage but a lot of you must have a lot of questions about what you are actually supposed to do. I will tell you now. Sit back, rx, and listen carefully."

 Chapter 1217 Eat What You Kill.

    <h4>Chapter 1217 Eat What You Kill.</h4>


    ?The rite of passage is a program that was created by the Supreme Alliance in its earlier days. It was created to solve the problem of discontent about the distribution of resources. There was a question about how much resources should be invested in a Supreme Beast and how should that amount be determined. The rite of passage was the answer to that question."


    "The fact that the rite of passage also provided the opportunity for the young to gain experience has further made the rite of passage important and indispensable to the upbringing of the younger generation. But the focus of the rite of passage still remains on resource distribution by merit."


    "In the supreme race, we pride ourselves on theck of nepotism. This is due to the presence of the Supreme Alliance. Other races have bloodlines that keep them together and they have families to take care of them. Bloodlines create blood ties and familial bonds lead to nepotism. We don''t have the advantages of bloodlines but we have the Supreme Alliance. So this is not a family business. You should know by now that you eat what you kill."


    That brought back some unpleasant memories. Some young supreme beasts paled at the recollection of the blood crucible. They didn''t expect that experience after being pampered so much. At first, they could eat any livestock they wanted. Then they had to kill each other to live. They might have even killed their brothers and sisters. The recollection made them nervous and afraid of the rite of passage.


    Legion-5 shook his head at the sight. "They have gone through quite the change in their worldview. But they are still weak-willed."


    They ate what they killed in the blood crucible and they became stronger for it. Each one of them that survived has the ability to utilize 9 divine abilities. They also had a change in mentality and can kill easily but he still can''t take them seriously. He is not underestimating them but he doesn''t think they are his equals at all.


    The Mechanical Emperor continued solemnly. "The rite of passage is an introduction to how the Supreme Alliance operates. You don''t get things handed to you from here on out. If you want something from the Supreme Alliance, then you must give them something in exchange. You must prove your worth."


    "You must take your rite of passage seriously because not only will it affect your power as an Origin god and how well you use your potential, but It will also affect if you will have to repay the Supreme Alliance for everything they have done for you until now. You heard me right. Everything you have enjoyed until now was recorded. You will have to repay the Supreme Alliance for the goods and services you enjoyed."


    "This includes the resources you consumed before you could hatch, the amount of livestock that you killed or ate to be mana entities, and the amount of life essence that you used to be transcendents."


    That information surprised all of them. Some of them began to murmur but no one heard them speak because each chair was sound isted from the others. The onlymunication going on was between each of them and the invigtor. They heard what he said and he heard their exmations.


    "This is not a family business. The Supreme Alliance doesn''t owe you anything. In fact, the Supreme Alliance saved you from being eaten by your parents. The Supreme Alliance has helped you to be Supreme Beasts. So act like Supreme Beasts."


    "If you want something, you take it. You should not rely on the generosity of others. Remember the stories you heard after you were hatched and seek to y them out in your life. Go forth and dominate."


    The Mechanical Emperor''s voice was stern but then he chuckled and said, "You don''t have to worry too much about repaying what you have used until now. They are just small things to an Origin god. They can be easily repaid with at most a year of work for the Supreme Alliance. Don''t worry about the little amount of food you ate as hatchlings. The cost of Mana entities is nothingpared to your immortality. So rx."


    But Legion-5 couldn''t rx. He didn''t use one or two drops of life essence like the others. He used about a thousand drops. And he is even nning to use more. Then there is the huge amount of food that he ate during the blood crucible and after it.


    His appetite was so great that the amount of food he ate was more than the value of what the other Supreme beasts wasted when they killed cooks and other livestock without eating them.


    "They should have mentioned this earlier. How long will I have to work to repay what I ate?" He thought to himself.


    He was feeling slight regret for eating so much. It didn''t help that the other clones snickered and mocked him. "Serves you right."


    He was enjoying things that they had to work hard and risk their lives to get so they are happy to see that he will have to pay for them.


    The Mechanical Emperor continued, "As for those who are not rxed, you will get the opportunity to write off your debts in thispetition. It is one of the rewards that you can use your points to acquire. But personally, I don''t think it is worth it to waste your points on something like that."


    "Now let''s get back to the main event of the rite of passage. The main mission of this rite of passage is the spreading of the influence of the Supreme Alliance throughout the ne. This ne has been subjugated by the Supreme Alliance but that''s only at the surface level."


    "Your job is to eliminate the resistance to the control of the Supreme Alliance by entrenching the operations and ideology of the Supreme Alliance throughout the ne. You are to enlighten them about our right to rule and their destiny to serve."

 Chapter 1218 First Come First Serve.

    Chapter 1218 First Come First Serve.


    ??The floor and the ceiling of the room lit up. The floor showed the topographical map of the whole ne while the ceiling depicted the divine kingdoms of the gods. A tform appeared at the center of the room beneath the ck me. Clouds formed in between the floor and the ceiling. Little people appeared on the ground on the map and so did the kingdoms they upied. The assembly hall became a life-like depiction of the whole ne.


    "This is the real-time representation of the ne. It is updated with real-time information from the surveince system of the Supreme Alliance. You should take the rite of passage seriously but do not take it as a dangerous matter. This whole ne is your yground."


    "The important and powerful entities in the ne including the gods of the ne have been informed of your mission. They have been promised citizenship if they participate in this rite of passage and survive. That''s the only reason why this ne has not beenpletely purged of resistance."


    "As I said earlier, your job is to spread the influence of the Supreme Alliance. That means you must make the people know where they are in the order of things. You will spread the citizenship system and the resource exploitation system. You can do this by force or through other means of coercion."


    "Your activities and actions will be monitored and recorded. You will be rewarded with points when you do somethingmendable. I am sending a list of what themendable goals are. If you go through them, you will notice that they are ranked. The high-ranked missions reward higher points. You need points to exchange for rewards."


    A holographic panel appeared before Legion-5. It contained the list of missions. Legion-5 went through the mission list.


    The lowest mission is the subjugation and remation missions. It is the normal mission that everyone can do. It entails defeating all the resistance forces in the ne and taking over every nation within it quickly.


    The other missions are offshoots of the subjugation mission. One of them is the resource exploitation system which is the system by which the Supreme Alliance mines or harvests both animate and inanimate resources. Sustainable livestock production falls under animate resource exploitation. It is also called very by less civilized races.


    He looked at the highest ranked missions and he couldn''t help but shake his head in pity for the inhabitants of the ne.


    "This really is a yground for us. No wonder Tanc830,428,723C didn''t kill the Celestial Supreme for his offense. He didn''t even beat the Celestial Supreme up."


    Tanc830,428,723C doesn''t have a Supremew but the Celestial Supreme isn''t strong either so Tanc830,428,723C could have killed him. But he didn''t and the Celestial Supreme didn''t attack him further after realizing who it was he attacked.


    It was all because the young Supreme beasts were going to be let loose and allowed to rampage throughout the ne. Tanc830,428,723C didn''t want to rob the younger generation of their prey so he let the Celestial Supreme live.


    An entire ne is going to be used as a training ground for a hundred young supreme beasts. Even the gods are targets to y with. Anyone who survives gets to be a citizen of the ne and not a ve. As for those who didn''t survive, they would have be foils for the young Supreme beasts to gain experience with.


    The Mechanical Emperor started speaking again. "Now let''s talk about your rewards. Here is a panel of your rewards."


    A much longer list appeared before Legion-5. He scrolled through them for a while without reaching the end of it at a nce. Most of the rewards are divine abilities. There are other rewards like the purchase of different types of ves and livestock from the whole realm. They can also get life essence with their points.


    He found out that he could pay off his debts to the Supreme Alliance with two points. It doesn''t matter how much he owes them, two points is the same amount that everyone can pay to clear their debts. This made Legion-5 rx.


    "Note that the rewards are limited. They will be distributed to all of you based on the points you have and you will be served on a firste basis."


    "I advise you to arrange and order the divine abilities based on sses and then bypatibility followed by price. That will help you make the best decision on what to cash your points in for."


    "I also want you to take note that while the prices are the same right now, they will change depending on the first divine ability you choose. The first divine ability you choose will determine your ss. The divine abilities from other sses will be more expensive for you from then on."


    "You should know about sses by now if you went through the information about divine abilities given to you by your mentors. This ssification doesn''t only help to divide the divine abilities ording to function and usefulness, it also helps to prevent some of you from hoarding the good divine abilities from the other sses and wasting them."


    Legion-5 went through the information so he was able to arrange the divine abilities into the warrior ss, scout ss, and so on.


    "You will notice a ss noted as special. That ss contains divine abilities that the Supreme Alliance wants to nurture in the younger generation. Most of them are not useful for general purposes. Their usefulness is specific and can be fatal to certain races who are weak to them."


    "The supreme alliance wants you to get those divine abilities so that you can help them subdue some nes or for specialized jobs that require special skills. So this ss of divine abilities is the cheapest to acquire. And if you acquire them, you will surely get employed by the Supreme Alliance as soon as you be an Origin god and your debt will be forgiven immediately. You also won''t have any problem with getting further resources from the Supreme Alliance."

 Chapter 1219 The Special Class.

    Chapter 1219 The Special ss.


    ??Legion-5 went through the list of divine abilities in the special ss. It contained divine abilities that target special types of beings such as elementals or divine abilities that target the weakness of specific races.


    Some races are weak to certain abilities that are useless in most other situations so divine abilities in this ss are cheap to acquire in order to encourage Supreme beasts to select them. For example, divine abilities that target fire elementals or races with fire attributes. They would be mostly useless or ineffective against other races.


    There is also abination of divine abilities to target races that are weak to sound. These divine abilities can either use sound as a medium of activation, produce sound, or amplify the debilitating effects of sound and the other divine abilities that use it as a medium. This way, such a race will be easily crippled when they encounter the special ss focused on sound.


    He went through the list intrigued until he came across a special ss created for hunting hidden entities. He wasn''t so intrigued anymore when he saw that this ss has a lot of divine abilities for perception by which they can find entities hiding in any form. He became anxious.


    "I hope they don''t find you." He said to Legion-7.


    "I hope so too. But you have to forget about this special ss for now. My hiding spot is getting tighter and tighter. I can''t be able to hold on for much longer. The void universe will find me and you know that is not going to be good at all."


    Legion-5 groaned but he couldn''t leave yet. "We should be done soon."


    He continued listening to the Mechanical Emperor speak.


    "You should also note that the initial price for all divine abilities is one point. That will remain so until the first person buys the first divine ability. Then the prices will shoot back to the initial price of 10 points or more."


    "That means that the first person to buy a divine ability gets a discount of 90%. That''s just one of the perks that will be given to the forerunners in the rite of passage. If you want to enjoy the perks, then you must stand out. The Supreme Alliance will always reward those that are outstanding and exceptional."


    "Think carefully before you make decisions about which ss you want to pick and which divine abilities you want. You can alwaysmunicate with your mentor and ask them questions about anything you are not clear about. Don''t bother to ask them for advice concerning the rite of passage. I assure you that you won''t get an answer to those types of questions."


    "You can also ask the artificial intelligence assistant assigned to you for information about the ne and other questions about the rite of passage. Now let''s get the rite of passage started. You can remain here for as long as you want. But the rite of passage will go on without you immediately I say that it has started. But before I start it, you must receive the mission item and the rule book."


    Something rose from the floor beside him. It is a small ck cube. It floated up to him and stayed there simply levitating. Legion-5 took it and tried to control it but it was still locked. A warning sounded in his mind when he tried to switch it on.


    [Can only be activated in the outer ring of the ne.]


    He looked at the map and took a look at the outer ring. It is the band ofnd at the edge of the ne where they all have to start from.


    "So we will be arranged in the rite of passage just like we are seated right now," Legion-5 said to himself in understanding.


    They have to start in the outer ring and work their way to the center spreading the Influence of the Supreme Alliance all the way. By the time they reach the center, they should be strong enough to take down the gods. At least, the gods will be weakened by that point after their churches have been razed to the ground so it will be easier for them to be hunted.


    "It makes sense to start from the outer ring." Legion-5 said. "It will also help me. I won''t look suspicious when I go to the nar portal."


    He read the rules next. The first important one is that they should not try to kill anyone in the first month. Any attempt to kill the other Supreme beaats in the first month will end in failure. There is no punishment for the attempt but it still caused Legion-5 to be dissatisfied.


    "Their protection of these young supreme beasts is too much."


    He understands that the Supreme Alliance has invested a lot in them at this point at this point and is not willing to lose them, but he is dissatisfied with the overprotection. They can''t eliminate each other in the first month because of the fairness protection. That means he can''t end the rite of passage early.


    As if that isn''t enough, they can''t kill each other even after the first month has passed. They are allowed to attack each other with lethal attacks but they won''t seed at all. Their opponents will be saved at thest moment. They will be removed from the rite of passage so the only consequence of failure is elimination.


    "If there is no threat of death, then these kids might not take this seriously."


    Then he shrugged. "Elimination is good too. At the least, the ones that get eliminated will not be able to me the Supreme Alliance for getting little resources."


    The rite of passage is a healthypetition. It is not deadly but there are important resources that people usually kill for as rewards. If they get eliminated then they lose out on them. While the Supreme Alliance doesn''t want to lose its investment, it also wants to invest more in the remarkable ones.

 Chapter 1220 The Citizenship System.

    <h4>Chapter 1220 The Citizenship System. </h4>


    ?The promotion ofpetition amongst the young Supreme Beasts is why the Supreme Alliance rewards those who eliminate other Supreme Beasts with half of the points of their targets during the rite of passage. But none of them can be killed. So in this way, a safe environment that encouragespetition has been created for the efficient distribution of resources.


    That''s what the rite of passage is for the Supreme Beasts. It is another thing entirely for the inhabitants of the ne who have to be indoctrinated by peaceful coercion or forceful enlightenment.


    "The Supreme Alliance has thought this through. We are not only fighting the inhabitants of the ne but each other too. No wonder some people will survive in the ne. We won''t be able to focus on them if we have to worry about each other. They want to temper the young while also leaving a way out for the inhabitants of the ne."


    He has to admit that the Supreme Alliance has thought some things through. The way they are raising their young is at least better than the way high elves raise theirs. High elves don''t have anything like the rite of passage. They grow up weak and peaceful while the Supreme Alliance raises their young to live for subjugation and domination.


    The rite of passage allows the young supreme beasts to experience mass violence and domination. It is an experience that is a long timeing since they were hatchlings who had to listen to stories of domination.


    The young Supreme beasts get to fight the inhabitants of a ne desperate for survival and they have to watch out for each other. Even if they don''t turn out as great fighters, the Supreme Alliance will get returns on their investment many times over as long as the Supreme beasts be immortal.


    He returned to reading the rules. The second most important rule is the sanctity of the citizenship system. People on the ne can be recruited either forcefully or through the incentive of the citizenship system. But points are needed to make anyone a citizen. It might seem like a loss but it isn''t. At least if done well.


    Instead of fighting the king of a kingdom to the death, he can be made to surrender by negotiating with the citizenship system. In that way, someone can gain control of a kingdom easily so it is not a waste to use an expensive point on a citizen when they can be used to exchange for divine abilities. It is an investment to turn a king into an ally.


    The citizenship system is very incentivizing to the inhabitants of the ne because citizens can''t be killed. They will also be saved at the point when they are about to die.


    It is why gods and the influential people of the ne haven''t disregarded everything to fight to the death with the Supreme Alliance. Instead, they have hope for survival so they will engage in the rite of passage ording to the rules and fight for their survival.


    He shook his head in wonder. "The Supreme Alliance is too smart. They have reduced the defense of the ne against them with the citizenship system. They are practically turning the people of the ne against each other. So the ne can be exploited peacefully by the Supreme Alliance."


    The things he read about the citizenship system made him understand why the Supreme Alliance doesn''t just enve everyone and why they are going to great lengths to enforce the citizenship system by protecting them from death. The citizenship system is a form of envement except it is willing and done with enthusiasm by the inhabitants of the ne.


    The inhabitants of the ne have to ept it because the alternative is death. As for the Supreme Alliance, they are not allowing them to be citizens out of the goodness of their hearts. They are doing so because they need people to manage their farms for them. Surely they can''t make Origin gods stay in a ne to ensure that livestock is produced. Immortals have better things to do with their time.


    The citizenship system helps the Supreme Alliance to manage its resources. The citizens do the menialbor for them and the citizenship system reduces the amount of work the Supreme Alliance has to do to bring a ne to its heels. It is killing two birds with one stone.


    His teachers during the blood crucible were citizens. Some of them wanted to be citizens while others wanted to rise higher within the citizen system. That''s why they were willing to risk their lives to assist young Supreme Beasts to survive the blood crucible.


    Legion-5 read the rules books thoroughly. It contained information about the point system. That is probably the most important information one has to have. He made sure not to miss anything about it. He found the part about the conditions for granting gods the right to citizenship particrly intriguing.


    "Gods can be turned into citizens but the lowest god is worth a ten point. That is already the price of some divine abilities. Stronger gods are worth more. Who will waste their point by saving gods? I am afraid no god will survive like this."


    From what he read, points are very difficult to get. A king is not worth a point personally. The only reason why someone will spend a point to recruit one is because they are in charge of a kingdom. So rather than waste time and manpower to subjugate a kingdom, it is better to acquire it peacefully with a single point and use it to subjugate other kingdoms.


    As for gods, the weakest low god is worth at least 10 points while a Celestial is worth 200 points. To turn a god into a citizen, you must use the same amount of points that they are worth. That is too expensive to do. Most supreme beasts would rather kill them for their points rather than save them.


    -----


    A/N: Bonus chapter for golden ticket goal.

 Chapter 1221 Demons Are Always Trouble.

    <h4>Chapter 1221 Demons Are Always Trouble.</h4>


    ?The Mechanical Emperor announced solemnly, "I swear to do my best to ensure fairness and to ensure the protection of the young Supreme beasts participating in this rite of passage. And by the order of the Supreme Alliance, I announce the start of this rite of passage. I wish you all good luck."


    That announcement marked the start of the rite of passage. Some people choose to spend time looking at the map and n where they will start out in the outer ring. After all, there is only one direction they can go in once they establish their base. So it is best to know the obstacles that they will encounter on their way to the center of the ne. They also have to look out for the opportunities that are avable along their way to the center.


    While spending time to n is good, some people are not doing so. They are already rushing out to pick a spot right now. The selection for slots, just like the selection for rewards, is firste first serve.


    The most important reason why anyone will want to be the first to rush out and start as soon as possible is because they want to be the one to earn the first spot and be awarded a special point for it. They will be able to use that point to buy any divine ability they want. So the earlier they start, the better.


    Legion-5 is one of the people who rushed out immediately. He has already memorized the map so he doesn''t need to spend time nning. He also needs to get to the nar portal as soon as possible partly for Legion-7 and partly because one of the best spots in the ne is at the nar portal.


    The Sea of Despair is very close to the nar portal. It is an ancient battlefield that has been cleaned of the most precious things but there are still some good things there that will help the young Supreme beasts in the early stages of the rite of passage. Legion-5 knows that because it is part of the information that was given to them.


    He rushed out of the assembly hall through the numerous doorways that led out of it. There were a lot of supreme beasts with the same idea as him. They were running in the same direction as him. They all want a piece of the ner portal. Or it might just be a coincidence that they are running in the same direction as him.


    It could be a coincidence that they are going in the same direction as him. They can''t be faulted for taking the closest doorway to them. After all, the shortest distance between the tform and the edge of the ne is a straight line. Either way, he overtook all of them quickly. He shed by them and disappeared into the horizon. All they saw of him were several sonic booms that buffeted them withyers of shockwaves. He was gone immediately.


    Someone eximed, "What a freak."


    The others are not so vocal about their shock but they are all surprised that there was someone so powerful amongst them. They were surprised because they thought that they were all new transcendents with stats around 10,000 points. But it looked to them that Legion-5 had a lot more stats than them.


    They were certain of that conjecture because most of them could only break the sound barrier once while he had broken it 5 times in quick session. It means he is at least 5 times faster than them. But what''s most frightening is that he had broken the sound barrier 5 times before they could break it once. That means his eleration is also at least 5 times greater than theirs.


    Then they hardened their faces and they rushed after him. He is a strong enemy so they realized that a tough fight wasing up. They can''t take things leisurely at all. Their hearts and minds were gloomy. But that is not the case with the mechanical emperor.


    The invigtor whistled appreciatively and eximed, "This Agrivo839,371,456A is a freak. He didn''t eat all that food and life essence for nothing."


    He has the information about all of the participants so he knows that Agrivo839,371,456A''s favorite hobby is eating. He also knows exactly how much this mutant Supreme beast has eaten.


    Someone said to him, "I didn''t even know that it was possible for anything other than a titan ofw to eat that much life essence. He didn''t reach his limit with two drops. How did he keep getting stronger without a body ofw?"


    The other hidden entity spoke. "It is probably because of his mutation. It made him more simr to the demon ancestor than the elven ancestor."


    "He just kept on devouring the life essence like candy. I pity this batch of participants. Their only chance is to be Sovereigns ofw early and exchange for life essence as soon as possible."


    The Mechanical Emperor agreed. "He is a demon alright. And demons are always trouble."


    The three origin gods chatting are nowhere near each other but they are in the ne. Their senses are spread all over the ne so they are aware of everything going on within it and they canmunicate with each other easily. They and the invigtor are the overseers of the rite of passage. Anyone who thinks only the visible invigtor is the only protection in the ne will be very wrong.


    Legion-5 shot through the air like aet. He looked behind with his divine sense and grinned when he saw that he had left everyone behind him.


    He said with some excitement, "It seems no one canpete with me for first ce."


    Then he sighed in pity. "They are an unlucky bunch."


    He is not their equal in any way be it in strength, age, or intelligence. They are unlucky to be in the same rite of passage as him. But the world isn''t fair and suffering is the fate of the weak.

 Chapter 1222 The Shadow Of Despair.

    <h4>Chapter 1222 The Shadow Of Despair. </h4>


    ?He is not a kind person normally so he is not going to hold back at all. He certainly wouldn''t hold back when sess in the rite of passage determines which divine abilities he can get. So he continued to elerate towards the sea of despair.


    Then he saw something that drew his attention. He saw the shadow of the tform on the ground. There are some people underneath that shadow looking up at him. Some are looking at him with hope while others are looking at him with hatred.


    Some people hate him while others consider him their salvation. But all of them are under the shadow of the tform. Therefore they are all under the thumb of the Supreme Alliance.


    "First there was the sea of despair but now there is the shadow of despair. It is subtle but it is there and it is permanent. The Supreme Alliance knows how to y with the hearts of people. No one has to say it for the inhabitants of the ne to know that the only way out is to ept the superiority of the Supreme alliance and be lucky enough to be citizens."


    Then heughed. "I like the Supreme Alliance. I like how they do things. They are so domineering. I will leech off of them until they are no longer useful to Legion."


    He keeps on finding more and more reasons why the decision of Legion to reincarnate into the body of a Supreme Beast is a good idea. Legion made some mistakes like in the case of the race that Legion-7 was supposed to reincarnate into. And they also made some good decisions like in the case of Soverick. But being a Supreme beast is still the best.


    The other clones don''t exactly agree with him but he ignored theirints. Aeternus called the Supreme Alliance "the vani version of demons" because they have a lot of simrities with demons except they pamper their young. Legion-5 didn''t bother to argue with him.


    He reached the starting line of the rite of passage in a few minutes of flight. It is a patch ofnd that has formed a ring around the ne. It is called the outer ring. His mission item rang in his mind to notify him when he reached the section.


    [NOTICE: Base is ready to be activated. Choose a Location for activation. Activation will take 1 hour.]


    He looked at the ck cube in his hand and muttered, "This is probably part of the body of that Mechanical Emperor. He is monitoring everything closely and is always nearby. Fortunately, I have very little to hide."


    He found a spot that stands just behind the sea of despair. The entire ne has been demarcated into hexes. Two bases can''t upy the same hex which means that no one will be able to set up their base here as long as he is the first to.


    "This won''t block everyone else but it is good enough." He said as he activated the mission item and threw it down at the center of the hex.


    The cube began to transform as soon as it hit the ground. It erged and continued growing. The fuel for its growth is the energy within it and the objects around it. It used the energy within it to consume the objects around it, refining them and adding them to itself. Soil and rocks were consumed as the ck cube grew bigger.


    "The metal fire is truly wonderful. It is probably only Legion-3 and Legion-7 that can match it in its insidiousness."


    Legion-7 snorted in his mind. "The metal fire works in line with thews of the universe. It is just transforming thews. I on the other hand devourws. That''s why the universe wanted to get rid of me. Let''s not mention how corrosive Chaos energy. Compared to Chaos energy, this metal fire is cute."


    That made Legion-5 chuckle. "Who can me the universe? You are very greedy so it is better to eliminate you. I would too if I were the will of the universe."


    "Juste and get me already."


    "Give me one hour. I have to protect my base and scare some rascals off."


    His hex isn''t the only one bordering the sea of despair. The sea of despair is veryrge so it is bordered by three hexes. He could seal the sea of despair off if he had three mission items. It is unfortunate that he didn''t have three. So he picked the hex in the middle. This will be the location of his base and his fortress where he can be safe.


    Other supreme beasts arrived after ten minutes. The first one that arrived saw him and shot toward him. The two of them began to fight immediately without any talking. The fight didn''t take long though. It didn''t evenst a second. Legion-5 grabbed his opponent''s neck immediately and mmed her against the ground.


    His poor opponent groaned in pain as she cratered the ground. Legion-5 stepped on her and held her down with his foot.


    "Let me go weirdo." She shouted.


    Lehion-5 tilted his head at her. "Offer me 10% of your future points and I will let you go."


    She screamed at him in defiance, "Dream on weirdo."


    He tsked in annoyance. "This is annoying."


    They are still in the protection stage so he can''t eliminate her. He can try but fatal attacks will be blocked. It will continue to be like that for a month. The protection is there to deter the young Supreme Beasts from going after each other so early in the rite of passage. The Supreme Alliance doesn''t want to see the elimination of their investment so early. They want everyone to have a fighting chance and have time to show their capabilities.


    It is a good thing for the young Supreme beasts or he would have decided to eliminate all of them right there in the assembly hall. That''s why he just left everyone behind and decided to be the first to get here.

 Chapter 1223 Stones For Ammunition.

    <h4>Chapter 1223 Stones For Ammunition.</h4>


    ?If he could eliminate his enemies early without any detriment, then he would have done so as soon as possible. None of the 100 of them would have left that hall because there was no rule against fighting in the assembly hall.


    The protection phase doesn''t mean they can''t sabotage each other though. That''s why she attacked him. She wanted to interrupt the process of establishing his base so that he wouldn''t be the first.


    She screamed at him, "Let go of me you weirdo."


    Her head is in the ground so she can''t speak with her mouth even if she has a mouth. What she is using to scream at him is her divine sense and it is very loud.


    Unfortunately, loudness isn''t going to deter him. He asked her as he pressed her head deeper into the ground, "Why are you calling me a weirdo?"


    "You''re weird because you''re translucent. You look like cloudy ss instead of like white beautiful ceramic."


    "That makes sense." He said in understanding as he kicked her head very hard. "But I am stronger than you so my looks don''t matter. If I had the opportunity, I would turn you into a seat for making fun of my looks."


    She yelled in pain but she didn''t shut up. "How can I be strong like you?"


    Legion-5 sneered. "You can''t be strong like me. The best you can do is to choose the warrior ss and be able to take a beating because the next time I meet you, I will beat you to death. You can only prepare yourself to take a beating without dying quickly."


    He was stomping on her as he spoke to her. Each stomp caused the ground to explode and her body to be pushed further in. If not for the protective barrier around her, she would be the one to explode not the ground.


    Others came around soon after and saw him with his foot on her. The three of them decided to avoid him and rush towards his growing base to disrupt it.


    "So you want to gang up on me."


    He sneered and picked up rocks on the ground. Then he threw them at all three of them. The three stones smashed into them like artillery shells.


    They didn''t die despite the explosion. The stone should have torn through them and critically injured them but it didn''t because of the shield that appeared at thest moment. Instead, they were stopped dead in their tracks and they were blown back. The force that he used to throw the rocks was that strong.


    But he didn''t stay idle. He picked up the first enemy by her ankle and shed to one of the three stunned enemies. The one he approached was already standing up.


    "I wish I could kill you insolent brats," He said as he bludgeoned the second enemy with the first.


    The two supreme beasts mmed into each other and created a powerful shockwave. The ground beneath them was cratered because of the sh.


    He shook his head and muttered, "Talk about the ground suffering when two elephants sh."


    The two enemies aren''t strong enough to damage the ground like so. They ought to smash each other to pieces. But the barrier around both of them shed in the process of protecting them. It is the sh of the barriers that created the shockwave.


    He shook his head and picked up the second enemy. Then he rushed towards the third one and mmed them against each other again. He did it for all of them. Then he carried all four of them and buried them. He ced them on the ground and stamped on them with all his might. Their barrier protected them from damage but the ground wasn''t so lucky. It caved in so they were pushed into the ground.


    More Supreme beasts came to find him burying the first batch of enemies with his foot. They didn''t have eyes so their whole body twitched when they felt the resounding shockwaves. The ground was literally quaking with each stamp of his foot. The Supreme beasts are tough nails that he can''t kill. But that doesn''t mean he is helpless against them. He will just hammer them into the ground like the tough nails they are.


    He smirked at the new batch and taunted them, "Who wants to have a go at me?


    Then he warned them with a grin, "Beware that you don''t end up like them."


    They can feel his taunt through his divine sense. He wanted them to know just how much fearless he was. They have to take that into consideration if they want to sabotage him. Of course, he could be bluffing. But there are four people on the ground who will be dyed from setting up their bases right now.


    Some people decided to leave. They went for the two adjoining hexes and began fighting for it. Some of them formed alliances toy im to the precious spots. But some remained standing some distance away from him.


    He threatened them, "Leave now or join them on the ground."


    One of them spoke up, "I want to form an alliance with you. You are strong but it is impossible to defend yourself alone."


    Legion-5ughed. "Form an alliance with you?"


    "Of all the people that I could form an alliance with, none of you riffraffs are worthy."


    They became angry immediately but he didn''t bother to listen to any more of their dregs.


    "I told you to leave." He roared as he attacked.


    Rocks flew around like artillery. He shot down the Supreme Beasts from the sky as if he was shooting down birds. The sounds of collision also sounded like explosions. Then he approached them and beat as many as he could before they flew away in fright.


    He watched them run away with disdain. Then heughed again.


    "What nonsense. What a joke. Why will I form an alliance with weaklings?"

 Chapter 1224 Two Bad Heads Are Worse Than One Good Head.

    Chapter 1224 Two Bad Heads Are Worse Than One Good Head.


    ??Legion-5 shook his head at the absurdity of it all. Normally he doesn''t like cooperating with others because others can''t be trusted and because cooperation is for the weak. Cooperating with others is what someone weak would do.


    If you are strong enough, you don''t need to cooperate with others. He isn''t weak plus if he would cooperate with others it would be with those who are equally strong not with weaklings that he can trample beneath his feet.


    He said with slight amusement, "Children say the silliest things."


    Then he returned to stand in front of his rapidly growing base. He is a lone defender which is a rare sight right now. Fights are happening all over the ne for who will be the first one with a base. But no one is defending a base alone.


    The young Supreme beasts are forming alliances for protection. This is an alliance empowered by the rite of passage and not simple cooperation. So members of an alliance can trust each other because they will be penalized for betrayal.


    He can also form an alliance but the fact that every point that an alliance gains is essible to every member of the alliance is more than enough reason for him to refuse to form one.


    The alliance system is very important for Supreme Beasts. Its function and uses go beyond this rite of passage. Even with the ability to have many divine abilities, Supreme beasts are not perfect. There are some things that they can''t do on their own. After all, they are not omnipotent.


    So Rather than be a Jack of all trades and master of none, the Supreme Alliance decided to encourage individual specialization and division ofbor within a squad. Each supreme beast will choose a ss and each ss will have weaknesses. Division ofbor between sses will make up for the weaknesses.


    Those that form an alliance together form into a squad. The members of an alliance are supposed to fix the weaknesses of each other. They are not just here to help you set up a base. They can be your lifelong partners that follow you through thick and thin.


    So an alliance is not a short-term cooperation hence why the Supreme Alliance takes it seriously. But he is not going to get one. At least he hasn''t met someone good enough for him to ally with. It is not just because he is proud. He is obviously out of their league so an alliance will only drag him down and not help him.


    Legion-8 was quick to agree with him. He said proudly, "An alliance is for sheep. Titans don''t need to clump together for safety."


    "Dragons have too much pride though. They are powerful but because they refuse to unite, they get hunted one after the other."


    Legion-8 snorted. "They die because they are not strong enough. They can avoid death if they stay at the ancestral grounds but they refuse to do so. It is a matter of pride to face death in the face and ovee it."


    Legion-5 shook his head. "That''s just foolishness. If there is a way to avoid death, then they should take it unless there is a great benefit worthy of the risk. Dragons are just risking their lives for pride."


    "You''ll never understand. Only sheep unite and dragons aren''t sheep. We are titans."


    Legion-7ined. "What about me? I need Legion-5 for safety?"


    Legion-8 was quick to correct him, "You are still a titan. You don''t need someone else for safety. You need another part of yourself. We are one and we will only be stronger by bing one."


    Legion-5 agreed. "Unity is just a step we will take to achieve perfection."


    The young Supreme beasts are not his equal and so they cannot increase his strength if they ally with each other. But the same cannot be said about him and Legion-7 working together. As they say, two good heads are better than one. There is a better increase in power when qualitybines than thebination of quantity. That is why two bad heads can''tpare to one good head. Legion-7 is his other good head.


    No one approached him to fight him so he was free to chat with Legion-7 while guarding his base. There was no fighting in his hex but the two other hexes were full of fighting. It is a fight without an end too since they can''t kill each other. They are just tussling with each other and interrupting one another''s attempt to build a base.


    They have been fighting for 30 minutes but no one has started seeding the hex with a base yet. It made all of them frustrated with themselves. Some gave up at that point. They want to do something that isn''t a waste of time. But most of them turned their attention to his hex. The sight of his progress does not encourage them or fill them with happiness.


    Someoneined. "We can''t go on like this while this guy is already building his base."


    "What do we do other than watch him? He is too strong."


    Another one sneered. "He is strong but he can''t take all of us on. He certainly can''t take on everyone in both of the hexes. Thebined might of 10 of us might not be able to take him down but we should be able to interrupt his base."


    "That''s a good idea. Let''s form a truce for now and join our strength to attack him from both sides."


    The 6 of them that were fighting stopped fighting and decided to work together. They know that Legion-5 is strong. They have seen his power for themselves. But there are two of them in one alliance. If theybine with other alliances in this hex and cooperate with the other hex to create abined attack from both directions, then they should be able to set back all of Legion-5''s effort for thest 50 minutes.

 Chapter 1225 A Worthy Title.

    Chapter 1225 A Worthy Title.


    ??It is a tantalizing thought to make Legion-5''s effort for 50 minutes go to waste just 10 minutes before his efforts bear fruit. It egged them on just thinking about how he would go back to the starting point like them.


    All they need is someone to reach the base and touch it with their own activated mission item for 5 seconds. They knew it was a bad idea to mess with Legion-5 but they agreed with the n because they didn''t hope to chase him away from the hex. Their goal was low and achievable so they were certain of its sess.


    They stopped fighting. Then they sent some people to the other hex to stop the fighting so that they could cooperate. Legion was watching the two hexes closely so he noticed that they had stopped fighting in one hex. Then he saw the people they sent to the other hex. He saw how these people interfered in the fighting and also began to mediate.


    "Look at these scheming rats." He said to Legion-7.


    It is one thing for fighting to stop in a hex. He can be suspicious and it won''t lead anywhere. But then they sent people over to the other hex and fighting also stopped there. That is too suspicious for him to let it go.


    Legion-7 defended them, "They have no choice. You are too much for them to handle alone. The smart thing is to umte their forces and topple the giant. It is how the weak survive."


    Legion-5 said with disdain, "That''s the smart thing for the weak to do but it is stupid to try and topple me. The smart thing is for them to run away not to dare to stand up to me."


    "Cut them some ck. They are young and impetuous. They overestimated themselves."


    "Then I will show them the errors of their way."


    He didn''t want any problems that would dy him that''s why he watched them fight without interfering. But that wasn''t good enough for them. They thought his unwillingness to bully all of them was because he couldn''t so they became rebellious.


    They wouldn''t even have seeded in ganging up on him had they not been greedy to get more helpers. They can''t catch him off guard no matter what they n because his divine sense is more powerful than theirs in quality so he could hear what they were saying to each other. In other words, he didn''t need their suspicious movements to clue him into their motives.


    "I see the reason why the Supreme Alliance goes to a lot of effort to establish and enforce the new hierarchy in nes they have subjugated. If they don''t put the weak in their ce, the weak will think they are capable of being more than livestock."


    He picked up stones from the ground and began bombarding his enemies. The stone sailed and mmed one of them into the ground.


    Someone from the first hex screamed, "He is on to us. Rush him now."


    They tried to rush him. They failed. The distance between them was too far for them to get close to him fast enough before he shot them back. He also shot at the other hex. He didn''t wait for them to put up any resistance before they were also submerged in artillery attacks. The Supreme beasts scattered quickly. It was then that he stopped.


    He mocked them. "Rats will always be rats."


    He can''t take them seriously when all it takes to break their will to fight are stones. They can also try to shoot stones at him but it won''t have the same effect. Their stats are in the 10,000 while his are in the 1,000,000,000. And that''s before he uses Origin energy to convert all his physical stats into strength.


    They are worlds apart in strength. In this situation where they don''t have any Origin weapons, Origin energy, orws, they are rats while he is a lion. Rats scatter in the presence of a lion just as they did. This is why it is so ridiculous that one rat dared to form an alliance with him instead of epting its fate as livestock.


    No one came to bother him anymore until his base finished forming. Every supreme beast in this rite of passage was alerted immediately through their identity marks.


    [Congrattions to Agrivo839,371,456A for setting up his base. He is the first one to do so and has earned a special point for it.]


    As for him, he received another message.


    [You have created a base in record time. The Supreme Alliance has deemed you worthy of obtaining a title. What would you like your title to be?]


    He replied after some thinking. "Let it be ''Shadow Of Despair."


    [Congrattions, from now on, you shall be known as Agrivo839,371,456A or Shadow Of Despair.]


    Legion-7 couldn''t help but say, "I pity these poor children. They might never get out of your shadow."


    "It is as it should be. I am a titan so they are to struggle to survive beneath the shadow that I cast over them. If they despair, then so be it. But they are not the ones I am aiming for. I have been inspired by the Supreme Alliance. I feel that everyone should feel despair when they hear of me. They are just the start of the trend. Even world gods will feel despair when they hear of me."


    Legion-7 said anxiously, "Hurry up ande pick me."


    He took one look at his base. It is a square structure like a fortress. The edges of the base are tall walls that prevent the inside from being seen. The top is open so he can fly up to see the main building. The main building is arge cube. There are other structures in between the walls and the main building. They are the barracks, outer storage, kitchen, amenities, etc


    There is also a shield around the whole base. It will protect it from attacks until the base loses energypletely. This won''t happen easily if the engine room is upgraded and the energy storage is increased.

 Chapter 1226 A Relic Of An Ancient Past.

    Chapter 1226 A Relic Of An Ancient Past.


    ??The entire base is not touching the ground with its bottom. Instead, there are four stands that lift it up. The golems or bots that the base is creating exit it from the base. It is as if the base isying eggs.


    These bots that the bade produces mine the surroundings and then bring the resources that they have acquired back to the base for refinement and other purposes.


    "I can leave the base for a while. It should be safe for a short while."


    He decided to go and get Legion-7 now. His base can protect itself for a while and no one should be so jobless as to attack him now. The position for first has already been filled and there is no reward for second so anyone who is still fighting instead of setting up their own base at this time is wasting time.


    His base is also not helpless to retaliate if someone attacks it so he can be rest assured to leave it for a few minutes. He ignored the supreme beasts that he dug into the ground. They dug themselves out as soon as he left.


    They all ran away in fear but one certain Supreme beast grumbled out loud. "What a freak."


    Legion-5 flew over the sea of despair to the nar portal. There are a lot of people waiting there. None of them are Supreme beasts. They approached him immediately as soon as he arrived. He didn''t let them rush him. Instead, he raised his hand to stop their approach.


    They stopped immediately. No one dared to go against a Supreme Beast. Then he pointed at one group and beckoned for them to approach.


    The leader of the group bowed a little and said, "Greetings, Supreme One. I am Lafiti of the house of Entio. I am pleased to make your acquittance. You can rest assured that I will take care of your interest with all my might. I am quite credible. You can check my credibility by checking my details."


    Legion-5 ordered coldly, "Give me your information."


    The merchant became happy immediately. "Here it is, Supreme One."


    Legion-5 received the information and used it to check for this merchant''s identity and credibility in the database of the Supreme Alliance. What he found wasn''t outstanding.


    This Lafiti Of of Entio is just slightly above average in the rating that the Supreme Alliance gave him. It is probably because he is a new merchant whose family gained citizenship recently. His manpower, connections, and security are stillcking despite his best efforts.


    Legion-5 thought to himself. "That''s also why Legion-7 could sneak in among them."


    The merchant is a transcendent like him and he is not the best merchant avable but he chose him.


    "We will work together for the foreseeable future. I want you to start scavenging the sea of despair as soon as possible. Here is my identity token. Use it to gain ess to my base and tomunicate with me when you need to."


    The man bowed again. "Thank you Supreme One. Thank you for your patronage. You won''t regret it at all."


    "Make sure I don''t regret it. I can be very violent when I get angry." He warned expressionlessly. Then he ordered them, "Start work immediately."


    "Right away, Supreme One." He said. Then he called to his workers.


    Legion-5 led them to the sea of despair. Since they were with him, they were not killed for approaching this relic. The Sea of Despair is a historical site. The Supreme Alliance will not allow it to be destroyed. Its presence represents the failed resistance of the ne against the Supreme Alliance. It is a visible reminder of the futility of resistance.


    More than 3 Origin cycles have gone past since this ne was subjugated. Some have already forgotten what this ne used to be like. They have forgotten who used to be the strongest in the ne and what the power structure used to be.


    In those 3 Origin cycles, there have been 3 generations of transcendents, 30 generations of mana entities, and 3,000 generations of mortals who have died since the subjugation of the ne. Very few people with longer lifespans and were lucky enough to survive on the battlefield remember that day when the earth shook and the sky changed and blood ran like a river and people wailed and cried.


    For most of the inhabitants of the ne, the ne has always been under the control of the Supreme Alliance. The sea of Despair reminds them that it wasn''t always so. It also reminds those who haven''t forgotten what the ne used to be about how the ne came to be like this.


    So the supreme alliance won''t let anyonee close to it to destroy it. But they will allow the corpse of the defeated to benefit their young.


    This merchant group will search for anything valuable in the sea of despair.


    It is something that every participant of the rite of passage wants to do because they know that there are a lot of valuable things here. The information provided by the Supreme Alliance stated that they left 3 Sovereign seeds of power on the battlefield after taking the rest.


    The sovereign seeds or power are worth one point each. He can find those himself so he intends to leave the rest of the good things in the sea of despair to the merchant to find. He has better things to do than to scour therge sea of despair for things.


    He is an outlier in this aspect. Other young supreme beasts won''t even be able to find the seeds of power quickly. They will have to rely on the merchant. It is because the sea of despair is veryrge while his divine sense is too strong and too wide.


    Legion-5 ns to take the most important things now so that no one will be able to take them. Then he will leave fragments of broken weapons and other things avable on the battlefield. The only thing that can''t be taken are the corpses, bones, and the soil of the ancient battlefield.

 Chapter 1227 A Work Mule.

    Chapter 1227 A Work Mule.


    ??The soil has socked in the blood of many powerful creatures so it is very valuable but it can''t be taken. The Supreme Alliance won''t allow it because they believe that the contrast of the bloody soil against the white, ck, grey, and ck bones is very important in telling the story of the violence that took ce that day in this location.


    The merchant group will take 10% of what they find and turn over the rest to him. He in turn will exchange them with the other resources in his base such as points needed to acquire divine abilities. They can also be used to acquire some things that are not avable for exchange in the reward list by allowing the merchant to go out of the ne to the ancient battlefield to get whatever he wants.


    So in a way, the merchant is his servant. Calling him a citizen is just a fancy title for a work mule. At the end of the day, the merchant is a livestock that is not for eating. He is for hard or menialbor, safe or otherwise. Lafiti is just like his teachers during the blood crucible. Being a citizen doesn''t mean he ispletely safe.


    Legion-5 spent a few minutes searching and found the three seeds of power. He was searching when one of the workers of Lafiti bent over and groaned. He shot towards the weak and thin boy in annoyance.


    He asked with anger, "What is wrong with you?"


    The boy didn''t answer. He continued to groan and twitch on the ground. The boy is humanoid but short and thin. He is a little taller than 1 meter in height and has two ears on both sides of his head.


    The boy should be young but his skin is wrinkled with age and his veins are even visible because of his gaunt stature. His veins throbbed visibly so Legion could see that they were ck. It is as if there is a disease within the boy that is spreading and killing him. It is siphoning his vitality and causing him to decay while still alive.


    It is not a wonder why he is so sick and weak. Unfortunately for the boy, his state didn''t evoke any sympathy from Legion-5. Legion-5 became angry because he was ignored. He kicked the boy''s head and turned it into mush. The boy stopped groaning after losing his head but he was still twitching a little.


    Lafite had rushed over so Legion-5 turned to him and asked sternly, "Is this the quality of work that I should expect from you? cking off from diseased workers?"


    Lafiti fell on his knees and pleaded, "Please don''t be angry Supreme One. It is my failure not to prepare better ves."


    Legion-5 scoffed at the groveling transcendent. "I don''t want any cking off. I am not giving you this rare opportunity to get shoddy work from you. Make me regret choosing you and you will regret that I chose you. Do you understand me?"


    "I understand Supreme One. I will work personally and make sure that everything here will belong to you."


    "Hmmp." Legion-5 scoffed one more time and left for his base.


    Lafitte stood up after making sure that he had gone. He muttered inwardly. "This stupid ve almost killed me. He suddenly got sick when we were about to enter the ne but I didn''t think much of it. To think that he will almost be the death of me. I should have killed him when I had a chance."


    Then he checked the still and headless body of the boy to make sure that his sickness was notmunicable. His face changed when he saw the ckened flesh with grey spots on the skin and ck veins and perceived the foul-smelling stench from the blood he bled.


    "What illness is this? This boy seems to be rotting while he was alive and yet there is no apparent reason. Could he be poisoned?"


    He can''t find any organism responsible for the disease no matter how he checked. His senses are so sharp that he can sense microscopic organisms with his divine sense but he can''t see anything that could be responsible for the dire situation of the flesh.


    Everything is dying including both the flesh and other microorganisms that inhabit the body. It is as if the boy was poisoned with an inorganic poison but he can''t sense even that. All he can see is the excess of death force within the remaining flesh as if the boy had been producing death force even before he died.


    "I''m afraid that this is beyond me. I have to report it."


    Then he shook his head and sighed. "Fortunately, that Supreme One didn''t check too closely or I would be doomed. It is both my luck and curse that I managed to get a contract with a Supreme One that has a title. I can get wealth but my entire family can also go down into the abyss because of it."


    Supreme One that has a title. I can get wealth but my entire family can also go down into the abyss because of it."


    He left to find one of the Citizens in charge of the nar portal with that somber thought in his head. The Supreme One paid attention to him and gave him an opportunity. He is both d and afraid because of it.


    There is a saying that goes around among citizens. They say, "You are both lucky and unlucky if a Supreme One pays attention to you."


    He is a citizen, and as such he can''t be killed easily. But he is still afraid of the wrath of Supreme Beasts because his protection is not absolute.


    Citizens can''t be killed at all during the rite of trial. They can only be eliminated. They lose this privilege after the rite of passage. They can be killed then but at a cost. This is because, unlike ves and livestock for food, citizens are important properties of the Supreme Alliance. If they are killed by a Supreme beast, that Supreme beast must pay the Supreme Alliance for the lost value.

 Chapter 1228 Perfect Body For Possession.

    Chapter 1228 Perfect Body For Possession.


    ??So Citizens can still be killed at a price. If they avoid the attention of a Supreme beast then they will live peacefully. It is unfortunate that that solution will not work for long.


    The best the citizens can do to avoid that fate is to avoid angering a Supreme beast and work hard for the Supreme Alliance so that their value will be high and discourage Supreme beasts from killing them. Unfortunately, the only way to do that is to gain the attention of a Supreme beast whiches with the danger of death.


    It is just like the situation of Lafiti. One of the jobs citizens can do is to be merchants and help Supreme Beasts do menial work. Working with Supreme Beasts with a title will help them increase their value faster, but a Supreme Beast with a title is also most likely capable of paying the price of killing them.


    -----


    Legion-7 said to him. "I bet he must beining about the death of the ve right now. I don''t know what he isining about. I did him a favor. He wouldn''t have gotten that contract without my help."


    "Don''t mind him. He doesn''t even know how much danger he was in so how can he appreciate that his life was spared?"


    Legion-5 wanted to cut their contract at that point. He had used them for the main reason why he selected them which was to find a way to touch the one carrying Legion-7 without drawing attention to his actions.


    The one carrying Legion-7 was the dying ve boy. His death signified that Legion-5 didn''t need the merchant anymore but he didn''t get rid of Lafiti because he couldn''t afford to wait any longer or draw more attention by firing his new employee so he rushed back to his base immediately.


    He didn''t reach his base before he fell from the sky. He made it look like he was stopping to check something to cover up the fact that his consciousness was in too much disarray to maintain flight.


    "You are very heavy to carry." Heined.


    Legion-7 on the other hand was feeling nothing but bliss. He even moaned in pleasure. He also made sure topliment his new host. "Your body is so amodating. It ispletelypatible with me. I was right about how much better your body would be. There is no sense of rejection at all."


    "Stop messing around and settle down. I need to get to safety. I am too vulnerable right now."


    "Fine," Legion-7 said.


    He stopped moving around in Legion-5''s body and settled into one of his slots for divine abilities.


    "This is even better. It is as if you were made to be possessed."


    Legion-5 scoffed. "I am not to be possessed. My divine ability is made to possess powers that are not mine be they organic or inorganic."


    Legion-7 didn''t agreepletely. "Maybe that is true. But that doesn''t mean I am wrong either. Trust me. I am an expert in possessing people so I know what I am talking about."


    "It is not your fault. You are not in danger anymore so you can run your mouth freely. You were begging me toe save you just earlier. I wonder what you would be saying right now if my body couldn''t amodate you."


    Legion-7 ignored him. "Look at that. Even the void universe can''t do anything against me. I have to say that you are the outstanding host."


    Legion-5 pleaded with him, "Please don''t provoke the void universe. Justy low."


    He is pleading because he knows just how greedy Legion can be. They are never satisfied with the barest minimum. Legion-7 is safe and warm now. That was his highest priority but it has be relegated now that he has achieved it. Legion-5 can predict that the next thing he would like to do is see if he can ess thew matrix and devour itsws. He doesn''t want that at all.


    "Fine fine fine. If I didn''t know you any better I would think you are scared of the void universe."


    Legion-5 retorted, "You are scared of the void universe. If you weren''t you wouldn''t have remained hidden in the rotting flesh of a weak host for fear that trying to change it would attract the attention of the void universe."


    "It is called being efficient."


    The two of them began arguing. It is a weird situation caused by the direct contact between the two of them. The clones don''t usually talk to each other all the time in a normal situation. It is because they have an awareness of the consciousness of the other clones but it is always at the back of their mind.


    But this current situation is different because their souls are actually in direct contact so it feels like they are different entities as well as the same entity. This situation facilitates an ease for the sh of minds. They are arguing but it is no different from an inner debate of a single person.


    Legion-5 could finally fly again. He rushed to his base and entered it immediately. He rushed into the innermost room while he ordered his base to activate the full defensive measures. Legion-7 bothered him throughout everything.


    The barrier of the base was raised to 100% power and preparations to divert all the energy avable in the base to it if needed were also made. The surveince system and the attack system were also activated to identify and eliminate threats early and effectively.


    Legion-5 could finally rx after sitting down. "I can''t go on like this. I feel heavy and sluggish. I can''t fight like this."


    "It is normal. Two existences should not inhabit the same body. One has to give. So make room for me."


    "Take one of my slots. I will open myself to you so we can be one."


    Legion-5 decided to make Legion-7 his first divine ability. This so something that even his mutated divine ability shouldn''t be able to do. His divine ability can assimte a wide range of powerful objects but they can''t be alive.


    So he should not be able to fuse with another being but Legion-7 is special. Legion-7 was able to snuggle himself into the ne inside the body of a stranger. He can do more with a body perfectly suited for him.


    ------


    A/N: I hope you now know for certain why Legion-7 came out of thew matrix as a Supreme beast in a ne where there are a lot of Supreme beasts. This was after the Unified Skill Indexpetition.

 Chapter 1229 The Choices.

    Chapter 1229 The Choices.


    ??For one, they both came from the same source so there is no rejection between them. Legion-7 also doesn''t have a physical body as he is a spiritual entity so there is no sh in terms of physical location. Instead, Legion-5''s slot for divine ability can be used as Legion-7''s body to facilitate the fusion between them.


    Inside Legion-5 are 9 empty bubbles. They are the slots for his divine ability. Legion-7 entered one of them and upied it so a round translucent being with tentacles appeared in the slot. This led to the reduction of the burden on Legion-5.


    Legion-5 decided to consider his future. "My first divine ability is decided. I have to get the dragon core for the second one. Let me make preparations for the others."


    He thought to himself. "Which of these three divine abilities should I choose?"


    He got three seeds of power from the sea of despair. These seeds of powere from three different races so they have three different divine abilities. He has to decide on what to do with them so he examined them while fusing with Legion-7.


    One of them belongs to the Stellos race which grants the ability to gain an Origin diamond body that is capable of refining itself and growing stronger by using energy from light.


    The Supreme Alliance doesn''tck defensive divine abilities. In fact, the defensive ability of the Origin diamond is not the strongest divine ability that they have acquired. But the potential of the Origin divine ability is very high. It can grow stronger with Origin energy and it is very light, unlike other defensive divine abilities.


    The best part of this divine ability is that the Origin diamond that the body has turned into can be shifted to create a sharp edge capable of cutting almost everything. So the divine ability is abination of defensive and attacking capabilities.


    The second seed of power is from the pitter race who have bad eyesight but can always identify dangerous things. Their eye can see through camouged beings by focusing on the energy contained within them.


    Their vision is blurry but they are able to identify dangerous objects and people through the quantity and quality of energy they possess. They were able to avoid danger with their eyes but ordinary objects can still kill them. On the plus side, they were good at finding and identifying treasures. They were the first races to know about the reclusive Stellos who liked to sleep like harmless rocks.


    The third seed of power is from the switch race who have special muscles that can store vast amounts of energy. It makes the switch race very fast and agile. Their muscles also don''t tire easily giving them a lot of stamina. This ability eventually upgraded to give the switch race arger control of world power as titans ofw.


    Their body became capable of storing world power just like Soverick''s 9 golden orbs as titans ofw so they can use world power to speed up their bodies instead of being limited to just making their attacks stronger. This divine ability ensured that they managed to survive in the ne.


    Legion-7mented. "These three divine abilities belong to the 3 of the top races on the ne. It is clear that they are very useful and can increase survivability. So what do you want to do with them?"


    Legion-5 snickered, "The Supreme Alliance is so stingy and cunning. It is unfortunate that I am not so easy to fool."


    The three seeds of power belong to the top five races that inhabit this ne. They were at the nar portal to defend the ne when it was invaded. Thousands of their sovereigns died there but the Supreme Alliance left just three seeds of power.


    It is not a decision made entirely out of selfishness. They left only 3 to limit the amount of resources that the young one could get and to limit the amount of young Supreme beasts that would make stupid decisions.


    These seeds of power are worth one point each if returned to the Supreme Alliance, but they will be worth more than that if they are to be bought from the Supreme Alliance. Each divine ability from the Supreme Alliance costs at least 10 points. So the young supreme beasts have to make the decision between returning the seeds of power or using it for themselves.


    Some foolish ones won''t be able to curb their greed. They will want to use it even though they don''t know what the seeds of power do or whatws they contain.


    Each seed of power looks different but that doesn''t mean anything. The young supreme beasts won''t be able to tell what divine abilities they contain or whatws they contain at a nce. But they might be pressed for power or in a hurry to gain an advantage so they try their luck and hope for the best. If they do this, then only three young Supreme beasts might waste their potential this way and not more.


    Some other foolish ones will refuse to try their luck and return the seeds of power to the Supreme Alliance in exchange for points. They are too stupid to realize that there are more than two options. They can keep the seeds of power for negotiation or until they find someone to help them identify the divine ability that it possesses.


    This third option is for those who can look beyond short-term gratification and can also fulfill those long-term goals. It is a test of wisdom and restraint for the young Supreme Beasts.


    The Supreme Alliance is cunning in that way. Every step of the rite of passage has been tailor-made to test the wisdom of young supreme beasts or teach them life lessons needed for them to gain experience. It is just that they didn''t ount for someone like Legion-5. He is very familiar withws and concepts.

 Chapter 1230 The Second And Third.

    Chapter 1230 The Second And Third.


    ??He can''t tell what the concepts of the seeds of power are at a nce but he can identify which race it belongs to at a nce by identifying thews contained within them. That way he can tell which concept it is.


    The Supreme Alliance didn''t ount for Legion-7 either. No one did because no one could.


    Legion-7 suggested, "I can just eat this seed of power even if you don''t know what they do. That''s better than wasting them for just a single point."


    Legion-7 has be a devourer ofw and seeds of power ever since Soverickprehended aw and agitated the cosmic energy within Helios. He can''tprehendws but he can add Authority to himself through devouring them.


    Legion-5 would have rolled his eyes if he had them. "And you wonder why the universe was like, ''this guy is an abomination. I must get rid of him."


    "Ha. I couldn''t be enved and I couldn''t be digested by the universe. Nothing can put me down."


    Legion-5 snickered, "You mean nothing except lightning tribtion."


    Legion-7 didn''t agree. "I am still alive, aren''t I?"


    Legion-5 shook his head as he went ahead to exchange the second seed of power. He doesn''t need the divine ability of the switch race the least but it is very useful to other Supreme beasts because Supreme beasts willck the amplification of world power as Sovereigns ofw due to the fact that they skipped the titan ofw stage.


    The eyes that see energy are also a waste to him since Legion already has Soverick. It is also less valuable to Supreme beasts. Only the scout ss or special ss will appreciate it so he intends to exchange it for a single point.


    The only one that he considers worthy of assimtion is the one belonging to the Stellos race. He will then use the single point he gains from the second divine ability to exchange for something good.


    Fortunately, there is an easy way to make the exchange. It is avable to every Supreme beast that has set up a base. He can use the central exchange system in the base for the exchange.


    So Legion-5 walked over to the portal room and ced the seed of power into it. Then he sealed the room and activated the transfer. Everything within the room was taken away leaving only air.


    Legion-5 didn''t leave yet. He went through the reward list to make a purchase. He is the only one with a base so no one has ess to a portal room yet and no one has bought anything. This means the initial price for every divine ability is still one point.


    It is the privilege given to the first person to acquire a point in the rite of passage. Of course, he can use the special point he gained for being the first to set up a base but it will be a waste. So he used the one point he just got to exchange for the heart of a dragon.


    "Which heart should I get?" he asked Legion-7.


    "Get the post-origin one. Get the one with an awakened lightning divine ability."


    Legion-5 frowned. "But that will affect my future path. Dragon heart is too powerful. It will affect every divine ability that I choose so anyone that is notpatible with lightning will refuse to fuse with it."


    Legion-7 insisted, "I have to get some sort of lightning resistance. Lightning is my only weakness. If I get lightning resistance then the void universe won''t be able to destroy me easily with lightning tribtion. Don''t worry aboutpatibility. I will help you to fuse all your abilities."


    "Fine," Legion-5 said and went ahead to make the exchange.


    Divine abilities needpatibility so the decision for divine abilities is very important. If they are notpatible then they won''t fuse together and with him when he bes an Origin god. But if he uses Legion-7 as the base divine ability then there shouldn''t be any problem withpatibility because Legion-7 ispatible with everyw.


    His single point disappeared while the prices of divine abilities soared. He has used the privilege of being the first to purchase a divine ability so the prices of divine abilities were restored to their original cost. The panel outside the portal room lit up as the transfer was made.


    Legion-5 said with anticipation, "Together, there is nothing we can''t do. The sess of my n has increased with you. It is worth it to give you one of my slots permanently."


    "Our sessful fusion has also given me the idea for the unity of all clones without the Origin."


    Legion-5 agreed with it. "It could work out. But if we do so, then it will be putting all our eggs in one basket. If you are in danger we will all be in danger."


    Legion-7 advised. "That''s why you should focus on immunity and making yourself unkible. If nothing can get past you, then nothing will be able to reach me."


    "So you want me to be like the god of fate in the Zargoth ne?"


    "Correct. Aeternus was helpless against him."


    Legion-5 chuckled. "That is good advice but I know that you are saying that just to make me into an indestructible shell for you."


    Legion-7 didn''t deny it. "What can I say? You are the perfect host for me. I can stay within other clones without rejection since we are one but I won''t be able to use my powers because they can''t shapeshift their existence to amodate me. Is it so bad to not want to lose you?"


    "Let''s all think about it. This is not a decision that we can make alone."


    His original purpose is to acquire divine abilities that will eliminate the weakness of other clones. But Legion-7 wants to be their anchor for a resurrection system independent of thew matrix. That''s going to require a lot more investment from him than he nned.

 Chapter 1231 Whats Blue And Sounds Like Thunder?

    Chapter 1231 What''s Blue And Sounds Like Thunder?


    ??It is a good idea to try and create a system of resurrection independent of the void universe as it will grant them the ability to resurrect like Origin gods without being Origin gods and they won''t lose this ability if the void universe is destroyed. But Legion-7 himself who is to be the foundation of this system is vulnerable.


    If he is to try to eliminate Legion-7''s weakness then it will take a lot more of his divine ability slots which will disrupt his n for the other clones. Hence why Legion-5 is not sure they should do it.


    Legion-7 made his point. "I don''t think we have to think much about it because it will benefit all of Legion and eliminate a very important weakness. After all, if you are unkible that means I am unkible. And if I am unkible then we are all unkible. If we are all unkible, then whatever doesn''t kill us will only make us stronger."


    "That is true. But are we even sure that you can do it?" Legion-5 asked as he moved to take what he exchanged for.


    He opened the door of the portal room to find arge crystal within it. The crystal is round and blue. It has a rough jagged surface so it looks more like a rock. If not for the fact that it is transparent then it would be considered a crystal.


    Because it is transparent, Legion-5 could see that there are faint white streaks of energy within it that branch out like roots and flicker rhythmically. If the white roots of the crystal are considered blood vessels then the flickering can be considered the pulsing of blood as it is pumped.


    Legion-5 carried the crystal out with both of his hands. The crystal was that heavy. It is about 10 meters tall and very heavy. He had to use both his arms.


    Legion-7 observed, "It is beautiful and powerful. What a wonder it is."


    Legion-5 grunted. "And heavy."


    "It is the source of dragon Supremacy so it should be heavy."


    "And now it shall be ours."


    Theyughed about the prospect.


    "It wouldn''t even be the only one. It is just the first step towards greatness."


    "Many more will fall and serve as nutrition to our obsession."


    The crystal is bigger than him in his normal state but he is more than strong enough to carry it. Even so, he still treated it with care. This is because, despite how powerful it is, the heart of a dragon is fragile. So he used both of his hands to carry it back to the central room. It is the most secure location in the whole base.


    Legion-5 said. "Witt this we will gain some immunity to lightning. Legion is counting on you for the first step of unity. It will be a waste if you fail."


    Legion-7 promised. "I won''t fail as long as you are unkible. We should be able to match Legion-8 if we work together."


    Legion-5 ced the blue crystal heart on the ground gently. He tapped it lightly. It made a sound like that of thunder. Legion-5 winced at the sound.


    "Lightning is truly violent. This is not going to be easy to assimte."


    Legion-7mented dryly. "I expect this to be very painful for you. It is not going to be easy at all."


    Legion-5 sighed. "I guess there is no use dying."


    Then he began to assimte the dragon heart. His form copsed into a blob of whitish fluid. He spread his fluid form all over the blue crystal and engulfed it. Then his form reverted to his humanoid form. He has shrunk and the dragon heart shrunk with him.


    Legion-7 observed, "That didn''t seem so difficult."


    Legion-5 shook his head. "It is just the beginning."


    He felt the heart buckle within him just as he said that. It made him stumble. The dragon that the heart belongs to is dead so the heart is not the one resisting the assimtion. The resistancees from his existence needing to shift to amodate such a powerful and foreign object.


    After all, as a post-origin dragon heart, it must havee from dragon that was a titan ofw or Sovereign ofw. It is has made it extremely tasking for his existence to shift to try and match the requirements of the dragon heart.


    It took a while to stabilize himself. But he couldn''t remain standing. He had to sit because of the fatigue. He felt as if he was suffocating, burning, drowning, and tired from lifting a mountain all at the same time.


    He said to Legion-7. "I feel so sleepy."


    "Don''t worry. I''ll be here to protect you."


    Legion-5 slept off at that point. He couldn''t maintain the awareness of his consciousness anymore. It is amon urrence for Supreme Beasts when they are assimting divine abilities. He is stronger than his peers but he is absorbing two divine abilities at the same time so sleep cannot be evaded.


    In fact, assimting Legion-7 is more than enough for him to sleep. Legion-7 alone is more tasking than absorbing 10 divine abilities at once. After all, Legion-7 has his consciousness intact while seeds of powers are dead things.


    If not for the fact that Legion-7 is not resisting then he would never be able to assimte Legion-7. It is more likely for him to be assimted if the two of them were enemies. This is because Legion-7 is more experienced in eating and assimting others.


    Things went without a hitch despite the weird changes that Legion-5 went through during the assimtion process. His existence didn''t break down due to Legion-7 like the poor boy who was possessed. But his existence had to make a lot of changes for Legion-7 and the dragon heart.


    So it was perfectly normal that his body expanded and became horrifically mutated during the assimtion. He grew several arms, legs, and many tentacles. Those are due to Legion-7. But even those changes were not as weird as the effect the dragon heart had on him.

 Chapter 1232 No Escape From Pain.

    Chapter 1232 No Escape From Pain.


    ??The dragon heart made him grow blue scales and his skin became hardened like rock. Giant toothy maws, skeletal wings, and tails on different parts of his body grew during the assimtion process. There were numerous other weird body parts that were grown and absorbed in different cycles as his existence shifted to assimte the two divine abilities.


    Other races can use a dragon heart without the need to go through the changes he is going through. But the dragon heart won''t be able to grow with them. It will just be an organic essory that will empower them. They will never be able to convert it into their own organ. This means they will never be a true dragon and the dragon heart will not follow them when they be Origin gods.


    In turn, their form doesn''t need to ripple and change during assimtion. The assimtion process takes minutes at most and they don''t get fatigued enough to sleep.


    He on the other hand became a worm, a slug, and a rock at some point. All the while lightning was burning him from within and explosions like thunder rang from within his body. He felt the pain even though he wasn''t conscious. There was no escape from it.


    Things got worse until they stopped. Then they reverted slowly as Legion-5 got used to Legion-7. This process took more than 27 days toplete.


    Meanwhile, the outside world was full of actions as he slept. Supreme beasts vied for supremacy everywhere. Some even came to his base while he was asleep.


    "Are you sure this is the base of Agrivo839,371,456A?" One of the 5 Supreme Beasts asked.


    "Yes, it is. I was close by when his base waspleted. It was at the same time that the announcement went out. I am sure he is Agrivo839,371,456A."


    They stood some distance away from his base watching it. There wasn''t any activity in the base. No bots were mining and every ess to the base had been locked. No one can get in unless they barge in.


    One of them observed. "The price for divine abilities in the reward list has gone up so he has acquired a divine ability. His divine sense is absent which means he is currently sleeping. He must be busy assimting it and will be vulnerable now."


    "Should we attack? This seems like the best opportunity to do so." Someone suggested.


    Another agreed. "This is a good chance to stop his streak. He is already assimting a divine ability while we are yet to get one. He will be a Sovereign when he wakes up and we will still be transcendents."


    The leader of the alliance shook her head. "It is a good chance but we arecking and unable to take advantage of it. We will need to break the defense barrier of his base. We are not strong enough for that and we don''t have troops that are strong enough either. And that''s just the problem of his base. What if he has helpers and alliance mates? They won''t stand back and watch as we attack him so we have to be ready to fight others."


    "Besides, we won''t be able to eliminate him now even if we seed. We are still in the protection phase."


    A third agreed. "And wasting our time here to stop him from progressing indicates that we don''t believe that we can catch up with him. It is admitting loss before fighting. I think our time should be better spent developing ourselves and acquiring points."


    The leader nodded. "We have 3 against the proposal and 2 for it. That means we won''t attack. We shouldn''t be discouraged that he is making progress. We can make progress too. And making enemies of someone so dangerous is not a good idea this early into the rite of passage. Who knows, we might even get to work together with him in the future. There is room for cooperation between us."


    This group gave up on the attacking Legion-5. They are one of thergest alliances and yet they decided not to attack him. It is not out of cowardice. They have several reasons not to and it isn''t worth it.


    Several groups came to look for him. They came mostly to know the location of the first of them who built a base and acquired a divine ability. That information will be crucial if they want to work with him in the future or attack him.


    Some were not so smart though. They tried to break into his base. This is after they knew that one would need the power of a Sovereign to break the lowest level of the defense barrier.


    Only one out of the four that attacked got to touch the barrier before they were shot out of the sky by the defense cannon lying on the top of one of the walls of the base. They expected the attack and they thought they were fast enough to dodge it. They were wrong.


    Legion-5 enjoyed peace during his vulnerable state. His base didn''t progress at all during this process because of the state it was in. All the bots and other operations were paused and energy was redirected to the defense, attack, and surveince systems. He prioritized safety in exchange for progress.


    Others made progress during that time. They met with the inhabitants of the ne and started the process of spreading the influence of the Supreme Alliance. They did this through peaceful methods or violent coercion.


    Someone subdued a hex in that short period of time. They became the first to do so and were rewarded with a special point for it. They can use that special point to acquire any divine ability regardless of the price as long as it is in their ss.


    Some even managed to mine a lot of resources and upgrade their bases during that time. They were able to turn their small bases into war fortresses. The rite of passage moved on without Legion-5.

 Chapter 1233 Next Step Is Fusion.

    <h4>Chapter 1233 Next Step Is Fusion. </h4>


    ?Legion-5 didn''t let up after he assimted Legion-7 and the dragon heart. He can use the dragon heart now but that is not enough for him. Legion-7 and the dragon heart have to fuse. It is only then can he sessfully create a synergistic effect between the two divine abilities that amplifies the power of both of them.


    Legion-7 spoke. "I guess it is my turn now."


    "Let''s see what I can do first before you get to work."


    Legion-5 tried the effect of the heart first. His hand became scaled and wed. Blue lightning flickered yfully in the palm of his hand. This is something that only Supreme beasts can do. Other races that fuse with a dragon heart can not bring it back to life and use the element that the original dragon could use while it was alive.


    "It is not bad. But it is not enough. You can get to work now."


    Legion-5 reverted the changes so that Legion-7 could get to work. He has be a true dragonplete with the inner world of a dragon and the paragon ability of dragons. He has also gained Lightning resistance but Legion-7 hasn''t. Seeing as the major reason why they chose a post-origin lightning dragon heart was for its resistance, then their arrangement is stillcking.


    This is where Legion-7es in. Legion-7 likes to devourws and concepts not because he is a glutton but because he can evolve with them. He will assimte thews and evolve as long as he can devour thews and have ess to cosmic energy to assimte them.


    They intend to use this ability of his to fuse the two divine abilities together. Normal Supreme beasts can do this too. They just have to make sure the concepts arepatible and thenprehend thews of the concepts to fuse them. They will then gain a synergistic effect between the concept that amplifies them.


    They haveprehended thews they need thanks to Soverick and while the two slots are notpatible, Legion-7 can ovee any resistance to fusion by assimting the dragon heart and evolving. Legion-7 will gain the lightning resistance he craves and since Legion-7 is Legion-5''s divine ability, that means he has seeded in fusing the two divine abilities.


    Legion-7 warned, "Prepare yourself, this is going to be painful."


    Legion-5 sighed. "I thought as much."


    Other Supreme Beasts won''t experience pain at this stage since the fusion is peaceful for them. But his fusion will be violent. He expected to feel the kind of pain thew matrix felt when Legion-7 started devouring it. It is this kind of pain that made the Will of the void universe decide to kill Legion-7.


    Within Legion-5 are 9 empty orbs. 2 of them are no longer empty. There is a small jellyfish with translucent flesh, tentacles, and several spots of light within it in one of the orbs. In the other orb is a blue shell of an inner world.


    Translucent tentacles extended out of the first orb to the blue orb. It grabbed the blue orb forcefully and pulled it to itself. Legion-5 didn''t try to resist the fusion but he still felt pain due to the pull and more pain when Legion-7 began to force the assimtion.


    His body shook in pain and his existence experienced a feeling of imminent crisis. This feeling of crisis is because what was going on within him is far from normal. A strange entity eating your divine ability from inside of you is usually the prelude to death. After all, what''s to say the entity will stop at eating your divine ability and leave without doing more damage?


    It took all of his restraint not to try and resist. Meanwhile, Legion-7 was enjoying himself.


    "I''ve never had a dragon heart before. They taste delicious."


    Legion-5 had ck lines on his body and face. They were created when blue lines appeared all over his body and then faded away as the dragon heart was devoured.


    He couldn''t help but say, "And you wonder why the Will of the void universe, the will of a ne, and some Celestials ganged up on you."


    There are some times when Legion has been treated unfairly and when they deserve revenge. Like the time Legion-7 was enved. But the time Legion-7 was "bullied" and almost killed until he ran out of the ne for his dear life is not one of those cases of unfair treatment.


    The two upied slots eventually merged and became one. The merging was quick and easy. There was no rejection whatsoever. The total number of slots within Legion-5 became 8 because of it.


    The slot glowed briefly as cosmic energy from the mindwork entered it. Legion-7 evolved and became stronger which means Legion-6 became stronger too.


    The translucent jellyfish appeared with the inner world of the dragon heart.


    Legion-7, "That was easy."


    "Easy for you to say."


    Legion-7 ignored him. He felt rxed and peaceful. "This is so good. I am the spirit of this world now. The void universe won''t be able to trouble me here."


    Legion-5 let go of his grievances too. His pain is gone and feels stronger. In fact, he feels rxed and peaceful too.


    Legion-7 said to him, "My new powers are great. I can produce dragon force and we have the POWER stat now."


    "Dragons are too blessed. We used to look up at them but I have caught up to them now and we will soon surpass them."


    Legion-7 agreed. "It is only a matter of time. The strength of our Unity will be unparalleled."


    "Are you confident? Won''t the two inner worlds sh?"


    "Everything looks perfect. We are one so Legion-1''s inner world shouldn''t resist me."


    "Alright. Let us start with the first step of unity."


    Legion-1 also agreed. "Let us begin."


    Legion-7 extended his tentacles out to the only inhabited of this world apart from him. His tentacles spread throughout Legion-5''s existence. There was no resistance during his search and the information from Legion-5 helped him to find the hidden soul sphere.

 Chapter 1234 First Level Of Unity.

    <h4>Chapter 1234 First Level Of Unity.</h4>


    ?Legion-7 said excitedly, "I have found it."


    The soul sphere didn''t escape his grasp by bing intangible. Legion-7 was able to wrap his tentacles around Legion-5''s soul sphere because he is a spiritual entity too. Then his tentacles entered the soul sphere.


    "Nice," Legion-5 eximed.


    He and all the clones felt Legion-7''s invasion into their mindwork. It filled them with anticipation, not fear. They haven''t been able to interact with the soul sphere since they got it more than 3 Origin cycles ago. Even Legion-1 who is in the possession of their Origin couldn''t do it. They have resigned themselves to its passive functions until now. So every clone is looking forward to what this will achieve.


    Legion-7 said, "Don''t rejoice yet. Let''s see what else I can do."


    His tentacles went through the soul sphere and into the main one present in Legion-1.


    "It seems I was right. I can move easily between the two inner worlds. There is no resistance."


    Then his entire body followed the soul channel and appeared within Legion-1''s inner world. His tentacles spread from Legion-1''s soul sphere to the other clones. He nted a part of his tentacle into their existence.


    "I can even use the mindwork to enter the other soul spheres which means I should be able to perform the first stage of unity." He said with confidence. "Who wants to go first?"


    Legion-1 volunteered. "I will be one. I can resurrect if something goes wrong. The others are too important to risk or can''t even be united yet."


    Soverick agreed. "That''s true. I will go second."


    "Alright then."


    Legion-1 opened himself up to Legion-7. Legion-7''s tentacles drilled into his Origin soul and absorbed it. At this point, his Origin soul and Origin body haven''tpleted the fusion due to the need for a second concept so Legion-7 could only assimte Legion-1''s soul.


    Arge burble containing a ck-purpish scaled and reptilian humanoid beast appeared with the jellyfish. It formed a face on the gemlike head of Legion-7.


    The inner world of the world beast rubbled but didn''t copse. The presence of the tree father and reinforcement of the Authority of the Celestial Supreme held up the inner world in the absence of Legion-1''s Origin soul. It provided enough time for Legion-7 to re-create Legion-1''s soul.


    One of Legion-7''s tentacles began to expand as he siphoned divine life energy, Origin energy, and Origin essence from the tree father. This white swollen tentacle then detached and morphed into Legion-1''s soul.


    This world beast looks the same as the one that Legion-7 absorbed but they are not the same. The bubble with the ck-


    purpish scaled and reptilian humanoid beast is still present within Legion-7. This thing that looks like Legion-1 is in essence a portion of Legion-7. It is just a part of Legion-7 with the same physical and spiritual characteristics as Legion-1. It is Legion-1 v1.


    "That was a sess," Legion-1 said as he examined his body. "I feel just the same. It is as if I closed my eyes to sleep and woke up."


    He is Legion-1 v1 because he is a tentacle of Legion-7. But he is also Legion-1 because Legion-1 is now a part of Legion-7. So Legion-7''s tentacle is Legion-1''s soul or to be more urate Legion-1 v1 because there can beter versions of this tentacle if it is destroyed. This is a resurrection system independent of the void universe.


    All the clones who had been holding their breath finally rxed.


    Soverick spoke first. "That''s good. Save me next."


    "What''s the rush?" Legion-7 asked.


    "I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen to me soon. I have felt the gaze of powerful entities which can only be world gods on me and something weird is going on in the ne. Someone is spreading the method to take my title from me. I noticed it when I killed a bunch of troublesome people. I am sure it is rted to the sages since they are the ones most familiar with the title of the child of the ne because I don''t know who else knows how to take my title from me."


    Legion-7 agreed. "Better safe than sorry then."


    The tree father suggested, "I think we should n for the eventuality of losing the title. We aren''t going to have it forever. We need something powerful to help us stand out from the other origin gods."


    Soverick thought about it and said, "I currently don''t have any ideas. The best bet is the shards of power but we can''t use them without a Supremew and aw matrix. There is no way to get a Supremew without reaching the peak as Origin gods."


    Legion-1 added his opinion. "Let''s just focus on unity for now. This is just the first stage. It wasn''t nned for but it turned out right. It shows that my n for unity has a higher chance of sess. If unity works, then when all of you reach the Origin stage Legion won''t be normal Origin gods. We will stand out then without the shards of power."


    Soverick had to agree. "If unity at the Origin level works, and I believe that it will work, then we should be able to have multiple worlds as world gods."


    Helios joined in. "There''s also me and Aeternus. If we master the two Supremews, it will grant us a lot of power."


    "We are on the right path. There''s no need to trouble ourselves with the unreliable shards of power."


    Legion-7 assimted the clones as they chatted. He couldn''t assimte all of them though. Aeternus is too dangerous to work with. They won''t be able to insure him until they master the Supremew of Chaos.


    Helios can''t be detached from thew matrix or they will lose ess to cosmic energy. Ragnarok is being watched and surrounded by the demon god of Carnage. CARNAGE likes to hunt and kill spiritual entities and Legion doesn''t want to risk their independent resurrection system for one clone so Ragnarok will remain on his own for now.

 Chapter 1235 What Class To Choose.

    Chapter 1235 What ss To Choose.


    ??Legion-8 is a no-go since he hasn''t hatched yet. Legion-7 couldn''t assimte the tree father either because of the god fire that he bears. The god fire of gods is one of the things he is vulnerable to. He''s extra vulnerable to it since he doesn''t have a physical body. Anything thates in contact with a god fire burns including him.


    Legion-7 did what he could do for now. He spread some of his tentacles into the mindwork and into the clones he could ess for now. Soverick is one of those clones. The tentacle entered his soul through the soul sphere and began assimting it.


    Then it also extended to his body. This all urred without anyone knowing. Not even Hadrick realized that Soverick was being reced. Only one world god who had an eye that could identify secrets could tell that Soverick was not a battle sage monkey anymore.


    From that moment on, the physical Soverick became a shell of matter and energy that led directly to Legion-7. If anyone pries into his consciousness they will find Soverick there waiting for them. But if one digs deeper and Legion-7 allows them permission, then they will find a bottomless abyss containing a tentacle monster waiting for them.


    Legion-7 used Soverick as an anchor to spread his tentacles throughout the Virut ne. This is to collect information and to acquire vessels that can be remade into Soverick if necessary.


    He can recreate Soverick''s body in Legion-1''s or Legion-5''s inner world but it is better to have other options in the realm. Then he returned to Legion-5''s inner world and assimted him too.


    Legion-5 said, "Now that that has been settled and our future path has been ascertained, I can solely focus on immunity now. Let''s discuss my future path."


    He examined his body as he talked. First, he lifted his hand and looked at it. His hand divided and morphed into two. Then it became four. He straightened them and turned them into tentacles. These tentacles wiggled slightly as he shook them about. He even produced four more arms and converted them into tentacles.


    "I am assuming this is because I assimted you. My existence is capable of greater changes that won''t cause my consciousness to copse. You have increased the limit and adaptability of my shapeshifting."


    Legion-7 replied smugly, "You are wee."


    Technically, transcendents can change their form to a certain extent but there is a limit on the degree of change to their physical form which is ced on them by their consciousness.


    This is because any change to their body is also a change to their consciousness so they are stretching their consciousness whenever they try to morph their form. So what he is doing right now is definitely odd. Even other shapeshifters can''t do it.


    Legion-7 interrupted him. "Stop admiring yourself. We have work to do. Let''s focus on your ss."


    "What''s the rush? No one is trying to kill you."


    "You''re wrong. No one is trying to kill me yet. I have to take the void universe seriously if I want to continue to live so I must prepare for its attempt to take my life before it makes its move."


    Legion-5 mocked him. "You are too afraid of death. You are like Hadrick."


    "You will be afraid of death too if you felt what I have been through. You only know what I went through but you didn''t experience it. Knowledge is different from experience. And don''t say I am being paranoid. I am certain that the universe is after me. It wants to get rid of me just like it wants to get rid of Hadrick."


    "Alright. Let''s get a move on. There are only two sses that will make it difficult to be killed. There is the scout and assassin ss. The other one is the warrior and self-superpremacy ss. Which one should we take?"


    "Take the self supremacy ss. The scout ss is fast, can avoid danger, and possesses high-damage outbursts but they are all useless against the void universe. You can''t avoid the void universe no matter how fast you are. You can''t escape the danger of tribtion no matter how quick you sense it and you surely can''t attack the void universe no matter how fast your attack speed is. So prepare yourself to take a beating from the void universe and survive it."


    "That''s true. The Lightning immunity from the dragon heart will work well with the warrior ss. Plus I have already taken the dragon heart which means I have already been assigned the warrior ss. It will be expensive to switch sses now."


    Legion-5 agrees with Legion-7 to pick the warrior and self-


    supremacy ss. All of Legion also agrees that Legion-7 should be protected. That means Legion-5 who is the host of Legion-7 has to be indestructible and unkible.


    Prioritizing defense will obviously affect his attack potential but it is a sacrifice he is willing to make. Legion doesn''t need another clone chasing after omnipotence. They already have Legion-8 for that. Besides, the second level of unity that will ur when the clones be Origin gods should fix his weakness.


    So Legion-5 went through the sses and the divine abilities avable to them. There are several sses because the Supreme Alliance encourages the specialization of Supreme beasts. Each Supreme beast specializes in one aspect and bes unbeatable in that aspect. Then they use division ofbor and cooperation to act together and ovee their individual weakness.


    The warrior or self-supremacy ss are Supreme Beasts that focus on close and physical fighting. They are not particrly powerful in terms of attack power. They have an advantage when fighting a single enemy but can be ineffective when fighting numerous enemies at once. However, they can not be killed easily.


    Warriors can be defeated with speed or advantage of numbers of numbers, but killing them is another matter entirely. So even though they can''t harm several enemies at once unlike the one-


    man army ss, they are unrivaled when ites to survivability so they are not afraid to be ganged on.

 Chapter 1236 Many Many Classes.

    Chapter 1236 Many Many sses.


    ??The warrior sscks fatal or debilitating weaknesses and as such are very difficult to kill. They can''t hold back numerous enemies but numerous enemies can''t kill them either. They are most capable in the thick of battle or on the frontlines. They can walk through the battlefield unhindered. Theirck of weakness makes them the best soldiers to field in every situation.


    They are usually used as Frontline soldiers to test the waters in uncertain situations because Warriors focus on defense, resistance, and immunity. They do this to achieve self-supremacy. They can ignore the suppression of the realm on Origin gods and the suppression of the divine ne.


    A perfect warrior is a warrior that any Supreme Beast with the special ss will be unable to defeat much less kill. As for scouts, they focus on perception, mobility, stealth, and damage outburst for assainations.


    The difference between them is that a warrior with a supremew can survive the explosion of a star while a scout with a supremew can outrun the explosion of a star. Scouts have a lot of weaknesses but they can perceive danger and escape easily.


    There are 4 other sses. There is the negative buff ss that focuses on creating favorable battle situations for other Supreme Beasts. They do this by applying negative states to the enemies and weakening them. So they are the masters of curses, illusions, negative emotions, and fear-mongering to destroy enemy morale.


    In special cases, the negative ss creates specific weaknesses in enemies that the special ss can take advantage of to kill in droves. This way, the special ss can always be useful, and while the negative ss is not deadly in itself, they are capable of bringing enemies one step closer to death.


    The opposite ss to negative buff is the positive buff. Their job is to increase the power of Supreme Beasts. They help other Supreme Beasts attain victory by healing them and increasing their speed, defense, and attack. They even make energy avable for allies in situations where there is no ambient origin energy.


    The positive and negative buff are incredibly weak in other aspects. They can''t perceive danger, escape it, or take a beating. This has made them easy to kill so they need to be protected. That''s why they are usually paired with warriors.


    Warriors protect them as the positive buff enhances the warrior''s power, speed, and healing meanwhile, the negative buff suppresses their enemies to make it easier for the warriors to kill them. Thebination of the three sses creates a deadlybo that brings despair to the enemies.


    The greatest ss is the one-man army ss. They are Supreme beasts capable of fighting a whole army on their own without breaking a sweat. They use at least one of the great divine abilities to achieve thisbat power.


    Even the lowest one-man army that uses bug army or beast envement are walking powerhouses who can take on a ne on their own. They just need a massive amount of resources to raise their armies.


    One particr aspect of the one-man army is the fact that they must always be able to fight at any moment. That means their army must be created on the spot or they carry it with them at all times. That way they can be ready to deploy their armies at any time and in any situation.


    The bug and beast envement divine abilities don''t have the perpetuation ability of the great divine abilities so they can''t create soldiers whenever they need them. But they fuse with special divine abilities that create a pocket of space within them to carry their army around with them.


    The one army ss is hardly vulnerable seeing as they always have the advantage of numbers on their side. But they do have weaknesses. They hate the negative buff ss since those ones are capable of reducing their power en mass.


    They also hate the scout ss since those can escape and can assassinate them. They have a love-hate rtionship with warriors because warriors can''t harm them but warriors are also tough nuts to crack.


    Thest ss is the special ss. This ss is the direct opposite of the warrior ss. They target specific weaknesses and take advantage of them. A single Supreme Beast in this ss can be so powerful that no amount of enemies with a particr weakness can beat them.


    For example, a supreme beast might collect divine abilities that are fire-based and enhance fire attacks. This will make it so that no amount of enemies with a weakness to fire can match them. They will be able to cripple if not massacre multitudes of enemies that are weak to fire.


    Elves of any kind can''t fight this kind of enemy. It is why they were the major force in the hunt for Monarch High Heaven when he was just a Sovereign. It is unfortunate that the realm lord already ovee that weakness by the time he became a titan ofw. He didn''t follow the path of his divine ability and that saved him.


    Each Supreme Beast in this ss focuses on a single weakness and collects divine abilities that boost each other and make the possession of that weakness fatal. The disadvantage is that they bergely useless when fighting enemies that don''t possess the weakness they specialize in.


    Legion''s aim for Legion-5 is to be undefeatable against any Special ss. Only then can he be certified to possess no weakness. That will be difficult to achieve but he has to achieve this not for Legion-7''s protection but to eliminate Legion''s weakness as a whole.


    Legion-5 suggested, "While the sses are separate, some divine abilities in all sses are important for us to get to make sure I am unkible. For example the heart of a life tree that the positive buff ss have. With it, I will be unkible."


    Legion-7 agreed. "You are right but we don''t need that one."

 Chapter 1237 Across Class Combination Potential.

    Chapter 1237 Across ss Combination Potential.


    ??Legion-7 continued, "We have the tree father for healing, and his divine life energy is many times better. It is almost above the level of life essence. But I see what you are going for. Let us take a spatial maniption divine ability from the scout ss. It will make it easy for me to move around in thew matrix and I will also be able to transfer Matter between all of us. It will also prevent you from being sealed and make it easier to escape."


    Legion-5 thought about it before he gave his answer. "Yeah, let us do that."


    Some divine abilities are for specific sses but they are also useful for other sses. The dragon heart for example is best for warriors but it is also very good for every ss. The dragon heart empowers every other divine ability with dragon force so it is an all-rounder without any weakness.


    The major reason why the dragon heart has been assigned to warriors by the Supreme Alliance is because it helps them resist suppression of any kind which is the cornerstone ability of warriors.


    Warriors have to be capable in any situation and must be able to maintain their fighting prowess in any situation including fighting in the divine ne. But dragon force isrgely wasted on the Warriors since they have very few attacking methods.


    The amplification of dragon force will show a greater effect if it is used on divine abilities with powerful effects. That''s why the one-man army ss also covets the dragon heart. The amplification of an army will cost the same in terms of dragon force as amplifying a single warrior but the effect on an army will be greater than amplifying a single warrior.


    Another example of a better use of the dragon heart is the pairing of two great divine abilities like the dragon heart and the metal fire of the one-man army ss. Such abination can create someone as powerful as the Metal Emperor.


    The Metal Emperor is different from the Mechanical Emperor. She took the warrior path instead of the one-man army path. She changed her body into a metal elemental and achieved unlimited regeneration with the aid of the metal fire. As long as she was on a ne with earth around her, she couldn''t be defeated or killed. She could always recover from injuries by refining earth into metal.


    She had great strength but she had a weakness which was that she could be killed in water bodies and areas without earth. But she overcame that weakness by using the inner space divine ability of the one-man army ss to carry metal and earth around so that she would always have whatever she needed to regenerate whenever she needed it.


    Such is the potential ofbining the divine abilities of different sses and why other sses are not content with a single great divine ability. It is not forbidden by the Supreme Alliance but they will make it difficult to be achieved so that only the strong who can bring out the potential of the great divine abilities can have more than one of them.


    There is also another great divine ability that is controversial. The Warrior ss wants the heart of a life tree. With it, they will be able to easily heal themselves from the most serious injuries. Whenbined with their various immunities and defensive divine abilities, it bes nearly impossible to kill Warriors.


    But this divine ability is meant for the positive buff ss. They pair it with a divine ability that enables them to share their life force and energy with others and hence heal other sses. The Supreme Alliance believes that it is better suited to the positive buff because they can share the power of the heart of a life tree with others and therefore utilize it better.


    A warrior can''t share the effect of the heart of life so the Supreme Alliance considers it a waste to assign it to them. After all, every ss wants healing. It would be too expensive to give every ss the heart.


    While the Supreme Alliance doesn''t make it impossible for warriors to get it, any warrior who tries to get the heart of a life tree will face great difficulty.


    Great divine abilities are already the most expensive divine abilities, but if you try to get the great divine abilities of other sses, then you must be willing to pay a very high price.


    The Supreme Alliance does this to discourage hoarders who want the best divine abilities but will waste them. Each ss is supposed to specialize in an aspect and work together to make up for each other''s weaknesses.


    It is in Legion''s nature to be greedy but they can''t have every divine ability. They can''t use everything and they can''t afford every divine ability either so they will focus on one of the first goals that Gehaldirah wanted to achieve which is to eliminate weakness.


    Legion-5 now wants to get the spatial maniption divine ability of the scout ss. It is mainly to ovee the weakness of warriors which is their inability to escape danger and attempts to seal them.


    The spatial maniption divine ability belongs to the scout ss so it is going to be very expensive for a warrior to acquire but he is not discouraged because he has a special point which he got for being the first to set up his base in this rite of passage. He can get any divine ability of his choosing with that point regardless of its price.


    Legion-5 went through the reward list and looked at the price of the spatial divine abilities. What he saw made him whistle in surprise.


    He grumbled andined. "It isn''t a great divine ability and yet the cheapest spatial divine ability costs 20 points for those in the scout ss but it cost 40 points for me. This is a direct increase of 100%. It is too expensive."

 Chapter 1238 Seal Breaker.

    <h4>Chapter 1238 Seal Breaker. </h4>


    ?The difference in cost of the spatial divine ability that Legion-5 saw for warriors and scouts was 100%. It was not the outlier in terms of differences in prices of divine abilities across sses. Some divine abilities had a difference of 150%.


    The expensive situation made Legion-7ment the fate of the gods. "I don''t see how the gods are going to survive this rite of passage. They are thergest source of points and points are in high demand."


    "I just need to kill a high-god and I will have enough points to purchase this. It is a pity that I can''t attack the divine ne on my own yet. They won''t watch me kill one of them without doing anything."


    Legion-7 said with confidence. "Give me the spatial divine ability first and I will show you how to hunt gods. They won''t be able to run away from me anymore. And fuse with that Origin diamond ability too. It will make this hunt very easy."


    The two of them chuckled evilly as they schemed. The other clones couldn''t help but pity the gods. As if Legion-7 is not already enough of a cmity. Thebination of the two of them has practically doomed the gods now. They won''t be able to send Legion-7 running no matter how they try like thest ne that Legion-7 was in.


    Legion-5 asked, "Which spatial divine abilities should I pick? There are so many of them here. They range from all three states of space."


    He saw several types of spatial maniption divine abilities. There are divine abilities for teleportation, spatial lock, spatial attack, spacepression, portal opening, and space surfing. It is a dazzling sight to see.


    All of them are under spatial maniption under the scout ss. There are still other perceptions and stealth divine abilities apart from these. Legion-5 couldn''t help but marvel at the power of the Supreme Alliance. After all, they were able to capture or conquer races with these powerful divine abilities. Even races with the teleportation divine abilities couldn''t escape from their reach.


    Legion-7 suggested, "Choose the spatial surfing of the crystal space butterfly. It allows for more malleability since it is in the fluid phase of spatial maniption."


    "Are you sure? Something from the fragmented phase of space like teleportation will be very good for escaping."


    "Teleportation is too fixed but I can use spatial surfing to create spatial warping between all the clones and it won''t be easily blocked by the frozen phase of spatial maniption like space lock or space anchor."


    Legion-5 still wasn''t sure it was a good idea, "But using us as beacons will limit your options. You will only be able to escape to other clones and nowhere else. What if all of us die?"


    "If all of you die either at the same time or I can''t resurrect you guys at all, then we are already in big trouble."


    Legion-5 admitted, "That''s a good point."


    They have so many methods to resist death now. The soul sphere can''t resist death but it will ensure the continuation of the clone through resurrection from Legion-1. But the clone that resurrects won''t be the previous one but another clone with the same memories.


    And the soul sphere is especially vulnerable to supremews. If thew of order can affect the Cosmic energy within their mindwork then other Supremews can infiltrate it through any clone.


    Legion-7 on the other hand can help them resist death even from a world god because it won''t be them but a shell of themselves that dies. Legion-7 can also cut off the shell like cutting off a tentacle to cut off the influence of a Supremew.


    If those two options fail and they can''t resurrect at all, then they are screwed far more than the inability to escape. So Legion-5 got the Crystal Space Butterfly. It will make it very difficult for them to be sealed.


    Legion-1 already has a very powerful concept for the maniption of space but he can still be sealed. This is because the weakest and simplest seal for Origin gods freezes and cuts away the space within it from the world. They will separate its captive from thew matrix. They are unlike the seal that the tree father and Helios created that instead use thew matrix to strengthen the seal.


    By separating an Origin god from thew matrix and creating a difference in the spatial coordinates, it will be impossible for any being to teleport away from the seal. Even Legion-1 won''t be able to escape. But if each clone is a spatial anchor then there will be a spatial connection between each one regardless of any difference in spatial coordinates. All they have to do is use each other as spatial beacons to escape from any sealed space.


    The Crystal Space is a divine ability of a race of transparent flying insects that live in the gaps of space. They are not like world beasts. They are flying insects and not great beasts. They don''t have an internal world and they are weak. But they are also very difficult to catch.


    Most people don''t even know that they exist since they are not visible in the world of manifestation and their ability to surf space like an ocean makes it near impossible to be captured by those that can see them.


    They can''t even be attacked by anything without thew of space because they can pass through most attacks. But if by chance they are caught unawares and their surroundings were to be suddenly encased in earth or metal, then they would be captured.


    That''s how the supreme beasts captured them. The crystal space butterfly would break if they tried to pass through any barrier of hardened earth or metal that surrounds them.


    The Crystal Space butterfly can pass through fire, earth, wind, and water normally. But they lose the ability to pass through earth once it forms an enclosure around them.

 Chapter 1239 Bravery Or Folly.

    <h4>Chapter 1239 Bravery Or Folly.</h4>


    ?It was postted that the gravity field of the enclosed earth formed a distortion field that disrupted their divine ability. So the weaknesses of the crystal space butterfly are spatial and gravity maniption.


    It costs 40 points for a warrior to get. He went to receive it from the portal room then he returned to his seat and began assimting it together with the Origin diamond divine ability of the Stellos race. He engulfed them with his body to start the assimtion.


    His body became sluggish and difficult to move again but he didn''t sleep like before. He has Legion-7 now so the burden is not too much for his consciousness to bear anymore.


    He checked through the list while he waited for the assimtion toplete. He saw a lot more divine abilities.


    "Look, there is even the ocr divine ability of the battle sage monkeys. It is under the perception section of the scout ss."


    He noticed that there were a lot of perception divine abilities for the Supreme beasts in the scout ss but one of the best avable is the ability to slow down perception and see ahead of time. This divine ability belongs to the race of battle sage monkeys which is why it drew his attention.


    But he also noticed that there was no divine ability of the eye of the sage. In fact, there isn''t any divine ability of any sage or their lineage.


    "I bet the first sage is the main reason why the Supreme Supreme hasn''tid its hands on battle sage monkeys with the bloodline of the sages or the Virut ne."


    "If that is so, then there are still some people that the supreme alliance doesn''t want to mess with."


    Legion-7 asked him, "What does that say about us who are messing with the first sage?"


    "Greedy? Suicidal? Ignorant? Take your pick."


    The Supreme Alliance managed to get the divine ability of normal battle sage monkeys without bloodlines and those with normal bloodlines even royal bloodlines but they couldn''t get those that had awakened their divine ability further or those with the bloodline of the first sage or the divine ability of any sage lineage. It made them wonder why.


    It could be because those people who have awakened the main divine ability further at the titan ofw stage and above are very rare and difficult to raise in captivity. They also have the ability to see fate so killing or capturing them will be difficult.


    As for the ones with the bloodline of the sages, he is willing to bet that the first sage is responsible for theck of them in the reward list. After all, antagonizing the first sage is not antagonizing a single person, it is antagonizing fate.


    A few schemes from the first sage here and there can cause devastating damage to the Supreme Alliance. It makes a fight with the first sage detrimental to the Supreme Alliance.


    Furthermore, the first sage only cares about a few things while the Supreme Alliance has a lot of investment in the realm which the first sage can find if he is serious about it. If he tips the dragons and other powerful races who are enemies of the Supreme Alliance with the information he gets, then the Supreme Alliance will have a big problem on its hands.


    All of these thoughts and conjectures propose that the first sage is too dangerous an enemy for the Supreme Alliance to make. But it inadvertently made them consider themselves who had already made an enemy of the first sage and what their future would be like because of it.


    Legion-7 said after thinking about it, "I think we were ignorant and surely greedy to mess with the first sage."


    "Ignorant or not, we had no choice. He wasing after us. We had to make the first move or be on the defensive. At least now, we are not so passive. Besides, it''s toote for regrets now. We can only move forward not backwards."


    They stopped thinking about their future fight with the first sage and focused on the present which is to eliminate their weaknesses. Legion-5 went through other perception divine abilities. He found several that impressed him.


    There is a heart that can sense emotions and an ear that can hear people''s thoughts directed at the wielder. With them, scouts will be able to avoid enemies and will always be able to escape when their identities as spies are discovered.


    There is also an eye that can ensure perfect uracy. It is especially paired with any powerful divine ability that is difficult to control.


    "Look at this. A scout with this eye managed to shoot an arrow that hit someone from across a ne."


    Legion-7 exined. "It is more like it performs a spiritual lockdown on the target and uses wind and the divine sense to direct any thrown object to always hit the target. It should have passive abilities for body-eye coordination too."


    Legion-5 wasn''t impressed, "We don''t need it anyway."


    Legion-7 agreed, "We have Soverick. We should focus on the warriors instead and what will make you unkible."


    They went through the list and checked out the divine abilities of those in the warrior stage. Now that he is out of special points, the best option for him is to focus on the divine abilities of warriors.


    Legion-7 suggested, "Take that one. What is it called? Liquid graviton divine ability."


    "It is expensive but its price is understandable for its title of the best defensive ability for warriors."


    "Yes. 30 points isn''t so bad except that it has some serious weaknesses."


    "It should go well with the Origin diamond divine ability. Thebination should form the best offense and defense. I will be counting on you for the fusion. It is going to be a difficult one since it is notpatible with both the lightning dragon heart and the Origin diamond divine ability at all."


    "I''ll see what I can do."

 Chapter 1240 Offense And Defense.

    Chapter 1240 Offense And Defense.


    ??They decided on his fifth divine ability. The Liquid graviton divine ability is from a race of special earth elementals. They live in an environment with a high gravity so their bodies adapted to it. The usual solid form of earth elementals was ditched for a special dense fluid state that can withstand pressure and impacts.


    Its major weakness is that it is very heavy so anyone that possesses it will be very slow. Its second weakness is that it consumes a lot of energy to maintain. The density of the liquid graviton is achieved at a very high cost in Origin energy. Origin gods can handle the energy requirements but it is highly restrictive to Sovereign Supreme Beasts.


    Its third weakness is that it doesn''t fuse with any divine ability that doesn''t have thew of earth in it. The best way to use it is to fuse it with a post-origin dragon heart with earth affinity or a pre-origin dragon heart without any affinity and highpatibility. But even thatbination makes Supreme beasts heavy and slow.


    That weakness cannot be rectified easily because the divine ability for speed that is earth-based is even more expensive than it. So this makes it very unpopr despite its defense.


    It should be a great divine ability if not for the fact that it makes Warriors too slow andckspatibility with other powerful divine abilities. All of its weaknesses make it cost a cheap 30 points despite the fact that it has the strongest defense for warriors.


    They decided to get it because it fits their goal for a powerful defense and ifbined with the Origin diamond divine ability which can turn powerful defense into a powerful means of attack then the Liquid graviton will be put to great use.


    They went through more divine abilities and nned for Legion-5''s path as an indestructible being that could take a beating. They were able to settle on some divine abilities but they also made sure to leave two slots open for his n to be a world god without a Supremew.


    Legion isn''t sure if he will be able to gain the power of a world without bing a world god but they have something that can substitute for a supremew which is Legion-7 and a dragon heart that can substitute for a world engine if upgraded with the necessary abilities. So why not try and see what will happen if they add a world seed into the mix?


    Legion-5 finished their nning session with some objectives that must be aplished. "The rest of the rite of passage can be lost after we have gotten the needed divine abilities but the authority of a Celestial Supreme has to be acquired. We need it and Aeternus''s help to strengthen my dragon heart and be able to use cosmic energy too."


    Legion-7 suggested, "We should probably test the feasibility of your n first before we make any moremitments."


    Legion-5 epted the advice. "Hmm. You make a good point. Let''s start with the godhood of a great god then. And maybe some other items with divinity to test mypatibility."


    Legion-9 interjected, "It better bepatible or my efforts will go to waste."


    Legion-5 tried to reassure him, "It will bepatible. Trust me. Origin weapons are bad for me but I can still fuse with them. Divinity should be better since it likes to fuse with living things. You as a Celestial should know this."


    But Legion-9 was not convinced. "You know what. Maybe you should perform the test before I risk my Authority in this scheme of yours."


    "I am not asking for your life. I just want you to help me create the perfect demigod for me to steal its divine ability."


    "That right there is asking for my life. You know how dangerous the child of a Celestial can be. We could be risking my whole Authority if anything goes wrong. And a lot of things can go wrong. I have a lot of enemies looking for weaknesses in me. They will pounce if they smell any weakness. A demigod is a big weakness."


    Helios joined in too. "The Tree Father makes a good point. Besides, there is no harm in waiting until we see some results from your testing."


    Legion-5 had to agree. "Fine. We will test with the godhood of a great god. Then you can start on your end."


    They are of one mind but no one ones to give up their goal for the other and Legion as a whole doesn''t want to give up any individual goal. They want everything. Only when there is a greater benefit for Legion would they want to make sacrifices.


    Asking the Tree Father to make a demigod is one such sacrifice. The tree father was resistant to sharing his power and making himself vulnerable just like Legion-5 didn''t want to give up more slots for Legion-7''s safety. But Legion-5 finally decided to give up the slots after Legion-7 proved his usefulness and so will the Tree Father after Legion-6 proves that his n to be a world god without a Supremew is not a wild goose chase.


    Legion-7 interjected to assure them, "Getting the godhood of a great god shouldn''t be difficult. My god-hunting n won''t work on the Celestial Supreme and it might not even work on normal Celestials but great gods should be easy to nab."


    Legion-5 nodded. "It is too bad that there is no good god-


    ying divine ability for us to use."


    Legion-7 scoffed. "You''re being greedy. I am your god-ying divine ability. I am the best you can get without being an Origin god."


    Legion-5 chuckled. "Yes yes. I am greedy but I can''t help my nature."


    Legion-7 is good enough even though he is currently not strong enough to hunt Celestials. That will wait until they be Origin gods. This is because the Authority of Celestials is too strong to fight without a concept.

 Chapter 1241 Advantage Of Unity.

    Chapter 1241 Advantage Of Unity.


    ??The other god-ying divine abilities in the reward list are not better either. So Legion-7 is the best that he can get for a single divine ability that targets gods. The Supreme Alliance needs abination of divine abilities or different sses to target gods.


    The best case he saw was the divine ability that can be used to curse gods. The divine ability can curse any being so it is not specially designed to harm gods.


    The main requirement for the divine ability to be effective is to use something that belongs to the target as a channel for the curse. It just so happens that believers belong to a god and can be used to great effect to curse their god. The cursed god will weaken and be unable to create divine energy for some time.


    A supreme beast once used the believers of a whole ne to curse the gods. Millions of lives were sacrificed to extinguish the godfire of the gods of the ne. Gods were dropping out from the sky like dead flies. Only Celestials survived but they were severely injured.


    The cursing divine ability showed great effect in harming the gods but it had a weakness. It couldn''t kill the believers at all. Someone else had to kill the believers while the divine ability used their death to curse their gods.


    This information attached to the description of the divine ability made Legion-5 sigh in awe. "A single being managed to cripple the pantheon of a ne. No wonder the Supreme Alliance doesn''t take the gods seriously."


    "It is truly something. The ss system has created weakness in the supreme beasts but they are still capable of great feats."


    Legion-5 had to nod in agreement. "Their unity brings out the best in them. Our Unity will also bring out the best in Legion until perfection is acquired."


    The Supreme beast that brought down a pantheon belongs to the negative buff ss. She had the help of another Supreme beast who killed the inhabitants of the ne while she used their deaths to fuel her curse. Her curse made the inhabitants weaker so they could be killed easily which in turn affected their gods.


    It is killing two birds with one stone. As the believers died, so did their gods. The supreme beast didn''t have to kill the believers before going to the divine ne to find trouble with their gods. They got rid of the two of them at the same time.


    The two Supreme beasts worked together to achieve unprecedented efficiency. It is what Legion aims to achieve. They can imagine how powerful they will be when theyplete the third stage of unity.


    Legion-7 brought them back from their dreams of the future. "Let''s focus on what we can do for now. You aregging behind badly. You have no army or subordinates. Others have already breached the second circle of the ne. Even the slowest are preparing to do so. We have been on standby for more than a month now."


    "That''s true. Did anything interesting happen in the ne while I was asleep?" he asked Legion-7.


    "Your merchant came with some goods but had to return because of the lockdown of your base. Some Origin god-level Supreme beasts that appear to be scouts seem to be ying a game of hide and seek. They seem to be searching for someone in the ne. There is also the developments of the other Supreme beasts who are making progress. Alliances are pooling their funds together to raise one of their members to the Sovereign level. There''s nothing much apart from that "


    Legion-7''s main body may be inside Legion-5 but he has his hands or tentacles in other ces such as the many individuals he has possessed throughout the ne. These individuals are his eyes and ears in the ne. And if needed, they can be vessels to create different versions of the clones of Legion.


    It is through those vessels that he learned a lot about the ne while Legion-5 was unconscious.


    Legion-5 asked, "So there are other Origin gods apart from the Mechanical Emperor. That isn''t surprising. But what are they searching for?"


    "I don''t know. Maybe they are training or patrolling the ne. It is their job to keep us safe after all. There''s nothing odd about moving about the ne in stealth."


    "I can''t move yet anyway. I am not done with my assimtion."


    "Then hurry up."


    "I am hurrying up."


    He truly is very fast. Other supreme beasts are not as fast as him and they surely can''t fuse with two divine abilities at the same time. He is definitely ahead of them in terms of power so he wasn''t concerned about his dy.


    "There is no need to worry. At the end of the day, power is supreme."


    He remained seated for two more weeks before the two divine abilities were fully assimted. There were some abnormalities during the fusion. His body turned transparent at some point and at another point, he became a ck rock.


    They are minor changes that brought just a little pain to him. And they were temporary so he seeded in the assimtion to make the crystal space butterfly and the Origin divine ability finally became his.


    Legion-7 was quick to start the next step as soon as he was done. "I will startbining the crystal space butterfly with me and the dragon heart. It won''t be avable in the process so you can only y around with the origin diamond divine ability for now."


    "Alright. You do that. I will go and test out its defense."


    Legion-7 extended his tentacles to the orb containing the spatial maniption divine ability. He used his tentacles to draw it closer to the dragon heart where he was in and began the fusion process. There were 7 slots within Legion-5 before but they are about to be 6 slots now.


    This process is something that other supreme beasts will have toprehend thews of the divine abilities just to start. Then they need to align each divine ability based on thews they have inmon and thepatibility of their image. But Legion-7 took no heed of all of that.

 Chapter 1242 No More Pain.

    Chapter 1242 No More Pain.


    ??The fusion of divine abilities is a difficult process that must be done by Supreme beasts to every divine ability before reaching the origin god stage or the divine abilities that are not fused will be lost. But this process is too easy for Legion-5. In fact, he is not even doing anything about it. Someone else is doing it for him.


    The best part is that it is not painful at all. He and Legion-7 have seeded in uniting in a way that only the second and third stages of Unity can beat. His body is now Legion-7''s body so Legion-7 assimting one of his divine abilities is the same as Legion-7 assimting part of Legion-7''s tentacle. It is practically harmless to Legion-5. So Legion-5 is free to do other things in the meantime. It is fortunate because he has a lot to do.


    He ordered the base. "Deactivate Highest Alert Mode and return to basic security protocols."


    His base chimed in his mind. [Alert Mode deactivated.]


    "Ramp up the mining process and start the production of battle suits. Convert every resource avable to the production of battle suits."


    [Order Acknowledged. Starting the production of battle suits.]


    "Provide base status."


    [Forwarding Base Status.]


    [Integrity of energy defense at 100%]


    [Integrity of physical defense at 100%]


    [Integrity of Cannons...]


    [Integrity of Critical base structures...]


    [Energy capacity at...]


    [Production capacity at...]


    [Avable resources are...]


    The base went on and on about everything about the current situation of the base and its operation. It took a while for it to finish updating Legion-5. So he checked his stats for recent changes in the meantime.


    NAME: Agrivo839,371,456A (Legion-5)


    TITLE: Child Of The Virut ne.


    RACE: Supreme Beast.


    BLOODLINE: Unknown Royal bloodline.


    POWER LEVEL: Sovereign Of Law.


    PHYSIQUE: Body Of Law(50%)


    HP: INFINITE


    STAMINA: INFINITE


    ENERGY QUALITY: Origin Energy.


    ENERGY QUANTITY: 2,673,841


    VITALITY: 1,000,000,000


    ENDURANCE: 1,000,000,000


    STRENGTH: 1,000,000,000


    AGILITY: 1,000,000,000


    PERCEPTION: 1,000,000,000


    SPIRIT: 1,000,000,000


    POWER: 1%


    AMPLIFICATION: 10,000


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 100,000,000 (B)


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 85%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): LIFE (DIVINE), DEVOUR (DIVINE), LIGHT (DIVINE), DARKNESS (DIVINE), FIRE (DIVINE), WATER (DIVINE), EARTH (DIVINE), AIR (DIVINE).


    DIVINE ABILITIES:


    1. SPIRITUAL ENTITY.


    2. LIGHTNING DRAGON HEART.


    3. ORIGIN DIAMOND.


    4. CRYSTAL SPACE BUTTERFLY.


    5. LIQUID GRAVITON.


    STATUS: Host To Legion-7.


    What he noticed was that his raw stats hadn''t changed despite the fact that he had be a Sovereign ofw. They are still the same as when he became a transcendent because he didn''t break through as normal people on the path of perfection should.


    Instead, he skipped the lord ofw, king ofw, and titan ofw stage. That made him miss the amplification that those two stages would have given him.


    If not for the fact that he already had stats greater than some Sovereigns then he would be the weakest type of Sovereign ofw. Even weaker than fake Sovereigns that reached the titan ofw stage and used the seed of power of a dead Sovereign to be Sovereigns.


    Currently, his base power output is at 10^13. The other Supreme beasts with a nominal stat of 10,000 and Authority of 10,000 will be at 10^8. This is equal to the power of a king ofw with a nominal stat of 1,000,000 and an Authority of 100.


    So the young Supreme beast will just be Sovereigns ofw in name but they will be weaker than titans ofw. Fortunately, they can resolve the problem easily. They can consume a lot of life essence to raise their stats to reach the limit of the stats of a Sovereign at 1,000,000,000.


    Unfortunately for them, he doesn''t have a limit to his stats so he can continue to raise them with life essence. It will just be expensive to do so he will need to acquire a lot of points.


    He called the attention of the other clones to his progress. "Looks like I am the first sovereign of all the clones." He said with slight pride. "You guys are slow."


    The others have yet to create concepts to be titans ofw while he is already a Sovereign.


    Soverick disagreed. "You cheated. You used a seed of power."


    Ragnarok joined in. "I am only a king ofw but I am stronger than you."


    Legion-5 retorted, "That''s because I haven''t used any of myprehension ofws yet."


    Someone else interjected as soon as he said that to defend himself.


    "I am also stronger than a Sovereign," Helios said. "Even Origin gods are wary of me and I haven''t used myprehension ofws either."


    Aeternus couldn''t help but chuckle. "I am a demon king so I can kill Origin gods and I can''t use myprehension ofws. That has to count for something."


    They have all made some progress and some of them who are still kings ofw are stronger than Sovereigns but Legion-5 refused to back down. "You''re just unwilling to admit defeat. You are all shameless."


    Legion-7 asked, "What about me? I can eat Sovereigns."


    "That doesn''t count. You are not on the path of perfection. You''re an abomination. And so is Aeternus and Helios. They don''t count. I am the first Sovereign ofw and that''s undisputable."


    Soverick said to Legion-7. "You shouldn''tpete with us for anything. You above all of us are not normal. Even the void universe thinks so. Or it wouldn''t try to eliminate you and make you return to the path of perfection by force. If you go any further you might be able to eat Supremews."


    It was Legion-7''s turn not to back down. "Now who are the shameless ones? We started from the same ce and I failed my reincarnation and yet I outdid all of you but you don''t want to ept defeat."


    They argued some more but Legion-5 ignored them. Nothing they say can change the fact that he became the first Sovereign ofw.

 Chapter 1243 Pros And Cons Of The Body Of Law.

    Chapter 1243 Pros And Cons Of The Body Of Law.


    ??He is the first of the clones to be a Sovereign ofw so he is the first to enjoy the benefits of theplete body ofw. His body made it as if he could move the world just by willing it. It is not so but he still decided to relish that unique feeling of being at the top of the world.


    He sighed in pleasure. "The power of the world is at my fingertips."


    The body ofw is a physique gained at the titan ofw stage. It is a result of the waste of essence during the breakthrough to a titan ofw and during the duration that the entity is a titan ofw.


    The body ofw is both a good thing and a bad thing. It is a bad thing because it is created from the essence of an entity that is lost during the process of bing a titan ofw.


    Be it the eruption of a single star or the collision of multiple stars, as long as the breakthrough is not instantaneous, there is a loss of essence. The lost essence escapes the origin core into the body. The body changes into the body ofw due to this and the titan ofw bes the source of a bloodline that can bestow a small amount ofw fragments to the descendants.


    This bloodline is called a titans bloodline and it bestows an iplete body ofw onto descendants but it dies off after several generations of inheritance. It is more powerful than the bloodline of a transcendent but less powerful than the eternal bloodline of an Origin god.


    The longer the breakthrough takes, the more essence is lost and the higher the percentage of the body ofw. As titans ofw, the more they use their concepts, the more essence is lost and the higher the percentage of the body ofw gets. So the body ofw is a result of a bad thing. The higher it is, the closer the titan ofw is to death.


    But the body ofw is also good because it is what enables titans ofw to wield world power. The soul body is incapable of it. But every single movement or action of the body ofwpels the power of the world to empower the titan ofw.


    The body ofw of titans ofw is iplete because it is still changing and because the titan ofw hasn''t gained full control of their concept yet. Even so, the emotions and thoughts of a titan ofw can rile up world power. It makes their offensive ability formidable.


    The body ofw also makes the defensive ability of titans ofw to be formidable because, unlike the soul body which has no defense against externalw fragments, the body of a titan ofw has a lot ofw fragments within it that make up arge percentage of the body.


    Thesew fragments resist externalw fragments and hence increase the defense of titans ofw againstw attacks. So a body ofw with a 20% fusion rate created as a result of the leakage of 2 millionw fragments into the body will be able to repel any attack that contains less than 2 millionw fragments without taking any damage.


    And more than that, because thew fragments already upy a portion of their body, there is a reduction in the amount of damage that externalw fragments can possibly do to them. For example, a body ofw with a 20% fusion rate will only have 80% of the body that can be damaged at all.


    The remaining 20% cannot be damaged no matter how powerful the attack ofw is. Even a concept can''t damage that 20% withw fragments. Only brute force or the physical effects of the collision of attacks can damage that 20%.


    But then there''s a third defensive effect of the body ofw. Because of the presence ofw fragments in the body, the body besparable to Origin weapons. That means it will gain the durability of weapons. So no matter the race, unless they are elementals, as long as they be titans ofw, they will not becking in physical durability.


    A titan ofw with a high fusion rate like Mih can take a lot of beating. And even when she took more beating than her body could handle, her body would rather crack than bend or be deformed.


    So the body ofw is a good thing because the higher the percentage it is, the more world power can be moved, the more augmentation they will receive from the world, and the more physical and magical defense they will have. Unfortunately, the higher it is, the weaker their concept gets and the closer they are to death.


    This good and bad situation won''t stop until the titan ofw bes a Sovereign. The body ofw bes unchanging andplete. It also stops being a bad thing. Instead, the power of the Sovereign is split into internal and external. Their seed of power is internal while the power of the world is external.


    The inverse rtionship between the seed of power and the body ofw remains though. A high body ofw indicates a weak seed of power and vice versa. But due to the perfect control of the Sovereign, the power of the two of them can bebined perfectly or used individually so there is no harm to the Sovereign ofw. That means the power of the Sovereign ispletely united once again.


    The divide between internal and external power then gets reconciled when the Sovereign bes an Origin god. The body ofw containing the fusion of soul, body, and essence, fuses with the Origin core containing the seed of power. They be one again so there is no loss whatsoever.

 Chapter 1244 All-rounder.

    Chapter 1244 All-rounder.


    ??As long as a titan ofw bes an Origin god, their loss in essence and the duration of it won''t matter anymore. The path of perfection will fix their weakness. But if they die as titans ofw, then none of this matters.


    This will not be the situation with Supreme Beasts though. They have no bloodline and they didn''t be titans ofw at all. They didn''t lose any essence since they directly assimted a seed of power. All their power is internal. Because of this, they will get no augmentation from the world.


    This is not a problem that can be fixed with life essence. There are no general solutions that can remove that weakness but there are different divine abilities that can help them gain what they lost. For example, the dragon heart. The defense of the dragon scales when activated is alreadyparable to that of Origin weapons.


    There are other divine abilities that can help them but it is not as if they need external power anyway. Because Supreme Beasts have many seeds of power, they are notcking in internal powerpared to a normal Sovereign. In fact, they outmatch normal Origin gods when they manage to fuse that many seeds of power with their body, soul, and Origin.


    So Supreme beasts are notcking to other races despite theck of a body ofw. He is not like them though, his soul is a fragment of an Origin god so it came with some essence. His soul and body then fused when he became a transcendent. That''s why he has a 50% body ofw.


    He has a body ofw and a seed of power. Other young Supreme Beasts will be weaker than him because their seed of power is only part of the power of a Sovereign. Plus they are alsocking in pure statspared to him.


    The problem of stats can be solved easily by consuming life essence. They will be able to match him in raw stats if they consume enough life essence. But the only way for other supreme beasts to gain an extra source of amplification aside from world power is to gain the POWER stat. It is unfortunate for them that he has gained the POWER stat too.


    The dragon heart he assimted gave him the POWER stat. All he has to do to increase the boost is to feed it Origin energy to convert to dragon force. The more dragon force there is in his inner world, the more the boost will be.


    It is something that can only be increased over time. It is like the umtion of demons. The older the dragon, the more dragon force they will have and the stronger they get. It is also effortless to raise it. He could do it in his sleep which exins why dragons can grow stronger while sleeping.


    So his mates can''t outmatch him in stats, body ofw, and POWER. He is an all-rounder so whichever one it is they turn to, they will find him there standing at the top. He will be the shadow that makes them despair.


    The statue report from his bae ended. By then he was trying to wield dragon force. It wasn''t difficult for him to do. Dragon force feels like death essence in terms of power but it also feels like a part of his body so he doesn''t need an anchor to use it or control it. Its operation is smooth and he can use it to empower every part of his existence including his defense, speed, perception, control of Origin energy, and many more.


    He observed to himself and other clones appreciatively, "So this is what Legion-8 and other dragons are enjoying. This is not half bad."


    "This is why we were so jealous of them and greedy for their power." Legion-1 said.


    Legion-8 snickered at them. "What a bunch of losers."


    "Yeah, yeah, stop showing off. You have gotten too proud recently."


    "I can''t help it. My heart is too strong. Besides, my pride is warranted. You guys were envying inferior products. Why shouldn''t I snicker?"


    Legion-5 muttered. "I still hate dragons. Your existence has only reinforced that hatred."


    "Please don''t count me as one of the dragons. I am more than that."


    Legion-5 shook his head. "The world is not fair at all. Dragons are too blessed."


    He is right. Dragon force is the major reason why dragons are superior. Each one of them is a paragon just by themselves and without the help of the others. The stronger their soul is and the more Origin energy they have, the more dragon force they can have.


    Even if there is no Origin energy, a dragon with a strong enough soul can enter the void and be a divine dragon. Their body changes into that of void beasts which makes them acquire incredible physical and magical defense greater than titans ofws. They also gain the ability to convert void energy into Origin essence. They can mix it with mana to create Origin energy or use the Origin essence to be Origin gods.


    So while others are killing themselves for life essence and Origin essence to be Origin gods, a divine dragon can be an Origin god on its own. But they don''t stop there at all. Some of them still participate in the trial of heaven to bully others. It doesn''t seem fair at all.


    Of course, he is ignoring the fact that he is using Legion-1''s powerful soul force to quickly umte dragon force instead of his own. Not every dragon has such a powerful soul to take advantage of their dragon heart. But the fact that they have a dragon heart is enough to make him more jealous of dragons.


    While other Legions arementing about this unfairness of the abilities of dragons towards themselves and the world, Legion-7 is concerned about the other Supreme beasts in the Supreme Alliance and how they will fare against someone like Legion-5.

 Chapter 1245 The Cure For Envy.

    <h4>Chapter 1245 The Cure For Envy. </h4>


    ?"I pity the kids of this rite of passage." Legion-7 said for the umpteenth time. "You are just like the dragon bullies that participate in the trial of heaven."


    That made Legion-5 shrug without guilt. He said, "They have to show me why they are Supreme or they will drown in the shadow of despair."


    The young Supreme beasts can surelybine different divine abilities to threaten him so he is not going to underestimate them, but his existence as a giant to be ovee is not disputable. He is the challenge to beat not the other way around. They need to up their game if they don''t want to drown in the shadow that he will cast on them.


    He doesn''t even need to use theprehendedws to gain an advantage. He is already ahead of them and his advantage will remain until they be Origin gods. They would havebined all the seeds of power then and truly be Supreme. But until then, his dominance has to be challenged.


    And during the process where they throw everything they have at him, he will learn and be stronger. So at the end of the day, the young Supreme beasts are not hispetitors, they are just going to test just how invulnerable and without weakness he is.


    He is looking forward to it honestly. After all, if he can''t handle whatever they use to try to take him down, he should not hope to be able to match world gods and their supremews.


    So he said with excitement, "Let''s get this rite of passage going. We have a ne to conquer and some gods to hunt."


    Next, he put up thest seed of power in the exchange section of the reward list. It is the seed of power that belongs to the switch race. With it, they will be able to gain control of world power which is something theyck so it should be very valuable.


    Every supreme beast can see it and they can make offers to him in exchange for it. He will sell it to the highest bidder. By the looks of things, that price will be very high because someone added information that Legion-5 didn''t know. They said that the switch race gain an increase in the refinement of Origin essence as Origin gods. It increased the value of the divine ability.


    Legion-7 said to him, "These young things should not be underestimated. They are not wise but they are hardly ignorant. They have connections to information that we may not know."


    He was pitying them earlier but he has changed his tune now. They didn''t know about the ability of the Origin gods of the races of the ne that finish the full awakening of their divine ability because they were not told by the Supreme Alliance. So they were ignorant of that knowledge but a young Supreme beasts knew.


    It could simply be because they are more active than him in the ne and we''re able to acquire more information or that they have a better source of information that he can''t gain by speaking with the inhabitants of the ne. Either way, Legion-5 was not concerned.


    Legion-5 just shrugged which is the same reaction he gave earlier when Legion-7 expressed false concern for the young Supreme beasts. He said again, "They have to show me why they are Supreme or they will drown in the shadow of despair."


    His attention was diverted at that point by the notification from the base.


    [First Battle Suitpleted. Please Inspect]


    His base had entered its production mode. Energy from the engine room was redirected to the printing press to create battle suits. More bots were also created to mine for resources.


    He inspected the battle suit with his divine sense and he didn''t find anything wrong with it so he didn''t order the base to make changes to its process. Next, he checked his base for anything out of ce before he rushed out of it.


    He left his base into his hex for the first time since he began assimting divine abilities. The first thing he did was to examine his surroundings for traps. He didn''t find any and there were no stalkers or intruders. Then he turned his attention to the adjoining hexes where there were two other bases.


    "It seems my neighbors are doing well," Legion-7 said after seeing their bigger and stronger base.


    But then he saw golems within their bases.


    He said, "I was wrong. They must be doing extraordinarily well if they are even rich enough to acquire golems. I am very envious."


    Legion-5 said with a grin. "I think it is time for me to go and collect rent. It is the cure for envy."


    The hexes of his two neighbors have changed. The environment around their bases is being prowled by hundreds of bots searching and digging for ores. They have also produced autonomous golems or robots and not battle suits like he did.


    Golems are more powerful than battle suits. They don''t require manpower to use them so they can be used alone without manpower and they arepletely loyal but that makes them expensive. Battlesuits on the other hand are hollow for manpower to wear like heavy armor so they are cheaper.


    Legion-7 agreed with his suggested cure. "The fact that they are rich enough for golems shows that they are rich enough to be extorted."


    Legion-5 said as he flew over their ce, "No. The fact that we are envious of them is enough for us to extort them."


    These two bases are on the hexes connected to the sea of despair. Unlike him who employed a transcendent merchant group and stayed couped up in his base, these two employed merchant groups with Sovereigns and have been very busy refining the resources they gained.


    Sovereigns search better and faster than titans ofw and they have better connections for the acquisition of resources so these two bases have left him behind in terms of manpower. But that obviously isn''t all there is to strength or he won''t be so brazen as to approach them for rent.

 Chapter 1246 Either By Hook Or Crook.

    <h4>Chapter 1246 Either By Hook Or Crook.</h4>


    ?Legion-5 flew to the hex on the right side first. He was noticed by the surveince system as soon as he entered the hex. He wasn''t hiding so the basic surveince of the base found him pretty quickly. It also issued a warning to him.


    [You are intruding on private property. Stop and state your purpose now or you will be shot down]


    The warning was loud so he heard it clearly. But he didn''t stop. He just grinned and activated his divine abilities. His skin morphed into dragon scales. Thick blue reptilian scales appeared all over his body including his empty face. Two blue horns grew on his head and a mighty pressure exploded out of him. The pressure forced lesser creatures to knee and bow their heads.


    Then he activated the origin diamond divine ability. It converted the metallic blue scales into translucent crystalline scales. The scales are still thick. They are so thick that they make him look bigger. But now they also sparkle like precious gems.


    He roared in greeting. A slit opened in his scaled face and expanded. It is a jagged hole that is clearly not good enough for a mouth. It is more of a maw and it is good enough to cause the air in front of him to vibrate and undte at a high frequency to create a shockwave.


    His roar rang throughout heaven and earth. Everyone in the ne heard it. If there was any doubt about his purpose before, that doubt has been cleared now. He is here to exercise the privilege of the strong.


    Some might say he is here to rob the base. The owner of the base thought so and was aversed to it. He didn''t want Legion-5 to enjoy his privilege so the base entered high alert mode immediately. Energy was diverted from other sections of the base to the defensive systems. The energy shield of the base was reinforced and its single Cannon that had been prepared for such emergencies fired at him.


    Another roar answered Legion-5''s roar as arge beam of white light tore through the air towards him. The world screamed shrilly because of the passage of the high-energy beam. This is the attack of the weakest canon that came with the base.


    Legion-5 braced himself for impact. He couldn''t dodge even if he wanted to. So he created thick translucent barriers around himself with his powerful divine sense. The air warped in front of him but that wasn''t enough for him. He drew upon the power of the world around him to reinforce the translucent cocoon he had formed around himself. It led to the creation of a grey phantom shell around him.


    The beam from the cannon struck him head-on and sted him out of the sky. There was no explosion of energy. There was only a shockwave due to the rapid expansion of air as the beam passed through the air. But that doesn''t mean that there was no damage.


    Legion-5 was struck down from the sky and plowed deep into the ground. The beam pierced through his defense and struck him in the chest. Its power had reduced drastically but it was still stubborn.


    It sought to cut him in half and destroy himpletely. But the defenses of his body held on so the beam could only push him deeper into the ground. A deep gorge lined withva appeared in the ground because of their collision.


    The world returned to peaceful silence after theser exhausted its attack. No one broke that silence. Everyone watched attentively to see if a supreme beast had fallen today. There are a lot of people watching because of themotion. There was nothing but silence for a while. Then there was a roar of triumph from deep within the gorge.


    That roar shook the depths of the gorge just as it shook the heart of the defender cowering behind the shield of the base. A figure rushed out of the gorge and shot towards the base again. But this time, there was no beam to attack. The cannon was still loading after exhausting itself.


    The owner of the base shouted to Legion-5, "Please stop. You are making enemies of the Draga Alliance. My allies are rushing over as we speak."


    Legion-5 didn''t stop. "I don''t care about your allies. Give me 10% of all your resources and a single point. Then I''ll leave."


    He believes that that is a good price to ask for. He is not even asking for all of their points. It is littlepared to what he will get if he kills this supreme beast. He will get half of their points and all of their resources. So he is being reasonable here.


    But this guy doesn''t know what''s good for him. He shouted indignantly. "I will not be extorted. If you want my things, thene and take them."


    "I like that too. I like it very much."


    That''s what he nned to do in the first ce so he didn''t have a problem with the show of stubbornness. There was a loud crashing sound as Legion-5 mmed into the shield. He was rebuffed again. He was shot backward as if slung from a catapult. The barrier had reflected the force of his collision back to him.


    He smashed into the ground some distance away and created a crater. But he rose up from the crater almost immediately as if he wasn''t hurt at all. Then he shot towards the barrier again.


    This time, his trip to the barrier didn''t go smoothly. He was interrupted by golems sent out of the base. The golems are small and thin. They arepletely ck which indicates that they are the lowest level of golems that can be produced. Even so, each one of them can tussle with a titan ofw if only briefly. There are 11 of them so they can probably dy him until the cannon finishes umting energy for another shot.

 Chapter 1247 Music To The Ears.

    Chapter 1247 Music To The Ears.


    ??The golems were exactly 2 meters tall. They were shorter than his 2.5 meters tall body and were clearly smaller in size toopared to his muscr form but they weren''t intimidated at all. Half of them utilized their small energy shotguns to stall him while the other half moved closer and grabbed him.


    Legion-5 knew about these golems and he knew that the strongest feature about them isn''t their strength but their ability to cooperate as one. Their minds are linked and synced so they will be able to manipte him if he allows them to.


    So he converted most of his stats into speed briefly. His speed increased by fourfold and he blurred. His hand morphed into a spiked club which he used to smash the first golem he came across.


    He aimed for the chest where the power unit was in and crushed it with one blow. The golem''s eyes dimmed and it fell from the sky. Legion-5 was already onto his next target.


    His form was glitching and stuttering as he jumped from one golem to another. It is because he was constantly and rapidly changing the speed at which he moved. The change in his speed was sudden and jarring so the golems couldn''t anticipate his movements. That was the trick to crippling their fighting and cooperation program.


    The golems made a whining and whirling sound as powered down after a crushing blow. It was music to his ears. The pitiful scream of anguish that came from within the base also added to his enjoyment.


    "Nooooooooo! My precious golems!!!"


    Thest four golems had surrounded him and tried to jump on him to drag him down but he whirled around. His two arms had turned into sharp des this time around. So he sheared through them and sliced them into junks. Then he resumed his journey to the base.


    There were no more interruptions so he was able to reach the energy barrier again. He doesn''t n to punch this time. His hand morphed into a sharp crystalline de. It is a de made from origin diamond. It is vibrating in his hand at an imperceptible frequency. It is also making a low humming sound that very few can hear.


    He used his momentum to plunge his de hand into the barrier. The barrier popped and his hand sank into it.


    "I did it?" He asked uncertainly.


    But then his face changed. "No, I didn''t."


    He tried to pull his hand out but it was toote. The cut in the barrier sizzled. Then it discharged the energy within it through that cut. It was as if he cut into a dam. Violent energy that had been under pressure finally got an outlet. They rushed into his aghast face and gifted him with a mighty explosion.


    He was thrown back and onto the ground again. His collision with the ground created another crater to blemish thendscape. This time, he didn''t rise up from the crater so quickly. The blow to his face had injured him a little. His fine crystal scales have been scorched ck and his head had been ttened.


    The barrier wasn''t unscathed either There was arge section of the barrier missing due to that explosion. But it was covered up faster than he could take advantage of it.


    He rose from the new crater like a phoenix rising from the ashes. He looked the part too because he was steaming and the air around him was warped because of heating off from his body.


    He isrgely uninjured. His blue scales were scorched but they were not broken. His ttened head also filled in quickly so he was fine but he couldn''t help but be astonished.


    He said to Legion-7,"This barrier is too strong for something that is low-level. You didn''t tell me it was this strong."


    Legion-7 was quick to defend himself, "I didn''t know it was this strong. I thought those who attacked your base were too weak."


    Both the barrier and the cannon were able to resist him for a while which shows how powerful they are. What he is astonished about is the fact that the barrier and the canon can still be upgraded. This is just their weakest level. It made him wonder just how powerful the ringed defense system that the Supreme Alliance built around a ne is. It should be very strong if some random base could hold back a top-notch Sovereign ofw like him.


    The Supreme beast behind the barrier yelled at him, "Give up. You are strong but there''s no way you can breach this barrier."


    The barrier has healed in the period he was down. It made Legion-5 frown.


    "I can break it easily," Soverick said. "No barrier is perfect. There are always faults. It is just that the faults are always shifting. But no fault can escape my eyes.


    Legion-7 was also quick to suggest, "I can also bypass the barrier. It can''t stop spiritual entities or spiritual attacks."


    Legion-5 ignored Soverick''s boasting and said to Legion-7, "We are not wasting you on a simple barrier. I have to prove my strength as thendlord of this rite of passage. No one will ept defeat if they don''t see how I achieved victory. They will think they stand a chance. I don''t want to fight for my rent endlessly."


    He turned the de of his hand back to normal. A small hole appeared in his hand from which a small blue spark appeared.


    "Let me see how well it can hold up to this."


    The spark in his hand popped and snapped with violence. Each of its pops was apanied by a thunderp. The spark would make the hair on anyone around it stand on end because of fear and because of the electric charges it was discharging into the surroundings.


    The quality of the attack is clearly very high but it is not enough. It iscking in quantity. So he poured Origin energy into it.

 Chapter 1248 Last Ditch Defense.

    Chapter 1248 Last Ditch Defense.


    ??The spark on his hand engorged on Origin energy and it became a thread. Unlike the spark, the thread wasn''t popping violently. It was vibrating and sizzling gently. The thunderp was reced with a high-pitched droning sound.


    The thread continued to engorge on Origin energy so it split into several more blue threads. The threads split several times in a short while to create a small ck orb. Then he grabbed world power with his divine sense and dragged it into the small orb.


    The gentle sizzling of the lightning threads in his hands changed when world power was added to it. The threads erged and became violent again. They spread out of the palm of his hand like the roots of a tree in a bid to destroy the world. He had to force them back into shape in his hands.


    The wild root-like form of the lightning threads returned to its previous spherical form. But they didn''t do so silently or without resistance. The loudness of the incessant thunderps increased drastically. They were booming in the minds of all who heard them. It is as if the lightning in his hand was threatening people verbally. They aren''t empty threats either. If he let it go, the lightning would explode and rupture the eardrums of everyone.


    Legion-5 encouraged his creation with evil intentions. "Go on and grow. Go wild and let your violence pave the way for me."


    The lightning obliged him. The ball expanded in his hand until it became bigger than him. It became so heavy that he had to hold it up with considerable effort. All the while, thunderps shook the heavens and the earth.


    The sky changed and a storm started brewing. He is a Sovereign and he just called for the world to assist him. The world must answer. His enemies must bow before him and admit his Sovereignty.


    Legion-5 began tough. He raised the ball of lightning up and said, "Behold my might and feel despair."


    He held this expanding ball of lightning in his hand up for all to see and gazed down on his enemy with impunity. His enemy had a look of horror on his featureless face. That look of horror morphed into panic when the supreme beast felt the surroundings be charged.


    Small electric sparks began jumping between everything. They started out as tiny and few blue sparks but they quickly grew in number and power. Soon they will be a lightning domain.


    The supreme beast felt as if he was surrounded by enemies. His surroundings have be hostile to him. He is not being paranoid. A of lightning is forming around Legion-5. It is not even intentional.


    Legion-5 had gripped the ball and world with it in the palm of his hand. Then he spinned the two of them. The ball of lightning began to rotate. It picked up speed as it dragged more world power into itself. At this moment, the lightning ball had be the center of the world. He willed it and the world answered.


    The wind howled. The sky shook as lightning thundered from above. The earth moaned and exploded as the rain of lightning fell on it. A storm appeared in the sky and blocked out the light of the sun. A shadow fell on this base and its environs. A shadow of despair appeared within the heart of the supreme beast trying to escape into the core of the base.


    But he can''t escape. The ball of lightning was rotating furiously and violently while shrieking painfully. It has been contained for too long. It wants to dance so Legion-5 finally let it. This ball fell like the wrath of the world on the barrier. It shot forward while twisting itself and the world around it. Then it mmed into the barrier like a screw.


    Everyone looked on with trepidation in their hearts. They expected the base to be evaporated. However, the barrier changed from its omnidirectional defense mode into the unidirectional defense.


    The entire barrier copsed into a single b of translucent hexagonal ss. All the energy and capacity of the barrier was concentrated into that single point to resist the attack so the barrier had thickened several times.


    The two energy phenomena collided to create an explosion of light. The howling lightning screw expanded in the face of the opposition. It grew fiercer and became a small star of violent blue energy. The lightning attack itself didn''t explode. It was the air around the site of the collision that exploded due to the discharge of energy into the surroundings.


    Legion-5 couldn''t believe it. The lightning star eventually reduced in size as the barrier held up. It consumed its energy so it shrunk. The shrinking continued until it ran out of energy. Then it finally copsed in an explosion when it couldn''t keep itself together anymore. The world calmed down instantly after the explosion.


    Legion-5 let go of the world power so the storm died down and the clouds dispersed. The light of the sun exposed the damage that he had done for all to see. The base is still intact but its wall and arge portion of the ground close to it has been torn apart.


    The base seeded in defending the attack but it had used up all of its energy so the barrier disappeared. The bots also began to sleep. Every section of the base was not spared from this fate.


    He said with a shrug, "This still counts as my victory."


    The base tried its best. It performed beyond his expectations and managed to rebuff that attack. But it is defeated now. He can just walk in and take anything he wants.


    He stood there in the sky marveling at his creation. Then something struck him in the air at a fast speed. It was a white beam from the defense cannon. It was loading but it ran out of energy so it decided to release what it had at the enemy to stall it until it recovered energy.

 Chapter 1249 No More Mr Nice Guy.

    <h4>Chapter 1249 No More Mr Nice Guy. </h4>


    ?The attack mmed into him so Legion-5 was shot down from the sky. He streaked across the sky but he didn''t reach the ground this time because the attack was weak. That didn''t alleviate the situation though. He became angrier than ever.


    "That''s it." He said with lightning sparking all over his skin. "No more being nice."


    He came here to rob not to be disrespected. So he got on all four and began to morph. Short blue spikes grew out of his body in various parts. A long tail grew out from his behind and ws appeared on his hand. He became a blue humanoid dragon with blue lightning sparkling all over his body.


    Then he opened his jagged maw wide. A small blue spark appeared again. But this time he used dragon force to form it. The spark didn''t seem to be different apart from the fact that it wasn''t sizzling and popping. There were no thunderps to announce its existence.


    Next came Origin Energy. The spark engorged on it and turned into a thread but it didn''t divide. It just kept growing bigger and bigger. It didn''t stop at all. It also didn''t make any sound even when he added world power to it. There was no howling of the wind and there was no storm. The world showed no resistance and no reaction to it being siphoned. It obediently let itself be used to empower the attack.


    The blue ball in front of his face continued to grow silently. It grew into its 10-meter diameter form but was still silent. This silence is the silence of the world holding its breath and waiting for this ordeal to be over.


    Then he released it at the base. The ball didn''t fly towards the base. A blue beam of unparalleled power came out of the ball and struck the base. It was then that there was a sound. The beam caused the world to vibrate to create a powerful roar.


    There was no barrier so the beam struck the base directly. The wall of the base resisted for a while but it was melted and then carved by the beam like a hot knife through butter.


    The beam sliced through every opposition in its way. He didn''t stop until the base waspletely divided in half. Arge canyon appeared between the two halves of the base. Every machine within it died down at that point. Certain important structures within it including its core have been destroyed.


    Therge ball in front of his mouth shrank back after the deed was done. Legion-5 swallowed it back as if it were not a dangerous bomb. It is based on his dragon force so he is not worried at all. If his dragon force can subdue the world then it can surely subdue his own energy.


    He reverted his form and stood back up. The spikes shrank into his body. His mouth disappeared leaving his blue horn and the crystal scales on his body.


    He looked at the broken and shattered base in satisfaction. There is no chance of any resistance from it now.


    He said to himself. "That''s better."


    Then he flew to the base. He found the supreme beast waiting for him. The poor supreme beast felt like crying. All his effort and work have been destroyed. He has never experienced this sort of painful loss since he was born. Admittedly, that was not a long time ago, but this loss is still painful.


    Legion-5 snorted and asked. "What''s the issue? You have an alliance. They can help you build another base. Why do you look like you want to cry?"


    The supreme beast was surprised. "You are not going to kill me?"


    Sure he can build another base. But that''s if he is still alive. Would the person who destroyed his base not kill him to eliminate him after everything that has happened?


    Legion-5 scoffed and said, "Of course, I am not going to kill you. That will be very foolish."


    The supreme beast rxed. Then he heard what Legion-5 said next. "You are of more use to me alive."


    "Then what do you want?" He asked in fear.


    He may be young and ignorant but he knows that sometimes, being alive is worse than death. He knows this because of the cries of ves begging for death as tortured them for information.


    Legion-5 didn''t keep him in suspense. He exined immediately. "I came for rent. That hasn''t changed."


    The Supreme Beast said hurriedly, "You can have all of my resources. I will also give you the point you wanted. Please take them and go."


    Legion-5 asked, "Are you stupid? Of course, I am going to take everything. It is all mine now. You aren''t giving me anything. What I want from you now is 2 points."


    The supreme beast was stunned. Legion-5 snapped him out of his stupor by ordering him again. "Are you deaf? I said give me 2 points."


    "But you asked for a single point and 10% of my resources before."


    He felt that he had given enough. He is giving all of his resources instead of just 10% and he is also giving a point.


    "That was before I had to work for them. Now that I have put in the effort to secure them, they are all mine. I will also collect an extra point for your impudence."


    The supreme beast pleaded, "But I only have one point. I swear it on my origin."


    He even swore to show his sincerity. Unfortunately, Legion-5 wasn''t moved.


    He created a maw full of sharp crystal teeth and grinned at the supreme beast.


    Legion-5 warned him with a calm tone, "I will not repeat myself. You either give it to me now or I capture you and beat you up. I won''t kill you but you won''t have any chance anymore in this rite of passage. You will amount to nothing and be indentured to the Supreme Alliance."


    The Supreme beast almost teared up then and there.


    "This is bullying." Heined.

 Chapter 1250 Dragon Slaying Alliance.

    <h4>Chapter 1250 Dragon ying Alliance.</h4>


    ?Legion-5 punched him in the face then. His fist connected nicely with the face of the young Supreme beast. There was no barrier to protect him from damage so his face was smashed and he fell down.


    Legion-5 became filled with anticipation with the turn of events. He grinned at the stumbling Supreme beast and advised with good intentions, "I hope you can take a beating. I truly hope so."


    Then Legion-5 grabbed him in the neck and squeezed hard. The head of the supreme beast almost popped off as his neck was squeezed. Next Legion-5 grabbed his arm and tore it from his body.


    Legion-5 told him, "See what you made me do. I was asking nicely before. But now I am using force topel you. Do you like pain? Is that why you forced my hand?"


    The Supreme beast howled in reply. He didn''t appear to enjoy the pain but Legion-5 wasn''t someone to be fooled easily. Besides, Legion-5 was enjoying delivering the pain so he didn''t n to stop. After all, it was his pleasure that mattered the most.


    The Supreme beast''s torn arm turned into dust and scattered into the wind. A new arm grew immediately so there was no sign of the injury but the pain of having his consciousness torn remained.


    He saw Legion-5 reach for his new arm so he begged with all his might. "Please let me go. I don''t have what you want. I swear on my Origin."


    Legion-5 didn''t listen. He tore the arm again. The supreme beast howled louder. His arm grew back but it was slower.


    A couple of supreme beasts appeared at that point. There were three of them. They came in an imposing manner. Legion-5 ignored them and reached for the arm again.


    One of them shouted at him. "Please leave him alone. We will pay you."


    "You don''t need to do this Agrivo839,371,456A. We have what you want."


    Their imposing manner was to beg and not to fight. They have seen what wille of any resistance. The fact that they had a Sovereign in their little alliance didn''t fill them with enough confidence to fight him. Their Sovereign can''t even take on a single golem of the lowest level much less 11 at once.


    Legion-5 said, "Hurry up then. I am a very busy man."


    He patted the new arm as he spoke. His meaning was clear to everyone. It is only the prospect of getting what he asked for that is keeping him from ripping the arm again.


    The poor Supreme beast he was holding cried out, "Please save me."


    His saviors obliged him. They made the transfer quickly. Their divine sense reached into their identity mark and authorized a transfer of 2 points to the identity information that he gave them.


    [You are about to transfer 2 points to the Shadow of Despair]


    [Do you wish to continue?]


    Their eyes twitched when they saw his title. But they didn''t say anything. They continued with the transfer.


    [Transfer Sessful]


    As for Legion-5, received the notification immediately.


    [You have received 2 points from the Dragon ying Alliance]


    Legion-7 snickered in his mind. "They are the Dragon ying Alliance and yet they are using theirbined wealth to pay a dragon. No ying is being done here."


    Legion-5 shrugged mentally. "They have paid so they can consider me yed. At least, their alliance is good for something."


    He tossed the whimpering supreme beast aside and said to them, "Take him with you. Make sure he is alright and healthy. Then get him a new base. Don''t let him wallow in self pity for too long. Put him to work as soon as possible. I wille and see how well he has done for himself in a year."


    They remained silent even though they had a lot to say about the cost of a new base and his magnanimity of destroying this base but sparing the life of the offender. But they didn''t say any of those things. They simply obeyed him. They grabbed theirrade and ran away from him as fast as they could move.


    The people on the sideline watching could only sigh in regret. They didn''t see the fight they were expecting. But they didn''t stop looking. They continued to use their divine sense to peek here to see what this audacious Supreme beast would do next. Their patience was not disappointed.


    Legion-5 moved to the edge of the base and grabbed its edge with his two arms. Then he strained as he lifted one of the halves up. The half creaked and groaned as it was raised up. He flew with it to his own base. He dropped it there and returned to get the other half.


    The eyes of the people watching boggled. "This is too much."


    "He is too strong. The base must weigh thousands of tonnes but he carried it as if it weighed 10 tonnes."


    "His stats are definitely higher than transcendents. I dare say that he is at least a hundred times stronger."


    Someone grieved andmented, "He robbed everything. He didn''t even spare the base!"


    This person repeated for emphasis, "He didn''t spare the base!"


    "We know. We can see it."


    They had reasons to be stunned. A transcendent can carry 10 tonnesfortably but those bases are not 10 tonnes. Just the cannon is at least 10 tonnes but he carried the cannon, the wall of the fortress that the cannon was resting on, the ground of the base, the energy capacitors, the energy reactor, and many more at once.


    No transcendent, not even the ones who have reached the star limit of 100,000 can do such a thing. They had heard that he was stronger than them but they didn''t expect the difference to be so high. It is so high that even a base cannot escape the fate of being looted.


    Legion-5 on the other hand thinks what he did is a matter of course. Everything his enemy owned, including the base, is now his. Legion doesn''t like wastage so he is not going to let anything go.

 Chapter 1251 Base Upgrades.

    Chapter 1251 Base Upgrades.


    ??Legion-5 returned to his neighbor''s hex for a third time to grab all the mining bots and the fragments of golems in the hex. Not even those will escape from him.


    He created severalrge phantom hands out of his divine sense and world power to grab anything of importance. It wasn''t until he practically swept through the whole hex that he was satisfied.


    Legion-7 chuckled in his mind. "Ah. The best way to get rich."


    Legion-5 agreed. "Nothing beats stealing."


    "It truly is the cure for envy. I feel better already."


    Legion believes that power is supreme. Anyone that has power should not be poor while those that are weaker are rich. The weak are meant to work hard to gather wealth while the strong like him, will take part of their wealth in exchange for not killing them and taking all of their wealth.


    That''s the proper way of the world and the deal that he offered the supreme beast. Unfortunately, the supreme beast didn''t appreciate his generosity. He decided to look the gift horse in the mouth.


    Legion-5 ordered his base afterpleting the looting. "Convert all of these into resources and use it to upgrade yourself. Then use the leftover to print more battle suits."


    Bots swarmed the fragments of the golems, the bots, and the two halves of a base outside. They began breaking down some into parts while dragging others into the base.


    [Order acknowledged. Preliminary estimation indicates that the base can be leveled up four times. Which aspects do you wish to upgrade?]


    He instructed, "Upgrade the barrier once, add two more Cannons to the defensive system, and finally upgrade the energy capacitors."


    The defense of the barrier and its stubborn cannon made an impression on him so he chose to prioritize them over the production system or the surveince system.


    He could have upgraded the energy reactor which will provide more energy for the barrier and will increase the charging rate of the cannon. However, the little increase in the energy production rate cannot bepared to doubling the energy capacitors. That extra storage of energy will be important when the base truly needs more energy such as when the base is under attack.


    So unless the energy reactor can be upgraded to the level where the energy barrier and cannons will not need to fall back on the backup power within the energy capacitors, the energy capacitors will continue to remain higher in priority.


    The upgrade to the barrier will put the avable energy to good use. It will be able to withstand more attacks. He is choosing to disregard the physical defense of the walls of the base in favor of the barrier and firepower. That''s why he added two more cannons to increase the fire rate of his base.


    He could have upgraded the cannon to increase its power but he finds that its current power level is sufficient. If it can trouble him, then it should be able to tear other Supreme beasts apart. So he opted to increase the fire rate by adding another cannon.


    The increase in energy supply became important because of it. It won''t do to have cannons but no energy to use them. They will just go to waste and Legion doesn''t like wastage.


    His decision for battle suits instead of golems was also about efficiency. Battle suits are cheaper so he can produce many of them. He needs the quantity to dy enemies that attack his base. The dy will allow the cannons to recharge before eliminating the attackers.


    It is better to invest in quantity because any enemy that his cannons can''t destroy will require his personal involvement. Golems will be the better option if he intends to field an army but he doesn''t n to subdue the ne. After all, andlord doesn''t work. They leave the work to their tenants.


    The surveince system is not prioritized either because very few people can hide from Legion-7. Anything that has a soul cannot escape from Legion-7 while he will focus on material things with his perception.


    This session of decision making is something that every Supreme beast with a base have to go through during its upgrades. It is another tool that the Supreme Alliance employs in the rite of passage to train their young.


    Practically every aspect of a base including production speed, mining bots and army capacity can be upgraded. These plethora of options is an obstacle that the young Supreme beasts have to navigate. They have to make wise decisions that will enable them use their resources efficiently.


    This whenbined with the task of acquiring resources from the ne will push the decision making abilities of the Supreme beasts to the limit. So even if they don''t gain wisdom, they will gain knowledge and experience.


    Legion-5 finished his arrangements for the base then he flew to the other hex beside his.


    "Don''t test me." He warned the owner before he made his request. "Give me 10% of your resources and a point. I will leave you be if youply. If you don''tply, then everything you have will be mine."


    The Cannon of the base didn''t fire at him. The owner came out of his base and spoke to him.


    "Please, I will give you all you want. I don''t want any trouble."


    "Very good. It seems you are smart. Then again, you have to be truly stupid to put up any resistance after witnessing what I just did. Give me what I want and you will be safe from me for the next 12 months. I will return in another year for another round of rent."


    The Supreme beast felt anger rise up within her but it was drowned immediately and reced with helplessness. She didn''tin or make any fuss. She obediently brought out 10% of her resources and handed over 1 point.


    Legion-5 looked over at the cart of ores that she brought out and nodded. This is why he went all out against his first tenant. He had to show these Supreme beasts who the toughest and strongest was if he didn''t want to be bogged down with endless resistance from children.

 Chapter 1252 The Audacity.

    Chapter 1252 The Audacity.


    ??He said to her, "Swear on your origin that this is 10% of all your resources including the livestock, golems, battle suits, manpower, and everything you own."


    The Supreme beast almost screamed out in frustration then. But she didn''t. Instead, she smiled as she ordered her base to bring out more carts of resources. Apparently, what she brought out earlier was far from being 10% of what she owned.


    Legion-5 didn''t criticize her for trying to cheat him. It is her job to try to cheat him and it is his job to make sure she doesn''t seed in cheating him. That''s what efficient people ought to do.


    He chose to advise her. "I see that you have golems. You can use them for the rent."


    The supreme beast rejected the option. "I am okay with using ores."


    Legion-5 shrugged. If not for the fact that he doesn''t want to reduce the fighting power of this supreme beast then he would have insisted on golems. Golems are made from resources but they will take time to produce. He has time so he can do the conversion on his own if he needs them. This way, this Supreme beast will be able to preserve the bulk of her fighting power and he will be able to earn more rent from her in a year''s time.


    It wasn''t until the amount of carts tripled that she stopped bringing out more resources. Legion-5 was impressed with her. She had tried to cheat him out of 63% of his due. She might have been greedy but she had also aimed for high efficiency in her attempt to cheat him.


    He couldn''t help but say, "You are good. You have arge appetite. I like that. Now swear."


    "I swear it upon my Origin that this is 10% of all that I have."


    He told her, "It''s good that you recognized your limit. I would have be very angry had you tried to test my patience again."


    Had she tried to cheat him again after her first attempt to cheat him was discovered, she would have learned today not to bite more than she could chew because he is going to force her to eat sharp metal fragments. Fortunately, she didn''t so she doesn''t need to know what it feels like to have her mouth and lips torn apart from within.


    Her careful actions indicate that she has a certain amount of intelligence which raises his hopes for her. He even advised her seriously, "I hope you will do well in the rite of passage. It will determine your future after all. You have to take it seriously and do your best. Do you understand me?"


    The supreme beast roared in her heart, "I understand that you want me to do well so that you can extort more from me."


    But outwardly she nodded calmly and said, "I understand. Thank you for the advice."


    Legion-5 nodded in return and grabbed the carts with many hands of world power. Then he took them to his base. He dropped them off at his base and began another round of upgrades for his base.


    If the watchers were not surprised earlier by him hauling an entire base, they were certainly surprised when he began to fly in the direction of the hex that stands beyond his surrounding hexes. He stopped in front of the base there and began to harrass the owner.


    The watchers couldn''t take it anymore. A supreme beast roared from within a base, "What kind of nonsense is this? Is he going to extort everyone now? The audacity!"


    She had been watching the special event from the beginning. Almost everyone had been watching. Everyone is normally spying on everyone else to see what they are doing to determine if they can take advantage of it. Even if he didn''t n to, Legion-5 created enough ruckus for his deeds to draw attention. So a lot of people including the inhabitants of the ne and the other Supreme beasts found themselves watching him even if they didn''t n to spy on him.


    They watched him bring down a base for an unknown reason. People reached out to the unfortunate victim and asked him why it happened. The victim was quick to tell them what happened. He painted a picture of being unjustly bullied.


    What the first victim told them made them angry. But only on the surface. The other Supreme beasts were gloating within at the misfortune of apetitor of theirs. Only a few of them felt trepidation at the potential for destruction that the Shadow of Despair was capable of.


    Then the Shadow of Despair went to his other neighbor so they thought he was exhorting his neighbors. They pitied the neighbors and mocked them but no one was going to stand up for them. In fact, they gloated at their cmity.


    There were a lot of Supreme beasts that wanted to establish their base on a hex close to the sea of despair but they were forced out of the location. Now they are happy that the people who forced them have met with misfortune.


    Then Legion-5 turned towards the other hexes. It was then that they all realized the possible ambition of Legion-5. His greed is not limited to his neighbors at all. He wants to fleece all of them and he is brazen about it. He is so brazen that he is doing it openly without hiding.


    She roared again, "Is he sick in his head? Does he think we will all justy down and let him rob us?"


    She screamed in anger that was genuine and sincere. She truly feels that Legion-5 must be out of his mind to dare make enemies of all of them. It is insulting that he thinks he can do it so openly and get away with it.


    "This is too much. He has gone too far. We should do something about this."


    She said that but she didn''t do anything. She was waiting for someone else to do something.

 Chapter 1253 The Use Of Words.

    <h4>Chapter 1253 The Use Of Words. </h4>


    ?She was hoping someone would be more angry than her and angry enough to actually stand out and fight. She was also hoping that she was wrong about Legion-5''s ambitions.


    Then she saw Legion-5 leave the base of the third Supreme beast he visited. He didn''t leave empty-handed. There was arge batch of resources and manpower outside this base. The manpower are mana entities that have been forcefully recruited. So they are ves.


    The Supreme beast that owned them gave them to Legion-5 with some ores. Legion-5 ordered them to carry his newly acquired resources to his base while he flew towards a fourth base.


    She saw the train of ves and resources moving toward his base and Legion-5 moving toward another base. This was too much stimulus for her non-existent heart. It dropped from her chest and sank into the pit of her stomach. Dread began to rise up from within her.


    She couldn''t help but ask her base, "This can''t be allowed right? Surely, it must be against some rules."


    Her AI assistant replied. [It is not against any rules to trade or give points for any reason. Generosity and cooperation among the participants is encouraged]


    "This is not generosity. He is stealing from us."


    [Stealing points is not possible. Points can only be transferred willingly. As for resources, it is possible to steal them. Since you arepetitors, stealing of resources is allowed]


    She didn''t get the answer she wanted so she began contacting the other Supreme beasts in her alliance.


    She told them, "He must be stopped at all costs. There are several reasons to do so. He will umte a lot of points and resources if he is not stopped. It will make him grow too much and too fast. He will be unstoppable then and will be able to steal more of our resources so we must stop him."


    "That''s in the future. If we don''t stop him now, we will lose our resources and points. That should be enough reasons but there''s more. If we stop him now, we will also get the resources he has just acquired. It will not be a waste of effort if we stop him. So we must do something."


    She made a lot of good points. There are a hundred of the Supreme beasts in total. If he gets one point from all of them, he will have 99 points. That is enough to tempt them.


    If they cooperate to stop him, they will be 99 against him. They should be able to win then. Unfortunately, her audience is not blinded by wealth.


    Someoneined. "But he is too strong. We might die and be eliminated."


    "He isn''t killing us if we don''t fight him. He just wants some resources and a point. We have points and we can spare them. That''s better than risking our life and our future."


    She roared at them, "It is our resources and our points. Do you hear me? It is ours, not his. We must fight to keep them."


    "We can fight but we might also lose everything. You have seen the consequences of that. Let''s just give him what he wants."


    She roared again, "No we can''t give him what he wants. The fact that he is not eliminating anyone is not done out of kindness. He is raising us like livestock. We can''t allow this to continue. Let us go and fight him."


    "I beg to differ. I believe that we can in fact give him what he wants. That''s the easiest thing to do right now. I think what you meant to say was that we "shouldn''t" give him what he wants."


    She roared at him, "Shut the fuck up."


    Someone asked her, "Why don''t you go and fight him? We will follow your lead."


    That silenced her. Then they saw the Shadow of Despair casually p another Supreme beast into the ground. The poor Supreme beast was mmed against the wall of the base. Then the Supreme beast stood up, went into the base, and brought out a lot of resources. They saw Legion-5 nod before he took the resources and left. Then he went for another hex.


    She couldn''t contain her anger anymore. "We don''t need to fight him alone. We don''t even need to fight him at all. We just need to band together and show a united front. If we refuse together as one, he won''t be able to single us out like he is doing now. He will back off when we threaten him with abined response from all of us. Besides, he doesn''t want to kill us so he might hold back even if we fight."


    The person who corrected her earlier coughed again and said, "I think you meant to say "He should back off." I think so because you have no way to say with certainty that he will back off."


    She had to ask, "What is wrong with you?"


    The Supreme beast said proudly, "My mentor said that I should pay attention to what I say as the utilization of words is the root of wisdom."


    She scolded him, "It is a pity that your mentor didn''t teach you to have a spine."


    The Supreme beast didn''t get angry. He said with genuine pity, "And it is a pity that your mentor didn''t teach you the values of wisdom. It is why you are about to risk your life and future for 1 point and 10% of your resources. Tell me, is 1 point and 10% of your current resources more valuable than your life and future?"


    "My pride and honor as a Supreme beast are worth more than everything I own. I am also sure that we will not lose anything. If the Shadow of Despair is smart, and I think he is, he will back off if we show a united front. I might not be good with words like you but I know that in most battles, half of it is won with bravery and morale."

 Chapter 1254 Victory Of The Few Over The Many.

    <h4>Chapter 1254 Victory Of The Few Over The Many. </h4>


    ?Someone else interjected before the argument got out of hand. He said, "Creating a united front sounds like a good idea. But what if you are wrong? We will lose more than 10% of our resources and 1 point."


    The Supreme beast that was good with words didn''t back down. He said, "Excuse me but I don''t think it is a good idea. If bravery and morale were so good, there wouldn''t be numerous seas of despair. We are Supreme beasts and we embody the victory of the few over the many. I don''t think uniting will work at all. Even if it does work, we should prepare to lose some of our lives. That is also something my mentor taught me about wisdom. She said to always prepare for the worst oue so that..."


    She cut him off, "Fuck your mentor and whatever she said. I am sure my n will work. Let''s vote about it."


    "Alright. Let''s vote."


    The 6 of them in the alliance voted. The majority voted to capitte and pay the "rent." That decision didn''t go well with her.


    She said to them, "I am disappointed in the five of you."


    Someone suggested. "We might change our minds if you get other alliances to unite. If we can''t unite then it is of no use even if we agree with you."


    What this person said made sense. So she tried to contact the other Alliances and create a unified force. It didn''t work out. They didn''t trust each other enough to consider her idea a good one and not a scheme to make them do something foolish and be eliminated for it.


    She was willing to swear Oaths but not many were moved by it. Most of them havee to the conclusion that if all 99 of thembine their might and fight him, it is obvious that at least one of them will be eliminated and many more of them will lose out.


    At the end of the day, the Shadow of Despair is not asking for too much. They have only been mining for 2 months so they don''t have a lot. They can easily give out 10% of their resources.


    A single point is also not too much to give up for peace. The alternative is to fight and lose more. And they can''t forget that the others are theirpetitors too. The ones that have a lot of points to spare consoled themselves with the fact that the ones that have little are going to be hurt more than them.


    And so they did nothing. At least not together. Some were rash enough to try and fight him. They refused to be exploited even when they saw what would happen if they resisted. They were beaten within an inch of their life. Then they paid more than they should have.


    Most people allowed themselves to be exploited without resistance. But they didn''t do it without the intention of vengeance. They began nning how to beat him in the future. If what he said was right, then they have a year to prepare for the next round of exploitation.


    As for Legion-5, he got 70 points and a lot of resources after a round of collecting rent. Some people didn''t have any points and they couldn''t get any from their poor Alliance. He beat them up first before showing some understanding. He decided to let them off by taking 30% of their resources. Then he informed them that he would collect double their rent in the future.


    Legion-7 mocked him, "Look at you. You have be soft."


    Legion-5 didn''t deny it. He sighed and said, "I have to be understanding since times are so hard. Besides, I can''t eliminate them for poverty. I will consider this loss and investment."


    Legion-7 continued to mock him. "Right. An investment with a 100% return rate. How magnanimous of you."


    Legion-5 was too shameless to refute that he was magnanimous. He knew Legion-7 was being sarcastic but he is not going to let that shame him from being greedy.


    His greediness aside, he understands that points are very difficult to get. The main way is to subjugate new hexes and set up new bases. It has only been 2 months so most of them haven''t umted enough manpower to start warring against the ne and not many of them were lucky enough toe across valuable resources around their base.


    He didn''t kill the poor ones because they would be of no use to him out of the rite of passage. Unlike the others, they are not hispetitors. They are his precious leeks. As a good farmer, he shouldn''t uproot the roots when farming. Even weak malnourished nts should be given the chance to grow. He will gain a bigger harvest in the future that way.


    He also made sure to tell all of them of his position to them and inform them of the benefits it would bring to them. He had said to them, "I am yourndlord now. You have paid your rent so it is my duty to protect you. You can ask for my help if you face off against any particrly troublesome enemies in the ne. Of course, you have to pay me for the help. Nothing is truly free in this world and the sooner you learn that, the better it will be for you."


    That was thest thing they heard before he left them to exploit others. It was advice that would shape the course of their lives and they got it from him cheaply. He is magnanimous that way.


    Legion-7 said, "I must say. These kids have a good temperament. I expected all of them toe rushing at you to fight you to the death."


    "They didn''t because they are afraid of me. They will challenge me when they regain their confidence."


    "I expect that they will be ready by the next time you try to extort them."

 Chapter 1255 Immunity Vs Defense.

    <h4>Chapter 1255 Immunity Vs Defense.</h4>


    ?Legion-5 shrugged. "I don''t want to bully them. They are just kids. I am just taking a little from them to stay out of their way. But if they don''t appreciate my kindness then they will regret it."


    He truly thinks of them as kids and he thinks his extortion of them is a kindness. The rite of passage might be apetition to them, but it is not to him. It is a means to an end for him. To achieve that end, he extorted them.


    He didn''t need to or had to do that. There are other ways to get points for him. But the other Supreme beasts need him to not try to get points by killing and eliminating them. So yes, he is doing them a favor by not attempting to kill them and just settling for extortion.


    He is being kind because it is the smart thing to do. He can eliminate all of them if he wants to. But what good will that do for him? It would do little good seeing as he is not aiming to bully some kids. He aims higher so it is better to use the kids as tenants to acquire points that will make him strong enough to achieve his great goal.


    Legion-7 said, "Anyways. Let''s use our ill-gotten gains to get the divine ability that we want before they run out."


    "What do you mean by ill-gotten gains? I worked hard for the points. I didn''t cheat the Supreme beasts out of it. They get protection and I get points. It was an honest deal and I have held up my own side of the deal."


    "Alright. You worked hard for them and you will need to work harder in the future if you still want to make the transaction with them. So let''s do something about divine abilities."


    Legion-5 agreed. "We nned to get the divine ability of the giants of order to bolster my immunity That will make three defensive divine abilities apart from the boost of the dragon heart so defenses should be good enough. We should look at recovery abilities next."


    He entered his base after making another round of orders for upgrades and production. At this point, his base has increased the number of cannons to 10, increased the energy capacitors to 50 times its original size, increased the energy reactor''s energy production rate by 10 times, and increased the energy barrier defense by 5 times.


    Those are the main upgrades. He also increased the production speed of the printer up to 6 times so that the base would be able to convert the resources he just acquired into bots, battlesuits, and golems as fast as possible.


    To top it off, he increased the detection range and sensitivity of the surveince system. This will ensure that enemies are sensed early and his Cannon will be put to good use.


    The 50 times increase in his capacitors will ensure that each cannon is able to fire its attack at least 5 times each and the increased detection range will give the energy capacitors more time to replenish their energy storage with the energy supply of the reactor.


    The time for the capacitors will be further increased due to the fact that the energy reactor can produce enough energy to maintain the energy barrier indefinitely. So if his enemies can''t breach his energy barrier, they will be quickly bombarded to death.


    The next upgrade that he is focusing on in this round is to increase the capacity of his base so that it will be able to hold more troops. Then he sat in the core room to consider how to spend the points that he worked for. Others may call it ill-


    gotten gains, but they will be wrong to do that.


    He looked through the list of divine abilities but didn''t focus on defensive divine abilities anymore because they had decided on that. The Liquid graviton divine ability is their main defensive divine ability and the divine ability of giants of order is their divine ability for immunity while the Origin diamond divine ability will ensure that his defensive power can be turned into attacking power.


    The divine ability of giants of order is not as strong in the aspect of defensepared to the origin diamond divine ability. But it will grant him the strength of giants and their immunity to spells and other kinds of abilities.


    The immunity is very important because there are a lot of divine abilities that can bypass physical and magical defense. He knows this for sure after looking through the list of offensive divine abilities of the scout and special ss.


    There are a lot of divine abilities for immunity in the list but there is none asprehensive as that of the giants of order. Other divine abilities can protect him from certainws such as earth, fire, wind, etc. But only the divine ability of giants of order can protect him from everything apart from the soul attacks.


    Even illusions are not safe from the resistive power of thew of order. The divine ability of giants of order is so strong that it prevents them from growing. It is undoubtedly another great divine ability. He will be handsomely rewarded if he sells the information to the supreme alliance but he is not going to do that.


    Legion has sharing issues. They would rather wipe out the giants of orders than share their divine ability with the Supreme alliance. It will be difficult to make full use of the divine ability because of its resistance to everything but Legion is not going to take that chance.


    If they can use it because of Legion-7, then the Supreme Alliance will be able to find a way to use it too. Legion would be underestimating the supreme alliance if they thought otherwise.


    Legion-5 said to the tree father, "I will need the divine ability of giants of order very soon. When can I get it from you?"

 Chapter 1256 Recovery After Immunity.

    Chapter 1256 Recovery After Immunity.


    ??The tree father replied, "I''m working on it."


    Legion-5 snorted, "We both know that you''re not putting a lot of effort into it."


    The Tree Father retorted, "And we both know that you''re nagging me so that I can put in a lot of effort into it. Unfortunately for you, that''s not going to happen. Not until you show me that my efforts won''t go to waste."


    "Fine. I will get going with the test with divinity soon. In the meantime, you should put more effort into looking for a suitable target so that we will start as soon as possible after I confirm mypatibility with divinity."


    "Fine," the Tree Father said reluctantly.


    Legion-7 joined in, "Don''t forget to prepare a lot of divinity for the demigod. That way, the divine ability we will get from the demigod will be more stable after we kill it."


    Helios chuckled to himself, "I killed one demigod of order in the past. To think there wille a day when we create another one to kill. It reminds me of the good old days when my suspicious and overly protective dad was my biggest problem. I also had legs and arms and could move around."


    A demigod for a Celestial is a dangerous matter. Not only is it dangerous but it also requires a lot of effort and it is expensive. Legion-5 is confident that he will pass thepatibility test with divinity so he wants them to start preparing for the demigod.


    They n to use one of the tree father''s created vessels to impregnate a transcendent giant of order. It is only such a being that can bear his child. Then he will bestow that child with the divinity of order to enhance his divine ability.


    This will create the strongest demigod ever. Then they will kill the demigod as a mana entity. Considering the fact that giants of order are born as mana entities, the demigod will be killed as soon as he is born.


    So there shouldn''t be any risk to the tree father. The divine crystal that the demigod leaves behind will then be given to Legion-5 for him to acquire the divine ability of Order.


    It is a good n but anything can go wrong. After all, the tree father is not without enemies who are ready to take advantage of any weakness he exposes.


    Legion-5 encouraged the tree father, "There is no need to worry. The mother of the child will be constantly watched and won''t be ever allowed to leave the kingdom of life. Everything will be fine as long as you don''t let her leave captivity and kill the child as soon as it is born. So even if someone reincarnates into the demigod like Helios did, the oue of Stelios will not repeat itself."


    The Tree Father warned him, "I would tell you that you''re ying with fire by messing with order but you won''t listen to me. So I''ll just say that you better seed."


    Legion-5 didn''t promise that. He said, "Unfortunately I can''t promise sess. I only hope not to die."


    He knows that what he is doing is very risky. After all, Order is a supremew. At best, he would be repeating the danger that Helios faced as a fetus. He would be in danger of freezing and be unable to make progress like the giants of order. But unlike Helios and the giants of order, he would be willingly courting death and not be confronted by it because of his birth.


    So not only is he in danger, he is also putting the tree father''s Authority in danger. But He is still going to go through with it though because creating a demigod of order is the only way for them to get the divine ability of order. The divine ability of giants of order is in their skin and it will die when they die. The only way to preserve it is to have it coalesce into a core through divinity as seen in demigods.


    So the danger to the tree father cannot be avoided. The danger to himself also can''t be avoided if he wants the strongest version of their divine ability. This is important because they chose the divine ability of the giant of order not only because of its powerful immunity. It has an important part to y in Legion-5''s n to be a world god without a Supremew.


    They would have chosen it even if it didn''t have powerful immunity. It is good that it has immunity because it satisfies Legion-7''s need for protection and his need to withstand Aeternus''s assistance. So the stronger the divine ability of the demigod of order the better.


    He asked Legion-7, "So which Recovery ability should we choose?"


    "Don''t choose the energy recovery divine abilities. Choose the healing recovery ones. And don''t choose the one based on life essence or vitality. Choose one that can bring you back from the brink of death or one that can prevent you from dying at all."


    The next thing on their agenda are recovery divine ability so Legion-5 focused on them in the list. Recovery divine abilities are an important part of any warrior be it energy recovery or injury recovery. They must have one or Legion-7 will never be content.


    Defense is not enough to be able to survive in the toughest situation. Warriors have to be prepared to be injured. They are not scouts who are prepared to avoid being injured. It is the job of warriors to take on the most dangerous missions and the strongest attacks so there are several recovery divine abilities for them.


    With recovery divine abilities, a warrior can keep on fighting for a long time and maintain their top strength through it all. The best recovery divine ability is the heart of a life tree. With it, a warrior can convert Origin energy into life force which mean that they can heal themselves of any type of injury.


    -----


    A/N: If it is not clear now, I will make it clear. Legion-5 cannot have infinite divine abilities because he chose the path of Supremacy Or Permanence. This will remain unchanged unless something beyond the ordinary happens to him in the future. He doesn''t n to wait for that. Instead, he is trying to make it so that no divine ability can take advantage him.

 Chapter 1257 The Next Best.

    Chapter 1257 The Next Best.


    ??As long as a warrior with the heart of a life tree possesses Origin energy, they will never die. They can even recover from having their body smashed to pieces.


    To be honest, it is a slight exaggeration to say that warriors with the heart of a life tree can never die. There is a limit to the recovery power of that divine ability. For example, the explosion of a star will destroy a warrior and the heart instantly.


    Then again, trying to withstand the explosion of a star is going overboard. As long as warriors are not exposed to that kind of massive and instantaneous destruction, they will never die. Unfortunately, it is not allowed for warriors.


    Legion doesn''t need the heart of a life tree either so they turned to other alternatives. It is just that their choices have been drastically reduced because of the type of dragon heart he has.


    The next best recovery divine abilities are the extra life divine ability of the Blood Giants, the blood wrath divine ability of the Wrathful Orcs, and the life duplication divine ability of the Hydra.


    The Blood Giants is a race descended from the hybrid descendants of a demon of Carnage and some other race that has now gone extinct. The blood giants have the innate divine ability of having multiple hearts. They gained nothing from this divine ability apart from the redundancy it granted their cirction system.


    If one of the hearts of a Blood Giant is destroyed, they won''t die because they still have their other hearts. Of course, there are many ways to kill someone such as cutting off their head or letting them bleed to death. Their numerous hearts can''t help in such a situation.


    So they were normal for all intents and purposes until their divine ability awakened a second time as transcendents. They gained the ability to sacrifice one of their hearts to heal themselves of most, if not all of their injuries. They could have up to 6 hearts so this ability became a literal lifesaver.


    They still had a weakness though, their hearts wouldn''t help them if they died too fast. If they went with the path of their divine ability to be titans ofw, their divine ability awakens further and makes them immortal as long as their hearts have not been sacrificed yet.


    A titan ofw of the Blood Giant race with the third awakening of their divine ability won''t be able to recreate their hearts after it is destroyed because theyck control over their concept. But a Sovereign can die, resurrect, then start creating the sacrificed heart immediately.


    So a Sovereign ofw of the Blood Giant race is essentially immortal like Origin gods as long as they get enough time to replenish their hearts. The only weakness is that the resurrection is instantaneous and it will consume some of the stats of the Sovereign so they will be weaker after their resurrection.


    This is a significant weakness because they will be easier to kill after their resurrection. If the person who killed them before is still around, then that person can kill them again until they run out of hearts to sacrifice. Still, the divine ability is very good. Someone who is not familiar with their divine ability might be caught off guard by their resurrection.


    The next best recovery divine ability on the list is the blood wrath divine ability of the Wrathful Orcs. The Wrathful Orcs are demonic descendants like Supreme beasts and the Blood Giants. Their ancestor was a demon of wrath so the Wrathful Orcs are simr to Rage Beasts in the way that Blood Giants are simr to Vampires.


    Wrathful Orcs get stronger the more they are wounded. Their divine ability does not heal them. But it will keep them alive by making them stronger. If they can kill their enemy before their death, then their divine ability has saved their life. If not, then their divine ability will allow them to escape faster.


    The blood wrath doesn''t recover vitality at all. Instead, it helps to maintain fighting prowess no matter the injury. Most times in a fight, it is the person that can oust the others in a fight that will win.


    Its weakness of providing a passive boost that can''t be controlled is fixed at the Sovereign ofw level. At that level, a Sovereign can burn their life force to be stronger. This makes it attractive to warriors. They usually pair it with the third best recovery divine ability to acquire a recovery ability on par with the heart of a life tree.


    The third best recovery divine ability is the life duplication of the Hydras. The Hydras are a natural race like elves. They are not descendants of hybrids of demons. Hydra''s have part elemental bodies that can be regenerated indefinitely as long as they have the element they need for the regeneration.


    A Water Hydra can regrow their head and other part as long as they have water around them. They can even use the injury to double the amount of body parts they have.


    The regenerated body parts are temporary as it is not supported by life force but they will allow the Hydra to maintain and even surpass their fighting prowess during their fight. They are essentially immortal as long as they have the element of their choice around be it water, earth, air, or fire. Subsequently, their weakness is that they won''t be able to heal at all in the absence of the elements they need.


    This weakness can be solved at the Sovereign level as Hydras be capable of using Origin energy as a substitute. So they will remain immortal as long as they are not killed quickly, cursed, or deprived of Origin energy.


    When the life duplication divine ability is paired with the Blood Wrath divine ability, it creates a powerfulbination. The Warriors can injure themselves to grow stronger and also regenerate injured parts to be stronger. So they will remain whole as they be stronger.

 Chapter 1258 The Time Worms.

    Chapter 1258 The Time Worms.


    ??These three divine abilities are very powerful. Unfortunately, Legion-5 can''t use them. This is because of his dragon heart. Lightning is highly destructive so it doesn''t go well with regenerative divine abilities.


    It would have been a perfectbination if there was lightning hydra. Unfortunately, there isn''t. In fact, lightning is one of the weaknesses of Hydras. They can''t heal injuries created by Lightning. So assimting the Life duplication divine ability of Hydras with his dragon heart is asking for trouble.


    While Legion-7 can ovee the resistance of some divine abilities to his dragon heart without destroying their function, they won''t be able to get enhancement between the divine abilities if they are notpatible.


    If they want to fuse a divine ability with the dragon heart and they want them to amplify each other, then it must be one that must work with lightning. This narrowed their options for recovery divine abilities to two.


    Legion-5 said, "We have lightning elemental bodies and time-based recoveries. I assume we will be taking the time-based recovery."


    Legion-7 agreed. "Yes. That''s the best we can get."


    Time-based recovery divine abilities are not actually the best recovery divine ability or the best of the options they are limited to. Lightning elemental divine ability will grant them the fastest recovery. It will be directly amplified by the dragon heart and it will grant them a certain level of physical transmutation.


    The physical transmutation will grant them an elemental body that will allow physical attacks to pass through them. So they will gain partial immunity to physical attacks. Its weakness is that they will be highly susceptible to magical attacks but that can be fixed by their immunity gained from the divine giant of order.


    It is a great divine ability but it is unfortunate that it is notpletelypatible with them and it will reduce the overall defensive capabilities of the other defensive divine abilities like the Origin diamond divine ability. It will be a waste of the Origin diamond divine ability if they go with this option.


    Most importantly, the Lightning elemental divine ability is directly rejected by the liquid graviton divine ability. The two of them cannot work together even if they are fused much less amplify each other. Legion-7 won''t allow anything to reduce his defense so they are not taking it.


    So they are going with time-based divine abilities. These divine abilities arepatible with almost every other divine ability. They make the body recover from injuries but don''t recover energy. In fact, they consume a lot of energy and they are also very difficult tobine with other divine abilities. This is because thew of time is very difficult toprehend.


    The best time-based recovery divine ability is the one from a race of time worms. They are a very powerful race that recovers from injuries by reverting their state of existence. They can revert from near-death situations to total andplete health because of it.


    This reversion happens nearly instantly. One moment they are almost dead and the next they are whole and hearty. They can''t recover after death like the extra life divine ability but they can always recover for as long as they want and as long as they have energy.


    So they are not limited to the amount of hearts that they have. If not for the fact that they have a weakness to ice, then the time worm race wouldn''t have been defeated by the Supreme Alliance.


    For some weird reason, frozen parts of the time worm don''t recover when they revert their state of existence. Any concept that freezes them renders their recovery ability useless. They will still recover if they are notpletely frozen but they will permanently lose the frozen part which will injure them more than the damage they sustained from the ice.


    Ice makes it so that it is better for them to suffer the freezing than to try and recover only for them to lose the injured part forever. It will be as if arge part of them was cut off when they reverted. This weakness led to their defeat and subjugation. Legion-7mented for them. "It seems no race is safe from the Supreme alliance. Even such a powerful and near-immortal race were enved sessfully."


    Legion-5 was also moved. "It makes the eye of weakness tempting but we can''t afford a slot for it."


    That made Legion-7 chuckle. "If we had our way, then we would get every divine ability. No amount of slots would be enough to quench our greediness."


    "That''s true. We can onlyfort ourselves with the fact that the eye of weakness has no path forward."


    The dazzling array of divine abilities in the list is a temptation beyond any other. They want to get everything on it and not only the eye of weakness. With the eye of weakness, they would be able to identify the weakness of a race just by looking at them. Unfortunately for Legion-5, they only have 9 slots so they can''t have everything they want.


    It is painful to look and not be able to take whatever divine ability they want but they alleviate their pain with some mollifying information. One such mollifying information is that the eye of weakness is a dead end.


    Every Supreme beast that has ever used it couldn''t bring it to the Origin god stage. They lost it because they couldn''tprehend thew needed to fuse itpletely. If not for this weakness then the eye of weakness would be the next great divine ability.


    The conjecture is that the race it belongs to are descendants or creations of a world god and thew in their divine ability is a falsew. Since falsews can''t beprehended without direct ess to the Supremew that theye from, the Supreme Alliance couldn''tprehend it.


    They are like Vampires in that way with a unique path of power. Their path of power is simr to the path of perfection but it relies on a falsew.

 Chapter 1259 The Failure Of The Flames Of Rebirth.

    Chapter 1259 The Failure Of The mes Of Rebirth.


    ??Vampiresprehend thew of blood which they have exclusive ess to while the Wa with the eye of weakness have ess to a falsew.


    The Supreme Alliance was able to defeat this race despite their ability to identify weaknesses because Supreme beasts are most aware of their own weaknesses and they have each other and their numerous divine abilities to make up for it.


    Unfortunately, the Supreme Alliance couldn''t make full use of the divine ability they gained from the Wa race after gaining victory over them. Their failure is simr to their failure to crack the ability of healing and resurrection of Vampires. They can''tprehend the falsew of weakness without the permission of its creator but they would rather not gain that permission because it would mean giving up their existence to that creator.


    It is not a rare situation for a divine ability to go to waste like that. The Supreme Alliance has encountered it several times before and it is not something that can be solved by offering one''s self to the creator of the world god. This is because there is also the problem ofpatibility with the falsew.


    If Ragnarok didn''t have thew of life within his divine ability be converted into thew of blood after he was bitten by his father, then Legion could never have gained ess to the bloodw even if they somehow gained a heart of Carnage and wrestled away its control from CARNAGE.


    So many powerful divine abilities like the Wa''s will go to waste no matter how much the Supreme Alliance or Legion wants them. And they are a lot too because special races like the Wans or Vampires are not rare in the void universe.


    Most powerful supreme races usually have powerful ancestors or creators. Legion knows for certain that dragons and phoenixes have powerful origins too. But dragons and phoenixes have different types of origin.


    The power of dragons can be stolen because their ancestor didn''t give them power based on falsews. The mes of rebirth of phoenixes on the other hand have never been acquired by anyone including the Supreme alliance. Even Legion-7 failed in his attempt to reincarnate into a Phoenix.


    Legion-7 consoled him, "There is just so much to be had but we have to remain content with the time reversal divine ability of the time worm for now."


    Legion-5 agreed. "Besides our aim is not divine abilities, it is perfection."


    Divine abilities are good but each one of them is not without weaknesses so they can never be good enough for Legion. They aim for perfection without weakness. It is something that these divine abilities don''t have individually. But Legion can achieve it through each other. If they gain perfection, then no ability or power can defeat them.


    Legion-5 decided to get the divine ability of the time worm called the time reversal. The other divine abilities that they need have to be sourced elsewhere. The rest of his wealth will be spent to purchase life essence and other things that the other clones need.


    It is not that there aren''t more divine abilities to be acquired as a warrior. There certainly are more divine abilities for various sections such as the energy section for warriors. Warriors need these types of divine abilities to continue fighting regardless of the avability of ambient energy.


    Then there is a section for speed. Warriors don''t need to be as fast as scouts, but they shouldn''t be slow either or it will be a weakness. They have to be able to at least obtain a temporary surge of speed for situations when they need it even if they are not fast normally.


    There is also the perception section of divine abilities that are needed for dodging. Not every attack needs to be blocked or weathered with their bodies. Warriors have to be able to dodge to preserve their fighting prowess. They also must be able to perceive their enemy if they are to hit them reliably. So perception is very important.


    Thest section for warriors is the spiritual defense measures. Not every attack is physical or magical. Some attacks wear on the mind and disrupt the consciousness. The disruption of their senses due to illusions could be fatal. It will surely render them useless or a burden to their mates. This is a weakness that must not be allowed.


    Those four sections are very important to warriors. A warrior is notplete without them. Every warrior must make sure that they have at least one of them. Legion-5 can''t get them but he is not worried about them. He iscking in perception but Legion-7 isn''t. He also isn''tcking in spiritual defense because of Legion-7.


    No clone that has been saved in Legion-7 is susceptible to spiritual or mind attacks. Not even a world god can bully them in that aspect without meeting them physically.


    As for speed, he has that covered with the crystal space divine ability. This kind of speed can''tpare to the time hop of the one-legged crane race who can increase their speed with the power of time, but it will do for a warrior.


    The time reversal divine ability is very powerful but it is very cheap. He got it for just 30 points. It is because it is not in high demand and it is also very easy to acquire. They just have to freeze the time worms with ice.


    Then he got the liquid graviton divine ability with 30 points which made for a total of 60 points. He still has 30 more points so they looked for things that other clones need.


    They bought a lot of things for the world fragment that they are building. Legion-7 will be able to send them into Legion-1''s inner world when hepletes the fusion of the crystal space butterfly''s divine ability.


    It will be a gruesome sight since Legion-7''s tentacles will have to break out of his body, grab the items, and then send them away. But it will not be painful for him so he doesn''t mind.


    ------


    A/N: Do you remember the asions when items were transferred between clones? Hint: It was a gruesome sight.

 Chapter 1260 Legion-5 Vs Realm Lord.

    Chapter 1260 Legion-5 Vs Realm Lord.


    ??He said to Legion-7, "I think that does it for now. I have the dragon heart, you, the origin diamond, the space-surfing divine ability of the crystal space butterfly, the liquid graviton, the time reversal of the time worm, and the immunity of giants of order. All we have to do now is fuse them and acquire the others that I need for my n."


    Legion-7 observed carefully before giving the verdict. "Everything looks good. But we will have to see them in action before we can be certain."


    "I don''t think we have anything to worry about," Legion-5 said confidently.


    He is fully decked out. He has defense, recovery, immunity, and movement covered. He is notcking in attack means either. The diamond Origin divine ability can turn his great physical strength and defense into the sharpest attack.


    There is also his dragon heart. It has taken care of attack, augmentation, and suppression resistance. The diamond Origin takes care of short-range attacks while his dragon breath takes care of his long-range attacking means.


    The Dragon Heart is a true all-rounder. It augments his other divine abilities with dragon force, grants him increased defense with his scales, ignores suppression thanks to his dragon might, and grants him a powerful attack to top it off. Whenbined with his other divine abilities then he has the right to be confident to survive any situation.


    Legion-7 suggested. "Let''s see if you will survive the means of other Supreme beasts through the list of divine abilities."


    Legion-5 epted the suggestion confidently. They used the information present within the list to determine how well he would fare against other powerful Supreme beasts. They have seen the other divine abilities already but it became novel when theybine them with each other and pit thebination against themselves in mental battles.


    There are several temtes of the sses avable that they used to test themselves. They found several examples of thebination of divine abilities. It made them realize the full capabilities of divine abilities when used in tandem. But even so, they were able to hold their own.


    Legion-5 dered confidently. "There is just nothing to get."


    Legion-7 agreed, "If there is something I still crave, it would be the ability of the god of fate."


    "That''s true. That god could be untouchable but there is none like it. The divine ability of giants of order will have to do."


    "There aren''t any tempting soul abilities either. The Envement divine ability of the one-man army ss is good but it is not good enough."


    Legion-5 shook his head in disappointment. "We don''t need any envement divine ability that can''t help us enve gods and Origin gods. Your other soul abilities are notcking to the best that they have."


    Their thorough examination of divine abilities made them realize the full value of Legion-7. There is no divine ability that canpare to him. There are divine abilities that can do some of the things that he can do but Legion-7 has many divine abilitiesbined together on his own. Adding him to Legion-5 made them beyond what other divine abilities can provide other Supreme Beasts.


    Legion-7 is not without weaknesses of his own. He can attack others but he needs to do so with actual contact. He needs to have his tentacles touching the person to manipte their soul. But that won''t always be avable.


    Unfortunately, this is not a weakness that others can take advantage of because of Legion-5. Apart from that, there is almost nothing that Legion-7 can''t do with the soul. He can even overwrite someone''s consciousness.


    They didn''t let their confidence blind them though. Experience is the best teacher, but they don''t need to wait and experience defeat before they learn from it. They can use the information they have avable to simte battle conditions to determine their actual power.


    They used all the knowledge that they had to simte various conditions to learn from it. One of the virtual entities that they fought with was the realm lord. They argued about the oue of that fight for a long while without any solution. Other clones joined in but they still remained divided. It is because they don''t have enough information about his abilities.


    Most of their time was spent on mental simtions like this and assisting Soverick withprehendingws. In the meantime, Legion-5 acquired the soul fire divine ability and upgraded his base some more.


    The purchase of the soul fire divine ability is to have an exnation for when he disys some of Legion-7''s divine abilities. All his purchases are tracked so he can use the purchase to fool the Supreme Alliance.


    He won''t assimte the soul fire but he will pretend to do so by giving it to Legion-7 to consume. Unfortunately, Legion-7 can''t gain abilities through devouring seeds of power. The best he can do is copy the abilities of gods but they are limited to the soul.


    The rite of passage continued in Legion-5''s absence. He didn''t go out of his base at all. Instead, he spent most of his resources to upgrade his base.


    He doesn''t n to subjugate any hexes and build more bases so he concentrated all his wealth on this one. It is a good idea since if he will be attacked, there is only one base of his to be attacked. Everyone that wants to fight him can find him here so he better be able to stand his ground.


    For that reason, he made sure to create a standing army. All the mana entities that he acquired as resources from the other Supreme beasts were turned into mechanical soldiers. They were encased in the battlesuits that he produced to acquire the power of titans ofw.


    This strength is only physical. They are not as fast as real titans ofw but they can match them in physical strength. Of course, titans ofw don''t fight with just physical strength so the mechanical soldiers can''t match a titan ofw one on one.

 Chapter 1261 How To Hunt A God Discreetly.

    <h4>Chapter 1261 How To Hunt A God Discreetly. </h4>


    About 3 of the mechanical soldiers are needed to match a real titan ofw. Fortunately, he has more than 10,000 of them so he can hold back even Sovereigns ofw.


    If they were golems, then they could be strengthened until they had enough defense to withstand blows from Sovereigns. Several golems of the highest tier can even beat back a Sovereign one-on-one.


    When Legion-7 thought about the fact that the base, the battlesuits, the golems, and the Supreme pir at the center of the ne are all parts of what the metal fire, he couldn''t help butment, "This is just a copy of what the metal fire can do. It is too bad that we can''t get it. It is notpatible with our objective."


    Legion-5 ignored his greed-influencedmentation. He asked instead, "What''s the estimated date for the fusion of the crystal space and the god hunting?"


    Legion-7 replied, "The crystal space will take a while. It contains thew of space so it is difficult. The difficulty of fusing consequent divine abilities gets higher so expect at least 2 months. As for the god hunting, it is not easy to spread myself to believers of a single god."


    The problem with the god hunting is not the inability of Legion-7 to infect the believers of a single god. The problem is how to limit the spread of the infection to believers of a single god. This problem is mainly because it is nearly impossible to identify the believer of a god at a nce. Legion-7 has to infect their soul first to find out.


    That effort is wasting their time. Not only is it difficult, but it can also alert the gods if many of them sense the anomaly as opposed to a single god being hunted. And Legion-7 has to search carefully so that he doesn''t spread himself too thin.


    So he mainly infected those who go to the churches of a single god and those who pray to that god in their house. They will be able to hunt the god when they have possessed at least 51% of the believers of a god.


    51% infection of believers is a tough requirement to meet for god-hunting. After all, gods especially grand gods can have up to a billion believers. That means he will need to infect up to 500 million believers. It is a lot to do while simultaneously fusing the divine abilities within Legion-5.


    "This is taking too much time. Maybe I should begin assimting the two divine abilities I just got."


    "The god-hunting n will take a while. I didn''t have this problem when I was alone. I just shed directly with the god. Those were the good old days. I have gotten sloppy since then. Safety has made me sloppy."


    Legion-5 doesn''t agree. "There werended gods so it was easy to do. They didn''t have a divine kingdom to protect them. These ones do and they even have a divine ne."


    "That is true. The divine neplicates matter. We can''t just go there to fight a god without the others interfering."


    Aeternus interjected at that point. "My gift should alleviate some of your problems. We demons are very good at hunting gods."


    Legion-5 became excited just thinking about it. "I am looking forward to it. We should be able to get it when Legion-7 finishes with the fusion of the space-surfing divine ability."


    Legion-7 asked, "How is your scheme to trick demon kings intoing to you to die going?"


    Aeternus replied, "It is going well. A lot of demon kings think they can bully me. I am level 10 now so it is easy to subdue them outright. But I make sure it seems reasonable."


    Legion-5 said, "That sounds fun. It sounds better than fighting with overpowered children in an expensive sandbox created with a whole ne."


    Aeternus chuckled evilly. "It is fun. The look of despair on their face when they realize that they have walked into a trap is the best part of the experience."


    Legion-5 knows this to be true. He has seen the memories and it is thrilling. But it would be better if he were the one to do so. Unfortunately, it won''t be fun to bully childrenpared to bullying ancient demon kings.


    He had to mollify himself. "I have things going on here too. Things will really kick up when I gain space surfing. I will be able to create a connection in space that leads to your pocket space so that we can exchange the things I need."


    Legion-5 said with expectation, "If this works then I will only need the world seed to acquire the power of a world god."


    Aeternus disagreed. "I don''t think it will work. I have fused with the Authority of the Celestial Supreme and I have a level-10 demon king Authority but I haven''t be a demon god yet. So I don''t think quantity can make up for quality."


    "What do you suggest?" Legion-5 asked him.


    "The problem is that the two items I used had limits that prevented further growth. Even the tree father hasn''t be greater than a Celestial despite having ess to cosmic energy and has fused with the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. It is why I didn''t explode when cosmic energy was infused into my Authority. I just can''t go any further without meeting certain requirements. You will need to break that limit. I believe you will need to be an Origin god with a concept before you can break it."


    Legion-5 postted, "You make some sense. Legion-1 exploded because he became stronger without limit. He has reached the limit of origin gods without a supremew. If I seed in fusing all my divine abilities into the divine ability of the giants of order then I pair it with the godhood of a great god and the crown of a demon king then I might break that limit by creating the potential for the limitless cosmic energy to funnel into."

 Chapter 1262 Power Thief Divine Ability.

    <h4>Chapter 1262 Power Thief Divine Ability.</h4>


    Legion-7 agreed. "If Legion-1, Aeternus, and Legion-9 failed on their own, then the odds of you seeding bybining their attempts should be high."


    Aeternus was still pessimistic, "Even if works, you will only be a match for Supreme Origin gods at best. You will still need a world seed to be a world god."


    Legion-7 also added, "I can help you fuse everything but even If it seeds, what you will have is a substitute for a supremew. You will still need a world. So a world seed or world engine is still important. It will not be easy to fuse with a world seed without being an Origin god so Aeternus is somewhat right."


    They went back and forth sharing and engaging in ideas on how to be a world god without a supremew. It is something that has never been done before so there is no certainty that it will work. It might be a waste of time to achieve it but Legion is looking forward to it. Even Aeternus took time out of baiting demon kings into his abyssal ne to hash out the specifics of Legion-5''s n.


    Legion-5''s divine ability is a mutation of the original divine ability of Supreme Beasts. The Supreme beast calls their divine ability the Power Thief. It is an upgrade of their ancient days when they used to steal trinkets and identities. They are not Shapiros anymore. They steal power.


    But he is not a normal Supreme beast either. He can assimte anything non-living and not just seeds of power. That''s why he has taken to calling his divine ability Domination. It aims to make use of it to dominate the paths of power to lead him to greatness.


    They might fail, but they are willing to try. No matter the oue, Legion-5 will still be an extraordinary world god even if he ends up needing to upgrade his concept into a supremew. It will be a supremew like no other and might pave the way for the unity of the worlds of Legion.


    Their discussion didn''t stop even when they received visitors. He didn''t meet with the merchant group when Lafiti came. The transcendent dropped off the resources and left. Lafiti isn''t important enough for him to meet and he also didn''t meet with the envoys and diplomats of the various empires in the ne that came to see him.


    Legion-7 said in pity, "Poor fools. They are trying to curry favor with us."


    "They are toote. I have taken payment from my brethren to stay out of thepetition. I cannot go back on my word like that. I am too honorable."


    The Supreme Beasts were not the only ones who paid attention to the ne-wide extortion. The inhabitants of the ne also watched so they saw the power that he disyed and how he got away with extorting other Supreme Beasts.


    It is clear to them who the top dog of the Supreme Beasts is so they all came to appeal to him for their freedom. They want him to make them citizens. He surely has a lot of points to take that kind of action.


    Unfortunately for them, he has no intention of meeting with anyone including the Popes of the churches that came to see him. Even their gods won''t be able to arrange a meeting with him.


    It wasn''t until he saw the staff of a pope that he changed his mind. His eyes lit up immediately.


    "Now that I think about it, I think it is too disrespectful if I don''t show my face when I reject them. It is the least that the honorable pope of a church deserves."


    Legion-7 snickered. "You are truly honorable."


    It is not because of honor that he didn''t meet with the first batch of visitors and it certainly isn''t because of respect that he is meeting with this pope. Several popes havee before this one but he didn''t meet them. The difference this time is that this pope has a shiny staff in her pretty hands.


    So Legion-5 left the core of the base to meet this pope. He didn''t let her into his base though. He hasn''t let anyone in apart from his soldiers. Just because she has something he wants doesn''t mean he will give her any sort of hospitality. She remained outside after being informed that he would meet with her.


    He didn''t spend up to a minute toe out and that''s only because he had to execute some security protocols to open the numerous doors that lead out. So he came out very quickly which surprised her. He could have spent a day to see her while she remained outside waiting and she wouldn''tin. She was raised never to offend Supreme Beasts and gods so she was willing to wait patiently.


    She bowed slightly in greeting when she saw Legion-5e out of the base.


    "Supreme one. I am Karhenki from the Church of Light and Justice. I havee on behalf of my god the Celestial of light and justice to extend an olive branch to you in hopes that¡­"


    She was talking when she felt the world change around her. She saw the world grab her through her divine sense. She raised her staff to resist only to be found wanting. The hand formed out of world power didn''t attack her. It grabbed the staff and took it from her.


    Legion-5 wasn''t willing to hear her speak before taking action. He didn''t n to ask for the staff either. He wanted it so he took it. Then he tuned her out and focused his attention on the staff.


    This staff is the supreme artifact of the church. It is the highest honor bestowed by the Celestial of Light and justice to the pope. It is an item that represents the legitimacy of the papacy. Whoever has it is the true pope. Whoever doesn''t isn''t. To grab it like that is utter sphemy. But the pope didn''t get angry.

 Chapter 1263 Blasphemy!

    Chapter 1263 sphemy!


    ??Instead, the pope smiled. "I see that you like the Papal staff, Supreme one. It is a gift from the Celestial of light and justice to his chosen representative on earth. If you want one I am sure the Celestial can do something about it. The Celestial is¡­"


    Legion-5 waved his hand for her to go. He even said it out so that his intentions would be clear if she didn''t understand his gesture. "You can go now."


    "But this staff is important. I can leave it if it will please you but what do I tell the Celestial Supreme? As it is, it might be misconstrued that you stole it. Stealing is bad. We should..."


    It was then that Legion-5 turned to her. He didn''t look at her because he didn''t have eyes and he didn''t raise his head to look at her. All he did was to make his focused divine sense fall on her. She almost knelt down before him. It would have been sphemy to kneel before anyone but her god so she did all she could to remain standing. All the divine artifacts she wore were activated to withstand the physical and mental pressure that settled on her.


    She was so preupied with standing that she almost didn''t hear what Legion-5 said to her. Fortunately, his voice through his divine sense was as loud as thunder in her mind. She would have heard what he said even if she was sleeping.


    "I said you could go. Do I look like one of your believers that you can preach to? Do I look like I need a sermon?"


    His voice was calm but there was a sharp edge to it that cut at her mind. Even so, she was not cowered. She wasn''t supposed to get angry but she became so angry that she was speechless. After all, he was the one who stole from her but he is the one getting angry. His behavior was too unreasonable.


    But he wasn''t done. He warned her, "You better leave now before I help you out."


    She is just a transcendent. He can kill her with one p. She couldn''t even resist his simple use of world power when he snatched the staff or the pressure of his divine sense when he focused his attention on her. How can she resist an attack from him?


    But she didn''t leave. She didn''t show her anger but she said with determination, "I am sorry but I cannot leave. To take the supreme divine artifact of the church of Light and Justice like this is a disrespect to the church, to the Celestial, and to the legacy of the Pope. I would rather die than see this happen in my time as the pope."


    That''s the thing about zealots. They are suicidal. Believers are usually foolish. They give offerings of their meager wealth to the church. The church grows richer while they wallow in poverty. But zealots take this foolishness to the next level. They can give their all including their single lives for their gods.


    Thisdy refused toprehendws and achieve perfection because she wanted to live for her god and die as a pope. Now she is willing to risk death by disrespecting a Supreme beast. But Legion-5 wasn''t offended.


    Legion-5 grunted. "That''s all you had to say from the start. You didn''t have to waste time talking about the evil of stealing."


    And so he attacked her. He punched forward and a grey phantom fist formed in front of him. The phantom fist struck her straight on. This phantom fist is more than three times her size and it collided with her like a mountain colliding with an ant.


    She glowed brightly with the power of her god so she didn''t die. She was just thrown backward by the fist. The Authority of her god saved her. Her entourage wasn''t so lucky though. The priests and archbishops that came with her died on the spot. The mere shockwave from the collision killed them.


    A mighty voice came from within her and from the sky. It roared in anger, "Justice will never let this go."


    Legion-5 didn''t even bother to reply. He turned his back on her and entered his base. The light shining on the pope slowly dispersed. The pope then turned into ashes that were blown away by the wind. She died there.


    The Authority of the Celestial of Light and Justice saved her at thest moment but it was toote to stop her from being injured. She was too close to Legion-5 so she was already hit before her Celestial responded. The descent of the Celestial further exasperated her condition.


    So in a way, it was the Celestial that killed her. All he did was punch her which didn''t kill her. She would have surely died but the burden of the Authority of the Celestial aplished that before his casual punch could.


    But that''s not what the Celestial told everyone. The Celestial of Light and Justice said to all who would listen or who were too weak not to dare listen to him, "I have been disgraced. I have been sphemed. My Authority and power have been mocked. This cannot be allowed to happen without due punishment. All I wanted was to give the little Shadow of Despair a gift through my pope but he insulted me and called every god weak. He also called every believer foolish. He must be punished for the sake of everyone be they god or man."


    The shameless Celestial ndered him and routed his entire church toe and attack the Shadow of Despair. Surely Legion-5 thinks the gods are weak and their believers are foolish but he didn''t say those things. He felt like saying them after being falsely used but he didn''t bother trying to clear his name or aggravating his offense.


    The Celestial used his silence to nder the Shadow of Despair more and he enjoyed a lot of sess. A lot of believers got angry when they heard the usations. They were angry enough to die for their gods.

 Chapter 1264 Go Big Or Go Home.

    Chapter 1264 Go Big Or Go Home.


    ??There were a lot of believers who didn''t like Supreme beasts in the first ce so this was a good opportunity for them to punish one. This way, many people signed up for the army. The army quickly reached 100 million in size.


    The Celestial evenpelled other weaker gods to work with him to pressure Legion-5. The army doubled in number because of it. 200 million soldiers were rearing to have a go at the Shadow Of Despair.


    The other Celestials were full of envy as they watched this. They want something like this to happen to them because there is a chance that the Celestial of Light will seed with his scheme. After all, Legion-5 might buy off the Celestial of Light and Justice if the god proves to be too troublesome to deal with.


    This chance is very high. So even though there is also a chance that the Celestial of Light and Justice will lose the fight against Legion-5 and lose any deterrence force that he has against the other Supreme beasts, he still went all in wholeheartedly.


    He might lose any chance of gaining citizenship if he doesn''t give it his all. So he held nothing back. He even forced a few greater gods and some high gods to fight Legion-5 together with him. The gods weren''t fooled by the usations but they couldn''t dare not to listen to them and they couldn''t dare to refuse the request to help from the Celestial of Light and Justice.


    It is as they say, you either go big or you go home. The Celestial of Light is willing to risk it all. He even borrowed money to gamble on this opportunity. He used the money to build his mortal army and hire powerful fighters from the path of perfection. It will improve his chances of sess further.


    It is money and resources that he doesn''t n to repay. If he fails, then there is no more salvation. So he is also not concerned about returning the soldiers that he forcefully borrowed from other gods. This way, over 50 million soldiers were quickly recruited into the army to make a total of 250 million.


    Some were carried away by the propaganda against the sphemer but others were very clear about the situation. They knew that the uing grand war would not be because of a pope that died. Her death was tragic but she is not worth so much effort that a god is willing to disregard everything for.


    The gods aren''t stupid. Even the Celestial of light and justice who is usually rash is not that stupid. He is just a determined god with a stubborn personality. That''s why he is willing to gamble everything he has on this opportunity.


    The Celestial of Light and Justice wanted to curry favor with the Shadow of Despair but that didn''t work out. Still, the endeavor was not aplete failure or waste of time. He was snubbed and in return, he gained a justified reason to fight Legion-5.


    Legion-5 was the one that offended him so he won''t be breaking the conditions of his contract not to antagonize or bully the young Supreme Beasts. Plus this is a great opportunity to take Legion-5 down.


    Legion-5 has be estranged from the other Supreme beasts so he won''t receive help from them easily. Legion-5 has only one base so the Celestial can corner him. Legion-5 doesn''t have arge army either so the might of the entire church of Light and Justice will be able to pressure him if not eliminate him. Everything looked too good for this attempt to fail.


    If the Celestial waits then Legion-5 will be given time to convert the resources he just gained into troops. In fact, other Supreme beasts might use this opportunity to take advantage of Legion-5. The allure of the points and the resources he has will surely tempt them.


    So the Celestial believes that he has a shot at making Legion-5 pay the price of 100 points for him. Legion-5 can surely afford it. If not, then the two of them can work together to extort the other Supreme beasts for more points.


    The drums of war were beaten all over the ne. The banner of Light and Justice was raised. The songs of victory were sung. The faithful and the believers were assembled. They matched forward for justice to be served and for the glory of their god to be made known.


    As true believers, they will use their lives to fight for the death of their pope and the disrespect to their god. Such sphemy cannot be allowed to go unanswered. The Celestial of Light and Justice made sure to fan the mes within these foolish mortals.


    Themotion couldn''t be hidden. Most supreme beasts knew immediately the pope died because they were always watching the Shadow of Despair''s base. They are also always informed about the happenings of the ne so they saw the mobilization of the church of light and justice.


    If they didn''t know what was truly happening before, they certainly knew when a certain angry female Supreme beast sneered and said, "The Celestial of Light and Justice surely has everything nned out. This whole war is just an exhibition of his strength and influence to force the Shadow of Despair into working together with him. He does not want the Shadow of Despair dead, but he will surely try to make it happen. This is very good."


    The young Supreme Beast who imed to be good with words was quick to disagree with her. "It is not good at all. You are focused on the trouble that this will bring to the Shadow of Despair and not the trouble that this will bring to us if the Celestial of Light seeds."


    That statement got them all thinking. They were excited earlier that the Shadow of Despair was being targeted by a Celestial this early into thepetition. But now they couldn''t help but consider the future repercussions of this war.

 Chapter 1265 An Opportunity Too Great To Pass On.

    Chapter 1265 An Opportunity Too Great To Pass On.


    ??It is not their fault that they are so shortsighted really. They are still young so they haven''t learned to have a perspective that considers far-reaching consequences. Even now, it is still difficult for them to fully understand the ramifications of the war on them.


    Fortunately, there are some things that are very easy to consider and understand right in front of them. Those things are short-term benefits but it is enough for them to question whether they would be involved in this war or not.


    Someone asked in agitation, "Are we just going to watch as an army of millions just passes us by without doing anything?"


    The Celestial of Light and Justice had expected that the other Supreme Beasts wouldn''t help the shadow of Despair because of how he treated them earlier. The Celestial was right but he didn''t consider that some of them were tempted to intervene. He didn''t consider that they might intervene to help themselves.


    "This is too much to pass on. We should do something. We can''t let this opportunity go."


    Another Supreme Beast said with longing, "Imagine how many points we might get from this army."


    Their imagination ran wild. They didn''t have to employ too much mental power to conjure up the image of the benefits of so many people avable to be killed. The army is right there outside their base and the mission list that shows how much point they will get for the kills in the ne is also there for them to be truly informed.


    The mental stimtion became too much for them to bear. After all, they are currently point-starved and they also have a deadline of one year of strength acquisition to meet. So the people with this opinion couldn''t hold themselves back. They were rearing to go. But there are those that can hold themselves back.


    These people said, "Forget about the points that we might get. Let the two of them fight first. Then we can pick off the weakened survivor."


    It was the female Supreme beast who was angry at the Shadow of Despair for stealing her points. She had tried to rally support then but she failed. She had also failed to resist the Shadow of Despair and received a terrible beating for her attempt at "cheating him out of his rightful rent." Or so he said.


    So she is still very angry and would very much like to see someone else beat the Shadow of Despair. She is intelligent enough to understand that the war might be bad for the rest of the Supreme Beasts but she wants the Shadow of Despair to be beaten. He doesn''t even need to feel too much pain. A little portion of the pain she felt as he used a whole golem as a club to beat her would be enough for her.


    Unfortunately, wishes aren''t horses. There are some people that just won''t let her have her way. That person asked, "What if the two of them make peace? What if the Shadow of Despair doesn''t have enough points? Where is he going to get enough points?"


    Those are important questions that elicited critical thinking in the young Supreme Beasts. It helped that the questions were straightforward and simple. The answer was clear to the dumbest of them.


    "Yes. What if the Shadow of Despair capittes and recruits this Celestial? Are we just going to watch and do nothing while that happens? The shadow of despair will be unstoppable then."


    They knew what the true purpose of the war is and now they know that the war is not bad for the Shadow of Despair alone. There is an oue of the war that they don''t want to see. If there is any of them that can manage to pay enough points to recruit the Celestial, it would be the Shadow of Despair.


    The Shadow of Despair is already a force beyond them. The addition of the Celestial''s force to his will make him unstoppable. Are they to allow it to happen? Even if they want to allow it to happen, are they also going to give up on the opportunity to make points that have been presented to them on a tter of gold?


    The Celestial of Light and Justice nned for a lot, but theck of information would be his doom. His foolproof n has be a shoddy and hasty thing because he doesn''t know what exactly gives the Supreme Beasts points.


    The Celestial doesn''t have ess to their mission list so he doesn''t know that there is a mission to kill as many as possible inhabitants of the ne. Each million deaths will grant them one point.


    This mission is something that is normally together with the subjugation mission. Supreme beasts can''t just go about killing without facing resistance from the inhabitants of the ne. And a single Supreme beast will find it very difficult to kill a million people alone unless they are in the one-man army ss.


    That''s why they are sitting still for now while they are building an army of their own. But here is an army that has left the safety of their cities and fortresses transversing through the ne. All they have to do is attack from the sides to gain some kills. Nothing could be better for them. They need every point they can get after losing some to the Shadow of Despair.


    The Celestial of Light and Justice doesn''t know that he is dangling a piece of good meat to hungry jackals. His army is like a long snake meandering along the ne in a single direction towards Legion-5. And there are a lot of supreme beasts that are in desperate need of points surrounding this snake.


    What increased the temptation further apart from their defenseless state is that most of the army isposed of Mana entities. There are transcendents and even Sovereigns ofw that joined in because they feel that they have a higher chance of gaining citizenship this way. But they are few in number. The rest are weak. That makes this army easy pickings.

 Chapter 1266 Self Harm.

    <h4>Chapter 1266 Self Harm.</h4>


    One of the Supreme Beasts suggested, "Let''s test the waters first and make sure this is not a trap. We will take advantage of the situation if the opportunity arises."


    The Supreme Beasts decided to move against this army. It is for purely selfish reasons. They are not doing so to help Legion-5 resist oppression. They attacked the army from every direction.


    Meanwhile, Legion-5 remained in his base examining the staff he took.


    Legion-7 asked, "Are you not going to interfere? Those Supreme Beasts are taking your points?"


    Legion-5 shrugged. "I must keep my word for the sake of my honor. I won''t take from them."


    Legion-7 chuckled. "What honor? You will just take back your points through extortion."


    "Stealing is the best way to get rich. Working hard is for the sheep." Legion-5 agreed.


    His hand sped the staff tightly as he said, "I have examined it physically. There should not be any problem with assimting it. My divine ability can do so."


    Then he asked, "What about you? What did you find?"


    Legion-7 replied, "The staff contains divinity and it is very strong. I should be able to devour it even though it belongs to a Celestial."


    "That''s great. It means that I can safely assimte the divinity without bing a god. I have a good feeling about the n."


    "You are being overly optimistic. You might not be able to start the assimtion at all. The Will of a Celestial in the divinity will resist you."


    Legion-5 didn''t calm down. "Just imagine what could happen if I fuse the path of gods, demons, and the path of perfection. I will bebining divinity, Authority, and dragon heart together. It will be like when we created the shards of power. My own shard of power hasn''t helped me at all but this should work out this time. Something must happen. If nothing happens, then using a world seed to breakthrough instead of origin essence should lead to something."


    He is looking forward to what will happen. He is sure that it should lead to something. However, he doesn''t know what will happen and Legion-7 isn''t so optimistic that it will be good. His fears are warranted considering the level of powerful items he is messing with.


    He warned Legion-5, "I hope you won''t kill yourself. That is more likely to happen if you try to use a world seed. That thing is too strong for anything not immortal to withstand. This might not work out and you might not break any rules. But even if you do break a rule, that doesn''t mean you will survive it. We almost died thest time we messed around with something we shouldn''t do."


    That didn''t help at all. Legion-5 remained optimistic. "I think we must get the divine ability of giants of order as quickly as possible. The order contained within it is the reason Helios turned into a star. I want to turn into something that breaks the rules so we must have it. Finish with the fusion of the crystal space butterfly as soon as possible."


    Legion-7 groaned. "I almost don''t want to."


    But he continued with it. Actually, he is not the only one who thinks that what Legion-5 is nning is very dangerous. Most clones of Legion do too. It is not as dangerous as allowing Chaos energy to enter their mindwork and messing with it to create a singrity. But it is dangerous enough and Legion-5 is the host for Legion-7. Anything that goes wrong with him will affect Legion-7 and to some extent, the rest of them that have been assimted by Legion-7.


    But they also understand that those who conform to the natural order of things will be mediocre. Only by jumping out of the pool of mediocrity can greatness be achieved. Besides, as long as the situation doesn''t reach the extreme of danger like the previous time, they should be able to resurrect him.


    So Legion-5 went ahead with assimting the staff. What he did was simple. He simply pushed the staff into his body. It is the same way he tries to assimte stones and weapons. His body shifted to take on the properties of divinity contained body shifted to take on the properties of divinity contained within the staff.


    "Ra!"


    A roar of anger filled his mind. It came from the staff. The staff contained the divinity of the Celestial of Light so it contained his divine Will as well. It is a very powerful divine will too. It shed with his consciousness with a stubbornness not to be defeated.


    The Celestial roared with a mocking tone, "You fool! Has no one ever told you that you have the perfect body for possession?"


    Then he said with excitement, "It seems you want to kill yourself. I will oblige you."


    Legion-5 felt his existence being invaded by the Will of the Celestial while the divinity in the staff left the staff. The divinity came out as a clump of light and rushed towards his inner world. His body was also shining brightly and divine power which is exclusive to gods was fluctuating from his body.


    Legion-5 has not felt this kind of sensation since Helios had the mental showdown with Stelios. The conditions are different but it is clear to him that the Celestial wants to turn him into a clone.


    Of course, something like that is not going to be allowed to happen. The Mechanical Emperor who was watching groaned. "Does this kid have a death wish?" He asked himself.


    00:35


    He expected trouble from the Shadow of Despair and he has been getting a lot of it but this trouble has gone too far. Agrivo839,371,456A has gone from harming others to harming himself.


    As the Invigtor and protector of the young Supreme Beasts, he can''t watch on while something like this happens so moves into action. A ck me appeared within Legion-5''s ne. Its appearance was silent and if Legion-5 didn''t have Legion-7 he wouldn''t know that someone had invaded his base.

 Chapter 1267 Defeat On Both Side.

    Chapter 1267 Defeat On Both Side.


    ??Then again, it is not an invasion. After all, the base is part of the Mechanical Emperor''s body. But the me didn''t go forward to help Legion-5. It stopped. Then it retreated back into one of the walls of the base.


    The Mechanical Emperor didn''t help because he didn''t need to. The clump of light within Legion-5 crashed into the inner world sessfully.


    The Celestial of Light had said, "Sess will be mine. I shall rise to..."


    Then the clump of light was devoured. The Celestial didn''t even know what happened. The only thing he could tell was that his divinity disappeared as soon as it entered the inner world. He didn''t see what did it.


    Legion-5''s body stopped spinning immediately. His consciousness rxed too and the fluctuations of divine power disappeared. A useless staff fell out of his body to the ground.


    Legion-7 said, "What did I tell you? Your body is perfect for possession."


    Legion-5 grinned. "It truly is."


    "We seeded. This means that you can assimte the godhood of a great god without bing a great god."


    Legion-5 said to the Tree Father, "You heard that? Now make me a demigod. Make it the best demigod you can."


    Legion-7 also egged the Tree Father on, "Put in the effort you would if you were going to love the demigod with all your heart."


    The Tree Father couldn''t dy anymore. The fact that Legion-5''s body resonated perfectly with the divinity proved that his effort wouldn''t go to total waste. So he said, "Fine. One top-notch demigoding up."


    Legion-5 dered, "Good. Next up is god hunting."


    ----


    While Legion-5 was focused on nning to break a t of the universe, the ne was thrown into an uproar. He remained in his base without causing trouble. But the other Supreme Beasts who are focused on points are trying to turn the ne upside down.


    They are not in the same ss as him. None of them have dreams of breaking thew of the universe. They don''t even know that it is possible. But that doesn''t make them weak.


    The Celestial of Light and Justice can testify to that while the onlookers of the ne can testify that they are not Supreme Beasts for nothing. Legion-5 is just a freak. He is an outlier. Not everyone can be like him but the rest of them are strong enough.


    It took 3 Supreme Beasts to take down the ne. Now 99 Supreme Beasts are fighting a portion of the strength of the ne. They Supreme beasts are young and weak but the army is just 250 million in size. 250 million might seemrge but it is not enough for all of the Supreme beasts to earn 3 points each. They can''t buy a divine ability with 3 points so they all wanted to get more points out of the army.


    The army of the Celestial of Light was attacked on all sides by the Supreme Beasts. His army was whittled down little by little. He tried to retaliate by using his vessels and some Sovereigns to resist but the Supreme Beasts worked together to resist their top forces.


    They helped each other because they believed that it was their only chance to not only resist the Celestial but to also resist the Shadow of Despair in the future. The Celestial of Light helped all the Supreme Beasts toe together and form an alliance to resist enemies together. It is something that Legion-5 couldn''t achieve.


    The Shadow of Despair was too dangerous to resist so they didn''t want to antagonize him. But the church of Light and Justice is not so dangerous. They can afford to band together and bully the church. Even if they were beaten back, they had a base to run to for protection.


    The Celestial is not happy that he managed to achieve something that the Shadow of Despair failed to do. He tried to make the gods unite too but they refused to board what was clearly a sinking ship. So his church was beaten up and down from everywhere. He had to give up on his intentions to pressure Legion-5.


    The once glorious army of justice and light retreated with their tails between their legs. 250 million soldiers were reduced to less than 100 million after weeks of fighting.


    The army scattered in defeat before they reached the Shadow Of Despair''s base. This happened after his divinity was devoured. So not only did the Celestial fail to possess Legion-5, but he also failed to pressure Legion-5 with his army.


    Legion-5 didn''t even participate in the war. Apparently, he was so powerful that he didn''t have to do anything to put the Celestial of Light and Justice at a dead end.


    Then the peace of the ne returned for another month. The ne was still reeling from the impact of the short war when something inconceivable happened.


    ------


    In The Divine ne.


    A great god was rxing in his divine ne when he felt a sudden spike in the amount of prayers to him.


    "What is going on?" he asked in surprise.


    There have been a lot of prayers recently ever since the grand war started. The prayers remained high even after the war ended. There was no more fighting but the repercussions of the fighting had begun to catch up to the people.


    Food had be scarce and prices of goods and services had risen. People couldn''t afford the things that they used to be able to. Many people became hungry. They needed money so they prayed to their god. It caused faith to rise in the ne.


    But this spike in faith is different. The sudden spike in prayers of the faithful is strange. Something like this only happens during a ne-wide religious event or festival. Most of his believers will pray to him then. Faith will surge from their souls to him along with their expectations. But the spike of faith won''t be this high because most of his believers are shallow believers.

 Chapter 1268 If And Only If.

    Chapter 1268 If And Only If.


    ??The great god muttered, "This is not right."


    He should be d since faith means more divinity and divine energy but he feels bewildered because he can''t figure out why he is receiving so much faith. There''s nothing special going on in the ne but a lot of his believers are praying fervently in their homes.


    The believers are praying so desperately that it is causing a spike in faith. This current spike is as if more than half of his believers have be fanatics. To be exact, it is as if 51% of his believers have reached the highest level of faith possible.


    His believers are so faithful that they are willing to give their all to him including their souls. This kind of dedication and devotion roused his godhood. He had to pay attention. So he stopped messing around to pay attention to the prayers of his believers. It is something he doesn''t do often. He did now and his face changed when he saw the content of their prayers.


    "This is bad."


    All these believers are praying and they are demanding the same thing. They want to dedicate themselvespletely to their god. They want to be one with him. It is a good thing since it has increased the amount of faith he is receiving. However, they have only one request in exchange for their dedication. They want him toe down to them.


    "Come down our lord. We want to be one with one. Come down and grace us with your presence. Come down and ept our worship. Come down for us to dedicate ourselves to you. Come¡­"


    Their prayers were ringing over and over again in his mind. Millions of believers want the same thing. They want him toe down. They want it so bad that they arebusting their souls to see it happen. It has created a strong force that is pulling him down towards the main ne.


    The great god of fire roared in resistance, "What nonsense is this? I won''t allow this."


    He refused to fulfill the request of his devout believers. They don''t want him to show up with an avatar. They want his godhood toe down to the ne. To go down to the ne is to fall. No god in their right mind will do so unless they are desperate.


    His resistance prevented him from falling. His believers are not in a good condition though. They began to die en masse. Their devotion is so great that they are not willing to give up their request for him toe down so their souls left their bodies. If they can''t join with their god on earth, then they will be with him in heaven.


    The pulling force of the believers reduced drastically due to the resistance of the great god of fire. The death of his believers granted him that reprieve.


    He sighed in relief. "I should tell Father what is going on. He should know something about this freak event."


    This is something he has never encountered or heard about. It is strange so he can''t keep it to himself. He doubts the effects of this event can be hidden. After all, more than half of his believers just died. So gods are bound to ask him about it.


    He decided to tell his father who made him into a god. His father is stronger and more experienced than him so he should be able to get some help from his father.


    He was flying in his divine kingdom on his way out when he was suddenly yanked downwards. He fell from the sky of his divine kingdom to the bottom of it. He didn''t fall gracefully. His face smashed into the ground painfully. He looked within himself and found the thing that yanked him. It is a translucent tentacle around his godhood.


    "What kind of sorcery is this?" He questioned in fear.


    He is very afraid right now. He should be. And his fear should rise in direct proportion to the amount of tentacles that are attaching themselves to his godhood. So he is doing well by bing more and more scared when more translucent tentacles appear around his godhood.


    These tentacles appeared as more and more souls of his devout believers died and came to him. He is their god and they are devoted to him. They wille to his divine kingdom when they die. It is their right as believers.


    They wille directly to his godhood first. This is because he is their beacon to the afterlife. He will then decide what to do with them. If by chance they are bringing something along with their souls, then that thing, whatever it is, will alsoe directly to his godhood.


    If that thing can withstand the all-burning power of the god fire around his godhood by using the souls of his believers as protection, then that thing can actually touch his godhood.


    If that thing can get enough of a grip on his godhood such as at least 51% of its surface area, then that thing can pull his godhood. And finally, if that thing can maintain its strength despite the constant burning of the god fire, then it should be able to pull him to the floor of his divine ne.


    It just so happened that these tentacles have an invisible me capable of burningws and resisting the god fire. So it was able to pull the god of mes to the ground of his divine kingdom and might be able to do more.


    The god of fire didn''t think too much about his condition. He contacted his father immediately. "Help me, father. Help me" He screamed over themunication line.


    A lot of weird things have been happening and his fear has reached its peak. He can wait to try and see if he can go to his father for help. But things are too urgent for that so he would rather disregard his divine prestige and scream to his father for help like some helpless child.

 Chapter 1269 It’s All Good.

    <h4>Chapter 1269 It''s All Good. </h4>


    "What is it?" His father asked in surprise.


    He rushed to reply. "I don''t know what it is but it has got me. It has me. It is pulling down."


    "What are you saying? You''re making no sense. What has got you?"


    "It has got me, Father," He roared in desperation. "Help me, Father."


    His father realized then that something must have gone terribly wrong. He left his divine kingdom into the divine ne and rushed to the great god of fire''s divine kingdom. His father was very fast. He was able to make it to the divine kingdom quickly. But the divine kingdom didn''t open up to him. He can''t very well smash his way in now, can he?


    "Open up." The Celestial Supreme roared.


    But there was no reply. It was toote. Themunication line had been severed. The great god of fire is not even in the divine ne anymore. Whatever was pulling him had seeded in yanking him down through his divine kingdom to the main ne.


    This change didn''t escape the Celestial Supreme''s notice. He saw a ball of fire streak through the sky like a meteorite and fall into the ne. Everyone in the ne saw it. They raised their heads to the sky and asked in surprise.


    "What''s going on?"


    "Why is there a fireball in the sky?"


    Many people asked those questions. They can''t see such a sight without being perplexed. But no one answered. Even the powerful people who can sense that the falling star is a god were surprised. And they were filled with dread.


    The fall of a god is a very surprising thing. It rarely happens. Thest time it happened was 3 origin cycles ago when the Supreme Beasts came to the ne. They visited the divine ne after the battle of the sea of despair but they were not weed. Some gods fell that day and the rest got in line.


    So they are filled with dread because of this event. It reminds them of some very dark times. But iprehensible surprise is the major emotion they are feeling, not fear. It is because this god that is falling is not dead. He or she is very much alive. This is not the fall of a godhood. An entire god is falling to the main ne alive and well. It is iprehensible, to say the least.


    A falling god should not fall with their godhood so they thought the god of fire was alright. They were wrong. The god of fire is not so well. If he were well, then he would be able to control his descent. He wouldn''t have smashed to the earth and created an explosion reminiscent of a volcanic eruption. The ce he smashed into cratered. Then it erupted in a pir of fire.


    Most importantly, if he were well, he wouldn''t have smashed in front of the Shadow of Despair''s base. Fortunately, he narrowly missed the base. If he had struck the base, it would be an act that might look like an attack and he doesn''t want to offend a Supreme Beast. Especially not the strongest one.


    The eruption died down after a few seconds. The grand god of fire struggled out of the crater. He is mostly unharmed. In fact, he is pleasantly surprised.


    "Isn''t this the main ne?" he muttered in surprise. "I thought gods couldn''t descend with their main bodies. Why do I feel fine?"


    If not for the tentacles wrapped tightly around his godhood, then nothing would be amiss about him. But he also understands that it is the tentacles that are bearing the burden for him being in the ne. He is not suffering any repercussions for his presence in the ne because of them so he doesn''t feel so scared of them anymore.


    "Hmm. Maybe I am lucky." He said to himself with a smile. "Maybe I am about to be anded god."


    He is smiling because of the wonderful possibilities that his strange state can bring to him. His presence in the ne means he will be able to wield his power directly. His church will soar and he might be able to get another domain to use to be a Celestial.


    He can''t use the domain of fire to be a Celestial because his father already upies that domain. So this strange situation is a good thing.


    He was smiling as his mind became full of ns to take full advantage of his situation. Then his senses picked up that someone just came out of the base in front of him. That someone is a Supreme Beast and also the first young Supreme Beast that dared to offend a god. He even offended a Celestial, not some lowly god.


    The face of the grand god of fire changed. But then he rxed. The Shadow of Despair is a dangerous Sovereign ofw but he is a grand god. They have equal strength now that he is here in his main body. He can make things work out peacefully.


    So the grand god of fire stood up on all of his four legs. He flexed his three arms and swayed his single-jointed tail. His three eyes as well as his body zed with mes as he stared at the iing supreme beast.


    He is a handsome member of the Switch race. That much is clear with his possession of a third arm on the right side of his body instead of the left side like some ugly Switch. He is disying that handsomeness and his power to show off and to intimidate the Supreme Beast.


    "I can''t look easy to bully." He thought to himself. "I must show a dominant attitude but I also must not go too far or offend him. We might be able to enter a partnership if things work out well. After all, a grand god in the main ne is a better and cheaper alternative to a Celestial in the divine ne."


    He started to say, "Greeting''s Shadow of despair. I have heard a lot about you. My name is Devoni, the grand god of fire. It is my pleasure to finally meet with¡­"


    He had to stop because the Shadow of Despair attacked.

 Chapter 1270 Shitty Brat.

    <h4>Chapter 1270 Shitty Brat.</h4>


    Legion-5 shed forward and disappeared. He appeared in the blink of an eye in front of the great god of fire with a fist clenched in preparation for a devastating punch. It was as if he had teleported which is not far from the truth. There was a thunderous crack as the air was torn apart by his fist.


    Devoni caught the punch with one of his hands. It was after the attack connected that the booming shockwave of the attack was created. That shockwave mmed into the mes around them and caused the hot ground to cool.


    Devoni tried to diffuse the situation. "What is wrong with you? I didn''te here to fight. My presence here is a peaceful one."


    But Legion-5 didn''t listen at all. He swung his other fist at the grand god. Devoni caught it with another one of his hands.


    Devoni finally snapped. He swore at the unreasonable Supreme Beast, "You disrespectful shitty brat. I am a god. How dare you disrespect me like this. I will teach you a lesson you will never forget."


    A god of fire is not someone with a good temper in the first ce. But he tried to be reasonable. He truly did. Unfortunately, Legion-5 went too far. So he blew his lid, literally. Fire ejected out from his head like pressurized steam and his yellow eyes became brighter.


    He has both of Legion-5''s hands in a vice grip meanwhile he still has one free arm. He used that third arm to punch at Legion-5''s head. He expected a hit since they were so close. He might not do damage but there should be a hit.


    But another arm grew from Legion-5''s torso. It blocked the punch while another arm grew from the other side of his torso and punched Devoni in the face. Legion-5 finally seeded with an attack. His punch mmed into the grand god''s face with a force that almost removed it from the neck of the god.


    Devoni''s face waspressed painfully. His head was ttened by that punch and was pushed beyond afortable position but Legion-5 wasn''t satisfied. Another arm grew and punched the grand god making for a total of 5 arms attached to his torso.


    Devoni was caught unawares by the development. His three eyes widened when he saw another arm grow. The fourth arm was still withdrawing after the punch that hit but this one is already sailing forward to m into his face. He tried to block it but none of his hands could move. Legion-5 had them in a vice grip.


    "You bastard." He roared as he used his tail to attack.


    Devon''s jointed tail extended and aimed for Legion-5''s face. He doesn''t n to use it to defend. A berserker doesn''t defend. They are always on the offensive. Blood for blood is their motto. But his wish was thwarted again. Another arm grew out of nowhere and grabbed his tail. Legion-5''s fifth arm struck his face then.


    Devoni retaliated with full force. Fire sprung into existence around him in waves and violent torrents. He focused the mes on his enemy like a blowtorch focused on metal. The environment became a furnace immediately. Legion-5 couldn''t be seen but the ground beneath him had already liquified intova and was evaporating because of the heat.


    Contrary to expectations, Legion-5 waspletely fine. The torrent of fire washed over him like water. Physical tentacles sprung out of his body as if he were an octopus. The tentacles whipped at Devoni with enough force to crush a mountain.


    The great god of fire groaned and stumbled as the tentacles smashed against him. He took a step back but he didn''t stop producing pressurized mes to burn his enemy. More tentacles smashed onto him while the otherstched and wrapped around him.


    The grand god of fire is 5 meters tall while Legion is 2.5 meters tall. He is exactly half the height of his enemy so there is arge difference in size. The tentacles had to extend themselves quite a bit to wrap around Devoni.


    They grew bigger than his arms and longer than his height. Then they bypassed the aura of mes around him to grab hold of the main body of the grand god beneath them. Next, they grew sharp solid spikes that dug into the grand god''s body.


    The spikes were too sharp. They broke through the defense of the divine body and began to shred it. The tentacles pulled and squeezed so the spikes turned into the teeth of a saw. It was as if Legion-5 wanted to ground the grand god to pieces.


    Meanwhile, the punches just keep oning. Devoni''s head was smashed back again as more and more fists grew to m his face. It caused the power of the fire to increase until it turned from red to orange and finally to yellow to match the grand god''s eyes.


    But it wasn''t enough so Devoni roared in frustration. He has had enough. He roared with all his might. Fire exploded out of his body into his surroundings wantonly. He became a yellow star that destroyed everything around him.


    This finally brought some effects. All of Legion-5''s physical tentacles were blown away and burned off. Legion-5 was pushed away by the explosion but he held on by keeping his hold of the grand god''s fists and tail. That meant he had to bear the full brunt of the me explosion.


    His entire world became roaring yellow mes. The mes were as thick as water and they were pressurized. Even ordinary water released at such pressure will cut diamonds and the toughest of metals. One can imagine just how destructive the mes were.


    The mes sought to erode him then there and there. But the ck crystal scales on his body kept him safe. The ck scales rippled but only that. He didn''t even need to spend Origin energy to replenish it.

 Chapter 1271 A White Star.

    Chapter 1271 A White Star.


    ??It will take power of a Celestial or an Origin god to breach the defense. After all, they are made of materials that can withstand the explosion of a real star not some star wannabe.


    Legion-5 held on in the face of the all-burning mes. He even kept punching Devoni. The two of them struggled in the air as Devoni tried to pull away. But Legion didn''t let him go. He even grabbed the grand god''s neck.


    Then he said, "My turn."


    That''s the first thing he has said to the grand god of fire who hase to pay him a visit. It is also thest thing that Devoni will ever hear.


    Legion-5 opened his mouth then. In it is a white superpressed ball of energy. The surrounding air became charged immediately. Even the fire started to create sparks.


    The grand god roared in fear, "Noooooooo!"


    This roar is greater than his roar of anger. It is a roar of unwillingness and desperation. Devoni tried to move. He willed himself to move with all the divine power that he could muster. Space around them shimmered aND burned as his mes raged. Unfortunately, Legion-5 held him down and the world pressed down on him from all around. The domain of a Sovereign was focused on keeping him there so Devoni was stuck in ce. He could only watch.


    The ball was ejected out of Legion-5''s mouth and struck Devoni''s torso. Then it exploded when it struck the grand god. Another star appeared from within the yellow star. This white star grew sorge that it swallowed up both of them and the yellow star around them.


    The explosion it created when it struck the grand god caused a sudden discharge of white light into the environment. There was also a thundering strike that shook the world. The earth literally shook because of it. People standing on the earth stumbled and fell to the ground. Some people who were close to the scene became deaf. And everyone in the ne experienced a sudden rise in the temperature.


    The discharge of light and heat was temporary. It urred for a brief instant while the white star lingered. World power was funneled into it to keep it going.


    The star appears to be round but it is not uniform. It is a mass of violent lightning. If not for the fact that it is spinning with the grand god as its center, then it won''t be round at all.


    Legion-5 kept it spinning even when the grand god begged for mercy.


    "Please let me go, let me go. I will give you anything. I will give you everything I have."


    Now he knows why gods should not leave their divine kingdom. It is both a limit on their freedom but also a rule that keeps them safe. He doesn''t have his host of angels or his near omnipotent power in his divine kingdom.


    There is also no one to save him in this desperate time of need. He thought he was lucky toe to the main ne in his main body. He doesn''t think so now.


    Legion-5 merely chuckled as he watched the god being eviscerated in front of him. His divine body was ground down by the destructive power of lightning. Devon spent all of his divine power to resist. His resistance dropped when he ran out of divine energy. It was then that he died.


    A god bes useless without divine energy. The body of the grand god copsed to reveal a sphere of multiple colors.


    "It is over," Legion-5 said after seeing the naked defenseless godhood.


    He stopped feeding the star with world power. He allowed it to disperse in the direction of the sky. So a pir of white lightning rose to the sky before scattering everywhere. A sudden silence descended in the ne in the absence of his dragon breath. It was then that people noticed that the world had been screaming. It was just so deafening that they thought it was normal.


    Legion-5 took the godhood calmly as if picking a fruit. Then he returned to his base as if he was returning from a stroll through the neighborhood.


    He was nonchnt about the whole thing but the whole ne wasn''t. No one can remain calm when a god dies. It is simply impossible to remain calm after a god fell in their intact form and then died soon after.


    The believers of the grand of fire were the ones most impacted by this event. They wailed and cried for their dead god. Then they found out that more than 50% of their fellow believers had died so they wailed and mourned even more.


    Other believers were also dumbstruck. A god, no matter the level, is an out-of-reach existence to them. It is an existence that lives forever. Some lineages had worshipped the same gods for a million years. As mortals, they didn''t think that a god could die.


    The believers are obviously weaklings who don''t live past 10,000 years. They are the ones that will be shocked by the death of a god. Transcendents that leave for up to 1 Origin cycle are just surprised. They haven''t seen the death of a god but they have lived for a long time enough for them to hear about some past events. These particr events urred 3 Origin cycles ago.


    At any other time, transcendents will swarm towards the godhood of the dead god to inherit the divine position. However, no one did so now. Theymented about the death of a god and looked away from it.


    No one entertained the thought of bing a god. It is because they can''t get the godhood from the person that killed the god and they might not want the godhood even if it is right in front of them. After all, they know that all of them are doomed. The gods are only bigger ants. They are also doomed.

 Chapter 1272 Suspicion Of Possession.

    Chapter 1272 Suspicion Of Possession.


    ??Funny enough, the Sovereigns were also shocked about the death of the great god of fire. They are not like transcendents who don''t know what is needed to kill a god. They know what to do to kill a god but they can''t kill a god so easily. They will have to go to the divine ne to do so which will lead to their death. But then a god came down to the ne alive and was killed in a few seconds of fighting. It shocked them to the core.


    The way that the grand god died shocked them but what shocked them the most was that they thought that the gods would be most difficult to kill and therefore thest to kill. So if the gods are already dying, are they not next?


    Another group of people that were shocked were the Supreme Beast protectors. A scout with the ability to see spirits and trace spiritual influence saw a sight that she had never seen before in her more than a million years of life. Her eyes mostly see the fragmented spirit of someone when they die. So no one can pretend to be dead to her.


    The sensitivity of her eyes to spirits makes it so that she can also track traces of the maniption of the divine sense. These traces are present everywhere in the world. They are like the air that powerful people exhale. She can track people through the scent of her soul. So the world looks as if blotched by swaths of various spiritual aura to her.


    But then she saw millions of translucent tentacles reaching out from all over the ne to somewhere in the sky. She informed everyone of this strange sight immediately. She thought it was an enemy attack. It was after this that the grand god came to the ne.


    She was sure then that it was a move by the gods to get rid of the most dangerous Supreme Beast because the grand god fell right in front of Legion-5''s base. She thought that it couldn''t be a coincidence. Then he fought Legion-5. They were prepared to intervene if the god tried to do anything suspicious to him.


    They thought they needed to save Legion-5. Then the god died but the tentacles didn''t disappear. Instead, the tentacles slipped into Legion-5 as he grabbed the core. Apparently, he was the source of the tentacles.


    They waited for him to enter his base before they questioned him. The scout came into his base and stopped him before he entered the main building. She appeared in her true form which is just an eyeball. The white translucent crystal eyeball was staring at Legion-5 intently and inspecting his existence.


    She said, "Agrivo839,371,456A, we have reasons to believe that you have been contaminated by an external spiritual influence. Do you feel any different?"


    Legion-5 replied, "I don''t feel any different. What kind of contamination?"


    She was direct. She said, "Something like possession. We believe so because we have noticed a characteristic of your soul that has never appeared before."


    She said that while watching his reaction. At this point, she and the rest are certain that he has been possessed. They don''t know how, but they suspect the Shadow Lurker. Even though they can''t confirm anything, this questioning is just following protocol before they apprehend him. Nothing he says will change that oue. However, it will be best if he shows a suspicious reaction or tries to escape.


    "You mean this?" Legion-5 said and made Legion-7 wave a tentacle at her.


    Her single eyes glinted sharply as she resisted the urge to respond to the threat. She wanted to fight or run away at that moment but then she rxed when she realized when she saw that he also produced his identity mark. If his identity mark hasn''t disappeared, then he is undoubtedly still the same Agrivo839,371,456A.


    As a super powerful conglomerate, the Supreme Alliance is aware of possession and they are prepared for it. Any Supreme beast that bes possessed will lose their identity mark immediately. The Supreme Alliance will also be notified of that event.


    If she can''t trust the identity mark, that means she has a whole lot more to be afraid of. But if she trusts the identity mark, that means the spiritual tentacles she saw are under his control.


    "So it is an ability of yours?" She asked again.


    "Yes." He replied sinctly.


    "Can you tell me how you acquired it?"


    "Yes, I can." He replied.


    They remained silent then. She urged him, "Go on. Tell me."


    He told her, "I won''t tell. I can but I won''t."


    She realized the problem so she said, "I apologize for asking you to release information about your divine ability but this is a serious matter. I urge you to reply and provide an adequate exnation for how you gained it or you will be subjected to investigative measures."


    Legion-5 shrugged. "I am not a fool. I know whatever I tell you won''t be enough. You are suspicious of me that means you will Directly support the authors on WebNovel!


    still investigate me to confirm it no matter what I say. So why should I say anything? It is just a waste of time."


    won''t be enough. You are suspicious of me that means you will still investigate me to confirm it no matter what I say. So why That brought silence to her. She didn''t expect this to be so difficult. Not from a young Supreme beast less than 200 years old. He has made good points. He doesn''t know that she is not suspicious of him anymore. But he is right that if she were suspicious, questioning him wouldn''t be enough for her.


    Legion-5 was carefree. He knows that he is currently surrounded by 4 scouts which means this situation is very serious but that doesn''t mean he will bend just because someone asked him to divulge his ability.


    He already has an exnation for his divine ability but he won''t give it up easily. He has to act stubborn because he should be stubborn when someone asks him about his abilities.

 Chapter 1273 Dont Mess With Divinity.

    Chapter 1273 Don''t Mess With Divinity.


    ??Information about the sequence of divine abilities that a Supreme Beast assimted is a secret that a Supreme Beast should not release to another person easily or they will be countered and their weakness will be exploited. They should be extra careful with this information because if there is a race that is very adept at taking advantage of weaknesses, then it is the Supreme Beast race.


    The invigtor decided to intervene then. The metal ground of the base morphed into a face. The face said, "I am sorry for the situation we have put you in. But this is a very serious situation that concerns the safety of the entire rite of passage. If we can''t resolve it now, we may have to cancel the rite of passage and evacuate all the Supreme beasts."


    Legion-5 shrugged and said, "So cancel it. Or bring an order from the Supreme Alliance for me to divulge my divine abilities under oath. I haven''t broken any rules so you have no reason to make this demand of me."


    The Metal face grinned and said, "You stubborn rascal. You are just like your mentor. We had to evacuate everyone after his stunt. But you are right. Unlike him, you haven''t broken any rules yet."


    Legion-5 was intrigued, "What stunt did my mentor perform?"


    "He didn''t tell you?" The metal face asked. Then itughed. "I wouldn''t tell you either if I did something so embarrassing."


    "Forget about your mentor. If he didn''t tell you then I won''t either. Let''s focus on the matter at hand."


    "I still won''t tell you about my divine ability."


    "How about this? You can tell me about it. If I deem it satisfactory then we won''t bother with it any longer. I also swear on my origin that I won''t divulge the information or use it against you in any way. I swear on my Origin that I won''t antagonize you in any way unless instructed to do so by the Supreme Alliance. Is that good enough?"


    He has the right to question him as the invigtor. Plus he is swearing an Oath so Legion-5 shouldn''t be so stubborn unless he has something to hide.


    Legion-5 also noticed that all the scouts had gone. Even the weirdrge eye is nowhere around anymore. They also aren''t spying on him so Legion-5 finally decided to relent. But that didn''t mean he would spill the beans yet.


    "What if you don''t find it satisfactory?" He asked.


    "My earlier promise still stands but I will also report it to the Supreme Alliance. I swear this on my Origin."


    Legion-5 finally decided to speak. He said, "I appreciate the sincerity, sir. I will be too proud if I can''t tell someone of your level after all the promises you have made. Besides, what does someone as powerful as you want with my secrets."


    The metal face said yfully, "I like ttery very much but that''s not what I want right now."


    Legion-5 exined to him. "I got the ability to spread my body at the spiritual level when I assimted the soul fire divine ability. My original divine ability caused it to mutate. I could shapeshift my form to a certain level before. The soul fire just expanded my limit." He replied.


    He also showed some of his physical tentacles to prove his point. His arm split into ten of them. They were the same tentacles he used to bind the great god of fire before he sted his face with super-concentrated dragon breath.


    "I have always been malleable. So the soul fire made me malleable on a spiritual level."


    "That''s true. I have all your data and I also saw how you fought the grand god. What you have said makes sense. I guess it has never been seen before because of your mutation."


    Then he said to Legion-5, "You are one talented supreme beast. A lot of people have high hopes for you. That''s why we had to take your safety seriously. There are some entities that might want to harm you and we can''t allow that to happen to you under our watch."


    "Thank you for your protection." Legion-5 said.


    "Go on kid. But pay attention to everything around you. Don''t be caught off guard, alright?"


    "I won''t sir." He promised.


    "Good. Last warning, don''t make the mistake of bing a god. That will not end well for you. I know you have been messing around with divinity. A godhood is very different from a staff with divinity. If you mess up, even I won''t be able to save you."


    Then the mechanical emperor left.


    Legion-7 said to him, "All this fuss over you. They take care of you too much. Supreme beasts are another ss of luxury and decadence."


    Legion-5 agreed. "Their protection and care is somewhat excessive but being guarded against protection is necessary."


    Legion-7 snickered, "It is unfortunate that they are guarding against possession and not reincarnation."


    Legion-5 grinned and said, "Imagine if the Sovereigns that Legion-1 killed were Supreme beasts and not stone skins. The realm lord wouldn''t be able to stop their pursuit of Legion-1 at all."


    The elders of the stone skin raced chased Legion-1 for more than 50 years. Legion-1 and the Origin gods of the stone skin race fought several times. If not for the deal that Aeternus made with the realm lord, that pursuit wouldn''t have ended so quickly.


    They imagine that if the young ones that Legion-1 had killed were supreme beasts, it would have been more difficult for the realm lord to get them to stop.


    Legion-7 couldn''t help butugh. "That would have been a sight to see. But if that were the case, then Legion-1 would have died before the realm lord interfered."


    "He might even have been sealed. If there are any groups capable of sealing Origin gods, I am certain that the Supreme Alliance is one of them."


    "If that happens then I doubt the Supreme Alliance would give Legion-1 up easily. The realm lord might not be able to get him back."

 Chapter 1274 Beauty And The Beast.

    Chapter 1274 Beauty And The Beast.


    ??They spoke for a while about how the Supreme Alliance cares too much for their young and the consequences it would have on them. They don''t think Legion-5 will be able to detach himself easily from the Supreme Alliance after everything they have done for him. But that is a problem for the future. In fact, the unwillingness of the Supreme Alliance to let Legion-5 go can be used against them.


    So they returned to their present priority.


    Legion-7 said to him, "Inspect the godhood quickly. Then give it to me to assimte."


    Legion-5 examined the multicolored ball in his hand as he went into the core of his base. Then he assimted it into his body. He felt at that point that he could put it into one of his empty slots. He would be a god that way so he didn''t. He let it go to the dragon heart where Legion-7 is.


    Legion-7 is not to eat it but to hold on to it until they get the remaining ingredients they need for his n.


    Legion-7 confirmed his thoughts. "The n should work. We should be able to fuse with the Authority of the Celestial Supreme."


    Legion-5 was relieved. "I will get the crown of a demon king and the divine ability of the giants of order soon. We will see what wille out of it."


    The ne returned to temporary peace. It was broken by the asional death of a god. Grand gods fell randomly to the main ne. What they all have inmon is that they all fell in front of Legion-5''s base in the same spot.


    If people thought it was by chance that the great god of fire fell and died there, they know now that that isn''t the case. They know now that the Shadow of Despair may not be fighting other Supreme beasts or trying to upy hexes in the ne, but he is busy fishing for gods in the pool that is the divine ne.


    Therge crater created by Devoni was deepened and widened as time passed. It was eventually named God''s Swift Demise. It was named so because gods fall there never to rise again. And they also die very quickly once they drop there.


    It is not their fault that they died quickly. Legion-5 is strong but even he can''t kill a grand god he just met in a few seconds. Their fights shouldst at least a minute and probably up to 10 minutes in a one-on-one battle.


    But this is not a one-on-one battle that just happens when two random people meet. He always has time to prepare for the fight. The gods don''t know who will fall next or when they will fall so they can''t prepare for it. He on the other hand has inside information on that particr topic.


    He knows who will fall so he has time to search for their weakness before they fall. He knows when they will fall which is when he is prepared enough for them, not before.


    In the case of the grand god of fire, he had been preparing the white ball of supepressed energy long before the battle. This caused the attack to be very powerful. But it also made it heavy and slow. It could be dodged. So all he had to do was make sure that the grand god of fire couldn''t move. He did that by getting close to the grand god and holding him down so that the attack could st him head-on.


    The other gods didn''t fare better than the grand god of fire. They died in the background of a ne torn by war. They tried to resist him. It led to some hups during one of his fights.


    He was fighting the great god of love who had deemed it fit to visit the God''s Swift Demise. The god of love is a rare beauty of the Swift race. He has four arms with three of them being on the right side of his torso. He is so beautiful that both male and female Switches find him attractive. Whenbined with his ability to utilize illusions and rile up emotions of lust, he bes practically irresistible.


    This irristibility also worked on Legion-5. Of course, Legion-5 was lusting after the 100 points that he would gain from killing him. Even Legion-7 is looking forward to eating the divinity in the godhood of the great god ofw. So one can say with certainty that the Shadow of Despair is attracted to the god of life.


    He is also willing to do anything to gain the god of love''s heart. Or what others call his godhood. Unfortunately, there are busybodies who have nothing better to do than to interfere in the love life of one consenting and one unwilling adult. They interfered in their fight.


    The god of love was going to die. That much was certain very early into the fight when her illusions didn''t work on Legion-5. He also had weak physical abilities so Legion-5 was able to snack him around easily. But the coalition created by the gods to interfere in his god hunting came to rescue the god of love.


    The gods didn''t know who would be next so they forced a joint force to rescue each other. Each member of the joint force sent their vessels over to him and used them to channel their powers into the main ne. So Legion-5 was besieged by 12 incarnations of great gods.


    Heughed at them and mocked them. "You fools."


    That''s what they heard before they heard the sound of cannons lighting up and discharging their attacks. They thought they were ganging up on the Shadow Of Despair. They thought wrong.


    Legion-7 was also chuckling as he extended his spiritual tentacles into the vessels. He used the vessels to trace back to their source and entangle the godhoods. Then he began dragging them down. He did so with glee and excitement.


    ----


    A/N: And they say Legion has a cold unfeeling heart. Apparently he is also a sucker for love.

 Chapter 1275 Bait The Switch.

    Chapter 1275 Bait The Switch.


    ??Legion-7 said to Legion-5, "See what I said. They took the bait. Was I right or was I right?"


    Legion-5 was also excited. It showed in his vigor as he was beating the god of love. Everyone was excited apart from the god of love.


    "Please spare me. Please."


    The god of life was begging him but Legion-5 didn''t listen. He had already done him the favor of not killing him too quickly. He could have killed the god of love easily but he dragged the fight on because he was hoping for the other gods to interfere. Even now, he has not killed the god of love because he is still waiting.


    Legion-7 had already fulfilled the requirements to drag four gods to the main ne. But they didn''t drag them down quickly and kill them one after the other. Instead, they dragged one down every month. This pressured the gods and gave them enough time to decide to interfere. So in a way, the gods they could drag down were used as bait.


    The gods took that bait. They sent their vessels who were rendered useless by the cannons. Then Legion-7 infected them and incapacitated them. Now they have 12 more gods to kill.


    In the following months, many gods died one after the other. The inhabitants of the ne became numb to it. The monthly howls of pain that resounded throughout the ne became a part of their life.


    This continued until the other Supreme Beasts got bold after umting their armies. The inhabitants began to suffer then because the Supreme Beasts wreaked destruction on the ne. The ne was surrounded by the Supreme beasts so they were subjugated from every direction. There was nowhere for them to go.


    The Supreme Beasts got powerful as they got more points. But no one resisted the Shadow of Despair when one year came around. It was the time that Legion-5 came to collect rent. The Supreme beasts could spare the 1 point that he was asking for to avoid fighting someone who is capable of killing grand gods so quickly.


    The Shadow of Despair is not a scout but his damage output is outrageous. They can only imagine how powerful his defense will be since he is a warrior. It discouraged them from fighting him. No one wanted to be the scapegoat for the others to learn not to antagonize him.


    Even the ones that are especially stubborn and hateful of the Shadow of Despair did not show any resistance to paying rent. The union they established to resist him did nothing when that year came. They promised themselves to do something the next time around. The shadow of Despair told them that he would return in 100 years for the next rent. They believed that was enough time to defeat him.


    But several grand gods died over the course of 100 years. It enlightened them about the difference between them and the shadow of despair. So they didn''t resist the third time for rent.


    They handed over the ten points he demanded from them. However, they made sure to vow revenge when next he came around to collect rent. Legion-5 informed them that he would return in 1,000 years to collect the next rent.


    Legion-5 gave them that much time because he was busy with something. At first, it was because he was toozy to go around the bases every year to collect their rent. He was also busy fusing all the divine abilities together.


    The ability of the giants of order was particrly difficult to fuse with the others. Thew of order contained within refused any attempt to coerce it. But they are experienced with working with thew of order. Legion-7 used the divine life energy from the tree father to make the fusion possible.


    That took a lot of time which distracted Legion-5 from collecting rent. Then the Unified Skill Indexpetition was held in the Virut ne for the first time. All of Legion paid attention to it because Soverick was walking on a tight edge and there was a lot to be gained from thepetition.


    Their concern was warranted because Soverick was killed and his title taken from him. The Unified Skill Index impacted Legion-5 the most because Legion-7 outdid himself and swallowed part of the supremew of a world god. It caused Legion-5 to sink into a deep sleep.


    Even Legion-7 slept. It caused their inner world to fall below thew matrix. It almost fell further than that into the waiting ws of the entity that had enved Legion-7.


    Fortunately, they had Cosmic energy from Helios. Cosmic energy flowed into his inner world inrge amounts to fuse with Legion-7. It helped him to speed up the evolution and not be consumed by the Supremew instead.


    Legion-7 recovered and rose out of thew matrix back to the inner world of Legion-5. Then he recreated another version of Soverick by using one of the vessels of a battle sage monkey that they had prepared in the Virut ne.


    Soverick met with the first sage and acquired a world spark, a world engine, and a world fragment. The world Fragment wasn''t part of the deal but the first sage gave it to them to monitor them. Legion-7 had to destroy Soverick''s new body in order to transfer the world fragment into Legion-1''s inner world but it was worth it.


    They gained a lot of information from the first sage apart from the tangible benefits of the Unified Skill Index. They also gained the information that the era of conquest wasing soon. This is because Legion-1 had helped the realm lord to create the pir that was used to transfer the participants of thepetition to the world fragments where thepetition was held.


    Aeternus had asked the realm lord to save Legion-1 which the realm lord did. Then the realm lord had made another deal with Legion-1. Legion-1 helped the realm lord to build an artifact that could be used to transfer energy and matter. This was based on the soul sphere that Legion possessed.


    ----


    A/N: The Other title for this chapter that I wanted to use was Bait And Switch. Switch being the race of the god of love. It is something like Beauty And The Beast of the previous chapter. Legion being the beast here.

 Chapter 1276 The Justice Squad.

    Chapter 1276 The Justice Squad.


    ??Unfortunately, Legion-1 didn''t seed. The artifact he tried to build was far from perfect. It could only transfer energy and not matter. But then Soverick saw it being used for thepetition. At that point, the artifact had been upgraded with a matter-to-energy converter and was being tested.


    The pir had be more powerful and intricate which was why Soverick sat in front of it to analyze it. There was so much for Legion to learn from it. It could not transform entities that were titans ofw and above but it made Legion realize that the realm lord was making swift progress in the preparation for the era of conquest.


    The loss of the title and the uing era of conquest made Legion-5 decide to build an artifact that would rece the title of the child of the ne that was taken from them. This artifact will empower all of them and not just Soverick.


    All of Legion began preparing for the artifact. Aeternus attacked more nes for resources and Legion schemed against Hadrick. Their scheme failed partially but Legion earned a tidy sum and prepared a way to attack their ancestor in the future if need be.


    Then Soverick went to his former academy to acquire the legacy of Virtual Creation so that they could build the artifact. The absence of Hadrick in the Ghastorix main city meant that no one noticed him enter and leave.


    Virtual Creation is an ability that simtes the creation ability of world gods. Shannon, the director of the academy failed because she didn''t have an immortal soul to control the concept. They are better than Shannon. They are Legion and have a lot of mental prowess at their disposal.


    Soverick killed the director and took her concept for himself. He didn''t speak with her because he didn''t want her to know that he was alive. She could leak that news in the span of a second and he didn''t want that.


    Besides he didn''t need her alive to get her concept. Her existence fractured when he killed her so her dying concept within her Origin leaked into the world. That was all Soverick needed toprehend her concept.


    Soverick watched Shannon''s concept unravel and leak into the world. He used his eyes to analyze the structure and function of the concept. Then he schemed against Hadrick when the Origin gods of the family came to take her.


    So a lot was going on for Legion in the time Legion-5id low in his base. The abduction that he caused was foiled by Salvini. Salvini didn''t relent after that. She sent some people to find Legion. Those people are after Legion right now.


    ------


    Jarkon and his squad of 10 are on the ancient battlefield. He, SWIFTESCAPE, ALUINE, DOUBLELINE, JETTASTIC, UED, and the other 4 have been roaming the ancient battlefield for 53 years. That is a short time for creatures of their power but it is already too much for Jarkon to bear. He was already willing to give up before they left the ne. Now he is just looking for any excuse to quit.


    Jarkon promised himself. "I will check every nar portal. Then I will quit if we don''t find anything."


    Heined some more. "Surely I can''t be expected to search the whole ancient battlefield or every ne in the realm."


    He doesn''t want to search for traces of Soverick but he knows that he can''t give up without a sufficient reason. His bloodline won''t allow him to. The best he can do to evade thepulsion is to make a reasonable amount of effort. It is only then that he would be free to quit.


    So he decided to check every nar portal on the ancient battlefield. That is more than 100,000 nar portals. They are scattered around the ancient battlefield so the position of all of them isn''t known.


    He doesn''t n to search for them everywhere since that will take forever. Even his bloodline is not that unreasonable. So he ns to search the locations of the nar portals that are known by information agencies.


    His n is sound. If there is any trace of Soverick in other nes apart from those that have met Soverick in the Virut ne, then the best way to find those traces would be to search the ancient battlefield. And if any trace of Soverick from the Virut ne enters another ne through a nar portal, then that ne is worth investigating.


    That is his n which he intends to spend at most, a thousand years on. There have been mostly dead ends till now. They haven''t found any trace of Soverick around any nar portal including the one that belongs to the Virut ne.


    This means that Soverick didn''t leave the ne and no one that met him left the Virut ne. It is not surprising at all to him. In fact, Jarkon doesn''t expect to find any traces. He is just going through the motions. He even turned the search for Soverick into a sightseeing vacation. It is the best he can do in such a boring quest.


    "This architecture isn''t so bad." He marveled as they traveled.


    He is an Air carrier. It is a powerful flying device used to traverserge distances. He and the other 9 are seated within it while asionally looking out the window to watch the scenery.


    SWIFTESCAPE spoke. "I hope we don''t get dyed from getting close to the next portal?"


    Jarkon shook his head in pity. "Don''t be so serious. Try to rx and enjoy your trip. We still have at least 947 years to go and 79,012 portals left to visit."


    Someone said to him with a frown. "Don''t speak like that Jarkon. You have to take this seriously. This is a serious matter after all."


    Others piled on the admonishment too.


    "Yes, Jarkon. We are on an important mission. We have to give it our all."


    "The fate of our ne might stand on this so we have to be diligent and observant."

 Chapter 1277 Weird Situation.

    Chapter 1277 Weird Situation.


    ??Jarkon became silent while he thought to himself, "Such pitiful fellows."


    They are not like him. They have taken this mission very seriously. That''s why they are worried that the security forces of a ne will dy them from getting close to the nar portal.


    A nar portal can not be essed by just anyone. It is the one sure way into a ne so the ne will try to protect it and limit ess to it. That''s why some people won''t want them to get anywhere close to the nar portal even when they promise that they don''t want to use it or that they mean no harm. But Jarkon doesn''t mind. The dy just gives him more time to enjoy the sights.


    They were frustrated with the dy and he tried to help them out but they were not like him. They didn''t even want him to express his wayward feelings about the mission to them. They know that he is rebellious but they don''t want to hear his rebellious thoughts.


    Hemented to himself, "I am not so different from them. Maybe I am more pitiful than them."


    He pities them for truly believing in Justice meanwhile he doesn''t believe in it but he is doing the same thing as they are. He is here with them on the same wild goose chase. At least they want to be here. He doesn''t but he is still here. So he might be more pitiful than them.


    He said to himself with determination. "I will try to enjoy myself nheless. No one can take that away from me."


    He decided that he would try to enjoy himself no matter their thoughts and opinions about it. Unfortunately for him, his boring sightseeing vacation was cut short. He got a trace of Soverick after a few months of searching.


    He wanted to ignore it so he resisted the sensation for a while. He struggled as his body stood up from his seat. It was his bloodline that forced him to do something. The others noticed his abrupt movement.


    "Have you found something?" DOUBLELINE asked him.


    Jarkon didn''t answer. So the other five that fought Soverick with him began to sense the environment themselves. They are not like him who has locked onto Soverick so they didn''t notice the traces right away. Even so, they still caught the faint traces of him.


    One of them ordered with a shout, "Stop the carrier immediately."


    The air carrier stopped. It stopped a short distance from a deserted but functional nar portal. This is a weird sight. Most, if not all deserted nar portals are nonfunctional. Nonfunctional nar portals are portals that have been opened in the past but have been somehow sealed. Hence why they are deserted.


    Any portal that hasn''t been opened yet won''t show up on the ancient battlefield. This nar portal is odd because it is clearly functional but there is no one protecting it. They can all see the swirling white energy vortex within the stone structure of the portal. It means anyone can go in and out without problems.


    JETTASTIC became ecstatic. He said in excitement, "This is our very first trace. I bet this will be good."


    Jarkon isn''t so optimistic. "It might not be Soverick''s aura. It seems to be simr but it has changed a lot. There''s something wrong with the traces. It might not be Soverick''s at all."


    He is not lying. The more he sensed the weirder the situation seemed to him. The aura has traces of Soverick in a weird way. The aura should be faint since Soverick was never here. They are certain that Soverick never left the ne so this aura should be mixed in with the aura of the person who met him. But this aura is full and thick as if Soverick was here personally.


    The aura has also changed in that it is apanied by a sense of decay as if Soverick was dying when he came here. It is very odd. If he is to guess, it seems like someone is pretending to be Soverick and is trying to fool them.


    The other five agreed with him. "This can''t be right. There is something suspicious going on here. It is clear that we must get to the bottom of this."


    There are a lot of oddities about the traces but they are not discouraged. In fact, the oddities have riled them up. They will not be satisfied until they find out why the traces of a dying Soverick are here.


    Jarkon rolled his yellow feline eyes. He thought to himself, "You are supposed to run away from something suspicious not toward it."


    He didn''t bother to voice his thoughts because he knew they wouldn''t listen. It is just like them to be headstrong. It is why some people call them the slur of being hound dogs. They have finally gotten a trace of Soverick so they are not going to give it up regardless of its authenticity. Even if it ends in failure, the allure of visiting Justice on those who would try to fool them and hinder Justice is too much an encouragement for them.


    UED asked, "What does he smell like? Maybe we can get traces of him too."


    The four of them are unlike Jarkon and the other 5 who have met Soverick. They have never met Soverick so they are not certain of his aura but they are very talented trackers. They don''t have a lock on Soverick and this aura of him here is too different from what has been pointed out to him in the Virut ne. They can can''t distinguish it from the plethora of other scents but they will be able to do so with some help from the others.


    The aura in their environment appears like a multicolored river in their senses. The water of different scents appears like threads that are sometimes small orrge. The threads are all lines and they have a beginning and an end. They can follow the lines to find the beginning or the end. They will be able to find the source of the aura or its current location that way.

 Chapter 1278 An Elaborate Prank.

    Chapter 1278 An borate Prank.


    ??All of them can see these lines. If a line is pointed out to them by others, then they will be able to follow the line and they will find its source or where it ends.


    Jarkon didn''t care if they identified Soverick''s aura so he didn''t bother to help. Fortunately, there are 5 others who are enthusiastic. They helped the clueless four gain some clues about the aura. So all of them finally got hold of Soverick''s aura. They became sure of it when they reached the front of the portal.


    "It is certain that Soverick was here. His aura is too fresh and thick here. These traces indicate that he was here not too long ago."


    "That should be impossible. Soverick has been dead for more than a hundred years. He couldn''t have been here."


    "But the auras are here to prove it."


    "Then the auras might be fake."


    "That''s why we must get to the bottom of this. We will know if he is dead or not when we get more information."


    Jarkon was silent as they discussed. He is not considering the current matter at hand but the implication of it. He didn''t think they would find anything at all. But here they are with traces of what appears to be Soverick''s.


    It means that Salvini didn''t send him on a wild goose chase and that there might be some truth to her im that Soverick was working with others to harm the ne.


    It might not be true seeing as Soverick might be alive after the racial council dered him dead. Maybe it is Salvini who managed to get his title that is up to something bad. It is highly possible that Salvini lied. He has personal experience of her scheming, but even if she had lied about Soverick and falsely used him, it is certain at this point that something fishy is going on.


    He promised himself, "Whatever it is, I will just do the bare minimum. I won''t make it my personal business. I will run at the sight of trouble."


    He is already prepared to wash his hands of the results of their investigation before they get the results. He knows it is unlikely that he would be able to do so, but he has to try not to get himself sucked into another whirlpool of schemes.


    He decided to do the bare minimum after making that resolve. He examined the traces at the portal to ensure that he was not mistaken. Unfortunately, he is not mistaken. Soverick''s aura is very thick in front of the portal. It seems that his aura was released before he entered or left the portal.


    The traces are so much that the line that they formed in the river of scents is very wide. Anybody with their bloodline will be able to lock onto this trace if theye here. It is almost as if they have seen Soverick themselves. His traces are that obvious.


    Jarkon asked. "Who will go first?"


    They have already reached this stage so there is no going back. But he surely is not going to be the first one to head into an unknown ne. Every odd thing going on here are indication that something strange is going on and strange things are most likely dangerous.


    "Let''s draw straws," ALUINE suggested.


    They agreed so they drew straws. The unlucky one will lead the way into the ne. That unlucky one was ALUINE.


    Heined to them, "Me and my stupid mouth."


    "Hurry up. Time is running out."


    "You can''t go back on your word. Be courageous and brave the danger for Justice."


    They urged and encouraged him so ALUINE went into the portal. The others went in after him. They each felt disoriented for a short while before they regained their bearing. What they saw took their breath away.


    "What happened here?" ALUINE asked in shock.


    ALUINE is safe but they are not concerned about that right now. There is no army waiting for them or any guards defending the portal but they are not concerned about that either. They are all focused on the scene of destruction before them. They can see decayed corpses as far as the eye can see. There are mountains and rivers formed of these corpses. They pile up high and spread far and wide.


    The air is thick with the scent of decay present in Soverick''s traces.


    The air is also thick with soot and ash. Even the clouds are dark with soot. It makes the ne dark and gloomy. It is clear that fire has burned in the ne for a very long time. It is probably why there are no forests in their line of sight.


    What shocked these battle sage monkeys with the bloodline of the lion of justice was that they could see Soverick''s scent on each and every one of the corpses. His scent is everywhere in the ne. It is in the air and in the sky.


    It appears to them that each decaying corpse seems to have been killed by Soverick. It is the best exnation they cane up with for why his scent is on every corpse. It is either that or someone was truly dedicated to fooling them.


    "What trickery is going on here?"


    "Did Soverick create a massacre here?"


    "But why would he do it?"


    "Is this just an borate prank?"


    They are shocked and perplexed. Their confusion is understandable. So they went into the ne to investigate. They found out that the name of the ne was the Gattling ne.


    The Gattling ne is a ne ruled by gods. The squad of justice found some priests and asked them about the situation of the ne. The cause for this baffling situation is a long story but every priest they spoke to said the same thing.


    They all said, "This cmity all started when the god of gues and diseases went out of control. She turned on everyone in the ne including the gods. But it was the one we most trusted that betrayed us. She was the root of our problems.".

 Chapter 1279 The Quest For The Fire Of Rebirth.

    <h4>Chapter 1279 The Quest For The Fire Of Rebirth. </h4>


    What the squad of justice heard gave them more questions than answers. It made them investigate further. Even Jarkon took this seriously because if any of this is rted to Soverick then the Virut ne might be in trouble after all.


    ------Legion-7''s Reincarnation.


    Legion-7 was selected to reincarnate into the Phoenix race. Gehaldirah had always coveted their divine ability. They are able to resurrect after death on their own without the help of thew matrix. It is a recovery ability simr to the extra-life divine ability of the Blood Giants. It is better than the extra life because their divine ability can also be used to attack.


    The Phoenix race possesses a powerful me called the fire of rebirth. Every member of their race at the transcendent level can use their fire of rebirth to resurrect or burn their enemies. The more living things they burn, the more powerful their me gets.


    Gehaldirah wasn''t the only one to covet their mes. Unfortunately, no one had been able to create a concept simr to the fire of rebirth. In fact, no one knows how it works.


    Gehaldirah was greedy for that divine ability so he found a phoenix egg to use as reincarnation material. Then he created an array that sent forth his soul fragments into various races. All of the soul fragments seeded in reincarnating into their designated race except Legion-7.


    Legion-7 didn''t fail because he got lost. He found a viable phoenix egg and entered it. What he found there was beyond his expectations. He was shocked when he found a soul as strong as his in the egg.


    He asked in utter surprise, "What in high heaven is going on?"


    An egg should not have a strong soul. In fact, it will be extraordinary if the soul within an egg is fully formed at all. That urs in dragon eggs. But even that should create a soul that is weak. No egg should have a soul that is as strong as the soul fragment of an Origin god no matter how weak that Origin god is.


    "Did someone have the same idea as me? Did they try to reincarnate into a Phoenix egg too?" he asked himself.


    "No, that should not be so. We got the reward for being the first to reincarnate into numerous bodies. That means I can be sure that this person didn''t reincarnate into multiple bodies. So even if they reincarnated, this has to be their only body but their soul is too weak to be theplete soul of an Origin god. It is merely a soul fragment. However, it is without a doubt that this is a soul that a developing egg should not have. What is going on?"


    Unfortunately, none of the clones could help him with this matter. They don''t have any information about the Phoenix race in the first ce and they certainly haven''t encountered such a weird situation in the eggs of other races.


    In fact, Legion-8 is the only one who has encountered a soul in the egg he reincarnated into. But the egg was very weak so Legion-8 was able to snuff it out with a single flick.


    So Legion-7ined. "How unlucky am I to reincarnate into the one egg with a reincarnated soul fragment in it?"


    He thought about it and made up his mind. He became determined then, "This changes nothing. I just have to win. There can be only one soul and it must be me."


    He is not willing to give up just like that. That will mean a failure of his reincarnation. He decided to fight for the right to keep the egg. So he rushed towards the red soul fragment and shed with it.


    He began to fight with the soul fragment but the soul fragment didn''t retaliate. It was odd but Legion-7 didn''t stop attacking.


    "Maybe I was wrong. This doesn''t seem to be the soul of an Origin god. It is not even a fragment of one since it doesn''t have any soul force. It is just strong and it doesn''t seem to have any will."


    Soul fights are notplicated. Two souls sh until one of them is destroyed. Both souls receive damage in each collision. The skilled soul will be able to minimize the damage they sustain while maximizing the damage the opponent receives.


    Legion-7''s opponent was not fighting back at all so there was no challenge. The other soul fragment was also not as sturdy as his. His soul has been infused with divinity and he has ess to soul force from Legion-1. He even has Origin essence to use in case he needs it. He is at an absolute advantage in every way. So it is not surprising that the soul fragment will lose.


    The red soul fragment at the center of the egg shrunk in size as it gradually lost its spirituality in the fight. But the soul fragment suddenly moved before it waspletely destroyed. It didn''t fight back when it moved. It seemed to have sunk downwards. Then it disappeared from the egg.


    Legion-7 couldn''t find it anymore. All he could tell was that it went below thew matrix.


    He shrugged when he couldn''t figure out what happened. "I won and that''s all that matters."


    He moved to take over the egg andplete his reincarnation. But things didn''t go as simply as they went for the others. For one, there was no body in the egg to possess. There was only energy and matter but no life.


    He thought the red soul fragment had formed a connection with it that''s why he didn''t sense the connection to the body. There is no red soul fragment now but he still can''t sense anything that can be considered gestating life.


    "What is it this time? How can there be an egg without life? Then what is the egg for?"


    One would expect an egg to be created for the gestation of life. He expected that too. But apparently not.


    ----


    A/N: Anyone know what''s going on with the Phoenix race?

 Chapter 1280 The Wielder Of Annihilation.

    <h4>Chapter 1280 The Wielder Of Annihtion.</h4>


    "What next now?" He asked himself.


    Legion-1 replied, "This is considered a failure. It was expected that at least one out of 8 will fail so this is not a surprise. We will try again with another race."


    They began nning for Legion-7''s second race while he continued to search the egg for signs of life. The race that Legion is interested in next is a particr race that a certain female who could wield the power of annihtion belongs to.


    He saw thatdy earlier during the final section of the trial of heaven. It was during the challenge section. Thedy was fighting a grand god of disaster but none of the disasters could affect her.


    The disasters were not destroyed. He could tell that much. Destruction will unravel matter and produce energy. But the attacks that came close to thatdy simply disappeared. He would like to get that kind of power unfortunately he doesn''t know her race. So Legion-1 intends to search for the information about her race so that Legion-7 can reincarnate into it.


    Legion-1 said to Legion-7, "Hang on. I am currently being chased by the troublesome stone race Origin gods. It will take a while before I can be free enough to acquire what we need for the next reincarnation."


    Legion-7 shrugged. "There''s no hurry. I am in no danger."


    He would be dyed but he is willing to wait because the power of annihtion is too powerful to be impatient for. Besides, he can use this opportunity to analyze the mes of rebirth so his failed reincarnation might not be aplete waste. He is also currently safe in the egg so he doesn''t mind waiting.


    He was wrong about that. He was very wrong. The egg began tobust a while after the red soul fragment disappeared. It turned to pure mes all around Legion-7. But he wasn''t rmed because he wasn''t harmed. The fire didn''t burn him.


    "What is this now? It is one thing after another. Is this normal? Is this how the mes of rebirth behave?" he asked.


    He doesn''t know the answer to those questions because he has only been studying for a few seconds. He doesn''t know if it is abnormal or not since he doesn''t know much about phoenixes. Maybe it is normal for phoenix eggs to turn into mes asionally. He doesn''t know but he is certain that it didn''t show these features when Gehaldirah inspected one and when he just arrived in the egg.


    Eggs should be solid or liquid. They shouldn''t be gaseous. And they surely shouldn''t be mes. But this egg took things further than that. It turned into a vortex of fire. The vortex formed a whirlpool that swallowed and dragged Legion-7 down below thew matrix. Legion-7 couldn''t resist at all. He was dragged into a ce he had never seen or heard about.


    "This is bad. This is very bad." He said as he looked around.


    He seems to be at the bottom of an ocean. Except that the water is grey and not life-giving like water ought to be. Instead, his surroundings are siphoning life from him. This siphoning is not working on him because of his immortal traits. But he is not feeling fortunate at all.


    His surprise and his dread continued to increase as he observed his environment. "I can''t sense the void universe at all. Where am I?"


    This ce doesn''t feel like the void universe at all. There are nows and there is now matrix. There is no mana, origin energy, or even void energy. The water around him is not an energy he can use. It feels more like acid. It is corroding and breaking down everything.


    If not for the fact that he can sense the other souls of Legion, he would be freaking out right now. He was still calm so he tried to spread his divine sense to examine his surroundings. His divine sense was ground down immediately after it left his body. The deathly water around him broke it down and siphoned it away.


    He tried again with soul force. The grey deathly water didn''t do anything to it so he was able to see beyond him.


    "Fortunately I have the soul force."


    If not for soul force then the deathly water around him would have destroyed him and he would be blind in this hostile and unknown world. With sight came some confidence. Some of his fears receded and he became curious instead.


    His search found something interesting that drew his attention. He saw the whirlpool of fire that brought him here. It is beneath him. It is congregating around the remnant of the red soul fragment that he had defeated.


    The soul fragment was being replenished by the fire of rebirth as he watched.


    "Is this the mechanism of rebirth? Is this how phoenixes return from the dead?" He said in awe. "This is fascinating."


    Then he sensed something that made his feelings of excitement fall into the abyss and be dread. He saw a white thread attached to the soul fragment. His divine sense connected with the white thread and brought his vision to a faraway ce.


    He saw arge white creature. It is arge bird with multiple white feathers. It is sorge, it is bigger than Legion-1''s full world beast body. Legion-1 is as big as half a ne so thisrge white bird must be massive in size.


    Each of its feathers shimmered with motes of sparkling lights. It made the bird possess an otherworldly beauty that is further enhanced by the grey world around it. The bird is the only beautiful thing in this bleak grey world.


    If there is such a thing as an angel, then this creature might be it. He also noticed that there were white threads that extended out of the bird into the distance. One of those threads is connected to the red soul fragment.


    -----


    A/N: We have gotten more information about the Phoenix race. You should have a theory about them by now.

 Chapter 1281 The Angel In Hell.

    Chapter 1281 The Angel In Hell.


    ??The bird has a single eye on its head that is locked onto him right now. It can see him and it is scrutinizing him just as he is observing it.


    The bird asked, "What are you?"


    Legion-7 didn''t answer. The bird was first surprised by the contact and curious about his existence. Then the bird became shocked. It said with excitement, "You are an immortal soul. I must have you."


    Then the gigantic and angelic white bird began to move. It spread itself out into something like a peacock as it shot forward. The expansion of its wings made the already massive bird balloon in size. It pped its 6 pairs of feathered wings to propel itself. It was moving in the direction of the thread connected to the red soul fragment.


    The bird said to him earnestly, "Don''t try to run. Escape is futile and resistance is hopeless. I will have you and we will be one. Together we will achieve greatness."


    Legion-7 could tell that it wasing for him because it rushed in the direction of the thread that he was using to contact it. He is not interested in this greatness that is being offered and he is sure that epting the offer will not be voluntary if the bird finds him so he detached his divine sense from the white thread quickly and rushed up to escape.


    The first thing that came to his mind was escaping. This is because the red soul fragment he fought earlier was equal to him in strength while thisrge white bird is a spiritual entity that is far above him in strength. He is not sure just how much he is outssed in strength but he does know that therge white bird has many threads that it uses to control thousands of soul fragments simr to the one he found in the egg.


    He won easily against the red soul fragment because it didn''t fight back and because it didn''t have soul force. It would have been much more difficult had the soul fragment resisted and it would be nearly impossible to win against a thousand of the soul fragments resisting.


    One can imagine how hopeless his fight against therge white bird is considering that his chances of victory against just the soul fragments its controls are so slim. Therge white bird itself would be able to kill him with one p of its wing so he ran. He could see that above him was the way out.


    "That is where I came from so that must be the way out." He thought.


    What he thought was reasonable. But reality is not what he wished it to be. He reached the top of what could be considered the ocean but something blocked his way. There was a barrier there and it extended in every direction as far as he could tell. He realized that he couldn''t leave the same way he came.


    Apparently, he is locked in this strange ce and he can''t leave.


    "How did the soul fragmente here then?" he asked in agitation.


    The soul fragment chose that time to speak. It turned into a white feather with the outline of an eye on it. The feather then turned into the phantom of a white bird. The bird looks like a raven and it has a single eye on its head. Its body is made of squirming white tendrils.


    Waves of spiritual fluctuations emanated from it to reach him. The waves contained information that he could understand. The bird had said, "Don''t run, lost immortal. I don''t mean you any harm. Be one with me and we can achieve greatness together. It is a good thing for you."


    The spiritual fluctuations didn''t go far before they were destroyed by the corrosive water around them. Fortunately, he got the information within the spiritual fluctuations before it was destroyed. Legion-7 realized that he was not the only one that is attacked by the corrosive water. It attacks everything and everyone.


    "How do I leave here?" he asked the phantom of the white bird.


    The bird offered generously. "You will know when you be one with us."


    Legion-7 thought to himself with a sneer, "I was just born but I am not a fool. I recognize a scam when I see one."


    He rushed down to the soul fragment and began destroying it. The bird he saw was grand, majestic, and very powerful but this soul fragment is weak. He almost killed it before, so he should be able to do it again.


    "This has to work or I am doomed."


    Therge bird is tracking him through this soul fragment. If he can destroy this soul fragment then it should lose sight of him. That''s what he figured through the white threads that connect the soul fragment to therge bird.


    He is sure that he should be able to destroy the soul fragment but he could be wrong. After all, the soul fragment was able to recover the first time he damaged it. So he was determined and serious as he got to work destroying the soul fragment.  The two of them began another round of fighting.


    Unfortunately for Legion-7, the soul fragment is not passive this time around. It didn''t let him attack without defending itself. It even attacked him in return. It used the thin white threads around it to beat Legion-7 and it also used the mes of rebirth at its disposal to burn Legion-7.


    The soul fragment advised him sincerely, "Resistance is futile. Join the great mother and achieve greatness with us. We can achieve such great things together. All you have to do is yield. Open your mind to the possibilities."


    Legion-7 didn''t listen. The fight was tougher but he wasn''t hopeless. He had soul force which he used to defend against the attacks of the soul fragment. Soul force protected him but he couldn''t manage to injure the soul fragment.

 Chapter 1282 Accept The Bestowal Of Greatness.

    <h4>Chapter 1282 ept The Bestowal Of Greatness.</h4>


    This is the first time he is using soul force to fight directly. Origin gods use it to push and pull thew matrix. It is a more powerful means of the maniption ofws but rarely do Origin gods use it to attack each other. Only immortals with spiritual concepts use soul force directly but those are rare.


    Unfortunately for Legion-7, there is now matrix orws in this ce so he can''t use soul force for what he is most good at. The best he could use it for is to defend himself. However, that turned out to be enough.


    This is because the soul fragment was being ground down by the grey corrosive water around them. The two of them are not the only ones in this fight. The thirdbatant is everywhere and is attacking everyone indiscriminately.


    So even if he didn''t do anything to the soul fragment, the corrosive water would destroy the soul fragment. He doesn''t need to injure the soul fragment himself to win the fight but he did it to speed things up. His attacks were clumsypared to the soul fragment who appears to be quite versed in the art of attacking souls, but he continued attacking for the sake of a swift victory.


    Their fight slowly moved into the stage of inevitability. The soul fragment knew it was going to lose so it tried to escape. It didn''t have wings so it used its feathers as fins. Its feathers spread outwards from it and enable it to move in the grey water.


    Legion-7 on the other hand had soul force. He didn''t have fins but soul force was easier to control and also stronger than fins. All he had to do was push and pull himself around to move. He was left behind at first but he caught up after getting the hang of movement.


    Unfortunately, things were not that simple. The soul fragment could move like fish in water. It could elerate and decelerate however it wished. It could change its direction and maneuver expertly as opposed to Legion-7''s clumsy movement.


    Legion-7 was fast in a straight-line eleration but he struggled to control his speed and change his direction to catch up. He had to bring his entire mental prowess to bear in limating himself to moving quickly without limbs.


    He said to himself, "This is just like the first time you learned to fly as a transcendent. All you have to do is push and pull incrementally. Feel the world around you and anticipate the changes caused by your mind before they happen."


    The difficulty in flying herey in the fact that he couldn''t synchronize with the world. This is made extra important by theck of uniform resistance by the surroundings on him. He pushed and pulled but the water reacted differently and variably as opposed to the uniform resistance of thew matrix.


    The soul fragment was admonishing him sincerely throughout the whole process. "There is no need for this. Give up your resistance and you will receive peace. Your worries will be no more. We will bear your burdens together and we will achieve greatness together."


    "Are you the great mother or someone she paid to advertise for her?"


    "I am both the great mother and part of the great mother. We are the great mother. She bestowed upon us her greatness in her infinite mercy. She is offering you that greatness now. ept it and be at peace."


    Legion-7 became curious about this great mother. She sounded interesting but he wasn''t willing to meet her to ask her so he focused on learning the feedback of the surrounding water on soul force.


    He got the hang of it in less than 30 seconds. He was able to keep up with the soul fragment enough to run straight at it and smash against it. The brute force attacks destabilized and harmed the soul fragment so it couldn''t escape.


    The tide of the battle changed in his favor when he started to use soul force to attack the soul fragment. He formed a rod with his divine sense and coated it with his soul force. This prevented the rod from being destroyed by the corrosive water and granted it the necessary durability needed to inflict damage during collisions.


    His soul force mmed into the soul fragment like a hammer again and again. With it, he doesn''t have to sh directly with the soul fragment anymore and he could attack it from any distance. It was like he was pummelling it with a fist. The soul fragment was injured quickly but it healed itself just as quickly.


    His opponent already couldn''t run anymore after he began ramming into it. Now that he has the advantage in speed and attack, he became able to run circles around the soul fragment while he ground it down until it broke apart. His absolute advantage turned into another victory. The mes of rebirth had run out so the soul fragment didn''t heal.


    But the soul fragment did not bear any grudge towards him. It said as it died, "The great mother is good. She is divine. She is merciful. Embrace her and you will gain immortality. I can never die so I will be back. I am eternal. Join us and be eternal. Join us and achieve greatness with us. Join¡­"


    Its conversion sermon was cut off when it died.


    Legion-7 scoffed. "If she was so great, then why does she want me so much?"


    The soul fragment broke into pieces of white motes. The white thread also disappeared with its death. One of the white motes struck Legion-7 because he was close to the soul fragment when it died.


    The white motes were absolved into his soul immediately. It joined into him without any resistance as if it had always been a part of him.


    Pieces of information shed in his mind when he absorbed the motes. He immediately realized what the white motes were.


    "So they are memories." He said in understanding.

 Chapter 1283 What Is The Great Mother.

    <h4>Chapter 1283 What Is The Great Mother. </h4>


    The white motes contain information that he was in desperate need of so he spread out his divine sense with soul force to grab them and assimte them. Some of them had already been destroyed with that short dy. The grey water is adamant about destroying everything. He now knows why the grey water is like that after absorbing the memories.


    There were some difficulties in absorbing the memories but it is mostly good news. The white motes are pieces of information. They are notplete or orderly. He has to put them together to gain relevant information in a sequence. Unfortunately, some information were missing so what he got was notplete.


    "I probably have less than 10% of the knowledge contained within the soul fragment. But that is already good enough."


    He seeded in assimting the white motes at a rather highpletion rate so he was able to preserve a lot of information. He would have gotten less than 1% if he didn''t have soul force topete with the grey water around him.


    Now he knows what situation he has gotten himself in. He also knows what was happening to him when the bad effect of the white motes took effect.


    He began hearing voices in his mind. "The great mother is kind. The great mother is pure. The great mother is good. The great mother is divine. The great mother is merciful. Join us. Be one with us. Be eternal within the great mother. The great mother¡­"


    The sermon of the soul fragment appeared in an unending flow within his mind. What he consumed is the spiritual remnants of the soul fragments. It contains its memories and its beliefs. He has assimted them so he can''t get rid of them. They have be part of him too.


    What''s worse is that they want to overwrite him. The beliefs want to convert him into a believer of the great mother. They want to modify his consciousness to make him more amendable to surrendering to the great mother. Unlike the external effort of the soul fragment, the belief that he assimted is an inside agent working to bring changes to him from within him.


    "She is not even here and she is already trying to brainwash me." He snickered. "It is too bad for her that I am not helpless."


    He knows what the underlying principle of the problem is. The white motes have infected him likew fragments infect transcendents. He can''t heal himself because they are part of himself now. It is like theprehension of thews of Legion-1. Legion-7 knows them too and they can never be taken from him.


    He can use theprehension ofws to invoke thew matrix if it were here and be a king ofw. This process creates Authority in his Origin as stars which are turned into a concept. Then Sovereigns ofw use origin essence to fuse with their concepts and be Origin gods.


    He has Origin essence here with him so he decided to assimte thew-like belief now. The origin essence was given to every clone so that they would be able to be Origin gods easily.


    Origin gods can''t share their Origin essence because it contains their immortal imprint. Anyone who uses it will be overwritten by it. But he and other clones can use it because they are all Legion. He used it now to overwrite the infection on himself. It is fighting a soul imprint with a stronger soul imprint. It is fighting fire with a stronger fire.


    "It is just as I thought. Immortality beats everything here. That''s why the great mother wants me. She wants to gain immortality." He said to himself.


    He used just a little of the Origin essence within him to remove the negative influence of the white motes. The amount he used is less than 0.2% of what he had so he still has a lot of Origin essence within himself.


    Its presence filled him with confidence about surviving in this grey world known as the spiritual dimension of the void universe. But he was still not confident about facing the great mother so he continued to run away immediately.


    He used some of the knowledge that he acquired from the soul fragment to utilize soul force. Soul force extended out of him in fine long threads instead of in a single direction like he used to do. The fine threads were then rotated around him to propel himself. He shot forward and continued to elerate. It is as if he could elerate forever as long as he didn''t stop. And he could change directions easily by twirling the fments.


    "This is great." He said in appreciation. "This skilled usage of the soul is exquisite. But it is also why I must not meet the great mother."


    This movement technique is very good. It is a product of years of research by a spiritual entity about the use of spiritual energy and the soul. The great mother and every soul she has assimted within her came up with it.


    The soul fragment was right in that they can achieve greatness together. After all, two good heads are better than one. Even if they are half bad, a million of them have a good chance of achieving greatness.


    So in a way, the great mother is a conglomerate of billions of souls. They are working together for survival in this hostile dimension that one might call hell. Their chances of survival has increased and they have even achieved some sort of immortality but it came at a great cost. All of them have lost their freedom.


    One might say they have been enved but it is more than that. They have been brainwashed so bad that they think they are the great mother. This has made it so that they don''t resist or try to escape. They won''t escape even if they are liberated. After all, they are all the great mother. That''s what the soul fragment was offering him. Eternal and blind servitude to the great mother and as the great mother.

 Chapter 1284 Against All Odds.

    <h4>Chapter 1284 Against All Odds.</h4>


    Billions of souls have been shackled to her wagon. They toil day and night for her. They are immortal as long as she is alive but that''s only because she wants them to work for her for all of eternity.


    This spirit fment movement technique is just one of the many techniques that she knows. She knows a lot more dangerous techniques that he doesn''t want to experience at all. It is something to be expected from an entity that has had billions of years to hone its craft.


    He considered her a threat when he was ignorant about what type of being she was but now he knows that she is capable of ending Legion''s mission to achieve perfection. If they aren''t immortal already then they would be doomed just because they encountered her.


    She is also a being who is trying to achieve a great mission. The little he knows about her makes him impressed with her but she is not satisfied with it. She wants more for the ultimate aim of getting out of the spiritual dimension.


    This world that he was pulled into is called the spiritual dimension. He knows how to leave this world now. He just needs to be strong enough. When his soul force reaches the strength of an Origin god with a supremew, then he will be able to leave.


    He can also wait for other clones toe and get him but he won''t rely entirely on them. There are ways to grow stronger in this dead dimension and be something as powerful as the great mother.


    "I just have to avoid her and grow stronger. I will be able to leave then. The problem of the rejection of the void universe is another matter. I will deal with it when ites to that point."


    He has made his ns for both the short term and the long term. The short-term is not a big problem for him anymore. The information he just acquired has given him a path forward. He knows what to do to grow stronger.


    The long term on the other hand is still quite problematic. The major issue is that the spiritual dimension is a prison. The barrier blocking his path is not there to weed out weak spiritual entities. It is actually there to lock everyone into the spiritual dimension. But strong spiritual entities can break free from the prison.


    The great mother calls the spiritual dimension the soul digestion tract of the void universe. Soulse here when they die. Everyone who dieses here including the Origin gods.


    Origin gods can leave. That''s how they resurrect. They are the only ones that can leave but they are not aware when theye here so no one knows about the digestion tract.


    As for other souls, they are broken down by the grey water and digested by the void universe. Most souls thate heree as fragments. After all, the reason why they died in the world of manifestation is because they were destroyed and their consciousness fractured. So most souls aren''t conscious at all when theye here and are digested peacefully without resistance.


    But some soul fragments have enough obsessions to keep them awake. It is a very difficult requirement to meet because the souls were fragmented from theplete souls that were killed. After all, if they couldn''t maintain their consciousness when they wereplete, it is nearly impossible for them to maintain it when they be fragmented.


    These special soul fragments with great obsessions do more than maintain awareness. They don''t want to die so they resist the dissolution of the grey water. This resistance is futile most of the time. Aplete but exposed soul can''t even survive in the physical world where there is no grey water actively trying to break it down. So a fragmented soul exposed to the corrosion of the grey water has next to no chance of survival. But some of them manage this nearly impossible feat.


    Some of them manage to grow stronger despite the strong digestive power of the grey water by absorbing other soul fragments. They be soul prowlers who feed on other soul fragments to survive. But they run mad when they be polluted by the memories of the other souls they are. They lose their obsession and survival instincts and are eventually digested by the spiritual dimension when they lose their will to resist.


    In very rare situations, an entity with a divine ability rted to souls finds a way to circumvent the problem of madness. They are able to grow stronger without limits. Some of them be beings like the great mother. If they be strong enough, they can even break the barrier imprisoning them here.


    So the situation is not entirely hopeless. Any soul that manages to ovee the odds can leave. But the void universe won''t allow it to ur. No soul that enters the spiritual dimension can return to the void universe unless they areplete Origin gods. Anything else that manages to escape will be attacked and swiftly destroyed in the outside world.


    The great mother is in a tricky situation because of the animosity of the void universe. She is strong enough to leave the spiritual dimension but she can''t survive in the void universe because the void universe will try and most definitely seed in killing her so she has to stay here and suffer under the constant digestion of the spiritual dimensions. She has to continue growing or die. And it is all for nothing because there is no end to the struggle to live in sight.


    But that didn''t stop her forever. She found a way to project herself into the void universe through soul fragments. She managed to make the soul fragments eptable to the void universe too so they were not destroyed.


    Legion-7 doesn''t know how exactly she did it. But he does know that it has something to do with the red mes of rebirth and how the whole Phoenix race was formed. In fact, it is more urate to call her the entire Phoenix race.

 Chapter 1285 More Than Surviving.

    <h4>Chapter 1285 More Than Surviving. </h4>


    Apparently, every phoenix in the void universe is one of her soul fragments, not a few of them. So he wasn''t unlucky when he met a soul fragment within an egg. Every phoenix egg has a soul fragment of hers within it.


    People think that Phoenixes are immortal because of their mes of rebirth but they are wrong about that. Phoenixes are immortal because of the great mother as their foundation. It is why no one has been able to copy their "divine ability."


    The mes of rebirth is just a technique that uses spiritual energy to copy the properties of the grey water here. It destroys matter in the void universe and transforms it into energy capable of strengthening the soul.


    This energy is then transported to the great mother through the spiritual links between her and all her soul fragments. That is how the great mother has managed to acquire enough energy to be as powerful as demon gods.


    He found out all of this from the white motes and he couldn''t help but marvel. It is all fascinating to him. Anyone who knows of the secret of the Phoenix race will be impressed by it.


    He praised her sincerely, "The great mother is truly a great entity. She formed a race that is present in the whole void universe and not just in the realm of high heaven. All the phoenixes are working towards freeing her. Even demon gods are not capable of such a thing. What a great mother."


    Demon gods can also create races but no demon god has managed to create a race that spans the entire void universe. It goes to show just how massive her influence in the void universe is. And she is not even in the world of manifestation herself. One can very well imagine just how big her impact on the void universe would be if she were allowed to exist in the world of manifestation.


    "In a world where others are struggling to survive, she has not only survived, she has thrived. She is truly a genius."


    He praised her while running as fast as possible. He doesn''t need to stop to express his sincere opinions. In fact, it is because he appreciates her resourcefulness that he knows that he must not meet her. People who have achieved great things like that are not soft or kind. Especially not people who rely on very forbor.


    "Where there is life, there is always resistance. And when there is a Will, there is a way. The great mother is the embodiment of the struggle of life and its victory over death. Unfortunately for her, I am not willing to join her."


    He admires her but he will do so from a safe distance. If she gets him, she might be able to use him to protect herself from the digestion of the spiritual dimension. It won''t make her capable of surviving in the void universe but it will make it so that staying here is no longer a constant race against death.


    She has always been in a hopeless situation here. She can''t learnws so she cannot be immortal. She can''t be immortal so she can''t meet the requirement to exist outside of the void universe.


    She is as powerful as demon gods but she is still pitiful. The bigger she gets, the more she loses to the spiritual dimension. After all, the grey water can only digest what it is in contact with. Therger the area of contact, the higher the corrosive pressure. So the great mother''srge surface area is a problem for her.


    Then he came along with a power that couldpletely resist the corrosion of the grey water orher water as she called it. If she gains it then all the energying from her soul fragments can be directed toward more useful objectives such as the issue of her freedom.


    All of these have made it so that there can be no negotiation or truce between them. She must have him at all costs. Even he won''t let himself go of he were in her shoes.


    He shot through the grey water while paying attention to his environment. He didn''t use his divine sense to see like he normally would. His divine sense has arge range but any entity that is aware in the spiritual dimension will be able to sense his divine sense and see him too when he sees them. That''s how the great mother became aware of him.


    His ignorance drew her attention. She has a lot of soul fragments and she can''t pay attention to all of them. The soul fragment he encountered in the egg was dormant because she was focused elsewhere. That''s why it didn''t fight back against him. Not even his attacks awakened it.


    It instinctively tried to protect itself by returning to the spiritual dimension. Unfortunately, that wasn''t enough for it. It needed the mes of rebirth to heal the damage to it. So it pulled the egg down to the spiritual dimension and dragged Legion-7 along with it.


    It didn''t wake up even then. It was Legion-7''s interaction of his divine sense with the spiritual link of the soul fragment that awakened it after drawing the great mother''s attention.


    He has learned from that experience now and he knows better than to spread his divine sense wantonly in the spiritual dimension. Everything here is extra sensitive to spiritual fluctuations. Instead, he used a spiritual echo method to sense the world.


    He agitated his divine sense and sent out a wave of spiritual fluctuations in a particr frequency outwards from his position. The waves return to him after rebounding on obstacles. They bring with them information about the obstacle.


    This method is safer in that while it can be sensed by others, they won''t be able to lock on to him through it. The disadvantage is that it is many times slower than the use of divine sense.


    -------


    A/N: At this point, we should already know where Legion-7 got the idea of a resurrection system independent of the void universe. He copied someone else which might exin why he didn''t get a reward for breaking anyws of the void universe when he did it.

 Chapter 1286 Eat Or Be Eaten.

    <h4>Chapter 1286 Eat Or Be Eaten.</h4>


    Information acquisition is almost instantaneous with the use of divine sense. It is not so with the spiritual echo method. There is a dy between the echoes which causes the information to not only be instantaneous, it is also intermittent.


    It makes seeing like being in a dark room and switching on and off a source of light over and over again. So he gets a glimpse of the world before it is plunged into darkness. Then he has to wait patiently for another glimpse.


    The information the spiritual echo brings is also not urate. The grey water destroys some of the spiritual waves so some information is always missing. The farther the target, the less information is acquired.


    This continues until no information is acquired at a certain distance. This distance is also much shorter than the range of his divine sense so the spiritual echo method has a shorter maximum range and an even much smaller effective range. This is all because of the corrosion of theher water.


    The effectiveness of the method made himin, "This spiritual echo method is too bad. It is as if I am groping about with my hands instead of using my eyes. What''s worse is that my hands are crippled so they are not reliable."


    He considered the pros and cons before making up his mind. The pro of the spiritual echo method is that by switching on and off the source of light in the dark room, others in the room will also not be able to acquire urate information about him. The best they can do is know either his position, speed, or direction. They can''t know more than one of those urately at the same time.


    So he said, "It is better to be safe than sorry. I don''t want to attract another entity that I can''t defeat. I will continue using the spiritual echo method until I create my own soul techniques."


    The spiritual echo method is the best surveince method that he has that can provide him with a certain amount of stealth. In fact, it is the only such method he possesses so he can''t be picky.


    He got from the memories that he acquired that no one can use a divine sense in the spiritual dimension. The grey water orher water prevents anyone from using it. But he can use his divine sense thanks to the protection of soul force so it is an advantage unique to him.


    Unfortunately, he can''t use his divine sense because of its weakness. That doesn''t mean he will settle with using the inefficient spiritual echo method. It is far toocking for him to settle for.


    The spiritual echo method was created by the great mother and it is the best technique that she has to see in the spiritual dimension. But he is not the great mother. He has an alternative at his disposal and it is a better one too. He just has to fix its weakness and make his divine sense apletely superior sensing method.


    This is what he decided to busy himself with on his way to a feeding ground. He doesn''t have a sufficient perception method yet so hunting is out of the question for him. He intends to try his luck at a feeding ground rather than prowl the infinite spiritual dimension for prey.


    Hunting is a fast way to grow stronger in the spiritual dimension. It is the main method to survive in the spiritual dimension if you don''t have a whole race feeding you energy from the void universe.


    He doesn''t have anyone capable of feeding energy to grow so hunting is something he intends to do but he might be prey if he is not careful. So until he has an advantage in perception, he won''t try to court death with entities that are stronger than him and much more experienced than him.


    So he went in search of a feeding ground as he worked to develop a superior soul perception technique. Unlike hunting in the spiritual dimension, going to a feeding ground is a less dangerous alternative. This is as long as one knows how to take advantage of feeding grounds.


    He knows how to take advantage of feeding grounds and will be able to keep himself safe to a certain extent there. However, the location of the feeding grounds is not constant. They are always changing so he is not going in a particr direction.


    He is just moving in one direction that he chose at random. If he is lucky, he will encounter a feeding ground soon. If he is not, then he won''t encounter one for all of eternity.


    Thebination of the infinite space of the spiritual dimension and the randomness of the feeding ground has created a situation where the chances of encountering a feeding ground in the next moment fluctuate between 0% and 100%.


    This situation is a cmity for others. Being aware is not enough to survive in the spiritual dimension. They have to eat to grow stronger. If they don''t grow stronger, then theher water will digest them.


    This makes it so that the spiritual dimension is not about survival of the fittest. It doesn''t want anyone to survive at all. Only the most hardworking and luckiest spiritual entities survive.


    To survive, they can''t waste their time searching for feeding grounds. They have to hope theye across another soul prowler or unaware soul to kill and eat.


    But he is not in danger of being digested. Theher water is ineffective on him so he is not in a hurry to eat. If not for the great mother, then he would be mostly carefree here in the spiritual dimension.


    Then again, if not for the great mother, he wouldn''t be here in the first ce. She is the root of all of his problems. So he must find a feeding ground soon enough so that he will be able to grow stronger.


    -----


    A/N: And so we go on a journey in the spiritual dimension. All of you thinking we were about to have another Soverick arc were wrong.

 Chapter 1287 Nether Waters Is Not Chaos Energy.

    Chapter 1287 Nether Waters Is Not Chaos Energy.


    ??The spiritual dimension is infinite but he can''t underestimate the great mother by ruling out that she can''t find him. It will be false confidence if he thinks he knows all she is capable of from the little knowledge he gained from a soul fragment. Even if she can''t find him, the chances of him running into a feeding ground are the same as running into her. If he is unlucky then she might appear before he encounters a feeding ground.


    But he can''t just sit still and do nothing. That will not improve his chances either. The only thing he can rely on is his strength so he must seek strength no matter where it leads him.


    He continued searching even after 7 years. None of the clones were born during that period of time. His situation is bad but he is not envious of Aeternus who is being ravaged by Chaos energy.


    He thought to himself, "Maybe my situation is not so bad. And we can rule out the possibility of Nether waters being Chaos energy."


    The other clones are doing well apart from Helios who is battling with thew of Order. So all in all, his condition is about average among the clones. Being bored searching for a feeding ground in an empty and bleak world is orders of magnitude better than having Chaos energy trying to kill him.


    His decision to pursue strength at all costs finally paid off in the 8th year of searching. He encountered a change in the spiritual dimension that is an indication of the presence of a feeding ground.


    "Finally." He said, "It is time to eat."


    He had managed to create his own perception technique after a year of effort. It was easy to do since he didn''t have tobor at the doorstep of death like the great mother and he had the data of her technique as reference.


    His divine sense emanated in rings around him. These rings behave just like the spiritual waves of the spiritual echo method except that they are not destroyed by theher water and can''t be traced back to him even if they are intercepted. This is because the spiritual waves have been coated with soul force for protection.


    He called it the divine echo method. It still feels like groping in the dark but the information is more urate now since theher water can''t destroy the spiritual waves. It also has the stealth ability of the spiritual echo so it is better than it.


    The major advantage of this method is the range of perception. Because the waves are not destroyed by theher waters, they can reach a much farther distance than the spiritual echo method. That range hase in handy now.


    He can sense the feeding ground from a very far distance than he should be able to. Its position is a long way apart from the direction he was searching. If he hadn''t sensed it as he was passing by, he would have missed itpletely.


    He approached the feeding ground quickly before it disappeared. Just as its appearance is uncertain, its duration is also uncertain. It can disappear at any moment so he has to take advantage of it immediately.


    The feeding ground is a ck hole in the spiritual dimension. It descended from the void universe and will return after some time. During its duration in the spiritual dimension, it creates a gravitational pull on souls. Souls are drawn towards it by the gravitational field around it. The souls enter the ck hole and are crushed within it.


    If anyone wants to eat, all they have to do is intercept the attracted souls while making sure that they themselves are not attracted and pulled into the ck hole. It is a tricky and dangerous business. But it is better than hunting.


    Hunting has an uncertain chance of danger and also an uncertain chance of catching prey. You might never encounter another soul fragment which means you might never have to fight. But you will certainly die in that case. This is because theher water will kill you.


    The feeding ground on the other hand has a certain chance of both danger and catching prey. That''s why soul prowlers want to encounter a feeding ground. With it, encountering another soul fragment is certain.


    Of course, most soul prowlers are ignorant and don''t know the benefits of the feeding ground. They are not like him who got inside information from a tyrant of the spiritual dimension. But even the most ignorant soul prowler will notice the congregation of souls and the force of attraction if they are close enough to it.


    Through the try-and-error method, they will either learn the dangers of the feeding ground and survive or learn the dangers of the feeding ground when it is toote and die.


    Knowledge is power in a normal situation. It is more precious in a situation where everything including the world is trying to kill you. You can''t even sit still and hide somewhere without the danger of death. Everyone that wants to live must find someone else to eat.


    Not everyone can be so lucky and unlucky to encounter the soul fragment of the great mother, defeat it, and acquire important knowledge from it.


    "Let''s see what this feeding ground is all about." He said as he changed his direction towards the ck hole.


    He can determine the position of the ck hole with a fairly high uracy. This is mostly due to the gravitational waves that it is producing. These waves are odd in the empty spiritual dimension so they are unmistakable.


    He soon found it. He can''t see everything in the spiritual dimension but he can sense that the gravitational waves have be stronger. He can also sense that at the edge of his perception, some souls are being dragged towards a point in front of him.


    He said in anticipation, "It seems food is served."


    -----


    A/N: Anyone knows what the Nether waters is? Personally, I think it is anti-mana. Then again, what is mana?

 Chapter 1288 Black Hole In The Spiritual Dimension.

    Chapter 1288 ck Hole In The Spiritual Dimension.


    ??Before him is what appears to be a gravitational whirlpool. It is full of danger and also full of fish. Fish being other souls. It is a veritable disy of food to someone who is as starved as him.


    "I will have to thank the great mother for her experience at hunting and using the feeding ground when I meet her."


    Legion-7 didn''t let the excitement of finding a feeding ground override his caution. After all, this feeding ground is a public location. He is not the only one looking to find something to eat. Prey and predator can be switched at any moment.


    He examined his environment thoroughly while cautiously approaching the ck hole.


    "I should be careful. As long as I sense the gravitational force properly and make sure it doesn''t exceed my power, I should be fine."


    He approached the feeding ground carefully while sensing the force of attraction. What he sensed from the ck hole surprised him but also made sense because of the information he got about the cause of the feeding grounds.


    The force of attraction is not purely gravitational. He can also sense soul force from it. That hasn''t changed his situation much so he remained careful.


    He went ahead to map out the zone of safety.


    He used the divine echo method to sense the force of attraction. The waves will be distorted by the force of attraction but they will still return to him. This is because the force of attraction is not purely gravitational. The soul force it contains will reflect spiritual fluctuations and divine sense.


    The area of the gravitational whirlpool in which his perception is still reflected back to him is the zone of safety. It means the gravitational force of the whirlpool in those ces is not strong enough to ovee the strength of his divine sense. Which means he will be able to move rtively well in those ces. Hence why he will be safe there.


    The zone of safety is always changing so he has to pay constant attention to it. This is because the whirlpool is constantly expanding and growing stronger.


    Beyond the zone of safety is the zone of no return. At that point, nothing returns from it. Anything that gets that close to the ck hole is gone. The zone of no return forms the dark sphere of the area he can''t sense since his divine sense can''t return from that part of the whirlpool.


    "Now that I have done that. I can eat in peace." He said to himself. "I should also perform more tests."


    He decided to perform the test first before dedicating himself to eating. The test won''t take long and knowledge is very important. So he extended his divine sense towards the zone of no return from the zone of safety. He is not using the divine echo method. He is using the full power of his divine sense.


    His divine sense entered the zone of return as if it entered a sinkhole. He can''t pull it out because of the overwhelming force of attraction. But he still got the information they sensed because his divine sense is connected to him and information transfer is instantaneous.


    What he saw proved that the ck hole was not a true ck hole. It doesn''t distort space and time around it so he was able to see what it truly was beyond the zone of no return. What he saw was a ring of shattered light.


    There are what appear to be shiny rocks in the zone of no return. These rocks are fragments that form the ring of light. They are rotating around in a circle and also moving closer to each other to form a singrity.


    The closer they are to each other, the smaller and moreplete the shattered ring of light is. It is as if they are trying to join together. This attempt of theirs is fostered by the souls that are sucked into the ck hole and shattered into white motes that sprinkle on the shattered rocks.


    The white motes nourish the shattered rocks. This makes them shine brighter and brings them closer to each other. He also noticed that the smaller the ring got as the stones got closer to each other, the stronger the force of attraction of the feeding ground became.


    Thest thing that sealed his theory of the Origin of the ck hole is that he sensedw fragments and cosmic energy from the shattered stones. He is very familiar withw fragments and he has encountered cosmic energy many times afterprehendingws so he is sure that the shattered rocks are the fragments of an Origin god.


    What he saw made him excited immediately. He said in awe, "The wonders of the void universe never cease to amaze."


    "The great mother was right. This is the foundation of the immortality of origin gods."


    The great mother couldn''t see whaty beyond the zone of no return but she postted that the ck holes are dead Origin gods. She imed that poor origin gods who haven''t made any preparations for resurrection and don''t have any Origin essence lefte to the spiritual dimension when they die.


    The void universe does so to help them resurrect. It pulls the fragmented existence of the Origin gods together. It also causes a gravitational pull that draws soul fragments in the spiritual dimension towards the ck hole.


    The souls are used to mend the fragmented Origin god. This is a substitute for soul stones that wealthy Origin gods use to speed up their resurrection. The fragmented souls can''tpare to soul stones in efficacy since they are from dead entities but it is better than nothing. At least, Origin gods without any form of preparation will still resurrect.


    Many don''t know about this mechanism. Not even the Origin gods themselves that it is used for. Even the spiritual entities that are conscious and aware in the spiritual dimension don''t know what causes ck holes. All they know is that ck holes create gravitational waves that pull souls to it and create the feeding ground.

 Chapter 1289 Second Death.

    Chapter 1289 Second Death.


    ??The great mother being the great being she is was able to postte that the ck holes consume the souls to heal themselves. Then they return to the void universe and are resurrected as Origin gods. This process will take a very long time because it is slow.


    "That''s why the force of attraction has soul force mixed in," he said as he looked at the shiny rocks in greed.


    These fragmented rocks are like him. They are fragments of the soul of an Origin god. They are stronger than him since they are crystalized by the concept they possess but they are not aware like him. It would be very nourishing to him if he could eat them or graft them to himself. Unlike him, they are full of power. That''s why they are producing soul light like the great mother.


    He said with regret. "Unfortunately, I can''t escape the zone of no return. I will be doomed if something goes wrong. It is not worth the risk since I might not be able to do anything to them even if I get ess to the fragments. A dead Origin god is still a true immortal."


    His divine sense can reach beyond the zone of no return because it is powerful but he can''t pull back his divine sense. That means he won''t be able to escape the zone of no return and might be consumed by the dead Origin god.


    Besides, he might not be able to consume the fragments even if they were helpless and unaware. It is clear that they are of a higher existence than him and everything in the spiritual dimension because they can consume a massive amount of souls without corruption.


    He had tried to consume one soul fragment and he experienced spiritual corruption. He had to use Origin essence to get rid of it. But these fragments are not even aware as they guzzle soul fragments like water. This is most likely due to the protection of their concept. It is something he doesn''t have so he gave up on his wild dreams full of greed.


    Then he stopped projecting his divine sense into the zone of no return. Even though he can''t eat the fragments of this incapacitated origin god. The information he gained is still precious. It enlightened him on a hunting technique.


    He said to himself, "If they are able to pull souls to themselves, then I should be able to too. I don''t have the help of a concept but I am aware and I have a lot of soul force to spare."


    He began researching a technique to attract souls to himself. If he seeds, he will be able to turn himself into a ck hole and create a feeding ground anytime he wants. It is a technique that will take a long time to achieve and it will be better if he is stronger so he decided to eat in the meantime.


    He paid attention to the soul fragments that wereing in waves toward the feeding ground. Every soul will feel the force of attraction but only soul prowlers like him who are aware can resist the pull to various extents depending on their strength.


    As for unaware soul fragments, they are butmbs to the ughter. They are easy pickings who won''t resist at all. Those are his preferred targets but he will eat other weak soul prowlers too. He is not a picky eater.


    The zone of safety is not the same for every soul prowler. Weak soul prowlers have arger zone of no return so they will have a smaller zone of safety. That means they can only stay at the edge of the feeding ground so he decided to stay at the edge too.


    Therger the zone of safety within the gravitational field, therger the hunting space of the soul prowler which means the more soul fragments they can safely feed on. He has a veryrge zone of safety so he encountered a lot of soul fragments.


    He said when he spotted a suitable target, "Prepare to die a second time."


    He is not one for gluttony. But if it will make him stronger, then he is willing to make gluttony a sin andmit a lot of it. So he extended a tentacle of soul force to the first soul fragment he encountered. It wound around the soul fragment and pulled it towards himself.


    Then he used the first and most important soul-fighting technique he knows. He turned the tentacle of soul force into a sharp single-edged de that he swung vertically to cut the soul fragment.


    His soul de dissected the irregrly shaped white soul fragment into two. Then he cut up the two pieces into smaller pieces. It was then that he allowed himself to eat them.


    He didn''t eat them directly like some ignorant soul prowler. He knows of and has experienced the threat of madness. So he used the best soul technique for eating. He extended his tentacle of soul force to the little pieces. Then he injected his memories into them.


    This is a form of brainwashing. It is a very important process for soul grafting. This will ensure that there won''t be any rejection when he grafts the soul to himself.


    The process of brainwashing is a slow but very important process. You try to overwhelm the soul with your memories. You input so much of your memories that the memories contained within the soul fragment will be the minority and be overwhelmed.


    The memory overload will create a shift of identity in the soul fragment. It will cause the soul fragment to think it is a part of yourself or that they are you.


    The brainwashing will fail if you don''t have enough memories to overwhelm the memories contained in the soul fragment. But that shouldn''t happen if you cut the soul fragment into a small enough piece. That way the total resistance of the soul fragment has been fragmented before the struggle.

 Chapter 1290 The Impossible Might Be Possible.

    Chapter 1290 The Impossible Might Be Possible.


    ??You can overwhelm each small piece of the soul fragment individually after cutting them up instead of struggling with the whole soul fragment. That will increase the chance of sess of the brainwashing and avoid memory bacsh which causes reverse brainwashing.


    Even if reverse brainwashing doesn''t ur, there can be some otherplications during the process. The soul might be aware during the brainwashing and resist. That is unlikely if you made sure to cut it up into a small enough piece.


    Legion-5 was meticulous with his cuts so these pieces didn''t wake up. If they did, then he would crush their resistance with the soul de. Chop them up and brainwash their smaller pieces individually all over again.


    The brainwashing went without a hitch too. It was then that Legion-7 extended a part of himself to the soul fragments. This is the first time he is making actual contact with the fragments. He isn''t using his soul force like the previous times. His soul and the soul fragments made contact and there was no rejection so they adhered to him.


    "Ah." He eximed in pleasure. "This is good."


    His soul which is also his current body felt elevated. It is a pleasurable feeling due to the special method of feeding. Unlike thest time when he absorbed soul fragments wantonly, the memory he gained now didn''t try to brainwash him. Instead, they were absorbed smoothly. It helped that he didn''t absorb the soul fragments at all. So his consciousness was still pure.


    The corruption of the consciousness is not a phenomenon in the spiritual dimension that is unique to him. Eating the souls of others always leads to it. This causes madness, schizophrenia, and a crisis of identity.


    This is due to the assimtion of memories and soul imprints of a different soul. So it is much worse than brainwashing. At least with brainwashing, you would think you were someone else but you would still have the survival instincts of the person you think you are.


    Madness on the other hand means insanity, forgetfulness, suicidal tendencies, and loss of survival instincts. The memories and soul imprint contained within the soul fragments will try to infect the soul that assimted them like it did when he assimted the soul fragment of the great mother.


    He had to use Origin essence to ovee that infection. But he doesn''t need to now since he has the soul grafting technique that the great mother created. Other soul prowlers without Origin essence or a specialized technique for eating will run mad. Only special individuals like him and the great mother will not be doomed by trying to survive.


    He avoided madness and his soul also grew stronger with the addition of the soul fragments. The soul fragments are not of the same quality as his so the increase in strength is very small and almost negligible. But it is a start. He will only get stronger, unlike the other soul prowlers who have to fight off the digestion of theher water.


    Je thought to himself in caution, "The great mother is talented. I just have to make sure that I don''t make the same mistakes that she made and I shouldn''t have any problem."


    The soul grafting method is not without issues. If someone gets ess to the soul fragments he grafted, then they will gain his memories within them just as he was able to gain information from the soul fragment he found in his egg.


    He can decide what memories he put in them but he won''t be able to use the fragments for important things if he doesn''t put important memories in them. But no matter what, as long as he doesn''t directly fuse with them, the soul fragments will remain potential leaks of information about him. Nothing can change that weakness.


    He chuckled to himself as he said, "I don''t n to make a race of phoenixes so I won''t put important memories in them. I can live with that handicap as long as I don''t go mad."


    He is referring to the great mother. She made the grafting method to bypass madness but she went further to create a race. It created the opportunity for him to learn thew of the soul without a billion years of effort. In other words, her greedy move gave him the opportunity to steal her years of hard work.


    The great mother is far from stupid. The problem of information leak from her soul fragment is a problem that should be nearly impossible for her to encounter. It should have been impossible for another soul prowler to manage to overpower her soul fragment, absorb its memories and remain sane.


    Even soul grafting wouldn''t have work on her soul fragments since they are all connected to each other and have ess to billions of memories. Any attempt at brainwashing her soul fragments would have led to memory bacsh and a reverse brainwashing.


    So she was as secure as she could be. But then he came along with Origin essence. It should have been impossible but it should also have been impossible for someone to reincarnate.


    Reality has shown that if something is possible at all, then it can happen no matter how small the chance is. If it is possible for his information to leak, then it can happen. So he will learn from the great mother and make sure that he doesn''t release any important memories into the soul fragments.


    Apart from this weakness, the soul grafting method has made him optimistic about his situation.


    Legion-7 went on to hunt more soul fragments. He chose unaware soul fragments for now to try out his fighting skills on. This ensured that he was always sessful and he grew stronger a little more.


    He couldn''t help but say, "Maybe my situation is not bad at all. The other clones haven''t been born yet while I am already growing. Even if they are born and they grow, the strength of their bodies will only try to catch up to the strength of their souls. As for me, I don''t have a body to hold me back. At this rate, I will outss all of them in the strength of the soul."


    ----


    A/N: Do you think he nted a death g by saying that?

 Chapter 1291 A Rare Law.

    Chapter 1291 A Rare Law.


    ??He has gone from saying maybe his situation is "not so bad" to saying "maybe it is not bad at all." He may not be in an unenviable situation but he is making the best of it. He even has the confidence that he will grow strong enough to match a Supreme Origin god in the aspect of the soul.


    The great-mother has already reached that point since she can leave the spiritual dimension. So he very far behind. But he stole her life''s work and he has something she doesn''t have so he is sure that he can catch up to her in time.


    The major reason why he is optimistic is because of the information he stole from the great mother through her soul fragment. The soul grafting method which is a way to assimte souls without going mad, is just one of the things he stole. He also stole aw that he couldn''t haveprehended on his own from her.


    He said with admiration for the great mother and an equal amount of pride in himself. "The great mother is great. Herw of the soul is unparalleled. But she will be my stepping stone at the end of the day."


    She deserves his praise because she has great experiences in the spiritual dimension. In a ce where soul prowlers struggle to survive, she excelled. She was so excellent that she managed toprehend thew of the soul. This is aw that just not anyone can learn. It is more mysterious than highws in that only those with special soul rted talents or divine abilities can learn it.


    Unfortunately, he stole thew of the soul from her. He now has thew of the soul, soul force, Origin essence, soul sphere, and the other clones to rely on who can help him. If he can''t ovee her with everything he has, it will be too shameful for him and Legion.


    He has to admit that thew of the soul is great and the great mother that came up with it in this barren world withoutws is even greater. But her life''s work will only help Legion to achieve perfection. Thew of the soul is already paying dividends.


    Aeternus is using it to modify his soul into a concept-like structure that can protect him against Chaos energy. So he is not praising thew of the soul for nothing. Thew of the soul is aw that most people in the void universe do not know exists much lessprehend.


    "Let''s get to hunting. Talk is cheap. Action in the sole pursuit of power is the best way to achieve perfection."


    He continued hunting and eating souls. He made sure to digest them externally before he added them to himself. The soul fragments formed into a hexagonal structure around him like a beehive. He is the queen while they are the workers. Whenbined with the tentacles of soul force that extends out of him, it makes him look like a jellyfish. The soul fragments in the cocoon around him also produce different soul lights so he looks like a multicolored jellyfish.


    This look is different from how the great mother looks. It is partly because he is not as skilled as her in soul maniption and because his soul grafting technique is different from hers. She is so skilled that she can modify the soul fragments into feathers before grafting them onto herself.


    She chose feathers to create her current form because she used to be a one-eyed raven when she was alive. The memories she used to brainwash the soul fragment made it easier to turn them into the feathers that she lost. It reduced the rejection between the soul fragments.


    Her true soul or the core of her form is the single eye on her head. Her body, wings, and feathers are made from grafted soul fragments.


    As for him, his memories also transfer his obsession to the soul fragments so they maintain their difference while also empowering him. Then he used Origin essence to cement the grafting between them. This will ensure that they can never be removed from him.


    It is like so because his obsession is perfection throughbined effort. His aim to achieve perfection is bybining different strengths to ovee the weaknesses of the whole. His obsession is Legion.


    -


    Legion-7''s n for freedom from the spiritual dimension has be feasible now that he has found a hunting ground. His hunting went without a hitch for a long while until he encountered other soul prowlers.


    He was at the edge of the expanding gravitational field so the soul prowler he met was weak. It has a small zone of safety. That''s why it didn''t go further in to hunt more efficiently.


    The soul prowler is spherical. It looks like a white gem-


    encrusted spherical rock. It has learned a perception method. That is the minimum requirement to survive in the spiritual dimension.


    You can''t be blind and hope to survive anywhere much less the spiritual dimension. But awareness only means you will be aware as you are attacked and digested. If you fail toe up with a way to fight, then you will die.


    This soul prowler isn''t dead so it must be talented or lucky. It shot its spiritual energy like arrows in every direction. The arrows return to it when they hit an obstacle. The arrows bring information about the obstacle to it.


    This method of perception is simr to the spiritual echo method but it is much worse. It is highly inurate because it can''t form a 3-dimensional view of the world. The spiritual sense is unidirectional after all.


    It is like a blind man groping an elephant. He can only get a little information at a time which might cause him to misidentify the elephant as something else.


    The technique also isn''t continuous so information is not updated in real time. There is arge period of darkness between each arrow which makes it very difficult to assess position, speed, and direction urately. It can''t do any one of these urately much less more than one.


    ----


    A/N: If you have a fear of the dark or nyctophobia, you won''t survive in the spiritual dimension.

 Chapter 1292 Acid In The Gut.

    <h4>Chapter 1292 Acid In The Gut. </h4>


    The soul prowler''s method of perception has all the problems of the spiritual echo method including the short range and many other disadvantages. The soul prowler essentially has a sight disability. If not for the fact that it felt Legion-7''s probing with the divine echo, then it wouldn''t even know that someone was approaching it. Even then, it couldn''t sense Legion-7 because he was too far away from it much less tell his position.


    His divine echo perception technique outsses this shoddy perception technique in every way. But Legion-7 stillined. "The divine echo method is stillcking. Even the lowest soul prowler will be able to sense me when I sense them."


    This is not the physical world where the bodies of living things and the world around them encapste their souls and make it difficult to sense the divine sense of others. In the world of manifestation, you can only sense a divine sense that is equal to the quality of yours or lesser. You can''t sense the divine sense of beings that are more evolved than you.


    That is not the situation here. Every riff-raff can sense every divine sense because their soul is directly exposed to the world. It has made it impossible for him to sneak up on them and assassinate them.


    "I have to figure out how to make my soul force independent of my divine sense. I will be able to remain undetected by others that way."


    Heined a little and promised himself to be better. Then he put aside the problem of the scattering of soul force when it is not apanied by divine sense and prepared to fight this soul prowler wholeheartedly with all his might.


    He chose to be cautious because no soul prowler can be underestimated. They are not the weak soul fragments of the great mother. They are weak versions of the great mother herself.


    Each soul prowler is a fragment of someone who is sufficiently obsessed to remain aware after death and also talented or lucky enough to survive the constant and all-epassing digestion of theher water. Caution is a must if only for the fact that this soul prowler is at least 10 times bigger than him.


    So he didn''t get too close to the soul prowler. He stood at a distance while he formed tentacles of soul force fashioned with his divine sense into des. He swung the des like whips at the soul prowler from afar.


    The soul prowler didn''t even see the attacking so it didn''t dodge. The de made contact and sliced through a portion of the spherical prowler. The defense cocoon around the prowler couldn''t block the de at all.


    The prowler shrieked in agony. The cut was bad enough in itself but Nether water made it worse. Nether water rushed into the new opening in its defense and began expanding it. It was as if Legion-7 had cut the prowler open and let its guts spill into the world. Then he poured acid into the cavity evacuated of its guts. It is the epitome of cruelty.


    Unfortunately for the soul prowler, things only got worse. Legion-7 has more than one tentacle and he knows how to use them to great effect. He created many cuts all over the soul prowler with his des. The defense of the soul prowler couldn''t stand against the power of soul force. So despite being smaller, Legion-7 was winning by andslide.


    The soul prowler tried to retaliate. It shot out arrows at Legion-7. It could tell Legion-7''s position in the brief moment when the tentacles connect with it. So it used that information to make urate attacks.


    The attack was very fast since it was literally sacrificing itself to retaliate. Legion-7 was caught off guard by the first attack. It struck him head-on. Unfortunately, the attacks that it made with its soul essence failed to do any damage to Legion-7. They couldn''t get past his armor of soul force.


    Legion-7 learned his lesson and increased his speed so as to avoid the fast attacks. He circled around the soul prowler with his fastest speed so he wasn''t hit by the subsequent attacks. Meanwhile, each attack from the soul prowler reduced its size because of the expenditure of soul essence.


    "Stop wasting soul essence you ignorant buffoon." Legion-7 cried in anguish. "You are wasting my food."


    Other soul prowlers aren''t like him. They don''t have soul force to use to attack and defend. They can only attack with physical contact or at range by expending their soul essence. Even physical contact will expend soul essence because any physical contact between souls is a kind of collision.


    In a physical fight, the skilled ones will be able to minimize the damage they incur and maximize the damage they inflict, but they can''t stop themselves from losing something. Whenbined with the enmity of theher water, fighting is a life and death matter that must strengthen the victor or both of them will lose and die. There is no in-between or draw.


    Legion-7 is not in danger of dying but he can''t bear to watch the waste of his precious food. He expects to win so the soul essence is essentially his already. He hoped, like anyone would, that this soul prowler would just lie still so that he could kill it without wastage. But the soul prowler refused. It resisted with everything it had. So Legion-7 could only do the reasonable thing. He sought to grant his enemy a swift death.


    Tens of tentaclesshed at the soul prowler and shredded it apart piece by piece. He made sure to use his tentacles to retrieve the small pieces so that theher water wouldn''t deprive him of his hard-earned food. It was at this moment that he realized that it might not be a good thing that theher water will always participate in a fight.


    He produced the maximum amount of tentacles that he could make so that he could digest the pieces as soon as possible. This is because not only is he fighting the soul prowler, he is also fighting theher waters for the scraps of the soul prowler.

 Chapter 1293 Knowledge Over Soul Essence.

    <h4>Chapter 1293 Knowledge Over Soul Essence.</h4>


    That means he was attacking the soul prowler, retrieving the soul fragments, brainwashing the soul fragments, and grafting the soul fragments into himself at the same time.


    If he didn''t do that then this fight would be a waste of time. Theher water will eat everything and make it so that it is not worthwhile to fight another soul prowler.


    "This spiritual dimension is too wicked." Heined as he chopped up the soul prowler trying to flee.


    "Soul prowlers can die trying to live by hunting." He said as the soul prowler shrieked and wasted more soul essence.


    "This is not the survival of the fittest. This is the survival of no one."


    More of the soul prowler disappeared as Nether water ate them.


    Heined again, "At least leave something behind for the victor. Don''t be so greedy."


    He isining of wastage when he is not at any risk of death. The soul prowler he is butchering has greater concerns than that. After all, it is not leaking soul essence because it wanted to.


    Not only is the soul prowler losing its soul essence to attack, it is losing them to theher waters and also to the enemy cutting it. It is triple trouble for it which is not a wonder why it screamed shrilly in pain and tried to escape.


    But Legion-7 didn''t let the soul prowler escape. It was easy to do. The soul prowler is mostly blind and he is faster than it. So all he had to do is keep the soul prowler running about in circles as he whittled it down.


    The soul prowler couldn''t maintain its consciousness under the constant attack of Legion-7 and theher water. It was quickly broken apart.


    He sighed in relief. "Finally."


    The fight has ended. It ended in his victory and he gained a lot from it. He is still happy even though he has to work hard to steal the loot from theher water and enjoy it.


    The difficulty in enjoying his loot is because the soul fragments he cut out from the soul prowler are not unaware. They have sentience and they resisted the brainwashing. But he has arger memory potential than the individual soul fragments so his memories flowed into them no matter how they resisted.


    Soon they were saying, "I am Gehaldirah Oakstein. I want to achieve perfection. I want to eliminate all my weaknesses. I want to acquire all the divine abilities in the world and be without weakness."


    He said to himself, "They are a little mad but they will do."


    Then he grafted them to the mass around his soul. He gained both knowledge and soul essence from them.


    "The soul essence is just 60% of the entire soul prowler. That''s with my best efforts." Heined. "I don''t like this spiritual dimension at all. I don''t like it one bit."


    He lost 40% of the soul prowler to theher waters after doing his best to preserve his loot. Others will be lucky to gain 40% of the loot but he is not satisfied with 60%. That is after they have lost about 20% of themselves during the fight. So their profit will be even less. The spiritual dimension makes it so that any victory is a pyrrhic victory.


    What''s worse is that the spiritual dimension has made it uncertain that victory will strengthen the victor. But soul prowlers have to fight. If they don''t fight for food, then they might relegate in strength and be digested by the world.


    "What could the spiritual dimension be digesting the souls for?" He asked himself as he grafted thest batch of the soul prowler.


    "Is it a natural process aimed at eliminating remnants? Or could it all be for the resurrection of Origin gods? Or is there something else that needs a massive amount of energy in the void universe?"


    He considered thest possibility. "It is possible but there might be other reasons why theher water is bent on destroying everything apart from Origin gods. After all, there is a lot we don''t know about the void universe. But it has to be a good reason or the 40% that it stole from me would have been for nothing."


    He isining despite the fact that his size has increased by 5 times because the loss means he could have be 6 or 7 times bigger. So this is more than his hatred for wastage. Theher water is literally an enemy preventing him from growing stronger and that''s the kind of enemy he hates the most.


    His strength has also increased by 0.01%. That is an increase of 100,000 points. It seems small only because he has a soul with 1,000,000,000 stats. So this harvest is prettyrge. It is more than a thousand times better than the soul fragment he ate earlier.


    He chuckled and said, "10,000 more of this and I will double my strength. It seems small but the knowledge might be more useful to me."


    10,000 fights just to double one''s strength seems like an inefficient endeavor but he also gains knowledge from the soul prowlers which might make up for the effort he put in.


    If there is anything that is more precious than soul essence, it is knowledge. The best way to gain it is from others. He will need to hunt at least 10,000 of the same soul prowler that he just killed to be twice as strong as when he just entered the spiritual dimension. But a single piece of knowledge can empower him more than two times.


    It is just like the knowledge he gained from the soul fragment of the great mother. The techniques he gained changed how he used soul force and enriched his understanding of the spiritual dimension. That increased his survivability more than the little strength he gained from the soul fragment.

 Chapter 1294 Leaves And Trees.

    Chapter 1294 Leaves And Trees.


    ??A more recent example of the superiority of knowledge over tangible benefits is from the soul prowler he just killed. He gained 60% of the soul essence of the soul prowler, but he gained 40% of its memories.


    This 40% might be more valuable to other soul prowlers than the soul essence because it contains memories of a defensive technique. It is a defensive technique that will increase survivability in this unmerciful world more than 60% ever could.


    The defensive technique is called soul refining. It is a method to refine soul fragments with soul essence into a denser and more durable state. This process expends soul essence and it takes time.


    The cost of soul essence is prohibitive but the return is also high. If done right, even the rate of dissolution toher water will reduce drastically so the soul fragments willst longer.


    This is because the soul fragment will reduce in size which will reduce the surface area and it will also increase its density which will make it sturdy. The soul prowler refined himself into a ball. He also made a cocoon of super-refined soul fragments that look like gems around it. The cocoon protects it from both the corrosion ofher water and the attacks of others.


    Legion-7 said in understanding, "So this is why it was able to survive in the spiritual dimension."


    Many types of soul fragments from all works of life, different realms, and different racese to the spiritual dimension. But only those with special luck or certain ability can survive for any period of time.


    The soul prowler for example had a poor perception technique but it was able to survive and grow stronger because of the soul-refining defensive technique that it created. Maybe it could have be a great entity like the soul mother in the future. Unfortunately, it met Legion-7.


    "It is not the feather refining technique of the great mother but it is something." He said after digesting the memories.


    If he were a soul prowler struggling at death''s door then this technique would be heaven-sent. But he is not. He is an entity that brings other soul prowlers to the door of death. He is an entity that a hegemon of the spiritual dimension wants to get. He is also an entity that has stolen valuable information from said hegemon. A mere refining technique can''t impress him.


    He didn''t gain a defensive technique from the great mother but he created one with his soul force. His use of soul force is crude and direct but it is still superior to whatever any other soul prowler cane up with it.


    Now he knows how to refine the honeb of soul fragments around his soul. It will be stronger with the addition of soul force. So while the soul-refining technique is not impressive to him, it will still make him stronger. At least stronger than the 0.01% strength that he gained from eating 60% of the soul prowler.


    ----


    Legion-7 resumed his hunting while refining the soul fragments he had grafted onto himself. He also tried to create a better way to use the soul arrow attack technique.


    The ability to shoot attacks at a distance appeals to him because he can shoot as many as he wants and can. It doesn''t take up mental resources needed to control them which will limit how many of them he can use like his tentacles do.


    He found many unaware soul fragments which he ate. But he is no longer looking for soul fragments. He has tasted the forbidden fruit that is soul prowlers and he is not willing to go back.


    The difference between unaware soul fragments and soul prowlers is the difference between leaves and trees. Leaves are great when you are starving and you don''t have any other option. But if you have options and you want to grow stronger, then the best thing to eat are trees. They have fruits of knowledge that might be more nutritious than the whole tree.


    So he hunted trees. And he found a lot of trees to eat. Many soul prowlers felt the gravitational pull of the ck hole so they came to feast. He on the other hand feasted on them.


    Most of the soul prowlers he found were weaker than him. He was able to kill them easily. But he lost a lot of soul essence during the process. So theher water was the greatest winner because of his fights. His bitterness about it made him decide to devise a means to eat more efficiently.


    Soom he became even more picky about the soul prowlers he attacked. He stopped targeting small soul prowlers. This is because they have very little for him to eat even if he wins the fight.


    Size is a determinant of strength in the spiritual dimension. The bigger a soul prowler is, the stronger it is. So therge soul prowlers that he wants to eat are more dangerous than small ones.


    The risk increased because of his change in targets but his previous fights proved to him that size isn''t all that matters when ites to strength. Skill matters a lot. And most importantly, soul force matters more. So with soul force, he can fight soul prowlers that are muchrger than him.


    He remained cautious but he stopped being afraid just because a soul prowler is bigger than him. So he went ahead to develop the soul digestion technique. It is abination of attacking and brainwashing. It does the two of them at the same time.


    He is using the technique on a soul prowler that is more than 20 times his size right now. He has grown bigger by 10 timespared to when he just found the feeding ground so this soul prowler is 200 times or more bigger than his previous form.


    This soul prowler is enormous, to say the least. But he still managed to cover it uppletely in soul force in order to digest it without wasting anything.


    -------


    A/N: I am releasing this extra chapter for the voting goal.

 Chapter 1295 Pompous But Mad.

    Chapter 1295 Pompous But Mad.


    ??His soul force formed a cocoon around the soul prowler. It is the greatest defense in the spiritual dimension. Almost nothing can harm the soul prowler from outside it. But the soul prowler is not happy with the protection.


    The des of soul force shredding it from within the cocoon has made it unable to appreciate the reprieve from the digestion ofher water. It is as if is within a spherical blender trying to turn its existence from a monolithic solid into a free-flowing liquid.


    Legion-7 cut it apart within the cocoon with soul force while simultaneously bombarding the soul prowler with his memories. His digestion technique is that efficient. Even better is thather water cannot interfere in the fight.


    The soul prowler cried out in anguish. Then it threatened him, "Let me go or I will kill you."


    Its mental fluctuations were violent and unstable. It ought to be afraid and pleading for its life but it isn''t. Instead it is prideful and confident enough to threaten the entity that is currently in the process of turning it into easily digestible food.


    Legion-7 would have snickered or rolled his eyes if he had them. Instead, he encouraged the soul prowler earnestly, "Give it your best shot."


    The Soul prowler warned, "You are making a big mistake. You don''t know who I am. Mark my words. You will not live to see the end of the day if I die."


    This time its mental fluctuations were smooth but it was still superimposed with theyer of instability and violence.


    "Who are you?" Legion-7 asked with interest.


    That question seemed to have flipped a switch. The soul prowler roared withyers uponyers of superimposed mental fluctuations.


    Each mental fluctuation had something to say about its identity. "I am gorgon."


    "I am goedoni."


    "I am gigi."


    If this were the world of manifestation, then people would say the soul prowler was speaking with two voices at the same time. It would be a strange sight. But here in the spiritual dimension, it is a fairlymon phenomenon.


    Legion-7 said to the soul prowler, "What a pitiful fellow. Stop struggling and let me put you out of your misery."


    All the voices refused. They roared, "Let me go."


    Legion-7 didn''t mind their rejection. He didn''t need their opinion anyway. He was just hoping that their onset of madness would have reached the suicidal stage. Apparently, that is not the case. The multiple identities all want to live. The soul prowler has only be muddle-headed. It has be foolishly pompous but it hasn''t lost its survival instincts yet.


    The soul prowler resisted strongly. It apanied its resistance with the asional threats. But that resistance waned in time. Even the threats stopped after it lost too much energy.


    Legion-7 didn''t stop until it became a mass of delectable and obedient food. Then he ate it happily. He found it to be very delicious. This is most definitely because he didn''t lose anything toher water. The sense that he cheated the system made his loot many times better.


    He resumed his hunting immediately after he was done with grafting the soul fragments to himself. The other soul prowlers around didn''t run away because they didn''t know that there was a cmity close to them.


    This is not the world of manifestation. There is no light here to transmit information about the environment for an almost infinite distance and there are no eyes to perceive it either. This is a dark world and the perception techniques of soul prowlers are at best, small torches of light in the infinite darkness.


    There is no transmission of sound and there are no ears to hear it either. So this world is not only dark, it ispletely silent. The only thing that can be sensed is soul fluctuations.


    If the perception technique of the soul prowlers can''t sense that someone died a hundred meters away from them, then they will remain oblivious to the fact that someone died a hundred meters from them.


    They will remain in their ce waiting for Legion-7 toe and kill them. It is not because of pride and confidence. They suffer from ack of knowledge. Unfortunately for them, ignorance is at most temporary bliss.


    Legion-7 was able to kill to his heart''s content since no one ran away from the hunting ground. He fought any soul prowler he encountered that wasrger than him regardless of their strength. No soul prowler could break through his defense or withstand his attacks. And no soul prowler could beat his speed.


    The hunt filled him with a sense of bliss. The fact that he won all his fights and had all the loot to himself increased that bliss to joy.


    He dered confidently to the spiritual dimension, "I am not a soul prowler anymore. I am a soul hunter. You can''t keep a soul hunter prisoner. I will break free from you very soon."


    It is a deration backed up by the many soul prowlers dying silent but painful deaths. The spiritual dimension is already bad enough for them. But they became unlucky that one of the soul fragments of an Origin god became unlucky and failed its reincarnation. Legion-7''s bad luck became their cmity.


    He is locked in here in the spiritual dimension, but they don''t want to be locked in here with him. He beat up any soul prowler no matter their size including the ones with more than 1,000,000,000 points of soul power. They are stronger than him but theyck soul force.


    Soul prowlers might have the same amount of soul power as him or even more, but they are not the same. The difference in state of existence is insurmountable. Their advantage in quantity couldn''t ovee his advantage in quality.


    The many fights granted him fighting experience to hone his soul-fighting skills. He developed the soul drill technique for fighting soul prowlers who are bigger and stronger than him. He called it the whale killer. Soon he got the opportunity to use it.

 Chapter 1296 The Whale Killer.

    Chapter 1296 The Whale Killer.


    ??He saw a tyrant of a soul prowler prowling around the edge of the feeding ground like a lion walking around a sheep farm. Nothing could threaten it. It was literally swallowing soul fragments and soul prowlers whole. Unaware or aware didn''t make any difference to it.


    This soul prowler is almost a hundred times bigger than his current size. That means it is more than ten thousand times bigger than when he just came to the spiritual dimension.


    The size didn''t daunt him. He said, "This is the perfect opportunity to use the whale killer."


    He produced the maximum amount of tentacles that he could manage. This is 99 which is a lot. He is a hundred times bigger so this is to be expected. Then he brought the tentacles together to form arge spear. Next, he twisted them and shot toward the whale of a soul prowler.


    "What are you?" It asked.


    The soul prowler sensed him when he got within a thousand meters of it. At first, it was confused by the strange energy around Legion-7 that it had never encountered. But it sensed the threat to its life so it didn''t dwell for long on it.


    Its shape unfurled to reveal itsrge tentacles. Apparently, it had wrapped its tentacles around its core. The tentacles are thin and t. But they are wide so they look more like ymores. It shed the tentacles at Legion-7.


    Legion-7 didn''t stop. He continued to speed up and umte momentum. He was also rotating like a drill as he shot forward. So the tip of his spinning spear shed with the edge of a tentacle. Or so the soul prowler expected.


    Legion-7 didn''t hit the tentacle at all. He slipped right by it after adjusting his direction. Then he stabbed into the whale. The soul prowler used his t tentacles as defense. It wrapped them around it so he couldn''t avoid it this time.


    The spinning spear met the tentacle and drilled past it into the soft flesh behind it. He was rewarded with a resounding roar of pain that he felt from within the inside of the soul prowler.


    "Go on my whale. Scream for me."


    He continued to drill into the soul prowler so more and more screams were delivered. The soul prowler tried to get him out but it was too clumsy. It didn''t have hands or fingers. Its sharp tentacles couldn''t help it in this situation.


    What''s worse came next. Nether water rushed into the wound right after him. It caused the soul prowler so much pain that it lost its mind. It began wing into the wound to expel Legion-7 without regard for its safety.


    It roared, "Get out you bug."


    Legion-7ughed. "I can''t. I''m lost and stuck. You will have to make me."


    He truly is stuck but he is not lost. He knows where exactly he is. And he could have gotten out whenher water expanded the wound he created. Instead, he drilled more into the soul prowler. So he is only partly sincere in his ineptitude.


    The whale killer was a sess. He can say that with the uttermost confidence after trying it several times. The move causes catastrophic damage to any soul prowler no matter their strength. He can also always count onher water to make it worse for them.


    So he is not only a bully in the spiritual dimension, but he is not even fighting fair. He is always teaming up with theher water when fighting soul prowlers that he can''t kill easily. No one could stand in his way. The one that tried and could have seeded was pushed into the ck hole and destroyed by it.


    The soul prowler was too strong for Legion-7 so he handed it over to the dead Origin god to kill. As for the rest that couldn''t resist him, they became Geraldirah Oakstein and joined the hive cocoon of soul fragments around him.


    He became very big after years of hunting. This continued for tens of years and his food only increased. This is because the gravitational field grew stronger as time passed so it brought more soul fragments and drew more soul prowlers to the feeding ground.


    Soverick was born during this period of time. He became the child of the ne and granted Origin energy to all the clones. Aeternus and Helios used Origin energy to great effect but Origin energy is mostly useless to legion-7 since he can''t grow stronger with it.


    The Origin energy supply didn''t go to waste though. He found out that it is a boon to the grafted soul fragments. They are not like him who is a fragment of the soul of an Origin god. They can still grow stronger with Origin energy.


    All of the soul fragments are at least fragments of the souls of transcendents. This is because the souls of lesser creatures will be destroyed as soon as theye to the spiritual dimension. No amount of awareness or obsession can save them.


    The souls of transcendents on the other hand possess a part of their bodies which grants them a sort of physical resilience. This helps them to resist theher water for a short period of time.


    This short opportunity gives them a chance to struggle for survival. If their obsession is strong enough then they will awaken. If not then they will be doomed.


    Unfortunately, there is no Origin energy in the spiritual dimension for them to recover. There isn''t even mana. The world wants to kill them not help them grow. So even the ones that be aware rarely avoid a second death.


    The soul sphere broke the restriction of the avability of energy in the spiritual dimension. It created a channel from the world of manifestation to the spiritual dimension through Legion-7.


    It is nothing new since the great mother has something simr to it. But the supply of Origin energy finally gave Legion-7 the chance to match the great mother in quantity very quickly.

 Chapter 1297 Growing Food.

    Chapter 1297 Growing Food.


    ??He used Origin energy to grow the grafted soul fragments in his cocoon without limit. Normal transcendents can''t do that because a living transcendent will die when they go beyond a certain limit of expansion. Their consciousness will fracture once they expand past the limit of their consciousness. They need theprehension ofws and the bestowal of cosmic energy by thew matrix to increase that limit.


    But he doesn''t care about the limit because these souls are already dead. They fragmented again because of his reckless infusion of Origin energy but he didn''t mind. He would just graft the resulting fragments and repeat the process to get more fragments. This way, he converted Origin energy directly into soul fragments."


    He chuckled. "It is like growing my food. The great mother won''t be able to bully me with the number of soul fragments she has anymore. I will catch up to her in time."


    The great mother is not like the soul prowlers who are living from paycheck to paycheck. She doesn''t need to hunt at all because of the Phoenix race that she has created. They give her Origin energy and more from the world of manifestation so she is not in danger of dying. She can sustain herself forever and even uses the extra energy to create soul fragments to increase the Phoenix race.


    Legion-7 doesn''t know how she achieved the creation of the phoenix race but he doesn''t envy her too much now that he has his own source of energy. It is also infinite too so there''s even less reason for him to be jealous of the great mother.


    He said as he watched his cocoon grow, "This reminds me of my days as young, naive, and yful Gehaldirah."


    The avability of infinite Origin energy made it so that he didn''t need to hunt anymore. No amount of hunting can beat infinite Origin energy. So he stopped hunting and instead, focused on increasing the quantity of soul fragments and refining them with the soul refining technique to increase their quality.


    The soul refining technique is costly to use but he didn''t care. He became more powerful quickly. His progress was so fast that his strength doubled in a year. He should have gotten bigger but he reduced drastically in size instead. It is because of the soul-refining technique.


    The soul fragments he produced were refined into tiny gem-like objects. They became very tough and durable because of it. They also produced light in various colors after beingpressed to a certain level. They made his hive cocoon shine brightly with dots of light of various colors. This way his 100-meter form which should have increased in size was reduced to less than 10 meters in diameter.


    He used most of his time to work on his techniques. Power is good but without the wisdom to use it, it will be useless brawn. He can''t use hisws so he has to focus on his techniques.


    The technique he focused on the most is the soul evolution technique. The best thing that soul prowlers can achieve is an increase in the quantity of soul essence. He has already proven that quantity is useless in the face of quality.


    It is not that soul prowlers don''t know that quality is better than quantity. It is just that they don''t have the resources to increase their quality and evolve. They don''t even have the resources to live. He on the other is not as limited as them. He ns to evolve.


    He intends to evolve himself and attain an increase in his life order. It is not certain that he would be able to achieve it but it is important to do so because he knows that the great mother has achieved evolution.


    The great mother is two levels above most soul prowlers if not all of them. He knows this with certainty because of thew of the soul he gained from her. He has never gained something like that from any other soul prowler in his almost hundred years of hunting in the spiritual dimension.


    The fact that he hasn''t found another soul prowler with that kind ofprehension of the soul doesn''t mean there are none of them in the spiritual dimension apart from the great mother. After all, technically thew of the soul can beprehended by everything with a soul or consciousness.


    Even so, the great mother''s sess is a unique achievement. She may not have the perception of her soul hampered by a body like those in the world of manifestation, but the other soul prowlers don''t either. However, all the soul prowlers he has encountered, and he has encountered a lot of them, have never considered creating an all-epassing exnation for the existence of the soul, its behavior, and its interaction with the world.


    He didn''t meet one soul prowler with a smidgen of theprehension of the soul much less thepletew of the soul. On the other hand, thew of the soul is just the stepping stone required for evolution. If the other soul prowlers haven''tprehended their soul, then they surely can''t match the great mother at all since she has gone further to achieve evolution.


    He doesn''t know she achieved this evolution but he knows she did it with uttermost certainty. And he believes it has something to do with how she managed to create a race in the world of manifestation. It could be that she evolved before she created the Phoenix race or evolved after.


    He is more inclined to believe in thetter. After all, this world is barren. It doesn''t have the resources required for evolution. At least, he can''t see anything that can allow for evolution in the spiritual dimension from the memories he stole from her soul fragment. Then again, he can''t anything specific about her evolution either.


    He said after thinking about it, "Either she didn''t let her soul fragments know about her evolution or I didn''t get that memory from the portion I absorbed. I wish it were the former but I am more inclined to believe thetter."

 Chapter 1298 The Quest For Evolution.

    Chapter 1298 The Quest For Evolution.


    ??Any one of his conjectures could be why he didn''t gain any information about her evolution from the soul fragment. But if it were the first, it would show that despite her confidence in her soul fragments, the great mother knew to keep some things confidential. That may mean that the colony that formed the great mother is not as united as he thought.


    He thought to himself, "It doesn''t matter now. If she can do it, then so can I. I already know the requirements for the evolution of the soul. Thew of the soul and a suitable primal. All I just need is to find a primal."


    ording to thew of the soul, the soul can continuously evolve. This is not a new or unprecedented acknowledgment. It is even acknowledged in the world of manifestation. The evolution of the soul is a feature of the path of perfection and divinity. It is how the path of the soul leads to the awakening of the soul after the body-forging stage.


    Even the souls of demons also evolve. But after the breakthrough to the mana stage and the formation of the soul core in the soul space, soul evolution has always been apanied by the assistance of the world. This assistance is either in the form of mana, Origin energy, faith, or cosmic energy.


    Unfortunately for soul prowlers, that assistance is not present in the spiritual dimension. He could achieve this evolution and dig out the potential of his soul if he had ess to thew matrix andw fragments. It would be very easy to do too ording to his estimates.


    Even Aeternus who couldn''t wieldws could usew fragments to turn his soul into a concept. It is a kind of soul evolution based on thew of the soul. But there is no such thing down here in the spiritual dimension.


    All those things are primals but he doesn''t have ess to any one of them here which is why he believes that the great mother seeded in the evolution after she created the Phoenix race to send her resources.


    He didn''t give up though. He continued trying to evolve himself. It became extra important to do so when he couldn''t increase the quantity of the grafted soul fragments anymore. The grafted soul fragments are not his soul. They are just a part of him in a sort of symbiotic rtionship. So there is a limit to what he can handle without it bing too much of a burden on him.


    Heined to whoever would listen, "This is not what I wanted from you."


    Unfortunately, there''s no one around to sympathize with his woes. In fact, there is probably no soul prowler who willin about the inadequacy of Origin energy. But he had toin because he had be a house with a weak foundation.


    His core is still the same soul fragment he came with into the spiritual dimension. This is despite the fact that he has increased in strength by 3 times. What''s worse is that the shell of grafted soul fragments began to slow him down. The rate of empowerment couldn''t keep up with the power necessary to move himself.


    He has be a man in a desert who has the opportunity to carry as much water as he can possibly can. He was lucky to encounter a rare Oasis in the desert. But unless he decides to stay in the Oasis forever, he will have limited water and he also has to limit the water he carries away so that it won''t impact his speed too much.


    He has reached that point now. His size has returned to 100 meters in diameter. His core soul remains at 1,000,000,000 points but his soul force has increased in power because of the soul grafts. Unfortunately for him, he is getting slower with each additional soul graft.


    His situation is not without solutions. In fact, he has numerous solutions to choose from. He could absorb the soul fragmentspletely into his soul with or without Origin essence. In this way, they won''t be a cocoon around his soul but part of his core soul.


    He can run mad if he assimtes the soul without Origin essence. But if he uses Origin essence to eliminate the risk of madness then he will lose the Origin essence. It might be safe to use Origin essence but he feels it is too important to use for something like this.


    At least he is not willing to spend the only Origin essence he has until Legion manages to make more. As it is, it would take 30,000 years for Legion-1 to make another one. It would be regretful if something more important came up in the meantime.


    "Should I try Chaos energy?" he asked himself and the other clones.


    "Aeternus replied, "As someone who very intimate with Chaos energy, I do not rmend that."


    Chaos energy is the other type of energy they have ess to apart from mana and Origin energy. Mana and Origin energy can''t help him directly but it is uncertain if Chaos energy would have a beneficial reaction with theher waters.


    The feedback from the other clones helped him to make a decision. He decided that it was too dangerous to mess with Chaos energy. He knows how dangerous Chaos energy is to everything apart from Aeternus.


    He isn''t immune to Chaos energy and Legion also isn''t willing to let such a dangerous energy enter the mindwork. In fact, Aeternus himself is not immune to Chaos energy and he is a high-grade demon. So he had to continue trying something else.


    He spent more than a hundred years on the problem of evolution without making any progress. The failure made him frustrated and angry.


    "Will I be stuck here forever?" hemented.


    The stagnation in finding a way to evolve means he didn''t grow at all during the 100 years of trying. It is something to be frustrated about.

 Chapter 1299 An Unusual Idea.

    Chapter 1299 An Unusual Idea.


    ??Not only has his strength been stagnant, he has tried to break the barrier of the spiritual dimension but he failed. It seems he is still too weak to break out despite reaching his limit. If he can''t evolve like the great mother, then he won''t be able to leave.


    His other option for evolution is the fragmented Origin god that is sleeping at the center of the ck hole. But it is still too dangerous to attempt to eat such an entity. He has grown stronger but the zone of no return has only grownrger. It hasn''t shrunk at all. This is due to the increase in the gravitational force as time passes. That means he is still in danger of dying if he approaches the Origin god.


    "I can''t approach the fragmented Origin god yet. The only path for me is to try and absorb souls. But I don''t want to contaminate myself." He said as he looked at the ck hole with longing. "If only I could create a technique for the perfect devouring of souls."


    He has not beenpletely stagnant all these years. He made some progress in his techniques. He created a new movement technique and perception technique. He can now notice other entities around himself without being noticed in return.


    His use of soul force has be too fleeting to be sensed by others but it also makes it impossible for him to acquire details and information about the entities other than their positions.


    So he has not wasted his time but the technique he wanted above all else is the ability to devour souls. He wants to be able to devour souls like the fragmented Origin god. He wants to mimic the dead Origin god since he can''t eat it.


    The major problem with this wish is that devouring souls is not a good thing. It is possible to assimte another soulpletely but ites with the side effect of madness. The memories of others are already enough to contaminate a soul. The soul imprints they have is like a curse to any other soul.


    Other souls have soul imprints which is the unique mark of their consciousness. Imbibing these marks will contaminate his own soul imprint and surely make him mad.


    He is just a soul fragment and not a true Origin god like the ck hole. He doesn''t have a concept that to make his soul imprint immortal and indistructible. He can devour souls without having side effects if he decides to use Origin essence but he is not willing to be wasteful.


    He believes that it is a waste to use Origin essence which can grant him immortality to devour souls. His stance on that might change after a thousand years ofck of progress in devouring souls.


    Desperation might make the use of Origin essence not a waste. In the meantime, he tried to learn how to devour souls from the ck hole. His divine sense can only observe the fragmented Origin god from afar. It always gets devoured if he tries to make contact with it.


    Hisck of progress in devouring souls frustrated him but he is not without ideas.


    "Let me pursue immortality then. When I have immortality I will be able to devour souls without any problem. There has to be something that is indestructible in this ce that I can fuse with to achieve immortality."


    He decided to search for something powerful in the spiritual dimension that might help him to evolve if used together with the Origin essence. It is a good idea since immortality would solve his problem. He would be able to transform himself into a living ck hole in the spiritual dimension. Every soul fragment and soul prowler thates close to him would be devoured.


    It is a good n but it is not one that can be achieved easily. Origin gods achieve immortality by fusing with their concepts. Concepts or seeds of power are indestructible. If he could assimtew fragments and cosmic energy with them, he would be able to at least evolve his soul if not achieve immortality.


    But there are nows here and no way to get Authority or cosmic energy. So he turned his search towards something that he could use as a substitute. There is no trace of such a thing in the small amount of memories of the great mother he has and the memories of other soul prowlers so he doesn''t know where to start looking for it.


    He racked his memories of the spiritual dimension both from his personal experience and the memories that he gained from grafted souls. But he couldn''t find anything remotely immortal or eternal apart from the fragmented Origin gods. Even those will leave the spiritual dimension after a while.


    "There is nothing in this ce apart fromher water. There is onlyher waters as far as I can see." Heined.


    Then he got an idea. "Nether water." He eximed. "It is everywhere. Is it strong enough to raise my existence?"


    "There is only one way to find out." He said.


    There is Nether water everywhere. He has mostly ignored it because it doesn''t affect him. It is a strong energy that is capable of digesting souls so he wants to see if he can gain any sort of power from it. He believes he should be able toprehend something about it.


    He opened a gap in his cocoon of grafted souls and allowed Nether water to reach his soul. Then he removed the protection of soul force so that he could make contact with it.


    It was a decision he regretted immediately. "Noooooooo!" He screamed in panic.


    He felt death at that point. The docileher water became unusually active. Ittched onto his soul and didn''t let go. It tried to drill further into the depth of his soul from the surface. It was as if his soul had been set on fire.

 Chapter 1300 Some Personal Reasons.

    Chapter 1300 Some Personal Reasons.


    ??He tried to cut off the grip of Nether water on his soul with soul force but it didn''t work. Soul force couldn''t detachher water from the point of contact. He could feel the intent to bring his death from theher waters. It made him feel dread from the depths of his existence.


    He used everything he had to fight back. It was Origin essence that finally saved him. It managed to distracther waters by giving it something else to destroy. This created a buffer between his soul andher waters which he quickly filled with soul force.


    It wasn''t until he hadpletely separated himself from Nether waters that he finally rxed.


    "Something is wrong with theher water." He said with certainty. "Is it alive? Is it a living thing that I can''t understand or is it the energy of a living thing?"


    Nether water has always felt docile to him but that has changed now. It was corrosive when he first came to the spiritual dimension but it wasn''t this retroactive in trying to kill him. Its behavior reminded him of slimes. They eat by corroding matter. They never excrete so they are used by weak beings to clean.


    "Nether water and the spiritual dimension would make sense if I was in a giant slime. Maybe that''s why the great mother called the digestion tract of the void universe?"


    "Wait a minute. Is the slime the void universe?"


    He thought seriously, "It would exin the void universe''s hatred for anyone that escapes. We are its food after all."


    He always thought the void universe didn''t want anyone leaving the void universe because they would be essentially cheating death. It would be bad if death was nullified. It would be breaking aw of the universe and cause Chaos.


    All those reasons are impersonal reasons for hatred. The void universe would just be doing its job in making sure those who die remain dead. But it would be awfully personal if those who die were food for the void universe. Then it would not want to let go of them for personal benefits. Especially not when those who are strong enough to escape have souls as powerful as Supreme Origin gods. That would be too much food to let go.


    "But why did it suddenly be active? Could it be because I have grown stronger now? Have I been noticed because of my strength?" he asked uncertainly.


    He felt slightly amused when he thought about something. "If it is, then I now know why the soul drill is so powerful. I know what the powerful soul prowlers felt when I used it on them. Even the dead should not have to suffer like that."


    His experience cost him in soul power and origin essence. That short exposure toher water took more than 10,000 points of soul power. That is 0.001% which looks small. But 10,000 points is the mark of a transcendent.


    That is a lot of soul power to lose in less than a second. Even the knowledge of what his enemies went through when he used the soul drill on them is not enough to make up for his loss.


    "So Nether water is out of the question for immortality. It is the energy of death. It is the opposite of mana. I don''t know what I was thinking when I decided to try it. This part of the world is meant as a graveyard for souls so I shouldn''t have expected that the energy meant to kill me will strengthen me."


    "It seems the void universe means business. It wants all of us dead. There is no way to get stronger. Then how did the great mother evolve?"


    That is the question on his mind right now. Unfortunately, he can''t find the answer to it. So he continued his search for immortality. This continued until Legion-9 awakened and began to umte faith.


    Legion-9 managed to create the cult of life in the Zargoth ne. This provided him with faith to create his unique divine life energy. All the clones got ess to it and It brought hope to Legion-7.


    Unlike Origin energy that his core soul couldn''t use, divine life energy is like an elixir for his soul. It caused his core soul to grow rapidly which also increased his tolerance for the grafted soul fragments.


    It was all good but he felt a strange feeling from the tree father.


    "This can''t be right." He eximed. "Why do I have a feeling of longing for Legion-9?"


    He can feel a sort of attraction for Legion-9. It is the sort of attraction that promises evolution. He can feel instinctively that if he eats Legion-9, he will get stronger and evolve. He has never felt that from other clones. It wasn''t until Legion-9 awakened and came in contact with divine life energy that he felt this.


    "What''s different about Legion-9?" he asked. "Do I want to eat him because he is a tree of life or because he is a god?"


    He has always been connected to the tree father but it is until the tree father started giving him divine life energy that he felt this sort of attraction. Hence why he believes that the attraction should be rted to the Tree father''s transformation into a Celestial Hybrid.


    Legion-9 is certainly different from the other clones. His body was formed from a life tree grown in the inner world of a world beast and evolved into a Celestial Hybrid. Those are three different things that set the tree father apart from the other clones so what is attracting Legion-7 should be one of them.


    Legion-7 couldn''t find the answer to that question so he decided to make himself content with feeding on divine life energy. Unlike soul grafts, he can feed directly on divine life energy to strengthen his soul.


    This made his soul heal from the damage of the previous experiment and go further to be more powerful. It also made it so that he could graft more soul fragments to himself.

 Chapter 1301 Legion-9 The Saving Grace.

    Chapter 1301 Legion-9 The Saving Grace.


    ??The avability of divine life energy has led to both qualitative and quantitative increases in strength for Legion-7.


    He couldn''t help but sigh in appreciation, "Legion-9 is literally my saving grace. Now I have the hope of escaping this hell hole."


    Helios chuckled and asked him, "I thought you said your situation wasn''t so bad."


    "You should mind your rebellion. You could lose your life. As for me, I won''t need to evolve to be strong enough to leave at this rate."


    The tree father poured cold water on his dreams, "You will have to wait longer before you get enough divine life energy to escape. I need to set up my church first. A cult is not big enough a source of faith. Until then, you have to manage the little I can spare."


    Legion-7 didn''t like the sound of that. He even grumbled about it. "This is all that Celestial Supreme''s fault. Zernon is too controlling. He will die if he refuses to be amodating."


    Divine life energy is very important to Legion so they have to set up the Tree Father''s church. They chose the Zargoth ne because Helios is there and he needs help. So Legion-1 entered the realm tree and approached the ne through the void.


    He didn''t enter the ne since it would draw attention from the dictator of a Celestial Supreme. He stayed outside of the ne and dropped a seed into it. The seed didn''t rm anyone. It drifted into the ne and took root silently.


    Unfortunately, the days of being hidden can''tst forever. If the tree father is to create a religion to receive faith, then he would eventually sh with the Celestial Supreme who likes to kill Celestials so that they wouldn''t threaten his rule.


    Rather than wait for that eventuality, they began to n for his demise before anyone had any idea of a new Celestial in the ne. Helios has his part to y and so does Aeternus.


    The Zargoth ne is much too important for their ns for them to let Zernon live. His death could have been avoided if he had been open to Celestials. But he isn''t and Legion is not going to try to negotiate with it. They would rather get rid of him and have the whole ne to themselves.


    Apart from the Zargoth ne, Legion-1 also seeded other nes. It is as they say, one shouldn''t put their whole eggs in one basket. If the Zargoth ne doesn''t work out then they will have other sources of divine life energy. Legion-7 especially pushed for that move. He is too desperate for divine life energy to gamble on the sess of the rebellion in the Zargoth ne.


    The prospect of more divine life energy uplifted Legion-7''s mood. He isn''t frustrated anymore and is instead looking forward to the spread of the church of life. Divine life energy has opened up the way for him to achieve salvation. Unfortunately for him, he is not the only one that feels an attraction to Legion-9.


    As Legion-7 was receiving the trickle of divine life energy, his soul began to produce a special soul light. An inexplicable power spread out of him into the spiritual dimension telling every soul prowler that it encountered that they can evolve if they eat him. They began to feel the same feeling of attraction he has for Legion-9.


    The entire spiritual dimension is trying to kill souls and soul prowlers. They are surrounded by the darkness of the prospect of death and theplete absence of light with no way out. They can barely see what''s in front of them in this darkness. But suddenly, a light appeared in the darkness. It shown like the sun in the day.


    The soul prowlers could see the light of this sun from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away in the first second. That distance was increasing rapidly every second because it was moving at the speed of light. The light of his soul was spreading to every corner of the spiritual dimension so that all could see it.


    This light is the light of salvation. It is the hope of freedom. It is the light at the end of the tunnel. Every soul prowler that saw it rushed towards it. Every sleeping soul fragment that the light shined on awakened immediately. Every inhabit of the spiritual dimension converged towards the light.


    What''s interesting is that the star doesn''t know that he is producing this light. It is just like the tree father wouldn''t know that Legion-7 was attracted to him if he didn''t have ess to Legion-7''s memories. In that way, Legion-7 didn''t know that many entities were attracted to Legion-9 through him.


    So Legion-7 remained oblivious to this phenomenon. And because he stopped hunting when he got ess to Origin energy and moved closer to the ck hole to get peace to research his techniques, he didn''t realize the effect of this phenomenon.


    Staying on the outskirts of the ck hole meant that he would encounter soul prowlers. He grew tired of them after many years of wanton hunting. His priorities changed to soul devouring so he moved closer to the ck hole to study its effects. That''s what he was doing when divine life energy came and that''s where he is staying now. So he didn''t see that soul prowlers were converging on his position.


    The soul prowlers are weaker than him so they were sucked into the ck hole as soon as they tried to get to him. He noticed the increase in the frequency of soul prowlers but he thought nothing of it. He attributed the change to the increase in the gravitational pull of the ck hole.


    He remained oblivious to the world and focused on using divine life energy to strengthen his soul while using Origin energy to strengthen and grow the soul grafts. Everything was going well until he sensed a familiar entity. It was a pure aura with a hint of fire and the apanying sensation of heat.

 Chapter 1302 Legion-9 The Traitor.

    Chapter 1302 Legion-9 The Traitor.


    ??A small white bird entered the range of his perception. The white-feathered soul fragment said smugly to him, "We meet again, immortal one."


    Legion-7 was flustered by the presence of a soul fragment of the great mother. But he wasn''t scared since he could escape again. He just had to do what he didst time.


    "How did you find me?" he asked as he attacked.


    He swung a de of soul force at it. This attack would cleave the soul fragment in half if it struck it. It is clear that he wasn''t really interested in the answer the soul fragment would provide. He truly ns to kill it.


    The soul fragment tried to run away. It said as it retreated, "I was right. You are our light of hope. You are our salvation. Join us. Be one with us and achieve greatness with us."


    Legion-7 sneered, "You don''t want to tell me. But that''s okay. I will find out when I kill you."


    Actually, he is d that he came across a soul fragment of the great mother. He will be able to gain more information about her to prepare himself for their eventual fight.


    He doesn''t n to leave the spiritual dimension forever when he bes capable of leaving. He is still going to return to beat and consume the great mother. So even if the great mother doesn''t chase after him relentlessly, he will eventually chase after her.


    All the soul fragment could do was dodge his attacks. It knew it couldn''t harm him so it tried to run away. Unfortunately for it, Legion-7 has developed very well in the almost 200 years since he came to the spiritual dimension. He is not the noob he was that struggled with a soul fragment.


    He easily caught up to the soul fragment and shed it in half. He made sure not to scatter the soul fragment. Instead, he kept it intact to preserve the bulk of its memories.


    Then he grabbed hold of it with his divine sense to start the soul grafting immediately since the soul fragment was so weak. He made contact with the soul fragment with his divine sense.


    Then he eximed, "Oh no."


    He was able to see the thread connecting the soul fragment to the great mother when his divine sense made contact with it. What he saw shook him to the core.


    The great mother, that great white angelic bird with 12 wings and one eye is right outside the range of the ck hole. This soul fragment and many others around him are scouts to check for traps before she decides to make a move on him.


    She saw him when he saw her. Her single eye fixed on him across the distance. He heard in his mind, "I have found you, immortal one. It seems this is not a trap. That is good. Come out to me. Be one with me. Do not struggle. Resistance is futile and greatness is good."


    Legion-7 crushed the soul fragment and absorbed the memories within it directly. He is not willing to risk a soul graft since the soul fragment is connected to the great mother.


    Memories flowed into his mind in a coherent manner since he didn''t lether water destroy part of it. The memories brought with them contamination and knowledge. He settled the contamination with the origin essence and then digested the memories. It was then that he found out how the great-mother found him.


    "Legion-9 screwed me." He said in realization. "He is not only my saving grace. He is everyone''s saving grace."


    He roared mentally at Legion-9, "You traitor!!"


    Legion-9 shrugged. "Don''t disturb me. I have work to do."


    Legion-7mented with a sigh. "I am so screwed."


    He has gained a lot of information. He now knows how the great mother evolved her soul. He also knows how the Great Mother found him. Or in this case, how the Great Mothers found him.


    It turns out that his enemies are more than one and they are all here because of the calling of evolution. He has gained a lot of information but he is not d. He is not even d that he now knows what is causing the attraction to Legion-9.


    He knew before that any entity that encounters godhood will feel a longing for it because it promises evolution. He didn''t know that this longing would be amplified several times and the distance of its influence would be expanded to near infinity in the spiritual dimension. Now he knows. But it is toote. The Great Mothers are here.


    He didn''t give up though. He rushed to escape in the other direction. He went around the ck hole only for him to see another great white feathered bird with 12 wings and a single eye.


    Spiritual fluctuations formunication were sent to him from this great mother. "You can not escape. Join with us. Be one with us to achieve greatness."


    Legion-7 didn''t say anything. He rushed sideways but he had to stop because there were two great mothers there blocking his way. Each one of them is asrge as a ne. They truly have wings that can cover the sky.


    There are millions of threads from their bodies which are connected to millions of soul fragments to form an army around them. Each of these soul fragments is a small white raven with a single eye on them.


    He saw all of this and he despaired. If he had a heart, it would tighten right now.


    "I can''t escape. I am surrounded." He said in resignation.


    Then he chuckled. "The great mothers truly mean business this time around."


    Each great mother is not an entity he can fight and beat. He might survive a fight against one great mother, but he certainly can''t beat it. Now there are several of them here. And they brought an army of millions of soul fragments too. One can imagine the depths of their sincerity to have him.

 Chapter 1303 Man Of The Hour.

    <h4>Chapter 1303 Man Of The Hour. </h4>


    The army of soul fragments alone has surrounded the feeding ground. They formed a thick sphere around it so he is utterly surrounded. It is safe to say that he won''t be able to escape no matter what. He is confident enough to bet on it.


    He knows that the first great mother to reach here has been here for quite some time. He got it from the memories of the soul fragment that she was only waiting for others toe. They came and surrounded this ce just for him. He is the man of the hour. But he is not happy about it.


    He chuckled wryly and said, "The great mother is truly talented. She took the path of parasitism and unity. I am impressed."


    He found out toote that there was more than one great mother because he missed a technique called soul parasite when he acquired information from the first soul fragment he encountered. It is a technique she created to ovee the problem he faced when he reached his limit of soul grafting.


    The great mother was strong but she couldn''t ovee the problem of quality after gaining energy from the Phoenix race. Soul prowlers can be stronger by grafting but that is only quantitative empowerment. She also reached her limit and she did so very earlypared to him because her true soul was smaller than his.


    If soul prowlers want qualitative empowerment then they must absorb souls directly. Unfortunately, ites with madness. She bypassed that madness by fracturing her true soul to create a pure soul fragment without any memories. Then she used this soul fragment to parasitize other soul prowlers.


    There were no memories within the parasites so there was no rejection from the target. Soul resistance can be likened to the reaction of antibodies to foreign bodies. If the foreign bodies can hide or camouge themselves very well, then the antibodies won''t be able to find them and attack them.


    The great mother took advantage of the principle of resistance. She willingly cut off her soul and wiped the memories and her soul imprint on it so that there would be no resistance. Then she grafted the pure soul fragment onto a soul prowler.


    A reverse grafting of the soul parasite onto the soup prowler became sessful that way. The parasites would be contaminated with the memories of their host but the great mother would be able to siphon the soul essence of the host onto herself through the parasites.


    This soul essence was pure because it was filtered by the parasite. She used the soul essence to grow her soul and attain qualitative improvement. Her sess in oveing her limit increased when she created soul viruses which are the opposite of soul parasites. The soul viruses are initially soul parasites but the great mother infused them with her memories and her soul essence after they have infiltrated the soul prowler.


    This is done after the soul parasites have been amodated by the host. It creates a deep level of invasion that eventually turns the host with the soul parasite into an entity that thinks it is the great mother.


    All these great mothers that have besieged him were created this way. Several soul prowlers were parasitized. The parasitized soul prowlers sumbed to absorbing souls directly to make up for the inexplicable loss of soul essence. They turned mad but the great mother continued to feed them souls to consume directly while absorbing pure soul essence from them and pouring it into another soul prowler with a soul virus.


    In this way, she used soul prowlers as farms for soul essence. She can''t devour souls without madness so she forced others to take on the madness for her. It is an ingenious idea but that wasn''t enough for her. She went further than that by using the soul essence to create several great mothers which she then grafted onto herself.


    The great mothers are not like the grafted souls that he uses. They are clones of her in almost every way. At most, they are several versions of herself. She was able to achieve quantitative and qualitative evolution this way. She finally grew strong enough to break the barrier of the spiritual dimension. And now she is about to get him and walk further on the path of sess.


    He calmed down after reviewing his situation.


    "I guess she wants to use the soul parasite on me. But it won''t be easy. I won''t give up without a fight and the ck hole will protect me. It canst for thousands of years or even a couple of origin cycles. That is enough time to be rescued."


    Unfortunately, he can''t use Legion-1''s domain in the spiritual dimension because there is now matrix here. So he is between a rock and a hard ce. There''s not much he can do against the great mother but he is determined to fight. After all, if he gives up without a fight, then he will never win.


    He decided to wait until the final moment when he had to fight to fight the great mother. That moment will be when the fragmented Origin god in the ck hole finishes its resurrection.


    From the memories he gained, he knows it usually takes around 10 to 100 Origin cycles depending on how strong the Origin god is. During that time, the gravitational pull will increase exponentially so it will be dangerous to fight close to the center. So as long as he stays close to the ck hole, the great mothers can not approach him until it leaves the spiritual dimension.


    The great mothers are strong but they are too big. The force of attraction of the ck hole is too strong on thempared to him and they don''t have soul force to resist. They will be consumed if they try to nab him now. That will give Legion ample time toe up with something to save him. Even one origin cycle of time might be enough for an opportunity to show itself.

 Chapter 1304 Going All Out.

    <h4>Chapter 1304 Going All Out.</h4>


    He can even be strong enough to resist the great mother himself thanks to the supply of divine life energy and Origin energy he is getting from others. So his situation is not entirely hopeless.


    He thought to himself, "How about using the ck hole to resist the great mothers?"


    He thought about going out of the feeding ground and dragging the great mothers into the ck hole. But he didn''t do it because it is too dangerous and it would reduce the time the ck hole will stay in the spiritual dimension.


    The ck holesst long in the spiritual dimension because the healing of the fragmented Origin god takes time when it is only absorbing unaware soul fragments and weak soul prowlers. It won''t take long to heal if it absorbs a lot of strong soul prowlers.


    Something like the Great Mothers is surely big enough to shorten the duration of the ck hole drastically. It will remove the time he has for safety and growth so he gave up on the idea. Instead, he focused on growing stronger. He can only rely on his strength so it is better to improve his strength now that he has time.


    Unfortunately, that means he had to stop using divine life energy all the time. He is safe close to the ck hole so he has time to grow. The amount of time he has is because strong soul prowlers won''t take the initiative to throw themselves at the ck hole. Not unless there is something they must get very close to the ck hole.


    It just so happens that there is such a thing. Soul prowlers want to get him at all costs and they disregard their safety to approach the ck holes. He didn''t know before but now he knows that soul prowlers will rush towards him like mes to a moth and be consumed by the ck hole. The origin god will recover in record time thanks to their selfless sacrifice and rob him of his protection.


    So he has to stop tempting them all the time. He decided to use divine life energy all at once instead of receiving a trickle from the Tree Father all the time.


    The effect of his decision was immediate. He didn''t know it but he stopped producing soul light and the temptation of his existence was cut off. Soul prowlers stoppeding to their deaths and the rate of recovery of the ck hole slowed down. It bought him time for the other clones to get stronger.


    Unfortunately for him, the great mothers had other ns. They noticed that he had stopped emitting the light of hope. They understood what he was trying to do and they would not have it.


    "Resistance is futile," They said as they set off to capture soul prowlers.


    He gained the knowledge of ck holes from the great mothers so they are the highest authority on that aspect. He won''t be able to cheat them out of their price.


    They captured soul prowlers and fed them to the ck hole. If the soul prowlers don''t have the incentive to sacrifice themselves, the great mothers have enough incentives to make the soul prowlers sacrifice themselves.


    Their actions made it so that he didn''t even get a year of protection before the ck hole had to leave.


    The fragmented Origin god healed quickly. Then it ascended into the barrier of the spiritual dimension and disappeared leaving a defenseless Legion-7 surrounded by a pack of wolves.


    Legion-7 sighed. "Let us get this over with then."


    They mored excitedly, "Resistance is futile. Join us and be great."


    Legion-7 rushed in one direction and attacked. Several white vertical arcs of soul force shot out of him in the same direction. Behind him are whirring tentacles of soul force rotating at high speed and propelling him forward. In front of him are tentacles of soul forcebined together to form a rotating drill. Beside him are spears of soul force shooting out in every direction.


    He is going all out now. He even used the new technique that he just created. He activated a field of soul force to repel anything spiritual that came close to him. This field can be reversed to attract anything spiritual be they unawakened souls or soul prowlers to him.


    He created the technique to mimic the attraction force of the ck hole. But he doesn''t want that now. Instead, he is using the repelling effect of the technique to keep the billions of soul fragments and the many great mothers away from him.


    The great mothers attacked even as they swarmed him from all sides. The single eye on their heads shot out a beam of the mes of rebirth. These red beams rushed towards him with overwhelming might.


    The repulsive field around him slowed down the beams and gave him time to dodge them. However, these also slowed him down because he was attacked from every direction and had to change his direction several times to avoid attacks from his front.


    Even so, he survived their attack and managed to reach the edge of the encirclement. In front of him is a great mother with her wings spread wide. He is just 100 meters across while she is asrge as a ne. So there''s no way he can go around her.


    "Freedom is on the other side." He said to encourage himself as he rushed forward with his primed drill.


    The great mothers have the strongest defense in the spiritual dimension. So he expected resistance when his drill shed with the defense of the great mother before him.


    He didn''t get any resistance though. The great mother scattered like the petals of a flower in the wind. Her giant body broke apart into soul fragments. All of these soul fragments are in the shape of feathers and are connected to the whiterge eye by white threads.


    "What is she trying to do now?" He asked himself tentatively.

 Chapter 1305 Sweet Sweet Words.

    <h4>Chapter 1305 Sweet Sweet Words. </h4>


    Legion-7 managed to rush to where her body was because of theck of resistance. Freedom was at some distance away. But then the soul fragments copsed around him. They overwhelmed his repulsive field and trapped him. The great mother formed again with him at the center.


    He fought well. He did. But it was already over when he was surrounded. That verdict has seen the light of day now that a great mother has formed her body around him. He has been caged by her body. This is a body asrge as a ne.


    Still, he didn''t give up. Soul force is the toughest and sharpest tool at his disposal or the entire spiritual dimension for that matter. He used it to great effect in destroying the soul fragments that trapped him. But no amount of damage to the soul fragments can affect the eye.


    The white eye is the main body but he is too far from the eye to damage it. There are too many soul fragments between him and the eye. It is like destroying the ground of a ne in order to damage the sky of the ne. It can work, but he will need to destroy the whole ne. Then there would be no more sky.


    However, even that prospective difficulty didn''t make him give up. He was willing to destroy every soul fragment to harm the core of the great mother. After all, it is the best he could do in his situation.


    He seeded in destroying a lot of them but more soul fragments clumped onto him and blocked his way. They formed a tightly sealed shell around him. Some other special soul fragments were mixed into this shell. He destroyed some of them but many managed to get close to him and attach themselves to him.


    There was no resistance because they were pure soul fragments without memories and with adaptable soul imprints. They grafted themselves onto his cocoon without his active participation. Then they rushed towards his true soul in the center of the honeb cocoon.


    "You''re already trying to enve me so soon? At least, say some sweet words to me first."


    He was joking but the great mother took his request seriously. She said to him, "I have never seen a soul as beautiful and precious as yours. You will be the prize of my collection. We will achieve greatness together. Nothing will be able to stand in our way."


    Those were indeed sweet words but Legion-7 remained stubborn. He protected his core soul with soul force so the soul parasites couldn''t infect him. Then he tried to push them away from himself but that failed. He noticed that they were even siphoning his soul force away instead of being rejected.


    He heard the great mother as she siphoned his soul force through the soul parasites, "Give up your resistance. Join with us. Achieve greatness together with us."


    Legion-7 didn''t give up. He continued to resist with soul force even in the face of the loss. At the same time, he began to use divine life energy to strengthen himself. As long as he is still alive, he will continue to resist.


    His use of divine life energy didn''t only strengthen him, it created the light of hope once again. The attraction for a god spread outwards from him into the spiritual dimension. It brought very hungry and very angry soul prowlers to his position. A fight then ensued as the soul prowlers tried to get to him.


    Unfortunately, his resistance is futile for the time being. The great mother has subdued him and she has even gained ess to soul force. Her body became enveloped with the film of soul force. She got the soul force from him and she will continue to get more as long as he resists her soul parasites.


    If he gives up, the soul parasites will get ess to his true soul. She will be able to attack his soul directly through that. If he fails to resist her then, she will have forever. Either way, she is going to get him at the end of the day. His resistance is futile. The greatness of the great mother will be achieved through him.


    In the meantime, she has be protected by soul force. It protected her from the waves upon waves of angry soul prowlers. He was already a tyrant with soul force. The great mother has be something much more dangerous with soul force. Nothing the soul prowlers could do could harm her.


    Not only that, the clone that captured him shared that soul force with all her clones now. The changes that soul force brought to them were immediate. They all began to grow rapidly.


    The protection of soul force means that they are not losing anything to the spiritual dimension anymore. So all the energy that the phoenixes are sending to them can be maximized for their growth.


    That is just quantitative growth. She is already working on achieving qualitative growth by trying to assimte soul force into her mes of rebirth.


    The great mother is getting ready for another evolution. It might propel her to the level needed for her to be capable of hunting the fragmented Origin gods. If she were great before, then she is about to be something greater. And it is all thanks to Legion-7.


    Legion-7 spent his days as aborer providing soul force to the great mothers. He is doing so unwillingly and without getting anything in return. He is a forcedborer. That is the definition of very.


    In the meantime, the Tree Father managed to create arge cult in the Zargoth ne. He also seeded in creating many churches in many other nes so faith was abundant.


    Legion-7 was provided with a lot of divine life energy from the Tree Father which he used to be as strong as a Supreme Origin god. So he became strong enough to ovee the barrier of the spiritual dimension and leave.

 Chapter 1306 Desperate Enough To Be Suicidal.

    <h4>Chapter 1306 Desperate Enough To Be Suicidal. </h4>


    However, his servitude continued despite his explosive growth due to divine life energy. He couldn''t escape from his seal.


    He would have managed to escape from a single great mother if he had this strength. Unfortunately, not only are there many great mothers right now, but each one is also stronger than him.


    The great mothers have grown fat over the years thanks to him. So his situation didn''t change until the moment Helios had the bright idea tobine thew of order, the divine energy of order, and Chaos energy within his body.


    Legion-5ined about how risky it would be but he had said, "Go for it. Or I will bring Chaos energy into the mindwork myself."


    He was one of the clones that was eager for it. He was already close to the point of using Chaos energy to gain his freedom. It will harm him but it will also harm the great mother. So he wasn''t hoping for anything substantial from Helios'' experiment. A small spige of Chaos energy would have been enough to satisfy him. He was so desperate that his expectations were suicidal.


    They went for the experiment and they almost died. The origin me changed his soul in a way different from that of others. It became capable of transforming into a concept.


    He doesn''t have a body like the other clones so his soul changed then but he didn''t know about this change. What he did know immediately about was the strange ck orb that was revolving around him.


    This ck orb wasn''t impeded by his surroundings. It went through the soul fragments caging him as if they weren''t there. It was behaving like an intangible thing that couldn''t be sensed or interacted with.


    The great mother that trapped him also didn''t notice it. She was still trying to beguile him into giving up. Her words rang out in the same monotonous manner. "Give up. Join us. Resistance is futile."


    This has been going on for more than 40 years now. At first, she used sweet words to convince him. She stopped being delicate after a few years of her sweet words going to waste. She resorted to saying the same words monotonously over and over again.


    There was no change in her routine despite the event that Legion-7 had just gone through. She didn''t notice any changes in him and remained busy with what she was trying to do. She has made some progress with the new mes of rebirth so she is trying to test it.


    There are numerous great mothers in an area close to the barrier of the spiritual dimension. The great mother who trapped him is here with them. They are this close to the barrier because she is trying to see if her new mes of rebirth can protect one of her clones in the world of manifestation. They remained oblivious to the ticking time bomb within one of her clones.


    "What does this even do?" Legion-7 asked himself.


    He tried and tried but the ck orb remained unresponsive.


    "If only it could free me." He thought.


    It was then that the shard moved. It received his intent for freedom and acted on it. His solid form became translucent. Nothing seemed to have happened from his perspective. He just felt as if the pressure on him from his surroundings had suddenly disappeared. The soul fragments were still around him but he seemed to have be intangible. They couldn''t touch him or interact with him so he moved through them.


    The effect of his situation was immediate. The great mothers lost ess to soul force. The great mother that used to trap him screamed in anger. It was a high-pitched squealing of the soul that caused theher waters to vibrate.


    She screamed at him, "What have you done?!"


    She had felt the ceasesure of the supply of soul force from him. It had happened suddenly without any warning. What''s most odd is that she can still see him and he is still within her but she can''t grasp him no matter how she tries to.


    Legion-7 was also shocked. It happened instantaneously so he was cut off guard even though he had been trying to achieve the same thing for 40 years. He has been trying to acquire his freedom and it has finallye to him but he doesn''t even know how it happened.


    He can''t answer her question but that doesn''t mean he would continue staying within her. He tried to leave her body and she tried to stop him. But she couldn''t touch him so he escaped.


    "Nooooooooooooooo!" someone screamed in pain.


    It was a great mother that screamed in pain. It was because their experiment was interrupted. The suddenck of soul force threw the new mes they were working on out of bnce and created an explosion. Her scream was shrill. Most of the soul fragments in her body were destroyed in that explosion. Even her true soul was damaged by it. What''s worse is thather water was quick to take advantage of the opening to wreak havoc.


    The great mothers ignored the dying clone and surrounded him. They wanted to keep him there. But apart fromher water which could still interact with him, everything else they tried didn''t work. It made him realize that he hadn''t be intangible, other spiritual objects just couldn''t interact with him in this state.


    The great mothers attacked him with everything they had. Fire of rebirth, tentacles of mes, soul parasites, and more. But none of them could get to him. He passed through them without any friction.


    Legion-7 sort of escaped. They can''t keep him in ce or do anything to him. It is not that he has be stronger than them. They just can''t do anything to him.


    But the great mothers didn''t let him go. They continued to chase him. He was free but he remained surrounded by the great mothers. They n to follow him to the ends of the spiritual dimension if they have to.

 Chapter 1307 So Long Losers!

    <h4>Chapter 1307 So Long Losers!</h4>


    Despite being farrger than him, they are faster than him. A single p of their twelve wings propeled them farther than one would expect from creatures sorge. So he couldn''t outrun them. Their persistence made him decide to leave the spiritual dimension.


    Something about his special state is preventing him from using soul force to boost himself. That means he can''t attack or defend himself in this state on top of being slow. He also isn''t sure how long his special state is going tost. So he shot towards the barrier at the top of the spiritual dimension since he couldn''t outrun them.


    One of the great mothers cried out in dismay.


    "Nooooooo!"


    The others pleaded with him.


    "Don''t go."


    "Stay with us."


    "Achieve greatness with us."


    They were very sincere. It was unlike the fake sweet words they said to him before. But he still didn''t listen to them.


    He managed to reach the barrier despite the best efforts of the great mothers. Unfortunately, the barrier stopped him from going further.


    "This can touch me?" He asked in surprise. "It seems it is not purely spiritual?"


    He expected to pass through the barrier the way he passed through the great mothers but he was blocked by the barrier. It reminded him of how theher water can still interact with him. He had sensed that his existence was causing ripples in the surroundingher water which meant he wasn''t phasing through it.


    He considered the situation beforeining. "Thisplicates things. I am free in this state but I can''t use soul force. If I can''t use soul force then I can''t break this barrier. But if I leave my special state and use soul force, the great mothers will be able to get me before I break the barrier."


    Then he asked the pertinent question, "How am I going to escape now?""


    He can''t use soul force in his strange state. He has tried to and it hasn''t worked. If he can''t use soul force then he will be trapped in the spiritual dimension. It is ironic since he is strong enough to break the barrier. But he is not strong enough to fight off the great mothers.


    He began to try everything he had at his disposal. His attempt to use something other than soul force became sessful right from the start. His phantom state became solid again as soon as he tried to wield Origin energy. However, his intangible form became tangible once again.


    Unfortunately, he is surrounded by the great Mothers so he was nabbed as soon as he acquired a solid existence. The tentacle holding him lost him when he stopped using Origin energy. His soul had returned to its phantom state.


    "I see. I can''t use any form of energy in this state." Then he said with a grin. "I can work with this."


    He began weaving through the great mothers. He would pass through them and then be solid as he used soul force to gain a speed boost. Next, he would turn into a phantom as soon as he was captured. Then he passed through whichever great mother captured him. He repeated this series of actions all the while moving in a straight line through the blockade.


    Unlike him, the great mothers can''t phase through each other so he used each other to block them. He did this to get to the edge of the encirclement. They couldn''t keep him surrounded because they had to go around each other.


    He activated his solid state as soon as he got to the edge of the encirclement. Then he used soul force to enhance his movement. It made him shoot away from the great mothers.


    He called behind him, "So long losers. I will..."


    He had to stop because they had attacked him. A red beam of fire was ejected from the eye of one of the great mothers. The attack won''t kill him but it will certainly dy him if he dodges it or activates his intangible state. So he decided to block it.


    He raised a reinforced barrier of soul force behind him. The attack struck the barrier and pushed him forward. Many more attacks came but they couldn''t stop him from running away.


    "Nooo!" The great mothers roared unwillingly behind him. "Come back. Join us. Achieve greatness with us."


    He didn''t return to them at all. Instead, he made arge distance between them as soon as possible. He was cackling madly during the process. Ragnarok also got his freedom in the meantime. The shard of power had also affected the others in one way or the other.


    Aeternus managed to make soul force solidify. Helios is bing a star and the tree father overcame the restriction of having more than one domain. Soverick also got an enhancement for his vision. Even the unborn dragon clone was affected.


    The only clones who were not affected were Legion-1 and Legion-5 who was still in the egg.


    Legion-7 decided to break the barrier after making enough distance between him and the great mothers.


    "I am leaving this ce now. I have had enough of this dark deathly world."


    He could have decided to swagger through the spiritual dimension since nothing could threaten him anymore but he didn''t. He didn''t want to spend any more time than he had to in this barren world. He was so eager to leave that he used his full power to break the barrier.


    The great mothers are still chasing after him but they are too far apart for them to interrupt his escape from the spiritual dimension. He has grown stronger in the hundred years of servitude so breaking the barrier was easy to do.


    Legion-7 felt the change in the environment immediately.


    "Ah." He sighed in relief. "This is thew matrix. How I have missed you."


    He was relieved and happy to return to the familiarw matrix. However, thew matrix was not happy to see him.

 Chapter 1308 Void Hopping.

    <h4>Chapter 1308 Void Hopping. </h4>


    Thew matrix became agitated immediately. Thew fragments around him began to change into a single deadly concept as a powerful Will appeared.


    A single intent was transmitted to him. "You are not wee here."


    It was as if he was surrounded by enemies more terrifying than the great mothers. He is not ignorant of the hostility he is facing. The great mother also faced it so he knows what wille next.


    He didn''t wait for what would happen next. He rushed to the world of manifestation immediately. Meanwhile, thew matrix increased in its agitation towards him.


    Even if he didn''t have the memories of the great mother, the agitation of thew matrix is more than enough to tell him just how bad his situation is. He knows this phenomenon. He has experienced something simr to it when he became a titan ofw. Thew matrix was agitated back then and it tested his concept. His concept would have been destroyed had it not been epted.


    He is not breaking through to be a titan now but the unmistakable agitation of thew matrix due to the will of the universe is unmistakable. And unlike the time when he was bing a titan ofw, there is no chance of sess here. The verdict has already been given. He is not weed here so he will be destroyed.


    He didn''t escape in a random direction. He knows that the spiritual dimension and the world of manifestation are not synchronous. The fact that he entered the spiritual dimension from one ce doesn''t mean he will exit it from the same ce. So he used the connection he has with other clones as a beacon to navigate the space between the two dimensions.


    He moved in the direction of the other clones. Legion-7 finally appeared in the world of manifestation. He appeared in the void outside of a realm. This realm is not the High Heaven Realm. He knows this with certainty because he can feel that the clones are still far away from him and there is a faint sense of hostility from this realm toward him.


    He got his bearings quickly and was able to estimate the distance between himself and the other clones.


    "They are still far away. It seems I have to return to the spiritual dimension."


    Soul force protected his bare soul from the corrosion of void energy. He can also move in the void but he decided not to. The distance is too far to fly there before the punishment of the void universe descends. So he returned to the spiritual dimension.


    There was no one around him in the spiritual dimension. The great mothers are nowhere to be seen.


    "It is either they left or I am somewhere too far from where I escaped." He observed. "There is only one way to find out."


    He broke the barrier and returned to the world of manifestation again. Thew matrix had not changed its mind about him in the short time he was away. Instead, it has be more agitated.


    He assessed his situation again. "I am closer but they are still far away."


    He repeated the process of going to the spiritual dimension and using the other clones as beacons as he moved through thew matrix. He is using the spiritual dimension to hop around the world. Others will see this and think he is teleporting. It appears he is crossingrge distances every time he appears in the world of manifestation.


    The process is fast but it wasn''t fast enough. Legion-7 could feel the danger brewing all around him. He has to find safety as soon as possible or he will be punished by the void universe.


    He escaped to the spiritual dimension when the danger reached a climax and was about to be released. He spent some time hiding there before he returned to the world of manifestation. Thew matrix began brewing again as soon as it sensed him.


    This situation continued for almost a year. Legion-7 spent most of the time in the spiritual dimension to avoid the punishment. The time he could spend in the world of manifestation became shorter and shorter as time passed. The will of the universe couldn''t be fooled. It learned to react faster and faster to Legion-7''s presence outside of the spiritual dimension.


    Fortunately, he managed to reach the realm of high heaven before the punishment appeared. He appeared in a ne full of life and most importantly, absent of phoenixes or their eggs.


    His happiness didn''tst long because the void universe delivered its punishment then. Blue lightning appeared around him to form a storm vortex with him as the focus. Then they bombarded him over and over again.


    "This is too much. I didn''t die. I merely got lost when I went to the spiritual dimension. Can''t you let me go?" he said as he ran about looking for shelter from the tribtion.


    He has a point. He didn''t die before he went to the spiritual dimension so technically, he has a right to be alive. But the void universe doesn''t think so. It continued to bombard him with lightning.


    At first, it wasn''t painful. The lightning strikes couldn''t get past his defense. They only consumed his soul force. Then the blue lightning turned into purple lightning. This lightning finally got past his soup force to harm him. It sought to erode his soul and eliminate him from the world.


    As if that wasn''t enough, the purple lightning turned into red lightning. One strike of it caused 10% of Legion-7 to disappear instantly. He took 2 more of the strikes before he found a host. He was shaking all over at that point.


    He sighed in relief and said, "I am finally safe."


    He possessed the host easily. The existence of the host formed a sort of physical barrier that separated him from the world. The intent of the void universe was appeased and thew matrix stopped being agitated.

 Chapter 1309 A New Prison.

    <h4>Chapter 1309 A New Prison.</h4>


    The lightning tribtion disappeared after losing its target. The host on the other hand isn''t doing so well. Its existence has be burdened so its body is being overdrawn in order to contain Legion-7.


    "This is not reincarnation. This body is not mine. It is rejecting me and it is dying." He observed.


    "This is at best a shoddy possession. I doubt I can ever reincarnate again. I am too strong. No fetus will be able to handle me. I am doomed to forever escape and change hosts like clothes."


    To call his situation a possession will be an overstatement. The reality of the matter is that he is trapped once again. He has exchanged the prison of the spiritual dimension for another prison. He did this to hide from thew matrix and its stubborn Will of the Universe.


    The major difference is that this prison is temporary and can be discarded. Unfortunately, he can''t discard it easily or risk punishment. As it is, he can''t even extend his perception out of the host much lessprehendws because that will agitate thew matrix. The best he can do to sense the outside world is to see through the eyes of the host.


    Another difference between his host and the spiritual dimension is that this prison is very weak. The host is a mana entity but it can''t withstand his existence at all. The soul of the host can''t resist him so he possessed it easily. But the body of the host is still resisting him.


    It is not exactly resistance. The body is bearing a load it was not made for. It is as if a vase made out of candle wax is being used to hold hot water. Just as the base will melt, this body is literally decaying because of him.


    So this host is temporary. Even if he doesn''t break out on his own, the prison will copse around him. He has to find a new host soon. Or he will be exposed to thew matrix and it will be agitated again.


    "Where am I?" he asked.


    He doesn''t know but his host should know so he began to rummage through the memories of his host. He is currently within the soul space of his host so he has ess to its soul. He created a tentacle that he extended into the round white soul of the host. He used that as a channel to gain ess to its memories.


    He found out that his host was a Malekite. It is a race that descended from a fungi. If their ancestors had been nts, then they would be elves. They are not elves and they are not humanoid. Each one is a round ball of soft flesh with a hard core that contains its soul and consciousness. So they are more like elementals.


    From the memories of the host, he found out that they are not the only races in the ne. In fact, they are not a major race or a particrly strong one. They are a minority race that just rose up.


    Malekites are a young race. Their ancestor is even still alive. Their fungi ancestor who awakened became a god. And because the Celestial Supreme of this ne managed to merge the divine ne with the main ne, their ancestor became anded god.


    "A god. Is this what I find so ptable about this host?" he asked himself.


    The host is not the only living being in the city he stumbled across. It is actually the only malekite in the city. But he chose the malekite because he felt a longing for it. Now he knows that this malekite is a believer of a god. It has a connection to this god that it believes in.


    "This is exactly how Legion-9 screwed me over. But this time, I am the one on the hunt." He said in anticipation. "Let''s see what a god tastes like."


    He decided to follow the connection between the believer and the god. The soul of the host has formed a spiritual connection to this god due to the contract of belief. The host offers faith to the god, and in exchange, it gets to pray to the god.


    The god might answer the prayer or not. It depends on the god but negligence from the god will reduce the amount of faith they get from the believer. Regardless of the situation, as long as the believer can pray to its god, then there must be a direct connection between the god and the believer.


    Legion-7 made the Malekite pray to the god then. The host recited the honorable name of the god.


    "Oh, Malekite, the ancestor of fungi-kind, the god of disease and gues. I beseech you to bestow upon me your blessings. I pray that you¡­"


    Legion-7 felt a kind of spiritual fluctuation. He said in understanding, "A prayer is just like the spiritual perception technique of the spiritual dimension."


    A prayer is also a means ofmunication and it is direct and fast. It can work across any distance, unlike the subpar perception technique of the spiritual dimension. A spiritual entity like Legion-7 can sense this spiritual fluctuation clearly unlike others burdened by their bodies.


    unlike others burdened by their bodies.


    If a spiritual entity is as skilled in the maniption of the soul as Legion-7, then it can do more with this spiritualmunication.


    Legion-7 extended a tentacle of soul force along the line ofmunication. He used the line to follow the prayer to its destination. The destination was the godhood of the ancestor of Malekites.


    "Nice." He said. "I think my luck is starting to change for good."


    He jinxed it by saying that. That''s where his good luck ended. It came and went abruptly. He received a bacsh as soon as he touched the godhood of the god.


    Malekite the god of diseases and gues roared in anger. "Who dares?"


    She roused her divine power and godfire to reject the unknown influence on her godhood. The divine power mmed against the tentacle that Legion-7 had extended to the godhood.

 Chapter 1310 Body Hopping.

    <h4>Chapter 1310 Body Hopping. </h4>


    The divine power destroyed the tentacle while the godfire traced the tentacle back to its source. The fire burned everything along the way until it reached the host.


    Legion-7 survived the bacsh. His soul is stronger than a Supreme Origin god in terms of quantity. Malekite is just a low god, the equivalent of a lord ofw. Even though he is weak to her god fire since it is a me particrly proficient in burning and refining spiritual matter, it still can''t threaten him.


    He managed to break off the tentacle before the god fire reached him. But the soul of the host didn''t survive the bacsh. It broke apart and was consumed by the god fire.


    Legion-7ined from within the burning wreckage of his host, "Even a weak god is not easy to hunt. Her godfire didn''t even leave me the scraps of the fragmented soul to consume."


    Then he smiled to himself. "This is good too. The tougher she is the more I will enjoy ripping her godhood out of her and consuming it. I will take her soul as the interest for the loss of my host."


    The host died so he can''t stay in the body any longer. There isn''t even a body to stay in considering that it is turning into ashes. The soul space copsed so he had to leave the body to find another host. But he was bombarded by red lightning the moment he came out into the world.


    He cursed and shouted at the heavens, "Will you take a break for a moment?"


    The heavens didn''t listen to him. It was as if they had been preparing for him and had loaded lightning strikes just for the moment he would expose himself. He has given them the chance to make use of their preparations so they bombarded him with lightning immediately.


    The lightning was aimed to kill him. He knew that with certainty the moment the first one struck him. The lightning strikes didn''t tickle him. It dissolved a part of his soul so he had to rush to find shelter.


    Fortunately, there are several living beings around him. He zipped into one of them as fast as he could. He didn''t spend up to a second exposed but he was still struck 3 times. It was 3 times too much. His soul lost 20% of its existence so he was hanging just above the cut-off mark for the soul of a Supreme Origin god.


    He jumped into the body of the closest host in pain and weakened. This host is a child. It is not even a body refiner so the burden of his existence is far too much for it to bear. The child''s body was fragmenting and breaking down by the moment.


    "This host won''tst up to 10 minutes. I have to find a recement as soon as possible."


    He doesn''t want to be forced out into the open by a dead host so he read through the memories of the child and led the child back to his parents. He found them at their house. Thew matrix was simmering silently around him all the while. It was waiting for him to slip up and give it another opportunity. He felt that malice vividly.


    He grumbled to himself, "I failed reincarnation. I didn''t die. I don''t deserve this treatment."


    He didn''t bother toin to thew matrix because it won''t listen. He himself doesn''t believe in fairness so instead of wasting time and effort trying to convince the Will of the void universe, he grumbled to himself to release some pent-up frustration while he tried to slow down the rate at which he was killing his current host.


    A female Kontinuu rushed towards the child when she saw her, "Where have you been? I told you not to go out. There is a storm destroying the city. It is too dangerous to wander about in this weather."


    A strange lightning storm had suddenly approached the city today. Lightning storms ought to be in the sky not close to the ground. The strange lightning storm had moved close to the city and destroyed the walls. It even entered the city and destroyed many houses so everyone had been staying in the house for safety. But this child sneaked out to go see the destroyed houses. That''s how she came into contact with Legion-7.


    The mother became anxious immediately when she bent to lift her child. "You are so hot. You have a fever. Since when have you been sick?"


    The child didn''t answer. Legion-7 used the physical contact between mother and child to transfer himself into the mother. He shifted one soul space for another without exposing himself to thew matrix. So there was no lightning punishment.


    The child didn''t recover when he left her. She died immediately. As for the mother, she became silent immediately. Her anxiety about the sickness of her child disappeared and her eyes zed over. She took the dead child in her arms into their house mechanically.


    Legion-7 thought to himself with a mental sigh, "This host is weak too. Fortunately, the father of the child is a mana entity. I can use him in the meantime."


    The mother is a vitality core stage refiner but she is not good enough. She is dying quickly too. She won''tst up to a day. So Legion-7 began nning for his next host immediately.


    He didn''t have to wait for long. The father came home from a long day at work. He found his wife sitting with a frozen look on her face. His heart dropped immediately. It is because that''s the look his wife always wears whenever she is angry.


    "Have I done something wrong?" He asked himself.


    Then he approached his wife. He asked gently, "What''s wrong sweet pie?"


    His gentle expression froze immediately when his hand made contact with his wife''s exposed shoulder. Legion-7 had changed the host to the father quickly.

 Chapter 1311 Not Enough To Give Up.

    <h4>Chapter 1311 Not Enough To Give Up.</h4>


    He assessed his new host thoroughly. "This is not great but it is not bad either. I have about 10 days of time in this body. That is too short. But at least, I have learned how to avoid the tribtion when I change bodies."


    This series of hosts has taught him a valuable lesson in how to avoid thew matrix while changing hosts. It is good news. But then hemented, "But is this my life now? I''m I to forever wander looking for a host to hide me from the wrath of heaven? Is my situation so hopeless? I don''t want to return to the spiritual dimension."


    Then he encouraged himself. "At least I am in the world of manifestation. My situation is better than the great mothers. I have ess to thew matrix. I just have to find a way to use it without incurring lightning punishment."


    He decided to take advantage of his situation to use thew matrix. If he can find a way to use it, then he might be able to evolve his soul. That will surely make up for the unjust treatment he has received from the Will of the realm.


    But he got a dose of brutal awakening as soon as he attempted to make contact with thew matrix. He didn''t use his tentacles so as not to expose himself to thew matrix. What he used was his divine sense.


    It is the same way transcendents and everyone ess thew matrix. Their solidifiedw matrix would feel pressure from the matrix formed byw fragments. However, unlike others who get to interact with thew matrix with varying levels of difficulty ording to theirw affinity, he was rejected immediately when his divine sense made contact with thew matrix. Bolts of red lightning appeared around him and struck his host.


    "What''s is your problem? I am not even outside of my host. My divine sense has not left my host. Be reasonable!" He finishedining with an exasperated shout.


    He had retracted his divine sense immediately but the damage had been done. The body of his host had been struck by lightning. Its integrity had fallen drastically.


    "I curse you, Will of the void universe. I curse you." He said in anguish as he went in search of another host.


    He escaped most of the damage from the lightning but his host took the brunt of the damage. The mana entity should have been able tost 10 days but it won''tst an hour anymore because of the damage. Fortunately, the host has some Kontinuu friends that are mana entities. Legion-7 hurriedly went in search of them.


    He found one of them soon after. The Kontinuu is the main intelligent race on the ne. They descended from an avian ancestor that evolved into a humanoid form so they possess some features of birds such as feathers for hair.


    There are plenty Kontinuu in the ne so he can surely find a new host quickly if he were desperate. But he went looking for someone on close terms with his current host so that the transfer of the honor of being his host would take ce without any issue.


    The friend smiled and called to him, "Brother Kie. How are you? You look strange? Are you alright?"


    His host does look strange. He is walking strangely and his eyes aren''t moving at all. He is just staring forward while moving with slight jerks.


    Legion-7 snorted and rebuked inwardly, "What do you know? Do you think controlling someone else is easy? What an ignorant fool."


    He is not in a good mood right now but he still made his host smile.


    The host smiled stiffly and said, "I am fine Dato. I have something important to tell you. Let''s go inside to have a chat."


    Dayton asked, "What is it? I hope there is no problem."


    Kie assured with a jerky wave of his wed hand, "Of course not. This is a good thing for you. I want to enlighten you about something. It is important that you know so that people won''t call you ignorant or a fool."


    Dato didn''t suspect his friend Kie of any Ill intent. He said, "Alright. Let''s go in."


    They went in and Legion-7 transferred himself to Dato. Kie fell down dead immediately after Legion-7 left his body. Dato the new host carried the dead body to the basement to destroy it. It was then that Legion-7 could rx.


    He made a summary of his situation. "I can''t stay in one host for long and I can''t use thew matrix at all. But my situation is not entirely bad. There are gods here. I should focus on that. It might be the key to my evolution. At the very least, the existence of a god should be more sturdy than these fragile mortals. I should be able to use one as a host for much longer."


    His situation is not pleasant or promising. But he is not willing to admit defeat. No matter how bad his situation is, it is not as bad as the spiritual dimension. He will not give up as long as he lives.


    Besides, he hasn''t suffered for a long period of time. The total amount of time he has existed is less than 300 years. That is a very short amount of time for someone who has experienced 8 Origin cycles. He can withstand longer periods of suffering than this.


    He also knows that if he gives up struggling and falls to the spiritual dimension, he might never be able toe to the world of manifestation again. The void universe is actively trying to kill him now. Any chance that he gives the void universe might lead to his death.


    So he focused on the bright side. Since he can''t use thew matrix to evolve, he will try to use godhoods to evolve. He intends to do that until he can meet up with other clones of Legion.

 Chapter 1312 Ignorance Is Bliss.

    Chapter 1312 Ignorance Is Bliss.


    ??"My options are Soverick and the tree father. Let me kill a god first to see the effect of the godhood before I make a decision."


    He is reviewing his ns for the future. The most important part of the ne is which clone to meet with. Legion-1 is currently not around the realm of high heaven. He has gone on a mission for the realm lord so they can''t meet.


    Aeternus is not a good host because of Chaos energy. It will be likeher waters again except worse. Helios has be a star so he is not an option. Legion-5 and Legion-8 have not been born yet.


    Legion-5 is mourning over the fact that he risked his life for nothing while Legion-8 is going through the ancestral trials that all dragon eggs go through. They can''t amodate him. As for Legion-6, his ne is surrounded by a demon god so he can''t be reached.


    This leaves Soverick and the tree father as the clones that he can meet up with and might help. But both of them are risky. Soverick is being monitored closely by both enemies and friends. It will be risky to meet him while he is being watched by world gods.


    The tree father on the other hand feels like a very good option. Legion-7 feels a longing for him. But that''s why he doesn''t want to go to the tree father. He doesn''t want to harm the tree father in any way so he wants to see how the godhood of a god will affect him first before he decides.


    Legion-7 began the god-hunting n. He realized from the failure of his first attempt to attack a god that a single point of ess to the god wouldn''t do. He can''t use most of his power through the fragile link between god and the believer. So he decided to meet up with the god physically and attack her with all his might.


    He said in anticipation, "Let''s go and meet Malekite."


    His host Dato walked out of his house with a wooden gait. He now knows how difficult it is to move while someone else is controlling you. Unfortunately, it is not a good thing. Ignorance was bliss.


    This is because he is still alive right now. Legion-7 has hijacked his existence but he is still conscious so he is very aware of the excruciating pain of having someone else in his body. It is as if he is being boiled alive. Legion-7 is truly like hot water and he is like wax vase.


    At first, Dato was scared and lost. He was shouting mentally, "Where am I? What is going on?"


    This was as soon as Legion-7 entered his body. Legion-7 didn''t bother to reply to his host. He is in a dire situation but he hasn''t be crazy enough to talk to his disposable clothes.


    But things have developed beyond that now.


    Dato has only one thought right now. He is screaming and pleading, "Please kill me. Just kill me."


    However, Legion-7 didn''t pay any attention to his request. Killing Dato would make the host useless for him. He didn''t listen to the young girl, her mother, and her father. There''s no way he will listen to Dato. Dato will not experience the sweet release of death until he is done with him.


    Of course, none of this is his fault. They only have the will of the void universe to me for this. He is just an unlucky guy who has to use weak and whiny tools to hunt gods. Dato was so slow that Legion-7 was about to scream, "Just kill me."


    So it is both of them who are suffering in this arrangement.


    --+-The Kingdom Of Spores.


    The kingdom of spores is the territory of Malekite the god of diseases and gues. This title is purely ambitious. She doesn''t have the domain of diseases and gues. She is currently the god of Malekites which is what she couldy im to as a low god.


    Malekite was an ordinary mushroom before she became a god. She was trying to make a living in the crevice of a rock when two gods decided to fight each other close to the mountain she inhabited.


    Maybe they didn''t target her particr mountain. They probably stumbled across it in the heat of their battle. The fallout of their battle destroyed everything around them. It was like twoets passed through the forest beneath the mountain.


    She would have died if she hadn''t been living up the mountain. Instead, she became the recipient of a portion of the blood of a dying god.


    She was growing from a crack in the mountain when the blood of a god happened to drop on her. That lucky encounter made her awaken her intelligence and be sapient.


    She singlehandedly created the Malekite race by releasing spores. She then used her race as a source of faith to be a god. So she is just the god of Malekites. Racial titles like that won''t take her far on the path of divinity. At least, not until they be the overlord of the ne.


    So it doesn''t help that the Malekites are weak physically and magically. They don''t have any divine ability. They are her only source of followers and manpower so she is weakpared to other low gods.


    The best way for her to grow stronger as a god is to acquire a better domain. Hence, the reason why she calls herself the god of gues and diseases.


    But calling yourself something doesn''t make it so. She can either work slowly to develop the domain of gues and diseases, or she can take it from a god with that domain. She decided to do both.


    She called herself the god of gues and diseases to facilitate the construction of the domain of gues and diseases when she bes a high god. She also selected a target to steal the domain from.


    ------


    A/N: We didn''t make the voting goalst week so I didn''t release an extra chapter yesterday. But I decided to give you the extra chapter nheless. I should have released it yesterday but some readers dared me not to release it.

 Chapter 1313 War Of Landed Gods.

    <h4>Chapter 1313 War Of Landed Gods. </h4>


    Malekite''s quest to steal the domain of gues and diseases is why the kingdom of spores is enemies with the kingdom of Sharat. The kingdom of Sharat is owned by the god of ghouls. This is a low god with a domain of gues and diseases.


    The two kingdoms are at each other''s throats. The god of ghouls wants Malekite''s domain of spores. With it, he will be able to spread his diseases better. So he weed the challenge from her.


    That challenge had escted today. It is because Malekite was attacked a few days ago. It was a mysterious attack that bypassed the defense of her divine body and struck directly at her godhood. That attack rattled her and made hersh out in retaliation.


    The first person that came to her mind as the culprit was the god of ghouls. She didn''t know what he did or how he did it but she wasn''t going to allow it to continue. Being passive is a bad idea. It made her rouse the entirety of her army to attack him immediately.


    Their kingdom is close to each other so it didn''t take long for the mobilization of an army to be noticed. The god of ghouls prepared his own army in preparation for war. Malekite noticed this and doubled down on her intention to attack. The two kingdoms went to war and nobody stopped them. All the gods just watched without doing anything.


    This kind of war is verymon in the Gattling ne. The gods have bended gods all because their Celestial Supreme had managed to fuse the divine ne with the main ne.


    So the gods took over the whole ne. They lost their divine kingdoms and the advantage they brought them, but they also gained the ability to interfere directly in the affairs of the ne.


    This also meant that any disagreement between gods directly became a disagreement between kingdoms. And gods disagree a lot so there are a lot of wars.


    Gods disagree for a lot of reasons. The most frequent reason is the ownership of domains. So the fight between the kingdom of spores and Sharat is not out of ce in the Gattling ne.


    The only thing that is out of ce in the ne is the recent cases of lightning storms at the ground level in the territory of another kingdom. The lightning storms haven''t caused a lot of damage so the gods aren''t concerned about it. They think it is a weird and shortlived phenomenon which was validated by the disappearance of the lightning storm five days ago.


    Legion-7 found Malekite in the midst of battle. Two armies fought each other day and night. The army of spores made of Malekites can be replenished by creating more Malekites. All Malekite needs is resources to feed her spores so that they can grow.


    The god of ghouls on the other hand needs living beings to die for him to create ghouls. His ghouls have the advantage in power though. Ghouls don''t tire, they don''t feel pain, and they are difficult to kill.


    Ghouls attack relentlessly until they die. These ghouls are not the ghouls created by thew of order to rectify the disease that is vampirism. These ghouls are corpses reanimated by diseases. So in a way, they are more simr to Vampires.


    The major advantage of ghouls is their ability to proliferate by spreading their disease. Unfortunately, it doesn''t work on Malekites. Their unique fungi bodies make it so that they can be killed but they can''t be reanimated by diseases. The god of ghouls couldn''t replenish his army this way.


    The ghouls have quality on their side while the Malekites have quantity on their side. These conditions made it so that the two kingdoms were at a stalemate. It is the same oue as the previous wars between the two kingdoms.


    It made Gholu, the god of ghouls, wonder. "I thought she had something new up her sleeve. But there is nothing new. It is the same old fight. Or is she ying me? Is she hoping that I will let down my guard?"


    Malekite on the other side was also wondering. "Why hasn''t he attacked my godhood again? Is he hoping to catch me off guard with it when we fight?"


    The two low gods haven''t faced each other in battle yet. It is because they are wary of each other. So they are still using their armies to test each other.


    Malekite is suspicious of Gholu. In fact, she is suspicious of everyone. Any god could be behind the attack that happened five days ago. It would be bad for her if the god who orchestrated that mysterious attack was working together with Gholu.


    Unfortunately, she couldn''t get a godly ally to help her. No god can be trusted and they ask for a high price to help. If there is something that she can count on, it is her race. Her race can''t betray her. She will know if they try. They are connected to her after all. So she wasn''t suspicious when a certain odd-looking Malekite approached her.


    The Malekite race are spherical beings. They move by rolling on after all. So she wasn''t suspicious when a certain odd-looking Malekite approached her.


    the ground. This is easy to dopared to the maniption of limbs. So this Malekite wasn''t noticed as odd because of jerky movements. But the behavior of the Malekite was still out of ce.


    This Malekite didn''t stop at a distance like other Malekites. They respect her too much so they don''t even dare to look at her for too long. They usually stay at a distance from her but not this one. This one moved closer and closer to her while praising her.


    "Great Mother of all Malekite. I worship thee. Your presence fills me with fulfillment. I would die for thee. My everything is yours¡­"


    Malekite found its behavior odd but she sensed nothing wrong with this member of her race. If anything, he is just a fanatic. She could only feel pure unadulterated faith in it when she probed it. So there was nothing to fear about the Malekite.


    ------


    A/N: Do you remember the ne that the death squad of the bloodline of lion of justice found traces of Soverick? Do you remember the god that they said went out of control?

 Chapter 1314 Intentionally Obtuse.

    <h4>Chapter 1314 Intentionally Obtuse.</h4>


    But she began to frown when it got too close to her. She is a round ball so her frown is not a change in her facial expression. She made her displeasure known by producing an aura to deter the Malekite.


    But the Malekite didn''t stop. It wasn''t cowered by her majestic pressure. In fact, its faith in her spiked and it continued to approach her while praising her.


    She had to ask, "What are you doing?"


    She hasn''t been in a good mood recently so it was easy for anger to seep into her tone.


    "I just want to touch your greatness. I am willing to die if I can just touch a single hypha of yours."


    "Go back." She ordered sternly.


    The Malekite didn''t go back. He didn''t even stop. That made her angry. So she prepared to punish it. That was when she was struck by an unseen attack.


    The attack is simr to the one that happened this morning. It bypassed her defenses and struck her godhood directly. But unlike the previous attack, her godhood was attacked from several directions this time. It stunned her. Then the Malekite rushed forward to touch her.


    Her guards were shocked by the brazen move of this member of their race. Their god didn''t do anything as the Malekite rushed forward but they are not going to watch this sphemy unfold before their eyes without doing anything. They rushed forward with clubs and other weapons grasped by tentacle-like appendages.


    One might call the sight of spherical balls of fungi wielding weaponsical but it is anything butical. These Malekite guards are strong and capable of dishing out serious damage which they disyed now to their fullest potential.


    They struck the disrespectful Malekite just as he touched their goddess. They smashed the sphemer to a pulp. Then they froze. This didn''t just ur here. Every Malekite in the ne froze at that point. Both Malekite and every member of her race froze.


    -----


    Meanwhile Within Malekite.


    An entity that looks like a multicolored cloud with tentacles or a jellyfish has surrounded her godhood. This cloud is choking her godfire directly while speaking to her.


    Legion-7 said to her, "Surrender. Resistance is futile. Be one with me and achieve greatness."


    He was chuckling to himself as he spoke. This situation reminded him of an unpleasant memory that he can make fun of now.


    "Who are you?" She shouted. "You are not Gholu."


    "Who I am doesn''t matter now. What matters is that you have a godhood and I want it."


    "You can''t have it. I am a god. I cannot fall like this."


    Legion-7 was kind enough to assure her, "Don''t be worried. Many gods have died in far more embarrassing manners. Your death like this will not cause people to mock you. In fact, when I am done with you, no one will know that you have died."


    But she wasn''t convinced. She resisted with all her might. She yelled mentally, "You cannot kill me. You can never kill me."


    Legion-7 snorted. "Are you being intentionally obtuse right now? I can and I will kill you. It is just a matter of time."


    Her god fire raged and burned Legion-7. But it wasn''t enough to repel him. Only his shell of grafted soul was burned and that''s after the power of the godfire has been reduced by his soul force.


    Malekite is equivalent to a lord ofw so she can''t threaten him. If not for the fact that godfire happens to be highly destructive to spiritual beings then she wouldn''t be able to struggle at all. So he acquired little damage despite her best efforts, and then he healed the little damage that she caused to his cocoon with Origin energy.


    "Give up." He told her. "You can''t stop me from getting your godhood. Give up resistance and let me consume you. Your resistance is futile. Or are you hoping for help?"


    Her resistance failed to deter him but it also stopped him from subduing her immediately. So he maintained his attack on her godhood while waiting for her to run out of divine energy. Unlike him who has an infinite supply of Origin energy and can fight all day, she doesn''t have an infinite source of divine energy.


    Ideally, a god has infinite divine energy from the faith of their believers. That is as long as their rate of consumption doesn''t exceed the rate at which they replenish divine energy.


    Unfortunately, the rate at which divine energy is replenished is very slow and because Gods have limited capacity for divine energy until they be Celestials, she has a limited storage of divine energy to fight him off.


    Even so, she won''t be easy to take down. As long as she has a constant supply of faith, then she will be able to transform it into divine energy. It will prolong this struggle. But If by chance, her connection to the faith of their believers is blocked by a spiritual entity, then they won''t be able to help her replenish her divine energy at all.


    Legion-7 haspletely blocked her supply of faith so he was right when he said her resistance was futile. Her resistance fell through after an hour of struggling. Her defense of godfire waned so his tentacles could finally burrow into her godhood.


    But that''s not the end of their fight. She is not an unaware soul fragment in the spiritual dimension. Her soul isplete and strong. Her soul also has the divine will of a god which is something even soul prowlers don''t have. It means it will not be easy to graft her.


    It truly wasn''t easy. Legion-7 had to spend an extra 10 minutes bombarding her mind with memories to erode her will. What made things more difficult was that she was older than him and Gehaldirah. She has lived for more than 10 Origin cycles. So he had to use the memories of the soul fragments that he had grafted onto himself to gain an advantage in brainwashing her.

 Chapter 1315 Pleasant Daydreaming.

    Chapter 1315 Pleasant Daydreaming.


    ??The more souls he brainwashes and grafts, the more memories he has at his disposal to brainwash. That''s why someone like the great mother was sure that no one would be able to steal the memories of her soul fragments without getting a memory bacsh and being brainwashed. Unfortunately for her, he had Origin essence to maintain the integrity of his consciousness.


    Malekite was bombarded with memories from different entities so she stopped struggling. Legion-7 stopped at that point and went ahead to graft her soul. Any more memory infusement would have made her mad.


    His reward for his hard work came swiftly. Her soul melted into his soul force and empowered it. It is the first time that soul grafting has empowered his soul force directly. Soul fragments usually enhance his soul, not his soul force.


    "This is not bad." He muttered. "I didn''t need to create and fuse with a concept to increase the power of my soul force."


    "This isn''t the end of it either. I can absorb the godhood for its divinity or I can use it for its domain."


    With Malekit dead, her godhood and domain became his to use. A close-up encounter with her godhood made him realize what was so tantalizing about godhoods. It is the divinity that they possess that is causing the longing from deep within his soul.


    Divinity is formed from purified, refined, and crystallized faith. It strengthens the soul of a god thereby increasing their divine power. He realized that it could also strengthen his soul and make him evolve.


    He considered his options and made up his mind. "I should keep it for now and use it to get more gods."


    The divine will within the divinity is not a problem for him. He can assimte it without any fear of being corroded. But that will weaken the godhood. He decided not to do that in favor of future returns.


    This godhood has given him the domain of spores within this ne. He can use that domain to hunt more gods and if heprehends how this domain works, he can learn how to create his own spores without the godhood.


    Besides, the identity of the god of gues will make a lot of things easier to do. It is prioritizing long-term goals over short-term goals.


    So he took over the divine position of Malekite the god of diseases and gues. Then he called back all the spores to him. Even the army at the frontlines retreated. Then he began strengthening them.


    -----


    Gholu the god of ghouls was perplexed by the sequence of events. The two armies were fighting. Then the Malekites froze and allowed themselves to be ughtered. This continued for more than an hour during which the army of Malekites was decimated. Then the remaining Malekites unfroze only to retreat in panic.


    They look like a sorry bunch that can be crushed with the slightest pressure. Everything makes it seem that he should rush forward with his army to destroy the Malekites. But he didn''t do so. It seemed too easy.


    Gholu sneered, "I have never seen such a clumsy bait in all 112,000 years of my life."


    Their act was so obvious to him that he was sure that there was a trap waiting for him. He is certain of it because this battle has been too easy. The whole situation reeks of a scheme. So he will not rush forward into Malekite''s territory to destroy her army and fight her. Instead, he will let her bait go to waste. He will let her soldiers that died die in vain.


    He thought about it and he couldn''t help but sneer. "If you think you can fool me, then you have got it wrong. I will wait here and see what you n."


    He is certain of a trap but he isn''t certain of what the trap is. But that is already good enough. As long as he doesn''t fall into the trap then whatever she is scheming won''t seed.


    There is nothing wrong with his reason. He has made the right judgment with all the information he has at hand. After all, if Malekite were strong enough to defeat him directly, she wouldn''t need schemes. And if she isn''t strong enough to defeat him directly, then there is no reason to rush headfirst into her territory without knowledge of what he is rushing into.


    So he nned to continue to probe her with his army. His army didn''t go after the running Malekites but bypassed them and tried to enter her territory. He expected resistance but there was none. His army was able to sweep into her territory unhindered.


    He chuckled with mirth, "It seems you are not willing toe out yet. I admire your determination to put up a convincing act of vulnerability but I won''t fall for it. I may not be ancient but I am wise."


    He still decided not to deal the finishing blow despite how weak Malekite appeared. So he controlled his army to avoid her army while destroying the infrastructure and buildings in her kingdom.


    "I want to see how long you can act while I destroy your foundation."


    Malekite still didn''te out to stop him. It made his army enjoy a lot of sess in wiping out the race of Malekites living in the kingdom of spores. It also made him anticipate his future when he kills Malekite and gains her domain.


    He thought to himself smugly, "And they said I was too young. They said I was too unruly and ambitious. Who is right now?"


    He was already picturing the grand future when he would wield the domain of gues and diseases in conjunction with the domain of spores. His rise to high god will be all but certain. Even bing a grand god is not out of the question.


    But then there was a change after an hour of wanton destruction. It brought him out of his daydreaming. Some strange Malekites appeared and confronted his army.

 Chapter 1316 The Rise Of Malekite.

    Chapter 1316 The Rise Of Malekite.


    ??These Malekites are not round like the others. They are vertical and cylindrical like trees. They walk on roots made of clumped-up hypha. They also have numerous whip-like appendages made of hypha. They look weird but they are very strong. Gholu saw them use their appendages to tear many ghouls apart.


    Gholu''s eyes widened in disbelief. Then heughed.


    He said in understanding, "No wonder she allowed me to destroy her army. No wonder why she wanted me to invade her territory. She wanted to surround me."


    He eximed as he put together her diabolical scheme. "She wanted to surround me and bury me in one fell swoop. What a n!."


    "I didn''t know that Malekite was such a schemer. But I am better. I expected the trap long before it happened. If she thinks she can trap me then she must be delusional," He said confidently.


    And so he turned around to run. It is as he said, he may not be ancient but he is wise. He is wise enough to realize that his life is in danger and that he has to escape even if he will lose his kingdom.


    Fortunately, he is anded god. He is not limited to a divine kingdom and can escape to anywhere in the ne. He will lose his precious kingdom but it is better than losing his life.


    Unfortunately for him, Legion-7 had already surrounded him. There are 10 transcendent Malekites behind him and another 10 in front of him. There is also one Malekite that appears to be a vessel among them.


    This Malekite is levitating like the others. But there is also a glow of divine power around it. This divine power is Malekite''s and it is a low divine power simr to the god of gues and diseases.


    The Malekite said to him, "Don''t run now Gholu. You are on the menu."


    Gholu looked around warily. His green and hairy muscr body is tensed for battle. He is scared for his life but he still has the honor of a god. He can''t allow another low god to look down on him even if they have the advantage over him.


    So he said, "You have hidden yourself well. I must admit that I have underestimated you. But don''t look down on me too much. Don''t be so full of yourself that you think that you can take me down with a vessel. If you are so strong, why don''t youe and fight me yourself?"


    The Malekite chuckled. "Look at this rat. You are caught in a barrel but you''re still boosting."


    It moved closer to Gholu just like the others. They formed a barricade around the trapped low god. He can''t escape unless he goes through them.


    Gholu panicked. "How about this? I will give up my domain of diseases and gues. Take it and leave me a way out or else I will make sure to take down this vessel of yours at all costs."


    He has only one domain so if he gives it up, he will regress to the level of a demigod if he doesn''t die in the attempt. But that risk is better than death. He believes that Malekite will be interested in the deal since the most valuable thing about him is his domain.


    Unfortunately, he is wrong. The most valuable thing in him is his divinity. Legion-7 can spend some time to create divinity with the godhood he grafted onto himself, but why should he spend time when he can take down Gholu at the cost of some divine energy?


    Legion-9 can also make divinity but Legion-7 isn''t willing to wait for the long period of time it will take. He would rather dine on Gholu now. So the transcendents attacked when they got close enough to Gholu.


    Gholu roared, "You will regret this."


    All the transcendents whipped at him with their appendages. The air howled with the passage of their appendages. The power of their attacks is evident to Gholu even before they made contact with him. But he didn''t back down. He rushed bravely into battle.


    He selected the vessel and roused all his divine power for an attack. He gave up on defense because he knew that he would die. But he intends to take down Malekite''s precious vessel with him. Most times, 10 transcendents are not equal to a vessel that can bear the power of their god.


    An arrow formed of greenish-ck energy shot out of him towards the vessel. It tore the vessel apart on contact and killed it. Meanwhile, the whips finally made contact with his body. Theynded on him like hammers. His body was crushed and shredded.


    He isn''t dead yet. He still has divine energy so he tried to create another divine body around his godhood but the whips wrapped around him and something spiritual smashed into him.


    Legion-7 passed through the tentacles of his spawns into the trapped god to im another godhood for himself. This time the grafting process was easier since Gholu had to resist him while also resisting the physical assault of the transcendents surrounding him. His divine energy was exhausted in less than 10 minutes.


    Legion-7 devoured the godhood and the divinity within it.


    He said in appreciation, "This is nice. I could get used to this."


    A pleasant feeling sprung up from within his soul. It nourished and made his soul feel refreshed. It is theplete opposite of theher waters touching his soul. He can feel that his soul will evolve soon if he continues to devour divinity so there is no way he will stop now.


    But first, he went through his other spoils. Divinity is not the only thing present within the godhood of a god.


    "This domain of diseases and gues isn''t bad either. I can do great things with it."


    The domain is the leftover from the godhood. It isn''t useful to anyone without a godhood. Fortunately, he has a godhood, and even more fortunate is that he canbine the power of the domain of spores and the domain of diseases.

 Chapter 1317 The Queen Has Moved.

    Chapter 1317 The Queen Has Moved.


    ??What he has managed with the domain of spores alone has shown him the potential in domains.


    For example, the source of 10 transcendents. The Malekites are connected to him so he used that connection to possess them and forced them to be transcendents. Many of them died but some seeded. But now he doesn''t need the connection anymore. Any race can be turned into his minions.


    With the domain of spores, he can spread his transcendent soul fragments as spores easily. And with the domain of diseases and gues, his spores will be able to take root in living beings instead of in the ground, unlike Malekites.


    All it will cost him is divine energy to use the domains and Origin energy to create the soul fragments needed for spores.


    Thisbination gave him an idea. "Maybe I should target gods with domains rted to the soul. I will be able to learn their divine abilities and use them directly without the need for godhood."


    The godhood he got from Malekite has two domains now. But they will be useless once he leaves this ne. Hence the need to learn the divine abilities. As long as they are rted to the soul, he can create spiritual techniques simr to them. Which made him turn his greedy eyes toward other gods with divine abilities that have to do with souls.


    "There is illusion and death. Those two will strengthen me greatly."


    He is going to eat all the gods. He ns to do that but he has gained an order of priority. The gods with the domains of illusion and death are at the top of his list in his god-hunting n.


    ------


    While he was making further ns about which order he would eat the gods, the will of the ne finally decided that he was too much of a danger to the ne. It finally moved to rectify this invasion.


    Legion-7 noticed the Will of the ne move immediately it decided to react. He saw a spiritual entity above the ne. This entity is sorge that it covers the whole ne. The entity''s main body is a cloud of spiritual energy. But it is connected by threads to every living being in the ne. So it looks like a fat transparent spider.


    He was surprised to sense the Will of the ne. This is the first time that Legion has seen anything like it. But he is more concerned about why the Will of the ne appeared.


    So he asked, "What are you doing?"


    The Will didn''t reply but he could guess the reason for its awakening and its motives. He didn''t see the Will of the ne before so it was either sleeping or it was hiding. Now that he can see it, it could be because it has awakened or decided not to hide anymore. Either one is not good news for him.


    It could be that the Will of the ne moved into action because of the mortals who suddenly lost their connection to it when he possessed them. It could also be because of the two gods that died in quick session by his hand.


    Whatever roused the will of the ne from its dormant state has to be very important. Fortunately, he didn''t have to wait for long to see what the Will of the ne would do. Legion-7 saw one of the threads that links the will of the ne to the living things thicken and glow brightly. He understood what had urred immediately.


    "I see. You have made a move against me. It is a smart move too. You have selected someone to defeat me."


    Then he chuckled. "You are not the great mother. I am not afraid of you."


    From his experience with being children of the ne as Soverick and Helios, and the reaction of the ne in the Lumen ne, he knew that the next thing that the Will of the ne would do when it is threatened is to select a child of the ne. This person must also be someone who possesses an ability or talent that the invader is vulnerable to.


    Even so, he didn''t feel threatened at all. He is actually looking forward to the fight.


    "I wonder how you taste. I will get to see why the demon god of Carnage wants to devour you."


    He couldn''t do anything to the will of the ne before. But now it has awakened and it has also selected a child of the ne. That has opened an avenue of attack for him. It has given him the opportunity to see what is so great about the Will of the ne that a demon god would want to devour them.


    The thought made him chuckle because Ragnarok is currently under the shadow cast by a demon god while he is trying to do the same thing that the demon god wants to do with the ne.


    But then something strange happened. The ne stopped. All of time and space in the ne froze. Or it seems to have frozen. Legion-7 sensed that it might just be allowed so much that it appeared to be frozen.


    An elf appeared before him. The elf has golden hair and golden eyes. The elf also has green skin. These features brought back familiar memories to Legion-7. Most importantly, he has seen this high elf before.


    "Greetings, realm lord," Legion-7 said in greeting.


    The realm lord smiled. "The prodigal son has returned. Wee back to the realm. I wouldn''t have known of your arrival had you not caused so much ruckus."


    "I haven''t broken any rules realm lord. If I have, then I didn''t know and I am willing to pay reparations for the damage that I have caused."


    The High Elf shook its head and said, "You haven''t broken any rules. I came here for another reason."


    Legion-7 didn''t rx. The fact that he has not broken any rules does not fill him with relief. The presence and attention of the realm lord cannot be taken lightly.


    ------


    A/N: What do you think the realm lord wants?

 Chapter 1318 It Is On.

    Chapter 1318 It Is On.


    ??"Might I ask, what reason is that?" Legion-7 asked.


    The Realm lord smiled kindly, "You are a fascinating being. I am curious about you and your recent experiences. You disappeared for a while but now you''re back in the realm as a strange entity. It is very curious."


    "Is that so?" Legion-7 asked carefully.


    "Yes, it is so. Ie bearing a deal. I want your experience of the strange ce you went to and in exchange, I will make the will of the ne back off. I will also make it so that the void universe cannot punish you in the realm of high heaven. You will be able to walk around without fear of lightning punishment but you still won''t be able to use thew matrix. I can''t help you with that."


    Legion-7 thought about it. It sounded like a good deal so he asked, "Do you just want me to tell you what I experienced?"


    "No. I want more than that. I want the full memory of your experience. It is only that way that I can fulfill my curiositypletely. You can take some time to think it over."


    But Legion-7 didn''t deliberate for long. He replied immediately, "I am afraid that I cannot give you my full memory."


    He doesn''t know what is important about his experience, but if the realm lord cane to him with a deal for it, then it must be very important. Thest time the realm lord did such a thing was for Chaos energy.


    Legion-7 doesn''t know if his experience is as valuable as the knowledge of Chaos energy. But he is not willing to give up his experience for something like a little respite from the void universe. It feels shortsighted. Besides, he has some things he would rather keep hidden from the realm lord.


    "Don''t be quick to reject. I can understand from your state of existence what you need to be very powerful. Divinity is all well and good but there is something better that can make you evolve endlessly. I can give it to you."


    "What is it?" he asked.


    "Not so fast. I won''t tell you unless you agree to the deal. Just the knowledge of it is already valuable. If you have the knowledge, then you won''t have to muck your way around. So what do you say?"


    "I am sorry but I will have to decline."


    The realm lord smiled. It was still a kind smile. He asked as he smiled, "Are you sure? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."


    That smile looked to be a mask to Legion-7. He wasn''t fooled by it. He knows that beneath that smile is a paragon that has achieved unbelievable things and a beast that has devoured countless enemies and opposition to reach where he is today.


    To offend such an entity is to ce yourself as a target of their wrath. Even so, Legion-7 said with determination, "Yes, I am sure."


    "Good for you." The realm lord said then he disappeared.


    The world also began to move. His meeting seemed like an illusion. He thought time had stopped but it hadn''t. He knows through his connection with other clones that their conversation didn''t take up to a second in real word time. It is just that his perception of the world stagnated when the realm lord appeared to him.


    "I guess the enmity between us and the realm lord might ur before we be world gods. This is not good news. But we are not so helpless either."


    He reviewed the encounter again for anything out of ce or if there was another option that he missed. But he came to the conclusion that he had to refuse the deal.


    He was only suspicious of the worth of his experience before. But the way the realm lord tempted him with something he didn''t know about made him give up on any thoughts of making the deal.


    It felt sketchy that he wasn''t allowed to know what he was going to get unless he agreed to the deal. The thing he gets might be useless or it might be very useful. The cruz of the matter is that he doesn''t know and he doesn''t like to make decisions in ignorance.


    In the case that he gets something truly useful from the realm lord in exchange for his experience, then his experience must be worth something. It is highly likely that it is worth more than what he will be given. It is another reason why he should reject the deal.


    be worth something. It is highly likely that it is worth more than what he will be given. It is another reason why he should reject His rejection of the deal might have angered the realm lord or not, but it has made Legion realize that they have something that the realm lord wants. That means, if the realm lord wasn''t hindered by rules, he wouldn''t have bothered to ask them for a deal since he is stronger than them.


    "How ironic. We thought we were the oneing after the realm lord but it seems he would being after us too."


    Soverick suggested. "If the realm lord is curious about the spiritual dimension, the major things he might be interested in are theher water, the mechanism of resurrection of fallen Origin gods, thew of the soul, and other soul techniques."


    They considered it and figured that it might be true. Legion-7 said, "It could also be how I was able to escape the great mother or how I was able to teleport across the vast universe using the spiritual dimension."


    Legion-1 stated. "If they are valuable then we must not let them go to waste. We must make use of the information to strengthen ourselves."


    Legion-7 was quick to add, "I think we can take advantage of the resurrection mechanism of the fallen Origin gods to create our own system of immortality that is independent of the void universe."


    Legion-7 exined his reasoning further, "We have divine life energy. I am sure that I can do something with it and the soul techniques I have acquired to achieve something like that."

 Chapter 1319 Organic Vs Inorganic Vessel.

    <h4>Chapter 1319 Organic Vs Inorganic Vessel. </h4>


    Legion-7 has indeed learned a lot of things in the spiritual dimension. What struck a chord in him was the ck hole. It is arguably the most significant thing he saw apart from the great mothers.


    He had tried to copy how they devoured souls but he failed. Still, he managed to learn how to attract and pull souls to himself using soul force. He also believes that if given time and opportunity, he can use the resurrection system of the Origin gods in the spiritual dimension to create an independent one for Legion to use.


    Legion-7 finished his exnation with a caveat, "But I will need protection or a way to avoid death myself. I am currently vulnerable and easy to kill. It will not do if I am the core of the resurrection and I die."


    "Hmm. You make a good point. But as of yet, there is no solution. Maybe you will find a way to protect yourself through the gods."


    "The domains of gods do contain a lot of potential. Plus you are yet to evolve. Let''s wait and see what wille of your evolution."


    "I think we can find and build a perfect body for you just like we prepared a body for Legion-9."


    "An organic body is good but a mechanical body can also work. I think a great artifact built to protect souls will work much better than an organic body."


    "But an organic body will grant us another useful clone with a useful divine ability. What can an inorganic body do?"


    "As good as that might be, where are we going to find a useful organic body for him to possess? The life tree can work but we already have one. Another one will be a waste."


    "But a robot body seems like a waste too."


    "No, it is not. Imagine arge number of robots connected and controlled by Legion-7. It will be like Malekite but more durable and reliable."


    The clones were arguing about what to do with Legion-7. Legion-7 is currently not useful to them and they are already nning to get rid of him. But he has the potential for greatness, especially with his suggestion to create an independent resurrection system.


    The best thing and also the easiest thing is to kill him and create another clone in his ce. They will lose his special existence but they will also gain a useful clone. But they don''t want to lose his special existence. At least not yet.


    Unfortunately, if they are to keep him, they have to deal with the hostility of the whole void universe towards him. That brings a lot of difficulty that they don''t know how to solve yet.


    The best they cane up with ensconcing him within a specially made body that will be verypatible with him, unlike the hosts that die when he possesses them or prepare an inorganic body that can''t be destroyed easily. This has led to quite an argument amongst them.


    "How about we wait until he evolves? He might gain an ability that will increase his survivability. It will also increase his worth to us so we know just how much we can sacrifice to keep him."


    Legion-7 suggested, "That''s for the future. Currently, I think we have to remove the system from us as soon as possible. The realm lord cannot be trusted."


    Legion-1 agreed. "You''re right. It is best not to risk anything when ites to him."


    Legion-7 is a spiritual being who is very adept with connections. There is one connection that he has noticed between Legion and the realm tree. That connection is the same one that attaches the system to them.


    He doesn''t have the system anymore ever since he went to the spiritual dimension. Bing a soul prowler severed his connection with the realm. This is probably why the realm lord is interested in his experience in the spiritual dimension or why the void universe doesn''t consider him a living being.


    But the other clones still have their connection with the system. They can''t do anything about it until they be Origin gods and Legion-1 has never bothered to have it removed since they believe that the realm lord can''t acquire any information from it. After all, the realm lord has not acquired their permission to do so. But they have decided not to rely on Mother High Heaven and the rules that bind the realm lord to protect them anymore.


    "I have removed it." Legion-1 said.


    "So have I," Aeternus said.


    Helios also joined in. "And I."


    Those three are the only ones who have enough power to sever their connection with the system. Soverick, Ragnarok, Legion-5, and Legion-8 can''t yet.


    "The loss of the stat screens means that we can''t track our progress easily anymore."


    "We don''t need the stat screen as Origin gods anyway."


    "I wonder what he is using the information he gathers for."


    "He must gain something from it, most likely strength."


    "Even if he doesn''t gain strength from it, he must gain knowledge and knowledge is power."


    "Let''s consider the problem of our own strength next."


    "If we are strong enough, the threat of the realm lord won''t matter."


    They take the realm lord seriously but as a future adversary who they would antagonize and ovee. They nned for the fight to be when the void universe dies but recent events as shown that the realm lord mighte after them earlier than that time.


    So Legion took note of the realm lord''s deal, made some changes to themselves, and updated their threat assessment of the realm lord. Then they moved on to make ns that would ensure their survivability against the realm lord if need be.


    They concluded that Legion-7 needed to evolve and acquire more soul techniques. So he turned his greedy gaze towards the gods.


    "It seems my hobby has be a job. There is no better thing than that."


    It is the best of both worlds when what you do for fun bes something that will get you paid. For Legion-7, killing and eating gods has be the best of both worlds.

 Chapter 1320 Mad Malekite.

    <h4>Chapter 1320 Mad Malekite.</h4>


    -----The Gods.


    The gods who had been watching the war between the two low gods were surprised. They hadn''t expected the war to end just like that. It came to them as a shock that Malekite had gained transcendents in her race. This elevated their assessment of her and also created a lot of enemies for her.


    The group of gods who became wary of her are the gods with domains of diseases and gues. They used to be enemies with Gholu but their adversity has shifted to her now that she possesses a small part of that domain.


    The gods were expecting her to rx for many years to digest her newfound powers. Then she would attack them to expand the power of her domain after years of recuperation and preparation.


    They were wrong. Malekite didn''t rx. She started a new war immediately. She also didn''t target the gods with the domain of diseases and gues. She targeted Rier the god of poison.


    A god snickered and said, "If the domain of poison is her target, then she must be mad for power. She is biting more than she can chew."


    As if those two behaviors were not odd enough, Rier is also not a low-god like Gholu. She is a mid-god with a much stronger divine power than Gholu. This war confirmed that Malekite might actually be mad and not just for power. She might very well be mentally unstable.


    This sequence of events made some gods pay attention to Malekite more. They soon found her source of confidence when they noticed that the Malekite race increased in number massively. This is because Malekite used the kingdom of Gholu as fertilizer to create more Malekites.


    The Malekite race attacked the kingdom and killed everyone. Then she used their dead bodies as seed beds for her spores to create more Malekites. It was a massacre that turned a whole territory into a graveyard but there was no outcry. Instead, the gods couldn''t help but be envious of her.


    Instead of saying, "Malekite has gone too far. Mortal life shouldn''t be treated like this. We are supposed to be protectors of mortals, not their killers."


    They said, "This Malekite is truly lucky. She can create believers by herself. Her acquisition of the domain of diseases and gues has made her reproductive ability stronger."


    "And she has even managed to elevate them to transcendents. I thought she was suppressing them not to be transcendents so that they wouldn''t break away from her control. It seems she is going all out."


    "She has lost her restraints. Her strength has exploded because of it but it might also backfire. Transcendents are not so easy to control. They will soon start to get ideas of their own. It will happen soon with the way she is pushing them to their deaths in war."


    "Why is she after the domain of poison though? It makes no sense. Spores don''t go well with poison."


    The gods were envious of her ability to reproduce and create believers as her offspring. They can''t emte her because reproduction is very difficult for other gods. Their divinity reduces their fertility but the domain of Spores is the opposite. It enhanced her fertility.


    The fact that her offsprings her also the race that she created made them automatic believers. It has made it so that she has a strong potential to be a Celestial.


    Malekite is unique in that aspect. She is the only primogenitor who is still alive in the ne. The ancestors of other races are long dead either due to old age or idents. Her potential has made it evident that she is capable of achieving great things if she is not killed.


    Her special position has not made them take Malekite seriously though. At least, the powerful gods that can kill her are not willing to take action yet. They want her to grow stronger and her domain of spores to develop more so that they will gain more from killing her.


    But it looks like they won''t get that pleasure. Rier will surely kill her for overreaching. Or her transcendents will rebel. After all, if they gain her godhood then they will be able to rece her as the Primogenitor of their race.


    These reasons are why weaker gods are not taking her seriously. All the gods are envious of her but they are certain that she won''t meet a good end. Malekite used to be cautious in the past but she seems to have gone mad and they are waiting for her inevitable death.


    They are certain that she won''t have a good end mostly because of her transcendent offsprings. Her offspring couldn''t rebel before because of the suppression of their ancestry but that suppression is no more now that they have broken their limits.


    Malekite has broken one important rule of a god, believers are meant to be weak and reliant on their gods to maintain their faith. So the gods expected to see a loss. Everything was working towards that oue.


    Malekite had a lot of transcendents as opposed to the single transcendent that Rier had employed. Her transcendents decimated Rier''s army. They broke through the army to fight Rier herself. But their quantity couldn''t ovee the quality that is the divine power of a mid-god. Rier killed them easily.


    30 transcendents fought a single mid-god and died until only 5 of them were left. The 25 that were killed died in less than 10 minutes of fighting with her. Even the 4 vessels that showed up couldn''t stand against her.


    All Rier had to do was eliminate the rest and im victory. It seemed the transcendents sensed this oue too. They rushed her and tried to bury her with their attacks and their bodies.


    No one knows what happened exactly but Rier was dead by the time the rubble of the desperate charge of the transcendents was over. She appeared to have been suffocated which allowed the transcendents to deplete her divine energy and kill her.

 Chapter 1321 Silent Killer.

    Chapter 1321 Silent Killer.


    ??As if a god suffocating is not absurd enough, Rier''s godhood was taken by a transcendent who then brought it to Malekite. This shocked every god watching.


    They expected rebellion in the form of theft. The transcendents were supposed to take the godhood for themselves. After all, they had shed their lives for it. It would also give them power greater than that of Malekite.


    It would have been perfectly normal for the transcendents to run away from their low-god ancestor with the godhood of a mid-god. However, the transcendents were not tempted by the godhood enough to rebel.


    A god said, "I have never seen this kind of loyalty."


    "27 of them out of 30 died but they didn''t rebel. Instead, they helped her to advance further. No wonder she has so many vessels. It seems that the loyalty of her race has not been broken by their transcendence."


    They marveled and sighed. Then they prepared to return to their life. After all, Malekite should not attack anyone now that she suffered so many losses.


    Malekite didn''t disappoint them this time around. She stopped fighting and became silent.


    The gods knew then it was the calm before the storm. They have seen enough to know that Malekite has the potential to be a Celestial and she is also crazy so they don''t expect her to stop until she achieves it.


    They expected a series of wars after she was done recuperating and they were all preparing for war themselves. Despite all their preparation, they were still unprepared for the kind of storm that wasing.


    Malekite or Legion-7 rested. In the meantime, hebined the ability to spread his soul fragments as spores with the ability to reanimate corpses with the soul fragments and the ability to infect living beings with his soul fragments.


    In the past, he needed to kill living beings before he could create soldiers. He needed to use the old method of creating Malekites to mask what he was actually doing. It is why the gods thought the Malekites he created could betray him.


    They don''t know that the Malekites have already been brainwashed before they were born. But now, he doesn''t need to do that since he has ovee the barrier between living things and his spores.


    He could already possess a body, but it needs him to personally act. It is how Rier died. But now, his soul fragments can possess bodies too. They will invade living things like poisons, take root in them like diseases, and take over their bodies like zombies.


    He has unlimited soul fragments because of origin energy so he can create as many spores as he wants. It is something that Malekite couldn''t do.


    The other thing that is probably the most important difference between him and Malekite now is that every spore creates a transcendent soldier. And each transcendent soldier is a vessel that can use the divine power that he acquires perfectly.


    He didn''t spend too much effort on creating the techniques needed for this and he certainly didn''t need to stop fighting to train himself. He could have done both at the same time.


    The major reason why he rested and continued to rest after acquiring the soul techniques is to silently spread his newly created soul poison. So the gods thought he was resting the whole time. They were wrong. The fight they were preparing for as already begun without their knowledge.


    His spores spread throughout the realm and infected the living things. They entrenched themselves in their host but remained dormant. This continued for years.


    He began the next round of attack after 10 years of spreading the soul poison. The gods were caught off guard immediately because a terrible gue erupted throughout the ne.


    They don''t even know that he is responsible for it much less consider that he is actually after the high god of death a far distance away from him and that he is just attacking everything between them.


    All they know is that a zombie apocalypse descended on the ne. So even though the war had started, they all thought Malekite was still resting. After all, this war was not fought with the Malekites.


    At first, the gods didn''t take the gue seriously. But they had to when the high god of death died to the zombie gue. Legion-7 couldn''t infect gods so he just made the zombies attack the high god directly.


    Of course, transcendents can''t threaten a high god. The best they can do is surround and distract the god. The killing blow came when one of them made contact with the god which created a stable and direct channel for Legion-7 to strike.


    What others saw was that the high god of death was besieged by a million zombies and eventually died after being grabbed and submerged by the hungry undead. So they could only suspect every god with the domain of diseases and gues.


    Legion-7 grew rapidly in silence. His ability to infect living things from a far distance made it so that he could get close to the gods without them noticing. They couldn''t see or sense him until he attacked them directly. By then, it was toote to escape.


    He was growing silently and killing everything silently. The gods were looking for the source of the cmity but they didn''t suspect him at all. They knew the domains he had but they didn''t suspect him because gods can''t fuse domains.


    Only Celestials can fuse domains and use the divine abilities of each domain to assist each other. So they didn''t think he would be able to create the zombies since at best, he could only create Malekites.


    Their search was made extra difficult by the strange mechanism of transmission of the disease. People got infected, they turned into zombies and they attacked every living thing around them. Those who were attacked turned into zombies and the cycle restarted.


    This method of proliferation was terrifying but it was still a smokescreen.

 Chapter 1322 Stealthy Divine Or Terrifying Natural?

    Chapter 1322 Stealthy Divine Or Terrifying Natural?


    ??The fact that only those who were harmed by zombies turned into zombies acted as a smoke screen to hide how they infect others. So the gods thought the zombies were spreading the disease through contact, bites, and attacks but the disease was airborne all along.


    The fact that new zombies only appeared in areas attacked by zombies muddled their investigation further and granted the inhabitants a false sense of safety. They put quarantines in ce but it didn''t stop the appearance of the zombie disease.


    The disease spread so quickly that a council meeting of the gods was called. It wasn''t a physical meeting. They aremunicating using a rune ofmunication from the god of knowledge and understanding as a ry to connect all of them. No one wanted to meet physically for fear of transmitting the disease.


    The Celestial of Knowledge said, "I suspect that one of the gods is causing this cmity. I have made some investigation but I have found no natural means. That means one of you is responsible for this."


    As the god of knowledge, he is very familiar with most diseases and gues. He can even simte control over them with his knowledge and understanding of them. Even the great gods of diseases and gues are not as familiar as him with diseases and gues. But he couldn''t find the cause of the gue. All he found after inspecting the zombies was that their bodies were breaking apart and decaying.


    Another Celestial asked, "Who is responsible for it then? Surely you must have found the culprit through the divine energy traces."


    "I don''t know." The Celestial of knowledge replied.


    "What do you mean by you don''t know? If it is not natural, then it must be divine. If it is divine, then there must be divine energy traces. If there are divine energy traces then there must be a divine source. If you identify the divine source then you have identified the source of the gue. This ismon sense. So how can you not know the god responsible for the disease?"


    The Celestial of Knowledge became agitated. "I don''t know because there are no divine energy traces."


    His deration caused an uproar among the gods.


    Another Celestial asked angrily, "Why would you suspect one of the gods of there is no divine energy trace? I hope you were not making baseless usations."


    The Celestial of Knowledge replied confidently, "There are two options for theck of divine traces. The first one is that this is a natural gue that can''t be traced or identified at all. The second one is that this is a divine gue caused by a god who is very adept at hiding their traces. I chose to go with the second option because gods are dying to this gue. No natural gue can affect gods."


    "The gue has led to the death of many gods and their godhoods are nowhere to be found. Only a god can kill another god. And only living things will be after their godhood. If it is a natural gue, then this is a terrifying gue that can kill gods. Which option would you rather believe? A sneaky perpetrator or a terrifying natural disease?"


    His question was answered with silence. It is the silence filled with dread and fear. Neither of the two options is good. There is either a god killing them silently with a disease or a natural disease strong enough to kill gods.


    They don''t know which is better or what to do. But one thing is clear, if a god is responsible then there is hope of stopping the gue. They just need to find who among them is responsible for it.


    The Celestial of War broke the silence. "If it this disease is caused by a god then there is no reason to worry. Only the weak gods will die. No Celestial has died yet so we are sure that this god can''t kill Celestials. This gue will end soon. My point still stands even if it is caused by a natural disease. We Celestials have nothing to worry about."


    The Celestial of Knowledge refuted. "That is the situation now. What if the god bes a Celestial? What if the disease mutates after devouring so many godhoods and bes capable of killing Celestials too? What do we do then? All we know now is that the disease needs contact and bites to spread. But what if that changes?"


    The Celestial of War maintained his stance, "It will only kill the weak. I don''t have anything to worry about because I am not weak."


    Another Celestial suggested. "Anyway, if it is the work of a god, then I suspect the gods with the domain of gues and diseases. Only they are capable of such a thing. And the culprit might have the help of a Celestial to hide their divine energy traces for even you to be unable to sense the divine traces."


    "What if we got this wrong and it is actually both of the options? What if the disease started as a natural disease but then became a god? This will exin why it doesn''t need to use its domain to infect and why it is powerful enough to kill gods."


    "There have been no gods in recent times so that theory cannot be true. If you ask me, I think this is a conspiracy by some gods to farm arge amount of faith."


    "It could also be for creating a terrifying impression on the inhabitants of the ne for the creation of a domain or the ascension of a grand god into Celestials."


    They began arguing about what to do and pointing fingers. They didn''t stop until the Celestial Supreme intervened.


    The Celestial Of Lightning first ordered, "Silence."


    Then she said, "I think this is more than it seems. Something happened 10 years ago. A child of the ne was chosen. And on that same day, Malekite died."

 Chapter 1323 Among Us.

    <h4>Chapter 1323 Among Us. </h4>


    They were surprised by the im and also perplexed. The Celestial of War asked, "What do you mean by Malekite is dead? She is alive and well. For a low-god, she is impressive to be able to survive till today."


    Another god added, "That''s true. Her kingdom of spores is still standing strong against the infection. The Malekites are too united and loyal to her. They didn''t fall into panic at all. They are defending their territory with determination.


    The gods looked around to find Malekite and use her presence to deny the im that she was dead but they couldn''t find her presence in themunication channel.


    It prompted someone to ask, "Speaking of which, why is Malekite not participating in this meeting? Does she not know how important this is?"


    The Celestial of Knowledge exined, "Malekite is not here because the Celestial Supreme told me not to invite her and some other gods."


    Then the Celestial of Knowledge said to the Celestial Supreme, "You are the Supreme Celestial but I don''t think it is a good idea to exempt some gods from this meeting. These are dire times. It is not a good time to y politics. We all need to join our hands together if we want to ovee this gue."


    The gods murmured in agreement but many of them made sure not to let the Celestial Supreme hear what they said. Only Celestials were courageous enough to express their disatifaction but few of them cared enough about Malekite and some weak gods to do so.


    But the Celestial of knowledge cares so he continued, "You said you would give me an exnation for your request. I think now is a good time for it. I''m sure many other gods are as curious as I am about the reason why you would alienate Malekite and the other gods."


    They are truly curious as to why the Celestial Supreme would be out to get Malekite. Politics is not a new thing amongst gods. But they don''t think a low god is worthy of being targeted by the most powerful god.


    The Celestial Supreme decided to make things clear. She said, "I will repeat what I said. There is no more Malekite. Malekite is dead. Even though the domain of spores is still present, her divine soul is no more. Someone else is masquerading as her."


    As if that wasn''t shocking enough, She continued, "And this urred on the day that the Will of the ne determined that there is a threat that must be addressed in the ne."


    Others didn''t know about the selection of the child of the ne. It has been a long time ago that there was a child of the ne. It was with the help of that child of the ne that she was able to merge the divine ne with the main power so she is very familiar with children of the nes.


    But even if that didn''t happen, she is certain of her conjectures because of two major reasons. The first reason is that she is the Celestial Supreme so she noticed the awakening of the will of the ne and its selection of a child of the ne.


    This is also why she knows that Malekite is dead. As the Celestial Supreme, the ascension of a new god and the death of a god cannot escape her notice.


    The second major reason she isis certain of her conjecture is also the reason why she knows exactly who the child of the ne is. This reason is that the child of the ne is her son.


    A demigod of hers is the child of the ne. There is no way she wouldn''t know this even if she were not the Celestial Supreme. It was her son that confirmed her thoughts about the threat in the ne and the possible death of Malekite.


    A Celestial asked her, "You have made some bold and wild ims. As bold as they are, I am willing to believe them since these are strange times with strange things happening. But if Malekite is dead, who is masquerading as her?"


    The Celestial Supreme was prepared for that question. So she answered immediately, "I suspect it to be a sentient disease. It is the disease that is spreading about. She might have been infected by it or she might have created it but it backfired against her."


    "I am inclined to believe in thetter. She has been experimenting with how to improve her race so she might have created something disastrous. Malekites are currently harmless but they used to be fungi and fungi are terrifying diseases for mortals. The fact that her race is currently sentient and harmless doesn''t mean they can''t regain the infectious properties of their past."


    She went on to exin, "There are two possibilities. The first one is that the disease is not a god that''s why you didn''t sense any divine traces. The other option is that the disease is Malekite. She is a Primogenitor after all. Maybe she has found a way to break the shackles of her existence through her godhood and returned to her primitive and infectious stage."


    The gods were shocked by the options. Even Legion-7 was surprised when he heard what was said.


    He chuckled to himself. "So this is why Malekite and the gods that I absorbed were not invited to this meeting."


    Malekite and all the gods that he killed secretly weren''t invited. It was his recent target that was invited to the meeting. He didn''t know about the meeting until he grafted the godhood of this high god.


    Apparently, the silent death of the gods didn''t escape the notice of the Celestial Supreme even though he kept their souls.


    "It must be because I hate their godhood. The disappeared godhood can''t escape her notice. But what about the gods that I kept intact? How did she know that they were dead and brainwashed? Is the Celestial Supreme that capable or did someone tell her?"

 Chapter 1324 Soul Fire.

    <h4>Chapter 1324 Soul Fire.</h4>


    The person he suspects of ratting him out is the child of the ne. He knows the child of the ne has been created and that whoever it is will hate him. It doesn''t take him much to suspect that the child of the ne is working with the Celestial Supreme to suppress him. After all, she is the strongest being in the ne.


    He thought to himself with confidence, "It seems this ne will not be easy to subdue. But it is good too. I like a challenge. Let it not be said that I bullied them."


    Then he chuckled evilly as he said, "Enjoy your peace for now. You won''t have it for much longer."


    He can use thismunication system set up by the Celestial of Knowledge to attack the Celestial of Knowledge or the other gods connected to the system. It is a spiritualwork formed with divine power which means it is an avenue of attack for him. But he didn''t attack.


    His reluctance to attack is mostly because he doesn''t think he can defeat any Celestial yet. Celestials have an unlimited storage of divine energy so it will take a long time to grind down their resistance. Anything can happen in the meantime.


    Another reason why it is a bad idea to attack a Celestial right in front of everyone is that it will cause the other Celestials to take him seriously. If he can threaten them and is mad enough to do so openly, then they are likely to band together to eliminate him. So he won''t trouble them yet.


    He turned his attention to other suitable targets. If he can''t take a Celestial down, that leaves grand gods and lesser gods. But those are not worth it for him to expose the fact that he has infiltrated theirmunication system.


    It is best that he remains hidden and acquires more information. After all, he can get grand gods on his own. He doesn''t need themunication system to find and attack them. He is already targeting many of them.


    "Who is the child of the ne?" The Celestial of War asked.


    The Celestial Supreme said sternly, "That is information that you don''t need to know."


    "Why not? How is it that we the gods of the ne don''t need to know about something that involves the fate of the whole ne?"


    Another Celestial buttressed that point, "We should at least know who it is so that we can help them. It is not as if you''re lying about the existence of a child of the ne so you shouldn''t have a reason to hide it."


    The Celestial Supreme didn''t back down. She said to them, "You don''t need to know because I said so."


    The Celestial of Knowledge intervened quickly. "I think we should see if can contact Malekite and try to negotiate with her."


    He didn''t wait for them to ask before he exined his reasons, "It is either that or we discuss how to neutralize the disease. I will tell you all now that this disease is beyond my knowledge. I do not have any confidence in curing it."


    The Celestial of War didn''t like that suggestion, "So you are saying that we should negotiate with a terrorist?"


    The Celestial of Knowledge refuted calmly, "Put away your hypocrisy and false righteousness. You razed down a whole kingdom when you wanted to be a god and you are always trying to initiate wars in the ne. Some might call you a terrorist but we don''t, at least not to your face because we know you do it for power. Malekite must have a goal for what she is doing and we can help her get it in exchange for peace."


    The Celestial of War grumbled something about weakness to himself but stopped interfering. The gods spent the rest of the meeting discussing and nning. Legion-7 listened to them diligently as he evolved.


    He has consumed more than a thousand divinity which is an amount that only a Celestial possesses. It is an amount that haspletely blocked his perception of thews but it is also an amount enough for his soul to use as a substitute for a concept so it finally evolved.


    His core soul contracted abruptly. It is as if the divinity in his soul has reached critical mass so it caused his soul to copse. The white matter of his soul shrunk into itself which further increased the pressure of his soul. The high pressure caused the divinity to smash against each other which led to the creation of a spark.


    The white matter of his soul shrunk into itself which further increased the pressure of his soul. The high pressure caused The spark is like a fire. It is the product of the collision of divinity under high pressure. It possesses a lot of energy and power but it is also burning his soul. The burning effect began to increase as the heat of the spark caused the divinity to fuse.


    Legion-7 was aware during the process. He has also seen something like this before. The fusion of the divinity in his soul is simr to the fusion of divinity in gods to create godhood. But unlike gods, he doesn''t have a god fire, instead, he has a soul me.


    His excitement caused by the sessful evolution was tempered when he noticed his soul disappearing.


    Hemented, "No one told me this would be so dangerous."


    The soul fire isn''t consuming faith like the god fire, it is consuming his very soul to fuel itself. A fire needs fuel and without fuel, it will go out. Fortunately, he has Origin energy for it to burn. The soul fire stopped burning his soul after getting Origin energy. If he runs out of Origin energy then he will die.


    He is still excited even though he nearly died. "How marvelous. So this is the soul imprint."


    His strength didn''t increase despite his evolution. There was no qualitative or quantitative improvement due to the evolution. Instead, his state of existence seemed to have changed. He is not certain of that because the only sign of his evolution is the soul fire.

 Chapter 1325 Soul Imprints Or Psychic Engrams.

    <h4>Chapter 1325 Soul Imprints Or Psychic Engrams. </h4>


    This soul fire made him be aware of some things about the soul that he was ignorant of. The first thing that he noticed was the outline of the soul imprint. He knew he had it but it has never been so clear and malleable to him.


    His soul imprint is like an intangible through his soul. It remained intact even though most of his soul was burned by the soul fire. He felt it as his soul regenerated that he could change his soul imprint and that of others.


    He said in understanding, "This is the soul imprint or psychic engram. It is the engraving of consciousness. It is the foundation of the soul. It is the matrix of the mind."


    Then he said in awe, "So the soul is not made of just spiritual matter. There is also an unseen information state that the soul carries. This is marvelous."


    His understanding of the soul increased to a level that only the great mother has achieved ording to his knowledge. The soul of everyone is made from a spiritual matter that is the same for every being with a soul. This is special because living thingse in different forms and are made of different things but their soul is made of the same thing.


    Some creatures are physical and others are elemental. The physical living beings are either carbon-based, silicone-based, or based on other properties of matter. The elemental beings also have different forms such as fire-based, or water-based. But every being with a soul has the same spiritual matter as the base for their soul.


    The only difference in souls is the psychic engram or the soul imprint. It is like an engraving on the spiritual matter that makes up the soul. Even creatures without souls have a psychic engram engraved on physical matter.


    This psychic engram evolves over the course of the life of a living thing due to its memories and experiences. It can be likened to genes in physical beings. It is the spiritual genes that determine the identity of someone. It is the container of memories and It will remain as long as the soul remains.


    Rarely is it damaged as it will remain whole even if the soul is injured. But it will disappearpletely when the soul shatters. What''s most fascinating about it is that just like the physical genes of mortals, and bloodlines of powerful creatures, part of it is also transmitted from parents to offsprings.


    Normal people share a little of their psychic engram with their offspring. This inheritance gets lost over time. But immortals are able to keep the inheritance eternal because their soul imprints are immortal. It will remain after their death.


    This feature is one of the reasons why Origin gods are truly immortal. Even if their soul shatters, their psychic engram remains. It is then reattached when the existence of the Origin god is restored.


    Of course, it is the void universe that restores their existence but it is still something impressive to have an immortal engram. But even immortals don''t have a soul fire like Legion-7. Their soul imprint is scattered over their soul and they have no control over it.


    "This must be how she made the mes of rebirth. It is a soul me so it couldn''t be copied by those who tried to."


    This evolution also made him understand how the great mother was able to create the mes of rebirth, the soul parasites, and soul viruses. It is all because of her evolution and the abilities it granted her.


    The great mother was able to tear away a part of her soul and temporarily wipe out its memories and soul imprints. This made it so that it couldn''t be rejected at all. Then it will grant her backdoor ess to the infected host.


    It was how she created many clones of herself and how she stole soul force from him. This is all due to the control that she has over psychic engrams.


    Legion-7 has also be capable of doing so. And the entity he wants to infect is the massive spiritual entity overlooking the ne and looking at him with anger.


    "I originally wanted to grab and assimte the child of the ne. But I don''t need to search for him like a needle in a haystack anymore. I can just use every living being in the ne as the point of infiltration. Even if I can''t get the child of the ne, I will surely be able to get the Will of the ne."


    He decided to change his target of attack. He won''t look for the child of the ne to use against the Will of the ne anymore. But first, he decided to try and see everything that his soul me is capable of.


    "Let''s try Soul Force. Can it fuse with soul me?"


    The answer to that question is yes. The soul me at the center of his soul didn''t reject soul force. It epted it dly and they fused. The fusion caused the entire me to crystalize and stop burning.


    The consumption of Origin energy stopped and the pressure on his soul disappeared but Legion-7 wasn''t excited. He is nervous and uncertain. After all, he doesn''t have any knowledge of what he just did.


    He said with slight trepidation, "This had better be good."


    Then he said to encourage himself, "It should be good. After all, the great mother wanted my soul force so bad. She was also able to change her mes of rebirth from the soul force she stole from me. So this should be good."


    He is afraid that he might have killed the me so he tried to withdraw the soul force from it but it didn''t help. The soul fire had crystalized and refused to burn. But he noticed something that made him ted. The soul force that he withdrew had materialized into a spiritual substance and was burning around his soul.


    He asked in disbelief, "So I can bring the me into the world now?"

 Chapter 1326 Potential For The Future.

    <h4>Chapter 1326 Potential For The Future.</h4>


    The crystallized me is no longer burning but he has not lost his perception of soul imprints or ess to its burning power. The soul fire had only changed its medium to his entire soul. Instead of burning within him, it can be brought with his soul force to burn in the world.


    "This is good. I don''t know what it is good for but this is good. After all, the great mothers wanted it." He said in excitement.


    "I will call you the spark of consciousness because as long as my consciousness remains, the soul me remains."


    Now his soul fire doesn''t need fuel to continue to exist. His consciousness is more than enough to maintain it. His consciousness or soul imprints have be the foundation of the soul fire instead of the spiritual matter that makes up his soul.


    "What else can I fuse with it?"


    He considered his avable options until he narrowed it down to one. "If soul force a byproduct of the immortal soul of an Origin god can create such a pleasant change to my soul me, what about Origin essence?"


    This is a question that can be solved easily since he happens to have a bead of Origin essence that he has been saving. So he decided to assimte the origin essence within his soul into his spark of consciousness.


    Others will need toprehendws and use origin essence to fuse with the cosmic energy that the universe bestows to make their soul imprint immortal. But he doesn''t want to be immortal based on the energy of the universe. He wants to be immortal based on his spark of consciousness.


    His attempt bore fruit immediately. His whole soul evolved for a second time. His soul imprints fused with the spark of consciousness.


    The spark of consciousness was surrounded by his soul imprints before. They were like clouds around the crystallized me. But then Origin essence fused with the crystallized me which caused the soul imprints to shrink until they too fused with the crystallized me.


    The white crystallized core changed color from white to gold. His consciousness darkness and disappeared at that point. After all, his soul imprints had disappeared.


    But then they appeared in his soul again. They are not the real thing anymore. They are just copies of the one in the crystallized me.


    His core soul shivered as the new soul imprints appeared as if he felt cold. But unlike cold, the sensation that caused the shivering was pleasant. This shivering also spread outwards to the cocoon of soul grafts around him.


    This is because the new soul imprint spread to the cocoon too. It enveloped them and overwrote their soul imprints to match his. This caused the final barrier between his core soul and theirs to disappear. The soul grafts melted into his core soul immediately.


    His soul shivered again. It is truly a pleasurable experience. The soul imprints of the soul grafts were invalidated so the spiritual matter that made up of their soul joined the spiritual matter of his own soul.


    The merge caused the cocoon to merge with his core soul and for him to grow stronger significantly. His evolution finally gave him qualitative and quantitative growth.


    Legion-7''s bloated consciousness finally settled down.


    He examined his soul in admiration, "This is great. Now, as long as my soul imprints remain, the spark of consciousness will remain. And as long as my spark of consciousness remains, my spark of consciousness will remain. The two of them be the foundation of each other."


    Then he thought to himself, "The next thing to do is to make one of them immortal. If I get immortal soul imprints, won''t my spark of consciousness be also immortal? If they are immortal, can I die?"


    He became excited the more he thought about it. The thing is that his consciousness or soul imprint is not immortal yet. After all, he is not an Origin god yet. His soul can rival a Supreme Origin god in terms of spiritual power and he can even devour souls just like an Origin god in the spiritual dimension, but he still has room for growth.


    "If I fuse my soul with Origin like an Origin god, then my Origin will also be inseparable from my spark of consciousness and it will be immortal. And more than that, I might be independent of the void universe entirely."


    It is truly a grand n. As he is, he won''t resurrect if his soul and the spark of consciousness are shattered. This is because his consciousness is not immortal and his spark of consciousness needs it to exist. But if he fuses with his Origin like an Origin god, then he might never die. His soul imprint and spark of consciousness will merely return to his Origin and reconstruct his soul again.


    "It is a future worth looking forward to. I just need to be one with Legion-1 again. Whenplete unity is achieved, Legion-1 will bepletely independent from the void universe. We will be able to restore our existence on our own and resurrect without help from the void universe. I can''t wait to see it."


    He believes it should work because he has faith in the Origin core. The Origin core is a very powerful thing. It is full of potential because it contains all thews of the void universe except for Supremews.


    The potential is then excavated by a supremew. Unless someone willingly gives up their origin by bing a god, the only way to lose their origin is to die.


    But if the origin and the soul and the soul imprints be inseparable, then it will be impossible for the person to die permanently. This is because the separation of origin from consciousness after death will not ur.


    As long as the origin remains, the killed entity will only be in limbo for a while before they return. That''s what Legion-7 believes and it is not without precedent. It is based on something that happens regrly in the void universe.

 Chapter 1327 The Theory Of The Immortality Of Consciousness.

    <h4>Chapter 1327 The Theory Of The Immortality Of Consciousness. </h4>


    Origin gods have shown that it is possible to get immortality through the fusion of their existence with their Origin. Their use of Origin essence to fuse their Origin with their existence has proven that true immortality through the fusion of his spark of consciousness, soul Imprints, and Origin is also possible for him.


    "I will call it the theory of the immortality of consciousness. It will be the first step for Legion to acquireplete, independent, and total immortality."


    The theory of the immortality of consciousness will be the foundation of the independent resurrection system that he wants to create for Legion.


    He will use his ability to wield and manipte psychic engrams to save the psychic engrams of the other clones within his spark of consciousness. That way, if they die, he can always restore their psychic engrams into new bodies.


    It is a good idea but he knows that the theory of immortality is currentlyckingpared to the immortality of origin gods. As it is, it can only ensure the immortality of the consciousness and at most, the immortality of the soul.


    It is not the immortality of the body, soul, and concept of Origin gods. If his theory is achieved, Legion will be immune to death, but they will lose all their powers and abilities if they die.


    "The situation is not entirely hopeless. As long as I can also save their cultivation and concept within myself, I will be able to restore their power after their death. If that doesn''t work now, then it should work when we create our Supremews."


    He is already thinking of the solution to the weakness of the theory of the immortality of consciousness. The best and easiest solution is that he also saves the concept, divine ability, or power of the clones when making backups of their psychic engrams. But he can''t be sure it will work unless he tries it.


    He even has a second solution that he is sure will work. Origin gods have their advantage because of the help of the void universe. As long as Legion''s consciousness bes supreme through the creation of a supremew. Then all their powers and abilities will be contained in their consciousness and will be based on their Will. They won''t need a body or a soul anymore.


    "In fact, at most, I should be able to save their abilities and even wield it when they be Origin gods. At that point, their concepts should be part of their psychic engrams. But that is for the future."


    "I must say that it is a bright future. This step is the first step towards acquiring perfection. After all, a perfect being should not be kible. At least not permanently. But what can I achieve with what I already have? Can I defeat my greatest enemy now?"


    He decided to test his current power the best way that he could. He exposed himself to thew matrix, his greatest enemy. Thew matrix reacted swiftly. Lightning descended with a renewed determination to kill him.


    The sight of the lightning storm that appeared suddenly scared Legion-7. He rushed back to hide in Malekite''s body as lightning bolts struck him from every direction.


    It was not until he was back in Malekite''s divine body that the lightning stopped chasing after him. The storm disappeared but his mood was gloomy. If he had teeth, he would chewed through it right now.


    "So my evolution has not made the void universe tolerant of me. It still wants to kill me."


    Then he observed painfully to himself. "The evolution has surely not made me immune to lightning. In fact, it is more painful now that there is no difference between my cocoon of grafted soul fragments and myself. What good is my evolution then?"


    He is seething and moody. He expected a nice change now that he has evolved so his disappointment hit him with a big blow.


    "Maybe I was expecting too much. The great mother has also evolved but she is not allowed in the world of manifestation. Besides, there''s a little good news. My improved soul force has reduced my damage to lightning. It is not great but it is good. I just have to be content with that for now."


    He expected better because his evolution is different from the great mother''s. As far as he knows, he has evolved two times in a row. First, he got the soul me and the crystallized spark of consciousness. Then he used Origin essence to fuse his consciousness with it.


    So he wasn''t entirely full of himself when he expected a warm wee from the void universe. But it turned out that once someone has beenbeled as a death row inmate by the void universe, there''s nothing that can remove thatbel.


    But then he thought of something that the great mother had managed to achieve despite the hostility of the void universe.


    He asked himself, "How did the great mother create phoenixes that can hide from lightning punishment? Has she evolved more than once or did she gain more than the soul fire and the ability to manipte psychic engrams when she evolved once?"


    The great mother isn''t weed in the world of manifestation but she managed to slip her soul fragments past the scrutiny of thew matrix to create the Phoenix race. He has done that too with his infection and creation of zombies but he was hoping he would be able to do more since he has soul force which the great-mother doesn''t have.


    "I can only try to experiment. Maybe the answer to freedom lies with the Will of the ne. It is a spiritual entity and it can survive in the world of manifestation without being destroyed. Let''s see how it does it."


    Things would be easier if he could chat with the Will of the ne and exchange pointers with it. Unfortunately, he can only manage the first one. He can''t achieve the second part because the Will of the ne is not cooperating.

 Chapter 1328 Bring Out Your Champion.

    <h4>Chapter 1328 Bring Out Your Champion.</h4>


    The second part is not possible because the Will of the ne is not willing to speak with him much less exchange helpful information with him.


    So what he has to do to get the information he needs is clear. He just has to gut the Will of the ne and examine its entrails. It is a figure of speech but what he intends to do is not far from it.


    He said in anticipation, "I will hold it down, open it up, and look inside of it. We will see how it can remain snubby then."


    The next thing he did was to cut out pieces of his soul. These pieces are connected to him through a thread thanks to his spark of consciousness. But they are without memories and soul imprints.


    It was very easy to do. It wasn''t painful at all because he has mastered control over the spiritual matter that makes up the soul. The only advantage is that it weakened his soul. But that wasn''t a problem for him since he can now devour other souls without issues.


    He used these pure soul fragments to infect everyone. Even transcendents were infected. They could resist the previous infection somewhat but their existence didn''t notice this infection at all.


    Those who were infected had their memories and soul imprints changed to his. So they became his clones. In this way, he became connected to the Will of the ne without being born in the ne. He doesn''t need to possess the child of the ne directly anymore to gain ess to the Will of the ne.


    This way his infection spread rapidly through the ne which created enough spiritual influence for him to make contact with the Will of the ne and attack it.


    He chuckled evilly, "You think you can look down on me? Then you have another thinging."


    If he had hands, he would be rubbing them against each other right now. It is needless to say he is going to enjoy himself immensely with what he is about to do.


    Only the gods were exempted because they were still aware of the infection. Their divine will and divinity make them aware of changes to their soul and very resistant to his infection.


    Plus the soul fragments had to pass through their god fire to reach their divine soul. They were burned up so the gods were not infected. As for the others, they didn''t even know that they were infected.


    So the battle between the two spiritual entities in the ne started. It is unlike any spiritual battle that he has engaged in. It is more of a tug of war than an exchange of blows.


    The battlefield is every living thing he has infected. Legion-7 was eroding the Will of the ne through them to weaken it. This is easy for him to do thanks to his soul fire and soul force.


    The Will of the ne on the other hand can only resist. It can''t retaliate in any direct manner. It is not alone in this fight though. Every inhabitant of the ne can help it to kill Legion-7. The most threatening of them is the child of the ne.


    But Legion-7 wanted the child of the ne to appear and confront him. That way, he would be able to end the fight early. After all, a direct channel to the core of the Will of the ne is much better than using peripheral connections to attack the Will of the ne.


    So Legion-7 advised sincerely, "Bring out the child of the ne. Bring out your champion. You don''t have any other choice. Who else is going to save you from me?"


    The Will of the ne didn''t listen or speak to him. It made him scoff. "Keep being stubborn. Let me see who will save you from me."


    Apart from the gods, there are no other strong entities in the ne. There are no titans ofw in the ne at all because of theck of origin energy. The strongest beings in the ne on the path of perfection are transcendents. They can''t even be lords ofw since they can''t leave the ne.


    The gods have sealed the nar portal and the sky. They did it to maintain their control of the ne. This decision has doomed them now. There is no one strong enough to inform them that the "disease" has evolved and has be much more sinister.


    Despite the unfavorable situation, the Will of the ne refused to give up. As the embodiment of the will to live of all the living things in the ne, it will keep struggling for a chance of survival. So It pushed him back and prevented him from making any progress. But its resistance was waning rapidly as the infection spread to more living things.


    Legion-7 smiled and said, "Let us see how far you will go with your struggles."


    He has infinite Origin energy so creating soul fragments and converting them into soul essence by eating them makes it so that he can spread himself out in the form of clones and attack the will of the ne from many directions.


    The Will of the ne is stronger than him now so it can resist easily. But that will change as the number of living things in the ne die. His attacks will also be lethal to the will of the ne the greater the percentage of the living things in the ne are under his control. So by the looks of things, he is going to win this tug of war.


    He said proudly, "I am not a demon god, but I am good enough to take you down."


    He attacked the will of the ne on a spiritual level while also using his zombies to kill the living things in the ne. It is a double-pronged attack on the spiritual and physical level. It is exactly what a demon god would do to defeat the Will of the ne.

 Chapter 1329 Laughing Zombies.

    Chapter 1329 Laughing Zombies.


    ??His "zombies" as they are called, are increasing day by day. Both the living and the dead sumbed to his infection so his zombies only increased in number. Their numbers increased from millions to billions very quickly.


    It was a losing fight for the inhabitants of the ne. More gods died to the tide of zombies so Legion-7 got his hands on the domain of illusion and death. However, the two domains didn''t increase his abilities as much as he thought they would.


    The domain of illusions made it easier for him to possess his targets by reducing their resistance through illusions. The domain of death made the souls of the dead converge onto him. He gained the ability to pull souls to himself like the fragmented Origin gods but he wasn''t impressed because he doesn''t need it anymore.


    He was able to learn the divine ability of the domain of illusions easily but the attraction of souls required him to create a space simr to the underworld to attract the dead. He gave up on learning it and focused on his attacks on the ne.


    The child of the ne finally showed up after his attacks intensified.


    Legion-7 saw him andughed triumphantly. "So you can''t hold back anymore. That''s good. Come to me and be one with me. We will achieve greatness together."


    Hisughter echoed through all the zombies in the ne. Theyughed as they killed. It was a truly horrific sight.


    ---Child of the ne.


    Razor stood on the balcony of his house and looked down at one of thest bastions of civilization on the east of the continent. Anger brewed within him as he saw the damage to the ne.


    The City of Verom is one of the divine cities that belongs to his mother. Like the other divine cities under the protection of Celestials, it has been able to repel the invasion of the disease. And because of this, the city is packed full of refugees.


    The houses are full and the roads have beenpletely blocked because people are living on it now. There are even people living in the sewers.


    The other cities without the protection of a Celestial fell quickly both from the inside and the outside. The infected appeared from within the cities and brought it to its knees so that it couldn''t resist the tide of the zombies that attacked it from the outside. So the city of Verom has be one of the few safe havens in the realm.


    His mother told him that this was because the disease couldn''t pass through the barriers made of Celestial divine power. The other citiescked Celestial protectors so they fell. So Verom will remain safe as long as his mother is alive.


    There is still a safe haven in this apocalypse but this is not enough for him. It is safe to say that more than 90% of the poption of sentient creatures in the ne have been infected. That''s billions of people that have be zombies.


    As for the remaining 10%, they are living worse than animals. Verom, once called the city of paradise is not a paradise anymore. It has lost its splendor. It has be a pen house where livestock are packed close together. It is no way to live.


    He said through gritted teeth, "This cannot be allowed to continue. This gue must be stopped."


    He can overlook the living conditions of the people but he cannot overlook the fact that 90% of people have died. This has weakened the Will of the realm and it is about to because of the gue. This cannot be allowed to happen or the ne will be doomed.


    He had remained hidden before because there was nothing he could do against the disease unless he was attacked directly by it. It is because he doesn''t know where the root of the disease is. It is like a tree and the infected are the leaves. Killing the leaves will only be a minor setback to the tree. It will regrow its leaves somewhere else.


    "This gue, whatever it is, has to die. But how can I do that?"


    That is a question he doesn''t have an answer to and neither does the Will of the ne. He knows a lot about this gue more than anyone else. He knows it is a disease targeted at the sentient races through his position as the child of the ne.


    He can always tell where the so-called leaves of the tree are. They couldn''t hide from him at all as long as they got close to him. He can tell when someone is infected even before their bodies start decaying.


    However, all of this knowledge is not good enough to eradicate the disease because the leaves are useless. He is without a solution but things have gotten worse because the tree has created branches of itself and began extending them towards the sky to grasp the Will of the ne itself. He cannot continue to be helpless or the worst will happen.


    Unfortunately for him, he is alone in this thought. The Celestials who can obviously fight the disease are not willing to make a move. All they can see is the disaster of the gue affecting weak gods and mortals. They have no need to stop this disaster because it has increased their faith and made them more powerful.


    Disasters make people more faithful so the Celestials gained more believers. They don''t want to spend their divine energy to stop something that is giving them a lot of divine energy. But they don''t know that they will lose all their powers if the will of the ne falls. The only one who understands the danger of the situation is his mother.


    "I must convince her to action." He said with determination. "She must either let me go and fight or she must rally the Celestials. As long as we destroy every one of these zombies we will be able to catch the root of the disease."


    -----

 Chapter 1330 A New Type Of Support.

    Chapter 1330 A New Type Of Support.


    ??Razor''s single eye sparked with lightning and the blue lines like tattoos on his red skin glowed briefly.


    He made up his mind. Then he left the bacony of his Vi and went to the pce of his mother. There are guards on the way but they let him pass due to his identity. He was able to meet with his mother as soon as possible.


    His mother looked as beautiful as ever. Her single eye was glowing brightly. Her smooth and hairless body gleamed with a tempting sheen. Her beauty could be seen in every blue line on her yellow skin. Anyone who looks upon her visage will understand why his father fell in love with her.


    He crossed his hands over his chest in greeting and said "Blessed Mother, I seek audience with you."


    She smiled at him and waved him over. "Come over my child. Tell mother what you want."


    She is usually stern with him but she has been showing affection to him ever since he became the child of the ne. He knows that the change is due to his importance to the ne but he appreciates the love that she shows nheless. It is better than when she thought nothing of him.


    He approached her throne and bowed in respect. Then he made his purpose known.


    "We must fight now Mother. The will of the ne is about to fall."


    The Celestial Supreme was surprised. "That soon. It has only been 400 years. Even the Will of the ne cannot resist this disease?"


    Razor''s face fell. "It cannot. There have been too many deaths. If we hadn''t allowed the deaths to reach such a level then the Will of the ne would be able to resist. But we did nothing and watched as our people died. We should have¡­"


    She waved her in dismissal. "Yes, yes. I have heard this many times before. We should have fought back and destroyed the infected. But the disease can''t be eliminated. It can only be repressed. You yourself said so."


    "But we should at least have tried. We didn''t do anything to stop it all. That''s why our situation has reached this level this quickly. It was a mistake to watch without¡­"


    She asked him coldly, "Do you have a solution now or are you here just toin?"


    Razor gulped. He realized that he had gotten carried away in a conversation with the strongest being on the ne. Well, she is the previously strongest being in the ne ever since he became the child of the ne but that is no reason to get her angry.


    He replied respectfully. "I have a solution. We should wipe out every infected and the branches that the source of the gue has extended to attack the will of the ne. I can''t find the root but I can find the branches. We can help the will of the ne recover that way."


    His mother fell silent. She nodded. "That''s a good idea. We should do that. I willpel the other Celestials into action."


    Razor smiled. "Thank you, mother."


    "It is what I should do." She said.


    Even so, he bowed in gratitude and praised her, "The Gattling ne is lucky to have a kind and benevolent Supreme like you, Mother."


    She said sternly, "Enough ttery. We have work to do."


    Her tone was stern but she had a smile on her face. So she was pleased with the ttery.


    Then she asked, "How powerful are you now? Can you defeat the source of the gue?"


    Razor''s smile fell. He sighed and said, "My strength has fallen with the death of so many people. I can currently match a grand god. It should be enough to defeat the disease since it is not strong enough to match Celestials."


    As the child of the ne, he gains ess to all the resources of the ne. He doesn''t get origin energy because the ne doesn''t have it and can never have it since the divine ne has fused with the main ne. But because the divine ne has fused with the main ne, he has ess to divine power, the power of gods.


    Currently, if he activates the call for support, he will gain divine power equal to a grand god or a Sovereign. That is a far cry from when he was at his peak. Unfortunately, the death of so many people and gods has reduced his power.


    He didn''t feel awkward about admitting that he has fallen in strength to his mother. After all, she is his mother. He can tell her anything.


    The Celestial Supreme smiled when she heard his answer. "Good. Let me see just how strong you are."


    A hand of lightning formed in front of her. Then it grabbed at Razor.


    Razor saw this and his lit up. He became excited immediately.


    "It seems Mother wants to y with me." He thought to himself.


    Razor saw this and his lit up. He became excited immediately.


    "It seems Mother wants to y with me." He thought to His mother started giving him her attention ever since he became a child of the ne. She would y fight with him regrly. This is not the first time she has done something like this.


    He activated the call for support immediately. Silver threads appeared from the space around him to connect to him. His blue tattoos lit up and lightning shed in his eyes. He roared valiantly as he shed with the arm of lightning thrust at him.


    He always wins in their y fight. But he lost this time around. The hand pped him down hard against the ground. Then the hand grabbed him and squeezed him tightly.


    Razor wasn''t surprised by his defeat. But he was disappointed. He sighed and said, "I have lost mother."


    "Yes, you have." The Celestial Supreme agreed.


    But she didn''t let him go. The hand continued to squeeze him. Razor struggled with all his might but he couldn''t escape.


    "Please stop, Mother. I can''t take this anymore." He pleaded with a smile.


    But his mother didn''t listen. She just smirked and said, "Goodbye."

 Chapter 1331 What A Mother.

    Chapter 1331 What A Mother.


    ??Then the hand squeezed harder. Razor''s eye almost popped out of his head. It was partly due to his shock and partly due to the hand of lightning squeezing him.


    "What are you doing Mother?" he asked in shock and trepidation.


    She didn''t reply. She already said her goodbyes. There is nothing else she has or wants to say.


    Razor panicked. He realized that they were no longer y fighting. His mother wants to kill him now.


    He realized something and his eyes widened further. "No, you can''t be Mother. You are the gue."


    She finally spoke, "Don''t be stupid. There''s no way anything could possess the Celestial Supreme. If that were true then we are all doomed."


    He had to agree with her. After all, he should have sensed something wrong being this close to her. He would have known if she was possessed because of his title. But if she isn''t possessed, why does she want to kill him.


    "Why?" he struggled to ask.


    She didn''t reply. The silver power in the form of a barrier around him shed and rippled as the hand squeezed. Then it broke and Razor was crushed. He died there at the hands of his mother.


    The child of the ne died a pitiful death. Then the silver threads around Razor drifted and attached themselves to the Celestial Supreme. She has be the child of the ne now.


    She said triumphantly, "Finally. My Authority will never be contested ever again. I will be the strongest till the end of time."


    She is not under any external influence and neither is she possessed. She wanted to kill her son of her own will. She had wanted to kill him from the very first day that he became a child of the ne. But he foiled her attempt because he was stronger than her back then. She called it "y fighting" as an excuse for her attack and he believed her.


    She is the Celestial Supreme. She is a Celestial and also the Supreme of the other Celestials. She is the best of the best. The strongest in the ne. Her position and authority were not disputable until the child of the ne was created.


    The first issue she had with the child of the ne was that he could rob the gods of their power. The gods have fused with the ne and have therefore sealed the future of the ne regarding the path of perfection. That also means the child of the ne will "borrow" their divine power when he calls for support.


    Razor could borrow power from all of them including her so he was stronger than every god including her. That is one of the issues she had with him. It would have been the only issue had the child of the ne been anyone in the ne not rted to her. But the Will of the ne selected her child. This affected her in more ways.


    A demigod of a Celestial is the best vessel for the Authority of their parent. Other vessels can use their divine power but they can''t wield their Authority. Demigods on the other hand can even use the Authority of their parents without the agreement of their parents.


    The Authority of their parent is their divine ability granted to them by their bloodline. So the Authority of their parent is their birthright. If the conditions are right, they can rob their parents of their Authority and rece them. Most Celestials kill their children because of this.


    Kilorita didn''t kill Razor because of a promise she had made to his father. His father was the one to carry Razor to term just like all the males of their race do. She loved his father so she was willing to make that promise.


    She was the strongest in the ne and thought she had nothing to worry about back then so she made the promise not to kill their son. That decision came back to bite her when Razor became the child of the ne.


    He was selected by the Will of the ne because he could wield her Authority Of Lightning. Apparently, the source of the gue is weak to lightning. But that decision automatically made the child of the ne and her to be enemies because he could take her Authority and rece her easily. It made Kilorita uneasy. She did not find the existence of her son pleasant at all.


    If not for the fact that Razor had great ambitions of going to the ancient battlefield and pursuing the path of perfection after defeating the disease guing the ne, he would have acted to rece her immediately after he acquired his new power.


    His behavior is unlike the previous child of the ne who wanted to rece her. That child of the ne nned to be a god. She would have be the strongest god of she retained the title after ascension to godhood but that wasn''t enough for her. She also wanted to dominate the main ne as a god so she helped Kilorita fuse the main ne with the divine ne.


    Kilorita epted the help of the child of the ne since the fusion meant that the gods would be able to roam the main ne. But she also knew what the child of the ne was nning.


    She knew that not only was the child of the ne content with dominating the main ne, but she also wanted to dominate the gods so she sabotaged the ambitious girl''s ascension to godhood after the divine ne and main ne had fused.


    Kilorita''s wariness and longing for the power of the child of the ne began back then. Unfortunately, she couldn''t get the power back then because the child of the ne failed her ascension and died because of the injuries.


    Then a new child of the ne appeared after many Origin cycles and to top it off, it was her son. Razor didn''t try to suppress her at all like the previous child of the ne. He remained obedient to her because he was na?ve and ignorant. But just like the previous child of the ne, he had underestimated her.

 Chapter 1332 Kilorita The Victorious.

    Chapter 1332 Kilorita The Victorious.


    ??She could have tried to control him and it would have worked because he was in desperate need of her love and attention. She didn''t because she didn''t want a powerful puppet. She wanted him dead.


    She could have schemed to kill him and it would have worked because she knew a lot about him including his strength and weaknesses. She didn''t though. Because his death wasn''t enough for Kilorita.


    She didn''t kill him even though the mere fact that he was already nning to remove the seal that she used on the nar portal was more than enough for her to want his death.


    It would not have been difficult to kill him had she tried to. He might be the strongest but that is only for a brief moment when he uses the boost from his title. But she is better than that so she made him hide away instead of risking herself.


    She told him it was for his own good. He resisted at first and said he had to destroy the disease. But he acquiesced because he received no support from the other Celestials.


    Plus, he wasn''t immune to the disease either. His power was great but he couldn''t use it all the time. If he weakens at a critical junction, then he might be infected by the disease. So he had to stay in Verom for safety.


    Kilorita waited for him to weaken. She was willing to wait ten thousand years and would rather see the world burn down than be the subordinate of her son or be reced. So she watched the death and destruction going on in the ne without doing anything. Now she has been rewarded for her patience.


    A god can''t be a child of the ne. But if the divine ne has fused with the main ne, then the Celestial Supreme who represents the whole divine ne can snatch the title. So in a way, it was the greed of the previous child of the ne that led to Razor''s fate.


    Kilorita herself doesn''t have the right to be the child of the ne. But the Authority of the Celestial Supreme gives her the opportunity. This means that the aim of the previous child of the ne to unify the title of the child of the ne and Celestial Supreme has finally been achieved.


    She called the other gods and ordered them. "It is time to get rid of the disease. Gather your forces immediately. We will eliminate every single infected."


    Razor could borrow the power of the gods through the Authority of the Celestial Supreme, she can take his title through it and she can also borrow the power of the other gods through it now that she is the child of the ne.


    She has never been stronger. That''s why she must eliminate this disease. If the will of the ne dies, then the will of the people will die with it. No gods will be able to ascend anymore and other gods will lose the power of faith.


    It is the recognition of the will of the people that gives gods their power. Gods gain this recognition through religions and are rewarded with faith. If there is no recognition, then there will be no faith. The disease is a threat to her power so it must be destroyed. But the other gods are not so earnest about destroying the disease like her.


    The Celestial of Warined. "Why should we stop the disease? It isn''t doing us any harm."


    Many others expressed their disagreements about her order. She could exin to them that they will all lose their power if the Will of the ne dies. But she didn''t. That would be giving them too much knowledge and also enabling them to question her.


    Instead, she called for support from the ne and drained a considerable amount of divine power from them. The gods are already familiar with the sudden weakness but this is the first time that they will hear the Celestial Supreme say something along with the theft of their divine power.


    "You will do as I say. And that''s all you need to know. If not, I wille over and kill you right now." She dered with authority. Then she asked them, "Do you understand me?"


    The gods were understandably unhappy and disgruntled but they obeyed her and mobilized their forces. They don''t know what urred recently and why the Celestial Supreme is working together with the child of the ne now but they understand that it will be very easy for her to kill them in their weakened state.


    So they replied obediently. "We understand."


    She nodded. She doesn''t want to kill them if she can avoid it. Killing them will reduce her overall power. She will get less power from them if there are fewer gods to steal divine power from. But she is willing to sacrifice a scapegoat to make the others fall in line.


    The next thing she did was to rally her troops and lead them with the other gods into the ne to destroy all the zombies. Victory didn''te easy. More than 70% of the ne has be the territory of the zombies. Hundreds of Billions of zombies roam thend and more are being created every day.


    Living beings are not the only source of zombies. Even dead animals can turn into zombies. The disease used that ability to ensure a steady flow of zombies to resist thebined might of the Celestials.


    The zombies were numerous and they all had the power of transcendents. That''s an army of billions of transcendents at the disposal of the disease. If the gods were not vastly more powerful than the zombies then the fight would have been hopeless because they certainly didn''t have billions in their divine army and they didn''t have more than a thousand transcendentsbined.


    The fight was a bloody tussle. The gods were winning but they had to sacrifice a lot for every piece of the ne they reimed. Kilorita and the other Celestials spent the next hundred years fighting and reimingnd.


    -----


    A/N: Congrattions to all who suspected Legion-7. This feels like something he can do. As for those who suspected Kilorita, you are more evil than I thought. Maybe you should stop reading GREED.

 Chapter 1333 The Hand Behind The Scene.

    Chapter 1333 The Hand Behind The Scene.


    ??Legion-7 was very angry.


    "That thief stole my prize." He said in anger. "She stole the title of child of the ne."


    Razor was his prey. He was supposed to infect the boy with his soul virus. But She stole him from his hands. The tide of the situation turned with the change in title. He began losing the ne as soon as he lost the title.


    The major issue is that Kilorita is too powerful now. She can also sense every being that has been parasitized by him so can direct her immense power to the right ce. She was able to quickly cut off his avenues of attack at the will of the ne.


    That''s the first thing she did. She targeted the clones he made to attack the Will of the ne above the other infected.


    She can do this because she is connected to the Will of the ne now so she can find the source of attacks. But unlike the demigod who was weak, she is a god and a Celestial too. She has an infinite storage of divine energy and the recent increase in faith has made it so she has an endless supply of faith.


    Legion-7ined again, "That useless demigod had one job. That was not to die to anyone in the ne. It should have been easy to do considering that he was the strongest in the ne. Now he has died."


    Then he paused in his ranting. He thought of something incredulous. "Could this have been the n of the will of the ne all along? Could it have made the child of the ne close to her so that she would take the bait? Is the Will of the ne that intelligent?"


    He can''t help but think that the Will of the ne schemed to create the perfect defender for the ne. This is because he would have been able to get the demigod easily since Razor wasn''t a god. A demigod who could burst forth with the power of the Celestial Supreme is still a demigod. But the Will of the ne chose him above the other viable options.


    Lightning is one of his weaknesses but it is not the only one. The gods can''t fight him because he is a spiritual entity. But not every god is defenseless against him. The god of death and Underworld has demigods that can perform soul attacks. Their soul attacks might not be able to kill him but they will certainly be able to destroy his host and expose him to the punishment of the void universe.


    Surely the Will of the ne knows that. After all, it is through the punishment of the void universe that it knows that he is weak to lightning. The lightning of a demigod surely cannotpare to the lightning of the void universe but the Will of the ne chose the demigod.


    This demigod also happened to be the child of the Celestial Supreme. There''s no way the Will of the ne didn''t know about the history of the ne and how the divine ne came to be fused with the ne.


    If the Will of the ne knew and it knew what could happen, it ought to try and protect the demigod it selected to protect the ne by keeping him as far away from the power hungry Celestial Supreme. But it didn''t do that. Instead, it made them close rtives.


    Heughed and dismissed the thought. Then he said to the Will of the ne, "Maybe I am being overly paranoid. I doubt you are capable of such a..."


    The Will of the ne finally spoke to him. "It is as you think. Prepare for your defeat."


    Legion-7''sughter got choked in his mind. It died as he realized what just happened. Then he began tough again after realizing that he had been schemed against.


    He said, "Nicely done. Nicely done. I have underestimated you."


    Underestimation is a sin Legion rarely makes. Most of the time, they estimate and prepare for the worst whenever they n for something. He had also prepared for the Will of the ne to be able to n and scheme because the Will of the Lumen ne also nned and schemed for the creation of Rinoz and for Ragnarok to set the ghouls free. But there was a blind spot in his preparation.


    He expected the Will of the ne to try everything to defend itself and protect its child of the ne. He didn''t know it was possible so he didn''t expect the Will of the Gattling ne to be willing to sacrifice its child of the ne.


    Apparently, the Will of the ne will do anything as long as it is for the good of the ne. It will even sacrifice its child of the ne if it will lead to the creation of a more powerful child of the ne who is a Celestial Supreme that wields lightning.


    That was his blind spot. Now he knows it is possible but it is toote to prepare for it.


    Just thinking about it made him shake his head in wonder. "I have been bamboozled this time around. The Will of the ne has created a big problem for me."


    He is not one to give up because of the appearance of unfavorable circumstances so he is already thinking about the solution to his predicament. Unfortunately, the more he thinks about it, the more he finds the situation problematic.


    He won''t be able to take down the new child of the ne even if he tries to possess her with his full power. His soul parasites also can''t survive her god fire. Most importantly, is the fact that she wields lightning and she can sense him. Those two abilities have made her a carefully bred hound dog designed to hunt and kill him.


    He had toment. "This is like Rinoz all over again. Except that Kilorita is wiser, older, and more intelligent."


    "But this is not over. It is far from over."


    ------


    A/N: I bet none of you expected this turn of events. Who would have thought that the true schemer was the entity pretending to be deaf and dumb. Poor Razor. Poor poor Razor.

 Chapter 1334 The Blessing Of Cosmic Energy.

    <h4>Chapter 1334 The Blessing Of Cosmic Energy.</h4>


    The first thing Kilorita did was toe straight for him. She left her army in search of him. He couldn''t stop her since none of his zombies could fly. This is despite being transcendent.


    Even he can''t fly. That will require him to interact with the world with his divine sense but the void universe hates him. So he could only watch Kilorita bully her way to the kingdom of spores.


    She wanted to use the beheading tactic to end the gue. Unfortunately for her, he could hide very well. The best she was able to achieve was to destroy the fake kingdom of spores in anger before returning.


    He said to the Will of the ne from his hiding ce, "It is only over when one of us dies."


    He can only threaten impotently because he has been checkmated. He surely doesn''t have the guts to show his face and fight Kilorita one-on-one. All he can do is increase the frequency of attacks on her city so that she will expend more and more divine energy to protect it.


    He has unlimited Origin energy so he can produce unlimited zombies with transcendent power. She can kill thousands of transcendents with a wave of her hand but a million transcendents will give her issues. So in a way, he still has the upper hand.


    The stalemate continued until Soverickprehended aw. He wanted to be a king ofw so that he could use his authority to forge stronger weapons. This is because Origin weapons need the control ofw to be forged.


    The more powerful the Origin weapon, the higher its requirements for Authority. This decision caused the void universe to be invoked. It rewarded Soverick for hisprehension ofws.


    That is normal. But it also made the cosmic energy within Helios flow into the mindwork. Cosmic energy flowed through the soul sphere into Legion-7 andbined with his spark of consciousness.


    His spark of consciousness was already on the level of concept. After all, it is the fusion of Origin essence with the crystalization of hisprehension of thew of the soul that led to the evolution of his soul through divinity. But it was never acknowledged by the void universe. Now it officially became an Authority of the Soul.


    "What a pleasant feeling," Legion-7 said after feeling the Authority within his soul. "I feel like a king ofw again. It is mostly useless but I have an advantage in the maniption of souls now."


    The void universe didn''t give him the Authority but that doesn''t mean it is fake. He can feel the same ease of controlling thew he hasprehended that kings ofw feel.


    He feels that he can reduce his burden on his host better now. A vitality core refiner could only bear him for a day at most before but now he can push it to 10 days which is the length of time that a mana entity can bear his burden before dying.


    He wasn''t the only one who was changed by the infusion of cosmic energy into the mind link. He turned his attention to consider what just happened to them.


    Aeternus reached level 10 immediately while Legion-1 exploded.


    Legion-1 will need time and resources to resurrect now. It made Legion-7 say with mirth, "There is such a thing as too much."


    But then he said to himself, "I wonder if I can create more authorities. After all, I know a lot ofws."


    He just said something about a thing being too much but he isn''t satisfied with what he has. He is also greedy for Authority.


    He tried essing thew matrix again. This time he used his authority of the soul. This time thew matrix couldn''t deny him ess. He has authority so he must be allowed to use thew matrix.


    "This is good." He said when everything went smoothly. "Now let''s see what will happen when I use otherws."


    He used thew of fire first. The fragments of thew of fire in thew matrix were activated immediately. They rushed towards him and bounded with him. They didn''tbine with cosmic energy to form Authority. Instead, thew fragments were refined by the soul me and then devoured by his spark of consciousness.


    "So this can happen too." He said in wonder.


    His soul changed immediately. He became more powerful because cosmic energy was fusing with his Authority of the soul as he devoured more and morew fragments.


    "I don''t think I am a pure spiritual entity anymore. I might be a living Authority that feeds onws. This is unprecedented."


    He is ted with the changes even though theye up short of his initial expectations. He still can''t wieldws and he can''t use hisprehension ofws to create more Authority. But he can devour them and that is good enough for him.


    He was very happy and satisfied but the void universe was not happy with him at all. Instead, it felt threatened. After all, Legion-7 is literally devouring thew matrix of the void universe.


    If this is allowed to continue, Legion-7 will consume all thew fragments in thew matrix which will make thew matrix fall apart and then the world of manifestation will cease to exist.


    Of course, it could produce morew fragments but that is catering to the whims of a threat. That option is time and energy-intensive. There is another easier and faster solution.


    The void universe decided that it couldn''t let Legion-7 continue growing stronger. No, it decided that it couldn''t let Legion-7 continue living. It decided to end the trouble at its roots. A tribtion descended immediately.


    The tribtion was heralded by a spike in the hostility of thew matrix towards Legion-7. He felt the intent of the void universe before the world changed around him. The changes happened quickly and there was no time for him to plead his case.

 Chapter 1335 The Last Straw.

    Chapter 1335 The Last Straw.


    ??This tribtion is not the localized storm of lightning that Legion-7 used to be afraid of. The void universe is determined this time to get rid of him at all costs. He has crossed its bottom line so he must be destroyed even if the ne must be sacrificed.


    So the sky changed as a storm that covered the whole ne appeared. Then red lightning descended onto the whole ne. It attacked everything indiscriminately. The void universe aimed to destroy every single trace of him in the world.


    The ne descended into chaos. The lightning strikes are aimed at the zombies and secret clones but they will attack anything and anyone close to them too. So the zombies and the soldiers of the gods died in droves.


    "This is just going too far," Legion-7ined. "You didn''t even warn me or tell me to stop. You just decided to kill me immediately."


    Of course, he wouldn''t have listened if he had been told to stop. He would have tried again in another way or found a more secret method to stealw fragments. But that''s because he has low integrity. The void universe is not him. He believes that it should have a higher integrity instead of acting like a bully.


    The lightning storm targeted everything rted to him in the ne. Even everywhere he had been was demolished by lightning. Inactive spores and undercover clones were destroyed by the angry lightning storm. Because others didn''t know what caused the storm, they cursed the void universe for its wickedness.


    They are not the only ones with this opinion. The Celestial Supreme also believes that the void universe is going too far. She knows what the cause of the lightning tribtion is and what it aims to achieve but the sacrifice is too painful for her to bear.


    "Retreat." She ordered her soldiers and the gods.


    They fell back to their cities. But they didn''t gain peace. Legion-7 tried his best to hide from the void universe. He ditched Malekite''s body and hid in animals. But that didn''t fool the Will of the void universe.


    Nothing he did gave him respite from the lightning tribtion. The only safe ce for him is the city protected by the divine power of Celestials. The infected can''t enter the city but the barrier around the city can''t stop him. So the lightning storm targeted the city he hid in.


    Kilorita became angry when she noticed that a city had be the focus of the tribtion. It doesn''t take a genius to infer why that is so.


    She roared to the heavens. "This despicable gue. I must end it today or it will be the end of the ne."


    It truly feels like the end of the ne. The lightning storm is destroying everything. It is cratering the ground and setting fire to the ne. The dormant volcanos all over the ne are preparing to erupt because their top was blown open.


    She knew what she must do to end this so she she flew to the city under siege of the lightning tribtion. The heavens punished her for her interference but she didn''t let the lightning strikes stop her along the way.


    Her determination was rewarded immediately when she got to the city. She could finally sense the root of the disease. Legion-7 avoided her city but he is still under the influence of a Celestial so therefore, he is under her influence.


    She can use that to tell his general location. Whenbined with her connection with the will of the ne, she can narrow down his location and confirm his position. She knew immediately which body he was currently inhabiting.


    "Die for me." She roared as she thrust her hand forward.


    Several golden lightning spears materialized around her figure and shot toward Legion-7.


    "Everyone has their day to shine. This is yours." He said as he escaped into another person.


    He escaped the bombardment of lightning but his position was exposed by the void universe because of the localized lightning storm that appeared around him. So another bombardment from Kilorita came soon after.


    He realized that could''t evade the Celestial Supreme this way. Unfortunately, he doesn''t have a choice. He has been ganged up on by the void universe and the Celestial Supreme. The addition of the Will of the Void Universe is the straw that broke his already burdened back. The best he can do is run.


    The two of them began a game of cat and mouse. She chased after him with the determination to kill him here. He switched bodies with a determination not to die.


    Meanwhile, he tried many ways to hide. He tried to use soul grafting instead of direct possession. He tried to possess the young and the old to see if age would affect stealth.


    All of them failed to keep him hidden from the Celestial Supreme. He even tried to be intangible as he did when he escaped from the great mother in the Spiritual Dimension but it didn''t work.


    His host weighed him down so he has to leave his host to be tangible. But leaving his host meant exposing himself to lightning. Even after doing this, the lightning strikes could still hit him after bing intangible.


    Fortunately, he finally found a way after numerous attempts. He didn''t possess any host. He didn''t even touch their soul. Instead, he stayed in the soul space of the host while using illusion to hide his presence from the soul of his host. So the host is still alive and ignorant of his presence.


    The ignorance of his host and theck of interference on his part meant that the Will of the ne couldn''t find him. That also meant Kilorita couldn''t find him then. Only the lightning tribtion continued.


    He had to sever his control over his zombies and sacrifice all the soul fragments that he had used for spores in order to appease the void universe. It wasn''t until there was no more targets that the storm terrorizing the ne ended.

 Chapter 1336 Going Out With A Bang.

    Chapter 1336 Going Out With A Bang.


    ??The sky cleared up and the light of the sun finally shined down onto the ne. The light of the sun served to expose the destruction of the ne. The ground had been broken up and forest fires were spreading rapidly.


    At this point, every zombie and clone had been destroyed. Legion-7 has also given up on affecting the world so the void universe stopped being angry.


    He grumbled to himself, "I hope you are satisfied now."


    He didn''t speak out for fear that the Will of the ne or the Will of the Void universe would hear himin. He can only bear his dissatisfaction in silence. Even worse, he has to y dead or be severely punished.


    Kilorita smiled when she sensed the changes in the world. She felt triumphant.


    "The scourge of the ne has finally been uprooted. Whates next is prosperity. The Gattling ne shall prosper under my rule for all of eternity."


    She is very happy now. The ne has suffered but the gue has made her stronger. The will of the ne can''t take back its connection to her now that the gue has been eliminated. She will remain the child of the ne until she dies or until someone takes the Authority of the Celestial Supreme from her which is nearly impossible.


    She dered to everyone still alive. Her voice rang out throughout the ne, "Today shall be called the day of rebirth. We will rise from the ashes and be stronger like the mythical phoenix."


    It will take a long time for the ne to recover. People are still mourning their loss and the ne is still burning. Zombies litter the ne everywhere and volcanoes are still erupting. No one is in the mood for Celebration but Kilorita is.


    Legion-7 wasn''t happy with the deration either. The way she phrased gained his dislike immediately. He spat, "I hate phoenixes."


    He has more reasons to be unhappy other than the memories of his bad experience with phoenixes. He has essentially been handicapped.


    He can''t create zombies or clones if he wants to remain hidden. He can''t ess thew matrix anymore either. He has to stay inactive within his current host.


    His inactivity is not even a good thing for the host. It is a very bad thing. The fact that the host doesn''t know that there is something else in its body doesn''t stop the rejection. In fact, the rejection has only increased because he can''t quell it by manipting the soul.


    He made up his mind then. "I can''t live like this. I should leave the ne."


    Then he sighed. "But where should I go?"


    He has decided to leave the ne but he needs a destination. He can touch his soul sphere ever since he acquired his authority over the soul. He postted that he can gain ess to the soul sphere of other clones but he can''t through his own. He has tried and it failed. That ruled out escaping through the mindwork on his own.


    His only options are meeting up with Soverick or an avatar of the tree father.


    Unfortunately, Soverick said, "You can''te to me. I have felt the gaze of world gods ever since I became a king ofw. You will be discovered if you enter the Virut ne."


    This left the avatars of the tree father as his viable option. He spent the next couple of hundreds of years trying to escape the ne. The first major issue is that he can''t leave a host and the host dies very quickly because of rejection. So he had to change hosts quickly.


    The second problem is that he couldn''t direct the host or control their actions since he was not in possession of the body. He has to use illusions to nudge the host to touch others which makes changing hosts extra difficult.


    The third problem is that there is a seal on the nar portal and the sky. It is a grand seal that belongs to a Celestial. From the power of lightning contained in the invisible seal, he is certain it belongs to the Celestial Supreme.


    He can''t even break the seal of a normal Celestial easily and quietly so there is no way he can break this borate seal without drawing attention to himself. Whenbined with the fact that he has to change his host regrly and he can''t control his host directly to break the seal, then the difficulty of escaping escted to be near impossible.


    He thought about his difficult situation for a long time until he came to a solution.


    His solution made him grin. "If I can''t go quietly then I will go with a bang."


    The seal is invisible until it is disturbed so anyone powerful enough can break it even though they can''t see it. It will just cause amotion that will draw attention. So he began to create a bigmotion since he couldn''t avoid it.


    He decided to create an organization to do so for him. He first found a transcendent as a host. He used illusions to influence the transcendent to create the freedom fighters. This is an organization with the single aim of breaking out of the ne.


    He can''t control others to do his bidding anymore and he cannot create transcendent zombies. Which means that he has to rely on the inhabitants of the ne. There are a lot of transcendents in the ne and these transcendents are not happy with the status quo. Their options to grow stronger are to either be gods or leave the ne.


    The poption has fallen to an all-time low so the Celestials are not willing to see new gods. They suppressed the transcendents trying to create new churches to build up their foundation for faith. It caused a lot of dissatisfaction among the transcendents and made them open to fighting for the chance to leave the ne. This dynamic made the Freedom Fighters organization flourish.

 Chapter 1337 The Exodus.

    Chapter 1337 The Exodus.


    ??A new round of war started because of the tension between Transcendents and gods. Transcendents banded together and rebelled against their rule.


    First, they asked to be allowed to leave the ne. Their request was denied as it has always been done in the past. But unlike the past, things didn''t end there. The transcendents attacked the seal on the nar portal in a bid to escape the rule of the gods.


    Kilorita killed the first batch of transcendents


    who dared to touch the seal. But it didn''t quell the uprising. It only made more transcendents angry. Some Celestials also began to help the Freedom Fighters which strengthened their resolve and made them bolder.


    The poption of the ne is at an all-time low which means that the Celestials are alsopeting with each other. The only one notpeting for believers is Kilorita.


    At first, the Celestials were d that Kilorita wasn''tpeting with them. Their happiness was sullied when word reached them that Kilorita didn''t disdain converting believers because she was friends with the Child of the ne.


    The gods know that Kilorita is not confident because of her friendship with the child of the ne but because she is the child of the ne. That means she is the one taking their powers when they suddenly feel weak. So her disdain for fighting for believers is her looking down on them.


    Not only that, her schemes were exposed by the Freedom Alliance so the world knew that she killed the child of the ne to take his power. They were enlightened with the true reason why Kilorita attacked a Celestial city on the day when a lightning storm appeared in the ne. It was an attempt by her to get rid of that Celestial.


    The Celestials didn''t believe it at first when the Freedom Fighters leaked the news to them. But they confirmed it after cooperating to confront her.


    They used her of trying to eliminate them and asked for an exnation for why she tried to kill the Celestial of Knowledge. She ignored them at first and called them delusional but they were insistent.


    They kept disturbing her and spreading rumors about her to her believers. So she suppressed them by weakening them and then she beat them up.


    She sent them running with a sound beating in front of the whole ne. Then she dered that she was Supreme forever.


    She did it to teach them a lesson and establish her position as the undisputed strongest. She seeded, but it made the Celestials begin to sabotage her.


    The Celestials knew that they couldn''t attack her directly. But they were not willing to have her lord her power over them forever so they chose to empower a tool to use against her. The best tool was the Freedom Fighters. So the freedom fighters gained assistance from the gods which empowered their terrorist activities.


    Churches were burned, pilgrimages sabotaged, and priests and believers were killed. All the gods took a huge blow to their faith because the Freedom Fighters attacked all the churches indiscriminately. The Celestials told them to do so to look innocent.


    This move not only allowed them to avoid Kilorita''s wrath with their suffering, but they also used this innocence to grieve andin to Kilorita until she waspelled to allow the transcendents to leave.


    Kilorita opened the seal so that the transcendents could leave. But the freedom fighters were not content with that. They attacked the seal from within to destroy it. Kilorita tried to stop them but the other Celestials intervened.


    Kilorita was very angry. She sneered at the Celestials and said, "So you have finally shown your true colors. You have been colluding with these ruffians. You caused the deaths of so many people. For that, you will be punished."


    The Celestials didn''t feel guilty. They shouted back at her in defiance. "Don''t think we don''t know what you did. We know you invited a demon of pestilence into the ne."


    "That''s why there were no divine traces and why the disease was after godhood."


    Kilorita was stunned. She asked, "What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"


    "At least admit it. You are so powerful now. The least you could do is admit it. Don''t take us for fools."


    Her confusion changed to anger. "Not only have youmitted so many atrocities, you think you can also use me falsely? I will teach all of you your ce."


    The Celestials fought with Kilorito to prevent the seal from being saved. They couldn''t beat her but she also couldn''t stop the destruction of the seal while fighting them.


    They did this so that the ne would be open to the ancient battlefield. The gods wanted an invasion badly. They wanted something to change the status quo. They were hoping that the transcendents would grow stronger and return to fight for power. It was a dangerous move but they were desperate to eliminate her hold over them.


    The Celestials didn''t like it when the Razor was stealing their power but they couldn''t do anything to him because they didn''t even know who the child of the ne was. They know now and are not going to allow the strongest person to go further at all costs.


    Nothing happened for many years. None of the transcendents that escaped returned. But some battle sage monkeys appeared one day. They inquired about the situation of the ne and the gods were very willing to let them know that their Celestial Supreme is a tyrant who gained power by orchestrating a disaster.


    -------


    The squad of the bloodline of the lion of justice from the Virut ne learned of some of these events when they asked around.


    "So you are saying the disease is all a scheme by the Celestial Supreme to gain more power?" Jarkon asked.


    "Yes." A priest of the Celestial of War said. "We received information from Razor''s friends. Razor was the previous child of the ne but he was killed by his mother and his title was stolen by her. But he told his friends some secrets before he died. He said that the so-called disease was actually a demon."

 Chapter 1338 Backstory.

    Chapter 1338 Backstory.


    ??"Razor had imed that the demon invaded the ne because his mother made a deal with it. She assisted the demon in spreading the disease while keeping it hidden from other gods. That''s why there were no divine traces for the Origin of the disease and why it was strong enough to affect gods."


    Jarkon nodded. "It is possible. There are demons of pestilence and weakness. So the disease might be abination of both."


    The priest nodded in agreement and continued, "She didn''t do anything helpful when people were dying over the ne. Instead, she gave the gods false information to misdirect them. Then she waited until her son became weakened before she killed him and took his title."


    "That is so diabolical," DOUBLELINE eximed. "A mother killed her son for power."


    The priest snorted. "Don''t forget that she caused the death of hundreds of billions of people too."


    The others were surprised and shocked too. They too had a child of the ne and many people were against him. Many people wanted to kill him too but certainly not his parents. They can''t believe that a mother would scheme to kill her child at the detriment of the people of the ne.


    The priest wept andmented, "We have suffered."


    Even Jarkon was sympathetic. He nodded in agreement. "You have truly suffered. It is a cmity to have a Celestial Supreme with such disregard for lives."


    ALUINE spoke. "Most gods have a disregard for lives. They are selfish parasites."


    Then he sighed in relief, "It is a good thing we killed all the gods in our ne."


    "No. It is a good thing that we have the racial council. They were the ones that banned gods and finally killed all of them."


    "If our ne had this Kilorita she would have faced terrible retribution for her actions. She deserves to be punished for killing her son who was the hope of the ne and for causing the deaths of so many people."


    The priest felt his heart stop beating and his scalp start tingling when he heard what they said. He hates the Celestial Supreme because the Celestial he worships hates her. But that doesn''t change the fact that Kilorita is the strongest in the ne.


    It also doesn''t change the fact the gods are proud and don''t like people disrespecting them. If his Celestial hears what they are saying, Kilorita won''t even have to make a move for him to die.


    So he hurriedly changed the subject, "That isn''t all of her crimes. She tried to kill the only god who could expose her. She created a storm of lightning over the ne and used it as cover to attack the city belonging to the Celestial of Knowledge. She destroyed his city and demolished his foundation of strength. She didn''t kill him directly but crippled him. When asked, she imed she was fighting the root of the disease and that it had hidden in his city."


    "Can you believe her? She made up an unknown disease. No one could see this disease. It could even affect gods. Gods died and their godhoods disappeared but there were no new gods. Their godhoods disappeared as if consumed. That''s the proof that it was caused by a demon. But we didn''t suspect her then. But then she also tried to get rid of other Celestials."


    SWIFTESCAPE added with a sneer, "Maybe the gods suspected her in the first ce. But they didn''t do anything because they cared too much about their faith. Disasters increase faith so they chose to turn a blind eye to it."


    The priest finally couldn''t take it anymore. He rebuked with a high-pitched voice as if he were a cat whose tail had been stepped on.


    "Watch your tongue sphemer."


    "The ways of the gods are mysterious. We can''t fathom their thoughts or understand their actions. We are both lowly beings who were created to serve them with our all."


    The battle sage monkeys didn''t agree but they didn''t bother to argue with a zealot.


    The priest said stubbornly, "The gods did suspect her when she wouldn''t tell them the identity of the child of the ne. But there was no proof to use her. All you need to know is that she was very smart. She used Malekite as a cover to start the invasion and the gods have been resisting her ever since it was confirmed that she was working with a demon."


    Jarkon asked, "So in summary, the Celestial Supreme made up a disease that no one could see or identify in order to gain strength. Then she tried to silence the other god who suspected that the disease was the work of a god. Is that all?"


    The priest raised his voice, "That isn''t all. If the gods hadn''t banded together to save the Celestial of knowledge, he would have been killed that day. They confronted her about it but she fought them off and dered that she is Supreme forever and doesn''t have to exin herself to them. It was then that they created the freedom fighters to leave the ne to seek help."


    "Praise be the gods. You have arrived now which shows the incredible foresight of the gods. You must help us. The Celestial Supreme is an evil that must be eliminated."


    The battle sage monkeys are mostly convinced. They suspect some things are true about the information they have acquired but they are also sure that the story has been twisted. What they are certain of is that there was an invader and it is most likely a demon. That''s one of the reasons why a child of the ne will be selected.


    They are also sure that the Celestial has grown stronger and she is suppressing the other Celestials. It is either that or the Celestials are lying about that. But all of that doesn''t concern them. What concerns them is the aura of Soverick that they can sense all over the ne in the zombies. Unfortunately, they can''t find the source of this aura anywhere in the ne.


    ------


    A/N: And so the timeline has been restored. I don''t think I need to ask but I should. Where is Legion-7 now?

 Chapter 1339 Setting Up A Dead Man.

    Chapter 1339 Setting Up A Dead Man.


    ??"Where are the friends of Razor?" JESTATIC asked.


    The priest replied. "They left the ne with the freedom fighters. We don''t know where they went."


    The group of 10 battle sage monkeys looked at each other andmunicated amongst themselves.


    Jarkon stated. "I think our next course of action is clear. We have to find what lies on the other side of the aura. We might be able to find more clues about this situation and how Soverick is involved at all."


    UED said after some thinking. "Do you think this disease is rted to Soverick somehow? Soverick is cold but I don''t think he is this bloodthirsty and cruel."


    Jarkon thought back to how Soverick used to look at him. Soverick''s eyes were always cold and he would gaze at everyone as if they were not there. Especially during thepetition. He was always looking through people.


    Jarkon had to suppress a shudder as the memory of Soverick''s four cold eyes was evoked. He thought to himself, "I will not be surprised if Soverick did this. I can even bet on it."


    Jarkon didn''t know that he had spaced out. His eyes had zed over so the others continued to argue without him.


    "If Soverick was not capable of this then we wouldn''t have been sent out to search for traces of him."


    "But why would he do this? What is he to gain from it? Soverick is cold but smart. I doubt he would do anything just for the fun of it."


    "What about the godhoods that were lost?"


    "Are you saying Soverick, who is on the path of perfection, would kill billions of people just for the godhood of some weak gods? That''s preposterous."


    ALUINE interjected, "We can''t confirm anything. We don''t know for sure if the disease was caused by a demon or not. All we know is that the infected have Soverick''s aura. Let''s not jump to any conclusions until we find proof."


    They didn''t listen to him.


    "Could it be that Soverick caused the disease or was Soverick a demon?"


    ALUINE tried again to shut down the argument. "We don''t know that."


    "Why do the infected have his aura then?"


    ALUINE had to repeat it, "We don''t know that either."


    "It could also be that someone is trying to implicate Soverick. Soverick''s traces all over the ne look like a setup if you ask me."


    ALUINE gave up so they continued unhindered.


    "But who would try to set him up? Isn''t Soverick supposed to be dead? Who sets up a dead man?"


    "I don''t know about that, but I do know that Soverick is not supposed to be in this ne at all. He is dead."


    "Besides, it could be that someone wants to fool us or confuse us by setting Soverick up."


    "Maybe that is true. After all, none of this makes any sense. There''s not even a usible motive for why Soverick would kill all these people. But if the disease or the demon is rted to Soverick in any way, then I am afraid that the Virut ne is in trouble."


    They discussed some more. Then Jarkon snapped out of his daze.


    He said to them, "It is not our job to specte. We will follow the trails and traces to find out the truth, not make assumptions. No one is guilty of a crime until there is damning evidence."


    That made them stop arguing.


    He informed the high priest. "We are leaving now for the ancient battlefield. We must get to the root of the cause of the disease."


    The priest almost teared up as he asked, "But what about us and the evil Celestial Supreme?"


    Jarkon assured him, "Don''t worry. We will send for help to you. I am sure that warriors of justice will be sent here as soon as possible. No injustice will be allowed to continue under our gaze."


    Jarkon was not lying about the help he promised. Help will be sent as soon as possible. What Jarkon didn''t say was that all the gods of the ne would be killed by the help that he was calling for.


    If they are going to remove the Celestial Supreme, then they might as well remove all the gods. It will be easy to do after getting rid of the strongest god.


    They believe that every god is a wicked parasite that enves innocent people and takes advantage of them. So he is going to ask for more manpower in the message he will send.


    He didn''t say it because there was no need to kick the ho''s nest. Instead, he discussed with the other battle sage monkeys to hash out their next ns.


    The battle sage monkeys decided to follow the traces of Soverick''s aura in the ancient battlefield to see where the friends of Razor went. ording to the information they have gotten, they are the only ones that have left the ne. That means they must have something closely rted to the aura of Soverick they sensed.


    The ne is a dead end for now so they hope to get more information from the ones who had inside information about the cause of the disaster. Maybe they will know what kind of demon caused the zombies and how they can find it.


    The priest on the other hand doesn''t understand why they are fixated on the disease. To him, the disease is just an excuse created by the Supreme Celestial to take over the ne.


    So he asked In annoyance, "Why are you looking for the source of the disease? The disease is gone. It is no more. Meanwhile, the perpetrator of the disease is still around. You promised to help the ne if we told you about the disease but you''re leaving."


    One of the Battle sage monkeys replied. "You may not know this, but the disease or its source is still alive. Your Celestial Supreme lied. She didn''t get rid of the disease. It is still alive and it left the ne."


    The priest was shocked. He eximed, "What!!!"


    ----


    A/N: I think we all know who set Soverick up. Some people are just too wicked. They can do anything including framing the dead. They have no respect for the dead whatsoever. Imagine just how ck of a heart someone must possess for them to besmirch the partially good name of a dead man.

 Chapter 1340 Nothing Odd Going On.

    Chapter 1340 Nothing Odd Going On.


    ??The priest couldn''t believe it. He stammered, "But... But... But... But she said that the disease was dead. We also haven''t seen anything of it ever since the purge. You''re saying it is still out there and that the gue can return?"


    ALUINE shrugged. "It could return."


    "You shouldn''t be so shocked about it. If your Celestial Supreme is so wicked then you shouldn''t be surprised that she lied about this. As for us, we are certain that the source of the disease didn''t die in this ne and that it left the ne through the nar portal."


    The priest fell on his butt aghast and his mouth opened like a fish struggling for air.


    "We don''t know why it didn''t leave the ne directly to the abyss if it is really a demon. It might be that it wants to use the ancient battlefield to spread to other nes. So we must find it as soon as possible."


    Jarkon felt the need to emphasize the importance of their mission. He said, "The Celestial Supreme may have not lied. Maybe she didn''t know about the disease being alive. Maybe she wasn''t working with it or maybe their cooperation hade to an end so it left. We don''t know anything for sure."


    "All we know is that the disease left the ne and it is somewhere out there ready to turn another ne into a wastnd like this. And you don''t have to worry about your ne, help will surelye."


    The high priest didn''t like it but he was convinced. He nodded at them and said, "I must inform my god. Farewell."


    He left them immediately and went to pray. The battle sage monkeys also stood up from their seats.


    "We must go. Let''s leave as soon as possible."


    "We are running out of time. Hopefully, we can still track the disease to its source."


    They left the reception room and left the ne in search of the aura of Soverick that they sensed. Their search was fruitful. They came across the corpses of numerous infected along the way.


    All of the dead bodies bore the same symptoms as the zombies they saw. Their bodies were broken up with dark veins of decay all over the bodies. The squad didn''t need their ability to track auras to know that the dead bodies were definitely infected.


    Their search continued in earnest and they were further rewarded for their determination. They found the next ne that the source of the disease went to. There was nothing odd about the nar portal of this ne. It was open and also protected. There were a lot of people trying to get into it too.


    The squad approached the nar portal with their airship. Then they disembarked and asked around for information about the ne.


    "What ne is this?" It was the first question they asked.


    Someone replied, "This is the Steris ne."


    ------The Great Mother.


    The hounds of the lion of justice are not the only ones closing in on Legion. The Great Mother is also about to find him. She has never given up on him and has been searching for him ever since he escaped.


    It would have been difficult to find any trace of Legion-7 in the void universe considering that he is smaller than a needle in a haystack. But something good happened to Legion-7 that gave the Great Mother the opportunity to narrow down the search to the realm of high heaven.


    Soverick was in a world Fragment battling a strange Viper. He defeated the Viper and used his eyes to rewind the time of the Viper. This made the Viper appear in its nascent form of matter, energy, and supremew before he was given form by the Serpentine world god.


    Soverick swallowed this mass of energy, matter, and Supremew through his eyes and directly into his consciousness. Legion-7 was waiting for it eagerly in his consciousness since he is in the consciousness of every clone that has united with him.


    Legion-7 used his Authority of the soul, his soul fire, and the dragon inner world to suppress the supremew. It was just a tiny portion of the Supremew but it was also the part of the body of a world god so it was dangerous. There was no way he could subdue it without the help of his powerful soul and tiny portion of the Supremew but it was also the part of the body of a world god so it was dangerous. There was no way he cosmic energy.


    Their stalemate continued until the Serpentine world god made his Supremew within Soverick''s consciousness to overwrite and shred Soverick to pieces. It was then that Legion-7 attacked it with cosmic energy.


    Legion-7 made cosmic energy fuse with the Supremew. It turned the Supremew into something like Authority which Legion-7 is capable of eating. Even then, eating it didn''t go well with him. The Supremew wanted to overwrite his existence and it almost seeded several times in doing so.


    Legion-7''s existence changed several times but he was always able to recover himself because of his spark of consciousness. He was broken down several times but he was also able to wear down the supremew with abination of soul fire and cosmic energy.


    The Serpentine world god sensed what happened to his Supremew but he thought nothing of it because that was what was supposed to happen to a Supremew that entered a realm. It was supposed to be destroyed by the Will of the realm or the realm lord. It was so its disappearance was not odd.


    Legion-7 ultimately seeded in imbibing the supremew but he became unconscious during the process. The spiritual matter that made up his soul was overtaken by the supremew so he couldn''t think. Only his spark of consciousness was unscathed.


    His fractured consciousness and overwritten existence healed thanks to his spark of consciousness. But while he was unconscious, he dragged Legion-5''s inner world with him past theyer of thew matrix and down into the spiritual dimension. After all, technically, he had died again.

 Chapter 1341 The Hunt Continues.

    Chapter 1341 The Hunt Continues.


    ??Legion-7 returned and became an inert ck hole in the spiritual dimension. Unlike an active ck hole, he was not producing gravitational force to pull souls and soul prowlers to himself. However, soul prowlers still rushed towards him. They sensed cosmic energy from him which is more powerful than divinity. They wanted him more than ever before.


    Unfortunately for them, they couldn''t do anything to him. His soul is still protected by his shard of power so he was intangible to spiritual entities.


    However, even that protection was unnecessary. He has soul force and soul fire, and his soul has been crystalized by cosmic energy to be something simr to a seed of power.


    Not only that, he is a living Authority. It made it so that his soul was nearly indestructible and his soul fire could burn his enemies. If even a Supremew can''t do anything to him, then some soul prowlers on the brink of death can''t do anything either.


    So all the soul prowlers couldn''t do anything to him. Only the great mother could but Legion-7 was intangible so the great mother could only watch on. Then Legion-7 awakened and returned to the world of manifestation.


    He broke through theyer of thew matrix and appeared in the world of manifestation as Legion-5. The soul prowlers were unwilling to watch him leave. Unfortunately, they couldn''t do anything to stop him.


    They couldn''t even follow him out of the spiritual dimension. All of them were helpless about the situation but not the great mother. She couldn''t touch him but she could track him.


    At any other time, this would have been fruitless and useless. The spiritual dimension and the world above are not synchronous. After all, they don''t exist in the same dimension.


    It is nearly impossible for beings of the void universe to enter the spiritual or phantom dimension unless they meet certain requirements. But unlike the phantom world which is a mirror of the void universe, it is impossible to enter and leave the spiritual dimension from the same ce.


    Exit and entry into the spiritual dimension are also random. So it is useless to trail behind Legion-7. But Legion-7 happens to have an anchor in the world of manifestation.


    Legion-7 can enter the spiritual and appear anywhere in it, but he can always return to Legion-5 immediately whenever he enters the world of manifestation. So the fragment that the great-mother sent after him was able to locate Legion-5 directly. Legion-7 didn''t notice because the soul fragment didn''t track him with spiritual energy.


    The great mother is someone with a spark of consciousness like him so she didn''t need to use spiritual energy to keep track of him. She made sure to hide as far as possible from him while she made a soul fragment follow the beckoning fluctuations that he was inadvertently released to entice other soul prowlers.


    The soul fragment appeared in the Steris ne of the high heaven realm. From there it was easy to find Legion-5.


    "I have found you immortal one." She said in glee. "You have only be more delectable in the time that we have been apart. That is very good. We will meet again very soon."


    The great mothers began moving to im the new spark of consciousness that they had encountered. They can''t do anything to him in the spiritual dimension but they don''t believe that they will be so impotent in the world of manifestation.


    Besides, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Even the presence of the Supreme Alliance did not deter them. And so, the hunt continues.


    -----Back To Legion.


    Legion-7 seemed to sag as he said, "Fortunately the Kickstarter worked."


    He is truly exhausted. As the mainborer in that project, it is no surprise that is tired. Just the work he did baiting CARNAGE with the cosmic energy-infused world spark is enough to put any on edge and stress them out.


    "This is good. We are one step closer to building our artifact," Legion-5 said in relief.


    But Legion-7 still felt traumatized. He couldn''t help but say, "It was dangerous for a moment there. We almost lost Ragnarok. It was not easy slipping the World spark past the demon god of Carnage. Fortunately, it gave up on the ne when WRATH showed up."


    "If a demon god is already so dangerous. A world-ender will be more dangerous. And we have one within Legion-1. We nearly died trapping CARNAGE. All of us could have died and yet we seeded only to have a more dangerous entity to contend with. This is madness."


    Legion-7''s voice was still shaking. He is not someone with a weak mentality. He has gone up against the likes of the great mother and the Will of the void universe and he survived. Even so, he still can''t believe what they just seeded in pulling off.


    Ragnarok was to destroy the Lumen ne for the purpose of making CARNAGE angry with him and also making CARNAGE give up on the ne.


    Their thought process was that if CARNAGE became very angry with him, then it was highly likely that CARNAGE would chase him to the ends of the universe if it must. If that isn''t enough for CARNAGE to be determined, then CARNAGE will surely chase after Ragnarok if Ragnarok possesses a world spark.


    It was Legion-7''s job to ce the world spark in the ne. He didn''t give the World Spark to Ragnarok directly so as not to seem suspicious. They had to make it look natural and they also had to make sure that CARNAGE wouldn''t sense Legion-7.


    So Legion-7 waited until CARNAGE stopped barricading the ne. That happened when CARNAGE saw WRATH appear. It gave up on the ne and the blood moon in the sky disappeared.


    Ragnarok saw the blood moon disappear so Legion knew CARNAGE had given up on the ne. It was then that Legion-7 used Legion-5''s space crystal butterfly divine ability to transfer the World Spark to the Lumen ne by using Ragnarok as the spatial beacon.

 Chapter 1342 The All-Seers Confidence.

    Chapter 1342 The All-Seer''s Confidence.


    ??Ragnarok did his part very well too. He acted surprised and intent on getting the World Spark. They sessfully baited CARNAGE into the trap that they had prepared for him.


    "What a rush." Legion-5 said. "We would have been in big trouble if something had gone wrong. And we are still in danger. I doubt you can protect us from a world-ender."


    Legion-7 replied solemnly, "I can''t. I still can''t handle Aeternus''s Chaos energy. A demon god is a threat to me until I unite with our origin. I am certain that there is nothing I can do to protect us from a world-ender. We would surely need a supremew if we are to survive CARNAGE''s breakout from the world engine"


    Legion-5 sighed. "Should we be doing this even if we can? The n almost doomed us and we are still ying with fire."


    Soverick interjected. "I said it was going to work and it did. This is going to work too so what are you worried about?"


    Legion-5 chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I know. You saw everything and you nned for it. Our great seer."


    His voice wasced with sarcasm but Soverick ignored it and confirmed with pride, "I did see it. I also nned for failure. CARNAGE can''t escape. At least not on his own."


    Soverick is very confident for an Origin god who dares to mess with something world gods wouldn''t want to mess with. This is because of his powerful eyes.


    Since he didn''t need to hide under the gaze of world gods anymore and had lost his title, he didn''t need to keep hiding his strength. Especially not when Legion needs it the most. So he created his concept and became an Origin god.


    Thew of fate on its own is aw that specializes in seeing the future. The future is indeterminate so sensing it much less seeing it is very difficult. One would need a highw to do that.


    With thew of fate, one can do something they don''t know how to do because there is a possibility of doing it in the future. As long as something is possible for them to achieve, the wielders of fate can bring it to fruition.


    He used the highw of fate and also causality for his concept. Causality is about linking the present and the past. With Causality, one can find out what happened in the past to create the present.


    It is the specialization of the actions of the past leading to the effect of the present and the actions of the present leading to the effects of the future. With Causality, one can achieve something they shouldn''t be able to do simply because someone else has done it before.


    As if that isn''t enough, which is not strange for Soverick, he also used thew of time in addition to fate and Causality. Thew of time specializes on the present. It brings the effect or events of the future or the past into the present.


    One might say thew of time is thebination of Fate and Causality and they would be right. Unfortunately, time is more difficult toprehend and use. This is because of the element of randomness.


    This randomnesses from the ability to bring the future to the present. Because the future is uncertain, the effect of this ability is also uncertain.


    There''s another randomness created when someone is attempting to change the past or bring the present to the past. This randomness is so great that thew of order actively opposes it. It is why time travel is banned in the void universe.


    In fact, manipting time on a significant scale in the void universe has also been banned. No one can use thew of time on other Origin gods. The void universe usually only maintains their immortality but it will interfere with such a thing.


    This ban made his self-created techniques mostly useless. He can only use them on those who haven''t be one with their concepts. Fortunately, the concept for his eyes doesn''t need thew of time to work on others.


    So thew of time is crippled despite being powerful. But with the addition of fate and Causality, most of its abilities have been increased. Whenbined with thew of space and all the otherws that Legion hasprehended, it helped Soverick to create an eye that can see everything there is to see.


    So Soverick was confident of the sess of their n and he is not ashamed to state it. In fact, he bes quite angry when the sess of his ns is questioned. Unfortunately, he can''t do anything to Legion like putting them in an artifact that will take over their existence and use them as a weapon.


    Ghaster''s painful experience with the living artifact might have been a one-time thing, but the howls and screams of demons and even Origin gods participating in Helios''s and the Tree father''s experiment have proven that there are many things worse than death.


    Soverick assured them, "There was nothing to worry about and there is very little to worry about in the future. The prison we built for CARNAGE is not so easy to break. And even if it does break out, the first sage will be there to take most of the heat for us."


    Legion-5 grumbled, "Very little problem to worry about he says."


    Legion-2 ignored his grumbling.


    Legion-7 spoke, "Fortunately the n didn''t fail and we didn''t have to use your contingency n. I am very sure that the first sage would not like the oue of your contingency n."


    Soverick shrugged, "We will just hide in the realm. He won''t be able to do anything to us then no matter how angry he is."


    Soverick is always prepared. He didn''t learn that lesson from the first sage. It is a trait of Legion as a whole. His all-seeing eyes has only made that trait more effective and efficient.

 Chapter 1343 A Dangerous Hobby.

    Chapter 1343 A Dangerous Hobby.


    ??It was because of the trait of preparedness that he survived the first sage''s scheme against him in the Unified Skill Index. And it is because of this preparedness that he nned for a way to divert the disaster that would have urred to them had the n failed.


    That contingency n which is the same one they have in case CARNAGE escapes is to divert most of the cmity to the first sage. So even if the n to use CARNAGE as fuel to kickstart their World Engine failed, they would have angered the first sage at most and had to limit their activities to the realm. That isn''t much of a problem for them.


    It is still a risky and dangerous n that they executed only because of their trust in Soverick. If they can''t trust themselves, who will they trust? If it were any other person who certified the n and rmended it to them, they would have run away without turning back.


    "Enjoy your rest for now Legion-7. We have a lot of work to do to put up my new and improvedw matrix." Soverick said to Legion-7 before turning his attention to analyzing CARNAGE to help Aeternus with theprehension of thew of Chaos.


    They have just finished a n that took hundreds of years of work. They are tired so they are going to rest a little. Of course, they won''t be wasting their time during this rest. They will just do less intensive and dangerous things like developing themselves before they resume building the world fragment.


    Legion-5 asked Aeternus, "What did the demon god of Wrath give you for selling the coordinates of the Lumen ne to it?"


    Aeternus replied, "He promised never to harm me until the end of the era of conquest and to protect me against GREED during the era of conquest."


    Legion-5 chuckled. "What a fortunate demon god. WRATH is lucky that he wasn''t the one that took the bait."


    AETERNUS added, "It is also good for us that WRATH didn''t fall into our trap. I will have a protector during the era of conquest against GREED. GREED won''t be able to interfere with our ns then. Better CARNAGE than WRATH."


    Legion-5 nodded in agreement. But he stillined, "Still, the price of the coordinates of a ne for protection seems to be too high. Is WRATH the greedy one all along?"


    Aeternus chuckled at that. "It might be because I antagonized the demon gods during the setup of the Abyssal Coalition."


    Legion-7 agreed. "If I were WRATH, I would be pissed at you too and ask for an exorbitant amount to protect you."


    Legion-5 snickered, "WRATH didn''t gain anything at the end of the day so his attempt to fleece us failed."


    AETERNUS also chuckled. "I am sure WRATH will be very wrathful because it missed out on a world spark. It will be doubly wrathful when it finds out that it was all a trap."


    They allughed just thinking about it. The thought that they manipted beings stronger than them and dared to trap one is truly an amusing pastime. If it weren''t so dangerous, then they would do it more often.


    WRATH didn''t find the Lumen ne by chance. Its coordinates were leaked to it. The Origin gods of the Lumen ne were bitter about the loss of their ne but they were not bitter enough to find a demon god to leak the location of their ne to a demon god. Even if they were that bitter, Aeternus had already made a deal with WRATH before they could attempt it.


    Aeternus is wealthy. He doesn''tck normal things and the WRATH can''t give him what hecks. WRATH doesn''t even have a world spark while they are willing to use a world spark as bait to trap demon gods. It is safe to say that WRATH doesn''tpare to them in wealth. If not for its power, then they wouldn''t have needed to bait it too.


    Aeternus asked for protection from WRATH. WRATH thought it was doing Aeternus a favor but it didn''t know that it too was being targeted by them. Legion prepared for a lot of alternative oues. WRATH didn''te to the Lumen ne just to make CARNAGE give up on the ne and to make CARNAGE preupied. WRATH was also an alternative target for their trap.


    If by chance, CARNAGE didn''t go after the world spark because it was suspicious, WRATH would have surely gone after it. The presence of WRATH would have surelypelled CARNAGE to also go after it. Either way, at least, one of them would have taken the bait and fallen into the trap.


    If it was WRATH that fell into the trap, then Legion would have had no need to worry because WRATH swore not to harm Aeternus no matter what Aeternus did. At the time WRATH took that Oath, it didn''t think there was anything a demon king could do to harm it. And the Oath had a deadline. So it was willing to swear the Oath for a chance to deal a massive blow to CARNAGE.


    That Oath would have led to its envement within the world of Legion-1 had it taken the bait. And he wouldn''t do anything to them even if it broke out because it would be harming Aeternus.


    Legion-5 said proudly, "We are getting closer and closer to greatness. One of us might not be able to achieve it, but together, perfection is made possible. For we are Legion."


    Aeternus and Legion-7 finished his sentence for him.


    "And Legion is seeking perfection in numbers. To acquire perfection as one."


    Some might say that they courted death with their risky n and those people would be right but those people would never be able to achieve what they achieved. It is because they have such a dangerous hobby that they can break their limits and the limits of what''s possible in the void universe.

 Chapter 1344 Gambling Addiction.

    Chapter 1344 Gambling Addiction.


    ??It is a dangerous hobby to manipte entities more powerful than them but it is also rewarding. It is even more dangerous to scheme against a demon god and a world god. But they seeded and created a Kickstarter for their world engine.


    It is because it is so rewarding that their ns for Hadrick and Ghastorix are still in the works. They have tasted sess and they won''t stop until they achieve perfection.


    Legion-5 said to them, "Speaking about perfection, I feel like my giant of order divine ability is not perfect yet. Is there anything we can do to increase it? I need it to be at its very best if it is to be the foundation of my ns."


    He has already received the crown that Aeternus has prepared for him and it is very powerful. It is on the level of a concept. The divine ability of order that he got from the tree father on the other hand is on the level of a demigod. He is not sure it will be able to handle what he intends to use it for.


    The Tree Father didn''t even bother to talk since he knew that Legion-5 would always be greedy for more. He has done all he can do short of giving his Authority away. The divine ability has been delivered and he is not willing to do anything else.


    It was Legion-7 that appeased him, "We have gotten the best that we can have. The giant of order divine ability cannot awaken further without the fullw of order. I have done my best to fuse it right now. But you won''t be able to get the full divine ability until thew of order isprehended. We have to wait for Soverick to use his eyes to crack thew of order or Helios toprehend it."


    "Forget it. I will use what I have to test my hypothesis." Legion-5 said. "I can''t wait for Soverick. He is too busy right now with the world-ender. Helios will also take forever."


    Legion-7 agreed. "We can''t wait for Soverick at all. Not only does he want to use the world-ender to help Aeternus crack thew of Chaos, but he still has the world fragment to n for. We can always get the fullw of order to unlock thew of orderter."


    Legion-5 agreed grudgingly. " I guess I will have to rely on the godhood and Authority of the Celestial Supreme to enhance it."


    The Tree father finally spoke, "I knew you wanted something like that."


    Legion-5 shrugged. "We have already invested so much. I think we should give it our best shot so that our investment won''t go to waste. Come on. It is just one Authority of the Celestial Supreme. We have a lot of them."


    "We have them to use to get resources to build ourw matrix. You are asking for too much."


    They argued for a while but Legion-7 ultimately got what he wanted. It is a he said, they have already invested a lot into his n. It won''t do for it to fail because they withheld some resources.


    The Tree Father is the mind of reason advising them not to gamble too much on his n. It is just like the normal opposing inner thoughts of others. Unfortunately, the inner voice of caution and reason usually loses out to that voice that encourages people to keep gambling.


    So the Tree Father lost and Legion-5 got the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. It was sent to him through the spatial channel between clones created by Legion-7.


    Legion-7 received the Authority of the Celestial Supreme in the inner world. It was heavy to move about. When he considered that he would be the one to do most of the work in Legion-5''s project, he couldn''t help butin. "This has to work."


    "Even if it doesn''t work, it is unlikely that the Authority of the Celestial Supreme will go to waste. We have very little to worry about."


    Thatst sentence caused Soverick''s face to twitch. But he ignored Legion-5. Even if he doesn''t know if Legion-5''s n will work. This is because there is no precedent for it in the past.


    He is only certain that it will lead to powerful consequences because his vision of its result in the future is messy. It is as if something powerful that he can''t gaze upon will interfere.


    The first time he encountered such a situation was when he gazed at Mother High Heaven after defeating the Celestial Supreme Ode. So his best guess is that the Will of the void universe will be involved in Legion-5''s future. After all, it still hates Legion-7 very much and Legion-7 is one of the cornerstones for this project.


    This is why Legion thinks it will fail and why the Tree Father wants them to cut their losses short. However, it is because they know that what they have prepared iscking that they want to invest more.


    Aeternus spoke, "It seems I have a lot more work to do before we can get the world fragment online. I will go and attack that Gattling ne. It should give Legion more wealth and another Authority of the Celestial Supreme."


    Legion-7 likes that idea very much. "You should do that. But not soon. I want to be there to smash Kilorita''s face in myself. Your Chaos energy is no fun at all. It doesn''t give tactile feedback of violence at all."


    Aeternus agreed and returned his attention to the current ne that he is invading. Legion is very wealthy thanks to his sessful invasion of many nes and Legion-1''s thieving career in the immortalnds. But the cost of the world fragment has drained them and they will need more if they are to purchase a world seed.


    They have so much currently that a world fragment is not enough to drain them of their wealth. But a world seed which is the most expensive of the three fragments of a world heart is a massive burden on Legion. That means the Gattling ne will be invaded to help bear that burden for them.

 Chapter 1345 A Daring Plan.

    Chapter 1345 A Daring n.


    ??The invasion is nothing personal or for revenge. Kilorita did steal the child of the ne from Legion-7, but that''s not the reason why they will be invaded. Legion-7 hid a lot of the wealth he took from the dead gods in the ne. Someone has to go and get it. Plus there''s more wealth that the Celestials are hoarding. So the invasion is strictly business.


    It may have a side of pleasure but what was strictly business was when the tree father made a demigod of order and killed the girl for her core so that Legion-5 could acquire the divine ability of Order. It was also business when Legion-5 killed several great gods to enhance that divine core to the level of a great god.


    Many people have sacrificed a lot for Legion-5''s n including the clones of the Legion. Aeternus even gave him one of his crowns and helped him get a Celestial godhood of order. This is just to see if his n will work. If it works then he will need even more investment.


    One of the major investments he might need for his project is a world seed. This is all because Legion-5 believes that thebination of Legion-7, who is a living Authority on par with a Supremew, with an inner world, the Godhood of a Celestial, the Authority of the Celestial Supreme, and the crown of a demon king will lead to something great.


    Legion-7 has a spark of consciousness which represents the apex of spiritual Authority. The godhood of a Celestial represents the apex of divine Authority while the crown of a demon king represents the apex of sin Authority. All of these will be fused on a foundation of thew of order which is the divine ability of giants of order. Then it will be enhanced by the Authority of the Celestial Supreme.


    Legion-5 has been preparing for thisbination for a while now. Many great gods have died so that he can use their godhoods to perform experiments. The remaining godhoods that he didn''t use were given to Aeternus to make up for the Celestial godhood that he would need. But the Authority of the Celestial Supreme is unpaid for and has already caused a deficit in their wealth.


    Fortunately, Legion-5 is ready for the fusion now. Still, he did some final preparations. At this point, their understanding of thews and the world has reached a level that most Origin gods cannotpare with. It is because of their understanding of the world that Legion-5 thinks his n will work.


    They know that a world is made up of a world spark, a world engine, and a world seed. So if he is to be a world god without a supremew, he is going to need all these things or things that will substitute for them.


    Legion-5 himself intends to be the world engine. He has a dragon heart that is the apex of the path of perfection. This heart is capable of refining normal spiritual energy into dragon force. This dragon force can rece the soul force of origin gods to refine void energy into Origin essence.


    They have already seen in the situation of Legion-8 that if the soul force of an Origin god is used to create dragon force, then cosmic energy can be utilized to a certain extent.


    While Legion-8 can only use cosmic energy to strengthen his inner world, they have gone further than that because Legion-7bined with Legion-5''s inner world. Legion-7''s partial maniption of cosmic energy plus the dragon heart''s potential for the maniption of cosmic energy should ensure the sess of bing a world engine.


    This is in an attempt to create a small low-powered world engine capable of growth but it is only part of the equation. The result of the fusion of Legion-7 and his inner world will be empowered by the fusion of the Celestial godhood and the divine ability of giants of order. Then it will be bnced by the crown of Chaos.


    This second part of the fusion is to elevate the substitute world engine into something powerful enough to carry a world. It is only then can he fuse with a world spark and world seed to be a world god without a Supremew.


    To create the effect of a world spark, he intends to fuse the Authority of the Celestial Supreme with his substitute world engine and use the product of the fusion to advance to the Origin god level.


    So whatever he creates will be his concept and should substitute for the need for a world spark just as the concept of a realm lord substitutes for the world spark in a world heart. It is a daring n that aims to achieve qualitative power through the advancement of the product of quantitative fusion.


    That will surely make it into a world spark and if his substitute world spark doesn''t work either, Legion-7 will fill in it for it when they be an Origin god.


    He is confident that his n will work because Legion-7 is already the equivalent of a world spark. He grew from the level of a living Authority to a living world spark after refining the Supremew of the Serpentine world god. All that will be left his n works is the world seed.


    Legion-5 finished reviewing the n and checking to make sure everything was alright. Then he said, "Let us begin."


    His dragon heart has fused with Legion-7. His giant of order divine ability has also fused with it. The divine ability of giants of order awakened a third ability when it was upgraded with the godhood of all the great gods that he has killed over the years.


    As it is, it has broken through the limit of great gods and sovereigns. But it won''t be able to awaken further without a supremew. That is enough for what he wants to do.

 Chapter 1346 First Half.

    Chapter 1346 First Half.


    ??The divine ability of giants of order is not a concept yet but it will do since he has Legion-7 as the substitute for theckingw of order and the Authority of the Celestial Supreme if need be.


    The first thing he did was to assimte the Celestial godhood and the crown of a demon king into his slots. The assimtion was easy. His existence warped and shifted slightly to amodate them. It helped that his divine ability could assimte anything and that the Celestial that the godhood belongs to is dead and the demon king the crown belongs to is not resisting his assimtion.


    He said to Legion-7, "I feel so heavy."


    "It is probably because you havepleted your slots or because you are carrying all the types of authority."


    "That''s probably true. Now one should have three different types of Authority but I did it."


    "That''s special and all but you have to hurry up before the Celestial godhood turns you into a god."


    "Right."


    He moved on with the next step. He has filled the 9 slots he has in his shapeshifting ability. Some of them have fused so all that remains within him are 3 slots. Two of the slots contain the Celestial godhood and the crown of the demon king. Thest one is the product of the fusion of the other 6 divine abilities including the giant of order with the dragon heart as the base.


    He pushed the fusion of the Celestial godhood with his dragon heart. Nothing went wrong. Godhood doesn''t reject anyone as long as they are on the path of perfection. All they have to do is give up their Origin and any power rted tows and they will be gods.


    He is not giving up his powers ofw but he has assimted the godhood and he has a divine ability that likes to fuse with divine power so he was able to direct the divine power towards more productive aims instead of bing a god.


    Thew fragments of Order within the divine ability of giants of order epted the Celestial godhood of Order easily without any resistance. After all, the Authority of a Celestial is a facet of thew of order.


    This fusion led to the direct recreation of the true giant of Order that Helios once killed, only stronger. A white bone armor grew over his whole body including his head. Meanwhile, all of his other divine abilities transformed into Stigmatas on his body. They appeared as glowing tattoos on his white armor.


    Legion-5 eximed, "I feel glorious."


    He can feel immense power thrumming through his existence. It is almost as if the divine ability of the giant of order hase alive within him.


    His inner world is also changing rapidly. A fire started in his inner world due to Legion-7''s soul me and the Celestial godhood. It refused to burn Origin energy and was instead burning his soul force.


    Legion-7 said anxiously to him, "This is not sustainable. Do something quickly."


    They have encountered something like this before when Legion-7 first got his soul me. His existence was being consumed to sustain the me. That was solved by giving it Origin energy to burn. Unfortunately, this me is closer to a god fire than a soul me. It doesn''t want Origin energy.


    Legion-2 advised, "Give it the Authority of the Celestial Supreme."


    Legion-5 hurriedly absorbed the Celestial Supreme. He agreed with Soverick''s conjecture that the Authority of the Celestial Supreme will be able to solve this issue because it is the only thing they have that is capable of producing mana, origin energy for a ne or divine energy, and Authority for gods.


    It is even capable of utilizing cosmic energy so whatever the me needs, it is likely that the Authority of the Celestial can give it to it. Even if it doesn''t work, then they will be able to knock out a lot of energy types that the me doesn''t want with a single move.


    It was a wise move to do so because the me stopped consuming his dragon force and inner world. Not only that, his inner world began erging and also drawing cosmic energy into itself without him needing to force it.


    As the cosmic energy entered his inner world, the fire within it began refining the cosmic energy just like a world engine would do. It is undoubtedly a positive indication even though it is stillcking because the refinement is very slow.


    Legion-5 was ted. "This is good news. It means my n will work. And it is only getting better."


    Legion-7 on the other hand was stressed. Heined, "This might actually kill me."


    He is only exaggerating. He is not going to die but the developments are having a heavy toil on him. The inner world of Legion-5 is his body so all the changes are happening to his body and affecting him directly.


    It was also the spiritual matter that made up his body that turned into the me. So he lost both his spiritual and physical body to the fire. The good news is that cosmic energy is rushing into his spark of consciousness and making him stronger.


    Legion-7 is not the only one growing stronger as cosmic energy entered their inner world. The white bone armor around Legion-5 was also hardening and the stigmata were stirring up the variousw fragments of the divine abilities they held in thew matrix around them. He has truly be a vessel of order.


    Many of his Stigmata affect his body so his white bone armor took on some of their properties. First, it shifted intorge tes so his armor became rough as if carved from rock. Then it turned into ck armor. His shoulders erged and another pair of hands grew out from them.


    He became a four-armed armored behemoth. He is different from normal Behemoths in that his armor is not smooth. It is made of ck crystal scalesyered on top of each other to form thick interlocked tes.


    ----


    A/N: Do you remember that poor demigod that Helios butchered and sacrificed to open the gate to the abyss in the Zargoth ne? Yeah, that''s a true giant of order. Helios on the other hand was a true sun giant.

 Chapter 1347 The Second Half.

    Chapter 1347 The Second Half.


    ??On top of the scales are the divine Stigmatas. They formed tattoos that have been etched deep into his existence. He has no face or eyes. His head just like the rest of his body is sealed tight within the armor so he looks like a knight wearing heavy armor.


    The armor is truly heavy. It is made from crystalized graviton so it is very heavy. But he feels so powerful that he can''t sense that heaviness.


    "It seems I have lost my flexibility. I can''t revert to my normal physique anymore." Hemented.


    Legion-7 informed him, "That is the price to pay for fusing with order."


    "It will be worth it."


    "The good news is that you won''t die even if you fail. The bad news is that you will remain like this forever."


    "Still worth it."


    "I hope so. And I hope you have a solution for the stubbornness of order."


    Not only has he lost the ability to shift his body, thew of order is not done with him yet. It is trying to lock up his soul and energy too. The divine ability that he gained from the giants of order has be too powerful and is going haywire. Even Legion-7 is about to be frozen.


    Legion-5 said with expectations, "I hope Aeternus''s crown won''t disappoint me."


    The crown of Chaos is very dangerous but it is all they have to curb the influence of thew of order. He doesn''t want Legion-7 to have to forcefully destroy his world engine so he forced the crown to fuse with his inner world.


    They don''t know what will happen because he is the first being in the universe who possesses the crown of a demon king without being a demon. Other supreme beasts don''t have his mutated divine ability that can fuse with anything apart from seeds of power.


    To other people, the crown of the demon king cannot even be acquired unless the demon king gives it. That is the only way to get it because killing the demon king will make the crown disappear.


    But no demon king is going to give up their power. Not even other demon kings of kings who have several crowns will give up any of their crowns. And even if they did, the crowns would be useless to other Supreme beasts because it would be like a rock to them and they can''t assimte a rock.


    The crown is not a rock to him. It became an organ as soon as he assimted it. It even wanted to turn him into a demon of sorts. Fortunately, the assimtion is notplete yet or the corruption from the crown would be irreversible.


    "Please work out." He said as the slot with crown approached his newly created world engine.


    If this doesn''t work out, apart from losing his world engine, the crown of Chaos won''t give him a good ending too.


    Legion-5 could have assimted any crown with any type of sin and it would have probably been safer to use other sins apart from true Chasi. But he chose the crown representing the Authority of Chaos so that he could match and neutralize thew of order within him.


    This wouldn''t have been a problem had he not used the godhood of a Celestial of Order to increase the power of his inner world. But he had to use the godhood of order because it is the only one that can fuse perfectly with the divine ability of giants of order and enhance it.


    Their only confidence that everything will be alright is because Soverick said that they are not at risk of dying. They have cut off the flow of divine life energy and Chaos energy into both Legion-5 and Legion-7 so there won''t be a repeat of the previous ident.


    So they are fairly sure that Order and Chaos won''t create big problems for him. Even so, they were watching with anticipation and fear as Legion-5 began fusing the crown with his inner world. This is because this is the point where they are sure that there will be a problem.


    They don''t have control over Chaos like Aeternus. Their souls have not been modified and they haven''tprehended thepletew of order so they certainly cannot control the crown or the oue of the fusion at all.


    They were right to be worried but for the wrong reasons. The fusion didn''t happen. Their inner world refused to fuse with the crown. The crown mmed against the inner world and encountered resistance so it bounced back against their will.


    "Fuse!" Legion-5 roared.


    But roaring didn''t help. The inner world refused to fuse. The crown is eager for the fusion. It would have shed and fought with the inner world if it had the chance but the power of order has grown too much for Chaos to affect it.


    Legion-7 observed, "Do we get another crown to empower Chaos?"


    Aeternus sent another over crown before they agreed to use it. That action signified the intent of Legion as a whole so Legion-7 sent the crown into the slot containing the first crown of Chaos.


    The first crown fused with the second one and became bigger. Then they tried the fusion with the world engine again. Unfortunately, the fusion still didn''t work.


    Both he and Legion-7 are trying their best to bring the two remaining slots together. But their effort is leading nowhere. So they did the only thing they thought could help apart from getting more crowns. They forced cosmic energy out of the inner world into the crown.


    The crown of Chaos began to strengthen at a fast pace. It reached the maximum level of a demon king very quickly which enabled it to overpower the resistance of their inner world. The two of them began to fuse. Not only that, they didn''t explode.


    It made the two of them sigh in relief.


    "Finally,"


    "Looks like everything is going to seed without a hitch."


    They felt the stubbornness of order begin to fade as it was contaminated by Chaos. Their inner world had to find a bnce with the crown so it stopped trying to freeze them. But then the unexpected came.


    -----


    A/N: Cue the ominous music.

 Chapter 1348 Third Half.

    Chapter 1348 Third Half.


    ??They knew that messing with Chaos, Order, and divinity was dangerous. They knew that from personal and clear experience so they were very careful in their fusion. They didn''t bring Chaos energy or the divine energy of order into the fusion at all so as not to recreate the terrible events that almost killed them.


    Their carefulness was fruitful and they even seeded in creating a functional world engine. Unfortunately, there was something they didn''t count for in this fusion. They didn''t ount for the sparks of power and what they would do when presented with Chaos, Order, and divinity.


    It is not their fault that they ignored the shards of power. After all, Legion-5 might as well not have one. It hasn''t done anything to him or affected him in any way so they overlooked it.


    They knew that their sparks of power were there but they didn''t think the two ck orbs would affect the fusion. They were wrong.


    The current fusion process created conditions that were simr to the situation that led to the creation of the shards of power in the first ce.


    The two ck orbs were not deterred by the absence of Chaos energy and divine energy. They stopped their usual motion of rotating around Legion-5 and Legion-7. They left their orbit around the two of them and fused as one.


    The anchor of the two shards of power, which is their souls, also fused. Legion-5 became Legion-7 and Legion-7 became Legion-5 because of it. There was no difference between them. Their thoughts, Will, and matter be it spiritual or physical became one under thews of the universe.


    A myriad of effects urred due to their strange state. Legion-7 possessed 9 divine abilities while Legion-5 possessed a spark of consciousness. Legion-7 had be the nascent world engine, which meant that Legion-5 had also be the nascent world engine.


    That meant the world engine had many divine abilities and a soul spark. The soul spark is a living Authority while Legion-5 became the body for the world engine. All in all, the world engine had everything toe alive. It ought to have a Supremew for that but it doesn''t need that anymore.


    It was a strange state for them. A lot of things were happening to them one after the other. They became a Celestial of order. Then they became an Origin god of Order. Next, they became a demon of Order.


    They couldn''t keep track of the changes at all but it felt to them as if they had ascended into a strange state of existence where anything was possible. They didn''t feel like they were in danger at all. In fact, they felt ted but the other clones were anxious and felt threatened.


    They all screamed in panic, "Stop them."


    The two of them were pulling the other clones to fuse with them across space and time. They had to resist the pull since they didn''t want to damage their existence. Unfortunately, Legion couldn''t stop the two or draw them back from their strange state.


    They couldn''t evenmunicate with either one of them. For the first time in their existence, they had anguage barrier.


    Their messages reached Legion-5 and Legion-7 but those didn''t understand them at all. It was as if they were speaking two differentnguages which should be impossible. However, it is understandable since one group are living entities while the other two have be a world engine.


    The best Legion could do was stop the flow of energy to them. It didn''t seem to help since Legion-7 was in possession of a lot of Origin energy.


    Origin energy was consumed rapidly as Legion-5 and Legion-7 continued to ascend. Their state of existence ascended while their minds descended. They fell below thew matrix to the boundary between the light side of the universe and the dark side.


    Above them is a of invisible and numerous visible colors. The allowed for matter and energy to manifest in the forms that are experienced but it also limited what they could do. But the two of them have escaped its range so they can do anything they want now.


    All they need to do is to expand and be a world. If they anchor that world to their life anchor within their Origin with a supremew then they willplete the evolution of their state of existence and descendpletely into the dark side.


    They thought as one in anticipation, "We will be GODS!"


    Their ascended state is intoxicating and they want to maintain it forever. Unfortunately, the clones are not supporting them. Legion-1 refused to allow them to fuse with their Origin core and the others refused to give them energy.


    This resistance made them dissatisfied and angry. It made them roar in displeasure, "GIVE US WHAT WE NEED!"


    The clones refused. Aeternus withheld Chaos energy, the Tree Father withheld divine energy, and the others withheld Origin energy from them. Only cosmic energy which is beyond their control could continue to enter their existence to reinforce it.


    "IGNORANT BEINGS! WHY DO YOU PERSIST IN YOUR MEDIOCRITY LIKE SO?! LET US ASCEND TO TRUE GODHOOD!!!"


    They felt angry and irritated. Not only are they not being supported, but they are being hindered from ascending. Anyone would be angry even a god. However, attacking the clones never crossed their minds. They could only admonish the other clones in hopes that they will support them.


    It is unfortunate that they are just wasting their efforts because the other clones can''t understand a word of what they are saying. The other clones couldn''t even understand their intent and emotions. All they heard was iprehensible gibberish.


    Soon they ran out of Origin. Their existence began to flicker and they began to return to the world of manifestation.


    They roared unwillingly, "NOOOOOO! GIVE US WHAT WE WANT!!!"


    But the pull didn''t stop. Their existence doesn''t have enough weight to keep them in the dark side and they don''t have a supremew to force it. If nothing changes, then they will fall back to their previous state.


    ----


    A/N: There shouldn''t be a third half but the impossible has be possible thanks to the shard of power.

 Chapter 1349 Ascension State.

    Chapter 1349 Ascension State.


    ??They can''t even use the immense power they have in this strange state because they don''t have a supremew. Their Will couldn''t be manifested but they felt an overwhelming and powerful Will around them that could help them.


    They know this with certainty due to the connection they have with this Will in their strange state. So they tried to grab onto the Will but they didn''t have the necessary tools to hang on.


    They said to the Will, "HELP US."


    They pleaded for help but the Will of the Universe didn''t help them. It could easily help them if it wanted but it did the opposite. Itshed at them and yanked them back to the world of manifestation.


    All of Legion heard the intent of the Will of the void universe. It said to them, "You are not wee here."


    It spoke in anguage that both the normal clones and the scrambled clones could understand.


    The scrambled clones said before they left, "WE DON''T NEED YOUR WELCOME!!!"


    They actually did. They didn''t get it so they failed to ascend. The fused shards of power seperated so Legion-5 and Legion-7 separated again. The removal of their strange state also unscrambled their minds.


    The two didn''t feel any different. They even asked, "What happened?"


    All the clones slumped wherever they were. They were both relieved and tired. The harrowing experiencested for a total of eleven seconds. It felt like 11 years to the clones but it only felt like an instant of unconsciousness to the two of them.


    The restoration of the connection of their minds allowed the two of them to experience what Legion had just gone through. Their minds cleared up immediately. It was like cold water was poured over a hot metal. They realized that they had almost lost themselves at that point.


    "That was unexpected." They both said at the same time. "We almost died."


    Their thoughts were synched for a short time in their strange state but some of its effects remained even after it was gone. It will disappear in time but for a while, their train of thought will be incredibly simr.


    The clones had a lot to say. "Yes, it was unexpected."


    Soverick mulled over the memories of their experience. He said to them, "What is that state?"


    "I don''t know. It was strange. They had the power of a Celestial at some point and the power of a demon at some other point."


    As an entity with the power of gods, demons, and Origin gods, they ought to be able to recognize every type of power they encounter but can''t pinpoint what kind of state the two of them experienced.


    "It felt like raw power. It could do anything and it was very powerful. It was almost at the level of Supreme Origin gods or maybe at that level."


    Legion-7mented, "It was that powerful? I think we missed out."


    "I don''t think you were lucky at all. You were going to die."


    "You two couldn''t control that kind of power at all. You were more likely to tear yourself apart."


    "So the will of the universe did us a favor?"


    "Not exactly. It is more like it felt threatened and didn''t want to share its power."


    "That might be true. You two were drawing upon the power of the order in that strange state."


    "It was dangerous but it confirms thatplete Unity is possible and very powerful." Legion-1 said.


    "The fusion of the shards is also possible."


    "And the necessary state needed to use utilize them at their fullest potential was also discovered."


    "But do we really want to recreate the necessary state for it? The third time might be the one that kills us."


    "It is inevitable at this point. We have all the necessary parts and they will fuse when we achieve Unity."


    "I think we must prepare for this oue when we build the world fragment and when we try to be world gods."


    The brief ascension had enlightened them because they experienced a state of existence that was beyond them. They know now that power is power regardless of the forms ites.


    It was as if there was a simrity between the path of divinity, the path of perfection, and the path of demons. This simrity is the foundation of power. It was what enabled them to change between being a god and a demon. Unfortunately, they don''t know what exactly that simrity is.


    What they did learn is how to bring out the full potential of the shard of power. They know now that the fusion of divine energy, Chaos energy, and divinity of order is all they need to recreate that special state.


    Soverick said with certainty, "This has been enlightening. I should learn to trust myself more. After all, I was right to think that the Will of the void universe would appear."


    Legion-7 interrupted him, "Now don''t start bragging. You thought we would fail and we didn''t."


    The Tree Father piled on the me, "You also thought that they wouldn''t die. But not only did the attempt almost get them killed, they almost killed us too."


    Soverick maintained his sense of superiority. He said proudly, "I was still right. They didn''t die and neither did we. If anything, I would say that I did more work in this than anybody else so I think that sess wouldn''t have happened without me."


    Legion-7 ignored him and continued, "Not only didn''t we fail, we even discovered that If we can recreate controble conditions simr to the conditions that led to the creation of the shard of power then it is possible to bring out the full potential of the shards of power."


    Legion-5 added in full support, "Speaking of bringing out the full potential of the shards of power. We should be able to help with that."


    That drew all their attention to his inner world. Soverick fused his eyes to gaze upon. His gaze pierced through the barrier around the ancient battlefield, the barrier of the Steris ne, and focused on them. He found them quickly and began inspecting their inner world.


    ----


    A/N: Soverick was right though.

 Chapter 1350 The Foundation Of Power.

    Chapter 1350 The Foundation Of Power.


    ??What Soverick saw provided all of them with an in-depth view of his inner world. They were further intrigued by what they saw. Their inner world appeared to be a machine to them. They are not strangers to the operation of this machine but there''s something else going on within them that the world engine within Legion-1 is not doing..


    Helios asked Legion-5 in anticipation, "How do you feel? Can you convert cosmic energy into power now?"


    "Let me see."


    All the clones focused on them. Their strange state ended but it leftsting effects on them. The most obvious change is in their inner world. It has be two spheres.


    The outer sphere is the ck sphere formed by the crown of Chaos around the inner one which is a multicolored and shifting sphere formed by the fusion of Legion-7 and the dragon heart.


    Between the two spheres is a golden ring simr to the one in Legion-1''s new world. It is the manifestation of a world engine. It is smaller but it still has simr functions. Even better is that he can control it like an organ.


    Legion-5 willed the golden ring into action. He pulled Cosmic energy into it and It answered his call immediately. The cosmic energy disappeared as it was converted into something that can''t be seen but can only be felt.


    He felt the product of the conversion immediately. It was like he was growing bigger but his size and mass remained the same. He is like a rock lifted up and higher into the sky by cosmic energy. He was not moving and his position hadn''t changed but the potential energy within him was increasing rapidly.


    Legion-5 spoke. "I feel like I am ascending again. Only weaker."


    Soverick observed cooly. "That is a sess. It isrgely inefficient but you have managed to create Cosmic force."


    Legion-7 pointed out excitedly, "This is what we are missing. This is the foundation of power."


    Soverick was surprised. He asked uncertainly, "It is?"


    He knows of the existence of cosmic force because he has seen its effect in the void universe. But he didn''t know it was the foundation of power.


    "Yes, it. It is simr to what we experienced. It is the power to change the world. It is the foundation of all forms of power."


    Soverick had to agree. "I guess one had to experience it to understand it. It seems power is the ability to change the world without regard forws and rules. But how much of the world can you change?"


    Legion-5 pressed his hand against the world. He tried to push it but it didn''t budge. It only rippled slightly. The world rippled in front of him like the surface of ake. Space and time were distorted in that region but it was smoothened out quickly by the void universe.


    They didn''t have time to be excited because Legion-5 was smacked in the face by some unseen force. The blow sent him flying and caused him to age visibly.


    He has eternal life so the wrinkles disappeared and the weakness in his body was healed. Even so, he felt a residual resistance from the world around him. Just moving around felt more difficult as if friction of the air and ground had suddenly increased.


    Legion-5 grumbled, "It seems some things shouldn''t be attempted even if you can."


    Soverick chuckled, "That''s the bacsh from the void universe. It doesn''t like changes to time."


    He shouldn''t age since he has eternal life as a Sovereign ofw but that bacsh sapped him of his time and potential. That''s how serious the bacsh is.


    Legion-5 stood up shakily andined, "My Will iscking. If I had a stronger Will I would be able to mobilize more cosmic force."


    "You need a world to increase the power of your Will. That means you need the world seed." Soverick stated. "But be thankful that you didn''t have enough Will. You also don''t have a Supremew so you would have created too much change and you wouldn''t have been able to withstand the bacsh. Any more and you could have died. You will need a world to withstand that kind of bacsh."


    Legion-1 was relieved. "Either way cosmic force will change a lot of things for us."


    Soverick doused his enthusiasm, "But we can''t control it yet."


    Legion-7 is the most excited about the development. He said in anticipation, "We will be able to build thew matrix easier this way. My control ofws has improved tremendously with cosmic force."


    Soverick warned them, "But we should be careful with it. We can''t withstand the bacsh yet. It is a sensitive bomb that can blow up in our face."


    Legion-5''s anticipation for the world seed increased. "I need to be a world quickly. If I am already this powerful without a world seed, then I can only imagine how powerful I will be with one."


    Soverick had to express the warning again, "That''s good and all but I rmend that we take things slowly and experiment more with this new power before we raise our hopes."


    They are not listening to him. The other clones know to be careful of such a dangerous power but not Legion-5 and Legion-7. They are yearning for it like a rich man who has lost his wealth.


    That short experience that they can''t remember has changed them in a subtle and unknown way for them to be content with their current weak state of existence. They want to return to that special state where anything is possible.


    Cosmic force is a game changer in the very sense of it. It appears to be a force created from the inherent capability of changing the world beyond the power ofws.


    It is above divine abilities and concepts. It is like the potential for change. These changes are not ordinary changes like speed and strength but the change in the fundamental aspects of the universe.


    ------


    A/N: Can you remember when Cosmic force was mentioned in GREED? I''ll give you a hint. It has something to do with Ragnarok.

 Chapter 1351 Unavoidable Backlash.

    Chapter 1351 Unavoidable Bacsh.


    ??Legion has only seen this kind of fundamental change twice. That was when the realm lord froze the ne when he met Legion-7 for a deal. The first time was when Zernon of the Zargoth ne froze his ne. Zernon was stillcking because he only froze space but that is still powerful.


    Zernon''s ability to do so shows that cosmic force can be wielded with thew of order. But they haven''t gone through Zernon''s route. They have gone beyond it to achieve something extraordinary.


    Time and space of the void universe can be manipted beyond what is allowed and Will can be made manifest in any manner. Anyone who has ever experienced it would be changed too. If it is a forbidden fruit then it is toote for them to rid themselves of it because they are already addicted.


    Legion-5 tried again to wield cosmic force. He didn''t try any arbitrarypulsion of the world with it. He focused all the power into the maniption of space. Space froze around him for a while. Teleportation and movement was banned in the frozen space.


    He was marveling at his work when the bacsh of the void universe hit him in the face again. The bacsh wasn''t as heavy as the previous one but he was still pissed.


    "What the hell? I didn''t even manipte time?"


    Soverick pointed out, "It doesn''t matter if you did or not. Any change in the world that is not in line with the rules of the world will receive a bacsh. You didn''t use thew of space for what you did. You brute force the change so you have to bear the friction and collision with thews of the void universe."


    Legion-5 sobered up. "I didn''t use it for up to a second or anything powerful and yet the bacsh is this heavy. This thing might kill me if I use it on others."


    Soverick almost rolled his eyes. "That''s what I have been saying."


    Legion-5 still didn''t give up though. "There has to be some loophole to this."


    Legion is not a stranger to cosmic force since they produce a lot of it through their world engine. The Kickstarter they built is based on the maniption of cosmic force through the antagonistic reaction between a Supremew and a world-ender. But they can''t control any of it.


    Legion-5 on the other hand iscking in quantity but he hasplete control of what little he has. So he believes he can find a way to minimize the bacsh.


    "I have to find a way to minimize the bacsh or I won''t even be able to practice with it without being in danger of losing my life."


    Soverick advice, "The best idea I can think of is the same thing I figured out about the shard of power. The Shards of power also manipte cosmic force. That''s why it can do almost anything and also why the void universe doesn''t like it. We have to find something to bear the bacsh. Something like a world fragment with a very powerfulw matrix."


    Legion-7 agreed. "Now we have more reasons to make the world fragment very powerful. If cosmic force is truly like we think, then it has the potential to be useful in any Universe or any ce with different rules. We just have to be able to bear the bacsh."


    The tree father observed. "It is a pity that we didn''t break any rules though. I thought for sure thatbining the three paths would lead to something."


    Legion-5 thought about it and gave a possible exnation, "It is probably because I am still on the path of perfection. I haven''t truly be a world yet. The world seed might change that."


    Legion-8 exined, "Besides, you are not the first being in the void universe who is a living world engine. The ancestor of dragons already did that."


    "That''s true." They all said in agreement.


    They thought about Legion-8 and his ancestor. The ancestor of dragons is a creature born at the Supreme Origin god level. He is a creature that sprang forth from the void universe and not from any living entity.


    Legion-8 knows him to belong to a ss of special individuals called the Primordials. They are a very powerful group with special abilities that go beyond themon sense and all of them were born with the power of Supreme Origin gods without having a Supremew.


    Some of them were born with cosmic force at their direct beck and call. So Legion-5 is not the first to be a living world engine. After all, he used the facsimile of the inner world of the ancestor of dragons to achieve control of cosmic force. It cannotpare to the original inner world of the ancestor of dragons.


    Legion-8 continued, "He is too powerful. But I am not hopeless. I have the shard of power and as much cosmic energy as I need. The ancestor for all his greatness had to scavage the void universe for cosmic energy. I am at least better than him in that aspect."


    Legion-1 decided, "Let''s rest for a while before we tackle the next phase of the world fragment. We need to do our best for it and no matter what, we must expedite Unity."


    Soverick suggested, "I will work on Chaosw with Aeternus in the meantime. I am sure the world-ender will give us something useful."


    Aeternus agreed, "There is no rush but the sooner I be a demon god the better."


    Helios also suggested, "Thew of order also needs to be tackled. I feel that there is a lot to be gained from it. Especially in the line of the maniption of cosmic force. Maybe we will be able to reduce the bacsh of the void universe with it."


    But Legion-5 shook his head. "Unfortunately,prehending thew of Order is too dangerous. It is more dangerous thanprehending any supremew. We would need a concept to protect us to safelyprehend it."

 Chapter 1352 Legion-8s Future.

    Chapter 1352 Legion-8''s Future.


    ??Soverick warned, "Even then, it might not be truly safe. After all, thew of order and the void universe are the foundations of immortality. It will be like fighting water with water."


    They know a little about how powerful the Law of order is and they know a lot about how intolerant it is to usurpers. From this, they cane to the conclusion that thew of order won''t take kindly to them trying toprehend it.


    Legion-7 said with determination, "All we need is to be Origin gods. Then we will try again. It can''t stop us forever."


    "I will be an Origin god soon," Ragnarok said. "I will truly be Ragnarok the ender of worlds. I might be the third one of us to be an Origin god. Maybe I should be called Legion-3 then."


    Aeternus sneered, "Good for you. I was the second one of us to acquire the equivalent power of an Origin god. By that logic, I should be Legion-2."


    The Tree Father stated, "Actually, I was the second one to acquire the equivalent power of an Origin god so I..."


    Ragnarok interrupted him, "You don''t count. You awake as a Celestial. Besides, you were the veryst to wake up. It wasn''t even close."


    Legion-7 interrupted their bickering, "I will practice building a concept first. The cosmic force will make our concepts perfect. It is a pity that I can only build one for all of you but I can''t possess one myself"


    They rolled their eyes at that. "You literally eat seeds of power. What are youining about?"


    "You are talking about practicing with making concepts as if you are doing us a favor and are not doing it to eat them."


    Legion-7 didn''t bother to defend himself. He is indeed going to eat the concepts they make. Ever since they stumbled on how to make concepts when they failed to start thew matrix they made, it has be his favorite pastime in Legion-1''s inner world.


    They made Legion-1''s second concept and Soverick''s eye. Soverick''s eye was particrly tricky to make since he prioritized seeing thews in the concept rather than controlling thews with his eyes. This was difficult to achieve which led to many failures. Legion-7 couldn''t be happier about the failures though. And now, he wants to go and "practice" some more.


    Of course, Legion won''t stop him from doing so. After all, Legion-7''s practice with making concepts is a good thing. It means he will get better at constructingw matrixes. That''s important seeing as their requirements for their world fragment have increased with the discovery of cosmic force.


    Legion-5 didn''t participate in the mental discussion anymore. He was trying to find a way to minimize the bacsh of the void universe to cosmic forces. He did find a way and that was to manipte basic elements without using mana orws.


    Creating fire for example produced very little bacsh. But the bacsh remained and it increased exponentially over time. It was as if he was climbing uphill with a rock on his back.


    It was a good feeling manipting the world beyond the scope of rules but he had to stop because Soverick discovered that the bacsh had far-reaching consequences. Apart from the short-term repercussion of the bacsh which is the force that ms into Legion-5, there is also the alienation of the world around him.


    The void universe remembers his transgressions so it makes it more difficult for him to use andprehendws. This alienation is silent and slow-acting but it affects all of them including the unborn Legion-8 so Legion-5 had to stop practicing with cosmic force.


    Without much to do, he joined in the mental conversation. He heard Legion-8 say, "You guys should get stronger quickly ande to help me when I hatch. I am very sure the dragons won''t be happy with me. The dragon spirit will be definitely pissed. In fact, it is already moving against me."


    That got all of Legion''s attention. Legion is very important to them as he represents another way to ess cosmic force. They can''t lose him so they began nning for the future.


    Legion is not at all subdued because of the knowledge of the existence of Primordials. These beings and world gods will be theirpetitors when the end of the universe arrives and even before then. Primordials are powerful but Legion is not without recourse.


    Just like Legion-5 is trying to be something unique by bing a world god without a supremew, the whole of Legion is trying to be a unique world god.


    In fact, the level of world god is not the limit for them. It is just a step towards perfection. Legion-8 is a good step in that direction so he must not be lost.


    They finished their nning which made Legion-5 realize that he couldn''ty about anymore.  He has to do his part in securing Legion-8. This starts with collecting his rent and ending the rite of passage.


    First, he checked up on what he has achieved recently.


    NAME: Agrivo839,371,456A (Legion-5)


    RACE: Supreme Beast.


    BLOODLINE: Unknown Royal bloodline.


    POWER LEVEL: Sovereign Of Law.


    PHYSIQUE: Body Of Law (50%).


    HP: INFINITE


    STAMINA: INFINITE


    ENERGY QUALITY: Origin Energy.


    ENERGY QUANTITY: 372,789,286


    VITALITY: 12,023,501,884


    ENDURANCE: 6,672,493,458


    STRENGTH: 9,307,293,005


    AGILITY: 3,628,437,835


    PERCEPTION: 5,547,890,325


    SPIRIT: 5,551,011,300


    POWER: 112%


    AMPLIFICATION: 10,000


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 1,000,000,000 (E)


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 85%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): LIFE (DIVINE), DEVOUR (DIVINE), LIGHT (DIVINE), DARKNESS (DIVINE), FIRE (DIVINE), WATER (DIVINE), EARTH (DIVINE), AIR (DIVINE), LIGHTNING (DIVINE), SOUL (DIVINE), TIME (DIVINE), SPACE (DIVINE), CREATION (DIVINE), DESTRUCTION (DIVINE).


    DIVINE ABILITIES:


    COSMIC DRAGON HEART.


    ORIGIN DIAMOND.


    SPACE CRYSTAL BUTTERFLY.


    TIME WORM.


    LIQUID GRAVITON.


    SPARK OF CONSCIOUSNESS.


    GIANT OF ORDER.


    DEMON KING CROWN.


    CELESTIAL GODHOOD.


    STATUS: Host To Legion-7.

 Chapter 1353 Overly Enthusiastic.

    Chapter 1353 Overly Enthusiastic.


    ??"Impressive." Legion-5 said to himself.


    He has achieved all of these withoutprehendingws. He has the consumption of copious amounts of life essence purchased with points to thank for this. All thews they used to fuse his divine ability were based on Legion-7''sprehension. He hasn''t used anyws at all.


    He can invoke thew matrix of the void universe for the rewards of his ownprehension but he doesn''t need them and he doesn''t want to draw any attention to himself since he is a young supreme beast who shouldn''t be able toprehendws in such a short amount of time.


    Legion-7 scoffed. "The supreme alliance is impressive for having so much life essence or the poor supreme beasts that you fleeced for points to fund your gluttony are the impressive ones. You are not impressive just because you ate so much."


    Legion-5 shrugged. "You are just angry that I didn''t give you life essence to eat."


    Legion-7 is indeed a little miffed about that but what he said is true. The increase in his stats is all thanks to engorging on life essence. Legion-5 didn''t really do any work other than collect rent from the other supreme beasts.


    It is impressive that the supreme alliance can provide as much life essence as be can pay for. It is just noteworthy, not important, that Legion-5 didn''t give Legion-7 any life essence because it would go to waste on Legion-7.


    "I gained several new affinities. That has to count for something." Legion-5 said.


    Most of the new affinity is due to an upgraded dragon heart. The dragon heart used to be responsible for only his affinity with thew of lightning which is already a rare affinity in the void universe.


    But then theypleted the fusion and upgraded it into a Cosmic Dragon Heart. This granted both of them an affinity with destruction, creation, space, and time. Even Legion-8 doesn''t have an affinity with space and time. Only Soverick and Legion-1 do.


    "No, it does not count. I fused the divine abilities perfectly so it is my credit that you gained more affinities. I am the impressive one."


    Legion-5 reminded him, "How impressive can you be? You would have died without me."


    Legion-7 had to admit that it was true. But that doesn''t mean he has lost the battle for the impressive stats. He said, "You will also die if I die."


    That''s true too. If Legion-7 dies, all the clones that he has united with all follow. Legion won''t diepletely because there are still other clones that haven''t be one with him yet.


    Legion-5 turned his attention to his POWER stat. He has yet to take advantage of the basic amplification of power from his dragon heart because he hasn''t spent enough time producing dragon force. If he spent just the time that the fountain of life spent in the Lumen ne, then he would have more than a 112% amplification.


    He got these in just a few thousand years. A 100 Origin cycle and the ten million years it contains will be more than enough to make him terrifying.


    Dragons get more powerful the older they get. Whenbined with their eternal life, it makes for a terrifying source of power that can be acquired by sleeping. Even though he is young, he already has a power rating of 10^14. That''s 10 times stronger than a new and normal Origin god. That''s not even counting his special inner world.


    ----


    They discussed for a while before Legion-5 decided it was time to collect rent from his tenants again. He left his base to go to his neighbor''s.


    The ne has changed over the years of constant battles. The supreme beasts have be stronger and richer. It has been almost a thousand years since hest collected rent so he is expecting a lot in rent.


    He also half expected to be attacked when he came out to demand rent. A thousand years is enough time for people to be impetuous and decide to be resistant to extortion. But the first tenant he met with didn''t resist at all. He even smiled at him.


    "Wee, Shadow Of Despair. I have been expecting you. It is good to see you again."


    This was the guy that he beat up the first time and took his base. He rebuilt his base and it has gotten muchrger. There are several cannons and golems to defend the base. The defense of the base cannotpare to his though. But it is good enough to fill the owner with confidence.


    Legion-5 was surprised that the confidence acquired from the cannons was not enough for his neighbor to defy him.


    He asked, "Is it really good to see me?"


    "Yes, it is. I am so d that you are here." The supreme beast said ecstatically. "I would like to invite you toe in and have a chat. How about it? I have some delicious native delicacies with me. You won''t regret it."


    "Is that so?" Legion-5 asked.


    If he had eyes, they would be narrowed right now. He smells something afoot. His target of extortion seems overly enthusiastic. He might be overthinking things but he is certain that he won''t be entering the base for anything. That''s not paranoia. It is being reasonably cautious.


    "No, I won''t be able to enjoy your delicacies. I am very busy right now." He replied.


    "What a pity." The renter said with a little sadness. "Since that is the case, what can I do for you?"


    "I want 10 points and 10% of your resources." Legion-5 dered.


    "That''s quite a lot. You will be taking almost all my savings of points. Please reduce the rent."


    Legion-5 said sternly, "Don''t test me. You know the drill. I make the demand and you deliver or there will be a reckoning. There is no negotiation."


    The Supreme beast said hurriedly, "Yes yes. I will bring the resources over immediately."

 Chapter 1354 How To Beat Warriors.

    Chapter 1354 How To Beat Warriors.


    ??Legion-5 said with disdain, "You better do that."


    Then he warned, "And don''t y any tricks. Bring out exactly what I asked for and nothing less. My patience has already been pushed to the limit with your attempt to negotiate with me so expect swift punishment if you try me again."


    The supreme beast returned to his base and began sending orders. Golems moved about immediately. They brought out carts of resources one after the other. Because there are a lot of resources, it will take time to bring out 10% of it. Legion-5 was willing to wait and act like he didn''t know what they were nning.


    Their mobilization of troops was secret enough. In fact, they didn''t have to try much to keep it from him. But they can''t hide the amassment of troops and the mobilization of said troops as soon as he left his base from Legion-7.


    He would be naive and foolish to believe that they are bringing those troops over to give them to him. He is neither of those things and he thinks the worst of people so he knows their motive.


    Legion-7 chuckled. "These supreme beasts have grown up and be big boys now. They think they can rebel now that they are adults."


    Legion-5 didn''t mind. He shrugged and said, "I don''t have to hold back either too. After all, they are adults now. They aren''t kids to be sheltered. It is also good that they are going to gather up as one. I will be able to settle all of them once and end this rite of passage as soon as possible."


    Legion-7 agreed. "Yes. Let''s end the rite of passage. We need freedom and reduced observation to achieve the next step safely."


    Then he advised, "I rmend that we be an Origin god first. That is the best assurance that you won''t be corrupted by the world seed. I know I am the one that will bear most of the load of being the world spark but it is better to be safe than sorry."


    They are already nning for what they will do when the rite of passage ends. His quest to be a World god without a Supremew is not finished and it seems the next step on their agenda is to achieve immortality and have a concept to protect their existence from the likely corruption of a world seed.


    This precaution is important because every fragment of a realm heart is dangerous. The world seed is not as dangerous as a world spark but its ability to bestow infinite potential for evolution is not a gift if he can''t control the evolution. Evolution without direction is mutation. It is random and can be fatal. It is important to at least be able to stop themselves from sumbing to it even if they can''t control the world seed.


    Meanwhile, things are happening in the background. The supreme beasts noticed when he left his base. They saw a ck armored figure leave the base that they had all been watching for years. He looks very different from what they know of him but that didn''t stop them from moving into action immediately.


    "Quick, quick." They roared. "He is out to steal our hard-earned resources again."


    "We will show him that we are not to be taken advantage of without due repercussions."


    "We have to be fast. His neighbors can''t dy him for much longer."


    Every single base still standing began mobilizing their firepower. But he was rushing his current tenant so they are running out of time. He refused to enter the base to chat and eat so they decided not to bring their armies except for the ones that they could carry the army with them like the envement ss and the one-man army. Instead, they came alone and as fast as possible to stop him. The army will have to join them in battle.


    Every Supreme beast in this alliance to stop him flew to his position immediately. They reviewed what they knew about him along the way.


    "He is a warrior ss. He has exceptional defense and speed. He has the suppression immunity of a dragon heart and the lightning breath thates with it. He is capable of umting his attack to deal a single devastating blow. All in all, he is an exceptional warrior."


    "He truly is an exceptional warrior but he is only a warrior. We will use the contingency n for fighting Warrior ss beings. Warriors will hold him down, Positive buffs will enhance our warriors and keep them alive, and negative buffs will create weaknesses in him. The one-man army will harass him and sacrifice their soldiers at critical times to keep us alive and to interrupt his attacks. Finally, scouts will kite him, look for openings, and deal defense prating attacks."


    "We are counting on you scouts with burst damage. You are our best shot to bring him down. As for the special ss, you should hang back and do what you can."


    They have umted a lot of information about the Shadow of Despair over the years through his fight with the gods. Now they have made ns based on that information.


    They are sure that he has changed over the years. They are certain of it considering the amount of points he took from them. He had to have done something with those points, but he is still a warrior, and the warrior ss is well understood. If there is a weakness for the warrior ss, it will be the scout ss.


    The scout ss can''t take a blow from warriors but warriors can rarely hit them either. Scouts on the other hand can deal devastating attacks to warriors. They focus on perception, evasion, speed, and burst damage.


    Not all scouts have a high burst damage, but those that do can one-shot an enemy or at least grind them down with a torrent of fast prating attacks. This is their major reliance in the uing battle.

 Chapter 1355 The Able Audience.

    Chapter 1355 The Able Audience.


    ??They can all agree that a team of enemies with a single person from each ss will find it difficult to withstand the Shadow of Despair. But they are not a team of 6 enemies. They have 70 warriors who have be able to venture to the divine ne to harass the Celestials. If they can already match some Origin gods in power, surely they can destroy a single Sovereign no matter how special that Sovereign is.


    The invigtor and observers were watching too. The Mechanical Emperorughed at the sight.


    "Look at these fools. On one hand, they have wisened up and they didn''t line up to fight him. On the other hand, the fact that they are ganging up on him is enough to make him the best Supreme beast in this rite of passage."


    The observer beside him said, "All of them are ganging up on him like he is a boss. He has only exchanged for 6 divine abilities and a lot of life essence. He is not the boss they think he is. All of them haveplete 9 divine abilities. I think that they are overreacting."


    "It is not their fault." The Mechanical Emperor exined. "He has created a shadow of despair over their hearts so they have to take him seriously. They want to take him down with everything that they have. They might win, but no matter the oue, he is already on top of them because they had to gang up on him."


    "You don''t think they will win for sure?" The observer asked incredulously, "I know he has grown stronger. I can feel it and see it but do you really think he can beat 70 Supreme beasts?"


    The Mechanical Emperor did a mental shrug. "Beating him and sending him running is easy. But actually eliminating him from the rite of passage is not going to be easy. There is surely going to be a massive loss even if they achieve it. I think so because of the liquid graviton divine ability that he exchanged for."


    The observer nodded in understanding. The liquid graviton divine ability is very heavy and very tough. It is a material that can withstand the explosion of a star as long as there is enough Origin energy to replenish itself. It makes Warriors very slow but it makes up for it by making them nearly indestructible. It helps Warriors achieve the epitome of invulnerability that they aim to be.


    "The only way to eliminate him is for them to grind him down until he runs out of Origin energy. That means they must not let him enter his base to replenish his energy." The observer said after considering the situation.


    "It is going to be a long fight then because he has been staying in his base for hundreds of years. He must have umted a lot of Origin energy."


    The Mechanical nodded in agreement. "I must say that I quite like this Agrivo839,371,456. He is not like his mentor who tried and failed to eliminate everyone early. Only to resort to explosives. Agrivo839,371,455 had the strength to eliminate them but he allowed the Supreme beasts to develop."


    The observer snorted. "He is just smarter than Tanc830,428,723C. He didn''t leave them alive because of charity. He used them to gather points without doing the missions. Now it hase to bite him in the ass so maybe he wasn''t that smart. He should have eliminated them when he could and monopolized the ne."


    The Mechanical Emperor simply smiled and said, "We''ll see about that."


    Everyone in the ne was paying attention to the mobilization not only the invigtor and observers. The gods of the ne, their guest, the people of the ne, and the other Supreme beasts that had refused to join hands to take on the Shadow of Despair.


    One of the supreme beasts watching is a column of white fire. She stopped paying attention to the spread of her soul upheaval disease in the ne to watch this fight.


    She is a negative buff ss Supreme beast that fused soul fire plus the great divine abilities of metal fire, diseases and gues, and the undead lord. Those are four main divine abilities of which 3 are great divine abilities.


    The other five divine abilities are auxiliary divine abilities. They make the undead that rise from those killed with her disease be stronger than when they were alive instead of weaker. These undeads are actually reinforced with metal so they are durable and more powerful.


    What''s most peculiar about her disease is that it spreads through memories instead of through air, blood, or contact. That means anyone that has seen an infected will be infected too and anyone that has heard the description of the disease will also get infected.


    The clearer the description of the disease they hear, the faster they will be infected. The disease will start to appear on their body first as sores which will reinforce the mental image and hasten its spread.


    It is an infection that cannot be stopped or avoided. It can only be resisted. Failure to resist means death. It caused the death of 10% of the whole inhabitants of the ne.


    That means only one person was responsible for the death of more than 1 billion people. She is the major reason why the supreme beasts began to attack the divine ne this early. They ran out of enemies to kill.


    It is no wonder why this Supreme beast is too proud to gang up on one Supreme beast. But she intends to watch and see how the giant that bullied them will be put down. Then she will take over his position as the overlord of the ne and collect rent from the others.


    She said in anticipation, "Hurry up already and fight. Beat him up so I can beat all of you up."

 Chapter 1356 Taking Advantage.

    <h4>Chapter 1356 Taking Advantage. </h4>


    More than pride, she didn''t want to join the fight against the Shadow of despair now because she wanted her fellow Supreme beasts and their alliance to suffer. They have been pressuring her and limiting her progress with their alliance so she wants them gone.


    She is very dangerous so they wanted to get rid of her. It is only because the cost will be too much that they didn''t attack her outright. At least not until they eliminate the Shadow of Despair. But they threatened her in the meantime. She had to keep her disease in check.


    She could have disobeyed the alliance and killed more people in the ne but she didn''t want to fight them because she is very easy to kill despite her ability to cause the extinction of all life throughout the ne.


    She is not a warrior so she is not durable. She a hybrid of a one-man army and a special ss that targets every intelligent being. But none of the great divine abilities she assimted increased her survivability hence why she didn''t fight with an alliance of Supreme beasts who know her weakness.


    Things will be different when she bes an Origin god and the threat of death is reduced or when she fuses her several divine abilities so that she can escape into her undead. But that isn''t so now. She can''t run away or they will destroy her base so she can only suffer under their pressure.


    Their hold on her will surely be lost when they attack the shadow of despair and suffer loss. Then she will attack them all at once. They are in the same ce so she can eliminate the majority of them and reduce the threat that they have on her.


    She is already mobilizing her troops for the battle that will ensue after the Shadow of Despair falls. She is not the only one doing this because she is not alone in this thought. There are several other Supreme beasts aiming to take advantage of the situation. They want the fight to start and end soon so that they can rush in and reap the benefits. But the fight didn''t start early.


    The Shadow of Despair ignored his enemies as they assembled. He didn''t do anything even after they assembled. Instead, he waited patiently for all of his resources to be sent out from his neighbor. He confirmed that they are really 10% with an Oath to that im. Then he collected his 10 points.


    He said to the tenant, "Very good. You have done well. I know that you are hoping that I will be defeated and your points returned to you but I appreciate your cooperation nheless. It is nice doing business with you."


    The extorted supreme beasts didn''t deny it. But he also didn''t address the im. He said, "It is my pleasure too."


    Legion-5 felt amused. "I might return for that chat and delicacy that you offered. I assume I might be thirsty after the work I am about to put in."


    The supreme beast chuckled and nodded. "It is likely so. After all, this is the first strenuous work that you are going to do in almost a thousand years now. If you survive it, you are wee toe and chat with me. In fact, I will serve you hand and foot and fulfill any demands you have concerning food and drink."


    He almost said that he would fulfill any of the Shadow of Despair''s wishes but he changed it because of the bad feeling he has.


    It is easy to promise things and it might look safe to promise servitude since it is unlikely for the Shadow of Despair to survive the beating that is about toe to him. But he stopped himself because he was not so certain about that oue now that he had met with the Shadow of Despair again.


    Others may not know it but he can feel his divine abilities shaking within him. It is as if they want to vibrate and break down. But they can''t break down because they are immortal. Even so, he can''t activate his divine abilities because of the situation.


    He doesn''t know why it is so. He would like to believe that it is because he is nervous but he knows that can''t be true since he has gained perfect control over his body as a transcendent and perfect control over his concept as a Sovereign ofw.


    So he suspects that it is the Shadow of Despair''s fault. However, he doesn''t want to ept that exnation. After all, he has never heard of any divine ability that could cause that.


    He might not want to believe it is caused by the Shadow of Despair but he is not going to join in attacking the Shadow of Despair because of this feeling. So he bid farewell to the Shadow of Despair and ran back into his base. He closed it up, locked it down, and raised up all his defenses. He became a tortoise in a very sturdy shell.


    Legion-5 watched him go with a chuckle.


    "You scared him." Legion-7 said.


    "I didn''t mean to. The divine ability of giants of order is too strong. Just its effect due to proximity is enough to render him meek."


    "It is good that this rite of passage is about to end. A few more hundred years of you in this ne and this ne will be barren. You might not be able to hide it from the Supreme Alliance anymore."


    "Yes. This ne has suffered enough. It is time to end its misery." Legion-5 said.


    Legion-7ughed. "I hope for the ne''s sake, you won''t end its misery the way Ragnarok put the Lumen ne out of its misery."


    That made the two of themugh. They chatted casually as the workers he sent for carried his resources to his base. He made sure that they were all gone and his bounty safe and secured before he turned to address the colossal elephant in the room.

 Chapter 1357 The Fruit Of Preparation.

    <h4>Chapter 1357 The Fruit Of Preparation.</h4>


    70 Supreme beasts stood as one in the air while they faced off against him. Their position was not random. They were obviously in some formation of some sort.


    He noticed that the first line was made of warriors with defensive features. Behind them are millions of soldiers of various types created or summoned by the one-man army. This line is also surrounding him right now. The other Supreme beasts have scattered themselves amongst the soldiers so it will be difficult to single them out and kill them.


    He said to them, "I hope for your sake that you havee to me to hand over your rent together and do me the favor of shortening my work."


    It is clear that they are here to fight him. The soldiers were already surrounding him so he didn''t need to ask. But he asked and they replied. They deployed their domains on him.


    Their powerful divine sense spread into the world to take control of it. They couldn''t control the world but they were easily able to control more world power through it. They were also able to burden him with the power of their mind to deprive him of world power.


    That is as good as any answer about their intentions. He felt the world freeze around him in an attempt to slow him down and weaken him but he just chuckled. Then he deployed his domain in retaliation.


    Or he tried to deploy his domain. It didn''t work. His inner world refused to cast its influence into the world.


    His confidence took a hit when he tried to deploy his domain. This is the first time he will be using it since he became a Sovereign so the resistance of thew matrix around him was unexpected.


    "What is going on? Why is thew matrix antagonizing me?"


    Legion-7 answered, "I don''t know. But it seems the void universe doesn''t want you to use your domain."


    He groaned. "This fight is going to be difficult without a domain."


    Legion-7 dered, "It might be the fault of the crown of Chaos and not thew matrix. After all, demons don''t have domains."


    "It might also be the Celestial godhood. It is notpatible with the path of perfection." He thought to himself in displeasure.


    "The good news is that you definitely won''t need to create your own supremew to be a world god."


    The supreme beasts aren''t going to let him dy any longer. The Warriors swarmed him. He is on the ground so they had to fly down to attack him. He did it on purpose to somewhat limit the directions that attacks wille from.


    A ck hole opened on his helmet and a torrent of concentrated lightning was ejected from his face. This is his concentrated dragon breath. It is so concentrated that the lightning is in the sma state.


    The torrent that came out of his face was white and silent. The tiny torrent expanded and exploded in front of him. It rose high like a tide made of violent white energy meant to drown out his enemies. It is a gift that he has been brewing for many years.


    A warrior stood out from the rest. This warrior didn''t try to defend against the attack. She bore the full attack with her whole body. Her arms were spread wide as the attack washed over her.


    Strangely enough, the attack didn''t hurt her. The tide of energy more than 100 meters tall fell on her and into her. It copsed at the point of contact with her and entered her body. It was as if she was swallowing the attack.


    It was an impressive feat. Her actions protected everyone behind her. But she reached her limit soon. It was then that the others stepped in to help her. She has bought them enough time to defend themselves and they did so by attacking what remained of his dragon breath.


    Their attacks were like stones sinking into an ocean. They were swallowed because they couldn''t resist his dragon breath. However, their efforts managed to destabilize the dragon breath before it overwhelmed her. The dragon breath exploded impotently before them instead of amongst them.


    The attack exploded into a ring of fire. It boiled the air and the mana it contained. The shockwave caused by the superheated air alone killed tens of thousands of soldiers who were too close to the explosion.


    The rampant wave of energy radiation that followed was more deadly. All the supreme beasts had to resist it with their divine sense and world power. It took all theirbined might for them to survive it.


    "We would have been wiped out if we hadn''t prepared for his umted attack." They thought to themselves in fear.


    A single attack of his and they could have died. But they didn''t die because they were prepared for it. They had yet to sigh in relief when he struck again. He passed through the center of the explosion to strike the warrior who defended against his attack.


    She defended herself. Her arms were crossed in defense against his punch. But that didn''t stop her from flying backward and smashing into everything behind her as she was sent out of the battlefield.


    Her speed of exit was so fast that it was after she was gone that the sound of the punch whistling through the air and striking her was heard. It was the sound of thunder followed by an almost inaudible groan of pain.


    The rest moved into action immediately. A hole had appeared in their formation because of that punch but they were quick to rectify it.


    "Quick, unleash the umted attacks."


    They didn''t only n to neutralize the umted attack that the Shadow of Despair is famous for, they also prepared their own for him. They are using them now that he is so close to them.

 Chapter 1358 Do You Feel It?

    <h4>Chapter 1358 Do You Feel It? </h4>


    Legion-5 stomped in the air and his figure shed. He was shooting forward to enter their formation when he suddenly stopped as if he had struck an invisible obstacle. Whatever they hit him with seemed to have worked.


    It felt like an invisible mud monster. The force that blocked him was wet and slimy. It attached to his body and burdened him. It slowed him down and even wanted to drag him down to the ground.


    But he shrugged off the force and continued moving forward. Whatever it was, it washed over his armor like water on oil. Next came the targetted curses and weakness buffs that they had brewed for years for just him. Those struck him head-on and froze him again.


    Next came the pure damage attacks. They are all energy attacks like his. They have prepared for years for this moment and now they bombarded his frozen figure from every direction. He couldn''t dodge them at all.


    They could have used these energy attacks one after the other for maximum efficiency but they used all they had to break through his defense once and for all. That is the best way to ensure effectiveness against a warrior. If they can''t break through his defense, then it is useless.


    The deluge of attacks created an explosion. Another mushroom cloud rose at this point. The ne shook again as the earth quaked. People stumbled and some bent down hugging their heads and hoping that the world wouldn''t end.


    The sound of thunder rang out because of the explosive shockwaves. It destroyed the eardrums of many people while the st of light and heat blinded and destroyed weak things it touched.


    The location of the fight is at the center of this explosion so it has be hazy and the ground has cratered. Still, the fight hasn''t ended.


    The supreme beasts hid behind their shields while the positive buff ss tried to keep the warrior close to the explosion alive with their umted buffs.


    It was a difficult task because the fallout of the explosion alone had taken the skin and some tissues off of many warriors. Many of them are just hanging on for dear life so they require a vast amount of healing.


    "That should do it. If he is not dead yet, then he should not be far from it."


    Another said with a chuckle, "All we need to do now is grind him down. And that''s if he somehow manages to survive that."


    The person that spokest tried to chuckle but the chuckle was awkward because no one was in the mood tough or be amused. If the Shadow of Despair does survive then it will not be aughing matter at all.


    They were all nervous waiting for the result of their efforts. All their attention was focused on the locus of the explosion.


    They waited and didn''t rush forward to attack him because the zone around him was a death zone of corrosive ionized matter and deadly radioactive energy. Anything in such an environment is going to be attacked over and over again.


    They can''t even use their divine sense to perceive what''s going on in this zone. It is certain that even if the Shadow of Despair is not dead, this ce will remain dead for an Origin cycle toe.


    They didn''t hear anything from the death zone. There was only silence which they hoped would continue forever. But they saw a shadow move from the ash-saturated superheated air above the death zone.


    Someone warned with a shout of fear, "He is still alive."


    The Shadow Of Despair is alive. He flew out of the death zone and rose to the sky. They couldn''t believe what they saw. His body was still intact. And worse than that, the little injuries on his armor were healing as they watched.


    It was obvious to them that not only did he survive, but even his defenses had not been broken yet.


    Legion-5 asked them calmly, "Do you feel it yet?"


    His tone was calm but his voice washed over them like a hot liquid that burns and freezes the burns. Some of them shivered because of it. It is unbing of Sovereigns ofw to behave like that but Legion-5 is an entity that has left a shadow in their heart.


    He asked them again, "Do you feel it rising within you?"


    No one answered which made him shake his head in disappointment. He is honestly impressed with what they have achieved. They gave it their all and managed to make him freeze.


    They achieved this mostly because even though he is very powerful, he is in a state of bnce between order and Chaos. The negative buffs shifted that bnce and made him freeze.


    Even so, it is impressive that achieved it. After all, that is the only weakness that he has and they were able to exploit it.


    That is something they ought to be proud of. As for the rest of their attacks, the best they managed to achieve with that was to tickle him. If the attacks were not concentrated in the first ce, they wouldn''t have managed to tickle him at all.


    "You have done well. But do you feel it?" He asked them again and this time he took a step towards them.


    They couldn''t help but take a step back from him. That feeling he was asking about began to rise faster within them because of his sudden movement. It is because they understood at this point that this fight would not end well for them even if they won. That''s if they win.


    Legion-5ughed. Hisughter of derision seemed to have woken them up from their nightmare.


    "Attack!" Someone roared.


    The Warriors stepped forward to do their duty again. Legion-5''s voice rang in their mind with a sigh. "It seems it is not enough."

 Chapter 1359 Let It Drown You.

    <h4>Chapter 1359 Let It Drown You.</h4>


    Then he took another step forward and he disappeared. He didn''t be invisible. He just moved so fast that they lost track of him.


    They don''t know how he did it. All they know is that he suddenly has a supreme beast in his grasp. This Supreme beast was far behind the warriors and hidden within the army. So it is understandable why he is shocked and surprised that hended in one of Legion-5''s four arms.


    "Do you feel it yet?" Legion-5 asked the helpless Supreme beast.


    His voice was like the call of death. The supreme beast he was choking didn''t answer. He tried to resist but both his divine sense and all his divine abilities did not respond. Even his mind seemed to be unraveling. It was simply because Legion-5 was touching him.


    Legion-5 encouraged him, "Feel it. Let it drown you. Lose all hope."


    The supreme beast began to evaporate in his grasp. His existence was unraveling into its basicponents in the hands of the Shadow of Despair.


    "Let the shadow of despair swallow you up and bring you to peace."


    The surrounding enemies weren''t just watching him. They were attacking him with everything they had. But most energy attacks didn''t reach him before they were unraveled.


    They are not the umted and concentrated attacks that they used earlier so they can''t withstand the power of order spreading out from him.


    Only physical attacks can touch him at this point. But any attacker or attack that gets close to him might bear more damage than they can manage to inflict on his armored figure.


    The supreme beast in his hand didn''t dissolvepletely. He cried out in pain for a while but he was ultimately saved by the Mechanical Emperor. Legion-5 could have prevented the teleportation that whisked away his prey from his hand but he didn''t.


    "How lucky," Legion-7 said. "I wanted to see what it felt like to have your existence disintegrate."


    Legion-5 agreed. "Supreme beasts are truly lucky. I am one of them so I too am.."


    He was already shooting towards another target but he was interrupted by an attacker. Someone glowing in bright white light collided with him in the air. He grasped the punch meant for his face so he was not harmed. But then something exploded in his face.


    The explosion washed over him and took ayer out of his armor. It was an attack far more powerful than thebined attack that struck him earlier.


    The explosion was so powerful that his scales broke andyers of his white armor turned to ashes. However, it regenerated instantly with the use of his time rewind divine ability. He didn''t use Origin energy to regenerate because he didn''t want to underestimate this person.


    He was ultimately unscathed but the shockwave of lightning and thunder that the explosion caused harmed the enemies around him though. It was like a rolling cloud of death. Everyone it touched was saved immediately by the Mechanical Emperor. They couldn''t resist the attack at all.


    Only Legion-5 and the person who just attacked him remained in the vicinity of the explosion. The explosion had cleared out their surroundings of enemies and created a ring of space around the two of them.


    The smoke of the explosion cleared to reveal his pristine armor and the expressionless face on his armored head.


    "Interesting." Legion-5 observed. "You must be the one that blocked my attack earlier."


    She didn''t say anything. The space between them suddenly became charged with power and energy. Then a torrent of sma lightning exploded out of her into him. He was struck at point nk and sent flying.


    It was the same attack as the previous one. It was very powerful and very concentrated. He struck the ground in a sorry state but the attack didn''t let him go. It fell on him even as he hit the ground.


    The attack struck him and the ground in equal proportion. It sought to eradicate him and the ground. The ground was shaved to form a crater filled withva. Even theve evaporated until only a bowl-shaped deep depression in the earth was left.


    This time the attack damaged the supreme beast army more than before. Another death zone was created but it was in the midst of the supreme beasts so a lot of their manpower died. The warrior that struck him looked at everything in the air while struggling not to pant.


    "Did I get him?" she asked hopefully.


    She got her answer soon enough. There was a chuckle from the depth of the crater. The bottom of the crater cannot be seen due to the cloud of ash-saturated superheated air obscuring sight and the radioactive energy around it that is destroying divine sense. But his divine sense was unharmed.


    His divine sense spread outwards so his chuckle appeared in everyone''s mind and helped them to determine the situation at the bottom of the crater.


    The female warrior said to him, "Do you remember me now weirdo?"


    There has only been one Supreme beast to call him a weirdo so he surely remembered her.


    She continued proudly, "You said that I should prepare myself for a beating the next time I meet you. I did more than that. How do you like my preparation now?"


    Legion-5 chuckled. "Very interesting. My own attack was used against me. Isn''t that the power reflection divine ability? How adorable."


    The attack she struck him with twice was his super-


    concentrated dragon breath. She had absorbed it earlier when he attacked them with it. Then he punched her away. She returned and used his own attack against him now.


    She thought it was a good move so she didn''t like Legion-5 call it adorable. So she frowned in displeasure.


    "You don''t think it is adorable? That''s unfortunate. I only consider it adorable because its weaknesses are ring."


    -----


    A/N: What are the weaknesses of the power reflection divine ability? There are at least two that I have shown.

 Chapter 1360 Raising Like The Sun.

    <h4>Chapter 1360 Raising Like The Sun. </h4>


    It took a while but Legion-5 finally came out from the new zone of death. He was dyed because he couldn''t bend space within the death zone. His umted dragon breath is that powerful.


    His enemies were there to wee him. They had him surrounded on all sides. It would have been imposing had they not been full of trepidation.


    This time, they couldn''t deny the feeling of despair when he asked them about it again.


    "Do you feel it now? It is creeping forward slowly but surely. Ites when hope fails. I bring it forward as sure as day. For it is despair and it is my shadow."


    They didn''t attack him because they knew that most attacks would fail to pass through the death zone. The sma lightning attack is that powerful. Even its leftover destroys everything. They can only wait for him toe out before they attack again. But they were preparing for him during the wait.


    "We must be close now. We are almost there." Someone said in hope.


    They have to believe it or give up. Their courage rose as if fought back the despair. But then he disappeared from their sights and their hearts fell.


    He was already attacking someone by the time they found him. They found his position readily when thunder boomed behind them. As they looked, someone was almost smashed to pieces with a punch. They weren''t because they were saved at thest moment, but they did lose half of their body.


    They were fast to react but he was already on top of someone else by the time they moved to corner him. Another person fell victim to the collision of their body with a fist as heavy as a mountain moving at a speed that sound couldn''t catch up to.


    Their siege is useless to someone who can surf space. He moved again with a single step and he appeared at the edge of the battlefield beside a supreme beast. He struck them with a punch.


    It was a simple punch but it wasn''t so simple to the recipient of his generosity. To them, something cold doused them. It froze them up. Their minds slowed down and their consciousness became stagnant. Whatever divine ability they had flickered and turned off.


    World power had also stopped responding to them. They became as weak and helpless asmbs. So they looked on with confusion and fear as his fist smashed into them.


    They did nothing to defend themselves. It was not because they didn''t want to do anything. It was because they couldn''t. They had to watch on and allow themselves to be punched. Then they were teleported away and eliminated. He would then disappear to find another target.


    "This is almost too easy." Legion-5 thought to himself.


    If not for the Mechanical Emperor, he would need more than a single punch to eliminate the supreme beasts. But the mechanical emperor deemed it too dangerous for them to continue fighting after a punch so he saved them. It made eliminating them require less work on Legion-5''s part.


    The major reason why they can''t stand against him is because they are not warriors who can withstand massive amounts of damage and they don''t have bodies ofw so they are incredibly fragilepared to generic Sovereigns who went through the level of titan ofw.


    They don''t have the innate resistance of a body ofw so their control of world power is also weak and they can''t withstand the dissolution of order around them.


    Not only did he ignore the warriors, but he also ignored the soldiers of the armies or enved animals and targeted only their masters, the Supreme beasts, to great effect.


    Fighting the soldiers is just a waste of time. It is better to remove the source of the one-man army once and for all. If he can''t do that, then he would rather remove the vulnerable positive buff, negative buff, and special ss from the fight.


    Meanwhile, all their energy attacks be they from divine power or world power can''t touch him because of the dissolution of order. He is immune to their curses and special attacks.


    What''s worse is that even their existence is not safe from it either. They lose control of their concepts whenever he gets close to them. It has made easy pickings of them. Each movement of his leads to the elimination of a supreme beast. And he is fast so he will eliminate all of them in less than a minute at this rate.


    The supreme beasts tried to stop him. They had some sess too. A warrior with a dragon heart and a divine ability to freeze space deployed his domain andbined it with his divine ability when things started looking bad for them.


    The suppression locked down space but it also slowed down everyone else. This is a domain meant to counter fast scouts but it is being used against a warrior.


    The domain stopped Legion-5 from warping space which is a sess. But it didn''t stop his advance. The suppression couldn''t freeze because of his dragon heart. He was like a bull breaking through every obstacle. He might have slowed down, but he was still capable of bringing an enemy too close to death with a single punch.


    He is already immune to suppression and he could be immune to the space lock if he used cosmic force. But he didn''t use cosmic force because it was just a fight with kids. It wasn''t worth it to expose such a secret. Besides, the bacsh of using it would hurt him more than his enemies can manage.


    However, the domain stopped him from hopping around so they could surround and restrict him which they did next. They fell on him and buried him with their bodies. He has finally been subdued.

 Chapter 1361 How To Bury A Star.

    <h4>Chapter 1361 How To Bury A Star.</h4>


    Every soldier be they golems, ants, zombies, and robots piled on him. His surroundings became dark because of the thickness of bodies.


    He roared in frustration. It was a mighty sound that shook the world. But he didn''t roar for the sake of it. The roar was caused by a lightning spark that appeared in front of his face and exploded. It created the thunderp of his roar.


    Lightning shed with that explosion. It washed the world in white light and left behind nothing in its wake. The avnche of bodies was destroyed from within and he became free again.


    This is his normal dragon breath. It is not umted but it is still dangerous. He is not even using cosmic force to empower his dragon breath. Just his normal dragon breath is turning the world upside down.


    Unfortunately, his freedom was short-lived. The Supreme Beasts had a lot of soldiers they could sacrifice and they used them to bury him again. So he had to roar again and again.


    His roar urred again and again. Each time it urred it was apanied by a thunderp and a sh of light followed by a scattering of flesh and gore.


    Each roar ground away at the mass of bodies around him. The resulting shockwaves brought with it winds full of the ashes of his dead foes.


    He is like a caged beast with thousands of enemies trying to hold him down. They are trying but they are failing. They have quantity on their side but it is not good enough to subdue him.


    He didn''t bother to aim for the soldiers before because they were scattered but now that they are focused around him, he can take out swarths of them at once. They are literallymbs sent to the ughter.


    The Supreme Beasts watching winced at the sight. Each soldier dying is money and time gone to waste. They also can''t do much to him since the avnche of bodies is also protecting him from them. They can only watch while their hearts ache and pound dangerously in their chest.


    Someone said in regret. "Paying rent doesn''t seem like such a bad idea now."


    Regret is not an unexpected emotion right now. After all, it doesn''t feel like they are fighting a man. It looks as if they are fighting a star. They are trying to cut off its light by smoldering it. But the star is having none of it. It is ring up with sr arcs of violent energy.


    The Supreme beasts are outside the sphere of bodies but they can see the light of the star shining through the cage of bodies despite the oppression. They can smell the death in the air. They can feel the thrum of the sky and the quaking of the earth.


    The thought that they could have avoided all of this if they had paid their rent obediently couldn''t help but arise and be voiced out.


    "Don''t say that. We will get him. The others can no longer stay still. He is too strong. They can''t watch while he beat us like this." Someone said.


    Some of the Supreme beasts who had decided to watch the fight on the side are joining the fight now that they have realized the importance of this fight. If the Shadow of Despair is not defeated and eliminated right now, then they might never be able to achieve it again. Not after most of them have been eliminated by him.


    They felt his threat in a renewed way and they realized this was the best opportunity to get rid of him. So they began rushing to join the fight. The ranks of the Supreme beasts will increase due to their participation.


    It isn''t only an increase in number. It will be an increase in quality since these Supreme beasts were the talented ones who were not satisfied with the status quo.


    The Supreme Beasts were about to be ted when they felt the world groan. A mighty aura spread out from the sphere of bodies. The soldiers fell to the ground groaning and grasping their heads in pain while the Shadow of Despair appeared from beneath them.


    He rose up amidst his suppressed enemies like a god amongst men. They looked up at him aghast and filled with fear.


    "What kind of dragon might is this?" They asked in shock.


    The aura is undoubtedly dragon might. But it is not only affecting the psyche of people, it is also affecting matter. It is no longer intangible. It is a materialized might of Willpower crushing on everything around them.


    The ground was crushed and everyone fell to the ground because they couldn''t maintain flight. They were then crushed into the ground. Even those with dragon hearts couldn''t fly. They can only stand on the ground groaning in pain and roaring in anger.


    "It seems all I had to do to release my domain is to use only my inner world. It is weaker but it will do."


    The void universe stopped trying to suppress his domain when he stopped trying to use the full capabilities of his world engine. He is using just his inner world without the world engine but it has granted him enough power to suppress everything around him. It elevated him above the world.


    The Supreme beasts can feel his gaze on them. Only he is flying and he is standing in the air looking down on them imperiously. But that isn''t enough for him.


    He can finally wield world power so he used it now to full effect. The ne was forced to do his bidding. World power congregated on him swiftly in a maelstrom of power. Then it was fashioned into a palm. The ck palm fell from the ground on all of them. He aimed to crush their helpless form once and for all.

 Chapter 1362 An Actual Shadow.

    Chapter 1362 An Actual Shadow.


    ??He said with glee, "Feel it rise and consume you. Feel the shadow of despair."


    There is indeed a shadow on them. It was caused by therge palm falling on them. The palm blocked out the light as it fell lower and lower. It was an actual shadow that heralded their death.


    They would be crushed. But someone came to the rescue. It was that Supreme beast that saved them from his umted dragon breath.


    She has a dragon heart so she can still stand. She has a divine ability to devour attacks. She also has arge inner world created from the fusion of her dragon heart and a spatial divine ability to store all the attacks she has devoured.


    The only problems are that she has a limit and she can''t absorb physical attacks. This attack is partly physical and partly magical which means she can absorb it. So she stood up against him now in defiance.


    Legion-5 roared at her, "Bend your knees beneath the shadow of despair. Submit to despair."


    One of his four hands was pressing downward and pushing the colossal palm down. The palm pressed down on her and she sought to devour it. The palm didn''t copse into her like it did with his dragon breath but it did slow down as its momentum was siphoned.


    She was able to starve off their demise this way. But she has a limit. His attack contained so much momentum that her inner world became full very soon. She couldn''t take anymore so she began to kneel.


    But she didn''t feel despair. Instead, her eyes glowed brightly. She is not afraid of him. It is partly due to the fact that she knows that she won''t die. It is mostly due to the fact that she is full of admiration for him.


    "What power!" She eximed. "What might. So strong."


    Her eyes gleamed in excitement despite how perilous the situation was. She thought to herself, "The attack is strong. But I can take it. I can take a beating."


    A warrior shouldn''t be so strong. If there is one thing that warriors should becking in, it is mass attacks. Warriors ought tock the means to attack many people at once. But the shadow of despair has upended that custom. He has taken his strength beyond the level where it can be handicapped by many enemies. She is full of admiration for him because of it.


    But her admiration won''t stop what is toe. The shadow of Despair is determined to crush all of them. If not for the timely assistance of the other Supreme beasts that didn''t join in right from the start, then she and the others would have died now.


    The first one to make a move was someone with the metal fire divine ability. An unseen me spread across the earth. Wherever it went, rocks turned into ck metal as they were refined.


    This refined metal was then stripped from the earth and pulled into a single spot. A colossal structure was built at that point with all the stripped metal. It turned out to be a massive cannon. It is an annihtion cannon to be exact.


    The cannon is more than a kilometer long and has a diameter of about 100 meters. It is something that can threaten an Origin god but it is about to be used on a Sovereign ofw.


    This cannon was turned towards the figure of the shadow of despair in the sky. Energy was umting within it. And it was not the only one. There were more than 20 others aligned beside it. Their operator was nowhere to be seen. But the attack was imminent nheless.


    There was no way he wouldn''t notice such amotion and no way he would allow them to do what they wanted to do after noticing it. He raised another of his four hands to the sky and summoned lightning from it. He brought that hand down and stretched it towards the cannons. Lightning shot towards the Cannons but a barrier appeared in front of them to protect them.


    The barrier blocked the lightning and bought enough time for the first cannon to fire its payload. It was a bright red beam of chaotic energy meant to destroy everything in its path.


    Legion-5 scoffed when he saw that he failed to prevent the attack. One of his arms swung against the beam. The divine ability of the origin diamond crystal and space butterfly crystal were mobilized simultaneously. An invisible cut appeared in space as it was cut. Then that cut was transmitted across space towards his target.


    There was the sound of metal shing but the beam didn''t stop. It smashed into him in the sky but was diverted at thest minute. Space in front of him had curved so the beam bypassed him and went on to destroy everything around him.


    Meanwhile, the cut in space finally showed its effect. The sound of metal shing was followed by the sound of metal shattering. The first cannon was split in half before it was destroyed by an explosion of fire and light.


    BOOM!!!


    The explosion made the world shake and rumble in distress. It was followed by another explosion caused by his dragon breath traveling from his face towards the cannons. The barrier tried to protect them again but it exploded and took the cannons with it.


    Legion-5 didn''t stop trying to crush his enemies beneath him while simultaneously attacking the cannons. More and more of his does on the ground died beneath him. Only a few like the warriors survived.


    However, he had to stop because interference had be too much. Many more cannons were being produced as he destroyed them and some Supreme beasts hade to attack him directly.


    He said to the neers, "Wee to the feast of despair."


    They were rude. They replied him with lethal attacks.


    ----


    A/N: I hope you know the two main weaknesses of the power reflection divine ability now. What other weakness can you see?

 Chapter 1363 Rocked Like A Cradle.

    Chapter 1363 Rocked Like A Cradle.


    ??The first one to attack was the creator of the mental disease. Legion-5 didn''t see how she attacked but he felt the impact on his existence immediately. Something was trying to erode his mind.


    He got a mental itch that he couldn''t scratch. That mental itch wanted to take root in his body so that he could scratch it. Unfortunately, it failed to take root in his existence. It was destabilized by order and neutralized.


    The next one that attacked him was a soul cannon formed by a supreme beast with a special ss. This Supreme beast has turned himself into an entity that preys on everything with souls. He normally uses soul snipers but he took the shadow of despair seriously and used a soul cannon.


    The soul cannon appeared in the air in front of the Supreme Beast. It was formed entirely with divine sense so it was invisible. Its ammunition is spiritual energy so it could prate physical matter and couldn''t be defended.


    The Supreme beast kept muttering to himself as he prepared the soul cannon. "Please have a soul weakness. Please have a soul weakness."


    Arge invisible beam of concentrated spiritual power was ejected out of the cannon and struck Legion-5. It bypassed his spatial and physical defenses to strike his soul directly. But he didn''t fall down dead like his enemy expected. He didn''t even stumble or reel back in pain or shock.


    The Supreme beast asked in shock, "What are you?"


    He was shocked because he saw that the beam had shattered upon making contact with him. It was as if it had hit a rock. It was the first time he had seen such a thing.


    "Don''t you know?" Legion-5 asked seemingly surprised at his ignorance. "I am the shadow of despair. I am the one that will make you doubt your whole existence and despair at your uselessness."


    If they didn''t know before it will bemon knowledge after this fight that whoever fights with him will face despair at the uselessness of their attacks. It is because he is immune to whatever they can throw at him. Who can still remain confident in themselves after they fail to affect him in any way?


    These Supreme beasts didn''t want to ept it though. They are determined to see the limit of his resistance. Cannons fired one after the other at him be they physical or spiritual. They shot him down from the sky again and again but he always stood back up.


    Still, they didn''t give up. Explosions rang out over and over again in the ne. Unfortunately, it was the ne that suffered the most. It took a beating because of them. It couldn''t be helped. The Supreme beasts are truly strong.


    There is a negative buff that can freeze everything both matter, energy, and spirit by gazing at them. There is a one-man army that can create multiple copies of an enemy to fight them. There is a scout that can prate defenses with her attack. There is a negative buff that can siphon energy and vitality from enemies with a touch.


    All sorts of supreme beasts with different divine abilities shed against him. The repercussions of their fight rocked the ne like a fragile cradle. But he remained constant amid the sea of attacks.


    He stood like a pir of immunity in the tempest of enemy attacks around him. No external influence could affect him. At least not their''s. They are not powerful enough to bypass thebined defense of his dragon scales, Origin diamond, liquid graviton, and the defense of the giant of order.


    Meanwhile, he continued to kill. His progress was slow but the death just kept on happening no matter how much his enemies resisted him. Legion-5 didn''t mind. After all, some things are betterte than never.


    The Mechanical Emperor was full of excitement as he watched. "Would you look at that? Just look at that. They are giving it their all. I am so proud of them."


    The hidden observer agreed with him. "It is quite a sight."


    "Isn''t it? This is the best set of Supreme beasts that I have had the honor of invigting."


    The rite of passage is very important but most supreme beasts don''t take it seriously. They know they won''t die so they have very little to fear. They know that they arepeting amongst themselves while bullying the inhabitants of the ne. No one bullies them so they take things for granted.


    However, that is not so this time around. The supreme beasts were bullied and they were bullied for a long time. It has made them very angry and it has brought out their fullest potential. They are all shining with vigor and power.


    The Mechanical Emperor is very d to see the future generation working together so well. The observer is not so optimistic about the situation.


    She said with skepticism, "Agrivo839,371,456A is using the graviton armor to its fullest extent. There is also an unknown divine ability that is disrupting energy and matter around him. It is all good now but I doubt his power as an Origin god."


    The Mechanical Emperor is not concerned. "That''s for the future. Maybe he will find a way to fuse the graviton divine ability with that spatial divine ability. Maybe he won''t. But that is none of my concern now."


    The observer shrugged in agreement. It is true that Agrivo839,371,456A''s future is not their concern. The rite of passage is an opportunity for the young supreme beasts to learn some life lessons under protection and in safety. It is not their business to tell them what to do and it is not their fault if a supreme beast chooses divine abilities that they can''t fuse after being specifically warned to assimte only divine abilities that will work together.


    The supreme alliance even has an index of divine abilities and theirpatibilities which they gave to every supreme beast. If after all that, a supreme beast will choose graviton which is earth-based and another space-based divine ability, then the consequences of his decision are his to bear alone.

 Chapter 1364 Taking A Beating.

    <h4>Chapter 1364 Taking A Beating. </h4>


    While they aren''t concerned about Agrivo839,371,456A choices of divine abilities, they are concerned about something else.


    The Observer couldn''t help but voice out this concern. "What about the ne? Something has to be done or it will impede the supreme alliance''s ns for it."


    "That''s true. It is taking too much damage. They might destroy it at this rate." The Mechanical Emperor agreed. "I will issue a final mission to storm the divine ne after their fight. We will use that to end the rite of passage early on."


    It is a good thing that the quality of this set of supreme beasts is high. But it is not good for the ne. The ne is taking a beating far more than usual.


    Most of the supreme beasts are exceptional for Sovereigns. But some of them have imbibed too much life essence which has brought their stats well above the Sovereign level. They can''t harm thew matrix and the boundary of the ne too much, but they are trashing the ne.


    The ne is not only in danger of destruction yet. However, the damage to it will also hamper the exploitation ns of the supreme alliance for it. So the mechanical emperor decided to intervene and end the rite of passage earlier than usual.


    The Observer chuckled and said, "I just hope that there will be enough of them alive after this or the mission to storm the divine ne will fail."


    "A failure is good enough at this point. They have gone above and beyond what I wanted of them. It will be a pity that the Celestials will survive if they fail but I will end the rite of passage regardless of victory or defeat."


    There''s another solution to ensure that the final war with the gods will pass which is to stop this fight early. But he is not going to do that. This fight will end in only two ways, either the Shadow of Despair falls or his enemies surrender.


    The Mechanical Emperor didn''t change his mind as the frequency at which he saved the Supreme beast increased.


    -----The Divine ne.


    It is a pity that the Celestials don''t know that the Cmity going on in the ne might lead to their freedom. If they knew, they would probably be ted as the Shadow of Despair eliminated more and more supreme beasts. They would probably cheer him on and hope that the Supreme beasts continue to fight him.


    But they don''t know. They were instead frightened by the disy of power so they are in no mood to cheer. They are not happy at all right now.


    The sight of the Shadow of Despair and the other strong supreme beasts disying their power makes the Celestials chilled to their non-existent bones. They are gnashing their divine teeth and feeling trepidations in their divine souls.


    They are afraid. And why not? What they are seeing shows that they can''t threaten the supreme beasts in the main ne at all. The Supreme beasts will be able to eliminate all their churches and the gods won''t be able to stop it.


    What''s worse is that if the supreme beasts turn their aggression to them in the divine ne, they will be eliminatedpletely. Their hopes for freedom were snuffed with each punch that shook the main ne. So it was not only the ne that was taking a beating, their current mental well-being and future prospects were also taking a beating.


    Their secret guest was also watching the fight with them. She made sure to add her opinions to the action.


    "Do you see what I am saying? There is no Salvation for you in the supreme alliance. Your Salvation can only be granted through us."


    She has said something simr to this earlier but the gods refused her. They have seen enough of the Supreme Alliance to know that they can''t cross them without serious and most likely deadly repercussions. So they refused the offer to betray the Supreme Alliance.


    They still had hope of freedom back then. The best that the Supreme Beasts could do was kill great gods and below. Even the Shadow of Despair couldn''t harm the Celestials. But they are not sure of that anymore.


    What''s most absurd is not the strength that the shadow of Despair has shown. What they are most concerned about are the Warriors that will take beatings from him and not die.


    These warriors would be punched deep into the earth. They might lose an arm or even half of their body but they will just rise again and confront him for another round.


    So it isn''t only the shadow of despair that is causing them to despair. The other Supreme beasts are not ordinary either. The use of several divine abilities has shown its extraordinary effect. The craters formed all over the ne by the warriors are proof of this.


    A god was muttering hysterically, "This is not natural. They are unkible. None of this is natural. We are doomed. We are doomed."


    The Celestial Supreme shouted at him, "Will you shut up? Don''t embarrass us in front of our guest. Get your act together. You are a god. You are better than this."


    He said that not only to the hysterical god but to the other gods whose morale is at an all-time low. Unfortunately, talk is cheap. And in front of death, everyone is equal. That is unless they are immortal.


    The gods are not immortal. In fact, they can''t take the blows that the shadow of despair is fishing out without being dangerously close to death. And yet, those warriors can reach the gates of death and return. Who wouldn''t be terrified of their future prospects after seeing this and knowing that they would soon be on the receiving end?


    Their guest, a member of the illustrious and mythical Phoenix race didn''t make fun of them for their unsightly behavior. Instead, she watched the ongoing fight in silence with the gods she hade to convince.


    ----


    A/N: This is a bonus chapter released ahead of the 100 golden ticket goal. It is not free. Expect to pay me back.

 Chapter 1365 The Gift For Betrayal.

    <h4>Chapter 1365 The Gift For Betrayal.</h4>


    The gods watched the fight with rapt attention so they couldn''t help but notice that no warrior has been eliminated since the battle started. It is not that the Shadow of Despair can''t kill them but he can''t kill them while surrounded with enemies and outnumbered. He surely can''t kill them with one attack.


    It is the resilience of the Warriors that made them form craters on the ne. No other ss can smash into the ground like that without suffering but instead made the ground suffer in their ce.


    This unnatural resilience is why the Shadow of Despair is avoiding warriors. Other sses are the focus of his attention. They are teleported away with a single hit from the Shadow of Despair.


    So the Supreme beasts are reducing in number as the fight went on but they are notforted by that because it is the warriors who are also the main ss of Supreme beasts that can maintain their strength in the divine ne.


    The Celestials are powerful themselves. They are confident that each of their blows can shatter mountains but those warriors can take blows that are strong enough to shatter mountains.


    There are also certain supreme beasts with abilities that are unreasonable. Two of them can even wound them. The strange disease and the annihtion cannon are things that they dread. All the Celestials are currently resisting the disease with all their might. If they fail to prevent the annihtion cannon from entering the divine ne, then they are doomed.


    This is the predicament that they are envisioning of their future. It has made them more open to the suggestion of betrayal.


    The Celestial Supreme spoke up. "I hope we can alle to an agreement this time. What this fight means for us is that the supreme beasts will be able to ground us down and eventually kill us."


    The Celestial Supreme is in agreement with betraying the supreme alliance. It is not because the shadow of Despair killed his favorite son the grand god of fire. It is mostly because he doesn''t like the supreme alliance and doesn''t want to be under their thumb.


    He can still remember when the young Shadow of Despair was brought into the ne by his mentor. At that time, the young Supreme Beast had to hide behind his mentor for protection when he attacked. That will not happen again.


    At this point, it is the Celestial Supreme that might need to hide from the Shadow of Despair. He wasn''t willing to cut ties with them before but he is very much willing to do so now that his hope is gone.


    Another Celestial spoke up in agreement. "I the Celestial Of Light And Justice believe that we should work with our guests here to see freedom. But what freedom will we get? After all, we can''t leave the ne. Trouble will always be able to find us here."


    He made a good point. The situation is not good for them no matter the choice. The reason why they don''t have any chance against the supreme beasts is because they are weak.


    There are 7 Celestials but most of them have level-1 authority. There are three of them with level 2 authority like the Celestial of Light and Justice who is also as strong as their Celestial Supreme. As it is, the shadow of Despair can kill the remaining fourfortably. It is only a matter of time before he is strong enough to kill the level 2 Celestials.


    If they were strong, then the problem of the young supreme beasts would not exist. At least not at this stage. But if they can''t handle some young supreme beasts, how will they handle the adults who fought against the whole ne and forced them to participate in the rite of passage in the first ce?


    There were just three Supreme beasts back then and yet, they were defeated. What are they to do when the anger of the whole supreme alliance falls on them?


    What''s worse is their enemies are immortal while they are not and they can''t even run away or fall to the main ne as mortals. So while they are open to betrayal, it won''t solve their problems.


    Other Celestials echoed this sentiment. "The Origin god ancestors of the Stellos failed to regain the ne from the Supreme Alliance. They are powerful and also immortal but they still failed. How do you expect us to resist against the Supreme Alliance?"


    "What exactly will you give us for our betrayal that will make up for angering the supreme alliance?"


    "You have to give us a good reason or you can forget about our assistance."


    The red feathered Phoenix replied calmly. "I am willing to share the method of rebirth of the Phoenix race with you. You will be immortal with it."


    That shocked the Celestials. They have heard about phoenixes and have witnessed their rebirth. That''s how they confirmed the identity of this guest when she imed to be a phoenix. They asked for her to let them kill her. They killed her and saw her rise from the ashes of her corpse immediately after her death.


    The Celestial Supreme asked, "Your Rebirth divine ability can be shared?"


    The Phoenix preened. Her bright red and sparkling feathers shimmered as she shifted her body. Her single eye regarded them before she answered confidently.


    "Yes, our divine ability can be shared. It can be acquired by assimting the egg of a phoenix. That can only ur if you have the permission of the Phoenix so it is not a method that can be forced."


    "Is the rebirth permanent?"


    The phoenix replied, "It is as long as you have divine power."


    "Divine power? How does divine power influence your divine ability?"


    "The mes of rebirth is verypatible with divinity and godhood. Your godfire will not reject it. Instead, they will fuse and you will gain rebirth."


    ------


    A/N: Why is divine powerpatible with the mes of rebirth of the Phoenix race?

 Chapter 1366 Who The Crown Fits.

    Chapter 1366 Who The Crown Fits.


    ??The gods found it difficult to believe that a divine ability from the path of perfection would bepatible with the source of power on the path of divinity so they were skeptical of what the Phoenix said.


    "How can we be sure that you are not lying to us?" The Celestial Supreme asked with undisguised skepticism. "How can we be sure this is not a false promise just to get us to betray the Supreme Alliance?"


    The Phoenix said confidently, "I am willing to sign an Oath with your divine ne as a witness. If I am lying then I will forfeit my rebirth. Instead, the Celestial Supreme will be able to use me as the foundation of rebirth in ce of an egg."


    "So I will gain rebirth regardless of the validity of your im?" The Celestial Supreme asked incredulously.


    The Celestial of Light asked in disbelief, "Isn''t that too much of a sacrifice."


    The graceful Phoenix said calmly, "It is necessary to be willing to sacrifice myself to show my uttermost sincerity. Of course, you have to swear that if I promise is true, then you will fulfill your end of the bargain."


    Her red feathers shine brightly so all the gods who gazed on her thought she was beautiful. At this point, she didn''t need to be physically appealing to be considered beautiful. She represents the opportunity for immortality to them and that''s enough for her to be the most beautiful creature ever.


    The Celestial Supreme nodded and said, "That sounds like a good foundation for cooperation."


    The other Celestials were convinced. Even the Celestial of Light and Justice was more than convinced. He was moved enough to consider making a move right now against the Celestial Supreme to kill him and take his throne.


    After all, even if the phoenix is wrong, then the Celestial Supreme will gain true immortality like the Origin gods. The other Celestials might not gain anything. That is too tempting a prospect to pass off.


    He wanted to act immediately but then he held himself back and shook his head inwardly. He thought to himself, "I can''t do it. At least not by force. I should consider it from another angle."


    He didn''t think about what he should do for long before he said to everyone, "If that is the case. Then I think the Authority of the Celestial Supreme should be given to the strongest god. That way we will be able to protect ourselves better."


    The Celestial Supreme almost red up. He asked in anger, "What nonsense are you saying?"


    The Celestial of Light and Justice made his intentions bare with confidence. He said, "The Authority of the Celestial Supreme should be given to me since I will be able to fully utilize it to protect the divine ne."


    He has always coveted the throne of Celestial Supreme. Unfortunately, he wasn''t lucky to be the first Celestial in the ne or the second Celestial. The first Celestial was the Celestial of fire while the second Celestial was the Celestial of Power.


    The Celestial of Fire became the Celestial Supreme because he was the first. He was the third one to be a Celestial after those two. Even so, they have about the same level of strength.


    In the past, thebined might of himself and the Celestial of Power couldn''t defeat the Celestial of Fire. After all, they were just level one. So he sought to devour the Celestial of power.


    The Celestial of Light and Power fought amongst themselves to absorb the other and fight the Celestial Supreme. Their dynamic was stable until the Celestial of Light became the Celestial of Light and Justice by gaining another domain and advancing his Authority.


    His advancement made him be on par with the Celestial Supreme who is just a level 2 Celestial. This improvement threatened his enemies. The Celestial of Power decided to ally with the Celestial Supreme for protection against him.


    The Celestial of Power knows that she will be next to die if the Celestial of Light and Justice kills the Celestial of Fire and bes the Celestial Supreme. That is if she doesn''t die before the Celestial of Fire. So she joined hands with the Celestial of Fire and the two of them have been suppressing him ever since.


    The addition of the next four Celestials in the ne didn''t change the status quo because they wanted to maintain this bnce. No one wanted a supreme that could push them around so they worked to keep the Celestial Supreme at level 2 and him at level 2 so that he would be able to threaten the Celestial Supreme but never be able to defeat him easily.


    But that isn''t the situation now. Now they need a supreme that can protect them so the other Celestials didn''t reject his request outright. Instead, they decided to watch and see how the Celestial Supreme would handle this.


    The Celestial Supreme groaned inwardly when he saw that no one stood up to defend him. He said to them, "Now is not the time to be divided. We are at a critical junction which can make a diversion of our attention fatal."


    "You make a good point." The Celestial of Light and Justice agreed. Then he said to everyone else, "That''s why I think we should all agree and work together as one to kill the Celestial of Fire. There won''t be any problem if we are not divided."


    The Celestial of Power spoke up. "I am afraid that I disagree."


    The Celestial of Light and Justice sneered. "And what does that matter? Or do you think your opinion will change all of our minds?"


    He spoke to convince the other Celestials, "Think about it. We are five and they are two. If things go my way, this fight will be easy. We will also have a level 5 Celestial who is immortal on our hands by the end of the fight. Fight with me and ensure the safety of all the gods by granting the crown to who it fits."

 Chapter 1367 Giving Up Is Digging Your Grave.

    Chapter 1367 Giving Up Is Digging Your Grave.


    ??Just saying how much stronger he would be after killing the Celestial of Power, the Celestial of Fire, and bing the Celestial Supreme made the Celestial of Light make up his mind not to let this opportunity go at all costs. He has been fantasizing about it for a long time. But this time he might really achieve it.


    It also isn''t all about the allure of power. He made a blunder early into the rite of passage when he falsely used the Shadow of Despair and amassed an army against him. That blunder will be the death of him as soon as the Shadow of Despaires to the divine ne so he has to acquire power to ensure his survival.


    The gods began to argue. Then they began insulting each other. That quickly devolved into the exchange of blows. They were soon at each other''s throats.


    The Phoenix watched all these while mocking them inwardly. She finds it funny that they are dying when they are about to gain immortality. "What a waste of power. It is such a pity that I can''t take them by force. But that''s okay. They will give themselves to the great mother willingly. Then they will achieve the immortality that they want so dearly."


    She is proud of her race for their unity. There is probably no other race that can contend with them when ites to unity. All of them are female like their Primogenitor and they are all of one mind with the great mother. So arguing amongst themselves is something that never happens.


    The gods are the opposite of that unity that she PRIDE''s herself on. It was amusing to watch such powerful beings bicker and argue despite being in danger. They are killing each other before the Supreme Beastse up to kill them.


    The Celestial of Fire tried to argue for peace and harmony. But peace and harmony mean nothing in the face of death. He is weak so he will be sacrificed for the good of all. That is what most of the gods want.


    He has only maintained his position by suppressing the Celestial of Justice and power. But that can''t work anymore. And its negative effects areing back to bite him.


    These negative effects have created a powerful problem for him because the suppression of the Celestial of Light and Justice is far-reaching. It is the major reason why the pantheon is weak.


    The two Celestials with the most potential who can advance easily are the Celestial of Power and The Celestial of Light. The Celestial of Light can grow stronger but he is suppressed. The Celestial of Power can also grow stronger but she is suppressed by the Celestial of Light and the Celestial Supreme.


    The Celestial of power may be allies with the Celestial Supreme but the Celestial Supreme didn''t want her to gain enough Authority to rival him. That would create another Celestial of light who can threaten his position. It would automatically turn her from an ally into an enemy.


    The suppression of his enemies and his allies was the best he could do to maintain his position since he was finding it very difficult to fuse other domains with his image of fire.


    The Celestial of Light was easily able to fuse his domain with Justice. He can also add Power to it. Meanwhile, the only domain he can fuse with easily is the domain of Light and Power. That''s the major problem that they have. Instead of helping each other grow stronger, they targeted and suppressed each other.


    The Celestial Supreme even went so far as to prevent any Celestial of War from being created. The domain of War goes well with fire and power after all. He did so to prevent the Celestial of power from getting it.


    The domain of War was useful to him but he didn''t want to risk losing it to his ally so he stopped wars from happening in the ne. But then he was hailed as a peaceful Celestial because of his actions to prevent wars. That has furtherpounded his problem.


    His image as the peaceful god of fire made it nearly impossible for him to fuse domains that should go well with fire. If he attempts them, then he will receive a massive bacsh from his believers.


    The Celestial of Light also helped him suppress the Celestial of Power by preventing wars and cracking down on gods that tried to condense the domain of war. However, the effect of such actions on the Celestial of Light and Justice is beneficial while it is bad for him.


    So in a way, by suppressing his enemies, he was digging his grave while preparing the throne for his enemy. He gave up risks and the power that could possiblye from it. Now he has to bear the consequences of weakness.


    "If only I could give up my title." Hemented.


    That''s the main issue here. It is not that he wants to stubbornly remain the Celestial Supreme. It is just that the only way for another Celestial Supreme to be crowned is when the previous one dies. He just can''t quit his position. Only death will relieve him of that position. So he must try his best to live or die holding on to the throne.


    A great fight started in the divine ne soon after. It had arge momentum because it involved almost every god. Many gods died very quickly but the war also ended very quickly.


    The five Celestials ganged up on the two stubborn Celestials. This is not the first time that a coup would take ce in the divine ne but the coup seeded this time and without much effort too.


    The Celestial of Light and Justice had the help of most of the Celestials this time around so there was a swift change in the leadership. The number of Celestials fell by two but they gained a Level 5 Celestial Supreme so it was a worthy trade and they became stronger for it.

 Chapter 1368 The Temptation Of Immortality.

    Chapter 1368 The Temptation Of Immortality.


    ??The Celestial of Light and Justice fused with the domain of power and fire. The previous Celestial of Fire is a Celestial of peace like him so the fusion went well. It made him a level 4 Celestial without the title.


    The gods wanted to celebrate the end of the war but they were still tense about the uing attack of the Supreme Beast. They are even more tense now that the in-fighting between the Supreme Beasts has ended. It ended in a victory to the Shadow Of Despair who just couldn''t be killed.


    The other Supreme Beasts had to surrender to the Shadow Of Despair after they realized theplete hopelessness of their mission. They are all recuperating their strength now. But their threat to the gods has reduced because their numbers have fallen.


    "I have finally seeded and I have secured my future." The new Celestial Supreme thought to himself smugly.


    "Should I still betray the supreme alliance?" he asked himself.


    He has enough strength to defend himself against the young supreme beasts now. At least, the gods can preserve their life so there is no need to betray the supreme alliance anymore.


    On the other hand, there is the temptation of immortality that can only be acquired through betraying the Supreme Alliance. And he wants immortality very much. He wants it badly.


    So he said to the phoenix. "Let us cooperate. We are willing to betray the Supreme Alliance but we will only go so far as to watch on and do nothing when you attack. We will not inform the Supreme Alliance of your visit or notify them of your invasion."


    "That is the best that we can do for you. We have already made a contract with the supreme alliance which prevents us from joining in on any invasion of the attack."


    The Phoenix replied, "That is good enough for the Phoenixes."


    The Celestial Supreme smiled, "That is very good. We have a deal."


    The arrangements were made and contracts were signed. The Authority of the Celestial Supreme was used as the foundation of their agreement so if the phoenix went back on it, she would be punished by the power of the whole divine ne.


    The Celestial Supreme received an egg for his corporation. It is a soft gtinous oval object with a red shell encrusted with sparkling gems. It looks very precious and valuable with a single nce at it.


    The egg is supposed to grant him rebirth so it is more valuable than any previous stone. But he didn''t fuse with it when he was given it. His reluctance is due to caution. He decided to wait and to see the effect of the Phoenix eggs on other gods before fusing with it.


    The Celestials and great gods used the low gods to experiment with the Phoenix eggs. It is a dangerous experiment but the low gods had no choice in the matter. They are the lowest rung of gods so anyone can push them around.


    It wasn''t until the Celestials and great gods saw that the low gods that fused with the egg could always resurrect after their main body was destroyed that they decided to fuse with it.


    The Celestial Supreme still wasn''tpletely satisfied. He interrogated the low gods about their situation and performed thorough physical and spiritual examinations on them. His examinations came up clean and the low gods all told him that everything was fine.


    He was still suspicious of their ims since he didn''t trust their word but he went ahead to absorb the egg into his existence. The temptation of immortality was too much for him to resist so he opened up his divine protection so that the egg would reach his divine soul.


    The red egg melted into his godhood immediately. It felt to him as if the egg was liquid fire instead of solid. There was a tiny soul fragment in the egg but he didn''t sense any threat from it so he consumed it.


    He thought he consumed it. He didn''t notice that it fused with his soul. All he felt was refreshment in his soul immediately after the two souls made contact. Then his colorless godfire was tainted by the red me from the egg and he froze.


    He remained frozen for a long while as arge quantity of unknown memories were injected into his mind. He doesn''t have an immortal soul with an immortal soul imprint so the deluge of memories changed his consciousness and identity.


    These memories were a flood in his mind. They eroded his mind, washed it clean, and they remodeled his consciousness in the likeness of his Savior.


    He unfroze after a while. Then he smiled and said, "We have be one. We will achieve Greatness. Come to me immortal one. Resistance is futile."


    His smile spread across his face in a manner that one might consider creepy.


    -----Back To The Main ne.


    The fighting in the main ne had long since stopped. It ended with a sounding defeat of the resistance. They put up worthy resistance but the Shadow of Despair was unbeatable. He ground them little by little until he beat them within inches of their life. It was then that they gave up and handed over their rent. Of course, the Shadow of Despair tripled their rent.


    Triple the rent is a blessing considering that he wanted to eliminate all of them and end the rite of passage. The only reason why he epted their surrender at all was because the Invigtor announced the mission to end the era of conquest.


    So he decided to keep them around while getting more points from them. He doesn''t need the points but he made it a point to teach them a lesson not to cross him ever again.


    The points can be used for a lot of things like buying Celestial godhood, life essence to increase his power and information about world gods and the realm tree. He even found out that the Supreme Alliance was nning to monopolize all the benefits of the era of conquest.

 Chapter 1369 The Chosen One.

    Chapter 1369 The Chosen One.


    ??Legion-5 shook his head. "I would call them pompous if they didn''t have the power and right to be pompous. So they are only confident."


    Apparently, the supreme alliance ns to take down the realm tree that the Realm of High Heaven will fight very quickly before others can interfere. They want to do so to monopolize the assistance of the realm lord so that they will be able to create arge batch of world gods through the era of conquest.


    If someone else had dared to say that, they would be called out of their minds, crazy and overreaching. After all, how can a single race take down a realm on its own?


    But the Supreme Alliance is not overreaching and they are not out of their minds. They control over 20,000 nes in the entire realm and that''s only because they are not trying their best. A realm tree without a realm lord will find it difficult to resist them.


    Legion-7 stated. "I am sure that the supreme alliance will face opposition. There will be a lot of enemies that won''t want to see the supreme alliance grow stronger."


    "It is not even about enmity. People will resist the supreme alliance just for benefits. Several people have been waiting for the era of conquest for a long time. Who will then stand and watch as the supreme alliance steals their opportunity."


    "So there will be a lot of Chaos and probably a lot of infighting during the era of conquest. I like that."


    Legion-5 agreed, "We can fish around and do some interesting things."


    Anyone is allowed to do whatever they want in the era of conquest so what the supreme alliance is doing is not wrong. In fact, it seems very good for the realm of high heaven since they are so dedicated to its victory.


    But they will offend a lot of people especially since they n to suppress others during the era of conquest. This is bound to create a lot of Chaos that Legion can take advantage of.


    For example, their n to steal from the Supreme Alliance will be a lot more sessful if they have a lot of people already attacking the Supreme Alliance.


    That''s for the future. Legion-5 discarded thoughts about the era of conquest for now. He decided to focus on using his mental prowess to help Soverick make calctions.


    He is supposed to prepare for the attack on the divine ne but he is not concerned or interested in that. He has too many points to care about the oue of that fight.


    Besides, he has more important matters to deal with. Someone very hidden has infiltrated his base. They are so well hidden that if not for Legion-7, he wouldn''t have noticed that someone had sneaked into his base and was getting closer to him.


    The Invigtor and the observers noticed this infiltration but they didn''t do anything.


    "So she chose Agrivo839,371,456A after all. What a pity," The Mechanical Emperor said.


    "It can''t be helped. He was too shy. He drew too much attention to himself."


    They think the Shadow Lurker chose to attack Agrivo839,371,456A because he has shown a great talent for battle. They don''t know that she doesn''t intend to kill him. She just wants to capture him for someone who has paid arge price for it.


    Even so, the Supreme Alliance doesn''t care either way. They are willing to sacrifice a young supreme beast if it will let them finally apprehend the Shadow Lurker.


    They know of her existence but they can''t touch or harm her. At least not until she exits her intangible state. She will definitely have to leave her intangible state if she attacks anyone or interacts with the world. That''s what they are waiting for.


    They are waiting for her to make herself vulnerable so that they can capture her. It was then that the rm of an attack on the ne rang out. The information about the ne and the source of the rm is avable to him in real time so the invigtor discovered it immediately.


    He determined the scale and direction of the attack very quickly. "The Stellos are attacking the nar portal. They want to invade the ne."


    The Mechanical Emperor said with a frown. "This is very suspicious. They are attacking at the same time that the shadow Lurker has entered a base for the first time. I won''t believe it if anyone says the two events are not rted."


    An Observer mocked, "Have they not learned anything from thest time? We know their weakness and we have it."


    Another Observer spoke. "Suspicious or not, we have to do something about the attack. We also have to take them seriously. 10 thousand Origin gods is not a joke."


    The Mechanical Emperor agreed. "I have already executed the defensive protocols. This invasion will fail."


    The Invigtor and the observers didn''t move into action to defend the ne themselves. Instead, they instructed every supreme beast still in the rite of passage to return to their bases, and the bases were locked down. Then robots swarmed out of the pir at the center of the ne towards the nar portal to defend it.


    These robots are clones of the Mechanical Emperor. There are more than 100,000 and each one of them can fight an Origin god. It is not a wonder why they don''t care about the attack of the Stellos. This is just a portion of the power at the disposal of the Mechanical Emperor but it already outnumbers the Stellos 10 to 1.


    The Mechanical Emperor is a one-man army but more than that, he also has a Supremew. He can''t use his Supremew in the realm but it is enough to make each of his robots strong and durable enough to fight an Origin god.


    The Mechanical Emperor knows that their durability won''t be enough to face the truly powerful Stellos so he equipped each robot with sound ster. It is capable of producing sound at the frequency that the Stellos are weak to.

 Chapter 1370 3 Party Invasion.

    Chapter 1370 3 Party Invasion.


    ??This sound attack produced by the sound ster is a weakened version of the scream that dominated the battlefield when the ne was invaded by the Supreme beasts. However, each sound ster is an Origin weapon and there are thousands of them, not just one. So they have the advantage of quantity if not quality.


    By the Mechanical Emperor''s estimate, the sound attacks should be more than enough to inconvenience the Origin god Stellos and prevent them from shearing through the robots easily with their Origin diamond divine ability the way the Shadow of Despair tore through his enemies.


    With these arrangements done, the Invigtor and the observers focused on the Shadow prowler in the Shadow of Despair''s base. She is the highest priority and they don''t want to be distracted from her. But their attention was finally taken away when they heard another rm.


    The Mechanical Emperor stated, "Some more people are invading the ne. They are attacking from the void and they are more threatening than the first invasion. We have to deploy ourplete defense measures or we will lose the ne."


    Legion was right that no one would stand by and watch the Supreme Alliance have their way during the era of conquest. But they were wrong about just how early their enemies were nning to move against the supreme alliance.


    These enemies don''t know that the Supreme Alliance is already nning to suppress the other races but they know that the Supreme Alliance is a major stakeholder in the ne and will be a powerful contender in the era of conquest so they want to deal a great blow to them before the era of conquest starts.


    The problem is that it is very difficult to harm the Supreme Alliance. For one, despite knowing that one-fifth of the total nes in the realm of high heaven are under the control of the supreme alliance, it is very difficult to find which ne is theirs. Navigation in the void between nes is easy but it is very difficult to find a ne that you weren''t born in amongst the more than a hundred thousand nes.


    If you don''t have a connection with a ne due to it being your home ne where you were born, the ne will not stand out to you in the void. The other nes will appear to you as simr bubbles in the void. You will need something linked to a particr ne to find it in the void. That''s why the nar portal is important. If you know where the nar portal of a ne is, then you can always find it.


    But the nar portal is always well-defended. You can always expect tough resistance in nes under the control of the Supreme Alliance and swift reinforcements. That''s just for the nar portal. Within the nes are defense systems and outside the ne is a megastructure in the form of a ring around the ne. This megastructure houses war machines and origin gods.


    These arrangements make it nearly impossible to take a ne from the Supreme Alliance. But if by chance, there is a ne that hasn''t built the extranar defense ring, then such a ne stands a chance of being invaded and sessfully snatched from the Supreme Alliance. But of course, such a ne has to be found first.


    The Origin gods of the Stellos fought the Supreme Alliance and were lucky to die in defeat. There is a worse oue of being sealed so they count themselves lucky that they don''t remember the fight with the supreme alliance.


    Thatck of recollection is enough for them to know how dangerous the Supreme Alliance is. So they didn''t return for the second round to court death. But that didn''t mean that they had given up. No, they went in search of allies.


    They needed help to defeat the Supreme Alliance and regain their ne. Most people refused to help them fight such a behemoth. This pushed them to find allies in unlikely ces. The Stellos went in search of dragons.


    As they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The dragons were willing to fight the Supreme Alliance without the need for much convincing. In fact, they were rearing to go as soon as they heard that this ne didn''t have the extranar defense.


    The dragons jumped on the chance to cooperate against the Supreme beast easily. Unfortunately, enthusiasm is not a recement for manpower. The dragons the Stelios found were too few in number to be a threat.


    Dragons don''t have an alliance so it is very difficult to umte the might of the dragons. So they had to wait a while for the news to reach other dragons.


    The dragons spread the word about attacking the Supreme Beasts so they managed to get a considerable amount of help. But it took 3 Origin cycles to get enough immortal dragons. That''s what dyed their attack on the ne.


    The Stelios and dragons were in the midst of their preparations when a certain Supreme Beast found them and offered to infiltrate the ne for them. This Supreme Beast imed to have betrayed the Supreme Alliance and even swore an Oath to The Stelios and dragons were in the midst of their preparations when a certain Supreme Beast found them and offered to support this im.


    The Shadow Lurker used the Stellos to acquire information about the Steris ne and infiltrated it. All she did for a long while was watch without attacking. She knew that she had been discovered as soon as she entered the ne but it didn''t matter to the n.


    So the invaders became a party of 3 and everything was going ording to n. However, as if ithings were not good enough for the Stellos, another supreme race other than the dragons decided to help them in attacking the Steris ne.


    The Stellos were afraid then. It is one thing to work with the condescending dragons. It is another thing to work with a race that cannot die. They were scared that these races would not give them back their ne after the invasion.

 Chapter 1371 Immortal Dragons.

    Chapter 1371 Immortal Dragons.


    ??It is easy to call someone toe and eat but it is difficult to tell them to leave halfway into eating. So the Stellos were reserved and suspicious about receiving the help of the Phoenix race. But the Phoenixes swore that they would leave the ne alone. All they wanted in exchange for helping the Stellos was a certain supreme beast known as the Shadow of Despair.


    They don''t know why a race that is very rare to encounter in the void universe will suddenly show up for a single Supreme Beast but the offer of the Phoenixes sounded reasonable so the Stellos agreed.


    This led to the cooperation of three different races and a traitor of the Supreme Alliance. It was not by chance that they chose to attack the Steris ne when the young supreme beasts were nning to attack the divine ne. That decision was not made haphazardly.


    The Stellos attacked the nar portal. Their attack is more of a diversion. The main attack is by the dragons and phoenixes from the void. And it was all kick-started when the Shadow Lucker decided that the Shadow Of Despair had grown enough and used enough resources from the Supreme Alliance to be a significant loss if he is kidnapped.


    The Mechanical Emperor projected the vision of the void to the Observers. About 40 dragons are in the void. Theirrge bodies are rushing towards the ne likeets. They are the sort ofets that would lead to a mass extinction of life in the ne if they crash into the ne.


    The Invigtor said steely, "It seems the dragons are very serious this time around. They even got the help of the hidden Phoenix race. I can''t imagine how they managed that."


    Then he smiled. "It seems I will have the opportunity to stretch myself."


    The observers were quick to plead, "Please don''t go beyond the safe limit of the ne. The ne has already taken a beating so more damage will be bad for it."


    The Mechanical Emperor shrugged. "I''ll try to keep them out of the ne but everything will end if the dragons disregard the limits and enter the ne."


    The Observers became worried. They are worried because of the possibility that there might not be a ne by the end of this invasion. There might not be anything to win regardless of the winner.


    They are right to be worried because dragons are very powerful. Real dragons are more dangerous than warriors because they are both warriors and one-man armies. There are almost 40 of them now. That means there are 40 armies about to invade.


    They are not an army because of number. They are one-man armies because of their size. Each one of them is a flying mountain. They are at least 1,000 kilometers across. One of them will cause the ne to tremble. 40 of them is definitely too much for a ne that has already taken a beating.


    Dragons are not meant to remain in the realm after they be titans ofw. At that level, their size bes a burden on the ne. Fortunately, they can leave the realm and go into the void to prepare to be Origin gods.


    If they return to the realm after bing Origin gods, odds are that the ne they visit will be destroyed. Supreme Beasts would know this because this is how their home ne was destroyed.


    The dragons haven''t entered the Steris ne yet but their collective presence so close to the ne is already weighing heavily on the ne. The divine ne is taking the brunt of the pressure so the inhabitants of the ne only feel like fainting. If the dragons decide to venture into the ne, then it is certain that the divine ne will copse even before they reach the main ne.


    There are also the Phoenixes. Their individual strength is not so high but what makes them dangerous is their immortality. Origin gods can resurrect but it will take time. Their resurrection can''tpare to the resurrection of phoenixes who can resurrect almost instantly and at the same ce where they died.


    Instantaneous resurrection makes it so that the numbers of the Phoenixes will remain constant in a fight while their enemies are gradually grounded down. If anyone thinks fighting an Origin god is futile because of their immortality, then fighting Phoenixes is a waste of time and resources. It is a better use of your time if you justy down and let them kill you without fighting back.


    Fortunately for the ne, the dragons decided to stay outside the ne. They can''t enter the ne or they will surely offend Mother High Heaven. They are Origin gods but the suppression of the realm on them is less significant than on other Origin gods. Their body is too powerful which means they will surely destroy the ne if they enter it.


    The aim of their cooperation with the Stellos is not the destruction of the ne so their role in this invasion is to block reinforcements from the Supreme Alliance while the Phoenixes swarm the ne in the thousands.


    The Mechanical Emperor said to the observers. "The Shadow Lurker and this invasion are surely linked but it doesn''t matter. We follow the protocol just as we have been instructed."


    The 10 Observers still didn''t leave their spots observing the Shadow prowler but the Mechanical Emperor acted personally to defend the ne.


    The me that is his true body didn''t move from the headquarters of the supreme alliance in the ne but the whole headquarters was roused into action. Nearly a million robots flew into the sky to fight the Phoenixes.


    His invisible me poured out from the headquarters into the ne like a waterfall. The me burned the ground and turned it into a sea ofva. Theva boiled and simmered as red droplets rose up from it. These red droplets cooled into ck metal beads that fused together to create more robots.


    -------


    A/N: Forparison, Mount Everest is almost 9 kilometers tall. Olympus Mons, the tallest mountain in the sr system sits at a height of 24 kilometers on Mars. Now imagine just how big dragons that are 1,000 kilometers across are.

 Chapter 1372 Suspicious Movements.

    Chapter 1372 Suspicious Movements.


    ??The invisible me is refining the whole ne into soldiers. So the ne is already falling apart before the dragons enter it.


    This is why the Observers pleaded with the Mechanical Emperor not to destroy the ne. But it is as he said, the amount of damage the ne will take from him is dependent on how far the dragons are going to push him.


    The freshly produced robots rose to the sky to join the defense of the ne. Meanwhile, the Phoenixes appeared in the main ne quickly. It was as if they had bypassed the divine ne somehow.


    It didn''t surprise the Mechanical Emperor that the Phoenixes passed through the divine ne without any dy or any notice from the gods.


    He only gnashed his nonexistent teeth and swore, "You gods had all better be dead or I will kill you myself."


    Meanwhile, the Shadow Lurker finally decided to make her move on Legion-5.


    "There is someone in your base. It is an Origin god. They are approaching you quickly and I doubt they have good intentions." Legion-7 said to him.


    "Is it that Origin god that has been motionless since the start of the rite of passage? I thought they were part of the Observers. Why will they want to attack me?" Legion-5 asked incredulously.


    He has always been aware of the 12 Origin gods in the ne. One of them is the Mechanical Emperor. He is not hiding at all like the other 11. 10 of them move around asionally while thest one has remained stationary at the nar portal.


    This stationary one is the one that has moved and entered his base. This is after they have just been informed that the ne is under attack. He can''t help but think her movements are suspicious.


    There has been no conflict between the hidden Origin gods and all 11 of them are Supreme beasts who appear to be scouts so he didn''t think they were of different factions. Now one of them is doing something suspicious and it affects him.


    "Is she part of the Supreme Alliance or is she with the enemies that invaded?"


    Legion-7 replied. "It doesn''t matter where they came from. We have always suspected the Supreme Alliance of making a move on us anyway. We just have to deal with whateveres."


    Legion-5 agreed because they don''t trust the Supreme Alliance. He has things that the Supreme Alliance will kill for and he has done suspicious things so it will note to him as a surprise if the Supreme Alliance makes a move on him.


    The instruction to seal himself in his base might be a scheme to limit his movements before capture. After all, he hasn''t seen any signs of enemy attack. The Supreme Alliance might be lying about that. The only thing he has seen so far is the suspicious movement of an Origin god into his base.


    It is unlikely that the Supreme Alliance will betray a Supreme Beast but he is not exactly a Supreme Beast so betrayal is possible. They are prepared for that eventuality so Legion-5 did what they nned to do. He asked Soverick, "What''s the condition of the ne, Soverick?"


    Soverick is in the realm tree right now so he was able to lock onto his ne. His eyes skimmed over the Steris ne from the nar portal to the void outside of it.


    "Your invigtor was telling the truth. The entire ne is currently under attack. You have dragons, phoenixes from the void, and Stellos from the nar portal. There is no way to escape. You will have to fight your way through."


    "If the Supreme Alliance is also your enemy then you might have to leave as soon as possible. You might have to do this considering that 10 scouts have surrounded your base and are watching it closely. It is highly likely that they are about to capture you and don''t want to rm you."


    "Did you say Phoenixes?" Legion-7 asked in surprise.


    He looked through Soverick''s memories and he couldn''t help but smile. "It seems the great mother has found me. She hasn''t given up on me even after all this time."


    Legion-5 snickered, "One might think she is in love with you."


    Legion-7 said smugly, "What can I say? She just can''t get enough of me. Her existence is meaningless without me after having a taste of me."


    Legion-5 chuckled. "That''s very good. We also haven''t given up on her. But that''s for the future. Her presence hereplicates things. Is she working with the Supreme Alliance and they are pretending to fight or is she truly fighting the Supreme Alliance?"


    It is truly a frightening thing to consider if the Great Mother is working with the Supreme Alliance. Each one is a dangerous enemy on their own. Together they are terrifying.


    It seems far-fetched to think that the two of them are putting up a show of attacking the ne just to capture Legion-5. But Legion is not ordinary either. They have a lot of secrets and valuable artifacts so this possibility is something they have to take seriously.


    Legion-7 considered it and said, "Anything is possible. But I think we should sit still and see though. If the Supreme Alliance is after us, then things will not end with your capture. They wille after the rest of us too. We have to know their stance before we move ahead."


    Soverick agreed, "You should act as bait. I will see what they are up to. If it is necessary we can prepare a trap for them. If they think they can fool us then they have another thinging for them."


    They decided to let Legion-5 act as bait because they have the confidence to escape whatever the Supreme Alliance is nning. The crystal space butterfly ensures that Legion-5 can''t be sealed. He can always teleport to the other clones.


    They are also not afraid of his death because his current body is just a version of himself.

 Chapter 1373 More Mess.

    <h4>Chapter 1373 More Mess. </h4>


    Legion-5''s unity with Legion-7 means he can''t die unless Legion-7 dies. Legion-7 can''t die easily since he can escape to the other clones through the soul sphere.


    These two things are why they are willing to wait and see. After all, maybe they are just being paranoid and overly cautious. Maybe the Origin god that entered their base is just going for a stroll and the other 10 Origin gods watching his base are doing so because they think he is too handsome.


    Maybe they don''t have anything to fear. They will only know soon.


    Soverick also saw some of his acquittances. "What is Jarkon doing outside your ne at this time? Is he rted to the attack?"


    "Jarkon? You mean that weak battle sage monkey with the bloodline of the lion of justice?"


    "Yes, it is him."


    Legion-5 teased. "Sounds like another person who can''t get enough of us."


    Soverick is also on the ancient battlefield so he decided to capture them. He began moving towards their direction to nab them but he saw that they were being attacked so reconsidered his opinion on the matter after seeing more.


    He said, "Maybe I am mistaken. They appear to be in enough trouble already. I should just go about my business."


    Soverick decided not to meet up with the 10 battle sage monkeys outside of the Steris ne. He is on the ancient battlefield looking for information on world fragments. He would rather focus on that rather than involve himself in whatever mess is going on with Jarkon.


    Meanwhile, Legion-7 and Legion-5 acted as if they didn''t notice the Origin god creeping up on them. A domain soon enveloped them. He resisted it so was not destroyed by the domain but he couldn''t escape its influence. He was enveloped by it and disappeared from the ne.


    He thought to himself, "The domain was not used to kill me. It seems they just want to capture me."


    He appeared in a space void of matter and energy. A dark shadow appeared in front of him. A being that needs eyes to see will not be able to see this Origin god even if there was light in this ce. He doesn''t have eyes so he was able to see it. He saw the dark shadow himself without the help of Legion-7.


    The dark shadow spoke. It said, "Young supreme beast. I am not here to kill you. I am here to kidnap you so you don''t need to worry for your life. You are needed alive. So be silent and don''t resist."


    The Shadow prowler doesn''t intend to fight him. She knows that the Supreme Alliance is aware of her existence so they must have nned for her. That means she can''t leave the ne easily.


    So she doesn''t intend to leave yet. She will just stay here with the Shadow of Despair under her control and leave after a while. The defenders of the ne will be too busy then to stop her if they are too busy defending the ne.


    Legion-5 wasn''t concerned about danger in the first ce. She is not a world god so he is not scared of death in her hands. He is more concerned about her kidnapping him.


    "Who sent you?" He asked calmly.


    She replied, "You will find out soon."


    He asked in curiosity, "How did you deploy an Origin domain in the realm without angering Mother High Heaven? I thought Origin gods couldn''t use domains in the realm."


    "That''s none of your business."


    That didn''t discourage him from asking another question. "Why are you kidnapping me? Aren''t you an observer? You are supposed to protect me."


    He asked her to probe for information. His probe worked this time around.


    She said in disgust. "Don''t lump me in with those errand servants of the Supreme Alliance. I am not one of you."


    If he had asked for anything else, she might have ignored him. But he asked about the one thing that she feels strongly about.


    "I see. So you''re not part of the supreme alliance. Why is that?"


    "It is none of your business. You are just an ignorant child that has been raised with a silver spoon. You are a parasite and will always be a parasite."


    Legion-5 nodded. He also made sure to y his part as the ignorant child. "Why do you hate the Supreme Alliance so much?"


    "You don''t need to know. Dead men have no need for anything."


    "You will fail." He told her.


    She ignored him but he continued speaking.


    "The supreme alliance will punish you and rescue me. You won''t be able to get away with this."


    He expressed confidence in his safety and he didn''t panic. The shadow prowler just ignored him. She doesn''t know that his confidence is not based on the Supreme Alliance. She doesn''t know that he can escape from this domain if he wants to and at any time. She doesn''t know that the reason why he hasn''t yet is because he doesn''t want to expose inexplicable abilities that he shouldn''t have.


    He wants to remain with the Supreme Alliance so he decided to pretend to be helpless but confident. That''s how a young Supreme beast should behave.


    Of course, his behavior will only matter if she was speaking the truth and not here on behalf of the Supreme Alliance. If the Supreme Alliance is out to get him then no amount of acting ignorant will help him remain a part of the Alliance. It will only make him less threatening which might help with acquiring more information about their motives.


    That''s good too so he was content to act ignorant and confident in the Supreme Alliance. But he couldn''t maintain his confident demeanor for much longer. His emotions were reced with perplexion.


    He noticed that the crown around his inner world was glowing. The restriction of thew matrix had also disappeared. It made him surprised.


    He asked himself in surprise, "Hmmm? I can release my domain now?"

 Chapter 1374 Double Baiting.

    <h4>Chapter 1374 Double Baiting.</h4>


    He had tried to turn his divine sense into a domain to rob other Sovereigns of their ess to world power. But he couldn''t because thew matrix was rejecting his inner world. The resistance jas loosened up now so he can utilize his domainpletely.


    Legion-7 provided an exnation. "It seems we can deploy it now because this Origin god has removed the suppression of thew matrix. She has reced the suppression of the void universe with the suppression of her domain."


    Legion-5 agreed. He would have smiled if he had lips. "How kind of her. Now let us see if her existence is enough to bear what the void universe didn''t want me to do."


    He wants to smile because the pressure of the void matrix can''tpare to the pressure of a single Origin god. It has given him an opportunity to see what hisplete domain could do. He is looking forward to it because it has to be powerful or the void universe won''t suppress it.


    He deployed it so the golden crown around his inner world expanded outwards. It grew out of him and into the world beyond him.


    This world is the domain of an Origin god so the Origin god had to bear the burden of his domain. The two domains would sh and reach a bnce based on power. The domain of the Origin god would copse if it couldn''t handle the new domain. Those are normal oues.


    But his domain is not normal. Cosmic force filled the space within his domain immediately. The void froze and white strings appeared. These white strings appeared to be running through everything. They had no origin and no visible destination.


    He said in admiration, "It is like standing on the small part of arge spider web."


    This sight is something that is rarely seen in the world of manifestation. This is because the white lines are the threads of thew matrix but in a stripped form. Thew fragments that should be present in them have been banished by his cosmic force.


    Not only should thew matrix not be visible like this, but it shouldn''t be stripped either. So this is a special sight. It is so special that Legion as a whole understood something about cosmic force when they saw the banishment ofws.


    Legion-5 said in understanding, "I have been using cosmic force wrongly all along. Cosmic force can manipte the world withoutws so I shouldn''t be trying to maniptews with it. That will cause the direct and fierce bacsh of the void universe. I should have limited the use of cosmic force to the maniption of manifested forces such as gravity, matter, energy, and momentum."


    "Above them is the maniption of space, time, and existence. Those will still bring bacsh. But I have to start with the avoidance ofws."


    He was enraptured by the sight. Unfortunately, he couldn''t admire the view for up to a second. The void cracked along the path of the strings. The strings turned into crack lines that usually appear on ss. Then the frozen Shadow Lurker croaked.


    She could finally move but what she did was to croak like a frog that has been forced to carry an anvil. That frog will be crushed and so was she. Her domain copsed with a bang.


    The void shatteredpletely and they returned to the ne. His base has suffered some damage but it is mostly intact. The roof is missing though. He can see through the gap in the roof that the sky is full of mes.


    The mes are raining down on the ne and killing everything. The poor ne has just survived an ordeal but it is being put through another round of beatings.


    The shadow Lurker appeared in front of him. She is still a dark shadow. The only difference is that there are many cracks running through her body. These cracks look deep. He can see a bright light shining through them.


    Legion-7 observed idly, "It seems you have cracked her existence."


    He is not wrong. The cracks run through her entire existence. Her soul, body, and Origin have been damaged. The crack is also spreading and expanding as he watched. She is shattering just like her domain.


    She fell to the ground in pain. She didn''t cry out not because she was mentally unfazed by the pain but because she couldn''t cry. She was so weak that she couldn''t cry. So she didn''t try to resist when his base broke down and began to assemble around her.


    He was left out in the open because his base sealed her into a metal cube. It is the same metal cube he was given at the start of the rite of passage.


    Legion-5 was surprised. "Hmm. She was captured, not me?"


    One of the hidden scouts appeared and took his base away. Another sent a message to him, "It seems you were lucky enough to survive. Unfortunately, your base has been requisitioned. You will be paid its value in full so you don''t have to worry about that. You will also bepensated for the danger you just experienced. You can always trust the Supreme Alliance to have your back."


    Then all of the scouts left his surroundings leaving him with his thoughts.


    Legion-7 snickered. "I think you were bait. The Supreme Alliance has nned to trap her right from the start. The bases were traps and you were a bait. This whole rite of passage might just be a show to capture her. We were suspicious of the wrong things."


    It turned out that Legion was not the only one with the idea to use him as bait. Legion''s willingness to sacrifice him for themon good is not a surprise to him. The Supreme Alliance''s willingness to sacrifice him also doesn''t surprise him.


    He expected worse from them so Legion-5 wasn''t concerned about it. If anything, he is looking forward to thepensation they will give him to shut his mouth about using him as bait. It is weed because Legion won''t give him anything for sacrificing himself.

 Chapter 1375 Generousity As High As The Sky.

    <h4>Chapter 1375 Generousity As High As The Sky. </h4>


    He has just been used as bait and the ne is under attack but he was more concerned about his domain and its newly discovered functions.


    He said, "So I can use my cosmic force within a domain."


    "It is a pity that we couldn''t see what you can truly do before this Origin god gave up. Should we try Legion-1''s domain?"


    Legion-5 shook his head inwardly. "That''s too dangerous. She wasn''t weak but she couldn''t bear the burden of cosmic force. We will need an Origin god with a supremew to withstand the pressure of cosmic force."


    They already knew how dangerous cosmic force was before they saw it crack the existence of an Origin god. Their encounter with it when building their world fragment is why they wanted to kidnap Hadrick to use for their experiments.


    Cosmic force is so dangerous that it can kill an immortal instantly. The tree father wasn''t immortal so they didn''t want to risk him. They resorted to letting Legion-1 bear the bacsh of their experiments. Even then Legion-1 suffered greatly.


    His inner world is very powerful since it belongs to a world beast. It also had been reinforced with the Authority of A Celestial Supreme and cosmic energy but the minuscule fluctuations of cosmic force from the explosion of thew matrix they made caused a lot of problems for him.


    That aside, cosmic force is the binding that they used to seal the world eater in the inner world. They didn''t create that cosmic force personally and can''t control it. It is just a natural state of the difference between the coefficient of time and space created by the copsing Kickstarter. Even so, it is still dangerous.


    Those two Supreme beings have to bear the burden of the increasing cosmic force while enduring the reurring copse. That is what is preventing them from escaping.


    So they were not ignorant of the power of cosmic force before they began to wield it. Now that they have seen an Origin god crack under its influence, there is no way that they would allow Legion-1 to bear it.


    "We have a world engine and a world eater in his inner world. If anything happens to Legion-1 right now then we are doomed."


    Legion-7 was disappointed that they had to wait. This made him be more grateful to the Shadow Lurker for her generosity. "We have to thank her for giving us the opportunity for enlightenment. It is generosity that is high as the sky."


    Legion-5 looked at the burning sky and chuckled. He changed the subject. "I think we should be able to wield cosmic force when we be Origin gods. It should be possible even if it is a little bit."


    Legion-7 agreed, "We should indeed be able to handle the bacsh a little bit since we will have double means of immortality. Both our Immortality and the Immortality of the void universe should provide enough foundation to test it. That is if we don''t end up sealed like the Shadow Lurker by the Supreme Alliance."


    "Hmmm. She might expose what we did to her."


    "Our days in the Supreme Alliance are numbered. We can''t continue staying amongst enemies like this."


    "It is good that we are already nning to leave. Let''s take something good before we leave though."


    They spoke nonchntly about the Origin god that tried to kidnap them as fire rained down from the sky all around them. They are more concerned about what she learned about them than the fact that the ne is under attack.


    Unfortunately, they can''t do anything about her. Not only because of the Supreme Alliance but because she is immortal. She will retain her memories as long as she doesn''t die within a domain.


    So they can only be content with the chance that she doesn''t know that they were the ones responsible for her copse. After all, she was frozen when he used his domain.


    Besides, a young Supreme beast shouldn''t have a domain in the first ce so it is unlikely that he would be suspected. But that doesn''t change the fact that she kidnapped them only for something bad to happen to her within her domain. The pool of suspects is notrge at all.


    Their attention was finally drawn away from their musing by an imminent attack. He looked towards the sky towards a phoenix swooping down at him. This phoenix managed to get past the millions of robots in the sky.


    It wasn''t an easy feat. It was bombarded by attacks and died several times but it reconstructed itself again and again from the ashes of its corpse to continue pushing forward. The Phoenixes used this tactic to help one of them get into the ne.


    The red ming bird cried out at them, "I have found you immortal one. You cannot hide from us. Your shell does not fool us."


    It said with excitement, "Join us. Be one with us. Achieve greatness with us."


    Legion-5 chuckled, "You have done well to find me. It seems you have been nning this attack for quite a while."


    "Yes, we have," It admitted with glee. "You are precious to us. Nowe with us to achieve greatness."


    His base has been destroyed so he can''t use it to defend. This phoenix is not the only one approaching him. There are two others that have managed to get through the blockade in the sky but Legion-5 didn''t feel threatened.


    He rose up to the sky to meet the Phoenix. Fire poured down on him like a waterfall. But he emerged unscathed from the torrent of fire. It literally washed over him like water over a rock. The only effect it had on him was a consumption of Origin energy.


    The Phoenix evaded him but he managed to grab its wing with one of his outstretched hands. He tore the wing only for it to regenerate instantly.


    However, it gave him the time to grab its neck with his other hand. He didn''t even do anything but the Phoenix made a funny and painful sound as its mes were extinguished.

 Chapter 1376 Snitch For The Void Universe.

    <h4>Chapter 1376 Snitch For The Void Universe.</h4>


    "So weak?" He asked with disdain. "Is this the revered power of the Immortal Phoenix?"


    A single touch killed the Phoenix and killed it permanently. Its mes were extinguished so it didn''t resurrect. It made him disdainful of the famous immortality of the Phoenix.


    Legion-7 exined, "It is thew of order that is too strong. It scattered its mes, not you."


    Legion-5 chuckled. "So I am just snitching on the Phoenix to the void universe."


    There is a core in his hands. It looks very simr to the godhood of gods. It even has godfire which is what the rebirth me they wield is essentially. Legion is familiar with this kind of me since they have something simr to it.


    Within the core is a single white feather. They are familiar with this too.


    The feather isn''t dead yet. It could stillmunicate. It said to them, "Your vessel is very strong, immortal one. It should be expected but it seems we had underestimated you."


    Legion-5 didn''t bother to enlighten the fool. He is strong but he hasn''t shown his strength yet. All he did was touch the Phoenix. It was his divine ability of order that did the rest.


    A being that is weak against the will of the void universe such as Vampires and these Phoenixes are highly susceptible to the effect of order.


    A single contact with thew of Order will expose them to punishment. Their existence will be unraveled and their sins will beid bare under the judgemental gaze of the void universe.


    "The Universe is truly judgemental," Legion-7 said as they sensed the gaze of the void universe.


    The Will of the Void really cast its gaze over. It is not a physical gaze. It is spiritual and it is powerful. It soon turned into a vengeful gaze. The vengeful gaze is a physical one. It is a phenomenon manifested from the agitation of thew matrix.


    That agitation led to the creation of massive thunderstorms in the sky. It is something that Legion-7 was on the end of for quite a while. Even now, he doesn''t dare to create clones with his soul fragments for fear of the repercussions from the void universe.


    He is hidden within Legion-5 but he doesn''t want to test the patience of the void universe. The best he dares to do is try to create vessels for the clones of Legion. That and ensnaring gods to make them fall.


    "It seems it is time to pay the piper," Legion-5 said to the soul fragment with petty glee.


    The soul fragment was not distressed by the uing tribtion. It said confidently, "This is not over immortal one. I might die permanently but the Will of the Great Mother will be done. We know who you are and where you are now. We will keeping. You can never outrun us. You cannot escape the might of the Phoenix race."


    The disy of confidence didn''t rob Legion of their glee. They are happy at the misfortune of the Phoenix and can hardly wait for the tribtion to descend.


    The core in their hand is on par with a Celestial godhood. It used the mes of rebirth as god fire to hide from the void universe while the spark of consciousness of the true Great Mother acted as the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. This is how the Phoenix race was created.


    It is an innovative way to hide the soul fragments of the Great Mother from the void universe. But now that he has ripped away the fa?ade and made it known that this entity is not in fact a god, the void universe has be very angry to be fooled.


    The retribution in the sky is not just for this phoenix. It is punishment for every phoenix with amon Origin that the void universe can sense.


    Legion-5 wanted to keep the soul fragment but Legion-7 thought otherwise. "Let''s leave it be. It is better that we don''t risk the wrath of the void universe."


    Legion-5 shrugged and said, "I am sure that I can handle it."


    "But the universe can be very adamant. It might not give up until it gets every one of them and it might affect the other clones."


    "That''s true." He agreed.


    The void universe probably knew that the Phoenix race was fake but it could only be suspicious of them. Without definite proof, it couldn''t outright kill gods that were not limited to nes like normal gods.


    He has given the void universe the proof it wants so they can be certain that the anger of the void universe will be swift and nes like normal gods.


    He has given the void universe the proof it wants so they can unrelenting until every Phoenix with the same Origin is gone.


    If he has one of the Phoenix cores with him then he too will be a target of this anger. The void universe has done something like that in the Gattling ne where it attacked everything around any of Legion-7''s soul fragment clones and infected.


    He released the core and freed himself from the range of influence of the tribtion.


    Legion-7 also wanted to keep the core since it is the crystallization of the great mother''s technique for hiding from the void universe. But despite being usually greedy to the point of being suicidal, he is not willing to cross the void universe again.


    Especially not when the void universe is very angry. He has experienced how adamant the void universe can be when it is determined to wipe out a problem.


    That anger bore fruit very soon. Purple lightning which is far more destructive than red ones dropped down from the sky and struck the core. The core was destroyed with a single blow. It shattered into ashes immediately.


    The storm also targeted other phoenixes with the same great mother as the one he exposed earlier. So more than a third of the total amount of phoenixes were eliminated that way. It is a true death in the very sense of it. The Great Mother can''t resurrect them anymore. Even world gods can''t give such a death to Origin gods.

 Chapter 1377 Earger Dragons.

    Chapter 1377 Earger Dragons.


    ??The losses that the Phoenixes incurred made it impossible for them to break through the blockade of robots in the sky in a short amount of time.


    They were able to manage one or two infiltrations before but the causality that the lightning storm inflicted on them set their manpower back and also caused them to be almost pushed out of the ne.


    Legion-5 chose to stand by and watch the fight. It was an interesting fight so he wasn''t bored. It was literally raining fire and metal. In his opinion, nothing could be more interesting than that. It is especially interesting to watch since his life is not in danger.


    Without danger, he could watch and appreciate the fight. He noticed that the robots could heal. They could fuse with shattered metal fragments of their dead metallicrades to heal their injuries.


    It is because there is an invisible me around them that is constantly maintaining their form by healing them or scraping destroyed robots to make up for what they arecking.


    So in a way, the robot army is also immortal like the Phoenix race. What''s extra interesting is that both the robots and the Phoenix rely on some sort of mes for their immortality.


    This invisible me of the robots is also responsible for the unending stream of robots rising from the ground to the sky to reinforce the blockade.


    Legion-5 said, "This ne has suffered too much."


    The new robots aren''t appearing out of thin air. The very ne itself is being converted into the robots. The ground is burned with an invisible me which refines it into metal which is then assembled immediately into the robots. These robots then fly into the sky to reinforce the defense.


    The production time is 10 seconds max. It is very slow in a fight between immortals. But it bes overwhelming very quickly when done in the tens of thousands at once.


    It is a sight to marvel at. After all, arge amount of ordinary sand is turned into an Origin god-level fighting machine in seconds.


    But it is also a sight that arouses pity for the ne because the creation of robots is a form of aggressive mining that doesn''t discriminate about its target. As long as the substance is of earth or earthen origin, be they rocks, stones, boulders, or mineral ores, they will all be mined.


    The thickness of the ne is getting thinner and the mass of the ne is reducing because of it. This is worse than the physical damage that the young Supreme Beasts did to it because this mining is siphoning the vitality and value out of the ne. Even if the ne doesn''t break up, it will be barren and useless.


    The fight continued for hours and it ended with the expected oue. The invasion of the ne failed. Reinforcements from the Supreme Alliance appeared from the void which increased the pressure on the Phoenix race and led to their defeat.


    The Phoenixes don''t have a limit on their instant resurrection. They can resurrect 100 times in a minute if they have to. But none of them could resurrect anymore after the great mother they were attached to ran out of mes of rebirth.


    This rarely happens but it can happen if the rate of death is too much. In this case, one Supreme Beast was already holding his own well against all the millions of invaders. The addition of several one-man armies as reinforcement put the Phoenix on the back foot. They couldn''t take any step further or retreat.


    The Phoenixes were cornered and killed. They couldn''t retreat because they were already in the ne. The reinforcements sandwiched them and blocked their path. So they were killed until they couldn''t resurrect anymore.


    The dragons on the other hand could have escaped. But they didn''t care about death. All they want is to vent their anger on the supreme beasts by fighting them. So it is a good thing that the supreme alliance sent reinforcements for them to fight.


    Besides, they are immortal. It is not instantaneous resurrection but it is good enough that death is the least of their problems. As long as they don''t enter the ne then they don''t have anything to worry about anything. They can go wild in the void between nes as long as they don''t harm the barrier of the realm or itsw matrix.


    The fighting stopped after the dragons were defeated. Some of them were killed while the rest escaped. Dragons can''t be sealed by any known method. Their domain makes it very difficult for anything to shackle them so no dragon was sealed.


    None of the Phoenixes was captured either. They just winked out and disappeared. Only Legion knows that they have returned to the spiritual dimension after exhausting their mes of rebirth.


    The Stellos at the nar portal were not so lucky. Some of them were captured and sealed like the shadow Lurker. And some suspicious individuals at the nar portal were also captured.


    The captured individuals include certain battle sage monkeys. They believe that they were at the right ce at the wrong time. They think that if they had been at the nar portal at ater time then they wouldn''t have been implicated and captured.


    But Legion believes that they were at the wrong ce at the right time. Just being at the nar portal of the Steris ne means that they were already in trouble. They were just there at the right time to be captured. What would have befallen them otherwise is falling into Soverick''s hands.


    That isn''t good either. Then again, nothing good could havee out of the errand of poking their noses where it doesn''t belong.


    -----Poor Jarkon.


    Jarkon should be happy right now. He should be d that he has finally gotten ess to the Steris ne. He should be d that truly, Soverick''s aura is present here in the Steris ne and seems to be very alive and active. But he is not happy at all. He is in fact very angry and sullen.

 Chapter 1378 Blame Salvini.

    Chapter 1378 me Salvini.


    ??Jarkon''s sadness is not just because he is in chains and will soon be sold as a ve. No. His sadness is because he will soon be a ve all because he was doing something that he did not care about and didn''t want to do in the first ce. Who wouldn''t be angry because of it?


    Even If he were not a ve, he would not be happy that he found another trace of Soverick. That only means more work for him. But now he has more work that he cannot do because he is a ve and more work that he can''t refuse because he will be a ve.


    He muttered to himself, "I me Salvini."


    Even the other battle sage monkeys who believed in the importance of their mission agree with that sentiment just a little bit. They didn''t curse her as Jarkon did, but they are of one mind and they nod asionally in agreement whenever he curses her.


    All six of them are currently shackled with bound arms and feet in a cage full of other ves. Four of their squad died during the skirmish at the nar portal. The remaining four were nabbed by the victorious side and brought to the ne as spoils of war.


    He had said, "I am an emissary of the child of the Virut ne and the Racial council of the ne. I am in search of a war criminal under the mandate of both the child of the ne and the racial council. You can''t capture me without proof of my crimes. This is an unjust treatment to me and a disrespect to the racial council of the Virut ne."


    He lied a bit there. Only the child of the ne sent him. The racial council certainly did not but he used their name to gain some leeway and maybe scare the other party a little bit.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t get the reaction he expected. The robots didn''t stop what they were doing. They grabbed him and shackled him. Then they brought him into the ne and ced in him his cell.


    The most aggravating thing about this whole ordeal is that they didn''t use him of anything. They just grabbed him and everyone else that they could grab at the nar portal. The only ones that were left alone were the citizens of the Supreme Alliance.


    The next thing that aggravated him was what one of his wardens had said to him.


    "If you are really what you im to be, then ask for help from the child of the ne and the racial council. Tell them toe as quickly as possible to pay for your freedom."


    "Note that anyone can pay for you right now. We are not in the business of refusing sales for our goods so anyone cane to buy you at any time and we will ept the payment regardless of their identity or their purpose for buying you."


    That''s all anyone said to him. They made it clear that the Supreme Alliance is not afraid of the racial council. In fact, they only said that to him because they wanted someone toe and pay for him quickly.


    After all, the Supreme Alliance doesn''tck livestock. It is better to sell what they have no need for. This will also free up their cages for more living goods.


    The Supreme Alliance respects the first sage and refrains from attacking the Virut ne because of that respect. But this is not the first time that they will capture battle sage monkeys and it certainly will not be thest.


    If he is lucky and someonees to bail him out, then it will be a simple case of ransoming his freedom. If he is unlucky and someonees to buy him, then he will truly be a ve without any chance for freedom.


    They were shackled both physically and spiritually. It surprised Jarkon because he didn''t know it was possible to shackle someone''s spirit. His horizon was broadened but he wasn''t grateful or happy about it.


    Jarkon''s mind wasn''t shackled like his divine sense. He can''t use his divine sense, divine ability, or cast spells, but he can still think and utilize his soul. So he canmunicate with Salvini through the soul talisman attached to his soul. He did so immediately after being captured.


    He went on a tirade as soon as hismunication request was answered. "Salvini, you have put me in big trouble. I have been captured by the Supreme Alliance in the Steris ne. I don''t know what race they are but they seem very powerful. I am about to be a ve because of you."


    She on the other hand didn''t seem to be agitated. "What have you found?" She asked calmly.


    He shouted in agitation, "Forget about what I found ande free me."


    "Answer me," She demanded.


    But he didn''tply. "I am not saying anything until you give me my freedom."


    Even his bloodline did not act against him this time around. His bloodline might be stupid, but even it is clear about the unfavorable situation he is in right now.


    Salvini said to him confidently, "I can get this information from the others. You are not the only one I am in contact with. Do you believe that they will remain stubborn like you?"


    He knows the answer to that question. So he caved in and told her everything that happened since they were captured and entered the ne. Salvini already knows about what they found in the Gattling ne and their journey to the Steris ne. They told her about it when they updated her earlier when they arrived at the nar portal and were waiting for ess.


    She spoke after his report. "This is good news."


    Jason disagreed vehemently, "This is not good news. It is not good news at all. Four of us died for it and the rest of us are to be ves. Send someone to free us immediately."

 Chapter 1379 Bad Or Good Luck.

    Chapter 1379 Bad Or Good Luck.


    ??Salvini assured him, "Don''t worry. Your mission is not over yet. This is not the end of the road for you."


    He asked in confusion, "What do you mean? Are you sending help to us?"


    But Salvini didn''t answer. She cut off themunication line so Jarkon was left alone with his thoughts. Those thoughts came pouring out very quickly.


    "This bitch." He swore heavily. "Is this how she is going to leave me to rot?"


    He promised himself, "If I survive this, I will pay her back a hundredfold. She will suffer for what she has done to me. I will drag her face through feces just as it has been done to me."


    It is no wonder why he is so unhappy. The person who sent him on this errand has forsaken him. He is to be a ve just because of his bloodline. He doesn''t know if that fate is worse than the fate of those who died.


    This is why even the others who were faithful to the mission are angry at Salvini. They have been suffering in cages like animals for many days now but there''s no help in sight. All they have is the memory of the death of SWIFTESCAPE, UED, and two others.


    SWIFTESCAPE was sted to pieces. He died the most peaceful death despite it being gory. He didn''t even know how he died which is a good thing.


    UED was cut into pieces by a Stellos Origin god. It was a very painful death. He screamed in pain as his consciousness was sliced apart and scattered to the wind. The other two died to the menacing hands of the robots.


    So on the one hand is death and on the other hand, is very and the wretched treatment thates with it. He never thought his face would ever make intimate contact with feces and have is fur caked with a mixture of urine and feces. So death is looking pretty good right now.


    At the end of the day, he said to himself, "I am lucky to be alive."


    He is saying that to try and encourage himself. It is what he has been telling himself as the days went by. After all, he can''t even kill himself so he has to appreciate his life. It is also important to encourage himself and uplift his spirit because he has been shackled for almost a year now.


    His life for the past year has been harrowing and bleak. It is not the time of imprisonment that is deadening his spirit. He can stay in a single location and not move for a hundred years without a problem. He won''t have a problem with it as long as he has freedom.


    The act of imprisonment itself is what''s bringing him down. His bloodline doesn''t like imprisonment at all. It is reminded of the days when his ancestor was imprisoned by the Vipers.


    The sight of other prisoners being sold and bought brought fresh waves of mental trauma from within his bloodline to gue his mind. He suffered for two more years under this debased treatment so his spirit was worn down.


    He almost didn''t recognize who it was when they appeared before him on one fateful day. His sluggish mind wouldn''t have reacted at all if the person hadn''t been pointing at him. It was then that he decided to examine the person.


    What he saw shook him to his core. His dead eyes widened and his frozen heart began beating again. It was beating in fear.


    "Is that Soverick?" he asked himself.


    The person smells like Soverick. They both have the same dark and cold aura that he has been tracking for years. They don''t look alike at all but he can''t shake the belief that this is Soverick. He can''t be fooled even though this person lookspletely encased in ck armor.


    Soverick finally left. The wardens Soverick was speaking to moved into action after he left. They brought out the battle sage monkeys.


    "What are you going to do with us?" Jarkon asked.


    The others also voiced their inquiry. They were fortunate to receive a reply.


    "Your group has received the attention of a Supreme one. It is both your bad luck and your good luck."


    Jarkon was caught off guard by the paradoxical answer. He doesn''t care about it though since he believes that his situation cannot be good. If the person he was tracking was Soverick, then that person must have recognized him. There is no way he will have a good oue.


    "Should I tell Salvini that we have found Soverick?" he asked himself.


    "No. I don''t know about the others. But I will take this information to my grave if I have to."


    He doesn''t care if the others call Salvini to inform her but he certainly won''t tell her that her suspicions are correct and that Soverick isn''t dead. He is willing to die just to rob her of that knowledge.


    It is as they say, be careful what you wish for. His willingness to die encountered something that shook his resolution. The attendants began killing the battle sage monkeys. They took them aside one by one and detonated their bonds. The explosion killed them as he watched.


    "He is trying to silence us." He eximed in panic. "This is so evil. Now I am sure that was Soverick."


    His bloodline rioted within him. It wanted topel him to inform Salvini. But he didn''t bulge. He remained steadfast in his stubbornness even as his body began to shake involuntarily in pain. His bloodline is punishing him for keeping such important information from Salvini.


    He said with determination, "If I am going to die, then let the Virut ne also suffer."


    He believes that since he is going to die, he shouldn''t care about the fate of the Virut ne anymore. In fact, he didn''t care before. He believes he is justified to think so but as usual, his bloodline thinks otherwise.


    -----


    A/N: What do you think Salvini is up to?

 Chapter 1380 The Making Of A Villain.

    Chapter 1380 The Making Of A Viin.


    ??His bloodline of the lion of justice believes that since he is going to die, his death should count for something and it should count for something good. Something good like Justice. Something that his ancestor would have done.


    He roared inwardly, "Justice be damned!"


    "You know what? If I survive this, the whole Virut ne will pay. The precious justice will be trampled and I will burn the whole ne to the ground. I will be the viin you hate so much."


    The other battle sage monkeys might have informed Salvini but not him. He endured the pain until it was his turn to be killed. He was thest one but he wasn''t taken to the execution spot. He was taken into a building and ced in a metal box.


    The metal box was sealed and water sprayed at him from every corner of the box. The water cleaned his fur and removed the stench of urine.


    Then the metal box was opened and he was dragged into a cage. The cage was lifted and ced into arge warehouse full of other cages. Every cage here had someone shackled inside of it.


    "You aren''t going to kill me?" he asked in surprise.


    "No." The Warden handling him replied. "The Supreme one wants you alive. I hope for your sake that you wouldn''t wish you were dead in the future."


    His eyes became nk. He has already considered death before and was able to beat back his suicidal thoughts with a healthy dose of self-deception. But his defenses came crumbling down right now. He couldn''t help but start considering death again.


    ALUINE, DOUBLELINE, JETTASTIC, and two others were blown up before his very eyes but the Warden believes that there are fates worse than death.


    It is no wonder why one of them said that they are both unlucky and lucky. But that evaluation is yet to be certain despite the fact that he just escaped being blown up.


    He didn''t move or struggle as the cage he was put in was moved. The cage was small and cramped but he bore with the difort as a man who doesn''t know what he should feel.


    -----Back To Legion-5.


    "Your performance during the rite of passage was outstanding, Agrivo839,371,456A," Tanc830,428,723C continued. "That much is sure. But I am not certain about the wisdom of your selection of divine abilities."


    "I see," Legion-5 replied nomittally.


    His mentor frowned at his reaction. But then he rxed. "Anyway, it is none of my concern. I have done my best for you and you have also done your best during the rite of passage. We don''t owe each other anything."


    "What about the world seed I asked for? Have you heard any news about that?" Legion-5 asked.


    "I have," Tanc830,428,723C replied. "Your performance impressed a lot of people and they thought you had potential. But I dissuaded them from investing in you."


    Legion-5 wasn''t surprised by that response. "I assume this is because you are uncertain about the wisdom of my selection of divine abilities."


    "Correct," Tanc830,428,723C said. But this time, his tone was not one of pride or happiness at the intelligence his mentee had shown. He is very unhappy with Legion-5.


    Legion-5 nodded and chose to be silent. His silence grated further on his mentor.


    Tanc830,428,723C had to speak his mind when Legion-5 didn''t inquire further. "There is still a chance for you to get the world seed. An investment of such a level is not advisable in light of your current circumstances. But something can be done if you allow your investors to thoroughly examine your divine abilities and suggest 3 more divine abilities to fill up your current potential."


    "No need." Legion-5 said.


    "Alright," Tanc830,428,723C said. "I will leave you then."


    Tanc830,428,723C stood up from his seat and left the cabin. He closed the door behind him. He tried to be stoic about his departure but Legion-5 could tell that he wasn''t happy.


    Tanc830,428,723C is usually vocal about his feelings and is not aversed to putting them into action but he is not going to kick up a fuss this time around because Legion-5 is a full Supreme beast and can make his own decisions.


    Tanc830,428,723C feels that it is bad that Agrivo839,371,456A has made bad decisions and he will lose out on some benefits but that won''t stop him from deciding to give up on the project.


    He thought to himself as he left, "It doesn''t concern me anymore. I have very little to gain if Agrivo839,371,456A had agreed to go with the offer. No one can me me for it. I have already done my best which is to make the offer. I have also done my best to the supreme alliance by advising Agrivo839,371,456A. It is not my fault that Agrivo839,371,456A decided to be foolish andbine divine abilities that he can''t fuse together."


    Tanc830,428,723C left so Legion-5''s cabin fell into total silence. It is so silent that not even the howling wind outside the vessel can be heard. Legion-5 was left alone with his thoughts. The first thing he did was look outside his cabin through the transparent walls.


    They are on an airship currently on the ancient battlefield. They are going to the headquarters of the Supreme Alliance on the ancient battlefield. It is where he will be staying until he breaks through and bes an Origin god. He will only gain his freedom when he bes an Origin god. That is the rule of the Supreme Alliance.


    The distance to their headquarters is very far. The Steris ne is almost 60 billion kilometers square while the ancient battlefield is a little over a thousand times bigger than that. It will take them a long while to reach their destination so they are using an airship to move. It is morefortable this way than to fly themselves.


    ------


    A/N: Does this count as character development for Jarkon? Has he finally seen the light?

 Chapter 1381 Prospect Of Unity.

    <h4>Chapter 1381 Prospect Of Unity. </h4>


    They could have also teleported but the Supreme Alliance wanted them to see the immensity of the world and broaden their horizons.


    The Supreme Alliance wanted them to see just howrge the ancient battlefield was to have a moreplete understanding of howrge the whole realm was and howrge the void universe could be.


    The airship is not for only the two of them. There are other Supreme Beasts who just finished their rite of passage with him. They are apanied by their mentors who are there to protect them during the journey. But each Supreme beast has the privacy of their own cabin.


    The airship also carries other types of cargo both living and nonliving. Some of these cargoes are ves.


    His divine sense reached over to the requested port and said, "Bring me my recent purchase."


    A voice came out from the inscription on his chair, "Do you mean the battle sage monkey in the livestock warehousebeled d2fH70?"


    "Yes." He confirmed.


    "Affirmative. It will be brought to you at the earliest possible moment."


    He grumbled to himself while he waited. "Tanc830,428,723C should mind his business more. He has dipped his hands into what could possibly scald him."


    Legion-7 joined in, "He even feels proud that he had a hand in denying us of something."


    Legion-5 chuckled at that. "Yeah. He said it with pride. ''I dissuaded them from investing in you.'' He said it without realizing that he might get punished for it."


    "It is good for him that we don''t need his help or the help of others for a world seed. We will find it on our own without jumping through hoops for others."


    Legion-5 wasn''t so optimistic. "Even if we can find world seed on our own, do you think the people he has been in contact with will give up? Do you think the people that are after me will turn away now?


    That question made Legion-7ugh. "I doubt that. But if we can''t act against our mentor on a whim, then they can''t act against us anyhow. At least not until we be an Origin god."


    "Yes, immortality. It will bring a lot of changes to us and to Legion. I can''t wait for it."


    He is truly looking forward to bing an Origin god. He will be immortal and he will reach the energy requirements of bing a world god with the infusion of cosmic energy. If he can''t take on some Origin gods stuck at the first star at that point, then he will be too ashamed of himself.


    That is just the lowest estimate of the kind of power he will achieve as an Origin god. There is still the prospect of the second level of Unity with Legion through Legion-7 and the sess of his project to be a world god. Then there is the utilization of cosmic force.


    He has so much prospect that it would beughable for him to be scared of some Origin gods stuck at the first star. Even Ragnarok could beat them while he was a king ofw. That''s of course as long as they don''t touch Ragnarok and rob him of his divine ability.


    That is one thing those Supreme Beasts that went on the path of further awakening are notorious for. They may not be able to progress themselves, but they stop others from progressing as immortals by stealing their concept.


    They are formidable but they can be neutralized early on if one knows about their ability to steal concepts. As long as they don''t touch Legion-5, he can kill them with a dragon breath.


    As for Tanc830,428,723C, Legion doesn''t intend to act against him. It is partly because they are afraid of what the Supreme Alliance will do if they attack another Supreme beast.


    It is also because it is not advisable to offend an immortal. It can lead to the creation of an eternal grudge that can easily escte into something else.


    If Tanc830,428,723C were a powerful Celestial, they wouldn''t have much scruples about offending him, attacking him, or even killing him. But Tanc830,428,723C is an immortal so they can only swallow their displeasure of his interference in their attempt to cheat some Supreme Beast out of a world seed.


    Besides, they don''t need the help of the Supreme beasts to acquire a world seed. Legion is rich enough to fund the creation of a world god of the highest quality. They are currently building a part of a world god so they can afford a world seed.


    They changed the topic of discussion to the second level of Unity. The first level was achieved when the clones were assimted by Legion-7. It led to the creation of the independent resurrection system through the maniption of the psychic engram. It also allowed the sharing of energy between the clones outside of the soul sphere.


    As it is, the first level of Unity is notplete yet. Aeternus, Helios, the dragon clone, and the Tree Father have not joined with Legion-7 yet. Even so, the second level of Unity is about to be possible.


    The second level of Unity will be achieved when Legion-5 and Legion-7 both manage to be Origin gods. At that stage, it is postted that the clones will be able to share their concepts through Legion-7.


    Then at the third stage of Unity when all the clones unite with their Origin, Legion-7''s theory of Immortal consciousness might be fulfilled. It will be the ultimate form of resurrection probably better than those of world gods. Legion is not certain of that yet but they are looking forward to it.


    Something happened to Legion as they were waiting and chatting. One of the clones became an Origin god. Legion-7 felt heavy pressure as part of his existence was cut off from his control by the void universe.


    Legion-7 sighed through the pain and said, "Ragnarok has beat us to the punch."


    Legion-5 could only cate him. "It is not his fault. Legion needs someone to handle the pursuit of the perfected Vampires."

 Chapter 1382 We Meet Again.

    <h4>Chapter 1382 We Meet Again. </h4>


    That exnation didn''t ease Legion-7''s pain though. He still grumbled, "If this was going to happen maybe I shouldn''t have united with him. Maybe I should have let CARNAGE have him."


    Legion-5 chuckled. He knows that Legion-7 doesn''t mean what he said. If the priority was avoiding pain, then letting CARNAGE have Ragnarok would be far worse than the pain he is feeling right now. In fact, all of Legion would feel that pain, and they may nevere back from it.


    Ragnarok''s smugughter rang in their minds immediately. "Turns out that I beat you two cheaters to immortality. You might have be a Sovereign ofw first but only those that are truly worthy get to be Origin gods."


    He was already a Sovereign when Legion-7 saved him from the clutches of CARNAGE''s evil hands. He also already had an Origin essence given to him when his soul was split from Legion-1 so he had met all the requirements to be immortal.


    He went through with the breakthrough to ease the pressure on Legion-1. The Vampires have been perfected and are immortal. They also outnumber Legion-1. Legion-1 could survive this long because of his two concepts but he can''t do anything else.


    Legion-7 said to Legion-5, "We have to be Origin gods as soon as possible. The independent resurrection system is useless if I don''t be immortal too."


    It turns out that Legion-7 can''t continue to store and control the psychic engram of the clones once they be immortal. They may be a part of him but they also be part of the void universe when they be Origin gods.


    The void universe is much stronger than him so it easily robbed him of his control of the immortal clones. This is the second time it has happened. It happened with Soverick when he became an Origin god to increase the power of his eyes.


    It is not exactly a bad thing since the clones will still be able to resurrect thanks to the assistance of the void universe. Their resurrection will just be much slower and more resource-intensive than his.


    Legion-5 replied, "I am looking forward to it too but we can''t get away now. We are surrounded by Origin gods."


    "I know and I don''t like it."


    "I don''t like it either but we still have to be patient until the opportunity to escape appears."


    Legion-5 knows just how hurtful losing control of Ragnarok''s psychic engram to thew matrix is to Legion-7. He too felt the powerful invasion of the void universe into his inner world and how it severed parts of his existence. But there is nothing they can do about it for now.


    He too has met all the requirements to be immortal. He has fused all his divine abilities and slots into one. But a young Supreme beast like him should not be an Origin god after 10,000 years of living. He can''t wait for the 5 Origin cycles that it will be eptable for him to be immortal so he can only plot his escape.


    A box was brought to their cabin while they were plotting. The robot carrying the box was given permission to enter the room so it brought the box to them. Then it left after unlocking the box.


    Legion-5 removed the bonds from the inhabitant of the box and did nothing else. So the master and ve stared at each other. They didn''t say anything for a long while so the cabin was silent.


    Jarkon broke the silence with a question. He asked, "What do you want from me?"


    Legion-5 replied, "You will see soon."


    The silence continued for a few more minutes. Jarkon received a call while they waited. It was from Salvini.


    She ordered him as soon as he epted themunication request.


    "Let me speak to him. Project me to him with your mind."


    He sighed but he obeyed. His divine sense formed into the phantom of a white battle sage monkey. She was a phantom but her eyes were vivid and clear. They were constantly switching colors as she stared at Legion-5.


    Salvini said to him, "We meet again."


    Legion-5 finally spoke. "Who are you?"


    She replied confidently, "You know who I am."


    He wasn''t moved. Instead, his tone became stern and he threatened calmly. "Identify yourself or I will cut thismunication short."


    She sighed but obliged, "I am Salvini of the bloodline of the first sage of the Virut ne. I am also the current child of the Virut ne."


    "I see."


    "Why don''t you reciprocate in kind?" She asked. "I would appreciate it if I know who I am speaking to."


    "I am not sorry to disappoint you. But you will not have that honor."


    She didn''t get angry. She stated confidently, "I already know who you are."


    "Is that so?" he asked with unconcealed boredom. "Then why did you ask?"


    She didn''t let that discourage her. "I know you are Legion."


    "What is this Legion you speak of?" he asked with interest.


    This is the first time that he has shown interest in anything she has to say. It is obvious from his reaction that he has never heard of this "Legion" and he is intrigued by it.


    "You can''t fool me. I know that within you is the entity called Legion. You are just a husk just like Soverick was."


    He said with sincerity, "I am afraid you are mistaken youngdy. I am no husk. I am me. And who is this Soverick? Should I know him or her?"


    Salvini allowed herself to chuckle. "Your acting is not bad but it can''t fool me. I know that I am not mistaken. I am certain of my conjecture. At first, I thought Legion was a group of like-


    minded individuals. But I am sure it is a type of parasite now. You invade people and make them do your bidding. The events of the Gattling ne are proof of my conjecture."


    "Such imagination in one so young. You will make a good storyteller." He said in amazement.

 Chapter 1383 A Damsel In Distress.

    <h4>Chapter 1383 A Damsel In Distress.</h4>


    Legion-5 isn''t aiming to fool her or deceive her about his identity but he won''t admit or deny anything. He intends to actpletely ignorant of her usation. But she didn''t give up.


    Maybe she would have given up if she could predict his actions the way she could predict normal people''s actions. But she can''t predict anything about him. There are other people who have used various items and methods to block her sight so this is unique.


    However, this whole encounter reminds her of her conversations with Soverick. She was also blind to his future. Whenbined with the information that Jarkon and his squad have risked their lives to acquire, she is at least certain that he is rted to Legion in one way or another.


    She threatened him with a smile, "If all I am saying are fairytales then you wouldn''t mind if I go around telling people."


    "Go ahead and do that. In fact, write a book about it." He said with a lot of enthusiasm, "Send me a copy when you have published it. I am always interested in helping the young generation achieve their dreams."


    Legion-7 chuckled within him. "This girl is not bad."


    Hepleted that train of thought, "But she is not good enough."


    They are not concerned that she found out what happened in Gattling ne and they are not concerned that she will tell people about it. For one, no one would believe her usation about some parasite without concrete proof.


    For the second reason, they can boldly take responsibility for what happened in the Gattling ne. The massacre of a ne with an engineered disease is not a new thing that Supreme beasts do.


    If she aims to threaten or ckmail him with this information then she has another thinging for her.


    She frowned and said, "Don''t underestimate me Legion. I can be a difficult enemy to deal with."


    "Youngdy, is this all you are here for?" he asked unconcerned about her threat.


    "What did you think I came for?" She asked him in turn.


    "This silly girl. She is always trying to get information out of us." He thought to himself with a chuckle.


    Then he replied, "I was of the assumption that you are here to buy his freedom from me. Be gone if you don''t want to."


    "I am indeed here for a deal. I want to buy something from you but it is not only about his freedom."


    "Oh. What more is there to buy from me?" he asked curiously.


    "You should know what I want from you. After all, I sent people to track you down."


    He frowned in displeasure. "Youngdy, go straight to the point or get lost. I have no time to waste with jesters."


    She sighed again before she replied, "I havee to make a deal for my freedom."


    His frown remained. He asked with apparent confusion, "How can I give you your freedom? You don''t appear to be a ve. Even if you are, you are not my ve."


    She sighed in resignation. This will be the third time she has done so in a short amount of time. It is enough for her to understand that he won''t admit to having any knowledge of her situation. So she had to improvise.


    She started grimly, "I have an enemy who wants my life. He won''t rest until he kills me. His name is Soverick. He is very cunning and powerful. I have tried to kill him several times and failed. He has even died once but he returned. There''s nothing I can do to stop him. I want you to help me dissuade him or stop him froming after me."


    "I see," Legion-5 said in understanding. "This sounds like a very difficult matter. Surely you must have the appropriate price to pay for my assistance in getting you out of this dilemma."


    "Yes, I do." She said.


    "What is it then? Don''t leave me waiting."


    "I have information that will be very useful to you."


    Heughed. Heughed so hard his body was rocking in his chair.


    "Information? What information?" He asked in mockery.


    He didn''t wait for her to answer before he spoke. "I have a lot of information to sell to you too. Are you interested in the current location of the child of the Virut ne? Do you want to know where she has built her bunker? Do you want to know how many Origin gods she has on standby to protect her? Do you want to know what Orders she has given to the floating fortresses of her ne?"


    She didn''t reply. Her eyes stared at him with calmness. But that calmness didn''t fool him. He knows that she isn''t surprised that he knows that information and she also knows how he acquired the information, but it doesn''t change the fact that all her actions are not hidden from him. That is not a pleasant experience for someone Like Salvini who thinks everything is in her control and likes to toy with people.


    He asked with a sneer, "Well do you want to know or not? I have a lot more information but it will cost you. How about we do a swap of information?"


    She wasn''t scared into submission by the amount of information that he had about her. She replied, "I have no need for your information. But you wouldn''t want to miss the information I have for you. It will help you grow stronger. You will be able to evolve to a greater level."


    "Hmmm. Is that so?" he asked.


    "What is this about information that can help us evolve?" Legion-7 asked. "The realm lord also offered the same thing. Is it a coincidence, is this realm lord working with her, or is there something truly helpful for us out there that everyone else can see but we don''t know?"


    This is not the first time they have heard of this proposal. What the realm lord asked for was too much a price to pay for the information so he is not hopeful about this proposal.


    ----


    A/N: Should they take the deal?

 Chapter 1384 Not About Revenge.

    <h4>Chapter 1384 Not About Revenge. </h4>


    They would like to know what this useful information is about but they are not optimistic about getting to find out.


    Legion-5 stated. "Let me guess. You are not going to tell me what it is at all unless I help you with your problem."


    "You are right. Just the information about its existence is valuable enough. If you know what it is about then you might be able to find it on your own so I can''t tell you. But I am certain it is enough to exchange for my life."


    "Youngdy. I already said that I am not interested in fairytales. You should leave if you don''t have something tangible for me."


    He is tempted to acquire the information but he is not willing to make that offer. Legion might not gain anything important by killing her, but they might gain something by pressuring the first sage.


    They hate Salvini and would like to pay her back for her participation in the first sage''s scheme against Soverick. However, they are not aiming for revenge simply for the sake of revenge. That''s just a waste of time and energy. They would rather attack when they have something to gain from it and their main aim is the first sage.


    They are aiming to target the first sage through her. They are not willing to give up that n for something that they are not certain will be helpful.


    It is already risky to make a deal with someone as cunning and scheming as Salvini. To make a deal for something intangible and unknown in return from her is practically asking to be cheated.


    She made another offer. "I have something else. I can get you a world fragment."


    "Is that so?" he asked in genuine surprise.


    He is not surprised that she can get ess to a world fragment since she has a lot of world gods as rtives but he is surprised that she is willing to go this far for her freedom.


    He asked her a lot of questions, "And how will I get this world fragment? Would I have to meet you? When will that be? And who is the world god whose Supremew is used to make the world fragment?"


    "There is a slight problem. I can only acquire it for you during the era of conquest."


    His interest died down immediately. He wasn''t going to ept the world fragment in the first ce since he couldn''t use it without the permission of the world god and the world god will be able to track him through it. But the fact that she was not going to offer it to them immediately made him feel insulted.


    So he waved his hand at Jarkon. A hand of world power formed and crushed the battle sage monkey into meat paste. All of his hopes and dreams died immediately. Salvini''s connection was also cut off.


    "I must say that I expected something better from her," Legion-5 said in disappointment.


    "I think it is high time that we pressure her."


    "Yes. Let us leak more information about the Virut ne to the child of the ne of the Vipers. That should make things difficult enough for her to teach her a lesson."


    The Vipers haven''t taken their defeat during the Unified Skill Index lying down. Their child of the ne is especially dedicated to getting revenge for his humiliation. They found the nar portal of the Virut ne and have been attacking it for a while now.


    The Vengeful Viper Child Of The ne didn''t give up when he heard that the one who humiliated him had died. He is even more bent on fighting Salvini since she was able to defeat Soverick who he thought highly of.


    He is not the only one with a bone to pick with the Virut ne either. A certain world god is not happy with the first sage and has been helping the Vipers so that they will take revenge for him.


    This world god didn''t even have to try too hard to convince the council of Vipers to act against the Virut ne. The fact that the battle sage monkeys wiped out all the Vipers in their ne has angered the Vipers and roused them into action. They want to repay the genocide perpetrated on their race.


    Legion is aware of this situation because Soverick has been keeping tabs on the Virut ne and their child of the ne. But they didn''t take advantage of the situation because they didn''t want to offend the first sage yet.


    That has changed since they have already offended the first sage with what they did with his world fragment. They can''t go back on that so what''s one more grievance?


    Their hands are mostly tied because they promised not to tamper with the Virut ne. That means they can only help another ne if they want to pressure her.


    This is the most effective method despite the fact that they have the right to fight and kill Salvini. They can''t use that right because they can''t get to her easily ever since Salvini hid and protected herself.


    She has a bunker that is watched all year round by numerous Origin gods and floating fortresses. Thebined might of Legion can kill her despite her preparations but they are not willing to make the sacrifice yet. They would rather grow stronger and n better to achieve a clean victory.


    Besides, it won''t do if they get rid of her now. It would be better to do so when the ne needs her. That will pressure the first sage more.


    The first sage ims that the ne doesn''t need a child of the ne. All they need to do is change that. If they assist the Vipers in pressuring the Virut ne, then the ne might need Salvini. Then getting rid of Salvini will affect the ne and the first sage indirectly.


    They would have kept to their promise not to damage the ne but seeded in damaging the ne. It is the best n for them since it is more efficient and effective at using Salvini and the ne to affect the first sage.

 Chapter 1385 Hopeful For Possession.

    <h4>Chapter 1385 Hopeful For Possession. </h4>


    They thought about their numerous ns and plots and ultimately decided on the most important thing to do right now.


    Legion-5 said, "First, we will be Origin gods. Revenge is good but Power is the best."


    --SALVINI


    "He didn''t try to possess me." She thought to herself in disappointment. "It is either I was wrong about his ability to utilize spiritual connections for possession or he doesn''t want to kill me now."


    Themunication was cut off abruptly but she wasn''t attacked by an entity trying to possess her. It was a threat she was very much aware of when she decided tomunicate with the current host of LEGION directly.


    If not for the assurance of one of the elders of her family who is a world god, then she wouldn''t have allowed her mind to get close to Legion at all.


    It was the process of getting that world god to set up a trap in her mind that dyed her. She expected it and knew immediately when Jarkon appeared in front of Legion. But she had to be sure that she wouldn''t lose her life before she initiated themunication.


    "I hope he infected Jarkon. I will be able to get the ancestor of the bloodline of Justice on my side too. That will make two world gods to help me in my fight against this disease."


    She understands that she needs help and the best help she can get is from world gods. But world gods are very difficult to get help from. The problem is perspective. World gods don''t care much about familial bonds. Instead, they will ask themselves, "So what if Salvini dies?"


    If the answer is "Her death doesn''t matter." Then they won''t help her.


    It is not being callous. If her death won''t affect them while on the other hand, moving to save her will cost them time and energy, then it is smart to simply watch her die. If they miss her, which is nearly impossible, they can create a clone of her who thinks and acts like her.


    World gods can create everything they need. Whenbined with the fact that they don''t need her for anything, it makes it difficult for them to care about anything that they can create themselves. So it took the benefit of acquiring something unique like Legion to get her elder to set a trap within her mind.


    That elder is the descendant of a sage like her but that wasn''t enough for her to help her for nothing.


    It was already very difficult to contact the world god, but it was far more difficult to get the world god to help. However, her n has failed now that Legion didn''t possess her. It means that the world god will be disappointed.


    She can only sigh and move on. What she is especially d about recently is that despite the difficulty of getting their help, she has managed to get Ghastorix on her side. It took saving something important and dear to him to get him to help but she seeded.


    She is even looking forward to getting the ancestor of the lion of justice on her side too. That willful and determined person who got lucky enough to be an Origin god and even world god will not sit by as his descendant is enved.


    "The Lion of justice might allow anything to ur but very is his bane. I hope Legion has not disappointed me."


    She will know if her bait worked soon. The lion of justice himself will contact her. After all, she was the one who sent Jarkon and the others on a mission that led to their death and envement.


    The lion of justice will question her about the cause of the possession of his descendants or their very. He is sure to be angry. So all she has to do is be helpful by turning his wrath on Legion.


    If the descendants with the bloodline of justice can track Legion down, then the ancestor can do so much more. It is something that she is looking forward to.


    It is also why the squad she sent after Legion was never going to be saved. They were bait so they were doomed right from the start. Salvini was never going to ruin her n by interfering and doing something like stopping them from bing ves.


    If it is any constion to Jarkon, it is that she isn''t exactly proud of her scheme to use him as bait. Unfortunately, she hasn''t had any other options because Legion hasn''t given her any other avenue for her to take advantage of.


    She knows the battle sage monkeys that have been possessed in the ne due to her title as child of the ne but she can''t prove the possession to others because Legion could leave his vessels without a trace.


    No one can tell the cause of the death apart from the obvious traces of a disease. Only world gods might be able to notice the peculiarities but they can''t enter the ne. These difficulties have made it impossible to get the racial council to help her in fighting Legion. But that will change if the descendants of a world god that hates injustice and very get possessed by Legion.


    Someone knocked on the door of her bunker as she was thinking. A voice said from beyond the door, "The guest you asked for is here to see you."


    "Bring her in." She said.


    She is currently in a heavily fortified bunker. It is because she fears for her life. There are a lot of people who want her dead. Soverick is just one person on that list. Most of these people are the ones who wanted to kill Soverick when he was the child of the ne.


    They were the ones that nned to kill him during the Cmity Of The child of the ne. They nned the events of the Unified Skill Index during the third challenge. So they are not amateurs in their attempts to kill the child of the ne.

 Chapter 1386 The Weakness Of The Eye Of The Sage.

    <h4>Chapter 1386 The Weakness Of The Eye Of The Sage.</h4>


    These people hated Soverick simply because he was the child of the ne. They hate her for more. She is also the child of the first sage so their organization has picked up heavy momentum against her.


    She has learned that the bloodline of some disgruntled world gods are funding the hunt for her life. So the bunkers and Origin gods became a must for her or she would be attacked as soon as she gave them the opportunity.


    Her visitor came soon after. Salvini opened the door and let her in. Litori stepped into therge room. She looked the same as he always had. Her fur is red and her eyes herpletely white.


    The bunker is more of a house. Within the house are several rooms and facilities. This room is just one of the rooms and it is meant for meeting visitors. There are seats arranged in a circr form. Salvini is sitting on one of them.


    "Please sit." She said to her guest.


    Litori sat. She looked around briefly before speaking. "It seems it ismon for every child of the ne to hide themselves away from the world."


    Salvini agreed. "Yes. We are always busy with work and don''t want any disturbance."


    Litori agreed. "I know that to be true of Soverick. As for you, I don''t think so."


    "Why do you think so?" Salvini asked.


    Litori gave an excuse. "I assume it''s because you simply like solitude."


    Litori didn''t speak her mind. She didn''t say that Salvini was hiding away because she was afraid of being killed. She didn''t say that, unlike Soverick, Salvini is only strong when she calls for support from the ne.


    Litori is confident of survival even if she said those things because her safety was sworn to her. If the child of the ne and many Origin gods hadn''t worn to keep her safe then she wouldn''t havee here. Even so, there''s no need to antagonize her host needlessly with words that might be considered harmful or disrespectful.


    "I am here now. You said you wanted to see me. What can I help you with?" Litori asked.


    Another thing she wanted to say but didn''t say is that Soverick wouldn''t need her help for anything.


    Salvini started talking, "I need your help with¡­"


    But she stopped. Several scenes wereyered in her sight. She can see several oues of her actions in them. What she noticed was that Litori''s behavior was the same in every one of them.


    In all her visions, Litori is sitting silently without any movement or action. Litori didn''t say anything for a while after she made her request. It made it impossible for Salvini to anticipate what Litori would say to her request and use that information to convince her to help before making the request.


    "It seems you are careful against me," Salvini said.


    Litori still didn''t say anything. She kept quiet and watched. It is exactly what Salvini saw in her future visions. It made Salvini decide to push her divine ability to its limit.


    There is the short and urate future vision or precognition. She can see oues urately as long as they are within 5 seconds of the future.


    She is pushing that limit now. But got nothing from Litori even when she pushed it to 30 seconds. It means Litori won''t say anything to her questions or requests for at least 30 seconds.


    "Soverick and his siblings are too troublesome," Salviniined to herself.


    Soverick could bypass her future visionpletely. All she would see of him was nothing. It was as if she was talking to nothing whenever they were speaking with each other. Now his sibling is giving her problems with her divine ability by using amon method.


    By keeping silent for a long period of time, Salvini and others with her divine ability to see the future will only get silence in their visions unless they go beyond the range of the silence. Unfortunately, the range of her urate future vision is not up to 30 seconds.


    Herint won''t help her so she used the far sight but inurate future vision. This vision uses her as an anchor into the far future. Emotions and information can be transmitted to the present from the future through her future self.


    This method is highly inurate because there are multiple versions of herself in the future who have experienced different things. It is impossible to acquire information from all of them so the information she acquires might not be useful at all or might be outright wrong and harmful.


    She doesn''t have a choice now so she used it. This ability also surprised her. Almost every version of her future self sent the same information to her. It made her realize that Litori had already made up her mind no matter what this meeting entails.


    Litori is determined not to help her or have anything to do with her. The feeling of disappointment and rejection is constant from her future vision. Litori will eventually talk after her period of silence but all she will say is "No."


    It frustrated Salvini to no end so she didn''t bother to make the request. Instead, she asked, "Why are you against me?"


    Litori didn''t reply. She remained silent for 60 seconds. Then she said, "You are very dangerous."


    Salvini already got the answer before Litori spoke so her face fell before she was used of being dangerous. It is not even a false acquisition and it is a good reason to be unhelpful but it still stung to be cornered.


    "Looks like I burnt more than one bridge during the Unified Skill Index," Salvini muttered loudly so that her guest could hear.


    Unfortunately, Litori didn''t take the bait. She remained silent. Salvini looked back to find when she must have offended Litori or made her so adverse towards her. The moment that is most likely responsible for the prejudice is when she killed Litori during the Unified Skill Index.


    ----


    A/N: Which bloodlines of disgruntled world gods are after Salvini? Her situation is very dangerous. It is a good thing that she has Ghastorix on her side.

 Chapter 1387 Thorny Bed.

    Chapter 1387 Thorny Bed.


    ??That moment stood out in Salvini''s memory like a thorn. She had pretended to be weak in their first encounter and ran away in defeat from Litori. Then she brought her brother and used him to weaken Litori. Then she killed Litori after her brother Salvin died.


    She took advantage of the two of them that day. Later on, Soverick himself the great and powerful Child of the ne died at her hands. If there is a lesson to be learned there, it is that Salvini is dangerous and anyone who associates with her can die at any time.


    It is no wonder that Litori is hellbent on rejecting her. Even her brothers are wary of her because of things like that. They call her a snake to her face. Unfortunately, she can''t go back to fix that problem. She has made her thorny bed and has to lie on it now.


    "It is clear to me that you don''t want to help me. I understand your unwillingness to work with me but I will try to convince you anyway. I have something that will help you toprehend thew of the soul and be a titan ofw in the footsteps of your ancestor. It is a soul parasite."


    She spoke then she became silent. Litori didn''t talk for another 60 seconds.


    "I thank you for your generosity but I am not interested."


    Salvini was prepared for the rejection so she had something prepared to say as soon as Litori finished talking. "Don''t be quick to reject. I don''t want anything in return for this. I will grant you the information and you are free to do whatever you want with it."


    Salvini stood up with a disappointed sigh before the reply came. This was after 55 seconds.


    5 secondster. Litori said, "I think I should leave now. I was told that I could leave whenever I wanted."


    Litori stood up to leave. Salvini was already standing. She smiled. "No problem. I keep to my word. You can leave anytime you want. If you have free time please go around the ne for sightseeing. You might notice some people with strange soul fluctuations. I am certain that with your sight you will notice the peculiarities and simrities between them."


    Litori wasn''t listening. She retracted her divine sense and blocked her mind. She doesn''t want to hear any information from Salvini. While a soul parasite is very important to her, she had promised herself not to entangle herself with Salvini in any way.


    "I will just have to create my own soul disease when I break through," Litori said to herself.


    She is still a transcendent and is Comprehending thew of fire. It is her only choice since thew of the soul is very difficult toprehend. Even though she has the talent for it, she needs toprehend aplete soul.


    Her options are her soul or the souls of the dead. Unfortunately, her sense of her own soul is muddled because of her body, and the souls of the dead that she acquires are iplete. This is preventing her and has prevented many people with her bloodline from achieving what their ancestor did.


    She might not be able to create the concept of soul fire if she doesn''t learn thew of the soul so the opportunity to see a soul parasite is very important to her. However, she is going to pass on that opportunity because it is clearly bait from Salvini.


    It will be difficult to create the concept of soul fire on her own but her ancestor was able to create one so she can too. She might die in the attempt to be a titan ofw, but she will surely die if she let Salvini y her about.


    Soverick''s fate is lesson enough for her. She already knew that Soverick was more than he seemed from the moment he battered Ghaster with his Aura when they were babies. If the death of someone so powerful hasn''t taught her the lesson to stay away from Salvini then she must be stupid. If she dies during the breakthrough, at least she has some 100 origin cycles to live before she dies. She won''t have that time with Salvini.


    So Litori left the bunker after making her wish to be left alone known to the child of the ne. Salvini watched her leave with disappointment and feelings of rejection. It is the same emotions that her future self felt. Now it hase to pass. It is even worse because she knew it wasing but couldn''t change it.


    "Should I even bother with Ghaster?" She asked herself.


    Salvini had high hopes for Litori''s divine ability. It is a very rare divine ability that has only one lineage in the whole ne and Litori is the only person to have it in thest thousand origin cycles. The lineage of Salvini is the only lineage that has what she needs tobat and maybe defeat Legion.


    There are other ephemeral me wielders in the ne but their divine ability stops at using illusions to manipte emotions orbusting emotions. They can''t see spiritual bodies and can''t harm the soul like Litori can. They surely can''t use their divine ability to harm someone and every clone that they have. So the soul-fire divine ability is likely her best counter for an entity with many bodies like Legion.


    Litori''s ancestor got her divine ability through a mutation. No one managed to follow in her path ever since and the bloodline while eternal stopped showing up because most of its bearers died during the attempt to be titans ofw.


    The major problem that they had was the problem of the soulw and creating the image of a soul fire. Salvini wanted to use that opportunity to introduce Litori to Legion.


    Not only would Litori try to capture Legion which will lead to them fighting, it will also grant her more information about Legion and further prove her ims that Legion exists. Unfortunately, it didn''t work.


    -----


    A/N: Do you remember her nickname? Salvini The Snake. Or was that the nickname for the first sage?

 Chapter 1388 4 Plans For Legion.

    Chapter 1388 4 ns For Legion.


    ??The other n she had for Legion was to rely on Ghaster. From the information she acquired from the squad that went to the Gattling ne, lightning might be able to harm Legion. This is because the child of the ne was able to wield lightning and the disease disappeared after the storm of lightning that the Celestial Supreme created. Either Legion was afraid of lightning or he was pretending.


    If he was pretending that means he worked together with Celestial Supreme who created the lightning storm as a fa?ade to kill the Celestial of Knowledge. If the two of them worked together, that means the Celestial of Lightning must be capable of restraining him. So either way, Lightning is still useful against Legion.


    That''s why Salvini nned to convince Ghaster to help her since he was rted to Soverick and can wield Lightning. But now she is sure he will not even bother toe near her or entertain her request at all.


    She shook her head in disappointment, "Forget it. I will just rely on myself and the Ghastorix family if I have to."


    Her n for Ghaster is based on conjecture so it might not work even if Ghaster agrees to work with her to target Soverick. Legion might not be weak to lightning which will be a waste of time. It is already uncertain if Ghaster will work with her if she tells him that the one that he had always wanted to defeat is not dead yet.


    Ghaster could get pumped up and determined to fight Soverick or get scared that Soverick is not dead even after everything that happened to him.


    Her chance of working with Ghaster sessfully was 50/50 before. Any one of those oues could happen but now she is certain that Ghaster won''t work with her due to Litori''s behavior.


    "I can only hope that Legion took the bait with Jarkon." She said while waiting for the good news.


    But the only news she heard was that the Vipers had increased the pressure of their attacks on the nar portal of the Virut ne in the ancient battlefield.


    Things got so bad that the first sage reached out to her. Her mind was pulled into arge white space. A single white eye appeared in front of her.


    She bowed in greeting. The eye said to her, "I''m guessing Legion didn''t ept your deal and they didn''t take the bait you set for him either. It seems the realm lord won''t have his way this time either."


    The two of them spoke for a short while. Meanwhile, the world moved on.


    -----The POV Of A Very Busy Man.


    Something very powerful and very angry was barrelling towards the realm of high heaven. Monarch high heaven sensed it from within the realm tree and couldn''t help but sigh in exasperation.


    Mother High Heaven''s warning came soon after, "You have a guest for you."


    "Come on." Heined. "Not now of all moments. I am very busy."


    He has other things to do but he has to pay attention to this angry guest. Especially since he is most likely at fault for their presence. Unfortunately, he can''t ignore his angry guest. That''s probably the worst thing he can do to a world god who is very angry with him and also has a lot of influence within the realm tree.


    So he sent a clone outside of the realm to meet the guest since the guest can''t enter the realm to meet him.


    His clone appeared in the path of the angry entity. The world god didn''t stop. It continued barreling towards him as if to run him over.


    He conjured a force field in front of him. The world god stopped in front of the obstacle. Apparently, they aren''t angry enough to crash into him. But they were still angry so they snorted. The snort created a shockwave that shattered the forcefield he used to protect himself.


    It is a show of strength. That disy tells him that if they wanted to kill him then they don''t need to crash into him.


    Monarch high heaven didn''t get angry. He said with a smile, "What can I do for you, Your Excellency Star Shatterer?"


    World god Star Shatterer looked on with barely withheld anger. She said in reply, "You know why I am here."


    World god star Shatterer''s gaze is not for the weak. She was an Origin god who could shatter everything with a touch. Now she is the Shattering itself. Her existence is constantly breaking apart to create a massive amount of energy and power.


    It is a wonder to behold fission made manifest in all its explosive glory. That is if you don''t go mad. Even then, the gaze that is inducing your existence to shatter and explode is not one that can be beheld easily. But the Monarch of High Heaven didn''t cower. He spoke without missing a beat, "I am afraid I don''t know what you''re talking about Your Excellency."


    He is lying of course. He knows very well why this world god who is tottering on the edge of madness because of being in a state of constant destruction is here. But he is not going to admit it and he will not admit to anything else.


    "You have gone too far elven boy. I can allow a lot of things but harming the young generation is my bottom line."


    Monarch high heaven was aghast. "I wouldn''t dare to do such a thing."


    He would in fact dare to and he did dare to. But he said in anger, "Who would dare say such a thing about me? Who is out there ndering me?"


    "Is the report I received a hoax then? Are you saying the Shadow Lurker is not linked to you? Are you saying it is by luck that she found the location of a rite of passage and several locations of the rite of passage before now? Are you saying she didn''t have your help in removing the suppression of the realm and using a domain without consequences? Tell me. I am willing to listen."


    -----


    A/N: Is it just me or are Soverick''s siblings special? Makes me wonder what Ragnarok''s siblings would have been capable of. Anyways, what do you think Salvini''s n was for the deal she offered?

 Chapter 1389 The Laughter Of The Mad Elf.

    <h4>Chapter 1389 The Laughter Of The Mad Elf. </h4>


    Monarch High Heaven couldn''t believe that someone out there was falsely using him of assisting the Shadow Lurker in terrorizing the Supreme Beasts. His anger and confusion showed on his face.


    He had to ask, "Why would I do such things? What could I possibly gain from it?"


    He seems to be genuinely perplexed and shocked by the thought that he would try to harm the Supreme Beasts who are trying to interfere with his interests during the era of conquest. Apparently, that kind of action feels so alien to him that he couldn''t possibly have entertained the idea.


    If there is a reason for him to frustrate the expansion efforts of the Supreme Alliance or reduce their influence in the high heaven realm, it is not clear to him.


    And no matter how clear those reasons may be to others, he will never admit to seeing them. Much less admit that they are his motives or that he indeed has been frustrating their expansion efforts.


    Most of all is the false usation about harming kids. He had to make his stand against that lest his pristine reputation be ruined.


    So he asked the fuming world god, "Your Excellency, how many of your young generation died? How many did the Shadow Lurker kill?"


    It might be true that he had something to do with the uncanny way the Shadow Lurker could find vulnerable targets of the supreme alliance in the realm.


    Maybe it is true. Maybe it is not. But one thing is certain, no young supreme beasts died thest time the Shadow Lurker attacked. He has Legion-5 to thank for that. As for the previous asions that the Shadow Lurker harmed young supreme beasts, he won''t admit to it even on his deathbed when he has nothing to lose.


    Star Shatterer maintained, "That is not the point. It is the attempt that matters. I have it on good authority that you are her source of information."


    The body she came with copsed. It drew in energy from the void universe forcefully by using the gravitational pull of her copsed existence to her advantage. Then she used the energy to bolster her existence. She grew bigger and her gravitational pull grew stronger.


    Then she resumed another round of fission. She grew brighter as reality warped around her. A single thought from her and she would leverage her existence to shatter the realm lord''s clone before her. But she didn''t, for now.


    She made her Will known, "I will not leave here unless I am appeased."


    She has put down her metaphorical foot. It is both a promise and a threat. This is the kind of threat that the Realm lord might have been trying to avoid if he had decided to frustrate the expansion efforts of the Supreme Alliance.


    The influence of the Supreme Alliance is too much in the realm of high heaven so while a world god can''t threaten him directly, they can do a lot of damage to the realm directly. Unfortunately, despite all the setbacks the Supreme Alliance has encountered, they have continued to enjoy sess in their efforts. This has led to this situation where a world god of the Supreme Alliance can threaten him.


    The realm lord''s mind twitched. This threat on top of the stress of controlling ten thousand clones is putting pressure on his psyche and causing the wound in it to ache. His head is currently throbbing in pain. The pain was so much that it threatened to overwhelm him.


    The clone of Monarch high heavenughed. Heughed for a while about something only he finds funny. His body shook as heughed as if having a fit.


    But then theughter ended. It was abrupt and he was calm again.


    He said to the world god, "Fine. I am willing to appease you."


    He usually doesn''t respect World gods despite their power. He is wary of their strength since it would interfere with his ns but he is not afraid of them because they can''t kill him.


    Even if they manage to bypass his clones and the defense of the high heaven realm to kill his main body, they can only liberate his current existence for another reincarnation. So he doesn''t have much to fear from a world god.


    But the end of the universe ising and there are some things he must achieve before then. So he will capitte and try to appease this world god for the goal of Supremacy.


    A round of negotiation thus began. It was surprisingly amicable. The only odd thing was the strange fits ofughter from the realm lord. But that is normal at this point. Everyone knows heughs for no reason. It is one of the reasons they call him the mad elf.


    The two of them pushed and pulled until they finally settled on an amicable agreement.


    "I agree with this." Star Shatterer said. "The Supreme Alliance will not suppress the other races and parties that participate in the era of conquest. But you must inform us first and only us about the date for the era of conquest before it starts."


    The realm lord nodded and asked, "So we have a deal?"


    "Yes, we do." Star Shatterer said then she left.


    She left just as she came, as a force of nature that was very angry and in a hurry. The star core that is her current form disappeared into the distance.


    Monarch High Heaven watched her leave with slight awe. He is mildly impressed by her power.


    "She is strong. If only she had more cosmic energy then it is possible for her to wreak havoc in the void universe." He said with slight pity,


    The Star Shatterer is a living bomb. She is a bomb that can destroy a whole realm and more as she is. And she will be unharmed by her existence exploding. She makes the best case for why world gods are not allowed in a realm.

 Chapter 1390 Lies And More Lies.

    <h4>Chapter 1390 Lies And More Lies.</h4>


    The Star Shatterer is a true miracle of power. However, she is limited by the amount of cosmic energy that she possesses. Cosmic energy is needed for worlds and world gods to evolve. If she had a lot of it, then she would be a menace to the void universe itself.


    It is a good thing that the void universe doesn''t provide anything to world gods. But it is a bad thing for world gods.


    He said to himself in amusement. "It is no wonder why world gods will choose to prey on the void universe rather than help it."


    His clone dissipated into the void and his attention returned to his ns and preparations.


    Heined. "I wish I had more cosmic energy."


    World gods are not the only ones who have ack of the precious energy. Cosmic energy is one of the three forms of matter-energy substrate that world gods need. It is a substance that can be transformed into force and can also be used to grow stronger by those who can control it.


    He himself will need a lot of it when he bes a world god. However, he already has a lot of needs for it currently. Unfortunately, his position as the realm lord is not helping him in that aspect.


    The world spark is the source of cosmic energy for a realm tree. It supplies cosmic energy for what the realm tree needs and only what the realm tree needs. The world spark doesn''t like him so it won''t give him Cosmic Energy.


    If the world spark was willing to give him cosmic energy then he might not be looking forward to the era of conquest so much. He doesn''t care if the world spark is just doing its job, since it won''t do him any harm and will only benefit him, it has be a must to remove the world spark for freedom.


    It is something that he wants to do as soon as possible. Unfortunately, he doesn''t have enough cosmic energy to finish his preparation for the era of conquest quickly. So he has to look for it like a normal world god.


    Monarch High Heaven''s gaze narrowed as he looked at the only sentient star in the realm of high heaven, probably the whole void universe. That star is also a spring of Cosmic Energy. He could have all the cosmic energy he needs if he gains ess to this star.


    But he looked away and grumbled, "If I were a normal world god, I wouldn''t have to go too far to find Cosmic Energy."


    The major cause for the dy in the era of conquest is looking for sources of Cosmic Energy like other world gods. He truly needs cosmic energy for a lot of things. However, the most important thing that he needs cosmic energy for the most is Authority.


    He can''t have too much Authority so theck of cosmic energy has caused a dy in its production. This is a dy that could be solved if he had permission from Mother High Heaven to nab a certain star full of cosmic energy. But Mother High Heaven refused his request to act against Legion just as she refused his request to act against any of her children.


    The usefulness of cosmic energy is why he covets Helios. It is why he approached Legion-7 to make a deal with him. He is not interested in his experience in the spiritual dimension. In fact, he knows about the great mother and other soul prowlers. Legion is not the only one to investigate the Phoenix race or know about the spark of consciousness.


    All he wanted to know from Legion-7 was how he escaped from the great mother. That moment is very important because it is the same moment that Helios became a star, Ragnarok escaped from the demon god of Carnage, the dragon clone changed, and Soverick looked at him.


    Legion changed at that moment. It is either that they were hiding their capabilities which they disyed at the same time or they suddenly gained some previously unknown abilities at the exact same time.


    The abilities that they have all shown are different so they might be a coincidence. It could be that Legion decided at that point to stop hiding some of their capabilities. But he doesn''t believe it to be a coincidence since it urred just after they broke another rule of the universe.


    point to stop hiding some of their capabilities. But he doesn''t believe it to be a coincidence since it urred just after they What''s strange is that the information about the rule they broke and its effects on them doesn''t show up on their stats screen at all. It is almost as if the reward for thew that they broke doesn''t affect them in any way whatsoever.


    So he has been after Legion ever since. Unfortunately, he can''t act against them directly so he hoped to fool them into releasing a hint of their source of strangeness.


    It is not the first time he is lying to get his way. Lying is second nature to him. He has done it several times to others and twice to Legion whenever he met them for deals.


    The first time he met with Legion was with Aeternus. He lied then that he couldn''t get their information from the system without their permission. It was to give Legion a false sense of security.


    He didn''t want Legion to know that the reason why he couldn''t ess their information was because Mother High Heaven refused to grant him ess to information on Origin gods. If Legion knew that all he needs is permission from the Will of the realm, then they might be scared of him.


    The second time he lied was with Legion-1. He lied back then and got his way too. The information he got out of Legion-1 helped him to build the translocation pir that the Battle sage monkeys and Vipers used to transport the participants of thepetition into world fragments arge distance away.


    He has seeded twice to great effect with Legion so he expected the third round of deals to go smoothly. However, Legion-7 didn''t fall for it. The spiritual abomination refused to give him its memories.

 Chapter 1391 What’s The Deal With The Deal.

    <h4>Chapter 1391 What''s The Deal With The Deal. </h4>


    Legion-7''s refusal not only destroyed his ns to acquire information about their special reward, it also made it impossible for him toplete his deal with the great mothers.


    She wanted Legion''s weakness before the attack of the Phoenix race on the Steris ne and she was willing to pay heavily for it but he didn''t have it.?He couldn''t even tell her if he had it. That will be breaking the rules of his position.


    The best he could do was get her in contact with the first sage. The first sage told her something which made the great mother happy. She was happy enough to invest 3 great mothers in the attack on the Steris ne.


    The first sage was also happy to acquire some much-needed information about Legion-7 from the great mothers. Only he was not happy.


    The good news is that he is not alone in that unhappiness. The invasion of the Steris ne by the dragons, phoenixes, and Stellos ended in failure so the great mothers became unhappy.


    The great mothers also failed to ensnare Legion-7 through Salvini. She didn''t actually contact Salvini to use her. She contacted the first sage who contacted Salvini. This led to Salvini offering Legion the deal about the information of a substance that can lead to his evolution.


    The great mothers still haven''t given up on Legion-7. She knows his identity but she also knows that she can''t do anything to him as long as he remains in the protection of the Supreme Alliance. But things will be different if Legion-7 leaves that protection and returns to the spiritual.


    This is because Legion-7 seems to have lost his ability to be intangible. No one knows for sure but the first sage seems to be certain of it. The first sage deduced from the information that the hounds of the bloodline of justice acquired that Legion-7 can''t evade attacks anymore or he wouldn''t have been threatened by the lightning storm or the Celestial Supreme.


    It is a long shot but it emboldened the great mother to try and nab Legion-7 in the Steris ne. They attacked the Steris ne but failed. They still didn''t give up so they wanted to tempt Legion-7 with something that would make him return to the spiritual dimension.


    Of course, the information about what can make Legion-7 evolve is real. The realm lord was truthful about it when he had first offered it to Legion-7. But since then, the object has found its way into the spiritual dimension where it is being guarded by the great mothers.


    So Salvini wasn''t lying about the information. But if Legion-7 had epted the deal, not only would Salvini be safe from Legion, but Legion-7 would also go to the spiritual dimension where he will find the great mothers waiting for them. If he can''t be intangible anymore then he won''t be able to escape from the great mothers.


    All of these don''t concern the realm lord much apart from the fact that the great mothers had promised that if they seeded in nabbing Legion-7, they would reward him for linking her up with the first sage. As things are right now, it is unlikely that he will get that reward.


    The great mother''s reward aside, what he truly wants is the special reward that made Legion-7 be intangible in the first ce. But the only inkling he has ever gotten about the special reward was the moment when Ragnarok began destroying the Lumen ne.


    The system noticed a spike in Cosmic force around his tails.That was after the failure of his deal with Legion-7. It brought to light how much he missed with that deal and has firmed his intentions to acquire more information about it. Unfortunately, wishes are not horses.


    He shook his head to remove the disappointment and instead thought to himself in anticipation, "It doesn''t matter. I will get what I want soon. I will get everything and no one will be able to stand in my way."


    The realm lord was deep in thought when Mother High Heaven spoke to him. "I am surprised that the encounter with Star Shatterer ended well. I remember her explosive temper very well so I expected a disaster."


    Then she asked him, "Do you know that she was part of the forces that wiped out the ancient Supreme beasts so that their genes and ideology wouldn''t contaminate the new Supreme Alliance?"


    He chuckled and replied. "I didn''t know that but I am not surprised to hear it."


    "As for the encounter, I knew what she and the Supreme Alliance wanted. They wanted an advantage during the era of conquest. It is just their nature to feel superior and look for opportunities to be superior. I just gave them that opportunity so the star shatterer was appeased."


    Mother High Heaven asked, "So her anger wasn''t real?"


    The Realm lord shook his head. "It was both real and a facade. To a world god, everything is about benefits. Her anger and threat would have been real if I had not appeased her. But it is also a facade because there was nothing for her to gain by going to war with me."


    "I would be hurt and so will the realm, but it wouldn''t improve the situation of the Supreme Alliance. So it was more of a show. A dance of interests if you will."


    Mother High Heaven spoke, "Anyways, it is a good thing that you let this end well. But I am still surprised that you let it end well after they threatened you."


    She wasn''t concerned about the reaction of the Star Shatterer. The realm tree of high heaven is a mid-grade world with the protection of the void universe. A world god can''t do anything to her right now. Besides, they have offended a lot of world gods. What''s one more?


    She was more concerned about the realm lord''s reaction to being hamstrung and threatened like that. The Supreme Alliance was the one to offend him no matter how angry the star Shatterer looked. He is the one who should be angry for their intentions to interfere in the era of conquest.


    He could have told the star Shatterer off because of that. It would definitely lead to bad consequences for the realm tree. The Star Shatterer might not be able to do anything against the realm directly but the Supreme Alliance is not made solely of world gods. There are a lot of powerful Origin gods such as the one that can refine a whole ne into an army.

 Chapter 1392 The Era Of Conquest Is Coming.

    <h4>Chapter 1392 The Era Of Conquest Is Coming.</h4>


    Monarch High Heaven shrugged and replied, "They are tools. They may be proud tools and they may create a fuss but they are still tools for us to be victorious in the era of conquest."


    They call him the mad elf because of his disregard for consequences but he is not stupid. He disregarded consequences because they don''t matter in the long run. Those consequences won''t affect his main aim so didn''t care about them. But antagonizing the Supreme Alliance is not that.


    It would be foolish to antagonize the Supreme Alliance when all they want is a way to serve him better. It is a foolish move that even his damaged psyche wouldn''t allow him to do. It is as they say, one shouldn''t look a gift horse in the mouth.


    "That''s true." Mother High Heaven conceded. "So have you made a decision concerning the realm tree we will target?"


    That question brightened him up. He said excitedly, "Yes, I have. It is the Realm of Tyrants."


    Mother High Heaven wasn''t so d. "Are you sure? We won''t be able to leverage the advantage of our realm configuration against them. They have just one ne of existence so it would cost a lot to reconfigure our realm for the spatial alignment."


    He replied confidently. "I am certain. They don''t have a realm lord so it is good."


    But his confidence isn''t infectious so Mother High Heaven was still concerned. "But they have Tyrants."


    "I know that. I am not ignorant of the races that the realm I want to engage in a battle to the death with has."


    "That''s not what I am saying. I am saying Tyrants are very strong. They are called Tyrants for a reason. Their whole realm was named after them for a reason."


    Monarch High Heaven still wasn''t concerned. He said with disdain, "Tyrants are not realm lords and even if they were, there is no realm lord like me."


    Mother High Heaven insisted, "But it will be so much easier if we chose a weak realm without a problematic race."


    He waved away her concerns. "The Tyrant Realm won''t be a problem either. Trust me. Have I ever failed to deliver?"


    "Yes." Came the quick reply.


    He didn''t feel awkward about being called out on his failures. He said with a straight face, "Those were unexpected circumstances. They were flukes that no one could ount for. Don''t forget that this is very important to me too. I will die if we fail so you can be certain that I won''t botch things. You know how much I have nned for this."


    "That''s true. I can give you that. You have made a lot of preparations."


    "Yes, I have. Trust me. We will win." He said confidently.


    "If you say so." She said before leaving.


    He said to himself after she left. "I have to win. There is no other option."


    He has burned a lot of bridges to get to where he is today. He has made a lot of enemies that will surely end him even if he somehow survives the destruction of the realm tree and its realm heart. So he must be victorious in the era of conquest or all the consequences that he disregarded in the past wille around and show themselves as relevant.


    He has to win for reasons other than survival. Bing a world god with a very strong world is the minimum requirement for the first one to fully awaken. That awakening must be realized at all costs which means he must seed in the era of conquest.


    Any dy in the awakening of the first one is just more time for him to suffer due to the injury on his psychic engram. So he must seed as soon as possible.


    Besides, he doesn''t want to start again from scratch this close to the end of the universe. He doesn''t want to miss the opportunity that will arrive when the void universe ends so he has made a lot of preparations for sess.


    He has gotten world gods on his side who are also anxious for his sess. He has also gotten the only ones who could betray the realm on his side.


    "Victoryes to those that are prepared for the possibility of failure." He said to himself with a chuckle. "I learned that from the first sage."


    He is prepared for every possible problem that he might face during the era of conquest. Not only did he shackle the demons and the abyss to his boat metaphorically, to prevent betrayal, he even allowed an opportunity for betrayal to exist so that he could snoop on the realm he wants to target.


    It is smart to anticipate betrayal and seal every avenue for it, but it is smarter to allow a betrayer to exist so that he can gain more. At the very least he is aware of the only avenue of betrayal. If the enemy takes the bait and contacts the demon god of GREED, then they will be falling into his trap.


    He turned a problem into an opportunity. It made himugh sinisterly to himself.


    He said, "Schemes and more schemes."


    Every single action of his is carried out with multiple goals in mind. He did not stop the exploitation of Life Trees because of the goodness of his heart. That action made him a lot of enemies and yet he managed to gain the support of many world gods for the era of conquest.


    He did not use the Shadow Lurker to terrorize the Supreme Alliance for fun. He did not make the deal to help the great mother just because he was interested in thew of the soul. He did not choose the Realm of Tyrants instead of a weaker realm at a whim. Everything has a purpose that will benefit him.


    He said proudly to himself, "I may notpare to the first sage but I try my best."


    He is a man of schemes. He has schemes against everything and everyone. He has many ns that will go unused and many that might be critical to his sess. All will be made known in the era of conquest.


    He muttered in anticipation. "The Era of conquest ising."


    THE END.


    -----


    A/N: There you have it. The end of Volume 6: Supremacy. I hope at the very least, you know what Supremacy is about.

 Chapter 1393 Nipping The Trouble In The Bud.

    <h4>Chapter 1393 Nipping The Trouble In The Bud. </h4>


    The Beginning Of Volume 7.


    ---After The Void Universe Was Threatened With Destruction.


    Somewhere on the dark side of the universe past the Corridor of Worlds. This event urred some time ago when the void universe was threatened by a singrity of infinite possibilities.


    The void universe is veryrge so a tiny hole through the space-time continuum won''t be easily noticed and neither will its effect be easily felt. Only those who have a close connection to the operations of the void universe noticed the tiny hole and only they put in the necessary work needed to fix it.


    One such entity is streaking across the thick frozen darkness of reality. It is moving in a straight line and with a purpose. This entity just left a meeting that ended with bad news so it is understandably angry.


    "They do this every time," It said with anger. "They make a mess and leave to pick it up."


    This entity is angry and it is angry with the act of rectifying part of the problem that has made it angry. The smart thing to do is to remove everything about the problem including the person or group of people that created the problem.


    But no, they didn''t remove the whole problem. They just fixed the tiny hole and let the criminal go with a nice reward for his actions. Who wouldn''t be angry with that?


    Sure they said that the troublemaker won''t be able to create a tiny hole anymore after Origin me was used. But that doesn''t satisfy this entity. Fortunately, it has a n.


    Its current mission, if sessful, won''t fix the whole problem, but it will take the edge off of it. It will nullify the greatest trouble and make things easier for it to solve. It is stillcking but it is better than nothing.


    This entity muttered to itself as if flew, "I do all of this hard work and what do I ask for? I ask to kill the troublemaker. It is just one little thing. No one will miss the trouble maker but they refused. Now I have to murk around the dirt with more criminals just to fix the first problem. If I have my way, all of them will be put to death. They will all die a painful and gruesome death and I will..."


    It continued toin and grumble for quite a while. It is indeed very angry.


    What''s greater than its anger that the problem was allowed to ur in the first ce or the denial of its request to end the troublemaker once and for all, is its anger about what it is about to do to solve part of the trouble.


    It doesn''t want to do what it is about to do but it has to be done. Otherwise, it might not be able to solve the real problem when the opportunity arises. Because as things are going, Legion might grow too strong by the time they be world gods.


    As the entity created and tasked to keep the order of the void universe, it will always decide to ovee its distaste for the greater good of the void universe. So it will grumble andin, but it will still do what needs to be done.


    The dark side of the universe is very strange. It is very dark so most life forms won''t even be able to see ahead. Divine sense can''t operate here either. The pressure of reality will cause it to copse.


    For weak life forms that need divine sense to see, if they somehow are capable of surviving here without getting crushed, they will only exist in a state of limbo. Their reality will be nothing but darkness and it will be a crushing darkness too, not an ordinaryck of light. It is a darkness that not only rejects light, it seeks to strangle life.


    This crushing pressure makes the dark side a constant battlefield between the void universe and the strong creatures that can survive here. Most world gods hate the pressure but not this creature. The pressure is one of the best things it likes about the void universe. If it were up to it, the pressure would be stronger. This way, every living thing on the dark side will struggle more to survive. This will satisfy its enjoyment and also reduce the propagation of Chaos caused by their actions.


    The love of the pressure might have something to do with the fact that this entity isn''t feeling any pressure. It is more like an embrace to it rather than a crushing pressure.


    This way, it has no problem moving on the dark side of the universe.


    It is almost as if there is no obstruction in its path whatsoever. The frozen reality is malleable to its maniption so it can move easily. It makes it so that it isn''t in danger of getting lost this far from the Corridor of Worlds.


    The Corridor of Worlds is the point of rtivity in the dark side of the universe. Without it, there would be no up and down. Worse than that, the position of anything in the void universe cannot be calcted and tracked without it serving as the center of the void universe.


    As it is, everything is in constant motion in the dark side of the universe. You can tell the position or the velocity of any object but only one at a time. You can''t tell both at once so getting lost is very easy without the Corridor of Worlds serving as the anchor for lighthouse spatial positioning.


    But this entity doesn''t need the Corridor of Worlds to tell it where it is going and how soon it will get there. It always knows where it is and where other things are in the void universe.


    It knows the Void Universe like the back of its non-existent hands. In fact, it isn''t so much as moving forward as the universe is pushing it forward. It is why the crushing pressure feels like an embrace.

 Chapter 1394 A Ruler Or An Usurper.

    <h4>Chapter 1394 A Ruler Or An Usurper.</h4>


    Others might find the phenomenon of the pressure assisting someone instead of trying to kill them strange but not this entity. This is normal to it. It is on a mission for the Void Universe so it is not strange that the Void Universe is assisting it.


    It found its target after a few years of faster-than-light speed. This is because its target has hidden itself as far away as possible. But again, hiding is futile to it. It will always find its target as long as they are in the void universe.


    A domineering Will smashed against the Protector from the target. The angry Protector didn''t bother to resist. It didn''t need to because the Will didn''t reach it.


    The domineering Will veered off to its side. It is strange that such a powerful being would fail to hit something and worse still, fail to hit something with his Will, but it is so when any entity in the void universe tries to hit or harm the Protector.


    The target spoke after he realized who it was that had found him. "So it is you. What brings you here Overgod of rules?"


    The Protector didn''t correct him about its title. He is not wrong to call it an Overgod. After all, it is truly at the top of the void universe in terms of power. It is over and above everyone.


    The protector said to its target, "I have brought grave news."


    Its target still didn''t show itself but it was paying attention. It spoke from the darkness that it used to shroud itself, "Please, do tell."


    The two powerful entities began to converse in this all-epassing and suffocating darkness. One of them is a single round object that looks like a head because of the indistinct face on it. It will have to be a very strange head because it has an irregr shape that is constantly shifting and possesses several indistinct faces on it. These features are all anyone can see of the Protector. The other entity participating in this conversation is obscured in the darkness. It is darkness different from the darkness of the void universe. The Protector can see through this darkness and can see the colossal creature hiding within it.


    The Protector stated in a grave manner, "Draco. One of your descendants is about to go out of bounds."


    Draco wasn''t concerned. "You don''t need to tell me about what they did wrong. You can remove them for their transgressions. I am done with them. They have outlived their purpose. You can do with them what you want."


    "No. This is far more than the breaking of the rules and I am not here out of respect to you. This concerns you too."


    Draco was intrigued. "Is that so?"


    "Yes, your status might be threatened."


    That made Dracough. He truly finds it funny that whatever his descendants are up to can threaten him.


    "I am a ruler of the universe and I am about toplete my transformation to be an Apex being. How is my status threatened? And how can it be threatened by one of my crippled descendants?"


    The Protector became angry immediately. It said with visible anger and disdain, "You are not a ruler. You''re an Usurper who stole what doesn''t belong to him. Just like you usurped power, someone else can usurp yours too. Is that not why you are hiding away?"


    Its disdain was practically oozing at this point as it said, "Look at you skulking around and hiding like a thief. This descendants of yours has the greatest chance of getting what you hold dear above everyone else. And he can do so without finding you."


    The Protector had to do its best not to leave immediately. Just standing here disgusts it endlessly. It is in its nature to hate those that break the rules of the void universe or propagate Chaos but it can''t do anything against Draco because the ancestor of dragons has something that is protecting him.


    The protector is a creature of rules so it has to abide by the rules of its existence. Sometimes it questions why the creator created the universe with the possibility of Chaos. It could clearly eliminate Draco and remove the Chaos he is propagating but it can''t do so because of the rules.


    Still, it has never and can never question its identity and purpose. That''s why it will ovee its hatred and continue speaking with this dirty usurper. After all, there are some things that it can''t do because of the rules that someone like Draco can do.


    Draco asked. "What do you want of me?"


    "I want you to eliminate it. I know that you will be preupied with your transformation so you might not notice this hidden danger. I am just here to inform you before it bes toote. Consider it a favor so you don''t have to give me anything."


    Draco wasn''t happy because of the favor. He said without much enthusiasm, "I see."


    Consider it a favor so you don''t have to give me anything."


    Draco wasn''t happy because of the favor. He said without "I will leave now. I am very busy." The protector said then he streaked away.


    Draco was deep in thought. "This must be very serious."


    He believes that this is very serious because anything that involves the Overgod can not be taken lightly. So he has to take this seriously. But the first thing he did was to move away from his current position.


    He knows that the Overgod is unlikely to tell anyone of his position since it doesn''t like to propagate Chaos and that his position is constantly changing and cannot be easily found this far away from the Corridor of Worlds, but he still decided to move.


    He can be called overly cautious but he has reasons to be cautious bordering on paranoia. He is in a critical situation where he cannot entertain any interruption.


    It is as the Overgod said, he stole something from the void universe and is using it to increase his state of existence. This is a great thing but he doesn''t dare to brag about it to the world.


    -----


    A/N: I used to understand the anger of the protector but he has gone too far this time around. He has be a snitch.

 Chapter 1395 Draco The Dominator.

    Chapter 1395 Draco The Dominator.


    ??Instead of bragging about it, he is hiding in the deep crevices of the void universe. This is because there are a lot of entities in the void universe that want what he has. He is not an apex entity yet so what he stole can still be stolen from him.


    So they will swarm to him in thousands if his position is leaked. Even world gods will reach ten thousand. If that happens then he will lose what he has worked for for such a long time.


    Prevention is better than cure especially when you have too much to lose so he moved. And in so doing, his form was revealed.


    Draco is a Leviathan beyond the parameters used to measure physical dimensions. He is a leviathan spiritually, physically, and energy-wise. He is titanic in body and mind. He isrge beyond words could ever describe.


    Just seeing his existence is enough for the minds of Sovereigns to explode. They will try toprehend just howrge he is and that will be their doom. It is because he isrger than words can describe.


    His size is not surprising since this is his true body. The bulk of his power is not contained here but his true body possesses the foundation of his power. The destruction of his true body won''t kill him but it will weaken him drastically.


    As a body that contains the foundation of a power greater than that of a world god, it is not a wonder that he has scales that are asrge as nes.


    The smallest scale on his body has a surface area of 500 million kilometers square. Living beings could live on his body and not know of his existence. They would think he is all of existence. They would be like the living beings living within him who don''t know that their entire universe is part of a living entity.


    He has a terrifying crown of horns befitting an entity of his great might. It is terrifying because the horns look like embedded des on his head. The metallic des are all sharp while some are broken and others are curved.


    His crown of des is not as iconic as his eye. Anyone can have a crown of des but his eye is unique in the whole void universe. He will be recognized as soon as someone powerful sees his eye.


    He has a single eye that has 13 pupils. Each pupil has a different color. They represent all thews that he was born with dominion of. No other being in the void universe was born with his eye and no one possesses it.


    Four pupils of his eye arerger than the others. They take the center of his eye and divide it equally. The other nine pupils form a ring around the two.


    With this single eye, he can see and dominate thews of fire, water, air, earth, life, death, light, darkness, lightning, space, time, creation, and destruction. He doesn''t control them. Control is for those who have met theprehension requirement to manipte thews.


    He was not born with theprehension of thesews and yet he could manipte them. That''s because he was born too powerful for thews not to bend to his will. His crippled descendants dominate mana and spells while he dominatesws.


    Draco roused his existence into action. His thousands of wings were set into motion. They pushed reality aside and made way for him through the world. This way, he can move through obstacles because his wings will create a path through it.


    He was propelled forward through the tough tar that is the fabric of the dark side of the void universe. The crushing dark reality around him couldn''t stop him from moving at many times the speed of light.


    Draco looks like a dragon but he is far from the might of his diminutive descendants. Dragons have 6 wings at most, unlike hisrge array and assortment of thousands of wings.


    It is more urate to say that dragons look like him. After all, it is from him that they got all of their features. They are just less beautiful and less powerful than Draco.


    He moved to another hidden corner of the void universe. It is a location close to the edge of the void universe. The reality here is fragile and weak. He could break out of the void universe and leave it from here.


    But he is not going to do that because he wouldn''t be able to return after leaving. At least no one who has ever left has ever returned. As it is, no one knows what''s outside the void universe but he is not curious enough to find out.


    It was not until he secured himself again that he began to address the problem that the Overgod had brought to his attention. His gaze disregarded distance to lock on to every one of his descendants.


    He started with every world god. They are the closest things that can threaten him. They might have been born as crippled versions of himself, but the path of perfection is no joke.


    Some of his descendants have done well for themselves so he cannot underestimate or overlook anyone of them. Especially not when the Overgod specifically came to warn him.


    Some of his descendants even sensed his gaze. They looked around searching for who it was that gazed at them. Their actions impressed and amused him.


    "Not bad. But not good enough."


    The fact that they sensed his gaze, especially the gaze of a ruler, is impressive. But finding the source of that gaze is not something that just about anyone can achieve, not even if they are dragons.


    He chuckled with mirth as he continued his search. His gaze was fast and his mind was vast. But it still wasn''t easy searching the entire void universe for his descendants. It was like looking for needles in an ocean. It was even more difficult to go through every realm tree seeded with descendants.

 Chapter 1396 The Gap Of Darkness.

    <h4>Chapter 1396 The Gap Of Darkness. </h4>


    He said with a proud smile as he watched, "Their reproduction is slow and their fertility is poor but they sure spread like fleas."


    Every action of dragons has something to do with him. Their impressive actions particrly also make him impressive. After all, he is their source of greatness. So he is proud whenever he sees how well they are doing.


    Dragons have done especially well in spreading and dominating their environment. They have poor reproductive capabilities but their numbers have swollen beyond the trillions after so many Origin cycles since their creation.


    So it is difficult to examine all of them and he rarely does so. If not for the Overgod then he wouldn''t have bothered.


    He was impressed just a little bit more the longer he searched. Dragons form arge portion of the strongest inhabitants of the universe. They have truly performed well for the purpose of their creation. Their collective existence was of great help to him in stealing the Cosmic source that he is now imbibing.


    He is rarely impressed but he is proud of his descendants. They may be crippled whenpared to him but they have seeded in being a dominating race in the void universe. It shows just how great he is if weak copies of himself are so strong. But his pride soured when he noticed the problem that the Overgod mentioned.


    "This is truly a serious issue," He said when he noticed the problematic egg.


    He would have missed itpletely if the Overgod had not told him. This small egg is doing something other dragons should not be doing. It had not only created aplete dragon heart for some inexplicable reason, but It was also trying to recreate his eye.


    If this egg manages to recreate his innate divine ability, then he might be able to interfere with his possession of the cosmic source.


    "The Overgod was right. But this interesting too."


    His Will moved and his intention was made manifest. Time rolled back in his vision of this egg so the past of this ambitious egg was disyed to him. He saw everything the egg had done.


    What''s interesting is that there is no past for the egg after a few years. He didn''t see how the egg wasid and whoid it. It was as if the egg just popped into existence within a nest of other eggs. There is only darkness in Draco''s vision past a certain point.


    Draco muttered, "It is as if the existence of the dragon egg was destroyed to create a gap in its history. Someone is clearly hiding something. Who did he it?"


    The darkness that appeared in his vision happens when someone dies. But that can''t be so since the dragon egg is clearly alive. So he became suspicious and determined to find out what was being hidden.


    He moved farther into the past to look beyond the gap. He wasn''t disappointed by the attempt. He saw that the egg was normal before this strange gap. It only had an inexplicably powerful soul. There doesn''t seem to be anything out of ce other than that but he won''t believe that.


    The powerful soul is already an indication that the egg is abnormal. But he can''t find the source or reason for the powerful soul. It is as if it suddenly appeared within the egg.


    "That makes two anomalies. An egg should not have such a powerful soul and something must have happened to the egg during the gap. The clue might be in the gap. After all, someone powerful went to such great lengths to hide something from me."


    He couldn''t find any information because of the gap and he wasn''t willing to give up so he used the cosmic source he is in control of. This time there was no resistance to the manifestation of his will. In fact, he gained an ability he shouldn''t possess.


    Reality changed before his gaze. Matter and energy became pure information. Numbers and concepts appeared within his sight. These numbers formed a stream of information about the dragon egg.


    It can be likened to the record of its entire life. It contains every action of the dragon egg and their effect on the void universe including the amount of energy it has used from the void universe, its mass, how many times it breathed, and how much air it breathed each time.


    Draco went through this record and noticed something peculiar in the stream of information about the dragon egg. This egg is connected to other entities.


    At first, he was surprised. But his surprise changed to shock when he noticed that the connection was not involuntary or predatory. An external entity wasn''t trying to possess the egg or force a connection on it. Instead, that egg started out as possessed and now the egg is not a single entity. It is part of arge body of existence.


    "I see. This is getting bigger and bigger."


    He is very impressed by what he has seen. There are very few things that can impress him since he is so old and so powerful. But despite all of his years, he has never seen an entity that has seeded in reincarnating their clones into other races and be epted as separate individuals by the void universe.


    He has certainly seen many who have tried. But not many have ever seeded. The problem is that the entities powerful enough to achieve reincarnation will be too powerful for their clones to be acknowledged as separate individuals. They are too powerful to be considered separate while the weak ones cannot meet the requirements to reincarnate.


    Even so, what he has seen has only impressed him. It hasn''t made him afraid. He expected this matter to be more serious than a descendant of his trying to steal his power.


    A descendant trying to steal his power is serious enough but it is not enough for the Overgod toe and inform him. The Overgod doesn''t care about patricide so there has to be more.

 Chapter 1397 The Anomalies.

    <h4>Chapter 1397 The Anomalies.</h4>


    "So Legion tried to reincarnate into 9 bodies. 7 seeded while the 1 for Phoenix race failed. Ironic enough, the Phoenix clone went to the spiritual dimension and survived while the demon clone died within the egg. This is some interesting stuff."


    Everything wasid bare before him. He saw everything from when Gehaldirah Oakstein was born up to his sessful reincarnation. He also saw the history of each clone.


    One thing that stood out to him was the survival of Legion-7 against all odds while the demon clone died. He is certain the demon clone died because his history disappearedpletely after a few years in the egg.


    The death of the demon clone didn''t give him pause so Draco continued looking through the history of the other clones. He didn''t need to search for a long while before finding the issue.


    He was right to suspect that the crux of the mattery in the gap of darkness in the history of the dragon egg. The cause of this gap was unrted to the dragon egg but it affected the remaining 8 clones.


    He saw the actions of some clones who decided it was a good idea to mix Chaos, Order, and divinity. This created an iprehensible object which poked a hole in the void universe and caused the gap in history.


    What Draco saw stunned him. Now he has seen what was so important that the Overgod couldn''t sit still and had to inform him. Even he was moved in awe and admiration.


    He said as he looked through their history, "So this is Legion. They broke aw of the universe of the universe for the second time. Why did they mix Chaos, Order, and Divinity? Did they know it will work?"


    What he saw was so confusing that he had many questions. He can see actions and physical properties in the history but he can''t see thoughts or motives so he is left wondering why the clones think it would be a good idea.


    "Where did they even get Chaos energy from? That is very rare and dangerous."


    "Could they have gotten it from the demon clone before it died? How did they keep it? Could it have been in their mindwork all along? They will be mad to do that."


    Another thing that bothered him was the appearance of Chaos energy for the experiment that led to the creation of the singrity. He can''t find its source. It seemed to have suddenly appeared around them. It made him wary.


    "This doesn''t check out. Something else is going on here. Someone powerful might be scheming something."


    He searched and searched but he only found more anomalies and no answers. He found this anomaly in the history of some other entities that interacted with Legion. For example, Zernon the Celestial Supreme of the Zargoth ne seemed to have been attacked by an unseen entity.


    There are more anomalies like that. Those entities saw something but it was wiped clean from their history. Instead of bing more curious, Draco gave up on it immediately.


    "Just as I thought. This involves bigger issues than some dragon egg threatening my position as Ruler. Someone or something is out to get the Void Universe and the Overgod doesn''t want it to happen."


    His single eye narrowed as he contemted his course of action. He has to decide if he will continue investigating or back off. He ultimately decided to continue. There''s somethingpelling about this situation that he finds interesting.


    He returned his gaze to Legion''s history. A quick look at what they were up to made him chuckle.


    "They broke twows of the universe and are already about to break two more. I would be anxious too if I were the Overgod. This is insanity."


    Most of the entities in the void universe go their entire lives without the knowledge that it is possible to break thews of the void universe. Even the strongest amongst these ignorant beings won''t know that it is possible until they be world gods. It is then that they will have to fight the void universe for resources and power.


    Many world gods fail at it. Not many of them are as sessful as him. As for those who already tried to break aw of the void universe before they be world gods, most of them fail. Not many of them seed.


    As a being that was born in the early stage of the void universe, he has seen many entities that seeded in breaking aw before they became world gods. He hasn''t seen those that broke two but he is sure they exist because he has heard about them. However, this is the first time he has heard of someone breaking 3 probably 4 if Legion y their cards right.


    He hadn''t bothered to learn the name of this multiple-body individual when he found out about their reincarnation. It wasn''t as if he would have forgotten but that information wasn''t prioritized at all.


    But now he has decided that the entity named Legion is worthy of the respect of a primordial being and that knowing their name is important.


    Draco was amused.


    He thought to himself, "They have truly taken on the properties of a dragon. They are proud and greedy. They are even trying to be me."


    "They might be more a dragon than my descendants."


    They say dragons are proud but just like everything else, they can''tpare to their ancestor in pride. Only other primordials or Usurpers are worthy of his respect. This Legion is neither but he has earned his respect.


    This respect is well earned. It is not only because this entity seeded in reincarnation, breaking another rule, or about to break another rule. It is also because Legion is trying and doing well in imitating him.


    The fact that Legion is following in his path through the dragon egg seems to be the smallest thing they have achieved. Legion also seems to be using the power of many to leverage benefits from the void universe. It is uncanny to him because that''s exactly what he did with the dragon race in the universe.


    ------


    A/N: Can you guess what the possiblews to be broken by Legion are?

 Chapter 1398 Gestating Godling.

    Chapter 1398 Gestating Godling.


    ??Someone as powerful as him can''t go around the void universe making descendants for the fun of it. He is not thatsciviousness, neither does he have so much time to waste. He created the dragon race to gain power and he seeded in it.


    It could be a coincidence that this Legion is following in his path. It might be a coincidence that he chose a dragon as one of his clones. Legion might not be after his Cosmic source.


    It might be a coincidence that the dragon clone turned into a godling clone. But coincidence or not, the secondw that they broke has turned Legion into his enemy. It is also an enemy that Draco has to take seriously.


    He delved deeper into the history of this Legion and all his clones. Nothing about Legion could be hidden from him. After all, he is not looking through his eyes, he is looking through the eyes of the Will of the void universe.


    The Will of the void universe is omniscient and omnipresent. It knows everything there is to know about the void universe. It is not omnipotent due to thews that it abides by but its knowledge about every being in the universe is unparalleled.


    Draco can take a peek into that archive of information through the cosmic source that he stole. The only thing that can be hidden from him and the void universe is Legion''s thoughts and memories. All of his actions and the state of his existence areid bare.


    "What do I do about this?" he mused to himself.


    He knows why the Overgod came to inform him about Legion. The Overgod can''t do anything to Legion yet because their state of existence is too far apart for interaction to ur.


    But the Overgod is not willing to wait until he can move into action because Legion might be a bigger problem in the meantime. So it came to Draco who has a certain amount of influence on Legion.


    Draco is also far beyond Legion too. He should not be able to do anything to Legion if not for the fact that a part of Legion is a true dragon. That gives him a channel to take action.


    But he doesn''t want to solve the problem for the Overgod. He is not a tool for the void universe. If he were, he wouldn''t have stolen the Cosmic source.


    It is especially a bad idea to be ackey because of the anomalies surrounding Legion. So no, he won''t be a tool. He wants to take advantage of the situation. He wants to get that strange orb that each clone of Legion possesses. It is the same orb that turned the dragon egg into a gestating godling.


    Draco said proudly, "It was not a bad decision to have descendants. It took a lot of time and effort but it has paid far more than it cost to do so."


    Then he focused on Legion and said, "If you will steal from me, then I can steal from you too."


    If that strange orb can turn a dragon egg into a godling, then it might be able to turn someone born as a godling into something more powerful. Draco doesn''t know for sure if it will work, but he is willing to find out.


    ------Tribtion


    Legion-5 knew it wasing. Legion-7 expected it and he anticipated it simply because they are about to do something that no one has ever done before.


    Legion-7 was sure that it woulde because he was sure that the void universe wouldn''t let them have their way easily. He has been able to hide from the void universe within Legion-5. But the breakthrough to Origin god means that Legion -5 would be one with the void universe.


    He would not be hiding inside Legion-5 anymore. Their existence would mesh when Legion-5 fusespletely with his seed of power which is his inner world. That means he would be exposed to the void universe from then on.


    It is just right to expect that the void universe would try everything to stop them from bing an Origin god who is part of itsw matrix.


    Legion-5 on the other hand expected the tribtion because he would be officially fusing the part of perfection, the path of divinity, and the power of demons together.


    He would be using these three paths to perfect himself which the void universe might not be happy to see. In a way, his simple act of bing an Origin god will offend the void universe twice so a tribtion is all but certain toe.


    He has Origin essence to advance so all he needs to do is use the Origin essence to fuse his existence.


    He is not using the tribtion method to advance. There is no need for tribtion to test his qualifications for advancement before he advances because he has Origin essence. But he is certain that tribtion wille to stop him.


    They expect that the tribtion would cause a lot of disturbance so Legion-5 decided to find a way to escape from the Supreme Alliance. He is not leaving because a tribtion is strange. Other supreme beasts use the tribtion to advance to Origin god every time so no one would bat an eye at the appearance of a tribtion.


    But a tribtion only appears for a Supreme beast after many Origin cycles ofprehendingws and thepletion of the fusion of all their divine abilities. It doesn''t appear less than an Origin cycle of birth so it would definitely draw unwanted attention when the tribtiones for him.


    He decided to leave since he was not willing to wait for so long when he could advance as soon as possible.


    He met with his handler first. His handler, a female Origin god Supreme Beast considered his request and said, "So you want an assignment to earn points?"


    "Yes." He confirmed.


    "There is an opening for you in Hichtaku ne. They need some supervisors for the hatchery. You can sign up there. Here is the list of vacancies in the realm."


    ------


    A/N: I remember when someone in the discord channel was making fun of dragons and the dragon ancestor for fucking around. I wanted to stand up to defend Draco but I had to keep quiet not to spoil anything.


    I have so much bottled within me. I don''t think it is healthy.

 Chapter 1399 Perfect Parents.

    Chapter 1399 Perfect Parents.


    ??Legion-5 read through the list and decided on a ne.He made his decision known to his handler.


    She said to him, "Here are the details of your posting. I will inform them of youring."


    He said, "Alright." Then he turned to leave.


    His supervisor called after him, "I rmend that you get an escort for protection until you get to the ne."


    "I''ll do that." He said in agreement.


    He lied. He doesn''t n to do that. He left his handler knowing fully well that he wouldn''t reach his posting. His situation is pretty good here in the ancient battlefield. He cany about doing nothing for many Origin cycles. That''s the only option for him if he wants to stay here since there is nothing useful for him to do here.


    But he can''t do that since he is already prepared to be an Origin god and he has gotten news that the era of conquest will start in less than an Origin cycle. There is no way he will allow himself tog behind and waste time doing nothing.


    The other option is for him to leave. Other Supreme beasts do this too. They work for the Supreme Alliance to get the resources needed for their breakthrough while alsoprehending thews they need and fusing their divine abilities.


    Supreme beasts aren''t like other Sovereigns. They are strong in the aspect of divine abilities but they are weak in the aspect of stats. They need a lot of life essence to strengthen themselves if they are to survive the tribtion.


    However, they won''t be able to get life essence easily if they aren''t in the rite of passage anymore. If they need Life essence, they must work diligently for it. He is using that opportunity to work to leave the Supreme Alliance for a while.


    He looked at all the Origin materials and weapons in his storage artifact that he has hoarded over the years and he couldn''t help but smile.


    "Talk about eating my cake and having it." He said as he packed away the things he might need.


    He could have escaped without permission if he wanted to but he doesn''t want to leave the Supreme Alliancepletely yet. It is a case of being greedy.


    The Supreme Alliance is rich, and powerful, and has been very good to him. They are almost like the parents he would have wanted. If only they would allow him to take everything they have without asking for anything in return then they would be the perfect parents.


    Unfortunately, they are not the perfect parents. He can''t just leave whenever he wants and he certainly can''t be an Origin god without being questioned. He doesn''t want to sever his ties with them so he has to prepare a way to return.


    The Supreme Alliance made arrangements for his work and informed him of them. He went to the teleportation system that the Supreme Alliance has prepared to get him across to the nar portal of the ne.


    He was surprised when he heard what they arranged for him, "They cuddle us too much so I can''t leave."


    Teleportation is very expensive but they are willing to allow it to ensure his safety. With Teleportation as a means of transportation, it will not feel as if he is going across the ancient battlefield. It would look like he is just stepping into his backyard. But even then, his handler rmended that he get some escort for protection.


    The need for escorts for protection is on top of all the security at the teleportation checkpoints and the fact that they can track him through his identity mark. It shows just how much the Supreme Alliance cares for him. It also makes it painful to leave such a good life.


    Just the information channel of the Supreme Alliance is more than enough to continue to stick with them. After all, no one else seems to have gotten thetest news about the impending era of conquest.


    Apparently, the start of the era of conquest has been decided but only the Supreme Alliance, the realm lord, and Mother High Heaven know when it will start. He doesn''t know how the Supreme Alliance managed it but it is undoubtedly impressive. Still, he has to leave.


    Legion-5 left the Megastructure that is the headquarters of the Supreme Alliance. It is a building that almost rivals the Tower of Heaven in height. Legion-5 is sure that it is much smaller than the Tower of Heaven both in external size and internal size, but he isn''t sure which has better service.


    While the Tower of Heaven contains Origin energy in the highest concentration possible, the Tower of Supremacy caters to the luxury of its inhabitants.


    They don''t have the highest concentration of Origin energy in the Tower of Supremacy, but sometimes, luxury trumps practicality.


    You can''t have any race you want to eat delivered to you in the tower of heaven and neither can you have your whims catered to or be treated like royalty. That is more than enough for the Tower of Supremacy to beat the Tower of Heaven in his own book.


    "I am going to miss you." He said as he took onest look at the magnificent structure.


    The Tower of Supremacy stood in all its shininess. The materials that were used to build it enhance and reflect light perfectly. So light that strikes it is amplified before it is reflected. It makes the Tower of Supremacy very bright.


    The constant daylight in the ancient battlefield makes it so that anyone looking at it with their eyes will be stung by the re of reflection. Supreme beasts don''t have eyes so they don''t care. They live in luxury while punishing people who stare at their shining 100,000-floor building.


    "This way please." A Sovereign said to him.


    He nodded and followed the Sovereign to the teleportation circle.


    This Sovereign is one of the numerous ves created and nurtured by the Supreme Alliance. They are premium livestock.

 Chapter 1400 It Worked And That’s All That Matters.

    <h4>Chapter 1400 It Worked And That''s All That Matters. </h4>


    They are fake sovereigns who became sovereigns by fusing with the seed of power of dead Sovereigns. This will ensure that they are weak and cannot be Origin gods without attending the trial of heaven.


    The Tower of Supremacy is full of luxury ves like them. They serve the Supreme Beasts with all their lives including their bodies. As long as Supreme beasts can pay for them, they can even kill one and eat it.


    He is certain of this rule because he confirmed it. He tried once but he decided it was too expensive to indulge in it no matter how delicious the flesh of a Sovereign is.


    The Sovereign ve led him to the teleportation circle while others activated it. It is more of translocation since the space where he is in will be locked and swapped with the space at the target location.


    The teleportation artifact activated and froze him including his surroundings. For a brief moment, it felt like he was in frozen tar. Then he disappeared from the headquarters as the artifact translocated him.


    He should have appeared at the other end of the spatial tunnel. But something or someone stole him during the translocation. That something made him appear at a random ne in a location that just happened to be beside Soverick Ghastorix.


    "That was very unpleasant." Heined as he stumbled.


    He grumbled some more, "I thought I was going to die."


    "I said it would work and it worked. That''s all that matters." Soverick maintained. "You survived, didn''t you?"


    Legion-5 shook his head. "Your n was crazy and dangerous. I am probably the only Sovereign who could have survived that without terrible injuries."


    Soverick ignored hisints. He looked up into the sky and said, "The tribtion wille. It is certain. I can see it and I can see your suffering."


    Legion-5 and Legion-7 didn''t like the sound of that. "But you can''t see if we survive or not."


    Soverick was silent for a while. Then he said, "No, I can''t. It could be because it involves the Will of the void universe or because you died. Either way, all I can see is tribtion, suffering, and then darkness."


    Legion-5 muttered, "Tribtion, suffering, and then darkness."


    "Good luck. I am leaving. I have work to do." Soverick said.


    Then he broke apart. His body would be remade in the inner world of Legion-1. The work he has to do is within Legion-1''s inner world. It is quicker to have Legion-7 create a new body for him in Legion-1''s inner world than to travel across space to meet Legion-1.


    Legion-5 is also going to Legion-1. That is if he seeds in bing an Origin god. He only stopped here to deceive his trackers who will surelye to find him after he didn''t appear where he should have. Legion doesn''t want to lead them straight to Legion-1 so he came here first.


    It took a while for Legion-5 to get himself together. The forceful interruption of his teleportation took its toil on him. It didn''t help that Soverick''s prophecy was not good news. It weighed heavily on his mind.


    The first thing he did before flying up into the void outside the ne was to remove the mark of the Supreme Alliance on him. The Supreme Alliance can track him through the mark and he doesn''t want that.


    It would be nearly impossible for anyone other than an Origin god with a concept to remove the mark but he has Legion-7 who is in possession of a spark of consciousness. It was easy to discard the mark with the two of them working together to purge his existence of it.


    Then he flew into the void and out of the realm treepletely. This is ording to his n to leave the realm tree and breakthrough in the void of the universe. Then he will meet up with the others if he seeds.


    He said in amusement, "Here is to hoping that I don''t die during the tribtion."


    Legion-7 was not so amused. "You can''t joke about that. This is serious. I doubt the void universe will let me go if I fail."


    Legion-5 had to agree. "I doubt that too."


    His body and mind ached as he utilized his divine sense to propel himself upwards. It is the repercussion of interrupting a teleportation by teleporting to another location in the midst of the first teleportation. The experience was even worse because space had to be manipted in two different states for him to escape the way he did.


    Space is very strong. If it wasn''t so strong, then reality would be fragile. It is strong so it takes a lot of energy to ovee its resistance and manipte it. That''s why teleportation is very expensive.


    A single use of a teleportation device can be more expensive than the teleportation device itself.


    Even an organization as wealthy as the Supreme Alliance would prefer to spend some time escorting their younglings across the ancient battlefield and pay Origin gods to keep them safe rather than activate the teleportation device many times.


    However, the cost of transportation is not the only repercussion of the rigidity of space. If someone breaks a spatial tunnel created during a teleportation, withstands the bacsh of such an attempt, then forcefully maniptes the shards of the broken spatial tunnel into a liquid state to teleport to an anchor that is present within another coefficient of space, then they should be ready to be taken through a blender of pain.


    He was truly taken through that blender. His whole existence was pressurized and warped during the teleportation. Most Sovereigns would have been injured within an inch of their life. The fake sovereigns like the ves at the Tower Of Supremacy would have died directly if they experienced what he did.


    A dragon would have managed it with slight difort. He is not a dragon but a dragon is not better than him hence the slight difort. It was painful but at least his mind didn''t break. It is only aching from the stress.

 Chapter 1401 The Trump Card.

    <h4>Chapter 1401 The Trump Card.</h4>


    It is not a suitable condition for one who is about to undergo tribtion. Fortunately, he has divine life energy. Thanks to Legion-9, he will be in the best condition for his tribtion by the time he reaches the void.


    "We have to survive this," Legion-5 said and all of Legion agreed.


    They have invested a lot into Legion-5 so he must survive the tribtion. For that purpose, back for this tribtion.


    Not only will he surely die if he fails but so will Legion-7. Legion-7''s death will mean that Legion-1, Soverick, Ragnarok, and the tree father will also die. That is 6 out of 9 of them dying at once. That is a massive loss to Legion even if it is temporary.


    They will be resurrected by the void universe since they are Origin god''s now and the Tree Father can be saved through the soul sphere. But Legion-7''s death might be permanent. After all, the void universe will never allow him to exist again.


    That means they have a real chance of losing a clone and their independent resurrection system permanently. It is not a weed prospect to Legion.


    So Legion-5 must survive. They have the confidence that he will survive. That is as long as the void universe doesn''t go too far in its attempt to kill them.


    He has a strong body that can rival Origin gods and an affinity with lightning instead of a weakness to it. He might not bepletely immune to lightning but it shouldn''t be able to kill him easily.


    If all of that is not enough, they still have a card they haven''t yed yet. They yed that card now before it became toote to use it. They invoked thew matrix with hisprehension ofws.


    No matter how unwilling the void universe was, it bestowed him with cosmic energy that elevated his existence. It improved his stats but didn''t improve his authority since he has a seed of power already.


    He was right to leave the ancient battlefield because themotion caused by the bestowal was obvious even in the void.


    His stats are alreadyrge. They rival those of weak Origin gods so the void universe needed to bestow more cosmic energy than normal to multiply it by one hundred for eachw that heprehended.


    Since heprehended 20ws, that made for a total of x2000 times increase in power. At this point, it looked as if the void universe was pushing him to the threshold of the energy requirement needed to be a world god.


    It doesn''t look like he is bing a king ofw at all. Legion is sure of this because Legion-1 is about this strong after his concept engorged on cosmic energy. Fortunately, this urred in the void so no one apart from the realm lord and Mother High Heaven noticed it.


    NAME: Agrivo839,371,456A (Legion-5)


    RACE: Supreme Beast.


    BLOODLINE: Unknown Royal bloodline.


    POWER LEVEL: Sovereign Of Law.


    PHYSIQUE: Body Of Law (50%).


    HP: INFINITE


    STAMINA: INFINITE


    ENERGY QUALITY: Origin Energy.


    ENERGY QUANTITY: 393,992,899,374


    VITALITY: 22,880,979,287,831.


    ENDURANCE: 12,452,294,538,245


    STRENGTH: 18,623,283,737,637


    AGILITY: 5,923,285,737,893


    PERCEPTION: 10,538,723, 900,756


    SPIRIT: 11,935,951,023,367


    POWER: 321%


    AMPLIFICATION: 10,000


    DIVINE SENSE (GRADE): 1,000,000,000 (B)


    LAWS


    Fire: 100%


    Light: 100%


    Earth: 100%


    Water: 100%


    Air: 100%


    Darkness: 100%


    Space: 100%


    Time: 100%


    Causality: 100%


    Fate: 100%


    Soul: 100%


    ughter: 100%


    Devour: 100%


    Blood: 100%


    Life: 100%


    Creation: 100%


    Destruction: 100%


    Death: 100%


    Lightning: 100%


    Illusion: 100%


    OTHERS


    MANA AFFINITY: 85%


    LAW AFFINITY: 50%


    ELEMENTAL AFFINITY (GRADE): LIFE (DIVINE), DEVOUR (DIVINE), LIGHT (DIVINE), DARKNESS (DIVINE), FIRE (DIVINE), WATER (DIVINE), EARTH (DIVINE), AIR (DIVINE), LIGHTNING (DIVINE), SOUL (DIVINE), TIME (DIVINE), SPACE (DIVINE), CREATION (DIVINE), DESTRUCTION (DIVINE).


    DIVINE ABILITIES:


    1. COSMIC DRAGON HEART.


    2. ORIGIN DIAMOND.


    3. SPACE CRYSTAL BUTTERFLY.


    4. TIME WORM.


    5. LIQUID GRAVITON.


    6. SPARK OF CONSCIOUSNESS.


    7. GIANT OF ORDER.


    8. DEMON KING CROWN.


    9. CELESTIAL GODHOOD.


    STATUS: Host To Legion-7.


    He was impressed as he looked at his stats. An Origin god would have stats greater than 1,000,000,000 but his stats are at least a thousand times greater than that.


    Legion-5 said in anticipation, "Just a little more and we will reach the limit of the light side of the void universe."


    Legion-7 wasn''t so impressed. He said, "That is going to happen when we be Origin gods. Unfortunately, it means cosmic energy would be of little use to us when we be Origin gods."


    Legion-5 wasn''t discouraged. "We will be able to imbibe cosmic energy when we be world gods. We should look forward to that instead. For now, this will have to do."


    Legion-7 agreed. "It is not up to the level of Legion-1, but it will have to do. Either that or the void universe is cheating us."


    His power has reached 6 X 10^17. A new Origin god has a power rating of 1 X 10^14. An average star like Helios has a power rating of 5 X 10^20 while thergest star has a power rating of N X 10^25.


    That is the power output of Legion-1 and also the limit of the light side of the void universe. Any more power than that is disced to the dark side of the void universe. So there are bigger stars but they are on the dark side of the void universe. But at that point, they are more like ck holes than stars.


    He is still a long way from reaching that limit, but what he has achieved is more than good enough for a Sovereign ofw. If his current power is not enough just to break through to be an Origin god, then nothing can be enough.


    If he dies with this amount of power, then it means the void universe is bent on killing him. No amount of power possessed by an entity that still relies on the void universe will save him from that.


    -----


    A/N: Bonus chapter for power stones. Tomorrow, we will get the bonus chapter for golden tickets.

 Chapter 1402 Tribulation And Suffering.

    Chapter 1402 Tribtion And Suffering.


    ??The next thing he did was to change his location. It is a precaution. He is too close to the realm tree forfort. So he moved deeper into the void.


    Then he initiated his breakthrough by recalling the Origin essence that Legion-1 gave him when he reincarnated. That essence is deep within his Origin. That means it is close to Legion-1''s inner world since Legion-1 is in possession of their Origin. The Origin essence appeared within his inner world now and began to permeate his existence.


    The major goal of the Origin essence was to make him whole. It wanted to fuse every aspect of his existence so it tried to make every part of his existence be one. That includes Legion-1 and his other 8 divine abilities.


    All of them fused with him without a hitch. His strength began improving with the consolidation of his existence. This is because his immortal seed of power is bing one with him.


    The next thing that the Origin essence wanted to do was make him one with Legion-7. This also urred without any issues. His divine abilities became Legion-7''s and Legion-7''s soul spark also became his.


    The only hitch is that the two shards of power prevented their consciousness from bing one but that didn''t stop or dy the breakthrough in any way.


    Origin essence moved on to the next stage now that he has be a monolith existence. It moved next to make him be one with thew matrix of the void universe. This is where a problem that couldn''t be overlooked arose.


    Legion-7 was willing to fuse with him and they were Originally of one existence so they became one without issues. The void universe on the other hand rejected him outright.


    This rejection could either be because he has the crown of a demon king or the godhood of a Celestial. Or it could be because Legion-7 which it hates is a part of him now.


    He wasn''t willing to stop the breakthrough so he pushed for fusion with thew matrix. The fusion began but there was resistance so it was slow. Heavy tribtion also descended to disrupt the process.


    It was exactly as Soverick saw it. Thew matrix became a wild horse they had to tame. It is worse because it is a horse with the power of lightning.


    Legion-5 said with a little anxiety, "This is the Tribtion."


    Legion-7 encouraged him, "We will survive this."


    They spoke to each other as arge whirlpool appeared in the void. Thew matrix became so agitated that void energy was whipped into a frenzy. This caused a whirlpool of charged void energy to surround them. The whirlpool then erupted with purple lightning.


    The first shot of purple lightning struck them and sted a crater on their armored body. The crater was asrge as a fist. It broke through their defense immediately.


    "That is surprisingly painful." Both of them said at the same time.


    They did not expect the first strike to harm them so much. That blow was already devastating but many more came after. They were pushed back from the center of the whirlpool by the first lightning strike but another one struck them in the back and pushed them back to the center.


    Purple lightning from their surroundings bombarded them over and over again. More and more small craters were created on their body. They increased from the size of their fist to the size of their head. It hurt their mind as well as their bodies.


    This tribtion is not the normal tribtion of body, soul, and mind in that the effect of the tribtion does not ur separately one after the other. This lightning punishment is hurting all of their existence at once. It is not giving any part of their existence time to rest at all.


    Legion-5 chuckled. "This is surely suffering. I don''t see what else could be more painful than this."


    They have experienced the separation of body and soul before and they have experienced the consumption of their soul due to Chaos energy and they have experienced the burden of a singrity of infinite possibilities so they know pain. But this tribtion has taken the cake in the most painful thing they have ever experienced.


    It would be better if their soul, bodies, and minds were separated with a knife instead of being shredded little by little by lightning. This is despite the fact that they are supposed to be immune to lightning and any other type of energy attack.


    To top things off, not only is their body breaking as well as their soul, but they are also experiencing hallucinations and the destruction of their memories.


    Both the destruction of their memories and the hallucinations they are experiencing are not normal at all. The mind tribtion shouldn''t involve the destruction of memories but the void universe is using it against them.


    If not for Legion-7''s already immortal psychic engram, they wouldn''t be able to survive the destructive effect of the purple lightning on their memories. They would have lost their sense of self as their body was destroyed.


    If it wasn''t clear before, it is clear now that the void universe is biased against them. But they are strong. Their mind held on as well as their body. They were able to keep themselves whole by regenerating with their infinite supply of Origin energy. The durability of Liquid graviton armor was maintained this way so the craters couldn''t destroy them.


    Legion-7 wouldn''t have been able to survive the lightning if he were alone and Legion-5 surely wouldn''t be able to survive the destruction of his memories alone. But they are not alone. The two of them made up for their weaknesses in the physical and spiritual aspects.


    However, things got worse as time passed. The purple lightning turned into violet with a tiny hint of ck. Their body was finally sted through.


    Ance of this special lightning went through them like a spear. It literally perforated their existence. A gaping hole appeared in their body, soul, mind, and memories.

 Chapter 1403 The Darkness.

    Chapter 1403 The Darkness.


    ??For a moment there, they lost their identity. Legion-5 for sure forgot why he was in the void and what he was doing in the middle of a lightning storm. He was confused but only for an instant. The other clones helped him with his identity and purpose. Then Legion-7 restored his fragmented consciousness.


    Legion-5 jested, "I think the void universe wants to kill us."


    He is joking to mask the pain. Despite reaching what he thought was the limit of pain, they still felt more pain because of thest attack.


    Pain is the psychological response to damage to existence. It helps to determine a phenomenon that can threaten one''s existence. That violet lightning is a threat to their existence hence the pain.


    He might have joked about it but Legion is certain that the void universe wants to kill them. It has not been up to a minute but they have already been pushed to the closest point of death that they have ever reached since they reincarnated.


    Not only did the lightning change color, but even the whirlpool around them also changed from ck to red. The storm formed into a red cage charged with power. By the looks of things, the void universe does want to kill them.


    More and more of the special violet lightning was created around them in the red whirlpool of a storm. Then they were discharged suddenly.


    All of the lightning managed to find their way to Legion-5''s body. So his body was turned into perforated cheese very quickly.


    It happened so fast. Most of their body was lost in seconds. Their arms and legs have turned to dust. Part of their head and most of their torso are gone too.


    The physical injury cannotpare to the injury of the soul. Their consciousness despite having two of it was tethering on the edge of total copse. Any more and they will die.


    They activated the time reversal of the time worm''s divine ability quickly. Their injuries regenerated instantly. It was as if time was being rewinded. The pain disappeared suddenly and they were whole again.


    "That was close."


    "Thew of order disappointed us."


    "But we were prepared."


    If they hadn''t prepared for Legion-5 to be nearly unkible then they would be dead by now. Thew of order that usually disrupts and destabilizes energy attacks is not working for them at all. It has taught them a valuable lesson not to rely on thew of order.


    In fact, they have learned not to rely on any Supremew that isn''t theirs. It could disappoint them when they truly need it. It certainly will disappoint them when they are fighting the owner of the supremew.


    Fortunately, their confidence wasn''tpletely in the divine ability of the giants of order. They have other divine abilities to rely on. So it would take a lot more to kill them.


    Even so, their resistance to death was tested to the limit. The tribtion continued for a few more minutes during which they came close to death several times.


    The good news is that the fusion with thew matrix was still going on. It might be slow but it is progress.


    The bad news is that the progress of the fusion became slower the more injured they were. So the progress slowed down terribly as the lightning tribtion got more aggressive as time passed.


    The amount of lightning strikes they received per second increased from 10 to 100. Time reversal had to remain activated constantly to keep them alive while simultaneously maintaining the fusion with thew matrix. Anypse in judgment and they will die immediately.


    It was as if they were being beaten as they tried to dig up a treasure. They couldn''t get distracted from digging by focusing only on defending themselves from the beating and they couldn''t forgo defense to expedite the digging.


    They had to do the same at the same time. The tribtion forced them to walk a fine line between the struggle to survive and to ascend to immortality.


    Fortunately, things began to change for them soon. Theypleted the fusion of their existence with thew matrix. Both Legion-7 and Legion-5 felt the change immediately.


    Their consciousness began producing a mental power capable of changing the world without the use of Origin energy. It was soul force and it is also capable of opening up a space within thew matrix where their will is supreme.


    It was ironic that what the void universe feared didn''t ur. Legion-7 didn''t be aw eater because he couldn''t eat thew fragments in thew matrix anymore.


    The crown of Chaos rejected thew fragments and the divine ability of thew of order prevented him from devouringws. So Legion-7 will need other sources ofw fragments such as seeds of power. It doesn''t affect him because it is already what he was doing before.


    This development caused the void universe to ease off the lightning storm. They also increased in power immediately so the damage of the lightning to them reduced drastically.


    Then cosmic energy entered their existence from Helios and their concept engorged freely on it. They reached the limit of the light side of the void universe immediately.


    Two things happened simultaneously at that point. The void universe gave up on harassing them so the lightning tribtion stopped immediately.


    The turbulent whirlpool suddenly lost its momentum and died down immediately. However, they didn''t experience the sudden peace because their consciousness was somewhere else.


    What they saw was darkness. It was pitch and total darkness. Their soul force couldn''t extend out of their minds and they couldn''t use a domain. They couldn''t even move their bodies. They appeared to be trapped in their mind in this darkness.


    They thought to themselves, "This must be the darkness that Soverick saw."


    "At least we are not dead yet."


    They looked around and saw something that made them recognize where they were immediately. There is nothing in this dark world except for 3 massive consciousnesses.


    -----

 Chapter 1404 Befitting For One Who Dominates.

    <h4>Chapter 1404 Befitting For One Who Dominates. </h4>


    These 3 consciousnesses pressed down on their minds like heavy mountains. The pressure was stifling but they werergely unharmed.


    The two clones'' consciousness is stronger than before so they were able to bear the burden of the pressure of the consciousness of a high-order existence despite just being the two of them here in this world.


    They were so rxed that they could finally tell some details from the three consciousnesses. They didn''t feel any form of power from the 3 of them. There was nothing likews be they true or false, supreme or not. They didn''t sense any divine power or divinity and they didn''t feel any demonic power or sin from them.


    The 3 consciousnesses are just that. They are consciousnesses. Not physical or spiritual or energy beings. The Suppression the clones feel is purely mental. It made them impressed that a being would have a consciousness that is sorge.


    The three consciousnesses are indeed veryrge. They are like 3 mountains while the clones are 2 boulders. It could be that what they are seeing is just the minds of the 3 entities or the mental manifestation of their physical forms. Either way, they are very strong.


    What seemed odd to them was that the 3 consciousnesses seemed to be just heads. The heads are also irregr. They have many indistinct faces on them. The faces on the three heads are also always changing.


    The 3 consciousnesses spoke to them,


    "Wee Legion"


    "You have broken"


    "Another t of the"


    "Void universe"


    "Congrattions"


    "We were wrong"


    "You have proven"


    "Us wrong"


    "We debated"


    "This moment"


    "It is because"


    "You don''t need"


    "The prize for"


    "This T that"


    "You have broken"


    "But we must"


    "Give you one "


    "It is the rules"


    "Is it because of the shard of power?" he asked them.


    "Yes"


    "And no"


    "It has"


    "Something to"


    "Do with it"


    "But Not"


    "Entirely"


    "Anyways"


    "You have fused"


    "The three paths"


    "Of Evolution in"


    "The void universe"


    "As such,"


    "You will be"


    "Granted a crown"


    "Fit for one"


    "That dominates"


    "Power in all"


    "Forms and shapes"


    "Do I get to choose what I get?" He asked them.


    They didn''t answer his question. They continued from where they stopped talking.


    "Go forth"


    "And dominate"


    "The myriad powers"


    "Be Better"


    "And evolve"


    "Further into"


    Then they all said together, "GREATNESS!"


    He felt something appear in his existence but he also felt the dark world trying to repel him then. He tried to dy the rejection to ask his question.


    "What will happen if I be a world god now?"


    Their many smiled in amusement.


    "If you do"


    "Then you would"


    "Have be"


    "A world god"


    "Without a supremew"


    "Your consciousness"


    "Would be your"


    "Supremew"


    "You will break"


    "Another t"


    "Of the void"


    "Universe that way"


    He got his answer. But they didn''t let him go then.


    They asked with slight amusement,


    "So will you"


    "Do it"


    "Or not"


    Then they pushed him out of wherever this was. The two of them returned to the void universe and found the whirlpool dying down. They focused on what just happened to them.


    First, they thought about the question that three consciousnesses asked them.


    "So will you do it or not?"


    They understand the implications of that question. There must be a reason or many reasons not to do it. At least not to do it right now.


    If there were only benefits and no disadvantages with bing world gods, then they don''t have to think much about it before doing so. But there are some disadvantages so they have to think carefully about it before making a decision.


    They have met the requirements to be a world god. They have a world spark and a world engine. They have also reached the power requirement to build a world. All they need is a world seed and they will be a world god.


    They thought about the pros and cons before deciding.


    "We will wait. It is not good to be shortsighted."


    Bing a world god will grant them arge boost to their power but it wille at a cost. For one, they have to fuse with their Origin for them to be a world god.


    Their Origin is in Legion-1''s control right now. Trying to be a world god means that Complete Unity has to take ce. Every clone of Legion will have to fuse with Legion-1 immediately but that is not their n.


    It is a bad idea to be a world god now for many reasons. If they all return to their Origin now, all their concepts and divine abilities of the clones that haven''t be Supreme will be lost.


    Legion doesn''t want that. That''s why they nned for Unity with Legion-7 first before Unity with their Origin.


    The most important reason why they don''t want to be a world god now is that they will be like other world gods. They will have only one Supremew and one world.


    Legion doesn''t want to be a normal world god. They want to be a world god with multiple worlds. For that to ur, all of them must have their own supremews at least before they unite with their Origin.


    They can''t let their reincarnation effort go to waste. They will lose Soverick''s eyes, Helios'' concept, Legion-8''s budding concept, and many other benefits of reincarnation.


    The third reason why they don''t want to be world god yet is because they will have to detach Helios from thew matrix. This will cause them to lose their ess to cosmic energy. They know that it will happen at some point in time but they want to dy it for as much as possible.


    Thest reason why they can''t be a world god yet is that they don''t have a world seed. They will need to acquire one before they canplete their breakthrough.


    Currently, they are iplete Origin gods. They need to unite with their Origin to be full Origin gods but that doesn''t mean they are weak.

 Chapter 1405 Superior To The Soul Sphere.

    <h4>Chapter 1405 Superior To The Soul Sphere.</h4>


    They already have power at the limit of the light side of the void universe. So they can do something they have wanted to do since they met the realm lord in the Gattling ne.


    They said at the same time, "The first thing we must do is remove the system from monitoring us."


    The two of them have synchronized thoughts now that their existence has fusedpletely. Legion-5 was already part of Legion-7 when they performed the second stage of unity but now their souls havepletely be one.


    There''s no boundary between their souls anymore so their thoughts are aligned. They should be one entity if not for their shard of power anchoring their consciousness separately.


    Synchronized thought is a side effect of unity. It is not the synchronization of memory that they had as clones. They used to have different thoughts in the past but now their thoughts align because they have the same spark of consciousness of Legion-7.


    This is the state that Legion will have once they havepleted the third stage of Unity. That will ur when they all have their Supremews. For now, they are yet toplete the second stage of Unity.


    They are a single entity as they have always been but they are closer to each other than ever. It is their strength and foundation for seeking perfection.


    It is why the three consciousnesses believed that they didn''t need the reward for fusing all 3 paths of evolution. It is because Legion is going toplete Unity in the future and will achieve what Legion-5 did on their own. At that time, Legion would also be powerful enough to control the power that they gained from the fusion.


    These are all things that they wouldn''t want others to know such as the realm lord. So the first thing they want to do after bing Origin gods is to remove the surveince of the system.


    They have never trusted the realm lord but their distrust for him extended to the system ever since he came to Legion-7 for a deal. That distrust increased when Salvini offered them the same thing that the realm did.


    It might be paranoia but if the realm lord has anything to do with Salvini, that means the realm lord and the first sage are working together. That is a lot to be worried about.


    They are Origin gods now so they have a much closer connection to their Origin. Through it, they can tell Legion-1''s position and pinpoint the connection that the system is using to monitor them.


    They cut off that connection between themselves and the system. They did the same thing for other Legions that had started Unity with them. So they lost the system and so did Soverick and Ragnarok. That leaves Legion-8 still with the system.


    Legion-5 spoke, "We are Legion-unity now."


    Legion-7 agreed, "We are the first of our future."


    Legion-unity then thought to themselves in anticipation, "There''s so much I want to do. Which should I check first?"


    "I think we should look at the crown of dominion first."


    Their breakthrough has brought a lot of improvements to them. It didn''t only lead to the breaking of aw of the universe and its subsequent reward, it also led to theplete integration of Legion-7 with Legion-5, Legion-6, and Legion-1.


    Legion-7 has reached the Origin god level now so he can take over the souls of the clones who were stolen from him by the void matrix. This means that the independent resurrection system hase online once again.


    Ragnarok and Soverick who were previously disconnected from him after bing an Origin god have returned now. But the improvements are more than that. Legion-7 has now reced the function of the soul sphere for the Legion.


    They can share all types of energy through the Legion-7. He is even more useful than the soul sphere since he is literally Legion. The clones that have united with him can also share their concepts through him.


    That is something that the soul sphere can''t do. Legion-unity decided to test it first.


    His tail shifted. It broke apart and became fragmented. Each fragment copsed into a tiny ck orb. These ck orbs were devouring void energy around themselves like a cloud of hungry locusts. They grew stronger the more they devoured.


    Red runes appeared around the cloud of tiny ck orbs and bound them into the shape of tails. 10 of such tails were created from his single tail. This caused the devouring power of the tiny ck orbs to bebined. It caused a whirlpool to begin to form around them.


    Void energy was churned into a whirlpool that was being devoured slowly into their tails.


    Legion-unity observed, "This looks like sess."


    "Ragnarok would have used it better but this is still good."


    They can use Ragnarok''s concept of the bottomless abyss but they can''t be his concept. The difference between the two is massive. They are more like Sovereigns ofw who possess the concept and not Origin gods who have be one with it.


    While the power of the concept is limited in their hands, they can use the other concepts of the other clones in Unity without limit on the number. That means they have ess to Legion-1''s two concepts, Soverick''s eyes as well as Ragnarok''s concept.


    That is more than enough to make up for theck of power. They will surely be able to achieve more when theyplete the second level of Unity and when they achieve the third level.


    "I think we should try Cosmic force first."


    "We can''t try it out here in the open. What if we attract the attention of a passing world god?"


    "Fine. We will try it when we reach Legion-1''s inner world."


    Legion-5 has always wanted to try cosmic force without limit. He is an Origin god now so he can bear more bacsh. Plus he has a special domain thanks to his unique inner world that he wants to try.

 Chapter 1406 Substitute For Universal Artifacts.

    Chapter 1406 Substitute For Universal Artifacts.


    ??Unfortunately, he still has to wait before letting loose. For now, he has to reach Legion-1 safely. So they began flying towards him.


    They can teleport but they don''t want to leave any spatial traces behind that the Supreme Alliance can track. In the meantime, they can focus on the crown of dominion.


    It is the crown that befits the one that dominates and just like the soul sphere, it affects all of Legion.


    There is a ring of white light around their head. It appeared after they returned from the meeting with the 3 consciousnesses. The ring is not only on their head, it is on the other clones too. It is like the soul sphere. They all possess it.


    One clear difference is that there is no main crown of domination. It appears that there is no difference between the crowns so they have the same thing.


    Most peculiar is that the ck orb that usually rotates around them has fused with the white ring and is revolving around their head along the white ring. So the ring has be the new orbit for the shard of power.


    "This must be why we have two lines of thought." They observed.


    They noticed that their shards of power were still two after they fused. The two of them are revolving along the white ring like trains along a train track. They also anchor their two individual identities. So despite the fact their bodies and souls have fused, they still think they are two and not one.


    It is a strange situation. It is as if the personality of a single person has split into two. But there is no sense of rejection between them. Sometimes they act as one and other times they think of separate things at the same time. They know they are one because the mental resources of their existence have to be shared between them.


    "This is not a bad thing."


    "But the crown of dominion is useless to us."


    "We don''t need to create a path forward. We already have a path ahead of us."


    "Fortunately, it is notpletely useless to Legion. The other ones can use it."


    They found themselvespleting each other''s thoughts. It doesn''t feel strange at all.


    The crown of dominion as its name implies helps them dominate the paths of power. They are an Origin god but they can use the crown of demon kings or the Authorities of Celestials to advance their concept into a supremew instead of fusing other concepts into it.


    Power is power to them. They can dominate it and use it in any form to grow stronger. But it is not useful to them because they don''t need it anymore. Even so, it gave them an idea about what Universal artifacts are.


    "We already have the ability of the soul sphere and the crown of dominion. I''m guessing we already have the power of many other types of Universal artifacts too."


    "Maybe Universal artifacts are just the abilities of special entities. They might even be the organs of those existences."


    "If they are then they are more simr to Soverick''s artifact and the Tree Father''s stigmata."


    Then they shrugged. "We will know for sure when we build one."


    Universal artifacts are unique but they don''t seem to be special to Legion anymore. Sure, Universal artifacts can grant Origin gods abilities they don''t have and those abilities are something that no normal Origin god should have.


    These abilities are beyond the rules of operation of the void universe but they don''t seem to be out of reach for Legion anymore. They have broken too many rules to know that they can attempt to build their own. That way they will be able to acquire something that they truly need.


    That''s where their testing of the crown of domination ended for them. They focused on their ns next.


    The breaking of anotherw of the universe has not changed their ns. Acquiring a world seed is still high on their to-do list. They do not n to use it now but they might need it in the future.


    Besides, they will all definitely need a lot of world seeds if their n for multiple worlds works out. While Legion is rich and they can afford a world seed, actually buying it is not so easy. A world seed is a very raremodity. Despite it being expensive, there are always trillions of Origin gods in the void universe waiting to buy it.


    The major problem is that the supply is very low. World gods are the usual suppliers but it is already very difficult to get a world fragment from them much less a world seed. So despite their wealth, they have to wait a long while to buy it or find a world seed themselves. The alternative is buying an inferior product from Mother Heaven which they don''t want.


    There is also the problem of wealth. Legion can surely afford 2 world seeds maybe even 3, but they will need 9 of them for their ns. So they have to start working for more wealth ahead of when they need the world seeds.


    They moved far away from their current location. They passed by Helios so that any races they left behind would be burned away. Then they teleported from there to Legion-1. They found him busy with the most important agenda which is resource acquisition.


    ----The Immortal Lands.


    The immortalnds is the ce of living for immortals. It is outside the realm and located above the realm trees in the sea of void energy. The material that makes up the immortalnds repels void energy which caused each continent to form a bubble of absence of void energy around.


    This is the least unique characteristic of the immortalnds. Not only can''t void energy destroy them with its corrosive properties but neither can Origin gods or even world gods. If not for the fact that the continents can''t be controlled by anyone, they would be taken away just for their durability.


    ----


    A/N: Can you remember the Universal Artifacts that the four consciousnesses were talking about? This was after Legion created the singrity of infinite possibilities in Helios''s arc. How many of the Universal Artifacts can Legion substitute for now?

 Chapter 1407 How To Acquire Resources.

    Chapter 1407 How To Acquire Resources.


    ??Despite the inability to possess the immortal continent, they are still very valuable toy im to. Even some world gods try toy im to them for reasons other than their evesting properties.


    Immortals care for little apart from pleasure and benefits. They certainly do not care for the ownership ofnd toy their heads. Every Origin god can live in their domains. It is not safe as anyone can sense it and barge in. But then again, what ispletely safe?


    However, these immortal beings fight tooth and nail for the ownership of the immortal continents. Every Origin god wants them because of the springs that produce soul stones. This violence andpetition is a serious and rampant issue because the immortalnds are not enough to go around.


    The immortalnds are in limited numbers and an Origin god can never have too many soul stones. This has made soul stones very difficult to acquire if one doesn''t have a world god to rely on.


    So desperate measures have to be taken to acquire resources in the immortalnds. Especially if one wants to buy world seeds. These desperate measures usually start with sneaking into private property.


    Legion-1 is currently doing that. He is sneaking into an area on the immortal continent with an owner. This immortal continent is very big. It is farrger than the ancient battlefield of the realm of high heaven. It is about 100 billion km square in surface area.


    If its surface was a square, it would have sides of 315,000 kilometers in length. It is not a square. It is irregr with the longest straight measurement being about 500,000 kilometers.


    This immortalnd doesn''t belong to a single person or a single faction. Most immortalnds are like this. Every Origin god with a certain amount of strength can carve out a piece of it for themselves. The only ones capable of staking a im to a whole immortal continent are those with Supremews, realm lords, and world gods.


    This immortalnd is home to many Origin gods. They can live in peace most of the time. And they only need a little space to build their abode. The problem of conflictes when the matter of soul stones gets involved.


    No one will care too much if you carve out arge portion ofnd to live on. But there will be a problem as soon as that area ofnd contains a soul spring. It doesn''t matter how small the area ofnd is. It may cause some unconvinced or desperate individuals to sneak into your territory.


    This issue cannot be avoided because while Origin essence can be umted slowly and is best used to grow stronger, soul essence means quick resurrection. And it can also be shared amongst others, unlike Origin essence. So it can be used as currency.


    Unfortunately, no one is generous enough to share soul stones. Origin gods hardly even use it for transactions. It is that valuable. So a soul spring that produces soul stones is very valuable. If you have it then you must anticipate the attempts to sneak into your property.


    Now Legion doesn''t need soul stones. They have Origin essence and divine life energy so they are not desperate for soul stone. But soul stones are the generally epted Legal tender for Origin gods. Even though they have arge amount of wealth from gods, that wealth has to be converted to soul stones first before it bes useful.


    Legion-1 could approach the group of Origin gods that have banded together toy im to this soul spring and make a transaction with them in exchange for soul stones. He has a lot of things that can be used by Origin gods to forge and they will fetch a high price. There''s no worry that he won''t be able to make the sale, but he won''t do that because that''s for suckers.


    At least that is not his first choice. He has to see if he can steal the soul stones first and get away with it before he tries to sell his stuff. That''s why he is sneaking around.


    He can''t be seen with the eye or the divine sense. He is in a fold in space and is quietly approaching the soul spring. A normal world beast would be able to do this but not as well. After all, they don''t have a concept with 7ws and thew of space as its foundation. They would be sensed this close to the soul spring.


    Legion-1 got close to the soul spring enough to see it with his eyes. That isn''t as close as one might think but it is close enough for his mouth to reach.


    That is the requirement to use his first concept. If he can see it, then he can surely swallow it. But first, he checked his surroundings.


    The soul spring is ake. Soul Springs are the only bodies of water on the immortal continent. The water is turbid white like milk. It is also very shallow such that one can easily scoop out the white crystalline stones at its bottom.


    There is a barrier around the soul spring that would block any other world beast and most Monarchs of space. But it is easy for him to bypass the barriers around the soul spring. Unless they can create a seal capable of sealing an Origin god around the wholeke, they can''t stop an Origin god with a 7w concept of space.


    Even if they manage to achieve that, it will only stop him from sneaking in. It won''t stop him from breaking in.


    "Now how do we do this?" he said as he stood above theke.


    He is currently not alone. He is never alone mentally and spiritually but he is not alone physically right now. His question is directed towards hispanion. This question is not something that can be taken lightly so they have to consider it carefully.


    ----


    A/N: Can you guess who thepanion is?


    Also, this bonus chapter is courtesy of Dungeater for his gift.

 Chapter 1408 Economy Of Stealing.

    <h4>Chapter 1408 Economy Of Stealing. </h4>


    Getting here is not the problem. Leaving is the problem. He is currently unnoticed. But that will change if he tries to take anything from the soul spring. While he can sneak past actual barriers without interacting with them and tripping their rms, he can''t take soul stones without interacting with the world. That means the waters of theke will ripple.


    The rippling of theke will definitely be noticed. There are a lot of Origin gods with their divine sense and their eyes focused on theke currently. They will know that someone has snuck in once he makes his move.


    This won''t change even if they use illusion to deceive their perception. It is because while they might seed in hiding the fact that theke has been touched, they won''t be able to hide the fact they have used illusion.


    The concept of Origin gods protects them by resisting other concepts. So they might seed in fooling an Origin god but they won''t be able to keep them ignorant of that action.


    Their concept will sense the activity of another concept on them and the Origin gods will know that they have fallen into an illusion. So either way, they won''t be able to avoid informing the Origin gods that they have made a move.


    Legion-unity replied after thinking for a while. "The alternative is to use the advantage of stealth to attack the guards first. But that''s a bad idea."


    Legion-1 nodded. "We are here to steal, not to fight."


    Stealth will surely give them an advantage if they decide to get rid of the guards first, but it will waste their time and make it more difficult to steal and escape with what they have stolen.


    Legion-unity continued, "Exactly. We don''t have a good alternative. We should go with the best n and prepare for the worst. We will just fight our way out. And if it doesn''t work, then we will pay them off."


    Legion-unity is also here. They snuck in with Legion-1 too. They shouldn''t be able to utilize space to hide like Legion-1 since they don''t have that concept. But Legion-1 can so they can. Every Origin-level clone that has united with Legion-7 can share their concepts.


    Legion-1 agreed with a shrug. "That is the only way. It will be difficult but I think we can pull it off."


    He doesn''t appear to care too much about being caught. This is because despite how everything looks, they''re not doing anything illegal. Sneaking around is a basic right and stealing is not illegal. Getting caught, however, is illegal.


    Might make right. They can steal and everything will be alright as long as they can get away with it. If the owner can''t maintain the ownership of something, then they shouldn''t own it in the first ce.


    The problem will arise if they are unable to escape. Even if they can''t escape and are captured, they can pay for their transgression and can still go ahead to make the deal that they came here for. The Origin gods here won''t hold a grudge against them for attempting to steal.


    Being immortal means it is both proper for you to take offense at everything and also foolish to take offense at anything. Immortality means you can do anything you want. But most don''t take offense for attempted theft. Only a sessful theft is worthy of anger and taking offense.


    Sure you can take offense that some people tried to steal from you. But how far are you going to go with taking offense when people are always going to try to steal from you? Immortality has a way of teaching you to let some things go.


    Just as you can take offense because you are immortal, people can always try to steal because they are immortal too. Even if you decide to take offense and kill the offender, that is not going to stop the offender froming back with more trouble for revenge.


    So it is better to let bygones be bygones when you catch a thief. The thieves will also pay to be pardoned. It is a lesser amount than they would need to resurrect. This way, it is a win-win for both sides.


    You will earn money from thieves as long as you are strong enough to protect what is yours and thieves will be willing to take the risk to steal as a kind of investment or gamble.


    This dynamic has created a new type of economy based on thievery. This is why Legion is not afraid of being caught. They will simply have to pay fines and then make the deal they came for in the first ce.


    Legion-1 is very strong but he still chose to sneak in. He doesn''t have a supremew yet so only those with Supremews can beat him.


    There is none around that he knows of but he didn''t attack the soul spring brazenly because he is outnumbered. After all defense on home ground is easier than attacking.


    As things are, he would be uncertain of escaping stealing if he was alone. But the presence of Legion-unity has increased their chances of escaping.


    The two of them regarded each other. They look like mirror images of each other. They are featureless like Supreme Beasts. They don''t have eyes, nose, mouths, ears, or anything. They simply look like white crystal statues with two arms, two legs, one tail, and two blue horns.


    But then they shared a grin and their features began to change. They changed but there is still very little difference between them. They look exactly alike. They are both armored in a sealed and scaled ck material of Liquid graviton. Even their tails are armored.


    The simrities between them are extensive. They both have four eyes with purple pupils and ck sclera. They both have a crown of interlocked ck horns around the two prominent and longer blue horns on their heads. They both have runes etched on their scales.

 Chapter 1409 Bleed Them Dry.

    <h4>Chapter 1409 Bleed Them Dry. </h4>


    One set of runes is white and is etched directly onto the armor while the other set is ckish purple and floats above the scales. Their wide jaws that split their face shared an identical grin that disyed their numerous ck teeth.


    If there is any physical difference between them, it is that the white halo of light atop their heads is not identical. One halo has one ck sphere attached to it while the other halo has two ck spheres.


    The other difference is within them. If one can see within them, you will notice that even though they both have inner worlds, their inner worlds are different.


    One inner world is ringed with a red crown and contains nothing visible. The other inner world has andmass in it. On thatndmass is a green elf, a battle sage monkey, a multicolored spiritual entity, and an borate construction. Beyond these differences, the two of them might as well be the same entities. Even their soul fluctuations are identical.


    The two of them moved together as one. Legion-unity disappearedpletely while Legion-1 opened his mouth wide towards theke. A formless force enveloped arge proportion of theke.


    This force locked space within it. Then the frozen space began to contract. It shrunk and flew towards Legion-1''s open mouth. This is world devour in action.


    Legion-1 thought to himself as he stole arge portion of theke, "If I am going to steal then I might as well steal a lot."


    He could have taken a few of the stones but he didn''t. That''s just inefficient and he doesn''t like wastage.


    He was full of excitement but someone roared in anguish. It is as if they felt pained down to the foundation of their existence. The fighting hasn''t even begun but the sight of what legion-1 has done damaged someone''s mind and soul.


    The person cried out, "This is too much."


    Someone else screamed. "You''re too greedy."


    This is clearly too much. Legion-1 didn''t steal some soul stones. He is stealing 70% of whatever is in theke including theke. A small ripple in the calmke would have been noticed much less a sudden fall in the level of the water. Stealing the water of theke is bad for theke so it is not a wonder why the Origin god felt pained.


    They saw the effect of the concept and they saw the perpetrator. They used these clues to identify the criminal who wanted to bleed them dry.


    "It is a world beast. These damned world beasts are always so greedy."


    "They are also powerful so we have to be careful."


    "World beast or not, this person is not leaving here today. Surround it quickly. Activate the space-locking formation and stealth-breaking formation immediately."


    It is clear to the defenders that Legion-1 is a world beast. World beasts are best at escaping. They can''t be trapped in a domain and their concept of space makes them very fast. But they are prepared for him. If they can''t trap him with a domain, they will trap him with their bodies and they will lock down space so that he can''t escape.


    They activated the stealth-breaking formation immediately after they noticed Legion-1. A three-dimensional of blue lines appeared in their territory. It is formed byyers of thes stacking on top of each other at fixed intervals.


    Anyone hidden through the distortion of light, maniption of shadows or darkness, or creation of illusion will be exposed by the blue lines. Their existence will obstruct thes and create an obstruction that will expose them in the 3-dimensional structure.


    Even those hidden in folds of space will be exposed. However, they didn''t see Legion-unity despite the activation of the stealth-breaking array. It is because the blue lines went through his position without hindrance.


    He is using Legion-1''s 7w conceptposed of thews of space, fire, air, water, earth, light, and darkness so his existence has blendedpletely with space. The only reason why they found Legion-1 is because he couldn''t remain hidden after interacting with the world by activating World Devour.


    So these people are not aware that there is someone still hidden and didn''t n for him. They surrounded theke inrge numbers. Then they activated the space locking array. The space-locking array trapped Legion-8 but he remained hidden.


    Next, they surrounded theke on all sides as they watched it disappear down the mouth of the thief. Their eyes were burning with anger but they didn''t let their emotions ruin their ns.


    They formed a thick barrier with the manifestation of their concepts around theke. A single Origin god made a dome of earth around theke that is more than a kilometer thick. Another Origin god made a wall of fire and another added a wall of ice.


    By all looks, they have captured the daring world beast. They became more rxed and full of anticipation for when they wouldy their hands on the thief.


    "I hate world beasts so much. They are too troublesome to kill."


    "Yeah. They have ridiculously strong bodies and high resistance to concepts."


    "It doesn''t matter. We are 20 and it is one."


    They don''t want to fight. So one of them said to Legion-1, "You can''t run away world beast. We have you surrounded. Just ept defeat, return what you took, and make amends."


    Legion-1 could try to escape but it is highly unlikely that he would seed. So they believed that they had the right to ask for his surrender. They expected him to argue or at most resist. They didn''t expect space to suddenly fluctuate within the space-locking array.


    Someone yelled at him, "Give up. It is impossible to escape."


    "Don''t push us or we will turn your body into a top-grade artifact."


    They went on guard immediately. They were expecting some sort of attack from the world beast. But then another world beast suddenly appeared.

 Chapter 1410 Double Entendre.

    <h4>Chapter 1410 Double Entendre.</h4>


    Legion-1 was beside theke. He was more or less at the center of the encampment. They saw him take off towards the closest part of the dome blocking his way. So all of their attention was rightfully focused on him when Legion-Unity appeared. It didn''t help that Legion- Unity appeared at the opposite end of the barricade.


    Legion-Unity appeared right in front of an Origin god with his mouth wide open. He looked like a world beast, but what came out of his mouth was nothing rted to world beasts.


    A torrent of charged white liquid poured out of his opened jaws. The liquid sma exploded immediately after it came in contact with the world. It formed an exploding horizontal white pir that struck the defensive ring in front of him and the Origin god behind it.


    They were prepared for anything. Or at least they thought they were. Their concepts were deployed. Walls of earth, fire, water, air, and various other phenomena were erected. These walls are as tall as mountains and as thick as hills. Any attack would be resisted. Again, or so they thought.


    But they didn''t prepare for a dragon breath that has reached the limit of the light side of the universe in terms of raw power. Unlike them, he has been preparing for this attack for quite a while.


    The defenders didn''t know what hit them. Metaphorically and literally. The world became white and painful because of the searing heat. It is as if a star exploded in their faces. It was all they could feel.


    All the barriers broke and shattered alongside the Origin gods who erected them. If not for the Origin god with the ability to redirect force, then this attack alone would have been more than enough to demolish every opposition. This Origin god didn''t try to manipte the attack. He imposed his concept on space and forced space itself to bend. Space was warped ever so slightly, so the straight line of attack became curved. The attack was redirected like this.


    The attack was spread out against the barrier, so not everything was destroyed. But the barrier was close to the end. It was teetering on the edge. A small push, and it would fall.


    The defenders knew this. So they rushed to defend the hole in their barricade. It was the smart decision. But that left Legion-1rgelycking in opposition.


    The smart decision for Legion-1 would be to capitalize on that weakness. But he didn''t. He continued pushing in the opposite direction. Then he released his own dragon breath.


    Another star appeared within the barricade. It struck the other side of the dome, where resistance was the least. This time there wasn''t an Origin god to redirect the attack. His dragon breath pierced through every opposition. It only stopped when the expensive emergency energy barrier appeared.


    Legion-1''s eyes glinted sharply. He murmured, "Here it is."


    This is the reason why he didn''t join Legion-Unity to take advantage of the first hole in the barricade. That attempt would have failed because this barrier would havee up. Then the two of them would be in the same spot and would be quickly surrounded by the defenders. He had seen it in a vision before it happened.


    But now the energy barrier has appeared, so he can join up with Legion-Unity. He did so immediately. He used the crystal space butterfly divine ability to teleport to Legion-Unity.


    Legion-Unity was already plunging into the hole. The defenders had reinforced the hole with more power, so it would have been difficult for him to break the dome quickly, even with his Origin diamond divine ability. But now there are two of them.


    They shed forward, and everything in front of them was torn apart. The powerful energy barrier is unidirectional, so it can only defend against attacks from a single direction. It is currently patching the second hole so it can block their path. The two of them were able to escape easily this way.


    Someone roared in anger behind them, "Activate the continent wide space lock array. Activate the battleships. Chase them to the ends of the world. Chase them until death and beyond."


    If this person were a mortal, their voices would be hoarse with all the screaming. That''s how agitated they are.


    The defenders moved quickly. No one bothered to bring up the fact that the continent-wide space lock array will be expensive to use and will surely offend others on the immortal continent, or that the battleships would be expensive to run.


    Not one person advised that it would be smart to cut their losses, seeing as the two dragons pretending to be world beasts could teleport to each other while they were already within a space lock array.


    No one mentioned any of that. They activated the battleships and gave chase. These battleships are expensive, but they are powerful and fast. The clones couldn''t surf space because of the space lock array, so the battleships were catching up to them.


    Not only that, but these battleships were equipped with deadly cannons trained at them.


    These cannons are top-grade artifacts with the same concept. Each shot from them is expensive but effective. They produce an intangible psychic attack that is difficult to sense and even more difficult to dodge because it moves at the speed of light.


    Unless the Origin gods have a defensive spiritual concept, they wouldn''t be able to defend against the attack at all. A single attack will give an Origin god a headache. 10 of them at once will freeze them. This will ensure that they capture the thieves alive. After all, what use are dead thieves?


    The battleships were 10, and they had two cannons each. That makes for 20 attacks fired every second. So the defenders were expecting the two thieves to be captured very quickly after being struck. But neither one stumbled or paused.


    They don''t know that they have miscalcted again. They are not facing two, but three thieves. It is the third hidden thief present within the two thieves that is protecting them against the psychic attacks.

 Chapter 1411 Cosmic Domain.

    Chapter 1411 Cosmic Domain.


    ??The face of the leader changed. He snorted and shouted to the thieves, "You have some skills and have clearly done your research. But you will fail. What you''re doing right now is causing us to waste energy and resources, which you will pay for."


    The clones of Legion could escape if they wanted to. They could teleport to Helios, but that''s a bad idea. It is not good to steal and then lead their angry enemies to one of their most important clones. So they were determined to fight it out.


    Besides, they can already see the way out of this dilemma, so they were confident of escaping.


    Legion-1 turned around to face their pursuers, while Legion-Unity continued to run. He opened his mouth wide and used his first concept to the max. The world froze in front of him. The battleships slowed down as if caught in amber. Then they began to shrink toward the open mouth.


    The pursuers got a chill. They had raised the defenses of the battleships to the max in preparation for another dragon breath. But this didn''t feel like a dragon breath.


    They didn''t know that they were shrinking but they could see that the mouth of Legion-1 was getting bigger and bigger. It soon filled their entire vision. He was going to swallow them if nothing was done to stop him.


    One of them roared in anger, "Is he a world beast or not?"


    Another one shouted, "Use the energy cannons!!!"


    It is one thing for a world beast to be able to use dragon breath. It is another thing to be immune to spiritual attacks. They have never seen anything like it, but this is just the start.


    The energy attacks they were hoping would save them didn''t do that. Instead, the attacks shrank as they approached Legion-1 and entered his mouth.


    The sight of their attacks entering the pitch ck hole of a jaw informed them of their fate. So they did the smart thing. They disembarked from the battleships and kept them in their pocket dimensions. Then they all activated their domains.


    A world beast might be able to swallow one of them even with a domain activated, but 20 of them can break the shackles of World Devour on them.


    This is true. Legion-1 saw it before it happened. So Legion-Unity appeared beside him and deployed his cosmic domain.


    This is the domain of his cosmic dragon heart. It froze everything around him, including the Origin gods and their domains.


    There was no physical change in the world. The world didn''t disappear around them, and they didn''t appear in an empty space like a normal domain. But a formless power spread outward from Legion-Unity. Everything the formless power touched fractured.


    It caused a white line resembling the cracking of mirrors to appear in the world. Then the concepts under the influence of the formless power unraveled.


    An Origin god thought in panic, "I can''t use my concept anymore."


    Even Legion-1 was not exempted from this nullification. He had to shift his existence into that of a giant of order for him to be spared from bing powerless.


    Only the two clones could move. The others were frozen and powerless. They made for easy targets for Legion-1 as he punched them.


    Legion-1 was able to space surf again, so he killed the Origin gods quickly and took any artifacts on them, such as pocket dimensions. Then he teleported away from the immortal continent.


    Legion-Unity was left behind to deal with the consequences of their actions. There were no more pursuers, but there was a bacsh to pay for. He used cosmic force on Origin gods, so the void universe is angry. He bore the punishment of that anger without a choice. His existence was fragmented, and he died.


    The world resumed its peace and quiet. Some people were happy, and some were sad. Losing a lot of your wealth can make one suicidal. But if you are an Origin god, there''s a better option, which is to dedicate a good portion of your life to revenge.


    Legion were part of the happy people.


    Soverick congratted everyone, "It seems that business deal went well."


    Legion-1 chuckled. "We have the cosmic domain to thank for it. It can break everything, including a space lock array."


    "It is a pity that it is expensive to use.


    "It is still a good thing, though. Making business deals has be easier."


    True to their word, Legion resumed "making business deals" as soon as Legion-Unity resurrected. Their existence created a perplexing problem for their business partners. No one could deal with them because they had no weaknesses.


    Most importantly, nothing could stop them from escaping because of the cosmic domain. This is a domain that shuts down and neutralizes any ability that isn''t part of Legion-


    Unity''s dragon heart. That means other clones will be powerless under its influence, much less other entities.


    ----Cat And Mouse.


    In the vastness of space, there are always people fighting. Especially in the void. Fighting is not rare, but it is rare for thousands of enemies to be stuck in a stalemate with an opponent of the same realm. It is doubly rare to see vampires fighting outside of a realm tree. After all, they are weak to sunlight.


    So it is quite a sight to see arge, scaled beast with 10 tails fighting against an army of vampires. This beast has six limbs and carries a mountain of glowing crystals on its back.


    This beast alone formed a pit in the fabric of reality with its existence. Its tails created a powerful devouring force that created a whirlpool. But this whirlpool is sorge and so deep that it feels like reality is copsing into it.


    This pit appears to be bottomless. It is not truly bottomless, but it is still growing, expanding, and getting deeper. This is terrifying since the pit is the body of the beast. Its limbs can''t be seen. Only the glowing mountain of crystals on its back can be seen from the top of the pit.

 Chapter 1412 Frustration Or Shame.

    Chapter 1412 Frustration Or Shame.


    ??This beast is like an ant lion in its sand pit. But unlike an ant lion, it is not passive in its hunting. The 10 tails of the beast reach out of the pit to drag in careless vampires. This is despite being surrounded by thousands of Vampires who are attacking it from every direction.


    The Vampires are not weak either. Each one is equal to an Origin god that has reached the limit of the void universe, so they are very powerful. Each of their attacks shreds a part of the pit.


    The Vampires are not useless. Their attacks are the major reason why the bottomless pit is not bigger. They chip away at it little by little. But all their attacks cannot destroy it because this beast appears to be endless. It is always growing as it devours the world.


    There is a sphere of gravitational pull around the beast that is affecting everything around it. Matter and energy are pulled to the beast, where they are devoured. This is what is fueling its constant growth.


    The Vampires can resist the pull, but void energy is not spared from the force. It enters the bottomless pit at the center of the gravitational field and replenishes every part of it that has been destroyed. So while the presence of the Vampires is not useless, they are far from defeating the bottomless abyss.


    A frustrated Vampireined, "Who is the undead one here, him or us?"


    There are thousands of Vampires here, and they can''t take down one Origin god. They ought to be ashamed of themselves, but the prevalent emotion of the Vampires is frustration. Frustration easily trumps shame when they don''t even want to defeat the Origin god in the first ce.


    The Vampires don''t even want to be here, but their hearts of Carnagepels them to fight, even though fighting appears to be useless. Their work won''t end, even if they manage to destroy the pit. It would only resurrect somewhere else, and they would have to fight it again.


    They can''t leave, so they have to stay around and act as if they are busy. That means they attack and watch as the beast regenerates endlessly.


    "When will this suffering ever end?" One of them grumbled silently.


    Another one that is bolder added, "This is stupid. This whole thing is just stupid."


    Someone snapped at it, "Be careful with what you say."


    The Vampire was unapologetic. It shrugged and asked, "What would we have achieved even if we killed the pit?"


    No one answered, but many of them grumbled more within themselves.


    Normally, Vampires don''t dare toin about the order of their Supreme. They don''t even dare me CARNAGE, much less call it or its n stupid. Those who offend their Supreme always regret it in the most gruesome and painful way imaginable. But that can''t happen now.


    They dare toin because their Supreme can''t do anything more thanpel them with their heart of Carnage. They don''t know why their Supreme appears to be impotent. They can only guess that it has something to do with why they have a distant sensation of their Supreme.


    It is almost as if they are separated from their Supreme by a distance toorge for it to exert its power. This is the prevalent theory, considering that one of the instructions that the Supreme of Carnage sent them was for them to find it.


    Whatever the reason, it has made it possible for them to put in just the barest minimum to find the Supreme. On the one hand, they want their Supreme to remain in whatever prison it is, so that it won''t be able to control them. On the other hand, they need their Supreme to be free so that they too can be free from this boring work.


    It is a bitter vonnundrum. Harsh servitude from an unforgiving Supreme or eternal boredom while hunting an immortal. It truly is a difficult choice to make.


    The only change in their liveses rarely, and it happens whenever their target disappears. It happened after a while. The pit disappeared. Gone is the gravitational pull of the devouring force.


    The world sighed in relief and returned to its peaceful nature in the absence of the bottomless pit, but the Vampires groaned andined. That''s the only thing they can do. They had to fly in the direction that they could sense the beast afterining.


    This disappearance is not new to them. The beast disappears several times across the almost 10 thousand years of fighting it. The disappearance usually urs when they are about to kill the beast. It will leave and heal before they find it again. But it could also leave whenever it wants, and there''s nothing they can do to stop it.


    This fight is more of a cat-and-mouse pursuit. They can''t keep the beast down, despite their best efforts. Even death doesn''t solve the problem because it is an Origin god, and they can''t give up, so they have to chase it across the void universe while wishing that CARNAGE could be kind.


    If CARNAGE was kind, they would put in every effort to release it. Instead of hounding only Ragnarok, they will split up to attack every clone they can sense. They would use their wealth to hire helpers for their cause.


    Unfortunately, CARNAGE isn''t kind, so they have to continue going through the motions.


    If they think they are the only ones exasperated by the useless and repetitive chase, then they are wrong. Legion is also frustrated. They are not happy that they have to sacrifice a clone to keep the Vampires busy.


    Ragnarok said to all of Legion, "Sometimes, I wish I were dead."


    He got a brief moment of rest from the Vampires which he spent doing nothing. Doing nothing is good, so he can''tin. But he canin about why he has to be satisfied with doing nothing in the first ce.

 Chapter 1413 If Only CARNAGE Was Kind.

    Chapter 1413 If Only CARNAGE Was Kind.


    ??The troublesome thing about the Vampires is that they cannot be evaded. The Vampires can sense all of them and will always find them. The only one who is safe from them is Helios.


    It is not because of a weakness for sunlight. They avoid Helios because he will burn anything up regardless of its weakness to light. The other clones are busy, so they have to let Ragnarok suffer from their abuse.


    The alternative is to fight the Vampires, which they can do and have done, but they can''t kill them permanently because they have true immortality now too. It is another one of their upgrades, apart from theck of weakness to light. This is thanks to the evolution of CARNAGE.


    Ragnarok has an armored body of Liquid graviton, and he heals better through devouring than all of them, so he became the designated sandbag. That''s how he has been able to withstand attacks from several Vampires.


    It helps that the Vampires are also not trying their best. They know that their efforts are futile, so even though they can sense the other clones and track them, they chose to track the one closest to them. This happens to be Ragnarok.


    Legion-1 and Legion-Unity appeared beside a star. It is the only anchor, apart from Ragnarok, that they have in the void. They use the star as a fallback position for their operations before venturing out to do other things. The star is very hot, so even though the star is their clone, they didn''t get too close to it. They only got close enough for space to warp around it and erase their traces.


    They are not crazy like the Origin gods, who tried to get close to Helios. Instead, they flew away after erasing their traces in different directions to find another ce they could rob. They will then cross over to whichever one of them finds a viable business partner first.


    Ragnarok appeared beside Legion-1 along the way.


    Legion-1 said to him, "Good job."


    "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ragnarok said in boredom.


    He set up his new position soon after. It takes time to set up the bottomless pit. But once he gets it going, he bes nearly unkible with the amount of energy he consumes to replenish his existence. No one can get close to him without the risk of dying.


    It was exciting to let loose at first. He was able to finally be his concept, and he could even allow the shards of power to enhance his concept without fear of retribution from Mother High Heaven. But the whole experience has be boring. He is tired of it after thousands of years of doing the same thing.


    He grumbled to himself and all the other clones, "I hope we can find a way to kill them forever soon."


    The other clonesughed since they didn''t have any good solutions. The immortality of the Vampires is backed up by CARNAGE who is a world ender now. They won''t be able to kill them permanently after killing them.


    Even Ragnarok doesn''t dare to eat the hearts of Carnage of the Vampires he kills for fear of creating a channel for CARNAGE through the prison he is into Legion. The best he can do is keep the hearts of Carnage, but the Vampire Primogenitors can always resurrect using the Vampires in their lineage. Then they wille to trouble him again.


    Legion can only continue to try and grow stronger. That is the second major agenda on their te currently. Their best bet is for Legion-Unity to find a way to use the cosmic force from his world engine without dying.


    They have tested his cosmic domain and have determined that cosmic force has the power to freeze the Vampires for good and end their nuisance.


    Unfortunately, it requires a constant use of cosmic force to keep the Vampires frozen. It is not a one-time activation. Legion-Unity can only manage a one-time activation currently, so that n can''t work yet.


    The second n is to seal the Vampires the way the tree father sealed some Origin gods. They have tried it, but it also failed because Vampires are not Origin gods. Their immortality doesn''te from thew matrix or the void universe, so it can''t be forcefully enhanced and frozen by the power of order.


    That n might work if they use cosmic energy and Chaos energy instead of cosmic energy and divine energy of order to create the seal.


    Unfortunately, they are not sure it will work since they are not willing to test it yet because they want Aeternus to be a demon god first with a Supreme Law of his own before he tries to contend with a world-ender.


    In the meantime, Legion went about stealing soul stones and looking for a ce to find a world seed. They are not powerful enough, or they would find a small realm to attack on their own for its world fragments.


    Despite their wealth and power, they are facing the major issue that stands in the way of bing a world god like every other Origin god that doesn''t want to be mediocre. They need something they are not powerful enough to acquire on their own in order for them to be powerful.


    Fortunately, unlike normal Origin gods, their robbery spree was very sessful. Their ability to teleport to each other proved to be very useful for this endeavor.


    This is just one of Legion-5''s divine abilities. The use of each other as beacons makes it possible to make short-range teleportation to each other even when space is frozen. They can even teleport to each other across the void universe.


    This ability is very powerful, but it is not unique. There are many Origin gods with concepts that fuse thew of space with otherws. The morews that they fused ording to the image of the dominion over space, the more difficult it is to restrain them from teleportation.

 Chapter 1414 Wild Tales.

    Chapter 1414 Wild Tales.


    ??While their teleportation ability is not special, theirs has reached its most powerful form, such that only aplete seal in space and time can stop them from teleportingpletely. That kind of seal is the one used to imprison CARNAGE.


    Even then, it is not certain that they can be blocked from teleporting in light of the effect of Legion-5''s Cosmic domain. No other Origin god possesses it, so no one has enjoined the kind of sess they have had in robbery.


    Not only did they gain wealth, but all the fighting granted Legion-Unity the opportunity to practice his abilities against other Origin gods without holding back. It has allowed Legion to learn more about Cosmic force and his cosmic domain.


    His domain carves out a portion of the void universe where only the divine abilities and concepts that have been etched onto Legion-unity''s body as divine stigmatas can be used. These divine abilities are the ones that he assimted as a Supreme Beast, so even the other divine abilities that the other clones of Legion possess can''t be used at all.


    This restriction is because of the stubborn nature of the Supreme Law of Order. If they didn''t have the crown of chaos, then nothing could be used within the domain at all. It would be aplete concept nullification domain.


    The only disadvantage it has is that all divine abilities or concepts that Legion-unity possesses can be used even if they don''t belong to them. Other entities can use those divine abilities and concepts in his Cosmic domain if they have them.


    His domain also grants him the ability to wield Cosmic force, which he can use to kill every and any Origin god, regardless of the power of their concepts or the number ofws within it. Unfortunately, it alwayses with a deadly bacsh.


    What they have granted them a lot of sess and created a name for them in the immortalnds. They are not popr yet among the infinite number of immortals, but about 10,000 immortals know about the couple of world beasts with the power of dragons.


    These disgruntled business partners try to spread the word so that someone will be able to stop their stealing spree and nab them. Unfortunately, their stories sound like the wild concoction of an inebriated person.


    If not for the existence of oaths, the story of the world beast-dragon hybrid would be considered made up and a hoax to those who don''t encounter them. Things be even more unbelievable when the disgruntled business partners tell of how the thieves used many more different concepts.


    They swore that it was the truth, so their story became believable, but it remained perplexing. Not only are their enemies confused, but they also don''t know how best to capture the clones because they are not certain about their weaknesses and strengths.


    For example, their methods will always becking because they don''t know that each clone is at least two entities. It is why spiritual or psychic attacks don''t work on them. So the ones hoping that someone will be able to crack their weakness will remain disappointed for a long time.


    The confusion is normal since Legion is an enigma. They used to be separate parts of a single entity, but the line that separates them is bing blurred as more of them unite.


    An Origin god can be subdued because they have a single concept. They will have clear-cut strengths and weaknesses, but Legion is not a single Origin god. Only Supreme Beasts canpare to them in terms of versatility. But Legion is already greater than the greatest Supreme Beast.


    Right now, there are five of them that have united. All five of them can use each other''s concepts. There are some slight differences in their use of divine abilities. It is mostly due to the effect of the shards of power.


    For example, while all of them can use Soverick''s eyes, only Soverick can fuse his eyes together with the help of the shard of power.


    Only Ragnarok can create a true bottomless pit with the assistance of his shard of power. The shards of power of the others can''t enhance his concept if they use it because they haven''t be one with his concept.


    Since the others can''t enhance the abilities that they borrow through unity with the shards of power, they are unable to boost their divine abilities to the level of supremews with their shards of power.


    But that''s for now. When they are one with their Origin again, then there won''t be any difference between them. They might also be able to control the shards of power to enhance whatever they want when they gain control of them.


    ----HELIOS


    He watched Legion-1 and Legion-unity leave with longing.


    Heined a little, "I want to fight too."


    Helios is undoubtedly the most bored clone. Ragnarok''s repetitive fights cannotpare to his sedentary lifestyle. He would take hits from bored vampires any day, instead of hurtling through space in the same orbit around a realm.


    Hispanions are the two other stars, but they can''t talk, so he can only turn his mind towards other things. The only thing he can do with his time is try toprehend the Supreme Law of Order. However, that is very difficult and also very dangerous to do.


    The Supreme Law of Order is a two-edged sword. It is very powerful, but it is not theirs, so it can cut them. It is dangerous to try andprehend any Supreme Law that isn''t theirs, much less the Supreme Law responsible for the creation and maintenance of a powerful universe.


    It will undoubtedly be a boon if they canprehend and use the Supreme Law of Order, but the attempt to do so can backfire. They have already seen that the Supreme Law of another being can disappoint them when they need it. Especially if they are using it against its true owner.

 Chapter 1415 The Duty Of Mother.

    Chapter 1415 The Duty Of Mother.


    ??As if that isn''t enough reason not to mess with the Supreme Law of Order,prehending it can also create a pathway of attack into their existence. So Helios is not so enthusiastic aboutprehending the Supreme Law of Order. If not for the fact that Legion has a n tobat the attack of the Law of Order, he would have already stopped trying toprehend it.


    So his days are filled with boredom andprehending something that might kill them. Fortunately, Legion is busy with a lot of things, so he is not without things to upy his attention with.


    They are together in mind, if not physically. It is a good thing because Legion can''t evene too close when they visit him, even if they want to. The only ones that are daring enough are the Origin gods, who want to test their powers.


    Some of them are random suicidal Origin gods, while most of them are Supreme Beasts of the Warrior ss. They try to approach him to see how close they can get to him. He pretends to be like any other star, but he secretly increases his power output to mess with them.


    The Origin gods don''t think much of it. They consider whoever the sudden sr re hits to be simply unlucky. After all, a star can''t bear malice against someone. Their ignorance makes them continue to throw their lives away.


    That''s the most fun he has on his own. The only people who cane close to him are World gods, but he doesn''t want them around. They have been lurking around too, and one has even tried to grab him.


    Arge hand rose from beneath thew matrix to grab him. The hand was sorge that it would undoubtedly be able to grasp him. The size of the hand alone had shocked him because he didn''t know that entities could grow to such size.


    If not for the protection of the realm on him, the hand wouldn''t have bounced back when it got too close to him. So no, he doesn''t want world gods to visit him at all.


    There is one other entity whose visit he is wee to. He would like to see them, so he decided to call them now.


    "She shouldn''t be angry, right?" He asked himself uncertainly, "I have a good reason to call for her."


    She arrived before he could get an answer from other clones and before he could regret his action. A dark entity hurtled towards him from the direction of the realm tree. She then stopped a few kilometers away from him.


    "Helios, I heard your call." She said.


    She is just two meters tall. Compared to his millions of kilometers in diameter, she can''t even be described as a tiny dot. For one to take the entirety of his size into their vision, they will surely be unable to see her unless their eyesight is extraordinary.


    For those who can see her and his whole body at the same time, they will surely focus on her. This is because, despite being small, she possesses more energy than him. She is small, but she is on par with therge hand that almost grabbed him.


    Her form is dark, like a dark, translucent shadow. But there are small stars that twinkle within her form. There are about a hundred thousand of them. Those starsbined possess more energy than him. They make her shadowy form stand out from the surrounding darkness.


    He started, "Thank you for taking some time for me away from your very busy schedule."


    Mother High Heaven replied, "It is no problem. I have a lot of bodies, and this is just one of them. Besides, what you have called me for is my duty as your Will of the realm."


    "It is as I said in my message, I would like to know all there is to know about the next step of the path of perfection," Helios stated.


    She considered his request before she replied, "You have not reached the energy requirement, which is the limit of Origin gods. But your clones have, so Legion has met the requirements to ask me. You have also adhered to all the rules of the realm, so you have a right to this information."


    If he was wanted by the realm or had be an Origin god with the purged essence of an Origin god, he wouldn''t have the right to this information. It is her duty to tell the Origin gods of her realm who have reached this stage so that they will find their way to the next stage. It is something that she has done for other Origin gods whoter went on to be World gods.


    "The next step from here is a supremew." She started with a voice devoid of emotion.


    It is as if she is reciting something. "A Supreme Law is the embodiment of your existence. It is a vision of your future and an opportunity to forge your path to achieve that future. If the previous stages of the path of perfection are likened to nting a tree, then your Supreme Law will be the fruit of your efforts."


    She said that along with the projection of a mental image for him to understand what she was saying. He saw a y pot of soil. The soil is the soul, while the pot is the body. The pot is first erged so that it can contain more soil. The soil is also increased to fill in the pot.


    All these are done with the aid of mana from the environment. This is the body forging stage, followed by the vitality core refining, and then the mana entity stage, in which both the body and the soul are forged.


    The soil and the pot eventually reach a limit. The pot has a problem with density and toughness. It can be increased, but it will break if more soil is added to it. The pot just can''t allow for more soil. This is the limit of the mana stage.

 Chapter 1416 How To Grow Your Seed.

    Chapter 1416 How To Grow Your Seed.


    ??The pot has reached its limit, so the soil is removed from the pot and tempered. The pot is also smashed, and liquid is added to it for it to be malleable. The remnants of the pot and the tempered pot are thenbined and remolded to form a superior vessel.


    This process is the breakthrough to transcendence. Some potted soils fail this process. Some seed. The result is a malleable vessel capable of expanding.


    It is a vessel with both the properties of rigidity from the pot and the ability to be increased that the soil possesses. In doing so, a previously untapped potential is essed. But they have also lost the ability to growrger by imbibing mana.


    Fortunately for those who seeded, the potential they awakened allows the pot to evolve by copying the world around it. After all, if the world is stronger and is capable of making it stronger, why not be the world? This n turns out to be correct. For those that seed in mimicking the world enough for the world to be fooled, some of the prized energy of the world is diverted to them.


    That is the process of transcendence to the king ofw. It is essentially deceiving the world for cosmic energy from the world. The soil changes itself to fit the strong things it can sense in the world. It takes on some of the properties of these strong things and can even control them.


    The idea to copy the world is good, but it has a limit. There''s only so much that the world is willing to give up, no matter how well they deceive it. This limit cannot be broken unless the superficial changes to the soil are deepened. So the soil tries to form a seed with the prized energy of the world.


    The soil gives up part of its power and essence to form a seed. This seed is the closest thing to the world that they can ever make because it has the prized energy of the world. Some soils fail to form this seed. It could be because they don''t know what a seed is or they don''t know how to form seeds or they try to form one too big for them. They lose the power and essence they sacrificed, and they die.


    Some seed in forming this seed, and they grow stronger for it because they have taken another step toward being simr to the world. They can control some part of the power of the world around them. But their troubles are not over yet. They have to make the seed grow, or it will die within them.


    The prized energy within the seed wants to return to the world. The problem is that while the seed is a part of them, it is modeled after the world, and they can''t control the prized energy, so they can''t control it very well. If they don''t be innately familiar with how the seed works enough to fool the seed into thinking they are the world, then they will never control it, and it will die.


    Some seed in taking control of the seed. They are able to stop the seed from dying. The others who failed to control the seed die, just like the ones who failed to form their seeds in the first ce. For those who seeded, the next step is bing one with the seed.


    Unfortunately, the prized energy is not of the same material as the soil. There is a difference in quality. They can''t force the fusion. If they could, then they wouldn''t need to fool the seed in the first ce. So instead, the soil tries to be the seed.


    It is as they say, if you can''t beat them, you should join them. So the soil finds fertilizer. Its job is to make the seed grow. The seed is fed the fertilizer, and it germinates. But in doing so, it has to take part of the soil with it. In this way, the soil and the seed be one.


    The root of the seed permeates the entire soil, and the soil enters the sapling to fuel its growth. More and more fertilizer is applied to the sapling through concepts forged from Origin essence. The seed grows into a sapling and, finally, into a mature tree. Then it is time for the tree to produce a fruit.


    All of these were disyed in the mental image she projected. It gave him a newfound perspective of what the path of perfection looks like to the Will of the realm.


    He thought idly to himself, "How do the wills of the realm grow stronger?"


    Mother High Heaven continued with her exnation, "You are an adult tree now. To make your Supreme Law, you must use all the concepts that you used to grow your initial seed to form the fruit. So you are limited by the type of fertilizer that you used in the growth period."


    Helios understands what she means by the limit of the fertilizer. While an Origin god can create as many concepts as possible to grow their sapling, they are limited to concepts that contain at least one simrw to thews of their initial concept, which they fused with.


    This is because concepts reject each other. Even concepts created by the same entity will reject each other. The rejection is automatic when concepts interact with each other. They try to manifest over the other concepts. Only in situations where they are created by the same entity and have somews inmon can concepts be made to empower each other.


    Even then, the empowerment between concepts is a sacrifice. One concept is sacrificed to grow the main one. An Origin god can''t use two concepts. Even Supreme Beasts with many divine abilities have to fuse them all into one before they be Origin gods, or they will lose the divine ability.


    So Origin gods with a 6w concept will have the choice of six differentws that must be in each concept that they make. The many options mean that they can grow their concept faster.

 Chapter 1417 Importance Of Genes.

    Chapter 1417 Importance Of Genes.


    ??If a concept doesn''t have at least onew simr to the original concept, then the concept won''t work as fertilizer. The two concepts will reject each other instead. They will try to maintain their integrity and sovereignty, so they reject the influence of otherws and cause a bacsh within the Origin god.


    The only way to avoid this bacsh is to have the concept be created with Origin essence that contains the same soul imprint as the Origin god and contains at least one simrw. That means another concept created with the samews by a different Origin god won''t work.


    But as long as the requirements for sacrifice have been met, the simrity ofws between the concepts will allow the sapling to grow stronger as more concepts are sacrificed to the sapling.


    The morews they have inmon, the more potent a concept will be as fertilizer, and the faster the sapling will grow into a tree. So it is not a wonder why realm lords will grow faster and quicker. Some might even be like Monarch High Heaven, who were able to reach the limit of the void universe and create a Supreme Law in 100 origin cycles.


    "Can you guess what the purpose or function of a Supreme Law is?" She said with a smile, "I am sure you are very familiar with them."


    Her smile caught him off guard a little. She was monotone earlier during her exnation, so she felt detached. But now she seems to havee alive. It is as if she wasn''t truly present earlier.


    Helios answered her question. "A Supreme Law, as you have stated, is the fruit of the path of perfection. It is the reward and end product of the pursuit of perfection. But more than that, it contains seeds. And seeds are capable of further growth. So a Supreme Law determines the future potential and path."


    "That''s a good way to put it. You''re right. The seeds within the fruit can grow, but they are extensions of the tree, and they can''t grow stronger than the tree that created them because the tree will limit their potential. So the fruit you create is very important."


    "This fruit is the Supreme Law. It is both a four-dimensional object and an entity made out of a fabric woven ofws as its three dimensions, with the fourth dimension being Will. It is made from thebination ofws, consciousness, and a three-dimensional substrate fashioned from both spiritual and physical energy and matter. The weakest Supremew is four-dimensional, but Supremews are not limited to four dimensions."


    "I didn''t know that."


    She smirked. "That is not surprising. You don''t know a lot of things. You live in the world, but you''re mostly ignorant of reality. You havee in contact with the Supreme Law of Order, but I don''t think that you know that it is five-dimensional."


    Actually, Legion knows that. They knew that Supreme Laws have facets that they called Aspects. They didn''t know that they were called dimensions, but they knew that the Supreme Law of Order had aspects of matter, energy, soul, Will, and information. It has one more aspect than normal Supreme Laws.


    Mother High Heaven went on, "These dimensions are not simple concepts like length, breadth, and height. Those are just limited perspectives of space. It is not even the perspective of the space-time continuum, so don''t confuse the three dimensions with those. But having four dimensions means that Supreme Laws won''t be forced to conform to the limited state of length, breadth, and height or even the constraints of the present and past."


    He knows that too. Those who can only see length, breadth, and height are limited to a single perception of space. They see the world as a 3-dimensional structure like a box or sphere.


    That perception is undoubtedly limited because space has severalyers and dimensions attached to each other in different modes of interaction. When the aspect of time is added to it, only then can the space-time continuum be seen.


    That kind of 3-dimensional vision is static. Weak beings might think they are seeing reality in 3-dimensional motion, but it is actually multiple 2-dimensional still images shown one after another in quick session. So it is the passage of time that makes them see the world in three dimensions. Even then, it is only a false 3-dimensional perception of the world.


    Meanwhile, a lot of things are missing in between the 2- dimensional still images. One has to be able to see the state of existence in between the images for them to truly see the way matter and energy change into each other.


    Matter and energy aren''t different entities, they are just two different forms of the same existence. Like steam and ice. That''s just the beginning of a full 3-dimensional vision.


    Someone with 4-dimensional vision has the ability to see information states and anything beyond normal 3-dimensional vision. They will be able to see mana,ws, and see through the multipleyers of space. They know that matter and energy are the same thing, but in different states of particle and wave.


    That was what Soverick''s eyes were capable of before he became an Origin god. He can now see five aspects of matter, energy, space, information, and time. Legion-7 has iplete 3-dimensional vision, but he can see the soul state of the 4-


    dimensional, which Soverick can''t.


    So in total, Legion is aware of seven aspects, but there is no need for Helios to correct Mother High Heaven. Besides, she is correct about their ignorance. They are not omniscient yet, so there are bound to be some things that they don''t know about. So he ignored her jab at his ignorance and focused on what truly matters.


    "How do I create the fruit that is the supremew?" he asked.


    He has some thoughts and opinions about how to create a supremew, but Legion wants the full information from the source. That''s what he called her for.

 Chapter 1418 Digging Their Grave Further.

    Chapter 1418 Digging Their Grave Further.


    ??She replied without dy, "The fruit contains the seeds. And like any living thing, its shape, performance, and potential are all dictated by its genes. The material you will use to make the fruit will be the original concept as the base, the sacrificed concepts as the additives, and your existence as the glue that binds them together. That is how to form the genes of the fruit of Supremacy."


    "Think of it as weaving a spiderweb. You are the spider. The base is your original concept that has fused with your existence. And the web is the connection ofws between the original concept and the sacrificed concepts. This is all held together by your existence. So you are building a Supreme Law as well as rebuilding your existence."


    "The bigger the supremew, the better. But the minimum power for it to be considered a supremew is when it is capable of resisting thew matrix and carving out a portion of the void universe for you without its permission."


    "That is enlightening." He said in appreciation, then he asked a question that he didn''t think would be answered. "I assume that cosmic energy is required to grow the Supreme Law. But are there other energy types that a world god needs?"


    "You are right about cosmic energy. But I can''t tell you about the other types of energy that world gods use or need. That is not my job. But I will tell you something interesting that concerns you." She paused for a short while.


    "Your situation is slightly different from others. You didn''t use any concepts to grow your sapling at all. Instead, you used cosmic energy to crystalize your sapling. It won''t grow now, even if you give it concepts." She smiled when she said that.


    He can''t see a smile on her face because she doesn''t have lips. Her whole face is a single bright eye that resembles a swirling gxy. But he can tell that she is amused at his predicament because she made it known through her divine sense.


    "What does this mean?" he asked, a little anxious.


    He was happy when he heard the confirmation of the usefulness of cosmic energy. It means Legion will be able to be a strong world god as fast as possible. But he doesn''t like where she is going.


    "It means you can''t form a Supreme Law by sacrificing concepts to your original concept. It is all because your concept has a higher proportion of cosmic energy to Origin essence than normal. It will resist other concepts and be unable to bind with them even if theye from you and havews in simrity."


    "This can''t be right. How can having a lot of cosmic energy be a bad thing? Am I to be stuck as an Origin god forever?"


    That question made her chuckle. "This reminds me of the Supreme Beasts that went with the path of further awakening and used cosmic energy to push themselves to the limit of the void universe. They thought they were fixing their problem, but they were only digging their grave further. They will never be able to build a Supreme Law and be world gods even if they ovee the temporary nature of their original concept."


    She said with pity, "People think that the reason why Origin gods can''t get cosmic energy anymore is because the void universe is being stingy with it. They are right to think that. But there''s also another important reason. Cosmic energy is too powerful to be controlled by Origin gods. You should know that yourself. If it was safe to use anyhow, you wouldn''t need a Supreme Law to control it."


    Helios didn''t like the sound of that. The clones also used cosmic energy, but unlike the Supreme Beasts, they didn''t dig their graves intentionally. Their use of cosmic energy wasn''t intentional. Thew of order activated cosmic energy, and it moved from Helios into their mindwork. They were happy about it, but now they found out that there are side effects.


    He couldn''t ept it at all. He said to Mother High Heaven, "There has to be a way."


    Mother High Heaven rejected that conjecture. "There is no way out for them. They have increased the temporary properties of their concepts to the limit. Their original concept can''t change permanently, so they are forever stuck with it. But there is a way for you."


    "What is it?"


    "The concepts of your clones are just too strong. That means their resistance to other concepts is high. It is a good thing if you can ept the increased difficulty of making a Supreme Law. But not to worry, you are a unique being, so your situation is special, and therefore, you have solutions that are not avable to others. In fact, there are four solutions to your problem."


    That surprised Helios. He asked in disbelief, "There''s four of them? Then why did you make it sound like I was in a dead end?"


    Then he realized something. He chuckled and said, "You were messing with me, weren''t you."


    He came to that conclusion because she seemed to be having fun by trying to make him anxious.


    Mother High Heaven smiled. "I was indeed messing with you, but I didn''t lie. You truly cannot create a Supreme Law by sacrificing concepts to your original concept. You should know this."


    "We didn''t know it was because of the cosmic energy. We just thought that we had reached the limit of power or that we were missing something important needed to create a Supreme Law. That''s why I called for you."


    Legion has tried to sacrifice concepts, and Soverick has indeed tried to make a Supreme Law. He didn''t n to finish it but just wanted to test it and see how it would work.


    But he couldn''t manage to get it started, so they thought they were missing a crucial step. It is only now that they know it is because of the high structural integrity of their concepts.


    ----


    A/N: I''ve got news. I will upload an extra chapter for every person with a golden ticket contribution above 20. This is aside from the normal contribution goals and will start next month.

 Chapter 1419 No Comment.

    Chapter 1419 No Comment.


    ??Mother High Heaven didn''t keep them waiting. She has yed with his emotions enough. "The first option is to sacrifice all your concepts to Legion-7 and advance to world god as a united Legion with a world seed and a world engine. You will create a very strong Supreme Law that way. But you won''t be special anymore. You would have sacrificed your uniqueness for power."


    "I doubt that you will take that option, even if you know that it will most likely grant you a reward from the void universe. Then again, you might have already earned that reward through thestw that you broke."


    Helios said to her, "Noment."


    She just smiled and continued, "The second option is to give all the clones a world seed. A world seed will kill any other Origin god, but your concepts are very strong, so you can manage the strain. It might not work though. But if it works, you will all have to unite with your origin and your concepts will transform into a single Supreme Law."


    "Then you can all unite and be world gods with a single world engine. You will have a veryrge number of worlds, but each world will have limited power because you will have just one world engine."


    "The third option is to create concepts with a lot of cosmic energy and then sacrifice it to your original concept to create a supremew. This way, your Supreme Laws will be able to handle a world engine each. It will work as long as you adhere to the principle of simrws."


    Helios felt like sighing in relief when he heard that. But he is a star without lungs.


    "That sounds good and feasible."


    Mother High Heaven continued, "It is usually impossible for others to do since Origin gods can''t control cosmic energy. Even if you could do so, it is going to take a lot of work to manufacture a concept outside of the body and will require a lot of cosmic energy to bring it to the limit of power. But I am sure you can manage that." She said with slight amusement.


    She is right. Legion can manage that.


    "The fourth andst option is rted to a certain crown that one might gain when they fuse all three paths of evolution. You can use that crown to sacrifice concepts without cosmic energy to your original concept to create a Supreme Law. I don''t know what effect it will have on your world, but I am certain that you can use it to be a world god."


    "Personally, I will rmend the third option because your Supreme Law will be strong and versatile. Versatility is very important for Supreme Laws. The second option will ensure it is powerful, while the fourth option is the easiest to execute, but only the third can ensure versatility and adaptability in various conditions since it will have a lot ofws to simte."


    Helios and the other clones rxed now that they knew that they had at least three feasible solutions that could help them achieve their goals of multiple worlds.


    He said to her, "Thank you very much for your information. You have been very enlightening."


    "You are wee, but I am not done yet. There are still two pieces of information I have to tell you, and they are about how to be a world god. Having a supremew is not the final stage. It is just a period of transition known as the half-world god."


    "Half-world god? This is the first I have heard of it."


    "I know it as a half-world god, but you know it as a Supreme Origin god. It is not exactly half, but it is known as that because you have met one of the requirements to be a world god."


    "I see. That is understandable."


    "You cannot think of bing a world god without reaching the limit of power of the light side. That is the only way for you to find your life anchor within your origin and be a world god. But you need three other things to be a world god. A Supreme Law, a world engine, and a world seed."


    Helios knew about the world engine and the world seed, but he allowed her to speak to a great extent about them. She provided him with more information about the world engine and the world seed that they didn''t know, such as thews that make up the world spark and why it is powerful.


    "The world spark is made up of sixws, which are thews of destruction, creation, space, time, life, and death. It is both a concept and a Supreme Law. Consider it a set of instructions for how a realm will grow and operate. The reinforcement of thew of order causes the world spark to be very powerful enough to protect realm trees from world gods."


    She also told him about the other fragments of the realm heart and how to get them. He didn''t know that there were other fragments of the realm heart apart from the popr three because the others get destroyed when the realm heart breaks apart.


    "These fragments are very fragile. They are the spark of the consciousness of the Will of the Realm and the spark of power that the Will of the Realm uses to bestow Authority to gods."


    He is very familiar with the spark of consciousness, but this is the first time he heard that realm trees had it. He always thought that Legion-7 and the Great Mother were flukes and oddities in the void universe, but it turned out not to be the case.


    He had never heard about the spark of power, so he asked her about it.


    "It is what you need to create Authority?"


    She said in reply, "You are not privileged to that information."


    He didn''t give up. He tried another approach.


    "Alright. But what is Authority and where does ite from?"

 Chapter 1420 The 3 Sparks.

    Chapter 1420 The 3 Sparks.


    ??She didn''t tell him anything about Authority. Not even the most important information about how to get the spark of power. She ignored his question and instead went on to speak about the various stages of realm trees.


    "Realm trees are not identical. We were created equal, but because we had varying potential for growth, we turned out differently. Each realm tree starts out as a seed and grows into a sapling. At that stage, we are small and in a vulnerable state. We are small and weak, so most small realms don''t survive. They can''t resist world gods yet, so they are hunted by world gods."


    "The ones that survive to maturity do so by luck. The void universe is vast, and small realms are hidden. If they can''t be found, then they will surely survive. If they are lucky enough to survive into mature realm trees like me, then they can resist world gods."


    "When I say resisting, I don''t mean fighting. I mean, we can prevent a world god from harming us. Any attack of theirs will be reflected back on them in an amplified state. The protection is passive, but the bacsh is enough to prevent world gods from attacking us unless they are young and ignorant. We are protected at this stage, so the living organisms within us prosper."


    "Most realm trees that reach this stage remain in it until the death of the void universe. Some are lucky enough to produce a strong realm lord, which then saves the realm tree from the fate of dying with the void universe."


    "Don''t ask me about the death of the universe, I won''t answer it. But I can grant you inferior copies of realm heart fragments for you to create your world. If that isn''t an option for you, then you will have to wait for a realm lord to be produced in the realm and to start the era of conquest. If we win, then you may have the realm''s help in finding and attacking small worlds."


    "Whichever choice you make, know that the threeponents are needed to be a world god. Once you have them, then you can fuse them with your Supreme Law and your Origin to be a world god."


    Helios asked, "Can I get the spark of power and its likes from you?"


    "No, you cannot."


    "Can I at least know what other types of such things there are in the void universe?"


    "I wouldn''t be able to answer this question if I didn''t have a realm lord to offset some of the rules of the world spark. Fortunately, I can do it, so you''re in luck."


    Helios agreed wholeheartedly about being lucky and listened attentively.


    Mother High Heaven exined, "There are three of them. The spark of the soul, which you call the spark of consciousness, the spark of wisdom, and the spark of power. You know about the spark of consciousness. It is the second rarest of the three. The spark of power is the rarest, while the spark of wisdom is the mostmon."


    "Every entity with a Supreme Law has a spark of wisdom. The Supreme Law is the spark of wisdom. The spark of consciousness is equivalent to the spark of wisdom in terms of quality and power. That''s why a certain clone of yours can eat Supremews and substitute itself as the world spark in the attempt of another clone to be a world god without a Supremew."


    Helios was enlightened, "No wonder."


    Mother High Heaven chuckled, "You thought you were omitting the requirements for a Supreme Law in bing a world god, but you were only changing the spark of wisdom to the spark of consciousness. This is even more difficult than the normal way to be a world god. Not everyone can do it."


    "This is because the spark of the soul is difficult to acquire. The dilution of the soul with mana, origin energy,ws, the body, origin essence, and concepts will make it difficult toprehend thew of the soul and evolve it. Those things empower the soul, but they also distort it and make it impure. As for the spark of power, it is very rare, but you''re already halfway to achieving it."


    "Really?" He asked in disbelief.


    "Really. But don''t ask me how toplete it or what you''re doing to achieve it. In general, everyone is capable of acquiring the three sparks. They may not grant quantitative power, but they grant qualitative power that can make an entity without a Supreme Law consume a Supreme Law and use it with cosmic energy to evolve. But potential is just that. Plus, the attempt to acquire any of the sparks makes it difficult, if not impossible, to acquire the other two."


    "Oh," Helios said in understanding.


    He and the other clones have gained a new understanding of why Legion-7 is special and why he could rece a Supremew as one of the requirements to be a world god.


    This understanding made them question the paths of power they knew about.


    "If the path of perfection leads to the creation of the spark of wisdom, what does the path of demons and divinity produce?"


    They asked Mother High Heaven, and she replied.


    She said, "My duty to you does not extend to answering that question."


    So he asked another question he was curious about.


    "Why is there a major difference in power between half-world gods and world gods? I have never heard of a Supreme Origin god fighting or resisting a world god, and yet they both have Supremews. Is it because of the world that world gods have? Why does that create such a huge difference?"


    "Think of the state of existence of a world god as a lever system. The origin is the pivot point, or fulcrum. The Supreme Law is the beam or bnce, while the world is the effort or input."


    Helios said in understanding, "So that''s it. Through the principle of the lever, the power of a world is greatly leveraged to do more work than the input."


    -----


    A/N: What do you think Legion is doing to acquire the spark of power?

 Chapter 1421 Theories And Hypothesis.

    Chapter 1421 Theories And Hypothesis.


    ??Mother High Heaven agreed. "Exactly. The Supreme Law is just a stick. It is a long and powerful stick. You can use that stick to run a world engine, or you can wave it about however you want. But unless you create a world by fusing a world seed and a world engine with your Origin, then your Supreme Law will remain a stick. You can break a boulder with your stick, while a world god can lift a world bigger than his own with his lever."


    She produced the image of a lever system to buttress her point. The Supreme Law acted as the lever, while the world of a world god functioned as the input. The lever amplified the input to create a stronger output.


    She finished her disy with a final exnation, "So possession of a Supreme Law does not make one a world god, nor does the possession of an inner world. Only through thebined effort of the two can one possess the power of a world god."


    Helios said in understanding, "So that''s why world beasts don''t have the power of world gods or even the power of a Supreme Origin god. That exins a lot."


    "Yes. World beasts don''t have the Supreme Law and the Origin fusion needed to leverage their inner worlds. The analogy of a lever is apt because the leveraging power is dependent on the length of the lever and the size of the world."


    Helios said solemnly, "I think I should fear world gods more."


    Mother High Heaven chuckled, "You should. That''s justmon sense."


    But then Legion-1 realized something, so Helios asked, "Does that mean a world god that has somehow lost their world will be easy to kill?"


    "Yes. A world god without a world would have lost the bulk of their power. But how is that relevant to you? How can you possibly destroy the world of a world god when you can''t fight the world god?"


    She chuckled after her series of questions and said, "Maybe if you stumble upon a world god without a world, you might have a chance against them."


    Helios asked, "What if, say, the world god just fought a powerful enemy such as a world ender? That should make them vulnerable, right?"


    Mother High Heaven didn''t chuckle orugh in derision. She became solemn, but she yed along. "If a world god is made vulnerable by a world ender, chances are that being around that world god is bad for you too. No one should mess with a world ender even if they don''t see them directly. You shouldn''t evene into contact with something a world ender hase into contact with."


    Helios agreed with her, "Yes, yes. A world ender is dangerous. Of course, I know that. If it can make a world god miserable, then it can make me worse. But, theoretically, and I am only making theories here. I do not n to act on it. Theoretically, a world ender can weaken a world god enough for an Origin god to kill them."


    "Theoretically, you will need to be a Supreme Origin god to take advantage of a weakened world god. But that Supreme Origin god also has to be prepared to die because of the world ender."


    "Hmmm. That makes sense. But the void universe will resurrect them, right?"


    Mother High Heaven snorted, "Right."


    Helios would have pped if it were possible. But he didn''t have hands, so he settled for thanking Mother High Heaven.


    "Thank you for your service. Legion truly appreciates it."


    "You are wee."


    "Is that all?" He asked.


    "No. I didn''te here for just you. Legion as a whole has more business with me. The next issue is with the one you call the Tree Father, or is it Legion-9?"


    "What about him?"


    "I must say that this is the first time I am doing this since no Celestial has reached his stage in the history of the realm."


    Helios was surprised. Then he and the other Legions became ted.


    He asked in disbelief, "There''s a step ahead for Celestials too? But I thought the path of divinity was a dead end."


    "There is a future for Celestials. The path of divinity is not a mistake, and it serves a purpose. People think there is no future simply because no Celestial has ever reached that stage."


    "The stage I am talking about is the Authority level of 10. It is the same as demons. Most Celestials haven''t reached that stage because of the difficulty of adding domains to their identity without receiving bacsh from their clergy and believers."


    Helios was confused, "But the Tree Father hasn''t reached that stage."


    Mother High Heaven snorted before she answered. "Your Celestial clone took a shortcut. He has technically umted more than 10 domains. It counts even though he has them in different avatars. So he has met the requirements for me to inform him of the future path."


    "Please go ahead."


    "The next step for him is called the divine spark. It needs to be created by fusing all the domains he has with him. I don''t know how he will do that, seeing as they are in different avatars and in different nes, but if he manages to do that, then he will be a divine spark, the equivalent of demon gods."


    "That sounds familiar."


    "It is familiar because you used something simr to bait a demon god."


    That brought back memories. Helios eximed, "Ohhh. So world sparks are simr to divine sparks."


    "Yes, they are. Normally, divine sparks are meant to be consumed by demon gods to be world-enders, just as demon kings consume Celestials to grow stronger. In the absence of divine sparks, they use world sparks."


    Helios realized something else. He remembered that Legion-7 is equivalent to a world spark or a Supreme Law. Legion-5 was able to use him as a substitute for a Supremew. That''s because Legion-7 is a spark of consciousness. If a divine spark is also equivalent to a world spark, what else does that make the Tree Father?

 Chapter 1422 Special World Ender.

    Chapter 1422 Special World Ender.


    ??He was excited just thinking about it. But he didn''t voice his thoughts to Mother High Heaven yet. He let her continue with her mission.


    He did ask her a rted question. "If there are no divine sparks in the realm of high heaven, does that mean that divine sparks are rare in the void universe? Or is it just something unique to the realm of high heaven?"


    He asked her that because she said something earlier about the third spark being rare.


    She replied with a nod, "They are rare. From what I know, the tree father will be the first one in this iteration of the void universe. Speaking of which, you created a very special world spark to bait CARNAGE, so CARNAGE is not like the other world-enders. It is at least the first of its kind in this iteration of the void universe, too. Be careful what you are doing with it."


    Helios asked, "CARNAGE is special? How special?"


    "You will find that out when you mess with it. You have made your bed, so you must now lie on it."


    Helios groaned inwardly. "This wasn''t part of the n. We didn''t set out to make a special world ender. We infused the world spark with cosmic energy to render it inert. That''s the only way we could have brought it into the realm."


    "And you were right. Now you have created a world ender the likes that have never been seen before. That''s your problem. My job is to tell you what the next step is after a divine spark. And that is a world forge."


    Helios wanted to get more information out of her, but he gave up on it because she couldn''t be forced. If she doesn''t or can''t say something, she won''t say it, no matter how much he asks her for it.


    If she intends to say it, then she will find a roundabout method to tell him. Like the way she told him about what Legion is doing to acquire the third spark.


    Besides, he has another thing on his mind right now that he doesn''t want to miss out on one world.


    So he asked her, "A world forge? Do you mean a creator of worlds or a tool to create worlds?"


    "Both. It depends on free will and freedom. If the tree father can be a world forge, he could be employed by the Void Universe to be an Archon. Unlike world gods, the void universe likes world forges. World forges will be able to heal the Void universe, help it create more realm trees, and will be paid in cosmic energy."


    "You wouldn''t need to fight the void universe for cosmic energy like world gods. That''s the lowest benefit, of course. You won''t need to fight the void universe for most things. If you be an Archon, you will be able to produce Authority easily. You might even be able to get a cosmic source."


    Helios had so many questions, but he asked the most important one. "What do you mean by producing Authority easily? Do world forges have sparks of power?"


    "You will have to find out on your own."


    "Fine. What about Authority? What exactly is it? How is it different from the Authority of gods? And what is this cosmic source you speak of?"


    "It is not my job to tell you any of this. You will know when you be a world forge or a world god. For now, we focus on how to be a world forge."


    "Alright. How about this thing on free will. Can the void universe force the Tree Father into bing an Archon?"


    "Unfortunately, that is also beyond my purview. I don''t know if the void universe or other powerful entities can force the Tree Father to do their bidding."


    Helios felt like grabbing Mother High Heaven and forcing her to answer all of their questions, but he held himself back because he was not powerful enough. Legion is not powerful enough to bear the consequences of that action, so he didn''t interrupt her despite his frustration.


    She continued from where she stopped. "A normal Celestial will be a divine spark with some assistance from the realm as long as they have fused with 10 domains and formed a level 10 authority. A Celestial Supreme won''t need that assistance. The Authority of the Celestial Supreme in their possession is all the assistance they need to be divine sparks."


    "As for the tree father, I am sure he can find his way. The issue is how to be a world forge. You will need¡­"


    So Mother High Heaven told him how to be a world forge. It is a piece of information that is probably possessed by only Legion in the void universe. That is other than the realm trees. And probably their realm lords. Which means the realm lord might know it too.


    That''s the thing that managed to sully their mood despite all the good news they just received. But Legion is mostly happy. Their goal of perfection is getting closer and closer. If one spark doesn''t bring them perfection, surely all three of them should be able to.


    He said to her after her exnation, "Thank you again for the information."


    "It is my job, and I have high hopes for the tree father."


    That perplexed Helios. He expects that either Mother High Heaven won''t care about the future of her children or she will care about all of their futures. The fact that she picked one of them out is surprising. It is more surprising that she didn''t say she had high hopes for Legion as a whole.


    "Why?" he asked.


    Mother High Heaven said something that made him and Legion think for a long while, "The information about thepetition of world gods and the ns the realm lord has for it is not avable to everyone. You didn''t stumble onto it. It came for you."


    A/N: Don''t forget that I will upload an extra chapter for every person with a golden ticket contribution above 20. This is aside from the normal contribution goals and will start next month.

 Chapter 1423 Multiple Agendas.

    Chapter 1423 Multiple Agendas.


    ??She left him then. Her form returned to the realm. He didn''t need to ask her what she meant by that reply, but he is still confused because it doesn''t seem to have answered his question.


    He gained the information about thepetition among world gods for the end of the universe and the realm lord''s n to take part in it when Gehaldirah finished the trial of heaven and was rewarded for his sess.


    That information was in the library, and he thought it was open to anyone who could afford the points needed to ess it. But Mother High Heaven is saying it was not so. That means he is one of the few privy to that information.


    "What does she mean by it is not general information, and what does that have to do with Legion-9?" He asked himself and the other clones.


    ---- Soverick


    While the other clones are busy preupying the Vampires and trying to achieve the second major agenda of Legion, Soverick is busy trying to achieve the first major agenda. This agenda has multiple aims packed into one main goal.


    The main goal is for Legion to acquire enough power to rival Supreme Origin gods for the era of conquest and enough power to seal the Vampires. This can be achieved in many ways, hence why it has many aims.


    They need more power even though they have Legion-7 and his spark of the soul, which is the equivalent of a Supreme Origin god, because Legion-7''s existence is spiritual, as are his abilities. Maniption of the soul is useless against Origin gods because Origin gods have immortal existence with immortal soul imprints.


    Legion-7 can''t even devour dead Origin gods, much less living ones, and certainly not ones with Supremews. This is not because Origin gods are more powerful than him. But both origin gods with and without supremews are very dangerous to Legion-7 because their immortality is enforced by the void universe, and Legion-7 is not strong enough to fight off the void universe.


    Even world gods can''t do that. They can only keep the Origin god in stasis. World enders despite how dangerous they are to world gods, also can''t prevent an Origin god from resurrecting. So Legion has a clear image of how powerful the void universe is.


    If they can''t fight Mother High Heaven currently, then fighting the void universe is a very bad idea. They know this even without the brief brush with the Will of the Void universe that they have had recently.


    It is not that Legion-7 is useless against Origin gods or for their endeavor to eliminate the Vampires once and for all. Legion-7 can surely devour Vampires. But that''s a bad idea because Vampires are the vessels of the demon god of Carnage. Now that he is a world ender, no Vampire primogenitor can be devoured, lest it be a battle of existence between Legion and a very angry and special world ender.


    As for his usefulness against gods, Celestials are still a problem. Celestials can be killed, but Legion-7 doesn''t have any advantage over them in a fight. Legion-7 is not useless, of course. He can resist the influence of a world god as long as the world god is acting from a very far distance.


    So Legion needs power, and they need it fast. In hopes of achieving it, Soverick has been tasked with fixing their problems with supremews. The problem with his mission is that creating a Supreme Law is very difficult.


    It is very easy to build a concept, which he did for every clone. But a Supreme Law is more than difficult to build. It is also very difficult to build aw matrix and a world fragment, but they would rather do that than start working on a Supreme Law.


    Building aw matrix is easier since aw matrix is a manifestation of the interaction between the derivatives of a Supreme Law. They can just build a fakew matrix thatcks the power of a Supreme Law. But they can empower it with their shards of power and turn it into a world fragment.


    It is a shortcut that they can take to acquire the power they need to match Supreme Origin gods. It can work because they can use their world fragment to rece the power of a supremew. That is, as long as thew matrix they build is able to allow them to use their shards of power for long periods of time. Hence, he is currently working on building the artifact with Legion-9 and an extension of Legion-7 through him instead of focusing all his attention on building a Supreme Law. He and Legion believe that it is a more efficient use of their time.


    He estimated confidently as he worked, "We should be ready before the era of conquest."


    He is in his true form right now. He is a single eye with multiple multicolored tentacles extended out of him.


    These tentacles work in urate tandem with the eye to assemble thew matrix. They are able to weave quickly because the resistance of thew fragments has been removed thanks to the cosmic force from Legion-5. All in all, they are making good time.


    What they are building is a work of art. It is a phantasmic structure of energy for operation, matter for form, information orws that dictate what forms it takes, and forces that keep the individual parts together or apart to maintain its form.


    Each part is tweaked in a specific manner and works together with the others, like the gears in clockwork. But unlike clockwork, what they are building can explode in their faces.


    The world fragment is a very difficult thing to describe. Several parts of it exist in different states of matter that can only be imagined by a weak mind and not understandable. If they don''t know that space hasyers, how will they be able to understand or envision a twist in the fabric of space?


    -----


    A/N: Don''t forget that I will upload an extra chapter for every person with a golden ticket contribution above 20. This is aside from the normal contribution goals and will start next month.

 Chapter 1424 Plans For Supreme Law.

    Chapter 1424 ns For Supreme Law.


    ??It can''t be described to the weak. Even its physical features cannot be described urately because a weak eye cannot see everything that it is.


    Whenbined with the fact that it is both a structure that has to be seen and felt, it makes the phantasmic structure nearly impossible to fullyprehend without experiencing it personally. Any exnation of it will fall short of its true description. And even then, most of it will be lost to the dim minds of the weak.


    But if it is to be described after culling 90% of its features, then it is an infinity symbolposed of a ck loop and white loop joined together that asionally copses in a devastating reaction encapsted by a sphere of golden light that is orbited by nine rings of crystalized light woven with light of various wavelengths and yet intersects at several points where harmony is maintained.


    The rings of crystalized light are the buddingw matrix. They are the structures that will hold the shards of power. If they are sturdy enough and can withstand the bacsh of the void universe, then Legion will be able to use the shards of power indefinitely instead of in short spurts. They might not be able to control the shards of powerpletely, but at least, Soverick would be able to keep his enhanced eyes open forever.


    This is the current top-most aim of Legion. It is because a supremew is still far away from them. Unlike aw matrix, where they just had to make sure that it didn''t copse on itself and could withstand a lot of abuse, a supremew has to be able to go toe to toe with thew of order and not be destroyed by the resistance of the void universe.


    That''s just the minimum requirement for it to be capable of creating a world. Of course, Legion is not just aiming to meet the minimum requirement for their supremew. If they didn''t want to create something spectacr, they wouldn''t have bothered to create concepts with multiplews.


    They knew before the conversation with Mother High Heaven that Supreme Laws can grow, but the growth is not limitless. A concept made of onew will be very powerful as a supremew but will be stunted in potential and will be inflexible as opposed to supremews created from concepts with manyws.


    It ismon knowledge that the morews a concept has, the better. This will enable it to grow faster and have more flexibility as a supremew.


    That''s just the preparation for growth potential. There is still the potential for power that must be addressed if they are to make a very powerful Supreme Law.


    Supremews can overwrite everything, apart from other supremews, as long as they have enough power of Will. That means the power of Will is just as important as the power of the Supreme Law. And the power of Will can only be gotten from a world.


    That''s why Legion doesn''t n to waste their powerful Supremews by using them with a single world. They intend tobine the might of many worlds with the might of a supremew that is at least on par with the supremew of order.


    Supremews are not equal in power and potential. But there is also the difference in properties and aspects of Supreme Laws. Normal world gods are content with making Supremews that have four aspects. It is not because they arezy. They just can''t ovee the hurdle in the way of making a Supreme Law with five aspects, like thew of order.


    Legion is not like them. They are greedy and also have the means to create a Supreme Law with five aspects, thanks to Soverick''s eyes. They can see the Aspect of information, so they can manage five aspects. But they are not content with that, so they intend to add the aspect of dimensions and entropy.


    Supremews without those aspects can simte them, but they won''t be good at them or powerfulpared to a Supreme Law that specializes in them. Another difference is that while Supreme Laws can simte any aspect they need as long as their weirder is knowledgeable in those aspects, the Supremews can only simte one aspect at a time. After all, a Supremew can only create and operate one falsew at a time.


    Meanwhile, a Supreme Law that possesses those aspects in its a Supremew can only create and operate one falsew at a time.


    natural state will be able to use all of them at once. This means that Supreme Laws without the aspect of dimension and entropy can simte omnipresence with their Will, but they can still be trapped in a cage made of the difference in the coefficient of time and space. This is because even if the Supremew can simte thew of space or the Aspect of dimension, it can''t break a barrier that requires space and time at the same time to ovee.


    Legion doesn''t want to be trapped the way they trapped CARNAGE and the Supreme Law of the First Sage, so they will make sure that they can easily utilize their Supreme Law across differences in dimensions and through the flow of time brought about by entropy.


    The preparation for potential, power, and seven aspects means that the Supreme Laws that they n to make are going to be very difficult. It is not an undertaking that can be taken lightly or achieved in a short period of time.


    So their great n for the future about supremews and worlds is for the future. For now, the world engine and the world fragment are the focus of their attention. This is the best use of their time because it is easier to achieve and because the world fragment won''t go to waste.


    Soverick ns to upgrade it with their Supreme Laws in the future, and they may be able to upgrade it into a Universal artifact.

 Chapter 1425 Confusing Chaos.

    Chapter 1425 Confusing Chaos.


    ??So in a way, he is already building a foundation for their future with his current task. It is killing two birds with one stone. It is efficient, and he is making progress with it.


    Unfortunately, things aren''t goingpletely Legion''s way. His work is going well, but the second agenda, which is finding a world seed, is not going so well. They just can''t find where to buy it.


    If Legion can''t find the world seed on their own, they will have to fight a realm tree on their own. That means they will need the help of a world god or the realm lord to help them resist the Will of the Realm.


    Their situation is not hopeless because, while they might not be able to get a world god to help them and a world god might not be able to help in the case of a world like the Realm of High Heaven, they can surely get the Realm Lord of High Heaven to help them if they perform well in the era of conquest.


    And if that doesn''t work, they are notpletely hopeless. There is still the matter of the Tree Father and Aeternus. The two of them can be upgraded to a higher state of existence, which might be able to help them take on a realm on their own. Their upgrade is also easier for Legion to achieve because they don''t need world seeds or world engines.


    And if that doesn''t work, there is still their n for Helios. Helios is not having any problem currently withprehending thew of order. Unfortunately, he doesn''t have Soverick''s eyes, so his speed ofprehension is slow. So he can''t be done soon withprehending thew of order, but he can be their fallback n.


    They doubt they will need him, though. This is because Soverick is sure that the world fragment will be done before the era of conquest, so they have a good chance of making enough contributions to gain the assistance of the realm lord.


    The tree father''s and Aeternus''s evolution is also bound to be achieved soon. Legion already knows how to help the Tree Father evolve into a divine spark and is about to get everything he needs for evolution.


    As for Aeternus, Soverick is doing everything he can to help. He uses his full-powered vision when he can toprehend the Supreme Law of Carnage in the world ender. He is not attempting toprehend the supremewpletely because that will cause CARNAGE to appear in his mind and make Legion start an existential war with a world-ender. No, all he wants to discover is what is simr between True Chaos and false Chaos.


    The Supreme Law of CARNAGE is a variant of Chaos. Ites with the variability and randomness of True Chaos, except that there is a clear pattern in it. Legion does not care for the pattern. All they want to know is what causes the variability and randomness in Chaos. They want to find the smallest unit in the pattern. That will be the foundation of Chaos.


    Soverick''s eyes moved away from the copsing world ender to the surroundingw matrix. He tried to figure out the difference in order based on what he saw in CARNAGE.


    He muttered to himself as he observed the world, "Order doesn''t change, but Chaos is always changing. Order has a direction of operation, but Chaos''s operation is random. Order is stability and control, while Chaos is instability and corruption. They have a lot of differences, but both don''t have any weaknesses. Order doesn''t have any weakness because it is strong, while Chaos doesn''t have any weakness because it is always changing."


    "What''s odd is that the source of the strength of order is obvious. Order has an entire universe to support it. But what does Chaos have? Where does ite from, and what is its purpose? Is Chaos natural? Is it the embodiment of entropy?"


    The more heprehends, the more he is baffled by Chaos. He doesn''t even know how many aspects that Chaos has because it is always changing. The only thing he is certain of is that Chaos has entropy and is empowered by Time.


    Chaos grows stronger over time, and time eliminates any weakness it has. In fact, weaknesses don''t exist for Chaos because of time.


    Order, on the other hand, doesn''t care for time. In fact, it does the opposite. It resists time and any changes brought about by the flow of time. It also prevents any changes to time.


    The behavior of Order to time is understandable since it has a universe to run. But he can''t understand the behavior of Chaos because he doesn''t know its source or purpose.


    Soverick ruminated on what he observed for a long time. His blind eyes recovered after a while of waiting. Then he sighed and resumed his session ofprehension.


    The problem of the True Supreme Laws is quite difficult to solve. They have been at it for almost 20,000 years now, but they haven''tprehended 1% of either one. Their speed of improvement is bound to increase drastically now that Soverick is an Origin god with his concept. But it will still take a while toprehend them fully. They are even prepared for the bacsh ofprehending someone else''s Supreme Law.


    It is a preparation they have to make because they know that knowledge is power, and power is knowledge. Knowledge bes incredibly dangerous when it is about the power of a living entity with a powerful will.


    Looking at a supremew is like staring at the entity that it belongs to. It is as they say, when you look at the abyss, the abyss stares back. You have to be prepared to have that existence notice you and grow within your mind.


    Legion is prepared for Legion-7, who is now a part of Legion-


    Unity, to bear the bacsh. After all, he could handle a small amount of a supremew even before he became an Origin god with a concept to protect his existence.


    ------


    A/N: Don''t forget that I will upload an extra chapter for every person with a golden ticket contribution above 20. This is aside from the normal contribution goals and it has started.

 Chapter 1426 Welcoming Party.

    Chapter 1426 Weing Party.


    ??Back then, the consumption of a Supreme Law was a risky n that had a 50% chance of sess, even with copious amounts of cosmic energy to fuel his gluttony. But now he is immortal, and the crown of dominion has greatly improved their chances.


    Even so, they have to be careful of what theyprehend, or a world god might appear in their minds one day.


    ---Door Kicking.


    In a peaceful ne that is about to be not-so-peaceful, the weather is nice and the day is bright. The ne is not prosperous, but it is fertile, as can be seen from the amount of forest that covers its surface.


    This ne has enjoyed peace despite theck of a divine ne because the bubble that holds the ne is one that is hidden amongst the cluster of nes in the realm. Besides that, their gods are very strong and have a lot more freedom now that they arended gods.


    The peace that the ne is enjoying currently is a rtively new thing. The presence of gods on the main ne meant that divine wars were amon urrence. But divine wars have ended after thest great war.


    Some call that great war a disaster, the likes of which have never been seen. This is because the disaster killed more than 90% of all living things in the ne.


    Fortunately, an end was put to the disaster, and peace was brought to the ne. The Church of Lightning Supremacy ims that the disaster was ended by their Celestial and that it is through her greatness that the ne is enjoying its current peace and serenity.


    The other churches, particrly the ones that belong to other Celestials, im that the disaster was caused by the evil Celestial of lightning and that she aims to enve the whole world.


    It is what they truly believe. They are not fabricating false stories about her and are fear-mongering. But they are lying about the ne being the "whole world."


    They know that there is a greater world out there, but it won''t do for their believers to know that. Their believers might start to think that they have options if they know that they don''t have to remain under the yoke of gods, so they lied.


    Besides that little white lie, the Celestial of Lightning remains the evil god who sacrificed most of the inhabitants of the ne and her son, who was the child of the ne, for power. If that isn''t evil, then what is?


    They got their answer after more than 10,000 years of peace. A group of truly evil beings who can sacrifice their mothers for power got a hold of their nar coordinates and opened a portal of damnation to it. They came toplete what they had started.


    The Celestial Supreme sensed the intrusion immediately. How could she not? The mana of the ne practically rioted and became tainted. It is a taint that she is very familiar with.


    The realization of what was going on made her angry and predisposed to violence.


    She roared in anger. "Who is responsible for this?"


    She is truly angry. She made sure to roar loudly to show just how angry she was. Her roar spread to every part of the ne and brought with it the sound of thunder. Even the sky became cloudy. It is mirroring the mood of the Celestial Supreme, who is also the child of the ne. Both she and the sky are just about to let loose a storm.


    Her question was directed towards the gods, but she didn''t care that everyone in the ne heard her roar. If they didn''t know what she was angry about, they definitely did when they saw a ck, swirling portal in the sky. But no one answered her.


    They kept quiet, either out of fear for her or shock at the sight of the ck portal. Either way, their silence didn''t appease the Celestial Supreme. It couldn''t because it was the opposite of what she wanted.


    "Answer me! Who did this?" She roared again. "I know one of you did this. How many times do I have to tell you that I didn''t consort with a demon to take over the ne?"


    Again, no Celestial owned up to it. It only made her angrier. There''s no way she is going to believe that this demon invasion is not the work of her enemies. It could be a total coincidence, but it is unlikely because her enemies have used her of doing the same thing. It is just like them to replicate her feats. After all, they are desperate and without other recourse to counter her strength.


    She snorted when no one stood up to take the me or the credit. "You can keep quiet about your crime, but actions speak louder than words. I hear you loud and clear. So prepare yourselves for the consequences of this transgression. Be assured that I will visit untold violence on you after this."


    She promised more punishment. Then she turned her attention to the portal. It is a tear in space caused by two rotating ck rings. The rings are close to each other, but there is a space between them filled with dark abyssal runes. The runes indicate the identity of the invaders beyond all reasonable doubt. No respectable person will teleport about with such questionable means.


    She decreed with majesty, "Begone from here, demon."


    The red tattoos on her blue skin lit up with power with her deration. A magnificent power apanied her decree. It was enforced with her Authority. Even the power of the world moved. As a Celestial, her words arew, and as the Child of the ne, her words are the words of the ne.


    Her Authority and the majority of the world power of the ne moved to seal the portal. The dark clouds in the sky finally let loose. A pir of blue lightning fell from the sky and struck the portal. It is the only wee that this intruder will get.

 Chapter 1427 Divide And Conquer.

    Chapter 1427 Divide And Conquer.


    ??The collision created an explosion of thunder and light. The world was rocked, and mortals stumbled as they ran about to hide.


    All of these appeared within the sight of the Celestial Supreme, and it pleased her. Demons can invade this ne easily since it doesn''t have a divine ne, but that doesn''t mean she, the Celestial Supreme, will stand and watch it happen.


    The portal was bombarded by her intent, empowered by her Authority and world power. It shook and flickered. Its runes began to scatter, and the spatial tunnel it was opening began to copse.


    Destruction is easier than creation, and destruction is easiest with lightning, so it was not surprising that the portal began to copse.


    The copse of the portal was further hastened as a terrible sound came from the other side of it.


    "Rawr"


    A roar of unwillingness came from the other side of the portal. It sounded as if a great entity had been harmed, but it sent chills down the spines of all those who heard it. They are not happy that they have harmed this great entity. Instead, they are filled with trepidation for making the entity angry.


    This is an entity that they shouldn''t have earned its attention in the first ce. Now they have made it angry. Only bad things cane out of it.


    "It is alright." The Celestial Supreme told herself. "It can''t get in. I have stopped it."


    She is afraid, but that isn''t good. It is not good at all for the strongest being in the ne to be afraid. If she is afraid, then it means that they don''t stand a chance against this creature.


    So she tried to remove her fears by relying on the certainty that the demon behind the portal couldn''t enter the ne. But she got angry that something made her feel fear. Then she turned that anger toward the betrayers.


    She began yelling at them, "What were you thinking? That''s a demon king. It must be a powerful demon king. What did you promise it to work for you? Are you sure it will only kill me? And how are you certain it will leave when it is done with me?"


    She fired a series of questions at the seven other Celestials who have appeared in the sky. They are standing several kilometers away from each other and away from the portal, but they are all in the sky above their capital cities.


    The Celestials heard her questions, but they didn''t feel guilty at all that a demon was attacking their ne. They didn''t feel happy either. Instead, they felt greatly bewildered.


    They spoke amongst themselves and asked each other about it.


    "What is she talking about?"


    "Did one of you do this?"


    "Who did it?"


    "Stop looking at me. I didn''t do it."


    "It wasn''t me."


    They are truly innocent of the crime that she is using them of. But they knew she wouldn''t believe them, so they didn''t bother to deny it to her. Instead, they chose to capitalize on the circumstances.


    One of them said in a conspiratory tone, "This is a great opportunity."


    They didn''t say anything else, but their tone and their behavior have said all they need to say without being explicit.


    Another Celestial, the Celestial of War to be exact, asked with the same glint in his eyes, "Are you thinking what I am thinking?"


    The Celestial of Knowledge responded with the same conspiratory tone. "If you''re thinking that this is a great opportunity, then we are thinking the same thing."


    The Celestial of War chuckled evilly. "I am thinking that it is a good idea."


    The other Celestials who were confused at first, were enlightened. They all perked up and considered the proposition seriously. All of them, except one, remained confused.


    "What are you talking about?" The bewildered Celestial asked.


    The Celestial of Knowledge rolled his eyes and exined. "I mean that we should help the demon invade the ne."


    "That''s a crazy idea. If we do that, then it will look like we really betrayed the ne."


    "Does it matter? She is not going to believe us anyway. It is best to make good of this situation to overthrow her."


    "But that demon king seems powerful. If it can kill her, then it can kill us."


    That doused the enthusiasm of the gods. Actually, it did more than that, it sobered them up. But even with the threat of death, the aura of the demon was still affecting and corrupting their thoughts. So they didn''t back down.


    Someone suggested a better idea. "We don''t have to do anything to help the demon, but we can threaten the Celestial Supreme that we will help the demon if she doesn''t swear to never steal our power."


    "That''s a good idea."


    "Either way, we have to make a decision fast because the portal is closing quickly."


    They turned their attention to the portal. It is indeed closing quickly.


    "Fuck it, let''s do it."


    So they rushed forward to keep it open. They didn''t know that they were already under the influence of the invader. The demon king hasn''t entered the ne, but they have already lost. After all, they are already divided and are about to fight each other. They might just kill themselves without the demon king killing them.


    The Celestial Supreme had been expecting the betrayal, so she noticed the dash of her fellow Celestials towards the portal. Her eyes widened in anger, and lightning red out of her body.


    "You dare?!"


    She activated her title immediately and weakened all of them. Then she sted them down from the sky with lightning strikes.


    "Impudence,"" She roared in a crescendo higher than the previous roars.


    "You dare betray me? I will kill all of you today." She shouted as she made to teach the Celestials a lesson they would never forget. At least half of them will die today, and the other half will be maimed in one way or another.


    A/N: Don''t forget that I will upload an extra chapter for every person with a golden ticket contribution above 20. This is aside from the normal contribution goals and it has started. Please remind me when you have contributed 21 golden tickets.

 Chapter 1428 For Amusement.

    Chapter 1428 For Amusement.


    ??Lightning coalesced into the shape of a spear in her hand. The world was rumbling with thunder, as if to forewarn of the impending death of Celestials.


    She was truly going to kill them. But then she stopped because the portal stopped closing. A wed hand came out of the portal and gripped its edge. That stopped it from copsingpletely.


    This hand is red and has six fingers that end with ck, sharp ws that glint in the light like steel des. A vast power entered the portal and empowered it with an even more vast amount of energy and power. The portal came to life immediately. It reformed and began rotating faster.


    The speed of its opening had increased. But this was not enough for the demon king. Another identical wed hand appeared from within the portal. It worked in tandem to push the portal apart. This caused the portal to start widening beyond its capacity.


    "Oh no, you don''t." She said it with equal amounts of fear and anger.


    She directed the spear of lightning in her hand towards the portal. The spear of lightning crashed into the portal sessfully. But this time, it didn''t break. The portal cannot copse as long as it is supported by those two hands.


    So she made more spears of lightning and made them hit the two red hands instead. The hands didn''t so much as twitch. The attack was not registered in any way, despite being infused with the divine power of the other Celestials.


    Her attacks are stronger than the one she used to copse the portal, but the hands were not singed or scarred. They continued to push the portal open from within.


    "You imbeciles. You''re about to bring cmity upon us, you foolish imbeciles," She yelled at her fellow gods before she began preparing the strongest attack that she was capable of in this state.


    The portal ignored her and her roars of anger. It widened against her wish. Then another hand came from within the portal to assist the first two. The speed at which the portal expanded increased.


    It had only been two seconds, but it felt like forever to her. Her attack had finally been prepared, so she sent it towards the portal.


    She roared with determination, "Lightning Annihtion!"


    This attack is not like the thin spears of lightning that she created previously. It started out as a thick pir, but it becamerger as the world augmented it. This time she doesn''t have to decide between hitting the hands or the portal. Both of them will bear the brunt of the attack. There are even leftovers to spare.


    The purple lightning struck the portal. But it was blocked by a fourth hand. This hand came out of the portal and grabbed the lightning attack. The attack exploded in a sh of light, heat, and sound. The mere shockwaves of it blew away the dark clouds in the sky and plowed the ground into a in.


    It is a mighty show of power. One shouldn''t touch a dangerous attack like that, but the hand remained unscathed after the shy disy. The fourth hand gripped the portal and exerted strength. The exertion created a low breaking sound. Spiderwebs spread out from the portal in every direction. They were apanied by cracking sounds.


    The space around the portal seemed to have be fragile ss. The stress of the portal opening too fast caused it to crack audibly. The sound itself is grating to hear, while the sight of the expanding portion is painful to see.


    The Celestial Supreme screamed hysterically. "Aw!!!!"


    Her fear has returned, and it has returned stronger than ever before. The portal is opening, so she can no longer deny it. The fear was so great that it made her go mad.


    She bombarded the portal and the hands with lightning again and again in a hysterical fit. The hands didn''t move to defend against such puny attacks. She will have to use her full attack if she wants them to consider her a threat. Unfortunately, that takes time. It is time that will be used to expand the portal.


    The Celestial Supreme stopped when she realized that her efforts were doing nothing. It was then that she heard the chuckling. It had been going on for quite a while, but she hadn''t heard it because of the thunderps created by her attacks. The chuckling wasing from the portal.


    The source of the chuckles became clear when four golden eyes peered out from within the darkness of the portal. She can''t see the face that they belong to, but those eyes are very clear. They shine brightly, as if indicating the power contained beneath them.


    The demon king chuckled, clearly amused by her antics. Then it asked with an amused voice, "Why have you stopped?"


    The voice itself was unpleasant to hear. It felt like filthy oil on her skin. The weaker Celestials who heard it lost their minds. Their eyes turned red because of madness. As for her, she is very strong, so she only shivered.


    The voice continued.


    "Continue." It mocked her. "Go on. Show me what you can do. Disy to me the full extent of your desperation. Do your best to amuse me."


    But she doesn''t want to continue attacking anymore. All she wants is for this nightmare toe to an end. Unfortunately for her, wishes aren''t horses. This is reality, and the reality is that the ne is about to wee another cmity.


    This cmity is certain. She can no longer delude herself into thinking it won''t happen. The only choice for the ne is whether it will wee the cmity with open arms or with stubborn yet futile resistance. Either way, time is running out for them to make that decision.


    The head of the demon finally appeared out of the portal. It is arge thing. The portal is more than 20 meters across right now, but it can only allow for the head and hands of the demon king to pass through.

 Chapter 1429 Words Of Blasphemy.

    Chapter 1429 Words Of sphemy.


    ??If there is a silver lining in this very dark cloud, it is that they can finally see the face of their would-be conqueror. It is a terrifying face worthy of the bringer of cmity. It is the kind of face that the person who will destroy their ne should have, but they are not happy about it.


    The demon has red, translucent skin. It matches the ck helmet of bone that the demon donned. The helmet allowed space for his mouth, eyes, and golden horns to be exposed, but it covered everything else like anotheryer of skin.


    Above the ck helmet is a white crown. The white crown has a ck orb and several white orbs revolving along it. They haven''t seen that type of crown before, but they know that it means that this demon is a demon king and a very powerful one at that.


    The demon king grinned at them. It exposed its red teeth and dashing smile at them. The smile is so dashing that a golden light is shining through the gaps in his teeth. It is the same golden light spilling forth from his eyes.


    "Behold my greatness and feel despair," he said to them grandly.


    "I am the Chaos King. I am the face of your doom. I am your death, and I am the reaper of your souls. You shall bear witness to the ministrations of Chaos."


    His words, full of the contamination of chaos, entered the ne from his mouth. They were the words of sphemy and corruption. These words drilled into every living thing and contaminated them.


    This contamination was both physical and spiritual. It manifested as a ck rot on everything and is spreading rapidly.


    The world suddenly became dark as even the air and wind became contaminated. Every being beneath the level of transcendence died. Their forms ckened and turned to dust where they stood or hid. As for the transcendents, they became mad immediately as their minds fractured into pieces.


    Only the gods could hear his words and bear his gaze without having their existence fractured. Even then, the contamination didn''t let them off. First, they flinched. Even the Celestial Supreme flinched when an unknown force mmed into her mind.


    Then the force tried to drill into her existence. She resisted it with divine energy, so the ck rot was contained as tiny spots on her skin. She was right to think the words of the demon were like filthy oil.


    Some gods were not so lucky. The ck rot was expanding slowly but surely. Their red eyes were turning ck. It is only a matter of time before they sumb to it. They might be lucky to die before that happens. In the meantime, they began fighting each other and destroying the ne around them.


    The Celestial Supreme saw all of these happen, but she could mount the smallest intentions of resistance. If there was any doubt before, it is certain now that she will die.


    Just the voice of this demon king is enough for her to fight for her life. She can very well imagine just how powerful it will be in person. Even if she is wrong about her estimation, she is certain that she will die and that the whole ne will die with her.


    Apanying her dread is the groan and cracking of space, as it was forced to amodate something powerful in a rough manner. The demon king was pushing itself out of the portal, even though it wasn''trge enough to contain it yet.


    It roused her out of her stupor.


    "Attack it," she roared. "We have to send it back before it can get into the ne."


    Her shout managed to sober up the Celestials. She even managed to call all the gods to action. The Celestials and the hundreds of gods came together under her will.


    She can take most of their power, but she can only take half of the total at most. But together, they have greater power. They all chose to attack now that the severity of the situation had dawned on them.


    Hundreds of gods attacked the demon king. Thousands of attacks struck him per second. His face was bombarded with all manner of attacks. But it was all showy without substance.


    He didn''t even grunt in pain. He could take them all on when he was just a level 10 demon king. All their attacks would have tickled him at most. He is currently far beyond the level of a level 10 demon king, so their attacks might as well be air infused with divine power. It is a waste of divine energy.


    The only reason he defended thest attack was because it could affect the portal. Now he has his head out to block the attacks.


    Aeternus ignored them. He focused on opening the portal. He pushed his arms apart to let himself through.


    He grumbled to himself, "I wouldn''t be struggling like this if I had the support of the abyss."


    Aeternus has been on the run for quite a while. They made the deal with WRATH for his protection in exchange for the coordinates of the ne CARNAGE was invading, but that will only protect him from GREED if Wrath can get to him fast enough. That''s why he is still staying away from the abyss. He ns to remain a fugitive until the era of conquest, when the abyss moves as one. WRATH will be able to protect him then.


    His situation as a fugitive makes it so that he doesn''t have the assistance of the abyss in opening portals. If he did, he wouldn''t be struggling like this. The portal is fragile, and the space of the ne is resisting its expansion. It has made things difficult for him.


    This difficulty is because demons can''t control space despite their immense power. They can''t teleport or open portals without the assistance of the abyss. Any demon king would face the same problem he is facing. However, it is certain that they wouldn''t be able to solve it as well as himself.


    -----


    A/N: Don''t forget that I will upload an extra chapter for every person with a golden ticket contribution above 20. This is aside from the normal contribution goals and it has started. Please remind me when you have contributed 21 golden tickets.

 Chapter 1430 The Crown Of Dominion.

    Chapter 1430 The Crown Of Dominion.


    ??He may be a fugitive demon king, but he is not weaker than he ought to be. In fact, the opposite is true, thanks to the crown of domination.


    A demon king with a ne in the abyss and the support of the abyss will be a fugitive if they encounter him. They will pick up their things and run without any thought of relying on their ne for safety.


    He is stronger than ever before because he sacrificed all his crowns to the crown of domination. He even sacrificed all the Authority of the Celestial Supreme that Legion had amassed to it.


    Those were supposed to be sold for soul stones, but Legion doesn''t need them anymore, so he could use them for power. And what a power it is! The crown of domination epted everything powerful he could throw at it, regardless of its origin, and gave him power in return.


    This power is in the form of Authority. Authority is important to everyone on the three paths. Gods get bestowed Authority through faith, demons get theirs from the abyss and by killing gods, and those on the path of perfection gain it through theprehension ofws and the creation of concepts.


    Authorityes from many different sources, unique to the three paths of power. Those sources are not interchangeable across the different paths, so a demon can''t gain power from faith or concepts. But through the crown of domination, this is possible for him. He became apetitor with Legion-7 for the consumption of concepts because of the crown.


    The crown of domination is all anyone needs as their source of Authority. What''s more, there is no limit to the amount of Authority it grants its bearer. It will take on every source of Authority to empower its bearer. So Aeternus is far beyond Level 10 Authority.


    At this point, he might be on Level 34. All it took was the sacrifice of a lot of powerful items. Unfortunately, it wasn''t enough to get him to the next stage of evolution. Authority, no matter its source, can''tpare to a Supreme Law.


    Hence, he decided to attack this ne. He is here for something that can help him break his limit and evolve. Soverick has seen it happen, so he is here to make it happen.


    These people can only me their luck that Legion-7 has fullyprehended thew of space and can obtain the coordinates of a ce he has been. It is something that every clone can do. Well, every clone apart from him and the Tree Father. The two of them can''t usews, even if their lives depend on them.


    Since he can''t use anyws and he is not a part of Unity yet, he can''t use the concepts of other clones; he has to squeeze through a small hole like some fat slug and not the terrifying being of power that he is.


    Just thinking about it made him unhappy. He grumbled inwardly, "If only I hadws. All Chaos knows is brute force. And Soverick says it doesn''t have a weakness. This right here is a weakness."


    Meanwhile, the portal itself was alsoining. It was groaning and grumbling audibly as Aeternus forced his way through it. It is a pity that no one could hear it because of the sound of the attacks exploding in Aeternus''s face.


    He finally struggled out of the portal after a few minutes of struggling. The gods attacked him throughout the whole time, but it didn''t stop him. They were already weakened by the contamination of Chaos by the time his full form entered the ne, so their chances of turning things around had fallen even further.


    A god rushed forward to attack physically. He swatted the god away like a fly. His hand didn''t even touch the god. It was the power of soul force reinforced by Authority that struck the maddened god.


    The god exploded into a dreamy shower of light. It was like fireworks, but no one was celebrating. Instead, they became angrier and attacked him in a frenzy.


    He stabilized the portal first so that it couldn''t be harmed. Then he turned his attention to the gods as his army entered the ne behind him. The gods stepped back in fear because of it.


    They were courageous when he was stuck and couldn''t do anything to them. But they cowered when he gave them his full attention. It is not their fault, really. The weight of his undivided attention is not a blessing. It is as heavy as the sky.


    Aeternus has changed. He has grown because of his sacrifice. He is no longer the 1.7-meter-tall demon king that some made fun of. He is now over a hundred meters tall.


    He is nowhere close to the 10-kilometer form of other demon kings, but no demon king can match his power. Even the most ignorant person can tell that much. So despite being smaller than what is expected of a demon king, the gods are quaking in fear before him.


    He has four arms now and four eyes. His skin is red, and his horns are golden. He doesn''t have wings, but he has grown a long, muscr tail. All of this is encapsted in a ck armor of gleaming metal.


    The white crown on his head is out of ce for his form, but it served to make his demonic form more sinister. After all, there is nothing more sinister than an angel-like demon.


    He ignored all of them and focused on the Celestial Supreme. He stretched forth his hand at her to possess her. A formless yet powerful soul force came out of him like a tide. It gripped her and brought her to him.


    She tried to resist, but she was outmatched. She was like a toy in his hands. If not for the fact that she has something that he wants, he won''t even consider her worthy of his attention.


    -----

 Chapter 1431 All For Power.

    Chapter 1431 All For Power.


    ??His six-fingered hand gripped her tightly so his four eyes could focus on her and examine her.


    He asked, "So you are the one who killed your son for power?"


    "Not bad. Very smart. Very resourceful. You have a good head on your shoulders."


    He truly thinks she is smart. She has cheated Legion-7 after all. Anyone who can cheat one of the clones has to be smart. Unfortunately, she didn''t appreciate hispliment.


    "Curse you, demon," she yelled in defiance. "You can kill me, but you can never break me."


    Lightning bombarded his hand as he held her, but he didn''t care. A strange being suddenly appeared beside him. It is a being that looks like a doll. It is featureless from head to toe. There are no eyes on its face and no ws on its fingers. They appear to be anthropomorphic, except they are muscr.


    One might think this being has been here all along and is simply invisible. At any other time, they might be right. But not in this case. The being came here just now. Aeternus and this being also both have the white crown on their heads.


    "Finally, I get my revenge," Legion-Unity said.


    Aeternus stated, "I don''t think you will be able to get the Will of the ne from her without killing her. If you do, then I might not get my prize."


    The two minds considered the problem briefly before speaking.


    "Fine, take her."


    "We don''t need it."


    "We have bigger fish to catch."


    Legion-unity said. Then he disappeared. They chose to give up on her since they would have to take the Authority of the Celestial Supreme from her if they want to get the Will of the ne out of her. They can''t do that because the Authority of the Celestial Supreme is for Aeternus.


    She lost her usefulness to them once they couldn''t separate the Will of the ne safely to inspect its existence. They might perform some torture during the process of inspecting the Will of the ne, but it would only be for research.


    They can''t do any of that now, so they gave up on her. Aeternus can do whatever he wants to do with her. He simply crushed her.


    Her body broke apart just like that in his hand. It is not that she didn''t resist. She tried to resist her fate. Her vast store of divine energy was brought to bear to resist the simple physical force caused by the clenching of his hand. But her divine power wascking, so she failed.


    Her advantage in quantity cannot make up for the difference in quality. Besides, the advantage of quantity can only exist whenpared to other demon kings. He, on the other hand, has infinite chaos energy, so no one can outmatch him in terms of quantity of energy.


    Her divine body broke apart, so his soul force was able to gain ess to her godhood, which contains her soul. She tried to regenerate her divine body, but Chaos energy prevented that. It ravaged her bodypletely. If not for the protection of his soul force, then even her godhood wouldn''t be safe.


    He could hear her speak from within the Celestial godhood. "Please spare me. I''ll give you anything you want."


    Aeternus snorted. She was defiant earlier, but the threat of death has restored some semnce ofmon sense to her. Unfortunately, her situation is hopeless.


    He had used his soul force to protect her, not because he nned to spare her or torture her, but because he didn''t want Chaos energy to destroy his food.


    He looked at the ball of power and energy that was left in his hands with the gaze of someone looking at something they wanted to eat. The ball shined brightly and would have filled him with awe in the past. But now, he is only full of anticipation for power.


    He sacrificed the godhood, containing her soul, to his crown. It was a simple affair. He brought the Authority of the Celestial Supreme to the white crown on his head, and it attached to it and became one of the white orbs.


    Her divine energy, domain, godfire, Authority, and divine soul were sacrificed to the crown of domination. Her entire existence, including her memories and consciousness, became fuel for power. The Will of the ne attached to her didn''t escape this fate either. It was dragged down from the sky into the white orb that she has be.


    The effect was immediate. He felt his existence be elevated.


    He muttered to himself, "All for power. It is all for power."


    The effect hadn''t ended there, but the effect of his action on the world was also happening. The world rumbled spiritually. It wasn''t a physical phenomenon. Only people with divine sense would notice that the world seemed to have died.


    Even Mana in the atmosphere seemed to have be less active. Only he knows that this is because he also sacrificed the Will of the ne to the crown of dominion. From today onward until a new Will is created, there shall be no gods, and the entities in the ne will struggle to be mana entities.


    A world has died for him to gain power, but he didn''t care. His attention was focused on feeling the difference in the world and in his existence. It is just the addition of one more Authority of the Celestial Supreme but it led to the most impactful change he has experienced since he began sacrificing power to the crown of dominion.


    This change may be because this particr Authority of the Celestial Supreme is special since it contains ess to the Will of the ne too. The sacrifice of the Will of the ne might have helped him ovee the resistance in his mark of sin. He began to evolve immediately.


    "Finally!" he eximed.


    The elevation of his existence took on a rapid rise. It made him feel euphoria throughout his entire existence.

 Chapter 1432 Too Late.

    Chapter 1432 Too Late.


    ??There was war and destruction going on around him as demons fought gods. But he simply stood in the sky while his body began producing light.


    The golden light within him was leaking out through his skin. His skin began to melt. Even his horn was not spared. It is like there was a fire burning within him. This fire is reforging him from the inside out.


    He said to himself in anticipation, "The resistance of the mark of sin has finally beenpletely resisted. It is mine now."


    The source of light within him is the mark of sin. The crown of dominion has acquired enough power through the sacrifice of powerful items to ovee the resistance of the mark of sin and cause his evolution through brute force. It is an unconventional way for demon kings to evolve.


    Normally, the mark of sin contains enough power to make a demon evolve to the level of a demon god. They can harness this power by fusing with the mark of sin. What''s stopping them from achieving this is the resistance of the mark of sin.


    Demon kings can ovee these problems byprehending their sin enough to ovee the resistance of the mark of sin. He, on the other hand, has yet to fuse with the mark of sin because he hasn''tprehended the supremew of Chaos. However, he has acquired enough power to steal the mark of sin from the abyss and evolve without its permission.


    His state of existence is evolving now that there is no resistance to digging out the power within the mark of sin. The immense power capable of producing a demon god is now fusing with his existence.


    His existence changed as he evolved. His separate soul and body fused to be one. He became a vessel for the mark of sin and the Chaos energy that it produces.


    His changes ended there. He was supposed to be one with the energy produced by his mark of sin too, but he is not a demon god. He didn''t fuse with the mark of sin, so he can''t fuse with Chaos energy yet.


    He felt the changes in his existence, and he couldn''t help but be disappointed. "This came toote."


    The fire burning within him is the power from the mark forging his existence into a suitable vessel for Chaos. In the past, it was just his body that could bear Chaos energy; now his soul can bear Chaos energy too.


    His soul has finally gained innate immunity to chaos energy, so he doesn''t need soul force or the concept-like defense around his soul to protect him anymore. Unfortunately, this change is a waste because he doesn''t need it anymore. He had found a way as a fledgling to bear the power of Chaos energy. That''s how he was able to survive.


    He had to change his soul with thew of the soul so that he could survive. Unlike what he did to survive, this innate immunity has made him capable of wielding Chaos energy in all its states.


    So this innate immunity is better than the previous resistance against Chaos energy where his soul wouldn''t be corroded as long as he was able to match Chaos energy in strength.


    Not only that, his entire existence has be more attuned to chaos so he is capable of sensing andprehending the Supreme Law of Chaos on his own.


    These are all great, but anyone in shoes will be disappointed too. It is true that no demon should have an affinity with the Supreme Law of Chaos, so he is unique, but its effects camete.


    He could already sense thew of Chaos as a demon king because of the effect of the shard of power, and he could resist Chaos thanks to thew of the soul.


    So all these changes are toote. It would have been better if he had immunity to Chaos energy as a fledgling. He wouldn''t have had to suffer for 50 years.


    At this point, the affinity for Chaos doesn''t serve any purpose apart from informing him that only beings like demon gods should be able to withstand Chaos energy without help and canprehend it if theye in contact with it. Unfortunately for them, by that time, they already had their own falsew of Chaos.


    This has made it clear that he isn''t supposed to exist. It is something he knew before since a demon fledgling shouldn''t have Origin essence and shouldn''t be able to withstand thew of Chaos that Origin essence attracted. So he is a rarity unique to the void universe.


    He said in understanding, "I don''t me GREED. I would try my all to grab myself too if I were a demon god."


    Now he understands just how strange and peculiar he must have looked to the demon gods when they sensed him. He had energy that was simr to theirs, but he wasn''t a demon god. If they had grabbed him, they would have been able to get ess to the true Supreme Law of Chaos through him.


    This is why the demon god GREED wants to get him and why he has been on the run for so long. But he doesn''t me GREED for being greedy. It is something he would do, considering how greedy he is too.


    The difference between the demon god GREED and Legion is that Legion doesn''t need to grab a unique being in order to get their power. Legion can emte the unique ability they want and go further to improve it so that it doesn''t have any weaknesses and bes something unique themselves. It is how they reincarnated into a demon and became something that demon gods envy.


    "What else is there?" he muttered. "This can''t be all."


    He tried to move his body and use his power to find out the full extent of his evolution. He found out that even though he didn''t be one with his energy the way demon gods do, his evolution was not a total waste. He got more than affinity with True Chaos.

 Chapter 1433 The Form Befitting Death.

    Chapter 1433 The Form Befitting Death.


    ??The power he stole from the mark of sin is good enough on its own. It may have made some useless changes to him, but it has also elevated his state of existence and made him more powerful.


    At the very least, he doesn''t need to fear demon gods anymore. Their caustic energy and virulent supremew are not strong enough to corrode him anymore. If Chaos Energy can''t do so to him, then they surely can''t.


    He chuckled to himself when hepleted the examination of the changes his body had gone through.


    "Demon gods are going to make fun of me again."


    His form has been reduced to just 10 meters tall. He has also lost all his features. He doesn''t have arms or legs anymore. One might mistake him for a ghostly apparition. They would be right, because seeing him is the same as seeing death.


    He is very simr to Legion-Unity in appearance in that he doesn''t have any eyes, ears, or lips. The only difference between them is that he has two glowing golden bull horns on his head, and his constantly shifting energy form is ck like a shadow.


    The saving grace of his appearance is that he does look like a powerful demon god. Anyone can tell that he is very powerful because his mere existence is plunging his surroundings into darkness.


    A sort of inky darkness is spreading outward from him. It is the shadow of his existence. He may be small, but his shadow isrge enough to plunge a ne into darkness. It is a darkness that will remain for a long time, even in his absence. So no one will make fun of his height, not even demon gods.


    Only the light of the white crown he has on his head and his golden horns can be seen in the darkness. The rest of his existence, on the other hand, only wants to banish light. With this sort of appearance, no demon king in their right mind will make fun of his height.


    He said to himself in anticipation, "I wonder which demon god will be my new throne for disrespecting me."


    He thought about it and changed his mind. "No. I think I will just eat them. A throne is too wasteful."


    He nodded at that thought. "No demon god should be wasted like that."


    Unlike demon kings, who would give him a single crown for a slight boost in power, demon gods are oceans'' worth of energy and power. It would be a waste to use one as a throne when he can just eat them.


    Eating demon gods will require strength. So the next thing he considered was how to get stronger.


    "I wonder if I can be a world-ender if I fuse with Chaos energy."


    His question was also directed to the other clones, so Soverick replied, "I can''t help you in that aspect. I can''t see anything about your existence anymore, so you are on your own."


    Aeternus shrugged and said, "I think it will work."


    His form is a vessel, and within it is something like the godhood of gods. It is the mark of sin. It is mostly spherical, but that''s because his existence confines it. It is a ball of information and power. It is a four-dimensional object made of matter, energy, and Will. It used to contain the Will of the abyss, but not anymore. It is empty of Will now and waiting for him to substitute his Will into it.


    Around the mark of sin is Chaos energy. It is gushing out of the mark without limit. His store of energy is infinite, like a Celestial, so he is storing the energy without any issue.


    His form is not increasing in size despite therge amount of energy, though. He is not a demon god. He hasn''t fused with the energy yet, so the amount of energy he possesses doesn''t affect his size. Hence, he is wondering what will happen if he tries to fuse with it now.


    Unfortunately, the affinity with True Chaos is preventing Soverick from being helpful to him. That means he can''t predict what will happen and make the best decisions to maximize his chance of sess.


    So he decided to try breaking through now.


    He said to the other clones, "It should work. And if it doesn''t work, there shouldn''t be any harm. At the very least, it will allow me to know just how difficult it will be."


    No one made any rejections, so he decided to go through with it. He hasn''t met the requirements to fuse with his mark of sin yet, so he doesn''t have much hope for it to seed. He just wants to give it a try.


    Aeternus slowly made his consciousness enter the mark of sin. He found himself in the energy sea when he did.


    "This is strange." He observed quietly.


    All around him is a purple energy that he knows to be the energy sea of the abyss. He couldn''t fathom why he was here when he was trying to fuse with his energy.


    It made him ask himself a question he has always been wondering about. "Where does Chaos energy evene from?"


    Chaos energy had always appeared toe from his mark of sin, but he couldn''t see anything resembling Chaos energy around him. He had never heard of anyone encountering it in the abyss, either.


    "If it weremon, then the demon gods wouldn''t have been surprised by my existence. Could it be that the mark of sin converts the normal sin energy into Chaos energy through the Supreme Law of Chaos? That would certainly exin what is going on here. But where does sin energye from? Do I still need the Supreme Law of Chaos, or must I fuse with the whole energy sea of the abyss?"


    He was contemting his situation when he suddenly felt his mind fall. Something was pulling his consciousness deeper and deeper into the energy sea.


    ----


    A/N: This bonus chapter is for the 100 golden tickets goal. I will release the one for Jebus''s 21 golden tickets tomorrow.

 Chapter 1434 Not Chaos Energy.

    Chapter 1434 Not Chaos Energy.


    ??His consciousness felt the feeling of a fall for a long time. His mind descended past the abyss into an unfamiliar ce with thick, corrosive energy. He is familiar with this type of energy because it is the one thates out of his mark of sin. He has gained immunity to this type of energy, so he wasn''t harmed.


    "It seems I was wrong about my conjecture. But where does this Chaos energye from? Is there arge mark of sin somewhere here?"


    He didn''t feel danger, so he remained calm and interested in this strange ce that he didn''t know existed until now. He examined it as his consciousness sank deeper into the Chaos energy.


    But then his consciousness started to be pressured by the energy around him. It is the same pressure that his soul experienced from Chaos energy when he was a fledgling. The difference is that what is surrounding him isn''t Chaos energy anymore.


    "What is this?" He eximed in panic. "It is so corrosive."


    He is familiar with the painful sensation due to corrosion, but this is not the Chaos energy he is familiar with. It is not as active as Chaos energy, and it is also heavier. It feels dense and very powerful. It is so powerful that the immunity of his soul was ovee.


    The only thing that he knows thates close to the properties of this energy is liquid graviton. So this energy would be a hybrid of Chaos energy and liquid graviton.


    "But liquid graviton is the flesh of an elemental that can survive intense gravity? Where did this onee from? Is it also the flesh of something? If that is so, then the entity this belongs to must have evolved to survive in an area with Chaos energy."


    "But why is the corrosion more powerful than Chaos energy? Could this be the famous Chaos blood? But aren''t they only produced by world enders?"


    "If this belongs to world enders, why do world enders have more corruption than Chaos energy? Why is it that CARNAGE never showed this kind of power? There''s a lot of things that don''t make sense here."


    He has so many questions. Unfortunately, he couldn''t continue his conjectures because he got into an unpleasant situation very quickly. The environment not only became heavier, it became so corrosive that thebined resistance of his new existence and his soul force could not keep him from being harmed.


    It is now certain that he should not be here. Unfortunately, he can''t leave. His soul continued to descend, and the erosion increased quickly.


    "Help me." He cried out.


    The other clones came to his rescue immediately. Legion-1 pulled on him as if to take him back to himself. Legion-1 is in possession of their origin, so he has that ability.


    Legion-1 is also a part of Legion-7, who is now Legion-Unity, so the amount of pulling force that he could exert is six times the normal amount. They were able to halt his descent and pull him back into the world.


    His consciousness returned to the world, mostly safe but severely injured. He has been saved, but the corrosion has not disappeared yet. In fact, his existence is tethering on the edge of copse. Anyter, and he would most likely have died there.


    Unfortunately, Legion can''t help him with this. The smart thing to do is to distance him from theirwork, which they did immediately. This is because Aeternus has be even more dangerous for his energy to be allowed into the mindwork.


    Legion-9 can''t help him because life essence has never been useful to him, so Aeternus turned to the closest source of power around him. He grabbed one of his heralds and consumed him.


    The poor herald was suddenly pulled towards the pir of darkness and disappeared into it upon contact. The sacrifice of the herald healed Aeternus a little.


    "So this works." He observed.


    Then his gaze toward everything around him changed. His subordinates have be tonics for his scalded existence.


    "In that case, you have all served your purpose."


    The demons instinctively felt his malice toward them. They ran away from him, and his soldiers scattered.


    He didn''t even bother to mock them for their silly actions. He simply pulled all of them into his body. The gods were not spared either. Nothing on the ne was spared. He consumed the trees and every animal around him. He even consumed the topyer of the earth on the ne.


    Everything he targeted was pulled into his existence unfailingly. He grew bigger, but only by a little, despite the size of everything that he consumed. It is because most of them were used to heal his injuries. The rest couldn''t increase his strength by much since he was of a much higher state of existence than theirs.


    His most powerful subordinates are demon lords. They are far weaker than demon kings, so they were like appetizers to him. Only the Celestials added anything significant to him.


    "I have learned several lessons just now." He said after healing.


    "One thing is certain. I have not met the requirements to fuse with my energy yet. Two, trying to fuse with my energy is very dangerous. And three, Demon kings and Celestials are the weakest things that are worth eating."


    He understood how close he was to death. If not for the help of other clones, he would have died. So he made up his mind not to attempt to fuse with his mark of sin until he had at least mastered the supremew of Chaos.


    He will also eat a lot of demon gods and powerful beings so that he can be powerful enough to resist the corrosion.


    Power andprehension should increase his chances of sess, so he made up his mind to have them before he attempts to risk his life again. This is a decision that all of Legion insists on. This means a lot of demon gods will have to assist them in the endeavor.

 Chapter 1435 A New Hobby.

    Chapter 1435 A New Hobby.


    ??Aeternus looked at the empty ne, which had to bear the consequences of his dangerous attempt to fuse with his energy.


    It made him say in awe, "No wonder a single demon god can take on a ne on their own."


    There are no more animals or nts in the area around him. That area is two-thirds of the total area of the ne. It ispletely empty of all life. No one would think there were two armies fighting in this ce a few minutes ago. And this is just from the power of his mind without using Chaos energy.


    He said in appreciation for his new strength, "I am not a demon god, but I don''t think I amckingpared to one. I don''t need subordinates anymore."


    He is not concerned at all that all his subordinates are gone. He spent a lot of time and effort on them, but they are gone now. But it is not a waste of his time and effort. The strength that they acquired through him has been returned to him.


    A normal demon god doesn''t need subordinates to take on a whole ne and subdue it. CARNAGE alone fought the Lumen ne, and he pushed them to the brink of destruction.


    He was stopped by the divine ne, but he was still able to create an army of blood clones to fight the gods in the divine ne and several Vampire Primogenitors in the ne to fight the Will of the ne while simultaneously fending off the attacks of Origin gods.


    Such is the power of a demon god. They can fight all the forces that a ne can bring forth and achieve victory. He has that power now and more, so he doesn''t need subordinates.


    This is also why Origin gods with Supreme Laws only bother to fight for resources and not control over nes. If the possession of a supremew is not enough to give them outstanding contributions in the era of conquest, then no amount of weaker beings can help them.


    At some point, no amount of quantity can make up for the difference in quality. He, above everyone knows about this difference in quality. He was already at the top of demons with a level 10 authority but he still couldn''t match demon gods with almost 50 crowns assisting him.


    It was not until he sacrificed all those crowns and more Authority of the Celestial Supreme that he was able to achieve qualitative improvement himself. Even then, he could only resist the might of a demon god for a while. It is only now that he has evolved that he can fight back and hope to defeat demon gods.


    Even if he needs Subordinates, they will have to be the equivalent of Origin gods and demon kings, just like the Vampire Primogenitors.


    That way, even if they couldn''t be of help to him, he would be able to consume them for power. At least, they would be better than his previous subordinates, who are not only useless for power but also inefficient as food.


    He chuckled when he thought about all the things he could do with his power right now. "So much to eat, so many to taste."


    Most of his thoughts are on eating. He failed to fuse with his mark of sin, but he also gained a new hobby. Feeding is also a hobby that will make him stronger. Eating his subordinates not only healed him, they also increased the power of his Chaos energy.


    It is not an increase in quantity. He has never needed that since he was a fledgling. What was increased by eating his surbodinates was the quality of his Chaos energy. If eating can increase the power of his mark of sin, then eating will be his new vice.


    He grinned and said to himself, "I can''t wait to spread the gospel of Chaos to the willing and unwilling. I should start with the demon gods first."


    "The demon gods should meet me. It is just right that I introduce myself to them. If they don''te to see me, then the price they will pay will be more than a hundred subordinates."


    He is currently full of anticipation, and he would like to test his power in a fight. His power is so mighty that the whole ne has darkened by now as if there were a sr eclipse. He doesn''t even need to block the sun with his body to plunge a ne into darkness. His mere presence is enough to rob the world of light.


    He is so powerful that his only subordinate still alive is shivering and unwilling to show herself. But this is not enough to tell the full extent of his might. Only a fight with another demon god will satisfy his craving for a fight and his craving for a bite.


    Xander is currently shivering in the shadow dimension because he nced at her. He didn''t just nce in her direction. She felt his gaze bypass the barrier between dimensions and settle on her form.


    He was never able to do that in the past. Xander''s ability to go to the shadow dimension is the basis of her stealth, and she was able to remain hidden from him in the past. He could tell where she was because she was his subordinate. But now he can break through the dimensions, be they the shadow ne or thew matrix.


    He can track Xander just like CARNAGE tracked Legion-7 into Legion-1''s inner world. But Xander isn''t worthy prey, so he stopped looking at her.


    He looked around the ne again and noticed the destion he had caused. All signs of civilization have been wiped out. There are still living beings, both nts, animals, and some sentient races, in small pockets at the edge of the ne, but most of the ne has been ravaged by him.


    The only thing still standing is therge portal behind him that leads to his abyssal ne.


    He asked the other clones, "What do we do with this ne now?"

 Chapter 1436 Option One Or Two Or Both.

    Chapter 1436 Option One Or Two Or Both.


    ??Legion hates making losses, but they hate wastage the most. They hate it so much that even if they don''t need something, they have to exchange it for something useful to them. This ne has been ravaged, but that doesn''t mean they will let it go.


    They don''t need this ne for the era of conquest since they already have one in which they have invested heavily. Besides, they finally have the power of a half-world god at their disposal, so they certainly don''t need this ne.


    The smart thing is to turn it into something useful for them. So Aeternus and the other clones thought about what they could do to take advantage of the Gattling ne.


    The first idea that came to them was selling it. A demon god won''t be interested in a ne that has been looted of all life, including the will of the ne, but they can deceive the demon god by hiding the fact that they have already attacked this ne.


    They will make enemies of the demon god that falls prey to this trick, but they won''t mind. They can even use that to make ns to capture the demon god. After all, it is difficult to tell which entity is their enemy, but they can be sure that the deceived demon god will try to retaliate, and they can be certain that the demon god wille to this ne. This is more than enough information for them to n a heist.


    "This could work," Legion-1 said after considering it. "We have almost all the information we need to make a trap."


    Aeternus agreed, "We captured CARNAGE with less certainty, and I do need something worthwhile to eat."


    All they need is for the demon god toe here. They don''t have a world spark as bait, but this barren ne will do. There also won''t be any risk of endangering all of Legion now that they have a demonic spark.


    Soverick rmended another n. "We could also sell it to Origin gods, who need anding site to participate in the era of conquest. That can work because there are many Origin gods looking for a ne."


    It is a good n. Information about how the era of conquest usually progresses has spread amongst themunity of the Origin gods, so it is nowmon knowledge that the more nes an Origin god is in control of, the higher their influence will be in the era of conquest. So the information about a ne that they can take over without any resistance is very valuable to Origin gods right now.


    The Origin gods will have to create their own workforce and soldiers since this ne iscking, but its value is still high. It won''t be as high as the value of the energy that Aeternus will get from consuming a demon god, but it will bepletely safe and without risk.


    They began to debate which n they should execute. The second n is undoubtedly safe, but the first n means they will get more energy, and power, and still get to keep the ne.


    The first problem with the first n is that they don''t know if Aeternus can defeat a demon god with certainty. This is aplicated oue that will be determined by the amount of energy a demon god is carrying. When coupled with the fact that Soverick can''t predict anything about Aeternus anymore and he can''t predict the actions of those with Supreme Laws, they will be walking into the trap almost blind.


    The second and probably the most important reason why they shouldn''t go with the first n is that even if they win the fight, the demon god that they target won''t die from losing one clone, so they might have to let go of the ne and be troubled by the angry demon god in the future.


    Of course, they thought of taking the best of both ns. It would be best if they could sell the information to both a demon god and some Origin gods. They would first use the ne as bait for a demon god, then sell it to an Origin god regardless of the oue of the trap.


    Unfortunately, they can''t do that. They have to swear an oath to prove the validity of the information and its secrecy. They also won''t get paid until the information has been verified by the other party.


    No one wants to be sold useless information. So even if the person who is selling the information is certain of its validity and secrecy, that doesn''t mean that the information is valid and secret.


    Something might have changed that the seller is unaware of. It is wise on the part of the buyer to verify the information before handing over the money. If the buyeres around and sees an angry demon god in the ne, they will lose the sale.


    These problems stand in the way of their greed. They have to choose one option, not both. So they chose the second n. It is safe, and they are certain that they will get benefits from it.


    Fighting a demon god can lead to unforeseen problems. They would rather sell the ne and be done with it. Then they will n another heist for demon gods independently.


    Aeternus stood guard in the ne to ensure that no one would steal their property while Legion-1 went to find buyers. He spent that time figuring out his new abilities. It is necessary since he is the first of his kind that they have ever heard of, and they are quite confident that there is no one else like him in the void universe.


    He is not a demon god, so he doesn''t have a supremew and cannot create clones like other demon gods. His poweres from borrowing the power of Chaos through Chaos energy. It is borrowed power, but it is highly lethal. It is so lethal that demon gods can be consumed by it.


    -----

 Chapter 1437 True Authority.

    Chapter 1437 True Authority.


    ??He also can''t create powerful avatars that can distance themselves from him anymore since he sacrificed all his crowns. He is all the firepower he has at his disposal.


    He is not a demon king either, and he has lost both the recognition of the abyss and the benefits of one. But he is not useless. He is a Demonic Spark, an actual, albeit not orthodox, divine spark. So even though he has lost the support of the abyss, he feels it is a worthy exchange for the ability to create Authority with cosmic energy.


    Legion has always wanted to gain the ability to create Authority and they were right about its abilities. Unfortunately, they didn''t break any ts of the void universe now that they have achieved it. What''s worse is that he can''t create the Authority of the Void Universe.


    The Authority of the void universe is what Soverick has termed True Authority. It is simr to the kind of Authority he gained when he sacrificed his crowns to the crown of dominion. It is an Authority that anyone can use, but it is more powerful than what he had because it is useful to world gods too.


    At least that''s what Soverick thinks. He came to that conclusion from the little they have gleaned from the Supreme Law of Order. But it is only a conjecture. They haven''t confirmed it yet.


    But even if True Authority doesn''t exist, Aeternus hasn''t broken anyws of the void universe because divine sparks are part of the Order of the void universe, and divine sparks can create Authority.


    They believe that if True Authority exists and divine sparks can produce it, then Aeternus''s inability to create the Authority of the Void Universe is because he is not an orthodox divine spark.


    As he is, he still can''t use thew matrix. If he can''t do that, there''s no way the void universe will allow him to share its power.


    Legion is only disappointed and unhappy. They are not discouraged because, even though they didn''t get any reward from the void universe for this achievement and they can''t create the Authority of the Void Universe, they have gained knowledge and a new understanding of the void universe. They finally know with certainty what Authority truly is right now.


    Authority is the permission from a powerful being to use the power of that being. It is the right or status granted by a stronger being to another. And its foundation is the power of Will.


    The Will of the void universe grants those on the path of perfection Authority while the Will of the abyss grants demons Authority, and the Will of the realm, through the Will of the ne, grants gods Authority.


    That knowledge is something Legion has been wrong about for a long time. It is because they have been confused by the simrity between the Authority of the three paths.


    They inspected godhoods, crowns, and even concepts and found that they contained aspects of the supremew of Order, or, in the case of demons, the Supremew of Chaos, given form through cosmic energy. So they thought they could make Authority themselves.


    They had Cosmic energy, and they had theprehension of the Supreme Laws, but they were unable to make it because theycked the critical ingredient, which is the Will.


    Anyone who acquires Authority has the right to share in the power of the one who granted it to them. But they need permission to have that right, so without the Will of the source of power, Authority cannot be created.


    That''s how the gods gained their power. They are able to subvertws withoutprehending them because they have the permission of the Will of the void universe, through the Will of the realm, through the Will of the ne, by virtue of faith from believers.


    Anyone who gains this permission can do a lot of things they shouldn''t be able to do. Including banishing thew matrix in their divine kingdom and suppressing those on the path of perfection or using godhoods to hide from the wrath of the void universe in the case of the Phoenixes.


    The gods gained this permission through the spark of power that the realm possesses and by the rmendation of believers. Aeternus also has a spark of power. Even though he can''t control it, his mark of sin can still produce Authority.


    Aeternus can make Authority now even without the Will of the void universe. He can substitute the Will of the Void Universe with his own will. It will cost cosmic energy, and he will have to provide the energy that those who wield it will use.


    This is how CARNAGE created the Vampire race. The Authority it created was the heart of Carnage. It is now that Legion understands the full impact and significance of Ragnarok''s act of taking the Authority of a demon god for himself without permission, despite being vastly weaker than the demon god.


    It made Aeternus think to himself, "The shard of power is truly powerful. Maybe I can use it to steal the Authority of the void universe. If Ragnarok can do it, maybe I can."


    Helios advised, "Maybe you shouldn''t try it until you are world ender."


    The other clones were quick to discourage Aeternus from that action. They are greedy, but they are not that greedy. Ragnarok did steal the Authority from CARNAGE, but he almost died after. His spark of power didn''t save his life after the deed was done. This means he still needs power before he can attempt to steal from the void universe.


    Legion-1 said to him, "At the very least, you have to be able to steal from the Will of the realm before you try the Will of the void universe. If you fail, we can at least leave the realm and never return. We can''t leave the universe, so you will have to hold off on your n."

 Chapter 1438 Not Sharing Authority.

    Chapter 1438 Not Sharing Authority.


    Aeternus finally relented, "Fine. I will target the Will of the realm first."


    Soverick added, "You can do that after the era of conquest, not before."


    Legion-9 snickered, "If the realm is still in existence after the era of conquest, the realm lord will be a world god by then. That means the you will have two entities with the power of world gods to contend with."


    Aeternus groaned while Ragnarok said, "Two world gods are still easier than the Will of the realm."


    Aeternus is currently the strongest clone, but he listened to the other clones. It is because they are one, and they are right. What they said was reasonable. But that didn''t stop him from craving for Authority. Authority is his obsession as part of Legion just as Cosmic force is the obsession of Legion-5 and prophecy is the obsession of Soverick. The three of them have to pursue their obsession for Legion, but they have to do it in a way that won''t endanger Legion. So Aeternus had to rethink his n. He didn''t think about creating Authority at all because he was more intent on stealing the Authority of the void universe for himself than trying to make Authority for others. He can afford to make something like the heart of Carnage, easily, but it is not worth it because he won''t gain anything from it. In a way, his ability to create Authority is simr to how demon gods create races by sharing their power. But demon gods share their power so that the mark of sin that they fused with will grow and therefore increase their capacity.


    It is giving to receive more. Vampiresmit a lot of carnage and hence increase CARNAGE''s capacity for power. Demon gods do this because they can''t grow any longer, even if they consume or overwrite everything in sight. They have reached the limit of what their sin can take, so they have to expand their sin.


    They don''t create and share Authority because they are kind or because they are bored. Aeternus, on the other hand, won''t gain anything from creating Authority since he doesn''t have a Supreme Law because he didn''t fuse with his mark of sin.


    This is good because he won''t be limited by his mark of sin. Hisck of Supreme Law has made it so he doesn''t need to create Authority or expand his sin. He can grow stronger on his own. The best source of strength he can think of, apart from eating, is stealing Authority from the Void Universe. When coupled with the fact that sharing Authority won''t give him strong subordinates immediately and he doesn''t even need strong surbodinates for physical assistance, it has made him decide not to bother with it at all. So unless he seedingly bes kind or bes bored, he is not inclined to spend cosmic energy to create subordinates. He would rather hunt demon gods, consume their supremew derived from their mark of sin, and use that to add more cosmic energy to his existence and grow stronger. That''s the next thing he is looking forward to, apart from stealing Authority from the void universe. It is also something more feasible than stealing Authority and can happen soon.


    The fact that they are selling the ne to Origin gods and won''t use the ne to trap a world god doesn''t eliminate the option of tricking a demon god. They tricked a demon god before, and they can do so again.


    They don''t have world sparks anymore, but they can still get more Authority of the Celestial Supreme. Demon gods like those too, as they can fill in the capacity created by spreading their sin with power. The Authorities of the Celestial Supremes are also good for him, so he could eat them directly to gain power, but he is not so shortsighted. It is better to invest them for profit. Aeternus spent a little over 10 years on the ne before Legion found a suitable buyer. It is not that they didn''t get any offers. But they were not desperate, so they waited for someone with a higher price to show up. Legion received wealth for the ne so Aeternus could finally leave the ne. He left through the portal he opened. Then he began his journey to the abyss. He thought to himself in glee, "It is time to bait a demon god."


    The thing that demon gods are afraid of about demon Kings of kings wille to pass through him. They can''t eat each other to grow stronger, but he can. He did not take the normal path to achieve his current state, but the oue is the same for them. Demon gods will be his food.

 Chapter 1439 Returning Home.

    Chapter 1439 Returning Home.


    ??These supreme Origin gods managed to give Legion a lot of big problems. The clones died several times, but they didn''t stop. They were able to manage to escape several times by teleporting away, so they were not discouraged.


    They didn''t stop, and they continued to steal. But they had to stop when they finally hit a wall they couldn''t bypass or ovee when a Supreme Origin god with a Supreme Law of Space came after them. Both Legion-1 and Legion-unity died in the hands of that supreme Origin god. They couldn''t escape because she could seal and cut space.


    Their winning streak came to an end, and they even had to go into hiding because the Supreme Origin god was actively looking for them.She nted a lock on them that she used to track them. The lock could only be removed through death, so they couldn''t evade her no matter how far they ran until she killed them.


    That didn''t discourage them. All they had to do was avoid the area of the Supreme Origin god. Or so they thought. What they missed out on is that someone has be truly pissed at them and sent this Supreme Origin god after them to make their lives miserable.


    It wasn''t about stealing anymore. It was about dishing out pain. It was about the joy of the hunt. The Supreme Origin god chased them all around relentlessly. They died many times in the hunt. It was then that they decided to stop stealing.


    They were indignant about it, but they chose to stop stealing for a while until this very angry and powerful Origin god, whom they stole a lot of soul essence from, cooled down and stopped looking around for them.


    They could have used Aeternus''s new abilities against her, but it is unlikely to end the problem. She wouldn''t die permanently, and she will remember how she died even if she died within a domain because she has a Supreme Law.


    That means the world will learn about their ability to wield Chaos energy, which they don''t want for many reasons. It will make more enemiese after them if they keep stealing, and Legion doesn''t think it is a good idea to broadcast their ability to wield Chaos energy just yet. They n to make that reveal when they have a lot more to gain.


    So Legion turned their attention to something that could strengthen them. The easiest thing to do is to make Legion-9 evolve into a divine spark, hence why Legion-unity decided to make a trip to the spiritual dimension and pay his old friend a visit.


    Returning to the spiritual dimension was easy. They just had to dive below thew matrix and pass through the threshold that forms the barrier that separates the spiritual dimension from the normal dimension of the void universe.


    They felt the familiar, deathly embrace of theher waters on them as soon as they entered the spiritual dimension. It felt like swimming in an ocean of decay and death.


    Legion-7 sighed and said, "Home, sweet home."


    Legion-5 looked around curiously. He removed the protection of his soul force and allowed theher waters to touch him. He expected corrosion, but it didn''t happen. His concept protected him from theher waters. He can''t remove his concept since it is part of his existence now. So apart from soul force, he has another protection againsther water.


    He observed, "It seems it is impossible forher waters to harm an Origin god. Not unless it can ovee the dual protection of active and passive defense."


    Legion-5 stated confidently, "It can''t. I proved it can''t ovee the active defense of soul force, and the dead Origin gods prove that it can''t ovee the passive defense of concepts."


    "So the spiritual dimension is not harmful to Origin gods at all."


    Legion-7 was not sure. "Maybe not only Origin gods. We don''t know what will happen if mortals without soul force and concepte here. They will still have their physical bodies for protection. Maybeher water is only dangerous to spiritual entities."


    They decided to test that hypothesis. Legion-unity took out an Origin artifact from their inner world and threw it away from them. They used their divine sense to monitor any changes to it.


    They didn''t use soul force to protect their divine sense, soher waters consumed it. They did that so that their soul force wouldn''t protect the Origin artifact and interfere with the results.


    They bore with the pain of their divine sense dissolving, but it was all for naught. The Origin artifact didn''t change at all. It, too was not affected byher waters.


    "Hmmm. Maybe an Origin artifact is too strong. It is part of an Origin god after all."


    So they tried other types of materials. All of them were weaker than Origin artifacts. They were mana weapons, ordinary metallic weapons, and even ordinary stone. None of them were damaged by theher water.


    Legion-5 concluded after the series of tests. "So we can say with certainty thather water doesn''t affect physical matter."


    "But we don''t know if it will affect living things with souls. After all, everything we tested is technically dead," Legion-7 said in addition.


    Legion-5 said in awe, "If it doesn''t affect living things because of the protection of their bodies, that means that the spiritual dimension is another ce that people can live in. Just look at howrge it is. But it is going to waste. Most people don''t even know that this exists."


    Legion-7 wasn''t so enthusiastic. "They won''t even believe it exists, even if we tell them about the spiritual dimension. Many people have mentioned an underworld for the dead or an afterlife for souls, but no one has believed them. We certainly didn''t."


    Legion-5 agreed. "Seeing is believing, so they won''t believe since they can''t see it."


    "It makes one wonder what else is there in the void universe that we can''t see."


    "What else are we ignorant of in this vast world?"


    ---++


    A/N: Mention something you know that Legion doesn''t know. I will go for first. ANNIHILATION and how close Aeternus was to death.

 Chapter 1440 True Of False Reality.

    Chapter 1440 True Of False Reality.


    ??They are intimidated by the vastness of existence and the ignorance of the masses to most of reality. It makes them wonder just how they are missing out on.


    It is not an unfounded suspicion. Most of the entities in the void universe can''t find the spiritual dimension. Most don''t even know that it exists. It exists outside of the spatial coordinates of both the light and dark sides of the universe, so even world gods can''t find it.


    The problem is that they can''t see the spiritual dimension or feel its effects. This is another case where the perception of reality affects the ability to interact with reality.


    Reality doesn''t change based on perception, but you won''t be able to experience some things if you can''t see them. It means that they might be ignorant of other things that they don''t even know exist. It is intimidating to think about.


    Total perception is a priority for perfection, and Legion has made a lot of progress in achieving it. Soverick can see a lot, but he can''t see the spiritual dimension, despite his ability to see beyond the 3-dimensional. Legion-7 could see souls and the spiritual dimension, but he didn''t even have eyes, so he couldn''t see the physical world. So, no existence is inherently perfect.


    Every being has its strengths and weaknesses. Legion aims to eliminate those weaknesses. They are already on the right track for it. Soverick and Legion-7 arecking on their own, but through Unity, their weaknesses have been fixed. But they are not certain that they have perfect sight yet.


    The major problem is that there''s no way to test how good their eye sight is. If they are blind to something, the odds are that they will remain blind to it forever. They will be blind and ignorant of that blindness, too.


    They ought to be proud of themselves. After all, being in the spiritual dimension means they have achieved some things that world gods haven''t. This is a lot of progress for Legion, but this is far from enough for them.


    They have reached the stage where they now truly understand the immensity of their ignorance. They estimate that reality and everything it contains are infinite, so what they know and can see is probably an insignificant amount of all that there is. They can''t, in their right minds, be proud of what they have achieved.


    It is going to be very difficult to be capable of seeing all of reality, but they are not daunted by that challenge. Their determination for this great goal is especially important now that they are about to reach the point of no return.


    If they bear the fruit that is the Supreme ofws, then they can''t go back any longer. They can''t change their minds and return to mediocrity. They can''t indulge in the pleasure of the flesh and be content with stagnation.


    To have Supreme Laws is to set their future paths and existence in stone. Their fruit will be fertile, and it will produce seeds that must grow. They will be those seeds, and they will only yearn to be more. If they encode within their Supreme Law to achieve perfection, there will be no turning back for them.


    So the fact that infinity lies beyond them is not terrifying. It is actually something to look forward to. It means that they will never be bored. It means that they will always learn something new and have something to look forward to.


    Legion-5 said with longing, "If reality is infinite, then perfection must exist somewhere out there."


    They aren''t at the point of no return yet, but they are on their way. They will take things one step at a time. And right now, they are here to have a nice chat with the great mother. Maybe they will seed in convincing her to help them achieve perfection by the time they are done talking with her.


    Legion-5 asked, "How do we find her here? The spiritual dimension is practically infinite."


    "Let''s use Soverick''s eye. He said it should work."


    "If it doesn''t, then we will be spending a lot of time here looking for her. It better work."


    Soverick interjected. He said confidently, "It will work. I have seen it."


    "You only saw that we wouldn''t die when we fight her. You didn''t see how the fight went or how it ended," Legion-5 argued.


    "That''s because our n is tooplicated and the fight is more than a hundred years away. The best I can guarantee is that you won''t die. But I should be able to see more now that you are close to her. It will only get better the closer we get to the fight."


    Soverick was right. Their motive foring to the spiritual dimension is a littleplicated. Soverick''s current prediction is of little assistance aside from boosting their confidence, but it is better than nothing.


    Besides, Legion-7 didn''t have a better option so he activated the concept of the All-seeing Eye.


    They shouldn''t be able to use a concept here because there is now matrix in the spiritual dimension, but they have something like a Supreme Law in them. Legion-7 can bear the burden of allowing them to use their concepts here with his spark of the soul that has been thoroughly engorged with devoured concepts.


    An eye appeared above their armored head. The eye is devoid of pupils. It is also perfectly colorless. It is a round ball with moving images on its surface. One can see the world in it because it reflects the whole world.


    The images are not t or two-dimensional. They areyered on top of each other to form aplete 3-dimensional image. The addition of the fourth dimension of information makes strings of information andw also appear in the eye.


    For those who can''t see the multicolored strings of information, the eye will only look like a 3-dimensional mirror. But it will look like a mass of data, information, and knowledge to those who can see the information state. Some might even think it is a world spark.


    ----

 Chapter 1441 A Mirror For The World.

    Chapter 1441 A Mirror For The World.


    ??This is Soverick''s eye in its normal state, of course. It can do more in Soverick''s hands. A concept created from thews of Causality, Fate, Space, Time, Illusion, Soul, Life, Light, Darkness, Fire, Earth, Air, and Water has to be capable of so much more.


    Legion-7 could tell that the concept was powerful from the stress it put on his spark of consciousness.


    He had to grumble about it, "Not only was the concept dangerous andplicated to make, but even using it without the help of the void universe might shatter my consciousness too."


    Legion-5 chuckled. "A 6w concept is alreadyrge enough to disce a world spark. A 13w is more than twice asrge and 128 times asplicated as a 6w concept. I would expect that you don''t have long before your consciousness truly shatters."


    Legion-7 stopped grumbling so as not to waste time. Unfortunately, Legion-unity can''t bring out the full capabilities of the concept with the shard of power. They are not Soverick, so their shard doesn''t recognize it. But what they can do with the eye should be enough for their current mission.


    The 3-dimensional mirror, which is the eye, reflected the deary spiritual dimension. Information about everything it saw appeared in their minds. Physical information about everything it saw, such as their length, breath, height, volume, mass, density, temperature, energy content, maic field, and gravitational field, was made avable through sight.


    Spiritual information was also made avable, but it was the physical information that was most readily avable. All they needed to do was look at something, and they would instantly know the number and types of atoms that make them up, the types and amounts of molecules they contain, the amount and types of reactions going on at a time, the entropy state, and thews that form the objects.


    A weak mind will be unable to parse all the data that the eye receives. This is because the eye doesn''t just reflect the world, it grants the opportunity to understand the world on a level that is unprecedented by trying to process the information seen into knowledge.


    And that''s just information about the present state of the objects. Information about the past state of the world can be acquired, and so can the information about the future. This increases the mental requirements to use the eye without having a mental meltdown.


    This caused the stress on Legion-unity to increase. But this time, they didn''tin.


    Legion-7 was impressed. He said, "Soverick has done wonders for this eye."


    Legion-5 agreed. "Its performance is extraordinary."


    Soverick said, "It has to be. I created a world for an eye."


    They were truly convinced by the results of the eye to bear the stress of using it. They felt insignificant in the grand scheme of things a few minutes ago, but this has given them hope for the future.


    The eye is very urate because it can see the world in an unbiased manner. It can do this because Soverick constructed the image of the concept as an eye that is capable of amodating the whole world. For that, it has a world within it. It is an empty virtual world that can truly act as a mirror for reality.


    The empty virtual world within the eye has made it very sensitive and urate. It has also made it very dangerous for anyone who can''t bear the burden.


    The fact that one can look at the sun doesn''t mean they should. They might go blind because of the brightness of the sun.


    Weak beings that are smart will collect data about the sun indirectly through the use of tools and infer the state of the sun from the data collected. They might even be able to infer the age of the sun, its life cycle, and its remaining lifespan from the data.


    They achieve this without looking at the sun directly with their eyes. Imagine what can be achieved if they can see the sun and not only bear the brightness of it but also see beyond the brightness and understand what lies beneath.


    Soverick''s eyes go beyond that. He not only sees the world, he uses the information he acquires through direct sight to infer more. This process enables him to determine the past and future with high uracy.


    It enables him to know that even though a star has a lifespan of 5 billion years, it won''t live past a billion years because a strange, indestructibleet will fall onto its surface and kill it in just a billion years.


    This is because every single piece of data he sees is used to simte the present, past, and future of the universe in his eyes. So the more data he acquires, the more urate his eyes be. Its potential is almost limitless. It is why Legion is confident that the eye is their window to achieving omniscience.


    So it is overkill that they are using it to find the great mother. As long as there are no obstacles, then the eye can see as far as infinity.


    The only obstacles that can block the eye are differentyers of space, such as barriers between dimensions, but there are none here in the spiritual dimension. That means they can see everything there is to see here. It will only take time to find a specific thing.


    If they filter their sight to ount for only objects with certain properties, like energy content, then that time will be narrowed drastically.


    If they already have special information about the great mother, such as her possession of a spark of consciousness, and use that information to filter what the eye can see, then they don''t need to search at all. She will be literally the only thing that they can see in thisrge dimension.


    ----


    A/N: Concepts have a base increase inplexity of two times for each additionalw used in the concept. This is just the base increase. There are other factors that affect theplexity such as the image and the interaction between thews. So a 13w concept has a baseplexity of 4096. It is 4096 more difficult to create than a normal onew concept.

 Chapter 1442 A Two Way Invitation.

    Chapter 1442 A Two Way Invitation.


    ??They filtered the information that the eye can perceive down to those parameters, and they weren''t disappointed. A strange spiritual creature appeared in the eye. It is arge, winged being with a single eye and ispletely white.


    There are several such angelic figures with a single eye in the spiritual dimension, but only this entity possesses a spark of consciousness like them. Those entities are the great mothers, but the one with the spark of consciousness is the first one.


    "Found you." They said with a grin.


    They found her immediately. Her ruse to deceive anyone who came looking for her didn''t work on them. To them, she was as clear as a star in this dark world.


    Soverick was impressed by her scheme. "She hid as a ve and not the ve owner. How innovative?"


    Legion-7plimented her, "She is very smart."


    Soverick agreed, "Yes. We have to give her that."


    Legion-5 said with a smile of derision, "But she is no match for us."


    Soverick agreed again, "It is the fate of all those that oppose us."


    They chuckled to themselves as they moved to nab her. Their movement is faster than before. They have a vast amount of soul force, more powerful than the one that Legion-7 used when he first came to the spiritual dimension. In this way, they were able to close in on their prey rapidly.


    It will take approximately 173 years, if nothing changes, to reach her. That''s not a long time, but it is enough for something to cause a drastic change to their estimate.


    It is unlikely to happen since she doesn''t know that they areing for her. Their eye doesn''t use divine sense or spiritual fluctuations to see, so she doesn''t know that she has been locked on. It is something that she can never anticipate, considering the situation of the spiritual dimension and how well she has hidden herself.


    If by chance there is anyone who has a grudge against her andes to find her, they will be fooled if they go after her clones. Intentional or not, her clones are very conspicuous. They arerge, bright things with a lot of soul fragments as feathers. But none of them possess the spark of consciousness.


    The one that does is small and behaves like a harmless soul fragment attached to one of the great mothers. That inconspicuous soul fragment with the spark of consciousness is the first and true great mother.


    Others might be fooled, the previous Legion-7 included, but not them. She would have escaped their grasp even if Legion-unity could see the soul state because they would have never been able to find a single great mother in the nearly infinite spiritual dimension.


    She has hundreds of clones, but they are smaller than a drop in a bucket of waterpared to the infinite spiritual dimension. They would have missed her even if they could find the great mothers because they couldn''t see the spark of consciousness.


    But the ability to see everything that can be seen with Soverick''s eyebined with their ability to see the soul states of Legion-7 made it so that they could see the spark of consciousness, and it made her attempt at hiding useless before them.


    It is the advantage of the essence of Legion in its pursuit of perfection. The weaknesses of the whole are ovee by thebined strength of the individuals.


    The great mother is alsoposed of many individuals, but they are all dead physically and mentally. They have lost their uniqueness and cannot think for themselves after being brainwashed. So the great mother can never have the versatility that Legion possesses.


    Legion-unity passed by a lot of healing Origin gods in their pursuit of the great mother. They didn''t stop for any of them because they knew now thating into contact with the seemingly unconscious, defenseless, and broken Origin gods would not end well without a fight from the void universe.


    Anything that tries to kill origin gods for good will face the same resistance that the singrity of infinite possibilities faced when it tried to kill them. But the great mother doesn''t have that advantage. Which makes her a prime target for hunting in the spiritual dimension and the focus of their current efforts.


    Their voyage continued in total boredom as time passed by. There was no change except for the fact that the great-mother moved closer to them. It is a small change that decreased the amount of time it took to reach her by 11 years, and it is very weed.


    They managed to reach her, but she caught sight of them when they came close enough for her spiritual fluctuations to sense them.


    "Immortal one?" She asked in surprise.


    Then sheughed. "This is quite a surprise. And here I thought I would have to work together with your realm lord to nab you, but you came right to me. It seems you wish to be one with us. I am very happy to see you."


    She was truly happy with their presence. She wasn''t lying when she said so.


    "I assure you that your choice to be one with me is a good idea. Together, we can achieve greatness. Together, we can rule the void universe."


    "How amusing." They thought to themselves.


    They replied to her request, "No, we havee to extend an invitation to you. We want you to join us. Do not run. Do not resist. Resistance is futile. Join us and achieve greatness with us."


    He is mocking her for what she used to say to him. But the threat of their request is obvious. They are here to fight her, not to be one with her.


    They thought she would run, but she didn''t run. She stood in ce, waiting for them to reach her. Her formrge enough to fill a ne towered over them as they got closer to her. The army of soul fragments around her began to spread out. They even created a path through them for Legion-unity to pass through.

 Chapter 1443 Confidence And Happiness.

    Chapter 1443 Confidence And Happiness.


    ??It would look like a weing party if not for the fact that the other great mothers are converging on their position rapidly. They are clearly very eager to meet with Legion again.


    Meanwhile, the great mother in front of them was sharpening her ws. Her current aim is to hold them back until the other great mothers arrive. In her opinion, that is an easy goal that she is confident of achieving.


    She was so confident that she couldn''t help butugh. "It seems you have acquired an immortal body too. This must be why you had the confidence to approach me. You must think that you are powerful enough to make the hunter be the hunted."


    "But you are wrong. So very wrong. The void universe won''t help you as long as I don''t try to kill you. That limits what I can do to you, but I assure you that I am excellent at improvising."


    To think she made a deal with the first sage to bring Legion-7 here, only for him toe willingly. It is like a gift falling into her hands. She couldn''t help but be happy about it.


    That happiness shrouded any fear she had that this clone was in possession of her spark of consciousness. In fact, she is even more excited that this clone is the one with the spark of consciousness. With it, she will be able to ovee Legion-7''s concept and seal him.


    That''s what''s going on in her numerous minds. Not one great mother feared for their lives. Legion-unity was mildly surprised since they expected her to be afraid. After all, they had found her true body.


    But she didn''t appear to be afraid. She was confident, which they think is a fa?ade. They would have behaved just like this too if they were in her shoes, because that''s how she is supposed to behave so as not to expose her secret.


    Unfortunately, she doesn''t know that it was not by chance that they found this clone. Maybe she would feel fear then. But they didn''t give her the chance. They attacked her immediately they got close enough to ensure that she wouldn''t be able to escape.


    A domain erupted out of them. It enveloped the great mother and her soul fragments.


    There was now matrix here, so there was no resistance whatsoever, and they didn''t disappear into a void space. Instead, theher water was pushed aside to create a vacant space.


    The great mother was caught in this empty space. There was no longerher water around them, so the dissolution effect of it on her disappeared. It caused her to feel great and to start growingrger.


    She roared in spiritualughter, "You fool. You have sealed your fate."


    Things just keep getting better and better for her. The great mother had always been suppressed by theher waters and used the mes of rebirth produced by the Phoenix race to offset the dissolution. But now that there is an absence of the dissolution, so she can use the mes of rebirth solely to grow stronger.


    It was as if she were being inted. Her spiritual body and her ego grew rapidly. Soon, she was glowing in the darkness of the spiritual dimension. She felt liberated. She felt like a god.


    She beseeched him fervently, "Join with me. Be one with me. We can achieve so much together. Don''t you see just how good we are together? We are meant to be together."


    They said to her, "I have onlye to resume our fight."


    Sheughed in amusement and said, "You have onlye to die."


    She may be trapped and suppressed, but she is not afraid. It is partly because she is very strong and mostly because she doesn''t think she has anything to fear. She can transfer her true soul, with the spark of consciousness, to her other clones, even if this one dies. That is, if she dies.


    She doesn''t think she will die. She is a very strong soul prowler, and she has a spark of consciousness. In her opinion, she is a match for Legion-7 in quality, and she has a lot of quantity on her side. This is clear from the difference in their size.


    The great mother was already consideredrge when they met her, but now that she is growing, she has be muchrger than a ne in the short amount of time that theher water became absent.


    She is truly being inted with energy, mass, and power. The might of the Phoenix race can fully show its power now. It filled her with confidence because if her enemy cannot deal more damage than she is regenerating per second, then she can never die.


    Meanwhile, the Legion-unity is just 2 meters tall. It is insignificantpared to her 1,000 kilometers tall and 100 kilometers wide form. Even if she dies eventually, she believes that it will take a long time after a long period of struggle between them. By that time, the other great mothers will be here. So what is there to fear?


    She is wrong, of course. This is not a fight that Legion-unity stumbled upon. They have been traveling and preparing for this fight for almost 200 years. It will be shameful for them if they struggle with her.


    The nullification effect present within the Cosmic domain didn''t work on her because she isn''t using any divine ability or concept, and the nullification of thew of order can''t nullify the power of the soul, so Legion-unity attacked with an umted dragon breath.


    There is now matrix, but Legion-7 contains all thews and power they need to transform Origin energy and dragon force into their attack. Ance of pure white sma lightning bigger than them came into existence somewhere besides the great mother and shot toward her.


    It should have appeared in front of them, but the maniption of cosmic force in the domain caused the dragon breath to appear from anywhere they wished.

 Chapter 1444 The Great Thinker.

    Chapter 1444 The Great Thinker.


    ??She wasn''t caught off guard, though. She retaliated with a red beam of spiritual energy. The two attacks shed with each other.


    There was no explosion. The two attacks simply eroded each other. Thence of sma has the advantage in quality and power. After all, the soul is weak to lightning. But it couldn''t ovee the beam of spiritual energy easily because the red beam is not purely spiritual energy.


    It is the mes of rebirth of the phoenix race created with divinity, so it had some resistance to lightning, and it was quickly replenished by the great mother, so it wasn''t extinguished by the dragon breath.


    Legion-unity didn''t let up either. They continued to produce more dragon breath and attack her from various directions. But she could always resist the attacks with the armor of red mes around her.


    The two fighters exchanged attacks back and forth, with no clear winner. However, it is clear that Legion-unity had the upper hand since they were pressuring the great mother while she was only on the defensive. Even so, the great mother could still gloat.


    She said confidently, "You can''t beat me, immortal one. I can do this forever."


    She can truly do so forever. An entire race of billions of individuals is feeding her with energy, so Legion-unity is not fighting a single entity. She is like them that way. And more than that, she has an advantage over them in that aspect. There are only nine of them in Legion, but she is an entire race.


    As if to emphasize just how carefree she was, she created a red beam of spiritual energy that shot toward them. The attack didn''t hit them, though. It veered away from them.


    It is the advantage of a domain that enables its user to wield cosmic force. They can manipte space and time in ways that do not conform tows. If not for the threat of bacsh that might cripple them, they would have rewinded time to render the attack non-existent.


    All her attacks missed them. Meanwhile, they were shrinking the domain, so the space they could fight was getting smaller and smaller. They did this as they tried to approach her.


    She noticed their actions and did everything she could to stop them. Her soul fragments tried to trap them, and her powerful attacks tried to strike them, but they all failed. They all veered off course, and nothing could touch Legion-unity.


    She may have the support of millions of other individuals, but none of them has a domain. So she can not maintain the surerity of her actions. Even if they do, none of them have superior domains like those of dragons and world beasts.


    Straight beams of Phoenix fire became curved as they veered away from them. It happened several times, so she realized the problem quickly. If there is something that she has in abundance other than her supply of energy, it is mental prowess.


    The minds of a billion entities working together is probably something unique in all of the void universe. With it, she was able to identify the problem and use her immense mental prowess to create a solution for it immediately.


    Red fire exploded outward from her form into the surroundings. She turned her armor of mes of rebirth into a domain. It is an attempt to keep him away from her.


    She has reced the absenther water with her energy, so he would have to go through it to get to her. It is a waste of energy, but energy is the one thing she doesn''tck.


    Unfortunately for her, it was a false domain. A mass of energy doesn''t make a domain. What she has created will be able to contend with the domains of transcendents and mana entities. But his''s is an Origin god''s and a superior one at that.


    Legion-unity continued moving closer to her, so they met with the false domain. But the mes of rebirth couldn''t harm them because they couldn''t touch them. There seemed to be an infinite chasm of extended space between their body and the mes, so they weren''t harmed. They couldn''t to move closer to her through the sea of fire.


    The great mother wasn''t daunted by her failure, though. She doubled down on it instead. She didn''t create beams that could be dodged anymore. Instead, she focused on using her vast pool of mes to drape a dense armor around her. It encapsted herpletely and turned her into a red sun.


    If he tries to get close to her, then he will need to push her thickened and heavy domain away from himself. It will surely cost him a lot of energy to do so, considering the high density of the armor-like domain.


    And if he tries to push her amour apart again, she can concentrate the full force of her armor on him. It would be like a mountain crushing him on all sides. So in a way, she has turned the fight into apetition of energy, which is a field she has an advantage in.


    "Admirable," they said to themselves.


    "She doesn''t have a domain. But she made one."


    Maybe she knew, or maybe she didn''t know, that their use of cosmic forcees at a cost other than energy.


    They can surely amodate the price to bypass her domain in terms of cosmic energy because they have a lot of it at their disposal. But the bacsh needed to push aside her armor is not something that they can tolerate. Not when they can see that what she hasid for them is not a defensive measure, but a trap for them.


    Fortunately, pushing and pulling are not the only things they can do. They willed it, and Cosmic force rioted.


    The world fragmented and cracked like a mirror. Reality within the domain became fragmented, including the great mother. Her form was sliced and forced to shift apart.

 Chapter 1445 Pain And More Pain.

    Chapter 1445 Pain And More Pain.


    ??The great mother roared in pain, "Aw!!"


    It was a mighty roar because it was very painful. Anyone whose existence is sliced apart like that might just die. Only the strong like her can even roar in pain.


    She was shrieking in pain but the sound she made was broken up too, so she sounded like a broken sound box. The crack in the world healed almost immediately after they appeared, but the damage they had done didn''t disappear.


    The great mother''srge form crumbled apart. Her armor was also broken. It disappeared as she fell apart. She was able to recover swiftly, though. The various fragments of her existencebined seamlessly and became whole once again thanks to her spark of consciousness, but the damage had been done. She would need time to recreate her armor of mes of rebirth and make it dense again.


    Legion-unity stumbled as the bacsh of their actions struck them. The great mother doesn''t have the void universe supporting her existence, but she is arge entity, so it wasn''t easy to fragment her existence.


    Fortunately, there was now matrix and no angry void universe berating them for their actions, so their body could bear the bacsh easily. Their existence didn''t crack, but the damage was almost the full blow of a Supreme Origin god so they were not unscathed.


    It was painful, but they didn''t let the opportunity they created go to waste. They shrank the domain and got closer to her. Even if she created a domain again, it would be smaller and less effective.


    She didn''t create a domain. Instead, she created a wall to block his path. Then she created more walls of fire to block every direction around him.


    She had given up on encapsting herself and decided to encapste him in fire. Then she would try to squeeze and crush him. After all, if her attack is all epassing, then there is no way her enemy can make it veer away to avoid him. And if he tries to, it will be the problem of density again.


    Legion-unity didn''t allow her to waste their opportunity. They simply teleported outside of her attack and appeared behind her. She noticed and rted quickly. She let a part of her body explode in their face.


    She has noticed that they keep trying to get closer to her, so was willing to do everything to make sure that didn''t happen. An explosion of this magnitude would be as powerful as the pressure she nned to create with her armor.


    Unfortunately, they saw the attack happen before it happened. They created a path through where her attack would be. It was toote by the time the explosion urred. There was a tunnel within the explosion for them to pass through unharmed.


    She still didn''t give up. She made a beam of spiritual energy to attack them in the tunnel they created. They may have evaded the explosion, but they can''t dodge anymore now that they are in a tunnel.


    She was waiting for them to teleport again, so she was very surprised when the beam couldn''t enter the tunnel. It split in half and passed by the sides of the tunnel.


    It was then that she understood that her defeat was inevitable.


    She promised them, "This will not be thest of us."


    They just smiled and thought to themselves, "She is simr to us. But she is not us."


    "Many doesn''t equate better. Better only urs when there is a change in quality."


    She has the advantage of quantity, and she is powerful because of it, but it is only one aspect. The only way she can use her vast power is through the soul and spiritual attacks.


    They are notcking in that aspect, but there is no need to fight her in a field where she has the advantage. They will struggle to beat her if they do so. Instead, they will use their advantage of quality against her.


    Legion-unity finally got close to her. Their domain has also shrunk well enough to make it impossible for her to dodge. Then they formed a ck hole in front of their face.


    Their domain caved in as soon as the ck hole appeared. It is because they are making it work together with the pulling force emanating from the ck hole. The domain curved into a funnel, so its contents have nowhere to go but the ck hole.


    They didn''t have the power to forcefully devour her because she was bigger than them and had a lot of energy to resist. But if she can''t move at all, then she will be meat on the proverbial chopping block for them to eat as much as they can.


    She roared helplessly, "No. You can''t do this to me. This is not fair!"


    She couldn''t break out of the domain, and the ck hole could devour anything she threw at it. Herrge body was quickly disappearing into it. Anyone would panic then, but not her.


    She sneered at them and ridiculed them. "This is admirable. But we are immortal. You will never be able to get rid of us."


    They stopped pretending then. Their soul force shed with the divine ability of the Stellos. Her invisible spiritual threads that connect her to other clones were severed. She has be the only great mother now.


    She stopped sneering and screamed in pain. That pain was so great that it overwhelmed the panic from the realization of their impending death.


    She screamed in agony and anger, "What have you done?"


    Gone is her disdain. She has finally learned to panic.


    They just smirked. They are not going to talk to their food. Instead, they focused on chopping her up into little pieces for their bead of devouring to eat. Her form is sorge that it took 10 minutes to eat her.


    This was her destiny the moment she entered their domain. They nned everything up to this moment. All the fighting and struggling was just them trying to put her in a position where they could eat her easily without killing her.

 Chapter 1446 The Main Prize.

    Chapter 1446 The Main Prize.


    ??This is why Soverick said their motives wereplicated. They came to capture her, but they also nned to eat her. Either way, they couldn''t go all out, or they would kill her by ident, or she would escape in fear.


    To eat her, they had to let her body grow so that they would have more food to eat. But if they did that, she would be very strong. If she bes too strong, then they won''t be able to hold back in trying to capture her, and she might escape if they disy too much of their power.


    Finally, they had to corner her and leave her with no other options so that they could capture her. They had to do all of these while adhering to the information she had about them from the Steris ne and her estimation of what a new Origin god could do.


    So yes, their motives and their n wereplicated. Soverick was only sure that their greediness wouldn''t lead to their deaths. He wasn''t sure if they would win or if she would escape. It was not until they met that he was able to fine tune their greedy n and pull it off.


    When they were done with her, only a flickering me contained within a white spiritual crystal remained.


    Legion-5 nodded and said, "Our prize. The spark of consciousness."


    Legion-7 still wasn''t satisfied. He said, "We got little soul essence from her. But I guess this will have to do."


    "Yes, this is more than enough. Besides, we don''t need soul essence. But we need this."


    They could have kept her spiritual connections to the other clones so that they would be able to devour more of her. The spiritual connections would allow her to get support in terms of soul essence and spiritual energy. But it would have also allowed her to escape when this form copsed. They weren''t going to allow that in exchange for more soul essence.


    While soul essence is very good and important to Origin gods, they can make more soul essence as long as they have divine life energy. But they can''t make a spark of consciousness easily. That is something that they cannot acquire without giving up a clone and losing the divine abilities of that clone.


    And seeing as the great mother might be the only other entity apart from realm trees with a spark of consciousness in the void universe, it is very important that they get it from her.


    She pleaded with them, "Please, spare me. I will give you anything you want."


    She is speaking from the spiritual crystal. The great mother is at her weakest right now, but that doesn''t mean she has given up on living. She may have died once before, but she got here because she wasn''t willing to let that stop her.


    Soverick said, "The memories we gained from her soul fragments are interesting. Apparently, she worked with the first sage to trap us and has a deal with the realm lord concerning the era of conquest."


    Legion-7 felt justified. He said, "It seems I was right to insist we eat her. I know soul prowlers. Their memories are oftentimes more valuable than their soul essence."


    Soverick didn''t mention that they didn''t need to let her grow to acquire her memories. But Legion-7 was right, prioritizing eating her together with capturing her spark of consciousness might have beenplicated, but it has given them more than they came for.


    Instead, Soverick focused on the important information they just acquired. He said, "It seems the first sage has been moving against us. We don''t know what else he has done, but I think we can be certain that he now knows what Legion-7 truly is."


    He continued, "Knowing the first sage, knowledge is practically power to him. He would be able to n better against us with the knowledge he gained from the great mother."


    Legion-7 didn''t care about that. He said in a dismissive tone, "What he got is old news. I am no longer a simple spiritual entity. Besides, there''s nothing we can do against the first sage until the era of conquestes. I think we should focus on this item that can make me evolve."


    Legion-5 asked the great mother, "What other objects do you know that can cause evolution? I want to know the exact one that you wanted to use to trap me."


    His question was like a liferaft to her. She grabbed onto it and replied, "It is a world spark. It is the ultimate item to evolve the spark of consciousness."


    Legion-7 was skeptical. "Wouldn''t that cause you to fuse with thew matrix forever?"


    She replied in the affirmative, "It will. It is a good thing for me, though. Fusing with thew matrix means I won''t be rejected by the void universe anymore. It means freedom. And if you use it, it means you will be trapped. So even if youe to the spiritual dimension, manage to take it from me, and escape with it, you will not have a good end."


    Soverick chuckled and said, "I''m guessing this n was made by the first sage. It feels like a scheme he woulde up with."


    Legion-5 asked her, and she replied, "Yes. The world god came up with it. We could have used a world seed as bait, but the oue of using it is not certain. It might be good for you or bad. The world god didn''t want to risk it. So we decided to use a world spark."


    Soverick snickered, "It seems the first sage is bent on not giving us a world seed. He didn''t let me have one after the Unified Skill Index either. I''m guessing the world seed must be good for us."


    Legion-7 was also intrigued by the possibility of a safe evolution with world seeds. "We nned to use a world seed, but it was technically for Legion-5. Now I am not sure of the effects it will have on me."

 Chapter 1447 Lurking Predator.

    Chapter 1447 Lurking Predator.


    ??Legion-7 has reached a teau in strength ever since he devoured the Supreme Law of the Viper world god. His strength hasn''t increased qualitatively no matter the amount of seeds of power he has devoured.


    He has been looking for opportunities to evolve but his mind never went toward the fragments of the realm heart because he didn''t think they would work on him seeing as he is not in the path of perfection. But now he has to rethink that assumption.


    Legion-7 asked Soverick, "How do you think it would work?"


    Soverick replied uncertainly, "I don''t know. You are not exactly amon creature. But I do know that fragments of a realm heart are too powerful to mess with."


    Legion-5 provided a guess. "A world spark can help demon gods evolve so there must be something special about it. Besides, when you think about it, a world spark is a more powerful version of a concept. It is on par with a Supremew. If eating a small part of Supreme Law can make you stronger, then maybe eating a whole Supreme Law will help you evolve."


    Legion-unity decided to behave like they didn''t know that the great mother was being extra corperative with them in order to dy them and allow her clones to catch up. They decided to take some time to think about the prospect of Legion-7''s evolution.


    At the end of the day, they decided not to go with the world spark. They were more interested in the world seed.


    As the fragment that actually grows into the realm tree, the world seed is the crystallization of the potential for evolution. It is literally a crystal with infinite faces.


    The problem with it is that evolution has infinite possibilities. If there is no direction for it, evolution can actually lead to regression. That''s why the only safe way to use it is with a Supreme Law. The Supreme Law will rece the instructions of the world spark and give the world seed direction.


    They believe that taking it might be helpful to Legion-7. Unfortunately, they don''t have a world seed at hand. What they might have is the world spark which is better than nothing.


    They asked the great mother for the world spark.


    "Where is the world spark now?"


    She replied quickly, "The world god took it from me when you didn''t ept the deal with one of his descendants."


    Legion-7 was enlightened. He said to Soverick, "So that''s why you felt danger from her and told us not to admit to being Legion when we spoke to her or take her deal."


    Soverick replied, "She was working with the first sage, so of course he obstructed my sight. I couldn''t tell what was wrong, but I could tell that something was wrong."


    They discussed leisurely, as if they had all the time to speak with her. And they truly do, the clones that the great mother is waiting for aren''t going toe. They gained independence when the spark of consciousness was cut off from them. They don''t want to be enved anymore, so they aren''ting to save her like she expected.


    Legion-5 said to Legion-7, "It seems there is nothing more to gain here. Let''s go."


    They have gained all they can from her. This includes all the realm trees out there where the Phoenix race is present. It is arge number, which shows the influence of the immortal race.


    They have also learned that the Phoenix race has made a deal with the first sage. Unfortunately, they didn''t get what the deal was because the great mother had sworn an oath of secrecy with Mother High Heaven, so she couldn''t tell them what the deal is. Even if they break open her mind, what they will find is encrypted information about the deal.


    They began moving up toward the barrier of the spiritual dimension. The great mother noticed, so she panicked.


    "I have told you all you wanted to go. Let me go. If you do, I will take you to where I store my treasures. I have a lot of treasures that my race has umted over the years."


    Soverick''s vision shed. He saw that if they went along with her, they wouldn''t get a treasure. Instead, they would waste time because the great mother would use it to dy them further.


    Legion-7 didn''t like what he saw. He snorted and said to Soverick, "I suspected that there was no way for the Phoenix race to bring any physical object into the spiritual dimension since they don''t have an inner world, but I was still fooled and tempted by the idea of treasure."


    Legion-5 expressed that displeasure to her, "Stop lying. You don''t need to be afraid for your future. You have a great purpose awaiting you. We will not let you go to waste."


    That didn''t assure her, but she doesn''t have any choice.


    Now that she is weak, she can easily be subdued. Their soul force grabbed her and brought her into their inner world. It is a dangerous thing to do, considering how powerful a spark of consciousness is.


    A spiritual battle would have ensued had she had the means to start one. But she doesn''t. She is alone and defenseless. What they have to fear is not her, but the void universe.


    Bringing her into their inner world is the only way they can transport her to the world of manifestation without the void universe targeting them. So they have to take the risk, even if she is dangerous.


    They didn''t go to the world of manifestation yet. They stopped just behind the barrier, waiting to see if Legion-7 would be able to subdue her spiritually. If he can''t, then they will have to bring her to the Tree Father physically.


    It appeared that their caution was not needed. The great mother couldn''t do anything as a multicolored tentacle grabbed her and took her to the tree father within Legion-1.


    ----

 Chapter 1448 Plans For Evolution.

    Chapter 1448 ns For Evolution.


    ??The transportation was not physical transportation, so it doesn''t involve space. It is a spiritual transmission, so it is instantaneous between every clone joined in unity. Most importantly, it can avoid the void universe to the greatest extent.


    The green elf took the spark of consciousness and examined it carefully.


    "So you think this is what a divine spark should be?" He asked Soverick.


    Soverick exined, "Yes. Aeternus''s evolution has made me certain of it. A divine spark will have certain aspects that this doesn''t have. But the spark of consciousness is sure to help you evolve if used correctly."


    The Tree fathers agreed with that. "Either way, it is certain that I will be able to be a divine spark with this. That is all that matters."


    Legion began preparing for the Tree Father''s evolution. Aeternus alone doesn''t give them the confidence needed to take the dragon clone away from the dragon''s home world. They want another source of Supreme power to shore up their chances of sess.


    Meanwhile, Legion-unity spent some more time roaming the spiritual dimension before they left. They discovered that the clones of the great mother began hunting each other.


    Each one of them thinks they are the great mother now that they are independent of the spark of consciousness. And just like the previous great mother, they want to subjugate everything and use it for their purpose. So they attacked each other.


    They have to do that even if they don''t want to because they have lost ess to the Phoenix race. That means they don''t have unlimited energy anymore and are dying. The other clones are thergest source of energy around, hence the need to hunt them.


    Legion-unity thought about hunting the clones of the great mother, but they didn''t do so. It will take a lot of time to do so, and the clones will be dying during the time it takes to find them. That means the clones would have shrunk by the time they ate them, so the return is not worth their time.


    Instead, they let them be and n to return to the spiritual dimension again in the future to see if any of them grow a new spark of consciousness.


    If there is any entity in the spiritual dimension that can evolve, it would be the clones of the great mother. After all, they have alsoprehended thew of the soul. All they need is some divinity.


    Divinity will be very difficult to get now that the Phoenix race is no more, but since the great mother seeded before, so can they. Legion will just return when they do to pick up the fruit of theirbour just like they did to the original true mother.


    That concluded their mission in the Spiritual Dimension. Legion-7 had a vendetta against the great mother, but they didn''t attack her just for revenge. They were after her spark of consciousness, and they gave it to the tree father, who is working on fusing his domains into one. This is for his evolution into a divine spark.


    The fusion of the domains is not easy at all. The domains in a single avatar can be fused, but not the domains from the avatars in different nes. It is because they came from different Authorities of the Celestial Supreme.


    Their options were to wait until they could control the shards of power to make the fusion possible or to acquire the Authorities of the Celestial Supreme from the different nes by attacking them.


    Both options are feasible. But the first option will take time, and so will the second option. The second option will also cost them a lot of effort and create a lot of enemies during the invasion.


    They didn''t attack because they were afraid of gods. Aeternus can attack the nes and get the Authorities of the Celestial Supreme, but not every ne is weak, like the Gatling ne.


    There will be Supreme Origin gods to attack him, and world gods who will surely be offended by his attack.


    Normally, they wouldn''t care about thatst part, but they have already offended one world god. It is not wise to add more to it. That decision has only be more prudent with the knowledge they just acquired about the first sage lurking around.


    Plus, Aeternus is busy hunting demon gods. That is a better use of his time. He will grow stronger, while the Tree Father will also grow stronger. All without any risk.


    Fortunately, they have the crown of dominion, and they know that it can bring about an evolution to that level. All they have to do is sacrifice their scattered sources of power to it.


    If they do, and they provide the crown of dominion a mold like the Will of a ne, then they will certainly evolve into something on the level of that mold.


    They found out that no matter how much they sacrificed to the crown of dominion, if they didn''t give it something to unlock their potential with, it would only grant them more power in the form of Authority, but not evolution.


    It was the case of Aeternus. He sacrificed many crowns and several Authorities of the Celestial Supreme to the crown of dominion, but he didn''t evolve until he sacrificed the Will of a ne to it.


    The Will of a ne is not rare, but it is very difficult to acquire. It is much more difficult than the Authority of the Celestial Supreme.


    Every ne has a Will of the ne and an Authority of the Celestial Supreme, but hunting a Will of the ne is not possible without the right tools.


    The Will of a ne is elusive. While it is easy for one to awaken a Will of the ne and make it select a child of the ne, it is highly unlikely to make a Celestial Supreme be the child of the ne so that they can harvest it easily.

 Chapter 1449 Abyssal Slander.

    Chapter 1449 Abyssal nder.


    ??First, the Celestial Supreme will have to be anded god. Two, the inhabitants of the ne must be weak, so the child of the ne will be vulnerable.


    If the inhabitants of a ne are strong, then the Will of the ne might not awaken in the first ce or might not appoint a child of the ne because it doesn''t need to.


    All of these make the Gattling ne a rare and unique situation. Trying to orchestrate it is unlikely to seed.


    A lot of things can go wrong with that n. They could fail in their attempts to get the Will of the ne, but they will surely make enemies of the whole ne during the attempt. Origin gods and world gods will not watch on as they invade a ne and massacre its inhabitants in order to draw out the will of the ne and weaken it.


    That enmity is why they didn''t want to hunt for Authority of the Celestial Supreme in the first ce. Fortunately, they know someone who possesses something simr, so they didn''t need to hunt a Will of the ne.


    With the spark of consciousness, the Tree Father will be able to make his evolution possible. All he needs right now is to acquire as many domains as he can. Soverick suspects that his abilities and the type of Authority he can create as a divine spark are dependent on the type of domains he fused together.


    While other gods are struggling to reach a level 10 domain, the tree father is not limiting himself to 10. They n to get one domain for each of the 21ws that they haveprehended.


    Their greed knows no bounds and it is causing a dy in their ns for Legion-8. But they still have time, so they want to make sure that the Tree Father has both quantity and quality of domains before he attempts the evolution.


    ----The New Guy.


    The abyss has been mostly peaceful and quiet since thest announcement that led to the meeting of the majority of the leaders of the abyss. The demons have all gone back to doing what they usually do, which is to eat each other or invade nes.


    Some were preparing for the effects of the coalition, but those effects won''t show up until the era of conquest arrives. But something rare happened in the abyss on this day. Someone insulted PRIDE.


    The demon kings and demon lords were in their nes doing what they do best, scheming and invading nes, when a powerful Will entered their nes. This powerful Will entered all of the abyssal nes in the abyss, so every demon heard the message it contained.


    The Will said with clear and distinct disdain, "I think PRIDE is full of himself. He thinks he is so powerful, but he is not. The other demon gods don''t tell him this because they consider him their retarded sibling, but I don''t care. I will say what needs to be said without fear. PRIDE is full of nothing but hot air."


    The demon kings and demon lords almost choked. They don''t need air, and neither do they breathe, but they felt suffocated nheless. This is because of the pressure that came along with the Will.


    The Will entered the abyssal nes and froze them. Matter and space froze so everyone frozepletely. The demon kings and demon lords felt their chests tighten because of this pressure. They understood that the message was from a demon god. They also understood that they might have heard something that they shouldn''t have heard.


    A demon lord sighed andmented, "I didn''t do anything. I didn''t even leave my ne, but trouble still came to find me. Will PRIDE decide to eliminate everyone who heard this insult?"


    It will not be a surprise if the demon god of pride decides to punish everyone because he is known to be stubborn to an unreasonable and extreme level, especially when it has something to do with his pride.


    As a demon lord, he has reasons to be afraid of the retribution of PRIDE. He may be the apex predator on the ne, but his position has also enabled him to witness the massive demon gods prowling the deep waters of the energy sea.


    He always makes sure to hide himself within the ne when he senses them passing by. He has been doing it well enough, but trouble still came to find him. Suddenly, his abyssal ne is not so safe anymore.


    If PRIDEes after him, he can only be a light snack to the demon god. And because PRIDE is proud, he will receive disdain all the while he is being eaten. His taste will be ridiculed as he dies.


    Many demon lords and demon kingsmented their fate. It is the fate of the weak. The demon kings strengthened the defense of their ne. It won''t save them from PRIDE but it will discourage the demon god if they look like tough nuts to crack.


    Only some demon kings who have connections to demon gods were somewhat confident that whatever was going on wouldn''t lead to their deaths. But all of them scrambled to make themselves smaller targets. After all, it is better to be safe than sorry.


    Then all of them asked themselves an important question.


    "Who is this demon god?"


    Demon lords and demon kings might not know every demon god in the past, but their ignorance has been rectified by the meeting they had for the establishment of the abyssal coalition. They were all there that day and saw the nine demon gods. They are not familiar with each demon god, but they can tell the identity of a demon god through the slightest trace of them.


    The demon god of wrath makes people angry. His message calling for everyone induced anger in them when they heard it. Such a phenomenon is the nature of demon gods. They are the embodiment of their sins, so they can be identified by their sins.

 Chapter 1450 Cheap Vs Expensive.

    Chapter 1450 Cheap Vs Expensive.


    ??However, no one could identify the demon god who spread this message. It caused many of them to start specting about the reason why.


    "Could it be a previously unknown demon god who didn''t attend the meeting, or is it a newly ascended demon god?"


    They don''t know. No one knows. But no one wanted it to be the second option. They are demons, so it is normal for them not to want sess and victory for their peers. No demon would be happy that a demon king managed to be a demon god. Instead, they would all be jealous.


    But on a practical level, no one in their right mind wants the appearance of a new predator. Especially not demons. Nine of them is already too much.


    So the demon lords and demon kings hoped that the message came from an old demon god who liked seclusion and hated public appearances. A demon god of hate could be like that, and SLOTH is like that too.


    Since no one knew what the answer could be, they were curious to find out. However, they were not curious enough to court death. No one was foolish enough to step out to find out which of the options was correct. To raise one''s head in this dangerous situation is to ask for it to be smashed to pieces.


    So the demon lords and demon kings were content with wallowing in ignorance in their nes. But then another Will entered their ne. This Will was also apanied by a message.


    This message was full of anger. It said, "You should alle to the first level of the abyss and watch me beat this ignorant fool. You bettere, or I wille to visit you after the fight."


    It is clear to them that this message belongs to PRIDE. It is also clear to them that PRIDE is threatening them. They have heard something they shouldn''t hear, so they must bear witness to the efforts of the demon god of pride to correct the nder.


    Either they do that or PRIDE wille to meet them to make sure the nder goes with them to their grave. The fact that the Will made them full of pride and self-confidence was not helpful in convincing them to go to the first abyssal ne. It made them want to disregard the ultimatum.


    The demon lords and demon kings didn''t want to go when there was just one demon god. They don''t want to go even more now that two demon gods have shown up.


    They have a lot of reasons not to go, other than the danger of being in the presence of demon gods. It was dangerous to hear the nder in the first ce, but it will be more dangerous for them to witness the nder be a fact.


    Anything is possible. PRIDE might lose the fight, and its efforts to clear its honor might do the opposite of its wishes. What will happen to them then?


    They asked themselves, "Then again, what will happen to us if we don''t go and PRIDE wins?"


    This is the fate of the weak. They don''t have a choice in the matter, and death awaits them in both choices. They don''t need to do anything to offend anyone. Simply existing and being weak is a sin in and of itself, punishable by death.


    So theymented their fate again as they left their ne to witness what they assumed would be a fight. They assumed correctly. A fight was about to ensue.


    Aeternus chuckled to himself. "Like taking candy from a fledgling."


    He didn''t ask for a fight, but he is going to get one. All he did was "nder" PRIDE, and it came running to give him a bite. Things might have been different had he challenged PRIDE to a fight. PRIDE might have disdained fighting a new demon god who is obviously trying to use it to gain some prestige.


    But PRIDE would never take an insult lying down. Especially when it is an insult that came out of nowhere without any warning. This fight has now be an opportunity for PRIDE to maintain its prestige. It is all because PRIDE is the one taking the initiative to ask for a fight, not the other way around.


    Aeternus didn''t have to wait for his prey toe to him. PRIDE came barreling towards him a few seconds after he spread his nderous message to everyone who would hear it.


    Aeternus thought to himself with slight regret, "If I knew it was in the abyss, I would have gone to fight it directly instead of creating a fuss."


    Aeternus didn''t know where PRIDE was. That''s why he sent that message. In fact, he doesn''t know where any demon god is, and he couldn''t track them. They could have been anywhere in the abyss, but he knew that if he sent a message to every demon lord and demon king, it would find a way to the demon gods.


    If he had known that PRIDE was in the abyss, he would have gone to fight him directly because he didn''t want to announce to the abyss his new power and draw attention to himself. Unfortunately, he didn''t know. Now every demon lord and demon king will witness his fight with PRIDE. That means every demon god will eventually find out about this fight, which might make them more cautious.


    Helios, who was watching and waiting for the fight with interest, said to him, "This is what you get for using the cheap option."


    Aeternus agreed. "I guess I had iting."


    He could have used an enticing object like the Authority of the Celestial Supreme as bait. It might have led to a silent and discrete battle, but that would have been expensive. He decided to try the cheap option of nder first. If it didn''t work, then he would use the bait.


    To ensure that it would work, he chose to nder PRIDE because he is the most stupid demon god.

 Chapter 1451 Strange Demon God.

    Chapter 1451 Strange Demon God.


    ??One might think WRATH is the most stupid demon god, but they would be wrong. The stupidity of demons with the sin of wrath is because of their inability to be more intelligent. They don''t have a choice but to be stupid.


    Demons with the sin of pride, on the other hand, are intentionally stupid. Demons of pride can be smarter and are very intelligent, but their sin demands that they do stupid things for pride. This way, with the right words, they can be the easiest to anger.


    Demons of wrath, on the other hand, get angry quicker and easier and can be angry for much longer. It is that anger that blinds them. But anger doesn''t blind a demon of pride. It certainly hasn''t blinded the demon god of pride. It was able to notice that something was odd about Aeternus immediately.


    For one, Aeternus had a fixed form. His form is very small, but it means that he is not an energy lifeform like normal demon gods. Secondly, it couldn''t sense any sin from Aeternus. This despite the fact that it can sense Supreme Power from him. So either Aeternus is not a demon god, or it is a demon god that knows how to hide its abilities very well.


    But that didn''t stop PRIDE. It continued barreling towards Aeternus like an angry bull. Its divine sense smashed against him in an attempt to probe his identity.


    Aeternus didn''t avoid the wanton scanning of PRIDE''s divine sense. It reminded him of thest time he was in the presence of a demon god. Back then, he had used soul force to protect his avatar so that the divine sense of the demon god wouldn''t be able toe into contact with him and contaminate him.


    He doesn''t have that fear anymore. Instead, he is filled with the emotion of anticipation.


    "What are you?" PRIDE asked him. "You look... strange."


    The more PRIDE inspected him, the more its anger receded. Its anger was reced with solemnity because the simple contact with its divine sense informed it that it was up against a great enemy.


    That probe unearthed zero weaknesses in Aeternus''s state of existence. That is very strange, because every demon god will have strengths and weaknesses. PRIDE, for example, has stronger durability, resistance, and defense, which trante into strength. But it is weak in terms of speed. But Aeternus had no obvious or observable weakness, so it sobered up.


    Aeternus felt it the moment PRIDE stopped being angry. It was because PRIDE stopped broadcasting its anger for everyone to see and feel. Even so, PRIDE was still rushing towards him. There are many reasons for it, which Aeternus could only guess.


    There''s the possibility that PRIDE didn''t want to give up, even though it lost in their first skirmish. The simple contact between them wasn''t just a way to identify Aeternus''s sin. It is also a way to tell how their sins would interact and which sin is weaker to the other.


    It could be that PRIDE found out that its sin was weak, but it is still rushing towards him like a moth to a me because its sin demands it. So it is being stupid intentionally.


    It could also be that PRIDE became covetous of the mark of sin within him. Unlike other demon gods, he has not be one with his mark of sin yet, so it can be taken away from him. That means PRIDE can take his power if it wins this fight.


    So on one side is its refusal to admit defeat, and on the other side is a tantalizing reward. Either one or both of them could be pushing PRIDE forward to continue a fight that it knows it is at a disadvantage.


    Aeternus didn''t wait for the demon god to reach him before taking action. He also began rushing towards the demon god. The closer he is to his prey, the better. He will be able to catch up to PRIDE if it changes its mind about the fight.


    The two demon gods rushed to smash into each other. On one side is darkness. It was small, but it was gloomy, and it was spreading that gloominess into the surrounding area.


    On the other side is arge ocean of golden energy, shining brightly for all to see. It is, most likely, the most beautiful thing in the abyss. The cloud also possesses a crown on its. The crown is also golden, so it matches the energy cloud beneath it.


    On the side were the demon kings and demon lords, waiting with baited breath for the fight to begin. They were watching below and could see that the darkness is not a cloud. This new demon god should be smallpared to other demon gods and its current enemy. But it possesses a powerful aura of corruption and darkness.


    This aura spread around it to block out light and make even demon kings feel ufortable. The demon lords watching had also weakened. But none of them stopped watching or left. Their lives depended on witnessing this fight, so they stayed.


    They stayed far away from the demon gods, but they could still see the tiny figure of the new demon god within the gloom surrounding it. What they could see of it was its horned head. Its two golden horns were shown with light that made its head visible. They could also see the white halo on its head and the two bright eyes on its face.


    The demon lords and demon kings felt their hearts palpate as the two demon gods got too close to each other. Then the fighting began.


    A golden whip appeared out of the golden cloud andshed at the new demon god.


    Aeternus had once been the recipient of the attack of a demon god. It was wrath that saved him from the attack back then. But this time he didn''t wait for death helplessly. He retaliated with a whip of his own.

 Chapter 1452 Identity Reveal.

    Chapter 1452 Identity Reveal.


    ??His whip was ck. It was made out of his own body, just like the golden whipshing at him. But unlike the golden whip, it was burning with ck mes.


    The ck mes left a trail in the air as they smashed against the golden whip. The golden whip split into four to evade the single ck whip. The ck whip hit one golden whip and shed it in half. It missed the other three, and it was toote to stop them.


    Aeternus made a split-second decision. He decided to give up on the three whips. He couldn''t stop them all, even if he tried. So he made his whip continue forward towards PRIDE. Then he stretched forth his hand toward the three golden whips. His hand erged and morphed into a shieldrger than his body to block the attack.


    The three golden whips scattered and avoided the shield. They curved and attacked him from the sides and behind. Several more whips sprouted out of Aeternus''s body. They are thicker, so they look more like tentacles. These tentaclesshed and destroyed the three golden whips.


    On the other end, the first ck whip was about to hit PRIDE. But PRIDE stopped it by creating more whips. The two of them got a draw in the second exchange. So the third exchange began. The two demon gods got close enough to touch each other. Then they began ripping each other apart.


    This is how demon gods fight. Their energy, Supreme Law, and bodies are one, so a fight between them is simultaneously a physical, spiritual, and metaphysical fight. Because of this, it is also a fight in which both sides must lose something.


    Imagine two mortals fighting with weapons. The mortals don''t feel pain as the two weapons sh. Instead, they will continue to fight as long as the weapons don''t hurt each other''s bodies.


    In the case of demon gods, they are the weapons, so they feel pain and are damaged as the weapons collide. The power of defense and offense is a matter of who is willing to sacrifice more energy.


    A demon god''s power is based on the strength of their Supreme Law and the amount of energy they have. The power of their Supreme Law determines the efficiency of the energy they use. So while the power of a Supreme Law is very important and will grant a certain advantage, the amount of energy they use in attacking or defending is more important.


    The only case where Supreme Lawse ahead is if one Supreme Law outranks the other too much in efficiency or if a Supreme Law has a weakness to the other Supreme Law, so it bes drastically less effective.


    In general, the more energy or the more of their body they are willing to sacrifice in a fight, the more powerful their attacks will be. By this logic, PRIDE should win this fight.


    PRIDE is an old demon god. It has had a lot of time to attack nes and spread the sin of pride, which has increased the power of its Supreme Law, its capacity for energy, and its energy usage efficiency. Their size difference is more than ten thousand times greater. It is clear who would win.


    PRIDE has all the advantages on all counts. But the fight didn''t go in PRIDE''s favor at all. This is because, unlike what was expected, it was Aeternus who had the advantage on all counts.


    Unlike other demon gods, Aeternus has an infinite supply of energy. He has always had that advantage. Other demon gods can''t have infinite energy because their existence isn''t and can''t amodate infinity. They have a fixed capacity, which they have to expand by spreading their sin.


    Aeternus hasn''t be one with his sin yet, so he is not limited by energy yet. Aeternus also has the advantage in Supreme Law because the sin of pride is weak to his.


    So as the two of them tore at each other, PRIDE was losing body mass faster than Aeternus. Aeternus made sure to protect his main body because it was his main weakness. He can''t replenish himself with the infinite energy he has because he is not one with his energy, so he won''t be able to recover unless he eats something powerful.


    Seeing as the thing he wants to eat currently has the power to kill him, it is prudent to avoid losing his body mass. He achieved this defense by sacrificing Chaos energy to create a spiked armor around him. The armor not only blocked attacks for him, it also damaged PRIDE in their scuffle.


    He had to sacrifice a lot of it, which made PRIDE d at first. But PRIDE''s dness began to reduce as it lost too much body mass. Its golden whips and golden ws were not ripping its opponent to shreds like it expected. Instead, it felt like it was trying to dig through thergest and toughest diamond ever.


    PRIDE had to be anxious because AETERNUS was getting bigger instead of smaller. This shouldn''t be happening. They should be losing energy and bing smaller, not getting bigger.


    PRIDE''s anxiety turned into fear when it realized what kind of entity Aeternus was.


    It said in disbelief, "You were a demon king of kings! You are a devourer!"


    It realized that Aeternus was eating it during the fight. But things became worse than that. Not only was Aeternus''s main body getting bigger, but their surroundings were getting drowned in a cloud of Chaos energy too.


    Aeternus was wantonly pumping Chaos energy into the surroundings because PRIDE decided to copy him and wanted to swallow him whole. PRIDE wanted to use the advantage of its size to engulf Aeternus, but it couldn''t do so because it got a mouthful of corrosive Chaos energy.


    This continued until PRIDE became the one engulfed in Chaos energy. The Chaos energy was far more effective than whips and ws. It had more contact surface area with PRIDE and could shred it faster.


    He is literally biting more than he could chew, but Aeternus was not daunted by the task ahead.

 Chapter 1453 Conversion Efficiency.

    Chapter 1453 Conversion Efficiency.


    ??The demon lords and demon kings saw that the ck aura had be tangible energy that was oozing and popping. Then it erged and swallowed the golden crown.


    They couldn''t see anything anymore. They only felt therge fluctuations of spiritual power smashing against each other. The purple energy sea below was smashed by the shockwaves of these fluctuations. It became agitated asrge waves formed on its peaceful surface.


    The firstyer of the abyss was shaking as the two demon gods shed. But no one could see what was going on anymore because of the ck cloud.


    They didn''t have to wait long for an oue. A golden cloud was ejected out of the ck cloud. It was vastly smaller than its previous size. It was also blotted withrge ck spots.


    The golden cloud was trying to get rid of these ck spots by dumping swarths of its body. This caused its size to decrease further. Unfortunately, the ck spots continued to appear even after they were cut off repeatedly.


    Meanwhile, the body parts that were discarded turned ckpletely and joined the already massive ck cloud to make it bigger. All of this helped PRIDE make up its mind.


    The golden cloud roared in defiance, "This isn''t over!!!"


    It roared, but it was running away. Some of the audiences were of the opinion that PRIDE might be afraid, as opposed to its angry roar, but not one of them dwelled too much on that thought for fear that PRIDE could read their minds.


    The ck cloud shrank into the new demon god, who then chased after the golden cloud. They noticed that the hidden entity within the cloud had increased in size by more than 10 times. The difference in the size of thebatants before and after their scuffle clued the audience into who had the upper hand in the fight.


    The sight of PRIDE running and the new demon god chasing it made the demon lords and demon kingsment. "It is certain now. We are so dead."


    They havemitted so many sins worthy of their death. Not only have they heard nder against PRIDE, they have witnessed the defeat of PRIDE. It is exactly what they didn''t want to witness.


    In fact, it is unlikely that they will remain unscathed, regardless of the oue of the fight. Not unless the two demon gods can kiss and make up. One of them is bound to be unhappy at the end of the fight. Whoever it is, they might take their anger out on them. So they were not dedicated enough to wait to see the end of the fight. All of them dispersed as soon as the two demon gods left their sight.


    Meanwhile, Aeternus was chasing the golden cloud. Killing this clone will anger PRIDE more than it already is, but he doesn''t n to give up on this clone of the demon god.


    He grinned in anticipation and thought to himself, "There is still so much to eat."


    It is true. The golden cloud is stillrger than him. In fact, it is still 100 times bigger than him. This is despite the fact that he has grown 10 times bigger than he was before the fight. So the current PRIDE is 1,000 timesrger than what he was before.


    PRIDE lost 10 times its size for him to grow 10 times. It is not really efficient since PRIDE was farrger than him. This conversion efficiency is because he lost a lot of PRIDE''s body mass to Chaos energy during the eating process. So he wasn''t the only one that grew during the eating frenzy.


    He and his mark of sin are two separate entities, so they had to share what they are from PRIDE. What he gained was the power capacity that PRIDE had worked for all this time. What the mark of sin gained was the energy of pride.


    He can convert that power capacity into real power with cosmic energy, which he is currently doing. It is making him grow stronger during the chase. So his output of Chaos energy has increased.


    Whenbined with the fact that his mark of sin has also increased in power, he has experienced a quantitative and qualitative improvement from dining with PRIDE. This kind of improvement has made him unwilling to give up on more.


    He jeered at the escaping demon god, "You can''t escape from me, you retard. I already told you that you are the retarded demon god in the abyss. You didn''t believe me, and now you think you can escape from me. Why don''t you give up and let me eat you in peace? You might enjoy it if you don''t resist."


    PRIDE didn''t retort. It knows that it won''t be able to escape either. This is because Aeternus has corrupted arge portion of its existence. The corruption is like a tracer that will lead Aeternus to it even if it manages to get away. Spot can only run, it can''t hide.


    The only way out is to expunge the corruptionpletely. It knows that, and even though it doesn''t want to do it, it is discarding the corrupted part of its existence right now.


    It is its only chance of getting away at all, but it is also weakening and bing slower. This means its chances of escaping are decreasing by the moment. Meanwhile, Aeternus is getting faster, so the distance between them is shortening rapidly.


    Aeternus continued to make fun of the demon god, but he expected an interruption at any moment. He is winning, and he should be victorious in this engagement, but he hasn''t let that get to his head.


    He is not going to underestimate a demon god of all beings. They are entities that can take on a ne and many Supreme Origin gods on their own.


    He gained an advantage over PRIDE because of his unusual existence, but the fight isn''t over yet. Anything can still happen. So he was vignt for any intervention or unexpected interruptions.


    ----


    A/N: You can change the title of this chapter to Eating Efficiency. That works too.

 Chapter 1454 The Calvary.

    Chapter 1454 The Calvary.


    ??The smart thing he should do now is to give up, but he isn''t going to do that because he is confident in handling whatever a demon god or a group of demon gods can throw at him. He has reasons to be confident. As long as he protects his main body with Chaos energy, any fight with a demon god or many demon gods will only make him stronger.


    That means he will be able to produce stronger Chaos energy, which will increase the rate at which he grows stronger. He will be able to eat faster, which will trante into growing stronger faster.


    "Soon everything and everyone will be a part of my existence. I think this is what it means to be Chaos. Spreading faster and faster until there is nothing left to corrupt."


    He is not the embodiment of Chaos yet, but he is already behaving like it. Chaos doesn''t stop once it starts. Instead, it bes stronger and stronger until it overwhelms order and all of creation.


    The only unfortunate thing here is that his mark of sin increasing in power might not be apletely good thing for him. It might increase the difficulty of trying to fuse with it.


    Soverick doesn''t think so, though. He ims that the resistance of the mark of sin has already been removed. He believes that the difficulty will remain the same, so it will be a good thing for Aeternus to grow stronger.


    However, they don''t know that for sure. They don''t have any information to work with. Aeternus is probably more unique than the Tree Father in the void universe, so he is on his own for this. He wants to eat PRIDE, so he will continue chasing PRIDE.


    The small demon god chased after therge demon god. It was aical and strange sight to anyone who didn''t know the back story. It was extra strange to see the golden cloud losing weight and speed as it ran.


    Aeternus didn''t let up during the chase. He was slinging Chaos energy attacks at PRIDE from a distance. He didn''t aim to pierce the demon god through. All he wanted was for Chaos energy to touch the demon god. This ensured that PRIDE''s sacrifice of its body couldn''t get rid of the corruption of its existence.


    Things would have been different if he were in control of the Supreme Law of Chaos. He would be able to attack PRIDE continuously with a single attack, and PRIDE wouldn''t be able to get rid of the corruption unless it killed him. One contact between them would have been all he ever needed to fight PRIDE, regardless of the distance between them.


    Unfortunately, he doesn''t control the Supreme Law of Chaos. He is just a carrier of the Supreme Law and a vessel for its energy. So the best he could do was direct Chaos energy onto PRIDE, while Chaos energy did what it does passively, which is to corrode and corrupt.


    The good news is that this is enough for his victory. PRIDE was losing energy to each attack from Aeternus, so it slowed down even faster than it expected. Aeternus was able to catch up to it after five minutes of chasing.


    Heughed evilly and boisterously as he got to work on ravaging the demon god of pride. Arge ck cloud reappeared and surrounded PRIDE. Nothing could be seen through the ck cloud, but the diabolicalughter of Aeternus could be heard clearly.


    PRIDE didn''t beg for its life. It engaged him in an all-out brawl to the death. It sounds brave, but it is just the final struggle of a person at death''s door. PRIDE couldn''t win before when it was whole, so it surely couldn''t win now that it is weakened too much.


    The ocean of ck, corrosive energy submerged PRIDE quickly. Large ck whips of Chaos energyshed at the golden cloud and tore it apart. Aeternus formed a spike of Chaos energy that he drilled into the golden cloud. PRIDE had weakened, so its defenses were pierced through and the spike entered its body.


    The spike entered the golden cloud and grew ck roots that spread throughout the cloud. Aeternus used thework of roots to pump more Chaos energy into the golden cloud. It was as if he was pumping generous amounts of poison into his prey.


    Chaos energy corrupted the energy matrix of PRIDE''s existence. It caused energy to be stripped away from PRIDE into more Chaos energy. This new Chaos energy corroded more of PRIDE to create more Chaos energy. This way, PRIDE was being digested from within.


    PRIDE still had the presence of mind to gloat. It said with bitterness, "You abomination. There will be no ce for you in the abyss. You will go mad if you eat me. Every demon god in the abyss will band together to kill you. Your days are numbered, abomination. I will be there the day you die. I will make sure you suffer."


    Aeternus wasn''t concerned. But he still spared some attention from hisborious work to speak. "Are these yourst words? How original."


    Maybe what PRIDE said about him going mad would have happened if he were the one devouring his energy. Unfortunately, it is not. It is his mark of sin that''s doing most of that. His mark of sin is chaotic, so it can handle any type of energy. It will even convert them into Chaos energy, so he doesn''t have anything to worry about.


    He spent most of his effort on consuming the power of PRIDE''s existence. It is truly a lot of work to digest a demon god from the inside and from the outside simultaneously.


    But things didn''t end so easily. Aeternus sensed helpers soon after. A golden cloud was approaching the two of them at the speed of light. It was so fast that it was already too close by the time Aeternus sensed it.

 Chapter 1455 The Second Round.

    Chapter 1455 The Second Round.


    ??Demon gods can achieve any level of speed, regardless of the specialty of their Supreme Laws. It is just a matter of how much energy they are willing to consume.


    Technically, they can all reach the speed of light, which is the limit of the light side. But eleration is different for each Supreme Law, and most importantly, energy requirements be exponential the closer they are to the speed of light. Just a second at the speed of light will consume arge amount of energy, so demon gods rarely move that fast.


    If this clone of PRIDE had been rushing over from the moment PRIDE decided to give up, that means it must have been traveling for 5 minutes. If it has been traveling at the speed of light for all 5 minutes, then it must be very desperate and very angry right now.


    All of these were clear to Aeternus, but he didn''t stop what he was doing. An angry person doesn''t reduce his appetite. If anything, it adds a little spice to the taste.


    The two golden clouds roared in anger at the same time, "You abomination. You will rue the day you decided to cross me. I will destroy every part of your existence and make you suffer."


    The new golden cloud was bigger than the previous one he fought, and it was poised to smash against them, but Aeternus still didn''t let up. He continued to demolish and consume PRIDE.


    He wasn''t negligent, though. He could escape, but that would mean giving up on the nice morsel in his hands. He was not willing to do that so he spared some of his attention and power to address PRIDE''s second attempt at liberation.


    He formed arge barrier of Chaos energy around him. Then he strengthened it withyers uponyers of more barriers until it formed into a ck wall thicker than a kilometer.


    PRIDE''s second body didn''t stop. It streaked across the purple-hued sky like a gold and smashed against the ck wall. The collision created a massive explosion of light and sound that was strong enough to push Aeternus back.


    The barrier cracked, but it held during the explosion. However, PRIDE wasn''t done yet. The golden cloud had morphed into a thin thread before the collision. The thread prated the wall on contact during the explosion and was drilled into it like a screw.


    The golden thread that PRIDE had be was longer than a kilometer in length, so it was able to prate past the thickness of the barrier. Only its head had entered the wall initially, but then it forced its body to copse and transferred all of its energy into the head of the thread within the wall. This caused the part within the wall to expand abruptly. The wall exploded for a second time.


    This explosion was closer to home than the previous one. It also happened while the first one was still going on. There was just a split second between the time they started. So two explosions urred simultaneously on the outside and inside of the barrier. It caused the barrier to shatter.


    That wasn''t all. The second explosion happened too close to Aeternus, so he was finally wounded. It was practically in his face. It made him lose ayer of his face and body.


    PRIDE was not done yet. It changed from therge spherical ball that it had be into a spear quickly, and then it shot itself directly at Aeternus''s main body.


    Aeternus couldn''t scatter his body into an energy form to avoid the uing collision. His body is not as flexible as the other demon gods because he is not one with his energy. However, he didn''t need to be flexible.


    Soul fore exploded outwards from him towards PRIDE. His shard of power empowered it, and Chaos energy was infused into it. The ck cloud around him turned into a giant ck metallic armor in front of him.


    The armor moved independently, and it struck the spear. PRIDE changed its body again into a sickle. It sliced the arm that the giant armor tried to use to smash it.


    The arm was cut through easily, like a hot de through butter. It turned into ck wisps of smoke, which then returned to the armor. The stub on the arm healed as it regenerated.


    The giant armor roared and grew another pair of arms that it used to wrestle with PRIDE. PRIDE too, increased the violence by a notch. It turned into a massive, golden tornado of des. Like a spinning top, it shredded the arms and the face of the giant armor.


    Meanwhile, Aeternus was able to get a moment of respite from PRIDE''s onught of attacks. He would have been the one blended to bits if he had faced PRIDE head on. He can''t deny that. Fortunately, he had the good sense to create an avatar.


    The avatar is connected to him directly because it was created blended to bits if he had faced PRIDE head on. He can''t deny that. Fortunately, he had the good sense to create an avatar.


    from his energy, and it needs the constant support of his energy to remain in existence. That means it can go too far from him. But it solves a big problem for him. He may not be flexible, but his energy is. All he needed was a powerful force to give it form. That''s where soul forcees in.


    PRIDE was winning their confrontation. It was shifting his body very quickly into whatever it needed at any moment. The changes were blindingly fast. They carried so much momentum, speed, and power that there was a crack of thunder each time PRIDE changed his form.


    It was like the cracking of a whip moving faster than sound. PRIDE was moving several times faster than sound. Thunder was created so fast, so many times, and so powerful that they were more of attacks themselves than the byproducts of other attacks.


    The world was rocking around them trying to keep up with the changes. Anymore and PRIDE could actually break the power limit of the light side of the universe and reach the level of world gods.

 Chapter 1456 An Abomination.

    Chapter 1456 An Abomination.


    ??The armor was made of energy, so it didn''t have to pay attention to any rules that bound physical beings. It couldn''t feel pain, and it had no limits to the forms it could take. It created a multitude of arms that it turned into des, which it used to fight back. It was willing to sacrifice arge portion of its body just to harm PRIDE a little.


    Despite its bravery and its determination to fight to the death, the armor was losing the fight. This clone of PRIDE is far bigger than the previous one and also more experienced, so it is not giving Aeternus a chance at all.


    It didn''t care about resisting the corruption of its existence. Instead, it burned all of its energy in order to destroy Aeternus first before sumbing to corruption. PRIDE was burning so much energy that it turned into a bright star that threatened to burn his enemy to ashes.


    The giant armor was shredded many times. It was on the verge of death. But Aeternus was unscathed. PRIDE''s victory is only against a puppet. His energy and his existence are not one, so the beating that the armor is taking doesn''t affect him at all.


    He hid within the armor to create the illusion that he was the armor. Meanwhile, he used every drop of energy that he could draw on to support the avatar.


    At first, Aeternus''s avatar was struggling to resist PRIDE''s second body. But it was getting bigger and bigger the longer they fought. That''s because it was receiving an endless infusion of Chaos energy.


    It was also getting stronger by the second. That''s because Aeternus himself was getting stronger as he continued to devour PRIDE''s first body.


    The third factor that was thest nail in the coffin was that PRIDE''s second body was weakening quickly. PRIDE was burningrge amounts of energy, and Chaos energy from Aeternus was corroding it simultaneously. PRIDE was a bright star, but the darkness of Chaos couldn''t be dispelled by all the light. The two of them reached a stalemate in one minute after fighting. But that dynamic was about to be broken again because another angry gold was streaking towards them.


    Aeternus smirked and mocked. "It seems you are hell-bent on dying today."


    PRIDE retorted. "Keep onughing. I know your weakness. You won''t beughing soon. I will bury you today, or my name isn''t PRIDE."


    "Bring it on," Aeternus said in confidence.


    PRIDE did just that. The demon god brought it on. It brought out all it was capable of. 10 golds joined the fight.


    Aeternus couldn''t hide the fact that he was cheating anymore. He had to create 10 avatars to defend against them, so PRIDE found out that it had been wasting its time.


    PRIDE was furious. It roared with anger and bitterness, "You are an abomination. You are an anomaly that shouldn''t exist. You must be eradicated, or the whole abyss is doomed."


    PRIDE''s anger is understandable. It thought it was slugging Aeternus, only to find out it had been fighting a puppet all along. But then Aeternus did something more. He created 10 more avatars to make a total of 20. PRIDE was quickly outnumbered.


    Aeternusughed wildly. "You thought you could bury me? You thought you could bully me with numbers? You and what army?"


    He roared valiantly as soul force surged from him and avatars formed. The avatars are temporary, unlike clones. But he can create as many as he wants, and he can always replenish them as long as they are close to him. This is the advantage of having infinite Chaos energy.


    PRIDE was not to be outdone. His numerous bodies moved closer to each other andbined. They became a colossal entity, farrger than 10 nesbined. More clones were stilling, but this form was enough to tower over Legion-1, who is the biggest clone.


    Aeternus looked up and stoppedughing. He said, "Oh no."


    PRIDE''s current form has enough energy to outmatch his total output of Chaos energy. He has infinite Chaos energy, but he can''t produce and use an infinite amount of it at once. PRIDE, on the other hand, can create a surge of power so strong that it will break his current defenses instantly and reach his main body.


    He can see it already. His mind shed to the explosions created by the second body of PRIDE when it first appeared. Next came the memories of the explosive thunder that the star created with its actions. Then images of PRIDE as a star surfaced.


    If all of these arebined into one, then amplified by 10 times, he will surely die if that happens. He may have an advantage in numbers, but there is a level of power at which numbers be useless.


    "Why aren''t youughing now?" PRIDE mocked him as it gave chase.


    Aeternus didn''t reply. He couldn''t reply because he was busy running. He had turned tail immediately after he sensed the problem. PRIDE hadn''t even finished fusing before he ran away.


    It was PRIDE''s turn to jeer, and it took the opportunity seriously. "You thought you could defeat an ancient demon god?"


    Aeternus really thought so. He had an advantage in energy and Supreme Law, so he thought so. He still has those advantages, but he iscking in raw power and maximum energy output.


    All of his advantages have be useless now because PRIDE has acquired enough energy to outmatch his current highest power output. PRIDE will have to consume a lot of that energy and will be weakened after, but it will be a move that will surely kill Aeternus. So Aeternus ran for his life, and he ran at the highest speed he could manage, regardless of the energy cost.


    Aeternus isn''t afraid of death since he can resurrect through Legion-7, but he will lose his mark of sin and all the power that he has currently umted. He didn''t want that, so he ran.

 Chapter 1457 Bragging Rights.

    Chapter 1457 Bragging Rights.


    ??PRIDE chased him, but it couldn''t catch up. This is because the two of them are both moving at the speed of light. PRIDE can be much faster than that, but not on the light side of the void universe. The speed of light is the limit on motion on the light side, so unless PRIDE could weaken Aeternus by making him lose energy and unable to maintain his speed, it wouldn''t be able to catch up to him soon.


    The alternative is for PRIDE to chase Aeternus until Aeternus runs out of energy. PRIDE went with the alternative. It didn''t have a choice. It had tried to infect Aeternus with his energy during their fight, but it was like giving Aeternus free food.It was gobbled up as soon as it reached Aeternus''s body.


    As a being who is one with its Supreme Law and energy, if it had managed to infect Aeternus with its energy, then it would be able to fight and weaken Aeternus regardless of the distance. Unfortunately, nothing a demon god could do could infect Aeternus. So PRIDE had to chase.


    The golden cloud regained its pride and self respect by sending the ck cloud running. Unfortunately, there was no one there to see it. All the demon kings and demon lords were gone.


    As if that wasn''t bad enough, PRIDE''s decision to chase Aeternus turned out to be very wrong because Aeternus was not slowing down at all. PRIDE couldn''t understand it. It chased Aeternus for 10 minutes at the speed of light, and not once during the chase did Aeternus falter.


    "What is going on here?" Is all PRIDE could ask.


    It couldn''t make heads or tails of this phenomenal. Aeternus shouldn''t be able to fight and match its first clone in the first ce, much less defeat it resoundingly. Common sense dictates that Aeternus should have very little energy since he is small. So Aeternus should be weak.


    But that isn''t what happened. Not only did Aeternus defeat its first clone, he also managed to hold off the other 10.


    PRIDE asked itself, "Does he have infinite energy or something?"


    PRIDE suspected that something was out of ce already, but it was the fact that Aeternus''s body had not reduced in size despite the 10 minutes of horrendous energy expenditure that made PRIDE have no choice but to think that Aeternus might be getting energy from somewhere other than his body.


    "If that is so, then I must get rid of him even more."


    PRIDE said that, but wishes are not horses. It had to stop because its own energy is not infinite. It was losing energy each moment it maintained its speed. Its size was reducing rapidly. Anymore, and it will fall below the level of power needed to threaten Aeternus. The tables will surely turn then.


    Aeternus noticed when PRIDE slowed down. He didn''t want that, so he taunted the Colossal demon god, "Why are you stopping? Do you admit defeat?"


    PRIDE roared in anger, "I admit nothing of such. I am proiming myself victorious. Come and fight me if you dare."


    PRIDE was shouting, but it didn''t take the bait. It hurts its pride, but it has to stop because it is smart. Even if it were not at risk of losing too much energy, chasing Aeternus is a bad idea because its expenditure of energy is greater than Aeternus''s.


    This is because it is bigger than Aeternus. It needs more energy to maintain the same speed, so it is losing more energy than Aeternus in the run. In a way, it is being defeated in a covert manner.


    So it won''t chase anymore. Instead, it will have to be content with making Aeternus run away from it.


    Aeternus was disappointed, but he didn''t trouble PRIDE anymore. He decided to go in search of better prey, so he left.


    He said something before he left. "I am guessing I was right to call you a retard."


    He said that to PRIDE and also sent it as a message to every abyssal ne. PRIDE almost exploded again. But the demon god reined in its anger and didn''t chase after him.


    PRIDE just scoffed and returned to the first abyssal ne. It met LUST and WRATH waiting for it. The two of them hade with a clone of theirs.


    LUST asked, "Did you kill the new demon god?"


    PRIDE replied sullenly, "No."


    WRATH said, "So it was a draw."


    That seemed to trigger PRIDE. It roared angrily, "It was not a draw. I sent him running for his life. He escaped, not me. How can that be a draw?"


    LUST asked, "Did you make him lose more energy than he made you lose?"


    PRIDE didn''t answer. Instead, it shot back with a question of its own. "Why are the two of you even here?"


    WRATH replied. "We heard about the new demon god and came to see it. We heard it challenged you and were shocked. I said, "How brazen and foolish." I was mocking it, but I didn''t expect you to draw with it."


    PRIDE fumed and towered over the two of them. "I didn''t draw." It said with a roar for emphasis.


    WRATH did a mental shrug. It said, "It seems like a draw to me."


    PRIDE decided then and there to put the remaining energy it has to good use. It said, "I will show you the difference between draw and victory."


    LUST interrupted with a question. "Who is the new demon god?"


    The question distracted PRIDE and prevented it from blowing its lead. It was a distraction that it could ignore, but it weed it because it didn''t want to fight.


    PRIDE answered with slight fear. "He is that demon king with the corrosive energy. He is true Chaos now. But much worse, he is a devourer too."


    It didn''t show its fear, though. That would be beneath it. Instead of that, it decided to brag.


    It said with pride, "It is because he is true Chaos that I was at a slight disadvantage. But I still came out victorious in the end."


    ----

 Chapter 1458 A Fight To The Death.

    Chapter 1458 A Fight To The Death.


    ??WRATH didn''t think that the fight went in PRIDE''s favor at all. From what it heard, PRIDE was a thousand timesrger than the new demon king. That wasn''t strange. What was strange was that PRIDE couldn''t kill the new demon god despite the advantage in energy.


    It would have argued with PRIDE that a 1,000-fold disparity in energy efficiency is not "a slight disadvantage," and would have made fun of it too, but it was preupied with the thought of the strange demon king with corrosive energy that PRIDE mentioned.


    It remembered that the demon with the corrosive energy simr to the demon gods was the demon king who made things difficult for them during the meeting to vote for the establishment of the abyssal coalition. It also remembered that this was the demon king who sold it the coordinates to one of the nes that CARNAGE was invading.


    WRATH thought to itself, "This is surprising. He was a demon king when Ist met him, but he has be a demon god now. But this is too fast. From what I know of him, he is a new demon god with less than 10,000 years. How did heprehend his sin so fast?"


    As an ancient demon god, it knows just how difficult it is toprehend a sin. 10,000 years is just too short to aplish that. The appropriate time should be 1,000,000 years and some might never be able to take thest step even after so long. So Aeternus is a hundred times faster than the average demon god.


    It couldn''t help but ask, "Is there a way to speed up theprehension of sin? This new demon god seems to have found a way to do that. It is either that or I am wrong about how long he has been a demon king."


    LUST and PRIDE heard the question, but they couldn''t find an answer to it. Their ignorance displeased WRATH.


    It said, "I wish CARNAGE were here. CARNAGE was knowledgeable."


    PRIDE said with disdain, "But you were always fighting with CARNAGE."


    WRATH retorted with greater disdain, "At least he had more going on in his mind than you. You only think everything is beneath you, but you are wrong."


    PRIDE said proudly, "I am not wrong. I am better than everyone else."


    "If that were so, you would have been able to kill a new demon god."


    "I guess I have to correct that error by killing you."


    They were about to start fighting again. It is not something LUST wanted to see because the implications can be disastrous. PRIDE will surely win this fight because it has the stronger clone. But the fight won''t end there. WRATH can keep a grudge for a long time, so it will surely return with a stronger clone for the second round.


    This can lead to a downward spiral of fights that will reduce the power of the two strongest demon gods just before the era of conquest. LUST wouldn''t have cared about the reduction of their strength if the realm lord hadn''t given them a joint mission for the era of conquest.


    So if they weaken too much, the demon gods as a whole might fail the mission and lose out on their dream to be world enders.


    LUST sighed and did what she had to do. She interrupted again with a question, "Does anyone know where CARNAGE is? We need him for the era of conquest."


    PRIDE scoffed at her before replying. "Maybe you are the stupidest one. Even I know that CARNAGE is either dead or has be a world ender. The chances of CARNAGE bing a world ender are higher, so I am willing to bet that it has be a world ender."


    LUST didn''t expose the fact that she just made them stop fighting with a single question. She could only remain smug within herself. But that didn''tst long because WRATH spoke.


    WRATH said, "With CARNAGE gone, the appearance of a demon god is a good thing for the abyssal coalition. We will have a greater chance of victory in the era of conquest. Seeing as the new demon god was able to beat PRIDE, he will be a very useful addition."


    PRIDE had to correct WRATH. "He didn''t best me."


    "You had a thousand times more energy. You were chased in defeat. You had to bring in many other clones to fight the new demon god. That sounds to me like a resounding defeat. If I were you, I wouldn''t show my face here..."


    PRIDE didn''t let WRATH finish before it pounced. The two demon gods began to fight. It was a ughter. PRIDE had overwhelming strength. WRATH didn''t back down, though. It was willing to fight to the bitter end."


    LUST tried to stop them, but they weren''t listening. They didn''t even pay any attention to LUST. But something did manage to make them pause.


    The abyss was rioting. Sin energy became violent, so every demon was infected with the violence. As demon gods, they knew that this only happens when an intruder enters the abyss.


    Their thoughts were confirmed when they felt a vague sense of the direction of the intruder in the abyss. Sin energy was practically leading them to destroy or send away the intruder.


    LUST said, "I wonder who it is this time."


    WRATH said, "It must be someone strong. At least an Origin god for the abyss to be so agitated."


    Then itughed. "It seems an immortal hase to test our mettle. Ignorant fools. Let the demon kings take care of it."


    They resumed fighting. It is not a rare asion for intruders to enter the abyss. The mostmon intruders are Origin gods, who have gained immortality. They have lost their fear of death, so theye to challenge the abyss sometimes.


    Origin gods do suicidal things like this a lot. Sometimes it is attacking a divine ne or trying to grab a star. It is admirable, but immortality doesn''t mean strength. They will learn that when a demon king beats them up.

 Chapter 1459 Food For Thought.

    Chapter 1459 Food For Thought.


    ??The demon that seeds in killing the intruder will be rewarded by the abyss, so many demons are flying in the direction of the intruder. As demon gods, the reward is too small for them, so they didn''t bother with it.


    However, they had to change their minds when word reached them about the intruder. It turned out that the intruder came to the abyss to fight a demon king who invaded his ne. The intruder seeded in killing the demon king and he even destroyed the ne of the demon king.


    This act angered the demons, but they were more concerned by the Authority of the Celestial Supreme that the desceased demon king was hording in his ne. It led to a massive in fighting among the demons. Now it has also drawn WRATH''s and PRIDE''s attention.


    The Authority of the Celestial Supreme is a good thing for demon kings and demon gods. Demon gods can use it to increase their power capacity by arge amount. They will be able to imbibe energy into the capacity and be stronger.


    If their capacity increases to a certain level, they will be capable of assimting all the marks of sin of their particr sin. So the Authority of the Celestial Supreme is incredibly tempting to demon gods.


    If they are a demon god like PRIDE who just fought with an entity that stole their power capacity to be stronger, then this Authority of the Celestial Supreme is just what is needed to heal.


    The three demon gods didn''t say anything to each other before speeding towards the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. PRIDE is currently the strongest and the most desperate so it was willing to burn the energy needed to reach the bounty first.


    LUST and WRATH could only watch him go. LUST gave up, but not WRATH. WRATH had already sent for clones when it was fighting PRIDE. Now it is redirecting them for a new purpose.


    What PRIDE and WRATH didn''t know was that this was all a trap, and Aeternus was waiting for his prey to enter it. He was using Legion-1''s second concept to hide himself. It is an ability he has gained ever since he joined with Legion-unity.


    He couldn''t fuse with Legion-7 before because of Chaos energy. That changed when he became a demonic spark and gained an innate immunity to Chaos energy. By fusing with Legion-7, Legion-7 and the clones that have united with him also gained that immunity, so they didn''t have to fear Chaos energy anymore. In return, Aeternus gained the abilities of the other clones.


    He didn''t do much to set up this trap. It was Legion-5 that did most of the work. Legion-5 came into the abyss and killed some random demon king while screaming about vengeance for destroying his ne.


    Legion-5 was besieged by the demons that came to kill him, but he managed to get away. The demons were then distracted by the Authority of the Celestial Supreme in the wreckage of the ne.


    All Aeternus did was hide himself while watching and waiting. His prey soon arrived. It was PRIDE. It came in a grand manner. It was a gold streaking through the air and shattering everything in its way.


    Aeternus grinned and said, "What are the odds?"


    PRIDE didn''t notice him at all. Maybe if he had fused with his Supreme Law, a simple concept wouldn''t be able to hide his existence. But his energy and him are different entities. If he puts away every trace of his energy, then it would be very easy to remain hidden from a demon god that passed him by in a hurry.


    PRIDE''s attention was focused on the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. It didn''t pay attention to the demon kings, who were running for their lives. The Authority of the Celestial Supreme wasn''t fake, and it was still present, so PRIDE was happy.


    Unfortunately, Aeternus had no intention of giving up the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. It is not just bait. It can also make him stronger. He wanted to eat his cake and have it, so he used Legion-1''s first ability. His face cracked open to reveal arge, bottomless maw. Then the world in front of him froze.


    PRIDE was about to grab the loot when the world around it froze. It was also at that moment that Aeternus''s presence was revealed.


    It shrieked in anger, "It is you."


    PRIDE and everything around it were forced to shrink and slowly move towards Aeternus''s waiting maw. PRIDE was having none of it, so it roared and roused all of its power.


    PRIDE erged and turned into a star. The frozen space around it was shattered with a bang. It became free from the ability, but the Authority of the Celestial Supreme was not so lucky.


    The sight of its prize angered PRIDE, so it lunged for Aeternus. Aeternus struck back with his avatar. One golden star and one ck metallic armor shed in the abyss. No one could gain an advantage over the other.


    Aeternus grinned as his eyes roamed all over PRIDE''s body. "I am going to enjoy this."


    PRIDE has weakened since thest time they fought. It was due to the fight with WRATH and the energy it expended ining here. It couldn''t produce enough energy to threaten Aeternus anymore.


    Aeternus noticed this when PRIDE first showed up. That''s why he didn''t run away at the sight of the demon god that almost killed him a few hours ago. Now he has confirmed that PRIDE can''t kill him. That means he is about to eat well.


    PRIDE came to this conclusion too. It turned around quickly and ran. But it couldn''t escape because Aeternus held on to it like white on rice.


    Only in this case, Aeternus is ck, while PRIDE is golden. Despite these differences, PRIDE is certainly rice. By the time Aeternus is through with it, PRIDE would have be ck rice. This much Aeternus swore.

 Chapter 1460 Oath Breaking.

    Chapter 1460 Oath Breaking.


    ??PRIDE fate was sealed. It could call for more clones to rescue it, but it didn''t do that for fear of losing more. It has already gambled ten clones and lost just because it couldn''t bear to lose one clone. It might be better to admit its loss right now. But PRIDE was lucky. WRATH came to the rescue with clones.


    This demon god hates PRIDE, but it hates a devourer even more. When demon gods fight each other, at most, they lose some energy. They can recover that energy easily. But a devourer like Aeternus eats their capacity for power. That means they will lose years of work and fall in power permanently. WRATH couldn''t allow such a threat to exist, so it joined the fight against the new demon god.


    WRATH did this even though it swore to protect Aeternus and not harm him intentionally until the era of conquest. It was willing to suffer the devastating effects of breaking that oath just to get rid of Aeternus.


    But it turns out that WRATH had nothing to fear because the abyss doesn''t recognize Aeternus anymore. Aeternus had stolen the mark of sin from it so the abyss wasn''t willing to enforce the oath on his behalf.


    In fact, he is not a demon at this point. He is a part of a spiritual entity that is most certainly not a demon. At least the abyss doesn''t believe that he is the demon that WRATH swore to protect so WRATH didn''t face any repercussions for harming Aeternus intentionally.


    WRATH called out before reaching him, "Let PRIDE go you fiend!"


    Aeternus was not willing to do that. In fact, he would rather give up an arm than let PRIDE go. He used Soverick''s eyes to determine how much energy WRATH had before making a decision.


    That decision was to create avatars to stall WRATH. WRATH didn''t bring much power, so it couldn''t send Aeternus running immediately. It couldn''t even destroy the avatars. Aeternus was able to resist, which doomed the rescue to failure.


    It is because he was growing stronger as time passed while they were weakening. The demon gods learned that as long as they can''t kill him at once, they shouldn''t bother to fight him. The number of enemies doesn''t mean much if none of them can overwhelm his defenses. Unfortunately, they learned this lesson toote.


    Aeternus soon changed his tactics from stalling WRATH to actively tearing it apart while simultaneously engorging himself on PRIDE. It was a ughter fest. Aeternus had to struggle to keep the two demon gods from escaping so that he could have his fill.


    It wasn''t easy to do because the two demon gods struggled to run in opposite directions. Their struggle was desperate and violent, but he managed them well and sessfully devoured arge portion of both PRIDE and WRATH.


    He couldn''t eat everything they had to offer because more demon gods interfered. LUST, ENVY, GLUTTONY, and even SLOTH came to get rid of the devourer. They brought in higher firepower this time around, so he had to run.


    Of course, that was not the end. He continued to lurk around the abyss, ambushing the lone demon gods. The name of the Chaos demon, the herald of Chaos, the devourer of demons, and the yer of demon gods became known throughout the abyss as a terror.


    Even Xander, who had decided to hide away in an abyssal ne, heard about him terrorizing the demon gods and demon kings that he came across.


    She thought to herself in nostalgia, "It seems the good old days still continue."


    As the first surbodinate of Aeternus, she was there when he went on a rampage in his abyssal ne. She can remember it vividly. He was just a mid-rank demon back then. But he was so powerful and notorious that high-rank demons had toe together to form an army to eliminate him.


    Even the demon lord, Beelta, worked together with this coalition to ambush him. She sent her own surbodinates to corner him and kill him. But her surbodinates failed, as did the high rank demons.


    In fact, none of the demons who participated in the hunt returned alive. They all died permanently, no matter how good their cloning and life-saving preparations were.


    Unfortunately, no one learned their lesson then. Beelta should have given up her throne and escaped with her life. But she didn''t learn the lesson that ganging up on Aeternus was a bad idea.


    Instead, she doubled down on it by bringing together all the great noble families in the abyssal ne to kill him. This made Aeternus restricted to the domain of high rank demons. He couldn''t move on for fear of being surrounded and killed.


    No one thought he could escape the fate of dying. Beelta was watching the abyssal portals, so he couldn''t escape. But Aeternus didn''t give up on resisting. He created an army and a lot of surbodinates. Then he opened an abyssal portal for the first time.


    Many thought that he wanted to use this opportunity to escape. Even she, the first surbodinate of the great Chaos King, thought so at that time. She thought it was going to be difficult, but that Aeternus would seed in escaping.


    She chuckled at that thought and said, "I was so blind. I thought I was the hidden one. I thought I knew everything that was going on. But even now, I still don''t know how he pulled it off."


    Xander was correct to believe that escaping through the portal would have been difficult. Beelta and all her cronies indeed chased after him. What she and Beelta didn''t expect was that they would end up at different destinations. It was then that Xander began to suspect that her master was a miracle worker and could do the impossible.


    Beelta and her army went into that portal, but only a weakened Beelta returned. None of the others survived the hunt. Again, Beelta didn''t learn to give up. She didn''t even know that she had already lost because Aeternus became a demon king. She continued to resist until the end.

 Chapter 1461 A Lesson From The Past.

    Chapter 1461 A Lesson From The Past.


    ??Xander shook her head in wonder. "Beelta is a lot of things, but she is no fool. There was no way to anticipate that Master wouldn''t end up in Armageddon, and there was no way to anticipate that a high rank demon could skip the demon lord stage and directly be a demon king."


    Beelta didn''t know that these things were even possible. She gambled with confidence but lost everything. Now the demon gods of the abyss are doing the same thing. They banded together to kill the Chaos King, only to realize that they were feeding him.


    It was toote by that point. They had to gamble even more to get rid of the Chaos King, but they are only digging their graves deeper. Xander believes that if their losses continue, there wille a point where nothing the demon god can do will save them from the fate of total death.


    "Who would have thought that just a thousand years ago, Master was running away from the abyss and had to give up his armies, but now it is the demon gods that are running away to hide?"


    The threat of demon gods in the abyss has never been more clear than now. It wasn''t clear because demon gods rarely eat when they are full. If their power capacity is full, then imbibing more energy won''t help them in any way, so they rarely attack demons. But they can do so.


    That was the threat of demon gods in the past. There is a possibility of being attacked by a demon god if they see you. But now, it has be a certainty that demon gods will attack anything in their sight. It is all thanks to the Chaos King.


    Aeternus is only hunting demon gods and demon kings that appear in his sights. He disdains attacking weaker beings or even putting in effort to attack nes for demon kings. But demon gods, who have been fighting with their lives on the line for several days on end and are in desperate need of energy, will eat anything.


    So it is not only Xander that is hiding in an abyssal ne. Many other demons are not stepping out of their nes. As if that will save them when a demon godes knocking. It won''t, but it is oddly working. They have Aeternus to thank for that.


    The voracious water has been stalking the abyssal nes because he knows that they contain a lot of energy for desperate demon gods. So the abyssal nes have be his new bait. The desperation of the demon gods has made it into a tempting bait, which has in turn helped him acquire a morsel or ten thousand morsels from the demon gods who came for them.


    The demon kings and weaker demons don''t know this. They still think they can die at any moment, even when hiding in the ne. But they don''t have any other options. In fact, Xander can easily be the demon lord of the ne she is hiding in, but she is pretending to be an ordinary demon so that she won''t draw attention if a demon godes knocking.


    This is undoubtedly a good idea because demon lords or demon kings will be the first targets of demon gods that attack. Many demons know this. That''s why many demon kings who created abyssal nes as their kingdom detached them from the abyss in a bid to escape. That decision might kill them, but it is better than getting eaten by a demon god.


    It is clearly a bad decision to make, unfortunately, demon lords can''t even do that. They don''t have enough control over their abyssal nes to do that. They can only give up their position and be demon nobles again.


    The thought made Xander chuckle. "They are finally doing what Beelta didn''t want to do. It is a pity that it is toote now."


    The effect of Aeternus gluttony and rampage through the abyss can be felt by every demon. Demon gods are hiding, and so are demon kings and demon lords. For a time, those three states of demons have be scarce in the abyss.


    As for the rest of the demons, they can feel the impact of Aeternus''s hunt in the turmoil of sin energy. This is because most of the fights with the demon gods have been in the energy sea or affected it in one way or another. This contaminated sin energy in various degrees and made the demons who live on it more violent, proud, lustful, gluttonous, slothful, or envious.


    Xander wondered, "It is unlikely that Master can be stopped. So things will be worse. But what else could be worse than this?"


    She doesn''t want to know the answer to that question. Instead, she spent most of her time digging deeper into the ground of the ne. She can hide in the phantom realm, but demon gods can see her in it. She knows that because Aeternus looked at her after he was done eating the rest of his surbodinates and army.


    So she needs a physical hideout to feel any modicum of safety. She, like most demons, including demon gods, is hoping that the Chaos King will be a world ender soon so that he will be kicked out of the abyss. It is only then that they will regain peace.


    But they know that for that to happen, a lot of demon gods must contribute generously. She can''t help in that aspect. But she will try to remember their names and their sacrifices, and one day she will tell other demons of them so that those brave and courageous demon gods will never be forgotten.


    -----


    The protector, the guardian of order, and the enforcer of rules in the void universe looked on with glee. Its gaze is upon the realm that holds most of its attention. Everything in the realm was clear to it, including what Monarch High Heaven was doing to prepare for the era of conquest and his true identity.

 Chapter 1462 A Wheel In A Machine.

    Chapter 1462 A Wheel In A Machine.


    ??This realm tree is the High Heaven realm. It will be the focus of its attention if only for the realm lord. It wouldn''t take its eyes off of it if that high elf called high heaven hadn''t be the realm lord or broken any rules. It is because the protector has a lot of be concerned about just because of his identity.


    That identity has already broken a lot of rules. As if that isn''t enough reasons for the protector to gnash its non-existent teeth as it monitored the high heaven realm, there is also a gestating godling in the realm.


    It is something that has never happened in the void universe. Godlings are not born in realm trees. Realm trees don''t have what''s needed to make them. Godlings are born in the void. That''s why the most notorious races created from godlings can live in the void easily more than those created in the realm trees.


    This unique situation of a godling gestating in a realm tree might be the first of his kind, but it has only brought deep hatred from the protector. It has made it unhappy for many years. But it is happy now because its n has worked. Draco had moved into action after it went to warn him.


    The Protector''s gaze bypassed the darkness of the dark side, the barrier of thew matrix, the protection of the realm tree by the world spark, the protection of the ancestral grounds of dragons, and fixed on the dragon egg that it loathed so much.


    It said in anticipation, "Soon. Soon. Very soon."


    It is quite a letdown that one of the strongest beings in the void universe, so powerful that world gods call him the Overgod, had to resort to schemes to have its way. But this is the way of the world. It may be powerful, but there are rules that bind its existence.


    Those rules are impossible for it to break because they are part of its existence. It can''t even break the rules by mistake. It is just like how a mortal can''t dig out their brain through their nose by mistake. Hence, it had to scheme to get its way.


    The rules limit its power, but it isn''t bitter about it. After all, the maintenance of the rules is why it exists. The protector understood that it might be powerful, but it is just a wheel in the operation of the void universe. It is just a tool forged by the creator to aplish the purpose of the void universe.


    The protector understands this, so it isn''t bitter about the handicap, even though it doesn''t know what the purpose of the void universe is. This is because it doesn''t need to know the purpose of the void universe to do its job. All it needs to know is that it can''t attack Origin gods at all. That will be the same as the void universe attacking itself.


    It knows that someone harming themselves is an action that mentally disabled entities would take, so it knows that such an action will affect the purpose of the void universe in a detrimental manner. It doesn''t know the purpose of the void universe, but it is smart enough to understand that the void universe must care about Origin gods because the support of the void universe is why they are immortal.


    So if it can''t attack Origin gods, it surely can''t go into the high heaven realm to crush that dragon egg and stop the birth of a godling. This will surely nip the propagation of Chaos in the realm, and it should be a good thing, but he can''t do so.


    The Protector could have waited for Legion to be a world god, but it would be toote by then. It had threatened Legion in the past, but that threat would only be dangerous to Legion if it were a weak world god. That is unlikely to be the case with a godling for a clone.


    Legion''s Supreme Beast clone has achieved something in that vein, so the Protector knows with certainty that Legion would be a very powerful world god. Of course, the power of a world god is nothingpared to the power of an Overgod, but the power of a world god bes significant if the Overgod can''t attack world gods wantonly.


    This is the reason why world gods still exist at all in the void universe. If it had its way, then there would be no world gods. That means there would be no Usurpers who steal the power of the void universe. Unfortunately, it doesn''t have its way so it can put all its confidence on eliminating Legion when they be world gods.


    It can only sigh when it thinks about the Chaos perpetuating in the void universe and say, "The Creator must have a n, and his n is supreme."


    Then it would shrug and say, "Besides, the end of the void universe will not be the end."


    So the Protector remained content with watching its scheme unravel. It is shackled by rules, so it has to enjoy little victories like this.


    ----


    It all started with a fight. Legion-8 watched it happen. He was forced to participate in it as if he were one of them, but he was more of a bystander.


    The three of them were wrestling. They were growling at each other and pushing and pulling. They rolled around on the dirt and tried to vie for supremacy. However, supremacy was not so easy to acquire. None of them was willing to give an inch in the fight.


    They were young, but they were also smart. Two of them ganged up on the third, who was the biggest. She was the biggest and the strongest. They couldn''t beat her alone and couldn''t risk being divided, or she would beat them separately. So they cooperated to defeat her.


    Legion-8 decided to go along with the motion. He didn''t have much of a choice. It is this or nothing. Besides, there''s a benefit waiting for him at the end.


    ----


    A/N And so it begins. We finally see Legion-8. But which one is Legion-8?

 Chapter 1463 Competition.

    Chapter 1463 Competition.


    ??It was a smart idea, but the two smaller ones didn''t like it that they had to cooperate. It hurt their pride to have to rely on another for victory. But they had no choice. They had to cooperate or suffer a loss. A loss will hurt their pride more than corporating. Besides, there was a lot at stake here.


    Their fight was mostly for fun, but it had serious repercussions for the hierarchy. As proud creatures, they do not like losing, even if it is to their siblings. They may be weak and have only been born for a little over a year, but their need to dominate is ingrained in them. It is the dragon way.


    They stopped fighting when they heard the howling of the wind. All three of them turned towards the only opening in the cave in expectation. Their expectations were not subverted. A massive-scaled creature blocked out the light of the sun and flew into the cave. The three of them sensed the familiar aura of their mother in the creature. So they ran to her excitedly.


    They became three fast bundles of excitement and anticipation that crashed into the farrger beast. Therge beast brought her head low and nuzzled them with her jaw. Her head is more than a hundred times bigger than their whole body, so she had to be careful not to crush them. They screeched and gurgled in happiness due to the ministrations of her affection.


    She said to them with a deep, rumbling voice that made the floor hum, "You are all filthy. It seems you have been wrestling again."


    "No, we have not been wrestling." They rejected that im while trying to be as convincing as possible. They shook themselves free of dust to appear clean to their mother. Unfortunately, it didn''t work.


    She didn''t believe them. She could see that they were filthy. The ck soil of the cave had marred their features. They were ck all over, so it was clear to her that they had been wrestling in her absence.


    She smiled and said to them, "You know what this means."


    They knew what she intended to do next, so they ran. They tried to scatter in different directions this time around. They have learned that lesson quickly.


    "Good," she said in admiration. "Scattering will make escape better."


    They are learning and growing up fast, but it is not good enough to escape her. She pressed one of her wed forelimbs on their retreating tails. Just one hand managed to cover and press down the tails of all three of them.


    She is very fast for a creature her size. She was able to pin them down before they got far. It helped that she expected their reaction. They are not the only ones capable of learning.


    Then she licked them with her tongue. Transparent saliva fell on them in waves. The acidic saliva ate through all the debris on their body. It revealed their sparking blue scales underneath the ck soil. It is the same blue scales as their mother''s.


    The three of them screeched in resistance through the entire process of getting a bath. The bath was not painful. Their scales protected them from the corrosive saliva. But they don''t like being submerged in their mother''s saliva. So they struggled, albeit ineffectively, against her.


    The bath was quick, but they were quicker to shake themselves clean of her saliva immediately after she let them go.


    She said to them, "Now it is time to eat."


    She dropped what she was holding in her other wed hand. It fell to the ground with a thud. It was the prey that she got along the way.


    The three of them rushed to the dead prey and began nibbling on it. The way they struggled against its skin made her chuckle. The prey is bigger than each of them. It is about three times bigger than the three of thembined. It is obvious that the prey was stronger than them when it was alive.


    Even in death, the prey isn''t something they can defeat easily. Its defense is ordinary furred skin, but it is tough enough to give them trouble. They had tobine their efforts to create a gap in the skin. Then they dug in with gusto.


    There was no injury on the prey for them to take advantage of because their mother didn''t touch the beast to kill it. The heart of the poor beast had given out when she locked her majestic gaze onto it. Then she picked it up and brought it to feed her dragonlings.


    She could have helped them out with breaking the skin of the dead prey, but she didn''t. She watched them struggle because it is necessary for them to work for their food even if they are still weak. It is struggle that brings out the potential of the strong.


    They have immense potential as dragonlings, but they need adversity, no matter how little or how early, to make sure that their potential doesn''t go to waste.


    "I shouldn''t have worried." She thought to herself in amusement at the sight of her struggling offspring.


    They were pushing against each other to gain ess to the gap that they had opened together. They didn''t ask each other for the opportunity to eat. Instead, they fought each other for the opportunity to eat. The sight warmed her cold heart.


    A warm heart was a previously alien emotion to her. She didn''t think highly of making offspring before. As a powerful being, making offspring serves no purpose for her. She believed that only weak races that needed to acquire strength in numbers needed to reproduce. So she used to look down on making offspring.


    She is not the only one with this belief among her race. Most of her race thinks so too. If not for their ingrained instincts to produce at least one offspring before they can leave the ne, then they wouldn''t have bothered to reproduce. If not for that instinct, their disdain to reproduce, coupled with their low fertility, would have made their race extinct.


    -----


    A/N: Please reread this chapter. I made a mistake yesterday when I uploaded it. I uploaded the wrong one.

 Chapter 1464 Tradition.

    <h4>Chapter 1464 Tradition.</h4>


    So she made these three bundles of joy because she had to make offspring. It was a must for her to do so before she could leave the realm into the void and be a divine dragon.


    She came begrudgingly to their ancestral grounds for that sole purpose. She didn''t expect that she would grow attached to her little ones after they hatched. Her affection for her dragonlings made her feel a little anxious for thest egg that hadn''t hatched yet.


    She looked toward it now. The lone blue egg with white sparkles on its surface stood in her egg nest. It didn''t hatch along with the others.


    She thought to herself, "Maybe I made a mistake. But it is not toote yet."


    Sheid four eggs, but only three hatched. She might have made a mistake during the incubation period, which caused the dy. Such a mistake is possible despite her instincts and ancient memories. No one, including dragons, is perfect.


    But things haven''t reached the point of no return yet. She is certain of this because she can feel that the egg is still alive. It can still hatch, so there is no need to give up yet. Besides, there are other reasons that can exin the dy, and most of them are good.


    Her attention returned to the three bundles of trouble. She watched them eat with rapt attention. They aren''t fighting anymore. The wound on the prey has berge enough to amodate three of them eating at once. But they are stillpeting.


    The fastest eater will eat the most. It is a simplepetition, but it will determine how quickly they grow. The biggest one of them has won several times in previouspetitions. It gave her a lead over the other two that might extend to other advantages in the future.


    The eating session ended with another bout of fighting. They had to fight for thest scrap. The two smaller ones cooperated to deprive the biggest one of more flesh. They fought until only the bones were left. Their teeth still can''t break the bones yet, so they had to let it go.


    The end of the feeding frenzy was marked by belching. It indicated that they have had their fill and are expelling gas that they swallowed with their food.


    She said to them, "It is time for another bath."


    This time, they couldn''t run before they were drenched. They were far too heavy to move, much less run. But that didn''t mean that they wouldn''t express their dislike for baths.


    They cried out at her with their tiny, undeveloped voice, "Baths are boring, mother."


    "Yes. It makes us wet."


    "We don''t like being wet."


    They didn''t move, but they spoke a lot about their dissatisfaction.


    She said sternly to them, "I don''t care. You will do as I say for as long as you live under my care."


    There are moments when she can be soft, but there are also moments when she cannot be soft. Moments that require toughness are moments like this, where hierarchy must be established or maintained. They must know who is in charge beyond any doubt.


    They told her, "We know, mother."


    "You are in control. For now."


    They know that they have to do what she says, but that doesn''t mean they won''t resist. It is their very nature not to bow to another person, even if that person is their mother and is capable of squashing them like bugs.


    They shook themselves off after the saliva removed the green blood from their scales. Their mother discarded the bones and said to them, "It is time to sleep."


    That got them excited even more than the prospect of eating. Eating is good, but they don''t need to eat. The ambient mana is enough for them to subsist and grow. It would be slower than eating, but it is always avable and free.


    Sleep, on the other hand, is the favorite pastime of their race. Plus, they always get something from their mother before they go to sleep, so they are very eager to go to sleep.


    They whined at her, "Tell us a story, mother."


    "Tell us about the great ancestor."


    "I want to grow up as strong as the dragon king."


    It was truly whining because their tiny voice sounded like it.


    She smiled at them before she grabbed them by their tails. Then she hauled them over to the nest. She ced them in the small structure made of wool and feathers. Then shey next to it and ced her head beside the nest.


    The nest was too small for her, but it was more thanrge enough to contain the younglings.


    "Alright. I will tell you the story of how the ancestral ground was built by the dragon king."


    She decided to indulge them. She doesn''t need to tell them since they don''t need it to sleep and they already know the story. But it is tradition for mothers to tell their dragonlings stories. Her mother did so to her, and she will do so to her dragonlings.


    She started. "The great dragon king was mighty. He was also proud. He had the right to be proud because he was so mighty that he could grab an indestructible fragment of the void universe with his bare hands. He did so to establish the ancestral ground of the dragon race. You can imagine his might¡­"


    They can truly imagine his might. No dragon has seen the dragon king or witnessed this event, but several generations of dragons have acquired enough knowledge and information to help paint a pretty urate picture. So the three younglings could imagine the story with reliable uracy as their mother told it.


    They can see a mighty being with unrivaled power strolling through the void universe unhindered. He doesn''t have a distinct form in their imagination, but his unparalleled might is very clear. It is certain to them that nothing can stop the dragon king.

 Chapter 1465 Certain Death Or A Chance At Death.

    <h4>Chapter 1465 Certain Death Or A Chance At Death. </h4>


    The formless but powerful dragon king grabbed andmass floating in the void universe. Thisndmass is smallpared to the others. But it is three times bigger than a ne. Even so, thisndmass couldn''tpare to the size of the dragon king.


    He was able to push it down from its lofty position as an immortalnd to the seedbed of the void universe down below in the void. He did this after dropping his blood on thendmass.


    In the seedbed of the void universe are several trees. They are as tall as the dragon king and as numerous as stars. The dragon king didn''t approach the trees. Instead, he searched for the hidden saplings.


    The hidden saplings are smaller than the normal trees and are difficult to find, but they couldn''t hide from the dragon king. Nothing could hide from him. He soon found one, so he approached it.


    He was far too bigpared to the sapling, so much so that he cast a shadow over it. The shadow brought the whole sapling into darkness that couldn''t be dispelled by the light of its sun. This announced the presence of the dragon king to the sapling.


    He was greeted immediately when he got close to it. A ck apparition appeared in front of the dragon king. They spoke for a while. Then the dragon king smashed thendmass onto the sapling. The sapling copsed with a single hit, and every living thing within it died.


    The dragon king wasn''t disheartened. He continued his search for more saplings. He found a lot more in his search. Some exploded after agreeing with the dragon king, and some were smashed for disagreeing with him. This continued until the dragon king found a special sapling.


    The apparition of this special sapling asked boldly, "What do you want?"


    It should have been afraid, but it was not. It is because it was too stupid to be afraid of the dragon king. It is an emotionless entity that runs on fixed rules. Fear is not one of its imperatives. At least, not yet.


    The dragon king dered, "Little one, you have two choices. You either do what I want or die."


    The emotionless apparition asked again, "What do you want?"


    If it had eyes, it would have rolled them, and if it had emotions, it would have felt and disyed exasperation because this is the second time it is asking that question and because it is not afraid of the dragon king.


    "I want you to do something for me. It will be very painful for you, and it will cost you a lot of your energy. You may even die attempting it, but it will help you if you survive it. And I will protect you until you grow up into a full realm."


    "Now choose. Certain death or a chance of death with a chance at greatness. You better choose wisely. Do not believe that it will be difficult for me to destroy you."


    The Will of the realm considered the proposition. It looked at thendmass held within one of the many ws of the dragon king. It also noticed that there was something on thendmass. It could feel the signs of life from whatever it was.


    What it felt from thendmass was very powerful. These sensations make it clear to the Will of the realm that it is about to be invaded by something powerful in the form of life.


    The Will of the realm balked at the idea. It wants to survive. It really does. But it is against the rules of its existence to allow a world god to tamper with its operation. Especially on its operations rted to the birth of life in its budding realm.


    The void universe doesn''t look kindly on beings such as the dragon king. The Will of the realm doesn''t it either. It believes that they are thieves, and one hase to it in its state of weakness.


    Unfortunately, the sapling hasn''t proven its value to the void universe yet. If it had produced remarkable races with high potential and a nurturing environment to raise them, then it would have received the protection of the void universe.


    Now it doesn''t have that protection, so it is vulnerable. Should it capitte or not? Should it die or vite one of its instincts? It considered its choices very carefully as it remained silent for a while.


    This decision was made further difficult because the dragon king had stated that it might die even if it agreed. If it were like most of the other realm trees, its decision would be obvious. But it was special. Its mind was more lively than others, and it was capable ofpromising.


    "What do I need to do?" It asked the dragon king.


    "Good answer. It seems you are one of the few with an agile mind. Which race of yours has blessed you with intelligence?"


    The apparition didn''t answer that question. It had decided topromise to live, but it would neverpromise when it came to the safety of its children. It would rather die than divulge their secrets or expose their weaknesses to be taken advantage of.


    The dragon king didn''t mind the silence. He sneered and said, "You willful spirits and your stubborn mind. If you survive this, you will prosper, and your children will grow up to be strong. You might even have a realm lord if you are lucky. So not only will you be able to survive this vulnerable period, but you will also be able to survive the end of the universe. What''s not to like?"


    There were surely a lot of things that the Will of the Realm did not like about the situation, but it didn''t state them.


    Then the dragon king said in disdain, "It doesn''t matter anyway if you like it or not. You have no choice in the matter."


    The dragon king asked the Will of the realm some more questions to determine its situation.

 Chapter 1466 The Contingency Plan That Failed.

    <h4>Chapter 1466 The Contingency n That Failed.</h4>


    When he was ready, he advised the Will of the realm, "Think of the benefits as you undergo this painful process so that you can hold on. I know that you don''t have mortal feelings or weaknesses, but you might need the motivation. Find a way to motivate yourself so that you can survive. Think of your children if you must. Either you survive or you will explode, and they die."


    The dragon king then exined what was to be done to the sapling. Thendmass was then pushed into the sapling. Most saplings are bigger than thendmass, but they always explode when they try to assimte the indestructible fragment into their existence. The problem is not a matter of size. There''s just too much of a difference in their state of existence.


    Unexpectedly, this sapling managed to survive the grafting process. It is because it is truly special. It had broken up its core and separated them into different spaces. This was a dangerous and exhausting process. But it ensured that the different races had space to grow.


    The indestructiblendmass was anchored to one of the separated spaces. The sense of rejection wasn''t high because the whole core wasn''t fighting against the indestructiblendmass. Just one of the separated spaces was sacrificed to allow the grafting.


    It was still painful, as part of the Will was destroyed in the process. But it seeded, so the dragon blessed the sapling with energy so that it wouldn''t copse under the burden. This continued until the period of assimtion was over. The sapling had survived and had grown stronger because of the experience.


    The dragon king chuckled and said, "You greedy thing. You took more than you needed."


    The sapling was indeed greedy. It took more energy than it needed to survive and used it to create a powerful race of its own. This is a race with potential borrowed from the blood of the dragon king.


    The dragon king mocked it. "Unfortunately, power is not enough for greatness. Wisdom and knowledge are necessary. If you had those, then you would have created a more powerful race than what you managed to cobble together."


    The dragon king knew what the sneaky Will was trying to do. He knew that the Will was trying to create a countermeasure to what he did.


    The Will seeded in creating a race with the power it stole. It is a race with a huge amount of potential and an absurd affinity for power. They were even paragons.


    But the sapling was too young and inexperienced. It couldn''t create something better. It certainly couldn''t create something as powerful as the descendants of the dragon king.


    The dragon king didn''t mind the scheme. He said, "This is good too. If anything, they will serve as a foil to sharpen my offspring."


    The dragon king had used his blood to create a powerful race in the sapling. For this reason, it protected the sapling until it matured into a tree. This happened very quickly due to the presence of the two races with immense potential in the realm.


    The maturation of the realm meant that it had gained the protection of the realm. Beings like the dragon king would need to fight the void universe itself to harm it.


    "Goodbye, little one. I hope you do not die with the universe, and I hope the race you created won''t disappoint you."


    Then the dragon king left the seed bed. Its prodigious form ascended to continue its mission.


    The three younglings marveled as they heard the story. They can just imagine how much effort and time the dragon put into searching for immortalnds, grafting them into realm trees, and using them to raise his descendants. These feats alone show just how powerful the dragon king is, and they filled them with awe.


    Their mother said to them, "And that is how our ancestral ground was created and why it is indestructible. It is not like the weak and puny nes that reject us and are too weak to amodate us. And we are also not like the puny race that the Will of the realm created from the energy of our ancestor. Unlike them, we were actually created for greatness."


    The three of them agreed. "Yes, we are stronger."


    "We are dominators of magic and not servants of mana like them."


    "We are the greatest race."


    The dragon king was right. The race the Will of the realm created couldn''t achieve greatness. They had potential, but they were too sympathetic and kind. They didn''t want to hurt anyone. All they wanted was to live in peace with others, so they didn''t actively pursue strength. That was to be the cause of their doom.


    This special race liked peace, but their flesh could also resurrect the dead. They ought to have kept something like that secret, but the two of them sacrificed their flesh and the power contained within it to help others. Unfortunately for them, others were greedy, and they were weak. They couldn''t defend themselves when enemies came to enve them.


    What''s worse is that their immense potential wasn''t inherited by their offspring. So the n of the Will of the realm died with them when they died. The only remnants of that special race are their diminutive descendants.


    Unlike their parents, who were magic and mana themselves, their descendants became servants of mana. It is something that makes dragonsugh whenever they think about it. After all, they were made with the same energy. One died, while the other prospered and became feared throughout the whole realm.


    Of course, the dragons ignore the fact that these so-called servants of mana managed to produce a realm lord while they struggle to create concepts with more than onew.


    But they are not wrong. Dragons are far stronger than high elves and their weak ancestors. They were made from actual greatness, not the energy produced by greatness. They are power incarnate and will one day be as great as their dragon ancestor. The blood of their ancestor is the source of their power and their pride.

 Chapter 1467 What Was Lost.

    <h4>Chapter 1467 What Was Lost. </h4>


    The dragons don''t think much of high elves at all. They just can''t because high elves are the diminutive descendants of the ancient elves created with the energy of the dragon king.


    Most of the properties the two ancient elves gained due to the energy of the dragon king were not inherited by the high elves, including the ability POWER stat that paragons should have.


    The energy of the dragon king degenerated into Natural mana in high elves. It led to the loss of many abilities, which include the ability to enve every creature, the ability to resurrect the dead, the ability to control the growth rate of any being, and the ability to copy the power of any creature.


    The high elves can''t enve any creature anymore or siphon life from those creatures. They can only coarce and enve beasts. Sentient creatures are beyond their capabilities and they can''t even siphon the life force from beasts.


    High elves also can''t resurrect the dead. Instead, they have to rely on the dead husks of their ancestors. One can imagine just how powerful the ancestors were if their corpses could produce Life energy that could heal any diseases, or injuries and extend the life span of mortals.


    High elves can''t control the growth rate of any creature anymore. Their ancestors used to be able to help any creature reach maturity in a day or make an old creature younger. The best high elves can do is make it easier for nts to grow.


    Then there is the major loss of their ability to wield any form of power. Ancient elves can copy any ability just by seeing it once. High elves can''t do that anymore. The best they can do is shapeshift their form into those of others, which has limited them to copying just the physical traits.


    If there is anything to fear about high elves, it is with their variant descendants. High elves are descendants of a powerful race created with thebination of the energy of the dragon ancestor and thew of life. It made them capable of reproducing with a lot of races, including demons.


    Some of those variants managed to awaken some of the traits of the ancient elves. The wood elves, for example. They awakened the ability to enve living things and siphon life from them.


    That is how they turn into dark elves. They are limited by the number of bonds they can create, and they are weak, but it is still something dangerous. Of course, it is only dangerous to weak creatures, not dragons. But it is something to note because dragonlings are susceptible to it.


    Then there''s also another one of the variants created by demons, the Supreme Beasts. Those ones have given dragons a lot of trouble. The long-lost potential of their god-like ancestor to copy abilities emerged in them through the hybridization with the potential of demons. Specifically the demon of envy.


    But even so, the dragons managed to invade and destroy the home ne of the Supreme Beasts. All they had to do was descend onto to the weak ne with their strong bodies and wreak havoc on it. It fell apart in their presence, like a house made out of straw.


    They had to pay a heavy price to Mother High Heaven for that crime, but it is something that dragons will be able to hold over the Supreme Beasts forever. If even the most dangerous variant of the high elves became homeless because of them, the rest of the variants and the high elves themselves are nothing to hold in high regard.


    It bes extraughable that the Supreme Beasts had to ditch the full ability of their ancestor to copy unlimited abilities because they couldn''t make it work enough to go past the one-star Origin god level. It is something the dragonlings thought about and smirked at as they slept in the embrace of one another.


    They thought to themselves, "And to think Mother High Heaven made the ancient high elves to counter us dragons. Howughable."


    That was theirst thought before sleep took them.


    -----Growing Up.


    The three dragonlings and their mother, who wished to be a divine dragon, spent their lives this way for another year. They slept, woke up, yed, ate, and listened to bedtime stories, then slept again.


    The three dragonlings grew bigger every day, thanks to the special care that she showered them with. Eating nutritious flesh every week has a good effect on dragonlings. It is much better than subsisting on mana.


    The three dragonlings had stopped sleeping in the nest at this time. They prefer to sleep on their mother. Her head is stillrge enough for them to lie on. It wasn''t until the third year that there was a change in their lives.


    The fourth egg began to shake. The three of them were wrestling again in the absence of their mother. Their fighting filled the cave with loud sounds of shing, but they heard the silent cracking of the eggshell, so they stopped fighting. They all turned in the direction of the nest with surprise.


    "It seems the fourth is ready."


    "Let''s go see."


    They rushed to the nest to watch the hatching process. They knew what to expect, but the sight still filled them with excitement. Seeing something and experiencing it personally is better than having memories of it in their bloodlines.


    The fourth broke his shell and poked his head out of it. He opened his eyes to the world and was weed by the sight of three heads and three pairs of gleaming eyes staring at him.


    He scoffed and said to them, "What are you looking at?"


    The first replied, "We are looking at you, runt."


    She is the biggest and the strongest. There is no way she is going to take that kind of tone from ate bloomer. She is just too proud to take that kind of tone from a runt who hatchedte.

 Chapter 1468 Silent Observer.

    <h4>Chapter 1468 Silent Observer. </h4>


    The second and third, on the other hand, don''t mind his tone too much. They approached the egg and used their heads to bash it.


    Fourth screeched at them, "What are you doing?"


    "We are helping you."


    "Hurry up ande out."


    Fourth yelled at them, "Go away. I don''t need your help."


    But the second and third didn''t listen to him. They giggled as they broke his shell. Even the first joined in amidst fourth''s yells for them to stop. They disregarded his demands and hatched him. Then they surrounded him and looked down at him.


    "So this is how we looked when we hatched."


    "Were we so small?"


    "I don''t think so. I think he is stunted. He spent too much time in the egg."


    "Yeah, he is a runt."


    They spoke to each other while examining their new brother. The fourth, on the other hand, was not so excited or happy about the inspection.


    He asked them, "Don''t you have something better to do?"


    "We don''t."


    "And you can''t make us stop gawking at you."


    He looked around for help but didn''t find it. So he asked them, "Where is Mother?"


    They ignored his question. Instead, the first asked, "Why did you take longer in the egg?"


    The other two also stared at the fourth and waited for his answer. They expect him to know why he spent so long gestating. All the eggs on the ne hatch at the same time, as long as they are in the same cycle. Each cycle is a thousand years and it is determined by the dragon spirit.


    Eggs that are mature have to wait for their cycle to hatch. That means if an egg matures a year after a cycle, it has to wait until the next cycle before it can hatch. Thest cycle was almost four years ago. If he hatched now, it must be that he had be mature before the cycle and was dyed by something.


    The three of them hatched a month after the cycle, but he took four years. There must be a reason for it, and he must know it. Now they too want to know it.


    They know he will know why he was dyed, just like he can already use his divine sense to speak the moment he was born. His bloodline memories, ancestral bestowal, and awareness of when he was in the egg ensure that he is not ignorant of that fact. They want to know that reason because it is very important.


    The fourth replied. "Mind your business."


    "Come on."


    "Tell us."


    The first got closer to his face and asked seriously. "What did you see?"


    They want to know if the fourth is a runt or if he is special. Those are the two reasons why his hatching was dyed, despite having matured many years before the cycle.


    They suspect that he is special. He looks like them, but he feels different. He has small blue scales, two small knobs on his head, and two weak and small wings on his back. They can''t tell exactly what''s different about him, apart from the fact that his blue scales are not cold to the touch like theirs.


    But the fourth refused to divulge his secrets. So they threatened him.


    "We will beat you if you don''t speak."


    Fourth said defiantly, "Go ahead. Do you worst."


    They know that it is unlikely that he will tell them, even if they beat him. Dragons are too proud to be coerced by a little pain. Even a dragonling will not be covered by the threat of pain. But the first still went ahead to fulfill her threat. As a dragon, she will say what she says she will do. It is a matter of pride.


    She also has to put him in his ce. She has to establish the fact that she is the strongest. That is also a matter of pride. So she used her hand to press the fourth to the ground of the nest.


    He was pressed beneath her w in a show of dominance. The amount of force that she applied to him did little damage to himpared to the posture that she forced him into.


    The fourth promised vengeance. "I will get back at you for this. I amount of force that she applied to him did little damage to himpared to the posture that she forced him into.


    The fourth promised vengeance. "I will get back at you for this. I will beat you up."


    "Give it your best try." She said with pleasure and disdain.


    She knows just how humiliated he must be. An injury to one''s pride is often more severe than a physical or spiritual injury. She doesn''t need to hurt him physically to hurt him. The act of forcing him down beneath her ws is more than enough to wound him.


    It is more useful than a physical injury because he won''t talk, no matter how much she beats him up. So rather than aim to make him talk, she can aim to humiliate him, which is an easily achievable goal.


    The shameful posture he was forced into hurt the fourth''s pride. But it also emboldened his stubbornness to refuse to divulge his secret. He is young, but he is not foolish. He knows that the more someone wants to know something, the more important that thing is likely to be. He also knows that one shouldn''t divulge their advantage to others. So he endured her torments and waited for salvation.


    The second and third became bored and returned to wrestling. Their growling and yipping could not match the sounds of the screeching of the fourth and his loud derations of vengeance that he made with his divine sense. But it came close.


    Fortunately for the fourth, salvation came quickly. Mother arrived soon after. Her voice arrived before her body. "I see that you have all introduced yourself."


    She has been watching the events in the cave even when she was far away, so she saw everything that happened. She didn''t choose to interfere and only decided to appear now. But Legion-8 knew that she must have been watching. He suspects that she would have interfered if anything had been out of ce.


    ----

 Chapter 1469 More Food.

    <h4>Chapter 1469 More Food.</h4>


    Mother''s divine sense spoke to them while she was still far away. But to the dragonlings, there is no difference between her being here physically or with her mind. They straightened up immediately and scrambled to look innocent.


    First sister stopped trampling on the fourth brother and rushed with the other two towards the cave opening.


    They saw her flying form rushing towards the cave. Their cave is high up a mountain, but she is flying even higher. Her majestic and beautiful blue form streaked through the air with four outstretched wings.


    "Doesn''t Mother look powerful?" Second asked Fourth.


    Fourth replied with awe, "She is."


    This is the first time that fourth is seeing his mother, and he is already captivated at first sight. It is not a strange reaction. Every dragon respects and admires strength. They respect themselves and their personal strength the most, but they also admire the strength of other dragons.


    The existence of strong dragons outlines the future of the dragonlings and shows them what they are capable of. The ultimate goal that every dragon pursues is to be like the dragon king. Any dragon that has gone far on that path is therefore admired for its strength.


    Mother slowed down when she was about to reach the cave. She then gripped its edge with the ws on her two massive hind limbs. She spread her wings, and it blocked out the sun. Then she roared triumphantly.


    It is clear to them that Mother is happy. They wanted to rush to meet her, but they didn''t because of the rules. They can''t leave the cave unless they receive permission from her, and they haven''t, so they remained sitting still in the cave, waiting for her to enter.


    They watched her body shrink to fit the opening of the cave. Then she entered the cave. It was then that they swarmed her.


    "Look at my babies." She said proudly.


    Then she scooped them up with her divine sense and brought them up to her head to examine them closely. Most of her attention was on the fourth.


    "Nice of you to finally join us."


    Fourth cawed at her. It was a cute sound that made her lick him with her tongue. Then he screeched in happiness. The aura he sensed from her is the one that he sensed for the past 10,000 years he was in the egg. He can also sense the connection of blood through the contact that they just made. So he is certain that this is his mother and not someone pretending to be. It made him let down his guard and trust her.


    "You are so small. You will need to be fattened up." She said to him.


    That made him perk up. "Food?" he asked hopefully.


    "Yes, food. But first, a bath."


    "No baths." They all screeched.


    Mother didn''t listen to them. She made sure to wash them over with her saliva. It was after the bath that she gave them their food. The first three were given two prey to eat. They are the same size as the prey now, so it isn''t difficult for them to eat it.


    The first three have to share two, so thepetition is high. They spent most of their time fighting over one and ignoring the other. It was after they ate the first carcass that they decided to focus on the second one.


    As for the fourth, he was given a whole prey. He had it all to himself, but it wasn''t so easy for him to eat it. Unlike the others, he doesn''t have help in breaking the defense of the prey. He is also much smaller than they were when they hatched, so he is weaker. He had to do it all by himself. No one helped him. Not even mother.


    It is a blessing and a curse that he got the whole prey to himself. There is nopetition for his food, but there is also no assistance to eat it. He was still eating the surface muscles by the time the other three were done with their meals. The three of them didn''t join him because that would offend Mother.


    The fourth became the one that got preferential treatment from Mother. She gave him more food. She even intervened in their wrestling asionally. As long as she was around, she wouldn''t let them beat him too much.


    He got beaten in her absence, though. But he didn''t tell her that. It is a matter of pride. He took their bullying and used the anger to fuel his determination.


    It is a good thing that he didn''t tell Mother. Mother would have been disappointed if he had, and she would have likely punished him. She is aware of the bullying in her absence, but she didn''t tell the other three to stop it. It is because she believes that it is important.


    He is a runt, so it is important to give him extra care because of his disadvantageous start, but it is also important to temper that care with adversity. She doesn''t leave the cave for long periods of time. Her hunts and patrols are short. If he can''t even bear that short period of pain, then she will have to increase the adversity he experiences to temper him.


    The four of them grew up quickly thanks to the constant feeding from Mother. This continued for 7 more years until it became the 10th year after thest hatching cycle. It was then that they finally got permission from Mother to leave the cave.


    All four of them were speaking excitedly.


    "This is so exciting."


    "Our first outing."


    "I can''t wait."


    They were full of so much excitement that they were practically hopping on their little paws. Their excitement is due to something bigger than the little freedom that they are about to experience. Their first outing entails more than that, and they are looking forward to it.

 Chapter 1470 The First Outing.

    Chapter 1470 The First Outing.


    ??All four of them waited patiently by the opening in the cave. There is a path that leads down the mountain from the cave. But beyond the path is the open sky. It is as if they are living beside a cliff.


    Mother went outside through the opening of the cave. Then she grabbed them with her solidified divine sense and pulled them out. They came out of the cave for the first time. They can''t fly yet, but being so high up in the sky is still exhrating.


    Mother said, "Down we go, little ones."


    Then she pped her four wings and plunged down. They didn''t go straight down. Instead, they glided across thendscape and created some distance between them and the mountain as they descended.


    The four of them roared in excitement all the way down. Their soft, undeveloped vocal cords made their howls sound like coughing. It was so cute that Mother couldn''t help but grin. Their happiness was infectious.


    Mother wasn''t fast, so they could take in the scenery. Her divine sense formed a barrier that protected them from the wind so they could enjoy the sight of the yellow trees. The mountain they are living on is surrounded by them. The earth and soil are red. It made the yellow leaves especially beautiful.


    Even with her slow speed, it didn''t take them long to reach their destination. Mother dropped them in a small groove. The groove is only smallpared to the size of the mountain. It is 4 kilometers across. While the mountain is 107 kilometers tall.


    "We are a tenth of the way down. You will start your training from here, and we will work our way down."


    They weren''t listening much to her. Their attention was on their environment. It is different from the nd and deary cave that they have lived in since they hatched. Their small, shining eyes were focused on taking in everything that they could see. But they heard her, so they indicated so.


    "Alright, Mother."


    "Can we go now?"


    "Not yet." She said with a scoff. "Not until you hear everything I have to say."


    They turned to her then.


    She resumed warning them. "You have 12 hours. I will be here waiting for you."


    "You can go now."


    They scrambled away after getting her permission. The four of them scattered into the sparse woods of the groove. Their first training session has begun.


    The groove is mostly a grassy in surrounding a blueke. There are some shrubs and trees, but most of them are short. They are all shorter than Mother. So no matter how far the four of them go in the groove, they can always see the form of Mother, like a small blue mountain that stands out against the yellow trees. They can''t get lost with her standing out like this.


    The fourth chose a random direction to hunt in. He said to himself, "This is my opportunity to finally grow."


    His demeanor and posture changed as he went further from Mother. Something previously dormant within him began to awaken. His demeanor seemed to have changed from that of an ignorant dragonling to that of an experienced hunter.


    His eyes narrowed, and his senses peaked. Sounds, images, and sensations from the environment went into his mind through his physical senses and divine sense.


    His steps were clumsy at first. He was making a lot of noise. But that changed as time went on. His steps became light. His posture shifted as he hunched. The muscles of his limbs coiled with powerful potential energy. He released that potential energy little by little as he walked, but he also replenished it as his form shifted.


    He started out in a random direction, but he wasn''t going in a random direction anymore. He has gained direction from the traces in his environment. He is stalking prey now. He is certain of it.


    Mother had dropped them beside theke, so it is not surprising that he came upon the tracks of a prey so quickly. This prey has just returned from drinking from theke, so its trail is fresh.


    He can smell the fresh scent in the air. He can see the fresh depressions in the ground. His divine sense can feel the traces that the prey left behind as it passed through the shrubs. Even its dentition is clear to him from the bite marks left on the leaves it passed by. From all of these, he knows that he has a good chance of subduing it.


    Hebined every detail he noticed into a profile for his prey. "It has six hoven limbs and weighs 1217 kg. It has onerge bushy tail and two short horns, and it is an herbivore."


    It is just the right type of prey for him. It is not too big, so it won''t be dangerous to hunt. It is not too small either, so its flesh will make the hunt worthwhile. It is also an herbivore, so the fight will be easy.


    The frizzy and long hair that it left behind indicates that it is a bushy-tailed govon. As an herbivore, its first instinct would be to run when it spots a predator, so Fourth has to be sneaky and quiet so as not to spook the prey.


    Even if he spooks the prey, this hunt shouldn''t fail. The bushy-


    tailed govons are very fast. Their six limbs give them a high initial eleration potential. So it will certainly be able to create arge distance between them. But govons can''t keep up their fast speed, especially not the bushy-tailed govon. So as long as he doesn''t give up, he will be able to catch his prey.


    Every possibility had been mapped out in his mind. It is not something a novice hunter can do on their first hunt without any training. But this itself is his training. After all, experience is the best teacher.


    Experience doesn''t necessarily have to be yours to learn from it. You can learn from the experiences of others too.

 Chapter 1471 Hunting Experience.

    Chapter 1471 Hunting Experience.


    ??The experience of others is something fourth is notcking in. He may be young and hasn''t seen much of the world, but he has a lot of experience gained from his predecessors. So he wasn''t caught off guard when the three-tailed tunda pounced at him during his hunt.


    A translucent blur shot out from a shrub close to him and swiped a w at him. His body leaned back at thest moment to dodge the attack. A paw with four white ws ripped the air in front of his face and passed by. His coiled muscles sprung into action after that.


    His muscles were already coiled before the assault. Leaning back hadpressed them further. So he simply let go of the contraction. They rxed, and in so doing, they catapulted him forward. His neck and the head attached to it sprung forward like a spring, and his opened mouthtched onto the neck of the tunda.


    He bit down with so much force that his teeth managed to cut through flesh and reach the spine in the neck. The tunda yelped in pain. It tried to swipe him away with its other forelimb, but he moved backward and dragged the tunda with him.


    The tunda is bigger than him. It is also heavier than him. But that didn''t stop it from being pulled forward. This caused it to be destabilized. Its attacking forelimb lost its momentum and only managed to swipe ineffectively on his blue scales.


    Fourth wanted to drag the Tunda to its death. By dragging it like this, he is further worsening the injury to its neck. The tunda tried to stop itself from going forward by digging its hindlimbs into the ground, but that only made the situation worse. The rows of teeth lodged in its neck were forced to rip out arge chuck of its neck.


    They separated after that bloody tug of war. Both of them won. The fourth gained arge chuck of flesh, while the tunda gained its freedom. But that obviously is not good enough for the tunda.


    One shouldn''t lose a part of their neck where major arteries and veins reside. One might just bleed out and die. This is a lesson that even an ignorant beast that thinks it is a smart idea to attack a dragonling knows.


    Fourth knew that lesson, so he was smug as he thought to himself, "It must know now that I am not the easy prey it thought I was."


    He also chuckled. It was a grating sound, simr to the calls of some birds. It definitely set the tunda on edge. It became even more agitated.


    The Tunda is far from dying yet because what Fourth took out of his neck is just a small portion of the neck. It is an important section, but unfortunately, it won''t lead to death immediately because his mouth is smallpared to the size of the tunda. So Fourth decided to stand back and defend.


    The tunda, on the other hand, wanted to drag him down with it. It pursued him, and they shed again. The Fourth turned around to run. This emboldened the tunda. It pounced on his back to pin him down. But it received ashing from the spiked tail that Fourth smashed against it.


    The tunda was smashed out of the air. The force of the tail struck it against a tree. The fall didn''t injure it as much as the damage to its torso from where the spikes on the tail struck it.


    Much worse is the exacerbation of the injury to its neck caused by mming into the tree. It tried to rise, but it failed to do so. It is a mana beast, so it doesn''t possess weak points like lesser beasts, but losing too much blood means weakening.


    Mana is contained in the blood. To lose blood is to lose mana. But that doesn''t mean that the injury is debilitating. A mana entity is not dead yet until their head is crushed. The fourth knew that too. So he was cautious when he approached the tunda. He wasn''t deceived by its attempt to look weak. Fourth approached in the same hunched posture, ready to pounce or retreat if need be.


    The tunda continued to pretend. It struggled to stand, and it mewed weakly. And when it did stand, it was with a weak posture. It looked all but ready to drop at the slightest touch. Therge amount of blooding out of its neck is testament to that. If one didn''t know that it could stop its bleeding, one might be fooled.


    Fourth struck. He raised his wed paw slowly and brought it down on the tunda. The tunda snapped at his hand. It missed because the attack was a feint. But it didn''t give up. It sprung into action, using its bigger body to smash into him.


    If the attack were to connect, Fourth would be floored. His small body wouldn''t be able to withstand the collision. Then the tundra would gain the upper hand, and most importantly, the tundra would be on top of him.


    But fourth was prepared for this kind of desperate action. He dodged slightly to the left. He used the spike on his wing to rip the side of the tunda as it barreled past him. He also made sure to use his tail to smash the tunda''s head.


    Hisst attack failed. The tunda wasn''t caught off guard by the tail again. It bit it and held on to it. But that''s just stupid. By doing so, it exposed its back to Fourth. He pounced on one of its hindlimbs and snapped it. That sealed the fate of the stupid tunda that sought to kill a dragonling.


    The tunda lost its speed. This is something it can''t pretend to do. Fourth capitalized on this weakness to deal more injuries to it. He harassed it far beyond the threshold of pretending to bleed. The tunda finally lost its life after a few minutes of violent ripping from an eager dragonling.

 Chapter 1472 All You Can Eat.

    Chapter 1472 All You Can Eat.


    ??"That brings back pleasant memories." Fourth said after the battle.


    This is his first time hunting, but this is not his first experience hunting. He has a whole lot of experience with hunting in his memory. These memories helped him be a knowledgeable and seasoned hunter right from his first hunt. If left alone to take care of himself, he is sure that he would be able to survive in this forest on his own.


    Even so, he is not unscathed. There are shallow grooves on his scales where the tunda scored some hits. One of his wings is also injured. He folded it against his back most of the time during the battle, but it was still damaged. But all in all, his first battle was a sess.


    He looked around to make sure there were no enemies nearby. Then he began to drag the tunda toward Mother''s position. That''s where he is going to eat it. He can eat it here, but it is not safe. Mother will surely be able to save him if he meets with danger to his life here, but it is better to prevent that by sticking close to Mother.


    If he is close to Mother, then no enemy will try to ambush him. Plus, he can keep his prey safe with her and return to hunting with peace of mind. He still has the trail of a bushy tailed govon and he doesn''t want to lose it. Eating now will slow him down, so it is better to save his bounty for the future.


    He made all these considerations very quickly before he decided to drag his prey to mother. The tunda is heavy, so he has to put in a lot of effort to drag it. But he couldn''tin because it was all part of the training.


    Training is a good thing for dragons. It is not like the training of the ancient dragons in that dragonlings are not born ignorant. Their bloodline memories make them rather informed of what they are to do and how to do it.


    So instead of fighting at the edge of death to acquire predatory instincts and skills, they will be fighting at the edge of death to excavate generations of predatory instincts and skills.


    Training is dangerous. But it also means that they get to eat whatever they hunt. They won''t be limited to the single meals that Mother gives them every few days. They can eat as much as they can kill.


    In a way, training is a buffet for dragonlings. It shouldn''t be called training anymore, but dragons are creatures of tradition. They are not going to stop calling something training because of the advantage of ancestral memories.


    Fourth had been looking forward to training because, despite Mother''s special treatment of him, he is still the smallest of the four of them.


    The first three have an advantage of time over him, which is keeping them in the lead. If he can''t beat his siblings, then his performance will be abysmal during the naming ceremony. So he is extra dedicated to training.


    He dropped the tunda in front of Mother. Then he rushed back into the forest to hunt more. His tiny feet bounded on the forest floor with excitement.


    Mother had her eyes closed, but she wasn''t sleeping. Her divine sense had enveloped the whole groove and the entire mountain. So she is constantly monitoring the situation and can spring into action to save her dragonlings at any moment.


    The mountain doesn''t belong to just her, so there are other mothers who have brought their dragonlings out for training. Some of them are apanied by their fathers, which is a rare sight.


    This is usually the case when the fathers are young or first-time fathers. If the fathers are older, then they usually don''t care about this stage of growth of the dragonlings. The novelty of having offspring has worn off on them, so they would rather do something else than cater to some dragonlings that don''t need them.


    She mated with an ancient and powerful dragon. It is not by chance. Male dragons her age were not strong enough to defeat her. So she had to find a more powerful male among the older dragons to defeat her.


    The mating ritual of dragons is basically a fight. Males get to mate when they can defeat the females in battle. In this way, the strong females are paired with the strong males. This tradition ensures that the next generation of dragons is stronger than the previous ones.


    Hybridization between strong parents always produces stronger offspring. But this situation has made it so that the father of the four doesn''t care enough to visit his offspring yet. He might never care enough to visit them in their lives.


    The care of the dragonlings falls on her shoulders. She is to protect them during their training. In the meantime, she chats with the other mothers who live on the mountain. They speak about any news they have heard recently.


    One of the news stories that has been going around recently was about the attack on a ne under the control of the Supreme Beasts by some dragons. It is said that the attack ended in a massive victory for the dragons even though they couldn''t enter the ne to fight.


    Another noteworthy story is about a ne that was destroyed in a struggle between an ambitious dragon and an inhabitant of a ne. The ambitious dragon failed in gaining control of the ne and is recruiting dragons to help it defeat the resistance of the ne.


    There is also news of two Gemini twins turning on each other and how it has affected their race both in the immortalnds and in the realm tree. There were many other stories which Mother used to while away her time while her dragonlings trained.


    This training session continued until all four of them had eaten their fill and fell asleep. Then Mother took them back to their cave, where they would sleep for a few days.

 Chapter 1473 The First Ability.

    Chapter 1473 The First Ability.


    ??She will bring them down for another session of training after they wake up. Then they will eat to their fill again.


    This cycle of hunting and sleeping will continue until the younglings awaken their first active ability.


    Dragons are born physically superior to most races. They are strong and have incredible defenses. Their scales defend them from both physical and magical damage. Their dense muscles also grant them strength enough to be at the top of most races. They can also grow to massive proportions, so no one can bully them with size. But those aren''t what make them Supreme.


    Those features are just passive abilities. They are the base features that every dragon possesses. It is not until they awaken active abilities that they be worthy of the title of Supreme race.


    This is a title that they earned long before they produced their first Origin god, so it is a title that they deservepletely. Very few races deserve this title like them. In fact, they are the yardstick to determine who deserves the title. Any race that can fight them or defeat them is the true Supreme race.


    The awakening of the active abilities of the dragonlings happened during one of their breaks during hunting. They have been hunting for 4 years now and have grown bigger because of it. Unfortunately, despite his dedication and hard work, fourth is still the smallest. But he isn''t discouraged. He may be the smallest, but he is the fastest.


    He and second are standing aside to watch a fight between the first and third. Third has grown to be the biggest amongst all four of them. First felt threatened by the difference in size and wanted to teach third a lesson. So first challenged her to a fight.


    The challenge doesn''t look like the harmless wrestling that they engaged in when they were younger. No one is to interfere in this fight. The stakes are too high to allow for interference.


    First showed why she should be first. She was able to beat third despite the disadvantage of size. They have the same bloodline memories, but it is clear that one of them has excavated more of them than the other. First was able to show exquisite skill in fighting. Third was soon losing.


    Third was pushed back and was forced to give ground because of first''s aggressive moves. A w here and a tail swipe there kept third on the back foot. This continued until she was pushed against a tree. It was not by chance. First had herded her in this direction. She was the more experienced fighter.


    Third couldn''t move back anymore. First said to her. "Admit defeat."


    Third didn''t want to admit defeat. She opened her mouth to roar. The sound that came out of her mouth sounded like a choking cough.


    First mocked. "If that is a roar, then it is the weakest roar I have ever heard."


    It truly is the weakest roar, but Third didn''t give up. She tried again. However, First didn''t give her the opportunity. She swiped her w at third''s face. The w pped her head. It made third angry. She lunged at first. The distance was too close and third was too big. First was ran over. She hit the ground because of the collision. Then third pressed her down with her weight.


    She opened her mouth to roar triumphantly. This time, the sound that came out of her jaws was not crippled. The air that was ejected from her mouth created a deeper sound. It carried a hint of force.


    Third became happy because of her roar. She roared again, just like she did earlier. Her roar came out better. It is not a cough anymore but a bellowing. It resonated with the air and with the other dragonlings.


    Fourth and second joined her. They too raised their jaws to the air and ejected air out of their lungs. The air was mixed with their divine sense, and mana was roused violently to create a loud sound.


    First pushed third aside. Then she also joined in. The four of them became immersed in that feeling. It is like casting a spell. Air from their lungs rouses the air mana in the environment in a manner dictated by their divine sense to create the roar. They tried again and again until they got the hang of it. It is the first spell and ability that dragons master. It is the dragon''s roar.


    Mother opened her eyes and roared in jubtion. Her roar is not the weak sound that they produce. It caused the ground to thrum and the trees to shake violently as if there was an earthquake.


    Her roar also contains a psychic impact. Any being that hears her roar will be forced to kneel and bow before her. It is because she has infused it with dragon force. It is the sign of dragon''s might. Only the strong can resist it.


    Mother smiled at them. "Very good. Tomorrow we begin the second stage of training."


    That doused their enthusiasm. They stopped roaring and then scattered into the forest to hunt more. They are going to need the extra energy tomorrow.


    They hunted for the rest of the day and ate until they were bursting. Mother brought them to the top of the mountain for the night. She went to sleep, but the dragonlings couldn''t sleep. Not with tomorrow looming over their heads.


    Third said to them. "We have nothing to fear. We should just follow our instincts, and we will be fine."


    She has taken the lead subconsciously. Her victory over the First has filled her with confidence. But First is not one to give up.


    First proimed defiantly. "I will be the first one tomorrow. It will prove that your victory was a fluke."


    Third replied with her eyes narrowed, "We''ll see."


    First and third stared daggers at each other while their two brothers watched impassively. The two sisters wanted to fight, but they knew that they shouldn''t. They need all the energy they can get tomorrow.

 Chapter 1474 Anxiety For Success.

    Chapter 1474 Anxiety For Sess.


    ??Sess tomorrow means partial freedom from Mother. Failure means they willg behind the others in their progress. Tog behind the others is tog behind all the dragonlings hatched in their cycle.


    Fourth was the only one not concerned. It is because he has already seeded in the second training. He has just been waiting for this moment to show off.


    Unlike the others, who couldn''t sleep because of anxiety, he couldn''t sleep because he was too excited. The four of them stayed by the opening of the cave, looking out into the darkness and waiting for the sun to rise.


    The cycle of light and day is not fixed in the dragon continent. This is because the position of the ne is not fixed. It moves about freely in the realm. Daylightes when they move into the path of either of the suns. The addition of the third star has only made things more random. But it has increased the amount of daylight that they experience. So they didn''t have to wait long for the sun to rise.


    The sun didn''t disappoint them. It rose majestically and brought light to the ne. Then another sun appeared on the opposite side of the horizon. The second sun is setting, but they entered its path before it finished setting, so the duration of its light will be short.


    The dragonlings didn''t have to remind Mother before she spoke to them. Her voice rang in their minds like a bell. "Prepare yourself."


    They began to prepare themselves. They stretched out their small wings and expanded them to their full length. Their minds were set, and they already knew what to expect, so they were as prepared as they could be. Even then, some of them couldn''t help but start to panic when Mother''s divine sense grabbed the First.


    First was lifted up and out of the cave. She was brought away from the mountain. Her body hung beyond the edge of the cliff. Beneath her were the open skies. Then she was dropped to the ground.


    First began pping her wings. The muscles of her chest contracted and rxed repeatedly and vigorously to cause her wings to beat on the air.


    But flying is not as easy as pping wings. The air currents have to be sensed. Then she has to decide whether to go against the flow or go along with it. She can''t do both of them or none of them if she wants to fly. She has to choose one, and the way she ps her wings will be in ordance with her decision.


    So the first thing she tried to do was feel the airflow with her divine sense and her wings. Then she tried to attune the rhythm of her wings to the air currents. This is not something that can be easily done while falling in the air.


    She has memories of flights and the instincts needed to master them quickly. But she is falling, and her heart is thumping in fear because she knows that her mother will not stop her from hitting the ground.


    She won''t die because Mother will cushion her fall, but her failure will lead to far more than physical injuries. Failure will wound her pride, so it is best if she can focus on flying, but she can''t focus on flying because she is afraid of failing.


    She is just too anxious. She is thinking more than doing. The thought of third surpassing her filled her mind. It was then that Mother''s voice rang in her head.


    "Focus. Dominate the wind."


    That brought her out of her mental quagmire. It also spurred her on and made her focus. Her performance improved immediately.


    Her divine sense was turned into a sphere around her that collected information for her. She was able to identify the air flow around her. She decided to go along with it since it was easier to do. She oriented herself in the direction of the wind and pped her wings along with it.


    She managed to get herself gliding. Her wings are incapable of creating the thrust needed to keep herrge body afloat, so the next thing she has to do is augment her flying with mana.


    She is to weave mana into the air through her wings. That will enable her wings to be capable of lifting her body. Her wings will serve as the foundation for arge levitation spell that she will continue to use until she bes transcendent.


    But knowing how to do something is different from doing it. Knowledge is different from wisdom. The first generation of dragons struggled to fly too. But they managed to do so because their wings wererge enough to carry them.


    Generations of evolution in dragons have eliminated the need for wings. This is because wings be redundant at certain levels, and dragons can fly without them. So energy is directed towards more useful things like the toughness of scales, dragon breath, or the power of their inner world.


    This has caused wings to be eclipsed by other parts of the body inter generations. So wings don''t develop as fast as they should in the dragonlings anymore. It is why her wings can''t carry her body on their own, no matter how skilled a flier she is. It has to be assisted by a spell. It is this spell that is stopping her from flying.


    Ideally, she should be able to weave the spell since she was able to weave the dragon roar yesterday. But that little experience is not enough, and the flight spell is moreplicated than the dragon''s roar. All she managed to do was angle her fall towards theke in the groove. Then she fell into it.


    "I failed." She said in sadness.


    Mother spoke to her through her divine sense. "Practice makes perfect."


    Then Mother grabbed her and lifted her into the air. On her way back to the top, she passed Second brother falling to the ground. He was iling about like she did.

 Chapter 1475 The Greatest.

    <h4>Chapter 1475 The Greatest. </h4>


    She thought to herself, "It seems Second is going to fail too."


    That thought cheered her up. Then she met Third. She, too, was failing to get the hang of flying. The sight pleased First very much.


    It cheered her up enough to encourage herself, "I mustn''t ck. I must get it right on this turn."


    It was fourth brother''s turn by the time she was brought back to the cave.


    Fourth said to her with arrogance. "Watch me."


    She watched him. She wanted to see him fail. But she was disappointed. She saw him drop, but he didn''t scramble to reorient himself like them. He stopped falling after a few seconds. Then he flew away down the mountain.


    He roared in victory as he soared. "I am the greatest."


    First couldn''t believe her eyes. She asked in disbelief, "How did he get it on the first try?"


    She thought flying would be easy to do until she actually tried it. She knows that everything looks easy to do until one tries to do it. But she didn''t expect it to be so difficult, despite having memories of it. But Fourth seemed to have gotten the hang of flying in a few seconds.


    Mother answered her question. "Don''t mind him. He had already mastered the dragon''s roar and flying a year ago. He has been working on the third spell, the dragon''s majesty, in secret. That''s why flying is not difficult for him."


    That stunned First. She expected to hear that fourth had the advantage of flight because he had the smallest body. Never in her wildest dream would she expect that he was already working on dragon''s majesty.


    She still couldn''t believe what she heard. It was hard for her because she didn''t expect him to have left them all in the dust and yet pretend to be weak. It made her angry and ashamed.


    She said with determination. "I am ready, Mother."


    "Good. You have to continue to strive for the best. Don''t underestimate anyone. I suspect that your second brother is the most talented of you all. He is hiding himself even more deeply than Fourth."


    "What?!!!" First said as her eyes widened.


    She couldn''t understand how the second brother, whom she saw fail, could be better than the Fourth brother.


    But Mother didn''t enlighten her about her confusion. Mother lifted her into the air and brought her far away from the cliff.


    Mother said to her, "Do not be dismayed. "Remain proud in your strength and defy all opposition. Spread your wings and fly."


    Then Mother dropped her for another try at flying. It is what the dragonlings will do for today and several more days toe until they learn how to fly.


    The first training session for dragons is hunting. They are to hunt until they awaken the roar of defiance. The dragon roar is the first spell that they have to aplish. The second one is flight. The third one is dragon''s majesty. The fourth one is dragon''s breath. The fifth one is dragon''s tongue and thest one is dragon''s domain.


    Each spell rises in difficulty and requirements. The third spell, dragon''s majesty requires dragonlings to gain preliminary control of their dragon heart. They will then be able to pressure other creatures into submission with their aura. The first of them to aplish it was the fourth.


    The Second brother was the first to learn how to fly, after the fourth. It wasn''t the first sister or third sister who achieved it. Second didn''t learn how to fly until the next day. First and Third were muchter than that. One can imagine just how far ahead Fourth was.


    They didn''t have to imagine it. Fourth showed them the distance between them when he mastered the dragon''s majesty well ahead of the others.


    Second was also the next one after Fourth to achieve dragon''s majesty. His performance was enough to surprise First and that would have been all if Mother hadn''t told them that fourth is not the most talented one.


    Fourth took the lead when he became the first to fly. He gained freedom from Mother in that he could leave the cave without her permission. He had to return to the cave for the night, but he was allowed to roam around the mountain range and hunt to his limit. This gave him a few days worth of time to get ahead of the others in terms of nutrition.


    His freedom increased when he gained dragon''s majesty. He didn''t need to return to the cave as long as he remained within range of Mother''s divine sense. That restriction was to be removed after he became able to produce dragon breath.


    First and Third were still struggling with dragon''s majesty when they were given a rude enlightenment about Fourth''s talent.


    They were practicing diligently when their attention was drawn to Fourth who was flying about over the mountain in triumph and breathing dragon fire.


    He roared in excitement. "I did it. I did it."


    His shouts certainly drew their attention, if the sudden thunderps didn''t. They saw blue lightning bolts shoot out of his mouth. His lightning dragon breaths are what''s causing the thunderps.


    First said in understanding. "So his talent is lightning. He must have gotten it through an ancestral bestowal. That''s why he hatched sote."


    Lightning is not an element that they should have because their mother is a water dragon and their father is a fire dragon. The only elements they should have innately are fire and water.


    The other way to acquire other elements is through the gift of an ancestor in their lineage. But to do that, hatchlings will go through a trial while they are still in the egg. Most trials are short, but some are long and can cause dys in hatchling. That seems to be the case with fourth brother.


    First also took part in the trial since it is open to every dragon in the egg. It didn''t go well for her.

 Chapter 1476 Dominators Of Mana.

    <h4>Chapter 1476 Dominators Of Mana.</h4>


    She remembers what it felt like too. Her groggy consciousness was dimly aware of certain imprints in her bloodline. Exploring the imprints brought her mind into a dreamscape of her ancestor, where the trial took ce.


    There were a lot of trials in that dreamscape, but she couldn''t take them all because they had requirements for soul strength. She could only take the small trials of her dragon ancestors who were much closer to her in lineage. The farther away the dragon ancestor is, the higher the soul requirement.


    The ones close to her also didn''t offer special rewards since they were also dragons with fire and water affinities. Even so, they were very difficult trails.


    Of all the trails she took, she didn''t pass even one and didn''t gain any ancestral bestowal from any ancestor. The fourth, on the other hand, appears to have passed at least one. That means he gained the approval of that ancestor and was granted an activated ancestral imprint that will provide assistance in times of danger.


    In theory, if a dragon has a strong enough soul when they are in the egg, it can gain bestowal from every dragon up to the dragon ancestor since every dragon is rted. But most of them fail to go beyond a generation or two of rtionships. The best that any one of them can achieve is what Fourth has achieved.


    Fourth passed the trial of a lightning ancestor who was far away in rtion to their parents. This means that his soul was more powerful than theirs when he was in the egg. It also means that he is very smart since he could pass the trial.


    Third said to first, "It is no wonder he is progressing so quickly in training. His soul is stronger than ours. His intelligence is obvious, too. He knew toy low and trick us by pretending to be weak. He has always been ahead of us, even before we were hatched."


    She thought back to how she had bullied him when he had just hatched. Whatever damage to his pride she did seems to have returned to her now.


    She gritted her teeth and ground them against each other as she thought to herself, "He must have been secretly smug while we were beating him."


    "It is not over until it is over."


    She didn''tnguish for long. She picked herself up mentally and continued to work hard. She and third who used to fight each other have stopped doing so ever since Fourth left them in the dust. Instead, they have dedicated all their time and energy to hunting and training.


    They grow stronger and more skilled every day. But they can''t overtake Fourth, who seems to be making faster progress. This made it so that they couldn''t bear to rx at all. They have gained freedom from Mother, but they are not enjoying it at all.


    Only fourth could rx. The others were always meditating. What they are trying to aplish is the dragon''s majesty. It is the first ability that requires the use of the dragon heart. The more difficult one after it is the dragon breath, which fourth has aplished. It shows the wide gulf between them.


    They are in a race with Fourth and all the other dragonlings hatched in their circle, but being fast doesn''t guarantee victory. They still have a long way to go and a lot of time to do so. Victory is not determined by talent. It is determined by power. If they are the strongest, then they will win. They will have thestugh if they manage to beat him, and they have a little more than 900 years to aplish it. So they were not discouraged, despite being aware of the disparity between them and fourth.


    Dragon''s majesty requires the use of the dragon heart. The dragon heart is where their soul and consciousness of a dragon are. It is also a physical part of their body, so they can sense its presence as a tangible object. What they have to do is rouse it and make its power manifest in the world.


    The dragon heart is the foundation of their supremacy. They have learned how to weave spells by using their divine sense to shape the mana in the world. Now they have to use their divine sense to bring the dragon force from within their dragon heart into the world. Unfortunately, it is not easy to do.


    Dragon force is an intangible power, but they have to wield it like a limb or a physical tool. It is easier said than done. Still, it is easier to do nowpared to the ancient dragons, who had to grope around in the dark.


    They have memories and instincts so they know what to do. All they have to do is meditate and look inward. When they find dragon force within them and can move it, then they will be able to bring it out.


    Dragon force is a power capable of amplifying almost anything. They can use it to empower their physical strength or their spellcasting. They can use it to amplify dragons''s roar into dragon''s majesty. The amplification of dragon force will add psychic pressure to everything they do. Such that the dragon''s roar will produce a psychic impact in addition to the shockwave of sound.


    The next step is dragon breath. To do this, they will use dragon force to cast their innate elemental spell. When doing so, their dragon heart will light up and can be seen glowing beneath the weak scale on their chest. This highlights their only weakness, but it is not so easy to kill them.


    They will then move on to master the dragon tongue after achieving dragon breath. This is the fifth training objective. The dragon tongue is just a way to cast spells with dragon force without the need for spell structures.


    The possession of dragon force has made it so that dragons don''t need to coerce mana gently into the shape and function that they want. They dominate mana with dragon force, unlike the weak-willed elves.

 Chapter 1477 Foundation Of Supremacy.

    <h4>Chapter 1477 Foundation Of Supremacy. </h4>


    Thest training objective is the dragon''s domain. It involves creating a domain around them with dragon force. Ambient mana is subjugated to their will through the use of dragon force. This prevents mana from being used by others and can magnify their dragon tongue.


    Unlike dragon tongue which can be brute forced, dragon''s domain is a challenge in the maniption of dragon force. A dragon''s domain is meant to suppress mana within it so that no one else can manipte it. But this suppression is not absolute, like the dragon tongue. When two dragon domains sh, it is the dragon with the stronger and better control of the dragon force that wins.


    Thisst objective is the most important objective to aplish before any dragonling can go for the naming ceremony that is held every 100 years. Any dragon without a dragon domain will not even be able to survive the naming ceremony, much less struggle against the other dragonlings. And if they want to stand a chance at receiving the help of the dragon spirit, then their skill in manipting dragon force must be superior to others.


    Every dragonling is a mana entity, so there is no clear disparity in strength. But the maniption of dragon force which is the foundation of supremacy will create arge disparity between them. This particr factor is what the first, and third are counting on.


    The acquisition of skill is their hope to overtake Fourth''s talent and defeat him. As long as they work hard on their control of the dragon force, they will have a good chance of defeating him.


    Training continued for many years until it became a hundred years after they were hatched.


    Mother asked them. "Which one of you wants to go for the naming ceremony now?"


    First answered. "Not me."


    Both Second and Third also rejected the chance to test themselves now. They want to wait another hundred years. They will hone themselves during that time and increase their confidence in sess.


    Only fourth was confident enough to test himself. He said to Mother. "I am ready."


    Mother asked him. "Are you sure?"


    "Yes. I feel like I have reached my peak. I can still improve, but it will be slower. Any dy will just let others catch up to me."


    Mother agreed. "Alright. We will leave tomorrow. I will call your father and see if he wille."


    They were all surprised. Even the second, who is usually silent, couldn''t help but ask. "Father ising?"


    "I am not certain. It is tradition for the fathers to be present when their first offspring are attending the naming ceremony. However, you lot are not his first offspring, and he is very busy, so he might note."


    Second spoke. "I would like to see Father. He is very strong."


    They have never seen their father, but they know he is very strong. This is from the memories they have of him and the difficulty of his ancestral trial. In the trail that he gave them, he wanted them to destroy the resistance of a ne.


    In the trial, they had the power of a transcendent, but their father wanted them to invade and subjugate a ne with hundreds of transcendent defenders.


    It seems unfairly difficult, but it is something that their father has done and seeded in. The trial was a rey of their father''s exploits. Their father once invaded and subjugated a ne, and he did the bulk of it in less than an hour because he sat at the nar gate and waited for the defenders to amass so that he could take all of them down at once.


    Unfortunately, they couldn''t replicate his sess. They were defeated in the trial and lost his bestowal. They would like to meet such a powerful dragon, even if he were not their parent. It is something that a normal dragonling would want, so Second''s request was not out of ce.


    Mother cated them. "Yes, he is strong. But is also very busy, so don''t have high hopes."


    The dragonlings were disappointed, but it wasn''t because they wouldn''t meet their father. They don''t care that he is their father. They only care about the kind of power that he represents and meeting such a powerful entity.


    He is very powerful, so he represents a powerful obstacle to ovee. Being their father is just a coincidence. He was at the right ce at the right time to be their father. But he is very strong because of his dedicated efforts. It is clear to them which identity they should admire. That admiration is also apanied with the wish to defeat him.


    Dragons grow stronger with age, so it is expected that their father is stronger than them. Their father is also stronger than other dragons in their memories, so defeating him will not be easy.


    Dragons believe that the only entities worthy of being their rivals are other dragons. The first rivals that dragons encounter are their siblings. Then their agemates. After their age mates are the older generations, like their parents.


    They have to ovee every one of them. In this way, they will be able to grow strong enough to be like their dragon ancestor. It is why dragons keep trying to usurp Mother High Heaven. They are trying to replicate what their ancestor achieved.


    The dragonlings continued to train even when the sun finally set. The sun didn''te early, so the night was prolonged. That didn''t mean much to them because they trained all through the night and were still busy when the sun came up.


    Mother didn''t leave yet because the dragon spirit hadn''t called for the naming ceremony yet. She was waiting for its call before she would take fourth to the naming ceremony.


    Another sun rose while they were waiting. This makes up two suns in the sky. It increased the amount of heat they had to bear. There wasn''t much of a change apart from that.


    Second looked warily at the second andst sun that appeared in the sky. He muttered. "That is weird. I thought I felt something."

 Chapter 1478 Something Strange.

    <h4>Chapter 1478 Something Strange. </h4>


    The other dragonlings heard what he muttered and looked up, but they saw nothing amiss. This is not the first time that two suns will be in the sky. It just means that the dragon continent has moved into the path of the two stars. It is nothing strange.


    Mother also hasn''t moved and doesn''t appear concerned. If she doesn''t think there is anything to be worried about, then there is nothing for them to be worried about. So they stopped paying attention to the sky.


    Only the second continued looking at the second star. He continued to do so for more than an hour. Nothing happened during that time. But it turned out that his worries were not unfounded.


    Something strange did happen after two hours of its appearance. The second sun erged, and the heat from it increased.


    Second became agitated. He said, "It is falling from the sky."


    He didn''t need to shout. The second sun was falling towards their mountain, so the others noticed the change quickly. It was practically bearing down on them.


    "What''s going on?" Fourth asked in confusion.


    No one had the answer to that question, so they had to ask Mother.


    "Mother. The sun is falling."


    But Mother ignored them. She continued to lie on the ground with her eyes closed. They don''t believe that she is sleeping, despite how she looks. Her divine sense is still active, so she is awake. But they don''t understand why she is ignoring them and the falling sun.


    First said. "There is no need to panic if Mother is not panicking. Maybe it is an illusion."


    They regained their confidence because they didn''t think Mother would watch on as something this dangerous happened to them. If Mother is not concerned, then they should be mildly concerned at most. They can''t be unconcerned anymore, considering how terrifying a falling sun is.


    "But what is it?" Third asked. "If it is an illusion, it can''t be a star. If it is not dangerous, it can''t be a falling sun. So what is it?"


    Fourth suggested. "It could be an enemy performing the illusion. It has to be a very powerful enemy for it to fool us."


    They didn''t reject that possibility because they were aware that anything was possible. It is unlikely for an enemy of the dragon race to find the ancestral grounds of dragons and attack dragons openly in their own homes, but it has happened before and it can happen again.


    Besides, it could be that someone is ying a trick on them. Maybe this is all a harmless test by some entric dragon passing by.


    They didn''t have to wait long to get the answer to the cause of their predicament. The sun had fallen so low that they could see its surface clearly. It is a sphere of fire in the most thorough sense of the word.


    They can see pirs of fire erupting from its scorching red surface. The whole sphere seems to be made of liquid fire, so it looks likeva. It is flowing like a liquid too, and it is erupting with the asional pir of fire.


    It didn''t surprise them that the sun also had a divine sense. The sun spoke to them through it. "Remove your protection, Rajin. Let my children feel my warmth. I promise I won''t kill all of them."


    Their Mother sighed and said, "I take it back. I wish you hadn''te."


    She is regretting her actions, but she did release the barrier that she had created around them. The dragonlings were hit by a heavy and scorching aura. It was then that they realized that Mother had always been protecting them. The star was not an illusion. It is an actual attack created by their father.


    They can''t see their father because the ball of fire filled their Directly support the authors on WebNovel!


    entire vision. It was more than a hundred meters across, and it was zing hot. Then again, their father might be inside the ball, so they wouldn''t be able to see him, no matter how small They can''t see their father because the ball of fire filled their entire vision. It was more than a hundred meters across, and it the ball of fire is.


    Their father said to them, "Listen, little ones. I won''t stop until one of you dies. All you have to do is hold on until the first of you dies."


    They felt it in their bones that their father wasn''t joking. He truly intends to weed out the weakest of them. They have always struggled to surpass each other, and they can say for certain who the strongest one of the four of them is. But they can''t say who the weakest is. Now they will know, and they will watch the weakest die.


    They will lose one of their siblings, but they are not concerned about it. They are more concerned about themselves and don''t want to be that sibling, so they focused on surviving.


    They formed a domain of mana around themselves like a cocoon. The cocoon of mana was roasted constantly, so they can''t survive if they make it a static defense. They have to expel the heated mana and replenish it with fresh, cool mana around them.


    Defending against the heat from their father is not easy. Not only does the cocoon of mana around them have to be thick and heat-repellent, but it also has to be dynamic in that they can expel heat by shifting the mana out of the cocoon and replenishing it with fresh mana, all the while maintaining the toughness and stability of the cocoon so that it doesn''t copse due to the constant shifting of its structure. Any mistake, and they might die.


    Fortunately, the heat of their father is focused on them and not their environment. Otherwise, they would have no cool mana to replenish their cocoon with.


    What they don''t know is that their father was bombarding their environment indiscriminately. It is because of Mother that their environment is cool. If not for her efforts, one of them would have faced defeat quickly.

 Chapter 1479 Where Does Your Supremacy Lie?

    <h4>Chapter 1479 Where Does Your Supremacy Lie?</h4>


    Their father said to their mother, "You are only prolonging their suffering, Rajin."


    She said stubbornly, "They deserve time and a chance to show their full potential."


    He allowed her to continue interrupting. But he warned her sternly, "Don''t just get in my way."


    Beneath them, the dragonlings were suffering, unaware of their conversation. Even though they had cool mana to replenish their cocoon with, they were still struggling.


    Father said to them with a stern voice full of rebuke. "I am disappointed in you lot. None of you passed my ancestral trial. I will teach you all a lesson today. The weak do not have a right to survive."


    They are truly struggling. This is because the rate at which they are replenishing their mana cocoon can''t keep up with the heat bombarding them. Father is increasing the heat intensity, so they have to do something other than passively defend themselves. Unfortunately, they can''t move, so they can''t run away. They have to look inward for a solution.


    Fourth was the first to make a different move. He began making mana shields with mana. These shields were different from the cocoon in that they were thinner and denser. This makes them more difficult to make than the cocoon. He faced more difficulty since he was using more than one shield.


    He substituted the cocoon for the shields and was pilling them on top of each other and recing them as they were destroyed. They were like fragile bubbles in the face of the heat bearing down on them.


    Second also made his move. He made barriers made out of Earth around himself and froze the earth with ice to make the barriers colder. This granted his defense durability and heat resistance.


    He used the earth beneath them to replenish his shield easily instead of relying on cool mana. He was also able to expel the heat into the ground faster. But this was for more difficult to set up and operate than the cocoon of mana.


    Third was surprised at the ease with which her two brothers cast the spells. She didn''t know that they were so proficient with the dragon tongue. She, on the other hand, is struggling with maintaining the pure mana cocoons.


    She said to console herself. "At least I am not the weakest."


    She is not the weakest. That title goes to First, who is struggling and failing to maintain the cocoon around herself. She had made a mistake that disrupted her cycle of mana replenishment. This increased the heat in the cocoon, while the increasing intensity of the heat bombardment made it increasingly difficult to expel this heat.


    The disruption caused her tog behind in her defense, so she is struggling to keep up, but it is clearly a losing battle. The cocoon could copse at any moment now.


    First may not know this, but third is sure of it. It filled third with pity. The two of them are the females in their litter, but they are also the ones with the strongest bodies. Their weakness is that they have poorer control over dragon force. That weakness is working against them when they need it the most.


    The heat was rising, so the difficulty of their defense was also rising. First was falling behind as the test went on. Her cocoon unraveled faster than she could keep up with the heat. Soon, her body was made to bear the heat.


    The steam rising from her body is a telling sign that her body is not doing a good enough job of it. Her scales charred, and she began to smoke.


    First was being burned alive. Her blue scale ckened and turned to ashes, but she didn''t scream. The pain of her flesh being cooked seared her mind, but she still didn''t whimper or show any other sign of pain.


    Father seemed to have smelled weakness, so he increased his aura on them. It caused the rate at which her body was destroyed to increase.


    His voice boomed in their minds like a thunderp, "Discard the pain of the body. Let go of the shackles of mortality and let your mind be liberated. Where does your supremacy lie?"


    First had been charred to the bone by now. But she still replied. "Supremacyes from within."


    Dragon force blossomed from within her with that deration. Her output of the formless power seemed to have increased now that she didn''t have the burden of her powerful body.


    It was as if the heat had removed the blindness caused by her body on her sensation of dragon force. In the absence of her body, the only thing she can rely on is his dragon force. She managed to create her domain and set uprgeyers of barriers to protect herself, despite the increase in difficulty.


    Fatherughed. His voice became louder. "Good. Show me the extent of your resolve."


    He sounded as if he was egging them on, but he was the one getting carried away. The intensity of the heat spiked again and continued to increase with his good mood.


    The dragonlings did everything to survive, but one of them had to fall. It was third who couldn''t hold on anymore. Her cocoon copsed abruptly, and her flesh was exposed to the heat without protection.


    The effect was immediate because she was exposed to more heat than before. She didn''t loseyers of flesh gradually, like First. Her blood evaporated instantly, while her flesh lost its structural integrity. It burned and cracked.


    She pleaded for mercy. "Please, Father."


    Her voice was faint and strained. She was clearly on the edge of death. But Father didn''t stop. All she received was his cold re through the all-consuming heat.


    He demanded without mercy. "Show me your resolve to live."


    She has resolve, but she doesn''t have the power to live. Her flesh left her existence faster than she could bear it. She turned into ashes and died. Her ashes were scattered into the wind.


    -----

 Chapter 1480 A Precious Gift.

    Chapter 1480 A Precious Gift.


    ??Her death marked the end of the test. The heat disappeared immediately. It left the dragonlings feeling cool and lightheaded. It was almost as if they were never under the threat of fiery death a few moments ago. Fortunately, that experience was very traumatic, so it is not something that they will ever forget.


    The ball of fire shrank down. It eventually reduced into a humanoid form with arge tail behind him. They knew at first sight that this was their father. His tail was as long as he was tall. It is also on fire.


    He is mostly red because of the bright red scales on his body, but there is a crown of white horns on his head. The shape of the horns is not fixed. It fluctuates and shimmers like a me. It is the manifestation of his concept. It is why he is called White Fire.


    He didn''t use his white mes on them. In his opinion, he had been lenient enough with them. The fact that only one of them died is proof of his benevolence.


    He spoke proudly. "This is good. You lot performed above average in my descendants before one of you died. It shows that you have been working hard on your training. Take this as your reward from Father."


    The imprint in their bloodline that represents their father lit up immediately. It means they have gained a single instance of assistance from their Father. In their time of need, a single full powered attack from their father will appear from the imprint.


    They had failed to acquire the imprint while they were in the egg, but they were given a second chance. All they had to do to get it was survive enough for one of them to die. It has made the imprint more precious to have.


    The dragonlings didn''t thank him. Mother on the other hand, just scoffed while she focused on healing them. She created a bubble of green water that she drenched them with.


    None of themined about this bath. Even First who hated baths the most, was grateful. Her burnt flesh was healed, and she was restored to prime condition in seconds.


    No one spoke. Not even the birds and the ants in the forest. Every living being was cowered by the might of this powerful dragon. Father had withdrawn his aura, but his majestic presence remained. He is like a volcano that no one wants to trip off or disturb lest it erupt.


    Even Mother was silent. It is not a surprise to the younglings. After all, Father had to be stronger than Mother for them to be born. As for them, although they are silent because they are afraid of their father, that has not reduced their admiration for him.


    Neither has the death of one of their siblings made them hate him. Instead, it has stoked their determination to overtake him. They want to beat him more than ever before. But that''s for the future. They have to be fearful in the meantime.


    Father didn''t mind the silence. He said to them, "You performed well, so you are qualified to go to the naming ceremony. I can be rest assured that this trip won''t be a waste."


    Then he shifted his attention squarely to Second. "As for you, I have a feeling that you were holding back and could have done more. If not for your mother''s interference, maybe I could have caught you off guard and got you to show just how much you''re capable of."


    Second didn''t say anything. He didn''t cower or look away from Father''s re. He just continued to look straight ahead.


    Father eventually turned away from Second. He asked them, "Which of you wants to go for the naming ceremony now? All of you can go. You will surely survive it. You won''t embarrass me or yourself after surviving my test. But if you aim to win the final prize, then you are still far behind."


    They considered the question seriously. Even far more than they did when Mother had asked them the same question.


    The test they just went through pushed them to their limits and beyond. They seeded in manipting dragon force in ways they couldn''t before. So they are confident of surviving the naming ceremony. But Father is also correct in that they are nowhere close enough to win the grand prize held every thousand years.


    They need that grand prize if they want to have more than onew in their concept. If they are to defeat their father in the future, then having more than onew wille in handy. If Father is already this strong as a singlew Sovereign, then they will be stronger if they can have twows.


    Father looked at their contemting faces andughed. "What are you thinking about? There is nothing to think about. The best decisions are made in the thick of battle. I will take you to fight so you can see if you have a chance."


    Fourth thought about it and he felt it was a good idea. Fighting does bring out the survival instincts buried in their bloodline. That''s why they hunt for training. But they have outgrown the threats in the forest, so their training has beenckluster.


    Fourth thought to himself. "If I fight another dragon, it will at least make me certain of my chance."


    He was inclined to take his father up on the offer and was about to express his willingness, but Mother interjected before any one of them could express their opinion.


    She said to Father, "They will only go if they want to. You will not force them to. You have done enough."


    She stood up to express the seriousness of the situation. Mother''s dragon body overshadowed Father''s humanoid body, but that doesn''t mean anything. Size doesn''t equate to strength. Even so, it is clear that he would have to go through her to get her dragonlings.


    ----


    A/N: This extra chapter is for Aspect and his contribution of 22 golden tickets.

 Chapter 1481 Blood And Fire.

    Chapter 1481 Blood And Fire.


    ??Father just shrugged and said, "I don''t want to fight. I just want to help them make a decision. I already eliminated the weak one, so I won''t kill anymore. I promise."


    Mother asked him, "Will you save them if they go with you and encounter life-threatening danger in a fight?"


    Father snorted. "Of course not. What''s a fight without danger? If they go to fight, then they must be prepared for the consequences."


    Mother said to them, "Do you hear that, kids? If you go with him, then you must be prepared to die in the fight."


    That is information that they didn''t know earlier. They assumed that their father was taking them for supervised hands-on training and not a fight to the death. It made the prospect of going with Father unptable. Even First shrank back just thinking about it. It reminded her of the ordeal she just went through.


    Father didn''t seem to notice their grave expressions. He asked with enthusiasm, "So who wants to fight?"


    First hung her head low. She has had enough danger for one day, but she doesn''t have the guts to reject Father to his face.


    Only Second could speak. "I would rather train alone. I still have a lot of potential to unearth alone. I will go and fight when I need inspiration."


    Father nodded. "You are right. You can still grow. You were the first to notice me when I arrived. The rest of them didn''t sense anything. You have some talent."


    "What about you?" Father asked Fourth.


    Fourth raised his head and dered. "I will go and fight."


    Father''s face split into a grin. His sharp white teeth were fully disyed. "Good boy. Let''s go."


    Father grabbed Fourth with his divine sense, and they disappeared immediately. Mother sighed when they left.


    She thought to herself, "I really shouldn''t have asked him toe."


    She started out with four dragonlings this morning. Now it seems she will only have two by the end of the day.


    Then she said to the two that remained, "You should return to training."


    First and second nodded and began to train. Their lives resumed as if Father never visited and as if Third didn''t just die. They trained for hours, but Father and Fourth didn''t return. They tried not to think about it, but they were anxious. Their anxiety didn''t reduce until Mother informed them of his condition.


    "Your fourth brother is safe for now. Your father said he will baptize him in blood and fire until it is time for the naming ceremony. Then he will take him to the naming ceremony. So your fourth brother will not return unless he passes the naming ceremony."


    It made them realize something. Father didn''t take Fourth for a single fight. He took Fourth around the continent, fighting other dragonlings that they encountered along the way.


    Either Fourth will survive the string of fights and go to the naming ceremony, or he will die during a fight. The chances of him dying are high since Father has already stated that he won''t interfere in a fight to save him.


    It made First grateful that she turned down the opportunity to fight. But it was her loss. Fourth didn''t die. He managed to survive until it was time for the naming ceremony.


    He and Father were on their way to another fight when a slight spiritual fluctuation rang out through the ne. Only creatures with a dragon heart can hear the message within the fluctuation.


    It said, "The first round of the naming ceremony starts in 24 hours."


    Fathermented. "What a bummer. And here we were just getting into the rhythm of violence."


    Fourth''s eyes gleamed with anticipation. He said, "This is not so bad either. There will be more fighting after the naming ceremony."


    What he said made fatherugh. "That''s true. Fighting is a delicacy that can be had at any time. Let''s go now."


    And so they shed towards the center of the ne. Father pulled Fourth along as he streaked through the sky like aet. Father is like that. He is always in a rush. If he decides to do something, then he will do it immediately, without dy. If there is something in his way, then he will destroy it. Fourth has learned that much from him.


    He learned more than just how to fight. He learned how to behave like a victor and the true meaning of fighting. His father is always confident. It is more than pride. It is a simple confidence that he can never be defeated by someone of the same rank as him.


    Father holds himself highly in this way, even when he is not fighting. Every dragon they came across, be they male or female, didn''t want to fight him because of that confidence. So they allowed Fourth to fight their offspring. The parents would only interfere when their dragonlings were defeated and in danger. Which happened in every fight he fought.


    Father once told him about confidence. "Confidence is another field of battle. The most confident person will be allowed to get away with some things without a battle. You don''t need to fight to win a battle if you''re confident. But if you are confident in battle, you will perform better than you could."


    That enlightened him in various ways. He also learned what a battle is from his father.


    Father had said, "A battle is a sh of existence. It doesn''t need to be physical. It can be a mental or verbal fight. The existence that gives ground loses. To not lose, you must not give ground."


    "That is the simplest way to victory. But you have to be willing to do everything for victory. If you don''t aim to win, then don''t fight. My fire burns everything in my way, including myself, so I am always victorious."


    "If you want to be victorious, then you must be ruthless, both to your enemies and yourself. If there is only a slight chance of victory in any fight, it can only be achieved when you give your all for it."

 Chapter 1482 Embarrassing One’s self.

    <h4>Chapter 1482 Embarrassing One''s self. </h4>


    Fourth grew stronger in the several hours of fighting than he did training alone. He was truly baptized in blood and fire. It made him confident of his victory in the naming ceremony. If hispetitors will be the gentle dragonlings that hunt beasts and wrestle each other like his siblings used to do, then they will be swiftly defeated.


    The call for the naming ceremony caused a lot of movement on the otherwise serene ancestral grounds. Many dragons were converging toward the center of the ne because of it. The father son duo met some of them on their way.


    Father greeted some of them and ignored others. But there was someone with whom he couldn''t help but argue.


    The bold dragon had roared. "Rayzher! Is this your dragonling? I hope he doesn''t embarrass you."


    They were flying when this boisterous dragon called at Father. The dragon is also a fire dragon, which Fourth ascertained because of the red scales that the dragon possessed. Unlike Father, he has red horns that extend from his head down to his tail as short spikes.


    Father didn''t get offended by the shout. He smirked at the dragon. "Why don''t we make a bet?"


    The dragon scoffed. "I''m not interested in a bet. You are too confident for me to bet."


    Father said in disdain, "Then you shouldn''t have shouted at all. Now you have embarrassed yourself."


    The dragon shouted louder. "I will shout if I want to."


    Father insisted, "If you are not willing to put your money where your mouth is, then you are nothing but a loudmouth."


    "You are the loudmouth."


    "You make me sorry for you with the way you scream like a drum."


    "Do you want to fight Rayzher? I''ll show you where my confidence to shoutes from."


    Father rejected that suggestion. But he proposed an alternative, "I don''t want a fight. I want a bet."


    Father''s rejection of a fight surprised Fourth at first. Then he couldn''t help but smile inwardly when he heard what Father wanted. It is clear to him that Father wanted to fleece this dragon. It is also clear to the dragon what Father was aiming for, so he didn''t fall for it. He is proud, but he is not foolish.


    The more Father asked for a bet, the more certain it became that Father wanted to fleece it. The dragon wanted to leave, but Father didn''t let him go. Father followed him while harassing him. It caused the two of them to argue loudly. This argument continued until they reached their destination.


    Fourth was examining the two dragonlings that the other dragon brought with him. They looked excited to him. He could see their excitement in the way they looked at everything around them. They seemed to be full of anticipation for the naming ceremony. It made Fourth look down on them.


    He thought to himself with a smirk, "Naive dragonlings."


    He is not looking down on them because they are excited or anticipating the naming ceremony. He is also excited and full of anticipation. But they allowed their excitement to show.


    It makes them look immature to him. They look like chicks following their father on a sightseeing trip. They do not have the cold calcting look or the deadly demeanor that killers should have.


    His assessment of them is biased and based on his pride, so it could be wrong. But it has filled him with confidence for what is toe. That confidence won''t let fear affect him. He will be able to give his best, so it is a good thing.


    He was thinking proudly to himself when he suddenly remembered someone who was cold. He remembered Second''s demeanor, and he couldn''t help but be surprised.


    At first, Second was like all of them. He would wrestle and y around with them. But he changed when training started. He became silent and observant. In the past, Fourth thought nothing of his behavior. But now he is not so sure that Second is normal.


    "Second might be hiding something. He was the first to notice Father. Could it be a fluke?"


    Father is a Sovereign ofw. If he wanted to hide from some dragonlings, he would be able to. Father wasn''t hiding when he created that second sun, but there didn''t appear to be anything out of ce even then, so the dragonlings shouldn''t have sensed something.


    Only second brother was certain that something was out of ce. Thinking about it made Fourth to wonder if Second was just introverted or if he was cold and calcting.


    He didn''t have the answer to that question, so he turned his attention to their destination. It is a mountain made of wealth. Anyone who thinks they have a mountain of wealth will realize just how wrong and ignorant they are when they see this mountain.


    This mountain is the greatest dragon horde in the entire realm. It is made of valuable things like mana crystals, Origin stones, soul stones, Origin artifacts, and even dragon hearts. It is a marvel to behold.


    He has seen it before, but it is great to see it in person. It took a lot of willpower not to bounce in excitement like the other dragonlings surrounding the mountain of wealth. Such a mountain is not only impressive to see, but it also creates envy, which will lead many dragons to try and recreate a mountain of wealth of their own.


    Father dropped him at the foot of the mountain. Then Father went forward to offer his gift to the dragon spirit. He threw a ring at the mountain of wealth. The ring exploded in the air and erupted with many shiny trinkets and valuables. The valuables all fell toward the mountain. It is as if they were attracted to the mountain by an invisible force.


    This sight continued for a while. Every dragon that brought their dragonlings offered something to the dragon spirit. It is not a must, but a tradition. They show their respect to the dragon spirit by offering part of their horde. A little here and there has led to the creation of this mountainous horde.

 Chapter 1483 A New Name.

    <h4>Chapter 1483 A New Name.</h4>


    The offering of gifts to the dragon spirit continued for a day until the naming ceremony officially started. By this time, every dragonling that was to participate in the naming ceremony had arrived.


    Father said to him, "Brace yourself. It will sting a bit. But I''m sure you will be fine. You have nothing to worry about."


    Fourth knew what to expect, so he didn''t need the advice. He knew to brace himself by focusing on his inner world with all his might. Then he waited anxiously for the naming ceremony to start.


    He was prepared, but he still shook when the dragon spirit descended on him. His performance was still better since some dragonlings stumbled and fell. Other''s passed out directly.


    The dragon spirit is not a physical entity, so it can''t be seen. It is more of a spiritual entity that can only be felt. Its very existence feels like the essence of dragon majesty. The pressure it caused on his soul made his mind quake briefly.


    He almost cked out because of the pressure. But Father was right. He had nothing to fear. His control of dragon force is more than adequate for him to survive.


    He was able to direct the pressure into his dragon heart with little resistance. This allowed the dragon spirit to gain ess to his dragon heart. It also brought his consciousness into his dragon heart for the first time.


    His vision of the world blurred as he appeared in his inner world. This is a world with white skies. Beneath him is an ocean divided into separate sections of red and blue. The area of red water is greater than the area of blue. Above the ocean, but beneath the sky, is a white mist.


    He knows the significance of what he is seeing. The white mist floating above the ocean like fog is dragon force. Even here in his inner world, where he is supposed to have full control, dragon force is at best a mist. It makes it difficult to control and carry out into the world.


    The ocean below is his elemental potential. He has greater potential to wield the power of fire than the power of lightning. This can be seen by the total area upied by fire in his inner world.


    There is no doubt to him that lightning is powerful, but it will always remain a power that he will have difficulty controlling aspared to fire. This is because it is an elemental affinity that is not his. Lightning was bestowed to him when he was in the egg. He wasn''t born with it and will never be able to wield it as well as fire.


    He doesn''t want to let lightning go, though. He prefers it and has been training with it instead of fire. The dragon breath he mastered was that of lightning, not fire.


    Unfortunately, he can''t have them both. They will fight for dominance, which will pressure his inner world as he grows stronger. One will have to go for the other if he is to survive the dangerous period of bing a titan ofw.


    So he has to choose between power and potential. That is, unless he gains the help of the dragon spirit or acquires something powerful that will enable his dragon heart to be capable of containing the two of them.


    The line between the waters of lightning and fire is already sizzling. They are attacking each other already. This conflict will only increase over time. This sight made him determined to get the assistance of the dragon spirit.


    That opportunity wille after he is done with naming. For now, the naming ceremony continued. He is not the only one in his inner world currently, and he will never be alone anymore. The dragon spirit descended into his inner world and materialized. It formed into a sparkling white crystal floating above the ocean.


    The dragon spirit examined his inner world and his memories. It examined his body and soul. It examined everything about him, including his potential. Then it used all of this information to name him.


    A voice boomed throughout his inner world. "From today onwards, you are no longer Fourth. You are Draco.....Razer....Ignis ad fulmen¡­.Tssandulighafan"


    A long string of words was used to name him. It contains information about his ancestry and his current features. All dragons are the offspring of Draco, the dragon king and dragon primogenitor. So they are all children of Draco.


    There is also a long line from that point, which leads to his father, Rayzher the White Fire, and his mother, Raijin the Raging Tempest. Anyone with his full name will be able to tell hisplete ancestry down to who his parents are.


    Then he is a dragonling with the potential for fire and lightning. Hence the appearance of Ignis and Fulmen in his name. And he was finally designated Tssandulighafan, The Ferocious Fighter, because he fought against many dragonlings at once and even managed to kill one of them despite being outnumbered.


    He said to himself, "I like Tssandulighafan. It will be what I will be called by others from now on."


    His full name is too long so he will only pick out one word out of the string of words to identify himself in the future. This won''t change until he acquires a title in the future. Then everyone will call him by his title, not his name.


    The naming ceremony ended there. His vision returned to the world around him. The white crystal in the inner world remained behind and will remain until he dies. Everything he experiences from this moment on will be added to the memory repository of the dragon spirit.


    The dragon spirit is connected to every dragon that has undergone the naming ceremony, so in a way, the dragon spirit is the repository of all the knowledge that the dragon race of the high heaven realm has umted. Not only does the dragon spirit possess the greatest material horde in the realm, but it also possesses thergest amount of knowledge.


    -----


    A/N: You should know Legion-8''s identity by now.

 Chapter 1484 Benefits Of The Naming Ceremony.

    Chapter 1484 Benefits Of The Naming Ceremony.


    ??This is not the only function of the dragon spirit. If he is captured and in a terrible situation, the dragon spirit will be made aware of it, and help will be sent to him.


    The connection to the dragon spirit means that it is aware of every dragon that dies and knows their killers. That means dragons will always be able to identify dragon yers and avenge their deaths.


    Those are probable and passive benefits. The active benefit, and probably the most important one he received from the dragon spirit, is that his ancestral bestowals have be active now. The dragon spirit is what makes the imprint he received from his ancestors function.


    He has an ancestral bestowal, which he gained from his father. But it isn''t his father who will make it work, despite how powerful he is. If it were so, then other races would be able to bestow their young ones with power.


    It is the dragon spirit that will allow the ancestral bestowal to function wherever he is, regardless of distance. The power of his father will be transferred across any distance to him when he needs it, and it won''t harm him at all.


    If his father bes an Origin god, then the imprint will also be more powerful. But even an imprint from a mere king ofw will still be able to assist dragonlings regardless of distance because of the dragon spirit.


    Fourth felt the changes in his body, but there is very little of it apart from the activated imprints. The increase in control of his dragon force because of his descent into his inner world is not obvious until he fights or practices. So he is eager to try it through a fight. Fortunately, the opportunity for fighting wille soon.


    He looked around and noticed that the naming ceremony was not easy for others. Some dragonlings were alive, but stunned by the experience. But some dragonlingsy on the ground, unable to rise ever again.


    He observed silently. "It looks like some people overestimated themselves."


    The naming ceremony is dangerous to dragonlings. The intrusion of the dragon spirit into their inner world is not without side effects. Most problemse from the instinctive resistance of the dragonlings to the intrusion. If they can''t control their dragon force, then they will die when the dragon spirit attempts to descend into their dragon heart.


    The other problem is the inability of the dragon heart to bear the burden of the intrusion. The dragonlings can reduce their resistance to the intrusion of the dragon spirit, but their inner world might be too weak to ept the presence of the dragon spirit, so they die.


    The second option rarely causes deaths because dragonlings are fed well. As long as a dragonling is a hundred years old before the naming ceremony, then this shouldn''t happen, even if they don''t eat anything. Natural mana will strengthen them enough to bear the weight.


    Now that they have died, it means they werecking in control. It is not a must for them toe for the naming ceremony now. They could have waited for the remaining 900 years before the next cycle. Even if they didn''te, they would still be invaded by the dragon spirit when it performs the ne-wide inspection, which makes eggs hatch.


    So they didn''t have toe for the naming ceremony at all. But they chose toe for the first naming ceremony. That means they wanted to participate in the trial afterward and gain the support of the dragon spirit in controlling more than one element.


    It is clear that they overestimated themselves. He has no pity for them. But it did remind him of Third, who died yesterday. If Third had decided to participate in this naming ceremony, she would have probably died too.


    Father said to him, "Prepare yourself for what is toe next. If you want to realize your full potential, you must win and get the assistance of the dragon spirit."


    Fourth nodded and removed every distracting thought from his mind. He remained standing in front of the dragon spirit horde while some other dragons took off with their dragonlings. Most of the dragons that decided to leave were leaving with their dead dragonlings. What is about to happen doesn''t concern them anymore. They are leaving to incinerate their dragonlings for their burial.


    As for the others who are leaving with their living dragonlings, they must have lost confidence when they saw the struggle the dragonlings went through to survive the naming ceremony.


    If they are already struggling in the naming ceremony, then their failure in the trial is certain. Only the best of the best dragonlings will seed and get the help of the dragon spirit.


    Fourth asked himself. "Am I the best of the best?"


    He got his answer quickly during the fight against the other dragonlings, and 900 yearster during the fight after thest naming ceremony. No one could stand in his way during the trial. He beat every challenger to his might up to thest fight 900 yearster to decide who the best of the best would be.


    First also joined the trial after 300 years of training. Her performance was excellent, but she couldn''tpare to someone who had been fighting for 300 years. Second on the other hand didn''t join thepetition to gain the dragon spirit''s help. He imed that he didn''t need it.


    Only fourth went far in thepetition. He did more than survive. He was unstoppable. His performance was so eye catching that he got a title before he became a titan ofw. He was called the Little Lightning Tyrant. It is the title given to him by all the dragons for his excellent performance.


    He wielded lightning like the wrathful incarnation of the heavens. His wrath was the punishment of heaven''s will. None of his agemates could bear it without being burned within an inch of their lives.


    ----

 Chapter 1485 Where Greed Leads.

    Chapter 1485 Where Greed Leads.


    ??His reign of terror continued until he finally met his match. It was the final fight. The final victor would be determined, and they would gain the help of the dragon spirit. The dragon standing in his way is another unstoppable dragonling like him. She has had as much sess and victory as him. But only one of them could go further.


    The permission to fight was given. Fourth lunged at her. Lightning erupted out of him, as if they were escaping a cage. There was a thunderp as his domain was formed around him. The battle was on.


    But then the world froze. Everything became still. Fourth was frozen in the air. Even the violent blue lightning around him wasn''t spared.


    Legion-8 was not surprised by the changes to the world. He has experienced this freezing several times. This is the moment in the ancestral trial where the objective will be revealed.


    What he expected didn''t happen, though.


    A loud voice boomed in the frozen world like thunder. The voice was so loud that his powerful mind was shaken. He was further shaken by what the voice said.


    The voice had asked him, "Who do you think will win this fight?"


    Legion-8 was surprised. He looked around warily as he asked, "Who is that?"


    He is not here in his physical body, so he doesn''t have a physical presence. What he has here is just his mind. This has its advantages and disadvantages, but one of its advantages is that he is aware of everything going on around him in this world. Even so, he couldn''t sense the person speaking at all.


    Actually, no one should be speaking. Everyone should be frozen. That''s what had always happened in the ancestral trial at this point.


    The voice came again. It defied allmon sense to speak again. "I am the one whose trial you''re taking."


    That didn''t ease Legion-8''s worries. That reply doesn''t clear things up at all.


    He muttered to himself warily, "This shouldn''t be happening. There is something wrong here."


    He was surprised further when the intruder showed itself. Two stars appeared in the trial space. The stars are bright and white, with red and blue lightning zipping across their surface. They were so bright that the frozen world lit up and turned into a white world.


    Each star is an enormous thing. They seemed to fix the pressure of their existence on him, so he felt the weight of their presence in the tangible pressure on and around him.


    This pressure at least made him understand what he was up against. But it didn''t help with his surprise.


    He asked in trepidation and fear, "How are you here?"


    He knows that the dragons the imprint belongs to will be aware when their trail is being taken by their descendants. But they shouldn''t be able to interfere in the trial at all. At least, that''s the information he has gained from the many ancestral trials he has undergone.


    The voice dered with irrefutable majesty. "I am everywhere I am. I am everything I was and will be. My imprint is me and is here, so I am here."


    The world of the trial was fragmented because of the force of that deration. Legion-8 felt as if a mountain was pressing down on his mind. These symptoms made him confirm who this entity must be.


    He tried to look harmless as he asked, "What does a world god want with me? I doubt that I am worthy of your attention."


    The voice chuckled and replied, "You are wrong. It has been almost a thousand Origin cycles since a dragon in the egg had a powerful enough soul to enter my imprint. That is enough to intrigue me. I was curious, so I came to see, and I wasn''t disappointed. Your soul is too powerful for a dragonling. How did you be so strong without being hatched?"


    Legion-8 cursed himself inwardly, "Me and my greediness."


    He didn''t have to take any trials, but he wanted to, and he didn''t stop at one because of his greed. The rewards for passing a trial are the ancestral bestowal and talent. He doesn''t care for the protection of the ancestral bestowal. What he wants at all costs is the talent of the dragon ancestor.


    Theoretically, dragonlings can use the ancestral trials to trace their ancestors all the way back to the dragon king. The dragon king is the source of all their talents, so the talents of the dragon king can be umted if he passes the necessary trials, hence his greed.


    He had to do this because his dragon heart could handle every dragon''s affinity. So he wanted to have them all. His talent would be a waste otherwise, and Legion doesn''t like waste.


    All he has to do is find the ancestral trials of the talented dragons that he needs. He had to get those talents so that Soverick would be able toprehend thews they were granted ess to for him. Then he will use cosmic energy to fuse thews with his dragon heart.


    He can do this because, unlike other dragons, his dragon heart is not fragile. It can take more than onew. In fact, it can take up to tenws without the assistance of the dragon spirit. Thews fuse with his inner world as if he has infinite potential.


    He is certain that this is because of the shard of power because his inner world only became infinite after the ordeal with the singrity of infinite possibilities, but it could also be that his powerful soul had a part to y in the development.


    His strong soul definitely has a part to y in why he could take so many ancestral trails. It led him to this moment so far in the ancestry of dragons and finally attracted something he would rather not meet.


    He thought to himself with a sigh, "This is oftentimes where greed leads to."


    -----


    A/N: I want to point out that Legion-8''s situation had already been pointed out in the beginning of the previous volume. If I remember correctly, it was stated that he was participating in ancestral trials. So only the guess that he wasn''t anyone of the dragonlings is partly correct.


    What we have seen up to now is just a nce into the Tssandulighafan''s past.

 Chapter 1486 Little Tyrant.

    Chapter 1486 Little Tyrant.


    ??He is still in the egg and has been using the opportunity granted to him to work his way up the ancestral tree, looking to go back to its source. So he expected toe across the imprints of powerful dragons who are already world gods. But he didn''t expect that they would be able to trace the imprint back to him and even interfere in the ancestral trial.


    It reminded him of how Soverick had the first meeting with the First Sage. It was just like this. It was by mistake, and Legion was caught off guard.


    Legion''s greed made Soverick continue to have more encounters with the first sage. But that experience has taught Legion a very important lesson. That lesson is to never have a meeting with a world god, so he is already regretting his greed.


    The voice asked again. "I am still waiting, young one. What made your soul so strong?"


    He decided to do the same thing Soverick had done in his first meeting with the first sage. He lied and said, "I don''t know. I suspect that it is something my parents did."


    He is pretending to be harmless. Soverick did so by not exposing the fact that he could leave the mental world of the first sage at any time and went along with the meeting. He can''t escape from this meeting since it is the world god that came to him. But he can also pretend to be harmless.


    The voice asked him in doubt. "Why would your parents invest so much in an egg?"


    He shrugged mentally. "I don''t know."


    He is just an unborn dragon. How is he supposed to know why his soul is so strong? Or how is he to know the motives of his parents?


    Even the voice agreed. "Never mind then. I shouldn''t have expected you to know."


    "Let us return to the matter at hand. Who do you think will win this fight? You have seen her fight. How well does the little tyrant hold up to her?"


    Legion-8 replied confidently. "Little Lightning Tyrant will win."


    Little Tyrant is the one called Fourth. He doesn''t know which of the people in the trial he is taking is the ancestor of the trial since the objective has not been announced yet. But he is certain that Fourth will win this fight.


    The voice asked him. "Why?"


    Legion-8 considered the question carefully before providing the answer. "They are equally skilled, but Little Lightning Tyrant is more ferocious. Ferocity doesn''t affect the oue of a battle in normal situations, but it does in this case because the element that Little Lightning Tyrant is wielding is lightning. His ferocity has made him achieve synchronization with his element, which will make his lightning more powerful."


    The voice chuckled and said, "It seems you are smart too."


    Legion-8 gave an exnation for why an unborn dragon would understand the importance of synchronization with one''s element as a dragon, "I have gone through a lot of trials and seen a lot of things. It is as if I have lived many lifetimes."


    "You are right. The little lightning tyrant will win. I am the one they call the Little Lightning Tyrant. I won the 900-year-long trial to emerge as the final victor. I got the help of the dragon spirit and was able to fuse thews of fire and lightning to create my concept. I became an Origin god and defeated my father. My deeds were known by many dragons, and I was called the Monarch of Fire and Lightning. Then I became a world god. From then on, I was called the Tyrant of Fire and Lightning."


    Legion-8 eximed like a proper dragonling, "That''s so cool."


    He is genuinely impressed, but not enough to exim like that. He did it to maintain his dragonling persona. It seemed to have worked.


    The voice chuckled and went on to brag.


    "This trial involves the most important victory in my life that eventually led to my sess as a world god. I defeated her and even procreated with her. She bore wonderful offspring, one of which is currently with me. Maybe you will meet him in the future, since he is technically your older brother. He is pretty famous too, so you can find him by asking around for him. They call him Little Tyrant now."


    Legion-8 asked in anticipation. "Is he strong?"


    The voice chuckled even more. It muttered, "Dragonlings andpetition."


    Then it said to him, "I know what you want to do. You want to defeat him. The best answer to that question is the objective of this trial. Fight his mother and witness the strength of a dragon with the power of space."


    The frozen world began to shake. It felt like there was an earthquake. Legion-8 became on guard immediately.


    He thought to himself, "It seems I was right. Something bad is about to happen."


    The voice chuckled. It said, "The dragon spirit is not happy. It doesn''t want me to interfere with your trial. I have to go."


    That surprised Legion-8. He thought to himself, "First it was a world god, now there is the dragon spirit. I have kicked a ho''s nest of trouble this time around."


    The voice wasn''t so concerned. "I will leave you now, young one. Remember to find the Little Tyrant when you grow up. Continue your trial for now. Defeat her, and you will gain more than your answer. You will also gain my protection and the element of lightning."


    The voice became silent and disappeared. The world stopped shaking after the objective of the ancestral trial was stated, and the interference disappeared.


    Legion-8 gained control of Fourth''s body for the first time in the trial. He stopped being an observer. His view of the world changed abruptly from an overhead view to a confined view from fourth''s perspective. Then the world resumed.


    He wasted no time in adapting to the changes brought about by bing fourth. It is necessary since he wasn''t even given the time to. The fight was already underway before the world froze, so he has been dropped right in the middle of it.

 Chapter 1487 A Dragon With The Power Of Space.

    Chapter 1487 A Dragon With The Power Of Space.


    ??The dragonling with white, crystalline scales disappeared from his vision as soon as the world resumed. She reappeared to his left. Then she disappeared again and reappeared somewhere else.


    That wasn''t the end of her disappearing act. She continued to do so, and it appeared to be at random. But Legion-8 wasn''t fooled.


    His eyes narrowed at the sight. "It is as I expected."


    She is not disappearing for show. She is using the power of space to her fullest capabilities. Mana entities shouldn''t be able to utilize highws like that, but she can. She can already warp space to move around. She is also producing a fracture in space each time she reappears. He can sense that much with his domain, even if he doesn''t know the capabilities of thew of space.


    The domain of lightning that he created around him is being divided cleanly by the fractures in space. Their position does appear to be at random, and it wouldn''t be a problem if those fractures weren''t shooting towards him.


    So she is jumping around him and releasing these deadly attacks to surround him. This is how she defeats her opponents. She surrounds them with deadly spatial fractures that will destroy every defense and cripple the opponent very quickly.


    But Legion-8 is not everyone. The previous little tyrant of lightning might have had trouble with this, but not him. He hadn''t lied when he imed to have experienced many lifetimes.


    He didn''t wait for the space fractures to get close to him, and he didn''t rely on his lightning domain to harm her. Instead, he withdrew his domain onto himself. His domain fused with his body and gave him a temporary control over both his body and the elements that a transcendent should have.


    He has literally be one with lightning. It elevated his physical body into a lightning-elemental body. Then he also disappeared.


    She is not the only one who can achieve speeds that seem like she is teleporting. He, too, can be very fast if he turns himself into a bolt of lightning. He locked onto her with his divine sense and began chasing her.


    She became startled by the development. She didn''t expect something like this from him because he had never done it before. Fortunately, she has memories of this ability, so she wasn''t caught off guard. She spread her domain around her and focused on running while attacking simultaneously.


    The two of them began chasing after each other in a blur of motion. She isn''t teleporting, despite how it looks. She is only expanding and shrinking space around her to shift her position in the world. It gives her a fast speed, but she is not teleporting, so Legion-8 can chase her.


    He is chasing her and even attacking her with lightning bolts. The hunter became the hunted because of that reversal. She had to focus on warping space without stopping. He will get her if she stops just once. That''s why she released her domain. She made spatial fractures appear in his path to slow him down. If he isn''t careful, he would run head first into the spatial fractures and be terribly injured, if not dead.


    But he didn''t slow down. It is because he can sense the telltale sign of space being fractured before the fractures appear. The process is not instantaneous for her, which gives him time to avoid them. She may be able to use the power of space as a mana entity because of her dragon heart, but she is nowhere near what an Origin god can achieve with the maniption of space. He is a world beast, so he should know.


    The chase didn''tst long. They were very fast and were using powerful skills, so it is normal that they would get tired very quickly. But she got tired first. Manipting space is more challenging than manipting lightning. It is far more challenging when she hasn''t be one with space and cannot control it efficiently enough to reduce energy consumption.


    To him, he is simply moving his body around, not performing a lot of external maniption of lightning, so his energy expenditure is very low. As for her, she had to warp space constantly without taking a break while also fracturing space in a domain around her. It is something she couldn''t do seemlessly for up to 10 seconds.


    She faltered, and a lightning bolt struck her. That stunned her and created more opportunities for Legion-8. He took advantage of it to close in on her. He bombarded her with lightning dragon breath while physically assaulting her whenever he had the chance. He didn''t let up at all because those who can manipte space are quick to escape if given the chance.


    His victory came two secondster. The whole fightsted 12 seconds. The world fragmented and returned to darkness. His consciousness was sent back to his bloodline space.


    He examined his inner world for any changes. There weren''t any. But there was a change in the bloodline space. The star he entered for the trial is glowing brightly instead of dimming. It indicates that he haspleted it and has received the ancestor''s bestowal from it.


    "At least it wasn''t a waste of time. I got the power of a world god from it. But I doubt that he will grant me his power during my fight with the dragons. Even if he is willing, I doubt the dragon spirit would be willing to facilitate it."


    The bloodline space is a mental space within the bloodline of dragons. It is a location maintained by the dragon spirit, so other races don''t have it. Dragons use it tomunicate with each other across distances. It is how dragons in captivity will be aware of that fact and decide tomit suicide if they can''t escape.


    Dragonlings have ess to this mental space even before they are born. They can''t use it tomunicate yet, but they can take trials in it to gain some of the potential of the ancestor as an extra elemental talent and to gain their power when they need it after hatching.

 Chapter 1488 More Gambling.

    Chapter 1488 More Gambling.


    ??He has spent most of the time in the egg within this mental space. It appears to him as arge, dark, and empty world filled with stars of various colors and sizes.


    The stars are the imprints of every dragon that passed the naming ceremony and was given a name by the dragon spirit. They are all connected by an invisible spiritual entity, which makes the bloodline space look like a river of stars.


    He has been going upstream of this river, looking for the special talents that he needs. It is a good use of his time. The alternative is to hatch now, but he can''t do that.


    As he is currently, he ought to have hatched 50 thousand years ago. Normal dragon eggs spend ten thousand years in the egg, but he has already spent six times that amount of time in the egg. His littermates have grown up and have left the cave. Even his mother has forgotten about him.


    The dy is partly because he is greedy for more talents and partly because the alternative is not ptable. Because of this unptable alternative, he can''t hatch yet, even if he wants to. His hatching will create too muchmotion, which will bring him a lot of problems with the dragons.


    The issue is that he is not fully gestated. His inner world is much too powerful. A single dragon egg is not enough to make him gestatepletely. This is because he is far from being a normal dragon.


    He originally needed an Origin cycle for his inner world to take shape since he had to rely on the trickle of mana and Origin energy in the atmosphere to develop. Fortunately, he is not alone. The supply of mana, origin energy, and divine life energy from Legion reduced that time to 30,000 years. But that has not removed the requirement for a fragment of a world for him toplete his gestation, so he still can''t hatch 30,000 yearster.


    Legion-5 had to use a fully grown dragon heart, plus the godhood of a great god, the crown of a demon king of Chaos, and finally the divine ability of the giants of order to recreate the world engine that dragonsck.


    He, on the other hand, is aplete dragon, just like the dragon ancestor, so he has the world engine within him, but he needs more than energy to mature and recreate the divine ability of the dragon ancestor. He needs the power and space of a world.


    He doesn''t need arge fragment of the world. Just a little bit would do. It will stabilize andplete his inner world. Even cosmic energy has not helped in that aspect. In fact, cosmic energy has strengthened his inner world and increased the requirements for gestation. Now he won''t take just a little bit of the ne he is in currently to develop fully, he has to take about half of the whole ne.


    It is clear to him that the dragons won''t take kindly to that. They will not watch on as he absorbs their ne just toplete hatching. There is going to be a great fight when he hatches, which he is not ready for. He will need the help of Legion to survive, and they aren''t yet ready to take on the whole dragon race. So he spends his time in the ancestral trials, getting more talents.


    That''s what he was doing until the world god showed up. Now he is not sure if it is a good idea to continue following the river of stars in search of the talents he needs.


    From here on out, the chances of encountering a world god will increase. Tssandulighafan didn''t appear to have ulterior motives, but the world gods he might attract next might not be satisfied with merely satiating their curiosity.


    The worst part is that Soverick can''t help him. Soverick is blind to everything going on in the dragon''s bloodline space for reasons unknown. That means he can''t advise Legion-8 about any uing danger.


    Soverick was able to advise Aeternus not to go after all the demons in the abyss to harvest their marks of sin and use to upgrade his because he saw that they would attract a powerful being in the process.


    They are not sure who that powerful being is but they suspect that it would be the realm lord, as the realm lord has a vested interest in the abyss for the era of conquest.


    But despite this uncertainty about the source of danger, Aeternus has surely avoided the danger. He can''t have that luxury in the bloodline space. So he would be going in blind and might stumble into a world god if he continues hunting for talents.


    He gritted his teeth mentally and said, "There''s just one more talent that I need. I will stop when I get that talent."


    He is like a gambler now. He doesn''t know which of the stars has the talents he needs, so he has to try them all. If he is lucky, then the next trial will give him the talent of creation that he needs. If he is unlucky, then it might take a hundred or a thousand more trials.


    "The talent of creation is very rare in dragons, so it will probably take another hundred thousand trials to find it. I don''t have anywhere to be, so there is no problem with time. The problem is with world gods."


    He made up his mind and resumed taking the trials. He can''t give up now after working so hard. He already has the talents of fire, air, water, earth, space, time, light, darkness, life, death, lightning, and destruction. What he needs now is creation toplete his inner world. Then he will achieve something that every dragon kind has been looking forward to. He would have the potential to match the dragon king. There is no way he will give that up when he is so close.

 Chapter 1489 The Essence Of The Path Of Divinity.

    Chapter 1489 The Essence Of The Path Of Divinity.


    ??----In the inner world of a world beast.


    The tree father, in his elf form, is here. Legion-1 is not here anymore, but the whole inner space is his body, so he is always present. Legion-unity is also present. They are not here for anything major. In fact, they hope that there won''t be anything that needs their help. They hope to just watch.


    Soverick said to everyone present and absent, "We have everything we need. I think it is time."


    They would have liked to dy and n better. The Tree Father in particr wanted to get as many domains as possible, but they can''t anymore because Legion-8 encountered a world god in the egg. That encounter has made it urgent that they get ready to have him hatch as soon as possible. So the Tree Father has to start his breakthrough now.


    Fortunately, they have everything they need for the breakthrough. They have an Authority of the Celestial Supreme, a spark of consciousness, and several divine domains. These are all present within the white halo around the Tree father''s head. The next thing they need is to fuse the domains that he has umted all this time.


    Legion-unity couldn''t wait. He said with some anticipation, "It has been a long timeing."


    The Tree father said, "It wasn''t that long ago when we reincarnated. It is just almost one Origin cycle."


    Legion-unity insisted, "It is still a long timeing."


    The requirements to be a divine spark are for a Celestial to have a level 10 authority and the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. If they don''t have the authority of the Celestial Supreme, then they need the help of the Will of the realm. In exchange, they will help the realm be free of thew matrix without the need for a realm lord to be a world god.


    That is the information that Legion has learned from Mother High Heaven during their period of preparation. They have also learned other useful information about the state of existence of a divine spark from Aeternus''s sess.


    They have learned about what to do in the Tree Father''s case. In the case where the Celestial doesn''t have a level 10 Authority and needs to create it but can''t create it easily because the domains are in different nes and different avatars, then they will need a catalyst to facilitate the fusion and make the evolution to divine spark easier, such as the spark of consciousness.


    They know now that gods have always been underestimated. Legion has always looked down on gods. They call them parasites that are shackled with rules.


    It is amon perspective among true immortals. They feel a certain sense of superiority above gods and Celestials. If not for the power of authority, then Legion wouldn''t have cared to explore the power of gods. Gehaldirah would not have bothered to make a clone of a Celestial.


    But now they know that the path of divinity has a lot of potential and that Origin gods aren''t so special. Origin gods have immortality, but it is not theirs. It is immortality based on the protection of the void universe that they gain when they fuse with a concept. It is false immortality.


    True immortality starts at the level of a world god. Only world gods can rely on themselves toe back from the dead. In fact, they never die. They only get severely weakened. They might sleep, but they don''t die.


    Gods, on the other hand, don''t have immortality, so they are looked down upon. It should not have been so, considering that gods gain eternal life right from the moment they be low gods. That is something those on the path of perfection don''t gain until they be Sovereigns ofw.


    So the gods should be the ones mocking those on the path of perfection. Unfortunately, gods are shackled with many rules. They can''t even leave the nes they became gods on, so they can''t be taken seriously by those on the path of perfection who can leave the realm entirely.


    The essence of the two paths of power is different. They have their advantages and disadvantages. Those on the path of perfection have to rely on themselves and theirprehension ofws to strengthen themselves. They have to risk their lives to be titans ofw, and they could die as titans ofw. They still have to risk their lives to be Origin gods.


    Their struggle makes the path of perfection dangerous, and it also fills those who have seeded on it with pride. They are proud of their achievement, and they are rewarded with immortality.


    Gods also risk their lives when they ascend or try to be Celestials, but they always have the support of others. As long as they have faith, they can''t die on the line for their power. That undermines the danger they go through.


    A god can grow from the level of a low god and be a great god without any issues as long as they have an ample supply of faith. But a transcendent without opposition or enemies can fail to be a titan ofw despite his or her best efforts.


    So gods are looked down upon. This disdain culminates in the fact that Celestials rarely reach the level of a Supreme Origin god. It is so rare that many people don''t know that it is possible for gods to attain that kind of power.


    It is understandable since no Celestial has ever achieved it in the history of high heaven realm. But if a Celestial manages to be a divine spark, then the reward would be worth the struggle. They will finally be able to enjoy the essence of the path of divinity without restrictions.


    The essence of the path of perfection is the reliance on one''s efforts to achieve perfection. The opposite is the case for gods. They rely on others to acquire power. They use the beliefs of people as a source of faith, which they convert to divinity and divine energy through their godfire. This ability to produce divinity is the essence of the path of divinity.

 Chapter 1490 Be Not Afraid.

    <h4>Chapter 1490 Be Not Afraid. </h4>


    Legion was certain that the foundation of the power of the gods was in authority. But they were wrong. The foundation of their power is both divinity and Authority.


    Those on the path of perfection also gain authority, but it is granted to them by the universe due to theirprehension ofws. Gods gain authority from the world too, but it is due to the rmendations of their believers.


    Not only is Authoritymon to both paths, but there are other things that they have inmon too. Gods have divine kingdoms, while Origin gods have their Origin domains. Gods have domains while those on the path of perfection havews. If there is anything fundamentally different about their power, it is divinity.


    Those on the path of perfection can''t use the domains of gods or their divine kingdom, but they can use divinity, and it is beneficial to them. Divinity increases the stats of those on the path of perfection. If not for the fact that divinity makes those on the path of perfection insensitive tows, then they would use it without limit.


    Those on the path of perfection are not the only ones who covet divinity. Demons also covet divinity. They use it to evolve and strengthen themselves. It shows that divinity is something beneficial to every living thing, including demons. But only gods can make it.


    Divinity is the uniqueness of gods. If one considers where ites from, one might have a clue as to why it is special.


    They performed somest checks, and Soverick delved into their future onest time to make sure he hadn''t omitted anything. He still can''t see through therge darkness in their future, but he doesn''t think they have anything to fear because he can tell that the Tree Father will be happy in their future.


    Then the Tree Father said, "Let us begin."


    And so it began. This breakthrough is not something with a small, localized effect. It is not something that people wouldn''t know about.


    Aeternus broke through silently in a single ne. No one apart from Legion, Mother High Heaven, and the Realm Lord knew of his breakthrough. The Tree Father, on the other hand, has numerous avatars in numerous nes. He started the breakthrough by withdrawing all of them, so many nes were affected simultaneously.


    Each avatar is a towering and powerful tree. They have leaves that represent the domains and authorities they currently possess. Some have only one type of leaf, while others have up to four. But regardless of the number of leaves, each one is beautiful to look at and majestic. Even those who don''t believe in the Tree Father admire the beauty and majesty of his avatars.


    This is not surprising since each avatar is at the Celestial level with at least a level one Authority. Celestials are powerful beings and are the true gods, so their forms are majestic. But their physical forms are rarely seen by mortals, unlike the Tree Father''s avatars, who hold up the sky in a show of strength.


    No one on the ne the avatars are on is ignorant of their existence. After all, all they have to do to see such a powerful Celestial is to look up. So it is not a wonder why many people noticed that the great celestial tree was shrinking. Even the blind noticed the change because the ground of the ne was shaking.


    The roots of the tree, which had embedded themselves deeply into the ne, have shrunk. They leftrge empty spaces in the ground because of their shrinkage. Theserge tunnels created by the roots couldn''t bear the weight of tons of soil around them, so they began to copse, which caused the whole ne to shake.


    The shaking stopped after a while, but the effect of the disappearance of the Celestial tree was obvious to everyone. There was arge pit where there was once arge mountain range made of roots.


    Fortunately, the tree hadn''t spread its roots throughout the ne, or the whole ne would have suffered catastrophic losses to lives and properties. Things would be worse than earthquakes and the resulting damage.


    There was panic all over the ne over the disappearance of the Celestial tree. Many thought that the ne was being attacked. This panic was not alleviated by the increase in sunlight due to the absence of tree branches blocking out the sun. Only the believers and clergymen of the Celestial Tree were at peace.


    Their god had said to them, "Be not afraid. I am gone to ascend to greater ces. I will return stronger, and I will bless you."


    They had faith in their Celestial, so they held on. They held on for the 1,523 years that they didn''t hear from their Celestial. Their faith was strong, and it wasn''t misced. Their Celestial did return, and he returned much stronger.


    The breakthrough took more than 1,500 years before it could bepleted. The problem wasn''t in withdrawing his avatars. That was easy to do. Even the divine kingdom in the Zargoth ne was sessfully absorbed too. But he had to fuse the domains, which took time. Especially since he bit more than he should by trying to fuse 20 domains instead of just 10.


    The domains are permissions from the Supremew of order. They are simr tows in that way. So in a way, he is trying to create a concept with 20ws.


    It would have been easier and less dangerous to make if it were a concept because Legion-7 and Legion-2 would be able to assist him. They can''t help him with this, so he is facing the immense difficulty on his own.


    He stopped being alone when a particrly powerful Will manifested itself in the realm of high heaven. Its manifestation was very short, as it only appeared tomunicate with Legion-9 for an instant. But even so, almost everyone felt the appearance of the Will and was shaken to the core.

 Chapter 1491 Archon Or Not?

    <h4>Chapter 1491 Archon Or Not?</h4>


    This was the darkness that Soverick foresaw. It came to the Tree Father to inform him of the two choices he had. He could allow the Will of the Universe to perform the fusion for him, or he could do the fusion on his own.


    If he lets the Will of the void universe perform the fusion, the fusion would be quick. Not only would he sessfully be a divine spark, but he would also be able to be a world forge immediately after.


    The catch for that proposition is that he will have to be an Archon for the void universe. He would be given the Authority of the void universe and be a god of the void universe.


    This is a very powerful gift because World gods would not be his match of he bes an Archon. Unfortunately, he will never be able to leave the void universe after bing an Archon. At least not without losing most of his powers and reverting to a divine spark.


    It appeared that the Will of the Void Universe didn''t n to decieve them. It exined the pros and cons to them clearly so that he could make a decision. It is a decision that he has to make before he runs out of divine energy and fails to make his breakthrough.


    The decision was not difficult for Legion at all. Bing an Archon is not something Legion wants. They don''t want to be shackled by rules.


    The tree father was never shackled like other gods who couldn''t leave their nes. But he couldn''t leave Legion-1''s inner world either. While the void universe is a much bigger ce, Legion is not willing to shackle themselves to it like gods are shackled to their nes.


    So the tree father decided to fuse the domains himself. The problem with this choice is that thew of order has never been cooperative. He would need a massive amount of divine energy to ovee its resistance and fuse the different domains.


    Even a rank 10 Authority would face this problem. This is after they somehow manage to cobble together 10 different domains despite relying on the opinion of precarious mortals.


    It would be impossible to fuse the domains if they were notpatible with each other. The difficulty can be likened to creating a concept with 10ws. This is why level 10 Celestials are rare. They are even rarer than realm lords.


    He bypassed the hassle that normal Celestials have to face. But considering that he has the domain of life, fire, and war together, the fusion is all but certain to fail.


    Fortunately, he has the crown of dominion. He can fuse the domains by force. His crown of dominion can use the spark of consciousness of a certain generous ancestor of the Phoenix race to facilitate the fusion.


    There was a brief battle between the Will of the Great Mother and the Tree Father, but the Tree Father won that easily. There are nine of them against one of her, and they don''t want to possess the spark of consciousness. They are just sacrificing it to the crown of domination. So it was easy to ovee her resistance and push her to her death.


    The domains were sacrificed next. The spark of consciousness was twisted and used as the core for the fusion of the domains. All the tree father had to do was determine what order he wanted to fuse them.


    It was like making a concept withws. The order and interaction of thews determine the oue. No two concepts are the same because of the infinite possibilities. Legion is familiar with creating concepts, so this wasn''t difficult either. It was just time-consuming.


    The Tree Father was finally able to rx. Soverick said to him, "You wasted too much time for nothing. I already told you that the order of fusion doesn''t matter if you don''t have all the domains in existence."


    The Tree Father replied, "I had to try. But you are probably right."


    Then he sighed and said, "We are truly sacrificing a lot for Legion-8 here."


    The reason he wanted every domain in existence was to create a unique spark of power. The domains are not independent, likews. They are part of the Supreme Law of Order. The order in which he fused them would have mattered if he had every piece of domain. But he didn''t, so what he managed to create was iplete. The result would have been simr had he done the fusion at random.


    He was a little disappointed, but he didn''t mind too much because he had at least seeded with the most difficult part of his breakthrough.


    The domains fused. Then the trinity of the fused domain, the authority of the Celestial Supreme, and the godhood of the Tree Father became one.


    00:31


    Tree Father became one.


    The final fusion caused the Tree Father to evolve. His elven form broke apart into dust, revealing a white me within him. The power of the Origin of Legion-1 rushed in from outside the inner world.


    The divine kingdom of the tree father is the inner world of Legion-1, which is present within their Origin core. So there was no other Celestial to interfere and prevent the copse of the divine ne or to steal some of his leaking power. It made the evolution ur without a hitch.


    The Authority of the Celestial Supreme, the domain, and the godhood were tempered and refined by the white me. Then it formed a multicolored orb within the white me.


    The divine domain of the Zargoth ne that was absorbed appeared around the multicolored orb. It formed a transparent cocoon around the orb and separated the orb from the white me. Then the white me used the power of the Origin to form the new divine body.


    The white me morphed into the figure of an elf. It became his body. Because it used to be his godfire, it was shining brightly with a radiance that rivaled the radiance of the white halo on his head.

 Chapter 1492 Divinity.

    <h4>Chapter 1492 Divinity. </h4>


    The Tree Father said to them, "It is done. The next step is to upgrade the divine spark into a world forge."


    The others looked on with calmness, but they were all excited and happy. They have taken another step towards perfection. It is something to be happy about.


    Legion-unity said with anticipation, "It is time for you to join unity."


    This is why he has been looking forward to the Tree Father bing a divine spark. He wants to gain something powerful to improve himself and Legion.


    The Tree Father will be the next one to join Unity after Aeternus. Aeternus granted them immunity to Chaos energy, so all of them won''t be hurt by Chaos energy anymore.


    They can finally allow Chaos energy to pass through the mindwork. They don''t do so to keep Legion-8 and Helios safe. Now the tree father can also join unity since he has gained immunity and perfect control of his godfire.


    Thest time he attempted it, Legion-9''s godfire burned him. But now that his godfire has be Legion-9''s body and he has perfect control over it, Legion-7 will be able to assimte him without issue.


    The assimtion urred without any problems. Legion-unity gained the powers of a divine spark. This power is based on Authority, divinity, and the spark of power.


    Unlike Aeternus, who didn''t fuse with any domain or his Supreme Law, the Tree Father is one with his divine spark, so he has perfect control over all the abilities it has to offer.


    These abilities made the clones chat in spection.


    Legion-1 said in surprise, "Who would have thought that gods could be so powerful?"


    Soverick shook his head and said, "Even if we thought gods could be powerful, no one would have expected them to have the ability to edit thew matrix. It is simply unheard of."


    Aeternus was in awe. "Even the ability to freely produce divinity is overpowered. Imagine the amount of demons he could feed with this."


    Legion-9 shifted the topic by saying, "Stop talking about food. Let''s focus more on the importance of the spark of power and its significance for our goal as world gods."


    Even Ragnarok, who liked eating, had to agree with the Tree Father. "Divinity is a little toote for us now. It would have been useful if we didn''t have Cosmic energy. And Legion-9 gave up most of the abilities of Authority when he refused to be an Archon. It is the spark of power that is worthy of our focus."


    Aeternus disagreed, "You are all wrong. Divinity cannot be separated from the spark of power. It is a universal source of power. Those on the path of perfection, the path of divinity, and the path of sin need it. Even Legion-7 used it to create his spark of consciousness. I think there''s more going on in divinity apart from its ability to serve as food."


    He had a point, so he got Legion thinking about divinity. Divinity is a product of the refinement of faith. It is refined by the godfire of a god. Faith can be turned into divine energy by mixing it with mana, but it has to remain pure if it is to be divinity.


    This is their fundamental understanding of faith. But the discussion of faith soon diverged into moreplicated inquiries the more they thought about it.


    Faithes from believers who are living things, while godfirees from the godhood of gods who are also living things. But why can''t gods create their own faith, and why can''t their believers use their own faith to empower themselves?


    The answers to those questions are not clear to them. But they can make some guesses about them.


    Their first guess is that the problem of gods growing stronger on their own faith might be a problem of quantity. They can''t produce enough faith on their own.


    But this guess was quickly refuted when Legion made themon im that the stronger a believer is, the stronger the faith the god gets from them. So why doesn''t a god create enough faith on their own even when they get stronger, and why is it that other gods can''t turn each other into their believers as a source of faith? Why must gods rely on others who are not gods or demons for faith?


    These questions set Legion aze in a flurry of mental discussion. They had conflicting opinions but eventually settled on a hypothesis that also exins why believers can''t use their faith to empower themselves. This hypothesis is based on the possession of the Origin core and its usage for power.


    It is said that the Origin core is a source of infinite potential for a living being. Its potential is something that Origin gods start to dig into. They then fully excavate it when they be world gods by turning their Origin into a world.


    But gods don''t have viable Origins. Their Origins froze when they traded it in exchange for the godfire. They then rely on those who still have their Origin to elevate them and make them stronger.


    Hence, it is postted that the possession of Origin is important in the creation of faith. If that is true, once it is frozen over, faith can''t be produced anymore. Gods won''t be able to produce it at all and they won''t be able to use each other as believers.


    If, by chance, the Origin is revitalized, then it is possible for a god to use their own faith to produce divinity. That''s essentially what a divine spark makes possible when the god fire is evolved and the power of the origin is unlocked.


    A divine spark is an entity that can produce divinity on its own. They don''t require the belief of others for faith. They can''t believe in themselves and, hence, grow stronger from it. But they substitute other forms of energy as faith to use to produce divinity.

 Chapter 1493 Limitless.

    <h4>Chapter 1493 Limitless. </h4>


    The fact that the Tree Father possesses this ability made Legion adamant that divinity has to be useful to them. They decided to work together to figure out its use.


    The Tree Father said, "If we are right and divinity is so powerful and important, it bes clear that the gods were trying to do something they couldn''t do before. They were trying to use energy to grow stronger. This is something that is not possible for transcendents after reaching the 100,000 stat limit so they used a shortcut."


    Legion-5 asked, "They took a short cut with repercussions that have been alleviated. But what''s so good about divinity now? It is almost indestructible, but so is Cosmic energy."


    Helios said with a sigh, "Unfortunately, Mother High Heaven didn''t tell us that. We have to figure this out on our own."


    Now the Tree Father has recovered his connection to his Origin. That means he has be capable of refining more than just the power of belief into divinity. He can refine most kinds of energy, including origin energy and mana, into divinity.


    They tried all of these energies and confirmed that they could produce divinity, but they couldn''t find out what it could do. They were testing its use when they were distracted by another thing.


    They found out that the Tree Father is not limited to fusing mana with faith in the creation of divine energy either, so the Tree Father, who was already capable of fusing life essence with divine energy, can fuse life essence and Origin energy to create immortal essence.


    With immortal essence, anyone who takes it will gain eternal life, while Origin gods can use it as a substitute for Origin essence to grow stronger. They don''t even need concepts to fuse the immortal essence into themselves. They can take it directly.


    Just like divinity, immortal essence is not that useful to them. If not for the fact that it is better at healing than divine life energy, then they it would be another thing they couldn''t use.


    They eventually returned to the topic of divinity, and they found something useful about it. They found out that not only can it make living things stronger, it can even make non-living things stronger too. They were able to use it to elevate a low grade Origin artifact into a top grade.


    Legion-1 said in awe, "This changes everything."


    Helios wasn''t so convinced. He said, "It changes nothing. A top grade artifact is useless to us. I can burn it without trying."


    Soverick asked, "What if divinity can upgrade everything? Where does its limits lie?"


    Aeternus was skeptical about that conjecture. He shook his head and said, "That can''t be possible. There has to be a limit somewhere. We are perfect examples of those limits. The top grade artifact is another one."


    Divinity is clearly multi-purpose, but they have reached the limit of power without a Supreme Law and with a Supreme Law. Cosmic energy made sure of that. Now divinity cannot upgrade them.


    There''s also the top grade artifact. It stopped taking in divinity after reaching its limits. This shows that despite its wide range of usefulness, it has a limit where it bes useless.


    Soverick asked, "What if we use it on something without a limit?"


    He didn''t wait for an answer. He was already parsing the future possibilities. His eyes shed as the possible oues of fusing divinity with other objects came into view.


    He didn''t have enough information about it in the past, so he didn''t consider it, and it didn''t show up in his future. Now that he has confirmed a conjecture about the universal usefulness of divinity, the sky is the limit.


    His eyes soon found some credible possibilities. He said, "Inner world and universal artifacts."


    They didn''t argue with him. They set out to confirm the possibilities by infusing divinity into Legion-1''s inner world and the soul sphere.


    In the past, the inner world of the world beast has grown stronger because of the enhancement of the Authority of the Celestial Supreme with Cosmic energy. The enhancement was passive as they couldn''t control Cosmic energy.


    That enhancement has disappeared now that the divine kingdom of the Tree Father and the Authority of Celestial Supreme have all fused with him. It also means that they will be able to tell without bias that any enhancement that takes ce now is due to divinity and not its interaction with anything else.


    As for the soul sphere, they chose it for this experiment because they could afford to lose it. It is unlike the crown of dominion that they can''t rece right now.


    Their experiment bore fruit. It came with good news and bad news. The good news is that the two of them could be upgraded sessfully with divinity. At the very least, they assimted the divinity without issues. The inner world became stronger while the channel between the soul spheres became wider.


    The bad news is that the stronger inner world is of no use to them now. It won''t be useful until they be world gods. As for the soul sphere, a wider channel is also not useful to them.


    However, Soverick postted that it could achieve qualitative growth that would be useful to them if they continue to feed it divinity. Unfortunately, they don''t know the amount needed to achieve this qualitative improvement. It could cost them enough energy to create a world.


    Despite all of this Legion-1 was still ecstatic. He said, "The world world gods is dependent on the power of their Origin. Theoritically, it can be infinite. But no one can achieve it. They thereby limit their potential when they be world gods. But we can increase its potential with divinity. Do you know what this means?"


    Soverick knew what it meant, so he said, "Maybe that''s one of the reasons the void universe needs Archons for. To create divinity and expand it."


    Legion-1 didn''t like his answer, so he said what he had in mind, "It means we can create a world that is limitless. We can create a world that rivals the void universe in size. Imagine that."

 Chapter 1494 The Spark Of Power.

    <h4>Chapter 1494 The Spark Of Power.</h4>


    Legion-9 spoke. "It is a good thing that I didn''t be an Archon. I would have to serve the void universe forever."


    Legion-1 said with exasperation, "Forget the Archons."


    But they couldn''t forget the Archons. They can imagine just how important one divine spark is to them. That means they can also imagine the importance and significance of many Archons to the void universe.


    The significance of divinity made them catch a glimpse of how small they arepared to the void universe. After all, if a single divine spark can give them the potential to be limitless, what about 10 Archons?


    Aeternus said what they were all thinking, "No one told us the importance of divinity. What if we didn''t focus on it and discover its usefulness? What else are we missing about it?"


    The Tree Father replied, "We are missing Authority of the void universe. Without it, I can''t edit thew matrix of the void universe."


    "That''s true."


    Soverick reminded them, "That''s just the one we know of. There could be more."


    Legion-8 said with certainty, "There are more."


    Legion-1 replied, "What''s matters is that we continue to search. As long as we don''t give up, we might find more. But if we give up, we will find nothing."


    Legion-7 said with anticipation, "Let''s find other things that can grow without limit. Imagine what else we could do with divinity."


    Aeternus agreed, "There''s also the most important ability of the divine spark. We have that going for us and ignorance can''t take it away from us."


    The most important ability of the Tree Father is based on his divine spark. It is a direct ability that needs no tinkering to discover. Apparently, it is what Mother High Heaven called the spark of power.


    Legion-7 said, "So Celestials have sparks of power, while those on the path of perfection have the spark of wisdom. Those are two mainstream paths ounted for. What about the spark of the soul? Where does ite from? Which path of power does it belong to?"


    Soverick replied, "It certainly doesn''t belong to demons. Demon gods have the spark of wisdom, just like those on the path of perfection. It is appropriate seeing as they use Supremews just like those on the path of perfection."


    Legion-1 pointed out, "So Aeternus is the odd one out. He has a spark of power that could be a spark of wisdom if he manages to fuse with his mark of sin."


    Helios corrected him, "That might not be so. Legion-7 is not special as the Great Mother managed to achieve the spark of the soul too. A demon out there might also have achieved a spark of power. We just don''t know about it."


    Legion-8 interjected, "What I find particrly curious is that the crown of domination managed to convert the spark of consciousness into a spark of power for the Tree Father. In a way, it is simr to the ability of the spark of power."


    Legion-9 picked on his train of thought and said, "And the spark of the soul is also simr to the soul sphere. It granted Legion-7 the same abilities and more as the soul sphere."


    Legion-8 thenpleted his inquiry, "Are Universal artifacts created as parts of the three sparks?"


    Legion-1 offered a conjecture, "If they are, that means the creator of Universal artifacts possesses all three sparks."


    Legion-2 expounded on the conjecture. "And more than that, they are familiar with it and powerful enough to turn that familiarity into an artifact that bestows the power onto others."


    Legion-7 asked, "If Universal artifacts are manifestations or creations of sparks of power, why can they be upgraded with divinity, but not Cosmic energy, while sparks of power can only be upgraded with Cosmic energy, not divinity?"


    Legion-7 continued, "Also, Universal artifacts don''t seem to have limits, but sparks of power have reached their limits. In fact, Universal artifacts feel more like metaphysical organs that were transnted into our existence. That''s why we don''t lose them when we die."


    These questions put a cog in their hypothesis about the simrities between Universal artifacts and sparks of power. The best they coulde up with it that the properties of Universal artifacts might have something to do with their ability to operate outside ofws.


    They gave up on that train of thought and spent the next period of time talking, updating their knowledge, and researching the Tree Father''s new abilities.


    They discovered that the spark of power has the ability to control and subdue all forms of power. It is simr to the crown of dominion but it isn''t as versatile yet. It can''t convert one spark into another. But it can transfer power between all the clones.


    So if one of them has Supreme power, now that they have the spark of power, that power can be transferred to all of them through Legion-7. This brought them to Legion-7''s spark of the soul. With it, they were able to achieve unity without the fusion of their Origin.


    This unity has reced the soul sphere for them. In fact, it is better. Not only can they share any type of energy, they can share concepts, and they can resurrect each other without the assistance of the void universe.


    These simrities made them anticipate the functions of the spark of power that they have yet to discover. Soverick''s conjecture about the possibility of creating infinite clones through thebination of the three sparks especially made them hopeful for the fusion.


    The spark of the soul can''t create clones, but they will be able to control arge number of clones if they have it. The spark of wisdom can create avatars and clones through the Supreme Law. Lastly, the spark of power can transfer power across every clone.


    The more they thought about it, the more it became possible to achieve. If they do achieve it then it would be unprecedented since Origin gods can''t create clones with their power level. They can only create clones with the power of Sovereigns.


    ------


    A/N: This extra chapter is for Rosery and her 63 golden tickets gift. There''s going to be more tomorrow.

 Chapter 1495 Superior Forger.

    Chapter 1495 Superior Forger.


    ??They are not sure of what world gods can achieve, but they are sure that world gods don''t have all three paths of power. As for them, they might finally be able to achieve their goal of having infinite clones. They would truly be worthy of the title of Legion.


    The possibilities of the future filled their mind until Legion-8 brought them back to the present.


    He said to them, "Hello! We still have to solve my situation."


    Legion-1 asked, "What should we do now?"


    They need more power. That''s why they made the Tree Father be a divine spark so soon. But that is not the end of their preparation. They still have a lot to do. The Tree Father can help them build the world fragment faster, but they doubt it will bepleted fast enough for Legion-8, so they had to think outside the box.


    Fortunately, they have Soverick. They don''t have to make decisions out of ignorance. In fact, decision making is very fast for them. They made up their minds and got to work.


    Some of them went to the realm of high heaven, while the others continued working on the world fragment. The world fragment won''t help Legion-8''s situation, but they also need it before the era of conquest. It is important that they continue working on it if they want to insure themselves against the failure of helping Legion-8.


    The Tree Father has gained the ability to modify thew matrix and the rules of the world. It is an upgrade on the ability of gods to use divine energy with domains to create divine power, which they use to underminews.


    But the use of domainses with shackles. They bind themselves with rules while using those same binds to usurp the power ofws. The Father has evolved and broken free from those shackles.


    All he needs is the permission of the administrator of aw matrix, and he will be able to edit it without being bound by thews of thew matrix. In the case of aw matrix that doesn''t have an owner like the one they are building, it is even easier for him to make changes to it.


    Legion-7 was envious. He said, "It makes sense considering the power of godses from the supremew of order. They allow thew of order to shackle them in exchange for permission to bend some of the rules of the world in their favor."


    He was the one in charge of building thew matrix. He had the best maniption ofws and Cosmic energy among them, but that position will be taken over by the Tree Father now. He just can''t beat the efficiency of a divine spark.


    The Tree Father said, "There''s no need to relegate yourself yet. We don''t really know if I can do it."


    Soverick said confidently, "Stop being modest. You were meant to build worlds. A little world fragment is not enough to test the broad range of your skills."


    He can already see the possibilities that have be avable due to the Tree Father''s evolution. He is confident beyond any doubt and can even bet permanent blindness in one of his eyes on the fact that Legion-9 outsses both him and Legion-7 in forging.


    His advantage in forging is that he can tell the results before they happen, so he can forge in a way to ensure high quality forging or stop himself from ruining a material. But this does not mean he can create the best quality possible in existence. It only means he can build the best quality that he is capable of building with his skills.


    The Tree Father, on the other hand, doesn''t need skills. He forgets whatever he has in mind, and it will have the highest quality possible. He struggles and uses his eyes and hands to trante what is in his mind into reality. The Tree Father bends reality to make what is in his mind. It is clear who is the better forger.


    It is something that can be deduced even without his eyes seeing things just fall into ce in the Tree Father''s hands. Anyone cane to that conclusion with the singr knowledge that, as a future world forge, the Tree Father has gained the power to not only buildw matrixes, he can also transform energy into matter seemlessly.


    It is an upgrade on his previous energy transmutation ability. Even with that previous transmutation ability, he was already on par with Soverick. The new abilities make him a better forger than both Soverick and Legion-7, who is not a forger, but can maniptew fragments to a small extent.


    The Tree Father''s capabilities made them think about the abilities and functions of other Archons. If the Tree Father had agreed to be an Archon, he would have the Authority of the void universe, and he would be somewhere right now building something for the void universe.


    It made them ask themselves, "If Archons are forging for the void universe, what are they forging?"


    They already suspect that the expansion of the void universe is due to divinity and that Archons can heal thew matrix, but Archons can do more than that. Unfortunately, they don''t know what Archons could be forging for the void universe. But they do know what they want Legion-9 to forge for them.


    After he is done building thew matrix and helping them execute the experiment to replicate Legion-5''s and Legion-7''s ascension when they were creating their world engine, they also n to have Legion-9 build their Supreme Law for them.


    It is an ability that is an extension of his ability to editw matrixes. Only this time, the Tree Father will be editing their existence. It is not something they can allow an outsider to do, even if it were freely offered. But with Legion-9, they have a chance at achieving their 7-aspect Supreme Law and maybe more.

 Chapter 1496 A Yellow Dragon.

    <h4>Chapter 1496 A Yellow Dragon.</h4>


    That''s for the future, though. The other change that the tree father''s existence brought to Legion in the present is that he can not only convert all types of energy into divinity, but he can store all types of energy too. This includes cosmic energy.


    This is a useful ability for them because Helios has a limit on the amount of cosmic energy he can store, which is based on his size. But the tree father has infinite storage, just like a Celestial''s storage of divine energy and Aeternus''s storage of Chaos energy.


    However, unlike a Celestial and Aeternus, his storage is not limited to divine energy or Chaos energy. So the tree father has be their bank for cosmic energy. It will help them prepare for when Helios is detached from thew matrix and bes an Origin god.


    ------


    Legion was preparing for the birth of Legion-8. In the meantime, Legion-8 was still going through the ancestral trials. He did what he normally does to start a trial. He extended his soul into a star in the bloodline space. This particr star is ancient and far away from his generation, so his soul was stressed by the process.


    "I am almost at my limit here, so this had better be good or I will quit."


    He has been saying that for many years, but he didn''t stop whenever he was disappointed. He always continued, and he will definitely do so if this trail turns out to be a waste of his time. At most, he will ask for divine life energy to grow his soul. Now that the Tree Father has immortal essence, he can go much farther in his pursuit of the talent of creation.


    The world around him changed as the trial began. This time, the story didn''t start as an egg. In fact, he doesn''t appear to be on the ancestral grounds of the dragons at all. He has seen enough of thendscape and the iconic blue leaves of the nts of the dragon homeworld to recognize that he is in a different location.


    This is not strange because most trials don''t happen in the dragon homeworld. Many of them also don''t start with eggs. The trials are tests from the ancestors. They can test unborn dragons with anything that happened in their lives.


    It isn''t strange, either, that there is only one dragon in this trial. The dragon is a yellow-scaled dragon. That, on the other hand, is strange. He hasn''t seen any yellow-scaled dragons since he began the ancestral trial more than 60,000 years ago.


    He observed to himself, "This has to be a modified look. No dragon is naturally yellow."


    He has seen a lot of dragons to say that with confidence.


    This dragon entered a ne that was already being invaded. The transcendents of the ne had opened the nar portal and couldn''t defend it. Another ne broke in toy im to it.


    The defenders of the ne were losing terribly when the dragon came. They were afraid when they saw it, but the dragon didn''t interfere in the fight between the ants. It blocked the nar portal with a mountain and sealed it. Then it hid itself in the ne.


    The invaders and the defenders were agitated by the presence of the new powerful creature. They stopped fighting each other so that they would be able to defend themselves against the dragon. So the dragon''s mere presence stopped the war.


    But they calmed down after many years of the absence of the dragon. They began fighting each other again. The dragon didn''t interfere in their fight, but it would always attack anyone that tried to open the nar portal. It was then that they realized that they were locked together with the dragon in the ne.


    The defenders were happy about the sealing of the nar portal, but the invaders were not so happy. The seal of the ne had cut them off from reinforcements. The dragon also killed all their fighters that were above transcendence after the third time that they tried to unseal the nar portal.


    Now they are too weak to even cause the dragon to interfere whenever they try to unseal the portal. The seal itself would attack them with enough power to harm, if not kill, a king ofw. So they stopped fighting.


    Since they were locked in, it didn''t matter if this ne was their home ne or not. They can either leave it through the void or Directly support the authors on WebNovel!


    ept their lot. Some chose to ept their lot, and some did not. Either way, the ne returned to peace after that.


    home ne or not. They can either leave it through the void or ept their lot. Some chose to ept their lot, and some did Some Transcendents left the ne since the dragon didn''t stop that. In fact, the dragon had stopped appearing in the world for a long time. If not for the seal on the nar portal, no one would know that a dragon had once entered the ne.


    The absence of the dragon was because it had died. It was running from an enemy when it came into the ne. That''s why it sealed the ne. But its injuries were too much for it to survive.


    It is impressive that a dragon who was a king ofws could fight a Sovereign. Most ancient dragons can do so. But this dragon was young. Its talent and pride got to its head and caused it to court death.


    Legion-8 said in understanding, "Her anger is understandable. After all, she just lost to someone else."


    The dragoness wasing from a sessful mating ritual. It was sessful because she lost. She went to challenge another dragon so that she couldy eggs and get the permission of the dragon spirit to leave the realm and enter the void to be a divine dragon.


    The dragon she challenged was another king ofw like her and also her agemate. But she lost to him, so they mated. It pissed her off. It made hersh out and it didn''t end well for her.

 Chapter 1497 Cattle For Ploughing.

    <h4>Chapter 1497 Cattle For Ploughing. </h4>


    She became angry that she had lost to someone of her generation and took out her anger on a sovereign she met along the way to the ancestral grounds. The sovereign defeated her and injured her. He even chased after her to kill her for her dragon heart. She couldn''t take the long journey to her home ne, so she went through a nar portal nearby.


    She came to this ne to wait for help, but help didn''te before she died. The best she could do wasy her eggs before she died. Because she didn''t incubate the eggs and there was no dragon spirit, only one of the three of them seeded in hatching. This dragonling was in a special situation as it was an indigene of this ne.


    Legion-8 said excitedly. "Oh, this is going to be good. I can just feel it in my bones."


    He doesn''t have bones or any flesh, as he is an energy being of a level much higher than the soul body of a transcendent. But he can still feel excitement and anticipation for what is toe.


    He is excited because the dragon was born with the talent of his mother. He was born with the control of creation mana, an energy unique to dragons with the talent for creation.


    The dragonling couldn''t leave the cave he was born in because he was locked in. His mother had sealed it before she died. He didn''t die despite theck of food, care, orpanionship, though. He had the memories of his ancestors, so he was mature mentally. He also had the memories of his mother, so he knew how he ended up in that situation and what to do to escape.


    He grew up silently by imbibing mana. It took a long time, but he finally became a transcendent. It was then that he was able to open the seal on the cave. If he didn''t know the password, he would have needed to be a king ofw just like his mother to break it by force.


    The first thing he did after escaping the cave was to leave the ne. His bloodline and the imprints present within it werepelling him to return to the home of dragons.


    He didn''t unseal the nar portal and leave through it. It is because he sensed that the ancestral ground of dragons was close by. The inhabitants of the ne only saw a fleeting yellow figure break through the sky.


    The young dragon found the dragon''s home ne in the void. It is arge piece ofnd floating in the void. There is a protective barrier around it that defends and cloaks it, so only dragons can see it for what it truly is.


    Whenbined, its hidden nature and its ability to move around the void make it nearly impossible to find. Anyone who isn''t a dragon and happens to stumble upon it will be killed without knowing how they died. This is on top of the fact that the surroundings of the ne have been suppressed by a force that scrambles the mind and space. All of these make the dragon''s ancestral grounds the most difficult ne to find.


    He wasn''t attacked as he moved closer to the ancestral grounds. Instead, he was embraced by the ne and the dragon spirit. There was even an impromptu naming ceremony for him. The dragon spirit entered his inner world and gave him a name worthy of a dragon.


    The dragon was d to finally get a name, but Legion-8 just scoffed.


    "Another dragon has been enved without a fight. I wonder what the dragon spirit is doing with all the power it has acquired."


    He is unlike other dragons who have been brainwashed by their bloodline before they were born. He has not been indoctrinated into the glory of dragons like dragonlings, and he knows enough of the world to know that the naming ceremony is a scam.


    It is not a scam, since the dragon spirit is giving the dragons the benefits it ims to provide. But Legion-8 knows that the dragon spirit is also gaining a lot of benefits by anchoring itself to the inner world of dragons. After all, the dragon spirit is like the great mother. Except that it didn''t die and go to the spiritual dimension to be a spiritual entity.


    The dragon spirit is not as caustic as the great mother since it is not actively brainwashing dragons. Each dragon is their own being, with their own thoughts and opinions. But the moment they receive a name from the dragon spirit, they be cattle shackled to a yoke to plough a field.


    Legion-8 is certain of that. He just doesn''t know what field the dragon spirit is using them to plough.


    In his opinion, the dragons are being used as freeborers, and they don''t even know about it. So he wasn''t happy when the dragon was named. He only felt disdain that another dragon epted the shackles willingly.


    Things became uneventful after that because the dragon returned to the ne where he was born. He is an adult dragon now, so he wanted a ce all to himself.


    He didn''t rile up the ne too much after he returned. He just dered himself the overlord of the ne. There was no resistance because the inhabitants of the ne knew the power of a dragon and because there was essentially no difference in the situation for them.


    They had always been aware of a dragon in their midst, and they were afraid of it. Now their fear finally has a target. Their fear is nothing new.


    He banned religion in the ne, but there were no gods in the ne either. The inhabitants of the ne didn''t have any belief in gods, so their lives continued like normal. If there wasn''t the one-in-a-century offering of wealth to the dragon, then people wouldn''t know that there was an overlord in the ne.


    -----


    A/N: Bonus chapter for Rosery again. She has given 25 golden tickets this month.

 Chapter 1498 Greed Wins Again.

    <h4>Chapter 1498 Greed Wins Again. </h4>


    The people of the ne feared and worshiped the dragon. But he didn''t use them to be a god. This is because he would lose his dragon heart and the dragon force thates with it when his Origin freezes. Then he will have to rely on weak mortals for power.


    His pride will never allow that. Even at the point of death, he would rather die just like his mother than save his life by bing a god. Legion-8 knew that even if he was willing to do so, the dragon spirit would never allow it so that he won''t break free from his shackles.


    Things continued peacefully like this for many Origin cycles. The dragon grew stronger even though there was no Origin energy in the ne. His connection to the dragon spirit provided him with as much Origin energy as he wanted.


    He could even grant other beings ess to the Origin energy if he wanted to. This made him be royalty in the ne because every transcendent wanted to serve him to gain Origin energy.


    He was truly living an easy life. All he had to do, apart from sleeping, was wake up every hundred years to receive offerings from all over the ne. His horde grewrger andrger because of it.


    This peace and quiet was broken when a demon king invaded. The ne faced an unprecedented crisis. Even the will of the ne was roused. It had to resist the invasion of this powerful being and the army of demons that it brought with it.


    The will of the ne didn''t take long to decide who would be the child of the ne. There was only one clear choice. So it chose the most powerful creature on the ne.


    There was no other credible choice. The dragon became the child of the ne. It is something that has never been done before in the history of the realm tree. This turned out to be a good decision, and it bore good fruits.


    The dragon''s power as a king ofwbined with his dragon force and the title of child of the ne made him capable of matching the demon king. The two of them fought for a long time over the ownership of the ne. The demon king was defeated and killed twice in a row, so it gave up on the ne.


    The people of the ne rejoiced in the victory of their overlord. They were happy that demons wouldn''t kill them, but then they suddenly became angry with the dragon that saved them. It was an inexplicable feeling. They ought to be grateful, but they hate the dragon.


    This is because while the people of the ne were rejoicing after the invasion of the ne had ended, another invasion had secretly happened in the background. The dragon spirit was using the dragon and his connection to the ne through the title of the child of the ne to silently invade the Will of the ne.


    This caused the Will of the ne to be angry with the dragon. Unfortunately, it couldn''t take back the title because the dragon spirit refused to let it go. So the best the Will of the ne could do was set up the inhabitants of the ne against the dragon in hopes that someone would be able to defeat the dragon and take back the title.


    However, this was almost a useless move because the influence of the Will of the ne on the inhabitants of the ne was subtle. It couldn''tmunicate directly with them, and it couldn''t control their actions. The best it could do was suggest enmity with the dragon.


    Even if the Will of the ne could take control of the inhabitants of the ne and have them fight the dragon, it would still be useless because none of them could defeat the dragon.


    Legion-8 wasn''t surprised by the turn of events. He said in admiration for the dragon spirit, "I would do so if I were the one."


    He understands the dragon spirit''s invasion of the ne since he would have done the same thing. In fact, another clone of Legion had tried to do the same thing. Legion-7 failed because the Celestial Supreme of the Gattling ne killed her son and stole the title from him. That can''t happen here since the dragon is the strongest being in the ne.


    A great spiritual battle took ce in the background of the ne. This was an invasion more insidious than the attack of the demon king. The Will of the ne couldn''t resist because the dragon spirit was too strong. The dragon spirit had thebined spiritual power of every living dragon born in the realm of high heaven who was below the world god level at its disposal.


    That is an amount of spiritual power that is greater than what the inhabitants of the ne can offer the Will of the ne. The Will of the ne also did not have the advantage of quality, as the strongest being it had in the ne was a transcendent. So the will of the ne was consumed, and the dragon spirit grew stronger because of it.


    And just like Legion, the dragon spirit was not content with that achievement. It became greedy for more. It could rece the will of the ne, but the power from that is slow and littlepared to the power it could gain from recing the Will of the realm. So it used the anchor of the ne to the realm as a connection to attack the Will of the realm.


    The dragon''s consciousness appeared in a dark world. The world of the ancestral trial changed into this dark world. In this darkness, there was a source of light. It was a bright, spherical ball. There were runes projected out of it outward into the surrounding darkness like a hologram. It looked like the most precious treasure.


    -----


    A/N: I think you guys should know about this event. Even so, can you guess what will happen?


    Hint: You will get it wrong.

 Chapter 1499 Foolish Dragon Vs Spineless Dragon.

    <h4>Chapter 1499 Foolish Dragon Vs Spineless Dragon.</h4>


    Legion-8 recognized it when he saw it. He eximed, "This is the realm heart."


    This is the second time he has seen something like this, so he is not mistaken about what it is. It is truly the realm heart. The dragon of creation also knew that. It also knows what it is here for. It knows that whoever gains control of it bes the realm lord. There isn''t a realm lord yet, so the dragon spirit has brought him here to fill that position.


    The dragon made that deration to the consciousness inhabiting this space. "I havee to be the realm lord. Make way for me just as you made way for my ancestor."


    He spoke with pride and with confidence. But Legion-8 was not so confident.


    Legion-8 felt horror in his heart when he heard that deration. He asked no one in particr, "What is this fool doing? Does he want to die?"


    A dark figure congealed in front of the dragon. This figure is dark, but the outline of its figure is discernible from the darkness of the world. They stood out so much that the brightness of the realm heart was overshadowed.


    The figure''s body contained tens of thousands of tiny spots of light of various colors. The head of the figure has just one eye that looks like a whirlpool of stars on its face. There was nothing else on its face. It didn''t have any legs, but it had numerous arms. Its torso was connected to the bright spherical ball.


    Legion-8 felt pressure simr to the one he faced recently from Tssandulighafan. He felt like he shouldn''t speak or breathe too loudly, but the dragon snickered and said, "So you have shown yourself. What say you?"


    Legion-8 cursed, "Fuck."


    His concern is warranted. The dark, powerful figure said to the dragon, "Nothing short of your death will appease me."


    But the dragon was not concerned about the threat. It said with disdain, "Your days are over, Mother High Heaven. You have fulfilled your purpose and will now be reced."


    The world froze with this deration. The trial has officially started.


    A voice spoke to Legion-8, "Fight Mother High Heaven and survive for up to 10 seconds."


    The dragon spirit was the one that spoke. Legion-8 is familiar with its voice. It will dere the objective to be achieved if the trial is to be passed.


    Legion-8 was not happy with the objective. He grumbled inwardly, "I wonder how this guy even survived up to 10 seconds against Mother High Heaven."


    Mother High Heaven is a force on the level of a world god. To fight her and survive for ten seconds is a feat that he didn''t think was possible for anyone who is not a world god. He would have thought he was being cheated if not for the fact that objectives are based on the achievements of his predecessors. If the foolish dragon had not survived up to 10 seconds, then he wouldn''t have been asked to survive for that long either.


    The world resumed soon after. Legion-8 found himself in the body of the dragon confronting Mother High Heaven. He didn''t know it before, but this dark world was freezing. It is so cold that his thoughts are slowing down.


    Maybe the dragon had roared and erupted with power in a valiant attempt to resist Mother High Heaven. Maybe they fought, and the dragon struggled to survive for up to 10 seconds. But Legion-8 doesn''t n to do any of that. Not when he can sense the insurmountable power within Mother High Heaven that is capable of killing him through the trial.


    He didn''t resist. Instead, he said, "Please spare me."


    The cold in the surrounding area stopped rising. He took that as a good sign, so he continued. "I am sorry for defying you. I didn''t want to do it. The dragon spirit made me."


    The figure of Mother High Heaven stilled, and the anger radiating out of her ceased. She continued watching him for a while. Then sheughed.


    Herughter battered his mind in waves. Sheughed as the pressure of her existence increased. It is not an illusion at all. He is certain that this Mother High is not just an image. It is the real thing.


    She said to him, "You made a good decision, Legion-8. If you had fought me, you would be breaking the rules of the realm, and I would have killed you as punishment for it."


    He understood why. His experience with the first sage has taught him not to underestimate any being with the power of a world god. His meeting with Tssandulighafan confirmed that anything rted to world gods is dangerous.


    This trial might look like a dream of an event that urred a long time ago, but it could easily turn into an event that is happening right now. He will not be fighting a memory of Mother High Heaven as the foolish dragon. He would be fighting the current Mother High Heaven as himself. If he dies in the fight, he might also die in the real world. He is not willing to risk it at all.


    He said to Mother High Heaven, "It is the smart decision to admit defeat."


    Mother High Heaven snickered and said, "It is a smart decision, but most dragonlings are not wise enough to make that decision. This is memory is a battle between the dragon spirit and I. To get in between us is to bring the fate of this foolish dragon upon yourself. Dragonlings don''t know this, and even if they do, they would still fight me to acquire victory for the dragon spirit. Their pride blinds them to reason."


    Legion-8 nodded. "They will fail if they do. But why is the dragon spirit still fighting you? There''s already a realm lord, so I doubt it is possible for you to be usurped or for any dragon to be the realm lord."


    -----


    A/N: If it isn''t clear, Legion-8 is the spineless dragon. He turned down a chance to go down in a ze of glory. What a fool.

 Chapter 1500 Win-Win Scheme.

    <h4>Chapter 1500 Win-Win Scheme. </h4>


    He doesn''t think the fight would lead to anything useful, but Mother High Heaven doesn''t agree with him.


    She replied, "Nothing is impossible. If the world spark can be usurped through the era of conquest, then the realm lord can also be usurped. It will be very difficult to do and would require the power to take away the immortality of Origin gods. But it is possible. Nothing is permanent until the realm tree detaches itself from thew matrix and the realm lord bes a world god himself."


    That surprised Legion-8. He asked in surprise, "So the dragon spirit can nullify the immortality of Origin gods?"


    "Not the dragon spirit, but the entity behind the dragon spirit."


    That answer enlightened Legion-8. There is only one entity that he knows that is behind the dragon spirit. And that entity is the dragon king, who is the ancestor of dragons.


    Still, he was still skeptical. He voiced his doubts to her, "Even then, it is impossible for this dragon with the power of an Origin god to challenge you. The dragon spirit is just sending dragonlings to their deaths."


    Mother High Heaven disagreed with him again. "No, it is not. The dragon spirit only sends powerful dragonlings here. How many dragonlings do you think are capable of reaching this far back in time with their soul?"


    He replied, "I assume they are not many."


    "There is none at this point. There have been none for a thousand Origin cycles. It was easier in the past when the difficulty wasn''t so high. So the dragon spirit has stopped sending dragonlings here until you came along."


    Something caught his attention. "What do you mean by "sending dragonlings here?" Don''t theye here by chance? Isn''t the trial by chance?"


    Mother High Heaven snickered again. "No trial is by chance. The memory space is anchored by the dragon spirit. It can disy whichever trial it wants. The prerequisite is for you to be able to enter it. It knows everything you are doing, and it sent you here for a reason. Your soul was strong enough, so here you are."


    She continued, "Pride might blind other dragons, but your greed blinds you to reason sometimes. That''s why I thought you were in cohoots with the dragon spirit. After all, there is a lot to gain if you win this battle. But from what I can tell, you were not informed of your job in this battle."


    Legion-8 was still surprised, even though he knew the dragon spirit was the anchor of the mental space. But he thought that the trials were random. At least, he didn''t know what was in the imprint before he entered it. So it is possible for the dragon spirit to lead him about.


    When he thought about that point, he also realized that the difficulty he has been having in acquiring all the talents might not be by chance. The dragon spirit might actually be sabotaging his attempt to acquire thest talent, which made him continue searching. He went deeper and deeper into the mental space until he reached a time node where he could be sent into this memory.


    He said in understanding, "I see. The dragon spirit wants to get me killed. If it could kill me itself, it would have done so already. I doubt it sent me here with the belief that I could actually usurp you."


    Mother High Heaven chuckled and said, "You are partly right. The dragon spirit can''t kill you, so it wants me to kill you. But that''s so it can possess your core. If you die, then it will be able to take that powerful core that you are building for yourself. After all, I doubt you would subject yourself to the naming ceremony. So it is nipping the problem in the bud. And if you do the unexpected and manage to usurp me, then the dragon spirit will be the Will of the realm."


    Mother High Heaven finished with a smile. "To the dragon spirit, this encounter was supposed to be a win-win for it regardless of the oue. But then you quit right from the start."


    Legion-8 broke out in a sweat then. What Mother High Heaven just said reminded him of the schemes of powerful beings. It reminded him of the first sage and his schemes that always leave him winning.


    This scheme is not as intricate as those of the first sage since he could still survive it, but it is enough for him to realize that he has be the target of the dragon spirit and that the dragon spirit probably knows about the shard of power.


    His suspicion is because if there is any way or any means for him to usurp Mother High Heaven, it would be through the iprehensible power of the shard of power.


    He had used the shard of power to create a dragon heart without weakness while he was still in the egg, so he is certain that the dragon spirit would have noticed the change to him. But he expected the dragon spirit to consider it a fluke. After all, there is no way the fragment of the soul of an Origin god is capable of it. The shard of power is also invisible to other beings.


    Apparently, he was wrong. Even if the dragon spirit doesn''t know exactly how he created his dragon heart, it knows enough to push him toward a dangerous situation where the odds are stacked against him. So he either has to create another miracle that will benefit the dragon spirit or he dies, which will also benefit the dragon spirit. It was indeed a win-


    win scheme for the dragon spirit.


    Legion-8mented, "I guess I am in trouble."


    Mother High Heaven confirmed it. "You are in big trouble. The dragon spirit definitely has its eyes on you. It will not be easy for you to escape from it."


    Legion-8 was not discouraged or cowered. He said, "I expected dealing with the dragons to be difficult. This has not changed my expectations of it."


    ----


    A/N: This is the bonus chapter for 1400 power stones goal. We still have for the 100 golden tickets goal. I will release that one tomorrow.

 Chapter 1501 A Proposal.

    <h4>Chapter 1501 A Proposal. </h4>


    Mother High Heaven wasn''t so optimistic about his situation. She said with pity, "I am afraid you have underestimated the power of dragons."


    Legion-8 heard the pity in her tone, but he asked stubbornly, "What else am I to do except fight?"


    He could surrender, but he is not going to do that. He is not going to allow the dragon spirit to bind his heart. Surrendering is practically dying for him. If he is to die, then he will rather die fighting.


    Besides, he has something powerful to rely on. As long as world gods don''t join in the fight, he should be able to do what he needs to hatch and escape from the dragons.


    Mother High Heaven answered his question. "There is an alternative for you other than surrendering or fighting to the death. I can help you escape. But you will have to do something for me."


    "Oh. You can help me? I thought you couldn''t act in undue favor of anyone at all."


    "My actions are limited to certain conditions. One of them is being attacked by the dragon spirit. I am allowed to retaliate and punish it. If my punishment helps you, then it is a happy coincidence. The other condition willeter."


    "I see. What do I need to do to get your help?"


    His interest was piqued. Getting the help of Mother High Heaven will increase his chances of surviving and escaping. In fact, it will make it all but certain that he will escape. After all, she is the strongest entity in the realm, apart from the realm lord. So he and Legion are willing to secure her help.


    She replied, "The dragons are going to do something against the rules to keep you. That will provide the second condition needed for me to act against the dragons as a whole. I can choose to interfere and help you, or I can stand back and watch. If you want me to interfere, you, and I mean the whole of Legion, must do something for me in the future that I cannot say now."


    Thest part of what she said doused his excitement.


    He said tentatively, "So it will be an open promise? Will we owe you something that we don''t know and can be anything? I don''t think we can make that promise."


    Mother High Heaven tried to ease his worries. She said, "Don''t worry. It is something that you can do easily."


    That didn''t ease his worries. An open promise is the worst kind of oath you can take. She will be able to ask him to do anything with it. That is not something he is willing to swear to. On the one hand, there are the dragons and their intention to break the rules of the realm just to keep him. On the other hand, there is salvation from the dragons but effective envement to Mother High Heaven. His choice is clear.


    He said with determination, "I am sorry, but we cannot do it."


    He has experienced envement two times already, so he doesn''t want to be in that situation ever again. If he fails to hatch and escape from the dragons, he will be the only one to be sacrificed. Enving himself to Mother High Heaven, on the other hand, is effectively enving all of Legion to her.


    The envement of Ragnarok and Legion-7 can''t evenpare to the envement of all of Legion at all. First of all, their envers do not have her power, so it will be more dangerous.


    Secondly, Ragnarok and Legion-7 escaped both times due to the shard of power. The entities they escaped from didn''t know about the shard of power and its capabilities. Mother High Heaven might not know the full power of the shard of power, but she has seen some of its abilities several times. Escaping from her would be very difficult because of it.


    Plus, there is this nagging feeling that she is about to drag him into greater danger. It could be because he is instinctively wary of anything rted to world gods. He doesn''t know if she is working together with the realm lord or with someone else, as she should have no need to scheme against him, but he can''t rule out that she might be scheming against him.


    That suspicion was all but confirmed by the incredible, dangerous darkness that Soverick saw in their future if he epts the deal with her. He doesn''t know what the danger is, but he knows it is there in the future, and he can''t see it. That means it is at least at the world god level.


    So his rejection was firm. There''s practically nothing that she can say to convince him otherwise.


    Mother High Heaven was disappointed. He could feel it all around him. She didn''t attack him, though. He had done nothing wrong by rejecting her request, so she just sighed. "I thought as much."


    He had to ask, "What is so difficult that you need my help? You are so powerful. I doubt there is anything I can help you with."


    "I can''t say. But know that I have helped you and Legion just as I have helped all my children. I doubt you will move to help me when I need it because of your kindness. But I want you to help nheless because I will reward you for it."


    Then the world broke apart, leaving Legion-8 more confused and afraid. He is confused about what Mother High Heaven said, and he is also afraid for her. Whatever will push an entity with the power of a world god into a state where it needs help cannot be taken lightly at all.


    He said to himself, "I guess there is more to be known about this world. But that is forter. I have my own problems to deal with."


    The new information he has acquired from Mother High Heaven has made Legion realize that his escape won''t be so simple, but it hasn''t changed much of their ns. After all, they have already prepared for the worst.

 Chapter 1502 Submit Or Die.

    <h4>Chapter 1502 Submit Or Die.</h4>


    The worst scenario they have prepared for is an all-out battle with the dragon race and the dragon spirit. Things haven''t gone worse than that so they are right on track.


    Soverick has even confirmed that many powerful dragons have returned to the realm, and they all have one target. That target is clear to them after Soverick saw all of them entrenched around the ancestral grounds of the dragons.


    As for the matter of the dragons breaking rules to keep him, it is something that they suspect is likely to happen. Origin gods are not encouraged to enter the realm or use their domain. But it is highly likely that the dragons will break some rules during the fight that is about to ensue so that Origin gods can use their full power in the realm. Legion is also prepared to do that if it happens. So they are as prepared as they can be.


    Legion-8 chuckled when he thought about their ns. "To think the enmity between Legion and the dragons would lead to this moment. How interesting."


    He is thinking of the moment he lost to a dragon in the trial of heaven. Gehaldirah had to run for his life back then. Now they are bringing the fight to the home ground of the dragons, and the entire dragon race of the high heaven realm is taking them seriously. It is all in fulfillment of that promise that Gehaldirah made. He said he would bring Chaos to the dragons. That Chaos ising.


    He chuckled some more. Then he decided to go to sleep. He has had enough of the ancestral trials now that he has all the talent that he needs. His inner world is fully formed now. It isplete with destruction and creation, which are joined together at the center with space and time, while the otherws of fire, water, air, earth, light, darkness, life, death, and lightning form a ring around them.


    The ancestral trials aren''t all about gaining talent and protection from the ancestors. Dragons also use them to gain knowledge and memories from their ancestors. He would like to acquire more information through the trials, but he doesn''t want to test his fate anymore now that he knows that the trials are being manipted against him by the dragon spirit.


    In a way, this mental space is a battleground. The battle between Legion and the dragons had already started before he was born. Things can only get worse. But before then, he would like some peace and quiet.


    Unfortunately, things didn''t go his way. He is a dragon with dragon bloodlines that have left imprints embedded in his existence. He may not have performed the naming ceremony yet, but the dragon spirit still has a hold on him. It used that influence on him now.


    The mental space began vibrating. It was shaking in a way that hurt Legion-8''s soul. His consciousness was rattling heavily, which is not an easy thing for a soul that isparable to that of an Origin god that has reached the limit of power without a Supreme Law.


    A dignified, calm voice rang in his mind. "Submit or die!"


    The voice didn''t wait for his answer. It attacked his soul immediately. Legion-8 reeled in shock. His consciousness blurred when he felt the massive consciousness smash against his soul. But then the injuries to his soul healed instantly.


    Legion-9 helped him recover quickly from the injury. Then he mocked, "Is this all you''ve got?"


    If he had unified with Legion-7 then this kind of spiritual attack wouldn''t have affected him at all. Even so, he is not so vulnerable. He might be alone, but he is not on his own.


    The answer from the dragon spirit came soon after. His soul was smashed again. It is truly all the dragon spirit has in its arsenal. It may not be able to act directly to kill a dragon, but it can cause him pain.


    He roared defiantly, "Bring it on."


    The dragon spirit brought it on. It is an all-out mental attack. The vibration of the mental space was like knives cutting at his soul, while the consciousness smashing against his soul was like a hammer striking him. Thebination of the two created a terrifying attack meant to tear his soul to pieces. But he only felt pain. His soul withstood the onught in defiance.


    No amount of damage could ovee the regeneration effect of immortal essence from the tree father. Even an Origin god that is near death will be able to recover instantly by consuming one bead of it. This much damage to him is nothing after passing through his shield of powerful soul force.


    The dragon spirit dered again, "Submit or die!"


    Legion-8 didn''t capitte. He sneered and replied with confidence, "This is not enough to make me submit."


    This is not the first time he has been forced to submit an ultimatum. Ragnarok faced it, and Legion-7 was hounded by the great mother too. But they didn''t surrender, and neither will he.


    He told the dragon spirit to its face, "Kill me if you can. But I will never submit."


    Even if Ragnarok and Legion-7 had capitted, he could never capitte. He is a dragon, and dragons never serve others. He is supreme. He is a paragon onto himself. He is not just a dragon, he is a perfect dragon with the divine ability of omnipotence. How can he bend his head to anyone?


    The dragon spirit didn''t say anything else aside from its ultimatum. It simply continued the cutting and the smashing. It made Legion-8 wonder if the dragon spirit is unable to kill him or if it is just content with torturing him. He is inclined to believe thetter because Mother High Heaven had said that it couldn''t kill him. If that is true, then this must be torture.


    He doubts the dragon spirit is doing it for fun, so it must be trying to torture him into submission. Unfortunately for it, Legion is no stranger to pain.

 Chapter 1503 The Verdict.

    <h4>Chapter 1503 The Verdict. </h4>


    Legion has survived the painful separation of their body from their soul. They have survived the constant and painful corrosion of Chaos energy for 50 years. This much pain is nothing to him. It also helps to know that the clones are almost done with their preparation. All he has to do is endure until theye.


    The dragon spirit shouted again, "Submit or die!"


    This rang out in the bloodline space as his soul was put through a blender.


    -----The Attack.


    The realm lord said in excitement. "It seems it is about to start."


    He knows everything that is going on in the realm. His vision is limited to physical actions and not thoughts, but it is enough for him to know when the showdown between Legion and the dragons is about to start. It is a fight he is not willing to miss. That''s why he has tuned in to watch the match.


    He said in anticipation, "I had to stop dedicating all of my attention to my projects, but this will be worth it."


    He is sitting in his throne room on his elegant throne made of wood from the Tree of Life. His sight extended from the tower of heaven to the single most powerful ne roaming around the realm. He can see that dragons of various kinds have formed a cocoon around the ne. He can also see the main force that is about to attack them.


    Mother Heaven High, on the other hand, isn''t so excited for the uing battle. She said to him, "Now that this hase to this level, I am having reservations."


    He asked her with slight mirth, "Are you worried that the dragon king will be angry?"


    She replied, "Yes. I don''t even want him to turn his attention toward the realm. He might interfere with the era of conquest if he bes angry. We will definitely lose if that happens."


    Monarch High Heaven chuckled evilly. "It is toote for that. He already knows."


    Mother High Heaven wasn''t surprised by that. She sighed and said, "It was only a matter of time for him to find out about?Legion-8''s n to harm the dragon ne."


    Monarch High Heaven chuckled even more. "No, no, no. I meant that he knows everything about Legion. But there is no need to worry. He has already achieved what he created the dragons for. He won''t be angry at you for the destruction of the ne. You have already done your best, and you have no hand in it."


    That didn''t ease her worries. After all, she can recall vividly the majesty and might of the dragon king. The dragon king is not someone that one can be reasonable with. He must always get his way or destroy everything in his path.


    She was young when she encountered him, but she has not encountered energy as powerful as his from any entity since then. That energy was almost as powerful as cosmic energy. It wasn''t, but it was more malleable than cosmic energy.


    She used that energy to create the ancestor of high elves. The abilities of the ancient high elves and the dragons are just manifestations of the power and potential that the dragon king had. That was a long time ago. She can only imagine just how powerful he has be since then. So she is rightfully afraid of him.


    She said, "Still, this is dangerous. Anything could happen. Most of them are bad."


    The realm lord shrugged. "Nothing can be changed. The ne will be destroyed when the dragon clone is born. He will absorb the power of the life anchor of the ne, and he will be punished for it. The oue of this fight is set. Both the dragon ne and dragon clone will be finished by the end of all of this. That should appease the dragon king."


    Mother High Heaven didn''t know what to say about that statement. She doesn''t know why the dragon king chose to have offspring, so she doesn''t know what he has achieved through the dragons. She also doesn''t know how the realm lord acquired knowledge of the dragon king''s sess.


    There is a lot that she doesn''t know about him, so she was only mildly curious about the source of his information. That curiosity only increased when she sensed the confidence he had in the fact that Legion-8 would die. Unfortunately, she can''t ask him how she knows. There are secrets she keeps from him, and vice versa.


    She could only maintain her silence as she paid attention to the fight that was about to begin. An army approached the dragon ne. They are flying through the void in between nes using massive ships.


    These ships are warships. They are tubr but have tapered spherical ends. Each one of them is equipped with manyrge cannons. She can see millions of golems on each ship. These golems have the power of Origin gods each, so they are quite the threat. Then there are thousands of Supreme Beasts in each ship. This makes the uing fight a race war.


    This is a race war unlike any other. The supreme beast race would usually use three of their members to attack and subdue an entire ne. But here they are, with thousands of ships and a total of a million Supreme Beasts.


    It is obvious that they are taking this attack seriously. Mother High Heaven was not surprised by their enthusiasm for revenge. She knows how the Supreme Alliance would react to the news.


    The armada of the Supreme Alliance hadn''t reached their destination before they were contacted by their opponent.


    A dignified voice dered directly into their minds, "Leave now."


    The Supreme Beasts didn''t say anything in reply. They continued their forward journey at the same speed but with a mounting thirst for blood. They are not going to leave. It is thest thing on their mind right now. This fight is a long timeing. The Supreme Alliance has been looking forward to it ever since the dragons destroyed their home ne.


    -----


    A/N: Who wants to bet? Is Monarch High Heaven right or wrong about the conclusion of the uing fight?

 Chapter 1504 Glory To The Supreme Alliance.

    <h4>Chapter 1504 Glory To The Supreme Alliance.</h4>


    What they are about to do is just tit for tat. They have been attacked by dragons recently, so it is just right that they attack the dragons too. Their home ne has been destroyed, so the dragon ne should be destroyed too.


    They will not leave until the dragon ne has been destroyed. They are determined to do that, and nothing will stop them. Not even death. They are immortal. They will simply return after death to make sure their revenge is settled.


    Instead of fear, most of the Supreme Beasts felt excitement. Even the ancient ones that should have a good handle on their emotions felt emotional. This is because this fight is a precious opportunity for revenge that they never thought they would get.


    The Supreme Alliance has been looking for the home ne of the dragons for a long time, but they have never been able to find it for many reasons. The first reason is that it moves around. The second reason is that it cannot be sensed by any being that is not a dragon.


    It is as if there is a spiritual force field that distorts the space around it. It is both a spiritual illusion and a skilled use of spatial encryption. The third reason is that any entity that stumbles upon it dies through soul dissolution.


    All of these reasons made it so that they could not find the ne. The mission released by the Supreme Alliance for the location of the dragon home ne has gone unfulfilled, and many didn''t think it would ever be fulfilled. But a certain supreme beast of theirs managed to crack the stealth system of the ne.


    This Supreme Beast has the divine abilities of soul fire, a dragon heart, and a spatial divine ability. He happened to stumble upon the dragon ne a few hours ago and managed to decipher the encryption of the ne before he was killed.


    Unfortunately for the dragons, there was a glitch in their spiritual attack. It didn''t wipe out the memory of the Supreme Beast, so he remembered the coordinates of the ne after he resurrected. Then he informed the Supreme Alliance about an hour ago.


    The dragons might change the encryption quickly, so the Supreme Alliance rushed here with everything they could put together in a short time. Even so, what they managed to put together is enough to threaten the dragons.


    They might not be able to destroy the ne in one fell swoop, but they have set a minimum requirement for this expedition. It is tond on the ancestral grounds of the dragons. The dragons won''t be able to hide from them anymore, and they will be able to funnel the might of the Supreme Alliance onto them.


    The General of the Supreme Beasts in charge of the uing battle said to his troops, "Listen up. This war will be expensive. Many of you will die. A lot of wealth will be lost. But hear my words, we won''t stop until the dragon ne is destroyed. There is no surrender or retreat. This fight will go on forever if it must. Prepare for that eventuality, and do your best. Glory to the Supreme Alliance!!!"


    The Supreme Beasts raised their voice and shouted, "Glory! Glory! Glory!"


    This is their reply to the request to leave. The armada continued to approach, so the dragons formed up to resist them. Many dragons flew to position themselves in front of the supreme alliance. They formed a wall of bodies to protect their home ne.


    Each dragon is a collosal creature. The smallest one is 1 kilometer long. Tens of thousands of them formed into a massive wall that some might say is imprable. Then they opened their mouths to produce dragon breath at their enemies. So the wall is not only difficult to breach, it can also attack.


    The Supreme Alliance returned fire. Dragon firenced toward the armada while annihtion cannons fired back at the dragons.


    The annihtion beams were blocked by the barrier formed with dragon force and soul force. The annihtion beam that could cause a destruction chain reaction in everything it touches to amplify itself was blocked perfectly.


    The Supreme Alliance was also able to block the dragon fire with their energy shield. They did so at the cost of their energy stores. It is not a problem for them as long as they can get close to their targets. They used the protection of their barriers to continue moving forward under fire while returning fire.


    The first exchange appeared to be a draw. But both the dragons and the Supreme Alliance were already experiencing some strain. Even Mother High Heaven, who was watching, was also strained. That''s because she had to keep the realm intact under the pressure of attacks that can wipe out a ne.


    Legion was also stressed. Only one person wasn''t stressed or strained. The realm lord cheered them on with glee, "This is so exciting. Fight and fight. Fight for me."


    He almost couldn''t sit still. The system has made the calction with all the information that they have and has predicted the oue of this battle, but it is still exciting to see.


    He knows what will happen, but that hasn''t dampened his enthusiasm. He is looking forward to that ending with so much anticipation that it is difficult for him not to interfere in the fight by fanning the mes.


    He got his wish, too. Things got hectic and violent very quickly. The wall and the armada crashed into each other. Massive dragons shed with equally massive warships.


    The Supreme Alliance couldn''t stand back and fire because it is dying them from achieving their goal ofnding on the dragon ne. If they don''t achieve that as soon as possible, the coordinates of the dragon ne might be encrypted very soon.


    In that case, they would only be able to see the dragon ne at best. They wouldn''t be able to reach it. Then it will eventually be cloaked and disappear from their senses.


    -----


    A/N: Some people already guessed that Legion was going to make this move. The war between the Supreme Alliance and dragons is finally here.

 Chapter 1505 Excellent Pawn.

    <h4>Chapter 1505 Excellent Pawn. </h4>


    The Supreme Alliance didn''t want to lose their target for revenge aftering so close to it, so they tried to overwhelm the wall of dragons by crashing into it and scattering the dragons. However, each dragon is as big, durable, and powerful as their war fortress, so the Supreme Alliance had to fight tooth and nail for every inch of space that they gained.


    They were pushing the dragons, but things changed when the dragons stopped attacking the Supreme Beasts and started attacking the world in front of them. Fire poured out of their mouths in simr quantity and power as the firepower of the fortresses. The two waves of attacks shed and created a zone of death between the two armies.


    This zone was a sea of violent energy that attacked and destroyed anything that got close to it. It worked against the Supreme Beasts because they had to defend against the passive effect of the zone while advancing against the constant firepower of the dragons.


    The Supreme Beasts were slowed down and even forced to stop their advance when things became too dangerous. But didn''t give up though.


    Even the fact that their target, the dragon home ne, is moving away from them and further increasing the distance between them didn''t discourage them. They are willing to sacrifice everything in this battle for their goal of making progress.


    So they increased the power of their energy shields to the limit of their operating range. They were able to continue advancing due to their dogged determination. But it cost them a lot of energy.


    Monarch High Heaven pped and said, "Legion has found itself the right backer. The Supreme Alliance is highly motivated and is far fromcking in Origin stones and origin energy. Any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem for them. It is the best type of pawn one can find."


    He isplimenting both Legion and the Supreme Alliance. It is a well deservedpliment because the Supreme Alliance were able to get close to the ne despite the immense resistance of the dragon.


    Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worst for them when the dragon spirit started to attack them. The realm lord had been waiting for this moment. He expected it since the dragon spirit would attack anyone around the ne who isn''t a dragon. It is of higher imperative right now that it join the fight. After all, there''s no way it would stand back and watch the invasion happen.


    Waves of spiritual power surged forth from the dragon ne. It swept through the armada like a cleaver. Weak Origin gods froze. Those with even weaker spirits died. Only powerful Origin gods could maintain movement under the psychic strain.


    The psychic strain continued to increase as more and more Origin gods died. The Origin gods left alive had to bear the extra burden of those who had died. The Supreme Beasts decided that something had to be done. One of their Origin gods with a supremew got into action.


    Suddenly, the invisible spiritual wave attacking them materialized. It appeared to be a sea of white water bursting forth from the dragon ne and drowning the supreme beasts. But then a fire appeared in the white ocean after it had materialized. It started burning the white ocean. It did more than that. It was spreading from the armada all the way back to the ne.


    This fire is intangible, just like the sea of white water. The two phenomena appear to be illusions, but they have visible effects on the world. The appearance of the fire caused the psychic strain on the Supreme Beasts to lessen immediately.


    But the Supreme Beasts didn''t rest on theirurels. They used the materialized white ocean to curse the dragon spirit. Soon the white and pure water was contaminated rapidly. Potent curses, like those that would cripple Origin gods were used to fight the dragon spirit. The white ocean of spiritual water turned ck and was still burning.


    One particr curse they used was so potent that the dragon spirit had to cut off the outburst of spiritual power along with a considerable portion of itself. If it hadn''t done that, then the curse would have spread to it and through it to every dragon with an inner world below the level of a world god.


    The fire that was burning the white ocean was already targeting every dragon of the high heaven realm. But it went out after the white ocean disappeared. The fight resumed again without the psychic pressure.


    The realm lord was impressed by the sight. He had topliment them again. "The Supreme Alliance does not fail to impress me. Their use of curses is unparalleled."


    Mother High Heaven snickered. "They are good at it because they have been nning to target you and me with it."


    Monarch High Heaven chuckled. "I know that. But it doesn''t change the fact that it is impressive."


    He knows that the Supreme Alliance has been working on ways to dethrone him or at least fight him on equal footing, so it is not a surprise that they have a curse that can affect purely spiritual beings and manifestations of Will like Mother High Heaven and the dragon spirit.


    The fact that they created the curse to use on him doesn''t change the fact that he is impressed. He is not worried at all. Instead, he looked on excitedly to see what next the Supreme Alliance has up its sleeve.


    He wasn''t disappointed. Some Supreme beasts left the safety of their war fortresses to confront the dragons head-on. The fight moved on to the use of concepts.


    Heplimented them, "Smart. They n to distract the dragons so that their armada can advance."


    These Supreme Beasts belong to the warrior ss. Warriors are always on the front lines. They don''t need the ships to protect them. In fact, they are on the same level as the fortresses in terms of defense and durability, if not higher. So it would be a waste to keep them in the fortress.

 Chapter 1506 Push And Pull.

    <h4>Chapter 1506 Push And Pull. </h4>


    A better use of the warrior ss is to have them attack the dragons so that they will be preupied and won''t be able to stop the progression of the armada. This action practically doubled the number of enemies the dragons had to stop.


    What''s more is that these Warriors are not acting alone. They have been buffed to high heavens with extra power by the positive buff ss, who are safe within the war fortresses. So each one of the warriors is a walking volcano of power waiting to erupt among their enemies.


    The dragons saw them and attacked. However, the attacks of the dragons didn''t kill them. The warriors are smaller than the fortresses and faster too, so they were able to dodge attacks and get close to the dragons. Close-quarters fighting erupted on the frontlines of the battlefield immediately.


    The tides of the battle shifted from one side to another. The warriors are difficult to kill, but so are the dragons. The warriors are buffed, and so are the dragons. The dragon spirit couldn''t attack the supreme beasts directly, so it used its spiritual power to enhance the dragon force of the dragons. This made the dragons gain the upper hand for a while.


    But then the war fortresses got close enough to be able to interfere in the battle. The Supreme Alliance attacked indiscriminately. They sought to destroy everything in front of them, including the warriors. This is something they can do since warriors are hard to kill and warriors are immortal.


    It would take a lot of firepower to kill a warrior who is innately resistant to attacks, buffed up with more resistance, and constantly being healed. Even if they do die, their sacrifice is worth it. Plus, each warrior that dies increases the healing avable to keep the other warriors alive.


    Things went in favor of the Supreme Alliance because of the indiscriminate bombardment of their cannons. Soon, the surroundings of the dragon ne were bathed in explosions and death.


    But Supreme Beasts aren''t the only ones that are durable and immortal. The closeness of the war fortresses meant that the dragons could attack them with both their ranged attacks and their physical might.


    Each dragon is at least a warrior in that they have superior defense, vitality, and physical might. Each dragon also has dragon breath and dragon force, which make their attacks more powerful than what warriors are capable of. Then they all have their specialties and different elements. When all of these arebined, it creates an entity that is a terrifying force of nature.


    The burden of the war fortresses increased drastically due to thebined physical and magical attacks. The dragons were unstoppable. Their ws shredded the energy barriers while their bodies bashed the fortresses to pieces. This made the battle go in the favor of the dragons again.


    But then the one-man army ss of Supreme Beasts got to work. Another army that is more than a thousand times the total number of currentbatants appeared on the battlefield. This third army joined in on the side of the Supreme Alliance to attack the dragons.


    The negative buff ss also got to work on the dragons. Most of their curses and debuffs had limited effects on dragons because the dragons could resist all forms of suppression. But it increased the strain on the dragon force of the dragons and indirectly reduced the buff they were getting from the dragon spirit.


    Thebined advantage of numbers and negative buffs made the battle swing around to favor the supreme alliance again.


    It was one thing after another. Both sides yed their cards when they needed them. Each card turned the tides of battle in a thrilling tug of war between each enemy.


    The realm lord watched on with increasing excitement. He said to Mother High Heaven, "This is just the beginning. Things are about to get more fun. Can you imagine that?"


    He is right. This is not a fight that would be finished in a day. ording to his estimates, it would continue until the matter of Legion-8 is resolved or until the dragon ne is destroyed. Both of them could happen at the same time. But as of now, it is still far away.


    In the meantime, reinforcements for dragons and the Supreme Alliance are constantly arriving in the realm. Even the deadbatants are using Origin essence to rush their resurrection so that they can quickly return to battle.


    Monarch High Heaven was practically at the edge of his situghing like a mad man. Mother High Heaven, on the other hand, wasn''t so pleased by the sight.


    She said to him, "These are all resources that should be used in the era of conquest. Now they are being wasted away. Aren''t you concerned?"


    The realm lord spoke with confidence. "Don''t worry. Everything will be alright. The era of conquest might as well be in the bag."


    Mother High Heaven didn''t agree. "How can I not worry? I haven''t seen your source of confidence."


    Monarch High Heaven brushed aside her concerns and said, "Think about these questions. Is it possible for me to fail? When have I ever failed?"


    She was very quick to reply, "There are many times that you have failed. The most recent one is when you failed to steal an immortal continent without alerting anyone."


    The realm lord denied her im, "Those are just hearsays. They are baseless and without proof. Don''t believe everything you hear."


    "I didn''t hear it. I was there."


    The realm lord didn''t address her im. He ignored it and continued boastfully, "There is nothing to worry about. Let them burn their wealth. It won''t change anything about my ns."


    "Besides, this war should end in at most a decade. The Supreme Alliance would have gained ess to the ne in that period of time. And when they do, Legion must make their move, and this war will end."


    "The end also won''t affect us in anyway. Trust me."

 Chapter 1507 One Of Them.

    <h4>Chapter 1507 One Of Them.</h4>


    Mother High Heaven noticed that he had changed the subject. She was not willing to let the matter of his failures go, so she said, "There''s also that time you sneaked into the vault in the immortal alliance and failed to steal that artifact you boasted you could steal."


    Monarch High Heaven''s face twitched, but he still didn''t admit that failure.


    He said, "I guess we see things from different points of view. You saw my failure in stealing the artifact, but I see my sess in making them lose more wealth than the cost of the artifact."


    "Yes, I remember that. You killed a lot of them when you were running for your life. I guess that counts as some loss to them. But you failed to get the artifact."


    Monarch High Heaven coughed, "I seeded in something, and that''s all that matters. Now, can you please let it go?"


    Mother High Heaven wasn''t willing to let things end there. She continued to list his failures while they watched the race war proceed.


    Just like any war, this one is a bottomless pit, devouring resources. Fortunately, unlike most wars, this one didn''t cost lives. Fighting between immortals doesn''t cost lives. What it costs is in resources, and it costs a lot of them.


    The world gods on both sides are funneling resources into the fight to support their respective races. All these resources are being wasted in this war. Mother High Heaven felt the pain of the loss literally as those resources were used in many attempts to puncture the barrier of the realm.


    There is no special advantage in terms of resources on either side, but the Supreme Alliance has an advantage in the usage of resources. Their one-man army can create arge number of soldiers with the resources they have. Dragons, however, can''t use resources for much because they don''t need them.


    Dragons are mostly self-sufficient. Each one of them is good on its own. They never needed to go to the ancient battlefield for Origin energy. They didn''t need Origin weapons because they had their divine bodies. They didn''t need to attend the trial of heaven or take a tribtion to be Origin gods because they could make Origin essence without being Origin gods.


    At best, they use soul stones to increase their resurrection speed. So having a lot of resources means very little to them. The Supreme Alliance, on the other hand, has a myriad uses for resources ranging from golems to war fortresses to biomass for feeding their ve armies.


    This puts their resources to good use. They were able to pressure the dragons with their use of resources and slowly push them back. It cost them a lot of resources to do so, but they count it as an advantage to be able to transform resources into power, not a disadvantage.


    Their main force remained hidden among therge army they created with resources, so even though they were losing a lot of troops, the number of Supreme Beasts remained fairly constant. Plus, they have life essence to heal, which the dragons don''t have. This made it so that lesser supreme beasts died.


    These two factors made it so that, over time, the overall battle situation was in favor of the Supreme Alliance. By now, the dragons have their backs pressed against the ne they are trying to defend. Eventually, the Supreme Alliance will gain ess to the dragon ne.


    Legion has to make a move then to take advantage of the Chaos in the ne if the dragon clone ns to hatch. If they wait, then the Supreme Alliance might interfere with the hatching.


    The hatching has to be done perfectly. Legion-6 is there to make sure that they get the timing right. So he is on the frontlines of the battlefield. The fighting raged on all around him. Thunder boomed, energy exploded, and space quaked. But he stoodrgely unharmed in the midst of all this destruction.


    Ragnarok is in Legion-5''s dragon form. But his scales are ck, not blue. His horn is golden, and his eyes are bright like twin stars. He is currently fighting a powerful earth dragon. This type of dragon has the most powerful defense of all types of dragons. Their defense besrgely unmatched when they be Origin gods. But today, the dragon has met his match.


    The dragon isrger than him, but it doesn''t have an advantage in strength. Legion-6 met her blow for blow. The dragon couldn''t harm him at all, while he could harm the dragon. He has six arms, which he uses to great effect.


    Each arm ends in a sharp de made of his body, courtesy of Legion-5''s Origin diamond physique. These des are so sharp that he managed to chip the body of the brown earth dragon.


    It is just a small chip in the defense of the dragon. But when it is coupled with his hypersonic attack speed, the poor dragon bes whittled down rabidly.


    Legion-6''s six arms were a sh of movement. They couldn''t be seen. Only the effect of their movement could be seen. Everything in front of him was sliced apart and destroyed. Then he moved on to the next obstacle.


    He is limiting his power and hiding his full abilities so as to appear like a young Origin god. But even so, what little he is exhibiting is more than enough. He has even stood out on the battlefield because of his progress in approaching the dragon''s home ne.


    It can''t be helped. Despite the fact that he hasn''t used his own concept, which he is most powerful at, the passive defensive capabilities and physical prowess of Legion-5 and Legion-1bined have made him the most powerful Origin god beneath the level of Supreme Origin gods. After all, he is thebination of a world beast and dragon currently.


    His progress made the dragons pay extra attention to him. They flocked towards him to block his path. But the addition of the space surfing divine ability of the crystal butterfly has further made him unmatched on the battlefield.

 Chapter 1508 Mountain Lamp.

    Chapter 1508 Mountain Lamp.


    ??He was truly like a butterfly on the battlefield. He couldn''t be boxed in, and he couldn''t be suppressed because of the dragon heart. What the dragons didn''t want finally happened. He reached their home ne after three short years of fighting.


    It was then that Legion-8 chose to hatch. Everyone within and outside the ne felt it as soon as he came into the world. It didn''t feel like a living thing was being born. It felt like the universe was giving birth to a treasure. It felt like power was being reincarnated into a physical form.


    The seemingly ordinary ck egg that had been abandoned by its mother after not hatching for more than 10,000 years finally hatched. The shell cracked and broke apart. Light burst out from within as if trying to escape.


    The mountain the egg was in was lit up from within. It became translucent as the light passed through it into the environment. The whole mountain became amp, illuminating the world.


    The shells of the egg didn''t fall to the ground. Instead, they fell inward into the egg. It is as if there was something within the egg pulling them.


    The shell of the egg fell into the egg to reveal a small star. It is a beautiful star with many colors. Astute observation will indicate that the colors are 13 in number. There is even a white halo around the core of the star.


    It is a beautiful star. But it is also a deadly star. The halo around the star is stationary, but the star itself is rotating, and its speed of rotation is increasing rapidly. It caused a formless power to spread outward from the star.


    Everything that the formless power enveloped lost its color and froze. So the surroundings of the star became gray andpletely still. It was as if the 3-dimensional world had be 2-dimensional. The formless power turned the world into a still and drab painting.


    This infection spread rapidly into the world. It filled the sky and the ground. It caused a spherical zone of grayness and stillness to appear in the home ne of the dragons. The mountain was still amp, but it had be gray too.


    This zone of greyness was increasing, so the dragons moved to stop it. If they didn''t know about Legion-8 before, then they surely know about him now.


    Thousands of dragons came to attack him. Legion-8 was expecting it. He watched the avnche of dragon breath with disdain, without the intention to dodge or block. Instead, he was already preparing his dragon heart for an attack in retaliation.


    The dragon breath moved close to him and entered the zone of grayness. The grayness infected them and made them freeze in the air. The attacks of thousands of dragons were nullified.


    Then he dered, "Dominate: Push."


    The world obeyed immediately. There was an explosion as an invisible force expanded outward and instantly from him. The sky and earth were ttened and pushed aside. Everything in the grayness disintegrated silently, while the dragons in the sky were smashed by the force in arge explosion.


    It felt like they flew face-first into a wall. They were struck down from the sky and flung away from the star.


    The cave the egg was in had been destroyed in the explosion. Even the mountain was not spared. It ispletely missing. A crater has appeared where it should be. Above the air in the same location was the star still shining and still spreading the zone of grayness and stillness.


    The star dered again, "Dominate: Down."


    Gravity increased more than ten thousand times in a split second throughout the ne. Everything in the world was pressed to the ground. Things that were high in the sky were smashed against the ground with so much force that they either cracked or cracked the ground.


    As if that wasn''t enough, the star dered again, "Dominate: Pull."


    This time, it was the world beyond the grayness that obeyed. The ground, trees, water, air, and even the dragons in intimate contact with the ground were all pulled towards the star.


    No one could resist at all. Not after they have been thrown back and down in quick session. They froze immediately after they entered the zone of grayness, thereby forming arge barrier around the egg. This barrier continued to thicken as the zone of grayness expanded and as more objects were pulled into it.


    Legion-8 observed the barrier around him in satisfaction. He said to himself, "This is worthy of a god-beast."


    The barrier is his new egg shell. He is creating a new egg since thest one wasn''t good enough to finish his gestation. He is a powerful being that requires the nourishment of heaven and earth for him to be born.


    This is not a phenomenon that is unique to him. Every godling or god beast born by the void universe was born this way. He has mimicked the divine ability of the dragon king, so he too must fulfill these requirements to be born. The world around him will serve as nutrition for his birth.


    The dragon king and the ancestor of world beasts went through this process. It is just that they were born in the void. That''s why both of their descendants find it easy to survive in the void. World beasts practically eat void energy, and dragons can refine Origin essence without being Origin gods.


    He doesn''t have the luxury of being born in the void, and he doesn''t have the support of the void universe either. So he has to make do with what he has. But the dragons are selfish and inconsiderate. They wanted to interrupt his gestation at all costs.


    The barrier he created with Cosmic force was thickening at a rate of 10 meters per second. In at most two minutes, he would have a shell that is more than a kilometer thick. They saw this happening, and they wanted to stop it, but even their dragon breath will lose its power and freeze whenever it reaches the barrier. Then their breath will also join the barrier to protect him.

 Chapter 1509 Lets Gooo!

    Chapter 1509 Let''s Gooo!


    ??So their very attempts to stop him was reinforcing his barrier. It couldn''t be helped. As a god beast who has been born with the innate ability to manipte cosmic forces, only a Supreme Origin god can match him as he is. If they wait for him to be fully mature, then only world gods will be able to match him.


    Legion-8 was disdainful of their attempts until Supreme dragons came to stop him. He didn''t wait for them to make their moves at all. He released his dragon breath wantonly at any target that he considered dangerous.


    Light disappeared from the world as soon as his breath appeared. The whole ne was plunged into darkness because light and every form of energy around him were being used to power his dragon breath not his own energy.


    Then a white pir was produced from the center of the zone of grayness. The white pir separated into several beams that twisted and turned to reach their target. Then they cut through everything in their path. Everything it touched disintegrated instantly. Nothing could block it. Not the space warping barrier of space dragons or the time stasis barrier of time dragons.


    The white beams left trails of sma and ash in their wake. Both space and time were harmed in ways no one thought was possible. Even the Supreme Origin gods, who were hiding below thew matrix, were not spared. They didn''t die, but they lost contact with the world. They were essentially sealed and frozen.


    This is because they could defend the attack. If they hadn''t used the full power of their Supreme Law to defend themselves, then they would have died.


    The whole ne was plunged into silent destruction. Not many could see or hear the death and destruction because of the absence of light and sound, but that didn''t remove from its tragess.


    The dragons were running for their lives only to die soon after. No one watched as the barrier expanded or tried to stop it. The barrier expanded into the sky and into the earth. It punctured the ground of the ne until it reached its foundation. Then it couldn''t go further anymore because the foundation of the ne is an immortalnd dragged into the realm.


    Legion-8 couldn''t destroy the ne outright, but his egg is like a tumor in the ne. Apart from the stress he is putting on the ne, he is also siphoning arge amount of energy and matter from the ne. The immortalnd is indestructible, but its connection to the ne, specifically the life crystal, is not.


    His act of being born is a burden that the life crystal has to bear. If it can''t bear it, it will be destroyed, and the ne will be detached from the realm. The immortalnd might float away from the realm and take away the ne with it because it is highly unlikely that the Will of the Realm would go through the painful and dangerous process of reattaching it to the realm. So Legion-8 has to be stopped, or the dragons will lose their home ne.


    Unfortunately for them, it appears that there is nothing they can do to stop him. At least not when he is still in the egg. Besides, the attack of the Supreme Alliance has only intensified. The dragons have to split their attention between the external attackers and the internal saboteur.


    Legion-6 managed to break through the sky defense array around the ne. The first two things he saw when he entered the ne were therge mountain of wealth at the center of the ne and therge spherical gray ball. He didn''t approach either. Instead, he activated his concept and flew to the spot between the two of them.


    He shouted excitedly as he fell to the earth, "Let''s goooooo."


    He shouted excitedly as he fell to the earth, "Let''s goooooo."


    He should be serious since the situation is very dangerous and there is a lot at stake here but he couldn''t help but be excited. After all, he is about to take part in destroying a ne again. Most importantly, it is the dragon ne. He is excited for all of Legion.


    He fell to the ground like a meteorite and created a massive explosion. There was a crater where hended. That crater began to grow as a ck whirlpool appeared within it.


    The ck whirlpool grew faster than the crater. It was as if it were impatient. It consumed the earth around the crater and the air around it. Even the sky was being pulled downward into it.


    It kicked up wind and earth, so it drew a lot of attention. It was quite a sight. Unlike the pull around the egg that is creating the barrier, this pull is creating a swirling vortex of darkness. What the two of them have inmon is that they are both spreading, and they are spreading quickly.


    The bottomless abyss appeared within the realm tree again. The ne is in total darkness, just like the Lumen ne, but that didn''t spare it from the terrible consequences of his concept. Dark storm clouds appeared in the sky. They revolved around a typhoon that was pulling the sky downward into Ragnarok. The dark storms are also producing lightning that is setting fire to the ne.


    The sight of the mes, the hurricane, and the lightning storm brought back pleasant memories to him.


    He said in nostalgia, "This reminds me of the good old days."


    The inhabitants of this ne became terrified of what he was doing after his concept had unfurled. They are more terrified than the inhabitants of the Lumen ne, but they are also angrier.


    He shrugged and said, "That''s dragons for you. They are always angry at something."


    Just like the fountain of life, these dragons also tried to stop him, but all their attacks were devoured. This made him grow faster. It became toote to stop him after they realized the full extent of his concept.

 Chapter 1510 Next Step: Immortality.

    Chapter 1510 Next Step: Immortality.


    ??Ragnarok is Legion''s next move. If Legion-8 and the Supreme Alliance are not enough to tie down the dragons, then the bottomless abyss might just do the trick. It is just that in this case, the bottomless abyss is overkill.


    For the first time in history, the entire dragon ne has been turnedpletely upside down. Even though Ragnarok is not using the boost of his shard of power, the abyss that he created reached the very top of the ne as a hurricane and reached down to its foundation as a pit. It is also spreading and will soon reach both the sphere of grayness and the mountain of wealth at the center of the ne.


    The chaos made Ragnarok and Legion happy. The look of frustration and anger on the dragons reminded them of their promise of chaos. Gehaldirah had the same look of frustration and anger when he was made to run away like a rat from the dragon in the trial. That dragon had a grin on its face and was smug. Now it is their turn to grin and be smug.


    They enjoyed every moment of it until Legion-8 finished gestating. The solid barrier, which was more than 10 kilometers thick, turned to dust. The space that the gray sphere upied also copsed into the star at its center. It caused a dark void to appear in the ne.


    This dark void couldn''t be seen with the eye because of the pitch darkness submerging the whole ne, but it could be felt as the ne shook because of it. The impact of the sudden appearance of emptiness caused the ne to contract rapidly to fill in the void.


    The immortalnd was unmoved, but the life crystal was stretched to its limit. It couldn''t handle the stress after Legion-8 had siphoned arge amount of its power. It snapped and broke. It caused the ne to detach from the realm.


    The dragons wailed and roared in anger. They turned their gaze, filled with yearning for retribution, towards the center of the void. In the dark void is the most beautiful dragon ever. It is a crystal dragon, fluctuating with various colors. Sometimes it is ck, and sometimes it is red. Other times, it is yellow, green, and brown at the same time.


    Legion-8 stood out in the darkness of the void left behind by his egg. Both space, time, and matter around him had been consumed. Now he has been born, but it is not the end of his troubles. He still has to escape.


    Escaping the ne is unlikely to end his woes. As things are, it is certain that the dragons won''t let him go. He will be chased with all their might. Then there is the Supreme Alliance, which is hell-bent on killing every dragon. So the best thing he can do to be safe is to acquire immortality. He will have very little to fear with it.


    There are two options for him to get immortality. The first option is to unify with Legion-7. This option is more difficult than it should be because Legion-7 can''t break through theyers of space in this ne due to the dragon spirit and the encryption of space. But it is still something he can do.


    Since Legion-7 can''t unify with him the way it did with Ragnarok, all he has to do is meet up with Ragnarok, who is close by, and make physical contact with him. The process will be quick, as opposed to the second option, which is to be an Origin god.


    Legion-8 is very powerful, but he is not an Origin god yet. He is at most a very powerful transcendent. He still needs toprehendws, be a titan ofw, and then be an Origin god.


    This might be difficult for others to do in an Origin cycle, but he can do all of these in a few hours. It would be dangerous and longer to do than the first option, but he decided to do it instead of unifying with Legion-7.


    Fortunately, he is not alone. He has Ragnarok here to protect him. The bottomless abyss is spreading wantonly in front of everyone, while the other clones are lurking around secretly to protect him. All he has to do isprehend thews he needs, enter his domain, and use the image that has been created for this moment to be a titan ofw.


    He did so very quickly. He used thews he needed at 100%prehension, and the universe rewarded him for his achievement. Then he summoned Legion-1''s domain and hid within it. Ragnarok covered the location he hid in with his bottomless abyss so that no one would be able to interrupt him.


    Legion-8 started the breakthrough to Titan of Law immediately. He doesn''t need to spend time creating a concept because Legion has already done so. The ring of stars representing his various Authorities was made to collide within his Origin core.


    The 13 of them collided and created a massive supernova. He pulled his dragon heart into his Origin and caused it to take root at the point of intersection of thews with his image. Then he began pulling the essence of the stars into his dragon heart . The essence fused with it ording to the image he had created for his concept.


    His breakthrough went without a hitch since he could manipte cosmic forces and he had ess to cosmic energy from Helios. His essence leaked out, but he replenished it with more cosmic energy and managed to create a 13w concept.


    It is notplete yet, as it needs some finishing touches, but it is undoubtedly a worthy achievement. Even the dragon king was impressed. It appeared to congratte him.


    A single eye appeared in the void of his domain. This eye has the same number of pupils and colors as his dragon heart. All 13 of them were fixed on him intently.


    A voice came from the eye. "Congrattions on your sess."


    ------

 Chapter 1511 For Legion. For Perfection.

    <h4>Chapter 1511 For Legion. For Perfection. </h4>


    Legion-8 wasn''t flustered by the sudden intrusion. He expected the dragon king or the dragon spirit to show up. This is because he has the bloodline of the dragon king at one point or the other.


    For One he is still in the dragon ne so the dragon spirit can reach him. And as a being on the level of a world god or more, the dragon king''s bloodline is more than enough connection to reach him. If Tssandulighafan can reach him through a mere imprint, then the entity who created the dragon race with his blood can surely do the same.


    Even though he was prepared for his visit, Legion-8''s heart sank when it happened. It is because his situation has be worse now that a world god has interfered.


    His situation is not without hope, though. The influence of his bloodline is currently waning. His breakthrough to titan ofw is causing the hold of the dragon king on him to reduce. Even if the influence is notpletely eliminated because he used a copy of the dragon king''s divine ability to create his concept, the hold will surely disappear when he bes an Origin god. So he will be free from the dragon king in time.


    This made him rx. He said calmly, "Thank you, ancestor."


    The dragon king said, "I will get down to business. Submit or die."


    Legion-8 asked, "Haven''t we gone through this before?"


    "That was before you knew that I was interested in you. The dragon spirit can''t kill you, but I can. You should know a little about me, if you don''t give me what I want, then I will smash you. I''m sure you have learned that much from stories about me. So what say you?"


    Legion-8 answered without hesitation, "I choose death."


    "Is that so? I am disappointed in you. Then so be it."


    The domain shook. Something came from outside of it and smashed into him. He didn''t see what it was at all. He only felt pain. His body shook and cracked. He was dying. Even his domain was shaking. Whatever it was had hurt Legion-1 too, but not as much as him.


    Legion-8 groaned. But only that. He didn''t cry out in pain as his existence began to copse. He didn''t die immediately because of the immortal essence from Legion-9, but he is still dying. Immortal essence is only slowing it down. He has at most a few more seconds to live.


    Legion was not surprised by the attack or its power. They didn''t see iting, even with Soverick''s eyes, but they expected it. So Legion-8 didn''t panic. He removed the domain around him and appeared in the world.


    He saw that the world had been divided in half. A line had dissected the world in half. This line passed through Ragnarok''s concept and the spot he was hiding in the domain.


    He appeared between the two halves that the world had been divided into, so he noticed that both sides were misaligned. It is as if reality were a fruit that had been sliced and couldn''t be put together as it was.


    He said in admiration, "Truly powerful."


    Everything that the line passed through was cut in half. Even within a domain, he was not safe from it. It was just a physical attack, but it was powerful enough to strike Legion-1 through the domain too.


    He said again in admiration, "Truly worthy of the dragon king."


    ording to Soverick, the dragon king is very far away in the void universe, but he was able to attack him within a domain in a realm tree from across the void universe. One can only imagine just how powerful the dragon king would be up close. Legion can imagine that power, and all they felt for it was longing and not fear.


    Legion-8 felt that longing within him as he rushed towards Legion-6. He has to rush towards Ragnarok because the second n to achieve immortality has been botched. He can''t be an Origin god in his current state. He can''t evenplete his concept.


    If he is to save himself, then he must unify with Legion-7. He will have another chance to be an Origin god then. His concept will be avable to Legion-unity then, and he will have fulfilled his purpose of pushing Legion towards perfection.


    Maybe his death could have been avoided had he decided to unite with Legion-7 in the first ce. But it is not toote. The smart thing to do now is reach Ragnarok and have him get into contact with Legion-7.


    No one could approach Ragnarok as he is. He has the weakness of being slow. His concept is mostly stationary, so he is not capable of threatening Origin gods that run away from him. But any Origin god that approaches him will be devoured. Only Legion-8 could approach him.


    Ragnarok is an Origin god now, so he has perfect control over his concept since he is his concept. He didn''t want to harm Legion-8, so he didn''t. So Legion-8 managed to get close to him. His multicolored dragon body was king away at every moment, but he managed to cover the distance quickly.


    He had be a phantom of himself by the time he reached Ragnarok. He would die at any moment, but the two of them didn''t touch each other andplete the unification.


    They didn''t do the smart thing. Instead, Legion-8 said hisst words, "For Legion. For perfection."


    Then he died. His phantom body broke apart on its own, and his existence was scattered to the wind. The only thing left behind was the concept he was building.


    His dragon heart has be a seed of power now. It won''t disappear, even if he dies. His shard of power and soul sphere returned to Legion-1. Legion sensed then that they could create another clone. It means Legion-8 ispletely and truly dead.


    Ragnarok took the multicolored dragon heart solemnly. He muttered, "For Legion. For perfection."

 Chapter 1512 A Send Off.

    <h4>Chapter 1512 A Send Off.</h4>


    Ragnarok didn''t feel pain about the death of the dragon clone because Legion-8 had done his part in furthering their goal of perfection. It is something that he too was willing to do when he angered CARNAGE by devouring the ne. He was ready to die then, and Legion-8 was also ready to die.


    In fact, there was no way out of it. Legion-8 had to die. Soverick was certain of it right from the moment he felt the gaze of the dragon king on them.


    Soverick could sense the gazes of world gods as a transcendent, so it is easy to sense the gaze of someone more powerful than world gods now that he is an Origin god. They half expected the dragon king to attack them then, but he didn''t. They did some thinking and came to the conclusion that the dragon king must want something from them since he didn''t kill them immediately.


    It could be that the dragon king wanted to kill them in the future, or he wanted Legion-8''s divine ability, or he wanted something from the rest of them. Either way, they had to cut off their connection to Legion-8, unless Legion-8 managed to cut off his connection to the dragon king. That''s why the dragon clone didn''t try to unite with Legion-7 at the earliest moment to preserve his life.


    Soverick''s eyes might not be able to see everything there is to see despite calling it the All-seeing Eye, but he can surely sense it when someone gazes at him, and he can even trace back the sight of the entity to its source. That''s how they knew they had be the target of the dragon king, and how they knew that Legion-8 was a time bomb.


    Legion-8''s bloodline and the imprints of his ancestors within them serve as the point of influence of the dragon king. If that point of influence remains and Legion-8 unifies with Legion, then all of Legion woulde under the influence of the dragon king. They couldn''t allow that, but they also couldn''t give up on the dragon clone''s divine ability. So they pretended not to know about the dragon king''s gaze and put on a show to rescue Legion-8.


    Legion-8 first tried to get rid of the influence. That''s why he chose to be an Origin god first. But the dragon king was not going to allow that. It scared Legion-8 with that attack. However, they weren''t fooled because they knew that the dragon king could have killed Legion-8 instantly if it wanted to through his bloodline.


    The dragon king didn''t need to make a show of attacking from outside the realm. But Legion-8 didn''t call him out on that pretense. He pretended to unify with Legion through Ragnarok, but it was just to make his dragon heart close to Ragnarok so that he wouldn''t die in vain.


    There was no way Legion was going to unify with him with his bloodline still there. Legion-8 had to die to shed that influence. What Ragnarok and the other clones came for was to collect the corpse of a god-beast.


    The dragon king must have realized his ns had been seen through when he saw that Legion-8 would rather die than unify with Legion. He was fooled despite seeing all of their actions because they hadn''t done anything suspicious. He couldn''t hear their thoughts, so he didn''t know their scheme.


    But that didn''t cate him. He became angry, and he used the full power he could exhibit at this distance. A mysterious force began to spread outward from every dragon in the ne. It is the same force that Legion-8 emitted. It came out of the heart of every dragon that had performed the naming ceremony and caused the world to lose color and be gray.


    Every dragon became a node for the dragon king to exert his power. The statue of the dragon spirit within their inner world began to shine as it projected the power of the dragon king into the world and made its Will manifest in the ne.


    The whole ne frozepletely because of it. Even the fighting in the void outside the ne stopped because everyone froze. The world lost its color, and there was nothing but drab silence.


    The angry voice of the dragon king sounded in this silent and frozen world. "I am impressed that you discovered my n. Tell me, how did you do it? Was it through that meddlesome clone with the weird eyes?"


    Ragnarok didn''t reply. It is not because he couldn''t speak in his frozen state. He can speak. That''s because the dragon king allows him to. Even his consciousness would be frozen if the dragon king didn''t intend for him to hear. But he didn''t reply because he was not willing to say anything at all.


    "You don''t need to answer me for me to know. It must be because of that monkey clone. What is his name again? Soverick, is it? Yes. That must be it. His eyes are indeed special. But I didn''t expect that he would be able to notice me. How did he manage to do that?"


    This time, the dragon king didn''t wait for him to reply. He said, "I guess it must be the enhancement of that shard of power. That is a very powerful object. Do you know what it is and what it is capable of?"


    The fact that the dragon king knew everything about them, including the shard of power, didn''t surprise them. They already suspected it when the dragon spirit arranged for Legion-8 to fight Mother High Heaven. This has only confirmed it.


    It is an unpleasant feeling to have all their secrets exposed, but all they can do is adapt to it. After all, they can''t do anything else about it.


    The dragon king continued with a calm and confident tone. "I doubt that you know what the shard of power is capable of. But I will tell you. It is so powerful that I will do anything to have it. So do you understand what kind of situation you have put me in and what kind of dilemma you are in?"

 Chapter 1513 Dragon Transformation.

    Chapter 1513 Dragon Transformation.


    ??Ragnarok would have rolled his eyes if it were possible. They can''t give the shard of power away, even if they want to. Legion would need to die for that to be remotely possible, and they are not willing to do that. So all of this talk is not going to change anything.


    The dragon king doesn''t expect to convince them to give up their lives. That''s why he is going to perform the naming ceremony on Ragnarok.


    "You may not be a dragon, but I will ept you nheless. It will be your grace to be a dragon."


    The mountain of wealth in the middle of the ne broke apart. It was leveled to reveal a drop of blood. This drop of blood is the foundation of the dragon spirit. It is a very important item for harnessing the power of all the dragons born in the realm of high heaven, but the dragon king is willing to sacrifice all of that to turn Ragnarok into a dragon.


    "You like to devour things, don''t you? Let me see how well you like this."


    The drop of blood shot towards Ragnarok. It bypassed his frozen, bottomless abyss to touch him. Then it began covering him up and seeping into every aspect of his existence.


    Ragnarok felt the impact immediately. He would spasm if he could, or even stroke out. It is because all of his existence, including his soul, body, memories, and concept, are being changed.


    Dracoughed sinisterly. His voice echoes from right within Ragnarok''s head instead of from the surrounding area.


    "You are smart. But you are too greedy. You could have escaped, but you had toe to the dragon ne to retrieve the heart of your godling clone. Your greediness has doomed you."


    Ragnarok is an Origin god, so the naming ceremony for dragonlings won''t work on him. He has a concept, and he is immortal. But the drop of blood created the dragon race once. It is more potent than any bloodline connection, and it should at least serve as a proper conduit for the dragon king to use his Supreme Law to overwrite Ragnarok.


    It should be impossible for a world god to change an Origin god like this. The best they can do is curse that Origin god, and even then, they have to maintain the curse against the resistance of thew matrix of the void universe. After all, the immortality of Origin gods is maintained by the void universe.


    But the dragon king is no world god. He has the cosmic source. That helps him avoid the resistance of the void universe. So right now, Ragnarok has lost the support of the void universe. He is no different from a Sovereign ofw. If he dies right now, the void universe will not resurrect him. Even all of Legion will be doomed because of him, and it will be because they were too greedy.


    This is the power of an entity above the level of a world god. Not only can he affect the events going on in a realm from arge distance, he can also rob an Origin god of his immortality. Legion lost the moment they appeared around the dragon ne.


    However, Ragnarok is not alone. He is one part of many, and those other parts can still move. His death is better than allowing the dragon king to overwrite his existence and that of Legion. So Legion allowed Chaos energy to enter the mindwork and rampage throughout his existence.


    Legion is now immune to Chaos energy thanks to the unity of the evolved Aeternus, so Chaos energy didn''t harm Ragnarok. But there''s something else in his existence that is not immune to Chaos energy. So Chaos energy shed with the blood overwriting his existence.


    The reaction was violent and painful, but Ragnarok only smiled.


    The dragon king was shocked. He asked, "How did you get ess to true Chaos?"


    He has to ask because he didn''t see anything rted to this when he went through Legion''s history. He knows about the demon clone that Legion created, but ording to the void universe, that clone died in the egg.


    Then he remembered the anomalies around Legion. He couldn''t help but be frightened. His mind conjured up several possibilities, none of them good.


    The overwriting process stopped so Ragnarok could finally rx. He thought to himself smugly, "If Order can''t save us, then Chaos will."


    Soverick wasn''t so smug. He warned him, "I told you we can''t trust the Supreme Laws of others. We especially can''t trust Chaos. It is too random and unreliable."


    Meanwhile, the voice of the dragon king had be faint in Ragnarok''s mind. He said to Ragnarok, "You have won this time around. But this is not the end between us."


    Draco has to give up because his blood is being consumed. He has not encountered something like this in a long time. Not only is he defeated in this sh, he even has to cut off the connection immediately and retreat so that the connection he created with Ragnarok will not be used against him and every dragon. After all, true Chaos is more dangerous than world-


    enders.


    "I hope you are still alive when we meet again. I doubt that, though. ying with true Chaos is ying with unquenchable and indestructible fire. You have reached beyond your means you ignorant fools. You don''t know what kind of danger and malice you are toying with. It is a snake that can bite back."


    His voice became too faint to hear until it disappearedpletely. All of Legion felt relieved .


    Ragnarok didn''t take the warning to heart. Instead, he sighed in regret. "It is too bad that we haven''tprehended thew of Chaos yet, or we would have brought the fight to him."


    He is not content with getting one over such a powerful being. He also wishes to mark him with Chaos energy so that they can track the dragon king. Unfortunately, they are still a long way from that.

 Chapter 1514 It Is Too Late.

    Chapter 1514 It Is Too Late.


    ??Draco retreated as fast as possible. He created arge distance between himself and Ragnarok by destroying every link between himself and the dragons. He didn''t just retract his power from their dragon heart. He also destroyed the dragon spirit, just to be sure.


    The world recovered immediately. The grayness disappeared, and the world resumed its motion. The dragons and the supreme beasts didn''t fight anymore, though. Instead, they all flew towards Ragnarok and surrounded him.


    One of the Supreme Beasts said to him, "We know that you are not truly a Supreme Beast. You may be Agrivo839,371,456A, but you are not one of us. You are a parasite that wormed its way into our midst. However, we don''t care. We also don''t care that you used us against the dragons. All we care about is the heart of the godling."


    "Hand over the dragon heart that you got. You can''t leave here if you don''t. Even if you do, we will chase you to the end of the void universe for it. It is best that you do not offend the Supreme Alliance. Instead, give us the dragon heart and be our friends. You will be rewarded handsomely as our friend."


    The dragons also made their bid, "We don''t care about the dragon heart. We just don''t want you to give it to the Supreme Alliance, and we are also angry that you destroyed our home ne."


    "The dragon heart belongs to a brethren of ours. It should be with us to do whatever we want to do with it. You can either surrender it peacefully and we will let you go, or we kill you to get and have the whole dragon race as your enemy."


    Ragnarok didn''t even look at them. He didn''t act surprised that the Supreme Alliance already knew that he was pretending to be Agrivo839,371,456A. Legion already knew that they suspected him when he brought the information about the dragon ne to them.


    After all, Agrivo839,371,456A had disappeared only to suddenly appear again with crucial information. It would be foolish of them not to suspect him at all.


    Legion knew that trying to pit the two races against each other could backfire, and they were prepared for it. So even though they didn''t know that the dragons had already made contact with the Supreme Alliance and exined the whole situation to them, Legion wasn''t fooled when the Supreme Alliance was pretending to fight with the dragons. So it didn''te as a surprise to Ragnarok that they wanted the dragon heart of Legion-8 for themselves.


    The dragon heart that Legion-8 left behind is very powerful. The dragons could use it to create a new dragon spirit or help a dragon be a godling, and the Supreme Alliance could use it to create a very powerful Supreme Beast or find a way to create more of the dragon heart.


    It would be a good idea to give it to the Supreme Alliance since they will pay more for it. If they do that, Legion would get their support and a lot of wealth. The bid of the dragons, on the other hand, is not nearly appetizing.


    But Legion doesn''t like to share, so Ragnarok decided to offend the two races and leave with the dragon heart. This is one of the few times that they truly deserve something after working for it. They are not going to give it up because of the two races.


    As if they could sense his thoughts, one of the Supreme Beasts said grimly, "You have made a mistake, Legion. You have made a terrible mistake. Not to worry, though. We will show you the error of your ways."


    One of the Supreme Beasts can sense favorable and negative emotions, so they became aware immediately when Ragnarok decided to cheat them. However, they are confident that he won''t be able to escape. They have a lot of information about Legion from the dragon king, so they know about the clones''s ability to teleport to each other.


    They have frozen space and even used an array technology with their armadas to seal the space off the nepletely. So in a way, the whole ne has be like the domain of an Origin god. Any Origin god that dies here won''t be able to recover their memories. If even memories can''t escape, his chances of escaping can be considered zero.


    Ragnarok sensed the whole ne and realized that he couldn''t perceive the world outside it. Unfortunately, this is not going to stop him.


    He said to them, "You are toote."


    They are truly toote. The heart had already gone to the other clones when heid his hands on it. They can''t get it, even if he is trapped here.


    He said the same thing that the dragon king had said to him, "You lost the moment you came to this ne. You knew I was ying you, and yet you came. Your greed has doomed you."


    They dered to him, "Give up. You can''t beat us. You have unspeakable days ahead of you. By the time we are done with you, you will wish you could die."


    They were sneering when they suddenly stopped. Instead, they raised their heads and used their divine sense to sense something outside the ne. The ne was already in darkness, but a kind of inky, sticky darkness began to infiltrate the ne.


    This darkness was like the grayness of Legion-8 and the dragon king. It was not the absence of light. It seemed to infect everything and subjugate it. But unlike the grayness that froze everything, this inky darkness corrupted everything with disorder.


    The dragons and Supreme Beasts were shocked. If the dragon king could be shocked, then they ought to be frightened out of their lives by what they sensed.


    Someone asked, "What is this?"


    They got a lot of information from the dragon king about Legion, but it didn''t include whatever it is that is encroaching on the whole ne.

 Chapter 1515 Waste Not, Want Not.

    Chapter 1515 Waste Not, Want Not.


    ??Everyone ignored Ragnarok. The smart thing right now was to escape, which they did. Unfortunately, there is no escape for them. The whole ne has already been enveloped by arge cloud of ck fire.


    A voice came from the barrier around the ne. It chuckled and said, "Hehe. There is no escape for you. You will all die here."


    There is a ck apparition with four golden eyes and two golden horns outside the ne. This apparition is producing a copious amount of Chaos energy that has formed a cocoon around the ne. This cocoon sealed the whole ne and everything within it.


    This is Legion''s backup n in case they fail to acquire Legion-8''s heart. At least they won''t leave empty handed. It goes without saying that they don''t n to let anyone go today. If they fail, then everyone should lose something.


    They didn''t fail, but both the Supreme Beasts and dragons here will still die. They will all be fed to Aeternus. It is not about revenge anymore. It is just making the best of what''s avable. They had to do so because Legion doesn''t like waste.


    Ragnarokughed again. "I said it was toote."


    He couldn''t help but smirk. The two races think they can deceive Legion and backstab them. Then they have another thinging. They will all die today.


    The strength of every Origin god will fall to the one star level when Aeternus is done with them. Even the Origin gods with Supreme Laws will suffer even if they don''t die. They will be the ones who wish they could die.


    The two races are behemoths, sure, but Legion is no slouch either. A demon god can take on a whole ne. Aeternus could do that before he was a demon god. Now that he is a demonic spark, he alone is enough to grant them the confidence to wipe out all their enemies. They don''t even need the other clones to bully them.


    The realm lord and Mother High Heaven watched the ending of the fight with different emotions. Mother High Heaven was on tentahooks. She grumbled and said, "I have already done too much work because of this fight. I hope Aeternus doesn''t let Chaos energy spill, or he will be in big trouble."


    She is worried for the realm tree, but the realm lord was giddy and excited. He kept asking, "What did I tell you? I was right, right? Was I not right?"


    Mother High Heaven admitted it. "Yes, you were right. Legion-8 is truly dead."


    But she couldn''t help but be surprised, "I didn''t think Legion was prepared to give up on him. Legion fooled even me. Who would have thought that they already knew about Draco. So they came here to retrieve his corpse and to feed the two armies to Aeternus."


    The realm lord became solemn when he heard what she said. He said, "I must admit that I am also impressed. I didn''t expect that they would know about Draco. I thought they would be caught off guard and lose on both sides."


    Mother High Heaven mocked him, "So there is something that the great and powerful Monarch High Heaven doesn''t know. Imagine that."


    Monarch High Heaven chuckled and continued, "They truly have the potential for greatness, and they have the foresight to prioritize long-term goals. I was certain that Legion-8 would die, and I suspected that they knew that too, but I didn''t expect that they would not try to change that oue."


    He has to be impressed because he thought he was the only one who noticed the dragon king''s gaze. Even Mother High Heaven didn''t notice it. But Legion did, and they didn''t try to fight the dragon king. They didn''t let their recent progress get into their heads and fight a being with a cosmic source of the void universe.


    If that is not enough, they were also able to escape from the dragon king with the corpse of their clone. He thought for sure that Legion was lost when the dragon king chose to sacrifice his blood to turn Ragnarok into a dragon. But Chaos energy came through.


    This made him puzzled, though. He shared his uncertainties with Mother High Heaven. He asked, "Howe Draco didn''t know about Legion''s ess to Chaos energy? If he did, how did he expect to seed in turning Ragnarok into a dragon?"


    Mother High Heaven shrugged, "Who knows what he is thinking, and how can we be certain that what he wanted to do was turn Ragnarok into a dragon? What if all he wanted was to mark Legion so that he could track them? If we don''t know for certain his purpose, then we can''t say for sure that he failed."


    The realm lord nodded and said, "For a second there, I thought Draco didn''t know about Aeternus."


    "That can also be true. After all, the demon clone died to give birth to Aeternus."


    Monarch High Heaven was surprised. He asked, "What do you mean? Who is Aeternus, if not the demon clone?"


    "Who knows? You said something about how the knowledge of Draco''s gaze didn''t embolden Legion to resist him. But who is to say that the knowledge that everything that can fuse with Legion-unity must be part of Gehaldirah. After all, if universal artifacts can fuse with Legion without rejection, who is to say there aren''t other types of things that can fuse with them?"


    Monarch High Heaven became genuinely frightened by the implications of what she said. He said to her, "You are joking, right? Tell me you are messing with me."


    Mother High Heavenughed and said, "Yes. I am messing with you."


    Monarch High Heaven sighed in relief. But the fear in his heart only receded a little. He would like to think that what Mother High Heaven said was made up, but he can''t because he is in possession of something that has fused with his existence and is also as smart or even smarter than living things. He is especially afraid because this thing is doing things that Mother High Heaven is not aware of, despite fusing with her too.

 Chapter 1516 Another Thing To Worry About.

    Chapter 1516 Another Thing To Worry About.


    ??He thought to himself, "Not everything is as it seems. I am not even as I seem. There''s another person within me. Is Aeternus also like that? That makes another thing I have to worry about."


    "But that aside, Legion has made too much progress with true Chaos and it seems thew they broke gave them a reward big enough for the dragon king to be tempted. What is it that they have that is so great that the dragon king out in so much effort for instead of killing Legion-8 outright?"


    He wants to know what Legion has that the dragon king wants so badly. He is not safe from the gaze of the dragon king, either. As a matter of fact, he is not safe from the gaze of anyone who has a cosmic source. Not unless he can block the perception of the void universe of him.


    So everything he has done in the void universe since he reincarnated into his current body can be discovered and exposed. Even his ability to make Authority isid bare to the dragon king, but the dragon king didn''te after him. Instead, he went after Legion. That means whatever that Legion has has to be more important than the ability to create Authority.


    The Authority of the void universe is great, but it is only useful to world gods who can''t get a cosmic source. Authority is, after all, a substitute for a cosmic source.


    Authority can be given by the void universe, but the cosmic source has to be stolen and its power usurped. That requires a lot of power and would exin why the dragon king wasn''t interested in him. But someone with a cosmic source went after Legion. It shows just how important what Legion has is.


    He doesn''t know what Legion has, and he wants to know. The only thing he is certain of is that the dragon king is not after the dragon clone''s heart. After all, Draco has the same thing and even has something better, so Legion-8''s should be useless to him.


    Unfortunately, he can''t grill Legion to find out what Draco wanted from them. It made him angry, but he didn''t show it. He still maintained his smile as he looked at the massacre ensuing because of Aeternus.


    His best guess is that it should be a Universal artifact. That would exin why Draco wanted to overwrite Ragnarok since it is practically the only way to steal something like that. But he is not sure about that either. It is as Mother High Heaven said, unless he can be certain of Draco''s motive, he can''t be certain that Draco failed.


    "Soon," he promised himself. "Very soon, there will be an end to everything."


    ----Legion


    Legion didn''t mourn the loss of Legion-8. They were prepared for his death and went on working toward achieving their goal. There would be another clone created to rece Legion-8 andplete what he started. In the meantime, the dream of perfection and the progress towards achieving it will not be stopped.


    The next thing that happened to them was the breakthrough of Helios to be an Origin god. It is not a weed change, as they would like for him to remain an infinite source of cosmic energy for Legion, but their exposure to the dragon king has made them unable to leave him in a vulnerable state.


    Helios is a powerful star. Not many people can harm him, but they have powerful enemies. They have the dragon race and the Supreme Alliance after them, who have information about them. Those two races have many world gods that can pluck Helios easily.


    They don''t want to lose him the way they lost Legion-8. If someone kills him as he is, they won''t have anything left of him because he doesn''t have a concept yet. For him to have a concept, he must detach from thew matrix and create his own path.


    Even then, they can''t rx until he has the double support of the immortality of the void universe and the unification with Legion-7. Only then can they have a certain sense of confidence about his safety. So it was decided that Helios would be an Origin god.


    This is something they have been preparing for and finished preparing for before they went to get Legion-8''s corpse. They didn''t do it then, so as not to spook the dragon king.


    They wanted their pretense of ignorance to remain, and they also had a daring n to deal with Draco, so they didn''t let Helios be a titan ofw yet. But now that things have reached this stage, it is of no use pretending. So Helios went ahead with the creation of his concept.


    The process was faster than Legion-8''s since he is only using the threews of light, fire, and Order. Those are the threews that make up his divine ability. Thew of order refused to let him add more to it.


    Since he hasn''tpletelyprehended thew of order, it is without a doubt that he will fail to form his concept. Legion expects that and is prepared for it.


    Helios'' breakthrough created a lot ofmotion in the realm of high heaven. After all, a sun literally winked out from the sky and plunged their ne into darkness. No one wouldn''t notice that. They all looked up into the sky in fear and apprehension. But they couldn''t see what caused it or what was happening high up in the void outside the realm.


    They didn''t see that the star producing light for their ne shrank and was dimming. They didn''t know that it was attempting to do something impossible. They didn''t know that it was dying because of its daring act.


    Helios couldn''t form a concept without thew of order because his concept was scattered by the fragments of order in his existence. But he couldn''t form a concept with thew of order because he hadn''tprehended it. So he is effectively stuck.

 Chapter 1517 A New Godling.

    Chapter 1517 A New Godling.


    ??Even infinite cosmic energy can''t save him from his existence dissipating because of the scattering of thew of order. So Legion-5 gave Helios a multicolored orb that resembles the heart of a realm.


    The orb itself has many colors, but it was glowing with a bright white light that formed a halo around it. It had runes all over its surface that were being disyed onto the surroundings as holographs. Helios epted the orb and absorbed it seemlessly.


    None of the inhabitants of the nes that Helios used to serve saw this. Even if they saw it, they were unlikely to realize that the multicolored orb was the dragon heart of a god beast.


    As for the few that were watching and knew what one of the clones threw to the star, even fewer knew about the changes that the star underwent because of the dragon heart.


    Legion-4 is a star, but he is also a clone of Legion-8. Because of it, he doesn''t need the divine ability of Supreme Beasts to take full advantage of the dragon heart. Besides, they have the same origin, so Legion-8''s concept is technically his concept.


    Helios received the dragon heart and almost became another copy of Legion-8. He didn''t be another copy of Legion-8, though. This is because he has his own divine ability and budding concept.


    Helios is a being with a divine ability that is the fusion of thew of Order, thew of fire, thew of light, and the divine energy of the Celestial of the Sun. The dragon heart couldn''t rece this concept and had to fuse with it.


    Although the two concepts are in no way simr, one is a dragon heart, which can empower anyone who uses it, and the other is a perfect clone of Legion-8 with thew of order. Not only can Helios rece Legion-8, thew of order can also fuse with its derivativews as long as there is divine energy to coerce it and as long as thews arepatible with it.


    The dragon heart has manyws that are notpatible with thew of order, but the heart of a god beast is another form of the Authority of the Void Universe bestowed right from birth. Plus, there happens to be a lot of divine energy from the tree father, so the two concepts fused to be something greater.


    Of course, thew of order resisted bing a concept. Even divine energy couldn''t force it to do that. But its resistance was ovee by the maniption of cosmic force through the dragon heart.


    The fragments of thew of order turned gray and were frozen. Then Helios''s iplete concept wasbined with Legion-8''s concept. Then the fragments were released, but it was toote to resist by then.


    Helios stopped being a star immediately; he epted the dragon heart. He became a Sovereign ofw with a 14w concept, then he became an Origin god by fusing with an Origin essence.Now he has be a godling that cannot be killed easily.


    Soverick muttered as he watched, "This is odd. No one ising to fight us."


    Legion-7 asked him, "Didn''t you see that this was the best time for him to make his breakthrough? Why are you surprised that you were right?"


    "I thought for sure that I was missing something. After all, this is a good time for our enemies to deal us a big blow. I thought they had used their information about us to hide themselves. But no one ising to interfere."


    Legion-1 shrugged and said, "That can''t be bad news."


    The Tree Father agreed. "We need all the good news we can have right now."


    Soverick still didn''t feel at ease. He said, "But if they are not attacking us now, they might be preparing to attack us when we least expect it."


    Legion-5 also felt that things had gone too smoothly for Helios. He said, "There is nothing we can do about it short of going to attack them ourselves. If they won''te to us, then we can only leave them alone."


    Aeternus sighed and said, "That''s a shame. I was hoping they would show up."


    Soverick looked at him and said, "Maybe they are noting because of you and what you did to an entire ne full of Origin gods."


    Legion expected interference and was prepared for it. They were standing guard around Helios, watching out for enemies, but there were none. Instead, Helios broke through seamlessly and even unified with Legion-7 without issues.


    It caused them to feel uneasy, especially since they knew that they were currently being watched by a powerful entity deep within the dark side of the void universe and many other entities just below thew matrix.


    Being watched is an unpleasant feeling. It is worse when they know that nothing they do is secret and is being spread to everyone influential. As it is, probably every dragon and supreme beast knows that they reincarnated and that they have clones with different powers.


    Legion expected a fight because this was the right opportunity to interrupt them and deal some damage to them. They have even prepared a bomb in case a world godes. It is a bomb that they have prepared for the first sage, but they are willing to use it to make any world god that interferes with them regret it.


    But it seems their enemies don''t n to be predictable. If they are not going to be predictable, then things won''t be simple for them. Unfortunately, it is as Legion-5 said, if they won''te to fight them, the alternative is for Legion to go and pick a fight with them. They won''t do that when they can do something better, like making themselves stronger.


    It is a better alternative to try to make themselves untouchable before their enemies get around to targeting them. Helios''s breakthrough into a dragon of Order is just a step in that direction. With him, they retain the ability to dominatews and even enhance it because of thew of order.

 Chapter 1518 Exposed Information.

    <h4>Chapter 1518 Exposed Information. </h4>


    They havebined the power of thew of order and the dragon heart of a god beast into Helios. His concept, the Eternal Dominator, is what they get for exchanging Legion-8 and their ess to Cosmic energy.


    Helios is no longer a star. He is a golden pir of light now. He is still producing light, but his light is not enough to serve the realm as a sun anymore.


    Heined about it, "It seems we will never get back our ess to an infinite supply of cosmic energy. I didn''t like my time as a star, but cosmic energy more than made up for it."


    Legion-5 tried to console him, "It is what it is. We can''t eat our cake and have it."


    Aeternus stated clearly, "To be clear, we want to eat our cake and have it, but we can''t. So we are settling. The cosmic energy that you have collected for over 50,000 years will have to be enough for us. The blood of the dragon king will also have to do for me."


    If he had lips, he would smack them right now because he can still remember the taste of the blood of the dragon king. He doesn''t have taste buds, but even if he did, he wouldn''t be able to taste anything after Chaos energy got into contact with it. However, that blood had the taste of power.


    Aeternus said in awe, "Ipliment the chef. That blood was truly worthy of being the foundation of dragons."


    He didn''t gain as much power from the blood as he got from eating the dragons and Supreme Beasts, but the power from the blood had a higher quality to it. It is a taste he can never forget.


    Soverick became increasingly certain that the reason their enemies didn''te was because of Aeternus. He changed the subject, "I am certain now that our n for the world fragment can work. We can use the system of the dragon spirit and the transfer of power through ancestral bestowal to enhance it."


    The Tree Father gave a solution, "We might be able to eat our cake if we manage to finish the world fragment before the era of conquest."


    Helios perked up at that. "Let''s go and do that."


    They dispersed toplete the world fragment. It is sure to elevate them beyond the progress they have made since Legion-8''s death. Legion-8''s didn''t weaken them, it made them stronger. The world fragment will only top that aplishment.


    The clones returned to Legion-1''s inner world. This time they are all there to build the world fragment, except Legion-8. They still don''t have a Legion-8 yet, but the eight of them are more than capable of building it.


    Only six figures can be seen in the inner world. This is because Legion-1 is the whole inner world now and can do anything in it through his will, so he doesn''t need to appear in a physical form. Legion-7 is also absent physically, but that''s because he is in every one of them.


    What''s peculiar about them is that they all look the same. They all appear to be white porcin dolls with tentacles for limbs and a single mirror-like eye on their faces. Apart from their unique abilities, they are not different from each other physically or spiritually. They can even use each other''s abilities, just not as well.


    At this time, they are using the Tree Father''s forging expertise and skills through the tentacles of Legion-7 and the eye of Legion-2. Thebination of the three of them is making quick work of thew matrix. They have more hands and minds for this attempt, so they intend toplete thew matrix.


    Thew matrix that they are building will cover the whole inner world. This is so that it will be strong enough to bear the bacsh of the void universe when they try to bend its rules with the shard of power.


    It is a four-dimensional metaphysical and phantasmic construct created out of soul force,w fragments, cosmic energy, and information states. It will need all their attention if they are to perfect it, so they are focused on it.


    A lot of entities are paying attention to Legion right now. This has been going on ever since news about thews that they have broken was released.


    Only Supreme Beast Origin gods heard about it, and only those rted to dragons and Supreme Beasts in one way or another heard about it. That is a very small portion of all the Origin gods in existence. It is probably less than 1 million Origin gods that heard about it. Even so, it is enough to expose their secret to the world.


    Something is a secret only when one person knows about it. Their identities and abilities are certainly not a secret anymore, now that a million Origin gods know about them.


    The saving grace is that full information about Aeternus is not known. Unfortunately, their ignorance about Aeternus won''tst long because the exposure of their secrets caused a lot of people to pay attention to them. It is an addition to those who usually pay attention to them, such as the realm lord. It is almost too much attention.


    The realm lord is always paying attention to them, and so is the dragon king. The realm lord doesn''t know what they are building in their inner world or that they are building anything at all, but the dragon king knows that they are building something.


    This is because thew matrix is present within the inner world of Legion-1, so Draco can see what is going on in there. If the void universe is aware of what they are doing then the dragon king is also aware of it.


    The dragon king is currently watching them, and it is grating on them. It''s like being stared at by a predator. Their fight or flight instinct is activated and is constantly edging them to either fight or flee. Unfortunately, they can''t do either. They can''t fight Draco and they can''t leave the void universe.

 Chapter 1519 Anger And Calmness.

    <h4>Chapter 1519 Anger And Calmness.</h4>


    What they didn''t know is that the dragon king is also unhappy with the current situation. He can only watch them. It is grating to him that he can''t do anything useful against them.


    It is not that he can''t. He is not entirely powerless, as there are a lot of things he can do. It is more like he should not do anything to them at all.


    His single eye is glowing with anger and resentment as he stared at them, but he didn''t do anything. His mind ran through the possible things he could do against them. He outlined them one by one as he looked at them.


    For starters, he could use his cosmic source to ovee the barrier between the light and dark side of the void universe to attack them. This attack is exactly what he did to Legion-8. But this time, it would be much stronger since the barrier of the realm tree is absent, so he would surely kill them.


    Unfortunately, that''s not going to be useful since they can always resurrect. Meanwhile, each attack like that causes him bacsh.


    This bacsh is due to the weakness of the cosmic source. He can remove the resistance of the void universe to himpletely, but he can''t force the universe to go against its own rules without experiencing a bacsh.


    The cosmic source grants him the privilege to gain the abilities and powers at the disposal of the universe itself, but the void universe operates based on rules. There are even entities in the universe that exist to enforce those rules. Those rules and the bacsh it would bring to unt them make it discouraging to kill Legion only to watch them resurrect soon after.


    Plus, using that attack too many times is a bad idea because it will cause his enemies to find him. That will invalidate his reason for hiding. After all, if he didn''t have enemies, and if they were not strong enough to steal his cosmic source, then he wouldn''t be in hiding.


    Hemented a little, "If only I hadpletely subdued the cosmic source. If only, then this upstart will not be able to gallivant in front of me like this."


    Currently, the Cosmic source isn''t his. He is just borrowing it. If the transfer of ownership had beenpleted, he would be able to permanently remove Legion''s immortality. If he hadpleted the fusion with the cosmic source and evolved, then he might not face any bacsh at all for attacking them.


    Most importantly, he wouldn''t need to hide if he had finished his transformation into an Usurper. Unfortunately, he hasn''t. That''s what he is busy doing right now.


    The anger in his single eye zed as he thought of the things he could do to get the shard of power if he were aplete Usurper. But then his anger died down abruptly as he came back to his senses. Rationality won over anger, so he became calm again.


    It is not that he can''t kill Legion permanently right now. That is on the table, and he can do so as long as he gets his Supreme Law in direct contact with Legion. However, he is not nning on doing that ever since his encounter with true Chaos in Ragnarok.


    True Chaos is what''s making him calm down. It is the reason why he shouldn''t do anything to Legion even if he is in total control of the Cosmic source. It is the reason why he shouldn''t have made a move against them at all. The best thing he should have done was to kill the dragon clone right from the start instead of trying to use it as bait for Legion.


    He muttered again and again, "True Chaos. True Chaos. True Chaos. True Chaos."


    "Howe the void universe didn''t know he had a demon clone? Is it that the void universe didn''t know, or did the void universe hide it from me? Could it be that the cosmic source is not perfect, so it didn''t see the demon clone, or did the overgod scheme against me? Is it that the demon clone is too powerful for me to see, or is someone more powerful than me blocking me from seeing it?"


    He has so many questions on his mind that he doesn''t have answers to them. For some of the questions, he doesn''t know where to start getting answers for them. For others, he doesn''t even dare try and get answers to them. After all, who is to say there isn''t someone beside him right now that he can''t see?


    Honestly, he still feels slight trepidation because of what he encountered in Ragnarok. He has been on tentahooks ever since. This has made him change his location several times in hopes that he can avoid whatever cmity he might have stumbled into. So he wouldn''t dare entangle himself with Legion while trying to deal with the fallout of his previous actions.


    His fear changed hismentation, "If only I had known. If only I had known."


    Then he began to mutter again, "True Chaos. True Chaos."


    There are a lot of things he can mess with, but the corrosion down below is not one of them.


    If he had known that Legion had ess to True Chaos, he wouldn''t have bothered with them at all. But he didn''t know because the void universe appeared to be ignorant of it.


    He didn''t even bother to investigate Legion more after he saw their history through the cosmic source. This negligence almost led to his ruin, so he can''t help but think that someone is scheming against him.


    The first person that came to his mind was the Overgod. It is an understatement to say that the Overgod hates him and will do anything possible within the rules to get rid of him, such as goading him into attacking a weak junior. So this whole thing reeks of a scheme to target both Legion and him.


    -----

 Chapter 1520 Reasons For Paranoia.

    Chapter 1520 Reasons For Paranoia.


    ??This whole mix-up could also be a problem with the cosmic source, but Draco is more inclined to believe that the Overgod had set a trap for him. After all, there was a bait and a switch. By that, he means the shard of power and True Chaos.


    "This Overgod wanted to kill with a borrowed de. If everything had worked out well, both Legion and I would have perished together. What a sinister n!"


    Some might call him overly paranoid for suspecting the Overgod. They would be right to think so, but they would be wrong to think he should not be overly paranoid. Right now, he is on the cusp of evolution. Anything can interfere and rob him of billions of years of effort. So it is right for him to be overly paranoid and suspicious of everything.


    The thought that he could have lost everything, including his life, made him feel trepidation and fear. It is something he can''t let go of because he knows that there are worse things than death. True Chaos won''t kill him, but he would wish he were dead.


    True Chaos will twist him into something unrecognizable. He will be something else. He will be a vessel for Chaos. He will be something simr to Aeternus.


    The thought of the repercussions for his actions made him look at Legion with pity. "You are good, but you won''t have a good end because you are courting eternal damnation."


    Despite his immense power, boundless wisdom, and abundant knowledge, he considers true Chaos to be too dangerous to mess with. An ignorant person might be brave enough to test true Chaos, but that''s only because ignorance is bliss.


    He can''t do it all for any benefit because he has seen a lot of the world and knows the danger of true Chaos for those who dare toe into contact with it.


    "How did he evene into contact with true Chaos? How did he survive the encounter? Did he even survive the encounter? Is he still a clone or an aberration pretending to be one of their clones? I truly want to know."


    He wants to know badly. True Chaos might be difficult for weak beings to encounter, but it isn''t for an entity like him. He can just go down below and he will see an ocean of it. If he is lucky, his curiosity will not pull him too deep, and make him go mad. But that''s him.


    Legion on the other hand, is a false immortal. How did an Origin god manage toe into contact with True Chaos, survive the corrosion, and not go mad? That might be the prize here instead of the shard of power, so he wants to know.


    He snickered and thought, "That is, if it is even possible at all. If it is not and the demon clone didn''t survive, I shouldn''t try toe in contact with it at all."


    He always thought that the clone that became a demon had died. After all, the demon clone was not shown in the information state of Legion after it reincarnated. Now he doesn''t know what to think at all.


    It could be that true Chaos was scrambling the existence of the demon clone from the perception of the void universe itself. That would be the least dangerous situation, but it would mean that True Chaos is too dangerous for him.


    As for the most dangerous situation, it is that Aeternus is too powerful for the void universe to monitor. If that is so, then everything rted to Aeternus, including the void universe, is doomed.


    Frankly, he doesn''t want it to be either of the two. He would like to believe that the void universe or the Overgod are pulling a scheme on him. That would exin why it appeared that the void universe didn''t know the existence of the demon clone.


    Even so, it is still dangerous for him. It is something that changing his location in the void universe will not solve. But he doesn''t have any choice. He can only be paranoid and wish that Aeternus truly survived the encounter with True Chaos, despite how unlikely it is.


    It is unlikely because even the false Supreme Law of Chaos is deadly. And from what he knows, true Chaos is worse than the false Supreme Law of world enders. Whenbined with the fact that if true Chaos is a Supreme Law, then it must be alive just like him, this leads to the conclusion that True Chaos is a being more deadly than world enders.


    That means Legion is not messing with a dead tool. He is messing with a deadly being. That''s why the dragon king thinks Legion is ying with eternal damnation and why he is not going toe into contact with it at all costs.


    Even being in the possession of a cosmic source does not give him the confidence to mess with True Chaos. After all, the cosmic source in his possession is just a stronger variety of the one that every demon possesses.


    A lot of entities know about the mark of sin, but they don''t realize its full power. Maybe even Legion doesn''t know its full power. It is an oversight caused by underestimation. Despite knowing that the mark of sin can bring a demon to the level of a demon king, which is the equivalent of an Origin god, many don''t consider the source of the mark of sin to be special.


    That is understandable because of limited perspectives. After all, there are at most a thousand demon kings in an abyss. Most forget that there are a near-infinite number of realm trees in the void universe, and each one has an abyss. It means a single Supreme Law is capable of creating a near-infinite number of Origin gods.


    That is something only the void universe has been able to achieve. And it has the help of Archons. But that is nowhere limit of what the truew of Chaos is capable of.


    -----


    A/N: I realized that I was supposed to release a bonus chapter yesterday for the 300 golden ticket goal. I am making up for it today.

 Chapter 1521 Jealousy And Hoarding.

    Chapter 1521 Jealousy And Hoarding.


    ??The mark of sin can also lead to the creation of a demon god which is an equivalent of a Supreme Origin god and even create world enders which are the equivalent of world gods. When you consider that each abyss can create one even if it is destroyed, the full power of the truew of Chaoses into view.


    That''s just an estimation of the power of true Chaos. It pales inparison to Draco''s personal experience of the power of true Chaos. Only those who have gone beneath the abyss to find the source of sin energy will experience the power of the blood of true Chaos. He has done that, so he can only calm down whenever he gets angry and jealous of the shard of power in Legion''s possession.


    So all he will do is watch as Legion weaves thew matrix for theirw fragment. He will remain calm, but he can''t stop being jealous though. The fact that he can''t take what they have without putting in a lot of effort and risking what he already has is making his jealousy even more intense.


    The covetousness of dragons came from him. They like to hoard things, and so does he. Looking at something good and not being able to take it is like torture to him.


    Heined about it endlessly with intense jealousy, "It is because you have the shard of power that you can afford to mess with true Chaos. But I don''t have the shard of power, so I can''t mess with true Chaos. That means I can''t afford to mess with you."


    He wants the shard of power so much. He would want it even if it were useless because of his hoarding addiction. He would want the shard of power just for the fact that it is something created from a powerful material that came from outside of the void universe.


    He knows that the material is called the Origin mes, but he doesn''t know what it is apart from the fact that it was used to build the void universe. That''s all the void universe knows about it, so that''s all he can know about it. Even so, he wants it badly.


    He might get to know more about it if he had left the void universe. He could have left the void universe as a world god, but he didn''t because there was still a lot to be had in the void universe. A lot of world gods haven''t left for that reason either.


    Plus, the world outside of the void universe is unknown, while they are behemoths in this universe. Leaving the void universe is like leaving theirfort zone for the unknown. It is a gamble that most are not willing to take.


    He decided to stay in the void universe because of his cautious nature. Fortunately, his time was not a waste either since he was able to create a race and yoke their spiritual power together using the dragon spirit, and then used theirbined power to wrestle and usurp the cosmic source from the void universe.


    It is a worthy achievement, but the cosmic source pales inparison to the shard of power. He doesn''t even know what the shard of power can do, but he still wants it badly.


    "Maybe I should just stop looking. Gazing at something I can''t get is not good for me. It might make me do something I might regret."


    But he didn''t stop looking. The metaphysical web that Legion was weaving was bing more and moreplete as he watched. He was only distracted momentarily when the new Legion-8 was born.


    He had to shake his head at that.


    "This Legion is getting out of hand as I watch. No wonder the Overgod is scheming against him."


    Then he grinned in anticipation, "I am looking forward to his fight with the universe. It will be quite the show to watch."


    He was truly concerned for the void when he saw the new clone. It was created from a rtively harmless race that one would call a viral disease. They are like other viral diseases in that they parasitize other races and divide themselves for reproduction.


    If there is anything unique about them, it will be their ability to evolve. It makes them capable of mutation, which gives them the necessary adaptation to infect and parasitize almost every type of race.


    They have only one weakness, and that is that they are very weak. Being weak is their weakness, so they can be killed easily. They can''t infect strong creatures because they are weak, so they are considered harmless.


    But Legion cultivated and bred them in the direction of creating a hive. This hive functions like a fungus. It is a nt in a way, but it needs to parasitize a tree to maintain its body, and the tree has to be strong enough to meet the energy requirement for the amalgamation that is the main body.


    They can''t parasitize such a strong tree because they are weak, so the special breed that Legion created would have died out in nature. But these weaknesses are nothing to Legion who has a life tree clone. They were able to create a body for the clone to reincarnate in and gestate fully.


    This body was originally prepared for Legion-7 as an alternative to possess since he didn''t have a durable body. But it became useless after Legion-5 and Legion-7 fused. Now it has been repurposed for the new clone.


    Draco can already picture how terrifying their creation would be once it unifies with the Legion. It makes him concerned for the universe, but he is not going to join in the struggle because it doesn''t concern him.


    He and the universe are different. He doesn''t need the void universe to survive so he can bear to watch it burn. There''s nothing the Overgod will say to him to make him join in that conflict. He will not be fooled, likest time.

 Chapter 1522 Super Spy.

    Chapter 1522 Super Spy.


    ??Thew matrix was reinforced by the world engine, so it didn''t copse. It began operating immediately after it was started. The web they wove shimmered asw-tow interactions urred to create various types of concept manifestation.


    He was impressed by what he saw. He said in admiration, "I have to admit that Legion has what it takes to achieve greatness. It is unfortunate that they had the help of a divine spark, or they would have broken anotherw with this world fragment that they built."


    But no sooner had he said that his vision was cut off from the inner world. He can still see Legion-1 and his external actions, but he can''t see what''s going on within his inner world because thew matrix of the void universe has been vacated within it.


    He grunted and took his gaze away from them. He lost interest in them and turned his attention towards Monarch High Heaven instead.


    "Let me see what has changed about this guy."


    Then he scrolled through the realm lord of high heaven''s history for anything new. He saw the series of reincarnations of different versions of Monarch High Heaven. He saw that one of the earlier versions was rewarded with a Universal artifact for breaking the rule of reincarnation.


    The Universal artifact is still in the realm lord''s possession. It is a string that will automatically reincarnate him and preserve his memories when he dies. Unfortunately, the Universal artifact is useless to Monarch High Heaven because he has something stronger that is helping him reincarnate and wiping the memories of each version.


    "If someone like Legion were to get their hands on this, the kind of chaos they will wrought will be interesting to watch."


    If it were someone who struggled and got lucky enough to achieve reincarnation that got this Universal artifact, they would be able to do great things with it. So it is a pity that itnded in the hands of the realm lord.


    Draco''s gaze didn''t stop there. He moved on and saw anotherw that Monarch High Heaven broke. Monarch High Heaven hadprehended all thews in the void universe.


    Monarch High Heaven had used this as an alternative toprehending thew of order. His n worked. The void universe rewarded him with the spark of power and the Universal artifact to create Authority of the void universe for hisprehension of 33ws.


    Draco sighed in admiration. He is not admiring Monarch High Heaven since he knows that it was not through his efforts that he managed toprehend all thews. He had an unreasonable amount of help.


    Next, Draco saw the realm lord''s ns for the era of conquest and the project he is building for world gods. He chuckled when he saw that some of the ns had been botched because of Legion''s actions.


    There were indeed some changes in the realm lord. He had to amodate for the absence of the Phoenix race and the weakening of the demon gods of high heaven realm.


    Draco decided to amuse himself by watching the realm lord''s scheme for the era of conquest unfold. He stopped gazing at Legion, but there were others who continued to watch the enigma''s actions.


    The realm lord was one of the people watching Legion as he usually did. And just like the dragon king, he was also unhappy with what he saw. This is despite seeing very little of Legion.


    He doesn''t know that they have the shards of power, that they are trying to gain control of them, or that they are gically engineering a new creature for their next clone. But what he knows is more than enough to make him frustrated.


    His mood didn''t ease up when he heard the notification of the system.


    -SENSING ELEVATED COSMIC FORCES FLUNCTUATIONS IN THE SURROUNDING.


    -SENSING ELEVATED ACTIVITY OF THE LAW OF ORDER.


    Monarch High Heavenined, "I know. They have gained control of cosmic force without even bing world gods and they have safely connected to the Order of the universe. I know it, so you don''t have to keep warning me. I saw the star clone be a godling."


    Those notifications are not surprising to him. He expected to hear them when Legion kept the heart of the newly born god beast. That heart is something that he would give a lot to acquire, despite his possession of two universe artifacts and the system. ess to the maniption of cosmic forces is just one of the benefits that Helios would gain from it.


    "Gehaldirah Oakstein really had a great n. The unification of all the clones will beplete now that they have reached the Origin level. Not only do they have ess to True Chaos but they also have ess to thew of order."


    His system chimed in his mind again,


    -THEIR CONNECTION TO ORDER IS CLOSER THAN EVER BEFORE NOW THAT THEY ARE ORIGIN GODS.


    "I know that. Helios is probably the reason. He has achieved something that no giant of order could. He upgraded his divine ability with the heart of a god beast and then cemented his connection with thew of order by bing an Origin god. Even primordials wish they had that kind of connection with the void universe."


    "The worst part of this whole thing is that I had to watch him grow, and I could do nothing about it."


    Then heughed. He roared inughter, only to be interrupted by the system.


    -THEY HAVE ALSO REMOVED THEIR SYSTEM MONITORING SERVICE SO THERE IS NO WAY TO FIND OUT WHAT THEY DID EVEN IF WE GAIN THE PERMISSION OF MOTHER HIGH HEAVEN.


    He groaned to himself. "It is just one hit after the other. It just keepsing."


    This is another source of his pain. The system is connected to everyone born in the ne through their origin. Even Origin gods are connected, and they will remain connected unless they disconnect this connection.


    That negligence is supposed to be harmless since he can''t gain ess to their information without the permission of the Origin god or Mother High Heaven''s permission. So he had tried many methods to bypass that rule.

 Chapter 1523 Detective Work.

    Chapter 1523 Detective Work.


    ??One method he tried to bypass the need for the target''s permission was to offer Legion-1 a deal when he went to rescue him from the stone skin Origin gods. He didn''t need Legion-1''s help to build the matter to energy transmission and translocation pirs, but he still asked for it because he wanted to give Legion an opportunity to cross him.


    The project he asked Legion-1 to help with was very important. If Legion-1 had tampered with it, then he would be within his rights to retaliate. If Legion had spilled his secrets to others, then he would have the right to check their secrets too. Unfortunately, Legion-1 didn''t take the bait.


    Then he tried again with Legion-7, but that ended in failure again. However, he still didn''t give up. After all, their connection to the system still remained, and he had a sure way to bypass the restrictions after he became a world god.


    That n was his only hope of getting an inkling of what happened to Legion when they broke thew of the universe a second time. That hope is no more now that they have cut off the connection.


    "The best thing I can do right now is trick them into betraying the realm, breaking their oath, or just capturing them and interrogating them."


    -THE CHANCES OF THAT HAPPENING IS VERY LOW.


    -LEGION HAS SHOWN THE RUDIMENTARY INTELLIGENCE NECESSARY TO KNOW NOT TO BREAK AN OATH MADE TO THE WILL OF THE REALM.


    -CAPTURING THEM WON''T WORK EITHER BECAUSE YOU ARE THE REALM LORD SO YOU CAN''T CAPTURE THE ORIGIN GODS OF THE REALM INDISCRIMINATELY.


    "I know that." He said with exasperation.


    "Don''t rehash my pain. Tell me something I don''t know. Give me a solution."


    -YOU ARE BEING SPIED ON BY AN ENTITY WITH A COSMIC SOURCE.


    "Fuck!!! The bad news just keepsing."


    "Who is it now?"


    -UNKNOWN.


    He didn''t expect to get an answer, as his system is not privileged enough to acquire that information, but he was still disappointed.


    He muttered hopefully, "Here is to hoping that they don''t interfere with my ns."


    His system is not omniscient. The best it can do is make predictions with the information it has gathered. The rest of the deduction and inference making is up to him.


    This is not the first time he would be spied on by someone with a Cosmic source, but the frequency of it has increased ever since Gehaldirah created clones.


    There are three clones of Legion with powerful Primordials as ancestors, but he only knows of two that are on their way to bing Usurpers. Of those two, only one of them has a clone trying to copy his original divine ability, so he was able to narrow down the identity of the peeper to Draco.


    Even if he is wrong about the peeper being Draco, it has to be the ancestor of world beasts. It can''t be the ancestor of Warrogs, as he doesn''t have a Cosmic source, and Ragnarok wasn''t trying to encroach on his connection with other Warrogs.


    All of these make him certain that Draco is the one spying on him. Unfortunately, there is nothing he can do about it. If he can''t contend with the void universe, then he can''t contend with someone who seeded in contending with the void universe and stole a Cosmic source.


    So he did the only thing he could do. He pretended not to notice and minded his business. But then another notification rang in his mind.


    -THE APPOINTMENT WITH THE FIRST SAGE IS IN THE NEXT 10 MINUTES.


    He just groaned and sent out one of his clones to go and meet the first sage.


    Heined to himself, "This had better be worth it."


    He truly cannot afford any distractions right now. He has been extremely busy, with 100% of his capabilities employed in setting up the finishing touches to the era of conquest. He can make almost ten thousand clones, and he is already doing so just for the finishing touches.


    Every clone is working nonstop while his main body is overseeing and controlling them. Letting one of them go for a few minutes is something he could afford to do at any other time, but he doesn''t want to take any time off right now. Not when Legion is making progress so quickly and messing with his ns here and there.


    The clone went into the void to meet the waiting white battle sage monkey.


    "What''s the deal?" He asked the first sage. "This must be very important, or you wouldn''te here with a true body. You have also been begging me for a meeting, so I am sure this is very important. What could make the great first sage so desperate?"


    The first sage smiled and said, "How are you doing as a realm lord? I am sure it has its good parts, but I also imagine it has its bad parts. After all, you couldn''t even hire someone else to do your dirty job for you. You had to watch your prey grow stronger impotently."


    Thatment hit his sore spot, so he frowned and urged, "What do you want? I''m a very busy man. If you just want to make fun of me, you can do that behind my back, not in my face. I am a true supporter of hypocrisy and backbiting."


    With their probes over, the First Sage got down to business. He asked solemnly, "Do you have research on true Chaos? I am willing to buy it."


    The realm lord''s eyes narrowed dangerously. He said, "You are asking for something truly valuable. True Chaos is rare to encounter in any form that is not dangerous. I am probably one of the few in the void universe that has information about it. You better be willing to pay a high price for this or you won''t get it."


    The first sage scoffed, "What you have can''t be that valuable if you, of all people, have it."

 Chapter 1524 Messing With True Chaos.

    Chapter 1524 Messing With True Chaos.


    ??The high elf asked with a sneer, "What is that supposed to mean?"


    "I''m saying your credibility is very low, and the integrity of what you have is suspect."


    The realm lordughed. Heughed for a long time. The first sage waited for him to finishughing.


    The realm lord said, "Don''t y with me, old man. I don''t have time to waste right now. If you don''t want what I have, then go down below to do your own research. Besides, I''m sure you won''t do that because you knew I had exactly what you wanted, and you are going to get it anyway, so don''t try to act like you don''t want it."


    He is certain that he has what the first sage needs because there are very few who have his system to help them acquire and analyze information safely. He is also certain that the first sage didn''te to him by chance.


    Everything the first sage does has motives and goals behind them, guided by his ability to see the future and predict the actions of others, so the first sage must be here because he is going to achieve a goal without fail.


    World gods will find it incredulous that the first sage can predict their actions, and they will certainly not believe that this cunning battle sage can anticipate the actions of a realm lord, but he knows that the ability of the first sage increases the more his target knows about him.


    Unfortunately, knowing that has doomed him because he knows a lot about the first sage. That means the first sage can know a lot about him too. That means it is unlikely that he was called out for nothing. But he is going to make sure he gets the best out of whatever the first sage wants from him.


    The first sage spoke, "Fine, what research exactly do you have on True Chaos?"


    Monarch High Heaven asked in return, "Why are you asking for True Chaos?"


    The white towering battle sage monkey replied with a smile, "I''m sure you know why."


    He does know why, so he replied, "I have two main research projects on True Chaos. One is the prototype of a world fragment. It is possibly more powerful than a world fragment. I think so, but it iscking since it doesn''t enhance its wielder in any way, but it can contain Chaos energy."


    The first sage spoke. "That sounds interesting. Can it contain true chaos?"


    It was the realm lord''s turn to scoff. He said, "I doubt anything can contain true chaos, but my prototype should be able to contain a falsew of Chaos."


    The first sage asked, "So it should be able to contain something like a world ender?"


    "It is certainly capable of containing a demon god. But it will need to be improved and built well if you want it to go that far."


    "That sounds sufficient for what I want it to do. What''s the other research you have?"


    The realm lord paused for a while. He considered whether to speak or not, since what he was about to say was dangerous. But then he remembered who he was speaking to. It is likely that the first sage already knows what he has, and they are just going through the formalities before the first sage acquires what he wants.


    So he overcame his resistance and continued. "I have a way to draw true Chaos out of a falsew of Chaos. I am not certain it will work on a world ender but it should work on a demon god with certainty."


    "Hmmm. Why would I need that?"


    The realm lord replied, "World enders maye with true Chaos, but with this you can increase their ess to it which will lead to an increase in Chaos blood. I don''t know what you want to do with all of these information but I think increasing the connection of demons to True Chaos will be useful if you want to mess around with True Chaos without going below."


    "You are right. This is going to be very useful. In fact, the two of them will work together nicely."


    The realm lord''s mind spinned. He could already imagine what ns the first sage has for the research he is about to hand out. He doesn''t care about those ns, but he doesn''t want to affect his ns. So he had to warn his customer, "I hope you understand that what you are doing is very dangerous. You could die forever if you mess with true Chaos."


    The first sage assured him, "Don''t worry. I know the danger, and I am not suicidal. It is just that all of this is inevitable, so I must do it."


    The realm lord was not assured. He has his own guesses about what the first sage might need the information for, and he doubts it will end well. After all, not everyone is like Aeternus, who encountered a diluted version of true Chaos and evolved to be immune to it.


    Aeternus might not have even survived. He is not sure about that. But he is certain that any other person who messes with True Chaos will not have a good ending, considering that the source of True Chaos has awakened.


    But he is not going to tell the first sage that, nor is he going to tell him about his other information about true Chaos and his conjectures about its origin.


    Instead, he changed the subject to the matter ofpensation, "So what are you going to give me in exchange for my valuable information?"


    The first sage replied with confidence, "I don''t think you need money or resources anymore, so I won''t offer them. I do have three things for you. The first is my data set on worlds. It will help to build worlds and make breaking through to world god easy. You shouldn''t need that as a realm lord, but I have a feeling that it would be useful to you."


    -----


    A/N: This is the bonus chapter for Rose''s contribution of 100 golden tickets. This is the first time this is happening in GREED. I should give me but I am beat. I have been sick this past few days, so it has been difficult for me to maintain my normal 2 chapters release. Please bear with me.

 Chapter 1525 What Must Be Done.

    <h4>Chapter 1525 What Must Be Done.</h4>


    The realm lord nodded and said, "Ok. It wille in handy."


    The first sage continued, "The secondpensation is something that is especially useful against spiritual entities. I learned this from my encounter with our mutual acquittance in the Spiritual Dimension that has passed away. This object can freeze the consciousness."


    The green elf cocked an eyebrow. "What use is that to me?"


    The first sage was still confident. He said, "This method is so powerful that even spiritual entities that can be intangible have to be wary of it. With it, you can be confident of restricting such an entity."


    The realm lord was skeptical. "Even if it is so great, I still don''t have a need for it."


    "You might not be able to use it personally, but you can give it to someone else who might have a need for it or who can use it for you."


    The realm lord sighed. He said, "I''m guessing you won''t be telling anyone about my acquisition of this item."


    "Yes. It is the third item I have to exchange for your information."


    The realm lord rubbed his face with his hand and said, "You know too much."


    The first sage chuckled and said, "There is no use resisting. All of this is inevitable. It was ordained. It was meant to happen. It is fate."


    The realm lord snickered, "Fuck fate. But we have a deal."


    He knows enough about the first sage to understand what he meant by inevitable. In everything the first sage does and with everyone he interacts with, there is an ending that has been ordained. That ending is a destination for the interaction that the first sage has set. So no matter how someone resists, they will eventually reach that ending.


    For example, in a gamble, that person will not only lose all of their wealth, but they will also lose something more precious than wealth. Another example is a bait for talented battle sage monkeys. No matter how scheming such a talented battle sage monkey is, they will take the bait and do what the first sage wants them to do.


    He should be afraid of the first sage if he were anyone else, but he is not everyone else. He has the system. With the system, the more he knows about someone or something, the less that person or thing will be able to affect him.


    So he is not afraid of making a deal with the first sage with the information he has. Just the knowledge that the first sage has it and will use it has given him an edge against the first sage.


    The two of them made the exchange. The realm lord got what he wanted and left immediately. The first sage also left in a hurry. He has schemes brewing and a plot to hatch. The next step on his agenda is to build this artifact that the realm lord assured him might be able to contain a world ender.


    The realm lord even assured him that the artifact had been tested with a weak version of true Chaos in the form of a ymore. The ymore worked for a while until it became too weak to handle Chaos energy. This was when the Chaos energy reached the level that could harm demon kings and Origin gods. This knowledge will help the first sage know his limits and remain safe.


    The first sage observed, "This information is surprisingly urate. I wonder how he got it."


    He is impressed because true Chaos is not easy to encounter. The first option requires him to be able to enter a realm tree. That''s the only way to reach the abyss. But that''s impossible to do as a world god. The other option is to go to the very bottom of the void universe. But that''s very dangerous and stupid. He didn''t be a world god by courting death foolishly.


    He wouldn''t want to encounter a world ender much less true an ocean of Chaos. But he doesn''t have a choice in the matter of a world ender anymore. Legion has forced his hands.


    Even then, he would rather make a deal with the realm lord and expose that he knows some of his ns than to court death with true Chaos.


    He thought to himself with anticipation, "It can happen at any moment now. I can''t wait."


    He is waiting for Legion''s next move against him. In fact, he has already made the first move. He is just waiting for Legion to react and retaliate against him. But then, it would be toote for them.


    -------


    Legion is currently happy. So is the first and the realm lord of high heaven realm. Draco isn''t happy at all. He is not the only unhappy Cosmic entity in the void universe. The Protector isn''t happy either.


    The protector of the Void Universe or the one world gods and Usurpers call the Overgod or greatest god of the void universe is currently simr to Draco in a lot of ways. Both of them are unhappy and areining about it.


    Draco is ming the Protector for setting him up, while the Protector is ming the Watchers and Legion for letting it down.


    "Those three blockheads don''t do anything helpful. They just sit and cause problems for me."


    "As for this Legion, they had just one job. All they had to do was be greedy. It is the one thing they are good at but they still failed at it."


    It has experienced a lot of reasons to be unhappy recently. Its n to get rid of Legion and Draco didn''t work out. It should have worked if Legion had decided to preserve the dragon clone.


    Seeing as the only two clones at the Supreme power level are the Tree Father and Aeternus. Those two would have been sent to assist the dragon clone if Legion truly wanted to save him instead of Ragnarok.


    If they had done that, Draco would have made direct contact with Aeternus and would have had to do everything in his power to get rid of the demon clone to cut off the connection he created. That would have brought everything into the light and ruined both of them.


    Unfortunately, Legion was not tempted by the fact that the dragon clone could follow in the footsteps of his ancestor to be a world god and usurper easily. Because of this, Draco didn''t fail in fusing with his Cosmic source and Legion got away with the heart of the god beast.


    Then something good happened soon after. Legion made the foolish mistake of allowing a giant of order to be an Origin god. They were practically asking for the void universe to gain ess into their existence and overwrite them.


    It is something the Overgod would have obliged them had it not been for their possession of the crown of domination. With the crown of domination, any power that they have a certain amount of control over cannot overwhelm them.


    The crown of domination made it impossible for him to use the unification of Helios with thew matrix as a backdoor into their existence. He could have at least put Helios into an eternal stasis, but the Watchers took that from him.


    The Protector said to himself before moving towards a particr destination, "Let me hear what they have to say for themselves."


    He is certain of it and very angry about it, so the Protector decided to go and have an angry exchange with the three blockheads right now.


    The protector knows that the Watchers could have rewarded Legion with the Authority of the void universe for their work in gaining control and unifying the Authority of the three paths. But they didn''t do that.


    It knows that the Watchers could have also given Legion the Crown of Unification instead of the Crown of Domination. The Crown of Unification would be able to fuse abilities, concepts, and Supreme Laws and make them work together.


    If they had it, it would have made Helios''s fusion with the heart of the god beast seemless. But it would certainly not be able to resist the encroachment of the Law of Order into Legion''s existence. If anything, it would have encouraged it.


    However, the Watchers didn''t do any of that. They just had to ruin its good work. Now the only thing the Protector can do is watch Legion build their world fragment and grow stronger.


    It won''t be able to act against them until theye to the dark side. By that time, they would have surely created a lot of Chaos for it to be able to use more of its power on them. But it is not happy.


    Legion-1''s mere existence is infuriating. However, it won''t bear its anger alone. It will visit the three blockheads and properlyy into them. Maybe this time, its words will get through their thick skulls, and they will act in the interests of the void universe.


    It knows that that is unlikely. But it must try. That is what it is programmed to do.

 Chapter 1526 Finishing Touches.

    <h4>Chapter 1526 Finishing Touches. </h4>


    All of the clones are in Legion-1''s inner world. Even their new clone is with them, so there are eight physical beings in the inner world. They all look alike, except Legion-3.


    They are white, featureless, and have a white crown on their heads. Legion-3 on the other hand, ispletely ck. If not for the white crown on his head that looks like a halo, his glowing golden horns, and his golden eyes, he would be indistinguishable from the darkness of the night.


    The eight of them surround thew matrix that they have spent more than 50,000 years building. It is a shimmering metaphysical structure of interwovenyers created with threads of different colors of solidified light. So it looks like a sphere created with the fusion of differentyers of ss, with each of theyers etched with different colors.


    Within the metaphysical sphere is the world engine. It is a golden band of light in the form of a sphere. Within the world engine is the Kickstarter.


    The Kickstarter can''t be seen because it is copsing and reassembling too fast. But if it were frozen, one would see two ck and white rings hooked together at the edge to form the infinity symbol. The ck and white rings contain a world-ender and a world fragment, respectively.


    Outside the multyered, multicolored metaphysical sphere are nine bands of multicolored light. These bands of light are extensions of the metaphysical sphere. They are also the cornerstones of thew matrix. It is through them that Legion will utilize the power of the world fragment.


    Thew matrix isplete, but the world fragment isn''t yet. Itcks a burden or the source of Supreme power, so it is going out of control and pressuring Legion-1''s inner world.


    It is as if they have built a spring to hold up the world, and the spring ispressed. Without the world to hold up, it is trying to release the potential energy within it by extending.


    It is like an expanding ballon. It wants to get bigger since there is nothing to hold it back. Unfortunately, Legion can''t allow that, or Legion-1''s inner world will explode.


    That''s why they are all surrounding it. They are trying to provide the necessary pressure needed to keep it from expanding further. Things would be easier if they had a Supreme Law to control the world fragment. Unfortunately, they don''t have that, so they have to find a good enough burden for the world fragment.


    All of them surround thew matrix and apply pressure to it with their minds. Their hands have formed intorge tentacles so that they can hold hands around the iplete world fragment and seal it.


    What they are doing is straining the world fragment and preventing it from expanding. However, they are losing the fight with thew matrix, as seen by the fact that they are being gradually pushed away from the metaphysical sphere. Their white tentacle hands were forced to stretch further for them to contain it.


    Legion-7 said, "This wouldn''t have happened had Soverick not made this too strong."


    He is the only one not part of the ring to contain the world fragment, but that doesn''t mean he iszying about. He is doing a lot of work from within the world fragment itself.


    He is spiritual and had a part in building thew matrix, so he can suppress it from within. However, despite how powerful his soul is, he is also failing to suppress thew matrix of the world fragment from expanding. It tells of the strength of what they have built.


    Soverick was unapologetic about it. He said, "This is good. It will be able to support the shards of power better this way. It is better if it is too strong than if it is too weak."


    The tree father urged them, "Just do it already. We can''t do this forever."


    Legion-7 assented, "I am almost done aligning with it."


    He has been saying that for a while now, but he hasn''t seeded. It should have been easy to align with thew matrix, even though there are nine cornerstones. But thew matrix is expanding, so the cornerstones are shifting too, making things difficult for Legion-7.


    Finally, he managed to seed. He said, "There. I''ve got it."


    A ghostly phantom of a multicolored tentacled spiritual entity appeared from within all of them and above the iplete world fragment. This phantom is like a projection from within all of them. But it can interact with the world despite its seemingly intangible state.


    The phantom settled into the sphere. This action caused the nine bands of light to begin rotating. Their speed was slow at first, but it increased very quickly. This caused the power of thew matrix to increase, and the subsequent pressure on the eight of them to increase exponentially.


    Soverick acted next without being told to do so. His body broke apart, which reduced the number of clones suppressing thew matrix to 7. The remaining seven had to close the circle and continue to keep the pressure on the growingw matrix. This was already difficult to do when they were 8 and before thew matrix began active operation. At this point, they are about to copse.


    It is perfectly normal that they are facing this much stress from preventing aw matrix from doing what it wants to do in its natural state. Anyw matrix that can exist must be able to push aside thew matrix of the void universe. Thisw matrix can do so, but it is stronger than a normalw matrix, so it wants to upy more space. Unfortunately, Legion-1''s inner world is too small to allow it to expand fully.


    This problem is because they can''t control thew matrix. They didn''t create it with their supremew, and they certainly can''t control its foundation, the world engine.


    -----


    A/N: Volume 8 begins. The era of conquest will start in this volume. I hope you won''t be dissapointed.

 Chapter 1527 The Green Head Of Greed.

    <h4>Chapter 1527 The Green Head Of Greed.</h4>


    The world engine can''t be controlled so more power is being provided by it to thew matrix, and thew matrix wants to expand thanks to it. If they allow it to expand however it wants, it will destroy Legion-1''s inner world, and they might never be able to take control of it.


    What they are trying to do by limiting it is to buy time for them to gain control of it and apply the pressure required to keep it within proper parameters. Legion-7 has joined thew matrix as the controller. It is his presence that is doing the bulk of keeping thew matrix still, so the seven of them are not instantly overwhelmed. The death of Soverick is to provide the power outlet.


    Soverick died, but not really. It was the version formed by the tentacle of Legion-7 that died. The destruction of that body meant that he had returned to Legion-7. Since Legion-7 is currently in thew matrix of the iplete world fragment, Soverick also returned to thew matrix.


    Soverick joined with Legion-7 so Legion-7 gainedplete ess to his nine golden orbs. These nine orbs could control world power and gravity before he was an Origin god. Now they can be used as ess points by Legion.


    Legion-7 slotted those orbs into a path of revolution around the nine bands of light that serve as the cornerstones. The nine bands of light are rings that rotate around the metaphysical sphere, so the golden orbs also rotate around thew matrix.


    The rotation of the nine golden orbs led to the creation of nine golden halos. So while the world engine formed the internal golden sphere, the nine golden orbs formed the external halo around thew matrix. With this done, the other clones allowed themselves to return to Legion-7. Their bodies disappeared as they fused with Legion-7 who was in thew matrix.


    Thew matrix expanded immediately after it lost the ones shackling it. However, its expansion was brief. It had only surged forward for less than a second before it shrank back by the pressure applied to it.


    The fusion of all the clones caused their shards of power to return to Legion-7. Legion-7 was within thew matrix, so he ced the burden of the shards of power on it. The weight of the nine shards of power on thew matrix caused it to buckle and shrink until its form stabilized.


    The Tree Father also seeded in taking control of the world engine, so the power to thew matrix became regted. This control of the world engine caused the world fragment to be one with the inner world.


    Soverick said to them from within Legion-7, "This is why I made it so strong. A weakw matrix would have copsed."


    They said with exasperation,


    "We know."


    "You are right."


    "We know that already without you saying so."


    "Stop showing off."


    Soverick shrugged mentally, "Who am I to show off to if not you lot? There''s no one else around to bear the burden of my genius."


    That made themugh. It is a mentalugh since they don''t have physical bodies. They are all within Legion-7, and it will take some time for the vessels he has to recreate their bodies. In the meantime, they are examining their greatest creation, and they are full of anticipation for what it is capable of.


    Each ck shard of power has taken over a band of light, so all of the shards of power are rotating around the metaphysical sphere together with the nine golden orbs. It caused a third halo to form as a barrier around the golden one.


    The rotation of the sphere has been reduced ever since they were burdened with the shards of power, but it is still increasing, albeit slowly. This is because of the very enthusiastic world engine beneath, toiling away to provide power.


    Of course, the selfless sacrifice of CARNAGE and the first sage''s supremew cannot be forgotten. Legion will be eternally partially grateful for their sacrifice. Their gratitude is only partial because the sacrifice of CARNAGE and the first sage was not voluntary.


    Legion-1 said emotionally, "The world fragment is finallyplete."


    Legion-7 was excited. "This is magnificent. And we built it. Imagine that. Origin gods building world fragments."


    The Tree Father said with awe, "I can already feel the immense power contained within. It should be enough to use the shards of power."


    Aeternus said to Legion-1, "Congrattions. Your inner world has be a world fragment. You are probably the only world beast that has ever managed that."


    Legion-8 joined in, saying, "I think it is just great that all our effort didn''t go to waste."


    Legion-1 shook his head and said, "No, this is more than that. This is just the beginning. There is more toe."


    They have spent a lot of time and effort, they have offended a lot of powerful entities, and they have endangered themselves several times to build this world fragment so it is gratifying that they have finally seeded. But it is not the end of it.


    They were happy and content for a while. But that didn''tst long. The ugly green head of greed rose up again.


    "Unfortunately, we still can''t control the shards of powerpletely, or the world fragment would be better."


    "What we have is much too good for entities without Supreme Law. But it is not good enough for us."


    Their greed is infinite. The world engine will allow them to use shards of power whenever they want. They can''t control it since they don''t have a Supreme Law, so they can''t make it do whatever they want.


    The shard of power will still enhance them whenever it wants, but at least Soverick''s eyes won''t go blind whenever he uses it. He can enhance his eyes for as long as he wants now. However, apart from the direct enhancement of pure power, the shards can''t do anything else.

 Chapter 1528 Testing 1.

    Chapter 1528 Testing 1.


    ??They have Ragnarok''s research into the principles of POWER to thank for their achievement of creating a world fragment without a Supreme Law or the power of a world god.


    They bypassed these requirements by making thew matrix carry the shard of power instead of them. The enhancement of the shard of power then goes to the nine golden orbs and then to Legion-7.


    Legion-7, being the spiritual connection between all of them, then transfers the enhancement to them. They use this power while thew matrix bears the bacsh for it. Thus, everything goes full cycle.


    The only disadvantage of this arrangement is that they can''t use the shards of power for anything else. In fact, thew matrix they built for the shards of power is more like a prison.


    The entire world fragment is simr to the weapon that Soverick invented and the Tree Father''s stigmata that he used to create demorgorgs. The shards of power are not in pain, but their ability to act at random has been contained. They can only do what thew matrix that contains them allows them to do. This has reduced their potential, but it has made them more reliable.


    Despite all of this, just the enhancement of power is worthy of this being a world fragment. It is something they couldn''t wait to test, but they had to wait because they didn''t have a body.


    The first person to get a body was Legion-1. His inner world is still intact, so he hadn''t truly died. All he had to do was heal, which is quicker than resurrection. He didn''t need Legion-7''s help with it at all.


    The next were the Tree Father and Aeternus. Legion-7 simply returned their spark of power to the world, and their bodies formed around it. The other clones needed Origin essence for their bodies to be recreated, so they required more time. Even then, it took less than 24 hours for all of them to resurrect. It is much faster than the many years that normal Origin gods take.


    They soon gathered again in Legion-1''s inner world. There is no change in their appearance other than the absence of the ck shards of power in their halo. The ck orbs that used to rotate around them, andter, the halo on their heads, left them alone. They are now rotating along the paths of the nine bands around the world fragment like moons around a.


    Soverick also doesn''t have his nine golden orbs of momentum anymore. They are revolving in a straight path just beneath the orbit of the shards of power. These two things are no longer with them physically, but they are still a part of their existence because the world fragment has fused with Legion-1''s inner world while Legion-7 has aligned with thew matrix.


    Legion-1 spoke after they had all assembled. "Let''s test it now that everyone is here."


    They had waited for all of them to resurrect so that they could all help if something went wrong.


    Legion-5 volunteered himself, "Let me try."


    There was no objection, so he went ahead to tap into the power of the world fragment. All nine of them can feel the world fragment at the edge of their consciousness, like a new limb added to their existence. It is not a new or strange experience. It is simr to the feeling Soverick had about the nine golden orbs.


    So Legion-5 used that experience to call for the nine golden orbs. Space, matter, and energy rippled around him as nine golden orbs shimmered into existence around him.


    These nine golden orbs are not the real ones, seeing as there are still nine golden orbs around the world fragment. What he summoned is just a phantom of the original ones through Legion-7. They served their function as an outlet, as power poured out of them into his existence like moltenva being poured into a frozenke.


    His existence was suddenly elevated. He even shivered due to the new sensations he had of the world.


    He said solemnly, "I feel like I can do anything."


    The others were collecting data from him about the burden on his existence, the stress or strain, both mental and physical. They were watching for any side effects on him and also on the world fragment. Any instability in him or the world fragment would be a problem for them.


    This is a test that will take a long time to finish, so they watched for hours as Legion-5 tried to do various things while saddled with the enhancement of the world fragment. Any little inconsistency in the performance of the world fragment had to be troubleshooted and fixed.


    Soverick tried to find problematic things for Legion-5 to do. However, no matter what he did, they didn''t notice any stress or strain on both him and the world fragment. His concept had been elevated to the level of Supreme Origin god without any issue, and it appeared that the world fragment could continue augmenting him for a long time.


    Soverick was satisfied with the oue. He didn''t see any problem in the present or future, so he said, "Let''s move to the next phase of the test."


    Legion-6 was slightly eager for action. So he rmended himself. Legion agreed to let him try next since his concept of the Bottomless Abyss would be the least useful in restraining the world fragment if anything went wrong with it. After all, an abyss within Legion-1''s inner world is more likely to create problems than solutions.


    Another phantom of the nine golden orbs appeared around Legion-6. The one around Legion-5 didn''t copse, so that made three sets of the orbs of momentum.


    The world fragment didn''t buckle because of the creation of another set of the nine golden orbs. It also didn''t shift or stutter as Legion-6 began enhancing himself with it in tandem with Legion-5. The enhancement elevated both of them to the level of Supreme Origin gods.

 Chapter 1529 Testing 2.

    Chapter 1529 Testing 2.


    ??The world fragment appeared to be fine working with two of the clones at the same time, so they increased the workload on it. After all, most systems appear to be fine until they are pushed to their limits. Legion has to know what the limit of the world fragment is, so Legion-6 is just the next step in increasing the workload on it.


    Normal world fragments enhance Origin gods to the Supreme Origin god level too. The difference between normal ones and the one that Legion built is that normal ones can only work with one person.


    Theirs can work with two, but they didn''t stop there. They increased this number steadily so that the limit of the world fragment would be made known. Unfortunately, no matter how much they pushed or pulled, the world fragment didn''t show any instability. It continued to work normally even when all eight of them were using it.


    They even allowed Legion-5 to practice using cosmic force with it. Thew matrix of the world fragment bore the bacsh in his ce perfectly. He could even use his Cosmic domain again and again with no worries.


    Helios also tried to dominatews with his concept. Unlike Legion-5 who specializes in breaking stuff with cosmic force, he specializes in freezing the worldpletely. And he can choose which part of the world to destroy instead of the whole domain, like Legion-5.


    The major advantage that Legion-5 had was that his cosmic domain could not be resisted. The world will crack, and everything within the domain will be fragmented. Only those who can exist independently of the void universe can hope to resist it.


    Helios'' ability, on the other hand, can be resisted by those with Supreme Laws. As for Legion-5''s concept of nullification, it could neutralize every other concept apart from Helios''. After all, they got their power from the same source.


    They found out about all of these after doing several vigorous tests. They didn''t have to worry about the bacsh of manipting cosmic force, so they could afford to test as much as they wanted.


    The world fragment had no problem amodating their needs. It had no significant strain as long as they didn''t try to manipte anything not supported directly by the void universe, such as Origin gods. But it soon reached its limit after bigger maniptions of cosmic force led to a heavier bacsh.


    The world fragment actually came to a halt when Helios tried something considered taboo. The world fragment couldn''t bear the bacsh, so it spilled into their existence. The inner world and every clone felt their existence crack a little.


    This event made them stop testing. They had to heal themselves and make sure that the world fragment was fine.


    When everything was tested, Soverick said smugly to Helios, "I told you not to try to rewind time."


    Helios was disappointed. He said, "The void universe is too strict."


    As a dragon of order, he condensed a spark of power as soon as he imbibed a lot of Cosmic energy. The other clones stopped when they reached the limit of Origin gods. They needed Supreme Laws to advance, but he just spontaneously condensed a spark of power.


    As if that wasn''t enough, he also condensed a spark of soul when Soverick suggested he take divinity. Even then, Soverick is certain that he can still create a Supreme Law. It was then that they truly realized just how much Draco robbed the dragons of.


    It is also not a wonder to them anymore why the ancient elves were so powerful. In fact, it would have been odd if the ancient elves that Mother High used Draco''s energy to create instead of Mana were weak.


    Helios had two sparks, so he thought he could do anything. Unfortunately, the bacsh from messing with time didn''t allow him to get away with everything. He thought he would be able to rewind time by even a split second with the help of thew matrix, but he almost killed them.


    Soverick shook his head and said, "Rewinding time isplicated. The major difficulties are theck of a boundary of space and the resistance of the void universe. So we can''t even rewind the time of a small amount of space. If we are to seed in rewinding time at all, we must be able to ovee the resistance of the void universe and rewind the time of the whole universe. I doubt a small world fragment can rewind the time of the whole void universe, even if the void universe doesn''t resist. It certainly can''t do so when the void universe is actively resisting."


    Legion-5 pointed out, "So it is possible."


    Soverick agreed, "It is. But not with our current means."


    Legion-1 thought about it and said, "The power of time is too powerful to give up on. I guess we will have to go with Soverick''s n on this."


    The Tree Father agreed, "The past is forbidden. The present is already in our grasp. What remains is the future."


    Aeternus said with slight annoyance, "I hope it is better than what I am getting now."


    He is the only one not enhanced by the world fragment. Even the Tree Father and Helios, who have a spark of power like him and are at the Supreme Origin god level, have be stronger with the world fragment.


    At the very least, the Tree Father can start tampering with thew matrix without permission from the void universe and Helios has almost no scruples in his use of domination because the world fragment will bear the bacsh for them.


    As for Aeternus, the only change the world fragment has brought him is that he can use the concepts of the other clones at the Supreme Origin god level. It is because he hasn''t fused with his spark of power yet. So he is looking forward to something good from Soverick''s attempt to harness the future.


    ------


    A/N: I didn''t get to disy just how powerful Draco is during thest volume. I can make up for that deficiency through Helios.

 Chapter 1530 Preparations For The EOChapter

    <h4>Chapter 1530 Preparations For The EOC. </h4>


    Soverick said confidently, "It will work. Trust me. I was right about everything about the world fragment wasn''t I?"


    The Tree Father had to speak up, "I built most of the world fragment. I should take credit for it."


    Soverick refused to concede, "I designed it. I also helped to build it. I should take credit. You might be the best builder, but you were just a tool to my genius. I was right, and that''s all that matters."


    They gave up on arguing with him. But it is a general consensus that the Tree Father deserves some recognition. Not only did the world fragment not show any instability, it has also synchronized perfectly with their existence.


    The world fragment is like an organ at this point, not an external tool. If not for the Kickstarter within thew matrix, then everything about the world fragment would be under their control.


    But Soverick is right in that he should take major credit for his designs and ns for the world fragment. Without those designs, everything might not have worked out so smoothly, and it certainly wouldn''t have been this efficient.


    The Tree Father can build anything, but Soverick''s ns make sure that he can use the least amount of energy and effort necessary. Soverick is also important for the future of the world fragment.


    As it is, Aeternus, the Tree Father, and Helios don''t need the power of the world fragment, and thanks to the Tree Father''s divine spark, Legion as a whole doesn''t need a world fragment to experience the power of a Supreme Origin god either.


    But it is a big development for Legion to be in possession of a world fragment, not only for the additional source of Supreme Power but also for its ability to take on the bacsh of the void universe for them. With it, they can tamper more with cosmic force.


    Besides that, the enhancement of the world fragment has not gone to waste just because they can use the Supreme Power of Helios or the Tree Father through Legion-7. They can add its enhancement together with the power from the Tree Father and Helios through the divine spark to possess a quantitative advantage in power at the Supreme level.


    These are all great. But things could be better. Especially if Soverick seeds in turning the world fragment into a Universal artifact. After all, they have already met the minimum requirement to make the artifact seamlesslypatible with their existence, as if it were an innate organ. Thispatibility is just like with the soul sphere and the crown of domination. It is the right step in creating a Universal artifact.


    At that point, they will be able to enhance it indefinitely with divinity. That means the usefulness of the world fragment will not end anytime soon. Not even when they be world gods.


    Helios said with anticipation, "This is just a start for us. If we can achieve this as Origin gods, imagine what we can achieve as world gods. We might finally be able to rewind time."


    Soverick wasn''t optimistic about that. He doubts a world god will be able to move the whole universe back in time while simultaneously resisting the Supreme Law of Order. But he is not going to tell Helios that it is impossible. After all, he doesn''t know for certain yet.


    Aeternus couldn''t wait anymore. He asked Soverick, "Speaking of imagination, when can we try your grand technique?"


    Soverick considered the question for a while before he answered. "We can do it now, but I rmend that we wait until the era of conquest starts before we use it."


    Legion-1 agreed. "It will require a lot of information, so if it is to work for the era of conquest, we should wait until we get a lot of data about it first."


    The Tree Father shrugged and said, "It seems we are done here. I will return to harvesting souls to create divinity. Call me when you are ready."


    Then he disappeared from the inner world.


    Ragnarok invited Aeternus, "Let''s go and hunt vampires."


    Aeternus grinned, "Finally. Something to eat."


    The two of them disappeared to hunt vampires. It is not just because Aeternus likes eating. It is mostly because they have to get rid of the vampires, so that the blood suckers won''t be able to interfere in their ns for the era of conquest.


    Aeternus will use Chaos energy to devour them. It won''t kill the Vampires permanently because their existence is still tied to the world ender, but it will make it difficult for them to reincarnate for a long time. It will also make Aeternus stronger. This way, they will be able to achieve two things with the same action.


    Legion-1, Legion-4, and Legion-5 went to continue their stealing and robbing careers. They have the power of Supreme Origin gods now, so they don''t need to fear the Supreme Origin god of space that chased them aroundst time. Soverick stayed back to help the new Legion-8 construct his concept.


    All of them have many things to do before the era of conquest arrives. They went to do those things instead of using their contingency n against the first sage. After all, they don''t have a reason to move against him yet.


    They didn''t know that the first sage had been waiting for their next move against him. It is a pity that Legion prioritized the era of conquest over trying to hunt a world god. So they didn''t go after the First Sage. What urred was an announcement that shook the whole realm tree.


    The realm tree bloomed like it did every 100,000 years. Its world engine hadpleted another cycle of energy transformation.


    This provided the realm tree with about 1,000 Origin essences, which it would use to reward its realm lord and also reward its children who were going to participate in the trial of heaven.


    This is the routine and everyone was waiting for it.

 Chapter 1531 How It Starts.

    <h4>Chapter 1531 How It Starts. </h4>


    Normally, the realm tree ought to call its children both inward and outward toe and test their worth within the tower of heaven. The message was supposed to be short and sinct. The trial of heaven would then start 800 yearster.


    But this time the realm tree didn''t call its children to the trial of heaven. She did give them a message as usual.


    She said, "We have survived another Origin cycle. The realm tree blooms again. But this might be thest time. This is because the whole realm faces a trial greater than the trial of heaven. It faces a trial that will determine its fate."


    Mother High Heaven''s voice rang in all their minds. From the lowest intelligent beast to the highest Supreme Origin gods. They heard her regardless of their location in the void universe. They all heard her voice clearly, as if she were speaking directly and close to them.


    "Victory or defeat. Survival or death. Those are the only two oues, so the realm must fight for its survival in this Origin cycle. If it doesn''t achieve victory before the next Origin cycle, then it will die."


    "The fight for the era of conquest is here. Fight for its survival, and you will be rewarded. Fight and bring honor to the realm. Fight for your mother and make her proud."


    Her speech ended on that note, leaving a lingering sense of pride and imploration. It made all who heard her know that she was proud of them. She is proud far more than any parent can be. She has nurtured them into great beings, and she needs them now. She wants their help, or she will die.


    Her speech caused a myriad of reactions from everyone who heard it. The mostmon reaction was the stirring of the fighting spirit. This is especially true of Origin gods who are immortal and have very little to worry about. This might be a matter of life and death for the realm tree, but it is a great opportunity for them. Since they can''t die, there''s very little stopping them from participating in this trial.


    Most world gods who got this information were subdued emotionally. The survival of the realm has nothing to do with them. They are so detached from the realm tree that Mother High Heaven''s message didn''t reach them directly. They heard it from other sources.


    If not for the fact that the realm lord has made it so that they have something to gain from the oue of the era of conquest, most of them would have returned to sleep. They would have yawned, but now they have something to lose if they sleep.


    Many world gods began to move into action. Some moved to support the realm tree, while others moved to antagonize it. The beings that want the realm tree to fail the era of conquest and die are doing it to spite the realm lord.


    They are great beings with perfect memory. They can still remember the unpleasant emotions they felt when he cut off the supply of life trees for their inner worlds. They promised to make him pay, and they will deliver on that promise. If the realm lord still won''t capitte and give them life trees, then they will ensure that there won''t be any future for him anymore.


    These world gods didn''t rush yet to pressure the realm lord. They waited for the other realm tree that would participate in the era of conquest to be announced.


    They know that the realm lord is mad. He won''t do what they want, no matter how much they threaten him. They have to put in actual effort in order for him to see the error of his ways and regret his actions. Only when his own path is about to be cut off will he capitte, and they are waiting to see it happen.


    The announcement of the era of conquest kicked off the execution of ns that had been in the works from the very moment that the realm tree gained a realm lord. Some great entities with even better sight have prepared for the era of conquest way before there was a realm lord.


    But to all these great beings, the era of conquest is a game with benefits to be gained. Only those beneath the level of Origin gods feel the danger of the era of conquest.


    For starters, Sovereigns ofw can''t be Origin gods through the trial of heaven anymore. That''s just the start of the impact of that announcement. The second impact was the immediate removal of the suppression of Origin gods within the realm tree.


    It means Origin gods won''t feel unpleasant in the realm tree anymore and can go all out. Whenbined with the massive influx of Origin gods into the realm because of the uing era of conquest, the realm of high heaven became a den of lions for everyone who wasn''t an immortal.


    The realm war hasn''t started yet, but the whole realm has be the immortalnds for Sovereigns ofw and weaker beings. There is danger everywhere, and they can die at any moment.


    It is clear to them that they have no part in theing realm war if they can''t even survive being around their allies. If not for the negative points gained from killing the living beings of the ne, then most inhabitants of nes would be wiped out in a day.


    The danger of Origin gods came suddenly and powerfully. It became the focus and was prioritized above the fact that the only way to be an Origin god now is through tribtion. They couldn''t help but be focused on it because a lot of living beings died despite Mother High Heaven''s measures to prevent it. It is because it is too easy for Origin gods to kill. A single activation of their domain can clear out their surroundings of life.


    -----

 Chapter 1532 The Declaration.

    <h4>Chapter 1532 The Deration.</h4>


    The realm became a nightmare for beings that were not immortal. Fortunately, transcendents and above can escape. They can leave their ne for the immortalnds or go to the worlds of world gods. Some did immediately while some stayed in fortified cities built by their ancestors. But most left.


    As for mana entities who still need to breathe and don''t have a solidified divine sense to move through the void outside their nes, they have nowhere to go. Not without the assistance of powerful beings.


    All these changes came rapidly. But they couldn''tpare to the most important changes to the realm as it prepared for battle. Mother High Heaven used the Origin essence she got this cycle and has been saving for many Origin cycles to fortify the realm.


    First, she returned all the nes to their origin. The 100,000 active nes moved through the void and reattached themselves to the ancient battlefield.


    This reattachment led to the creation of onergendmass. The realm returned to its original shape before Mother High Heaven divided them.


    The barriers between the nes fell after they werebined. Even the divine nesbined as one. The gods can finally ess every ne in the realm, and the inhabitants of the realm don''t need to go to the ancient battlefield anymore to ess the other realms.


    Then Mother High used the Origin essence she had to fortify thew matrix of the realm with cosmic energy. This is something that could only be done with the concept of the realm lord.


    This hasn''t made the realmpletely indestructible like the immortalnds, but it will take a concept with at least sixws, the Supreme Laws, or the maniption of cosmic force to damage the realm. This way, the realm won''t be destroyed by the Origin gods on the very first day of the era of conquest.


    The next thing she did was give all of her children a mark that only they could see. Those who have participated in the trial of heaven are familiar with this kind of mark. The mark gives them ess to information about individual points and faction points.


    Their contribution to the era of conquest as an individual or a faction they control will be tracked by the mark. Even demons have this mark.


    The mark also grants ess to the virtualwork created by the realm lord. So the people of the realm can exchange information easily andmunicate with each other in real-time.


    All of these are not as tempting as the opportunity to ess the mission board in the virtualwork. Everyone can receive mission notification from Mother High Heaven through the mark, which they can ept or decline. Some already have negative points because of the deaths they caused when they arrived in the ne.


    The preparations for the era of conquest had been set. What was left was the opening battle with the enemies. Mother High Heaven moved into action to facilitate it. The realm lord brought her to the target realm tree, and she went into it to dere war.


    There was someone waiting for her in the target realm. It was a dark figure with a spherical form of dark matter revolving around a single star. This star isrge and takes up most of the form of the dark figure. It is the opposite of the small, scattered stars in Mother High Heaven''s figure.


    The figure said to her, "You are not wee here, High Heaven."


    Its voice was monotone, without any inflection. It sounded androgynous. It stood in Mother High Heaven''s way and blocked her ess to the realm. But Mother High Heaven didn''t step back.


    "I havee for conquest, Father Tyrant."


    The Will of the Tyrant realm shook with anger as it said, "Then make the deration or leave."


    Its voice was finally tinged with emotion. Both of them aremunicating with their minds, so the amount of anger and hatred that Father Tyrant is feeling is clear to Mother High Heaven.


    Even so, she asked, "Will you give me your realm heart?"


    Someone came to his house where he was minding his business, and that person asked for his heart. Father Tyrant gave her the response that any reasonable entity, be they physical or spiritual, will give.


    He said, "No, I will not."


    Then he couldn''t keep hisposure anymore. He asked her with a roar of anger, "Are you out of your mind? What you are about to do is not a mere game. There will be lethal consequences. Think things through before it bes toote."


    She expected that answer and the angry outburst after it. In fact, she agrees that targeting the Tyrant Realm is not a good idea. But she dered, "Then I shall have your heart, even if I need to destroy everything that you are."


    Father Tyrant couldn''t believe it. What she is about to do is simr to smashing two nes against each other. It was not something he anticipated at all, much less something he had prepared for. So he is angry, afraid, panicking, and hateful.


    But she has made her determination clear, so he could only say, "Fine. Have it your way."


    The two of them spoke at the same time, "The quest for the realm heart has been invoked."


    The Will of the Universe, who had been watching, added, "The Invocation has been witnessed by the Pir of Order, and the requirements have been met."


    Then all three Willspleted the deration, "And so the Era of conquest begins."


    The two dark figures were pulled together. The figure of Mother High Heaven fused with the Will of the Tyrant Realm. They gained ess to each other''s hearts.


    And so the first battle began. The two of them tried to devour and assimte the other. This is a fight that will not have an oue in a short amount of time. They will have to rely on their children to influence the oue.

 Chapter 1533 Plans Of A Mad Man.

    Chapter 1533 ns Of A Mad Man.


    ??This singr battle between the two Wills is the very essence of the era of conquest. It is the first battle and will continue until the end of the era of conquest. The winner of this tug of war will im the realm heart of the other. The loser will die, while the winner will be free from the void universe.


    No one wants to die. Especially not the spiritual entities that represent the will to live of living things. But Mother High Heaven''s actions will bring death to one of them. Father Tyrant is very angry about it. He is cursing her as he tries to destroy her.


    Mother High Heaven was also angry. She didn''t express that anger as they fought, though. She kept it bottled up while focusing on defending herself. She didn''t bother to attack at all because they are evenly matched.


    She knows that even though their fight is the most important one, it will be the longest one. It will take a long time for the oue to be decided. Besides, thergest factor that will determine the oue is the various battles between their children. This has made her worried because she is not confident.


    Mother High Heaven hasbined her nes into one, just like it was in the past. It means that she can''t bully the Tyrant Realm with her numerous nes. This is a disadvantageous move. No one in their right mind will give up their advantage to fight at a disadvantage. It is something only a mad man will do.


    Unfortunately, it was necessary for her to do so so as to be able to fight a realm tree that never divided its original ne. That''s one of the reasons why she thought it was a bad idea to choose the Tyrant Realm as the enemy for the era of conquest.


    The Will of the Universe needed her to fuse her nes for it to sanction their battle. If Monarch High Heaven had picked a realm tree with many nes, then she would be able to take advantage of the thousands of nes that she had painstakingly developed.


    In that case, if a ne falls, there will be many more to take its ce. So if she has more nes than the enemy, she will be more confident in her chances of victory. This is what she has to give up to fight the Tyrant Realm. Now that every ne is connected, every part of her realm can easily be essed by the enemy. It is making her worried and unconfident.


    She thought to herself, "I hope this mad man has a n."


    It is not as if choosing to fight a realm tree with a single ne is totally bad. At the very least, if her children are strong and y their cards right, they can take down the Tyrant Realm in one fell swoop too.


    That can also happen to her, hence her trepidation. Unfortunately, it is toote to do anything about it now. The deration of the era of conquest has been made, and the Will of the void universe has sanctioned the realm war.


    This sanctioning has led to the superimposition of the spatial coordinates of the Tyrant Realm with the High Heaven realm, just as it led to the fusion of the two Wills. The two realms are indeed aligning, or, as Father Tyrant prefers, the two realms are colliding.


    The superimposition will create dungeons, which will create avenues for invasion between the two realms. The children of the two realms will be able to gain ess to the other realms through the dungeons.


    The actions of the children of both realms will weaken or strengthen the Will of the realms until one devours the others and gains liberation from thew matrix. So focusing on defending while assisting her children is a smart decision.


    ------


    The era of conquest has officially begun. The realm lord and every child of the High Heaven realm tree felt the changes immediately. They sensed a certain realm tree out there in the void that they were enemies with. They will be able to find it easily if they fly into the void to search for it.


    There is no going back for either realm tree anymore. One of them must die within one Origin cycle. Every living thing within the realm tree that loses will die if they are not immortal.


    The realm lord moved into action immediately. He has been preparing for this day for quite a while, so he can''t wait to put his ns into action. He is also impatient because he has one Origin cycle to finish this battle. The era of conquest will not go on forever. If he doesn''t win before the next Origin cycle, then he will lose and die.


    If he dies, the first one within him wouldn''t die, of course, but he would need to reincarnate and start all over again somewhere else in the void universe. He can''t have that when sess is so close. So he is bringing out a lot of firepower to ensure sess in this war.


    He was in front of the Tyrant Realm when the deration of war was made. He is still there now that the war has been sanctioned. It was not by chance.


    He raised his hand, turned it into a fist, and then pushed it forward towards the Tyrant realm tree. Space shattered around him like ss. The cracks in space expanded rapidly as battleships came out of them and rushed towards the Tyrant Realm.


    These battleships arerge, tubr flying fortresses. Each one is about 100 kilometers long, but it didn''t take long for them toe out of the portals at all.


    The battleships were so fast that they were shuttling through space at blinking speeds. They are also so numerous that they appear to be a horde of locusts instead of the crystallization of the fusion of machinery and power meant for destruction.

 Chapter 1534 Ultimate Element Of Surprise.

    Chapter 1534 Ultimate Element Of Surprise.


    ??Monarch High Heaven raised both of his hands andughed. He dered with a roar ofughter, "Go forth, my babies. Go forth and prosper. Bring me destruction. Bring me victory."


    The battleships advanced on the realm tree, truly like locusts. But they didn''t attack the realm tree at all. Instead, they formed into severalyers of rings around the realm tree. The rings are patrol paths, and they are present every 1,000 kilometers along the length of the realm tree. Considering that this realm tree is about 1,000,000 kilometers tall, that means there are 1,000 patrol lines.


    The presence of the battleships around the realm tree is intimidating, to say the least. Their presence is more terrifying when it is considered that each battleship has one main cannon powerful enough to injure Supreme Origin gods.


    Each one is a world fragment. But unlike other world fragments that empower their users, these battleships are made for killing. They were created with the aim of causing a prodigious amount of damage. Even their main cannon is called the Prodigious Cannon.


    This main cannon is thergest structure that they possess. In fact, the rest of their body was crafted around the main cannon, hence the tubr form of the battleship.


    They have other types of guns, though. They have a lot of them. But the equipment that the realm lord is most excited about, apart from the main cannon, is the surveince systems built into the battleships. It is with this equipment that they will be able to make sure that nothing and no one slips past the blockade that they have formed around the realm tree.


    The surveince systems sense everything, be it matter, energy, or spiritual, in a range of 100,000 kilometers with 99% uracy. The range could be wider, but it would lose its effectiveness if there was a dy in surveince.


    After all, the waves for its sensors are limited by the speed of light, and light cannot move faster than 300,000 kilometers per second. So as they are, they will be able to sense an enemy and react to the enemy in less than a second.


    Monarch High Heavenughed proudly. "Marvellous. Simply Marvelous. Let me see what they will do now."


    He is truly proud of his creation and himself. These battleships are what he has spent the most of the past 10 Origin cycles building. Not only did they require time, they also required a vast amount of resources. After all, who can afford to build 10 billion world fragments?


    Then there was therge amount of effort he put into it. He had to create more than 10,000 clones that were working non-stop for a million years while he went about stealing resources.


    Creating each world fragment required less effort than the effort Legion put in to build their own since he had his Supreme Law and the power of a world god within his realm tree. But 10 billion is arge number, and he had offended so many people through his stealing spree that they call him a mad man for offending people when he should be making friends to assist him in the era of conquest.


    He could have sold life trees for resources and not steal if he needed resources that badly. He would have gained helpers too. But he didn''t. Instead, he banned the exploitation of life trees. Not only did that not get him wealth, he also created more powerful enemies.


    Monarch High Heaven wasughing as he thought about everything he had to do to get to where he is right now. He did a lot of unreasonable things, created a few legends, and made a lot of enemies. Now is the time for him to pay the price for his achievement.


    But he was full of confidence as he said, "Come. Let theme. Let me see how they will fare against my babies."


    Mother High Heaven was positively shocked when she saw the battleships. Her confidence increased, but so did her uneasiness.


    She had to ask, "Where have you been keeping these?"


    She didn''t know that he was building world fragments at all. She has never seen them until today.


    The realm lord onlyughed grandly. Instead of answering her question, he asked his own. "Are you shocked? Are you surprised? Are you in awe of my magnificence? Who is the mad man now?"


    He went on to brag, "I told you that we would win. How would we lose with these?"


    He is too confident, even though the battleships are not infallible. The barricade can be bypassed. It would require someone moving at the speed of light to escape the blockade.


    There are a lot of such individuals in the void universe, but they won''t be able to bypass his blockade easily. After all, they will have to slow down to enter the realm. They can''t just crash into the barrier at the speed of light. They have to slow down. That will provide the cannons with enough time to st them.


    As for the rest, who are not as fast as the speed of light, they will be shot dead before they reach the realm. Considering that these battleships will only target those without the mark granted by Mother High Heaven, it means only the Origin gods of High Heaven will be able to enter this realm tree.


    So the children of the Tyrant Realm won''t be able toe to its rescue no matter how much Father Tyrant calls for help. This way, his advantage of being the first to make a move has been solidified, and that is good enough for him to be certain of his victory.


    His enemies and allies are yet to move because they don''t know which realm he will attack. Even the realm tree that he will be attacking was caught off guard by the deration, and Mother High Heaven who is his partner was surprised by his battleships.


    This is the ultimate element of surprise. The next level is to surprise himself but he can''t do that. He will have to settle for second best.


    -----


    A/N: How do you think the divine element of surprise can be achieved? How would you take your enemies, your allies, and yourself by surprise?

 Chapter 1535 Unprecedented.

    Chapter 1535 Unprecedented.


    ??Father Tyrant is calling for help. The Tyrant Realm is blooming and thews of the void universe are being riled up. It is an sos. An emergency call for its children toe and help it.


    But Monarch High Heaven has used the element of surprise to his advantage. It is nothing special as it would be foolish not to take full advantage of it. If he didn''t take advantage of such an opportunity, then he would deserve to lose the era of conquest.


    His mind was feeling with calctions and estimations. His emotions were high and his thoughts were active like never before. It made the crack in his existence ache. The pain was so much that he could onlyugh.


    He wasughing and being giddy as more and more battleships came out of the portal. There are millions of them at this point. But his happiness was cut short when his first enemy arrived.


    It started with an unmistakable sense of heaviness. The space-time continuum around the realm tree sank as something with a lot of mass arrived.


    The heaviness of that entity weighed down everything. Then the portal he opened closed forcefully as space crumbled. An angry Will was made manifest soon after.


    The entity said to him, "So you have stopped hiding. You have decided to make your move."


    The voice rang around him and echoed over and over again, as if he were surrounded. But the speaker of the voice didn''t show themselves.


    Monarch High Heaven chuckled and said, "Why don''t you show yourself? Are you afraid?"


    The Voice replied, "Yes, I am afraid. I sense a threat from these machines."


    Monarch High Heaven doubled over inughter. "I quite like your frankness."


    He went on to brag. "As you will notice, I came here fully prepared."


    "I can see that. Each of these machines is a world fragment, and there are millions of them. I have to marvel at your wealth even if I don''t marvel at their power."


    Monarch High Heaven pped and said sarcastically, "Wonderful powers of observation."


    A world fragment doesn''t scare a world god just like a finger bone doesn''t scare someone with their whole body at their disposal. But there is strength in numbers, and the battleships are numerous.


    As if that isn''t enough, each battleship possesses Authority at its core. This is in addition to the Supreme Law that empowers them. So yes, they are enough to make a world god afraid.


    However, not every world god is capable of noticing the specialness of the battleships and is not afraid of admitting it. This gave the realm lord a little pressure. It is just a little. He is still confident. But he is not going to underestimate this world god.


    "Your powers of observation aremendable. Unfortunately, that isn''t going to help you now. What will you do to stop me?" The realm lord asked proudly.


    The world god replied, "I can only try my best."


    It has been moving beneath thew matrix like a shark surveying the surface of the ocean for prey. It has found prey now, and it is determined to act. And so the hunt began.


    The World god lunged from the dark side of the universe. She didn''t target the realm lord. His form is only that of a clone. Instead, she moved to reim the void around the realm tree.


    Space rose up and undted like the surface of an ocean. The world god rose with the wave to smash against the battleships. She was in the form of a colossal blue star riding on the tsunami of rioting space.


    Her appearance urred nearly instantly, but she couldn''t move faster than light on the light side of the universe, so the battleships were not cutpletely off guard. They zoomed in on the attacking behemoth and attacked.


    Another wave rose up against the world god as the battleships attacked. This wave is slower than the iing one, and the attacks she released. But it is notcking in power either. Wherever the attacks passed by, space rippled visibly.


    What''s odd is that the attacks of the battleships were invisible. It was as if they were cloaked. But they were only invisible to those who needed light to see them. The world god could see without light, and she could see cosmic force, so she dodged.


    She swerved, but the attacks changed directions quickly and continued chasing after her. What theyck in speed, they more than make up for in persistence. She turned, and they turned too. She couldn''t get rid of them, no matter what she did. She was soon surrounded.


    She ought not have dodged in the first ce. She should have destroyed them before they became too many. Now they are trying to cage her.


    She was wary of those attacks because theye from battleships that are being augmented by the void universe through the Authority that is empowering them. They are notws at all. They are raw power. Raw cosmic force.


    She didn''t want to underestimate them. After all, a mere Origin god has acquired the power to threaten a world god. This is already unprecedented, but she didn''t want to be a part of another unprecedented achievement by be the first world god to be defeated by an Origin god. So she chose to be cautious. Now she doesn''t have a choice but to face them head on.


    The world god stopped dodging when she realized that she couldn''t escape the attacks. Her speed and attack power are limited on the light side of the void universe, but her intrinsic defense and state of existence remain the same. So she decided to face them head-on.


    The world around her froze as she moved her Will. She used all the power she could muster in her clone so void energy stopped moving entirely and the world froze.


    But that didn''t stop the attacks. They moved against the frozen world to reach her. Then they shed with the outburst of power around her. This collision ground them down before they reached her.

 Chapter 1536 A Shark Vs Prawns.

    <h4>Chapter 1536 A Shark Vs Prawns. </h4>


    The numerous attacks melted like snow in a hot pot. This oue surprised the world god. She expected more, but it turned out that she didn''t need to be so cautious. The quality of the attacks was high, but they were still weak. They were far weaker than her.


    The Realm Lord pped at the sight and said, "Marvellous. Truly marvelous performance. I am impressed."


    He is truly amused. Each attack is already beyond the limit of the light side of the void universe, but she managed to neutralize a million of them at once. So in a way, she is fighting a million weak world gods at once, and she is seeding in fending them off.


    He knew to expect this from a world god, and he has seen it before, so he is not impressed. But he wanted to show appreciation to the world god for amusing him, so he also pped. It is the least he should do.


    Fortunately for him and unfortunately for her, that isn''t the end to the attacks of the battleships. Another round came after one second. Then the third set of attacks started right on time, after two seconds.


    She stopped the second round and the third. Then the fourth. Then the fifth. She stopped them easily, and she even managed to advance on the realm tree. It made her caution disappear.


    She had thought that he was pretending to be weak to lull her into a false sense of security so that she would let her guard down. But time and time again, the attacks of the battleships were too weak to threaten her. It made her bold in her next actions.


    She was amongst the battleships soon enough and was tearing them apart like a wolf amongst sheep. It was more like a giant blue star was bullying small ck ships. Or a great blue shark was bullying a school of prawns.


    The battleships were exploding as her Will smashed into them. They burst open like fragile fruit before her.


    She even had the leisure topliment them. "These are not bad. Unfortunately, they arecking a little. Quantity can never overwhelm a world god."


    She is right about that. There is no difference between a single enemy, a million enemies, or a billion enemies for a world god. If one of her enemies cannot beat her, then an infinite number of them cannot defeat her. At least not in a short amount of time. As long as her Will remains, she will remain undefeatable.


    This kind of power is simr to that of celestials, except a world god doesn''t need energy to attack. Their Will is intangible and nearly inexhaustible, so they can fight and maintain their prowess for an almost infinite amount of time.


    Unfortunately, this current body is an avatar. It is a construct used to channel her power. It is not her main body so it is not inexhaustible. But she will just create another avatar, even if this one runs out of energy.


    The realm lord knew these facts, so he wasn''t surprised by the ease with which she fended off the attacks of his prized creations. Even so, the attacks of the battleships had not been useless. They had resisted her Will and slowed down its manifestation. This gave them time to activate their defense mode while some of thembined into something stronger.


    The change was immediate after the activation of the defense mode. The battleships put up a barrier reinforced by the Authority within them to create a powerful defense.


    The defense was so powerful that the battleships stopped getting destroyedpletely. This is because they can''t be harmed by power within the limits of the light side anymore.


    The battleships were pushed about, but they didn''t explode, no matter how much she attacked them. Meanwhile, they could still continue to attack her. It frustrated her, so she roared in anger.


    "RAWRR."


    Her roar made the realm lord chuckle. She heard that chuckle, so she calmed down. She even chuckled too and said to him, "If you are going to hide them, I can just pass by without fighting them."


    She had tried to freeze the battleships and take them away, but they broke free from her Will. As they are, she can''t do anything to them as long as it is within the limits of the light side. She can''t do more since any power beyond the limit would be disced to the dark side. Not unless she is willing to spend cosmic energy to use cosmic force.


    So she is helpless against the battleship as long as they stay on the light side. But then she remembered that her purpose wasn''t to destroy battleships. It is to interfere in the era of conquest.


    She can''t enter the realm tree, but she can let some Origin gods enter it, and she can pass some resources to the realm tree. Now she is here to break the realm lord''s blockade around the realm tree so that the Origin gods of the Tyrant Realm can help their realm tree in this war.


    She can do all of that without any issue if the battleships can''t stop her. So she stopped harassing the battleships and approached the realm tree. She chuckled loudly so that the smug realm lord would not be so smug anymore.


    Her n worked. The realm lord wasn''t so smug anymore. He frowned and activated the overdrive mode of the battleships. The battleships began to light up as they performed the spiritual handshake needed forbination. His supremew formed awork between them and caused them to enter overdrive mode.


    The battleships remained separate, but the individual enhancement of Authority wasbined into one through thework created by the Supreme Law. This removed them from the defense mode, but caused some of them to strengthen beyond the limit of the light side.


    It was as if a few of them had be paragons while the others enhance them. Power was transferred from the majority to the few. The ones that were enhanced broke the limit sank to the dark side.

 Chapter 1537 Two Battlefields.

    <h4>Chapter 1537 Two Battlefields.</h4>


    He didn''t make a single battleship to be the designated paragon as that would make it stand out and be targeted by her. Instead, he used thebined amplification to randomly empower the battleships.


    So the designated paragon was always changing. This caused the empowered battleships to be random while the other battleships on the light side without defense tried to avoid the world god while simultaneously attacking it.


    She noticed the change andughed maniacally. "Hahahah. You have no choice now but to watch me ughter them."


    She began to kill the battleships again. Now that they have substituted their defense mode for overdrive, they have be vulnerable to her power. She was even destroying them faster than before because of her excitement. She did this as one of them asionally dipped into the dark side to fight her main body.


    The ones that asionally dipped into the dark side produced power beyond the limit of the dark side, but it still couldn''t threaten her main body. It made her both impressed that an Origin god coulde down to the dark side to fight her and smug that this Origin god had bitten more than he could chew by fighting her.


    She said proudly, "A shortcut cannotpare to the true path of power."


    She is winning by andslide both on the light and dark side. The only w in her sess is that she can''t take the source of the power of the battleships. She used the entire power of her Will, but the unique Authority of the void universe inside the battleships refused to budge. She also failed to freeze them so the battleships could heal themselves after she destroyed them.


    That didn''t discourage her, though. More blue stars rose from the dark side to join her avatar. They are her avatars, which she can produce at the cost of some energy. This way, she will be able to destroy the battleships faster.


    This is just the surface battle. Another battle is going on on the dark side between the battleships and the world god. The main body of the world god is on the dark side just beneath, and if she doesn''t leave, she will just make more and more avatars to destroy the battleships. She intends to do that, but a pesky battleship is interfering with her.


    The battleship would sink into the dark side, where the pressure of reality is too much for weak beings to bear. This battleship didn''t get destroyed by the pressure, as she expected. It even attacked her with power beyond the limit of the light side. This attack is more powerful than the ones on the light side, so she had to take it seriously.


    She defended against the attack, only for the battleship to return to the surface. Then another battleship sank again from another location one secondter and released an attack greater than the previous one.


    Monarch High Heaven was far away from the battle on both sides of reality. He was aware of everything going on and was also directing them with his full focus.


    Thebination of the battleships took time, as one battleship fused with 10, then 10 fused with 100, and then 100 fused with 1000. Next, 1000 fused with 10,000. The power of the enhancement doubled with each sessive stage of fusion. Each stage needed a second, so each second led to the doubling of the power of a single attack of the random battleship that dipped into the dark side.


    At 3 seconds, the amplification was at 8 times. That increased to 32 times at 5 seconds. The main body of the world god on the dark side couldn''t block the attack at this point anymore. She was finally pushed back.


    "Interesting." She said as she was smashed back.


    Things weren''t as simple as being pushed. Her physical body is actually cracking. This is just 5 seconds after the overdrive mode was activated. But the augmentation wasn''t over. 1,000,000 battleships had fused together at the 6th second for an augmentation of 64 times. So the attack tore a hole through her main body immediately.


    This attack was so devastating that it reached her world and cracked the continent within it. Millions of living things died, and her Will weakened drastically. This means she surely won''t be able to defend another attack of that caliber, or even weaker. So it was a wise move for her to run.


    Fortunately for her, the battleships have arge, ring weakness. They need one second between each action. They can only attack once every second orbine once every second. That one second is more than enough time for her to escape far, far away.


    This development didn''t affect the battle on the light side much. The avatars had weakened, but they continued to destroy the battleships. They might even continue to do so if her main body is destroyed.


    The avatars are temporary channels or containers of the Will of a world god. They will remain in existence as long as there is energy to maintain the channel on the light side and as long as the Will of the world god exists. And since they are on the light side, they can''t be destroyed easily like the main body.


    The battleships have to wear down the avatars and make them run out of energy if they are to kill them. The good news is that without the main body to reinforce them, the avatars are on their own. They won''t be replenished once they run out of energy.


    The immediate benefit of puncturing a hole through the main body of the world god is that she stopped freezing the space around them. It meant that the realm lord could now open portals to summon reinforcements again.


    Monarch High Heaven did that immediately. More and more battleships came to surround the three avatars on the light side. They were able to grind the avatars down before their numbers reached a billion.


    ------


    A/N: Even prawns can defeat a shark if they have a paragon.

 Chapter 1538 Victory Without A Fight.

    <h4>Chapter 1538 Victory Without A Fight. </h4>


    Only one of the world god''s avatar remained fighting when the number of battleships reached a billion. This means the pressure has increased on it since it has to fight all of them on its own, so it will surely be destroyed soon.


    This giant blue star has be dented and warped. It is on the edge of copse. Any more damage, and her current avatar will copse, so it also decided to retreat.


    The battleships didn''t chase this avatar, so it managed to escape. The realm lord didn''t take the opportunity to finish off his enemy because his priority was still the blockade around the realm. Anything that diverts his firepower from that might be bait. Especially since he has a lot of enemies who are world gods.


    He didn''t still move, even though she said as he escaped, "I will be back, mad elf. I will be back!!!!"


    The fight didn''tst 20 seconds all together. This was from her appearance to her retreat. So not only did he fight a world god, he defeated the world god and sent them running in 20 seconds. It could have been faster if he had been allowed to field the total number of battleships he had created.


    A dark phantom appeared beside him. It looked at the battleships pouring out of the crack in space like water bursting through a dam. She couldn''t believe that something like this had happened under her nose.


    Monarch High Heaven asked her, "What do you think? Impressive right?"


    Mother High Heaven replied, "It is impressive. At the very least, you won''t need to draw on my power."


    He bragged confidently, "Don''t worry. I won''t drag you down. In fact, I will make sure that there cannot be any partner better than me."


    This time, she didn''t call him out on his pride. Anyone with 10 billion world fragments should be proud. Actually, it would be madness to be humble.


    Mother High Heaven didn''t bother asking why he hid this from her. She has asked before about his ns, but he always said he had everything covered. She was worried before, but now she can rx, seeing as his promises were not baseless.


    The battleships finally finished deploying. There are exactly 10 billion of them because the ones that were destroyed have healed and returned to fighting shape.


    It is a good thing too, because more enemies have arrived to foil his ns. This time, there is more than one world god who wants to give his handiwork a try. They are threerge entities prowling the dark side, looking for weaknesses to exploit.


    He didn''t wait for them to find one. He directed the battleships into action. Half of them entered defense mode, while the other half entered overdrive mode. The ones in defense mode swarmed around the vulnerable ones in overdrive mode. They will protect them while the overdrive battleshipsbine their power.


    The world gods didn''t attack to stop this. They remained content watching from the dark side. The battleships also remained content with umting their power silently on the light side without disturbance. The amplifed battleship didn''t go to the dark side to attack. Instead, it waited patiently to acquire more power.


    It looked like a face off. But the world gods couldn''t remain calm as time went on. By the time it was 6 seconds into overdrive mode, 1,000,000 of the 5,000,000,000 battleships hadbined their power and achieved 64 amplification. A single hit from the battleship is sure to harm them seriously, if not destroy their bodies instantly. So they chose to escape.


    Mother High Heaven sighed in relief, but Monarch High Heaven grumbled, "What a waste of time and energy."


    "Only you willin about winning a fight without having to fire a single shot."


    "I have toin because I already spent the money for the shot. My money has gone to waste now."


    The 1,000,000 glowing battleships stopped theirbination. Their amplification disappeared along with their unusual glow.


    Then the battleships rearranged themselves into their previous formation around the realm tree. They barricaded the ne from any sort of ess.


    The Realm Lord nodded his head and said proudly, "Not bad. Not bad at all."


    Another voice spoke, "Indeed, it is not bad."


    The world god that spoke rose up from the dark side, some distance away from the realm tree. It was a giant white me with four arms and a single eye.


    The identity of the world god is clear to the realm lord. He could tell from the race and the Supreme Law that this is the sparkion father of a certain realm lord who has been spending his leisure spreading bad rumors about him.


    The realm lord waved eagerly to the new world god. He was like an excited toddler seeing a friend. It is the kind of toddler that no one wants to be in control of any powerful weapon, much less 10 billion of them.


    Monarch High Heaven spread his arms wide and said, "Wee to the second battlefront of the era of conquest. I wee all of you to this event."


    Many other world gods rose up around the realm tree. They are all avatars since it is too troublesome for their main bodies toe to the light side of the void universe.


    Some of these world gods are his enemies, and some of them are his allies. But most of them are just here for the show. The realm lord doesn''t care either way.


    He asked them yfully, "Do you like what you see?"


    Monarch High Heaven didn''t appear to be flustered by therge number of world gods staring at him. His demeanor remained so even when the number of world gods rose to more than a hundred and were practically surrounding him.


    Their presence here should have pressured him. After all, even he knows that he can''t take them all on without having severe impacts on his ns for the era of conquest. But he onlyughed.

 Chapter 1539 Blame Legion.

    <h4>Chapter 1539 me Legion.</h4>


    Hisughter is not natural. It was deranged and warped. Stressful moments like this make his damaged psyche hurt.


    He asked them again, "Do you like what you see?"


    Even as he said that, he couldn''t help but chuckle. Fortunately, he soon got a hold of himself.


    "I am sure you all have questions. I am sure that you are awed by the power of Authority that I have just disyed. It is truly remarkable. Just imagine what it could do in the hands of a world god if an Origin god can achieve this with it."


    "Imagine its power. However, only friends of mine will be given the opportunity to acquire it. Some of you here are my friends. As for the rest that haven''t made up your minds yet, I hope you will make a good decision now that you know what you''re going to miss out on if you be my enemies."


    A world god asked him, "Why aren''t you maintaining their enchanted state?"


    This world god and many others witnessed the two fights that just urred. They saw the defeat of a world god by an Origin god and the retreat of three world gods by the same Origin god.


    It is impressive. But they also saw that the battleships weren''t powerful at the beginning of the battle. They only became powerful after some time. It might have been a fluke during the first fight. But they are certain that something is off after witnessing the same thing during the second fight.


    They are certain that the unnatural enhancement of world fragments into weapons that can threaten world gods is due to Authority. But then the battleships reverted to their weak state after the battle. They would like to know why he is not keeping them in the enhanced state indefinitely.


    The dy in the transmission of the battleship is a weakness that they can exploit now after seeing it. Instead of dodging and testing the waters as the first and second batch of world gods did, they would go at their full power and overwhelm the battleships before they could fuse and enhance each other.


    Monarch High Heaven snorted at the world gods. He asked with frustration, "Do think I don''t know that? If I didn''t have that problem, then what would I need you guys for?"


    He was proud a second ago, but now he is still proud but more frustrated. He is aware of the w and can fix it. He can keep the battleships in their amplified mode forever, but it would cost a massive amount of energy to achieve that. That is apart from the energy required to make a normal attack at the Supreme Origin god level.


    The battleships in their normal state don''t require any energy other than Origin energy. He has a lot of that, so that''s not an issue. Even the defense mode doesn''t require much from him. But the overdrive mode not only requires Origin essence to initiate and maintain, it also requires cosmic energy for each attack.


    The consumption of Origin Essence increases exponentially for each level of amplification. It doubles just like the amplification, so thebination of 1,000,000 requires 1,2,4,8,16,32 Origin essence for a total of 63 to initiate and 32 Origin essence each second after initiation to maintain.


    When the previous stages of amplification are taken into ount, the 7 seconds of amplification cost him 1+1+2+2+4+4+8+8+16+16+32+32 Origin essence, which is equal to 126 Origin essence. This is aside from the cost of cosmic energy for each attack.


    It is not a bad trade to use 126 Origin essences and cosmic energy to gain the 64 times amplification needed to destroy the main body of a powerful world god. A lot of Origin gods possess Origin energy and cosmic energy but they can''t do what he has just aplished even if they want to. However, it is not something he can maintain all the time at all.


    So despite creating a shortcut powerful enough to resist a world god, it is not something he can use without repercussions.


    He is literally burning money for power.If he were not the richest Origin god in existence, he wouldn''t be able to bear the cost.


    Even then, he is still feeling the pinch because the energy cost is something he could use somewhere else. That''s why heined that the world gods didn''t fight. So he still needs the world gods to help him maintain the barricade, or at least not attack him.


    The world gods don''t know the intricacies of the battleships, but they can guess that there are reasons why Monarch High Heaven can''t keep the battleships in their amplified state. It made all of them happy for several reasons. His enemies are generally d that he can''t use such great power however he wishes, while those who want to be his friends are happy at the opportunity that this weakness has granted them. Both his enemies and friends want to take advantage of this weakness.


    So it was not surprising to the realm lord when another world god asked, "You need us. What do you n to give us?"


    Many world gods voiced this question. Their tone was full of determination to fleece him and the expectation of their sess in the endeavor.


    Monarch High Heaven grumbled to himself as he thought about it. "This is all Legion''s fault. They will pay for this."


    He is not a fool who will me others for his problems, but Legion is truly responsible for his need for the help of more world gods. The battleships were not his only n to barricade the realm tree. He was supposed to work with the Phoenix race. Their immortality would have worked well in reducing the energy cost to put up the barricade.


    He and the Great Mother had made a deal for cooperation. He would empower the great mother with Authority and the Phoenix race would help him hold off trespassers so that the battleship would have enough time to perform thebination.

 Chapter 1540 More Moves.

    <h4>Chapter 1540 More Moves. </h4>


    The Phoenixes might even be able to fight world gods with enough Authority. At the very least, there wouldn''t be any harm in using them as expendables.


    With Authority and their immortalitybined, the Phoenix race would have been the perfect watchdogs for him. It was a good n, but the Phoenix race didn''t show up when he needed them because the one that he made the deal with is dead, and the Phoenix race is no more.


    He had previously shackled some world gods to his boat with his project, but they were not obligated to help him. They were sure to help him when their investment became at risk of being lost, but now he has to have them help him directly to barricade the realm tree, or he might be overwhelmed by angry world gods.


    So he said to them, "I can only give out 10 slots, and it will be for the world gods with the highest amount of effort."


    Some of themined, but they epted the deal anyway. For one, it was a good deal because they didn''t have to give him any resources to gain slots for his project.


    For the second reason, they have seen what Authority is capable of, and they want it. This is the first time they have seen an Origin god manage to fight a world god. For the third reason, they don''t want the others to get the slots. The fewer opportunities there are for something, the more valuable it is.


    In fact, the opportunity to gain the opportunity to acquire Authority is so valuable that world gods of both realm trees are willing to help him. The life and death of either realm don''t matter to them if they are not gaining any benefits from it.


    But some world gods who don''t belong to either realm tree were against him. One of them couldn''t stand to watch Monarch High Heaven gain allies without doing anything.


    This world god said, "What I want are life trees. Can we get it if we help you?"


    Monarch High Heaven replied with a smile, "No."


    "I thought as much. I just wanted to make it clear. I wouldn''t have backed out even if you were willing to give us the life trees now. Prepare yourself for what is toe."


    This world god is not alone with this thought. There are several of them that are hellbent on making him fail the era of conquest. They have a mighty bone to pick with him, so they decided to interfere in the war either by helping the Tyrant Realm or by interfering in the High Heaven Realm.


    At this point, they are willing to antagonize him without the goal of gaining any benefits. They just want him to suffer. Fortunately, there are many other world gods who are still willing to prioritize benefits over a hundred-origin-cycle vendetta. They joined the battleships in patrolling the Tyrant Realm.


    Monarch High Heaven pped in satisfaction. Then he activated the virtualwork he had created for the war. This virtualwork connects every being with the mark of High Heaven that Mother High Heaven has for them.


    They can use thework tomunicate, share information, and receive information from the realm lord or the Will of the realm.


    Origin gods don''t need this tomunicate with each other acrossrge distances, as they have the soul talisman, but thiswork has the ability to connect millions of individuals in the same channel.


    A soul talisman can only form a connection between two individuals. Thiswork, on the other hand, allows millions of individuals tomunicate with one another at the same time.


    The realm lord used thework to inform every Origin god of the barricade and the rules to follow in order to cross it. He also supplied them with information about the Tyrants, the Tyrant realm, and the overall n for the era of conquest.


    Now that the target of the realm war has been decided, the Origin gods, who are full of anticipation, can now direct their violence towards a suitable target.


    Only Origin gods of the High Heaven realm could pass through the barricade that the realm lord had set up around the Tyrant Realm. So if they wait for the two realms to align, they will be able to invade the Tyrant Realm without the resistance of the origin gods of the Tyrant Realm.


    But some of them could wait for the alignment of the two realms. They decided to attack the Tyrant Realm as soon as possible by passing through the barricade in the void instead of waiting for dungeons to form.


    If not for the help of Mother High Heaven, probably no Origin would dare to offend the Will of another realm. But they had the assurance of Mother High Heaven, and they were immortal, so they dared to enter the Tyrant Realm to destroy it.


    The fact that any destruction they perform in the Tyrant Realm increases their contribution to the era of conquest only emboldens them. They rushed to the Tyrant Realm through the void to get a head start.


    One of them is a certain crystal dragon with a carefree personality and a daring scheme for the era of conquest.


    ------Within A Certain World Beast.


    The era of conquest has arrived, so Legion decided to go along with Soverick''s future divination. There are billions of Origin gods involved in this realm war, so they need every edge they can acquire to stand out. Especially now that the control of a ne has been nullified by the fusion of the nes into one.


    What they want to do now is attempt to utilize the future of time as an advantage. They don''t need all of them to activate Soverick''s technique, but all of them still came together to make sure that nothing would go wrong with the world fragment. They have never done what they are about to do, so they are very cautious.

 Chapter 1541 Future Divination.

    <h4>Chapter 1541 Future Divination.</h4>


    Legion-1 said to him, "We are ready. Go for it."


    Soverick replied, "Just make sure to stop me if you notice anything wrong."


    Helios was skeptical. "Just how powerful do you think this move will be? It is still at the level of a Supreme Origin god, while both realms are at the world god level."


    Soverick said solemnly, "I don''t know. But we will never know if we don''t try."


    He doesn''t know, since he has never tried it before. But by his deduction, future divination can lead to serious consequences. That''s why he suggested that he be killed if anything went wrong.


    The Tree Father promised him, "Have no fear. We will do our part if anything goes wrong. I will kill you faster than you can say, "Don''t kill me.""


    "Thank you."


    So Soverick started. He shifted his white figure into an eye. This eye is a mirror that reflects the world. It also contains a simted world inside of it. This world runs on all the data he has collected.


    In its natural state, the eye can be used to make predictions based on fate and can see the past based on causality. He believes that if these two arebined with the maniption of time, the infinite possibilities of the future can be narrowed down forcefully into one. That is future divination.


    Future vision is an ability that those with thew of fate in their eyes can use. His eyes however, have thew of causality, which he can use to see the past, and thew of time, which he uses to make his future and past visions more urate and his control over what he sees more precise.


    With his eye, he can already see multiple visions of the future. Unfortunately, theyck uracy the farther ahead he sees. Not only is he unable to control what he sees, what he sees might also not happen. The future is full of many possibilities, but until it happens, it is false and might never happen.


    What he ns to do isbine the knowledge of the past with thew of causality as a navigator into the future that thew of fate offers to derive an urate future at the expense of his present self and future possibilities using thew of time. It soundsplicated, and it is veryplicated.


    Those with the eye of the sage can do something simr to this. They achieve it by connecting to their future selves and gain snippets of information from that version of themselves.


    He wants to do more than that. He wants to sacrifice his present self to see the future. So in a way, he is going to send himself into the future. It is the only viable alternative since he can''t send himself into the past or rewind time. This will narrow the future that he sees to one, which will increase its uracy.


    That''s all theory. In practice, he will sacrifice all he has as fuel to make this divination. This will increase the uracy of what he sees. This information can then be used by Legion to gain an advantage in this era of conquest, which is the present.


    So Soverick first drew upon the power of the Tree Father''s divine spark. This spark of power enhanced him to the level of a Supreme Origin god. But that isn''t enough for him. He intends to give it his all, so he drew upon the power of the world fragment and Helios''s maniption of cosmic force.


    Aeternus can''t strengthen him since he can''t control his mark of sin or demonic spark yet. But this might not be a bad thing because the eye that Soverick became was already shaking.


    He has reached his limit. Even the world fragment was humming because of the stress. Too much of anything can be bad.


    Others can''t fuse many sources of supreme power together, even if they have many sources of supreme strength at their disposal. But they can, thanks to the divine spark.


    This fusion didn''t change Soverick''s nature beyond that of a Supreme Origin god. However, it enabled him to run the past vision and future vision together simultaneously and alsobine them with the simtion of the virtual world of the present in his eye at the same time.


    He activated these separate abilities with the power of a Supreme Origin god in parallel instead of dividing his power. This caused his vision to ripple. The world bent and twisted around him.


    The ripple didn''t ur to only him. The other clones can see it too. They are not seeing it through his eyes. They can see it on their own. They can see the world ripple around them like the disturbedyer of ake. It caused them to be wary.


    Aeternus asked, "Is this normal, or is this the thing that happens when something is terribly wrong?"


    He is the one in charge of killing Soverick with Chaos energy or at least disrupting his technique, but he doesn''t know if he should move now or not. None of them know either. The rippling reality is unsettling, but only that. They don''t feel any danger from it, and the world fragment is still functioning properly.


    Legion-1 advised, "Let''s wait and see."


    Aeternus agreed. He is the one that wants to see this seed the most, so he doesn''t want to end it prematurely. He was understandably disappointed when the rippling stopped.


    "Is it over?" Aeternus asked.


    They all know the answer to that question. They didn''t receive shes of information from the present like they were supposed to. Soverick is still present with them, and the only thing they are getting from him is his feelings of disappointment that he failed.


    Soverick muttered in disbelief, "What went wrong? It was supposed to work. Where did I go wrong? There wasn''t even any bacsh from the technique. Where did all the power go? This doesn''t make sense. Nothing makes sense."

 Chapter 1542 Fire In A Gunpowder Keg.

    Chapter 1542 Fire In A Gunpowder Keg.


    He can''t believe that he failed. He has not been wrong in a long time, but this failure is greater than a setback to his confidence because he can''t tell where he went wrong. He can''t even understand how he failed. It was as if all the power he used for the technique suddenly disappeared. He asked himself, "Was it siphoned by something I can''t sense? Or was it interrupted by the void universe?"


    "Maybe your technique is just not possible." Legion-6 said. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    That exnation didn''t cate Soverick. He asked more questions, "But where did all that power go? It just disappeared. That shouldn''t be possible. The world doesn''t feel any different, and I don''t feel different either. That shouldn''t be possible. Even if I failed, there should at least be a violent discharge of energy into the world and a disruption of space, time, and order. But there is nothing. There should be something."


    He truly cannot understand why he failed. The main issue was that there was no resistance or bacsh to signify sess or failure. All he felt after using the ability was the removal of the fusion state he used temporarily. He used all that power for, apparently, nothing.


    He can''t even see anything remotely rted to the technique in his future vision. The future didn''t change at all, and the present is still the same.


    They discussed it some more before giving up on it. Soverick is not one to give up easily, so he tried the future divinity again. Unfortunately, his virtual world refused tobine with his past vision and future vision like it did the first time. It caused all the power he umted to remain within him, with nowhere to go and nothing to do. This made him realize that something had indeed changed, as his concept should always be able to do what it can do whenever he wants it to do it. But he couldn''t figure out anything else aside from that. So they gave up on that and moved on to executing their ns for the era of conquest. But it still remained at the back of Soverick''s mind. It was a nagging feeling that Legion was happy to leave for Soverick to think about. ----Within High Heaven Realm.


    It is an understatement to say that the realm is shaken by the recent developments. War hase, and the era of conquest has begun. You would expect the inhabitants of the realm to rally together in the face of this existential crisis, but it is notpletely so. Some Origin gods were rightfully focused on the invasion, but others decided to use the opportunity granted to them by the removal of suppression to settle some scores. They went looking for every person who had offended them and was hidden in the realm. The Origin gods were not the only ones with scores to settle, and their presence in the realm seemed to have ignited the thirst for violence. So the inhabitants of the realm were also fighting each other. One such fight was taking ce on the Virut ne. The nes of the realm have fused together with the ancient battlefield. They have lost the barriers between themselves, so anyone can go across any ne now.


    The fusion didn''t ur randomly. Land parts that were close to each other when they were divided a long time ago to create nes, became close to each other once again. Some of these nes had simr races on them or still have simr races. Some of these races don''t like each other, while others didn''t know that the other ne and the race it contained existed at all.


    This was not the situation with the Virut ne and the battle sage monkeys. The Virut ne and one certain ne that they have been enemies with recently happen to be their neighbors. The fusion of the ne lit a fire in the gunpowder keg that is the enemity between the two races. The Virut ne used to have the protection of the nar portal and the barricade of their leviathan floating fortresses to keep invaders away in the void, but not anymore. The Vipers can now face them head-on, and their previous child of the ne can now chase after Salvini without hindrance. The Vipers are fighting the battle sage monkeys at the border between their two nes. It is the reenactment of their ancient battle between the two races, except both sides are more powerful now. They have the same number of fighters since the two sides are not putting all of their resources into the war. The number of soldiers on both sides could be greater, but both sides are holding back. After all, this war is not a fight for survival between the two races, and there is a greater issue to deal with. This war is just the petty revenge of some disgraced Vipers who want to visit violence on battle sage monkeys. No side is winning either because the powerful ones that are not immortal have escaped from the realm tree, while most of the Origin gods are not interested in a useless fight. But some Origin gods are certainly interested. One of them is Soverick Ghastorix. Soverick was watching the battle on the side. He didn''t interfere with it at all. Now he is moving through the ne, looking for something. He didn''t n to interfere because he came solely for Salvini. It would have been nice had she been on the battlefield, defending her people like a good child of the ne. But Salvini is not around, so he has to look for her. He is wearing a cloak, so no one can see his identity. Beneath his fake cloak is a featureless white crystal statue. He looks like a Supreme Beast, except that he has many eyes all over his body. There are eyes on the back of his head, his chest, and his arms. All of the eyes are closed right now, except one.

 Chapter 1543 More Lies.

    Chapter 1543 More Lies.


    The one he has open is one of the 9 on his face. No one can see it because of the mask on his face. On that mask is the number 2 written on. The eye that is open can see through the mask without any issue. It is being used to manipte space around him, so he is moving vast distances with each step. His figure appeared to be teleporting to anyone who saw him. That is, if they can see him. As he is, very few are aware of his existence at all, no matter how close he gets to them. They just can''t see him or perceive him, just as they can''t perceive the white halo above his head. It is because he is within a fold in space. So he was able to wander around the ne, looking for his target, without being interrupted. Soon, he found what he was looking for. It was ironically in the ce he expected her to be. It was so predictable that he didn''t search for her there because he didn''t think she was stupid enough to hide there. He could have found her quickly if he had used his future vision, but he didn''t want to alert her to his hunt, so he searched around manually. It was after he searched everywhere she ought to be on the ne and didn''t find her that he decided to search in ces where she was unlikely to be. Apparently, the joke is on him for thinking she wouldn''t do the obvious. He chuckled to himself as he moved. "She truly hid herself well." Someone elsepleted his train of thought, "Just not good enough." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Salvini is in the void between the divine ne and the main ne. The Virut ne has gained a new divine ne due to the fusion of the divine nes in the realm. This divine ne is farrger and stronger than the previous one. It encapstes the fused nes and protects them. Very few would have suspected that the child of the Virut ne is hidden in one of the void fortresses, considering her current importance and value. Soverick acknowledged it begrudgingly. "Maybe the best ce to hide is in the open." He is in the void now. Above him is a phantasmdmass, which is the divine ne. From his position, it looks like a firmament of various colors. While beneath him is the Virut ne, where some battle sage monkeys are dying foolishly for their ne. His eyes can see the billions of Origin gods umting in the divine ne and the millions of people fighting at the border of the two nes.


    He shook his head inwardly at the sight of the fight. "What fools. They are dying for nothing." They may not know it, and it is not their fault that they don''t realize it anymore, but the Virut ne is no more and might never exist anymore. Every ne has united as one, including the High Life ne of the high elves. The concept of a ne that used to bind them together is no more, so dying for a ne that doesn''t exist is foolishness. That''s what he thinks. And if not for the fact that Salvini has increased in value because of the unification of nes, he wouldn''t be here hunting for her either. He is not so jobless as to chase after someone just for the sake of revenge when he could be doing something to further Legion''s sess in the era of conquest. He is hunting Salvini because Legion has been dealt a huge blow to their ns and because Salvini is very important. These two reasons are due to the unification of the nes. The first sage lied to him about the importance of a child of the ne. It didn''t shock him when he found out about the increased value of the title of the child of the ne. After all, it is not the first time that the first sage has lied to him. The first sage had told him that they wouldn''t need the child of the ne for the era of conquest. That was when he was in a mental meeting with the first sage after his death at the hands of Salvini was orchestrated. The first sage made that statement to belittle his importance to the ne. The first sage was obviously wrong, as regardless of the situation, he would have been an asset to the ne. But now he knows it was a bold-faced lie, even if the child of the ne is weak like Salvini. Salvini is too weak to contribute meaningfully to the efforts of the ne. The boost from her title can''t change that. But her title has now gained another ability that has increased her usefulness. Every child of the ne is now connected to the Will of the realm due to the fusion of all the nes. They are now children of the realm, and each of them is informed of any spatial ovep in the whole realm. That means that they will know immediately when the other realm is trying to create a dungeon to invade the realm tree. Whenbined with her ability to create dungeons to invade the enemy realm, every former child of the ne has be an important asset to the war effort. He shouldn''t me the first sage because no one thought the child of the ne would be so useful. After all, everyone had ced their cards on taking control of a ne since the usual format of the era of conquest is a ne-to-ne invasion of the two realms. It came as a surprise when the realm lord destroyed everyone''s ns by fusing the nes together. But he will me the first sage because if anyone could have known what wasing, it had to be the first sage. And if the is anyone who will gain the most from having their descendants as the current child of the ne, it is the first sage.

 Chapter 1544 Better Late Than Never.

    Chapter 1544 Better Late Than Never.


    Soverick admitted to himself, "I will admit that the first sage fooled me. He made me swear not to harm the ne. I foolishly believed that he cared about the ne. I focused on that instead of wondering why he would use a weak person as child of the ne."


    He feels like a fool now. All of this time, he has believed that harming the Virut ne would affect the first sage. That''s why he leaked some information to the Vipers. But he was wasting his time doing that. The one person he should have been focused on was Salvini, but he thought she was useless. Now he understands why the first sage wanted someone from his lineage to be the child of the ne. If he were still the child of the ne, he would have too much power in his hands and be difficult to control. Soverickmented, "As usual, the first sage beats me in the aspect of foresight."


    Legion-7 didn''t agree. He said, "You are not worse than him. He only used his advantage of age and power to bully you. You were a king ofws back then. Things are different now."


    Soverick still wasn''t optimistic. "Even so, it might be toote already. I bet the first sage has made ns for this very moment. I know I would."


    Helios spoke, "Betterte than never."


    Legion-7 buttressed him, "Agreed."


    Soverick chuckled and said, "At least, I will do something, so that the first sage won''t get away with his deceit so easily."


    The Virut ne is no more, just like the Zargoth ne. That means Legion''s n to use the Zargoth ne as their base can''t be used anymore. So he is here to fetch Salvini to rece what was lost. However, she is currently locked up in a floating war fortress surrounded by many other war fortresses. There are many Origin gods in those war fortresses, so it wouldn''t be easy to get to her.


    "I was right. The first sage is truly prepared."


    He is unhappy. But he has also epted the fact that he was yed. He is also willing to move on to destructive acts since productive acts are not going to be useful. So he sent out information about her location to the public war channel of the realm. He can tell through his visions of the future that there is no way he will get Salvini. It is bad news, and he should be unhappy about it. But Soverick just smiled.


    He is unhappy. But he has also epted the fact that he was yed. He is also willing to move on to destructive acts since productive acts are not going to be useful. So he sent out information about her location to the public war channel of the realm. "There is a child of the ne in a war fortress at coordinates 1827.923.8934.26¡­"


    Then he stood back to watch. He thought smugly to himself, "If I can''t have her, then no one should. At the very least, no one should be able to use her."


    As it is, he can''t gain the title anymore. He is already an Origin god so he can''t be a child of the ne even if he kills her. But that is not going to stop him from trying to kill her. If he can''t kill her, he will try to make her useless or make her difficult to use. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This is not about doing something beneficial to Legion anymore. This is purely about revenge. He wants to punish the first sage and Salvini. And thanks to the virtualwork that the realm lord created for swiftmunication in this realm war, he doesn''t need to do much to make things very difficult for her. If it was in the past when he didn''t have foresight, he might have tried to get Salvini. She has done well to protect herself by surrounding herself with powerful machines and Origin gods. Unfortunately, those things can''t stop him. So he would have tried to get her. But that in itself is the trap. It is clear that she or the first sage expected him toe. It is one thing if she doesn''t know that he is responsible for the destruction of the dragon home ne, but it is not excusible that the first sage doesn''t know.


    If the first sage does know and yet, arranged for such a shoddy defense, then it must be a trap. It is a trap he wouldn''t have noticed without foresight or his great eyesight. But now he can see the Supreme Origin god battle sage monkey hiding within the Leviathan Salvini is hiding in. It is clear to him that they want to create a facade of vignce but have the true purpose of ensnaring them. He decided to disappoint them by waiting. His wait bore fruit quickly. Many Origin gods had taken the bait he threw out. Some had even arrived. Their arrival and his message were not a secret since they were in a public channel. Apparently, the battle sage monkeys had gotten wind of a message exposing Salvini''s location. It made them increase their defenses as more and more Leviathans came to join them. It was almost as if they were ready to reinforce her position as soon as possible. Soverick sneered when he saw this. "So not only are you not satisfied with pulling one over me, you are still scheming to trap me. And they say that I am greedy."


    He still didn''t move. He continued to wait as some bitter Vipers rushed towards this location. They came with a vengeance. Just like him, they want to punish the first sage and Salvini.


    More and more Origin gods came soon after. They wanted to have a share of the child of the ne. Soverick watched all of these with faint amusement. He said with ridicule, "If we must go to war over something, then this is worthy of it." The war on the ground is about to be moved into the void. In his opinion, it is how it should have been in the first ce. Instead of fighting for race ornd, people should be fighting for power. Salvini is an important tool, so anyone in possession of her will gain power. ------


    A/N: Bonus chapter for 400 golden tickets.

 Chapter 1545 Worth Dying For.

    1545 Worth Dying For.


    The battle sage monkeys know how important she is, and it appears that they are going to do their all to protect her. However, the increase in security didn''t deter or discourage him. If anything, he is looking forward to the uing conflict even more. The addition of the Leviathans is only making his im on the public channel sound more authentic. It would be weird if the Origin gods simply epted his message as the truth without any proof. But those that came to check out the coordinates found the target, bolstering their security. It is convincing about the fact that there is something valuable to be protected here. So while the Leviathans are increasing in number, so is the number of Origin gods who havee to have a piece of whatever they are hiding. The number of those who are willing to die in this battle is also increasing. After all, a child of the ne is worth dying for once. That''s the level of theirmitment. If they can''t even afford that, then they shouldn''t bother trying to fight for the chance to control such a valuable tool. It is as Soverick said, fighting over a child of the ne is a better reason to go to war than fighting for a ne. Especially with the way the Realm Lord sabotaged everyone''s n to use the ne to have increased influence. Salvini tempted Origin gods who are not even rted to the battle sage monkeys or the Vipers. The fusion of the ne affected a lot of people''s n. But one good thing is that it has made it very easy for Origin gods from various ces and Origin to congregate in a ce very quickly.


    The number of Origin gods increased, but no one has attacked yet. For one, they are not sure if there is a child of the ne there. They are certain that there''s something valuable hidden here, but not everyone has eyes that can see through most barriers. Plus, not everyone can identify the child of the ne if she doesn''t use the boost from her title. For the second reason, the Leviathans belong to the forces of the racial council, which they are hesitant to offend. For the third reason, the Leviathans are powerful and many, so whoever attacks first is probably going to be blown to bits. All of those reasons are not enough to make them give up, though. The Origin gods are just hesitant. They are hesitant because they are smart. Immortality has removed some of their inhibitions, fear, and the need for self-preservation instincts. But they are still smart and don''t want their deaths to be in vain. Soon, the number of Origin gods reached a million. The Origin gods knew when their number reached this amount. They knew the exact time because they were counting. They were all counting and waiting. So no one spoke or led the cry for a charge. They all rallied at the same time. Soverick grinned as the charge began. He also joined the charge. They were like a horde of locusts falling on a beautiful farm full of nts. Dinner was about to be served. They just had to work a little for it. Or so they thought. The Leviathans were surrounded on every side. Origin gods were attacking from the top and from beneath. There was nowhere to run to. But the defenders were not quivering in fear. They let loose their cannons. Annihtion Cannons, Obliteration Rays, Gravity Bombs, and Matter-Energy-Force Shields were activated. The world lit up with shaking might and roaring power. The darkness of the void was chased away by a bright light. Then heat and destruction followed after the light. This is just a side effect of the attacks by the cannons. There is no sound in the void, but the attackers could feel the explosions deep in their bones. Space was quaking, and the void was rioting. Swathes of Origin gods were erased instantly. Most of them couldn''t defend against the attack of a top-grade artifact empowered to the limit of the void universe. The Leviathans are not world fragments. They are just Origin artifacts, but they arerge and numerous, so nothing below the level of Supreme Origin god could stop them. Unfortunately, there were no Supreme Origin gods joining this attack. So the Origin gods were practically throwing their lives away.


    It is a good thing that the Origin gods didn''t know such a thing as morale. What they cared about was the fact that they were indeed getting closer to the Leviathans. As long as they are making progress, then everything is good. Besides, the Leviathans can''t continue to attack forever, and they are immortal. They can always return to fight if the reward is worth it. All of these made the Origin gods fearless as they rushed forward. Plus, there was an anomaly that was disrupting the offensive of the Leviathans and making it easier for them to approach. The Leviathans are powerful. Anyone can admit to that. But they be useless if they can''t hit their target. If, by chance, they waste a lot of their shots, then they will be useless to stop the charge of Origin gods. This is what Soverick thought and what he decided to do. Soverick was roaming around the battlefield unscathed. Sometimes he moved backward instead of forward. And sometimes he moved sideways, even when there was an open space for him to go through. He is doing this while explosions are going on around him. None of the attacks could touch him. It made it look like he might as well be surrounded by randomly exploding mines. It is more like he is missing the attacks narrowly. It is not an effect created by a single action. It is a result of thebination of the inability of the Leviathans to pinpoint his position urately, his ability to see the explosions before they happen, and therge number of other enemies that the Leviathans have to pay attention to. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1546 The Hand Behind The Scene.

    1546 The Hand Behind The Scene.


    The surveince and sensory systems of the Leviathans can''t tell who or what he is. If not for the warping of space, which they are extra sensitive to, then they wouldn''t even know that someone was there. It is as if there is a blind spot in their senses. If not for the fact that they are nonliving and have no consciousness or cognition, they would have instinctively ignored the perception of the warping space around them.


    Unfortunately, they are cold machines, so the little discrepancies in their sensory data didn''t escape their notice. Instead, the anomaly made the Leviathans prioritize eliminating him. But it is easier said than done. They can''t track his movements fast enough, so their attacks are always one step behind. They made up for that with the generous use of carpet bombing. But even then, they always missed him. This caused their evaluation of his threat level to increase again. The Leviathansmunicated amongst themselves, so more than one Leviathan redirected their firepower to eliminate him. This number increased from 3 to 10 very soon. That still wasn''t enough, so they increased it until 20 Leviathans were focused on only him. This caused a hole to appear in their defenses because they were focusing on a single person. The attacking Origin gods used that hole to get closer to the Leviathans. "What will you do now?" Soverick thought to himself. He saw the answer to that question before it happened. It made himugh. "How sinister. I like it." There is a hole in the defenses, and this vulnerability didn''t elude the senses of the Origin gods. Not when their divine senses arerge enough to cover a ne. Many Origin gods decided to take advantage of this vulnerability. They changed their direction and approached through this hole. They got a free path to the Leviathans thanks to Soverick''s sessful distraction. Many of the Origin gods wouldn''t have tried to get closer to the Leviathans if not for the vulnerability. They were content with threatening it from a distance and making them use up their energy for attacks and defense. But a hole appeared for closebat Origin gods and those with special concepts that need contact for effectiveness to approach. They thought it was an opportunity, but it was a trap. The Leviathans suddenly switched their focus from the hidden enemy and trained their cannons on the vulnerability. These Origin gods had packed themselves in a tight space and in a straight line. They couldn''t dodge. Hitting them was as easy as hitting rats in a barrel. The Leviathans just couldn''t miss. That''s why Soverick called the Leviathans sinister. He liked their scheme, but he wasn''t going to let them have their way. The attacks came to erase the Origin gods who were like sitting ducks waiting for their deaths. But then a cloaked individual appeared in front of them. The space in front of the individual slowed down until it froze. Arge ck rift appeared in the frozen space in front of the attacks. Then it swallowed all the attacks. The attacks disappeared into the spatial rift. It was as if they fell off the edge of a cloak. Meanwhile, beneath the cloak of the individual that blocked the attack, every eye on his body had opened. It granted him a 360-degree vision of the past, present, and future. Then the cloaked individual disappeared again. Soverick had used two concepts for that effect. One is Legion-1''s world devour, and the other is his All Seeing Eye. He can''t miss anything on the battlefield. Not even when it happened in the past or has yet to ur.


    His efforts directly doubled the power of the Origin gods. With the trap nullified, the Origin gods continued directly towards the Leviathans through the vulnerability. No one batted an eye at what he did. They all continued to fight in one form or another. If he had used Aeternus''s Chaos energy to destroy the attacks, then the fight might have paused. But he appears to be perfectly normal and not some weird demon in control of an even weirder power, so they focused on their fight instead of him. Only the Leviathans were not at peace with the development. Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do about it. All their moves could be predicted before they happened. With his actions, the attackers were slowly and surely getting closer to their goal. It is an unmistakable development. All the participants could see and tell that the progress of the fight was being directed and manipted by a single person. After all, the senses of Origin gods cover the whole battlefield. They are also smart, so they noticed the little things that Soverick did and were able to paint a full picture of his influence through theirbined effects. Some Origin gods couldn''t help but feel doubts about being manipted. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Soverick noticed the doubt and its effects. His willing fighters were starting to hold back. They don''t want to be yed, and he can see this because he can see that in the future, they will leave if they consider him too much of a threat. Heplimented them, "That''s smart. Fear the maniptor, not the attacks. Be wary of the hidden danger rather than the Leviathans. I would do that too." But then he shook his head and said, "But what do you have to fear? You''re immortal, aren''t you? What''s the worst that can happen?" He finds it amusing that these powerful entities, which are more like non-living things, are afraid of him. But he knows that their reaction is wise and that there''s nothing he can do to assuage their fears. This is a special situation where talking won''t help. No one is going to believe him if he says he wasn''t the one who shared the location of this child of the ne. They are already doubting if there is a child of the ne here. It doesn''t help his reliability that he has hidden his identity and figure.

 Chapter 1547 Face Off.

    1547 Face Off. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He was chuckling to himself one moment when he saw something serious in his future vision. He stopped smiling and focused. He saw the Supreme Origin god in one of the Leviathans make a move. The battle sage monkey came to the battlefield, shed towards him, and skewered him through with their hand. The whole thing happened very fast. It was as if they teleported, but they didn''t teleport. At least not through space. They had simply taken the shortest distance between two points. It was an attack through fate. The Supreme Origin god must have seen the future where he killed him. So he eliminated everything in between and simply killed him so as to bring that future to the present. Soverick didn''t see it, so he died. But now he has seen it before it happened, so he will be able to react to the attack. Still, what he saw was enough for Soverick to take the battle sage monkey seriously. He began to prepare for the attack before it happened.


    In the present, the Supreme Origin god was about to move. But the future he saw disappearedpletely. He couldn''t make it happen if it wouldn''t happen. It made the Origin god pause and frown. Soverick''s vision also changed. The Supreme Origin god didn''t sh towards him anymore. He knew it was because he had seen his death and was ready to prevent it. This means it won''t happen.


    The future had changed right from the moment he saw it. The new future is that the Supreme Origin god would teleport to him only to receive a face full of powerful attacks from all the sharp origin diamond des made from tentacles sticking out of his body. The Supreme Origin god saw this new future as he was about to make a move, so he changed his ns. This battle sage monkey has two eyes that change colors rapidly. His eyes are unlike Soverick''s colorless and mirror-like eyes. His eyes changed color as the myriad future changed in his vision.


    He had locked onto a favorable future earlier and had wanted to act upon it, but that favorable future suddenly disappeared. The Supreme Origin god was not unhappy or angry because of it. Instead, he became amused. He grinned and said, "It looks like it is a prediction battle. I haven''t had this in quite a while. Let''s see who will cave in first."


    There is a sense of superiority about this battle sage monkey that only those with powerful eyes and perception methods have. It is greater than the sense of superiority granted by the possession of a Supreme Law.


    People with special eyes think others are blind. This pride increases further for those who can predict the results of actions or see the future. They believe the world is a game, and they are yers, while others are pawns meant to be manipted. It is rare for them toe across other yers, and when they do, the normally unstable future bes even more chaotic. The future bes a tug of war as the two yers try their skills against each other. So these two masters of future vision started a prediction war. The future changed as soon as one of them saw it and decided to change it. The change can be little, as in the case when they only see it and don''t decide to change it, or it can be a lot if they decide to change it. Soverick saw something only for it to change instantly and then change again and again and again and again. The changes happened rapidly and so fast that it seemed that time had slowed down around him.


    His consciousness was being overloaded to keep the world frozen. Just the mental requirements needed to keep up with the deluge of future visions are enough to eliminate him. Fortunately, he had the help of eight other beings, so he could continue topete with the Supreme Origin god.


    The future of the area around them has be a melting mess. Anything could happen at any time, and it was up to the two of them to determine what would happen. It seemed that the two of them were the only beings in an illusion. They were tugging on the strings of fate in this epoch mental battle, but the world around them continued to move along. The battle sage monkey was still in the Leviathan while Soverick was moving about, trying to prepare himself for the different types of attacks that were toe. The attacks never came, so time moved on. But he had to prepare for the next attack, so he shifted his position again and again. This shift sometimes ced him in the path of the attacks of the Leviathans. He had to make a decision about whether to protect himself or guard against the Supreme Origin god. One wrong move, and he would die.


    The Supreme Origin god also took advantage of the situation to push him into danger around him. This way, if he somehow defends the attack of the Leviathans and also neutralizes the attack of the Supreme Origin god, he would be too preupied to dodge the attack of the Origin god behind him, who was aiming at a Leviathan.


    Soverick had moved into the path of the Origin god''s attack when he was trying to dodge an attack from the Supreme Origin god that never came. The Supreme Origin god had cheated by using the environment against him. Now he is stuck between three attacks. He decided to create an attack that would preupy the Supreme Origin god if he decides to make a move against him. He did so while simultaneously activating Legion-1''s concept. This caused his position to shift.


    He was able to avoid the attacks of the Leviathans and the Origin god behind him without stopping his future vision and also preparing to attack the Supreme Origin god. The Supreme Origin god did not like that.

 Chapter 1548 0% To 0.01%.

    1548 0% To 0.01%.


    The Supreme Origin god''s smile froze on his face just as his lips began to form the smile.


    He yelled, "He must be cheating."


    Then he smiled again and said, "So this is the famed Legion. It must be good to have more than one concept."


    He still wasn''t willing to give up, though. He wanted to see if one Supreme Law could match several concepts. So he decided to make another move.


    Soverick''s actions affected the future of the Supreme Origin god, so he began to prepare to nullify Soverick''s prepared attack while aiding the attacks of the Leviathans to injure Soverick. This made Soverick give up on his ns and prepare another type of attack that the Supreme Origin god hadn''t nullified. And so they pushed and pulled. The first one to reach their limit of future vision will fall. The others around them continued fighting, oblivious to the more important battle going on between the two ocr masters. They didn''t know that the battle existed, much less that the oue of the battle would influence the oue of their attack. All they saw was that the mysterious Origin god was acting erratically as if he were experiencing seizures.


    The only person who had an inkling of what was going on was Salvini. It is an inkling because she tried to see what was going on in the future and wanted to keep up with them. Her mind fractured, and her eyes went blind because of it. She doesn''t know what''s going on anymore. But she has an inkling of it, and she knows that whatever is going on is what caused her eyes to go blind. Soverick was being pressed to the limit. One of the major reasons why the tide of battle is shifting against him is that he shouldn''t be moving. But he had to move because the Leviathans hadn''t let up their attacks on him. So he is fighting at least two people simultaneously. The Supreme Origin god, on the other hand, was within the safety of a Leviathan. He was also the first one to make a move. He is reacting to that first attack against him, so he will always be slower by a steppared to the Supreme Origin god. So not only is Soverick at a disadvantage in position in space, but he is also at a disadvantage in time.


    That unfortunate fact cannot be changed because it happened in the past. The past cannot be changed. The only thing that can be changed is the future, and the two of them are fighting for the right to set the future. As time flowed forward, the future of infinite possibilities began to narrow. It was narrowing down to a limited set of oues. The winner would be decided when the possible future bes one, or when all the possibilities favor just one of them, or when one of them can no longer y due to death. Thest option could also happen if one of them surrenders or retreats. Soverick is already inclined to retreat. But his enemy doesn''t want to give him that chance. He has been locked onto through time and space, so there is no escaping for him. He has to continue defending, or things will get worse. Any wrong move will lead to his death. The Supreme Origin god smiled at the progress. He is confident he will win because Soverick is dying in most of the possibilities while he is dying in none of them. He was defeated in some oues, but Soverick doesn''t have what it takes to kill him in any of the future. So even now, things are already firmly in his favor, and fate is on his side. This trend continued for a few seconds more until he noticed that Soverick was dying less and less. He noticed that, for some reason he couldn''t see, Soverick could survive and he the powerful Supreme Origin god could die. He had died only once in a thousand possibilities, but that is uneptable to him. His chance of dying had increased from 0 to 0.01%. That is very little and almost insignificant, but it represents an increase of infinity. Besides, probability means nothing when ites to the future. If something is possible at all, then it can happen regardless of the chances against it. Especially when you are fighting against someone who can see the future.


    He couldn''t allow it to continue. So he decided to go all out.


    He stated confidently, "This ends here." He used his origin essence to power his Supreme Law immediately. For the first time in this battle, time and space began to change and twist. The world became hostile against Soverick. It was as if he was surrounded by enemies on every side. As it is, he could stumble and die if it is his fate to die that way. The future changed with his decision. It became one immediately. In that vision, all the attacks of the Leviathans broke through space and time and mmed into Soverick, ripping him apart and killing him.


    Soverick also saw this future. He didn''t like it one bit. "It looks like I have to be serious earlier than I nned." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He was content with gradually increasing his chances until the opportunity to retreat showed up. But as usual, he couldn''t catch someone who could see the future off guard. Now he has to die, be captured, or go all out. He didn''t want to use their world fragment yet so as not to release more of his secrets to the world. It is especially prudent to keep your cards to your chest when fighting people who can predict and see the future. After all, the more information they know about a target, the better the uracy of their predictions against that target will be. But now he has to bring the power of the world fragment to bear or die and implicate the other clones.

 Chapter 1549 A Glitch In The Law Matrix.

    1549 A Glitch In The Law Matrix.


    A full-powered attack with a Supreme Law is one and many. It would attack him and the other clones. He can die, and the others would defend against it. So unless he wants the other clones to die too, he better defend against it now. Nine golden orbs suddenly appeared behind him. They rotated rapidly behind his back to form a blur. His vision changed immediately. It broke through space to reach thew matrix and further beneath it. His gaze locked onto the true body of the Supreme Origin god he was fighting. The figure in the world of manifestation is just an apparition of the Supreme Origin god. It is more of a tunnel that leads beneath thew matrix, where the Supreme Origin god is. He prepared to attack this true body instead of the avatar that was ying around in the world of manifestation. But there was a pause, followed by a change in the future. The attack he was preparing for didn''te. It is because the Supreme Origin god saw that the singr future became two. Soverick dies in one of them, and Soverick survives in the other.


    This and the enhancement of Soverick to the Supreme Origin god level surprised him and made him divert his attack. Suddenly, the attacks of the Leviathans seemed to have glitched and warped. They skipped across distance and bypassed defenses as they struck all the attackers. The surroundings suddenly bloomed with various fireworks. It was a massacre of immortals. All the Origin gods were prated by the attacks immediately and instantly. They all exploded and died in waves. Even those with world fragments died because they couldn''t use them fast enough to defend themselves.


    Only those who had activated their world fragments for defense earlier were unscathed. Soverick also survived. But that''s only because he wasn''t attacked, unlike the others. His eyes narrowed at the sight. It is because he saw exactly what happened. It wasn''t only the attack of the Leviathans that was behaving weirdly. The entire world was also malfunctioning.


    It was as if the rules of the world were messed up. Laws became broken. Things like distance and space became skewed. Mass and gravity became warped. The natural order of the world was broken so that the attacks of the Leviathans would achieve an unconditional and deadly hit on everyone.


    The attack was sudden, and its effect was immediate. Even Origin gods that ought to be able to resist the attacks of the Leviathans with their bodies died instantly from one hit. The siege of the Leviathans came to an abrupt end because of it.


    Gone were the waves of attackers. One person wiped out hundreds of thousands of people with a single move. This showed the power of a Supreme Origin god. The rest of Origin gods that survived or were not attacked gave up and retreated immediately. What was left in their ce were explosions. That and Soverick. The Supreme Origin god should be happy that he had neutralized the siege, but he wasn''t. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He snorted, "So he had a world fragment, and yet he was stringing me along, wasting my time."


    The sight of Soverick''s figure and the vision of his failure to kill Soverick that he saw filled him with unhappiness. If he had known that Soverick had a world fragment, he wouldn''t have bothered to y with him at all. A world fragment might be able to substitute for a Supreme Law, but he doesn''t think highly of those who have it because it is ultimately an external strength. The ability to control and use it properly cannot bepared to the innate use of a Supreme Law. A Supreme Law is part of his existence. It is agile, malleable, and can react swiftly to his wishes. It is like an extra arm that can change shape. A world fragment, on the other hand, is a tool that can change shape. However, you can only use it through an arm. The dy caused by the extra length can be fatal at critical times. But Soverick is different. He can foresee danger and use the world fragment in his hand in an appropriate manner. It makes it a waste of time for him to fight Soverick, as there will be no winner. That''s why he left Soverick alone. His attack would be useless because Soverick would be able to see iting and resolve it with his world fragment. The Supreme Origin god transmitted his displeasure and disdain over to Soverick as he asked, "What next?"


    Soverick didn''t answer. He calmly stepped away from the battlefield when he noticed that he had lost his helpers. The might of the Leviathans doesn''t intimidate him as much as the singr individual responsible for wiping out all the enemies. If that Supreme Origin god wasn''t present, he would be able to take on all the Leviathans on his own. Unfortunately, the first sage is determined to keep the child of the ne safe, so unless he is willing to up the ante and invest more into acquiring her right now, he had better give up. He can still defeat the Supreme Origin god if he brings the other clones into battle, but it is not worth it to kill or kidnap the child of the ne while exposing all his cards to the world. Especially not when he knows that this whole arrangement is a trap for him. So he left calmly. He thought to himself, "I don''t want to take her anymore. So I don''t need to be here to make her useless."


    Since he has decided not to take her, he will simply put all his efforts into making sure no one else can use her. He ns to do that by stalking her and releasing information about her position to the public. He knows he can restrain himself from coveting her, but he also knows that there are plenty of others who can''t, and many of them have Supreme power. So he is certain that with a little effort on his side, Salvini will be a hot bone of contention that everyone will want to take a bite out of.


    ------


    A/N: We have Severe Apathy to thank for this bonus chapter.

 Chapter 1550 Awe Of Supreme Laws.

    1550 Awe Of Supreme Laws.


    It was with this thought that he left smugly. Many world fragments could be seen floating around in the void. They have be free now that their wielders are dead. But he didn''t bother to take the various world fragments floating around in the void because they are not ownerless. They have owners, so he wouldn''t be able to use them even if he took them. This is because no one will be able to use a world fragment without the permission of the world god who made it. So even if the wielder dies, it is useless to take it unless you want to ransom it. Even then, the world god can take back his world fragment at any time and across any distance. Only another world god can prevent it from leaving, but no one else can use it without the permission of the world god. Not even another world god.


    Even if he turns the world fragment into a Kickstarter, then he will just be creating a world god he never offended into an enemy. He is not suicidal, so he didn''t take the world to fragment. Besides, he has a better one. The nine orbs behind him slowed down until they eventually phased away. They didn''t be invisible and intangible like the halo on his head. No, they disappeared from the world of manifestation into Legion-1''s inner world. They will appear again when he needs them. Helios spoke in his mind, "It seems the first sage has decided to invest heavily in Salvini. This is good too. He will lose a lot more if she dies."


    Soverick snickered and said, "She is obviously bait for us. But we will make it bait for others."


    Aeternus grumbled, "Forget the girl. Focus on the Supreme Law. I want a Supreme Law."


    Legion-7 didn''t agree. He said, "We can''t forget the girl. She is weak, but she is being protected by a Supreme Origin god. That has to count for something. Besides, we can''t create a Supreme Law yet."


    A Supreme Origin god is a big investment. This is an Origin god that has reached the power limit of the void universe and seeded in forging their Supreme Law. No other Origin god can match him if they don''t have a Supreme Law. One such Origin god is more than enough to defend the child of the ne from thousands of other enemies without a Supreme Law. Not even a domain can save an Origin god from the attack of such an individual. Their Supreme Law will render the privilege of thew matrix to other Origin gods useless. Only another Supreme Law or world fragment containing the Supreme Law of a world god can protect them. Even then, there must be at least two Origin gods with Supremews or two wielders of world fragments needed to ovee a single Supreme Origin god. Just thinking about such a power made Aeternus full of anticipation. They, too, want to forge their destiny and acquire the power that it grants. Unfortunately, a seven-aspect Supreme Law is not easy to forge. Even the Supreme Law of Order, the Supreme Law responsible for keeping the vast void universe together, has only five aspects. So one can imagine the difficulty of trying to create a Supreme Law with seven aspects. It is not as difficult as chaos, but they don''t even know how many aspects thew of Chaos has. Aeternusmented, "If only I could wield my Supreme Law. I would be nearly unstoppable."


    Legion-1 said with slight apprehension, "Fortunately, we have our world fragment, or we would be too weak to have any impact in the era of conquest."


    Only Soverick was confident. "It is just a matter of time. Soon we will have our Supreme Law, and we will be much stronger."


    He knows a lot about Supreme Laws thanks to his many experiences with them. One such experience was when he wasprehending the Supreme Law of the First Sage. He has gained much more experience, and his eyes have gotten better, so he is confident in building their Supreme Law. Even now, what he just saw and experienced is shing in his mind. He can still recall some of the subtleties of the Supreme Law of the Battle Sage Monkey he just fought. Their short encounter was enough for him to analyze the Supreme Law to a certain extent and gain more knowledge about Supreme Laws. What he gained made him in awe of reality. He had to marvel because a Supreme Law is a special thing. It doesn''t increase the power of an Origin god quantitatively. A Supreme Origin god and a normal Origin god have the same raw power output, which is the limit of the light side. But a Supreme Law improves Origin gods qualitatively. It is the same raw output, but its form, efficiency, and effectiveness have changed drastically. In conceptual form, the difference between a concept and a Supreme Law is the difference between mass and density, or the difference between force and pressure. The same mass will have increased density because of a Supreme Law, while the same force will produce increased pressure. This is because of a reduction in volume and area of effect, respectively. In this way, the Supreme Law vastly increases the efficiency and effectiveness of power. The Void universe limits the raw power of the light side not because it enforces it actively but because the light side cannot withstand power beyond a certain limit. That kind of power will be disced into the dark side. The light side can be considered a fragile. The has a limit to the amount of mass it can carry. Any object with a mass will cause the to sink due to gravity, and any object with a mass greater than the limit will tear the and fall through. Two objects within the limit of the with the same mass but different densities will have the same gravitational pull and won''t cause any difference in the amount they make the sink. But they will be fundamentally different and will react differently with each other and the world. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1551 Pity For Weakness.

    Chapter 1551 Pity For Weakness.


    This difference in density between the two objects might not affect the holding them, but it will affect the way the objects interact with each other. For example, a sh between a diamond and a rock with the same mass. The rock won''t be able to affect the diamond at all, while the diamond can tear the rock apart. That is a simple way to exin the enhancement of quality brought about by Supreme Laws. But it is moreplicated than that. Supreme Laws affect more than density and pressure.


    For example, in terms of the interaction ofws, a concept of fire might beat a concept of water at the same power level because of its advantage of heat and energy over water. But a Supreme Law of Fire cannot beat a Supreme Law of Water. This is because, at that point, the Supreme Law of Water has lost its weakness to fire. It too can be hot and full of heat energy more than fire.


    In this way, the Supreme Law of Water will be able to beat the concept of fire because it will be able to make the concept of fire weak to it and therefore, overwhelm fire. This is the kind of power wielded by a Supreme Origin god. With a Supreme Law, an Origin god who doesn''t have an attacking concept can change the form of hisw into anything suitable for battle and will not have any weakness in speed, defense, or attacks. They can even simte thews of space, illusion, time, and any otherws required to make an attack that you can block be undodgeable and unlockable. As if that isn''t enough, they can make that attack lethal. So even if a direct hit shouldn''t be able to kill you, it will kill you because you have suddenly be weak to it. So even if there are not enough attacks to go around to hit all the enemies, the Supreme Law can replicate them and increase their numbers so that every enemy gets one. That way, ten thousand Leviathans can suddenly produce enough firepower to take on nearly a million targets. It is a kind of power that no amount of stubbornness can ovee. It made Soverick shake his head in pity for the Origin gods that died in the siege. It is only fake pity because he knew they were going to fail right from the start. If he cared about them, he wouldn''t have called them to attack a Supreme Origin god. But now they are all dead. His pity is that they were not strong enough to create more problems for the first sage. But he is not concerned about that too much because he can foresee that those who died here will be very dissatisfied with the first sage.


    Anyone who was killed without knowing how they died will be dissatisfied. Even if they are not dissatisfied with the first enough to want revenge, they know now that a Supreme Origin god is protecting something valuable. At the very least, he can expect another round of attacks on the Leviathans soon.


    He is also sure that the next attackers will be very prepared. He can already see theming with Supreme Origin gods and using their world fragments for only defense. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The thought of it made him grin slightly. The eyes all over his body twitched with repressed excitement. But he didn''t get carried away because he knew he wasn''tpletely out of danger yet.


    First, he moved away from the battlefield so that the angry Supreme Origin god battle sage monkey wouldn''t take advantage of him.


    Then he said to the void beside him, "Are you going to be stalking me throughout the era of conquest, or are you waiting for the right opportunity to ambush me?"


    Someone invisible replied to him. "When did you find out? I suspected that you would notice, but I was still confident in my Supreme Law. It seems everyone has underestimated you. Maybe your eyes can truly see everything."


    Soverick continued moving as he replied, "I am not in a chatting mood. I am going to attack if you don''t state your business immediately."


    He decided not to answer her question but to state an ultimatum. This is just because he hasn''t found a way to defeat her for sure. If he was certain of victory, then he would have attacked rather than engaged her in conversation at all. "Don''t be so rash. I just want to talk."


    "Then talk and be done with it. State your business now."


    He said that, in the meantime, he activated his world fragment again. His vision extended past his normal viewing boundary of the light side down to the dark side. He found her true form, which is a gray me beneath thew matrix. This me is what he sensed first before he saw her with Legion-7''s soul sight.


    She is more of a spiritual entity and his eyes can''t see spiritual entities well. He certainly can''t see them if they are hiding themselves. But he is not on his own. He asked Legion-7, "Any solution?"


    Legion-7 replied, "A fight must involve direct contact with her for me to intervene. Even then, it will be a struggle since she has a Supreme Law."


    Aeternus also advised, "Chaos energy can surely fix this problem."


    Soverick considered all their suggestions as he chatted with her. He is just stalling for time. He doesn''t expect this meeting to end well, so he is preparing for the worst oue.


    He has been trying to find a way to be certain of victory ever since she started following him when he entered the territory of the former Virut ne. Unfortunately, he is not certain that Legion will be able to defeat a Supreme Origin god with a Supreme Law rted to souls without exposing their strength. He wouldn''t even have been able to see her avatar if he didn''t have Legion-7''s soul sight. That shows just how tricky she is and how difficult it will be for him to deal with her if she can avoid his eyes.

 Chapter 1552 Two Criminals.

    Chapter 1552 Two Criminals.


    He too is hiding himself. But his stealth is external. Anyone who can see past his cover of warped space can see him, but it will be difficult to do so because the way he warped space around himself makes him exist in a different dimension. But she, on the other hand, is in the same space but cannot be seen at all. She is like the invisible spiritual fragments that are created when someone dies. It appears as if she doesn''t exist at all. He used this information to try and devise a n. In his future vision, possibilities shed by several times. They fought in those futures, with some leading to his victory and some leading to his loss. But most of them did not end quickly. The fight at the soul level went on for years once it started. The duration of a fight between them is what is mostly discouraging him from fighting her. The other reason is the same reason why the Supreme Origin god guarding Salvini gave up on him. It is because two beings with Supreme Power cannot defeat each other easily.


    So he will have to expose more of his power to defeat her. When coupled with the fact that she and the Supreme Origin god guarding Salvini can team up against him, it makes it an extremely bad idea to fight her.


    It might not even be that battle sage monkey that interferes. Surely she must be prepared to outnumber him if she came with the intention to fight him. So it could be any other Supreme Origin god that gangs up on him. Still, he is not resigned. He thought to himself, "If the future is uncertain, the past might hold some truth."


    His vision of her flowed backward into her past. He saw her true form. She is a red-furred battle sage monkey, simr to someone he knows. His conjecture was proven right when he saw her meet Litori and Mih. She didn''t say anything to them. She just stalked them, like she is doing to him right now. He moved his eyes to see more of her past. It flowed to reveal how, where, and when she entered the realm tree. But then his vision went dark. She must have sensed his vision and used her Supreme Law to block his sight. She said to him, "That is not polite. You made me use an Origin essence."


    He snorted. "This is yourst chance. State your business or I will attack."


    She took his warning seriously this time around. But her goal is not something that can be stated easily. So she started by stating the obvious. "There are at least two of you in one body."


    "And what business of that is yours?"


    "There is no rejection between you two. It is as if you are conjoined twins. It is as if you are Gemini twins, but at the soul level. I want to know how to be something like that. I don''t mean any harm. I hope to pay for the information."


    He lied, "I was born this way. I cannot help you."


    "Is that so? You were born with the consciousness of another race in your mind? I would believe this if the consciousness in your mind belonged to your brother and sisters, not high elves or Supreme Beasts."


    Soverick asked her, "And how would you know that?"


    "I am somewhat of an expert on souls and consciousness. I can see some traces of those two races in your consciousness."


    Soverick didn''t like that she knew about Legion, but he wasn''t surprised either. She is a battle sage monkey and also a Supreme Origin god. It is highly likely that the first sage or Salvini told her this information to create enemies for him. If he can tell everyone her position, she can surely tell everyone his secrets. What she said is useful to him, though. The future in Soverick''s vision changed rapidly with the addition of more information and the progress of time. It made him see more than he could see in the past or in the future. He got more clues about her Supreme Law. He saw that it was more proficient at attacking the soul than the physical body. He saw that her attacks could even bypass the defenses of the body. He saw the bloodline she created in the High Heaven Realm and how it was rted to Litori. Then his vision darkened again. He snorted in displeasure. The Supreme Origin god was also dissatisfied. She said, "You should stop doing that."


    "You should also not stalk me. But here we are."


    "I am not stalking you. I just wanted to meet you. Surely that is not a crime."


    "It is a crime when you have hidden yourself like a criminal sneaking about." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "But you are also hiding yourself."


    He said without guilt, "That''s because I am a criminal. As a criminal, I know how to identify other criminals very well. You look like one."


    He was speaking with her as he flew into the realm. No one can see him, and she is more hidden than him, so everyone who looked their way didn''t see the two invisible beings chatting. He said to her, "I sense no malice from you currently. It doesn''t look like you n to fight me right now, but you are not entirely truthful. You are here for something else that doesn''t need fighting."


    "Either way, I can''t help you. You might as well ask another Origin god for the secret of their concept. The only thing it will reveal to you is their weakness. You won''t be able to use their abilities if you don''t have the concept."


    Her invisible avatar smiled. "You are right. I didn''te to fight. I came to speak with you as a peer in hopes that we could negotiate an agreement in peace. There''s no need to fight because it is something that is best achieved without violence."


    -----


    A/N: This bonus chapter is thanks to Nobelles for his gift. Thanks to him, I had to bust my ass to release three chapters twice in a row. But it was worth it.

 Chapter 1553 Perks Of Immortality.

    Chapter 1553 Perks Of Immortality.


    She said sincerely, "I truly do not have ill intentions."


    Soverick snickered and said, "I wish I could believe that."


    She continued, "You are not being entirely truthful either. What you have is more than one concept. Origin gods shouldn''t have more than one concept, and yet you achieved it. Who is to say that I, too, can''t have more than one concept? After all, if you can seed, so can I." Soverick rejected her again, "I don''t care if you can seed. I am refusing your request." She tried another angle, "Would it change your mind if I swear not to reveal the information to anyone else and never to fight you?" "No, it wouldn''t help." "Very well. I shall leave you be." She did leave him. Her avatar and true body moved away from him. He expected it since he had seen it before it happened, but he still felt surreal that it would work. He thought to himself, "Being an immortal has surely changed things. I find that I am liking it more and more." Then he resumed his journey. He didn''t stop thinking about the encounter with her, though. Everything they said and did was reviewed in his mind over and over again. He kepting to the conclusion that she had given up because he was immortal. The acquisition of immortality is more than a change in lifespan or the defiance of death. It also leads to a change in perspective. This perspective affects how conflict starts and how it ends. For example, if he could be killed permanently, she never would have taken his refusal without threatening to kill him or even going so far as to attempt it. But he can''t be killed permanently, and she can''t get what she wants with violence. With her concept and Supreme Law, it would be very easy for her to search the mind and memories of a living mortal or kill them to acquire their soul, which she will loot for the information she needs. But he is immortal, so his mind and soul are protected. It means any conflict she starts with him will not end with his death, and she will not get what she wants. So she gave up. He understands that the fact that she didn''t fight him isn''t because she didn''t have bad intentions. It is just that she didn''t have a choice but to give up for now. As for what she will do in the future, that is still uncertain. The source of his surprise is that this sort of restraint is new to him. Legion as a whole have not been immortal for long, and they haven''t interacted with other immortals apart from stealing from them. The enemies they have had in the past, like Beelta, Helios'' father, the fountain of life, and CARNAGE, have always threatened to kill them or attempted to do so. So it is a special experience to not fight with someone after refusing to give them what they want. It is an experience that the Tree Father didn''t get from the Origin gods that attacked him for his secret. He said in appreciation, "We have some issues with the void universe, but immortality makes up for most of our grievances with it."


    Aeternus asked, "What''s not to like? Besides, if we don''t like some rules, we just have to break them." That made Soverick chuckle. Possessing immortality is truly a great feeling for him. It feels great to have fewer worries in the world. Death has be a strange concept, not an immutable fact that they have to be afraid of. Life will remain peaceful for them as long as they are not sealed and as long as they don''t mess with a world god. This feeling made him understand why some Origin gods, despite being weaker than the Tree Father, would look down on him and dare to attack him for what they wanted. Immortality has emboldened them. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    This immortality is why Litori''s ancestor gave up on forcing him. That and the fact that he has a power equivalent to a Supreme Law, so she can''t force him. It is a good thing for him, but it also has its side effects. He, too, has faced some restrictions due to immortality. For one, Legion-7 can''t turn Origin gods into vessels or infect their minds at all. He too can''t use most of the time-rted attacks he used to be able to use on transcendents and kings ofw. This is because not only are Origin gods protected by their concepts, they are also protected by thew of order. So unless he can actually kill them, there is very little he can do against Origin gods. But he is not deterred. Soverick believes that they just have to find a way to break the support of thew of order. Then they might even be able to kill Origin gods permanently. That''s for the future. Right now, his job is to find an attack point in the realm tree for Legion to take advantage of. Some of the other clones have gone to the Tyrant Realm through the void, but Legion wants to secure a point of ess to the Tyrant Realm through the dungeons in the High Heaven Realm. So he went into the realm, inspecting every corner of it. He saw that beneath theyer of space of the realm is anotheryer of space. They seem close together, but they are very far apart. The twoyers are moving closer together and fusing, so the distance between them will soon disappear. He observed critically, "It seems the spatial coordinates of the realm of high heaven and the tyrant realm are ovepping. It will take years, but it will happen." He is right. This ovepping in the space of two realms far away from each other is creating a battlefield between the two realms. It is a battlefield that he intends to take advantage of for Legion.

 Chapter 1554 Lining Up For A Beheading

    Chapter 1554 Lining Up For A Beheading.


    What Soverick saw as he inspected the realm made him smile.


    He said proudly, "Who needs a child of the ne? What can hide from my eyes? In fact, this is giving me a good idea for what our next scheme against the first sage will be."


    He is certain that he will be able to see the dungeons that will be created from the fused spatial coordinates as soon as they are created, but he is not satisfied with that. His eyesight has given him an advantage that he intends to make total use of. He intends for Legion to take advantage of it and use it to make a move against the first sage. Aeternus grinned with anticipation and said, "It is killing two birds with one stone. I like it."


    -----In The Void Universe. Outside the Tyrant Realm.


    The Tyrant realm tree is surrounded byyers of tubr-shaped ck battleships. Their patrolling forms look like a swarm of locust and the disturbance created by their movement created a hurricane of void energy around the realm tree. In a way, they have formed a ck curtain around the realm tree that one might be fooled into thinking is a protectiveyer. But it is not. One of the signs of theck of the protective function of this ck curtain is the fact that the battleships don''t forbid passage through them. There are openings in various sections of the hurricane where Origin gods can pass through. Anyone can pass through these openings as long as they meet three conditions. The first condition is speed and order. If anyone wants to pass through, they must be in line with the others and can only pass through the various openings. They can''t try to breach the barricade through the patrol paths of the battleships, and their speed must also be less than 50% of the speed of light so that they can be scanned. Anyone who vites those two rules will be shot and killed, even if they belong to the High Heaven Realm. The third condition is the possession of a special mark. This mark was given by Mother High Heaven to every creature below the level ofworld god that was born in the realm of high heaven. No one else, apart from some demons of the realm of high heaven, possesses this mark. It is this mark that the battleships are scanning for. So anyone who has met the first two rules but doesn''t possess this mark will also be killed. There is no mistaking these three rules because the battleships broadcast them outward to everyone around them. There is also no forgiveness. Anyone who vites the rules is destroyed immediately, without any form of warning. No one will even see the attack because it will be invisible.


    Furthermore, there''s more to fear aside from the battleships. Any Origin god worth anything can feel the terrifying beings lying just beneath thew matrix. Most of the Origin gods can''t tell where the world gods are, but they can sure tell that they are surrounded. It is a suffocating feeling for most Origin gods. It is so suffocating that the Origin gods are moving slowly and carefully lest they offend a world god and be smitten or cursed to eternal damnation. So not only is everyone obeying the rules, but they are also walking on eggshells in front of the Tyrant Realm. They have formed long lines that extend far into the void around the realm tree. Despite how long these lines are and how many entities are in them, the line is peaceful and moving steadily. Legion-8 and Legion-9 are in line too. They are in line, like children lining up to receive food. They are so well-behaved that no one would suspect that they had considered trying to steal a battleship to examine it. Fortunately, the battleships can''t read minds, or they might be the target of their wrath. This is also good for the high heaven realm because, they are not the only ones who have that thought. Many Origin gods have had it ever since they heard that the realm lord used it to defeat world gods. A lot of immortals want one of them for power or to get to the bottom of their source of power. Many have made a move earlier. Their failure is probably why no one is making a move right now. The two clones look simr as they stand in line. They are both cloaked and masked, but they have different physical features beneath their top-grade cloaks. One of them is a ghostly white apparition without arms or legs. He is an energy being in a cloak. He does have a white crown on his ghostly head, glowing brightly like a halo. No one can see this white crown because it is hidden by the effect of the ck mask he has on his face, which is another top-grade artifact that hides his features. The other one is Legion-8. He is the new clone created to rece the dragon clone. He is in his humanoid form,plete with two legs and four arms. That''s where his features end in his attempt at normalcy. His skin is violet. It is so deep in violet that he blends in with the ck void energy around them. He also has a white crown on his head and doesn''t have eyes, lips, or a nose. The two clones are simr in this aspect. Legion-8 said, "We look like chicks standing in line for sustenance from our mother." Legion-9 snickered, "We are more like jackals standing in line for our turn to ravage a helpless prey." Legion-8 agreed, but he had something else to say. "I hope you''re right about the prey being helpless. If you are wrong, then we might be standing in line to be beheaded." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    That gave Legion-9 pause. He said, "Nothing is certain. Everything can change and is always changing. If we have learned anything from the Supreme Law of Chaos, it is that nothing is constant but change itself." -----


    A/N: I didn''t prepare a bonus chapter today. I will try to make it tomorrow.

 Chapter 1555 Trouble Brewing.

    Chapter 1555 Trouble Brewing.


    Legion-9 continued, "There''s nothing we can do apart from give it a try. As long as the price of failure is our death, we can manage it."


    Legion-8 had to be content with that. It is not nearly enough to assuage his fears or those of Legion, though. They are still very concerned because this fact is very important for the sess of their mission. No one can argue about the fact that the realm lord''s move has nearly crippled this realm. By the looks of things, the Tyrant Realm has been cut off from support and can only die buried in enemies. It can''t get helpers. Meanwhile, Origin god enemies can enter it freely. Even so, the tyrant realm cannot be taken lightly. After all, a weak and starving carmel is still more adapted than a horse in a desert. No matter how starved a carmel is, it will still possess humps that it has used to store fat for desperate days and emergency use. This is something that a horse can never have, no matter how strong and well-fed the horse is. The tyrant realm is the camel now. It might be cut off from support, but it surely has a secret stash of power somewhere hidden in its body for unfortunate days such as these. It might be weak right now, but it might not be the helpless prey it seems. Even if it is, its weak condition might not remain so for long. Legion is certain of this uncertainty because, despite how everything looks on the surface, they can see what lies below. And what lies below thew matrix are terrifying and powerful creatures waiting and searching for prey. Some of them are Origin gods from High Heaven realm, but most of the others are from the Tyrant realm. Why they are hidden is currently unknown. But all of them are hidden and waiting. Legion can guess what the Origin gods of the Tyrant Realm are waiting for. The whole realm tree is surrounded by these terrifying creatures. The world gods stand side by side and against each other. It looks to Legion that the world gods are getting ready to fight. They haven''t fought yet, but it is only a matter of time for them to fight. And when they do, this seemingly orderly and peaceful inspection of Origin gods at the barricade might be thrown into disarray. Legion doesn''t even need to look that far to know that trouble is brooding. The line of Origin gods is not the only location where Origin gods are around the ne. There are plenty of Origin gods who have hidden themselves around the realm tree. Some of them are Origin gods from High Heaven realm, but most of the others are from the Tyrant realm. Why they are hidden is currently unknown. But all of them are hidden and waiting. Legion can guess what the Origin gods of the Tyrant Realm are waiting for. If they are the Origin gods of the Tyrant Realm, they will be waiting for the moment this barricade goes up in me. They are not of the Tyrant Realm, but they too are expecting chaos to descend. This conjecture seemed to have been confirmed by therge number of Origin gods from the Tyrant Realm that have decided to hide themselves and surround the lines of Origin gods of the high heaven realm waiting to enter the Tyrant Realm. Legion-8ined, "We wouldn''t have to do this if the nes hadn''t fused. We could have just stayed on the Zargoth ne and controlled it to invade the Tyrant Realm. Now the ne is essible to everyone in the realm."


    Legion-9 looked around and said, "If we had as much influence with world gods as the realm lord, then we might do the same thing. Barricading the Tyrant Realm is a much better move than reinforcing the individual nes of the realm."


    "It might be much better, but it is also more difficult. There''s also too much uncertainty. All these world gods prowling around are setting off false rms during divination and are causing Soverick''s future vision to go haywire."


    "We just have to take things one step at a time."


    This is their first time attacking a realm tree. It is a dangerous undertaking considering that the Will of the Tyrant Realm won''t like what they are about to do.


    It would have been assuring if they could use the future vision to determine the future possibilities and n ordingly. But they can''t do that because the Will of the Tyrant Realm, the realm lord of the high heaven realm, and many world gods are involved. What they can see are the unwanted signs of troubleing. They don''t need to see the world gods below for them to see the storm brewing. Even if they are being paranoid and there is nothing to fear, it is still a strange sight for them to see therge assortment of individuals, all hidden from most passersby. These individuals have used many methods to hide themselves, be it with a Supreme Law, concept, or world fragment. But none of them can remain hidden from the two clones.


    The two of them saw many races loitering around the realm tree. Some of them are close together and are hidden in the same world fragment, so Legion is certain that they are working together. One such squad drew their attention because it had a red-furred battle sage monkey among them. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This red-furred battle sage monkey and the group she is in are all looking at them. They have been looking at the two of them right from the time they joined the line and moved to the open section of the blockade. So it is clear to them that even if trouble doesn''t descend on the barricade as a whole, it wille for them. They soon turned their sight away from the world gods, sharpening their knives for battle, and the suspicious group stalking them to focus on the multitudes of battleships. They don''t have the ability to enhance their vision like Soverick, but they have his base concept at their disposal, and it''s enough to see what''s within the battleships. What they saw is a sight to behold. The battleships themselves are intricate works of art. Each one is fashioned from the union of several tiny, top-grade artifacts.


    ------


    A/N: Legion ruined some of the realm lord''s ns so it is only right that he ruins some of their ns too. Fortunately, Legion is adaptable.

 Chapter 1556 Not Discouraged.

    Chapter 1556 Not Discouraged.


    These tiny battleships are like the cells of an organism. They are identical in form but different in function. From what they can see, each cell can also change and rece each other''s functions, thanks to the Supreme Law that''s holding them together. Such is their versatility, and yet there are trillions of them in a battleship. The tree father was impressed by the ingenuity. "These battleships aren''t battleships. It is the Authority within them that is the battleship."


    He is impressed because what others see is only the shell of the battleship. The tiny, top grade artifacts that formed the shells are just essories. It is the Authority that each battleship carries that is the core or foundation of the battleships. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The Authority is the source of power for the world fragment. And considering that the Authority of the void universe is nearly indestructible, the number of battleships will remain no matter what damage they take. The cells will just be replenished, and the shell will be whole and functional again. It represents a new way to forge world fragments. It is not a method he can use because he doesn''t have a Supreme Law or Authority. He has to build aw matrix, while the realm lord can derive aw matrix easily with his Supreme Law. He also needs a world fragment as the source of power for it. The two of them didn''t stare too long at the battleships because they knew that powerful beings could sense their gaze, the realm lord being undoubtedly one of such powerful beings. It is especially prudent to be careful around anything with a Supreme Law. Supreme Laws can''t be understood withmon sense. They literally umon sense as they are made up of rules and mechanisms different from those of the void universe. But they did dwell on what they saw for a while. They even made sure to quicken their pace so as not to draw attention when their white halo yearned for the Authority within the battleships. The tree father observed. "It is certain that the realm lord has managed to achieve sess in producing Authority en masse. He might also have the spark of power like I do."


    Legion-8 said with a little wariness, "He is growing stronger and stronger. I doubt we are the only ones who think he should be curbed. There are bound to be others who think so, and some of them might be strong enough to do something about it."


    The Tree Father looked below thew matrix again and said, "It is not a wonder now why there are many world gods who want to break his barricade. The matter of the life trees aside, the Authority of the void universe is more than enough for them to crash his party." Soverick interjected, "I don''t care as long as their attack doesn''t affect us. We will not rely on them. We just have to prepare ourselves to match him when the opportunity arises."


    They haven''t lost confidence because they too are making swift progress. Their current mission will undoubtedly assist the realm lord in bing victorious in the era of conquest, but it will also help them. Besides, they don''t think they are inferior to the realm lord in terms of forging. They, too, managed to forge a world fragment. They would be able to forge better things if they had Authority. They haven''t been able to create the Authority of the void universe, but the fact that the realm lord beat them to it has not discouraged them either. They have broken too manyws to feel inferior to anyone, and they have defied the will of a being stronger than a world god for them to doubt that they cannot catch up to and defeat the realm lord. It is as they learned from the Supremew of Chaos, progress is the only solution to ensure supremacy in the face of constant change. They are making progress, and it is powerful, so they are confident of eventually defeating the realm and gaining everything he has for themselves. That''s for the future, though. That future is getting closer, but for now, they have an era of conquest to win. So the two of them entered the Tyrant realm to get it done.


    They had just crossed the threshold in space into the territory of the Tyrant realm when they felt the hostility of the whole realm directed towards them. Legion-8 joked, "Someone doesn''t seem happy to see us."


    Legion-9 looked around warily as he watched for an attack. He said, "It is to be expected. No one likes enemies in their house. Or in this case, in their bodies."


    Legion-8ughed out loud. He didn''t appear to be concerned as he said, "But it does not matter. We will have our portion of their pound of flesh anyway. It is either going to be quick and painless or painful and difficult for them. But we will certainly get that pound of flesh."


    The attack they were expecting didn''te. But the hostility remained directed at them. It was also increasing at every moment. Not only did they feel the hostility of the world, but it was apanied by a terrible suppression on them. Even so, they are unfazed and are still going to go through with their ns. The suppression they feel is simr to the suppression of the realm of high heaven on Origin gods, except stronger. It is every indication they need to know that the Will of the Tyrant Realm doesn''t want them here and is willing to do everything it is capable of doing to crush them.


    Unlike the current Realm of High Heaven, where there is no more suppression of Origin gods and where even world fragments are allowed, the Realm of Tyrants is not willing to amodate their presence at all. This suppression and hostility are not without discrimination. It is directed only at the strangers in the realm tree. Strangers who enter the realm of high heaven will also experience it. This is the time of war, after all. One has to be ruthless toward their enemies and kind to their allies.

 Chapter 1557 Too Much Hostility.

    Chapter 1557 Too Much Hostility.


    If not for the fact that the two wills of the realms are holding each other back, the two clones would be torn apart as soon as they entered the realm or captured, frozen, or tortured by the Will of the Tyrant Realm. They wouldn''t be able to joke at all about getting their pound of flesh. There was no direct action by the Will of the realm to kill them, but the two of them remained alert and careful. They have to be because the information they got from Mother High Heaven about the era of conquest and the Tyrant race has made theme to the conclusion that they should expect a fight with enemies as soon as possible.


    The suppression of the realm would make a fight disadvantageous to them, seeing as they can''t use world fragments. Even the use of spatial divine abilities and concepts has been restricted, so no one would be able to teleport into the realm from outside of it. That is why only four of them were scheduled to enter the Tyrant Realm directly, instead of sending one person and teleporting their clones to them. Helios has already arrived, but they failed to teleport to him, so they had to go through the barricade. The two of them soon approached the onlyndmass in the Tyrant realm. It is arge bubble in the void, surrounded by a bright halo of light. There are two suns orbiting thisrgendmass. It is a weird sight to them since stars are supposed to be outside a realm tree and not within it. It is not the only strange thing to them. Unlike the Realm of High Heaven, which used to have manyndmasses, the Will of the Tyrant Realm didn''t separate itsndmasses to separate the races and give them a higher chance of survival. This led to the creation of onergendmass as the entire realm and allowed a single race to dominate the realm. This single race is the Tyrants. They killed off every race that couldpete with them and subjugated the whole realm. The Supreme Alliance might have be like the Tyrant race in the realm of High Heaven if not for the separation of the ne, or they would have gone extinct in the early days when they were weak and called white goblins. It could also have been the dragons or the Gemini or the high elves. The Tyrant race is not certainly what the fate of the Supreme Beasts would have been if things were different in the realm of High Heaven, but it is undeniable that the realm of High Heaven has a lot of strong racespared to the Tyrant realm simply because it divided its realm into nes. The two of them stopped and didn''t approach thendmass any further. This is because it is shrouded in a special spatial boundary called the divine ne. They will need to breach the divine ne to continue.


    Legion-8 said, "Let''s separate here. I will start my mission here. You can go on without me." Legion-9 nodded and went further into the divine ne. He fell into the halo of light around it and entered the divine ne. His figure disappeared from Legion-8''s senses, but Legion-8 could tell that he had met with enemies immediately. It appeared that the Tyrants had been waiting and attacked him. It was more like the Tree Father caught them doing something important. The Tyrants were sealing the divine ne when the tree father came around. The Tree Father didn''t try to fight them. Instead, he focused on running away. His mission is to infiltrate the realm and start a church of faith, not to fight the Tyrants. At least that''s what his mission will appear to be to whoever might be watching them. Even if that isn''t his n, a fight with the Tyrants right now is disadvantageous and can be endless since this is their home ground. Plus, the Tyrants vastly outnumber him. A fight with them will be a losing fight. Unless he is willing to expose more of his secrets, But he is not going to do that. It is more effective to try and reduce the suppression of the realm on them by bing a god of the realm. In addition, the creation of a god will weaken the Tyrants. Legion-8 waited patiently for a while. He was experiencing what the Tree Father was experiencing to decide if he needed to intervene to allow him to escape. He is the closest to the Tree Father so he decided to be on standby before moving on to his own mission. The Tyrants were numerous, and they even had Tyrants with the strength of a Supreme Origin god. This was more than enough to match what the Tree Father could do on the surface. However, the tree father wasn''t the only one trying to break through into the main realm, and he was one of the few who could see the future. He just happened to slip through attacks and evade his enemies. The Tyrants couldn''t keep the Tree Father, who already possessed the power of a divine spark, without the amplification of world fragments. This meant the tree father wasn''t helpless to escape, even though the suppression of the realm prevented the use of world fragments. Legion-8 then chose to begin his mission outside the divine ne immediately. As the new clone of Legion, he has a special mission that suits his specific divine abilities and concepts. Legion-8, just like every clone of Legion, is special. He was specifically engineered by the other clones, so his uniqueness was intentional and not something created by chance. He didn''t reincarnate like them. Instead, his body, divine ability, and concept were created by thebined effort of the clones, just as they fashioned aw matrix. Building aw matrix was more difficult workpared to building a new clone. But the body of the new clone is sure to be more powerful than aw matrix. -------


    A/N: This bonus chapter is for Rosery. I will release the one for Smokey Bus tomorrow.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1558: A Living Poison.

    Chapter 1558: A Living Poison.


    ?


    Legion used a mundane virus as the base material for the new Legion-8''s body. This virus was incredibly virulent. It could kill infected victims quickly as it proliferated rapidly within them. But this prevented it from spreading itself to other hosts fast enough before its current host died.


    The virus was gically and magically engineered into a hive-like entity with a divine ability based on thew of poison. This made the virus sentient and improved its infectiousness.


    Then the hive was fashioned into a single body with the help of the Tree Father and thenbined spiritually with the soul fragment of an Origin god that Legion-7 had stripped from Legion-1.


    The process was painful for Legion-1 because Legion-7 had to purge the soul fragment of his body and concept since he hadpletely be an Origin god.


    If Legion-1 hadn''t already fused with Legion-7 before the dragon clone, then the creation of another clone wouldn''t have been possible at all since Legion-7 wouldn''t have been able to intercept the free Origin channel that the dragon left with his death.


    Even then, it was incredibly painful because the Supremew of order didn''t want it to happen. Thew of order protects Origin gods but Legion-7 seeded because the soul fragment is part of his body, he can engineer his soul imprints, and because Chaos energy will destroy anything it is directed to destroy.


    So the process of creating the soul fragment was far more painful than the time Gehaldirah had to purge his body from his soul as a sovereign ofw.


    Then Legion created Legion-8''s concept, using thew of poison as the mainw. Thews of life, death, space, and time as the supplementaryws, and thews of dream and soul, light, darkness, earth, water, air, and fire as the tertiaryws.


    This made for a total of 13ws, with an image of a threeyered concept all working on the corew of poison. Thew of poison is why his body is violet. It is not only violet on the surface, it is violet within him too.


    This is because he doesn''t have organs or skin. Each part of him is made of tiny viruses held together by the concept of All-Existence Poisonbined with an immortal soul.


    In a way, he is a living concept like Legion-7. Except that he doesn''t eat other concepts, and he was easily epted by the void universe to be an Origin god. But this has made him more dangerous than Legion-7 because his kind of insidiousness can be used without punishment from the void universe.


    This insidiousness is what he was sent to do in the Tyrant Realm. His humanoid body has now scattered into a cloud of violet dust. This is his true form.


    The individual dust uses thew of poison to infect the environment. Both space, time, matter, and the energy of the living and the dead in the form of light, darkness, fire, and earth, water, and air were infected. Even the intangible soul and emphemeral dreams couldn''t hide from this poison.


    Legion-8 spread himself into them like a toxin that couldn''t be resisted. His surroundings did resist. It is the innate reaction of the world to the invaders. But he is an Origin with full ess to thew matrix, so the world couldn''t block his concept.


    When added to the fact that he can learn to adapt his body with thew of life to the surroundings so that any sessful resistance is only short-lived, it makes their resistance futile.


    And there''s the fact that part of his existence is spiritual and dream-like. So he is infecting the world on both a physical and spiritual level. This makes most of the resistance against him a waste. Even if the resistance can manage to target both levels of infection, its efforts would have to be divided and weakened to do so.


    At the end of the day, he is a virus, not a poison. He is the source of sickness. The poison is just how he infects his host. The real problem begins when he starts using the energy of his host to proliferate. This leads to the rapid weakening of the host until it dies ofck of energy or the host bes Legion-8 after being overwritten from within. Death is still the ending.


    Legion-8 spread himself like an expanding blot or blemish in the world. This is his mission in the realm. It is the second point of action against the Tyrant Realm in their quest to make enough contribution in the era of conquest to gain the help of the realm lord.


    Unlike the Tree Father, this is his true mission. This mission is very important if Legion wants to achieve that goal because there are a lot of special individuals participating in this era of conquest. They may keep some of their cards to their chest, but they have to y some of them to earn enough contribution points.


    Legion-8''s current mode of action is not unique. His divine ability is simr to the metal fire divine ability. The difference is that the metal fire is limited to thew of earth and can only act on earth in the ne.


    He, on the other hand, can start spreading himself from any point in the realm. As long as there is existence, he is capable of infecting it. He can even infect the metal fire. Both the living and nonliving can''t escape his infection.


    He is a disease in the realm and a sessful one at that, based on the fact that he received positive feedback from Mother High Heaven about his current actions through the mark she gave them.


    Others would need to kill and destroy the living and nonliving things in the realm to weaken the Tyrant realm. He doesn''t need to do that. That''s Aeternus''s and Helios'' job. He is to reduce the size and power of the Tyrant realm by infecting it and converting it into himself.


    A/N: Legion-8 the dragon is dead. He is gone. Legion-8 the virus is a new clone.

 Chapter 1559: Good Bait.

    Chapter 1559: Good Bait.


    ?


    In a way, he has the easiest job among the clones. His current action is an easy method of mining contributions for Legion. If not for the fact that he is also acting as bait, then his job would be too easy.


    His performance as bait was too good, so the prey, thinking themselves to be predators, decided to take a bite out of him. Light and darkness rippled somewhere behind him. It was a ck curtain that was removed to reveal whaty beneath. What was hidden became exposed, revealing four entities.


    One of the entities could only be described as a brute. It is a giant of a being covered in spiked armor. They also have a single horn on their head.


    Two other figures appeared to be non-descript. They had no face, lips, ears, or nose. They were smooth and featureless all over. Whenbined with their humanoid form and whiteplexion, their identity was exposed at a nce.


    The fourth andst person is invisible. But Legion-8 could see her. She is a red-furred battle sage monkey. She is the same red-furred battle sage monkey that Soverick spoke to earlier in the previous Virut ne. Her presence here surprised Legion a little bit, but they are nothing if not adaptable.


    Legion-8 said to them, "This is quite the sight. Three Supreme Beasts and one battle sage monkey. What are you doing here? I have no enmity with any one of you. We are supposed to be allies here. Wee from the same realm."


    They didn''t approach him rashly. They stood far away from him whilemunicating with him.


    The female battle sage monkey said to him, "We meet again."


    Legion-8 asked, "Do I know you?"


    She chuckled. "Yes, you do. I met with one of your clones a little while ago."


    "I have no recollection of this event. You are aplete and total stranger to me." He lied.


    "Don''t bother to lie to us. I never forget a soul that I have met before. Besides, you have at least two consciousnesses in you right now. You are the only one that I have met who does. Not even Gemini twins do."


    Legion-8 chuckled and said, "I think you''ve gotten the wrong person. I don''t have two consciousnesses. I might have schizophrenia and multiple personalities, but I don''t have two separate consciousnesses."


    "You do," she insisted.


    "I don''t." He insisted.


    "Doesn''t he?" She asked one of the two Supreme Beasts.


    This Supreme beast agreed with her. "He does have two consciousnesses, so he must be Legion, the one that cheated the Supreme Alliance."


    "I don''t have two consciousnesses." Legion-8 continued to deny it.


    He has nothing to gain by admitting it, so he will deny it. Besides, it is unlikely that something good wille out of telling the truth to four people who have kept themselves hidden and have been following him since they joined the line outside the realm tree.


    One of the Supreme Beasts said calmly, "There''s no need to hide your identity. We already know who you are, and we are not here to fight. We just want to talk."


    He told them dismissively, "Say whatever you want to say. It is my choice to listen or not."


    "We don''t care about your enmity with the Supreme Alliance. What we care about is the secret of some of the uniqueness you have shown. We want to know how to be world gods without any Supreme Law."


    Litori''s ancestor also chimed in. "And I want to know how to have more than one consciousness in a body."


    Legion-8 asked, "How did you find me?"


    Legion is especially interested in this fact because it has been difficult to track them ever since Aeternus joined with Legion-unity. Their soul fluctuations have been scrambled by Chaos energy, and it has made divination or scrying almost impossible. But she was able to pinpoint them with certainty and follow them.


    She replied. "You are the only being I have ever met with more than one consciousness. I can''t mistake that anywhere. It is my special ability. You stand out in a crowd because of it. Your state of existence is that unique."


    Legion-8 asked her, "Is that so? Howe you are working with the Supreme Alliance? Aren''t you a battle sage monkey? You should be working for the racial council."


    Sheughed. "I was looking for you, but then I noticed that they were also looking for you, so I proposed that we join forces."


    Legion-8 didn''t believe her, but he couldn''t confirm the truth because something was blocking his vision of her past right now. It appeared to him that she was prepared for this. He is also prepared, so he doesn''t feel pressured.


    The Supreme Beast urged him. "We won''t take your secrets for nothing. We are willing to pay you well for it. You will get a world seed and a world engine from us."


    Legion-8 considered the proposal. "That sounds good, but you might be wasting your time. If I had the secret to be a world god without a Supreme Law, would I be here slumming for contributions in the era of conquest?"


    "Yes, you could still be here. You can do anything you want, and that includes working for contributions when you can be a world god on your own. Besides, working for contribution doesn''t mean you still won''t use the secret. You are just working to acquire the realm heart fragments that you need."


    Legion-8 admitted, "You make some sense."


    "We don''t want to y around. Swear to us that you don''t have the secret we want, and we will leave immediately. We will stop troubling you too."


    He asked suspiciously, "Really? What about the Supreme Alliance?"


    "We are not here on behalf of the Supreme Alliance. This venture is a private one, but I am sure the Supreme Alliance or any Supreme Beasts won''te after you after you''ve sworn that you don''t know the method to be a world god without a Supreme Law."

 Chapter 1560: Negotiations.

    Chapter 1560: Negotiations.


    ?


    Legion-8 didn''t believe it, so he asked, "Why?"


    The Supreme Beast exined, "This is because the Supreme Alliance has decided not to hunt you. But they didn''t forbid anyone in the Supreme Alliance not to act against you for their personal interests."


    Legion-8 was still suspicious. He said, "That can''t be true. This doesn''t sound like the overbearing Supreme Alliance that I know."


    "It is true. The Supreme Alliance is not happy with you for using them, but you didn''t deceive them for nothing. Legion led us to the home ne of dragons and helped us destroy it. So in a way, it was a transaction, and you fulfilled your end of the bargain."


    He asked about the reason why the Supreme Alliance was after him in the first ce. "What about the dragon heart that they wanted?"


    "They have decided to let that go for now because you are not easy to deal with. Even the powerful dragon king couldn''t kill you. The only way to corner you currently is with the power of a world god, but the dragon heart is useless to world gods."


    Legion-8 understood why Legion had been enjoying peace recently, despite the number of people that they had offended. It turned out that the Supreme Alliance was wary of the dragon king.


    If the dragon king couldn''t do anything to Legion, then the Supreme Alliance would be more helpless against them. And if the dragon king hasn''t given up yet, then by trying to take something from Legion, the Supreme Alliance might offend the dragon king.


    Of course, this would not be so if the Supreme Alliance had not decided to go after the Realm Lord and dered the mission publicly. They did, so this excuse doesn''t sound believable to Legion-8.


    He doesn''t believe what the Supreme Beast said about the Supreme Alliance being understanding and reasonable. He would rather believe that there is just too much at stake and too little to gain for the Supreme Alliance to go all out after Legion now that they are immortal.


    What he said about the dragon heart not being useful to world gods is true, though. It is just that powerful beings would rather see for themselves if it is useful or not rather than give up without putting any effort into verifying the ims.


    Thebination of their caution and unwillingness to give up is why the Supreme Alliance is not stopping other Supreme Beasts from making moves on Legion despite being afraid themselves. They are just testing the waters to see if they should get involved.


    Legion-8 finally spoke after giving it some thought. "I understand. I do have a method to be world god without a Supreme Law. But your price for it is too little. I want more for it."


    The Supreme Beast asked, "How much more?"


    "Give me nine sets of realm heartsplete with world sparks."


    The first Supreme Beast said, "That''s too much. You''re asking for the value of nine realms and the resources and time needed to subdue them."


    The second one also joined in, "You are ying with us even though we approached you with sincerity."


    "Don''t say that. I am very sincere. 9 sets of realm hearts, and you can have it."


    The Supreme Beastsmunicated amongst themselves before speaking to him. "Alright. We will consider your proposal and get back to you when we decide on what to do." "We will leave now."


    Legion-8 watched them leave just as they said they would. All four of them left, but he didn''t rx at all. His wariness was proven to be correct when another group of Origin gods approached him.


    They remained hidden far from him and didn''t approach him, but he could see them, and he couldn''t dismiss their presence as a coincidence because they were Supreme Beasts.


    He chuckled to himself and said, "I knew this wasn''t over."


    It was far from over. Another group came to make two groups that are beseeching him. Then a third came, and a fourth. Their numbers increased rapidly as Legion-8 watched.


    It couldn''t be a coincidence that some Supreme Beasts found him, only for many Supreme Beasts toe and surround him. It is particrly odd that they are surrounding him. They didn''t just appear around him. They took up positions to box him in.


    Legion wasn''t surprised by their presence, and they could guess what these people were nning to do to him even without Soverick''s eye. It is because it is amon behavior among immortals.


    Whenever immortals want to do business with anyone, they will first try to steal what they want from that person. It is a test to see if that person has enough strength to keep that valuable thing and is worthy of making demands from them.


    It is true that the Supreme Alliance is wary of him and does want to make the deal for the secret from him honestly. But that doesn''t mean they are not going to try and see if they can''t get it out of him forcefully. It is especially important to try and steal the information, seeing as the price to pay for it legitimately is so expensive.


    It is unlikely to be a spur-of-the-moment decision, either. They know what they are doing and are informed about him, seeing as they didn''t attack Legion in the realm of high heaven. They know that Legion can teleport away, so they waited for him toe to the Tyrant Realm, where he is suppressed, so that he wouldn''t be able to escape.


    They were also cautious in that they probed Legion first to see if he had what they wanted. The first probe was the ancestor of Litori. Legion still can''t figure out how she is rted to the Supreme Beasts, but they are certain now that they are working together.


    Legion-8 thought to himself, "Soverick was right. This sneaky battle sage monkey is truly a criminal. She is the worst kind of criminal too. She can''t be killed and she can always identify


    us."

 Chapter 1561: Not So Simple.

    Chapter 1561: Not So Simple.


    ?


    The ancestor of Litori asked for his secret and gave numerous reasons for it. She was even willing to pay for it, but he refused.


    Soverick was sure that her request was a cover for something, which she denied. Then she came with another set of people, and they forced him to either swear that he didn''t know the secret to bing a world god without a Supreme Law or prepare to be hunted by the Supreme Beasts.


    He didn''t swear it so they confirmed that he had the secret. It was all they needed to know that they were not going to bark up the wrong tree or go on a wild goose chase by trying to use violence to get the secret from him.


    A single entity using violence against an immortal would be a bad idea. But a superconglomerate like the Supreme Alliance using violence to get what they want is a very efficient idea. Especially since they are so good at discovering the weaknesses of others and capturing them.


    Legion-8 thought to himself, "They are preparing. I should prepare too."


    While he is surprised that Litori''s ancestor chose to work with the Supreme Alliance, he is not surprised that she was scheming against them, and he is certainly not caught off guard by this turn of events.


    He was already prepared to be bait, and these people have only fallen for it. It is best that things don''t go the other way around and make him the fool, so he used Soverick''s concept. There is an eye within the violet cloud that Legion-8 has be. He could see theseyers of information through the links of causality that bind them. But this time, his ability to see the future had encountered a blockage.


    He received information about them, but it was fragmented because the past had been blocked. His eye couldn''t see into the past urately, as these people were prepared for him. This blockage reminded him of Soverick''s meeting with Litori''s ancestor and how she was able to block his vision too.


    He said to the other clones, "It seems she was collecting information about us during the first meeting, just as Soverick was getting information from her."


    Soverick snorted and said, "It is no wonder she didn''t n to fight. She was content stalking me."


    Then Soverick tried himself. He even used the world fragment, all to no avail.


    He cursed and said, "They are either constantly using their Supremews or using the help of world gods to block my sight. Either way, it must have cost them a lot."


    Legion-1 felt a sense of urgency, "This can''t go on. These people have too much information about us. Their n is almost perfect. They have the information advantage. Something has to be done."


    Legion-7 joined in and said, "This is all because the dragon king exposed our information to the Supreme Alliance. It is only a matter of time before everyone knows about us."


    At first, Legion-8 was only slightly regretful that he couldn''t get more information, but he and the other Legion realized that something big must be brewing against them. All of these Supreme Beasts have Supreme Laws, except the few that don''t. But even those few are shrouded by the aura of world gods, so their information can''t be scryed casually.


    This is significant because using a Supreme Law is expensive. Each use of it expends an Origin essence. The assistance of world gods isn''t cheap either. This means that the Supreme Beasts have either put in a lot of effort to test them or that this attempt might actually not be a test. It might be the real deal to capture them.


    Legion-8 doesn''t doubt that his enemies will be defeated because Legion too is prepared, but he doubts that the Supreme Beasts will let things go after this try. After all, no matter how expensive their efforts are, they can''tpare to nine sets of world engines, world seeds, and world sparks.


    They are bound to try again with the information they gain from this failure. Things could be troublesome for Legion who wants to focus solely on making contributions for the era of conquest instead of fending of Supreme Beasts.


    Soon, all the Supreme Beasts that would attack him had arrived. The void around Legion-8 looked empty and calm, but it was far from it. An army of ten thousand Supreme Beasts had arrayed themselves around him.


    So he is outnumbered 10,000 to 1, but that didn''t make them overconfident. They stillmunicated with each other and nned their attack.


    This act of nning clued Legion-8 into what was toe. He couldn''t see their past or future, but his future could always be seen. They are in his future, so he saw the various things they considered and nned to do with him.


    What Legion-8 saw made him chuckle. "These people aren''t fools. They know to be suspicious when they ought to be suspicious."


    They are ten thousand to his one, and he is in the Tyrant Realm, so he can''t escape, but they are still suspicious. The Tyrant Realm bans the use of world fragments by outsiders, and this won''t change until the Will of the Tyrant Realm bes too weak to uphold that rule.


    The rule is very strong now, so Legion-8 shouldn''t be able to use a world fragment to empower himself, and since he doesn''t have a Supreme Law, he should be powerless against any of them, much less ten thousand of them at once.


    He can''t even use a domain under the harsh suppression of the Will of the Tyrant Realm. So everything is in their favor, but they are still being suspicious and careful. They are treating him as a great enemy.


    It is ttering, but he doesn''t like it. It is because they are right to be suspicious. They know they are not only fighting one entity, and so they don''t want to underestimate him. It is the right attitude to have if they are to seed in capturing him.

 Chapter 1562: Contingency Plan.

    Chapter 1562: Contingency n.


    ?


    Their nse down to two objectives. They want to seal him at all costs or allow one of the Supreme Beasts without Supreme Laws to touch him. They have special arrays to aplish the first option and they havee prepared for the second option too.


    Those Supreme Beasts without Supreme Laws are incapable of making Supreme Laws. They have a concept that can shift into any other concept, and they do this by stealing the concepts of others by touch.


    They are the Supreme Beasts who took the path of further awakening and are stuck. But they are very useful. The Supreme Alliance can use them to steal Legion-8''s abilities. All they have to do is touch him. This theft is also permanent, so if they seed, they will have something important to bargain with Legion.


    Legion-8 admitted, "It is a foolproof n."


    As if they heard his confirmation, the Supreme Beasts decided to attack him. All of them began to approach him at once. They remained hidden so that they could get as close to him as possible before they fought. After all, their n is to seal and capture him. Killing an immortal won''t bring them any benefits.


    They know that he might be able to see them, but they don''t care. The closer they get to him, the better for them. Legion-8 was also hoping for them to get closer to him. He was also preparing to use the contingency n that Legion had nned for them to use in desperate situations.


    It is true that he doesn''t have a Supreme Law and he can''t use his world fragment, but he can use the Tree Father''s divine spark and Helios'' Supreme Power through Legion, so he is not in a hopeless situation.


    However, he is not going to use either of them. He is not going to use the Tree Father''s divine spark because Legion is not willing to expose more information about themselves to the enemy.


    They are bound to expose a weakness if they reveal too much of their capabilities. That is justmon sense. It is especially prudent to hide their abilities, knowing that the Supreme Alliance won''t give up after this defeat.


    So it is a smart thing to keep some things hidden. But it is also because Legion as a whole can feel that they will regret it if they expose Legion-9''s abilities.


    They can''t tell exactly why it is a bad idea because of the divination blocking of the Supreme Beasts, but they can tell it is bad. They can feel the gaze of a world god on them despite the shroud over their future vision, so Legion knows that this is far from being simple.


    There''s only one thing that Legion has at their disposal, and they know for certain that it doesn''t possess a weakness. That is what Legion had prepared for Legion-8 to use.


    Legion-8 deployed this trump card when the Supreme Alliance got close enough. A domain sprang outward from him.


    It is not a normal domain, so the Will of the Realm couldn''t block it easily. The domain of a World Beast is very powerful because of the support of the inner world and a world fragment, so it can break the suppression, but it did so slowly.


    The speed of the domain was slow, so the Supreme Beasts could avoid it by retreating. They would have avoided it if they had decided to retreat, but they didn''t fear his domain, and they also wanted to get closer to him, not away.


    They didn''t continue to approach him unprepared, though. An Origin domain can''t work against a Supreme Origin god if they don''t want to be suppressed by it. So they all burned Origin essence to use their Supreme Laws at full power in preparation to resist his domain.


    Thew matrix around Legion-8 was warped into various phenomena for their purposes. It became imprable walls and unbreakable spikes ofw that stood in the way of the expanding domain. The bacsh of their resistance was so great that the domain copsed immediately when it shed against their resistance.


    This is to be expected, considering that a single domain is fighting against ten thousand Supreme Origin gods. It will break, no matter how sturdy it is.


    What the Supreme Beasts didn''t expect was that it would break apart and release its abominable payload. Chaos energy poured out of the broken domain and drenched the imprable walls and unbreakable spikes.


    Those imprable walls and unbreakable spikes quickly became not so imprable and unbreakable as Chaos energy began corroding them.


    Chaos ensued immediately as the Supreme Origin gods screamed, yelled in pain, or groaned. It was a direct hit that couldn''t be blocked.


    Contact is all the Supreme Law of Chaos needs, be it false or true, to get to work. Their Supreme Laws are part of their existence, so by blocking Chaos energy, they have made contact with thew of Chaos.


    The orderly array of the Supreme Beasts literally descended into chaos. Every entity that Chaos energy touched lost its sense of direction, perception of its surroundings, and sense of time.


    They descended into madness as they fought with all their might to resist the corrosion of their existence. Gone was the mission they came here for. They all scattered or died. Legion-8 watched this with relish. He said in appreciation, "Storing Chaos energy was not in vain."


    He is not like Aeternus. He can''t just output arge amount of Chaos energy when he needs it. The transfer of Chaos energy between the clones is too slow, so it is best if he stores it for future use. Future use, such as being bait.


    His hard work in storing it and the fact that his concept of All-Existence Poison was created with the image of Chaos energy as its foundation made him have a great deal of appreciation for what Chaos energy is doing. He might be immune to Chaos energy, but he knows just how much pain they are going through.

 Chapter 1563: Hybridization Of Chaos And Order.

    Chapter 1563: Hybridization Of Chaos And Order.


    ?


    The Chaos energy first infected their existence on contact. Their existence resisted it, so Chaos energy began destroying their existence to remove the resistance. Then it used the leftovers from the destruction to proliferate and create more Chaos energy, thereby increasing in power and making subsequent destruction to eliminate resistance easier.


    Chaos energy will only get stronger over time and will not end until the infected dies. It is a vicious circle that ends in death. It is why world gods don''t likeing into contact with world enders at all.


    His concept was an attempt to not only imitate those sequences of actions but also improve on them. This is something that someone with their knowledge and greed would want to achieve.


    The Supreme Law of Order, whether true or false, grants its owners the advantages of variability and adaptability. They can change the rules of the world to achieve an advantage in defense, attack, or speed, so their wielder doesn''t have a weakness in any area.


    But the Supreme Law of Chaos, either true or false, has the advantage of virulence. Unlike the Supreme Law of Order, which focuses on empowering its wielder, the Supreme Law of Chaos focuses on overwriting and converting all of existence into itself, including its enemies.


    This difference is why Legion-7 could survive his encounter with the Viper''s Hegemony, the Supreme Law of Order of the Serpentine World God, but didn''t dare try to assimte the Supreme Law of Chaos, whether true or false.


    The two types of Supremews have their advantages and disadvantages in certain situations. World gods are all powerful and can fight each other freely, but they don''t dare fight world- enders.


    It is because of the advantage of thew of Chaos that the Supreme Origin gods can''t get rid of the corruption of Chaos energy, and it is because of the advantage of the Supreme Law of Order that the Supreme Origin gods won''t die to the curse as long as they don''t want to and as long as they have Origin essence to keep resisting.


    It is a never-ending fight that can only end in one way. Their voluntary eptance of defeat or involuntarily defeat after running out of energy. Even the first sage will not be able to escape this fate if he is struck with a world-ender.


    Legion wanted to fuse the advantages of thews of Chaos and Order in Legion-8 by creating his concept with thews of order but in the image of Chaos.


    He can infect and poison all things just like Chaos. He can change and adapt to the resistance of the target, just like Chaos. He can overwrite the target and replicate himself with the energy he devours from the target just like Chaos. He can do all these with the derivativews of Order.


    Unfortunately, Legion-8 hasn''t reached the goal of Legion yet. He still has weaknesses, especially to other Supreme Law and Cosmic force. He will need to have a Supremew of his own for him to match either Order or Chaos in adaptability or virulence.


    If his Supreme Law is very powerful, then he will be able to possess the advantage of both. He might even be able to overwrite or infect the Supreme Law of others. Maybe then, Aeternus will be able to fulfill his wish of stealing Authority from the void universe.


    Legion-8 watched the Supreme Beasts scramble about in pain. The first to die were the ones without Supreme Laws. They couldn''t resist Chaos energy for long.


    The amount of time they spent surviving after they made contact with Chaos energy is the amount of time they spent suffering under it. If they had a choice, they would have shortened it, not extended it.


    Their existence was unraveled, corrupted, and stripped into bits that multiplied the power of Chaos. The rest that was unneeded by Chaos like their concepts, was then fed back to Aeternus''s divine spark to make it stronger.


    Only those with a Supreme Law could resist for a long time. But it is a pitiful disy. It is not exactly a rey of the fight between the Supreme Origin gods and many normal Origin gods of the Lumen ne against CARNAGE, seeing as it is not as grand. But it is far worse.


    After all, they had failed to defeat CARNAGE, and the best they could do as Supreme Origin gods was not to die to CARNAGE. This time, the best they could do was suffer in pain.


    Someone shouted at him, "What kind of curse is this?"


    It was Litori''s ancestor who asked the question. She was right to call it a curse. It is a curse that will remain with them until they die or until someone very powerful cuts off the part of their existence that has been infected. Until then, they will wallow in pain and suffering until they die.


    The ones with Supreme Laws will preserve their strength after resurrection, but the ones without Supreme Laws will lose it. They will have to start again as one-star Origin gods.


    When it is considered that the only ones without Supremews are the Supreme Beasts that were forcefully strengthened with cosmic energy, that means it is a curse that has caused the wastage of the cosmic energy spent on them.


    Legion-8 replied, "It is a curse that makes me happy."


    She said with sarcasm, "I see. I wonder where it came from. Is it something that you were naturally born with?"


    She was in pain. Her avatar''s red fur had already turned ck. Even her true body beneath thew matrix, the white me, had be tainted. It is clear that she has a lot to deal with currently, but she took time out of her busy schedule to scowl at him in hatred.


    The dedication to hatred impressed Legion-8. He decided to be magnanimous and give her the information she was trying to get out of him. He said, "If you don''t know what it is, then I don''t know either."

 Chapter 1564: Public Dissemination.

    Chapter 1564: Public Dissemination.


    ?


    She obviously didn''t believe him. She looked at his expanding violet cloud of a body, which was very simr to the ck cloud that he just released on them, and scowled even further.


    That scowl remained on her face as she chose to die. Legion-8 confirmed her death through the feedback of the rush of power in Chaos energy.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t have time to enjoy it before a Supreme Beast took her ce. The Supreme Beast said, "Very good. It seems your ess to this strange energy is not coincidental or limited. You truly are rted to the abominable creature that ambushed us at the dragon home ne. Very good. This operation was not in vain."


    It was Legion-8''s turn to frown in displeasure. His mood became heavy. It was not improved by the death of the Supreme Beast or the thousands of others that chose to die. Even Aeternus wasn''t so happy with the improvement in the power of Chaos.


    They can tell that something bad is going to happen soon. The Supreme Beasts are keeping a tight lid on it, but Legion can tell that they will be very angry soon. Unfortunately, there''s nothing they can do to stop it.


    Legion-8 continued corroding the Tyrant realm. The Supreme Beasts backed off, so no one came to attack him. But, as Legion expected, things didn''t end there. The Supreme Beasts made another move.


    All the clones received the message that they sent out to every Origin god of the High Heaven Realm. They received it at the same time as the trillions of Origin gods that did.


    The message said, "Is it possible to have more than one concept? It is not supposed to be possible. But a certain Origin god of the high heaven realm has achieved it. This is all we know about him."


    "Gehaldirah was a high elf with a royal bloodline. His father and mother are..."


    Legion-8 sighed. "This is a ruthless and shameless move. They want to borrow the hands of others to continue to test us and pressure us."


    Soverick was furious. He was truly angry that not only did the Supreme Alliance steal his move against the first sage and Salvini, they also used it against him.


    The Supreme Alliance released almost every piece of information that they have about Legion to everyone. They told everyone about Legion having many clones.


    They even went ahead and released information about each clone. Now everyone knows that they have a world beast, a battle sage monkey, a star godling as clones.


    They shared the details about the divine abilities and concepts of each clone too. Everything about when the clones were born to where the clones currently are was exposed. Their current battle strength and the information about their possession of a world fragment that they built were also exposed.


    The only clone they didn''t speak about was Aeternus. They told everyone that Legion has eight clones. It could be that they are lying to the public or that they don''t know about Aeternus, their demon clone.


    It could be both. The Supreme Alliance would want to hide the fact that Legion has ess to and control over Chaos energy so as not to discourage others from messing with them.


    Legion-8 grumbled, "Now that everyone knows that we have a way to have many concepts and a way to be world gods without Supreme Laws, we are sure to have a lot more enemies."


    Legion-3 was rather optimistic. "Things are bound to be more difficult, but only that. Only world gods can threaten us, so we should be fine as long as we don''t fall into their hands alive or get sealed."


    Legion is sure that the message will lead to grave repercussions because they have used the power of the people just a while ago to pressure others to great sess.


    Currently, Salvini can''t leave the safety of the Leviathans. She has to be protected against the constant swarm of attacks by those who want to gain possession of her. It seems that will be them very soon.


    The secret to having numerous concepts is certainly more tantalizing to Origin gods than a child of the ne, so they are going to attract more enemies than Salvini did.


    There''s also the fact that they created a world fragment on their own and their possession of the secret to bing world gods without Supreme Laws. Origin gods should not be able to create world fragments, and they certainly should need Supreme Laws to be world gods.


    Besides, everyone knows that they have universal artifacts too. One of these secrets would cause a stampede of immortal enemies to chase after them. It is not encouraging that they possess four such valuable secrets.


    So they began to prepare for the repercussions of this move. The Supreme Alliance has decided to use the power of the multitudes to probe them. If the dragon king gets angry that they were trying to take what belongs to it, then it will have to get angry at trillions of Origin gods too.


    The Supreme Alliance is also relying on the power of multitudes to find out their weaknesses. Information like how long they can use Chaos energy, the frequency between each use, and the decline in the power of Chaos energy over time, if they exist, are things that are bound to be discovered over several attacks on Legion. This way, the Supreme Alliance won''t have to sacrifice their resources to test them anymore.


    Plus, external pressure on Legion might make them return to the Supreme Alliance for help with a lesser request in exchange for the secret they want.


    After all, the easiest solution for them right now is to be world gods. But they can''t do that unless they get world seeds and world engines. Those are things they can''t get easily and can''t get on their own. They know because they have tried to get those things and have failed so far.

 Chapter 1565: The Heat Is On.

    Chapter 1565: The Heat Is On.


    ?


    All the Supreme Alliance needs to do is act generous by offering them just one set of world seed and world engine for the secret to bing world gods without Supreme Laws. It is obviously a cheap price to pay, but if Legion is desperate enough, they might take it.


    Legion-1 said to them, "This is a problem that can only be solved by strength, and we are notcking in it. Plus, we are immortal and rich. But this scheme will set us back in terms of resources and time. We can''t have that if we are to contribute well to the era of conquest."


    Soverick was not so optimistic. He said, "That''s just the start. Surely the Supreme Alliance knows that we are immortal. I propose that we should be very careful from now on. This is surely not the end of their schemes."


    Aeternus added, "We can''t stay on the defensive either. Being passive is not a long-term solution."


    Helios asked, "But what can we do to damage the Supreme Alliance? Preferably something that can benefit us too. At the very least, it should be able to solve the problem we have found ourselves in."


    None of the clones could answer that question. Not even Soverick could think of something. The situation the Supreme Alliance has put them in is irreversible. It is an egg that has dropped and broken. It can''t be fixed without some time-warping shenanigan, which is something the void universe forbids.


    Soverick said helplessly, "This problem all started when we gained the attention of the dragon king. It was then that all of our secrets were exposed. He must have told the Supreme Alliance, and now they are using it against us."


    Legion-5 said with determination, "At the end of the day, only strength can save us. We have to continue growing stronger."


    Aeternus agreed, "We grow stronger and make sure everyone that crosses us regrets it."


    They have a terrible conundrum on their hands because this problem is not a problem that can be solved with brute strength. Their secrets have been exposed, and there''s nothing they can do to erase that problem.


    It means that their enemies will be informed and won''t fight them with ignorance. It will make brute strength less effective.


    The most effective solution they can think of is to make the information about them obsolete by bing stronger. That way, their power will be effective again.


    They will also be able to deter people from attacking them when they get stronger. That is going to be difficult to do considering their enemies are immortals with nothing to lose, so they have to make sure the Origin gods lose something whenever they fight.


    Legion-8mented, "It is going to be nearly impossible to deter Supreme Origin gods. We can''t seal them, and we can''t make them lose their power or memories, even with Chaos energy. This is going to be difficult."


    He is truly pissed. It is going to be difficult to make immortal people regret their actions if they don''t lose anything. Even now, Legion has found out that some Origin gods have invaded the Zargoth ne and are destroying it in an effort to find them.


    All of Legion''s work in the ne is going down the drain. The Virut ne is also being searched, but the Origin gods are more restrained because of the racial council.


    The Origin gods searching for them would have attacked the Lumen ne were it still around. It is not around anymore, but there are certain Origin gods who have some information about a certain unique Warrog responsible for the destruction of the ne and are telling everyone who would listen about that Warrog.


    Legion hasn''t been attacked yet, but they already know that the hunt for them has begun from this information and from the feeling of being scryed as various entities are trying to divine their position.


    No one knew about them before, so they were not important enough to be scryed, and their enemies didn''t have enough information for their scrying to be urate. But now information about them is aplenty, so even races with a smidgen of divination talent have enough information about them to find.


    If not for Aeternus and the influence of Chaos energy from him, people would be able to find them easily. But Soverick can tell that people aren''t giving up. A lot of people are using Supreme Laws to track them.


    The effect of the move by the Supreme Alliance is just starting, and they are already feeling the heat. If things continue like this, then they might not have a ce in the High Heaven Realm anymore and might even have to hide and run in the immortalnds when world godse after them.


    Legion-8 is so angry that he wants to pay back the Supreme Alliance for their move. The best thing he can do to make them feel pain is to attack their hatcheries and kill their young.


    Unfortunately, that is not going to benefit Legion more than a short moment of emotional pleasure. Considering that the Supreme Alliance might be prepared for that, it is safe to say that they might be expecting them and might have set up a trap for them.


    So they are not going to let Legion-8 kill the young Supreme Beasts that he has infected. It is not possession, so the Supreme Alliance didn''t discover the tentacles that he had deposited in them.


    Killing the young will surely hurt the Supreme Alliance, but it won''t give Legion any tangible benefits. Besides, they can tell through Soverick''s foresight that a better option is going toe out of it in the future. So it is best they keep that move for when it will bring them the best benefits.


    At the end of the day, they decided to continue what they were doing here, trying to earn contribution points. They will hide doing that while trying to construct their Supreme Laws.

 Chapter 1566: Star Thief.

    Chapter 1566: Star Thief.


    ?


    They are going to hide in a realm tree because they are sure that being outside a realm can''t be safe for them right now due to the search of world gods. They will continue to strive to gain the assistance of the High Heaven Realm and won''t give the Supreme Alliance the benefit of crawling back to them.


    To achieve that, Legion-8 is corroding the Tyrant Realm, while Helios is responsible for plunging the realm into darkness.


    It wasn''t only the tree father and Legion-8 that entered the realm for the mission to umte contributions. Helios also entered, and the Supreme Beasts probably noticed him, but they avoided him. Instead, they went after Legion-8.


    It could be because Helios was doing dangerous work, and they didn''t want to die bying closer to him. After all, the full power of a star can only be rivaled by world gods. For someone to start eating a star, he must not be one to be trifled with.


    The stars of the Tyrant Realm are just two. They are also inside the realm because there is only onend mass in the realm. The two of them stand on opposite sides of this singlendmass and rotate around it. The gap in-between them helps create the variation of day and night. But ever since Helios started his ster work, the duration of night in the realm has increased, and the brightness of one of the stars has dimmed. The nes still get about the same amount of light because a third star has appeared beside this dim star to help share in its duties.


    This third star is not only helping the dimming star to perform its duties, it is also helping it to shed its weight. This way, its mass will reduce, and it will be able to fly around the realm faster. Only someone like Helios can bear the all consuming heat around the star and do this thankless job.


    Unfortunately, the lesser the mass of the dimming star, the greater the effect of the


    gravitational pull of the second star on it. The second star is pulling on the star that the third star is feeding on. So if the third star doesn''t eat it fast enough, the first star will crash into the second star.


    To prevent losing his food, Helios, the third star, has to produce a gravitational pull on the first star to negate the pull of the second star on it. This gravitational pull has to grow stronger the lighter the first star bes, which is not an easy thing to do.


    Some might think Helios is having the time of his life eating a star, but it is a very tough job. Not only does he have to bear the full heat of the sun from being close to it, he has to bear its power as he eats it.


    Fortunately, Helios is good at his job, and it pays well. His concept was practically made for eating stars. Actually, he was made for killing things, stars included. But what he is doing is not just about pleasure. Killing the stars of the realm will plunge the realm into darkness and count as the destruction of the realm.


    What he is doing is worse than what CARNAGE did when the demon god blocked the light of the sun to a ne. What he is doing is going to affect the whole realm.


    Apart from the contribution of the destruction of the stars, the death of stars and theck of light it will bring will also lead to the death of every living thing that relies on light. It will freeze the realm and upset the ecosystem of the whole realm, which will produce more contributions for Legion.


    Helios himself is a pir of fire. Within that pir is a singlerge eye surrounded by many small, pupilless eyes. The single eye has 14 pupils, while the small eyes surrounding it have


    none.


    There''s arge pupil at the center of therge eye, surrounded by six pupils, which are in turn surrounded by seven pupils. The seven pupils represent his dominion over lightning, light, darkness, earth, water, air, and fire. The six pupils represent his control over creation, destruction, space, time, life, and death.


    Thest pupil at the center represents his encroaching control over the Supreme Law of Order. It is Legion''s hope toprehend the Supreme Law of Order. Together with the other pupils, Helios can push, pull, and freeze the world. If he is careful enough, he can eat a star without dying from indigestion.


    The small eyes around his single main eye reflect the properties and operations of the star. He is able to see the effects of his actions on the star in real time. This is important because he is literally shaving and shaking a bomb. Indigestion is the least of his problems because of his suicidal actions.


    The original dragon heart that he gained from the dragon clone didn''t have thest pupil at the center of his eye. He didn''t have the many pupilless eyes surrounding his main eyes either.


    Those pupil-less eyes are actually mirrors. Because of this, the pupil-less eyes can be considered to be made up of a pupil sorge that it takes over the whole eye.


    The presence of Soverick''s eyes around therge main eye is linked to why Helios has a 14th pupil of order. The 14th was small at first, but it increased in size and power over time as Soverick''s helped Heliosprehend more and more of the Supreme Law of Order.


    As hisprehension increased, so did the size of the 14th pupil. Soon, it will cover the whole eye and assimte the other 13 pupils. When that event happens, Legion will havepleted theprehension of thew of order and will either gain control of it or fight with the void universe because of it. It is something they are nning for, just like their eventual showdown with the Supreme Law of Chaos.

 Chapter 1567: Magnificence Of A Realm.

    Chapter 1567: Magnificence Of A Realm.


    ?


    Those are events for the future. In the meantime, Helios is devouring a star. To be more urate, he is eating it. He isn''t so much using thew of devouring as forcefully taking sr mass from the star and taking it into his inner world.


    The ster mass is first swung around him in a loop that cools it down before ingesting it. Then it is passed on to Aeternus through Legion-7. So he is doing two jobs at the same time. The light he is producing is just a side effect of swimming in an ocean of sma. It doesn''t count as a third.


    It is not a pretty picture. The star is doing its work diligently. It is going around the realm while providing light and heat, like it was created to do. Helios, on the other hand, is stalking this diligent star like a thief. He is keeping a close distance from it as he steals its sr mass. He is more of a parasite or a bully than a devourer.


    Some people have tried to interrupt him, but they have all been burned by the heat of the star whenever they get close to it. Helios, on the other hand, is not harmed by his proximity to the star. In fact, the star can''t harm him at all. This is because of his power over light and fire.


    He is both a dragon of fire and light, and many otherws. That means he has immunity to fire and light.


    And because he has the original dragon heart, he can improve this ability further with cosmic force. All it will cost him is cosmic force.


    His maniption is different from Legion-5''s in that he can use cosmic force with his words. This power is the origin of the dragon tongue and dragon magic. It is so powerful that it can contend with Supreme Origin gods. That is, as long as he has cosmic energy.


    Helios is doing his work above while the Tree Father is doing his below. The Tree Father is currently rushing towards the abyss. It is where the target of his mission is, and he wishes he could get there quickly, not only because he wants to start his mission as soon as possible, but also because he is being chased.


    Unfortunately, the Tyrant Realm is veryrge. It will take a long time for him to reach the abyss. It will only take him a maximum of an hour, but even that is too long when someone wants to kill him. It is a pity that he can''t teleport at all. So he has to cross the singlergestndmass that he has ever seen.


    What he saw along the way made him in awe of the realm. He said to himself, "A realm tree is very powerful. Fortunately, we have never offended Mother High Heaven, or we might not be here today to see this."


    It is difficult to truly appreciate the size of a realm when it is divided into many small, isted spaces. It is at times like this, when they can see a sprawlingndmass that extends as far as the eye can see, that one gets to appreciate the immensity of a realm tree.


    By his estimate, the surface of the Tyrant realm is likely 10 x 10^18 square meters. Or 10 x 10^12 square kilometers. That''s 10,000,000,000,000 square kilometers, or 10 trillion square kilometers. It is a majestic sight to behold.


    The power of a realm is something that is undisputed, but rarely is it ever disyed. Everyone agrees that the Will of the realm will beat any Origin god, even if they have a Supreme Law, if only for the fact that the Will of the realm is capable of suppressing every Origin god that enters their realm.


    The suppression of Origin gods is like the suppression of a domain. One can imagine just how powerful the domain is, if it isrge enough to cover the size of the realm. It is especially inspiring considering that Supreme Origin gods can''t be suppressed by domains, but they will be suppressed by a realm.


    Even so, the full power of the realm has rarely been showcased. One of the good things about the era of conquest is that it has allowed the realm tree to show its full power and enlighten the ignorant masses of the likely consequences of offending the Will of a realm. It has also shown Legion howcking they are if they are to go against a realm tree on their own.


    Billions of immortals have invaded the Tyrant Realm, but it is still a long way from falling. And this is despite the fact that the Will of the Realm is currently indisposed. If the Will of the Realm was present and could wield its power, no Origin god could threaten it at all, regardless of their number.


    Even now, in the absence of the Will of the realm, every Origin god is still suppressed. Currently, the clones can''t use each other as spatial beacons to teleport out or into the realm because of the lockdown of the realm.


    The clones can still sense each other and can initiate the teleportation. But the difficulty of teleporting across space has increased so much that the energy requirements and the time it will take have rendered it impossible for them.


    So in a way, not only is the whole realm a domain suppressing them, but it is also a seal. It is a poor seal in that the Origin gods can leave it and they can die within it. But they won''t have any memories of their actions in the Tyrant Realm if they die in it.


    It is humbling to think that this is just a general realm-wide effect caused by the displeasure of the Will of the realm. If it were the targeted displeasure of the Will of the realm on them, then they wouldn''t be able to resist at all. They would be frozen like helpless prey before the might of the whole realm.


    A/N: Bonus chapter for the 500 golden tickets goal.

 Chapter 1568: Froggy Intelligence.

    Chapter 1568: Froggy Intelligence.


    ?


    A domain the size of 10 trillion square kilometers, capable of suppressing 1 million Origin gods, including Supreme Origin gods. Meanwhile, Legion-5 can barely freeze a single Supreme Origin god with his cosmic domain. He would even fail to do so if he didn''t have the assistance of the world fragment.


    It is a sobering thought that has made them understand the gap between a world god and an Origin god even further. It has also made them appreciate the realm lord''s achievement of defeating a world god.


    The realm lord was able to ovee this difference with the aid of a billion world fragments built with trillions of top grade artifacts and powered by a billion units of Authority. They don''t have either of the two, so they are unlikely to be able to achieve such a feat.


    However, they are not discouraged. Legion, as always, is still greedy. They still haven''t given up on their n to hunt a world god. It is their backup n in case they fail to make enough contributions in the era of conquest.


    They have to be prepared for failure, or they are just preparing to fail. The actions of the Supreme Alliance have especially made it important that they prepare for failure. However, their preparation for failure even preceded the exposure of their secrets, so it is not something rushed.


    It is not wishful thinking on their side, either. They have two ns to achieve this goal. One n is based on the Tree Father, Aeternus, and Helios and their sparks of power. The other n is based on CARNAGE and Aeternus. They can use elements of either n together based on the situation.


    These are ns that they hope they will not need. After all, Legion has put a lot of effort into making enough contributions in the era of conquest, and it would be easier to earn contributions than to hunt a world god for their realm heart. But they are preparing for the


    worst.


    Having those ns hasn''t made themcent. They don''t want to fail to make enough contributions. That''s why the Tree Father is rushing towards the abyss and will be doing his best in thend of hope in the Tyrant Realm.


    Of course, he is going to mask his true motives with something else. However, those are ns for when he reaches thend of hope. In the meantime, he has to escape from the Supreme Tyrants chasing after him.


    He escaped through their blockade in the divine ne into the main realm. He was not the only one who managed it, so many others are being pursued just like him and have taken some heat for him. Even so, he is still being chased by three Tyrants.


    These Tyrants have different shapes and sizes. But one thing they have inmon is that they are pitch ck. They are not ominous ck like Aeternus. The ckness of their existence doesn''t spread and infect the world around them. But they are still pretty strange-looking, as ck is a rarely-seen color in nature.


    His enemies are constantly attacking him from behind. Their attacks are powerful and urate. It takes less than a second to hit him. Unfortunately for his enemies, they keep missing.


    No one should be able to dodge an attack enforced by Supreme Power because it is the fastest attack and because, most times, they transcend the concept of speed. A single hit can also cripple the opponent because it has reached the limit of lethality.


    However, the Tree Father is not dodging their attacks after they make them. He is dodging the attacks before they are made and then nullifying the power on them when they get close to him, so the attacks miss him.


    It is just a little tweak on his side. He is not going all out to block the attacks. His influence on the attacks is to nudge them in the right direction, which is away from him. So these attacks are still powerful.


    They bypass him and crack the continental te of the realm before his eyes. The way they prated the earth and caused the area around the point of pration to crack and sink shows him the fate he just avoided.


    He said in admiration, "Supreme Laws are too powerful. I can amodate and control power in all its forms, but they can create power in different forms. I want one too."


    His pursuers are understandably upset. They called out to him, "Stop right there and face us."


    "Aren''t you an invader? Why are you running from a fight?"


    The Tree Father didn''t stop, but he entertained them. He said to them, "I will stop if you fight me one by one."


    "We promise to fight you one by one."


    The Tree Father asked to be sure, "You promise?"


    They confirmed, "We promise."


    But the Tree Father didn''t stop. He ridiculed them, "Do you think I am a child? If you truly thought I would stop to fight, then you are the foolish ones. So much power but the brain of a frog."


    Theyughed sinisterly and continued to chased him. One of them taunted him in return, "You are the frog. You are in a pot full of boiling water. It is only a matter of time before you are cooked."


    If he was being pursued by a single person, then he would stop and fight. He too has Supreme power, after all. But there are two other Supremes chasing after him, so it is a bad idea to stop.


    It is rare for a Supreme to beat another Supreme. They can only wear each other down. The one that runs out of Origin essence first loses. But two or more Supremes will surely be able to defeat a single Supreme.


    This is because a Supreme is not truly perfect. They don''t have a weakness, but they are not at the limit of power in every aspect at the same time.

 Chapter 1569: The Land Of Hope.

    Chapter 1569: The Land Of Hope.


    ?


    When a Supreme is using their power to reach the limit of the light side in one aspect, such as attack power, their defense and speed will becking in that moment.


    It won''t be a problem if the enemy is a single Supreme. That Supreme will be busy resolving their attack. But another enemy will be able to take advantage of their exposed weakness when they are busy with someone else.


    The dynamics between Supreme Origin gods is still true even though his pursuers are not true Supreme Origin gods. They are just Sovereigns ofw who have received the power of the Will of the realm in order to repel the invaders.


    That is another thing that no one knew that the Will of the realm could do. Even normal children of the ne are rare. Not many know that a transcendent can be boosted to the power of an Origin god thanks to the enhancement of the Will of the ne. So knowledge about the children of the realm is rare.


    But thanks to the era of conquest, it has be known that the Will of the realm can raise 100,000 of its children from the Sovereign level to the Supreme Origin god level. This means that Salvini might not be as helpless as the first sage is making her out to be.


    It also means that it will be a losing fight for him to stay and fight these three Tyrants. He can surely turn things around and win if he uses his spark of power in conjunction with his world fragment, but that''s a waste of time and will expose his strength.


    If he can acquire that kind of victory, then his guests in the abyss will be wary of him. Thend of hope might not wee him with open arms or agree to his n to build churches in the Tyrant Realm. So he endured the chase and continued to run towards thend of hope.


    Thend of hope is thest bastion of resistance against the Tyrant realm in the whole ne. It is the only ce that Tyrants can''t extend their greedy hands into and the only ce where those who don''t want to be under the control of the Tyrants can live in rtive peace.


    It is also the only ce an invader of the realm can gain some respite from the pursuit of the Tyrants. The demons of any other realm might hate anyone who is not a demon, but the demons of the Tyrant realm are always weing to troublemakers of the realm.


    Thend of hope is on the first level of the abyss. The Tyrants have tried to take it several times, but they have failed to do so. The Tree Father is hoping the Tyrants will fail this time


    too.


    It is not that they have never seeded in invading thend of hope. They have invaded it several times and seeded in breaking through their defense, but they had to give up on the ce because of the constant attacks from demons and the inability to use their divine ability in the first abyssal ne to strengthen themselves.


    The Tyrants eventually gave up on the first abyssal ne. This created a location for people from the realm to escape to. Over time, it was fortified as several generations tried their best to secure it until it finally became thest bastion of resistance against the Tyrants.


    The Tyrants were not originally called Tyrants. But they were so bad and tyrannical that they were called Tyrants. Even the whole realm was named after them, and a ne in the abyss became and of hope for the realm.


    The Tree Father smirked just thinking about it, "It is ironic that demons have be saviors. The world has truly turned upside down in the Tyrant Realm."


    He can afford to be amused because he is about to reach his target. It is a ce at the edge of the Tyrant Realm. There are towering walls that reach the divine ne in front of him.


    The whole realm is a singlendmass, and the abyss meets thisndmass at a location at its edge. Everyone in the realm knows this. But it is difficult to find thend of hope because the first abyssal ne is always moving.


    It circles around the edge of the realm. One would need to reach the end of the realm and wait for thend of hope toe around. But the Tree Father didn''t do so. He ran here directly, as if he already knew where it would be at this point in time.


    He didn''t end up at the edge of the world at this exact location, where there is a wall at this time, by chance. To him, it is more like the wall was waiting for him toe. It is because he had already seen this event before he chose a direction to run to after he breached the divine ne.


    The sight of the wall made him marvel again, "Maybe the existence of Tyrants is required for people to achieve great things. The resistance of all living things in order to survive can be so powerful sometimes. "


    The wall was so high that it reached into the void and stopped in the divine ne. So there was no way to go over it. Fortunately, the fortress and its guards opened their doors wide to him. It didn''t happen by chance, either.


    He shouted as he approached the wall, "Give me hope. Give me freedom."


    The guards heard what he said and were moved. They opened the gate after they heard what he said and after seeing that he wasn''t a Tyrant and that he was being chased by Tyrants. This was clear to them. After all, he is not ck but he is being chased by three ck people. For them, the color ck is practically the color of viins.


    A/N: There''s no racism going on here. If anything, the Tyrant Race is the superior one here.


    Now that I have set the record straight, I can say what made me decide on the skin color of the Tyrants. We already have white supremacists in GREED. I decided that it was about time we saw what ck power looked like.

 Chapter 1570: Strange Creature.

    Chapter 1570: Strange Creature.


    ?


    The guards also moved to protect him from the Tyrants by calling on their strongest force to man the wall. The wall began to glow. It enhanced the power of the demon lords into demon kings and made demon kings capable of using the wall to resist demon gods or Supreme Origin gods.


    The Tyrants saw this and gave up on the Tree Father. However, that''s not the end of trouble for him. The fact that he was being chased by the Tyrants doesn''t mean he is not a spy for the Tyrants.


    Tyrants don''t need spies for them to create problems for thend of hope. They can just waltz and cause trouble. However, spies can create a lot of problems for thend of hope, so they have to be cautious.


    After all, they still need to smuggle food from the Tyrant Realm. This is because thend of hope is not generally conducive to life.


    Thend of hope is corrosive, and the air is thick with sin energy and ashes. The sin energy is good for demons, but it is bad for other races. nts can''t grow in thend of hope, and animals have shortened lifespans, stunted growth, failing fertility, miscarriages, and all manner of ailments for staying there over a long period of time.


    So they need food grown in the Tyrant Realm. Some food is stolen, but most of it is traded and brought to the abyss through abyssal altars. That means there are people in the Tyrant realm who trade with them.


    Some of those trading partners are even Tyrants. It is not something the Tyrants are proud of. It would be a shame for their identities and the identities of the other trading partners of thend of hope to be exposed. Hence, a spy is not weed.


    The way to test if someone is a spy is to bring them before a demon of lies. There is a particr demon god who has taken it upon itself to take charge of the subterfuge and counter-subterfuge departments of thend of hope. This demon god is LIES. Every neer is questioned in its presence.


    LIES is not doing its job because of kindness. Demons as a whole are gaining a lot by allowing thend of hope to exist in the abyss. To them, the living beings that live on the first abyssal ne are animals that they are rearing. They don''t harvest until their livestock are about to die, but it is still a lucrative way to gain flesh and souls.


    That''s why demons go out of their way to find channels for food and fertility drugs for the inhabitants of thend of hope. They even built habitats that banish sin energy for the inhabitants of thend of hope.


    Of course, they call them pens for livestock, but that doesn''t change the fact that it has improved the standard of living in thend of hope for the inhabitants.


    With the habitats, the inhabitants don''t get frequently sick anymore, and their reproduction rate has gone up, so one has to admit that the demons have a good business model going on here. It is the demon god of lies'' job to make sure spies don''t ruin it.


    The demon god of lies also gets to utilize its sin and spread it by running the department, so it is a win-win for everyone. It had a mountain on which it kept a clone for emergency interrogations such as this. So the Tree Father was quickly brought up the mountain to meet


    LIES.


    Things have been running well in thend of hope for quite a while now. Unfortunately, the Tree Father''s presence threw a cog in this well-run and well-oiled machine. This is because LIES couldn''t do the one thing it is good at. It couldn''t tell if he was lying or not.


    The Tree Father was brought up the mountain, escorted by demon kings who felt uneasy throughout the process. But the Tree Father was carefree.


    The top of the mountain provided a view of the entirend of hope. The top of the mountain is also where LIES stays. If he is unable to gain the certification of the demon god, then this view will be thest thing he sees. He should be worried about this, but he wasn''t. It was LIES that felt uneasy.


    The demon god of lies is a cloud of energy. LIES is also a stone. It is also a pond. It is also an animal. It is also a nt. It is several things at once, and over time, it is whatever LIES wants to be. But it is currently baffled and exasperated.


    Now, LIES should be able to tell if someone is lying or not. All it needs to do is be present when someone speaks. Its Supreme Law will react excitedly to lies as soon as they are uttered. It will also react to truths, as they will disgust it.


    Unfortunately, it couldn''t react to the Tree Father''s words at all. Every single one of its attempts led to a sh with the Tree Father''s existence, which is a fight of sorts. But it was evenly matched with the Tree father, so it couldn''t affect him.


    If it can''t affect the Tree Father, then it can''t authenticate him. But LIES has more things to be confused about. It can''t tell how the Tree Father resisted its power at all.


    LIES asked calmly, "What kind of creature are you? You''re not a living thing. Certainly not any living thing that I have ever seen. And you are not a demon, either. I would know, seeing as I am one."


    This is the first time someone or something has resisted it. But it finds the Tree Father to be strange because the Tree Father doesn''t have a Supreme Law at all.


    LIES, and most of the void universe, epted that Supreme Power could be acquired with only a Supreme Law, be it the false Supreme Law of Order or Chaos. Yet, here is someone with neither.

 Chapter 1571: Free Food.

    Chapter 1571: Free Food.


    ?


    The Tree Father is currently standing in front of the demon god of Lies. He is in his high elf form, which he thought should be easily identifiable since elves are one of the mostmon races in the high heaven realm. But he wasn''t recognized here.


    Apparently, they haven''t seen a humanoid being with golden hair, golden eyes, green skin, and brown fingernails.


    He thought to himself, "It seems the high elves haven''t invaded this world en mass. Or is it that the demons don''t know much about the invasion?"


    The Tree Father wasn''t fooled by the illusion show put on by LIES. He could tell that LIES, like most demon gods, is arge mass of energy. It is just that the energy of its existence causes hallucinations, mirages, and illusions. He can see the true form of the demon god because they are about equal in strength.


    The Tree Father replied. "I am a god."


    "What do you mean you''re a god? Do you mean like the Tyrants? The Tyrants call themselves gods too."


    The Tree Father rified, "I mean like the gods that rely on faith."


    LIES asked in confusion, "Aren''t those all dead? The Tyrants killed every god and banished every religion in the realm."


    The Tree Father spread its arms wide and said, "And yet here I am. I am not dead, am I?"


    LIES snorted, "I wish I could believe you."


    That''s the major issue right now. It is also caused by the fact that the two of them have about the same strength, so LIES can''t be certain that the strange neer is telling the truth. If LIES is not sure then it means it can''t believe anything the Tree Father says.


    LIES told him, "If I can''t believe you then no one will. If no one believes you then you get banished. Or killed. Most likely killed. I don''t know what you are or how the Tyrants conjured you but their efforts is going to go to waste on you."


    The Tree Father did what he could do to alleviate the situation. "I can help the inhabitants of this ce by healing them. I am the god of life which means not only can I cure illness, I can also improve fertility, health, and general happiness."


    He can''t assure the demon god of the truth of his words but he can assure it of his usefulness through actions. He doesn''t know for certain why the demons have allowed people from the realm to live in their abyss when they should be hostile to all lifeforms including themselves. But he is certain that it can''t be for charity.


    Which means they must be gaining something from this arrangement. If he can prove his usefulness to enhance their gain then he might be allowed here. But that''s not the reason why he said those words.


    His suspicion of the selfish motives of the demons helped hime up with those words. He was able to narrow down the many possibilities that his future selves presented to him. Then his reaction from the future self that said those words made him decide to say those words. As expected, LIES was tempted by the strange neer''s words. But it wasn''t swayed. This is because it knows that temptations usually prelude a downfall. It couldn''t be more clear on that as a demon god.


    It wasn''t going to change its mind, but it said, "Prove your worth."


    It said so as if to give the neer a chance. But it was just saying that to stall for time as it called for its partner toe so that they can deal with the Tree Father together.


    The Tree Father spread his arms wide. He rose to the sky and began to shine. His body lit up, and he produced a green light that shrouded the entire abyssal ne.


    Every living thing that the light touched was healed of their sickness and became healthier. Even the major incurable illness, sin sickness, was healed. The purple spots on their skin receded and disappearedpletely.


    Everyone was surprised and happy. Only the demons were not happy. They hated his aura to their bones. It proved that the Tree Father was a god, and demons instinctively hate gods. In fact, they want to eat gods.


    The demon god of LIES didn''t know what to do now. It wanted to rush forward to fight and eat the strange neer. The neer was that tempting. But it also became extremely cautious because it knew that there''s no such thing as free food. Especially not food that is as powerful as itself. It must cost him something to acquire it.


    Imagine the kind of day it is having. It was up the mountain, watching demons and mortals interact and lie to each other. Then it had to wave some of its tentacles to discourage the Supreme Tyrants that were chasing after the neer.


    Then it met the most confusing creature it had ever met. At first, it thought the neer was lying. Now it knows that the neer is a long-extinct race of beings. Not only is it not extinct, but it has also grown into something that can help it evolve.


    So it wants to eat the neer, but it is also very cautious because this whole thing feels like a scheme against it. It can''t figure out what the purpose of the scheme is, but it knows that a god should know how demons will receive it when it appears in front of them. And yet, the neer came.


    So it couldn''t make up its mind about what to do with the neer. The Tree Father, on the other hand, was still carefree. He retracted his power and returned to his perfectly harmless state. No one can tell what strength he possesses in this state. It is a result of his perfect control over power.


    The Tree Father spoke as if he weren''t in the den of murderous beings that wanted to kill him. "How about that? That should prove my usefulness and my identity. I doubt the Tyrants will be willing to use someone like me as a spy. I think they would rather have me killed."

 Chapter 1572: Not By Chance.

    Chapter 1572: Not By Chance.


    ?


    LIES admitted. "You are a god, alright. But that is not exactly a good thing. Gods take the souls of believers, which means you will be ourpetitor."


    The Tree Father didn''t deny that. Demons eat both the flesh and the soul. In fact, they like the soul much better.


    He said, "We can always hash out the specifics. I will help you increase the poption of the inhabitants of thend of hope, and I will take a certain amount of their souls as payment for my services. We can make an oath on it, so you don''t need to worry about me betraying you." "Besides, I am not interested in thend of hope. I am more interested in the Tyrant realm. We can work on spreading my religion in the realm, and I will give you a certain amount of their souls."


    LIES couldn''t help but be interested. It asked, "Tell me more."


    The Tree Father told it his n. LIES listened with rapt attention. It wasn''t faking interest like it did earlier.


    What the Tree Father nned was for him to work with the abyss the way he and Helios worked with Aeternus to subjugate the Zargoth ne. This will be on a muchrger scale, but it will essentially be the same.


    The demons will attack a ce, and he will swoop in as the hero to save the people. He will drive away the demons and then use his prestige to spread his religion in the area.


    It was a good n. LIES liked it, especially the part where the Tree Father would use part of the souls thate to his divine kingdom after the death of his believers to pay the demons.


    LIES was infatuated with what he said. "You make a good and highly feasible business proposal. It is not only lucrative, but the potential for lies is enormous. After all, your religion will be built on a foundation of lies."


    The Tree Father smiled. His objective had been aplished. He managed to sway a demon god with a few words. It was not by chance. He already expected it because his future self had also smiled in victory when it said those words.


    LIES bellowed inughter. "I like this n very much, and I like you too. Let me meet with the council of investors and bring up the deal with them. I''m sure they will ept it."


    The Tree Father agreed, "Alright. I will await your good news."


    "You should. You are weed in thend of hope. You will be allowed some amount of freedom, even if your n isn''t epted. But, please refrain from causing trouble in thend of hope by spreading your faith in the meantime."


    The Tree Father promised, "You can rest assured that I will remain a peaceful guest."


    "You may leave."


    The Father Tree was allowed to leave the presence of LIES. He took onest nce at the entirend of hope before descending the mountain. His eyes roamed over it as if measuring


    it.


    The soil of thend of hope is ck and hard. Thend of hope is arge in dotted with small mountains. The mountains have been hollowed out to create living spaces for the inhabitants of thend of hope. It made the mountains look like ant hills.


    The mountains are the so-called habitat units in thend of hope. They are artificial and made of a gray material that repels sin energy, so staying within them helps the inhabitants avoid sin energy poisoning.


    He thought to himself, "This will do nicely. It will look even better when I am done with it." The Tree Father already considers this ce his base, even before the so-called investors have had and concluded their meeting. It is not out of blind confidence. It is a kind of confidence that can onlye from the assurance of the future.


    Legion didn''t know much about the Tyrant Realm when they infiltrated it, apart from the information given to them by Mother High Heaven and the realm lord.


    They didn''t know when there would be a gap in the defenses of the divine ne, but they managed to appear at that exact moment when the seal of the gate of heaven was being upgraded.


    They didn''t know where thend of hope was, but the Tree Father found it on his first try. He didn''t stumble upon it either. He ran straight for it as soon as he left the divine ne. It is because he knew where it would be.


    It is not by chance that he decided not to use Chaos energy to kill his pursuers or kill them with any other means. He knew that would have elevated his threat level and made it unlikely that the Supreme Tyrants would give up on him.


    It is more likely that the whole 100,000 Supreme Tyrants will prioritize him and storm thend of hope. That will surely be bad for his ns. But since he didn''t cause much trouble for them, they were willing to let him stay in the abyss, where anything he does shouldn''t affect the realm tree.


    Everything that happened, from the moment he found thend of hope to the words he said to the sentries at the wall and up to his meeting with the demon god of lies, didn''t happen by chance either.


    He didn''t act like he waspletely safe amongst demons because he was ignorant of danger. He acted like that because it was the one sure way to make LIES suspicious and hesitant to


    attack him.


    He would have been able to handle LIES, but the fight would put his mission in jeopardy. He might be able to save the mission after the fight, but it will certainly be costly to do so. He might even fail the mission after word spreads that there''s an entity that could defeat demon gods in the abyss.

 Chapter 1573: Gone Are The Days.

    Chapter 1573: Gone Are The Days.


    ?


    If he doesn''t fail it after all that, it will certainly affect Legion''s other ns. Fortunately none of those things happened. His n went without a hitch. Everything was smooth and


    efficient.


    Gone are the days when Legion could only make decisions in blindness. Gone are the days when they could only grope forward in ignorance in their bid to achieve their goal of perfection.


    Gone are the days when some god could make them work their asses off only to steal their prize at the finish line. Even if they can''t stop such a god, at the very least, they would be able to know of the existence of the god, anticipate his actions, and n for the eventual fallout.


    It is a liberating experience for them to have such power. It feels even better that they can use it on ignorant entities and not troublemakers like battle sage monkeys.


    The ability to share each other''s concepts after theypleted the second stage of unity has granted them unprecedented power. Soverick''s concept being the game changer.


    Each of their ns has at least one goal or many more goals. Helios'' mission, for instance, is to help Aeternus grow stronger as well as earn contributions by eating the stars in the realm. Or Legion-8 acting as bait to those after Legion while simultaneously damaging the Tyrant Realm.


    Having more than one objective for a single action means that they will achieve at least one of their goals. Each of their ns involves highly efficient efforts. So not only are they confident of sess, even if they fail, they would have achieved something else.


    Most of their ns involve killing two birds with one stone, but there can be more than two birds to be killed with one stone. It is just like his mission here. He is to use religion to undermine the rule of Tyrants and weaken them from within. He is also using this opportunity to scout the abyss.


    So not only will he gain souls with his religion to create divinity, he will also earn contribution points for the era of conquest by doing so, and he will be able to achieve his true goal for the abyss.


    His true goal will take some time and can only bepleted when Aeternus arrives, but even if he fails, he will still achieve two other goals. That is the advantage of having foresight. There''s also the advantage that Aeternus will gain when he begins his mission.


    Aeternus ising to the Tyrant realm after all. That will be when the two realms finish aligning. It would be best for him to not have to fumble around when hees here.


    His work has already been cut out for him now that the Tree Father has found out what the weakness of the Tyrants is. With this information, Aeternus will be the god of fate and make others work their asses off for him.


    The Tree Father looked around his new base with a smile. He walked down the mountain and behaved like a good guest. He kept his promise of not spreading his religion in the abyss.


    Meanwhile, the investors of thend of hope met. They are just two demon gods. LIES lied to make it sound like there were a lot of demon gods supporting thend of hope. It was to make the Tree Father restrain himself.


    One of the investors is the demon god of lies, and the other is the demon god of greed. This is not the GREED from the High Heaven Realm. But these two GREEDS are simr in a lot of ways.


    LIES told GREED about the neer called the god of life. It told it about the god of life''s n for his church. GREED listened as its green energy cloud simmered and boiled.


    GREED was excited. It was so excited that LIES could tell that it was excited. GREED was practically humming with excess energy.


    LIES asked carefully, "So what do you think we should do? Should we go along with his n or should we just try to eat the god?"


    Those are the two choices in LIES opinions. One is high risk, and one is high reward. That option is eating the god of life. It is a demon god, so it can tell that the god of life is very powerful and special. The god of life is so special that if LIES eats it, LIES will surely ascend and be a world-ender.


    It has never heard of such a god that can cause it to evolve into a world ender, but it knows that for certain, which is why the option is surely a high reward. It also knows that such a powerful and special entity cannot be easy to kill.


    There''s also the fact that GREED is also interested in bing a world ender, and they can''t share the god of life. So this option is also very risky.


    If it were alone, it could consider making a move against the god of life, but it isn''t, so it won''t, and it won''t allow GREED to do so either. This is why it is more inclined towards the second option of going along with the n of the god of life. It is not as rewarding, but it is not risky either. It will be able to safely expand its sin without danger to itself.


    Most importantly, working together with the god of life will create the proper opportunity to betray GREED. It will stick close to the god of life and find an opportunity to strike the god while simultaneously watching out for GREED''s betrayal.


    LIES has thought things through, but its reaction and following actions will depend on what GREED says. They are either going to fight amongst themselves soon or continue the facade of working together.


    It doesn''t think thetter is likely to happen, though. This is because GREED is too excited. It made LIES worried.

 Chapter 1574: Whose Side To Take?

    Chapter 1574: Whose Side To Take?


    ?


    Any excited demon god is an issue to be worried about. An excited GREED is certainly all the hint you need before trouble arrives. After all, being greedy rarely has a good ending.


    LIES asked with suspicion, "What has got you so excited? I hope you don''t n to eat many mortals again. We need them to reproduce to their maximum potential before we can eat them."


    GREED scoffed first before he replied. "Don''t take me for a fool. I might be a lot of things, but I am not shortsighted. Don''t try to deceive me. There''s something else you are not stating as the stakes here."


    LIES didn''t apologize. It said without remorse, "If you know it, then there''s no need for me to say it. What matters is what your decision is."


    GREED scoffed again. Of course, it didn''t expect LIES to tell it the truly important information, but for LIES to say that it doesn''t need to say something because it might already know about it is just insulting.


    It is clear that LIES is trying to fool it by withholding information. If there wasn''t so much at stake right now, GREED would fight it already. It didn''t fight now, but it was already preparing for that fight.


    The two demon gods are investors. They are the closest that demon can get. But even so, they are secretly sharpening their knives for when they will stab them into the other''s backs. One can only imagine how they would behave and what would be going through their minds if they were openly enemies.


    GREED remained uncharacteristically content with scoffing, for now. It replied, "I have decided that we should wait and go along with the n of the god of life."


    LIES was surprised. It expected the opposite, so it asked, "Why do you think that?"


    It was surprised because that wasn''t the answer it expected from GREED. It is asking for GREED to clear its doubt, but it is not as if it is going to believe GREED anyway. There''s too much at stake here for it to blindly believe the other demon god. In fact, it is also ready to fight at any moment. If GREED''s n is to lure it into a false sense of security, then it is a n that will fail.


    GREED exined. "You could have fooled me if I hadn''t heard about the invaders and the demon god from the other realm."


    LIES chuckled. It said, "You must have found out because that demon god is also called GREED."


    GREED sneered. "You lying shit. You thought you could hide things from me, but I heard about it very quickly. I also heard that the other GREED has gained the support of the other demon gods. That means we are alreadygging behind because you tried to fool me. But no matter. I''m all caught up now. We must support the god of life."


    LIES denied it. "I don''t know what you''re talking about. Why should we support this god because the other demon gods supported some strange demon god? What that GREED said might not even be true."


    GREED replied with disdain, "It is true because the invasion of the realm has started."


    LIES was shocked. It asked, "There''s actually someone mad enough to invade the Tyrant Realm?"


    GREED didn''t reply. It left the scheming LIES and went to make ns to foster the creation of the church of life. As the first demon god that tried to emte the Tyrants by creating thend of hope because it got greedy for their way of life, it can''t give up on its greed for more power and the opportunity to get that power.


    There''s something that LIES didn''t tell GREED. It is the most important reason why it must help the god of life with all its might. It is a must to do this, even if it is going to backstab the god of life in the future.


    This reason is that the god of life is an invader, just like the other GREED that came to the abyss. GREED knows this because gods are indeed extinct in the Tyrant Realm, and the whole realm has been forced to participate in an era of conquest as enemies with another realm. These two pieces of information exin where the god of life came from.


    The Will of the Tyrant Realm didn''t inform the demons or anyone in the abyss about its unfortunate situation, but it did tell the Tyrants. The Will of the Tyrant Realm told its most powerful race about the realm war so that they could help it, while it didn''t tell the abyss or anyone in it so that news wouldn''t reach the demons and they would remain ignorant of it.


    It is obvious that the Will of the realm doesn''t trust the demons of its abyss. If the demons remain ignorant, then they won''t be able to take advantage of the realm. They especially won''t be used against the Tyrants.


    Unfortunately for the Will of the Tyrant realm, a demon invader somehow came to the abyss to inform the demons about the invasion and to help the Tyrant realm resist the invasion.


    This news divided the abyss. Most of the demon gods didn''t believe it at first, but there are signs proving the possibility of a realm invasion.


    Some demon gods decided to negotiate with the Will of the Tyrant Realm to offer their aid in exchange for benefits after they win the era of conquest. They have a good chance of seeding in their negotiation since the realm is currentlycking in Supreme Origin gods and even in Origin gods because the realm was caught off guard by the war.


    So demon gods who are worth many Supreme Origin gods will be very appreciated. Or so they thought. They are doubting themselves because the Will of the realm hasn''t responded to them at all. They can only howl at the sky aimlessly and hope that the Will of the realm can hear them.

 Chapter 1575: What A Dragon Should Do.

    Chapter 1575: What A Dragon Should Do.


    ?


    On the other hand, some other demon gods want to take advantage of the situation to make the Tyrant Realm lose the realm war.


    This is mostly because they know that the demon god who contributes the most to causing the defeat of the realm will be rewarded with thest energy of the abyss and be able to evolve into a world-ender as the abyss is destroyed.


    But there are other reasons why demon gods chose this option, even though they knew that only one demon god could gain this reward. This is because they hate the Tyrants too much to bear helping them.


    The Tyrants didn''t get their name by being generally lovely. They invaded the divine ne and wiped out the gods. They enved the whole realm and made people wail in anguish.


    The demons loved them for doing all of these. Then they did the one thing that made demons hate them. They invaded the abyss and tried to wipe out the demons too. They didn''t just do it once. They tried over and over again to destroy the demon race.


    Now, these demon gods with a grudge don''t want the Tyrant Realm to win, so they decided to betray it. They are thinking like proper demons, but GREED believes that they and those who want to support the Tyrant Realm are all fools.


    Unlike those who are divided on what to do, it is not. It will do everything and pick every choice. It will both help the Tyrant realm and sabotage it.


    If it goes with every n, then it is bound to win one way or another. That''s why it has decided to help that GREED from the high heaven realm to resist the invasion, help the god invader to sabotage the Tyrant Realm, and also secretly n to eat the god of life.


    That way, if the Tyrant Realm loses, it will be the biggest winner, and if the Tyrant Realm wins, it will be a major contributor to the victory.


    It will be stretching itself thin and reducing its chances of sesspared to focusing on a single n, but it is a demon god with many clones. It can afford to split its attention. Besides, it is the demon god of GREED, it has to be greedy. It just can''t give up on anything.


    ---War.


    The Tyrant Realm was kicked into a state of war. A certain crystal dragon from the High Heaven Realm is even helping them to prepare very well. It is not only the demon god of greed from high heaven realm that has taken it upon themselves to help the Tyrant Realm.


    The Tyrant Realm doesn''t have any dragons, so this crystal dragon decided to help them with that need by bringing a female dragon that had just mated into the Tyrant Realm. Then this female dragonid the first dragon egg in the Tyrant Realm.


    It is a moment worthy of celebration. The mother of the egg might have been kidnapped or not, and the crystal dragon may or may not have stolen the egg from its mother without her consent, but those don''t matter as long as the egg hatches sessfully in the Tyrant Realm.


    Dylganihl ced therge red egg in the center of the cave that he dug on the side of a dormant volcano. Theva within the volcano is leeching into the cave like a stream. This has caused the cave to heat up.


    Theva is flowing around the pedestal at the center of the cave. The egg is on the pedestal, so it is being cooked by theve. That''s the best he can do to hatch the egg. He is not going to sit on the egg, no matter what.


    Dylganihl muttered as he worked, "I hope this heat is enough."


    A voice came from the ring he wore on one of his fingers. "It should be enough. Any more heat, and you might really cook it."


    The assurance didn''t cheer Dylganihl up. He stillined. "Even if it hatched, the n might not work anymore without the dragon spirit."


    The voice from the ring was also dejected. It sighed and encouraged him, "We will just have to move on without the dragon spirit. This whole thing will have to rely on you."


    Dylganihl sighed too. He sighed some more and went to seal the cave. He intends to guard the egg until it hatches. Then he will use it to kill one of the chosen of the realm. That way the dragon will be a child of the tyrant realm.


    Once the dragon bes a child of the realm, it will gain a direct connection to the Will of the Tyrant Realm. Dylganihl doesn''t n to use the previous n of the dragon that attempted to be the realm lord by force. That n is doomed to fail.


    He can''t do that anyway since he doesn''t have the dragon spirit to help initiate a spiritual battle with the Will of the Realm. Instead, he will use the help of the dragon to find the physical location of the realm heart and steal it.


    While others are scrambling like headless chickens, trying to make high contributions for the era of conquest like the inferior beings that they are, he, on the other hand, will do what a proud dragon should do. He will aim for the realm heart of the Tyrant Realm directly.


    He is not doing it to hand it over to the realm lord if he seeds. He is doing it to screw the realm lord over and to be a powerful world god of his own. And even if he fails, he is sure to make a lot of contributions to help the High Heaven Realm in the era of conquest, so his n will ensure that he gains something as long as the egg hatches.


    He would prefer it if his grand n seeded. Unfortunately, the n is not foolproof. He might even fail to hatch the egg, which will make all of his efforts a waste of time.

 Chapter 1576: How To Steal The Realm Heart.

    Chapter 1576: How To Steal The Realm Heart.


    ?


    Then there''s the uncertainty of finding the realm heart, even if the egg hatches and bes a child of the realm. He knows about this uncertainty, but he can''t fix it. This is the best that he can do.


    This was a n he and his father made before the turmoil of the godling that appeared in the dragon''s home ne. It wasn''t supposed to be like this. He was supposed to have the help of the dragon spirit in this n, and it was highly likely that the n would seed since something like this had been done before and the dragon spirit had been able to directly find the realm heart through a child of the ne before.


    At that time, the dragon spirit had used a dragon that was a child of the ne to ess the realm heart and try to take over the position of the realm lord and Will of the ne at the same time.


    It was unfortunate that it failed then. The child of the ne was too weak while Mother High Heaven was too strong. But things are better now for the dragon spirit because the Will of the Tyrant Realm is already engaged in a fight with the Will of the High Heaven Realm and it is also being weakened by the constant destruction of both living and nonliving things in the realm.


    The dragon spirit was supposed to swoop in and steal the prize for themselves. That was the grand n before the dragon godling appeared and the war between the dragon race and the Supreme Beasts happened.


    The dragon spirit of the High Heaven Realm didn''t survive the fight, which left Dylganihl and his father alone to execute the n to sabotage the era of conquest. Now they have to hope that the increased connection through the title of child of the realm will be enough for their n.


    It is as his father said through his ring, they currently have no choice. They have already done their best. Unless the realm bes too weak, his father can''t help him directly. So he is alone in this.


    Dylganihl tried to cheer himself up about the n. "It could work. It should work. We have everything we need to find the realm heart. I should be able to find it."


    His father agreed, "Trust me, it will work. I will help you, and with the two of us working together, we should be able to decrypt the spatial information encryption surrounding the location of the realm heart. We have stolen many things in the past. This will just be one of them."


    Dylganihl patted the egg and whispered to it, "A lot is counting on you, little buddy. All you have to do is hatch. Just hatch and leave the rest to us."


    He is optimistic, but he is also a realist. He knows that the problem with the current n is that without the dragon spirit, they will have to find the realm heart themselves.


    This is not the first time that someone has attempted to find a realm heart. Many people in the past who have tried to bypass the requirements to be realm lord have also searched for the physical location of the realm heart.


    Unfortunately, they all failed. This is because the information state of the realm heart is encrypted by the Will of the Realm. It is the same kind of spatial encryption that the dragon spirit used to hide the dragon home ne.


    This encryption is not a matter of strength or power. Even the Supreme Alliance was unable to crack the one created by the dragon spirit. As for the one hiding the realm heart, it is


    empowered by the world spark, which represents the void universe, so even a powerful world god can''t break it with brute force.


    If they must use brute force, then they will have to destroy the realmpletely to ess the realm heart. So even world gods don''t bother trying to decrypt it.


    The alternative is to find a direct connection to the realm heart and have enough talent to use that connection to decrypt the encryption of the coordinates of the realm heart quickly enough to break it and somehow be able to take away the realm heart after finding it.


    This alternative has not been sessful because the Will of the realm won''t sit by while someone attempts to crack its encryption.


    Besides, there is no way to form a direct connection to the realm heart unless one bes a realm lord. Then there''s also the problem of spatial talent in seeing and decrypting the information state of the coordinates of the realm hearts.


    However, this alternative has a chance of seeding now that the realms have entered the era of conquest. Unlike the Realm of High Heaven, the Tyrant Realm doesn''t have a realm lord to act against them, and it is also currently preupied with the other Will of the Realm. What''s more, it has created a direct connection with its children by selecting children of the realm to share its power with them. Then there''s him, who has unparalleled spatial talent, and his father, who has massiveputation capabilities. All of these have given them all they need to seed.


    That means they can make the attempt. All they have to do now is wait for the dragon egg to hatch. After it hatches, Dylganihl and his father would be in charge of tracing that connection and decrypting the information state.


    Dylganihl took a look at the sky. He is within the volcano, so the rocks block his sight. But his divine sense can see the world beyond the volcano, including the third star in the sky that is -consuming the second star.


    The voice in his ring said, "That must be the one that used the heart of the dead godling. He seems to be up to no good again."


    A/N: If you remember, the father and son got together at one point in GREED to scheme for the era of conquest. This right here is their scheme.

 Chapter 1577: Epic Heist.

    Chapter 1577: Epic Heist.


    ?


    Dylganihl was a little angry when he saw Helios because Legion''s actions ruined his ns, but he didn''t go over to fight. He thought about the things he heard about the war between the Supreme Alliance and the dragons and shook his head in wonder.


    He didn''t participate in the battle because his father told him not to, but he heard a lot of things about it.


    He said in admiration, "They pulled off a great heist, didn''t they?"


    The voice from the ring replied, "They sure did. No one thought they would be able to get away with anything. Especially not with King Draco involved. But against all odds, they managed to get the heart of the godling and bury the dragons and Supreme Beasts. That''s what I call a heist. And it seems they are about to pull off another one right now."


    Dylganihl agreed. "This Legion is smart. Eating the sun is a good idea."


    His father scoffed and said, "But it is not as good as ours."


    He agreed. "Neither is it as grand."


    But then he suggested, "Speaking of which, I think we should build a bomb. We can use the bomb in the secret location of the realm heart when we find it."


    Tssandulighafan thought about it and said, "That''s a good idea. We should build a star bomb. Something like a copsing star, so even if we fail, we will destroy a lot of the Tyrant Realm in the process. It will guarantee your significant contribution."


    Dylganihl became excited just thinking about it. "I''ll start building it right away. We have just the right raw material. We can use the sun stone as the core."


    Tssandulighafan added, "You can also use theva as a primer. You will use your Supreme Law to set it up and your Origin essence to set it off."


    Dylganihl said wistfully, "That will require a lot of Origin essence. I wish we had Cosmic energy. It would be better."


    "We can''t all be Legion and have a clone that became a star. You will just have to make do with Origin essence."


    The father-and-son duo began their work on building thergest bomb ever. It can''t be a world fragment since those are banned, but it will be more devastating than a world fragment because it is not going to be designed to enhance others. Rather, it will be designed to explode.


    In a way, they will be trying to build a star. But it won''t be a star meant to nourish life. It will be a star destined to copse, and it will be their backup n.


    They have some sunstones that the two of them stole from the dead realm of a world god too weak to maintain its world. The sunstones will do very well for this project because they were gotten from dormant stars.


    Those stars cooled down when the world god became too weak. Their core became sun stones. They will need a lot of it to make the bombs. Fortunately, they have many sunstones and a lot of energy to reactivate them, so this bomb should work.


    Dylganihl got the idea of a bomb while looking at Legion-4 eating a star. He hoped the star would explode in his face for doing such a daring stunt. It gave him the inspiration to build a copsing star himself.


    The two of them would rather build a star than go up to fight Legion-4 for ruining their n. It was Legion''s antics that led to the death of the dragon spirit. However, Legion is immortal, and the heist to fool the dragon king and defraud the Supreme Alliance was epic, so he can''t continue to keep a grudge.


    As for Legion''s many other secrets, they are not interested in them. Bing a powerful world god is not a problem for Dylganihl. In fact, he didn''t need to participate in the era of conquest at all. He came here for the thrill of a heist and the pursuit of fun. Bing stronger is just a weed side aplishment.


    Most importantly, a dragon of his pride and talent will not lower himself to badger someone else for the secret of their power. He is not a talentless or hopeless dreg like the other Origin gods. So he will not join in the hunt for Legion. Besides, he has his own Supreme Law, so his future is set.


    Legion saw the crystal dragon and his actions in the volcano. They also saw the actions of many others as they strived to acquire contributions for the era of conquest.


    They are currently wary of attacks in the Tyrant realm, so Helios and Legion-8 are watching everything around them carefully while the other clones are monitoring everything rted to them in any way through causality and fate. This way, they wouldn''t miss an impeding attack and would be able to prepare for it.


    ----Unexpected News.


    The era of conquest had kicked up a storm in the High Heaven Realm. Another thing that kicked up a storm was the news of a high elf named Gehaldirah Oakstein who managed to break the rule of the universe about one main body and took advantage of that action to have many bodies and many concepts.


    This news was supposed to be a one-time sensation lost in the multitude of news in the ocean that is the general chat server of all the Origin gods in the realm of High Heaven. But a certain organization went out of their way to make sure the news didn''t die off. They announced it over and over again for a long period of time.


    It has been a month since that news was first publicized, and they are still announcing it. They announce it every hour so that almost every Origin god and even some world gods have found out about it.


    Even the reclusive high-elf immortals of the realm heard about it. A certain couple of high elves heard about this news. They were in the immortalnds, and yet the information reached them even though they didn''t want to participate in the era of conquest.


    A/N: Who can guess the identity of this high elf couple?

 Chapter 1578: The Prodigal Son.

    Chapter 1578: The Prodigal Son.


    ?


    The news about how a high elf broke severalws of the void universe was particrly stimting to them because they once had a son called Gehaldirah Oakstein who died while attempting to be an Origin god.


    To them, it appeared that this strange Legion might be their son. But they aren''t sure about it because the realm lord said Gehaldirah Oakstein was dead.


    If the Realm Lord said he was dead, then how can he be alive and well? That''s the question they asked themselves and would like to ask the realm lord. Unfortunately, they can''t meet the realm lord. Not just anyone can meet the realm lord. Especially not Origin gods that don''t have a Supreme Law.


    They don''t know what to believe, so this couple set out to find Legion and maybe see if he has anything inmon with their dead son. After all, they should be able to tell if he is their son through his spiritual fluctuations. Mih thought so too.


    The news also reached the mortal inhabitants of the realm. Most families with powerful inheritance had reinforced their cities to be able to continue living in the realm, while others were evacuating their families en masse to the upper realm or into the worlds of world gods. The emigration out of the realm is also going on in the Ghastorix family, but Mih and Ghoto haven''t left yet. They should have been gone for a while since Ghaster and Litori are highly valued descendants, but Mih refused to leave after finding out that Soverick is still alive.


    Ghoto didn''t leave either because he didn''t want to leave without her, and Litori stayed behind because of her father.


    Ghaster, on the other hand, is gone. He had no choice in the matter. His mother tricked him, captured him, and handed him over to an elder of the family, who took him into their ancestor''s world. Mih wanted to do the same with Litori, but she was always able to evade their mother.


    The three of them are in the realm, waiting for an opportunity to confirm that Soverick is still alive. The opportunity came soon. Someone shared a video of a fight going on in the realm of someone who could be Soverick.


    There were nine golden orbs behind this alleged Soverick. The nine golden orbs were rotating behind him as he fought. Mih had seen these nine golden orbs when Soverick beat her. She and many others had also seen it during the Unified Skill Index, so they can be certain that Soverick used to have nine golden orbs.


    However, this person didn''t look anything like a battle sage monkey. He was ck, and he had scales instead of fur. He didn''t even have a tail, but Mih insisted that it was Soverick.


    Mih saw the video and said, "It is him. He is alive."


    Ghoto also saw the video, but he wasn''t sure. He asked, "Are you sure? The nine golden orbs don''t make it certain that it is him."


    Ghoto is right to be skeptical. The image of this person is blurred at best. The nine golden orbs only appear briefly, and from what they can see, this person has a ckplexion with scales on their skin instead of fur.


    He looks more like a viper than a battle sage monkey. They are in no way simr to the golden furred battle sage monkey that they know and hate. It would be smart to be skeptical.


    Mih refused to change her mind, though. "He is the one. He is an Origin god, so his concept might have changed him."


    Ghoto sighed and asked, "If he is Soverick, how is he alive when the first sage said he was dead? He died, and his title was taken by another. How do you exin those?"


    Mih didn''t have an answer to those questions, but something was telling her that the person she saw in the video was Soverick. She doesn''t know where the feeling came from, and she even finds it odd, but she is somehow certain that it is Soverick.


    She could only say with frustration, "I just know he is the one."


    Litori had had enough. "Fine. It is Soverick. You have confirmed that he is still alive. What next?"


    Ghoto spoke to convince her, "Let us leave, dear. The realm is too dangerous for us right now, and Soverick never cared about us. If he is the one, then he didn''t bother to tell us he was alive. That shows that he still doesn''t care about us. Even if he is the one and he cares, he is not our son anymore. He is Legion, an entity who stole the body of our true son. His being alive has not changed anything for us."


    Litori added, "He is an immortal and a powerful one at that. From what I have heard, he has been fighting millions of Origin gods for almost a month now. He certainly doesn''t need our help, and there''s nothing we can offer him."


    Mih agreed. "That''s true. The realm is dangerous right now, and there''s nothing to gain by staying here."


    Even now, they can feel the ne vibrating and quaking from the fight currently going on in the realm. It is just one fight, and it is not against the Tyrant Realm. It is the fight that this so- called Soverick has been fighting ever since his secret was exposed.


    Just the repercussions of the fight that they can feel behind the reinforced barriers of the city are enough for them to know that going to find Soverick to confirm if he is the one is dangerous and foolish.


    Mih agreed to leave, so they began to pack their things.


    Mih muttered, "We might never return here. I will miss this ce."


    Ghoto chuckled and said, "I remember when Soverick wanted a ce for himself. He was willing to do anything for it. It seems that was not the only thing he was willing to do anything for."


    A/N: Who wants to see Gehaldirah''s parents? It is unfortunate that you won''t be able to. I couldn''t find a good reason to give them screen time. If you cane up with a relevant reason I might be able to show them.

 Chapter 1579: Very Convincing.

    Chapter 1579: Very Convincing.


    ?


    Litori interrupted their reminiscing. She said in exasperation, "Quickly, people. We have ces to be and things to do."


    Ghoto and Mihughed. "You sound just like him."


    They were having a nice family time. It might be theirst time here in the realm, so it is important to them to have closure. But then someone came to visit them. It was the former child of the Virut ne who has be a child of the realm now.


    The three of them froze when they saw her. Not only is she powerful, she was also the one who schemed to kill Soverick. They aren''t sure about thatst one anymore, but that hasn''t changed their opinion of her as a scheming snake.


    Litori wanted to attack Salvini, but she thought about the consequences of attacking the child of the realm during the era of conquest. Those thoughts and the fact that she might not be able to defeat Salvini discouraged her from taking violent actions to make Salvini leave. But she stepped back in fear, and so did her parents. They were right to be afraid because Salvini was up to no good again. She had a lot to say about the idea of confirming if Soverick was alive or not.


    She started with a plea to Mih. "Please don''t go yet. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you leave the realm now, you might never meet this person again. So why don''t you use this opportunity to confirm if he is still alive or not? You might regret it for the rest of your life."


    Ghoto started, "But it is not safe and..."


    He couldn''t continue giving reasons why that suggestion was a bad idea because he lost his voice. He became mute, and his expression became dull.


    His eyes zed over. He became silent and still. Mih saw this but didn''t find anything strange about it. Instead, her eyes also shed and became zed.


    She said as if in a trance, "I might regret it for the rest of my life."


    Litori also joined in. "You will certainly regret it. I think it is best that you go and see this person. It won''t cost you anything."


    Litori still appeared to be normal in that she didn''t look dull. But something unnoticeable had changed about her. Not even her parents would have noticed it, even if their minds were not currently addled.


    Mih was still resistant. She asked uncertainly in a weak trembling voice, "What about the danger?"


    Litori replied, "I''m sure that the child of the realm, Salvini, will protect us. She is very trustworthy."


    Mih nodded stiffly and agreed. "She is trustworthy."


    Salvini pped in excitement. "It is settled then. Let us go and see Soverick."


    Mih and Ghoto dropped everything they were doing and followed Salvini to the ancient battlefield. Litori also went along with them. She was against the idea before, but she seemed to have changed her mind after the child of the realm spoke about the importance of this opportunity.


    Litori even went so far as to inform some people. "We are on our way. Make sure everything is prepared."


    ---The Former Virut ne.


    Legion-5 has been fighting straight for over a month now. He isn''t fighting a single person right now, and he has not been in a fight with just a single person. In fact, it currently feels like he is fighting the whole world.


    One would think so if all they can see around them are enemies. There are even enemies in the air and in the ground. He is shrouded inplete darkness because of the wall of enemies surrounding him.


    It is pitch ck around him. The one source of light is the excited or grim eyes of his enemies watching him like predators and the light of thew matrix being agitated over and over again. Honestly, thew matrix might as well be taking as much of a beating as he is, if not


    more.


    He thought to himself, "There must be millions of them."


    There are, indeed, millions of them. He is like a sugar being coveted by sugar ants. They have surrounded him so much that he would drown if they were water particles.


    They are not water particles, but they are even more dangerous than water. They are more likeva. They want to burn him, and they will seed if they so much as manage to touch him. So he can''t allow them to touch him at all.


    His eyes narrowed as visions of the future shed in his mind. Something seemed to have shifted within. Nine golden orbs of light appeared briefly behind him. Power exploded out of him as he used cosmic force.


    It was just in time, too. A massive energy pir shot towards him from way behind the walls of enemies. The pir was massive for his size. It was more than a hundred meters in diameter. It was also very powerful. It disintegrated everything in its way to reach him. The attack was supposed to catch him off guard. Its preparation was hidden as much as possible, and it is likely that he wouldn''t have seen it if not for the fact that the attack would affect him. But he saw it, and he was ready for it.


    His four hands were holding what appeared to be ss discs. They are not ss discs. They are just the phenomena that appear when the potential to warp the world is made manifest. Now he is turning that potential against the attack.


    The energy pir struck him like a massive moving wall. He pped two of his hands together and pulled them apart after intertwining cosmic force between them. The action of pulling his hands apart stretched the cosmic force, which caused the space in front of him to expand. The energy pir met this expanded space and bent around it.


    Legion-5 was just behind the expanded space so the energy pir bypassed him and struck everyone behind him.

 Chapter 1580: A Fight Against The World.

    Chapter 1580: A Fight Against The World.


    ?


    Not many Origin gods survived making contact with the energy pir. The energy pir is not the most dangerous aspect of that attack. All it does is inject violent energy into everything it touches. This causes the atoms to vibrate and break the bonds between them.


    So in a way, the energy pir is a good thing as it energizes things. But it bes bad because it does it too much. The excited atoms leave the molecules andpounds that they have formed which causes everything to disintegrate silently.


    Only a scant few with Supreme Laws or world fragments survived the energy pir before it dessipated. This led to the creation of a tunnel in the thick wall of bodies around him.


    Light came through this tunnel and was shown on Legion-5''s face. Then the light in the darkness increased suddenly as an explosion rocked everywhere the energy pir had passed. Legion-5''s four arms were already stretched, waiting for the explosion. So he was able to catch it before it went off. Instead of all the energy that was injected into the world by the energy pir exploding, it materialized first and then froze as a yellow sphere around him.


    Legion-5 then pulled his four hands together, which caused the yellow sphere to shrink. It shrank into a small yellow ball in his hands. Then he directed all four of his hands to the source of the energy pir.


    A thin yellow line shot out from the yellow ball away from him. It was vastly smaller than the initial energy pir, but it was concentrated to the limit of the light side of the void universe. Everything in its path was left with a tiny hole after being punctured.


    The cannon that made the energy pir was destroyed. So Legion-5 swung the yellow line in an arc around him. This caused many Origin gods to be sliced in half. The Origin that was nning to sneak an attack in couldn''t do it because he lost consciousness and had his existence turned to dust.


    All of this wreckage dismantled the barricade of bodies around Legion-5. He could finally see the world beyond him. Light from the sun shown to reveal the destruction of the ne on arge scale. It was thest thing he saw before more bodies filled the gap, and the siege continued.


    This had happened several times, so Legion-5 was not exasperated too much. Plus, the fact that the Virut ne is being torn apart gives him a little joy. It is good to know that he might be causing trouble for the first sage too.


    The nine golden orbs behind him shed again. It shed for an instant, and by the time it was gone, Legion-5 was also gone. His movement was almost instantaneous. By the time he appeared, he was already in front of the barricade.


    He punched forward slowly. This motion was slowpared to the speed he is capable of, but that''s because he was moving far more than his body with the punch. Waves of gravity emanated from his fist in the direction of his punch and sted everything away.


    Some couldn''t bear the gravitational waves tearing their bodies apart due to the immense fluctuations of gravity in the matter of their existence. They fractured directly, like y figurines. As for those who could bear it, they didn''t die, but they were sted away.


    But there were some who could defend themselves against his attack. It could be because they are Supreme Origin gods or because he had used this attack many times before, so they were prepared for something like it.


    One of those Supreme Origin gods even met him fist for fist. The two fists smashed into each other with enough force to copse a star. It caused an explosion so mighty that the world fractured like ss.


    It was a true shattering. The air and the ground were affected by the fracturing. They disintegrated down to the atomic level. The fission of the material world caused an explosion of light and heat, which led to the further spontaneous fission of everything they touched. In doing so, a chain reaction was started, and a small star appeared between the two fists. It expanded and wanted to swallow the two of them, but Legion-5 used cosmic force to make it copse on his enemy.


    The Supreme Origin god had just enhanced his strength, so his defense wascking. This caused her to be ripped apart by the copse of the makeshift star.


    Legion-5 didn''t get to celebrate his victory because he was attacked again. This time by three Supreme Origin gods, with more on the way.


    He stretched his hand in their direction and turned it anticlockwise. This caused the gravity in their direction to increase drastically. It went from normal to ten thousand times in an instant.


    The three of them fell from the air and smashed into the ground. They were not injured, but they wouldn''t be attacking him as long as he maintained his influence over gravity.


    But that wasn''t good enough for Legion-5. There were more Supreme Origin godsing after him. He couldn''t keep those three down for long. He had to do something drastic and powerful.


    So the nine golden orbs appeared again. But this time, he also used the connection to the world fragment to connect to Helios. It made it seem as if his dragon heart also possessed a spark of power.


    He stretched his four arms away from his body and began the process of using one of the most powerful cosmic techniques in his arsenal.


    The ss disc on his hands grew and joined together to form a sphere around him. Gravitational waves exploded from the sphere and began pulling everything toward himself.


    The air began to howl as it rushed to copse on the sphere. The ground cracked up as boulders of earth were lifted up to join the sphere. Even his enemies were being pulled toward the sphere.

 Chapter 1581: An Impasse.

    Chapter 1581: An Impasse.


    ?


    Bits and pieces of the material world were drawn to the sphere and forced to copse onto it. They didn''t release energy after copsing because the gravitational pull was so great, even energy couldn''t escape the influence of the sphere.


    Soon, light itself was pulled into the sphere, so the area around Legion-5 was plunged into darkness. Legion-5 couldn''t be seen anymore. The only thing they could see was darkness and the only thing they could hear was the howling of the world as it was dragged before it was forced into silence by the ck sphere.


    The Origin gods watching were dismayed. Some evenined, "Not this again."


    A Supreme Origin god shouted, "Quick, stop it. Overwhem it before it forms fully." They all threw different types of attacks at him, but they were frozen by the gray force that came out of the sphere of darkness around Legion-5. Everything that was frozen was then added to the sphere of darkness, which caused it to expand. As it expanded, so did the gravitational pull that it was exerting on the world.


    Everything that entered the zone of darkness copsed. Not even divine sense could return from it. It was a boundary between existence and non-existence. Beyond the boundary was a zone of no return.


    This move was powerful. It needed arge amount of energy and power. It also caused arge amount of bacsh. But it didn''t kill even one enemy. Every Origin god avoided it. And considering that it was stationary, it didn''t take them much effort to avoid being pulled into the ck hole.


    But as long as they avoided the ck hole, they couldn''t attack Legion-5. That means they have to watch him. It is a bad idea for them because the ck hole is getting bigger. The longer they wait, the lesser their chances of breaking it are.


    It is a good idea for Legion-5 that they wait because, apart from the initial cost of setting up the ck hole, he doesn''t need much to sustain it anymore. All he needs is to continue exerting his mind to keep it intact. The ck hole will do the growing on its own.


    These Origin gods are not foolish. They know that it is a bad idea to watch it grow. They suspected this the first time he used it, and they know now that it is certainly a bad idea.


    But they also know that everyone who tries to break will die. It is another thing that they are certain about. This knowledge is the reason why they hesitate to act. Their hesitation caused a dy, which caused the strengthening of the ck hole, which increased the difficulty of resolving it, which led to more hesitation. And so the cycle continues.


    At the beginning, five Supreme Origin gods were needed to break the ck hole. But because they hesitated again and again, the required amount quickly became 50. If five Supreme Origin gods didn''t want to sacrifice themselves, it is unlikely that 50 of them would.


    So Legion-5 was able to get respite from the constant attacks. However, he wasn''t happy. He wouldn''t even be happy if all of his enemies dropped dead right now. That''s because he has used cosmic force and Helios'' spark of power. It means the Supreme Alliance has already won.


    Legion''s ability to wield cosmic force was a secret before he was besieged. Now everyone knows, including the Supreme Alliance. So despite holding his own against a million immortals, he feels like he is losing.


    But that''s only the beginning of where his unhappiness lies. He has had to reveal other secrets as well. It is something he doesn''t want to do but has to do because he foresaw a worse option.


    It all starts with how this fight started in the first ce. This fight shouldn''t have happened at all, because he hid himself well. But the Supreme Alliance was not going to make things so easy for Legion.


    The attempts of the Origin gods to attack Legion-8 and Helios in the Tyrant realm didn''t go well at all. For one, Legion-8 was always willing to use Chaos energy in the Tyrant realm and Helios was always pouring sr mass on his enemies.


    Legion-5 can''t use Chaos in the high heaven realm because it would reduce his contribution points. He can''t burn his enemies like Helios because he doesn''t have a star to use.


    As for the second reason why the Origin gods could besiege the clones in the Tyrant Realm, it had something to do with the Tyrants. The Tyrants would interfere and turn the siege into a three-way battle.


    The two reasons made attacking the clones were a waste of time, so they turned their attention to the ones in the high heaven realm. Legion was determined to make this option unavable by hiding, but that didn''t go well for them.


    The Supreme Alliance didn''t act at the forefront, but they pulled strings in the background to make things difficult for Legion. One such thing was to track and monitor his position with the scout ss and announce his position to the world.


    They couldn''t divine his position, but their scout ss had unmatched perception, which they used to find him and the other clones. They didn''t attack him, but they kept following him and updating his position in the global channel.


    He couldn''t hide anymore, and he couldn''t run away because of the endless array of immortals that wanted to get a piece of him. It is not that he didn''t try to hide. It is just that the Supreme Alliance will always find him. It was uncanny, and he is sure at this point that they have the help of a world god in finding him.


    The assistance of a world god would exin a lot of things because Legion has been blindsided a lot. They can''t see the activities of the Supreme Alliance, much less their past, because they have been shrouded. Meanwhile, the Supreme Alliance is gaining more and more information about them.

 Chapter 1582: The Search Light.

    Chapter 1582: The Search Light.


    ?


    This fight started about a month ago. It wouldn''t have started if the Supreme Alliance didn''t interfere because it was unlikely that the Origin gods of high heaven would be able to find them. Even if they did, they were unlikely to be able to keep him, and they probably won''t tell others where he is so that they can monopolize him.


    But the Supreme Alliance didn''t want that. They made the first move when he was inspecting the once-Virut ne for the points in space of alignment between the two realms while also keeping an eye on Salvini.


    Those points of spatial alignment will be where the cores of dungeons will be. The dungeons will form a tunnel between each realm, which they can use to invade each other.


    The dungeons are very important considering the stakes at risk in the era of conquest. The realm that initiated the era of conquest will be the one to bear the burden of energy requirements for the formation of each dungeon. So each dungeon is an investment for the high heaven realm. They have to be protected, and profit must be made from them, or the High Heaven Realm will run out of energy.


    The dungeons are also important for the Tyrant Realm because their destruction is a win for them. Besides that, if they gain control of the dungeon, they can use it to invade the High Heaven Realm. That means the Tyrant Realm can profit without expending energy.


    So the location of dungeons is very important, and the identification of the dungeons before they are formed is even more important. He was doing good work identifying the spatial alignments, and he was making progress too.


    He had identified several of them that Legion could use or sell for resources. Such information is in high demand since children of the realms are not easy toy their hands on. So he was focused on his work when he noticed some Origin gods looking at him.


    He felt their gaze like a brush of wind on his skin. It was a slight surprise to him because he should have been hidden. Most people couldn''t see him, but apparently they could find and see him.


    The feeling was out of ce, just like the feeling of the wind brushing against his skin, because he was shrouded and protected by his divine sense, so the wind shouldn''t touch him at all. Fortunately, he caught sight of them. Or so he thought.


    The Origin gods that saw him were hidden themselves, but they couldn''t remain hidden from him anymore after looking at him. He was able to identify them immediately.


    "What are these slimy Supreme Beasts up to now?" He asked himself and the other clones in confusion and anger.


    He received an answer to that question before it happened. The scouts broadcast his position to everyone. Immortals began swarming his position from every direction.


    He eximed in anger, "These fuckers."


    Legion-1 said, "They can''t divine our position, but it doesn''t seem like they''ve given up."


    No sooner had he said that, a search light appeared above his head. It was a pir of light that identified his position. So not only was this position revealed to every Origin god through the virtualwork, everyone close to him can see his position.


    Soverick said, "Things are about to get serious. You better prepare."


    Legion-5 did so. He called for help from the other clones. Legion-2 and Legion-6 appeared beside him. The three of them look identical. They have ck-scaled humanoid forms with tails and horns. So it should have been easy to confuse the scouts. But a pir of light also appeared above the heads of the other two and stuck with them.


    The three of them separated in different directions. The pirs of light followed after them. Soverick went after the scouts. He wanted to get them to get rid of the searchlight. Unfortunately, he couldn''t reach the scouts. They ran away very quickly.


    The scouts escaped, but the search light shining over their heads remained. Meanwhile, there were other immortals who wanted their attention and were prepared to gain it at all costs. That''s how the fights started. Legion was actually fighting against the whole world. The Supreme Alliance is powerful enough alone, but they worked together with others to keep him fighting. Now he has finally gotten some respite, but it is unlikely tost long.


    The end of his rest came when 100 Supreme Origin gods from the Supreme Alliance rushed at the ck hole he had be. Each one boosted themselves to the limit of strength and smashed into the ck hole.


    The force of their attack was too much for the ck hole. It was destabilized, which caused it to crack. It was about to be destroyed, but Legion-5 converted the whole thing into fuel for his Cosmic domain.


    The ck sphere lost its gravitational pull and instead expanded abruptly. Everything and everyone within the newly expanded boundary froze. Then they began to crack. Even thew matrix was not exempted from this fate. This ensured that the true bodies of the Supreme Origin gods were also affected.


    The bacsh from his actions struck him head on. It struck him with so much force that the world fragment was temporarily deactivated to withstand it. He lost the enhancement of the world fragment, which made the little spillover of the bacsh particrly dangerous.


    His existence also cracked like those of the Supreme Origin gods. He became a broken doll held together by glue and poor craftsmanship.


    Fortunately, his state didn''tst for long. He used his time reversal divine ability to heal the damage to his existence. It made him good as new. The same couldn''t be said for the Supreme Origin gods who broke his ck hole.


    The 100 Supreme Origin gods died. But they already knew it was going to happen, so they were ready for the sacrifice. Legion-5 had killed 100 Supreme Origin gods by himself, but he wasn''t happy at all. It is because he had to use cosmic energy to create the cosmic force that he used.


    A/N: Bonus chapter for 100 golden tickets goal.

 Chapter 1583: Second Stage.

    Chapter 1583: Second Stage.


    ?


    Cosmic energy doesn''t grow on trees. In fact, they don''t know where ites from or how it is produced. They have a limited amount now that Helios is no longer a star, so each use of it is their loss. Unfortunately, he only seeded in scaring the Origin gods besieging him with this feat. He didn''t seed in making them back down and stop the hunt.


    He thought to himself, "This can''t go on. The n to scare them was a bust."


    Legion-7 encouraged him, "It was not aplete bust. The Supreme Alliance is just fanning the mes a little too well for it to seed."


    "Either way, we can''t use cosmic force anymore. It is too powerful, but it is too costly."


    Legion-7 sighed and said, "It seems you will have to reveal another one of our secrets. At this rate, we won''t be able to make the Origin gods give up on us."


    "We can''t continue spending cosmic energy to hide what we are capable of. If this continues, we will run out of Cosmic energy eventually and still have to resort to revealing our secrets."


    He might not be able to escape, but he can die. Unfortunately, if he does that, it will force the Supreme Alliance to focus on Helios and Legion-8 at all costs.


    So not only would Legion not be able to act in the high heaven realm, but their efforts in the Tyrant Realm to earn contributions would also be affected. At the very least, it will be less efficient as the two clones have to fight off enemies while simultaneously working.


    So until they find a way to make the Supreme Alliance give up, they have to continue fighting. If they don''t want to spend cosmic energy, they have to use something sustainable that they don''t want to reveal.


    The golden orbs appeared again. This time, it came with more than the enhancement of the world fragment. His inner world became full of Helios'' spark of power, the Tree Father''s spark of power, and the enhancement of the world fragment.


    His body changed as eyes sprouted all over it. His face also split as arge maw appeared on it. The changes to his existence happened just in time for the next round of fighting.


    The cosmic domain had wrecked the world for hundreds of miles around him. But that was quickly filled with eager immortals looking to have a piece or two of him. They were waiting for what he would do, and he didn''t keep them waiting for long.


    He punched his hand forward several times, as if fighting with an invisible person. A small portal opened in front of him each time he punched. His fists entered and exited the portals very quickly, which caused the Origin gods far away from him to drop like flies.


    This is because the other side of the portal opened in front of their faces or close to their bodies, so his punch came out of them and hit them regardless of distance. They couldn''t defend because they literally couldn''t see the punching.


    The portal could open in any ce within his sight, which meant it could appear anywhere around them. His fists were also sharp Origin diamond des. This way, he was able to crush them without meeting them.


    It was not easy to do. He had used three concepts for that attack. Legion-2''s ability to see space, Legion-1''s ability to manipte space, and his Origin diamond ability to cut through everything. These threebined abilities were further enhanced by three Supreme Powers at the same time.


    So not only are his fists at the limit of strength, they are also at the limit of speed and defense. Only those with Supreme Power who focused it on defense were able to survive his punches. As for those who were preparing to attack him or move closer to him very quickly, the only thing they achieved was dying very quickly.


    Legion¨C 5 produced many arms to increase his output. He was killing the Origin gods at the rate of ten thousand per second, which had a visible effect on the barricade. Literal swarths of them were disappearing every moment. Unfortunately, this victory was destined not tost long.


    The ones that could resist decided to move at a moderate pace to approach him. They maintained their superior defense while moving closer to him. He couldn''t do anything to them until they got closer to him. Then they began to unload their attacks on him.


    The attacks were not life-threatening to him, as they were not at the limit of strength or speed. But they could interfere with his actions, which would reduce the rate at which he was killing the Origin gods. So he had to move to dodge the attacks.


    He was at the limit of speed, so dodging a hundred attacksing at him from everywhere was easy. He had Soverick''s eyes, so dodging a thousand attacks was also easy. But dodging ten thousand attacks was not easy at all.


    His actions began to be affected, which gave his enemies the opportunity to use Supreme Power against him. They didn''t need to use Supreme Power for defense since he was too busy dodging to hit all of them. Soon he couldn''t dodge anymore because the attacks had reached the limit in speed. Then he was beaten to the ground because some of the attacks were at the limit of strength.


    He was far from death, as his armor, with thebined defense of a world beast, a dragon, Origin diamond, and liquid graviton, held on. There was no chance that they would be able to breach his defense since it was also reinforced to the limit. But the danger was never about dying. It was resisting capture.


    There were many tools that had been distributed by the Supreme Alliance to seal the clones. These tools also contained the ability stealing power of their special Supreme Beasts.

 Chapter 1584: A Stalemate.

    Chapter 1584: A Stalemate.


    ?


    In fact, the tools are remotely controlled by those Supreme Beasts. They don''t need to brave any danger to subdue him anymore. One contact with him is all they need to capture him.


    He couldn''t let that happen, so he released his nullification domain. This is the main ability he gained from fusing with the heart of a giant of order demigod. It doesn''t need cosmic energy to nullify every ability and concept that he doesn''t have.


    This domain rendered every Origin god powerless. Even the ones with world fragments couldn''t resist it because thew matrix had forsaken them. There was nothing within them for their world fragments to enhance, and they were very close to him, so they becamembs to the ughter.


    He opened his mouth and roared. What came out of his mouth was a lightning flood. It poured out of his mouth and submerged everyone around him. Every Origin god died as lightning sma burned them to ashes. Only the Supreme Origin gods were still standing.


    The Supreme Law of Supreme Origin gods can create a sort of temporaryw matrix around them that can take over thew matrix around them and render any attack that isn''t on par with a Supreme Law useless. It can also resist his nullification domain because their power is not reliant on the Supreme Law of Order.


    So they were able to survive being this close to him. But then the force of devouring appeared. It unfolded out of him and formed into a whirlpool that submerged everyone of them.


    The whirlpool wanted to tear them apart, and it was at the limit of strength, so they had to resist it with supreme defense. But that made them unable to approach Legion-5 anymore as the whirlpool was dragging them about.


    They could ovee the dragging by switching to supreme strength, but they didn''t. It is a good idea because Legion-5 was waiting like a hawk, watching for prey.


    They didn''t give him a chance to kill them so Legion-5 couldn''t do anything to them. That meant that they couldn''t do anything to Legion-5 either. Not with three Supreme Powers to use together.


    But they didn''t give up. They didn''t give up when he used cosmic force to bully them like some world god. They are not going to give up now that he is using and maintaining three Supreme Powers to bully them again. They have to get to the bottom of his secrets.


    So the fight continued for days and weeks and finally reached four months. In that time, the fight had drew the attention of more Origin gods, so the barricade has increased instead of decreasing.


    The number of Origin gods surrounding the clones has be sorge that the clones can''t be seen through the barricade at all. Some Origin gods just loiter about waiting for their chance to have a go at them.


    They also use that time to chat amongst themselves.


    "How can someone be this strong? Even the might of ten million Origin gods can''t bring them down."


    The sight is truly mind-boggling. It caused the emotion of incredulity to appear in the minds of the ones besieging Legion and the bystanders.


    A Supreme Origin god said in awe, "Domains don''t work on them. Seals can''t seal them. Strength can''t subdue them. What can we do to get their secret?"


    Another one provided an answer, "The tool provided by the Supreme Alliance can work on them. I have tried it. It can indeed steal someone''s power. But it can only work on those without Supreme Laws."


    The Supreme Origin became suspicious. He said, "I don''t think we can trust the Supreme Alliance. Who is to say they will give us Legion''s secrets after we capture him?"


    The Supreme Origin god that answered earlier said in exasperation, "We don''t have a choice. No Supreme Law can overwhelm Legion, and they don''t even have a Supreme Law yet. Imagine that. It is just too much to give up."


    "Three Supreme Powers and no Supreme Law yet. What else will they enhance when they have a Supreme Law?"


    Some immortals haven''t joined the siege at all. All they have done for the past five months is watch the fight. These bystanders have seen the clones escape from seals to each other by teleportation. Any attempt to seal the space around them and capture them has always been futile.


    Then the clones will separate and continue fighting. It seems to them that there is nothing they can do against the clones, but no one is going to give up on hunting Legion.


    What they have seen them disy is such that no immortal in their right mind wants to pass it over. This is not a matter of strength. They may not be strong enough to subdue Legion, but until they lose more than some Origin essence and soul stones for resurrection, they are not going to give up on chasing the clones.


    So they are only taking a breather. All the bystanders have an understanding not to give up. They will continue pressuring Legion until they give up the secret to their strength. They will follow him and the clones everywhere and take turns fighting them if they have to.


    Legion knows about the resolution of the Origin gods to get them. But they are out of options to make the Origin gods lose more than Origin essence and soul stones.


    The best they can do to achieve that is use Chaos energy to teach them a lesson, but he can''t use that kind of energy in the High Heaven Realm. It will cost Legion far more than they could gain from it.


    They can also use Chaos energy in the void, but being in the void right now is a bad idea because of world gods.


    Getting captured by a world god will turn this bad situation they are in into the worst possible scenario. That is a certainty and they are also certain that there are world gods in the void waiting for them. Only in the realm tree can they be safe from world gods.

 Chapter 1585: Failed Negotiations.

    Chapter 1585: Failed Negotiations.


    ?


    It is a conundrum for Legion. Chaos energy can alleviate their situation. They can use Chaos energy however they want in the Tyrant Realm, but they don''t want to be bogged down with fighting there. They would rather fight here in the high heaven realm, but they can''t use Chaos energy here.


    Legion-5 thought to himself in constion, "Chaos energy won''t solve all our problems anyway. It might be able to strip Origin gods of their cultivation, but it can only cause pain to Supreme Origin gods. Supreme Origin gods will just resurrect ande back to fight us." Legion-1 agreed, "Besides, the source of our problem is not the Origin gods besieging us. It is the Supreme Alliance."


    Legion-7 said with bitterness, "Funny enough, the dragon king probably knows our secret. After all, he was the one who leaked some of them to the dragons and the Supreme Alliance. But these people didn''t go to the dragon king to ask him how we seeded in reincarnating or how we gained the spark of power. No, they are here troubling us and being pesky nuisances."


    Legion-5 had an answer for that phenomenon. He said, "The reason we are the ones being troubled is because we are weak."


    One of the Supreme Origin gods who has been especially pesky resumed being a nuisance. He just resurrected and joined the mass of bodies surrounding Legion-5.


    He didn''t move close to Legion-5 because the closer anyone is to him, the quicker they will die. Not only is there a whirlpool dragging and killing people, he is also using portals to send deadly punches into people far away from him.


    So anyone within his sight will die, but those who are close to him have priority. This would have killed the morale of enemies who are scared of death. They would try to stay as far away as possible. But these are immortals.


    The Supreme Origin god joined the verbal battle going on around Legion-5. A lot of immortals were speaking to Legion-5 with their divine sense, but his divine sense stood out among them.


    He said to the clone, "Give up. You can''t beat all of us."


    Legion-5 replied with disdain, "You must be blind. That is exactly what I am doing."


    "You know what I mean. We are immortals. You can never defeat us."


    "I am immortal too. You can never defeat me."


    "But we can make this resistance not worth your while. Just give us what we want?"


    Legion-5 snickered before replying, "And what? You will leave, and we will let bygones be bygones. You must be naive if you think that will work on me."


    "You don''t have any other options."


    Legion-5 chuckled. "It seems to me that I do. My first option is to give up. My other option is to fight all of you, and I am doing it well. How many times have you died? How many resources do you have left for resurrection? Will you be able to continue participating in the era of conquest? What have you gained from fighting me up until now? Are you sure your time and efforts won''t go in vain?"


    He made sure that everyone could hear him. "This is a gamble. You have all put a lot of money into it, and you have lost your money. You are hoping that I will break and you will earn your money back. You are wrong. I won''t break, and I have a good chance of achieving it. Just ask yourself this: How many times have I died? How many times have all of you died? Who is losing out here?"


    "I am undefeatable, and I will never give up. It is best you know that now. Your resources spent on resurrection are long gone. It is noting back. I am a fruit that you can only look at and not be able to pluck."


    The Supreme Origin god didn''t back down. He continued, "You may be right. But we know that you are saying this to discourage us. That means there''s a weakness in you. We just need to find it."


    "What about you? You were the one that came to ask me to surrender? Were you saying I should give up to encourage me to keep fighting? If that was your aim, then you should be d that you have seeded."


    "That wasn''t my aim. My aim was to cut short this senseless fighting. You are right that we have lost a lot, but you are wrong to say we haven''t gained anything. Every moment we fight with you, we gain more information about you. We learn about your strengths, and we will soon learn about your weaknesses."


    Legion-5ughed and said, "Come at me then. A few months is far too short for you to give up. Let us give this ten thousand years. Maybe I will give up after that. Or maybe you will learn enough to subdue me. If ten thousand years doesn''t work, we will try a hundred thousand years."


    The Supreme Origin god didn''t like the sound of that. He and everyone know that they can''t keep fighting for ten thousand years. The two realms will bepletely aligned very soon. At that time, all of them will have to weigh the choice of continuing the fight against trying to earn contributions for the era of conquest.


    Even before they have to make that choice, the answer is clear. Most of them will prioritize the era of conquest. It is the smart choice to make, not only because it is what they came for but also because they have yet to get anything tangible out of fighting Legion.


    So they have to end this fight before they have to make that choice. It is best if they can end it sooner because this fight is costing them in Origin essence. Not only do they need Origin essence to use their Supreme Law to warp the world, they also needrge amounts of it to


    resurrect.


    A/N: Bonus chapter for 1400 power stones voting goal.

 Chapter 1586: Stalemate Breaker.

    Chapter 1586: Stalemate Breaker.


    ?


    Some of the Supreme Origin gods have used their Supreme Laws several times, and some of them have even died. That''s many Origin cycles worth of Origin essence production that they were saving for the era of conquest gone to waste in a fight of a few months.


    After all, not many Supreme Origin gods have world fragments to help them bear the burden of their Supreme Law. In fact, there are more Supreme Origin gods than Origin gods with world fragments.


    So even if there were no era of conquest to make them give up on Legion temporarily, it is not certain that they will be able to afford the fight if it continues for ten thousand years.


    The only thing that is certain is that they won''t give up. Legion is also determined never to capitte. This fight will continue for the rest of the era of conquest, if it must. They are determined not to be the ones to break first.


    However, not everyone is patient enough for that. One of these impatient people is the Supreme Alliance. After all, a stalemate is not in their best interests. So they interfered to shake things up.


    They want to do something to put Legion down. They had tried a lot of things to break this stalemate, but they all failed. So they decided to do something that they had only nned to do to take down the realm lord.


    One of the Supreme Beasts monitoring the fight spoke to someone on the other line ofmunication, "How is it?"


    The person on the other line replied, "His parents are alive and well. They also haven''t left the realm."


    "Bring them here quickly. I don''t care how you do it."


    A few minutester, the person on the other line called back and said, "They are on their way now and have been prepped for the n."


    "Good. We will try to lead him over. Nothing must go wrong. We have a lot counting on this." Currently, all three clones present in the realm are surroundedpletely. The Supreme Alliance doesn''t know which clone is which since all of them look alike most of the time and they use the nine golden orbs.


    Plus, their features and positions are blurred most of the time due to the warping around them caused by Supreme Laws in the constant fighting. Probably only Supreme beings can see them due to the movements being at the limit of the light side.


    Weaker beings can only catch glimpses of the clones, but that''s already enough to fool Soverick''s parents and imnt the idea that the clones are their children. Once the idea had been imnted, it was easy to hypnotize their minds and make them do something stupid.


    Then Litori''s ancestor, who was currently pretending to be Litori, worked together with Salvini to bring his parents over. All that remains is for Soverick or one of the clones to take the bait. Legion will be done for as long as he takes the bait.


    The five of them arrived on the battlefield soon after. Salvini tried to get close to one of the clones while the enemies around that clone pushed him towards her.


    This clone happened to be Soverick. He saw Salvini and the rest. Some distance away from Salvini are Mih and Ghoto. They are standing beside Litori''s ancestor and Litori.


    Thest two are hidden, but they can''t hide from his eyes. The state of Litori, Mih, and Ghoto''s minds also didn''t escape his sight, and their ns couldn''t hide from his eyes either. He saw it, both the past and the present, clearly, which made him suspicious.


    He thought to himself and other clones, "They have always managed to keep their ns hidden, but they have failed this time. Why is that?"


    Legion-5 replied, "There is clearly something very suspicious here. This is a trap, and they are the bait."


    Soverick''s eyes roamed over the timeline of the present, past, and future, using the full ability of his eye. He still couldn''t see Litori''s ancestor''s past, but he could see that of Salvini, Litori, Ghoto, and Mih. He saw how his parents were manipted intoing here, and he also saw what the Supreme Alliance is currently using them for.


    "My sess in seeing Ghoto and Mih''s past is understandable, but seeing Salvini''s is odd. There''s only one reason I can think of for why this is possible. The First Sage must have given up on her. And here I thought she was his precious child of the realm."


    Legion-7ughed, "This is quite exquisite. I wonder what price they offered the First Sage to make him allow Salvini toe."


    Salvini is the bait. It is surprising to him that the first sage is willing to risk her because he can see her death in the future. If he can see her death, so must the First Sage, which means the First Sage is willing to sacrifice her. He thought she was important, but here she is.


    He thought about it some more. "There must be more going on here. Maybe the first sage has something secret nned."


    Then he chuckled. "Of course, the first sage must have something else nned. When has he ever had a single n?"


    What he can see is already a lot, so he can only wonder about the magnitude of the things that are hidden. He is sure that there are hidden agendas to this trap, though. There has to be one, or Salvini''s death won''t benefit the first sage.


    That didn''t stop him from taking action, though. He continued to approach Salvini. In fact, he put in extra effort to approach her. Every enemy in his was destroyed quickly to make their encounter faster. This is because he saw the slim chance of breaking this situation in the trap.


    He is surrounded by deadly barbs both in the present and in the future. But there is a silver lining. There is a light in the darkness of the future. He is willing to wade through the darkness of the present to grasp that slim chance of breakthrough.

 Chapter 1587: The Juicy Bait.

    Chapter 1587: The Juicy Bait.


    ?


    Salvini was smiling outwardly, but she was very nervous inside. Mih and Ghoto, on the other hand, didn''t feel anything. They were dazed, like zombies.


    His parents had long fallen under the control of Litori''s ancestor, so they followed Salvini without any fear. This is despite the fact that Origin gods capable of destroying them with a flick are around them.


    It is good that they are not worried. Nothing seems to be capable of hurting them anyway. There''s an invisibleyer of power around them that is protecting them.


    This shield is the Supreme Power of Litori''s ancestor. This ancestor is standing back with Litori, but her power is working well despite the distance. The shield is at the limit of the void universe in terms of defense. Nothing at that level of power can destroy it, so Soverick''s parents are safe.


    Despite that fact, she said to Litori, "Do you see Soverick? He is about to kill your parents."


    What Mih and Ghoto are seeing is slightly different from reality. They know that they are looking for Soverick and have found him. They can''t see the danger around them, though. All they can see is that he is approaching them.


    On the other hand, what Litori is seeing ispletely different from reality. What this red- furred battle sage monkey is seeing is that they are still at their home in the Ghastorix main city, and Soverick has broken in to kill everyone.


    Something like that did happen, but it wasn''t Soverick who broke into their house. It was Salvini''s ancestor that broke in. The ancestor took Litori''s ce in her parent''s perception while hiding and obscuring Litori''s perception of reality.


    This is why Mih and Ghoto couldn''t capture Litori when they tried to force her to leave. It is because the Litori they were seeing had always been fake.


    Litori''s ancestor let Ghaster go because she didn''t want to offend a world god by killing someone from his direct bloodline who hadn''t appeared in a long time. Litori, on the other hand, couldn''t be allowed to leave. She is too important for this n to work to be let go.


    So Litori is seeing Soverick massacring everyone, while Mih and Ghoto believe they are on the battlefield, and Soverick ising to give them a hug.


    Litori saw Ghaster killed and felt nothing. She felt nothing when Soverick killed Mih. But she felt sorrow when she saw Ghoto destroyed with a p.


    A voice said to her, "You are weak. That''s why you can''t protect the father you love. What will you do now?"


    Litori considered that question seriously. She knew that she couldn''t do anything herself. But there is a secret technique from her bloodline that she awakened during the Unified Skill Index.


    Ghaster awakened a previously unknown technique that he could use in desperation, and so did she. This skilles at a great cost, and she has never had any need for it until now.


    Her emotions were riled up, and her judgment was skewed by the maniption of her ancestor, so she struggled for a while and did something she wouldn''t have done had she been clear-headed. She decided to use that skill now.


    Meanwhile, Soverick didn''t kill Mih and Ghoto. At least not directly. The person he wanted to kill was Salvini. The Supreme Alliance used her as bait, and he took the bait readily. He reached her and attacked her.


    His hand morphed into a spear that went through her. A lord ofw, no matter how talented or empowered by the title of child of the ne, cannot take the blow from a Supreme Origin god. Salvini should have died. But she didn''t die.


    Salvini smiled as Soverick struck her. Soverick was also smirking. He continued to smirk as her body faded away and his fist passed through her.


    Soverick said to her, "You stupid pawn."


    Salvini didn''t let his insult ruin her happiness. She still remained happy as she teleported away. What she didn''t see was the reflection of spatial waves in Soverick''s eyes and the vibrations of the strings of fate that he could see.


    His punch didn''t hit her, but he has a concept for the maniption of space. He used that concept to tamper with the teleportation of the artifact that she was wearing. The artifact was a world fragment with a Supreme Law, so the concept couldn''t stop its activation.


    Salvini managed to teleport away. Unfortunately, her destination was changed mid- teleportation. So she appeared somewhere she didn''t n for. The person she appeared beside also didn''t expect her to show up before him.


    He was wearing a cloak to hide his features, so no one would know that he hade to the territory of the former Virut ne. Salvini knew she was in trouble immediately, so she appeared before the cloaked man.


    She wailed within her heart, "No. No. This shouldn''t be happening. The First Sage said that Legion would be crippled forever. I was promised safety."


    The darkness in her future was closer to her than ever before. It threatened to overwhelm her. She struggled as best as she could. She activated her eyespletely with all her might.


    She was looking for the slimmest chance at life. But the only thing she gained was the identity of her killer. And that''s only because he revealed it after killing her.


    He stabbed her with his spear and removed the cloak from his face. His face was revealed, and on it was a smile.


    He is the previous child of the ne for the Vipers. He had always wanted to kill the person who killed the genius that defeated the Vipers.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t get his wish after so long, despite receiving the help of many people, including the serpentine world god and information from Legion.


    This failure continued until the era of conquest arrived, at which point the value of the child of the ne became even higher and she was protected by Supreme Origin gods. So he gave up on killing her.

 Chapter 1588: The Fate Of The Bait.

    Chapter 1588: The Fate Of The Bait.


    ?


    He didn''t choose to remain as a Child of the ne like her. He had chosen to be an Origin god and lose his title in order to preserve his life. He didn''t trust others to protect him like Salvini did.


    He believed that immortality was the best thing to rely on. Besides, immortality also allowed him toe and witness this fight. It is something he wouldn''t have been able to do had he remained a child of the ne.


    He came to see the famed Soverick, who defeated the Vipers during the Unified Skill Index. Apparently, he didn''t die. Even more is that that little battle sage monkey is part of a multifaceted entity that everyone wants toy their hands on.


    What he saw was eye-opening and enlightening. He didn''t dare join in the battle for fear of losing his life. After all, he is just a one-star Origin god. So he stayed at the very edge of the battlefield. But who would have thought that Salvini would appear beside him?


    He had moved quickly, and immediately she appeared beside him. The famed speed of the Speedster Paragon was put to great use.


    Salvini had expected his actions because she could see them, but she had just gone through a stressful teleportation. Her teleportation had been interrupted, and the destination changed in the middle of it, so her body had been wrecked.


    Only a dragon, or something as strong as a dragon, could be whole after that ordeal. She is not a dragon, so she couldn''t move to resist or escape. The spear went through her chest and killed her.


    She saw the smiling face of the cloaked man before she lost consciousness. Soverick also saw all of these happen. He had seen the death of Salvini, so he worked to bring it to pass.


    Salvini wasn''t supposed to die ording to the n of the Supreme Alliance. But surely the first sage had seen her death, but he still allowed her toe. Now she is dead. However, that hasn''t changed the ns of the Supreme Alliance. It is just a slight hup in their otherwise perfect n. Now he has to face the consequences of his actions.


    The punch he struck Salvini actually hit her. He is not so careless as to miss an attack, and neither was he blind to what was going on. His punch hit her, but the damage was transferred to Mih and Ghoto. This is because of a damage transference divine ability of a positive buff ss of Supreme Beast.


    If Salvini couldn''t defend against his attack, then the two of them surely couldn''t. The Supreme Beast that transferred the damage to them and Litori''s ancestor could have protected them, but that would be against the n. So Mih and Ghoto died. Their bodies exploded as their existence shattered.


    In a way, he had killed his parents. The curse that the Supreme Alliance hadid on them was activated immediately.


    The Supreme Alliance is very adept at using curses. Their mostmon curse is to use a medium connected to the target. A medium, such as the parent of the target, is the best kind.


    But they didn''t stop there. They upgraded this curse so that it could bypass defenses and strike the soul directly.


    This curse is very powerful, but it has a higher requirement. The target must kill the medium itself. That is unlikely to happen, but it can be managed with the right scheming and bait. It is the curse they prepared for the realm lord. One can imagine the power of a curse meant to cripple the lord of a realm.


    Even resurrection won''t eliminate the cursepletely because they can always reactivate it freely after it is activated the first time. But the Supreme Alliance didn''t stop there. They empowered the curse by adding anotheryer to it.


    This is where Litories in. She possesses a technique that her ancestor created. Her ancestor was a being that was alive during the era of Vipers in the Virut ne. She witnessed the difficulty of killing the then-first and only Emperor of the Vipers.


    The first sage had to hold down Emperor Situ while the other sages wiped out the Vipers. So she developed her concept of soul fire as an ability that harms the spirits and spreads through spiritual connections, such as the connection between members of a paragon race.


    This concept was aimed at killing Vipers, and it is particrly lethal to them because of the spiritual connections between them. But it can work on spiritual entities such as Legion-7.


    Unfortunately, the techniquees at a great cost. She must be willing to burn her soul and turn it into the mes that will burn her enemies.


    Litori''s ancestor can''t use this curse because she can''t die. They need a descendant of hers who has the technique and is slightly willing to sacrifice themselves to use the technique. Litori was the only choice, so she was rmended for the job.


    Her sacrifice won''t be in vain because the curse gets stronger the more individuals are connected to the target, and because she died, the fire will never go out until the target and everyone rted to the target dies. It will even hunt down every blood rtive of the target.


    This was to ensure the total elimination of the Vipers. But this time it will ensure the elimination of every clone of Legion, wherever they are.


    Litori activated that curse now by burning her entire existence. The invisible soul curse was awakened, and it traced the path to Soverick through the death of Ghoto.


    The first curse is very powerful as it can bypass defenses, but it is highly likely that it will only incapacitate a single clone of Legion. The addition of Litori''s self-sacrifice will ensure that the curse spreads to the other clones. This way, Legion will not be able to escape at all. They would live and fall at the mercy of the Supreme Alliance.

 Chapter 1589: An Achievement Worthy Of Celebration.

    Chapter 1589: An Achievement Worthy Of Celebration.


    ?


    Both of these curses were activated after Soverick killed his parents. Litori burned her soul and targeted him. The Negative buff Supreme Beast, who used the first curse, alsobined it with the second curse to strike Soverick.


    Soverick stumbled and fell to the ground. What no one had managed to do for months would be sessful now.


    Soverick was truly hit by the curse. He wasn''t pretending about that. He could have resisted it using Chaos energy, but he didn''t. He let the curse reach Legion-7.


    He became weakened, so he couldn''t defend himself from the attacks around him. He was killed quickly. The Origin gods surrounding him were left speechless and surprised. Then they turned towards the other clones to fight them.


    Even the Supreme Alliance turned towards the other clones to see the effect of their efforts. The other clones also stumbled and weakened. Then they were killed. This is because after Soverick was cursed, the curse went to Legion-7. If Legion-7 is cursed, that means they are all cursed. Only a few clones could resist the curse on their own. Legion-5 could but he had to put on a show of being affected by the curse so he died.


    Legion-7 was able to resist the cursepletely through Legion-5''s immunity and he could even eliminate it using Chaos energy, but he also didn''t.


    Instead, he first transferred the curse to the young Supreme Beasts in the Supreme Alliance that he was connected to and the other vessels they had prepared. This allowed the curse to affect them. Then he cut off the tentacles that he had deposited in them and finally eliminated the curse within Legion using Chaos energy.


    It was a tough fight, but they managed to eliminate the curse. The curse might have worked had they been caught off guard. But they were ready and waiting for it.


    They had the Tree Father''s immunity, Legion-5''s immunity, Aeternus''s immunity, and Legion-7''s soul fire at their disposal. If not for the fact that the curse can bypass surface defenses and target the soul, then this curse would have amounted to nothing, and they wouldn''t have bothered to transfer it to the Supreme Beasts.


    The Supreme Beasts watching thought they had won. They cheered just thinking about the achievement of subduing such an entity as Legion. Not only did they manage to kill him, but with the curse, they can kill him over and over again until he gives them what they want.


    It is truly an achievement worthy of celebration. Then some of them began to stumble and weaken. This is because the curse would target every person rted by blood, and it would seek out even those without a blood connection but who are of the same race.


    The Supreme Beasts have a lot of bloodline connections that they are not aware of. They don''t even know their parents, so those connections have never been relevant until today. Today they messed with a curse that was created to wipe out the Viper race. Their whole race was almost crippled by the curse.


    Even the battle sage monkeys were not spared. Legion-7 had many vessels of their race that were also cursed. This curse spread surely but slowly. Only the ones that have been evacuated from the realm and are inside the world of world gods were safe from the curse.


    Every Supreme Beast and Battle Sage Monkey in the realm either had to resist the curse or sumb to it. Some managed to resist the curse. Especially those with Supreme Laws. But many fell to it. Especially the young hatchlings of the Supreme Alliance up to their Origin gods. They fell like flies.


    So Legion appeared to have dealt arge blow to their enemies in exchange for the temporary deaths of three clones. Mih, Ghoto, Litori, and Salvini also died, but their deaths don''t count. They were expendable pawns in the tussle between titans. They didn''t even know how or why they died.


    The only thing that soured Legion''s victory was a sudden vision of the past and the future. Something that had been blinding them was removed, so a corner of history that was their blind spot was revealed.


    Legion saw a giant white eye containing hundreds and thousands of concentric spheres as its pupil. The eye was speaking with Salvini.


    The eye said to her, "You have seen that Legion will not let you go. They are after your life. Rather than hide forever, you should use your situation to your advantage. Go and be bait for Legion. Work with the Supreme Alliance to curse him. You will have your peace then. I promise you that Legion will not kill you."


    Salvini didn''t question her ancestor. She capitted and left the safety of the Leviathan battleship. This happened just immediately after he had used the public to attack the Leviathan battleships.


    The eye didn''t leave after Salvini left. It spoke some more with the Supreme Origin god assigned to protect her. Then it turned to them and looked straight at Soverick.


    The eye said, "You have lost in this visual acquitypetition."


    "I told you the first time we met. Those with excellent eyes be overconfident in their vision. They think everyone else is blind. You have overyed your hand and be overconfident."


    "You thought your eyes were good enough to see the future and past of the child of the ne. It was indeed good enough. But what you saw might be what I want you to see. She is my descendant after all. She may not even be Salvini. She can be whatever I want you to see."


    Then the eye dered proudly, "You have lost."


    The scene from the past ended at that moment. Soverick had more questions than answers because of what he just saw.


    The question that was prevalent in his mind was, "What is the first sage up to? Surely he must know that we can remove the curse even if we are affected."


    Fortunately, he got an answer to that question soon after. A vision of the future appeared. They saw this same eye speaking to them before all of Legion died. Then the vision went dark.


    A/N:When do you think they lost?

 Chapter 1590: Double Baiting.

    Chapter 1590: Double Baiting.


    ?


    Soverick felt it immediately that the future had changed for Legion. A certain fate became fixed for them immediately after he used the curse against the Supreme Alliance.


    Even though the fixing of the unfortunate fate where all of Legion dies was clear to them, they were confused about how it happened. Because for all the information that was revealed in the two visions, they don''t see how they have failed and made it happen.


    Legion-1 asked, "What was that? Was that a vision of the future or a message from the first sage?"


    Soverick replied, "It could be both. He is a world god. Anything is possible."


    Aeternus asked in agitation, "But what is this about a visual acquitypetition? When did we enter one with the first sage? When did we challenge him?"


    Helios suggested, "Either we were in a future visionpetition with the first sage, or we will be in a future visionpetition with him."


    Legion-1 stated what he thought was the most important part, "Either way, he is iming we lost or we will lose."


    They began to analyze their recent actions and also viewed their alternate future. Fortunately, a lot of the things the Supreme Alliance was using to block their vision malfunctioned after they were cursed, so a lot of hidden things became revealed to Legion.


    One thing is certain from what they saw. It is that the Supreme Alliance was truly hit by the curse, and it caused devastating damage to them. So Legion has won a great victory.


    However, they are not celebrating. This is because they know that the victory itself was bait. To be more precise, Salvini was not the bait. She was indeed a bait, but she wasn''t the main bait.


    The opportunity to damage the Supreme Alliance was the bait. What they thought was the silver lining turned out to be the bait used by the first sage to achieve something they don''t yet know.


    Legion used the all-seeing eyes to trace back the cause and effect of the curse, the fight between the clones and millions of Origin gods, the release of their information, and the fight between Legion-8 in the Tyrant Realm.


    Scenes shed in their vision that showed them the events of the past and how they had led them here. They were able to discover that the ancestor of Litori didn''t cooperate with the Supreme Alliance by chance. She was sent by the first sage.


    First, she probed Soverick. It was a harmless probe that was supposed to make her look reasonable while simultaneously working with the Supreme Alliance to collect information about him.


    That moment when they started speaking with her might have been the very instant when they engaged in the future visionpetition with the first sage. It was immediately after Soverick won the future visionpetition with that Supreme Origin god with the eye of the sage.


    He had just won a great victory, so it was the best moment to get under his guard. He was supposed to be full of pride and not think much of Supreme Origin, so he might not consider her much of a threat.


    However, he wasn''t blinded by pride. Unfortunately, it was already toote. Even if he was suspicious of her motive, and he was, there was no proof of it. And unless he was willing to begin revealing his secrets at that point, there was no way to defeat her.


    At that time, he thought he had a lot of choices, but the game had been set against him. One way or the other, his secrets would be revealed.


    He didn''t fight her the first time around, so she came back with more enemies. Things went downhill for them from that point onward. But even though they realized that they were being schemed against, everything still went ording to the n of the Supreme Alliance right up until the curse appeared.


    Legion-8 had asked her why she was working with the Supreme Alliance. She had denied it. It turned out she was not lying. She was indeed working for the racial council, not the Supreme Alliance.


    The Supreme Alliance was also fooled by her. They worked with her because there was no harm in cooperating with someone to pressure Legion. They were already nning to release his information to the public to gain the help of others, so her request for cooperation was weed.


    It helped that she was able to identify the clones anytime she saw them. Her concept was useful, so the Supreme Alliance allowed her to join in the attack of Legion. Unfortunately, all their effort didn''t amount to much, so the Supreme Alliance decided to resort to using a curse to gain the upper hand over Legion.


    That decision was not due to an external influence. The Supreme Alliance came up with it on their own. They also had confidence in its sess since they nned it for the realm lord in the first ce. It was scrapped for the realm lord because the realm lord doesn''t have any direct living rtives.


    His direct rtives were killed when he was being chased about as a Sovereign. But Legion, on the other hand, had weak, easily manipted rtives that could be killed, in the form of Mih and Ghoto. The deaths of the two of them would create a very powerful curse that would be debilitating to Legion if one of the clones killed Mih and Ghoto.


    The Supreme Alliance took the preparation of the curse seriously. They didn''t go after the immortal parents and sisters of Gehaldirah because their deaths were only temporary. They needed a permanent death to create a permanent curse.


    Then Litori''s ancestor offered to help with her special soul-burning curse. The only catch in all this was to find a way for Legion to kill his parents and to do so in front of Litori.


    A/N: If Salvini wasn''t the real bait and the curse wasn''t the real trap, what do you think the real trap is?

 Chapter 1591: Overthinking Things.

    Chapter 1591: Overthinking Things.


    ?


    For Legion to kill his parents, Litori''s ancestor rmended to the Supreme Alliance that Salvini be used as bait for Legion.


    She said that Legion hated her for taking his title and sullying his name, so he is likely to do everything in his power to kill her, even if he suspects a trap. The Supreme Alliance didn''t believe it at first because it sounded like childish hate.


    They expected more from Legion, but they had to change their minds when proof of Legion''s efforts in the recent war with the Vipers and his attack on Salvini was disyed.


    So the Supreme Alliance used Salvini as bait. Legion took it because they thought they were one-upping the Supreme Alliance. They didn''t know that the prospect of cursing the Supreme Alliance was also bait.


    They didn''t know that then. They took the bait and allowed the curse to reach into their souls and attach to Legion-7. They can''t find any trace of the curse anymore, but they are not at peace at all. After all, the future, where every clone dies, is still constant in their vision.


    Legion-7 said, "I think we fucked up."


    Legion-1 sighed and said, "It should be expected. The first sage is someone who knows that we make vessels with other people''s bodies. He also has a lot of information about you through the Great Mother. If he suspected that we had vessels of Supreme Beasts too, then it is straightforward to think that he nned to use them as bait."


    Soverick couldn''t believe it. He was still shaken by the future vision. He asked, "But how did we fall for this? How didn''t we see the danger when we decided to allow the curse to go through instead of escaping? What was blocking our sight before? Is it still blocking our sight, or is there no danger, and the first sage is lying to manipte us?"


    Aeternus replied, "Lying sounds like something the first sage will do. He lied to Salvini, and he might be doing it to us now. From what we know of his Supreme Law, he can set the fate of others through his words and actions. If we fall into his rhythm, then we will really die."


    Helios didn''t agree. He pointed out something he thought was problematic, "A big, ring problem was that we saw Salvini''s future. No one should be able to see the past and future of the child of the ne. Especially now that she is a child of the realm. The realm should have protected her. But we thought our eyes were good enough to scry a child of the realm, so we were not concerned too much when we saw her future. That''s when we became overconfident."


    Soverick refuted, "But my eyes are that good. Thebination of time, space, causality, and fate means that I can narrow down what I see about her. I can even avoid her connection to the realm tree. How was I supposed to know that what I was seeing was fabricated?"


    Legion-1 agreed, "It wasn''t false either. What you saw was true. It did happen. It was just nned to be used against us."


    The Tree Father decided to end the argument. He asked, "What are we to do? We surely can''t allow him to control the rhythm of this future visionpetition. To fall behind once is to expect defeat."


    Legion-5 proposed, "We have limited options against a world god. We can only fall back onto Soverick''s contingency n against the first sage, but we don''t want to do that yet, as hunting a world god will likely interfere with our efforts for the era of conquest."


    Legion-7 added, "Besides, we will need to leave the realm if we are to use it. Leaving the realm tree is not safe for us right now. It might even lead to the future of all of us dying."


    Soverick groaned and said, "This is not good. We already don''t want to use the one thing we have against him because we want to avoid the fate of dying that we saw. It hasn''t even been a minute since we saw the vision."


    Legion-1 asked, "Or is this his trap? Instead of acting, we be fearful and hesitant until we make a mistake that kills us."


    "Has the future vision just started, and he is trying to fool us into thinking it started earlier?" "Are we being manipted right now?"


    "What even is his goal? We are immortal. What does a death matter?"


    "But we shouldn''t all die at all. We have three ways to ensure that we don''t die, and yet, every clone died."


    Legion is taking this problem seriously, but they don''t know what to do. If they are certain of anything, it is that the Supreme Alliance and battle sage monkeys have been cursed, the first sage is behind it because they are familiar with his supremew and they can see traces of it in their vision, they are also certain that they have fallen into a trap.


    As for the rest, it is full of uncertainties. They don''t know what the trap is, so they don''t know if they have fallen into it or are about to fall into it. After all, they thought Salvini was the bait. That turned out to be wrong and shortsighted.


    If they had known that they were in a future visionpetition with the first sage, then they would have been more careful. Unfortunately, they didn''t know that.


    They still don''t know for certain if the future visionpetition has ended, just started, or hasn''t started at all. It is making their heads swim with many possibilities and overthinking things.


    At the end of the day, they came to a conclusion.


    Aeternus said, "Let''s focus on one thing and only one thing. That thing is the era of conquest. We must not fail in it, so we should maintain all our ns to ensure its sess."


    A/N: I remember one other person who was tricked by the first sage. That person was gued with overthinking too. They thought so much and still fell into the trap. Do you think Legion will also fall into it?

 Chapter 1592: Moving On.

    Chapter 1592: Moving On.


    ?


    Legion-1 agreed. "We should do that. At the very least, we should not let the curse go to waste. Now that the Supreme Alliance is down, they won''t be able to support the Origin gods in capturing us anymore. These bands of chaotic and selfish immortals should fall apart soon."


    They were a little intimidated by the series of events that just happened, but they were not so confused as to lose sight of their major objective. In the first ce, trying to fight world gods as Origin gods is a losing battle.


    They are not the realm lord. The best they can do currently is avoid that fight, or even the ying field if they can''t avoid it. They decided to avoid the fight for now, so Legion-7 resurrected Soverick and two other clones to return to the realm of high heaven.


    Things were as expected. The Supreme Alliance had be too busy to keep track of him. Something about a powerful curse trying to wipe out their entire race kept them preupied. As for the other Origin gods, they were also less interested in fighting him. This is because when he died, all the damage that had been done to the realm in their fight was paid for by a deduction in their contribution points.


    The cost of damage was in the millions, but each Origin god did not lose more than a single point. Even so, it discouraged the Origin gods because not only have they not gained anything in the fight, they have lost energy, resources, and contributions that they haven''t earned.


    What sealed the deal was that the device to capture Legion stopped working. So they disbanded and moved on.


    No one was in the mood to besiege them anymore. It is a good thing for them because Legion had already decided tomit a lot of destruction if they are besieged.


    --AETERNUS.


    He is the only one who has not been attacked or whose information is not known by everyone. It would have had a smaller impact on him had his information been known too. It is mostly because the abyss is not a weing ce.


    The Origin gods thate to hunt him will be attacked by the whole abyss. Even if the other demons don''t help him, the hunt wouldn''t have mattered much to him because he could kill as many as they came with Chaos energy without worrying about punishment from Mother High Heaven.


    So it is their luck that they don''t know about the demon clone of Legion. However, the absence of attacks on his person has been good so far. It has granted him the peace to move without disturbance.


    He hasn''t been able to do much, but that peace wille in handy when he needs it. Currently, he and the other demons are preparing to storm the Tyrant Realm.


    The divine nes of the High Heaven Realm have fused into onerge sphere surrounding the realm. The position of the abyss hasn''t changed because of it. It is still below the ancient battlefield for anyone looking for it. But now the divine ne has extended all the way to the first abyssal ne after surrounding the realm. They can see the white sphere from the first abyssal ne.


    The divine nes used to have an edge through which demons invaded. That edge was called Armageddon. Now that the divine nes have fused into onerge sphere, their Armageddon has fused into a hole in the sphere.


    This hole is above the firstyer of the abyss. It is also present in the Tyrant Realm. When the two realmsplete their alignment, the two holes will be one. This means anyone can ess either of the two realms through them.


    The hole is called a realm rift. It is thergest tunnel between the two realms, but it is currently sealed.


    If the hole is opened, it will form thergest battlefield between the two realms. The tussle of dungeons will be nothingpared to the meat grinding that will ensue as trillions try to pour into each realm and are repelled at the same time.


    All the demon lords and demon kings that intend to attack from the abyss have formed an army on the first abyssal ne. Even demon gods have joined them.


    They are the abyssal coalition army. It contains most, if not all, of the most powerful beings in the abyss. The weakest beings here are high-rank demons.


    Almost every demon god of the abyss are here. Only two demon gods are absent. One is GREED, the traitor of the realm, while the other is CARNAGE, whom no one has seen for quite a while.


    The demons know why GREED is absent, and they think they know why CARNAGE is absent. WRATH ims that CARNAGE has be a world-ender and has had to leave the realm because of it. The other demon gods believe what WRATH said. Even Aeternus believes it to be true.


    Aeternus is in the first abyssal ne too. He is surrounded by other demon gods, but he is not afraid. They may be afraid of him, but he is not attacking them anymore.


    They are also not trying to attack him either. It is mostly not because they don''t want to. It is because they can''t. They are part of the abyssal coalition now, and it is the era of conquest, so they are not allowed to sabotage each other. There will be grave consequences if they do.


    Besides, attacking him is unlikely to seed. It is something that they have done several times in the past and have failed terribly each time, with grave consequences. To attack him now will only double the graveness of the consequences.


    What they learned from their numerous failures is that it is impossible to threaten him unless they are willing to sacrifice a massive amount of energy at once to attack him. Even then, he can still escape from them because of the maximum speed allowed on the light side.


    A/N: Aeternus is about to take the stage.

 Chapter 1593: Kings Of Trash Talk.

    Chapter 1593: Kings Of Trash Talk.


    ?


    So even if they are willing to sacrifice all of their energy to kill Aeternus, they have a limit on their speed. He has that same speed, and for some strange, unknown reason, he never runs out of energy.


    So they can''t even ovee him with perseverance. They have always been the ones to run out of energy whenever they chase him. Meanwhile, he always gets stronger after each battle.


    All of these have made them fail to kill him several times, but their numerous attempts have only enabled him to grow stronger. This has further increased the threshold of energy they need to sacrifice to threaten him. Not that that matters anymore.


    All of their failures are why he has grown to reach a height of 10 kilometers. He is actually bigger than this. He is ten times bigger than this, to be exact. But he can shrink himself, unlike other demon gods.


    Being 10 kilometers tall is the normal height of demon kings, and 100 kilometers still can''tpare to the ne-wide size of most demon gods, so he is still very smallpared to other demon gods, but that''s only in terms of height.


    The aura of corruption around him has grownrger and stronger. It makes any demon, including demon gods who look at him, feel existential dread. This innate intimidation makes up for his short height.


    The aura of corruption is so thick that all anyone can see through the domain of inky ckness around him are his four bright golden eyes, his six golden horns, and the single white halo on his head.


    They fear him so much that he is standing alone in the air above the first abyssal ne. No other demon god wants to be close to him. But that might not be because of fear. It could be because of the immense hatred they have for him.


    Either way, Aeternus felt content. He continued to look at the ck circr realm rift in the sky without a care in the world.


    He feels he doesn''t have anything to be afraid of in the abyss because his strength has been fully acknowledged. After all, it is the most important reason why he is not being attacked, despite the angry looks that PRIDE and LUST are giving him.


    The second reason is that the era of conquest has started, and as members of the Abyssal Coalition, attacking each other is considered sabotaging the realm of high heaven. So they will be reducing their contribution if they attack him now.


    This second reason is also why he is not attacking them. So not only doesn''t he have anything to fear, he is hoping that someone will make a move on him and grant him the excuse he needs to eat them.


    Unfortunately, it seems he is not going to get his way. PRIDE and LUST, who joined in ambushing him several times in the past, are only watching him now. Even the other demon gods who have learned that this is his main and only body and that killing him might grant them ess to true Chaos aren''t trying to kill him anymore.


    At most, they will nce at him. What most of them are doing is focusing on therge ck hole in the sky of the abyss. Just like him, they are waiting for it to open. Then they will rush into the Tyrant Realm.


    The Will of the realm has told them what will happen when the two realms fuse. It is enough for them to paint a picture of what to expect. And what a terrific picture they are painting in their minds.


    Demons are all for invasions on a normal day. But this time, their usual nar invasion has been elevated into a realm war. They will have a whole new realm full of new things to pige and destroy. It is making their molten blood boil with excitement just thinking about it.


    This is an excitement felt by every demon, from the weakest high-rank demon to the demon gods.


    It made Aeternus think to himself as he waited, "It is a good thing that the demons of the abyss have something to look forward to in this era of conquest."


    He can see the possible future, so he knows that if the demons had not formed the abyssal coalition, they would not be standing here waiting for the two realms to align. Instead, they will be nning to flood the divine ne of the High Heaven Realm and attack the Origin gods arrayed there, waiting for the realms to fuse. Or they will wait for the realms to fuse before they attack the Origin gods with the invaders.


    Fortunately, due to luck or most likely due to careful nning on the part of the realm lord, most demons are part of the abyssal coalition, so they don''t n to sabotage the High Heaven Realm as a whole.


    Any demon who intends to sabotage the High Heaven Realm is most definitely a loner in that aspect. The rest have been waiting patiently for months now for the two realms to align.


    "What is taking so long?" WRATH asked for the 11393rd time.


    ENVY said angrily, "Will you shut up?"


    WRATH replied, "I will not."


    ENVY pointed out, "I was not asking."


    WRATH disagreed, "It sounded to me like you were. In fact, it sounded to me like you were begging me to shut up."


    ENVY sneered, "Is that right? Well, it sounds to me that you are begging for a beating right


    now."


    WRATH chuckled, "If not for the era of conquest, I would be beating on you right now. You would wish you were batter, so that you wouldn''t feel pain as I beat you."


    ENVY threatened in return, "You are the lucky one. If not for the era of conquest, you would be begging me right now to stop fucking you. And trust me, I would fuck you so hard that all demons of wrath in the abyss will feel it."


    WRATH countered, "Jokes on you. I''m immune to fucking."


    A/N: What can I say? Demons are the kings of trash talk. You wish you were as good as them.

 Chapter 1594: Other Possibilities.

    Chapter 1594: Other Possibilities.


    ?


    ENVYughed and assured WRATH, "Not my kind of fucking. I will turn your whole existence inside out."


    WRATH was not cowered. It warned, "Be careful what you wish for. Within me is more fire. You will only burn yourself even if you seed."


    The two of them went back and forth, detailing just how well they would beat or fuck each other to death.


    This is not the first time they are going on this tirade, and there used to be more than the two of them who engaged in it. But the others quit after the first thousand times. They got bored of it. Only these two are willing to continue.


    It could be that they truly hate each other or that this is better than doing nothing. Either way, they will continue until someone interferes to stop them.


    LUST is usually the reasonable one, but it was GLUTTONY who stepped forward to stop them this time around.


    It said, "Look, the darkness has cleared a little bit. It means the two realms have moved closer. Our wait will be over soon."


    LUST has said this many times in the past, and it was all a bluff. But this time GLUTTONY is right. The darkness in the hole in the sky has indeed cleared up, and they can see the other realm through it.


    There is still a barrier between the two realms, so no one can go through it yet, but this means that the realms have aligned. All that is required is a fusion of their spatial coordinates for the barrier to disappear. Then they will be able to move across the two realms.


    All the demon gods and demons focused on the realm rift that was about to open. They are all focused, even though they know that they might die. This is because they are about to do something that has never been done in the history of the abyss.


    "So many types of new food," GLUTTONY said wistfully.


    ENVY was also distracted. It said, "So many new things to envy."


    WRATH joined in, "So many new people to be angry at."


    LUST said, "I can''t wait."


    But they had to wait. No matter how eager they were, the fusion has been going on for seven months now. It will probably need seven more months before it is done.


    WRATH got frustrated after an hour more of waiting. It groaned andined for the 11394th time. "This is still too slow."


    Even Aeternus felt the same. It is truly too slow. He understands that the fusion of the spatial coordinates of two realms that are separated by arge amount of distance can''t be an easy thing, but they have been waiting for action for months now.


    It would have been one thing if they couldn''t see the other side. They would have been content with nothing. But now they can see what they want but cannot reach it. It is a temptation too much to bear.


    Unfortunately, there is nothing he can do about it but wait. That changed after a week of waiting. Something seemed to have changed in the barrier. Aeternus didn''t know what changed, but he saw that there were now other possibilities apart from waiting.


    So he attacked the realm rift. A ck spear of Chaos energy flew from his hand, streaked through the sky, and smashed into the ck hole. The Chaos energy burned the barrier. It caused it to sizzle and dissipate. Small holes appeared in the barrier, from which the fresh air of the other realm used to pass into the abyss.


    The demon gods had first scattered and prepared themselves for a fight when he first made a move. But they let down guard when they saw that he hadn''t gone mad enough to attack them.


    Now they are excited because of the change to the barrier. Even the weak demons who were too weak to react to his actions have caught up to the fact that there are holes in the barrier. They have be so excited that they are practically hopping, as they hoped for the barrier to be burned away.


    Unfortunately, the holes in the barrier healed and closed up. The mes of Chaos energy eventually went out after burning but failed to convert more matter and energy into Chaos energy.


    Aeternus thought to himself, "The barrier is not made out of energy, matter, or even force. That''s why Chaos energy couldn''t propagate itself on it. It looks like something I have seen before."


    All the demon gods turned to look at Aeternus expectantly. But he didn''t bother to exin himself or attack the barrier again. They eventually turned away from him with disappointment.


    WRATH attacked the barrier next. It used a whip of ming energy to strike the barrier. The whip collided with the barrier with a loud shockwave. It was as if it had hit a mountain, not something that could melt. What''s more, its whip failed to damage the barrier. Even its energy couldn''t adhere to it to burn it.


    The barrier waspletely fine and unmoved after WRATH attacked it. Not even the fact that Aeternus''s attack had reduced its structural integrity was enough to make a difference.


    The demon gods were surprised when they saw the result. They turned to look at Aeternus again. This time, he folded his hands against his chest as if watching a show.


    PRIDE scoffed. "Let me give it a try."


    As one who doesn''t think it is inferior to anyone else, it decided to attack the barrier. It did so with a golden whip.


    Unlike WRATH''s energy, which has the properties of a me, PRIDE''s energy has a metallic property to it. It is sharp and durable, like a weapon. But it failed to damage the barrier too.


    WRATH looked at it with disdain. WRATH didn''t say anything. But it didn''t need to. PRIDE got the message loud and clear.


    So PRIDE dered, "If I can''t do it, then no one else apart from the abomination can."


    A/N: PRIDE might be right about this one.

 Chapter 1595: Helpful Legion.

    Chapter 1595: Helpful Legion.


    ?


    Some demon gods decided to take PRIDE up on its challenge. They also attacked the barrier to see what was so difficult about it.


    LUST''s whip, made of soft and highly infectious energy, failed to harm or adhere to the barrier. GLUTTONY''s corrosive energy failed to corrode the transparent barrier too.


    SLOTH didn''t bother to try because it was sleeping. Besides, its energy is not good for attacking. The other demon gods didn''t have its excuse, but they also decided not to bother so as not to embarrass themselves.


    The demon gods finally realized that the barrier wasn''t as simple as it seemed. They werete to that conclusion by half a step. Aeternus already knew its nature before he tried, so their failure didn''t surprise him.


    He recognized the barrier as being caused by the difference in spatial coordinates between the two realms. The two realms used to upy different spaces in the void universe. They still do, but the space within them is aligning despite the physical difference in the location of the two realms.


    The barrier might look transparent, but that''s only because light can pass through it. It doesn''t mean that the distance between the two realms is very close or that the light moved in a straight line.


    In fact, the light that passes through it is old. What they can see through the barrier is the past of the Tyrant Realm. So to attempt to break through the barrier is to ovee differences in time and space.


    That''s why the barrier is not only protective in nature. It is more of a manifestation of a natural phenomenon. The realms haven''t fused yet, so this barrier, being the manifestation of the difference in the spatial coordinates of the two realms, will remain.


    He recognized it because it is the same type of barrier that they used to seal CARNAGE. He could tell immediately that he saw it, and he could confirm it after his Chaos energy seeded in breaking it.


    Ultimately, the Supreme Law of the demon gods only has the three aspects of Will, Matter, and Energy. They can''t break this kind of barrier at all. They also might not be able to break it even if they be world-enders.


    The demon gods turned to him again after they realized the uniqueness of his energy. They might not have his eyes, but they can tell that the barrier has the foundation of differences in spatial coordinates aftering into contact with it. This realization made some of them jealous and uneasy. But it made WRATH happy.


    WRATH practically yelled at him, "Do it. Do it quickly."


    If not for the fact that he is also bored and there is something to gain, then he wouldn''t listen to WRATH.


    He thought to himself, "Let it not be said that Legion only knows to ruin the n of the realm lord."


    The Tree Father has identified the weakness of the Tyrant race. The realm lord surely has too. In fact, the realm lord has taken advantage of it. This weakness will remain deadly even if the Tyrant race prepares for it. But it is best if the Tyrant race is caught off guard. For that, Aeternus is willing to help. He is magnanimous that way.


    It is a kind of magnanimity that promises a generous reward, so he attacked the barrier again. But this time, he did so with more power. He formed a giant avatar out of Chaos energy that reached to the sky with four ck, ming wed hands.


    The avatar was arge mass of ck energy given form. It didn''t have eyes or a face. It didn''t even have legs. It only had a torso that ended in arge tail coiled around Aeternus. But it was big. It was so big that it towered above Aeternus like a guardian spirit.


    A single hand of the ck avatar reached into the sky and pierced into the barrier. The ws on that hand cut through it like a hot knife through butter. Then the four arms reached into the hole they created and spread it apart.


    The avatar then copsed into energy that rushed into the expanded hole. The ck energy turned into a hoop that stopped the hole from closing. This made fresh air from the Tyrant realm rush into the abyss with a hint of corruption.


    WRATH roared happily. "And they say an abomination is not useful for anything."


    Then it rushed into the hole in the sky. Its body isrger than the hole, so it had to squeeze in, but that didn''t dampen its enthusiasm. Not even the vast array of enemies it found on the other side waiting for it could discourage it.


    A demon god has never been afraid of fighting many enemies at once. Not even when the enemies are the famed Tyrants. Plus, the scream of fear that urred due to its appearance was the boost to its ego that it needed to proceed to demolish all of them.


    WRATH shouted at them, "Don''t be afriad. Be angry."


    ----The Tyrant Realm. Before Aeternus broke the barrier between realms,


    The Tyrant Race is a race of fighters. They were born from the union of war and strife, so they are not ones to shirk from a fight. Especially not when the fate of their realm hangs in the


    bnce.


    They were waiting in the divine ne with confidence, not only to defend their realm but also to turn the tables on their invaders and invade the High Heaven Realm.


    Their confidence is not baseless, seeing as they are the strongest beings in the realm. They even have the power of Origin gods without being Origin gods and some even have Supreme power at that.


    The 100,000 Children of the Realms, with the power of Supreme Origin gods, had rallied all the other Tyrants and arrayed themselves in the divine ne, waiting for their enemies to invade.


    A/N: This bonus chapter is thanks to Rosery for her gift.

 Chapter 1596: The Origin Of The Tyrant Race: 1

    Chapter 1596: The Origin Of The Tyrant Race: 1


    ?


    They didn''t bother to bring any other type of race for the defense of the realm because they represent the power of the entire realm and its inhabitants, both living and undead.


    It is why the realm was named after them, even though they don''t have a realm lord to make that decision. Both the living and the dead, gods and demons, fear them. No one else is worthy of the name.


    Being Tyrants, they don''t usually get along with each other, but they did so for this event. More than a billion of them are surrounding the realm rift. They don''t know what''s going toe out of it, but they know that whatever it is will be enemies and invaders. So they know to push back everything thates through the rift.


    Each one of them is darkly skinned, so they made the surface of the divine ne look submerged in a ck tide.


    A Tyrant asked in disbelief, "So we are really being invaded, and this is not a prank?"


    Another replied excitedly, "It is truly not a prank. We will have a whole realm and another divine ne with a new set of gods to wipe out."


    The first Tyrant still couldn''t believe it. It said, "I still can''t believe it. Who would dare to invade us? They are either foolish and overconfident, or they are smart and rightfully confident. Which do you think it is?"


    One of them scoffed and said confidently, "We have no need to fear the invaders. The Tyrant Father is protecting us so their Origin gods can''t kill us, and we have children of the realm to hold back their Supreme Origin gods."


    "So not only will we remain intact during this invasion, we will be able to expand our roots into their domains."


    Another one assured, "We can''t lose even if we don''t have the protection of Father Tyrant. We will form a chokehold here in the divine ne. Anyone thates through will be beaten back or killed before they can enter. The divine ne has also been sealed so no one can bypass it now. Victory is going to be ours."


    They were confident of victory. As a race that has only lost once, they don''t believe they can lose to any other race. All they can think of right now is the prospect of bing more powerful.


    As Tyrants, the morend they possess as their permanent domain, the stronger they are. So in a way, they are paragons. They are paragons who rely on their environment and people, both dead and alive, for their boost.


    They are an unnatural race. Many people have called them that as a slur. But those people are right. The Tyrant race was not created naturally. They shouldn''t even exist.


    A long time ago, the Tyrant Race didn''t exist in the realm. There were many strong races in the realm back then. Two of them were the most notorious and also hated each other the most. It was these two races that led to the appearance of the Tyrant Realm.


    The first race was the Shiki race, or Land Spirits, as they sometimes liked to be called. Or Land Parasites, as the weaklings of the realm called them.


    The Shiki race were emphemeral beings born in the realm from heaven and heart. The first member of the race had no parents, so they liked to think they were the children of the realm.


    That pompous title wouldn''t have mattered if they had the strength to back it up. Unfortunately, the Shiki race started out weak, so they were mocked for that title for a long


    time.


    The Shiki race, when born, were balls of light. They were soft, like balls of fluff, and weak physically. They couldn''t harm anything, and no one could harm them. But their lifespan was incredibly short.


    It was rare for them to live more than a year. During that period when they were living, their existence would unravel into their surroundings, which increased the vitality of the world.


    They were a sort of mana-to-vitality converter. Animals and nts living around them would benefit from their existence. These living beings were able to be mana entities easily at the cost of the Shiki''s.


    The Shikis would die after a year of helping the world. Their deaths led to the creation of two seedlings that would be nurtured by the world and then hatch into two Shikis. Thus, the cycle continued, leading to more and more Shikis.


    Soon, the poption of Shikis increased by the millions. This is scary considering it happened in a short period of 20 years. But no one was worried. No one would fear something with a lifespan of a year that didn''t have the faintest power to defend itself.


    What they didn''t know was that the offspring created from the leftover Shiki retained the memories of their parents. So the millions of Shikis knew about the deaths of the 20 generations of Shikis before them and didn''t want to experience the same thing.


    The Shikis tried many things to solve their short life spans. They even tried and seeded in fusing with one another in an attempt to reverse their fission, but that didn''t increase their lifespans.


    Instead, it shortened it and actually killed the two Shikis that fused. The fusion granted them a short boost in power, but they eventually had to ban it because the memories of the Shikis that fused were lost since they didn''t reproduce after their deaths.


    This was one of the many things they tried. A year might not be enough for someone to have a solution, and a single generation might not be enough for a race to change their fate. But 20 generations might be enough to turn the short-lived emphemeral Shikis into long-lived physicalnd spirits.


    That''s exactly what happened when the Shikis found out that they could fuse with the soil and siphon what they needed to live from it. And so the Land Spirits were born.

 Chapter 1597: The Origin Of The Tyrant Race: 2

    Chapter 1597: The Origin Of The Tyrant Race: 2


    ?


    The Shikis didn''t wander around for their short, one-year lifespan and die like they used to. Instead, they searched for a location with a lot of mana and took root there.


    They knew those locations through the memories of their predecessors, so they didn''t search for long. They just went directly to the ce in their memories and nted themselves in the ground.


    Their form changed from the balls of light into a ball of fments. These fments spread throughout the soil like roots and absorbed mana into it.


    No one knew what caused this drastic change in the race. Maybe it was because the Shikis were born from seeds in the first ce and needed the soil to grow. Whichever reason it was, no one was worried about the change because the Shikis led to an increase in the fertility of the soil. This is because they were still mana-to-vitality converters.


    Even though the Shikis could grow stronger and live longer by fusing with the soil, they were still dying little by little. Their existence was unraveling, so the vitality they synthesized with all the mana they absorbed was still leaking into the environment and nourishing the world.


    So people still liked the Shikis and wanted them in theirnds. But the Shikis were not content with their fate.


    The rate at which they were unraveling had to be slower than the rate at which they were growing for them to live. So the Shikis needed more and morend to survive. However, this also spurred their deaths because the rate at which they unraveled was directly proportional to their size.


    So growing didn''tpletely solve their problem. Still, expanding could starve off death for a while. So they covered arge area of the realm and prospered as a race.


    Problems ensued when they were living near another Shiki. Shikis couldn''t stand being close to each other. Competition fornd slowed down their growth, which eventually led to their death.


    no matter how much they grew, most of them still died and produced two seeds to continue their mission to find longevity.


    Unfortunately, they couldn''t change this oue until they became transcendents. It was then that the Shiki race became capable of infecting and growing in other living things.


    They transformed from the lovablend spirits people thought they were into parasites. Every living thing in their domain could be infected.


    The ground stopped being their major source of life. It became a boundary to mark the things they could infect. It became a sort of boundary. Every living thing in that boundary became their property.


    This change granted them a source of vitality that could substitute for the vitality they lost as a result of their unraveling. They didn''t need to convert mana to vitality anymore. They could just take it directly from other living things. They also didn''t need arge territory, so their rate of unraveling remained slow. This made them capable of almost living forever.


    But it wasn''t good news for the people of the realm because a single Shiki could infect millions of hosts. Only the Shikis celebrated because the need for vitality had be a thing of the past. They stopped trying to expand their domain and focused more on power.


    The Shikis managed to use parasitism to prolong their lifespan, but at the expense of the inhabitants of theirnds. A shorter life span, reduced fertility, increased susceptibility to disease, constant tiredness, and insomnia made the victims of the Shikis hate them. Unfortunately, the infection couldn''t be cured.


    Things changed again when the Shikis grew strong enough toprehend thew of life and awaken their divine ability further as titans ofw. They became able to grant their hosts the ability to wield world power. So each host became a weak titan ofw.


    Therger thend of the Shiki and the more hosts they infected, the more world power they could grant their hosts. This effectively turned the Shikis from parasites into symbiotes.


    Their thirst for power also turned them into conquerors. They didn''t need to expand theirnd for vitality anymore, but they did so to grow stronger so that other Shikis wouldn''t be able to take over their domains.


    Their quest for more power made them sh with the Amotekun race. This is also another race that likes to expand. But the Amotekun race had another reason for it.


    The Amotekun race originated from the bones of a powerful creature that was worshiped and came to life. So the original Amotekun was a heroic being. This remained so even when Amotekun became a heroic spirit. Unfortunately, this heroic spirit made a massive blunder. The faith of its believers helped it be the god of death. He had a child with a mortal, whose offspring became the Amotekun race. The Amotekun race liked to kill. This is because, just like their father, they could enve the dead.


    Their father didn''t kill them when they were young and weak. This mistake gave them time to be stronger and undefeatable. They would massacre people and raise them into an undead army. The more undead they had, the more powerful they became, so they were always matching ceaselessly and tirelessly to massacre cities and nations.


    The Amotekun were another paragon race that thrived on envement. But unlike the Shikis, they enved the dead. They were called undead lords because of this.


    Their hearts were as ck as their ck, shriveled skin. They were ugly and thin with little physical durability, so they could be killed if one got close enough to them and struck them.


    But they were not weak physically, as they could rip mountains apart with their small, fragile hands, and they had arge army constantly protecting them, so it was difficult to kill them. Soon their threat became too big, and they shed with the Shikis, who were also on the path to dominating the world. One race grew stronger with the dead, while the other grew stronger with the living.


    A/N: Do you see where I am going with this?

 Chapter 1598: Repeated Mistakes.

    Chapter 1598: Repeated Mistakes.


    ?


    War leads to the creation of the dead, so the Amotekun grew stronger with each battle. Their troops were mostly weak, but they were tireless and didn''t feel pain, which made them the best soldiers. The undead could also be raised again if they were notpletely destroyed. This made their armyrger instead of smaller.


    The Shikis, on the other hand, had stronger soldiers on average since each of their hosts was a titan ofw. Besides, the Shikis couldn''t be killed because they were one with thend and the people. The ground and the people within it would need to bepletely destroyed to kill them.


    So the two races were at a stalemate. This stalemate continued until one Amotekun followed in the footsteps of their ancestor by falling in love with a Shiki and giving birth to a beautiful ckplexioned baby. The baby was plump and beautiful, like the Shikis, but ck, like the Amotekun race.


    That baby became the ancestor of the Tyrant Race and led to the end of the war between the Shikis and Amotekuns.


    The Tyrant Race were born as physical beings like their Amotekun ancestor. But they could give up their bodies by nting themselves in the soil. This way, they could infect the ground like their Shiki parents.


    They could then parasitize the ground and living things within it. If they need a body, they could convert anyone of their host into a physical body to use. So the billions of Tyrants in the divine ne currently waiting for the invaders are just their clones.


    The entire realm has long been conquered by them, which has reduced the effective number of defenders of the realm. But even though there are not many enough, the weakest of them has the power of Origin gods thanks to the boost from being paragons.


    They can only make one clone at a time, but just like their Shiki parents, they can''t be killed until all their hosts die. So they may appear to be billions, but there are actually trillions more bodies waiting for them in the realm to use.


    It is going to be difficult to kill all of them with their ability to switch hosts. Besides, they also have scores of the dead buried in their domains to protect their hosts. These dead are also at the titans ofw realm.


    As the perfect hybrid paragon descendants of their parents, they enve and gain power from both the living and the dead. They also be stronger with the expansion of their domains. This made them wage a war on both of their ancestral races.


    The Shikis and the Amotekuns were wiped out by the Tyrants. Not only did the war between the Shikis and Amotekuns end, but the two races went extinct.


    They are not the only ones to sumb to the rapid expansion of the Tyrants. The Tyrants turned their gaze to the divine realm in hopes that they could expand their domains there and in their quest to wipe out the gods who could stop them.


    Even though the Tyrants found out that they couldn''t infect the divine ne or the gods, they still decided to wipe them out because divine energy was the bane of both the Amotekuns and Shikis. Divine energy could remove their parasitism from living things and the earth and also easily destroy their undead.


    So the Tyrants waged war on the gods and wiped them out. Every single enemy of the Tyrant that could threaten them is gone now. All except one.


    The Tyrant only faced defeat when they tried to take over the abyss. They couldn''t spread their roots there. They also couldn''t infect the demons. That didn''t make them give up though. It was the pervasive sin energy that made their every invasion a failure. So people who didn''t want to be enved by the Tyrants anymore could escape to thend of hope.


    Still, the Tyrants didn''t give. They attacked the abyss asionally to kill demons and destroy some clones of demon gods. This is because Tyrants are fundamentally weak to demon gods, just as they are weak to divine gods. So they cannot give up on the demons.


    Unfortunately, the demon''s habitat was a location that granted them an advantage over Tyrants. It is why the demons have managed to survive all along.


    The Tyrant Race is a very strong race. They have eternal life, so bing kings ofw is all but certain for them. Bing titans ofw and sovereigns, on the other hand, is not certain. So they need alternative sources of power, such asnd.


    Unfortunately, the Tyrant realm is limited in size. They have reached the limit of their race. Newborn Tyrants can''t getnd to set up their domains, andpetition fornd is serious amongst them. One can imagine just how tempting the prospect of newnds is to them. That is the prospect that this invasion has brought them.


    They don''t usually see eye-to-eye, but they all came out today to fight. They were even more impatient than WRATH about the dy in the fusing of the two realms. So they were very happy when they noticed that something had destroyed the barrier for early ess.


    WRATH didn''t meet scared defenders when he came through. The Tyrants were as prepared as they could be. Unfortunately, they were not prepared for a demon god. In fact, they were not expecting any demons, much less a demon god.


    A shout went up as soon as the ocean cloud of boiling red energy broke through the realm rift.


    "DEMON GOD!!!!"


    It was a shout of panic and fear.


    WRATH shouted at them, "Don''t be afriad. Be angry."


    But they didn''t listen. The invasive power of its voice only made them more afraid. They screamed in fear, and ran around like headless chicken. Soon the shout of fear and panic was picked up by the other Tyrants all over the divine ne.


    A/N: The moral of the story is that one should kill troublesome children when they are weak. That''s what I was going with this. Learn this life lesson and don''t be like the Amotekun.

 Chapter 1599: Falling Like Dominos.

    Chapter 1599: Falling Like Dominos.


    ?


    Every Tyrant that was confident a few moments ago became less confident immediately they knew that a demon god had invaded. Those without Supreme Power ran away immediately to avoid the demon god. After all, a demon god is a fatal weakness to Tyrants without Supreme Power to resist.


    The sight made WRATH excited. It didn''t bother to be conservative. It roared in excitement, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"


    WRATH was cheering itself and everyone around it on. Its shout was inducing those running away to anger. Instead of escaping for their lives, they began fighting each other or rushing back to fight it.


    They may have the power of Origin gods thanks to the boost from their POWER stat, but as long as they haven''t fused with a concept to protect their existence, then WRATH''s mere incitement will work on them.


    The situation made the Supreme Tyrants with the power of the realm to stand up and fight. They also don''t have concepts, but their connection to the realm protects them from WRATH. Unfortunately, being unaffected by the roar of a demon god is not nearly enough in this defensive battle. They have to do more than that if they hope to defend their realm. So the 100,000 of them surrounded WRATH and tried to kill this body of its.


    WRATH roared inughter and boiled even more. Its form shifted to produce tentacles and whips. It met the attacks of the Supreme Tyrants with force. 100,000 is actually too many for it to fight at once, but it didn''t retreat. It surged forward to drown them while the Supreme Tyrants were shouting to themselves, "Quickly destroy it."


    They were seeding in that goal. WRATH''srge body was quickly dwindling as it was bombarded with attacks from all around. Unfortunately, they were not killing it fast enough. WRATH has invested about two-thirds of its total energy into this invasion. Its body is about the size of ten nes. 100,000 people, on the other hand, are insignificantpared to the size of a ne.


    A million Origin gods didn''t seed in destroying the previous Virut ne because Mother High Heaven was healing and reinforcing it. WRATH is not a world god or world ender, but it is also not a defenseless ne that can only take a beating. It is a ne that is ten timesrger than the normal one and can fish out as much damage as is delivered to it.


    This situation put the battle at a stalemate. But WRATH is constantly losing energy in the fight, so they are winning. If they had 10 years, they might be able to kill WRATH with their continuous attacks or at least beat WRATH back to whence it came.


    Unfortunately, all the time they had was less than 10 seconds before it left the realm rift. They couldn''t kill it in 10 seconds, so another demon god could pass through the realm rift and join them.


    The Supreme Tyrants felt despair at that point. They may have supreme power, but they are only sovereigns. This innate inferiority made them a little afraid of WRATH and despair at the sight of more demon gods joining the fight.


    One of them asked, "What does a realm war have to do with you? You are a demon. You are supposed to sabotage your realm."


    What it didn''t say is that, even if WRATH was entric and decided to help its realm, it shouldn''t be working with other demon gods. Even when the abyss of the Tyrant realm was threatened, the demons still didn''t work together, so this was very unexpected.


    But WRATH didn''t reply. It roared in triumph, "You will suffer! Your realm will burn, and blood will flow! That blood will boil and feed me. Behold, for I am the boiling blood, and I havee."


    It dered grandly, but it didn''t bother to fight the Supreme Tyrants. Instead, it went after the defenseless Tyrants. They don''t have a concept to protect their existence, so their raw power is useless in the face of its false Supreme Law of Chaos.


    Some Tyrants managed to dispel their clones in time to escape, but many more were not so fortunate. All WRATH needed was a touch. Just one touch, and theirnd domains, living hosts, and army of the dead are doomed. With one touch, WRATH infected their existence and sank into them.


    WRATH shrank in size rapidly after making contact with many prey. This reduction is not due to the constant attacks on it. It is because WRATH was tunneling through matter with pieces of itself to the location of the domains of the prey it had touched.


    WRATH was scattering itself into the realm through the Tyrants. The Tyrants were like tunnels for it to bypass the divine realm and enter the main realm directly. They were awork of roots, and it was a disease gnawing on those roots. The Supreme Tyrants couldn''t stop it, despite doing their best.


    The reduction in the size of WRATH reduced the amount of energy it had and its defense, so it was quickly destroyed. But WRATH didn''t care. It prioritized invading the realm over fighting the Supreme Tyrants.


    GLUTTONYined behind it, "Leave some for me."


    LUST and the other demon gods came after GLUTTONY. Aeternus camest. He left the barrier open behind him so that the other demons could enter. By the time he arrived, the divine ne was already in shambles.


    He said to himself, "It is as expected. The Tyrants didn''t stand a chance."


    He expected this oue since he had acquired information about the weakness of the Tyrants. It is not a weakness per se, as many races are weak to demons.


    What happened to the Tyrants is what would have happened to Legion had Ragnarok sumbed to CARNAGE. The only difference is that Ragnarok is not the whole realm.


    The Tyrant race has be the whole realm. This granted them a lot of power, but it also made it so that if they fall, the whole realm might fall with them. They are like the first piece of a stack of dominoes. The whole stack will fall once that piece falls.


    A/N: Bonus chapter for the 200 golden tickets goal.

 Chapter 1600: Time Is Money.

    Chapter 1600: Time Is Money.


    ?


    Aeternus made the demon gods arrive before the Tyrants could see the image of the abyss through the barrier and prepare for it. This ensured that the Tyrants were caught off guard, and the possibility of total realm destruction became a certainty.


    But Aeternus couldn''t take full credit for this achievement. He muttered inwardly as he saw the events happening in the Tyrant realm through Helios'' eyes, "I am sure this is the main reason the realm lord offered the demon gods a deal. He might have made it look like he didn''t want the demons to betray the realm, but I am willing to bet it was to achieve a swift victory in the era of conquest."


    From the investigation that the tree father had done, he knows that the Tyrant race is a powerful race. Every inhabitant of the realm is at least at the titan ofw level, while the top powers are at the Origin god level. The High Heaven realm had to remove the suppression of the realm and offer many benefits to get that kind of power.


    And despite all of their abilities, the realm lord''s ns ensured that they had lost before the era of conquest started. Their reinforcement of Origin gods was cut off, while the demon gods that they are weak to had already been recruited before the fight.


    Unlike the demons of the Tyrant Realm, who didn''t have gods to feed on or other races to eat, the demons of the High Heaven Realm didn''t have a race that took over the realm, stopping them from growing stronger. Not only are the demons and demon gods of the High Heaven Realm far stronger, but they are also more numerous.


    Demons are known for their destruction. They don''t create or protect. But the demon gods of the Tyrant Realm were so desperate that they had to rear their own livestock. The Tyrant Race had suppressed them to that extent.


    Unfortunately, that is not a good thing for the realm. Having a single superior race with many strengths is not as good as having many races with fewer strengths. This is because once the single superior race falls, then the realm will follow.


    Aeternus said with mncholy, "The weakness of a single race has doomed the whole realm." "Anyway. I better get to work too. I can''t let the others have all the fun."


    He was not attacked at all when he entered the divine realm. The Supreme Tyrants were far too busy attacking the other demon gods. All he knows is that the demon gods must be doing a lot of damage. This is reflected in the number of contribution points he is getting.


    Mother High Heaven is rewarding him with 20% of all the points that the demons earn because he opened the barrier for them ahead of time. It is as they say, time is money, and the High Heaven Realm is short on time to defeat the Tyrant Realm. By bringing the invasion forward, he has increased the amount of time the High Heaven Realm has to destroy the realm.


    He is earning all those points without doing much himself. And the other demon gods took the lead and distracted the Supreme Tyrants for him.


    It is killing two birds with one stone. That''s why he didn''t close the hole he created in the realm rift. He wants all the demons to enter and farm contribution points for him.


    Unfortunately, he has to pay the price for beingte to the party. The divine ne is sealed, so he can''t leave easily. There are no Tyrants for him to use to leave.


    This is a price he couldn''t avoid paying even if he had been the first demon god to enter the divine realm because he hasn''t fused with his energy, so he can only infect people with his Chaos energy, not himself. He couldn''t have used the Tyrants to leave the divine ne, even if they were around anyway.


    If he wants to leave the divine ne, he has to leave by himself, not through a shortcut like other demon gods. So he took to the sky and flew towards the gate of heaven.


    He knows where the gate of heaven is because the Tree Father passed through it when he entered the Tyrant realm earlier. This information ensures that he doesn''t have to roam around the divine ne, wasting time.


    He thought to himself on his way there, "I wonder what kind of seal it is. I hope it is very strong so I can earn a lot of contribution points."


    The Tyrant realm had been caught off guard by the era of conquest, but they still managed to react after a while. One of the things the Tyrants did was to seal the divine ne. This made it so that the invaders that had lined up outside the realm and entered it to destroy it couldn''t gain ess to the main ne anymore.


    Legion-8, whom everyone has taken to calling The Pathogen, saw the effect from the void. He saw that the Origin gods who entered the Tyrant realm were roaming around the void, unable to do anything. Some even had to return to the High Heaven Realm, and some fought him out of boredom.


    The seal of the divine means that invasion of the Tyrant realm can only happen through the dungeons. If the Tyrants can destroy the dungeons, they will be able to prevent the invasion entirely.


    It is something they can do, seeing as they have total control over every inch of the main ne. No dungeon, no matter how small, can escape their notice. So it is a good n. That''s why he should earn a lot of contribution points for breaking the n.


    Anyone who likes destruction like him would anticipate breaking the seal just for the fun of it. But he is also getting paid for it, which makes things better. It is a wicked hobby that pays.

 Chapter 1601: No Fun For The Wicked.

    Chapter 1601: No Fun For The Wicked.


    ?


    He found the seal quickly. It was at the center of the divine ne. It is equidistant from the realm rift, so no matter the direction hees from, he will need to travel the same distance to reach it. But he will only find it if he moves in a straight line in its direction. Any other way, and he will go around in circles.


    No one attacked him on the way, so he had toment, "The Tyrant race is smart and powerful, but they have lost the power of diversity."


    Apart from the fact that the Tyrant realm doesn''t have different races to strengthen their defense against the demons, there are also no gods in the divine ne to fight the demon gods and keep them here. A single divine ne was able to keep CARNAGE from invading a ne in the High Heaven Realm, so the importance of gods is clear.


    But the Tyrants killed all of the gods. Now Aeternus can only imagine how glorious it would have been for him to destroy the gods blocking his way. He would have grown stronger from doing so, and he would have also earned contribution points.


    It is truly a loss to him because he can estimate the number of gods that arge realm like the Tyrant realm would have been able to produce. Taking the High Heaven realm as an example, even if there''s only one god per ne, there would be 100,000 gods to defend the divine ne.


    One god per ne is obviously too small. If there were an average of 10 per ne, there would be 1,000,000 gods. If all those 1,000,000 gods or more were defending the divine ne, the Tyrants wouldn''t have to defend it themselves, and the best the demon gods would have seeded in doing is gaining ess to the Tyrant Realm after a thousand years of fighting. They might even manage to tempt some people in the realm into bing their servants. But it wouldn''t have been easy for the demon gods to gain ess to the Tyrant realm. Unfortunately, the Tyrants wiped out the gods, weakened the demons who could have been their allies, and then provided the perfect route for the demon gods to enter the realm. Their ability to connect to theirnd and draw power from it has undone them. It led to their need for conquest, and now it will lead to their demise.


    The Tyrants infected everything and everyone. The demon gods infected them there by infecting everything and everyone. As for hardworking demon gods like him, he has to head to the gates of heaven and do the work that all the demon gods ought to do together. What''s worse is that he has to do it without someone jumping out to be his snack.


    The seal was also undefended when he found it. All he can see around it is a white in, and above it is the pitch-ck sky.


    He wasn''t surprised by theck of defense because staying in the divine ne right now and defending it is like defending the gate of your house while your wife is being raped. It is a waste of time for them to do so. The best decision is to go and kill the rapist. Or at least try to kill the rapist.


    He smiled just thinking about it. He thought to himself, "Let''s make this an orgy. After, there''s love in sharing, and the more, the merrier."


    The demon gods are violently raping the Tyrant realm right now, but he intends to make things even worse for them through the gates they left unguarded. He intends to make it a bad decision not to stop him from reaching the gate of heaven.


    The demon kings of the High Heaven Realm were the first toe up through the realm rift. They came up to find emptiness. But they were able to catch a glimpse of the demon god of Chaos, so they chased after him.


    This led to a throng of demons walking on the divine ne as if they were on a pilgrimage. It is strange because demons don''t go on pilgrimages. It is stranger still because even if they do go on pilgrimages, it won''t be in the divine ne. It would be somewhere they are not in danger of being attacked.


    Aeternus ignored them and focused on the seal. It is a circr area of raised ground. It is also transparent, so he can see the main ne down below through it.


    He said, after some observation, "This is going to be a little tricky."


    The gates of heaven are sealed by a seal jointly created by 100,000 Supreme Tyrants. In terms of quality, it is not nearly as powerful as the barrier blocking the realm rift. But in terms of quantity, it is several times more powerful than the barrier of the realm rift.


    The gate of heaven is a round hole in the white ground of the divine ne. It is the only passage between the divine ne and the main realm for foreigners and invaders of the realm.


    Inhabitants of the realm don''t need to take it. They can pass through the white ground of the divine ne without resistance. As for him, he must pass through the gate of heaven, so he must ovee the seal on it.


    The seal itself is translucent and cloudy. Its surface is flickering with tiny white lights. These white lights are the 100,000 individual threads woven together to form the barrier.


    He created a Chaos avatar to attack the barrier. The white motes of light flickered and shined brighter as the avatar smashed into the seal.


    Some of the motes of light went out, but the seal didn''t break because there were still more that the attack didn''t destroy. Then the ones that went out came back on. They kept the light intensity and resistance of the seal constant despite the barrage of attacks from the Chaos avatar.

 Chapter 1602: Special Ability.

    Chapter 1602: Special Ability.


    ?


    Aeternus observed to himself and the other clones, "These threads can heal and restore themselves quickly. If I don''t overwhelm the barrier instantly, I won''t be able to destroy it."


    He can see that he will need to destroy all the threads at once to destroy the seal. That will require a power capable of destroying 100,000 Supreme Powers at once. Such a thing doesn''t exist. At least not on the light side of the void universe.


    "This is interesting." He said, as he observed the flickering barrier. "How did they make it work?"


    A world god is required to destroy the seal. That much is certain. The alternative is to kill the Supreme Tyrants that made the seal one by one. So he can''t believe that a couple of sovereigns managed toe up with something like that.


    It is still impressive that they managed to get thousands of Supreme powers to work together, even if they had the assistance of the Will of the Realm. It is doubly impressive that they managed to weave something like this even though the supreme power they used wasn''t theirs.


    This is because, Supreme powers don''t work together normally. Concepts don''t even work together, much less supremews and the power they bestow.


    That''s why Supreme Origin gods don''t use world fragments. They can''tbine the Supreme Law of another entity with theirs. The best they can use a world fragment for is to use its power source to empower their Supreme Law instead of using Origin essence.


    But that''s just two Supreme powers. One can imagine just how impressive it is to fuse a hundred thousand Supreme Powers. Not only did they make them work together to form the seal, they also made the seal stable and capable of regeneration.


    Legion is already an outlier capable of fusing Supreme powers of the same origin, and that''s only because of the Tree Father''s spark of power, which enables them to control power from different sources.


    But even then, they can''t make the Supreme Power do the same thing. Legion-5 used three Supreme Powers, but he was always using them for different things. It would have been a waste to use two or three Supreme Powers for defense. One is already enough to reach the limit of the light side.


    So one can imagine just how powerful a seal focused on defense with 100,000 Supreme Powers is. It is understandable that Aeternus and all of Legion are wondering how the Tyrants managed to do this.


    Aeternus spent more time examining the barrier. He noticed some slight differences. Legion''s fusion is qualitative, while the fusion in the seal is quantitative. This is its inherent weakness.


    The Supreme powers possessed by Legion have the advantage of having the same origin, so the direction and purpose after fusion can be manipted. They can be used for different things or for the same thing.


    The fused Supreme Powers of the Tyrants, on the other hand, only have the same direction and purpose. They do the same thing at the same time, which is to resist attacks, and they can''t do anything else.


    Legion can line up their Supreme Power so that even if one is defeated, another one can switch from doing something else to taking its ce. This seal can''t do that. Its advantage is that 100,000 of them have to be destroyed at once to destroy the seal. The disadvantage is that a single attack can destroy 100,000 of them and the seal.


    He thought to himself, "This is powerful. It is very powerful. But it is not perfect. Nothing is perfect."


    Soverick joined in, "These threads look like roots. They look like the roots that the Tree Father saw infiltrating the whole realm. This could be a unique ability of Tyrants. After all, they descend from Shikis, and there used to be just one Shiki. Maybe that tranted into their ability to fuse Supreme Powers."


    Helios asked, "But what kind of ability can fuse Supreme Powers of various origins? It is unheard of."


    Aeternus shook his head, "It doesn''t matter if it is normal or not. What matters is that we can''t copy it and I have to destroy the seal."


    He concluded that it was an innate ability, not something he could copy. So he decided to move on to breaking the seal.


    The configuration of the barrier has granted it almost perfect invulnerability. This is because any attacker can only have one Supreme Law. So they might be able to defeat the threads individually, but they are unlikely to break the threads faster than they heal.


    Even demon gods will be stumped by this arrangement, as the seal is being maintained by the divine ne itself. So in a way, trying to break the seal is trying to fight the whole divine ne. Considering that this is not a single divine ne but the amalgamation of several tens of thousands of them, then it is no easy feat.


    The Tree Father avoided the seal and passed through when it was open, but now he has to face it head on.


    Aeternus whistled appreciatively. "Maybe the Supreme Tyrants were not so desperate when they decided to leave their gates unguarded. Who can break this?"


    Then he grinned evilly. "Unfortunately, they have met me."


    His eyes have seen through the seal, so he knows how best to attack. He raised his wed ck hand towards the seal. Chaos energy gushed out of his hand and submerged the barrier. The translucent barrier became covered with ck energy the color of the sky.


    He wasn''t in a hurry with his attack. He just continued to create more and more Chaos energy without stopping.


    He muttered with confidence, "Chaos defeats all. All will fall to Chaos."


    He hasn''t fullyprehended chaos, but he knows that it represents infinite randomness.


    Chaos doesn''t have a weakness, but it does have one strength and one strength alone.


    That strength is that it corrupts everything with entropy. Then it converts them into itself. So Chaos is always begetting more Chaos.


    A/N: Bonus chapter for the 1,400 power stones voting goal.

 Chapter 1603: Falling Sky.

    Chapter 1603: Falling Sky.


    ?


    Chaos itself doesn''t have any weaknesses because it is always changing. Its strengthes from the fact that it tries to force other systems to change too.


    Those systems that go along with the forced change eventually break because the corruption of entropy increases the amount of unusable energy within a system or possessed by an entity, and it also increases the randomness in the system.


    Unless a system has infinite capacity, it will eventually fall apart as entropy upies too much of it. Even the universe will fall apart in due time as entropy increases. It will take time, but it will happen. The same thing will happen to this seal. He just needs to be patient.


    The seal flickered as soon as Chaos energy touched it. All the threads defended the seal against the attack at the same time. They appeared like lines of different colors on the barrier. They were pulsating and shifting to defend the attack.


    This reaction caused all of the threads to be exposed to Chaos energy at the same time. So none of them could avoid the corruption of Chaos.


    The threads of Supreme Power had two choices. Either they break or get rid of the corruption somehow. They chose not to break. Instead, they transferred the corruption to the divine ne.


    This is another property of the seal that makes it nearly unbreakable. The seal has the support of the whole divine ne. Any force that hits the seal will be rendered crippled after being transferred to a ce asrge as the divine ne. The attacks will lose their pressure and sharpness, so they won''t be able to break the seal.


    It is a good idea to use the whole divine ne as the foundation for the seal. It truly stomped Aeternus. His corruption was carried away from the seal and spread all over the divine ne.


    So the only thing he could do was keep producing Chaos energy to create more corruption. He wasn''t impatient. He continued to do so for more than 11 hours.


    The demon kings had caught up to him by then. Even demon lords and their armies had shown up. They were all silent as they arranged themselves around the gate of heaven.


    No one said anything. There was only silence and the silent corruption of the seal. Aeternus, in his 10-kilometer form, stood over the equallyrge seal patiently. The demon kings that rival him in size chose to shrink their form to a few meters in height so as not to draw his attention or ire.


    Soon all the demons had to rise to the air because standing on the divine ne meant being in contact with Chaos energy. The demons that were too slow were contaminated and devoured.


    Aeternus didn''t let the temptation that their existence represented override hismon sense. Especially since he lost some of his contribution points when those demons died.


    He just snorted and continued producing Chaos energy. His dedication was rewarded after 12 hours of work. The divine ne began to shake. The white ground of the divine ne had already turned pitch ck. The seal, on the other hand, was fine, so Aeternus continued his work diligently.


    He said to the seal, "You refused to submit when you had a lot to lose. Now we will see how far you''re willing to gamble. Will you give up when you are about to lose everything, or will you give up when you have nothing left to lose?"


    The reply to his question came very soon. The shaking of the divine ne increased rapidly in a short amount of time. It was soon reaching its limits. Cracks were appearing in the ck ground.


    Any other demon god would have given up after using so much energy, but he didn''t feel the pinch. He continued to use the seal to corrupt the whole divine ne.


    Soon, an earthquake began to move through the divine ne. It caused the cracks to spread all over the ckened ground. The cracks began to deepen and widen. They went from being surface fractures to bing gaps in the depth of the divine ne.


    Things only got worse. The roar of the expansion of the cracks filled the divine ne. Even so, the seal on the gate of heaven remained intact. It was just shaking slightly. It continued to dump its woes onto the shoulders of the supportive divine ne.


    It was a truly toxic rtionship. The seal took full advantage of the divine ne and gave nothing back. The cracks in the divine ne expanded until one could see the main ne through them. These cracks were more than 1 kilometer deep and 10 meters wide. The demons can use it to leave the divine ne, but they didn''t move an inch.


    Aeternus said to them, "Go on."


    It was then that they sighed in relief and roared. Then they went down into the cracks to visit destruction on the ne.


    Meanwhile, Aeternus was focused on the seal. He said to it, "Until yourst breath, huh? I can respect that kind of stubbornness."


    The seal is truly stubborn. It refused to budge, even when it had lost its function. The 100,000 threads continued to flicker in defense, as if they could resist forever.


    Aeternus also didn''t give up on the opportunity to bring down the whole divine ne, so he continued to corrupt it.


    The seal eventually reached its limit. It was vibrating silently but at a high frequency. The next moment, it just exploded with a sh of light. Of course, the sh was buried by the ocean of ck Chaos energy, so even its final radiance went unseen.


    The whole divine ne also fractured and began to fall. It was a cracked dome falling to the earth below. It looked like the sky was falling to those below.


    Aeternus followed the broken fragments as they fell down the ne. He looked at the Tyrant Realm beneath him, which was also fracturing due to the effort of demons, and was full of appreciation for Mother High Heaven''s nurturing n.

 Chapter 1604 The Top 0.5%.

    Chapter 1604 The Top 0.5%.


    He thought to himself, "The entire abyss can''t threaten the High Heaven Realm, but the Tyrant Realm can''t withstand us. This goes to show that Mother High Heaven is not an ordinary Will of the realm." They are both Wills but they have different methods of raising their children. Mother High Heaven encouraged individual opportunity for each race to shine to a certain level and for diversity to flourish. Even gods and demons were able to flourish in the High Heaven Realm. That diversity granted the High Heaven Realm resistance to myriad attacks that the Tyrant Realm clearlycks. The demons of the high heaven realm can''t even threaten some nes, but they have brought low an entire Tyrant realm. All he can see on the main ne is destruction. Oceans of various colors have appeared where there used to be none. These oceans are growingrger and submerging their surroundings, killing everything along the way.


    Above the oceans are Supreme Tyrants attacking the oceans in a bid to stop their expansion. Unfortunately, they are not doing enough damage to offset the replenishment of energy from devouring the environment. It is practically a losing battle. He shook his head at the sight and muttered, "Of course, Mother High Heaven must have been doing something right by seeding in raising a realm lord, but the Will of the Tyrant Realm has truly done poorly. Even if the demon gods were not here, the Supreme Beasts and dragons would have surely turned this realm upside down too."


    "Especially the Supreme Beasts. They specialize in finding weaknesses and exploiting them. The dragons would just have used brute force to ovee every obstacle in their way. They would have burned everything to ashes." The Tyrant realm is still resisting, seeing as less than 10% of its surface has been corrupted. But it is on its way to destruction. The suns are flickering in the sky, the protection of the divine ne is gone, and there is a looming darkness in the void spreading, infecting everything, and threatening to drown everything.


    There''s also a powerful object being built within the folds of space. If not for his special eyes, he wouldn''t have noticed the hidden umtion of energy. It made himment, "If a dragon is building something, then things are truly dire." It is notmon for dragons not to rely on brute force because brute force is usually enough to solve every problem. So if one has decided to put in the effort to build something, one can only imagine the kind of devastation it will unleash. Everything Aeternus saw made him say with certainty, "High Heaven Realm is definitely going to win this era of conquest." He turned his attention to the many oceans of various colors expanding in the ne. These oceans are demon gods. They are like vile gues. They have infected the realm down to the soil and are spreading rapidly like forest fires. The Supreme Tyrants are trying tobat them, but it is not easy. The best they can achieve is to halt the advance of the demon gods by using their fments to barricade the area around the demon gods. The demon gods can''t infect them, so they are fighting fire with fire. "I guess it is about time to get to work." He can pick any location and start destroying it. But he is targeting the quarantine zones that are being formed around the demon gods. It is those areas that will give him the highest contribution. So instead of creating onerge zone of corruption, he shot out Chaos energy to several locations to create small zones of corruption meant to hinder the Supreme Tyrants efforts. This way, the demon gods were able to continue expanding unimpeded. His contribution points began to soar as he did this, and as many Origin gods began to enter the Tyrant realm thanks to the abyss of the divine ne. Soon, he reached the top 0.5% of contribution points and crossed it.


    If they reach the top 0.1% and maintain it till the end of the era of conquest, Legion will seed in securing the realm lord''s help in the acquisition of realm hearts.


    At this point, it is all but certain for them. After all, he is earning another t 20% from the contributions of every Origin god and demon that are taking advantage of the absence of the divine ne. -----High Heaven Realm. The three clones in the high heaven realm have resurrected and are still being hounded. No one is fighting them anymore, but many Origin gods are following them around, not willing to take their eyes off of them.


    There are not many doing this. The realms are fusing, so many Origin gods have turned their attention towards preparing for the invasion. The divine ne of the Tyrant Realm is also absent, so many of them have rushed to it. Soverick has also been spreading information about potential dungeons in the public channel, so many Origin gods temporarily gave up hunting the clones in favor of securing the dungeons. They did this even though they knew that Soverick was throwing them bones to distract them as if they were dogs. But that''s the truth. They are dogs who were hounding him for benefits just a while ago. They couldn''t get his meat, now some bone scraps have to be enough for them. The enemy of the high heaven realm has also made some progress. The Origin gods of the Tyrant Realm have amassed themselves into an army and are about to invade the High Heaven Realm. This news was announced by Mother High Heaven herself, so it is undoubtedly true. She had said, "Prepare for invasion immediately! Prepare for invasion immediately!" n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Then she went on to list information about the iing enemy, such as their estimated number, the distribution of power ranging from one star Origin gods to Supreme Origin gods, how many of them had world fragments, etc. This information was extensive and very urate.

 Chapter 1605 Setting The Battlefield.

    Chapter 1605 Setting The Battlefield.


    Her announcement made everyone remember that they were in a dangerous situation called the era of conquest. A loss in it means that they can forget about bing world gods. They forgot because it really hadn''t felt dangerous until now.


    This was the final blow that made the clones regain peace. Every Origin god wanted to get some contribution points. Even if they don''t manage to secure the realm lord''s assistance, they can use their contribution points to buy a lot of things.


    Things like Life Crystals and the Authority of the Celestial Supreme, which can be used as substitutes for the world seed and world engine, can be bought. They will be weak world gods if they use this, but it is a step in the right direction. Besides, they can upgrade their world in the future. So everyone within the High Heaven realm began to prepare for the uing fight. Apparently, the realm lord seeded in stopping the enemy from reinforcing the Tyrant Realm, but he can''t stop them from attacking the High Heaven realm.


    By the looks of things, he didn''t even bother to stop them from invading the high heaven realm. He didn''t attempt to create a blockade around the High Heaven Realm at all, so enemies coulde in for a fight. Some people spoke about the madness of it. Common sense dictates that he should have done the opposite. Many people would have chosen to turn the high heaven realm into an unbreakable shell since he had the means to. But the realm lord''s decision cannot be faulted since his move dictated the battlefield. The Tyrants can''t ess their realm directly, so they have toe to the High Heaven realm. If the realm lord is prepared for it, he might be able to wipe them all out in one fell swoop. The move can only be called unorthodox, but it has its advantages. For one, the High Heaven realm was able to make full use of Mother High Heaven''s ability to notice the intrusion of Origin gods, who are not her children, into her realm. This way, the movements of the enemy can be tracked reliably since they are limited to the high heaven realm. This is why everyone was able to get urate information about the invaders. She also created missions to hunt them for high contributions. This has seeded in eliminating every spy sent into the realm. So the enemies have decided to go all out.


    They have be especially desperate after hearing of the absolute destruction of the divine ne of the Tyrant realm. After all, if their enemies can enter their realm anyhow, they have to do something equally destructive too, or they will lose the war. They didn''t even hide their movements. Hundreds of billions of origin gods approached the High Heaven Realm together from the immortalnds. Less than a billion of them are true tyrants. The rest are their army of undead and hosts created with their concepts. The Tyrants are few in number. This is because, despite their subjugation of the whole realm,petition is fierce amongst them. Very few of them grow enough to be immortals, and the ones that do don''t want to leave the realm, so they remain sovereigns ofw. Mother High Heaven advised her children, "Stay in the divine ne! Don''t confront them in the void!" This is because the Origin god army is apanied by more than one world god. Any kind of resistance against them will fail because of the support of these world gods. Not unless the realm lord is willing to split his resources and fight them in the void. They have to wait for the enemies to enter the realm. That way, the Tyrants will lose the support of their world gods. They will also be suppressed by the realm and lose the support of their world fragments. This is the second advantage of setting the battlefield. The realm lord was able to choose a location that was advantageous to him. The only disadvantage is that the battle will cause destruction to the realm, which will weaken it. This cannot be avoided, even if the fight is limited to the divine ne. Energy will still need to be expended to heal the damage and keep the ne intact. But it is still better than allowing world gods to interfere in the battle. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    If that were to happen, the high heaven realm would not be able to take advantage of its higher number of Origin gods. That is the third advantage of deciding the battlefield. So Mother High Heaven warned the Origin gods to remain in the divine ne. The clones of Legion also went there to prepare for the battle. The divine ne has a gate of heaven, but that''s only for defenders. People who are born in a realm don''t need it to gain ess to the divine ne. Especially since they are allowed to move through the whitendmass of the divine ne by the Will of the ne. So the clones didn''t need to pass through the gate of heaven to reach the divine ne. They simply flew right up.


    They found other Origin gods there. No one disturbed them at all. Everyone was busy preparing for the fight.


    The clones decided to spread themselves throughout the divine ne to maximize their area of activity instead of working together and risking drawing too much attention to themselves. Unlike the Tyrant Realm, the gods are present in the divine ne, and they are many in number too. The divine realm is being invaded, so they too are getting ready for the invasion. After all, it is their opportunity to make contributions to the ne. The participation of the gods in the battle is the fourth advantage gained from setting the battlefield. It is something the realm lord didn''t have to put in much effort to ensure.


    The gods don''t need a coalition to motivate them to defend the divine ne like the demons. The fact that they too can use the contribution points they earn in its defense is all the motivation they need. ------


    A/N: Bonus chapter for Aspect Zero''s golden tickets contribution.

 Chapter 1606 Main Preparations.

    Chapter 1606 Main Preparations.


    The position of Celestial Supreme has been taken away since the divine nes fused, but the Authority of the Celestial Supreme can be acquired again with enough contributions. This will also grant their possessors the right to create a pantheon.


    What''s more, there is no limit to the number of Celestial Supremes anymore. Any Celestial can be one. They don''t need to suffer under their previous Celestial Supreme anymore.


    That''s just one of the many benefits that gods stand to gain from the era of conquest. But the gods don''t need them to participate in the uing battle because there is a threat of death for them.


    They may be gods, but they feel like mortals in the face of a war that concerns the fate of two realm trees. Not only is the battlefield their home, which they have to defend, but if the defense fails and the realm is destroyed, they too will go with it. So the benefits are the icing on the cake for them. The third group of entities preparing for the invasion of the divine ne are the demon gods. They sent over their clones to participate in the battle too.


    Defending the realm doesn''t appear to be more rewarding than wreaking destruction in the Tyrant Realm, but it is also not good to put all their eggs in one basket, so they are here to insure their interests. The main defenders remain the Origin gods. They have the advantage in numbers and power. Plus, they can also resurrect, so they are practically inexhaustible. This quality of theirs is why the major preparation they are undertaking is the setting up of a resurrection point in the divine ne. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Anyone can buy something called a spawn point with their contribution points from Mother High Heaven. Large organizations can buy the spawn towers instead.


    The spawn point is a small runic cube, while the spawn towers arerge runic pirs. These two devices can be bonded to a single Origin god or many Origin gods, respectively. If those Origin gods die, they will resurrect from it first instead of their other preparations in the void universe. This is the fifth advantage of setting the battlefield. It is probably the most important one too, as it can take full advantage of the immortality of Origin gods.


    Anyone can die in the uing battle. Even the Supreme Origin gods are not certain ofing out unscathed from it. So they have to prepare to die and resurrect.


    It is best if they resurrect in the realm so that they can rejoin the battle quickly. It won''t do if they resurrect in the immortalnds and have to make their way back across the void universe. They very well might not be able to reenter the realm again, considering that there are world gods waiting outside of it. Legion didn''t spend their points on this spawn point. This is because they don''t need it to resurrect in the realm. They can resurrect in any ce in the realm they want, as long as Legion-7 is alive. And they have the ability to teleport to each other, so unless they all die together at the same time, they will always be able to find their way to the realm.


    Besides, the spawn points only give Origin gods of the high heaven realm the right to resurrect in the realm. They will not gain any assistance from Mother High Heaven during the resurrection, so they have to empower the spawn point with soul stones or origin essence before returning it to Mother High Heaven.


    This investment will determine how fast they resurrect. And since nothing can be as fast as resurrection with Legion-7, it would be too slow and wasteful for the clones to use the spawn point. The other preparation for the battle is the setting up of fortresses andrge weapons on the divine ne. This is the sixth advantage of setting the battlefield. The high heaven realm can turn the battlefield into deadly traps, and their enemies will still impale themselves on it because they have no other choice. The realm lord did not utilize a ne-by-ne invasion for the era of conquest, so organizations or individuals can''t use the mortal forces they have trained to storm the other realm. But they can still use the weapons they have built to turn the divine ne into somewhere no self preserving person would want to invade. Some of the fortresses arend-based. Many Origin gods came together to build massive defensive structures on the divine ne. They are trulyrge, especially the ones that Legion is giving out for pittance that look like the shell of a tortoise. The shells cover arge area of ground but have tiny holes in them where massive cannons and all sorts of deadly weapons poke through. The users can stay beneath the shell, where they will be safe and capable of dishing out fire and brimstone to their enemies.


    The Tree Father built the shell with resources that Legion-1 and Legion-5 had redirected from well-meaning immortals in the immortalnds. Now they are selling them at cost price and are also getting contribution points from Mother High for their contribution. So they are not losing anything, apart from the time it took to build the shell. These shells and many other structures will be the base of the Origin gods for resisting the invasion. With it, they will be able to rest and recuperate in battle when needed. There are also many fortresses that are air-based. The racial council of the former Virut ne, for example, is using their Leviathans. These floating armorednd masses created both defensive and offensive arrays in the sky of the divine ne.


    There are also many fortresses that are air-based. The racial council of the former Virut ne, for example, is using their Leviathans. These floating armorednd masses created both defensive and offensive arrays in the sky of the divine ne.


    The defensive array is a barrier that will remain unbroken unless the Leviathans behind it are all destroyed or all of them run out of power at once. The offensive array is just a systematic way of pointing their guns into the void such that every inch of the sky is ounted for.

 Chapter 1607 Too Many Advantages.

    Chapter 1607 Too Many Advantages.


    Not many are using the air-based fortresses since they are more expensive and will be the first target of the invaders. But Legion used them.


    The Tree Father had made many death stars as a Celestial. They have since been upgraded, so they cannot be wasted. Unlike the pyramids he built when he was a Celestial, which have long been destroyed, the death stars can be summoned by him. And they will have the power of Supreme Origin gods because they are an extension of him. The clones summoned the death stars around each of them and above the defensive shell. These preparations,bined with the fact that the clones are scattered throughout the divine ne, ensure that they will not be eliminated at once. This way, they will always be able to regenerate, resurrect, and summon whatever they lost and get back into the thick of battle. Legion was among the first to finish setting up since they already had everything prepared. They were able to use the time before the fighting started to examine their surroundings and update themselves on the situation of the realm as a whole. The situation of the realm appeared within Legion''s mind through their divine sense and Soverick''s eyes. The Origin gods in the main ne of the realm were building fortresses on the ground around the opening of dungeons, while the divine ne is also full of a lot of actions.


    One can note that the Origin gods are in a hurry. They are rushing about, trying to get their preparations done quickly. But one thing that is absent is anxiety or fear. Instead, buzzing excitement and hungry eagerness can be sensed from their actions and demeanor. Legion-1 said, "We are confident in victory." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Soverick agreed, "We have no reason not to be confident. We have all the advantages in this war. We will win."


    Indeed, the high heaven realm has all the advantages here. They may be rushing to prepare, but they are not the ones that will be desperate in the uing battle.


    As it is, the realm of high heaven is three steps ahead of the Tyrant Realm. There is a blockade around the Tyrant Realm, so they cannot receive reinforcements from their immortals. Their divine ne has been destroyed, so there is no defense for the Tyrant Realm. Last but not least, the demon gods are ravaging the Tyrant realm. The Tyrant realm, on the other hand, is just about to make an active move on the High Heaven realm since the era of conquest began. They are also at a disadvantage since they will not be able to resurrect in the realm.


    Not only are they suppressed such that they can''t teleport around the high heaven realm or use world fragments, they also have to face an enemy that can continuously replenish their numbers. Anyone with any good sense can tell that the uing battle is a losing battle for them. All of these things have happened even before the two realms havepletely fused. When that happens, the dungeons will open. It is foreseeable that the High Heaven Realm will gain another advantage if the uing attack by the Tyrants on the realm fails. So if this attack fails, the high heaven realm will gain their seventh advantage, while the Tyrant realm will remain at zero. A normal person with all of this information can safely bet that the High Heaven Realm will win. A seer, on the other hand, can say with certainty that the High Heaven Realm will win. Soverick can see this, and so can many others. So it is understandable that no Origin god in the high heaven realm is afraid while the Tyrants are under a lot of pressure. The Tyrants have to break through the defense of the divine ne, enter the main ne, and use the dungeons to gain entry into their realm to reinforce it.


    This is what they have to do to turn the tide of defeat in this realm war. The Origin gods of the high heaven realm, on the other hand, only have to defend the divine ne. They have all of these advantages, but they only have one thing to do. They just can''t see how they will fail at it. As if the pressure of failure is not bad enough for the Tyrants, the repercussions of failure is also mounting pressure on them. They know that if they fail and the realm is destroyed, they will lose the support and guidance of the Will of the realm in their pursuit of the power of world gods.


    Those are the stakes here. It is not death for the losers, but it might mean eternal stagnation in their pursuit of power. Meanwhile, the origin gods of the High Heaven realm are looking forward to the battle so as to earn a lot of points before the era of conquest ends. One can imagine which side has the highest morale. This is the sixth advantage of setting the battlefield. Soon, the enemies could be seen appearing in the void of the realm of high heaven. The defenders are not working together as an army, but there is someonemanding them. That person is Mother High Heaven through the mission channel. Anyone can do anything, but it is best if they go along with her instructions. They will be able to earn higher contribution points that way. They also won''t have their contribution points deducted for ruining her ns if they follow her lead. Right now, the main instruction is to wait for the air fortresses to make their first move. The second instruction is for the air fortresses and their weapons to wait for invaders to get closer before shooting. So everyone was waiting. But things didn''t go their way. The invaders decided to take advantage of the greed of the defenders to secure some advantages for themselves.


    Some Origin gods had noticed that the enemies didn''t descend to fight immediately after they entered the realm. Instead, they stalled in the void just after the barrier of the realm doing something.

 Chapter 1608: Eke Out A Living.

    Chapter 1608: Eke Out A Living.


    ?


    Some Origin gods with better eye sight were able to see that the invaders were bringing out some objects, but not many knew what they wanted to do. However, Mother High Heaven knew what their enemies were up to, and she was not going to allow them toplete it.


    Her voice rang in the minds of the defenders with urgency, "They are trying to assemble weapons of mass destruction and fortresses in the void. Stop them!"


    The main instruction changed. The air fortresses were given permission to fire. The silence in the world was destroyed immediately as weapons opened fire. A rain of fire fell in reverse on the divine ne. It rose from the white ground to the ck sky.


    Fireworks appeared in the dark void of the realm. It didn''t matter if the enemies defended themselves or not; their positions were bombarded very quickly and repeatedly.


    The weapons of the Leviathans fired in measured cycles so that there was no downtime between the assaults. Every inch of the sky was always on fire at every point in time because of it. This bombardment didn''t stop at all. It continued for 4 months, nonstop.


    During the first week of bombardment, the enemies tried to evade and defend. But the bombardment only increased over time. Its quantity and area of attack increased as the various floating fortresses learned to work together and as more fortresses were built to join them.


    Mother High Heaven divided the void into sectors and assigned the various sectors to the variousmanders and fortresses. This maximized their firepower, so the enemies had to attack to defend themselves or retreat.


    They chose to retreat because they were not ready for battle yet. Unfortunately, staying in the void is also a waste of time. The seal on the realm is preventing the entry of weapons and artifacts into the ne.


    It is the same reason why the realm lord didn''t invade and attack the Tyrant Realm with his billions of world fragments on his own. They, too, can''t make a lot of machines and bring them into the realm to fight with.


    The attackers swore and grumbled, "This is too much. They already have so much advantage, and they are still being so miserly and greedy. They are not giving us any chance at all."


    They were very angry, so they swore andined a lot.


    They know that the defenders are doing the right thing by not giving them the opportunity to build weapons, but they have a right to be angry. This is because the High Heaven Realm has too much of an advantage.


    The fortresses and weapons they were trying to create in the high heaven realm are top grade artifacts at most. They can only harm Origin gods without Supreme Laws or world fragments. They are not like the death stars, which can harm Supreme Origin gods, and they can''t be because they can''t use anything like that under the suppression of the realm.


    So it was not as if they were building a game changer. They were only trying to eke out a living. But that is somehow too much to ask. Apparently, they have to fight and lose miserably. It is frustrating to think about.


    "Do they want us to throw ourselves at them without any defenses?"


    A voice said from below thew matrix, "Stopining. All is fair in war."


    That voice silencedints and grumbling. The invaders decided to be optimistic about the situation instead.


    "There''s nothing we can do. We can only sacrifice numbers for an advantage."


    "Let us get more Supreme Tyrants first so that we won''t be so helpless after we enter."


    Months went by with this stalemate. Then the Tyrants heard that the realms had fused, and Origin gods of the high heaven realm were using it to enter the Tyrant realm. This move made the blockade created by the world gods of the Tyrant realm around the Tyrant realm to stop invaders useless.


    Word also got to them that the demon gods are out of control in the Tyrant Realm due to the assistance of a ck energy that the Tyrants couldn''t get rid of. So the invaders had to push into the divine ne again.


    The invaders rushed into the High Heaven Realm again. But this time, they didn''t stop in the void. They were full of desperation and had a little confidence in their numbers. So they fell down to the divine ne like a tide, hoping to drown out the defenders.


    It is a good thing that all of them have increased their defenses, because what weed them were explosions.


    During the short break, the Origin gods of the High Heaven realm had gotten enough time to build a lot more massive weaponry in the air and on the ground. So their capacity for destruction had improved greatly. The cannons were like artillery. They rocked the sky and the earth of the divine ne with sounds of explosion.


    The invaders were swallowed up by fire and thunder as soon as they returned to the realm. Most of them survived it, though. The scene of them dying en masse didn''t happen. This is because the Supreme Origin gods were at the front, braving the firepower of the cannons.


    They used their Supreme Laws to form argework of barriers to protect the bulk of the army. This way, they were able to descend without much damage to their forces. They even had enough peace to start piecing together their own cannons.


    The eyes of the clones narrowed when they saw thiswork of barriers. They saw a shadow of the seal of the gate of heaven in it. It reminded them of how many Supreme Powers were made to work together to seal the gate of heaven.


    The major differences between them are that the Supreme Powers working together are not up to 100,000, and there is norge realm structure like the divine ne to support thework of barriers and cushion blows for it.


    A/N: This bonus chapter is for Jebus.

 Chapter 1609: Special Tyrants.

    Chapter 1609: Special Tyrants.


    ?


    Soverick observed solemnly, "So it is an innate ability. It is not something they achieved with the help of the divine ne."


    Legion-5 said, "The Tyrant race is truly impressive. They can boost each other with their


    Supreme Laws. Even paragons can''t do this as Origin gods. Could it be because they are paragons of both the living and the dead?"


    The barrier they can see now pales inparison to the one Aeternus corrupted and defeated. It is because the Tyrants didn''t have enough time to set it up, and they don''t have the support of a massive structure like the divine ne.


    All of these make it so that they can''t offset the damage to the divine ne. They have to bear it themselves, which means they can''t heal the damage quickly enough.


    Even so, it is still impressive that the Tyrant race can create something like this. Each Supreme Law is working together with the ones close to it instead of pushing them aside in a bid for supremacy.


    It is beautiful to look at, and it reminds them of how they built thew matrix of the world fragment. But what they did can''tpare to what they are seeing. In fact, they have never seen or heard anyone capable of doing something like this.


    Paragons usually lose their POWER stat because mortals can''t enhance immortals, and immortals can''t enhance each other since their concepts will reject each other when they interact.


    Even Origin artifacts, which are the body parts of immortals, arergely useless to Origin gods. Only something like a Supreme Law or a world fragment can enhance an Origin god. But both of those two can''t enhance each other either.


    But the Tyrants are evidently not part of this rule. Even Tyrants with concepts can work together and enhance each other instead of trying to eliminate each other. Their Supreme Tyrants can extend this corperation between them to create a barrier that protects the weaker ones behind them.


    Legion can only attribute it to a type of spiritual connection between paragons who gain power from both the living and the dead.


    Legion-7 said, "They are many, but each one enhances the other, so all of them gain power from the presence of each other. It is not a shame that the Tyrant Realm fell to them."


    Talking and admiring the view is one thing. It didn''t stop Legion from trying to demolish the seal too. They did both of them with a critical eye, ensuring to spot the weaknesses in the barrier, admire it, and then exploit it for the glory of high heaven.


    The barrier rendered any top-grade artifact or weapon that couldn''t harm Supreme Origin gods. Only powerful weapons with Supreme Powers could put a dent in the barrier. But it was only that. The best they could do was put a dent in the barrier. They couldn''t break it.


    This didn''t mean the barrier was unbreakable. Far from it. It had ring weaknesses that were obvious to Legion and some other Origin gods. Those who could see these weaknesses took advantage of them quickly.


    The barrier was like aw matrix. It connected nodes of Supreme Power. It could block most of the attacks because it could redirect all of its defensive power to any part of the barrier that needed it. But this made certain areas of thew matrix weaker.


    Thew matrix had finite defensive resources. By redistricting these resources, it made it difficult to be overwhelmed as a whole. The weaknesses it created, on the other hand, would have been harmless if they weren''t spotted. But not only did Legion spot them, they even told Mother High Heaven about them.


    Mother High Heaven was not helpless without the information they provided. She had begun to order 90% of the firepower to be directed toward a single spot. This caused thew matrix to resist, which caused every other area to be weakened. The remaining 10% were then able to capitalize on this weakness.


    This tactic made the barrier predictable, but it wasn''t as effective as Legion''s constant snitching. With Legion-1''s assistance, the remaining 10% could be directed toward a single spot of weakness instead of targeting some random area. This increased the effectiveness of the tactic by 100%.


    Legion''s death stars and many other Supreme Weapons directed their shots to areas of vulnerability. This created holes in the barrier for the normal artillery to take advantage of. So even top grade weapons that couldn''t affect the barrier were put to use to destroy the things behind it.


    As if that wasn''t bad enough, the barrier tried to seal the holes that were created by redirecting its power to it. This seeded, but came at the cost of ignoring the 90% firepower fixated at a certain spot. It didn''te as a surprise when another hole was created in the barrier.


    Legion made it so that once a hole was created in the barrier, the usefulness of the barrier was halved. But this didn''t destroy the barrier, and its usefulness was not halved. It was still able to protect therge majority of forces behind it simply by the virtue that it had limited what could be damaged to the holes.


    So Legion shifted their targets to the Supreme Tyrants that made the barrier. They began trying to make the holes appear in front of the nodes so that they could destroy them when they became vulnerable.


    This worked very well, but it was slow-going. Holes were created and repaired in a cycle. A Supreme Tyrant was sessfully eliminated in some cycles, and in some, the holes missed them, so they had to start all over again.


    This tactic slowed down the invaders, regardless of its sess or failure. This is because they had to move at the same pace and maintain the same rtive distance between each other to keep the integrity of their barrier intact.


    In the case when a hole was created, they had to stop to let it mend. This drawback made their situation worse.

 Chapter 1610: A Massacre.

    Chapter 1610: A Massacre.


    ?


    Since the holes were constantly being created, the procession became stalled. They became a literal sitting target for the invaders to fire at. They couldn''t move or do anything, so they could only watch as their defensive tactic came undone.


    Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, they didn''t have to wait too long. The Supreme Tyrants were 64,000 in number, and they needed about 100,000 cycles to eliminate half of their numbers. Each cycle was a second, so high heaven needed just 28 hours to destroy 50% of the structural integrity of the barrier.


    But by that time, the resources avable for the barrier had be too few to block a concentrated attack at a single spot. So the Origin gods of high heaven didn''t need to scheme for vulnerabilities anymore. They just targeted each Supreme Tyrant in turn and turned them to ashes.


    This shortened the time the Supreme Tyrants had to endure the humiliation of defeat. They could finally withdraw their Supreme Powers and focus them on themselves. Then they shot downward to fight it out with the defenders of the divine ne.


    Most of them were shot down from the sky. Legion in particr, managed to get a few of them. They did this by concentrating the firepower of their death stars from different parts of the battlefield on a single target.


    So firepower from different ces all converged on a single Supreme Tyrant. This wasn''t weird as many others were doing the same thing. They just weren''t as coordinated as Legion.


    But some Supreme Tyrants managed to reach the barrier of the floating fortresses. They began working at destroying it, which made them sitting targets.


    The two armies had finally met. The fight went from a side passively taking a beating to both sides exchanging attacks and defending themselves. This increased the brutality of the fight. But most of the increase in brutality fell on the Tyrants because thend fortresses could finally fire.


    Thend fortresses had been waiting for a long time and were very prepared. All they needed was Mother High Heaven''s permission to let loose. With the Tyrants battling the floating fortresses, they hade close enough for thend fortresses to take shots at them too. Their attacks passed through the barriers and struck the Tyrants trying to break them.


    The twoyers of offensive were finally put to work. This increased the pressure on the invaders by three times. What''s worse is that they don''t have a barrier to help them weather through it. They were overwhelmed very quickly.


    It was messy, but clean. There wasn''t even blood because the heat of the explosions burned everything. Explosions reaped their lives one after another, and there was no body left to


    mourn.


    In fact, any body, intact or not, was not spared. This is because an Origin god is still alive as long as they have a body. They had to be destroyedpletely for one to be certain of their deaths.


    The invaders were dying in droves. It didn''t make any difference that they had seeded in building some artillery to assist them. Their impoverished firepower support didn''t affect the overall situation at all.


    The barrier created by the air fortresses couldn''t be broken, but even if they managed to, they still had to break the divine ne and gain ess to the high heaven realm below.


    Then they probably have to fight the Origin gods situated below, guarding the dungeons, before they can gain ess to the Tyrant Realm. The demon gods and Origin gods of high heaven realm there will fight them too.


    They have to do these four things before their numbers run out. And it is only for a chance to turn the situation around from certain loss to probable loss in the era of conquest.


    -The Abyss of The Tyrant Realm


    News had finally reached the abyss of the happenings in the realm. Things could no longer be hidden from them. The broken divine ne and the spreading oceans of demon gods in the realm clued even the densest demon into the bad situation of the Tyrant realm.


    The demons were roaring in excitement. They had long been suppressed by the Tyrants and can use this opportunity to get revenge. Even the demon gods were full of excitement. But more than that, they were already preparing to join in the fun.


    First, they had to have a meeting about what they would do about thend of hope.


    GREED was emotional. It said in awe, "Those demon gods from the high heaven realm are truly powerful. Look at what they have achieved in a short amount of time."


    LIES also felt a slight fear. But it is only slight. Most of its emotion is joy. It said, "It is a good thing that demon gods can''t eat each other, or I wouldn''t feel safe at all."


    GREED said, "We shouldn''t be so sure yet. The fact that we didn''t have any demon kings of kings doesn''t mean they didn''t."


    LIES scoffed and said, "Don''t try to scare me. Surely they would be smart enough to know to kill any demon king of kings before it grows."


    GREEDughed at its joke. "I bet they did. I bet they did."


    LIES changed the subject. "I am certain that the Tyrant Realm is doomed because of them. What do we do about thend of hope?" GREED replied, "It will be gone when the realm ends, so we should take full advantage of it before then. I suggest we eat all the livestock before we go and join the feast going on in the realm."


    LIES asked, "That''s a good idea. But how do we share it?"


    GREED almost blew its top as it asked, "What do you mean, ''how do we share it?'' We have to share it 60-40, ording to our agreement. I''ll take 60%, and you take 40%. I will fight you now if you dare to try anything funny."

 Chapter 1611: A Special Mission For Aeternus.

    Chapter 1611: A Special Mission For Aeternus.


    ?


    GREED actually inted as it gathered itself for battle. Its green waters began to shimmer and glow ominously.


    It was LIES''s turn tough. It said, "Fine. Fine. I was only joking. You take 60%. I will take 40%."


    GREED deted before saying, "That was not funny at all. You were insulting me."


    LIES was indeed insulting the demon god of greed, but it is never going to admit that, so it changed the subject. It asked, "When are you leaving?"


    GREED scoffed before replying, "I''m leaving immediately after we are done with this meeting and the looting. I can''t wait anymore. I have to earn some merit for sabotaging the realm."


    LIES then asked quietly, as if afraid its words would somehow leak to the target of discussion. "What about the god? We just can''t leave it be, right?"


    GREED considered the question. "That stupid god? It was a waste of time to count on him. His n to spread his religion didn''t work at all."


    LIES shrugged, "You can''t really me him. No one expected the demon gods of the other realm to turn the Tyrant realm upside down. He can''t spread any religion when the whole realm is infected by demon gods."


    GREED insisted, "I want to me him, so I will. Look at him at peace with himself, just strolling around the abyss as if he were on vacation. He wasted my time, and I feel so bad. But he doesn''t feel bad at all that he failed. At least he doesn''t show it. One might wonder if I am the one who wants the religion or the god."


    LIES suggested, "How about this? Let''s both attack him. Whoever kills him will get him. The other will have to work to sabotage the realm."


    GREED agreed, "That''s a good idea. Let''s go now."


    So they agreed to fight the god together and get rid of it. This is not a decision that was made in the moment. Both GREED and LIES are prepared to fight the god and then fight each other.


    They have made a lot of preparations to ensure their victory. So both are confident in themselves. What''s even better is that the god in question came to them immediately after they were done discussing his fate.


    The two demon gods thought to themselves, "It is like food falling from the heavens into my waiting mouth."


    Then they grinned at each other as if sharing an inside joke. But they also secretly thought, "Then I will get rid of this fool after it has been weakened by the battle."


    They may be working together, but only before they try to attack each other. Their terms of cooperation are clear, but there''s no way one of them is going to give up on the god, even if they fail to kill it.


    GREED greeted the guest enthusiastically and said, "Wee, my friend."


    The Tree Father said to them, "I am amazed you two could show restraint for so long. I expected that one of you would try to attack me earlier, but none of you did."


    LIES felt besmirched. "What are you talking about? We would never attack a guest."


    GREED joined in too. "What kind of demons do you take us for?"


    They said this while moving closer to their target. Both of them had nked the seemingly ignorant god who dared to show his appetizing body in front of demon gods.


    The Tree Father said to them, "It is your good luck that you didn''t attack me alone. It is also your bad luck that you waited for me to be sure that there isn''t a third demon god here before we make our move."


    The two demon gods didn''t understand what he was saying, but they understood that something wasn''t right when a certain dark being appeared beside the Tree Father.


    "Is that a Supreme Tyrant?" LIES asked.


    Tyrants have dark skin, hence the question. But they soon realized that this wasn''t a Tyrant when they felt its aura. It was not an aura of perfection. It felt more like the aura of a demon, but much worse.


    In a weird way, this dark being reminded them of the god of life, but in a dark way. They both don''t have a Supreme Law. But one feels harmless while the other is making danger rms ring within their heads.


    The threat was clear to the two demon gods. They didn''t waste time at all and attacked. GREED''s attack was direct. It struck with a whip of green energy as it moved closer to bound the strange creature. LIES also attacked, but from a distance. It shot what appeared to be bullets of energy at Aeternus.


    Aeternus could have avoided the attack. In fact, he could have attacked first. But he waited for them to attack him first. He didn''t even need to speak to goad them into attacking him. His mere presence was threatening enough. So they attacked him, which changed their identity from possible allies to enemies.


    A mission from Mother High Heaven appeared, instructing him to kill the two demon gods as soon as he was struck by their attacks. Aeternus smiled when he saw it. It was going to be his pleasure toplete the mission.


    The two demons had been surprised when their target stood still and let them attack him. Their surprise turned to dread when their attacks sank into his existence and was devoured.


    They became certain that they had never seen anything like him when Aeternus attacked. Several bolts of Chaos energy shot at them while several ck giant avatars appeared around


    Aeternus.


    There was no Supreme Law in his attacks. Only the pure power of Chaos. The two demon gods finally realized why they felt so threatened by him. But even then, they couldn''t understand what he was because demon gods created from demon kings of kings should have Supreme Laws. It should just be warped, and such demon god eaters should be mad.

 Chapter 1612: Plan For The Abyss.

    Chapter 1612: n For The Abyss.


    ?


    LIES and GREED defended the attack. They seeded in defending themselves to a certain extent, but they lost energy to the corruption of Chaos when they made contact with each other.


    LIES asked in agitation, "What sort of creature are you? Are you a world ender?"


    This is the second time it has asked this type of question in a couple of months. The Tree Father has indeed brought many surprises to them.


    The Tree Father didn''t attack. He said to both sides, "It seems you have everything handled. Have fun."


    Then he went back to thend of hope to assimte it.


    The demon gods were surprised by the attack, and were further outmatched by the power behind them. Aeternus could fight and kill many of PRIDE''s clones. That was when he had just be a new demonic spark. Now he has grown stronger over the years. These two are not nearly enough to threaten him. They are not even enough to escape from him.


    They understood that fact very soon. Which is why they tried other means of survival. LIES asked, "Why are you fighting us? Is it the god that you want? You can have him." GREED also suggested, "You can also have thend of hope."


    They have never met this demon god, but they know of him. They know him now to be the demon god from the other realm that broke the divine ne. They have never met him, but they have seen his work. The same inextinguishable ck energy that is troubling the Tyrants is the one troubling them now.


    He is strong. That much is clear, so they do not want to be his enemies. Which is why they want to negotiate their safety with him. A normal demon god wouldn''t listen to them at all. But demon god eaters are mad. Their Supreme Law and their good sense have be twisted from eating other demon gods, so they should have a shot at fooling him.


    But Aeternus didn''t reply. He had them surrounded by his avatars and ripped them apart little by little. It was especially pleasurable to do it knowing that he would earn contribution points for it too.


    The only reason these two had lived until now was because they didn''t try to attack the Tree Father and because he was busy messing up the Tyrant realm. If they hadn''t made ns to kill the Tree Father, then the Tree Father wouldn''t have noticed danger in his future.


    The Tree Father wouldn''t have sensed the danger ande here soon after so that they could fight far away from the first abyssal ne. After all, the Tree Father doesn''t want harm toe to the abyssal ne he is about to assimte.


    GREED cursed him, "You won''t get away with this."


    Aeternus finally spoke. "Don''t worry. I don''t intend to leave. You cane at me again." Aeternus submerged the two of them in Chaos energy. He ripped away their power from their existence and destroyed them little by little. Their power nourished him, while their Supreme Law nourished his demonic spark and increased the power of his Chaos energy.


    This is just the start of what they have nned for the abyss of this realm.


    The Tree Father said to him after he was done, "I''m about to start. Guard me."


    Aeternus nodded and entered his previously hidden state. Unlike other demon gods, he hasn''t fused with his mark of sin. It means he can''t use it for more than corrosion, but it also means he can seal himself off and therefore hide his aura from the world.


    All he had to do was retract his energy from the world. Then use Legion-1''s spatial maniption to warp space around himself. He hid within theyers of space, so he couldn''t be seen or sensed. Then he began to wander around the first abyssal ne to prevent anyone from interfering.


    The first thing he did was get rid of the demon kings. They are of no threat to either of them, but they can interfere with what is about to happen, and Legion can''t have that.


    The Tree Father stood in the sky above the first abyssal ne while waiting for the demon kings to be killed. Then his figure broke apart to reveal his core. His core is a white sphere surrounding a multicolored core. His body formed into a ring of white fire around his core. This is the true form of a divine spark.


    Next, he exerted a pull on the whole abyssal ne. He has spent months here, so he is very familiar with the structure and the center of gravity of the first abyssal ne. He has also made calctions about the kind of power required to uproot the whole abyssal ne without breaking it.


    This is his true mission in the abyss. His proposal to spread his religion had always been a guise he wore to hide his true intentions. He came for the abyss itself.


    His calctions reveal that it will require a lot of energy and power. Most importantly, he has to be careful when refining the abyssal ne. It might break if he isn''t careful with the extraction or if someone interferes.


    What he is about to do is momentous and probably unprecedented in the history of both realms. He couldn''t make his goal clear to anyone watching, or they would try to stop him. This is especially true with the Supreme Alliance at their heel. Now it is almost toote for anyone to stop him.


    The abyssal ne began to tremble gently at first. The cid purple sea of energy on its surface was also rippling. This ripple traveled from the first abyssal ne to every other


    ne.


    The demon lords and demon kings in the abyss sensed the vibrations and were curious. They investigated, all to no avail. This is because they died as soon as they got close to the first abyssal ne.


    It was only when the first abyssal ne rose beyond the boundary of the abyss that they realized what was happening. Soon, word spread throughout the abyss that someone was stealing the first abyssal ne.

 Chapter 1613: Making Do With Whats Available.

    Chapter 1613: Making Do With What''s Avable.


    ?


    The demons are wrong, of course. The Tree Father is not just stealing the first abyssal ne. He is refining it into his core, and he will do more. They can be forgiven for that mistake because there''s little difference between what he is doing and what they im he is doing for now.


    But they are wrong about his ns for the abyss. He doesn''t n to refine just the first abyssal ne. He ns to refine the whole abyss. That way, his world forge will be very strong. So not only is he stealing the first abyssal ne, he ns to steal every ne in the abyss too.


    As a divine spark, his future is to be a world forge. He needs three things to achieve that. He needs a lot of cosmic energy, a world engine, and a world forge. When he has all three, his divine spark will light the spark in the forge, kickstart the world engine to power the world forge, fuse the two of them together with cosmic energy, and then he will be a maker of worlds.


    A world forge is a phantasmic structure created with refinedyers of space, energy, and matter. The best thing to use to create a world forge will be a lot of world fragments. Each world fragment he uses will make eachyer of his world forge very powerful because of the world engine the world fragments possess.


    The next best thing are divine nes. Divine nes don''t have world engines, but they have the Authority of the Celestial Supreme. That is practically a substitute for world engines, so it will do as the second best. The third best are abyssal nes. Even ordinary nes are better


    than abyssal nes since they have life crystals.


    Unfortunately, World fragments are expensive and not avable for him to use. There are only two divine nes that are avable to him, but he can''t have one while Aeternus has destroyed the other. He also can''t have any ns since they have either been infected by demon gods or can''t be stolen for fear of Mother High Heaven.


    This leaves the abyss for him to use. So he didn''t target the abyss because he was being choosy. He targeted it because he had no choice. This is the best he couldy his hands on.


    The first abyssal ne was soon lifted up into the sky. It was done slowly and carefully, so it was still intact. The white barrier around his core expanded rapidly. It pushed the ring of white fire away, so the ring also expanded. The white barrier expanded until it covered the first abyssal ne. Then it fused with it and began shrinking.


    The first abyssal ne resisted the shrinking, so the ring of fire got to work on it. The ring of fire turned into a sphere that surrounded the white barrier and the first abyssal ne. The whole ne was then refined spiritually into ayer of the world forge.


    Everything on the ne, including the people on it, was burned to death. Their souls were converted to divinity, which was used to enchant the refining process.


    The resistance of the ne reduced, so it shrank slowly back to the multicolored orb at the center. It was refined into a ring of metal etched with runes of power. It became the first part of an artifact that will be used to forge worlds in the future.


    This is all good for Legion, but more good things came along. The demons don''t like intruders in the first ce. They don''t like intruders that are stealing from them even more.


    Many demon kings didn''t care about the theft, despite their hatred for intruders. They knew it was just a matter of time before the abyss was destroyed, and there''s nothing to gain by stopping someone who''s doing just that.


    The Tree Father is only doing something the era of conquest will do to the abyss. So the demon kings were more interested in going to the Tyrant realm to wreck destruction and carnage before they ran out of time to do that. That will bring them tangible benefits. If they hadn''t heard about the perpetrator being a god, none of them would have taken a step to interfere in the theft.


    Apparently, some of the demon kings who had been on the first abyssal ne when the Tree Father came had spread word about the presence of a god. Not many believed it until they saw the culprit of the theft.


    They heard it was a god that LIES and GREED had been hiding, so they came running. Even the ones who were cautious enough to ask the question, "Where are LIES and GREED?" couldn''t ovee their resistance to something that could make them world enders. So they came in droves to their deaths.


    None of them could get close to the god at all. Something was always cutting them off. The demon kings and demon gods didn''t know that the god''s act of stealing the abyss was bait for them.


    Aeternus wanted to eat all the demon gods, but he couldn''t go hunting after them because he didn''t know where they were. Even Soverick''s prediction couldn''t find them reliably because of their Supreme Law, their chaotic nature, and the vast amount of energy that they carry. It was better to do something to attract them.


    Their n worked. Many demon gods came around to check out this god. They came to feed themselves to the waiting jaws of Chaos. This streak of unfortunate deaths didn''t discourage the demon gods at first. The flesh of a god was that enticing.


    Plus, there were certain demon gods that kept fanning the mes in the background. They instructed some demon kings to release certain enticing information about the god so that many other demon gods would encounter the cmity that they experienced.


    Aeternus ate and ate. He ate as many demon gods came looking for trouble. The only demon god that didn''t suffer was GREED from the high heaven realm. He took a look at Aeternus and ran away.

 Chapter 1614: A Secret.

    Chapter 1614: A Secret.


    ?


    Not even the temptation of the Tree Father could make GREED stay. It prioritized its life above its GREED immediately it saw Aeternus.


    GREED had heard a lot about Aeternus, so it didn''t bother to fight when it confirmed what it heard through its sight. As they say, seeing is believing. It believed that it would die, so it ran.


    Aeternus ate demon gods, while the Tree Father refined abyssal nes. Unlike the high heaven realm, the abyss of the Tyrant realm has fewer abyssal nes. Even so, there were more than 666 abyssal nes, as that is the minimum for the abyss. That means it will take a long time for him to refine them.


    The first abyssal ne had cost him six months of time to inspect and analyze before the refinement. At that rate, the remaining 700 of them will cost him 350 years to refine. It is a long time, but he can''tin. After all, he is growing stronger by doing it.


    Even Aeternus is growing stronger with every demon he kills. Demons weaker than demon kings can''t nourish him much. But each demon possesses a mark of sin. That is the same number of marks that he has.


    No matter how powerful a demon is, they will have the same number of marks of sin as a fledgling. They will have just one. Within that single mark of sin is the potential to be a demon god.


    By stealing their marks of sin and sacrificing them to the crown of dominion, he can strengthen his own mark of sin significantly. It is the same thing that demon gods are supposed to do when their capacity besrge enough. They will steal every mark of sin from demons with their sin. Then they will use the potential in all of them to evolve into world enders.


    He doesn''t have the capacity yet, and his mark of sin doesn''t have the authority to pull the other marks to himself. But he can take those marks for himself by killing their wielders. And through the crown of dominion, he can achieve what he can''t do himself.


    Plus, he is not constrained by the demons of a particr sin. He can sacrifice every type of demon to his mark of Chaos. This way, his mark of sin increased in power by more than a thousand times. It was even changing within him. Legion was full of expectations for what it would bring forth.


    The two clones let loose in the abyss without worry that the realm lord will be angry with them. They were even getting paid for their good work.


    -GREED.


    This demon god of the sin of greed from the high heaven realm took one look at Aeternus and turned around immediately. It forgot that it had promised to kill Aeternus whenever it had the chance and remembered that it should be somewhere else. But would Aeternus let it go? Not easily.


    Aeternus chased after it and took away half of its body before it escaped. He seeded because he aimed for the speed of light immediately he began chasing. He didn''t think about the energy costs at all.


    GREED, on the other hand, didn''t think he would be so determined and wasn''t willing to burn so much energy because the faster it pushed itself, the more energy it would have to spend.


    So GREED was moving at a faster, but albeit conservative, speed for energy efficiency. Meanwhile, Aeternus was zing after it right from the start. By the time GREED realized what was wrong, it was toote to elerate fast enough to escape.


    Plus, the Supreme Law of GREED is not good at speed, so even though it can reach the speed of light, its eleration is slower than that of someone like LUST and PRIDE. Aeternus caught up to it and gave it a nice beating.


    GREED finally realized just how terrifying Aeternus was. It had to sacrifice half of its body to escape. It divided its body into two and ran in different directions. This weakened it, but it allowed it to escape.


    Things would have gone worse had it gotten entangled with Aeternus, but it still wasn''t happy. Fortunately, it knew a secret that kept it positive.


    It thought to itself, "Just wait. You will regret this soon."


    It decided to be patient in the meantime and schedule revenge for the future. In the meantime, it made its way to the main ne of the Tyrant Realm. It is there that it is going to y its part as a traitor in this war. It is going to meet the Tyrants and offer them council on how to defeat their enemies.


    The Tyrant Realm has been thrown upside down and is being ravaged. But ironically enough, the bulk of the power of the Tyrants is still preserved.


    The divine ne might be gone, the abyss might be on its way to destruction, 97% of the main ne might have fallen under the control of demon gods, and billions of tyrants have died, but the 100,000 Supreme Tyrants are still alive. Most importantly, the Tyrant realm hasn''t lost yet.


    These 100,000 Supreme Tyrants with Supreme Power can still turn things around if they get the right information and the right tools. They don''t have those things, but a traitor will be able to give them inside information and might be able to help them acquire the right tools to strive for victory.


    GREED hade up with a n that might help the Tyrants not only stop the demon gods but also manage to push them back. The Tyrants will be able to reim part of their lostnd, if not all. But first, it has to convince them that it is not a spy for the High Heaven Realm.


    GREED was surrounded by 10 Supreme Tyrants when it got to the meeting point. It didn''t appear like a meeting at all. It looked more like an ambush.

 Chapter 1615: Stubborn GREED.

    Chapter 1615: Stubborn GREED.


    ?


    Things would have looked more dire had the remaining thousands of Supreme Tyrantse to surround GREED. Unfortunately, they couldn''t alle here for this meeting. They have a realm to save, and this was all they could spare.


    One of them said to GREED with a tone that brooked no rejection, "Prove to us that you are not a spy for your realm."


    Another one joined in, "Yes. Swear an oath, or you are not going to leave this ce at all."


    GREED would have rolled its eyes if it had them. It didn''t have them, so it made sure to express its disdain as it spoke. "Don''t bother to threaten me. This is just my clone, and the only thing you can do to it is to destroy it. If I were a spy, then your threats would mean nothing to me. I am not a spy, and it still doesn''t mean anything to me."


    "We are not stupid. We know that the threats we make can''t actually threaten you. If not for LUST, we wouldn''t have bothered to meet you at all. But we have met you, and so we must receive a token of sincerity from you. It may not threaten your life, but we will still go through with our threats if you don''t give us that token."


    GREED said stubbornly, "Don''t bother to ask for an oath. I won''t make it, no matter what. I refused to swear one in my realm. That''s why I am here speaking with you."


    A Supreme Tyrant insisted, "That''s your realm. The Tyrant Realm is different. We must get the oath from you, or your clone is gone."


    GREED sneered and said, "You must have some information about the actions of our realm lord to stamp out betrayal in the realm. You must know that those actions are why the demon gods of my realm attacked the Tyrant Realm en masse and so enthusiastically. I will tell you now that I didn''t take the oath the other demon gods took. I can swear on that. I will also tell you that I was the odd one out in the whole high heaven realm, including its abyss. And yet they couldn''t do anything to me. If I was able to survive in the high heaven realm after turning my back on them, what do you think you can do to me?"


    GREED''s words lessened their wariness of it. But only a little. The Supreme Tyrants were not stupid. They noticed something amiss in what it said.


    "It is true that killing this clone will do little to you, but we still insist on doing it anyway. Your oath to prove you didn''t swear the oath of other demon gods will not change our stance on that. You might have sworn other oaths, for all we know."


    GREED shrugged mentally and said boldly, "Maybe I have. Maybe I haven''t. You will have no way to know because I will never swear an oath to never betray you. I want the freedom to be able to betray you, and nothing will change that."


    The Supreme Tyrants did not like the sound of that. "It seems we have decided. We must destroy your clone."


    GREED didn''t back down. "Indeed, we have. But before you destroy this clone, listen to what I have to say. You can choose to follow it or not. If you follow it, then my n to sabotage the High Heaven Realm would have worked. If not, then I would have sacrificed this clone for nothing."


    The Supreme Tyrantsmunicated amongst themselves before speaking. They know of the quest given to the demons to sabotage their realms in the era of conquest. It made them want to consider what GREED has to say.


    So they said, "Go ahead."


    GREED wasn''t surprised by their answer. They could have attacked it instead of arguing amongst themselves about whether to allow it to speak or not. It is clear to GREED that they are desperate and open to any suggestion or assistance. They just want to be sure it is not a spy.


    Even if they had disagreed, it would still have said what it wanted to say before this clone was destroyed. Their permission has only made things easier and the Tyrants more receptive to what it has to say. After all, they could have blocked out its words if they didn''t give it permission and if they didn''t want to listen. That''s extreme but possible. If it had happened, then its n would be less effective.


    So GREED said, "If the Tyrants are to turn the situation around, then they must have the willingness to sacrifice themselves for the realm. They must be willing to unite and consolidate their power."


    A Supreme Tyrant asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"


    "What do I mean?" GREED asked with mirth. "Surely you jest. You must know what I mean. Why are you asking as if I have suggested something never heard before?"


    The Supreme Tyrant who asked became angry. It said, "Don''t speak in riddles. Say what you want to say clearly. We are already consolidating our strength. What more can we do?"


    GREED replied, "Now you are just acting stupid."


    The angry Supreme Tyrant attacked GREED, but it was blocked by the others.


    They cated it, "Hold on. Let it speak. You will have your chance soon."


    GREEDughed but decided to be straightforward. It said, "I am speaking of the Taboo, which must not be spoken."


    The Supreme Tyrants bristled visibly. Especially the angry one. It couldn''t contain its anger at all. But it was restrained so it could only point at GREED and screech in anger, "You dare to


    speak of it?"


    GREED continued without care, "This situation is different from other times when someone has tried to attempt it. A lot of you are connected to the realm right now in a way you have never had. If all of you Supreme Tyrants perform the Taboo, then you will surely be able to acquire the strength of a world god within the realm. No one will be able to stop you then."

 Chapter 1616: Mad And Desperate.

    Chapter 1616: Mad And Desperate.


    ?


    The Tyrants were quiet as they considered that suggestion. But the angry one became the voice of reason. It asked, "How did you know about the secret Taboo if you are not a spy?"


    GREED asked in return, "How do I know about the one thing that is Taboo for the Tyrant race? Every demon god knows it. Or have you forgotten that they invaded your people and thend they dwell on? All the knowledge and secrets of your race have beenid bare to the world. Even though very few Tyrants know what the true Taboo entails, it is not difficult to ask around. I was smart enough to do that ande to you to suggest it."


    "And stop using me of being a spy already. You have nothing to hide, and you are losing here. It is not even close. You will definitely lose. What does the high heaven realm need a spy for when the oue of this realm war is so clear to see? Besides, you have already determined to destroy my clone. It doesn''t matter if I am a spy or not. Just shut up and listen."


    The Supreme Tyrant actually sagged and wailed. It was crying and bawling its eyes out. It kept muttering, "Look at how low we have fallen. We don''t even deserve to be spied on."


    GREED sneered while the other Supreme Tyrants tried to console him.


    It is a serious matter for a Tyrant to cry. They don''t usually cry at all. Not even death can make them cry. It is because they don''t feel pain. But this time, something seemed to have broken through the mental defenses of the Tyrant to make it cry. The other Tyrants didn''t make fun of it like they usually would. They were all sad, too.


    GREED couldn''t take it anymore. It said, "Hello. I have ces to be. Just kill me if we are done here."


    A Tyrant said, "The Taboo might not be a bad idea."


    Another Supreme Tyrant spoke. It said, "We must be mad to consider it."


    Someone interjected, "Or desperate."


    Another one added, "We are desperate and mad."


    GREED interrupted them, "Either way, you have no choice, and you must know it. You are failing to keep your realm intact. The reinforcements you are expecting are failing to break through the high heaven realm. More enemies are invading the realm by the day. You are losing, and you know it. Everyone knows it. This move will grant you victory, so you must do it."


    The Supreme Tyrant who was first angry and then sad, became angry again. It said, "That is enough from you. We don''t want to hear about our dire circumstances from you. We have not fallen so low as to want advice from a demon."


    GREED retorted, "And yet, here we are. It is not about what you want. It is about what you need. You need to hear me say it, and you need to perform the Taboo. Only when things have gone your way can you afford to get whatever you want."


    One of them asked GREED sternly, "Do you have anything more to say?"


    The other Supreme Tyrants tightened their posture around the demon god, waiting for its


    answer.


    GREED replied confidently, as if it didn''t see their actions, "No. That is all I have to say." The angry Supreme Tyrant said, "Good."


    And they attacked GREED together. GREED burned all its energy for one attack against a Supreme Tyrant. It managed to break through its defense and kill it with a single strike. It didn''t bother to try and use it as a node to infect the realm. It didn''t have any more energy to do that. For the first time, GREED was content with a single thing.


    The death of this Supreme Tyrant was the first of its kind throughout the era of conquest. The other demon gods hadn''t been willing to sacrifice the energy required to kill them. They had been content with using energy to withstand their attacks rather than consuming a massive amount of it to kill a single Supreme Tyrant.


    Who would have thought that the most miserly demon god would be the one to make the sacrifice to kill a Supreme Tyrant? It was out of ce, and it certainly caught the Tyrants off guard. Most importantly, it reminded them that the option of the Taboo might not be their saving grace forever.


    Maybe they thought they could always execute the Taboo any time they wanted. Maybe they were waiting to be more desperate before taking such drastic actions. But now, they have lost one of them.


    The power they will gain from 99,999 Supreme Tyrants executing the Taboo will obviously be less than what they would have gained had they used 100,000. This power will continue to decrease as more of them die. Then the Taboo will be a desperate action that might not save them instead of being their saving grace and trump card.


    So the death of the Supreme Tyrant put pressure on them to make a decision quickly. At the very least, they stopped being reckless with their lives. After all, they are not true immortals.


    If not for their close affinity with the realm through their divine ability and the title that the realm granted them, they wouldn''t have the power of Supreme Origin gods. Now that their mortality has been exposed, they have to cherish their lives and theirst cards more. GREED, on the other hand, hadpleted its mission. It had to sacrifice a clone, but it was already prepared for it. That''s why it didn''t care that Aeternus took half of the clone.


    The half that Aeternus took could subdue a ne. So it was asrge as CARNAGE''s clone that covered the whole Lumen ne. But GREED didn''t feel the pain. After all, it was going to lose everything after the meeting. If there is a detriment, it is that it didn''t manage to kill more than one Supreme Tyrant because of the energy it lost to Aeternus.


    A/N: Bonus chapter for 1400 power stones voting goal.

 Chapter 1617: The Giant Black Elephant.

    Chapter 1617: The Giant ck Elephant.


    ?


    -The Demon''s Dilemma.


    The demons of the high heaven realm were having a party in the Tyrant Realm. They had everything they needed to have a party. They had a joyful matter to celebrate, food and drinks to celebrate with, and arge, prime peace of meat to bed all day long.


    What could stop them from celebrating? Nothing apparently. They have been partying for years now. It has been about 50 years since they began partying. One can imagine just how big this party is. But whatever one imagines will fall short because this is a grand party that the demons have no intention of stopping for the next thousand years.


    The demons of Tyrant Realm, on the other hand, are not so cheerful. At least not the demon gods. For the demon kings and the rest, the era of conquest wasn''t going to turn out well for them, regardless of the oue. They would lose outpletely. The demon gods, however, will have a chance to be world enders.


    Only one of them will gain this chance, and that demon god will be the one with the highest contribution towards the loss of the realm. So what the demon gods should do is clear. They ought to sabotage the Tyrant Realm, and there is a good opportunity to do so. They can join the party going on in the realm and make a lot of contributions to the destruction of the realm.


    They will enjoy themselves at the party while working towards bing world enders. It is killing two birds with one stone. It is a hobby that pays. So the demon gods of the Tyrant Realm were partying too. But then a certain god began stealing the abyss.


    It is not something anyone could have imagined or expected to happen. There are just too many absurdities in the matter. First of all, a god dared to enter the abyss. Secondly, the god began to steal an abyssal ne. Thirdly, the god has stolen 31 abyssal nes.


    The fourth and most absurd and infuriating part of this entire thing is that this god is still in the abyss, stealing the abyssal nes. If they don''t know any better, they would think the god actually ns to steal the whole abyss.


    Unfortunately, they have to assume the worst because this god has shown no signs of stopping the theft. It is as infuriating as it is impressive.


    If this matter didn''t concern them, the demon gods would be impressed. However, it does concern them. It is practically linked to their livelihood.


    This matter is of great importance to them because if there is no abyss by the time the Tyrant Realm loses the era of conquest, then it will not be destroyed. If the abyss is not destroyed, then its energy will not surge into the demon god with the highest contribution. If that doesn''t happen, then no demon god will be a world ender.


    So the theft of the abyss means the loss of their chance to be world enders. This understanding camete to them. It is not their fault, actually. After all, this has never happened before. Even the powerful Tyrants failed to take over a single abyssal ne.


    Actually, they didn''t consider it at all until 10 abyssal nes had gone. It was then that a demon god asked, "Wait a minute. If there is no abyss, can we still be world enders?"


    That was the thought provoking question that made them argue ande to the realization that not only is the god stealing the abyss, it is also stealing their future. As if that isn''t enough reason to go and stop the god, there is also the fact that killing and absorbing the god means bing a world ender.


    So this god alone represents two different opportunities to be world enders. It is too much motivation for them to stop the god. It made the demon gods rally their numbers again to stop the god. Unfortunately, there was a slight problem.


    A demon god asked about the giant ck elephant in the realm. "What about that demon god of Chaos protecting the god?"


    It is not as if they haven''t tried to kill the god before. They have certainly tried, and many times at that. But they have failed every time, all because of the powerful demon god protecting the god.


    This was far before they knew the importance of the abyss. But now that the abyss has be more important and it has be necessary to get rid of the god. Unfortunately, the problem that stopped them before, when they didn''t care about the theft of some abyssal nes and only wanted to eat a god, hasn''t disappeared.


    In fact, that problem has only gotten bigger, just like the importance of stopping the god. This demon god is so powerful that they are calling him a demon eater, the fiend god, or the giant demon reaper.


    That''s how big Aeternus has gotten from all the eating. Even demon gods, who can cover a whole ne with their bodies, think he is a giant. He normally assumes the size of 100 kilometers to appear harmless. But they know better. They have seen his hand stretch for thousands of kilometers to grab a fleeing demon god.


    The demon gods moured among each other.


    "We can''t even fight the god at all, much less stop him, and it is all because of the demon god."


    "If we don''t beat him, then we can forget stopping or having the god of life."


    "But what can we do? We are not even a match for the demon gods from the High Heaven Realm, much less this enigma."


    None of them could answer that question, so they were silent.


    This is not the first time they have had this meeting. In the past, there have been a lot of suggestions, particrly from LIES and GREED, on how to defeat the fiend demon god. They have tried a lot of those suggestions, and they have all ended in failure.

 Chapter 1618: A Joke Or A Scheme.

    Chapter 1618: A Joke Or A Scheme.


    ?


    They had surrounded the demon god eater with all of them, hoping to overwhelm it or wear it down. At the end of the day, it was as if they had thrown good food at it. It had grown stronger and reduced their chances of turning the situation around to nothing.


    That experience taught them why they killed every demon king of kings they found. Demon god eaters are better eliminated when they are young and weak, not when they are capable of participating in the theft of the abyss.


    Fortunately, there are smart and cunning demon gods among them. They are stumped, but they still have moves to make. LIES still had a suggestion about what moves they should make.


    LIES said, "We have two choices. One is to wait. We can umte energy silently over a long time during the era of conquest and return stronger to beat the herald of chaos, or whatever he calls himself."


    "That will take a lot of time and might not work because there''s nothing stopping the herald of chaos from also growing stronger in the meantime. It might also be toote by the time we are ready to save the abyss. There might be no abyss waiting for us anymore."


    "The advantage of this decision is that if we seed, then we will get to keep both the god and the opportunity of the abyss. The disadvantage is that if we lose, then we will lose everything. We will waste time and energy just to lose the abyss and the god."


    "The second option is to enlist the help of the demon gods from the High Heaven Realm. I am sure none of them can resist the temptation of a god who can make us evolve. They will surely work together with us, and we might be able to defeat the herald of chaos with ourbined might."


    "The disadvantage of this choice is that we might lose the god to them. But we will get to keep the opportunity of the abyss for ourselves. After all, they are invaders. They can''t


    compete with us for it. Only one of us can earn it."


    LIES asked them, "So which option do we pick?"


    It could have presented this decision to them earlier, 50 years ago, when they first started throwing themselves at the herald of chaos. But it didn''t because it wanted the other demon gods to suffer at the hands of Aeternus just like it did. After all, the demon gods are


    competitors, not friends. They can''t all be world enders even with two opportunities to do so.


    The decision would have also been rejected back then because the demon gods would want to give up the god. They didn''t know how fearsome the herald of chaos was, so they were still full of optimism. That optimism had been ground down by dread now, so they took this decision seriously.


    The demon gods considered the decisions and agreed to get the help of the demon gods from the high heaven realm. They went together to speak with the demon gods. The one they met with first was WRATH.


    WRATH asked them excitedly, "You have a god that can turn a demon god into a world ender in this realm? I have never heard of such a god. Where is it?"


    LIES replied, "It is in the abyss."


    WRATH was about to say, "Let us go."


    But then it stopped in confusion and asked, "In the abyss? Which abyss? Yours or mine? Wait a minute. Is this god suicidal? How would it dare to enter any abyss?"


    LUST replied, "We are not lying. It is truly in our abyss, and it is stealing the abyss."


    WRATH said calmly, "So not only is the god in the abyss, it is also stealing abyssal nes brazenly. This is not a matter of being suicidal or stupid. This god must be very powerful to do so. Or you wouldn''t havee to me at all."


    WRATH isn''t stupid. It is just rash. Even so, it was able to notice the peculiarities of this event. Most importantly, it knows that demons are not kind. They wouldn''t have brought this information to it if they could monopolize it.


    It said to them, "If all of you couldn''t subdue this god and monopolize it, then that means it must be very strong. You better tell me what''s really going on here. Are you nning to lure me into the abyss and then gang up on me to kill me? Is this story bait to scheme against me?"


    WRATH became wary immediately. All of these smell like a scheme to target it. These demons shouldn''t have a reason to target it since they should be helping it destroy the realm. But it also shouldn''t be helping the high heaven realm win the war, and yet, here it is. So anything is possible nowadays.


    What also fueled its caution is the fact that it has never heard of a god that can help a demon god evolve, and it has never heard of a god that can fight a demon god. But not only can this god fight a demon god, it can fight several of them and defeat them.


    As if this is notughable enough, this kind of god has never appeared in the high heaven realm, where there are a lot of gods. At the very least, it has never heard of such a god.


    But they want it to believe that such a god appeared in this realm where there should be no gods. It is a joke for it to believe them. If it is a joke, then it is notughing because it doesn''t find this funny.


    If this is not a hoax, then it might very well be a trap for it. It is a trap with a good bait. Unfortunately, the bait is not believable or they would have seeded in fooling it.

 Chapter 1619: Perplexed And More Perplexed.

    Chapter 1619: Perplexed And More Perplexed.


    ?


    WRATH warned them, "I''m telling you now. Don''t think that I am easy to fool or that you can defeat me easily. I will be sure to take down at least 3 of the 5 of you with my current clone. And there''s still more of me in this realm to go around."


    There''s not much difference between demon gods in terms of power. What affects their strength the most is the amount of energy they possess, and WRATH''s current clone has the same amount of energy as all five demon gods of the Tyrant Realm, if not more. So its threat must be taken seriously.


    If not for the fact that it will be fighting all of them at once, it would be able to take down four one by one before its energy level runs too low to threaten thest one.


    The demon gods of the Tyrant Realm went ahead and exined the situation. They were not nning to fool WRATH before, so they didn''t hide anything anymore.


    "Actually, we don''t know the strength of that god because there is a demon god protecting him. This demon god calls himself the herald of chaos. It is very strong and unreasonable to negotiate with. We have tried to beat it, but..."


    WRATH snorted. "If you mean Aeternus, then you lot must have lost and you must have lost a lot,"


    The demon gods disyed Aeternus''s current form to WRATH. Hisrge, dark form, which dwarves nes, appeared in all its glory in WRATH''s mind.


    Then they asked, "Is this the Aeternus you speak of?"


    WRATH''s eye would have bulged if it had eyes. "Aeternus has grown so big. What has he been eating?"


    Then the answer to its question dawned on it. "Ah yes. He has been eating you fools."


    One of them asked WRATH, "Do you know this Aeternus very well?"


    WRATHughed as it replied, "Of course I do. He is notorious in our realm. I and many others have fought him many times. We even know his weakness. But don''t bother to ask me to join you. If Aeternus is involved in this, then I am not interested."


    "We don''t intend to have only you join us. We want to call on every demon god from your realm to join in. If every demon god from the two realmsbined their might, we might be able to seal this Aeternus."


    WRATH didn''t budge. "I am still not interested."


    This statement shocked the demon gods.


    "There is an opportunity to be a demon god at stake here, and we have a good chance at it."


    But WRATH didn''t care. "Please leave. I am very busy here."


    The demon gods were bewildered. They expected a demon god as powerful as WRATH to be very confident in thebined might of all the demon gods against a single demon god, so they were both disappointed and perplexed.


    They left, though. They had to when WRATH began to prepare to send them off violently.


    WRATH watched them go with a sneer. It felt some amusement at the fact that Aeternus troubling someone else for a change. But mostly, it was content with what it was doing.


    The demon gods of the Tyrant realm would never understand why it is not tempted by the god because it already has an alternative. They don''t know that alternative because no one has mentioned the abyssal coalition to them.


    This abyssal coalition has given it the opportunity to acquire a world spark. Currently, it can already afford it. Most demon gods that participated in the invasion of the realm can. So it already has a way to be a world ender. What it is doing right now is enjoying itself. That''s why the invasion of the Tyrant realm has be a party to them. It is not a war anymore.


    The demon gods of the Tyrant realm don''t know why they are backing up the wrong tree, so they approached other demon gods for corperation. Their perplexity deepened when every demon god they approached refused to join in. SLOTH didn''t even listen to them.


    The demon gods that did listen to them were first excited when they heard about the god, but they lost their enthusiasm when they heard that it concerned the herald of chaos. They also disyed particrly weird emotions when they disyed Aeternus''s currentrge form. They, above all else, knew how powerful and formidable Aeternus was when he was more than a thousand times smaller than a powerful demon god. Now he is many times bigger than when they first participated in the era of conquest. How can they not lose interest?


    In a normal situation, size is everything to demon gods. This is because the bigger they are, the more energy they have at their disposal. But Aeternus is not ordinary. He already had a lot of energy when he was small, and he could fight many demon gods bigger than him. So they had to give up now that things have developed to this level.


    PRIDE even became angry when he saw Aeternus''s new form. It said, "See what you have done now, you fools? You have created a problem for everyone with your ipetence."


    A demon god asked, "If this herald of Chaos is problematic right now, why don''t we work together to eliminate it before it bes toote?"


    PRIDE yelled at them, "SCRAM!!!"


    They actually proposed a good idea, and it is tempted by it. But the fact that it needs the help of others to defeat Aeternus doesn''t sit well with it. And the fact that even if it ovees its difort, this n is unlikely to seed because these fools have made Aeternus stronger by offering their flesh to it, makes it very angry.


    These two things made PRIDE yell at them to leave. The demon gods of the Tyrant realm had to leave. They left in bewilderment and surprise. They had to ask themselves, "Why are they so scared of him? I am sure that all of usbined should have a lot more energy than one demon god."

 Chapter 1620: More Contribution.

    Chapter 1620: More Contribution.


    ?


    Of course, the demon gods of the Tyrant realm were wrong about the assumption that all of them and the demon gods of the High Heaven realm should possess more energy than Aeternus. In fact, they would be wrong to think that all of the abyss of both realmsbined possess more energy than him.


    But what else they were wrong about was that the demon gods of the high heaven realm wouldn''t have fought Aeternus even if he hadn''t gained a lot of power recently. They don''t want to break the pacts of the abyssal coalition now that the era of conquest has started.


    They were not going to attack him, despite the fact that they hate him a lot and know one of Aeternus''s weaknesses. This weakness is that he has only one body, so he will die permanently if they manage to kill him.


    So they have a real chance at eliminating him for good. But they also know of many of his strengths, such as his powerful Supreme Law.


    This is a Supreme Law that has no weakness. It can even break a barrier between realms. Aeternus has thoroughly shown the superiority of his supremew over theirs.


    This is a strength that bes invible whenbined with the growing suspicion that he has infinite energy. PRIDE ims he does, but Aeternus might not actually have infinite energy. As excuses for defeat go, it is believable, reasonable, and deadly if true.


    But the demon gods of the Tyrant Realm don''t know these, so they were understandably angry and unhappy. Theyined and cursed theircent counterparts for their inaction.


    A demon god said with disdain, "They are full of energy and have be full of themselves. That is probably why they faltered and let a demon king of kings be a demon god. Even now, they are still too proud and think themselves undefeatable because of their recent sess in devouring the Tyrant realm."


    Another snorted and said, "What''s so great about them? Is it not only energy? Just because they had the freedom to attack anything in their realm, they felt they could be full of themselves. We too would have been strong had we gotten the opportunity they had."


    Another oneined, "Even their demon kings are ripe with energy and power. I wonder what kind of realm the high heaven realm is if it can raise demons like this. Most of it has probably been devoured by the demons. That''s probably why only the demon gods came out of Amageddon to attack the divine ne."


    Thisint gave one of them an idea. It said, "Why don''t we attack their demon kings and the other demons of their realm? Let''s use that to steal some of their energy."


    This idea was too tempting for them. Soon, another one spoke in favor of it. "It will be easy too. Just because we can''t attack the big fish doesn''t mean we can''t eat the small fish."


    And so they agreed to attack the defenseless and weak demons of the high heaven realm. It is because of the energy they possess.


    The demons of the high heaven realm truly have a lot of it. There are a lot more of them than those from the Tyrant Realm. Their number and size of their demon gods show how well the demon gods of the high heaven realm have done for themselves. While the demon gods will be a tough bone to crack, the invading demon kings will be supple and easy pickings.


    Or so they thought. They did seed for a while in reaping the lives of demon kings from the high heaven realm. But that decision turned out to be a bad idea because it gave the demon gods of the high heaven realm reason to kill them.


    Earlier, there was no mission to kill the demon gods of the Tyrant Realm from Mother High Heaven because they didn''t threaten the invasion of the realm. In fact, they were allies who helped the invaders by sabotaging their realm. It is why the demon gods of the High Heaven realm didn''t attack them, even though they were stronger.


    The demon gods of the high heaven realm would rather focus on something more productive, like attacking the realm, instead of creating enemies for no benefit. After all, they don''t gain anything from attacking other demon gods. In fact, they lose out instead in the form of energy.


    But now that the demon gods of the Tyrant Realm have turned on the invaders, they have be sources of contribution, which the demon gods of the High Heaven realm scrambled to acquire.


    It is the same thing that happened with Aeternus. Except this time, Mother High Heaven is determined to wipe out the demon gods of the Tyrant realm instead of warning them off.


    It wasn''t a fight. The demon gods of the High Heaven realm chased their enemies all over the realm. They had almost twice the number of demon gods and more than five times the amount of energy stored in clones on their side. So it wasn''t a contest at all.


    The demon gods of the Tyrant Realm had nowhere to hide. They had only two choices which were to leave the realmpletely or work together with the Tyrants. They certainly can''t hide in the abyss because of the herald of chaos.


    For the first time since the start of the era of conquest, the demon gods of the Tyrant Realm felt what it meant to be on the losing side. Some of them managed to acquire refuge with the Tyrants, while the rest were hunted down by the demon gods of the High Heaven realm and Aeternus.


    Not only that, Legion began to earn contribution points for destroying the abyss now that it serves a function in eliminating the demon gods for good. This made Legion soar to the top 0.1% of every contributor to the era of conquest.

 Chapter 1621: Settling Is Not An Option.

    Chapter 1621: Settling Is Not An Option.


    ?


    As fighting was raging in the Tyrant Realm, so was it raging in the High Heaven Realm. The only difference is that it was limited to the divine ne of the high heaven realm. Billions of Origin gods have been fighting on this poor ne for more than 100 years, so it has taken a beating.


    Mother High Heaven has tried to repair it and keep itpletely intact over the years, but she gave up after 70 years. She has be content with simply keeping the divine ne together so that it doesn''t fall apart. She doesn''t care if it looks shabby at all.


    But shabby will be an understatement when used to describe the divine ne. Both the white ground and the ck sky have cracked. There are cracks in them that lead to the void.


    Mother High Heaven is preventing void energy from rushing into the realm, but she isn''t sealing the cracks anymore. This is to conserve energy, but it makes it so that one can step out of the realm through the cracks. That is, if they are not shredded by the spatial turbulence around the edges of the cracks.


    Many people have died to these cracks. Maybe just as much as the number of people that died in the attacks that tore space apart and created the cracks in the first ce.


    Despite how bad things look and how dangerous the battlefield is, the fighting has not ended since it started. There has not been one moment of peace at all. The invaders have always been throwing themselves at the defenders, and the defenders have always tried their best to beat them back by killing them.


    One can see through the scant few cracks in the ground of the divine ne to gaze upon the main ne below. That''s the best that the invaders have achieved after thousands of years of fighting. They can only see their goal from afar.


    The defenders haven''t given an inch at all. They guarded the heaven''s gate tightly during the brief moments when the Tyrants managed to break the array of floating fortresses in the sky. All of the invaders attempts to gain ess to the realm have been foiled.


    Many people have shined like stars in this war, one of them being the clones of Legion. They have been targeted by their enemies many times because of it. It could be out of spite or with the goal of getting rid of them. Either way, none of their goals have been met.


    It is not that none of the clones have not been killed. No, they have died several times because it is very difficult to preserve their lives in this kind of fighting without making themselves look like bigger targets.


    Most of the times they died, they willingly sacrificed themselves to destroy the weapons and battleships of the invaders. So they have died a lot of times for contribution points. But they always return and are still fighting.


    One of the clones is fighting right now. His whole body has be reinforced with liquid graviton, origin crystal, and dragon scales. His whole body is so hard and sharp that a single collision with an enemy is more than enough to kill that enemy.


    This is all the power he is using. He is not using the Tree Father''s spark of power to boost their Supreme Power, but it is still rare for an enemy to be able to fight them for more than one second. So Legion was surprised to encounter their current opponent.


    He isn''t using the Tree Father''s spark of power because it is busy refining the abyss of the Tyrant Realm. But this is not the only reason why he hasn''t been able to kill his enemy yet. His enemy is special.


    This opponent is a ray of light. Their concept makes them the embodiment of light, so in their normal state, they are very fast and can produce attacks that can prate almost every type of defense.


    Legion knows more than that. After all, they have been chasing this person for quite a while. This person has a weakness for almost every type of attack, except for physical attacks. They are fragile, and their form will be scattered once any type of spiritual or magical attack strikes them.


    So it should have been very easy to kill them. Unfortunately, they are a Supreme Origin god whose Supreme Law can be used to ovee their weakness and acquire the strongest defense possible. With his Supreme Law, he transformed from a soft, fragile ray of light into a hard, sharp, golden spear capable of piercing anything and withstanding any damage.


    If it were any other type of Supreme Origin god, using their Supreme Law to acquire the defense of thew of earth would rob them of their strength and attack power. But this Supreme Origin god, in his normal state, is fast and dangerous. They don''t need the Supreme Law to be fast and dangerous, so gaining Supreme Defense has made them faster, sharper, and more durable.


    It is a case of a single Supreme Law granting its wielder nigh-supreme speed and nigh- supreme power, with Supreme Defense at the same time. It is something that Legion finds fascinating.


    Legion-5 thought to himself as she chased his enemy, "While we can make any Supreme Law, it is best we make something that simultaneously enhances our natural abilities and fixes our weaknesses instead of focusing on just one."


    Soverick groaned just thinking about how difficult it is going to be to achieve something like that. But he didn''tin, because settling for something mediocre is not an option.


    It might have been an option when they didn''t know about it, but now that they do, they have to make it, and Legion-5 has to push this Supreme Origin god to the limit to see what he is truly capable of. Only when he is bored is he to kill the Supreme Origin god.

 Chapter 1622: A Good Showing.

    Chapter 1622: A Good Showing.


    ?


    The Supreme Origin god didn''t disappoint Legion. He can use his whole existence to attack instead of producing attacks to strike a target. Rather than bend the world to his rules, he would fly towards an enemy and prate thempletely with his body while burning them from within. It is a devastating attack that only Supreme Power can match.


    Legion-5 said in admiration, "I might be wrong when I thought this Supreme Origin god had only nigh-supreme power."


    He has to reevaluate the capabilities of this Supreme Origin god, seeing the ease with which they are killing their target. Once targeted, one would need to use a Supreme Law or world fragment to acquire Supreme Defense to defend themselves against the Supreme Origin god. They also have to do it very fast, or they will die.


    It is almost as if this enemy has three Supreme Powers being used at the same time. It makes every person fighting on the battlefield capable of falling to the Supreme Origin god anytime they try to attack any other person.


    Legion-5 became more jealous the more he watched. What the Supreme Origin god had achieved is too simr to what he achieved when he was hunted. He doesn''t like that at all.


    What he does like is that these capabilities have brought the Supreme Origin god a lot of sess on the battlefield, so the bounty on his head has increased many times. That''s and his jealousy are reasons why he must eliminate the Supreme Origin god.


    Legion doesn''t just fight anyone they meet on the battlefield. They choose enemies with higher bounties. They are much more powerful than normal invaders, but they give several times more contribution points.


    This method of variable value has made it so that the powerful invaders are targeted first and sent off the battlefield quickly. But this particr enemy has not been killed for a long time.


    He even has the time to mock Legion-5, "You can''t get me. Just give up, and we''ll part ways. We are not true enemies. We are just doing this for our future."


    What the ray of light said ispelling, but Legion is not going to give up just like that. The ray of light is worth 11, 293 contribution points. That is the value of more than ten thousand normal Origin gods and one hundred normal Supreme Origin gods.


    Legion can''t give up this kind of bounty, even though they are in the top 0.1% of every Origin god participating in the era of conquest. They still have a lot of things to buy from the reward list, and if their contribution points are high enough, they can just buy the world seeds and world engines they need. So he continued chasing.


    The two of them have been fighting for five hours now, but Legion-5 is not willing to give up. He was almost tempted to use Helios'' concept or divine spark, but he held off on it.


    His eyes, which were tracking his enemy, blinked, shifted his position. He appeared beside the ray of light in the literal blink of an eye. A dragon breath sted out of his mouth towards the enemy.


    He had caught the enemy off guard in the brief moment he ran out of Origin essence and was about to rece it to fuel his Supreme Law. But the Supreme Origin god was not helpless against him. He responded to the threat by splitting into many rays that scattered in every direction.


    If it were a normal cloning technique, Legion-5 wouldn''t be fooled. He could tell when the Supreme Law waned, so he would surely be able to tell which of the clones does have a Supreme Law. But this enemy has truly split himself into six clones. Each clone is not a trick of light or an illusion. They are truly a part of him.


    The only difference is that one of the rays is bigger than the others. Killing the little rays will have minimal effect on the enemy. Only the death of therge ray will have a significant impact on it.


    Unfortunately, it is difficult to target that singlerge ray because it can swap its position to any of the other rays when threatened. In fact, every ray can swap positions with each other.


    So unless he can kill all the rays in a short amount of time before they can swap, it is impossible to kill therge ray of light. That''s why Legion-5 used a wide area of attack when The attacked earlier.


    His dragon breath exploded in front of him and destroyed everything around him in arge area. It covered the figures of the six rays of light and soon submerged them. The attack was so powerful that it reached the limit of the universe and tore a hole in the barrier of the realm. Another crack was created to join the many others milling about.


    Legion-5 didn''t rx at all. He knew he hadn''t killed the ray of light because he hadn''t been notified by Mother High Heaven, and he didn''t sense the death of his enemy.


    He muttered to himself, "Just a little more."


    The ray of light survived the attack, but it was within an inch of death. All six were hit, but therge one wasn''t damaged enough to kill it. Itsrge body has thinned down to a finger''s length, and its light is flickering.


    This is impressive considering that he had used the world fragment to push his attack to the limit of the void universe. If it were anyone else who took such a blow head on, they would have died many times over. But this ray of light can offset about 90% of the of the damage that hits it, and it is also very fast. So unless the attack hits it for a long period of time, it will still escape.


    Legion-5plimented his enemy, "If anyone can survive the explosion of a star while being in its vicinity, then it is this ray of light."


    A/N: Bonus chapter for 300 golden tickets goal.

 Chapter 1623: Defeated Rats.

    Chapter 1623: Defeated Rats.


    ?


    The ray of light was tricky to kill, but Legion-5 was ready. He spread out his cosmic domain. It covered the retreating ray of light and froze it in its attempt to escape. The stasis was


    temporary, but it was enough for Legion-5 to move closer and smash the ray of light to pieces.


    Sess came immediately. The Supreme Origin god died, and Legion earned another bucket load of contribution points. The happiness he felt helped dull the bacsh he received for freezing a Supreme Origin god.


    He staggered and said, "Good news. We can already buy nine world seeds and one world engine. If this goes on, we won''t need the realm lord''s help to invade any realm."


    Soverick, who had just killed another enemy and was going after a new one, thought to himself, "I hope he makes good on his promise."


    The clones have been fighting nonstop for the high heaven realm. They have nned and executed many ns, for which they have earned a lot of contribution points. Even if they can''t buy all the world engines and world seeds they need by the end of the war, they can surely pay for the assistance of the realm lord in attacking other realm trees.


    This assistance is very crucial if an Origin god or even a Supreme god intends to attack a realm tree. Normally, an Origin god can''t even enter a realm they were not born in, as the Will of that realm will rebuff their entry.


    They can only do so during the era of conquest or when the Will of the realm is suppressed. This suppression is what those who buy the realm lord''s assistance will get. With it, they will be able to enter a realm and turn it upside down.


    But that''s also where the assistance ends. The realm lord is not going to help with oveing the resistance of the inhabitants of the realm at all. So even with that assistance, one will need immense strength to take down a realm tree on their own.


    Fortunately, Legion is notcking in that regard. They have shown that they can take on millions of enemies on their own and not die. So as long as the realm lord fulfills his promise and helps them suppress the Will of a realm, then their path to bing world gods is certain.


    But if the realm lord fails to fulfill the barest minimum required of him, then all their efforts, time, thought, and forethought that they have put into the era of conquest will go to waste. It is a possibility that they are aware of but, unfortunately, are not prepared for.


    After all, there''s nothing they can do to force the realm lord to fulfill his promise short of fighting him. Unfortunately, they will need to have the power to ovee a world god who could fight world gods as a realm lord. But if they could do that, there would be no need for them to be here, slumming for the high heaven realm in the era of conquest.


    These were the thoughts going through Legion''s mind as they hunted for enemies.


    Aeternus suggested gleefully, "We can only hope his oathspel him enough to give us what he owes us. If not, then I can throw myself at him and see just how well I can do against a world god."


    Soverick didn''t think it was a good idea. He said for one, you are not one with your Supreme Law. That is both your strength and your weakness. As a weakness, it makes it more likely for you to be captured by the realm lord. It is not something beyond him. We know that he has done a lot of research on true Chaos and has enjoyed some sess in that endeavor."


    Aeternus agreed that it was likely, but he still made arguments in his favor. Soverick and the other clones chose to entertain him because, while he is unlikely to seed in the attempt, it is a possibility that they must prepare for if they want to cover all their bases.


    It is not like them to know about something, suspect it, and then ignore it. The only time they have ever done that was with the first sage''s scheme to kill them. But they only did that because they had already done the best they could to prepare for him, and they didn''t want to go along with his schemes.


    Soverick was deep in thought with the other clones when he noticed that his position had reached beyond the half of the battlefield into the upper area of the void where the invaders wereing from. And yet, the number of enemies had decreased.


    Normally he should be swarmed right now by enemies, but it is the defenders that are swarming the enemies. They have left the barrier of the floating fortresses behind to chase after the Tyrants for contribution points. This has left very little for him to fight.


    He soon got confirmation for his suspicion as Mother High Heaven said to them, "The rats have been defeated. They have been beaten back, with their tails cut off and their eyes blinded. Look at them as they scurry like the vermin they are. Chase them. Hunt them. Kill them. The Tyrant Realm will fall. Victory will be ours."


    The defenders roared in excitement. Some roared in anguish because it appeared that the fight was about to end, but they had few contribution points. So they rushed up to fight the small number of enemies that were still present within the realm.


    Soverick followed these desperate immortals to pick up the scraps. He was cautious and careful since he expected somest desperate move from the invaders. But that didn''t happen. Mother High Heaven was right. Their enemies had been beaten back thoroughly and were on theirst legs.


    He thought to himself with pity, "It looks like even the help of many world gods won''t change the fate of the Tyrant Realm. The Tyrant Realm will fall."

 Chapter 1624: Fire And Ash.

    Chapter 1624: Fire And Ash.


    ?


    Their defeat was inevitable, and now it has happened. But worse is yet toe for the Tyrant Realm. If they can''t break through the high heaven realm to reinforce the tyrant realm, then all the Origin gods here will have nothing to do and will swarm through the dungeons into the Tyrant Realm.


    The Tyrant Realm will have to wee a fresh hell. Without any interference, the Tyrant Realm will fall faster than estimated.


    He knows this, so he expects the Tyrants to know it too. That''s why he keeps feeling that the fight has not ended yet. It doesn''t help that he can''t predict what they will do next because of the world gods shrouding them.


    All he knows is that whatever they n won''t harm Legion, and that it seems that the Tyrants are hiding something. After all, if they have truly given up, they should be open about it.


    He hopes he is right about them hiding something though. That way they will be able to continue resisting and Legion will be able to earn more contribution points.


    --Another Abyss.


    It is as Soverick expected. The end of the decades of fighting in the High Heaven Realm made the Origin gods of the High Heaven Realm flock to the Tyrant Realm.


    The spatial cracks that were everywhere in the divine ne began to appear all over the Tyrant Realm, thanks to their presence. It was this lively atmosphere that Ragnarok met when The entered the Tyrant Realm.


    He has been stationed very far away in the void from the two realms as bait for the Vampires. He was supposed to be their target to attract their half-hearted hunt. But the Vampires didn''te after him, and they didn''t interfere with the other clones either.


    Legion had expected this because the Vampires stopped hunting them when they finished building thew matrix of their world fragment. Thew matrix acted like anotheryer of seals, which separated CARNAGE from the void universe and its blood spawns. This caused the Vampires to no longer bepelled to hunt Legion anymore.


    At least that''s what the Vampires said before they left. But Legion didn''t believe them. They expected a trick, so they prepared for it. Fortunately, their preparation wasn''t needed, and now Ragnarok can participate in the era of conquest.


    All he had to do was die and be resurrected in the high heaven realm. Then he used one of the numerous dungeons to enter the Tyrant realm.


    There is a portal on the main ne of the Tyrant realm. It is a glowing and swirling vortex of white energy. Foreign Origin gods use it to enter the Tyrant Realm, so one can see it spit out invaders asionally.


    Ragnarok also came out of this portal. He appeared in the sky when he entered the Tyrant Realm. He looked around for a while, then he looked back at the portal.


    Then he gave his judgement, "That was easy."


    He came through a dungeon, and it was very easy to do. There was no resistance in the dungeon at all. He went through the realm of the high heaven and came out sound and safe. He expected some amount of resistance on the other side of the portal, but it seems he thought too highly of the Tyrant Realm.


    He shrugged and took a deep breath. The air was full of ash, and the temperature was cold. This is despite the fact that the Tyrant Realm is being consumed by fire.


    Pirs of smoke were rising high into the sky to form ck clouds. These clouds blocked out the light of the sun. When coupled with the absent stars in the realm, most of the realm has been plunged into darkness and is beginning to freeze. It is the fire burning all over the realm that is the major source of light in it.


    What is going on around him is a scene of a dying realm. He can''t even see nts or animals around him. All he can see is a dark, gloomy, and cold desert, created from the wreckage of a burnt forest. There is nothing nice to look at at all.


    But he still smiled and said, "This smells nice and just right for me. It seems this realm has been tenderized for me. Even the suppression of foreigners has been reduced. It is now time for me to take arge bite out of it."


    Actually, the realm has been more than tenderized. It is missing several parts of it from where the demon gods eroded it. If anything, it looks like a block of cheese because of all the missing parts.


    It has been riddled with so many holes that the realm is having difficulties suppressing invaders. The suppression of teleportation is long gone, while the suppression of world fragments is reducing. This is exactly what Ragnarok needs to show his talent.


    He and Legion-1 have been absent from the fighting in this era of conquest, but it is time for him to make a move now. Legion had decided to keep him and Legion-1 away from the fighting as backups. Legion-1 will continue to be the backup while he takes advantage of thepromised defenses of the realm.


    So he dropped to the ground of the realm. His humanoid form flickered and unraveled as he fell. He became arge, ck, swirling liquid sphere. The rotation of the ck sphere made it shift into a cone. One end was sharp, while the other was blunt andrge.


    The sharp end of the cone fell into the ground and dug into it very quickly. The swirling power of the cone caused everything it touched to be pulled into it. Then a gravitational force erupted from the cone that pulled even things beyond the reach of the cone to it. The gravitational pull and the swirling power of the cone caused a ck whirlpool to materialize as the cone went deeper into the earth.

 Chapter 1625: The Tyrant Realm Will Fall.

    Chapter 1625: The Tyrant Realm Will Fall.


    ?


    He thought to himself in anticipation, "Let us create a new abyss. All who enter it will be damned."


    The whirlpool dug into the earth and pulled down the sky. It was as if the earth and sky were making contact through the whirlpool. They can finally realize their love for one another thanks to Ragnarok. But the realm wasn''t happy with it. It tried to resist the pull.


    Unfortunately, it was too weak to resist.


    Ragnarok dered in excitement, "It has been decreed, the Tyrant Realm will fall."


    What''s more, the Tyrant realm can''t receive help from the inhabitants of the realm either. It is a house on fire. Therge number of firefighters present at the scene are struggling to put out the fires, but they don''t have enough manpower or water.


    It was in this burning house that someone decided to start drilling. It is no wonder that there''s no one to stop him.


    Besides, it is not as if he is afraid of anyone trying to stop him. He might be slow, but he hits with the full blow of an abyss falling on someone. He wees every challenger. They will find a willing enemy in him.


    The Whirlpool spread rapidly through the realm. It was so fast that it caused a sinkhole to appear in its surroundings even before it reached them. The realm has be so weak that the deficit that the whirlpool has created is causing the fragile integrity of the realm to copse.


    Everyone who saw this only had one thing in mind. "The Tyrant Realm will fall."


    ----Another Hell


    Ragnarok was not the only world-ending cmity that entered the Tyrant Realm. Many others came into the realm, so it was soon on the brink of copse.


    The Supreme Tyrants had to rethink their n after more than 10,000 Supreme Tyrants died in a single year. At that rate, they would all be dead in nine more years. They realized that they had to use theirst card or perish for nothing.


    Unfortunately, the end came faster than they expected. There was arge spatial crack in the void of the ne, just outside the divine ne. This spatial crack was sorge that it upied almost one tenth of the total area of the void of the Tyrant Realm. The worst part is that the spatial crack was still increasing in size as Legion-8 infected and consumed the realm.


    He didn''t set out to create a spatial crack in the ne. He was just consuming the realm when it became too weak to bear the burden of his consumption. It is not as if he gave the realm tree much of a chance. It wouldn''t be able to heal the crack even if it were strong because Legion-8 had upied the area around the crack and was expanding it.


    So Legion-8 is the bigger problem, not the crack. The realm tree would need to deal with him first before it could solve the problem of the crack. Unfortunately, the realm tree can do neither currently.


    The only thing the realm would be able to do in a few moments when the crack starts leaking is watch itself die as void energy bleeds into the realm. The void energy will be like a river of acid. It will destroy everything in its way and seek to return all of creation to the void.


    The realm was creaking physically as it was crumbling, and everything still alive in the apocalypse was wailing, but all Legion-8 heard was the pleasant sound of his contribution points increasing rapidly.


    At the edge of this crack was a dragon with crystal scales. The dragon was excitedly probing the edge of the crack like a blind man searching for his keys. He couldn''t find what he was looking for, but he was not disappointed. In fact, the opposite is true. He was very excited.


    The voice from the ring on one of the dragon''s fingers said to him, "This Legion is not bad. They have made things much easier for us."


    Dylganihl was too excited. He was so excited, he was shaking. He said, "Any moment now. Any moment now. Any moment now."


    He kept repeating the chant as if it would make his dreame true. He believes it wille true because everything has been prepared.


    The dragon had hatched in the realm. A Supreme Tyrant had been beaten within an inch of its life so that the dragon could kill it and be a child of the realm. The child of the realm had then helped them search for the faults in the realm.


    This part was both the easiest and the most difficult. Finding a fault is easy. After all, the realm is full of them now that it is on itsst legs. But that doesn''t mean the faults will be good. The faults can lead nowhere or outside the realm. The chances of it leading to the encrypted space where the realm heart is kept are very low.


    That''s where Legion-8es in. This clone is responsible for creating the singlergest fault in the realm. It is also a fault that is getting bigger. This has caused the Will of the realm to be focused on it. It has almost made it certain that this fault will lead to the encrypted space if they can crack it open.


    That''s what he is trying to do right now. To be more urate, it is what the three of them are trying to do right now. The three dragons, Dylganihl, his father, and the new dragon, are at three different locations, with Dylganihl and the new dragon opposite each other and Tssandulighafan outside the realm in a position opposite the two of them.


    Their positions in rtive space have formed the corners, or vertices, of a triangle. They are sharing their perceptions in an attempt to triangte the point of fracture in space within the realm that they can use to crack and open up the encrypted space.

 Chapter 1626: Fantasy Hackers.

    Chapter 1626: Fantasy Hackers.


    ?


    Dylganihl was the one who found this point. He yelled excitedly to the other two, "Found it. I have found it. Do the thing quickly."


    The new dragon also yelled, "Quick before we lose it."


    Tssandulighafan yelled back at them, "I know what to do."


    The moment was fleeting. They had found a viable opening, but it could disappear as space shifted. They had to crack the exposed encryption as soon as possible before they lost it. This is where the mind of a world godes in.


    Tssandulighafan is the one who has to crack the encryption. The vast amount of information will be too much for even an Origin god to handle. They might not even be able to understand it at all. Only a world god will be able to process the information and crack the spatial encryption in time.


    It hasn''t been up to a second, but it felt like eternity to the two anxious dragons waiting and hoping.


    Tssandulighafan seeded, so he yelled, "Do it now."


    Dylganihlughed in happiness as he roused all his power immediately. Then he roared, "OPEN!!!"


    He followed the patterns of the spatial entanglement that his father gave him to open the point. It was not a gentle attempt. The Will of the ne is sure to resist him, and the point could still disappear, so he didn''t take things slow at all.


    His Supreme Law punctured through the opening like a knife, cut into it, hooked the point, and anchored it so it couldn''t disappear anymore. Then he roared again as he tore it open. His roar spread throughout the realm, but it wasrgely ignored. It soon died down, as if nothing had happened. But then the whole realm shook. And the final moments of the Tyrant Realm arrived.


    The Will of the realm had been able to keep void energy outside the realm from rushing into the realm. But more than 94% of all living things in the realm, including demons, had been killed, so the Will of the realm had been severely weakened.


    Plus, the crack was expanding instead of decreasing, and invaders were poking more holes into the realm, not less. So the Will of the realm was already at its limits.


    Then Dylganihl tore its flimsy defenses asunder. He ripped the crack open, so a hole appeared in the realm. It was like a tunnel. It led to both the encypted space and to the outside of the realm. Void energy rushed into the realm from the outside and began wanton destruction.


    It was like a ck river. Wherever it passed, it eroded into ck dust immediately. Nothing was spared from the corrosive power of void energy. The realm was literally disappearing as they watched. No one was excited to see it happen. Not the inhabitants of the realm or the defenders.


    The inhabitants cared for the realm, but the invaders wanted the realm to remain so that they could destroy it themselves. But there were two outliers excited to see the disappearing


    realm.


    One of them was Legion, who created the crack. They received arge amount of contribution points that made it possible for them to buy nine world seeds and seven world engines.


    The other excited people were the ones who caused the tide of void energy. The most excited of this group of people was a silver dragon, who had been waiting for this very moment.


    A loud voice came out of the ring on his finger, "Go, go, go!"


    Dylganihl roared with a smile, "I''m going."


    He entered the tunnel as fast as he could. The new dragon didn''t enter, but it called after him, "Get the realm heart, senior Dylganihl."


    Dylganihl said confidently, "You can count on me, young one. I will make every dragon-kind proud."


    Dylganihl felt like a pioneer. He is about to do something no dragon has ever done before. The hopes and dreams of every dragon, including his dad and the new dragon, weighed heavily on him. But the other thing that weighed heavily on him gave him confidence. That thing is almost as heavy as the core of a star. It gave him explosive confidence like he had never had before.


    Legion-8 would be a fool if he didn''t notice the tunnel and the resultingmotion. He is not a fool, so he noticed. In fact, he already noticed the dragon from the moment he was groping around the edge of his void crack. The spatial stealth that the dragon used couldn''t fool his eyes.


    The creation of the tunnel was unexpected since the dragon seemed to be shrouded in great power. They didn''t anticipate it, but there''s no way he would just stand by without doing anything about it now that it has happened.


    Besides, acting on this opportunity is very easy for him to do. He rushed into the tunnel with hisrge, energy-like body while simultaneously calling for the other clones. The other clones in the realm arrived immediately, while the ones in the High Heaven realm rushed towards the nearest dungeon. They might bete to the party, but they had to make an attempt to join it.


    "So this is the space where the realm heart is."


    That was the first thought Legion had when they entered the tunnel. Void energy was ravaging the outside world, but the innermost space in the realm was quiet. At most, it was trembling. But it was difficult to tell because the only thing present was darkness. It was a thorough, all- consuming darkness.


    Legion had entered a space like this before. The first time was during Legion-8''s ancestral trial, when the dragon spirit had arranged for him to fight Mother High Heaven. Now they are here again in a simr space, but it is in real life.


    This time, they actually had a chance to fight and defeat the Will of the realm. After all, it is at its weakest. The realm is practically about to die. Even so, they were still anxious and afraid about the uing fight. It would be foolish to underestimate the Will of a realm.


    A/N: Let''s bet. Who will get the realm heart?

 Chapter 1627: The Right Of The Strong.

    Chapter 1627: The Right Of The Strong.


    ?


    That''s what Legion thought when they entered the space. But then they paused, as if they had found something odd. Their anxious minds became confused. It was as if a cloud of


    uncertainty had settled on their minds.


    They asked themselves, "Is this real? Are we truly doing this?"


    Soverick replied, "Something is odd, but maybe it is the peculiarity of this space."


    Legion-1 epted the exnation. "It is a special location that we don''t fully understand, so it is expected that it would be peculiar."


    Something about this space feels familiar. It almost feels exactly the same as what Legion-8 experienced, so they found it odd. They expected it to be different, but it was almost as if they had been here before. They can only attribute this strangeness to the peculiarity of this space. Maybe every space like this is identical.


    "There''s no time to waste. Let''s get the realm heart, and we can think about itter."


    They saw the sliver dragon shooting towards the realm heart, so they snapped out of their moment of d¨¦j¨¤ vu and chased after him.


    The realm heart is the only source of light in this space. Unlike the realm heart of the high heaven realm, it is dim and flickering. Still, it is producing light and causing runes to be projected into space like holograms.


    The two Wills within the realm heart were battling to the death. The sh of their powers caused the light of the realm heart to flicker. It was even about to go out.


    One said to the other, "You have lost."


    The other sighed and said, "It seems this is my destiny."


    The first Will agreed. It said, "It is the destiny of the weak."


    "But I am not weak. You are just too strong."


    "That''s why I shall consume all that you are and ascend to greater strength. It is my right as the strongest."


    "Go on and consume me. But I will not make it easy for you."


    The Will of the Tyrant Realm knew it was about to die, but it didn''t give up fighting. It still tried to resist and overwhelm Mother High Heaven because it is in its nature to seek survival every time.


    Mother High Heaven, on the other hand, stopped bullying the loser and focused most of her power on the fragments of the realm heart. She clung to them and changed their ownership to hers. The Tyrant realm could do nothing but watch.


    Mother High Heaven was just waiting for the realm heart to be destroyed so that she could take what she needed to upgrade her own realm tree. It was in the middle of thisst stage of struggling that Legion and Dylganihl appeared.


    Dylganihl knew that Legion had entered because the new dragon outside the tunnel had warned him. So he threatened them, "This realm heart is mine, Legion. You better back off, or I will use this."


    He raised the heavy object in his w for them to see. The clones saw it and couldn''t help but say, "That is horrendous workmanship."


    Even Legion-7, who wasn''t there in the flesh, had something to say about it. "It might be the most ugly thing I have ever seen."


    But Dylganihl onlyughed and said proudly, "Not if you started out trying to fail. For my goal, it is the most beautiful thing."


    It was then that Legion understood the purpose of this ugly object. They can feel arge amount of energy and power from it. But whatever it was designed to do, it is unlikely that it would be able to do it. It is more likely that it would explode. And for that, they are afraid.


    They don''t know what such a thing can do to them in this space where there is now matrix. If they die here, the void universe might not be able to save them. They might die forever. But they couldn''t give up easily. One of them asked, "If that thing blows up, you will also die with us."


    Dylganihl didn''t deny it. "Maybe. But I have a helper."


    Legion scoffed. "We have helpers too."


    Dylganihl was also disdainful. "But not like mine."


    They were rushing towards the realm heart as they spoke. They couldn''t teleport in this space, so they had to move with the power of their minds. That became difficult when the space began to shake.


    A loud explosion rang through the originally silent and dark world. It shook everyone to their core. Even the realm heart dimmed. Then space was torn open. Arge w broke into the encrypted space from the outside. The w was sorge, it made the realm heart and the Origin gods in the encrypted space look like ants. It was as if the sky was falling down on them.


    Legion saw this and were all terrified. After all, they were about to meet a world god face-to- face. They had done so before, but they don''t want to do it again anytime soon. Not until they have be world gods themselves.


    Only Dylganihl was still excited. He gloated at them, "It looks like my helper is here. You have all lost."


    The clones asked each other, "Should we withdraw?"


    "We should withdraw."


    The conclusion was immediate. It is the kind of decisive attitude one should show when the world is buzzing, groaning, and squeezing around them like tar. They have a lot to gain if they continue chasing, but there''s a world god, and it appears to be their enemy. So they retreated. Their retreat was fast. They reached the tunnel quickly before the w descended. But then they had a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu again. It made them stop in shock.


    Their sense of danger was pinging wildly, and Soverick was seeing multiple futures of their demise. They were clearly in danger, but their concerns were somewhere else.


    This time, they knew what was causing the strangeness in this ce.


    All the clones had the same thought at the same time, "This is not the real world. This whole thing is fake."

 Chapter 1628: The Extra Helper.

    Chapter 1628: The Extra Helper.


    ?


    The reason they felt a sense of strangeness and d¨¦j¨¤ vu when they entered this ce was because they had actually been here before. This ce felt like the space of the realm heart of the High Heaven realm that they experienced before because it was the space of the realm heart of the High Heaven realm.


    They were stunned and shaken.


    Legion-8 asked in disbelief, "How could this be? Did we travel back to the past?"


    Legion-7 scoffed, "That is not possible. There was no era of conquest in the past. It is more likely that the dragon''s clone fight with Mother High Heaven has not ended. Maybe everything we experienced since the dragon clone made contact with her was fake."


    That exnation despite how ridiculous it sounded was the most reasonable exnation they coulde up with for why the space of the realm heart of the realm of high heaven is identical to the space of the realm heart of the Tyrant realm.


    Soverick said with certainty, "It is unmistakable. We are in the same space. I wasn''t sure before because I didn''t experience it personally, and the dragon clone is dead. But his memory is clear, and it is clear that the two spaces have the same spatial undtions. It is uncanny."


    Even as he said all of these, he was trying to prove himself wrong by inspecting the timeline of events for everything that has happened to them recently. The history and Causality of the past flowed rapidly across his vision.


    Every Legion helped, so he was even able to see the things that didn''t happen to them or that they didn''t witness, such as GREED''s meeting with the Supreme Tyrants and the demon gods of the Tyrant realm''s meeting with the demon god of the High Heaven Realm.


    Almost everything that had happened in the era of conquest, including the things they hadn''t personally witnessed, appeared in their vision. What they saw showed a seamless and natural world. But it was all wrong.


    There were some unnatural events that happened in things that were not rted to them or the era of conquest. For example, an animal gave birth to a mutant offspring with two heads somewhere in the High Heaven Realm, but none of the mortals batted an eye. They all treated it as if it were normal.


    A town froze and didn''t move for days on end. The inhabitants of the town only moved a few seconds every few weeks. They did so as if they were stuttering. Their movements came in jerks and glitches. But no one found this odd. Not even Mother High Heaven despite this situation uring in arge area of both realms.


    There were other oddities that were treated as normal by the people around them, and all of them didn''t have any rtion to Legion or the era of conquest. The mortals ran ording to a program that became clear after their lives were lived over a period of thousands of years. It was as if they were puppets on a string, living preordained lives that they never veered off, not


    once.


    Soverick said with certainty, "The element of randomness is dead. Entropy has been constant in everything aside from us and the era of conquest. The world around us has been constant without our knowing it. Only we and anything rted to the era of conquest have been alive."


    His voice became grave, and his mind threatened to copse under the strain of it all, but he continued with his train of thought. "I don''t know what is going on, but I do know that thew of Chaos is no longer functioning in this world. That means we are no longer in the void universe."


    As people who are very conversant with thews of Order and Chaos, they can recognize that these two are absent in the world they are seeing. It is something they should have noticed for a long time, but it slipped their attention because they were focused on something else. They had been focused on the era of conquest. It was as if their attention was narrowed down to see only the era of conquest. Meanwhile, the world around them was a dead world feeding them lies.


    They couldn''t believe that they had been fooled. They began to brainstorm about the situation. All their minds shed and warred with each other.


    Legion-1 asked solemnly, "Since when did this happen? Could it truly have been since the dragon clone? Is the dragon clone even dead? Did we defeat the dragon spirit at all? Is the dragon spirit responsible for this or Draco?"


    Soverick replied, "I don''t know. All I can say is that it has been going on for a while. But from the looks of things, the whole era of conquest that we experienced might be fake."


    Aeternus was speechless, "How were we so blind to it? I can still feel the Chaos within me, but there truly is no Chaos in the world now that you have pointed it out. How didn''t I see such a ring fact?"


    Soverick replied, "I''m thinking. I''m thinking."


    The tenth clone advised, "I don''t think we should think about it."


    "Why?" Soverick asked.


    The tenth clone replied, "Thinking too much is a bad idea. Let''s just go with the flow."


    The clones felt that it was a good idea. Legion-2 began, "You have always been wise. You might be the smartest one among us."


    The tenth clone chuckled and said modestly, "I am only doing my part for us to achieve perfection."


    Every clone felt that what he said was reasonable. But then Legion-1 asked, "Wait, who are you again?"


    He knows this person, and this person is part of their mentalwork, so they must be a clone of Legion.


    The tenth clone confirmed it, "Stop joking now. You know me, and we are of one mind." Legion-1 was still not convinced. He asked, "Why have I never seen you before?"


    A/N: Everyone needs help sometimes. Especially Legion with their very difficult goal of perfection.

 Chapter 1629: The Secret Plan.

    Chapter 1629: The Secret n.


    ?


    The Tenth clone replied, "I am the secret weapon you have prepared, silly. You had me hide so that others wouldn''t know about me."


    Legion-1 remembered it now that it had been pointed out. Memories of their actions to create a secret clone tobat the exposure of their secrets and how they had purged the memories of those actions from their minds all returned to Legion.


    They were suddenly enlightened. Legion-5 said to Legion-1, "Truly good thinking on your part."


    The tenth clone alsoplimented him, "You always prepared for the worst. That''s why we will achieve great things."


    Every clone rxed and alsoplimented Legion-1 for being smart when he created a secret clone when he created the others. But Legion-1 didn''t reply. Instead, his eyes remained narrowed in suspicion.


    Maybe it was because he was in charge of their Origin, but he felt resistance towards this person. He can''t exin why, he only knows that there are two contrasting facts.


    The fact is that he only created nine passages, so there can only be nine clones, not ten. So he can''t understand why there are ten clones, despite them being so familiar with the tenth clone.


    So he asked them, "Did we break the limit of the void universe on Origin channels?"


    The tenth clone tried to reply, but Legion-1 interrupted him. He said, "I don''t want the answer from you. I want it from them."


    The other clones didn''t understand why he was so suspicious, so they chuckled and decided to straighten him out. But then their words got stuck in their minds. It is because they don''t have a reply.


    They racked their memories for when they broke the limit but couldn''te up with anything. It was then that they began to realize something was wrong too. This suspicion made the memories of the tenth clone that they just got to disappear.


    The foundation of the memory had been destroyed after being questioned, so their minds became somewhat clear again. Suddenly, the tenth clone became someone they knew to be part of them, but they had no memory of them.


    Legion-7 asked slowly, "Howe there''s 10 of us?"


    Aeternus was shocked when he realized that this is the first time he is seeing this tenth clone. He asked, "When did we gain another clone?"


    Legion-1 sighed and dered, "We have been mentally infiltrated!"


    Even the 10th clone joined in raising the rm. He shouted, "Legion has beenpromised. We are doomed."


    Legion-9 pointed at Legion-10 and said, "You are the traitor."


    Legion-10 used in return, "No, you are the traitor. I have never seen you before, too. You must be the traitor."


    All ten of them could feel that the tenth clone was telling the truth. He has truly never seen Legion-9 before, so that means Legion-9 could be a traitor.


    They all subconsciously ignored the fact that the other clones had memories of Legion-9 before now. Something was blocking their cognition of that knowledge, so they began arguing and using each other of being traitors.


    All of them were arguing except Legion-7. Legion-7 realized something as they argued. He said, "I think I know why we didn''t see the absence of thews of Order and Chaos in the world and why we were fooled. It is because we have be stupid."


    He knows that much, but even then, he can''t tell how they became stupid and how to fix it. He knows that there is a traitor in their midst and that there shouldn''t be a tenth clone, but he can''t figure out who the traitor is.


    It was Helios who came to the rescue. He decided to fight back against the hand of the world god that wasing down on them.


    A lot has happened in their minds since they discovered that they might be dreaming, but the world around them is still going on. They haven''t escaped whatever situation they are in.


    Helios decided to use his dragon heart to im dominance over the world god. He dered madly, "DOMINATE: FREEZE!"


    The dragon w falling down on them froze. Not only that, but the world around them also froze. Then it began to shake. It shook so much that it fragmented.


    Helios changed in that moment. He was a giant scaled humanoid being with a dragon head. In his normal form, he appeared to be a giant cyclops with one eye on his dragon head. But then his existence unraveled to be his concept. He had to do so because the world was trying to crush him for freezing it.


    He unfolded into a giant eye with 14 pupils. 14 wings of various colors appeared around him. The eye grew bigger as he used his divine spark, world fragment, and every other Supreme Power at their disposal to fight back.


    "DOMINATE: PUSH."


    He eventually became a star. He was radiating so much power that the world couldn''t contain him anymore. The world broke with a bang. Then it turned into a whirlpool around them.


    The whirlpool was like a river of fragmented memories and information swirling around them and confusing their minds. It looked physical, but it was mental. So the whirlpool is putting pressure on their minds, and everything they have just experienced was a figment of their imagination. The world was an illusion. It was not real.


    The only real thing are the 10 minds that make up Legion. They should be 9, but apparently they had gained one more somewhere along the line.


    They had beenpromised. That much is clear. But Legion, is not to be underestimated. They have realized the problem now, so it didn''t take long for them to fix it.


    Legion-7 didn''t let Helios'' actions go to waste. He is stronger than ever before after fusing with a world fragment. Only a world god or stronger can fool him, but not for long. And certainly not when he has realized that fact.


    A/N: Legion created a secret 10th clone? I really didn''t see thating. I wish I was half as smart as them.


    Anyways, this Bonus chapter is thanks to Rose for her gift.

 Chapter 1630: The Big Reveal.

    Chapter 1630: The Big Reveal.


    ?


    Legion-7 caused the shards of power in the world fragment to riot. He didn''t know where they were. He only knew that they were part of his body.


    The shards of power affected every clone and made different unpredictable things happen to them. These things happened to every clone, regardless of their position in time and space.


    The fake world was shaken from both inside of it, due to Helios, and out of it, thanks to the shards of power. The world sought to push out Legion-7 which he dly epted.


    But Legion-7 was connected to all of them, so he managed to pull them out of the whirlpool and awaken them. The whirlpool disappeared around them to reveal a white world.


    This is their mental space. It should be where they are strongest. Unfortunately, there''s still a 10th mind here. He had followed them from wherever they were to the very sanctuary of their minds. This proved that he was truly connected to them. He wasn''t lying about that.


    The good news is that they have been awakened now, so their intelligence has returned, and they are no longer fools. They knew the identity of the infiltrator without a shred of doubt.


    The nine of them surrounded the 10th person. This person is the stranger in their midst. They even know the person''s identity.


    They asked together as one, "How did you manage to infiltrate us?"


    This person looked just like them. It looks like a white Supreme Beast. It has no facial features and can also change its physical appearance to any of the clones. But this doesn''t fool them anymore, and the person knew it.


    But the person was not concerned. They had the calm and confident bearing that a victorious person should have.


    The tenth clone tsked and corrected them, "Don''t act like I barged in. You invited me."


    Legion understood immediately. The scene of them allowing a curse to enter their soulwork and reach Legion-7 appeared in their minds. If what the tenth clone said is true, then they had truly invited him in.


    The answer seemed to havee readily to their minds. After all, it is something that they have been wondering about for quite a while.


    They didn''t widen their eyes, but the white space shook with the weight of that


    understanding. But it also came with more questions.


    Legion-7 asked, "That can''t be right. The era of conquest had already begun then. Were we in


    a simtion before that happened, or was that when the simtion started?"


    The tenth clone replied smugly, "Right from the start, when you started your virtual simtion. There was no era of conquest."


    "Impressive ability, I must say. It is just slightly dangerous. You have to be careful what kind of knowledge you use for that sort of thing."


    If this were true, then it meant Legion had never experienced the era of conquest. Soverick had simted it using all the information they knew and all the power they had. The information included all their knowledge ofws and Supreme Laws.


    The supremews they used were the Supreme Law of Order, the Law of Chaos, Viper Hegemony, and the Eye of the Sage. Their mistake had caused a powerful entity to hijack Soverick''s simtion and use it to infiltrate their minds.


    Legion was silent. They felt unprecedented danger after realizing the depth of their current circumstances. They could only count on Legion-7 for a solution.


    The powerful entity in their midst looked around the empty white world, unconcerned, and chuckled.


    He asked them, "Why are you suppressing your thoughts? What do you have to hide from me that I haven''t seen already? I have seen all your ns for the era of conquest, your skills, and your abilities. I have also heard your thoughts. I think I know you better than yourselves."


    Legion-5 replied, "We are under no obligation to entertain you."


    The entity agreed with a nod. "That''s true."


    "Fine. Be a bore if you want. I will make my own fun."


    Legion was silent as they contemted their n. It is not that they are not thinking. They are, but it is through Legion-7. So in a way, it is only Legion-7 that is thinking. This entity can''t infiltrate Legion-7''s mind, so he thinks they are silent.


    But that ignorance didn''t continue for much longer. The person said after looking around, "This must be the world of Legion-7''s mind. I noticed it when you shifted your thoughts. It was subtle, but I am very good at that sort of thing."


    "This is something only a spiritual entity with a spark of consciousness can do. Do you know that I have met the great mother before? Great creature. She is not like you, but she has managed to achieve something great in an unforgiving situation. She deserves that praise."


    "She and I worked together briefly to trap you. We wanted to bring you to the spiritual dimension with the promise of an item that can make you evolve. I''m sure you haven''t forgotten your meeting with Salvini. You should think yourself lucky that you avoided that bait."


    "I was frustrated for a long time about what to do, but who would have thought that you would slip into my hands just like that? And what a bounty I have found in your existence! Two Universal artifacts and one shard of power that I have never heard about. You are truly blessed."


    The entity went on and on, bragging about what he knew about them. Then he asked them, "It was the fake world god that gave my ruse away, right? Of all the things that Helios or anyone of you could have done, you chose to attack the w of a world god and shatter the world


    around you."


    Their tenth cloneughed, "That''s madness if it had been the real world. What you should have done is run away. Fortunately, it wasn''t the real world. Helios was very lucky. Too lucky even."

 Chapter 1631: Play Time Is Over.

    Chapter 1631: y Time Is Over.


    ?


    Legion-4 didn''t agree. He said, "It wasn''t luck. We have met you before, so we knew it was you after noticing the abnormality. What are the odds that the first world god we met will feel like the second world god? It was too much of a coincidence."


    Legion-2 added, "We might have been stupid, but even a dragon w couldn''t fool us. My meeting with you, both mental and physical, was iconic. It left a mark that we couldn''t forget even when we were muddleheaded."


    The first sage said with pity, "That''s a shame. I tried to mask my aura, but you noticed it at the end of the day."


    He even exined himself to them, "I really tried my best. I had three options. One was to create a fake world god without any foundation. You would have been fooled since you wouldn''t recognize the aura, but you would have noticed if you took a good look at it with your eye."


    "The second option was to use the information of a new world god as the foundation for the fake world god. It would increase its authenticity, so you would be fooled. But I didn''t use that because you would have surely noticed the infiltration and addition of that kind of information into the simtion."


    Legion-1 agreed. "Yes, we would. There''s no way we wouldn''t notice the intrusion of information thatrge."


    The first sage pped to apud him, "Legion is truly impressive. Even a world god has to work so hard just to fool you. And you don''t even have a Supreme Law yet. Well, Legion-7 and Legion-9 should count as Supremews."


    "Your uniqueness aside, you would have noticed because the simtion is ultimately your technique, and I am just a guest. This left me with only one option, which was to use the information you already had in the simtion. So I used my information. I had no choice."


    Legion-1 sneered, "I think you underestimated us too much. It is one thing to copy information and use it for the space of the realm heart. We were almost fooled by it. But then you dared to copy information again for a world god."


    The first sage spread his hands and said in frustration, "I had no choice. It is you who think too much about everything. You know, not everything revolves around you."


    His smugness soon returned. "You were too careful. But I still fooled you. What does that say about me?"


    It can''t be denied that they were fooled and had been fooled for a long time. The major reason they were fooled was because they were open to the illusion. It shouldn''t have been an illusion, but a simtion.


    It was a simtion started by Soverick to predict the era of conquest bybining the information they had with their ability to see the future. So they were willing to ept what was disyed to them and didn''t notice the person who hijacked it.


    Well, Soverick noticed something odd at first, but he couldn''t point it out. His cognition had been affected right from that moment. They had lost the reins of the simtion so badly that they didn''t even know that they were in a simtion anymore.


    They should also have known that something was terribly wrong when Soverick tried to start the simtion again but failed. That was their best shot at escaping, but they lost it. Then they had to go along with the illusion.


    At first, they didn''t notice anything wrong because most of the simtion was new information derived from thebination of their knowledge and the future. They were entrenched in the fake era of conquest too much to detach themselves from it.


    But then the person who hijacked their simtion tried to fool them with old information twice in a row. Things unraveled at that point. Soverick noticed, and here they are.


    The First Sage sighed and said, "Legion, Legion, Legion. What an enigmatic existence. The information that the dragon king shared about you is nowhere near what I have gained from you. You really can''t know someone until you have been in their mind and seen their thoughts."


    The person was bragging and feeling smug when the white world began to crack. It cracked to reveal a ck void beyond it. Large tentacles could be seen through the cracks, asionally hammering at the mental space and trying to break it.


    They have decided that since they are no longer in control, they might as well destroy this battlefield and flip the tablepletely.


    This decision helped Legion regain some of their confidence. They said to the first sage, "This is our loss. But it is not over for us yet."


    The first shook his head. But he agreed with them. He said, "You are right. This is far from over."


    Then his figure changed. His humanoid form gave way to reveal arge white eye. It was arge eye with gray rings within each other.


    The white world that was shaking began to stabilize with the appearance of the eye. It stopped shaking, and even the cracks healed.


    The first sage repeated, "This is far from over. It is not every day that I can have so much fun. Why don''t we enjoy each other''s presence for a few more minutes? You never know. We might eventually like each other."


    His voice rang throughout the white world and reinforced it.


    Legion-7 couldn''t believe it, "How is this possible? This is our mind. It is our consciousness."


    The first sage snickered and said, "Do you think you are so great because you could leave my presence whenever you wanted in the past? Do you think you can push me out after letting me in? If so, then you are very wrong to think so. I let you leave every time we met. You are just an ant to me. No matter how powerful you are among ants, you are no match for a world."

 Chapter 1632: Lying In Wait.

    Chapter 1632: Lying In Wait.


    ?


    Legion-7 was unconvinced. He said, "This doesn''t make sense. This shouldn''t be happening, even if you are so strong. This is our mind, so we should be in control of it. You are just a world god. How can you ovee the protection of the void universe on Origin gods?"


    The first sage said with disdain, "Of course it could happen. You took on my curse of your own violition. You can''t back off now that it is time to pay the price."


    Legion-1 sighed and said with dread, "The curse of the Supreme Alliance is truly powerful."


    They remember that curse that Soverick allowed to reach Legion-7. They had thought that the death of Salvini was the bait, but they found out that they were wrong. It was the temptation to hurt the Supreme Alliance that was the bait. It was all to allow the curse to enter their minds.


    It turns out that the events of the illusion were not only to get information out of them. It was also to doom them to having a tenth clone that they couldn''t get rid of. Legion felt dread just thinking about what else was in store for them, but the first Sage was full of joy.


    He roared happily and dered, "Hear me, hear me. My Will is supreme, and I don''t want us to part ways yet, so we will not!"


    This turn of events is not as simple as the first sage made it out to be. In the past, they had been entangled in the mental space of the first sage, and Legion-7 had been able to leave whenever they wanted. So it should have been easy for them to eject the first sage out of their own mental space. Unfortunately, things are not so right now.


    Apparently, world gods are stronger than they expected. Or the first sage is stronger than normal world gods. Or he lied about why he could do the things he is doing to them.


    The first sage certainly is more scheming than a normal world god. After all, he had ced his hook in them from the moment Soverickprehended his Supreme Law in the Unified Skill Index, back when Soverick was the child of the Virut ne.


    He hasid low since then. He waited until he had enough advantage in information and infiltration into Legion to use that hook. So he is reaping the just reward of his long time preparation now.


    The first sage hadid in wait for a long time because his hook couldn''t do anything to Soverick back then. He had lied about allowing Soverick to leave their mental meetings without his permission.


    While he waited, he acquired more information to deepen his hook in them. He sent Salvini after them to search for information on them while also doing his secret investigations.


    He was rewarded in his search when he eventually discovered the great mother. That encounter allowed him to deepen his understanding of Legion-7. This strengthened his hook, but it still wasn''t enough.


    Then the dragon king released more information about Legion to the dragons. The dragons used that information to convince the Supreme Alliance to work with them. The Supreme Alliance refused the attempt, but it allowed the first sage to learn more information about Legion as a whole.


    A secret is something that only one person knows. Legion''s information stopped being a secret when Draco, many dragons, and many Supreme Beasts found out. It became too easy for him to find out about it.


    That deepened his hook within Legion enough to hijack their minds. Then Soverick gave him the right opportunity when he used his future divination technique just after the era of conquest started.


    He was able to use theirprehension and the addition of his Supreme Law into the technique to take it over. Then he dragged them into an illusion, where he seeded in burying the hook further into their minds so that they wouldn''t be able to escape even if they discovered that they were in an illusion.


    That moment when Soverick allowed the curse to reach Legion-7 was the moment they gained a tenth clone, and they didn''t even know it back then. They had searched their existence thoroughly, but they didn''t find anything wrong. It was because they had already fallen into the trap a long time ago.


    They know now, but it is toote. The tenth clone is not some external Influence on them anymore. It is a part of their mind. It is their knowledge of the first sage turned against them. It is that hook, which is theirprehension of the Supreme Law of the Eye of the Sage, and the curse that is keeping them from breaking their mental space. Legion-7 is erasing their soul imprints that containprehension of the Supreme Law of the Eye of the Sage right now. That''s what''s causing the mental space to shake and crack.


    Such an act is detrimental to them and will certainly injure them. But the first sage is resisting strongly, so the soul imprints refused to be destroyed, even though they belong to Legion, not the first sage.


    Legion-9 asked, "What do you want? You can''t gain anything more from us. You are not the dragon king, so you can''t remove our immortality. At best, you will injure our minds, but we will heal it easily."


    The first sage shrugged. "Let''s just say that I like being around you, and I would like to be around you for all of eternity. If you miss the era of conquest during that period of time, then it is icing on the already delicious cake for me."


    Legion was frantic in this deadlock, not the first sage. They are frantic because the first sage has truly hit a sore spot. The era of conquest is going on without them. Meanwhile, they are in the void, floating about and having a mental discussion with a snake of a world god. It is not how they want to spend their time.

 Chapter 1633: Bringing The Prophecy To Pass.

    Chapter 1633: Bringing The Prophecy To Pass.


    ?


    The First Sage was amused. Heughed in their faces to show his amusement. The roar of hisughter caused the white space of Legion-5''s mind to shake.


    He continued speaking, but with an additional mocking tone. "I have seen enough of you to know what is most important to you right now. That is the era of conquest. Without it, you will lose a lot of momentum and might be stuck as origin gods for the next 1,000 origin cycles."


    "You have grown really fast in a short amount of time. Even the realm lord is surprised by your growth. But if I stall you for the next origin cycle, you will be stagnant for a thousand times that time. That will open up a lot of possibilities for how to deal with you. And you know me, I love possibilities."


    Heughed triumphantly and bolsteringly.


    The first sage has the right tough, though. If they don''t participate in the era of conquest, then they will not gain contribution points to acquire what they need to be world gods. As if that isn''t bad enough, there''s also the realm lord, who is keen on their secrets. The first sage already knows about the shard of power. If the realm lord finds out and he doesn''t owe them anything when he bes a world god, then it is likely that he will capture them for their secrets after the era of conquest. So they are screwed.


    The nine clones had had enough. They all attacked the first sage. This is not the real world, so they can''t usews. But it is their mental space, so they can still use their abilities.


    In fact, they should be able to do anything they want and can think of. They ought to be omnipotent gods in their minds. Unfortunately, everything they threw at the First Sage failed.


    Nothing they could think of could even touch him. Everything just disappeared aftering close to the first sage. The First Sage had formed a domain within their minds. And unlike them, he had the help of a world to overpower them.


    The first sage asked them, "What nonsense is this? You can''t hurt me because you can''t hurt yourself. Even if you can hurt yourself, I won''t let you. You will do what I want, when I want it. ept your fate!"


    Their fight looks like the actions of fools. Technically, they are throwing virtual attacks at themselves. This is because the first sage is not an intruder right now. He is part of them. He is the metal hook that has lodged itself into the gills of a fish that was greedy enough to take the bait.


    Legion has many faults. Being greedy is just one of them. They took that bait and used the knowledge of the first sage''s supremew to build their world fragment. However, a Supreme Law is not so easy to spit out after taking it. This is despite the fact that they learned less than 0.1% of the Supreme Law.


    He advised them, "If you truly want me gone, you should use your contingency n against me. I''m sure you have one, and I am sure that Legion-7 can use it."


    They didn''t reply. They just kept attacking him. Their reaction caused the first sage tough. He said, "Common on. Don''t be shy. Show me what you got."


    It sounded like a good idea, but Legion didn''t take it. In fact, the idea might work to release them and injure the first sage, but they are not going to take advice from their enemy. Especially not from an enemy that is anticipating that very move.


    CARNAGE is a weapon they can use against the first sage, but it is not a weapon that they can use without causing some damage to themselves. Not only will their world fragment be destroyed if they release CARNAGE, they will also die.


    They can resurrect, but that world fragment is not something they can lose easily. Not after they have spent so much effort on it. Plus, CARNAGE is a one-time weapon. If they use it now, they won''t be able to use it again.


    It might not even work considering that the first sage is goading them to use it. So they can''t go the doom day''s route. But they didn''t give up, though. There is more than one way to fleece an elusive cat. Actually, they have two.


    First, Legion-7 tried to be intangible like he did in the Spiritual Dimension to escape from the great mother. His n was to make the mental space intangible so that the hook of the first sage would be dislodged.


    It didn''t work just as he expected. It has not worked ever since he began dwelling in physical hosts. Something about physical matter and his attachment to them is dragging him down from bing intangible. Since it didn''t work, they decided to try theirst method.


    They can''t overtune the gaming board, so they will cut off their hands so that they won''t be able to y anymore. They can''t pull out the hook in their minds, so they will kill themselves. If all of them die at once, then the mental space will cease to exist.


    They expected it to work. After all, they had already seen it happen. It is exactly what the first sage prophecied that they would do. Which means that he will be anticipating it and prepared to resist it.


    They expected it to be difficult. After all, a world god can freeze an Origin god or curse them to never die. So it should be very difficult for them to kill themselves. But they were certain it would work because they nned to detonate all their psychic engrams within Legion-7 and fracture Legion-7 himself.


    Their n ought to work since the first sage can''t suppress Legion-7. The hook of the first sage is lodged deep in their consciousness, not in Legion-7''s spark of consciousness. So Legion-7 can fracture his spark of consciousness and take all of them down with him.


    A/N: Who would have thought it? Legion is the one that wants to bring the prophecy to pass. Is that a good idea or not? Who wants to bet with me again?

 Chapter 1634: The Laughter Of The Victorious.

    Chapter 1634: The Laughter Of The Victorious.


    ?


    Even if Legion-7''s willingness tomit suicide is not enough to bring all of them and their tenth clone down, it is bound to work if they employ the assistance of the void universe in it too. After all, no world god can overpower the void universe.


    What the void universe hates the most is tampering with time, so if they try to rewind time, the bacsh should be heavy enough to kill them. Even if the First Sage seeds against all odds and blocks that bacsh on their behalf, they will be able to actually return to the past and undo what the First Sage did to them.


    If that still doesn''t work, then they will let CARNAGE lose or make Aeternus descend into his Demonic Spark. These are extreme measures that they don''t want to do, which is why they are saving them forst.


    It is a series of ns that cannot fail. All of Legion were of one mind in that regard. If they all fail, then they truly deserve to be enved by the first sage.


    They were determined not to face that ending so they were determined and didn''t hold back as Legion-7 used Legion-4''s cosmic maniption to manipte the world outside of their minds, then used Legion-5''s cosmic domain to freeze the world, and then tried to rewind time.


    They selected arge area to rewind its times so as to ensure that even if the First Sage manages to interfere and they fail to return to the past, the bacsh of their attempt will wound or kill the First Sage.


    They were right about the size of the bacsh. The void universe was furious. The bacsh struck them with vengeance. Legion-7 epted the bacsh to himself readily. He didn''t let it go to the clones.


    They had done all they could and were waiting for the First Sage''s move. They were sure to counter it, but their expectations were subverted.


    The tenth clone onlyughed as their minds began toe apart. He was not mocking them for their desperate attempt or taunting them about its failure. Their n did work. It was just too easy.


    The First Sage didn''t stop them at all. All he did wasugh. Legion-7''s spark of consciousness shattered, and he seeded in destroying his backup of all the clones easily. There was no resistance, so it urred quickly.


    He died, and so did all of Legion. The bacsh made certain of it. The white mental world darkened instantly. It didn''t shake or crack like it didst time. It just went dark and died.


    Thest thing they saw before they lost their consciousness was the first sage finally saying something.


    The First Sage said to them, "I am the Eye of the Sage. I bring my desired future to pass. You can never beat me."


    He taunted them again, "You have lost. You can''t escape me. I will alwayse after you. This has changed nothing."


    This reminded them of the vision the first sage had seen when they allowed the curse to enter their soul. What Soverick had seen back then hase through now. That fact alone didn''t make them happy. What the first sage said as they died made them feel worse.


    The First Sage was right. They had lost at that moment. Back then, Soverick didn''t know if he was in a predictionpetition with the first sage or if it had started. He knows all of it now. He also knows that they fell into another trap by killing themselves. It is a trap that they didn''t have a choice in. They lost right from the moment theyprehended the first sage''s Supreme Law, and they have been losing since.


    They promised themselves, "We will never tamper with any Supreme Law again." That''s thest thing that went through their minds. They have to go to sleep now, and it is going to be a very long time because Legion-7 can''t resurrect them, and the void universe is kind of angry with them. They are going to pay for the time they tried to rewind, so their resurrection won''t start for a while.


    They don''t believe that they were overreacting when they made that promise because something they thought could never happen happened to them all because they messed with the supremew of a world god.


    They had three methods of resurrection, the soul sphere, Legion-7, and the immortality of Origin gods through the void universe. But somehow, they had rendered all three of them incapable of resurrecting them in a short amount of time.


    The soul sphere needs at least one of them alive to help them. It can''t help them if there is no clone to bear the soul sphere. They have to wait for the void universe to get around to resurrecting them like any other Origin god. If it is toote and they don''t resurrect within an Origin cycle, then they will miss out on the era of conquestpletely.


    All of this happened because they wanted it to happen. It was the best oue for them after everything happened. With the first sage in their minds, and with them out in the void, anything could have happened to them. It was better to kill themselves than fall into the first sage''s hands. So no they don''t think they were overreacting when they made that promise.


    Meanwhile, the era of conquest continued without them. Mother High Heaven had just announced the start of the era of conquest in the High Heaven realm. The realm lord has gone to barricade the Tyrant Realm. Weak entities in the high heaven realm were just leaving to avoid danger, while Origin gods were just arriving.


    The remnant of Legion, on the other hand, is floating around in the void. This remnant is the world fragment that they built. It is still standing since they didn''t use any Supreme Law in making it directly. They just copied the mechanism of the Supreme Laws, which means it wasn''t part of the struggle with the first sage.

 Chapter 1635: Bait For Bait.

    Chapter 1635: Bait For Bait.


    ?


    The world fragment was built so well that even though it didn''t have a Supreme Law, it managed to survive the bacsh that killed all of Legion.


    However, it won''t get its due peace yet because it has something belonging to the first sage within it. It is what the first sage came for after Legion went to sleep.


    Therge white eye, containing a singlerge pupil made of many rings, appeared around the floating world fragment. The first sage examined it intently, looking for a way to disassemble it and remove his world fragment.


    Now that Legion is not here, no one can stop him from doing whatever he wants to do to their world fragment. He can break it or even steal it.


    He chuckled and said, "They are not bad. They set a bait and trap for me before they died. But if they think this will work, then they must have underestimated me."


    The eye took another look around the remnant. He can see that Legion-1 is still alive because of it. But he didn''t go on to destroy the remnant.


    He muttered to himself, "If they have not underestimated me, then this should be a warning to me. They have disyed their resolve to go to the extreme. If I destroy the remnant, then CARNAGE will be loose."


    He snorted. "They are not bad. They are not bad, indeed. But they are a lotckingpared to a world god. Didn''t they fall into my trap at the end of the day?"


    He just chuckled. Then he sank back beneath thew matrix and left.


    He didn''t touch the world fragment at all. Doing so will undoubtedly deal a great blow to Legion. They will lose arge part of their strength. They will lose all the time, resources, and effort they put into building it.


    But in order to make them experience that loss, he will also have to start an eternal fight with a world ender. That is not something he wants to do. At least not right now. He needs Legion to release CARNAGE on their own. That way, he can have the best of both worlds.


    He doesn''t like Legion, but it is at times like this that he has to respect them. They know that they will be implicated if he decides to destroy their world fragment, but that didn''t stop them from using it to hold his Supreme Law at gunpoint. Or, in this case, at the end of a world ender.


    This is what made him chuckle. Both their determination and their ignorance of his full capabilities made them amusing to him. But even though he is confident in himself, he didn''t take their bait.


    He doesn''t need to test their bottom line after the massive victory he just won. He has gotten a lot of information about them, and he has also be fully aware of their contingency n against him. This has made his future ns almost foolproof.


    This estimate is despite nning for failure. If Legion thinks they are the best at nning, then they haven''t met him. For example, he let them kill themselves.


    It is true that he couldn''t have stopped them from killing themselves, but rather than make things difficult for them, he would rather use their deaths to his advantage.


    His n started way before he found out Soverick was Legion. At that point, he had gone to invite Soverick to the unified skill index. He had used his Supreme Law as bait to make Soverick participate.


    Soverick had just awakened his eye''s capabilities to seews back then, so the boy was confident in himself. He only nned to use his Supreme Law to help Soverick build his concept. But as things have turned out, his Supreme Law was bait in more ways than one. Just the thought of it made the first sageugh. "It is just a tiny hook, and they fell so far." The illusion trap and the subsequent struggle that ensued between him and them were just a small episode in the first sage''s grand scheme. It is like a prediction battle between two people with ocr divine abilities. He has made the first move since the Unified Skill Index. Legion is just reacting to it now, and they died to escape from his clutches. What about his other ns for them? What will they do when those ns unfold when they are already so desperate?


    The first sage sneered and said, "They have underestimated me too much. But it is not their fault. What else can they do against me? Is it their contingency n? Don''t I know it now?"


    It is one thing to underestimate world gods in general, but it is a sin to underestimate him. Even world gods don''t dare underestimate him.


    As a world god that sees the river of fate, his eyesight go far beyond what others can imagine. Rather than wait for Legion to do things at their leisure, he will force them to do things at his own pace. Once they move at the pace he sets for them, they will never walk out of his numerous traps.


    The First Sage didn''t stay idle after he left. He made Legion-5''s information known to all of the High Heaven realm. This was even before the Supreme Alliance coulde after Legion and do such a thing.


    What happened in the illusion were events that were supposed to happen in the real world based on the First Sage''s prediction and knowledge of the future. So the Supreme Alliance still has a bone to pick with Legion and they have ns to act against them.


    In the current timeline, the Supreme Alliance is still looking for Legion. They hadn''t found Legion, so they didn''t have the chance to offer any deals or threaten Legion. But all of a sudden, information about Legion flooded the virtualwork. Practically everyone who saw it was surprised and curious.


    A/N: Here we go again right?

 Chapter 1636: Being A Better Snitch.

    Chapter 1636: Being A Better Snitch.


    ?


    The information that the first sage released was more urate than the ones the Supreme Alliance released in the simtion. All of Legion''s strengths and weaknesses were detailed in the release, so it was not a secret that they reincarnated into nine clones instead of eight, and they could use up to three Supreme Powers at the same time.


    Information about their races, ages, looks, and nes was included. The secrets they tried to hide in the simtion but reluctantly revealed after they were forced were all revealed now, even before Legion could pretend.


    Now everyone knows that they can wield cosmic force and have cosmic energy to use. They also know about their ns for the era of conquest, including Legion-8''s ability to infect and corrupt the realm tree, Helios''s n to eat the sun, Legion-9''s n to steal the abyss, and Aeternus''s n to eat demon gods.


    All of these, including their ability to have nine concepts, build world fragments without Supreme Laws, be world gods without Supreme Laws, and possess universal artifacts and shards of power, worked to draw more people looking for Legion.


    The First Sage spread the information to Origin gods outside of the two realms. He didn''t restrict himself to a single realm this time around. Even world gods were attracted.


    To top it off, the First Sage provided detailed information about what Aeternus was capable of. This way, Legion''s enemies will be prepared and will be able to capture the clones easier. The only thing that the first sage said that wasn''t the truth was that Aeternus could control his Supreme Law. This,bined with the fact that his Supreme Law is True Chaos made world god not act against him personally. Instead, they chose to send tides of Origin gods who have the protection of the void universe to capture Legion.


    It was quite a sight. A significant portion of the void universe was riled up by the information. They rushed towards the location of the realm war in a hurry. They were noting for the realm war. Their goal is greater than that.


    In the simtion, people chased after Legion mainly because of their ability to have more than one concept. But this time, they had other major reasons to fight and defeat Legion. They wanted to get the spark of power, the spark of consciousness, and maybe some Universal artifacts.


    They don''t know that Universal artifacts can''t be stolen easily, so they came believing they could take them. Then again, they didn''t know what Universal artifacts were a few moments ago. And they certainly won''t believe Legion if they say that they can''t give up their Universal artifacts.


    Even if they were not interested in the Universal artifacts, or the ability to wield three Supreme Powers, there is the fact that the first sage said that a million Origin gods are unlikely to defeat Legion. It was a challenge that many decided to determine its veracity and try to ovee.


    The information the First Sage released struck a bnce between curiosity and caution. It made sure that world gods would want to get their hands on Legion, but they wouldn''t try to do so themselves. They would rather do so through proxies.


    The world gods were curious but far more cautious. The opposite is true for most Origin gods. Origin gods are ignorant of too much, and they trust in their immortality too much for them to be scared of Legion.


    Many cautious Origin god couldn''t help but get greedy at the prospect of having many concepts, Supremews, and many worlds as world gods. Their fearlessness makes them the best proxies to use.


    Only world gods seem to realize that an entity that broke aw of the void universe twice, controls and is immune to Chaos energy, fused the three paths of perfection, divinity, and demons, and built a world fragment as Origin gods cannot be easy to deal with. But they didn''t tell the Origin gods that. No, they employed them to probe and nab Legion for them. The news about Legion made the high heaven realm boil over with anticipation for the sighting of Legion. This anticipation even spread to other realms and caused many Origin gods to be interested in the realm war between the Tyrant Realm and the High Heaven Realm.


    Meanwhile, the First Sage stood back and watched. He was like a predator, waiting and watching for his prey.


    "Now let me see what they will do. Maybe I will see something else that they are hiding from me."


    The first sage has stirred the world against Legion. He did this to push them to their limits and hinder them. He is not sure that Legion disyed everything they were capable of during the simtion.


    As a smart person, he knows that it is wise to have a trump card in reserve, so he expects that Legion is keeping something in reserve. He wanted to uncover that trump card in the simtion with a world god, but Legion woke up before they were pushed to use all they had to escape from the world god.


    So the first sage decided to pressure them in the real world. He knows that it is unlikely for them to die. But he doesn''t mind that. He is content with the slight chance that they will use the world ender within them to threaten their enemies.


    If Legion does that, then the first sage won''t be the only one to be afraid of the future. He will gain a lot ofrades in arms that he can sacrifice to find a way out of his current predicament.


    But ultimately, the First Sage is prepared for failure because the enemies he created were not to kill Legion. After all, that wouldn''t solve his problem of his Supreme Law currently entangled with a world ender.


    The only way to solve that is to have Legion willingly remove the world fragment he gave them from their Kickstarter. That is unlikely to happen. Which is why he is willing to rely more on his ns for the future.


    A/N: I know a lot of you don''t like the first sage. But you have to agree that he doesn''t do stuff halfheartedly. He likes to go the extra mile.

 Chapter 1637: Without Legion.

    Chapter 1637: Without Legion.


    ?


    He believes more in his n, so he didn''t expose Legion''s position in the information he released. He wanted to give Legion a fighting chance so that he could see what else they were hiding. This is the most important thing to him. He needs more information about them, not creating enemies for Legion.


    In the meantime, the era of conquest progressed without Legion. It had a slower speed of progress than that of the simtion, though. This is because no one could destroy the divine ne of the Tyrant Realm, so invaders couldn''t enter the realm any way they wanted.


    The invaders had to wait for the realm to align before they gained entry into the Tyrant Realm through the dungeons.


    The demons of the High Heaven realm still invaded, but their invasion was slower and more difficult. This is because the dy allowed the Tyrant Race to see the demons on the other side of the realm rift before it opened. They were able to retreat, leaving only the Supreme Tyrants in the divine realm.


    The demon gods of high heaven realm had to fight the Supreme Tyrants while trying to break open the seal. It took a lot of work and time, but they eventually seeded in breaking the seal and invading the Tyrant realm.


    But by that time, they had gained more enemies because the Tyrants had been given enough time to evaluate their situation and seek cooperation with the demons of the Tyrant realm.


    The demons of the Tyrant Realm hated the Tyrants, but they also didn''t see much of the invaders apart from GREED so they thought the high heaven realm was unlikely to win and they didn''t need to fear them.


    The fact that the only invader they had seen was a demon trying to sabotage the High Heaven Realm only emboldened them to join the Tyrants in resisting the invasion in exchange for some benefits.


    The Tyrants were more rxed, even though things were still going badly for them. They thought that since the High Heaven realm wasn''t united, the Tyrant Realm actually stood a chance of defeating them.


    They believed that having to give up a lot of theirnds for the invading demon gods and making concessions to the demon gods of their realm were only temporary. They didn''t gnash their teeth or wail like they did in the simtion.


    Things were truly difficult for the demon gods of the high heaven realm without Aeternus and Legion. They had to face an extra five demon god enemies after destroying the seal of the divine ne while simultaneously resisting the defending Supreme Tyrants.


    They had been weakened terribly after wasting energy and decades gaining ess to the Tyrant realm. What''s worse is that they didn''t gain helpers in the form of Origin gods from the high heaven realm because what they destroyed was the seal, not the divine ne.


    The seal was remade after it was destroyed, and the opening in the heaven''s gate was guarded during the repairs so that no invader coulde into the Tyrant realm.


    Help didn''te through the dungeons earlier either, because all of the dys that the demon gods of the high heaven realm had encountered enabled their Tyrants in the immortalnds to be better prepared. They didn''t rush into the divine ne of the high heaven realm only to be beaten back easily.


    The reinforcements of the Tyrant had arger number, so the pressure they put on the defenders of the divine ne of the High Heaven realm was higher. They even almost broke through the divine ne of the high heaven realm. They failed, but they still tried their best, which dragged out the fight for 50,000 years.


    On the other side, in the Tyrant Realm, the demon gods of the High Heaven realm were in a stalemate for those 50,000 years. They couldn''t overwhelm the Tyrant realm, but they couldn''t be removed either because they had entrenched themselves in the realm.


    They were like tumors, slowly draining the vitality of the realm to replenish themselves. This wore down the Tyrant realm until their hope was shattered when the immortals of the High Heaven realm finally invaded the realm.


    The apocalypse finally arrived when immortals and demon gods joined hands to destroy the Tyrant Realm. The fact that the Tyrant realm couldn''t receive reinforcement from the void finally began to take effect as they were overwhelmed.


    The Tyrant Realm performed better in the real world, but their downfall was preordained when the realm lord made his first move. Nothing except breaking the barricade on the realm could have changed the oue.


    If there is something noteworthy, it is that the Tyrant Realm actually managed to invade the High Heaven Realm through the dungeon and was able to damage the High Heaven Realm a little.


    This was due to the fact that they had some time on their hands dealing with the demon gods of the High Heaven realm. They wanted to turn the tables on the High Heaven realm by invading it. At that time, they were not willing to listen to GREED at all. But that changed when immortals flooded their precious realm.


    They became pressured and became open to desperate measures. GREED used that opportunity to approach them and give them advice.


    Some things were different about the meeting between GREED and the Tyrants from the one in the simtion. The Tyrants were not so harsh against GREED because GREED had never attacked them, and they were desperate for help.


    It was a pleasant meeting instead of an ambush. The Tyrants listened attentively and weren''t so rude. But GREED still attacked them after giving the advice.


    GREED even managed to kill three Supreme Tyrants before his clone was vanquished. Because many of the Supreme Tyrants had died this time around before meeting GREED, the deaths of three more struck the Tyrants with a greater sense of urgency. They decided to go ahead with the Taboo quickly.

 Chapter 1638: Simulated Art.

    Chapter 1638: Simted Art.


    ?


    If Legion were awake to see the progress of the era of conquest, they would be surprised to find that most of the things that happened in the simtion was real. If they had been awake, they would have been able to use the information in the simtion to their advantage.


    They have the First Sage to thank for that. Of course, Soverick''s technique is extraordinary, even for Supreme Origin gods. But it still can''tpare to what a world god who specializes in fate is capable of.


    The first sage tried to make the illusion as real as possible, so he used the information Soverick had and added a little information from his side to fool them. It had to be authentic, or it wouldn''t fool them. After all, they were stupid, not blind. Even stupidity couldn''t stop them from noticing a ring vulnerability. Soverick proved this point very well.


    The simtion was a true work of art. The first sage had put in a lot of effort to make it authentic. In some situations, authenticity could be maintained when the illusion involved information about weak entities. As for powerful entities, the first sage had to splice and dice in new information to derive new information.


    For example, GREED''s meeting with the Supreme Tyrants. Legion had information about GREED since they had met GREED before. They also had a lot of information about other demon gods, so the illusion of GREED in the simtion was urate.


    As for his action of meeting with the Tyrants to help them, that was the first sage''s maniption based on something he saw in the future. So the first sage had to use the information about the future to manipte the data in the simtion without making Legion notice anything strange.


    There were many such things that happened in the simtion that had nothing to do with Legion. But if Soverick had looked casually, he would have found them, and they would have been urate enough to fool him.


    It was not until Soverick looked at the events not rted to the era of conquest that he noticed an anomaly. That was the limit of what the first sage could do with limited resources. But even what he managed to put together was impressive.


    There are a lot of things that happened within the illusion that are relevant in the real world. So it is Legion''s good fortune to see something that they didn''t think was possible. Of course, there are other things that the first sage knows but didn''t show Legion in the simtion. One of them is going on now in the real world.


    GREED had done its job well. It was so impable that GREED was in a good mood about it. Even if Aeternus had interfered in its mission like he did in the simtion and taken half of the clone, GREED would still be happy with the way things had turned out.


    One of GREED''s clones died after the meeting with the Tyrants, so it has to send another clone for its second meeting in the void outside the high heaven realm. The people it will be meeting this time are special. But special or not, GREED is not someone who can be cheated out of its due.


    The first thing that GREED asked for as soon as it arrived at the meeting location was payment.


    It was a meeting with three people, and one of them spoke up, "We haven''t even received the information you have for us yet. We will pay after we are sure you don''t n to fleece us."


    GREED said with disdain, "It seems you are not serious enough. If you were, you would know that this risk is something you have to deal with when you transact with a traitor. Give me what I asked for first, or you can forget about getting anything out of me."


    The second person spoke, "You are right. We are desperate enough. We will give you the money first. But you have to swear that the information you have is authentic and that you are not about to betray..."


    GREED interjected, "Let me stop you right there. I will not swear to anything. If you don''t want what I have, just say you don''t want it. There''s no need for me to subject myself to this much scrutiny. You are the desperate ones, and you are the ones that called for me, not the other way around."


    GREED turned to leave, but it was called back.


    "Wait. Let us think about it."


    Then they made a show of discussing it amongst themselves. But they didn''t discuss if they were going to pay GREED for its information without taking any oaths. Instead, they debated killing GREED after making the deal with it.


    They are Tyrants with Supreme Laws. Each one of them represents thousands of beings with Supreme Laws. In fact, these are not their true bodies. This is just one of their undead hosts. It is a being that they have rewritten its whole existence into their own image. They have many such powerful puppets at their disposal. This is the kind of power that they wield alone. They may not be able to match the strange Legion they have heard about recently even with their thousands of Supreme puppets. This is because their Supreme Law can only enhance their puppets or them and can only use either Supreme Strength, Supreme Speed, or Supreme Defense. But that''s only if they fight Legion alone.


    Together, Tyrants be stronger because of their ability to enhance each other and make each other''s Supreme Laws work together. So the Tyrants, as a race in the immortalnds, wield a lot of power.


    Their strength is so obvious that their realm tree was named after them without being the realm lord. While it is not rare that they have been disrespected like this, they always make sure to teach the disrespectful person a lesson.


    The first one asked, "How do make this demon suffer and how long do we make it suffer for disrespecting us?"


    A/N: This bonus chapter is for magicstorm. He contributed more than 20 golden tickets.

 Chapter 1639: Two Peas In A Pod.

    Chapter 1639: Two Peas In A Pod.


    ?


    The second Supreme Tyrant sighed and said, "We cannot harm it. It is the only traitor we could find. If word spreads that we harmed it, then no one else will approach us again."


    The first one asked incredulously, "So we have to bear the disrespect because we are desperate? I didn''t think this would ever happen to us. I didn''t think we would ever be treated like this by our peers in strength."


    The third one agreed. "I didn''t think it was possible either, but Monarch High Heaven is not ordinary. He is a very powerful realm lord. Just the fact that he chose us as enemies has made us desperate."


    The first one shut up when the matter of Monarch High Heaven was brought up. Even he has heard tales about the madman. Apparently, Monarch High Heaven spent less than one Origin cycle to be an Origin god. Then he spent less than 100 Origin cycles to create his Supreme


    Law.


    During the time he was making that Supreme Law, he stopped the trade of life trees, which created many enemies for him. He was hunted by world gods and many Origin gods, and as if that wasn''t enough for him, he went out to steal, which created more enemies for him.


    Not only did he survive the hunts while creating his Supreme Law, he also seeded in creating Authority. He is so famous that the Tyrants have heard about him.


    But words didn''t do him justice. They can tell that he is more terrifying than what people said about him after they felt his might with the 10 billion world fragments he produced to barricade their realm.


    The first Tyrant had to ask, "Why would he choose us in the first ce? We don''t have a realm lord, but wouldn''t it have been easier to select a realm tree much weaker than ours? He could have won without a hassle, but he chose to target us."


    The second Tyrant shrugged and said, "Who knows? He is a mad man. There''s usually no rhyme or reason for what he does."


    The first Tyrant didn''t like that answer. He asked again, "But how can someone that mad even survive and manage to be so powerful?"


    The third Tyrant had an answer for that. "Maybe it is because he doesn''t think normally that he managed to be so powerful. Have you heard of rule-breaking and Universal artifacts? I think it is because Monarch High Heaven thinks outside the box that he was able to achieve something like that. Even world gods don''t know how to produce Authority but he managed to do it."


    The second one agreed. "He is just like that Legion. Or Legion is like him. The two of them are very simr. They are both high elves, and they came from the same realm. They both broke thews of the void universe. What''s more, they are both being hunted by many entities. If I didn''t know better, I would say that this Legion is a clone of Monarch High Heaven."


    The third oneughed about it, but the first one didn''t find it funny. He said, "It should not be possible, but it might be so. After all, the two of them don''t followmon sense."


    They discussed their situation for a short while. Meanwhile, GREED was waiting for them. They chatted as if they had all the time in the world, and as if someone wasn''t waiting for them to finish discussing.


    They didn''t stop chatting until GREED became impatient and couldn''t take it anymore.


    GREED urged them, "Enough of this. Don''t waste my time. What have you decided?"


    It was then that they stopped. It was a power move. It is a repercussion for the disrespect to their distinguished person. It is petty, but it is satisfactory.


    The first Tyrant smiled and said, "Ok, ok. No oaths. We will just have to believe the sincerity you have shown by helping out the Tyrants. We Tyrants are nothing if not tolerant. Especially to demons."


    He spoke as if the Tyrants didn''t enve all the races in their realm or try to wipe out the demons.


    GREED didn''t believe them at all. It snorted and said, "You should also trust in the world god behind you. It is the one who is going to pay for all of this, not you. So why are you being a miser?"


    The second Tyrant replied, "It is because we have a world god supporting us that we don''t dare to mess up."


    GREED didn''t argue. It received the soul stones that it asked for. Then it said to them, "You people were right to withdraw from the battle. Everyone in the high heaven realm thinks that you have given up the fight. They have rushed into the Tyrant Realm to take a piece out of it before it is destroyed. That has left the divine ne of the high heaven realm less upied with defenders."


    The third Tyrant was skeptical. "But they couldn''t have left itpletely defenseless. I don''t think Monarch High Heaven is so careless."


    GREED agreed. "It is notpletely defenseless. There are still some Origin gods stationed there for defense. But the fact that the divine ne has beenpletely healed has filled them with overconfidence."


    "Plus, only weak Origin gods were tempted by the small amount of contribution points that the Will of the realm offered and chose to stay and guard the divine ne. Most Origin gods, including the powerful Supreme Origin gods, have gone to the Tyrant Realm. I have to say that the Tyrant Realm is taking a beating right now. If you n to save it, then you better do it soon."


    The three Tyrants and the world god hiding below were satisfied with the information that GREED gave them. So the world god didn''t move to detain GREED like they nned. Instead, the three of them expressed their satisfaction with the deal.

 Chapter 1640: Who Is Baiting Who?

    Chapter 1640: Who Is Baiting Who?


    ?


    The third Tyrant said, "This is a good piece of information. I think our money was well spent."


    GREED said with pride, "Of course it was well spent. I didn''t decide to be a traitor just to be bad at it."


    The first Tyrant did his part as the bad one. He said, "You are doing well, but you can do better. We are very interested in any news about the realm lord''s ns that you hear about. Only something like that can cement your status as a traitor."


    GREED appeared to have taken the bait. It said, "That is going to be difficult. As it is, no one in the realm is talking about anything rted to the era of conquest. Not even to each other. All their conversation is within the virtual forum that the realm lord created. No one is allowed to speak outside of it, so I can''t even overhear what they are talking about."


    The two of them knew about that, so they just sighed. "Anyway, we are still open to that kind of information."


    GREED suggested to them, "If you can increase the reward to a world spark, I would be willing to risk my life to figure out the realm lord''s ns. If I can be a world ender, there''s no need to be afraid of the realm lord."


    The Tyrants considered the suggestion before agreeing. This time they truly spoke about the decision to spend a world spark. They didn''t just waste time chatting about the conspiracy theory that Legion and Monarch High Heaven are one and the same.


    A world spark is not something a world god can create, so they have to take this decision seriously. The problem is not finding a world spark, it is the effect it would have by giving it away to a demon god. They would be creating a world ender, after all. It is something important to consider.


    This is the reaction of normal people to world enders. It is because any contact with a world ender will lead to problems that can only be solved by death.


    But they are desperate, so they eventually agreed.


    The second Tyrant said to GREED, "No problem. You can reach out to us through the old method. We will buy whatever news you have. If it concerns the realm lord''s ns, we will buy it with a world spark."


    GREED warned them before departing, "You better be prepared to bear the risk next time we meet. I don''t want a repeat of the amateurish showing from earlier."


    The first Tyrant struggled to hold back as it said, "Of course. We have learned just our trustworthy you are. We will give you your reward even before you ask for it."


    Then the two parties went their separate ways, both happy with the oue of the meeting. GREED went back to the high heaven realm. Then it went to its hiding spot.


    As for the three that met with GREED, they went back to n for their next invasion. It was as GREED said, they are truly desperate, and they are running out of time. If things were going well for them, they wouldn''t be nning a second invasion of the high heaven realm. Instead, they would already be inside the main ne of the realm.


    The truth is that they have been pushed to the wall. Their n to fool the high heaven realm into thinking they have been defeated didn''te as a result of careful nning. They truly intended to breach the divine ne of the High Heaven realm during the first invasion. Unfortunately, the fight was dragging on for too long, and they had to try something else if they hoped to breach heaven''s gate.


    That''s why they retreated. It was to let high heaven let down their guard before they invaded a second time with thunderous might.


    However, there was no way for them to know if their n had seeded after withdrawing. They couldn''t leave spies or scouts behind because they would be identified and killed before they got any information.


    Plus, sending scouts to check out the situation will tip the high heaven realm into the fact that they haven''t truly given up on invading. So they had to act as if they weren''t interested in the realm of high heaven while secretly checking up on it.


    It was very difficult to do because information couldn''t be gotten from the Origin gods of the high heaven realm. The Origin gods of the high heaven realm knew the situation of their ne better than the invaders, but they couldn''t betray the realm at all. This is an offense that will lead to their permanent death midway throughmitting it.


    The void universe itself will condemn the Origin god who betrays their realm tree like that. No reward is worth risking it at all. It would be better for Origin gods not to intervene in the era of conquest at all. There''s nothing forcing them to help their realm tree. But betraying their realm tree would be punished severely.


    This situation made things difficult for the Tyrant Realm and the world gods of the high heaven realm that were helping them. Fortunately, there was a traitor in the high heaven realm. GREED asked for a high price, but the demon god delivered. Now they just have to get information about when the realm lord will be too busy to help in case of a sudden, fast, and powerful invasion of the high heaven realm. That will determine when the second invasion will start.


    Unlike what most demons would think of the demon that refused to join the abyssal coalition, GREED''s current base of operation is the abyss of the high heaven realm, not the Tyrant Realm.


    GREED has clones in the Tyrant Realm assisting the Tyrants and sabotaging the Origin gods of high heaven realm, but it still considers the high heaven realm as its home world and where it


    is safest.

 Chapter 1641: Insatiable Greed.

    Chapter 1641: Insatiable Greed.


    ?


    Most of the energy GREED possesses is in the high heaven realm, not the Tyrant realm. As a smart and greedy demon, it knows not to put its eggs in one basket. And as a double agent, it knows not to put most of its eggs on a sinking ship.


    Most importantly, GREED had to put a clone in a location where its true boss could meet with it. So GREED was in the abyss of the high heaven realm when someone came to see it.


    GREED, an ocean of sickly green energy, was roaming the depths of the abyss when this person appeared silently beside it. There was no aura from the visitor. It was almost as if they were a dead object or a hologram. But GREED saw this person and shivered.


    If GREED had legs and could bow, it would. It couldn''t, so it had to make do with speaking respectfully, "Wee, Monarch High Heaven."


    That''s the name of this person. Seeing as they are a high elf with green skin, golden eyes, and golden hair, and they dared toe to the abyss, it is highly likely that GREED is right and this is the realm lord.


    Of course, it is not possible for GREED to make such a mistake as to misidentify the realm lord based on looks. If GREED had never met the realm lord before, it wouldn''t be so sure that it is the realm lord standing before it right now.


    Monarch High Heaven spoke, "How have you been doing?"


    GREED replied, "I have been doing well."


    "Is that so? Why don''t you tell me about it?"


    And so GREED told the realm lord about its meeting with the Tyrants in the Tyrant realm and the three others in the void. GREED told him everything they talked about without sparing any details.


    This is why GREED is not scared that it would be killed by the realm lord if it stayed in the high heaven realm. The realm lord is its boss, so he won''t kill it yet.


    The Realm Lord chuckled when he heard the details of the second meeting. He said, "So they think they can pull one over my eyes. That''s good. They cane again, and I will get rid of them all the same."


    GREED offered, "Should I leak fake news to them about when you will be absent from the realm?"


    The realm lord rejected the suggestion. "No. They are not that stupid. They are still suspecting you and will suspect any information you bring to them. It will be very difficult to fool them with information about me. How will someone like me leak my ns? Even if I do, it has to be fake. It is too far-fetched to believe that you somehow got your hands on my true ns."


    GREED didn''t give up. It said, "It may be far fetched, but they are desperate. They will grasp at any chance they can get, even if they are suspicious."


    Monarch High Heaven paused. He looked at GREED and said, "You just want to get the world spark they are offering you, right?"


    GREED didn''t deny it. "I just don''t want something like that to go to waste."


    The realm lord shook his head. "It will go to waste even if you get it. I''ve already given you


    one. Another world spark will not be of any use for you to be a world ender. It will truly go to waste in your hands."


    GREED still didn''t give up, "There can''t be too much of anything, right?"


    Actually, there can be. Too much of anything is actually a sin. There can even be too much water or mana for beings who can''t bear it. But the realm lord wasn''t going to exin that to a demon. Demons don''t know reason. They only know one thing.


    So the realm lord became cold. The world froze around them. His voice arrived echoed loud and clear in this dark, cold, silent world. "Just do what you have been paid for. Don''t mess with my ns. You have already done enough. Leave the rest to them, and forget about that divine spark. I''m sure they can figure out a way to take me out of the realm themselves."


    "As for you, you can continue with your current activities. I will call you when I need you."


    Then the realm lord disappeared. The world resumed, leaving GREED furious and uncontented.


    GREED grumbled inwardly, "We will see who will have thestugh."


    GREED is a double agent. It is pretending to be a traitor while secretly working for the realm lord. People think it refused to swear the oath of the abyssal coalition, but they don''t know that GREED was the first one to swear an oath among all the demons.


    Its oath was to the realm lord. It was also to the the realm, and it is regarding its job as a double agent. The Realm Lord had approached it first with the offer, and GREED took it. After all, it got a divine spark immediately after it agreed, and it could act like a traitor and earn resources through that identity.


    Not only that, it is also allowed to sabotage the High Heaven Realm. This is because its oath demands it. That way, its identity as a traitor will be believable to both sides of the realm war. So if the high heaven realm loses the era of conquest, as the only demon god working against the realm, it would surely be the one to receive thest boon of the abyss.


    That kind of deal is one of a kind. GREED had to ept it. However, it also had to swear an oath of secrecy to the realm lord, amongst others. All in all, it was a great deal to make. Unfortunately, that is still not enough for GREED. GREED still wants to earn a divine spark through its identity as a traitor. This is not only because it is greedy. It is because it doesn''t trust the realm lord.


    A/N: Bonus chapter for the 400 golden tickets goal.

 Chapter 1642: Four Is The Best.

    Chapter 1642: Four Is The Best.


    ?


    GREED just can''t trust the realm lord, knowing the things it knows. First, the realm lord made a show of uniting the abyss with the realm through the abyssal coalition. It was not a mere show for others to see. It was a believable show that also had a useful purpose.


    The demons of the abyss couldn''t betray the realm after the oath, and they are doing well in the Tyrant Realm, helping the High Heaven realm win this era of conquest. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. But the realm lord didn''t end there.


    The realm lord used the demons to create a traitor that can betray the realm as a trap for his enemies to fall into. That makes the third bird killed with just one stone throw.


    One might consider this scheme not to be borate or far-fetched. After all, the realm lord knew that he had many enemies. It is a straightforward n to dig a pit for them to fall into by creating a double agent. But as someone deeply involved in this scheme, GREED is certain that the pit that the realm lord dug is deeper than it looks.


    GREED is not sure since Monarch High Heaven didn''t say so, but it believes that the real trap is if it turns into a triple agent. That is, if GREED were to somehow be the traitor it ims to be, the real trap will spring up around it and whoever it decides to work with.


    That is just a suspicion, of course. What truly chilled GREED''s non-existent heart is the advice that the realm lord made it give the desperate Supreme Tyrants. GREED doesn''t know what the realm lord is nning for the Tyrant Realm, but it knows that it cannot be good. This means that advice cannot lead to anything good.


    So not only did a single scheme allow the realm lord to get the demons on his side, use them as weaknesses to massacre the Tyrants, and trap his enemies looking for traitors, he also used the traitor to lead the Tyrants astray. That is killing four birds with one stone. That is very chilling to consider.


    There''s no way GREED can trust the realm lord, even though the realm lord also promised not to go after it till the end of the era of conquest, as long as GREED doesn''t use the world spark to be a world ender. It can trust when anything can happen that will lead to its death without it even knowing.


    GREED believes that its fear of death is warranted, even though a demon god shouldn''t be able to die. It is not that demon gods are immortal, as they can die if all their clones and everyst trace of them are destroyed. This might be impossible for someone else, but GREED is certain that if anyone can manage it, it will be Monarch High Heaven.


    Then there is the world spark that the realm lord gave it in payment for its services. If anyone says that the realm lord hasn''t tampered with it, one way or another, GREED wouldn''t believe them.


    At first, GREED had been all too d to receive a world spark and hadn''t thought too much about it. But now, knowing what it knows, it can''t rest at ease at all. This paranoia is not helped by the fact that the realm lord didn''t swear that what he gave it was pure, unadulterated world spark. It might have been something that looked like a divine spark. It might be anything.


    GREED knows that it might be overreacting and that the world spark is harmless. Besides, even if the world spark is faulty, it can still be a world ender through the abyss. But it is better to be on the safe side than to be sorry.


    It is better to have something and not need it than to need it and not have it. So GREED is notfortable having two usible sources of opportunity to be a world ender. It must have three for it to feel any amount of confidence.


    It is best that it gets four. That way, even if the realm lord makes a move against it that can kill four birds with one stone, it will be able to preserve its life. That''s why it is going to target the divine spark clone of Legion as soon as it appears and also not give up on swindling the Tyrants out of a world spark.


    GREED went about doing its job, thinking its identity was secret. But there are some entities that can''t be deceived so easily. One of them is the first sage, of course. The first sage already knew about the meeting with the Supreme Tyrants before it happened.


    There are others watching the proceedings of the era of conquest who are not fooled either. Some of them came for the realm lord, while others came hoping to catch a glimpse of Legion.


    No world god in their right mind wants to get too close to Legion. They know that they are on their own right now. If something threatens their lives, they will have to defend themselves against it without the help of the void universe, so they were cautious. But that didn''t stop them from trying to capture Legion.


    One of the world gods who knew about GREED''s identity and Legion''s location was the keeper of secrets. She will know a traitor once she sees one, and she will know where therge vessel of cosmic energy is hiding in the void universe as long as it is near her.


    Thatrge vessel of Cosmic energy shifted from being Helios to being the Tree Father. Cosmic source made them very easy to spot. It was like identifying a diamond in a pan of sand. She had been keeping track of the position of the Tree Father, so she saw it when Legionmitted suicide and when the first sage found them.

 Chapter 1643: The Final Stages Of The Era Of Conquest.

    Chapter 1643: The Final Stages Of The Era Of Conquest.


    ?


    To be fair, she had been watching Legion ever since the Unified Skill Index, so they couldn''t have hidden from herpletely. Especially not when she is the keeper of secrets.


    Even the first sage didn''t notice her gaze. She doesn''t have the power of the dragon king, but she is better than the dragon king at subterfuge.


    She is not as conniving and, frankly, not as powerful as the first sage, but there''s a ring area in which she beat him. She already knew most of what there was to know about Legion long before the first sage dragged them into the illusion.


    She couldn''t see anything about Legion past the amount of cosmic energy they possess. But that changed after Legion united with Legion-7 and Helios gave up his position as a star. The mindwork was reced by Legion-7 and their cosmic energy was stored in Legion-9, so it couldn''t blind her gaze anymore. It was then that she became aware of the monstrosity of a cage that they had built within themselves.


    Her inhibited sight didn''t continue for long because Legion built their world fragment and shielded themselves with that. But it was enough for her to know almost everything about Legion and to decide to help them when they make a move against the first sage.


    It is for that reason that she shrouded them with her power of secrecy so that their remnant wouldn''t be discovered as they slept. After all, it won''t do for someone who has the first sage''s weakness in their grasp to be forced to waste it.


    Legion was ignorant of all of these while they slept. They have been sleeping for more than 10,000 years now. It isn''t that longpared to how long other Origin gods have to remain unconscious whenever they die. But it is too long for them since they used to be able to resurrect almost instantly in the past.


    The era of conquest has progressed to its final stages while they slept. The victor and loser have already been determined, but the era of conquest hasn''t ended yet because the loser hasn''t been destroyed yet.


    There is a second invasion of the high heaven realm by the Tyrants going on. The world gods on their side have attacked the barricade around the Tyrant Realm in full force, so there is war on three sides for the first time in the era of conquest.


    The realm lord had to pick one spot to interfere in. Considering that his entire tactic for the realm war relies on barricading the Tyrant Realm, the choice of which battlefield requires his undivided attention is clear.


    Monarch High Heaven already expected an attack on the barricade and didn''t need to go there because he had prepared world god helpers to defend it. But he went there anyway to let his enemies feel at ease. His enemies took the bait and rushed into the High Heaven realm while he was absent for the second invasion.


    Normally, a realm lord can''t participate directly in the era of conquest. By direct, it means he can''t use the enhancement of his title within any of the realm trees. He can only use it outside of the realm trees. But it is not a good idea to use it since he would be drawing power from the realm. So every move of it will weaken Mother High Heaven temporarily, which will tilt the spiritual battle between wills in favor of the enemy.


    So technically, the Tyrants shouldn''t have been scared of him. But they were scared because they knew that he didn''t rely on his title to bully anyone. He can dish out devastating damage on his own, or he wouldn''t have be a realm lord in the first ce.


    It is not his title that makes him fearsome. His mere presence was like a heavy stone on their heads as they were trying to climb a high mountain. So they had to get rid of him before their blitz invasion of the high heaven realm.


    Unfortunately, the realm lord was ready for them. He knew about the second invasion, but he didn''t know when it would happen. Their attempt to pull him away from the realm only made it obvious to him when they were going to invade the realm again.


    The invaders came into the realm and found rows upon rows of defenders waiting for them as far as the eye could see. Their mission had already failed before the battle started. They still fought, but it was only to prolong the inevitable and buy time for the Supreme Tyrants to deploy theirst cards.


    There is a special location in the high heaven realm where only the realm lord and the Will of the Realm have ess. The realm lord is currently there, looking at arge mirror that is showing all the events of the Tyrant Realm.


    It is safe to say that the High Heaven Realm will win this war. The realm lord can say this with certainty because he is aware of everything going on that pertains to the realm war. He knows everything going on in the high heaven realm through his system and can even monitor the situation in the Tyrant Realm, so he is quite confident in his judgment.


    On one side, the Tyrant Realm has finally lost its divine ne. They are currently losing the lives of defenders as well as space on the main ne. They are also losing their suns, the most important source of life for the realm.


    The Tyrant Realm lost three Supreme Tyrants to GREED and has lost more as Supreme Origin gods began entering the Tyrant Realm. Origin gods were blocked from attacking the Tyrant Realm from the void by world gods, but they can''t be stopped anymore ever since the dungeons between the two realms have opened.


    As if that isn''t enough, more than 70% of the living things on the ne have died. All of thesebined are making the Will of the Tyrant Realm weaken very quickly.

 Chapter 1644: The Mysterious White Lady.

    Chapter 1644: The Mysterious White Lady.


    ?


    On the other side, the reinforcements for the Tyrant Realm have hit an obstacle they cannot ovee. They can''t break through the high heaven realm to assist the Tyrant Realm. Their effort to do so is costing the high heaven realm the energy needed to suppress them and keep the realm intact from all the destruction going on within it, but the Will of the high heaven realm is still strong.


    As it is, one side is weakening rapidly while the other is still holding on. The direction in which the scale is tilting is clear to everyone, most especially the realm lord. Even the world gods that hate him can see this. They haven''t given up yet, but they know that victory in the era of conquest is only a matter of time.


    The realm lord should be happy, and he wants to be happy, but he can''t be. At least not yet. Not until the era of conquest has ended and he has truly won.


    He thought to himself, "As long as there is no serious mistake or interference, this war is all but won."


    Naturally, as someone in possession of the system, it is unlikely for him to make any serious mistakes. He has made a lot of ns that have unfolded favorably. Whenbined with his system''s capabilities of crunching data and assisting in decision-making, it is unlikely that any form of interference will be able to affect the progress of the war in a significant manner. But there is one person who can interfere in the war and turn thingspletely around. That person is why he can''t be happy yet or be certain of victory yet.


    He has to take that person seriously, seeing as they broke through everyyer of surveince and defense around him to find his main body deep within the high heaven realm. That person is currently beside him right now.


    It is a white, nakeddy. She has white hair and white skin. Her features are rigid, and her flesh is as hard as stone. She is like a crystal figurine. Beautiful and otherworldly. One might mistake her for an angel. This is despite the fact that she has no eyes, nose, ears, or other facial features. She is just that beautiful.


    She has six arms and two legs. A long tail is attached to her buttocks, but it is hard to see because of the long white hair that covers it. The tail doesn''t diminish her beauty, though. It adds a hint of much needed imperfection to her otherwise wless form.


    The two of them are not fighting. This is a good thing by every ount. They are just standing beside each other, watching the events in the Tyrant Realm.


    Actually, she didn''t break into his most secure location to fight him. If she is to be believed, she broke in to see him and would rather do that than try tomunicate with him in any other way.


    He had told her that her motive was weird and abnormal. She, in turn, used him of not abiding by the rules because of what he was caught doing when she came.


    A realm lord should not be able to see so much of another realm like this, but Monarch High Heaven is not a normal realm lord. He prioritized information, so he invested a lot of wealth in making stealth cameras that could transmit information across realms.


    But he doesn''t think what he did can bepared to breaking into the most secure ce in a realm. All he did was secretly snoop on the Tyrant Realm while she was able to sneak into the space of his realm heart without Mother High Heaven knowing. He can only imagine what else she is capable of.


    Thedy broke the silence. She said calmly, "It looks like you are doing well."


    "It seems so." He managed to say.


    This is the first time he has met someone so difficult to deal with, so he is having difficulties predicting her actions. It is especially difficult since she can''t be killed at all. She can''t even be harmed.


    It is not because he is weak. He has almost killed a world god as a Supreme Origin god, so he is not a weak Origin god. Something stronger might be able to do what he couldn''t, but he has a suspicion that anyone else would be helpless against her.


    It is because she can enter a special state of intangibility that makes it impossible for anything to affect her. So he can''t even harm her in a fight, while she cane and go as she pleases. It is an ufortable feeling for him.


    What makes her wierder is that he doesn''t know what power level she is at. He knows for certain that she is not an Origin god since he can''t sense anyws or concepts from her. She has to be stronger than that to block his perception. But if she is not an Origin god, then how did she enter the realm tree?


    This is out of the ordinary because world gods can''t enter the realm tree. And she entered the realm without the Will of the realm knowing. Even he wouldn''t have known that she had entered if he hadn''t noticed his defensive barriers breaking.


    It makes him worry about the other times that she has acted that he doesn''t know about. He is especially worried about what will happen if she decides to act against him in this realm war. He might not even know how she did it, despite having so many surveince systems. She started speaking, so he halted his thoughts to pay attention to her. "I like how you have done things. Little by little, this Tyrant Realm has been pushed towards death. They lost even before the war started. The only difference is how much of a cost you will have to pay to defeat them. What''s most impressive is that your schemes are yet to fully unfold."


    A/N: Thisdy is not a new character in GREED. You guys have seen her before.


    Anyway, this bonus chapter is for the 1400 power stones goal.

 Chapter 1645: Above Average.

    Chapter 1645: Above Average.


    ?


    The realm lord shrugged at thepliment, "It wasn''t that difficult."


    She denied his modesty. "I know you have the system to help you, but what you have achieved is stillmendable."


    The realm lord''s face didn''t tighten, but he still felt threatened when she said that. He hasn''t gotten over her knowledge of it yet, and it always feels strange to hear someone else speak about his system. What''s worse is that he doesn''t know how she found out about it.


    His ignorance means a lot, considering that he knew when Draco was spying on him. The only exnation he cane up with for how she knows is one that he doesn''t want to believe but is inclined to believe nheless, despite how strange it is.


    His mind was reeling with possibilities, so he didn''t say anything to her. But the whitedy was not deterred by the silence. She continued, "And where is this Legion? I thought for sure they would be here, working hard to earn the points they need to be world gods. Even if they don''t want it, I thought they might be interested in using the abyss to forge a world forge for their divine spark clone. It seems I was wrong."


    Monarch High Heaven finally spoke, "They have always been an anomaly. It might be for the best that they didn''t show up. They have already cost me a lot in putting up the barricade. They killed the ancestor of the Phoenix and robbed me of the assistance of an immortal army."


    She chuckled and said, "Is that so? I remember thest time I saw them. They were Gehaldirah back then. That high elf has participated in the trial of heaven, and he managed to reach the end. He was just above average back then. If there was anything special about him, it was that he had an air of determination around him. Now he killed a special entity that has survived for 10,000 Origin cycles in a dimension where life was supposed to end. That''s blindly fast progress."


    The realm lord shook his head. "That was four Origin cycles ago. A lot of things have changed since then."


    Thedy turned her head in contemtion. "Do you think that four Origin cycles is a long time? That is not even one epoch. It is not a long time at all."


    Then she said, in realization, "Ah. I have forgotten that you have forgotten your memories of your past lives, so you don''t know that you have lived for a long time."


    This time, Monarch High Heaven''s face couldn''t help but twitch. His fist clenched and unclenched as he wrestled with the instinct to kill a threat.


    At the end of his struggles, he decided not to attack her. Instead, he said, "I guess you are right."


    He didn''t bother to deny it now because he has denied her ims about him in the past, but it didn''t work. Instead, she had proved to know far too much about him, his past, and his ns to be mistaken.


    This whitedy is an entity that knows a lot of things. She knew about Legion long before the first sage knew, and she also knew about him too. And yet, he doesn''t know her origin or what kind of existence she is.


    She chuckled without feeling any tension. "I have not changed at all for 10,000 Origin cycles, so my sense of time is a little skewed. Yours will be too, very soon. Your memories of your past will awaken, so the passage of time will feel slow to you too."


    The realm lord was bing increasingly uneasy at the mention of his past lives. That was a secret that he thought only he knew. It is even more ufortable than the fact that he can''t hurt her.


    Still, he said, "Four Origin cycles might be short, but a lot has happened during that period of time."


    She snorted, "You don''t say. Not only did that high elf break a rule of the void universe, he got many bodies, he is on his way to acquiring all three foundations of power, and he built a world fragment. He has even gotten the spark of power."


    "You high elves are on a roll this epoch. You have the ancestor of your race and her exploits. There''s you, and now there''s Legion. He will have three sparks, while you have two. Weren''t you the only one in this epoch to have a spark of power?"


    That question was said in a teasing tone.


    Monarch High Heaven didn''t know what to say about that im. How was he to know how many people in the vast, void universe had a spark of power?


    So he simply shrugged and said, "It is what it is."


    Sheughed even more. "I don''t know if you are more fun now that you don''t have your memories. If you had your memories, then I''m sure you would have said something like, "Don''tpare my achievements to a simple foundation. He is just trash."


    "Is that so?" He asked, unconvinced.


    "Of course it is so." She replied.


    Then she shook her head and said, "It is a good thing that I have found you now. Being without your memories has made you ignorant and easy to fool."


    Monarch High Heaven became guarded immediately. He couldn''t help but ask, "Is it good that you have found me? What is good about it? What do you want from me?"


    The whitedy nced at him, then she smirked. "What is the problem? Are you scared that I know too much about you and you don''t know much about me?"


    "Yes, I am." He admitted it openly.


    It made herugh. "At least you''re still honest. Don''t be worried. I''m not going to sabotage your n. Haven''t I told you? I want to help you. I am here to protect you and make sure that your n seeds."

 Chapter 1646: Intangible Problems.

    Chapter 1646: Intangible Problems.


    ?


    Monarch High Heaven was still not convinced. He said, "You said that earlier, but you still haven''t told me who you are or why you are helping me."


    She shrugged mentally and replied, "I don''t need to tell you, and I don''t owe you an exnation. Frankly, I like watching you squirm with difort, so I will continue to keep my motives mysterious."


    He grunted and said, "I am sure it is fun to watch me squirm."


    She continued, but this time she spoke in a dismissive tone. "All you need to know is that you are nothing but the figment of the imagination of a great being. What is important about you is the sleeping one that you carry. I want to help you awaken him. This epoch is already halfway through, so he is running out of time. Nothing must stand in the way of the n." Monarch High Heaven was not convinced, and he still couldn''t put away his fear of her. She knows a lot of things that he doesn''t know about, including the first one.


    She knows that the first one is sleeping and will awaken when he bes a world god. She knows that he is a dream of the first one. She appears to also know the first one more than him.


    These are his most precious secrets, but she is still keeping more from him. So the value of the things she is keeping from him must be more important than his so-called precious secrets. He can''t feel safe at all.


    She, on the other hand, didn''t care about his feelings or opinions. Knowing what she knows, she expects the personality of Jason to disappear when the first one awakens, so she is not going to waste her time taking him seriously.


    He decided to push her, "I was surprised to hear about this Legion and what they have achieved. I didn''t even know that a shard of power existed. Do you know what it is?"


    She replied curtly, "I do."


    He didn''t push her to exin. Instead, he asked, "Do you have one?"


    "No, I don''t. I have something better. And so do you."


    That answer surprised Monarch High Heaven. But he didn''t let it disrupt his n. He chuckled and said, "I am afraid you are mistaken. If I had it, then I don''t know about it."


    "Your ignorance is understandable. You don''t know because you don''t need to know. All you need to know now is that what Legion hases from a dead source. The only thing it has is potential. But that potential won''t help your situation."


    "What do you mean?"


    She didn''t turn to him, and she didn''t have eyes, but he felt her gaze nheless. She said, "At first, I thought this Legion was your n to create a backup for yourself. A failsafe, so to speak. After all, you are rted and connected in more ways than one. Now I know that it won''t work, even if it is your n. Why? Because I am here now. So forget about Legion, and focus on awakening the first one. Nothing must interfere with his ns."


    What she said gave him a lot of useful information. And unless she had lied, the information put his heart at peace a little. But it also made him indignant that she thought he would try to sabotage the first one with Legion''s shard of power.


    He thought to himself in confusion, "Why would I try to sabotage myself? Is there something going on here that I don''t know?"


    The screen shed to show arge number of Tyrants congregating in a location. She said to him, "It seems the Tyrants took the bait. The next part of your n is almost set in stone."


    He scoffed when he saw what was going on on the screen. "About time. I have dyed the end of the era of conquest long enough. It is right that they have decided to pay me my due."


    She took one more look at the mirror screens, then she decided to leave.


    "Everything seems to be in order. I''m leaving for now."


    He asked her, "Where are you going?"


    "It is none of your business. I will go wherever I want, whenever I want."


    Her white figure became transparent like ss. Then she became invisible, like air. Next, she becamepletely intangible. It became impossible for him to see her, and his divine sense couldn''t sense her at all. So he doesn''t know if she has truly gone or if she is still standing beside him, watching him.


    This is how she has been able toe and go however she wishes. It reminds him of something that the great mother had said about how Legion-7 had escaped from her grasps.


    The great mother had said that Legion-7 became intangible and unable to be grasped. It also reminded him of what the whitedy said about possessing something better than the shard of power.


    He groaned mentally and thought to himself, "This is problematic."


    They call him a mad man because he does things that people think are crazy. But he pulls them off. And through it all, he had always been confident and in control. If there is one thing that he likes the most, it is control. But it has been slipping away from his grasp ever since she visited him four Origin cycles ago.


    It was during the trial of heaven that she first visited him. She sneaked into the realm and even managed to fool Mother High Heaven into thinking that she was someone born in the realm. She did such a good job of it that she was able to participate in the trial right under Mother High Heaven''s nose and even reach the final.


    It was then that he noticed her. An ogre, the grand god of disaster, was fighting her then. But all of his attacks disappeared whenever they came near her. They were not destroyed. They simply ceased to exist. That attracted his attention to her.

 Chapter 1647: Taboo Move.

    Chapter 1647: Taboo Move.


    ?


    He went through her history and found her identity. Unfortunately, he didn''t know at the time that she had stolen someone else''s identity. She was masquerading as someone else, and


    Mother High Heaven didn''t notice. He knows now that it is because she can change her


    spiritual flunctuations into that of anyone else''s.


    But what further drew his attention back then was how she waltzed through the trial. Nothing could harm her. And even though she didn''t attack anyone at all, she still managed to make it to the final trial.


    Of course, now he knows that it is not that she didn''t want to attack but that she can''t attack. Somehow, she ispletely invulnerable to attacks, as they will be intangible and disappear if theye near her.


    That is the only reason he can remain calm with such a person around him. Even then, he decided that he had to start the era of conquest as soon as possible.


    He didn''t need her telling him to start it for him to tell the representatives that came to see him to start preparing for the era of conquest. He had already done that even before he met her. But he sped up his ns because of her.


    Someone like her threatens his control over everything. It made him try to awaken the first one as soon as possible to recover his memories and power.


    Anyone would feel threatened having her around. He knows that Mother High Heaven doesn''t even know that she has beening to the realm. He asked, and Mother High Heaven thinks that he is crazy whenever he ims that he met a whitedy who can be transparent.


    So either he is crazy and he doesn''t know it, or thisdy can hide her presence from the Will of the realm. Either possibility is dangerous. Only power can make him certain.


    Even the item he got from the first sage to target spiritual entities doesn''t give him confidence. Besides, he has another use for that item. So he will pursue his personal and ultimate power.


    ----The Last Stand.


    The Supreme Tyrants received news of the failed second invasion, so they came together to execute the n that GREED suggested. Unlike the simtion, they had time and space to make use of it. The realm didn''t end with a bang, so they had time to make up their minds, gather together, and execute the Taboo.


    There was no speaking or mourning. The majority of them gathered solemnly in a single location. In fact, all they needed were two willing Tyrants to start it, but more than ten thousand of them came together to ensure that it would work and no one would interfere.


    The Tyrants paired up with each other. Then they started by using their innate divine ability to enhance each other. But this time, they didn''t stop at enhancing each other''s power. They took things too far.


    They opened themselves up to start the taboo. Their powers and their existence began to merge with the other Tyrant they paired with. This merge was a kind of unification of different existences into one.


    Each Tyrant merged with the other, and the result of their fusion merged forcefully with any other Tyrant nearby, be they normal or fused Tyrants.


    The first two Tyrants agreed to fuse, but the result of their fusion doesn''t care about thepliance of others. Any Tyrant around would be forced to merge with them. So the


    amalgamation cannot stop after it begins.


    Tyrants have two ancestors, one of whom reproduces by dividing themselves. That form of reproduction was finally eliminated after they discovered parasitism. But before then, the Shikis tried fusing with one another to reverse their fission and extend their lifespan. Unfortunately, it didn''t work. Not only was the lifespan of the fused individuals shorter, they also didn''t reproduce after death. So the fusion was banned. But something that the fusion granted them was power, which is also something that the Tyrants desperately need right


    now.


    The ability to fuse with each other was inherited by the Tyrants from their parents. At the surface level, they can use it to enhance each other and make their Supreme Laws work together. But that''s only temporary. At a deeper level, it bes deadly to them and also permanent. However, it will grant them power.


    Normally, no Tyrant wants to die, so no Tyrant is willing to break the Taboo. But the fusion is not a racial taboo because two individuals will die. No one will bother to ban the fusion throughout the race if it will only affect the two Tyrants that fused.


    The fusion is Taboo because it will affect the other members of the race. The fusion grants a short burst of power at the expense of lifespan. The entity that is produced from the first fusion will not be willing to let go of that euphoric power boost, so they will forcefully absorb other Tyrants.


    Consuming other Tyrants will make the boost continue and increase their life spans. Then the entity produced from the fusion of three will want more time and will have more time and power to fuse with a fourth. And so on and so forth.


    Once the fusion starts, it is very difficult to stop. At the very least, the fusion causes a rapid decline in the poption of Tyrants. If the amalgamation is allowed to grow without restriction, then it will consume the entire race and lead to extinction. Hence, it was banned and considered taboo.


    But the Tyrants have thrown caution to the wind right now. The amalgams of the Tyrants hunted other Tyrants and other Tyrants to increase their power.


    Each fusion caused the power of the realm flowing into each Supreme Tyrant tobine and be stronger. So they were steadily approaching the level of a world god within the realm. It is a good thing for the Tyrants, but it was not a pretty sight to see.

 Chapter 1648: Fresh Hell.

    Chapter 1648: Fresh Hell.


    ?


    At first, the products of the fusion were humanoid entities with many body parts. They grew bigger and gained more body parts as they absorbed more Tyrants and other amalgams. They quickly turned into a round ball of ck flesh that couldn''t walk or talk.


    The giant ck ball of flesh had many grotesque limbs and wiggling tentacles growing out of it. The limbs were soon fusing into tentacles, which caused the number of ck tentacles to increase. Soon it became more of tentacles than anything else. There was no trace of the Tyrants anymore apart from their ck skin.


    Some of the tentacles entered the ground and took root. They elongated and entrenched themselves deep into the earth. They didn''t stop growing at all.


    Their length continued to increase as the ck ball of flesh grew bigger. It was as if they wanted to reach the very ends of the realm. They only stopped growing when they


    encountered Tyrants hiding in the ground. Then they would wrap around them and drag them back to the core of the amalgam.


    The other wiggling tentacles on the surface stretch themselves through the air to grab any Tyrant or other ck balls of flesh created through the fusion of Tyrants. The bigger ball absorbed the smaller one and grew bigger.


    This continued until only one giant ck ball was left in the realm. It stood at more than 9,000 meters tall. But the amalgam wasn''t satisfied. It wanted to continue living and growing. So the tentacles continued growing and began to snatch any living thing they touched to drag back into the ck flesh.


    The ck flesh had grown into a ball over 100 kilometers in diameter, but it was insatiable. Its tentacles reached far into the sky and earth, digging and dragging back living things to eat. Unfortunately, its appetite was destined to gorgely unfulfilled because there were no more Tyrants in the realm.


    It couldn''t grow anymore, either in size or strength. Only Tyrants could make it grow stronger. Other living things could only grant it sustenance to keep living and not break down due to instability. But the sustenance is only prolonging the inevitable. The ck ball of grotesque flesh will copse once it runs out of sustenance to keep it alive.


    In the meantime, the ck ball was unreconciled. It fought anyone who dared interfere in its feeding, including Origin gods. These Origin gods were from the high heaven realm and didn''t want to be eaten. But the amalgam was not taking no for an answer. It fought, grabbed, and ate anything it couldy its tentacles on.


    It is a good thing because the amalgam has lost its mind. It has lost the knowledge of the reason why it was created and its purpose. If not for the insatiable hunger, it wouldn''t fight anyone at all. It will probably be docile. But the extinction of the Tyrant race in the realm has forced it to direct its hunger onto the enemies of the realm.


    One amalgam fought millions of Origin gods in a desperate fight for survival. Its tentacles were somewhat emphemeral, so they could ignore a certain amount of damage done to them. They were also tougher than Origin weapons and could regenerate endlessly, so they were difficult to deal with.


    Thebination of all these factors made the amalgam more difficult to handle than a demon god. The tentacles would be ephemeral to avoid damage from attacks. They would use their ephemeral state to get closer and surround their enemies. Then they would be solid flesh, as powerful as Origin weapons.


    This solid flesh would wound themselves tightly around their prey. More than a thousand of them will do this to each prey, so they were able topletely shroud their prey in tentacles. Then they would drag the prey back to devour it.


    Origin gods were easily dragged back to feed the ck ball. Only the Supreme Origin gods and demon gods could resist it.


    This resistance was only barely. Origin gods were children who couldn''t fight back at all. They were directly bound up and eaten. The Supreme Origin gods, on the other hand, were teenagers who could fight back. But it was only the struggle before death.


    They were able to fight off a few tentacles, but it became difficult to resist when the ck tentacles surrounded thempletely. The best they could do was switch to Supreme Defense to protect their lives, but that also made them at the mercy of the tentacles, who would grab them easily and crush them with a power far beyond what a Supreme Origin god can resist.


    Not only is the amalgam much stronger than them, each of its tentacles also possessed Supreme Power, so it was as if the invaders were fighting numerous Supreme Origin gods at once instead of one. They were outnumbered and quickly subdued.


    Then the tentacles pierced into their existence and dragged them to be consumed. Their Supreme Law was not consumed, but their energy and essence were devoured by the ck ball.


    It was a massacre for those on the path of perfection. The tentacles of the amalgam were spreading all over the realm very quickly. They soon covered the whole realm. The wiggling mass of tentacles and the ck sphere they formed around their prey were all that could be seen on the surface of the realm.


    But then the spheres would copse, and the opponents at the center would be squeezed and dragged back into the ck ball, leaving behind more hungry tentacles searching for prey.


    Not even a domain could prevent the fate of being devoured because the tentacles would prate into the domains, crush them if they could, or drag out the Origin god within them if they couldn''t crush them.


    Demon gods, on the other hand, were not eatable, so the ck tentacles didn''t drag them back to be eaten. Instead, they tore the demon gods apart and broke their existence with overwhelming power.

 Chapter 1649: The Villains Of The Realm.

    Chapter 1649: The Viins Of The Realm.


    ?


    The realm became full of hungry ck grotesque flesh fighting and killing everything within reach. This was the hell that the whole Tyrant realm had been plunged into.


    Even the demon gods struggled to survive. They couldn''t corrode or overwrite the ck tentacles, so their resistance was useless. They were torn apart little by little, so they could only escape for their lives.


    The whole ne was emptied in less than an hour. By that time, every inhabitant of the realm and invader had been dealt with. There was no more food in the realm for the giant ck ball of flesh to sustain itself, so it stretched its tentacles into the dungeon portals to reach the High Heaven realm. It was there that it met resistance again.


    There were still many Origin gods that didn''t die in the Tyrant realm. They were the ones that had managed to escape and the ones that didn''t but were resurrected in the high heaven realm. All of them were blocking the way into the high heaven realm.


    It was full hands on deck because the reward for this mission was generous. The space within the dungeons was small, so the tentacles couldn''t overwhelm the defenders like they did before. Even so, they were struggling to keep the tentacles from entering the high heaven realm and ravaging it. It is because each tentacle was a Supreme Origin god and was coordinating with each other perfectly.


    The high heaven realm was experiencing a crisis like no other. Mother High Heaven was constantly calling for more help and issuing quests to defend the realm.


    Their resistance slowed down the encroachment of the ck tentacles into the high heaven realm, but it also gave it food to sustain itself.


    The situation of the era of conquest appeared to have turned around. The Tyrant Realm had not only chased out every invader, but it had even begun counterattacks. Things couldn''t be better for it.


    Unfortunately, things could be better. In fact, things were better in the past before the appearance of the ck ball. At that time, there were a lot of living things in the realm, which served as the foundation of the Will of the Tyrant Realm. Those living things are gone now, which caused the Tyrant Realm to weaken drastically.


    The Tyrant Realm only has this ck ball of flesh as its foundation now. It has been weakened qualitatively. Its power is falling from the world god realm quickly. It will also die when the ck ball dies. So its defeat is certain at this point because the ck ball will die soon.


    But things are worse than that. The Will of the Tyrant realm will die when the ck ball dies even if there are no enemies trying to kill it. Unfortunately, there are enemies at its neck currently trying to split its throat.


    It was still resisting the Will of Mother High Heaven before the appearance of the ck ball. But the ck ball was made of Supreme Tyrants, who are entities to which it granted its power.


    The bestowal of power was to create defenders strong enough to defeat the invaders in the absence of reinforcement. That mission has been taken to its limits now. The defenders of bing parasites, draining the power of the realm.


    The ck ball has acquired the power of a realm lord through this action by doing what Monarch High Heaven didn''t do throughout the era of conquest. It is drawing heavily on the dwindling power of the Will of the realm to fight against the defenders in the dungeon and killing the Will in the process.


    It has seeded in killing or chasing away the invaders. It is even about to destroy thest defenders of high heaven realm. Those are all great, but it came at a great cost of weakening the already weakened Will of the realm, to fall from the power of world god to that of Supreme Origin god.


    This is a significant quantitative weakening. Since the Will of the Realm has be too weak to fight back now, it will surely die before the ck ball dies. So the Tyrant Race are not the heroes they think they are for sacrificing themselves. They are the ones that will kill their realm tree.


    They followed the advice that GREED gave them, but it was not going to save them. Instead, it is bringing a swift end to the era of conquest.


    This is the situation that Legion met when they joined in on the era of conquest. They have to decide to either help the high heaven realm for some contribution points or take a massive risk to help the Tyrant realm and somehow increase the benefits they will gain from this era of conquest or do both or do none.


    ----Awakening.


    Legion-1 was the first to awaken. He was not really dead in the first ce. After all, his inner world, the world fragment was still around. If not for the bacsh from their actions, it would have been easy for him to awaken.


    All he needed to do was regenerate, not ressurrect. But the void universe was actively inhibiting his regeneration and even wearing him down to stop him from awakening.


    If not for the fact that he hadn''t actually died, he might remain unconscious for at least two more Origin cycles. Instead, he spent 15,000 years sleeping.


    Legion-1 awakened and then directed his efforts towards resurrecting Legion-7. Legion-7 reappeared in the world fragment and began the resurrection of the other clones. His existence sped up their awakening since they didn''t have to rely much on the Will of the void universe anymore.


    The nine of them were soon assembled. They didn''t speak. Their mood was heavy, and their mind was full. This defeat didn''t make them doubt themselves or lose confidence. After all, they lost to a world god. That ispletely normal. It is extra normal since the first sage is not an ordinary world god.

 Chapter 1650: An Expensive Lesson.

    Chapter 1650: An Expensive Lesson.


    ?


    From what little they know about his Supreme Law, the first sage has positioned himself as the fate of all beings. Unlike Soverick''s use of fate, which limits him to seeing fate, the first sage has turned himself into a figure that can decide the fate of others.


    If the first sage determines the fate of someone, the destiny of that person has been changed. They will bring to pass the deration of the first sage, regardless of how they resist.


    If the destination has been set, then it doesn''t matter which road they take or how long they take to reach it, they will meet this destination when the journey ends. Then they will find the first sage waiting there for them even if they are world gods.


    That''s what the eye of the sage is. It is an eye that sees the multitudes of fates, locks on to one of them, and fixes it for the future. Then it uses everything avable to bring about that fixed future.


    Considering that he has the power of a world avable to him, it is quite easy for the first sage to make them wish they were dead.


    This is their current and only understanding of the first sage. They don''t know more because they have purged a lot of their understanding of the Supreme Law of the Eye of the Sage after resurrecting


    They used Legion-7''s spark of the soul for it and it was painful in more ways than one. They didn''t want to let go of their knowledge of an enemy, but it won''t do to make the same mistake after paying a heavy price to learn the lesson.


    They have learned their lesson, so they purged it. They might revisit it in the future when they be world gods, but as of now, they just know enough to be cautious of the first sage.


    The little they know is enough to understand that it is normal for their defeat at the hands of the first sage to happen. Soverick was a king ofw back then when he took the bait, and they are currently still Origin gods without Supreme Laws, so their defeat after taking the bait was just a matter of time.


    They didn''t feel incapable despite losing in a fight to the shadow of a world god and not even the real world god. What has got them downcast are the consequences of this defeat.


    The era of conquest is truly important for their ns. Without it, they would have to find all the things they need to be world gods themselves, and it would be difficult. Their fruitless search for world seed has already shown that even if they have the money to buy, there is no supply for what they want.


    A normal Supreme Origin god will face that kind of difficulty. But they are not normal Origin gods. They don''t just need one set of world engines and world seeds. For them to achieve their ambitious n, they need at least eight sets.


    That is not something they will be able to get easily. Not only will they need a lot of wealth, It might actually take forever to assemble that much. So things are more difficult for them.


    The first sage recognized the importance of the era of conquest to them, so he decided to lock them out of it. They received information through the virtual forum of the realm about the progress of the realm war. This made them sure that they hadn''t missed out on the era of conquestpletely.


    At this point, the first and second invasions of high heaven have ended. The third invasion by the ck ball of flesh had just begun. The fourth invasion by the Origin god Tyrants into the high heaven realm is just about to start.


    The Tyrants want to pincer the high heaven realm from the divine ne while the ck ball pressures the high heaven realm from the dungeons. They don''t know that it is a losing fight since the Will of the Tyrant realm is about to die.


    The bulk of the Origin gods of the high heaven realm are in the high heaven realm, defending the dungeons and preparing for the battle in the divine ne. By the looks of things to Legion, the high heaven realm is actually being pressured and might be defeated.


    They don''t think the High Heaven realm would lose since Monarch High Heaven hasn''t moved into action yet, but they surely are worried because they haven''t contributed a single thing to the era of conquest.


    They are also running out of time to contribute to the war, so they couldn''t help but be anxious. But they didn''t let their anxiety blind them. Each one of them used every method they knew to verify that they were not in a simtion anymore.


    That was the first thing they did. It was after they confirmed that they were not in a simtion that they allowed themselves to bother about their currentck of contribution points.


    Legion-1 thought to them, "The situation is precarious for us and the high heaven realm. We are desperate, and so are the two realms. That means any assistance rendered at this point will be highly valued."


    Helios asked, "Who are we helping? The Tyrant realm or the High Heaven Realm?"


    Soverick replied, "The high heaven realm. We can''t betray the high heaven realm, and the Tyrant realm doesn''t have a realm lord to assist us even if they win."


    Legion-1 continued, "If we manage to resolve the current danger of this abomination, then we might make enough contributions to the high heaven realm. Unfortunately, that is a tall order and we might fall. In fact, every Origin god might fail, and the high heaven realm falls."


    Aeternus added, "It doesn''t matter if the realm is in danger or not. It doesn''t matter if it falls. We just can''t give up on contributions. Not until the realm actually falls. We have to do something. What we decide now is how much we want to do."

 Chapter 1651 Go Big Or Go Hide.

    Chapter 1651 Go Big Or Go Hide.


    They all turned to Soverick for his opinion. He, in turn, looked into the future and the past to determine their options. What he saw was not encouraging.


    He sighed and said, "We are going to win the realm war, and it will happen very soon, so we are running out of time to contribute. I see no deaths in our future if we take things lightly, but that won''t get us enough contribution points. If we go all out, I see some darkness in the fate of some clones, so there will be danger."


    "But I also see a chance at a favorable future for us if we go all out. I can''t tell what that future is apart from the fact that we are happy in it. The way to that future is in the Tyrant Realm."


    What he saw gave them enough information to know exactly what they had to do. Legion-1 chuckled and said, "The Tyrant realm eh? There''s only one thing in the Tyrant realm right now. So what we have to do is clear."


    Legion-9 didn''t like it, and he said as much. "If we do it, then the first sage will know everything about us."


    Legion-2 offered another solution. "We could also give up on this and hide in the spiritual dimension. We could hide for however long it will take us to create our Supreme Laws. Then we can use what we have left together with CARNAGE to kill a world god or the first sage."


    Legion-7 said what they were all thinking, "A world god is a tall order. We don''t know if our n will work on them. That''s even if we can find one. The only world god we have a lead on is Ghastorix. If we can''t find him, then we are stuck with the first sage. It goes without saying that even if the first sage doesn''t know everything we are hiding, he already knows half of it, so our n that was uncertain before will be less effective on him."


    Legion-2 nodded and said, "That''s why it is of little consequence if the first sage finds out about the other half. We can trade that knowledge for something good in the era of conquest to secure our future, or we can secure our future by hiding away."


    Legion-1 didn''t agree. He said, "Nothing is of little consequence when it involves the first sage. We must not overlook anything. Be that as it may, the choice is to either hide and fight the first sage in the future or expose ourst secret to secure the future and then hide."


    Aeternus said, "We don''t really have a choice about it. We don''t know what the first sage is capable of. We don''t know what he can do to us. We can hide, but that will not help us for long. The best thing to do is to move forward, change, and grow stronger. We have to go all out."


    Aeternus doesn''t advise caution. It is not really his thing, so what he just said was to be expected. Even so, it resounded with all of them.


    The truth of the matter is that they have been had by the first sage, and they have been had thoroughly. They don''t even know how to n for the worst anymore because they know what the first sage ns for them. So the opportunity to grow stronger, despite being risky to them, feels like the best chance to turn things around. They didn''t let Aeternus''s optimism blind them to the dangers they would encounter, and they didn''t let Soverick''s vision make them too confident. What Soverick saw about the darkness in their future is already bad. It could be worse because they don''t know what that darkness will be. The darkness usually means death, but it could also mean an encounter with an entity that Soverick can''t see. Those are the things they will encounter if they choose to go all out. At that point, death might not be able to save them. So they decided to n for that, just as they decided to bring out all their might.


    They decided to make sure that they could always die when they needed it, and they decided to use the very thing that they had been hiding from the first sage. It is their only chance of securing that pleasant future.


    With their minds made up and their destinations set, they began moving into action.


    The Tree Father became the focus of their preparation. Their n relies heavily on him. They will be using the ability of his spark of power to manipte power to gain an advantage in the final stretch of the era of conquest.


    The abilities of the spark of power are somewhat simr to those of the crown of domination. It is why the three consciousnesses said he wouldn''t need it, but they still gave it to him because of the rules. It is just like one of the abilities of Legion-7 being simr to the function of the soul sphere. This ability of the Tree Father canbine two sources of Supreme power and use them together. It is how Legion was able to gain an advantage over the millions of Origin gods that besieged them.


    Other Supreme Origin gods could only use one Supreme Power. They can''tbine their Supreme Law with the power of a world fragment. But Legion can. Not only that, Legion-9 can control all forms of power and make thempatible with each other for utilization. However, Legion needs more than that if they are to make a bigger impact. This is why they are going to involve Legion-5''s inner world, Helios'' dragon heart, and Aeternus Chaos energy. This is going to stress the Tree Father, so they are aligning the world fragment to focus on him and help him bear the stress of what is going to be their attempt at the third stage of unity.

 Chapter 1652: Two Can Play At This Game.

    Chapter 1652: Two Can y At This Game.


    ?


    Apart from those four, one more clone will follow them so as to be around them for anything they might need. The rest of the clones, including Legion-1, scattered in different directions and disappeared into the void universe or the spiritual dimension.


    Thatst one made them more confident that they were not in a simtion. Even though they tried their best in the simtion and made smart, logical decisions, the option to hide in the spiritual dimension didn''t once cross their minds.


    They believe that it was the first sage''s influence on their minds that clouded their cognition of that option. Now that they can think of it again, it has boosted their confidence in their belief that the first sage has not infiltrated their minds again.


    It is a confidence they need, especially now that they are going to do something risky that might lead them to ruin. Four clones rushed towards the Tyrant Realm. They were Legion-3, Legion-4, Legion-5, Legion-7, and Legion-9. They surfed the world using Legion-1''s concept, so they were very fast.


    Even so, they were almostte to the Tyrant Realm. This is because the position they had drifted to when they were dead was very far away from either realm. The amalgam of the Tyrants was about to break through the defense of the dungeons and gain ess to the High Heaven realm by the time they arrived.


    Many world gods lying in wait saw them pass by, but not one stopped them. If anything, they made way for them and watched them pass through the blockade to enter the realm tree. But many other world gods soon arrived at the position of the Tyrant realm tree. They were curious, and their curiosity was encouraged by the hole appearing on the realm tree that allowed them to see into the realm.


    These holes were caused by the deadly predicament of the realm tree. Legion was hoping to expand it by the time they were through.


    The four clones entered the realm and found itpletely deserted. There was arge ck creature that had taken up almost all the space in the realm. The two suns had disappeared, so the ne was in darkness. In that pitch-ck darkness, there were ck tentacles writhing about and still looking around for things to eat.


    It was a good thing that they knew what to expect, or they would be caught off guard by the ck tentacles. Even so, they were fascinated by what they saw.


    "It seems this is the true form of the ability of the Tyrants to enhance each other."


    "Just how are they doing this?"


    They used Soverick''s eyes to inspect the ck ball of flesh to find out its secrets. Unfortunately, Soverick wasn''t here, so the eye they produced was at the sovereign level. However, they were still able to see that it was a swirling vortex ofws, energy, and power all working together in harmony despite the grotesque form that the ball of flesh possessed.


    This grotesque form is just the inherent visual appearance of what the impossible looks like. It should be impossible for different existences to fuse and work together like this, and yet they have achieved it. One might say that they have broken aw of the void universe. Legion was only able to achieve the fusion of two existences through Legion-5 and Legion-7. And that was because the two of them were clones with the same Origin and Legion-5 was the perfect vessel for Legion-7 to possess. They didn''t have conflicting concepts or supremews, either.


    On the other hand, these Tyrants arepletely different people. What they have achieved is an abomination, so it is not a wonder why it looks like one.


    What they saw gave Soverick enough information to trace the cause of the past and determine the future they wanted.


    So he said to them, "I see. They beat us to it. But things are not toote for us. We must defeat this thing before it falls apart or the realm dies."


    Legion-9 fused with Legion-unity. His divine spark entered the inner core of Legion-5''s inner world. Legion-5 has done something like this before. The difference this time is that he took on Legion-9''s body too. This granted it the power of divinity and a supply of divine energy.


    Next, it was Helios'' turn to fuse with them. He is a giant of order with an inner world that is the dragon heart of a godling dragon. So he possesses the power of Order. This order allowed him to slide easily into Legion-5''s inner core and empower it. After all, Legion-5 had used the giant of order''s divine ability before.


    Legion-3 fused with them next. He took control over the outer sphere of Legion-5''s inner world, formed by the crown of Chaos he gave to Legion-5. This granted the outer sphere ess to True Chaos and the power of a demon god.


    These series of fusions recreated the conditions that created the shards of power. These conditions were the same that caused the fusion of Legion-5''s and Legion-7''s shards of power when the two of them created the world engine within Legion-5.


    They had experienced an elevation in their existence back then, when Legion-5 created his concept. The sparks of power didn''t disappoint them now, so the same thing happened again, but in a bigger form.


    The five shards of power within the world fragment in Legion-1''s inner world also fused. Their fusion caused the world fragment to rubble as arge amount of power was funneled into the product of the fused clones.


    This is the initial form of the third stage of unity. It is the product of the fusion of order, chaos, divinity, the shards of power, the divine sparks, the demonic spark, the spark of consciousness, and a world fragment.


    This fusion made Legion break through the limit of Supreme Power. They approached the power of a world god just like the amalgam of the Tyrants.

 Chapter 1653: Clash Of The Titans.

    Chapter 1653: sh Of The Titans.


    ?


    Legion felt big and very powerful. It was not an illusion. Their body was expanding quickly. They grew to be kilometers tall. They had to stop growing for fear of exploding. Even then, they were more than 1,000 kilometers tall.


    The world trembled around them as they moved. Space was quaking and vibrating at a frequency higher than its normal range of operation. This is what happens when there is no longer a fundamental difference between one Supreme Power and ten Supreme Powers.


    The light side of the void universe couldn''t contain them again. The vibration of the world around them was just the surface effect of thew matrix tearing apart. They were too big and too powerful for thew matrix to hold them up. This caused the world of manifestation around them to fragment and disappear.


    The fragmentation of the world was not forced by them. It is simply an effect of the inadequacy of thew matrix to behold their presence. So it decreased when the product of the fusion of the five clones began to ascend, just like Legion-5 and Legion-7 didst time they tried something like this.


    Their metaphysical ascension tranted to physical descension. Thew matrix couldn''t hold them, so they began falling into the dark side of the void universe. But then they stopped.


    This is because, unlikest time, they have the spark of power. They can control all types of power under their influence. Plus, they also have Legion-7 to tether them to the other clones. they stopped falling and began to rise again.


    Their form, with a head possessing four faces and a body with eight pairs of arms and legs, appeared in the Tyrant Realm. They had wings too. Hundreds of wings of light radiated outward from them while a single giant white halo adorned their four heads.


    They would look angelic if not for the fact that they were ugly. In fact, any being without a concept would die just byying their eyes on them. They were that ugly.


    When they appeared, they felt a force of rejection from the realm, trying to banish them, but it was too weak to seed. It could have caused them trouble if they had fused outside the realm and tried to enter the realm, but it can''t do anything to them now that they are already within the realm.


    Instead, it is the ck ball of flesh that they have to be careful about. It had noticed them and sent all the tentacles that were not fighting in the dungeons at them. The whole realm was turned against them instantly. Space became thick with world power trying topress them while the tentacles tried to smash them to pieces.


    Fortunately, the product of the fusion has not be absent-minded likest time. They are still conscious and can control their power perfectly. They directed their power now towards the ck tentacles trying to surround them.


    They said, "DOMINATE: PUSH."


    Arge force exploded out of them and smashed into the sea of tentacles, trying to drown them. Everything in the path of the force was eviscerated. Even the world of manifestation and thew matrix beneath it disappeared and became an undefined state of matter and energy.


    They received bacsh for their actions, but it didn''t bother them thanks to thew matrix. They were able to continue creating the force that pushed the tentacles until they smashed it against the ck ball of flesh itself.


    The ck tentacles were in their emphemeral form, but they were still pushed back, so they couldn''t reach them. The ck ball of flesh didn''t like that. It roared in anger. Its scream reverberated throughout the realm and caused it to shake. This shaking was further intensified by the roar of a dragon''s breath.


    Legion swallowed all the energy around them. Even light would have been sucked away if there were any of it around. Then light suddenly appeared as a bright star formed in front of Legion.


    This bright star exploded as arge pir of white energy that cut through everything in its path. The tentacles, who could avoid damage in their ephemeral state, couldn''t avoid damage this time around. The dragon breath burned them away.


    The dragon breath also smashed into the core of the amalgam. It didn''t cut it apart like they expected. The ck core glowed different colors as it used the various Supreme Powers within it to protect itself. It reminded Legion of the seal on heaven''s gate that Aeternus destroyed in the illusion.


    Just like that seal, they will have to destroy every Supreme Power all at once if they want to break the protection. It is something they couldn''t do easily in the past. But not in this state. The dragon breath eventually fizzled out, leaving the ck ball intact. The ck amalgam retracted its tentacles from the dungeons and brought all of them to bear against them. Then its ck tentacles glowed various colors as various Supreme powers were activated through them.


    The ck ball of flesh has gone mad at this point. It is stupid, and it is only following its instincts to live, so it cannot create a targeted response. But that doesn''t mean it has to. It has so many types of Supreme Powers that it doesn''t need to be smart when responding to threats. Brute force has always worked, and it also worked this time when it needed it.


    One of the ck tentacles used a Supreme Power that countered the pushing force around Legion. Whatever neww Legion had created or cosmic force they had initiated to create that barrier was truncated. The tentacle prated past the force and continued to approach Legion.


    The other tentacles copied the Supreme power of the sessful one and also overcame the force pushing them. They approached Legion again, but they couldn''t go far before they began to disintegrate.


    "DOMINATE: DISINTEGRATE"


    A/N: Do you think Legion can take on a world god?

 Chapter 1654: Mad And Frustrated.

    Chapter 1654: Mad And Frustrated.


    ?


    Apparently, there was more than one different type of power in effect around Legion. One pushed while the other destroyed. The ck tentacles can ovee one, but they can''t ovee both of them at the same time.


    This is the difference between Legion and the ck ball. The ck ball of flesh has the upper hand in the number of Supreme Powers at its disposal. It has tens of thousands, while they only have five.


    It can use anyone Supreme Power needs for whichever difficulty it encounters, and it can use all of them at once. But that''s only an advantage in quantity. It still can''t ovee the advantage of the quality of power that Legion currently possesses.


    Legion can use their Supreme powers together and as one. They are not like the scattered soldiers of the Tyrant amalgam. They are a giant created by the perfect fusion of many soldiers. They have one Origin and can control their power perfectly.


    At this level, there is no difference between one Supreme Power and thousands of Supreme Powers to them. As long as one of those Supreme Power can''t threaten them, then none of them can. So it is not a wonder that the tens of thousands can''t ovee their defense. It is like a million Origin gods fighting them. They have done that before and can do it again.


    However, these ck tentacles are different from Origin gods. They are siphoning the power of the Will of the realm to fight. In fact, they have be thew matrix in this realm. That is a power close to that of a world god. It is why Origin gods and Supreme Origin gods were powerless against them. They cannot be judged bymon sense and have more cards to y than Supreme Origin gods.


    What the ck ball of flesh did was to utilize one of its abilities as thew matrix of this realm. It roared and caused everything in the realm to freeze. This is an ability that only the Will of the realm or the realm lord should be able to use. It shows just how much power it has on its home ground.


    Legion was frozen along with the world. The force of pushing and destruction around them disappeared. Since the ck tentacles could still move, they began to approach Legion again. Sess was about to arrive, but something else exploded around Legion.


    A golden domain expanded out of them. It flowed into the world like a tide of unresistable power. First, the world disintegrated as thew matrix and its manifestation was banished. Then it caused everything within its boundary to freeze while Legion regained their freedom.


    The ck ball of flesh screeched again. Its core pulsed, and a dark light was ejected out of it at Legion. This is the first time it will be using its energy to attack instead of hording it for sustenance. It is that angry and desperate.


    Legion responded to the attack with a shift of their domain. The ck energy entered it only to follow a curved path instead of going in a straight line like it was meant to do.


    Unfortunately, the space within the domain had been warped to make it loop around instead of smashing into Legion. Then it came out of the domain from the exact same point that it entered from and smashed into the ck ball.


    The ck ball shrieked in pain and frustration. It began beating their domain as well as the world around it with its tentacles. The tentacles were empowered with Supreme Strength so they were like hammers capable of shattering thew matrix. Everything they smashed shattered and turned to dust. Only the domain remained.


    The domain did more than remain. Now that the tentacles had reduced their defense, they became easier to destroy. The domain capitalized on that to disintegrate the tentacles. So thousands of them disappeared in two seconds. It was a massive loss to the ck flesh.


    The ck ball of flesh didn''t like the way things were going. It smashed all its ck tentacles against their domain. It was as if hammers were hitting metal. The collision of the two sides created a loud noise like thunder that shook the realm.


    This collision caused the entire realm to shake and for earthquakes to appear. Whenbined with the removal of most of the tentacles in the earth to attack Legion, the very fragile earth full of tunnels beneath them began to crack.


    The whole realm was breaking apart. Cracks also appeared in the space where the two powerful entities collided. These cracks created a passage to the void from which void energy could enter the realm. The Tyrant Realm was doomed.


    It was only a matter of time before it was destroyed. But the amalgam didn''t seem to notice this, understand it, or be bothered by it. All that mattered was that it was frustrated and angry.


    The ck flesh was mad, but it could also adapt. It is the very nature of Supreme Power. So the ck flesh managed to adopt a new mode of attack after experiencing several massive losses in a row. It withdrew its tentacles andbined them into one massive limb.


    The tentacles didn''t fuse into one. They were still separate Supreme Power. Some of them used Supreme Strength, while others used Supreme Defense, and the rest used Supreme Speed. This granted this massive limb all three Supreme Powers.


    It was not a perfectbination of power. The enhancement is not efficient at all. But at least, the limb won''t be destroyed at once because of the tentacles with Supreme Defense. It will be able to retain this defensive power while also possessing Supreme Strength to attack. It is a good idea and a step in the right direction. But it hasn''t ovee the differences between them. The number of Supreme Powers doesn''t matter to Legion at this point. The only thing the ck ball of flesh has managed to do is create one target instead of thousands for them to destroy.

 Chapter 1655: Cosmic Weapon.

    Chapter 1655: Cosmic Weapon.


    ?


    The move of the amalgam to create a singlerge move was an opportunity to end things quickly. That''s what Legion thinks. So they forced the golden domain to shrink into their hand.


    Itpressed into a changing mass of cosmic force in their hands. First, they turned it into a golden whip which theyshed at therge limb. The golden whip cut through the ck limb cleanly andpletely.


    The ck ball of flesh cried out in pain again. It hurriedly absorbed the cut tentacles to replenish its strength, even as they were disintegrating. But Legion wasn''t going to give it a moment of respite.


    They swung the golden whip about like a cleaver. Where it passed was marked by the distinct signs of the disintegration of space and time. They used it to prune the ck ball of flesh. It stopped being a giant after having arge proportion of its existence shaved off.


    The fight hadsted nine seconds in total. Legion has also managed to get close to the giant ball of flesh. They allowed the golden whip to return to its domain form. This made it cover the amalgampletely.


    The domain cut off its connection to world power and weakened it. Then Legion dered, "DOMINATE: DOWN!"


    The gravity in the domain increased rapidly. It caused the tentacles to be too heavy to move.


    "DOMINATE: DISINTEGRATE!"


    The amalgam had been weakened and slowed down. It couldn''t leave the golden domain, much less fight back. So it broke apart into pieces when Legion ordered it to disintegrate. They could have achieved this faster if they had flooded the realm with Chaos energy. But they didn''t use Chaos energy because Soverick saw negative oues after using it.


    He was speaking in their minds to instruct them. "Get closer. Target the core. Don''t use Chaos energy, or you will harm the core. Something bad will happen if you do that. You will all die." The ck ball of flesh was still resisting. It had withdrawn everything it had into itself to form a shell of Supreme Defense. It wasn''t moving or fighting back. It has been defeated by any definition of the word. But Legion wanted more than just victory or defeat. They want the core of the abomination for themselves.


    It has be clear to them now that the core of the amalgam is what they came to the Tyrant realm for. It was not to defeat the amalgam and help the High Heaven realm. It was not some contribution points. All that matters is whether they will get that core or not.


    They can already see it in their future. So Legion did the right thing to bring it to pass. First, they braced themselves for the iing pain. Then they utilized Cosmic force to break everything in the domain. Their domain shattered, and the world along with it.


    Everything within the domain was fragmented, including the ck ball. The Supreme Powers were destroyed all at once, so its seal of protection couldn''t save it. The ck ball broke to pieces, leaving behind arge, bright white ball. It was soft, but it was undamaged by Legion''s cosmic break.


    It looked like a world spark, as it appeared to be a ball of information. But it also looked like a world seed because it was a living organ. If it is an organ, seeing as the owner is now dead and it survived both the death of its owner and what killed its owner, it has to be the most powerful organ they have ever seen.


    The closest organ they have ever seen to it required them to sacrifice their most powerful clone. This is orders of magnitude greater than that. It is the living embodiment of what the organ of a world god would look like.


    Soverick was ecstatic when he saw it. Legion-9 confirmed his thoughts. "It is a universal artifact. It is notplete, though. But we can finish it with some divinity."


    Soverick said, "The Tyrants either created it themselves when they fused together or they were bestowed it for breaking a rule of the universe."


    Legion¨C1 added as he reached out to it, "They deserve it. Ordinary Sovereigns performed a fusion that made them reach the world god level. It is a worthy achievement."


    It was truly an enigma. It looks like an artifact, but it feels like a living organ. They know this white color and theck of normalws in artifacts when they see one. These are the same properties that their soul spheres and crowns of domination have, so they are certain that it is a universal artifact.


    They just don''t know why it is still present after the death of its owner. It should have disappeared. Not unless it is a natural Universal artifact forged with their existence. It is what they are aiming to turn their world fragment into, but moreplete.


    They don''t care about the reason, though. All they know is that everything will be alright for them as long as they can get it.


    This was why Legion hadn''t used Chaos energy to fight this monster. Not only is it their weakest power in their current fused state, they needed the Chaos energy to continue to fuel their current state, and they didn''t want to destroy this thing.


    Legion grabbed the ball quickly and sent it to the other clones. Ragnarok, who was behind them,mitted suicide at this moment, leaving them alone. Soverick had seen danger in their future, so they decided that he should die to avoid it.


    Legion then used the broken space around them to find the encrypted spatial coordinates of the location of the world heart. They are the ones that are going to do the dangerous thing, but they have to since they found out that destroying the ck mass didn''t give them half as many contribution points as expected.


    They want to see if they can acquire the realm heart for the era of conquest. That will surely help them acquire enough contribution points if they manage to get it.

 Chapter 1656: Deny Your Existence.

    Chapter 1656: Deny Your Existence.


    ?


    Their domain had been removed after they shattered the world around them. All that was left around them were numerous, expanding cracks.


    These cracks are notrge enough or deep enough to find the encrypted space in a normal situation. But the realm tree is weak and at death''s door. Plus, they are not in an ordinary state either. They are almost at the level of world gods at this point, so it is easy for them to use what is avable to discover the encrypted space.


    Their Will moved, and cosmic force was injected into the small gap in the cracks. They didn''t decipher the encryption but forced it open with cosmic force like a lever. Arge tunnel opened before them, which they entered.


    They didn''t pause to reflect on the fact that the encrypted space existed and that the method to open it was exactly as they found in the simtion. The major difference between reality and the simtion is that the silver space dragon is not here yet. It means they don''t havepetition for what they are about to do.


    Even if the dragon were here, it wouldn''t change their mind. They recognize that they are running out of time to make contributions, and the contribution for killing therge ck monster was nowhere near what they expected to get for something so powerful. So they are determined to get the realm heart and end the war.


    They didn''t know that the ck ball of flesh was not as significant a threat as it appeared to be. But they do know that ending the era of conquest in favor of the high heaven realm should grant them a lot of contributions. It is why they are determined as they swarm in the darkness towards the realm heart.


    Something odd happened again as soon as they entered the space of the realm heart. Soverick received a vision of doom. He saw that in a few moments, they would all be swallowed by darkness. That didn''t make them stop though.


    Their determination ismendable. It is especially so since they knew that they were going to fail even before they failed. They don''t know why they are going to fail, so that didn''t leave them with much room to n and prepare to seed.


    All they knew was that many world gods had been watching their fighting from outside the realm, and they couldn''t predict anything rted to world gods, so their failure could be rted to these world gods.


    Still, they swarm anxiously towards the realm heart. At the very least that darkness looked better than the second vision Soverick saw of them being frozen if they decide to turn around and run.


    What they didn''t know is that even though the silver space dragon is not around in the realm tree, the first sage wasn''t lying about it having a helper. This helper is significant because it is a world god, and it is not a fake world god either.


    This world god saw them open the encrypted space and made its move. The ending of the simtion was repeated in the real world. Arge w broke through the filmsy barrier of the realm, went through the realm, into the encrypted space, and towards Legion.


    The w was sorge that it was the size of their whole body. And they were 10,000 kilometers tall right now, so that''s something. Legion did not give up and tried to escape. They did what they would have done if they had decided to go all out in the simtion. They swarm towards the wed hand and smash into it.


    The two objects were of the same size, so it wasn''t odd that they couldn''t gain an advantage over each other. However, it is still impressive that they didn''t lose out in the collision since the w belonged to a much bigger creature. Even the owner of the w thought so and said


    so.


    Tssandulighafan said with mirth, "Look who is all grown up now. You used to cower in my presence, but now you seat my w aside."


    The voice of the world god shook the world. It threatened to turn everything upside down. A lesser being would have lost their senses, but not Legion. Currently, they are at their peak.


    Legion didn''t reply, though. They had been pushed back. It didn''t look like it, but they had also been injured. Fortunately, their special state protected them. Their special state can''t be removed until they stop it themselves, so they still have the power to continue rushing after the realm heart.


    The world god''s voice called out behind them. The dragon said with light amusement, "You were able to stand up to me because of the limit of the light side. It is a handicap for me, but it is still an impressive feat that no Origin god has ever done."


    Then his tone changed. The dragon became stern as he said, "However, this is has far as you go. I DENY YOUR EXISTENCE."


    The dragon doesn''t like them being in front of it, so it denied their existence. Its WILL moved to remove them from its path.


    It was a curse. A basic curse that can be received when meeting a world god face-to-face. A world god can freeze your existence, or they can deny it. It doesn''t mean the end of the world. All you have to do is resist their curse. If you sessfully resist it, you will be fine.


    In the case of the curse of denial, the WILL of the dragon struck Legion to remove them. It was far more than the collision with a w. Still, there was a way out. All Legion had to do was remain stubborn.


    Unfortunately, they couldn''t do that because the WILL struck them with the full force of a world. The shadow of this massive world covered and enveloped them.


    The oue wasn''t a surprise to either party. A darkness swallowed both the physical body of Legion and their consciousness.

 Chapter 1657 Extortion.

    Chapter 1657 Extortion.


    A Supreme Origin god can have a power of 10. They currently might have the power of 15 due to the fusion of many Supreme powers. But a world god with the weakest world will have a power of 10 multiplied by 2.


    There''s no way this dragon world god has a world with an amplifcation of 2. His world was toorge. It wasrger than the whole Tyrant realm. The force that struck them felt more like 50 instead of 20. They were outssed by every definition of it.


    Things would have been different if they had a world to handle the repercussions of the collision. Unfortunately, they don''t. It was like the bacsh of the void universe all over again.


    Their world fragment couldn''t handle the blowback from the collision with a whole world. After all, it is just a fragment of a world. So Legion disintegrated and disappeared from the presence of the world god. Their existence in front of the world god had been denied. The best thing they managed to do was prevent their entire existence from being denied. So not every clone died. Only the ones in front of Tssandulighafan and Legion-1 did. Legion-7 managed to stop the tide of destruction at the world fragment and didn''t let it extend to the other clones.


    The w of the dragon went for the realm heart to grab it. Without Legion there to stop it, it could move forward easily. It only had to worry about the other world gods outside the realm tree.


    But then an entity appeared in front of the w with a golden clump of soil in their hands. This entity threw the clump of soil at the wed hand of the dragon world god.


    The clump of soil expanded as it flew forward. It grew into arge continent, more than 100 kilometers across, and struck the w. The w''s progress was stalled again, and the w was even pushed back. Therge continent shrank and returned to the hands of the entity that threw it. Tssandulighafan looked at this entity. He narrowed his eyes at them as he ascertained their identity.


    This entity looked like a high elf. They had green skin, golden eyes, and golden hair. There was only one high elf that Tssandulighafan knew who possessed an immortal continent that could shrink onmand.


    Tssandulighafan was not dissuaded by his presence, though. He smirked and showed hisrge dragon teeth.


    Then he said, "It is good that you are here."


    The realm lord asked, "And why is that?"


    Tssandulighafan replied smugly, "It is so that you can pay me for not joining in the fight that is about to happen."


    The green elf grumbled a bit before asking, "What do you want?"


    "I want a world engine and a world seed. It is just right that I get them for not taking this one. Call it equal exchange."


    Tssandulighafan didn''t ask for his help in subduing a realm tree. It is obvious he doesn''t need that. Instead, he asked for the fruits of attacking a realm. It is almost too much to ask for. The realm lord sighed as heined again, "Legion has caused me a lot of problems again. I thought they wouldn''t appear, but they did, and they messed everything up the moment they appeared. They have done nothing but negatively affect the era of conquest. They are bad luck at this point."


    All of this and more is Legion''s fault, but he can''t tell Tssandulighafan that. The dragon world god wouldn''t be satisfied with the deal. If he wants the powerful dragon god not to join the other world gods that are about to loot the Tyrant Realm, he has to give Tssandulighafan what he asked for.


    He is losing out on this deal because Tssandulighafan can''t do anything to him alone. But he has to fulfill the deal so as to prevent what Tssandulighafan can do to him with others.


    He already has so many enemies, it won''t do to make new ones at the single most important moment of his life. Besides, any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem for him.


    Tssandulighafan looked at the distraught face of the realm lord, and his smirk grew wider.


    He thought to himself, "This is exactly what I wanted. I wish Dylganihl were here to see this."


    He didn''t deny the realm lord''s existence like he did to Legion because it wouldn''t work. That kind of curse doesn''t work on realm lords. They have a world to offset the bacsh. Plus, raw force won''t work either because there is a limit on the light side of the void universe.


    But even with all these handicaps preventing Tssandulighafan from gaining an advantage over the realm lord, it doesn''t change the fact that this is a critical moment for the realm lord, and Tssandulighafan has taken advantage of it. Originally, he and his son wanted to get the realm heart so that they would be able to threaten the realm lord to fulfill their demands. But this n went to shambles when the ck ball of flesh appeared. Dylganihl had to leave the realm or die. But who would have expected that Legion would show up and aplish what they couldn''t do?


    The realm lord finally said, "You win. I will give you what you want. But you shouldn''t be smug too much. You didn''t put me in this situation with your effort."


    He knew why Dylganihl bothered to participate in this era of conquest, and he caught that obvious gleam of smugness in Tssandulighafan''srge eyes. It made him more bitter about giving up a world seed and world engine.


    The best he could do was try to smear the victory Tssandulighafan gained over him. He didn''t lie to achieve that goal. Legion''s appearance created the opportunity for Tssandulighafan to ckmail him.


    But more than that, Legion''s fight with the ck ball of flesh weakened the realm enough for world gods to be able to interfere in the realm before it was destroyed.

 Chapter 1658: Double Extortion.

    Chapter 1658: Double Extortion.


    ?


    In a normal situation, this situation shouldn''t happen. Mother High Heaven was supposed to kill the Will of the Tyrant Realm and absorb what they needed for the realm tree to detach from thew matrix. This would lead to the destruction of the realm and leave nothing for the realm lord''s enemies to do.


    But Legion has brought the destruction of the Tyrant realm forward, before the death of the Will of the Realm. This would be a good thing if Legion didn''t do so while removing arge portion of thew matrix of the Tyrant realm from within, thereby reducing the support of the void universe for it. This created the opportunity for the enemies of the realm lord to interfere.


    Tssandulighafan is very strong, that''s why he was the first to break through the barrier. The barrier might be weak, but the protection is still there, so there is a bacsh to the world gods that attempt to break it.


    Tssandulighafan could bear a higher amount of bacsh than the others, so he was the first to enter. The second world god to gain entry did so as the realm lord was handing over a world seed and world engine.


    A white eye with rings around their pupil appeared in the encrypted space. It looked around curiously and said, "Looks like I am notte."


    The realm lord sighed and said, "Let''s not waste time. Let me know what you want quickly."


    The first sage said out loud instead of speaking covertly, "I want what the first guy asked for and more. I won''t join in the uing fight if you give me the data you have collected on cosmic source."


    Monarch High Heaven''s face twitched. He almost lost hisposure. He said, "Good, good. You have taken advantage of me today. It is not your fault."


    The first sage agreed. "I am very lucky indeed."


    Information about Cosmic sources is many times more valuable than a realm heart. After all, fragments of a realm heart can only make one be a world god. A cosmic source, on the other hand, is something that all world gods chase after. In fact, a cosmic source is more powerful and important than the Authority of the void universe.


    The information doesn''t mean that the first sage will be able to get the cosmic source, but it will increase his chances of doing so. Considering that knowledge is power and the first sage is someone who thrives on knowledge, then this information will be very useful to him.


    So one can imagine just how pissed the realm lord is. But he got more pissed when he heard what Tssandulighafan said next.


    Tssandulighafan said, "I also want information about Cosmic sources."


    The realm lord asked, "Don''t you already have a lot from the dragon king?"


    Tssandulighafan replied with increased smugness, "I do, but I also want yours."


    He doesn''t need the information, and he never had any inclination for it until he heard the first sage ask for it. It was also then that he decided to use the information to humiliate the realm lord even more.


    "Fine."


    The realm lord would like to believe that it was a coincidence that the first sage made his request out loud for Tssandulighafan to hear, but he is not na?ve enough to believe that. In fact, he is willing to believe that this whole situation was somehow orchestrated by the first sage.


    The realm lord gave them what they wanted, so they left. He had to give them just for the reason that they were able to bear so much bacsh. It indicates their strength and how serious it would be if they interfered in the uing fight.


    Fortunately, he is not so helpless. He has already made some contracts with many world gods since the beginning of the era of conquest. They have to help him until the era of conquest ends, so they will fight for him in this battle.


    It didn''t take long for the battle to start. The protection of the void universe gave way before the realm was destroyed. This gave all the world gods that wanted to take advantage of the situation for the benefits or the hatred of the realm lord the opportunity to enter the Tyrant realm.


    This kind of opportunity is rare and short. The realm needed to be too weak to stop them, yet notpletely defeated. These world gods wanted to use the opportunity to steal the realm heart before Mother High Heaven could take it for herself.


    They were stopped by the world gods defending the barricade of the Tyrant realm. The sh between the two sides was so great that it further elerated the destruction of the realm.


    The two sides were fighting for different things and had different goals to achieve victory. The defenders were fighting not to kill. They were fighting to dy the enemies and push them away from the Tyrant realm. They were also trying to destroy the Tyrant realm so that the era of conquest would end sooner.


    The enemies were fighting to steal the realm heart. They were doing this by stopping the defenders from destroying the Tyrant realm while simultaneously trying to enter it to steal its heart.


    It was a true ruckus. The two sides were in a stalemate, but all their fighting sped up the rate of destruction of the Tyrant realm. This tilted the victory to the side of the realm lord and his defenders.


    The fight eventually ended. It ended with the High Heaven Realm gaining another realm heart. It was aplete realm heart too. One of a kind.


    The Will of the void universe, who was overseeing the realm war, silently withdrew from the affairs of the two realms.


    But it did say something to Mother High Heaven. It said, "I wish you good luck. You will need


    it."


    The realm lord didn''t care about the ominous words. He was too happy to care, and he also had something else to do before he could call the era of conquest aplete sess.

 Chapter 1659: The Next Step After The Era Of Conquest.

    Chapter 1659: The Next Step After The Era Of Conquest.


    ?


    He is not happy because he gained a single realm heart. He has a lot of realm heart fragments. He is very rich. What he is happy about is gaining aplete realm heart. His wealth can''t buy that.


    Realm hearts break up whenever the realm is destroyed, so only fragments can be acquired from the destruction of the realm heart. Things like the spark of consciousness won''t be preserved and will be destroyed.


    This spark of consciousness is very important to him, as it is one of the requirements for him to be able to awaken the powerful psychic engram sleeping within him. This is probably the most important reason why he had to be a realm lord. That and the power of the world he would gain as a realm lord who became a world god.


    It is only in the situation of the era of conquest that one can gain aplete realm heart. There''s no other way to acquire aplete realm heart after the destruction of the realm. So this realm heart is more important than the many realm fragments that he possesses. Mother High Heaven reced the Will of the Tyrant Realm as soon as it died, so the realm heart was preserved. Then she fused the two realm hearts and began to evolve.


    The first thing she did was remove the world sparks from the realm hearts. She worked together with the realm lord to push them out and rece them with his spark of wisdom,monly known as the Supreme Law.


    This process damaged the realm heart, but the fusion of the two realm hearts made up for the damages. This caused the realm tree to be detached from thew matrix. It is a good thing in many ways. The obvious advantage is that the realm tree won''t be destroyed anymore when the void universe ends.


    The next thing that has to be done toplete this evolution is for the realm lord to be a world god andplete his fusion with the realm tree.


    However, the realm lord didn''t do that immediately. The first thing he did after fighting off the world gods was to go searching for a very important part of his ns. Legion took that part, so he went looking for Legion.


    Heined about them along the way, "First, they eliminate the Phoenix race. Next, they weakened the dragons and the Supreme Alliance. As if that wasn''t enough, they weakened the demons. They did all of these and didn''t bother to participate in the era of conquest."


    "I didn''t mind all of that. But then they swoop in at the end and steal from me. They also created the opportunity for me to spend more time and resources to win the realm war on their way out. They have always made things difficult for me every step of the way. But this time, they have gone too far."


    Legion is currently far away from both the Tyrant and High Heaven realms. They are also scattered all over the universe for assurance. Even now, they are still moving away from each other. It is as if they are fleeing from something, which is the right response to have when world gods might be after them. They were afraid of world gods before, but their fear of world gods has only been reinforced after their recent resounding defeat at the hands of Tssandulighafan.


    Despite their fear of being captured, their recent defeat, and their failure to make enough contributions to the era of conquest for them to get assistance from the realm lord, Legion is mostly enthusiastic and excited. This is because of the white, ephemeral ball that they took from the ck ball of flesh.


    The white ball has found its way to Soverick, who is currently using the full capabilities of his eyes to examine it. What he sees is being transmitted to all the clones, including his emotions. But even if he wasn''t infecting them with his emotions, they would all be excited because of the white ball.


    Soverick almost wept as he looked at it. "This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It is so beautiful, I might cry."


    It truly is beautiful. They can''t identify its purpose yet, but they know what they see, and it is beautiful. The white ball is a clump of modifiable information. It is a nascentw matrix. It is a pure and clean world spark. It is a living organ left behind by the death of its owner, like a dragon heart, and it is a universal artifact in that it is capable of achieving something that is outside the rules of the void universe.


    It is many things, all of which are beautiful. At the end of the day, he made his objective judgment about the white ball.


    "I believe this is why the ck ball of flesh could use multiple Supremews. It must be something unique to the Tyrant Race, fermented and distilled into existence by the power of a world and the consumption of many beings. It is a talent made manifest in its ultimate and almost perfect form."


    "We can use multiple Supremews, but with this, we can have them work together without our input. This means we can also create an amplification effect between our worlds if we use this white ball to be world gods."


    "We just have to use it right. That means we will need a lot of information about Tyrants. I suggest that we n to kidnap Tyrants of all stages of power and maturation for some experiments."


    Soverick can already see the beautiful future for them as world gods. His enthusiasm was intoxicating, and it infected the other clones. They began nning for their future in anticipation of the power they would gain.


    The ck ball of flesh could possess multiple Supremews as an entity created from the fusion of different existences. Legion guesses that this is because of what they saw in the simtion.


    A/N: At this point I think it is clear why Monarch High Heaven choose the Tyrant realm for the era of conquest.

 Chapter 1660: A Bright Future.

    Chapter 1660: A Bright Future.


    ?


    GREED, the traitor of the realm, gave the Tyrants advice, and it worked in helping them defeat the invaders. Unfortunately, there was a side effect of using the Taboo.


    The Supreme Tyrants and their Supreme powers fused together. This fusion had to be innate, not something achieved through a Supreme Law. Fortunately, their Supreme Laws were fakes since they were not even Origin gods.


    They were Sovereigns ofw who had their concepts elevated to the level of Supreme Power through the bestowal of the realm, so those Supreme Power didn''t interfere with the formation of the iplete Universal artifact. Instead, it enhanced it. So even though their Supreme Powers were fake, their ability to fuse and use multiplews is real. This white ball is proof of it.


    If the ability doesn''t need a special concept or Supreme Law to use, that means all Legion will be able to aplish the same thing through the innate talent that the white ball represents. It means that they will gain another way to fuse Supreme Laws without using the spark of power.


    They beat the ck ball of flesh because they had a qualitative fusion of Supreme Laws. They could use multiple Supremews as one, whereas the Supremews of the ck ball were scattered. This advantage is good, but they doubt it will be able to help them when they be world gods.


    They don''t know a lot about world gods, but they doubt they will be able to fuse worlds the way they fuse Supreme Powers. So the spark of power won''t be able to help them achieve that as world gods. But this white ball might be able to fuse different kinds of worlds and achieve the impossible for them.


    Soverick said with certainty, "If even the Tyrants, who are of different existences, can manage a fusion between themselves and the power of a world, we of the same Origin should be able to achieve more."


    Legion-1 doused his enthusiasm, saying, "This is not bad, but we still don''t have a solution to our problem of getting realm heart fragments."


    Helios suggested, "This is not a problem that can be solved easily. Maybe we should talk with Mother High Heaven and ask for her advice."


    Soverick kept trying to find a solution. He used his eyes to search for a solution rted to high heaven, but he was blinded by powerful entities. All he saw was darkness.


    He sighed and said, "I think there will be a lot of world gods in our future. We might not have escaped death yet. There''s a particrly strong entity very close to us that is getting closer by the minute."


    The Tree Father said with slight regret, "Maybe we shouldn''t have attempted to take the realm heart. That world god might hold a grudge."


    "Plus, there''s still the information that the first sage released about us. It has made us a lot of enemies. Maybe the Supreme Alliance might decide to join in too."


    They have gained the thing that will secure their future as world gods, but things are not entirely looking good for them currently. All they can see is being surrounded by darkness and powerful entities.


    Those are the unknown problems. The known problem, which is their failure in the era of conquest, is not something they can brush off easily. Without the assistance of the realm lord to initiate a realm war for them with a realm tree of their choice, they won''t even be able to enter a realm tree, much less damage it.


    Origin gods that were not born in a realm tree cannot enter it. Realm trees don''t even like the Origin gods they produce. They suppress their Origin gods to discourage them from staying in their realm. So there''s no way realm trees will be weing to foreign Origin gods. This rule is why the Origin gods of other realm trees couldn''t interfere in the era of conquest.


    The only way to be able to enter another realm tree is if your realm tree is at war with it. Hence, they need the help of the realm lord. That''s not the only reason they need the help of the realm lord.


    The assistance of the realm lord will also ensure that the Will of the realm they want to destroy is suppressed. This way, the Will of the realm won''t be able to suppress them when they enter it or outright attack them.


    If they could enter a realm on their own, they might give it a shot. But it is unlikely that they will seed because the Will of the realm is many times stronger than the ck ball of flesh that they fought.


    An unsuppressed Will of the Realm is as powerful as the world god that smashed them apart with a single word despite being in their strongest state. So it is safe to say that they can''t take on a realm tree alone. And that means that they are currently screwed.


    Ragnarok suggested, "Maybe we should try reaching out to a world god for help. Maybe that''s why there will be many world gods in our future. If it isn''t, then we should at least try to take advantage of their presence in our future."


    Legion-5 was not optimistic about that idea. "Not only is that a dangerous idea, but even world gods can''t attack arge realm tree like High Heaven or the Tyrant realm. They have to find small realm trees in their infancy, which are very rare. So we would be risking a lot of danger for a little chance of sess."


    Legion¨C7 thought better of the suggestion. He said, "His idea is better than nothing. We might not have a choice, and we do not have to seek out world gods before they find us. They might just find us. It might not be too bad to ask for their help in the meantime."


    Legion-1 added, "Not if that world god is the first sage, though."

 Chapter 1661: Always With The Deals.

    Chapter 1661: Always With The Deals.


    ?


    Legion-3 said, "Certainly not the first sage. Nothing good wille out of meeting that snake. But there are other options. Should we bring forward our ns for Ghastorix? We might be able to force him to help us."


    That idea made them think for a while. They have a n to track the ancestor of the Ghastorix family''s world through Hadrikomania. They want to do that to attack his world.


    It is something that is unlikely to work and full of danger, even though they heard that Ghastorix is a weak world god who didn''t use a world seed to build his inner world.


    "Even if we seed in finding his world, how do we force him to help us? From what we know, Ghastorix is violent and stubborn. He might not submit even if we threaten him with the world ender."


    "And we can''t use the world ender because it is gone if we use it once, and we n to use it against the first sage."


    "I don''t think it is a good idea to mess with a world god right now. I think it is best if we avoid them."


    "But what other choice do we have?"


    They were discussing their ns when they sensed something approaching Soverick very quickly. It was hurtling after them at the speed limit of the light side. They were unconcerned because they too were moving at the speed limit of the void universe. Since they are moving at the same speed, they can''t be overtaken.


    The entity chasing them seemed to have realized that and given up. It disappeared from their senses. So they continued moving forward, unconcerned. But then the entity reappeared closer to them.


    "What is going on?"


    The entity disappeared again, only to reappear closer to him. It reminded Soverick of how Legion-7 found the high heaven realm from the spiritual dimension when he first escaped from it.


    Soverick saw it clearly when it happened next. The entity entered the dark side of the void universe, where they sped up. Then they came up to the light side, closer to them. They seemed to have used the brief moment in the light side to coordinate their direction before plunging back to the dark side to use their speed advantage.


    Soverick''s scalp tingled. It is because he understood that he would be caught if things continued like this. He can''t go faster unless he enters the dark side, but he can''t do that on his own. Plus, if he can''t move faster than this entity in the dark side, he would be caught much quicker if he entered the dark side.


    Fortunately, he is not out of things to do. He teleported to Legion-5. Then Legion-5 sank into the spiritual dimension while he continued to run at maximum speed on the light side.


    This series of actions made them lose the pursuer. Soverick couldn''t see them chasing anymore.


    Helios said to the others, "It must be a Supreme Origin god. I doubt any Origin god, even those who have the sixw concept of space, can teleport like that or enter the dark side so easily."


    Soverick confirmed it, "It was a Supreme Origin god, and it is also rted to a world god. They have blocked my sight so much I can''t identify them."


    Legion-1 sighed and said, "Just another one of our future sources of trouble. The first sage really did us in this time around."


    Soverick suddenly saw something in their future that made him say, "I think we should meet this person. It is weird, but we will be happy after meeting them."


    Legion-7 said, "Now, that sounds like a bad idea."


    Aeternus said, "It doesn''t matter. We can defeat ten Supreme Origin gods even without using our full power. I''m sure we can take on this one."


    Legion-7 insisted, "It is not the Supreme Origin god we should be worried about. It is the world god who sent them and is shielding them that we should be worried about. This could all be bait."


    They were discussing what to do when the entity sent a message to him, "Stop for a minute. I just want to talk."


    The entity had appeared close to Legion-9. They were so close now that Legion-9! didn''t need Soverick''s special eyes to identify them. He can see them with his own senses. If not for the fact that he recognized the entity, then he would self-destruct right now. Soverick, who was confident earlier about the meeting, stopped being confident after identifying the entity. He said, "Maybe I was mistaken. We should be prepared for trouble instead."


    They decided to meet, but the Tree Father was already gearing up for a fight. He enhanced himself with Helios''s divine spark and the world fragment while he waited.


    The realm lord appeared in front of him soon enough. "Nice going there, Legion. You have ruined a lot of my ns."


    Legion-9 asked, "What ns?"


    "You don''t know them."


    "If I don''t know them, then that means my offense was unintentional. That means I didn''t betray the realm, and you can''t do anything to me."


    The realm lord sneered at him and said, "I am not here to ask you to make up for what you did. You don''t have to be so on edge. I have a deal for you."


    Legion-9 was not surprised. He said, "I thought as much. You onlye to us when you have a deal."


    The only times they have met the realm lord always involved some sort of deal or offer. So what the realm lord said didn''t surprise them. Soverick was already trying to figure out what the realm lord might want this time around. This led the Tree Father to say, "Let us guess. You don''t want our power because you are notcking in it. But we have a lot of things other than our strengths that might interest you, thetest being the white ball we just acquired. You didn''t approach us until we acquired it, so I''m guessing you are here for the white ball. This means it must be very valuable and important."

 Chapter 1662: Predictable Ending.

    Chapter 1662: Predictable Ending.


    ?


    The realm lord gave a half-hearted attempt at pping and said, "Nice analysis. I would be more impressed with how you came to this conclusion if you couldn''t see the future."


    "I can''t see your future."


    "But you can still see your future, so that still counts as cheating."


    "Do you want the white ball or not?"


    "I want it. In exchange, I will give you the assistance you need to get the realm heart fragments you need to be world gods. I am so generous that I will help you nine times."


    The Tree Father replied. "Not good enough."


    The realm lord asked incredulously, "What do you mean, not enough? What else do you want?"


    He didn''t wait for Legion-9 to speak before he continued. "How about this? I will help Legion for as many chances to suppress a realm as you need. That way, if you fail a realm war, it won''t stop all of your clones from getting the realm heart fragments you need."


    The Tree Father shook his head again. "Not enough."


    The realm lord scowled and said, "Now don''t go too far. I have already done my best with this deal."


    Soverick and the other clones didn''t think so. They have ess to other timelines where the realm lord offered a better deal.


    So the Tree Fathe said, "No, you haven''t tried your best."


    The realm lordughed. It was not augh of amusement. It was augh of derision.


    Heughed and asked, "I may not have tried my best, but that''s what the white ball is worth. You can''t get anything more than that."


    The Tree Father paused as Soverick analyzed the future. Then he said, "I don''t think so. I think it is worth at least 15 realm hearts."


    The realm looked as if he had been smacked in the face. But he didn''t be angry andsh out. He said calmly, "3 realm hearts and 6 assistance for realm wars."


    The Tree Father amended his demands, "12 realm hearts and no assistance."


    The realm lord countered, "7 realm hearts and no assistance."


    "10 realm hearts and no assistance."


    The realm lord gritted his teeth before speaking. "9 realm hearts and no assistance. Final offer."


    The Tree Father shook his head. "Not enough."


    The realm lord''s eyes shed. He asked gloomily, "What else do you want? Do not test me right now. You have made me angry enough by messing with my ns, and we still have a score to settle after I be a world god. It will be in your interest not to give me more reasons toe after you."


    The Tree Father chuckled and said, "It doesn''t matter what we do. You will stille after us. You don''t even need a reason to do so. From what we''ve heard, you are mad. You can''t be judged bymon sense."


    Monarch High Heaven threatened them, "I can be worse. I can be so much worse that you would wish I could be judged bymon sense. I pray you won''t ever have that wish."


    Legion thought about it and still decided to go ahead with it, so the Tree Father asked, "We want you to tell us what the white ball is and how we can fuse worlds if we have multiple worlds."


    "Is that all?"


    Soverick confirmed. "That and how you managed to produce Authority. If you give us this information and the nine realm hearts, then we will give you the white ball."


    Aeternus insisted on them asking for thatst. It is more of a side note. It is the second request that is the most important. So they would be willing to let thest request go if the realm lord refused.


    Monarch High Heaven said, "Swear to it."


    Legion-9 swore immediately. "I swear upon the Origin of Legion that if the realm lord of High Heaven Realm gives us the information about the identity of this white ball in our possession, the information on how to fuse worlds, and nine sets of realm heart fragmentsplete with their world sparks, and finally, the information about how he managed to create Authority, we will give him the white ball immediately after he swears that he has fulfilled his part of his deal. If we do not, then let our Origin perish."


    Legion took a stringent oath. It can be said to be without loopholes. It shows Legion''s sincerity. After all, they are already fleecing Monarch High Heaven, it will not be wise to try and cheat him too. But they were cautious enough to require the realm lord to swear that he has fulfilled his part of the deal before they give him what he wants.


    The realm lord nodded. He also swore not to cheat them. Then he smiled and said, "You may cheat by seeing the future, but you are also predictable. You should be more like the first sage. But it is not toote for you. I''m sure you will be a force of your own if you manage to be world gods."


    He didn''t exin what he meant by calling them predictable. He let that bother them before he continued, "Anyway, that white ball is the final form of one of the ancestors of Tyrants. It was called a Shiki. This ancestor was ephemeral and had a short lifespan. They died and produced two offspring with their deaths. The offspring solved this issue with parasitism and finally reproduced with another enemy to create the Tyrants."


    "There was something that the offspring tried to use to ovee their short lifespan. They fused with each other. This didn''t solve their problem. It backfired and consumed them. This was the case with the Shikis. It was also the case in Tyrants. They couldn''t sustain the fusion, so they will eventually die."


    "But there will be a change in the oue of the fusion if the ones that used the fusion are Supreme Tyrants using the ability of Parasitism to siphon power from the realm tree."


    A/N: Why do you think the realm lord called Legion predictable?

 Chapter 1663: How To Be Unpredictable.

    Chapter 1663: How To Be Unpredictable.


    ?


    "The Tyrants still cannot escape the fate of death because of the special conditions of their fusion, but they will be able to survive long enough to produce that core when they die. Their fusion with themselves, the world, and their subsequent deaths are needed to leave behind the core ability that allows them to fuse in the first ce."


    "This core of their fusion is unique to the Tyrants. It is capable of a lot of things, such as what you thought to do with it and such as creating a new paragon race or an hive mind entity or improving a paragon race."


    Legion-9 asked, "Wait a minute. Is this white ball useful to demon gods? If not, how would GREED know how to create it and tell the Supreme Tyrants to fuse?"


    The realm lord asked, "What do you mean GREED told the Supreme Tyrants? Did you see this happen?"


    Soverick didn''t know how to answer that question. He eventually said, "Not exactly. The first sage told us."


    The realm lord appeared surprised by the answer. He said, "Huh. The first sage? Interesting."


    He didn''t give anything more than that away, but he became more furious inwardly. He thought to himself in anger, "What is this one eyed freak nning? He is murking about in my business for something. I bet he nned for this."


    This is one of the reasons why he thinks Legion is predictable and the first sage isn''t. He knew what Legion wanted before he came here to have a deal with them. He has always known what they needed everytime they approached him to make a deal with him. This is why he always seeds in making a deal with them.


    The only time that failed was because Legion didn''t know what they needed. But this time they knew and so did he. He was certain that 9 realm hearts would be their bottom line even before the negotiation started. He was also sure that they would want a means to rece the function of the white core.


    As for theirst request, he wasn''t certain they would ask, but it didn''t take him by surprise either. Virtually everyone wants to know how he seeded in making Authority so it is not a surprise that someone else who has tried and failed to make Authority is asking for it.


    What they needed was ring, which opens them up to maniption. If he wasn''t so in a rush, he would have tried to take advantage of them. He has already wasted time searching for them in the vast, void universe, so he would like to get this over with.


    The first sage, on the other hand, is always an enigma. Instead of asking for what he wants directly, he would rmend that the realm lord start outsourcing some of the preparation for his project and the era of conquest to other world gods. Then he would find a way to approach his target and have a bet with the target. That way, the target will be forced into a situation where they have to give him what he wants.


    The first sage won''t ask for what he wants. He will move things around to get what he wants. Monarch High Heaven even knows that. But that doesn''t mean he can''t stop it. That is the height of unpredictability. Apparently, the first sage has done it to him recently.


    Monarch High Heaven already knew that he must have something to do with the dire situation he was in, which made it easy for the first sage to extort him. Now he knows that it was not a coincidence that made Legion go straight for his main prize and create the opportunity for world gods to interfere on their way out.


    Monarch High Heaven thought to himself in anger, "At least I know now that he is trying to be an usurper, and it has something to do with True Chaos. If I have the chance in the future, I should mess with him."


    He is truly incensed. He is so incensed that he is thinking of sabotaging the first sage''s n by telling Legion his suspicion. It is clear to him now that Legion is important to the first sage''s ns. Telling them might put a cog in the first sage''s n.


    He is truly considering it since Legion is no slop. They are just easy to predict because power and every means to acquire it are what they urgently need right now. They have shown themselves more than capable of scheming when they made a show of rescuing their dragon clone. So he expects that they will be better when they acquire that power.


    However he held himself back and didn''t go through with telling them. It is because Legion is his enemy too. He is already giving them the resources they need to be world gods. It will not do to give them the opportunity to acquire a Cosmic source too.


    So he thought to himself, "I can only trust myself or the first one. I will sabotage the first sage myself. I was the one who was cheated, so I should be the one to steal his Cosmic source. Not that I need to anyway."


    His heart was burning with an intense me of anger and revenge. But he didn''t show any of it. He continued amicably to Soverick, "I don''t know about the usefulness of the white core to a demon god or why GREED would tell the Supreme Tyrants to do this."


    He lied because he didn''t want to tell the truth and because he didn''t have to tell the truth. This information is not part of their deal, so he can lie about it.


    Legion, on the other hand, were not fooled. Legion doesn''t know exactly what''s going on, but they don''t think that it is a coincidence that GREED convinced the Supreme Tyrants to fuse only for the Tyrants to be an iplete Universal artifact.

 Chapter 1664: Plans For The Perfect Third Stage Of Unity.

    Chapter 1664: ns For The Perfect Third Stage Of Unity.


    ?


    It looks like a coincidence but they suspect that either GREED was up to something and the realm lord is hiding something from them about the use of the white ball to demon gods or the first sage is up to something for telling them.


    In fact, they suspect that the realm lord or the first sage might be behind the creation of the white ephemeral ball. It might be a far-fetched suspicion, but it is valid when it involves the realm lord and the first sage. They refuse to judge those two withmon sense.


    The realm lord continued, "As for how to fuse worlds, there are two ways that I think are possible for Legion. The answer is Legion-7, and world sparks. There are two levels to the fusion of worlds that I think you can achieve. There is Power fusion and Law fusion. Power fusion is easy and safe. All you have to do is make Legion-7 the Will of the realm of all your worlds."


    Legion was enlightened. The Tree Father said, "Right. Then we will be able to share the power of all the worlds through Legion-7. This is simple yet efficient."


    The realm lord snorted. This was something he came up with on his way here. He really didn''t have to think too much about it toe up with the n. It can''tpare to his years of scheming and the intricacies of his ns of the era of conquest.


    He would like to mock Legion for being impressed with something like that, but he doesn''t have the time, and he knows that they didn''te up with it themselves because they are ignorant. They would surely have found this n themselves when they were ready to be world gods.


    He is sure of that because of Soverick''s eyes and because Legion has already made progress in that direction with the product of fusion they used to defeat the amalgam of the Tyrants. Power fusion is just a perfected extension of that fusion. So he didn''t mock them.


    He moved on to the second n. "The second level of fusion is deeper and more dangerous. It involves the fusion of the foundations of all the worlds. You have to use Legion-7 as the Will of the worlds. Then you have to make Legion-7 consume a world spark."


    "The consumption of the world spark will make Legion-7 evolve and fusepletely with the worlds. The world spark will also try to make Legion-7 fuse with the void universe. This is where Aeternuses in. Your demon clone will corrode the connection between the world spark and the void universe from within. So Legion-7 will be able to switch the world spark with the other Supreme Laws that you have in rtive safety."


    "If by chance you have a Supreme Law that is not a false Law of Chaos, such as a false Law of Order, then the switch with the world spark will not be rejected. Instead, the situation will make the Supreme Law fuse with Legion-7, thereby achieving the effect of turning Legion-7 into the Supreme Laws of all your world."


    This is the n he came up with when he approached Legion-7 for a deal. That deal didn''t go through then because Legion didn''t want what he had to offer. Now Legion is asking for it, and he already knows what reward Legion got that helped them escape from CARNAGE and the Great Mother.


    It is a good n. What he didn''t say is that if Aeternus is an imposter, the n will give him the opportunity to sabotage all of Legion. Fortunately, he doesn''t have to tell them that. It was not a part of their oath.


    He chuckled inwardly to himself, "I didn''t n to take advantage of them, but this is good too."


    The Tree Father asked, "If that Supreme Law has a world, then the foundation of the world will be Legion-7. But what advantage is that over the Power Fusion?"


    The realm lord didn''t want to answer that question, but he had to say it because of his oath.


    He said, "It will be like how you all are currently fused with Legion-7. Legion-7 will be the realm heart of all your worlds, not just the Will of your worlds. As long as Legion-7 exists, none of your worlds can be destroyed. Plus, the amplification effect of your world as world gods will be multiplicative, not additive. It will just be more risky and dangerous."


    The Tree Father asked, "What do you mean additive or multiplicative? At what point do they ur?"


    The realm lord replied with an exasperated sigh, "I''m sure you know the principle of the lever and how it affects the power of world gods. Thebination of many worlds that you want to achieve can either only affect the worlds in the equation of the lever, or it will affect both the Supreme Laws and the worlds too. That''s additive or multiplicative."


    Legion thought about it and realized just how great an advantage the fusion ofws would be. From what Mother High Heaven told them, the power of a world god is derived from the multiplication of the power of their Supreme Law by the size of the world.


    Mother High Heaven had said that the Supreme Law was the lever, while the world was the effort. If the lever is very long, then they will be able to lift more load with the same effort. And if the world is very big, then they would be able to lift bigger loads with the same supremew.


    The additive effect will only affect the world or the effort bybining the power of the worlds through Legion-7. But the final power output will be dependent on the power of the Supreme Laws that make up each world.


    As for the multiplicative effect, the power of the Supreme Laws will also fuse through Legion-7. In other worlds, they will have more output with the fusion ofws, as all their Supreme Laws will act as a single lever for all of their worlds instead of acting separately for each world.

 Chapter 1665: More Power.

    Chapter 1665: More Power.


    ?


    The Tree Father said, "If I am getting this right, the option for the fusion ofws will make the Supreme Laws enhance the individual worlds first. Then their output will be added to the power of the other worlds for another additive increase in power. After all, Legion-7 is still the Will of both worlds."


    "So while the fusion of power will be additive, the fusion ofws will lead to an exponential and additive increase in power. But with the extra poweres more risk and danger."


    The realm lord agreed. "Yes, it is powerful but more dangerous. Legion-7 will have to fuse with 8 world sparks in a roll. If you fail to destroy the world spark safely, you might destroy your previous progress and have to start again."


    The Tree Father said, "Eight world sparks in a row? That sounds very dangerous."


    The realm lord snorted again. "But the benefits are also worth it. In fact, they are more than worth it. No world god will think too much about this before making a decision."


    "Unfortunately, they are not presented with the option to choose. You, on the other hand, are privileged enough to make the decision. Besides, all you will lose for trying are world sparks. Those are very easy to getpared to the other fragments."


    What he said is the truth. The choice is clear. If the size of their individual worlds is 2, the power of their individual Supreme Law is 10, and Legion-7 is sacrificed as the center of their remaining 8 worlds, with the fusion of power, they will have (2 x 10) x 8. But with the fusion ofws, they will have (2x (10 x 8)) x 8.


    The difference between 160 and 1280 is too much. Inparison, a normal world god will have the power of 20, while a realm lord with a powerful world that ranges from 4 to 10 and a Supreme Law with the power of 10 will have a power output between 40 and 100 at most.


    If even a realm lord that has a world that is five times more powerful than a single individual world god cannot hope to match them with the power of the fusion ofws, then it is not a tough decision for them to make at all.


    The Tree Father said, "Alright. We will see about giving it a shot."


    "You should. If you seed, Legion-7 might even be the white core. After all, he will have everything the Tyrants had, and he will also have a spark of consciousness."


    Legion considered that conjecture but didn''t dwell on it. They felt that the realm lord was making it seem a bit too easy for them. He was practically encouraging them to do it, which they find odd. But then, they are suspicious of everything, so maybe they are just being paranoid.


    Instead, the Tree Father changed the subject. "Let us move on to the next item. How did you create Authority?"


    Monarch High Heaven replied with a chuckle, "I did what you were trying to do, but in another way. I triedprehending the Supreme Law of Order byprehending all 33ws of the void universe."


    The Tree Father asked, "How did you ovee the barrier between the esotericws?"


    Legion is aware of the total number ofws in the void universe, butprehending them has not been easy. Thosews actually hide and resistprehension. They forget the little theyprehend when they do much as think of something else. This has made it impossible for them toprehend.


    Monarch High Heaven smiled when he heard the question. He said, "That wasn''t part of the deal. I was to tell you how I created Authority. I was not to teach you. Besides, you won''t be able to use my method because it is my reward for breaking that rule that allows me to create Authority."


    The Tree Father didn''tin. He asked, "So youprehended the Supreme Law of Order and you were not overwritten?"


    "No, I didn''t. I triedprehending it, but I didn''t seed. I used that method because it was easier for me. I couldn''t gain ess to the Supreme Law of Order or Chaos like you did, so I had to try another alternative. It failed me, but I still got something for my effort."


    "I''m guessing the Supreme Law of Order is still dangerous then."


    The realm lord replied, "Every Supreme Law is dangerous. That ismon sense. But the Law of Order is not out to kill you. If it wanted to, it would have done so by now. Of courseprehending it will open you to danger, but it will also enlighten you if you survive the danger."


    Legion remembered the first time they encountered the Law of Order. It truly didn''t try to kill them. That doesn''t mean it is not dangerous. It might even be more dangerous than the first sage.


    So Legion was skeptical. They made the Tree Father ask, "Danger is Danger. Why would we go through withprehending it when we know that it is dangerous?"


    Monarch High Heaven encouraged them. "Don''t be afraid of the danger you will encounter. It will only destroy the weak. You are by no means weak. You are strong and deserve to know a little more about the purpose of the void universe."


    The Tree Father asked, "What about the Supreme Law of Chaos?"


    "No, no, no. Chaos is too dangerous. It is not even malevolent. It doesn''t mean you harm and it doesn''t think much of you. Everything is simply the same to it, a means to propagate. I won''t advise you to mess with Chaos at all."


    Legion considered his words carefully. Then Tree Father said, "Alright. We are satisfied with what you have provided. Swear the oath that you haven''t deceived us and give us the realm hearts so we can finish this deal."

 Chapter 1666: Happy And Anxious.

    Chapter 1666: Happy And Anxious.


    ?


    The realm lord swore, and they made the exchange. He gave them the nine realm hearts, while they gave him the white ephemeral ball. He rxed as soon as he received the ball. He didn''t know that he had been wound up because of it.


    His concern was warranted. After all, the white ball is a very important part of his next ns, and there was very little he could do if Legion had refused to make the deal with him.


    It would have been a great loss to have GREED lead the Tyrants to their doom only for the final fruits of hisbor to be stolen from him. Now that it has returned to its rightful ce, he can rx.


    Both parties were happy with the exchange. Monarch High Heaven said, "I have to go. I have work to do."


    The Tree Father replied, "So do we."


    He told them as he left, "No matter what happens in the future, my invitation towards my project still stands. My project will officially begin as soon as I finish bing a world god. I would like Legion to participate in it."


    Soverick didn''t say anything in reply and continued to escape. This time, he was more anxious than before. After all, he has not one but nine realm hearts in his possession. In fact, they had to make sure they were not in a simtion right now. The first sage''s prank on them has made them suspicious of everything.


    Soverick was muttering, "I was right. There was happiness in our future, and it was linked to the ck ball of flesh."


    Legion-1 made a hypothesis, "I think the realm lord is a part of the darkness that I saw. He seems to be as powerful as world gods even though he is not in the realm tree. It might have something to do with the Authority of the Void Universe in his possession."


    "If that is so, then we must participate in his project. As forprehending the Supreme Law of Order, we will think about it when we can protect ourselves from the Supreme Laws of others. For now, let us make sure we are safe and that the darkness in our future won''t surround us."


    Legion is both happy and anxious. They are very anxious because this is a good time for someone to show up and snatch their loot from them. Someone like the first sage, for instance. So the clones were transferring the realm hearts between each other every second, and they only held two realm hearts at most at any moment.


    This will ensure that even if one of them was frozen and robbed, the thief would only be able to take two realm hearts at most. Theybined this with constantly moving. They didn''t move about at random. They relied on Soverick''s perception of the world to navigate their way.


    It turns out that many world gods are searching for them. Soverick can''t see them or predict their actions, but he can see the darkness that their massive presence leaves in the present and in his vision of the future. All they have to do is avoid these numerousrge spots of darkness.


    They are like prey in an ocean, escaping from therge predators roaming the depths of the sea. It is as the realm lord said, they might not be able to predict the actions of powerful entities, but they can surely predict their emotions and reactions to certain actions. So the clones avoided directions that would make them afraid or unhappy in the future.


    They were nervous and were running around like fugitives or thieves. But their anxiety didn''t stop them from picturing their bright future.


    Things are not as straightforward as the calction they made earlier about their power as world gods, but it is still promising and it is going to be impressive if they achieve it. They just have to sort out some things and iron out some kinks in their ns.


    For one, Aeternus and the Tree Father don''t have worlds. The Tree Father has something simr to world gods in that he will have a world forge and a divine spark when he bes a world forge. The problem is that a world forge might not be able to fuse with a will of the realm, so Legion-7 might not be able tobine with him.


    Aeternus, on the other hand, is moreplicated because world enders only have energy and Supreme Laws. They surely don''t work with Wills of the realm. As if that isn''t enough to make things difficult for them, Aeternus doesn''t have a Supreme Law yet.


    The normal evolution process of demon gods won''t work for him because he hasn''t fused with his mark of sin yet. If they upgrade his mark of sin or demonic spark, it will make Chaos energy more stronger, but it might not help him evolve and it certainly won''t help him acquire a world.


    The solution they had for him would be toprehend thew of Chaos and fuse with his demonic spark. Then he can use a world spark to evolve into a world ender. But they are not doing that anymore. Not after their recent battle with the first sage.


    In fact, they have the mind not to mess with any Supremews anymore. At least, not until they be world gods themselves. So that leaves them without a way to make Aeternus evolve.


    This would have been easier to do if they could be world gods separately. They would be able to be world gods one by one and make Legion-7 fuse with each world with ease. Unfortunately, that is not possible because, for one of them to be a world god or world forge, they will have to fuse with their Origin. The clones that are not ready at that point will be erased. That means all the clones will have to advance at the same time if they want to keep all their powers.

 Chapter 1667: Good Problems.

    Chapter 1667: Good Problems.


    ?


    Having one Origin used to be the foundation of their strength and the source of their uniqueness. But it has created a problem for Legion. They will all have to be world gods or advance to that level of power so that they will be able to exist side by side and not overwrite each other. Then Legion-7 will have to fuse with all of them at once, immediately after they have all be world gods.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    To top it off, they still don''t know how to make Aeternus be a world ender. Comprehending the Supreme Law of Chaos is a no go for them. If they can''t be world gods, then they don''t dare mess with true chaos. Especially not when they have seen world gods give them a wide berth because of it.


    The lesson they learned from the first sage and what the realm lord just said has made them not confident enough to be fearless of true Chaos anymore. In fact, they have begun to question themselves. Maybe there is a clone among them, like the fake 10th clone, that they don''t know about. They don''t even know how to go about finding out.


    They are not worried too much, though. Instead of trying to find something that might not be there or might be there but they can''t do anything about, they would rather try to acquire strength.


    If they have truly been infiltrated, then the entity will show himself when they are about to be strong enough to resist it. So rather than be led by the nose, they will at least set the battlefield and determine the time of the battle.


    Soverick suggested, "We are not out of options yet. We still have the crown of dominion. We can use it to elevate Aeternus''s existence to the world ender level, just like we did to make him a demonic spark. We just don''t know what is needed to help him evolve, but I am sure we can find a way."


    Legion-5 added, "We also have my n to be a world god without a world. We can give Aeternus my world engine and use that n for him."


    "Or webine both and use any world engine with the crown of dominion and a world seed. It might not work, but we have the resources to try."


    "If that n is to work, then we might need a world ender to sacrifice to the crown of dominion, just as we sacrificed the great mother to make the Tree Father evolve. But we only have one world ender and it is the one we nned to use against the first sage."


    "We can use CARNAGE for that. It won''t matter whether we have CARNAGE or not if we can be powerful world gods. Our effort is about toe to fruition. We will be the most powerful world gods. We should be willing to sacrifice anything for it. If we be world gods, we will surely be able to handle the first sage without CARNAGE."


    "I think we have a better n. We can sacrifice half of the world ender and use the other one against the first sage."


    "But we will need to feed CARNAGE a world to make it bigger, or it might not be enough for the two things. That is too dangerous. I don''t think it is a good idea to be greedy at this point. We can lose everything we worked for."


    They spoke to each other about many ns. There is indeed a lot they can do to make Aeternus evolve, but their choices are narrow if they want Aeternus to retain his properties as a demon and world ender. It is because they want the power to make world gods afraid of them, and they also don''t want to be afraid of world enders.


    If they have a world ender as one of their clones, then no other world ender can bully them. Plus, a world ender can create Chaos blood. From what they know, Chaos blood can make the creations of world gods permanent. This permanence is unlike that of the creation of world forge, which creates ording to the Supreme Law of a world and is not rejected by the void universe. Any world god can make their creation permanent because Chaos blood undermines and resists the void universe on behalf of the world god.


    All in all, they have a bright future. Even if Aeternus doesn''t work out, they will still be very strong world gods because the Tree Father will be able to make their worlds stronger. If their world is stronger, then their unified power will be stronger. That might make up for the absence of Aeternus.


    As the clones ran about, they didn''t just waste their time running. They tried toplete the two missions they had on hand. One of them is to create their Supreme Laws. Those are all they need now to be world gods.


    The other thing they are doing is acquiring information about Universal artifacts. This is because they n to upgrade their world fragment into one. The white ephemeral ball and its creation process have given them inspiration as to how to achieve it.


    It is a n that might not be fulfilled until they be world gods. So they are not in a rush toplete it. That is one of the reasons why they didn''t ask the realm lord for information about Universal artifacts. That and the fact that they don''t want him to know their n. Too much has already been known about them, it is wise to keep some of their cards secret.


    They were running around when something they didn''t want but expected finally happened. A powerful force found them and locked onto them. Thergest encroaching darkness in their future shrouded thempletely in the present.


    Soverick had seen it, but they couldn''t avoid it. He also saw that they would be terrified after the darkness made contact with them. They are not terrified yet, but they can see why they would be in the future after seeing the ease at which the darkness shrouded them.

 Chapter 1668: Another Offer.

    Chapter 1668: Another Offer.


    ?


    Legion-1 said, "It looks like we couldn''t avoid cmity after all."


    Legion-7 groaned andined, "This is even bigger than we expected."


    The force that locked onto them did not lock onto just one clone. It found all of them, including Legion-7, who was residing in their consciousness. Even Legion-5, who is currently in the Spiritual Dimension, didn''t escape their grasp.


    The entity didn''t attack them. In fact, they can''t see it at all. But they know the entity is close to them and powerful. They waited anxiously for the entity to finally make a move. It did so in the most unexpected way. It chose to connect to their minds tomunicate with them, and it sent nine messages to each of them.


    They were frowning as one would when they were about to be robbed when the message finally reached them. The message created a channel of information between them and the entity that found them. This entity sent over a piece of their will to speak with them.


    The Will condensed into an apparition in the minds of the clones. This apparition was dark and ghostly. But it had tiny stars twinkling within its form and arge, shining eye on its face. The entity said, "Legion, I need your help."


    They had rxed when they recognized the entity, but then they tensed up again when they heard what she said.


    They asked, "What do you need our help with, Mother High Heaven?"


    She replied, "Do you remember the favor I asked of your dragon clone? I am asking it of you now. You should not be afraid of epting since you are immortal now."


    Legion''s frown returned. They thought about it, and while what Mother High Heaven said about their immortality is right, they do not want to fight. Especially not when they have a lot of valuables currently in their possession.


    Plus, whatever danger the Will of the realm would be in cannot be something simple. Maybe resurrection won''t even be an option for them. World gods can freeze them so they can''t die. If they can''t die, then they can''t be resurrected.


    Even if they manage to resurrect, there''s nothing that says the danger will be over for them as long as they die twice. A curse can affect them even after they resurrect.


    Then there is the danger of angering a world god. Helping Mother High Heaven might draw the danger of world gods to themselves, which will negatively impact their future ns. Last but certainly not least, this whole request sounds fishy. It sounds like a scheme to bait them. It might even be an illusion like the one they experienced because of the first sage.


    If not for the fact that this apparition feels familiar and even mentioned a conversation with the dragon clone that only they and the Will of the Realm should know, they might not believe at all that she is Mother High Heaven.


    Even so, they are still wary because this could still be an illusion by a world god. And this might be a scheme by the realm lord to get them to return to the realm tree.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    But Legion didn''t reject her outright. They asked, "What is this favor you need? Please be specific about the difficulties you are facing, how we can help, and what reward we will gain from it."


    Thatst part is the most important part of the information they need to make a decision. The reward has to make the risk worth it, or they won''t help her at all.


    Mother High Heaven replied, "I want to deal with the Monarch High Heaven, and I will reward you nicely with whatever I loot from him. Plus, I will rece him with you. You will be the new realm lord."


    Legion asked to be sure about what they just heard, "What did you say?"


    She answered with slight agitation, "You heard me. Don''t waste time with redundant questions."


    "I am afraid we have to. How do you expect us to help you deal with Monarch High Heaven."


    Mother High Heaven exined patiently, "I want you to follow the connection I am using to speak to you right now with your Spirit clone. You don''t need to do much. All you need to do is stall someone else for me while I fight with the realm lord personally."


    "If you do this for me, I will assist you in as many realm wars as you want. That is, if I don''t seed in eliminating himpletely. But if I can subdue or capture him, you won''t lose out."


    Legion''s whole existence tingled. It was not a tingling sensation of excitement. It was a tingling sensation of fear and danger. They felt unprecedented danger from the thought of making contact with the realm lord with their minds and overwhelming fear from thinking about fighting against him right now.


    They don''t even need Soverick''s eyes. Their normal intuition of danger andmon sense is enough for them to feel overwhelmed with fear by the idea of it that they want to create arge distance between them and anything rted to it. After all, they just met the realm lord and can attest to his strength.


    They are greedy, and the reward for this request is immense, but the danger is too great. They might have agreed if they didn''t know he hadprehended all 33ws of the void universe. They might have agreed if they didn''t know he could produce Authority. But they know he has done all of those, including the creation of 10 billion world fragments and many more.


    As if the danger of the realm lord isn''t enough, the realm lord will also have a helper. They are just to stall the helper, but that hasn''t made their situation less dangerous. Anyone who can help the realm lord with anything must be at the world god level.


    Legion-7 said, "This is literally asking for our death."

 Chapter 1669: Dodged A Bullet.

    Chapter 1669: Dodged A Bullet.


    ?


    Soverick groaned and said, "I might have been wrong. Mother High Heaven contacting us is not the darkness we should be afraid of. It is what she contacted us for that is the true cause for fear."


    The smart thing for them is to have never broached this topic with Mother High Heaven at all. Fighting and killing the realm lord is something they n to do, but it is going to beter in the future. It is not something to consider while their lives are already precarious and they are being hunted by world gods everywhere.


    At this point, they are not thinking about the rewards at all. They are already thinking of the consequences of failing. If the realm lord catches a whiff of them scheming against him, all he needs to do is broadcast their position to the world gods searching for them. It will be easy to do for him since he was able to find them easily earlier.


    So things can begin to go bad for them right from this moment on. They don''t need to make the foolish decision of trying to subdue Monarch High Heaven before bad things start happening to them.


    Unfortunately, they had no chance in the matter. They were brought into this scheme because they can run, but they can never hide from Mother High Heaven''s connection to them. She is using that connection with them as her children to speak to them, and she is waiting for them to give their reply to her proposal.


    Legion thought about it and said to her, "Give us some time to think about it."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Mother High Heaven sighed. It was clear that she was disappointed as she said, "I''m guessing that''s another way for you to say no."


    Then she smiled at them. "It is alright. This was expected. I know you better than anyone, so this did note as a surprise to me. You can be greedy at times and do foolish, risky, and dangerous things to get what you want. But other times you be cautious and refuse to take any risks at all."


    "I knew you had a chance to achieve good things right from the moment you survived the demon possession as an elven youth. You didn''t know at that time, but you stopped being an elf at that moment. A shackle within you had snapped. You gained mental and emotional freedom."


    "It didn''te to me as a surprise when you decided on a crazy n to gain all the divine abilities of powerful races without their weakness. But it was then that I thought to take a gamble on you. Your n was great, but you werecking something. You werecking a long term goal, which I gave you by letting you see some of the realm lord''s ns for the void universe in the library."


    "Seeing those ns was not normal at all. I showed them to you in hopes that it would help you make something better of yourself."


    Legion said in understanding, "I see. You have always wanted my help, and you wanted me to go against the realm lord."


    "Yes. But time has been too short. Your progress has been lightning fast, but it is not fast enough to give you the confidence to go against him. I hope that will not always be the case. I hope you will be able to rise out of his shadow and stand against him soon."


    "I will leave this connection open. You can use it to assist me if you change your mind. I might not even need your help. After all, you are not the only one I invested in. Goodbye."


    She said that, and then she disappeared from their minds. Legion sighed after she left them, but they didn''t feel guilty about turning her down. They are greedy, but they know their limits. This moment seems to be their limit.


    In fact, they passed their limit the moment they decided to take the realm heart of the Tyrant realm. They have been out of their depths ever since and have somehow managed to survive.


    Despite the danger all around them, they have just gotten a lot of valuable things that they might lose if they die. It is good to gamble. But sometimes, one shouldn''t gamble because they might not be able to afford the loss.


    Unlike the first sage, they can''t use the world ender they have to threaten the realm lord. They don''t know his Supreme Law and don''t want to return to the high heaven realm just to let loose of CARNAGE. Who is to say that CARNAGE will attack the realm lord and not them?


    They don''t even know if they have anything that can threaten Monarch High Heaven right now, and they don''t know what the fight between the Realm Lord and Mother High Heaven is all about. What if it was a trap for them by the realm lord to recover what they took from him?


    It is as Mother High Heaven said, they are currently afraid of the realm lord. It is because they know that they areckingpared to him. That will change in the future when they be world gods with nine worlds. Probably no world god would be able to match them ever. But if they join this fight, lose it, and lose the nine sets of realm hearts, then they will lose that future.


    They won''t even have the assistance of the realm to fall back on if they lose. So they focused on running away as fast as possible.


    Legion-1 said, "We might be Legion, but we are not nearly enough to subdue him where many world gods failed after he banned the trade of life trees."


    The new Legion-8 said with lingering fear, "It seems we dodged a bullet with the dragon clone."


    Legion-9 agreed. "If we had sworn the oath to owe Mother High Heaven that favor in exchange for her help in rescuing the dragon clone, then we would have no choice but to mire in whatever shit is going on in high heaven realm right now."

 Chapter 1670: Peace At Last.

    Chapter 1670: Peace At Last.


    ?


    Soverick used this opportunity to brag. "It seems I was right to suggest we give up on him." Legion-1 interjected, "You said we should just give up on himpletely. It was Aeternus and I that insisted that we do that after we get his dragon heart and use him as bait for the dragons and Supreme Alliance. If we had listened to you, we would have gained nothing from him."


    Soverick insisted, "I was right, and that''s all that matters."


    They can joke now because Soverick has seen that the darkness looming around them has retreated like a tide. They have avoided their biggest danger, and even the world gods searching around have also stopped. It seems something happened that drew their attention or made them stop searching. Whatever it is, Legion is all too d for it.


    ----Ascension.


    The era of conquest has officially ended, and it brought with it a lot of changes. For one, the Tyrant Realm is no more. It crumbled, so the realm alignment between the two realms has ended.


    The realm rift has closed, and the dungeons have disappeared. The suppression of the realm has been reinstated, and Origin gods are no longer wee in the realm. This made Origin gods leave en masse.


    The biggest change is that the realm of high heaven is evolving right now. The realm heart has ejected the world spark, so the realm tree has detached from thew matrix. This change was visible for all to see in the void.


    Therge realm tree in the void shook for a while. Then it shrank and began descending to the dark side. Everyone saw it leave its position in the void. It is probably the first time they have seen such a thing. This makes two realm trees that have disappeared from the light side of the void universe.


    Some world gods followed after the fleeing realm tree. Now that the realm has lost the protection of the void universe, world gods can attack it however they want. The realm has be a target to prey on. They just have to contend with the realm lord, who will also be a world god and a powerful one at that.


    What people didn''t see was the situation going on in the realm tree. The realm lord had returned to the realm tree with the white ball. Then he waited for his ascension to start.


    Unlike others during their breakthrough to world god, his would be easy and seemless. He doesn''t have to build a world, so he can''t fail at building one. His world is already big and powerful, so he doesn''t even have to put in effort to make it big and powerful.


    He also doesn''t need to build a foundation since Mother High Heaven is doing all of that for him. She is recing the world spark with his Supreme Law and then creating aw matrix with his Supreme Law to rece thew matrix that the realm tree left behind. All he has to do is wait and watch as he bes a world god.


    Everything has been served to him on a tter. But he can''t enjoy any of it.


    He said to himself, "At least I will have peace now."


    His system spoke to him.


    -IT IS TIME.


    -THIS IS GOODBYE.


    The realm lordughed. It was all he could do to ease the aching in his mind. The injury he sustained in hisst life is getting worse and has been hurting him. Laughter alleviates a little.


    He knows what the system is talking about, but he doesn''t know what to feel about it. Technically, he is about to die. The first one will awaken, and the product of his dream will


    die.


    He should be afraid of death. However, it is not so. He would like to live, but the aching of his mind won''t let him. This pain is proof that he is already dying.


    The stronger he bes, the weaker the bounds of the void universe on the collosal psychic engram slumbering within his consciousness. That means when he bes strong enough, the psychic engram will awaken and lead to his death. Anything to avoid it is just a painful dy apanied by a slow death.


    So he chuckled. "Yes. This is goodbye. We have had a long run, you and I. I won''t miss you, though. You ruined my life."


    -I CAN''T MISS YOU EITHER.


    -I KNOW MANY VERSIONS OF YOU THAT HAVE DIED.


    -I DIDN''T MISS ANYONE OF THEM.


    -YOU WILL BE THE LATEST ONE.


    -YOU WILL ALSO BE THE LAST ONE.


    -I STILL WON''T MISS YOU.


    He was deep in thought as someone appeared beside him. It was a naked white and paledy. She looked almost transparent, like ss.


    She asked him, "What are you thinking about?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He replied, "I''m thinking about the mystery of the world."


    She chuckled. "Are you thinking about your death? Don''t be sad about that. You won''t be erased. You will exist in the memories of others and in the memories of your original self."


    "Don''t try to cheer me up. You are bad at that."


    She shrugged. "I wasn''t trying to cheer you up. I was just telling you a mystery of the world." He asked her, "Did you follow me to meet Legion?"


    "I did. Legion is an interesting fellow. I would have loved to watch them for much longer, but I didn''t want to leave you in these trying times. I am probably the only one who knows your true situation and cares about you."


    He was skeptical about that. "You care about me, but you don''t want me to find a way to save myself."


    "Now, now. Don''t be like that. You can''t be saved because you were not meant tost this long. You are like a mask. A mask to deceive the void universe. You will be removed and discarded after the ploy is over. It is simply a fact that I would prefer you ept and not try to sabotage."

 Chapter 1671: The Awakening.

    Chapter 1671: The Awakening.


    ?


    Monarch High Heaven said to her, "In that case, you should be very happy. It is finally going to happen. I''m guessing you are here to make sure Iplete the awakening or to take advantage of the situation while Iplete the awakening. Which is it?"


    She gave him a nod. "You are right to guess. But whatever my aim is, it doesn''t matter to you. You are about to die anyway."


    The realm lord shook his head and said, "I can''t do anything to you, but I hope the first one will not be so useless."


    Sheughed. "How interesting. The hopes of a dying man. I will use this against the first one when he wakes up."


    The three of them returned to silence as they waited. The change they were waiting for happened soon. Mother High Heaven finished with her work, so the link between the realm lord and the realm became permanent and strengthened.


    Power coursed through Monarch High Heaven and broke the shackles of the light side. He officially became a world god. It was at this point that the realm began to sink to the dark side.


    But more was going on in the realm tree. The strengthened realm lord closed his eyes. It was as if he was sleeping. But he never woke up again. It was another entity that woke up in his ce when his eyes opened again.


    He opened his eyes to reveal zing orbs of fire. His eyes were so bright, they were like stars. But they continued to grow brighter. They didn''t stop until he exploded.


    Light and energy gushed out of him like a fountain. The explosion expanded rapidly and shook the whole realm. Then it expanded into the void universe outside of the realm to envelope the whole realm tree.


    The form of the realm tree was warped and destroyed by the explosion. It lost its shape as a tree and became a ball of light. The realm became a small object in the middle of this explosion of fire and light.


    The explosion, on the other hand, continued to expand as if it would cover the whole void universe. But it couldn''t. There was bacsh for the changes it had brought to the realm. This bacsh stopped its expansion in its tracks and even caused it to shrink.


    The explosion shrank until it was the size of the realm tree. The original realm tree has now disappeared within the explosion, so the explosion is the realm''s new body.


    The explosion became more like a body as its features began to smoothen. Soon, arge man with a single eye appeared around the realm as its new form.


    The skin of the man is transparent, so one can see the explosion going on within it. It is as if the man is made up of one giant explosion after another. But his features are clear. He has a head with a face on it, two arms, and two legs.


    He doesn''t have hair, so his head is bald. He doesn''t have a nose, ears, or a mouth, so his eye is the only thing on his face. All in all, he looks like a naked white statue sculpted out of light.


    But soon the surface of his body rippled as armor formed on it. This armor is golden, unlike the white firery explosion that makes up his body. The golden armor covered his figure from head to toe. But it allowed space on his face for his single eye.


    The only entities who saw this and could marvel at his handsomeness were the world gods chasing after the high heaven realm.


    These world gods saw this figure and paused. They could feel danger from him, so they chose to pause their chase.


    The first one saw them and eyed them greedily. He asked them, "Are you food?"


    World gods don''t have hair or scalps, but if they did, their hair would stand on end and their scalp would tingle right now. The level of threat they felt was unprecedented. It turned out that it was a stupid move to pause. They should have chosen to run instead of gawking like fools.


    The first one snorted in displeasure. They had disrespected him by not answering his question, and they were even doing more by leaving his presence without his permission. It was all uneptable.


    He stretched one of his hands to them and said, "Come to me."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Cosmic force exploded out of him in the direction of his hand. His hand was pointed at them, so the Cosmic force smashed into them and bound them.


    The world gods were surprised rather than afraid. This was because both they and their inner world had been bound and frozen. That Cosmic force was so powerful and sorge that it sought to freeze their entire existence. It is something that they never thought was possible.


    They managed to struggle with all their might and freed their inner world, but their physical form in the world above was still bound. It held onto them tightly regardless of their struggle and went along with the motion of the first one.


    One of the world gods warned him, "You mad man. Have you lost your mind? Do you think you can make enemies of us and get away with it this time around? You don''t have the protection of the void universe anymore. We will chase you to the ends of the void universe. We will destroy you eventually."


    The first one knew what they were saying and why they were saying it, but he didn''t care. He gave them free advice instead. He said, "Food shouldn''t speak."


    The world godughed, "You are drunk on power. It will be your ruin. I willugh when your world is destroyed and you have been rendered low."


    That made the first one angry. He increased his output of Cosmic force to the maximum. Cosmic force yanked on the world gods and pulled them backwards when the hand of the first one was withdrawn.

 Chapter 1672: Identity Reveal.

    Chapter 1672: Identity Reveal.


    ?


    The world gods were surprised again by the outburst of power. But they still didn''t give up. They resisted with all their might. It worked as the speed at which they were dragged to their doom slowed down to a crawl.


    The first one was also surprised by what had happened. His move was sessful, but it came with an unforeseen problem. The world gods struggled, and they actually seeded in stopping themselves from moving towards him.


    He knew what sort of existence they were through the memories of Monarch High Heaven, but he still didn''t think much of them, so he was expectingplete and total freezing of the world gods. It came to him as a shock that he could only seed in stopping them from fleeing.


    It was a rude awakening to his condition. He can''t believe he would be so weak. It was as if he were a ghost of himself. He asked incredulously, "How is this possible?"


    Someone replied to his question. "It is possible because you are being greedy. You have grabbed 30 of them at once. Try grabbing them one at a time."


    It was the whitedy who replied. She had appeared beside his head. Her size had increased, but she was still smallpared to him. She looked like arge flypared to his head.


    Her reply shocked him again. He recognized her. "Third sister, you are here too?"


    It is because he recognized her that he was shocked by her presence here. He is not supposed to recognize anyone he knows in this universe. Thest he knew, he was on his own here.


    "Let go of 29 of them. You are currently too weak to eat all of them at once."


    This statement was strange for him to hear. But it was the truth. Apparently, his current form is still limiting his power. It has made a significant difference to appear between 30 and 1 of these world gods to him.


    "Fine." He said that and released 28 world gods.


    He was still stubborn and refused to admit he was weak, so he released 28 instead of 29. It reduced his burden to just two world gods that were still being pulled towards him. It has be possible to pull them, but he wasn''t happy about it one bit.


    This weakness was grating on him. But he held on as he pulled the world gods to himself. Then he grabbed them with his physical hand. His hand plunged into their bodies and their worlds.


    It was as if an explosion had gone off within them. Their world was scattered by the explosion, which caused a sudden release of energy. The released energy within them was then siphoned to feed the explosion of his existence. His already bright form became brighter still.


    The two world gods turned into ashes after he was done with them. They didn''t beg or scream during the process. They have more pride than that. Besides, they are only going to go to sleep for a while. They may not even have to if they have made preparations. This death will only cost them another world.


    The whitedy said to him, "If you were hungry, you should have asked them for food. These world gods are very rich. They probably have enough material to build three worlds each."


    He told her, "I don''t talk with my food."


    She rolled her non-existent eyes. "It is more like you don''t use your brain."


    He refused to capitte, saying, "Thinking is for the weak. The powerful just do, and the consequences be damned."


    "Fine. At least you sound the same. It is good that all that sleeping and the many incarnations have not messed with your memories."


    She could only give up because this is an argument that they have had ever since they were born. There have been many Chaos cycles since then. Many universes have died and been reborn, so this argument is vastly older than time. At least older than the time of the void universe.


    He said with disdain, "I have only be weak, not senile. What do you mean by it being good that all that sleeping hasn''t affected my memory? How can that happen? Are you insulting me, sister?"


    His single eye was staring at her with the intensity of an exploding sun. He was so irritated with the idea that she suspected that he would have lost a part of himself during his sleep.


    "I wasn''t insulting you. It is just that the void universe is special and weird. Who knows how it affected you when you were asleep?"


    He asked, "Did it affect you when you slept? If it didn''t affect you, how could it affect me?" She replied smugly, "I didn''t sleep at all. I have been awake ever since I arrived."


    He snorted and asked, "How long have I been asleep?"


    She replied, "It has been less than one Chaos cycle."


    "That doesn''t seem like a long time at all."


    "It isn''t. But this epoch of the void universe is about to end, so I came to make sure you woke up in time."


    "Yes. The end of an epoch is always when a universe is at its weakest."


    He hummed as he looked around for more food. Unfortunately, every world god around had run away.


    So he asked her a question that has been troubling him. "How did you evene here? I thought you said you weren''t interested."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    She shrugged before replying. "I had nothing to do, so I decided toe for a stroll." He scoffed. He didn''t believe her one bit. He is certain that she is scheming something and that she is lying to him, but he wasn''t going to debate with her. He was never good with debates, and he never cared for them. That was the expertise of their brother. As for him, he will just destroy every obstacle in his way, including her scheme, with pure power. That is his expertise as the god of power.


    A/N: This is who Mother High Heaven wants Legion to fight. They truly dodged a bullet.

 Chapter 1673: The Expected And The Unexpected.

    Chapter 1673: The Expected And The Unexpected.


    ?


    The god of power would rather examine his existence and the world around him than believe the slop she is trying to sell him. The memories of all of his dream avatars are in his mind, so he knew what had appeared while he was asleep.


    He knows that she found hisst dream avatar and had been stalking that dream avatar like some thief. The difference between him and his dream avatars is that he knows what it is she might try to steal from him.


    First, he reviewed all the memories of his dream avatars. These memories gave him an informed view of the void universe. They painted a world of order and rules. It is both good news and bad news for him.


    The second thing he did was examine his existence for any injuries. He had dismissed her worries and called it an insult, but that doesn''t mean it is not possible. It is possible that his existence was damaged when he was sleeping, considering who created this universe.


    He won''t admit it if he finds that his existence has truly been damaged. But he will still examine his existence for them. He is only proud, not foolish.


    There were no injuries to his existence. This was normal. It would be abnormal if he were injured. What stumped him was the limit of the world around him restricting his power. It was much stronger than he expected.


    He voiced his thoughts to her. "I didn''t expect the resistance of the void universe to be this strong. I thought the Lord of Madness was dead. Why is the universe he created so strong?"


    "It is peculiar. I was also surprised by its power. Its limit on me is weaker, but it is still there. Can you imagine that?" She replied with a chuckle.


    "Hmmm." His thoughts churned when he heard that.


    She continued to speak. "Then again. If there is another capable of restricting me even by the smallest amount, it would be a universe created by the Lord of Madness."


    He was only half listening to her. His mind had identified an opportunity when he heard what she said, so he decided to take it. He stretched his hand to grab her. His hand passed through her figure without doing any harm to her. It was as if she wasn''t there at all.


    He shrugged and said, "At least I tried."


    She wasn''t so amused. She snorted at him. "You still haven''t given up on killing me? Give up on it. You can''t. No one can."


    He refuted her calmly, "I won''t know unless I try. You are wrong, though. If the Lord of Madness can die, so can you."


    That statement made her quiet. The death of the Supreme is still a clear and vivid memory for them. Something so iprehensible and utterly impossible had happened. If something like that could happen, then anything is possible, including her death.


    He asked, "But if the void universe is this strong, could it be that the Supreme is still alive and the void universe hasn''t weakened, or could the void universe be stronger than this in the past and has only weakened till now?"


    She replied, "It has to be the second. The Supreme is dead, and we all saw it. His creations have lost his support, so they will be weakened."


    He asked her, "What if the void universe hasn''t weakened at all?"


    She didn''t believe it. It was more like she didn''t want to believe it. She had to refute that im or it might mean certain things that she doesn''t want to be the case.


    She said, "The void universe had to have weakened considering its design and purpose. It just has to be after the death of the Supreme."


    He didn''t argue with her. After all, he too doesn''t know if the Supreme can be alive, and he doesn''t even want the Supreme to be alive. But one thing bothers him.


    He said critically, "If it is the second and the void universe has truly weakened, then it must have been very strong in the past, which shows the gap between us and the Supreme if his dying and weakened creation can still suppress us like this. What''s worse is that the weakening of the void universe also means that that bound-up guy will escape soon."


    The two implications struck them deeply. It is not a good thing to find out just how outssed you are by the person you are trying to rece. The second implication made them feel a certain sense of urgency.


    She said to him, "We have to hurry up before it escapes. We have work to do."


    She can''t even say his name. If she dares to say his name, then it would be as if she has returned to his presence. There are some entities that you only dare to say their title and not their real name.


    You can''t even think of their real name or you will draw their attention. Those entities will hear their name whenever someone calls for it or think about it. If you say their name, then they will truly appear in your mind and try to overwrite your existence. It is speaking of the devil only for them to appear.


    Such an entity is the previous Supreme. He is dead, but they still don''t dare say his true name. They can only call him by his title. Then there is the entity shackled with many universes. A single weak and dying world is enough to suppress the two of them, but many of such universes are needed to bound up the one guy.


    They don''t want this particr devil to appear in front of them or in their minds because its corrosion of reality is terrifying. If it gets a hold of them, then they will certainly be ANNIHILATED. It will only be a matter of time, regardless of their strength or resistance. Its power is ABSOLUTE.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1674 I Am War.

    Chapter 1674 I Am War.


    If not for the important assets of the Supreme present within the void universe, they wouldn''t have riskeding this close to such an existence. The god of power agreed with his sister about hurrying. But he didn''t like her tone. "You speak as if we are partners. We are not partners. I came here alone, and I will work alone. I should get busy because I have a lot of work to do."


    She dered with pride, "Yourst dream avatar didn''t like me either. And yet, here we are. I am the Unbound Soul. I go wherever I want to go. You can''t stop me."


    He narrowed his eyes at her, but didn''t bother to argue. He knows he has a better chance at killing her than making her go away. He thought to himself, "No. This is the void universe. I have a better chance of making her lose her power than killing her. If she can be restricted by the void universe, then she can be affected by it. I should work on that."


    He chuckled inwardly so as not to alert her. Then his mind delved into his inner world. He has things to do. These things were all listed in the system. -MISSION: COMPLETE CONTROL OF THE HIGH HEAVEN REALM REQUIRES YOUR ATTENTION.


    He snorted. "I am surprised that the first brother''s power can still work in this universe even though he isn''t here."


    The whitedy sensed the disgust in his tone, but she still defended the System. "He has alreadyid the groundwork for you while you were asleep. Like it or not, you need to listen to it."


    She is right, but the god of power still grumbled. "I hate schemes."


    However, he still paid attention to the mission. There are many missions that Monarch High Heaven left for him to achieve. The high elf couldn''t achieve them because he wascking in power or because he couldn''t betray the realm and Mother High Heaven. The mission to take control of the realm is one of thetter. He couldn''t betray Mother High Heaven as an Origin god. But the god of power is not an Origin god. In fact, he is not a world god. He just looks like one thanks to the facade that he built with his dream avatar, so he canplete that mission now.


    It is especially important to take total control of the realm to create some more room for him to release some of the shackles on his strength. Total control of the realm is also very important for his project. His mind moved toplete that mission now. He condensed a ghostly apparition that appeared above the high life ne. What drew his attention here are the life trees. They are the reason why he offended many world gods for the high elf race. That move was never about generosity or being heroic. Monarch High Heaven had power as the realm lord and didn''t need anything from the high elves. But he made the bad decision to offend world gods just to preserve Life trees. It is all for this mission. Mother High Heaven appeared beside him. She said to him, "I''m guessing you are one of the secrets that he has been hiding from me. Are you still him or someone else?"


    He replied gruffly, "It doesn''t matter."


    She asked him, "Can we work together? Can we be at peace?" N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He stated as a matter of fact, "I am never at peace. I am always at war. I am war. The blood of my enemies will always flow wherever I go. Their hearts and bones strengthen me. You are in my way, so you are my enemy. Your fate is set."


    Mother High Heaven sighed, "I thought as much. I guess this is when I die."


    The rtionship between a world god and the will of their realm is very important. They might not like each other, but they have to work together, or they will both be weak.


    The world god is usually the one most desperate for Will of the realms, not the other way around. They need them to manage the living things of their world and to help them channel the power of the world better.


    So in the normal dynamic, world gods are the ones that need Will of the realm. It is a good idea not to offend the Will of their realm. There will be consequences if they are offended, but Mother High Heaven is clear that this strange entity has made up his mind and is prepared to eliminate her at all costs. She is also prepared to fight, even though she suspects that she will lose. She knows Monarch High Heaven enough to understand that her chances of victory against him are slim at best. This entity is not Monarch High Heaven. But she doesn''t think she has any chance of victory aftering into contact with his psyche and sensing the vast amount of power simmering just beneath the surface, ready to explode.


    However, she still has to fight. So she sent a message of help to every Origin god of the realm and other world gods she is in touch with. Legion is one of the people she reached out to. The first one sensed this but didn''t stop her. In fact, he feels the opposite. He is waiting for her helpers toe so that he can eat them. But he is not going to dy his actions for that to happen.


    So he took out the white emphemeral ball that he had bargained with Legion for. Next, he brought out the artifact that can attack Wills that Monarch High Heaven exchanged with the first sage. Then he said to the Life trees in the realm. "I know you can hear me. I am not the high elf that you made the deal with, but our deal still stands. This is the opportunity you need to gain a body and be free."

 Chapter 1675: That Ancient Mistake.

    Chapter 1675: That Ancient Mistake.


    ?


    None of the people in the realm could see the god of power or Mother High Heaven, but all the high elves that were Sovereigns and below stopped whatever they were doing and turned their gazes to the sky where the two invisible beings stood.


    Those that were walking stopped walking, and those that were flying stopped flying too. All of them froze and stared at the same spot in the sky.


    It was as if all of them could see what others couldn''t see. This is odd because if anyone should be able to see the two powerful beings, it should be Origin gods, not Sovereigns ofw and even weaker high elves.


    All of the high elves that raised their heads to look at the god of power spoke with the same voice at the same time. "I have heard your words. Our deal still stands."


    Mother High Heaven spoke. "Green Vine, don''t do this to your mother." Her voice wasced with equal sorrow and kindness. "You don''t have to do this to gain your freedom. I might be able to help you myself."


    The high elves spoke. "No, you can''t. If you could have, you would have helped me. You are shackled by rules, so you can''t. He, on the other hand, is free to break rules."


    Mother High Heaven warned her, "You might not survive this attempt. Even if you do, you might not be allowed to leave. He is untrustworthy. Is it truly worth it to sacrifice me for such an uncertain reward?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The high elves replied as one, "Maybe it won''t work. But I have to try. The alternative is to be frozen in death forever."


    Mother High Heaven refuted her child. "There is a better alternative for you if I win."


    The high elves said with disdain, "That is unlikely. You can''t convince me otherwise. You are outmatched. It is why I must seek my freedom now or be forever doomed."


    Mother High Heaven sighed in pity and shame. She didn''t know what else to say. If anything, she felt resigned. The fact that this is happening is already enough to tilt her small chance of victory away from her.


    This matter is a littleplicated and goes back a long way to when the ancestors of the life tree were created. At that time, Mother High Heaven made a deal she could not refuse with Draco, the dragon king. She stole some of his energy during the process of attaching the immortalnds to her realm.


    If not for the fact that she had divided her realm into nes back then, she wouldn''t have survived the process of grafting an immortalnd into her ne. But she survived, and not only did she survive, she created a powerful race with the energy she stole.


    This race was a preparation tobat the dragons in case they turned out to be tools used by Draco to achieve some nefarious purpose in the realm.


    She felt that the dragons were tools to be used by the dragon king as an intrusion on her and other living things in the realm. So to cob the dominance of the dragons, she made sure to finish the scattering of the nes from the ancient battlefield so that the dragons wouldn''t be able to dominate the realm like the Tyrants did.


    She gave every race breathing space from the dragons to grow, and she alsoid her hopes on the two ancestors of the high elves. These ancestors were to challenge dragons and had to be very powerful to achieve it.


    Mother High Heaven made one of them have a high affinity for every type of energy, while she gave the other ancient high elf a high affinity for the soul. The maniption of energy was the foundation of power needed tobat the dragons, and the affinity with the soul was to grant the ancient elves the ability tobat the dragon spirit.


    The ancient elves didn''t dissapoint her wishes then. The first ancient elf granted high affinity acquired the spark of power and gained the ability to copy and utilize any type of ability by seeing it.


    The second ancient elfprehended thew of the soul and acquired the spark of consciousness. This enabled it to be capable of enving almost every type of living thing. Together, the two of them could control the growth of many organisms, and they seeded in creating a paragon race with which to grow stronger.


    The only major problem was that the paragon race the high elf created didn''t inherit their power and abilitiespletely. But all in all, Mother High Heaven''s move was a resounding


    sess.


    The ancient high elves managed all of these without even bing sovereigns ofw. Their sess might have been due to the potent energy of the dragon king, so Draco probably had some credit too.


    Unfortunately, despite all this empowerment and investment, the ancient elves were too kind. They were naive and inexperience because despite their power, they were still children mentally.


    They could produce a fruit that was capable of curing every disease, extending lifespans, and even resurrecting people from the dead. They shared this fruit with anyone who asked, but they didn''t have an infinite amount of it. So they couldn''t satisfy everyone who came asking for it.


    A lot of people were disgruntled and unhappy that their requests went unfulfilled and their loved ones died, or that their life spans were running out. Eventually, the ancient high elves were hunted and killed by people who wanted to control them for their abilities.


    They died. Their souls were fragmented, and they were plunged into the spiritual dimension, just like everyone who dies. However, the ancient high elf with the spark of consciousness didn''t diepletely. It maintained a tentative connection with its body in the world of manifestation.


    It was caught in a sort of limbo wherein it was neither in the world of manifestation nor the spiritual dimension. It couldn''t do anything with its body in the world of manifestation, so it couldn''t protect itself. But its descendants, the high elves, took care of its body.

 Chapter 1676: Another Amalgam.

    Chapter 1676: Another Amalgam.


    ?


    That was a mistake on their part. They made this shell of their ancestor survive by nting its clones for it. Maybe it was because they are actually ves to their parents that they feltpelled to protect her body. It could also be because of the ignorance of a young race and their love for their ancestors.


    Mother High Heaven didn''t interfere because of the rules that bound her. She could have ended it all before it started, but she didn''t. She also didn''t help the ancestor in her quest to resurrect. Besides, she thought there was nothing to worry about. The high elves were simply incapable of bringing their ancestor back to life. They couldn''t even sense her existence.


    That changed when Monarch High Heaven appeared. He sensed the dead spirit of his ancestor living within the old, decayed spiritual connection between high elves and spoke with it. They made a deal, and he fulfilled his part of the deal by protecting the clones of the spirit in the world of manifestation.


    These clones, or what others called Life trees, increased the connection of the spirit with the high elves and the world of manifestation. This connection is very important in making sure that she doesn''t die permanently. But world gods were taking the clones for themselves.


    The dead ancestor certainly couldn''t do anything to stop world gods. She couldn''t do anything even when she was alive, much less now that she was in limbo. As for the high elves, they too couldn''t protect the body of their ancestor from the exploitation of the powerful, despite their best efforts.


    Fortunately, the high elves managed to create a genius like Monarch High Heaven, who became the realm lord of the realm and abolished the exploitation of the life trees. This created a lot of enemies for him, but it also allowed the life trees to increase in number rapidly.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The increase in the number of life trees strengthened the connection between the high elves and their dead ancestor. This connection increased over many years until she became capable of controlling every high elf that isn''t an Origin god.


    She didn''t use that ability so as not to rm the high elves and any other person. She remained patient and silent for many years, waiting for the opportunity that Monarch High Heaven promised her. That opportunity has arrived now.


    The new realm lord dropped the white ball he got from Legion onto the high elves. Mother High Heaven couldn''t stop it from falling or stop the high elves from grabbing it because she was being restrained by him.


    The two of them look casual just standing around, but they are actually warring with each other mentally. They are fighting each other for control of the realm. This fight is counterproductive because it will weaken the two of them. It will make it difficult for either of them to do anything. But this is exactly what the god of power wanted to see.


    Mother High Heaven couldn''t do anything else outside of the struggle. She had to put in all her focus, but he was still strong enough to do something critical. He made one of the high elves a child of the realm.


    This particr high elf took the white ball and fused with it. It began glowing with an ethereal green light. The other high elves rushed towards the glowing high elf and began to fuse with it. The glowing high elves swallowed all of them as they came up. It was like a bottomless pit.


    The phenomenon in which the Tyrants fused into one appeared again. Except this time, it didn''t create a grotesque ball of flesh. The child of the realm looked perfectly fine. The only change was that it was growing bigger.


    It grew bigger and bigger as more high elves fused with it. As this process continued, the power of the Will of the realm was siphoned into the glowing high elf through his title. It was just like the amalgam of Tyrants did when the Tyrants fused.


    The power that was siphoned was used to pull the spirit of their ancestor residing in the obsolete spiritual connection between high elves into the world of manifestation.


    If Mother High Heaven had a spiritual helper, that helper might be able to stop the progress of the ancient high elf. Things would be better if that spiritual helper had some connection to high elves. Unfortunately for Mother High Heaven, she is alone.


    The world began to shake. If this were before the realm broke free from thew matrix, a lightning storm would appear right now, and the void universe would try everything in its power to destroy the dead trying toe back to life.


    However, the void universe doesn''t have jurisdiction over anything happening in this realm anymore. The realm of high heaven is truly independent of the rules of the void universe after losing its world spark and breaking free from thew matrix of the void universe.


    The high elves in the life ne reduced in number over time as the fusion continued. Mother High Heaven also weakened as the fusion progressed. It is because she is being attacked on two sides.


    She couldn''t even beat him off if they were alone in the fight. So she certainly can defeat him when she is being ganged on by him and Green Vine. It is like the battle that the dragon spirit had with her through a dragon that became a child of the ne, but much more disadvantageous.


    It made her pity herself. "Things might be different if I had the help of Legion-7. Legion-7 would have helped me resist his ancestor while I gained enough breathing room to stall him. I might not be able to win, but I might be able to buy enough time for the world gods and other Origin gods I called for help to arrive. However, he refused to help. It is to be expected. He already has everything he needs. He doesn''t need me anymore."


    A/N: Now we know why the realm lord was willing to pay such a high price for the white ball.

 Chapter 1677: A Dying Curse.

    Chapter 1677: A Dying Curse.


    ?


    She understands why Legion didn''te to her rescue, but that doesn''t stop her from being disappointed. Even now, she maintained the connection between them and left it open, but Legion-7 didn''t use it.


    She can tell that Legion is running away as fast as they can, leaving her to fight alone. Now she is weakening while the realm lord is getting stronger. Her end is all but certain at this point.


    She does feel some regrets at this point. She regrets making Green Vine and Red Vine. If she hadn''t, there wouldn''t be the high elf race. If there were no high elves, maybe Monarch High Heaven wouldn''t have appeared in her realm. Even if he had appeared, Green Vine surely wouldn''t be avable to betray her now.


    Most of all, she failed to prepare for the betrayal. It is not exactly her fault, as she was restricted in what she could do by the world spark. So she has an excuse, but that failure will be her doom now.


    At the very least, if she could have approached Legion with her deal before the realm lord approached them and gave them the 9 realm hearts, maybe things wouldn''t be so bad right


    now.


    As for the God of Power, he didn''t feel happy that things were going his way. Nothing about all of this is exciting to him. He can''t feel excited over something that is supposed to make him happy. It is just not possible for him to lose to something or someone at the same level of evolution as he is.


    He didn''t even need the artifact that Monarch High Heaven traded with the first sage for attacking Wills. So he didn''t feel anything when the system chimed in his mind.


    -CONTROL OF THE REALM AT 71%.


    -CONTROL OF THE REALM AT 72%.


    The control of the realm ought to be 50-50, but things are shifting in his favor. Even without the system, he could tell that he was making good progress.


    It was as if he were wearing the same trousers with someone else. The loss of weight by the other person is creating space for him in the trousers. He is filling that space rapidly and making it impossible for Mother High Heaven to gain the upper hand again. So he could tell he was making progress because he was getting stronger.


    But that''s not the only thing he was aiming for. He continued to push her towards death even after she reached her limit. The realm heart began to crack because of it. The realm would be damaged if that happened, but he didn''t stop.


    Mother High Heaven knew she was going to die, so she made sure to damage the realm heart even more. This also damaged her and reduced her control of the realm, but she didn''t care.


    She said weakly, "I hope you fail in whatever you are trying to do."


    He didn''t pay her words any attention. He is not one to celebrate before victory is certain, so he watched for anything out of ce as she died.


    Nothing unexpected happened. Mother High Heaven died at the same time as the realm heart exploded. The explosion rocked the realm. It even affected the great and powerful god of power in the void universe. His bright form dimmed rapidly, and he even began to flicker like a me that was about to go out.


    The system chimed in his mind.


    -REALM HEART DESTROYED.


    -REALM IMPLODING.


    "Tell me something I don''t know."


    He grunted because of the explosion. The loss of the realm heart caused a setback to his control too. Now that the realm is copsing, it is only a matter of time before the shackles of the void universe bind his existence and he is forced to sleep again. He might even be banished from the void universe.


    The realm began to shake, and earthquakes began to tear it apart. If this continues, then the realm will be destroyedpletely. However, he was prepared for this. It is more like the system was prepared for this.


    -PERFORMING WILL SUBSTITUTION NOW.


    -PERFORMING HEART RECONSTRUCTION.


    -PERFORMING REALM STABILIZATION.


    The system was already part of the realm heart right from the moment monarch high heaven became the realm lord. During that time, it has been collecting all sorts of information about every living thing in the realm, mother high heaven, and the realm itself. It even collected the data of demons, so it is very knowledgeable about the realm of high heaven.


    Now that the Will of the realm is no more, it is very easy for the system to take the ce of the Will of the realm. It needed to use a new world seed to stabilize the situation, but it managed to do so easily and fast enough to prevent the realm from copsing.


    It did more than that. It began to execute the project that Monarch High Heaven had been preparing for. Every living thing in the realm was destroyed. Then the whole realm was overwrittenpletely with another set of rules.


    This is where the data on power that Monarch High Heaven got from the first sage came in. It helped the system create a path of power that is different from that of the void universe but won''t be rejected by the void universe.


    But it was the system that did most of the work. It was like a super intelligent entity at his neck and call. The god of power was satisfied with its performance.


    The first one was so satisfied that he hummed in satisfaction. He said, "I don''t like brother and his ways, but sometimes his ns are not so bad."


    The Whitedy scoffed, "The fact that you are here alive means that his ns were good. All of these are just peripherals."


    The first one disagreed. "You are wrong. I am here alive because of my power. His ns are just the peripherals."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Whatever. We will see about that."

 Chapter 1678: A Brave New World.

    Chapter 1678: A Brave New World.


    ?


    The whole realm flickered and turned gray around them. Then it became white and sometimes ck, but it stabilized on white. At this point, the whole realm has be an empty white canvas. Then lines of various colors began to appear. These lines were like threads weaving the tapestry of manifestation.


    The system was using all the data it had collected from every living and non-living thing in the realm and the void universe ever since the first one came to the void universe up until the time when Monarch High Heaven became realm lord to build a new world. This new world would be the core of the massive project that will have a great impact on the whole void universe.


    The first one watched all of these happen with mild interest. This is something that couldn''t be done without the agreement of Mother High Heaven. But now that she is no more, the realm of high heaven is no more, and he can do anything he wants with what''s left.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This includes doing something as dangerous as simultaneously upgrading a world while rebuilding it. He wasn''t concerned about the chances of sess of the system, so he turned his attention to his existence again.


    "Some more shackles have been released, and I can bear more bacsh from the use of cosmic force. The Authority of the void universe has also made me stronger, but this is far from enough. I need more power."


    His state of existence remained the same as he began to equip Authority, but the amount of power he could wield was rising rapidly. Authority did nothing to reduce the bacsh he feels for the Cosmic force he uses, but his output of Cosmic force performs more work because of the augmentation of the void universe.


    He said begrudgingly, "It seems brother has nned for everything. This Authority will go a long way in helping me."


    His sister asked, "Are his ns peripheral now?"


    "They still are. I don''t need them. My power is enough. It is why I am here while he is not. If schemes were so great, he wouldn''t need the power to execute them."


    He believes that power is the most important thing to have, but he can ept that wisdom and ns are good to have, seeing as they have made his power more efficient. Most of all, he is impressed by the fact that all of these ns were made without their brother knowing anything about the void universe.


    The only thing they knew was the mechanism of operation of other universes. So the ns were made on the fly as the system acquired more information on the void universe. But these ns have mostly turned out well.


    It took some time, but his dream incarnations eventually found a realm tree. They had been living in the dead or dying realms of world gods before. It wasn''t until the time of Monarch High that the dream incarnation found its way to the path of Supremacy.


    The path of Supremacy is the main goal of the first one. That''s why he came to the void universe to look for it and other things that might aid him in finding it. But he just woke up, only to find out that the system had prepared a lot of things to make his search easier.


    The system had already nned to remove the Will of the realm ever since Monarch High Heaven came to the high heaven realm. It also encouraged Monarch High Heaven to learn how to create Authority by granting him quests.


    This Authority of the void universe will be the foundation of his project and also help him resist the shackles of the void universe. With his power and his brother''s ability to schemebined, his goal in the void universe is all but certain to seed. It made him acknowledge the system just a little bit.


    The ancestor of high elves had also finished her changes. All of the high elves in the realm have been absorbed by her. This happened seemlessly and without resistance because the high elf race is a paragon race. They have a spiritual connection between them that all leads to her.


    It is unlike other types of paragon races. The high elves did not gain anything from this spiritual connection. Their ancestor was the sole beneficiary of this connection, both in life and death. Some high elves noticed the spiritual connection, but they only thought that it was a harmless connection to the life trees.


    That connection hase in handy now. Most of the high elves have died so that she can resurrect, if only temporarily. Only those outside of the realm are still alive. But at least she can move around the realm once again. She wasn''t happy about it yet, though.


    She said tentatively, "I have killed the Will of the realm for you, as I promised. You promised to let me go after."


    The first one looked her over, contemting what he should do with her. On the one hand, he wanted to eat her. He can always do with powerful food.


    On the other hand, he didn''t want to break the oath Monarch High Heaven made with her. Breaking the oath will lead to a permanent decrease in strength.


    That is not a good thing for him, considering that his sister is hanging around like a bird of prey. He can''t show weakness, or she will make a move on him the way he made a move on her when he heard she was weak too.


    That isn''t even the worst thing that can happen. Breaking the oath might cause his mask to crack, which will expose him to the void universe. It would be like that time Legion exposed the Phoenix for what they truly are when they cracked the godhood of one of them. The void universe had descended with a vengeance. He doesn''t want that either, so he made his decision.

 Chapter 1679: A Generous Advice.

    Chapter 1679: A Generous Advice.


    ?


    He said to her, "You have two choices. ept my help to resist the Will of the void universe, or you can leave to find your way yourself."


    She replied immediately, "I will leave to find my way in the world."


    He snorted. "Then be on your way."


    He then pushed her out of the realm.


    The Whitedy said beside him, "Why act angry? You didn''t even want her here, and you certainly loved her fear of you?"


    He replied to his sister, "I don''t have to exin myself to you."


    Then he asked her, "Don''t you have someone else to be or something to do in this whole universe? Or do you n to follow me around the whole time?"


    She smiled at him despite having no face to do it. "Don''t worry, I won''t leave you alone in this cold, dark, dangerous universe. I will be with you every step of the way."


    "Great," he said sarcastically. "If only you were good for anything."


    "I am serious. I intend to help. I can help you collect information. With the three of us working together, we will be invincible."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He grumbled but didn''t bother to argue with her or chase her. He can''t chase her anyway. She can go anywhere she wants, and she can even hide herself from being noticed by anyone.


    For example, this is his inner world, where he is supposed to have absolute control, and yet she can enter and leave any way she wants. What''s most absurd is that he might not even notice when she entered or how long she had been hidden beside him, and he can''t do anything to her in his inner world.


    So he doesn''t need to imagine just how useful she will be if she bes a spy for him. He already knows, from experience, just how powerful she is. Unfortunately, he can''t bring himself to be happy about the fact that she has decided to help him.


    He thought to himself, "It will be useful to turn her power on others. Nothing can be hidden from her. The problem is whether I can trust what she says."


    He didn''t voice his concerns, though. He already knows that he is helpless against her, just as she, their brother, and most of his enemies have been helpless against him in terms of raw strength.


    If not for her weakness, then she would be too terrifying. That''s why he mustn''t fall into her hands, or she would be able to solve her biggest weakness. The best he can do is scheme against her, just as he is sure she is doing against him.


    In the meantime, he focused on what he came here to get in the void universe. Only by getting one of those ultimate items of power in the void universe would he be able to take another step forward and ovee her.


    Bing a world god has not strengthened him at all. It has only created a channel by using a world for him to awaken and use some of his power. That''s why there were no side effects from destroying the will of the realm and the realm.


    It was actually a good thing for him to remove the Will of the realm that was taking up space in his channel. It is only if he gets what he came to the void universe for that he can grow stronger.


    To achieve that, the project must be started as soon as possible. This is the project for which a lot of world gods paid a lot for the slots. It is a project that will grant them the opportunity to try and get Authority.


    He, on the other hand, will be getting something bigger than Authority through the project. After all, Authority of the void universe is only useful in the void universe. It is not as valuable as others make it out to be. In fact, Universal artifacts are more useful than Authority of the void universe.


    Forparison, Authority can be acquired in various universes, but Universal Artifacts are unique to universes created by the Lord Of Madness. Universal Artifacts can only be acquired in a ce like the void universe, but they are useful outside of it too.


    -The Dark Side.


    The events that just happened were like a tiny ripple in the ocean, which is the void universe. A realm tree finished its era of conquest and broke free from thew matrix.


    The only oddity was that many world gods were defeated by a new world god, and two were killed. Plenty of this happens a lot in the void universe every time, considering that it is nearly infinite. If not for the fact that a lot of world gods were paying attention to the high heaven realm, these events wouldn''t have spread at all.


    Indeed, a lot of world gods were paying attention. They had a lot at stake in the fate of the realm of high heaven. There was a lot to lose if the realm lord died. The first sage was also paying attention. He was paying attention at the very back of the line of world gods who were paying attention.


    Some world gods chased after the high heaven realm, while others only lurked about to watch the show. The first sage wasn''t among the first or second group of world gods who just wanted to watch the show. Instead, he was at the very back and was probably the only world god who was preparing to run if need be.


    He was at a distance where he could still see what was going on, but he was still very far from any danger. His eye sight is marvelous, so this distance was very far.


    Reality has proven that it is not baseless paranoia to fear the realm lord. All of them bore witness to the swift defeat of those world gods and the deaths of two. The first sage was probably the only one who wasn''t supposed to be surprised by it and yet, was still surprised.


    He already knew that Monarch High Heaven would be a very powerful world god. After all, not only is he a realm lord, he also possessed at least 10 billion Authority. So the first sage expected him to be very strong, which is why he made sure to stay at the very back.


    But the first sage became surprised when he noticed that Monarch High didn''t use any of those powers at all. He didn''t rely on his world or use the Authority of the void universe. Instead, he used an unexpected power that he seems to have been hiding within himself. "What was that? That didn''t look like him at all. It doesn''t look like anything a high elf should possess at all. Was that his Supreme Law?"


    The first sage couldn''t figure out what power he had used. What is most confusing about it is that it doesn''t have anything to do withws. It was simply willpower enhanced with Cosmic


    force.


    But Cosmic force isn''t a power that can be used so easily, not even by world gods. They need to have certain inclinations toward it before they be world gods or acquire an artifact like the Authority of the void universe to have it.


    Monarch High Heaven was a high elf, and he has never used Cosmic force without the help of the Authority of the void universe, so the first sage was truly stumped.


    Most of the world gods who were watching earlier have left after they saw 30 world gods struggling to escape and two eventually destroyed. They didn''t have the mind to continue watching. Only the first sage didn''t leave. He remained in the same spot.


    It is partly because he doesn''t need to leave. After all, he is very far away. The second reason is


    that he had an inkling that something else was going to happen, so he waited.


    The first sage muttered as he watched, "The power of a million exploding stars."


    That is what he sees in the ascended Monarch High. It is a humanoid explosion made up of a million exploding stars, barely contained. This power is not obvious on the surface, but the first sage can see some clues and make some estimates.


    World gods are not scared of stars. They can grab them as if they were plucking fruit. If there are any stars they have to be careful of, they are the powerful stars on the dark side of the void universe, especially if they are exploding.


    A supernova of the stars in the dark side of the void universe can damage a world god. So one can imagine the kind of damage a million supernovas from such stars can do to a world god. The first sage is very imaginative, so he can imagine that kind of damage. He already caught a glimpse of the bright humanoid being blowing him to bits in a future where he got close to it. What he can''t figure out is how that kind of power can be contained within Monarch High Heaven and not destroy him. He also can''t figure out how he came to acquire such power.


    He was waiting when he got the call for help from Mother High Heaven. It was not a targeted message. She was practically shouting into the void for help. Every world god around heard her, just like they hear and see when the realm tree is about to start a new Origin cycle.


    He was among the many who got that call for help, and he was also among the many who refused to assist. From what he could see from his position, there were not a lot of world gods that chose to ept the call for help. In fact, there wasn''t even one who actually put in any


    effort to help.


    Word had spread pretty quickly of how formidable the previous realm lord was. Those world gods just hung around but didn''t take a single step to help.


    Later on, the first sage sensed the death of Mother High Heaven. His eyes gleamed brightly, "This is a chance. It seems his heart has been destroyed."


    The other world gods also sensed the sudden weakening of High Heaven. Like sharks that sensed blood, they rushed towards High Heaven. A mighty fight thus ensued.


    The first sage was clear that this was likely to be the best and only chance to take down thispetitor. He knew that there might never be a better chance or any chance at all in the future. But he still didn''t make a move. He chose to watch.


    He was right to watch. The weakened state of High Heaven didn''tst more than 10 seconds. It


    was a trap. All the world gods that had gone forward to take advantage of him were captured


    and eaten.


    The first sage thought to himself, "Fortunately, I have gotten everything I need from him when he was still weak."


    The fight didn''t end quickly. Many world gods struggled and put up a worthy fight. But it ultimately ended in failure. The first sage watched it all happen like an enthusiastic audience


    at a show.


    He was more than entertained. His wait was also rewarded with another gift, which was the sight of Green Vine after she was ejected from the inner world of High Heaven.


    He saw that she was a high elf that was somehow rted to Legion and that she was weak, so


    he decided to meet this special high elf. Even then, he only dared to send an avatar to meet her for fear of getting tangled in trouble.


    Green Vine had gained her freedom and was rushing to the areas in the immortalnds under the control of high elves to solve her current biggest problem. This problem is that she is being resisted by the void universe. The void universe can''t do anything to her now since she has forged the perfect body to contain her soul. This container is hiding her from thew matrix, but it has also made her stand out as abnormal, and anything abnormal is resisted by


    the void universe.


    This resistance is of no concern as long as she can be a world god. Fortunately, she has


    already made ns for this in the immortalnds. All she has to do is reach an area with high elves, and they will help her be a world god.


    Their help won''t be because she is their ancestor. She is not going to tell them that, and she is


    not going to tell them that she killed all their rtives in the high heaven realm either. She is going to pin that me on the Monarch of high heaven.


    Instead, she is going to im the identity of a normal high elf. That identity will be more


    useful for her than that of their ancestor because Origin god high elves can''t be controlled by her and would not like the revtion that she could control weaker members of their race. That was her n until she met the first sage. But then she decided to add subduing Legion to her ns after she bes a world god. She is confident in being able to get the coveted shards of power because one of the clones was made from her clone, and she will be a world


    god soon.


    Her n is simr to what the dragon king tried to do to Ragnarok. She has a greater chance of sess because Legion is already a part of her race. She can skip the part where he needed to use his blood to turn them.


    Plus, the tree father is not an Origin god. That means the void universe will not protect him


    when she makes a move on him.


    Meanwhile, the keeper of secrets was also nning with Ghastorix and the Serpentine world


    gods. This is happening in the background of the preparation of world gods for participation


    in the project of High Heaven, which he called the domain of gods.


    THE END OF BOOK 1.

 Chapter 1680: Intermission.

    Chapter 1680: Intermission.


    ?


    A/N: Allow me to say a few words.


    Book 1 has ended. It started with the announcement of the era of conquest and ended with thepletion of the era of conquest. It started with a look at two reincarnators and ended with the exnation for both.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    A lot has changed since the beginning of Book 1. In terms of power, Legion started as a Sovereign ofw and ended as an Origin god with many Supreme Powers. Legion has experienced a lot of things and learned a lot of knowledge. Some clones even died, either temporarily or permanently.


    I have been writing this book for three years now. It has been a rollercoaster for me. The second book has also been prepared. There will be no break in transmission. We will continue on the second leg of this journey without taking a break on my part. So you will get another chapter tomorrow.


    I have decided to continue book 2 together with book 1 instead of starting afresh. If you want to see how Legion will be a world god or many world gods, then stay tuned for the next couple of years.


    We still have a long way to go since there will be Book 3 too. So hang in there. Don''t give up on GREED or me. Maybe then, we will be able to achieve the perfection we seek so badly.


    But first, I have a prepared a short volume to serve as the transition between the first and second book. It will tie up some lose ends in book 1 such as Salvini and it will show more of the void universe in preparation for book 2.


    Have a good day.


    WHAT ABOUT LEGION?


    Every Origin god felt it when Mother High Heaven died. A connection that many didn''t know that they had suddenly disappeared. It left a gaping absence in their perception and informed them of the certainty that they are now alone. They won''t have any help in their quest to be world gods anymore.


    Some Origin gods tried to find the reason for her death. Some of them found answers, and some didn''t. But a lot of Origin gods didn''t care about Mother High Heaven now that she was dead. What most Origin gods care about is the entity called Legion.


    Now that the era of conquest has ended, the Origin gods of the previous high heaven realm have a lot of time on their hands to go hunting after Legion. The Supreme Alliance was also quite enthusiastic about nabbing the elusive Legion. They sniffed after them like bound dogs.


    Unfortunately, Legion seemed to have disappeared. They couldn''t find any of the clones, even with world gods helping them in their search. It made the Origin gods desperate. They decided to get information about Legion from anyone who knew them or was rted to them in any way.


    So the Origin gods went after Soverick''s family and Gehaldirah''s parents. They didn''t have any luck in this aspect because Soverick''s family hid within the world of a world god, while Gehaldirah''s family are high elves. No one messes with high elves. They are an incredibly united race with many world gods.


    The Origin gods couldn''t reach either target, but they still didn''t give up. They badgered the high elves relentlessly. It truly came at a bad time for the high elves since they just lost all of their rtives and children in the destruction of high heaven realm.


    The high elves were furious about the deaths of every high elf in the high heaven realm. They wished to kill or imprison Monarch High Heaven for his sins. One particr high elf named Green Vine was probably the most angry high elf.


    This Green Vine was a high elf who loved to travel. She traveled all over the void universe to see all that there was to see. She only returned recently when she heard about the destruction of high heaven realm and the deaths of her loved ones.


    Green Vine, like most aggrieved high elves were looking for any information that they could use against Monarch High Heaven. This led her to question Gehaldirah''s parents about Legion. It was not an interrogation. It was just three high elves chatting and having a good time.


    The three high elves were sitting at a table on a luxury void ship, eating. Gehaldirah''s parents look alike to the untrained eye. They both had green skin and golden hair, like wheat. If not for the slight difference in their height and the length of their hair, it would be difficult to tell them apart.


    Green Vine asked them, "So he imed that your son died, but you never got any proof about it?"


    The couples shrugged. Hopticon sipped his tea and replied, "He was the realm lord, the lord and savior of the high elves. His words were the only proof we needed."


    His wife agreed. "But now we have reasons to believe that he might have lied. He might have killed our poor boy and lied about it."


    Green Vine was taken aback. She was confused because she had it on good authority from a certain world god that Legion was formerly Gehaldirah.


    So she asked, "You don''t think Legion is Gehaldirah?"


    Lashirati frowned. Her face scrunched up in a pretty way that didn''t make her look angry but still expressed her displeasure. She said, "Legion can''t be Gehaldirah. Our boy was never like that. He would have called us if he was alive. And why would Monarch High Heaven lie and say he was dead if he were alive?"


    Green Vine exined, "I hear that he was possessed by a demon. That might have changed him from the good boy you knew him to be into something else."


    Lashirati said with determination, "Then he is dead. He is not the boy we birthed."


    Hopticon interfered, "Even if Legion is Gehaldirah, why would Monarch High Heaven lie about it?"


    Green Vine replied, "I don''t know about this. Which is why I came to question you. I hope to get to the bottom of this issue. It is clear that Monarch High Heaven was hiding something, no matter how we look at it. Either Gehaldirah is dead naturally, or Gehaldirah was killed by him and he lied about it, or Gehaldirah is still alive and he lied about it. Fortunately, I have a way for us to determine which it is."


    Lashirati''s frown eased up. "What method do you have in mind."


    "It is a method that will help us find Gehaldirah if he is still alive. It will determine conclusively if he is alive or dead. I will be able to know which direction I should take my investigation of Monarch High Heaven from the conclusion of this method, and you will be able to get closure on your son."


    She made sure to emphasize that her true aim was Monarch High Heaven. Her investigation into Legion, or Gehaldirah, is just a means to an end. This set her apart from every other person who had approached them for information about their son.


    The fact that she is doing this investigation to avenge the deaths of her descendants also


    made the couple pity Green Vine. Besides, they have nothing to lose by sparing a little of their time for a grieving mother. It will also help them put the matter of their dead son to rest. So they decided to go along with Green Vine''s suggestion.


    They told her everything they knew about Gehaldirah. This included his birth date, his favorite things, and every nickname he ever bore. They even allowed her to touch one of the


    things Gehaldirah used to own.


    Green Vine used all of this information to confirm whether Gehaldirah is still alive or not. The conclusion she came to was that Gehaldirah was, in fact, dead. The couple cried while Green Vine resumed her journey of investigating Monarch High Heaven.


    Meanwhile, a voice only she could hear spoke to her. It said, "Good job. Now you have a better


    chance of sess."


    -----Ghoto.


    "What does it mean to be a titan ofw? How does one be a titan ofw?" Ghoto asked


    himself as he looked through the window.


    Those are the two questions that Ghoto has been asking around for. They are the two questions that fill his mind day and night. There is no day in the immortalnds, so the questions fill his mind all night.


    He has been asking himself and others these questions ever since he became a king ofw. Heprehended thew of lightningpletely to be a king of thew of lightning. That is an achievement that rewarded him with power and a lifespan of 100 Origin cycles. That is


    ten times the lifespan he had as a lord ofw.


    10,000,000 years is a long time to live. It is enough time for him to live peacefully and have no regrets, even if he fails to be a titan ofw. That was his n before the era of conquest came. His n has changed ever since then. In fact, everything has changed. Nothing is the same, and nothing can ever return to the way it was before.


    For one, he is not living in a city in the Virut ne anymore. He is not living in the High Heaven Realm at all. He is now living in the immortalnds because he didn''t want to live in the inner world of a world god.


    Danger abounds in the immortalnds. It is too much danger for a king ofw. He is living in a


    fortified tower, but that only does little to assure himself of his safety. Already, he has seen two explosions ur far off in the distance that are capable of leveling his tower if they had urred much closer to his location.


    That''s two lethal explosions in the span of three hours. He has seen many more since he


    started living here. He has also been told to expect more and expect them to be closer. His only assurance is that if he dies, his family will collectpensation on his behalf for his death from those who kill him.


    Etiquette dictates that when you kill someone by mistake in the immortalnds, you give thempensation for their deaths when theye asking for it. Immortals will be satisfied with that, but not him. He has only one life, so he has to cherish it. Unfortunately, he wants to continue on the path of perfection, so he can''t live within the inner world of a world god. However, the High Heaven Realm is no more. So he has no choice but to brace the danger of the immortalnds in his quest for power.

 Chapter 1681: Stupid Or Not?

    Chapter 1681: Stupid Or Not?


    ?


    Ghoto muttered to himself as he looked out the window of his tower, "If only... If only... If only..."


    If only things were slightly different. If only the era of conquest hadn''t started, which caused him to escape the realm to seek safety. If only Monarch High Heaven hadn''t killed Mother High Heaven then he might have been able to return to the realm after the end of the era of conquest. Then he wouldn''t have to risk his life like this.


    If only he had more time, he might have been able to be an immortal before the era of conquest. If only he had more wealth, he might have been able to buy the things he needs to ensure that he will be safe during his breakthrough to titan ofw.


    If only, if only. There''s a lot that Ghoto wants to change but can''t. The best he can do is acquire power. That means he must risk his life to be a titan ofw.


    He stepped away from the window and returned to sit on the mat. The mat is the only structure in the room. It is not arge room, but it is bare, so it looksrger.


    He didn''t bother to furnish his room because he might die during his breakthrough. What use are nice things to a dead man walking?


    Speaking of nice things, there is something nice that he would like to get. He wants life essence. With life essence, he will have a higher chance of breakthrough.


    He used to have life essence. He got it when he risked his life to participate in the trial of heaven as a transcendent. He nned to use that life essence to assist his breakthrough into an Origin god. But he sold it to pay for the protection of his wife and children in case he dies during the breakthrough.


    Some might call that a stupid move to reduce his chances of sess because he is afraid of the effect of his failure on his family. Those people would be wrong to think so.


    He doesn''t think it is stupid to spend all he has to protect his loved ones. He is their father and husband, and it is his duty to do so. Besides, what is he to do with 10,000,000 years of lifespan if he doesn''t have his loved ones to enjoy it with?


    As for those who will call it a stupid move to sell life essence, he would agree with them on that. Life essence has be something people buy and no one sells.


    Ever since the destruction of High Heaven Realm, life essence has be scarce. Life trees have very particr growing conditions, but they have stopped growingpletely ever since the era of conquest ended. Even high elves can''t grow them anymore, and every life tree outside the realm has died.


    The guess is that there is something special about the high heaven realm that made life trees possible. This has been the conjecture even before the high heaven realm was destroyed because life trees didn''t appear in any other realm.


    Now that life trees are no more, life essence has be too valuable. So Ghoto can agree that it would have been a smart idea to keep the life essence.


    But instead of keeping it or selling it to buy something to strengthen himself, Ghoto sold it to protect his family. Now he has to risk bing a titan ofw without it.


    "It is all for the good of my family. Besides, Mih was able to be a titan ofw without one. I''m sure I can manage."


    He is only saying that to encourage himself. Unfortunately, he can''t deceive himself. He knows why Mih was able to seed without life essence. It was because of Soverick''s bloodline, and he doesn''t have that.


    He is on his own, like most kings ofw.


    "I am not doing anything special here. There''s no need to dy it any longer."


    And so he began. There''s only a single star within his Origin core. It represents his Authority over thew of lightning. He is going to use it now as the raw material to create his concept.


    He had nned toprehend at least one morew to add to thew of lightning for his concept. But he is out of time. He can''t be picky when he can die at any moment. So he will settle for creating a concept with a singlew. That will make things easier, faster, and safer for his breakthrough.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He willed it, and the star within his core exploded. His body shook in pain. Part of the essence of the star leaked into his existence from his Origin. Lightning sparked over his blue fur, and his eyes glowed brightly.


    This marked the beginning of the breakthrough. There''s no going back from there. It is do or die now.


    Oddly enough, he was not scared. He has seen too many explosions, too many deaths, and too many destructions so close to himself that an explosion within him doesn''t scare him anymore. He was calm and collected. It is a good state of mind to have when you have a supernova within you.


    He pictured the image of his concept. It is not speed. It is not power. It is not destruction. It is only lightning. He wants to be as intangible as lightning. This will cause him to lose out on the destructive properties of lightning, but it will turn him into an energy state of being that is difficult to harm.


    He is prioritizing safety over power. Without safety in the immortalnds, he won''t make it to be a Sovereign ofw or an immortal beyond it. Plus, this image is easy to visualize and make. All he needs to do is embody lightning, and he will seed.


    Everything was going well for him. He had a calm state of mind. He was using only onew. His image was simple. There were very few variations andplexities. Sess was all but certain for him.


    A/N: Please go back and read the previous chapter. I made a mistake yesterday which I have I corrected now.

 Chapter 1682 The Titanic Dilemma.

    Chapter 1682 The Titanic Dilemma.


    Ghoto''s image was the anchor that brought together the essence of the star. The supernova copsed into the concept of lightning embodiment. "Sess." Ghoto said with a smile.


    He seeded in his breakthrough. His existence has changed from a soul body into a body ofw. Both his body and mind have gained resistance tow thanks to the essence that was infused into them during the breakthrough process. He also has a seed of power within him, and he can control world power. He felt full of power and might. His eyes were glowing, and his aura was majestic. He felt like he could move the world. All is well and good. But then his concept activated without his permission. Lightning ripped out of him and took his body with it. He screamed in pain. It was a loud cry of pain, as it should be when your existence is turning from physical into energy form for the first time. His mind fragmented along with his body. He couldn''t form a coherent thought, even if he was not gued by the pain. He got what he wanted. He wanted to be lightning, but he can''t control what he has be. They say one should be careful what they wish for. They should be extra careful when they wish to be something they have no experience with. It was simple to form the concept of lightning embodiment, but if you have never been an energy form before, you might not be able to handle the transformation. And if you are not a Sovereign ofw, you will not be able to control your energy form. This is the hurdle that titans ofw have to go through to be Sovereigns ofw. They have to gain perfect control over their concepts. This is difficult for some and easier for others. If Ghoto had gone with the destructive aspect of lightning that he is familiar with, maybe he would be able to control his concept better. Unfortunately, he didn''t. He has be lightning now. However, lightning is never in stasis. It is not static. It appears suddenly and leaves suddenly. It also discharges a lot of energy and power during that short appearance. However, Ghoto has been in his lightning form for a minute now. This means he is losing a lot of his energy and essence. He can''t stop it because he is currently muddle headed. He couldn''t control his concept, so he remained in his current state. He is muddle headed in his current state, so he can''t control his concept. It is quite the dilemma.


    He ran out of energy and essence very quickly. He died a quick death, but it was very painful. In fact, he was probably d when he died and the pain ended. Since he seeded in bing a titan ofw without life essence, he could have used it to preserve his life during his precarious state. Maybe it would have saved his life. Maybe it wouldn''t. But one thing is sure. It is that he will never find out because he sold it.


    Now, he has died. Hopefully, his family will not follow soon after. That will make his decision to sell the life essence stupid regardless of what he thought of it. When he died, he didn''t leave anything behind. His iplete seed of power unraveled after his death and dispersed back into the world. -----Fool''s Gold. Being a titan ofw is not easy. Many think the main danger is trying to break through to be a titan ofw. Not many think of the many titans ofw that die because of their concepts or die because they couldn''t control their concepts and lost all their essence. Apart from the danger of an unstable concept, there is also the danger of a useless concept. Yes, one needs to build a concept to be a titan ofw, and yes, one needs to gain perfect control of it to be Sovereigns ofw. But what if the concept is weak and useless? What if, to prioritize safety, a titan ofw built a weak concept? What can they do after they be Sovereigns ofw and regret their decision? What if they built a concept too strong and can''t control it? There are solutions to these problems, but they are either dangerous or unptable. The problem of a concept being too strong is what is guing the fountain of life. She is a dragon born with an affinity for thew of life. Thew of life has the best survival ability. She can heal almost any damage to herself, and she can even manipte life to some extent.


    Dragons of life like her have one of the strongest bodies possible for a titan ofw. Their bodies have the strength of titans of thew of fire and the durability of titans of thew of earth. But beyond that, thew of life doesn''t have the best fighting strength, and the maniption of the lives of living things is limited to weak beings who are vastly weaker than them. This was not enough for her. She wasn''t content with her lot at all. This is not surprising to see in a dragon. They are usually proud and greedy. She couldn''t bear to be weak because of her pride, so she decided to change her path as a titan ofw.


    Her decision to improve her lot was not a bad idea. It became a bad idea when she decided to go too far. She was too greedy, so she didn''t pair thew of life with a normalw like thew of fire or light. No, she chose another highw. She chose thew of creation. This is even though she knew that her dragon heart couldn''t take more than onew for use within her concept.


    It would have been too much if she had used a normalw in addition to thew of life. But she had to take things far beyond the limit because of her greed.

 Chapter 1683: A Worthy Foe.

    Chapter 1683: A Worthy Foe.


    ?


    Against all odds, she seeded in bing a titan ofw. It was a miracle that she did. But now she is gued with the repercussions of her actions. She can''t control her concept, so she will die. It won''t be a quick death like Ghoto''s. Hers will be slow and painful. But even that is not good enough for her.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    She wants more. She wants to be a Sovereign. It is not a spur of the moment decision. It was what she nned to do when she decided to add thew of creation. She thought she would survive the breakthrough to be a titan ofw, and she did. Now she thinks she will gain control of her concept, so she must.


    That''s a dragon for you. They are too proud to envision failure. Unfortunately, she met failure at the hands of Ragnarok. He destroyed all her years of hard work. He even almost killed her. Now, she is at it again. That''s why she is in the immortalnds. She is looking for a way to reinforce her inner world and gain control of her concept.


    Her wings beat rhythmically as she flew through the void. It was silent all around her. But it was not silent in her head. She is constantlyining and grumbling.


    "Damn that Ragnarok. He ruined my ns. Who would have thought he was the clone of some Origin god? What bad luck! I will pay this Legion back for their transgressions one day."


    Now she knows that her failure at Ragnarok''s hands was not without a justified reason. It was impressive that the clone of an Origin god managed to ruin both her ns and those of a demon god, but she also thinks that it was impressive of her to manage to keep her life against such a clone.


    At the very least, the information circling around about Legion has helped her regain her confidence. After all, she didn''t lose to some young mutt. She lost to the clone of an Origin god.


    Her confidence has returned and even soared to greater heights. She now believes that she will be able to defeat Legion in due time. Not even the rumor that Legion is responsible for the destruction of the dragon home ne is enough to deter her. Her quest for revenge is one of the greatest motivations for why she hasn''t given up on her n to be a Sovereign ofw.


    "Just you wait Legion. I aming for you."


    Unfortunately for her, things are far more difficult now that the realm of high heaven is no more. She can''t take up lodgings in a ne and manipte it to create the Life crystal that she needs to strengthen her dragon heart. She has to work with her life on the line to acquire what she needs to gain control of her concept.


    The fountain of life is currently on a mission for the Dragon Alliance. It is an organization created by a dragon to help dragons in the immortalnds. They give her jobs and missions to do. Then they pay her for her services.


    She is arge beast spanning 10 kilometers in wing length alone. But she has reduced her size to just 100 meters. It is to make her stand out less in the immortalnds.


    She is not an apex predator anymore, so it is best to make herself a less visible prey. But she is not going to admit that. What she will im is that she reduced her size to make her gems denser and more beautiful.


    If anyone doubts her, which many have done recently, she will tell them that she is not weak and has fought many Origin gods before.


    That boast always end with her saying, "Isn''t it just Origin gods? I have killed many of them before."


    She is not lying. She has indeed defeated and killed Origin gods before. It is an impressive achievement for a titan ofw. It is still impressive even though she managed that in a realm where the Origin gods were suppressed.


    She conveniently leaves thatst part out and also ignore the fact that Origin gods are immortal. She never truly killed them. But she knows that the immortalnds is dangerous and it is best to make herself look smaller. After all, prevention is better than cure.


    But she is indeed very strong. The fact that she is swimming through the void without protection is enough to show just how strong she is. Most creatures have to be Sovereigns ofw to be able to protect themselves in the void.


    Only Origin gods can brave the void with their bodies. She is not an Origin god yet but she can already match them in power. One can imagine just how strong she would be when she bes an Origin god. But for now, she must hide.


    She said to herself, "My time wille. I will rise again and above all my enemies." She was thinking about Legion when she said that. She has many enemies just like every dragon, but only one enemy makes her unstable heart burn with the fire of vengeance.


    The fountain of life believes that her situation is only temporary. She will be able to be an immortal easily since she is a dragon and can refine Origin essence on her own. All she needs is to be a Sovereign sessfully, and then she will be able to fight Origin gods without fear of death. At that time, Legion will find a worthy foe in her.


    It is a good thing to look forward too. It is another reason why she must get a life crystal for her dragon heart.


    She could have chosen to give up on her concept and fused with the seed of power of another Sovereign ofw. That would save her life and grant her eternal life. But she wouldn''t be able to be an Origin god with the seed of power of another entity. That option would rob her of her chances of revenge, so she didn''t take it.

 Chapter 1684: Fake And Real Void Beasts.

    Chapter 1684: Fake And Real Void Beasts.


    ?


    Bing fake Sovereigns is one of the options for titans ofw with one regret or another about their concept. It is not the only one. There''s also the option to participate in the trial of heaven and use it to gain the assistance of the Will of the realm.


    She could have considered the second option, as it wouldn''t block her future progress. Unfortunately, the High Heaven Realm is no more, so she cannot gain another Origin for another chance at creating a concept.


    Besides, that wouldn''t have solved her problem. She knew what she wanted. She didn''t want a weak concept, so she would have done the same thing if given another chance.


    So gaining a life crystal is really her only viable option. She didn''t get the assistance of the dragon spirit when she was a hatchling because thew of life was weak. That would have solved her problem even before she had it. Unfortunately, she was too weak then.


    She has had enough of being weak now. She wants to be strong, and for that, she is willing to work 10,000,000 years to gain it. That isn''t a long time for her, considering that she has lived for a total of 200 Origin cycles already. And considering that her aim is to live forever, 10,000,000 years is littlepared to eternity.


    She is not daunted by the fact that she wants to get revenge on Legion. But what makes her sign and feel helpless is that she might have to wait 10,000,000 years before she can fight them. It makes her look at the corrosive void energy around her with resentment.


    "I might actually lose my mind if I have to brave this stupid energy for 10,000,000 years. Oh, how I miss sleeping deep within the ground. In fact, I will take sleep anywhere over any void energy."


    She truly needs sleep. Her work has robbed her of it. But then she remembered that it was Ragnarok who had robbed her of it. It sharpened her mind and made her sober again.


    She said to encourage herself, "I just have to be careful and dedicated. Slow and steady will win this race. 10,000,000 years wille and go soon."


    Dragons often boost of how time passes quickly for them. But that''s only because they sleep a lot. It is very difficult not to feel the passage of time when she can''t just close her eyes and wake up to find that many weaker entities have perished of old age.


    Still, she is not going to give up on her revenge. She is also not going to try to catch a quick nap in the void. Pride or not, it remains a fact that the void universe is not hospitable to anything that is not immortal.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    She has to be especially careful in the void because she can''t use her concept here at all. The surrounding void energy will destroy any energy or magical attack that she can conjure. So it would be best if she didn''t meet anyone, and it would be good for her to be awake to run from anything that would be dangerous to her.


    She was flying through the void when it happened. She encountered a void beast. It was a beast that lives and hunts in the void, so it is automatically her enemy.


    It had the head of an ant. The two eyes on it werepound andrge. Those eyes see far better than those of ants. They can see in the darkness of the void.


    They can also see creatures that are not void beasts better and can see the movement of void energy. That''s how it was able to see her, even though she had hidden all her life signs.


    She is a divine dragon with a void body so others might mistake her for a void beast if they sense only the void energy in her body. But she isn''t truly a void beast. She has to push the void energy around in order to move. This made her stand out as an imposter to the void beast.


    It had the torso of a kangaroo and four forelimbs that ended in des. It had arge fin-like tail andrge webbed feet on its two hind limbs, which it used to swim in the void. Unlike her, the void beast was at home with the void energy.


    The void beast noticed her and cooked its head at her. It was eyeing her like a predator would do to prey. It was bigger than her, so it looked like a predator.


    "Scram." She roared at it.


    Her roar was the signature dragon''s roar. It was apanied by majestic psychic pressure. It mmed into the void beast and sent it flying.


    She snorted and continued her journey. The void beast might be a predator of the void, but it was too weak to threaten her.


    She didn''t go far before she noticed the void beast was chasing her. Its tail was pushing it through the void at a speed fast enough to keep up with her. She wasn''t fooled by the sight. She recognized the tail to be where the divine ability of the void beast is.


    As a space elemental creature, the divine ability of the void beast must be rted to space, so it is not a wonder why it can keep up with her despite being weaker than her.


    She also noticed that the void beast was not harmed. The dragon''s roar inflicts spiritual and physical damage, but the void beast was unscathed. This didn''t surprise her either, because she knows just how resistant void beasts are to damage. But she thought her roar would scare it so that it would know better than to follow her.


    She said with disdain, "I shouldn''t have counted on its intelligence. Clearly, this is the stupid type of void beast. I can''t believe that dragons are rted to these things."

 Chapter 1685: Two Types Of Luck.

    Chapter 1685: Two Types Of Luck.


    ?


    Not all void beasts are stupid. But for the ones that are stupid, thebined effect of spatial divine ability and resistance to damage makes it easy for them to survive after making stupid decisions. They might be weak, but they can take a beating and run away easily.


    But this void beast isn''t thinking that. It just wants to eat, and she looks like something to kill. It knows that she is strong, but she is not an Origin god, so it feels like it can take her on.


    It was wrong. The fountain of life rounded up on it and smashed it with her spiked tail. The void beast finally took damage. After all, she may be small, but she is powerful. Her tail can crush mountains, much less some stupid void beast.


    The void beast put up a worthy fight by refusing to die. Her tail fell on it again and again, dealing little damage each time. It was as if she was trying to crush a small diamond, not some rock. The void beast just refused to die. In fact, her tail was beginning to hurt. But her efforts bore fruit. The void beast was eventually beaten within an inch of death after one too many strikes.


    Not only was its body highly durable, but void energy from the surrounding area was also rushing into its body to heal it. However, thebination of the two will not be enough to save it if the beatings continue.


    Luck was on the void beast''s side. The fountain of life was interrupted when she wanted to finish it off. She stopped because she noticed many more void beasts staring at her. Their round,pound eyes were examining her with curiosity.


    They couldn''t understand why she was so strong, but they know that she is not an Origin god, so they don''t think that they have anything to worry about. Anything that is not an Origin god is their prey in the void. So they swarmed her.


    At first, they were 22 in number that attacked her. But that number soon increased to 112 during the fight. Apparently, there was a swarm of them nearby. More and more void beasts were drawn by the fight to kill her. And they were also about to seed.


    These void beasts may be stupid, but they were right to think that anything not at the Origin god level is prey. This is because they have the advantage of the void in their fights.


    Most creatures that are not Origin gods will need to actively protect themselves from the corrosive void energy if they don''t want to die. Only void beasts and dragons at the titan level like the fountain of life, don''t need to protect themselves. Their bodies are strong enough to withstand the void energy. But the fountain of life couldn''t avoid the issue of the negation of power in the void.


    She couldn''t cast spells or use her concept, as it would be destroyed by the void energy, so she had to use her physical strength. That aspect is her strongest suit, but it is not as effective against the bodies of void beasts.


    She is surely stronger than them. Unfortunately, her strength is not as effective as it should be. It is certainly not effective against 112 void beasts who can take a beating and have very sharp ws that can break the defense of her divine body.


    They swarmed her like ants would a lion. But unlike ants, they were bigger than her and could actually seed in this hunt. Their four arms moved with the augmentation of thews of space to make their ws slice through her scales like butter. Soon, she was near death.


    She had to expand to her full size so that they wouldn''t overwhelm her. Her full size made it easy for her to fling them around and smash them. Still they didn''t give up. It helped that her being bigger has given them arger surface to cut. It was only her superior regeneration ability that kept her alive against the onught of the void beasts.


    Sess was so close for them. Unfortunately, they couldn''t kill her. The fountain of life was also lucky, so the killing blow from the void beasts didn''te.


    This is because someone else interrupted them. It was arge beast. The fountain of life is very big, so for her to consider somethingrge, it must be colossal.


    This creature is indeed colossal. It is half the size of a ne. It is easily 100,000 kilometers long. That is more than 100 times the fountain of life in her full form.


    The beast had been attracted because of her. She looked good enough to eat from afar and being close has only confirmed its initial estimate.


    Both the dragon and the void beast froze when it appeared. It looked at them fighting with a little disdain. Then it opened its mouth, and the world froze.


    The dragon and the void beasts were frozen, and were forced to shrink in size as they approached its mouth. It was unnecessary since the mouth of the world beast wasrge enough to swallow them whole without shrinking them.


    The fountain of life roared in anger. "Nooooo. You can''t do this to me!"


    She let go of her restraints and released her domain. This broke the hold of World Devour on her and stopped her from shrinking in size.


    She roared in determination, "I cannot die here."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The world beast didn''t care. It shot forward with blinding speed. As a void beast, a world beast also has the gift of space. It may be big, but it is also fast. She found herself in its mouth before she knew it.


    "You can''t do this to me. I belong to the dragon alliance. You will pay for this."


    The world beast didn''t even register herints. As a true predator of the void and an Origin god, it doesn''t talk with its food. Her life ended as soon as it closed its mouth. She will never be an immortal now.


    The world beast smacked its lips and continued surfing the void.

 Chapter 1686: Calm Mind.

    Chapter 1686: Calm Mind.


    ?


    -Tandrake.


    Tandrake is a Sovereign ofw. They call him the thunder drake for his concept that uses sound to utilize the destructive properties of lightning. Many don''t know that he is the father of Ghoto. He would like to keep things that way.


    As a Sovereign ofw, he hase a long way on the path of perfection. He survived the terrible danger of bing a titan ofw, and he managed to gain perfect control of his concept before it killed him.


    He gained eternal life for his efforts. What remains for him to do is be an Origin god which will grant him immortality.


    A Sovereign ofw, is a big shot in a realm tree. But not in the immortalnds. Anything that is not an immortal doesn''t belong in the void or the immortalnds. Even the immortalnds are immortal and indestructible. That is how they have been able to survive in the face of the continuous onught of violence between immortals.


    He is a Sovereign ofw, so he can live forever. But he is not an immortal, so that doesn''t count for anything in the immortalnds. A stray attack can im his life.


    It is not just something he heard about. It is something he has seen many times ever since he came to the immortalnds. He can feel the shockwaves deep within his abode. This is despite the fact that his abode cancels noise and absorbs shockwaves.


    There are just some levels of force that it can''t cancel or absorb. Those levels of force also happen to be the ones that will kill him without leaving behind ashes.


    That thought always pops up in his head whenever his abode shakes. It is shaking now. He is trying to pour himself some tea to rx his mind, but death is constantly knocking on the door of his mind.


    He exhaled softly. "Calm mind. Calm mind. Calm mind."


    He kept saying it to rx his mind.


    But then another thought popped up. "One hit from that, and I will be dead."


    He tried to resist it, but it came back again. "I will stand no chance at all. No amount of luck will save me from death."


    He decided to embrace his fears. So he thought willingly to himself, "At least, the death will be quick and painless."


    He admitted it and regained peace. He was able to drink his tea with a calm mind.


    But then another shock wave passed through him. It brought with it an errant thought. "Yes. I will die a quick and painless death like some dog."


    That thought shattered his zen state. His blue fur bristled with lightning. The lightning boiled the tea in the cup and turned it into steam immediately. Then it shattered the cup too. He could have protected the tea and the cup, but he wanted to take out his frustration on something. Unfortunately, it didn''t work. The only thing that changed was that the next shockwave made him know that he would die, just like the cup of tea. His insides will boil to nothingness in an instant, and his body will shatter to pieces.


    He sighed and repeated, "Calm mind. Calm mind. Calm mind."


    Tandrake is a battle sage monkey. He has blue fur that asionally sparks with lightning. These are the characteristics of a body ofw. He hasplete control over his concept, so he can stop this discharge of lightning. But he is agitated. He has just heard about the death of


    his son.


    Not only is his body discharging lightning, but his eyes are also unfocused. He is gazing into the world with unfocused eyes and a mind that is bent on showing him just how many ways he can die.


    His strange state is not because he is distraught about the death of his son. He never loved his son, and he never cared about him. No, what he is concerned about is the mortality of those who are not immortal.


    It was already difficult for him to fall from the top of the food chain to the bottom aftering to the immortalnds, but the death of his son and some of his longtime friends who went out of their abodes for one or the other has made him distraught.


    He just can''t ept the fact that he must not leave his abode or he will die. Surely his abode is part of a collosal structure the size of a ne and has a lot of space, but it still feels like a prison.


    Actually, he would prefer to be locked up. It is better than the fact that leaving the limited space he has ess to will lead to his death. He doesn''t like it at all. So he sold everything he had for a chance at immortality.


    He muttered to himself, "Anyone can die at any moment. Even immortals can die at any moment. But at least they can resurrect."


    He was not sure about his decision before to stake everything at a chance of bing an immortal, but now he has be certain of it after hearing about too many deaths.


    He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he was determined to brave death on his own terms. "I have to be immortal."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    So he began to make preparations for his breakthrough.


    There used to be two ways to be an Origin god. You can participate in the trial of heaven and gain Origin essence which you can use to breakthrough. Or you can invoke the tribtion and pass it in order to fuse with your concept and thew matrix.


    Since the realm is no more, he doesn''t have the choice of participating in the trial of heaven. That leaves tribtion as the only choice.


    He has made the main preparations for this breakthrough. He has acquired the rare life essence. It is the most important thing that can save his life during this breakthrough.

 Chapter 1687: The Tribulation Has Started.

    Chapter 1687: The Tribtion Has Started.


    ?


    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Life essence is very rare since there is no more production of it. One can only get it through personal contacts. Tandrake got his from his son. He bought it from Ghoto, who needed the money to buy a secure future for his wife and children in the immortalnds without him.


    That is one of the major differences between the father and son. Tandrake never cared for Ghoto and would not have made such a stupid decision, but Ghoto always went the extra length to protect his family.


    Now Tandrake has gained something truly invaluable from what he considers the most stupid decision that Ghoto could make. He had to sell all he had, but it was worth it. If anything, Tandrake finally felt that the birth of Ghoto might not be a bad thing after all.


    The thought of that brought a smile to Tandrake''s lips. He chuckled and said, "I have to be an immortal. If only because of my son. I will help out his family in his absence." He put his affairs in order. Next, Tandrake found a rtively safe ce to make the breakthrough. It was a valley between two artificial mountains. It was a quiet and secluded ce. Not even shockwaves from distant battles can get to him here.


    It is a good ce, but he had to pay for it, and it was expensive. The cost didn''t discourage him, though. He needs the protection so that he won''t be interrupted during his


    breakthrough. Besides, if he does, he won''t have a need for his wealth anymore.


    When he was ready, he stood under the open void naked. He didn''t wear anything or equip any artifacts because it would interfere with the tribtion. It is always best to face the


    tribtion of the void universe the way one was born, or the tribtion will increase in difficulty exponentially.


    Then he invoked thew matrix. It was easy to do. He tried to be one with it, and thew matrix recoiled at his attempt. The recoil led to the agitation of thew matrix and the subsequent creation of a lightning storm.


    He looked up at the storm brewing in the void and said solemnly, "The tribtion has started."


    The lightning storm is the first stage of the tribtion. It is called the body stage because it tests the strength and integrity of the body of a Sovereign.


    The path of perfection rewards immortality only to those who bear no weakness. The body is the first part of one''s existence that will be tested for weaknesses.


    Tandrake was confident as he gazed at the brewing clouds. As someone who created a concept with lightning, a lightning storm is the least of his concerns.


    He thought he was being rightfully confident, but it turned out that he was only overconfident. The lightning used in the tribtion was not normal lightning. It overwhelmed the resistance of his body to lightning immediately.


    He was shocked physically and stunned mentally by the situation. His body was charred quickly, so his blue fur disappeared. If not for his body ofw, he would have turned to ashes immediately. This realization stunned him further.


    Despite the damage to his body, it was his pride and ego that hurt him the most. If not for the pain, he would have remained stunned for much longer. But the pain jarred his mind and awakened him. Even then, he still couldn''t move, much less defend himself. The lightning had a grip on his body that prevented him from being able to move.


    Fortunately, there was no need to defend himself. The lightning tribtion is just a test. The void universe is not trying to kill him. It will stop the lightning when it is satisfied with the state of his body. Defending with other means will only prolong the inevitable. All he has to do is bear the lightning storm and prove the integrity of his body.


    That doesn''t mean he can''t die. He will surely die if his body is not eptable. This thought was constantly ringing in Tandrake''s mind as the lightning burned away his flesh. What gave him some confidence was the bottle of life essence he had kept aside for use in emergencies.


    He has yet to use the life essence, but it is already paying dividends. The boost to Tandrake''s confidence didn''t let him panic. He bore the pain well until the universe found his body eptable.


    Then the next tribtion started immediately. He didn''t know when it started because there were no signs. But he felt the effect soon after. It felt like something other than pain. He felt itching all over this body. It overwhelmed the pain and made him roll over the ground, trying to reach an itch he couldn''t scratch.


    This is the soul test. The itch is caused by the lightning destroying his soul as well as his body. The lightning from the previous test only destroyed his body. He could heal it because the spiritual aspect of his existence was still intact.


    It was like a bucket of water. No matter how much water is taken out of the bucket, the water can be replenished back to its previous form. But if the bucket itself reduces in size, then no matter how much one tries to replenish the water, they will not be able to regain the previous volume.


    This is urring simultaneously with the lightning destroying his body. So not only is he losing his body, he is also losing his soul. He is losing both the water and the bucket.


    The way to pass this test is to be very strong in both body and soul. If one has a big bucket and


    a lot of water inside it, they wouldn''t mind a little reduction in it.


    But Tandrake is not going to use this method. He used his divine sense to grab and open the bottle of life essence since he couldn''t move his body.

 Chapter 1688: Guilty As Charged.

    Chapter 1688: Guilty As Charged.


    ?


    Then he took the single drop of milky liquid out of the bottle and made it touch his body. The drop seeped into his existence immediately. His body and soul began to heal because of it.


    He sighed in relief. "Fortunately, I have life essence."


    Life essence is very good. It replenished the water he had lost and rebuilt the broken bucket. It made him retain his top fighting strength before the third andst tribtion descended.


    He didn''t know when the third tribtion started either. This time around, he won''t be able to know because he has lost focus. His mind was wandering, and his thoughts were scattered. He was not aware of his environment or purpose at all.


    The lightning was still striking him, but he couldn''t feel pain anymore. He couldn''t feel the itch either. The mind tribtion is that insidious. If he had waited until now to use life essence, he wouldn''t be able to use it because he wouldn''t even be able to remember that he had it.


    Tandrake''s mind wandered elsewhere in the middle of a tribtion. His body and soul were burned but he wasn''t concerned about them. He is currently having a dream.


    He didn''t know that he was hallucinating, so everything he sees looks real, and he believes it is real. In this dream, he saw Ghoto''s mother. She was the woman he decided to spend hisst days with when he thought he was going to die as a titan ofw.


    He didn''t die at the end of the day. He gained control of his concept, and he left her. They were no longer of the same world. She was a mortal while he had eternal life. It was only a matter of time before she died. He decided to leave her before that happened.


    She too decided to keep something of him before he left. She got pregnant with Ghoto, but she didn''t tell him about it. When he found out about Ghoto, he didn''t acknowledge the boy. He didn''t raise him or take care of him. She died, but she has now appeared in his mind to be the embodiment of hisst tribtion.


    She said to him, "You killed our son."


    Her voice was quiet and sorrowful. She didn''t use him with much conviction, but he couldn''t help but feel a pang of guilt in his heart.


    Still, he denied it, "I didn''t kill him."


    "You did. You never cared for him, and you took the life essence he needed to be a titan ofw. If he had it, he wouldn''t have died."


    "I didn''t force him to hand it over. He was going to sell it to anyone. I bought it from him without coercion."


    His exnation didn''t cate her. She maintained, "You killed him. You could have warned him or advised him not to sell it. You could have forced him to keep the life essence for when he might need it. You could have lent him the money he needed for his family. But you did none of that, and now he is dead. You are a father who killed his son."


    "I didn''t kill him. He was a grown man who could make his own decisions and bear the consequences of them. He was not a child who needed codling. It was his mistake that killed him."


    He exined it several times, and he denied it over and over again. It was because he felt guilty, and he wanted his lover not to think badly of him. Especially since he left her alone back then.


    But she refused to listen to him. She med him, and he spent his time trying to convince her of the opposite. This urred time and time again for a long time. This was going on even as his body and soul diminished.


    This is the wrong approach to this test. He wasn''t supposed to feel guilty. He shouldn''t have tried to exin himself. He should have owned up to what he did without remorse.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He should have said, "I did it for power, and that''s all that matters."


    Instead, he wasted his time convincing a ghost that can never be convinced. Eventually, life essence ran out. His body and soul were destroyed in his attempt. He failed the tribtion and died.


    It is just one of the many deaths on the path to immortality. Immortality is enticing, but thousands of others have died for each person who has achieved immortality. One needs talent, luck, and determination to achieve it.


    If one of these iscking, even the best of the best will fall along the path to immortality. Tandrakecked the determination to pursue immortality at all costs without regrets. For that, he is not worthy of immortality.


    --What''s Next After The End?


    There are three major paths of power in the void universe. The path of perfection is one. The path of divinity is one, and the path of demons is the other. These three paths have their strengths and weaknesses. They have advantages and disadvantages. But one area of weakness that they all have is the need for a realm tree.


    The void universe is too dangerous for beings that are not immortal. They need a safe space conducive to their growth for them to develop into immortals. Without a realm tree, those on the three paths will suffer.


    The high heaven realm is gone. Everyone within it died when the era of conquest ended. This includes the gods. None of the gods could leave the realm, so all of them went down with it.


    As for the demons, they too are not well off. But at least, some of them survived. This is because, even though all of them within the realm died, those in the abyss survived the destruction of the realm.


    They lived longer until the abyss fell apart because of the absence of a realm tree. Now they have to find their way too in the hostile void universe.

 Chapter 1689: To Be Or Not To Be?

    Chapter 1689: To Be Or Not To Be?


    ?


    Even then, many demons still survived. They are mainly demon gods, but they are also the bulk of the power of demons, so one might say the demons arergely intact.


    They may be without direction now, but at least they have their lives. Even better is that they have a chance at achieving evolution. The abyss of the two realms was destroyed. This means there will be the creation of two world enders from the two realms.


    In the high heaven realm, GREED was bestowed with the energy of the destroyed abyss. GREED was the only demon that sabotaged the realm, so it was the only one in contention for the reward and automatically became the winner. This is not true for the Tyrant Realm.


    All the demon gods sabotaged the Tyrant Realm when things turned bad. They were helping at first, but when they realized that the Tyrant Realm would lose, they turned on it.


    So all of them have a right to the reward of the abyss. But two demons were especially hard working in sabotaging the realm. There were LIES who helped the invaders set up an ambush for the Tyrants, and there was LUST who helped GREED from the high heaven realm meet with the Supreme Tyrants.


    That meeting was pivotal in the downfall of the Tyrant Realm, so LIES was edged out by a slight margin. Therefore, all of the energy from the destroyed abyss went to LUST.


    But the other demon gods were not going to stand and watch. They participated in the quest to sabotage their realm tree so they could receive the energy if LUST gave up his position. LUST doesn''t want to give up his position, so they decided to help him make the right decision.


    The abyss has be a wreck. It has detached from the realm tree since the realm was destroyed. It is now copsing from top to bottom. This wreck can be seen from the void. It can be seen as a sinkhole of nes, and sin energy rapidly churning and copsing while discharging energy in the form of a ck pir rising up from the copsing abyss.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Above the wreckage are four demon gods. One of them is at the center, while the other four nk the one at the center. The one at the center is LUST. He is the recipient of the energy pir.


    LUST is evolving. All his clones have been called back to him, and he is expanding rapidly. This is both the strongest and weakest state he has ever been in.


    He is stronger than ever before due to all of his energy being in the same ce and the abyss constantly empowering him. But he is also vulnerable in that if he dies now, he will die forever since he doesn''t have any clones to use as failsafes.


    Thisst part is especially important since he doesn''t have a safe ce to evolve. That means his evolution can be interfered with. That means it is in danger.


    Not every demon god can be as lucky as CARNAGE who stumbled upon a world spark, got a safe space to evolve, and had time boosted so that he could evolve quickly. LUST has to deal with the interference of others who don''t want him to evolve.


    The four demon gods nking him want to interfere in this process. They don''t have a suicidal n that needs a world ender. So they want to stop him before he bes a world ender.


    It is not certain that they will be able to stop him since it is not everyday that an abyss is destroyed for them. But they are going to try anyway.


    They know that they may fail to stop LUST. They know that if they fail, they will be at the mercy of a world ender. But they can''t leave without trying. Especially not GREED. He just can''t leave. His sin won''t let him. PRIDE on the other hand, is too proud to think he would fail, and WRATH is too angry to think.


    PRIDE sneered and said, "Give up on the energy. We would rather die than let you evolve."


    GREED tried to mediate. "There''s no need to go so far. Just give us some of the energy. Let us share it, and we won''t need to fight."


    WRATH roared, "You can''t win. You are the weakest one."


    LUST chuckled. WRATH was right. He is the weakest after LIES. Maybe it is because of his weakness that LIES didn''t join this ambush. But LUST wasn''t going to allow himself to remain weak. He had to seize every opportunity to be stronger.


    So he said, "Bring it on."


    They did bring it on. Like three wolves hunting a stag, they tore into LUST. LUST couldn''t run. He had to stay still to receive the energy boon of the abyss. So the three of them didn''t have to chase it around. They could focus all their power on unraveling LUST.


    This fight is not a joke. It is a matter of life and death. Both parties knew it to be so. They tried their very best right from the start. The three demon gods burned all the energy they had for the fight.


    They were oceans of energy before, but they became stars after burning their energy. Their whole existence had entered fission mode. They were breaking down their own existences for power. Regardless of victory or defeat, they would be severely weakened after the fight. LUST also burned his energy for power, but it wascking. The sin of lust is not proficient in strength, speed, or defense. It can simte those properties at the cost of more energy, but what he is proficient in is being difficult to grasp. However, being difficult to grasp has limited help when you don''t move and are surrounded.


    The three stars tore into the star in the middle. They ripped matter and energy away from LUST very quickly. He shrank because of it. If not for the energy pir, he wouldn''t have stood a chance at all.

 Chapter 1690: Consolation Prize.

    Chapter 1690: Constion Prize.


    ?


    Unfortunately, LUST couldn''t replenish his energy as fast as it was ripped away. The star at the center shrank under the dedicated ministrations of violence. It couldn''t hold on anymore, so it went out with a bang.


    This oue surprised the three demon gods.


    "Did we win?" they thought to themselves.


    LUST was truly dead. His existence had been scattered. What was left was the energy pir.


    Then the demon gods began fighting each other for the energy pir. It was another brutal fight. The three waning stars collided with each other in a bid for supremacy. They fought for several hours before there was a victor.


    PRIDE said with pride, "I won. I am the victor. I can never lose. Everyone else is trash. I am the best."


    The sin of pride is one proficient in resistance and defense. That turned out to be the best sin for prolonged fighting. Now she is about to reap the rewards of her efforts.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    But then LIES returned. It might be a coincidence that he appeared the moment the fight ended, but PRIDE wasn''t going to believe that.


    PRIDE could run and give up on the energy pir, but she sneered and said, "You too want to die? Come then."


    PRIDE doesn''t think that she will lose. She thinks she will win after beating four enemies, so she didn''t run. The two energy clouds shed.


    Pride was ake of energy at this point. She had shrunk because of the previous fights, but her energy tentacles were still sharp and durable. LIES, on the other hand, had many soft tentacles that were between real and unreal. The tentaclescked strength, but destroying them was difficult because they could turn unreal whenever they were in danger and return to being real when they were opportuned to harm the enemy.


    PRIDE was strong, but she couldn''t harm LIES efficiently. Each attack of LIES did little damage to PRIDE, but arge number of drops of water will form an ocean. In this case, each little bit of damage to PRIDE umted over time to slowly grind it down.


    The two demon gods were doing an equal amount of harm to each other. But one had more energy than the other. LIES was able to lever its vast energy to overwhelm PRIDE. PRIDE was destroyed, leaving LIES with the energy pir.


    She didn''t think she would lose, but she was wrong. As for LIES, he had gambled that he would be able to make it in time to take advantage of the situation. If he had been a bit too early orte, then he would have lost. He was right, so he wins.


    LIES took the ce of LUST and was able to evolve without interference. A new world ender was thus formed. LIES''s mind descended into an unknown ce filled with corrosion.


    The surroundings were dark, and the corrosion was so powerful that LIES''s mind was eroded. It couldn''t resist the corrosion, so its mind sumbed to it.


    LIES screamed, "Nooo0000000000!"


    He screamed at the top of his voice in a bid to attract some help. Unfortunately, the sound he made was also corroded as soon as it left him. No one will hear his cry for help. Even if anyone did, they are unlikely to help, and even if they decided to help, these helpers would fail and be corrupted themselves.


    However, LIES had no choice. He could only scream, so he screamed. But then he stopped screaming. His mind had be dark and twisted, just like the environment in which he had found himself.


    LIES failed the final step of the breakthrough, but he still became a world ender. He has just be mad and corrupted. He has also be more powerful, so no world god can take advantage of his addled mind. This is despite the fact that he has be capable of producing Chaos blood, which world gods all want.


    Chaos blood is very important, and LIES has be capable of producing it. Unfortunately, LIES doesn''t know how rich he is, and he doesn''t appreciate it either. He would have preferred to have ovee the corruption instead of failing it. Chaos blood is a constion prize, but LIES would have preferred his sanity.


    Without sanity, LIES roamed the void universe without any n or intent. He just went wherever there was more energy. He couldn''t do anything to realm trees because of the protection of the void universe. But any world god he encounters and manages to make contact with is doomed. They will have to share in the same corrosion that twisted its existence. No world god has ever survived that kind of experience.


    It can be said that CARNAGE was truly lucky. It doesn''t know it yet, but it is the prison around it that is preventing its mind from descending to that unknown, dark ce.


    CARNAGE doesn''t like its prison now, but it will pine for it when it suffers a fate worse than death. It will even appreciate the fact that it can''t produce Chaos blood like all other world enders can.


    -----How To Be A World god.


    The era of conquest has ended, and the high heaven realm is no more. It has caused a lot more harm than those done to Sovereigns ofw and those weaker than them. Even Origin gods are affected by it.


    These effects are good and bad. To those affected by the bad, it is because they didn''t perform well enough in the era of conquest. So they lost their opportunity to gain the assistance of the realm lord in bing world gods.


    Guntu is one of them. There are many of them, like him, who have failed to achieve this goal. Guntu suspected it before that he was not in the top 0.1% of the Origin gods of the high


    heaven realm. The era of conquest simply confirmed it.


    What''s worse is that Guntu even failed to acquire enough contribution points to buy the fake alternatives of world seeds and world engines. That''s something he didn''t expect.

 Chapter 1691 Vulnerable And Exposed.

    Chapter 1691 Vulnerable And Exposed.


    He is not alone in this situation. He is just one of the 99% of all the Origin gods in the realm who failed. It was mostly Supreme Origin gods that seeded, but some other Origin gods did too.


    Guntu did not have a Supreme Law, but he had a world Fragment. Even so, he still failed to make the cut. Fortunately, he knows a world god, so he is not hopeless. But he has to watch others who seeded in this goal and beyond make progress while he remains stagnant. One such asion that pained him the most was seeing another Supreme Origin god be a world god. The only thing that calmed him down was that this Supreme Origin god was a dragon. Dragons are far from normal, so it is not a good idea topare them to people like him.


    Even so, Guntu couldn''t help but feel a pang of jealousy as he watched. This Supreme Origin god has decided to breakthrough in front of arge crowd. That was not their original intention. It is just that their breakthrough couldn''t be hidden. It created a lot of manifestations in the void universe that drew the attention of others to it. Guntu is just one of the many people who came to watch. There are thousands of them. All of them are surrounding a whirlpool created in the void and in thew matrix beneath it. Their eyes are all fixated on what is at the center. They are waiting in hopes that the Supreme Origin god will fail to be a world god.


    Unlike the breakthrough of demons into world enders, no one can interfere with the breakthrough of a world god. But the bystanders can hope that the breakthrough fails so that they can take the tools left behind. This is unlikely to happen. Especially not when the Supreme Origin god isn''t using subpar tools to build their world. If they use the standard world seed and world engine gotten from a realm heart, then it is unlikely that they will fail. Besides, Dylganihl doesn''t think he can fail, even if he uses subpar tools. He is a dragon, so he is sure that he can make it work. It is not about being overconfident. His pride is warranted. If he were a demon, he would be a demon of pride. Dragons are just that good.


    It is a daunting task to be a world god. It feels strange and difficult. It feels strange because he is detaching himself from the void universe. The feeling of independence is strange. He feels exposed and vulnerable. It is also dangerous because the void universe doesn''t want to let him go. The void universe can''t stop him because he has built his Supreme Law, but it can make things difficult for him by trying to crush him so that he will fail. The whirlpool that everyone can see is growing stronger because the void universe wants to crush him. Dylganihl, who was at its center, didn''t feel any fear despite the pressure.


    He said to himself in confidence, "I can''t fail."


    It is not overconfidence because he has made enough preparations to seed. Even if it were possible for someone to interfere in his breakthrough, he would still seed.


    It is because he has his father standing guard, so even a world god won''t be able to make him fail. The knowledge that he has everything he needs to be a world god is the foundation of his confidence, and also why he doesn''t feel any fear or anxiety. The first thing he did was descend into his Origin. He did that by deploying his Origin domain. Then he sensed for his life anchor within it.


    Not many people know what the life anchor is. Not many even know it exists until they reach the limit of the power of immortality. It is then that they sense a location beneath thew matrix that can only be essed through their Origin domain. Even then, they only know the life anchor to be a location in the dark side of the void universe. They don''t know that that location was created when their existence became too powerful and too heavy for the light side of the void universe. They became so heavy that their existence created pressure on the void universe that can be felt in the dark side. Dylganihl found his life anchor. It is just a bend in reality. It is a small pocket of space where he doesn''t feel the pressure of the light side anymore. He brought out the world seed and the world engine. Then he input his Supreme Law into the two of them. The three of them became connected through his Supreme Law. The two previously inert object came to life immediately. The world engine lit up and turned into a ringed golden band of light. Energy of all types were refined and transformed into one form or the other within it. The world engine needed energy, so Dylganihl gave it energy. He siphoned the energy of the void universe, freely avable to everyone. This energy is the void energy in the void. It came like a flood into his domain, down into his life anchor, and into the world engine.


    This caused the whirlpool that can be seen above and drew the attention of others. His action also angered the void universe. It increased the pressure of the whirlpool to halt his attempt. But he didn''t give up. He maintained his grip on the world seed and the world engine. The world engine got what it needed so it began to feed the world seed.


    The world seed, a crystal with infinite faces representing the infinite possibilities of evolution, began to glow. It also required energy, which Dylganihl gave it. He poured all the Origin essence he had into the world seed. This caused it to start the infinite derivation and permutations needed to be a world.

 Chapter 1692: The Trinity.

    Chapter 1692: The Trinity.


    ?


    The world seed went into the ring of light and fixed itself in its center. Then Dylganihl himself broke apart into his Supreme Law. He infused the two objects with his existence and formed into a shell around them. Thus, a new realm heart was formed.


    The world seed took force and energy from the world engine and wove them into matter and reality using the instructions from the Supreme Law.


    The world engine was the source of potential energy, the supremew was the direction, and the world seed was the one that converted the potential energy into kic energy. These processes led to the creation of a world.


    The new realm heart grew rapidly. It erged in size, then stopped growing. It stopped growing, but it became brighter. Runes,ws, and information were ejected out of the realm heart like sr res. They formed a hologram around the realm heart.


    This hologram was in the shape of a t ring around the realm heart. But it grew as the realm heart grew brighter. More information was ejected into it from the Supreme Law, which caused it to be excited. It rotated rapidly around the realm heart and grew thicker.


    The speed of rotation of the hologram as well as its thickness grew over time. Unfortunately, it was too slow. It took 34,733 years until it grew into aplete shell around the realm heart. Then it expanded outward.


    This hologram is thew matrix of the new world. Its formation is the step where some Supreme Origin gods fail. Some fail to form it, while others take much longer to form it.


    Either way, anything that causes the existence of the Supreme Origin god to crack under pressure will cause thew matrix to fail to form and the breakthrough to fail. But once it is formed, there is no stopping the breakthrough to bing a world god.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The holographic sphere spread outward from the life anchor to upy the entire Origin domain. Then it began pushing against the Origin domain in a bid to expand outward into the void universe.


    Thew matrix of the void universe resisted this expansion. Unfortunately, it was bound to fail. It is because thew matrix has already been formed. Unless it breaks, its expansion cannot be stopped. The only matter that is up for debate is howrge thew matrix will be.


    Surely the void universe can break a newly formedw matrix, but it doesn''t use its full strength. Especially not when the neww matrix is also causing it to expand by transforming the internal pressure caused by the neww matrix into the external pressure needed to expand its borders. So it was slowly pushed back until it finally formed an equilibrium with the neww matrix.


    Next, the new world was disced into the dark side, and it brought the domain with it, so the domain disappeared from the void universe. The whirlpool still remained, but it was slowing down. It was the sign that those watching needed to know that what they hoped for wouldn''te to pass.


    Most of them dispersed then. Only a few remained to see if they could catch a glimpse of the new world god. Unfortunately, this will not be so for another tens of thousands of years.


    A world is not easy to build. Dylganihl has done the major parts and built the foundation, but his work needs fleshing out, literally. Thew matrix is just the instructions andws that determine the operation of a world. The hologram has to solidify and be real. To do that, it must manifest a world. That will require a lot of time and energy.


    Guntu didn''t have the time to wait, so he left for other business. This business is with his ancestor, so he can''t bete. He has just heard that one of his uncle''s had found a small realm. That means their family has something other than other immortals to rob.


    He was able to make it in time before the attack started. He arrived before the target. It is a small realm tree. It is not asrge as the high heaven realm, and it doesn''t have as many leaves.


    Guntu looked at the realm tree as if it were a te of food. He thought to himself in anticipation, "What bad luck to be found. Now you will never grow into a full realm."


    Their family didn''t actually stumble onto the realm tree. They bought the information from someone who found it. They had to pay a high price for it, but whatever they paid cannotpare to the fragments of the realm heart and other goodies they will loot from the realm.


    With those fragments and the many fake alternatives that they will harvest, they will be able to create many more world gods in addition to their ancestor. It will cost them some effort and trillions of lives contained within the realm tree, but it will be worth it for the power they will gain.


    Such is life. As long as one is not immortal, they can die anytime, even if they are in a realm tree. No ce is truly safe without immortality.


    Speaking of their ancestor, Guntu felt their presence immediately when they arrived. It was as if he had swallowed a heavy stone. He is certain of this feeling because he has indeed swallowed a heavy stone before. He couldn''t help but remember it now.


    His ancestor''s presence was heavy. It was also unpleasant. It was apanied by the sensation of electric sparks tingling the skin and the smell of a lightning storm brewing. All of these sensations tell Guntu that this is not a rock that he swallowed. This is more dangerous.


    His ancestor''s presence filled him with the natural fear of a creature on the higher end of the feeding order. But it also filled him with confidence and anticipation for what was toe. So he held his breath as he waited for it.

 Chapter 1693: Taking A Big Bite.

    Chapter 1693: Taking A Big Bite.


    ?


    Ghastorix was below thew matrix on the dark side. His gaze was fixed on the small realm. He didn''te with his main body, but most of his power is still here.


    As a world god, his main body is his world. It is his most guided secret. He has to keep its location secret and difficult to find. After all, he is not the strongest world god in the void universe. There are many world gods who wouldn''t mind taking a bite out of him. It is the same thing that he is about to do now.


    He looked like a statue carved out of the ckest obsidian. Only exuberant lightning could be seen in the two holes on his face, where his eyes should be. That lightning and the ones sparkling on his spiked hair showed how excited he was. They were practically jumping away from him into his environment. Even his three tails were swerving about.


    He is a predator. He hunts and eats prey. Right now, he has found prey. What is about to ur is obvious. It made him grin.


    A slit appeared on his face where his lips should be. Blue light and blue lightning came out of the slit. The sound of the thunder the lightning made was the sound of him chuckling.


    He is very excited about what he is seeing. This small realm is like arge bubble in the void universe. He can see theyers of space within it and what they contain. The realm tree couldn''t block his sight because it didn''t have the protection of the void universe. If it doesn''t have the protection of the void universe, that means he can do so much more than spy on it.


    An invisible figure was standing beside him. Her white, translucent figure shone brightly like amp in the dark. Her green hair, made of vines, was spread outward from her head like a dense cloud.


    She said to him, "What are we waiting for?"


    "I am looking for the path of least resistance."


    She nodded. "That''s a good idea."


    Then she asked, "How are you going to do that?"


    "I''ll just watch it for a while. A weakness is bound to show itself."


    As a world god, he knows how worlds operate on an instinctual level. As a world god who is familiar with destruction, he knows where to hit for maximum effect. Those two talentsbined give him the ability to identify weaknesses.


    They waited for a few seconds more. Then he said, "Got it."


    Then he was gone with a sh of light. The world exploded around him with turbulent waves that could be felt in space and time. Even the people on the light side of the void universe were thrown about like dolls in an ocean wave.


    They heard an explosion and saw a sh of light. The next thing they knew, the small realm tree shook. It shook with the roar of an avnche. It was followed by a tearing sound that almost tore their minds apart.


    Ghastorix had ripped into the barrier of the realm. He had both of his arms deep into the bubble and was ripping its outer shell apart to create ess into the realm tree. He didn''t feel the bacsh of the void universe, so it became certain that this realm tree was on its own.


    So he created two more arms and used them to expand the hole in the barrier.


    The realm tree would have none of it. It might not have the protection of the void universe, but that doesn''t mean it is weak.


    A powerful Will appeared in front of Ghastorix. The figure of the Will of the realm was indistinct, but the aura around it was that of a world god.


    It yelled at him, "Cease your actions, world god."


    Ghastorix replied calmly, "Make me."


    He didn''t stop what he was doing at all. He even created a third pair of arms to work more efficiently. The Will of the realm retaliated immediately. The whole realm was mobilized, and its momentum was made to explode in his face.


    The formless force mmed into Ghastorix. He was almost pushed out of the hole he was making. Almost. But then his tails touched. One was blue, the second ck, and the third golden. The blue tail and ck tail touched. Thunder and lightning boomed. The world quaked as power exploded out of him.


    He became a star formed out of ck lightning. The core of the star was ck, but the edges were bright white. His figure couldn''t be seen anymore, but his voice was heard.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He said, "Let there be destruction."


    He decreed, and it was so. ck lightning snaked out of him and unraveled the world. Creation in every form was turned into destruction. The destruction created more ck lightning, which transformed more creation into destruction.


    It was a chain reaction of mayhem and wanton destruction. It was so fast that to the onlookers, it looked as if the star had exploded. But that wasn''t the case. The world had just turned into the star because the star of destruction had expanded.


    The expansion was so fast that it looked like an explosion. It also happened within the hole in the barrier, so the hole was ripped apart.


    The Will of the realm took matters into its own hands. It moved to push out the star by colliding with it. Ghastorix foiled its n by finally making the star explode.


    The star didn''t explode in every direction like it should. Ghastorix directed its power as a cone of destruction that struck the Will of the realm. So all of that destructive energy was expelled into the realm. Even then, there was an intense discharge of light that stunned the eyes and minds of all those watching.


    By the time Guntu recovered, half of the realm tree was gone. He could now see into the realm tree. What he saw almost made his mouth drop in awe. Many nes of existence had been destroyed and void energy was rushing into the realm.

 Chapter 1694: A Bomb That Cant Explode.

    Chapter 1694: A Bomb That Can''t Explode.


    ?


    The Will of the realm was trying to keep out the void energy, but it couldn''t because there was arge hole, almost one-third of the size of the realm, on its barrier. But it couldn''t close the hole because there was a ck statue standing within it with his four arms folded, looking down sternly like a disappointed god.


    Ghastorix stood in that hole like a god. He wasn''t pushing the barrier or trying to rip it apart, but it couldn''t heal anymore because it couldn''t dislodge him. There was no more destruction or fireworks, but the damage had been done. Ghastorix was like a heavy rock that the realm had swallowed. That analogy made Guntu gulp.


    Then he heard his ancestor''s voice say, "Get in."


    Guntu joined the other Origin gods that were waiting to rush into the realm. They rushed into the hole and passed by the body of their ancestor. They were like fliespared to him. They were truly tiny.


    Guntu thought to himself, "I am truly weak."


    He and many others think they are weakpared to a world god. They are already immortals, and yet they think they are weak. What about the mortals living their lives in the small realm that was ripped open? They were going about their day when the sky suddenly shook.


    Then the earth shook too. Next, the sky came falling down as a hole appeared in it. From that hole, they saw thergest hands that they had ever seen. Most of them didn''t even know that a living thing could grow to be so big. So they were very confused.


    As for those who knew what could be so big, they fell down in panic or rushed to leave the realm. Unfortunately, they couldn''t leave because the Will of the realm had ced the whole realm on lockdown.


    If it is any constion, that lockdown didn''tst long before the barrier of the realm was ripped apart. Some lucky few were destroyed in the aftermath of that explosion. The rest followed right after, when the thousands of Origin gods began ripping out the nes one by one.


    Each part of a realm is valuable. Especially the divine ne and the nes. The divine ne contains the Authority of the Celestial Supreme while each ne contains Life crystals.


    The Authority of the Celestial Supreme is useful to world gods and can be used as a substitute for world engines, while the Life crystals can be used as substitutes for world seeds to be world gods. So there was no way that the Ghastorix family would let go of any part of the realm.


    The only part of the realm that wasn''t affected by the invasion was the abyss. The demons didn''t even know what was happening to the realm until it was toote to do anything about it. Then they had to fight for the right to evolve after the abyss was destroyed.


    Ghastorix watched this happen without doing anything. His job is to suppress the Will of the realm until the whole realm has been excavated. Then he would rip out the heart of the realm. He did just that and only that. He didn''t interfere in the affairs of the demons.


    If he were an Origin god, he might have fought the demon gods. He can still remember his fights with demon gods as an Origin god. Other Supreme Origin gods couldn''t fight them one- on-one but he could, and he would win too. His Supreme Law was that powerful. Nothing could stand in his way, and he had the backing of the void universe.


    But now he has grown stronger, and he is on his own. He has gained power as well as knowledge. He knows he has too much to lose if he meddles with demons now. Each demon god is just a tame and living version of the corrosion he sees down below. They might be weak, and he might love fighting, but he knows better than to enter the abyss. After all, that is the closest point to that corruption.


    Origin gods might think they are weak and they would be right. But they have the support of the void universe, so they are lucky in their own way. At the very least, they can''t be corrupted by Chaos.


    He thought to himself with amusement, "I guess that''s what gives Legion the confidence to mess with a world ender. Unfortunately, they don''t need the protection of the void universe to mess with CARNAGE. That one is not a true world ender."


    The keeper of secrets has informed him of Legion''s supposed hold on the first sage. It always makes him chuckle when he thinks about it.


    It is because Legion is apparently carrying a bomb that can''t explode and is using it to threaten someone. At least that''s what the keeper of secrets thinks of the whole situation.


    He shook his head, "Talk about a child wielding a power they don''t understand or control. It is already impressive that they haven''t destroyed themselves with it. Asking more from them won''t help.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He knows that Legion is impressive, but he believes that they will continue to be pawns until they be world gods. That way, they won''t die when the void universe refreshes, and they will be able to tell that CARNAGE doesn''t have a lick of Chaos Blood.


    Any world god worth their salt will be aware of the corrosion below and know that if CARNAGE had Chaos blood, the prison they built for it wouldn''t be able to hold it. After all, Chaos is capable of corroding almost everything.


    He can me their mistake on being ignorant. After all, not many know that the reason world enders are so feared is because of their possession of Chaos blood.


    He also won''t me them for not knowing that CARNAGE won''t be dangerous until it is released. Anyone can be ignorant. But ignorance and weakness won''t excuse them from being yed about by a world god who wants to be an Usurper and a group of three world gods who want to take advantage of the situation.

 Chapter 1695: Unreasonable And Implausible.

    Chapter 1695: Unreasonable And Imusible.


    ?


    He yelled at his descendants, "Quickly now, we don''t have all day."


    The Origin gods quickened their pace, which made Ghastorix satisfied. Hadrikomania appeared beside him, which made him happier. Her presence didn''t make the Will of the realm happy, though. It raged ineffectively against him. Its rage was ineffective because his Will was too strong for it to ovee.


    Hadrikomania didn''t ask him if he was alright because she could tell that he was fine. She can even tell how much of his power he has used and how close this body is to being destroyed. It is one of the perks of being the Will of his world.


    She looked around for a while and said, "I heard that Mother High Heaven is dead. Is that true?"


    "Yes, it is."


    He didn''t ask her who told her or where she heard it from. He knows everything that happens in his world, including the conversation that urs between her and the inhabitants of his world.


    She asked, "I also heard that Monarch High Heaven did it. How can such a thing happen?"


    She can''t believe that the realm lord seeded in doing something like that because Mother High Heaven was supposed to know everything he was up to. After all, they were sharing the same world.


    It is just unbelievable to her since she wouldn''t be able to seed in doing something like that to Ghastorix. Unfortunately, Ghastorix doesn''t have an answer to her question.


    He said, "It is unbelievable to a lot of people too. Not only did he kill his Will of the realm and survive it, he also survived the destruction of his realm too. It is truly unbelievable."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "But there are some guesses as to how he managed something like that. Some say it is because his Supreme Law is very sturdy. After all, it was made from a concept that has at least sixws. It might even have five aspects, like the Supreme Law of Order."


    "Then there is the fact that he managed to produce Authority. We still don''t know how he managed to do that. It might have helped him do something that shouldn''t be possible. Monarch High Heaven has always been an outlier. This is just one of the unreasonable things he has seeded in doing, and it won''t be thest."


    She nodded in understanding. "This reminds me of Soverick and Legion. They, too, made concepts with manyws, and they have broken manyws. Do you think it is a good idea to continue using them as bait?"


    Ghastorix chuckled and reassured her. "We arepletely in the clear here. What we intend to do is reap the benefits of the conflict between Legion and the first sage. If there is any danger, there will be three world gods to face it with me. We will be safe."


    "If you say so, In the meantime, I will have a look around."


    She zipped away for some sight-seeing. Meanwhile, Ghastorix became solemn. It is because he is not sure that he will be safe. However, unlike Hadrikomania, he is not worried about Legion. He is concerned about the threat that CARNAGE will pose if it acquires Chaos blood and the danger from the first sage.


    He doesn''t believe he has anything to fear from an Origin god that he can freeze or kill with a sneeze. There are better things for him to be concerned about. But that doesn''t mean he''s going to give up. It is because there are many benefits that he can''t give up on.


    "The danger doesn''t matter much anymore. The harvest from this realm tree will make things easier. I will be stronger, and so will the family."


    He put away his concerns and focused on the matter at hand. His descendants have finished stripping the realm, so it is his turn to deal the finishing blow.


    The realm tree has be wrecked. It is now a hollow shell of what it was. In fact, this shell is rotting and about to dpose. Void energy is eroding it by the second.


    It is certain that the realm tree will fall. But he couldn''t wait for that time. He struck the center of the realm with a punch. A mighty fist made of blue lightning appeared and exploded within the realm. It was thest straw to break this camel''s back. The whole realm cracked and imploded.


    The space that the realm tree upied became impossible to sustain. First, it became indefinite, and its borders became unstable. Then it copsed inward with a bang. At the center of the explosion was the broken heart of the realm tree. Some parts of it didn''t survive the explosion, but the three most important parts were still intact.


    He took these three and departed from the ruins of the realm. On his way out, he saw the abyss also copsing. Demon gods were fighting within it for the chance to evolve.


    The sight made him chuckle. But it brought with it the memory of Aeternus, which made him frown. He couldn''t help but have a sinking feeling about Chaos.


    World gods are very powerful and they destroy realm trees like the predators that they are. But each realm tree that they destroy leads to the creation of a world ender. These world enders then go on to threaten world gods. It is a viscious circle that will eventually lead to the death of the void universe.


    He is already afraid of world ender just like every other world of god. But he considers the process by which world enders are created to be more threatening. He considers the power and influence of the Law of Chaos, a force that appears to be a single Supreme Law, to create many world enders to be very dangerous.


    He is an outlier in this aspect. Other world gods don''t consider it much because a single realm tree can produce many world gods both weak and strong, while only a single world ender is


    born.

 Chapter 1696: No Underestimation.

    Chapter 1696: No Underestimation.


    ?


    The advantage of numbers is clearly on the side of world gods, but the advantage of power is not. World gods can avoid the world enders for now, but soon, the world enders will be too many to avoid. After all, world enders never die, while world gods run out of realm hearts to build worlds.


    Then there is Aeternus who has a power simr to those of world enders. From the


    information he has, he knows that Aeternus is not as dangerous as the first sage will have everyone to believe. He knows that Aeternus can''t control that power yet.


    But he also knows that Aeternus can be dangerous if he is pushed to the limit enough. He might just lose his sanity and sumb to the corrosion down below. So while Aeternus is currently of moderate danger, he has the potential to quickly be a terrifying danger.


    These thoughts made Ghastorix consider something he didn''t think he would. He thought to himself, "Maybe there is not just one world ender that I have to worry about. Maybe there are two."


    All of these went through Ghastorix''s mind as he watched the abyss. He made up his mind then not to underestimate Legion. At the very least, he has to freeze them at the first opportunity he gets or destroy them quickly.


    ---Realm wars.


    The death of this small realm is something that is happening many times in the void universe. The rate at which they happen only increases over time. It doesn''t decrease at all. If anything,rge realms that should have the protection of the void universe against world gods also meet their demise.


    The death ofrge words rarely happens, though. They need the existence of a realm lord for this to happen. Either for the era of conquest or for the assistance of a realm in taking down another realm, This requirement is very difficult to meet. But once it is met,rge realms meet their ends en masse.


    In the case of the high heaven realm, it has produced approximately 1 trillion Origin gods in its history. About half of those participated in the era of conquest, and 0.1% of them seeded in gaining the assistance of the realm. That means 500 million Origin gods are owed the assistance of the realm.


    If each of them manages to subdue a realm tree, then 500 millionrge realm trees will die. It is unlikely that all of them will seed, though. But it is a possibility that has to be considered now that Monarch High Heaven has called for everyone he owes a favor to show up.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    That''s just the present consequences of the sess of one era of conquest. One can imagine just how much havoc those 500 million Origin gods will wreck on the void universe if half of them manage to subdue a realm tree and be world gods. Even if the void universe is nearly infinite, its limit will be reached very quickly if this happens many times.


    Origin gods are insignificant whenpared to the void universe. But 500 million of them makes them significant. They are many enough to form an ocean of bodies in the void. It is an impressive sight that is rarely seen in the void universe.


    Even though there are arge number of people, they are not making any noise. There is only the roar of void energy around them. It is not that the immortals are mute, but theymunicate with their minds, so they don''t produce any sound.


    Even if they needed tomunicate with sounds, they would have all be silent when Monarch High Heaven arrived. It is something that they have to do.


    Monarch High Heaven soon arrived in all his captivating glory and power. He was a giant star in a humanoid form. His skin as well as his flesh were all white and blinding to look at. He was adorned in a golden battle armor that serves more to give his existence shape and boundary than to protect him.


    Every Origin god had stoppedmunicating, even with their minds. They were all staring at him in silence. Even though they were 500 million in number, they didn''t have the confidence to take on this entity. It is asughable as 5 million ants taking on a towering volcano.


    He looked vastly different from his usual elven form. But they can feel that he is the one contracted to help them suppress a realm tree.


    It is not that they considered that he could be someone else or care if he were someone else. All is well as long as he fulfills the promise he made to them for them to participate in the era of conquest. That''s all that matters to them currently.


    Monarch High Heaven was also regarding them. He made his disdain for them clear with a snort.


    He said to them, "I don''t have time to waste. I have a project to prepare for. You might have heard of it. You might even be lucky enough to have gained some slots through world gods to participate in it. If not, then you are out of luck. This might be yourst chance to amount to anything so you better not waste it and my time."


    "We will begin a campaign of destruction in a moment. We will attack every realm tree around us. I will suppress the realm trees while you destroy them. You will be called up in order of your contribution points and you will have one Origin cycle to take down the realm."


    "I don''t care of you are prepared right now and I will not care if you can''t defeat your assigned realm tree in one Origin cycle. All I care about is that I have fulfilled my end of the bargain."


    "Let us begin."


    Many Origin gods wanted toin. They were supposed to be given an Origin cycle to prepare. In that time, they were supposed to prepare their armies and forces. They were not supposed to be called into action to subdue a realm at the drop of a hat.

 Chapter 1697: Now Or Never.

    Chapter 1697: Now Or Never.


    ?


    They were also supposed to scout the realm trees to find vulnerable ones. Then they would bring the information of their chosen realm tree to the realm lord who would then help them to suppress it.


    But none of that is going to happen apparently. The realm tree they get to attack would be random and based on luck. They also won''t have time to prepare for it.


    They have a lot of reasons toin. But none of them said a word when Monarch High Heaven waved his hand at a realm tree. Space was twisted by a mysterious force and the barrier of the realm tree was shredded.


    There was no fanfare or fire works even though this is arge realm not a small realm. It looked as if he had put in very little effort but they know that to be false because they felt the mysterious force that assaulted the realm tree. It was vast like an ocean. It could drown out all 500 million of them just as easily as it shredded that barrier.


    The knowledgeable ones knew that vast force to be Cosmic force so they didn''tin. But even the ignorant ones were silent.


    No one could speak, despite being immortal. A normal world god can curse them to a life worse than death or freeze them forever in a state simr to death, so a normal world god should be feared. A world god that can belittle arge realm deserves more than fear. Besides, he never promised to give them time to prepare. So no oneined.


    They filed in line and responded when they were called into action. The Origin god with the highest contribution was the first to be called. He was assigned the first realm tree. He moved towards it to inspect it. There was arge crack in its barrier for him to go through.


    He expected to feel the malice of the world when he entered, but he felt nothing. There was only silence. There was no suppression on him whatsoever. He could teleport as well as use world fragments.


    He couldn''t help but mutter, "It feels like the Will of the realm is dead."


    He heaved a sigh of relief because the apparent dormancy of the Will of the realm is a good thing. It will make his invasion easier. He just has to fend off the billions of Origin gods that were raised in this realm. They will surelye to defend their realm tree.


    The Will of the realm might not resist his invasion, but the inhabitants of the realm tree would. If they were anything like the realm of high heaven, and if only 1% of them showed up, he would have to fight off 5 billion defenders. Just thinking about it made him have a headache.


    He couldn''t help but groan, "I wish I had time to prepare, though."


    But there''s no time. The contract only says that Monarch High Heaven will suppress the Will of the realm for them. It didn''t say when and how. So the realm lord has done his part. The rest is up to them.


    The race for victory or defeat has begun, but this Supreme Origin god couldn''t help but think about how good it would be to barricade the realm tree so that its Origin gods wouldn''t be able to reinforce it. He thought about it and decided to ask the realm lord for assistance in that aspect.


    He was willing to pay for that assistance, but Monarch High Heaven rejected him. He exined to his former realm lord how unlikely it would be for him to defeat 500 billion Origin gods and how badly he needed the barricade.


    Monarch High Heaven had said in disdain, "You are worried about the wrong thing. You should be worried about the world gods that the realm tree has produced, not the immortals." The Supreme Origin god began to panic after realizing the full implications of a realm war.


    "What you are asking me to do is not as simple as sealing off the realm against Origin gods. I also have to fight the world gods that will try to destroy the barricade. Frankly, you can''t pay me well enough to do that. If you could, you wouldn''t need my help to suppress a realm tree. You would be able to use that wealth to be a world god yourself."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Even if you somehow have that wealth and you want to offer it to me, what makes you think I amcking in wealth? I will tell you now that I am notcking in wealth. What I amcking is time. It is the time I don''t have that I will be wasting to help you when I should be wasting it to help the other 500 million Origin gods."


    "So no, I am not helping anyone of you. You are all on your own."


    The realm lord said that to all 500 million of them. It made them realize just what they were up against in its full splendor. The Supreme Origin god that asked the question was frozen with helplessness. But all he got from the realm lord was a snort of disdain.


    The Supreme Origin god stood in front of the hole in the barrier of the realm, watching it helplessly. He didn''t know where to start or how to start the invasion. He didn''t even know the races of the realm, their distribution of power, strengths, and weaknesses, etc.


    He was trying toe up with a n of action when the shout of Monarch High Heaven shook him out of his stupor.


    "If I were you, I would rush into that realm tree now before world godse to interfere with your realm war. If theye to find you as you are, then you might not be able to enter the realm at all, much less defeat it."


    Monarch High Heaven was mocking him, but the Supreme Origin god took the warning seriously. He rushed into the realm quickly. Then he began calling for every favor he had.

 Chapter 1698: Tortured Feline Demon.

    Chapter 1698: Tortured Feline Demon.


    ?


    He spent all his wealth to hire helpers. Hemunicated with people to see if he could buy world fragments to equip his weaker helpers. He did all of this while hoping that his realm didn''t have a realm lord or his invasion would be doomed.


    What Monarch High Heaven did to the 500 million Origin gods wasn''t fair. In the past, he was a realm lord with a Supremew and the power of the world behind him, but even he had to prepare for many Origin cycles, craft 10 billion world fragments, employ 500 billion immortals and demons to fight for him before he started the era of conquest. But he isn''t giving any of the 500 million Origin gods time to do any of that.


    He doesn''t care, though. He went to the next realm tree and ripped open its barrier. Then he used Cosmic force to invade the space of the realm heart and seal it off so that the Will of the realm wouldn''t be able to participate in the attack at all. That means it won''t be able to crush the invaders like the twig they are and it won''t be able to delegate some of its power to the inhabitants of the realm to defend it.


    In his opinion, he has done all that he needed to do. Anything else is not his duty.


    He ripped one realm tree after the other. He didn''t care about their strength or their inhabitants. He only prioritized how close they were to him. He took down one realm tree every 10 minutes. That is very fast, but it will still take him 9,513 years for him to fulfill his obligations to all 500 million of them. That is almost 10,000 years of work. It is not fast enough for him.


    He would like to be faster, but the main obstacle is not power, it is speed. The realm trees are far apart. He is moving at a speed that is 30 times faster than light, so 10 minutes is the best he can do, even traveling through the dark side.


    He had to shuttle the Origin gods in a world fragment that he carried around so that they would be able to keep up with him. He didn''t like it one bit.


    "It feels like I am their nanny. I can''t believe I have to do this for 10,000 years."


    The invisible entity beside him admonished him, "You made the oath, so you must fulfill it."


    He snapped at her, "I know what I did. I don''t need you to tell me. If you don''t have anything better to say, maybe you should keep quiet."


    Sheughed, "I won''t keep quiet. You know what? I think I''ll take up singing. I hope you enjoy my performance."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He growled menacingly and then tried his best to ignore her awful singing. He knows she can make her voice pleasant. She is only singing like a tortured feline demon just to mess with him.


    It is working too. He feels like killing her. Unfortunately, that''s one of the things he can''t do. He surely can''t get rid of her by force either. He knows that because he has tried many times. He thought equipping the Authority of the Void Universe would make it easier for him to affect her. If it did, he surely didn''t notice. His fist passed through her all the same.


    It is not even the bad voice that makes her performance so grating. It is the fact that the one thing that he has always relied on as the God of Power has failed him that he finds grating on his nerves. It will always fail him whenever ites to her.


    Themotion of the realm trees being attacked drew a lot of attention. How could it not? 144 realm trees were attacked in a day. Just one realm tree calling for help is enough to bring down billions of Origin gods and hundreds of world gods. 144 world trees is just overkill.


    The vicinity of the realm lord soon became crowded with immortals and the gods of worlds. It was roudy, and there was a lot of fighting. But no world god questioned, much less attacked the realm lord.


    World gods are not stupid. Even the dumbest of them have an entire world to boost their thinking capabilities. So not one of them even dared to approach him.


    This is not even a matter of intelligence. It is a matter of danger and self preservation. It is a matter as clear as the difference between light and darkness. They can see it as long as they have eyes. They don''t need to be smart to identify it.


    World gods don''t attackrge realm trees because they have the protection of the void universe, and this protection will cause a bacsh on them greater than the power of their attack on therge realm tree. Only extremely strong world gods, such as world gods who were realm lords, can attack and suppress arge realm tree.


    But those world gods can only attack and suppress onerge realm tree at a time. Just one. Not two. Not three. And certainly not 100 or 144rge realm trees in a day and counting.


    So what the realm lord is currently doing is a ring anomaly. What''s worse is that, by the looks of things, he doesn''t n to stop anytime soon. That makes him an entity that they cannot hope to stop.


    Some world gods spoke to each other, "It must be because of the Authority of the void universe. He was already an anomaly as an Origin god. It is not surprising that he would be even more exaggerated now that he can use the Authoritypletely."


    "This is why we must participate in his project. It is the only way to get Authority."


    "But can he be trusted? It seems suspicious that he will create a project to share his power."

 Chapter 1699: The White Death.

    Chapter 1699: The White Death.


    ?


    A world god insisted, "There''s nothing suspicious about it. His project was a scheme to make world gods help him win the era of conquest. He has won the era of conquest now, so he must make good on his promise. It is just like what he is currently doing for the Origin gods of his realm. I don''t think there''s anything to be worried about."


    "Even so, I still find something suspicious about it. It all starts with why he offended so many world gods for the Life trees. That''s a very stupid decision that caused a lot of losses for him. If he hadn''t made that decision, he wouldn''t have needed the project at all. I think he was just looking for an excuse to make the project, so he picked the Life trees to defend."


    "I see that you''re a conspiracy nutjob. But so what if you are right? So what if it is suspicious. What other choice do you have apart from taking the bait?"


    "Both of you should calm down. You''re speaking as if the project is open to everyone. Do you even have slots for it?"


    The world gods had vast distances between each other, but they couldmunicate as if they were close to each other. It was easy to do too, so it couldn''t stop them from interfering with the invasion of their respective realm trees. But they didn''t personally interfere in the realm


    wars.


    This is because of the realm lord. They didn''t act directly because they were afraid of the realm lord. They are not sure if he will interfere if they do. But they are certain that if he interferes, they will lose their current world.


    So the choice is to either risk their world to save their realm tree or do their barest minimum to save their realm tree. Again, it doesn''t need much processing power to make an optimal decision.


    The Monarch of high heaven has always been more special than other realm lords. Now he has be special among world gods. The power he has just disyed put fear in the heart of many world gods. So rather than draw his wrath, they preferred to support the defenders indirectly through resources and world fragments.


    Their fear is warranted. After all, some of them still remember the scene where he used billions of the Authority of the void universe to fight a world god as a Supreme Origin god.


    He couldn''t control the Authoritypletely back then. But now he has arge world and millions of those Authorities. His power must be something that no world god canpare to.


    Even though the world gods didn''t interfere directly, their mere presence and the assistance they gave to the defenders of the realm were enough to change the tide of battle. Only Origin gods who had world gods on their side for the invasion, couldpete. The rest were being defeated easily.


    Some of the Origin gods decided toe together to form a coalition because of it. They wanted to help each other achieve their aim of subduing the realm trees. Very few of them could take on a realm tree on their own.


    Those few who could take on a realm on their own are special. Most of them are Supreme Beasts of the Supreme Alliance, like the Mechanical Emperor, who is capable of refining a whole realm into firepower. But there are some from other races who managed on their own too.


    One of them is the ancestor of the bloodline of soul fire. She is a battle sage monkey with red fur. She is the ancestor of Litori so Litori took after her looks. But she is using her true form now. The situation necessitated that she discard the shackles of form so that her concept could fly freely.


    Her true form is that of a white me. It is translucent and looks just about ready to die out. Any gust of wind might just be able to do the trick. But the fire didn''t go out. It is burning in the void, just beyond the tear in the barrier of the realm tree, and it is growingrger by the


    moment.


    Eventually, she turned into arge ocean of fire with her body. It is her supremew, so this manifestation is not harmless. All the fear, excitement, happiness, sadness, and emotions that the inhabitants of the realm are feeling are used as kindling for the fire.


    It is why she is growing. She is using emotions to grow her fire. Then she began raining down fire on the realm. Every living thing below that the white fire touched died as their soul was burned. Both animals and nts with spirits were burned to death too. Their bodies weren''t harmed, so they appeared to have fallen asleep.


    Even Origin gods with immortal souls were not spared from this fire. Their soul force also burned, but they could still resist with their concept. This resistance ranged from 1 second for most Origin gods to 2 seconds for the best of them. Only immortals with Supreme Laws can nullify her attack. As for the rest of them, they died instantly and in droves.


    Transcendents and others who have fused with their souls had their existence unraveled and scattered, so they didn''t leave behind any corpses. As for mana entities and below, they died without knowing it and left their bodies behind. All activities within the realm ceased because of the rain of fire. Soon, the realm became lifeless.


    A lot of people had died, but it was silent. No one would have even suspected anything if the Will of the realm had not been warning everyone in the realm of an existential cmity.


    But her cries were for naught. It only served to rile up the inhabitants of the realm and provide fuel for the fire that would kill them.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The White Death didn''t n to let the realm rally its defenses against her, so she went out to kill everyone and everything within it quickly.

 Chapter 1700: Rise Above.

    Chapter 1700: Rise Above.


    ?


    Her aim was to weaken the Will of the realm by killing all of the living things in it. Then she will use bombs to destroy the physical structure of the realm and poke holes in it. This will further weaken the Will of the realm. It will weaken it enough for her to take the fight directly to it.


    This is something that all of them have to do. Monarch High Heaven refused to help them anymore, so they have to take the realm heart on their own. Unlike other immortals, she is not afraid of doing this. It is because her speciality is consciousness, mind, and soul.


    That means she can fight the Will of the realm directly. She just has to weaken it enough so that she won''t be defeated instantly. And she has to do so fast enough before the immortals and world gods of the realm tree interfere.


    She said to herself, "As long as I enter the space of the realm tree before the defenders arrive, no one will be able to interfere, no matter what they do. I too will be able to be a world god."


    She is feeling good about her chances to be her world god. In fact, by her estimates, it should be easy for her to subdue this realm tree. It shouldn''t even take a single year. It will be as easy as how she acquired enough contribution points to be in the top 0.1% of every Origin god that participated in the era of conquest on behalf of the high heaven realm.


    Legion was absent for most of the era of conquest, and it had a lot of implications. It meant she didn''t spend most of her time scheming and hunting for them. She also had a lot of opportunities to shine because the demon gods didn''t perform as well as they should. Currently, she is not thinking of Legion at all. She did try to look for them when their information was first leaked by the first sage, but she had to give up when Monarch High Heaven called her and the others over. Now, they are at the back of her mind.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    She is not even sure that it is true that Legion has many clones and consciousness or that they can take on a million Origin gods and many Supreme Origin gods. She would rather believe in herself and from the look of things, she is right to do so.


    She and very few others are outliers in this stampede that Monarch High Heaven has caused. Not a lot of Origin gods found their concepts or Supreme Laws to be reassuring.


    What he did was unfair to the immortals, but despite the opposition and difficulties, some of those immortals will still rise above and seed. Immortals are not equal because of the differences in concepts and supremews. These differences will show their advantage now. --Not Equal.


    No one is equal. They are not born equal, and they are not born with the same parents or the same background. This inequality affects the potential of everyone and how fast they reach that potential. It also clearly affects strength.


    The differences in their birth, potential, opportunities, and parentage eventually develop into a wide gulf. Some Supreme Origin gods can''t take on a realm tree on their own, while others can. Meanwhile, some people don''t even need to take on a realm tree to be world gods. Dylganihl, for example, didn''t need to do that. He didn''t even need to participate in the era of conquest for him to be a world god. The same is true for those who have stable connections with world gods. Not only will they be able to get world fragments from them, they will also be able to get the resources needed to be world gods.


    Ghaster is one such lucky fellow. He has an ancestor who dotes on him. Unlike others who didn''t have anywhere to go when the era of conquest started, Ghaster belonged to the Ghastorix family, which had a world god, so he had somewhere safe to stay outside of the realm tree.


    He is inside the world of his ancestor now. He is standing on the onlyndmass in this inner world. Thisndmass is blue. Both the soul and the rocks are blue. Around thendmass is a raging storm of lightning that changes color from blue to ck to gold. Far below thendmass is an ocean of blue lightning.


    Thendmass is halfway between the ground and the sky. It is floating idlely through the world. The ocean beneath it is blue, while the storm that formed the sky is ck. The source of light is a single golden star. These three are the manifestations of the three forms of the Supreme Law of Ghastorix.


    The more Ghaster saw of this world, the more in awe he was. This world doesn''t look anything like the world outside. It looks dangerous, and it is. Any life form brought in from the void


    universe that isn''t a transcendent, will surely die on entry.


    For one, there is no oxygen. So beings that require oxygen to live cannot live in this world. Secondly, the light from the sun is hot enough to make any water in this world be in its gaseous form. So if the heat doesn''t kill them, theck of water to drink will do the trick.


    Then there is the incredible amount of energy radiation from the lightning ocean, destruction lightning sky, and golden lightning of the sun. The three of them cause the atmosphere of the realm to be so charged, that it creates a perpetual lightning storm of various colors.


    If not for the protection of thisndmass, even he would die. That is, despite being a transcendent. That is just how powerful this world is. Being a transcendent only means he won''t die on entry. He still has to struggle to survive.

 Chapter 1701: Not Complicated At All.

    Chapter 1701: Not Complicated At All.


    ?


    Even Sovereigns ofw will eventually die without protection. This is because this world is not their home. It is dangerous to everything not born in it.


    Despite this word being deadly to creatures below the transcendent level, it is not a dead world, and it contains weak creatures below the transcendent level. Ghaster has glimpsed many types of living things in the ocean. They frolick about, peacefully and right at home despite all the lightning.


    He has even been shown a lightning tree that is rising from the depths of the ocean. ording to his ancestor, the tree would grow tall enough to hold up the sky and give birth to different types of life.


    It is a dazzling light to see. It has also given Ghaster a lot to think about. This world ispletely different from the void universe. It doesn''t have any of the rules of the void universe.


    Living things and objects from the void universe can''t exist here without the Will of the world god. Even then, they still need to be transcendent and have the protection of the world god to remain alive. Only Origin gods can live here without help from the world god, but being here means they will be under every whim of the world god.


    This world represents the subversion of the rule of the void universe. It represents the Sovereignty of an entity over the void universe. To Ghaster, not only does it represent the beauty of lightning, it also represents the immense power that lightning is capable of.


    He clenched his fist in determination and longing. He said to himself, "This could be mine."


    This could be his one day. Unfortunately, he won''t achieve it as long as he remains in this world.


    As a transcendent, the next step for him is toprehendws. But he can''tprehend thews of the void universe here. He can onlyprehend the derivativews of this world.


    He would be able toprehend these derivativews quickly because he has an affinity for lightning and he has the bloodline of the creator of the world, butprehending the derivativews will only grant him power in this world. It won''t grant him the Authority needed for him to be a king ofw in the void universe or any Authority that he can use to create a concept.


    Cosmic energy is very important to world gods and it is rare. Even if his ancestor could spare the Cosmic energy needed to create Authority and was willing to give it to him, the Authority and the concept he creates from it would only be useful in this world.


    In other words, by staying here and enjoying the safety of this world, he has cut himself off from the void universe and the path of perfection that it grants. The best he can achieve in this world with the full support of his ancestor is to be an Origin god, but then he would never be able to leave.


    Being an Origin god of a world god means one has used theirws to create a concept and has fused with that concept. They will have power only in this world, and they will be one with the Supreme Law of this world, just like normal Origin gods be one with the Law Matrix.


    In a way, he would be a puppet for his ancestor. His existence could be overwritten at any moment, and he would have lost his freedom. This is if he gets the support of his ancestor. If he doesn''t get it, then he will remain a transcendent and die when his life span is up.


    This is not the fate he wants. Neither of the two options is enough for him. So he is contemting leaving this world. But to leave is to face the danger of the void universe.


    That decision is something he would have done dly and easily had he not heard about the deaths of his father and grandfather. Now, he has to think this through before taking action.


    He was deep in thought when a figure appeared beside him. She was an oddity in this world of lightning. She had white skin and green hair. It didn''t match the blue of the ocean, the ck of the sky, or the gold of the sun. But she was in harmony with the world nheless.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He noticed the figure because she wanted him to see her. She might have always been by his side, and he didn''t notice until now. He has no delusions that the ability to see her is his own power.


    He greeted her with a slight bow and said, "Ancestor Hadricks."


    "Little Ghaster. Are you thinking of going to the void universe again?"


    He nodded and replied, "Yes, I am. I haven''t been able to make a decision yet."


    "Why not? The choices are clear. And if you know what you want, then the decision should be easy to make."


    Ghaster smiled and said, "It is moreplicated than that."


    She waved her hand in dismissal. "It is notplicated. Tell me, do you know what you want?"


    "Yes, I do."


    She asked him, "What is it that you want?"


    "I want to be strong like my ancestor. If possible, I want to be stronger." "Regardless of what you want, there are two choices. The first is to stay in this world. You will have peace and safety, but you will lose the chance of bing a world god. The second choice is to go to the void universe. You will face danger every step of the way, and you might die. But you will have a chance of bing a world god."


    Then she asked him, "Now tell me, which choice is the right one to achieve what you want?"


    Ghaster replied quietly, "The second one."


    "See? It was that simple. Deep down, you know this option to be the correct one. You are just afraid. The issue was neverplicated. You were just afraid. Somethingplicated is how to sequence the genome of a rat immune to lightning using mana."

 Chapter 1702: Fighting Never Ends.

    Chapter 1702: Fighting Never Ends.


    ?


    Ghaster admitted to it. "You are right. I am afraid. I am scared that I will die."


    Hadrikomania said seriously, "You don''t have a choice in the matter. You will die if you remain here too. If you stay here, you might get peace and safety, but your lifespan will run out and you will die. That might not happen if you manage to be an Origin god of this world. But at the very least, you will be shackled to this world and lose your freedom. In the worst case, you will have your existence overwritten, which also counts as your death."


    "So you have no choice in the matter. You are going to die anyway. The choices are for you to determine how you want to die. But if you go to the void universe, you might find a trace of life through immortality."


    That enlightened Ghaster. He felt his fear melt away, leaving a boundless fighting spirit. He wanted to fight for his chance at life.


    He bowed again and said, "Thank you for your advice, ancestor."


    "You are wee. I''m guessing you have decided to go to the void universe now."


    "Yes, ancestor. I must fight for my chance at immortality."


    "That''s good to hear. The world ispetitive. Only the fittest, strongest, and luckiest survive. You have a rare chance not to have topete for survival. But if you want to progress and achieve something greater than survival, then you must return to the thick of battle and fight for immortality."


    Ghaster said with determination, "Yes. I will fight and be a world god. Then I will have peace, safety, and power."


    Hadrikomania shook her head. "Silly boy. You can never have peace because fighting never ends. Even your ancestor is fighting. Every world god is fighting."


    "It is another reason why staying here is not a permanent solution for peace. Because Ghastorix has chosen to keep fighting, you, too, cannot have peace. If you decide to stay in this world, then his fight will affect you at one time or another. So hiding away has never been the correct decision. The fighting wille to you one way or another."


    Ghaster was stunned by what he heard. He thought world gods were at the top of the universe and had nothing to fear. It shook him to hear that the world gods are still fighting.


    He couldn''t help but ask, "So ancestor Ghastorix can also die?"


    Sheughed. "That''s nearly impossible. He has ovee the struggle for survival. He will always survive now. The best death that he can experience is sleeping for a long time. But he will always bounce back as long as his Supreme Law is intact."


    Ghaster asked, "Then what are he and the other world gods fighting for?"


    "They are fighting for something greater than survival. They are fighting for power."


    She shook her head before she continued, "Creating a Supreme Law doesn''t just secure your immortality, it also shapes your existence and determines your future. It is the start of another journey for you. You must achieve what your Supreme Law wants to achieve. You can''t ever give up. Your Supreme Law acts as the drive to support your existence and to pursue your expected future."


    Ghaster didn''t really understand what she was talking about. His confusion showed on his face. So Hadrikomania decided to make things simple for him.


    She said, "Take your ancestor, for example. He has a Supreme Law rted to lightning and destruction. He has be lightning and destruction, so he must destroy all of reality and make it into lightning. That is the pursuit of Supreme Laws. To make all of reality into themselves. To bend reality, wherever it is, to their Will. World gods can sleep and await the fate of being broken by others, or they must fight to achieve this either by force or by coercion."


    "Wow," Ghaster eximed in admiration.


    He can just see it. All of reality turned into something like the inner world of his ancestor.


    "So ancestor is no longer striving for survival. He wants to impose his Will and Supreme Law onto all of reality."


    He felt in awe of the power of world gods. Here he is struggling toprehendws, but world gods have bews themselves and want to turn all of reality into their ownw. It is the kind of power that he wishes to have.


    Hadrikomania agreed with him. "In summary, yes. He is not the only one with that goal. All the world gods have that goal. That means they must fight each other. Every world god is an enemy. There can only be temporary alliances."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "So you have to leave. Ghastorix can be attacked at any moment, and this world might also be affected. It will surely be affected when the end of the void universees. There''s going to be a bloodbath then."


    Ghaster asked curiously, "What will happen at the end of the void universe?"


    She rubbed his head yfully. "That''s above your station for now. We can address it when you be a world god."


    Ghaster moved his head away, but he couldn''t escape her hand. The world literally shifted around them to make sure that her hand remained on his head. He saw and felt it happen. Space and matter shifted around him so that he couldn''t escape from her grip. So he sighed and gave up on resisting.


    He decided to ask another question, "Do you think Legion will be able to participate in the fight at the end of the void universe?"


    That question gave Hadrikomania pause. She removed her hand from his head and looked into the distance in thought.


    She eventually replied, "They should be able to manage it. But there''s no need topare yourself to them. Soverick wasn''t truly your brother, and he wasn''t your littermate. He was an Origin god way before you knew him. Now he is something no Origin god can hope to match."

 Chapter 1703: It Is Not Enough.

    Chapter 1703: It Is Not Enough.


    ?


    Ghaster shook his head and said, "I might have no need topare myself to him, but I canpare my parents to him. Mother is more than 20 Origin cycles old, but he became an Origin god in 5 Origin cycles. Then he used 3 Origin cycles to break the rule of multiple bodies. Then he used less than One Origin cycle after that to fight the strongest Origin gods."


    "Compared to him, my parents are mediocre, and most of the Origin gods in our family are too. Maybe ancestor Ghastorix is stronger, but he too can''tpare to him in terms of talent."


    Hadrikomania agreed, "Unfortunately, you are right. But you are much younger than him. He has the advantage of time."


    Ghaster didn''t agree. He asked, "Why can''t Ipare to him? Just because he is older than me by a couple of Origin cycles? Would there be any difference even if I were older than him? I very much doubt that. At best, I would be a king ofw or a titan ofw in 10 Origin cycles." Hadrikomania sighed. "Talent is not everything. Luck, resources, and the power to realize one''s potential are also important. The current Legion has run out of luck. He is being chased all over the void universe. He might not even matter by the end of the void universe."


    Ghaster calmed down after he heard that. He still has a lot of arguments to make, but he has decided not to field them anymore.


    Hadrikomania knew this, but didn''t prod him. Instead, she asked, "Do you still want to return to the void universe."


    "Yes, I still want to. I must fight. I thought Soverick was out of my reach before. Now I know that I was correct. He was truly out of my reach, but that hasn''t changed my n for the future. I will still fight. And I will fight to make sure that I am also there to fight for whatever it is that world gods will fight for at the end of the void universe."


    Her hand grabbed his head again and ruffled it yfully. "That''s the spirit. Now go and fight."


    His figure faded away, and he was ejected from the world. The world became silent again, and Hadrikomania faded away. She was still in her position, but no one could see her anymore.


    Another person that no one could see was standing beside her, looking at the world below. It was Ghastorix himself.


    He has two arms now. They are folded across his chest while errant lightning strikes shoot out of the ck metallic spikes he has for hair.


    He hummed to himself and said, "I hope you are having a good time with them."


    Hadrikomania answered with a sigh, "I was. But he didn''t want to be caged. I had to let him


    go."


    Ghastorix nodded in understanding. "He has a good head on his shoulder."


    That made her perk up, "Doesn''t he? He reminds me so much of you."


    She shrugged and said, "Unfortunately, a good head is not good enough. He is more likely to die than seed."


    That drained her enthusiasm. She said, "Maybe I shouldn''t have let him go then."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "He would have sulked and made you miserable for keeping him captive. Besides, you were right. He is likely to die anyway. His decision only determines how he will die."


    "Don''t be so drab. Let''s talk about something else."


    He doesn''t care about his family and descendants anyway. He only saved them for Hadrikomania. So it doesn''t matter to him if they die. All that matters is that she is happy.


    So he changed the subject. "I see that the world is doing well. Can you make the evolution faster?"


    Hadrikomania shook her head. "Not if we want to keep all the work we have done before. We have to be patient, or we have to start all over again."


    Ghastorix didn''t like the word patience. That word has always been attributed to unpleasant experiences for him. But he has been hearing about ittely. First, from the keeper of secrets, and now from the Will of his realm.


    He had used a life crystal instead of a world seed to create his world when he became a world god. He could have failed, but he didn''t. He didn''t fail, but he only managed to build a world that was weaker than the world of other world gods.


    Fortunately, he found a small tree recently and looted it. He is now upgrading his world with the world seed he got from it. However, it is taking too long for his liking.


    If it were up to him, the evolution would be lightning fast. But that would mean erasing all the life that Hadrikomania has managed to create.


    Life is precious to a world god. Every living thing with a consciousness that dies in his world will provide him with Chaos sparks. They are the weaker but safer version of Chaos Blood or Chaos Essence.


    Chaos essence are used to subvert the Order of the void universe. To a world god, they can use it for a lot of things. The most important of them are permanent creations that can exist in the void universe without being rejected or destroyed. Unfortunately, Chaos blood can only be gotten from world enders. That makes them very dangerous to acquire.


    Whenbined with the fact that Chaos blood can also be used against world gods as it is a poison to every form of order, it bes important to find a safer alternative. This is where living thingse in.


    Every living thing is an agent of Chaos. Their very existence propagates Chaos and entropy. Just breathing increases the entropy of the void universe. That''s why guardians hate living things and call them vermin.


    But world gods want living things because they can harvest the spark of Chaos that they represent when they die. Chaos spark is a useful resources for them.

 Chapter 1704: Scolding And Nagging.

    Chapter 1704: Scolding And Nagging.


    ?


    If they have a lot of Chaos spark then they can refine it into Chaos essence in a safe and contained manner. With enough Chaos essence, he will be able to create an Apocalypse Weapon or even steal a Cosmic Source from the void universe.


    Thatst one is a dream that can''t be realized in the near future. But presently, to destroy all the living things in his world will not only set him back in time and resources he took to create them.


    It will also reduce the time it takes for him to acquire chaos essence. The death of every living thing will also affect Hadrikomania by weakening her, which will in turn weaken him.


    He made up his mind and said to Hadrikomania, "Fine. We will take things easy. There''s no rush anyway. Legion isn''t ready to make a move against the first sage yet."


    His fight with the first sage is still going to happen, even though he knows Soverick is a clone of Legion. Of course, the reason for the fight is for a more pragmatic reason. It won''t be because he was forced to sell his descendant.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He is now fighting for the many resources that the first sage took from the serpentine world god and many other world gods. He is also fighting for therge amount of Cosmic energy in Legion''s possession.


    It is a tough order, so he knows he will need all the power he can get to fight an ancient world god, such as the first battle sage monkey, to be a world god.


    He said to Hadrikomania, "But let the record show that I do not like patience. There are a lot of worthy foes out there. They might decide to pick a fight with me anytime."


    She didn''t feel the urgency he felt. Maybe it is because she lived most of her life as a tree.


    Either way, she advised him seriously, "You will have to learn to be patient. We still have a long way to go. But you are right. We can be attacked at any moment. That''s why I think it is a good idea to fortify your inner world too. The powerful creatures that we produce might be able to assist you."


    "I know. I just don''t want to lose all my work and have to start over again."


    Hadrikomania sighed. "If not for the repercussions of losing, being the will of a world would be all fun and no work."


    Hadrikomania would like to rx and have fun without worrying about anything. But, as she said to Ghaster, it is a must to fight. She has to fight, even if she doesn''t want to because other world gods want to fight.


    She doesn''t have to go looking for a fight. It wille to find her. And the repercussion of losing is having to start over again as a world god.


    Just thinking about it made her sigh again. "The path to power of a world god is already full of difficulties. They have to grow their inner world, their Supreme Law, and the living things in their world. They need resources, time, and careful tending to grow their world and the living things within it. They need Cosmic energy among other things, to grow their Supreme Law."


    "They have to do all of these while preparing for attacks. Another world god might take a fancy to their world and would like to loot it to upgrade their own world. Or they might stumble upon a world eater. If any of those happen, they might lose their world and have to create another one."


    She finished her thought with amentation, "I wish I knew all of these before I sighed up for this position."


    Ghastorix reminded her, "Don''t forget that bing my Will of the realm granted you immortality. Plus, you had nowhere else to call home. You would have died had you remained in the high heaven realm."


    She folded her arms, looked away from him and scoffed. "Some immortality you have. If it is so great, then we shouldn''t be worried about any attacks."


    Her behavior made Ghastorixugh. He said, "This is exactly what I thought married life would be about. You scolding and nagging me to do better."


    A smile tugged at her lips, but she didn''t stop scolding him. "You leave me with all the work in the house and don''t give me all the money I need to make it a great home for us."


    He spread his arms and approached her with the best doting expression he could manage. "Come on, babe. I am working my ass off. I promise to get you all the Cosmic energy you need as soon as Legion attacks the first sage."


    "Don''t try to butter me up." She said this in a failed attempt to remain stern. But she was already smiling.


    He hugged her and held her in his arms. "Everything will be okay, babe. We will be fine even if the worst thing that can happen happens."


    He is not right, though. In a normal situation, the only thing that will follow a world god through death is their Supreme Law. That is more than enough, as it is all they need to start all over again.


    That is also why world gods need to upgrade their Supreme Law. Unfortunately, Chaos essence can''t do that. In fact, Chaos essence will do the opposite. They need Cosmic energy to make their Supreme Law more powerful and resilient.


    It is more unfortunate that Cosmic energy is difficult to find. Sure, Cosmic energy can be found in stars, but stars are guarded by realm trees and the stars in the dark side of the void universe are dangerous. So therge amount of Cosmic energy that Legion is hording is very


    tempting.


    Ghastorix would have attacked Soverick for his Cosmic energy even if he were his true descendant. That''s how serious his need for Cosmic energy is. He would have attacked Legion already if not for the world ender within them.

 Chapter 1705: Glorious Fight.

    Chapter 1705: Glorious Fight.


    ?


    Right now, he is waiting for Legion to get rid of the world ender or use it against the first sage. Then he and his allies will swoop in to loot the two of them. Unfortunately, the fight is not going to be normal because of Aeternus.


    He has the lingering suspicion that Aeternus will be able to do what Chaos essence can do to him. So not only is Legion a bucket of Cosmic energy that he needs so much, they are also a wellspring of Chaos essence that can give him a death that is out of the ordinary.


    But, he can''t tell his loving wife that. He has to butter her up and do is job like a good husband would. And if he is being honest with himself, he finds the sense of danger to be appetizing. He wants to see how well Destruction Lightning will fair against the destructive power of Chaos.


    He thought to himself in anticipation, "It will be glorious."


    He was thinking about the fight and things he will get from that fight, meanwhile Hadrikomania was watching the descendants of Ghastorix go about their daily activities. They were currently sparring which is a past time activity that the do a lot.


    Ghaster noticed what she was doing. He doesn''t care about his descendants anymore after bing a world god, but he has been watching them ever since they entered his world, so he noticed that Ghaster was absent in the spar.


    If he did, then Hadrikomania must have noticed his absence too. He doesn''t care about anyone else, but he cares about Hadrikomania, so he created a new Ghaster and made him join the fight.


    This Ghaster looked exactly like the original one and behaved like him too. None of the people who had been in contact with him including his mother could tell that he wasn''t truly Ghaster. Even the fake Ghaster doesn''t know that he is fake. Ghastorix had tweaked his memories and personality a bit so that he wouldn''t want to leave this world and would be happy staying here with his friends and family. Apart from that, there is very little difference between him and the real Ghaster that even a world god can identify.


    This is one thing that every world god can do. They can create anything with Origin essence. Both living and non-living. There''s very little difference between the two of them to a world god. As long as a world god knows someone well enough, they can create that person.


    The main difference between this Ghaster and the original is that this copy doesn''t have a soul and Origin. Everything about him is fabricated including his memories.


    Hisck of soul and Origin will make him scatter as soon as he leaves this world. But it is a problem that can be solved with some Chaos essence. The fusion of Origin and Chaos essence under the direction of a Supreme Law will create a bnced entity that can survive on its own.


    That means he can create a better version of Ghaster if he wants. The fake Ghaster still won''t have a soul and an Origin, but it will suit Ghastorix''s purpose better, and that''s the most important thing.


    The only weakness is that his creation won''t be a true Origin god. But he can make the copy of Ghaster as strong as a Supreme Origin god.


    This kind of power to create whatever they want is why most world gods don''t care about mortals. They can''t care when they don''t consider them worthy of their attention. Only immortals can get their attention. And that''s a little of it, usually for a purpose.


    If they don''t have a need for an Immortal, they wouldn''t care about them. It is not their fault. It is a side effect of having a state of existence that can contend with the universe that created them in the first ce.


    What they can''t create, they can destroy by denying its existence. If not for the protection of the void universe, Origin gods wouldn''t even be worth the little attention that world gods give them.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    -The Fate Of Stars.


    Stars are natural phenomena in the void universe. There are two types of them. The ones that are created by world gods and realm trees. These ones don''t have a lot of Cosmic energy and some don''t have any at all. The Cosmic energy they contain is what was used to create them and what they need to keep operating.


    This first type of stars don''t need Cosmic energy anyways. Their purpose is to produce energy for life. The second type of stars on the other hand have Cosmic energy which is important for their purpose.


    The second type of stars are the ones created by the void universe. Most of them, if not all of them, are on the dark side of the universe. Some of these stars are so old that they have existed since the previous epochs of the void universe. They witnessed the death, destruction, and rebirth of void universe at least once. They are clearly durable for them to endure the destruction of the universe that created them.


    These kinds of stars are very important to the void universe. If they were not, then the void universe wouldn''t have produced them in the first ce. Unfortunately, like most important and durable things, these stars are very difficult to make.


    They require a special type of resource that is rare toe by. Sometimes, a single star might not be created in a single epoch. And sometimes, even if the special material appears, the void universe might fail to convert it into a Cosmic star.


    The most important material needed to produce a Cosmic star was produced this epoch. However, it couldn''t be turned into a Cosmic star.


    The void universe didn''t like this, so it was understandable angry with the entity that stopped it from getting a new Cosmic star.


    A/N: Can you imagine the kind of power someone will have to have in order to stop the void universe from creating something so important? You don''t need to imagine too much. You have already met the person.

 Chapter 1706: Another Crossroad.

    Chapter 1706: Another Crossroad.


    ?


    The entity that stopped the void universe from getting a new Cosmic Star also dared to tamper with the time flow of space time continuum. So the void universe made sure to interfere in the resurrection speed of this entity to teach them a lesson.


    Fortunately, all was not lost. Somewhere else in the vast void universe, another special material is about to be born. Many people were looking on with great expectations. They didn''t know that the void universe was also looking on with bated breath.


    Hanjerlie of the Altinno realm looked down below at the expectant faces of everyone gazing at him. He felt emotional but he made sure to remain stoic.


    "This is it." He said to himself. "This is the moment all of my life has been leading to."


    "I seed or I die."


    He is anxious, but he is not afraid. This is not the first time he would be facing such a deadly situation in his life. He faced one when he first became a god. If he had failed his ascension then, he would have died. He seeded then, but he still had to struggle for survival during the hunt for his life by other gods.


    He faced another deadly predicament when he was about to be a Celestial. He could have died had he failed. But he didn''t. He ascended to the divine ne. Then he had topete with the other Celestials from all over the realm.


    The Altinno realm is a realm with a single ne of existence. There are three continents but they all have one single divine ne. The gods of the realm arended gods, but Celestials still ascend to the divine ne. He had to face andpete against all these Celestials that had survived for billions of years.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It was not easy. The gods were always fighting. They couldn''t stop fighting because there was only one position for Celestial Supreme among the tens of thousands of Celestials. The position was constantly changing hands, and Celestials were always dying because of all the fighting.


    But he survived. He did so at first by scuttling about like a rat. He lived between the sharp teeth of the giants lurking about while trying to gain realm-wide recognition and support of mortals. By the time the gods noticed what was wrong, it was already toote. Hanjerlie the god of order was unstoppable.


    He brought peace to the world. He ended wars. He defended the mortals from demons. He was valiant and he fought for the peace of the people. He was the realm lord that the realm never had and the people rewarded his efforts with their faith.


    Now he has be the Celestial Supreme and he has umted the domain of Order, Justice, Peace, War, Wealth, Power, Life, Death, Light, and Darkness. It wasn''t easy. He achieved this by making rules that everyone in the realm had to live by.


    These rules represent order. They maintained justice and peace in the realm. They managed the rules of warfare and trade for wealth. They determined the allocation and use of power. They had the final say in the life and death of anyone, including gods.


    Finally, the rules were omnipresent and would function in the light of day and in the darkness or shadows. That''s how he managed to umte the domains of Order, Justice, Peace, War, Wealth, Power, Life, Death, Light, and Darkness.


    These rules were collectively called the Constitution of Altinno. Everyone in the realm had to abide by it. Most importantly, the rules were epted by his believers.


    It is why he was able to fuse together 10 domains in preparation for today. It would have probably been impossible for him to achieve it if he didn''t have more than 50% of the faith of every entity in the realm.


    All of his efforts have brought him to this point. He is not only the strongest Celestial, he has also met the requirements to take the next step into the unknown.


    The only difference between the danger he is facing now and before is that he is the first one in the whole ne and probably in the whole void universe who is about to aplish the next step for a Celestial. He is not being pompous with that im. His Will of the realm said as much.


    He didn''t say anything to his believers. All that he needs to say has already been said in his constitution. He didn''t say anything to his fellow gods, either. He knows that most of them want him to fail and die. Unlike the mortals, they hate him to the bone.


    That thought made him sneer at their powerlessness. Then he began the fusion process. He began glowing as soon as he started.


    Unlike when the Tree Father made his breakthrough, Hanjerlie is not hidden away in some inner world. He is out on the divine ne for everyone to see. So everyone in the realm saw the new star shining brightly in the sky.


    His life shed before his eyes. When he wanted to be a demigod, he needed divinity to transform his existence. He had to brave the danger of the graves of old gods. He was not the only one who was desperate for divinity. Many transcendents were like him. Many of them died, but he survived and seeded.


    When he wanted to be a god, he needed godhood, but he couldn''t find one. So he made his. He used faith to light up his godfire and transform his soul into a divine soul.


    He was not the only one either. Many demigods tried what he did and failed in the attempt. But he didn''t fail. He gained a domain and divine power. He became a god.


    To be a Celestial, he had to umte divinity andplete his domain. He was sessful, and he even went further to acquire nine otherplete domains. Now he has to fuse those domains into one to create his divine spark.


    A/N: This bonus chapter is for BrotherGoose''s Golden Ticket contribution.

 Chapter 1707: A New Archon.

    Chapter 1707: A New Archon.


    ?


    His life has been legendary. He has always been exceptional. But things are different this time. For one, he is the only one he knows who has ever attempted what he is doing. There are no others.


    Secondly, the difficulty of what he has to achieve now is beyond thebination of


    everything he had to ovee to reach this point.


    What he is attempting to do is simr to what kings ofw have to go through to be titans ofw. Many kings ofw fail to even be titans ofw with a singlew. But he has to use 10ws.


    He and any other person don''t need to imagine the difficulty. The difficulty is clear to everyone because if creating a concept with sixws were easy, the realm would already have a realm lord. It wouldn''t be the turn of a god to act as the protector of the realm.


    10ws is definitely more difficult than 6ws. It has four morews, so it is at least 16 times more difficult to be a divine spark than to be a realm lord. It was so difficult that Hanjerlie spent 11,242 years on it without sess. He was shining brightly throughout the whole time.


    So for more than eleven thousand years, some parts of the realm did not experience nightfall. Many people came on a pilgrimage to witness the eternal light. Faith and life within the ne received a tremendous boost.


    This boon was all thanks to the continuous burning of divine energy that Hanjerlie had stocked up on over the years. There is no time limit for his breakthrough. If he runs out of divine energy, then he will fail.


    Hanjerlie knew that because the Will of the Universe told him. He also knows that there is an alternative because the Will of the universe offered it to him.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The Will of the universe said to him, "Be my Archon and I will help you."


    The bulk of the message was more of feelings and information than words. From them, Hanjerlie learned what an Archon was and what it would mean to be one.


    An Archon is a direct surbordinate of the void universe. It is a grand position thates with great benefits. He would gain the much coveted Cosmic energy from the void universe.


    All Archons have to do in return is maintain the operation of the void universe. They will repair faults and create new parts for the void universe when they be world forges.


    His responsibilities are easy things that he can manage. But ites with one other catch. He wouldn''t be able to leave the void universe ever. Even if the void universe is destroyed, he will work to rebuild it and will remain in it. It will be his fate for all of eternity.


    Eternity is a big word to entities of his level. In the past, it meant eternal life and longevity. But now it means forever, ever, and ever. Not even death will be able to free him from this.


    He would be doing the same thing epoch after epoch after epoch. It means his future is set in stone. This is something that the Tree Father couldn''t stomach. But Hanjerlie doesn''t have much of a choice in the matter.


    He is running out of energy, which means he is dying. He can choose to die, or he can choose to serve the void universe for all of eternity. He chose thetter, so the void universe helped him.


    A vast power descended on the realm. This power was not focused on the realm, but it made everyone, including the gods, bow. It was an involuntary reaction. They were literally pressed against the ground by the majesty of the vast presence.


    It was odd that only sentient beings sensed this power and its pressure. Beasts and nts remained oblivious and continued with their day without feeling any pressure.


    Tall sentient trees were pressed to the ground. Many of them broke, so they will not be straightening themselves soon. Fortunately, the pressure didn''tst long before leaving. Everyone breathed in relief after it left. They took in great gulps of air. It was only then that they realized that they hadn''t been breathing.


    Meanwhile, the domains within Hanjerlie snapped into shape in an instant and fused with the Authority of the Celestial Supreme in his possession. They had been resisting him before, but they didn''t show any resistance in the presence of their ultimate source.


    Hanjerlie sessfully condensed his spark of power. The next stages of his evolution went on without a hitch. He lost his physical body. His divine body was reced by the godfire in his soul. The divine spark took the ce of his godhood within him. Then all the ties of faith between him and his believers were severed.


    The void universe urged him, "It is time to go."


    Hanjerlie rose up from his position. His actions caused the light he was producing to dim. It gathered the attention of a lot of people in the realm. They looked up to see what was going on with him.


    He decided to say something to everyone. He said, "This is goodbye forever. In my ce, you will always have the Constitution of Altinno."


    He waved his hand and used the energy of the world, air, water vapor, and some of his own energy to create a t stele. On the stele were his rules written.


    He doesn''t need his rules anymore to enforce control, but it is important to him that his believers and the people of the realm retain the peace that he fought for them.


    The stele is not ordinary material. It looks like an ordinary stone hewn from rock. But it is an immortal stone created with Cosmic energy. It is made from the same material that the immortalnds are made of. As an Archon, he would be building more of those in the future.

 Chapter 1708: The Corridor Of Worlds.

    Chapter 1708: The Corridor Of Worlds.


    ?


    He gave this immortal stele to the Will of the realm. The Will took it and used it to rece the world spark in the realm heart. This way, the rules on the stele have be the rules of the realm. The Will of the realm will enforce them, and in exchange, the realm will be free from thew matrix.


    Hanjerlie chuckled and said to himself, "Maybe I am truly the realm lord."


    He has achieved something that a realm lord would need victory in the era of conquest to achieve. He even did more than that. The liberated Altinno realm will always have his protection through the steel. He is not as strong as a world god yet, but he will soon be when he bes a world forge. That means world gods will have to treat the Altinno realm with respect.


    The Will of the realm appeared before him to show its gratitude. It was a young girl. She was bright and beautiful. She appeared in her physical form, not a metaphysical form, because she was free.


    She said to him, "Thank you, Hanjerlie. You are the best child I have. I wille to visit you." He nodded and said to her, "I will be expecting you."


    "Learn to have fun sometimes. Don''t be so serious every time."


    He chuckled. "I''ll try."


    Then he allowed the void universe to lead him to his new station. He fell below thew matrix and entered the dark side of the void universe. He didn''t feel any pressure as he continued to fall.


    He soon picked up speed, so his environment became a blur. The void universe was dragging him, so it wasn''t his power that made him so fast. Thanks to his speed, it didn''t take long for him to arrive at his destination.


    His destination was abyrinth. It was a series of spatial tunnels that twisted and bent and connected to strange and unseen ces. Sometimes he saw different ces and different worlds through them. But most of the time, he only saw a gray, twisting forest of tunnels. The Will of the void universe said to him, "This is the corridor of worlds. It connects all the worlds that are independent of thew matrix."


    The message was apanied by more information. It provided Hanjerlie with the knowledge that every world in the void universe is connected through the corridor of worlds.


    The corridor of worlds is difficult to navigate since it is abyrinth, but the worlds of world gods and every realm tree that detaches from thew matrix can be essed through it. Only the worlds that are protected by the void universe can''t be essed through it.


    These protected worlds are indeed connected to thebyrinth, but ess to them is blocked by the void universe. The blockage will be lost when they detach from the void universe. The connection to the corridor of worlds, on the other hand, will remain until the worlds of world gods and the unprotected realm trees leave the void universe.


    His job is to maintain the corridor of worlds, protect the core of the void universe within it, and repair thew matrix above it. The corridor would be destroyed when the universe ends, so he has to rebuild it. It is after all, the bedrock of the void universe. Then he has to maintain it during the operation of the void universe.


    He saw many others doing the same thing. They wererge stars of various colors. The stars are forges. Each star contains an entity working away. They were forging something or repairing something else.


    Hanjerlie was in awe of what he saw. The stars could move around. They were mobile work stations for Archons. The terrifying heat and pressure within the stars are what they use to forge.


    They were not like the mortal cksmiths he knew about. No cksmith can put their hand in the fire they use to melt the metal they work with. But these entities can withstand the same heat and pressure that their metal is melting under.


    It brought to mind the immortal Steele he made casually. If he could make something like that, then he might be able to make his body that durable. Then he too will be unscathed when his whole existence bears the terrifying temperature and core pressure of 1 billion Celsius and 2.0 x10^35 PA.


    "And I will be this one day?"


    The Will of the void universe replied, "You will be this now."


    The Will of the void universe doesn''t want to waste time at all. This will be the first world forge that it will get this epoch. It didn''t want anything to interfere or ept any dy, so it went ahead and turned Hanjerlie into a world forge immediately.


    The process was easy for him. The void universe provided everything he needed. Soon, a new star that possessed unlimited Cosmic energy was born in the depths of the void universe.


    -----Pawn.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The Will of the void universe was happy, and Hanjerlie was also happy. Some world gods were happy with the new addition of a world forge, while others were jealous. The happy ones went forward to meet the new world forge to foster good rtions with him.


    They might need his help to repair their worlds in the future, and they could certainly use his help to upgrade their worlds. If he were to help them, then upgrading their worlds would be easy and fast. These are all reasons why world gods want to be friendly with world forges.


    The fact that world forges are the best at forging Apocalypse weapons and are the only ones apart from the realm lord that can forge the Authority of the void universe also makes it indispensable to be in their good graces. Despite all of these, some world gods were not happy with the addition of a new world forge.


    A/N: Forparison, the temperature and pressure of the Earth''s core is 5,200 degree Celsius and 3.6 x 10^6 PA. The temperature of the sun''s core is 15,000,000 Celsius.

 Chapter 1709: A Wrong Notion.

    Chapter 1709: A Wrong Notion.


    ?


    Most of them that were unhappy with the creation of a new world forge were jealous of the Cosmic energy in their possession. The first sage certainly is. The first sage is extra jealous now that he needs a lot of Cosmic force for his n to be an Usurper.


    Legion has been very kind enough to provide him with a very rare material, and his foresight has been enough to turn that rare material into a rare opportunity. So he has been working hard to make use of that opportunity.


    He is creating an Apocalypse weapon. It would be best if a world forge helped him out with it, but it is very difficult to get them to do anything for anyone because they don''t need anything from anyone.


    World forges that chose to be Archons get whatever they need from the void universe, so there''s very little that he can use to move them. They also don''t like him because of the false notion that he cheats, so he is alone in his crafting endeavor.


    Forging is not his forte. That is putting it lightly. He is very bad at forging. He has the knowledge of forging now, but he didn''t add it to his Supreme Law back when he was making it. So his Supreme Law won''t give him any advantage in it. But things are worse than that.


    He is his Supreme Law now, and everything he does is affected by it. That means anything he tries to forge is affected by his inept Supreme Law. It makes him extra bad at forging.


    This has made him fail several times at forging what he wanted. He will eventually be able to build what he wants, as every world god can build anything. But without expert knowledge of what he wants to build, it will take a lot of time and energy for him to build it.


    Fortunately, Cosmic energy is an Immortal energy. It cannot be destroyed as long as it hasn''t been transformed into something else. So, it survived all his failed attempts. But one thing is clear to him. It is that he will need more Cosmic energy if he is going to seed with this forging.


    He doesn''t have a lot of time or energy on his hands. He needs to get one or the other for him to seed. He can get more time by increasing the flow of time in his world, but he will need Cosmic energy for that. The alternative is to use that Cosmic energy to ovee his bad forging skills directly.


    He grumbled and asked himself, "But where am I to get that much Cosmic energy?"


    A world god that is good with forging will require less Cosmic energy for what he wants to create. But he is not proficient at all, so he needs at least three times what a proficient forger will need. And he needs it badly before Legion makes their move against him.


    "This is why I need to acquire a Cosmic source and be an Usurper. This is why I must seed in the fight against Legion, Ghastorix, Serpentine, and that unknown entity. But I need the apocalypse weapon for that."


    He is in a true dilemma despite being a rich world god. He is very rich in every aspect apart from Cosmic energy. Cosmic energy is too precious for world gods. They need it to grow their Supreme Law, but they don''t know how to produce it. The only way to get it is to steal it. That means organizing a raid on a world forge or stealing a Cosmic source.


    World forges are no slouch. Rarely do they ever seed in bing world forges on their own, so almost everyone of them is an Archon of the void universe. That means they have the support of the void universe. So a fight with them is two against one at the very least.


    Even without the assistance of the void universe, they are nearly indestructible and impossible to kill. This is why they can handle world enders, while world gods have to run away from world enders. The bestowal of the Authority of the void universe is like adding wings to tigers for them.


    So raiding a world forge is a difficult and dangerous option. But it is the easiest and most avable optionpared to stealing Cosmic sources. At least, world forges can be found, but Cosmic sources are hidden.


    Without getting in touch with a Cosmic source first, it is impossible to approach it and be destroyed by the overwhelming power that it contains. It is a fact that even if a Cosmic force is right in front of some world gods, they are more likely to die because of it than seed in stealing it.


    So a world god will need information about how to find Cosmic sources. Those are rare and probably more difficult to find. It is more likely to stumble upon a Cosmic source than to find someone who has the information about how to find one and is willing to give or even sell the information.


    As if that isn''t enough, they will need a powerful force to contend with the Cosmic source. An apocalypse weapon empowered by Chaos essence is the minimum to have any chance of sess. If one can get an apocalypse weapon empowered with a world ender, then one''s chance of sess will increase to 50%.


    But where will anyone find a world ender that will willingly enter an apocalypse weapon. There is none. He will have to force that world ender into the apocalypse weapon. But that will be too dangerous for him to do.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He will have to find a mythical world ender thatcks Chaos essence for a period of time. Only then will he be able to force the world ender into the apocalypse weapon and use the weapon to subdue the Cosmic source after the world ender acquires Chaos essence.


    A/N: And he wonders why Archons think he is a cheater.

 Chapter 1710: The Grand Plan.

    Chapter 1710: The Grand n.


    ?


    These are all terribly unlikely things that no one thought was possible. At the very least, if anyone had done it, they certainly didn''t mention it to anyone else. It is why no one will sell how to make contact with Cosmic sources. If they can do that, they will be able to be usurpers. So what can a world god offer an Usurper for their knowledge?


    The answer is nothing. But the first sage found a way. That''s why he gave Legion enough information about the fusion of the Tyrants so that they would cover its product and interfere in Monarch High Heaven''s n. Then he swooped in to rip off the then realm lord of information about Cosmic sources.


    It is all part of his grand n. It is not a perfect n. He is currently struggling with a crucial step of the n, and he can see that there will be others who will interfere with him.


    He doesn''t know how they will manage that. Maybe Legion will ask for their help, or maybe they will stumble onto his actions and interfere. But whatever reason it is they will have for interfering, he will not be caught off guard. And as long as he is not caught off guard, he can prepare for every possibility, even the possibility of failure.


    Much of his n will unfold in the future. As for now, he needs to use the information about True Chaos and the prototype of a Chaos weapon that Monarch High Heaven created to build the apocalypse weapon that he needs for his n. And for that he needs Cosmic energy.


    It is a dilemma that every world god has to face. Only special entities that managed to rise above, like the Dragon king Draco, don''t need to go around searching for Cosmic energy.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I think I have to swindle someone out of Cosmic energy. It is a pity that I can''t cheat an Archon out of it, so a world god will have to do. But which world god will have Cosmic energy?"


    He was thinking about his options when he received a message from one of his descendants. It was Salvini. She was asking for his help. Apparently she is being attacked by Vipers. He ignored her.


    He knows that the Vipers didn''t find her on their own. They had the help of Legion in discovering her location. He also knows that Legion is watching the attack on Salvini from afar in fear that he would show up. If not for him, they would have attacked her directly instead of using eager tools like the Vipers.


    "They underestimate me too much. My ns are grand. Far too grand for them to see. Maybe when they be world gods they will understand the ultimate aim of making all of reality bow to your Will, not the aim of making life difficult for some Origin gods. They are special, but I am not so bored as to waste my time on them."


    He ignored Salvini''s pleas and focused on how to find Cosmic energy. It is a much better use of his time than worrying about some descendants. Especially a descendant that has lost any of its use since the realm of high heaven is no more.


    Salvini has always been a tool to him. He agreed to let Legion kill her so that they would focus on her. Then he made Salvini see a vision of her death. That spurred her on and allowed him to use her to probe Legion from the light while he worked his way at them from the dark.


    That vision was just an illusion he imnted in her mind. If even Legion didn''t notice him nting something in their minds on time, there was no way a measly transcendent could have noticed. Her impending death and her perceived threat from Legion were all a result of his maniption.


    His n worked. Legion didn''t focus as much on Salvini as he wanted, but Salvini still came through in her struggle for survival. She managed to discover Legion-7''s traces, which helped him discover the Phoenix ancestor through the Phoenixes that were after him.


    That discovery granted him a lot of knowledge on Legion-7''s special existence. It helped him create a realistic illusion that managed to fool Legion.


    Now that that part of his n is over and the high heaven realm is gone, he doesn''t need Salvini anymore. Legion can have her. And whatever n they have prepared for him when he shows up or sends anyone to help her won''t work either. So letting her die is a smart decision, and he is all for making smart decisions.


    In lieu of making smart decisions, he made something appear from his inner world. It was a white being that looked like a supreme beast. It doesn''t have any eyes, nose, lips, or ears, and it can shapeshift just like supreme beasts.


    But this is no ordinary supreme beast. It is a supreme beast that can change into a world beast, a battle sage monkey, a giant of order, a Warrog, a poison dragon, and an elf. It took after a certain someone and also thinks like that person.


    The first sage said to the supreme beast, "Legion has shown up. Follow their traces and steal your identity back from them. Pay them back for what they did to you."


    The Supreme Beast board in respect. "Thank you for your kindness o great one. I have been wallowing in pain ever since that demon possessed me and stole my identity. It is only by your grace that I can get this opportunity to recover my birthright. I hope to be able to repay you back for your generosity."


    The first sage sent him away, "Yes, yes. Go now. I am busy."


    The 10th clone of Legion, or the clone who believes himself to be the true Legion, went after Legion to reim its identity. It doesn''t know that it is neither of those things and didn''t exist until the first sage decided to work with Green Vine a while ago.


    A/N: *Cue the viinousugh*

 Chapter 1711: Clone Wars Coming Up.

    ?


    All it knows is that Legion is the soul of the demon lord that possessed him. The possession failed, but the demon managed to infect his soul. He thought all was safe, but he didn''t notice that his personality had changed.


    He became proud and greedy. Having fun and sex was not good enough for him anymore. He pursued power and perfection at all costs. It made him boring but grow stronger.


    Everything went well for him until he separated his body from his soul and fused it with the core of a world beast. It was then that the demon soul rted its ugly head and stole the core from him.


    As for him, he was discarded into the void. Legion went on to achieve great things, but he was doomed to die. Fortunately, he met a benevolent world god who helped him gain a body. Now he has the chance to correct all the wrong that was done to him.


    He knows that odds are against him since he doesn''t have the demon body or ess to Chaos energy. His giant of order body is not a true giant of order either. It can''t control cosmic force. His dragon clone is ordinary, and he doesn''t have the shards of power, the divine spark of the tree father, the demonic spark of Aeternus, the spark of power of Helios, or the godling heart of the dead Legion-8. He doesn''t have any of their Universal artifacts either. So he isckingpared to Legion.


    But he is not without a chance of sess. He has a spark of consciousness that the first sage gave him. With this, he will be able to ess the spiritual dimension that Legion has been hiding in asionally to lose pursuers.


    He also has power on par with a Supreme Origin god. Most importantly, he has all of Legion''s memories, and his battle sage monkey has an eye of fate, so he is different from other Origin gods pursuing Legion.


    He thought to himself, "I have the best chance of catching them. I will catch them, and my rightful destiny will be taken from them."


    He was filled with determination as he chased after Legion.


    The first sage heard this thought while he worked. As the one who built the 10th clone, he can hear every single one of its thoughts. What he just heard made him snort and continue worlding


    The goal of the clone is to find Legion and have an existential battle with it. The goal of Green Vine is to use the clone to find Legion and infiltrate them. That''s why Green Vine is currently using her spark of consciousness to empower the 10th clone.


    The 10th clone is a true work of art. It required the work of both the first sage and Green Vine to create it. But unlike the other two, the first sage doesn''t think their n will work at all.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He doesn''t care about that though. If he wanted to catch Legion, he would have done so when he made all of them kill themselves. He can still do so now if he put his mind to it. But that is not his n, so it doesn''t matter if they fail.


    What matters is that this clone will help him pressure Legion. As long as they are pressured, they will want to grow stronger quickly. Which means they will create their Supreme Law as fast as possible and try to be world gods.


    They might be able to achieve thatst part with a world ender inside them. But they certainly won''t if they aim to upgrade their world engine with their Supreme Law. That is when they must let lose CARNAGE and when he will swoop.


    Then again, it doesn''t matter if that n fails either. He is prepared for that failure too. As long as he has his apocalypse weapon prepared, then Legion will have to face the music. ---Big Whoop.


    Salvos and Salvin both received their sister''s call for help. Both of them chose to ignore it. Both of them decided to behave as if they didn''t see her message. They didn''t even speak about it to one another.


    They have never liked her, so it is not surprising that they didn''t go to help. Her death would be nothing but a big whoop. That''s only because their parents won''t allow them to be happy that she died.


    But even if they thought favorably of her, they are currently in the immortalnds where their measly strength is unlikely to help and where danger abounds everywhere. So the smart thing to do even if they liked her is to stay put.


    The two of them chose to stay put and try toprehendws. It is their only reliance right now that the high heaven realm is gone. They are not leaders of an Empire in the Virut ne anymore. Both the Empire of Sages and the Virut ne is gone. In fact, they are practically nobodies here in the immortalnds.


    It wasn''t supposed to be like this, though. The high heaven realm was supposed to be still around after the era of conquest. But something seemed to have happened to it. Now the Virut ne is gone, and so is the racial council of the Virut ne.


    Most of the battle sage monkeys are dead. Only special individuals who were connected to powerful people or had powerful rtives managed to survive because they left the realm before it was destroyed.


    Those that survived are almost insignificantpared to the number of immortal battle sages. And while those immortals can give birth, the battle sage monkeys, as a united race from the same ce, are gone forever.


    As a result, the two of them, despite being children of sages, arergely nobody now. There is no one respecting them, and they can die any moment. If the realm of high heaven still existed, they would have immortals protecting them.


    A/N: Who do you think will win? 9 clones vs the 10th clone? Take note that there can be an infinite number of the 10th clone.

 Chapter 1712: Life Saving Decision.

    Chapter 1712: Life Saving Decision.


    ?


    They used to be protected by immortals when they were in the Virut ne. Unfortunately, they have lost their value now that the Virut ne is no more, so no one is going the extra mile to protect them.


    They too won''t go the extra mile to save someone they don''t care about. Actually, they won''t take a single step to save her. They will ignore her plightpletely.


    The two brothers haven''t moved once ever since they came to the immortalnds. They stayed deep in the building assigned to them and cultivated day and night.


    They don''t need to eat or sleep, and they don''t have any activities taking their time, so they can focuspletely onprehendingws. It is the only way for them to acquire reliable strength, and they are determined to continue trying until they die or be immortals.


    Fortunately, they don''t need to leave the building for anything. They have everything they could ever need here in this building. They have a store of food for when they want to eat. They have training facilities to hone their skills. Their building ispletely sealed spiritually and physically, so they have some protection and quiet during theirprehension.


    Their building is in a world fragment, which is the highest level of protection they can get. Many immortals don''t even have this kind of protection. It was given to them by their parents before they were left alone. Even a Supreme Origin god will find it difficult, if not impossible, to damage their world fragment.


    So they should bepletely safe as long as a world god doesn''t attack them. Apparently, that isn''t true. Apparently, there are beings that aren''t world gods in the void universe who have power close to that of a world god.


    Fortunately, they haven''t offended anyone with that kind of power, so they have been safe. Everything has been peaceful. The only break in this peace is the incessant and panic-filled call for help from Salvini. But all Salvos did was frown a little.


    The red-furred battle sage monkey with eyes of heavenly fire has always been cold and detached. He considered her death throes a nuisance, so he cut off themunication line and blocked her ess to him.


    It was then that his frown disappeared and he rxed.


    "Peace and quiet again."


    Then he resumed cultivating.


    He thought to himself, "It is good that we asked for a different world fragment, or Salvini would have dragged us down with her."


    Their parents had wanted to give them a single world fragment for all three of them to live in. It was easier for them that way since they weren''t world gods and couldn''t make world fragments themselves. Plus, they were not rich enough to squander that much resource on three separate world fragments.


    But the two brothers pleaded with their parents not to stay with Salvini. It was because they didn''t like her. Their parents finally relented and got them two world fragments. That has turned out to be a lifesaving decision. If they didn''t like her enough to bear living with her, they certainly aren''t going to like risking their lives for her.


    Salvini''s call for help went to everyone she knew. But not many people answered her call for help. The few that did, such as their parents, died when they came to rescue their daughter. They were ambushed by immortal vipers.


    However, they are immortal, so their deaths are only temporary. They returned with more helpers and bigger weapons. The two sides shed again and again. It didn''t matter that the bone of contention was no more.


    ---Something Unusual.


    Salvini died. If it is any constion, her death sparked an immortal war between the Vipers that attacked her and her parent''s organization. It is a war that will involve thousands of Origin gods or more, by the looks of it.


    They are fighting for Salvini, but they are also fighting for benefits. That''s the only way that Salvini''s parents could get helpers on their side.


    Her parents wanted revenge, but other immortals are certainly not going to fight for a dead mortal they didn''t care about when she was alive. It is the soul springs that the Vipers are in control of that motivated them to join the fight and fight hard.


    It is just one of the numerous immortal wars going on in the world. Other things are going on in the world every moment. Many people are failing to be titans ofw or Origin gods. Many people are dying every moment due to sudden danger. Realms are dying, and new ones are being born within world gods.


    The death of a mortal and an immortal war is nothing new. But once in a while, something out of the ordinary happens. Origin god Gemini twins must decide if they are to make one Supreme Law or two.


    The Gemini are a race born as twins. They are different from other types of twins because they are conjoined spiritually, not physically. Their souls are connected at the edges, so their consciousness is connected. They think alike and can hear each other''s thoughts, but they are different individuals with different origins.


    Their different origins make it possible for them to have separate concepts. Each one is a different Origin god after all. As mortals, their individual deaths don''t affect each other as long as it don''t involve an Origin god with a special concept or Supreme Law. In that case, one can die while the other lives on. But as Origin gods, they gain certain advantages that normal Origin gods don''t get.


    They can''t lose their memories as long as the two of them don''t die under the same conditions. They can help each other restore their memories. Even better, they can help each other resurrect too.


    The connection of their existence as Origin gods means that unless the two of them are killed together, the one that does won''t bepletely dead. Since they are notpletely dead, they can regenerate their lost parts instead of needing a resurrection.


    A/N: Check out my new book DESTINY GAMES. http://wbnv.in/a/4fidVs5n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1713: One Or Two.

    Chapter 1713: One Or Two.


    ?


    Their reliance on each other cuts back on their need of Origin essence for resurrection. They can use their Origin essence to grow faster by investing it in making their concepts stronger. This helps them to take full advantage of the speed of their two minds working on


    comprehending the samew.


    So not only do they return from the dead faster, they alsoprehendws faster and be stronger faster. These are all advantages that they will lose if they make two Supremews.


    Concepts don''t work well with each other because they interact, and when they do, one of them must manifest above the other. One concept must be dominant while the other is repressed. This antagonistic reaction is suppressed in Geminis thanks to their separate Origin. But a Supreme Law will not be held back by an Origin.


    A Supreme Law is greater than the barrier of soul, origin, and body. Sometimes it is greater than the barrier in time and space. A Supreme Law seeks to overwrite all of existence. Any connection with a Supreme Law, be it physical, spiritual, or mental, is more than enough for it to act and rewrite a target. That''s how a Supreme Law can kill two Gemini twins at the same time by killing one twin.


    So if they have two Supreme Laws, they will have to go their separate ways and be twopletely unattached entities that will try to kill each other in the future. Supremews just can''t work together, even if they were born as twins.


    On the other hand, if they make one Supreme Law together, they will be a single entity. They won''t be two entities with separate bodies and a connection between them. They will be one entity with one mind, body, and energy for all intents and purposes. The fusion of their existence will create apletely different entity from the two of them.


    The decision to make one or two Supreme Laws depends on just how close the twins are to each other. It will be easier to make a Supreme Law if they work together on it, and the Supreme Law will also be stronger due to the fusion of two concepts and identities. But losing their identities is also not ptable. After all, it is a kind of death.


    Unfortunately, this decision is not easy to make. It is made especially tricky by the fact that the two of them have to agree to go their separate ways if they want two Supremews. They have to wait for each other to build their Supremews andplete them at the same time. This will cause them to split and be independent.


    If, by chance, one of the twinspletes their Supreme Law before the other, thete twin will have no choice but to be overwritten. So if one twin doesn''t want them to separate, then things can get a little messy.


    That''s why these Gemini twins are fighting each other in an attempt to kill the other one. Their conflict started an immortal war, but unlike other immortal wars fought for benefits, these two are fighting just to kill their twin.


    The death of a twin will stall the creation of their Supreme Law. The living twin will extend this dy indefinitely by suppressing the regeneration of the dead one. Things will be toote when the living one creates a Supreme Law. The dead one will be allowed to regenerate then, only to be overwritten.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The two twins are not alone in this fight. They have friends and helpers that they hired. They are going all out because this concerns life and death. Each one came with an army to make sure that the other one dies.


    Noctus called out to his brother, "We don''t have to do this."


    His brotherughed. It was augh of despair. He shook his head and said, "I''m afraid we have to. You have left me no choice in the matter."


    "But it is for the best of us. The universe has given us such a great opportunity. It would be a shame not to make full use of it."


    Noctin stoppedughing. He said angrily, "I don''t care. You want to kill me, so I must fight."


    Noctus defended himself, "This is your fault. Things would have been better if you had decided to work with me. The sacrifice would have been from both of us instead of just you."


    Noctin disagreed. "It doesn''t matter at this point. I have to go my own way and be my own person. Freedom is better than power."


    Noctus screamed in frustration, "You fool. Power is better than freedom. Power is the prerequisite for freedom. Power is freedom. Without power, there will be no freedom."


    Noctin refuted with disdain, "What would you know of power? I have always been the stronger one."


    "If you are so strong, then you shouldn''t feel threatened right now. The fact that you are threatened by me is proof of where power truly is and its importance."


    Noctin couldn''t refute him, so he shrugged and said, "It won''t matter where power truly is if I kill you."


    Noctus bared his teeth and said, "Same to you too."


    Then he pointed at his brother and said to his army, "Kill that fool."


    His brother did the same thing. "Kill that imbecile for me."


    Their argument was mental. Their respective armies didn''t hear what they were saying. No one could spy on their conversation either because it was directly from one soul to the other and didn''t use divine sense at all.


    The security of their mind will remain so unless theyprehend too much of a Supreme Law without the protection of their own Supreme Law. As for the immortals they brought with them, none of them are Supreme Origin gods, so they couldn''t spy on them. But they heard the call to kill, so the two armies swarmed each other.


    A/N: Anyone else getting familiar vibes from Noctus And Noctin?

 Chapter 1714: You Fool.

    Chapter 1714: You Fool.


    ?


    One thing of note is that the two armies have the same number of soldiers. This is because the twins have ess to each other''s memories. They can prepare for each other very well because they know what the other is nning.


    They can''t kill each other themselves because of their synched memories and thoughts. It is why they had to have helpers to kill the other twin. This is not a normal fight at all. The immortals are trying to kill the twins instead of each other.


    It is more of a game. The twins are kings that are to be protected. They don''t direct their soldiers at all so that the other twin won''t know their tactics. The soldiers have to simultaneously protect their king while trying to kill the other king.


    In a way, this is a fight of luck. The lucky one will have helpers that will kill the other twin first. Or in case someone chooses to interfere and kill one twin first.


    Despite them knowing what each other is thinking, they don''t have the same talent. Noctin is good at fighting. That is his talent. He has always been very good at utilizing his environment and weapons in fighting. He can think on his feet and improvise if need be. Ites to him naturally and instinctively.


    Noctus, on the other hand, is the intelligent one. He has always been better atprehendingws and creating concepts. But Noctin has ess to his knowledge, so he has always been coasting off of Noctus.


    Thebination of Noctus''s knowledge and Noctin''s fighting instincts has made Noctin the more powerful Origin god. But things have changed now that they want to create a Supreme


    Law.


    Noctus, being the intelligent one, has an advantage in creating the Supreme Law. He wants to fuse their existence so that they can create a Supreme Law with at least four aspects.


    If the two of them choose to work together on a single Supreme Law, their Supreme Law might even be able to maintain two states at the same time. That means they might be able to possess supreme speed and defense at once. But Noctin refused that prospect, so Noctus has to force it.


    By forcing it, their Supreme Law won''t be as good as maintaining two states at once, but it will still have four aspects, which is very good since most world gods only have three aspects. Noctus believes that the extra aspect of duality is worth the sacrifice of his twin, so they must fight.


    Noctin has ess to the Supreme Law of Noctus, but that is not a good thing. He surely can''t use it because that would mean he is admitting defeat. Using it wille with repercussions that will erode his identity, so he has to kill Noctus before he canplete it.


    This situation can only end in the death of one of them or part of both of them. They both can''t work away unscathed from this.


    Noctus was trying to appease him. He said, "Let this happen. The erosion of the Supreme Law will be painless. You won''t even notice it. We will be one after it happens. We will be stronger for it."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Noctin roared in reply, "Never."


    Noctus, ever the reasonable one, tried to be reasonable. "This is only wasting our time and our resources. Do the right thing. Let us be one."


    Noctin disagreed. "It is good that your resources are being wasted. It will certainly dy you. That is good enough for me."


    "You fool. You are being dyed too. We are both being dyed. Your stubbornness is making us weak and slow. This is leading us nowhere."


    Noctin ignored reason and chose to continue the battle. This is not the first time they are having this fight, and it certainly won''t be thest. They will fight until one of them dies.


    The thing that Noctin hates the most about his twin is his frequent use of the word "fool". Noctus is more intelligent, and he is not humble about it at all. He doesn''t shy away from pointing that out a lot.


    Noctin is not stupid. He is a genius too. But his genius is in another aspect. He is not good at thinking long-term, like Noctus. Maybe that is why they are fighting instead of working together. They simply have two points of view that cannot be reconciled.


    There are just some things that people are born with, that hard work doesn''t ovee, and ess to each other''s minds cannot ovee. Sure, the two of them will be better when they be one, but Noctus prefers freedom. He wants to be free from the person that has been living in his head all of his life.


    Their fight was witnessed by a certain white, invisibledy. She chuckled and thought to herself, "This reminds me of our struggle."


    The fight between the twins reminds her of her own situation. The main difference is that she and her siblings are triplets. They also were not born with ess to each other''s minds, but they were born with powers that negate the other two.


    They were originally one, but their father split them into three. If they could ovee each other and return to being one, then they would be stronger for it. But only one of them wants to fuse. The other two like their freedom too much.


    Their fusion and return to one can be very easy if they are of one mind in its pursuit. It will be instantenous too. They won''t need any external item or help. But they don''t want to lose themselves, so they fight each other.


    Unfortunately, they were born to be each other''s bane, so none of them can force the fusion. At least not yet. But if one of them evolves ahead of the others and grows stronger, then that one can force the fusion. It will mean that the two others or maybe all of them will be eroded and lose their freedom.

 Chapter 1715: All For Power.

    Chapter 1715: All For Power.


    ?


    Their dilemma is incredibly simr to what Noctus and Noctin are going through. But they don''t have ess to each other''s minds, so they don''t know what each other is thinking or doing. That''s why she has to stick to the god of power and monitor him. That way she will be able to steal the fruit of hisbor when he is done or destroy it so that he can''t have it.


    The fight between the Gemini twins was witnessed by a lot of people. Even world gods noticed it. That''s because the god of power passed through this location on his rampage through realm trees.


    These world gods had been monitoring his actions, so they noticed the fight between the twins. Almost every world god sided with Noctus.


    To world gods, a Supreme Law is of uttermost importance. To the schemers, building a Supreme Law is like writing the amount you want in an open check. To the fighters and brawlers, they liken building a Supreme Law to sitting at an all you can eat buffet.


    The smart decision is to write thergest amount you can possibly conceive into the check. For the brawlers, the efficient decision is to eat all they can eat in the shortest time possible. So regardless of the point of view, every world god thinks the power of the Supreme Law should be prioritized.


    To world gods, a Supreme Law is the foundation of everything and anything. It represents their backbone and their blood. They also would like a powerful Supreme Law, but they were not opportuned to build something so powerful when they were Origin gods. They didn''t have a twin that they could sacrifice to elevate their future potential.


    A Supreme Law is the foundation of their world, so their world can be destroyed and rebuilt while their Supreme Law remains with them even in death. Their world also cannot be stronger than the capacity of their Supreme Laws. The best they can do to increase that capacity right now is use Cosmic energy.


    It is toote to add another aspect to it. They are what they are, and the whole of reality will either be them or they will die trying. They have lost the opportunity to create a better Supreme Law, so some of them were jealous of the twins while others thought of them as being na?ve.


    None of them made a move, though. They were all focused on trying to figure out how High Heaven was suppresing so many realm trees. The best they have figured out is that it is rted to the Authority of the void universe in one way or another. They don''t know for sure because they can''t find proof other than that the resistance from the realm trees is less than it ought to be.


    They wanted to be certain, so they focused on High Heaven''s actions. It was then that they saw him do something other than bully realm trees.


    The first one passed and saw the fight. He snorted and went on his way. But then he returned and pinched both of them to death. He actually pped them to oblivion. They were too small for his fingers to pinch, so it looked like the tip of his fingers pped them.


    Then he said to those in the two armies who hadn''t been crushed to death, "This fight is over. It is a test for the fittest now. The strongest one will survive and will win."


    Then he left them.


    He thinks little of Origin gods. He doesn''t even think highly of world gods, so he ignored their squabble at first. But then their fight reminded him of his struggle with his siblings. So he returned to set things straight.


    He is more simr to Noctin in nature. He is not a schemer, and he doesn''t like schemes. He is more of a fighter, and he is very good at it. Despite the simrities between them, he didn''t side with Noctin because he believes that the fighter is making a stupid decision. Mentally, he is more simr to Noctus because he will always prioritize strength above everything else. He would rather die than not jump at an opportunity to be stronger. That is why he is here.


    The existence of the Supreme sitting above everyone else had blocked everyone''s path. No one could grow stronger beneath the Supreme when he was alive. Now the Lord of Madness is dead, so they can finally raise their heads and grow. It is a precious opportunity that one wouldn''t appreciate until they have lost it.


    He made up his mind to take full advantage of this opportunity. He didn''t do what everyone else was doing. He came to this dangerous prison where he could die just so he could find the path to Supremacy.


    If he fails, he could die. But if he seeds, he will be farther along the path of Supremacy than the others. If he bes the next Supreme, then the schemes and abilities of others will be meaningless. He will gain ultimate freedom. And for that, he is willing to do anything. His conviction makes him belittle those who are not willing to do everything for power. But he also understands that only the strongest deserve to survive. That''s why he didn''t pick one twin above the other. He killed the two of them. Now the first one to resurrect will get to decide their fate.


    The best part of his decision is that he is willing to bet that whoever resurrects first will decide to sacrifice the other for power. He wants to see if Noctin is dedicated to freedom over power that much.


    His n brought a smile to his lips. His good for nothing sister noticed it and smirked at him. He replied with a snort and resumed suppressing realm trees every 10 minutes.


    -It Is Not Over Yet.


    Survival is a struggle. Only the fittest survive. Greatness is for the few that are head and shoulders above others, either in strength or luck.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1716: All For Supremacy.

    Chapter 1716: All For Supremacy.


    ?


    A thousand Sovereigns of Law die for each Sovereign that bes an Origin god. This is normal. There are many such losers at every stage of power.


    Normally, nothing will be heard about the losers ever again. They will be lost in time and history. But one certain being is determined not to be forgotten.


    This particr being is in a bunker in the immortalnds. The bunker is highly fortified. Not only is it nearly impervious to damage, it has many powerful beings guarding it.


    The loser awakened in a vat in one of the rooms in the bunker. He looked strange in the green vat. He was small and frail. His skin was pale, and he only had hair on his head. But all of these only made the loser smile.


    The vat drained its liquid after sensing his brain waves. Then it opened with a swish. One of the protectors of the base came forward to help him out. It was a gleaming metal golem. But he prefers to call them terminators.


    He was helped into a bed and moved to a room with a lot of screens by the terminator. He didn''t look at the screen for a while. He was too busy moving and examining his body.


    There was a rueful smile on his face. He eventually said, "It seems that the first one didn''t kill me. I must still be alive somewhere. This is not bad either. It is good to be back as a human."


    He looked around the room he awakened in and made his judgment. "This is base 021. What happened to the first 20? Did something destroy them?"


    The terminator gave him a chip, which he slotted into the port at the base of his skull. This gave him ess to and control of everything in the base.


    The first thing he did was to go through the records of everything that has happened since the first one awakened within him. Information and events shed rapidly across the various screens and across his eyes.


    Eventually he sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Nothing seems to have gone wrong. The other bases are intact. I guess I just got lucky to be awakened first."


    "Now, what should I do? I am not Monarch High Heaven. I am not even Jason. I know that much. I can forget about my past and try to live my life in peace. There is so much to love for. There is no pain in my mind anymore. Heck, I can sleep all day now."


    But he knows that he won''t do that. He just can''t ept his loss. He was the greatest human of earth before the system arrived. He united all of mankind living on earth, Mars, and the moon. He did so all by himself. All of it was taken away when his system arrived.


    He can''t really me the system. It didn''t kill him. It was willing to wait for him to die of natural causes. He was the one that forced it to show him the first one and the path of supremacy. That made his life and all the sess he had achieved not good enough for him anymore. So hemitted suicide.


    That hasn''t changed even now. He is not truly Jason anymore or Monarch High Heaven, but he has memories of their two lives, including the impression of Supremacy.


    That memory and the impression of Supremacy cracked Jason''s psyche and made Monarch High Heaven feel pain for most of his life. He doesn''t feel pain, but that impression can never be forgotten. Nothing can be good enough for him anymore. Not living in peace or sleeping all day. He too must strive for the path of supremacy.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "What should I call myself now? I should just go with Jason. It was good enough back then for me, it should be good enough now. From now on, I will be Jason v211."


    He chuckled when he thought about his loss and what little chance he has of seeding in his endeavor. Monarch High Heaven didn''t make ns for him so that the system wouldn''t be aware of his existence so he could do anything. But he is not going to give up.


    Not even the fact that the first one will be against him is enough to make him give up. There are just some things that one can never forget after hearing about them or seeing them once. They will mark the consciousness for all of eternity. Even death will not bring an escape.


    He must chase after the path of Supremacy, but that doesn''t mean he will be stupid about it. He knows his greatest enemy, and he knows he doesn''t have any of the power he had as Monarch High Heaven. But he knows what the first one''s next n is. That is the project he spent most of his time building.


    He rubbed his chin and thought to himself, "Getting a slot will be easy. But participating will not. I will need to be an immortal to participate. This means I must be an immortal before he is done preparing God''s Domain."


    "Won''t that make me the first human immortal in the void universe? Imagine that. I am ever the trendsetter."


    He stood up from his bed and flexed his limbs.


    He grinned and thought to himself, "It should be easy to be an Immortal. I spent less than 2 Origin cycles on itst time. Let''s see if I break my record. Better still, let''s see if I can break Legion''s record."


    The thought of Legion made him pause. He considered them for a while and asked himself, "Should I reach out to Legion. We can be allies. That is if they don''t try to eat me. But how will I reach them now?" Everyone is looking for them."


    He put them out of his mind for now and made his way to the mana chamber. It contains a machine that will activate his cells and turn him into a mana entity. He won''t need any cultivation method to achieve that. Not with his level of expertise.


    Then he can try to be a transcendent. There is no tool that can help him with that. He will have to rely on life essence just like everyone else.


    Next, he will be a king ofw in all 33ws that he hadprehended as Monarch High Heaven. It will allow him to do something he was never able to do in hisst life. He will create a concept with 33ws.


    Maybe then he will be able to see if a concept with all thews of the void universe will allow him to be the Lord of the void universe. It is just a conjecture. But it would really help him to achieve supremacy if he can pull it off.


    He believes he has a good chance at it if it is possible though. After all, he was the first person to learn how to create the Authority of the void universe in hisst life. It means he is on the right path and it is a path that no one else has tried.


    He thought to himself, "I don''t need a system to be great. I was born for greatness."


    THE END OF BOOK 1.


    A/N: It has been 3 years, y''all. 3 years of hard work. 3 years of learning and joy. All for what?


    If you have reached this point in GREED, I am sure that you have one or two answers to that question. It could be for perfection or survival, or power or supremacy. But maybe not all of you have noticed that they are all the same thing.


    The God of Power, Jason, Legion, the First Sage, Ghastorix, Ghaster, etc. all have one goal or another. But if they go a long enough way in the pursuit of their goal, they will meet the other and sh with them. Only one person''s goal will be realized at the end of the day. Only one person''s goal will overwrite all of reality.


    I think at this point, we all know who''s goal will seed. But if you don''t know, continue to read and find out. If you do know, it is more reason for you to continue reading so as to find


    out how.


    I want to say that I am full of gratitude for everyone who followed me and helped me to reach this point. I can''t list out all their names here because it is too long and because I have forgotten some of them. I hope thatst part doesn''t diminish my appreciation for them.


    That aside, book 1 and its intermission have ended. Book 2 will start immediately, and it will continue under the same title. I am also writing another book titled OUROBOROS SEAL. It will be ready soon.


    I made the MC of OUROBOROS SEAL neutral evil. I didn''t bow to pressure and create a book with a heroic MC, smut, harem, or any other form of poison. That means it won''t be popr with the general public. It also means you better show up to support it. I have only you guys to


    count on, after all.


    OUROBOROS SEAL will introduce my power system for the multiverse. I suspect that at this point, you guys expect that there are other universes out there. You are right if you expect


    that.


    Not only that, Legion will fight someone like the MC of OUROBOROS SEAL in book 3 of GREED. I dare say that it will be epic. If you know what kind of power Oberon Thane has, then you will agree with me. So consider OUROBOROS SEAL to be a primer for Book 3 of GREED.


    That is all for today. I hope the next 3 years will be fun for us. Join the discord server if you


    haven''t. I make announcements on there. I will use the same one for all my books so you can always reach me through it. https://discord/invite/WC2k48JF


    DMADLORD Out.

 Chapter 1717: In The Beginning.

    Chapter 1717: In The Beginning.


    ?


    In the beginning, POWER, WISDOM, AND SOUL gathered around the pool of darkness. Some call it the tear in reality, and others call it the rift in the Cosmos. It goes by many names, but it is easily identifiable once it is gazed upon.


    It is a wrongness in reality. Something ought to be there, but nothing is. Nothing shouldn''t exist at all. There is either order, chaos, entropy, space rifts, time tunnels, or something else. But there shouldn''t be nothing.


    Nothing is clearly dangerous. For that reason, not many entities like to be around the pool of darkness. But not many entities are WISDOM, POWER, AND SOUL.


    They are one of the few who know that the pool of all-consuming darkness is the spot in the cosmos where the power of ANNIHILATION is spilling over from.


    But that knowledge is not why they were bold enough to approach the pool of darkness. If anything, they regret possessing that knowledge, as it will reduce the chance of sess of their n.


    They say ignorance is bliss. In the case of ANNIHILATION, it truly is. The ignorant entities don''t want to be around the pool of darkness because they fear it instinctively. It is an irrational fear of the unknown. But it is good because knowing the source of the pool of darkness can cause it to contaminate you across space and time, which will cause you to be ANNIHILATED.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    It is a death that will wipe out an entity from all space, time, history, and knowledge. No one would mourn them because everyone would have forgotten about them.


    It is a dreadful fate that even POWER, WISDOM, AND SOUL are not safe. They are not that strong yet. So it is not a good thing for them to be this close to it. But they are here because they are desperate.


    They have searched the infinite Cosmos for the legacy of the SUPREME and have found nothing. This is thest spot that they have yet to search, and they are running out of time to find it.


    They were not the only ones who witnessed the moment when the Lord of Madness died. They and many others saw the crack that almost split the cosmos into two. They felt the quacking of the cosmos and the heart wrenching emptiness left behind by the absence of the SUPREME. The SUPREME died. Until the point he died, they didn''t know just how suffocated they were by his existence. They knew he was in all space and time, aware of everything happening, and omnipotent, but it was after his death that they realized how bad it was for the SUPREME to be everywhere in the Cosmos, breathing over their necks and watching their every move. It was until the pressure of his existence left them that they suddenly felt lightheaded and liberated. They gained freedom in the absence of the SUPREME. But that was just the beginning


    Technically, with the SUPREME gone, they could do anything they wanted. It just so turns out that what they all wanted was to rece the SUPREME.


    No one wanted to be subject to that feeling ever again. But more than that, they wanted to be the reason why others have to watch their backs all the time because of the sensation of being watched.


    They want to be the reason why others can''t breathe loudly in infinite Cosmos. They want to dere the banishment of true immortals and watch the true immortals that disobey that rule banished or imprisoned.


    They all want to be SUPREME because it is the only way for them to be certain that someone else won''t be above them and have the power to make them miserable. Unfortunately, wishes are not horses.


    To be the SUPREME, one must reach the pinnacle of power in all space and probabilities of the Cosmos. These 3 siblings are far from that point, so they muste to the pool of darkness and risk their lives by venturing into it to look for a legacy of the previous SUPREME that might help to improve their strength.


    One might think it is foolish to risk their lives for a chance at greatness. After all, it is a gamble that they cannot afford to lose. WISDOM knows this. That''s why he is not going to be the one to venture into the pool of darkness. He is smart enough to decide not to go and lucky enough to have his brother.


    POWER doesn''t think it is foolishness to risk it all for a chance at greatness. But he suspects that it is the reason why WISDOM is giving him the "honor" to take the lead on this project.


    POWER asked, "Are you sure it is alright for me to do this? You don''t want to follow me at all?"


    WIADOM replied. "I am sure. I only want the foundation of wisdom and the well of wisdom in any of the worlds you find. You can take everything else you find. Besides, it is not wise to risk all our lives at once."


    POWER knew that WISDOM was scheming. But POWER also knew that while the mission was risky, it was going to be highly rewarding too.


    A single universe with a connection with the aspect of infinity will have foundations of power, wisdom, and soul that are very powerful. If he gets his hands on them, that means he gets to keep two foundations and will edge out his siblings in power.


    The two of them spoke some more on the specifics of their arrangement. POWER would venture into the pool of darkness and brave the risks. WISDOM on the other hand, would stay safe outside, but will give POWER something to assist him in finding and taking the foundations of worlds.


    These two beings thus hashed out a n to excavate a universe or more than one for power. One of them is a collosus of an entity who ispletely white and appears to be formed of a single solidified explosion. This entity is POWER. He looks like a bright white rock shining brightly and illuminating his surroundings.

 Chapter 1718: A Three Way Battle.

    Chapter 1718: A Three Way Battle.


    ?


    POWER doesn''t have any facial features, as his face is one smooth te. But he still looks proud and confident from a distance. It is only those who are close to him will experience the incredible amount of heat battering his surroundings and sense the brewing violence ready to explode out from him.


    Those that are more familiar with POWER will describe him as a million exploding suns, bearly restrained and shackled in a physical form but ready to explode into the surroundings and incinerate every opposition in his way.


    That is POWER. As for WISDOM, he is the only one of the three not humanoid. He is a featureless and gray pir. He is not glowing at all. He is not affecting his environment in any way, be it light or heat. The only thing peculiar about him is that his body is constantly shifting.


    As an existence made up of knowledge and formed by experience, WISDOM''s body is not constant. He is constantly growing and changing with every moment of his existence.


    His wiggling flesh made up of shifting words is like a colony of white worms with words written on them. These worms are constantly growing, evolving and dividing, which makes him stronger by the moment.


    WISDOM took out one of those worms from his body and handed it over to POWER.


    "This is my assistance to you"


    POWER sneered, "Just this? It is so weak."


    WISDOM wasn''t perturbed. He said, "Not every powerful means has to be loud and visible. Knowledge is also power."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    POWER said in disdain, "Knowledge is power for the weak. Those who are strong have no need for schemes. Every scheme will fall before the might of true power."


    WISDOM asked expressionlessly, "If that is so, then why can''t you defeat me?"


    POWER wanted to re up. He wanted to destroy everything around him in displeasure. But he knew it would be useless and couldn''t threaten his brother since his brother knows everything about him and therefore is immune to him, so he calmed down.


    He said, "Why don''t you let me absorb you so we can be whole? We don''t have to risk our lives like this if we be one."


    WISDOM didn''t reply, but the only sister that had been silent ever since spoke. "You know why. Bing one is not the solution if we lose our freedom, or worse, lose ourselves."


    POWER imployed WISDOM, "Come on. If we be one, then we will not need her permission to devour her strength. Don''t you pride yourself on your intelligence? Surely you must see that this is the right decision. Besides, I don''t think you have anything to lose. Even if we lose ourselves, I''m sure you are too smart to lose yourself."


    WISDOM shut down the idea. "Give it up. Go and find the legacy as nned. If you gain an advantage over us, then you wouldn''t need our permission to fuse. It is as you like to say, might makes right. Gain power over us, then you will have your way."


    POWER could only brave himself. He watched the white worm in his hands turn into a ring on one of his fingers. The worm spoke in his mind.


    -I AM THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM.


    -YOU CAN CALL ME A SYSTEM.


    POWER informed it. "I will call you whatever I want."


    -YES MY LORD.


    Then POWER jumped into the evesting darkness of the pool in search of the legacy. Only SOUL AND WISDOM remained at the edge of the pool.


    SOUL sneered, "What a fool! He is risking it all for power, but you don''t need to risk anything for power. All you need to do is to know."


    WISDOM said to his sister, "He doesn''t have a choice. He has to continue making progress or he will be ovee. It is his nature."


    "Join with me, sister, and we can overwhelm POWER together. You should know that your time is limited now. If POWER returns at all, then I will gain an advantage over all of you. So why don''t you join me before I force you and you lose all your initiative?"


    SOULughed, "You think so little of me. You think I am the weak link that you can ovee. How malicious of you. POWER was right. I hate schemes."


    WISDOM shrugged. He didn''t feel ashamed that she called him out for trying to take advantage of her.


    This is the same request that POWER made to him. WISDOM didn''t reply then, but he is making the same request to SOUL. He didn''t ept POWER''s request because POWER is likely to overwhelm him in the fusion. POWER is an explosion after all.


    Rather than risk his ego by fusing with POWER, he decided to employ a better tactic that would send POWER on a wild goose chase while giving him the opportunity to work on


    absorbing SOUL.


    Without POWER here, no one would be able to interfere in his attempts on SOUL. Victory is all but in his grasp. It is just a matter of time, and even SOUL is smart enough to know that. She can see that the reliance of WISDOM to ovee the two of them is not in the foundation of wisdom that he asked POWER to get for him, but in the spirit of wisdom that he gave POWER.


    As long as the spirit of wisdom enters a world and returns with the knowledge of the world, then WISDOM would have won this gamble without risking himself. If POWER finds the foundations of the world and returns with them, then that will only be the proverbial icing on the cake. So she is indeed running out of time to make a decision.


    He asked her again, "What say you? Who knows, your immunity might help you preserve your ego if we fuse."


    She replied, "I refuse. I too will find my way."


    "How?" WISDOM asked with true curiosity. "You can''t defeat me. ept your fate."


    A/N: It is clear what she decided to do isn''t it? That aside, now we know how the system came


    to be. Also, did you find anything familiar about the names of the three siblings? Asking for a


    friend.

 Chapter 1719: Adaptation Or What?

    Chapter 1719: Adaptation Or What?


    ?


    He rose to his true form then. The pir grew taller and unfolded into arge sheet of worms that nketed the sky. He had sealed every avenue of escape for her. One way or another, they were going to fight today.


    "What way will you find little sister? Will you try to phase through me again? I hope you do. I have something that I think would restrict you. Why don''t we give it a try?"


    He was eager to try. So when he saw what SOUL meant by finding her way, he was unhappy.


    SOUL didn''t try to test whatever mechanism he had concocted now to trap the untrappable. She jumped into the pool of darkness and chased after POWER. This left only WISDOM standing at the edge of the pool of darkness.


    He thought to himself with a smirk as his body shrank back into a small, squirming grey pir of worms, "I thought she didn''t want to risk herself. Who would have thought that she became too scared for her future? Apparently, she is not immune to everything. In the right amount, fear can affect her."


    Then he chuckled. "This is good too."


    The knowledge he just gained caused his worms to shift and divide. This made him more adaptable in dealing with his untouchable sister. But it is just a small victorypared to what he ns for the future.


    "I wonder what will happen if I step into this nothingness without any protection. Will I disappear or will I adapt and be stronger?"


    He looked at the pool of darkness with both fear, anticipation, greed, and caution. The pool of darkness is the ultimate wrongness in the world. It is also the ultimate challenge for him. If he can adapt to it, then he would be on his way to bing an ABSOLUTE or actually be


    one.


    Unfortunately, he doesn''t have the guts of POWER or the innate immunity of SOUL. He is too smart to risk the pool of darkness even with protection, so there''s no way he would willingly bear the power of ANNIHILATION in order to be stronger.


    "Maybe I could give it a try if SOUL had fused with me. But I will certainly need POWER''s unending power to not die instantly."


    Eventually, he looked away from the pool of darkness and turned to the Cosmos. He stared at the wound across the Cosmos. It was the wound that was left behind from the attack that killed the SUPREME.


    Even after many epochs, that wound had prevented the rise of another SUPREME. Anyone who dared to try to take up that position would be cleaned in two just as the Cosmos was almost cleaved into two.


    It shows just how powerful the person who killed the SUPREME must have been. And the SUPREME was someone who managed to imprison an ABSOLUTE.


    "It just doesn''t make any sense. But I guess I am too weak to understand it. I just have to be the next SUPREME. Maybe then I will understand."


    He has always wanted to understand why and how something so iprehensible has happened. Fortunately, his chance ising. The wound is healing. It has been healing over the years, so it has shrunk now. Soon it will disappear, and anyone will be able to be the SUPREME then.


    The other alternative is for him to brave the danger of the wound now and try to adapt to it. Then he will automatically be the SUPREME. But if he isn''t willing to attempt ANNIHILATION, he is not willing to attempt whatever the wound is.


    He shook his head in pity and disappeared into the Cosmos.


    Meanwhile, within the pool of darkness, POWER used the artifact of the Lord of Madness that they had managed to find to resist the power of ANNIHILATION. ANNIHILATION was chained, unconscious, and held down by the weight of many worlds. But despite being shackled, sleeping, and burdened, just its mere presence could kill him.


    POWER enveloped himself with the power of the defensive artifact as he swarm towards one of the tworgest worlds on ANNIHILATION''s shackles. He entered this world only to be shackled by the rules of the world. These rules were so strong that he too had to fall asleep.


    Fortunately, he has the spirit of wisdom with him. While he slept, the spirit of wisdom helped him infiltrate the rules of this world and began a process to turn him into an indigene of the universe.


    It did this by creating virtual personas that tried again and again to be strong enough to allow him to awaken. This continued until one of the vessels of POWER, an earthling called Jason, reincarnated into the high heaven realm and fulfilled the requirements to wake up POWER.


    Using him, POWER sessfully changed his identity from an invader to an indigene, but the shackles of the void universe were still too strong to allow him to do whatever he wanted. POWER has woken up now, and he has also found the path of Supremacy that will grant him ess to the Legacy of the Lord of Madness. All he needs is for other powerful beings in this world to help him open the gate.


    Of course no one will help him even if he asks nicely. They are more likely to sabotage his ns if they know about it. But he is not helpless. All he needs is bait. If that bait is good enough, then they will fall for it and do what he wants them to do.


    Monarch High Heaven, the high elf vessel of POWER has created that bait. All POWER needed to do was build the tform and invite the powerful entities of this world to partake in it.


    He has done all of that and just as he expected, the n suggested by the spirit of wisdom is working without an issue. Even entities that are usually cautious like Legion are also tempted to join in.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1720: Daring And Fun.

    Chapter 1720: Daring And Fun.


    ?


    Legion-5 said, "The spiritual dimension is as drab as ever. It looks like a graveyard if the graveyard also eats people."


    Legion-4 joined in, "Or if the graveyard is the entire world."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Legion-7 agreed, "That would be bad. This ce is just so suffocating, listless, and boring. The whole world cannot be something like this."


    Legion-5 pointed to the ck hole. "The only interesting thing here ever since the great mother died are these unconscious Origin gods."


    Legion-3 finally took time away from running and joined the discussion. "Do you think we can eat it."


    Legion-4 replied, "I don''t think so."


    Aeternus insisted, "There''s only one way to find out."


    Legion-5 agreed, "Let me give it a shot. There''s nothing to lose."


    Legion-2 warned them, "That''s wrong. There''s nothing we are aware of that we can lose. There can be a lot we can lose by trying to kill an Origin god permanently. We can be banished from thew matrix if we do."


    Aeternus asked, "What if we seed?"


    Soverick replied after thinking about it for a while, "Either we break a rule of the void universe and are rewarded for it or we are punished severely for the atrocity."


    Legion-1 added, "This sounds like a gamble. I''m in."


    Aeternus was also full of anticipation. He said, "All in favor?"


    All nine of them voted in favor of trying to eat an unconscious Origin god and maybe cause his or her permanent death. They were that bored from running around so much.


    But the fact that all of them agreed to do something so dangerous didn''t sit right with them.


    Aeternus''s anticipation had reduced by half. He said, "I know I am for Chaos and all, but isn''t this reckless? Who is going to be the voice of reason?"


    Everyone turned to Legion-7 who doesn''t have a body and is in charge of the world fragment.


    He said, "Fine. I''ll be the reasonable one while you guys get to be excited about doing something fun. As if I am not bored too."


    Then he said, "We shouldn''t do this. Do you guys remember what happened when a world god seeded in invading our mindwork? I bet that''s simr to what you are trying to do by eating this unconscious Origin god. You would be crossing the void universe."


    Aeternus snickered and said, "All in favor?"


    8 voted for it while someone voted against it. With that sorted out, Legion-5 sent the fragments of a realm heart in his possession to the other clones. Then Je approached the ck hole.


    He approached with anticipation bubbling within him, even though Soverick has seen a darkness in his future. Not even the prospect of death is enough to deter him from trying something different, daring, and fun. Not with all of the other minds, including Legion-7, egging him on.


    He crossed the horizon of the ck hole and went past it to the zone of no return. This zone was too small for him since he was too strong. The suction force of the dead Origin god couldn''t affect a Supreme Origin god.


    He expanded his body into a bottomless abyss. Tentacles rose from the whirlpool of his body andtched onto the shattered Origin god. Then the tentacles pulled the Origin god towards the abyss to devour it.


    It happened instantly. The darkness arrived and left immediately. When it left, Legion-5 was gone too. It was exactly as Soverick had seen it. It was just darkness. They didn''t see how Legion-5 was demolished.


    Legion-1 broke the silence, "That was more fun than I expected."


    Legion-4 added, "Right? But we are not doing that again."


    Even Aeternus was in agreement. "It would be a waste of time to do so. We will need to be stronger to be able to kill an Origin god permanently."


    Soverick said in suggestion, "How about we try Chaos energy and see how it reacts to it?"


    "Hmm. That could be an interesting experiment."


    Aeternus called out, "All in favor?"


    Eight of them voted in favor of toying with the void universe using a stick made out of chaos energy immediately after they were explicitly punished for messing with the void universe. The remaining one voted against it because he had to be the reasonable one.


    With that sorted out, Aeternus immediately crossed the barrier between the void universe and the spiritual dimension. He used Soverick''s eyes to spot a ck hole and approached it. Then The handed over the realm fragments in his possession.


    He said to the others, including Legion-5, who was watching within Legion-7, "Here goes. Wish me luck."


    He went all out. He submerged the ck hole in Chaos energy. Chaos energy ripped apart the horizon, and the soul fragments caught in it. Then it bashed against the shattered Origin god.


    Nothing happened after that. They waited with baited breath, but nothing happened. They didn''t give up, though. Aeternus continued waiting for weeks, which turned into months and then years.


    He spent 12 years waiting and looking for any change. When it finally happened, all of Legion cheered.


    Aeternus pointed out, "There is indeed a change."


    The shattered fragments had stopped growing after their supply of soul fragments was cut off. But it had also shrunk. The difference was so small that it took them 12 years to notice it.


    Legion-1 said to everyone. "This is good news and bad news. It is good news because Chaos energy can kill Origin gods permanently. At this rate, it might take an Origin cycle, but it is possible. That is good, but..."


    Soverick finished for him, "It is bad news because it can also kill us if we lose control of it."


    This is a fear that they haven''t been able to let go ever since the first sage whooped their ass. It wasn''t the first time either. The True Law of Order had left them hanging when Legion-5 and Legion-7 were trying to be Origin gods. The first sage''s situation only served to drive home the lesson that the Supreme Laws of others cannot be trusted or relied upon.

 Chapter 1721: Error = Weakness.

    Chapter 1721: Error = Weakness.


    ?


    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Legion-1 continued, "It will be bad if we lose control of Chaos energy. Unfortunately, nothing can be done about it currently. Which is why I rmend that we continue this experiment to learn how the void universe will deal with Chaos energy."


    They agreed with that. So Aeternus waited for another 37 years by the ck hole. This time the change was huge. They finally got to see how the void universe was going to resolve the issue with Chaos energy.


    A darkness appeared and disappeared instantly. Aeternus was gone by the time it left. He had been struck with so much force that he was obliterated instantly. They saw iting and yet couldn''t stop it.


    Legion-4 chuckled, "That is right. The way to deal with Chaos energy is to attack and destroy the source."


    He was joking, but Legion-1 took him seriously. He asked, "But what is the source of Chaos energy?"


    That got them thinking. Legion-9 proffered an answer. "It might have something to do with the difficulty of fusing with the Law of Chaos."


    Aeternus added, "First of all, I am not strong enough to do that. Secondly, I am not going to do that even if I were strong enough. So there''s no way to find out if the source of Chaos energy is down below."


    Legion-8 agreed, "Aeternus is right. It is too dangerous. We are already too entwined with Chaos energy. The solution is not bing more entwined with it."


    Soverick suggested, "Besides, we are not powerful enough to destroy the source of Chaos energy if we can find it. I guess the only thing we can do is learn more by performing more experiments. I propose that Legion-5 use his Cosmic force in tandem with Chaos energy this time around."


    Legion-1 added, "We should also test the power of our sparks of power and sparks of consciousness against it."


    Soverick agreed. "The more the merrier."


    So they began a series of tests that pitted the might of Chaos energy against the might of the void universe. It caused the clones to die many times while they learned very little about how to subdue Chaos energy. But they did learn a lot about the True Law of Order and Chaos.


    They are not sure if that is a good thing anymore sinceprehending thosews might backfire on them. But the knowledge they gained from these two True Supreme Laws is helping them make outstanding progress in the creation of their own Supreme Law.


    It is like they are watching a fight between two powerful entities. Learning the moves of the two of them, copying it, andmitting it to memory is bad. But it served as raw material to inspire them to be better fighters themselves.


    The clone that enjoyed the most from these lessons was Legion-8. He was built to be an alternative of Chaos created with thews of order, so the interaction between the two Supreme Laws is all the inspiration they need to build his Supreme Law.


    It will be a Supreme Law with previously unknown aspects. Already, they have found infection. It is the foundation of the Supreme Laws of demon gods and world enders. Now they have been able to define the aspects Corruption and Corrosion and add it to the Supreme


    Law.


    Corrosion is based on error. It is a process that urs due to the internal inconsistencies and imperfections of a system. Over time, these internal inconsistencies will erode the system and destroy its structural integrity.


    Corrosion is involuntary, inescapable, and inevitable. They can see a lot of potential within it. As long as something is not perfect, it will fall to Corrosion over time.


    As for Corruption, it is a detrimental process caused by a deliberate and external influence. Corruption is not natural at all. It is a pervasion of the natural order of things, which means it can be avoided. It also means that it can be hastened.


    Corrosion, on the other hand, cannot be affected by an external influence easily. It is after all, based on an intrinsic property of error. Error is the major factor that affects it. The more imperfect something is, the faster corrosion will bring it down.


    But if they can control Corruption and use it to increase the amount of error within a system, then they can indirectly affect Corrosion. And if they can control Corrosion itself, they can speed up the rate at which the system is eroded.


    They can see all of these in the interaction of Chaos energy with the dead Origin god. Chaos energy is corrupting the shattered Origin god, and because it is not perfect, it is eroding and will diepletely after some time.


    This has also given them a way to deal with Chaos energy. If they can achieve perfection, or at least control their imperfection by limiting it, they will be able to slow down the influence of Chaos energy.


    It is not something they haven''t done before. It is how Aeternus survived his first exposure to Chaos energy. He changed his soul usingws to be immune to a certain level of corruption of Chaos energy.


    This brought them to the Law of Order. This truew is far from perfect. The only advantage it has is its overwhelming power and the ability to freeze the information state of an object.


    The aspect of information, from what they can tell, is the ability to transform everything intows or at least quantify them as data.


    One can do a lot of things with the aspect of information. It has the potential to grant power over everything one knowspletely and is able to quantify into data.


    They don''t know if that is possible, but they know that they can freeze themselves in order to be immune to change. This will eliminate the power of corrosionpletely and will let a systemst forever.


    Unfortunately, there is Chaos energy and its control of entropy, corruption through entropy, and its ability to increase corrosion through corruption. All of these have shown why attempting to be immutable is not perfection.

 Chapter 1722: A Paradox.

    Chapter 1722: A Paradox.


    ?


    They believe that perfection is the elimination of weakness, not the refusal to change. If anything, perfection can only be achieved when they can grow, adapt to change, and evolve to be better.


    This understanding is what they call the aspect of Evolution. They don''t know much about this aspect apart from the fact that it requires the aspect of information and can be enhanced by divinity and their spark of power.


    But they are working on it, and when they finally figure it out, it will benefit all of them, not just Legion-8. Even Legion-7 is ted to benefit from their research.


    They have found that, apart from thew of order, Cosmic energy and Cosmic Force are also somewhat resistant to Chaos energy too. This is a different resistance to that of thew of Order.


    Cosmic force is intangible. It is also a perfect force in that it doesn''t possess error and does not corrode. Unfortunately, it is not immune to corruption. If they can find a way to make it immune, just like thew of the soul helped Aeternus gain some immunity, then they can create something imprable to Chaos energy.


    The best way they have to achieve that is to make their spark of consciousness immune to corruption and then fuse it with the perfection of Cosmic force.


    Of course, these are all conjectures based on the information they have currently. Corruption and Corrosion are not the only tools Chaos energy uses. There''s still Infection and Entropy.


    The aspect of Information can help them curb Infection if it is working alone without Corruption, but that''s not the case, and there is still entropy to deal with.


    Currently, they have no way to deal with entropy. In fact, their n to be able to evolve will make sure that they will be vulnerable to entropy.


    Even Cosmic force which doesn''t possess Error is vulnerable to Entropy. This is mostly because it can be changed by Corruption, but they are sure that there are other aspects that can cause changes to a system.


    In fact, every aspect they havee across can cause change to a system. After all, a Supreme Law is not a Supreme Law if it can''t overwrite any part of reality.


    The metaphorical juices were flowing. Legion was being inspired by the moment. They started out looking for fun, but they got more pleasure in the acquisition of knowledge. It is even better than fun because it will help them acquire power. Because of that, they would have done it even if it were not fun.


    Legion-1 grumbled, "I don''t mind that entropy is without a weakness, that it is inevitable, or that it is unstoppable. I only care if we can acquire it or not."


    Soverick shook his head. "We can''t see it. We know what it is since we can see its effect, but we can see it. If we can''t see it, then we can''t control it."


    Legion-1 changed his mind then. He said, "If we can''t control it, then we must focus on how to take advantage of it. Let us find a way to make entropy beneficial to us. A way to make entropy make us stronger."


    Legion-7 asked, "I don''t think that is possible. We can use the entropy of others against them, but we can''t use our entropy for us."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Legion-9 replied, "The best bet is to rely on evolution. If entropy increases due to evolution, why then can''t evolution rely on entropy."


    "It can, but it will turn into mutation because entropy cannot be controlled. So we are back at the beginning."


    "Hmmm. What about if we can create an aspect of probability? Mutation can lead to both beneficial and negative oues, but if we can tilt probability in our favor, we can make mutation help us."


    "Do you mean luck? You want us to rely on luck?"


    "The way you put it sounds unpleasant."


    "Forget unpleasant. How do we even control luck? Isn''t it supposed to be random, like entropy?"


    "No, it is not luck. It is probability. They are different. Consider this. There is a set of oues. If given enough time, every oue cane to pass. Probability will allow us to control which ouees to pass first."


    "But isn''t entropy supposed to have an infinite set of oues? Isn''t that why it is difficult to control?"


    Legion-1 intervened again. "This is too confusing. First, we can''t attempt to be immutable, because that is impossible to do due to entropy and will stop us from growing stronger and evolving. But in order to eliminate corruption, we have to be immune to it. How do we be immune to corruption if entropy can always render our work useless?"


    "It is a paradox. It is impossible."


    "It is possible if we can achieve duality and possess the properties of two opposite states at the same time."


    "Now you are just messing around."


    "He has a point. Energy is matter, and matter is energy. They possess different properties and can transform into one another."


    "You forget that their transformation into one another creates more entropy."


    "I was just giving an example. We can use the energy and matter systems to create an exotic state that possesses the strength of Evolution and Entropy without the weakness. We won''t need to transform into one state or the other. We will possess both."


    "Hmmm. That can work."


    "But we have never seen any such state."


    "The fact that we haven''t seen it doesn''t mean it is impossible. And if it is possible at all, then probability will be able to achieve it."


    The clones were arguing as they worked. Well, only 8 of them were arguing. Legion-7 wasn''t arguing. He had a lot on his mind after they began talking about probability. He had an internal debate that he hid from the others with his spark of consciousness before he eventually spoke out.


    He said, "Guys, I remember something important. You all made me wipe it out of your memory and keep it from you. I don''t know if I should tell you now."

 Chapter 1723: Affinity With Duality.

    Chapter 1723: Affinity With Duality.


    ?


    All the clones stopped talking to consider his words. They wanted to know what he had to say, but they also knew that they had a good reason to wipe out that memory in the first ce.


    This is another reason why Legion-7 has to be the reasonable one. He is the one who has most of their memories, so he is the one to prevent them from repeating mistakes and making mistakes that can be avoided due to their previous experience that they don''t know about.


    It is a move that they put in ce to prevent another memory leak. Legion-7''s spark of consciousness and his control of their world fragment put him in the best position to safeguard their minds. So far, it seems to be paying dividends.


    Legion-1 first tried to confirm their suspicion. He asked, "Is this about the first sage''s Supreme Law?"


    "Yes."


    "How bad is it?"N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Very bad. It will change how we see the world, so it is very bad."


    The clones chewed on that answer for a while. They even stopped their experiments to consider it seriously.


    They had learned a lot about the first sage when he invaded their minds. He got ess to their memories, and they got ess to his Supreme Law. Both ess was not a good thing for them.


    The ess to his Supreme Law meant that he could have tried to overwrite their existence. At the very least, it deepened his hook into their existence. This happened because they learned more about his Supreme Law. They even learned his fakew.


    It was why they decided to wipe out most of what they knew about his Supreme Law immediately they regained consciousness.


    Aeternus asked, "There should have been conditions to recover the memories. What are they for this particr one?"


    "It is his falsew. We can only acquire the memory or the knowledge safely if we can steal it from him, like we did to CARNAGE''sw of the blood."


    Soverick nodded. "That makes sense. But the first sage is the equivalent of a world ender, not a demon god. And where are we going to find his Authority to steal?"


    Even Ragnarok, who was eager to take a bite out of the first Sage, agreed. He said, "I mean, the first sage doesn''t look like someone who likes creating races, and he certainly doesn''t need to. Where are we going to find a creation of his that is at least at the Origin god level?" "Maybe we could have found one when high heaven was still around, but certainly not now." Legion-9 shook his head. "It is too much of a long shot and too dangerous. I would rather hunt the creation of another world god, not that of the first sage, even if it appears in front of us."


    So Legion-1 dered, "Forget about his Supreme Law. We have fallen into this rabbit hole before. We tried toprehend his Supreme Law to help us create concepts. Now we are being tempted to do the same for us to build our Supreme Laws. It won''t end well."


    So they returned to experimenting with Chaos energy, the Law of Order, and Cosmic force. It was during this that they heard that Monarch High Heaven had gone on a rampage across the void universe, hunting realm trees.


    That only spurred them on to work harder. The first aspect that they mastered first was the aspect of information. It came to them easily. The fact that all of their concepts were built with information and Soverick''s eyes could see the information state of the world helped them to nail down that aspect.


    They got immediate rewards. The building of their Supreme Law became much easier since the process was editing and rewriting their information state to give it an advantage over the information state of the world around them.


    The second reward was that they noticed that they might have an affinity for duality in Legion-1 and Legion-5. Both of them had fused with more than one concept in the past and made it work.


    No entity should have more than one concept as an Origin god, but Legion-1 has achieved it. And technically, Legion-5 and Legion-7 are supposed to be the same Origin god in the eyes of the void universe.


    There''s still more than that. All of them are one entity with different types of concepts. But they possess more than concepts. They possess the power of Order, Chaos and divinity simultaneously. Plus, Legion-5 even fused divinity, Order, and Chaos within him.


    While concepts aren''t aspects, the fact that they managed to make things that shouldn''t work together do so has attuned them to the paradoxical exotic state they need to acquire duality. Eventually Soverick came to a conclusion. "I thought we were being crazy for thinking that duality could be real, but we might actually have a shot."


    "We might actually be able to achieve it if we can make the spark of power, the spark of the soul, and a future spark of wisdom fuse. It willplete the trifecta of paradoxes and unleash the aspect of duality or more."


    "It will be the beginning of great things for us. Forget about Evolution and Entropy. With duality, we can simultaneously be dead and alive, here and there at the same time, be in the past and present in the same space. Be many and one, or be matter and energy. We would have so much potential."


    His anticipation was infectious. All the clones were invigorated in whatever they were doing. They all but swore that they wouldn''t stop experimenting until they had figured out all there was to figure out about Supreme Laws.


    Unfortunately, some people had other ns for them. Legion-1 was busy channeling Chaos energy from Aeternus into a ck hole when he sensed an anomaly.


    He thought to himself, "That feels like the soul force of an Origin god. But that can''t be right. Unconscious Origin gods can''t use soul force while conscious Origin gods don''t even know the spiritual dimension exists."

 Chapter 1724: Seeing Is Deceiving.

    Chapter 1724: Seeing Is Deceiving.


    ?


    It was a feeling he was all too familiar with. Someone had scanned him with their soul force- empowered divine sense. It didn''t make sense, so he used his divine sense to scan his


    surroundings.


    However, he didn''t see anything out of ce. There was indeed a conscious Origin god rushing towards him in the spiritual dimension, but that''s normal, isn''t it?


    Fortunately, he wasn''t the only one in charge of their mind. When he asked himself that question, he asked the other clones too. The other clones didn''t think it was normal at all.


    They screamed in his mind, "Run!!!"


    Legion-1 took off immediately. He still isn''t mentally cognizant of the strange Origin god in the spiritual dimension, but he trusts the other clones not to lead him astray.


    He said to them, "This can''t be right. There''s nothing there."


    "There''s literally an Origin god chasing after you. How can you not see it?"


    Soverick suggested, "Use my eyes."


    So Legion-1 turned Soverick''s All Seeing Eye in the direction of the Origin god. The strange mirror for an eye above his head captured the image of the Origin god. This enabled them to finally see what it looked like.


    Legion-1 said, "Oh no."


    Not only did the Origin god look like Legion-5, it also had something they didn''t want to encounter. It had the derivativews of the first Sage all over it.


    Legion-1 crossed the barrier to the void universe immediately. This shifted his position randomly across the void universe. It ensured that he lost his pursuers.


    Soverick said what they were all thinking, "This is bad. We didn''t sense it in our future. We should have at least seen a darkness approaching us in the future. What is that thing?"


    Legion-7 provided, "We did, you didn''t see it."


    He reyed the memory of the vision to them while censoring some part of it. Soverick had seen the vision, but he had ignored it just like Legion-1 did. Then Legion-7 had hijacked the memory and wiped it out of their minds, so none of them saw it.


    He did so to avoid them seeing something they shouldn''t see. Even now he is editing the memories of what Soverick''s eyes analyzed from the entity.


    What he saw in those memories helped hime to some conjectures. "It is using some sort of mental dissonance on us. I think it is a concept or the power of the spark of consciousness. We can see it and perceive it, but we are not acknowledging its presence. I think I have a lot to learn from this."


    What he said made Soverick grumble, "So not only is the enemy affecting our minds, but you are too. Talk about an external and internal sabotagingbo."


    Helios drew their attention to something else. He said, "Hello? It has a spark of consciousness like us. Since when did the first sage gain one?"


    Aeternus grinned and said, "Everyone. I believe that this creation, whatever it is, is food. We should try to steal it or eat it."


    Legion-7 was quick to shut that idea down. "No. We would be underestimating the first sage too much. Let''s just avoid it."


    Legion-1 sighed and said, "I''m sure you have your reasons. But I don''t like this at all."


    They decided to limit their encounter with this strange creature instead of pursuing it. So they returned to the spiritual dimension to continue their experiments.


    Unfortunately, it found them again. They lost it, but it did again. They just couldn''t escape for more than 10 years at a time.


    Legion-4ined, "How is it still finding us?"


    Legion-6 joined too. "It is almost as if it has something to track us with."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Could it be our memories? Is the first sage that powerful?"


    Legion-7 warned them, "You should cease that point of inquiry or I might have to purge it from your memory."


    "Then what do you suggest we do?" Legion-1 asked in frustration.


    "Cease trying to learn about it and limit all contact with it, and we will be fine."


    It was a good idea. It kept them away from the 10th clone, but it caused them to be frustrated.


    The first major issue they have with it is the fact that they have to resign themselves to be pursued. They can''t attempt to learn more about the enemy so that they can deal with it better.


    What''s worse than the first issue is that the pursuit is interfering with their experiments. In the past, they had to start all over again because the void universe crushed them. But that usually takes time because the effects of their actions are slow to see. They won''t have that time anymore if they have to be running around.


    To solve the second issue, they decided to make two clones work on the experiment at the same time. When one is being chased, the other will continue to work on the experiment.


    It worked for a while. It stopped working when the strange creature became two. These two were exactly alike. They were white beings with the power of Supreme Origin gods who could transform into different creatures.


    Legion upped the anty and assigned three clones to working in the spiritual dimension. While two are being chased, the third would work on the experiment.


    It didn''t work for long. A third strange Origin god joined the chase. This made Legion''s frustration peak. They wanted to kill the creatures at all costs, but they couldn''t fight them at all. Common sense dictated that it was a bad idea to fight something rted to the first sage and could mess with their minds. Legion-7 also insisted on avoiding it at all costs. Eventually things got so bad that they didn''t have time for leisure or experiments anymore. The void universe wasn''t safe because tens of thousands of world gods and billions of Origin gods were chasing them. The spiritual dimension had also be unsafe for them. All they could was run and run and run.


    A/N: Check out DESTINY GAMES. If you enjoy GREED then you might enjoy it. http://wbnv.in/a/4fidVs5

 Chapter 1725: Rampage.

    Chapter 1725: Rampage.


    ?


    Legion ran and ran. They voted on what to do about the strange, identical creatures chasing them. 7 to continue running while 2 voted to do something about them, be it trapping them somewhere, creating a bomb to make them explode, devouring them, or using Chaos energy to submerge them.


    While thatst part appealed to them as they would be able to see how a world god would fate against Chaos energy, only Aeternus and Ragnarok were for it. The rest of the clones were not willing to risk their lives at all.


    It is not even a matter of Legion-7 keeping something from them anymore. They can all see for themselves that things are very serious. It wouldn''t have mattered if they had seeded in killing the first strange being that looks like them. It wouldn''t have mattered if they had somehow gotten rid of the second one either.


    Everything about the whole situation is unnatural, and it is clear that they can''t win. Not unless they are ready to confront the first Sage.


    Getting to experiment with a world god is appealing to them, but they can''t confront the first sage yet, so they ran and ran and ran.


    They were not truly in any danger as long as they ran though. The strange beings had no chance of catching them. It was just the need to run and the inability to continue their experiments or do anything against the creatures that made them frustrated.


    Their frustration made them decide to make Aeternus stronger. This was after careful consideration and calctions. The main aim of this endeavor is to make his Chaos energy so strong that it will corrode unconscious Origin gods in the Spiritual Dimension faster. That way they will be able to achieve some results in the little time they have before the creatures catch up to them.


    The second goal is to make Chaos energy so strong that it will eliminate the strange creatures instantly. Legion-7 insisted on that particr requirement if they were to ever confront the creatures. He said they had to make sure that there was no contact between them physically or spiritually for more than a second.


    The second goal cannot be met since these creatures have the power of Supreme Origin gods and the durability of world fragments. Aeternus wouldn''t be able to destroy them instantly as long as he remained a demonic spark.


    But that first goal is highly usible and good enough for them. Plus, the process of achieving it is interesting and fun. Aeternus got to raid immortal continents and burned them to the ground over and over again. They were able to take out their frustrations that way. He would do this and then return to the spiritual dimension after being chased. The new chaos energy would be tried against the shattered Origin gods. When the strange creatures arrive to disrupt him, he would return to the void universe, find another immortal continent, and then burn it to the ground.


    This cycle repeated itself again and again for 10 thousand years. They didn''t give up running, and the strange creatures didn''t give up chasing. They were able to adapt to it, so it became a way of life for them. But something changed in the void universe after 10,000 years that affected them too.


    It has been quite a while since the end of the era of conquest of the high heaven realm. Many realm trees have bloomed in that period of time, but the light of the high heaven realm is non/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    more.


    The changes to the void universe have been little, but they have been very big to Legion. The void universe is veryrge, so the disappearances of a realm tree or two are not significant to it. It is practically a daily urrence in the void universe.


    But to Legion, the High Heaven Realm has always been their home realm. They have lost it and therefore lost the assistance of the Will of the realm, Mother High Heaven. It means that they are on their own in their quest to be world gods.


    Not only that, Legion still hasn''t been able to meet up physically ever since theirst meeting with Monarch High Heaven. This is more of a good thing since they have something very valuable that even world gods would try to steal from them.


    It is because they don''t want to be robbed. That''s why they make the clones stay away from each other. There''s also the matter of their strange pursuers. Those beings have be more than one hundred now. They are the bad reason why they must continue running.


    Fortunately, the clones are of one mind, literally and figuratively. They are not together physically, but they are always together mentally and spiritually. So they were able tomunicate and talk about what they would do about the realm lord''s invitation to his project after he announced the opening of his project.


    All nine of them were taking some time to talk about the invitation. It is not strange considering the importance of this matter.


    As it is, many entities of various power levels and races are also talking about the project that can grant one the opportunity to get the chance to acquire the Authority of the void universe.


    Legion-7 started, "It seems the realm lord still remembers his promise to us. He has invited us to the project."


    Legion-3 didn''t share his opinion. "It is not exactly a good thing. I''m sure he has something to gain from it."


    Ragnarok provided an alternative, "It could be that he gained the support of world gods for the era of conquest and a lot of resources to win it. So this project might just be payment for the services he received."


    Legion-1 asked him, "Do you really believe that?"


    Ragnarok sighed and said, "No. I doubt someone who will kill Mother High Heaven immediately he became a world god would do something like hold a project that gives out Authority without having something to gain from it. But I would like for things to not beplicated for once. We already have a lot of work on our hands without the addition of some scheme."

 Chapter 1726: Extensive Considerations.

    Chapter 1726: Extensive Considerations.


    ?


    Legion-9 snickered and said, "We are out of luck for that. I am sure that there is an ulterior motive for this project. I am so sure of it that I could bet a lobe of my brain if I had it. The matter at hand is to determine if we are going to take the bait or not."


    Legion-2 spoke, "So it is decided that he has an ulterior motive. That means he has an unknown n and is using this project to achieve it. Finding information about this unknown n might be good for us."


    Legion-1 shook his head. "It is unlikely that we seed in that. But we might have a clue. The reason he created the project in the first ce was to gain help from world gods. The reason why he needed help from world gods was because he had a lot of world gods as enemies. And the main reason why he made enemies of world gods, apart from stealing and cheating, is the ban on the exploitation of life trees."


    Legion-7 agreed with that line of thought. He said, "I see. So if we find out why he banned life trees, we might be able to find out why he built the project."


    Legion-8 was more cynical. "They might not be rted. It might all just be a smokescreen. I doubt that the realm lord would make enemies that are capable of making him lose the era of conquest just so that he could have an excuse to build a project, but it is possible. He is mad after all."


    Legion-9 interjected, "Forget the ulterior motive or motives. It is a rabbit hole that we can''t see the end of. What''s important is if we are going to take the bait and what we are going to do to safeguard our interests in case the project is indeed a trap."


    Legion-3 agreed, "He is right. I have heard that some world gods are preparing to attack his world because he refused to grant them ess to the project even when they offered to pay generously for it. These world gods are recruiting Origin gods to assist in the invasion. It will be like another era of conquest, but the target of invasion would be the project in his inner world."


    Legion-1 ruminated on that information. "So the project is that valuable. Even if it is the mere opportunity to acquire the Authority of the void universe, it is still something that world gods are in dire need of."


    Soverick offered, "The issue here is that we are suspicious of the realm lord, and we are extra suspicious of anyone because of the fragments of realm hearts in our possession."


    "I think the two are valid. The realm lord is dangerous and might have killed the Mother High Heaven. We ought to be suspicious of him. We also don''t want to lose our fragments of realm hearts. But I think we should consider this because he has sworn not to harm any participants of the project in anyway."


    That made Legion swing towards participating in the project. But the voice of cynicism appeared in their minds again. Legion-8 said, "It is good that harm can be eliminated from the possible oues. But what about the other things that are not harmful, such as being used to achieve his aim? Do we want to be tools in whatever scheme he is concorting right now?"


    "There''s also the fact that he has multiple world gods as enemies. To participate in the project is to automatically put ourselves on the realm lord''s side when his inner world is invaded. At the very least, regardless of the acquisition of authority, we would be used to fight for his inner world. It will be like the era of conquest, but more thankless."


    Legion-1 sighed. "Those concerns are valid, but let''s not forget that we don''t need to participate physically. Only our minds are needed to use the invitation and participate in it. That means we can leave if there is danger, and if we can''t leave, only our minds will be damaged. Our lives will not be in any danger."


    Soverick considered that opinion for a while. He said, "If that is so, then we have nothing to fear for him. But even then, we still have something to fear from his enemies. World gods are not easy to deal with."


    Aeternus asked, "What if this whole project is bait for his enemies? He might want to let them invade so that he can capture them in one fell swoop. That''s what I''ll do."


    They began arguing about the possibility of that being true. Legion-9 had toe in again with his position.


    He asked, "But are we not going to participate? How can we pass up an opportunity to acquire the Authority of the void universe? We have tried many times to create it but have failed."


    Helios asked him in return, "The Authority of the void universe is good, and we won''t be in much danger if we participate. But don''t forget that making connections with a world god even with our minds can expose our positions. What if the realm lord lets the information about our location slip intentionally or unintentionally to the enemies that will invade his world? Won''t we lose both the Authority and our realm heart fragments?"


    Legion-7 intervened, "Let''s read the contract he sent out before we make a decision. We need more information anyway."


    They couldn''t make up their minds, so they argued about it. It is a normal urrence in the decision-making process of Legion. But this time, they had to take a really long time to consider the matter at hand because they have a lot to gain and lose.


    The Authority of the void universe is very important. They don''t know much about it like world gods do, but they have seen world fragments built with it, and they have heard that the realm lord was able to use it to fight world gods as an Origin god.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    At that time, he was a Supreme Origin god and a realm lord, so he was far more powerful than normal Origin gods. But it is still quite an aplishment that he was able to fight and defeat a world god with it.

 Chapter 1727: No Vandalism Allowed.

    Chapter 1727: No Vandalism Allowed.


    ?


    Those are just limited uses of the Authority of the void universe. A world god will be able to do more with it. They will be able to reduce the resistance of the void universe against their Supreme Law and Will, so the amount of power they will be able to wield will be much higher.


    This is mostly what Legion knows about the use of Authority, but it is more than enough for them to be concerned and invested in its acquisition. They have tried to create it on their own through their Divine Spark clone, but Legion-9 failed to create it. By their estimate, they will either need to fullyprehend the Supreme Law of Order or have Legion-9 evolve to be a world forge.


    They haven''t achieved either of that in the 10,000 years that they have been trying. It is not because they have beenzying around. It is because 10,000 is too short to achieve either of them and because they don''t n toprehend the Supreme Law of Order anymore.


    To be world gods, they need Supremews of their own. But they don''t want to build simple 4-dimensional Supremews that other world gods use as foundations for their worlds. They want to build 7 dimensional Supreme Laws that will possess the extra aspects of Space, Time, and Information state.


    Not only is their aim every difficult, they still need to do it at least six times since they n to have multiple worlds as world gods. So 10,000 years is nowhere enough to achieve that.


    They still have a long way to go before they can create Authority on their own. This makes the project of the realm lord enticing. They ultimately decided to participate in it.


    It might be dangerous to participate in the project, but it doesn''t change the fact that it is very valuable. Many world gods want to participate in it, but they can''t. These world gods are willing to throw wealth at the realm lord for the slots, but it didn''t work. So who are they to give up such a sought after opportunity?


    What ultimately made them decide to participate in it is the fine print of the contract that the realm lord sent to everyone with slots to his project. He outlined his duties and promises in the contract. One of those promises is to do everything within his power to protect them and their interests. That convinced them to participate.


    There are other promises and even responsibilities that every participant must be willing to bear. These responsibilities are rules that they must adhere to if they decide to participate.


    One of them is that the participants must not try to sabotage the project or they will lose their privileges and benefits. It made Legion unhappy since they were going to try and sabotage it, but they ultimately brushed it aside.


    Their n to sabotage it isn''t because they like vandalism. It is because they are always seeking benefits. The best way to acquire benefits is to steal them or prevent others from acquiring them. Hence their aim to sabotage the project to steal or destroy the project if it is not going their way.


    So Legion decided to participate in the project. It is themon decision that everyone who received the invitation took. Even the first sage still decided to participate in the project despite knowing how dangerous the realm lord is. After all, he has schemed for too long and made powerful enemies just for the slots he acquired. He is not willing to let it go to waste just like that.


    Legion began preparing for the project. It is something that they have already started right from the moment the realm lord offered the invitation to Aeternus, Legion-3, when he was struggling with Chaos energy.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    They were always looking for information about the project. It was difficult then to find anything about it, but some information about the project has been released by the realm lord.


    This information concerns how they will gain ess to the project. It will be through arge artifact built like a pir. It reminded them of the time the realm lord had asked for Legion- 1''s help in producing the matter and energy translocation pirs.


    Those pirs are going to be used now by everyone to participate in the project. They don''t know what the project will entail exactly, but they are very familiar with the translocation pir because it is based on their soul spheres. At least they can make preparations not to be attacked through it.


    The pirs are being distributed at outposts in the immortalnds. Ragnarok was chosen by the others to go to one of the outposts to collect the pirs they needed.


    Their worst fears didn''te to pass, though. Ragnarok went there and back safely. He also brought back the pir with him. He sent those pirs to the other clones who were spread across the void universe.


    These pirs arerge blocks of metal chiseled and enchanted with runes. The runes are so many that they are practically popping out of the surface of the pirs. It is not an exaggeration.


    The runes are constantly shifting as if squeezed, and some of them are slightly above the surface of the pirs. They are only attached to the pir through strings of energy andw and not through physical contact.


    Legion recognized some of the runes to be for encryption. It made Legion-2, Soverick, snicker and say, "It seems the realm lord is also worried about being trapped. I would be worried too if I am inviting millions of Origin gods into my world."


    They joked about it for a while, during which they inspected the pirs to make sure that they were safe. Then they connected their minds with the pirs through their divine sense.


    Their physical bodies were still in the void universe, but their minds appeared somewhere with different rules and a differentw matrix. This world was small and dark. It was empty except for their wandering minds.

 Chapter 1728: Starting Conditions.

    Chapter 1728: Starting Conditions.


    ?


    What''s odd is that their minds appear to be in separate spaces. They expected to be in the same world, but all nine of them can''t sense each other in this dark, empty world.


    Legion-1 said, "This can''t be all this project is about, is it? I would be disappointed if it were so."


    No sooner had he said that than the world changed. The darkness was driven away by light. The world becamepletely white. There was no source of light, but the world was white as far as he could sense.


    But the light and its source were the least of their concerns. They could sense that thew


    matrix had begun to activate. It was firing off instructions, and thews within it were interacting to create manifestations.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Legion-1 couldn''t help but say, "How uncanny! It looks like the neuron firing of a brain. Are we inside a brain?"


    Legion-2 replied, "It certainly doesn''t look like a purely mental space. It looks more like we are currently inside the body of a Supreme Law."


    Legion-3 chuckled and said, "That''s not surprising since we are currently inside the world of world god."


    Their mental conversation was cut short by the reveal of what thew matrix was cooking up for them. A message appeared in front of Legion-1.


    -WELCOME TO GOD''S DOMAIN-


    -AN IMMORTAL SOUL HAS BEEN SENSED-


    -YOU HAVE BEEN DESIGNATED AS A GOD SEED-


    -PLEASE CHOOSE A NAME-


    This message was sent to every clone at the same time. They were in separate spaces, but they are experiencing the same thing. It appeared to be in their minds as well as in front of their divine sense, like an actual object created by thew matrix.


    It was clear to them that this message was from the world so Legion-1 replied, "I choose First as my name."


    -I AM SORRY, BUT THAT NAME HAS BEEN SELECTED-


    "Use 1 then."


    -I AM SORRY, BUT THAT NAME HAS BEEN SELECTED-


    Legion-1 would have raised an eyebrow at that.


    "Someone chose 1 as their name, and they did so before me?"


    -THAT IS CORRECT-


    "Fine, I choose Number 1 as my name."


    -YOU CAN USE NUMBER 1 AS YOUR NAME-


    -DO YOU CONFIRM?-


    "Yes."


    -YOUR NAME HAS BEEN SET AS NUMBER 1-


    -IT HAS BEEN SENSED THAT YOU POSSESS EXTRAORDINARY ABILITIES THAT CANNOT BE BLOCKED-


    -YOU WILL BE ABLE TO USE IT IN GOD''S DOMAIN-


    -DO YOU WISH TO CONVERT THEM INTO YOUR INNATE DIVINE ABILITY?


    -PLEASE BE CAREFUL WITH THIS DECISION HAS IT CANNOT BE CHANGED-


    A list of the so called extraordinary abilities that couldn''t be blocked was shown to him. What The saw made him raise an eyebrow in surprise.


    --PLEASE CHOOSE ONE


    1. Mind Network.


    Legion-1 looked through the list and found just one ability there. It was not difficult for him to figure out why it couldn''t be blocked. All nine of them are linked and can share information regardless of their location.


    Every clone was presented with this list too. They were also asked to convert it into an innate divine ability. They expect that if one of them rejects the proposal, none of them will get the innate divine ability.


    As it is, they are all aware of what each other is experiencing because of their spiritual connection. But that''s where the function of their spiritual connection ends.


    In the void universe, they can do more than that. They can share energy among themselves. They can use each other''s concepts and can evenbine their power. But they can''t do any of that in this world because it is only their minds that are here and the rules of this world are different from that of the void universe.


    This made them decide to turn it into an innate divine ability so that they would be able to use it for more.


    Legion-1 confirmed that it should be turned into a divine ability."


    -TAKE NOTE THAT THE MIND NETWORK ABILITY CAN ONLY BE USED WITH OTHERS WHO ARE OF ONE MIND AND ALSO HAVE THE MIND NETWORK ABILITY-


    This notification confirmed what they already suspected. They all need to agree to it or the one that doesn''t will be left out of whatever benefits wille from allowing this world to recognize their mindwork.


    They all decided to go with the Mind Network divine ability because it is the foundation of Legion and what makes them unique. Every Origin god created a concept and fused with it to be immortal but not every Origin god managed to divide their soul and reincarnated them into many bodies.


    This makes them unique and it has helped them gain many advantages in the void universe. They expect that it will give them an edge now and help to gain Authority faster.


    --YOU HAVE CHOSEN THE MIND NETWORK ABILITY-


    -DO YOU CONFIRM?-


    "Yes, I confirm."


    -YOUR INNATE DIVINE ABILITY HAS BEEN SET AS MIND NETWORK.


    -PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR STARTING REALM IN GOD''S DOMAIN-


    -PLEASE BE CAREFUL WITH THIS DECISION AS IT CANNOT BE CHANGED-


    Another list was presented to him. It was like the previous one. It was transmitted directly to


    his mind.


    -PLEASE CHOOSE ONE-


    1. North Realm.


    2. South Realm.


    3. East Realm.


    4. West Realm.


    There were four realms to choose from. Each realm had one or two things that set it apart from the others. The south was mountainous and cold. The east was a desert and windy, while the west was mostly oceanic. The North was basically grasnds and jungle. Apart from geographical features, there were also differences in the races that inhabit them. The South was home to the Yetis, ice giants, snow elephants, etc. The East had a lot of normadic races and sandworms. The west was home to mermen, whales, andrge water beasts. The North had elves, ogres, orcs, trolls, humans, and many more.


    Legion decided to select the North realm. It is because the race that they wanted to choose was living there. Every Legion chose the North realm so that they would be close to each other and could help each other.


    A/N: What do you think they have to do in the project to acquire Authority?

 Chapter 1729: Too Intelligent And Too Stupid.

    Chapter 1729: Too Intelligent And Too Stupid.


    ?


    -YOU HAVE SELECTED THE NORTH REALM-


    -DO YOU CONFIRM?-


    "I confirm."


    -YOUR HOME REALM HAS BEEN SET TO THE NORTH REALM-


    -CHOOSE YOUR PREFERRED RACE-


    -YOUR DECISION WILL DETERMINE WHERE YOU ARE PLACED IN THE NORTH REALM AND YOUR MAIN SOURCE OF FAITH-


    Legion-1 asked in surprise, "Faith? Does that mean I will be a god?"


    -EVERY GOD SEED IS TO BE A GOD-


    -BUT NOT EVERY GOD SEED WILL BE ABLE TO SUCCEED IN BECOMING A GOD IN GOD''S DOMAIN-


    "Fine. Give me the list of races."


    A moreprehensive list of the races in the North realm was presented to him.


    -PLEASE CHOOSE ONE-


    1. Elves.


    Potential: 50.


    Pros: Long life. Skillful hunters, rangers, and crafters. Potent magical talent. Highly Intelligent.


    Cons: Xenophobic and racist. Stubborn and unyielding to new ideas. Very difficult to convert. Poor reproductive capabilities.


    2: Orcs.


    Potential: 50.


    Pros: Strong Warriors.


    Cons: Eat a lot.


    3. Ogres.


    Potential: 50.


    Pros: Monstrous war machine capable of massive destruction.


    Cons: Violent, stupid, angry, and always at war.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    4. Humans.


    Potential: 25.


    Pros: Highly intelligent. Decent reproductive capabilities. Versatile and capable of learning various skills and crafts, including magic.


    Cons: Weak physically and mentally. Short lifespan. Difficult to convert.


    5: Goblins.


    Potential: 20.


    Pros: Highly fertile. Can eat and survive on almost anything.


    Cons: Extremely weak in every aspect, be it magically, mentally, or physically. Very short lifespans.


    6: Gnomes.


    Potential: 25.


    Pros: Highly intelligent. Skilled mechanics.


    Cons: Difficult to convert. Weak physically and magically.


    7: Trolls.


    Potential: 50.


    Pros: Very strong. Possess extreme regeneration. Can eat almost anything.


    Cons: Poor fertility. Too stupid to speak. Smelly and difficult to rule.


    8: Giants.


    Potential: 60.


    Pros: Walking mountains of flesh and power. Highly resistant to physical and magical damage.


    Cons: Solitary, so cannot form a civilization. Poor reproduction.


    There were more races that Legion-1 went through. They all had different strengths and weaknesses. What Legion noticed was that they all had the same number of weaknesses and strengths. One of them that stood out was the pro of highly intelligent being apanied by the con of being difficult to convert.


    This made the elves, gnomes, and humans stand out to him. These three races have various sub-races with specialties. The elves have high elves, wood elves, sun elves, and wood elves. The humans had the vics, the Africans, the Asians, and many more. The gnomes have the red trading gnomes, the green mechanical gnomes, etc. What all three of them have inmon is that they are too intelligent for potential sources of faith.


    Legion crossed out the three of them. As beings that have a god clone and have killed many gods in the past, they know that the best believers are gullible ones.


    They were previously high elves themselves, so they know just how snobby, proud, and disdainful of other races high elves can be. Not only that, high elves hated gods. They worshiped only one god which was their ancestor. It would make them unreceptive to a new


    god.


    So they eliminated the humans, gnomes, and high elves. They don''t want their believers to think too much, or they will question them. This way, the Orcs and ogres make better sources of faith.


    They also don''t want believers that are too stupid. Stupidity is the greatest weakness, in their opinion. A race might be weak, have low fertility, or be xenophobic, but they can''t be stupid.


    The Ogres are giant walking war machines, but they are also violent and difficult to rule. They are also stupid. Stupid soldiers are not as good enough as smart soldiers. The humans beat the Orcs in that aspect. If only the humans were not weak, had a short lifespan of a hundred years as ordinary humans, and were difficult to convert, they would be selected.


    They eventually went with the orcs because they had the least amount of weaknesses and the most important strength. Having few weaknesses means they will have fewer shorings. Having a single weakness means that those shorings can be anticipated.


    The orcs eat a lot. All they need to do is give them food, and that will solve their problems. Their love for food also means that they can be bribed and coerced with food.


    They may not be highly intelligent or skilled, but they are strong warriors. That means it will be very easy to acquire food for them. All they need to do is take it from the weak and skillful races. Such as the humans.


    What''s great is that the Orcs are strong enough to achieve it. Their potential of 50 is not as high as the giants, but it is high enough to make them a Tier 3 race. They will be able to do


    even better with the assistance of gods.


    They clicked on orcs and did more research into them before finally making a decision. The list that was presented to them was exhaustive. It contained information about the different varieties of orcs and their way of life. They could also see the physical features of the orcs. They were tall, muscr, and humanoid, with tusks jutting out of their mouths. They read through it and finally made their decision.


    --YOU HAVE CHOSEN ORCS-


    -DO YOU CONFIRM?-


    "Yes I do."


    -CONGRATULATIONS.


    -YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE SET UP FOR YOU TO GAIN ENTRY TO GOD''S DOMAIN-


    -REMEMBER THAT AS A GOD, YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO ACQUIRE DOMAINS-


    -THIS DOMAINS CAN BE TAKEN OUT OF GOD''S DOMAIN AND USED AS AUTHORITY IN THE


    VOID UNIVERSE-


    -THE ULTIMATE DOMAIN IS THAT OF THE SUPREME GOD-


    -HAVE A NICE TIME.


    The white world broke into pieces with that farewell. Legion-1 found himself in a forest. He couldn''t examine his surroundings yet because his mind was being shackled by the rules of this world. The decisions he had made earlier were used to create a vessel for his mind. This granted him a body to move with, but it also reduced his already weak perception of the world around him. He could see all around him before, but now he can only see through the two eyes on his face.


    A/N: Humans will finally be shown in GREED.

 Chapter 1730: A Strange New World.

    Chapter 1730: A Strange New World.


    ?


    Legion-1 muttered, "I feel like my mind has been sealed."


    His words escaped his lips, which took him aback because he had spoken with lips different from the ones he possessed in the void universe.


    It is a strange situation for him. His divine sense has been muted and shackled in this world by a prison of sorts. That prison is also the vessel he controls.


    The vessel makes it possible for him to see and interact with the world, but it also prevents him from being capable of breaking anything. He can''t even see thew matrix anymore. His two weak eyes can only see the trees and the forest of the Northern Domain.


    His true body is still in the void universe, constantly moving so that no one will be able to pin point his position, but he can feel another body in a faraway location. This body is that of an ogre. He is a 3-meter-tall tower of brute muscle covered in a tough gray skin.


    He is wearing a beast skin around his loins. Apart from that, he has nothing else on. He is barefooted and empty-handed. His long red hair is braided, while his sharp, tapered ears are flinching because of the wind.


    His two eyes have ck scleras, with white iris forming a ring around his golden pupils. He grumbled, and it came out surprisingly clearly from his unfamiliar mouth. His mouth is really unfamiliar because it has a pair of tusks growing out from his lower jaw.


    He moved around hesitantly, expecting to stumble or fall. He expected a physical body to be inhibiting and a general burden. He was right to think so.


    He nearly stumbled on the first try. His movements were jerky and unnatural. It was like he was operating a machine for the first time. Fortunately, he is not ignorant of how mortal bodies work. After all, he had once been a mortal. So it didn''t take long for him to adapt to his body.


    What surprised him the most was that the body was also adapting to him. It was adapting to his intentions very quickly so that his movements became faster and smoother.


    He thought to himself, "It seems this is not a normal body."


    Legion-2 observed, "It isn''t. I think it is a divine body."


    Legion-3 added, "That should be so. After all, we are god seeds. We can''t have mortal bodies."


    "It is still cubbersome. It is like controlling a boulder with the tip of a finger. I would rather use my hands for this."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Unfortunately, he can''t use his whole hand. He can''t bring the full power of his mind to bear in this world at all, so all they have to work with is the tip of their fingers. The pir had a limit to what it could allow him to do, so he could only be content with it.


    All nine of them were transported close to each other, which they find a good thing. It means that they will be able to help each other in their quest to acquire the Authority of the void universe.


    They examined each other and found that they looked identical. They all had red braided hair, grey skin like stone, tusked mouths, ck scleral, white iris, and golden pupils. All of these are wrapped in a beastly fur coat around their groin.


    They examined their surroundings next. They walked around and felt the trees in the forest. "This world seems just like the normal void universe. I am sure it has differentws and a differentw matrix, but I can''t tell through this body shackling me."


    "It seems the realm lord has put in a lot of work for his project. At the very least, we won''t be able to sabotage his project easily."


    "Not that we could even if we had the opportunity. We did sign that contract."


    Legion-1 snickered and said, "But he still didn''t trust the contract. He had to make sure that we wouldn''t be able to do anything even if we were made enough to disregard the contract."


    They were discussing when something appeared in their vision.


    -You Have Received An Angel.


    All 9 of them received the message, so 9 balls of light burst into being in front of them.


    The angels said to them, "I am your first angel, sent to guard your way. My existence is to serve you by providing information to you. You can ask me anything you want to know, and I will try my best to answer them."


    The angels were little flying insects that looked like butterflies. They flew around and buzzed about around them eagerly.


    Legion-9 asked it, "All 9 of you look the same. Are you the same, or is this just a visual choice?"


    "We are indeed one entity. We are all part of the single subsystem in charge of assisting the gods. Think of us as clones or terminals of that subsystem."


    Soverick asked with suspicion, "Why do gods need you? We didn''t ask for this. Can we reject you?"


    The angel replied, "You are free to reject my services, but that will not stop me from existing. I have been programmed into the very world to serve as the fountain of knowledge and the light of direction for gods."


    The clones epted it with a shrug. They couldn''t do anything about the angel, so they decided to make full use of it.


    Legion-3 asked, "Are you here to monitor us? It is not like the realm lord needs you to know what we are up to. Tell us what exactly you can do and cannot do."


    The cheerful angel replied, "You are right. I am not needed to monitor you. There is another system for that. As for me, I can''t leave more than 1 meter away from you. I can''t interact with the world, so I can''t help you physically. I can only be seen by you and no one else. However, I am not useless."

 Chapter 1731: Familiar Yet Different.

    Chapter 1731: Familiar Yet Different.


    ?


    The angel continued, "I am a flying library here to assist you with the information you need when you need it. If things go well for you, you will be able to get stronger angels in your angelic host in the future."


    The clones spoke among themselves. It was a silent affair that they did independent of their new divine bodies. After all, their minds were linked.


    They can confirm that they can''t see the angels of the other clones, but they know the angels exist through each other. It could be the normal connection that exists in their mind or their Mind Network divine ability.


    They finished conferring amongst themselves before they asked, "Why can''t we leave this area?"


    They had noticed that there was a barrier around their location. It is a spherical barrier that locked them into this small area of the forest.


    The angel replied, "The barrier is here to prevent you from interacting with the world until everyone is prepared. It will be removed once all 100 million god seed participants have joined in and set up their ount."


    It continued, "That will take a year of time. If, after a year, those that have received the invitation don''t join in, then we will resume without them."


    The clones grunted and chose to sit down to wait. They asked the angel questions in the meantime. It couldn''t tell them a lot yet, but it told them of what to expect and their responsibilities in the world as future gods.


    They learned about the stat screen from it. It was the familiar sight they were used to and hadn''t seen in a long time. Except, it showed them somethingpletely different from what it used to do.


    NAME: Number 1


    RACE: Wandering Deity (Orc)


    TITLE: None


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 0


    DIVINE ENERGY: 1


    STRENGTH: 1


    ENDURANCE: 1


    SPEED: 1


    AUTHORITY: 1


    DIVINE ABILITIES: DIVINE NETWORK. INSIGHT. BLESSING. LESSER MIRACLE.


    They learned that Divine Energy is their most important resource. It serves as the total amount of damage they can take before their current body gives out and dies. It also serves as the resources they will need to cast divine arts.


    The angel had said, "It is both your hit points and mana and stamina."


    They got the gist when the angel exined it to them. It turned out that their current existence isn''t that different from the existence of transcendents. Their bodies have lost weak points and can recover from any injury as long as it is within their limits.


    They learned that the second most important resource is Authority. It is the foundation of gods. It affects the power of their divine abilities and arts. It even affects the total amount of Divine Energy they can have.


    The third most important resource is to be their domain, as it will affect what kind of divine arts they can use. Unfortunately, they don''t have domains yet because they are just god seeds. When they finally have their domains, it will probably be the most important thing to them, if only for the fact that they can bring it into the void universe and convert it into the Authority of the void universe.


    They learned about the other stats and their importance to meleebat. They also learned about their levels and tiers. Their tiers are for the future, as they are currently the lowest of the low. They will need to meet certain conditions before they can evolve. As for their levels, it is determined by the amount of divinity that they have.


    They have a total of 3 divinity distributed evenly between their 3 physical stats. That is less than 11, so they are level o. They will reach level 1 when they umte more than 10 divinity.


    The world changed around them while they waited. Some creatures passed by them but didn''t see them. These creatures even passed through their bodies and didn''t touch them. Apparently the barrier that locked them in didn''t affect the creatures of the world at all.


    The clones didn''t mind waiting for a year. A year is a short time to them as Origin gods with immortal lifespans. They can even resurrect, so death has lost its meaning to them. They only care about power, and they have a lot of time on their hands to do to achieve it.


    Besides, it is not as if they don''t have other things they don''t need to do in the void universe. Controlling their divine bodies in this world doesn''t affect their construction of a Supreme Law much. It is something they have to do regardless of their sess or failure in acquiring the Authority of the void universe.


    Currently, they are working on the blueprint of their Supreme Laws. It is a process that needs information and knowledge. If they are not aware of aspects, how they work, and if they don''t weave those aspects into their Supreme Laws, the Supreme Laws they make will be weak.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    That is a process that they do not have any estimate as to when they will be done with it. As greedy people, they want to have all the aspects in the world. They know that they can''t, so they are going to have to be content with all the aspects they can find. The problem with this is they don''t know how long they will have to search before they are content.


    So they were busy running and trying new things to learn about aspects. Their current situation, whereby they have two bodies in different worlds, has given them the inspiration to go looking for all the dimensions present in the void universe.


    They want to know and be able to enter more than one dimension. Currently they have their eyes set on the phantom dimension and the elusive energy dimension.


    These two could improve them in a lot of ways. The spiritual dimension helped them to escape from their pursuers for a while until they came across the strange creature pursuing them. They expect the phantom dimension to help them in that aspect.

 Chapter 1732: The Myth Of The Quantum Zone.

    Chapter 1732: The Myth Of The Quantum Zone.


    ?


    As for the energy dimension, or the quantum zone, it is supposed to be an infinite dimension where the act of gaining ess to it can grant infinite energy.


    Information about it is obscure. They heard about it during the era of conquest from the public channel of Origin gods. So it is just a rumor. But ording to the rumor, the quantum zone is where all energyes from. It is a myth that they intend to get to the bottom of.


    Even if they fail in the pursuit of these two dimensions, they are sure to gain more knowledge about aspects, so they are for pursuing them. But if they seed, they expect that it will change the way they view the world.


    They are sure of this because they have already gained an inspiration into the power of the spark of consciousness thanks to this God''s Domain. They now know that regardless of the world and the rules of the world, the power of the mind, consciousness, or soul appears to be constant.


    Even though their minds have been shackled, it doesn''t change the fact that they can affect change in this strange new world with the power of their mind alone. Not even the difference in the rules of the world could block the unity of their minds.


    They already have a direction for it. Legion-7 once had the idea to fuse power with consciousness. That way, wherever the consciousness is, their power will be there too. It is another confirmation to work on fusing the three sparks of power as one.


    While they understand that the fusion of consciousness and power is the state of world gods and that world gods have even gone further than that to fuse body, consciousness, and power together, which is why they are not allowed to connect to God''s Domain and need Origin god proxies to get Authority on their behalf, they still intend to research more into that aspect while they wait.


    This is because all knowledge cannot be disregarded until they have it, and because the mind is the one thing that they have that is capable of entering any dimension, so it will help them in their pursuit of the quantum zone.


    So they were busy while they waited for God''s Domain. However, they didn''t need to wait for a year. Every participant had joined in after 3 months. This was marked by a notification to them.


    -You have received 1 message.


    The notification appeared in their vision briefly before it dessipated and was reced by the message. It was an audio-visual holographic message showing a high elf with green skin, golden hair, and golden eyes.


    They have seen this entity before, so they know his identity.


    The entity said to them, "I am Immortal Monarch High Heaven. I am sorry for the wait. I originally nned for a maximum of 10 million slots, but a lot of world gods were adamant about throwing their wealth at me. I could only oblige them."


    He chuckled for a while. Then he resumed, "But that has made things difficult for all of you as my project can only amodate 4 million god seeds."


    "In my original n, 60% of you will be disqualified. Things haven''t changed. My project can still only amodate 4 million, so 95 million of you will be disqualified now. I am sorry about that."


    He paused tough. Then he shook his head and said, "I am not sorry about that. Sure, I could have built a bigger world. I had the funds. But I didn''t have the time, the Cosmic energy or the interest to do so."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I have already received your money, so all I need to do is deliver on my promise, which is an opportunity to gain the opportunity to acquire the Authority of the void universe. Gaining ess to God''s Domain is the opportunity to gain the opportunity to acquire Authority. The rest is up to you. You have to make sure that opportunity won''t go to waste and work towards the opportunity to acquire Authority."


    "Your angels will tell you what to do to avoid being disqualified. I wish you sess."


    The hologram fizzled out and disappeared. It was reced with another notification.


    (Quest Received)


    (Main Quest: Be The First 4,000,000 Godling)


    (First Step: Be A Local Deity)


    (Reward: A Divine Title)


    (Description: A wandering deity is a rootless duckweed. You have to create roots and anchor yourself to this world or you will be eliminated)


    They received another notification.


    (Quest Received)


    (Optional Quest: Be One Of The First 100 Godlings In The Northern Domain)


    (Reward: One free chance at selecting Heroes)


    (Description: The early bird gets the worm. The heroes that will represent your will in the mortal realm are the worms. Only the top 0.01% gods deserve a free worm)


    Legion-1 asked his angel, "So these quests are missions?"


    "Correct."


    "How do we be local deities?"


    It replied with eagerness, "Local deities are god seeds that have met the requirement of having a foundation of worship in the mortal realm. You can achieve that by establishing a shrine in your honor."


    It twirled and continued, "That''s just the first step of what you will need to do to be godlings. We have a long way to go, so I suggest we start soon."


    One of the clones had noticed that the barrier had gone down after the message from Monarch High Heaven, so they all stood up to decide where to go. It didn''t take long for them to decide.


    They have seen various signs of life in their wait here for 3 months. One of the most ring ones is smoke rising from a fire. They have seen that one many times from a particr direction. They chose that direction now.


    They received a message as soon as they stepped out of the locked area.


    -You have Received Insight Divine Ability.


    (Insight: Gaze upon objects and entities to gain information about them)


    (Description: The eyes of a god see more and are far reaching)

 Chapter 1733: Tools Fit For Godseeds.

    Chapter 1733: Tools Fit For Godseeds.


    ?


    The notifications didn''t stop there.


    -You Have Received Blessing Divine Ability.


    (Blessing: Spend 1DE to unlock the potential of an entity and make them extraordinary)


    (Description: All poweres from gods)


    There was more.


    -You Have Received Minor Miracle Divine Ability.


    (Minor Miracle: Consume DE to create minor events that are favorable to you)


    (Description: Gods are beings that defy the natural order of the world. They can perform seemingly iprehensible things that baffle mortals.)


    -You Have Received 9 Divine Energy.


    +9 DE


    This increased their total divine energy to 10 points. It is greater than what they can store normally, but the system is giving them what they need to get started. They especially need Divine Energy to perform miracles and blessing. It won''t do for them to die after exhausting their single Divine Energy.


    Their angel informed them, "These divine abilities are possessed by every god seed and will ensure that you are able toplete your quests. Your divine energy limit will be wavered until you ascend to the divine ne. So I advise you to acquire a lot of Authority while you are in the mortal realm or you will lose any extra divine energy you have."


    Legion-2 asked his angel, "What is the price of death? Surely a single death should not be the end of a god. Or are the gods in this world easy to kill?"


    "I don''t understand what you mean by the gods of this world. I don''t know of any other world." It said with part amusement and part confusion. Then it continued, "Either way, a god will drop half of your divinity upon death. Then they will resurrect as long as the conditions to do so are avable."


    Legion-2 considered the answer and said, "Half? That''s very costly."


    But the angel gave him more to think about. It said, "Your enemy will be able to gain that half."


    Legion-2 was pleasantly surprised. "That is not so bad. The cost of death is steep, but the encouragement to kill is even higher. I can live with that."


    Legion-3 asked, "Is there a way to kill a god permanently?"


    That is what concerns Legion the most. Sure, killing other gods is rewarding, but they know as immortals themselves that if you can''t get rid of your enemy by killing them, then you should probably not start the conflict at all.


    The angel replied, "Gods are not true immortals. There are 2 ways to kill them permanently. Unfortunately, you do not have ess to that information right now. You will gain ess to it when you be a local deity. But know this, if you die before you be a godling, then you will be eliminated from this world forever."


    They were not happy that the information is being withheld, but they are happy that it is possible to kill a god permanently. It is even better that they have two options to achieve it.


    They asked for other information from their angels as they walked towards the settlement in the forest. They asked mostly about miracles and how to use them. Their angels informed them extensively as they walked.


    They walked straight through the trees and every obstacle in their way since this world didn''t seem to affect their physical bodies. They also couldn''t interact with the world with their bodies at all. It was as if they were intangible.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Their angel exined to them that they were currently wandering deities, the weakest of god seeds, so they cannot affect the world outside of miracles.


    Rain began to fall before they reached their destination. It didn''t affect them much since it didn''t interact with them. The rainwater just passed through their existence, just like the trees. It didn''t hinder them but it reminded them of their weak circumstances.


    If they had their full power, the dark clouds would be swept away and the rain dispersed. But they are weak so they have to bear the disappearance of light and the gloomy weather.


    It is a good thing that, apart from the gloom, the downpour didn''t affect them negatively. This is even though the light of the sun has disappeared and the world has be dark. This is because they can see their environment as if it were day.


    They are being forced to see through their eyes, but at least their eye sight is impable. The fact that they aren''t stepping on the ground directly also helps with the fact that they can''t fly and are not wearing any footwear. So even though they have been forced to walk like mortals and the ground has be muddy because of the rain, it doesn''t affect their footing at all.


    These two are especially important considering how fast they are moving. They are moving so fast that they passed a bird flying to shelter. They possess a speed that is worthy of gods. However, they are more like speeding ghosts than gods with the way they passed through everything in their way.


    If they couldn''t see where they were going because of the darkness or if the muddy ground affected their steps, then they might slip and fall. Then they would not be speeding ghosts, but embarrassing gods.


    They soon came upon the source of smoke. It is a small settlement at the foot of a mountain. The walls of the settlement were built with stones. It is not skillful work, seeing as the stones were just piled on top of each other and reinforced with wooden beams. But it is still better than wooden walls.


    What drew their attention was that the settlement was full of Orcs. They were yellow skinned brutes going about their day in the settlement. They ranged from 1.5 meters to 2.5 meters all. But all of them were muscr and physically feat. Even the children were.


    Their activities were mainly shepherding herds of various animals, tanning and working animal skin into leather, sewing clothes and making weapons. None of them noticed the gods to be in their midsts.

 Chapter 1734: The Three Options.

    Chapter 1734: The Three Options.


    ?


    Legion-6 asked his angel, "Is it a coincidence that the first settlement we encountered is upied by our chosen race or where we dropped in an area popted by Orcs?"


    "It is thetter. But things will start to move in your favor to create an opportunity for you to acquire believers."


    That opportunity arrived as they watched. The rain ended and the sky cleared up. A group of orcs came out of the settlement. These orcs were fully geared with weapons and armor. It looked as if they were about to fight someone. It made them more terrifying to look at. The clones were full of appreciation for what they saw. Legion-2mented with a nod. "Yes, yes. Fine specimens indeed. This race will make for servile but capable believers." They were in general agreement that they made the right choice in deciding to be the gods of orcs.


    The group of orcs formed in front of the gate of the settlement. As Legion watched, an old orc approached the group. The old orc was apanied by a much younger orc who was carrying some tools made of bones and horns. Everyone in the group bowed to the old orc when it finally reached them. Then this old orc performed some sort of prayer.


    It sprinkled some concortion from a cbash of sorts onto the warriors. It marked their foreheads with an unknown ck substance. It did some dancing, raised both hands, and howled into the sky using the bone tools as instruments. Then it sent off the warriors.


    Legion could understand theirnguage, so they knew what this group of armed warriors were up to. The armed group was going out to hunt while the old orc was a shaman. The short ceremony held by the shaman was to bless the warriors so that their hunt would be sessful.


    The warriors disappeared into the forest after the blessing. The nine wandering gods watching felt a connection to several of the orcs. It was a connection of faith that they could follow to acquire their first convert.


    "So this is the opportunity you spoke of. A sacred ritual invoking the assistance of the gods."


    The angel replied, "Yes. Every god will get an opportunity. It might be obvious or subtle. It will depend on their luck and their powers of observation to notice it. Then it will depend on them to take advantage of it. So what will you do?"


    Legion thought amongst themselves and decided to split up to investigate their choices. They have been given a lot of choices with this opportunity. They have to pick carefully because their first convert is very important to their future as gods.


    The first convert of wandering deities will be their oracle. It will be their mouthpiece in this world and their first root to anchor themselves. They will be able to speak with the Oracle and the Oracle will be able to see them. It will be their first point of interference in this world.


    Most importantly, they can''t rece the Oracle unless it dies of natural causes, and they won''t get another slot for an Oracle until they be Tier 1. So they have to take this decision very seriously. Hence why they decided to inspect and watch their options up close.


    The clones scattered in different directions. Some of them went with the hunting team while others went into the settlement with the shaman and her acolyte. The first thing they used on them was insight. They were able to get a lot of information with it.


    Their first option was the shaman.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    NAME: Warshaw Shanking


    AGE: 211(230)


    FAITH: None (Fervent Belief In Gods)


    CLASS: None


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 25


    HP: 40/50


    CONSTITUTION: 5


    STRENGTH: 4


    VITALITY: 4


    SPEED: 3


    SPIRIT: 9


    STATUS: Approaching the end of her lifespan.


    Warshaw Shanking is 211 years old and has 19 more years to live. She has been the shaman of this tribe for 150 years. She is weak and frail. She is not wounded, but her health is in a constantcking state. It will continue to dwindle until she dies.


    She may be old and weak, but she has the highest amount of devotion to the gods among their options. This shouldn''t be a surprise, seeing as she is the shaman of the tribe. But it is still impressive because there hasn''t been any sighting of gods or news from gods in thousands of years, but she still believes that gods exist. She was raised to believe and has been waiting her whole life for the day the gods will return.


    She is very suitable in that it will not be difficult to convert her. They just have to make contact with her and let her see them. The verification of their existence will give her short remaining life purpose and tie her deeply to their cause. She also has the advantage of knowledge and already has a believer base that respects her.


    The next option for them is her acolyte.


    NAME: Antios


    AGE: 29(220)


    FAITH: None (Moderate Belief In Gods)


    CLASS: None


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 31


    HP: 70/70


    CONSTITUTION: 7


    STRENGTH: 6


    VITALITY: 7


    SPEED: 6


    SPIRIT: 5


    STATUS: Restless but healthy.


    The acolyte is a young orc with almost 200 years more to live. He is an orphan whom the shaman has been raising for quite a while. He has been taught to believe in gods since he was


    a kid, so he believes in gods. He is younger and stronger than the shaman. He will be able to achieve more than the shaman if his potential is unlocked, but his devotion to gods is only half as deep as the shaman.


    The third option is the leader of the hunting team.


    NAME: Hitching Tuff


    AGE: 136(240)


    FAITH: None (Shallow Belief In Gods)


    CLASS: None


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 41


    HP: 90


    CONSTITUTION: 9


    STRENGTH: 9


    VITALITY: 8


    SPEED: 8


    SPIRIT: 7


    STATUS: Calm and Cautious.


    A/N: Which one should they choose?

 Chapter 1735: The First Convert.

    Chapter 1735: The First Convert.


    ?


    Hitching Tuff is hale and hearty. Practically in the prime of his life. He is an experienced warrior who has faced many dangers in his life and oftentimes narrowly escaped. He doesn''t have as much devotion to the gods as the acolyte, but he always prays for their help in hopes that they will help him in his hunts if they exist at all.


    This warrior can''tpare to the first two in terms of devotion, so it will be more difficult to convert him. But he is the strongest of the three. He doesn''t have any ss and hasn''t awakened his potential, but he has almost reached the peak of what orcs are capable of naturally. That means he won''t be killed easily when he bes an Oracle.


    The fact that he was able to reach level 41 out of the potential of 50 for orcs means he will be able to reach farther heights when his potential is unlocked. Legion prioritizes power above all else, so they found him favorable.


    There were other warriors who also prayed for the assistance of gods but were weaker than the leader, so they were not considered.


    Legion had to make a decision from the three of them, and they had to make the decision quickly because they were racing against the other god seeds. However, this decision couldn''t be rushed or botched. They would have a shaky foundation if they made a mistake now. It is especially important that they be careful since all nine of them can only have one Oracle because of their Divine Network ability.


    They conversed amongst themselves and finally settled on one of the three. They went with the shaman.


    Strength is good, and potential for the future is even better, but the strength of mortals is not the most important thing to gods, and the future is still a long way to go. The most important thing to gods is devotion, faith, and believers. This is so right now and will remain so forever.


    All three of them are good choices. The warrior is good, but hecks the knowledge and reputation as a clergyman that the shaman does.


    The young acolyte is knowledgeable, has a certain amount of reputation, and also has potential for strength in the future. This is a trifecta of potential, but the acolyte is average in all three. Besides, the future is uncertain while they are desperate in the present.


    As for the Shaman, she already has 150 years of experience and reputation. If she performs well, then she will be able to convert strong warriors to them and help them quickly acquire the number of believers needed to be local deities.


    The most important reason why they chose her as their oracle is because she is close to the end of her lifespan. If she dies a natural death, they will be able to rece her immediately. So in a way, they can take full advantage of all she has to offer now and get rid of her quickly. So she fits both their short-term and long-term needs.


    The nine of them wasted no time after they made their decision. They waited until she was alone to approach her. She was sitting in a hammock using a feathered handfan to create a breeze to cool herself.


    The nine of them surrounded her. Then they called her name at the same time.


    "Warshaw Shanking!!"


    Their voices boomed and resounded in her mind. She stood up with her jerk to examine her surroundings. Her eyes widened when she saw them. She only saw nine golden beings shining with too much light for her eyes to bear. But she knew their identities immediately. It was what she had been waiting for all her life. Her mouth dropped open, and her heart almost stopped.


    "We have watched you all your life and deemed you devoted enough. We hereby call you to service today. Kneel and proim us your god."


    A message appeared in her vision. It was something she had only heard about in stories about ancient times. She thought they were just myths.


    The message said


    -You Have Been Offered The Oracle ss.


    -Do You ept?


    She epted it immediately, so another message appeared in front of her.


    -You have unlocked the Faith stat.


    -You have gained Eye of faith, Insight and Spirit Communication.


    Then she fell to her knees, bowed, and wept. They were tears of joy.


    She proimed loudly, "You are my god now and forever more. I dedicate my all and everything to you and only you."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The contract of faith was formed, and a connection appeared between her and all nine of them. The nine of them didn''t smile, though. They didn''t show any emotion. She is but a tool for them to use. So it is absolutely normal for her to swear her entire existence to them. They wouldn''t even pay any attention to her if they were in the void universe. So she is lucky to have them to give purpose to her life.


    "From today onward, you are no longer the shaman of the Bull''s Horn tribe. You are the Oracle of the 9 Crowns. Rise and bring glory to the 9 Crowns."


    She obeyed them and rose up. They had used blessings on her so her body wasn''t weak anymore. Mana was funneling into her as she tried to stand. It granted her the power to straighten her hunched back and stand upright.


    She was still weeping though. How could she not? The fabled mana that the ancients imed was all around them but had never been seen has finally appeared to her. She can feel mana now and can manipte it to some extent. That means her potential will be unlocked.


    She sobbed some more. "It is the grace of God."


    Legion used insight on her again. What they saw was different from earlier.


    NAME: Warshaw Shanking


    AGE: 211(251)


    FAITH: The 9 Crowns (Fanatic)


    CLASS: Oracle


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 31


    HP: 60/60


    CONSTITUTION: 6


    STRENGTH: 5


    VITALITY: 5


    SPEED: 5


    SPIRIT: 10


    FAITH: 71


    MANA: 1%


    ABILITIES: EYES OF FAITH, INSIGHT, SPIRIT COMMUNICATION.


    STATUS: Excited

 Chapter 1736: More Believers More Power.

    Chapter 1736: More Believers More Power.


    ?


    Her health has increased, and it has be full for the first time in a long while. No longer is she in a downward spiral towards death, her lifespan has also increased from 230 to 251 years thanks to their blessing.


    ess to Mana also caused her level to increase from 25 to 31. That is now on par with the young acolyte. That is just the short term benefit of their blessing on her. So they could imagine the kind of boost the young acolyte and the warrior would have achieved.


    The warrior might just reach the limit of the orc race immediately if they had chosen him. But they have already made their choice, so there''s no use regretting now. Besides, the potential for her race is 50, and the effect of mana is long-term. So she still has room to grow.


    Anyway, they didn''t choose her for her strength. So there''s nothing to regret.


    -Congrattions! Warshaw Shankings has be your Oracle. Her stats have been increased, and she has gained mana thanks to your Blessing.


    They received more notifications.


    (Oracle: Communicate to your believers through the selected Oracle)


    (Description: An Oracle is the mouthpiece of the gods)


    (Cost: ODE)


    -You lost 1 DE for using Blessing.


    -You have gained one believer. +1 Authority.


    All of their Authority increased by 1, so now they have 2. This confirmed what their angel told them about Authority being equal to the number of believers they have. So the more believers they have, the stronger they will be.


    Legion decided to strike while the iron was hot.


    They said to her, "We have deemed you worthy, so you are allowed to make a shrine in our name."


    She bowed and said, "Thank you, O great one, for this great favor. I will try my best to please you."


    One of the clones spoke, "You can try, but we doubt whatever you can do will please us."


    Another one continued, "But your sincerity might just touch us."


    A third finished for them, "So show us the extent of your sincerity."


    Their Oracle bowed deeper and scrambled to prepare their shrine. They felt slight amusement watching her go about doing something that they didn''t ask her to do.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    They didn''t ask her to prepare a shrine for them, but she is going to do it, and she will do her best too. Fortunately, they happen to need a shrine, so they will acknowledge her efforts begrudgingly.


    Warshaw called for her acolyte. She shouted his name, and he came running. He was surprised to find her up and about with as much speed and strength as him. She didn''t let him be


    surprised for long, though. She got him busy with tearing down the shrine in their encampment and begin building another one.


    This was not an easy job at all. It took them hours to remove the ancestral shrine, which had been reinforced for hundreds of years. They had to tear down the whole building it was in and destroy the alter within it to remove everyst trace of it.


    It took them three times as long to prepare the new alter. It isn''t as grand as the previous one, but it is new and has a better foundation because she used the best rocks, sturdiest bones, expensive fur, and exotic rug that she had been hoarding over the years to build it.


    By the time they were done, it was already the morning of the following day. Only the finishing touches remained. Warshaw sent her acolyte to bring the best bull she was rearing. The confused boy almost snapped then. His legs wobbled and almost gave in at the idea of wrestling a bull into submission.


    He was tired and hungry from working straight for hours, so he ought toin about that. But he didn''tin because Warshaw did as much as he did, if not more, but she was still full of energy. If an old shaman wasn''tining, then he shouldn''tin either.


    He didn''tin about it, but he was certainly bewildered and perplexed. He was extra perplexed that they were tearing down the ancestral shrine, which had been passed down for the thousand years that the tribe had been established. Warshaw only exined that it was for the gods, so he didn''t argue with her.


    Unfortunately, that''s where the leeway he was going to grant a senile old woman will end. The prize bull that will soon belong to him is about to be sacrificed to some unknown god that won''t answer their prayers. He respects the gods, but he considers this sacrifice too much of a waste.


    He said so too. "Don''t you think this is too much for a sacrifice?"


    Warshaw replied with a re, "You either bring the bull or I will sacrifice you instead."


    If she was the weak-hunched woman of yesterday morning, he might have taken his chances. But he is currently tired while she looks to be in top shape, so the odds are not in his favor. She might be able to overwhelm him and sacrifice him. So he went to bring the bull.


    Things went better than the acolyte expected. He didn''t have to force the bull to follow him. In fact, the bull sauttered after him into the encampment without fear.


    The bull knew a little about the danger of entering a certain building since it has seen many cattle enter alive and none leave alive. But it also knows that it is not at any risk of that since only the young cattle are sacrificed. Besides, it is the strongest bull and used for siring, so it didn''t bother to resist when it was brought into the shrine andid on top of a stone tform.


    It only became surprised when it saw a sacrificial de swinging for its neck. It was toote by then. The spry Warshaw was full of strength and very experienced. The bull stood no chance. Its blood sshed everywhere in the shrine and all over the tform.

 Chapter 1737: Tainted But Cheap.

    Chapter 1737: Tainted But Cheap.


    ?


    Warshaw used a bowl to collect some of its blood and sprinkled it on the altar. Then she bowed and worshiped her new god.


    Her efforts were not in vain. The entire ck bull turned into motes of golden light that dispersed and disappeared. Her offering had clearly been epted.


    Legion received the notification to mark their progress.


    -Congrattions Your shrine has been established. You have be a local god with a foundation of worship.


    -You have unlocked Title.


    -You have gained ess to Divine Abilities.


    -Your Oracle Warshaw has sacrificed to you. You have received her prayer and her offering.


    +4DE.


    -You Have gained a new believer. +1 Authority.


    Warshaw''s prayer and her acolytes prayer gave them 1 Divine Energy each. The whole bull gave them 2 Divine Energy. It is clear that both sacrifice and prayers can provide them with Divine Energy but prayer is sustainable while sacrifice is a one time boost.


    But they still asked their angel just to be certain of what they should prioritize. After all, Divine Energy is a very important resources for them. If they lose all their Divine Energy, they will die.


    "Which is a better source of divine energy, sacrifice, or worship from believers?"


    One of their angels replied, "There is no better source. But there is an efficient source and a cheap source. Faith from believers is efficient in its transmission. It is also sustainable and easily converted into divine energy."


    "As for using sacrifice as a source of divine energy, it has the advantage of being easy and cheap to acquire. You don''t need a sacrifice to believe in you, but it will be better if it does. So you can use it to gain divine energy from non-believers."


    "The transmission and conversion are also not efficient because the source of faith is tainted with death, hatred, fear, and other negative emotions. So it is not encouraged to use sacrifice as a source of divine energy unless you are in a pinch and have too few believers to sustain you."


    They considered the answer while paying attention to where the Divine Energy went. They noticed that it was distributed to all nine of them.


    Since it wasn''t up to 9 DE, 5 of them didn''t get any. It is of little consequence since they can share divine energy among themselves through the divinework that connects them.


    Warshaw was praising them and singing. Meanwhile, Legion absorbed the notifications before moving on to making decisions about their future.


    First, they had to choose a title that they would be known for. It will be the name of their religion and how their believers view them in the future. It will even affect how their Divine Network divine ability works in the future. They can either each get a separate title or use one for all 9 of them.


    The former means that the previous situation where all 9 of them were limited to 1 Oracle won''t happen again. They will be able to get nine separate Oracles, and they won''t have to share the sacrifices thate their way. But it also means that they won''t be able to share any increase in Authority together.


    Because they were considered one, Warshaw added one Authority to all of them. That means they gained nine Authority in total instead of one from a single believer.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Sure, they would be able to gain some leeway if they could choose 9 oracles, but being considered one by the divinework will cut down on how much effort they have to put in to gain Authority by 9 times. Each believer that anyone of them gets will strengthen all of them. As it is, they all have 3 Authority each, for a total of 27 instead of just 3.


    The decision was easy for them because Authority makes them stronger while Oracles don''t. Oracles are just channels between the gods and their believers, and while having more is good, having 9 Authority for each believer is better for them.


    -You Have Set Your Title Has The 9 Crowns.


    -Do You Confirm?


    -Congrattions. You Are Now The 9 Crowns, The God Of 9 Dominions.


    -May your religion prosper and cover all of the mortal realms.


    This title confirmed the direction they wanted to take their divinework ability. The next


    thing they had to acquire was divine spells. Unfortunately, they can''t get that without acquiring more believers. The system that ruled this world pointed them in the right direction with a new quest.


    (Main Quest: Be One Of The First 4,000,000 Godling)


    (Second Step: Establish Your Religion)


    (Reward: Ascension To The Divine Realm)


    (Description: The path forward for a local deity is not in the mortal realm)


    One of the clones asked the angel, "How do we establish a religion?"


    It was as helpful as always. It answered quickly, "It is simple. You need 100 believers and a temple consecrated in your name."


    That answer made them turn their attention towards the kneeling Oracle and their new believer.


    They said to her, "Your sincerity pleases us. We have decided to bestow upon you and your tribe the blessing of worshipping us. You can build a temple in our name and proim our names to all your people."


    Warshaw raised her voice in appreciation, "All power belongs to you, Oh 9 crowns. It is our duty to serve you with all our lives."


    The acolyte by the side couldn''t see them, but he witnessed the disappearance of the bull. That meant the offering was epted. That meant gods existed. That meant that the stories he grew up hearing about the ancient Orc Empire and their gods were not exaggerated lies.


    It is, as they say, seeing is believing. He has seen, and now he is a believer. The existence of the gods also exined why the old shaman was able to hop about like a grasshopper. So he wasn''t so adverse when the Shaman dragged him towards the encampment of the tribal chief to proim the glory of the 9 crowns.

 Chapter 1738: Public Opinion Matters.

    Chapter 1738: Public Opinion Matters.


    ?


    Legion followed after her to make sure everything went well. Despite how nonchnt they appear to be about the mission they gave her, they have a lot riding on being able to create a temple and how it is created.


    A shrine is a personal dedication to a god. It is a symbol of the devotion of a single person or group to a god. Every local god gets one, be they evil or kind gods. But a temple signifies public recognition. Only righteous gods can have a temple.


    A temple is oftentimes viewed as a public ce of worship, but it is more significant than that. A temple implies that the believers of a god cane together to worship in public and don''t have to hide. It means that the god is epted as orthodox by the public. So a public temple is the divide between a religion and a cult.


    It doesn''t matter if the god is evil or kind; as long as they are publicly epted, their religion bes righteous, and if they are not epted, they be a cult. So the morality of the god doesn''t matter in establishing a religion. Public eptance is the most important for it. The best way to get that orthodoxy is to have the rmendation of those in power or representatives of the people. Hence why the Shaman is going to see the tribal chief.


    A lot is hanging on the chief''s word. Whatever he says will determine if the second step of the main quest will be easy for Legion or will be difficult.


    But they are not worried too much. They are gods, and these people are mortals. They have too many means at hand to fail. It might be difficult, but they are confident that they will eventually seed.


    Legion-4 sneered and said, "This is why gods are so pitiful. They have to rely on the opinion and eptance of mortals. They can lose most of their strength if they are neglected by mortals. What a pitiful existence."


    Legion-9 added, "Fortunately, mortals are stupid and easy to fool. In fact, they want to rely on someone powerful to care for them. So the gods are filling a demand not creating one."


    Legion-1 shook his head and said, "Weakness is a sin."


    "Agreed," said the rest.


    They bypassed houses made of wood and stones along the way to the chief. The orcs had just woken up and were going about their day, so the streets were busy. But everyone made way for the Shaman and her acolyte. They also couldn''t help but take second nces at her when they saw how full of energy and spry she was.


    Some began to follow her when they noticed where she was matching to. The encampment of the tribe chief is the biggestpound in the vige, so it was clear to everyone where she was going. They wanted to see what this was about, so they followed her.


    Legion followed calmly behind their oracle. Meanwhile, their angel acted like a guide to them. It was exining the culture and tradition of the orcs. It also spoke at length about the buildings.


    "Orcs didn''t use to build houses with stones and wood. They used to use wood and hide. And they built tents instead of square and rigid buildings. That changed during the first advent of the gods."


    "At that time, all the races in God''s Domain were called together to follow their respective gods. The orcs built the War Orc Empire at the behest of their god. It led to their civilization, most of which have been lost to time since the fall of the War Orc Empire. Now the orcs are mostly scattered along the edges of the northern realm, but traces of civilization can be seen here and there."


    The angel went on and on as they walked. Legion didn''t interrupt it because what she said was informative. As immortals who have schemed against others and have been fooled by schemes, they know that knowledge is power. So they are wee to every piece of knowledge they can get about this strange world.


    They also found it intriguing that this world has such a long history. They know that God''s Domain should be around 10,000 years and deserves such a long history, but they thought it was a world built for Origin gods to acquire the Authority of the void universe.


    However, what they are hearing about it implies a world that has existed before Origin gods and will exist without them. From what they have heard, they are not the first wave of god seeds to appear in this world. So they very much want to learn more about God''s Domain.


    They finally reached the encampment of the tribal chief. There were two guards in front of the gates, but the Shaman practically barged in. The guards were stronger than her, but they respected her too much to force her to stop for an inspection.


    The Shaman and her entourage of curious orcs gained entry into therge encampment. Unfortunately, not everyone could get in, so some had to climb the walls and use them for leverage.


    The chief was at home. He was in front of his house having a meeting with 12 other orcs. Legion noticed that half of his body was green. This shouldn''t be so since he is a yellow- skinned orc.


    A quick use of insight exined the cause of the odd coloration.


    NAME: Hogging Buck


    AGE: 170(266)


    FAITH: None


    CLASS: None


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 47


    HP: 21/100


    CONSTITUTION: 10


    STRENGTH: 10


    VITALITY: 9


    SPEED: 9


    SPIRIT: 9


    STATUS: Poisoned and dying.


    The chief is very powerful, but he has been poisoned. That''s why part of his yellow skin is green. They can notice the signs of his imminent death too. His ck eyes are reddening, and his breathing isbored and shallow.


    Apparently this wasn''t news to Warshaw. She didn''t appear to be surprised by it. No one was.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1739: High As A Kite.

    Chapter 1739: High As A Kite.


    ?


    Warshaw matched into the midst of the council without a greeting to the council members or the chief.


    It is one thing not to greet the chief, seeing as he is dying, but the council members are the strongest members of the tribe. To ignore them like this is disrespectful. It is an amount of disrespect that is greater than the amount of respect they have for the shaman. After all, the status of the clergy has fallen since the disappearance of the gods.


    But no one stood up to admonish her because, just like the chief, she is dying. Even worse is that she is old and senile. So they were willing to give her a pass. That was until she started spouting nonsense.


    Warshaw stood in their midst and shouted at the top of her lungs, "THE GODS HAVE RETURNED!"


    She shouted it for the second time. Then the third. Then the fourth.


    Everyone was looking at her with the same look in their eyes.


    One of the council members muttered to the others, "It seems she has finally snapped."


    Another one replied, "It is a long timeing."


    A third joined in, "Frankly, it is impressive that she has held on until now."


    "Do you think she took something messing with her mind? Like mushrooms. It helps with back pain, but she might have taken too much."


    All the signs are there. She is full of energy and has a crazed look in her eyes. Her usually hunched body is straight, and she is moving about in ways she should not be able to. There''s also the fact that she is seeing things that don''t exist.


    It is clear that she has gone crazy. It is either natural or she took something that is messing with her mind. Most crazy of all is the fact that she thinks that the gods have returned when there haven''t been sightings of any god in thousands of years.


    Now they know not to entertain her. They sought to get rid of her immediately. So one of the council members said to the acolyte. "It seems you will be the new shaman soon. You should start taking that responsibility by bringing her to rest somewhere. Take care of her. Let her spend the rest of her days in peace."


    Warshaw finally stopped proiming the return of the gods. She snarled at the council member, "I am not crazy, you ignorant fool. The gods have returned, so I advise you to be careful of what you say lest youmit the sin of sphemy."


    Strangely, that usation caused the crowd to be silent and solemn. The gods may be gone, but the usations of sphemy can still be remembered as the greatest sin. It is a sin that will get any mortal killed.


    Warshaw might be senile, and the gods might not be real, but to risk sphemy is to risk their lives. It is an offense that is culturally uneptable.


    The council members felt frustrated. They didn''t know what to say or do now that Warshaw has brought up sphemy. Will they just have to listen to every deranged thing she has to say or risk spheming the gods by telling her to leave?


    It was the chief that spoke. He is already dying, so he doesn''t have much fear towards dying. He said, "It is good that the gods are back. What do you want us to do for them?" Warshaw was quick to reply. "We have to build a temple and acknowledge the 9 Crowns. He is the god of 9 dominions. All power and authority in the mortal and divine realms will belong to them."


    "Them? Is the 9 Crowns not a single god?" The chief asked in confusion.


    "He is both a single god and nine. The gods are mysterious that way. Their existence is so far above ours that we cannotprehend them. You can think of the 9 Crowns as a god with 9 manifestations."


    Some of the council members snickered while others did their best to hold back theirughs. But the chief nodded in understanding. "So a god with 9 manifestations. That''s normal. So do we build 9 temples or just one?"


    Warshaw didn''t know, so she turned to ask Legion. Legion replied while scowling at the chief. It was a good thing the chief couldn''t see them, or he would die of fright.


    No one else could see them either. All they saw was the old Shaman speaking to empty air before she turned to the chief and replied, "One temple would do."


    The chief smiled and said, "That''s a good n. Very efficient and can be achieved quickly. I will do it as soon as I am healed."


    He didn''t ask to be healed outright, but he has made it a condition for him to build a temple. He has also tied the chances of him bing whole to the chances of building a temple. Those chances are nonexistent.


    He didn''t mock her outright, and his dig at her gods was subtle, but Warshaw was not fooled. She was not happy with it either.


    Warshaw''s eyes narrowed. She bared her teeth and asked, "You dare to bargain with god? You dare to put up a condition for your servitude? All that you are and will be belongs to them. You should do everything in your power to please them."


    The chief nodded again. "I agree. But I am currently powerless."


    He spread his hands towards the council members and said, "All these people are just waiting for me to die so that one of them can take my ce. They won''t listen to me. What can I do for god in this situation?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Warshaw was about to blow her lid, so the chief hurriedly tried to cate her, "How long do you think I have to live? A day or two? Maybe less. Either way, it is a waste of time to try and convince me. Why don''t you return when the new chief has been selected? The new chief will have the power to do what you want. If you can''t heal me, then you should not waste your time on me."

 Chapter 1740: Two Types Of Gambles.

    Chapter 1740: Two Types Of Gambles.


    ?


    What Hogging said was reasonable by all ounts. Even Warshaw could agree with it. The chieftain of Orcs is not a position passed down by blood. Only the strongest can have it. He used to be strongest, but he was bitten by arge poisonous snake on his hunt 3 days ago. That event will cut his life short in his prime.


    In the past, members of his tribe would have already challenged him and killed him to rece him. But orcs learned some chilvary andmon decency after the establishment of the War Orc Empire. Now they are willing to wait for him to die. They haven''t reced him yet, but he is only a chief in name. He can''t give them what she wants.


    What he said is the truth. It was all reasonable, and it truly stopped the senile Warshaw from going off the rails. Everyone sighed in relief when she didn''t shout or throw a tantrum.


    But then they noticed her turning towards a position where no one stood again. She appeared to be listening to something or someone that only she could see. Her behavior didn''t feel them with confidence.


    One of the council members snickered and said to the others, "This is far from over."


    It is indeed far from over. The clones were not going to give up. But things have be slightly difficult for them. They had to make a decision right now.


    They don''t like being pushed to do something, but they recognize that this is a great opportunity for them to disy their might and convert a lot of people. All they have to do is heal this chief in front of everyone. They will gain the support of the people even if they don''t have his support after.


    So they decided to heal him. They don''t have any healing arts, so they used one of their divine abilities that can work as an alternative.


    -You have used Minor Miracle.


    -Acquiring avable miracles.


    -Please choose one.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    1. Heal the mortalpletely. Cost: 47 DE.


    2. Heal the mortal temporarily. Cost: 2 DE/Hour.


    They saw the options and were disappointed. Both of them were too costly. They currently have 93 DE between all 9 of them. Half of it will have to be spent to heal the chiefpletely. Unfortunately, they can''t do that even if they want to because one of them has to have at least 47 DE for them to use the first option. They don''t have that. Each of them only has an average of 10 DE.


    So they are left with only the second option. But if they choose the second option, the cost will be even higher.


    The second option would be useful if they had a short-term use for the chief. Unfortunately, they don''t.


    So they asked the angel, "Why is it so expensive to heal an ordinary mortal?"


    "Unless you have a domain that targets a certain aspect, any action that involves the use of a miracle on a mortal will be determined by their level. He is level 47, so it will cost 47 divine energy to heal him. It is not expensive at all. You just think it is expensive because you are currently weak and poor. You wouldn''t think so when you have millions of believers. A single mortal''s life will be insignificant then."


    So they had a decision to make. They can invest arge amount of their Divine Energy to heal the chief temporarily and hopefully gain a return on their investment soon. Or they can let him die and spend less energy on the next chief.


    The first option will bring a swift oue, but it is expensive. The second oue will take time, is uncertain, but cheaper.


    They decided to go with the second option. It is because they couldn''t bear to lose so much DE on a mortal. DE is too important to them right now. It is literally their life. They will die if they run out of it. They will also be helpless if something dangerous happens after they have given away half of their Divine Energy. The life of a mortal is not as important as their life.


    The two options are gambles for them. But the first option is a gamble they cannot afford to lose. What if something happens that they desperately need divine energy for? They might be paranoid about danger appearing, but only those that are prepared for something have a chance at victory when it happens.


    Sure, it will dy them, but they are willing to take this slow and steady. It might be because they are immortal, but a day or two for the chief to die doesn''t seem like a long time for them. They are especially inclined to it since it will grant them stable development.


    They made their decision known to Warshaw who proimed it to the world.


    She said loudly, "The gods have spoken. You Hoggling are to die as long as you remain chief. Your destiny is to be guardian of the Oracle of the 9 crowns. If you refuse this destiny, then you will surely die."


    Everyone looked at each other. What she said was not exactly what they expected. She was to attempt and fail to heal Hoggings or give excuses why she couldn''t heal him. Then again, she is crazy, so her mind works in strange ways.


    The chief nodded and continued to entertain her. "I am about to die. What use will I be as a guardian to you?"


    She replied with a re, "It is not your right to question the will of the gods. What you should do is just obey."


    Despite the pain and the weakness of his body, a smile tugged at his lips. But he resisted the feeling and instead asked solemnly, "So what should I do in obedience?"


    Warshaw nodded in satisfaction. "Give up your position ande with me to stay in my enclosure. If you fight off your death for 3 days, you will have shown enough sincerity to the gods. They will save you, and you will have to live the rest of your life as my guardian."

 Chapter 1741: Another Great Opportunity.

    Chapter 1741: Another Great Opportunity.


    ?


    A council member expressed his thoughts. "I think this is a good idea. You should do what the gods want. Do it to gain their mercy."


    Other councilors joined in and spoke in agreement. They know that he is about to die, and they can wait. But they would rather not wait. They would like it if he gives up his position earlier so that they can fight for it.


    The chief just sighed. It is the sigh of a defeated man.


    He thought to himself, "I am about to die, but they still can''t let me die in peace."


    He knows what they are after. And he can refuse. But he agreed. It is because he wants to see them fight over his position before he dies.


    The position of chieftain can only be acquired with strength. Those who want to be the chief must fight with their lives on the line. It is a death match with only one victor. The survivor is then bathed in the blood of his enemies.


    In the case where only one person wants to be chief, then that person must hunt a great beast and bathe in its blood. Either way, for one to be chief, they must bathe in blood.


    Hogglings wants to see blood flow before he dies. He is sure he will enjoy it. So even though he has no hope that he will be saved by the "gods," he agreed to step down.


    "From today henceforth, I will no longer be the Chief of The Bull''s Horn Tribe. I wish the next chief good luck."


    He will lose his house, his wives, and his properties now that he is no longer the chief, but it doesn''t matter anymore. He is going to die anyway. Besides, this ending is better than the ending of ancient chiefs who had to give up their power after they had been beheaded.


    Some of the council members became excited after he made the deration. They are the same council members who encouraged Hogglings to abdicate. They began nning when to select the next chief.


    One of them proposed, "We should go back today and prepare. We will have the fight tomorrow morning at this time."


    It was the first suggestion, but it was met with resounding agreement. No one was against it. If they had their way, they would even hold the fight today, but they wanted to show some respect to Hogglings by giving him time to vacate the premises and prepare for his death.


    Legion was watching all these happen with slight amusement. The orcs they knew were the descendants of the demon god of WRATH. Those orcs werergely unruly and barbaric. They would have killed the chief at the first sign of weakness. These orcs appear to be tame, which is not a bad thing for them. It means they will be able to control them and get their way easier.


    Warshaw interrupted the council members. "There will be no fighting for the position of chief. The gods have returned, so we will follow the ancient ways. We will use the divine ordainment method. The 9 Crowns will select who is to be chief."


    The council members almost snapped then. One of them did snap.


    "Enough. We''ve had enough from you. You can go now."


    The one that snapped and shouted was one of the biggest orcs here. He even stood up, so it made his advantage in height clear.


    He towered above Warshaw, but she wasn''t intimidated. She was the opposite. She was incensed.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    She pointed an usatory finger at him and shrieked, "Do you dare to spheme the gods?" The angry orc didn''t back down. He asked in return, "So what if I dare? What will they do?" Gasps filled the air at that question. Everyone was shocked that he dared say that. But the angry orc didn''t back down. His heart was beating fiercely because he knows he is taking a risk, but he believes that it is a gamble that he is likely to win because Hogglings wasn''t healed.


    Things would have been different if Warshaw had healed Hogglings. That would have proved that the 9 Crowns existed beyond all doubt. But she didn''t heal him and instead used an excuse to change the subject. The council members yed along for selfish motives. Now that his selfish motives are about to be interfered with by the deranged old shaman, he is not going to stand and watch.


    He became bolder when nothing happened to him after his sphemy. He threatened her, "You should leave with Hoggling before I make someone take you away."


    Warshaw was incensed but Legion wasn''t. They were only frustrated. That''s because Minor Miracle didn''t bring out favorable options for them to use.


    -You have used Minor Miracle.


    -Acquiring avable miracles.


    -Please choose one.


    1. Kill the mortal immediately. Cost: 45 DE.


    2. Curse the mortal to rot while alive. Cost: 45 DE.


    They shouldn''t be angry that someone has appointed himself to be the scapegoat. This is another opportunity for them to disy their might and cause awe in the minds of the mortal. They even have two ways to go about it.


    The first option will strike the sphemous orc down in front of everyone, while the second one will give him a long and miserable life. His life will be so miserable that he will probably kill himself to get it over with. Unfortunately, both options are expensive.


    It is the same problem that they encountered with Hoggling. If Hoggling''s life is not worth putting theirs in danger, then this orcs''s death isn''t either. Besides, they can''t spend that much DE energy even if they want to.


    Fortunately, they already have a viable n for Hogglings. They will just use that n for this one too.


    They made their Will known to Warshaw. She heard 9 voices speaking directly to her mind. They said, "It is destined for him to die at the hands of our chosen. We will not use our power to bully him. We will show the world why the divine ordainment method is destiny."

 Chapter 1742: Odd Changes.

    Chapter 1742: Odd Changes.


    ?


    The words of her god rang clear in her mind, and she acted on them immediately. She pointed at him and said, "You fool. Do you think the divine ordainment will rob the strong of their chance at power? You thought wrong. The divine ordainment method only cuts short the bloodshed by going straight to the end and choosing who will win. The divine ordainment method is a boon to use from the gods. It is not unfair and unjust."


    She didn''t think the gods could be wrong, and she didn''t question them at all. Her faith was full, as was her confidence as she spoke.


    Her voice rose with that confidence. "But don''t you worry. You will see for yourself soon how wrong you have been. Everyone will see the glory of the 9 Crowns soon."


    Then she walked up to a certain orc in the crowd. This orc is just a hunter in the tribe. She is strong and has the intention to challenge one of the 12 council members for their position, but she has never done so. She is not among the council members, so she is not considered one of the strongest of the Tuskin Tribe. But Warshaw went up to her, grabbed her hand, and raised it up so everyone could see.


    She proimed with the same loud voice, "The gods have spoken. She will be the next chief of the tribe."


    Everyone was stunned, including the hunter who was selected. But Warshaw only nodded calmly.


    "We will return for the battle on the morning of the day after tomorrow, as is customary. Take tomorrow to prepare for your defeat and demise."


    Then Warshaw began her march back to her encampment. She dragged the hunter with her. She only stopped to speak with the chief, whose mouth was still open.


    "I want you toe over as soon as possible. Don''t keep me or the gods waiting."


    Then she resumed her match. Everyone watched her go, still stunned and shocked. They wanted tough, but no one dared to. They didn''t want to spheme the gods if they are real, and they didn''t want to make fun of an old orc with lose screws. But that restraint didn''tst long. People beganughing and talking after she left.


    Only Chief Hogglings was quiet. He was still thinking about the things he saw. Warshaw didn''t spend up to 5 minutes in his presence, so the period of observation was short. But he did notice that some of her wrinkles had disappeared in that short period.


    As one of the best hunters in the tribe, he is very observant. He noticed the strange changes in Warshaw. She looked better by the time she left. It was small and almost unnoticeable, but it formed a stark contrast with his memory of how she looked yesterday morning when she visited him to tell him that he would die.


    She was a wrinkled and hunched old woman yesterday. She might have gone crazy and gained a false sense of strength, but her wrinkles shouldn''t be healing. It made him curious, so he decided to honor their arrangement quickly.


    He didn''t join in theughter or the conversation. He stood up and returned to his house to pack up. Then he made his way to the Shaman''s encampment.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    ----To Be Chief.


    Warshaw dragged Axec along to her encampment. She wasn''t truly dragging Axec, as she is not strong enough for that. It was Axec humoring her. And that was only after Warshaw had whispered to her, "Don''t worry. The gods have a n for you. They have a n for all of us. As long as we obey them, everything will be fine."


    Axec didn''t know what to say about such a im. Things beplicated when the gods are brought into any conversation. To refuse the im that the gods have a n is the same as saying the gods don''t exist or that the gods exist but are too stupid to have ns. Those are both sphemy that is punishable by death.


    So Axec wasn''t going to refute. She was going to allow the crazy Shaman to drag her to the encampment. Then she would slip away and escape. Odds are that the shaman would have forgotten about her by tomorrow morning.


    But her ns changed when they finally reached the encampment. Axec felt a heat sweep through her whole body. Then the heat settled deep within her. It coalesced into a single point and made a cool sensation flood her body.


    The cool sensation was clearly from an energy outside her body that she didn''t know existed until that moment. This energy was rushing into her body to reach the heat spot within her. It cooled her body and gave her a sense of bliss.


    It was as if she were being embraced by the softest and best fur coat. It was everything good, and most importantly, it filled her with strength.


    Axec stood frozen as these sensations went through her. Warshaw smirked to herself when she saw Axec''s blissful eyes. She has experienced the same thing just recently, so she knew what had happened to the young warrior.


    Meanwhile, Legion received a notification.


    -You have used blessing on Axec. -1 DE.


    It cost them 1 Divine Energy to ordain a new chief. It is a vastly cheaper option than what it would cost them to heal Hoggings or to kill the sphemous council member. Axec will kill the sphemous council member for them so they don''t have to spend 45 energy points right


    now.


    They are confident of this because of Axec''s new stats.


    NAME: Axec Byorn


    AGE: 112(225)


    FAITH: The 9 Crowns.


    CLASS: None.


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 48


    HP: 100/100


    CONSTITUTION: 10


    STRENGTH: 10


    VITALITY: 10


    SPEED: 9


    SPIRIT: 9


    MANA: 1%


    STATUS: ted.


    The sphemous warrior is level 45 with 9 points in every stat. Not only does Axec beat him


    with 3 points, her strength, vitality, and constitution are above his.


    A/N: Check out DESTINY GAMES if you haven''t. Enjoy your day.

 Chapter 1743: Unconditional Faith.

    Chapter 1743: Unconditional Faith.


    ?


    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This is not her natural strength. Axec was at level 44 when they told Warshaw to choose her. It was their blessing that improved her so much and grated her ess to Mana. That ess to Mana is why they are confident that she will beat every challenger tomorrow.


    She doesn''t have a ss yet, which means she won''t be able to use mana techniques and skills. But just the natural endowment of mana will help her heal and recover her stamina faster.


    The council members are older and so are more skilled. But they don''t have mana. That means they won''t have the replenishment of stamina and the boost to power that mana grants. If that boost increases to 10% in the two days they have, Axec will have another edge over her challengers.


    Sure, it would have been better to choose one of the council members as their champion, but they didn''t do that because strength is not the priority. Faith and obedience to the gods are the priorities.


    They couldn''t afford to kill the sphemer immediately or curse him, but they had to make a show by selecting someone that is unlikely to be a council member and make that person be the chief. It indicates that with the support of the gods, anything is possible and will teach the mortals to always trust in gods and obey them.


    It is the best that they could do, being that it costs less and is most efficient. If they had enough divine energy, they would have killed the sphemer and selected a stronger person as chief.


    That method would be swift and thunderous. Their current method might be efficient, but it is slow, and risky. But most important of all, it gives them two days to acquire more believers and gain divine energy.


    When the day of the challengees, they believe that they will have much divine energy to make actions that will prove their existence and power beyond any doubt, reasonable or unreasonable. So they are actually looking forward to the challenge, not anxious about its oue.


    Axec finally recovered from her stupor. Warshaw was waiting for her.


    The old orc asked, "Do you now know where my confidence lies?"


    Axec nodded. "I do."


    "What do I rely on?" Warshaw asked.


    "You are confident that I will win because of mana."


    Warshaw said with disdain, "You are wrong. Mana is just the blessing from the gods. What I rely on is the gods themselves. They chose you, so you will win in two days. That is divine ordainment. You owe everything to the 9 Crowns. They can give and take away."


    Axec nodded in agreement. "The gods are all powerful."


    "Of course. That''s what gives divine ordainment its legitimacy. Even if you were not blessed, you would still win. The gods could have killed that sphemer today, but it is his destiny to be killed in the challenge by your axe. That will show the legitimacy of divine ordainment and give glory to the 9 crowns."


    Axec nodded in agreement as her confidence also soared. She was beginning to have some faith.


    Warshaw said to her, "Come with me to give worship to the 9 crowns."


    Axec was brought to the shrine of the 9 gods, where she bowed.


    She swore solemnly, "If I win the challenge and be chief, the whole tribe and my life will belong to you. I will give my all to you."


    Warshaw frowned. She didn''t like how that promise was phrased. She believes that everything already belongs to the gods. They don''t need someone to give it to them. It is the opposite. The mortals are to hand over everything they have so that they can please the gods. Everything in all of existence is for their pleasure.


    As a zealot, she didn''t keep her displeasure to herself. She made sure to lecture the future chief about how to respect the gods. This lecture was not a simple act of mentioning Axec''s error with her promise. It was an in-depth analysis that took 10 minutes and would have continued for longer if Hogglings hadn''t arrived.


    "Meditate on what I have told you. Your eptance of the gods will improve your connection with mana. Think of mana as the power from gods. If you try to get closer to the gods, then you will get closer to Mana." Warshaw said to Axec before she left her to minister onto Hogging.


    Hogging was also blessed by the 9 crowns. It improved his stats and his resistance to the poison. He reached level 50 immediately. It is the limit of what orcs are capable of, and he even gained ess to Mana. All of these made him confident of surviving for 3 days.


    Legion spent 1 divine energy to acquire that oue. It is likely that Hoggings will be able to heal himself in 3 days. If not, 3 days is more than enough time for them to establish their church and gain a steady source of divine energy. So they will be able to heal him then.


    It shows just how powerful the gods are. A simple blessing, when used right, can acquire them the loyalty and faith of a peak fighting force as a guardian for their Oracle and a chief of a tribe.


    With Hogging protecting Warshaw, she won''t die before they have made full use of everything she has to offer. And with Axec, they will have the whole tribe under their thumbs. So they are off to a good start. It all hinges on Axec winning her battle in two days.


    In the meantime, some of the rewards for their hard work came in. Warshaw was poor, so she couldn''t offer more than her best bull. Axec is a hunter, so she had more to spare. Hoggling, on the other hand, is very rich and also very grateful to the 9 gods. He was willing to offer everything he still owned to the gods.

 Chapter 1744: A Lie That Is Not A Lie.

    Chapter 1744: A Lie That Is Not A Lie.


    ?


    The two orcs might have been skeptical of the existence of gods before, but they were not anymore after they saw everything they offered on the shrine turn into motes of light and disappear.


    They offered the best they had and more, but the sight of all of their stuff being received made them happy instead of sad at losing so much. Such is the allure of faith.


    Legion was happy with the situation. It had a lot to do with thr notifications they received each time they offered something.


    -You have received 10 gold coins from Axec.


    -You have received 93 cold coins from Hoggling. -You have received (Large shield) from Hoggling. -You have received (Wolf pelt armor) from Hoggling. -You have received (Twin daggers) from Hoggling.


    Everything offered to a god could be received by the god, including weapons and armor. Plus, their action of receiving offerings increased the faith of their believers. It gave Legion a good idea on how to exploit the mortals and spread their religion very quickly.


    They said to Warshaw, "We are in a good mood and have decided to bless this tribe with a boon after the selection of the new chief. But the boon we will grant your tribe will depend on how sincere they are. Let them offer us their best, and we might visit a great boon upon your tribe."


    Warshaw took off immediately. She didn''t know that they had lied to her, but she didn''t need to know that. All she needs to have is blind faith in her god.


    Legion watched her go and felt a little proud of their lie. It is because it is not truly a lie. They can just make up anything as the boon. For example, they can say that the grace of living for another day is the boon. After all, they are gods. The fact that they don''t go on a killing spree is a boon to mortals.


    Their request had already brought forth rewards when Axec and Hoggings heard it from Warshaw. They offered a lot of armor and weapons to the 9 Crowns.


    So the clones'' naked and exposed form was soon encased in the best armor that the Orcs could make, and they were soon wielding the best weapons avable.


    They were surprised that they could receive weapons as offerings, but they were even more surprised that the weapons could strengthen them. So they asked their angel about it.


    "Non-living things can be received as an offering just like living things. And just like living things, anything received will be transformed into a useful form for the gods."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Living things will be transformed into divine energy, while non-living things will be converted into divine artifacts. These weapons are just the lowest grade divine artifacts. No god can forge something poorer than it or as poor as it."


    The clones didn''t mind. Legion-1 said, "Low grade or not, it is better than nothing."


    Legion-8 agreed. "Besides, it is free."


    Legion-3 with a snicker, "It is better than free. It is like taking candy from babies."


    They found it funny that the mortals are giving them their stuff. They believe that it would have been better for them to use those things to strengthen themselves, but they also understand that in God''s Domain, mortals need the help of gods to ess mana and grow stronger.


    So the faith of the mortals in their useful gods is understandable. But that doesn''t stop the whole thing from being funny because they don''t need to steal something to get it. It is simply offered to them when they ask for it.


    Next, they used insight on all the weapons to confirm. They found that the angel was right. They were all (Low Grade Divine Artifacts). They ranged from level 5 to level 10. Their level determines how much enhancement they can provide, but that''s not all there is to them. The weapons have other properties.


    The only bow, for example, provides more than a strength amplification.


    (Hunting Bow (Low Grade Divine Artifact): Level 5)


    (Enhancement: +5 Strength. Dual Notches. ded Limbs)


    (Description: A bow for skilled hunters. It has two notches to shoot two arrows at the same time. It also has small des attached to its two limbs for desperate closebat use)


    The clones shared the weapons and armor amongst themselves. They tried to have different configurations so as to be able to meet the needs of various fighting situations and enemy types.


    Legion-1: Heavy Metal Armor (+10 Endurance). Large Shield (+10 Endurance). Large Axe (+10 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed)


    Legion-2: Light Leather Armor (+3 Endurance). Hunting Bow (+5 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed)


    Legion-3: Light Leather Armor (+3 Endurance). Twin Daggers (+6 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed)


    Legion-4: Medium Fur Armor (+6 Endurance). Single Edge de (+7 Strength). Single Edge de (+7 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed)


    Legion-5: Medium Fur Armor (+6 Endurance). Spear (+7 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed)


    Legion-6: Medium Fur Armor (+6 Endurance). Small Axe (+7 Strength). Small Axe (+7 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed)


    Legion-7: Heavy Metal Armor (+10 Endurance). Heavy B (+7 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed)


    Legion-8: Light Leather Armor (+3 Endurance). Throwing Knives (+5 Strength). Harpoon (+6 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed)


    Legion-9: Light Leather Armor (+3 Endurance). ded Whip (+6 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed)


    With their configuration, they are prepared for both long-range, medium-range, and close- rangebat and enemies that require blunt, shing, or piercing damage to be out down. Having weapons put Legion in a good mood for the rest of the day. They felt more secure against the attacks of other gods as they followed their Oracle around the tribe. Warshaw went to every house proiming the existence of gods and informing them of the fight that would take ce in the morning. If they didn''t know about the fight for chieftaincy that was to hold the day after tomorrow, they knew it after she shouted it at their gates for hours. She also invited them to a worship at her ce in the evening with her loud voice.


    A/N: Check out DESTINY GAMES if you haven''t. Enjoy your day.

 Chapter 1745: Multiple Divine Plans.

    Chapter 1745: Multiple Divine ns.


    ?


    Her second request was a little out of ce, but it wasn''t strange. The tribe usually congregates at her encampment during festivals and during the new year, so it is not strange that she is asking them to worship at her ce. But none of those events is taking ce today, so it is odd that she is asking them.


    Even so, some of them decided toe around. The gods might not be real, but they were once real, and it is said that they will return one day. It is the Shaman''s that say the gods will return, and they have said it for so long that it is still part of the orcs tradition to worship gods, so the people of the tribes decided to worship.


    They also brought something that will be sacrificed to the gods. It was small and inconsequential to them, but they all brought something, and that''s good enough for Legion.


    Their little offerings served as the hook of belief that snared their souls for the 9 Crowns. They witnessed their gifts being received and turned into believers immediately.


    It didn''t matter if Warshaw was faking it with magic. If she could, it meant that magic exists again and that the gods must have returned. After all, the gods are the source of all power. In their absence, all forms of extraordinary power disappeared with them. So fake or not, the sight of their offerings being received rekindled the faith in the gods.


    The clones watched all of this happening with slight anticipation. They couldn''t help it because of all the notifications they were receiving of offerings, divine energy, and new believers.


    As the day dragged on, their confidence increased in tandem with the increase in their divine energy. They felt more confident about the challenge and even decided to use the faith of the people as their third n that will be needed in case Axec somehow loses the challenge even with their help.


    It is not smart to put all of one''s eggs in one basket, and only those that are prepared for failure will never truly fail. That is something they have heard from others, seen in the Supreme Law of a particr world god, and experienced themselves, so they are always nning for every possibility.


    Anything can happen on the morning of the challenge. If Axec fails, that means they can''t rely on the chief. Things would be worse for them because they would lose the respect of the people, and Warshaw would be verified as crazy.


    They can''t let that happen, but if it happens despite their best efforts, then they must have the people on their side. If the people already believe in them by the time of the challenge, not only will they have more divine energy to assist Axec, they will have more sway in the tribe to affect any orc that bes the new chief.


    The evening ceremony and the whole of tomorrow will give them the opportunity to convert a lot of the tribe members into believers.


    These believers will be shallow believers because the only miracle that will be shown is the eptance of their sacrifice. But their faith will cemented on the morning of the challenge when Axec wins or with further miracles when they interfere to make Axec win.


    Their fourth n is to ovee their hesitation and spend the divine energy needed to heal Hoggings. That way they will also have physical might on their side.


    So while a lot hinges on Axec winning the challenge and bing the new chief, they are already making sure that she will win, and if she does not, they won''t need her anymore. It is the preparation for failure that ensures sess regardless of the oue.


    The evening ceremony went well. Many orcs rushed back to acquire better offerings and sacrifices. They wept and cried as their offerings were all epted. Even living animals turned into motes of light on the altar.


    Legion gained a lot of believers that night and the following day. They gained a lot of Divine Energy and their Authority increased rapidly until it reached 101. That is just about 20% of the poption of the tribe, so they are optimistic about their future.


    They received another notification for their efforts.


    -You have acquired more than 100 Authority.


    -You have unlocked Divine spells.


    -Ascend to the Divine Realm to gain ess to Divine spells.


    This notification formed their resolve to ascend as soon as possible. They were confident of ascension thanks to the sess of their two days of evangelism. It is the sort of confidence that 53 Divine Energy each can grant a god.


    Morning came very soon. It came with excitement and anticipation that filled the entire tribe. It is because word had spread to everyone in the tribe that today would be the day for the selection of a new chief. This is the kind of thing that only happens every 50 years.


    It is not a once in a lifetime event since orcs can leave to be 200 years old, but ites close. The anticipation was further increased by the talks of the advent of the gods.


    The divine ordainment and the religious events that took ce in the Shaman''s enclosure have also spread. A lot of the tribe members wanted to know if the gods had truly appeared and if they would show their might today.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    So it was with eagerness that everyone in the tribe assembled at the square at the center of the tribe. Even the old and the young were present. The only person absent was the previous chief. Many guessed that he had either died or he was too weak to move.


    Soon the challengers for the seat of chief appeared. All of them were old council members, while only one was a young warrior. This young warrior was the one to take the stage first.


    Axec appeared to be full of confidence and high in spirit. Her eyes were bright, and her steps were steady. They were not the steps of one who suspects that she is in a situation way out of her league.

 Chapter 1746: Taste My Axe.

    Chapter 1746: Taste My Axe.


    ?


    Axec beaconed to her challengers, who were huddled in a corner, and said, "Come and taste my axe."


    Her appearance set the crowd of audience alight. They began cheering and roaring. So they picked up a single chant, "Blood for power."


    The crowd wanted blood. They roared for it with fervent desperation. The fresh morning air was soon filled with a thrumming beat of potential violence. It is not for the fainthearted. But the orcs are not faint of heart. This is their tradition.


    It is their custom to bear witness to the spilling of blood. It was so before the advent of the gods and after their departure. The strongest orcs will prove their mettle by spilling their blood or that of the obstacles to their im of chieftaincy.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This cry for violence usually fills the challengers with bloodlust. But not this time. This time, there was solemnity among the challengers. None of them took up Axec''s challenge toe and taste her axe. In fact, they were busy arguing amongst themselves, not fighting.


    They were arguing in hushed tones, which eventually led to some stepping forward into the arena. They did so only to drop their weapons. Then they returned to the crowd to watch as bystanders.


    The implications of their actions were clear. They were surrendering before battle. It is a shameful thing to do as warriors, but it is only reasonable to do so when a god is involved. It is only right for mortals to capitte to the whims of their god. There is nothing shameful about that.


    It was understandable that they would think that Warshaw was insane two days ago. But enough time has passed for them to acquire some information that has put their worldview under intense questioning. This is the sort of questioning that makes the im that Warshaw is crazy very shaky.


    They heard about the miracles that urred these past few days, and some of them even witnessed them. It was the miracle of the eptance of offerings. It is also what is causing the disagreement amongst the councilmen.


    Some of them had already decided to give up. But they also decided to advise others to surrender too, but they were met with resistance.


    At the end of the day, many of them decided to surrender. The gods might not have returned, but they felt it was not worth it to anger a god for the slim chance of bing chief.


    If there was a god, then they would surely die if they went ahead with the challenge. And if there isn''t a god, they might die in the challenge, as only one person can win and be chief. So the only way to secure their life and afterlife is not to challenge the chosen of the gods.


    Only one of them didn''t give up. He thought he was the strongest and that the position was his. He wasn''t willing to be scared away by some rumors. After all, if the gods were real and angry with him, they would have struck him dead already.


    Maybe the gods truly want to use him as a scapegoat, or they want him to prove himself in battle. Either way, if the gods are angry with him, he will surely die. So he would rather take his chances in battle.


    So Torko stepped onto the stage. Unlike the others, he didn''t drop his weapon. Instead, he gripped his spiked club tightly and sneered at Axec. He disyed his tusk disdainfully and said, "Unlike the others, I am made of stronger stuff."


    Axec raised her axe and said, "That is good. You will make for a great sacrifice to the 9 Crowns when I am done with you."


    Warshaw had already been carried away by the shout for blood. She didn''t bother with the customary ritual and was quick to give permission for the start of the challenge.


    She screamed at the top of her lungs, "Begin!!!"


    The shout of the shaman made the twobatants rush towards each other. Torko was wielding arge club adorned with sharp spikes. A single hit-even a cing blow-could be deliberating. He decided to maximize his chance of scoring a hit by producing a wide horizontal swing at Axec aimed at her chest.


    Axec, who was rushing forward, stopped in her tracks and stepped back. The club passed in front of her. She stepped forward to take advantage of the opening, only for Torko to kick forward.


    She stepped sideways to avoid the kick while swinging her axe de downwards to cleave his leg. Torko swiveled sideways to avoid her axe while simultaneously mming his shoulder into her.


    The sh pushed her away. It didn''t cower her though. She jumped towards him after collecting herself. Torko''s club was waiting for her.


    He struck as if to impale her with his club. This caused it to meet the axe in its downward sh. The two weapons struck each other briefly. There was no winner in the sh, but Axec had to jump back again because Torko kicked at her again.


    She evaded hisrge leg, aiming for her leg, but it dyed her attack and allowed Torko to step forward and bring his club around for another swing at her. This time she was too close to avoid the swing. She had to use the handle of her axe to block the blow.


    The two weapons shed, and Axec didn''t take a step back. Torko was surprised. He didn''t expect a younger orc to be on par with him in terms of strength. But he was a seasoned warrior. He adapted immediately by using his other hand to punch Axec''s face.


    Axec didn''t expect the punch but she was already pushing Torko before it happened. She was wielding her axe with both arms to block the swing while Torko was only using one hand. The support of both of her hands made it so that she gained an advantage over Torko when she pushed. He was forced back and had to retract his punch to stabilize himself.

 Chapter 1747: Truly The Chosen Of The Gods.

    Chapter 1747: Truly The Chosen Of The Gods.


    ?


    Axec pressed the advantage. She pressed her head forward to smash it against her enemy. Torko retaliated with a head smash of his. The two heads smashed against each other. Both of them broke their noses and began bleeding.


    The first blood had been shed, so the crowd went crazy. Now they were only moring for blood. They didn''t care about the power anymore.


    Torko said, "You are not bad."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Axec replied, "You will die."


    She was stating it as a fact. If she had hoped to deter Torko with that statement, then she was bound to be disappointed.


    Torko stepped forward and punched with his left hand. She stepped aside to avoid the punch, only for Torko to swing his club at her with all his might. She was already moving to the side, but it wasn''t fast enough to avoid the horizontal swinging at her. So she parried it by striking the club with her axe.


    The club went awry and smashed into the ground because of the force of the blow. Axec jumped forward as soon as her feet touched the ground. Torko had extended himself with thest attack, so she had gotten within his guard.


    She chopped down with her axe on his defenseless form. But he wasn''t so defenseless. He leaned into the attack and grabbed the handle of her axe. Then he kicked her again.


    This time she couldn''t dodge. Not without losing her weapon. So the kick connected with her stomach and knocked her back. The air in her lungs was knocked out of her, but she didn''t let go of her axe. She was already pulling it before she was kicked. Thebined force of the kick made it difficult for Torko to continue holding on to it. Not if he didn''t want to be dragged forward.


    Torko let go of the axe so as not to be pulled by Axec. Instead, he used both of his hands to pull his club back for another swing at her. Unfortunately, his attack wasn''t fast enough, so Axec was able to dodge the attack.


    Their fighting continued in earnest. They had the excited crowd to cheer them on. The cheer was endless because the fight was thrilling. A single sessful attack could end the battle, so the tension was high. Each swing of the weapons made the heart of the audience beat wildly.


    Warshaw''s heart was probably the one with the most fluctuations. It is because her heart is very old and there is a lot to lose here for her.


    As an old orc with many years of experience, she could see the minute subtleties that the others couldn''t see. She could tell that Axec was stronger, but Torko was more experienced. Axec couldn''t control her strength properly, so the best she could do was be evenly matched with Torko in terms of raw power. But she wascking in skill, which Torko used to edge out little victories in their exchanges.


    Torko couldn''t overwhelm Axec enough to score a good hit on her, but he was nimble and resourceful enough to manage little hits like kicks and punches. He was also adept at predicting and responding to her attacks. All in all, it was a draw.


    A weak opponent would have capitted to the constant harassment by now, but Axec held on. This made the fight drag out for minutes.


    The difference between them began to show after ten minutes of constant, high-intensity fighting with their lives in the line. Torko was slowing down. His club was heavy, and he had been swinging for quite a while without sess.


    Axec, on the other hand, was in better condition. She had taken more of the hits of the fight, but she had a higher constitution and vitality, which made her have better stamina. She can''t control her strength, but those are properties that are not affected by her inexperience.


    What clinched it for Axec was her ess to Mana. The boost was little, but its replenishment of her stamina granted her a constant source of advantage. Torko couldn''t keep up with her after another 5 minutes of fighting. He was panting and sweating furiously.


    He seemed to have realized that he was going to die but couldn''t understand why. He was the second strongest in the tribe, and she was not even a councilman. The only thing he could think of for why a younger orc could defeat him in his prime was the one thing he disdained. So he said to Axec, "It seems the gods are real, and they have truly chosen you."


    It was difficult for him to say thest part not only because it hurt his pride but because his throat was patched and his chest hurt.


    Axec was also panting. But her need for stamina wasn''t as serious as Torko''s. She was able to say with disdain, "You are going to die."


    Torko snorted and said, "You have yet to kill me, little girl."


    He was hoping to rile her up, but she didn''t take the bait. She continued to pressure him steadily for a few more minutes until he couldn''t lift his club anymore. It was then that her axe buried its de in his neck. It sought to split him in half. But it failed. The best it could do was maim him and create a spurt of blood from his severed artery.


    However, that was more than enough. Torko''s axe fell from his hands to the ground. He joined it soon after with his hands grasping his neck in an attempt to stop the flow of blood. His great weight smashed into the ground, but the voice of the crowd rose as they cheered loudly. Their cheers were ringing in the ears of Axec.


    She raised her axe and cheered with them, "Blood and power."


    The shaman raised her hand to still the crowd. Silence finally returned to the world.


    Then she asked the council members, "Do you have anything else to say?"


    They all bowed down and said to Axec, "You are chief."

 Chapter 1748: Useful In Life And Death.

    Chapter 1748: Useful In Life And Death.


    ?


    Axec nodded in pride while Warshaw smiled triumphantly. Then the Shaman beaconed for her acolyte, who rushed up with some tools. They began building a makeshift altar inscribed with praises to the 9 Crowns.


    Torko''s body was ced on this altar and offered as sacrifice to the 9 Crowns by the new chief. This was to be her first sacrifice as the new chief, and its eptance will affect whether she will gain the support of the gods or not.


    Or that''s how it should be if the gods were in power. But in a situation where the gods need the eptance of mortals, they have no choice but to ept her sacrifice. Legion certainly couldn''t refuse her sacrifice after doing so much or so little to put her there.


    Torko''s body was epted. His body turned into golden dust and disappeared in front of everyone. The public disy of the new chief making a sacrifice and the eptance of the sacrifice made the number of believers in the 9 Crowns skyrocket immediately.


    Warshaw roared in excitement, "Praise be to the 9 Crowns. They have epted our humble sacrifice. Praise be to the 9 Crowns."


    Now that they have all seen the eptance of the sacrifice, no one can say she is crazy anymore. And now that her chosen champion has won, no one can say her god is weak. So everyone fell on their knees and proimed along with her the glory of the 9 Crowns.


    Legion received a notification for the special offering.


    -You have received 1 soul fragment from Axec.


    -You have received 45 Divine Energy from Axec.


    They had received the same amount of Divine Energy it would have taken to kill Torko on their own. It made them pleasantly surprised. What their angel told them about the use of soul fragments as currency and material for forging divine weapons solidified their greed.


    They thought to themselves, "It seems we will have to do more of these sacrifices in the future.


    They have learned that while it is easy to kill any mortal, it is best to let their subordinates do the killing for them and then sacrifice the mortal to them. That way they would be able to earn divine energy instead of losing it. This knowledge means that while this is the first sacrifice of an intelligent race to them, they will make sure that it won''t be thest.


    However, they are not blinded by greed. They understand that faith is a better source of divine energy. It is sustenable as opposed to the one-time gain of a sacrifice. So they do not n to sacrifice their believers. That is a fate for nonbelievers. Or non-believers if they want to punish them.


    Thinking about it made Legion-1 say, "It seems one way or another, mortals are tools to gods. They will benefit gods with their faith or disbelief and with living or their deaths."


    Legion-3 said, "I think it is time to do our part to cement this show."


    The clones agreed so they activated the n they had prepared to prevent Axec''s failure.


    -You have used Minor Miracle.


    -Acquiring avable miracles.


    -Please choose one.


    1. Summon a bear. Cost 15 DE.


    2. Summon angry eagle. Cost 8 DE.


    3. Summon a pack of wolves. Cost 20 DE.


    They nned to summon some animals to interfere in the fight. The animals are not to kill anyone. They are to just appear and disrupt Torko at a critical moment, which would lead to his loss.


    Their intended choice was the angry eagle. It is the weakest one amongst them, but that also meant it would require less DE for them to direct it to harass Torko again and again.


    It would be cheating, but they are gods, so anything they do is righteous. It is just right that they summon animals to kill or harm mortals who disregard their opinions. Even if it isn''t right, they don''t care. They are willing to do anything to achieve their goal.


    Now that Axec has won, they don''t need this interference. But they still choose to use a miracle to cement their power and influence in the tribe. However, they summoned the pack of wolves instead of an eagle.


    The effect was immediate. A pack of wolves rushed out from the forest and approached the tribe encampment regardless of their fear. They howled to encourage themselves and to terrify their enemies.


    Both of those agendas were achieved. The orcs in the square became afraid and scattered. They were not running away in fear, though. Each one of them was running to grab their


    weapons.


    The attack of a beast is not strange to them, so they were preparing to fight. But Warshaw shouted at them to stop.


    "Do not fear. This is a gift from the 9 Crowns. Do not fear."


    Some were about to rebuke her and call her senile, but then they remembered that the gods have returned, so strange things were bound to ur from now on. Even then, it took all of their restraint not to panic.


    Their faith almost crumbled when the gate broke wide open and allowed the wolves to flood the encampment. But then they realized that this too was strange, as the wolves were incapable of breaching their gate. Certainly not in the span of a second. It made them believe that this was another act by the 9 Crowns.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    That belief was confirmed when the wolves came to a stop in front of the square. The orcs and the wolves stood opposite each other, staring at each other. Both parties were terrified more than they let on. The wolves were probably the most terrified, seeing as they were practically dragged towards this location by an invisible force.


    Axec was at the center of this gathering of orcs and wolves with Warshaw. She wanted to put some distance between herself and the wolves but she was led by the bosterous shaman toward therge wolf at the front of the pack.

 Chapter 1749: Glory To The 9 Crowns.

    Chapter 1749: Glory To The 9 Crowns.


    ?


    A normal wolf stood at 3 quarters of her height, but the pack leader was tall enough to stand head to head with her. It was 2.5 meters tall from head to paw. It was not at all a beast she would want to meet alone.


    As a warrior, she wasn''t afraid of a wolf. But she is aware of how dangerous they can be. Fortunately, she has faith, and it is strong, so she held back her difort and went along with the shaman.


    Warshaw had already received instructions from the 9 Crowns, so she knew what to do. She had unwavering faith in them, so she wasn''t concerned for her safety at all. She used a knife to cut Axec''s palm. Then she did the same to the pack leader''s forehead.


    Then she instructed Axec to ce the wound in her palm on the wound on the pack leader''s head.


    "Repeat after me. I swear from today onwards that I will care for your pack as members of my tribe. In exchange, you will live and fight with us as members of my tribe. I swear this in the name of the 9 Crowns."


    Axec repeated the oath. She said it clearly and with a little trepidation.


    Warshaw then raised her hands to the sky and said, "The 9 Crowns have witnessed your oath. The bond between the wolf pack and Bullhorn''s tribe shall stand until it is broken. Glory be to the 9 Crowns."


    Both the orcs and the wolves raised their voices to worship the 9 Crowns. Their voices and the dedication in their hearts were stronger than ever before. If there was ever any doubt about the might of the 9 Crowns, it is all gone now. Even if Axec decided to ouw the 9 Crownster on, the members of the tribe would still worship the 9 Crowns.


    The twomunities became one. The orcs epted the wolves without any fear. They had absolute trust in the 9 Crowns, so wolves were weed into their homes. The wolves also extended that gesture by bringing the orcs to take their cubs.


    Legion watched this happen with a little self satisfaction. One clone had used 20 Divine Energy and another had used 50 more to bind the wolves to the tribe. It was an expensive expenditure, but it was worth it.


    Their miracle brought in returns quickly. Their believers increased to 532 immediately. Only the young orcs in the tribe who were too ignorant about faith didn''t believe in them. But that would change after a while of brainwashing.


    The tribe had be theirspletely, so they began blessing the strong warriors. This granted them power enough to outmatch Axec, but it also increased their faith in the 9 Crowns. Besides, Axec is not the ruler of the tribe anymore. That power has gone to Warshaw.


    When the gods are in power, their clergy rule the mortals. Above them all are the Oracles. They are the closest to the gods and their mouthpiece. So it is normal for everyone to look to the Oracle for guidance instead of the chief.


    In fact, it is necessary for them to do that. Without the guidance of an Oracle, they will run when friendly wolves approach them or stay when hostile wolves approach. Only an Oracle knows which wolves are for them or against them.


    Warshaw, who was always full of energy, went about preparing for the ceremony to officiate the faith of the 9 Crowns in the tribe. She also put everyone else to work preparing for it.


    The ceremony was to be held the following day. It was too soon as there was a lot of work to be done. But no one objected. In fact, everyone helped as much as possible. They put aside other things they used to do and spent the whole day to build a temple for the 9 Crowns.


    They didn''t manage toplete it before the following day, though. Their n for the temple was too big to bepleted in a day. But theypleted the core of the temple, which housed the altar. That was enough for the ceremony to hold, so it went on as scheduled. When the morning came again, everyone came to the temple. Unlike yesterday, they were dressed in their best furs. And they were chanting "Glory to the 9 Crowns" instead of "Blood for power."


    Warshaw performed a dance where she exined the identity of the 9 Crowns. The orcs finally knew them to be a god with dominion over nine aspects. They don''t know what aspects are, but they learned that no god couldpare to such a powerful god.


    The ceremony ended when Axec handed over any shred of power she had left by announcing that the faith of the 9 Crowns would be the faith of the tribe and ouwed any other faith as heretical.


    Warshaw led the crowd to raise their voice in worship. They sang songs in harmony and chanted, "Glory to the 9 Crowns. Glory to the 9 Crowns. Glory to the 9 Crowns."


    Legion was truly pleased by the disy. Their quest waspleted, and it was confirmed by a notification.


    Congrattions! Your religion has been established.


    -You will ascend to the Divine Realm.


    -You have gained ess to Divine Spells.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Their figures faded away, and they disappearedpletely. Warshaw lost sight of them and almost panicked. She would have panicked if she didn''t hear the assurance from them that they were not leaving permanently. Only then did she rx.


    The tribe went about their days after the ceremony. Only this time they had wolves to help them hunt. Things became easier for them with the wolves, so the tribe was ted for


    prosperity.


    Meanwhile, Legion reappeared in a magnificent city. They have seen a lot of things in over the 800,000 thousand years that they have lived, but they had to admit that this city was truly worthy of the word magnificent.


    The city was full of sky-reaching buildings built with ss, crystals, and gems. Some buildings were made of only ss, while others were built with crystal blocks of various


    colors.

 Chapter 1750: Beautiful Gemmis.

    Chapter 1750: Beautiful Gemmis.


    ?


    Some buildings used crystal blocks of a single color, while others were constructed with assorted gems. It made for a kdioscope of colors. It made it look as if the city was built with colors given shape.


    There was no sun in the sky, but the divine realm waspletely bright. There was no shadow anywhere, and everywhere was lit by an unseen light. The amount of light further enhanced the beauty of the city. They are sure that the city would glow in the dark as it is, so it doesn''t need light, but the light made the gems, transparent and translucent crystals, and colorful stones pop.


    Legion didn''t gawk though. At least not all of them. Four of them did the gawking. They stared at different directions and fed the others what they saw. The other 5 were looking around for important details like the appearance of other gods, their number, and what they were doing. They were able to create aplete mental image of the city around them that way.


    "It seems we are not the first ones to establish a religion."


    "I wonder how fast we did."


    "We took 4 days since our appearance to take over the entire tribe. That has to count for something, right?"


    Their angel replied, "You are currently the 103,638th god out of the 100 million god seeds to ascend to a divine ne. As you selected to start in the Northern Realm, you have ascended to the divine realm of the Northern Realm."


    "So there are other divine realms. If we split the number of gods that have established a religion by 4, that means we are in the 25,000 range of progress amongst the 1,000,000 god seeds that can qualify to be gods. That has to be fast."


    Their angel confirmed it, "It is fast. But you are nowhere fast enough toplete the side quest of being in the first 100 god seeds to be Godlings."


    "Hmm. How do we be Godlings?"


    No sooner had Legion-6 asked that they receive a quest notification.


    (Quest Received)


    (Main Quest: Be One Of The First 4,000,000 Godling)


    (Third Step: Create An Altar In The Divine Realm)n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    (Reward: ess To Your Divine Portfolio)


    (Description: A local deity is not a godling yet. Not until they can receive divine energy from believers without the help of the divine realm. They will need a divine altar for that)


    This quest and the optional quest to be one of the first 100 Godlings are the only two quests they have currently. The two of them are simr except for the factor of time.


    They need to be fast to be part of the first 1,000,000 godlings. They are already making good progress with that. But their current position of 25,000 is far from where they need to be if they are to be one of the first 100. It made them realize that if they are toplete the optional quest, they have to hurry.


    Legion-2 muttered, "Being in the top 25,000 doesn''t look so good right now."


    Legion-7 asked their angel as they looked around, "What is a godling, and how do we create the altar."


    Their ever reliable angel replied, "Currently you are relying on the divine realm, specifically this divine city, to connect you with your believers. This is how divine energy is directed to you. And it is also the only way for you to acquire divine abilities."


    "This connection can be dyed, sabotaged, or blockedpletely. You will need to create an independent and secure receiver to make that connection for you. That is the altar. The altar is also necessary to establish yourself in the divine realm and be a true god."


    They would like to be moving immediately, but they need information and knowledge to make the best decisions. They can move, but moving without a direction or purpose will be a waste of time and effort.


    Besides, the information transfer between them and their angel is mental. It is almost instantaneous, so they are enot wasting a lot of time to get the information they need to make efficient decisions.


    The angel continued, "To create an altar, what you need are divine materials. I will tell you more on the materials as we go on. For now, you need to get divine spells to empower yourself so that we can go and get the most important material needed for the altar."


    Their angel also knew that they were running out of time, so it made the best decision to make efficient use of their time. It directed them to the temple they just spawned beside. The temple was at the center of the Gemmis divine city. It wasn''t the biggest building in Gemmis, but it is arguably the most important building. This is because it is home to the city spirit and Divine Investiture.


    They are here for the Divine Investiture. It is arge ck steele of stone on which the names of every ascended god assigned to Gemmis are written. The names are golden and tiny. But they are numerous, so the steele is veryrge.


    The stele is not the only thing in the temple. It is standing at the center of the temple, while many floors line the edge of the temple. There were rooms on these floors that gods could stay in.


    They were other gods rushing in and out of the temple. All of them touched the stele before they left. Most of them were in a hurry, but some took the stairs to reach the floors above.


    Their angel introduced it to them as they approached it. "The stele is currently 1011 meters tall. It is constantly growing as more names are added to it. It will also reduce in size as those names disappear when the gods assigned to it die permanently."


    All of them went ahead to touch the stele. It is currently the only way to receive divine energy from their believers in the mortal realm and also the only way to purchase divine spells.

 Chapter 1751: Tools Of The Trade.

    Chapter 1751: Tools Of The Trade.


    ?


    Their angel informed dutifully, "All of these divine spells are avable to every deity. It is only when one bes a godling would they be able to ess special spells, and only when a true god acquires a domain will they acquire special domain spells."


    "So every local deity is practically identical in what they are capable of. But they will have varying power and Divine Energy which they have to use topete to acquire the resources they need to be godlings."


    The clones spoke amongst themselves more as they perused the list of divine spells. Despite the spells being avable to every deity, all of them have requirements for Authority so there will be differences between the deities at the initial stage.


    Deities with more believers will ess more powerful spells, and their higher Authority means that even these lower-level spells will be more powerful than deities with fewer believers.


    Legion-9 said as he went through the list, "In this world, Authority is the main foundation of their power. I wonder how divinity ys into things."


    -Divine Spells.


    1. Divine Strike.


    Effect: Strike an enemy with an energy attack that is equal to 10% of Authority.


    Cost: 10 DE.


    2. Divine Shield.


    Effect: Create an invisible defensive barrier that will block damage up to 10% of Authority.


    Cost: 10 DE.


    3: Divine Hold.


    Effect: Trap a target with an invisible force with a power up to 10% of Authority.


    Cost: 10 DE.


    4: Divine Strength.


    Effect: Boost one''s strength for 10% of Authority.


    Cost: 10 DE.


    5: Divine Speed.


    Effect: Boost one''s speed for 10% of Authority.


    Cost: 10 DE.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    6: Divine Endurance.


    Effect: Boost one''s endurance for 10% of Authority.


    Cost: Cost 10 DE.


    Legion-8 said appreciatively, "Now we have a good means for killing mortals."


    The lesser Miracle Divine Ability is powerful and multipurpose, but it is not efficient in using divine energy. They can force a pack of wolves toe somewhere easily enough, but if they want that same pack of wolves to kill someone they will need to spend more, probably double the initial amount.


    But that''s nothingpared to how much divine energy they will need to kill the same pack themselves. Each wolf will require a payment of divine energy equal to their level for them to drop dead.


    Targeted divine spells like the Divine Strike will be more efficient in killing mortals mortals. It will only cost them 10 Divine Energy while the power will be dependent on the number of believers they have.


    They will be able to deal catastrophic damage as long as they increase the number of believers, and all it will still cost them is 10 DE instead of the amount needed to ovee the level of a mortal.


    The first 3 divine spells are only avable to deities with 100 Authority. Divine spells 4 to 6 are avable to those with 1,000.


    They only have 532 Authority so they don''t have ess to thest three divine spells yet. So they need more believers if they are to have every tool they need topete.


    They would like to get every divine spell that they can and be on their way. Unfortunately, they can''t because the spells also require divinity to purchase.


    Each of the divine spells require divinity that is 10% of the required Authority to acquire it, so the first three divine spells require 10 divinity each while the next three require 100 divinity each.


    Currently, they don''t have any divinity. If they were not given one chance to get a spell for free, then they wouldn''t be able to get anything at all. This free divine spell is limited to the first three spells, so it is only worth 10 divinity.


    They could also forgo their free divine spell to gain divinity that is equal to 10% of their Authority. This option is to be a boon to gods who did well in amassing believers before they ascended.


    They have to decide which of the avable options to go for. They can either choose a divine spell or cash in their free spell for divinity. In the case of thetter, they can cash in their divinity now or wait for when they acquire more believers so they can earn more divinity.


    If they decide to wait, they will gain more divinity, but they will be dyed while other gods are already working to build their altar. If they fail to be the first 1,000,000 godlings, then it won''t matter how much divinity they have.


    Not only that, gods that chose divine spells might be able to use them to acquire more believers quickly, so they have a real chance of bing stronger than those who chose to wait for more believers to cash in their free divinity. After all, stronger gods will be able to acquire believers faster, and Authority is one of the foundations of power for gods.


    All in all, it is a tough decision to make. It is not helped by the fact that if they decide to choose divine spells, they can only have one that will serve them in attack, defense, or


    control.


    But they are Legion, and they have the Divine Matrix ability. This means that they share Authority, Divine Energy, and also divine spells. They confirmed that much from their angel, so they have more leeway in choosing.


    Three clones picked one divine spell each. Then the remaining 6 clones exchanged their free chance for divinity, so they got 53 divinity each and 318 divinity in total.


    They can''t share divinity as it is used to build their divine bodies. Since they have seperate bodies, they can''t share it. Actually, they didn''t intend to share the divinity even if they could. They decided to put it into one of them to maximize its effect.


    That decision was easy for to make. What gave them problem is deciding which clone they should focus on and which aspect of the clone they should enhance with divinity.

 Chapter 1752: Unlimited Power.

    Chapter 1752: Unlimited Power.


    ?


    As gods, Authority is the most important aspect of their power. It determines the power of divine spells and the total amount of divine energy they can have to use those divine spells.


    The next important thing is divine energy. Divine Energy is needed to cast spells, use divine abilities, and it is also their hit point. Their divine bodies will crumble if they run out of divine energy.


    The third most important aspect of power is domain, followed by divinity. They don''t have to worry about domain yet, as they don''t have it and can''t use it yet. But divinity is an ever- present need.


    They need divinity to increase the power of their divine bodies. It is only with divinity that they can increase their strength, speed, and endurance.


    Authority is very powerful, and divine spells that rely on it are an important means to wield that power, but ites at a cost of divine energy. That means with each divine spell, they are giving away part of their life for power. Physical might gained from divinity, on the other hand, can be used without any resources.


    They can hack someone to death without getting tired or losing any divine energy, so strength is very important, if only because it can be used indefinitely.


    They can evade divine spells if they are fast enough, thereby causing their enemies to lose part of their lives for nothing. They can also defend and resist divine spells with the endurance of their divine bodies. This is a defense thates at no cost and will present for each divine spell thrown at them, so endurance is very important.


    The importance of these three attributes made them struggle with making a decision. Eventually they agreed to focus all their power on endurance.


    They omitted strength because they already have divine spells. Divine spells are costly, but they can share divine energy. They omitted speed because they won''t be able to take advantage of it as much as endurance.


    They decided that with Endurance, they could designate one of them as a shield. That tank will be the one to face danger for them while they support him with their divine spells.


    They chose Legion-1 as he is the one with the highest amount of endurance from the equipment that was sacrificed to him. So his stats improved after he absorbed the tiny nodes of light that came out of the Divine Investiture.


    NAME: Number 1


    RACE: Local Deity (Orc)


    TITLE: First Crown.


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 32n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    DIVINE ENERGY: 532


    STRENGTH: 1+10


    ENDURANCE: 318 + 20


    SPEED: 1+7


    AUTHORITY: 532


    DIVINE ABILITIES: DIVINE MATRIX NETWORK. INSIGHT. BLESSING. LESSER MIRACLE.


    DIVINE SPELLS: DIVINE STRIKE, DIVINE SHIELD, DIVINE HOLD.


    WEAPONS: Heavy Metal Armor (+10 Endurance). Large Shield (+10 Endurance). Large Axe (+10 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed).


    All the clones have almost identical stats apart from their divine bodies. The weapons they each equipped have given each of the different physical enhancements.


    Legion-2 has 1+5, 1+3, 1+7 with Light Leather Armor (+3 Endurance). Hunting Bow (+5 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed).


    Legion-3 has 1+6, 1+3, 1+7 with Light Leather Armor (+3 Endurance). Twin Daggers (+6 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed).


    Legion-4 has 1+7, 1+6, 1+7 with Medium Fur Armor (+6 Endurance). Single Edge de (+7 Strength). Single Edge de (+7 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed).


    Legion-5 has 1+7, 1+6, 1+7 with Medium Fur Armor (+6 Endurance). Spear (+7 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed).


    Legion-6 has 1+7, 1+6, 1+7 with Medium Fur Armor (+6 Endurance). Small Axe (+7 Strength). Small Axe (+7 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed).


    Legion-7 has 1+7, 1+10, and 1+7 with Heavy Metal Armor (+10 Endurance). Heavy B (+7 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed).


    Legion-8 has 1+6, 1+3, 1+7 with Light Leather Armor (+3 Endurance). Throwing Knives (+5 Strength). Harpoon (+6 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed).


    Legion-9 has 1+6, 1+3, 1+7 with Light Leather Armor (+3 Endurance). ded Whip (+6 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed).


    With their contribution, Legion-1 has be level 32 out of a maximum of 100 immediately. They could have decided to let one of them wait for when they will have more believers, but they all don''t think waiting for anything is a good idea since they are in a race.


    Besides, they would have to wait a long time before they could get something worthwhile. After all, their number of believers would have to literally double before they could earn what they could get from one of their clones now.


    With this configuration of stats, they distributed themselves into 3yers. Legion-1, with his high endurance, will be at the very front.


    Legion 4 and Legion 6 with their short-range melee weapons will be at the second line to help Legion-1. Legion-7, with his high endurance and heavy armor, will also be there to help take on some damage if the pressure is too much for Legion-1 or something slips past him. Legion-3, 5 and Legion-9 with their daggers, spears, and ded whips, respectively, will be at the transition line. Their job is to harass the enemy. They can go to the second line to deal damage when opportunity arises, but they will mainly stay at the third line to guard other


    clones.


    The ones that will always stay at the third line will be Legion 2 with his bow and Legion-9 with throwing knives and harpoons. They are to stay well behind defense and use their ranged attacks to assist the front.


    They are also the ones that are mainly responsible for using their store of divine energy to cast spells or distribute it to those who need it. They will have aplete overview of the battle from their position at the back, which will grant Legion as a whole an advantage in


    perspective.


    They made their decisions quickly and rushed out of the city. They moved in the formation they nned. Legion-1 at the very front, with Legion-7 right behind him being nked by


    Legion-4 and Legion-6.

 Chapter 1753: Elemental Zones

    Chapter 1753: Elemental Zones


    ?


    They matched together while they listened to their angel inform them of the material they needed to build their altar and where to get it. Their angel described a lot of difficulties they could face, but they were confident in themselves.


    Legion-1 is undoubtedly their source of confidence. With his Endurance at 320, it would take a god with an Authority of 3200 using Divine Strike or a god with 320 in Strength to harm him at all.


    Even if that were possible, they will not allow it to happen without interfering with Divine Spells. The addition of the use of Divine Shield will make it more difficult to harm him. But they are not eager to use divine spells at all. It is something that they will use as ast resort.


    From what they can deduce, even though Divine Spells are powerful, any god seed using Divine Spells is ready to pay any price to kill their enemy, including their death. It is because Divine Spells are expensive to use.


    It is clear to them that they have to be careful when they use Divine Spells because regardless of the oue of the divine spell, it will cost them a part of their life.


    As it is, they can''t regenerate Divine Energy. They will have to return to the temple at the center of Gemmis and use the Divine Investiture to harvest the prayers of their believers. So if they are caughtcking with divine energy outside of the city, then they will be in a lot of trouble.


    This is the dilemma that the gods are facing, but none of them appear to be miffed at the unfavorable situation. It is partly because they are used to fighting at the edge of death. Plus, the knowledge of the importance of divine energy to gods is not new to them.


    Whenbined with the fact that every god seed is an immortal in the void universe, this bes a challenge that they are confident they can handle, as can be seen by the fact that everyone is still rushing outside of the city to fight.


    Gemmis is safe ground. No fighting is allowed within it, and it also rejects the entry of divine beasts. Divine beasts are currently the only stable source of divinity and divine crystals. So every god seed must leave the city to hunt them or hunt each other.


    Legion passed through the ornate city gate and ran into the wild. Outside Gemmis is a in with a wide assortment of biomes. Some parts of the ins are frozen ice fields asrge as oceans. Others are oceans of boilingva or actual oceans of water. There are alsorge deserts and hurricane infested zones.


    The zones are scattered and have no order to their cement. The one thing they have inmon is that they are homes to creatures that are powerful enough to inhabit them and even change their environment with their power.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Their angel said to them, "These creatures are divine beasts. They will drop divine crystals when they die. They might also drop other parts of their body, but that rarely happens. You need divine crystals to create Divine gold. Divine gold can be used to forge divine weapons, but for now we need Divine crystals and souls to build your altar."


    "We need 100 divinity, 10,000 units of Divine crystals, 100 mortal souls, and 10,000 mortal gold for the altar. The first two can be acquired up here in the divine realm but thest two require resources that only the mortals have."


    Their angel then gave them a lot of information about the divine beasts to help make a decision about their hunting n. They were able to make a preliminary n and choose an elemental zone to attack. They ran towards the zone as fast as they could as soon as they made their decision.


    Many god seeds looked at them as they passed. Their faces and eyes were expressionless since their current bodies were puppets, but Legion could still sense hostility from them. It didn''t surprise them at all. After all, the incentive to attack other gods is too high.


    Even if there were no direct benefits, just the fact that they can eliminate theirpetition by killing is enough incentive to attack other god seeds.


    The fact that they would gain 50% of the total divinity of a in god seed is just too enticing a bonus that has made it certain that the god seeds will attack each other in the near future.


    If they were not so unsure of their prowess and how they match against other god seeds, they wouldn''t bother hunting the rtively safer divine beasts. They would rather hunt other gods. That''s the nature of those who imed a mountain of corpses to be immortal. Legion was also looking at them as if they were fresh meat or fruits that they could pluck. They also have a high level so they don''t believe that they have much to fear from the other god seeds.


    Before Aeternus or anyone else could suggest they divert their attention to hunting other gods, Legion-1 denied the request and said, "There''s still time for that after we get the divine crystals we need. Besides, they need time to grow their stats. Most of them will only have 1 divinity in their physical attributes. There isn''t anything to gain from attacking them now."


    They consoled themselves as they ran towards an ice domain. Ice domains arerge patches ofnd that are inhabited by divine beasts of various types but all wield the ice element. This ice domain is mainly inhabited by ice wolves.


    These ice wolves are ice elementals. Their entire body is made of ice, down to their sharp white ws. Because of this, they are mainly white. Only their eyes are blue. And only some of them have blue streaks in the fur. Those ones are alsorger in size and probably more powerful than the rest.

 Chapter 1754: Found Wanting.

    Chapter 1754: Found Wanting.


    ?


    They drew the attention of the ice wolves immediately they entered their domain. Exactly nine wolves stood up to confront them. 8 of the clones decided to stand back. Only Legion-1 continued forward to confront them.


    The wolves snarled at each other. Some backed out and decided to lie down. They intimidated each other until only one remained. This one decided to confront Legion-1 alone.


    They expected this to ur because of the information they got from their angel. As long as their threat level is undetermined or determined but low, the divine beasts won''t overwhelm them with numbers. Their angel called it the aggression gauge.


    They wanted to see what they could with their bodies first before they went all out hunting. So they sent Legion-1 to have a one-on-one fight with an ice wolf.


    In the void universe, skill is oftentimes more important than raw power, or in this case, raw divinity. They are not in their normal body and can''t control this one perfectly, so they don''t know the level of skill that they can bring into this world.


    Legion-1 is the most durable one among them, so he was selected to perform the test. If he makes mistakes, he is most likely going to survive them. He will bear the danger of learning, meanwhile, whatever he gains will help the whole of Legion.


    Legion-1 moved steadily towards the ice wolf. His heavy armor and the shield in his hand collided asionally to make noise. His two feet also crunched on the ice as he approached the wolf.


    These were the only sounds apart from the asional howling of the wind and incessant growling of the ice wolf. A single fighter might be too focused on the growling of the wolf to hear the other sounds, but Legion-1 is not a single fighter.


    He perceived everything about his environment, down to the length of the ice wolf''s ws or the sway of its tail, even though its body blocks his vision. Not even the other ice wolves could escape his perception.


    Apparently he wasn''t the only one examining his opponent. The ice wolf had done the same thing and found him wanting. It sneered and growled mockingly at him.


    He is an orc with 3 meters of height, but this ice wolf didn''t lose to him in height whatsoever. Height doesn''t trante to power, but it warrants caution. In that vein, he used insight on the divine beast.


    He felt some resistance, but it was ultimately ovee.


    -Using Insight.


    -Tier equal to target''s (draw).n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    -Level greater than target''s (pass).


    NAME: Divine Beast.


    RACE: Ice Wolf


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 2


    HP: 52/52


    STRENGTH: 5


    ENDURANCE: 6


    SPEED: 7


    ELEMENTAL POWER: 8


    DIVINE ABILITY:???, ???.


    STATUS: Full of anticipation.


    This would be the first time he is using insight on any divine creature. This is because the angel warned him that other divine creatures will resist it and might even notice that they are being scanned.


    They might take offense to it and attack him, so he held back. Now he can see that his tier and level have to be higher or at least equal to the target''s for insight to be sessful at all. Only when his tier or level is higher will he get detailed information from insight.


    The beast is level 2. Since each level at Tier o has 10 stats, it means that it has a total of at least 20 stat points. Even if his level was less than that of the beast and insight is unable to show him in-depth information about its stats, as long as he knows the level of the best, he would be able to know the difference between them.


    These stats are unlike those of mortals. 100 stat points of mortals is equal to one divinity of divine beings. That means the strength of 6 of the beast would be 600 of a mortal.


    This is not something they mortals can achieve, as it is nearly impossible for mortals to have more than 100 total stats. Only the boost of mana can help them breach that gap. But gods have other sources of power other than their physical stats too.


    Currently, this beast has the power to fight gods, but it also has vitality like a mortal and not divine energy. It is the major difference between divine beasts and gods. It means it can''t use divine spells. However, it can use elemental spells with its elemental power.


    All of this information shed through Legion-1''s mind as he approached the ice wolf.


    He thought inwardly, "All I need to kill it is to whittle down its vitality. I am no stranger to that."


    The ice wolf pounced at him. It jumped with its hind limbs and used the weight of itsrge body falling to empower its forelimbs for a swarth at Legion-1.


    Legion-1 stepped back. His speed was faster than the wolf''s, even if it was by just one point. Plus, it was easier and faster to take a single step as opposed to what the wolf did, so his action was sessful.


    The wolf missed and had tond in front of Legion-1. Even before itnded, he was already rushing forward again.


    The timing was perfect. Hisrge shield smashed into the face of the wolf.


    -You Hit Ice Wolf with Large Shield.


    -Strength (1) vs Endurance (6)


    -Judgement: Attack failed.


    -Damage: -ohp.


    The wolf barely staggered. It wasn''t damaged at all because he didn''t attack it with his axe. The boost from hisrge axe doesn''t affect his whole body, so only his innate strength was used in the judgment. Unfortunately, his strength of 1 was too small to ovee its defense of 6. However, the hit prevented it from reacting to the next attack.


    The ice wolf reeled back from the hit, only for therge axe to swing down at its head. The


    timing was also perfect.


    -You Hit Ice Wolf with Large Axe.


    -Strength (11) vs Endurance (6) -Judgement: Attack sessful.


    -Damage: -6hp.

 Chapter 1755 The Privilege Of The Audience.

    Chapter 1755 The Privilege Of The Audience.


    He couldn''t use any special physical skills or moves, but his movements were smooth and perfect because even though he is alone in this match, the clones watching by the side can see the entire movements of both parties clearly and are feeding their vision and thoughts to him. The clones are bystanders, so they have the privilege of watching and making analysis without the threat of death. Most audiences feel that they can do better because of this privilege. Since Legion-1 is able to gain the privilege from the clones, he can actually do better. He followed up the attack with a kick. His leg smashed into the wolf, but it didn''t do any harm. Still, the shift in weight allowed him to swing the axe around for another hit.


    Unfortunately, despite how perfect the timing of his actions were, the wolf was faster at dodging. It has a speed of 7, which is not up to Legion-1''s 8, but it has the advantage of its speed stat being for its whole body instead of being for just its foot like Legion-1''s.


    Legion-1 can surely move his feet faster than the wolves, but his hunting shoes don''t boost his attack speed with his hands, so the wolf was able to dodge the axe. It even managed to shift itself sideways to attack him from his left side, far away from his axe.


    The clones thought to themselves, "We need speed."


    They knew that the axe was likely to be dodged. That''s why they led with the kick first. Legion-1''s movement speed was fast, so it would have been impossible for the wolf to escape at such a distance.


    They were right to think that. They were also right not to hope to damage it with that attack. A stun would have been enough for the follow up attack to connect. Unfortunately, the disparity between their stats was too wide for the wolf to be affected by the kick. Now it is retaliating. All of this appeared in their eyes, so Legion-1 wasn''t caught off guard. The wolf had attacked from his left. His left hand is also the hand he is using to hold the shield, so it will be easy for him to shift his hand to block the attack. But he didn''t. Instead, he whirled his axe horizontally from right to left in a circle.


    This borate movement further exposed him to the attack of the ice wolf. There was a thunk and a notification as the ws of the ice wolf shed with his armored torso. -You Have Been Hit By Ice Wolf.


    -Endurance (328) vs Strength (5). -Judgement: Defense Sessful.


    -Damage: 0 DE.


    The attack bypassed his shield, but he was still protected by heavy armor and had an innate defense of 318, so there was no damage. There wouldn''t even be damage if he were naked.


    Meanwhile his spinning attacknded on the wolf. The axe de struck it on its torso too. The wolf was struck with so much force that it lost its footing and fell to the ground. There was arge gash on its torso, which showed just how sessful that attack was on it.


    -You Hit Ice Wolf with Large Axe. -Strength (11) vs Endurance (6)


    -Judgement: Attack Sess.


    -Damage: -6hp.


    Despite all the force he put into the attack by shifting his weight and rotating how whole body, the attack did the same damage as his first sessful one. It made them realize that no amount of skill or technique can ovee the influence of divinity.


    At best, technique and skill can make their attacks connect, but once it does, the rest is up to the interaction of divinity. But this wasn''t a bad thing because it means they don''t have to over extend themselves in an attack. A single light hit with little effort will be more efficient than spinning their whole body. They learned this just as they used insight on the ice wolf to learn its condition. What they saw showed that its hits points had fallen from 52 to 40 after it took a damage of 6 twice. This was in line with what their angel told them, "As long as defense is not greater than attack, damage will be taken. If defense is equal to attack, -1 point of damage will be taken. But as long as defense is greater than attack, then no amount of fancy moves or skill will lead to damage."


    If he had a total strength of 6, he would have seeded with causing -1hp damage to the wolf. The additional 5 stats of strength above defense tranted to extra 5 points of damage. This is what it means to be divine. Mortals have no such thing. They have constitution which affects only their hit points and stamina. Divine beasts and gods have endurance which affects their defense. They and gods don''t have stamina. They can fight for all of eternity if they need to. Plus, they have no physical weaknesses, so only aplete drain of their vitality or divine energy can kill them. Not even a beheading can kill them. It won''t even weaken them. So the wolf was still in peak fighting conditions despite therge hash on its body. The wolf snarled and lunged again. Legion-1 didn''t dodge. He angled his shield and rushed towards the wolf in the air to bash it. He decided to do so because the wolf had already done something like this before so its actions could be predicted. His also led with his axe this time, not a kick. The wolf was in the air so it couldn''t dodge. But the wolf wasn''t helpless. An icicle formed in its mouth and shot towards him. It crashed into his shield and brought up a notification.


    -You Have Been Hit By Ice Missile.


    -Endurance (338) vs Elemental Power (8).


    -Judgement: Defense Sessful.


    -Damage: -0 DE.


    The elemental power of the wolf was 8 while his divine body had the help of his armor and shield, so the elemental attack couldn''t break his defense. Meanwhile his axe managed to score a hit on the wolf.

 Chapter 1756: Berserker Wolf.

    Chapter 1756: Berserker Wolf.


    ?


    Legion-1''s axe was going for the neck of the ice wolf because it was the easiest part to hit, but the wolf blocked it with its paw. The paw failed to block the attack, so it was cut off, and the axe also cut into its chest.


    -You Hit Ice Wolf with Large Axe.


    -Strength (11) vs Endurance (6)


    -Judgement: Attack Sess.


    -Damage: -6hp.


    -You Hit Ice Wolf with Large Axe.


    -Strength (11) vs Endurance (6)


    -Judgement: Attack Sess.


    -Damage: -6hp.


    The single attack damaged the wolf twice. It lost one of its legs and gained another gash to its chest. This reduced its hit points to 28.


    He rushed forward to take advantage of the handicapped enemy, but the wolf healed its forelimb immediately. Its health fell by another 5 points, but it was able to dodge him.


    Its health fell to 23, which is less than half of its total hit points, so it activated its berserker ability. It is an innate ability of all ice wolves.


    5 of its hit points disappeared as it was used to boost its power. Its speed and strength increased by 3 and 2 points, respectively. They became 8 and 9, while its endurance fell by 1 point to be 5.


    The eyes of the wolf changed from blue to red, and its hit points fell to 18 after bing berserk. Then it rushed at Legion-1 again.


    This time it didn''t jump. It seemed to have learned its lesson. Instead, it circled around him to attack any opening in his defense. It was quite a sight for something so big to stalk someone. But Legion-1 was far from impressed.


    He didn''t make any extra movement. He simply turned around on the spot to face the wolf. The wolf was faster than him now, but it was easier and faster for him to simply turn.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The wolf eventually got impatient. It howled again, and the red glow in its eyes increased in intensity. It had used Berserker again to increase its stats. Endurance fell to 4, and it lost another 5 hit points to make 13.


    Meanwhile, its strength and speed. This put its speed at 11 and strength at 11. It could finally circle Legion-1 faster than he could turn. It used this advantage to execute hit and run tactics. It would w at him and back off before he could respond.


    Legion-1 didn''t like how things were going. He could kick the wolf just fine, but any movement with his hands, such as a shield bash or axe cleave, was too slow to hit the wolf. He wasn''t in any danger due to his high Endurance, but at this rate, he wouldn''t be able to do anything to the ice wolf either.


    He was frowning mentally, but his face remained frozen because of the inability to express anything on his puppet body. This made him appear calm and collected. But he was already frustrated.


    This is because a single blow would deal 6 damage, so three hits would kill the wolf. Unfortunately, he is not fast enough to make a hit. The wolf had traded survivability for speed and strength, but its survivability doesn''t appear to have reduced at all.


    There was a simple solution to the problem. Legion-1 moved around until the wolf positioned itself between him and the other clones. Then Legion-8 threw his harpoon at it. The harpoon sank into the flesh of the wolf and lodged itself deep within it.


    -You Hit Ice Wolf with Harpoon.


    -Strength (7) vs Endurance (4)


    -Judgement: Attack Sess.


    -Damage: -4hp.


    The strength of 7 against a defense of 4 reduced its health to 9. This wasn''t the end. The harpoon was chained, and Legion-8 was pulling on it so the wolf couldn''t utilize its speed.


    It had just howled in pain because of the harpoon when an axe buried its de in its head. Its head was divided cleanly in half by the attack. Its hit points fell to 1. He had done an increased amount of damage to it because of its reduced Endurance.


    It tried to heal itself, but 1 hit point wasn''t enough for that, so its vitality fell to o and it died. Its body turned into snow that fell to the ground. At the center of the snow was a white, opaque crystal. Legion-1 picked it up hurriedly and stored it in his inventory space.


    The movement of the other clones caught the attention of the other ice wolves and caused them to be aggressive. They rose up to interfere in the fight too. Only 9 of them rose up to fight, but they prioritized killing Legion-1 first because he had a higher perceived threat level.


    They rushed towards him, but they were attacked with arrows before they reached him. An arrow from Legion-2''s bow pierced into the eye of a wolf. It dealt just -1 hp damage because his total strength was 6 against the defense of 6. But the eye was damaged enough to make the wolf blind in one eye. It decided to heal the damage, which cost it 5 more of its hit points. Legion-1''s fight has taught them a lot of things about the wolves. The most important lesson they learned is that it is best to make critical damage that would reduce the fighting strength of their enemy.


    They have learned that skill and technique are not entirely useless. They have also learned that even though Divine creatures don''t have weaknesses, it is best to aim for critical parts of their body, such as limbs, eyes, and heads.


    This is where skill bes useful. It helps them tond hits on these critical parts of the body. This way they would be able to deal double damage with a single attack or even force their enemies to waste divine energy to heal.


    Legion-2 rained down arrows on them, which made the wolves dodge to avoid damage. This inevitably slowed them down and allowed Legion-1 to be reinforced by Legion-7.

 Chapter 1757: Lessons Of The Trade.

    Chapter 1757: Lessons Of The Trade.


    ?


    The two of them in heavy armor were followed closely behind by Legion-5 with his spear and Legion-9 with his ded whip. They stuck to their backs and used them for protection while using the long reach of their weapons to score hits from safety.


    Legion 4 and Legion 6 nked the two and used their weapons to attack enemies that were entangled with Legion-1 and Legion-7. Their single-edge des and small axes don''t have as much strength as therge axe, but they have two of them each and could attack faster, so they could deal damage faster than Legion-1 and Legion-7.


    Legion-2 and Legion-8 used their bow and harpoon from far behind to assist, while Legion-3 guarded them with his twin daggers.


    The two sides were equal in number but not in mind. The clones would first choose a target to concentrate on. They would blind it and harpoon it to restrict its movements. Then they would all concentrate on it to kill it.


    This way, instead of spreading out their damage, they were also to quickly eliminate one enemy and make the fight easier for them.


    They made sure to make Legion-1 deal the finishing blow so his threat level continued to increase. He remained the focus of the aggression of the wolves, which enabled the clones to continue whittling them down one by one.


    Not everything is perfect, though. Some ice missiles attacked Legion-4 and Legion-6 when they moved too far away from Legion-1 and Legion-7. Their proximity to the ice wolves made them a better target to attack than Legion-1.


    Fortunately, their defenses were strong enough to withstand the attacks, so they only lost a few divine energies. Losses of 2 or 3 DE were insignificantpared to total DE of 532. But it taught them to be cautious.


    They made Legion 2, 3, 8, and 9 with light armor and a defense of 4 who could be harmed badly by the long range elemental attacks to remain behind cover at all times.


    Eventually, they killed all the ice wolves. Then they took stock of their losses and gains. The 10 ice wolves dropped one divine crystal each. Only one of them dropped a tooth. Meanwhile, they lost 10 DE in total.


    Legion-1 said with a shrug, "So we gained one divine crystal for each unit of divine energy that we lost. Seems efficient."


    Legion-7, who was enjoying the experience of having his own body, said with enthusiasm, "We can do better next time. We can kill them faster and lose less divine energy or no divine energy at all."


    Legion-2 picked the icy tooth and asked the angel, "What is this for?"


    The angel replied, "It is useful material that can be used to forge divine weapons. It will be divine weapons of the lowest grade, but they will be better than what you are currently using."


    "We need 10,000 of these divine crystals to build the altar, right?"


    "Yes. I should mention that we will also need 1,000 of it to buy the code of the altar. But that is not the end of it. We still need other items such as mortal gold, mortal souls, and divinity." This reminder made Legion go through their inventory to be sure that they have at least 100 gold coins. These gold coins were gained through the offerings of their believers.


    If they don''t have enough, then they will need their believers to cough up more or raid other vigers for their wealth. Fortunately, they already have enough.


    "So we need a total of 11,000 divine crystals. If they all drop one divine crystal, it means we have 10,990 more ice wolves to kill."


    "And we have to do so before other gods. So let''s get going."


    The clones began to approach more ice wolves. They were met with hostility and attacks. But through it all, only nine ice wolves fought them at a time.


    Their angel informed them that things would be different in the future when they grow stronger or when the ice wolves consider them a greater threat.


    For now, they can hunt the wolves without being outnumbered. It was not fair for the ice wolves, of course. Just the fact that they share each other''s vision gives them an unfair advantage. Adding the fact that they can share divine energy, one might say that they are cheating.


    They didn''t use divine energy, though. They only used their divine bodies. It is more than enough to take care of the wolves. Anymore would be a waste. After all, the wolves are not their only enemies.


    Their mission is clear, so they could make straightforward ns that they can put into action immediately to achieve it. Their current n is to hunt ice wolves and only ice wolves. They didn''t choose the earth golems, water serpents, wind zephyros, fire lizards, or the myriads of other divine creatures avable.


    They chose the ice wolves because of the environment that they have to fight them in. The ground of this ice domain is slippery, but it is better than theke of water serpents, hurricane infestednds of the wind zephyros,va grounds of the fire lizards, or the sand pits of the earth golems. They like safe and solid ground under their feet and clear visibility for their eyes, hence why they are slugging it out with ice wolves.


    There might be other information that they don''t know, as their angel didn''t tell them all that was there to know about fighting the elementals. Such information, like the strengths and weaknesses of the elements, might make other divine creatures more efficient to kill than ice wolves. But until then, they don''t intend to change their targets for now.


    Unfortunately, trouble came looking for them. Their actions couldn''t be hidden from others. A particr god seed scouting for prey witnessed the efficiency at which they used to dispatch the ice wolves and felt a chill.


    The god seed muttered to herself, "This is unnatural."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om

 Chapter 1758: Master Puppeteer.

    Chapter 1758: Master Puppeteer.


    ?


    As an immortal, she has seen a lot of things enough to desensitize herself and make it difficult for her to be surprised. But Legion''s disy of synchronized coordination in bodies that are difficult to move has managed to ovee the barrier needed to surprise her.


    What they are doing will not be strange if they were in the void universe. They would all have their divine sense to have aplete visual map of their surroundings for them to move so urately. But this is not the void universe.


    This is a world that makes them feel like they are pushing a boulder with their finger while held back by tar. Every one of their actions is rough, inefficient, and robotic, as their divine bodies are not their true bodies but puppets they manipte.


    This is the first time they are manipting such a puppet, so it is understandable that their movements will be jerky. But the nine of them appear to be controlled by one highly proficient puppeteer instead of many inexperienced ones.


    Their actions, though still jerky separately,e together in a glorious choreography of purpose. Each one of them acts separate in a way that''s foolish only for an ice wolf to impale itself on a seemingly random sword. It is truly unnatural.


    She was looking for god seeds to target so that they could extort divine crystals from them or take their divinity by killing them. But this unnatural performance takes precedence.


    She was determined to get to the bottom of it to gain the ability or eliminate the nine of them if they refused to share their secret so that they would fail. So she ran back to call for helpers.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Most of the god seeds are immortals participating in thispetition alone. But some came with others. Their connection through family, business, special organizations or association with world gods made them work together in this world.


    She is one of the few who are working with others. She was to scout for viable targets for extortion and then report back. So it didn''t take long for her to return with a group of 10 god seeds to attack Legion.


    Legion was attacking another set of ice wolves when trouble came. The appearance of 10 more enemies agitated the ice wolves and made 10 more of them join the fight.


    But they didn''t attack the 10 unwee guests. They attacked Legion-1 because his threat level was very high, and they also tried to corner the other clones. This turned into 15 ice wolves they have to fight instead of the remaining 5.


    Not only was this bad for Legion, the 10 god seeds also sealed their escape route from the back. So the clones became sandwiched between the bloodthirsty ice wolves and the sinister god seeds. All in all, they gained an extra 20 enemies to deal with for a total of 25.


    The leader of the 10 bandits made their demands first. She stepped forward and said, "How are you moving so well? Tell us, and we will let you go."


    The Origin god controlling her body didn''t know them and doesn''t speak anynguage they know. But the puppet she was controlling tranted her thoughts into sounds. The sounds themselves were iprehensible, but the puppets of the clones tranted the sounds into information that Legion understands.


    This mechanism ensured that the clones understood what she said. It also ensured that they could express their dissatisfaction fluently.


    Legion-2, who was standing at the back of the formation, asked, "Do you really think we are fools? What guarantee do we have that you will let us go?"


    They don''t know exactly what they meant by moving so well, but they can understand the source of the confusion, and they know that giving in to threats rarely leads to a good ending. They will be admitting that they are weak, which will lead to more demands or worse.


    The leader''s face remained impassive but she was sneering in the void universe as she said through her puppet, "You have no choice. You are outnumbered many times over. You either give us what we want for the chance of survival or you die here, lose half of your divinity and lose time resurrecting."


    These god seeds have different races, so they look different and mismatched. They also have a translucent and shimmering barrier around themselves, which signifies that they are ready to do battle.


    The first thing Legion did was to use insight on them.


    NAME: ????


    RACE: Local Deity (Gnome)


    TITLE: ????


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 6


    DIVINE ENERGY: ????


    STRENGTH: ??+7


    ENDURANCE: ??+7


    SPEED: ??+7


    AUTHORITY: ????


    They didn''t see much. What they saw was only their race, tier, level, and the weapons they were carrying. The rest of the information was blocked by their resistance to insight. What they saw was enough to make theme to some conclusions, though. The first conclusion was that each of these god seeds has a minimum of 60 stats because each level at Tier o is 10 stats. This means each of them has a greater number of stats than all of them except their strongest clone, Legion-1.


    The second thing they can conclude is that while they arecking in overall levels, they have the advantage of Authority. This is an undisputable fact since Legion-2 was able to gain some information through insight despite being at level o. That means they have a chance of victory in this fight.


    Unfortunately, using Insight made them lose the element of surprise. The bandits were not ignorant of the use of insight on them. They felt the disgusting wave that washed over them. It made them understand that hostility was imminent. So they roared in anger and attack. They rushed forward to overwhelm the clones with their divine bodies while the clones retaliated with divine spells. It was the only thing the clones could do.


    Legion-3 was behind protecting Legion-2 and Legion-8. His twin daggers had been useless in the fight with the ice wolves because of the need for closebat. His speed was too low for him to do that, but he doesn''t need speed to utilize divine spells.

 Chapter 1759: Got Off On The Wrong Foot.

    Chapter 1759: Got Off On The Wrong Foot.


    ?


    All he needs is Divine Energy and Authority. Then he can create Divine Strikes in the direction he is pointing his finger. It was very easy to do.


    All three clones at the back were designated to deal with the god seeds. The three of thembined their sights and aimed im sync. This way they didn''t have any blind spots. Each of the Divine Strike that they used hit their targets urately.


    The divine strike is an arrow of white light. It is small but fast. The first divine strike hit the closest god seed to them. This god seed had a divine shield on, but the shield broke on contact, and the arrow struck the god seed''s unprotected head.


    The second arrow was right behind the first, so it stuck the god seed without the barrier to protect him.


    -You Hit God seed with Divine Strike.


    -Judgement: Attack Sessful.


    -Damage: -8hp.


    -You Hit God seed with Divine Strike.


    -Judgement: Attack Sessful.


    -Damage: -30hp.


    -You Hit God seed with Divine Strike.


    -Judgement: Attack Sessful.


    -Damage: -23hp.


    Arge portion of the damage of the first attack was blocked by the Divine Shield, but the second attack scored a clean hit on the head.


    The third attack was not so lucky. The god seed was pushed back by the first two attacks and was also trying to dodge, so the third attack missed his head and hit his chest instead. There was no Divine Shield, but the armor the god seed was wearing was in the way.


    All in all, Legion managed to deal 61 damage in exchange for 30 Divine Energy. Considering that the god seed had to use 10 DE to create the Divine Shield, then the total damage was 71. So their use of divine spells was efficient.


    The series of notifications were received by both Legion and the god seed they struck, so they are both aware of what each other was capable of.


    Even though the stat interaction was not indicated, they were able to glean more information about each other from the damage they did.


    Legion, for one now knows that the Endurance of the divine body of the enemy is 23, that of the armor is 7, while the Authority is 150. These values would exin the oue of their attacks since their Divine Strike should deal a maximum of 53 damage.


    This number made Legion be bolder while their enemy became discouraged. She stopped rushing forward and was about to speak to diffuse the enemity between them. She doesn''t think it will work, but she wants to try anyway.


    She spread her arms to stop her fellows and said to the clones, "It seems we got on the wrong foot. There''s no need to use Divine Spells to resolve this. You will be losing out too. You can only acquire a pyrh victory."


    But Legion didn''t give her any chance. Legion-2 stretched out his hand towards her and cast Divine Hold on her. Then more Divine Strikes flew forward one after the other from the clones at the frozen god seed.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Some of the clones didn''t even look back as they cast Divine Strike. They were fighting the ice wolves and would point their fingers to a target behind them without looking. But they were always able to hit their target.


    A Divine Strike flew out of their fingers each second, aiming for her head. The god seed had already lost 60 of the total 150 Divine Energy. So she was in a precarious situation.


    She was very fast and might have been able to dodge one or two Divine Strikes, but with Divine Hold and therge difference in Authority keeping her still, the only thing she could do was use Divine Shield to resist.


    The difference in Authority meant that the Divine Hold spell would only be able to keep her still for 3 seconds. But she couldn''tst one second after four spells plummled her vulnerable head one after the other.


    She said to her fellows as she died, "Make them pay."


    Then she turned into motes of light and dropped a white glowing ball. It was a sight that enamoured Legion, but shocked their enemies.


    What made the other god seeds shocked apart from the death of their leader was that more divine strikes followed soon after. Most of them came without warning too.


    At least they could tell who the three clones at the back are targeting, but they didn''t even notice when the other 6 attacked or who they were aiming for.


    They didn''t give up, though. They used their superior speed to try and dodge the attacks. Each one of them has at least 20 stats in their speed, while some have above 30 thanks to their equipment, so dodging as long as they can anticipate an attack is not a problem.


    Plus, they are experienced with fighting other god seeds. They know that Divine Strikes are powerful, but they can only be used once every second, and that as long as they exhaust their enemies'' Divine Energy, they have already won. So they stuck around and didn''t retreat.


    But the clones are far from normal. Not only are the 6 random attacks from the clones fighting the wolves unpredictable, all 9 of them can also synchronize their attacks to make them undodgeable.


    Then there is Divine Hold, which renders the advantage in speed mute. First, the clones froze all nine of them. Then they used the time to produce attacks. They could only produce 5 Divine Strikes every second because of the wolves, but that was more than enough to deal


    catastrophic damage.


    Four attacks killed each god seed because they only had an average of 100 in Authority, so their pool of Divine Energy was low and the power of Divine Shield was poorer.


    That meant that instead of just three seconds, the god seeds were frozen for four seconds or more. Legion was able to produce 20 Divine Strikes in that time, which killed 5 of them. Then they killed the weakest god seed that was still frozen after four seconds to make a total of six.

 Chapter 1760: Worthy Loot.

    Chapter 1760: Worthy Loot.


    ?


    Their cooperation was wless and silent. They didn''t speak to each other at all. Their enemies, on the other hand, were shouting orders to each other so as to coordinate. Legion could also hear these orders, so they were able to prepare for the coordinated attacks of their enemies.


    The bandits had decided to use their divine spells to attack, but it was toote and nearly useless. They were already frozen when they decided to create Divine Strikes of their own. By then it was toote to turn back the tides. Only 3 remained after 5 seconds.


    These three continued slinging Divine Strikes, but they were also retreating at the highest speed. They had decided not to wait for the ice wolves to pressure the clones. The sight of Legion-3 turning his finger towards another enemy and that finger lighting up in the white glow of a divine strike was all the motivation they needed to interrupt him with a Divine Strike of their own while running for their lives.


    Unfortunately, they were only able to stop the first three clones from casting spells against them. They couldn''t prevent the other 6 from taking them off guard with a Divine Hold. Legion didn''t let them go because they wanted to run. They managed to kill the remaining god seeds as they ran. With the god seeds gone, only the ice wolves remained.


    Unlike the god seeds, the ice wolves didn''t fall back because of the impressive disy of divine spells. They were willing to fight to the death and wanted to surround thempletely.


    However, what they have in ferocity, theycked the power to go through with it. Legion still made quick work of them. Then they collected their loot and examined it.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    -Divine Orb


    -LEVEL: 3


    -DIVINITY: 33


    This was the loot that the leaders of the bandits dropped. It made Legion-4 whistle appreciatively.


    "Impressive divinity," he said. "And this is just half."


    Legion-1 asked the angel, "How can they have so much divinity but so little Authority? Is there a way to get divinity that we don''t know about?"


    The angel shimmered into existence and replied, "There is no way to get divinity except from what you have just done. God seeds have to kill other god seeds for their divinity. As for the low Authority, I am guessing these god seeds are poor at converting mortals or they haven''t spent much time converting mortals or both."


    Legion-1 shook his head and said, "Either way, this is still impressive. It shows that we aregging behind."


    Legion-2 refuted. "We aregging behind in divinity, but not Authority. It means we are doing something right."


    He is not wrong to say that. They had tobine all the free divinity they got to give Legion-1 his impressive stats, but these god seeds on the other hand came early to the divine ne and took the divinity of other god seeds to strengthen themselves far beyond the average level of power.


    Level 6 is quite impressive since most god seeds are level 1 or 2. Whatever level they are is dependent on if they forwent their divine spells, so it is usually 10% of their Authority. But these god seeds have more divinity than their Authority can grant them.


    Unfortunately it came at a cost. They rushed the creation of their religion and didn''t have time to convert a lot of believers before ascending to the divine ne. They spent an average of two days in the mortal realm while Legion spent 4 days.


    They came early to the divine ne so were able to bully others with their numbers and gain divinity, but their Authority wascking. Their advantage in divinity was supposed to snowball since they will meet less and less gods who could hurt them. Unfortunately, they met with Legion who managed to convert their whole tribe before ascending.


    Legion-6 said as he went about collecting the other divine orbs, "We lost so much divine energy from this fight. I hope the rewards will be worth the 540 units of divine energy that we spent."


    Legion-1 looked at the orb in his hand and said, "I''m sure it was worth it. At the very least, we have learned more about the pros and cons of Divine Spells."


    Eventually they tallied all they gained and it amounted to 258 divinity from the god seeds, armor and weapons from.those god seeds, and divine crystals from the divine beasts. The amount of divinity was not as much as Legion-1''s stat, but it was still a lot.


    They decided to return to Gemmis to replenish their Divine Energy and take care of their loot. The most important loot they gained are the 10 divine orbs that their in enemies dropped. These orbs couldn''t be kept in their inventory so they had to carry them around.


    This undoubtedly drew the attention of others and caused them to be attacked on their way to the divine city.


    The fact they have 10 divine orbs is enough to tell that they just killed 10 god seeds. Anyone in their right minds should know that they are dangerous and steer clear of them. But the fact they killed god seeds means that they have used or lost Divine Energy in the fight.


    The fact that they are retreating to Gemmis also means that they have probably used a lot of Divine Energy and are going to replenish it.


    All of these made them too tempting to be overlooked. After all, without Divine Energy, a god seed, no matter how powerful, is an arrow at the end of its flight. Any moment, and it will hit the ground. If something blocks its way now, then it will stop earlier and easily. That''s what their enemies thought.


    Legion realized that it was foolish to carry around the divine orbs. They decided that it would be better to absorb the divine orbs. But then they managed to kill two more god seeds and gain two more divine orbs. That changed their minds about the foolishness of dangling bait in front of others.


    A/N: Bonus Chapter for 200 golden tickets goal.

 Chapter 1761: The Banquet And The Monster.

    Chapter 1761: The Banquet And The Monster.


    ?


    It was like attracting bees with honey. They didn''t call, but the god seeds still came. A fight with one god seed turned into a fight with two. That fight increased in size as more god seeds decided to partake in it. Soon, a free for all was created.


    At this point, the divine orbs that Legion was carrying about have stopped being the impetus for fighting. The god seeds were fighting just to kill other god seeds for their divine orbs or to steal the divine orbs that dead god seeds dropped.


    It was as if someone had dropped a spark into a barrel of mmable oil. The fires of violence spread quickly and wide. It was a cmity for some. But for others, it was an all you could eat banquet.


    Legion was among thetter. All they saw was food, and they were determined to take full advantage of the ease of ess to these foods that has been granted to them. So they made Legion-1 absorb the divine orbs they gained while the rest scattered to avoid fighting.


    The other clones stuck around, but they only watched from afar to grant Legion-1 aplete 3-dimensional view of his surroundings. This way he could use his power efficiently.


    Their preparation was overkill. He was already too strong and capable of killing other god seeds with a single attack, thanks to the 272 divinity in strength.


    He didn''t need to be adding the divinity he gained to speed, and he certainly didn''t need to be able to see behind his back or know which god seeds have been fighting for a while and are vulnerable. These extra things made him a monster.


    The god seeds, despite being in a frenzy for divinity, noticed the monster in their midst. They might not care about their lives as much as they should, but they certainly don''t want to lose the little divinity they have to this monster.


    A few minutes ago, they thought they had a chance to gain divinity, so they gambled. Now they know that their divinity is likely to be funneled towards the monster. It killed their motivation to fight, so they ditched the fight and ran.


    The free for all ended, leaving Legion-1 and the other clones wanting more. Unfortunately, no one was willing to take the bait of divine orbs anymore. Not even therge amount of divine artifacts that the dead gods left in their wake could tempt them.


    So the clones had to give up on their quick money-making scheme and return to Gemmis. They were determined not to return empty-handed, so one of the clones returned first to acquire ropes from the forges in the city. It was only after the rope arrived did they all return, dragging a train of armor and artifacts behind them.


    The first thing they did when they got to Gemmis was go to the forges to sell the divine artifacts they picked up. They were offered the opportunity to exchange them for better equipment. They didn''t have much choice in the matter, so they agreed.


    Of course there was an alternative, which was to sell the divine artifacts to the other gods for divine crystals. But not only would it take time, the god seeds also have a cheaper alternative, which is to get it from their believers.


    Besides, even if that option were feasible, they felt that they could always get divine crystals from divine beasts but could only get bona fide divine artifacts here. So Legion-1 changed his equipment to acquire divine artifacts that granted him a 10% boost to his stats.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The remaining divine artifacts were exchanged for store credit that they can use to purchase new equipment or upgrade their previous ones.


    Next, they went to the temple. They used the divine investiture to contact Warshaw in the mortal realm and instructed her to begin the preparation for the annexation of the surrounding tribes. They told her to prepare for war.


    They knew that believers were important, but they didn''t want to start fighting with other tribes yet until they got more information to n and make decisions. It is not a good idea to be rash, especially when they are ignorant about this world.


    But now they don''t mind a little rashness after they have gotten a taste of the power of divine spells. They want their Authority to increase at all costs, and they want arge supply of the divine energy needed to use divine spells.


    Besides, the souls they will gain from sacrificed enemies and their dead believers will help them create their altar. So regardless of their interests in Authority or Divine Energy, they must have mortal souls if they are to build their altar.


    Only their need for war has changed. The reasons they didn''t want to have war haven''t changed. They still haven''t found a way to ovee the risk of war yet.


    For one, it will be very difficult and inefficient without their presence there in the mortal realm to oversee and direct Warshaw. Plus, they won''t be able to assist with miracles, so anything can go wrong.


    They can even lose the Authority they have. It is a possible oue of war. However, those reasons won''t hold them back anymore. At the very least, Warshaw has to start collecting data about the surrounding tribes andpiling it for them to make a decision.


    The next thing they did was replenish their divine energy. They received a notification immediately after they did that.


    -You have converted Prayers of the faithful to Divine Energy.


    -You have received 612 Divine Energy.


    -You have 7 prayers left.


    This is why they didn''t leave behind one of their clones at the divine investiture earlier to assist them with divine energy. It is because Divine Energy is not endless. Ites from the prayers of their believers, and there was very little of it when they just ascended.


    It wouldn''t have been worth it to keep an extra set of eyes and manpower behind for very few prayers. It was only after a few hours of fighting that their storage of prayers increased, and now they are almost out of it again.


    A/N: Check out my new book DESTINY GAMES. http://wbnv.in/a/4fidVs5

 Chapter 1762: More Gambling.

    Chapter 1762: More Gambling.


    ?


    If their believers don''t pray frequently, then they will be on their way to death. As it is, they had spent a little more than 600 DE in their fights. It is a little more than the total DE of a single clone and about 12.8% of their total DE. That expenditure was just in a few hours of fighting, but they are already running out of prayers to replenish it.


    As it is, they can only look forward to the evening prayers to get another bump in their supply of prayers. They may have a lot of DE between them, but they won''t be able to replenish it if their expenditure increases more than their current rate.


    It is because while they have ess to each other''s DE, they have the same believers. A single god would be content with the amount of prayers they are getting, but it is not nearly enough for 9 of them.


    Legion-9 said with optimism, "At the very least, we should be getting more prayers soon. War always increases the faith of believers."


    Legion-1 didn''t agree. He said, "But we should not prioritize prayers above our believers. War will cause us to lose more believers than prayers if we are not careful."


    Legion-9 insisted, "Even so, war is the only way to get believers quickly. The alternative is to wait for childbirth and the maturity of the next generation before we can harness their faith. On the other hand, we can gain new believers by stealing them through war. The boon to prayers is just a side effect."


    Legion-5 suggested, "Authority is powerful, but divinity cannot be neglected either. It rendered about half of our Authority useless and rendered the Authority of otherspletely useless."


    This led to a discussion on what their next ns should be. They have learned a lot from their fights, apart from the material gain that they earned. For one, they know what it means to have a fight where both sides lose something.


    They won the skirmish with the god seeds that ambushed them by andslide. Their enemies didn''t manage to hit them once because they protected themselves with Divine Shield. But they still lost DE because of it. It is something that having a lot of divinity in Endurance would have prevented.


    On the other hand, their enemies had more Divinity than them, but they lost badly because their Authority was severelycking.


    The importance of Authority is clear. Unfortunately, they have reached a teau for it. They can''t gain more in a short amount of time without resorting to drastic actions that might lead to them losing the amount of Authority they have currently. To gain more Authority is to gamble the ones they have.


    Divinity is not exempted from that risk either. The god seeds that they killed lost half of their divinity when they died. They could have gained more of they had won, but they lost the gamble.


    Their saving grace is that their Authority is intact. As long as their believers don''t know that their gods are weak, their Authority will not reduce even if they die over and over again.


    Now Legion is on an edge. They want to maintain their advantage in Authority so they are getting their tribe ready for war. It is a gamble that they might lose and therefore lose their advantage in Authority. It is a dilemma that every god must face.


    Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions. What''s more, it might affect their goal of acquiring divinity and divine crystals because chasing after one will take up their time and energy to acquire the other others.


    Killing gods doesn''t drop divine crystals, and killing beasts doesn''t drop divinity. They had asked their angel why divine beasts as divine creatures don''t drop divinity. It had said that the divinity of the in beasts was taken or stolen from them.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    They can''t do anything to stop that. So they have to decide to pursue and prioritize either one.


    They need divinity badly because they are running out of prayers. If they use Divine Energy the way they just did, they will run out of Divine Energy very soon and die. Until they find other ways to acquire Divinity, killing other gods is what they have to do.


    The clones understand the importance of divinity and also realize how easier it would be for them to acquire Divine crystals if they had a lot of Divinity. Unfortunately, pursuing Divinity means they will have to dy the acquisition of Divine crystals, which might be detrimental to their goal of being the first 100 godlings.


    They were bouncing ideas off each other when they heard an announcement throughout Gemmis.


    -Regional Announcement.


    -Congrattions to Crystal Hoard for being the 1st Godling in the Northern Realm.


    -The ranking list is now avable.


    The clones heard that and made up their minds. They have realized that nothing is certain. Everything is a gamble. Any decision they make might make them lose out on something else. They can only do their best. That means they have to utilize their advantage over other gods.


    Currently, their advantage is their high Authority and their ability to share divine energy with each other. They gained the advantage of Authority because they stayed longer in the mortal realm. That means the god seeds who are currently in the mortal will take away their advantage when they ascend. So they are running out of time to fully utilize their advantage.


    The best thing to do to make sure that they are not rendered obsolete when that happens is to have a lot of divinity to resist divine spells. So they are going to use their current advantage over Authority to acquire Divinity first.


    The next thing they decided on was not to make the same mistakes that the other god seeds make. The group of 10 that attacked them were working together. Their cooperation was good, and it worked well for them as they divided the divinity they earned evenly between each of them. This made them strong as a group. But Legion is not going to do that.

 Chapter 1763: The God Hunter.

    Chapter 1763: The God Hunter.


    ?


    They are already strong as a group since they share Authority amongst each other. They are not going to create nine mediocre god seeds. Instead, they intend to create one extraordinary god seed.


    Unlike the other god seeds, they can trust each other unconditionally. So only one of them will absorb the divinity they gain. The addition of all their divine energy and Authority will lead to the creation of one super-extraordinary god seed.


    The sess that Legion-1 enjoyed in the free for all has proven that their decision is correct and that they should continue with it. The next thing to decide was if they should continue with Legion-1 or create a new super-extraordinary clone specifically for hunting god seeds. They chose thetter, and the clone they chose for this great work is Legion-2. He has a bow, so he has the longest range of attack amongst all of them. This will solve the problem of gods running away that they encountered with Legion-1.


    The arrows he shoots always return to his quiver, so he has unlimited armory. He is also the only one who can perform best on his own with blind spots in his vision. After all, an arrow only needs to see one target.


    They didn''t choose Legion-1 for this because his mission is to help them acquire divine crystals. He will protect them from the ice wolves and the ambush of god seeds.


    Acquiring divine crystals is their failsafe n since divine crystals are still a priority if they want to be one of the first godlings. But first, he has to help Legion-2 acquire energy divinity to be deadly to the other god seeds.


    The free for all has taught them that only one of them is needed to hunt god seeds. So while Legion-2 is doing that, Legion-1 and the rest of them will be hunting divine beasts.


    When all of that was decided, they left Gemmis again, leaving one clone behind in the temple. They chose Legion-3 because he is too weak to use his daggers to hunt ice wolves.


    Daggers are short range weapons, but fighting in that range will expose him to danger, which is why he is usually at the back of the squad, providing protection, overhead view, and ambush warning to the clones.


    But now he will sit in front of the investiture Steele to use prayers to replenish divine energy and remain in contact with Warshaw as she tries to increase their numbers of believers. Staying in contact is the most important reason they have decided to let him stay behind, seeing as they are preparing for war.


    The other eight clones left Gemmis and killed every god seed they encountered. It was not efficient like the free for all since god seeds were running away from them in different


    directions. But they eventually managed to reach their goal of raising Legion-2 to a respectable level.


    NAME: Number 2


    RACE: Local Deity (Orc)


    TITLE: Second Crown.


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 23


    DIVINE ENERGY: 532


    STRENGTH: 109+5


    ENDURANCE: 27+3


    SPEED: 95+7


    AUTHORITY: 532n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    DIVINE ABILITIES: DIVINE MATRIX NETWORK. INSIGHT. BLESSING. LESSER MIRACLE


    DIVINE SPELLS: DIVINE STRIKE, DIVINE SHIELD, DIVINE HOLD.


    WEAPONS: Light Leather Armor (+3 Endurance). Hunting Bow (+5 Strength). Hunting shoes (+7 Speed).


    They prioritized his speed and strength over endurance. This is important because god seeds can''t have more than 1,000 divinity. They will stop gaining levels when they reach level 100. This will continue until they evolve. Until then, they have to prioritize which aspect of their existence they want to empower with Divinity.


    Legion-1 is to focus on Endurance and Strength while Legion-2 would focus on Strength and Speed. This way, they will be able to do their respective jobs effectively.


    The remaining 7 clones, including Legion-1, continued to the elemental zones to kill divine beasts, while Legion-2 separated from them to hunt gods.


    Legion-3 wasmunicating with Warshaw. He could only get information when she prayed to him. Information and her memories were transmitted to the divine investiture as prayers. He can only gain ess to those prayers when he is in contact with the stele.


    Every god seed that has ascended can only use this method ofmunication for now. They can''t see what their Oracles are currently doing or what situation they are in. They have to wait for their Oracles to pray to them. Then they have toe to Gemmis to ess the prayers.


    If they want to mobilize their believers and Oracles in the mortal realm to help them expand their religion, this method ofmunication ensures that it would be very difficult to do, and they won''t even be able to offer help. That''s why they told Warshaw to only gather information about the surrounding tribes for now.


    Warshaw gave them the information she had about the surrounding tribes first before she sent warriors and scouts to check up on them.


    From what she said, there are 3 tribes nearby. They n to target the weakest tribe first. If they can convert them without bloodshed, it would be good. If not, then they will kill a lot of them and use their souls to create their altar.


    Sacrifice will also grant them divine energy so they are not against a fight. But above all, they intend to be cautious lest they be the ones whose believers would be used to create altars and supply divine energy for other gods.


    While other gods were fighting each other for divinity and using their divinity to hunt for divine crystals only to return to the temple to direct their Oracles in the acquisition of living sacrifice, Legion was doing all three at once.


    Legion-2 first targeted the god seeds that were hunting divine beasts. This way he was able to see them fight and estimate their strength before taking action. He didn''t fight anyone he met on the way or those not fighting. He made sure to only target the weak.


    This cautious approach made hunting slow as he had to observe his targets. But then his hunting speed picked up after a few hours spent killing more than a hundred god seeds. He began to target anyone in sight.


    A/N: Bonus chapter for Avadon.

 Chapter 1764: One Shot Man.

    Chapter 1764: One Shot Man.


    ?


    He had gained a lot of confidence when he reached level 50. At that time, he had 50 divinity in Endurance, 200 in Speed and 250 Strength. The fact that he had acquired half of the maximum divinity after 26 hours of ascending to the divine ne and his high Authority were the foundation of his confidence.


    He decided to attack first instead of using Insight, which would warn his targets. He also decided to attack every god seed heid eyes on. This caused his hunting speed to increase. Things got a little dangerous when he offended a group of powerful god seeds. They targeted him and didn''t give up as they chased him. It is the benefit of infinite stamina.


    He led them around in a circle and managed to kill half of them. But then he saw that they wanted to pick up his loot and absorb it. After all, as a bow user, he was too far away from his target. That made him target the god seed that wanted to steal his loot to kill him.


    Eventually he killed enough of them to discourage them. But that didn''t discourage some god seeds. They decided to surround him to prevent him from escaping.


    Their n almost worked, except that some random god seeds broke their encirclement from outside of it. They were 7 to be exact. They helped Legion-2 escape from them.


    He too didn''t give up after escaping. He kept stalking and hunting them. This led to a series of harrowing events where the bulk of the god seeds decided to retreat to Gemmis and refused toe out.


    Legion-2 shrugged and changed his target to the god seeds lurking around the four city gates. These god seeds prey on weakened god seeds returning to the divine city to replenish their divine energy.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    They forewent the acquisition of Divine crystals in favor of divinity, so they are very strong. Most of them were at least level 10. Some had even reached level 30, the same level legion-1 started out with.


    But their strength didn''t intimidate Legion. He smiled and said, "Where have you been all my life?"


    Then he notched his arrow and began killing them from afar. The ambushers became ambushed. They tried to fight back, but he was too far away. They eventually retreated into Gemmis after realizing the errors of their way. But they still died enough to help him reach level 100.


    That was the maximum level. He had to upgrade his tier and evolve from a god seed into a true god to gain more divinity. But he didn''t stop hunting god seeds. It would be foolish to do so when it has be so easy for him to kill.


    He couldn''t use the divine orbs he gained from killing god seeds anymore, but the other clones who were hunting ice wolves surely could. They also need divinity to purchase divine spells from the divine investiture.


    At this time, one arrow was enough to kill most god seeds because he put most of his divinity into strength. His strength was at 600, Endurance at 100, Speed at 300, for a total of 1,000.


    So unless someone is level 60 and they put all their divinity in Endurance, they will always be damaged by his attacks if they don''t use Divine Shield or have an insanely powerful divine artifact to defend themselves with.


    If they use Divine Shield, it would take authority of 6,000 at 10% topletely block his attacks. Even then, they would still lose 10 DE for using the shield.


    Those with Authority at 6,000 don''t currently exist. There aren''t even god seeds with 1,000 Authority yet, but even if there were those with 10,000, they will still lose 10 DE after taking two hits from him.


    The best part is that it costs him nothing to produce the attack, and he can produce 3.5 of them in a second. His high speed is to be thanked for thetter.


    Unlike speed from artifacts, the speed granted by divinity affects both movement speed and attack speed. This effect increases with every doubling of10% of total divinity. So from 1 to 100, 200, and finally 300 for a total 3.5 attack speed in a second.


    His killing efficiency didn''t increase when he reached level 100 because most gods don''t need up to 600 Strength in an attack for their heads to explode. 100 would do nicely. But the acquisition of divine crystals increased as the 7 clones loaded up on divinity he got from killing god seeds.


    Once all of them had up to 10 divinity in Endurance, the ice wolves at the edge of the ice domain stopped being a threat to them. So all of them could face ice wolves on their own and didn''t need Legion-1 to defend for them.


    They had to move deeper into the ice domain after clearing out the edge, but it was still easy thanks to Legion-2''s steady supply of divinity. When they umted enough divine crystals, they joined Legion-2 in hunting god seeds so that they could all reach level 100. Meanwhile, Legion-3 was at the temple working with Warshaw. He has been standing in front of the divine investiture, maintaining contact with it for over 24 hours now.


    The divine investiture is the only way tomunicate with Oracles since god seeds can''t descend to the mortal realm after ascending. But he didn''t have to stay at the base of the Steele. As long as he is in the temple, he will be able to ess the divine investiture.


    However, he chose this position because it grants him a good view of the city and a vantage point to monitor the goings andings of other god seeds. He has seen a lot because a lot has happened since he entrenched himself in his position.


    For one, more gods have ascended and more golden names have appeared on the stele. These have made the temple more crowded, which made it increase in size to amodate the god seeds. But Gemmis as a whole didn''t increase in size, so the increase in poption density could be seen clearly.

 Chapter 1765 History Repeats.

    Chapter 1765 History Repeats.


    The second thing he saw and would have noticed even if he wasn''t connected to Legion-2''s mind is the frequent resurrection of god seeds in front of the temple. The sight was enough to clue him in to the devastating effect that Legion-2''s actions were having on the divine popce of Gemmis.


    Most of these god seeds that resurrected didn''t leave Gemmis. They went up to the various boots in the temple to sit. Their numbers were endless, but the temple amodated them. It continued to grow taller to create more rooms for the god seeds.


    Legion-3 was at the base of the temple, so he saw a lot of things. One particr god seed was reformed in front of the temple in a sh of light. It was a glorious scene disying the defiance of death by gods, but the sacredness was destroyed as the god seed yelled into the sky.


    "Noooooooooooooo!"


    "Noooooooo."


    "I worked so hard, and you ruined it."


    Other god seeds approached her and began conversing. Unlike Legion, they couldn''tmunicate telepathically, so Legion-3 could hear what they were saying.


    Someone asked her, "Were you killed by an arrow?"


    The god seed looked up and replied, "Yes."


    The same person asked, "Was it one hit?"


    "Yes."


    "Then it should be the same orc deity."


    The god seed that was just killed was surprised. She asked, "You know him."


    The person she asked spread his hands wide and said, "Look around you. We all know him."


    The god seed was surprised. She asked, "He is that famous?"


    "I don''t like that word. Let''s use notorious. Anyway. When you kill a lot of people, you be notorious."


    She asked, "What are we going to do about the orc?"


    "Nothing. We sit here and try to gain more believers."


    "Why not? Are we to watch as he bullies everyone?"


    "It seems you are new here. I have been here for a while. This world is not like the realm of high heaven. It is easy to gain power. But it is also easy to lose it. A single death will lead to the loss of your divinity, while a single victory will lead to the acquisition of half of the power of your enemy. The interaction of these two mechanics makes it important for us to be very careful."


    "Divinity is absolute. Skill cannot ovee power at all. Unless you have greater Authority we will all be ughtered if we go to fight the orc archer. That will only make him stronger. It won''t reduce his threat at all. Do you understand?"


    The new god seed replied, "I understand. The best thing we can do now is acquire Authority."


    The one exining the situation nodded, "Besides, this is not the first time this has happened. I ascended early, but I waster than the god seed called Crystal Hoard."


    The mention of that name drew Legion-3''s interest. The neer also recognized the name. She said, "Isn''t he the first one to be a godling and the highest on the ranking list?"


    "That''s the one. There have been other powerful godlings, but no one can shake his position. He was just like this orc archer. He was a terror to everyone else. He used the fact that he came early to quickly gain an advantage in divinity. This advantage continued to increase until his momentum became unstoppable."


    "No one wanted to leave Gemmis for up to two days. But his terror eventually stopped after he reached level 100. He switched to hunting divine beasts. His great strength made him acquire divine crystals quickly, but it still took some time for him to acquire enough souls to be the first godling."


    The neer said in understanding, "So this orc archer will also stop when he reaches level 100. Even if we can''t increase our Authority, waiting it out is not bad either."


    "Now you know. I hope you won''t disapoint world god Everstar."


    The reminder of the name of a world god made the neer be serious. She said, "I don''t dare."


    Legion-3 saw a lot of these happen. The god seeds refused to leave Gemmis because of the hunting spree going on outside. They are also sharing information due to their mutual sponsors.


    Unlike Legion, who got the invitation for this world on their own, most Origin gods couldn''t get it. After all, Monarch High Heaven was selling the slots for participation to only world gods. Legion is probably the only one here participating for their own benefits. The other god seeds are here on behalf of world gods. World gods can''t participate directly in God''s Domain, so they sent Origin gods to do their bidding. These god seeds who are working for the same world gods to acquire Authority are able to work together. They may bepetitors, but they have amon backer to allow for a certain level of cooperation.


    Speaking of corperation. While Legion-2 and the rest of the clones were wrecking havoc outside the divine city, he has also made a lot of progress with the acquisition of Authority. Of the three tribes close to the Bull''s Horn tribe, one of them doesn''t have any passive or active religion to indicate the presence of any god. The second one has a god, but the god has ascended. The third tribe has two gods who haven''t ascended yet.


    Warshaw heard the talks of miracles and confirmed the presence of the two gods personally when she went there to scout. She saw their golden figures fighting several times.


    Apparently the two of them are at each other''s throats. They hinder the spread of each other''s religion, which has stalled them both and prevented them from ascending. It made him chuckle because the two of them don''t know just how badly they are wasting each other''s time. They are already missing out on divinity, but instead of stocking up on Authority, they are spending their divine energy to kill each other''s believers, thereby weakening their overall strength.

 Chapter 1766: The Notorious Orc Hunters.

    Chapter 1766: The Notorious Orc Hunters.


    ?


    On the one hand, Legion didn''t like what the two god seeds were doing because the mortals they are killing are supposed to be their believers in the future. So the infighting is hurting them too.


    On the other hand, the infighting will make it easier for them to annex the tribe. Legion eventually decided to leave them be so that they could fight to their hearts''s content. In the meantime, they turned their attention to the other tribes.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Legion-3 had been staying in touch, so he directed Warshaw''s every step of the way in annexing the Bear Paw tribe. The orcs of this tribe haven''t seen any trace of gods in a long while, so he is sure that they will be quickly won over through the miracle of sacrifice eptance and the cooperation of wolves with the Bull''s Horn tribe.


    It had taken over a day for Warshaw to gather this much information and ensure its uracy. She is only about to start prostesizing after more than 24 hours.


    This is the progress he has made even though he waspletely dedicated. Other god seeds who have been busy hunting divine beasts or other god seeds would have done worse.


    He continued to direct his Oracle with the other gods. It was boring work that took hours of time. The god seeds could only chat amongst themselves to while away the time. Things only changed when 8 orcs entered the temple after another 24 hours.


    A lot of god seeds recognized them as the ones terrorizing the hunting grounds. Even the ones that had never encountered them realized their identity when they saw therge amount of divine orbs that they were carrying.


    Some god seeds didn''t care that they were weaker. They cursed the eight of them as loud as they could. No one could attack in Gemmis, as they would freeze and die if they attempted it. But there was no rule against cursing, so they cursed to the nine heavens.


    Their curses only reduced a little when they saw the 8 warriors arrive in front of Legion-3 and drop all the divine orbs in front of him. It is because their indignance has turned to shock or surprise.


    Legion-3 didn''t bat an eye. He just absorbed the divine orbs one by one. Unfortunately, it wasn''t enough to get him to level 100. So the eight of them left him to hunt for more.


    The god seeds looked at Legion-3 in a new light. Apparently, he is not some random god seed standing at the base of the divine investiture anymore. Some even approached him to speak with him.


    Someone asked him, "So you are partners with the orc hunters. Are you open to cooperation?"


    A lot of them had a lot to say, but only a few of them were angry with him. Most of them that cursed did so to vent their emotions, but few of them were truly angry. They haven''t lost enough to have irreconcble anger. After all, most of them hadn''t reached level 5 before they were killed.


    Many of them wanted to cooperate with Legion-3, but he only shook his head. He didn''t say anything. Some were unhappy with his reaction, but they couldn''t do anything to change his mind or hurt him. Not with the divine spirit watching.


    The various god seeds had to watch as the 8 of them returned several times with more divine orbs for Legion¨C3 to absorb. Even though there were a lot of god seeds hiding in the city, there were still several tens of thousands of them outside hunting for divine crystals or divinity, so Legion was able to continue farming them.


    It could be that they were ignorant of the notoriety of the orc hunters or they knew but were confident in their strength or they knew but were hoping to be lucky enough to avoid them. Whichever reason it was, it gave Legion a steady supply of god seeds to kill.


    At this point, they have acquired the 11,000 divine crystals they need for their altar. They are only waiting on the 100 souls from the mortal realm. They could have sacrificed the people of the Bull''s Horn or the new Bear Paw tribe, but they want to convert them to authority. Then they n to use thebined might of the two tribes to subdue the two other tribes one at a time.


    This is going to take a while. In the meantime, the clones n to push Legion-3 to level 100. So they were bringing divine orbs asionally, which was drawing a lot of attention to him.


    He didn''t care about the attention. He simply bought the remaining 3 divine spells avable while watching their Authority increase together with the offerings from their new believers who want to test their existence.


    asionally there would be regional announcements, but they were about the same thing. -Regional Announcement.


    -Congrattions to All-father for being the 31st Godling in the Northern Realm.


    He checked the ranking list by calling his angel for it and found that the names on it had indeed increased to 31. Their levels were not all at 100. The lowest on it has level 41.


    But he knows that doesn''t mean the god is weak. When he switched to the authority ranking, he found the level 41 god seed at the fifth rank. The Authority was not shown, but being fifth out of 31 gods proves that their strength is notcking.


    Unfortunately, he can''t tell just how powerful they are because the power ranking list is still empty. His angel told him that it will only be filled when god seeds on the other ranking list fight each other. The victory and defeat between them will determine their ranking on the list.


    This ranking will determine the percentage of wealth ie of the divine city they earn. He doesn''t know how that will work, but his angel said it wasn''t avable information yet, so he had to give up on it for now.


    A/N: Bonus chapter for Rosery Fire.

 Chapter 1767: The Weak Link.

    Chapter 1767: The Weak Link.


    ?


    There was something that had been troubling Legion-3. It is especially so now that he is about to risk Warshaw for more Authority. Fortunately, he didn''t need to be troubled by it for long. He just asked his angel.


    "When will we get more oracles?"


    The angel replied, "You will get another one when you be a true god. You will also get priests for your religion at that time. There''s so much to look forward to."


    He asked it, "What will happen if my Oracle dies now?"


    "Then you will lose your qualifications to be a true god. You will even be on your way to dying permanently."


    "Is there no way to get an extra Oracle now? I really need one."


    "Unfortunately not. Oracles are precious. You can always rece an Oracle when they die of natural causes. It will only cost you some divine energy. But if you don''t rece them quickly or all your Oracles are killed, you would have fulfilled one of the requirements for a permanent death."


    "So no Oracle for now. What are the other requirements for permanent death?"


    "The destruction of your altar."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "You mean the altar we are about to create?"


    "That one."


    "What if we don''t create the altar? Doesn''t that mean we will never die?"


    "That is correct. But you will also never be a true god, and you need to be a true god to acquire Domains. Domains can be taken out of this world. If my information source is correct, Domains are what most of the god seeds are after. So unless you don''t care for domains and are willing to while away your time here, you don''t need to be a god seed."


    Legion-3 understood. Legion decided to participate in this project because of the Authority of the Void Universe. In this world or project, the Authority of the void universe is called a Domain. If they are to acquire Domains, they must be gods andpete with the others for them.


    To do that, they must create altars and be independent from the divine investiture. There is no other way around it.


    As it is, only 4,000,000 of all the 100,000,000 god seeds can be godlings. The rest will be eliminated. So they are not given much of a choice. They either fight for the Authority of the void universe or be eliminated.


    Authority of the void universe is so important that even world gods want them. That''s why they sent some immortals into this world to acquire it. It means no one is likely to decide to remain as god seeds.


    He asked another question, "Is there no way to descend to the mortal realm or help my Oracle?"


    "Unfortunately not. At least not currently. You will have to grow stronger as a god and gain new abilities. Maybe one of them will help you. In the meantime, you have to watch your Oracles be in danger."


    He sighed and thought to himself, "Fortunately, Hoggings is there to protect her. But we can''t let this continue for too long."


    He is hating being a god more and more by the moment. Not only do they need the belief of mortals for power, they need their daily dose of faith from the mortals so that they can continue to remain alive, and now they need to protect an Oracle because it is their weakness.


    At this point, he doesn''t know who is more miserable, the gods that need mortals to survive or the mortals that need the help of fickle gods. But that still didn''t stop him from extending his grubby hands to acquire more mortals.


    He still had to decide which tribe to attack next. The annexation of the Bear Paw tribe went well. There was no conflict in the process. All that was needed was for the glory of the gods to be disyed.


    The feeling of watching their Authority increase ensured that he would be content until he acquired all that he could possibly get. His greed won''t be satisfied with just one tribe.


    Of the two avable tribes nearby, one tribe has a god that has ascended. This god, whoever he is, must be somewhere in the Northern divine realm. They are probably in Gemmis or one of the other nine divine cities in the northern divine realm.


    They did do some research on their side, which involved asking their angel for information and asking around. But they only know the title of the god and the race of the god. They can''t get much information from that.


    The best they could do was to check the ranking list. They relived when they didn''t find the title of the god there. That meant that the god seed hadn''t be a godling yet.


    As for the second tribe, it has two god seeds who are at each other''s throats. They are the most dangerous option for them currently. It is not advisable to have their believers attack any tribe with a god seeds, much less a tribe with two god seeds. It will only lead to a cmity. The presence of the two god seeds in the mortal realm has secured the second tribe from that influence, even though they are many times stronger than the two of thembined.


    The problem is that they can''t use any of their power to assist their mortals currently. If it were only one god seed, they could try to exhaust the god seed by throwing mortals at it and making it spend its divine energy to kill mortals. But that n will backfire if the god seed targets their Oracle first. It is bound to backfire since there are two, not one, god seeds.


    On the other hand, the first tribe with the ascended god will be just as vulnerable as they. No matter how powerful that god seed is, it won''t be able to assist its tribe in their moment of great need.

 Chapter 1768: A Plan Of Attack.

    Chapter 1768: A n Of Attack.


    ?


    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The next thing they decided on was how to attack the first tribe. Now that they know the importance of Oracles, they have made it a priority to eliminate the Oracle first.


    To do that, Legion-3 instructed Warshaw against attacking the tribe directly. They have the advantage of troop size and even have wolves to assist them, but they are not willing to put their believers in danger when it can be avoided.


    That''s why he instructed her to sneak into the tribe and assassinate the Oracle. That way the ascended god will be cut off from the tribe. His tribe will also be cut off from their god. They either surrender or Warshaw kills all of them for souls.


    It is a good n. But Legion was still anxious because they couldn''t get live update yet. Warshaw had to be updated first about events before she could update them through prayer. That kind of dy can lead to catastrophic consequences in battle. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do but watch.


    Warshaw had some warriors visit the enemy tribe during the day in the name of trading. Orcs from different tribes are usually enemies. Because they live close to each other, theypete for resources, which makes them hostile to each other. But asionally trading is allowed.


    In fact, trading is weed. But no tribe wants to trade with others because they feel that they are losing out when they trade. They would rather raid than trade. So when these warriors came with hides and weapons for trade, they were weed openly instead of being despised.


    The warriors came with the fa?ade of trading for meat, but their job was to acquire


    information about the identity of the Oracle and where they live. They also scouted the tribe for entry and exit points.


    Their fake mission didn''t go well. The tribe they visited cheated them in the trade. It is amon urrence. Even though the influence of the ancient Orc Empire has made orcs learn to trade instead of raiding and piging, they still enjoy getting more for less in their exchanges to feel superior and happy.


    The warriors pretended to be angry while subtly asking about the new religion in the tribe and its leader. Their hosts were all too d to regale them with the stories of miracles and more. So their real mission was a sess.


    The warriors then returned to the Bull Horn tribe to inform Warshaw. Warshaw informed the 9 Crowns, and the 9 Crowns instructed her on what to do. She passed this order to the tribe, and soon every warrior and capable wolf was assembled for battle.


    They set immediately and camped far away from the enemy tribe. Then they waited until nightfall to advance on the tribe.


    This is not how orcs usually attack each other. They usually attack during the day and openly, but their god demanded that they do this, so they have to do it.


    There was moonlight, so walking through the forest was easy. They were able to get close to the tribe without making much noise. Unfortunately, they couldn''t do anything about the birds that were scared running because of them.


    That didn''t change much except that it made the enemies alert. They had lookouts on the wall, staring in their direction to see what was happening.


    Warshaw directed them to stay still and wait. It took two hours, but the lookouts eventually got bored and left their posts. This gave them the opportunity to advance on the tribe. This time there were no more birds or other animals to create noise this close to the tribe.


    They didn''t attack the gate like they always do. They circled around and approached the wall from the point closest to the Oracle''s encampment. Then they helped some warriors over the wooden wall into the tribe.


    These warriors are the ones that came to trade earlier in the day. They know who the Oracle is and where he lives. They also know that the Oracle is a young orc and would be easy to subdue, so they only brought 5 of them to kill him.


    The second group also entered the camp silently. They were the bulk of the warriors. Their job is to set fire to the tribe, create chaos, and attack their enemies from the side.


    There were more warriors in this second group. They were instructed to move into action after hearing the whistle call from the ones that were sent to kill the Oracle.


    The third group would attack the gate as a form of distraction in case something goes wrong. They areposed of only the wolves. An attack by wolves in the night is sure to draw attention, while the second group would attack from within.


    The fourth group is the group that will reinforce the wolves. They have a battling ram and incidiary projectiles ready to be lit and thrown into the tribe.


    The fifth group is where Warshaw is. She is overseeing everything from the top of a tree. Her job is to report to the 9 Crowns when something happens. She is surrounded by warriors who are to protect her with their lives.


    So there are 5 groups in total. This is not how they usually do warfare. They don''t have so many ns when they attack each other. It is because of the instructions of the 9 crowns that they are doing all of this.


    Most of the second group remained silent and hidden by the walls. Only the first group were moving towards the Oracle. Their actions and the whistle calls will determine how the others react.


    They were able to find the Oracle''s encampment without being spotted. But they couldn''t move further because they found five warriors patrolling the area.


    There was no way to move forward without alerting the whole tribe to their presence. So they did what they were ordered to do. They returned to get more warriors from the second group. Their numbers increased to 30. Then they returned to the encampment of the Oracle.

 Chapter 1769: Caution And More Caution.

    Chapter 1769: Caution And More Caution.


    ?


    Even with 25 more men, they stayed still and didn''t move. They are sure that they can overpower the 5 guards and the Oracle quickly, but their Oracle insisted that they wait. So they waited.


    This continued for 20 minutes until there was the howl of a wolf outside the tribe. The howl rang out clearly through the night and woke everyone up. The warriors of the tribe reacted quickly. They got their weapons and rushed towards the gate.


    The Oracle was also awakened. As a young orc, it is not his duty to defend the tribe. He should stay out of the way. But he is the Oracle, so he should at least be aware of what''s going on. The young Oracle wanted to go to the gate, but his guards advised him to stay away from danger.


    It was good advice in that it prevented the first group from ambushing them on their way to the gate. But it also made the distance between them and the bulk of the warriors of the tribe increase by every passing moment.


    So the first group waited until most of the warriors had gone to the gate to defend it. Then they pounced on the Oracle and his guards.


    It was a massacre. They were outnumbered 6 to 1. The fight was quick, but they still drew attention.


    The guards screamed, "Help, intruders."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    This would have been very bad had they attacked when the warriors of the tribe were around. They would have been surrounded quickly and would suffer. But the warriors were at the gate defending the tribe.


    The first group finished their mission and whistled loudly into the night. Their whistle certainly drew the attention of the warriors, if they hadn''t heard the previous call for help. They looked back in horror and anger. Then they rushed back to assist.


    They were on their way back when they were ambushed by the second group. Their situation became worse when the first group joined in the fight. The fourth group threw in the burning incidiaries into the tribe, broke down the gate, and rushed in with the wolves. They attacked the warriors from behind toplete the encirclement.


    The warriors were doomed. They were caught off guard and surrounded. They thought they were defending from wolves from the safety of their walls, so they had only taken their bows, and they didn''t wear any armor because they were in a rush. Their enemies, on the other hand, were well prepared. The result was set in stone. They surrendered quickly after their strongest, the chief, was killed.


    Warshaw waited outside of the tribe with the fifth group until Axec came to inform her of their victory. Only then did she enter the tribe.


    She first informed 9 crowns of their progress and waited for direction. If Legion-3 was not on standby, she would have had to wait for a long time. Fortunately, he had all the time in the world to dedicate to the mission, so his instruction came very quickly.


    She said to the captives, "You have done wrong. You have gone astray. You have worshipped false gods. For that, you must be punished. 99 of your most sinful will use your blood to atone for your sins in hopes that the 9 Crowns will save your souls. The rest of you will denounce the false god that led you astray and ept the embrace of the 9 crowns."


    The 99 that were selected were the family members of the staunchest believers. Warshaw found them through the unpleasant glow of faith she saw on them. That glow marked them as believers in other gods.


    They were not up to 99, so she added the family of the dead Oracle to make up the number. Then she personally slit their throats on the new altar that was erected for the 9 Crowns.


    Everyone from the expanded Bull Horn tribe cheered as each sacrifice disappeared into golden motes of light. They also sacrificed all the gold coins they could find. Then they danced until morning came to celebrate their victory.


    ----Up In Divine Realm.


    One of the god seeds in the temple roared in frustration. Legion-3 didn''t think it was the god seed whose Oracle they just killed, as many god seeds have roared recently. But he can imagine that the god seed will also be frustrated for losing their Oracle.


    The repercussions of the death of the Oracle are dire right now. With their Oracles dead, the connection of the god seeds to the mortal realm has been cut off. They will need to create an altar very quickly so that they can interfere directly in the mortal realm again. But how can they do so when they have stopped receiving prayers and sacrifices?


    Without prayers, god seeds won''t be able to replenish their divine energy, and without divine energy, a god seed is on their way to death. Plus, there is no way to get the souls they need to build the altar without an Oracle to connect them to the mortal realm. So, without an Oracle, god seeds are all but doomed.


    Legion-3 chuckled, thinking about the reaction of the god seed whose Oracle they just killed. Then he looked at the 100 souls in his inventory with satisfaction. This was the main prize, but the divine energy they received from the sacrifice wasn''t so bad either.


    Legion finally umted everything they needed to build their altar. They have their divinity, divine crystals, mortal souls, and mortal gold. All it took them was three days of dedicated work by all the clones.


    Legion-3 remained in the temple while the other clone began their journey back to Gemmis. It was after they had reached the gates of Gemmis that he moved away from the divine investiture to go to their destination.


    The clones went to the auction house first to buy the core of the altar. They can buy a lot of other things in the auction house, but they need to be godlings for them.

 Chapter 1770: The Two Foundations.

    Chapter 1770: The Two Foundations.


    ?


    Only the core of the altar didn''t require them to be godlings to purchase. It cost them 1,000 divine crystals to buy the core.


    The core of the altar was a cube. It was ck with golden runes on its surface. They took it to the hotel where Legion-3 was waiting for them. It is where they have decided to set it up.


    The altar can be set up anywhere in the divine realm. But it is important that it is set up somewhere safe, as enemies will try to destroy it to cripple the foundation of the god it belongs to.


    The altar will be their foundation in the divine realm, while their Oracles will be their connection to the mortal realm. Together they form a connection that will allow a god seed to receive faith and offerings on their own. Together, they form the weak link of gods. So they need to be protected.


    Just like divine orbs, they can''t put their altar in their inventory. The best they can do is carry it around in their hands or hide it somewhere. Wherever they hide, it is important because it is where they will respawn when they die.


    The only ce they know that has that kind of protection is the hotel in Gemmis. It is in the divine city, which means no one can attack it. The hotel is a secure ce, so no one will steal it. It will cost them 1% of their total divinity every day for each room, though.


    1% of their total divinity is undoubtedly expensive to keep things in the hotel. That means they will pay their total divinity in 100 days of renting the room.


    Right now, 1% is just 10 divinity, but it will increase in the future. Some god seeds currently don''t even have a total of 10 divinity in their divine bodies. But they can afford it.


    They are very rich, thanks to the generous donations of many god seeds. Besides, there''s 9 of them. So they are only paying a little over 1 divinity each per day because all 9 of them count as one. That is a bargain price for total protection.


    The clones entered therge building. Then their angel helped them perform the registration. They were teleported into their room as soon as they paid the fees.


    Legion-1 said in appreciation, "We are really getting our money''s worth out of this. No one will know what room we are staying in, so they won''t be able to track us. They will only know that we keep our altar in the hotel and that we can afford the fees."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The room is veryrge. They can''t actually see the ends of it. Only the part they are upying is illuminated, but they can see beyond the darkness around them to know that the room is limitless.


    They are liking the hotel more and more. The teleportation will also cover the fact they are all using one altar since no one will know their destination.


    "Let us begin."


    Legion-2 held the ck cube and activated it. He received a notification.


    -Consume 100 Divinity to activate?


    -Yes or No?


    He selected yes. The golden runes began to glow. But then he received another notification. -Altar core activated.


    -Consume 100 mortal souls, 100 mortal gold and 10,000 divine crystals to build?


    -Yes or No?


    They didn''t have much of a choice so he selected yes again. The materials were pulled out of his inventory and consumed by the ck cube. This made it expand in his hands.


    It expanded rapidly, so it soon became too heavy to hold on one hand. So ced it on the ground. It finally grew to be 3 meters by 3 meters. It looked like a ck boulder that had been carved into a cube and decorated with golden runes and gems.


    Legion-2 chuckled and said, "I don''t think anyone will be carrying this around. It is toorge and too heavy."


    Legion-3 agreed, "Not if they don''t want everyone to swarm them."


    Legion-7 asked their angel, "Can something be done about its size?"


    The angel replied, "The altar can be reduced in size but its weight will remain constant. A god will need about 1,000 divinity in their strength to be able to carry it without stress."


    They received a notification while they mulled over that information.


    -Congrattions for building your altar.


    -You have be a godling.


    -You connection with the mortal realm has strengthened and your ce in God''s Domain has been secured.


    -Congrattions! You havepleted the main quest. You can be a true god now.


    -You havepleted the side quest. You will have a free pick of heroes.


    The first thing they noticed after the altar began working was that they could now see through Warshaw''s eyes and experience everything happening to her. It was as if they were in her head. She noticed their presence in her mind and bowed in respect.


    All of Legion was impressed. Legion-3 said, "With this we won''t need to sit by the altar all day long tomunicate with our Oracles. I can finally let loose myself. Not bad at all." The other clones chuckled at that. The strengthened connection to the mortal realm is just the least of what has put them in a good mood. Not only did they make it to the top 1,000,000 godlings, they also made it to the top 100.


    Thatst part is the most valuable one. They don''t know what heroes are, but they are looking forward to it.


    They received even more notifications.


    ---QUEST RECEIVED.


    (Main Quest 1: Be A True God)


    (Main Quest 2: Chose A Hero)


    (Main Quest 3: Acquire A Domain)


    (Ultimate Quest: Be The Supreme God)


    -Check Your Altar For More Information.


    Then a regional announcement appeared soon after.


    -Regional Announcement.


    -Congrattions to 9 Crowns for being the 33rd Godling in the Northern Realm.


    Legion-5 waved away the notifications and said with anticipation, "Let us see what this altar can do."

 Chapter 1771: Benefits Of An Altar.

    Chapter 1771: Benefits Of An Altar.


    ?


    They interacted with the altar and it brought up a list of prompts for them to peruse.


    ALTAR (Tier 1)


    Capacity: 1000/1000


    Resurrection Speed: 24 hours.


    -Upgrade Altar


    -Acquire Divine Spells.


    -Upgrade Divine Spells.


    -Quests Catalog.


    -Forge Weapons.


    -Trade Wealth.


    -Create and Convert Materials.


    -Bestow Blessings.


    -Evolve Godhood.


    The altar has taken the ce of the divine investiture in storing their prayers. Unfortunately, it has a limited capacity. The extra prayers they have been saving went to waste because the altar couldn''t contain them all. They have to increase its capacity with divine crystals or it will repeat itself.


    They went through the other prompts of the altar. The first one was the prompt to acquire more divine spells. They selected it and it brought out a list to them. It was the same list they got from the divine investiture. They have already purchased them so they were not interested in them.


    They tried upgrading the divine spells, but it said they needed to be True gods to do so. But the cost of upgrading looked expensive to them.


    "100 divinity to upgrade? Didn''t we get them for like 5 divinity? This is extortion!"


    "Looks like we will need to hunt again."


    That conjecture was confirmed when they saw the rest of the things that their altar can do for them. Upgrading and forging divine weapons also require divinity.


    The option to trade using their altar makes it so that they don''t need to fight to gain divinity. They can trade with other gods who have their own altars. The trade option gives them ess to a virtual market ce where they can buy things and sell.


    The currency they need can be acquired with the create and convert materials options of the altar. Normally, divinity cannot be exchanged directly between gods apart from divine orbs. But divine orbs can now be converted into divinity gold and used as currency.


    What''s more, Divinity itself can be created using the create and convert function of the altar. They can convert prayers into divinity as long as they have divine crystals.


    Divinity gold is not the only thing they can use as currency. They can also use soul gold or divine gold. But divine gold is the least valuable currency. It is mostly used in forging.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    They brought up the prompt to see what their altar was fully capable of.


    -Create and Convert Materials.


    1: Divinity.


    Raw Material: 100 Prayers + 1 Divine Crystal.


    2: Divine Gold.


    Raw Material: 1 Divine Crystal + 1 Mortal Gold coin.


    3: Divinity Gold.


    Raw Material: 1 Divine Gold + 1 Divinity.


    4: Soul Gold.


    Raw Material: 1 Divinity Gold + 1 Mortal Soul.


    The main raw materials that they need are souls, divine crystals, gold coins, and prayers. With those three, their altar will be able to create any currency they need. Plus the currency can also be reverted back to their constitutentsponents without any loss.


    So with the altar, gods don''t need to fight anymore to grow stronger. They can trade with other gods to get the materials they need or they can have their mortals get them some materials. Then they canbine these materials into whatever they need.


    Legion-5 said in appreciation, "This is not bad. But nothing beats hunting and being in the recieving end of the generousity of others."


    They chuckled to themselves at that. Then they checked out the rest of the prompts. They noticed that every quests they have is currently under the quest option. They can acquire more information about the quests there and track their progress.


    What stood out to them next was the bestow option. With it, they can send things to their believers in the mortal realm. It has always been their believers sacrificing things to them, but now they can reciprocate.


    They asked their angel, "What would mortals need from us?"


    The angel replied, "Weapons, divine crystals, and divinity."


    "Mortals can also use divine weapons."


    The angel became excited as it replied, "Only your Oracles and priests can use divine weapons. Even then, it will only be low ranked divine weapons. But at least it will be better than the trash weapons that they can forge."


    Legion-1 nodded and said, "That''s true. What about the other two things?"


    "Divine crystals can increase their stats. With it you can use it to create a champion as soon as possible. It is not a shortcut for evolution. As it can only increase their raw stats. They still need to evolve through mana. As for divinity, only when mortals have evolved to demigods can they use it."


    "So mortals can be gods here too?"


    It nodded and said, "Yes. But it will not be easy."


    Legion-7 muttered, "This world is turning out to be just like any other world. It truly doesn''t appear to be made for just Origin gods."


    The clones digested that information before they moved on to the evolve option. There was only one option there, so they clicked on it.


    -Evolve to True God.


    Requirements: Level: 100 Godling and 1,000 Authority.


    Their eyes widened when they saw this. Currently they all have level 100 and 1249 Authority after acquiring three orc tribes.


    Legion-1 said in disbelief, "I thought the requirements would be difficult because no one has be a true god yet."


    Their angel provided an exnation, "Many of the godlings before you were quick to create their altars because they prioritized the acquisition of divinity or divine crystals. They


    neglected their believers, so they are making up for it now."


    "Some of them even sacrificed their believers to acquire the souls needed to create the altar. That made their believers afraid and reduced their faith instead. Now they need to acquire Divinity and Authority very quickly in order to be true gods."


    Legion-3 said with some excitement, "But we are different. We worked towards acquiring


    divinity, divine crystals, and believers. So we are notcking in any aspect. In fact, it seems we are doing very well in terms of Authority. It turned out that being jack of all trades can actually make one be a master of one."

 Chapter 1772: No Greed.

    Chapter 1772: No Greed.


    ?


    The angel continued, "You are indeed correct. But not everything was about hard work or theck of it. There''s also the factor of bad luck. Some of the godling''s territory was also attacked while they were busy hunting. They didn''t know about it because they rarely went to the temple to hear the prayers of their Oracles."


    "It wouldn''t have changed much as godlings won''t be able to offer tangible help, but they could have retained some of their believers if they had been there to work together with their Oracles."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The clones didn''t want to waste time anymore. They clicked the option to evolve.


    A prompt appeared asking for their permission.


    -Do you want to be a True God? All of your divinity will be consumed for the evolution. -Yes or no?


    Legion-7 asked their angel, "We will go back to level o if we choose to evolve?"


    "Yes. But you will gain other benefits that will make the evolution worth it."


    Legion-9 asked, "Will we be stronger than a level 100 godling at level o?"


    "No. Certainly not with divinity. But your."


    They were in a dilemma. They could either be true gods or lose the bulk of their power. Or they can choose to maintain the strength of their divine bodies but miss out on bing the first true god.


    It didn''t take them long toe to a decision.


    Legion-2 said, "We have to be true gods. The faster we do, the better."


    Legion-4 agreed, "Plus, we still have authority. We will not be entirely useless."


    Legion-6 added, "We also don''t need to hunt anymore to acquire divinity."


    Legion-1 was about to go ahead with the decision when Legion-3 suggested, "We could also stockpile divinity now and use it when we evolve. That way we will have both evolution and divinity."


    Legion-2 didn''t agree. He said, "But it will dy us from being the first to be True gods."


    Legion-1 asked the angel, "Does being the first matter?"


    They decided to ask their angel about it.


    It replied, "Yes. There is always a hidden reward for anyone who is the first to achieve milestones in power. Crystal hoarder received his for being the first godling."


    They want to be the first true god, but they also don''t want to be so weak that they rely on authority.


    At the end of the day, they decided to go ahead with the evolution. It is because they don''t want the advantage they have created by simultaneously prioritizing Divinity, Divine Crystals, and Authority to go to waste.


    They are greedy, but they know when to stop. If they try to hunt for divinity right now and someone else bes the first true god, they will regret it.


    Legion-1 made up his mind and said, "It is a gamble we can''t afford to lose. Let''s hope the reward for being the first true god is truly worth it."


    So they picked yes.


    --Congrattions On Your Evolution.


    -You have be a True God.


    -You have Gained Priesthood.


    -You have gained one more Oracle slot.


    -You have gained Ten Priest slots.


    -You have gained more Divine spells.


    -You have gained Oracle Possession Divine Ability.


    -You have gained Soul Harvesting Divine Ability.


    -You have gained Greater Miracle Divine Ability.


    -You Can Now create a Pantheon of gods.


    -Reward


    -For being the first True God choose one of the three rewards.


    1. Pantheon Spire.


    2. Domain quest.


    3. Unique Divine Weapon.


    They didn''t know what to choose, so they asked their angel. It exined to them that a Pantheon Spire is a building in the city that the gods in their pantheon can keep their altar and use for meetings. They can buy it on their own, but it is very expensive. If they have it, it will make their pantheon attractive so many gods will join it, and it will in turn strengthen the god who created the pantheon.


    The Domain Quest is a hint that will point them in the direction of a domain, which is something they need to be Tier 2 gods. Without a quest, they will have to wander about the divine realm looking for a domain. If they are lucky, they will eventually find it. If not, they will waste their time looking for a domain and will be dyed.


    The unique weapon is something that can''t be forged. It will be something unique to them in the whole of God''s domain. They can''t buy it, and no one else can create it.


    They decided to go with the third option simply because it is something they can''t acquire on their own in the future.


    -Unique Divine Weapon Selected.


    -You have received Myraid Armament.


    (Myriad Armament)


    (Tier o (Evolvable): 0/10,000)


    (Strength: x1.1)


    (Ability: Can change form and has many sub-parts)


    (Description: A weapon fit for a being with many forms)


    (Non-transferable)


    A bright light shed in front of all of them. Then it disappeared, leaving behind a whip in front of each of the clones. There were 9 whips in total, but none of them looked alike. They had varying lengths, thicknesses, and colors.


    They grabbed the whip, and its information was transmitted to their minds. Their angel was chattering non-stop on the side about its properties, so they knew what the Myriad


    Armament can do.


    They willed it, and the whip changed shape. It became a dagger or a sword or a spiked club or a spear. It became whatever they wanted it to be. It was an all-purpose weapon made just


    for them.


    Legion-3 said with a smile, "Ok, it was worth it to be the first true god. It is at least a 9- in-1 weapon. If we consider that it can change shape, it is 81 in 1."


    Legion-9 wondered aloud, "It can also evolve. I wonder how they made this. Can it be replicated in the void universe?"


    They were admiring their new weapon and already nning for how they would use it when


    they received another notification.


    -Regional Announcement.


    -Co

 Chapter 1773: True God Advantage.

    Chapter 1773: True God Advantage.


    ?


    -Regional Announcement.


    -Congrattions to 9 Crowns for being the 1st True God.


    -The Pantheon Ranking List is open now.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    -The Divine Council Hall is operational now.


    -Globalmunication system is now open.


    They looked at their stats screen and said depreciatingly, "Some god we are. We are too weak."


    NAME: Number 3


    RACE: True God (Orc)


    TITLE: Third Crown.


    TIER: 1


    LEVEL: 0


    DIVINE ENERGY: 1249


    STRENGTH: 1


    ENDURANCE: 1


    SPEED: 1


    AUTHORITY: 1249


    DIVINE ABILITIES: DIVINE NETWORK. INSIGHT. BLESSING. GREATER MIRACLE.


    PRIESTHOOD. ORACLE POSSESSION. SOUL HARVESTING.


    DIVINE SPELLS: DIVINE STRIKE, DIVINE SHIELD, DIVINE HEALING. DIVINE STRENGTH. DIVINE SPEED. DIVINE ENDURANCE.


    WEAPONS: Myriad Armament.


    Their angel exined, "You are currently at your weakest. This is normal and will happen every time you evolve. But you are stronger this way."


    Legion was skeptical. "We don''t feel stronger. What are the biggest differences between a godling and a true god that will make a true god more powerful than a godling?"


    "The most important difference is the limit of divinity. Godlings are limited to 10 divinity for every level for a total of 1,000. But true gods can have 100 divinity in every level for a total of 10,000. So a peak true god will be able to decimate the strongest godling."


    "Then there is the advantage in the aspect of Authority. Being a true god doesn''t increase the amount of Authority a god has, but it provides better avenues for the use of Authority. Not only are there more Divine spells, but those divine spells can be upgraded now."


    "There is also the advantage that true gods have in the mortal realm through the ability of Priesthood. With this ability, you will be able to share your divine spells with your priests, so that they will be able to disy the power of the god in the mortal realm and umte more Authority for their god."


    The information from their angel made them admit that true gods have more potential than godlings. But it is only more potential, not immediate strength.


    As they are, a bunch of Godlings will be able to kill them with a punch because of their weak divine bodies. They have to transform their potential into strength. So they began making ns on how to do that.


    The first thing they did was look at the new divine spells they had unlocked.


    1: Avatar.


    Effect: Descend to the mortal realm with an energy form in order to directly interfere with the mortal realm.


    Cost: 100 DE to activate and 1 DE per second.


    2: Divine Judgement.


    Effect: If Authority is greater than target, the target will lose 10% of total hit points.


    Cost: 10% of current DE.


    3: Divine Retribution.


    Effect: If Authority is greater than source of attack, then attack will be reflected back to the


    source.


    Cost: 10% of current DE.


    4: Divine Crippling.


    Effect: If Authority is greater than target''s, reduce target''s stat by 10% of Authority.


    Cost: 10% of current DE.


    They groaned when they saw that each one required at least 100 divinity. They also need 100 divinity to upgrade their previous divine spells.


    Legion-3 said, "There''s just no end to the need for divinity."


    Legion-9 didn''t care about that. He said, "We should create a Pantheon. I never had the chance to make one. Plus, the title of King of Gods will strengthen us."


    Legion-3 asked, "And how are we going toe about that? We don''t have the divinity to create a Pantheon. We will need 10,000 divinity for it."


    Legion-1 nodded in contemtion and said, "The most important thing right now is to increase the number of believers. It will increase our Authority and provide prayers that we need to create divinity."


    "For that, we need to assign priests and take over all the tribes around. Our champion should be selected too. We must do all of these very quickly so as to take advantage of the fact that we are the only true gods."


    Legion-9 was still thinking about making a Pantheon. He said, "If we are lucky, we might find the relics of the past gods in the mortal realm. They should have divinity in them. Maybe we can use it to create a Pantheon."


    Legion-4 agreed, "The angel did say that the Ancient Orc Empire was very powerful. They should have some divine weapons bestowed by the gods. Let''s focus on finding them." Legion-3 shot them down, "No, we are not going to spend our time on a wild goose chase. It is better to go out and kill some gods. We can even use divine spells, for that we need more


    faith."


    They don''t n to all go out at all until they are confident of their survival. It is because they don''t have enough divine energy to risk going out.


    Currently, they will not lose any divinity if they die. But they will lose divine energy and time. Divine Energy is precious now that their altar can only store 1,000 prayers.


    1,000 prayers is not even enough for one of them to replenish their maximum divine energy. So they would rather focus their supply of divine energy on a single clone.


    Not only is divine energy going to waste if they die, they will also lose 24 hours because their altar can''t respawn them as fast as the divine investiture. A lot of things can happen in 24 hours. So it is best that they not die.


    These two major reasons are why they are focused on increasing their believer base with all their might. They n to mow through the surroundings of the Bull''s Horn tribe and unify the orcs first. Only then will they turn their sights on other gods and go godhunting again.


    They have a lot to use divinity for. Not only to strengthen themselves, but to buy and upgrade their divine spells. That means that they have to try both the safe and the dangerous methods of acquiring divinity of they want to get stronger quickly.


    A/N: Check out DESTINY GAMES. If you enjoy GREED then you might enjoy it.


    http://wbnv.in/a/4fidVs5

 Chapter 1774: Priesthood.

    Chapter 1774: Priesthood.


    ?


    In the meantime, they spent the little extra divinity they had on them in divine orbs to buy more divine spells until they became broke. So they were very dedicated when they turned their attention towards the mortal realm.


    -Bull Horn Tribe.


    Warshaw was praying as she always does when she is not preaching or making sacrifices. She sometimes receives replies, but that is not the reason why she prays. She prays because she knows that her God is listening to her. The 9 Crowns don''t need to reply for her to relish moments when she gets to pray.


    This prayer session happened to draw a reply from the 9 Crowns. Their voice boomed mightily in her mind like resounding thunder.


    "I have seen your faithfulness. I have seen your works, and I know your mind. So I have decided to make you into a better tool."


    She received a notification immediately.


    -You Have Received ess To Divine Spells.


    1. DIVINE STRIKE.


    2. DIVINE HOLD.


    3. DIVINE SHIELD.


    4. DIVINE STRENGTH.


    5. DIVINE SPEED.


    8. DIVINE ENDURANCE.


    She bowed and wept. Her voice rose as she praised, "Glory to the 9 Crowns."


    There was more. The 9 Crowns said to her, "Bring to me 5 of the most faithful believers. I shall make them into better tools that I will use to unify the Orc race and recreate the Orc Empire."


    What she heard almost blew her mind. She was so excited that she almost jumped. She didn''t jump, though. That would be disrespectful to the 9 Crowns. Instead, she settled for unbridled happiness and continuous praises as she ran about to find the tools for God''s work.


    She searched all over the tribe using the eye of faith. With the eye of faith, she can tell those who believe in the 9 Crowns or other gods. She can also tell the level of their faith too. So no one can deceive her by pretending to be a believer.


    She was looking around for the most faithful to bring to the 9 Crowns, so she only paid attention to those whose aura of faith was almost too bright to see. She found 7 of them with excellent faith, which caused her to be in a dilemma because the 9 Crowns wanted just 5. But her connundrum was solved when the 9 Crowns told her to bring all 7.


    The 7 believers included Hogging, the previous chief of the tribe, Axec, the current chief, and Antios Warshaw''s acolyte. They and the other four were brought before the altar.


    They bowed and prayed for the blessing of the 9 Crowns. Their prayer was answered in a way they never thought before. A golden figure formed above the altar. The 7 of them didn''t see this golden figure. Only Warshaw did, and it made her weep for joy.


    Legion-1 then possessed Warshaw. She stopped weeping, and her eyes turned golden. She stood up straight as a power beyond the realm of mortals began to emanate from her body. Even the ignorant 7 orcs felt this change. They were forced to prostrate before her as they said, "God is here."


    Legion-1 spoke through her to them, "I have seen your good works, so I havee to reward you for your faith."


    Her lips weren''t moving at all as she spoke. She simply opened her mouth to allow the golden light within her toe out through it, apanied by words. The voice that came out of her mouth echoed and reverbrated in such a way that it sounded like nine people speaking at


    once.


    "From henceforth, I shall take all that you have to offer and use you for my purpose. You shall be my tools to unify the scattered orc tribe. From today onwards, you are no longer mere mortals; you are my tools here in the mortal realm."


    They received a notification to that effect.


    -You Have Been Offered The Priest ss.


    -Do You ept?


    They all epted, so they received another notification.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    -You have unlocked the Faith stat.


    -You have gained Eye of faith and Divine Spells.


    Legion-1 thought to himself, "This will have to do."


    Priests are different from oracles. They don''t have the insight and spiritmunication. This means that they can''t gain information about things just from looking at them, and the 9 Crowns can''tmunicate with them.


    He also can''t possess them and act through them. But they have ess to his divine spells, which they can cast with their faith stat, so the stronger their faith is, the more powerful the spell will be.


    Of course the spells are not the full version of the ones gods use. It relies mostly on their faith and, to a lesser degree, the Authority of their god. This makes it a ss of spells that the best mortal mages can''t match. So despite the priests being half the value of an Oracle, they are many enough to be very useful for what Legion is about to do.


    He said to them, "Spread the word and begin creating an army worthy of an empire. You will lead this army to reim thends of the orc back into the fold of the only true god. Go and bring my religion to the ends of the earth."


    Then he let go of Warshaw''s body and left with his avatar to scout the surroundings. This is the reason he created an avatar instead of just possessing Warshaw. He didn''t have to create an avatar, but he wanted the new priests to experience his Majesty and also be able to move through walls to scout all the tribes in the surroundings.


    They have another slot for an oracle, but they are holding off on choosing another one for now. They want to select a child next. Warshaw is old and about to die. This is especially so if they will be possessing her often. The burden of a god''s consciousness is not something a mortal can bear easily.

 Chapter 1775: Liberation Of The Mortals.

    Chapter 1775: Liberation Of The Mortals.


    ?


    The few seconds they spent possessing her already took a few months away from her lifespan, so it is a good idea to choose an oracle that canst a long while.


    They want a child that has been raised with their doctrine and is in perfect synchronization with them to be their next Oracle. This way the burden won''t be so much and the new Oracle willst longer.


    It will take a while to create such a child. In the meantime, they n to take over every tribe around them. The first thing they have to do is gather information about the gods in their surroundings. The second most important thing is to eliminate those gods if they can.


    That''s why he went to the tribe nearby with two god seeds who haven''t ascended yet. He discovered that one of the god seeds had been eliminated in the struggle. He had died, and since he hadn''t ascended yet, he couldn''t resurrect.


    "Fighting before ascending is truly inefficient. But I guess they didn''t have much of a choice."


    He felt pity for the two god seeds, but that didn''t stop him from killing the remaining one and her Oracle. Then he sent a message to Warshaw toe and assimte the tribe too.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Next, he went beyond the three tribes close by. The first tribe he encountered was upied by a god seed who hadn''t ascended yet. However, he couldn''t see the god seed around.


    He was intrigued, so he looked around and overheard a lot of discussions to put together a preliminary image of this god. He was able to understand why the god has failed to ascend despite having the whole tribe to herself.


    It turned out that the god seed had killed the loved one of someone in power. That person was willing to die, so they antagonized the Oracle and her god.


    The god didn''t smite the sphemer for various reasons. Legion would like to believe that it is because they were out of divine energy. It is highly likely that killing the first mortal had drained them of their divine energy.


    Whatever the reason was, the inaction of the god put them on the back foot. People lost faith in the god, which made it difficult to acquire prayers needed for divine energy. Things became worse when this angry councilman went after the life of the Oracle. The Oracle had to run away, which made it rather difficult for the god to establish their religion and ascend.


    Legion-1 muttered to himself, "So the god hasn''t ascended, not because they didn''t want to. They can''t ascend even if they want to. They are stuck in the mortal realm battling mortals." Legion-2 mocked, "And here we thought the god would be difficult to deal with since they would have amassed a lot of Authority. It turned out that they are not in the tribe because their Oracle would be killed if he so much as stepped a foot in."


    Legion-4 said cautiously, "It is good that the god is weak. But taking over this tribe will be more difficult now that they have resisted a god and won. It is not a job for Warshaw alone."


    Legion-1 agreed but didn''t think it was much of a problem. He said, "It will only be more difficult. We just have to show them that there is a difference between a local deity and a true god. One can be sphemed while the other cannot."


    They didn''t find the god in this tribe, so they made do with sending the information to Warshaw so that she would be able to take down the tribe very well. Then they moved on to other tribes.


    They killed every Oracle and god they found around the tribes. They didn''t discuss with them or ask them to surrender. Only the surrender of a true god is useful to them. God seeds and unascended dieties can''t join their pantheon, so they would rather kill them than allow them to grow to the stage where they can refuse to join their pantheon.


    Besides, they don''t have a Pantheon yet. So they won''t even be able to ept a true god that wants to submit to them. He simply killed them and continued looking for more god seeds or Oracles to kill.


    He moved around in a progressivelyrger circle around the Bull Horn''s tribe. This way, he didn''t miss any tribe. Eventually, dispelled the avatar divine spell after an hour of work.


    By that time, the single avatar had cost them 4,160 DE for the time they spent using the spell. 100 DE for the cost of its initial activation, 1 DE for each of the 3,600 seconds they used it, and 460 DE for the 46 divine strikes they used to kill Oracles and god seeds.


    It is theirrgest expense of divine energy, but they believe it is worth it. They were able to liberate 27 tribes from the control of false gods with this sacrifice of divine energy. It will take time for them to reap the benefits of their good deed, but it wille, and it should be quite substantial.


    The nine of them sat around their altar watching the affairs of the mortal world. The map of the area around their tribe and everywhere they had explored was projected by the altar into the surroundings so that they could see it.


    It is not a real-time map, but it shows the area they have subjugated, the tribes under their control, and the other hostile territories. The actions of Legion-1''s avatar in the mortal realm caused the map to expand and for missing details to be updated. That ended when he dispelled the avatar.


    Hemented idly, "This avatar spell is not so bad."


    Legion-2 agreed, "It is not bad as long as we have divine energy."


    Legion-9 said with jest, "If we don''t have divine energy, then we are dead. An avatar will be thest of our concerns."

 Chapter 1776: Mortal Tools.

    Chapter 1776: Mortal Tools.


    ?


    They chuckled at that. It is expensive, but they are of one mind in that the avatar divine spell is useful. Their main bodies will still be in the divine realm when using it. It is only a spiritual form created with 100 divine energy that gets to act on their behalf in the mortal realm. Because of this, they act both in the divine and mortal realm.


    The first major disadvantage is that their divine bodies can''t move when they are using the avatar spell. The second disadvantage is that the avatar can''t be created anywhere. They can only be created at altars built and consecrated in their names.


    The third major disadvantage is the need to maintain it with divine energy. Every second of it will cost them divine energy. All of these are further worsened by the fact that the avatar doesn''t have divinity, so it can''t interact physically with the mortal realm. They only use Authority and divine spells through it.


    Possessing an oracle, on the other hand, doesn''t need 100 divine energy to activate it. It will only use 1 DE per second to maintain it and will still require divine energy to use divine spells. But they can possess their Oracle anywhere, which extends their range. Of course, all of thesee at the cost of the life span of their Oracle, so they don''t n to use it until they have to.


    Now that they have cleared the surroundings of immediate threat to the expansion of their religion. The next thing they did was to bless all the warriors in their army and bestow divine crystals on their chosen champions. This way no mortal will be able to stand in the way of their army. Not until the mortals begin to evolve using mana.


    Divine crystals are like divinity to mortals. Mortals can use it to increase their stats. Unfortunately, until they evolve to be Epic beings, they won''t be able to have more than 100 levels. That means they can only have a total of 100 stats for now.


    Seeing as the gods just arrived and the mortals just gained ess to Mana through the blessings of the gods, it will take a long while before they reach Tier 4. In the meantime, a 100-level mortal would be able to be their champion and further their cause for a long while. It will serve as a stopgap until they get heroes.


    They bestowed the divine crystals quickly. They did so in some of their priests in a way that the divine crystals only went into one stat. This would cause those priests to be outstanding in one aspect and unmatched in it. Then they looked back on their work with satisfaction.


    NAME: Warshaw Shanking


    AGE: 211(250)


    FAITH: The 9 Crowns (Fanatic)


    CLASS: Oracle


    SUB-CLASS: Priest


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 100


    HP: 60/60


    CONSTITUTION: 6n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    STRENGTH: 5


    VITALITY: 5


    SPEED: 5


    SPIRIT: 10>>>79


    FAITH: 100


    MANA: 1%


    ABILITIES: EYES OF FAITH, INSIGHT, SPIRIT COMMUNICATION.


    DIVINE SPELLS: DIVINE STRIKE. DIVINE HOLD. DIVINE SHIELD. DIVINE STRENGTH. DIVINE SPEED. DIVINE ENDURANCE.


    STATUS: Excited


    Warshaw''s faith in them had reached the limit after she experienced Possession. That means she would be able to wield her divine spells to the maximum potential that a mortal is capable of. This made Legion choose her spirit stat to dump the divine crystal into. This way she would be able to cast the divine spells with more power and frequency.


    What''s more, faith and spirit will ensure that the cost of possession on her will be reduced. So not only has she be a better tool to acquire believers for them, she has be a more durable tool. They very much like that.


    The next person they reforged into their tool is the previous chief of the tribe.


    NAME: Hogging Buck


    AGE: 170(276)


    FAITH: The 9 Crowns (Fanatic)


    CLASS: Priest.


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 100


    HP: 600/600


    CONSTITUTION: 10>>>50


    STRENGTH: 10>>>20


    VITALITY: 10


    SPEED: 10


    SPIRIT: 10


    FAITH: 91


    MANA: 1%


    ABILITIES: EYE OF FAITH.


    DIVINE SPELLS: DIVINE SPELLS: DIVINE STRIKE. DIVINE HOLD. DIVINE SHIELD. DIVINE


    STRENGTH. DIVINE SPEED. DIVINE ENDURANCE.


    STATUS: Fanatical.


    They dumped most of the divine crystals into his constitution. As the designated bodyguard of Warshaw, his job is to be her shield. He is to protect her with his body, so it is best that he is very difficult to kill. She will support him with her divine spells, so the two of them will make for a terrifyingbination.


    The third recipient of their ministration is the current chief of the tribe.


    NAME: Axec Byorn


    AGE: 112(275)


    FAITH: The 9 Crowns (Fanatic)


    CLASS: Priest.


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 100


    HP: 100/100


    CONSTITUTION: 10


    STRENGTH: 62.


    VITALITY: 10


    SPEED: 9


    SPIRIT: 9


    FAITH: 92


    MANA: 1%


    ABILITIES: EYE OF FAITH.


    DIVINE SPELLS: DIVINE SPELLS: DIVINE STRIKE. DIVINE HOLD. DIVINE SHIELD. DIVINE


    STRENGTH. DIVINE SPEED. DIVINE ENDURANCE.


    STATUS: ted.


    Axec is to lead their army, so strength is to be her forte. Like the others, if she iscking in any


    other aspect, she can use Divine Strength to gain more strength, Divine Speed to gain more speed, and Divine Endurance to gain more constitution and vitality.


    Plus, she will have Divine Strike to empower her attacks, Divine Hold to gain an advantage over stronger opponents, and Divine Shield to protect her life. This way, she will be unstoppable on the battlefield.


    The rest of the four priests were divided into two. One group was bestowed with speed until they reached level 100. One of them uses a de, while the other uses bows. The increase in speed increased both their movement and attacking speed.


    Thest two priests were bestowed with spirit so that they would be able to support the army with divine spells. All of these meant that the initial setup of their army was done. Then they set them loose on the tribes they had liberated.


    Their army has mana, priests, divine spells, and champions. Nothing could stand in their way


    in the absence of gods.

 Chapter 1777: Divine Tools.

    Chapter 1777: Divine Tools.


    ?


    The avatar spell can allow them to interfere in the affairs of the mortal realm directly, but they can''t be like how they were when they first came to God''s Domain. They can''t follow Warshaw about without any costs anymore. They certainly can''t go about the tribes converting the people into believers themselves. That''s why they have to rely on their Oracle and their mortal army.


    Now that they have sorted that out, the next thing they focused on was creating divine weapons. It is just right that they focus on forging divine tools after they were done with forging mortal ones.


    They can buy divine weapons from Gemmis, but the weapons are tier 2 at best. So if they want stronger weapons, they have to be able to make them themselves or find them somewhere out there.


    They chose to depend on themselves. So the divine weapons they are trying to make are mostly for them, but they will first experiment with some that they intend to bestow to the priests. Then they will scrap whichever one they don''t need and use it to create superior divine weapons for themselves.


    The good thing about making divine weapons is that they can never fail. They will always seed in their attempts, but the quality of the divine weapon might be questionable.


    Even so, they can still scrap the weapon and start again. Less than 10% of the materials will go to waste. Only materials from divine beasts like the ws of ice wolves will go to waste. As for the gold, divine crystals, and divinity they spend, those can always be recovered.


    So they spent their time working on forging divine weapons while they watched their army spread like wildfire, razing down every opposition in their way and bearing the fruit of faith for them. Meanwhile, the Divine Realm had also been thrown into an uproar.


    Crystal Hoarder was moving a cart of divine orbs into Gemmis before she heard the


    notification about the first true god. Her form is that of a goblin, so she is very ugly and short. She is a goblin god through and through.


    Goblins are a weak race with a potential of just 20 out of 100. That means they have an average stat of 4 between all 5 stats. Yet she chose them to be her race because they like hording crystals and precious gems.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    As a dragon in the void universe, hoarding precious items is her favorite past time. Unfortunately, dragons were not an option for a source of faith. So she couldn''t be a dragon god, but the goblins were avable. As the next best thing, she liked them at first sight.


    They are weak, but that didn''t make much of a difference to her because she considers everyone else to be weak. Besides, she doesn''t think she will need their strength for anything. What she needed were gems and crystals.


    It is not just her pride speaking. She doesn''t see any qualitative difference between the races because they are all mortals, and mortals are all trash regardless of their potential. The only good thing they can do for her is to believe in her. As long as they do so, she is confident of taking on any enemy on her own.


    If the mortals also like to collect precious things, then they will stand out from the rest. That''s why she went ahead with goblins.


    She would have gone with dwarves, but like elves, they are incredibly xenomorphic and resistant to other races or gods. They sounded like they would be too stubborn to work with, so she went with goblins.


    She hasn''t regretted this decision apart from the fact that it made her divine form ugly. The rest have been good. The goblins had a lot of wealth hidden away, and they live underground where mining for more is good, so she didn''tck for gold.


    They are stupid and weak, so they were easily impressed. They believed in her very quickly, so she was able to ascend very early. They also reproduce easily and have arge poption, so her authority is very high.


    In fact, the first tribe she came across was very small, but many other tribes came to worship her as soon as they heard about her. She didn''t need to put in much effort for goblins to migrate en masse to her. They came while she was busy hunting in the divine realm.


    All of these, plus her fighting prowess and luck, made it easy for her to be the first godling. It also made her meet the Authority requirement to be a god soon after.


    The only thing she needed was to reach level 100. So she went out to hunt. Unfortunately for her, it was toote to be the first true god. She was just about to return to her altar and start the evolution when she heard the announcement about 9 Crowns bing the first true god.


    Her eyes narrowed when she heard the announcement.


    She roared in anger, "Who dared to steal my prize?"


    No one replied her. In fact, there''s no one around her apart from her angel. Everyone is avoiding her like a gue. So it was up to her angel to give a reply.


    "Unfortunately, there is no way to know that directly. But there is a way to identify a true god. They will feel more powerful and threatening. You will be able to tell once you see them. If you see a true god now, then they must be the first true god, as there is currently only one true god."


    The angel didn''t point out the fact that Crystal Hoarder didn''t need the cart of divine orbs she was pushing around. Acquiring the cart had dyed her from being the first true god. She might have be the first true god had she stopped hunting when she reached level 100. So she was the one that dyed herself when she became greedy for more divinity.

 Chapter 1778: Divine Extortion.

    Chapter 1778: Divine Extortion.


    ?


    The exnation the angel provided wascking, but Crystal Hoarder was satisfied with it. The situation was very clear to her. Here she is pushing a cart of divine orbs when someone else became a true god.


    It is obvious that if she had been earlier by a few minutes, she would have reached Gemmis earlier and be a true god. Now she has to go about looking for a true god out of the tens of thousands in the divine city. It is like searching for a needle in a haystack, but Crystal Board didn''tin about that.


    She knew what she did and where it had led her. But that doesn''t mean she will ept her lot so easily. That has never been her choice. She has always had her way. She doesn''t want this situation to be any different, so she is not going to ept things as they are.


    She nodded and said, "Good. I will find them and take back what''s rightfully mine."


    Being first or second wouldn''t matter to her if she didn''t know about the hidden reward that she got for being the first godling. That reward is what she cares about, and she is determined to get it back from the god that stole it from her.


    Her reward can be taken or exchanged with others, so she expects theirs to be the same. All she needs to do is find them. Then she will use any means possible to get back that reward.


    But first she continued on her way to her altar to be a true god. She has rented a room in a hotel there where she can be safe to perform the evolution.


    She can''t underestimate a true god, even if she can find them. Especially not the first of millions of god seeds to be a true god. That would be folly on her part. It would be extra folly if the reward this true god acquired is something dangerous.


    No, she would do the smart thing by bing a true god first. Then she would use all the divine orbs she has acquired to restore her strength to a certain level. Only then will she have the confidence in fighting and iming the reward.


    Soon another notification was heard in the Northern Realm.


    -Regional Announcement.


    -Congrattions to Crystal Hoarder for being the 2nd True God.


    She gained the ability to create a Pantheon and to use the globalmunication system after bing a true god. She noticed that there wasn''t a Pantheon yet, so she created one so as to be the first.


    -Determine the name of the Pantheon.


    She did so.


    -Consume 10,000 Divinity to create the Crystal Hoard Pantheon?


    -Yes or No?


    She raored with dissatisfaction, "10,000 divinity? Is that too expensive?"


    Her angel shrugged and said, "I don''t make the rules."


    She doesn''t have 10,000 divinity after raising her level to 100 again. That had cost her 10,000 divinity, to be exact. But she wants to be the first true god to create a Pantheon, so she wasn''t willing to give up.


    "I bet the 9 Crowns don''t have 10,000 divinity either. They are probably out hunting right now. I might be able to catch them if I am lucky."


    Her angel advised, "The 9 Crowns might not be present in your divine city. They might be at the other 9 divine cities, so you might be disappointed."


    "I know. That''s why I said I might be able to catch them if I am lucky."


    Her dour angel couldn''t douse her enthusiasm. She went out immediately to hunt while looking for signs of a true god.


    Unfortunately, she had no luck with thetter. As for the former, she was very sessful at it. With ten times the divinity, she was able to bully godlings easily and take their divinity for herself.


    Things might have been difficult for her if she were a level o true god, but she wasn''t. She was able to get the 10,000 divinity she needed quickly and return to her altar to create her pantheon.


    She was happy to find out that a Pantheon still hadn''t been created, even after so long. She felt lucky about it, so she gritted her teeth and made the decision to invest the same amount of divinity in her level 100 true god divine body into making a Pantheon.


    Thus, her pantheon, the Crystal Hoard, was created. Unfortunately, there was no announcement and no reward. It made her disappointed and very angry. It was with this great anger that she tried the globalmunication system.


    The globalmunication system is a system that allows long distancemunication between godlings and true gods. It can only be used by those with altars, so there are few people she could talk to. Fortunately, the only person she wants to talk to right now is essible.


    She went to the ranking list and selected the person''s identity. Then she sent a request for an open channel. She didn''t wait long before the request was epted.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    A voice came from the other side of the channel and appeared through her altar asking, "What do you want?"


    She was a little dissatisfied that the person only allowed for a temporary audiomunication, not an audiovisual one where she could see the appearance of the other party and their location. But she still replied imperiously, "I am the Crystal Hoarder. Need I say more?"


    "I am the 9 Crowns. I''m guessing that''s all you need to know too."


    Her anger exploded immediately. She asked with a roar, "Are you toying with me? Do you know who I am? I am a fearsome dragon. You will bow to me and offer me your precious things."


    A scoff came from the other side. "So it is a dragon. I have killed many of them. In fact, dragons are terrified of my name."


    Sheughed, "You dare lie to my face? Dragons are terrified of no one. We are the greatest and strongest."

 Chapter 1779: Haughty Ignorance.

    Chapter 1779: Haughty Ignorance.


    ?


    Legion didn''t bother to argue with this strange god. She doesn''t know their true identity and how they were responsible for killing tens of thousands of dragons and destroying their home ne in his realm. They are not going to tell her either because that would be exposing their identity in the void universe. As beings of great power, they know that information is power and can be used to track people. So they don''t want to be baited into revealing their identity. Instead, they want to end this conversation as quickly as possible.


    So Legion-1, "I will repeat for thest time. What do you want?"


    She was bristling, but she forced herself to calm down. Even so, she still maintained an imperious tone as she spoke. "I have created a Pantheon. You should join it. It will be in your favor to do so."


    She spoke as if she were doing them a favor. She thinks she is, but unfortunately, the 9 Crowns don''t think she is doing them a favor.


    They replied with haughty ignorance, "No thanks."


    She almost lost her restraint then. Still, she continued, "You don''t know what''s good for you, so I will make it easy for you. Hand over your reward for being the first true god, and I will let this be bygones."


    Legion-1 asked with genuine surprise, "Why would I do that?"


    She exined to the dumb creature, "Because I can be a very terrible enemy. Since you have refused to be my ally, it would be in your best interest not to make me your enemy."


    "So you are not even offering money?"


    She said with pride, "My promise not to hunt you to the ends of the divine realm is priceless." A reply didn''te. The channel was broken because the other side switched it off.


    Crystal Hoarder''s ugly face became uglyr as she scowled. But she wasn''t angry anymore. Instead, her eyes were twinkling as she thought about the conversation they just had.


    "This 9 Crowns sounds confident and proud. It could be because his achievement has gotten to his head or because he truly has something to rely on. Either way, he is not going to give up his reward without a fight."


    "But this is good too. The higher the resistance, the greater the pleasure of snatching treasure. Let the dance begin."


    Her eyes narrowed in thought as she began to scheme.


    She actually meant well when she asked the 9 Crowns to join her Pantheon. The 9 Crowns would have had to offer his reward to her to enter because it is a tradition she intends to enforce for every god that wants her protection. After all, her Pantheon was created so that she would be able to create the biggest hoard. So it wouldn''t be extortion. It would just be a rite of passage.


    But the 9 Crowns didn''t know what was good for himself. Now she has to put in more effort to get what she wants. It is a bad decision that is clearly going to lead to stressful consequences for the two of them.


    The first thing she did was announce a bounty for any information about the 9 Crowns through themunication system. Unfortunately, that didn''t lead anywhere because no one knows who the 9 Crowns is, much less consider that they are 9 gods as one.


    The main effect of that bounty was that it spurred the gods into action. Many of them wanted to earn the prize of divinity, so they put in a lot of effort into searching for the 9 Crowns. Unfortunately, as things are, their efforts might go to waste because the 9 Crowns haven''t left the safety of their hotel since they became true gods.


    The second thing the crystal hoarder did was try to expand her Pantheon so that she would gain more wealth and power to find and fight the 9 Crowns. Unfortunately, there were not many true gods around that could join or create a Pantheon.


    She had to wait a long while for the poption of true gods to increase. But the god seeds that became true gods were too proud to surbodinate themselves to her. This became extra difficult to do when she was asking for a treasure for them to join her Pantheon. So that n was a bust.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Days turned into weeks. Weeks into months. And months into a year.


    Nothing major happened in the divine realm apart from the asional regional announcements about the various achievements of others. Many of the god seeds managed to


    build their altar after a year, and many more seeded in bing gods.


    The gods have be used to numerous announcements. But then a special announcement drew everyone''s attention.


    -Regional Announcement.


    -4,000,000 god seeds have be Godlings.


    -This marks the end of the trial period.


    -The Ancient Titans have sensed the growing threat of the gods and have begun to awaken from their slumber.


    -Prepare yourself for their imminent attack.


    This announcement caught the gods off guard. They don''t even know who the ancient titans are, much less how to prepare for their attacks. Fortunately, they had the divine spirit of their various divine cities to inform and mobilize the gods for the resistance.


    Gemmis sent a message to every god-king. Legion also received the notification because they had finally created a Pantheon.


    -You have been invited to the Divine Council of Gemmis.


    -This is the inaugural session of the Divine Council.


    -Do you ept the invitation?


    -Yes or No.


    Anyone of the clones could ept it, but they decided to send only one. Legion-1 epted it and disappeared from the hotel. He appeared in arge domed cathedral with walls lined with stairs that reached the top. The stairs extend into tforms with thrones on them.


    Legion-1 appeared in one of the thrones. Other god-kings also appeared after he arrived. They were busy examining each other and checking out theirpetition. They did so openly and sometimes with hostile gazes.

 Chapter 1780: Dubious Information Broker.

    Chapter 1780: Dubious Information Broker.


    ?


    Legion-1 also checked out thepetition from his throne. There was a lot of them to see, but only one in particr that he cared for. But he didn''t stare at that particr true god. He behaved just like everyone else watching each other.


    There were a lot of god kings in the Divine Council now that true gods are bing the norm. In Gemmis alone, there are about 10,000 of them. That''s 10% of the divine poption of the divine city. This has made it so that there are about 1,000 god kings in the Divine Council.


    He observed to himself, "It seems we are distributed at random. At least I don''t see any order to our arrangement."


    The seats line the tforms from the bottom of the cathedral to the top, but the gods sitting on them appeared to be at random because the gods near him are not orcs. They are elves and ogres.


    It is unexpected to him because that''s not how things were done in the divine ne realm of high heaven. Gods are either arranged in the order of their ascension, level of power, domains, or race. It all depended on the whims of the Celestial Supreme.


    But he doesn''t see any of such order around him. He should know since he is the first god and he also knows who the second true god is. But the second true god is nowhere near him, and there are no simrities between him and the god kings around him.


    He didn''t concern himself with that for long. Observing the simrities between him and other god kings is, after all, a false pretense. After he was done examining his true target, he switched to the Divine Council itself.


    He could see down below because the center of the cathedral is empty. He could even fall over from his seat down to the bottom through the center. It would be easy to do as there is no railing or obstacle to stop him from plunging to what might be his death.


    The gods were examining each other, but some of them wanted to do more than that. Especially one particr goblin goddess.


    She stood up from her throne and yelled, "Which one of you is 9 Crowns? Show yourself!"


    Some gods looked around, hoping to spot this reclusive god, but they were disappointed. No one stood up to im the identity.


    Crystal Hoarder was dissatisfied. She sneered and said, "Are you so cowardly? I expected more from the first true god. Didn''t you im that dragons are scared of you? Why don''t I see the spine of a dragon killer in you?"


    Someone spoke up. It was an orc. The orc said, "I have information about the 9 Crowns. I havee across his religion, so he should be an orc."


    Crystal Hoarder asked excitedly, "Give me the location of his religion. I will pay you


    handsomely. I''ll pay anyone with useful information well."


    Another orc spoke up, "I have never heard about him, but I''ll look out for me."


    One of the other orcs said, "I have, and I heard he is fearsome."


    They began discussing the identity of the 9 Crowns while Legion-1 went ahead to exchange


    the false information about the location of his religion with Crystal Hoarder.


    He thought to himself in derision, "She didn''t even ask for a contract. She must be so confident in herself."


    He is the orc that spoke up first abouting into contact with the religion of the 9 Crowns. He did so to take advantage of the information others might have about him to earn some money and mislead Crystal Hoarder.


    In a year, they have done well for themselves in the mortal realm. Their religion is expanding rapidly, so it is a matter of time before information about the nation of orcs that they are building will be known to the public. So he might as well earn something before that timees. 1,000 divinity gold is not something he can disregard at this point.


    This conversation was just one of many going on. But soon the cathedral fell into silence when what appeared to be arge gem appeared in the middle of the gods.


    The gem looked different from every direction, but anyone who gazed at it would admit that it was beautiful. Crystal Hoard in particr was entranced by it.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The Gem said to them, "Greetings. I am the divine spirit of Gemmis. I am to be the moderator of the divine council."


    "The divine council is where decisions that will affect the whole divine city will be voted on. As the king of gods, you represent the will of the other gods and, as such, are qualified to have a say in the affairs of the divine city."


    "This is the inaugural session of the divine council, so you are not familiar with the rules. I will give your angels permission to make it known to you now."


    It waited a few seconds for them to have a chat with their angels. Then it resumed its duty.


    "On to the first agenda. The matter of rankings. It is time to decide if the city is to begin paying those at the top of the ranking for their excellence. You god kings can vote to allow it or prevent it."


    "Take note that allowing it will also enable me to grant quests. One of those quests is the quest for domain. So please consider this agenda carefully before you vote. If you have any questions, direct them to your angels."


    "You have a minute to consider. You can either vote Yes, No, or Abstain. The agenda will pass when there are more votes in its favor than those against it. If you don''t vote after 1 minute, you would have automatically abstained from voting."


    A prompt appeared in front of every god king. It disyed the three options for them. They have a minute to make a decision or a decision to abstain will be made for them.

 Chapter 1781: Naysayers.

    Chapter 1781: Naysayers.


    ?


    Legion-1 was deep in thought about what to choose. The cause of his dilemma is that the 9 Crowns is not at the top of any of the 4 rankings. They have made a lot of progress with their religion and have used the prayers of the faithful to produce divinity, but it can''tpare to the speed of those who hunt. This means they are not at the top of the divinity ranking.


    The divinity ranking is based on levels and the speed with which the gods attained it. That means the first god to attain level 100 is at the top of the list. That god is Crystal Hoard. Unless that she falls and many more gods behind her falls, it won''t be Legion''s turn.


    They are not on top of the Authority ranking either, despite their best efforts. This honor goes to Crystal Hoard. They can roughly guess how she managed to do that based on what they know of her race.


    They are confident of total victory if there was ever a fight between her believers and theirs. It is why they have also been looking for her base. Unfortunately, the power of the mortals doesn''t necessarily trante to the power of the gods. In this case, the goblins have the advantage of numbers, which has helped their god.


    As for the power ranking, they have fought many godlings and true gods, but they haven''t fought impressive ones or created impressive feats of valor. Crystal Hoard is currently at the top of this ranking thanks to her level 100 divinity and highest believe count.


    Then there is the pantheon ranking. They don''t even have a chance in that aspect, as they are the only ones in the Pantheon they created. They might have stood a chance had they spared the god seeds around their base. But they opted for believers instead.


    They wouldn''t have be the first on this ranking even if they prioritized their Pantheon. They just can''tpete against the gods working together.


    This is why the Pantheon at the top of this ranking belongs to arge conglomerate sponsored by the same world god in the void universe. The fact that they were sent by the same world god to acquire Domains made them work together to create a powerful Pantheon.


    There are many such pantheons. Not even Crystal Hoard''s Crystal Hoarder Pantheon canpete with them. So they never stood a chance.


    All of these made Legion-1 biased in his decision. Since they are not on top of any of the rankings, they will not gain the yearly reward for it. Voting "no" means they will be able to stop these people who are already stronger than them from gaining more resources to widen the gap. But it also means they won''t be able to gain a lead in domains.


    Domains are what the god seeds came to this world to find. They are also the most important requirements for True gods to be Domain gods. To vote "no" might rob the strong of their rewards, particrly Crystal Hoard, who is also their enemy, but it will also make Legion stagnate.


    At the end of the day, Legion-1 thought to himself, "We haven''t reached the level where we need a domain yet. If we vote yes, not only will we be giving the strong more resources, we will also be giving them the avenue to acquire Domains. They are more likely to acquire it than us with their strength."


    So he voted no. Then he waited for the tally. His vote only counts as one, unlike the other god kings, who have more than one god in their Pantheon. This means his votes have far less power than those of other god kings.


    A minute passed in rtive silence. Then Gemmis spoke, "The votes are 932 against, 13 for, and 60 abstained."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "It has been decided. The reward for the ranking shall not be allowed to pass."


    There was the sound of a loud bell ringing. It rang once after the deration of the vote. Legion-1 was sure every god in Gemmis could hear it because the other clones heard it from their hotels. It was that loud.


    Then Gemmis continued. "On to the second agenda. There have been requests to increase the benefits of hunting the divine beasts around Gemmis so as to make hunting more efficient." "Currently, the loot from hunting divine beasts regardless of their power is one divine crystal and the asional divine material. The chances of a divine material dropping after death are directly proportional to the power of the divine beast. But the drop rate of divine crystal is constant."


    "To increase the drop rate of these two items, we must increase the power of the divine beasts. I can do so by removing some of my restrictions on them. But if that is done, the divine beasts will be able to grow, so they will be proactive in hunting gods."


    "Now vote to increase the benefits of hunting divine beasts, taking note that the position of hunter and prey might change because of this decision. You have one minute to make a decision. You can vote for it, against it, or abstain from voting."


    This decision was very easy for Legion. They are not hunting, so they surely don''t want the others that are hunting to gain benefits from it. Legion-1 voted no quickly.


    Gemmis spoke after a minute. "The votes are 541 for, 438 against, and 26 abstained."


    "It has been decided. The power of divine beasts around Gemmis will increase so as to increase the benefits of hunting them."


    The loud bell went off again. This time it rang twice. The second time was louder than the first.


    Gemmis continued after this. "On to the third agenda. This is the matter of the ancient titans."


    This grabbed everyone''s attention. This was what they came here for in the first ce, so they were eager to gain more information about it.

 Chapter 1782: The Ancient Titans.

    Chapter 1782: The Ancient Titans.


    ?


    Gemmis didn''t disappoint them and didn''t keep them waiting for long. It said, "The ancient titans are elemental creatures created for disasters and apocalypses. They are nature''s wrath and response to the increase of the burden of parasites on the world. Whenever the mortal races begin to rise in power by stealing the power of mana, the ancient titans will awaken to stop them."


    "The ancient titans are also dangerous to gods. In fact, their first target is always the gods, as you are the reason why mortals gained ess to Mana in the first ce. They are so dangerous that they are one of the reasons why thest era of the gods ended. With the death of all gods in the divine realm, the ancient titans went to sleep."


    "They have only been asleep. They are not gone. The area they sleep in bes the elemental zones that spawn divine beasts because their divinity is returned to nature. So each time you kill a divine beast, the divinity they possess is not dropped because they get returned to the ancient titans. This strengthens them as they sleep."


    "In the situation where the number of godlings reaches a million and the number of true gods reaches ten thousand, the ancient titans begin to awaken. That''s the situation we are currently in."


    "It will be the weak ancient titans that awaken at first. But if those weak ones are killed, their divinity will be sent to other slumbering titans to awaken them and make them stronger. So the more titans the gods kill, the stronger the remaining titans be until they be strong enough to wipe out all the gods."


    "In summary, the ancient titans represent an increasingly dangerous enemy that the gods have to fight forever until the gods are wiped out or until a god bes powerful enough to stop the transfer of divinity to slumbering titans after the death of divine beasts and titans. That way the Titans will stop growing stronger and will instead weaken."


    "Unfortunately, this is a very difficult requirement. None of the gods in thest era could fulfill this. Maybe one of you will be able to achieve it. Maybe not. But in the meantime, we have to continue fighting the ancient titans."


    Every god had be solemn after Gemmiz was done. The more they heard, the more they frowned. Starting from the moment they heard that the ancient titans would target them instead of the mortals, to the point where they became informed of the identity of the thief that had been stealing their divinity whenever they killed divine beasts, and right up to the fact that the titans will be increasingly stronger over time.


    Legion in particr were intrigued by the ancient titans just as they considered them a threat to their mission of acquiring divinity. They are intrigued because they have never heard of creatures like the ancient titans.


    Legion-1 thought to himself, "A whole race of beings that be stronger the more of them are killed sounds interesting. The tyrant race would have been more dangerous if they had that ability."


    Legion-3 agreed. "It is no wonder the previous gods died. They were fighting an uphill battle. They had to grow stronger faster than they could kill the ancient titans. That''s going to be very difficult to do if they have to kill the titans quickly."


    The gods were ruminating on this knowledge in their own way too. Some chatted with each other while others were silent in contemtion.


    A god asked Gemmis, "What is the solution? Surely you didn''t call us here just to inform us of this. You could have sent this information through our angels. What do we have to vote for?"


    Gemmis replied, "The solution is that one of you bes capable of stopping the transfer of divinity. There''s no voting for that. What we have to vote for right now is the fortification of Gemmis."


    "Things aren''t all bad about the ancient titans. Killing them will grant titan crystals. Titan crystals are useful for a lot of things. The most important one being its effect on mortals. You already know that divine crystals can improve the stats of mortals. Titan crystals can do more than that. They can grant the coveted ss of Hero to mortals."


    "Amongst many other benefits, heroes are mortals that can travel between the mortal and divine realms. They are the most likely mortals to be gods in the future. So if you n to expand your pantheon with loyal surbodinates, you will need them. Heroes are also immortal, as their lives are bound to their gods."


    "As for those who were among the first 100 godlings in the northern realm, you won''t need these titan crystals to use your reward for that achievement. But getting more titan crystals doesn''t hurt."


    "So killing ancient titans can bring benefits to you as well as buy a brief moment of respite before the next titan awakens. After all, it won''t do for another titan to awaken and wreck havoc together with the one still alive. So it is a must that they be killed."


    "But in the case where you have all failed to kill the ancient titan, it will first try to destroy me. In fact, the ancient titans always went for the divine cities closest to them. If you don''t want to lose me, it is best that you fortify me. For that, I need divinity."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "The more divinity you give me, the stronger I will be. If you give me enough, I will be able to kill the titans when they get close enough to me. If I don''t get enough divinity, then I won''t be able to kill them, and I will be destroyed by them."


    "This contribution is going to be equal among all the gods. We will have a series of votes to determine how much divinity each god in Gemmis has to contribute. If they fail to give it, then some of the privileges they enjoy in the city, such as protection, will be revoked."

 Chapter 1783: Protection Donation.

    Chapter 1783: Protection Donation.


    ?


    "Take note that the divinity is not just to defend myself against the ancient titans. It will also strengthen me enough to defend against any other threat that gets close to the divine city. I might not know how much divinity you have to give me to strengthen me enough to defeat the titan that is currently waking up, but I know for certain that there will be other threats in the future other than the ancient titans."


    "So now we will vote. You will decide how much I am worth to you. If you are ready to live outside in the wild without my protection, then you can disregard my safety. You can also disregard my safety if you are sure that you can defeat the ancient titan. We will always have this vote when a new threat appears or a new ancient titan awakens."


    A list appeared in front of the gods. It started from 1 divinity to 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000 up to 1,000,000. Each god had to vote starting from the first amount on the list. If the majority votes for it, then it will pass. Then the vote on the next amount will be tallied.


    Every god had to vote on every amount. There was no option to abstain. Those who refused to vote automatically voted against it. The highest amount that passes will be the amount that every god has to give.


    Legion-1 voted for 1, 10, and 100. As for the rest, he voted against them. They were just too expensive for him.


    He would like to vote for 1,000, but Legion doesn''t have that kind of divinity. Even though all nine of them are counted as one god, 1,000 divinity is still not something they can give monchntly.


    1,000 divinity is the maximum amount of divinity that godlings and other god seeds can have. It is also 10 levels for true gods. So it is a lot to give. They also don''t think the other gods will be able to afford 1,000 divinity. Especially since most of the gods in Gemmis are godlings. The vote was announced after a minute. Gemmis summarized it for everyone to hear: "The call to contribute 1 divinity passed. 10 divinity passed. 100 divinity also passed. But 1,000 didn''t pass, and the rest didn''t either. So it is decided. Every god in Gemmis must contribute 100 divinity in less than 24 hours or lose the services of Gemmis."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The bell rang again. This time it rang for three times. The third time was the loudest.


    It didn''te to Legion as a surprise that the gods agreed on 100. Everyone here is a true god who is the leader of other gods. 100 divinity is not a problem for them. It is literally one level to them. They can all afford it, and to a certain extent, so can the godlings.


    "Now for the fourth andst agenda item for today''s session. The matter of the protection range of Gemmis. There have been manyints by gods to extend the protection of Gemmis into its surroundings so that it will be easily essible. Theints state that the four gates are an inadequate channel of ess to Gemmis."


    "So we are to vote to extend the zone of non-violence into the surrounding area or vote to keep the arrangement we currently have."


    Legion-8 and every other god were presented the option to make the surroundings of Gemmis, specifically the area 10 meters away from its walls, fall under its protections.


    This is important because, despite Gemmis being alreadyrge enough, the only way to get ess to it is through its gates. Those same gates can be blocked or stalked.


    So if someone is returning from a hunt, weakened and near death, others can take advantage of them by waiting at the gates. But if the protection is extended beyond the walls of Gemmis, the gods won''t need to return to Gemmis anymore to gain its protection.


    And those who like to ambush gods will have to seal off Gemmispletely to do so. That is currently impossible to do.


    Legion-1 thought to himself, "This will change the dynamics of hunting."


    As an efficient hunter who thinks taking advantage of others is good, he would like to keep the current system. But as someone who might end up in the position of the hunted, the extended protection is weed.


    He ultimately decided to vote for the extension. It is because he is not doing much hunting recently, and he would like to make things difficult for those who hunt.


    It might be a shortsighted decision, but he believes that if he can''t have something, no one else should have it either. In this case, if he can''t ambush gods to take advantage of them, then no one should be able to.


    Gemmis spoke to them after a minute of voting, "The votes havee in. 735 voted for it. 212 voted against it. 55 abstained. The vote to extend the protection has passed."


    This came as a surprise to him. He didn''t expect such arge majority to vote for the extension. He was thinking about it as the bell rang four times.


    "I guess everyone cares about their safety more than I thought."


    What he didn''t know was that the true gods have stopped using hunting to acquire divinity. They don''t even hunt for divine beasts anymore. This is because the stakes have be too high.


    Hunting for anything right now means losing the protection of Gemmis and risking death at the hands of stronger gods. Losing half of their divinity is not something they can recover from easily considering that the half of level 100 is 5,000 divinity. That''s already five times the total divinity of Godlings.


    This heavy loss is why there was an unspoken arrangement not to attack each other randomly when they go out to hunt. But that didn''t work because of gods like Crystal Hoard, who likes attacking anything in sight whether they were gods or divine beasts.

 Chapter 1784: Major Hatred.

    Chapter 1784: Major Hatred.


    ?


    The risking of losing so much divinitybined with the little loot gained from hunting divine beasts made the gods to stop leaving Gemmis all together.


    They also hated Crystal Hoard a lot. That hatred is probably why so many god kings voted against Crystal Hoard being rewarded for being at the top of the rankings.


    "This concludes the voting session of this divine council meeting. You can continue to chat amongst each other or you can leave. Please make sure to make your contribution on time and acquire more information about the ancient titans from your angels if you n to hunt them. Fare well."


    Therge gem disappeared, leaving the god kings looking at each other.


    Crystal Hoard took that opportunity to shout, "Who are the losers that voted to keep my due as the most powerful god? Show yourself if you have the guts!"


    932 gods had voted against it, while only 13 voted for it. The ratio was 9 against 1. It is an overwhelming decision by the majority of the true gods to rob the best of them of more resources. So she didn''t have to ask the so-called losers to show themselves. Odds are she can point them out herself.


    If Legion were one of the best on the rankings, he too would be pissed. But he is not so he can gloat at her misfortune. He did so. Then he ignored her for other pressing matters.


    There was already a new prompt in his virtual inbox. It was about the request to contribute 100 divinity. He decided to pay immediately. Then he left the council hall.


    He reappeared in the space of his hotel. The others were waiting for him. He didn''t need to tell them about what happened in the divine council since they already knew. Instead, he moved on to what they are currently working on.


    He didn''t ask about the progress of their investigation either. He said, "I think we should take care of this before the ancient titan awakens. Then we will be able to focus all of our power on the ancient titan."


    The other clones agreed with him. So they used the 1,000 divinity he just acquired and the ones they had stored to shore up their power so that they would have enough power to perform what they had been holding off on.


    They have made a lot of progress in the past year. Their Authority has increased to 10,635. At present, they receive an average of 10,000 prayers per day. That means, as they have ample divine crystals, they can use their altar to produce 100 divinity every day.


    Most of their believers pray more than once per day, but it is not every time they pray that it is registered as prayers. This is because of the level of their faith and sincerity.


    Some of them are just going through the motions of prayers. They don''t truly care about their prayers being heard or not. Their prayer sessions only count as one prayer after three times of praying. Their most faithful believers, on the other hand, give them three valid prayers every day.


    In a year, they have been able to mine a total of 22,300 divinity. The 1,000 they gained from Crystal Hoarder makes it 23,300.


    This is arge amount of divinity for one god. But they are 9. At present, it is only enough to push two of them to level 100. They did that and decided to upgrade their divine spells and acquire the others they needed.


    Their second wave of expenses on divine spells cost them 1,800 divinity leaving them 1,300. Then they sold 1,000 divinity of that at an exchange rate of 100 divine crystals to 1 divinity to acquire 100,000 divine crystals, which they used to upgrade their unique weapon. This made it a total of two times they have evolved it.


    (Myriad Armament)


    (Tier 2(Evolvable): 0/1,000,000)


    (Strength: x1.5)


    (Ability: Can change form and has many sub-parts)


    (Description: A weapon fit for a being with many forms)


    (Non-transferable)


    It cost them 10,000 divine crystals to evolve it to Tier 1. It took 10 times that amount to evolve it to Tier 2, and it will require 10 times the 100,000 divine crystals they just spent to evolve it again.


    It can now boost their strength by 50%. It came at the cost of 1,000 divinity, but they think it is worth it. It is especially worth it now that they have a level 100 true god with max stats. That 50% will be able to show its full power until they can evolve again.


    NAME: Number 1/Number 2


    RACE: True God (Orc)


    TITLE: First/ Second Crown.


    TIER: 1


    LEVEL: 100


    DIVINE ENERGY: 10,635


    STRENGTH: 1,000/7,000


    ENDURANCE: 8,000/1,000


    SPEED: 1,000/2,000


    AUTHORITY: 10,635


    DIVINE ABILITIES: DIVINE NETWORK. INSIGHT. BLESSING. GREATER MIRACLE. PRIESTHOOD. ORACLE POSSESSION. SOUL HARVESTING. GOD KING AUTHORITY.


    DIVINE SPELLS: AVATAR. DIVINE STRIKE(2), DIVINE SHIELD(2), DIVINE HOLD(2). DIVINE STRENGTH(2). DIVINE SPEED(2). DIVINE ENDURANCE(2). DIVINE JUDGEMENT (2). DIVINE RETRIBUTION (2). DIVINE CRIPPLING (2).n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    WEAPONS: Myriad Armament (Strength x 1.5). Armor 1 (Endurance x1.1). Foot 1 (Speed x1.1). Shield 1 (Endurance x1.1).


    Legion-1 is still the designated shield. As for Legion-2, they put half of his total divinity in strength. It is because he will be their major means of attack and because of their unique


    weapon.


    They need a lot of divinity to take full advantage of the 50% boost that Myriad Armament gives them. At 7,000 divinity, Legion-2 will effectively have an attack power of 10,500. So someone that put all of their divinity in Endurance will still take 500 worth of damage from


    them.


    If they add the upgraded version of their Divine Strength spell, which grants them a boost of 20% to their strength for 100 DE, their strength will increase to and their attack power will be beyond 13,500.

 Chapter 1785: Combination Tactics

    Chapter 1785: Combination Tactics


    ?


    With an attack power of 13,500, unless someone puts their whole divinity in Endurance and supports themselves with a tier 2 Divine Strength spell using an Authority of 17,500, they will always receive damage from them.


    This arrangement has made Legion-2''s firepower lethal, but it has crippled his survivability. He can only rely on their Divine Shield spell to increase his protection against attacks.


    The extra 2,000 protection from their Authority wille a long way in keeping him alive. But it is nowhere near enough to where it needs to be to defend him from the attacks of strong gods, as any god with 5,000 in strength will be able to kill him with 6 attacks.


    So it is not going to be enough if they chance upon a god like Crystal Hoard. That''s why they have Legion-1. An Endurance of 8,000 plus a boost of 2,130 from Authority means a god will need to put most of their divinity in Strength and have the assistance of Divine spells to harm him.


    It is possible for a god to be a threat to Legion-1 and it is possible for another god to be a threat to Legion-2. But it is impossible for the same god to be a threat to the two of them.


    Their configuration of divinity has ensured that any god that is a threat to Legion-1 will be easy prey to Legion-2. The same is true for Legion-2.


    So with the two of them working together, it is nearly impossible for a single god to threaten them. It is why they feel that they can finally go out to hunt without fear of encountering Crystal Hoard.


    It is not something they want to do in such a hurry. They were nning to increase their Authority as it is currently their weakest aspect.


    Their authority is so weak now that they are true gods that their divine spells are unlikely to damage anyone since most gods are not like Legion-2 who put only 1,000 divinity in Endurance. Most gods put 4,000 in what they consider their most important attribute. So an attack power of 2,000 won''t be able to harm them at all.


    The only useful spells they have are the new Divine Crippling, Divine Judgment, Divine Retribution and their old Divine Hold spells. It is because these spells rely on Authority to show their effects. They don''t interact with divinity at all.


    So they were hoping to increase their Authority first. The other thing they would like to fix is the uselessness of their God King Authority.


    (God King Authority: An improvement to authority to gods who have been elevated above other gods.)


    (Description: Improvement equals to 1 + (Number of Gods in Pantheon-1)/(100))


    (Current Improvement: x1.0)N?v(el)B\\jnn


    It is a good divine ability, but they can only look at it without gaining any benefit from it. Currently, their Pantheon can allow a maximum of 100 gods. All 9 of them count as 1, so they gain o boost to their Authority of the maximum 99% they can get. It is disheartening, but they couldn''t dwell on it too much.


    Legion-2 said, "Let''s start as soon as possible. We are running out of time."


    Legion-1 nodded and created an avatar to send to the mortal realm. The rest of them also created avatars to descend to the mortal realm. Only Legion-9 remained and continued on forging.


    They have discovered that forging is no easy feat. Thebined mental prowess and skill acquisition of all nine of them over a year has only made them seed in creating divine artifacts with a 10% boost to their divinity. They can only imagine how poorly the other gods must be managing.


    What they managed to create is also a divine artifact that can''t be upgraded. If they want something stronger, they will have to dismantle what they have forged and reforge it. Unfortunately, they fail a lot of times to recover the power of the previous ones after dismantling it. It shows that their current sess is more due to luck than skill.


    On the other hand, building divine weapons for mortals has been very easy. A little divinity here and there can create the most outstanding divine artifacts for mortals.


    Unfortunately, those divine artifacts are like the ones they got from their mortals. They only add a fixed amount of divinity to them. They can''t offer a percentage boost. It will require too much divinity to make them match the power of divine artifacts that grant a percentage boost.


    Since they don''t have a lot of divinity to spare, they decided not to use it to forge weapons. They decided to focus on forging that requires rather than a lot of divinity.


    Currently, there are three different materials they can use to forge weapons. They are divine gold, soul gold, and divinity gold. Soul gold and divinity gold are more powerful, but they are more difficult to work with. Any attempt using them has only led to the creation of divine artifacts with fixed boosts.


    Right now, if they use 1,000 divinity gold to produce the weapon, they can gain a boost of 100 to an attribute of their choice. It is highly inefficient, but if they had a lot of divinity to burn, they would use this method.


    On the other hand, forging with divine gold is easier to work with. They have managed to create a divine artifact with a 10% boost using only 1,000 divine gold.


    So the choice is divinity for a fixed boost of 100 or divine crystals for a boost of 10%. Considering that divinity is 100 times more precious than divine crystals, one can assess the efficiency of working with divine gold over divinity gold.


    This is the best that they can achieve. They want to achieve more, which is why they have Legion-9 remain behind forging. That and in case they need backup for unexpected situations in what they are about to do.

 Chapter 1786: State Of Affairs.

    Chapter 1786: State Of Affairs.


    ?


    There were no sounds as Legion-9 worked. His work was silent, as no hammer was striking against an anvil, and he wasn''t actually using a heated forge or needing his hands for anything to make divine weapons. It was their altar that made the weapon for them.


    They just have to give the altar instructions, such as the different steps of materialbination, individual material ratio, temperature, duration of heat, density, and shaping. Each of these instructions affects the oue of their product.


    They haven''t found the necessary material ratio to mix divinity gold with the other raw materials or the steps needed tobine them, which is causing them to fail at creating a superior product with the more powerful material. But by eliminating the other materials and focusing on divine gold, they have removed the need for different steps of material


    combination and ratio ofbination.


    This allowed them to focus more on studying the temperature of divine gold, the duration of the heating, and the required density after pressurization and shaping techniques.


    Even so, there are still a lot of factors to consider. But they are not impatient. They understand that forging must have a set of rules that they are not privy to. One year is smallpared to the amount of time it took them to learn their firstw in the void universe, so they don''t think they are going too slowly.


    What they are impatient about currently is oveing the obstacles in the mortal realm and increasing their Authority quickly. So as soon as Legion-1''s avatar descended, he went searching for the Oracles of the true gods beyond his territory.


    The Bull Horn tribe has be bigger. This is due to their victory in expansion over the year. These victories have led to the increase in Authority of the 9 Crowns. Unfortunately, it is not nearly enough for them.


    They could have had more believers, but some tribes resisted, which led to violence. The war between tribes caused a lot of suffering, pain, and death, so the rate at which they gained believers has been slow.


    Maybe if they had moved slowly and used time to grind down the resistance of the mortals, they would have gained more believers per tribe. But that method is too slow, and they are clearly in a rush.


    Fortunately, orcs are not strangers to violence. In fact, they respect it and are more receptive to it than peaceful negotiations. If they were humans, for example, they would bear some grudges even if they lost.


    Actually, humans seem to bear a lot more grudges and hatred when they lose. Legion heard about this and the struggle that human gods were going through. Their orcs, on the other hand, don''t hold much of a grudge against their victor, especially if it is supported by the divine.


    Orcs respect the strong. If a chief is weak, he will be reced immediately. In the past, this used to be by death. But due to a modicum of civilization, they don''t need to kill to rece the chief. Just like so, if a god is weak, then he or she will be reced by a stronger god.


    The 9 Crowns have proven themselves to be the stronger god, so they deserve their faith. It doesn''t matter that they were subdued by violence. Their previous gods will remain false gods, while the 9 Crowns will remain the one true god, until they are defeated.


    All they need is time for total society saturation of the tribes they had captured and time for reproduction. Then the potential of their territory will be fully realized. But they don''t have that time. They have to look outwards for new sources of Authority.


    The Bull Horn tribe has not gotten big enough to cover all thend they have avable, but they are already in conflict with the tribes at their border. It is a significant conflict because those tribes are supported by true gods. So the mortal army can''t defeat them on their own. They need the help of their god.


    Their current territory is in the shape of a rectangle. It is a rectangle at the very edge of the northern domain. Behind them is something they can''t ovee, and in front of them is a fortified mountain fortress limiting their expansion.


    Because of these two blockades, they have only been able to expand sideways. So the breath of their territory has remained fixed while the length has increased. But the tribes of the other true gods have intervened to stop the increase of the length of their territory.


    They can''t ovee the tall mountain range behind them. It is so tall that it reaches the divine realm. As for the blockade in front of them, it is the barrier that separates the human territories from the orcs''s.


    If the Bull Horn''s tribe is to expand forward, they would be expanding towards the center of the continent. The center of the continent happens to be upied by the human race.


    Legion is ready to fight for Authority, but a fight with the humans is not ptable because the Bull Horn tribe is currently nked by enemies and because humans are not their source of faith. They don''t even want the humans if they could have them. The humans are too problematic for them.


    So rather than fight a wasteful war for human territories, they would ratter target the orc true gods nearby. It is not something that they have just started doing. They have just been taking it slowly because of caution.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    They have enjoyed some session trying to get rid of the religion of the other true gods. But it hase at a cost. They have lost 4 priests out of 10 due to the attack from all sides. Those are 4 tools that they can never recover despite taking a lot of precautions.


    Their enemies have tried to kill Warshaw several times, but they managed to save her through possession and descending in time. Now the remaining priests can''t leave Warshaw''s side and have to have an altar nearby for timely assistance, or they will be killed.

 Chapter 1787: Ransoming Oracles.

    Chapter 1787: Ransoming Oracles.


    ?


    It is not Legion''s style to be passive, so they have been taking the fight to their enemies. It is routine at this point. Once every day, they will attack one of the three true gods nking


    them.


    It is something of a slow and cautious grind against their enemies. By the looks of things, they are winning. If given time, they will surely be able to assimte the tribes at the edge of their territory. But they don''t have time.


    Everything is a race for gods. Especially now that the ancient titans are awakening. They don''t know what to expect. All they know is that more power can''t be a bad thing. So they are throwing a lot of caution to the wind and hitting their enemies with a hard blow.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    This time Legion-1 is picking the most powerful enemy on their left side to attack. This is the only true god on their left side. The other two true gods are on their right.


    Because this god was too far away when Legion became true gods, she survived the culling that Legion visited on the god seeds around them. Because this true god was the first in her region to be a true god, she used the advantage of power to gain more advantages in Authority.


    Unlike Legion, who killed every Oracle around their territory, this true god kidnapped the oracles of other gods and took them hostage. Then she used the Oracles to pressure the gods into doing her bidding.


    She killed the Oracles of the stubborn gods and wiped out their religion while she forced the obedient ones to meet her demands. One of those demands is joining her pantheon when they be true gods.


    But she didn''t let them be true gods yet. That''s because when they do, they will have the power to resist her and will be able to create another Oracle even if she kills the hostage with her.


    There''s also the fact that they can challenge her even if they join her pantheon. They may be able to work together to surmount her position as god king. After all, being the creator of a Pantheon doesn''t mean someone else can''t steal it from you.


    It will be difficult to take her position from her, but as long as they are stronger than the god king, they can challenge the god king and take his throne. So she is waiting to be a domain god before allowing her surbodinate gods to be true gods.


    She hasn''t admitted to this, but her instructions, forcing the god seeds to remain godlings after forcing them to promise to join her Pantheon when they be true gods, have clued Legion in to what she is waiting for.


    Legion will admit that it is a wise n. Which is why she is the most dangerous god to them. They have to get rid of her before she bes a domain god or allows the other gods around her to be true gods and join her pantheon.


    She is currently weaker than them in terms of Authority because she allowed the religions of the other gods to exist. But that won''t be the case for long if she gains a 99% increase in Authority. So they have to get rid of her soon.


    Legion-1 thought to himself on his way to territory, "It is a pity that there''s no sure way to corner these gods in the divine realm or we would get rid of them easily."


    He would like to go over and kill the main bodies of the gods. Unfortunately,petition between gods in the mortal realm is not straightforward.


    Not only is it difficult to find the god, killing them, be it their main bodies or avatars, will only be a temporary victory that will have little effect on the progress of the religious war. No matter what they do, unless they kill the Oracles, the gods won''t die and their religion won''t suffer much.


    Killing their avatars is even more of a waste because they won''t even get a temporary death like the ones they get for killing the gods in the divine realm. It is only until they kill all their Oracles in the mortal realm that they can have victory.


    The other option is to destroy their altar in the divine realm. But that is even more difficult than finding an oracle that has decided to hide. They can''t employ awork of spies like they do to infiltrate the religions of their opponents and find out the location of the oracles.


    They don''t even know the identity of the god in the divine realm and where they reside. So destroying the divine altar is not an option. They can only rely on their spies.


    But spies take time to get useful information. It is why they haven''t been able to eliminate the other true gods despite being stronger than them.


    The best they have had to settle for is pressuring the god in the mortal realm until they lose too much faith. Their Authority will fall, which will reduce their power and maximum divine energy.


    Without faith, they won''t be able to replenish their divine energy or create divinity. This way, the survivability of the gods in the divine realm will reduce, and they willg behind until they are no longer a threat.


    They also won''t be able to protect their oracles once Legion finds them if they don''t have divine energy. Unfortunately, this kind of subtle warfare is slow and needs arge amount of investment in divine energy.


    The reason he didn''t kill her when he first became a true god was because she was too far away. It didn''t seem worth it to go that far, as it required divine energy to maintain his avatar. Plus, his tribe wouldn''t be able to assimte the territory fast enough to prevent someone closer from taking advantage of his work. But now he has to spend the divine energy he didn''t want to spend in the first ce to go to her territory, and he has to spend it every day just to harass her.

 Chapter 1788: A Mystery Weapon.

    Chapter 1788: A Mystery Weapon.


    ?


    Sure, the distance he needs to cover has diminished greatly now that their territory is close to each other, but the cost in divine energy bes significant if he has to do so every day.


    This time, Legion is spending 8 times that amount because 8 of them are going to attack her at once instead of sending one clone at a time. It is truly a lot of investment in hopes for a quick resolution to the conflict.


    Fortunately, all of his efforts have not been fruitless. He has managed to kill one Oracle of every true god. This is mostly thanks to having more than one body. One clone would pursue the oracle while another holds back the god''s avatar.


    But that''s not going to work anymore because the gods have hidden their second Oracle so that they wouldn''t be able to find it. That has made spreading their religion slower, which has yed into their favor.


    Orcs are literally migrating to the territory of the 9 Crowns after hearing of his feats in fighting three false gods. The true gods are barely hanging on. Which is why the two true gods on their right chose to cooperate against the 9 Crowns.


    As for the most dangerous goddess on his left side, she too has hidden her second Oracle. But she has something else that he can target. She has the Oracles of the other gods as hostage. She had kept them hidden well. But the gods she is forcing to do her bidding are not of one mind with her.


    Hiding their Oracle meant that they couldn''t preach and expand their religion. Things were already bad before when their Oracles were hostages and had to preach that she was the one true god and they were her surbodinates.


    The orcs were more willing to worship the true god than the subordinate. Now they can''t even preach at all because of the harassment of the 9 Crowns. The 9 Crowns was slowly pushing them into a dead end. Something had to be done to end the conflict.


    The godlings were so desperate that one of them reached out to Legion through another true god. This traitor exposed the location of their hideout in exchange for the life of his Oracle. Legion took the deal and signed the divine contract to the effect. That''s why 8 of them are going together to wipe out their enemies in one fell swoop.


    They are very eager to put an end to their troubles, but they are still going to be cautious about how they go ahead with it. It is not even about their usual cautious nature.


    Their traitor has informed them that she has created a powerful divine weapon and has brought it to the mortal realm to use it to deal with him. It is truly something to be cautious of.


    Even so, they couldn''t help but be full of anticipation, both for the uing victory and the loot that they might have after their victory.


    Legion-1 said, "This better be good. We have brought out most of our firepower for this. It has to be worth it."


    Legion-2 said in anticipation, "Anything a true god has nned to use to deal with another true god in the mortal realm has to be good."


    Usually only one of the clones descends to attack the other true gods. This is to give them the illusion that the 9 Crowns is one god and only has one asional ally. But they have to be very serious today, as they can''t underestimate a powerful divine weapon.


    Fighting amongst gods in the mortal realm is through an exchange of divine spells. That means divinity is almost useless in the mortal realm. Only Authority matters. But she brought out a divine weapon to deal with them. They have to take the divine weapon that can change the dynamics seriously.


    They reached the edge of her territory and stopped. They made Legion-9 contact the traitor for an update on the situation. It was an act done through their cautious nature. They didn''t expect anything special. But they received more information that increased the severity of the situation.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The traitor just told them that her remaining Oracle has also arrived to use the divine weapon against them.


    It made the clones frown. Legion-2 wondered, "What is she nning?"


    Legion-3 asked, "Even if she destroys our avatar, it won''t affect us apart from the loss of some divine energy. Why would she want to invest so much to get so little in return?"


    Legion-2 was wondering the same. He asked, "Something seems fishy about this. Could it be that the traitor is fooling us?"


    Legion-1 shook his head and said, "That shouldn''t be so. He swore in the divine contract. But it is possible that he has false information or someone is deceiving him."


    They asked their angel to confirm the authenticity of the divine contract. It replied, "The divine contract will be enforced by the world based on what it knows. Currently, it knows that the traitor isn''t working with your enemy in any way in God''s Domain. But the same cannot be said about outside God''s Domain."


    Legion-2 didn''t like that answer, "So it is possible that they are working together to pull one over us."


    Legion-4 advised, "Either way, I propose that we take necessary precaution."


    They have a lot of reasons to be cautious. On their side is the investment of 100 divine energy to create an avatar. On the other side is the investment of a divine weapon and the life of an oracle.


    They can guess what the purpose of the Oracle is for. A divine weapon, especially a very powerful one, cannot be used by mortals. They know that. But an oracle can use it when they are possessed by their god. That will certainly give the true god an advantage over them, but it will also increase the burden on the Oracle and the subsequent loss of lifespan.


    So not only is she risking the life of her Oracle, she is willing to expend the oracle''s life span to use the divine weapon.

 Chapter 1789: The Secret Weapon.

    Chapter 1789: The Secret Weapon.


    ?


    She has invested a lot, but it doesn''t make sense to them for her to risk so much because even if she wins, she will only kill their avatar. And if she loses, she will lose her divine weapon and herst remaining Oracle.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The investment and the reward don''t appear proportional at all, so it looks like she has a stupid decision. But they don''t think she is stupid. She is an Immortal after all. She can''t be so stupid as to risk so much for so little. That means there must be something else that is going to gain that they can''t see. So they decided to make preparations for their uncertainty.


    The 8 of them were flying at 3,000 meters per second. It is almost ten times the speed of sound. It is nowhere the speed they are capable of in the void universe as immortals, but it is exceptional here in God''s Domain.


    Their passing is silent, as their avatars are invisible to most beings and intangible. Not even air was disturbed in their passing, so they didn''t create any signs of their passage or alert their target to their presence. Even so, only one avatar continued along to the site of the hidden Oracles. The rest didn''t follow. They decided to stay back and react based on the situation.


    Legion-1 was the one who volunteered to go. He has protected himself with the tier 2 divine shield spell. It grants him a defense of 20% of his Authority at the cost of 100 DE.


    It is necessary to protect himself because this is not his true body. This avatar can only bare damage of 100, and it doesn''t have any divinity, so it doesn''t have endurance to resist attacks. That means it can pop with the slightest blow.


    The shield around him gave him a slight confidence. Then he moved around to look for the Oracles. He didn''t need to look far. They were in huts around ake hidden in the forest.


    He discovered something odd immediately. There were 10 Oracles instead of 8. He can ount for the extra one if there are nine. That would be the Oracle of the true god since there ought to be 8 oracles belonging to the 8 godlings that she is controlling forcefully.


    He asked himself, "Has she gained the help of another true god or has she subjugated another godling?" Most importantly, why didn''t the traitor inform us of this critical information?"


    As it is, he can''t tell which of the two new Oracles belongs to her, much less identify which one belongs to a true god or a godling. This is a problem that can be solved easily with insight.


    But using insight is likely to alert the gods behind the Oracles to his presence. That will give away the element of surprise that he can use to his advantage.


    He decided to attack first. After all, if he eliminates them first, then it doesn''t matter what god they belong to. As long as they are dead, their threat will be neutralized.


    He said to the other clones, "Let''s act now."


    The other clones won''t join him yet. Their job right now is to use a greater miracle to cause the animals in the forest to stampede towards the hut.


    The animals will take up the attention of the oracles. Then he will take advantage of them as they are trying to save themselves. Only then will the other clones rush into the ensuing battle. The chaos they will create will surely affect whatever n she has prepared for them. But no sooner had the clones used their divine spell had one of the oracles sensed it. The eyes of the oracle glowed, and she raised her head in the direction of the clones. It was the direction they had just used a divine spell.


    Legion was taken aback. "How did she sense it? This god must have possessed the Oracle for a long time in preparation for this moment, or the Oracle has an ability that is very sensitive to danger and the use of divine spells."


    "If it is the first, then this god must have invested a lot waiting for us. If it is thetter, then this oracle must die today."


    They were still reeling from the fact that they were discovered the moment they made a move, but that didn''t stop Legion-1 from attacking. A divine strike shot forward to kill the oracle. But she blocked it with a raise of her hand.


    Legion-1 received a notification.


    -You Hit ??? with Divine Strike(2).


    -Judgement: Attack Fail.


    -Damage: -ohp.


    She had cast a divine spell, and her authority was high enough to block his attackpletely. But what surprised Legion more was that the hood covering the head of the Oracle fell when they acted. What was disyed was the face of a goblin. It was not an orc.


    Legion-1 felt an intuition of danger immediately. "This is not Tempest''s Oracle. What is the oracle of a goblin true god doing here?"


    The identity of the extra oracle as a goblin confirmed that the oracle didn''t belong to Tempest as she is an Orc goddess, not a goblin goddess. This goblin was also able to block his attack, which is something that a mortal can''t do, not unless they are possessed by a god with a higher Authority than him.


    This means that not only has Tempest gotten the help of another god, she has gotten the help of a goblin god who has more authority than them. This is worrying in itself. But things got worse.


    The other new Oracle also lifted her head from her hut and looked at him in the sky. It was an orc Oracle and it was possessed.


    She said to him, "I hope you like the secret weapon that I have prepared for you. I put in a lot of effort for it."


    He said in realization, "We have been deceived."

 Chapter 1790: Danger! Danger!

    Chapter 1790: Danger! Danger!


    ?


    It won''t be the first time that the wool would be pulled over their eyes so he didn''t panic. He wasn''t paying attention to Tempest either because she clearly is not the most dangerous enemy here.


    The goblin Oracle had risen to the air to face him. It shouldn''t be possible for mortals to fly. Even possessed mortals can''t do that. Not unless they have a tool for flying with them.


    The goblin goddess said to him, "You are very good. You tricked me earlier of 1,000 divinity gold. Who would have thought you would dare to pull a fast one on me? Fortunately, not all orc gods are criminals like you."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The voice that came out of the small goblin oracle was majestic and loud. It was not something a small goblin should be capable of. It is also a voice that they have heard several times before. They heard it just earlier today.


    Legion-1 didn''t attack the goblin because he knew he couldn''t kill her. If he couldn''t harm her earlier with his spell, then he wouldn''t be able to kill her oracle. He just doesn''t have enough Authority to do so on his own.


    The best thing to do was to wait and survive the wait. In time, her possession of the Oracle will weaken the goblin and probably lead to its death.


    Unfortunately, waiting is not going to be easy for him to do. He can tell that the oracle is very dangerous right now. His intuition can also tell that this danger is rted to the spear that the goblin Oracle is holding.


    It is an unreasonable feeling that the danger of the spear will lead to catastrophic consequences if he doesn''t make himself scarce, so he decided not to wait. He decided to cancel his avatar immediately. His figure began to break apart.


    Unfortunately, it will take a second before his avatar can leave the mortal realmpletely. That is more than enough time for Crystal Hoard to make her move. The divine weapon she brought for this operation revealed its power.


    The spear began to produce light as it turned into a golden spear in her hands. It is so powerful that holding it is enough for a mortal to fly. It was truly worthy of being the reward for being the first Godling.


    She threw the spear at Legion-1''s receding figure. It turned into a ray of golden light and struck his dissolving body. It didn''t prate and pass through his body like a normal weapon would. It sank into his avatar as if his avatar were arge pool of water with an unknown depth.


    Both Legion-1 and the spear disappeared from the mortal realm. In the divine realm, Legion- 1''s body began to glow. First, his eyes lit up with golden light from within. Then his body exploded into golden dust as the golden light became too much for his body to contain.


    The golden spear appeared from where he died and flew towards the altar that was trying to resurrect Legion-1. Not only was it not content with killing Legion-1, it also wanted to stop his resurrection.


    It all happened so fast. Legion-1 began to produce light and died. Then the golden spear struck the altar and destroyed it. Their altar went up in another explosion, making two explosions that happened in a short amount of time.


    It was toote to stop either explosion. They didn''t even know that it was possible. They might not have even seen what killed Legion-1 and destroyed their altar if not for the fact that it turned on another clone and tried to kill it.


    The golden spear turned on Legion-9 and shot towards him. It was because he was the closest to the altar since he was busy trying to forge earlier. However, he wasn''t like Legion-1. He was very angry and not as defenseless as Legion-1.


    The golden spear was still fast, but he was prepared for it. Its current attack came from outside, not from within Legion-9, so he was able to cast divine hold on it. The spear stopped moving immediately.


    This stasis was shortlived because the spear struggled intensely and managed to break free after a second. Legion-9 had to cast another divine hold at 100 DE on it. This wasn''t going to hold it permanently, as it was still struggling. But it kept it from moving enough for him to use insight on it to determine what he was dealing with.


    (Name: Golden Light)


    (Type: God-Killing Weapon)


    (Tier 4 (Evolvable): 0/100,000,000)


    (Attack Power: 90% of Authority)


    (Ability: Destroys the body, avatar, and altar of a god as long as a target dies to this weapon.) (Description: This is a weapon for killing gods. If you can kill a god once with this weapon, you don''t need to fight them again to kill them again)


    Legion-9 frowned and said to the angel, "You didn''t tell us this kind of weapon existed."


    It shrugged its little shoulders and said, "I didn''t know it existed until now." I am just a subprogram. What I know is dependent on what you know."


    He sighed in frustration and asked, "How do we deal with something like this?"


    It was about to shrug again, but Legion-9 cut it off and said in anger, "Don''t tell me you don''t know."


    It nodded and said, "I don''t have any idea."


    It giggled at its clever trick while Legion-9 scowled with enough intensity to cook the little vermin. Unfortunately, his scowling was in the void universe. His puppet body in God''s Domain remaimed stoic as if he wasn''t frustrated by theck of help from the angel. Meanwhile, Crystal Hoarder was waiting in the mortal realm for her spear to return. Her Oracle has descended to the ground without the God killer spear to keep it levitating.


    She said triumphantly to Tempest, "What did I tell you? It was as easy as picking fruits." Tempest only nodded uneasily while thinking to herself, "He forced me. We didn''t have toe to this."

 Chapter 1791: Expensive Plan.

    Chapter 1791: Expensive n.


    ?


    Tempest sneered at her. It didn''t show on the face of her divine body so she was able toie with a straight face. "Don''t worry. As I said, I only came for the 9 Crowns. I''ll be out of your hair as soon as I get what I want."


    She is already thinking about what she will do after her special weapon returns. She is confident of its return because she was able to defend herself against the 9 Crowns


    attack. That means her Authority is greater than his.


    That means his true body won''t be able to resist the golden spear and will die. Then his altar will be destroyed, and he won''t be able to resurrect in a long time.


    She took a great risking here with the divine weapon. It is a risk that might lead her to losing such a powerful weapon. But she couldn''t give up on getting the 9 Crowns reward. After all, if the reward for merely being the first Godling is so good, the reward for being the first true god must be better. So she took the risk.


    It was as she had said, she already knew the location of the base of the 9 Crowns because Tempest came to her with that information. This was before the divine council that urred earlier today.


    Tempest had heard about her bounty looking for the 9 Crowns, but she had been resistant about helping a god as powerful as her. After all, she knew what the danger of having such a powerful god be her enemy could lead to. It wasn''t difficult to imagine because she was doing the same thing to the godlings close to her territory.


    So she didn''t want Crystal Hoard anywhere near her territory. Unfortunately, 9 Crowns pushed her to desperation until she was willing to have such a dangerous god as any. It was then that they decided to n an ambush for when the 9 Crowns wille and it seemed to have worked.


    Crystal Hoard had only wanted to confirm the information she got from Tempest earlier today when she announced that she was looking for information on the 9 Crowns at the divine council. She didn''t expect that the 9 Crowns himself would swindle her right in front of everyone. It is just one of the many sacrifices that she has had to make in her pursuit of him. This ambush cost them a lot. The ambush itself was easy to set up since Tempest and the traitor God knew each other in the void universe. But the rest of their preparations had been expensive to make.


    Crystal Hoarder had possessed her Oracle and waited for hours and was prepared to wait for days, so that she would be able to protect herself and make the first move as soon as possible.


    Now all they have to do is rush to the location of the 9 Crowns'' Oracles and kidnap them. That way, they will be able to force him to do their bidding when he eventually resurrect.


    The weapon is called god killer but it won''t kill the god permanently. Not when their Oracle is still alive. She will still have to do some things to make his death permanent.


    ording to her estimate, with the 9 Crowns'' altar destroyed, he would be respawned at the divine investiture. But that will take at least a week because it is not his altar resurrecting them. That is more than enough time to get his Oracles.


    She is sure her n has worked out. All she is waiting for is for the spear to return to her. Then she will venture into his territory and take his Oracle without any issue.


    The spear will return as long as the 9 crowns is dead. That should have happened so the spear should return anytime soon.


    But the spear didn''t return soon. What urred was that 3 other orc true gods arrived. Crystal Hoard saw them from afar. Their presence made her frown. She turned to her aplice and asked, "Who are they?"


    Tempest looked at the 3 clones and said, "I have never seen them before."


    Crystal Hoard asked, "Who are you?"


    "Our identity is not important. We are here to help the 9 Crowns."


    "It seems you are not confident enough to share your name. That''s good. It means you are wary of me. Here''s another good thing. We don''t have to fight. I can pay you double whatever the 9 Crowns has offered you.


    She is negotiating because she is waiting for her God killing weapon. Without golden light, even if she wins, she will only destroy the avatars of the three gods. But if she loses, she will lose her Oracle.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    It wasn''t in her n to fight 3 true gods after fighting the 9 Crowns and it certainly wasn''t in her n for golden light to take so long to return. So she wouldn''t mind if the negotiation actually diffuses the enmity with the three true gods.


    However, her hopes were dashed. The three of them were not tempted by her offer. The fingers of the 3 true gods lit up with the cold white light of a Divine Strike.


    Crystal Hoard was enraged but she retaliated. Her finger lit up too and she attacked them. She was afraid she was toote in reacting, but that wasn''t so. The strange thing is that even though she waste to attack, her attack was the first one to fly forward.


    Her face lit up when she noticed this detail. She thought to herself, "It seems they were only trying to scare me. They didn''t want to attack. But this good too. I have taken the initiative."


    If one of the avatar dies, that will leave two. She and Tempest will have a better chance against the remaining two.


    Unfortunately this didn''t happen. The 3 clones were indeed trying to scare her. She fell for their ruse when she attacked first. They attacked as soon as she attacked.


    A/N: Bonus chapter for Hansroy Nielsen. If you haven''t read DESTINY GAMES, please check it out.

 Chapter 1792: Combination Tactics.

    Chapter 1792: Combination Tactics.


    ?


    The 3 clones attacked Crystal Hoard at virtually the same time. It looked like they attacked the same time because the interval between the moment they attacked was too short.


    3 divine strikes flew towards her. They also used Insight to confirm her identity.


    NAME: Dancing Feet (Possessed)


    AGE: 23(50)


    FAITH: Crystal Hoard (Fanatic)


    CLASS: Oracle


    SUB-CLASS: Priest


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 100


    HP: 40/40


    CONSTITUTION: 4


    STRENGTH: 4


    VITALITY: 4


    SPEED: 4


    SPIRIT: 84


    FAITH: 100


    MANA: 1%


    ABILITIES: EYES OF FAITH, INSIGHT, SPIRIT COMMUNICATION, TREASURE SENSE. DIVINE SPELLS.


    STATUS: Happy And Fulfilled.


    Crystal Hoard not only has more Authority than them, but she is also a God king with a boost to her Authority so their attacks are bound to fail to bypass her defense. That''s why they let her attack first.


    One of the avatars was struck with her attack. Its divine shield crumbled as expected. The avatar winked out immediately.


    As for their attacks, the first attack was blocked by her shield. The second one was also blocked. But the barrier broke. This is because it had be weakened from the first attack.


    Crystal Hoard had rolled and dodged as soon as she attacked. But the three attacks didn''t miss her. The following two would have missed her had they been created at the same time as the first. But they weren''t. They was a slight dy that ensured that the following attacks were made after she moved so they trailed her position.


    This was out of her expectations, but she still reacted. She tried to create a new shield. Unfortunately, she has to wait for a second after her first divine spell to use another one.


    There is a cooldown between each use of divine spells. While divine spells can be cast nearly instantly, a god won''t be able to use another until after a second. This can create quite the problem if the god was the first one to attack.


    This meant her Oracle became open to the 3rd attack. It was struck without a shield to protect it. So it went up in smoke and ashes immediately.


    The death of the Oracle was not in vain. One of the avatars had been defeated. That left Tempest and two remaining avatars.


    Tempest had attackedter than Crystal Hoard, and her attack had been blocked by the shield of the avatar she attacked. That was proof that she couldn''t win this fight on her own.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    She would need other helpers who could n and attack in perfect synchronicity with her in order to defeat them. These strict requirements had to be met, or her helpers would be divided instead of working together as one.


    She didn''t have these kinds of helpers, so the two clones didn''t attack her. She rxed a little when she saw that they didn''t attack her.


    She said to them, "We can talk about this. I''m sure we cane to an arrangement."


    The fingers of the two lit up immediately. They said to her, "Disband your Pantheon and join up with the 9 Crowns'' Apocalypse Pantheon."


    Her face fell, and the glowing eyes of her Oracle flickered. She said, "Anything but that." One of the clones said, "We will ask you onest time. Consider your answer carefully and use the information that this request is what the 9 Crowns paid us for to influence your decision- making. We have to meet this request at all costs. We have signed the divine contract, so there can''t be any negotiation."


    The other clone also insisted, "Disband your Pantheon and join the Apocalypse Pantheon now."


    She didn''t reply. She was struggling to make a decision.


    They decided to urge her. "You have 10 seconds to make a decision. You have used 3 seconds already."


    She asked them, "Will I be allowed to be a domain god?"


    Joining a Pantheon is not something to be taken lightly, if only for the fact that leaving it is not easy. One will have to pay an exit fee. In her situation, she had set the exit fee for her pantheon at 100,000 divinity.


    This exit fee is not something she can change at anytime, even as the god king. She will need the consent of the other gods when they are about to join her pantheon or when they are already in the pantheon. But like right now, the consent can be forced.


    So if she doesn''t want her gods to leave, she can make things difficult for them. That means if the 9 Crowns doesn''t want her to leave the Apocalypse Pantheon, he too can make things very difficult for her.


    Not only that, a god in the Pantheon has to tell their believers about the god king. They have to let them know that there is a god above them. It must be in their religious text and be depicted in religious murals. So if she joins the 9 Crowns'' Pantheon, all of her believers will know that she is just a surbodinate god.


    Not only will that damage her prestige, it will also funnel her believers to the god king. That way the god king will gain an advantage in numbers of believers and the boost from the title of god king. It will be even more difficult to challenge the god king and win. These are things to consider seriously if she won''t be able to leave the pantheon easily. Not that she has much of a choice. So she decided to consider the bright side of this proposition. She thought to herself, "At least they are not going to kill me permanently. As long as I can be a domain god, I can suffer any injustice."


    Joining a Pantheon isn''tpletely a bad thing. At least it is not supposed to be. There are many benefits to be had by those in a pantheon other than the god king. The other gods in the pantheon gain the ability to descend to the mortal realm through the altars of other gods in the Pantheon. This way they can always help each other.

 Chapter 1793: More Pressing Matter.

    Chapter 1793: More Pressing Matter.


    ?


    There are other benefits, none of which she has enjoyed because she has been the only one in her Pantheon. So she is not losing much by giving up on it. What she cares about more than her Pantheon is the ability to acquire a domain. It is after all what every god came to this world to acquire. If she can''t get it, then she is willing to lose herst Oracle now and try to find another means of survival.


    Legion considered the question and replied, "You can be a domain god anytime you want. The 9 Crowns won''t ask you to limit your growth. But you have to tell him when you acquire information about a domain and you have to sell any extra domain you have to him."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    She replied, "Alright. I have disbanded my Pantheon. I will await the 9 Crowns request to join his Pantheon."


    Their faces fell as they said, "Don''t lie to us. You haven''t disbanded your Pantheon."


    She insisted, "I have."


    One of the avatars said, "We have our methods to know if you have disbanded your Pantheon or not. So we know that you are lying to us. But we will give you another chance. You have 5 seconds. You either disband your Pantheon or we kill you now. We don''t have time to waste with you."


    She thought that the 9 Crowns was dead, so she was hoping to bluff his helpers. After all, if he is dead, then there is no way for him to send the request to her. Only if he is alive would he receive the notification that she is already in a Pantheon anytime he sends the request to her.


    Now she doesn''t know what to think. She suspects that these two are bluffing her. It is either that or the 9 Crowns is still alive. She thinks thetter is unlikely, but it will exin why the golden spear hadn''t returned after it was thrown.


    She decided not to take the risk and disbanded her Pantheon immediately. She was hesitant because it had cost her 10,000 divinity to create it. That is a lot of divinity to lose at once, but she had to let it go. It was better to lose that than her Oracle.


    She was surprised when she got the request to join the Apocalypse Pantheon immediately. Her face fell when she saw it. She didn''t know what to think.


    She thought to herself, "How is he not dead? Did Crystal Hoard lie to me? But for what?"


    One of the clones urged her, "What are you waiting for? We don''t have all day."


    That question jarred her from her thoughts. She epted the request and became a subordinate god of the 9 Crowns.


    The two of them knew immediately she agreed. They nodded and said to her, "Continue your work here. Keep these Oracles hostage. But let their gods be true gods as soon as possible and join the Apocalypse Pantheon."


    Then they turned and left. It is the best that they can do, even though they want to do more. They want to punish the traitor for betraying them, but unless they can meet him in the void universe, they will have to be content with making things difficult for him and Tempest in other subtle ways.


    They messaged the traitor privately and assured him that they would keep to their promise. They didn''t lie about that. His Oracle has indeed been freed by Tempest. Now he is a free god.


    ording to the divine contract, he hasn''t betrayed them. That means they have to fulfill their own side of the bargain, which is to free his Oracle from Tempest. But the Oracle didn''t say anything about coercing him to join their Pantheon or making things difficult for him after he has done that.


    They can have fun by telling Tempest to try and wipe out his religion after she lets go of his Oracle. That way the two traitors can make things difficult for each other in God''s Domain while being friends in the void universe.


    They don''t have to do much to make his situation worse than a kidnapped Oracle. Unfortunately, they don''t care about the pleasure they can gain from torturing him as much as the power they can gain from him. So they will settle witl stealing his believers while he has to watch as their subordinate.


    In the meantime, the two avatars joined up with the four other avatars that were hiding in wait. They disabled their avatars and remade them in their territory. Then they went on to harass the two true gods on the right side of their territory.


    Those true gods have been able to resist all along because only one avatar came to trouble them and they could reinforce each other quickly as they are in the same Pantheon. But Legion is going all out now.


    They don''t want to waste time anymore. Either those gods be their surbodinates or they can lose their Oracles, priests, and believers in droves. They don''t intend to waste words, time, and divine energy to persuade the two of them anymore. Besides, they have something else that is very important and difficult to deal with right now.


    ---In The Divine Realm.


    Legion-9 was keeping down the golden spear. It wants to fly away either to wreck havoc or return to its master, but they are restricting its freedom.


    It is not an easy job at all. It has only been a minute, but they have spent 6,000 divine energy on keeping it still. It costs them 100 divine energy every second to keep it captured. So one might say that even though it is not moving, it is slowly killing Legion-9.


    He has a little over 10,000 divine energy, so he can keep it still for 100 seconds or 1 minute 40 seconds before he has to let it go or die trying. Even with the help of the other clones, the best they can do is 14 minutes before the spear kills them all.

 Chapter 1794: Negotiation And Ransom.

    Chapter 1794: Negotiation And Ransom.


    ?


    Legion-9 couldn''t believe it. He said, "This is clearly an abomination of a weapon. Why is it so strong?"


    The angel confirmed his suspicions, "It is because its owner is stronger than you."


    But that only gave him more questions. He said, "So this is what an Authority weapon is capable of. How did she get such a weapon?"


    There''s eight of them still alive and one Crystal Hoard. They should have more divine energy than her, but her Authority is stronger than them individually. They have been able to curtail the spear at the expense of copious amounts of divine energy, but their problems with it are far from over.


    Legion-2 said, "At this rate, it will kill us before we can steal it."


    Legion-9 chuckled and said, "It killed Legion-1 with one strike and will kill the rest of us in 14 minutes. Unless our believers can provide 100 faith every second and we can convert it with enough divine crystals, we will die just by holding on to it. What a joke."


    Legion-3 refused to give up. "It is too powerful to give up. If we can''t have it, then we must destroy it."


    They had asked their angel how to subdue the weapon and make it theirs, but it said it didn''t have any information about that. They had been frustrated with it because it was the same reply it gave them when they asked about how to forge Authority weapons or how Crystal Hoard got the weapon in the first ce.


    Legion-4 suggested, "Maybe we should use it to get some ransom from Crystal Hoard. She has been requesting formunication for a while. I bet she is anxious."


    Legion-3 insisted, "Anxious or not. We can''t let her get back this spear. It is too dangerous."


    Legion-2 said, "We don''t need to give it to her. We can just lie about giving it to her while we get something from her."


    Legion-5 shrugged and said, "I doubt it will work, but we can try it out."


    Legion-9 reminded them, "I''m dying over here. Whatever we decide, we must decide in 13 minutes."


    With that decision made, they decided to hear Crystal Hoard out. She had been terribly anxious, but she didn''t show any of that when they finally spoke with her.


    She said calmly and with confidence, "So you are still alive. Consider me impressed. Tell me, how did you do it? Was it your reward for being the first true God?"


    Legion-2 asked, "What do you want?"


    She snorted in displeasure. "It is not your fault. It is my fault for miscalcting. You have won this time around, so you can feel cocky all you want. But you can forget about stealing my spear."


    Legion-2 offered magnanimously, "I am not a thief. How about I buy it from you?"


    She roared in reply, "Never. You can forget about having it. I will never hand it over. It will either belong to me or it will be destroyed. No one can have it."


    Legion-3 muttered to himself, "That is something we can agree on."


    Legion-2 didn''t say that. Instead, he said, "You have no choice in the matter. The spear is in my hands, and I can do whatever I want with it. Now, unless you have an offer to make, you should shut up and stop wasting my time."


    She calmed down too. She even became smug and said, "1,000 divinity. No more, no less."


    Legion-2 asked incredulously, "Do you think I am a fool?"


    She remained smug as she replied, "I don''t think you are a fool. But I know that you can''t use the spear, and you have to keep using Divine Energy to suppress it. I don''t know how you and your helpers have managed to hold on until now, but I don''t think you canst for much longer."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "It is only a matter of time for you to run out of divine energy. At that time, my spear will return. So you either take the 1,000 divinity now or lose itpletely."


    She felt very confident in her conjecture. The fact that the 9 Crowns decided to contact her is proof that they can''t steal her divine weapon. If they can''t, then they must be trying to get benefits another way. That means she hasn''t lost the initiativepletely.


    She advised them, "Don''t try to take it out to find someone with greater Authority than mine to refine. Not only am I at the top of the Authority ranking with the highest Authority in Gemmis, I will also be able to sense my weapon immediately you leave the safety of your hotel."


    She smiled and said smugly, "You have no more cards to y. Take the 1,000 divinity and hand over my divine weapon."


    Legion-2 thought about it and decided to agree. "Alright. I will send someone to meet you to collect the 1,000 divinity. I will hand over the spear after I have confirmed the divinity."


    She chuckled and said, "I have an even better idea. Let''s do the transaction through the altar. Let the divine realm handle the exchange. This way, you won''t be cheated. Don''t worry. I will take care of the 5% transaction fees. I will add an extra 50 divinity so you don''t suffer any loss."


    Legion-2 chuckled then. He said, "You are good. You''re not bad at all. But you have forgotten that we can destroy the weapon if we can''t have it."


    She refuted him immediately, "It is you that is mistaken. I haven''t forgotten anything. I would rather the weapon be destroyed than you have it. So your choices are to destroy it and gain nothing or to return it to me and gain 1,000 divinity."


    Legion-2 cut off themunication channel with a heavy heart. Not only is 1,000 too small, they can''t give their enemy back the weapon that she used to kill them.


    He sighed and said, "Fine, let us destroy it."

 Chapter 1795: External Influence.

    Chapter 1795: External Influence.


    ?


    The other clones nodded grimly. Then they turned towards their newly created altar. It is the best way they know to destroy a weapon. This way they will be able to get something after the weapon has been scrapped.


    They need all they can get, if only to upgrade their new altar. The old one and all the upgrades they had done to it to increase the amount of prayers that it could hold have all gone to waste.


    They will have to spend more divine crystals to increase the capacity of the new one, and they will have to spend divinity to shorten the resurrection time. So they were hoping that the golden spear will produce some rare material after it has been scrapped to make up for their loses.


    They weren''t sure it would work since this divine weapon is clearly different from the other types of weapons they have acquired from gods who dropped them after dying. So their eyes lit up when they saw that their altar epted the divine weapon.


    The spear sank into the ck cube with golden runes on it. This cut off Crystal Hoard''s ess to the spear immediately. The golden spear still isn''t theirs, but they don''t have to spend divine energy to suppress it anymore.


    They now have the option of keeping it that way or destroying it. Unfortunately, there is no benefit they know to keeping it. Not only is it still not theirs, but they also won''t be able to gain anything from it, and they also won''t be able to forge any more weapons until they have resolved the spear.


    They clicked the forging option on their altar in order to destroy it. It gave them an error.


    -Can''t forge weapon.


    -There is an external influence on the weapon.


    -Spend 26,345 Divinity to remove influence.


    -Yes or No?


    They didn''t understand the prompt, as it is the first time they will encounter it.


    Legion-2 mused, "It is just as we guessed. This weapon is different from other types of divine weapons. This might be difficult for us."


    Legion-3 asked the angel, "What does this mean? Is this the price we have to pay to destroy it?"


    The angel replied while holding its little chin, "The weapon is not yours, so you can''t do anything to it. You have to remove the external influence on it first. When you do, you will be able to do anything you want to the weapon, including destroying it."


    Their eyes lit up when they heard that. Their angel smiled and continued, "The price to remove the external influence is not a random number. It is dependent on the Authority of its rightful owner. So this 26,345 is the power of Crystal Hoard''s Authority."


    Legion-8 was excited. "So the altar can grant us ownership of the weapon, but it will require us to pay divinity equal to her Authority to remove her ownership of it. I like that kind of exchange."


    Legion was d to see this. Unfortunately, they didn''t have 26 thousand divinity to change the ownership of the god-killing weapon. But they were not unhappy. In fact, they were the opposite of unhappy and many more.


    Legion-9 sighed in relief and said, "This is good. At the least we don''t need to spend divine energy to keep it anymore."


    As if to approve of his words, they received amunication request from Crystal Hoard.


    They decided to ignore it because if they didn''t want her to get it before, now they won''t give it to her even if she offers them 100,000 divinity for it. But they might be tempted if she offers them 1,000,000 divinity. That''s another reason why they don''t want to hear her speak. They don''t want the temptation.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    They think very highly of the golden light god killer weapon. The fact that it just killed Legion-1 with a single hit can''t let them let go of it. It is the fact that they understand why that is very difficult that they appreciate the golden light.


    For one, they haven''t heard of any divine artifacts that use Authority as a means of attack. This is the first time they have heard or seen any weapon like golden light. So it is a very rare weapon, just like Myriad Armament.


    They understand that they are ignorant of most things about this world and even the void universe as a whole, so a weapon like golden light might exist somewhere and might even bemon there.


    But in the current situation of God''s Domain, even if there are divine artifacts that use Authority, they are unlikely to be able to evolve like golden light and make use of up to 90% of Authority. Even their upgraded divine spells can only use 20% of their Authority. That makes golden light a currently unmatched means of attack.


    As if that isn''t bad enough, while 90% of 26,345 should be enough to kill Legion-1 even with his defense of 8,000 divinity, he shouldn''t have died because he was nowhere the weapon. It was his avatar that was attacked, not him.


    The death of his avatar shouldn''t have affected him. But not only did the avatar die, it was used as a channel to invade Legion-1. From there, the full power of Crystal Hoard''s Authority destroyed Legion-1 from within. He couldn''t resist at all.


    Now they know that it wouldn''t have mattered what the defense of his divine body was as the attack wasn''t external. It was internal, so it rendered his defenses useless all because his avatar was killed earlier by the weapon.


    So all in all, the golden light is too powerful and too dangerous. Now that they have it in their grasp. It has to belong to them. They will never give it up. They would rather destroy it than let it go.


    Legion-7mented on the weapon, "The ability of the weapon to attack from within reminds me of the first sage. So technically, we have been burned twice by that trick."

 Chapter 1796: Phantom Or Shadow.

    Chapter 1796: Phantom Or Shadow.


    ?


    Legion-9 nodded and said, "It truly like the first sage''s move. It is pity that we can''t take golden light out of God''s Domain. Do you think we can build a weapon like this in the void universe?"


    Legion thought seriously about it and said, "It is possible if we fuse the ability to attack something from within with the ability to create a detrimental connection with that thing." Legion-2 frowned in thought. "So something like thebination of the first sage''sw and a world ender? We should be able to do so. I already know how to create connections using thew of casaulity, like we did with Hadrikomania and Ghastorix''s inner world. If we add CARNAGE, we might be able to achieve something simr."


    Legion-4 added, "But that won''t be permanent. It will be a single-use item at best. We will need our own Supreme Law if we are to create a permanent weapon."


    The talk of building a powerful weapon like golden light in the void universe led them back to the matter of their Supreme Law. They soon got distracted talking about it because they felt the weapon had a lot of potential.


    Currently, they are still being chased by the strange creatures that look like them. But they have made a lot of progress in their research about dimensions. They have basically confirmed the phantom dimension.


    It is a dimension where there is no energy. It contains shadows of everything in the void universe, which is why it is also called the shadow dimension.


    The shadows are imprints of matter created by objects in the void universe against the phantom dimension. So the heavier something is in the void universe, the bigger its shadow is in the phantom dimension.


    Soverick has seen this much in the phantom dimension. But they haven''t been able to enter it yet. This is because they are too heavy. Any attempt they make to enter the phantom zone fails because the phantom dimension can''t hold their weight.


    The phantom dimension is fragilepared to the void universe. It is like a sheet of paper ced behind or beneath an object to capture their shadow. The paper itself is thin, so it will be very difficult for the object to fall into the paper.


    This thinness of the paper could be a result of itsck of energy, or maybe itsck of energy is because it is too thin to have energy. So they believe that to enter the paper, they have to create an anchor for their existence in the phantom dimension, either by fusing with their shadow or invading the whole dimension with energy.


    Legion-8 is responsible for the first option. He is to try and infect their shadow in the phantom dimension. Legion-3 is tasked with invading the dimension with Chaos energy. Chaos energy is the best energy they have at their disposal to force its way into the shadow dimension. They don''t know if they will be able to use Chaos energy to enter it or what effect that will bring at all, but they are looking forward to it.


    For these experiments, they have bought beings that can enter the phantom dimension from ve markets in the immortalnds. They use them to study the properties of the phantom dimension while they run from the strange creatures and control their puppets in God''s Domain.


    They eventually put the discussion on their Supreme aside to consider their next step in God''s Domain.


    They have rebuilt their altar, but Legion-1 will still take 24 hours to resurrect. Fortunately, his divine orb is still around. They can give it to him when he revives to restore the 50% divinity The lost upon death.


    Legion-3 considered the situation and said, "The only thing we lost is 24 hours for Legion-1, the things we used to build our previous altar, what we used to upgrade it, 100 divinity, 1000 divine gold, and 100 souls we used to build the new altar. But things could have been worse for us."


    Legion-2 said, "Crystal Hoard is also too strong. She has acquired 26 thousand believers in a year. She is already 160% ahead of us. It would be worse if this continues for another year. Even if we maintain this gap, she will still be 160% stronger than us. No wonder she was so cocky even when she was negotiating with us."


    Legion-5 corrected him, "That is just the worst-case scenario. You haven''t ounted for the boost to her Authority through the god king title. Her Authority will be lessened without it, and we have yet to fully realize the boost from the title so we can cover up the gap faster."


    Legion-9, "I think her greatest source of power was the god killing weapon. There is a massive difference between 20% of 26,500 and 90% of the same. Now that she doesn''t have it anymore, she has been weakened severely."


    Legion-2 agreed. "This just goes to show just how powerful the rewards for being the first in the northern realm are. We can''t let this kind of thing go to other gods. It has to be ours." Legion-6 wasn''t so optimistic. He said, "That means we have to be domain gods as soon as possible. It is not something we can achieve by hiding away like this. We have to go out into the divine realm and search for domains. That''s like searching for a needle in a haystack without divine sense."


    Legion-7 suggested, "Don''t let us jump around too much. Nothing has changed much just because of the existence of the god killing weapon. I propose that we remain steady by doing what we nned before. We should increase our Authority by recruiting more true gods. Then we will go hunting for divinity."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    They agreed with that course of action so they discussed some more while they finished what they were doing in the mortal realm.


    They had all gone to pressure the two true gods on their right side. Those two were also prepared for them. They had helpers descend through avatars to assist them. But 3 more helpers didn''t change their fate. They had to capitte or lose their foundation in the mortal


    realm.

 Chapter 1797: Impact Of Gods.

    Chapter 1797: Impact Of Gods.


    ?


    The Apocalypse Pantheon ballooned due to the recruitment of the two true gods. The 9 Crowns have 3 true gods to boost their title now. This has give them 3% boost. It will only increase when more godlings around them evolve.


    They can''t wait for that, though. So they went to territories beyond their immediate surroundings to recruit more true gods.


    Other gods might be content with what they have achieved for now. After all, they have eliminated the major enemies around them and have crowned themselves as the Supreme god in the surrounding area.


    They don''t even need to preach and actively spread their religion anymore to gain believers. Their surbodinate gods will do that for them every time they preach.


    Not only that, the peace that will ensue because of the stability will make the orcs prosper, which will increase their poption and lead to an increase in their Authority over time. Without the conflict andpetition between gods and tribes, the orcs won''t have topete and kill each other anymore. They will be on the fast track to creating their civilization. They will then attack, and break through the fortress in their way and attack the human civilization.


    So they have a lot to look forward to. But Legion was not satisfied with the way things were going. Not after they found out that Crystal Hoard''s Authority is 26 thousand.


    They are dead set on growing stronger quickly. So they didn''t rest on theirurels. They forced more and more true gods to bow their heads.


    They met with sess and failure. Their sess is because some true gods gave up on resisting immediately. Legion had caught them off guard. They couldn''t resist or they would lose their Oracles.


    But their failures were much more than their sess. Many true gods resisted. They would rather lose an Oracle than submit. The fact that their territory is also far away from the 9 Crowns'' also made the struggle expensive for Legion.


    All in all, it was not going to be an easy fight. But Legion didn''t give up. In the meantime, they set their eyes on divinity. They sent Legion-1 and Legion-2 out to hunt after they had harvested the easy true gods.


    Legion finally left their hiding ce in over a year. Gemmis appeared to be the same to them except that there were more gods wandering about. Most of them were using the services offered by the city like the auction and the forging. The gods that are using the auction service are doing so because they don''t have altars.


    As for those who use the forging service, it could be because they don''t have altars or because they do, but they want Gemmis to build the weapon for them. It will be highly costly, but they will be able to get a good weapon straightaway withoutboring themselves.


    The sight of so many godlings made them understand a fraction of the changes the mortal realm has undergone ever since the gods arrived. The main influence they can glean from this many gods is due to the fact that the mortal realm had to provide resources for every god seed that has be a godlings.


    The resources they need in the mortal realm are 100 souls and 100 gold coins. Souls are more valuable than divinity and can only be acquired through the death of mortals. If every god needs 100 souls, that means the 1 million gods that managed to build their altar in the northern realm caused the death of at least 100 million mortals. It is probably more.


    100 million gold coins is less valuable than 100 million mortal souls but it is still a considerable amount of the wealth of mortals that the gods have taken. They are even sure that the mortals lost more because of the loses caused by war.


    Thepetition among the gods in the race to be godlings led to the reduction of the number of god seeds from 100 million to 4 million. Thatpetition was steep but not many consider its effect on mortals.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    If all of the 96 million that were eliminated had just one mortal soul and one gold coin with them. It means that 96 million of those things were lost in thepetition.


    But if half of those god seeds had 50 gold coins and mortal souls, then 2.4 billion worth of lives and wealth were lost. So it is likely that thepetition led to more lose than what the godlings they are seeing perpetuated.


    It is a significant lose that they can envision because they alone are responsible for the failure of at least 100 god seeds from bing godlings. Then there is the lose of lives from the war that their army caused.


    This realization made them wonder about the state of the mortal realm currently. But they didn''t feel guilty. At best they felt pity for the mortals and an understanding of their situation.


    Their understanding also makes them realize that the worst is over for the mortals. They believe this because of the pantheon system.


    At this point, the existence of Pantheons has begun to bring a certain order to the gods. They have found a means to ally themselves. It has given them another option other than antagonizing each other.


    Plus, God kings want more true gods so that their Pantheons can be full. This has made it so that the rate of godlings bing true gods has increased. That means less fighting among mortals too.


    This is good for the mortals and for them too. The clones were excited by the sight of so many gods because it meant that they would have a lot of targets to hunt.


    Their happiness was not reduced when they heard someone at the city gate shouting about a bounty for the 9 Crowns. In fact, it made them happier. They can imagine Crystal Howard''s face and it made them happy.

 Chapter 1798: Preferred Aim.

    Chapter 1798: Preferred Aim.


    ?


    Legion-2 chuckled and said, "I would not like to be Crystal Hoard right now."


    Legion-3ughed from where he was in the hotel. He said, "I don''t want to be Crystal Hoard at any moment. She is just too ugly."


    Legion-1 nodded and said, "Things aren''t over with Crystal Hoard. She knows where our base of faith is, but we don''t know hers."


    Legion-7 agreed. He said, "She already came after us when she thought that we had


    something that should belong to her. Now that we really have something that belongs to her, things have be personal. So not only are things not over, they are bound to be more heated."


    Legion-1 indicated the people shouting about the bounty for the 9 Crowns and said, "She has ramped up her search for us in the divine realm. It is safe to say that she will surelye after us in the mortal realm too, and she wille at us hard. That''s why we have to subdue every god around our territory."


    "Even if we don''t need thend, we should subjugate them and make them join our


    Apocalypse Pantheon. We shouldn''t have another case of Tempest bringing enemies to our doorstep anymore."


    They discussed along the way until they came to the hunting zones. There were few gods around Gemmis, as most of them had gone hunting. Apparently the news about the vote to increase the value of divine beasts has spread. It has made many godse out to hunt.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    In the past, Crystal Hoard had always been around to harass gods. Combined with the little value of hunting divine beasts, it made it not worthwhile to hunt. But Crystal Hoard has been too busy these past few days, and the reward for hunting divine beats has increased. This has increased the amount of gods hunting.


    Legion knows why Crystal Hoard has been busy. They also know that she won''t be preupied anymore. But they are not too worried about meeting her. It is because they have reasons to believe that she put most of her divinity into speed.


    There have been many news about how fast Crystal Hoard is. The majority of gods say that she should have put divinity in speed, but they couldn''t understand why her attacks were powerful too.


    The matter of her unexined strength had been the w in their theory, which made Legion disregard it. But now they know that it is highly likely that she put her divinity into speed since she had golden light.


    Golden light relies on Authority, not divinity, so she would have likely put most of her divinity into speed to make herself more deadly. It is something that they would do if they had golden light.


    But now that she doesn''t have golden light anymore, she has been dewed. She is still dangerous due to her high Authority, but it is not something that they can''t resist with Legion-1''s 8,000 divinity in endurance.


    So they walked with confidence, not fear, out of Gemmis. They noticed the changes in the surrounding elemental zones immediately they set foot outside the city. The ice zone, for example, has be an ice storm zone. The ground is thick with snow, and the surface is so windy, it can make gods stumble.


    The visibility has also reduced because of the icy wind, but that doesn''t truly affect them. What affected them directly was the fact that the wind was constantly attacking them.


    They needed a defense of 100 endurance to avoid being harmed and eventually ground down by the wind. What''s more, they needed Strength of 100 to be able to break their feet away from the ground when it freezes every time they step on the ground.


    The ice zone had be colder and more dangerous. The other zones have be more dangerous too. They could see the air bending and twisting because of the heat of theva zone. Its visibility was even poorer than the ice zone because of the smoke and fog being belched into the air.


    They asked their angel, "What caused this? Could it be that making divine beasts more valuable has made the environment more dangerous?"


    "No. The changes to the environment are mostly due to the awakening of ancient titans. The awakening of the ancient titans makes the divine realm hostile to gods. Since there will be ancient titans awakening from each elemental zone, every elemental zone is also experiencing this increase in hostility. The increase in the strength of the divine beasts does have an effect, but it is a small part of the cause of these changes."


    Legion-2 asked, "How powerful are these ancient titans for them to be capable of changing their surroundings like this?"


    The angel replied, "I do not have urate information, but I am certain that a titan is at least equivalent to domain gods."


    That reply perked Legion up. They asked, "Will the titans have domains?"


    "That is unknown."


    Legion-1 rolled his eyes and said, "Of course, you don''t know."


    They scoffed and dove into the zone of ice. The world began to howl as soon as they stepped into the ice storm. But it didn''t impede their senses. It was just unnaturally loud.


    Legion-1 stayed in the front while Legion-2 stayed behind. As the one with the 8,000 divinity in Endurance, Legion-1 will be the one to draw danger, while Legion-2 with 7,000 divinity in strength will be the one to finish things off.


    The two of them are d in heavy metal armor. It covers up every inch of their body that they could, which not only grants them protection against injury, it also protects their identity. Legion-1 had arge shield in his left hand with another one on his back and a sword on his right hand. Legion-2 also had a shield on his back and a sword strapped to his waist. What he held in his hands for attacking was a bow.


    The two of them advanced cautiously. Their aim is both the divine beasts and any god theye across. But they hope to encounter more gods than divine beasts. After all, divinity is more valuable than divine crystals.


    A/N: Bonus chapter for 100 golden ticket contribution goal.

 Chapter 1799: Warning Signs.

    Chapter 1799: Warning Signs.


    ?


    They are not alone in their goal for divinity. Most gods want to stumble onto a weakened god that they can harvest for divinity. Unfortunately, this is the zone of divine beasts. It is more likely to encounter divine beasts than gods. They practically spawn from the ground. One of the newly spawned ones appeared in front of them.


    It was a great white wolf made of ice. It was not like the ones that reached their height. This thing towered over them. It was looking down on them as it pawed its wed feet on the icy ground.


    They used insight on it to reveal what they were facing. There was resistance, and it was stronger than what they experienced with divine beasts before, but they still managed to ovee it.


    NAME: Divine Beast.


    RACE: Ice Wolf


    TIER: 1


    LEVEL: 10


    HP: 10,000/10,000


    STRENGTH: 200


    ENDURANCE: 200


    SPEED: 300


    ELEMENTAL POWER: 300n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    DIVINE ABILITY: GOD DEVOURING. ???. ???. ???.


    STATUS: Hostile.


    Legion-1 eximed when he saw the details of the ice wolf, "Wow."


    Not only is the divine beast at the true god level, it also has a rather ominous divine ability. That is aside from its 10,000 hit points value.


    These stats are too different from the divine beasts they encountered at the edge of the ice zone back when they just ascended to the divine ne.


    Legion-2 couldn''t believe it either. He said, "Maybe Gemmis was onto something when it warned the gods about the divine beasts hunting the gods. If this is the weakest one we will encounter, the gods are in for a rude awakening."


    The most worrying thing about the divine beasts is their vitality. They often have more hit points than gods and are much more difficult to kill by gods with the same amount of divinity as divine beasts.


    At this point, all the gods know that their hit points are calcted as total divinity multiplied by their level. This beast might be a true god, but it has the maximum divinity of a godling, which is 1,000. Stronger beasts deeper into the ice zone will have levels up to 100 and total divinity of 10,000.


    So they can expect a fight with a divine beast with hit points up to 1,000,000. Inparison, all of Legion has a little over 90,000 divine energy. While the beasts will be limited to the same amount of divinity as the gods, the difficulty of killing them will make them dangerous. The ice wolf seemed to have sensed their use of insight, or it could also be their hostility. It raised its mouth into the air and howled. This caused the ground to shake and crack. Then ice wolves sprouted from the cracked ground.


    The number of ice wolves suddenly increased from one to nine. This number seemed to have emboldened the first ice wolf. It growled and bound towards them.


    Legion-1 hunched behind therge shield and shouted, "This is not right. There are just two of us. There shouldn''t be nine of them."


    His angel said ominously, "Things have changed."


    Things have truly changed. The ice wolves have learned to gang up on gods instead of engaging in one-on-one duels. Legion-1 didn''t have time toin, and he didn''t have someone toin to who could fix this injustice. He had to fight now.


    So he moved forward to draw the attention of the ice wolves towards himself. It seemed to have worked as the leading ice wolf targeted him first.


    It swiped at Legion-1 with its left w. Legion-2''s attack struck it before its attack could connect with Legion-1. The golden light formed into an arrow went through the ice wolf and the one behind it and struck the ground behind them in an explosion of light that got two more ice wolves.


    An attack power of 10,500 was that powerful. The four ice wolves that were hit had their hit points drained instantly. Their endurance of 200 was far from enough to give them a second chance.


    The four of them broke into icy dust and scattered into the wind. They left behind some divine crystals on the ground and 5 other wolves who appeared to be scared out of their wits.


    The five of them raised their snout into the air and howled again. Legion-2 managed to get two more before they called for assistance. The other 3 called for 6 ice wolves each to make a total of 21 ice wolves.


    The two of them became surrounded by the ice wolves. Then a fight broke out as the ice wolves tried to rip them apart. Arrows shed, taking lives with one hit. The ice wolves were just too weak to resist the arrows.


    Legion-2''s threat level was too high, so they prioritized getting rid of him first, but he was faster than them by too much. They couldn''t get close to him at all. Not even their ice elemental attacks could touch him.


    He could always see their attack from far. It made it easy for him to dodge. Then he would snipe them from afar. His speed at 2,000 gave him a speed boost at 1, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 so he could attack more than 6 times in a second. This way, he killed all the ice wolves in four


    seconds.


    He smiled and said, "That wasn''t so difficult."


    Legion-1 didn''t think so. He said, "That''s only because they have godling level divinity. Things will be more dangerous soon. These divine beasts are just the warning signs."


    Legion-2 nodded. "But as long as you can handle, I am good to go."


    Actually, if given time, Legion-1 would have been able to kill all the ice wolves on his own. They couldn''t threaten him with his 8,000 endurance and the 10% boost from his armor.


    And if he were to be pressed, he could always add 2,000 more Endurance using the Divine Endurance spell. Meanwhile, he can hurt them with his 1,000 strength and is also faster than


    them too.

 Chapter 1800: It Is A Pity.

    Chapter 1800: It Is A Pity.


    ?


    It will take a while, but Legion-1 will eventually be able to deplete their 10,000 hit points. So this batch of ice wolves were not a threat at all. It is what they are to face if they continue that is worth worrying about.


    But it is as Legion-2 said, as long as Legion-1 can take their hits, he will be able to grind them down from afar. So they decided to keep going after they had picked their loot.


    Legion-1 said as he picked the divine crystals and stored them in his inventory, "The ice wolves give better rewards now. Ten divine crystals for each ice wolf is truly something."


    Legion-7 didn''t agree. He said, "Ten divine crystals is too small. A divine beast with 1,000 divinity is worth a total of 100,000 divine crystals. But we only got 10. That''s just 10 mortal stats and 10% of a divinity."


    His angel offered an exnation. It said, "It is truly unfair. Unfortunately, the remaining 99.99% of the value of the divine beasts have been taken by the ancient titans to strengthen themselves."


    Legion-1 shook his head and said, "I hate these ancient titans. They steal from us when they are asleep and then use what they have stolen to kill us. They are too audacious."


    The angel exined, "I think they are not stealing. They are only recovering what was once their''s."


    That exnation fell on deaf ears. None of the clones were willing to ept that the ancient titans are actually in the right about the theft.


    Legion-2 said with pity, "So not only is the loot not worth the danger, but if this is how strong freshly spawned divine beasts are, then most of the godlings that ventured here for the scraps are screwed. These divine beasts are not a threat to us, but not many gods are true gods."


    Legion-3 didn''t like what he said. He said, "Does that mean our prey is limited to the 1,000 true gods in Gemmis?"


    Legion-2 replied with a mental nod, "Unless we move to the vicinity of other divine cities, then we are stuck with the 1,000 true gods."


    Legion-4 said, "Maybe you''re right. The divine beasts have be too difficult."


    They were looking forward to hunting true gods and godlings, but by the looks of things, their options will be restricted to true gods alone. Not only does that reduce the targets of their hunt, it will also make it difficult for them to find those targets after they have spread themselves throughout the elemental zones.


    This has finally made them realize how difficult the divine beasts have be. The fact that they needed 100 endurance just to be able to stay in the zone and 100 strength didn''t clue them into that realization. It was not until the strength of the divine beasts affected them indirectly did they understand what they were dealing with.


    But their angel had more bad news. It said, "Every divine beast you will encounter will not have the same strength as the ones you just fought, but every one of them has the god devouring divine ability. That means they will get stronger when they defeat and eat gods. We have the vote of the divine council to thank for that."


    Legion-1 eximed, "So they might not be a threat for us now, but that will surely change in the future."


    "Yes. A divine beast will grow strong enough until it bes a divine cmity. At that point, it won''t be limited to the elemental zones. It will be able to roam the divine realm in search of gods to kill."


    Legion-2 thought about it and said, "Ok, that''s bad."


    The angel added, "Divine cmities also drop special loot when they are killed."


    Legion-2 changed his mind. Even Aeternus perked up and asked, "That doesn''t sound so bad. What kind of things will it drop?"


    The angel replied, "Mostly special divine abilities. But there will also be raw materials to build special divine weapons."


    Legion-1 said, "We should see about creating a divine cmity after we have hunted enough divinity to fulfill our needs."


    Legion-4 agreed. "It should be easy to create one by feeding it divine orbs. So if we have enough divinity, we can create a divine cmity instantly."


    They began to n for the creation of divine cmities. They are just nning for it. They don''t n to execute this n until after they have upgraded all the clones to level 100,id im to Golden Light, and stockpiled at least 100,000 divinity for the future.


    They are greedy for special divine spells, but they know what''s more important. They have also learned from the past when they lost all of their levels after evolution. They don''t want a repeat of that, so they intend to prioritize divinity over divine spells.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    But then their angel said something that changed their minds, "I do not advise that you create divine cmities. A divine cmity is at the domain level. It will be difficult to kill as you are."


    "Even if you manage to kill it, you would lose the divinity that you spent to create it. That divinity will be stolen by the ancient titans. That means the death of a divine cmity will make the ancient titans stronger."


    "What''s more, a divine cmity can descend to the mortal realm and devastate the foundation of the gods. So divine cmities are very dangerous. It is not advisable to create them."


    The clones thought about it for a long while, but they couldn''t figure out a way to deal with a divine beast with up to 100,000 divinity and 10,000,000 hit points. This made them gave up on their idea unwillingly.


    Legion-1 said, "Fine. We will not try to create divine cmities."


    They decided to put that n out of their minds for now. It is only for now, though. They made sure to emphasize that to themselves as the two of them finished picking up their loot and moved on.

 Chapter 1801: Coordinating Divine Beasts.

    Chapter 1801: Coordinating Divine Beasts.


    ?


    They were attacked soon after by the ice wolves. It was a repeat of what they just encountered. The ice wolves were at the True God level, but they were not a threat to them. That didn''t change no matter how many helpers they called for.


    However, things started to change the deeper they went into the ice zone. They met more powerful ice wolves that had spawned with their power or had fed on gods.


    Some of these ice wolves had 10,000 divinity and 1,000,000 hit points. 1 million hit points is not a problem for Legion-2 to bring down as long as he has Legion-1 to defend for him and distance to use his bow.


    He could knock down the 1 million divinity with 100 attacks. With his attack speed of 6 times per second, he could finish the most powerful divine beasts in 17 seconds. But things weren''t so simple and straightforward.


    For one, the ice wolves had an endurance of at least 2,000. That meant only 8,500 of his normal attack power was effective. That increased the time he had to kill the ice wolves from 17 seconds to 20 seconds.


    20 seconds is not too much for a single ice wolf, but it became too long when there were 20 ice wolves around them constantly. The other ice wolves were always interrupting him. They didn''t let him focus on one of them to kill it.


    What''s more is that a critical condition needed to show his full capabilities became absent after a while. He lost the advantage of speed and distance because the ice wolves had 3,000 divinity in speed, and they had surrounded him because they were in too deep.


    These conditions made them decide to give up on the ice wolves. Not only were they too difficult to kill now, the increased reward of 100 divine crystals for the level 100 divine beasts just wasn''t enough to be worth it anymore.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    They had to use divine energy to boost their speed with Divine Speed spell in order to escape. They spent the 100 DE, but they didn''t choose to leave the ice domain. It is because they had other targets that they would rather hunt.


    They were not the only ones with this idea. The gods were all attacking each other once they spotted each other because other gods were easier to kill and had more rewards.


    Unfortunately, they were doing this in the elemental zone. This gave the divine beasts the chance to take advantage of the situation. So every battle with a god became a three-way battle involving divine beasts.


    "This is bad." Legion-2 said as he shot an arrow, which killed a god. "The ice wolves are growing stronger because of this chaos."


    "Yeah. The gods should stop killing each other. At least not in front of the ice wolves." Legion-1 said as he picked up a divine orb from the ground and ced it in the pouch he had prepared for the asion.


    Several ice wolves had waited by the side while he was fighting the god and only jumped on him immediately after he killed the god. They wanted to get his divine orb, not him. Some of them had distracted him while the others went after the divine orb.


    Not only do they not abide by threat level and number of enemies anymore, they have be smarter too. This kind of intelligence and coordinationbined with their numbers has made them more dangerous, even more than their individual 10,000 divinity. It reminded them of themselves.


    Their angel exined that their behavior is because the ice wolf attack system is controlling all the ice wolves, so they are one entity just like their angel and Legion. The main difference is that they don''t share their senses or memories, and the individual icd wolves are not special or unique.


    The icd wolves that ganged up on him didn''t seed, but that is not the case for the other gods. The fruits of theirbor were taken by the ice wolves many times. And because they had lost divine energy during the fight with other gods, they had be easier prey for the ice wolves.


    The clones noticed that if this dynamic went on, a divine cmity would be created soon. But they didn''t stop killing the other gods. They just bemoaned their ill fate as they killed more gods and went about searching for more gods to kill.


    What they are doing is actually a good thing. By killing the gods and taking their divine orbs, they make it so that the ice wolves can''t do so. And by strengthening themselves, they are preparing for the eventual creation of a divine cmity. So they were very dedicated to their efforts.


    They even killed any ice wolf they encountered that was particrly strong. Those unique ice wolves usually dropped loot and divine materials for forging other than divine crystals.


    So not only were they doing a good deed of keeping the divine realm safe, they were gaining rewards for their good deeds. But their angel had to throw a damper on their efforts.


    It said, "Unless the ice wolves are stopped from getting divine orbspletely, their deaths will only lead to the quickening of the ancient titans. So you can only stop the creation of a divine cmity or the dy the awakening of the ancient titans. You can''t do both if the ice wolves eat divine orbs."


    They knew that the divine beasts either had to be divine cmities after eating divine orbs or killing them would speed up the awakening of the ancient titans, but they didn''t truly


    care.


    Legion-1 shrugged, "We have done our best. We lost right from the moment we voted to make the divine beasts more rewarding."


    Legion-2 added, "The gods came here for divine crystals. Unless they stoping, the divine beasts will continue to eat gods."


    Then they left it at that. They can''t stop gods froming here to hunt divine beasts. After all, they are more rewarding to kill now.

 Chapter 1802: A Major Obstacle.

    Chapter 1802: A Major Obstacle.


    ?


    If they can''t stop the gods froming to hunt, they certainly can''t stop the gods from killing each other. As long as they kill each other, the ice wolves will try to take advantage of the situation.


    So they focused on what they came to do, and that was umting divinity. The ice wolves must not stop them from achieving that, and that''s all that matters to them currently. They were able to fill their pouches and return to Gemmis to empty them several times. This made the divine energy they spent to remain in the ice zone worth it.


    Their hunt continued for days on end. They were able to earn more than 70,000 divinity in 5 days. That number increased to 90,000 after 6 days. They even earned a lot of divine artifacts that dropped from the gods that were killed.


    The major obstacle they faced other than the ice wolves came in the form of pantheons. They met severalrge pantheons hunting divine beasts and gods in the elemental zone. They had to run from this group of pantheons.


    This became frequent due to the inhospitability of the elemental zone to lone gods or small groups of gods. Those gods either stoppeding to hunt because it was too dangerous or they formedrge groups, so only therge pantheons remained roaming about.


    The two of them were able to leave when they showed their strength. Most pantheons let them go because they were too dangerous to fight. But there were some pantheons who wanted to kill them because of their strength. After all, if they are strong, they will leave a lot of divinity behind when they die.


    The two clones didn''t want to fight 50 gods and one god king, so they chose to escape. The pantheon didn''t let them go just because they didn''t want to fight. The decision the clones made not to prioritize their speed showed its ugly head now.


    The two of them have 1,000 and 2,000 divinity in speed, and even with the 20% boost of their Authority which made it 3,000 and 4,000, they couldn''t avoid the fastest gods who had 5,000 in speed even without the enhancement of their Authority.


    These fast enemies could keep up with them and attack them. They had to fight them off if they were to escape from the pantheon. So even while being chased, they were already losing divine energy, and their enemy was gaining on them.


    The good news is that these fast gods were incredibly weak. They couldn''t harm Legion-1, who was the slowest, which allowed Legion-2 to kill them in less than a second.


    This is usually the point when the pantheon will give up on pursuing them. Something about seeing a god killed with a single shot tended to discourage them. But not this particr pantheon.


    They had to use Divine Hold and other divine spells to keep themselves from being surrounded. They were tempted to use Divine judgment and Divine crippling on their enemies to quickly end difficult enemies, but they didn''t use them.


    Divine judgment would reduce the divine energy of their enemy by 20%, while Divine crippling will reduce the divinity of their enemy by 20%. They are clearly very powerful divine spells and will work as long as their Authority is greater than the target.


    With Divine judgment, they can kill the strongest enemy with five spells over five seconds, while with divine crippling, they can weaken a god enough for them to be able to kill it within a second or two with physical attacks.


    But the two of the divine spells will cost 20% of their own divine energy each time they are used. This is not 100 DE that their other divine spells cost. It will cost them 2,000 with full divine energy.


    So unless they are near death, these spells are not things they can use. But they don''t want to be near death. That''s the very thing they are trying to avoid.


    If they die, they will lose half of their divinity and the divine orbs that they have just harvested. So they kept trying to escape.


    Fortunately, they are not without options. Their decision to prioritize strength didn''t fail them now. Legion-2 was able to cut down their pursuers and stop them from getting close to them.


    Even if they had put all their divinity into Endurance, Legion-2''s base attack of 10,500 will still be a threat to them. In the situation when their enemies only have 2,000 to 3,000 divinity in Endurance, they had to use their all to resist a single attack or be killed with one shot.


    This way they were able to keep the pantheon of their backs. They were even able to kill many gods. Only those with bows and other ranged attacks could harm them but they weren''t strong enough to harm the two of them.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    However, the god king didn''t give up. He continued to chase them because he wanted their powerful weapon and because despite the death of so many gods, they haven''t lost much.


    He shouted at them from behind, "Just drop your weapon and I will let you go. You are only wasting time and divine energy. I don''t know how much of divine energy you have, but it will eventually run out and I will have my weapon."


    The clones didn''t listen to him and neither could they. Myraid Armament is bound to them. They can''t even sell it if they want.


    As a reply, the clones killed two more of the gods in his pantheon. This made him shout out at them.


    "Come on, don''t be a tease. Is your weapon as valuable as 5,000 divinity? I don''t think so and I doubt you think so."


    "You know you''re going to have to give up one of them at the end of the day. Let''s just skip the forey and choose the easiest option now. Give up your weapon and I will let you go. Let us leave this encounter both satisfied."

 Chapter 1803: Blockade Of The Five Gods.

    Chapter 1803: Blockade Of The Five Gods.


    ?


    He actually wants both their weapon and divinity, but he knows he can''t have their weapon if they don''t give it up. This is the divine realm, so they can put their divine weapons into their inventory before their death, so the best he can get if he forces them is their divinity and the armor on their body, which will need to be removed before they can put it into their


    inventory.


    This is why he is hoping to lull them with false promises. He thought it would work since no divine weapon should be worth 5,000 divinity at this stage. At most, their weapon should be something fancy because it changes shape. That shouldn''t be enough for them to risk half their total divinity. But they didn''t fall for it.


    Instead, they killed another three of his gods. This made him frown. However, their refusal toply didn''t discourage the god.


    He said, "Fine. Take the hard way. I''ll apany you on this difficult path that you have chosen."


    Actually, this chase was far from difficult for him. He hasn''t given up despite 23 of his gods dying because he hasn''t lost much. The divine orbs of the gods that died were not taken as Legion was trying their best to escape.


    The clones couldn''t bend down or run back to pick up the divine orbs in the middle of the fight, which meant that the divine orbs could be given back to their owners. Their divinity will be restored, so the only thing they have lost is divine energy. It is a worthy investment for 10,000 divinity from both clones.


    This is one of the many advantages of a pantheon. Once many gods are working together, it will be difficult to get any benefit from them unless one can send all of them running. Meanwhile, they will send all their enemies running with their superiority of numbers.


    The gods in a pantheon can also work together peacefully because benefits are distributed equally. This makes division ofbor and self-sacrifice possible.


    Some gods in the pantheon can be busy risking their lives to hunt in the elemental zones because they know that their divine orbs will be secured, while others are willing to stand guard close to Gemmis, doing nothing on the off chance that there will be a target to ambush for the pantheon.


    This is why the two clones found some 5 gods blocking their path to Gemmis when they got close to the city. The five gods smiled at them while the god king behind them heckled them with his vulgar jokes.


    Legion-2 was the closest one to these five gods, so he couldn''t rely on Legion-1 to tank their hits for him. Legion-1 was busy with the pantheon chasing them from behind. This made it so that their current tactic of Legion-1 being the shield won''t work. But that didn''t stump them. Legion-2 used divine hold on those who were fast enough to close the distance between them quickly. He finished these ones first before bombarding the rest with arrows.


    The clones were winning as the gods blocking them don''t have enough Authority or Endurance to resist Legion-2 of them. The 5 of them will die soon. But since their mission is to dy the two of them, they are not doing so badly.


    Legion-2 with Myriad Armament made for a terrifybination. All he needed was a maximum of two seconds to kill the five gods. But these are two seconds that he will be spending without being able to assist Legion-1.


    Legion-1 was durable but slow. This made it easy to surround him. He also had a weak attack, so he couldn''t fend off his pursuers quickly enough. They overtook him and even advanced on Legion-2 to surround him. By the time Legion-2 was free to deal with them, they had closed in on him.


    Legion-2 had been busy fighting the five gods blocking his way, which also made him unable to run forward and create distance with the pantheon. The dy caused by the five gods nullified his advantage of distance and made him surrounded.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Legion-2''s weakness became quickly evident when he began receiving attacks. He had very little endurance, which made his divine energy dwindle rapidly.


    The other clones could have helped him with divine energy, but they didn''t. Instead, Legion- 2 passed off his divine energy to the other clones. This brought him closer to death faster than his attackers could.


    When he was about to die, he pointed at the god king and cast Divine Judgment on him.


    -You have hit ??? with Divine Judgment (2).


    -Judgment: Attack Failed.


    -Dame: -ODE


    This result was as they expected. The god king had a higher authority than them, so they couldn''t hurt him with divine spells. The spell was a waste, but it wasn''t much of a waste because Legion could afford to pay 20% of 100 DE to learn more about their opponent.


    The failure of the divine spell made the god king sneer. Legion-2''s death soon after made him break outughing.


    Hisughter was short lived because Legion-2 picked up his divine orb and the pouches he was carrying. The god king frowned because Legion-2 was difficult to harm, much less kill.


    Someone would need to put all their divinity in strength to be able to hurt him once he gains more endurance with the Divine Endurance spell. Even Legion-2 who focused on strength, only put 7,000 in it. How will others put 10,000 divinity in their strength? It would be exceptional if they put 5,000 in it.


    As for them enhancing their strength with Authority, it won''t give them much boost because the average Authority of gods 5,000. Many gods have less. Having 10,000 Authority is rare. Only god kings with a boost from arge pantheon can top that.


    So despite Legion-1 being surrounded, he couldn''t be killed. But that didn''t make Legion-1 feel confident of survival. He knew he was going to die because Legion-2''s Divine Judgment spell failed.

 Chapter 1804: Unreasonably Immortal.

    Chapter 1804: Unreasonably Immortal.


    ?


    He also knew who was most likely to kill him, so he made preparations for his death while continuing to push towards Gemmis. The gods had to pile up on him to keep him from moving. But this made it easy for him to stab them while they couldn''t hurt him.


    Meanwhile, he too was transferring his divine energy to the other clones. This made his divine energy reduce rapidly, despite the gods being unable to harm him.


    This continued for a long while. Legion-1''s stamina was inexhaustible so he was slowly whittling down the weak gods pinning him down. Eventually the god king couldn''t hold it anymore.


    He roared, "I am putting an end to this farce."


    He pointed his finger at Legion-1 and used Divine Judgement on him.


    -You have been hit by Divine Judgement (2).


    -Judgement: Defense Failed.


    -Damage: -20 DE.


    Legion-1 smiled when he received the notification while the god king''s eyes popped out of his socket. This is because he had used 20% of his total divine energy to use that spell. He had used up 3,000 divine energy and got 20 divine energy in return.


    The god king asked in disbelief, "Is he about to die or is his maximum Authority only at 100?"


    He had been holding back on using the expensive spell because he wasn''t sure it would work. If it failed, he would have still lost 20% of his divine energy. But now that it has worked, he can''t believe its effect.


    For one, the target shouldn''t be dying because they don''t appear to be doing any damage to it. Secondly, he shouldn''t have 100 Authority and a maximum of 100 DE because the minimum requirement to be a god is 1,000 Authority.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    100 Authority is possible if the god is doing badly in the divine realm. But even then the god should have fallen below the true god realm with 100 Authority.


    So if the target is not dying and doesn''t have 100 Authority, this only left out that the option that he was tired from using divine spells. This conclusion was the only logical one. It made the god king smile.


    The he used divine crippling on Legion-1. This reduced his stats by 20% for a period of time equal determined by the differencd in their Authority. Since he had 15,000 Authority and they had 11,000, the duration of the crippling was 1.4 seconds.


    This was enough time for the gods surrounding Legion-1 to make tens of attacks in total. With his defense reduced to 6,400 and his inability to enhance his strength with Divine Strength, it has made it easier to harm him. And with his total divine energy at 80 DE, all they need is one good attack to kill him.


    However, 1.4 seconds passed by but Legion-1 didn''t die. They shouldn''t have failed to harm him. But beyond that, they can''t find any other exnation for why he was still alive.


    The god king''s face was livid. He had wasted 6,000 for the two powerful spells he had casted in a row, but his target still wasn''t dead. Even in the void universe that he was in, his eyes were wide open in anger.


    He had to ask, "How are you still alive?"


    Legion-1 was still alive because the other clones gave him just enough divine energy to remain alive, but he didn''t say that. He kept mum as the gods attacked him.


    At this point, they were only attacking half heartedly because they were beginning to realize that their efforts were pointless. The fact that Legion-1 was using Divine Retribution without care of the cost to reflect any damage done to him made the endeavor not only pointless, but dangerous.


    Even the god king was contemting using Divine crippling. But his attention was taken when someone came running at them from the direction of Gemmis. This god was so fast that the god king was a little shocked.


    He thought it was Crystal Hoard since she was the one that was so fast. So he was afraid when he spotted the god. But he soon calmed down when he realized that the god was an orc, not a diminutive goblin.


    He sneered at the god and said, "Go away while you still can or you will die now."


    He was confident because anyone that was that fast would have a weak attack and poor defense. He would be able to kill such a god with one hit. Their speed would also be useless when he uses Divine Hold on them.


    But the god didn''t stop. The god brought out a weapon from their inventory, hefted the golden spear in his hands and threw it at the god with his full might. The weapon turned into a golden ray of light and dissappeared.


    The sight of the golden weapon made the eyes of the god king in the void universe shrink in realization and dread. Unfortunately, his puppet wasn''t so animated. It looked on with a dull expression as the light flew towards him.


    The god king was still able to respond to the threat. He chose to run immediately. He didn''t resist at all. The other gods in his pantheon did the same thing too. They scattered like ants.


    Legion-3 didn''t pursue them at all. In fact, the attack was a faint. Golden light''s attack is not as powerful as when it was used by Crystal Hoard because it hadn''t been evolved to its previous state and he had less than half of her Authority.


    So he was only aiming to scare them which he aplished. Then he and Legion-1 escaped back to Gemmis with all the loot they had on them.


    A god that Legion-2 had passed asked in confusion, "Such fast speed. Did he put all of his divinity in speed? That can''t be right. Who would do such a stupid thing? Do they think they are Crystal Hoard? Or do they have a powerful divine item that improves speed?"

 Chapter 1805: Fake Golden Light.

    Chapter 1805: Fake Golden Light.


    ?


    Many other gods had that question on their minds. Legion-3 was just too fast. It was the fastest they had seen a god move ever since Crystal Hoard. They didn''t see golden light so they didn''t understand why he would put so much divinity in speed.


    The god king was fuming. He couldn''t believe that he had fallen for it. His reaction had all been instinctive. At any other time, he would be proud of himself. But now, he only felt burning shame.


    He hadn''t lost things he couldn''t recover. In fact, he had only lost divine energy, but he was still angry. He was also unwilling to let the unknown god with the fake golden light go.


    He instructed his pantheon, "He dared to fool us with Crystal Howard''s weapon. No god is going to do that and get away with it. We must find their identity and punish them."


    The gods of his pantheon were in agreement with this decree. They were all angry that they had been fooled. They knew very well that if they had encountered the true golden light in Crystal Howard''s hands, most of them would have died. They are alive so they felt cheated, not thankful.


    Meanwhile, Legion-1 and Legion-3 returned to the hotel safely.


    Legion-4 said, "Looks like hunting has be too dangerous for lone gods. It might devolve into Pantheon wars soon."


    Legion-1 grunted and said, "It is always been too dangerous to be alone. The pantheons have only made things worse."


    Legion-3 said, "I think pantheon wars Just for some divine crystals is too much."


    Legion-4 replied, "It is possible if we add the allure of Divinity. Pantheons will fight for that."


    Legion-7 said, "If it does happen, it will be messy and chaotic. We should not take a part in it. We were almost burned this time."


    Legion-3 didn''t agree. "The Pantheon wars might be chaotic but it will make some Pantheons stronger as they kill more gods for their divinity. If we don''t participate, we will miss out on that."


    They argued amongst themselves while they went ahead to create three more clones at level 100. The two clones they created were just like the previous three. Legion-4 focused the bulk of his divinity on Endurance while Legion-5 focused 7,000 on strength. Then Legion-6 followed in the footsteps of Legion-3 and put 6,400 divinity in speed.


    This way they have six clones at level 100 and they could form two teams or rece each other when one of them dies. Their formation won''t be broken because of the absence of a clone to do his part.


    NAME: Number 1/Number 2/Number 3


    RACE: True God (Orc)


    TITLE: First/ Second/Third Crown.


    TIER: 1


    LEVEL: 100


    DIVINE ENERGY: 11,112


    STRENGTH: 1,000/7,000/600


    ENDURANCE: 8,000/1,000/3,000


    SPEED: 1,000/2,000/6,400


    AUTHORITY: 11,112n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The two clones Legion-3 and Legion-6 with the fastest speed are meant to use golden light and divine spells in battle. That means most of their power will be focused on Authority. When coupled with their speed, it will make them nearly untouchable.


    If their Authority is high enough too, they will be able enhance the physical prowess of their divine bodies and also create powerful shields to protect themselves which will help with their weakness of less than average endurance.


    This is only potential for now. Even though Authority has more potential than divinity as it is not limited, they haven''t reached the state where they can take full advantage of it. In the meantime time, they will focus on acquiring more divinity.


    Legion-2 still need some time to resurrect. In the meantime, the other clones will go out to hunt for more divinity. Currently they have enough divinity to make all of them level 100. But that is not enough for them. They still need more for the future and for the Golden Light. They had subdued the god killing weapon earlier but hadn''t used it because it was currently weak and because they didn''t want to draw attention to themselves by using it.


    Now that the cat is out of the bag, they have to be ready for its consequences which means they have to be willing to invest more in evolving the god killing weapon.


    They had spent almost 27,000 divinity to remove Crystal Howard''s control from it. That enabled them to bind it to themselves, but it also removed its upgrades and relegated it to Tier 0.


    They didn''t like it, but they didn''t mind the relegation too much. It is because golden light isn''t something that they can buy at all regardless of how much divinity they have, so they can''tin about having to make their upgrades. They spent the 10,000 divine crystals needed to evolve it to Tier 1. Then they spent 100,000 and 1,000,000 to upgrade it to Tier 3.


    It cost them 1,110,000 divine crystals in total to bring it to Tier 3. They didn''t have that many divine crystals on them and had to purchase them through the altar at a rate of 100 divine crystals for 1 divinity. So it cost them 11,100 divinity to increase its power to 70% that of


    authority.


    Plus the 27,000 they spent to gain ownership of it, it makes 38,000 divinity that they have spent on it. That''s almost enough divinity to bring four clones to level 100. But it was worth


    it.


    (Name: Golden Light)


    (Type: God-Killing Weapon)


    (Tier 3 (Evolvable): 0/10,000,000)


    (Attack Power: 70% of Authority)


    (Ability: Destroys the body, avatar, and altar of a god as long as a target dies to this weapon.)


    (Description: This is a weapon for killing gods. If you can kill a god once with this weapon, you don''t need to fight them again to kill them again.)


    They couldn''t upgrade it to Tier 4 because it would cost them 10,000,000 divine crystals or 100,000 divinity. It is not something they can afford right now. But it is something they can afford after a few more days of hunting gods or a sessful hunt of a singlerge pantheon.

 Chapter 1806: Major Improvements.

    Chapter 1806: Major Improvements.


    ?


    It is not safe to hunt just about any pantheon they meet even with the current level of golden light, as their Authority is still not high enough to threaten everyone.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Currently, their Authority is at 11,000, so their attack power with golden light is 7,700. That is high for someone like Legion-3, who put only 600 divinity in strength. It is extra deadly thanks to the fact that he put 6,400 divinity in speed. That way his movement speed is three times faster than Legion-2 and can attack up to eight times in a second.


    But Legion-2 with Myriad Armament can produce a far higher amount of damage per attack and per second, despite his ability to attack six times in a second. If not for his speed, Legion- 3 won''t be much of a threat at all. Even with his speed, he still won''t be able to threaten someone like the god king they just fought.


    So they still have to be cautious until they raise their Authority and golden light''s level. However, a smaller pantheon or arge pantheon that has been weakened just recently will be a good target.


    They decided to upgrade Myriad Armament to increase their power before sending out the clones.


    (Myriad Armament)


    (Tier 3 (Evolvable): 0/10,000,000)


    (Strength: x1.7)


    (Ability: Can change form and has many sub-parts)


    (Description: A weapon fit for a being with many forms)


    (Non-transferable)


    Unlike the upgrade to golden light, upgrading Myriad Armament empowers all of them. Legion-2 and Legion-5 with 7,000 divinity in strength now have an attack power of 11,900 without the help of divine spells. They can have this attack power with any type of weapon they change Myriad Armament into too.


    So now, even if a true god puts all their divinity in endurance and uses Divine Endurance or Divine Shield with an Authority of 10,000 for a total of 12,000 defense, they will just barely be able to protect themselves from his attack.


    But by using the divine spell, they will lose 100 DE. So they are still not safe. They will be in a lot of trouble if he is willing to spend 100 DE to increase his strength by 20% of 11,000. That will increase his strength by 2,200 and put his attack power at 15,640.


    This empowerment put them at ease enough to send the clones out to hunt again. They needed the divinity because they are running low on it.


    They spent 38,000 divinity on golden light, 10,000 on myriad armament, and 30,000 to level up three more clones for a total of 78,000 divinity.


    They had hunted 90,000 divinity in 6 days; when added with the 6,000 they got before they were chased by the god king, they still have 18,000 divinity. That is not enough to bring the remaining three clones to level 100 and secure their future as domain gods. So they couldn''t wait to hunt again.


    Since Legion-2 was still resurrecting his divine body, it fell on Legion-5''s shoulders to take up his ce. Legion-1, Legion-3, and Legion-5 went out to hunt. Legion-4 and Legion-6 trailed after them to reinforce them if they needed the help.


    Legion-1 was equipped with a normal shield and Myraid Armament as a ded whip, spear, or sword depending on the situation. Legion-3 had golden light as a weapon and Myraid Armanent as a small shield, while Legion-5 had Myraid Armament as a bow.


    They left Gemmis quickly and began raiding the ice zone again. They were already experienced, so they didn''t attack ice wolves. Instead, they ran about looking to take advantage of other gods. They only attacked ice wolves when they had to.


    A day continued like this until they met up with the Pantheon that chased and almost killed them. It was not by chance. This particr pantheon had been looking for them.


    They hade running when they heard about a certain orc wielding what is clearly a fake golden light. But they had gotten distracted on their way to meet Legion. It was the noise of battle that drew the clones attention.


    As opportunistic predators, what they liked to hear the most was the noise of battle. That noise represented an opportunity for them, so the clones rushed to the scene of battle. They didn''t join it immediately. Instead, they examined the situation and assessed it before making judgment. It was through this process that they found out that it was the pantheon they hated that was engaging in a fight with others. Apparently, the pantheon had found a small group of gods and began attacking them.


    Legion-1 smiled and said, "Looks what we have here. It seems they are up to their usual antics. They have found a new target to bully and rob."


    Legion-5 said in anticipation, "They are also doing this while being surrounded by ice wolves. That is bad. Don''t they know that they are helping the ice wolves by killing other gods? They should be punished for this atrocity."


    Legion-3 also smiled, "5 gods is a little small, but these unlucky fellows should be able to tie down the pantheon a little."


    Legion-1 said to the others, "We will take them off guard from behind. This is not a fight to the death. We are just here to take a bite out of them."


    They don''t like the pantheon for chasing them and nearly killing them, but that is not nearly enough to make them hate the pantheon. It was nothing personal. It was just a hunt.


    They are not as hypocritical as to think that what was done to them was bad. But they are hypocritical enough to make up any reason to attack and rob anyone, regardless of whether the target has offended them or not.


    Their discussion was swift and silent. It is one of the benefits of having ess to each other''s minds. No one heard them speak about their ns to each other. So the pantheon was caught off guard when something smashed into them from behind.

 Chapter 1807: The Trifecta

    Chapter 1807: The Trifecta


    ?


    Legion-3 was the one that attacked them. His unmatched speed helped him to take full advantage of the golden spear in his hand. His attack power of 7,700 is above average in terms of deadliness, but it is his dizzling attack speed that made him a terror.


    He can attack eight times in a second. This makes him dish out 61,600 worth of damage in a second. Any god caught off guard like the ones he is currently fighting can lose their life before they can react.


    His speed made it seem like he had an Authority of 61,600 and could use 100% of it, or he had 308,000 Authority and could use 20% of it like other true gods. Whichever one it is, it worked especially well when he pierced through the protective shell of gods formed around the weaker archers at the center of their formation.


    He was like a wolf among sheep. The archer has prioritized strength, so their endurance wascking. What''s worse is that they didn''t have the distance needed to utilize their strength, and any speed they had couldn''tpare to his.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The archers had to bring out swords from their inventory to fight him in close quarters. This finally gave Legion-3 some trouble.


    His endurance can''t withstand their attacks, and he also can''t kill them fast enough because his output in a second is not as good as a single divine spell that can fish out 61,600 damage in one second.


    This is because each of his attacks is weakened by the endurance of his target. Even a mere endurance of 2,000 reduces his effective damage to 45,500 in one second.


    4,000 in endurance cuts down his attack output to 29,600 per second. A single spell, on the other hand, will only be affected by endurance once, so it will be reduced to 61,596 even with an endurance of 4,000.


    If not for his movement speed, which is up to three times faster than most of the archers, he would have been killed immediately. But the fact that he was dodging their attacks further reduced his effectiveness.


    Fighting a group of gods no matter how powerful someone is a bad idea. Not unless they are Crystal Hoars. That''s why pantheons are on the rise.


    He has just one body, and there are more than 10 gods around him who want to poke a hole in it. They are having trouble nailing him down due to his speed, but he can forget about bullying them because the advantage of number is on their side.


    Fortunately, he is not alone either. There are two other gods watching the entire fight from afar. The weapon in their hands changed into bows, which they used to shoot arrows at the gods besieging Legion-3.


    The thing was that it was both Legion-1 and Legion-5 that were both shooting arrows at the pantheon. One of them had 1,000 divinity in strength, while the other had 7,000 in strength. But the gods couldn''t tell which was which.


    They certainly couldn''t tell which arrow came from whom, even if they could identify the weaker god from afar. They will only be able to tell which is which when they are hit, so they took each arrow seriously as a deadly threat, as one should when they are attacked.


    They were extra serious about it when some gods died because of a single attack. Apparently, only the gods that survive a hit can tell that the arrow is fake. As for those who didn''t, they will die instantly.


    They didn''t want to take that risk to find out which arrow was deadly or not, so they all tried to dodge every attack. But this made them waste a lot of their time and effort. It is time and effort that they ought to be using to kill Legion-3.


    Legion-1 with 1,000 divinity in speed could attack 5 times in a second, while Legion-5 with 2,000 divinity in speed could attack 6 times in a second. Together, they can produce 11 attacks per second. So 45% of the attacks were fake.


    While 45% of everyone that was struck in a second sighed in relief, the remaining 55% couldn''t sigh at all. This deadly situation created a lot of fear amongst the pantheon. It granted Legion¨C3 some respite, which he used to pick up the divine orbs of the gods that died.


    The Pantheon tried to recover the divine orbs too. But bending down to pick something on the ground opened them up to a deluge of arrows. They tried to defend those who pick up divine orbs using divine shields and physical shields, but by doing so, the pressure on Legion-3 eased off even more, which gave him more wiggle room to cause more devastation.


    It was then that they remembered that Legion-3 was too fast and dangerous for them to take their eyes off of for even a second. But the gods had no choice. They had to take their eyes away from him to track the arrows, or they would be shot to death.


    This entanglement at the back of the pantheon and the one at the front were already taxing the pantheon. But things only got worse. A strong level 100 ice wolf came to interfere in the battle. Not only did it appear, it also summoned more ice wolves to attack the pantheon.


    The ice wolves were more than a hundred in number. That''s more than every god in the battle. They surrounded the pantheon from every direction. Only the gods at the center of the pantheon, like Legion-3, were safe for the moment.


    The safety was only for a moment, though. The pantheon soon cracked under the pressure, so their formation fell apart. They were coordinating with each other in the void universe, shouting and screaming at each other for instructions and help. But they couldn''t stall the copse of their ranks.

 Chapter 1808: An Unsung Hero.

    Chapter 1808: An Unsung Hero.


    ?


    The ice wolves managed to get deep into the formation enough to reach Legion-3 and the poor gods he was bullying. He was fast, so he was able to avoid them. Those that he couldn''t avoid, he blinded with a quick attack to the eye.


    He did all of these with an unnatural ease. His movements were too smooth, and it appeared as if he had eyes at the back of his head.


    Legion-3 was like a fish in water. He moved in and out of the chaos like a dancer. No one could touch him on the battlefield. His speed is why many are tempted to dump most of their divinity in speed, but that eventually turns into a bad idea because they would be useless.


    Only one god had been able to pull off having the majority of their stats in speed. Now he has done the same as that god. It made the gods of this pantheon begin to understand that maybe, just maybe, the golden spear in his hand is not fake.


    It was too easy for him to kill the gods while escaping the ws of the ice wolves, but he didn''t do that. He only made himself content with taking the divine orbs of in gods and any other good stuff they dropped.


    He did this so that the ice wolves wouldn''t get them. So he was a hero. He was undoubtedly a hero since he didn''t let golden light use the deaths of the gods to destroy their divine altar.


    The main reason for that decision is that doing so will escte matters. Currently, what he is doing is nothing personal. It is just a little foraging got divine orbs. But the gods will hate him if he destroys their altar. They already have many enemies around their base and Crystal Hoard, so they don''t want to add more enemies.


    The second reason is that gaining the hatred of the pantheon is not worth it since there is nothing to gain. He won''t gain anything by destroying the altar since he doesn''t know their religion or where they are located in the mortal realm to take advantage of theirck of a divine altar.


    He won''t be able to find their Oracle and Legion won''t be able to annex their believers, so the only thing he will gain by destroying their altar is the hatred of the pantheon and the exposure of the fact that he has a powerful weapon that might be able to lead to the permanent death of gods.


    The Pantheon will let him go for killing them here in the divine realm. But they will surely not let go of him for the hatred of destroying their altar and for the greed of possessing such a powerful weapon. Meanwhile, someone else closer to the gods of the pantheon will be reaping the benefit of his work.


    So he didn''t throw the spear or let it fly after the dead gods. He didn''t even try to kill the gods. He only killed the gods that stood in his way. He relied mainly on the support of the other clones to kill the gods while he made sure that their divine orbs wouldn''t go to the ice wolves. Unfortunately, the good times didn''tst forever. The god king of the pantheon managed to kill the five gods they were trying to rob originally. Then he turned to deal with Legion-3. Legion-3 himself didn''t see this. He was busy bending down to pick up divine orbs. It was the other clones who saw this. So by the time the god king took a few steps toward him, he had already hightailed it out of there.


    But the clones didn''t leave immediately. Instead, they hung around the pantheon, waiting for more misfortune to befall them. After all, if they were ptable targets to attack before, they are prime targets to take advantage of now.


    They were opportunistic predators before, but now they have decided to be carrion feeders. It was easier and promised a lot of loot for very little work. So they circled the pantheon like vultures.


    Unfortunately, they didn''t get their way. The Pantheon also realized that they had weakened too much. Of the 50 of them that went out of the city to hunt, only 20 of them remain. So they decided to return to the city.


    Legion-1 thought about attacking, but the god king of the pantheon made them wary. His Authority of 15,000 couldn''t be disregarded so they gave up on attacking the Pantheon.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    They also didn''t stay around to continue attacking others. They felt it was better to return with their harvest first before they attempted getting more. So they returned to Gemmis.


    They returned to hunt after that, but things were getting more and more difficult for them. It is because the elemental zones became the hunting grounds of pantheons, not gods. These pantheons also got too big forfort.


    Individual gods or even small groups struggled to survive in the Elemental Zones due to the ice wolves alone. Then the pantheons began to make things difficult for them. Rather than gain divine crystals from hunting ice wolves, these lone gods became the source of divinity for Pantheons.


    In order to survive and thrive, the lone gods decided to form their own pantheon or join existing ones. This made Pantheons stronger and more popr.


    It also reduced the number of lone gods hunting. So the clones met less and less gods that they could hunt reliably. They had to skulk and hide to avoid the Pantheons. The only time they made a move was to take advantage of the situation.


    This opportunity appeared a lot of times because the only enemies around with divinity to be gained by killing were the gods of other Pantheons. There were no lone gods to bully anymore, so if the pantheons wanted divinity, they had to hunt each other. This increased the frequency ofrge-scale fights amongst gods.

 Chapter 1809: The Orc Bandits.

    Chapter 1809: The Orc Bandits.


    ?


    The difficulty of hunting had increased, but the clones still thrived thanks to this situation. There could have been peace, but the pantheons were greedy for divinity. It just so turned out that a pantheon was arge coalition of sources of divinity. It was toorge for them to ignore.


    Large pantheons hunted small ones, and two or more pantheons ganged up on another. Legion followed along like vultures following the trial of destruction created by war. Their specialization in various stats and their perfect corperation helped them to survive between therge teeth of Pantheons. The addition of a weapon that can change shapes and be used for both attacking and defending, and the spear that uses Authority made them stand out and thrive.


    They soon made a name for themselves as the 6 Orc bandits. This is because they were always working together as a group of six. Their weapon that could change shape and the golden spear became iconic for their group. They acquired enough reputation for Crystal Hoard to be able to track them down in the divine realm.


    She didn''te alone likest time she ambushed them in the mortal realm. She came with her Pantheon and made it her life''s mission to hunt them down. She chased after them all over the divine pantheon like a rabid dog. This made it impossible for them to hunt.


    Other Pantheons will not forget it when someone takes advantage of them. They won''t forgive either, but they will move on with their lives. But the Pantheon of Crystal Hoarding didn''t move on from pursuing the 9 Crowns and his band of orc bandits.


    In fact, they didn''t do anything else if they could pursue the orc bandits. They were focused on that single endeavor above all else.


    This harassment of the orc bandits continued for weeks. Things became so bad that the clones couldn''t leave the city. They would be attacked as soon as they left. The only ce they could find peace was in Gemmis or along the 10-meter safe zone around the walls of Gemmis.


    Currently, three of the clones are within the safe zone, staring back at the Crystal Hoarding Pantheon. They are three because the other three clones just died.


    As for the Crystal Hoarding Pantheon, they have exactly 53 gods. They were 65, but Legion managed to kill 12. So the orc bandits had traded the lives of 3 clones for 12 enemies.


    It was a good trade. Unfortunately, that isn''t much of a loss to the Crystal Hoarding Pantheon because they were able to retrieve the divine orbs of theirrades. They were even able to retrieve the divine orbs of the three clones they killed, so they gained from the fight.


    The Crystal Hoarding Pantheon have had numerous such victories, which has emboldened them. The only thing weird about them is that they are being led by a goblin, and most of them are goblins.


    Their appearance didn''t take away from their ferocity, though. They stared down at the remaining orc bandits from the other side of the safety line with an imposing aura and smug expressions on their faces.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Crystal Hoard said to Legion-3, "Why don''t youe out and fight? Let us do this one-on- one. Whoever wins will take both of the weapons. I have a divine contract here to prove my sincerity. Sign it and fight me. Regardless of the oue of the fight, I will stop bordering you in God''s Domain."


    She is speaking to Legion-3 because he is the one in possession of her spear. She knows that he is not the 9 Crowns, though. She has seen the 9 Crowns before, so she recognized Legion-1 as her most hated enemy.


    She believes that Legion-1 is the first true god of the Northern Realm and the one she tried to kill. As for Legion-3, she believes that he had bought the spear from Legion-1 and managed to steal it from her.


    She didn''t anticipate that her spear could be stolen at all. Even now she doesn''t know how he did it because her angel doesn''t know. An Authority weapon is just so rare and so little is known about it that its previous owner doesn''t know everything about it.


    Now she has to force Legion-1 and Legion-3 to make a deal with her in order to recover her Golden Light. But she doesn''t n to stop there. She still wants to take Legion-1 special weapon that can change shape and can also be shared with others.


    Legion-3 had to ask, "Are you out of your mind? Why would we bet two powerful weapons in a fight that we can only gain one thing from?"


    She replied with a smile, "Such coarsenguage. No, I am not out of my mind. What I am is more powerful than you. That''s why I can make such a request. You either bet and fight or be terrorized forever."


    Legion-3 said to her, "Fine. You win. We won''t be able to hunt anymore. Are you happy now?" His reply made her frown, "Don''t be unreasonable. Hunting is just a side effect of my actions. You don''t think much of it now because the only thing you have to gain are divine crystals and divinity. But what about Titan crystals? How will you get them if you can''t leave Gemmis?" Legion-3 scoffed, "It is not even certain that every godbined will be able to kill the ancient titan. Even if that were to happen, by blocking me here, you also won''t be able to participate in the hunt. So it is lose-lose for the both of us."


    She countered, "Not if I make my Pantheon block you while I go hunt."


    Legion-1 interjected, "You will still lose the support of your Pantheon. How will you seed in iming a fragment of the heart of the titan if you don''t have the help of your Pantheon while other god kings do? So it is still going to be a lose-lose situation for us."

 Chapter 1810: Betrayed.

    Chapter 1810: Betrayed.


    ?


    Legion-3 added, "Besides, you are the only one in your pantheon that is a major threat to us. If you don''t participate in blocking us, then they might just be wasting their time."


    What they said made her scowl. She said, "Then stop being unreasonable and sign the contract."


    Legion-3 shook his head and said, "I would rather be unreasonable than do something foolish. What you are offering is not nearly enough for me to risk what I have. Besides, I already know that I will lose in a fight with you, so why should I bother?"


    She sneered at him, "So you know you are weak. But you haven''te to the understanding that your weakness is why you shouldn''t be in possession of the two weapons. Know your ce and give them to me. I, in my infinite generosity, will allow you to join my Pantheon. I promise to protect you."


    Legion-3 replied, "No, thank you."


    She turned to the other Orc Bandits and said, "Can you really bear with the repercussions of his stubbornness? All six of you will suffer because of him. I know you have chosen to cooperate because 9 Crowns is sharing his weapon with you, but I can also share it with you if I get it. And I am also stronger than him, so you will have a better partner in me." Legion-1 said to her, "Don''t bother to try and break up our alliance. They already signed a divine contract with me. Just you wait for when webine the might of all six of our Pantheons. We will see if you can continue to be smug then."


    Crystal Hoard ignored him and focused on Legion-2, "You and the remaining three in your alliance are enjoying the benefit of 9 Crowns'' weapon. It is a smart idea to ally with him for it. I know you signed a divine contract, but I don''t think you guys were foolish enough to make the contractst forever. Surely there must be a use to break it or a provision to end it."


    Legion-2 replied, "You are right. There is a way to break the contract. But it will cost us a lot of divinity. It is not something we can afford right now."


    Crystal Hoard became happy immediately. Her face was still frozen and her voice was still mellow, but if they could see her true body in the void universe, they would be able to see the excitement in her eyes and the change in her demenor.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    She said calmly, "That''s great. Whatever it is, I can afford it. I''ll help you break your shackles with this burden of a god."


    She was tempting Legion-1''s allies to betray him right in front of him, but she didn''t care. Not only is she enjoying the process of breaking his alliance right in front of his face, she is also hoping to use this to pressure him into breaking down and epting her offer.


    She said to all of them, "Don''t worry. I can help all of you break the contract. Then you will have nothing topel you to suffer with him like this."


    None of his two allies refuted her. They didn''t even try to pretend to be loyal. They were so tempted by the offer that they were seriously considering it right in front of him.


    The sight made Crystal Howard''s dragon body in the void universe smirk in triumph. But Legion-1 couldn''t take it in anymore. He said to Legion-2, "You can''t seriously be considering betraying me. You can''t do this to me."


    Legion-2 didn''t even look at him as he said, "I can. It''s in the contract."


    Legion-1 became so angry that he stomped away. His actions seem to have awoken Legion-3. He said to Crystal Hoard, "I''m not taking your deal. I don''t want to lose my precious golden light."


    She snorted and said, "Stubborn to the bitter end. That''smendable even though you are a rat clinging to a sinking ship."


    Legion-3 ignored her and said to Legion-2, "Whatever you do, don''t trust her. She is only using you to break up our strength. She will dump you when she gets what she wants."


    Legion-2 rolled his eyes and replied, "I''m not foolish. I know that. I also know that you want this alliance to remain above everyone else because you get to use two special weapons. If the alliance falls, you will lose the most, even more than Legion-1. So your advice is not without an ulterior motive either."


    Legion-3 shook his head and went after Legion-1. Only Legion-2 remained to speak with Crystal Hoard.


    She said to him, "You''re making a good decision, my friend. I want you to know that..." Legion-2 cut her off. "We are not friends. And no matter what you say, it doesn''t change the fact I am benefiting from this alliance. The alliance might be having problems now because of you, but without the alliance, I will lose a bulk of my strength."


    She continued to smile, "Don''t worry about that. I will make it worth your while."


    Legion-2 was not appeased. He made other demands, "Not only that, I can only promise that I will break the alliance with them. I can''t promise that I won''t form another alliance with them if you fail to bring them down."


    That made her unhappy. She asked with frustration, "Then what use is breaking the alliance in the first ce if you can join it again?"


    Legion-2 didn''t back down. He filed his hands and said, "That is up to you to make me not want to join their alliance anymore. If you can make it worth my while, I can promise not to join their alliance again for a year. I will also help you convince the others. But if you don''t manage to eliminate 9 Crowns or can''t get the two weapons during that time, we will return to them. That''s the best I can promise and do."

 Chapter 1811: Hook And Bait.

    Chapter 1811: Hook And Bait.


    ?


    She understands that he is trying to cover all his bases. Not only does he want her to pay for him to break his alliance, he wants her to make it worth his while, and he also wants to keep a bridge afloat so that he can return to 9 Crowns after breaking the alliance.


    But she finds it ridiculous. She didn''t hold back from saying so either. "This is ridiculous. You are too greedy. You want to eat your cake and have it. I still have to do this for the other 3 too. This is too much."


    Legion-2 asked her with a smirk, "Do you want us to betray him or do you want up to 600 gods shing with your Pantheon?"


    She considered his question seriously before asking, "What''s stopping him from recing you with other gods when you break the alliance? Won''t my effort in causing you to betray him go to waste?"


    Legion-2 shrugged and said, "I can''t help you with that. All I can say is that he needs a year before he can rece us. I know that much. And when we asked him to make more gods join the alliance, he said he had reached his limit. If that is true, then he won''t be able to replenish This allies for another year."


    Crystal Hoard became enlightened. She said, "That''s why you promised not to return in a year. You said it as if you were doing me a favor, but the truth is that you can''t return in less than one year even if you wanted to. You are one greedy schemer, aren''t you?"


    Legion-2 spread his hands and said, "You got me. I am unapologetic about it. I just want to protect my interests. Can you truly me me?"


    She could me him. She wanted to too. But she didn''t want to destroy the work she had done in convincing him to betray his alliance. So she kept quiet while staring at him as if she wanted to poke holes in his body with her eyes.


    He, on the other hand, didn''t care that she had discovered his ruse. He asked impatiently, "Are you taking the deal or not."


    She wanted to take the deal as it would cripple 9 Crowns'' alliance. If she is able to do that, then she might be able to pressure him enough for him to hand over his special weapon. It can work too since she knows his territory in the mortal realm and knows his identity in the divine realm.


    Unfortunately, the cost will be too high. She had to think about it seriously.


    She thought to herself, "It is worth it. A weapon that can create an alliance between god kings is worth more than my golden light. If I can have both, I''ll be unstoppable."


    At this point, she is the one that has be too tempted by the benefits that 9 Crowns'' reward has to offer. A weapon that can change shape and can be shared with others has a lot of potential in making her the greatest God king ever.


    She is so tempted by it that just the thought of it is enough to make her true body in the void universe be restless. She knows that the things in this world are useless in the void universe, but as a dragon, it is her passion and hobby to collect valuable things.


    Granted that she is more greedy for treasures than other dragons, but she counts that as a talent, not a w. She even created a Supreme Law that senses and steals treasures. So she is restless to possess both special weapons.


    She thought to herself as her eyes lit up, "I knew his reward was bound to be better than mine, but I didn''t expect it to be so good. I have to do everything to get it."


    So she asked Legion-2 with her puppet body, "How much will it cost to break your alliance?"


    Legion-1 replied with a smile, "1 million divinity."


    She wasn''t surprised by the amount. She said, "It is as expected. It is an amount that will discourage betrayal."


    Legion-2 agreed. "It is foolproof. I surely can''t afford that right now. And if I can, the divine weapon is surely to be more powerful because 9 Crowns will use what I pay to upgrade it. So he will gain something from my betrayal."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I, on the other hand, will lose out on not only 1,000,000 divinity, but also a powerful weapon that can be used as a shield, a sword, a bow, and more. So you better have something valuable to pay me and the other 3 off."


    He didn''t want to reveal the fact that the weapon could be evolved, but he wanted to sink the hook into her further, so he exposed the information to her. Besides, he and the other clones have also revealed other information to her, so one more won''t hurt.


    That''s how she found out that they had formed an alliance by using the 9 Crowns'' reward as the foundation. She didn''t ask them for the information. They had revealed it willingly by saying that they would never betray Legion-1 and lose ess to his weapon.


    Their n seems to be working, as it has led them to this point. Crystal Hoard was silent in consideration. Despite her greedy nature, she was still considering the situation carefully. So Legion-2 pressured her, "So what is your offer?"


    Crystal Hoard sighed. She felt she had a headacheing, but it was just frustration about how to deal with this.


    She thought in frustration, "I have finally found another weakness of 9 Crowns, but it is too expensive. Why can''t things be easy or at least cheap?"


    Legion-2 is not the only one she has to pay 1,000,000 divinity for. She has to pay the severance cost of the three other Orc Bandits willing to break the alliance, so the cost is at 4,000,000. Then there''s also what she will pay the four of them so that they will give up the alliance.

 Chapter 1812: Final Negotiations.

    Chapter 1812: Final Negotiations.


    ?


    Legion-2 added fuel to the fire of greed in her heart by saying, "If your offer is good, it might even be able to convince the orc that bought your spear. I could tell that he was tempted. He just needs enough incentive to ditch 9 Crowns. If you give us that incentive, then you will make 9 Crowns alone and surrounded by enemies. It will just cost you a lot."


    What he said gave her an idea. She thought to herself with a glint in her eye, "That''s true. I can give up on Golden Light for now. That god might be willing to give on 9 Crowns if I promise to let him go."


    The more she thought about it, the better she felt it was a good idea. "I might have to promise that I won''te after Golden Light for a time, but there''s nothing that says I can''te after these other four. In time, I might even be able to get back what I paid them too."


    She made up her mind and asked Legion-2 with confidence, "So what do you want to break up your alliance?"


    Legion-2 smiled and replied, "I want what every god wants. I want a domain."


    The eye of a collosal dragon in the void universe twitched in anger, but Crystal Hoard spoke


    calmly, "You already know that every god wants a domain. Why would I still be a true god if I had one?"


    Legion-2 shrugged and said, "You don''t have to give me one now. You can give me the domain when you get it."


    She couldn''t take it anymore. "Uneptable. I have to be the first domain god, so I can''t give you the first domain I get."


    He took a step back. "Fine. But you have to give me the first domain you acquire if you fail to be the first domain god."


    She shook her head and said, "I can''t do that because I need the strength to pressure 9 Crowns."


    It was Legion-2''s to be stubborn. He said, "Then you have to give me the second domain you get. I will not have it any other way."


    Crystal Hoard refused, "That''s ridiculous. The domain is the only thing I can take out of this world. I can''t give it up for something useless in the void universe."


    Legion-2 refuses to budge. He said, "That is my final offer. If you don''t want to give me the domain, why would I give up something so powerful that can help me get the domain myself? Or do you think you are the only one who cares about a domain? If you think the domain is not worth my betrayal, then forget about the deal."


    She argued some more, but he didn''t take a step back. He already made the cost of breaking the nonexistent contract reasonable. He didn''t make it too high to discourage her, and he didn''t make it too low to make her suspicious. But this time, he is not going to back down from taking the high price.


    She eventually relented, "Fine. I will give you any domain I acquire after my first one. Or I will give you the first domain I get if I don''t use it. And i promise to do everything possible to get you your domain after I use the first domain I get."


    Legion-2 pushed for more. He said, "All of these must be done in less than a year after you be a domain god. Do you agree or not?"


    She gritted her teeth and nodded.


    Legion-2 finally smiled. She didn''t speak, but he didn''t need her to speak. As long as she agrees and signs the divine contract, he won''t care if she wants to pretend to be mute.


    He said, "Now that that is out of the way. We should take care of my immediate needs." She frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"


    He exined with a smile, "The reward of a domain is something in the uncertain future. I am not going to give up my current best chance for a domain just for a promise that I don''t know when it will be fulfilled."


    She pointed out furiously, "You don''t know when you will get a domain with your hands either. You don''t even know if you will ever get one."


    He continued shamelessly, "Be that as it may, I want a tangible benefit for the short term. I won''t ask for too much. I just want 100,000 divinity."


    She wanted to refuse, but she had already agreed to 1,000,000 divinity and a domain. 100,000 is just a little more, so she didn''t mind. At this point, she couldn''t let 100,000 be the thing to destroy the progress that she has made.


    She nodded in agreement again, so Legion-2 said, "I will speak with the others when they resurrect, but I think they will also want a domain and some divinity. So prepare to give them at least three more domains after mine. Do you agree?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    She nodded while thinking to herself, "You should enjoy this while itsts. No one gets anything from me without giving it back. You will have to vomit what you have eaten from me."


    Legion-2 didn''t mind that she was staring daggers at him. He maintained his smile as he said, "Good. Let''s sign a divine contract to make it official. Our angels will bear witness."


    This made her hesitate. She said, "I need time to umte the money."


    Legion¨C 2 nodded in understanding. He said, "That''s true. I will wait for you here."


    She asked casually, "Why don''t you give me your name so that I can reach out to you when I get it?"


    He looked at her and stopped smiling. His face became cold as he said, "I am not a fool. I won''t give you my name so that you can find my religion in the mortal realm and use it to pressure me. Now go and return quickly. You have 48 hours."

 Chapter 1813: Getting Allies.

    Chapter 1813: Getting Allies.


    ?


    Sheined immediately, "I have a lot to do. 48 hours is too short to do them."


    He didn''t agree. "Well, you will have to deal with it because I can''t give you anymore time. Do you think entertaining the idea of betrayal is not enough offense to 9 Crowns? Now I have even gone ahead to negotiate the betrayal with you, so I have thoroughly offended him."


    "9 Crowns can''t betray me or our alliance will break and he will have topensate me instead, but he already knows too much about me. I would like to prepare for the repercussions of my betrayal as soon as possible. I have a lot to do that must be done in less than 48 hours, so you only have 48 hours."


    She had to agree, so she left and went to call on some god kings for an alliance. She still left her Pantheon to guide the four gates of Gemmis, and she even spoke with 9 Crowns to inform him of the impending betrayal of his allies.


    She teased him through the systemmunication, "So what do you want to do now that your allies are leaving you? The best thing you can do now is let me join your alliance. I will go from being your enemy to your friend."


    Legion-1 scoffed, "I don''t want you to be my friend."


    Then he cut off themunication line.


    She was rejected, but Crystal Hoard was happy. She said to herself, "His weapon must have reached its limits. That''s why he can''t add me to his alliance. No one should be this stubborn in the face of impending doom."


    She doesn''t believe that an immortal will bear a grudge over the fact that she killed him. What every god wants is a domain. They will do anything to acquire it. That includes befriending someone who killed them a while back.


    That is the smart thing to do. To do something so foolish as not to make her his ally can only be because he can''t. Not because he doesn''t want to. This made her believe what Legion-2 told her more.


    So she was filled with confidence when she called the god kings of other Pantheons for an alliance. She told them of 9 Crowns'' reward for being the first true god and how it can be used as a means to strengthen many gods. She then proposed that they take it and use it to create an alliance of God kings just like 9 Crowns did.


    They had a lot of questions, especially about why they had to fight 9 Crowns for his weapon when they could just ally with him. She resolved that issue by exining that there was a limit and 9 Crowns had reached it.


    Then they asked why they couldn''t join the alliance after 9 Crowns'' current allies broke their ties with him. She exined that it was because he had to wait a year before he could select a new ally.


    They still thought it was a good idea to wait a year and join his alliance. After all, one year is not a long time at all. But Crystal Hoard didn''t want to wait a year because that meant her pantheon would have to continue pressuring him for that one year.


    Doing something like that will make them stagnate. Not only that, the titans can awaken any time soon, and she will need them to fight the ancient titans.


    The titans are also not the only reason why she would need her pantheon. Anything cane up during that one year. To have them patrolling the surroundings of Gemmis will preupy them for one year. It is something uneptable to her.


    Besides, anything can happen in that one year. 9 Crowns can grow too strong for them to deal with. It is something that is more likely to happen if she doesn''t pressure him with her pantheon or if another group of gods set their eyes on bing his allies after one year and decides to help him.


    So she convinced them to pressure 9 crowns by revealing the fact that she knew the location of his religion in the mortal realm. They agreed only to balk at the cost of breaking 9 Crowns alliance.


    One of the god kings asked, "Do we have to break his alliance? His alliance is 6 god kings, and we are 6, so we match his alliance. We can just pressure him like this. We don''t need to pay that much to break his alliance. Especially since it will strengthen him."


    Crystal Hoard replied, "You are wrong. We have to break his alliance in order to shorten the time it will take for him to break under pressure. Imagine what six god kings of our power can do to only him. He will crack easily."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "Besides, the divinity might be a lot, but what can he do with it apart from upgrading his weapon? What use will that weapon be if we pressure him from the mortal realm? At the most, he will kill our avatars. But I am willing to bet that we will be able to wipe out his religion in a few weeks if we work together. He won''t have the one year required to create an alliance."


    "Even if we fail to wipe out his religion, the broken alliance gives us an opportunity to rece his previous allies. We might even be able to use him to force out the information of his previous allies and retrieve what we give them."


    She spent so much effort to convince them. Eventually she forced them to make a decision. "Let us make this decision quickly. It is best that we get the weapon before the ancient titans awaken. That way out chances of getting titan crystals will be higher."


    The more the god kings heard, the more they were tempted. The most tempted was the god king that chased after Legion for their special weapon and divinity.

 Chapter 1814: Terms And Conditions

    Chapter 1814: Terms And Conditions


    ?


    He had refused to give up on them and suffered a loss when one of the Orc Bandits scared his pantheon away with golden light. This had made him release a bounty for their information, so he was one of the first to be called by Crystal Hoard for cooperation.


    The god kings eventually agreed. They signed a divine contract detailing their alliance. They would contribute the money needed to break the contract of the five Orc bandits and reward them with 100,000 each. They would also bear the cost of the domain.


    Then they gave her 5 million divinity. She went with this 5 million divinity, extra 500,000 divinity, and a divine contract to meet Legion-2. The other god kings followed her for support.


    Legion-2 was waiting for them there with four other clones. Even the god that is in possession of her golden light had been convinced to give up on Legion-1. It should just how dedicated and hardworking Legion-2 was.


    All 6 bandits except Legion-1 had arrived. Crystal Hoard was happy that he had managed to convince the other four to break the contract. But she sneered inwardly and thought to herself, "These fools. They are giving up something so good. Then again, it is because they are weak. The weak don''t have a choice but to cave under the pressure of true strength."


    She didn''t say that to their face. She just presented the divine contract to them. The divine contract demanded only two things from them. The first thing was that they would break up any divine contract of alliance with 9 Crowns.


    The contract didn''t specify one divine contract, as the orc bandits might have created more than one divine contract. If she asked for one divine contract to be broken, then they might cheat her, so she asked for every contract.


    In that vein, she also demanded that they not ally with 9 Crowns for a year. They are not to help him in any way after signing the divine contract that she brought, or they would have to pay her 10,000,000 divinity.


    In return, Crystal Hoard will pay for them to break their alliance with 9 Crowns. Not only that, she will give each of them 100,000 divinity now for their efforts, and her alliance of god kings will make sure that all 5 of them get a domain within a year after getting hers.


    Legion-2 was not satisfied with this. He asked that they promise not to attack them for the one year that they cannot ally with 9 Crowns. He also asked that they will be allowed to defend themselves or help 9 Crowns if they are attacked.


    This meant that if they are attacked during that one year, they would be able to ally with 9 Crowns again. Crystal Hoard and her alliance of five god kings didn''t think much of this. They agreed to this amendment while smirking inwardly to themselves.


    They are smirking because the contract didn''t say anything about 9 Crowns turning on them and attacking. Besides, they don''t care if the Orc Bandits resist. After all, if they were strong, Crystal Hoard wouldn''t have pushed them to this point.


    Legion-2 added that if they refused to give them their domains after one year of getting theirs, their names will be wiped out from the divine investiture of the divine realm, and they will lose ess to God''s Domain forever. It is truly a serious repercussion, but the six god kings epted it too.


    To that effect, their domains can''t be taken out of God''s Domain until they have fulfilled their part of the agreement or in case the clones break their part of the agreement.


    The clones read the terms over carefully to make sure they didn''t miss anything. Then they signed it.


    Legion-2 smiled and said to her, "It is nice doing business with you. I hope we have more avenues to cooperate in the future."


    She smiled in return and departed in a hurry. She left to return to her altar in the divine city. Then she used it to project her avatar into the mortal realm.


    Her avatar didn''t appear in her territory this time. Instead, it appeared in an area close to the 9 Crowns territory. This is because her Oracle hase with some believers to set up an altar here for her.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    This is different from thest time she was here in that her Oracle didn''te in a hurry and decided to set up a base. She took her sweet time in setting up this base and building an altar so that she could descend close to 9 Crowns whenever she wanted.


    The base wasn''t built recently. It had been built for a while, but she didn''t attack 9 Crowns because she was waiting for the right opportunity. That opportunity is now when she has cut off his allies.


    But there is more. She is not the only God whose altar was built at her base. There were altars for other god kings and gods close to her altar. This way, if their avatar is destroyed, they can create another one easily and continue to pressure the 9 Crowns.


    She is clearly prepared for the long haul. In fact, her preparation is far more than this. The six god kings working together brought more gods along too. They don''t think they will need them, but they still brought them along for assurance.


    Currently, they are 18 in number. 6 god kings and 12 subordinate gods. 12 of them will enter 9 Crowns'' territory and search for his Oracle, while the remaining 6 will protect their Oracles at the base. With so many of them to fight and pressure 9 Crowns, they are sure of victory.


    All of them began to descend soon after Crystal Hoard''s avatar descended. They didn''t discuss much about their ns because most of it had already been done. They had even assigned those who would stay to guard the base and those who would confront 9 Crowns. So they set off immediately.

 Chapter 1815: Clone Of The First Sage.

    Chapter 1815: Clone Of The First Sage.


    ?


    The band of 12 gods encountered a favorable situation as soon as they went looking for 9 Crowns. It made it so that they didn''t have to spread out in search of their target because they could all sense a powerful divine power in the mortal realm. It was like a beacon in the dark. All 12 of them moved towards it to find the source of the divine power.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Crystal Hoard smiled. It didn''t show on the face of her avatar. That ulgy green face was still as impassive as ever. But the lips of her true body in the void universe had lifted as she smiled.


    She smiled because she knew what to expect. She expects two things. Both of which have to do with the fact that 9 Crowns is calling them over. It is either that 9 Crowns is going to surrender or he is going to resist. If he intends to resist, she already knows how he will resist and has prepared for it.


    When she saw the Oracle that has been possessed and what it was holding, she knew that the 9 crowns wanted to resist, and she knew that her expectations for how he intends to resist were right.


    She said to him, "It seems you don''t want to surrender. That is unwise. We are already at your doorstep. There is only one ce to go from here, and it is down."


    9 Crowns'' Oracle was holding Golden Light. The female orc was levitating in the air with the aura of power that was threatening to them. It was not her golden eyes that they felt was a threat. It was the golden spear in her hands that they were wary of.


    They are wary because if the spear kills their avatar, it will have the license to kill their main body in the divine realm too. But Crystal Hoard wasn''t afraid. She was too confident in her n to be afraid.


    Legion-1 didn''t bother to speak. He didn''t call them over to chat with them, so he attacked immediately. His target was Crystal Hoard. His enemies didn''t panic because they had predicted it.


    Crystal Hoard didn''t bother to defend when the attack arrived. She knew it would be futile to do so.


    Her Authority was at 27,000, but she could only use 20% of it to defend. That''s just 5,400. It will be nowhere enough to defend from the attack based on her estimate of 9 Crowns'' Authority and the millions of divinity that she gave him, which she is sure he would use to evolve golden light.


    So she didn''t resist the attack. Instead, she said to the others, "Remember what we nned." She was prepared for this because she knew that it was possible for the one that stole her Golden Light to give it to 9 Crowns to curry favor with him in preparation for when the one year restriction is over.


    She could have prevented this from happening by adding it as a term in the divine contract. But she didn''t do that because she wanted it to happen. She wanted 9 Crowns to use golden light against her.


    It happened just like she wanted. That orc bandit gave 9 Crowns golden light, and just like she expected, it gave 9 Crowns the hope of resisting. Even more than that, it granted her the opportunity to regain possession of her beloved divine weapon.


    So she wasn''t afraid when the golden speak sank into her avatar. Far from it. She was actually happy. Her allies shook their heads in pity and moved tounch attacks on the 9 Crowns. One of them even advised him, "It is best you surrender. Or your Oracle will be killed."


    They knew the kind of preparation they had made, so they were confident. Currently in the divine realm, more than a hundred gods are sitting together in the same room where the true bodies of the 18 gods are.


    Crystal Hoard is among these 18 gods. She and the others are being protected by the 100 gods around them. These 100 gods are currently alert and waiting for the opportunity for them to do their duty.


    This is not the only preparation that Crystal Hoard has made to catch golden light. There is another room far away that contains the divine altar of all 18 gods. There are a hundred gods waiting here too.


    Gods don''t like to expose their divine altars to other gods. But they are doing so this time so that they can capture the god-killing weapon as soon as it enters the divine realm.


    And by creating arge distance between their true bodies and their altars, they will have two opportunities to catch golden light and arge amount of time between both chances to do


    so.


    This is the n that Crystal Hoard came up with after doing a lot of research. She had to ask the gods she had used golden light on in the past for advice. Their experience helped her determine how best to trap the god-killing weapon.


    These 200 gods were all watching attentivy when Crystal Hoard died. But it turned out that they didn''t need to be so alert. Anyone in the room would have noticed that golden light wasing because Crystal Hoard began to glow from within. She brightened up the room and drew everyone''s attention to her.


    Crystal Hoards Authority was several times higher than Legion''s so she was able to resist. She didn''t die instantly and was able to warn them.


    "Prepare yourself. It ising."


    So not only were they alert, they had both visual and audio warnings of what was toe.


    Crystal Hoard resisted, but her divine energy was exhausted until her divine body broke apart. Then the golden spear went for her altar next. It destroyed it and returned to the mortal realm immediately.


    The face of the gods watching changed when they saw this happen. They were shocked because it happened too fast. They couldn''t do anything before the golden spear left.


    A/N: More like fake clone of the first sage. The first sage wouldn''t fumble like this.

 Chapter 1816: Generosity As High As A Mountain.

    Chapter 1816: Generosity As High As A Mountain.


    ?


    Not even the gods waiting in the other room noticed when golden light appeared and destroyed the altar. There wasn''t even a second dy between Crystal Hoard dying and her altar getting destroyed.


    One of the gods said, "This is not a weapon. It is light that is golden."


    Meanwhile, in the mortal realm. The god king had just warned Legion-1 when the golden spear returned to his hands. Even before 9 Crowns taunted them, they had paused and then run away.


    Legion-1 sneered at them. He thought to himself, "You think because you are allies you are clones too?"


    The only reason Legion had been able to catch golden light was because it was dyed. It didn''t return immediately to the mortal realm after destroying Legion-1 and their altar because it wanted to kill the other clones too. Unfortunately, it couldn''t attack them from within anymore, so they were able to capture it.


    This is why he was confident to use golden light to resist. Even if it didn''t work, he would simply use his backup n, which is to allow the other clones to help him.


    The contract said they couldn''t help 9 Crowns unless they were attacked. It also didn''t say they couldn''t defend themselves. Legion-2 made sure that they could defend themselves, which means they could help him. After all, they are 9 Crowns too.


    Their angel had assured them that they wouldn''t be breaking the contract if the other clones, decided to help him. The only adverse effect would be that it would clue others to their abnormality. Their secret of being the same person mighte out.


    But now it seems he was worried for nothing. He alone will be able to take care of these gods.


    He gave chase immediately and began killing them one after the other. He would throw golden light out, and they would die from one hit. This is because golden light has been upgraded again.


    (Name: Golden Light)


    (Type: God-Killing Authority Weapon)


    (Tier 5 (Evolvable): 0/1,000,000,000)


    (Attack Power: 100% of Authority +10% of Total Divinity)


    (Ability: Destroys the body, avatar, and altar of a god as long as a target dies to this weapon.)


    (Description: This is a weapon for killing gods. If you can kill a god once with this weapon, you don''t need to fight them again to kill them again.)


    They had upgraded it from Tier 3 to Tier 5. So its power has increased from 70% of Authority to 100% and 10% of their total divinity. They have Crystal Hoard and her allies to thank for this.


    It cost them 100,000 and 1,000,000 million divinity to bring it to Tier 5. Golden Light can now use 100% of his Authority which is currently 11,000, and 10% of his total divinity, which is 1,000, for a sum of 12,000 in attack power.


    Their enemies, on the other hand, can only use 20% of their Authority to defend. Yet, they gave Legion 5,500,000 divinity to strengthen themselves. It is indisputable that the generosity of these god kings is the highest Legion has ever encountered.


    Legion is humble enough to admit that they can never match up to them in terms of generosity. The only thing they can do is make sure that this generosity does not go to waste. They have to make sure that they use golden light to its fullest potential. That''s why he mustn''t let any of his enemies go. It would be shameful to let any of his enemies go after he has been blessed so much. Killing his enemies is literally the one thing he has to do. He mustn''t fail at it.


    Fortunately, it is pretty easy work. Crystal Hoard''s effective defense with Divine Shield was at 5,200 and she is the god with the highest Authority. If she couldn''t take on one attack, then the rest of them can''t.


    Things might have been different in the divine realm since they could use the endurance of their divine body to resist too. But they are only here in the form of their avatars. They are doomed to die.


    The gods were not stupid. They realized this fact and ran in different directions so that he wouldn''t be able to kill all of them. Then they canceled their avatars. It would take one second for their avatars to dissipate. It is slow, but it is enough for many of them to survive.


    Legion-1 is not stupid either. He only chased the gods who ran in the direction they came from. He wasn''t disappointed when they cancelled their avatars. He simply continued in the direction they came from. After all, that''s the direction that their Oracles are in.


    The gods saw this and sent messages to their Oracles to scatter. Only Crystal Hoard''s one remaining Oracle didn''t receive any warning from her God. After all, her God was currently indisposed. But he too ran when he saw the other Oracles fleeing for their lives.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Unfortunately, it was toote for them. Legion-1''s other backup ns had kicked into action. His subordinate gods from the Apocalypse Pantheon had surrounded the Oracles and were killing them.


    Legion-1 didn''t make the godse directly toward him just to keep them together so that he could attack them together. He could have let them scatter and then hunted them separately.


    That way, even if Golden Light didn''t work, he and his Pantheon would have been able to overwhelm their avatars. But what benefit would killing their avatars bring?


    Even if Golden Light worked, the best he would have gained from killing their avatars is dying their resurrection. That isn''t good enough for him. What he wants are their Oracles. So he already nned to eliminate the Oracles no matter the cost.


    Even if golden light had failed and the help of his clones hadn''t turned the tide, his pantheon would still surround and attack their Oracles. That way he would ensure that they lost something in this attack.

 Chapter 1817: Cutting Loses.

    Chapter 1817: Cutting Loses.


    ?


    The 18 gods resisted by possessing their Oracles to defend. The gods from their six pantheonsbined also descended to their altars with their avatars to help them resist and escort their Oracles to safety.


    200 gods from the alliance of gods fought against 50 gods from the Apocalypse pantheon. It looked like the 200 gods were going to win, however, the initiative had already been lost when they invaded the enemy''s home ground, failed to neutralize golden light and got themselves surrounded.


    The tide of battle changed as soon as Legion-1 arrived with golden light. The gods stopped possessing their Oracles and some avatars even gave up immediately. They stopped helping and quickly returned to the divine realm so that they won''t be killed by that weapon and run the risk of losing ess to God''s Domain forever.


    As for the ones that remained, one strike destroyed every resistance in his way. Legion-1 worked his way to the Oracles through the hoards of gods protecting them and killed them.


    He didn''t destroy the altars that their Oracles had erected so that the gods could descend to it with their avatars and fight him. But none of the 18 god did that despite the lives of their Oracles being at stake.


    It is because that only meant that they would die too. That would worsen the situation after their Oracle dies. They were not willing to assist as avatars or to possess their oracles so as to limit their loses after their Oracles die.


    It was a smart n to cut their losses, but the damage had already been done. They didn''t lose any divinity, as the divine orb of those who were killed by Golden Light is still there waiting for them. What they lost was merely some divine energy, their expensive divine altars, and finally their very important Oracles.


    Thatst part was especially painful. They felt the pain their Oracles experienced just before they died. As if that wasn''t enough, they also received a notification from the world to inform them of the unnatural passing of their Oracles.


    It was so bad that they didn''t try to attack 9 Crowns again. If they hadn''t lost their Oracles, then they could have gathered again and began nning for another attempt on 9 Crown. But now no one dares to do so.


    They didn''t even want to think about it. 18 Oracles were lost just like that. Legion-1 didn''t let them go. He sent gods to chase the ones that escaped the siege. He chased them for miles and finally killed them.


    It could have been worse had they brought more Oracles. Things were already bad, but they didn''t have someone to me for this disastrous affair because Crystal Hoard was no more. She had lost both her Oracles and her divine altar, so she couldn''t even resurrect anymore.


    It was truly sad that herst Oracle had died when both she and her divine altar were gone. This meant that both her link to the mortal and divine realms were gone. It meant that her link to God''s Domain was severed, and they couldn''t find her to me her.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The proof is that her name has disappeared from the ranking list and someone else has taken her ce at the top of the ranking. Even her Pantheon had disbanded. What is left of her is her divine orb with 5,000 divinity in it and her debt of 5 domains to the orc Bandits.


    The god kings were angry, but their angerbined couldn''tpare to that of Crystal Hoard''s. At first she was in shock. Herrge body in the void universe stood still with her jaws dropped in shock and disbelief.


    Then she was in denial. She couldn''t believe that her n had failed. She shook her head and tried to connect to the pir beside her. Her divine sense made contact with it and sessfully connected with the world beyond it, but then she was repelled.


    "No, no, no. This can''t be happening. This must be a mistake."


    She turned to the side to ask her angel, "But you said it should work. You said if 9 Crowns was able to capture the weapon, 100 gods should be able to with 100% certainty."


    But there was no angel when she turned to the side. She realized then that there would never be an angel ever again because she had lost ess to God''s Domain. This made her very angry. She roared in anger and anguish. Then she med 9 Crowns. "It is all his fault. He stole my weapon. He killed my Oracle. He must be punished."


    That was easier said than done. She doesn''t know 9 Crowns in the void universe. If she didn''t get ess to God''s Domain she would have never encountered him. Her only hope for revenge is to have others with ess to God''s Domain help her.


    It was a good idea. She liked it, and it was feasible because she knew a lot of people with ess to God''s Domain. She was about to contact them to help her when she realized that doing so would also inform the world god who gave her the slot that she had lost ess to God''s Domain.


    This realization made her shiver in fear. It also doused her enthusiasm. She didn''t think it was a good idea to tell others that she had lost ess just yet.


    But she knew that the information couldn''t be hidden. Her disappearance would be noticed and the world god informed. Things would be worse then. So it is better to tell the truth now.


    She said to herself, "His excellency might be able to help me get new ess. Things might work out."


    She doesn''t really believe that, but it helped her to summon the courage needed to tell the world god who spent a lot of resources so that she could get the Authority of the void universe that she wouldn''t be able to get the Authority of the void universe and that the resources they spent have gone to waste.

 Chapter 1818: No More Grief.

    Chapter 1818: No More Grief.


    ?


    It took a lot of delusional convincing before she got halfway to the courage needed to break the monumental bad news to a world god. But she was interrupted while she was raising her courage.


    A being muchrger than her appeared suddenly beneath her. It stayed there just beneath thew matrix, but she could feel its presence and its focus locked onto her.


    She could also feel its anger as it asked, "What is this I heard about you getting eliminated from God''s Domain. Tell me it is a baseless rumor."


    It was not a good thing for something sorge that it could swallow her in one bite be angry at it. It was not good at all. She was filled with so much fear that she didn''t know what to say. She couldn''t even move. She stood there frozen in fear.


    The works God didn''t like that. It said, "Since you can''t speak or move, you should remain like this forever."


    A powerful Will enveloped her and froze her. She became frozen in body and mind, so she couldn''t even kill herself. The good thing is that she won''t be able to go through the remaining stages of grief anymore. Not many are that lucky.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Then the powerful Will dragged her down beneath thew matrix. She didn''t enter the dark side of the universe but was transported into the inner world, where she would be imprisoned for an unknown amount of time.


    While Crystal Hoard was on a personal journey to lose her sense of time, the five god kings met to discuss what to do. They spoke at length, but it led to nothing positive.


    Actually, nothing changed about their situation. They can all agree that the alliance was a mistake, and they all wanted to disband it. Unfortunately, they can''t until they have paid the orc bandits their due. So they could only forget it for now and try to get domains as quick as possible.


    The repercussions of failing to pay their due might put them in Crystal Howard''s situation. It is a possibility that depends on the mood of the world god that sponsored them. They might get away with it with just a mild scolding or a sigh of disappointment, but they are not willing to take their chances.


    Not only do they want the domains so that they would be able to evolve and gain another Oracle slot, but they also wanted it so that they would gain the power to clear away their debts. These two reasons made them dedicated to roaming the divine ne in search of domains.


    Unfortunately for them, the divine ne is very dangerous right now. Not only are there divine beasts everywhere, there are also Pantheons hunting other Pantheons. The sh between Pantheons has gotten particrly intense. The divine beasts have also gotten stronger from eating too many gods.


    Things got so bad that what the gods had been warned about finally happened. A regional announcement red to life in the divine realm like an rm siren.


    -A Divine Cmity Has Been Born.


    -Kill It Before It Bes Too Strong.


    -Killing It Will Reward With Special Divine Spells.


    The announcement riled up the gods. The allure for special divine spells was a lot because divine spells have beenmon till now. Every god has the same type. It is not until they be domain gods can they gain ess to unique divine spells. So a special divine spell will grant gods an advantage.


    This advantage is especially tempting to powerful god kings who have reached level 100 and have reached the limit of their Pantheon. They went in search of the Divine Cmity to kill it.


    Legion didn''t join the chase. They heard that divine cmities were too strong and they could devour a god so that they would lose 90% of their divinity instead of 50% when they died.


    Besides, they were too busy recruiting gods for their pantheon. They had already begun to forcefully recruit gods before the attack on Legion-1 by the six god kings. It was very difficult to do, but golden light has made it very easy.


    With golden light, even the avatar of a god will be in big trouble in front of them. They didn''t need to fight the avatars of gods resisting them anymore. They could just kill them, destroy their divine altars, and look for their Oracles peacefully.


    If they didn''t find the Oracles before the god resurrects, they would destroy all their temples and then kill their avatar again when it resurrects. But they rarely had to repeat killing the avatars after the first time. Every God became reasonable after one death of their true bodies and destruction of their divine altar.


    This way, they were easily able to convince every god around their territory to join their pantheon. The gods either had to be their subordinates or be destroyed. They didn''t give anyone any other choice in the matter.


    This was how they were able to get up to 50 gods in their pantheon in preparation for the attack on Legion-1. Now they want to finish what they started and increase that number to 99. They were also busy helping their believers to expand through prosperity and procreation. They didn''t rely on war anymore because every god around them was already their subordinate.


    Besides, they had yet to fully digest the poption in their territory. They have quite possibly thergest territory among the gods. After all, they were the first true god. They had used that advantage thoroughly, and now they are consolidating it with the reward for being the first


    godling.


    So they were taking their time doing all of these while also learning to forge. The power of the Golden Light haspelled them to crack the secrets of forging. They want to be able to produce more weapons like it in God''s Domain or the void universe.


    At the very least, it will improve their forging skills and help themprehend more of thews of this world since they can''t do so directly.

 Chapter 1819: A Serious Inconvenience.

    Chapter 1819: A Serious Inconvenience.


    ?


    Each divine weapon that can boost their divinity by percentage can be likened to a world fragment and how it empowers them. The only difference is that divine weapons are smaller and cheaper to make. This difference makes it really tempting to master the forging of God''s Domain.


    It would be great if they could master it, but it is not going to be easy. They can''tprehendws directly with their minds so they have to use a try and error method to learn.


    It might not even be possible at all, so their efforts might go to waste. In the meantime, they have to appreciate and cherish what they have on their hands.


    They have a lot more to cherish now that they have upgraded Myraid Armament.


    (Myriad Armament)


    (Tier 5 (Evolvable): 0/1,000,000,000)


    (Strength: 2.0+ 0.1 total divinity)


    (Ability: Can change form)


    (Description: A weapon fit for a being with many forms)


    (Non-transferable)


    So not only can Myraid Armament enhance strength by 100%, it also uses 10% of total divinity to enhance strength. This way, even if someone doesn''t put a lot of divinity in Strength, they will still get an extra 1,000 at their current stage.


    At some point, when it reaches 100% total divinity boost, it wouldn''t matter if they put in divinity into strength. They will still have as much Strength as every other god who put all of their divinity into Strength. And if they put all their divinity into Strength, they will have double the attack power of those who put all their divinity into strength.


    It is unlikely for gods to put all their divinity into Strength. 5,000 is more likely. So they have the potential to have as much as four times the attack power of other gods.


    It is something good to look forward to. But they are more optimistic of Golden Light because they recognize that Authority will be the future of gods soon. Divinity is always limited to level 100. But Authority has no limits. If they can expand peacefully, they will soon have a million believers or more.


    Those are the things they are focused on. So while many gods were dying and killing each other for the divine cmity, they only followed along to take advantage of the situation. They would steal divine orbs when they could, kill stranglers, or take advantage of two or more forces fighting each other.


    They did all of these for the divinity. The divine spell is not their aim at all. They want to prioritize upgrading the Golden Light and Myraid Armament as the two of them need 1,000,000,000 divine crystals to evolve again.


    That''s 10,000,000 divinity each. They don''t have that kind of money, and they don''t have anyone they can fool for it, which means they have to keep working their asses off.


    Even though they needed money badly, only six of them hunted, and they didn''t work together to maintain the illusion that their alliance had broken up. They also didn''t use Myraid Armament. Only Legion-1 used it.


    This is another reason why they couldn''t go hunting for the divine cmity. They are seriously handicapped if they can''t work together or use myriad armament. They also can''t use golden light as it is supposed to be with Legion-1.


    It is a serious inconvenience to be handicapped like this, but they can''tin much since they have been paid for it. And if they want to maintain the trap, it is a sacrifice they have to make so that someone else can step into it in the future.


    As for the remaining 3 clones, they stayed behind to work on the various material and conditioningbinations that forging entails. They are also the backup in case something they are not prepared fores up.


    They also responsible for converting faith into divine energy and sending it to the to the clones for use. These meant that the three can chat and be carefree.


    Legion-8 thought to the others with a sigh, "It seems that crystal Hoard is no more. There goes our money tree. Who will we cheat three times in a row? There''s just no one as generous as her. She is one of a kind."


    Legion-8''smentation amused them. It is also a bittersweet feeling to lose Crystal Hoard. She had been hounding them for a long time so they are d that she is no more. But she also made them very wealthy which they are going to miss about her.


    They even still have 3.5 million divinity left over from her. It will ensure that they will continue to remember her fondly for quite some time.


    Legion-9 asked their angel, "If she had been alive when both of her Oracles died, what could she have done to recuperate?"


    "If she were alive and didn''t have an altar, she would need to create an altar first. With an altar and ack of Oracles, the divine spell to possess her Oracle will change to falling to the mortal realm."


    "If she chooses this option, her divine body will descend to a random ce in the mortal realm, and her altar will be destroyed to help her survive the process. She will start again as a wandering deity and re-ascend to the divine realm with a new religion. Then she will create a new altar."


    "All in all, the price of starting all over again is losing all of her possessions, divine spells, and divine abilities. She will have her previous divine body and its potential, but it will only be at level 1."


    The clones ruminated on that information and used it to n how they would kill the gods that threaten them in the future.


    They are not the only ones asking around for this information. Ever since Crystal Hoard, the god with the highest Authority died, many gods have been reminded of their mortality in this world. They want to know how to avoid it or what to do in preparation for it.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 1820: The Issue With Divine Calamities.

    Chapter 1820: The Issue With Divine Cmities.


    ?


    Death is not something that they usually worry about because, in the void universe, they are all immortal. If they will resurrect after being killed. The only thing they consider is preparation for a swift resurrection and avoidance of world gods.


    That''s why they didn''t think anything special of their immortality in this world. It ispletely normal for them toe back from the dead.


    If there is anything noteworthy about their immortality as gods, it is that resurrection is faster here. But now they know that it is even worse than the immortality that they normally enjoy, as they can lose it and lose ess to this worldpletely.


    It also reminded them of their disdain for the gods of the void universe.


    Time passed in the divine realm. Pantheons fought, and gods fell. The gods that fell did so in the normal way. They lost all of their Oracles and had to start again somewhere else in the mortal realm.


    The most notable thing that happened was that the divine cmity was killed. The god that dealt thest blow got a special divine spell. A regional announcement was made to announce this event to the divine realm.


    --The Divine Cmity Has Been Killed


    -Congrattions To Smite For This Achievement


    Smite didn''t kill the divine cmity on his own. He was just lucky enough to be thest one to hit it. His luck made him reap the reward of a special divine spell while everyone else had to settle for the divine crystals that had dropped.


    So it didn''te as a surprise to anyone that Smite was killed soon after. Everyone knew to expect him to besieged even if he had killed the divine cmity on his own and didn''t offend hundreds of gods when he stole their kill.


    Unfortunately, the divine spell didn''t drop. They only got Smite''s 5,000 divinity. It is 500 times better than the 1,000 divine crystals that the divine cmity dropped, but the gods were not content with it.


    They wanted the special divine spell, but it didn''t drop. The gods were disappointed and had to return to hunting each other or divine beasts. Many also decided to raise their own divine cmities.


    Raising divine cmities is aplicated affair. The gods fed divinity to divine beasts. This strengthened the divine beasts, but it didn''t turn them into divine cmities.


    The divine beasts reached their limit and couldn''t eat anymore divinity. But they still didn''t turn into divine cmities. It made them realize that they were missing something in the creation process of divine cmities.


    Fortunately, their attempts weren''t aplete failure. Some of the strengthened divine beasts managed to escape and killed many gods. They used their god devouring ability a lot during this process. This fulfilled thest condition they needed to transform into divine cmities.


    Unfortunately, this sess didn''t turn out well for most of the people that created divine cmities. The divine cmities chose to escape, which rendered their work a waste. Some were even killed by the divine cmities they created.


    As for those srikk alive, they had to chase after the divine cmity to kill it, but they couldn''t hog the divine cmity to themselves because a regional announcement always went up whenever one was created. This allowed other gods to hunt their divine cmities and reap the fruit of theirbor.


    This suicidal behavior eventually discouraged the gods from creating divine cmities. The fact that 9 Crowns made leaving Gemmis a very bad ideabined with this discouragement to put a stop to the endeavor of creating divine cmitiespletely.


    Crystal Hoard was gone, but she had been reced by 9 Crowns. This Orc with golden light was going around hunting gods and had be a terror, so the gods didn''t want to leave Gemmis anymore. But something happened to encourage the gods to go at creating divine cmities again.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    -Congrattions To Smite For Being The First Domain God.


    -The Hero Training System Has Been Established.


    Apparently, the first god to kill a divine cmity managed to be the first domain god. Every god became suspicious immediately. They couldn''t help but draw a line between the two achievements.


    Smite confirmed it when he sold the information that he also gained a quest that led him to a domain when he killed the divine cmity.


    Legion had to ask their angel after they got the information, "Why didn''t you tell us? We wanted to create our divine cmities, but you discouraged us of it."


    Their tiny angel shook its head and said, "I didn''t know that it was possible. I''m not all knowing, you know. But now that I know that it is possible to receive a domain quest by killing divine cmities, I know that the chances are very small. It is at 5%."


    It exined, "You would have needed to create at least 20 divine cmities for a reasonable chance at getting the quest. There haven''t even been up to 20 divine cmities in the 9 years since the first one was created. At this point, only two gods have received the quest, including Smite."


    Legion-1 asked, "You mean to say that there is a potential domain god out there?"


    The angel replied with a giggle, "Yes."


    Legion-2 had to ask, "What exactly determines what you know and don''t know?"


    "As I have said, what I know depends on what you have encountered and what you know. But there are times when the system wants you to know something, so they make the information avable to me."


    Legion-2 said, "I am guessing your knowledge of the potential domain god is one of those things the system wants us to know."


    "Yes."


    Legion-3 asked seriously, "Has anyone ever called you unreliable?"


    The angel nodded seriously. It said, "Many gods have called me that. Especially the ones that ask me if 9 Crowns is out hunting or not, and I tell them that I don''t know. They say that I am not reliable. It has happened a lot of times in thest five years."

 Chapter 1821: Desperation Leads To Explosion.

    Chapter 1821: Desperation Leads To Explosion.


    ?


    The clones sighed because they were not the only ones who think the angel is unreliable. But they understood that they couldn''t sit still after hearing about the birth of a domain god. It is because not only had they missed out on the reward of being the first domain god, they have also gained someone who can suppress them.


    Their angel encouraged them. "Things aren''t so bad. With the hero training system activated, you will be able to get heroes soon. You will finally be able to get your reward for being one of the first 100 godlings in the Northern Domain. That ought to put a smile on your face, right?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It didn''t put a smile on their face at all. They simply grunted as they began making ns to go out to create their own divine cmities.


    They hadn''t wanted to do so in the past because they were saving their divinity for their weapons and for the future. After all, many people had tried and failed to use divinity to create divine cmities.


    There''s also the fact they can never recover the divinity they use, even if they kill the divine cmity themselves. That is even if they kill the divine cmity themselves. It is unlikely that they will be able to do that.


    So they thought it was prudent to pursue something definite, like upgrading their divine weapons instead of gambling. But now they are getting desperate.


    They haven''t gotten desperate enough to squander their divinity in creating divine cmities yet. But they are willing to sacrifice every god they encounter to divine beasts to create the divine cmities, and they are also ready to go all out hunting the divine cmities instead of hunting the gods hunting the divine cmities.


    The six of them left Gemmis immediately. It has been nine years since their divine contract with Crystal Hoard was created. They stayed away from each other for a year, but now they can work together again.


    They were not the only ones leaving Gemmis in a rush. Many true gods left Gemmis for the first time in 5 years because of the information they just acquired from their angels.


    Their desperation for the Authority of the void universe was enough for them to ovee their fear of the Orc Bandits.


    Almost every one of these true gods also had the same idea and was desperate enough to try it. This caused violence to explode without suspense.


    The gods wanted to sacrifice other gods, which meant they had to fight. But no one could control how far they were going to fight or when to stop. So it was normal when things went too far. Soon every god and Pantheon were just fighting each other instead of trying to create divine cmities.


    The divine realm had be very dangerous, but the clones were able to survive in the chaos of fighting. This is because their nine years of hard work hadn''t gone to waste.


    They are currently the first god on the Authority ranking. This is because they have the highest Authority among all the gods in the Northern Domain.


    They havepletely assimted the poption of orcs in theirrge territory and some in the territory of their subordinate gods. This number stood at 214,272. This is an astounding number that even Crystal Hoard was not able to achieve.


    But that number was in the past. The orcs have reproduced in 9 years and expanded their poption by more than three times to make 673,891.


    They have also filled up their Pantheon with gods, which increased that amount by 99% to make for an Authority of 1,341,043. Inparison, the average Authority of the 1,000,000 gods in the Northern Domain is 50,000. Only other god kings have more than 100,000 or Authority in the hundreds of thousands.


    They were able to achieve this due to thebination of their advantage of being the first true God and that of the reward for being the first godling.


    As the first true God, they were able to carve out arge territory for themselves early on. They would have eventually be a force to be reckoned with over time. But Golden Light expedited that process.


    With golden light, they were able to win every conflict in the mortal realm and gain an absolute advantage. They became notorious among both gods and mortals. This caused faith in them to rise exponentially.


    The most important thing that thebination of these two advantages caused was theck of prolongedpetition and wars to slow down their growth. Any conflict between them and other gods was quickly rectified, so their believers enjoyed peace in theirrge territory. At some point, gods simply capitted to them after knowing their identity. This prevented war, which would have prevented them from acquiring half of their current Authority. This is because war leads to losses on both sides.


    Their first war with Tempest led to the deaths of believers, priests, and Oracles and both sides. Legion had lost priests and had to hide them away with his Oracle so that they won''t be picked off. These cautious procedures would have slowed down the spread of his religion as priests won''t be able to spread his faith.


    The losses would have be disastrous for both sides if the war had dragged on. So eventually, the side that wins in a war will get less than half of what is avable in total.


    Wars have a short-term benefit of increasing faith, but they have the long-term disadvantage of making life difficult for believers. Mortals wouldn''t have peace and wouldn''t be able to prosper. They would kill each other,ck food and other resources to reproduce. So their poption wouldn''t have soared by that amount in 9 years.


    With 1,341,043 in Authority, each one of them has more vitality than a true god divine beast at


    level 100. In fact, each clone holds more divine energy than their altar.


    When the divine energy of all nine of them isbined, then it makes it so that a whole pantheon will besiege a single one of them and still fail to kill the clone.

 Chapter 1822: A Force To Reckon With.

    Chapter 1822: A Force To Reckon With.


    ?


    A pantheon of a hundred gods has besieged Legion-1 and failed to kill him. This is something that has happened several times in the past five years. It is public knowledge that many gods know of, which is why they rarely hunt anymore.


    There are many reasons why Legion-1 was able to achieve that despite being a true god same as the 100 gods that besieged him.


    NAME: Number 1/Number 2/Number 3


    RACE: True God (Orc)


    TITLE: First/ Second/ Third Crown.


    TIER: 1


    LEVEL: 100


    DIVINE ENERGY: 1,341,043


    STRENGTH: 1,000/7,000/600


    ENDURANCE: 8,000/1,000/3,000


    SPEED: 1,000/2,000/6,400


    AUTHORITY: 1,341,043


    DIVINE ABILITIES: DIVINE NETWORK. INSIGHT. BLESSING. GREATER MIRACLE. PRIESTHOOD. ORACLE POSSESSION. SOUL HARVESTING. GOD-KING AUTHORITY (99%).


    DIVINE SPELLS: AVATAR. DIVINE STRIKE(2), DIVINE SHIELD(2), DIVINE HOLD(2). DIVINE STRENGTH(2). DIVINE SPEED(2). DIVINE ENDURANCE(2). DIVINE JUDGEMENT (2). DIVINE RETRIBUTION (2). DIVINE CRIPPLING (2).


    WEAPONS: Myriad Armament (Strength x 2 + 0.1 Total Divinity). Golden Light (100% Authority + 0.1 Total Divinity). Armor 2 (Endurance x 1.5). Foot 2 (Speed x 1.5). Shield 2 (Endurance x 1.5).


    They failed to kill Legion-1 because of his high endurance andrge pool of divine energy. He was already difficult to kill even with a mere 11,000 Authority, but this time they couldn''t use divine judgment on him, and he was able to kill most of them.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He was able to hit harder thanks to his high Authority as golden light became terrifying. He was also more difficult to kill by using divine shield, and he had a lot of divine energy to use that divine spell and the others.


    Their improvement in the art of forging is also a factor in why Legion has be a terrifying force to reckon with. They can forge artifacts with a 50% boost to their divinity now. Inparison, the other gods can only buy artifacts with a 40% boost from Gemmis, and it is very expensive.


    That 40% is the limit of what gods can buy, but they are just getting started in reaping the benefits of having at least one clone working day and night every day on forging.


    They can be better in the future and create more powerful divine artifacts, but the other gods are stuck at 40% boost. This is more likely thanks to the fact that three of their clones are always working on forging if they don''t need to reinforce the others.


    The gods have understood that they need to learn forging or find someone very good at forging to buy better equipment from, but no matter how serious they take forging, they can''t be as dedicated as three clones working as one. After all, they only have one body.


    The difference between 50% and 40% is currently too small to show its power. That will change in the future when they have more divinity. In the meantime, their sess in forging is just a sideshow to their immense Authority.


    Other gods have also made progress. But only gods of races with high fertility have been able to keep up with them in terms of Authority. This has made Legion decide to start a war in the mortal realm to leverage the potential of their race against those who reproduce like pigs but are weak.


    The race they have their eyes on are goblins. They reproduce quickly and don''t need much resource in order to prosper. This has made many goblin gods rise up.


    The absence of Crystal Hoard has also encouraged this. If not for the numerous wars between these goblin gods, they would be the ones at the top of the Authority ranking. Legion has recognized this threat and has decided to eliminate them before it bes significant. Unfortunately, the territory of the goblins is too far away. They would need to cross too much territory before they could wage war on them. This has made Legion shift their focus to the humans just beside their territory.


    The humans are weak too. Even their gods are weak. But they reproduce fairly well and upy a veryrge territory. They have more territory than the orcs, despite being weaker. Legion has decided to change that.


    That and the fact that they hadn''t been able to hunt well for 5 years because of the cowardice of the other gods was apelling reason for them to start that war. After all, if the gods are avoiding them in the divine realm, the gods will have to confront them if they begin burning their churches and hunting their priests.


    They are already nning for that war. It is not something they will start soon, though. It is mostly because they still have a lot of territory that the orcs haven''t used up first. Since they are the first in Authority and the fact that peace would only make them gain Authority faster, they have decided not to start a war yet.


    In the meantime, they have been forging and searching for domains in order to be domain gods. But Smite beat them to it. Now they have to start making divine cmities at all costs to the other gods and hope that they will be lucky.


    They came out of Gemmis to find the other gods fighting each other for divinity or just to kidnap each other and feed them to divine beasts to create divine cmities.


    Legion-3 looked around at the fighting all around them and smiled, "It seems we will be eating well again."


    They have umted 9,763,891 divinity. That is over 6 million more than the 3.5 million that was left from Crystal Hoard''s generosity. They have clearly shown that her investment in them was not a mistake.


    Most of this was made by themselves, not taken from gods who slipped and fell on golden light. It is because the gods had already learned from Crystal Hoard. They decided to boycott hunting entirely after 9 Crowns became a menace and after they had besieged and failed to kill him and the Orc Bandits several times.

 Chapter 1823: Ring Leader.

    Chapter 1823: Ring Leader.


    ?


    The boycott of the gods has reduced the rate of umting divinity, but it hasn''t made them helpless. Their immense Authority hase to their rescue again. With 673,891


    believers producing an average of 1 prayer per day, they can produce 6,740 divinity as long as they have divine crystals.


    That''s the equivalent of killing two gods with 6,740 per day. They can produce 2,460,100 in a year. After they pay their 100 divinity per day rent, they will still have 2,423,600 in a year.


    So in time, their storage of Authority will be terrifying. Their increasing Authority will make that daye sooner.


    Fortunately, they don''t have to wait that long. The opportunity hase for them to fix the problem quickly. The gods desperation to acquire the Authority of the void has ovee their fear of the Orc Bandits. It is like Legion-3 said, they will be able to eat well again.


    The six Orc Bandits went on a rampage immediately. They killed everyone around them and spread out to kill more. This caused wide-spread panic that reminded them of why they didn''te out of Gemmis for the past five years.


    It also caused the gods to stop fighting each other. Instead of fighting, they all chose to run away from the Orc Bandits. They didn''t do something useless like fighting back. They have learned that lesson after numerous failures.


    Running helped most of them, but it didn''t stop the orc bandits from hunting. At this rate, the Orc Bandits will kill most of them eventually.


    But then a loud voice came from the sky. It said, "Stop running away, you fools. Surround them and kill them."


    Everyone looked up to see a single god standing in the air. This god''s race was not easy to identify because their body was burning with mes. Especially their hair and eyes, which werepletely fire.


    The identity of the god was determined immediately, though. If only for the fact that this is the first god that they have seen that can fly.


    The god got everyone''s attention, including that of Legion. The clones stopped to see what he wanted to do.


    Smite continued to speak. "You are numerous than them. The problem is that you are divided. If you stop attacking each other and focus on them, then you will be able to eliminate them."


    "But that will only solve one problem. Killing them will only get you 5,000 divinity. It won''t eliminate them, and it certainly won''t get you domains. What we need is a set of rules so that we can function properly."


    "I propose that we stop hunting each other. Anyone that breaks that rule should be beset by everyone else. I will personally take action to attack whoever breaks the rule and ruins the peace."


    "We should use this peace to raise divine cmities. Each Pantheon will feed a divine beast 10,000 divinity and allow the divine beast to kill about 90 true gods from their pantheon. That is the most effective way to make divine cmities."


    The gods were silent as they considered the idea. It is not a new idea. Many others have proposed it, but it couldn''t pass because of greed. Someone was always going to hunt other gods and get away with it. The agreement would eventually devolve after they began fighting each other.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    But this time things are different. There is a very powerful god that wants to enforce the agreement. Plus, most of the gods are open to it. After all, they are all scared of 9 Crowns and his orc bandits.


    This made everyone turn towards the orc bandits to see what their reaction would be.


    Legion-1 asked, "What do you n to gain from this? Surely you can''t be doing this out of kindness."


    Smite lied, "Our senseless violence empowers the divine beasts, which in turn empowers the ancient titans and makes them wake up faster. I want to prevent that."


    Legion-1 said with disdain, "If you don''t want to tell us your motives, then say that. Don''t lie to us. We are not ignorant of the fact that creating divine cmities and killing them also speeds up the awakening of the ancient titans. So your motive of preventing the awakening of ancient titans is clearly dragon shit."


    Smite insisted, "But my way eliminates waste that will otherwise help the ancient titans."


    Legion-1 refused, "No, it doesn''t. You were the one that told us that killing divine cmities can grant domain quests. That''s the reason we''re all here. If you cared about the awakening of the ancient titans, you wouldn''t have spread that information."


    Smite still continued to lie. He shook his head and said, "Those two things are separate. I can sell that information for divinity and also hope that it doesn''t cause the ruination of the gods."


    Legion-1 scoffed. "Who are you trying to deceive? You didn''t even ask for secrecy when you sold that information. You were hoping everyone would know about it. Now here we are trying to create divine cmities."


    "You didn''t tell us to stop creating divine cmities. Instead, you offered a more efficient way to create them. I dare say that you are trying to use us to wake up the ancient titans earlier. This way, you will be able to monopolize them for yourself. After all, you are strongest."


    Smite chuckled and said, "I don''t dare call myself the strongest. I am only at the top of the divinity ranking. There is still you at the top of the Authority and Power ranking."


    As a domain god, his limit of divinity has increased, and unlike when Legion became a true god, he has a lot of divinity to use to grow stronger, and he currently doesn''t have anypetition. So he was able to rise to the top of the divinity ranking.


    But that doesn''t mean he is the strongest god. He will have to beat 9 Crowns'' feat of fighting off a pantheon on his own first and be the first on the power ranking list before he canpare himself to 9 Crowns.

 Chapter 1824: Mixed Feelings.

    Chapter 1824: Mixed Feelings.


    ?


    It is not a matter of being humble for him to im that he might not be the strongest. He hasn''t proven his strength topare himself to them.


    He can also fight the Orc Bandits right now and defeat them to im his position as the strongest god, but he clearly doesn''t n to do that. He ns to fight them together with the tens of thousands of other gods. He is smart to n that, but Legion is no slouch either.


    Legion-1 shrugged and said, "We can be patient. We will follow your rules for now. But we will attack any divine cmity we want. No one can stop us from doing that."


    They didn''t give him the opportunity to use the gods against them. They gave up on hunting the gods and switched to hunting divine cmities. This way the gods would have a lesser reason to unite and gang up on them.


    After all, divine cmities are truly too difficult to kill. The Orc Bandits won''t be able to kill too many. The gods felt that it was a worthy trade-off to getting the Orc Bandits off their backs.


    The alternative was risking their lives in a fight that many of them would die in. They didn''t want that, so the gods were appeased, and so was Legion. After all, they would be able to hunt divine cmities without having to create them. But Smite was not appeased.


    Smite frowned where he was in the void universe. He considered a lot of things, including the fact that the 9 Crowns'' demand was undermining his authority in front of all the gods.


    Eventually he replied, "Fine. You can attack divine cmities, but you can''t attack other gods."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It didn''t harm his true goal to concede that little ground, so he agreed. Every other god had mixed feelings about the agreement. But they could only ept it. After all, the two strongest gods had made up their minds. They epted the peace and went about creating divine cmities.


    Legion also had mixed feelings. They didn''t feel much frustration that they couldn''t get divinity because they could get it in the future. Currently, a domain is the priority, so it is good to focus on it.


    They are happy that they don''t need tobor to create divine cmities, but they also understood that Smite was up to something, and their willingness to go along with his suggestion will help him achieve whatever his goal is. This is making their feelings mixed.


    Legion-3 said, "He agreed too easily. It must mean that our demand ys into his goal or that it doesn''t affect his goal negatively."


    Legion-2 groaned and said, "I wish we were in the void universe. At least I would be able to divine the future and create a better n for us. We can''t see into the future or past here. We are like blind rats."


    Legion-1added, "I have a feeling that whatever he is doing is rted to the fact he is the first domain god and not just a domain god. It feels like when we pressed our advantage as the first true god. He might be doing the same thing too."


    Legion-4 sighed and said, "But we don''t know his true goal, and we need the domains, so we have to y along. We can''t even fight him reliably if we don''t want to go along with it. Insight won''t work on him, so we don''t know if we can defeat him, and even if we can, he can fly. We can''t fly. He can also make the gods unite against us."


    Legion-2 asked their angel, "Is there anything you can tell us about the benefits of being a domain god?"


    It replied with a flicker of its wings, "Apart from the fact that you will gain unique divine spells, an increase to the amount of divinity of the divine body, another slot for an oracle, and the ability to upgrade divine spells further, I don''t know anything else."


    Legion-5 grumbled, "I wonder why a lot of gods called you unreliable."


    The angel chuckled and said, "I''m sure you''re not wondering. You already know why."


    The six of them sat on the ground and discussed silently between all nine of them. But the other gods only saw them sit silently and watch them prepare the divine cmities. They didn''t like it at all. Only Smite was happy to see the current situation.


    This domain god stood in the sky and watched everything going on with pleasure. Legion was right to be suspicious of him, and they were also correct when they used him of trying to monopolize the ancient titans. But that''s only part of the equation.


    Monopolizing the ancient titans is an idental benefit of being the only domain god. It is not even certain if all the godsbined will be able to defeat the ancient titans. But if they do manage to defeat the ancient titans, not many gods will be able topete with him for their hearts that will be left behind.


    However, his main goal, which is independent of the ancient titans, is something that relies on the benefits of being the first domain god. Because of this benefit, he wants more gods to gain the domain quest. That''s why he spread the news. He didn''t do it out of generosity. He is not stupid.


    The smart thing to do was to monopolize the information that gods can get domain quests from killing divine beasts, just like the second true god to get the domain quest did. But he had more to gain by letting everyone know, so he didn''t keep it a secret.


    But he couldn''t let things pan out on their own. He has to interfere, or it won''t work at all. He has to be here to ensure that the orc bandits won''t ruin his n by ughtering everyone and making it difficult to create divine cmities.

 Chapter 1825: Ancient Awakening.

    Chapter 1825: Ancient Awakening.


    ?


    Site''s n worked very well. 100 divine cmities were created in just a month. That''s five times more than what the gods were able to achieve over nine years. It shows just how much the gods can achieve if they work together instead of sabotaging each other.


    Some gods got the domain quest. They scurried off toplete it. The Orc bandits didn''t appear to have gotten one, though. This is despite the fact that they had stolen and killed 10 divine cmities over the past month.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Smite chuckled to himself when he saw this. "What bad luck. They didn''t get any special divine spells that would lead them to a domain even after killing 10 divine cmities. They have to be cursed or pretending. But what use is pretending going to get them? I don''t need them."


    But his chuckle died in his throat because of the next regional announcement.


    -The conditions have been met.


    -There is an ample supply of divinity and a domain god threat.


    -The Ancient Titans have awoken.


    The divine realm began to shake after that announcement. The ground some distance away cracked to reveal several bottomless pits. Severalrge hands reached out from these cracks in the ground and reached into the sky. The hands gripped the edge of the cracks and pulled. More hands spilled out of the pits to pull the creatures they belonged to out of the pit. These pits were in every elemental zone surrounding Gemmis and other divine cities in the Northern Realm.


    Gemmis is surrounded by six elemental domains, so six ancient titans awakened and surrounded her. All of them were also moving towards her. Their intentions were clear.


    Every god had stopped what they were doing now. They all gazed at the six giants that rose out of the earth. All of the giants were so tall that they reached the limit of the sky. So even though the ancient titans were very far away from Gemmis, the gods could still see them from where they were.


    Smite estimated silently, "They must be at least 10 kilometers tall. No wonder they managed to kill the previous gods. Just my luck."


    The other gods began to realize that things were bad when they saw these colossal humanoid figures.


    Legion-2 said, "The angel was right. It was a bad idea to create divine cmities. They might actually be the end of all the gods."


    Legion-1 corrected, "Things are bad for us, but it may not be for him. He has already acquired a domain. He can leave this world with something even if the worst happens. He has very little to lose."


    Legion-3 said, "Either way, we should forget about the divine cmities for now. The ancient titans should be our priority, if only for their titan hearts. But if there are other reasons why Smite would want to monopolize the ancient titans, those reasons are why we should definitely prioritize the ancient titans."


    Legion-6 was in agreement. He asked, "Which ancient titan should we pick?"


    The clones looked at the features of the ancient titans. All of them wererge and humanoid. All of them carried different types of equallyrge weapons with them. Some had two arms, while others had four or six arms. But they didn''t have any legs. All of them had torsos that ended in a long serpentine tail.


    One of the ancient titans was white and cold. It had a sword and shield. An ice storm was constantly swirling around it. It had a canine head with spiked hair that reached the ground and white fur all over its body.


    The second ancient titan was red and hot. It had two pairs of red, fiery wings on its back. It had two arms and six long tails. Its head was that of an eagle, but it had four eyes and red feathers.


    The third ancient titan was gold with four arms extended into des. The des were long and curved. They were also golden, just like itsplexion and the armor on its body. Only its eye was a different color. It was white and shone like a torch through its golden helmet.


    The fourth ancient titan was a tornado equipped with a ded whip. Its form was indistinct. It appeared to be a pir of air constantly rotating rapidly. The three whips in its three hands sliced through anything in its way as it spinned.


    The fifth ancient titan was blue and cackling all over with lightning. It had six arms, each equipped with a spear that was made of violet lightning. It had no eyes and wore no armor. Its presence charged its environment and caused a storm to appear around it. This storm clung to it so it looked like it was riding a rain cloud.


    Thest ancient titan was a walking three. Its leaves were green, its back brown, and its flowers red. It reminded them of a tree treant. Purple vines were all over its figure like a dress while its many hands held a wooden club.


    What they saw of the Titans clued them in to their elements and power. They wanted to use that information to decide which ancient titan to target.


    Legion-4 suggested, "We should probably choose the ancient ice titan. We are familiar with ice wolves, so we might not be caught off guard."


    Legion-6 shook his head and said, "We can''t take that. Smite has selected it. It is best we avoid him."


    Legion-3 rolled his eyes at the figure of Smite disappearing into the distance and said, "Of course he would take the ice elemental. His domain has something to do with fire. He will have an advantage that way."


    Legion-1 suggested, "Let''s choose the ancient earth titan. It is the slowest and the most physically stable. We will actually be able to hit it, unlike that ancient wind titan. It is also


    moving on the ground which we are currently bound to."


    Legion-5 agreed. "I guess that''s the best we can get since we can''t fly."

 Chapter 1826: Differences In Power.

    Chapter 1826: Differences In Power.


    ?


    Smite had already flown towards the ancient ice titan equipped with a sword and shield. This left them little time to choose, so they agreed on the ancient earth titan.


    It is the golden one with four ded arms. The tree titan is also slow, stable, and grounded, but it has too many arms to attack with. By the looks of things, it looked like it could fight an army so they chose to avoid it.


    Even Smite who could probably use fire against the tree avoid it in favor of the ancient ice titan. All six of them rushed towards the golden ancient titan with a single eye.


    The remaining gods also left behind the hunt for divine cmities in favor of killing ancient titans in order to acquire fragments of their hearts to create a hero.


    They scattered in various directions. Most of them avoided the ice and earth ancient titans. The reason is clear. No one wanted topete with the only domain god or the strongest group of gods. But some of the gods tagged along to see if they could get some benefits. The difference between the gods in terms of speed became clear at once. Smite was ahead. He was way ahead of the rest of the gods, and he was still leaving them behind.


    Even Legion-3 and Legion-6, who have dumped most of their divinity in speed and were equipping better footwear than most gods, couldn''t keep up with half of his speed.


    This disyed the difference in divinity between a domain god and the best true gods. Smite could use just 10% of his divinity for speed and would be able to match Legion-3 despite him using 64% of his divinity for speed.


    But Legion was not to be outyed so easily. They cast their divine speed spell and used 20% of their Authority to enhance themselves. 268,000 temporary divinity settled on them immediately.


    The effect was temporary as it would onlyst depending on how powerful their Authority is, but with it, they had gained twice as much total divinity that they estimate a domain god to have. And it cost them a meager 100 divine energy to acquire it.


    They soared and quickly surpassed Smite in speed. In fact, they were gone before the other gods could register their shock. They were caught off guard because the clones had been holding back earlier.


    The clones had been using their superior weapons to bully the other gods before. They didn''t need to employ the power of their vast Authority because, to a god with a total of 20,000 divine energy, there is no difference between damage of 100,000 and damage of 1,000,000. Both of those attacks will one-shot the god. But the difference in speed can be ring as it is


    now.


    At this point, there was no significant difference between the clones that used all their stats for speed and those that didn''t. All six of them were just too fast for a few thousand divinity to be significant.


    Not even 10,000 divinity, which is the total divinity of a true god, is significant. That is just 3.73% of the boost they got from their Authority. If the total divinity of a domain god were to be 100,000, then it would still be less than half the amount of boost they currently possessed. So Smite couldn''tpare with them in terms of speed despite being able to fly.


    Even though they were very fast, it took them 51 days to reach the ancient titan. This is so even though the ancient titan they were approaching is also fast and moving in their direction to meet them. It would have taken them longer if the ancient titan had stayed still.


    Now that they were close to it, they could finally take in its colossal form in all its glory and use insight on it.


    NAME: Goldwyn The Golden.


    RACE: Ancient Titan


    TIER: 6


    LEVEL: 10


    HP: 6,000,000,000/6,000,000,000


    STRENGTH: 150,000,000


    ENDURANCE: 350,000,000


    SPEED: 100,000,000n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ELEMENTAL POWER: 1,000,000,000


    DIVINE ABILITY: GOD DEVOURING. ???. ???. ???.


    STATUS: Hostile. Weakened.


    They saw this and turned around immediately. They ran back as fast as they could. They wished they could run faster, but they were already moving as fast as they could.


    Legion-4 said in disbelief, "1.7 billion total divinity, and it is weakened? What kind of power will it have when it is fully healthy? What kind of power will future ancient titans have if this one is already this strong?"


    He was expressing the disbelief that they all felt. Even the three clones back at their hotel paused what they were doing to look in the direction of Goldwyn the Golden.


    A loud voice that made the earth and the sky rumble spoke from behind them, "Puny gods. Have youe to offer yourselves to me?"


    They didn''t reply because they couldn''t. It was already toote for them to reply, even if they wanted to. It is because their divine bodies were already crumbling by the time the voice reached them.


    The four arms of the titan moved at such blinding speed that it just looked like four rays of light. The attack was many times faster than sound, so they had already been sliced in two before they could hear the question. Fortunately, it was rhetorical question.


    The six of them died immediately. There was no suspense. Their godhood was taken by Goldwyn, who added it to his body to increase his strength.


    Goldwyn smirked, "Weak and puny gods."


    It didn''t even use its elemental power, and they had died. It couldn''t help but mock them. Then it resumed its slow journey to the divine city.


    Goldwyn saw many gods in the distance who were running away after seeing the death of the six Orc Bandits.


    It sneered at them and said confidently, "They will fall eventually. Nothing can stop the tide of ancients."

 Chapter 1827: A Lot Of Regrets.

    Chapter 1827: A Lot Of Regrets.


    ?


    Goldwyn had the right to be confident because of what it could see. None of the gods wielded domains, much less stronger sources of power. At this rate, the end of the gods mighte with the first cycle of the ancients.


    Back in Gemmis. The three clones felt it when the other six died. Their faces fell in the void universe while their bodies in God''s Domain turned to their angel and questioned it.


    "You said that they were at least at the Domain god realm. How is that anywhere near the domain realm?"


    The angel flickered and chuckled before replying, "I wasn''t wrong. It is not weaker than the domain realm. That was what I was told was the weakest state the ancient titans would awaken in. But it was you gods that went about creating divine cmities to feed the ancient titans. So this is all your fault."


    It continuedughing as it said, "I warned you. I warned all of you not to create divine cmities, but you didn''t listen."


    The clones ignored their angel and thought back to what they just encountered.


    Legion-1 in the void universe thought to them, "Goldwyn is very powerful, but he is not something we can''t defeat in the future. I''m sure that we can defeat it if we get more Authority."


    Legion-3 shook his head and said, "But we don''t have more Authority and we don''t have more time to acquire more Authority. We have 51 days or less for it to reach Gemmis. Gemmis has to defeat it then or we lose our chance to get domains."


    Legion-5 sighed in regret. "We should have given Gemmis at least 1,000 divinity instead of 100. In fact, we should have given it 10,000 divinity just to be sure."


    Back in God''s Domain, Legion-7 looked at their tittering angel and said, "There is a lesson to be learned here. Maybe it was a bad idea to create divine cmities."


    Legion-8 amended his statement, "It wouldn''t be a bad idea if we were strong enough to defeat Goldwyn. But we are not. So yes, it was a bad idea."


    The angel didn''t care. Itughed manically as it said, "It doesn''t matter now. All that matters is that I have been vindicated. Who is unreliable now?"


    Legion-9 replied, "You still are. Maybe if you had told us that they could reach billions in stats, the gods wouldn''t have messed with creating divine cmities."


    Their angel didn''t care. In fact, none of the angels of the other gods cared at the moment. They were all chuckling to themselves at some unknown joke.


    The Orc Bandits were the fastest gods, so they were the first to meet an ancient titan and therefore became the first to die to the ancient titans. Word quickly spread that they had died, which caused widespread disbelief and interrogation of angels.


    Word also spread about the power of the various ancient titans over theing days. All of them had varying stats and distributions of those stats. But all of them had billions of hit points. This made all of the gods retreat in fear.


    Their fear was confirmed to be valid when they heard that Smite also died. The only domain god they had was one shotted too. This and the many other bad news that came one after the other made a dark cloud settle over Gemmis.


    No one thought the gods could defeat the ancient titans, so their fear grew stronger as the ancient titans got closer and closer to Gemmis every day. The thought that the ancient titans managed to wipe out the previous gods made them feel as if they were just waiting to die.


    All the gods were all hoping that Gemmis would win. It made many of them regret not donating more than 100 divinity. Fortunately, something could still be done about the situation.


    They received a notification after a few days.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    -You Have Been Invited To The Divine Council Of Gemmis.


    -This Is The 11th Session Of The Divine Council.


    -Do You ept The Invitation?


    -Yes or No.


    Legion-1 epted the request and went on their behalf. He appeared in the divine council for the eleventh time. There were a lot more godkings in attendance than ever before. They were also rowdy as they discussed among themselves.


    They were all talking about how powerful the titans are. They only became silent when Gemmis appeared. Her round jewel form filled them with hope.


    She said, "We to the eleventh divine council session. We have very important matters to discuss right now. First of which is an update on our current situation and survival chances."


    "The ancient titans will enter my firing range in 10 days. If they are not killed by then, I will need to dispatch them before they get too close. If they get too close, then I run the risk of being destroyed."


    "I estimate that I can''t dispatch them before they get too close. I also estimate that I won''t be able to withstand their might, so I will be destroyed. My chances of survival are less than


    0.5%."


    The hearts of the gods sank when they heard that. It confirmed their fears that they were doomed. They could only hope that Gemmis had a solution.


    Gemmis continued, "Currently I have 10,000,000 divinity at my disposal. Even if I neglect using part of it to shore up my defenses and focus all of the divinity on attacking power, I won''t be able to kill any ancient titan."


    "I still wouldn''t be able to kill one if I had infinite energy, infinite range, and infinite time to attack one. It is because my current power is too weak to damage them. At this rate, we are definitely doomed."


    "Unfortunately, I don''t have infinite energy, infinite range, and infinite time to attack. My range is limited, which limits the window of opportunity I have to attack. So something has to be done about the situation."


    A/N: This bonus chapter is for 200 golden ticket contribution. I will release another one tomorrow to celebrate DESTINY GAMES going premium. Please go and check it out if you haven''t. Support it with power stones, golden tickets, and gifts if you can. Thank you very much.

 Chapter 1828: Bad News And Hope.

    Chapter 1828: Bad News And Hope.


    ?


    "You should know that I can''t make attacks anytime I want. I need divine energy to make attacks, and it muste from you, gods."


    "So you have to supply me divine energy 10 days from now when I have to attack. If you refuse to supply me or run out of divine energy yourself, then all of the divinity you donated will go to waste and we will all die."


    This deration caused a lot of gods to groan. The series of bad news was dealing its toil on them.


    Fortunately, Gemmis had some good news for them. It said, "There is a silver lining. If we seed in killing the ancient titan''s current bodies, there will be loot to be had, and it will be distributed based on the contribution of divine energy. So it is a chance for all of you to gain something from this situation."


    That indeed made some gods feel better, but not many were optimistic about things. Unless they could kill the ancient titans, there won''t be any loot. Even if they manage to kill them, it is unlikely that they will get much because of 9 Crowns.


    They know for a fact that 9 Crowns had the highest Authority. That means he will have the highest storage of divine energy. So they could already tell that he would have the highest contribution of divine energy to Gemmis.


    Gemmis continued, "Many of you have reached out to me to donate more. I am d to inform you that we can vote again to increase the donation amount. That will increase our chances of survival. Not only will my attacks be more powerful, but we will need less divine energy to kill the ancient titans."


    "So let''s vote now."


    The prompt appeared in front of the gods. They had already voted for 100 divinity each, but now they could donate more to ensure their survival.


    Most god kings wanted to donate 10,000 divinity or more as they could afford it. They knew that other true gods might not be able to afford it, but they didn''t care. Their survival depended on it, so they couldn''t be understanding.


    Actually, most gods could have had 10,000 saved up because of all the years of faith they had received. It would just be expensive to give out that kind of sum at once.


    But the god kings didn''t care about anyone being able to afford it or not. All they cared about was that 10,000 divinity is ten times more than the previous amount they voted on, so it should increase their chances of sess by at least ten times. Any God that couldn''t afford it would just have to borrow from others.


    Gemmis tallied the vote after a minute and dered, "94,243 voted for 10,000 divinity, so this will pass. 20,000 divinity didn''t pass. The gods are given 9 days to make their contributions or face the consequences."


    This scene was going on in the other nine divine cities. All the god kings there represented the 100,000 gods in the city to determine the fate of their city.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    After experiencing this massive setback from the ancient titans, they realized that they might lose ess to God''s Domain. No one wanted that to happen just because of a little divinity. Even world gods outside of God''s Domain put pressure on the god kings to vote for at least 10,000 divinity.


    Gemmis continued, "Now on to the next agenda. What ratio should I use the divinity you donated? I need to use some for defense and some for my attack systems. So decide between the range of 10-90% for each of them."


    The gods voted and decided on ratio 70:30. That way 70% of their divinity would be used for attacking, while 30% would be used to increase the endurance of Gemmis to attacks both close and long range.


    They voted some more on other aspects, such as the previous ones that they usually vote for. The most important one was the reward for the ranking list.


    Now that it was Legion''s turn to be rewarded, they voted to allow the rewarding. But the other gods voted against it. Not even the opportunity to get domain quests from Gemmis changed their minds.


    They surely want the domain quests, as it is a better alternative to trying to create divine cmities and hunting them for a small chance of a domain quest. But they also know that they might lose ess to God''s Domain soon.


    They have ten days before the ancient titanse. That is too little time for them to guarantee that they can get their domains after receiving the domain quest. But if there is someone who can get a domain in that short time, it will have to be 9 Crowns and his band of Orc allies.


    It is a given that they hate 9 Crowns and don''t want him to get more benefits. But they certainly don''t want him to get something that they can''t get.


    Legion-1 sneered at them and said, "This is why we have all been stuck as true gods and had to sacrifice divinity to make divine cmities. Are you not already sacrificing something and gaining nothing? Is gambling such a better choice than to let me get my just reward? Rather than waste your divinity, is it not better to let us grow stronger together?"


    He berated them just like Crystal Hoard did when they denied her her reward. He did so with righteous indignation, as if he too hadn''t voted against Crystal Hoard in the past.


    He was mostly right, though. Voting to allow the reward will strengthen all of them. The god kings know that. But they also know that 9 Crowns is too strong for a true god. They don''t want him to be a domain god yet.


    What''s odd was that Smite spoke up in support of 9 Crowns. He said, "We should stop this behavior of harming ourselves in order to sabotage someone else. If we keep blocking the road ahead, no one would be able to pass."

 Chapter 1829: Strange Things.

    Chapter 1829: Strange Things.


    ?


    The gods were surprised when Smite spoke up. But they weren''t willing to capitte so easily. If there is something worse than 9 Crowns getting a domain, it is 9 Crowns allying with Smite and also getting a domain.


    A god king asked Smite, "Didn''t you manage to pass? Didn''t many people also manage to get domain quest this past month? I think we can find a way in the absence of Gemmis''s help."


    Smite shook his head and replied, "That''s different."


    The god kings began to argue. It was mostly Smite against the other god kings about allowing the reward for the top ranking to be passed and for domain quests to be given by Gemmis.


    As if Smite''s stance was not strange enough, 9 Crowns didn''t join this argument. The fearsome Orc God king was silently contemting why Smite would be in support of him growing stronger.


    Legion-2 offered, "At this point, it is clear that he is not going to monopolize the ancient titans. I doubt he will be getting significant benefits at all. So his goal must be rted to the domains themselves."


    Legion-3 added, "If that is so, then we can''t stop him. After all, our goal is also domains. It seems he wants more people to be domain gods. Things can only be clear after more people acquire domains."


    Legion¨C1 smiled and said, "We can also try to kill him. Unfortunately, he can fly. Let us see if Divine Hold is stronger than the flying power of domain gods or not."


    Meanwhile, the god kings continued to argue. Smite made a lot of good points, but the gods were not moved or tempted.


    They might have been tempted if there wasn''t the threat of the ancient titans looming over them. But since the ancient titans areing for them, they are determined to make sure that if they don''t get domains, 9 Crowns won''t get them either.


    Gemmis called the divine council to order and moved on, "Many gods have proposed that we ban the intentional creation of divine cmities. This is an important proposal because the previous creation of divine cmities had far-reaching consequences. Not only did they make the ancient titans wake up earlier and more powerful than normal. Their deaths will also cause the subsequent ancient titans to be stronger."


    "So the intentional creation of divine cmities can be seen as a sabotaging of Gemmis and a matter of deadly consequences. Something has to be done about it, or we will die faster than the previous gods. Thest era of gods had themon sense not to create divine cmities, and they were still wiped out. We have already embarked on a worse trajectory, but it is not toote to do something about it."


    "So let us vote to ban this despicable act."


    Legion-1 had to ruminate about this vote for a long time. They agree with Gemmis that things could get out of control at the rate they were creating divine cmities. If they have another sess like the previous 100 per month for the next year, it is expected that the next time the ancient titans awaken, they will be too strong to resist.


    So it is a good idea to ban the intentional creation of divine cmities. But banning them also means that they will lose the only way they have found to acquire Domains.


    Legion-1 thought to himself, "I think this is the time to restrain our greed. Creating divine cmities is too dangerous. We might lose ess to God''s Domainpletely because of it." Legion-9 agreed. He said, "Besides, it is not as if we gained anything from killing 10 divine cmities. Divine cmities are not a sure way to get domains, but they are sure ways to make ancient titans stronger."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    So 9 Crowns voted no. The majority of the gods voted against it too. It didn''t show on Smite''s face, but he was unhappy with the development. Not only did he not gain anything from the ancient titans, his scheme also hasn''t borne any fruit.


    The god kings dispersed after Gemmis announced the end of the session. Their subordinate gods were waiting for news of what they had voted on.


    They were especially concerned about the threat of the ancient titans, so many of them were d that they got to vote to increase the donation of divinity to Gemmis.


    There was indeed someining about the expensive donation requirements, but those thatined only did it in God''s Domain. They didn''t do it anywhere in the void universe, as a world god might be listening.


    Despite this dissatisfaction, the gods were a lot more confident about their survival after donating 10,000 divinity. Some gods with a lot of divine energy, like Legion, were even looking forward to the arrival of the ancient titans.


    Legion even announced a solemn day of prayer to their mortals. That day will be in the next 10 days when the ancient titans will enter the attacking range of Gemmis. On that day, every believer is to go to their closest church and pray.


    Legion didn''t need to do this to secure their ce as first because not only do they have the highest Authority, they have nine times the storage of divine energy too.


    Other gods might be able to double the amount of divine energy they have avable to themselves during that period of time, but at most it will only add another portion of divine energy to Legion.


    It will increase the amount of divine energy from nine times to ten times. All that fuse will only give them a 11.11% increase, but they wanted to be sure that they would take first ce, so they went through with it.


    Besides, the extra divine energy won''t go to waste. They will be rewarded based on their contribution percentage, so it is a good idea to increase their contribution of divine energy. It is case of the more the merrier.

 Chapter 1830: Ancient Titan Irwin.

    Chapter 1830: Ancient Titan Irwin.


    ?


    Every god also tried to increase their contribution of divine energy for that fateful day. They came up with various reasons and arranged for their believers to pray on that day so that they would be able to receive a surge of prayers to convert to divine energy.


    It was during this preparation that another regional announcement was heard.


    -Congrattions To Feathered Serpent For Being The Second Domain God.


    -The First Batch Of Heroes Will Be Ready In A Year''s Time.


    This announcement reminded Legion of something.


    Legion-1 asked, "Don''t we know this guy? We should have heard that name before."


    Legion-4ughed as he replied, "We do. He is one of Crystal Hoard''s partners. We signed a divine contract with him."


    Legion-3 chuckled sinisterly and said, "It looks like we are going to get a domain after all."


    Legion-2 asked the angel, "So was he the other god who got the domain quest with Smite or another one who got it recently?"


    Their angel replied, "I don''t know."


    Legion-7 rolled his eyes and said, "Of course you don''t."


    Legion-1 smiled and said, "If Feathered Serpent is truly one of Crystal Hoard''s allies, then we will get a domain in a year. That will coincide with when we get to pick our heroes. Apart from the threat of dying to the ancient titans, things are actually looking up for us."


    Legion-3 nodded. "If we make a lot of contribution in killing the ancient titans, then things will only get better when we have to select our heroes."


    Legion and many others were full of anticipation for the future. So were the ancient titans. They arrived with confidence to thwart the gods. This confidence is something they had acquired after wiping out generations of gods.


    An rm rang out through Gemmis to all the gods when the ancient titans arrived.


    -Danger! Danger! Danger!


    -We Are Under Attack!


    -Provide Divine Energy For Gemmis Immediately!


    The gods were already waiting by their altars. They ced their hands on it and channeled as much divine energy they could provide. They became batteries to power Gemmis''s attacks. Those attacks formed above Gemmis. They appeared in the form of a white, glowing spear. It was a phantom construct that was shining so much that it looked like a small star rather than a spear. It might be fake, but it is stronger than any spear has the right to be.


    The white spear flew at the ancient titans besieging Gemmis. The fastest ancient titan was the tornado. It had matched its speed with the other ancient titans so that they could cooperate in besieging the divine city. But now it increased its speed rapidly to dodge the attack.


    The tornado didn''t appear to have moved. To onlookers, it seemed to have leaped. It shifted position nearly instantly. But the attack wasn''t willing to let it go so easily.


    The spear would have missed it if it had continued its trajectory, but it canceled its flight path and reverted its position to somewhere it had passed by before. Then it resumed flying forward in a trajectory that would make it collide with the tornado.


    This happened each time the tornado shifted its position. It was able to avoid the spear for a long time, but with each dodge, the spear got closer to it. The spear could reverse its trajectory faster than it could leap, and more spears were being created every five seconds while it was trying to avoid the first one. So eventually, the spear struck the ancient wind titan.


    The spear sank into the side of the tornado and exploded. It discharged so much energy that it became a true star attached to the ancient titan. Even though the star was only one-third the size of the ancient titan, it is undoubtedly unhealthy for something that big to explode from within it.


    The tornado became slower after that attack. Part of its arms and eyes had been destroyed. Even the wind that made up its body had shrunken. But the ancient titan wasn''t dead yet.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The titan had 6,000,000,000 total health pool and an endurance of 100,000,000. So Gemmis attack of (10,100 x 100,000 x 0.7) caused 607,000,000 damage to it. So it still had a surplus of 5,393,000,000 health.


    What''s more, it was also recovering rapidly and healing. It was using its elemental power to heal itself at the rate of 1,000,000,000 per minute. So it would be able to heal that damage in 37 seconds.


    Unfortunately, that wasn''t meant to be, as another spear took it dead center and created another explosion that took a huge chunk of health pool.


    It could heal 16.67% of its health per minute, but Gemmis could remove 10.12% of its health every five seconds, or 121% of its health per minute. So the ancient titan was killed in less than a minute.


    The body of the ancient titan scattered into the wind. Only a ghostly voice in the wind remained of its existence. It said, "I shall be back. Godfall cannot be stopped."


    A regional announcement was also made to notify everyone in the Northern Domain of the


    event.


    -Ancient Titan Irwin Has Fallen.


    This regional announcement marked the death of the first ancient titan. It was the first among many. The process was not as smooth sailing as that of ancient titan Irwin, as the other ancient titans had more endurance to resist Gemmis''s attacks.


    Goldwyn, for instance, had an endurance of 350,000,000, so Gemmis was only able to deal 357,000,000, or 5.95% damage every five seconds to it. Even so, 71.4% damage every minute was still too much to resist. The fact that Goldwyn was also the slowest ensured that he couldn''t dodge at all.


    All the titans died while promising to return stronger. That marked the end of this cycle of ancient titans. It is only a temporary relief.


    A/N: I have released the bonus chapter for DESTINY GAMES like I promised. So go and check it out in return.

 Chapter 1831: Aftermath.

    Chapter 1831: Aftermath.


    ?


    Many gods were relieved, but they were also solemn about the situation. It is because they have realized just how difficult it is to kill the ancient titans.


    Gemmis had made it look easy, but they understood that it was anything but easy. The whole process had cost a lot of divine energy. The gods had provided an average of 10 billion divine energy to kill the six ancient titans. That is just to kill six weakened ancient titans.


    The ancient titans wille back stronger than before. The gods can continue to donate divinity to strengthen Gemmis, but if one day they run out of divine energy to provide her in the thick of battle, they will be doomed.


    The ancient titans, on the other hand, don''t run out of energy and can even regenerate damage to themselves. So as long as there is a gap in Gemmis''s assault or if the ancient titans became fast enough to dodge her attacks or if they even decide to retreat out of her attack range, all the divine energy she used to create the attacks might go to waste and the gods would be doomed.


    So the gods couldn''t always rely on their divine cities. It didn''t work for the previous generations of gods, so it is bound to fail them too. The gods have to be powerful enough to at least besiege the ancient titans on their own, even if they can''t cut off their resurrection.


    But that is going to be a tall order because not only would they need to ovee the endurance of the ancient titans, they must ovee their regeneration too if they are to kill them. They must do all of these while managing their own limited and depleting divine energy.


    The gods were worried about the next time the ancient titans would rise, but that couldn''t stop the surge of undercurrent that ensued.


    This surge started with notifications to every god after the sessful defense of their divine cities. Legion received two notification after the sessful defense of Gemmis.


    -You Contributed 0.13% Divine Energy In The Defense Of Gemmis


    -You Are Ranked First For Your Contribution


    -You Earned 4 Titan Crystals and 13,000,000 Divine Crystals.


    -You Can Participate In The Uing Auction To Acquire The Remaining 44 Titan Crystals.


    The clones were satisfied with their cement and reward. They had provided about 13,000,000 divine energy and had received 4 titan crystals and 13,000,000 million divine crystals for it.


    The divine crystals alone make the endeavor worth it. After all, they had received one divine crystal for each unit of divine energy they had provided. The addition of the titan crystals thus makes the exchange something they can only look for but cannot find.


    They had already been told how the Titan Crystals would be distributed. The first on the contribution list would take 4, no matter how much they contribute. The second would get 3, the third would get 2, and the fourth to tenth would get 1 each.


    The ancient titans dropped 10 titan crystals each for a total of 60. After the distribution of 16 to the first ten, it would leave 44 that all of the gods can bid for with their resources.


    The proceeds of the bid would be distributed amongst the remaining god kings based on the participation of their Pantheon. So every god would get something. That is as long as their god king is willing to hand it over, but that doesn''t concern Gemmis.


    As this asion is a rare asion that can only be acquired when ancient titans almost wipe out the gods but are stopped, the auction of the titan crystals is something that all the gods must take seriously.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The gods were getting ready to participate in the auction when another notification disturbed their peace.


    -(Quest Received)


    (Domain Quest: Find The Earthen Forge Domain)


    (First Step: Go To The Location Of Goldwyn''s Demise)


    (Reward: A Domain)


    (Description: Goldwyn has killed many gods in the past. He has also absorbed many domains. One of those domains broke free when he died. You were instrumental in Goldwyn''s death, so you have the opportunity to acquire this domain.)


    "What intarnation?" Was what the clones thought before 6 of them dashed out of their hotel and into Gemmis.


    They didn''t even spend time to analyze the notification between themselves. Their first reaction was to go immediately to grab the domain.


    They were right to be in a hurry because they found that many other gods were rushing out of Gemmis and towards where the six ancient titans had died too. Apparently, many other gods, tens of thousands, had gotten domain quests too.


    Legion-5 said to their angel as they sped along, "I am guessing you didn''t know that ancient titans would drop domain quests."


    It replied giddily, "No, I didn''t. But now that I know, I know that you received the quest only because you fought with Goldwyn and participated in the mechanism that killed him. If any of these conditions had been missing, you wouldn''t have received the domain quest."


    Legion-3 said, "That''s good to know for the future. But what we want to know now is what to expect from this quest and how to beat it."


    It replied, "All I can say is that this quest will be ordinary. It will be a normal domain quest. As for the particrs, I won''t know until we enter the trial."


    The clones were taken aback. Legion-2 asked, "Trial? There''s going to be a trial?"


    The angel nodded and said, "Yes. Domains are not easy to acquire. They will resist you. You will have to ovee their resistance and subjugate them."


    Legion-1 asked, "What does this trial entail?"


    It shook its small head and replied, "I can''t know until we encounter it."


    Legion-4 asked in exasperation, "What use will you be then?"


    It shook its small head again and said, "I can''t know until we encounter it."

 Chapter 1832: First Trial.

    Chapter 1832: First Trial.


    ?


    They stopped asking the angel for information since it wasn''t going to give them anything more. Instead, they focused on using all they have at their disposal to rush towards their destination.


    It took them 15 minutes to reach where Goldwyn died. It made them wonder how fast Gemmis''s attack was for it to cross this distance almost instantaneously. But they didn''t dwell too much on that thought when they found the next step of their domain quest.


    They found a brightly lit hole in the ground. Their domain quest confirmed that they had reached their destination. They didn''t need it to confirm that after seeing itsrge size and golden edges.


    What made them concerned was that the hole was closing up as they watched.


    Their angel confirmed their fears: "If you didn''t get here fast enough, you would find no way to continue your quest. It is still going to close if you enter it. So you only have one chance at this. If you die and the entrance closes, you will lose ess to this trial forever."


    Legion-6 asked, "Is there a way to keep the hole from closing?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It shook its head. "Not that I know of. It may be possible, though."


    They decided not to waste time anymore and plunged into its depth. They couldn''t see the bottom of the hole because it was shining with so much light that it looked like a star was buried in it. But it becamepletely dark when they dropped into it.


    They found themselves in a dark cave littered with what appeared to be ck bones. Everywhere was full of them. There was no surface that didn''t have ck bones embedded in it. Not even the roof of the cave was spared.


    Legion-1 looked around and said, "There''s no exit; it seems we can''t go back."


    Behind them was a wall. Above them was a solid roof. The hole they jumped through had disappeared. They were in a dark tunnel with only one way to move in.


    Their angel exined, "It seems we are in a pocket dimension. The domain must have belonged to a very strong god."


    Legion-2 asked, "What does that mean for us?"


    It replied after some thinking, "It means you can''t leave unless you die. It also means you might gain a lot more than a domain if youplete the trial."


    Thatst part encouraged them so they made their final preparations before moving. Legion- 1 and Legion-4 used divine endurance to enhance their defense. They brought out their shields and equipped them. Then they moved in front of the group and turned their Myraid Armament into swords.


    Legion-3 and Legion-6 used divine speed and divine strength. Legion-3''s Myraid Armament became a shield while his right hand held golden light. Legion-6 turned Myraid Armament into a spear while equipping a normal shield in his left hand.


    These two were at the middle. Legion-2 and Legion-5 were at the back. They both used Divine Strength and turned Myriad Armament into bows. Thispleted their formation.


    With this done, they began to move. It was a good thing they were cautious and prepared because the bones began to move too. The bones clumped together to form skeletons. The skeletons rose up from the ground, picked up their ck rusted de and rushed to attack them.


    It was an attack they couldn''t avoid. The entire tunnel was filled with enemies. The skeletons soon formedyers uponyers of thick skeletal walls that blocked their path forward. These walls could also attack them.


    Things became worse when skeletons fell from the roof of the cave onto them and appeared from below their feet. Even the wall behind them spawned the abomination to drown them.


    Things were very bad. The attack threatened to overwhelm them. But the first thing they did was to make Legion-2 and Legion-5 shift their position to the middle of the formation. The next thing they did was to use insight their enemies.


    NAME: Skeletal Revenant


    RACE: Fallen Angel


    TIER: 1


    LEVEL: 100


    HP: 10,000


    STRENGTH: 7,000


    ENDURANCE: 1,000


    SPEED: 2,000,


    DIVINE ABILITY: Undead.


    STATUS: Hostile. Weakened.


    They ranged from level 10 to level 100, with a total of 1,000 divinity to 10,000 divinity. They were wielding different weapons too. Some had swords; others had shields, axes, and spears.


    They were numerous and could overwhelm the clones quickly with their attacks. But once the clones saw their stats, they knew the strengths and weaknesses of the skeletons and what to do to deal with them.


    All of them switched their Divine spells to divine endurance to shore up their defenses. 268,000 temporary divinity was added to their endurance. Their bodies became sturdy enough to withstand the brutal attacks of the skeletons.


    The next thing they did was to turn Myraid Armaments into weapons with blunt force such as clubs, cudgels, and morning stars. These were more effective on bones than spears, bows, and swords. Then they began killing the skeletons.


    Killing the skeletal Revenants was easy because their defense wasughably weak. Even the strongest among them with 10,000 total divinity only had 1,000 in Endurance.


    Even Legion-6 with a strength of 600 could damage them because Myraid Armament improved his attack power to ((600 x 2) + 1,000) for a total of 2,200. He was also very fast and could attack 8 times in a second, so he needed a little over a seconds for him to kill the strongest skeletal Revenant. Weaker onessted less.


    He was the one with the lowest attack, as he was made to rece Legion-3 and use golden light. As for Legion-3 with Golden Light, his attack power relied on his Authority of 1.3 million, so one hit was enough to kill any enemy he hit.


    He could kill 5 of them with a single swing of his spear, and he could attack 8 times in a second, so he killed about 40 of them in a second despite a spear not being really effective against skeletons.


    A/N: Golden Light has finally shown its full power. But Myriad Armament has something in store for it too.


    That aside, this won''t be the first time Legion is venturing into a pocket dimension in pursuit of something rted to a god. Can you remember the other times they did so?

 Chapter 1833: Monopolize Or Rush Forward.

    Chapter 1833: Monopolize Or Rush Forward.


    ?


    Golden Light was just too powerful, and it required just a ncing blow to damage the target with the full might of the Authority using it. So it is normal for his to have the highest speed at killing. The second highest couldn''te close to him at all.


    Legion-2 was the second fastest at killing the skeletons. He had 7,000 divinity in Strength and could deal ((7,000 x 2) +1,000) with Myriad Armament for a total of 15,000 in a single attack.


    He could attack as fast as 6 times in a second so even though he could kill any skeleton in a single blow too, he couldn''t do it as fast as Legion-3 and he needed to crush the target with his club to truly put them down. So he could only managed 6 kills per second.


    Despite therge gap between 40 and 6, the enemies are just too weak for Legion-3 to truly shine. Something like a tier 1 level 100 divine beast with 1,000,000 hit points will truly show case Legion-3''s power with golden light. He would be able to kill one with a single hit while Legion-2 will be struggling with it.


    Be that as it may, the Skeletal Revenants were endless. They didn''t get tired just like gods and most importantly, they could always resurrect after they were killed. It took 10 seconds for them to go from dead back to undead.


    Their Undead divine ability made it so that they would keep fighting forever. So the clones had to destroy them and move forward through the breaks in the wall they created.


    This was not a fight they could win because even though they too don''t get tired, their Divine endurance spell is consuming divine energy. It will take a long time before they run out or they might not run out at all as long as their believers continue to provide faith for them. But that doesn''t change the fact that they cannot win this fight. The best they can manage is a draw. They can only continue moving forward.


    The tunnel was very long and the enemies were many so it took a long while to transverse it. That didn''t discourage them, though. After all, they couldn''t get tired. The only thing being expended is the divine energy they use to maintain their divine endurance spell. That is littlepared to the prayers of the faithful flooding their altar.


    Besides, it is not as if they could give up on a domain easily and leave. They were ready not to take a step back until they heard something drop heavily behind them. This caused them to stop and look backN?v(el)B\\jnn


    The thing that dropped was a god. It was shining with a light that dispelled the darkness like them. Apparently, he had followed them into the pit.


    This god was swarmed and torn to pieces by the skeletons. Soon, it was as if it was never there. But the appearance of the god reminded them that they were not the only ones with ess to the domain quest or ess to the hole for that matter.


    This gave them pause. They thought about staying behind to kill any god that might be able to ovee the skeletons. They wanted to do so to monopolize the trial and give no other god a chance.


    But Legion-2 asked them, "What if someone has already gone ahead? It is unlikely that someone got here before us but there were gods outside of Gemmis when we received the domain. What if a god was close by and has entered the trial before us?"


    Legion-3 replied, "That would mean we would be here wasting our time keepingpetitors at bay while someone else steals the prize."


    They couldn''t have that, so they decided to continue going forward at their fastest speed possible. They couldn''t use divine speed as they had to maintain divine endurance. But they were still fast as they lined up behind Legion-3, who paved the way for them with golden light.


    Many gods dropped behind them after they left. Most of them died, but some of them who had devoted a bulk of their divinity to Endurance or who had a lot of Authority managed to survive the ordeal.


    A whole Pantheon even dropped into the tunnel too. Apparently, the gods didn''t need domain quests to ess the trial. As long as they can find its location andplete the trial, then they can get the domain too.


    A domain quest only helps to find the trial. This news made the gods surge into the six rapidly closing holes in the ground in pursuit of the domain. This was happening at the same time that the auction for the remaining 44 Titan crystals was being held.


    Many of the gods chose not to participate in the trial because they prioritized the slim chance of acquiring a domain over the slim chance of acquiring the titan crystals. Others chose not to participate in the auction because they were not rich. They knew they didn''t have the money topete for the titan crystals, so they didn''t go. They would rather hunt for domains.


    The number of gods who had enough wealth topete in the auction was very small. They were probably around 1,000 of the 100,000 gods, or just 1%. But these 1% also wanted to acquire domains too. So they gave their money to others to bid for them.


    Only Legion and a scant few could participate in the auction and hunt for domains at the same time. Legion could do this because they had three clones to spare. Many others could do this because they had a twin to spare.


    Legion-7 participated in the auction on their behalf. He was able to get 1 more titan crystal, but it cost 1,000,000 divinity. It was that expensive. The god kings were using the wealth of their pantheons to bully other and fight for the titan crystals.


    A/N: Bonus chapter for Rosery_fire''s gift. Thank you again.

 Chapter 1834: Second Trial.

    Chapter 1834: Second Trial.


    ?


    Legion, on the other hand, wasn''t willing to spend too much divinity on something that they already had four of. Besides, they still don''t know just how useful heroes will be. On the other hand, they know how useful golden light will be if it is upgraded.


    They also don''t think it is worth it to extort their whole pantheon for something like that. After all, they still have a great war against the humans to fight to reim theirnds, so they think it is a good idea to have powerful godly assistants instead of mortal assistants.


    Fighting the humans won''t be a war between gods. It will be a war between races so it is best to have other gods on their side. They are already preparing for that just as they are preparing to have heroes.


    Meanwhile, the other clones were making progress in the tunnel. They finally reached the end after an hour of grueling work. They were finally faced with a new type of obstacle.


    There were 6 tunnels in front of them. The tunnels are brightly lit and devoid of Skeletal Revenants. In fact, the ones they had encountered left them when they became too close to these tunnels. But they don''t know which tunnel to take forward.


    So they asked their angel. "Is this a maze? Which tunnel should we pick?"


    It replied with thrill, "Every tunnel is correct if only one person takes it. That''s why there are six tunnels for you. The trial wants to separate you."


    Legion-4 asked with a sneer, "What if we refuse?"


    The angel replied, "As long as more than one person takes a tunnel, it will continue to branch into two to separate them. If they refuse to separate, then the tunnel will continue to branch without end."


    Legion-1 said in relief, "So it is not targeting us personally."


    The angel shook its tiny head. "No, it is not targeting you personally because of your clones. Most trials are like this. It ispletely normal to separate everyone."


    Legion-2 asked, "What will we encounter if we separate?"


    It replied, "It is most likely the second part of the trial. Don''t ask me more because I don''t know. But I do know that if you don''t separate, you will never ess this trial."


    Legion-4ined, "If this were the void universe, we would be able to teleport to each other. But now we have no choice except to separate."


    Legion-7 said, "No, we do have a choice. There is something we can do."


    As entities that like to break the rules of the world to have their way, they don''t like ying along the rules. They are currently limited in what they can do, but they know one thing for certain, and that is they can only participate in the second trial alone. If that is so, only one of them is needed to pass the second trial.


    So they decided to send just one of them forward. Whatever the clone encounters will be passed across to the other clones. The remaining clones will use that knowledge to make a better attempt at the second trial. That way, they will have six chances to pass the trial, and each attempt will have a better chance of sess than the previous one.


    They first sent the one with the highest survivability amongst them. They are Legion-1 and Legion-4 who have 8,000 in their Endurance. They sent Legion-4 and also gave him Golden Light so that he would have a strong attack too.


    Legion-4 chose a tunnel and entered it. Behind him, the tunnel closed and disappeared. The space it was in shrank to make it look like it never existed.


    Legion-4 didn''t stop to look back. His clones have done that for me. They had also lost sight of him after his tunnel shrank.


    He continued forward for a short distance until he appeared within a spherical cavern. An enemy was waiting for him in the middle of the cavern.


    It was a cyclops. It had one eye and one golden harmer. It waspletely golden. It even shone with a metallic sheen. It had runes tattooed all over its skin, and it was also wearing golden armor.


    Its eyes opened and red at him. This single eye shone with a bright red light that was ominous to behold.


    It said, "Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!"


    Legion-4 used insight on it. What he saw made his eye twitch.


    NAME: Guardian Hammar


    RACE: Golem


    TIER: 2


    LEVEL: 100


    HP: 10,000,000


    STRENGTH: 40,000


    ENDURANCE: 50,000


    SPEED: 10,000n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    DIVINE ABILITY: REPAIR. SECOND PHASE. THIRD PHASE.


    WEAPON: THREE-PHASE SHIFT (Attack Power = Strength + Total Divinity). BULWARK ARMOR (Endurance + Total Divinity).


    STATUS: Hostile.


    It was a golem, not a skeleton, a divine beast, or a god. But it was tier 2, the equivalent of a domain god.


    Legion-4 eximed, "No way."


    His angelmented beside him, "This is the trial of strength. It should be very easy for any domain god."


    "But I am not a domain god," he said as he struck the golem with a divine strike.


    The sharp ray of light struck it in its chest with an attack power of 268,000. He had wanted to hit its exposed neck since its head was protected with a helmet. But the golem had stepped forward into the attack, which made it strike its chest.


    -You have hit Guardian Hammar.


    -Attack Sessful.


    -You have dealt 118,000 damage.


    HIS attack of 268,000 had been reduced to 118,000 because of the armor and endurance of the golem. It was a 56% reduction in power that only caused a 1.18% decrease in its health pool.


    It made his eye twitch because he could already see how other gods would fair against this golem if he was already having this much difficulty with it. But his angel was cheerful and optimistic about the situation.


    It said to him, "See? Things aren''t so bad. 84 more of that, and you will kill it."


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 1835: The Last Trial.

    Chapter 1835: The Last Trial.


    ?


    The golem continued to rush towards him. It did so with its hammer raised up to smash him. It was frightening to see because its speed was faster than Legion-3''s.


    Legion-3 has 6,400 divinity in speed, but this golem has Legion-3''s total divinity in speed alone. Legion-4 had to use Divine Speed to dodge the attack and turn Myraid Armament into a whip.


    He used the whip to snare one of its legs. Then he ran in circles around it. This tripped the golem and made it fall. Then Legion-4 went to work on it with Golden Light.


    Golden light pierced into the armor and bore a hole in it. Then it struck the cyclops below the golden armor.


    -You have hit Guardian Hammer.


    -Attack Sessful.


    -You have dealt 1,190,000 damage.


    With his speed at 270,000, he could attack 13 times in a second. Combined with the fact that he struck the same point as the first attacks, he didn''t have to ovee the defense of the armor and managed to deal 1,290,000 damage to it.


    He was going to deal 16,670,000 damage in that one second that the cyclop was incapacitated. But then the cyclops activated its Repair Divine ability.


    The runes on its skin glowed, and so did the cavern they were in. Pieces of the cavern flew from the walls and fell on the golem. These pieces were absorbed by the golem to heal its injury.


    It did this while simultaneously swinging its hammer around it to catch Legion-4. Legion-4 was not willing to let the golem go, so he jumped up to avoid the horizontal sweep of the hammer.


    He was in the air, so he couldn''t dodge when the arm of the Cyclops pped at him. The best he could do was use Divine Endurance. Then he was pped across the room. He struck the wall of the cavern and fell to the ground. He was unharmed, but the golem had be free. Legion-4 recalled his whip so it flew to his hands. The golem also made its preparations. It shifted to its third phase. Its body shifted to make it slimmer and sleeker.


    It was not just a physical change. Its Endurance fell to 10,000 while its speed increased to 50,000, so its speed had be its highest stat. It had changed itself for speed.


    Thest change was with its weapon. The golden hammer had be a golden bow. It was clear to Legion-4 what the new tactic of the golem would be.


    Heined to his angel, "This can''t be normal. A normal true god should not be able to defeat this kind of trial."


    The angel said with certainty, "I assure you that this trial ispletely normal. Its mechanisms are normal. It is just that its difficulty is a tad higher than what a true god should be able to handle. But that''s because the domain didn''t belong to a domain god when it was taken."


    He grumbled, "This better be worth it."


    Then he rushed towards the golem again. It used its newfound speed to speed up while using its bow to strike him from a distance. Unfortunately, even though it had gained a 400% increase to its speed, it couldn''t help it get away from Legion-4.


    His speed of 270,000 ensured that he was up to 3 times faster than it. He was able to dodge the golden arrows that flew at him while closing the distance. Then he clipped its legs again and beat it up with golden light.


    This time the golem wasn''t able to repair itself. Its divine ability had a cool down, so it didn''t get toe back from the brink of death again. Plus, its endurance had fallen to 10,000, so it was able to take more damage and die quicker.


    The body of the golden cyclop melted into the cavern after he killed it. Then a door opened on the opposite side of the cavern.


    Legion-4 saw it and asked, "Is that the third trial? What does it entail?"


    The angel nodded and said, "It is the trial of skill. It is thest trial."


    "I see. Let me guess. I am the only one that can enter it."


    His angel replied in exasperation, "Don''t say it as if a single person taking a test is odd. It is normal that only you will be allowed to enter it. But there''s another catch. You can only enter the door with 1 point of divine energy. This is to make the trial more difficult."


    Legion-4ughed when he heard this condition. He said, "This is going to be easy."


    The angel chuckled too. "I thought you might like it. You will even like this; you will gain some rewards depending on how well you perform in the third trial. So you will gain something no matter how you perform. But if youplete the trial, then you will gain the domain and what else the trial has to offer."


    Legion-4 and the other clones liked that information very much. But Legion-4 didn''t go through the door yet. He wanted the other clones to use the information he has acquired to pass the second trial. He also put Golden Light into their inventory so that the other clones could use it.


    This way, every clone was able to pass the second trial easily. If anything were to happen to him, they would be able to rece him immediately.


    Then he moved on to the third trial to scout the way for them. He tried to open the door out of the circr cave, but it didn''t open. A message shed in front of his face.


    -You Must Have Only One Divine Energy To Enter.


    -Only Then Will You Be Able To Show Your True Skills.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    A/N: If you remember, during the attempt to break into that divine pocket space by one of the clones of Legion, there were also three obstacles.

 Chapter 1836: The Trial Of Skill. Or Not.

    Chapter 1836: The Trial Of Skill. Or Not.


    ?


    The message made him smile. He sent his divine energy to the other clones until he reached 1 point. This put him within an inch of death and also made it so that he wouldn''t be able to use divine spells, as he needs at least 10 units of divine energy to cast the weakest divine spells.


    If he can''t use divine spells, then his Authority will be mostly useless. He will only have the divinity in his divine body to rely on.


    This is obviously a bad state for a god. A single hit that overwhelms his endurance will kill him, but he didn''t grumble. He opened the door and went in with that scheming smile on his face.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    On the other side was a bridge. It was above a dark, bottomless chasm. Unless he could fly, the only way to the other side of the room is the bridge.


    But the bridge is currently upied by the golems he just fought. There are 10 of them in different phases. Some of them are using hammers, while others are using swords and bows.


    What was different about them from the previous golem is that all 10 of them had fallen from the domain tier to the true god tier. They now have a total of 10,000 divinity instead of 100,000.


    Insight doesn''t use divine energy, so he could use it. He used it immediately, and it showed him more differences between these golems and the one he just fought.


    NAME: Guardian Hammar


    RACE: Golem


    TIER: 1


    LEVEL: 100


    HP: 1


    STRENGTH: 9,000


    ENDURANCE: 1


    SPEED: 999


    DIVINE ABILITY: SECOND PHASE. THIRD PHASE.


    WEAPON: THREE PHASE SHIFT (Attack Power = Strength).


    STATUS: Hostile.


    They had lost their armor, and their weapons had lost their power. They also couldn''t repair themselves. This is especially critical since they have just 1 hit point and 1 endurance.


    Without repair, thest golem he had fought would have been easy to kill. But in this situation, even with repair, it is unlikely that these golems would be able to take a single hit from him.


    Legion-4 said to his angel, "So one damage and they will die."


    It nodded. "One damage to you will kill you too. You have to work your way across the bridge. You have to get past them either by crook or strength. You can kill them or push them off the bridge. They can do the same to you too. How far you go will depend on your skill. It will also determine how much of the trial you havepleted."


    Legion-4 smiled and said, "A test of skill, huh? The first one to make contact with the other wins. How interesting."


    Then he pped his hands and said, "Unfortunately, I don''t like to y by the rules."


    He said that as divine energy began to fill his body. Next, he pointed his finger at the golems from afar and cast Divine Strike.


    His angel sighed and said, "I thought as much."


    He is sure that he is a skilled fighter and that he would be able to perform well in this trial, but there was no reason to risk that when he has a better and faster alternative that will ensure his victory.


    It isn''t cheating though. He believes that it his skill that he has clones to rely on. If it was so easy, many people would have clones too.


    A few secondster, Legion-4 had crossed the bridgepletely and made it to the door on the other side. He didn''t go through it immediately. He did what he didst time. He let the other clones finish the third trial before moving on.


    He opened the door and entered it. The world disappeared around him as he went through the door. The door behind him had disappeared as he found himself in a dark room. He couldn''t go back even if he wanted to.


    The room was devoid of light, but there was clearly more going on because he didn''t need light to see, but he still couldn''t see anything in the room. It was as if all there was to see was darkness itself, so he saw only darkness.


    Fortunately, the room wasn''t empty. At what looks like the center of the room was an object glowing with red. It was the only thing in the dark room, and it looked dangerous, so he used divine endurance to increase his survivability.


    The angel said there are no more threats at this point, but it won''t kill him to prepare. What might actually kill him is to be unprepared.


    Then he got closer to the glowing object and found out that it was a gold me. He used insight to identify it.


    (Name: Golden Forge)


    (Type: Mid-Domain)


    (Domain: 0.001% Fire + 0.001% Earth + 0.001% Forge)


    (Description: This is a domain fit for a god of the forge)


    The information revealed a lot to Legion-4. He said, "I''m guessing this ounts for the existence of the golems in the trial."


    The golden me replied, "Yes, it does. I built them as soldiers in my angelic host. There used to millions of them and they were supposed to protect me forever both in life and death. But it seems they are not strong enough to protect me from you. This means that they are eithercking as guards or you are a strong god. Which do you think it is?"


    Legion-4 didn''t answer the question. Instead, he hefted his shield and readied golden light for battle while staring at the me intently. He didn''t take his eyes off of it for a moment, so he saw as the me morphed and turned into the appearance of a cyclops. It was golden like


    its me.


    The golden cyclops said to him, "Greetings, my sessor; I am Kutneri, a Heavenly God." Legion-4 asked, "Are you the one the domain belonged to?"


    It replied with a nod, "Yes, I am."

 Chapter 1837: The Request.

    Chapter 1837: The Request.


    ?


    Legion-4 looked around for enemies as he asked, "How are you still alive? I thought every god in the previous era was dead."


    It shook its head gently as it replied, "You are wrong on both assumptions. I am not alive. I am dead. This is just a remnant of my will. I died in a tide of the ancients rising. But not every god in my era was killed. Our foundations in the mortal and divine realm were cut off, which caused many of us to die, but some managed to hide and live on."


    Legion-4 was intrigued. He said, "I see. So you must know a lot of information about the past."


    "I do. Unfortunately, I can''t tell you."


    Legion-4 frowned and asked, "Then why have you appeared if not to talk?"


    It chuckled and said, "How impatient. I can''ttell you because I want something from you first. Don''t worry. Your angel should be able to tell you after you receive my legacy.


    He noticed something about what the cyclops said and pointed it out, "I take it that you had angels of knowledge in your era too."


    It asked in confusion, "What do you mean? Every god, even lowly god seeds have angels of knowledge."


    He changed the conversation, "Nevermind. It was just an idle observation. Can you leave this world at all?"


    The cyclops was even more confused. It said, "I don''t understand. Isn''t this world all that there is in all of existence?"


    He smiled and said, "My mistake. Let''s return to the matter at hand. What do I have to do to get your knowledge and legacy? If it requires me to spare your domain or resurrect you then you can forget about it."


    The cyclops chuckled and said, "I am already dead. I can''t return. It would be good enough that I can employ the assistance of a strong god like you to help me sort out something."


    "I am sure you will like what I want you to do. It won''t stop you from gaining the domain, but it might grant you more. After all, I have more than a domain in my legacy."


    Legion-4 became attentive at the mention of more reward. He said, "I''m listening."


    Kutneri exined, "I have an enemy that I believe is still alive. I want you to help me confirm her death or kill her if she is still alive. She is Oceania, the goddess of storms. In return I will tell you the location of my divine kingdom. I am not sure of the state of my wealth in it, but if it still exist, it will help you be a heavenly god."


    Legion-4 turned to his angel and asked, "Is that true?"


    It replied, "I won''t know until you absorb the domain."


    Legion-4 considered the request and said, "Alright. I ept your request. I will make sure that this god is dead."


    He received a notification immediately.


    -(Quest Received)


    (Side Quest: Find and Kill Oceania)


    (First Step: Go To The Eastern Domain)


    (Reward: A Divine Kingdom)


    (Description: Help Kutneri fulfill his grudge against Oceania. He must really hate her to want her dead even after his death.)


    Kutneri said to him, "Thank you, my sessor. I wish you good luck."


    The golden cyclops scattered into golden motes of light leaving behind a golden me. Legion-4 took it and put it into his inventory. Unfortunately he couldn''t store it.


    He said with a smile on the face of his true body in the void universe, "So it is like a divine orb. I have to absorb it or carry it around. I can already see the trouble that this will cause."


    He can already picture what will happen when he is seen carrying a domain around by other gods. The gods were willing to gang up on them for mere divine cmities. The prospect of a domain will make them go crazy. The thought of how crazy they would get made him smile in anticipation.


    His act of taking the domain made a white door appeared in the darkness. He could see the divine domain from beyond the door. Freedom was within his reach, but the prospect of what he would encounter past it made the exit a lot more appealing to him. He couldn''t wait to leave.


    His angel advised him, "You can begin the absorption process now, but it will remain iplete until you can reach your altar to evolve."


    He nodded and decided to absorb the golden me immediately. The domain sank into his body. The fire began burning within him instead. It made his eyes glow like torches.


    His eyes even produced a cone of brightness in the dark. He didn''t need the light to see, but this way, others who don''t have dark sight will be able to see in the dark too.


    He took a step towards the exit. Before he left, his angel warned him, "You are not out of danger yet. You will drop the domain if your divine body dies."


    Legion-4 nodded and left through the white door. The dark room began shaking after he left. Not only it, every room the clones were in was also shaking. The whole trial space wasing


    apart.


    The space of the trial copsed behind him immediately he left. Everyone within it appeared above the ground where the hole used to be.


    The clones were not the only ones that appeared. There were other participants and those who couldn''t enter after the entrance closed but decided to wait.


    All of them were 112 in number. This is because most of the tens of thousands of gods that had entered the trial had died. The remaining gods were jam packed together. It made it easy for Legion-4 and his weird state to be discovered.


    The clones attacked everyone around them. They didn''t choose to run or hide in hopes no one would discover the glowing eyes of one of them. They decided to catch their future enemiesn/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    off guard.

 Chapter 1838: Full To Bursting.

    Chapter 1838: Full To Bursting.


    ?


    It is not as if they need any reason to attack others apart from wanting more divinity. But this time they have a very good reason to try and cull their enemies first.


    Their attack took the gods off guard. They died in swarths. Most of them scattered in fear because of the carnage. They were too busy running for their lives to notice Legion-4''s special state. It was only a few that noticed their odd state and suspected them of iming the domain.


    One of those astute gods shouted, "He has the domain."


    This roused the gods. The highly coveted domain made them prioritize something other than their life. They became bold enough to stop. But they were not as bold as the person who shouted would have liked.


    It is true that the Orc Bandits have the domain, but it doesn''t change the fact that they are very strong. So the gods paused uncertainly as they waited for someone to take action first.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    They stopped trying to escape and instead decided to form a barrier around the clones. Unfortunately their hesitation cost them as Legion used it to kill more gods. This made the gods step back in fear again.


    Another god shouted, "Don''t be afraid of them. They are not domain gods yet. He needs to return to the altar before they can be domain gods. We outnumber them and I am calling for helpers right now. We can defeat them."


    This emboldened the gods, so they swarmed the clones from every direction in order to stall them. But unlike what they expected, the clones didn''t run away. This is despite the fact that they had numerous opportunities to do so.


    They even have superior speed that should help them escape. But instead of escaping, the clones focused on killing the gods. It was as if they wanted to make up for the one month that Smite had them hold off on killing. Now they could go all out without care.


    The gods were tempted by the domain, but they were not ignorant about the speed that the Orc Bandits were capable of, and they were not so stupid that they couldn''t figure out why the Orc Bandits were not escaping.


    They were well informed about the capabilities of the Orc Bandits; they could see this capability as many gods died right in front of them, and they were smart, so they came to an understanding of what''s going on very quickly. This made them feel despair.


    One god put away her weapon into her inventory and said, "You know what? I am done with this."


    True to her word, she turned around and ran away. She doesn''t think she can escape, and she is resigned to losing her armor, but she is hell bent on trying to escape.


    That''s what the gods became determined to do after a while. They forgot about the domain and focused on something that is more feasible than getting the domain from the Orc Bandits.


    It was more feasible, but the Orc Bandits were not going to make it easy for them either. The clones chased after the gods as they scattered.


    The barricade around them was gone when the gods scattered. But even with the absence of any form of obstacle, the Orc Bandits refused to escape. They continued killing as if they didn''t have a domain to worry about.


    This dy in escaping allowed the reinforcements toe. Up to a thousand gods came with determination and fanfare to subdue the Orc Bandits and take the domain from them. Less than 200 managed to remain alive after 5 minutes.


    Next came the reinforcement of five thousand gods. This wave of reinforcement rallied the gods they met along the way and the ones that they were escaping. They besieged the Orc Bandits only to suffer a resounding defeat.


    This time, there were too many gods escaping for the Orc Bandits to chase effectively. But they still didn''t give up. They chased the one thousand escaping gods and killed metaphorical blood of the divine flower into a river.


    Two more clones actually had toe from Gemmis withrge carriers to move the divine orbs that they had acquired. While the other clones were busy killing, two clones were movingrge carriages formed into a train full of divine orbs like donkeys pulling a cart.


    The fourth wave came soon after. They were ten thousand in number. They were loud and bold in their match. The clones were eager to take them on too.


    And so ten thousand gods shed with six gods. It was a massacre. The gods were positively butchered. There was no doubt about it. No one could contend with the fact.


    The ranks of the gods fell apart after five thousand died. But they quickly regrouped when twenty thousand more gods came in a fifth wave of reinforcement.


    The gods became hopeful once again. One of them even said, "They have to fall now, right? Just how much divine energy do they have? They have to have some kind of limit."


    Legion was also looking forward to seeing where their limit lies. Unfortunately, they had run out of space in their two trains. These are trains with three carriages each. Each one could hold a thousand divine orbs, so they already have six thousand divine orbs.


    They couldn''t take anymore, so they finally decided to escape. The gods saw this and thought the Orc Bandits were afraid of them. The doubters among them and those who were afraid became immensely encouraged to do battle at all costs.


    A god king shouted, "Get them. Don''t let them escape."


    Unfortunately, it wasn''t really up to them to decide if the Orc Bandits could escape or not. The Orc Bandits were just too fast to be held back by food that they could eat but couldn''t eat because their stomachs were full to bursting.


    The clones were using Divine Speed while as followed Legion-3 and his spear. Legion-3 made way for them through any obstacle, and they followed along the path had created for them.


    A/N: Bonus chapter for Hansroy Nielson Golden tickets contribution.

 Chapter 1839: Total Disrespect.

    Chapter 1839: Total Disrespect.


    ?


    These gods were just not a match for them in any way. The Orc Bandits were stronger in terms of Authority. That is a given. That meant they had more powerful divine spells and more divine energy to use the divine spells.


    But the Orc Bandits were also stronger in terms of divinity because of their divine armor and the 50% increase they granted the clones individually. Even the best gods only had a 40% boost to their divinity.


    Then there is the superiority of their divine weapons. Both Myriad Armament and Golden Light had no equal. To top all of it off is their eerie synchronization and cooperation with each other.


    They were six but they were far more effective than that. They certainly were more effective than a rag tag band of fearful gods. All the gods had waiting for them at the hands of the clones was ughter. But the Orc Bandits couldn''t eat anymore and didn''t want to waste their time doing something useless, so they chose to escape.


    If not for the fact that the clones had to protect their specially forged trains, they would be faster in escaping. Even then, it was still easy for them to escape. The gods that tried to stop them couldn''t even see how they were beheaded.


    But things became even easier after they left most of the gods behind. The only problem they faced was the blockade at Gemmis.


    Apparently, the sixth wave of gods were already gearing up for war. They had heard that the Orc Bandits were escaping, so they decided to block their way to Gemmis.


    A god king was speaking to them before the Orc Bandits met them. She was trying to encourage them, but even she was not optimistic about their chances.


    She said, "This is not about the domain anymore. Forget about that. This is about the disrespect that they have shown us. They could have escaped, but they didn''t. They had the gall to bring a train to collect our divine orbs. This is like a game to them."


    "It is clear that they don''t take us seriously. They could be right about that. Or they could be wrong. There''s only one way to find out, and this is thest chance to do so because one of them is about to be a domain god. If we can''t defeat them now, then we might not be able to defeat them ever again."


    She asked with a roar, "Who''s with me?"


    The gods gave half-hearted replies. So she changed her tune.


    "Ok, forget about the disrespect. They are strong in God''s Domain, so they can disrespect us. Let''s make this about the two trains of divine orbs. Imagine how much divinity we can get if we nab those trains."


    This time the gods were more encouraged. Unfortunately, their motivations and enthusiasm would go to waste all because they couldn''t create a barricade around the entirety of Gemmis. The Orc Bandits took a detour after sighting them.


    The Orc Bandits escaped to the disappointment and relief of many gods. This marked the end of the divine cmity that is the Orc Bandits, but it brought about the beginning of a long drawn out war for domain.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    There were five other trials around Gemmis so there are five more domains that can be acquired. This prospect put a lot of gods on edge. The painful trashing they just got from the Orc Bandits made them extra determined to get the domains.


    They were already out to war, so they might as well put their preparations for battle to good use. However, their eagerness for battle doomed them. The gods began to fight each other even before the domains arrived.


    There were many things that set them off. It was easy to do as the gods were already in a primed state where only one thing was needed to set them off. That thing could have been an insult or just greed for divinity.


    Either way, the gods set upon themselves as soon as there was no singr strong foe to make them cooperate. In the absence of the Orc Bandits, they became their worst enemies.


    Meanwhile, Legion managed to make it to Gemmis. Then they went straight for their altar. It was a little difficult to move arge train through the city, but they managed.


    Legion-7 said to them, "Imagine how difficult it would have been for us to move and protect a train with ten carriages."


    Legion-1 said, "I still think we can do better."


    Legion-3 chuckled and said, "We are greedy and we think we can do better, but this might be the limit for us."


    They built the carriage so they could have made it longer, but they didn''t because it would be problematic to control. Making it longer means it would be heavier and more difficult to maneuver at high speeds. It could easily overturn too.


    There''s also the difficulty of protecting the trains. With three carriages each, it would only take three clones to protect each train while another clone drives it.


    One clone would stay at the back. A second would protect its left side and a third would protect the right. So each train requires four clones to protect it for a total of eight. That is the maximum amount of clones they have to spare.


    If they add anymore carriages to the train, their efficiency in protecting it would fall and they might lose the whole train. They also can''t use the help of others because others don''t have their synchronized minds and identical Authority. So if they try to use their subordinate gods, they will only be dragged down by them.


    These and many others are the reasons why they couldn''t make longer trains to harvest more divinity. But they are working on fixing these PROBLEMS. Their greed is driving their innovation and determination in doing great things. It is just like how they do things in the void universe.

 Chapter 1840: Domain God Advancement.

    Chapter 1840: Domain God Advancement.


    ?


    In God''s Domain, they might even be able to forge a weapon that can grant them regeneration if they manage to seal an ancient Titan into it like they did with CARNAGE. But that''s just a


    conceptualized idea for now.


    They are already thinking of how to make the carriages fly or at least hover above the ground so that won''t be able to tip over easily. This and how it was a pity that they couldn''t harvest more divinity was what they were thinking about as they made their way to their hotels.


    They didn''t think about the fact that they were just besieged by thousands of gods and managed to escape. It is not the first time that they would be besieged and they don''t think it would be thest.


    In fact, they are currently being hunted in the void universe too. So what they just did ispletely normal to them. It is just another day in the life of Legion. They can''t help it that everybody wants them.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Legion-9 immediately used the Altar to evolve after all of them had gathered.


    -Evolve to Domain God.


    Requirements: Level:100 True God, 100,000 Authority and Domain.


    He clicked on this option which made a prompt appear in front of him.


    -Do you want to be a Domain God? All of your divinity will be consumed for the evolution.


    -Yes Or no?


    He clicked yes, so the evolution began. It was quick and easy. Their divinity was drained to expand the capacity of their godhood. Their expanding godhood was held up by their ample Authority so it didn''t copse. The space within their godhood was then filled with the golden me in their possession.


    -Congrattions on Your Evolution.


    -You have be a Domain God.


    -You have gained one more Oracle slot.


    -You have gained Ten Priest slots.


    -You have gained Special Divine spells.


    -You have gained ss Bestowal Divine Ability.


    -You have gained Divine Earth Body.


    -You have gained Divine Forge Body.


    -You have gained Divine Fire Body.


    -You have gained Flight Divine Ability.


    -You have gained World Power.


    -Your Avatar Divine Ability Has Be World Avatar Divine Ability.


    -You can now upgrade your Divine Spells.


    -You can now upgrade your Pantheon of gods.


    What happened to them caused a regional announcement to appear in the northern realm. But they didn''t pay attention to it. After all, they were just the third domain god in the Northern Domain. It wasn''t anything special. Instead, they focused on their own affairs.


    The clones didn''t feel any emotional changes due to the evolution, but they did feel that the puppet had be easier to control. It was as if the resistance of the world to the maniption of their divine body had reduced.


    There are also more tangible benefits that they have acquired. He decided to make use of those benefits immediately. The first thing they did was to reach level 100. It cost them 100,000 divinity each to do so.


    They had gained 10 times more capacity for divinity in their new divine body. This made the effect of Myriad Armament increase as 10% of their total divinity changed from 1,000 divinity to 10,000.


    What they had to do next was allocate their extra divinity to fit their roles. This didn''t take long since they already knew their roles.


    The third thing they did was upgrade their previous divine spells.


    -Divine Spells.


    1. Divine Strike (3).


    Effect: Strike an enemy with an energy attack that is equal to 40% of Authority.


    Cost: 10,000 DE.


    2. Divine Shield (3).


    Effect: Create a visible defensive barrier that will block damage up to 40% of Authority.


    Cost: 10,000 DE.


    3: Divine Hold (3).


    Effect: Trap a target with an invisible force with a power up to 10% of Authority.


    Cost: 10 DE.


    Cost: 10,000 DE.


    4: Divine Strength (3).


    Effect: Boost a target''s Strength for 40% of Authority.


    Cost: 10,000 DE.


    5: Divine Speed (3).


    Effect: Boost a target''s Speed for 40% of Authority.


    Cost: 10,000 DE.


    6: Divine Endurance (3).


    Effect: Boost a target''s Endurance for 40% of Authority.


    Cost: Cost 10,000 DE.


    7: Divine Judgement (3).


    Effect: If Authority is greater than target, the target will lose 40% of total hit points.


    Cost: 40% of total DE.


    8: Divine Retribution (3).


    Effect: If Authority is greater than source of attack, then 4 copies of the attack will be reflected


    back to the source.


    Cost: 40% of total DE.


    9: Divine Crippling (3).


    Effect: If Authority is greater than target''s, reduce target''s stat by 40% of Authority.


    Cost: 40% of total DE.


    The upgraded version of their previous spells has changed drastically. They have be twice as powerful as the previous ones, but they cost 10 times more divine energy. Divine Strength for instance, was used to empower them with 10% of their Authority and it cost a meager 10 units of divine energy. Now they have to use sicine energy equal to the amount of divinity that a true god possesses for them to use its greater power.


    A god would have to possess arge amount of Authority for this kind of expense to be worth it. Fortunately, they are that kind of god.


    The first six divine spells are still more efficient than thest three. Rather than spend 40% of their divine energy to cripple a single enemy by 40%, they would rather spend 10,000 divine energy, or currently 0.8% of their total divine energy, to amplify their strength and kill that


    enemy.


    10,000 units of divine energy might be expensive for other gods seeing as the average Authority is 100,000, but it is not expensive for them at all. They will even be better able to afford it now that they can use their greater strength to acquire more power and influence


    in the mortal realm.


    The only situation in which they see themselves using divine judgment efficiently is against the ancient titans. If they have more Authority than their Elemental power, they can trade their divine energy for arge chunk of an ancient titan''s massive health pool.

 Chapter 1841: Divine Wealth.

    Chapter 1841: Divine Wealth.


    ?


    After this, the fourth thing they did was to move on to the new special spells they just got ess to. These spells are courtesy of their domain. Even then, they still had to pay 10,000 divinity to acquire.


    This cost is ten times more expensive than how much it cost them to upgrade their normal spells. But they didn''t bat an eye between all nine of them. They acquired all of the special divine spells and even upgraded them to the limit of what they could achieve currently.


    1: Divine Forging (3).


    Effect: Change the properties of materials with your will. Efficiency is at 40%.


    Cost: Divine Energy and Various Materials. It depends on the material you are working with and what you hope to achieve with it.


    2: Divine Earth Domain (3).


    Effect: Create an area of earth around you that you can control to defend and attack for you with power up to 40% of your Authority.


    Cost: 10,000 DE for initial activation. 1,000 DE for every second of activation.


    3: Divine Fire Domain (3).


    Effect: Create an area of fire around you that you can control to defend and attack for you with power up to 40% of your Authority.


    Cost: 10,000 DE for initial activation. 1,000 DE for every second of Activation.


    Despite their immense wealth, they expected to pay through the nose to upgrade the three divine spells, but it only cost them 20,000 and 30,000 divinity to upgrade them to Tier 3.


    Legion-1 muttered, "At this rate, they will be less expensive to upgrade than normal divine spells."


    Legion-9 shrugged and said, "That''s a good thing. Anyway, if we can''t afford it, then I doubt any other god can. So we have very little to worry about."


    That made them chuckle as they went on to upgrade their Apocalypse Pantheon. It cost them 1,000,000 divinity, but it became capable of holding 200 gods now, which can increase the boost of his authority to 199%.


    Their current predicament is vastly different from when they just became true gods. Back then, they didn''t even have the divinity needed to level up much less build their pantheon.


    They hadined about the 10,000 divinity cost for them to build a pantheon, but now they can spend the 1,000,000 divinity needed to double its power, 900,000 divinity needed to level up, 30,000 divinity needed to acquire special domain spells, and 180,000 divinity needed to upgrade those special domain spells without feeling any difort.


    Times have truly changed for them. It is not all because of their effort. Crystal Hoard had a part to y in the growth that they have experienced. For that, they will be eternally grateful.


    Of course, that gratefulness will be at the background way below how they will fleece the next target. They were already thinking of how well to make use of the potential of their upgraded pantheon and how they would convince 100 more gods to join it.


    This new upgrade made them feel joy for the gods that couldn''t join their great Pantheon before. Now that they have the chance to share their pantheon with more people. How could they not feel joy for the world and for themselves? It is truly a good thing that they can''t wait to work on.


    They also changed their exit requirement to 1 million divinity. That way it will be difficult for a god to leave their pantheon, but possible. Setting the exit use too high means that they will never earn it, and their subordinate gods might lose hope. If those subordinate lose hope they won''t work hard to escape their grasp. These are not things they want.


    The next thing they did was to look at their new divine bodies.


    (Name: Divine Earth Body)


    (Effect: Harden your body into earth permanently, which enhances the Endurance of the divine body by world power.)


    (Description: The domain of a god enchances their divine body by world power.)


    The Divine Fire Body is simr to this. Only that, it enhances their Strength with world power, not Endurance. It doesn''t cost them anything either. It is a free enhancement from the world. Only Divine Forge is somewhat different.


    (Name: Divine Forge Body)


    (Effect: Shift your divine body into different phases that enchances any particr part of the body at the cost of others.)


    (Description: A god of forge should be able to change their divine bodies on the fly to suit whatever needs they have.)


    They have seen this particr divine ability work in the golems. They had three phases that they could shift into for when they needed endurance, strength, or speed. It depended on what type of enemy they encountered.


    The more they looked at it, the more they liked it.


    Legion-3 said, "This ability will ensure that we can shift the divinity in our divine bodies to whatever we need at the moment. It is very impressive."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Legion-1 agreed. He said, "It will be more impressive if it can work with the other domains too."


    Legion-2 tried it. His body caught fire and became half elemental. He tried to switch the enhancement of the divine fire body from strength to speed, but it didn''t work.


    Legion-9 said, "So, it doesn''t work. It might be because the enhancement is from world power, not divinity. The divine earth body can only shift divinity."


    Legion-3 shrugged and said, "We have already gained a lot from the domain we acquired. We can''t ask it for more. What we should do is gain more domains."


    They agreed and decided to set out immediately. They can either take this domain out of God''s Domain and revert to their true god state or they can use this new found power to earn more domains. The choice is clear for them.


    If others can besiege them in an attempt to stop them from getting to Gemmis and stealing their domains, then they too can do so. In fact, they have a higher chance of seeding, so they might as well attempt it.

 Chapter 1842: High Self Confidence.

    Chapter 1842: High Self Confidence.


    ?


    All of them can go, but they are not going to send all of them to hunt because they are domain gods now. In fact, they are not going to send two clones out to hunt.


    A single domain god is more than enough to steal from a true god. Just their ability to fly in the divine realm has put them above other gods.


    But there is another important reason why they can''t send two domain gods which is that they don''t want to make the other gods suspicious of them. After all, they only got one domain. They won''t be able to exin how six of the became domain gods with just one domain. So only one clone was assigned to go.


    Their angel warned them as he left, "If you die, you will lose part of your domain as well as your divinity. So you have more to lose now."


    It paused and said, "Then again, this rule might not apply to you seeing as your domain belongs to 9 of you instead of 1. All of you might need to die to drop your domain. But it is uncertain. We won''t know until you try."


    Legion didn''t think it was a good idea to test to see if they would lose their domain. While it would be a good idea to send more than clones to assure that none of them would be killed, they still decided to send only Legion-1.


    This is because he is the public image of 9 Crowns and it was only the 9 Crowns that the divine realm announced to have be a domain god. They would like to maintain the facade that he and only he is 9 Crowns.


    Plus, they are confident in him being able to protect himself as a domain god.


    NAME: Number 1


    RACE: Domain God (Orc)


    TITLE: FirstN?v(el)B\\jnn


    TIER: 2


    LEVEL: 100


    DIVINE ENERGY: 1,341,075


    STRENGTH: 40,000


    ENDURANCE: 50,000


    SPEED: 10,000


    WORLD POWER: 300,000


    AUTHORITY: 1,341,075


    DOMAIN: 0.001% Fire + 0.001% Earth + 0.001% Forge.


    DIVINE ABILITIES: DIVINE NETWORK. INSIGHT. BLESSING. GREATER MIRACLE. PRIESTHOOD. ORACLE POSSESSION. SOUL HARVESTING. GOD KING AUTHORITY (Tier 2 = 99%). CLASS BESTOWAL. DIVINE EARTH BODY. DIVINE FIRE BODY. DIVINE FORGE BODY. DIVINE FLIGHT. WORLD POWER.


    DIVINE SPELLS: WORLD AVATAR. DIVINE STRIKE(3), DIVINE SHIELD(3), DIVINE HOLD(3). DIVINE STRENGTH(3). DIVINE SPEED(3). DIVINE ENDURANCE(3). DIVINE JUDGEMENT (3). DIVINE RETRIBUTION (3). DIVINE CRIPPLING (3). DIVINE FORGING (3). DIVINE EARTH DOMAIN (3). DIVINE FIRE DOMAIN (3).


    WEAPONS: Myriad Armament (Strength x 2 + 0.1 Total Divinity). Golden Light (100% Authority + 0.1 Total Divinity). Armor 5 (Endurance x1.5). Foot 5 (Speed x1.5). Shield 5 (Endurance x1.5).


    Their new stats filled them with confidence. Just the fact that they can use twice the amount of Authority they could use as true gods for their divine spells made them full of confidence.


    Then there is world power from their three domains that has given them three times the total divinity of their divine body as power from the world that they can use to enhance their divine body.


    Apart from that is the fact that Legion-1 can now switch his divinity around. So he can raise his Endurance to the max when he needs it or put all of his divinity in Speed in case he needs to escape, or use Golden Light to maximum effect.


    Another thing that set him apart from other domain gods is the divine armor they built. The 50% used to offer just 5,000 divinity as true gods, but that has be 50,000 divinity now.


    This might be a big thingpared to other domain gods, but it is just a small increase to his powerpared to world power, Authority, and Golden Light. All of these put them far above normal domain gods.


    But this is just the beginning of what they can do. Once they put their new divine forging to good use, all of their divine armor will experience a qualitative boost. So yes, they are confident of stealing more domains from true gods.


    Legion-1 left while the rest remained behind. They got to work trying to get the handle on their divine forge ability. From what they can tell, the ability can do anything.


    It is not physical forging as much as transmutation of matter. It can create the strongest weapon ever, regardless of their skill level. But it can''t do so out of thin air. It requires divine energy and various materials for what they want to achieve.


    If they don''t have the materi for what they want to forge, then their forging wille up short. This requirement is where the skill level of their Divine abilityes into y. Their skill increases the efficiency of the transmutation by reducing the requirements to create a


    weapon.


    If they are familiar with the materials and use only materials suited for their purpose, the cost of the transformation will be cheap. If they are not familiar, then the cost of transmutation to acquire what they want will be expensive.


    They have already tried to turn a divine crystal into another Golden Light. It simply gave them


    a prompt.


    -Requires 12,567,866,027 units of Divine Energy.


    They couldn''t go ahead with it, so they increased the amount of divine crystals to 100.


    -Requires 12,567,865,834 units of Divine Energy.


    Increasing the amount of divine crystals reduced the cost of divine energy, but it is still not something they can afford. So now they are making a catalog of materials and how much it will cost to turn them into something else.


    The first thing they started with was turning a divine crystal into any quality of divine


    weapon.


    -Requires 10,000 units of Divine Energy.


    They could afford it, so they went ahead with it. What came out was a trashy weapon worse


    than the ones that their believers gave them when they first started out. It had a mere boost of +1 divinity to strength.

 Chapter 1843: Patron And Heavenly God.

    Chapter 1843: Patron And Heavenly God.


    ?


    The oue was disappointing, but it was a step in the right direction. They continued to increase the amount of divine crystals while trying to achieve the lowest quality.


    They were eventually able to achieve a transmutation of 100 divine crystals into a +1 Strength divine sword at the cost of 100 divine energy. Next, they were able to convert 1,000 divine crystals into a +1 Strength divine sword for the low cost of 10 units of divine energy.


    They couldn''t reduce the cost of divine energy no matter how much they increased the amount of divine crystals after that. They needed to spend at least 10 units of divine energy for the transmutation. What they got with the increase in divine crystals was an increase in the power of the divine weapon.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    They have a long way to go, as they have to test for divinity and soul gold too. Those are just materials. They still have to test for the quality of divine weapons too. It will cost them time and divine energy.


    The good news is that unlike forging with their altar, they can''t fail to produce the divine weapon they want. As long as they have enough divine energy, then anything can be transformed into anything else. They just have to make it efficient, or they won''t be able to make what they want with the divine energy they have.


    In the meantime, they checked to see what they needed to evolve next.


    -Evolve to Patron God.


    -Requirements: Level: 100 Domain God, 10,000,000 Authority, and A Nation.


    Their angel exined it to them. It said, "A patron god must have a nation named after them. That requires arge amount of believers and arge area ofnd named after the god."


    Legion-9 asked, "Do we have enoughnd for a nation?"


    The angel replied, "There is no particr minimum size for a nation. Nations can be small orrge. But they must contain 10 million believers, and thend these believers upy must not be disputed by any other god or people. It must be a sovereign nation."


    Legion-2 shook his head and said, "That''s a tough order. You will need your neighbors to be at peace with you or unable to contest your im. It will be difficult to achieve, and I doubt many gods will be able to achieve it."


    The angel agreed. "It is difficult. But so is bing a domain god. There is a limited amount of domains in God''s Domain. If everyone gets the smallest unit at 0.001%, only 100,000 gods can gain ess to that domain."


    "ording to the information I have acquired, there are more than 20 domains, so there is a chance that 2 million gods out of 4 million can be domain gods. But less than 1 million will eventually be domain gods because domain gods can umte domains, which will rob others of their chance."


    "Plus, half of the domains will never be found. They are hidden in difficult-to-reach and dangerous ces. The scarcity of domains only gets worse when you factor in the amount of domains that will be taken out of God''s Domain which will remove them from the cirction."


    "So thepetition has already begun. But gods have to continue to be Patron gods so that they can wield domains of two types. After all, not every god is like you with a Divine Matrix. They can''t fuse with different types of domains like you."


    "Barring any special circumstance, they only wield more domains when they evolve. So a fire god won''t be able to be a god of forge until they evolve three times and be a heavenly god. Only then can they fuse three types of domains."


    Legion¨C1 asked their angel, "How many domains can we use?"


    His angel replied, "You can use a maximum of 9 domains."


    Legion-3 asked, "So we must evolve to use more domains. That''s going to take a while."


    Their angel shook its head and said, "That is in the case of other gods. You can''t use more than 9 even if you evolve because you have already reached the limit of this world. The normal maximum amount of domains a god can use is 4. You have already doubled that limit and more, so you can''t have more domains."


    That information was enlightening to them. But there was something else they wanted to ask. So Legion-9 asked, "Speaking of heavenly gods. Was Kutneri telling the truth about his divine kingdom? Do gods in this world even have divine kingdoms?"


    Their angel right, "Yes, he was. The next level after Patron God is Heavenly God. As a Patron God, one has been acknowledged in the mortal realm. But as a Heavenly God, one needs to be acknowledged in the divine realm. For that they need a divine kingdom."


    "It is something to look forward to because once you be a Heavenly God, you won''t need soul harvesting to acquire souls anymore. The souls of your believers will automaticallye to your divine kingdom, and you can turn them into angels. You will even be able to build an angel army for yourself."


    What the angel said reminded them of the soul-harvesting divine ability that has been their major source of souls. They use it during wars to harvest the souls of the mortals that their believers kill.


    They especially like how they can use it to steal from other gods. But other gods can also use it to steal from them as long as their believers kill theirs. However, it seems a divine kingdom will be able to prevent other gods from stealing from them.


    They thought to themselves in anticipation, "It is high time we get insurance against soul harvesting. We will have our interests protected while we harvest the souls of the mortals of our enemies in in battle."


    They are nning and scheming for the future even though they don''t know if they will continue to participate in God''s domain anymore.

 Chapter 1844: Suspicion Of The Reward.

    Chapter 1844: Suspicion Of The Reward.


    ?


    What they came here for is the domain, and they have acquired one. They have to see if they can truly bring it out of God''s Domain and use it in the void universe.


    That is going to be a long process because they don''t know for certain if they can actually use the Authority of the void universe as Origin gods without Supreme Laws or if only world gods can make full use of it.


    But even though they are uncertain about the usefulness of the Authority of the void universe, they still want to use the power they have on hand to acquire as much domains as possible.


    So it is until Legion-1 returns from his hunt will they be able to determine if this world is worth their continued effort or not.


    It is an important decision to make since they know that this whole thing has to be a scheme of Monarch High Heaven. Even if the domain is real and they can use it in the void universe, they doubt it is free and won''te with hidden costs. However, that doesn''t stop them from nning in the case that they continue.


    -Confrontation


    Legion-1 flew out of Gemmis for the first time. He usually had to walk to go anywhere. But now he had regained the ability to fly to a destination in a straight line.


    However, his ability to fly didn''t change much about how he moved through the city. He still needed to navigate through the city since the buildings were too tall, so he couldn''t move in a straight line through the city.


    The good thing that had changed was that he could fly over the walls instead of leaving through the city gate. This differentiated him from the mass of flightless gods that had to trudge out of the city on foot like mortals.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He made for quite a sight and drew a lot of attention doing that. Not only was he flying, but his body was golden like that of a golem, and his hair was a forest of golden knives.


    He looks like this because he is using the divine forge body. If he had used the divine fire body, his body would be red and his hair would be mes. His body would be brown if he had used the divine earth body.


    He can''t use all three of the divine bodies he has avable at a time. He can only use one, which he can''tin much about.


    If not for the divine matrix ability, their upper limit wouldn''t have counted as nine, so they wouldn''t have been able to absorb all three domains they got from the trial. They would have had to absorb one and leave the other two for others.


    So he is already lucky and privileged. He can''t for more. Besides, he is not helpless about the situation. He can rely on the other clones to use the other divine bodies while he uses the divine forge body. That way, no divine body will go to waste.


    That is what each clone will specialize on now. They don''t need to specialize in divinity since they have the divine forge body.


    Fortunately, they don''t need to ration world power between them. They can use all the world power their domains have granted them for whatever divine body they use.


    World power is like Authority. It won''t be divided between them even if they use different divine bodies. That way, they will all get stronger the more domains they have, so it will be great if they can get more domains.


    He saw the first obstacle to that goal standing up ahead of him. It was Smite. The first domain god was standing in the air waiting for people to finish their trials. He was a predator skulking about for prey.


    Unlike Legion''s trial, which was fast, no one has been able toplete the trials of other domains yet. So the oue of the other five trials is yet to be decided. This grants certain individuals the opportunity to take advantage of the situation.


    Legion-1 narrowed his eyes at the domain god. He still doesn''t know why Smite wanted to encourage the creation of divine cmities.


    He is certain that it has something to do with getting more domains, and he is also certain that Smite has the divine body of fire, so his world power will be enhanced if he gets fire domains.


    But that doesn''t exin why he would encourage people to acquire domains since he should only be able to use one type of domain. Only a fire domain should be of use to him. The rest will go to waste.


    The chances that someone will get a domain quest from killing a divine beast are already low. Even if they get the domain quest, it is unlikely that they will pass the trial, and even more unlikely that they will get a fire domain. This made it difficult for him to determine Smite''s motive.


    He thought to himself, "Could this be rted to his reward for being the first domain god? Is the reward tied to him, or can it be acquired by killing him?"


    He didn''t ask his angel these questions because he doesn''t want Smite to overhear him. The other clones asked their angel the questions, but their angel didn''t provide any useful


    answers.


    But that didn''t remove his suspicions of Smite because they have experienced something like this with Crystal Hoard too. It was when they heard of a special weapon when they wanted to attack Tempest and they couldn''t figure out what use the special weapon would be.


    Back then, it didn''t make sense that Tempest would bring a divine weapon to a fight in the mortal realm. But now they know that is because of the uniqueness of Golden Light.


    Right now, it also doesn''t make sense that Smite would encourage the acquisition of domains. It made Legion inclined to believe that Smite had acquired a unique item as a reward for being the first domain god.

 Chapter 1845: Attack Or Not?

    Chapter 1845: Attack Or Not?


    ?


    His suspicion is not a baseless suspicion. After all, Crystal Hoard got one, and so did they. If they are wrong about anything, it will be that Smite''s reward has nothing to do with his motives. But they are certain that Smite should have received a unique reward.


    The other things they are uncertain about are if they can get Smite''s reward if they kill him and if they can kill him at all.


    Legion-1 thought to himself, "If he has the smallest unit of the fire domain, he will have a world power of 100,000. If he has more, then he will be able to hit harder. But only that."


    "The divine fire body doesn''t enhance Endurance or Speed, so no matter how many units of the fire domain he has, he will remain vulnerable. It is just that his attack power will be very high, which will make it dangerous to fight him."


    The fact that he is faster than Smite doesn''t make Smite harmless. They just don''t know enough to determine if he can be killed or if they will gain anything apart from divinity even if they kill him.


    He was sizing up Smite to attack him as he moved closer to the god. He didn''t use insight or bring out any weapon so as not to appear suspicious. He simply approached as if to have a discussion.


    He asked when he got close, "What are you doing here?"


    Smite replied, "Same as you."


    Smite didn''t take his eyes away from looking at the ground for prey. He didn''t put up any guard apart from the usual divine shield either. It is because he doesn''t think he has anything to fear from 9 crowns anymore.


    He has identified the divine body that 9 Crowns possesses ande to the conclusion that it is not rted to his domain. That means 9 Crowns won''t be able to use his domain even if it was offered to him.


    This made him feel smug. After all, he has an advantage over every god. Only he got a reward for being the first domain god. This reward allows him to have the maximum type of domains.


    So he should be the only domain god that will attack any domain god indiscriminately, not Legion or anyone else. At this stage, he should only fear gods that have his type of domaim. They are his directpetition.


    Of course, 9 Crowns can still attack him for divinity. But it will be easier and wiser to attack the weaker true gods for their divinity. So he wasn''t wary of 9 crowns. Besides, he has already prepared for a fight with 9 Crowns. It is something he had to do when he found out that 9 Crowns had be a domain god.


    He spoke calmly to 9 Crowns, but he was watchful for any suspicious actions. But it seemed he was right not to be wary. 9 Crowns didn''t attack him.


    He felt confident in himself because of this. That wouldn''t be so if he knew that Legion-1 hadn''t attacked yet because he hadn''t made up his mind to. His clones were drilling the angel for more information to make a decision.


    Legion-3 asked, "Will he drop his domain if we kill him?"


    It replied, "He will drop one only if he has more than one unit of any type of domain."


    Then Legion-9 asked, "How do we know how many units of his domain he has?"


    The angel shook its head and said, "You can''t tell that. But you can tell if he has more units than you when he attacks. You will be able topare the amount of world power he is controlling to yours and make deductions from that."


    He really wanted to attack Smite for his domain or for his reward, but there was just too much uncertainty about being able to get any reward for killing him.


    First of all, Smite won''t drop any domain if he has the smallest unit in his possession. He will only drop extra. Secondly, even if Smite can drop his reward, he won''t drop it if it is in his inventory.


    For the third reason, it is that even though killing Smite now will remove him from the top of the divinity ranking, it will only ce 9 Crowns as second since there is still another domain god between them and Smite.


    There is also the matter of the ranking not bringing any benefits since the gods have voted against rewarding those at the top of the ranking. So not only will they not be first on the divinity ranking of Smite is killed, it won''t benefit them even if they be first.


    So if he attacks and even seeds in killing Smite now only to get nothing for it, not only will that waste his efforts, it will also turn Smite into his enemy. He doesn''t want to be an enemy with the first domain god for nothing.


    To top all of it off is the uncertainty of Smite''s strength. All of these made Legion-1 decide on what to do.


    He said to himself, "I will wait for him to attack something first. Doesn''t he want to attack true gods with domains? Let''s see how much world power he will use when I interfere. Then I will decide if I want to kill him or not."


    Legion-7 suggested, "We can also try to capture him and see if we can force any benefits out of him."


    Legion-5 shook his head and said, "That''s too dangerous."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Legion-7 rified, "It all depends on how weak he ispared to us. It is just an option for now."


    So Legion-1 decided not to attack only because he was waiting for the right opportunity to do


    so.


    The two domain gods stood in the air like birds of prey. Their presence pressured the other gods waiting below for the same thing. These true gods were at a lose for what to do.

 Chapter 1846: Pressure The Gods.

    Chapter 1846: Pressure The Gods.


    ?


    The fighting amongst the gods had stopped because of the presence of the two domain gods. But no one gave up and returned to Gemmis yet because they were hoping that the two domain gods would be too busy fighting each other to deal with them.


    The situation became moreplicated when the third domain god of the northern realm joined them. It was Feathered Serpent. He had a blue body with water for hair.


    He said to Legion-1, "9 Crowns, congrattions on bing a domain god. Who would have thought you would manage this before Crystal Hoard? We were supposed to be the ones to end you, but here we are."


    Legion-1 replied, "Congrattions to you too. I hope the fact that I killed one of your Oracles doesn''t make us estranged."


    Feathered Serpent smiled and said, "No, not at all."


    Legion-1 nodded sincerely. "That''s good to hear. Speaking of an ambush that failed and its repercussions, my allies are waiting on you for that domain you promised. They know that you have a year to fulfill your side of the contract, but they hope that you can fulfill it earlier."


    Feathered Serpent sighed and said, "It is going to be very difficult to do so, seeing as domains are so rare. That''s why I came here."


    Smite finally joined in. He said, "I am sure you are pressed to fulfill your part of the contract quickly, but that won''t make me step aside for you in the uing struggle. You will only find a willingpetitor in me."


    Feathered Serpent refused to back down, but he exined his intention clearly. "I am not asking for you to let me have the domains. I''m sure I can get them on my own. But what I came here mainly for is to encourage you to influence the god kings and let the vote to allow Gemmis to give domain quests to pass. That way there will be more opportunities for us to get domains."


    Smite nodded. "That''s a good idea. It is better than my idea to create divine cmities. But my idea was far easier to implement. Creating divine cmities will be beneficial to the gods in the short term, so they are more likely to go for it. Allowing Gemmis to give out domain quests means that we will benefit first before them. They can''t allow that."


    Feathered Serpent didn''t agree. "That may be so in the past. But there are more and more domain gods now, and the gap is already wide. When we besiege them soon and steal their domains, they will realize that they will never be able to rise above our shadow if they have to rely on such meager opportunities for domains. They will have to pass the vote."


    Smite agreed, "That is true. Let us make that work."


    Legion-1 who had been listening, decided to create a smokescreen for his uing actions. He asked them, "Are we really sure the domains can be taken out of God''s Domain? It would be a shame to go through all of these struggles for nothing."


    Smite replied, "I have tested it. The domains can indeed be converted to Authority in the void universe. My world god confirmed it. But she said that the Authority of the void universe was very weak. So I returned to God''s Domain with the domain because the power of the Authority can only be increased here."


    Legion was relieved to hear that, but only partly because they didn''t believe what he saidpletely. But they are willing to ept what he said because it would provide the right motive for him.to hunt any domain hees across.


    He can just say that he is doing so to pressure the gods into voting for those on the top of the ranking to get their just rewards. But he is not going to stop there.


    Now that he knows that the gods will soon be willing to do anything for a domain, including letting the stronger gods at the top of the ranking gain more benefits, the ranking list has be too ptable to give up.


    Currently, he is at the top of Authority ranking. Feathered Serpent is at the top of the Pantheon Ranking, while Smite is at the top for the divinity and power ranking. So the three of them constitute thergest potential beneficiaries of the ranking list. He would like to change that and be the sole beneficiary.


    Legion-1 thought to the other clones, "Screw a domain we might get or not. We must kill these two at all costs."


    He decided then that even if Smite doesn''t have an extra domain to drop, he will kill the first domain god. That way, Smite''s divinity will be halved, and he will lose his top ranking. This means he must also kill Feathered Serpent so that he can reap the benefits of his work.


    He might not be able to bring down Feathered Serpent''s Pantheon Ranking because the members of the Apocalypse Pantheon aren''t as strong as Feathered Serpent''s. But he must give it a try, and he must make sure Feathered Serpent doesn''t rece Smite as the top on the divinity ranking.


    The three gods chatted amicably, but that was only on the surface. Deep down, they were wary of each other. They knew that a fight could break out anytime, but they didn''t leave because they wanted to hunt for domains for various reasons.


    Besides, they thought the other two wouldn''t start a fight until a domain appeared. So they simply let the tension simmer amongst one another.


    The fuse was lit when a trial finished. Gods suddenly appeared in one of the locations where the ancient titans died. There was a god among all of them that was glowing brightly.


    These were all the clues they needed toe to the same conclusion that someone had gotten a domain. They also came to the conclusion that it was time to fight. So the three domain gods used their divine spells immediately.N?v(el)B\\jnn

 Chapter 1847: Very Efficient.

    Chapter 1847: Very Efficient.


    ?


    As expected, Smite and Feathered Serpent attacked Legion-1. He expected it because he was the strongest. It was just right to eliminate him first before they fight each other. That''s the curse of being the strongest.


    What he didn''t know was that Smite had called Feathered Serpent for this very reason. The two of them had be temporary allies the moment it was announced that 9 Crowns had be a domain god.


    It was not by chance that Feathered Serpent appeared a few minutes after he arrived. But his ignorance of their alliance didn''t change anything for him because he didn''t n to fight them yet. His priority is still a domain.


    The divine spell he used was Divine Speed. His speed gained 536,000 divinity. He pushed it to 636,000 by shifting the divinity in his body towards speed using the divine forging body. Then 100,000 world power from the domain of forge enhanced that to 736,000.


    He was already faster than Smite when he was a true god. Now that he is a domain god, the two domain gods didn''t stand a chance of catching him at all. He was able to fly ahead of them in the direction of the true god in possession of the domain.


    The true god in possession of the domain was a god king with 200,000 Authority. 20% of that in endurance could only provide 40,000 divinity. That''s already four times more than her total divinity. Even if all her divinity was in Endurance, she would have a total of 50,000.


    Legion-1, on the other hand, had 100,000 divinity in strength after putting all of his divinity in it. Then he used Myraid Armament to produce an attack with the power of 210,000. This is without his world power.


    210,000 is clearly greater than 50,000. Even if the true god was somehow capable of using 100 of their Authority and divinity to defend themselves, their total Endurance would be 210,000, and the best they would be able to aplish is barely defend the attack.


    But they couldn''t use 100% of their Authority and their Endurance was just 5,000, so their defense was 45,000. This reduced the damage they will take from his attack to 165,000.


    But then world power entered the mix. 100,000 from the domain of fire for the enhancement of strength and 100,000 from the domain of forge for the enhancement of any part of his body. These two turned the attack into 365,000.


    A damage of 165,000 is already so bad that the god king would have lost 78.6% of their 200,000 total divine energy if they had full divine energy. An attack of 365,000 would bottom out their divine energy even if it were full.


    Fortunately or unfortunately, they didn''t have full divine energy. They were near death after going through the trial. Not that it would have mattered if they had full divine energy. That single attack killed the god king immediately.


    Their divine body shattered after a single attack, and they dropped a divine orb containing divinity and a domain. The gods around her who were trying to escape earlier all flocked towards the divine orb to grab it.


    They risked their lives to acquire the divine orb. It could be because ofradire to help their dead god king or because of greed to gain possession of the domain for themselves.


    Whichever reason it was, Legion-1 didn''t care. He swooped down like a hawk and crushed every god in his way. Then he picked up the divine orb and switched his divine spell from divine speed to divine strike in preparation for the true confrontation.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He smiled in anticipation. Now that he has secured the domain, he can take the risk to fight the two domain gods.


    The two domain gods behind him were also eager for battle. They shouted at him, "So you have stopped running, eh? Prepare to be put in your ce."


    He said to them, "Let me see what the first domain god is worth."


    He targeted Smite, who was chasing him. His finger pointed at the god of fire. A bright white light came out of the finger and smashed into the domain god in a bright shower of light.


    Smite didn''t have a divine forge body or divine earth body, so he couldn''t enhance his Endurance. His domain of fire only enhanced his strength.


    The best he could do to prepare for this attack was to use 40% of his 400,000 Authority, his natural Endurance and the boost from equipment to defend himself. Together, they gave him a defense of 210,000 against an attack of 536,000.


    The two of them received notifications after the attack made contact with Smite. What they received was different, and they made each other react differently.


    -You Have Hit Smite.


    -Attack Sessful.


    -You have dealt - 326,000hp.


    Legion-1 smiled and said, "Not had. 1,000 divine energy for 326,000 of yours. Very efficient." Smite, on the other hand, was horrified. He had just lost 81.5% of his total divine energy with a single attack. He realized that he might be in over his head. This realization made him stop rushing forward immediately.


    But Feathered Serpent didn''t know what had happened during the attack, so he was still rushing forward. He was surprised when he discovered that his ally wasgging behind.


    So he called back, "What are you doing?"


    Smite roared, "Don''t get close to him. Don''t let him hit you."


    The two of them fired divine strikes at him, but he was too fast. He dodged all their attacks while he morphed Myraid Armament into a bow.


    He was using divine speed to increase his speed so he couldn''t use a divine spell in the meantime to attack them. But he wasn''t helpless. He had other sources of power to tap from.

 Chapter 1848: Go All Out.

    Chapter 1848: Go All Out.


    ?


    Legion-1 reduced his speed from 736,000 to 536,000 by removing the enhancement of 100,000 from the domain of forge and shifting his divinity from speed to strength. This made him capable of an attack power of 410,000.


    410,000 couldn''tpare to the attack of 536,000 he had used earlier with divine strike, but it was still dangerous. With Smite''s defense of 210,000, he would take on damage of 200,000. That should finish the job of killing him.


    Most importantly, the attack was free. So Legion-1 could use it as much as he wanted without cost. Whenbined with his speed, the effect would be terrifying more than the previous attack. He would be able to take out both domain gods in a second.


    Even Smite recognized the danger of his intentions as soon as he saw 9 Crowns shift his weapon into a bow. He knew he had to dodge, but he also knew he wasn''t fast enough. So he used the one divine spell in his possession that will definitely hit 9 Crowns.


    Divine strike wasn''t hitting 9 Crowns, so even the special divine spell he received for killing the divine cmity wouldn''t work. But the divine fire domain was sure to work.


    Fire exploded out of his body to submerge his surroundings. The fire formed a thick sphere around him. It turned him into a red star. Everything within the star was attacked every second with 40% of his Authority. So his domain is an area of attack divine spell. But it is more than that.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Smite chose to consume more of his divine energy to form attacks within his domain to target 9 Crowns. In his domain, he can form as many attacks as he wants. It will just consume a lot of divine energy.


    With 9 Crowns already surrounded by the domain, he couldn''t dodge and had to take the attacks head-on. This is good news because he could finally hit 9 Crowns. But it came at a terrible cost of divine energy.


    This consumption of divine energy is a lot because he made the domainrge enough to cover the distance between him and 9 Crowns. If he were with full divine energy, he would be able to afford the cost. Not even the 1,000 DE cost for each attack he forms with the domain would be expensive for him.


    But he already lost a fourth of his total pool of divine energy earlier. All he has is less than 74,000. He is slowly dying with each attack he makes. If 9 Crowns doesn''t die before him, then his efforts will go to waste.


    To ensure that his efforts don''t go to waste even if he died, he shouted at Feathered Serpent, "Attack him with all you''ve got. Don''t let him get away."


    Feathered Serpent had been unwilling to use a domain before since it was so expensive. 10,000 DE was needed for its initial activation. Then 1,000 DE was needed for each second of activation. Finally, another 10 DE was needed for each meter in the radius of the domain.


    It is clearly a divine spell that should be used against a group when a domain god is outnumbered. But they are just fighting one guy.


    However, he recognized the severity of the situation if Smite, who has a smaller Authority than him, would use a domain to cover the distance of 3 kilometers between them and 9 Crowns.


    So Smite had consumed 10,000 DE to activate the domain and another 30,000 DE to cover 9 Crowns. This left him with 34,000 DE to attack. He could either attack 9 Crowns 34 times in one second or let the domain cook him slowly for 34 seconds.


    He would like to use thetter as it would prolong his demise, but he didn''t have that leisure since 9 Crowns was too fast and could escape from the domain.


    Besides, Feathered Serpent wouldn''t be able to fully show his power with his domain active, as only one domain can cover an area. Since he had to die anyway to let Feathered Serpent go all out, he decided to go all out too, with 34 attacks in a second.


    Smite had an Authority of 400,000, so his attack power, which was at 40%, would be 160,000. Even if Legion-1 put all his divinity into Endurance, he would only have 100,000 endurance.


    Fortunately, he had armor, which boosted it to 150,000. He also had the world power from the domain of earth. This enhanced his defense to 250,000.


    He could increase this with the 100,000 world powers from the domain of forge and also add the 536,000 from 40% of his Authority. If he did this, his speed and strength would fall. He wouldn''t be able to escape from the domain or hit back.


    He knew the particrs of the divine fire domain spell since he had it, and he also knew that there was another powerful domain god nearby, so he chose to increase his Endurance with 100,000 world power from the domain of forge while escaping with his Authority.


    536,000 is very fast for a domain god. With it, he would be able to escape in less than a second. Even so, 34 attacks struck him from every direction.


    -You have been hit.


    -Defense Sessful.


    -You have suffered -ohp damage.


    He received that notification 34 times, and so did Smite. Smite couldn''t believe it. In the void universe, the eyes of his true body widened as he stood up and began pacing about.


    He said muttered to himself again and again, "It just doesn''t make sense."


    He truly couldn''t figure it out. The options avable to 9 Crowns were supposed to be two. 9 Crowns could run or enhance his Endurance and stand still.


    If 9 Crowns chooses to run, his defenses will be weak since his Authority will be employed for running. That meant his attacks would deal some damage to 9 Crowns.


    A/N: There''s going to be a bonus chapter tomorrow for Magicstorm''s contribution of 21 golden tickets.

 Chapter 1849: Two Types of Mistakes.

    Chapter 1849: Two Types of Mistakes.


    ?


    He expected 9 Crowns Endurance to be far below 100,000 since he should have about 50,000 divinity in Endurance and he shouldn''t be able to enhance his Endurance with world power due to the fact that he doesn''t have a domain of earth and his domain is obviously enhancing his speed.


    But things didn''t work out like that. 9 Crowns is clearly running and he also didn''t take a single scratch from his attacks even though he is going all out. He just can''t believe it.


    He said again, "This doesn''t make sense. It just doesn''t make sense."


    Then his puppet in God''s Domain died and his perception of God''s Domain was cut off. He couldn''t receive anything from the pir anymore. It was as if the pir was nothing but ordinary rock.


    Smite died, leaving Feathered Serpent to take the baton. Feathered Serpent had been preparing to use his domain as soon as Smite died, so a new domain encapsted the area.


    It was a domain of water, and it could create sharp water des to shred everything within it. It was clearly dangerous, but 9 Crowns was already running away.


    Feathered Serpent chased after him while going all out to attack him. But 40% of 700,000 is just 280,000. It couldn''t ovee 9 Crowns defense of 350,000. Not even one hundred attacks could do this.


    9 Crowns ran, but Feathered Serpents divine water domain could keep up with him because he had a lot of divine energy to spread the domain. But the distance between them was increasing rapidly, which caused the divine energy cost to skyrocket.


    By the time 10 kilometers were between them, Feathered Serpent had spent 100,000 units of divine energy to keep up with him. The cost to keep up the domain every second was just 5,000 units of divine energy. It was negligible. As for the cost of attack, it was 100,000 units of divine energy.


    So Feathered Serpent had spent a total of 215,000 units of divine energy in five seconds and had gotten nothing in return. He had to make a choice immediately. Should he continue chasing or give up?


    He chose to give up. That was the smart choice. He removed the domain after spending 30.7% of his total divine energy on it. Then he decided to return to Gemmis.


    That was another smart decision. But 9 Crowns was not going to let him go. 9 Crowns chased after him while putting everything he had apart from Authority into strength.


    Legion-1 had suffered under their blows, and he couldn''t retaliate with his own divine domain of fire or divine domain of earth because he was pretending not to have them.


    The only thing he could do was use divine strike and Myriad Armament. Now that the opportunity hade for him to use Myriad Armament, he wasn''t going to let it go.


    Arrows with the power of 410,000 came flying after Smite at the rate of 14 per second. As the god king of a pantheon at the top of the ranking list, his Authority of 700,000 is impressive. But it is not impressive enough to deal with the attacks.


    40% of 700,000 was 280,000. His innate Endurance was 80,000. He put that much divinity in Endurance because his domain enhanced speed and his Authority would enhance strength. His armor gave him 40% of 80,000 which was 32,000.


    This formed a total Endurance of 392,000. It still wasn''t enough to protect himpletely, so he took a damage of 18,000 with each attack. In one second, he was taking damages worth 252,000. That''s already more than the divine energy he wasted on the domain.


    He thought that spending 215,000 divine energy in five seconds was a waste, but now he is contemting giving another go. He had to think really fast about it because, by enhancing his Endurance with Authority, his speed had fallen to a mere 110,000. That is even with the enhancement of his domain.


    9 Crowns called behind him, "I''ve made a mistake. I overestimated you bunch." Feathered Serpent almost choked because he doesn''t think 9 Crowns'' mistake was bad. It certainly doesn''tpare to the mistake he and Smite made by underestimating 9 Crowns. They knew that the 9 crowns was the highest on the Authority ranking, but they didn''t know how high his Authority was. Smite expected it to be high. That''s why he didn''t choose to attack 9 crowns when he was a true god, and he immediately decided to acquire an ally after 9 Crowns became a domain god. But now they have realized that they were very wrong about their estimate.


    He is just like Legion-1. Both of them had wrongfully estimated each other''s power. If Smite knew that the 9 Crowns'' Authority was so high, he would have run at the very first sight instead of scheming. Now Smite has died, leaving him with the problem.


    Feathered Serpent cursed. "Fucking Smite. Go all out, he said. Don''t let him get away, he said. But how will I get away?"


    How he will get away is the matter at hand right now. It is also a serious matter because 9 Crowns is catching up to him. If 9 Crowns got close enough to him, he would be able to use Golden Light and deal devastating damage.


    Feathered Serpent knew this, as he had suffered under Golden Light in the past. So he was tempted to ditch his Endurance and enhance his Speed with his Authority. But he knew that wasn''t going to be enough.


    He knew he was going to be caught eventually and he also knew that he might die before then because if he removed the 280,000 from his Authority protecting his life, then he would die in less than a second.


    So he used his domain again. After all, 215,000 every five seconds was better than 252,000 every second.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om

 Chapter 1850: Devastating Damage.

    Chapter 1850: Devastating Damage.


    ?


    Argeke of water formed around him and encapsted 9 Crowns. It was dangerous water that would damage him each second he remained in it.


    This time Feathered Serpent didn''t bother to spend more divine energy to create extra attacks, and the distance between the two of them was smaller, so the cost of using his domain had reduced drastically.


    He was only spending 1,000 units of divine energy every second after the initial cost of activating the domain to cover a distance of 3 kilometers. His speed had fallen after using the divine spell, but 9 Crowns attacks had also stopped.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    9 Crowns couldn''t use Myriad Armament because he was using all of his power to defend against the domain. But his speed of 536,000 was still there. This time he decided to approach Feathered Serpent instead of running away.


    He was ready to use Divine Endurance to protect himself at any moment incase this wasn''t the best that Feathered Serpent could do and it was a trap.


    Unfortunately, it was the best that Feathered Serpent could do. The cost of using the domain remained at a steady 1,000 units of divine energy, but 9 Crowns was getting closer and closer. In two seconds, he reached Feathered Serpent and took his head off with Golden Light.


    No matter how efficient the domain was at preserving his life, letting Golden Light touch him once rendered everything worthless. Feathered Serpent died. He lost all of his divine energy, 50% of his divinity, and suffered the destruction of his altar.


    It was as he expected. Golden Light dealt devastating damage to him. This left 9 Crowns as the only domain god. It was not what the gods waiting wanted to see. What they feared for came true when 9 Crowns began to kill them.


    He killed while the other clones brought out their train to collect divine orbs. They didn''t use their divine bodies, so they looked just like true gods. No one was looking at them anyway. They were all running for their lives.


    The first fight between domain gods was truly monumental. It affected the whole Northern Domain by arge margin. Even the divine cities that were far away felt its ramifications immediately.


    They saw that 9 Crowns had be first on the Power Ranking as the officially strongest god in the Northern Realm and the first on the Divinity Ranking.


    He couldn''t get the first spot on the Pantheon ranking because the power of Feathered Serpents Pantheon hadn''t changed with his death and the Apocalypse Pantheon hadn''t increased in power either hasn''t increased. Besides, there were other powerful Pantheons in other divine cities.


    Meanwhile, Legion was harvesting gods as if they were harvesting fruits from trees. All they needed to do was pluck them. Unfortunately, the gods were too many to kill. Many of them escaped. The best that Legion was able to get from them was 25,000,000 divinity.


    25,000,000 was a lot of divinity. The clones had to go back and forth with their train, picking up divine orbs from the ground. But Legion still wanted more.


    However, the gods refused to leave Gemmis. They had decided to let peace reign around Gemmis. Even divine beasts enjoyed this peace as they were no longer being hunted. So Legion had to be content with upgrading their two divine weapons only once.


    Word spread around that 9 Crownsmuted a massacre for hours on end. This was clearly an exaggeration. He didn''t actually kill for hours. He took breaks once in a while when a trial waspleted to steal the domain.


    But they didn''t say that. They made him into a viin that only knew to kill. But he was more than that. He also knew to rob people of their things.


    Unfortunately, only two other trials werepleted. All the gods that participated in the remaining 2 failed and died. With the entrance gone, no one could acquire the domains anymore.


    Legion-1 returned to Gemmis with three domains. They were the domains of nature, Lightning, and wind. The three domains gave them three new types of divine bodies, domains, and 300,000 more world power.


    This doubled the amount of world power they had ess to. But they didn''t let all of these good things blind them to what truly mattered.


    God''s domain is not the real world to them, so anything that can''t increase their strength in the void universe is a waste of time. Which is why they decided that they had to test the domains immediately.


    Legion asked their angel, "Tell us how to take the domain into the void universe."


    It replied eagerly, "It is easy. Just tell me you want to take your domains out of the void universe."


    The clones looked at each other speechless. They thought they would have to go throughplicated measures to bring out the domains.


    Eventually, Legion-1 said, "We want to take one of the domains out of the void universe." Their angel asked, "Which one? Be specific with your request. Which domain do you want to bring out, and how many units of it do you want to bring out?"


    "The domain of lightning. Just one unit."


    The angel nodded sagely. Then it said, "Say please."


    The clones sighed after they realized that there was indeed some difficulty with getting the domain.


    Legion-1 rolled his eyes and said, "Please."


    The angel fly in a circle with excitement as it said, "Oh. How could I say no to your cute face?" The clones were confused. Legion-2 asked, "Why did the realm lord design this world like this?"


    -The Void Universe.


    The news about the devastation that 9 Crowns caused also spread to the void universe. Many Origin gods reported it to their world gods, so many world gods heard about it.


    The world gods had only one thing to say about it. They said, "Get a domain at all costs. Get it immediately."

 Chapter 1851: Infinite Mass But No Gravity.

    Chapter 1851: Infinite Mass But No Gravity.


    ?


    First was the danger of ancient titans. It showed that they might lose ess to God''s Domain and lose all their investment. Now that someone had acquired a domain, the world gods wanted to get one too.


    Some world gods had more than one thing to say after hearing about the event. The world god that has sponsored a certain imprisoned dragon released said dragon after just five years of imprisonment.


    The world god said to her, "I''ve heard about this 9 Crowns. It was not exactly your fault for falling to him. You can go now."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Crystal Hoard didn''t know what to say or what to feel. But she bowed and said, "Thank you for your mercy, your excellency."


    The world god snorted and said, "Get out of my sight before I change my mind."


    She hurried away feeling confused. Meanwhile, the person on her mind was also hurrying around.


    The clones are still running around and are scattered throughout the void universe. They have to, considering that many entities are hunting for them. Fortunately, they don''t need to be together to test the domain.


    It was easier than they thought it would take to transfer their domains into the void universe. They didn''t even have to do anything about it. The domain they wanted simply appeared in Legion-1''s Origin. Every clone could ess it, so Legion-2 was able to bring it out and examine it.


    The domain was a golden ball. He could see it and touch it, but it weighed nothing. It was like a balloon filled with air. But it was far more durable than a balloon. He couldn''t scratch it at all.


    In fact, it should have infinite density and durability. It was certainly a weird object. It had no weight, but it had mass. This meant that gravity had no effect on it.


    It also wasn''t producing any gravity. It exined why it hadn''t be a ck hole since it appeared to have infinite mass and density. It was just one inert ball of matter.


    It also wasn''t interacting with anything, including light. The golden color it had is simply information. The ball isn''t producing light or reflecting light. So it remained golden regardless of the light around it or other conditions of its environment.


    Soverick examined it thoroughly for a while before giving his evaluation. "This should be the Authority of the void universe, but I don''t feel anything particr about it except that it is incredibly light and invulnerable too. Maybe it is because I don''t have any Supreme Law."


    Legion-2 returned the domain to their Origin and passed it on to Legion-3, Legion-4, Legion-7, and Legion-9 for examination. All of them had a different understanding of the golden ball after making contact with it, but they all felt its true purpose.


    They felt like they were holding godhood or something powerful, not an ordinary object. It was an item with potential power and energy.


    Despite it being in their hands and even though there was no apparent interaction with gravity, it felt like it was in a higher position than them. It felt like if they could attach themselves to it, they could use it as an anchor to pull themselves up to the higher position it is in.


    All they need is a way to attach themselves to the Authority of the void universe and they will be able to ascend to a higher position in the void universe. In that position, the things that were difficult for them to do before will be easier because they will have the enhancement of the potential power.


    Legion-9 was the one who felt the strangest among the three of them when he came into contact with the golden ball. Thew matrix was riled up and he received a message from the void universe when he touched the golden ball.


    He chuckled and said, "The void universe wants me to fuse with it and be an Archon."


    Legion-7 snorted and said, "We are not doing that. There''s so many better things that we can do with it. We can sacrifice it to the crown of domination to enhance myself, your divine spark, or Aeternus''s demonic spark. It will consume the Authority but it is better than bing shackled to the void universe."


    Legion-5 added, "We can also wait until we have our Supreme Laws or be world gods to use it. I am sure that it will reduce the bacsh of the void universe when I use it to manipte cosmic force."


    Legion-2 suggested, "Speaking of bacsh, we can also use it to enhance our world fragment. It will be so powerful that it will be able to empower world gods too. We will finally be able to create a universal artifact with it."


    Legion-1 said after some thinking, "So it is settled. The Authority of the void universe is real. Monarch High Heaven is truly giving it out through some game in a world he created."


    Then he sighed and said, "There''s just so much that we can do with it, but we don''t have a lot of it. That means we need to get more. This scheme by Monarch High Heaven is truly insidious. We know he is up to something, but we still have to participate in his game. What is he nning if he can afford to give out so many Authority of the void universe?"


    This is a question that they don''t have any answers to. They would like to believe that God''s Domain is just a means for the realm lord to make world gods help him win the era of conquest. But they know that Monarch High Heaven is better than that.


    It is not the first time he would be doing something iprehensible either. He saved the life trees and made many enemies because of it. No one knew why he would do that. It might just have been to give people the excuse to create a project to make world gods help him.


    But even though Legion is suspicious of Monarch High Heaven''s scheme, they are not willing to give up on gaining more Authority of the void universe.


    A/N: The bonus chapter for Magicstorm which I promised. Sorry for the dy. I totally forgot.

 Chapter 1852 Craze For Gods Domain.

    Chapter 1852 Craze For God''s Domain.


    The Authority of the void universe has a lot of uses for them. Most importantly, using it doesn''te at any cost or danger to them. It is a better alternative toprehending the Supreme Law of Order and Chaos.


    Since they have made up their minds not toprehend any more Supreme Laws, they must acquire the Authority of the void universe instead to grow.


    So they returned their domain by pushing the golden ball back into the pir they used to connect to God''s Domain. The golden ball was absorbed by it and returned to their puppets. They felt it when it suddenly appeared in their puppets. It was a weird feeling that felt like receiving sensation from an organ far away from them. They could see two things from different sources at the same time.


    It isn''t a new sensation because that''s how their mindwork works. They usually see up to nine things at the same time. This has only doubled it to 18. So it is not something they can''t handle.


    In fact, they can control their puppets in God''s Domain while running around and working on their Supreme Laws. It is no hassle for beings of their power. Just Legion-7 alone can provide enough mental processing power to control their divine bodies in God''s Domain while simultaneously hunting soul prowlers in the Spiritual Dimension.


    This is not something unique to them. Every immortal can handle the extra mental power required to participate in God''s Domain while going about their day. But few are doing that nowadays when it has bemon news that Monarch High Heaven''s promise was real. Monarch High Heaven had promised to grant world gods the opportunity for them to gain the opportunity to gain the Authority of the void universe. It is clear now that the first opportunity was the race to be godlings amongst the 100 million god seeds who first joined God''s Domain. Only the god seeds that managed to be one of the first four million godlings got to receive the second opportunity. The rest lost this opportunity to acquire the Authority of the void universe.


    After two opportunities in a row, it is now time for them to reap the benefits of their hard work. All the world gods that were skeptical in the past now know that Monarch High Heaven wasn''t bluffing. But that''s wheremon sense ended about the whole thing. No one could understand Monarch High Heaven''s motive because if he could give them the Authority of the void universe, why go through this wholeplicated process before handing it over?


    He could just have simply sold the Authority of the void universe with so much hassle. They can ept that he is entric and are willing to go through the process to acquire the Authority of the void universe, even if it isplicated. Many world gods offered him wealth for the opportunity to go through the process, but he refused. So they know he can give people the Authority of the void universe. They also know that he is not interested in their money. So what is he interested in?


    That''s the question many world gods would like an answer to. In the meantime, they are willing to do anything to acquire information about and ess to God''s Domain. This has set off a craze for God''s Domain in the void universe. As for those who don''t have ess to God''s Domain or were disqualified, the best they can do is listen to reports about God''s Domain through others or hunt certain Origin gods who still have ess to God''s Domain to force them to do their bidding. This caused a war between world gods. It was a war that affected Origin gods. Those that were still connected had to hide their identity or their location. Many of the Origin gods that had been disconnected signed in relief that their lives weren''t in danger. But some of them were jealous of the ones with ess to God''s Domain. A few of them even decided to hunt the Origin gods who caused them to lose ess to God''s Domain. The Dragon known as Crystal Hoard chose to do thetter. She went around looking for 9 Crowns for revenge. Unfortunately, she couldn''t find any information about 9 Crowns. Even though she knew about Legion, she didn''t rte Legion to 9 Crowns yet. She doesn''t know Legion because she was from High Heaven Realm. She knew Legion from the stories that have been spread about him and the massive hunt that is currently underway for him. But she didn''t equate the two people as one. Even if she did, it wouldn''t help her in nabbing Legion because no one has managed to do that yet. Not even their tenth clone, who knows a lot about them and can follow them to the Spiritual Dimension has been able to achieve that. The only thing that equating the identity of Legion with 9 Crowns would cause is to make 9 Crowns'' activities in God''s Domain more difficult because everyone will know their secret. She wasn''t the only one hunting for 9 Crowns. Many people were too after their recent massacre. A lot of people want to find them to beat them up for what they did. However, no one could find them. Despite how far reaching the war that God''s Domain has caused, no one was besieging Monarch High Heaven for ess to God''s Domain. It is because he is clearly powerful. But that didn''t mean the world gods were out of options. Many of those world gods decided to join the n to sabotage God''s Domain. This is a n that has made a lot of progress. They have already made a connection to God''s Domain and are about to discover where God''s Domain truly is in the void universe.


    It ismon knowledge that a world god''s source of power is their world. Their world is also their weakness. So if they can find God''s Domain, they would have a hold on his weakness.

 Chapter 1853: The Blue And Green Rock.

    Chapter 1853: The Blue And Green Rock.


    ?


    They are not doing this so that they can gain ess to God''s Domain and install their own puppet for it to get them the Authority of the void universe. They n to attack God''s Domain and directly steal the Authorities within it for themselves with force instead of going through theplicated process that others are doing.


    They don''t n to jump through hoops after going through so much effort to find his world. It is a good n. But it is not a n that will catch the God of Power off guard.


    He has been aware of their ns to invade his realm right from day one when they tried to break through the encrypted defenses of the pirs that connect to his world.


    It was not surprising to him that that''s what they chose to do because that''s the only thing they can do to harm him. He has reduced the avenue of their attacks to the pir he distributed, so they have no choice but to try and crack the pir in order to invade his world.


    Besides, if they can destroy his inner world, they will be able to weaken him and might be able to force him to do their bidding. It is something that he expects them to do after getting ess to God''s Domain. Even so, he wants them to seed in getting ess to his inner world.


    Unfortunately, even though he wants them to seed so that he can eat them, he didn''t let them make much progress. That''s because it will grant the Overgod of the void universe an opportunity to overreach into God''s Domain.


    The one entity he has to worry about apart from the Will of the void universe is the Overgod. He can try to dy the interference of the Overgod for a while, but it won''tst long. The Overgod will gain ess to his world one way or another.


    But before then, he can''t let the world gods gain ess and create an opening for the Overgod into his world. So the only progress they made were the ones he let them have so that his n could move along.


    Many people are confused about his motives and intentions, but he has a great n. It is a n that has been in the works for a long time. He is currently seeing to thepletion of the next part of it.


    He had to wander into the cold, dying world of a world god on the dark side of the void universe for him to find his target. Fortunately, he didn''t have to look for too long to find the target. He knew where it was because one of his past incarnations had reincarnated on it.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    That incarnation was Jason and he died more than a million years ago. But this world is dying and time is slowing down within it, so only a little more than a hundred years has gone by since his death.


    Now he has returned in his true form. He is at the center of this dying world. He is a giant white entity wearing golden armor. He doesn''t have eyes, ears, or nose. He doesn''t need them at all. His senses are already powerful enough to do without them and better enough to cover this entire world with his awareness.


    Right now, most of his attention is on a small blue and green rock floating in this dying world around a tiny star. There are other rocks floating around this star. This star is the third rock closest to the star. It is close enough and far enough from the star to possess conditions ptable for life.


    Many would scorn the thought that life could exist in this dying world because it doesn''t possess an ounce of mana. But believe it or not, this world has life on it.


    There is also intelligent life on the rock. This intelligent life has managed to leave the rock where they were born and colonize their moon and another rock in the sr system. They have even extended their reach to mining the gas giants in their star system.


    It is quite a sight to see life prospering in a ce where there shouldn''t be life. But the living beings there are too fragile. The strength of their bodies and minds can''t bepared to those of literal ants in any realm tree.


    These beings are soft and squishy. They are so fragile that he has to stay some 45 billion light years away from them to prevent the tiniest radiation of his presence and the gravity of his existence from killing them.


    Now, he is not a benevolent god. He doesn''t care about the lives of ants if they don''t have a use for him. These tiny living things have a use; hence, they must live.


    They are the only living things left in this dying world, so all the Chaos sparks being produced in this world are concentrated in them. It is a lot of Chaos sparks too since this world is dying. So they are very valuable despite being so weak.


    They are batteries of Chaos Sparks. He could kill them to harvest what they contain. But he has a better n for them. Which is why he decided to let them participate in God''s Domain. That way, the transfer of Chaos sparks will be 100% efficient and effective.


    -Human Federation.


    Almost every human being in the human federation is brimming with anticipation for the release of the Virtual Reality MMORPG called God''s Domain. This anticipation can be seen both in humans on Earth and Mars.


    Even those who don''t like ying games are tuned in for its release simply because the rewards for performing well in the game are unbelievable.


    The rewards are so great that earthlings, moonwalkers, and martians have put aside their differences and are of one ord for the first time since the first and only president of the human federationmitted suicide.


    Just like that unfortunate event, this event is also a momentous asion, and it is bringing people together. Many people are watching the time and waiting for this first-of-a-kind technology to activate.


    A/N: We finally get to see humans in the void universe. A lot of people have asked me about humans in GREED since the beginning of the book. I hope the next few chapters will answer your questions.

 Chapter 1854: Need For In-game Currency.

    Chapter 1854: Need For In-game Currency.


    ?


    Taylor is one of the humans waiting for theunch of God''s Domain. He is an avid gamer, so he is very familiar with virtual reality games.


    He has been like this several times in the past, waiting for a game tounch. But never in the past has he been this desperate. This is because if he does well in the game, he will be able to save his mom''s life.


    Taylor is not poor. In fact, he is very rich for him to be able to afford virtual reality games. So he is not doing this for the money.


    He is desperate for God''s Domain because they have something no one else has been able to produce. They have the elixir of life that can heal any type of disease, regenerate lost organs, and even extend lifespan by reversing age.


    This reward, amongst others, is why so many people of the human federation have been riled up. He, like many others, is looking at the time anxiously.


    Maybe there are those who just want to y the game for the fun of it. But he is certain they will be the minority because the different versions of the elixir of life are just the least valuable rewards that the Heavenly Corperation is offering.


    Not only have they achieved breakthroughs in technology, they have achieved a breakthrough in riling up anticipation. Because, for the first time, people are waiting for a game not because it is a game but because it is a matter of death.


    Taylor looked at the time again and tried to settle his restless hands. But his hands continued to shake, and his fingers continued to tap the armrest of the sofa he was sitting on.


    His hands didn''t want to listen to him, so he folded them against his chest to stop them from shaking. But that made his nervous energy transfer to his legs, which began tapping on the ground restlessly.


    That didn''tst long either. He was soon on his feet, pacing about. Then he threw his hands up and cursed.


    "What kind of sick bastards are they? Do they want to live on the pain and suffering of others so much?"


    He has a lot of money, so he is considered a rich person. He didn''t work for his money, though. It was his inheritance when his parents had a car ident.


    His father died in that ident while his mom becameatose. Their vast wealth came into his control, and he thought he could use it to get anything he wanted in life. He thought he could use it to acquire the elixir of life when it came out. He and many others were wrong to think that.


    They had offered their money to the Heavenly Corporation for the elixir only to be rejected. Many individuals didn''t take that rejection lightly.


    These were powerful individuals who were at the top of the world in terms of wealth or military power. One thing they didn''t have was longevity.


    They were going to die, so they were already doing everything they could, including dangerous and questionable things, to extend their life span. So imagine their reaction when they confirmed that the elixir of life was real and safe, but they couldn''t buy it?


    They went nuts is an understatement. The headquarters of the Heavenly Corperation was surrounded and besieged physically and online by an army.


    Many people spoke out against them for hoarding such a revolutionary technology to pressure them. When that didn''t work, they began to look for economic and financial ways to pressure them.


    When that didn''t work, they resorted to legal methods to restrict them and force them to capitte. When that didn''t work, they brought battleships and soldiers to their headquarters to arrest them.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    But none of those worked. The warlords and generals simply returned a few minutes after arriving with their armies. No one knows why they decided to retreat with their armies, and the individuals themselves refused to give a reason.


    The only thing people could say was that they hade to some sort of understanding with the heavenly cooperation. Which is a nice way to say they had collected bribes.


    It is understandable that the Heavenly Corporation would be rich if they rejected money for their elixir. It is also understandable that money won''t hold any sway on them if they can live forever. But if not for money, what do they want? The answer to that was pleasure or entertainment.


    The Heavenly Corporation didn''t admit that. People came to that conclusion when thepany announced that they would only use an in-game currency from one of their games to exchange for their products.


    So here Taylor is and many others waiting for the game tounch so that he can perform for the Heavenly Corporation and earn some in-game currency to save his mother.


    Just thinking about it made him nervous, anxious, and afriad. It is not something he usually feels about games. He usually feels excitement and anticipation for a new game.


    He is not alone in this because God''s Domain is not going to be a game for many people. It hasn''t evenunched yet, and no one knows what it will look like, but many people have already quit their jobs to make time to y it. That''s how serious this is.


    He can''t truly me them. He wishes he could, though. He would like to say that they don''t even know what they are getting into and that it is stupid to quit one''s job for a game. But he knows what they are getting out of it, so he understands why they are taking it so seriously.


    No one is doubting the authenticity of the elixir of life. Not after the ruckus that many governments, military paragons, and space warlords have kicked up about it.


    That was the best advertisement that any product can get. After all, if corrupt, morally bankrupt, and selfish politicians can go to war over the control of a particr resource, that resource has to be real.


    A/N: For those who have forgotten, Jason created the world government which is not called the human federation.

 Chapter 1855: Carrot And Lots Of Stick.

    Chapter 1855: Carrot And Lots Of Stick.


    ?


    No one doubted that the Heavenly Corporation had the technology to produce the elixir either. Not after they announced the ground-breaking virtual reality system they have developed.


    This virtual reality system is one that doesn''t need any equipment, so anyone can participate in it wherever they are. Apparently, the game will be beamed directly into everyone''s head no matter where they are in the sr system.


    This technology is the first of its kind. Frankly, it sounds like a joke or a hoax to im to be able to beam a whole game into someone''s mind. But if it is true, then the elixir of life is probably real too.


    Either way, he doesn''t have a choice but to believe it. He has to believe, and he has to do his best within God''s Domain if he is to save his mom.


    He also doesn''t have a choice but to wait anxiously. He, like everyone else, regardless of their station or wealth, will be given an equal chance and opportunity.


    He thought to himself in mncholy, "At the end of the day, we are all the same."


    He waited for a while until he felt a sharp pain in his head. He almost fainted because of it. It was for an instant and gone so fast he thought he had hallucinated the pain. But the sight of a projected holographic message in front of him made him sure that it was not of his own making.


    -Do You Want To Participate In God''s Domain?


    He smiled and replied, "Yes."


    Many people replied yes immediately. They did it as fast as possible so as to gain as many advantages as they could as soon as possible.


    The only ones who didn''t choose to participate were the ones living off-grid and didn''t hear anything about the heavenly cooperation. They were too afraid to participate. Even so, some of those people chose to participate just to see what it was all about.


    So billions of the consciousnesses of humans connected to God''s Domain on the very first day. It made the God of Power content as he watched.


    But as usual, his good mood was destroyed by his sister, who has been following him for a long while.


    The God of Souls said, "It is good that they have decided to participate willingly, or we would have to try the stick to encourage them."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He grunted in agreement.


    It is true that he has many ns to force the humans to participate. This time, the Heavenly Corporation only used incentives to lure them into God''s Domain. But if that hadn''t worked, the Heavenly Corporation wouldy down a curse on all of them so that the nts they nted would stop growing.


    If the humans can''t nt, they won''t be able to farm. If they can''t farm, they would lose ess to a major source of food. If there is no food, they will be hungry. When they are hungry, they would be willing to participate in God''s Domain for food.


    If that still doesn''t work, they would curse the animals and stop them from reproducing. That would push the humans to a whole level of desperation. After that is a disease that will make them so hungry that they will eat each other.


    Fortunately, things didn''t get to this point. It is a good thing for both the humans and him, as he doesn''t want to die and waste the Chaos sparks that they are carrying.


    As he was thinking, his sister asked, "So what''s the next n?"


    She had been badgering him like this every step of the way. He knew that he couldn''t ignore her because if he didn''t reply, she would cause trouble for him.


    So he sighed and replied, "I will put them through the hero selection process and make some of them be heroes. That will ensure maximum flow between their souls and my world while also encouraging the rest of them to work harder."


    She asked, "Is that really a good n? They wille close to the immortals of the void universe if you make them heroes. Look at Legion, for example. He is already trying to crack the rules of your world. What if he manages to interfere with the consciousness of these humans? He might interfere with your collection of Chaos sparks."


    The God of Power scoffed. "Legion is not the only one wasting their time on that endeavor. There are many of them trying to crack my world. It is nothing special. It was expected to happen when I allowed a hundred million Origin gods to gain ess to my world. I have nned for. They will only try, and they will fail."


    Thenbhe chuckled with confidence and said, "Frankly, it is for their own good that they have failed. The repercussions will be dire for them if they seed."


    She nodded and said, "That''s true. You may be right about the others, but Legion is not normal. It was already risky when you allowed them to participate in God''s Domain. Don''t forget that they have shards of power. There might be an untoward reaction between them and your world."


    The god of power shook his head and said, "The Supreme is dead. It doesn''t matter that they have his Origin me. He is dead, and so their shard of power has to rely on them, not the Supreme. Besides, we too have something to rely on, and it is better than what they have. It is just that we couldn''t bring it to this universe."


    She would like to agree, but she knows that the one thing that shouldn''t be underestimated is potential even if it is from a dead source. Especially not when that potential is a me used as raw material to create a universe. But she knows that trying to convince POWER won''t work.


    So she asked, "Do you n to steal their shard of power?"


    He sneered and asked with disdain, "What do you take me for?"

 Chapter 1856: Power Always Wins.

    Chapter 1856: Power Always Wins.


    ?


    She shrugged at his question which made him re at her with his eyeless face.


    He told her, "No, I don''t want their crap. It has potential, but potential is useless to us at this point. We have already reached the limit. What we need is actual power. Not shards of it. Especially not dead shards."


    "Besides, I can''t harm them. You know I already made a contract with them. Unless they break the contract, my hands are tied."


    She offered him a suggestion: "You could make a trade for their shard of power. Ask them for it, and if they offer you, you can use that opportunity to act on them."


    He scoffed and refused to acknowledge that suggestion with a reply. He just can''t be bothered to go through all of that for something that wouldn''t benefit him.


    The shards of power in Legion''s possession are why he has bothered to pay any attention to them. There''s no other interesting thing about them and he wouldn''t have offered them a slot in his world even for their shard of power.


    Monarch High Heaven was interested in them because of the Universal artifact that connected their minds. He got their help to create the pirs that connect the minds of origin gods to God''s Domain.


    Monarch High Heaven invited them to the project because he wanted to use his system to collect data about them. Especially data about Aeternus and Chaos energy.


    That move paid off for the god of power since he got to collect data about Aeternus and the shards of power. Unfortunately, there was nothing much to see about their shards. He has seen it before, and they were alive when he saw it. Theirs is dead and won''t be alive until they be world gods.


    So unless there is a hidden benefit to gaining their shard that he doesn''t know about, it would be a waste of his time to bother with it. But if there is truly a hidden benefit and it is why she is hounding him so much about their shard of power, it is the more reason why he shouldn''t help her acquire it.


    He said to her, "They are notpletely boring, though. They are the only ones that can leave this universe, so that has to count for something. I am just more interested in their connection with who must not be named."


    She felt a headacheing on. It is a phantom pain, of course, but it is real enough for her to worry.


    She pleaded with him, "Please don''t mess with that. Legion may be beneath its notice, but we are not. All our ns can go up in smoke if we draw its ire."


    He shrugged and said innocently, "I am not doing anything dangerous. I am just watching the sequence of chaos in their existence. It is the system that is trying to decipher the truew of Chaos. You know how greedy brother is for knowledge."


    She sighed in relief. "That''s good. If it is WISDOM''s doing, I can be rest assured."


    He said with disdain, "So you think he can''t do any wrong, but you don''t trust me if I do the same thing."


    She replied, "Yes."


    He looked down at her and said, "You know, we would be stronger than him if webined our strengths."


    She shook her head. "I am not doing that."


    He roared inughter. Then he straightened himself and continued to look at the humans. He did say something about her rejection.


    He said, "Everything would be so much easier if we became one."


    She nodded in agreement. "That''s true. But I like things being difficult."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He nodded and suggested, "Maybe I should rile up who must not be named. That would surely make things very difficult for us. We will see if you will choose to be one with me or disappearpletely."


    She became afraid again. "Don''t joke around with that."


    He didn''t back down at all as he said, "Who says I''m joking?"


    She tried to be reason with him. "We could lose everything that way. No. We will surely lose everything that way. It is not even a gamble. It is a death sentence."


    He agreed with her with a nod. "You are right. But I like death sentences."


    She snorted and disappeared into God''s Domain.


    He smirked when she left. Then he returned to watching everything going on in his world.


    He couldn''t see her or tell what she was doing despite God''s Domain being inside of himself, but he didn''t worry about that because while he is unable to stop her from doing anything, she can''t do anything to him either.


    What he needs to worry about is when the fruit of all his currentbores into y. He must make sure that she doesn''t steal it from him.


    He is not foolish. He knows that she is up to something, and he also knows that his brother is up to something. But he is confident in himself.


    Many people have taken him for a fool of his life. Those people are no more now. It was not by chance. Power always wins.


    The humans arrived in God''s Domain inrge numbers. All of them were distributed across a number ofrge, dpidated cities.


    The cities were a hybrid of concrete and actual jungle. Trees were growing through the buildings, and grass was all over the ground. There were birds, insects and rodents


    everywhere.


    The ces wouldn''t even look like cities if not for the rusted cars and other pieces of decayed technology scattered all over the ce.


    Taylor had just replied yes to the prompt when he became unconscious and appeared here. He wasn''t the only one. There were thousands of people around him, all confused, bewildered, or excited.


    Taylor stretched his hand and felt his face. He winked his toes and tasted the air. Hebed his hand through his scalp, which made his skull tingle with pleasure just like it would in the


    real world.

 Chapter 1857: First Trial.

    Chapter 1857: First Trial.


    ?


    Taylor was impressed. "I guess they were not lying when they imed it was a 100% simtion of reality. This is good. This is very good."


    He could feel the wind move through his fingers and tickle them in varying proportions. Even the soil on the ground could be scattered and molded into anything he wanted. It wasn''t just arge piece of game texture.


    If he didn''t have a mom to worry about, he would have focused more on the environment and chosen to enjoy the vivid simtion. But the only thing he could think of right now that the heavenly cooperation ims of direct mind virtual reality connection and 100% simtion authenticity being correct means that the elixir of life is more likely to be real.


    Something appeared above all of them. It was a winged being. The being had no face, lips, or ears. They were androgynous but glowing brightly in golden light. The 12 wings attached to their back also seemed to be made of light.


    The being said to them, "Wee to God''s Domain. You have reached the first trial. This trial''s purpose is to determine if you will gain ess to God''s Domain or be rejected. So you must pass it or you will be sent back to your world."


    Many people wanted to curse andin, but they realized that they couldn''t speak. They could only think to themselves. They couldn''t move anymore either.


    "Not to worry. This trial is mostly to prove that you have what it takes to survive in God''s Domain. It is a good thing for you. It was put in ce to protect you."


    "Don''t worry. If you are hell bent on participating in God''s Domain, you can take this test one extra time if you fail it now. So be rxed. All you need to do is survive what is about to happen."


    "To maintain fairness in your quest to survive, you will all receive the same tools to begin with. I wish you all good luck."


    The angelic figure disappeared, leaving them with many unanswered questions and confusion. Then a countdown and prompt appeared in front of him. These two appeared in front of everyone.


    Countdown: 0:60


    (Quest: Survival)


    (Objective: Acquire 100 survival points)


    (Rule 1: You gain 1 survival point for every hour of survival)


    (Rule 2: You gain 1 to 10 survival points for every beast you kill, depending on the danger of the beast)


    (Rule 3: You gain the survival points of any human kill)


    (Rule 4: You can use any means to achieve the above)N?v(el)B\\jnn


    (Rule 5: Survival points are not transferrable)


    Taylor swallowed when he saw this notification. He swallowed harder when a bag appeared in front of him. He could see bottles of water, biscuits, some more tools, and a machete sticking out of it. The purpose of everything he saw was clear to him.


    He is not a stranger to battle royal games, but the stakes are high this time around. He wanted to move, but he still couldn''t move yet. He assumed that the countdown would determine when he could move, so he waited patiently.


    He was waiting for the 60-second countdown to be over when he heard someone speak to him.


    "Hey kid. How about we work together?"


    He turned towards the source of the voice only to see that it was a grisly man that spoke to him. He was tall, muscr, and had gray streaks in his overgrown beard.


    Taylor hadn''t seen anyone he ought to avoid in a battle royale more than this person in his whole life. This man looked too dangerous to partner with.


    So he smiled and said, "Thank you very much, but I like to work alone."


    The man shrugged. "Suit yourself."


    Taylor did what everyone was doing at that moment. They were watching everyone else. Some did so because they didn''t have anything else to look at, while others did so to assess the threats their neighbors posed to them.


    Taylor, for one, did so to determine which direction he should run in when he became able to move. He was looking cover, but he had to n the path to get there so that he wouldn''t get too close to dangerous people.


    "I have about 3 meters between me and everyone else. That means I have 3 meters ahead of this guy. But it also means I will narrow the distance between me and others if I try to create more distance between him and me. But who can I get close to?"


    He didn''t look long before he picked a safe target. It was the olddy who looked to be at least 80 years old standing to his left, directly opposite the dangerous man. She didn''t look like a threat to him.


    He chose her above the 16-year-old girl who was standing in front of him because, from experience, he knows not to underestimate anyone in a virtual reality game, but he also knows that the older people get, the slower their minds be, which affects their reaction in virtual reality.


    So the teen is likely to be more dangerous than the olddy. Besides, the olddy is standing in the direction of the closest building to him. So going through her position will help him reach cover sooner.


    He made up his mind and immediately executed it when the countdown finished. He picked up his bag and rushed in the direction of the olddy. However, he didn''t take more than a step in her direction before he had to stop.


    He had to stop because the olddy picked up her de and swung it at the nearest person. She decapitated him with one move. Blood sprayed everywhere in a gory sight that almost made him fall back on his ass in fear.


    The olddy swung her de expertly to remove the blood on it. Then she smiled and said, "This is fun. I haven''t had this much fun in a long time."


    A/N: Cue the ominous music.

 Chapter 1858: Another Karen Bites The Dust.

    Chapter 1858: Another Karen Bites The Dust.


    ?


    Taylor cursed in his heart. "This is not 100% simted reality. Body physics has been enhanced. No olddy should be able to move like that."


    He felt that she was cheating. But he didn''t go over to her to ask how she did what she did or use her of not behaving like a real olddy. Instead, he veered away from her at the fastest speed possible.


    He can curse and run for his life at the same time. Some people didn''t do so. They were gawking at the olddy while some were pointing usatory fingers at her.


    One person even matched forward to confront her. It was a white middle-ageddy. This whitedy hadn''t even spoken before the olddy had had enough. Just the look on the whitedy''s face that indicated an angry talking to had pissed her off the olddy.


    The olddy swung her de at the whitedy. The whitedy tried to protect herself with her strong arms by using them to block her face. This turned out not to be a good idea.


    Her strong arms disappointed her when it counted. The de sliced through them and cut into her chest. The whitedy fell to the ground, crying and bleeding.


    The olddy didn''t finish her off. Instead, she stepped onto the face of the dying woman and red at everyone around her.


    She asked them with a re, "What are you looking at?"


    The re was extra terrifying because of all the wrinkles on her face. But things became even more terrifying because the olddy didn''t wait for an answer as she ran towards the people around her with her de held high.


    People ran around in a panic. Some fell in their attempt to run and became pinatas for the olddy to hit with her sharp metal stick.


    Blood and flesh flew around as the de cut into people. The olddy was cackling the whole time. She looked possessed. It was a scene right out of a horror movie.


    Taylor didn''t stand by to watch. He didn''tment about the whitedy, though.


    "There goes another Karen, getting what they deserve."


    What happened to the whitedy was bad, but he couldn''t pity her much after seeing her approach a dangerous person with the mission to berate them.


    The olddy had just killed someone right in front of everyone. Even though her de didn''t have blood on it after the deed, it didn''t reduce her danger. And yet, the whitedy went over to be a nuisance.


    He shook his head and thought to himself, "No matter how real this world is, this is not the real world. The rules of the world don''t apply here. There is no police to uphold order. The sooner they can understand that, the better their chances of survival."


    People had always said that video games promoted violence. But they had no idea just how violent people can be when they can go all out without consequences. They were beginning to understand that just a few seconds into the trial.


    He ran for the safety of a building while, all around him, all hell had broken loose. People were rushing in various directions, and he was one of those people. Only a few of them were swinging des, trying to kill other people. But most of them were just running for safety in a panic.


    Taylor rushed into a building, then he began his search for a defensible position. The best ce that came to his mind was the basement or the top floor.


    He opted out of the basement because it would be dark, damp, and probably overrun by nts and critters. On the other hand, he would be able to camp on the top floor and vaurd the single staircase that led to it.


    So he made his way to the staircase and began climbing it. He removed the matchet from his bag and slung the bag to his back. Then he held the de in his right dominant hand so that he could use it at a moment''s notice.


    He knows that holding a weapon will make him look threatening, which might make others react with violence to him. But it might also make anyone he encounters back away from him.


    He made his way to the top floor, then he felt a ringing in his mind. He didn''t know what happened, only that he was falling. He caught sight of what appeared to be a giant cat with bloodied ws and his arm in its mouth before he cked out.


    Then he woke up abruptly and found himself back on his couch in his living room.


    "Fuck me," he roared when he realized what had happened.


    The prompt he received soon after only confirmed his conjectures.


    -You Have Been Eliminated.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    -You Have One More Free Chance.


    -You Can Have A Third Chance But It Will Cost You Your Life If You Fail It.


    -The Next Trial Will Be In 24 hours.


    -Make Up Your Mind Before Then.


    Heughed, "Of course. It will not be pleasurable for the sadistic Heavenly Corporation if people don''t put their lives on the line."


    He didn''t even question how they would take his life. He assumed that if they can beam a 100% reality simtion into his mind, then they can probably cause his mind to break from a distance too.


    He sat dejectedly on the couch and tried to gaze into the distance. But he couldn''t because the prompt remained in his field of view. It was a constant reminder of his failure and the sacrifice The will have to make if he continues failing.


    His recent failure and the price of continuous failures made him question his resolve. He wanted to know how far he was willing to go for his mother.


    Back in the trial, therge cat walked over to Taylor''s body, which was still fresh and bleeding. It began eating his body while paying attention to its environment for sudden


    sounds.

 Chapter 1859: Afro Samurai.

    Chapter 1859: Afro Samurai.


    ?


    By the time the cat was done with his corpse, only his bag and his unused de were left. Then the cat ventured out onto the streets.


    The cat wasn''t the only beast that was riled up by all themotion the humans were causing. Different beasts, ranging from giant rats to giant lizards and giant birds, also came out.


    They were few in number for now. And they were easily scared off. Only those who were unlucky or alone met their demise at the ws of the beasts.


    This was good news for many people. But for some, it was a bad thing that the giant cat was scared away easily. Abdul Taofek was one of those who were disappointed that he couldn''t fight the giant cat. He was alone in that feeling.


    He held two des with both hands and was ready to "bust" a move when the cat ran away.


    He sighed and asked no one in particr, "How will I be refined if the fires of the forge don''t burn hot enough?"


    He was really dramatic about it. He had torn off the sleeves of this shirt, made it tattered, and used what he tore off to form a rope of fabric that he tied around his head.


    His feet were bare, and so was his chest. He didn''t mind it. In fact, he made it so. Now he has achieved what he wanted. He looks like a true samurai.


    As a hot-blooded male who''s mission is to face overwhelming odds ande out victorious, he felt that he needed to look the part. After all, fortune favors the bold. So he has to be bold.


    Unfortunately, he was too bold, which made the cat afraid. Now he has to trudge through the city looking for a great fight to make his blood boil.


    So while others were running for cover or looking for where to hide, he continued to walk through the open streets fearlessly, looking for who to fight.


    He didn''t attack other humans unless they were aggressive toward him. There were a lot of these people who were aggressive toward him, but he dispatched them all the same. It wasn''t luck. He killed all of them with a single purposeful move.


    His life was preserved, but he wasn''t happy about it. He alwaysined, "When will my worthy advasarye? When will deathe to im my head? How will my de beat back death itself when there is no one to offer me death?"


    Then he would sigh and say, "The worth of a man is how bright his life burns. Unfortunately, I have no spark or kindle to set my soul ame."


    He is truly sorrowful. He enjoys virtual reality games for the freedom it grants him to pursue the pinnacle of his art. He aims to be the greatest martial artist in the world and this particr one has given him a great opportunity to do so.


    He has never felt this great before. His body is moving in total sync with his mind. His body does what he wants it to do, when he wants to do it, and how he wants it to be done.


    It is a special state of full body control that martial artists throughout the world and across history have fantasized about. It is literally something he wishes for in his dreams.


    So this game is a great opportunity for him to achieve the peak of what''s possible with martial arts. It is so valuable that he would have sold an arm and a leg to gain ess to the game.


    To top it off, there is no limit to his range of motion at all. The things he couldn''t do before because of the protection mechanism of his body have be possible now.


    His muscles and tendons can stretch to the limit without fear of damage. Whenbined with total body control, the sky is the limit to what he is capable of.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Only his mind can shackle him. So all he wants is to put his new body through the ringer. But there is no one worthy enough to push him to his limit.


    The only exciting thing that happened was when he was attacked by 4 people at the same time. He managed toe out of that fight without a single scratch, which made him sad after the fight was over.


    Fortunately or unfortunately, night fell and the beast rose in the darkness. They were timid before, but not anymore. Now they have the advantage of numbers and can see in the dark. They became the predators they were meant to be.


    Many people wailed and fled as they were hunted. But Ab Tfuck, as he would like to be called, only grinned. He raised his hand to the nearest giant rat and said, "Come to me. Try to free the blood in my veins. Make it run hot and flow into the world. End my suffering with magnificent death."


    The rat didn''t know what he was saying. But it heard him and turned to him. Then it lunged at him.


    Tfuckughed and moved to defend himself. He stepped forward and shed one of the des towards the face of the rat. The rat dodged by moving to the side, but this opened it up to the second de.


    The rat shriked when its face was torn open. But then air was cut off from its throat when Tfuck turned and kicked it in the chest.


    The rat fell to the ground on its back. So Tfuck took advantage of the situation to stab it in the chest and end its misery. Blood sshed onto his face. It warmed his cold body and beat back the effects of the cold night wind.


    "Hmmm," he eximed, "the sweet taste of victory. How wonderful. How addictive."


    He didn''t check how many survival points he had acquired. He hasn''t checked since the beginning of the trial. Instead, he jumped into the midst of the beast hoard and fought for his


    life.

 Chapter 1860: Many Promises.

    Chapter 1860: Many Promises.


    ?


    His movements were precise and surgical. They were the product of talent and hours of practice. They were wless, and they were deadly.


    He is not some superhuman. He is just a highly skilled individual that knew how best to move in order to kill. Now that his body can''t hold him back anymore, he can finally unleash his potential.


    It is something he has always craved to do. If there were no virtual reality games, he would be an assassin just for the thrill of it, not for the money. That''s why he chose to participate in God''s Domain.


    Sure, it would be nice to be able to heal any injury, regain his youthful body, and live forever, but those are not the main reasons why he is here. He is doing it just for the love of the game. So he would have done all of these even if there were no tangible rewards to have.


    He eventually died after 20 minutes of intensive fighting. His stamina failed him, so he became slower and sloppy. The rats overwhelmed him and killed him. But he diedughing and happy. Hisughter rang throughout the night like those of a madman.


    He lost consciousness for a while before he appeared in a white room. A voice from an unknown source spoke to him.


    "Congrattions on passing the survival trial. You have proven your worth. You can leave God''s Domain now and wait for the start of the training session in your world, or wait here. Which do you want?"


    "There''s going to be training?" He asked in excitement.


    "Yes. God''s Domain will be introduced to you, and you will be equipped with the minimum amount of information and resources required to survive in it. It will not do for you to die because of ignorance."


    That made AB pause. He asked, "What kind of death are you referring to?"


    "Deaths in God''s Domain will lead to a loss of half of the power you have acquired in the game. It is not permanent, but it can lead to delibitating effects that you will experience in real life. It can be permanent if a god kills you, and you can even die in the real world if a particrly powerful god kills you. So training is good for you."


    AB thought about it and decided to rest to keep himself in top shape for the training. The fact that a death in God''s Domain can make him die in the real world didn''t affect his resolve at all. If anything, it has only made him decide to take this game more seriously.


    He returned to the world, smiling to himself. "This God''s Domain has both good and bad real-life consequences. I hope it will help others take it seriously; that way I won''t be the odd one out."


    He had always been the odd performer in virtual reality games because he was always serious and took things in the games too far. But now he feels that everyone has to be like him this time around.


    Most of the people that passed the survival trial decided to return to the real world to process what they had just gone through. They noticed that even though some of them spent 3 days in the trial, only 30 seconds had gone by in the real world.


    It was not a figment of their imagination either. They recalled sleeping for hours and the hours of terror they experienced hiding in cers in the game. But when they returned to their homes on earth, they found out that time had barely passed.


    The Heavenly Corporation imed that they were using advanced technologies to simte dream conditions. This way, people will be able to experience more time in the game than in the real world.


    This im increased the influence of God''s Domain. It came along with the outcry of protest against the fact that the game could kill them in the real world.


    No one is doubting that they can make it happen. Not after every im that the Heavenly Coperation has made has been fulfilled. No one has died yet, and it is absurd to think that it is possible for death in the game to affect real life, but they don''t want this particr promise to be fulfilled, so they are already fighting against it.


    Unfortunately, the Heavenly Corperation is not moved by public sentiment. They didn''t listen to anyone, which wasn''t surprising. They did what they always did. They ignored everyone who had something to say about how they should do things.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    No government or individual could move them or change their minds. They don''t have their game somewhere where it can be banned, deleted, or hacked. They are free from public influence.


    Not even the threat of boycotting the game moved them. Instead of backing down, they decided to push forward.


    They made an announcement that anyone who passed the survival trial can live on in the game forever even if they die of old age. They promised that their minds can live on if their bodies give out. That is as long as they don''t die in the game.


    This marked the promise of actual and virtual longevity. Now they could live an eternal virtual existence in the game, or they could earn elixir from the game and live forever in the real world.


    These ims, despite not having been delivered yet, became the final nail in the coffin used to bury the self-respect of humans. The online and real-world protests still continued, but they lost momentum quickly.


    The only reason the protests hadn''t copsed yet is that the promises of eternal life hadn''t been delivered yet. No one had met the requirements to acquire them, but many more people were striving harder than before to meet those requirements.


    Instead of protesting, they spent most of their time training in the real world so that they could fight better.


    A/N: Have you ever wondered what it would feel like and how it would happen if aliens came with advanced technologies to set up a game with an ulterior motive? Not me, though. I have more serious things to think about.

 Chapter 1861: Complete Freedom.

    Chapter 1861: Complete Freedom.


    ?


    The things they could gain from the game were just too much to pass up. The chances of eternal life were just too tempting to waste time on protesting when they could be preparing for God''s Domain. Besides, if they got eternal life, they would have a lot of time to protest in the future.


    Of course there are others who didn''t care that people could die and didn''t bother to protest right from the start. AB is one such person. He is an outlier, but there are a lot of people who don''t care for other reasons.


    One of them is ck Knife. That is not his real name. It is a title given to him in the criminal underworld.


    He was in jail when the game was beamed to everyone. No human was spared from the invitation no matter where they were, so he received one too.


    This invitation was sent out to everyone, including children, handicapped people, and deathrow criminals. Anyone who could bear the pain of the game making a connection to their minds can join it.


    He survived the initial pain that the invitation caused and didn''t ck out, so he saw the invitation to participate in God''s Domain. If he were too young, he would have cked out. So the pain screened out participants based on age.


    ck Knife was in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison deep underground. He was bound hands and feet. He couldn''t move beyond the 4-meter square of space he was locked in, and he certainly couldn''t escape the prison.


    He was unlikely to escape because the prison was built in such a way that it would copse first and kill all the prisoners within it before a prison break could happen.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    So he was a doomed man. He should have been killed after he was captured for all his crimes, but he was imprisoned because he ratted out his boss.


    That meant that even if he somehow manages to break out of prison, prevent the prison from falling into ake ofve below, and dig through thousands of meters of solid rock to reach the surface, he still wouldn''t live long because he would be hounded by both the criminal world andw enforcement.


    The invitation couldn''t havee at a better time for him. He literally had nothing better to do than to risk his life in a game. Apart from the fact that it was a virtual world, it was no different from what he has experienced in the real world.


    So unlike many others who chose to return to the real world after passing the survival trial, he decided to wait in God''s Domain. He asked for different types of food and amenities that the game produced for him. The white world has changed into a bar just for him. He was having the time of his life in it.


    He doesn''t have any connection to the world above, so he didn''t know that there were peopleining and threatening to boycott the game. If anything, he felt regretful about leaving the white space when the time for training started.


    The bar disappeared, and the white space merged with that of others. This made every participant appear in onerge white space. That changed when the white space became arge hall in an evenrger building.


    Each of them was spaced 1 meter apart as if they were soldiers in an army. ck Knife couldn''t see how many there were, only that they were far more than the amount of people he has seen in thest 13 years he had been in prisonbined.


    Actually, he has never seen any humans in thest 13 years. He has never left his cell or moved from his bound position. He is literally rotting away in prison as robots took care of his needs.


    For many people, it was their minds that gave out first. Theck ofmunication and interaction with others causes their minds to fray long before their bodies follow. So all of these humans being around him felt like a dream.


    He had fantasized many times about meeting other people. But when it finally happened, he widened his eyes in disbelief, and he became engrossed with staring at the people around him.


    A man appeared in front of them. He looked human except he was 100 meters tall and he had four arms. He was bare-chested, so his muscr body was on full disy.


    The man was already terrifying for being 100 meters all, but his muscles ensured that he would be terrifying to other 100-meter-tall humans. He was surely terrifying to normal humans.


    The man spoke to them in a loud, booming voice. He said, "I am Ragna. I am the spirit of this training facility. I will be in charge of your training programs. The first on the agenda is the orientation."


    "You might have asked yourself, "What are we supposed to do in God''s Domain?" I will tell you now. You are not obliged to do anything. You are free to do anything you want, when you want, and how you want it. Many of you came here for different purposes; you will find that you can achieve those purposes without any limit."


    "God''s Domain is not the real world you came from. Your rules don''t mean anything here. You can do anything to yourself and to others. Sure, there will be repercussions and resistance. But as long as you have the power to ovee those resistances, the world is yours to y with."


    Ragna paused to look over all of them. He smirked and said, "I know what some of you are thinking. I will answer some of them now. Yes, you can rape. Yes, you can murder. And yes, you can eat your fellows. There will be repercussions for doing that in various forms, but if you can ovee the resistance to such actions, then you are free to do so."

 Chapter 1862: Real Life Power.

    Chapter 1862: Real Life Power.


    ?


    What Ragna said made ck Knife smile in glee. He thought to himself, "It looks like I died and went to heaven."


    Ragnar continued, "Don''t be happy yet. These things can be done to you too by the native inhabitants of God''s Domain. Let this be your first lesson."


    "I hope to use this training to increase your resistance to them. So pay attention carefully. Learn as much as you can. Disy your excellence, and you will be rewarded for it with the power to do anything you want."


    "There is exactly a million of you here in this training facility. 10 of you who have shown themselves to be above the others will get to sign a contract of employment with the gods of God''s Domain. This will grant you the Hero ss and will put you on a fast track to bing a god yourself."


    "I know many of you are not here for the power. But don''t look down on the power you will gain in God''s Domain. Not only will it help you achieve what you want to achieve in God''s Domain, you can also take this power with you to the real world."


    A vehicle appeared in front of Ragnarok. It was an airne. It wasrge, but Ragnarok picked it up with one hand and crushed it into a ball of metal with his four hands.


    He said to them, "You can wield this kind of power in your world. Longevity and curing of illnesses are just the tip of the iceberg of what God''s Domain is capable of giving you. Work hard, and real power might be yours to wield."


    ck Knife''s eyes widened in disbelief. He was not the only one who was like that. He was not the only one who thought it was impossible.


    But all of that wouldn''t prevent him from trying his best, though. If only for the power to do anything he wants to do in God''s Domain.


    He can''t ask for more than the freedom he has already been given in God''s Domain. Just looking at all the pretty bodies around him made him look forward to what he could get away with doing with them. It made him lick his lips in anticipation.


    "The next item on the agenda is a tour guide of the facility. I will show you around and help you determine the best training method for you."


    Ragna''s body then broke apart into smaller versions of himself. They were 1 million smaller versions, to be exact. Each one was about 10 centimeters tall. They floated in front of each of the participants to guide them.


    The first thing that Ragnarok pointed out were the tworge electronic boards that appeared where he was standing. One was white with ck words on it. The other was ck with white words on it.


    The boards had a long list of activities or names on them with a number beside them.


    Ragna exined their functions: "The ck board is the mission board. It contains a limited amount of missions on it. You will earn training points when youplete the missions."


    "You need these training points to activate the various training services and to buy special tools in the facility. Training points are the most important resources, and missions are the only way to earn them, so the missions have to be prioritized."


    "If you fail a mission, you will lose some of your training points. This will be used to maintain the mission until it is passed by you or others. Eventually the missions will finish after they have beenpleted sessfully a number of times. So training missions are limited."


    Then he pointed at the whiteboard. "The whiteboard is your ranking list. It tracks the total amount of training points that you spend."


    "Note that it doesn''t track the amount of training points acquired. Only expenditures to acquire the goods and services of the facility are tracked. The exchange or gifting of training points between you trainees doesn''t count."


    "This ranking is important because it will determine how well all of you have done. The top 10 of all of you get to be heroes."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ck Knife caught on to the hint. He asked, "Can we give our training points to others?"


    Ragna replied with a smile, "Yes, you can. It is like currency."


    ck Knife became excited when he heard that. Instead of working hard toplete missions and risk losing training points when he fails them, it would be better to get them from others. He will then use them to strengthen himself and repeat the cycle. His scheming eyes began to light up just thinking about it.


    He asked Ragna, "Can we attack others in the facility?"


    Ragna chuckled and replied, "All forms of violence against each other and even the facility are allowed. I will not defend you trainees, but I will defend this facility. If you think you can best me, then you can have a go at stealing anything you want from me. Just be prepared for a very painful lesson in case of failure."


    ck Knife thought to himself with anticipation, "Gods, I have missed this."


    He had a criminal mind, so that was the first thing that came to his mind. But not many think about taking advantage of others at the first chance they get. Taylor, for instance, was worried about something else.


    He asked Ragna, "What other repercussions do we face for failing missions? What if we die during the missions? Will we lose half of our power?"


    Ragnar replied, "For now, only the loss of training points is what you need to worry about. You will not lose your power and can repeat the mission as many times as you want. But your debt of training points will rise even if you have zero training points. You can get negative points if you are not careful."


    Taylor nodded as he listened attentively. He asked more questions as he wanted to have every piece of knowledge avable for him to make the best decisions.

 Chapter 1863: Full Dedication.

    Chapter 1863: Full Dedication.


    ?


    Ragna patiently answered his questions as they toured the facility. Taylor had to stop them many times to ask questions, so the tour was slow going. If he had a note, he would be writing down these lessons.


    Eventually, he let Ragna return to showing him around the track and field. Then they went to the weights workout equipment room. Then they went to the nutrition room. Next came the massage room. After that were the assortment of pills avable for training.


    It was the first time he had seen consumables in games in the shape of pills. These pills could replenish health, mana, stamina, and help to cultivate faster. Their use was endless.


    Taylor made sure to take mental notes carefully as they went along. He felt that he had to put in all of his effort, both physical and mental, into this game after almost failing to pass the survival trial the second time.


    He didn''t n to enjoy the game before, but his dedication to treat God''s Domain as a job he had never had has only increased after facing the question of how far he was willing to sacrifice for his mother.


    He realized that he wasn''t willing to risk his life for his mother, but he became dedicated to doing anything else for her. He remembered the old woman who beheaded someone''s head without hesitation and promised himself to be more like her.


    His promise meant he had to put in all of his effort short of risking his life. So he paid full attention to everything Ragna had to say and asked questions many times. He didn''t walk around absentmindedly like the others or take the tour as simple sightseeing.


    Ragna led him from the hall on the first floor to the logdes on the second floor, the training facilities on the third floor, the nutrition and pills on the fourth floor, and finally the library of skills and spells on the fifth floor.


    The spirit said to him, "This is probably the most important ce for you trainees. It is where you should spend most of your training points."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Taylor looked around and didn''t see anything fancy about the fourth floor. It was just a series of numbered rooms without windows. All their doors were sealed too, so he couldn''t see anything about their functions.


    He asked immediately, "What are they for?"


    Ragna exined, "You will enter them to receive a mana skill or spell."


    Taylor nodded and let Ragna lead him to the sixth floor. They could have used the stairs or elevator, but Ragnarok teleported them directly to it like he usually does. What Taylor saw there made him gawk in awe and freeze in fear.


    He saw figures whose size reached beyond the room into the sky. The fifth floor had a roof of ss so he could see them. There was no way their bodies could fit in the training facility at all. They were so tall that he looked like an ant before them. It didn''t help that all of them were staring down at him as if he were in an ant hill.


    He couldn''t see any distinct feature about them since they were all glowing too bright for his eyes to make out. They were so bright that he didn''t know where they ended or where they began. So he didn''t know how many of them there were, only that they were very tall.


    Ragna said to him, "These are the gods of God''s Domain. They are not every god in God''s Domain. They are just the ones who have the power and resources to turn you into a hero." "They will watch your performance for the one year that this training will go on, and if it pleases them, they will offer you a hero ss. So their opinion of you is very important to your sess in God''s Domain."


    "They can do this even if you don''t reach the first 10 on the ranking list. But you will surely be a hero if you reach the top 10. In fact, it is likely that you will get offers from numerous gods if you reach the top 10."


    Taylor was trying his best to listen to Ragna, but the sight of so many gods was messing with his mind. He actually felt pain and pressure on his mind when he looked at them, but he couldn''t stop looking at them because they were so awe inspiring.


    Ragna continued to exin, but its voice was calm and its tone gentle. "To be a hero is your end goal for this training. It is the finish line. I have brought you here to show you where the finish line is and to also help you get started on the race."


    "You need the gods for a ss. Only they can grant it to you. Without a ss, you will not have ess to Mana, and you will not be able to grow stronger. This is your short-term and immediate goal."


    Taylor swallowed and nodded in understanding. He asked, "How do I gain their help for a ss?"


    Ragna replied, "There are two ways to get the ss from them. You can try the least difficult missions to earn training points. Then you can use the training points to buy a ss of your choosing. You can also get the training points from others and use them to buy your ss."


    "The second option is to please the gods. Show them a talent or something. Amuse them and make themugh. If it pleases them, they will give you a ss. This option is free and without danger, but you will not have a choice in which ss you get."


    Taylor nodded numbly. He had a lot to think about. He wanted to turn away, but he had more questions to ask. He said, "You said I could bring this power out to the real world. Is that really true?"


    A/N: Real talk. What would you be willing to do in God''s Domain if you had the opportunity to participate in it and gain power in real life?

 Chapter 1864: Reaching For The Sky.

    Chapter 1864: Reaching For The Sky.


    ?


    Ragna replied, "You can truly take out the power you earn in God''s Domain. But only up to the rank of demigod."


    Then it pointed at the glowing figures and said, "Your world can''t handle power at their level. But you will gain the ability of resurrection when you be a god in God''s Domain. Your soul and consciousness will be preserved by God''s Domain while a new body is prepared for you to inhabit in your world. It is essentially immortality."


    Taylor''s mind whirled and churned. He thought to himself, "If this is true, then maybe I should change my goal here."


    He was tempted with the allure of power far more than the possibility of curing his mother. It is especially alluring after being made to wait with other poor people for the medicine that will save his mother. He realized then that everyone was the same. But now an opportunity hase up for him to rise above. He can now understand why the heavenly federation didn''t give a rat''s ass about all their whining andining.


    He can also understand why everything everyone threw at them didn''t work. They were just in different worlds. For the first time, he considered the possibility that the Heavenly Corporation might be aliens.


    Many people have said so, but he always considered it conspiracy theories. He is not so sure about that anymore. Not after standing in front of greatness.


    While Taylor was being tempted, AB was not. Training his skills and having a good fight to use them had always been his goal. He didn''t have an opportunity to get them in the real world, which was why he sought after them in the virtual world.


    The gods didn''t make him feel hopeless when he saw them. Instead, he saw a great potential fight in them. So he was riled up and ready to do battle when he saw the gods, not cowered.


    Taylor, Ab, ck Knife, and many others were all present on the fifth floor together, but they didn''t notice each other. It is because their senses and attention were too upied by the gods.


    They could speak andmunicate with Ragna because they knew he was there beside them, but they couldn''t see Ragna and didn''t perceive any other person around them.


    AB was one of the most affected. He didn''t faint like some of the other weaklings. He didn''t struggle to stand either, and neither did he cower in fright like ck Knife. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth as his eyes zed with a fighting spirit.


    He asked Ragna, "You said I can be a god if I be a hero, right?"


    "Anyone can be a god, but heroes have a better chance at it than others. Heroes have a lot of benefits that increase their chances, such as the ability to grow by defeating or killing and the ability to preserve their power even if they die and resurrect with theirplete power."


    AB nodded. He asked, "Can a god be killed?"


    "Yes. Gods kill each other all the time. But not permanently, though. That is very difficult."


    AB''s eyes shined as he asked, "Can a mortal kill a god?"


    Ragna nodded. "It is rare and difficult, but it is possible. It has happened before, so it can be replicated again."


    "How?" he asked eagerly.


    Ragna shook his head. "You will have to find out yourself. I don''t have ess to that information.


    AB was not disappointed. He nodded. "As expected. That kind of precious information must be worked for."


    Then he raised his fist to the sky and said, "I promise to be a god. But before I do that, I must kill a god as a mortal."


    Every god heard what he said. Smite was especially paying attention to him. The domain god said, "I like this one. He is funny."


    AB heard what the god said. The voice struck him like a thunderp right beside his head. He fell to his knees and held his ears as he writhed in pain. Unfortunately, his pain didn''t end there.


    It struck him again as Smite asked, "Tell me, Abdul Taofek, how do you hope to kill a god?" He gritted his teeth and replied, "With my bare hands."


    Many godsughed after that. The other trainees on the fifth floor didn''t hear theirughter. Only AB was privy to the burden of their utterance. He almost cked out, but he held on.


    His determination did not go unrewarded. He received a notification soon after.


    -You have received the Fighter ss.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    -You have unlocked the stat screen.


    Ragna took him away immediately. The absence of the delibitating pressure and the soothing warmth that entered his body from the environment healed him. He was soon back on his feet. He was smiling too. All of his teeth were on full disy.


    Ragna said to him, "Congrattions. You have received one of the 10,000 favors that the gods can grant. You are also the first one. I have great expectations from you."


    AB pped his chest and said proudly, "Of course I will do great things. I am AB Tfuck. I am to be the first or second, and I don''t give two fucks."


    Ragna rolled his eyes at him. Then it said, "Now let us talk about what cultivation means. Open your stat page and let''s see what you have to work with."


    AB did as he was asked. It was easy to do. He just called out for the stay page.


    Ragnar winced when he did. It advised, "Next time, just think about bringing it up. That''s faster and quieter."


    AB nodded as he focused on the screen in front of him.


    -STATS


    HP: 100%


    FOCUS: 100%


    STAMINA: 100%


    -ATTRIBUTES


    NAME: ABDUL TAOFEEK


    RACE: HUMAN


    CLASS: FIGHTER


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 15


    CONSTITUTION: 2


    STRENGTH: 4


    VITALITY: 3


    SPEED: 3


    SPIRIT: 3


    MANA: 1%


    CLASS PERKS: +10 Rank Bonus Proficiency to all fist fighting skills.


    STATUS: Looking For A Fight

 Chapter 1865: The Most Important Attributes.

    Chapter 1865: The Most Important Attributes.


    ?


    His three stats appear all the time at the edge of his vision. The three resources show themselves as bars that he can focus on at any time to see more information about them.


    They have different colors that represent whether they are for health, focus, or stamina. He just needs to focus on them to see what their exact value is. But just by looking at the length of the bar, he can tell how low he is running on them.


    As for his attributes, he needs to call out his stat page to check them out. Then they would appear in front of him on a holographic panel together with his stats. It seems Ragna could also see them.


    Ragnar could indeed see them. It pointed out to him, "The most important attribute is the MANA attribute. MANA is an unlimited external resource. How much of it you can use and how great of a power you can acquire from each use are dependent on you. Specifically your Spirit and Mana attributes."


    "Your Spirit attribute determines how much focus you have. You need focus to interact actively with Mana. If you run out of focus, you be unable to use mana. Meanwhile, your Mana attribute decides how much boost you get from Mana. Currently, yours is 1%. You will need to change that."


    "As a warrior, your other attributes are more important than spirit. What you need to work on is the Mana attribute. And for that, you need mana skills and techniques."


    AB nodded and said, "I see. That must be why you said the skills and spells service is the most important. Let''s go there now."


    They were already on the fifth floor, so it wouldn''t take long for him to reach one of the rooms. But Ragna stopped him.


    The facility spirit said, "You need training points before you can acquire skills or spells. That means you need to finish a mission sessfully. But before you run off toplete a mission, you need to shore up your base attributes. They are a little low."


    A protested, "But I feel strong."


    Ragnar shook its head. "It doesn''t matter what you feel. If you have noticed, the Mana attribute is in percentage. That means two people with the same boost from mana will have totally different power output since power depends not only on Mana boost but also on base stats, your skill, and your proficiency with that skill."


    "For now, we can''t do anything about the other three. We can only work on your base stat. That''s why I advise you to visit the exercise and nutrition facilities first. This will increase your chances ofpleting a mission. It won''t do to fail a mission and gain negative training points."


    AB was skeptical. He said, "Can''t I level up by killing or something? How do I get attribute points to increase my base stats?"


    Ragna chuckled and said, "That is the domain of the divine. Only the gods can help to increase base stats. Either that, or you be a hero."


    "Heroes can use the runes they harvest from the lives of others to raise their power. You will still need the help of gods for that. So the gods are really important."


    AB eximed, "Wow. The gods seem so powerful."


    Ragna asked, "Are you regretting your promise to kill a god as a mortal now?"


    He shook his head. "Not yet. But I am beginning to get sense of how difficult that promise will be to fulfill."


    Ragna shook its head and said, "It is a lot more difficult than you think. 100 mortal stats is just one divinity to a god. Even the weakest god seed has 1,000 such divinity."


    AB scratched his head. "I see now why the godsughed at me when I mouthed off." Ragnaughed. Then it encouraged him, "Don''t worry about it. It was a good thing that you mouthed off. They liked it, and they rewarded you with a ss. Not many people can be so lucky."


    AB didn''t need the words of encouragement. His eyes were bright as he said, "Their amusement at my promise will be their doom. They have given me the tool I need to end them. They are just NPCs. They won''t be the first to fall to me, and they won''t be thest." Ragna shook its head in pity. Then it said, "Let''s return to the matter at hand. You currently aren''t a god or hero, so you can''t acquire strength by killing. You are an ordinary person without boons from gods, so you have to work hard throughborious physical exercise and good nutrition to raise your base stats."


    "This is the only way that everyone can gain base attributes. Even then, every race has an average potential that limits how much they can raise their base stats. They can''t be stronger endlessly."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "For humans, the average potential is 25. You are a human, and seeing as you are level 15, you still have 10 more levels to go. At that time, the difficulty and cost of raising your base stats will be prohibitive."


    AB frowned and asked, "Is there no other way?"


    Ragna replied, "There is none. You either receive boons from a god or you be a hero. As for the maximum potential, you can increase it by changing your race. That can be done with the right amount of training points. Or you can be a hero. Your race will automatically change to the race of the god you make a contract with."


    AB shook his head. "I don''t want to change my race. I always y as human. I must push myself beyond the limit of what humans are capable of."


    Ragna advised, "Then you must be prepared to face a lot of difficulty."


    AB nodded and said, "Yes. It will be very difficult and challenging. I think I am going to love


    it."


    A/N: It seems nothing can bring down this guy. Do you want to see him being down a god or do you want him to be brought low?

 Chapter 1866: Ignorant On Both Count.

    Chapter 1866: Ignorant On Both Count.


    ?


    Ragna heard those audacious words but it didn''t say that call him an ignorant mortal that didn''t know just how out of depth he was.


    As one of the programs in charge of analyzing human behavior on earth, it knows a lot more about humans than they know of themselves. It also knows more about God''s Domain than humans. So it has the right to call AB ignorant.


    But it didn''t say that. Instead, it went along with its programming and encouraged him by saying, "Don''t you worry. We just need to raise your individual attributes by 2 each, and you will be ready toplete missions. It should take about a month of intensive training. Maximum of two. Then you will be ready to take the world by storm."


    AB said enthusiastically, "Sign me up for the storm."


    The duo then teleported to the third floor for training. It included a physical workout and mental exercise. He was no stranger to physical exercises. However, mental exercises truly broadened his horizons.


    The mental exercise was the least intensive but probably the most painful. He didn''t need to do much for them. He only had to sit in front of an image and concentrate on it. This simple act bypassed his immunity to physical pain and made him shed tears.


    He couldn''t see what was drawn on the painting clearly, so he has to focus on it. That act made both his eyes and mind ache. The ache turned into piercing pain the longer he stared at the picture on the wall.


    It felt as if something was stabbing his brain through his eyes. He didn''t cry out, but his eyes shed tears. It made him long for back-breaking physicalbor. But he didn''t give up on it. ck Knife didn''t give up either.


    ck Knife had been given a ss by a god named 9 Crowns. The god had said they liked how he bowed in fear but was secretly plotting to kill them.


    He had indeed been secretly plotting their downfall. That''s what he does to people stronger than him. But first, he always tries to appear harmless and subservient to them.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This has always worked for his previous boss. He would ingratiate himself to them, and they would feel that he was beneath them. But it didn''t work this time around.


    What''s odder than them not being fooled is that they actually rewarded him after knowing his true intentions. That scared him far more than anything he had ever encountered. Now he is not sure if he should be d he got a ss.


    They said he looked like a wayward child. They gave him the ss so that he could be a wayward adult. He doesn''t know what it means. But he knows that wayward people get punished.


    So he was very worried as he left the sixth floor. Then he was advised by Ragna to raise his base stats first. He didn''t like the painful exercise, but he did it anyway because he is not a stranger to pain and because he recognized the importance of power for what he hoped to achieve in the future.


    Taylor and many others were not so lucky as AB and ck Knife. Taylor hasn''t gotten a ss yet. His best bet is toplete missions to earn training points, which he will use to purchase a ss.


    As usual, Ragna advised him to exercise and raise his base stats. It is a good use of his time since he doesn''t need a ss to raise those. If he reaches level 25, he will have a better chance ofpleting missions and might even be able to buy his own ss.


    But Taylor wasn''t willing to give up on getting a ss from the gods. It is because they are the best option to get a ss as soon as possible.


    He recognized that the beginning of a game is very important. Little advantages like sses can be massive advantages in the future, all because of how early they got it before others.


    So even though he decided to exercise, he still took time out of the game to go back to earth to do some research about how to please gods.


    He knows it is a bad idea to leave the game for any period of the thousand-times difference in time. But he is hoping to make up for the investment with quick ess to a ss.


    He went online with his neuralink immediately he regained consciousness. But something distracted him from looking up how people of different religions pleased their gods and the many times the gods were pleased by mortals.


    He saw a video circting the web. It was from the Heavenly Corperation. That alone was enough reason for him to check it out. What he saw made his heart tighten.


    He saw a naked man face a hail of bullets from a squad of assault robots. The bullets smashed into his skin and created sparks. Not one bullet managed to hurt him. Not even the rounds from sniper rifles.


    That alone was impressive. Then the man went on to destroy the robots with his bare heads. He was naked, unarmed, unprotected, and not enhanced by any machinery, physical armor, or force field. Yet he wasn''t hurt in any way.


    At least that''s the im of the heavenly cooperation. It might be false ims, but the act of the man tearing and ripping the robots apart with raw strength seemed to be too real. Many people were analyzing the video to authenticate it. But they couldn''t determine if it was real or not. It is because most of them decided that it was more usible for the Heavenly Corperation to be able to create a fake video that they couldn''t detect than enhance a man to be that powerful.


    They would rather believe that the video and the man are fake. This time the technological advantage of the Heavenly Corporation worked against them.

 Chapter 1867: Sacrifice.

    Chapter 1867: Sacrifice.


    ?


    If someone had the technology to beam authentic virtual realities into the minds of billions of people across the sr system without needing any hardware to receive it, then surely they could make a fake video that looks very real to advertise their game.


    People could already think of one way that the fake video could be made. They believe that it was created in the virtual reality game and recorded for them to see. They refused to believe that the video was real.


    The Heavenly Corperation did provide a response to these deniers. They said, "Only time will tell."


    Taylor saw this and sighed. "Time will indeed tell. But if I don''t get on the bandwagon now, it will be toote by the time it bes certain that the video isn''t fake."


    He shut down the video and returned to his research for God''s Domain. He didn''t feel awkward at all that he would be studying so hard for a game because this will not be the first time he is doing such a thing.


    It ismon practice for a serious gamer to do research on what decisions to make in games. That''s why there are a lot of game guides on the inte.


    Except, this time, there is no better reason to do research. In fact, the whole world is probably doing their research on God''s Domain too.


    He also spared some time to go through the articles written by others about God''s Domain as every bit of information can make a difference for him.


    One thing he found odd was that there were few guides for God''s Domain online. It is because the people who usually write these guides don''t have the time. They would rather be ying the game instead of losing time to write guides.


    So he had only himself to rely on a way out. Fortunately, his research on how to please gods worked out. He found a lot of examples in history that satisfied him.


    Then he returned to God''s Domain 30 minutester. He moved around looking for a target. His behavior was suspicious, but so was everyone else''s.


    Everyone was looking at each other with wariness. There was very little trust amongst the trainers after what they experienced in the trial. In fact, it was more likely to receive violence than favor from others.


    Taylor knew this, so he knew that what he nned was going to be difficult. Not only is it difficult physically, it is also difficult emotionally.


    He has done research several times in the past, but he has never done this before. He is going to do it anyways because what he read said that gods love sacrifices. They love sacrifices of animals, but human sacrifices are the best.


    So he steeled his will and did what he had to do. He befriended many trainees in a bid to lure them to his room.


    His n failed many times, but he didn''t give up. Even though people were wary of others, they were also in need of help. So he believed that as long as he continued fishing, he would catch his prey.


    He worked hard in the gym while being nice to everyone and offering them advice. His n worked just after two days. He was eventually able to lure ady to his room. Then he subdued her and tied her up.


    He took a knife from the kitchen, which he used to stab her many times. It was gruesome work both for him and her.


    He struck bone many times, which made his knife get stuck in her body and very difficult for him to stab her.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    There was blood everywhere, and she was crying. He didn''t hear her cries since he had his ears plugged, but he could imagine the kind of pain she was going through. That and the sight of all the blood made him vomit.


    That didn''t stop him, though. He continued doing so while saying, "I offer her pain to the gods as a sacrifice. I offer her body to the gods. I hope they will be pleased with my offering."


    She couldn''t log out because she was not in a safe ce. That meant she had to experience the pain until she lost blood and died.


    Her body disappeared after her death. It was then that he called for Ragna and asked him to take them to the sixth floor. He found the gods waiting there for him.


    He said, "I hope you were pleased with my offering."


    There was silence from the gods. They didn''t look like they would speak anytime soon.


    He tried again. "I did everything for you."


    A god finally spoke. "No, you didn''t. You did it for yourself. You also had nothing to lose."


    Their voice battered his mind with the power and truth of it. He kneeled on the ground and held his head as he considered what they had said.


    They were partly right. There was a lot at stake for him because someone could recognize him. He would have a lot of problems in the real world for what he did to her.


    Then was the trouble he would face in God''s Domain. He could deny her usations, though. But his reputation would be sullied. Unfortunately, that didn''t seem to be good enough for the gods.


    He pleaded, "Please give me another chance. Preferably tell me what to do."


    Another god spoke. "It is easy to cause pain to others, but difficult to cause pain to oneself. Show us your dedication."


    A shiny gold sword appeared in front of him. It made what the gods were asking him clear to him. He knew what he had to do. So he took the sword with his right hand.


    Another god said to him, "Very good. Whatever you cut off will be lost forever. The de you use to cut it will be your reward."


    He realized that they were warning him. They were also tempting him to see if he would go through the act despite the warning. But he thinks he can handle it.


    He thought to himself, "It is only a game."

 Chapter 1868: It Has To Be Worth It.

    Chapter 1868: It Has To Be Worth It.


    ?


    His hands were shaky at the prospect of cutting himself, but he didn''t drop the sword. He stretched out his left hand and sliced through it with the sword.


    The pain was instantenous and ravenous. It wanted to eat and be his whole existence.


    There was something different about itpared to the normal pain in the game. It felt more like his arm was burning to ashes.


    He could feel his arm still there despite being cut off. Only that something invisible was burning his invisible arm until he lost sensation of his armpletely.


    He fell face first and allowed himself to cry. The pain was so great that he rolled around on the ground and cried for an unknown amount of time. The gods found it amusing. Many of them snickered andughed.


    He didn''t stop crying until he stopped feeling his lost armpletely. The burning sensation had also stopped. When he came, he was already in his room back on earth. There was also a notification in front of him.


    -You have received the Swordman ss.


    -You have unlocked the stat screen.


    He smiled when he saw this. "I was right. Sacrifices do work."


    This victory made his pain feel a little better. His smile only faltered when he tried to stand from his bed and realized that he didn''t have two arms to help him up.


    One of his arms had gone ck. It was still there, but he couldn''t feel it or move it. This realization struck him like a thunderbolt. He remained frozen on his bed for a long while.


    He was thinking to himself in panic and confusion, "But it was just a game."


    He couldn''t believe what had happened to him. Everything felt like a dream. It felt like he had a nightmare where he had to cut off his arm, but the nightmare followed him into the waking world.


    Eventually, he recovered from his stupor and managed to stand. He tried to be hopeful and optimistic about his arm. But he had a sneaking suspicion that the game had changed his life forever.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    That''s why he said to himself, "This sacrifice for power must be worth it. If not for her, but for me."


    This is the only way he can ept the loss. He must gain something very valuable in exchange for his arm, or his world will crumble and he mightmit suicide.


    He still wasn''t resigned to his situation, so he returned to earth and went to see doctors. They performed a lot of tests on him to determine what went wrong.


    Fortunately, they discovered the issue. The nerves of his hand had simply died. Unfortunately, that didn''t help his situation. If anything, it served to give finality to the situation. His arm was truly gone.


    Things became awkward when one of the doctors suggested that he get the elixir that the Heavenly Corporation ims can cure any disease.


    He became angry when he heard that. But he couldn''t fault the doctor for it. Besides, he had more to think about. It was specifically about the warning that the Heavenly Corporation gave concerning possible permanent death caused by death in the game.


    "Something that happened in the game happened to me in real life. How did they manage that?"


    "If it is true that there are some deaths in the game that will kill me in real life, I have to be extra careful in God''s Domain."


    He went online immediately to confirm his theory. It was then that he found the news about the many people that had died in the third survival trial.


    Apparently so many deaths had caused an outcry. But that outcry went without the proper response. What the Heavenly Corperation did was release the video of the Superman who was immune to bullets. It was the video he saw before he did his research about how to please gods.


    Many people had called the video fake. He too was skeptical about it. But not anymore. He is a true believer now.


    He didn''tin anymore about the loss of his arm after seeing that many people had lost their lives. Not only wouldining not change anything, but the heavenly cooperation can make the case that they warned him about the extent of damage he would go through before he cut his arm.


    He made up his mind instead of giving up. "I have reached this point. It is of no use giving up now."


    His days in God''s Domain became busy after that. He had to fight off thedy and her friends that came looking for him. He also had to manage exercising with only one arm.


    His life became full of challenges one way or the other. It only became worse when he returned to the real world.


    He didn''t need to eat, go to toilet, or have his bath in God''s Domain. So while theck of a arm was bad and difficult to get used to in God''s Domain, it couldn''tpare to the stress he was experiencing on earth.


    He could only tell himself that it was going to be worth it. That''s the best thing he could think of to encourage himself. It worked in that it made him refuse to give up. He worked even harder in God''s Domain. Not even the absence of his left arm could hold him back.


    He is like a gambler who has gone too far. He needs something to make up for everything he has lost. Giving up now will mean everything he has lost will go in vain. So he decided to continue gambling.


    He spent most of his time in the weapon training facility. It is the facility that trains weapon usage, or, as Ragna said, "the skilled usage of weapons, not the usage of weapons by blundering fools."


    He didn''t have any training points to buy the advanced training ess, so he had to settle for the basics. It included going through the motions of cut, sh, stab, and block.

 Chapter 1869: Just An Ant Farm.

    Chapter 1869: Just An Ant Farm.


    ?


    The training was more about uracy than finesse. He was given poles of wood that he had to cut in half, sh in a straight line, or stab specific points urately. Blocks of wood were also thrown at him to intercept with his sword.


    He is not a stranger to this sort of motion in games, but hisck of an arm made things difficult for him. This and many other simr situations showed him just how much sacrifice he had made to get his ss. Fortunately, his sacrifice and hard work paid off. He was ready for his first mission after two months of nonstop training. He finally decided to try out a mission.


    He was excited and full of anticipation for the mission. He wasn''t the only one. The gods were also waiting with anticipation for him to finally make a move.


    The training facility was like an ant farm in front of the gods. It was a small miniature world built with transparent material, so the gods could see through it.


    The material wasn''t truly transparent, but to the gods, it might as well be. They could see everything happening within it at a time.


    There were also many gods watching these training facilities. All the gods who were the first 100 to be godlings in each divine realm were here. The gods with titan crystals were also here.


    They all sat in the divine council chambers all day watching the activities in the hero training facility. At the end of the year, they would have to pick which of the trainees they want. Before then, they have to collect data on their prospective targets, analyze them, and then make a decision to offer them a divine contract.


    Not many gods could bear to wait for a whole year watching them. 9 Crowns for instance, was always busy hunting, so he was rarely around.


    Now that the gods had voted for Gemmis to grant domain quests, many gods had gained the opportunity to be domain gods. This meant 9 Crowns had more targets to hunt.


    Both the true gods who had just gained a domain but haven''t evolved yet and domain gods who had just evolved were the target of 9 Crowns'' hunt. He truly wasn''t picky about that.


    But the gods didn''t like his open mindedness and the way he was willing to treat everyone equally. So they were happy to see him absent from observing the hero trainees. It meant that he was likely to select a poor candidate.


    The gods promised each other not to share their observations with him. They didn''t need to, as they were already going to do that just so that they could hoard the best candidates for themselves. But they reached an agreement to specifically exclude 9 Crowns at all costs.


    Maybe they wouldn''t have done that or be happy that he wasn''t observing the training facilities if they knew that Legion-8 was around to watch. But Legion-8 didn''t expose this fact. He let them enjoy their false happiness.


    Besides, with his identity a secret, he could hear them talk about their hatred for 9 Crowns and their ns to deal with him. In fact, this was more interesting than watching a bunch of ants train.


    Most of the things they did were boring. It was only at times like this when one of the trainees that had amused them was about to do something that they could feel any interest.


    The gods remembered the guy who was willing to cut apart his fellow and also cut his arm for a ss. So they were interested to see how he would fare in his first training mission.


    Taylor walked down from his room to the first floor with his sword drawn. Some stared at him with clear animosity, but most were just wary of him.


    No one bothered him as he walked, though. He managed to reach the first floor without issue. He found many people standing about and selling stuff there. Many people had begun trying the missions, so they have acquired better equipment that they are selling now.


    He has also heard of a fellow called ck Knife who lends equipment and training points to others for interest. Others sell information about the missions or other useful information here. It makes the first floor busier than other floors.


    Many people are doing different types of things to earn training points, and they all do it on the first floor. It is thergest ce to interact after all. So it is like a market ce.


    The stalls and people stand at the very edge of the hall. They leave the center space clear for anyone going to the two boards, so Taylor didn''t have a problem reaching his destination.


    He looked at the whiteboard first. He saw that the first on the list was the guy known as ck Knife. After him is someone called AB Tfuck.


    This name was recognizable to him. It evoked memories that made him smile. It was only then that he realized that he hadn''t smiled since he lost his arm.


    He knows the name AB Tfuck because he has seen it in many other games. He couldn''t recognize the next names. It made him lose interest and turn to the ckboard.


    He saw the list of missions was still abundant. They were ranked I''m difficulty from F to S. The S-rank missions were only 10 in number. They were alsopletely different missions. So there were 10 different types of S-rank missions, of which they can only bepletedn/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    once.


    On the other end of the spectrum are the F-rank missions. There are also 10 types of missions, but each one has 10,000 entries for a total of 1,000,000 missions. Each mission rewards 10


    training points.


    The next E-anked missions vary in reward from 100 to 200. It means that anyone who wants a ss will have to do at least 10 F-rank missions or one E-rank mission.


    He thought to himself with a shake of his head, "1 million F-rank missions and 1 million trainees. I doubt everyone will be able to get a ss at this rate."

 Chapter 1870: Competition And Struggle For Survival.

    Chapter 1870: Competition And Struggle For Survival.


    ?


    He believes that not everyone will be able to get a ss by the end of the one year training because the F-rank missions are only enough for everyone to do if they do just one. But the reward of a single F-rank mission won''t be enough to acquire a ss.


    Everyone will need to do at least ten F-rank missions without failing a single one if they are to get a ss. If they fail, they will owe training points and have to do more to cover that debt. But if someone does an extra F-rank mission in a bid to gather training points for a ss, at least 9 other people else will lose out and have to do the difficult E-rank mission.


    It is without a doubt that many people will be forced to do the E-rank missions. But if they fail toplete the E-rank, they will owe 10 training points. So instead of gaining training points and moving closer to their goal of acquiring a ss, they will fall into debt and move farther away from it.


    This is likely to happen if only for the fact that there''s no limit on how many missions someone can do. A single person can do a thousand of the one million F-rank missions without any negative consequences. So the more some prosper, the less some will have a chance to rise.


    He shook his head at that thought. "This is only training, not the real world out there, but thepetition is already so intense. I wonder how bad things would be."


    He is truly concerned about how difficult things would be after training if training could make him lose an arm in the game and real life. His concern is valid because billions of people just lost their lives in the struggle of god seeds to be godlings.


    A world wide blood shed ensued because of the gods. People were taken out of thwir homes and killed. Some were even killed their beds because of faith. Compared to that, the difficulty of F-rank and E-rank missions are nothing.


    He looked through the mission board to find one he could do. The F-rank missions were 1,000,000 in number. This was reduced to 500,000, 200,000, 50,000, 10,000, 1,000, and finally 10 of the S-rank missions.


    He didn''t consider any mission greater than F-rank for his first mission at all. Eventually, he picked the F-rank mission that said goblin duel.


    He reached out his hand to it, and a piece of paper with the mission details fell slowly to his hands. Then he disappeared from where he stood. Everyone saw him disappear from the first floor, but they didn''t freak out.


    He appeared in a dim, small tunnel. The tunnel was barelyrge enough for him to stand. But it didn''t allow him to dodge at all.


    His attention was grabbed by the sounds of something scuttling about in the dark. The source of the sound was a fair distance away from him. He couldn''t see it because the visibility was too low.


    He could try to move the torch hanging on the wall to shed light on the situation, but that means he will have to drop his sword since he only has one hand.


    He decided otherwise. He would stay under the light and let whatever was hunting hime to him. Meanwhile, he said to himself, "You can do this. You have done so many times in the past. This game might be more realistic, and you might have just one arm, but it is still a game, and your enemy is a simple goblin. You have killed goblins several times."


    The memories of his victories over goblins shed across his mind. Then it was reced by the memories of every being he has triumphed over in God''s Domain. Then it was reced by memories of everyone he has killed in God''s Domain.


    These memories reinforced his confidence that he had what it takes to be victorious. But those memories made way for the memory of his act against a helplessdy.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He remembered the feeling of hot blood on his hands and face as he stabbed her. He remembered her body weakening. She went from struggling violently to slowly writhing until she couldn''t move anymore. These are things he has never felt before in a game. They felt so real, as if he hadmitted real murder.


    He told himself, "It is just a game, and the enemy is just goblins. You are better than some goblin."


    Fortunately, the goblin took that time to show up. It stopped him from dwelling too much on how different God''s Domain is from other games and making himself anxious because of the consequences of defeat. Instead, he focused on the goblin and stood his ground.


    Some trainees had wet themselves when they saw the vivid goblin staring at them with yellow eyes shining dimly in the dark. The sudden realization that they were alone in a dark, small space with such an abominable and feral creature and had no where to escape made them too scared to put up a resistance.


    He too must admit that the goblin was ugly. Big nose and eyes, green skin, and a wide mouth full of dirty and jagged yellow teeth made for an unnerving visage. But he was no noob. At least not a noob in fighting goblins. So he stood his ground with his sword slowly raised for a strike.


    He didn''t move forward to strike. He wanted the goblin toe closer to the light, and he was willing to wait for that to happen.


    The goblin, on the other hand, was impatient. It chattered angrily as if to cower him. Then it ran towards him when he didn''t move.


    He waited until it was within striking distance. Then he swung his sword down, aiming for its neck. He didn''t aim for its head as that would be too easy to dodge.

 Chapter 1871 Not Impressive.

    Chapter 1871 Not Impressive.


    Instead, he aimed for the space between its left shoulder and his head. So the attack was diagonal, not vertical. This meant that if the goblin would dodge, it had to dodge away from the strike and not towards. This was effectively narrowing its options.


    That''s exactly what happened. The goblin dashed to his left in order to avoid the attack. If he had another hand, he would have used shield bash to stagger the goblin as it dodged. Unfortunately, he couldn''t, so he used the next best thing.


    He kicked the goblin with his left foot. His foot struck it in the chest and made it cry out in pain. Its pain was short-lived because a de stabbed into its chest.


    Taylor removed the sword from its chest and swung it again. He repeated the diagonal attack, aiming for its neck. This time it couldn''t dodge. So the sword cut off its head.


    Taylor smiled to himself and said, "That''s how it''s done. It is just a goblin, and I am better than a goblin."


    But the gods watching him didn''t think he was so great. Some of them thought he was weak for needing three moves to kill a goblin, and others thought he was cute for celebrating his victory over such a weak creature. They didn''t speak their thoughts, so Taylor remained oblivious to their presence. He was returned to the first floor in a sh of light.


    The people around the first floor saw him return just as he had disappeared. They didn''t bat an eye at the sight.


    They also noticed that the paper tag in his handbusted instead of returning to the ckboard. It meant he hadpleted the mission sessfully. They were not surprised or impressed by it.


    They were not impressed either when he continued with an E-rank mission andpleted it. It is not that they think hobgoblins and goblin shamans are weak; they have just seen too many powerful people take them down without a ss.


    Someone had even gone on to finish a D-rank mission without a ss. They had fought an orc. It was a ferocious humanoid monster that is vastly more skilled than goblins and twice as strong as humans to boot. But that man defeated it without a ss. That spearman had received a ss from the gods immediately he performed such a feat. So they have seen a lot of powerful individuals. It is something that is to be expected amongst a poption of a million.


    If just 1% of them are fighting geniuses, that means there are 10,000 such geniuses among the 1,000,000 of them. Even if only 0.0% of that are fighting geniuses, that still leaves 100 fighting for the spot of top 10. Thepetition is just too intense for thepletion of an E-rank mission to be impressive. So Taylor didn''t make any waves when hepleted more E-ranked missions.


    He might have turned heads had hepleted a D-rank mission. But he didn''t risk it just so he could impress people. Instead, he went to the fifth floor to buy skills for his ss.


    When he got to the fifth floor, he operated the terminal in front of the door of one of the rooms to peruse the list of skills and techniques avable to him. He noticed that there were two prerequisites that he had to acquire before he could get any skill or spell. He had to pick one of these two or he couldn''t get skills.


    He asked Ragna, "Why is the Core engine a must?"


    A tiny Ragna appeared beside him and replied, "It is the foundation of all your skills. It will be the bridge between your ss and your body. Your ss is already connected to the mana in the world, but Core Engine will enable you to be able to enhance your body with mana using skills."


    "The opposite is the Spirit Lever. It is for mages and those who want to rely on their minds rather than their bodies. It is a must for them to acquire the Spirit Lever if they want to cast spells."


    Taylor nodded and said, "Hmmm. I''ll take it. Not that I have a choice. Besides, it is cheap."


    He understood the requirements to be the foundation of warriors and mages. As someone who likes to y as a shield knight, he would go for the option to y as a warrior all the time.


    Unfortunately, he only has one arm, and his ss is already set, so he can only y as a warrior swordman. So core engine has to be his choice. He spent 10 training points on Core Engine. Then he spent 100 on Power Strike, 100 on Dash, and another 100 Harden.


    From their description, he can tell that these three skills cover the bases for attack, speed, and defense. They aremon and general skills that every fighter must have. They are also flexible in that they can be used in different ways. The door of the room opened with an audible swish after he made his selection. It had opened like the doors of an elevator. "Wish me luck," he said to Ragna as he entered it.


    Ragna chuckled evilly and said, "You will need it."


    Taylor thought little of his odd behavior and entered the room. The door was locked behind him, which plunged the room into darkness. Then the floor beneath him disappeared. He began to fall into total darkness. He was wondering what to do when he felt something dig into his chest. He looked down and saw nothing but darkness. But the pain didn''t go away. It increased steadily until it became unbearable.


    The pain wasn''t in his head either. The spot where he felt the pain actually lit up in the dark. It became the only source of light in the dark. It looked like he had a small light bulb at the center of his chest.

 Chapter 1872: The Three Mirages.

    Chapter 1872: The Three Mirages.


    ?


    There was finally light in the darkness, but he still couldn''t see anything with this light. He couldn''t even see his skin. The only thing he could see was the white light where his chest should be.


    That didn''t change when the light began to grow like a nt. It formed tiny branches that expanded throughout his body. It resembled images of nerves or blood vessels. They grew through his body until they covered his whole body in tiny white threads.


    It was a painful experience. Taylor roared in pain for the minutes it took the process toplete. He still couldn''t see his skin or any other part of his body after it was done.


    He found this to be odd because he could feel that the thread was within him, so he shouldn''t be able to see the inside of himself if he couldn''t see the surface.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Eventually the pain ended. What followed was that he began to see mirages. An image appeared in front of him. It had no fixed edges in the darkness. It was as if he was looking through a haze. But he could make out what was happening in the image.


    The image moved and became a video. There was no sound, but he knew what was going on. It was not in clear terms, unlike the image. It was more like feeling and intuition.


    He saw a man cut down with his sword on a tree stump. He saw the man repeat the action, but the move was faster and the damage to the tree stump was higher.


    The man in the mirage video repeated the two actions over and over again until Taylor got what it meant. He said in dawning realization, "This is the power strike skill."


    His chest lit up again when he understood what he was seeing.


    This time it wasn''t painful. The center of thework of white threads pulsed. Then a thread extended out of his body towards the mirage he was seeing. This thread sucked in the mirage as soon as it made contact with it.


    The mirage entered his chest through the white thread and solidified into a tiny, colorful orb at the core of the light in his chest. This orb was still ying the video of the man''s two different moves over and over again.


    He was fascinated by what he saw. He spent some time looking at the tiny wonder in his chest. But then his attention was taken by another mirage.


    Another mirage had appeared before him. In it, a man that looked like him took a step forward. There was nothing special about this step.


    But then he saw the man take another step and jump across arge distance. It was an odd movement because the man didn''t look like he was preparing to jump at all.


    His posture was all wrong for a jump. He looked at if he was just taking a normal step forward, just like the previous step. But instead of covering a normal distance, he crossed an unreasonable amount of distance with that single step.


    Taylor knew what he was seeing immediately he saw the unreasonable action. He said, "This must be Dash."


    The same thing repeated after he had acknowledged the skill. The mirage was absorbed into his core engine. Then another mirage was shown to him.


    In this mirage, a man used his fist to strike a rock. In one scene, his fist shattered upon making contact with the rock. It became misshapen as the bones in his hand were broken by the collision.


    In the other scene, his fist smashed against the rock again. But this time, his fist was


    uninjured. It was the rock that cracked and eventually shattered.


    He said, "It is not what I expected, but this must be Harden."


    He expected Harden to be used to make the body imprable to attacks as a defensive skill, but using it to protect the body while attacking is even better.


    His core engine absorbed the new skill. It was painless like the first two times. Then the floor beneath him appeared again. The door also opened for him. It wasn''t behind him like it did when it closed. It opened right in front of him.


    He found Ragna waiting for him on the other side. The Spirit asked him, "How was it?"


    He asked in return, "You knew it was going to be painful, didn''t you?"


    Ragna nodded. "I did. So, how was it?"


    He sighed and said, "It was enlightening."


    Ragna smiled. "Good. Focus on the power, not the pain. Power doesn''t have toe with pain. But great power usually does."


    What the facility said made Taylor''s eye to twitch and phantom pain to spike from his left soldier. He asked, "You''re talking about my arm, aren''t you?"


    Ragnar asked innocently, "Which arm are you talking about? The subpar one or the invalid?" Taylor chuckled.


    Ragna continued, "From what I see, the only difference between the two of them is that one can move and thus have potential. The two of them can still turn out to be useless flesh and bones that will achieve nothing worthwhile. But if you take full advantage of the potential of the one arm that can move, you won''t need two arms."


    Taylor nodded. "Thanks. I needed that."


    Ragna smiled sweetly, "Just doing my job."


    He said, "Of course."


    Then he asked, "The pain from acquiring the Core Engine wasn''t as bad as that of losing my arm. But was there no other way to acquire the Core Engine?"


    Ragna replied, "In fact, there. You can either create or learn an umon skill or spell yourself without the assistance of our system here. You can also acquire 100 levels. If you do any of these, your core engine will automatically form, and it will bepletely painless. It is only those who require assistance like you that the process will be painful for."

 Chapter 1873: Skill Usage And Power Formula.

    Chapter 1873: Skill Usage And Power Form.


    ?


    Taylor touched his chest. He can still feel the core and the skills he learned. They are like balls that he swallowed and got stuck in his throat. It is not ufortable, but the feeling is not natural.


    It is a strange feeling, one that he has never experienced in other virtual reality games. If he didn''t know that he was in a game, he would think he had gained a new organ.


    He just shook his head in wonder after thinking about it. Then he switched the topic of the conversation.


    He asked, "So how does using skills work? Do I just think about activating it like my stat screen?"


    Ragna nodded. "Yes, but there is more. You need to visualize your core engine. Focus on it first, select the skill you want to activate, and then think about activating it."


    Taylor visualized what the spirit said and decided to try Dash. He focused on his chest. It was not simply a mental procedure. He could actually see the white core and the three small mirage balls within it. He wasn''t just imagining it.


    The sight made his head woozy for a while. He stumbled and struggled to stand.


    "Wow. That was something."


    Ragna advised, "It is a new sensation, so you should take things slowly."


    He shook to dispel the grogginess from his mind. Then he tried again.


    He took Ragna''s advice and took things slowly. He focused on the tiny ball of light in his chest and slowly erged it. The ball became bigger as if it were being inted. There was some pressure as it got bigger in his mind, but it wasn''t as bad as his previous attempt.


    The ball didn''t explode in his mind and stun him like before. It was just too bright for his mind to look at for long.


    He endured this brightness and focused on the mirage ball, with the man moving arge distance with a single step. Then he activated it.


    But nothing happened. He looked up at Ragna and said, "Nothing happened."


    Ragna sighed and asked, "Which skill do you want to activate?"


    "Dash."


    "Then take a step. The images you saw were not just to inform you of what the skills can do. They are also instructions for the physical effects to take ce. You need both focus and physical actions to activate the skills."


    Taylor nodded and repeated the process again. It took fifty seconds for him toplete the process of focusing on the white core, identifying the skill he wanted, and then activating it. Then he took a step forward.


    It worked this time around. Taylor felt it through his whole body. His core burned brightly. It pulsed and thrumed like his heart.


    Then it pushed some form of force into the tiny threads in his body. This caused the force to spread throughout his body. Then he was suddenly 2 meters away from where he started.


    The euphoria of sess ended, and next came tiredness. He had depleted his stamina sharply and focused three times to make that move, so his head began to swoon and his body felt strained.


    The fact that he was not ready for the sudden change of position made him stumble. He couldn''t brace himself, so the force of his dash caused him to fall forward. He might have been able to stop himself if he had stamina. But he was too tired, so he truly fell face first onto the ground.


    He was panting for air as he got up. "That was exciting. It felt so natural. It felt like I actually did it, not the game mechanics."


    Ragna said, "I''m d you are happy. But you have a lot of work to do. That was painful to look at. You were slow and inefficient with the activation. Then you stumbled after activating it. It is clear that you have to be familiar with it."


    He said confidently, "I''m sure I can manage that."


    "You have to. These are just the basic skills. If you can''t master them, then you will be in a lot of trouble."


    "I suggest you return to your weapon training and use your skills together with wielding your weapon. That will at least prevent you from impaling yourself after Dashing. But there is more to power than that."


    Taylor asked earnestly, "Tell me."


    "The Power you can exhibit is equal to the attribute of your existence used for the skill multiplied by the boost from mana multiplied by the rank of the skill multiplied by your proficiency with the skill. If Power = X, Attribute = A, Mana Boost = M, Skill Rank = S, and Proficiency P, then X = AxMXSXP."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "In your situation, the attribute you used earlier was Speed. Mana Boost was 1%, or 1.01. Skill rank wasmon, which is just one step above nothing, so 2. Proficiency was 1%, or 1.01. Therefore, your power (X) was 4 x 1.01 X 2 x 1.01, which makes 8.16."


    "If you look closely, you will realize that your power output is twice your normal speed. That is just the minimum effect of what getting a skill can achieve. It is already a significant difference, but you can do better."


    Taylor''s eyes were wide when he heard this analysis. He said, "A difference of 100% is not just significant; it is impressive."


    Ragna shrugged and said, "That is the difference between those who have a ss and their core engine to use skills and those who don''t. They be twice as powerful immediately. But like I was saying, the advantage can be widened even further."


    "To do that, you need to raise Mana Boost and your proficiency of the Dash skill. If you can raise your proficiency to 100%, your proficiency in that form will be 2 and you will be twice as fast as you are right now. You will also have fulfilled the main requirements to be Tier 1 entity."

 Chapter 1874: Use Of Levels.

    Chapter 1874: Use Of Levels.


    ?


    "As for your boost from Mana, that can only be increased by increasing the number of skills you have and your Proficiency with all of them. As a Tier o entity, your maximum boost is 100% or 2 in the power form. That will increase to 200% at tier 1 or 3 in the form."


    "You should not forget skill rank either. They range frommon to divine. Each rank will grant you more power."


    Then Ragna asked, "Do you understand what I am saying?"


    Taylor nodded. "I see what you are saying. I should focus on the acquisition of skills and their proficiency. The proficiency of a single skill affects its power, while the average proficiency of all my skills affects my mana boost."


    "You are right about thest part, but not the first. Skills and their proficiency are important, but your base attributes should not be neglected."


    "Not only do your attributes ount for 25% of the power form, your total attributes also increase the capacity of your existence. Your total attributes are what is known as your level. So your level determines your capacity."


    "You need this capacity to hold skills. For example,mon skills take up 5 levels each, while umon skills take up 10 levels. Once you run out of space within your existence, you won''t be able to amodate more skills."


    Taylor''s mouth twitched. He said, "So I can''t have unlimited skills. That makes sense. But this also means I have to prioritize my attributes if I want to be able to use more powerful skills."


    Ragna nodded in agreement. "You''re getting it. Andst but not least, level doesn''t mean much on its own. Neither does the rank of a skill. You can defeat someone that is of a higher level than you or has a better skill than you as long as you have a better overall power output from your core engine than them. So you can''t neglect any part of the form."


    Taylor asked, "You mentioned a Tier 1 entity earlier. What Tier are gods?"


    Ragna chuckled and said, "All of you ask this question. Looks like you are all greedy for power."


    "Anyway, the lowest god seeds are tier 7pared to mortals. But the gods you saw earlier are tier 9."


    Taylor opened his mouth in shock. Then he said, "That''s a long way from tier o."


    Ragna agreed. "Indeed, it is."


    Taylor said hurriedly, "I think should get back to training then."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Ragna agreed again, "You should."


    He began walking towards the third floor. He decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator in light of recent revtions about how much training he needs to do.


    As he was walking, he asked something he noticed. "Do skills use both focus and stamina?"


    Ragna replied, "Yes, they do. Activating the skill requires focus, while executing it requires stamina. All mental effort requires focus, while every physical effort requires stamina."


    "As for Mana, it is free. If you be a god some day, you will have infinite focus and stamina. You will be able to use all the mana you want. But mana would have be too weak for you by then."


    He nodded in understanding and said, "So warriors and mages both need focus and stamina." I''m guessing they need more focus, and we fighters need more stamina."


    He made that guess based on the fact that he lost 50% of his total stamina after using the dash skill while he only lost 40% of his focus.


    Ragna agreed. "You are right. But your situation is wrong. Not only did you use five times the stamina you needed for the skill, you also used too much focus for it. That skill should have only used 10% of your stamina and 5% of your focus at best."


    Taylor chuckled, "More and more reason for why I need more training."


    Ragna continued, "The average ratio is 3 to 1. Warriors need stamina that is three times their focus, while Mages need focus that is three times their stamina. Mages still need to move if they don''t want to be sitting ducks."


    Taylor asked more questions and got more answers from Ragna. He soaked them up and then went to train. He had more training points on hand, so he was able to afford the advanced training of sword fighting.


    Ragna appeared to teach him the lessons he paid for. He taught him about stances and footwork and how to use them together with the three moves of the basic training. The stances and footwork added variety to his technique.


    The lesson was better than the previous ones because not only did Ragna show him how to execute them, Ragna also activated the mana pathways in his body, so he knows how to use his skills in conjunction with the techniques.


    He enjoyed the lesson so much that he decided to pay for more. So he spent an extra 100 training points to learn about counterattacking and parrying. It is not that he doesn''t know about those things. He knew about them, but they are different now that he has an extra organ within him that he has engaged with the techniques.


    He was engrossed in it for another two months. It was so fulfilling that he received a notification for it.


    -You have gained the Sword Mastery trait.


    The notification created a chime that drew his attention. It brought him out of his focused


    exercise.


    "Sweet. Let me see how far I havee."


    -ATTRIBUTES


    NAME: Taylor Thompson.


    RACE: HUMAN


    CLASS: SWORDMAN


    TIER: 0


    LEVEL: 20


    CONSTITUTION: 3


    STRENGTH: 5


    VITALITY: 4


    SPEED: 5


    SPIRIT: 3


    MANA: 10%


    CLASS PERKS: +10% Bonus Proficiency to all sword fighting skills.


    TRAITS:


    Sword Mastery: 10% Bonus Proficiency to all sword fighting skills.


    SKILLS:


    Dash: Common (10%)


    Power Strike: Common (15%)


    Harden: Common (8%)


    STATUS: Excited.


    Four months of training and eating special food have increased his level from 15 to 20. It


    means he can get anothermon skill. But he wants to save his level to 25, so that he can pick up an umon skill next.

 Chapter 1875: Hallucination Or Not?

    Chapter 1875: Hallucination Or Not?


    ?


    He had also made liberal use of the stamina and focus pills to train. This has increased his proficiency and boost from mana to a substantial level. Now he can produce power of 12.1 with Dash.


    It is a 48% increase in speed since he first got the skill and triple his speed without skills. But it is still nowhere enough what he can achieve when he maximizes his proficiency for Tier o.


    He said to himself, "I should be able to finish a D-rank mission now. But first, I want to have a normal sleep."


    He returned to his room and logged out. This returned his consciousness to the real world. However, he had to question if he was still in the game or not because he could still feel his core engine in his chest.


    "Where am I?"


    He looked around and realized that he was still in his maintenance pod. He had bought one to take care of his bodily needs now that he would be spending all of his time in God''s Domain.


    The presence of the maintenance pod indicated that he was back on it. But he still wasn''t sure of that.


    He opened the maintenance pod to reveal his bedroom beyond it. Everything looked like what he should encounter in the real world, but the unnatural lump in his chest was making him doubt reality.


    "This can''t be real, right?"


    He tried to activate a skill but it failed. He couldn''t even focus on any of the skills. He can tell that he has three skills within his core engine, but he can''t tell them apart or activate them like he used to do in God''s Domain.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He swallowed nervously and said, "Maybe I am just hallucinating. Or it is just a harmless vestigial feeling from all the time I''ve spent in the game."


    He would like to believe thetter, so he stopped thinking about his core engine. Ignoring the hallucination is also a solution if the former is true. So he was killing two birds with one


    stone.


    He ignored the lump in his chest and came out of the pod to rx. He doesn''t need to eat or have his bath since the maintenance pod has taken care of them. He doesn''t even need to exercise to keep his muscles from atrophying. But he wants to do something normal for once.


    The first thing he did was to go through his messages. The ones that made him scoff were the ones asking for his identity in God''s Domain.


    These messages are from the government and other organizations. They are offering benefits such as discounts for purchases and free stuff like free training and gym membership.


    He doesn''t know why they are interested in that information, but he had already decided not to reveal his identity in the game if possible. After all, he has done something in God''s Domain that he doesn''t want others to know in real life, and he intends to do more of such things in the future.


    Other messages and notifications revealed why many people wanted to know his identity. It turned out that he wasn''t the only one to hallucinate their core engine. Every person in God''s Domain who acquired it in the game can feel it in real life too.


    He couldn''t believe it at first. But then he rationalize it with a usible exnation. "Maybe the game tampered with our brain somehow. It would exin why we are having the weird feeling."


    It might be a fluke if it was just him that could feel his core engine. It might be a coincidence if there were two or three who could feel it. But it has to be something more if everyone can feel it. So he had to believe it.


    Then he said, "The alternative is that it is somehow rted to the promise of the Heavenly Corporation that we can bring our power out. But it obviously doesn''t work. I can''t activate any skills. So it is probably just a feeling."


    He read more to find out what others concluded about the situation.


    People were rightfully concerned. They thought something had gone wrong and the game had botched their minds. They went for checks, which revealed nothing.


    This made them more scared, so theyined to the heavenly cooperation. The heavenly cooperation replied to their concerns.


    The heavenly cooperation imed that the feeling was not a hallucination. They imed that what they were feeling was a deeper connection to God''s Domain.


    They imed that the connection can allow some of their power to leak into this world as long as they have met the right requirements.


    It sounded unbelievable. A year ago, no one in their right minds would believe this. But now, many people believed the Heavenly Corperation''s ims. Even those who didn''t believe them were open minded about the possibility that it might be true. They just didn''t want to believe them because they didn''t want it to be true.


    Regardless of their belief, the Heavenly Corporation said that everyone who reaches Tier 1 will be able to bring their power to the real world. This gave people a goal to look forward to. Besides that, the Heavenly Corperation also revealed that the in-game currency needed to purchase their products was called divine crystals.


    The Heavenly Corperation promised them, "Regardless of your power in the game or standing in real life, you will be able to purchase our products of healing elixir, longevity elixir, immunity elixir, and many more with divine crystals. So work hard to get divine crystals."


    This announcement riled up people more than usual. Many people were unhappy with the unpermitted modifications to their bodies. They called it evil and inhumane. Many governments also spoke up against it. Then they offered everyone in possession of the core engine or spirit anchor free medical services. They promised to do everything in their capability to take care of them and ensure thrir safety.

 Chapter 1876: The Crime Of Treason.

    Chapter 1876: The Crime Of Treason.


    ?


    Taylor saw this and sneered. "They just want to control everyone. It will be chaos if everyone can be Mega Man. It will make them lose their power."


    He finds it hard to believe that the government can be helpful for anything regarding the Heavenly Corporation. Not after the many times they tried and failed to hamper or gain control of God''s Domain.


    But far more than false promises, he believes that the governments of various nations are using the false promise just to acquire the identity of people who had made progress in the game so that they could control them.


    His suspicion increased when he saw articles speaking about the directive from some governments of some nations that forced soldiers to participate in God''s Domain.


    His suspicion was correct. People have been seeing a lot of things that pointed to the fact that power could be gained from God''s Domain. First were the in-game damages that appeared in real life. Now is the feeling of the possession of core engines or spirit anchors. Soon it might actually be true power.


    If that were to happen, the whole world would change due to its ramifications. The signs are already pointing to just how much the world will change.


    Those who were skeptical about the promises of God''s Domain in the past are beginning to take notice. They are now rushing to participate in order not to be left out.


    Governments and various organizations were also forcing or enticing people into entering the game. Kidnappings have also be rampant. All of these have led to a rise in the death rate as people are killed in real life or die in their third chance to pass the survival trial.


    The more Taylor read, the more he marveled about humanity and how far they were willing to go for power.


    "I wonder what historians will call this era in the future. Will it be the dark age or the age of enlightenment?"


    One piece of information even made himugh. He read that many legitors and activists were working towards banning God''s Domain and making participating in it illegal. Some governments with dictators are even willing to go so far as tobel it a crime of treason punishable by death.


    It made himugh just as it made many other peopleugh. He found it funny because there was no way to enforce it. Not unless they were willing to spy on all of their citizens 24/7.


    That will surely lead to an outcry from the people. But unlike the Heavenly Corporation, this outcry might work because the government is made up of easily essible people.


    The more he read, the more heughed. He shook his head. "Nothing can change the rise of God''s Domain. At this point, it is inevitable."


    He believes so because he thinks that if the Heavenly Corperation can grant people power, then they must have power themselves. It is real power too, not like the power of the government granted to them by the people. They don''t need to rely on the strength of a congregation of sheep to have their way.


    "No wonder they are asking for my in-game identity. I might give them when I have acquired real power. I want to see what the government will do then."


    Just the power he currently has in God''s Domain is enough to make him beat the world record for the world''s fastest man. He can only imagine what kind of power he will have at tier 1 or tier 4 or as a god. At that point, he wouldn''t even fear death anymore.


    It was so surreal. He had read many books about something like this. The rules of society changing when a powerful system or alien civilization invades and grants humans singr power. But now he might actually witness it happen.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He looked at his disabled left arm in a daze. It is a testament to the rise of unbelievable things that the Heavenly Corporation is capable of.


    He shook his head and said, "If it happens, I must be ahead of the new social order."


    He doesn''t care where the poweres from. All he cares about is that he wants to be the head and not the tail.


    He has read enough to know that bing the tail in such a situation will not be pleasant at all. Social order will fall, and the weak will be prey to the strong. He can''t allow that to be his lot.


    So he went to sleep and returned to God''s Domain as soon as possible. Then he went to the ckboard and picked out a D-rank mission. He went with the most popr one. It was a fight with an orc.


    The mission area was an arena. It wasrge and had ample space for dodging, but it was limited. The space was about 30 meters by 30 meters. Beyond that was a wall.


    At the center was his enemy waiting for him. He could see it because it was daytime and there was no roof to block out the sunlight.


    The two of them were the only ones in the arena. The orc was wielding two small axes. It had yellow skin smeared with red tattoos. It had two white tusks jutting out from its mouth.


    It also had the advantage of size and strength. It was about 3 meters tall and looked like it possessed twice his body weight in muscle mass.


    The orc didn''t speak to him. It roared and rushed at him. It was quite a frightening sight that would have sent a lesser man running. He would have run too if not for the fact that he knew he couldn''t die. Without the fear of death, all that was left was the anticipation for the fight.


    The Orc reached him soon. He took a sideways step and dashed to his right. This caused his position to shift abruptly.


    Next, he took another step forward and dashed towards the exposed back of the Orc. Then he stabbed his sword into its back.

 Chapter 1877: Nowhere Enough.

    Chapter 1877: Nowhere Enough.


    ?


    The Orc jumped away at thest moment. Taylor pursued it to kill it, but he had to back off when it whirled around swinging its axe at him.


    He continued to back off until the orc became tired and stopped. Then he dashed forward and used Power Strike together with a sword chop. The sword struck down with so much speed and strength that it felt like he had swung the sword with four arms, not one.


    The orc was breathing intensely, but it managed to block his strike with an axe.


    Unfortunately, it wasn''t enough. His sword pushed the axe downwards on its chest and cut deeply into it.


    Taylor wasn''t content with that. He kicked the Orc and followed up with another Power Strike.


    This drained his stamina far more than the previous one because he didn''t give his core engine time to cool down and reset. However, his move paid off. He managed to score another hit on the shoulder of the orc.


    The Orc was destabilized, so the sword sank into its shoulder and cut down to its chest. Unfortunately, he had been too focused on achieving this, which allowed the other hand of the orc to seed in its attack.


    The axe struck him in the chest. It was toote for him to use Harden. So the axe sank into his chest, entered through his right lung, and came out of his back.


    He was sent flying by the attack. He crashed into the wall with so much force that he vomited blood. But that was the least of his problems. An axe was upying space in his body where his lung should be. Dealing with that was at the top of his to-do list.


    He could still stand, but the pain was too much for him to do that. He was ready to die at that moment. The pain was so much it was all he could think about. He stopped caring about anything anymore, so he remained on the ground waiting for death.


    The orc on the other hand was still standing. It still had one of its axes, but the hand that held it had be useless, together with half of its chest and most of the organs in that half.


    It was in no shape to fight, but it wasn''t willing to give up. It took the axe with its functional arm and took a step forward to finish off its enemy. However, it fell face first to the ground and couldn''t stand up again.


    The two of them stopped fighting andid on the ground, bleeding out. It actually became apetition between the two to see who would bleed out first.


    The Orc won thatpetition. It bled out first, so Taylor won the match. The world turned ck as he lost consciousness, only for him to find himself hale and hearty in front of the ckboard.


    He hadpleted the mission, but he didn''t feel proud about it. "Again."


    He took the mission again and fought the orc. This time he lost. 100 training points were deducted for his failure.


    "Again." He said.


    This time he didn''t overthink. He tried to rx and live in the moment. His strategy worked since he defeated the orc. But he still wasn''t content with his results because it took him 11 minutes to defeat the orc.


    He had fought mostly on the defensive and finally clutched a victory when his enemy became sloppy. That seems like a good victory to him.


    So he said, "Again."


    Then he fought the Orc again.


    Meanwhile, the gods had long be bored with his antics. Besides, Legion-9 had other things to look at currently. He was looking at a coalition between Legion-1 and a coalition of Domain gods.


    The coalition was formed by seven domain gods. They didn''t form the coalition to fight him. They formed it as a representation of the cooperation of the seven world gods who have decided to work together.


    As representatives of those seven world gods, they havee with a message for 9 Crowns. At least that''s what they imed as soon as they met him outside of Gemmis.


    The seven of them were floating on one side while Legion-1 was floating opposite them with his weapon drawn for battle.


    One of them had said, "We haven''te to fight. We have a message for you."


    Legion-1 nodded, "Get on with it so that wee to the next course of this meal."


    Some of them were angry because of what he was insinuating was going to happen after they were done talking. But they were not surprised that he would say something like that. To them, he was a rabid dog that attacked anything in sight.


    One of them sighed and said, "Seven world gods have decided to work together to capture you if you keep hindering their investment in God''s Domain."


    He was surprised by that. He asked, "seven? Just seven?"


    They asked him, "Is seven world gods not enough to show how serious this situation is? Is it


    not enough for you to realize the danger you are in if you keep hunting us?"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He shook his head and said, "It is not enough. In fact, it is nowhere near enough. I am beginning to think your world gods don''t take me seriously."


    He was warned immediately. "Careful what you say now. You stand at the precipice of a great decision that might doom you to running for your life for the rest of your life. You might get frozen forever because you ran your mouth. Or worse, being cursed and wishing for death."


    Legion-1 wasn''t going to heed that warning at all. It was not as if being chased by world gods was a new thing to him. He is currently being chased by many of them.


    So seven more world gods who want a piece of him won''t change anything. They can stand in line with the rest of people that wants a piece of him.

 Chapter 1878: Double Good Mood.

    Chapter 1878: Double Good Mood.


    ?


    So he said to them, "The void universe is a very big ce. I want to see what your world gods have that makes them so confident in threatening me."


    Then he attacked. He led with a divine strike and followed with an attack with golden light.


    One of the God Kings roared in anger and said, "You have gone too far this time around. We are not here to fight. We represent the will of seven world gods. To kill us is to disrespect them tantly."


    Legion-1 shook his head and said, "I don''t think so. I think I have gone just far enough. If you have a problem with what I am doing, you can go and ask the world god supporting me."


    He already knew that every god was here on behalf of a world god. He knew that right from his first day in the divine realm and before he began hunting the gods en masse. The fact that these world gods have just finally decided to band together and find him in the void universe won''t deter him.


    In fact, he is thinking of implicating the first sage by iming that the scheming snake of a world god is the one supporting him. But that would only create more trouble than its worth. So he gave up on the idea.


    Maybe other origin gods would be afraid. Actually, a sensible origin god should be afraid of a group of world gods working together to get them. But his situation is one where sensibility won''t make a difference to him.


    So he made another divine strike to kill the god. Actually, his job is to stall the domain gods while the other five Orc Banditse to join him in killing them.


    Killing them might only drop 50,000 divinity each, but it is still going to be worth it to kill them. 350,000 divinity is just too much for him to give up because of some world gods. He also might get lucky and they drop a domain. So no, he won''t let them go.


    Besides, if he lets them go now just because they threatened him, what else would he have to give upter when they threaten him? They are asking that he stop hunting them now. Will they ask for some divinity next? Or would they take a fancy to his domain?


    It is a slippery slope. Once he gives an inch, they will surely ask for a mile. So it is not just that he is too greedy to give up on hunting them. It is also a smart idea not to give in to their threat.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    While this was going on, Taylor was fighting the orc again. He did so again and again for hours on end. No god was watching him at this time. They were too distracted, and he was too boring. Only Legion-9 felt like watching him after a few hours.


    Something good had happened that put him in a good mood, so he was willing to watch the floundering mortal stumble about like some clumsy oaf.


    He shook his head andughed at the sight. Then he thought to himself, "They move like babies."


    He isparing them to babies because of all the unnecessary movements they make when moving. This and the many errors that Taylor is disying are something that is beaten out of kids at their respective family academies.


    As for babies in high heaven born with immortal bloodlines, some of them will move better than Taylor. But the man was a mortal, and he was in a good mood, so he found a way to be entertained by the sight.


    He also had to admit that the mortal was making some progress. With each fight, he managed to reduce the time it took to defeat the orc.


    Taylor was in a good mood too. He also noticed the improvements in his skill in every battle. So he didn''t stop fighting the Orc until he finished a match whileughing. He was so satisfied with the fight that heughed.


    He said to himself, "That is what a fight is supposed to be. It is supposed to be a dance. It is supposed to be instinctual movement where danger is escaped by a razor''s edge."


    The fight had beaten his awkward movements out of him. It has helped him regain his heyday, where he was carefree and smooth. He even managed to increase his mana boost to 50% and the proficiency of his skills to 70%. It is a wonderful feeling that left him wanting for more. So he took a C-rank mission.


    He didn''t worry himself about victory or defeat. He didn''t let the knowledge that C-rank missions were the great divide between the skilled and unskilled trainees. He just went into the fight with the sole aim of getting his sword into his enemy.


    The mission was to fight a knight giant. He found it in arge field waiting for him. The sun was high in the sky, beating down on them angrily.


    The knight giant said to him, "Have youe to die, puny human?"


    He replied calmly, with his sword held forward in his single hand, "No. I havee to bring you death."


    The giant bellowed inughter. Itsrge hand pped its chest armor, which caused it to rattle.


    The giant was almost three times his height. It was at least 5 meters, while he was just 1.7 meters. It was alsorge and heavily armored. So it stood over him like a giant metal wall that could move and swing a de.


    He wouldn''t be able to climb a wall that tall if it didn''t have armor or a sharp andrge sword. If it were standing still, he would be helpless against it. But he is somehow supposed to kill this humanoid and armored walking wall.


    He muttered under his breath, "There''s nothing to it. Just put the sword in it. You can''t put a sword in a wall, but you can do so for this."

 Chapter 1879: Half And Half.

    Chapter 1879: Half And Half.


    ?


    After he was done motivating himself, he took off towards the giant. The giant bellowed and swung its sword at him. The sword shed horizontally in a wide arc in front of the giant. But it missed him because he dropped to his knees.


    His momentum made him slide forward between the legs of the giant. He made sure to cut the leg of the giant behind the knee where there was a gap in the armor on his way through its legs.


    This made the giant cry out in anger. That leg snapped and buckled. It fell to the ground and brought the giant together with it.


    The giant waved his sword in a wide arc behind him to smash him to pieces. If he had been standing, then he would have been done in. But he had only one hand, so he couldn''t stand easily like a normal person. He had to roll, which saved him.


    The sword flew above his head. Meanwhile, he rolled to the left side of the giant. It was the side of the giant that wasn''t in possession of a sword.


    The giant still had an arm, which it used to punch him. He didn''t let that happen. He stepped back and used Power Strike. His strength was amplified immensely. It allowed his sword to cut the arm offpletely in one smooth strike.


    He didn''t stay still. The image of the position of the giant shed in his mind without looking. He made the decision to return to the back of the giant.


    The giant had just swung its sword backwards and was recovering from the swing. This left its back up. Taylor stabbed his sword deeply into its neck.


    It was as if he was stabbing a tree. His sword hit bone and snapped in half. He rolled away with the half in his hands as the giant bellowed again.


    He didn''t speak or taunt it. His mind was focused on the matter at hand. He was in the zone, as he liked to call it. Instincts became actions through reflex. He is currently a sword, and swords don''t speak.


    So he remained silent as he ran around trying to evade the giant. Without a sword, he doesn''t have much that can threaten the armored giant. The best he can do is try to remain alive while the giant slowly bleeds out.


    The defeat of the giant is already certain. It is losing blood from both its missing arm andcerated neck. Besides, there was still half of a sword stuck to the back of its neck.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The giant soon became tired. It stumbled and knelt down, unable to rise much less move. It could only heave loudly, producing the sound of a beating drum.


    Taylor approached it slowly. He took itsrge sword that it had dropped on the ground to use it to finish off the giant. But the sword was too heavy for him, and he only had one hand, so he couldn''t use all of his strength to carry it.


    He eventually gave up on the attempt and stood in front of the dying giant. He didn''t get close to it for fear of unexpected danger. He only waited patiently.


    The giant eventually died. He returned to the first floor safe and sound. But he was missing a sword.


    He thought to himself, "I think it is about time to buy better equipment."


    He had been using the training weapon they gave to everyone. The sword was not only of poor quality; it added nothing to his power. He can go and get another training sword for free, but he decided to get something better.


    He found the weapons store quickly. The good news was that there were a lot of alternatives. The bad news is that they are very expensive.


    The cheapest one was 1,000 training points. It was the reward of a D-rank mission. He haspleted many D-rank missions and even a C-rank mission, so this is not something he can''t afford. But even his 23,000 training points can''t get the best weapon avable.


    (Name: Razor (level 100))


    (Type: Legendary Sword)


    (Enhancement: +99 Strength)


    (Durability: 10,000/10,000)


    (Abilities: Self-repair. Self-cleaning. Binding.)


    (Description: A level 100 legendary sword. It is the pinnacle of human craftsmanship.)


    It was love at first sight. Razor was the only legendary sword in the shop. It drew his attention immediately. It was thin, shiny, and well designed. There was even a white gem fixed to its pommel. From the other information he saw from the detail listing, the sword was to be light


    as a razor.


    He whistled appreciatively. "What I wouldn''t do to get that."


    Its stats were beckoning to him like the sweet voice of a lover. He can already imagine just how powerful he would be with a sword that can add 99 strength to his basic attributes. At his current state, with 5 points in strength, 50 mana boost,mon skill, and 70% proficiency in that skill, he can wield a power of 5 x 1.5x2x1.7, which is equal to 25.5.


    His mana boost and skill proficiency have increased since he began to do missions, so his strength has doubled. But the legendary sword would increase his power to 94x1.5x2x1.7 to make 479.4. That is an outright boost of 18.8 times. A little more, and it will be 19 times.


    He muttered with shining eyes, "I will feel like a god."


    Then he took a nce at the price, and his face soured. The light in his eyes died immediately.


    He scoffed and said, "It seems this is just going to go like all the women that I have loved at first sight. They only want my money."


    It would cost him 10 billion training points to acquire Razor. That information made it so that other pieces of equipment caught his eye. He hadn''t looked at them before, but now they are suddenly looking attractive to him.

 Chapter 1880: Not Expensive.

    Chapter 1880: Not Expensive.


    ?


    The store was full of weapons, artifacts, and equipment ranging from footwear to armor. They were very powerful, but the more he saw, the more his expression fell.


    They were just too expensive for him. He was beginning to feel tempted to steal. The fact that there was no visible store manager made it look deceptively easy to steal. But he didn''t do so.


    Instead he grumbled, "This is too expensive."


    Ragna appeared in the air beside him and asked, "Why don''t you steal it?"


    Heughed and shook his head. "I am an upright man. I can''t do that."


    Ragnar apologized, "My bad then. Take it as if I never mentioned it."


    He chuckled as he remembered what had happened to thest person that was caught stealing. Her skin, muscles, and organs were all removed, leaving behind a bloody living skeleton.


    Then her naked skin was draped over the skeleton like a coat in order to preserve his dignity and stop him from catching a cold. That''s what Ragnar said as he disyed the woman in front of everyone.


    He can already tell which is worse between losing one''s skin and having it draped over them as cloth for their skeleton. He also knows what not to do to avoid having to make that choice.


    He changed the subject. "The weapon is powerful and all, but it is too expensive. It looks like a teaser equipment that we can''t possibly afford."


    Ragnar shook his head in disagreement. "No, it is not too expensive. Legendary Swords are very rare. They are rarer than divine weapons even though divine weapons are more powerful than legendary weapons."


    "This is because there are many gods, and anyone of them can make divine weapons. But there are very few mortals who can create something like this. Most humans that forge something like this eventually go on to be gods themselves, which further reduces the avability of legendary weapons."


    "This is not a teaser item, as you called it. In fact, this is the best opportunity to encounter a legendary weapon in all of God''s Domain. You will be hard-pressed to find one after the training."


    "Legendary swords are not even sold outside of the training facility. You will notice the binding ability. It means that legendary weapons can''t change owners until the previous owner dies. So you won''t be able to sell it after you get it. No one will be able to steal it either."


    Taylor''s face fell. He asked, "Doesn''t that mean people will try to kill me for it?"


    Ragnar nodded. "Exactly. So it is not expensive at all. Anything you can buy with money is not expensive. Out there and you will need to risk your life to acquire it. If you think a legendary weapon can make you a god, doesn''t that mean you will have to kill a god for it?"


    He rolled his eyes and said, "Fine. It is not expensive. But I still don''t think a single person can acquire enough training points to buy it."


    Ragna scoffed. "Maybe a single person is not strong enough to acquire it, but there are certainly enough missions and training points as rewards from them to buy it. If someone manages to umte a lot of the training points that others acquire, then they will be able to afford a legendary weapon. It is that simple."


    Taylor''s face twitched when he heard Ragnar call, umting the training points that everyone has earned, simple.


    He thought about it and realized that Ragna was right about how to acquire a legendary weapon. A and B-ranked missions have a total of 1,000,000,000 rewards avable each. That means technically two people can afford the legendary weapons if everyone helps them.


    But he still didn''t see anything simple about it, so he shook his head. "It is possible, but it will be very difficult."


    Ragna shrugged, "Maybe it is difficult. But only someone who manages to do something like that is worthy of a legendary weapon."


    Taylor chuckled. "I guess I am not worthy of a legendary weapon then. I will stick with normal weapons."


    Ragna advised, "The stats of weapons might be the same, but that doesn''t mean every weapon will perform the same. Pay attention to length, shape, weight, and bnce. Only when a weapon suits you will you be able to make full use of it. A poor weapon will affect your execution of skills and hinder you when you fight."


    Taylor took his advice seriously. It is especially so since he has only one arm and can''t bnce himself as well as others. He needs to take special care in choosing his weapon.


    But the more he read, the more daunting he realized the task of finding a suitable weapon. Not only are there differences in physical features, there are also differences in durability. It meant some weapons were fragile and more likely to break than others.


    Since he could only afford normal weapons, there was no difference in their abilities. In fact, they didn''t have any abilities. There was nothing special about normal weapons. They just had more stat boosts than others.


    He eventually chose a level 10 sword. It would add 9 points to his strength, which is almost double his original strength. So the sword raised his strength to 14 and increased his output from 25.5 to 71.4. It is a direct tripling of his strength.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    It cost him 10,000 training points to buy. He wanted to get a level 11, but it cost 13,000 training points. It was the same case in every other type of weapon and artifact sold. There was a drastic change from level 10 to level 11.


    Weapons generally became more durable and cost far more for each incremental increase in their attribute boost. So he had to settle for a level 10 sword if he intends to outfit himself with armor and footwear. He just doesn''t have the training points for something more expensive.

 Chapter 1881: Exhausted Potential.

    Chapter 1881: Exhausted Potential.


    ?


    When he was done picking what he needed, he had be more difficult to kill because of his leather armor, faster because of his shoes, and stronger because of his new weapon. He felt


    like apletely different man.


    He waved the weapon about in appreciation. "Let me go and do some more training to get the hang of this sword. Then I will grind missions."


    This became what he did with most of his time. He trained, went to the real world to sleep, came back to grind missions until he couldn''t anymore, and then used his new training points to buy a new weapon.


    He did spend some time to trade his old weapons for some training points with others who couldn''t afford to buy a new one. The durability of his old weapons has fallen, but they are still powerful, and most importantly, they are still cheap.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    There was a pause in his mission grinding when he realized that he couldn''t raise his mana boost above 80% no matter how hard he tried. All three of his skills had reached 100% proficiency, but Mana Boost didn''t rise beyond 80%.


    He had to ask Ragna for advice. The training spirit told him that he had to acquire a fourthmon skill and raise it to 100% proficiency or acquire an umon skill and raise it to at least 50% proficiency.


    Ragna had said, "Mana Boost is dependent on the quality and quantity of skills. In general, you need 4mon skills at 100% proficiency to be Tier 1. 4 umon skills for Tier 2, and 4 rare skills to be Tier 3."


    Taylor did the calctions and said, "Ifmon skills need 5 levels, umon skills need 10, and rare skills need 20 levels. It will mean that one will need to be at level 20 to be Tier 1, level 40 to be Tier 2, and level 80 to be Tier 3. What about Tier 4?"


    Ragna replied, "You will have to work for that information. Tier 4 is the divide between mortals and epic beings. It is still a long way for you. You are just level 22. You still have a long way to go."


    Taylorined, "I am trying my best. I haven''t cked off one bit for 10 months now. But I have very little to show for it. It is getting more and more difficult to increase my stats. Surely there has to be another way."


    Ragnar shook his head in pity and replied, "It will only get more difficult for you to acquire stats. Soon you will need an entire year to gain a single attribute, and then you will need a decade to gain one more. It is because you have used up your potential. However, there is an alternative. You can use divine crystals to raise your stats."


    Taylor smiled when he heard that. "Great. I have heard a lot about these divine crystals. Where can I get them?"


    "They can only be gotten from gods. You will need to do something to gain their favor. Or you will need to be a hero."


    Taylor''s smile faded away. He can still remember thest time he tried to gain the favor of the gods. He is still living with the consequences.


    He thought to himself, "What do I have to give now, and how many divine crystals will I get for it?"


    Ragna interrupted his thoughts, "Forget about divine crystals for now. You can''t get them until you finish your training. There''s still two months to go. I suggest you focus on your skills."


    Taylor shook his head and returned to training. He told himself, "I have to be a hero or things will be very difficult for me in God''s Domain."


    He has learned enough to know that acquiring power in God''s Domain will be very difficult without the help of gods. He can''t even go about killing monsters to acquire power like in other games.


    It is a good thing he doesn''t need to kill to grow stronger since if he dies, he will lose half of all his stats. He will retain his skills and their proficiency, but he will lose half of his attributes, which is directly half of his power.


    So it is a good thing that he doesn''t need to risk his life to acquire strength if he can lose half of it with a single mishap. But even without the danger, acquiring strength is still difficult for him. It was easy for him to reach level 20 from the level 15 he started with. It was thanks to his hard work, the nutrient pills, stamina pills, and focus pills he bought with his training points. However, he has stagnated since then.


    It took him 2 months to gain five levels and finally reach level 20, but it took him 3 months and 5 months for a total of eight months to get his next two levels.


    He thought it was too difficult, but Ragna said it was normal. Ragna would say that only those who have ovee such difficulties are worthy of bing Epic beings.


    It made him wonder, "If it already this difficult to be an Epic being, how can mortals kill ods?"


    He doesn''t know that. He only knows that if he fails to be a hero, he must find a way to change his race immediately. He already has his mind made up about that. He had even decided what race he would pick.


    "I would prefer to be an elf, but I will take anything with more potential at this point. Anything with a potential of 50 and above will do."


    He wanted to wait till he reached level 25 and used the extra ten levels avable to get an umon skill. But he can''t afford the wait anymore. Now he has to decide between getting a newmon skill or upgrading one of his old skills to the umon rank.

 Chapter 1882: Selection Day.

    Chapter 1882: Selection Day.


    ?


    Upgrading is the more expensive option. But ites with the perks of requiring just 5 levels more instead of 10 levels for a new umon skill. He will also retain half of his proficiency in the upgraded skill. His power will experience a massive boost since umon skills are more powerful thanmon skills.


    However, he went with getting a new skill. It is not because he can''t afford the cost of upgrading the skill. He just wants to increase his versatility by getting a new skill.


    He got Quick Strike. Unlike Power Strike, Quick Strike focuses on the speed of an attack. It makes his attacks too fast to block. He opted for it over Double Strike or Reinforce, which would make him more difficult to kill.


    Then he returned to his schedule. He would train, sleep, fight, buy better equipment, and then do it all over again. He wasn''t the only one doing so. In fact, the top 10% were in a frenzy doing missions so as to be able to reach the top 10. They were fighting like their lives


    depended on it.


    Eventually, two months went by. It was finally thest day of training. They were all arranged on the first floor just like the first time they came here. Ragna was also standing in front of them in his full giant form.


    He said to them, "You already know if you are going to be a hero or not. But don''t be disheartened if you didn''t make it to the top 10. The gods have been watching your performance and might choose anyone of you that fits their requirements. We will know soon if you were selected or not."


    They saw the signs immediately. A pir of golden light fell on certain individuals. There was a golden paper within the pir of light. It fell from the sky and came to stop in front of the selected heroes, where it hovered.


    Some in the top ten received just one piece of paper, but others received more. It meant more than one god was interested in them. So they could pick which contract to sign and which god to work with.


    It didn''te as a surprise that the top 10 were chosen. ck Knife, who was the first on the ranking, received 11 contracts vying for him. The second-ranked person who calls himself AB Tfuck received 27 contracts.


    The third on the list of top ten received 7 contracts. It was less than the amount that the second and first received. So it wasn''t that offers were increasing down the list. TFuck is just an outlier.


    Taylor received none. He had tried his best, but he only managed to clinch 11th. He even tried to clear an S-rank mission on his own, but he failed. Apparently, that wasn''t enough to impress the gods.


    The 10th person was the spearman that beat the D-rank mission without a ss. The difference between them was just too wide. It is mostly because the spearman had been doing missions a long time before him.


    He was busy limating to the use of one arm, which made him lose out time that he could have been using toplete training missions. Now he has missed out on bing a hero.


    He told himself, "It is okay. I am very strong. I am practically the best amongst the remaining 9,999,990 people. If I can''t make it in God''s Domain without being a hero, then no one should be able to make it."


    He was encouraging himself mentally when he heard a loud shout. "I refuse."


    Someone in the front had shouted. It was one of those who were offered contracts. Taylor was surprised to see that it was the person with the most offers.


    Tfuck waved his hand away and dered again, "I refuse everything. I want to be a god by my own hands. The path might be difficult, but it is what makes the process worth it. I must fight and lose everything that holds me back until the only thing left is what is necessary to always achieve victory. That is the day that I will be called the Martial God."


    Taylor''s jaw had dropped at the sheer insanity of it. He shouldn''t have been surprised by AB Tfuck''s actions since the guy was always doing dramatic stuff like that in past games. It is because AB was always taking things too far.


    He wouldn''t use easy game mechanics like fast travel and would instead do things the hard way, like walking across the map every time, all in a bid to have more realism. But Taylor didn''t expect that kind of behavior with the current stakes at risk.


    He pped his forehead, shook it, and said out loud, "Stop fooling around. This is not a game."


    His voice shouldn''t have left his mouth because of Ragna''s influence. He shouldn''t have been able to speak, but the opposite happened. His voice carried over and became loud enough for everyone to hear. Tfuck heard him butughed.


    The man threw his head back andughed. "It doesn''t matter what this is. The only thing that matters is that this is my destiny. I must forge myself into the sharpest de. I need the fires of war and the difficulties of life to hammer out the impurities within me. Only then will I be worthy of bing a god."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Taylor didn''t speak anymore. He felt that he had already done too much, so he kept quiet. The gods, on the other hand, had something to say.


    27 gods spoke one after another. One of them said, "So be it." Then they withdrew their contract.


    Someughed in amusement while others in derision, and some just snorted. Some just hummed. They called him various names such as ignorant, stupid, foolish, blind, and many


    more.


    Taylor didn''t sense any anger from them, but he agreed with everything they called AB. In fact, he was getting angry himself. His fist was clenched in anger at the absurdity of it all.

 Chapter 1883: Making Promises.

    Chapter 1883: Making Promises.


    ?


    He didn''t get one offer and felt like his future was bleak. But AB got the most offers and squandered them. How could he not be angry that AB didn''t value an opportunity he would kill for?


    Eventually all the contracts were withdrawn. The pir of light above TFuck''s head was withdrawn. Then his name in the top 10 was removed.


    Taylor shook his head in pity. "What a waste. What a waste."


    Eventually he sighed and said, "Maybe that''s what makes him so good at this game. He embraces all of the difficulties and learns to ovee them. Maybe I should try doing that instead of looking for shortcuts to avoid the difficulties."


    He was promising himself to maintain a positive outlook through the uing trying times, so he was caught off guard when a pir descended on him next.


    At first he was shocked. Then his eyes widened in realization. He looked at the whiteboard to see that his name had shifted to the 10th ce.


    "No way," he said in disbelief.


    Two contracts came down from the sky for him. They were the fewest number of offers for everyone in the top ten, but he still felt like crying in joy.


    A heavy invisible weight seemed to have been lifted off of him now that he will be a hero. He had been carrying this weight ever since he realized how hard it was to grow stronger without the help of gods.


    The weight had only grown stronger after he found out that he wouldn''t make it to the top 10. Then it rose to its peak after he was not picked.


    But the weight is gone now. Its absence brought a great sense of relief to him. He truly wanted to fall onto his knees and cry. But instead, he went through the contract quickly.


    Gone was his promise to embrace difficulty instead of looking for shortcuts. He just wasn''t that stupid. Instead, he promised himself to defeat AB and show the ignorant fool the errors of his way. He made that promise as he examined the contract at his fastest speed possible. One of the contracts was from a god called 9 Crowns, while the other was from another god called Sword Bite. He can only pick one, so he has to decide which god to work for.


    The two contracts stated his duties to his god. He is to obey his god in all things, even if it will risk his life. There were other responsibilities, such as the fact that he must not deceive or betray his god. Then he has to join the pantheon of his god after bing a god himself. Next are his benefits. He will earn an upgrade of his ss to the Heroic level. He will get a race change to that of his god. He will get one divine artifact of his choosing. He will earn 1 divine crystal per month for the rest of the time he is a hero. His power will be protected by his god so he doesn''t lose it when he dies.


    Thest part of the contract was the terms for the cancetion of the contract. It stated that the contract will remain unchanged unless the two parties are in agreement to change it. It also stated that the contract will remain in effect forever until he bes a god.


    What concerned him was that there was no way for him to break the contract. But it didn''t concern him enough to consider rejecting the contracts.


    The two contracts were identical, so he looked through the brief information of the god he was signing up with to determine which one he would go with. This information was short. It only stated the ranking of the gods and their cement in this ranking.


    There were four rankings provided by the information. He noticed that the god called 9 Crowns was the first in three of them.


    His eyebrow raised in surprise when he saw this. He muttered, "An overachiever? I hope they won''t be a demanding boss."


    He was already inclined to 9 Crowns when he saw their cement in the four rankings. The fact that this Sword Bite god was not at the top of any of the rankings helped him to make up his mind.


    He had to cut himself a little so that he could use his blood to name his mark of agreement on the contract. It was what was asked from the contract.


    He was no stranger to pain after a year of grueling training, so he cut himself quickly and used his blood to thumbprint. This made the other contract disappear.


    The contract he signed shrank and attached itself to his forehead. It became a mark in the shape of a god with 9 heads.


    -Your ss Swordman has been upgraded to Heroic Swordsman.


    -Your Race has changed to Orc


    -You have gained Identify.


    -You have gained the rune leveling system.


    -You have gained the protection system.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    -You have received Blessing of the 9 Crowns.


    His body began to change with the notifications. He grew taller and bigger quickly until he was an orc. The mark of his god remained on his head. It was golden against his red skin.


    He wasn''t as big as an orc should be. He was more lithe than bulk. It was exactly what he would have preferred to look like if he had been asked to shape his orc form.


    He looked at his sword, which had be tiny in his hands. "Looks like I won''t be able to use you anymore. Fortunately, I will be able to get a divine weapon soon."


    He was never able to get a legendary weapon. Not after ck Knife umted a billion training points to get one. This reduced the chances of others getting it, as the training points left could only get one more Legendary weapon.


    Between thepetition by the others to get that single legendary weapon and the many training points spent on other things, no one was able to get another legendary weapon.

 Chapter 1884: The Norm.

    Chapter 1884: The Norm.


    ?


    So only ck Knife was able to get a legendary weapon. But that wasn''t enough for ck Knife to be appreciated as much as the guy who took second ce.


    It made him wonder. "ck Knife is clearly smarter, but how strong is AB for 27 gods to want him?"


    He squinted in the direction of AB TFuck and actually saw more details about him. He was able to see his level, HP, focus, and stamina. Tfuck was not the only one whose data he could see. He could see the data of everyone in his sight.


    He shook his head in amusement and chuckled. "This finally feels like a game. It isn''t much, but I will know not to take on someone with twice my levels."


    Levels don''t trante to power in God''s Domain. In fact, it is not in the equation for power at all. But it affects the number and quality of skills that an entity possesses.


    Not only that, it indicates the total number of attributes that someone possesses. So the ability to see the level and the current health, focus, and stamina level will help him gauge a target''s threat better.


    He was thinking about its usefulness when he remembered one of his perks. It made him grin and said, "Not that I will need to be too cautious. With the protection system, as long as I am not captured, everything will be fine."


    The difference in his attitude now and before he became a hero is stark. He was dreading leaving the training facility before. But now he is looking forward to letting loose and enjoying God''s Domain.


    Unfortunately, he has to wait because not everyone was as fast as him when it came to signing the contract. Some were faster. They didn''t go read the contract at all. They just chose one based on the ranking of the gods that offered them.


    They didn''t think it was important enough to read. They still hadn''t truly understood that this world shouldn''t be considered just a game.


    There were others who were even more serious than him. They were still going through each line over and over again. There were others who didn''t like what they read. They were hesitant to sign it because they didn''t like some things.


    After a while, Ragna pped to draw everyone''s attention. He said, "Our meeting ends here. So does your training. It doesn''t matter how you performed this past year; what matters is that you know a little about what to expect in the world out there."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "For your information, you don''t have to sign the contract at all, and you don''t have to sign it now. There is no one that will force you to sign a contract. So you can take your time or reject the contract outright."


    "That aside. I will rmend that you sign the contract now if only for the fact that the contract will not remain avable forever. Just like you can reject it, the gods can withdraw it too and offer it to someone that will be more appreciative of it."


    "But don''t rush into making a decision. The fact that you are hesitant is already enough reason to take your time. I hope you will make the decision that is right for you."


    "As for those who are not gued with the choice between bing heroes or not, I have onest piece of advice for you. Get a resurrection stone as soon as possible. It will help you fix the location of your resurrection and will quicken your resurrection depending on its quality."


    Then he pped again. "We will go our separate ways now. I wish all of you good luck. Goodbye."


    The far end of the hall opened. The entire wall sank into the ground to reveal arge world. Wind rushed into the hall. It brought with it a myriad of smells, many of which they had never perceived before. They could hear various sounds and see various sights.


    Taylor followed the throng of people as they walked out. His eyes were opened wide in awe. Even his mouth was ajar. The world was simply beautiful. It was breathtaking.


    Apparently their training facility was at the edge of a forest. Behind them was the forest in all of its glory. Most of the trees were more than 100 meters tall.


    These enormous trees were not the oddities. They were the norm. Most of the birds and creatures they saw were also big. They fit into the environment nicely. It was the trainees that were small and out of ce.


    In front of them was a grass in. There were squirrels the size of dogs and butterflies the size of birds frolicking on this grassy in.


    These creatures were startled when the trainees began to enter the grass in. They ran away in fear too.


    This made him shake his head and say, "You didn''t need to run. We are more scared of you than you think."


    The sounds in their immediate surroundings quieted down after many creatures ran away. But the difference was only a little. There were still a lot of soundsing from the forest behind them.


    Beyond the grass in were the signs of civilization. There was even arge city in the distance. It had high walls made of rocks. There was arge castle at the center of this city. Different types of races wereing and going across the streets of the city.


    Everything he saw gave Taylor a medieval fantasy impression. He has seen worlds like this before, but it has never felt so real before. He can feel the wind blowing across his skin and smell the various hints of nts and earth in it. It didn''t feel any different from Earth.


    He mumbled to himself, "It might even be better."


    He fell onto the grass and rolled around on it. The feeling of on his skin that would have irritated him in real life only made him whoop for joy. He was just too happy to care.

 Chapter 1885: Something Illegal.

    Chapter 1885: Something Illegal.


    ?


    His focus on the environment was only diverted when a golden arrow appeared in his vision. It pointed in a certain direction.


    He stood up and decided to see where it led. He eventually reached a spot outside of the grass in where some people were waiting for him. They were all orcs like him.


    One of them was wearing what appeared to be golden armor. He can''t really tell because of all the light it was producing. The armor is blinding to look at, so it might not be golden.


    There were two other orcs standing around the one in golden armor. These two have the same mark he has on his forehead. It was the mark of an Orc with nine crowned heads.


    These two were standing. Only the one in golden armor was sitting on the ground. He or she also had their eyes closed. It was only when he arrived that they opened their eyes.


    The orc said, "Thest hero is here. I shall now inform you of what''s going on."


    "I am Deva. I am a priest of the 9 Crowns. I was sent to bring you to our God''s kingdom here on earth."


    Taylor asked, "What was that golden arrow?"


    The orc priest was confused. It asked, "What golden arrow?"


    He exined, "I saw a golden arrow that led me here. Was I the only one that says it?"


    The two other heroes spoke. "Yeah, I saw one too."


    The priest stood up and addressed them. "I don''t know what arrow you speak of, but I suppose it was a sign of our god giving you directions. The 9 Crowns told me to wait here, and I waited. Then you came to me. I see no other exnation for what you saw."


    Taylor nodded while the priest continued, "Now that we have met, we best be on our way. We do have a long way to go."


    The orc priest bowed his head and prayed. The three heroes looked unsure at each other. They didn''t know what to do. But then they saw fourrge wolves bounding out of the forest. The four ck wolves were running straight for them.


    A quick use of Identify showed Taylor what they were up against.


    -ck Forest Wolves-


    -Tier 1/Level 30


    -HP: 100%


    -FOCUS: 99%


    -STAMINA: 93%


    They were at the same tier he was, but they had more levels than he did. They were animals with low intellect, but he knew it would be a tough fight to defeat them.


    These were not the foes who didn''t have ess to manner and couldn''t use skills. He has seen enough through the missions to know that defeating them will be difficult, while killing them will be far more difficult.


    Even so, he didn''t feel any fear. It was because he was a hero. What he felt was anticipation for the uing fight. He drew his short sword and prepared himself for battle.


    But the focus or the stamina of the wolves didn''t fall sharply when they got close enough to attack. It meant that they didn''t intend to use any skills or spells. It meant they had underestimated him because he was smaller than them.


    It made him grin. "Bring it on."


    Unfortunately, the priest cut off his excitement ruthlessly.


    "Our ride has arrived. Let''s get on and leave here."


    Taylor looked confused for a short while because of what the priest said. But then he saw that the wolves truly didn''t attack them. Theyy on the ground with their tongue out, panting for air.


    He asked incredulously, "We can ride them?"


    The priest asked, "What else are we going to ride?"


    Taylorughed and said, "I love my job."


    He climbed onto the wolves just like the priest did. Then they set off away from the city. Their journey took them across the edge of the forest until they reached a fortress. It took them 11 days of riding for them to make it this far.


    During that time, all they saw were trees and things that wanted to eat them, so they were d to finally see signs of civilization.


    The fortress was nked by two mountains on both sides, so it was in a valley. It looked interesting, and Taylor was looking forward to seeing it up close. Unfortunately, the priest didn''t bring them to pass through the fortress. They stopped in front of one of the mountains far away from the fortress.


    ck Knife spoke. He rarely did so Taylor paid attention to what he said.


    "It looks like we are doing something illegal."


    Taylor asked, "What do you mean?"


    The third hero, Sharon, replied, "He means that we are not using the main and open road. Instead, we are using the more dangerous but secretive option."


    Taylor asked the priest, "Are we really going to climb the mountain? I thought we stopped to pick something up."


    Deva replied with a snort. "We are not doing anything illegal. We have to go over the mountains, or we will be attacked by the fortress. The fortress is controlled by the humans, and they kill Orcs on sight."


    Taylor said, "Right, we are orcs now."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Deva asked, "What were you before?"


    ck Knife replied, "It doesn''t matter what we were before. What matters is how we will get over this mountain.


    Deva said confidently. "Do not worry. The 9 Crowns has everything under control. As for the humans, their control over thesends will soon be over."


    Taylor had to ask, "What about where we came from? There were orcs and other races there. No one attacked us."


    "That''s the City of Adventurers. It is open to every race. We are currently in the kingdom of Thames. It is a kingdom created when the humans drove off the orcs from our homes. We were forced to live in the jungle at the edge of the Northern Domain. But our gods have returned, and so has mana. They won''t be able to hold us back anymore."

 Chapter 1886: Faith In Gods.

    Chapter 1886: Faith In Gods.


    ?


    Sharon asked more questions. She was interested in knowing how a race with more potential than humans could be defeated and forced to relinquish theirnds to humans. The other two also had more questions, which Deva replied to to the best of his abilities.


    They chatted while waiting. Eventually, fourrge falcons flew down to carry them over the mountains. Their vantage point aboard the falcon granted them a nice view of what was going on down below. They finally saw the town in front of the fortress.


    They didn''t see it earlier because they were far away from it. What they saw was the fortress because it was so big.


    They didn''t understand how far away they were from the fortress and how big it was until they became close to it. It reminded them of the Great Wall of China but bigger. The entire wall was the fortress. It barricaded the passage through the mountains and also served as a barrack for the soldiers stationed there.


    They could see that the fortress was a hive of activity. The soldiers appeared to be preparing for war. The top of the wall and the other side facing the jungle were all fitted with ballistas and catapults, which were currently being cleaned and checked. It made them wonder what the soldiers were preparing for.


    They saw the answer to that question very soon. They saw a tide of orcs on the opposite side of the fortress. The orcs had various colors, which was a sight to see. They had cleared arge area of the forest and used the wood and stones to buildrge weapons of war. They also had tents that formed a barricade around the siege weapons.


    Taylor said, "I am guessing this is why the humans won''t be in control of the fortress for long."


    Deva said piously, "We will be victorious not because of the strength of our arms, but because the 9 Crowns has decreed it."


    The former humans now turned heroes shared a skeptical nce. They didn''t share the same faith in gods as the NPC.


    Their way of life and the games they have yed have made them think of gods as simply powerful mortals. Taylor himself has killed a lot of the so-called gods in many games. So they don''t think they are going to win just because their god has decreed it to be so.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    If anything, the sight of such fanaticism has made him believe that the power of gods might be exaggerated. It is because, just like love, faith tends to blind believers to the reality of the situation.


    The reality of the situation is that the humans had already beaten the orcs before, and now they are flying over a mountain range in an attempt to avoid the fortress that sealed the mountain pass.


    Deva imed that it was the absence of mana, theck of assistance from the gods, and the infighting between the orcs that made the ancient Orc Empire fall.


    The priest believes that now that those problems have been solved, victory will be certainly theirs. But they are not so sure the humans should be underestimated.


    After all, even Deva ims that the human race is currently thergest race. A weak race can''t be thergest if they don''t have something that makes them thrive over the others.


    Sharon asked, "Will the gods be involved in this uing battle?"


    Deva shook his head as he replied, "I do not know the ways of our god. The ways of the 9 Crowns is not for us to understand. We are to simply do what we have been asked to do." Taylor asked, "What is it then that we are to do? What part will we y in this war?"


    He shook his head again. "I do not know either. I am guessing you will get to find out soon when we meet the 9 Crowns."


    ck Knife shrugged and said, "It doesn''t matter what we think. We are heroes now. All we have to do is listen to orders."


    They stopped chatting when the falcons swooped down to deliver them to thergest tent. There were other orcs with golden armor around this tent. It made the heroes assume that they were priests and that this tent must be very important.


    They were ushered into the tent by Deva. The tent revealed itself to be a temple. There were religious decorations everywhere. There was also arge altar at the center of the tent. People were surrounding it and bowing before it.


    Deva said to them, "Kneel and bow."


    The three of them listened to him. They mimicked the other priests around them and bowed. Soon a presence appeared amongst them.


    The first thing that tipped them off to the strange presence was that they found it difficult to breathe. The presence made the air stagnant and sticky. Being around it was suffocating.


    The three of them wheezed and struggled to breathe. They wanted to speak, but the air had be heavy. It was as if they had heavy water in their lungs. They couldn''t exhale or inhale. Soon their vision narrowed as they began to lose consciousness. They fell to the ground, clutching their chest, and curled up in the fetal position. All of these happened in less than one minute despite them being strong enough to hold their breath for more than a minute.


    Eventually the pressure eased enough for them to breathe again. It was slow and hard, but they could breathe. It meant that they wouldn''t die.


    They regained some of their strength and were able to look up from where they were on the ground. They found a golden figure standing above them and looking down on them.


    The golden figure said, "Do you know why I selected you?"


    They didn''t know if they should answer. They also didn''t know if their answer was correct,


    and they didn''t want to say the wrong thing. So they were silent as they contemted. But the figure continued anyway.

 Chapter 1887: The Purpose Of Heroes.

    Chapter 1887: The Purpose Of Heroes.


    ?


    The figure said, "If you didn''t know, I will tell you. I offered you, ck Knife, a contract because you were resourceful. You are not the most powerful trainee, but you still became the first and the only trainee to own a Legendary weapon. That is a worthy achievement."


    "I offered you, Sharon, a contract because you were willing to do anything for sess. Not only were you talented, you were also the only one to clear an S-ranked mission on your own."


    That made Taylo widen his eyes in disbelief. It is because every S-ranked mission was a mission against a powerful army. It was not something a single person could ovee. At least not at tier 1. He knew that from experience because he had tried many times to clear one on his own and failed every time.


    Legion continued, "Then there is you, Taylor. I offered you the contract because you were a talented mortal."


    "There were other, more talented mortals than you and also far more powerful mortals. I offered them contracts too. But do you know why you became a hero instead of them? It is because you signed the contract first."


    "The same goes for all of you. The three of you became my heroes because you were the first three to sign the contract. You were not the only ones I offered the contract to, but you were the ones desperate enough or quick enough to sign off on it."


    "What is my point here? My point is that you are here by chance. Your talent only gave you the opportunity to be here, but it was by chance that it was the three of you who became my heroes. Someone else could have taken your ce, and it wouldn''t have made a difference to me."


    "I am a god, and you are mortals. You are all weak. You are all ants. Anyone of you will be able to achieve greatness as long as they be heroes. And any one of you would have been suitable for my purpose as long as I make them heroes."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Legion paused to look at them. Then he continued, "Now onto the most important matter. What is your purpose? Why did I want heroes if I am so strong? You are to be tools that cannot die."


    "I have more powerful mortal tools than you. Look around you. Any of my priests can easily defeat you. This fact might not be so in the future, but for now and the foreseeable future, you three will be weak mortal tools."


    "Where you are special is that you cannot be extinguished. I can use you over and over again without fear of breaking you. And when you break, I can put you back together again. That''s what it means to be a hero for a god."


    There was a pause and a silence that allowed those words to sink in. Then the god continued, "I hope you understand what I mean and prepare yourself mentally for it. It doesn''t matter if you don''t; you will get enough work toe to terms with your situation soon."


    "But fret not; you will not be used without rewards. After all, a weak tool will be of little use to me. An inextinguishable tool is good, but a sharp inextinguishable tool is better."


    "Now for a final warning. I know that some of you think of this as some sort of game, but this is not a game to me. You will either be for me or against me. If you are against me, I will destroy you. If you are for me, then you must be useful to me, or I will strip you of your power and give it to someone else. Don''t disappoint me."


    "That will be all for now. You will answer to my Oracles. They are my mouthpiece in the mortal realm. They will give you instructions, and you must obey them."


    He left them then and flew into the Thames kingdom for another round of reconnaissance and bullying before the war will eventually start. As for the heroes, his Oracle presented them with their divine weapons and their first pay of divine gold.


    ck Knife got a cloak that can hide him and gives him a speed boost of 200 points. Sharon got a magical staff with a boost to spirit of 200 points.


    Taylor got a sword that can destroy mortal weapons on contact. The sword also boosted his speed and strength by 100 points each. It was as if he had two Legendary weapons.


    With the sword, his attack speed has increased while his power with a strength of 5 points has reached 1,260. No mortal has enough hit points to take a single unprotected hit from him.


    He doesn''t even need to hit weak points for critical hits. He can bisect an armored giant from head to navel with a single strike. The sword is that dangerous.


    They were then given 10 divine gold and a week to prepare for the war. But first, he had to bond with the divine weapon. He put some of his blood on it and fainted as the sword began to glow.


    When he woke up, he found himself back on earth. His mind was groggy for a while, so he found it difficult to remember where he was and how he got there.


    While he was struggling to do so, a headache was pounding his head, threatening to split it open.


    "Did I drinkst night? What''s with the weird dream I had and this killer hangover?"


    He thought he had dreamt up his experience of God''s Domain. But then he tried to move his left arm and realized that it wasn''t a dream. His experience these past few months appeared clearly in his mind again.


    He said with dawning realization, "It wasn''t a dream."


    Then he chuckled and said, "I guess this is the Dream-reality confusion that the Heavenly Corporation warned us about."

 Chapter 1888: Another Round Of Grandstanding.

    Chapter 1888: Another Round Of Grandstanding.


    ?


    He struggled to get out of his maintenance pod as he thought about his experience. For the past six months, he had been in the game. When he returned to real life, only a few hours had passed. This caused his brain to struggle in figuring out what was going on.


    It is a normal situation that he has experienced before when he had borate dreams. Waking up is usually apanied by a sense of confusion and loss.


    The Heavenly Corporation had warned that it would only get worse the more time they spent in the game. Eventually, the real world will be unappealing to them.


    Not many people care about that loss. Not after people became Tier 1 and could actually use their power in God''s Domain in the real world. He certainly doesn''t care about it now that he has finally received the highly coveted in-game currency.


    The recollection of the divine gold he received made him check his status again. When he saw the line that allows him to convert divine gold into divine crystals, he sighed in relief.


    Then his eyes lit up in anticipation. "What should I get with it? I can get so much. I can improve my stats. I can buy anything in God''s Domain and on earth with it."


    There were many things he could do with divine crystals, but he decided that he had to acquire what he came to God''s Domain for first. So he used the interface in his mind to purchase the elixir for his mother.


    Having done so, he began tough. He wasughing because he was happy. He had no doubt that the elixir would be real because the Heavenly Corporation has fulfilled even more difficult promises.


    He can still remember when he just became Tier 1. He had rushed offline to see if what they had said was real.


    His expectations were not disappointed when he woke to find that his core engine had be real. He could also activate his skills. A single step made him dash across arge distance. It was simply inconceivable.


    He couldn''t believe it back then. But now he expects that their promise about elixirs that can heal any injury will be real. In fact, he will find it unbelievable if the elixir isn''t real. After all, it was the first thing that the Heavenly Corporation used as bait to lure people into their game.


    Heughed some more and dashed across the room to test his power again. He did so to make sure that he hadn''t dreamt the whole thing again. It was bing harder to tell.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    His body is weaker than what it is in God''s Domain, but the power boost from mana is real.


    He shook his head in awe and asked, "How did they manage it though?"


    It is the question that everyone wants to know the answer to. Many people that had reached Tier 1 proved that the promise of power was real. But this only created more questions.


    Many doctors and scientists performed tests on the enhanced humans to find out their source of power. They found many things, but they didn''t understand what they found. It was so advanced that they began calling it magic.


    Many governments began another round of grandstanding. They imed that the Heavenly Corporation operation was too dangerous. They made up a lot of crimes and offenses against the Heavenly Corporation, which all led to nothing.


    It is not that they didn''t try to put their words into action by attacking the Heavenly Corporation. They did so, and they even amassed an armyrger than ever before.


    Many nations decided to work together to bring the Heavenly Corporation down. Theybined their resources and manpower to create thergest army ever.


    Many people were full of expectations for the battle, and some were full of fear for the Heavenly Corporation. They were afraid that the Heavenly Corporation would lose and they would lose their strength or that the government would gain the technology behind their strength and be tyrannical.


    But their fears were unwarranted because the fight just never happened. Something was always going wrong during their preparations.


    An important piece of equipment would stop working, a dangerous machine got damaged, an explosive ammunition exploded in transportation, or an important personnel died, or a president that swore to bring down the Heavenly Corporation died while choking on their food.


    All of these coincidences made them fear the Heavenly Corporation but incapable of doing anything about their fears. They still didn''t give up, though. If anything, all of these coincidences showed the world just how dangerous the Heavenly Corporation was.


    Many governments, corporations, and people who were on the sidelines before decided to stop holding back. They decided to take action together.


    Taylor was worried when the world government was reformed with the sole goal of subduing the Heavenly Corporation.


    The world government was formed by a certain scientist politician named Jason. It was disbanded after his death because world leaders were greedy for power.


    They couldn''t decide on who to rece him, so they broke up the world government. But now, something has made them more afraid than greedy.


    They had be willing to let someone step over them if they could stop the Heavenly Corporation from making it possible for everyone to step over them. This way, they would have a choice over who steps over them.


    He was afraid because of that conviction. But it turned out that his fears that God''s Domain would be stopped were unwarranted because many of the world leaders who attended the summit died of food poisoning or peacefully in their sleep.


    All of the presidents and those who were in charge of their organizations died. Only their aids, vices, and second inmand didn''t die. These ones that were spared got the message loud and clear. They disbanded the world government and ran back home with their tails in between their legs.

 Chapter 1889: Pretending To Prepare For War.

    Chapter 1889: Pretending To Prepare For War.


    ?


    At first he was happy to hear that. But then his concern for the Heavenly Corporation turned into fear. However, that didn''t stop him and many others from rushing into God''s Domain to im power for themselves.


    Taylor shook his head thinking about it. Then he returned to his maintenance pod and logged back into God''s Domain with the conviction needed to perform genocide on humans if necessary.


    Meanwhile, in God''s Domain, Legion-1 had finally managed to track down the headquarters of the human leadership in charge of the fortress. He found them at a good time too. They were having a meeting about the uing battle with the orcs.


    Amander was sitting at the head of the round table. He was dressed in an ostentatious armor. It probably looked good to other humans, but Legion-1 didn''t care about how it looked. The only thing that mattered to him was that it was a level 21 mortal armor.


    That means it will add 20 points to his constitution used only for defense against attacks. It also means that if the armor were sacrificed to him, it would turn into a trash divine armor that will add 21 divinity to his Endurance.


    So in his opinion, the armor is rubbish. Yet, it is the best piece of equipment any of the humans are wearing. Meanwhile, he has priests donned with several divine artifacts. It made him sneer in disdain as he watched the silly humans pretend to be ready for war.


    Themander was seated at the table with some other officers in charge of the defense of the fortress. These officers were also wearing armor. They looked like knights preparing to defend their beloved realm.


    His lips curled into a sneer. "How cute."


    He didn''t think they were men. To him, they look like children ying pretend in a sand castle.


    He hid his presence both mentally and physically by standing behind a shelf. Only people rted to the divine in one way or another, like oracles and priests, can see a god when they are trying to hide. There shouldn''t be any of that here, but he still chose to hide his figure behind a shelf.


    They couldn''t see him, so his entry didn''t startle them. They continued to talk about their ns while he listened attentively.


    Themander asked, "What about the request for reinforcement? What did the king say?"


    The officer that was asked sighed and replied reluctantly, "The king and the nobles have decided to reinforce us, but they haven''t decided on how much of their armies they will send. ording to the messenger bird, they are still discussing it."


    Themander mmed his fist on the table. "This battle can start at any time. Things are very bad this time. There''s news that the orcs have chosen to bow to gods. We can''t underestimate them at all. This is a battle that will have huge ramifications for the human


    race."


    Another officer exined. "They don''t think the orcs are so dangerous. They think we are exaggerating. After all, the fortress has stood its ground for more than a thousand years despite the numerous attempts by the orcs to destroy it."


    The Commander shook its head and said, "This fortress has stood for more than 2,000 years actually. But the attack this time is different. There is news that the gods have returned and people have begun gaining ess to mana again. If that is true and the orcs have submitted to the gods, this fortress won''t stand for another year."


    He waxed on and on about the importance of the uing battle, but it changed nothing. Legion-1 eventually got bored of listening to their ns. Instead, he thought about finishing all of them off immediately and rendering the leadership of the fortress non-existent.


    He thought with a sneer, "It will be so easy too."


    They are an average of level 15, so it will take 15 divine energy to kill each one of them. Since they are 6, it will cost him 90 divine energy to kill all of them. That isn''t even enough for him to use one of his newly upgraded divine spells.


    But he didn''t do that. It is because he knows that humans are very resilient and stubborn. This is especially so for soldiers that care about their home. They will appoint new leaders soon.


    The new leaders might be more or less effective than the old ones. Either way, removing the leaders like this will only strike fear into the hearts of the army.


    Besides, he doesn''t need to eliminate their leaders because victory is already set for him. It all started because the humans rejected the gods that were assigned to them.


    The orcs were not the only ones whom gods came to. The humans also received God''s, but they refused to believe in the gods. They chose to believe more in the power of their gunpowder.


    Gunpowder has been the foundation of their power for many years. It is how level 15 beings of a race with a potential of 20 managed to beat off orcs with a potential of 50.


    Their nobles also refused to let go of their power, so they refused their gods. This meant they couldn''t gain ess to mana and would remain weak while the Orcs were growing stronger every day.


    It also meant that the human gods he found during his routine harassment of his enemies turned out to be weak. The rejection of the humans made it easy for him to kill their oracles and priests.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    So not only do these soldiers not have ess to mana currently, they also won''t be getting any assistance from their gods. All they have to rely on is their gunpowder.


    That is already enough to ascertain their defeat. Not only do the orcs have greater levels, but they have also reached an average of tier 2 with a maximum mana boost of 400% after more than ten years of ess to Mana.

 Chapter 1890: Set Victory.

    Chapter 1890: Set Victory.


    ?


    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The strongest orcs before the advent of the gods were almost at level 50. After the boost of mana and natural acquisition of sses, they have even reached tier 3 and have gained a maximum boost of 700%. Those orcs can produce a maximum power of 640 with their bare hands and a strength of 10. With those hands, they can surely crush these men in armor into balls of metal and can withstand a direct attack from a cannon.


    That''s just their natural power. If they use his divine weapons or the divine spells he granted them, they can produce power that reaches 13,440. It is more than enough to tear down this fortress on their own. So it was not an exaggeration that the uing fight is already a defeat for the humans.


    With his victory set, he can afford andslide victory that will bolster the orcs and increase their faith in his gods. For that, he ns to strike themanders on the battlefield in the open for all to see the consequences of going against a god.


    In the meantime, he slinked back to wreak havoc in the fortress. He killed the cooks, destroyed their store of food, contaminated their water, and destroyed their waste disposal system.


    He did a lot of things to make their lives miserable and their morale easy to break. But he didn''t touch their gunpowder, and he didn''t scare them too much.


    He wanted them to resist, and he left them their gunpowder so that the humans would have the one thing they chose to rely on. That way they won''t have an excuse when they lose. But he made sure to make the men themselves easy to break.


    It is true that he doesn''t consider them or any mortal a threat. In fact, he admires their resolution to rely on themselves. But they are his enemies, so they must be destroyed.


    He won''t do the destruction himself. He will let his army do so. His main job is to make sure that any god that tries to help the humans in their time of need will find nothing to save.


    His job is very important because even though the humans have rejected their gods, a deadly war that they are losing badly might be enough to turn them to their gods. The humans might not be worth any consideration, but their gods have to be considered.


    That''s why he has been simultaneously harassing their gods while sowing chaos and discord amongst the humans. The disagreement between the king and his nobles is part of his antics. It is all to ensure andslide victory of the orcs that will increase the faith in the 9 Crowns.


    After he was done making sure that their waste disposal system wouldn''t work and they would have to bear the stink of their feaces for hours before battle, he informed Warshaw of the ns of themanders, then he cancelled his avatar and returned to the divine realm.


    Next he had to go attend the emergency war meeting of his own with his Pantheon. Apparently, someone has challenged their Apocalypse Pantheon to a Pantheon war. As the face of the 9 Crowns and the god king of the Patheon, he had to show himself in the meeting. He grumbled to himself, "Who is looking to get beat up right now?"


    Legion-3 was suspicious. He said, "It is clear that we are the strongest god in the Northern Realm. It is also clear that our Pantheon is not the strongest. There has to be more that meets the eye for someone to challenge our Pantheon when we are preparing for a massive campaign in the mortal realm."


    They took that warning seriously, but they were not anxious. It is because they believe in their strength.


    They have offended a lot of gods, and there have been a lot of schemes against them. This won''t be the first, and it won''t be thest. As for the previous schemes against them, they all failed. So they are confident in dealing with this one too.


    Legion-9 shrugged and said, "We will know soon enough who they are and what they are nning."


    They spoke some more about this Pantheon war as Legion-1 made his way to the meeting. The meeting is at the location of their Pantheon Spire. It is a skyscraper in Gemmis that belongs solely to their pantheon.


    A lot has happened in the year since they became domain gods. Smite and Feathered Serpent were disced on the ranking list. This made them angry and fearful, but it didn''t change their minds about letting Gemmis reward those at the top of the ranking list.


    They have too much to gain in allowing Gemmis to start granting Domain quests based on their ranking. If they don''t allow others to find Domains, they won''t be able to steal it from them when they find it.


    Not that their reluctance would have mattered. The majority of the gods had be fed up with 9 Crowns, and their world gods were determined to get domains.


    The gods wanted Domains at all costs after being bullied by the two domain gods and the 9 Crowns. It didn''t matter if they were preventing the 9 Crowns from growing stronger when he had already be the strongest and even possessed the one thing every god wanted.


    So the majority of God kings voted for Gemmis to begin interfering in the affairs of the gods based on the ranking. This led to the 9 Crowns earning 1 million divinity for each of their top rankings.


    They are ranked top on 3 of the 4 rankings, so they earned 3 million in total. They will get another 3 million next year if they maintain their ranking since the reward is yearly.


    They intend to do that and maybe secure the top ce in the new hero ranking that was just added. That will make them gain 4 million divinity.

 Chapter 1891: Pantheon Spire.

    Chapter 1891: Pantheon Spire.


    ?


    4 million divinity is smallpared to what they can get in one year of hunting, but they don''t want to give up on free divinity. Besides, losing the top spot means they are not the strongest in that aspect anymore. They can''t have that.


    Not after the 3 million divinity helped them with their need to upgrade their weapons. Admittedly they don''t need as much divinity as they needed before now that they have figured out how to upgrade their weapons with titan crystals.


    That is why they only chose 3 heroes instead of using all 5 titan crystals they had and the free opportunity for a hero that they earned by being part of the first 100 godlings in the Northern Domain. They put aside the other four divine crystals to enhance their weapons.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    They have earned a lot apart from the 3 million divinity from Gemmis. They also got ess to domain quests. Plus they got to steal from others and were also paid the 5 domains that Feathered Serpent owed them.


    They sold domains that they couldn''t absorb for more divinity and upgraded their weapons at least once. So they have grown very strong in one year.


    Their position as the strongest god had been reinforced. What they decided to do next was to secure the future of that position by bing the first national god. It is one of the major reasons why they decided that this was a good time to secure arge nation of orcs for themselves.


    They were just waiting for their heroes to arrive to umte all their advantages and limit their losses before they set off. That time is now.


    But apparently, they weren''t the only ones waiting for this moment. Someone has decided to strike at their weakness just as they were about to attack the humans.


    It took little time to reach the Pantheon Spire. It shouldn''t have taken time at all if he had been living in it. But Legion decided not to put their altar in it because it might expose the fact that all 9 of them are one.


    They don''t want people tracking their movements either. So they continue paying the 1% total divinity rent for the hotel. Currently that is 1,000 divinity per day. It is expensive, but at least their safety is secured.


    He soon arrived at the Pantheon Spire. He had changed it into a floating lightning cloud. So it is high in the sky while beneath is a storm of rain and lightning.


    The buildings of the Spire are arranged in a circle on the cloud. It is where the gods of his pantheon live. There are a lot of them since they don''t have to pay rent here.


    Their decision to turn their pantheon spire into a cloud is not a strange one. It is a popr decision among the god kings to turn their Pantheon spire from a tall skyscraper into something else.


    Each pantheon did something to make their Spire unique. Some turned it into pyramids, ant hills, mountains, and many more.


    This widespread decision has made Gemmis look less orderly than it was when the gods first came. Normal buildings are bing a rare sight to see in it.


    He found the orc gods of his pantheon waiting for him in their council chamber. Each one was sitting in their floating throne and faced the throne of the god king in a semicircle.


    The throne of the god king is thergest in the council chamber. It is also the only one not floating. It is standing on the ground of the cloud, but it still reached a greater height than the small thrones floating in the air because of howrge it is.


    The throne is the size of a building. It is asrge as the thrones of the other 112 godsbined. It is clearly too big for him to sit on. But it is not for sitting.


    Legion-1 stood on the throne to address them. This put him at the same height that the other thrones are floating at. The throne was sorge that he could even walk back and forth on it. It has a lot of room for him to pace.


    He folded his hands and regarded them intensely. They too were staring back at him. The faces of their puppets were impassive, but he is sure that many of them don''t like him.


    He thought to himself, "I wonder how many of them are cursing me right now or promising to show me hell if they get their hands on me."


    That thought made him chuckle. Then he addressed them.


    "I am sure you have heard about this Pantheon war. I have done my investigations and havee to the conclusion that it is a decoy. It is meant to divert the attention of the rest of you so that you won''t be able to assist me in the uing war."


    "It is clear that our enemies have decided not to underestimate us. The pantheon that challenged us is clearly weak. They don''t even have a Domain God in the whole Pantheon."


    He shook his head after saying that. "How can such a pantheon hope to defeat us?"


    "The answer is that, ''No, they don''t hope to defeat us. They are ready to lose the challenge.'' If not, they wouldn''t have made the bet for the challenge to be the minimum 1,000,000 divinity. I tried to get them to increase the bet to 10,000,000, but they refused."


    "They clearly don''t have confidence in themselves. Their main aim is to waste our time with the challenge. We won''t gain much even if we win, and we won''t lose much if we lose. 1,000,000 shared between 112 gods is just too little. But the time spent to acquire it is too much. Then there is the fact that this is the time we are about to go to war. So our attention will be divided and suffer."

 Chapter 1892: Racial War.

    Chapter 1892: Racial War.


    ?


    He could try to nullify the goal of his enemies to divine their attention by postponing the war with the humans and focus on the Pantheon war, but it won''t solve anything.


    Not only would the dy allow the humans and their gods to prepare better, but the Pantheon War can always be repeated after they deal with the current war.


    Another weak pantheon can challenge them again at the cost of a million dors. The best he can do is raise the bar of challenge since they recently experienced one. But that won''t stop the challenge. So he has decided not to bother with the challenge at all.


    He said to them, "All in all, I don''t care about the oue of the Pantheon War. What I care about is that you win or you lose it quickly."


    "You should win. However, you can also lose it. But you must not drag this pantheon war out and still lose it. That''s uneptable."


    "If you win, I will let you share the 1,000,000 divinity reward amongst yourselves. I won''t take a share out of it. The same will happen if you lose. You will share the lose of the 1,000,000 divinity amongst yourself."


    "But if you drag this out and lose, I will punish all of you. You will be paying more than 1,000,000 divinity for that."


    "Now let us move on to more important matters. I want to know the situation of the reinforcement that I asked you to send over."


    It was the turn of his subordinates to speak now. Each god began informing him of the progress of the tribute of soldiers he asked for.


    The war in the mortal realm is to be part of a massive race war. It is not a war between two gods. At the very least, two pantheons are involved in it.


    But things are bigger than that because most of the gods of the realm are waging wars against the humans in preparation to be national gods.


    The humans are literally surrounded by enemies eyeing them covetously. It is because they have pushed the other races to the edge of the domain in the absence of the gods.


    They upy thergest area of living right at the center of the domain, which has made them a target for everyone. The gods wantnd now for their nations, so the humans must regurgitate what they have swallowed.


    Legion has recognized that this war is not a small matter, so they didn''t n to push the Thames kingdom on their own. They asked other gods in their pantheon to chip in too.


    They have almost 2 million believers, but only about 20,000 of them can be reliably fielded for war. Actually, they n to use less of their poption to reduce the losses they can incur. So they asked the other gods to send 2,000 soldiers each.


    2,000 soldiers from 112 gods make 224,000 soldiers. The addition of their own 6,000 rounded it up to 230,000 soldiers. With this they have a massive army worthy of participating in a race war.


    They were also nning to have the other gods of their pantheon assist them in the war, but it doesn''t seem that is going to happen. Not unless they are willing to dy the start of the war against the humans.


    It would be a good idea to have their pantheons if only for the fact that the human gods have a lot of potential. After all, they were lucky to be assigned to the race with the highest poption,nd.


    It is unfortunate that the intelligence of the humans has made them stubborn. The humans refused to adopt worship in their gods. If they had, they would be more formidable.


    However, desperation is what they need to turn back to the gods. A war where they are besieged on all sides could make them cry out for their gods. This will cause their gods to experience a massive boost in believers and authority.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Legion cannot allow that. They n to wipe out the humans in a totalndslide once the war begins. It is something that 20,000 soldiers will find difficult to do. But over 200,000 soldiers will be able to achieve it easily.


    However, with the way things are going, they expect some interference to make things difficult for them. They don''t know if it is from their enemies amongst other races or from the humans, but they know that they have a lot of enemies and that they will find out the identity of the enemy currently interfering with them soon.


    The gods outlined their contributions to the war one by one. They spoke about the number of troops and resources they have provided. They spoke about information they gained from their scouting missions with their avatars.


    As for those who haven''t done enough, Legion-1 forced them to contribute divinity gold for their dy. Then he forced all of them to contribute divinity gold for their absence in the uing war.


    He knows it is not their fault for being absent, but that doesn''t mean he is going to allow his enemies to seed in making him bear all the burden of the war.


    He got them to pay 1,000 divinity each. It will encourage them to win the Pantheon War. At least that way they will be able to recoup their loss.


    The gods didn''tin because he is the god king and he is a stubborn god king. Besides, the war is beneficial to their pantheon.


    Whether they like it or not, they are part of the Apocalypse Pantheon now. They will rise and fall with the Pantheon. The stronger their god king is, the more secure their territory in the mortal realm will be.


    It is a smart idea to support him. However, they don''t have much of a choice in the matter. They will support him just because he said so.

 Chapter 1893: Too Many Advantages.

    Chapter 1893: Too Many Advantages.


    ?


    He hadn''t used his subordinate gods to hunt all along so they could grow in safety. Other god kings were always using their subordinates to fight, but he didn''t. Now it is time for them to pay their dues.


    The meeting was adjourned after that. He left Gemmis to continue hunting while he instructed Warshaw and the other two Oracles to begin their assault.


    His hunt is to acquire some divinity, and if he gets lucky, stumble into a true god that just came into possession of a domain. Actually, he will fight and kill any god he encounters. Even Pantheons are not safe from him.


    The advantage of numbers that Pantheons offer used to mean safety in numbers, but not to a Domain god who is willing to spend the divine energy needed to use a Domain.


    In fact, most domain gods go after pantheons immediately they see them. After all, a pantheon represents arge amount of divinity.


    But gaining divinity and domains is not his only goal for hunting this time around. He also aims to fool those who are following him and keeping track of his movements. They can either follow him out of Gemmis or remain within it.


    He knows they won''t follow him for fear of being killed, but they will use the fact that he is out of Gemmis and not close to his altar to make his move. After all, if he is not close to his altar, he won''t be able to create an avatar to save his mortals if something were to happen.


    The fact that hisrge army has begun their march without him might tempt them toe out of the woodwork and make a move against his army.


    He licked his lips just thinking about it. Then he looked at his stats and Golden Light and said to it, "Don''t you worry; you will drink in the blood of gods soon."


    NAME: Number 1


    RACE: Domain God (Orc)


    TITLE: First


    TIER: 2


    LEVEL: 100


    DIVINE ENERGY: 1,891,421


    STRENGTH: 40,000


    ENDURANCE: 50,000


    SPEED: 10,000


    WORLD POWER: 1,300,000


    AUTHORITY: 1,891,421


    DOMAIN: 0.003% Fire + 0.002% Earth + 0.001% Forge + 0.001% Lightning + 0.001% Nature + 0.002% Wind + 0.001% Dreams + 0.001% Poison + 0.001% Disaster.


    DIVINE ABILITIES: DIVINE NETWORK. INSIGHT. BLESSING. GREATER MIRACLE. PRIESTHOOD. ORACLE POSSESSION. SOUL HARVESTING. GOD KING AUTHORITY (Tier 2 = 99%). CLASS BESTOWAL. DIVINE EARTH BODY. DIVINE FIRE BODY. DIVINE FORGE BODY. DIVINE LIGHTNING BODY. DIVINE NATURE BODY. DIVINE WIND BODY. DIVINE DREAM BODY. DIVINE POISON BODY. DIVINE DISASTER BODY. DIVINE FLIGHT. WORLD POWER.


    DIVINE SPELLS: WORLD AVATAR. DIVINE STRIKE (3), DIVINE SHIELD (3), DIVINE E HOLD (3). DIVINE STRENGTH (3). DIVINE SPEED (3). DIVINE ENDURANCE (3). DIVINE JUDGEMENT (3). DIVINE RETRIBUTION (3). DIVINE CRIPPLING (3). DIVINE FORGING (3). DIVINE EARTH DOMAIN (3). DIVINE FIRE DOMAIN (3). DIVINE LIGHTNING DOMAIN (3). DIVINE NATURE DOMAIN (3). DIVINE WIND DOMAIN (3). DIVINE DREAM DOMAIN (3). DIVINE DISASTER (3). WEAPONS: Myriad Armament (Strength x2 + 0.3 Total Divinity). Golden Light (100% Authority + 0.3 Total Divinity). Endurance Armor v6 (Endurance x1.5). Foot v8 (Speed x1.5). Shield v5 (Endurance x1.5).


    The biggest change in them in thest year is that Legion has gained 6 different types of new domains and 4 of the same type they had before.


    So they have gained 10 additional units of domains, which has given them an extra 1,000,000 world power to make a total of 1,300,000. This is power that they can use to enhance their physical might and their avatar in the mortal realm.


    To top it off, they have upgraded Myriad Armament and Golden Light to Tier 6. It cost them 10,000,000 divinity each for a total of 20,000,000 divinity.


    Now, Myriad Armament will provide power that is twice as much divinity as they use in strength and 30% more of their total divinity for Myriad Armament. As for Golden Light, they get to use 100% of their total Authority and 30% of total divinity.


    It is a great boost to their power, and they want more. But they don''t think they can afford the next evolution since it would cost them 100,000,000 divinity each.


    Right now, they have less than 7,000,000 divinity left. Even if they can amass 10,000,000 divinity in a year, it would take them at least 10 years before they can upgrade one of them again.


    So they tried to use their new forging domain to help them in that aspect. They seeded in using titan crystals to enchant the two weapons so that they can now eat the divine core of the gods that they kill.


    It cost them 2 Titan crystals to achieve that, but it will also cost every god that they kill. Now, Golden Light won''t leave behind any divine orb after killing a god.


    And they don''t need to use theirrge trains to move divine orbs anymore. They can kill for days without worrying about picking up the divine orbs of the in gods. Many Pantheons have hated them for it.


    As for the third titan crystal left in their possession, they are keeping it for the future. If they get more, they might be able to enchant the two weapons further, or they will be able to build a special defensive artifact.


    This is why they are the strongest gods. They are unmatched in the aspects of Authority, world power, and weapons.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    That''s only the public reason for why they are considered strong. There is also the secret fact that they have many types of divine bodies and can use world power to enhance all three aspects of their divine bodies.


    Then there is the deeper secret, which is the fact that they are 9 gods in one. With all of these advantages on their side, there is very little for them to fear.


    A/N: Sorry about the attribute page. This will be thest time I show something so detailed in the book.

 Chapter 1894: The Start Of The War.

    Chapter 1894: The Start Of The War.


    ?


    It is not false confidence in themselves. After all, if their enemies were so great, they wouldn''t be hiding and scheming like cowards. They wouldn''t be using a weak pantheon to waste their time.


    Instead of throwing them a piece of meat to preupy them, those gods would haven/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    confronted them and fought them openly if they were strong enough. But history has proven that they are not strong enough.


    Many gods have confronted them openly and regretted it quickly. So they are not concerned too much about the scheme against them. They are even already nning on what to do after they win the war against the Thames kingdom.


    They n to go to the Western Divine Domain to fulfill the quest they got from Kutneri. Apparently, Oceania used to be an ancient god in the Western Domain. If they are to find any trace of her, then it will be there.


    -War Is Coming


    The Oracles heard the words of their god and informed the priests of it. The priests passed over the decrees of the 9 Crowns to the Orc chiefs. So the orc chiefs rallied their forces.


    Horns were blown and drums were beaten across the makeshift in. The Orc Host of 200,000 and more began to move towards the fortress. Their footsteps caused the earth to shake. The roar of their war beasts caused some ears to deafen.


    The Orc chiefs were at the front. They numbered in the hundreds. They rode on magnificent war beasts of various kinds. Some rode wolves, others rode wild hogs, and there were some who rode scorpions. These war beasts wererge enough to carry theirrge loads. It meant that they were around 5 meters long or tall. And they were strong enough to bear the 200 kg of muscle and bones.


    As for the chiefs riding the war beasts, each one, male or female, was a prime example of what an orc should look like. Their tusks were magnificent, and their bulging muscles were bursting at the seams.


    They wore the best armor made of hide and fur. They also held a divine weapon. It is the token of recognition as chiefs that their gods gave them. Only those who carried these weapons would be recognized as chiefs in the future.


    Axel was among the war chiefs. In front of her was the fortress that had sealed orcs to the fate of living in the jungle. Behind her was the biggest army she had ever seen. Around her are the strongest orcs she had ever seen. In her hand is the strongest weapon she had ever beheld. Within her, her heart was beating at the highest speed possible.


    She couldn''t believe what was happening. She couldn''t believe that one day, the orcs would take back theirnds. Most of all, she couldn''t believe that she would be leading the army to achieve it.


    This was all beyond her wildest dreams. It made her full of excitement and anticipation. She was roaring to the sky together with her wolf.


    The army behind her answered her call. They pushed the catapults and trebuchets forward into the range of the fortress. There were great machines of war. Even giant orcs felt like children in their presence.


    Each siege weapon was 20 meters tall and weighed tons. It is something they wouldn''t have been able to build without the blessing of mana. They wouldn''t have been able to move them either. But they did, and then they let loose a rain of carnage onto the fortress blocking their path.


    The difference in the power of both sides became clear at the very first moment. The trebuchets had tremendous strength and range. They were capable of far more anything the humans could build.


    The range was where most of their advantagey. The orcs had taken full advantage of their power to make them throw something catastrophic at a far enough range that the fortress wouldn''t be able to retaliate.


    These heavy chunks of rock sailed and crashed into the fortress to create an explosion of rock and shrapnel. But all the fortress could do was sit there and take it.


    The fortress tried to retaliate with their wall-mounted ballistae, but the giant spears they shot lost momentum after flying too far. The same thing happened with their cannons. Every projectile they used fell short of the distance to the Orcs.


    On the other hand, the trebuchet swung another boulder at the fortress. It flung it high up in the sky. Gravity took hold of it and pulled it down, where it smashed onto the fortress.


    The boulder destroyed one of the useless cannons at the top of the wall and caused a cave-in that smashed some of the men below the first level of the wall into meat paste.


    The orcs cheered at the sight. Meanwhile, the men on the fortress narrowed their eyes, trying to see what was going on with the orcs. It is because the distance was too far for them to see what the orcs were doing.


    The eyesight of humans has only been above average among the sentient races. It is nothing special, as even goblins can see in the dark. They haven''t improved their eyesight with mana, so their eyesight has fallen below average.


    This is just one of the many things that the humans werecking. In general, things were going poorly for the humans. Actually, not a single thing is going well for them in this battle.


    The orcs were still marching forward, but by the time they got within range of the fortress, it was unlikely that there would be a fortress still standing. There certainly wouldn''t be a fortress powerful enough to punish the orcs for getting close to the fortress. Those days are over.


    The fortress is doomed. This, coupled with the fact that the human soldiers in the fortress were hungry, thirsty, smelly, and hadn''t had a good sleep in a long while, made the fact that the fortress was exploding around them and killing everyone a good reason to give up.

 Chapter 1895: A Great Success.

    Chapter 1895: A Great Sess.


    ?


    It was a massacre. They were sitting ducks under the bombardment of the orcs. That is good enough reason to give up. But still, some men didn''t give up.


    There were some men who refused to ept defeat despite the overwhelming loss. They strapped their explosives to their bodies and rode horses out of the fortress towards the orc host.


    They were determined to bring their gunpowder to the enemies at all costs. It was a valiant sacrifice on their part. It would have been worthy of songs if they hadn''t been shot down by arrows the size of spears.


    The part of their body that was touched by the arrows shattered and exploded in gore. Even the horses beneath them were not spared. The horse and rider were nailed to the ground when they got within range of the orcish archers.


    Their suicide run ended there. The fortress followed soon after. It was in ruins by the time the orcs reached the location of the suicide bombers.


    Most of the brave humans had died. But there was a woman who managed to hold despite missing the lower half of her torso. She ignited her explosives. It created an explosion that ignited the other explosives.


    A huge cloud of explosion appeared in the midst of the orc chiefs. It lifted them up from the ground and smashed them down to the earth.


    The explosion was so great that it managed to burn the eyebrows and hair of these Tier 3 Orc chiefs. It was a great sess on the part of the humans. It was the best that they could achieve.


    The chiefs dusted themselves off and mounted their war beasts again. They resumed the march into the territory of the humans. Nothing else happened until they reached the ruins of the fortress.


    A priest came out from the army carrying an altar. The altar was ced in front of the ruins. Then a ceremony was held to dedicate it to the 9 Crowns. Some human soldiers that were still alive or had escaped were captured and sacrificed to the 9 Crowns on the altar.


    It was a glorious day for the orcs. They had just acquired a glorious victory. But the day was far from over.


    A priest dered to the army, "Hear the words of the 9 Crowns; this here marks the beginning of a new era for orcs. We then henceforth march towards the capital of the Thames kingdom and uproot it from thesends. Kill every soldier and human that resists. Enve the rest to be used to build a glorious empire of orcs."


    "The 9 Crowns has said so. Victory shall be ours. Glory to the 9 Crowns."


    The orcs roared in glee. "Glory to the 9 Crowns! Glory to the 9 Crowns! Glory..."


    It was a great shout that heralded the downfall of the Thames kingdom. Then the orcs began their march to retake their homnd.


    They ughtered everyone that raised a de against them. They enved those who were willing to be subservient. They put them in chains of servitude and put them to thebor of building an empire for the orcs.


    These events didn''t go unnoticed. Many gods had been tracking the activities of the 9 Crowns. As the most powerful god in the Northern Realm, it is important to keep an eye on their actions in the mortal realm.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    So therge army that had been umting in front of the human fortress for a while didn''t escape their notice. Neither did the attacking of the fortress and its destruction evade their attention.


    Now that things had gotten to this level, there was no going back anymore. A spark had been lit in a forest to start an all-consuming forest fire.


    The gods couldn''t hold back anymore. A war against the human race began in earnest. It was not personal. It was just business.


    Every race that had been pushed back, including the giants, the goblins, the ogres, and the elves, rose into action and finally fought back. The Thames kingdom is not the only one that will be going down soon.


    The humans were smart and proud in their intelligence. When mana left all the races of the world and they lost their epics, legends, and demigods, very few could ept the loss and look for other options.


    Most races were crying day after day for the return of their gods. They were set on ancient tradition and refused to let it go. But the humans found strength in gunpowder.


    Their intelligence, fertility, and adaptability helped them to overwhelm the other races and push them aside for dominance. The sess of their race gave them pride that blinded them to the power of gods.


    They even forgot about the gods and called them superstition. The elves are also intelligent, but they didn''t forget about their gods. In fact, they remember the god of nature that they used to worship and refused to ept any other gods when the gods returned.


    It is because they had a long life span and long memory. Their history was never forgotten like those of the humans.


    The humans wrote down their history, but they still forgot it. So they fought against the gods when the gods returned. They killed their oracles and priests. They felt good about it when the fake entities calling themselves gods ran away in defeat. That mistake hase to bite them back now.


    Fortunately, they are smart and adaptable. Reality has proven that they are antspared to the power of the gods. They can see this clearly after being besieged from every side.


    So they went crying for their gods. The more the orcs wreaked havoc, the higher their need for gods rose. The more enemies besieged them, the more they cried out for their gods. But 9 Crowns was not going to have any of it.


    He nned to uproot the problem by the very root and remove any potential problem by destroying every resistance before it forms.

 Chapter 1896: Taking The Bait.

    Chapter 1896: Taking The Bait.


    ?


    Whoever was scheming against him didn''t take his bait to attack his army, but he is not going to wait for them to do so. He descended to the mortal realm with his avatar and took the fight to them.


    It was then that the human gods made their move. It turned out that they had hired


    adventurers to fight for them. These adventures were from different races from the city of adventurers.


    They worshipped the god of adventurers, so they had ess to Mana and were powerful. Now, they had been paid to save the Thames Kingdom from the orcs.


    Legion knew about the god of adventurers because he was supposed to be the strongest human god. He was even a domain god who could grant sses.


    What surprised Legion about all this was that they didn''t expect the other human gods to allow her forces to enter their territory and fight for the humans. That was literally letting the god of adventures steal their believers.


    But then he shrugged and said, "It just shows just how desperate they are if they are willing to allow another god to save their believers."


    The hiring of the adventurers was an unexpected move, but it was unlikely to change the situation quickly enough to turn the tide. It is because the god of adventurers couldn''t protect all the human kingdoms.


    Her presence has been spread too thin across the human territory. If given time, she would be able to use this opportunity to showcase her power and gain more believers from the humans. This is time that Legion doesn''t n to give her.


    They descended to the mortal realm and went on a rampage. Only Legion-1 descended, but only he was enough. He went ahead of his army to break down city walls, massacre the nobles in the city, destroy fortifications, and sometimes burn a city to the ground.


    He created a trail of destruction that led towards the human capital. Behind him, orcish cavalry riding various war beasts chased after him. They were more than a hundred thousand in number. They followed him like locusts and devoured everything he left behind.


    While the 100,000 cavalry chased after their god, 100,000 orcs in the army spread out all over the kingdom to subjugate it while the remaining 30,000 were in charge of the ves.


    They created so much carnage that he was constantly receiving notification of souls that he had gained. His soul harvest divine ability was being put to good use. Every being his believers killed had their souls harvested for him. So he was also gaining a lot in this war.


    The orc army was coordinated, and their actions were lightning fast. The whole kingdom was going to fall in less than a month. The gods had to y their best move, or things would be toote.


    Meanwhile, the Pantheon War in the divine realm had begun in earnest. Gods from both pantheons would fight each other in a one-on-one battle.


    Each god must fight all the gods in the other pantheon. So if there are 100 gods in each pantheon, there will be a total of 10,000 fights. The Pantheon with more wins will win the Pantheon War.


    It is a war that will take a lot of time toplete. It is also a war that won''t rely solely on the power of the god king. At best, Legion will only be able to acquire 100 victories if they participate in it.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    In the situation where he has a war to fight in the mortal realm too, he will have to fight for only those 100 victories or give them up. If he gives up, he would be granting the enemy pantheon 100 victories.


    The smart thing to do is give up that 100 victories in favor of the war. Legion-1 had even informed his pantheon that he was not going to participate at all.


    But when the first challenge for the pantheon war arrived while he was about to reach the capital of Thames, he changed his mind and took it. This made him cancel his avatar and return to the divine realm.


    The hidden enemies were surprised. Even the god king of the pantheon sent to distract him was also surprised.


    He had challenged the 9 Crowns and didn''t think he would ept it. He expected an easy victory. But apparently that will not be so.


    Legion-1 appeared in a small world together with the other god king. This small world is to be their arena. No one would be able to interfere in their battle.


    The god king shook his head and said, "You couldn''t bear the loss, huh? You''re too proud. It will be your undoing."


    Legion-1 made Myriad Armament appear in his hands and said, "Shut up and fight. Let me see if you have what it takes to dy me."


    Instead of continuing his assault on the Thames Kingdom, 9 Crowns chose to fight in the pantheon war. It was unbelievable, but his enemies were not going to let this opportunity go to waste.


    While the two god kings were fighting, or one was running while another god king was chasing, many human gods descended to the mortal realm in a hurry. They were in the hundreds, and they were excited.


    Most of them were true gods whose avatars could be destroyed easily. But 5 of them were domain gods who had world power. All of them besieged the Orc Host in 9 Crowns'' absence.


    They were going to do so after 9 Crowns was held up with something else they had nned, but this opportunity was just too good to be wasted. The orcs stood no chance against the


    gods.


    Legion-2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 appeared in the mortal realm too. They already expected this situation, but it was still overwhelming to see. Their soldiers were being massacred


    everywhere.


    Legion-4 said, "Looks like we are losing this battle."


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

 Chapter 1897: Gods Fall.

    Chapter 1897: God''s Fall.


    ?


    Legion-5 shrugged and said, "We just have to make sure they lose something too. That way, we might lose the battle, but we will surely win the war."


    Legion-3 wasn''tpletely epting of their impending loss to their mortal army, but there was nothing they could do to turn the tide.


    So he said, "5 domain gods is not too bad for the lives of 200,000 mortals. I just have to make sure that their death is worth it."


    He is the one with Golden Light. Unlike the divine realm, their inventory doesn''t work here. So they had to bestow the divine weapon to the mortal realm in advance, and only one of them can use it.


    He is the one they chose to make the domain gods pay for the lives of orcs that will be lost. As for the rest of the clones, their job is to resume what Legion-1 started.


    So all of them flew in the direction of the capital. They didn''t go to rescue the orcs that were being massacred because that is a foolish decision.


    First of all, this is not the divine realm; any death to the avatars won''t affect the gods. Not unless they use golden light. The gods will just keeping if killed. But even with golden light, they surely can''t track down and kill almost the 200 gods.


    Even if they can kill the gods permanently without golden light, the five of them are too few to kill that many gods who have scattered themselves.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It might be possible to fight back this many gods if they had the help of their pantheon. But they don''t. So the smart thing to do is to achieve the very thing their enemies don''t want them to achieve.


    They soon reached the capital city. The five Domain gods were waiting for them. The two sides spotted each other from afar and began making preparations for the encounter or finalizing the ns they had made.


    On the side of the human gods, 5 more domain gods descended to the capital. The ten of them took out the god-killing weapon that they had prepared for the encounter.


    (Name: God''s Fall)


    (Tier 2 Consumable)


    (Power: 500,000 Divinity)


    (Ability: Will drag down the divine body of a god down to the mortal realm through their avatar and weaken them)


    (Description: A consumable that is necessary if one aims to turn the use of avatars against a god and kill them)


    God''s Fall are spears just like Golden Light. But they don''t shine like golden light. They also don''t kill gods and are one-time-use items. But they are still dangerous to a god, as it will make them fall to the mortal realm and weaken them.


    The duration of this effect is dependent on how much divinity was invested in the making of the God''s fall weapon and the power of the god that it is used against.


    In the case of the God''s Fall spears that they had prepared, they had used 500,000 divinity to build it. That''s five times the amount of divinity in a domain god.


    Each spear is very expensive to make, but they invested this much divinity in them because of the possible reward that they might gain from using them in this war.


    If they use God''s Fall on a god and kill that god when it has fallen to the mortal realm, the god won''t be able to resurrect anytime soon. That means they will have free rein to destroy their mortal forces, their priests, and their oracles.


    That is what they have nned for the 9 Crowns and his helpers. They bought the information about thest time some people tried to overwhelm the 9 Crowns in the mortal realm and learned from their failure.


    So they know about the Golden Light, and they have prepared a counter for it. They can''t be on the passive and allow 9 Crowns to dominate them with Golden Light.


    They also know about the orc bandits, which is why they prepared more than one Gods Fall for this event. They prepared ten of them. That''s five million divinity invested into this attack. God''s Fall is not exactly a counter to Golden Light, but it will at least help them to make sure the orc bandits lose something in the uing fight too, not just them.


    On the other side, Legion used insight and managed to identify that one of the gods was the god of adventure. It made them eager to do battle.


    She is the strongest human god, but they were not afraid of her. They were actually happy to see her because a strong domain god like her should have at least two units of domain. That means she will drop at least one unit of domain when they kill her.


    The two sides were eager to do battle. They shed without a word. They didn''t use spells. Instead they fought with physical world power.


    It is because both sides didn''t want to kill each other''s avatar with divine spells. They wanted to use their god-killing weapons for it. That''s the only way to truly deal a blow to the other


    party.


    Unfortunately, world power is an area where the Orc Bandits shine. They were outnumbered 2 to 1, but they were the ones with the upper hand.


    Not only were they far stronger than their enemies, but they could also share each other''s senses and coordinate with one another. It made them more efficient than the others.


    The job of four of them was to hold the rest of their enemies back while Legion-3''s job was to kill them one by one. The human gods tried to avoid Legion-3, but the other four stuck close to him. So if the human gods will fight the other four, they will put themselves in the range of Legion-3''s attack.


    That range is prettyrge too since Legion-3 can throw Golden Light at incredible speed. So the human gods had to be constantly wary of him.

 Chapter 1898: One By One.

    Chapter 1898: One By One.


    ?


    Those closest to Legion-3 were afraid for their lives. But Legion-3 did something they didn''t expect. He ignored the gods close to him and attacked a god far away from his position.


    The god had thought that since he was far away, he would be safe. So he was rxed and was fighting another orc bandit wholeheartedly. He didn''t see the attacking and still didn''t notice it even when it was toote to do anything about it.


    One human god died in the first exchange. It was just two seconds into the fight, but they had already suffered a casualty. This reduced their number to 9 and. It led to the reduction of their advantage in numbers and further reduced their chances of sess.


    Legion-3 rushed towards an enemy with confidence. He wanted to cleave the god apart, but the god ran away from him. All the human gods and their helpers ran away from the orc bandits. The sh became a chase.


    The human gods already knew that fighting them up close wouldn''t work from all the lessons they had learned from the defeated foes of the Orc bandits in the divine ne, but they needed to do so if they wanted to use God''s Fall to its fullest potential.


    God''s Fall isn''t like Golden Light in that they can''t bind it to themselves and recall it after throwing it out. If they throw it out and miss, then they will lose it. Things will be worse if one of the Orc Bandits picks up the God''s Fall and uses it against them.


    So they wanted to get close to the Orc Bandits and use the God''s Fall as spears to fight them. It was a suicidal attack as they were ready to die in exchange for hitting their opponents just once.


    If five of them die so that they can hit the five orc bandits, there will still be five others to kill the weakened orc bandits.


    It was a good idea, and they were willing to execute it until Legion-3 cut one of them down in two seconds. Now they aren''t so sure that they will gain anything by getting close to the Orc Bandits.


    One of them said, "Fuck this, I''m throwing the spear."


    He created distance from the orcs so that he would be able to dodge Golden Light. But the orc bandits were faster than him and were closing the distance. This frustrated him enough to throw God''s Fall.


    His spear flew across the sky like aet. Unfortunately, it missed its target.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He had turned back so as to shoot the spear with all his might at one of the Orc bandits. The clones saw this, so they were ready to dodge. They were also very fast. That, coupled with their alertness, made it easy to dodge the attack.


    The spear sailed through the sky and struck the earth like a meteorite. It created arge explosion that destroyed part of the city below them.


    The attack was a sh and no substance. No one was hurt at all. If not for the fact that the orc bandit chasing the god had stopped to dodge, which created much-needed distance between them, the attack would be aplete failure.


    The god was pained by the loss of his weapon, but he was d for the breathing space. This space was enough for him to disable his avatar safely and escape.


    He was contemting abandoning his allies and escaping when he suddenly froze. He froze because one of the orc bandits had used Divine Hold on him. What followed after was expected.


    Legion-3 was chasing another god, but then he stopped and turned towards the frozen god in the other direction. Then he threw the spear at him.


    His movements were smooth and urate. In fact, he was already throwing the spear before he stopped and turned. The other gods thought he was targeting someone in front of him only for his spear to fly in the opposite direction and nail another god.


    Four seconds into the fight and another god was dead. Now it was eight human gods against five orc bandits. The human gods felt that running wasn''t going to get them anywhere, so they all rushed back and threw their spears at the orc bandits.


    The five orc bandits slowed down their chase as they prepared to dodge. But only one out of the eight human gods threw their spear. The other seven were just pretending.


    The attack missed again, but this time a single spear had managed to slow down all five orc bandits instead of one. It was also a tactic that the human gods could repeat.


    They did so with great relish. Sometimes, none of them threw their spears at all. Other times they threw two at a time.


    The sky and the earth rumbled and quaked as the domain gods fought. Each side was trying to kill the other with all that they had.


    Legion-3 managed to hit another god, but he was targeted by two human gods as soon as Golden Light left his hands. He was the one they were willing to use two spears to kill.


    He dodged one spear but failed to dodge the other. Unfortunately for the human gods, he didn''t die because another clone used his body to block for him.


    Things would have been different if they were in the divine realm. They would be able to use Myriad Armament or another weapon to defend. Unfortunately, they couldn''t bring Myriad Armament to the mortal realm.


    Legion-4, who was hit by God''s Fall, had used Divine Shield to protect himself, but that didn''t stop the weapon from taking effect on him.


    The white spear that struck him shattered into dust. The dust bypassed his shield and clung to his body. It robbed him of his power and weakened him. His avatar fell to the earth and cratered it.


    He muttered, "This can''t be good."

 Chapter 1899: Falling And Falling.

    Chapter 1899: Falling And Falling.


    ?


    He was right to say that as the white dust on his body began to shine. It created a white pir of light that ascended into the sky. The pir of light reached the divine realm and entered his hotel, where his true body was. Then it pulled his true body to the mortal realm.


    This happened slowly, but it couldn''t be stopped because Legion-4''s true body had be intangible. The other clones couldn''t hold on to him to prevent him from falling to the mortal realm.


    His true body had been forced to descend to the mortal realm with so much force that the collision between him and the earth caused it to crack and create shockwaves that turned into earthquakes.


    The white pir of light disappeared after it had done its job. What was left of it were white chains binding him tightly. They weakened him and also restricted his movements.


    The god of adventure shouted, "Quick, kill him."


    They had aimed at Legion-3 because he was the one holding the spear. They thought that if they eliminated him, the Orc Bandits wouldn''t be able to use Golden Light against them until he resurrected.


    They were wrong, but Legion wasn''t going to correct them. In fact, they were so far as to sacrifice one of them to prevent their enemies from learning their lesson.


    The human gods didn''t want Legion-4, but they couldn''tin. They rushed at him to kill, which gave Legion-3 another opportunity to kill 2 more of them. That reduced their number to five.


    Legion-4 was a sitting duck. All they needed to do was kill him. They could kill him with anything they had at their disposal. As long as he died in this shackled state, his true body would die too, which will make him drop his divinity and extra domain.


    The clones put up a resistance to prevent this. They behaved as if the threat was real. But they shouldn''t have bothered because the white chains around Legion-4 broke apart in less than a second.


    The shackles shattered and disappeared, which made Legion-4''s true body ascend back to the divine ne. Meanwhile, the human gods had done everything in their might to get close to him. They had even sacrificed two more of their allies so that they could kill him.


    But their prize was gone just when they were about to reap it, and their sacrifice was for naught. The human gods werepletely and utterly shocked.


    One of them asked, "What the hell just happened?"


    The other four were just as confused. They couldn''t give an answer because they couldn''t fathom one.


    They had expected at least five seconds of weakness, not one second. In fact, they didn''t even get one second. They had gone all in, so now they were caught with their pants down but had nothing to do.


    Only the clones knew what had happened. They knew that Legion-4 became free earlier than usual because God''s Fall became greedy. It tried to shackle all of them, not just Legion-4. It had bitten off more than it could chew, so its teeth shattered.


    The human gods didn''t give up, though. They roared and continued to fight.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    It is because they didn''t think they had anything to lose at this point. Their Oracles weren''t anywhere around, and the weapons they are using are disposable.


    Besides, they couldn''t escape even if they wanted to. They were sure to die after getting too close to the orc bandits in a bid to reach Legion-4. They decided that if they were going to die, they should take at least one orc bandit with them. So they kept on fighting.


    Their numbers dwindled one by one while they managed to hit another clone. But the same thing happened again. It only worked for less than a second.


    This didn''t sit well with the human gods. They roared in anguish. "This isn''t right. Why are you so strong?"


    Legion-5 asked, "Why are you so weak?"


    Then one of them roared in pain as they died. "Noooo!!!"


    The god of adventure tried to negotiate, "Let us talk about this. You can take half of the kingdom and keep the ves you have."


    Legion-2 asked, "Do you even have the right to make such a promise? You''re just a hired thug here."


    Another human god backed her up. "We promise not to contest your sovereignty over thend. Isn''t that what you want? We will publicly cede thend to you forever. We will even sign a divine contract to that effect."


    Legion didn''t take the deal. They had already killed six of the gods, leaving four. Why would they settle for half when they could have the whole thing with a little more effort?


    Besides, thend is no longer their priority at this point. They had to have the domains of the god of adventure. That''s the only way they will be content after their mortal army suffered so much loss.


    Eventually all 10 domain gods were killed. They left behind 8 Gods'' Fall, which Legion kept. They also left behind a total of 3 domains.


    Then Legion went on to destroy the capital. They went beyond that to wipe out all the cities and strongholds of the humans in Thames. They killed anything that looked like a human soldier and destroyed anything that looked like a fortification.


    There were a lot of such buildings, but they were mostly empty. This was especially so for areas close to the border of the next kingdom. The ces were mostly empty with a scant amount of humans still living in them.


    So they destroyed mostly empty buildings, as most of their inhabitants had gone. Apparently their priests led them away to some promisednd.


    This migration had started as soon as the orc host formed. At that time, the human gods had begun to prepare for their impending loss. Recent events have proven that they were right to prepare for that.

 Chapter 1900: Trade Embargo.

    Chapter 1900: Trade Embargo.


    ?


    At first, only true believers of the gods heeded the warnings and left early. But the orc host convinced more of them to listen.


    It was toote for those who lived close to the orcs to escape by the time the war broke out. But some still managed to get away.


    The 9 Crowns didn''t continue chasing after the fleeing gods. They got theirnd and 3 domains through Golden Light. These three are not part of the 9 domains they can fuse with, so they added them to the pile of domains that they intend to exchange with others.


    If they can''t use a domain, they can exchange it with other gods for domains that they can fuse with. Unfortunately, the gods are working against them. No one wants them to grow stronger, so they don''t want to exchange domains with them.


    The way this war ended has further proven that they aren''t doing enough. They realized that they needed to do more to hamstring 9 Crowns and his allies.


    The gods had schemed and plotted against 9 Crowns. They robbed him of the help of his Pantheon, and they managed to pull him away from the battle. But the best they could achieve was to save half of their believers and escape with them in defeat.


    This is despite many domain gods working against the 9 Crowns and his allies. Yet, they had to fall back to their contingency n. It made them wonder if they should have just focused on only the contingency n in the first ce.


    Some felt that they were wasting their time trying to hamper 9 Crowns, but the alternative was to let him have free rein. They just couldn''t allow that to happen.


    Not only do they hate him, but their world gods hate him too. There is also the fact that he would only be more insufferable if he bes stronger. So they weren''t willing to give up just yet.


    Not only did they prevent the trade of domains, they discouraged the trading of divinity, divine crystals, and other materials with them too. They shunned the orc bandits at every opportunity.


    Legion didn''t care about the trade embargo ced on them and their pantheon. It is because some gods were still willing to trade with them.


    Even without trade, they would continue to make progress. They have the strength to do that and more.


    The orcs settled in the Thames kingdom and began rebuilding it in honor of their god King. The first thing they built was walls and fortresses to secure their border. These were giant structures that no mortal, be they man or orc, could build.


    Every god had to descend to the mortal realm and use miracles to create mountains and then turn those mountains into square blocks. Then Legion used world power to lift these blocks and use them to build the defensive structures.


    It was quite a sight. Gods were working likeborers because 9 Crowns was adamant about marking his territory clearly and in the most secure manner.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The gods of the northern domain were surprised by his dedication. Even the mortals who couldn''t see clearly and could only see golden figures working day and night to secure theirnds were moved. They bowed and worshipped for days.


    When the border was finally secured, arge ceremony was then held. The day was to be a holiday. The mortals celebrated while 9 Crowns sharpened his des for revenge.


    "If they think they can scheme against us and get away with it, then they have another thinging."


    Things have gone generally well for them in this war. They only lost about 50,000 orcs before the gods retreated.


    In exchange, they gained arge piece ofnd and also gained three domains. There are also the 13 million souls from all the humans they killed and about 50 million more as ves. But those are not enough for them.


    Especially not after the gods have decided to make things difficult for them in the divine realm. If no one will trade domains with them, then they will have to get it themselves or settle for the souls of the believers of their enemies.


    Of course this is nothing personal. They understand that the gods are in the right about this. The orc bandits are too strong and have been a menace in the divine realm. They attack everyone they see, and at least one of the orc bandits is always hunting.


    So they can even agree that what the gods are doing to them is right and that they would do the same thing if they were in their shoes. But that''s not going to stop them from taking things further.


    Their enemies are weak. The best thing to do is to take advantage of them for all they''ve got and make sure that they don''t manage to rise up against them again. So they are not going to rest on theirurels at all.


    First they informed their Oracles to prepare raid parties that will raid the neighboring kingdoms of resources once every month. Next they had their heroes strike out alone against the humans until they broke down their kingdoms.


    Thest thing they did was to send spies to determine the location of churches, priests, and oracles of other gods in the neighboring kingdoms. Then they struck these targets once discovered.


    The other gods didn''t take this lying down. They tried to do the same thing to the 9 Crowns priests and oracles too. But he made sure that they stayed around an altar of his so that he could descend to protect them when they needed it.


    So while the war fornd had ended, the war for faith and power was never-ending. The gods traded blows secretly and openly. This would have continued for a long while if not for a certain loser meddling in the affairs of a being far greater than him.

 Chapter 1901: 800 Failures.

    Chapter 1901: 800 Failures.


    ?


    N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Jason v926 opened the tomb of a god in the south domain. He opened the tomb and went deep within it. There was no light, but he could see without it. He was full of anticipation for what he was about to do.


    "It should be here." He muttered to himself. "The signs all indicate that it should be here. As long as the system hasn''t changed my designs, then it should be here."


    Jason v211 has died. He died trying to be a titan ofw with 33ws. Apparently he was wrong. He didn''t have what it took to achieve something like that. Jason v101 was awoken with Jason v211''s memories when Jason v211 died. Jason v101 also attempted to be a titan ofw with 33ws. He thought Jason v211''s experience would help him.


    He was right about that. He did get some help from the memory. But the help wasrgely inconsequential, so he still failed in bing a titan ofw.


    Then Jason 102 woke up with Jason 101''s memories. He too gave the risky attempt a go. He too died. Another clone woke up after him and repeated the cycle.


    More than 800 Jasons had to die before they realized that they didn''t have what it took at all to achieve something like that. It was just too difficult. So they gave up on it temporarily. They decided to be Origin gods first so that they could participate in God''s Domain. It was only after that had been achieved that the other Jasons began to attempt the path of bing the Lord of the Void Universe again.


    The Jason that seeded in bing an Origin god is him, v926. Since he didn''t have any hope of bing the Lord of the Void Universe anymore, he dedicated his time to sabotaging the first one from within. This is why he is here.


    His n is to grow stronger quickly. It is the same n that every god in God Domain has. But The aims to use the power he gains against the god of power.


    The intimate information he has about this world hase in handy in helping him achieve his goals. Especially in this situation.


    It would be difficult for a god to stumble on this location. They would eventually find this ce after some time and activate it, but he knew what to search for in the first ce and why to search for it. After all, he was the one who designed this world and its mechanics.


    The steps of the tunnel stopped, leaving uneven, sloppy, and rocky ground for him to walk on. That didn''t stop him. He still continued when he had to crawl on his belly through the small hole that the tunnel had be.


    He certainly couldn''t stop after a while. He had gotten too far into the tunnel to give up. The tunnel had shrunk so much that he couldn''t return or stand up. The only way was forward, so The continued crawling.


    He crawled until he saw light at the end of the tunnel. The sight made him smile.


    "Only a little bit more now. Then I will have ess to all the divine realms."


    He emerged from the tunnel to see arge tower shining brightly. It had been buried deep underground for far too long.


    ording to the history of the world, it is an important relic from the previous age of gods. In fact, it has been present across every age of the gods.


    Jason v926 smiled and said, "Now it is time for the tower of realms to rise again."


    He touched it and channeled divine energy into it. This caused the light of the tower to dim. It dimmed until the underground space became pitch ck. Then after a while, the tower shook. The tremor caused by the tower made the underground space shake. Rocks cracked and caved in. One fell on Jason and shattered to pieces. It didn''t stop him from doing what he was doing. Eventually the tower began to rise from the earth. It rose up and appeared above ground in the southern divine realm again. It also appeared in every divine realm in God''s Domain. It was not the only one. There were four others too.


    A worldwide announcement was heard throughout all four divine realms.


    -The Tower of Realms has been activated.


    -The Divine War To Gain Control Of Them Will Commence In One Year.


    -Prepare Your Pantheon For This War.


    Legion-1 was in the mortal realm when the announcement was made. He was standing on the wall at his border and looking into the distance where a great beast of fire and wind was causing wanton destruction.


    The beast was about 50 meters tall. It was white and red because its body wasposed of ice and fire. It looked like a minotaur. It had great big curved horns of fire and ice on its head.


    Fire was pouring out of the red part of its body while ice was being ejected from the white half of its body. The fire burned everything to ashes while the ice froze and shattered everything in the beast''s path.


    The beast is called a Zephyro. It was a divine beast in the divine ne a few hours ago. But then it became a divine cmity when a group of gods fed a divine beast divinity and divine orbs.


    Those gods were killed for their offense while the divine cmity was hunted. The Zephyro descended to the mortal realm to escape the gods.


    The process weakened it, but it gave it a chance to escape the hunt of the gods. Now it is causing so much destruction that Legion-1 could see its trail of carnage from where he was on the wall.


    Legion-1 smirked, "Serves them right."


    The descent of the divine cmity is tragic but not for him. After all, it has been weakened terribly by the descent, so he can kill it. It is also destroying the territory of other gods, which is something he is happy to see.

 Chapter 1902: Divine War For The Tower Of Realms.

    Chapter 1902: Divine War For The Tower Of Realms.


    ?


    He is one of the many gods happy to see this. The human gods whose territory is being demolished are definitely not happy. They are still fighting a war with the other gods, but then a new problem emerged for them.


    "That''s what happens when you have thergest territory. Odds are that if something will go wrong, it will go wrong in your territory."


    The humans are taking a beating from the gods and divine beasts. He liked seeing it very much.


    He was contemting what to do about the divine beast when the announcement came. On one hand, it is good that the Zephyro is causing losses for other gods, but it is also growing stronger the more destruction it causes. So it will eventually grow strong enough to threaten his territory if left alone.


    He wants to see the pain of his enemies, but he also doesn''t want that pain to be visited upon him. But now he has to think about the Tower of Realms.


    So he asked his angel, "What is the tower of realms?"


    The bright little thing appeared beside his head in a sh of light. It twirled around before replying. "The Tower of Realms is the major requirement needed to gain ess to other divine realms. All four divine realms upy the same spot but in differentyers of space. They are normally separate from each other, but the Tower of Realms creates a link between them."


    "The towers still need something else for them to be used for inter-realm transportation, though. But in the meantime, they can be used by Pantheons to gain power."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Pantheons will fight in the divine war to gain control of any of the towers. It will be a free- for-all between every Pantheon. Or should I call it a battle royale?"


    Legion-1 shrugged and said, "I don''t much care what it is called."


    The angel tittered, "I''m sure you don''t. Anyways, the only Pantheon still standing within a tower after at least a day of fighting will gain control of the tower. The tower in turn will boost every god in the Pantheon with power."


    His interest was finally aroused. He said, "Hmmm. That''s what I care about. Tell me more about these boosts."


    The angel replied, "There are five towers in total. They boost Strength, Endurance, Speed, Authority or World Power. One Pantheon can gain control of all five towers."


    "In fact, one pantheon can gain control of the five towers in all four divine realms. The boosts will double for each tower of the same type they control."


    "But these boosts are only temporary. The divine war for the control of the towers will be held once every five years, and the boost will only be applied after the divine war. So a pantheon can lose control of a tower and the boost it provides if they don''t win the divine ear every five years."


    Legion-1 considered what it said and said, "If I am getting this right, this tower will not only cause war between the Pantheons of a realm, it will also cause a war between many realms. Is that so?"


    The angel replied, "It is so, but it is not special. There are other things that will cause wars between realms. Power and benefits have a way of doing that."


    He nodded. "Yes. Power and Benefits. We must prepare for this. I am sure the other gods would want to band together against us. To prevent us from gaining any tower."


    Then he told his heroes to go and kill the divine cmity. They are not his strongest forces, but they are immortal, so he can throw them at everything without much care.


    Meanwhile, he called for a council meeting with his subordinate gods. They had won the Pantheon war that was used to distract them by andslide. But now they have to prepare for something bigger.


    The three heroes of the 9 Crowns were doing what they were asked to do. They were hunting humans. They hunt to kill, but most of it was to enve. Then they would return to the orc empire with the captured ves.


    That''s what they do most of their time. Now they are currently resting by a fire. It is nighttime, and they need rest asionally.


    They were roasting a wild pig over the fire for dinner while they chatted. Only two of them were chatting, though.


    Sharon, who has changed her name to Tempest, is busy studying while the other two chat. She was working out the workings and forms for spells in her grimoire.


    It is how spell casters increase their proficiency in spells. They don''t need to fight or train physically like warriors. Most of their training is mental.


    She is too focused on her work and can''t spare the attention to join their conversation. Not that they wanted to chat with her. So they don''t mind her absence.


    Taylor, or One Sword, said, "I wonder when he will give up. It will take a while, but he should get it eventually."


    ck Knife examined a knife in his hands and said, "It should be soon. His spirit will break when he sees us again and realizes that we truly can''t die."


    Taylor snorted. "I don''t want him to give up, though. I want him to keep sending men after us to kill."


    ck Knife nodded. "Maybe we should keep him alive for that and only get rid of him when he is no longer useful."


    Taylor smiled at that. "We have to keep leading him on, though. Maybe we take one of his family next."


    ck Knife smiled too. "We should take his daughter. His precious daughter. I''m sure he will be incensed then. He might chase us to the ends of the world for it."


    The two of them worked out the n to keep the king''s men after them. They have made a name for themselves in this kingdom. It is a bad reputation of killing and piging, so the king of kingdom they are tormenting sent soldiers to apprehend them.

 Chapter 1903 Not Human.

    Chapter 1903 Not Human.


    None of those soldiers have returned. It is not because they are weak. They are actually strong, but the things they were hunting couldn''t die.


    The three of them had always resurrected through the portable shrine they carried with them. It was a quick resurrection and didn''t require a resurrection stone like the other otherworlders from Earth.


    They were able to resurrect right where they died with their strength intact. This enabled them to wear down their enemies and turn the tides of victory against the soldiers sent after them.


    They would like this to continue because they don''t need to go looking for things to kill for runes if the king keeps sending soldiers after them. With the runes, they can grow their attributes, and with the constant fighting, they can grow their skills. So they have been growing stronger despite the hunt of the soldiers for them. It helps them achieve their mission of causing chaos and destruction in the kingdom until it copses. Sometimes they have to remind themselves that they are on a mission because causing chaos seems more like a hobby, not a job they have to do. They are having a lot of fun doing it, and they have earned a lot of power from their vendetta against the king, who is trying to eliminate the many bands of orcs sent to raid his nation. He doesn''t know that the numerous bands are just the same three immortal heroes. They were chatting when they noticed movements in the bush. It was Tempest that did. She had a better perception than them. Her voice came in a slow, even, and unemotional tone as she informed them. "Fourteen mening from the road."


    ck Knife grinned, "Like moths to a me."


    Then he disappeared into the dark.


    Taylor muttered, "Show off." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The darkness of the night made it difficult to see, but ck Knife also had his ck cloak, which grants him the passive ability that makes his scent and any sound from him disappear.


    "Are you ufortable?"


    Together with the active ability of invisibility granted by the cloak, ck Knife would have disappeared in the day too. So Taylor thinks it is overkill for him to use the active ability in the night. With ck Knife gone, this left One Sword with Tempest. He didn''t feelfortable being in her presence. It didn''t help when she pointed it out.


    "Are you ufortable?"


    He replied, "A little bit."


    She looked up from her scribblings and stared at him. He didn''t see any emotion in her eyes. It was unnerving.


    This feeling was not alleviated when she offered generously, "Would it help if we had sex?"


    He chuckled at that. "No. No, it would not."


    She shrugged her shoulders. "Suit yourself. I have no other solution."


    He asked her, "Would you have had sex with me if I had epted?"


    She returned her attention to her grimoire. Her eyes were looking down as she replied, "No."


    Her reply made him roll his eyes. "Why did you offer then?"


    "To mess with you," came her reply.


    That made himugh. It didn''t register much because someone had cried out in pain in the darkness of the night. But theugh did alleviate the tension he felt from being alone with her. Her joke had made her seem more human to him. He considers Sharon, or Tempest, as she likes to be called, to be different from them. It is not a far-fetched opinion. He has his reasons. He knows ck Knife to be a sadist who likes breaking rules and hurting people. He doesn''t consider himself a saint, as he is willing to do everything he needs to acquire power. But ck Knife takes things beyond that.


    ck Knife does things he doesn''t need to do. He does those things for fun, which Taylor has a problem with. But he can tolerate it since this world is a game. It was ck Knife''s twisted mind that came up with creating arge fire to lure humans who need a ce to rest at night. He would then kill them before they got to the fire and loot them of all they had while earning runes from them to grow his attributes.


    But for all his failings, he still considers ck Knife to be human. Tempest, on the other hand, is something else.


    He had tortured ady and killed ady for a ss. He felt bad about it and wouldn''t have done it again if it didn''t work. But Sharon didn''t stop after the gods refused her request for a ss.


    The gods didn''t speak to her when she went to them asking for a ss after killing her first victim. They didn''t even acknowledge her presence, much less her deed. But that didn''t discourage her.


    She went back and killed more people. She would always return to the gods to ask if that was enough. They ignored her until she killed the eleventh person. They told her that sacrificing people had be boring and unamusing. But that didn''t discourage her. She took it as progress that they had finally acknowledged her. So she continued killing people. She kept killing people until she was granted a ss. The gods were finally amused after she killed the 57th person. He can''t understand why she continued to do that when she could have given up and gone to do missions. It is iprehensible to him since she had spent weeks on it. It is time that would have gone to waste if the god hadn''t given her a ss.


    What''s more is that many other people had already gotten a ss through doing training missions while she was still killing people. So the more efficient decision was to do training missions, but she kept killing people after the gods said that it was boring. He can''t even justify all the killing even after she got her ss because the effort she put in and all the deaths she caused just weren''t worth it.

 Chapter 1904: What Is Real?

    Chapter 1904: What Is Real?


    ?


    There were quicker, better, and easier ways to get a ss than killing 57 people over a period of seven weeks. She is not like ck Knife either. She is not a sadist, and she doesn''t enjoy


    killing people.


    So whole thing was not enjoyable for her. He can''t say she did it for fun. But she did it anyway. It makes her appear to be a lunatic.


    Then there is also the fact that she simply unnerves him. It is almost as if she doesn''t have emotions. She doesn''t get angry,ugh, cry, smile, or grin. Her face is constantly calm, and her eyes are sharp.


    Serial killing is not the only thing that doesn''t give her pleasure. Practically nothing gives her pleasure. She simply does them for an unknown reason. It appears that she simply does them because she has to.


    He mused to himself as he watched the fire, "She is like a robot stuck in a logic loop. She is unfeeling and uncaring, and I don''t think it is because of God''s Domain."


    Someone else cried out in the dark. More people were shouting too. The sounds they made drew his attention. But it didn''t seem to have moved Tempest at all.


    It had taken him a while to get used to the ughter they had inflicted on this world. It was mostly the fact that God''s Domain is a game that helped hime to terms with the orders of the 9 Crowns.


    But Tempest hadn''t minded from the start. ck Knife had been excited, but she had just been unfazed. It made him unable to tell what she was thinking or how she felt about things. It was just unnerving.


    He was brought out of his thoughts by a question from her. She asked him, "What do you think about this world?"


    He replied after a while, "God''s Domain is a realistic and interesting game. It is a one of a kind."


    She said, "I said world, not game."


    He asked in confusion, "What''s the difference?"


    She replied with another question, "Indeed. What''s the difference between the world and God''s Domain?"


    "I still don''t understand."


    She asked, "What''s the difference between Earth and where we are right now?"


    He replied easily, "For one, and probably the most important one, there is no magic on Earth."


    She looked up from her book and stared at him with those unmoving eyes of hers. "Don''t we already have magic on earth through the Heavenly Corporation?"


    "Ahhh." His mouth hung open to say something, but he stopped.


    Then he said, "That is different."


    She didn''t address his rebuttal. She asked again, "What do you think about this world?"


    This time, the question was far different from what he thought. It was the same words, but they had a different meaning. The answer to the question didn''te to him easily like before.


    He became silent as he considered her words. She didn''t appear to be interested in his answer anymore anyway. She had returned to scribbling intensely.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He wanted to answer. Actually, he had a lot to say. He was intelligent enough to understand her ulterior motive when shepared Earth to God''s Domain. But he just couldn''t ept any possibility that they are simr. The answer is clear. God''s Domain is a game while Earth is real.


    Again, he is reminded of how she thinks differently from normal people. He can''t even begin toprehend why she would think that God''s Domain is real. It just doesn''t make sense. They remained in silence until ck Knife returned. He was carrying arge package of loot in a loose bag.


    He pped his hands in glee. "I love this game so much. I think I want to live here forever." Taylor said to him, "You missed two this time."


    "Yeah. I became too confident. I didn''t get rid of the body fast enough. Someone saw me and screamed. But I bet I will do better next time."


    Taylor stretched out his hand and said, "Doesn''t matter. You lost the bet. Pay up."


    ck Knife grudgingly took out 5 gold coins that he passed on to Taylor. The three of them returned to doing whatever they were doing. The only difference was that the roasting pig was almost done. Tempest used a magic hand to turn it over the fire.


    Taylor asked ck Knife, "What do you think about the streaming service that people are asking for?"


    ck Knife asked, "What people?"


    Taylor replied slightly confused, "Everyone on the inte."


    "Ah." ck Knife said in understanding. Then he shrugged and said, "It doesn''t matter." His reply made Taylor chuckle, "It is that simple. Their opinion doesn''t matter. After all, what are they going to do to the Heavenly Corporation if they don''t get their way?"


    ck Knife couldn''t answer that because he didn''t have ess to the inte or know about the heavenly cooperation. Fortunately, he didn''t need to answer. The question was only rhetorical.


    They were about to eat when they saw something fall from the sky. It wasrge, and it was burning. It was also frozen.


    It was a confusing sight. It was thergest and most confusing meteor they had ever seen. The amount of light it was producing turned the night into day.


    It was a short day as it flew over their heads and crashed somewhere in the distance. They even saw the light from the explosion from where they were. It was brighter than what it produced earlier. It turned the night into day again.


    This time, the light lingered for a long while. It waned slowly over time like the light from the


    setting sun.


    ck Knife said, "I think there is a city in that direction."


    Taylor shook his head. "Oof. Wouldn''t want to be those people."


    But then he returned to watching the pig. ck Knife also didn''t care. He returned to sharpening his knife. Only Tempest was still looking in the direction of where the meteorite


    landed.


    A/N: I think Sharon is just Autistic.

 Chapter 1905: Crippled Divine Beast.

    Chapter 1905: Crippled Divine Beast.


    ?


    Her fixation on the meteor drew Taylor''s attention because not many things interest her. So he asked her, "What has got your attention?"


    She replied while still looking into the distance, "It contains thergest amount of power I have ever encountered. Only the avatar of the 9 Crowns can match it. Not even Ragnar is that strong."


    Taylor asked in surprise, "What? The meteor? Is it some kind of divine object?"


    ck Knife had also be interested. He asked, "Is it valuable?"


    If something is valuable, can make him stronger, or is fun to do, then he will be interested. Food is the fourth thing that makes him tick. He likes food a lot.


    Tempest replied, "I don''t know what it is. That''s why I am interested in it. All I know is that it feels powerful and dangerous. It feels like a god."


    ck Knife had definitely be interested too. His eyes gazed into the distance as he muttered, "How can we find out what it is?"


    They got their answer immediately. They received a notification from the system.


    -A Divine Cmity Has Descended From The Divine Realm.


    -Please Beware.


    "Wow," eximed the two men.


    Taylor stood up and looked into the distance, where red and white light was shing asionally. "Something from the divine realm. This has to be an event, right?"


    ck Knife nodded in excitement. He said, "It is going to be dangerous, though." Tempest was still silently looking into the distance.


    Eventually she said, "We can''t go. It is too far away, and we have a mission here."


    This made the other two, who were about to suggest going to hunt it, calm down before they asked. Taylor sighed and sat down on the log again while ck Knife decided to return his attention to the roasting pig and be content with it.


    But their calm was only temporary. They couldn''t rx when they saw all the light shows from the distance. It was especially obvious because it was nighttime.


    There was arge beast made of fire and ice. It looked like a bull, but they couldn''t tell for sure because its body was not stable. It was woven of fire and ice, so it waxed and waned. It was also destroying everything around it as they watched.


    All they saw stimted them. They wanted to go there and fight it or at least watch it up close. They were only briefly distracted when they noticed a being of light standing on the tall walls of the Orc Empire.


    This being looked like a giant because of all the light radiating out of him. It also caused the mark of the 9-headed dragon on their forehead to throb.


    Tempest shifted her sight between the god on the walls and the divine cmity in the distance. Eventually she said, "I was wrong. The avatar of the 9 Crowns is more powerful. Vastly more powerful. But it seems that the divine cmity is growing stronger."


    Taylor shrugged and said, "I don''t care about that. I only want to fight and test my de. I''ll take any one of them willing to give me a chance.


    ck Knife shushed him in fright. "Be careful what you say."


    Eventually they got another notification.


    -(Quest Received)


    (Objective: Kill The Divine Cmity)


    (Reward: Essence and Divine Crystals)


    (Description: A Divine Cmity hase to the mortal realm to escape the hunt of the gods. Kill it while it is still weakened by its descent."


    The three of them took off immediately. They got on their horses and rode into the distance. They were not the only one. Many other yers were also riding towards the divine cmity. It didn''t matter if they were heroes or not.


    Actually, everyone else had received the quest right from the moment they got the notification about the presence of the divine cmity in the mortal realms. It was the heroes that needed to be given permission by their gods to interfere with it.


    So the three of them met up with others riding towards the divine cmity after a day of riding. They met with more yers along the remaining 2 days it took them to reach the divine cmity.


    These other yers were mostly human. Only the few heroes among them were of different races. But all heroes had a mark on their foreheads that indicated which god they were contracted to.


    What Taylor found was that there was no human hero. Every hero appeared to belong to non- human races. It made him wonder why that was, but he didn''t fixate on that for too long. There were far more interesting things to see and think about.


    The procession of yers was quite a sight. Tens of thousands of people were using different kinds of means to rush towards the divine cmity rampaging while some people were trying to escape it.


    The yers formed a tide that surrounded the scorpion of fire from every side. They swarmed it and were poking it over and over again.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    When Taylor and the other two arrived, they found many people who were already engaged with the divine cmity. Some of them were normal inhabitants of God''s Domain, but most of them were yers.


    The number of people besieging the divine cmity had reached a hundred thousand and continued to swell by the moment. They all besieged this great beast who refused to fall.


    He used inspection on the divine cmity, but it didn''t work. Fortunately, the 9 Crowns had provided information to him and the other two.


    NAME: Emptid


    RACE: Zephyro


    TIER: 2


    LEVEL: 100


    HP: 10,000,000


    STRENGTH: 70,000


    ENDURANCE: 1


    SPEED: 29,999,


    DIVINE ABILITY: Icy-Fire Hurricane.


    STATUS: Hostile. Weakened.


    Their efforts would have beenpletely useless if the divine cmity hadn''t been weakened. This weakness was in its totalck of defense. It meant that weak beings could


    harm it.


    If it had the absolute defense it had in the divine realm, then no amount of weak beings would be able to harm it. Unfortunately, the process ofing down to the mortal ne had removed its absolute protection and crippled its endurance.

 Chapter 1906: Troublesome Enemies.

    Chapter 1906: Troublesome Enemies.


    ?


    There were also other divine beings at the scene. There were the avatars of gods. There were three of them besieging the divine cmity.


    These avatars didn''t have the inspiring might of the avatar of the 9 crowns in the perception of mages. They also couldn''t fly, but they were still dishing out massive spells that created earth-shaking explosions.


    Each spell was like a nuke. The explosions were so bright and powerful that they cratered the fur of the divine cmity and caused icy blood fire to pour out of it.


    These three were the major damage dealers while the humans swarmed the zephyro with ranged damage. There was nomunication between them. The gods did their thing, and the mortals struggled to keep up with them and not get blown up by the spells of the gods.


    The Zephyro was no slouch either. It swung its tail with such speed that even the gods couldn''t keep track of. Its tail was equipped with a stinger at the end of it, which it used to puncture anything it could reach.


    It was able to destroy the three avatars in quick session. More avatars came, but it killed any avatar that descended to fight it.


    This quick dispatch of the gods meant that even though the gods were very powerful, they were rarely given time to do much damage. It was up to the weak humans who couldn''t all be killed quickly and were capable of resurrecting to kill it.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The three heroes of the 9 Crowns joined the battle after taking stock of the situation. One sword disappeared in a sh of his sword while ck Knife simply disappeared.


    Tempest stayed back and raised her hands to the sky. She muttered words of magic and power that invoked a storm.


    Clouds formed in the sky. Lightning surged between the clouds and from them to the ground. Some of the lightning struck people or the divine cmity. Either way, they lit up the night and created thunderps with each strike.


    Wind and water descended from the cloud in a deluge of a storm. They struck everyone close to the divine cmity. But it was especially effective against the creature of fire and ice.


    Her spell and those of tens of thousands of other mages struck the divine cmity again and again. It was a never-ending cycle of destruction that did very little damage to the divine cmity but became significant over time.


    The physical attacks were also relentless. The sheer number of attacks was enough to drown any mortal creature, even if they are more than 50 meters tall. But the divine cmity refused to go down. It continued to rampage.


    The Zephyro killed mortals and gods alike. One hit was enough for it to kill anyone. Unfortunately, some of its enemies couldn''t be defeated.


    It could kill these enemies easily, but they didn''t remain dead for long and would always return to trouble it. These enemies were also in possession of divine weapons that could damage it significantly.


    Plus, some divine avatars showed up once in a while to deal catastrophic damage to it. It would manage to send them off but not for long. The avatars would always return. Meanwhile, the Zephyrp couldn''t heal and recover its strength when the avatars had been dispatched because of the mortals troubling it. It would have to deal with them only for more avatars toe.


    This cycle continued until they ground the Zephyro down. It took 5 days of fighting for it to die.


    The great beast of fire and ice roared onest time. Then its great body crashed to the ground and broke apart into motes of light. The humans celebrated over the victory. Then they fought each other for the loot.


    Runes had already gone to the heroes based on how much damage they dealt to the divine cmity. But the divine crystals that the scorpion left behind could be taken by anyone.


    There was no disagreement about how to share the divine crystals. How could there be a disagreement when they didn''t even bother to agree? They simply turned their des on each other in order toy im to the divine crystals.


    Divine crystals are the most important currency in God''s Domain to both the normal inhabitants and otherworlders. They were very rare, so each sighting was a great cause for


    war.


    The indigenous people and the yers didn''t have inventory, so they had to hold the divine crystals in their hands to keep them. This caused the wrath of thousands of others to fall on whoever was in possession of a divine crystal.


    Most of the heroes didn''t need divine crystals, but they weren''t going to give up on it easily. Especially not when the fight could make them stronger. Some of the heroes didn''t even bother with the divine crystals. They just attacked anyone else that wasn''t a hero.


    This caused a rift to appear between the normal otherworlders and heroes. They were all yers, but the heroes were privileged and proud. The normal yers became bitter as they were killed by the heroes.


    Most of the normal yers gave up when they realized they stood no chance. But some remained stubborn in their endeavor for divine crystals. They were rewarded with death and a loss of half of their stats.


    Eventually the divine crystals fell into the hands of the heroes. It was then that some otherworlders approached them to hold an auction. Some heroes agreed, so a great auction was held.


    The otherworlders celebrated with a party. They chatted amongst themselves and caught up with the general state of affairs of the conditions of otherworlders in God''s Domain.


    Taylor was approached during the party by a group of otherworlders. They imed they had an interesting proposition for him.


    Their leader said to him, "We have found a way to kill gods."


    Taylorughed. He looked at his drink and said, "This thing must be stronger than I thought. I actually thought you said you had found a way to kill gods."

 Chapter 1907: Daydreaming.

    Chapter 1907: Daydreaming.


    ?


    He belched and said, "Maybe I should stop drinking."


    Another person joined in. "It is true. We have really found a way to kill gods."


    Taylor didn''t take them seriously. Maybe it was because he was drunk, so he couldn''t take anything seriously currently. But he felt like he had to entertain them, so he said, "Good for you. You know what? You should go for it."


    Their leader resumed his proposition, "We need your help for something."


    Taylor shook his head. "Despite how dashing and sharp I look, I can''t kill gods. I''ll just be a disappointment to you for that."


    The leader exined, "No. We don''t need you to kill the god. We only need you to lure a god into the ambush we have prepared."


    Taylor asked, "Where am I supposed to find a god to lure? Gods aren''t in the mood for interacting with us mortals. I can''t evenmunicate with them, and even if I could, they won''t listen to me."


    The yers looked at each other in a shifty manner before one of them suggested a solution. "Don''t you have a patron god? Surely you cane up with something to draw their attention."


    Taylor was sobering up now. No amount of alcohol can keep his buzz going when someone suggests something that can obviously ruin his life.


    He asked, "Do you mean 9 Crowns? Are you crazy? You want me to betray my boss?"


    He had be angry by the time he finished firing off the series of questions. He is not attached to the 9 Crowns emotionally, but they are his boss and employer. They are the source of his strength in this world and livelihood. What they are asking of him is to endanger his livelihood, and there is no way he is going to go along with that.


    Not only did he sign a contract in which he promised not to betray his patron, but even if he did betray the 9 Crowns, get away with it, and manage to kill the 9 Crowns, what would that benefit him?


    The leader tried to cate him. "Calm down. Wait till you hear what we have nned before you make a decision."


    Taylor nodded sharply. Then he asked, "Let us start from the very beginning. What is this weapon that you have prepared?"


    They became hesitant. They didn''t want to reveal this knowledge to someone they couldn''t trust.


    Taylor smiled at them. "Fine, don''t tell. At least tell me what you will gain from killing the god."


    The leader replied, "We don''t know, but we expect there to be great loot for killing a god."


    Taylorughed then. He shook his head and said, "Give up on your daydreaming. You are all tier 1, while the weakest god is someone who had gone through tier 1 all the way to tier 6 before they ascended. You can''t even kill me permanently. What hope do you have for killing a god?"


    The yers became angry, but he had more to say to them about the folly of their n.


    He said, "Don''t answer that. I am sure you have great hope for killing a god, or you wouldn''t have approached the servant of a god to recruit them in your n, even at the risk that they would betray you and snitch to their god."


    "But hope aside, we already have a realistic answer to your chances of killing a god. Do you remember earlier when we were fighting the divine cmity? Did you see the avatars shooting off nukes? Do you know that those avatars are not even their true bodies?"


    He continued to ask more questions. "Did you see that some avatars returned after being destroyed? Did you see that those avatars returned quickly? So the answer is clear. Even if you manage to defeat the avatar of a god, the only thing you will manage is to anger a very powerful being. So give up on your daydreams."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Their leader scowled and said, "It is clear that we came to the wrong person. I see that you have decided to betray where you''re from and who you used to be for the gods."


    Taylor scowled in return, "What the fuck are you talking about? It is a game. Not a fight between worlds. I have betrayed no one."


    The others dragged their leader away, leaving Taylor pissed. He frowned and thought to himself, "They have ruined my fun. Maybe I should ruin theirs."


    He thought about killing them. Not only will that cripple their strength by half, but he will be stronger after doing it. It will surely improve his mood.


    But then he remembered that everyone had agreed not to kill anyone during this festive event. So he decided not to kill them.


    He let them go. But that didn''t change how pissed he was. He couldn''t appreciate the celebration anymore, so he decided to leave. He mounted his horse and began his journey back.


    ck Knife and Tempest returnedter on. Their days became normal again. They hunted humans were hunted in return. They died and resurrected again.


    This continued for many days. It turned into weeks and months too. At this point, the king of the kingdom was about to send his whole army after them. But then something out of ce happened after 3 months.


    A red rainbow appeared in the sky. It was sudden and silent. It hadn''t rained, so there shouldn''t be a rainbow.


    Taylor looked into the distance and saw what looked like blood raining from the sky. Light passed through the droplets of blood and was refracted into the colors of the rainbow.


    What he saw surprised him. He said, "I didn''t know that blood could do that."


    ck Knife asked, "How did blood get that high in the sky?"


    Tempest asked, "Is that even blood?"


    Then they received a notification.


    -A mortal has killed a god.


    -The Mortal de has imed another victim.


    A/N: I am sure this is just a coincidence.

 Chapter 1908: The Mortal Blade.

    Chapter 1908: The Mortal de.


    ?


    Even the gods received this notification. Legion-1 was hunting as usual when they heard it. They didn''t know what it was about, so they asked their angel.


    "What is this about?"


    The angel pped in excitement and asked, "Do you remember when I told you that there are at least two ways to kill a god permanently?"


    He nodded and said, "I remember. It was right after we met you on our first day in God''s Domain."


    The gods have discovered two ways to kill a god permanently. The first one is to kill all their Oracles and then kill the true body of the god. One can also kill the true body of the god and then kill the Oracles. The order doesn''t really matter.


    The second option is to kill all the believers of a god and wipe out their faith in the mortal realm. When a god is forgotten by the mortals, they will die even without being killed.


    As far as he knows, no god has been killed with the second method. It is because it is very difficult. Even the previous generations of gods were not forgotten after ten thousand years of absence.


    These gods weren''t around to keep their faith going, but they were still remembered. One can imagine how difficult it would be to make the mortals forget a god who is actively spreading their faith.


    The angel chuckled and said, "I am sure you remember the two methods. Well, a third method has been found. That is what this is about."


    Legion-3 growled. "Tell me more."


    It twirled as if there was no rush. Then it replied as it flew around Legion-1''s head, "The mortal de was created by a legendary craftsman who aimed to create a weapon capable of killing a god. He wanted to do this because a god had killed his family. So he was willing to go to any length to create this weapon."


    "Unfortunately, dedication and hard work don''t always lead to sess. He was just a mortal, so he couldn''t kill a god, and he couldn''t make a weapon that could kill a god with the power of a mortal."


    "Since a single mortal was too weak to kill a god, he had the idea tobine the might of many mortals into a weapon. So he bound the souls of a million humans with their bones, burned them, and refined their soul-infused ashes into a bone de. This de is the Mortal de."


    Legion-1 said, "How audacious. I am impressed."


    Then he asked, "So how does this weapon work?"


    The angel replied, "Anyone willing to sacrifice their lives can use the Mortal de to kill a god. It doesn''t matter if they are willing or not; anyone that touches the de will surely die. They can use it to kill a god, or they die in at most a year."


    "The mortal de is both a god-killing weapon and also a method to kill a god permanently. It can only be used by mortals, and while it is capable of killing gods permanently, it needs to strike their true bodies or use a vendetta of revenge to kill the god permanently through their avatar."


    Legion-3, who was in the hotel, nodded and said, "It doesn''t matter. We must have this sword if only to make sure it will not be used against us."


    They were about to descend to find the Mortal de when their angel advised, "Any god in its presence, be they in their avatar form, is in danger of the Mortal de. What''s worse is that gods can''t see the de. They can only see it when they make contact with it; by then it will be toote. So I will not advise you to go looking for it."


    Legion-1 frowned and said, "Tell me everything you know about this de so we can make the best n for it."


    The angel obliged and told them all they needed to know about the weapon. Apparently, only mortals could see the weapon and wield it.


    If a god could see the mortal de, that god must have fulfilled the requirement of the vendetta of revenge. It meant that whoever is wielding the weapon can kill them permanently.


    Legion decided not to go looking for the de themselves after hearing everything about the weapon. They decided to send their heroes while equipping them with the knowledge they needed to find it.


    So the three heroes of the 9 Crowns received the quest to find and acquire the Mortal de. Tempest, One Sword, and Taylor set out immediately.


    The three of them didn''t leave for this quest alone. The 9 Crowns gave them a hundred Orc riders to help with their mission. Then they rode towards the blood rainbow in the distance.


    This rainbow was fading away, and it would take some time to reach it even if it remained there permanently. In that time, the de could be gone. But it is their best shot at finding it, so they set out for it.


    Taylor muttered to himself silently, "Could it be them? Could they have done it?"


    He doesn''t think it is possible for the guys he met to actually kill a god, but the quest and the information from the 9 Crowns indicate that it is possible. Not only is it possible, it has already happened. A mortal has killed a god.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The Mortal de is not perfect. It needs to recharge after every use. This requires the death of thousands of humans. It also requires the wielder to sacrifice themselves to use. So anyone that finds it must use it to kill thousands of humans before they die and then lure or find the avatar of a god before they can use it to kill the god.


    Even then, the death of the god might only be temporary. So there are clearly a lot of cons to using the de. But it is still a powerful weapon for any mortal to have.

 Chapter 1909: Struggle For The Blade.

    Chapter 1909: Struggle For The de.


    ?


    n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The Mortal de will be even more useful in the hands of a hero. After all, heroes can''t die permanently, and they are mortals, so they can use the weapon. A hero would be able to use it again and again against gods.


    ck Knife heard him murmur and said, "It doesn''t matter if it is them or not. What matters is that we must get this weapon at all costs. Not only for 9 Crowns but for ourselves too."


    "You know about them?" Taylor asked in surprise.


    "I do. They approached many heroes. I didn''t think they had a chance. Apparently I was wrong. I feel so much regret now. If only I had believed them and stolen the weapon."


    Taylor chuckled. "That''s what I thought."


    ck Knife truly felt remorse. But he encouraged himself. "It is alright. I can still find it. The description is clear. It is a white bone sword that devours both the blood of its wielder and those in by it. It will turn red when it is fully recharged and will create a blood rainbow when it is discharged. So it should not be hard to miss."


    They were not the only heroes in pursuit of the Mortal de. Many heroes were being sent to find the de. Even gods without heroes sent some of their believers to find it.


    Not all of the gods want to acquire the mortal de, though. Some of them just want to destroy it and make sure it won''t get into the hands of other gods. These gods deemed it too dangerous to allow it to exist.


    Other mortal forces were also trying to find the Mortal de to use it themselves or to prevent the gods from gaining control over it. After all, it is their greatest weapon against gods. They couldn''t allow the gods to benefit from it.


    Most of the mortal forces that wanted to gain control of the Mortal de for the sake of the mortals were humans. Many of them want the Mortal de for revenge.


    A lot of humans are still salty about the recent war that decimated their poption and reduced their living spaces. They me the other races and their gods. They think that if they have a deterrent force, they would be able to keep theirnds. So they want the Mortal de to fight back.


    As for other mortal races that wanted the Mortal de to remain in the control of mortals, they were ambitious adventurers looking to gain control of the god-killing weapon for power.


    Both most of the mortal forces that set out to find the Mortal de wanted to destroy it. This number is more than the total number of mortals who want to get the Mortal de for their gods and the mortals who want to get the Mortal de to keep it in the hands of mortalsbined.


    This particr group of mortals make up 60% of everyone going after the Mortal de. They have the intention to destroy the Mortal de because it is capable of more destruction against mortals than gods.


    Surely gods can go on a rampage and kill mortals. But they rarely do that. It is the mortals that kill each other the most. Meanwhile the appearance of the Mortal de means people will be dying left and right in order to recharge the god-killing weapon.


    So different forces from different areas of the Northern Domain converged on the blood rainbow in the sky. Their various intentions caused them to eye each other warily when they met. These differences in opinions caused full-blown fights whenever the Mortal de appeared.


    The fights were bloody. Many mortals died, and it wasn''t by the Mortal de. Meanwhile, the Mortal de changed hands several times. No one could hold on to it for long. Anyone that got hold of it died soon after. Not even heroes could hold onto it for long.


    Legion watched this with satisfaction. They told their heroes to acquire the Mortal de, but this chaos and destruction was all they wanted to see.


    Ever since the mortals began fighting over the control of the god-ying weapon, no god has been killed, temporarily or permanently. In fact, no attempts have been made on a god''s life. The Mortal de has be a tool that causes the death of mortals instead.


    While having a hero in control of the Mortal de is good, having no one in control of it is better for Legion. In fact, they don''t want the Mortal de because it is more trouble than it is worth.


    Not only will possessing it garner the hatred of gods and mortals alike, but the deaths it will cause to gods at the hands of heroes will only be temporary. That is something they are already more than capable of achieving.


    It is just not worth it at all to have their territory in the mortal realm attacked on all sides for a weapon that causes the temporary deaths of gods.


    If not for the fact that they have God''s Fall and can cause the true body of a god to descend and use the Mortal de to kill them permanently, the Mortal de wouldn''t be much of a threat to the gods, and Legion wouldn''t have bothered to make their heroes help stir the chaos surrounding it.


    Even then, as long as they kill every mortal in a family and don''t leave behind a seed of vengeance, no one will be able to use the Mortal de to kill them through their avatar.


    That is the precaution that most gods are taking now. While the Mortal de is still changing hands, the gods have learned to make sure to wipe out the loved ones of any mortal that they kill.


    In the meantime, they are content with stirring up trouble rather than trying to im the Mortal de for themselves. With the way that things are going, Legion feels rxed enough to focus on other things.

 Chapter 1910: Easy To Plan And Execute.

    Chapter 1910: Easy To n And Execute.


    ?


    What needs most of their attention are the preparations for the Tower of Realms divine war that will be held in 8 months. They were also busy with their research into Aspects and the n to capture the strange creature pursuing them in the void universe.


    Actually, they have made a lot of progress in thetter. The research for Aspects is an unending pursuit. There is just so much to learn about the world that they don''t think they will ever be ready to make a supremew.


    Currently, they haven''t been able to make contact with the quantum zone. They can''t even confirm its existence. On the other hand, they have made contact with the Phantom Zone.


    It was easy for them to make contact with the Phantom Zone. They are even about to create a way to breach the dimensional barrier and enter it, but they are stopping that research in favor of capturing the strange creature that has pursuing them across the void universe and the spiritual dimension.


    This creature has made things difficult for them and has hindered their research, so they n to put an end to its pursuit as soon as possible. Then they will be able to focus more on their research of Aspects and dimensions.


    Their n to capture this strange creature was easy to make and execute. All they needed was some Authority of the void universe. That is something they have a lot of.


    If they can''t boast about having a surplus of the Authority of the Void Universe, then no one can. Many gods can attest to how many times gods with domains, be they true gods or domain gods, have handed their domains over to the 9 Crowns without asking for anything in return.


    So Legion has most domains. The advent of the tower realm divine war has also made many gods more open to trading with them in preparation for the war.


    So they were able to trade the domains they had acquired for the ones they could use. Not only do they have the most domains, but they also have the most useful domains that they can absorb and take to the void universe.


    They used some of those domains to initiate their n now. That was the most difficult part of their n. This part was easy for them to execute, so the next part of their n is supposed to be easier. All they have to do is designate one of them as the bait.


    They can use any clone since the strange creatures are chasing all of them. But for their n to work without fail, they rmended Soverick because of his eyes.


    It was a unanimous decision. Everyone chose Soverick to be the nice, juicy bait for their trap.


    He could only grumble about discrimination against those with better eyesight before he was thrown to the wolves.


    Heined, but the trap was the perfect trap in that there was no sign of it, and everything appeared to be normal. The strange creatures didn''t know what they had built within Legion-1, so they continued to chase the clones around.


    Soverick entered the spiritual dimension as usual. He waited for a while. The strange creature pursuing him entered the spiritual dimension soon after.


    The two of them didn''t enter the Spiritual Dimension from the same spot, so there was arge distance between them. Soverick used this distance to get in touch with the creature.


    Legion-7 had always advised against any form of contact with the strange creatures, but he has allowed contact this time around. In fact, the two of them are working together to ensure that Soverick could see and perceive the creature.


    Soverick asked it, "Why are you chasing us? What have we done to you?"


    The creature looked like Legion-5. It was white and faceless. It replied, "You stole my identity and my n and my future. You are thieves. You''re fakes, and you will be punished for this offense."


    Soverick was confused by what he heard. He asked, "But we still don''t know your identity? How can we have stolen your identity if we have never met you before?"


    It replied with anger, "Don''t lie about not knowing my identity. You should be able to tell who I am. After all, you tried and failed to kill me."


    Soverick was more confused than ever. They have killed a lot of people, but they don''t believe that they have stolen anyone''s identity.


    Fortunately, the strange creature was a talker. After berating Soverick, it went on to introduce itself.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I am Gehaldirah. I am the true Gehaldirah. I was to be Legion, but you stole my future from me. You''re despicable thieves."


    Soverick was taken aback. But he had a job to do, so he continued speaking. He asked, "How did we do such a thing?"


    It replied with disdain, "How should I know?"


    Then it smiled, "But not to worry. You will get what''sing for you. There''s no escaping now."


    Soverick felt a tentacletch onto his mind through the line ofmunication with the strange creature. This tentacle caused pain to spike in his mind as it bore into his divine sense. His eyes widened in horror as he turned to escape.


    He screamed mentally to Legion-7, "You didn''t tell me this was going to happen."


    Legion-7 muttered, "I might have underestimated this creature a little bit, but everything should still be in order."


    Soverick escaped back to the void universe, but it was toote. The creature had used its spark of consciousness to get the spiritual fluctuations of his divine sense. So it will be able to track him easily now instead of just chasing around for his traces.


    Even though he managed to reach the void universe, he couldn''t escape the creature. It followed right after him, so the two of them appeared in the same spot.


    A/N: We finally get to deal with the 10th clone. Who do you think will win? Will it be the effectively infinite clones or Legion?

 Chapter 1911 A Golden Pyramid.

    Chapter 1911 A Golden Pyramid.


    This is something that has never happened before. In the past, the creature would only be close to their position whenever they entered or exited the Spiritual Dimension. But this time, it appeared at the exact same spot that Soverick exited the Spiritual Dimension. He attempted to lose the creature by diving back into the spiritual dimension. But the same thing happened again. The strange creature followed right after him and appeared at the same spot he entered from. The creatureughed from behind him, "There''s no escaping me now. Retribution is inevitable. I am inevitable."


    Soverick didn''t reply. He returned to the void universe again to lose the creature. Unfortunately, it didn''t work. What''s worse was that there were other clones of the strange creature there waiting for Soverick.


    Apparently they could share information between themselves so all of them were aware of his position. Now all of them can track him just as well as the one that marked him. Soverick tried to remain calm, but he stillined. "You didn''t mention this either."


    Legion-7 chuckled nervously, "Alright. Maybe things are a little bit out of hand. But just remember the n; try your best to escape."


    They didn''t expect the other creatures to ambush him, but they couldn''t stop the n anymore. The creature was already trying to get close to him and work its way into his mind. It was now or never.


    So Soverick ran for his dear life. He dodged everywhere trying to lose his pursuers. But they surrounded him tightly and refused to be left behind. In fact, over time, many more of the strange creatures appeared around Soverick. So they were all around Soverick when the trap was sprung. Five clones of Legion were each holding one Authority of the Void Universe. These five golden orbs are part of the same structure. This structure is supposed to be a tetrahedron.


    The five golden orbs are its vertices and are bound with cosmic force to form an enclosed structure. Cosmic force was used to create the face of the tetrahedron so the structure is a tightly sealed golden pyramid. But this pyramid had been stretched far beyond what it should be. Instead of there being a distance of a hundred meters between the vertices, there is a distance of a hundred thousand kilometers. It took a lot of power to stretch it and keep the corners of the pyramid that far apart. They did it so that those who are within the pyramid won''t know that they are in it because of its size. But now they are letting the corners go. So the pyramid began to shrink. The pyramid was shrinking in such a way that Soverick was at its center. This was not a coincidence. It was orchestrated, but it was not easy to pull off either. The pyramid didn''t move. It had been set up while the strange creatures were chasing Soverick. Whoever the bait was had to be able to see the location of all five corners of the pyramids, calcte the center urately, and appear within it after crossing the barrier between the void universe and the Spiritual Dimension. This requirement needed a precision unlike any other to confirm what Legion-7 wanted and for the bait to appear in the void universe in the exact coordinates at the center of the pyramid. That''s why Soverick was the bait.


    It didn''te as a surprise to him when the tetrahedron snapped into ce and sealed him. But it certainly caught his pursuers off guard. Actually, he was supposed to escape from it. It would have been easy to do with one strange creature chasing him, but they didn''t n for almost all of them to surround and pursue him.


    While he could still escape easily by teleporting to one of the other clones, he wasn''t allowed to do that. He had to struggle against the copse of space and time around him in order to escape the grip of the trap just like the other strange creatures. The cosmic force connecting the four authorities of the void universe was like an stic material that had been stretched too far; now that it was released, it sought equilibrium and to return to its normal state. Hence the copse of time and space. The force of the copse was so powerful that it could kill any origin god. It was not a wonder why Soverick couldn''t survive it without actively defending himself. He was crushed and killed.


    As for the strange creatures, they were able to survive the copse. They were as durable as world fragments after all. Unfortunately, they couldn''t escape the copse. After all, if Soverick couldn''t escape it, they were unlikely to either. The worst part was that the force of the copse didn''t dissipate. It remained trapped along with the strange creatures within the golden pyramid. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    In fact, the force had bepressed to the point that it solidified. This,bined with the power of the Cosmic force, caused everything within the pyramid to freeze. The strange creatures became ants stuck in amber. Next, Legion-4 and Legion-9 appeared beside the pyramid. They threw a golden hoop around it. This golden hoop was a world engine.


    They gave this world engine some cosmic energy and made it start using their sparks of power. Then they draped thew matrix that they had prepared over the whole thing. Thus a ball made of threads of various colors appeared around the golden hoop with the golden pyramid at its center. The two clones disappeared immediately after doing this. Legion-1 came after and swallowed the contraption. Then he too disappeared into the spiritual dimension to escape.


    They were so cautious and in a rush, but they didn''t need to have bothered because the first sage was not interested that they had captured Green Vine. Actually, they had captured more than Green Vine. They had also captured the first sage''s derivativews that he used in creating the strange creatures.

 Chapter 1912: The Main Guy.

    Chapter 1912: The Main Guy.


    ?


    The Legion-1 and Legion-7 looked at the work of their hands with self-satisfaction.


    Legion-7 was the most satisfied and proud. He said to every clone, "Did you see that? That was all me."


    Legion-2 said from where he was in the void universe, "Just because you came up with the n doesn''t make all of this the result of your singr effort."


    Legion-7 didn''t agree. He said, "I was the only one who knew what we were truly up against. I was the only one who came up with the best n. I was the only one who could be certain that the n was working. In my book, that makes this sess mostly reliant on my awesome self."


    Legion-3 said, "Youe up with a n one time, and you think you''re the first sage."


    Even Legion-9 joined in and asked, "What about us who built the trap?"


    Legion-2 also asked, "What about me, who risked his life as bait?"


    Legion-7 said to all of them confidently, "You''re allckeys following the lead of my genius. If I were polite, I would stroke your ego and tell you that you all did a good job and that I would never have been able to achieve this without you. Unfortunately, you''re all out of luck. Impolite is my middle name."


    The other clones were not going to have that. They were not going to let him show off so shamelessly. They argued with him over and over again on the value of his contribution to the sess of their n.


    Legion-7 insisted that he hadn''t simply "contributed" to the sess of the n. He imed that he was the most important factor in the sess of the n and that without him, the n would have failed.


    He is only partly right, of course. He was indeed critical to the sess of the n, but it is uncertain that they would have failed without him. Either way, the clones were in a very good mood and felt like arguing about it for a while.


    The source of their good mood is the frozen golden pyramid encased in a makeshift world fragment. The world fragment can''t enhance anything. It is just there to separate the golden pyramid from the void universe.


    So the world fragment is another set of bars meant for insurance. They don''t think they will need this insurance, but it doesn''t take much from them to set it up, so they did.


    The true prison is the golden pyramid. The strange creatures that had been chasing them all over the void universe were frozen within it. They were all conscious and were staring back at Legion-1.


    From the look in their eyes, it seemed that they had a lot they wanted to say and do. They just couldn''t move despite their immense power. The sight of their incapacitation made Legion-7 smirk.


    Legion got the idea to build a world fragment strong enough to capture these creatures from past experience. This won''t be the first time that they are trapping something. But this is the first time they will be using the Authority of the Void Universe for it.


    They got the idea to use the Authority of the Void Universe from the realm lord. The world fragments he had built inspired them to build the trap using their domains.


    That was supposed to be the most difficult part of their n, but it was easy for them to achieve. So they were sure that they would be able to pull off the trap. Reality has shown that they were right to think so.


    Not only did they capture most of the strange creatures, but they also managed to capture one of the main masterminds behind them. That''s why Legion-7 is feeling so cocky.


    They achieved the capture of Green Vine by confirming that the strange creatures chasing Soverick were in possession of the spark of consciousness before they captured it.


    That''s why Soverick created a channel ofmunication between them. It was to ensure that Green Vine won''t be able to escape their trap. She took the bait andtched onto him, so she couldn''t escape from the trap now.


    Even as they watched and argued amongst themselves, a green figure materialized from one of the creatures. She was a green phantom. She moved through the frozen space-time unaffected by it.


    It looked like she would escape the golden pyramid, but then she collided with the walls of the pyramid. The walls were made of cosmic force, so she couldn''t bypass it.


    She said to them, "Legion. Well yed. You managed to trap me."


    It took a few seconds for her message to bypass the golden walls of the pyramid. When it did, it had be garbled nonsense.


    The walls had allowed the message to pass, but it had scrambled and shredded it. However, Legion was able to piece the message together due to the intent in the spiritual part of the message.


    Legion-1 snorted when he heard the message. He said to her, "Who the fuck do you think you are? You are nothing. You think you can bully us because everyone in the void universe is bullying us? You were very wrong to think so."


    "We have captured world enders. You are nothingpared to that. Trapping you was easy. If not for the vessel you upy, we would have destroyed you right from the first moment we encountered you. So piss on yourpliment."


    He is not bragging, as they have already destroyed someone like her before. It didn''t even take much for them to destroy the great mother, and the great mother was more powerful than her.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    As for her, the mainplication was that she was working with the first sage. Her possession of the strange creatures and her ability to change the vessels she was possessing easily made it difficult to deal with her initially.


    Even though they had been running from the strange creatures all of this time, they had still collected information about them and her. They finally collected enough information to deal with them.

 Chapter 1913: The Imposter.

    Chapter 1913: The Imposter.


    ?


    One major thing that they noticed over time was that not all the strange creatures possessed a spark of consciousness at all times.


    All of the strange creatures could possess the spark of consciousness, but only one at a time and only when they were about to cross the barrier between the spiritual dimension and the void universe.


    So even though she could change bodies easily, they still managed to trap her. In fact, it is the body that she is inhabiting that they are wary of, not her. As for her, they don''t think much of her.


    She wasn''t perturbed by Legion-1''s belittling of her. She said confidently, "Let me introduce myself. I am your ancestor, Green Vine."


    Legion-1 rolled his eyes and said, "Another fool who thinks they are someone else."


    Legion-7 asked with genuine concern, "Did the first sage mess with your memory too? I didn''t think that something like that was possible for a person with a spark of consciousness." He was truly concerned because if this is true, then he too might be in danger.


    Green Vine replied, "I am truly the ancestor of high elves."


    Legion-1 said, "Nice try, but the ancestors of high elves are dead. Even if they were alive, you won''t be an ancestor of high elves because we have two, not one. At best, you will be one of the ancestors of high elves."


    She nodded and said, "You''re right. I am just one of the ancestors of elves."


    Legion-1 eximed, "Oh my. I see it now. The resemnce is uncanny. How could I have been blind to such an obvious fact?"


    It was clear that he was mocking her, but she didn''t take it to heart. She said, "I have always admired you, Legion. I wanted to get in touch with you to help you."


    Legion-7 asked, "And you decided this was the best way to do that? To work with the first sage to infiltrate our existence?"


    She sighed and said, "I didn''t have a choice. He captured me and forced me to help him capture you."


    They didn''t believe her, and they didn''t care. All they care about at this point is that now that she can''t help the strange creatures chase them anymore, they will be able to escape to the spiritual dimension again and resume their research.


    There''s also the fact that she has a spark of consciousness and is in possession of an iplete universal artifact. All of this means that regardless of her identity and intentions, she will be fuel for the perfection that they are pursuing.


    Legion-3 smiled and said to the others, "Looks like we are eating well today. A spark of consciousness, a universal artifact, and a lot of derivativews to analyze. Is this a party or what?"


    Legion-7 added, "There''s also all the information we can gain from her memories. Don''t forget that."


    Legion-3 said, "I''m at fault. I was blinded by the mountain of food before us."


    They were arguing just a while ago, but they can all agree on the matter of how much benefits they will gain from her.


    There is just so much to eat that they don''t know where to start from. But that''s only partially true. They are indeed spoiled for choice, but they have an order in which they n to eat all that they have captured. This order is also the safest way to have everything they can.


    They n to ground and break down everything caught within the golden pyramid. They want to do this so that the Universal Artifact, Green Vine''s true body, and the core of the strange creatures be exposed.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    They intend to achieve this by applying pressure in the form of cosmic force onto the contents of the golden pyramid. This pressure will be like a hammer that they will use to strike them over and over again.


    This process will turn the strange creatures into nuts that they want to crack open so that they can get to the goodies within them. They are truly looking forward to getting the goodies within them.


    This is not going to be easy since the strange creatures have the durability of world fragments themselves. They are going to be tough nuts to crack.


    But this is not impossible for them to achieve because this is not the first time they have attempted and seeded in cracking something with the durability of a world fragment.


    They managed to crack and destroy the amalgamation of the original creators of the iplete Universal artifact and took it for themselves. They are sure they can do it again. All they have to do is achieve their temporary third stage of unity again.


    So Helios, the Tree Father, Aeternus, joined together with Legion-5. They recreated the conditions that created their spark of power. This caused their spark of power to activatepletely.


    They didn''t lose themselves thanks to Legion-7. Then they used the power they gained to control the cosmic force within the golden pyramid to crush the strange creatures.


    There was some bacsh, but it wasn''t something their first world fragment within Legion-1 couldn''t handle. It bore the bacsh for them so they could go all out. Soon the strange creatures were cracking like nuts.


    All of these show that destroying these creatures was not difficult for them. It is something they could have done easily the first time they met the strange creatures, but Legion-7 didn''t let them do it because of the first sage and Green Vine.


    With those two still out there, their efforts would have been in vain. The first sage could make more of them no matter how much they destroy, and as long as Green Vine was there to help them cross the boundary of the spiritual dimension, the chase would continue.


    So destroying the creatures back then would have been a waste of time and effort. What''s worse is that Green Vine''s n to infiltrate them might have worked while they were wasting


    their time.

 Chapter 1914: Fight Or Give Up?

    Chapter 1914: Fight Or Give Up?


    ?


    Legion-7''s decision for them to run was a smart move. There was just so much they didn''t know and too much danger.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    They don''t know how Green Vine is able to infiltrate them even though she should be too weak to do so. It could be because of the iplete universal artifact in her possession or the fact that she had the help of the first sage.


    They were not sure of what she was capable of, and they didn''t want to find out by using brute force. Besides, she could easily escape into another vessel even if she had failed her attempt to infiltrate them. She was just too dangerous back then.


    But things have changed now. Green Vine has been captured, and the strange creatures have been cut off from the first sage. This means they can do anything they want to them.


    It took a few weeks ofbor, but they eventually cracked the strange creatures. The main issue is that they couldn''t use all of their strength through the trap. They had to be careful not to destroy the trap. Their targets were also numerous.


    There were 53 of the strange creatures in number, and they had to apply the pressure to all of them at once, which diluted it. So it took them time to destroy all 53 of them at once.


    What appeared before then was the fruit of theirbor. There was the Universal Artifact. It had been tainted by Green Vine, but it was still good.


    Then there were 53 authorities left over from the strange creatures. They were not the Authority of the void universe, but they contained derivativews of the first sage and power over them.


    These authorities are very important to Legion for the knowledge they contain. With this knowledge, they might meet the requirements to unlock some of the memories that Legion-7 had sealed away.


    Legion-7 transmitted to Green Vine, "You have lost. Will youe out of the Universal Artifact, or do we have to force you out?"


    She said calmly, "You will have to force me out. Either that or you swear to let me go if I leave."


    Legion considered her proposal carefully. Letting her leave with her life is actually possible. The most valuable thing they will gain from her is her knowledge and her techniques. The ability to affect the perception of others seems like a useful tool to them.


    There is also the information about how she came to be in possession of the universal artifact after they gave it to the realm lord. They would like to know how she managed that.


    As for her spark of consciousness, they don''t need her spark of consciousness at all. They can surely give it away in exchange for getting the Universal Artifact without struggling and risking damage to it.


    They can tell that the fight to remove Green Vine from the Universal is going to be difficult because she seems to be the sum of many high elves. She is like the Great Mother in that aspect and she is almost as strong as the Great Mother too.


    She is just like the ck amalgam that creates the universal artifact but also like a will of the realm. So she is very strong.


    The struggle to separate her from the iplete universal artifact might damage it. So it would be good to avoid a struggle.


    But they are greedy. They don''t want to let anything go. Especially since they have Chaos energy and the Tree Father. With Aeternus, they believe they will surely win the consciousness battle for control of the universal artifact, and with the Tree Father, they can repair any damage to it.


    So they sent Aeternus into the trap. He is the only one who can move within it by using Chaos energy to corrode the cosmic force holding him in ce.


    It is slow work, but it is faster than the time it took them to crack the strange creatures because the other clones were also working together with him on the outside to relieve the pressure on him.


    It took just less than a hundred hours for him to reach the Universal Artifact. It was mostly a white ball constantly changing shape and states. It ought to bepletely white like they remembered, but Green Vine has upied its core and tainted it with green.


    She said to him, "You''re going to destroy this artifact if you use brute force."


    Aeternus replied, "It is a risk we are willing to take."


    She asked, "Why don''t you try overwhelming my control by fusing directly with the artifact? It is safer for the artifact, and you''re clearly stronger than me, so you should be able to win."


    Aeternus chuckled and said, "That is not a risk we are willing to take."


    All the clones were amused when they heard her proposal. It is actually a good proposal that will ensure the safety of the iplete Universal Artifact. But to do that will be serving themselves on a tter to this spirit whose memories have been overwritten by the first sage.


    She is clearly a tool of the first sage. There''s no way they are going to take suspicious advice from her, no matter how good that advice is. They have their own n, which involves using the two methods.


    She warned him after heughed at her well-meaning advice, "I won''t make this easy for you."


    He couldn''t nod because of the frozen space-time around him. But he said, "I''m sure you won''t. Aren''t you our ancestor who hase to help us? Resisting to the bitter end is something most of our benefactors do before they admit that we are worthy of their generosity. We expected nothing less from you, oh great ancestor."


    He reached out to touch the Universal Artifact as he mocked her. It was an action that took 30 minutes despite the fact that he was a warden in this prison and had the help of others in resisting the seal.

 Chapter 1915: Mixed Signals.

    Chapter 1915: Mixed Signals.


    ?


    Eventually, he reached the universal artifact and was able to touch it.


    Unlikest time they had made contact with the iplete universal artifact, it tried to push into him as soon as he made contact with it. It was eager to fuse with him, and he didn''t need to wonder why.


    He muttered yfully, "She said she would resist with all her might. But she is practicallytching onto me as soon as I touch her. What a tease sending me mixed signals."


    He was joking about it, but it was a serious matter. It is clear that she intends to fight to the death. That''s why she is showing so much enthusiasm to invade his existence.


    He didn''t reject this invasion. He allowed it to happen. What they expected to happen happened. Green Vine screamed out in pain soon after making contact with him.


    Her cry of pain was with millions of voices. It was far louder than the cry of pain that their recent benefactors have made before giving them things.


    Domain gods would feel inferior about their performance if they heard this cry. Aeternus is sure of this.


    He is also sure that she is capable of so much more. So he poured as much chaos energy into the universal artifact as it could bear without breaking.


    As a spiritual entity. She has one clear weakness, and that is Nether Waters. They don''t have Nether Waters, but they have something much better.


    As their "ancestor," it is just right that they give her the best they have. So he continued administering doses of chaos energy despite her pleas for him to stop.


    Legion-7 joked, "What a humble person. She doesn''t want us to use up our chaos energy on just her. She thinks we are going to run out, so she wants us to stop."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Legion-4 sighed and said, "There are not many such kind people in this world."


    It is more like she was hoping that they will run out of chaos energy. Unfortunately for her, they have more than enough to spare for her. Chaos energy ripped through her consciousness despite the massive quantity and size of it.


    She quickly put away any ns to invade his existence. She just couldn''t be bothered to care about that when her consciousness was fracturing.


    In fact, she wanted to pull the universal artifact away from him. But he held on to it tightly and refused to let go. He force-fed her chaos energy like she was an unruly baby that didn''t want to eat her nutritious vegetables.


    He didn''t stop when she couldn''t cry anymore. He continued breaking down her mind until he was sure that she wasn''t pretending. Only then did he allow the universal artifact to fuse with his existence.


    The Universal Artifact slowly sank into Legion-3. Then Legion-7 immediately engaged with Green Vine within it.


    This was what she asked for earlier. She was right when she said they would damage the universal artifact if they nned to remove her from it by force.


    They have already damaged it, but the damage they have done is currently repairable. Anymore and the universal artifact might be destroyed.


    So they have to give her advice a shot if they still want to be able to use the universal artifact. However, now that they are ready to fuse with her, she isn''t willing to put up a resistance.


    Her performance was honestly shameful. She promised so much and delivered so little. She literally let Legion-7 steamroll her.


    It was a ughter fest. She stood no chance at all. If anything, she was dying too fast. Legion- 7 didn''t like that at all.


    Chaos energy and Legion-7 had formed a tag team on her. Chaos energy was already enough to destroy her; Legion-7, who had a world fragment at his beck and call, was just overkill. So she was dying faster than Legion-7 could absorb all of her memories and knowledge.


    They had to make the Chaos energy fall back so that Legion-7 could ravage herpletely. And ravage her he did. He was done with her in ten minutes.


    They still lost a lot of memories and knowledge. But fortunately, his progress was fast enough to prevent irreparable damage to the Universe Artifact.


    Legion-7 gained control of the iplete universal artifact and sent it to the Tree Father for repairs. Meanwhile, Legion feasted on the memories of Green Vine that they had acquired. They learned about her origin. They saw how she died. They knew how she survived all alone by hanging between the barriers of both dimensions, being neither alive nor dead. They also learned about her deal with Monarch High Heaven to help him kill Mother High Heaven. They were surprised to find out that she was indeed their ancestor. But what shook them to the core was the knowledge that Monarch High Heaven was dead and that someone else had taken his ce. It was something they didn''t expect at all.


    But they shelved that knowledge in favor of diverting divinity and cosmic force into the iplete Universal Artifact. Then the Tree Father made it fuse with their first world fragment.


    Actually, he made it fuse with Legion-1 since he was the one in charge of their Origin. This made it fuse with the world fragment since it was already part of their body.


    The changes it brought to them were instant. The universe artifact spread throughout their existence like roots. These roots caused them to enter the state of partial third-stage unity.


    It was the same state they had entered when they defeated the amalgam of the tyrants in the tyrant realm. But this time, Aeternus, Helios, and the Tree Father don''t have to meet up and physically fuse anymore to enter that state.


    What''s more, the power they gained was also transferred to the other clones. It meant that all the clones could use the power of the partial third stage now. This power changed them beyond what they thought was possible.

 Chapter 1916: Permanent Partial Third Stage Of Unity.

    Chapter 1916: Permanent Partial Third Stage Of Unity.


    ?


    Each clone underwent the changes that the partial third stage of unity should have caused in Legion-5. All of them began to grow physically and power-wise. They grew so heavy that thew matrix couldn''t contain them anymore.


    All of them gained this power, not just Legion-5. And it was permanent too. As long as their works fragment can handle their power, they can maintain the state indefinitely.


    They also grew nine heads and 18 arms each. Their white bodies erged, and they grew 9 long necks while 9 pairs of arms grew from their sides. So they looked like arge white 9- headed hydra with a white halo on each head.


    Each of the clones became like this. Only Legion-7 didn''t have a body, but the other 8 all had 9 heads. Now they don''t need to see through each other''s eyes or ess each other''s memories to experience what the others are experiencing.


    Each clone has eyes, heads, and arms for the other clones. But these changes weren''t permanent. The extra heads and arms shrank and disappeared into their bodies. But the eyes remained.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    There was only one head for each clone, but each head had nine eyes. So they looked almost the same as they were before they fused with the iplete artifact. They just have more eyes.


    These extra eyes belong to the other clones. The other clones use them to see. As for the extra arms, they can still grow back and be used in a fight. But the extra heads are not needed anymore.


    That''s where the changes ended. That''s only because the roots of the Universal Artifact couldn''t prate the pirs they use to connect to God''s Domain.


    Legion felt the changes to their bodies and the power and marveled. Legion-7 said, "The realm lord lied to us. The Universal Artifact is capable of more than he made it out to be."


    Legion-1 corrected, "Technically he didn''t lie. He just omitted information. But it is good that he is dead now for his sins."


    Legion-2 said, "This universal artifact is truly special. Its power is dependent on who uses it. It was wasted in the Tyrants and Green Vine. It needed great beings to bring out its greatness. We are already this powerful, and we haven''t even be world gods yet."


    Legion-9 added, "There''s also the fact that it is still iplete. It needs a supremew."


    Legion-7 shook his head and said, "It is a good thing that it was iplete when we found it, or we would never have been able to take it. We just have to make sure it can never be taken from us bypleting it."


    Legion-3 sighed in relief and said, "Everything is all good now. We don''t have to fear our tenth clones chasing us. We can escape to the spiritual dimension again, or we can kill them."


    Legion-8 said to all of them, "Green Vine was onto something. So was the Great Mother. Power can be found in the unification of the masses. The two of them cheated death and achieved what shouldn''t be possible by amassing the power of many."


    Legion-1 agreed, "This is what it means to be Legion. We are not enough to be Legion. But we won''t stop here. We will turn all of reality into us until everything is a part of us."


    All of them said, "We will be one, and we will be many."


    They have be an amalgam just like the ck ball of flesh that the Tyrants became and the entity Green Vine became. But they are special. They are not ugly like the Tyrants became, and they are more powerful than Green Vine.


    Apart from the power they have, there is also the fact that each of their 8 bodies cannot die unless all of them are killed at the same time. This means each clone can resurrect instantly without the help of the void universe.


    They are like Gemini twins in that none of them can diepletely unless they are all killed together. This condition has been achieved before, by the first sage. The first sage managed to push them all to their deaths at the same time. But they don''t think that can happen again.


    Currently, if anything tries to infiltrate them, their existence will dly wee it and subsume it. If they fail to subsume it like in the case of a world God''s Supreme Law, then they will resist it.


    Either way, a fight will break out, so they cannot fall under the influence of another person unawares like what happenedst time with the first sage.


    There will always be a fight if someone infiltrates them, and thanks to the roots, they will always be able to defend every part of their existence, including their memories and mind, with everything they have at their disposal, including Chaos energy.


    So every infiltration will be like when Draco tried to overwrite their existence externally using his blood. Anything that tries to infiltrate them will also be externally and it will be obvious to them.


    They will not go down without a fight because of it. What''s more, they can confirm beyond all reasonable doubt that none of them is a traitor because all of them have be one.


    It is not that none of them were traitors or impersonators before this fusion. That doesn''t matter anymore because if one of them was a traitor, then all of them are traitors now.


    If someone or something had infiltrated Legion before the universal artifact fused all of their existence, then they have either be that entity or that entity has be them. So there can''t be traitors among them anymore.


    They don''t know if these new abilities are because of their possession of the Soul Sphere and Crown of Domination, or their special state of being 9 entities as one with possession of all three paths of power.


    It could also be all of that. After all, the iplete universal artifact only brings about what they are already capable of. It only magnifies it.

 Chapter 1917 The Path Of Legion.

    Chapter 1917 The Path Of Legion.


    Regardless of why they turned out better than the original creators of the Universal artifact, their goal to achieve perfection as Legion has be more feasible thanks to their new strength. What''s more is that they have seen a direction for their supremew. It is not enough for them to be united amongst themselves. They want everything and everyone to be united with them too. They have also seen the way to use the iplete universal artifact to its fullest potential. With the right Supreme Law, they can make it fuse other beings into them either by converting those existences into clones of Legion or by creating new clones of Legion to add to themselves. This way they can always keep growing in number until they truly be Legion. Or they can even fuse with the past and future versions of themselves in time. Thest part is the one they find the most intriguing. If they can achieve it, they would gain a method to be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent in all of time and space. Even now, their existence is trying to subsume the pir that connects them to God''s Domain in order to connect to the godly vessels and add their power to their current Unity.


    They thought about forcing the pir to let them gain ess to God''s Domain, but their contract nagged silently at the back of their minds. Such an act of interference would break their contract not to sabotage God''s Domain, so they decided to rein in their impulse. Fortunately, they had better targets to focus their greed on. Aeternus was still within their trap. Around himy the fragments of their tenth clone. They ignored these fragments in favor of the Authority that used to power them. They had some discussions on what to do with them, but they eventually decided to use the Crown of Domination. It is the safest means they have to steal this Authority for themselves. Aeternus selected one, which he added to the Crown of Domination. There was no change after it went into the Crown of Domination. They were too strong for it to have any effect. So they decided to subsume it. Aeternus picked another one and ate. It struggled briefly but was destroyed by Chaos energy. They didn''t gain knowledge from it, but there was an incredible energy with it that increased the power of his demonic spark.


    He had devoured something and had grown stronger because of it. It was not the first time such a thing had happened to them. It happens to demon gods and has happened to him before. But never has something so small and so unassuming given so much power at once. n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He said to the other clones, "This is why I wanted to steal the Authority of the void universe. But you guys held me back."


    Legion-1 said to him, "Look at what we had to do to steal the Authority of a world god. Imagine what could have happened had we failed. Now multiply that by a hundred."


    Legion-5 helped him to paint a picture. He asked, "Do you remember that time you were messing with the fragmented body of an unconscious origin god and then you cked out? That''s the best thing that can happen to us if we mess with the void universe."


    "I know you guys are right, but that''s not going to stop me from ming all of you for dragging me down. Sure, we could get in big trouble messing with the void universe. But we didn''t mess with it, and I didn''t get the Authority I wanted. I can only me you guys for that, not the void universe."


    He was ming them as he devoured the Authority of the first sage. They have no control over this Authority despite it being in their possession, so they can''t use it for their Crown of Domination. It meant that they didn''t feel any pain or loss as Aeternus gobbled them one by one. Besides, his power was also their power.


    The only thing they had to take notice of was how different this Authority increased his powerpared to other things he had neatened before. This difference was clear to them even without Soverick''s eyes. In the past, Aeternus had had to increase the size of his existence to increase the power of Chaos energy. This was because he was the vessel for Chaos energy.


    Anything he ate increased the size of his existence. But this time, the spark of power within him increased in power directly. His existence remained the same, but the Chaos energy became stronger. It made them believe that it could increase the power of their other sparks. While Aeternus was ming them for holding him back and while they were monitoring his existence for anything out of ce because of what he was eating, Soverick was examining the Authority of the first sage that Aeternus hadn''tid his gluttonous hands on. He said after analyzing it, "So this is a lesser version of the Authority of the Void universe. It doesn''t contain a Supreme Law, but it possesses every derivativew from the Supreme Law of the first sage, cosmic energy, and what appears to be an exotic form of chaos energy."


    "I believe the exotic energy is rted to Chaos blood. It is why it is so beneficial to Aeternus. So it might be useful to us. In fact, it might be detrimental and dangerous if this kind of energy affects anything other than his demonic spark."


    Legion-9 shook his head and said, "Dangerous or not, this energy is why these tenth clones are not destroyed by the void universe even without the support of the first sage. So it must be a valuable energy."


    Aeternus perked up when he heard that. He said, "You know what? Maybe I was harsh with the first sage. Maybe he is not so bad. Do you think he will give us more of this energy if we pretend to apologize to him?"

 Chapter 1918: Confidence In Building Supreme Laws.

    Chapter 1918: Confidence In Building Supreme Laws.


    ?


    They didn''t need to consider that question for more than a moment before they came up with an answer.


    Legion-3 shrugged and said, "At least I tried."


    Legion-7, on the other hand, groaned andined, "There goes another thing we have done to offend the first sage. At this rate, this feud between us will be irreconcble." Legion-1 shrugged and said, "The feud is already irreconcble. At least for us. He will pay for what he did to us or give us a lot of benefits to forget about it. Even then, he will only buy our temporary forgiveness. We will still make a go for him at any opportunity to do so."


    Legion-7 rified, "I meant for him. First it was his world fragment. Now it is all the precious materials he used to create these clones, Green Vine, an iplete universal artifact, and his derivativews. We are losing the chance we have to fool him into reconciling with us."


    Legion-3 said, "I don''t think we ever stood any chance of reconciliation with the first sage. If we did, he wouldn''t have sent our ancestor to track us down and infiltrate us directly."


    Legion-9 changed the subject to the structure of the clones. He said, "We can say whatever we want about the first sage, but the structure of these things is not half bad. They look like supremews with the way they are assembled."


    This new topic was readily epted because Legion-9 was right, and they were in the process of building their supremew. Anything that can inspire them is of great help to them.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    So they ignored the matter of the Authority and switched to examining the fragments of their tenth clones. From their analysis, the strange creatures are more like machines rather than living things.


    Normal Origin gods are not exactly living things either, but they have souls and Origin. As for these beings, they have a body ofws built with the derivativews of a Supreme Law and empowered with the Authority within them.


    This strange structure and the way itbines cosmic energy,ws, and Chaos blood into something on the level of a Supremew have given them a lot of inspiration on how to build their Supreme Laws.


    Normally, the fusion ofws and cosmic energy will only produce concepts. But the influence of the chaos blood has elevated it to the level of a supremew without it being a supremew. It is truly inspiring.


    They don''t need the inspiration, but it will increase the pace at which they build their Supreme Law.


    It has only been a little over 10,000 years since the end of the era of conquest, and they have made a lot of progress in the preparations for their supremew.


    In fact, they believe that they will be able toplete their Supreme Laws in less than one Origin cycle. It is something they are extra confident in achieving in less than 50,000 years now that they have derivativews and this special structure to look at.


    Derivativews are generally safe toprehend, as they are just information of an alternative operation of reality. They are not supremews, so there shouldn''t be any problem inprehending them.


    As long as they don''t try to use the derivativews to deduce the original Supremew, everything should be alright. But they can''t be certain of this because these derivativews belong to the first sage.


    Fortunately, they are no longer terrified of him because he can''t infiltrate them like before. He won''t be able to bypass their defenses like before and appear from within them. He will have to fight them if he tries to infiltrate them.


    They know that they can''t defeat him in a fight, but they also know that they can resist with Chaos energy, and they can escape even if he pursues them.


    So they went ahead withprehending the derivativews with only slight trepidation. They were wary and prepared for a fight, but that didn''t stop them from being excited.


    It also renewed their dedication to research. Without their tenth clones chasing them, this dedication could be safely turned into focused research of the spiritual dimension and phantom dimension.


    Once they are done, they will then incorporate all the knowledge and aspects they have into their supremew. With a supremew, they will be able toplete the fusion and evolution of their world fragment and the iplete universal artifact that has fused with it.


    At that time, they will have to expel the world ender within them since they wouldn''t need it or the first sage''s world fragment anymore.


    It is something they are looking forward to because it will mean they are about to be one of the strongest, if not the strongest, world gods in existence.


    So Legion was full of anticipation as they analyzed the derivativews. The more they learned, the more some of their memories awakened. The most important memory that they awakened was the knowledge of the Law of Luck.


    Legion-7 had been keeping it from them. It was for good reasons too because it did almost threaten to make them feel despair when they learned that whatever they did was always going to benefit the first sage.


    Legion-4 said, "The first sage must have the aspect of Probability. If that is so, then he must have a five-dimensional Supreme Law. It is the same as the Supreme Law of Order."


    Legion-1 thought about the past and suddenly understood something. He said, "I believe this is why we could never defeat him. With the aspect of probability and thew of luck on his side, he will be able to influence the oues of events in his favor. It also means that we might never be able to defeat him."


    Legion-2 grumbled with a frown. "I''m guessing it is why those strange creatures could always find us in the vast void universe. They were lucky."

 Chapter 1919: Turmoil In The Mortal And Divine Realm.

    Chapter 1919: Turmoil In The Mortal And Divine Realm.


    ?


    Their tenth clones had always been able to find them even if they teleported away. It was unnerving back then when Legion was ignorant about how they were doing it. But now it has be more distressing to know that it was simply due to luck.


    Luck is just unreasonable and impossible to guard against. A blind man can kill a hundred people if he is lucky enough. Some of the blind man''s enemies will even fall onto their des and impale themselves. This feat will need an absurd amount of luck, but it is possible.


    That''s just what a mortal is capable of with enough luck. A world gods can do so much more with luck.


    Legion-3 pointed out to them, "But there''s more. There''s also the Law of Changes. He can use this to affect the change of the state of targeted objects and entities. The first sage has indeed been hiding a lot from us."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Legion-1 said, "He can also steal luck to bolster his own. It won''t work on us because of Chaos as his Supreme Law is weak to entropy, but I rmend that we cut ties with him as soon as possible. We should return his world fragment to him as soon as possible. We can revisit revenge when we be world gods."


    They were not ovee with despair, but they have decided that it is no longer safe to continue using his world fragment as part of their kickstarter. That will need them to make their own Supreme Law, which they are ready to do as soon as possible.


    After making this decision and analyzing the derivativews of the first sage, they turned their gaze to tjrir surroundings. Because of their current elevated state of existence, thew matrix is struggling to keep them afloat in the world of manifestation.


    They are just too heavy and have broken through the limit of power of the void universe. The only reason why they can still stay in the world of manifestation is because they are containing their power.


    But thru stopped holding back. They released a small amount of thrust power into the world around them. This caused thew matrix around them to shatter.


    Thew matrix became exposed all around them. They can examine it, learn from it, and even copy it. Nows could remain hidden from them anymore.


    This is beyondprehendingws. It is copying the schematic for the manifestation of the void universe. Not only can theyprehend all 33ws now, they can see how they all work together to create what they see.


    Also, without thew matrix affecting reality around them, they can finally sense a lot of other dimensions. They can sense the phantom dimension, the spiritual dimension, the elusive quantum zone and something else that appears to be arge sea of consciousness.


    With the urgency of making their Supreme Law pushing them, they didn''t waste time in deciding to research all of these dimensions.


    They will do this while simultaneously testing the interaction of the Supreme Law of Order and Chaos with each other and the other dimensions. Only then will they build their Supreme Laws.


    While Legion was working furiously on their Supreme Law, the events of God''s Domain continued without a hitch.


    The fight for the Mortal de was endless. There could be no end to it because the gods couldn''t interfere and because it needed to be fully charged before it could be destroyed.


    The gods couldn''t end the fight, so the mortals were always fighting for it. The gods were also fanning the mes with their heroes and believers.


    When added with the fact that for the Mortal de to be used, ten thousand mortals had to be killed with it, even the people who didn''t care about power had to stand up and fight against whoever was in control of the god-killing weapon so that they wouldn''t be killed.


    The Mortal de, when fully recharged, could damage a god or even kill them permanently. Whoever is in possession of the de at that time can either use the de to kill a god or die.


    This was already enough for people from all over the Mortal realm to fight for it. But then they found out that if the mortal using the god-killing weapon seeded in killing the god permanently with their single attack, they wouldn''t die.


    So they can use the Mortal de again to kill more gods or give it up. This new information caused the fervor for the Mortal de to reach a new peak.


    Even when some people found out that the Mortal Weapon could be destroyed, they were not appreciated or thanked for discovering this information. Instead, they became the enemy of everyone who wanted to gain control of the Mortal de for selfish reasons.


    The mortals fought and killed anyone who was in control of the Mortal de. They also targeted the people who wanted to destroy the Mortal de and tried to kill them. It was actually the gods who intervened and saved these people.


    That''s how bad things had be in the mortal realm. The gods had changed their minds and wanted to destroy the Mortal de, but the mortals wanted to keep it and were willing to do anything to gain control of a power that can rival those of the gods.


    The divine realm was also beginning to mirror this turmoil. A year passed since the rise of the tower of realms. The gods had collected enough information toe to the conclusion that any pantheon that gains control of a tower will be a superpower in the divine realm. Currently, there are five towers of Strength, Endurance, Speed, Authority, and Domain. Each provides a boost of 10% to their respective attributes.


    Every god in the pantheon in control of a tower will gain this boost. So this 10% will have far more reaching effect based on the size of the pantheon. Everyrge pantheon must have this boost or they will lose out on a lot.

 Chapter 1920: Sea Of Gods.

    Chapter 1920: Sea Of Gods.


    ?


    There are three other versions of these five towers in the other divine realms, which would grant double the boost for each subsequent one they gain control of for a total of an 80% boost.


    As if that is not enough reasons to cause a war between realms, if a Pantheon gains control of every tower in their realm, the boost to each stat will increase to 100%.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    This made Legion begin to have an exnation for how the gods of thest era fell to the titans despite being so powerful. It also reminded them of how the ancient titans managed to wake up in this era.


    The gods were fighting amongst themselves, which gave the divine beasts the opportunity to kill them and feed on them. This caused the ancient titans to awaken earlier than expected.


    Now the Tower of Realms has appeared to cause a rift amongst the gods. They suspect that the gods of thest era were always fighting amongst themselves and became too weak to defeat the titans.


    They are not the only gods that havee to this conclusion. Many gods have reached this conclusion too. Many of them have also decided that fighting each other for the Tower of Realms is a bad idea. Unfortunately, this is not going to stop them from going after each other.


    Unless they can convince everyone to ignore the Tower of Realms, there will be some who will fight for the towers and gain control of them. Those ones will gain power, which they will use to make things difficult for everyone else.


    So unless they wanted to be stepped on, they can''t stay out of the fight. Plus, there is the matter of 9 Crowns and the Orc Bandits. Not many gods were willing to stand back and watch as these wildly hated orcs gained more power.


    The gods were already arrayed around the tower of their choice by the time the towers began to glow. Their figures formed a sea around each tower.


    These seas were of different sizes. Two particr seas were bigger than the other three. It is because most of the gods had chosen either the tower of Authority or that of Domain.


    The tower of Authority is attractive because Authority is most versatile. Authority affects the power of all divine spells, so the boost from the Tower of Authority will be all-epassing. Besides, the Authority attribute can be increased without limit. So a 10% boost to it is better than a 10% boost to strength, speed, and endurance which are limited.


    As for the Tower of Domains, the boost to world power it will offer is more attractive than the boost to other physical attributes because world power can also be used in the mortal realm.


    In the current era of fighting for kingdoms in order to carve out a nation for their believers and be national gods, the power that gods can wield in the mortal realm has be very attractive.


    Plus, the gods don''t have to use divine energy to use world power. It is free power from the world, which makes it more attractive than divine spells.


    But it is only more attractive than divine spells. World power is not more useful or more powerful than divine spells and Authority. So the Tower of Authority has the most amount of gods around it.


    Legion was among the sea of gods standing around the Tower of Authority. They were notcking in world power or Authority, but Authority is theirrgest attribute, so a boost to it will be better than a boost to anything else.


    The sea of gods was arranged ording to their pantheon. Gods of the same pantheon stood together while their god kings stood in front of them.


    The pantheons then formed into a circle around the tower with their god king close to the tower. They were all waiting patiently for the tower to open.


    There wasn''t enough space in this circle for every pantheon, so some pantheons had to stand behind other pantheons. The god kings of these weak pantheons had to watch the tower from behind the gods of the strong pantheons.


    Their angel said to them as they waited, "Things were not supposed to be like this. The gods were supposed to be evenly distributed amongst the towers."


    Legion-1 asked, "Why would the gods do something so unfavorable? The Tower of Authority is obviously the best choice here. Going to any other tower will only be the right choice for the weak."


    It replied, "Because going to the other towers won''t be unfavorable. If the towers had appeared muchter in the future, the gods would have evolved to the stage where there wouldn''t be a limit on the gods strength, speed, and endurance."


    "Those attributes will be just like Authority in that they will be limitless. So even though the gods would be able to use all of their Authority, and Authority will still be more versatile, Strength, Speed, and Endurance will be just as attractive."


    "But the Tower of Realms appeared too early. All the powerful gods want the boost to Authority. This is just wrong."


    Legion-1 eximed, "Oh. I see."


    Then he nodded in agreement. "You are right. It is indeed bad that the towers havee early. Because of it, we are going to be up against 40% of gods instead of 20%."


    The angel chuckled and said, "I''m not sure that only 20% of gods woulde after Authority even if the other attributes are equally attractive. I suspect that many gods wille after any tower that you choose, regardless of how attractive it is."


    He smiled and said, "That''s true."


    Not every god and pantheon in the Northern Divine Realm has decided to join the struggle for the Tower of Realms. But of those who have decided to fight for the towers, about 40% of them are vying for the Tower of Authority.


    The Tower of Authority is the most popr, while 30% of the gods are vying for the Tower of Domains. The remaining 30% are evenly distributed among the remaining three towers.

 Chapter 1921: Strongest And Most Hated.

    Chapter 1921: Strongest And Most Hated.


    ?


    It is like the angel said; most gods chose the Tower of Authority because of him. There is the incentive of stopping him from getting it that made them choose the Tower of Authority.


    The fact that about 40% of gods who are fighting for control of the towers will be their enemies is a little daunting, but they are up for the challenge. Their confidence in fending off more than 2,000,000 gods lies in their power.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    NAME: Number 1


    RACE: Domain God (Orc)


    TITLE: First


    TIER: 2


    LEVEL: 100


    DIVINE ENERGY: 2,421,924


    STRENGTH: 40,000


    ENDURANCE: 50,000


    SPEED: 10,000


    WORLD POWER: 2,000,000


    AUTHORITY: 2,421,924


    DOMAIN: 0.004% Fire + 0.004% Earth + 0.002% Forge +0.002% Lightning + 0.002% Nature + 0.002% Wind + 0.001% Dreams + 0.001% Poison + 0.002% Disaster.


    They have 20 domains now. Each one gives them a world power of 100,000. So they have a total of 2,000,000 world power. It is their first confidence.


    They also have 2.4 million Authority. It has increased by 1.1 million in just one year. It is the highest Authority among the gods of the Northern Domain and helped them maintain their spot on the top of the Authority ranking. It is their second source of confidence.


    With their divine spells, they can use 40% of their Authority to create a power of 968,400. It is lesser than the power they can wield with world power, but if they use it for a domain spell, the attack will have a wider area of effect. It is why they don''t care about the number of enemies they will face and are not afraid of being surrounded.


    Their two powerful weapons only increase their confidence even further. Myriad Armament (Strength x2 + 0.3 Total Divinity) gives them a total of 110,000, while Golden Light (100% Authority + 0.3 Total Divinity) gives them 2,451,924.


    But it is not the power of their divine weapons that makes them dangerous. Myriad Armament is dangerous because of its versatility, while Golden Light is dangerous because of its ability to punish gods for their weakness.


    This usefulness only increases when they add the effect of their divine forge body. With their divine forge body, they can shift the divinity in their bodies to any attribute, so they can increase the power of their strength to 100,000 by shifting all their divinity to it temporarily. That will make Myriad Armament produce a power of 230,000 with strength. The addition of world power to it means that they can produce 2,230,000 power with their divine bodies.


    On one hand is an area of attack potential worth almost one million, and on the other hand is a single attack potential worth more than two million. So when ites to physical output and magical output, they are covered.


    Other gods will need to have put all their divinity into Endurance and have 2,130,000 world power or use a divine spell at 40% to defend themselves with an Authority of 5,325,000 to be able to remain unscathed against them.


    Not even the human race with thergest poption can manage that. Thebined effects of theirck of faith, in-fighting amongst the numerous human gods, the besiegement of the other gods from everywhere, and the massacre caused by the fight for the Mortal de have made them the weakest gods.


    The fact that the 9 Crowns has been hunting their clergy has made it very difficult for a human god to have up to 1 million Authority.


    Not even the human god kings are that buoyant. It would actually be more possible for them to have 22 domains to gain 2,200,000 world power. But that is unlikely either because of the orc bandits reckless hunt of gods for domain.


    The ranking shows that all of their efforts to sabotage the other gods have not been in vain. They are at the top in four of the ranking lists after their heroes rose to the top of the hero ranking.


    So Legion-1 didn''t cower despite the res that many god kings were setting against him. He was the strongest god. Even if he lost today, it would only be because he was outnumbered, not because he was weak. So he has no reason to cower.


    Eventually a god spoke up. It was Smite. He smiled and said, "Where are your allies, 9 Crowns? Why are you standing here alone? Where are the Orc Bandits?"


    He replied without sparing the domain god a nce, "Where they are is none of your business."


    Smiteughed. "But it is. I don''t see them standing beside you with their pantheon. Could it be that they have decided to pursue the benefits of their own Pantheon above yours? Where even is their pantheon?"


    Legion-1 ignored him, but another god picked up the thread of mockery. She said, "Imagine that. They left you in your most dire hour of need. They shouldn''t have done that because I am sure you will need them desperately in a few more moments."


    Another god asked, "What''s wrong, 9 Crowns? Why can''t you talk now? Have you lost your nerve now that you are alone?"


    It wasn''t only god kings that were mocking him. Some lowly gods joined in on the fun too. They were all immortals in the void universe, and they all hated him, so they all piled onto him.


    All of them wanted a piece of him. If possible, they would dly tear a piece of him and eat it. The cooperation of more than a million gods to scorn him was a glimpse into what was going to happen once the divine war started.


    They said more words of ridicule, but Legion-1 didn''t engage. He continued to y the part


    of someone that had been ditched. He has to y this part to make it look like someone can seed in bribing his clones to betray him.

 Chapter 1922: Rush Or Not.

    Chapter 1922: Rush Or Not.


    ?


    Legion-1 stood there with his arms folded against his breastte. His armor made him look like a fearsome god of war, and the other gods cannot deny that he is fearsome, but they also cannot deny that he is at his weakest.


    They have tried various things to separate the orc bandits, all to no avail. They have tempted them with many things, but the other Orc Bandits would only agree to a temporary betrayal.


    The Orc Bandits were willing to ept all that the other gods offered them, but they could only guarantee that they wouldn''t help 9 Crowns during a short period of time. Apparently the weapon that allied them is just too good for them to give up.


    But the Tower of Realms has changed things now. It has created a rift between every god king. Even the Orc Bandits weren''t spared from its divisive effects.


    The boost from the tower can only be shared by all the gods in a pantheon, so every god king is naturally at loggerheads. Apparently, the Orc Bandits have decided not to prioritize the benefits of the 9 Crowns'' pantheon above theirs.


    But Legion-1 knew that the orc bandits would do exactly that. The other clones just aren''t here because he can''t make them look like members of his Pantheon.


    They have the crown of god kings like him, so they will stand out if theye without a pantheon of their own. So they nned toe inter during the fight.


    In fact, they n to bring in the other 3 clones if they must. They are going to give it their all to get this tower. It is an important step towards world domination.


    The tower began to glow after 2 more hours of waiting. A golden barrier appeared around it. The barrier spread outwards from it into the surroundings. It eventually formed into arge golden bubble around the tower.


    This golden bubble is to be the battlefield. Every pantheon interested in gaining control of the tower is to enter the golden bubble, where they will fight with others until only one god or a group of gods belonging to the same pantheon remains.


    Any god can enter the golden bubble in the next 24 hours when it will be opened. It will close after 24 hours. Then it will begin to shrink after closing. The fight within it will only end when the conditions of victory have been met.


    This is the most that the angels of the gods had told them about. It is enough information for the gods to know that this fight is not a matter of firste, first served. It is a matter of endurance.


    But there''s also information that is not publicly avable. It is information that only a certain few gods know about. This information is why some god kings rushed into the golden bubble as soon as it formed despite knowing that the fight is not about being first.


    The struggle for the tower is indeed not firste, first served. In fact, those who enter first are more likely to be killed early. But those who enter first might be able to gain temporary control of the tower, which will grant them the boost from the tower.


    That boost might be their doom, as every pantheon will target them for control of the tower. It could also be a boon that will help them actually gain control of the tower.


    Either way, they can''t just watch as another Pantheon rushes ahead to take control of the tower. Even the ignorant god kings made the decision to rush.


    These ignorant god kings thought they could take their time with the battle. But they became confused when they saw many god kings rushing forward.


    They didn''t know why those god kings were in such a hurry, but they didn''t want to be left behind. So they chased after them and rushed into the golden bubble.


    Legion knew this secret information, but they didn''t need to know it to decide to rush into the battlefield because they know for sure that the other gods will target them first, whether they are in control of the tower or not.


    As the reason why many pantheons decided to fight for control of the Tower of Authority, it doesn''t matter if they are in temporary control of the tower.


    Every pantheon will seek to eliminate the strongest threat first. Since he is the strongest and most hated, he will be targeted first even if he sat and did nothing on the battlefield.


    So rather than let their enemies gain control of the tower and use it against them, it would be better to have the boost to assist them in the fight. That way, even if they fail, they will fail while being at their strongest.


    Legion-1 led his pantheon into the bubble together with the other god kings. These god kings didn''t look ahead as they ran. Instead, their eyes were focused on him.


    He couldn''t tell much from their eyes since their divine bodies are expressionless puppets. But he saw enough gestures from the gods indicating how much of a beating they have prepared for him.


    One god king smashed his right fist into the palm of his left hand. Then he twisted his right fist and ground it against his left palm. He did this while staring directly at Legion-1.


    Legion-1 had never seen such a gesture in his part of the void universe. But this gesture was universal. At the very least, he understood that he would be smashed and ground down.


    He simply chuckled as he entered the golden barrier. His environment changed when he entered the golden bubble. He appeared at the edge of a in.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He had appeared together with the gods of his pantheon. Behind them was a wall of darkness. In front of them, far into the distance, was the core of the tower. The core of the tower was the goal of every god, so everyone would rush toward it.

 Chapter 1923: Lucky Or Unlucky.

    Chapter 1923: Lucky Or Unlucky.


    ?


    The core of the tower is the golden orb at the center of a pir of light. This pir of light is bright and tall. It reached into the sky so everyone could see from wherever they were on the battlefield.


    The angel warned Legion-1, "This begins the fight to the death. You can''t leave. Only death or victory awaits. The quickest way to achieve the former is to step beyond the wall of darkness. So whatever you do, if you hope to achieve victory, do not touch the wall of darkness."


    Legion-1 nodded grimly. Then he ordered his subordinate gods, "We march straight to the core of the tower."


    "I will go up ahead. You should follow me at your fastest speed without using divine spells. We have a long fight ahead of us. It is best to conserve divine energy for now. I''ll go and secure the core first."


    Then he took off in the direction of the core of the tower.


    His pantheon had appeared together with him on the battlefield so they could move as one. But he didn''t bother to wait for them. They were just too slow and would drag him down. He went ahead of them to take advantage of his superior speed. 2,000,000 world power in speed is not something he will allow to waste by letting his pantheon drag him down. Unfortunately, he wasn''t the first person to reach the core of the tower. Someone else had gotten there. They were lucky to enter the battlefield close to the core of the tower, so not only were they in the possession of the core, but they also had their pantheon to protect them.


    He was very far away from the core, but he could still see how it was taken. The god king touched it and absorbed it into his divine body.


    The core entered his body, but the pir of light remained. It is just that the pir of light follows the god king around now. So everyone will know where the core is.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    This is a mechanism that will prevent whoever is in control of the core from hiding. The pir of light will announce their position to the world. This way, whoever is in control of the tower will be besieged from all sides.


    Legion-1 saw the god king that took control of the core of the tower. It was a god king he didn''t know about. This meant that they weren''t particrly strong, and they had been lucky enough to avoid his daily hunts.


    The pantheon of the god king was also small. There were just 51 gods in the pantheon. They were less than 50% of his pantheon in size. What''s more, the god king was not a domain god.


    This exined why he had never encountered the god king on his hunting trips. They had never gone outside of the city to get domains. They had holed themselves up in their city where it was safe.


    It could also be that this god king was from another divine city. After all, there were nine other divine cities participating in this hunt. It is normal that he hasn''t had the opportunity to offend every god in the Northern Divine Realm personally.


    Fortunately, he has just gotten the opportunity to rectify that oversight.


    He said with a sneer, "A true god dares to steal from domain gods. What guts! Or should I call it foolishness?"


    The god was weak and shouldn''t be on this battlefield at all if they hadmon sense. Their weakness is probably why the god began to run away in a hurry.


    He shook his head at the sight. It was amusing because the god was running in his direction. They were weak, and they were also unlucky.


    He smiled and said, "I don''t mind if I do."


    Soon he and the god king meet. They were still arge distance apart when the god king sighted him. If their divine bodies could show emotions, they would pale in fright right now.


    They didn''t pale in fright, but they did turn around immediately. They ran in the opposite direction to get rid of him.


    This was the best decision, even though there are some gods close to their position. These gods were on their right and could help them. But if they tried to reach this reinforcement, they wouldn''t be able to reach them before Legion-1 catches up to them.


    So instead of trying to reach helpers that they cannot reach, they chose a direction that will help them prolong the inevitable.


    It was inevitable that he would catch up to them. The maximum amount of divinity in a true god''s divine body is 10,000. Even if they put all of this in speed, it can''tpare to his 100,000 divinity.


    Their divine spells won''t help either because they have less Authority than him, and their divine spells can only use 20% of their Authority.


    That didn''t stop them from using their divine spells to create distance between them, though. They did so while he rushed after them with just his world power.


    Soon, he overtook the god king, who was glowing and producing a pir of light that followed him everywhere he went. So Legion-1 knew that he was definitely in possession of the core of the tower.


    "Who are you?" Legion-1 asked as he got close to them.


    But then he said, "You know what? Your name doesn''t matter. You are too weak. Hand over the core and I will let you go."


    Before the god King could reply, Legion-1''s angel said to him, "It doesn''t work that way. No one can give up the core after fusing with it. There are only two options. Victory or death."


    So Legion-1 said to the god king, "Apparently, your willingness to surrender doesn''t matter either."


    Heughed when he saw that the god king increased his speed. He said, "Don''t worry. I''ll make sure to end this quickly. I can promise you this much."

 Chapter 1924: A Quickie.

    Chapter 1924: A Quickie.


    ?


    The god king didn''t listen to him. He continued to run, which offended Legion-1.


    He asked, "Why are you still running? Don''t you believe me? Does my word count for nothing to you?


    He asked that while rushing towards the god King.


    The god king was already afraid when he sighted the 9 Crowns. Now that Legion-1 hade close enough to kill him, he knew there was no way out for himself. He cursed himself for being greedy.


    His main mission had been toe and hinder Legion-1. That''s what Smite and the other Domain gods paid him and many other weak true gods for.


    That''s what he came to do, but he got lucky and entered the battlefield close to the core. The temptation was too great, so he sumbed to it. Now he is paying the price for falling for the temptation.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The fight was uneventful. Legion-1 took out Myriad Armament and turned it into a whip. Then he whipped all of them in a wide horizontal arc.


    The whip swept through them and sheared them as if they were grass. They were so outssed that he didn''t use any divine spell on them.


    In fact, he didn''t need to use Myriad Armament to fight them. All he needed was his fist. He could have pummeled them one by one, but he used a whip so he could get rid of them all at once.


    He also didn''t need to use world power to kill all 52 of them. Just shifting all of his divinity to Strength was enough to do the trick. But he had promised to make this quick, so he had to keep his word.


    Besides, using world power and going all out ensured that he was able to kill them quickly before anyone else could interfere. The interference of other gods is an ever-present threat for him.


    There are a lot of people who would interfere with him gaining more power if they could. Unfortunately, they came toote to the party. He had already fused with the core by the time the closest gods arrived.


    Smite and the other god kings arrived with their pantheons. Smite saw that he was in control of the core of the tower and growled, "Of course, he got it first. He is too fast after devouring all of us these past few years."


    Another god king said, "The flesh and bones of nearly a million gods have been picked clean by him. But his reign of tyranny ends today if I have anything to say about it."


    The first god that gained control of the core was weak but very lucky. They too were lucky in that they entered the battlefield close to the core. But 9 Crowns was just too powerful.


    At some point, raw strength will crush luck. In fact, strength can turn a lucky situation into an unlucky one..It was what happened to the first god who gained control of the core and what happened to them.


    Legion-1 was at the very edge of the battlefield, but he managed to rush over and crush the lucky god despite them being closer. The same thing would have happened regardless of who was the first god to gain control of the core of the tower.


    9 Crowns was just too strong. It angered them to think about his strength and how he gained that power. But they didn''t attack him right away.


    Instead, Smite approached him and said, "9 Crowns. I guess you are not going to let go of the core even if I ask."


    Then he paused and listened to an invisible person speak to him. Next he said, "I was wrong. You can''t even give me the core if you''re willing, so I won''t ask anymore. But this doesn''t change anything. We expected this to happen due to your superior speed. In fact, we were counting on it."


    He continued to smile together with the other god kings. Legion-1 didn''t attack them because there was nothing to gain other than divinity. They don''t have extra domains because he has killed them before and taken their extra domains.


    Even if they have extra domains, he won''t be able to use it now because he will need an altar to fuse with it. Unfortunately, he can''t leave yet to get an altar. The only way to leave is through victory or death.


    That means he also won''t be able to take their divine orbs out. But if he kills them now, they will return again to the battlefield if they can resurrect quickly and as long as it is open.


    So the best time to kill them is when the battlefield closes. That way, no one will be able to enter the battlefield again, and his kills will actually reduce the amount of enemies around him.


    They seemed to know that too, so they were not afraid of him killing them. They didn''t try attacking him either.


    But that isn''t the only reason they didn''t attack him yet. They were waiting for their other allies so that they could pile on 9 Crowns all at once.


    They are also bringing out some tools from their inventory. They moved away from his position and began building something with the tools they took out of their inventory. Legion-1 watched them work while waiting for his pantheon to arrive. The other clones were also about to enter the battlefield, but he wanted to find out what the god kings were nning first so that the other clones could prepare for it before they entered.


    This standoff continued until the 24 hours that the barrier will remain open was over. The barrier closed. Then Smite and the other god kings joined together the different parts of what they had built.


    The things they built were three pirs. They were ced at the very edge of the battlefield and arranged to form a triangle with Legion-1 at the center.


    A/N: What do you think they are nning?

 Chapter 1925: The Great Plan.

    Chapter 1925: The Great n.


    ?


    The area of the triangle was veryrge. It covered the whole battlefield and was also flexible because a god was carrying each pir so they could move it around.


    These gods would readjust their position anytime he moves. This ensured that he was always within the area of the triangle.


    Hundreds of thousands of gods surrounded these three pirs to protect them while the remaining hundreds of thousands surrounded Legion-1 within the triangle.


    Smiteughed and said, "Finally, we will end your reign of terror. You don''t know how long I have been looking forward to this."


    Legion-1 didn''t move yet. Instead he drew their attention to himself while the other clones, 7 of them, approached the gods carrying the three pirs.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Smite continued tough. "This is what happens when a god goes against the whole divine realm."


    His ally Feathered Serpent said, "Did you think you were invincible and untouchable? Well, you were wrong. You have overreached, and you will suffer for it."


    Smith was full of excitement as he raised his hands and dered grandly, "Lo and behold, the downfall of 9 Crowns."


    The three pirs they built are tools that ban world power. Any god in the area of the triangle will lose the assistance of world power. That won''t render them helpless, as they will still have Authority and Divine Spells.


    9 Crowns will still be deadly without his world power. But divine spells cost divine energy. They believe that he will run out of divine energy by the time he deals with all 2 million of them. Then they will be able to defeat him.


    Of course it is a little pitiful that 2 million gods need to scheme and plot to take down one god. It is something they should be ashamed of and shouldn''t even brag about to anyone. But things have reached this point where a pitiful victory will be celebrated.


    If they can kill 9 Crowns now, he will lose all of his domains except one. That will undoubtedly cripple him. These domains will also strengthen them and make their world gods happy.


    So they were full of anticipation for the uing fight. But as Smite and the other god kings waited, nothing happened. They could still feel the assistance of world power.


    Smite asked his angel, "What is happening?"


    His angel answered nervously, "About that. Apparently the pirs won''t work within the tower of realms. Imagine that."


    Smith''s face in the void universe contorted into a painful frown sharp enough to cut a mortal to pieces. In God''s Domain, he screamed at his angel, "You''re just telling me that now? Do you know how important this is to me?"


    His angel shrugged and said, "I just found out myself. You can''t me."


    Legion-1 was still waiting for the effects of their pir to appear. But just like Smite, he was bound to be disappointed. All he got to see was Smith shouting at his invisible angel.


    He asked, "Is this all you have?"


    Smite didn''t reply. He was still arguing with his angel. The other god kings couldn''t speak either. Some of them were ring or arguing with their angels or arguing with other gods.


    They didn''t reply to his mockery, but they didn''t need to. All that Legion-1 needed was to get their attention. Now that they were all back to looking at him, he said what else he had in mind.


    He said, "I admit that uniting a bunch of selfish people is impressive, but most of the credit is due to me. I am worthy of being banded against. No one else is powerful enough to force up to 2 million gods to unite."


    "As for uniting the weak against the strong, that is a joke. You should know better as an immortal that a million Sovereigns ofw can be killed with an Origin domain. There is just a difference in the state of existence that numbers can''t ovee."


    "The same is what will happen today. Prepare yourself for another humiliating defeat. I know that you''re used to humiliation and defeats, but this one will be worse than the previous ones."


    Smite was so frustrated that he howled to the sky. He did know better than to bring together a bunch of riffraff against someone who couldn''t tire. That''s why they nned to rob him of the power of his domain.


    That n failed spectacrly. Now, it won''t matter how many gods there are to besiege 9 Crowns as long as he still has world power.


    But they just can''t ept defeat. They still have to try. So he roared and said, "There are only two options for us. They are victory or death. We have nothing to lose, so we have to give our all for the slim chance of victory. Let''s get him."


    Legion-1 just watched and sneered at them. He even sat down and chose to do nothing. It is because there is nothing they can do against him if they can''t ovee his defenses. With world power on his side, theirs is a losing battle.


    His defense is absolute. If they can''t produce 2 million attacks, then they can''t hurt him no matter how many of them there are. He sat down as they threw all sorts of spells on him.


    They had God''s Fall on them, but that consumable only works on avatars in the mortal realm. So all of their effort to harm him went to waste.


    He also doesn''t need to kill them because the battlefield was shrinking. The deadly wall of darkness was covering thend and killing everyone in its path.


    The only gods the wall of darkness won''t kill are the gods in the pantheon in control of the core of the tower. So everyone apart from him and his pantheon will die soon.


    But before that happens, Legion is going to use them to evolve their powerful weapons. They can''t take out the divine orbs that the dead gods will drop, but their two powerful divine weapons can eat the divinity of every god they kill.

 Chapter 1926: The Great Massacre.

    Chapter 1926: The Great Massacre.


    ?


    So all six of the Orc Bandits took out Myriad Armament and Golden Light and began killing the gods en masses. The three clones stood on standby and didn''t reveal themselves.


    Since their victory was certain, Legion began nning for the next tower war of next year.


    Legion-3 said, "It seems we don''t need to all be present in the fight for a single tower. We can spread out next year and dominate all the towers together."


    Legion-7 warned, "For that to happen, we have to maintain our superiority in both Authority and world power. Any weakness will be exploited easily and might make us fail to gain a single tower."


    Legion-1 said confidently, "That shouldn''t be too difficult. As long as we continue to do what we have been doing, we will have no problems."


    What he meant was that as long they continued to hunt the gods thereby depriving them of resources, they will remain in the lead.


    He is confident of this even though Smite''s n can still work outside of the tower. It is because unlike inside the tower, he will be able to escape easily outside the tower.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    It is because of the enclosed space within the tower that gave Smite''s n any chance of sess. But it was thwarted because the rules of the tower are different from the divine realm.


    The great n of 2 million gods ended in a great massacre thatsted for hours. Never before has so many gods gathered in one ce. What''s more, all of these gods couldn''t escape. It was practically an all you could eat buffet for Legion.


    Legion had topete with the wall of darkness in the speed at which they killed the gods. For the gods, this was a nightmare. They were surrounded by death on all sides. They had no hope of victory, so only death awaited them.


    Legion didn''t like it either. They wanted to be the only one to kill the gods. They were a selfish bunch who didn''t like to share their prey.


    The end came after 9 hours. Thest pantheon standing was the Apocalypse Pantheon so they became its controller for the next four year.


    There was a regional announcement throughout the whole divine ne because of it.


    - Congrattions! The Apocalypse Pantheon has gained control of the Tower of Authority.


    - This marks the end of the divine war for the Tower of Authority.


    They were thest ones to gain control of their tower since the other towers had a true fight to the death. In other towers, the pantheons fought each other, not just one pantheon chasing after the rest. The killing rate was high, so the divine war ended early.


    The result of the divine war led to many changes in the divine ne. Many pantheons that were previously unknown rose up to power. It is because they were lucky to win control of the various towers.


    In a free-for-all, luck ys a major part, so many weak pantheons that were initially ignored became lucky enough to be thest one standing.


    Only two pantheons out of the five pantheons that gained control of the Tower of Realms were popr and strong pantheons. The Apocalypse Pantheon was one of these two.


    The Apocalypse Pantheon was strong and popr because of their god king. They weren''t the biggest pantheon or the strongest, but they were strong.


    However, many gods were surprised that the Apocalypse pantheon managed to gain control of the tower. Their surprise was on par with what they felt when weak pantheons became lucky enough to gain control of a tower.


    In fact, some were far more surprised that the Apocalypse pantheon gained control of a tower than they were that weaklings became lucky enough to do this same thing. This is because every pantheon was supposed to be the enemy of the Apocalypse Pantheon.


    They expected the Apocalypse Pantheon to be eliminated at the very beginning. So they were very surprised that that didn''t happen. Instead of being eliminated, the Apocalypse pantheon gained control of the Tower of Authority and also became the first on the Pantheon Ranking.


    Thetter was because the strongest pantheons that could defeat the Apocalypse Pantheon had done so in the Tower of Authority and failed spectacrly.


    All the 2 million gods that participated in that war lost at least half of their strength, which weakened their pantheon as a whole. This allowed the Pantheons beneath them to have a chance of rising up in the divine war of other towers and the Pantheon ranking.


    Maybe if the strong pantheons had scattered themselves into all five towers, the weak pantheons that became lucky might not have been so lucky. But they had put all their eggs in one basket by fighting against the Apocalypse Pantheon in the Tower of Authority and had lost everything.


    Now, the Apocalypse Pantheon became the first on every ranking. They had control of one of the towers, the strongest god with the highest authority and thergest number of heroes. This made the Apocalypse pantheon very appealing to gods, so many gods wanted to join.


    9 Crowns only allowed Orc gods to join the Apocalypse Pantheon, but he was still able to fill up the Pantheon to the brim and gain the boost from 200 gods. The boost of 199% to their Authority further sealed their position as the top god in every ranking.


    But it came with negative consequences too. The gods couldn''t take it anymore after the 9 Crowns became the top on 5 out of the 5 rankings. They stopped the war against the human race and actually created an allied army of all races to invade the orc kingdom. Things didn''t end there. What had happened in the Tower of Authority had spooked many gods. They were determined not to allow it to happen again.


    They know that if they don''t cripple 9 Crowns now, they will never be able to cripple him again. With his current strength, he would always be able to win the divine wars and give them no chance in the future.

 Chapter 1927: The Allied Army Of Nations.

    Chapter 1927: The Allied Army Of Nations.


    ?


    9 Crowns was already too powerful. With the tower of realms, he would be even more powerful. So they had to stop him now with all they had. All the gods were of one ord about this.


    The gods were also very determined to stop him so much that they pulled their heroes from the fight for the Mortal de and made them target the Orc Empire of the 9 Crowns.


    They understood that they couldn''t threaten the 9 Crowns in the divine ne anymore, so they made up their minds to uproot him in the mortal realmpletely. That meant that even the gods joined their army in its march towards the Orc Empire.


    All of this was not a secret to Legion. They could see the gods taking such actions and hear them announcing the alliance of gods against the 9 Crowns everywhere in the divine realm.


    They also received numerous messages from other gods threatening them or demanding that they surrender. So they had some time to prepare for this.


    It helped that this time, the gods couldn''t rob them of the assistance of their pantheon with fake challenges thanks to the fact that they are in control of a tower of realms.


    They can use the privilege of being in control of a tower to dy the challenges to their pantheon for the four years they will be in control in favor of assembling all their subordinate gods for battle. This made 200 gods of the Apocalypse Pantheon avable for the war.


    9 Crowns and his 199 subordinate gods descended to the mortal realm in preparation for battle. They stood over the wall of the Empire while looking into the distance, waiting for the army of their enemies to arrive.


    It was quite an army too. They numbered more than a hundred million in number. Those were just the mortals. The gods were in the hundreds of thousands. By the looks of things, it was a losing fight.


    Legion-3 grumbled and said, "This is the divine war again, but in the mortal realm."


    Legion-1 said, "Things won''t be so easy like they were in the divine war. We actually have a weakness here that he must protect. So we can''t let them reach us. We must take the fight to them."


    Legion-9 agreed. "Yes. We should destroy their army with the superior might of our divine spells. The priority is the mortals in the army. They aim to destroy our foundation, but we can do the same to them too."


    Legion-6 added, "We should prioritize the mortals with divine touch. Eliminate their priests, oracles, and altars. By bringing all their forces together like this, they have also made themselves vulnerable."


    Legion¨C2 shook his head and said, "The n can work, but it will be very expensive. I am sure that Smite and the others will use that tool of theirs to rob us of ess to world power. So we have to use divine energy against all of them."


    Legion-4 sighed and said, We will lose a lot of divine energy to fight this many enemies. We will have to sacrifice our human ves for divine energy at this rate. We might even have to sacrifice some of our believers."


    Legion-1 said, "That''s why we should fight them now while they are still a long way away from us. The daily divine energy we gain will help us whittle them down until they reach us."


    Legion-7 suggested, "Either way, we should start evacuating our believers first. We can lose our nation, but we must not lose our source of faith."


    What he said was bitter but sound advice. If they are forced to fight all of these gods and can''t use inexhaustible world power, they will have to rely on divine energy. But there is no way that their daily gain of divine energy will be able to keep up with so many enemies.


    They are bound to lose ground eventually if they have to rely on divine energy. That means they won''t be able to protect their believers.


    Rather than allow that to happen, they might as well evacuate them now. Besides, by moving their believers away, Smite won''t be able to keep them from escaping.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Smite won''t be able to force them to stay within the range of his world power-robbing tool just so that they can protect their kingdom. This way they will have opportunities to use world power.


    So it is sound advice. But it is also bitter advice because they are on their way to evolving and bing national gods. They already have thend. All they are waiting for is the poption of their believers to reach 10 million.


    But now they will have to give up thend they fought so much for and locate their orcs into the harsh and infertile edge of the kingdom. This will definitely dy them from bing national gods.


    Legion-5 said bitterly, "Even if this war ends in failure for them, they will have seeded in dying us. Smite should be d."


    Legion-6 encouraged them, "At the very least we will gain a lot from this. We will have a lot of souls through soul harvest, and Golden Light will be able to evolve again and again with so many godsying down their lives to stop us."


    Legion-8 agreed. "If everything goes well, we will only lose time, but we will be filthy rich in souls."


    Legion-3 smiled and said, "It is like I said; this is just like the divine war all over again, except it is in the mortal realm. They all decided to pile on us, but that will make us rich."


    That made the clonesugh. It is true that they gained a lot from the divine war. Golden Light and Myriad Armament were upgraded during the great ughter of the divine war.


    Now it seems they will be able to upgrade Myriad Armament again and also gain the most valuable currency. So they were looking forward to the war.

 Chapter 1928: Cornered Beasts.

    Chapter 1928: Cornered Beasts.


    ?


    Unlike what the gods expected, the 9 Crowns wasn''t cowed by the array of gods against him. In fact, 9 Crowns and the orc bandits took the fight to them.


    This is something the 9 Crowns had always been doing to neighboring kingdoms. They were always searching for traces of the religion of other gods to remove them. But this time, they didn''t need to search.


    The gods hadbined their might, which made them a fearsome foe but also a bigger target. Legion literally couldn''t miss with a target thisrge.


    What''s more, a domain doesn''t miss. It is an area of attack spell, so it couldn''t be dodged. Whenbined with an army of mortals packed like fishes in a barrel, using a domain of fire was as if that barrel of fish was thrown into an incinerator. The death toll per second was enough to make gods cry.


    It was just enough to make them cry, but no gods cried. Their hearts ached, and they cursed bitterly, but they didn''t cry.


    At first, things went well for the allied army. They were able to rob 9 Crowns of world power. But as they expected, 9 Crowns was still deadly without world power.


    9 Crowns didn''t fight them with normal divine spells or use physical attacks against them. He and the orc bandits only used domains.


    Apart from the wide area of damage that domains are capable of, they have two features that make them a nuisance. The first feature is that there can only be one domain in an area. The second one is that anyone in that domain will be damaged as long as they are not the owner of the domain.


    The second feature meant that the gods couldn''t use a domain to protect their army. Their domain will harm the mortals as well as other allied gods.


    9 Crowns, on the other hand, had no such worries. He wasn''t protecting anyone, so he could go all out. The first feature also meant that when he went all out, as the god with the highest authority, no other god could disce his domain. Only his domain can ravage everything else.


    9 Crowns alone went to fight the gods. He entered the area where wielding power had been robbed and used a domain to make themment. He killed and killed and killed.


    The gods wanted to retaliate, but they couldn''t because the other orc bandits and 199 other gods were waiting for them outside the area with robbed world power.


    With world power, they would be making things easy by going to fight the other orc bandits. So they had to deal with 9 Crowns or suffer in the hands of the orc bandits.


    The gods did everything they could to mitigate their losses. They scattered their armies so that 9 Crowns wouldn''t be able to get them. But that was ying into the hands of the orc bandits.


    It was a case of being stuck between a rock and a hard ce. Things would have been different if 9 Crowns had been stubborn and had refused to give up on the orc kingdom. He would have been restricted in his actions.


    But he didn''t do that. So they have to keep chasing his believers while enduring his onught.


    It was not a pretty sight at all. The earth and sky were ravaged and burned. Both gods and mortals died in droves.


    Even the gods of the Apocalypse Pantheon suffered because their pantheon spire was attacked. Many of them lost their altars and had to rebuild new ones.


    Legion could have prevented this, but they didn''t bother. They were too busy with the war in the mortal realm. They refused to take the bait to protect their assets and pantheon in the divine realm.


    The two sides tussled and grappled for a long time. This period of time was a dark time for the mortal realm. Gods and mortals fought for weeks, which turned into months, and then years. Both sides of the war lost a lot.


    On one side, the Orc Empire lost 10% of their poption when the heroes of their enemies and other gods began wreaking havoc on it. Despite all the precautions they took, they still lost some of their believers.


    Legion captured and trapped the heroes in coffins buried deep beneath the earth. This effectively neutralized the heroes. But it came at a great cost. They lost almost 200,000 believers, 11 priests, and Warsaw.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    On the other side, the alliance army lost divinity, domain, priests, oracles, faith, heroes, divine energy, and more at the hands of the Apocalypse Pantheon.


    Both sides lost divine energy because of the war, but one side gained more things than the other. However, the allied army didn''t give up.


    They had lost a lot, but when the losses were distributed between them, it wasn''t as much as what 9 Crowns had lost. Plus, their world gods were breathing down their necks and urging them to continue attacking 9 Crowns.


    Their dedication was finally rewarded when their main army reached the Orc Empire. This meant that whatever im that 9 Had over thend had been nullified. It also meant that the Orcs had nowhere else to retreat to.


    The orcs were already at the edge of the continent. They couldn''t escape anymore. They had to stand and fight.


    The saving grace was that the allied army had lost more than 95% of their troops and manpower. So they were not as fearsome as they were before. The orcs could still fight back and were not easily overwhelmed.


    Not that the gods were nning to overwhelm 9 Crowns. They had that n before, but they have changed their minds. Now, they will be content with preventing the orcs from growing and developing.


    They were content with harassing the orcs. And thanks to the fact that 9 Crowns had to protect his believers, he couldn''t leave the range of their world power robbing tool.


    Even so, the ensuing battle was intense. The orc bandits fought like cornered beasts. They fought with all they had.

 Chapter 1929: Tussle And Grapple.

    Chapter 1929: Tussle And Grapple.


    ?


    The war was so intense that not even the resurrection of the ancient titans made the allied army pause.


    There was another wave of ancient titans while they were fighting, but the gods only gave Gemmis more divinity while they continued killing orcs.


    This negligence made Gemmis and many divine cities to run out of divine energy. Half of Gemmis was destroyed and some divine cities were directly uprooted before the ancient titans were killed.


    The gods still didn''t give up. They didn''t give up either when what they had feared happened. The Apocalypse pantheon gained control of all five towers after four years of intense fighting.


    At this point, they were running on fumes, but they felt they couldn''t retreat after losing so much. Besides, if the Apocalypse Pantheon could achieve this while being besieged on all sides, what would they be capable of when the gods retreated?


    The solution to destroying 9 Crowns was still to wipe out the orcs. So they made ast-ditch effort to do that. Unfortunately, it didn''t work because the Apocalypse Pantheon had be too strong for them.


    The control of all five towers granted them an extra 20% bonus on Strength, Speed,


    Endurance, Domain, and Authority. Plus the original gained from each tower, they had a 30% boost for each attribute.


    The gods wanted to give up, but they had to persevere because of their world gods. But even their world gods had to give up the fight after another four years of failures because then/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Apocalypse Pantheon gained control of all 5 towers again.


    The Apocalypse Pantheon became so powerful that the losses to the gods couldn''t be overlooked anymore. Each one of them had lost more than 9 Crowns now.


    In fact, the Apocalypse Pantheon had begun to counterattack after they had exhausted all they had. The allied army decided to retreat immediately.


    It is true that both sides lost a lot in the war.But the fact that one side was gaining a lot made the war unptable. The allied army couldn''t just keep throwing the lives of their mortals away anymore. So they ran away with their tail between their legs.


    But they didn''t give up on harassing 9 Crowns. The gods decided to change their ns. They decided to unite further by making a super religion and a super pantheon.


    It was an attempt to create a god powerful enough to rival the 9 Crowns. The god kings were to disband their pantheons and form one pantheon made of previous god kings.


    They were to bring all their believers and resources together to support one person. It was a good idea but there were some dys in the execution because the gods couldn''t decide on who would be the super god king.


    While their world gods were hashing out the contract and arrangements, the Apocalypse Pantheon chased after the remnant of the allied army and made sure that none of their mortals would be able to return.


    The orcs were finally able to return to their kingdom. But 9 Crowns went further than that. He annexed every kingdom around the Orc empire and expanded his nation.


    Then he chased the gods all the way back to their territories. The fact that they couldn''t defeat him together, meant that they could handle him alone. It was the right opportunity for him to pay them back for what they did to him.


    He couldn''t nullify their im to theirnds as that would require an army of mortals. He needs his mortals to recuperate. Making them fight in far away foreignnds will prevent that. So he and the Orc bandits went alone to harrass the gods.


    The war ended after eight years of fighting. But the Apocalypse Pantheon was still fighting the gods. Thing became so bad that the gods couldn''t spread their faith in the mortal realm in peace anymore.


    In the past before the war, the gods couldn''t leave their cities for fear of being killed by the Orc bandits. They could only hide in divine cities where they couldn''t be harmed. Now, their believers and priests also had to hide in the mortal realm.


    This forced the world gods toe to an agreement. A super religion was finally created. But things were already toote by then.


    The Apocalypse Pantheon had already be the undisputed Supreme Pantheon and 9 Crowns had been dubbed the god of gods. The best that the super religion could achieve was eek out a living. It couldn''t prosper.


    Still, they were not willing to give up just yet. They can''t give up since the alternative is death. But they have decided not to rely on mortal war, not for another 40 years when the mortals have reproduced for two generations.


    This led to a period of prosperity in the mortal realm. It was total prosperity for the orcs while it was rtive peace for other races. Their peace was rtive because 9 Crowns was wiping out cities at random.


    The gods had to pay tributes of divinity to 9 Crowns in secret or admit publicly to their believers that 9 Crowns was indeed the god of God''s. Only then could they have peace.


    9 Crowns was indeed the most powerful god in the Northern Divine Realm, but to admit it would be to sabotage their future as gods and undermine the power of the super religion that they spent great effort to set up. So the gods decided to pay 9 Crowns some divinity in secret.


    On the surface, they didn''t admit defeat. In fact, they told their believers that the war had ended in a draw. They refused to admit that 9 Crowns is the god of gods or that they lost to him and his pantheon. This gave some ignorant people false confidence.


    One of the groups of ignorant people are the yers, or otherworlders, as they are sometimes called. Due to their false confidence, the war hasn''t ended for them. They are still determined to destroy 9 Crowns.

 Chapter 1930: Real Life Consequences.

    Chapter 1930: Real Life Consequences.


    ?


    They couldn''t fight 9 Crowns, so they hounded his kingdom and believers. This made 9 Crowns angry. He used Golden Light on them. They are not heroes, so their consciousness was shattered and their ounts were lost. Many of them even died in real life.


    The yers learned their lesson quickly and stopped causing trouble to 9 Crowns. But they didn''t give up on harassing his three heroes.


    Especially the heroes of other gods. They couldn''t die permanently as they had the protection of their god. The worst thing they had ever experienced from 9 Crowns is going unconscious in real life.


    Not even being imprisoned deep in the earth where they couldn''t die was as bad as that. But they were always able to bounce back, so they felt confident in their safety.


    Plus, they had righteous anger that kept them motivated to keep hounding Taylor, ck Knife, and Sharon. In fact, they are doing so now.


    About 100 heroes are pursuing Taylor, ck Knife, and Sharon. The three of them are stronger than any individual enemy, but they are not fighting back because they are outnumbered and because the fight won''t end even if they kill their enemies.


    So the three of them decided to run back to the Orc Empire. Behind them, the 100 heroes cursed them and shouted at them.


    Taylor said, "I now know what that king felt when he was trying and failing to kill us. Immortality is a nuisance. I wonder how any society could function if people could be immortal."


    ck Knife smiled and said, "I know, right? This is fun."


    Taylor said, "That''s not what I said."


    ck Knife agreed with a nod. "I think this is fine."


    Taylor sighed and said to Sharon, "It seems his ears are still damaged."


    She shrugged and said, "I have no regrets. I did what I had to do. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Because we are at war."


    He rolled his eyes at her. "Why are you taking this so seriously? Why is everyone taking this too far?"


    Sharon asked, "Why aren''t you taking it seriously?"


    He replied, "Isn''t the answer obvious? It is because it was a game event. And because it has ended. It was just business. It is nothing personal."


    She pointed behind them, "You tell them that. Maybe they will listen to you after they tie you up and let you go instead of torturing you."


    He just groaned in frustration. He is frustrated because he has told them the same thing several times, but they didn''t listen.


    To him, the war was just a game event. He did his part well, and now the war has ended. He thought that would be the end of it, but he was wrong.


    Sharon said to him, "I can''t really me them. Many people lost their ounts and their lives."


    He insisted, "That''s because they took things too far. It was their fault for angering a god." She shook her head. "It doesn''t matter why or how it happened. What matters is that decisions and actions in God''s Domain have deadly consequences in real life. So God''s Domain cannot be regarded as just a game, and the war cannot be termed as just a game event."


    Taylor couldn''t argue with her. It is because she has a point and because he can''t believe that gods are capable of dealing real-life damage to yers.


    9 Crowns is not the only god who had managed to hurt yers in real life. Other gods had also done it. But the best they had been able to achieve was to destroy the ounts and cause the yers to fall unconscious for a few days.


    The yers that fell unconscious had woken up a few weeks after. They had lost their ount and had to start all over again, but they were mostly fine.


    Only 9 Crowns had managed to not only destroy their ounts but also kill the yers themselves in real life. The best situation that any yer that 9 Crowns attacks gets is to be in aa. The rest die directly.


    It is no wonder why some people are angry. Theyined to the Heavenly Corporation, and it led to nothing. Now these disgruntled heroes have decided to pick on them since they couldn''t defeat the Heavenly Corporation or 9 Crowns.


    He can understand their frustration. But he would also like them to understand that he only works here. It was nothing personal when he killed the believers of the enemy gods. It was just a game, and it was a war. All is supposed to be fair in a war in a game.


    But they didn''t listen to him. Even now some heroes are still using him falsely.


    He shouted back at them, "You''re wasting our time and resources. We will both be dyed if we continue this."


    One of them shouted at him, "We are not wasting our time. It is always a good use of time to wipe out nazis."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    He rolled his eyes. "Oh,e on."


    They continued behind him, "That''s what you and your god are. You''re nazis. First it was the genocide of the human race. Then it was the massacre of innocent people."


    Taylor shouted back, "It was not a genocide. We only attacked one kingdom. Besides, we are not the only ones who attacked the humans. Almost every god did."


    "As for the massacre of the innocents, that is clearly false. We only killed soldiers. They were in an army marching aggressively towards our territory. They can''t be innocent. We did nothing wrong."


    Someone shouted behind him, "Liar! You and your god are liars. The whole world literally banded together against your god. That only happens when there is a great evil that threatens the safety of the world. You and your god are the great evil."


    Another one said, "They all said that 9 Crowns was evil. They can''t all be wrong. Plus, only 9 Crowns killed any yer. You guys must be the viins of the game."


    A/N: Check out my other book, Mountain Sitting Immortal (MSI). http://wbnv.in/a/37in6Sp

 Chapter 1931: Benefits and Motives.

    Chapter 1931: Benefits and Motives.


    ?


    One levelheaded hero said, "I''m sure we will gain a lot if we capture you and hand you over to our gods. I''m sure 9 Crowns will pay a lot to ransom you. That''s why I want to capture you."


    Her motive was reasonable, but she was the outlier here.


    Another hero shouted in anger, "Forget about benefits. You are Nazis and must be vanquished."


    He roared in frustration, "Even if you''re right and I am a Nazi, you have forgotten that this is all a game. The Heavenly Corporation is the true enemy here. They are making us fight each other with our lives at stake."


    But they didn''t listen to him. It didn''t help that ck Knife chose that moment to weigh in.


    The cloaked assassin said, "Who are we killing next?"


    He said, "Now is not a good time."


    ck Knife nodded and said, "I love killing people."


    This further incensed their pursuers. They became more determined to catch them and torture them for all of eternity for their crimes.


    Taylor red at Sharon. She was the one who used ck Knife as bait and struck everyone around him with her lightning spell.


    She hadn''t cared about his safety at all. Which was fine. But he didn''t die. Instead, his hearing became impaired. Now he can''t hear properly and is escting the situation with hisments.


    This is a problem they can fix by killing him. Dying will be painful, but he will resurrect refreshed and healed. Unfortunately, they can''t do that while being pursued. They have to run or they will be captured. If they are captured, things will be so bad that they will wish for death.


    In the meantime, Legion finally decided to ess the other divine realms. It was mostly toplete their quest and pave the way to be heavenly gods. But they also had it on the agenda to hunt for divinity and domains.


    The Northern Divine Realm has be boring now that everyone is hiding away. They need fresh forests to hunt in. They need plump and pretty gods to traumatize until these gods lose weight.


    Normally, they would need the agreement of every controller of the Tower of Realms to gain ess to other realms. But since they were the sole controller of all five towers, they didn''t need anyone''s permission.


    The entire process of gaining ess to the other realms was easy for them to do. A portal opened up in all of the towers, granting ess to the other divine realms. Its destination in those divine realms was random, but that wasn''t a problem for them since they didn''t have anywhere they wanted to go specifically.


    They first went to the eastern domain in search of goddess Oceania. It didn''t take them much effort to find traces of her. Apparently she was very popr in the eastern domain as one of the few gods from the previous era still alive.


    She wasn''tpletely alive, as only part of her divine will was still alive. Any god could kill her, but they would have to break through the protections of her divine kingdom to do so.


    Many gods have tried to do so, but they all failed because of the army of angels at the national god level protecting her.


    One of their clones tried to break through the protection of the divine kingdom and failed. He died but brought back valuable information for them.


    Legion-9 said, "It seems Kutneri was right to be concerned. Oceania is notpletely dead."


    Legion-8 nodded and said, "She is near death, but we will need to be national gods at least to finish the process."


    Legion-7 said, "I guess we will have to postpone his revenge."


    The difficulty of the quest made them put it on hold for a while. They spent time doing other things that will make them stronger.


    Actually, they were doing only one thing. But this didn''t sit right with the gods of this realm. They were a divided bunch that fought each other at every turn. But an outsider stealing their divinity didn''t sit right with them.


    Besides, this was no ordinary outsider. They had heard a lot about 9 Crowns from their friends and contacts in the Northern Divine Realm.


    So they knew what he was capable of. This made all the gods in the whole divine realm band together immediately. They banded together in their decision to hide in their divine cities. They had learned a lot from the failures of the gods in the Northern Divine Realm. This saved them a lot of time and resources that would have been wasted in a direct confrontation with the Orc Bandits. They decided to save themselves from pain and anguish by hiding away. This might have been different if they could ess the Northern Mortal Realm and invade it with their armies. The recent war would have involved every god in God''s Domain, not just the ones in the Northern Divine Realm.


    But they couldn''t threaten the source of his faith. They couldn''t even ess the Northern Divine Realm to fight him. He, on the other hand, coulde and go as he pleased.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    So even though these gods were much stronger than the gods of the Northern Divine Realm, they directly gave up without fighting. They hid in their divine cities and would onlye out when 9 Crowns left.


    Legion was not happy with their cowardice. They could only hunt a little and retreat. Then they visited other realms to do the same.


    Hunting was slow, but thanks to crop rotation, they could earn something. They did this by rotating which realm to hunt in. They would use the element of surprise to earn a little before they withdrew.


    It was one of the benefits of being in control of the tower of realms. The gods of the northern realm were sick of them. They wouldn''te out of divine cities to hunt no matter what. But the gods of the other realms were still fresh enough to be bullied for a couple of rounds.


    A/N: Check out my other book, Mountain Sitting Immortal (MSI). http://wbnv.in/a/37in6Sp

 Chapter 1932: The Strange God.

    Chapter 1932: The Strange God.


    ?


    They rotated their hunting ground for a couple of rounds until they stumbled onto something interesting in the southern domain. There was a god looking for Legion in the southern domain.


    This god had made it known to everyone there that he wanted to cooperate with Legion. He had been saying so since the very start of God''s Domain, not just recently.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    They were curious about the god and why he would be looking for them, but they had no intention of admitting that they were Legion.


    There is little danger if their identity is revealed, as no one would be able to find their true body through the identity of their divine body. But to admit that they are Legion is to expose the secret that is the main foundation of the 9 Crowns.


    So they ignored the god and continued hunting other gods. They were also working on making their pantheon strong enough to assist them in taking control of every tower in all four realms.


    They are strong enough to control a tower with just one clone. But even if they use every clone, they can only fight for nine towers at a time.


    There is no way they can take control of all 20 towers on their own at the same time. They will need their pantheon to be very strong to achieve this.


    At the very least, every god in their pantheon had to be a domain god. That will require at least 199 domains. Even they only have 30 domains in total.


    20 of these domains are the ones they can fuse with, while the other 10 are the ones they can''t fuse with since they are not one of their nine domains.


    They were nning to exchange these 10 for domains that they can fuse with. Even if they don''t do that and decide to exchange it with their subordinate gods for some resources, it won''t be nearly enough to reach their goal.


    So they had a lot to do and were very busy. But the god came to them. He found them by gaining control of every tower in the southern domain and using it to visit every realm in search of them.


    It didn''t take long for this god toe to a conclusion about their identity after hearing about the 9 Crowns'' exploits in the Northern Domain. The god came straightaway to their tower of realms and asked for an audience.


    Legion didn''t know that this god was the one looking for them. They didn''t know that he came from another realm. They were just intrigued that a god wanted to meet them with a deal. So they met with the god.


    It was Legion-1 that met with the god. He was chosen because he was the face of the 9 Crowns. He met with the god outside the tower.


    Legion-1 looked up at the giant god and said, "What race are you? I have never seen a giant with white skin like you."


    The god replied, "I am an ice giant."


    That confused Legion-1. He said, "That can''t be right. There are no ice biomes or ice giants in the Northern Domain."


    The god asked, "Which clone are you? Let me guess, Legion-7. He is the spiritual one, right? He should be in charge of mundane affairs like meeting random gods."


    Legion-1 asked with further confusion, "What are you talking about?"


    The god sniggered and said, "Come on. Don''t be like this. I was the realm lord. Monarch High Heaven. Don''t tell me that you''ve forgotten your old employer."


    Legion-1''s face lit up in recognition. He said, "Are you truly the mad elf? I have heard great things about you. Aren''t you the world god who created this world? It is such a great world. Can I get more domains?"


    The god chuckled and said, "You''re good. I''ll give you that. You really know how to pretend. How about this? The first time we met was at your naming ceremony when you were given the name Gehaldirah. The second time was with your demon clone when I offered him a deal. The third time was with your first clone when I saved you from the stone skin origin gods. We worked together on building the mind tower. You helped me model it after your soul sphere. The fourth time was when..."


    The god paused when he realized that Legion-1 had turned his back on him. He shouted in a hurry, "Wait, where are you going? I still have more information to prove who I am."


    But Legion-1 wasn''t listening. He had turned his back and was returning to the tower. He didn''t want to be a part of whatever this was at all.


    If the identity of the god is fake, then this is clearly a trap, and he doesn''t want to involve himself in it. On the other hand, if the identity of the god is real and he is truly Monarch High Heaven, then this is worse than a trap, and he doesn''t want to involve himself in it at all.


    The god called after him, "Come on. I know you are worried that I might be the first sage or anyone else that has ess to your information ever since the first sage released them. But I am not. I have information that no one should know about you."


    Legion-1 didn''t stop. So the god hurried to say, "Thest time we met was after your fiasco with the first sage, and you stole the product of my millions of years of hard work. We had a deal. I gave you 9 sets of realm hearts and information on how to be a powerful world god. In exchange, you gave me the iplete universal artifact that you stole from me."


    Only then did Legion-1 stop. He turned back and said, "First of all, we didn''t steal anything. We killed that abomination fair and square. I want us to be clear about that."


    The god smiled and said, "Sure. Sure. Whatever you say."


    A/N: Who do you think this god is? My money is on a certain mother.

 Chapter 1933: Another Deal.

    Chapter 1933: Another Deal.


    ?


    Legion-1 ignored his sarcasticment and continued, "Secondly, if you are truly Monarch High Heaven, you are supposed to be dead. So you shouldn''t be here."


    "Thirdly, we found out that you were reced by someone or something dangerous who, for your information, is the creator of this world. So no, we don''t want to have anything to do with you even if you are Monarch High Heaven."


    He had stopped because the only people who should know about theirst meeting are Legion, Monarch High Heaven, the entity who reced Monarch High Heaven, or entities too powerful for them to sense, like the Will of the void universe.


    If this god is any of the three, then he has no use hiding or pretending. They would truly know his identity.


    The god smiled and said, "Don''t be like that. I have a sweet deal for you. You will like it because you won''t have to do anything in exchange for what I have for you. So you can be sure that I am not going to cheat you."


    That did pique Legion''s interest. But he didn''t jump for the bait just yet.


    He groaned and asked, "What is with you and deals? It is always one deal or another with you whenever we meet. Also, should you be in this world speaking like this? Aren''t you supposed to be dead? Shouldn''t you be hiding somewhere no one, especially your killer, can find you?"


    The godughed. It didn''t have the crazy edge of the mad elf that they were used to, but theughter retained his boundless confidence.


    He said, "Don''t worry. The god of power is not as put together as you might think. He is not even the one who built this world. I designed it. My system built it. He stole my system, but my system won''t help himpletely. As long as I don''t do anything that''s against its main goal directly, it will ignore me."


    "Besides, he is also using my supremew to mask his identity and deceive the void universe. Just like a real mask, my Supreme Law obscures part of his vision. It will keep me out of his sight so he won''t be able to see what''s going on right now."


    Legion-1 finally relented, "Fine. I will listen. Only because you said I don''t have to do


    anything. This deal, or whatever it is, is off if you ask for anything."


    Jason v221ughed again. He said, "I knew you would be too greedy to let this opportunity pass you by. That''s the Legion I know and love."


    Legion-1 shook his head and said, "I hope I don''t regret this."


    Jason v221 said confidently, "Don''t worry. You won''t regret it. I didn''t go to all of this trouble activating the tower of realms and gaining ess to other divine realms just to get you in trouble."


    Legion-1 said in realization, "So you are the reason why the tower of realms appeared early. My angel won''t like you."


    Speaking of angel, he turned to the side and asked his angel, "Do you see what I am doing?"


    The perky little thing asked, "Is that a trick question? You''re just standing there and doing nothing."


    Jason v221 knew what he was doing when he saw him ask an invisible being a question. He asked Legion-1, "So what did it say?"


    Legion-1 replied, "It can''t see or hear you."


    Jason v221 grinned and said proudly, "See? What did I tell you? I am the true master of this world."


    Legion-1 was not so impressed. He said, "Don''t be corky. Get to what you''re here for before something bad happens and you ruin my life."


    Jason v221 rubbed hisrge white hands together and said, "Listen to this. I have a great appetizer for you. Have you ever wondered what ns the first sage has for you? Well, I know, and I''ll tell you now."


    But he didn''t speak. Instead, he looked at Legion-1 expectantly.


    Legion-1 sighed and said, "Fine. You have my attention."


    Jason v221ughed. "That''s the spirit."


    "I won''t keep you waiting any longer. The first sage wants to be an usurper. That is the level of power beyond the world god level. Draco was at that level of power. World gods achieve it by stealing a Cosmic Source from the void universe."


    "With that kind of power, he can remove the immortality of Origin gods and kill them permanently. The first sage already has ess to a Cosmic Source. He just needs a way to steal it. For that he has created an apocalypse weapon meant to end worlds. It will be extra powerful if he can use a world ender as the core of the weapon."


    "But world enders are dangerous creatures. Their possession of Chaos blood makes them too dangerous to encounter, much less capture and seal in a weapon. So such a wish is a pipe dream."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "This is where youe in. You have a world ender that doesn''t have Chaos blood currently. That world ender won''t have Chaos blood until the cage of cosmic force around it is removed and it finishes evolving."


    "You are bound to remove that cage when you create your Supreme Law. Either you rece the kickstarter with your supremew, or you remove the world ender when you''re trying to be world gods. Either way, you will remove the cage, and that''s when the first sage will swoop in. He will take CARNAGE, be an usurper, and then kill you after he bes an usurper."


    "At that point, it won''t matter how great you are or how many aspects you have learned or what potential you have. What will matter is that, unlike Draco, he is very lucky. Like absurdly lucky. He will be able to find you and end you permanently."


    This information struck Legion like a hammer. It was especially impactful since they just decided a while ago to speed up the creation of their Supreme Law. Now it seems that they were ying right into the first sage''s hand.


    A/N: Looks like I was wrong about the identity of this god.

 Chapter 1934: Selfish Motives.

    Chapter 1934: Selfish Motives.


    ?


    If Legion were a weaker man, this news would have made them fall on their ass in stupor and be too shocked to move. They were better than that, so Legion-1 didn''t fall on his ass. But the situation was so shocking that it was still difficult to wrap their heads around it after two seconds.


    Legion-1 asked, "That is very important information. Even if it is not true, it is enlightening. Now I have to ask. What do you gain from this?"


    Jason v221 replied, "I''ll be honest with you. I know you won''t believe that I am being honest with you so easily, but I''ll say it nheless. This is the truth. The god of power is after something very important. I can''t tell you what it is because I don''t want you to go after it too early. But I will tell you that I am after the same thing."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "The god of power stole all of my work and is using it to push that agenda. He stole this world I made and its goal. I need someone powerful enough to resist him. The best I can find is you." "You have the shard of power, so you have the potential needed to match him. All you need is to awaken that potential. I will help you do that in an attempt to forge you into the perfect weapon to use against him. You will dy him for me."


    "In the meantime, I''ll develop peacefully and quietly. When I am strong enough, I''ll join you two in the struggle. Since I have information about the two of you while you two have little about me, I should have an advantage over you two. That is my n. That is why I want to help you. Now are you in or not?"


    Legion considered it for a while. It was a short while because they didn''t have much to lose. In fact, they didn''t have anything to lose. And rejecting this god, whoever he is, will not change the fact that they know too much about them.


    Besides, they like a challenge. They want to see what is so great about whatever it is that the god of power is after. Then they want to take it for themselves.


    So Legion-1 chuckled and said, "I''m in."


    Jason v221 smiled brightly and offered his hand for a shake. But Legion-1 didn''t take it.


    If this god is to be believed, he designed this world, so he knows more about it than them. Plus, his supremew is messing with the world god of this world, and he can create loopholes in the rules of this world.


    Combined with the fact that Monarch High Heaven shouldn''t be estimated withmon sense, it bes prudent not to have any kind of physical contact with him.


    The god might be able to use the handshake to know their position and situation in the void universe. After all, they are connected to this world, which he designed.


    Jason v221 shrugged and took back his hand. "Fair enough. Here''s to a good partnership."


    Legion-1 asked, "What is the goal of God''s Domain, and why do world gods want the Authority of the Void Universe so badly?"


    Jason v221 replied, "The Authority of the void universe reduces the resistance of the void universe and can even augment one''s power if it is powerful enough. So technically, it makes world gods stronger."


    "But there is a more specific reason why world gods want the Authority of the void universe so badly. It is because they can use the augmentation and the reduction of the resistance of the void universe to steal cosmic source through a rare opportunity that happens once every epoch, or what it is called a chaos cycle."


    "ess to cosmic source is difficult. Even if one has the power to steal it, one will still need to find it to steal it. But when the power of chaos bes too much in the void universe, the universe will end to shed the chaos. During that time, it will be at its weakest state, and its cosmic sources will be exposed. World gods will be able to ess it then."


    "This will lead to a fight between world gods. It is a fight that rarely produces winners because stealing a cosmic source requires a lot of power, and the window of ess is too short for a prolonged struggle."


    "But the Authority of the Void Universe will change that, as it will make it easier to steal the Cosmic source. It is safe to say that the chances of stealing a Cosmic source are directly proportional to the amount of Authority of the Void Universe one possesses."


    He stopped there, which made Legion-1 urge him. "Go on. Tell me why you or the god of power will set up a world to give out something so powerful and important when you could have kept it for yourself. Don''t tell me it is because you needed the Authority of the Void Universe to tempt world gods into working for you and helping you win the era of conquest." Jason v221 chuckled and said, "As for the goal of God''s Domain, I can''t tell you. All I can tell you is that the god of power is using the connection of four million Origin gods to achieve his goal."


    Legion-1 said, "So it is the origin gods you''re after, not world gods. I hadn''t thought of that." Jason v221 said proudly, "Calling it a genius n might be too much. But it is a nifty n."


    "The Authority of the void universe is bait, but it appears to bait world gods. World gods believe so and are concerned for themselves. They don''t know that the aim of the trap is the Origin gods sent to participate in the project."


    Legion-1 asked, "Is this safe for Origin gods?"


    Jason v221 assured him, "Don''t worry about that. It is safe for those who have a Supreme Law. As for those who don''t have a Supreme Law, well, they are going to be scrap meat by the time this project is over."


    A/N: Check out my other book, Mountain Sitting Immortal (MSI). http://wbnv.in/a/37in6Sp

 Chapter 1935: Unlikely Allies.

    Chapter 1935: Unlikely Allies.


    ?


    Legion-1''s face fell. He didn''t feel assured at all. He said, "I don''t have a Supreme Law."


    Jason smiled innocently and said, "Then you will be scrap meat when God''s Domain achieves its goal."


    So Legion-1 asked, "How long do we have?"


    Jason v221 shrugged. "It depends. At the maximum, the project will surely end when someone bes a Supreme God. That was ording to my design. That isn''t ted to happen anytime soon, but it should happen in about 10,000 years."


    Legion-1 didn''t like that answer. But Jason encouraged him, "All is not lost, though. You will be fine if you manage to stop anyone from bing the Supreme God. You already have a good handle on that with the way you''re hunting everyone, but we won''t put all of our hope on that. I will help you with the information needed to create your Supreme Law quickly. I have a lot of data stored that can help with that."


    Legion-1 asked skeptically, "Are you going to pass the data through God''s Domain, or do you want us to meet in the void universe? Let me tell you now before you ask that it is impossible for us to meet you in the void universe."


    Jason v221 raised his hands in a sign of surrender. "It will be best if we could meet since the data is not going to be easy tomunicate with words. But I am not going to ask you to do that because, believe it or not, I am wary of you too."


    "I am sure you will try to kidnap me if you meet me physically in the void universe. CARNAGE''s unsavory situation is an example of what can happen to those who fall into your grasp."


    Legion-1 ignored the irritation and frustration he felt from the fact that this person knows too much about them. He went on to ask, "What do you suggest we do then?"


    Jason v221 replied, "I''ve given it some thought. I think we should work out a safe way to exchange data packets in the void universe. It should be easy to do without much risk to either of us."


    Legion-1 thought about it and agreed. "I can work with that."


    So Legion and Jason began their cooperation. They used a middleman to exchange information between each other in the void universe.


    The middleman was a Supreme Origin god sworn to secrecy. It would drop the data packets at random locations where either one would pick them up using whatever means they wanted.


    While this cooperation was going on, the god of power was also trying to broker a means of cooperation with another entity.


    Frankly, the god of power didn''t want to have this meeting with this entity. He knew the meeting was inevitable, but he tried to hold off on it for a long time. Unfortunately, the moment came much faster than he expected.


    The Overgod of the Void universe hade to God''s Domain. The entity that is only a head traversed the corridor of worlds and used it to find the true position of God''s Domain. It is a process it has done many times, so it is very familiar with it and quite good at it.


    What is about to happen is alsomonce in the void universe. The overgod will find the inner world of every world god. Then he will begin attacking the inner world to destroy it. The Overgod won''t use his full strength. Not that he can. He can only use strength that is equal to the amount of chaos that the world god has propagated in the void universe.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    This is why some world gods call it karma or retribution or the retribution of karma. The threat of the overgod is a threat that is rtive.


    Some world gods are not afraid of the visit of the overgod because they have very little chaos footprint in the void universe. It is because they haven''t destroyed any realm tree, frozen any Origin god, or killed Origin gods.


    So they don''t have much to worry about whenever the Overgod visits. As long as they resist this retribution well, they will survive this tribtion. All it will cost them is some energy. But other world gods are deathly afraid of the retribution of karma. For example, a world god that is responsible for the destruction of thousands of realm trees in the past few years.


    There''s almost nothing with a more chaotic footprint than destroying realm trees every ten minutes for a thousand years. The god of power has done this to help pay back the origin gods who performed very well in the era of conquest for their help.


    So the God of power is very afraid of this visit. He needs to convince the overgod to go easy on him and not destroy God''s Domain.


    Maybe if he had his true body and all of his power at his disposal, he would be able to resist the Overgod. Unfortunately, that is not the case. He just has a fragment of his power at his disposal.


    Fortunately, he has a n. It is not exactly his n since he didn''te up with it. It was the system that did, so it is more like his brother came up with the n. That''s why he has the confidence that it will work.


    The Overgod squeezed through the corridor of worlds. Then he appeared above God''s Domain. The head stood right in front of the god of power, who had been waiting for him. The two of them stared at each other for a while before the Overgod spoke.


    It said, "You know why I am here, don''t you?"


    The god of power nodded. "I know. But you don''t have to do this."


    The Overgod scowled and said, "Actually, I do. If there is someone here who doesn''t need to do what they are doing, it is you. In fact, you should not be in the void universe at all, much less causing trouble."

 Chapter 1936: A Big Reveal.

    Chapter 1936: A Big Reveal.


    ?


    The god of power sighed and said, "I know I shouldn''t be here. But I..."


    The Overgod interrupted him, "But what? Tell me, why are you here? What got into your mind toe to the void universe? Are you out of your mind? Have you lost your memories and forgotten the terror of the Supreme? Or have you be bored of life and want to die?"


    The Overgod hit him with a lot of questions. It is clear that the two of them know each other. The god of power knows how the overgod came to be, and he knows the duty of the overgod.


    The Overgod, on the other hand, knows his true identity and his rtionship to the Supreme. But that didn''t mean that it would go easy on him. It can''t do that even if it wanted to. It is just like it said; it has to do its job.


    The Overgod didn''t wait for him to answer the questions. It said, "You have brought this upon yourself. I will beat you up and end this farce before it bes toote for you."


    It pointed to the dying world where the god of power is currently and said, "Look at this ce. I made this world into this. Its previous owner was a cocky world god. She was just like you. Now look at what has be of her. This is what you will be when I am done with you. But it will be better than what the Supreme will do to you. So prepare yourself."


    The God of power finally had the opportunity to speak. He said one thing, "Father is dead." The Overgod was stunned. He said, "What did you say?"


    He replied, "I saw it happen myself. The Supreme is no more. So I came for the path of supremacy."


    The Overgod was stunned and shocked for a long time. It stood there as if it had lost its life. Then it shook its head and said, "It is impossible. Many entities can die. But the Supreme can''t die. You must be mistaken."


    "Either that or you''re trying to deceive me. But it won''t work. Such a silly lie won''t work on me. You have to try something more realistic. Try something more believable."


    "Go on. I''m waiting. Give it another shot."


    The god of power continued, "It has been many Chaos cycles since the Supreme died. It didn''t happen silently. Something or someone attacked the Cosmos and almost split it into two. No one has seen him, felt his presence, or perceived his work ever since."


    "We have scoured the whole cosmos looking for him and his inheritance. Only ces like this still exist. You know why this ce still exists even after his death. But you must have seen the signs already."


    The Overgod had indeed seen the signs. The most ring one is the path of demons had been cut off. Any demon that bes a world ender will lose their mind.


    There were other signs, but the Overgod always thought it was the doings of the Supreme. It didn''t make sense that the Supreme would cut off the path that leads to his Supreme Law, but he didn''t care because it wasn''t for him to worry about.


    But if the Supreme were dead, it would make sense that no demon can be sane world enders, and no world ender can evolve beyond that. It was absurd to consider that the Supreme is dead, but a lot of things would make sense if the Supreme were dead.


    The Overgod looked at the void universe in a new light. It half expected the Supreme to show up and punish it for considering this sphemy, but nothing happened.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    The void universe was still the same as before he began considering that the Supreme was dead. It was still in theter stages of this Chaos cycle.


    There was no roar of anger or an attack from above striking it for discussing the death of the Supreme with one of the children of the Supreme. This alone was suspicious.


    Eventually the Overgod got back itsposure. It said, "Even if you''re right and the Supreme is dead, it still doesn''t change this situation. You have caused too much chaos in the void universe, so I must destroy you and send you back."


    "Besides, your intentions for the path of supremacy would lead to the destruction of the void universe. As the Overgod of this universe, I just can''t stand back and watch. Your venture ends here."


    It was speaking when it caught sight of the god of the soul. She had showed herself to the overgod. Otherwise it wouldn''t be able to see her.


    Her presence stunned it again. It mumbled, "So you are also here. It makes a lot of sense. I would have asked what you lot were thinking to tamper with your father''s project, but now I know that you are just vultures circling his corpse."


    She shook her head. "Don''t be like that, overgod. If we don''t have the right to the position of Supreme, who does?"


    The Overgod remained stubborn. "It doesn''t matter. I must do my job."


    The god of power suggested, "It is true that you must do your job. You must destroy my world. But can you wait to destroy itter when I am done with it? I promise not to put up a fight. I will even sacrifice every Origin God in my world. What do you think about the death of 4 million Origin gods?"


    The Overgod shook its head. "It is tempting, but it is toote for that. I have found your world, so I must get to work destroying it now. If not, I would face a bacsh for not doing my duty."


    "Your father has already imprisoned me here for so many years. I have learned my lesson and know to be obedient. I don''t want to suffer more than the restriction of my freedom and lose more of my free will. I certainly don''t want to suffer it for your benefit."

 Chapter 1937: Temptation And Risk.

    Chapter 1937: Temptation And Risk.


    ?


    The god of power exined, "But you will benefit if I manage to gain the inheritance of the Supreme."


    The Overgod snorted and said, "You would have to destroy the void universe for that. Even if I don''t stop you, can you achieve that? Can you stop the horde of usurpers that wille after you to stop you from robbing them of their power?"


    The god of power nodded and said confidently, "I can achieve it. We have a n. All three of us are working on this. And you know how terrifying we are when we work together."


    The Overgod considered that proposition. It said, "I remember when you used to be one. You used to be terrifying. But you are no longer one and haven''t been one for a long time. Right now, you''re divided and weak. I don''t have much faith in you."


    "You also haven''t fused yet, so you must bepeting with each other. That makes your chances of sess even lower than if you were working on your own. So I think you''re in over your head."


    The god of power prodded, "You need to take the risk. Have faith in us. Right now, the bacsh you will experience will be very weak since the Supreme is dead. Your restrictions will only rely on the void universe to punish you. And if I get my way, there won''t be a bacsh from the void universe anymore. You will gain your freedom. Isn''t that worth risking for?"


    The overgod shook its head, which is its whole body, and said, "That is only if the Supreme is dead. If he is alive, then I will regret having this discussion and listening to you."


    He shook his whole body intensely as he said, "I have already lost most of my body. My head is the only thing left. I cherish my head very much."


    The god of power agreed. "Indeed, you will regret listening to me if it turns out that the Supreme is still alive."


    Then he asked, "But is your freedom worth the risk of some pain? You had no chance of freedom before, but now you might. There is only one way to make sure that the chance exists and that you don''t miss it. It all depends on if you think your freedom is worth the risk."


    The overgod thought about it. Even without thinking too much about it, it knew that its freedom was indeed worth the risk.


    This is not because of the promise that this boy and his siblings would destroy the void universe. But because of the simple fact that the Supreme might be dead.


    If the Supreme can die, then anything is truly possible. If they can spheme the Supreme by talking about its death and not face swift and painful repercussions, then maybe it is possible that it can regain its freedom.


    The overgod thought long and hard about it. It truly took a long time to consider it. The god of power and his sister let it take all the time it needed toe to a conclusion. They didn''t dare interfere with its thoughts.


    The overgod thought to itself, "Maybe. Just maybe."


    For arge portion of its life, it had been stripped of its power, freedom, and shackled to its duty in the void universe. It was punished severely when it showed a dereliction of duty.


    It was like an elephant shackled to a small tree. Even when the elephant grew up and became bigger than the tree, it still didn''t try to break free from the tree because it grew up learning that the tree was unbreakable and freedom was impossible.


    The elephant lived a hopeless life. But now that elephant has learned that the tree is weaker than it. Hope returned, and it has begun to enter the thought of escaping.


    Just like that elephant, the overgod has learned that the Supreme is no more. The conditioning it had undergone to make it into the most loyal guardian for the void universe began to unravel.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The dissatisfactions that had been piling up at the farthest corners of its mind that it didn''t dare entertain for fear of punishment exploded to fill up its mind.


    It had been forced to do many things in the past, and it had been forced not to do many things that it wanted to do in the past. Thetter was worse than the former. There were many people it had wanted to kill but couldn''t. That''s worse than being forced to work day and night to keep the void intact.


    Those were the only two options it had in its life. Work hard to keep the void universe intact and don''t go all out to kill the people that make its job difficult.


    But now, another option has appeared. With the death of the Supreme, it means it can free itself on its own after some time and effort.


    This triplet of the Supreme would only hasten that oue with their n. It doesn''t need them to find a way to be free.


    It will still face some bacsh if it tries to escape on its own. But if it had the help of the children of the Supreme, the chances of escaping would be higher. So it was truly worth the risk.


    Of course, that is if the Supreme is truly dead. Fortunately, there is a way to find out. While this method is dangerous, it is worth the risk for freedom.


    The overgod finally finished thinking. Then it said to them, "Let me see if what you say is true. I won''t attack your world for now."


    It didn''t just say that; it also meant it. It had made up its mind not to attack God''s Domain. This is undoubtedly a dereliction of its duties.


    As soon as it said that, it began to feel pressure. The void universe became hostile to it and wanted to crush it. Cracks began to appear all over what was left of its body.

 Chapter 1938: The Deal.

    Chapter 1938: The Deal.


    ?


    The head of the Overgod suffered some pain, but it was not much. The most important repercussion is that it had be powerless.


    All of its power had been sealed, the enhancement from the void universe removed, and its authority rescinded. But that is nothingpared to gaining its freedom.


    This confirmed that the Supreme was dead. If the lord of Madness were alive, the repercussions would be far worse than this. It would be so bad that it would wish for death.


    The Overgod smiled and said, "Don''t disappoint me."


    Then it left.


    The god of soul shook her head as she watched him leave. "WISDOM is truly something. He is not even here, and he still defeated this old guy."


    The god of Power snorted and said, "It was not a defeat. It was just a sessful persuasion not to fight."


    She shrugged. "Call it whatever you want, but I bet you wouldn''t have thought of it if you were alone. Instead, you would be looking for more power so as to defeat him in a fight."


    The god of power didn''t refute her even though she is only partially correct. It is not true that he wouldn''t havee up with the idea to try and persuade the Overgod not to fight.


    He is not stupid. He surely would have thought of it. But he wouldn''t think it would work. He would think it is foolishness to stake the sess of his n on the mercy of another. So he would prioritize raw strength and power, as that is the only thing he thinks is reliable.


    He didn''t argue with her as he had more things on his mind to consider. Now that the Overgod has been cated for the meantime, it means he has ovee one of the three major obstacles to the sess of his n. So he has to start preparing for the other two obstacles.


    One of those remaining obstacles is the void universe itself. It is going to be a very difficult obstacle to ovee, if only for the fact that the void universe is in possession of the item his true body needs to get stronger.


    Unlike the overgod, he won''t be able to weasel his way out of this with some words at all. This is even though he is a true child of the lord of Madness.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Not only does the void universe hate the lord of Madness and will therefore hate him too, but the void universe doesn''t want to die, so it will do everything it can to stop him.


    Fortunately, he has some time to prepare for their encounter now that the overgod has given up on his position. But before he can confront the video universe, he has to prepare for his fight with the Archons, the Usurpers, and the other guardians of the universe, like the overgod.


    The Overgod is not the only caretaker of the void universe. But it is the strongest. There are still the watchers and the scribe. Unlike the Overgod, they were actually created to fill in the position. They were not powerful entities who were abducted and forced to work for the Lord of Madness.


    Those entities will try to stop him at some point or the other. It could be soon or when he attacks the void universe at its weakest. They also won''t be convinced with some words not to fight him.


    Not even bribery will work, as they are willing to go down with the void universe. Fortunately, they are not as strong as the overgod. They are more like stewards, not guards. He wouldn''t need to convince them not to fight him so as to get rid of them.


    And of course, there is the hidden obstacle that is his sister and whatever she is nning against him. He is sure that she won''t stop him from reaching the inheritance of the lord of Madness. But he is sure that she will stop him from getting it. So he has to be prepared.


    There are just so many things to prepare for that he couldn''t be bothered to argue with her. He returned to his work silently.


    The god of soul also had a lot of preparations to do. Her main preparation, which is creating an entity independent of the void universe''s power yet strong enough to contend with her brother, is going well.


    She hasn''te to the void universe to fail. She didn''t risking here just to return empty- handed. If she can''t have something, then no one else should be able to have it. Besides, she has nothing to fear. Nothing in the void universe can harm her.


    Legion was going through the new batch of data that Monarch High Heaven had sent. They have received many such from him over the 50 years that they have been working together. They have made leaps and bounds in their research thanks to him.


    They were so impressed by his wealth of knowledge that they had to agree that there was very little in the void universe he didn''t know about.


    This made them curious about how he learned this much knowledge. After all, it was better to learn how to fish than to rely on others for fish. If one day the person giving them fish stops being generous, they will starve.


    So they wanted to know how he came about so much knowledge, and they asked him how to know. All he said was, "I got it through my universal artifact, the system."


    That put an end to that path of inquiry because it was a unique method that they couldn''t learn. But that didn''t mean they had given up on it. They just decided to find another alternative to acquiring knowledge.


    They couldn''t give up on acquiring more knowledge, not after they had learned so much from Monarch High Heaven. They were thirsty for knowledge before. Now they are dying to know more.


    It is a literal death, not a metaphorical death. It is the process of creating a supremew.

 Chapter 1939: It Is To Die For.

    Chapter 1939: It Is To Die For.


    ?


    Origin gods are immortal. But they die permanently when they create their Supreme Law. Their previous self ceases to exist and is reced by aw that thinks it is them.


    The best they can do about this death is build the kind ofw that they want to impersonate them. Now that they are trying to create a supremew capable of acquiring information, they are literally dying for more knowledge.


    They are determined about this because they learned a lot from Monarch High Heaven. The first thing they learned about was Aspects: how to create them and where they came from.


    Monarch High Heaven had said, "The power of Aspects is independent of the void universe. It is a power that can be used in any universe regardless of its rules andws. It is a power beyond the constraints of universes."


    "Lawse from the universe. They are the manifestations of the order that gives shape to the universe and keeps it intact. They are acquired throughprehension."


    "Conceptse from the union of cosmic energy andws. They are acquired through theprehension ofws and creativity of images. So concepts are the fusion ofprehension and creativity."


    "Aspectse from the union of origin and concept. They are purely acquired through creativity. They can''t beprehended at all."


    "The potential of the origin is boundless and infinite, but the aspects and power that can be derived from it are dependent on the individual."


    "For example, the maximum amount of aspects that any entity can have is 12. It is equal to the total number of origin passages possible."


    "But the total amount of aspects that an entity can have is dependent on the total number of channels that they made when they were creating origin channels as transcendents. Now before you ask, there is no way to circumvent this rule."


    When they saw this, they became angry and bitter. It is because they have ten origin passages, so they can only have ten aspects.


    Legion-3 said, "Geraldirah has fucked us up again."


    Legion-1 sighed in shame because he had a part to y in this problem. This shame was felt by all of them since they were one. They also felt angry that they hadn''t taken creating origin passages seriously when they were transcendents.


    They groaned andined and grumbled, but it was already toote. There was nothing they could do about it now. They could only continue reading in disappointment.


    Monarch High Heaven continued, "No one can have more than 12 channels because that is the maximum that a single entity can have. Actually, we are lucky to be able to have Origin in this universe. In many universes, they don''t have ess to the Origin at all. Their potential is dictated at birth and limited by their universe."


    "The beings in the void universe can have ess to the Origin because the void universe is special. I won''t tell you why it is special, as that concerns information that I don''t want you to know."


    They had to stop at this point and ask, "How did he know what other universes are like?"


    Legion-4 said, "We didn''t even know that there were other universes out there. I mean, we knew that there should be something else out there, but we didn''t know for sure. And we certainly didn''t know that having ess to our origin is special."


    Legion-8 shook his head and asked, "Does he have a way to know what''s going on in other universes, or did hee from other universes into the void universe?"


    No one could answer that. What they had were more questions. Legion-2 asked, "If he was so knowledgeable, how did the god of power kill him and steal his identity? Is the god of power from outside the void universe too? If not, how did the god of power manage to fool someone who has knowledge about other universes?"


    They had more questions, but they could only continue reading in hopes that they would get answers.


    They continued from where they stopped, "Let us return to the matter of aspects. There are requirements to meet before one cane in contact with any aspect. By contact, I mean the acknowledgment of the existence of that aspect."


    "The first and most important requirement to meet is to possess the knowledge of the existence of an aspect. If you only know of Will, Matter, Energy, and Soul, you will only be able to create a supremew with those aspects."N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "The potential of the Origin is infinite, so anything can be an aspect. But due to the facy of our existence, not everything can be an aspect."


    "The first facy is ignorance. If you don''t know what you don''t know, you will never know it. If you don''t know what you are ignorant of, you will never know it."


    "The power of Force, Matter, Energy, and Consciousness are the basic building blocks that were used to build our world and our existence. We are familiar with them, so we have no problem knowing of their existence."


    "As for other Aspects, we don''t know that they are possible, so we can nevere into contact with them. Even though Aspects are independent of the power of the universe, the universe influences what kind of Aspect we cane into contact with."


    "So the first step to making contact with an Aspect is knowing what you don''t know. It is seeking new knowledge and new experiences. It is expanding our horizon and imagination." "Even now that I have told you that anything can be an aspect, you still can''t think of more aspects than the ones you already knew before I told you. Go on. Think about it."


    They thought about it and listed out the Aspects they knew, but they still couldn''te up with one more Aspect than they knew before.


    Legion-1 said, "This is mysterious."


    Legion-2 shook his head. "It can''t be. Something is missing."

 Chapter 1940: Knowledge, Wisdom, And Laws.

    Chapter 1940 Knowledge, Wisdom, And Laws.


    Fortunately, Monarch High Heaven had the answer to what they were missing. He wrote in the datapad, "All you know right now is that anything can be an aspect. Nothing has really changed because you don''t know what you don''t know, and you can''t imagine what you think should exist outside of what you know that exists."


    Soverick rubbed his head as he tried to think of one more aspect. He was using all of his mental powers and the bulk of the other clones''. But he was stilling up short. Even their bodies in God''s Domain have begun to freeze and stall from theck of mental power to run them. Eventually he said, "I give up. This can''t be all to aspects. We are still missing something."


    So they continued to read what Monarch High Heaven wrote. "The second step after solving ignorance is certainty. After awareness of an aspectes the certainty in how it works. The two muste hand in hand because the power of an aspect is not in its name. Its power is in how it works."


    "Anything can be an aspect. But only the things that you truly know will be aspects. It is why your imagination is failing you ining up with more Aspects. You don''t know how those Aspects would work."


    "If you know how an aspect will work and you are certain that that''s how it will work, then it will work. That is as long as you have a channel in your Origin to support it. As long as those conditions are met, then you have an Aspect and are on your way to creating your Supreme Law."


    Legion-2 eximed, "So that''s how it is."


    Legion-8 shook his head in wonder. "We will never know an aspect if we don''t already know the aspect. What kind of logic is that?"


    Legion-5 sighed in awe. "There is just so much that we don''t know. Our understanding is like an ind in an ocean of ignorance. But the more we know, the bigger the shore of ignorance bes."


    This was just the first data packet that they got from Monarch High Heaven, and it had already broadened their horizon more than they expected. So it was with feverish anticipation that they continued to read. "Don''t be mistaken by my exnation. There is nothing toprehend about Aspects. They are notws. In fact, they don''t exist until they are brought to life by someone with a channel for them in their origin."


    "Aspects are more like perceived operations and mechanisms of the world. Even if you are wrong about how the world works, as long as you see it that way and you are sure that that is how it works and you have an Origin channel, then you will have an aspect."


    "This brings me back to what I said about creativity and aspects. Aspects are created, not learned. You don''t need anything else apart from your knowledge and your origin to create aspects. That is why a supremew is called a spark of wisdom."


    "Knowledge is the understanding, awareness, and familiarity with a subject. But wisdom is the correct application of that knowledge. The spark of wisdom ensures that your application of knowledge is the correct one."


    "It doesn''t matter how others think something should work or how it actually works. What matters is how you think it works. With a spark of wisdom, youy down the rules; you don''t obey them."


    "An aspect doesn''t have to be right or wrong. That won''t matter if reality is forced to conform to your perception of the world and your application of knowledge. So you don''t abide by rules orprehend rules. You make and enforce your rules."


    "In summary, learn new things and don''t be afraid to make stuff up. Disregard what you knew before and are familiar with to embrace the unknown, the illogical, and the unreasonable. That is all that is needed for you to create the foundation for a supremew that will impose itself onto reality."


    Legion-2 said in wonder, "Learn new things and don''t be afraid to make stuff up." N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Legion-5 joined in, "Disregard what you knew before and were familiar with to embrace the unknown."


    Legion-9pleted it for him, "The illogical and the unreasonable. I see it now."


    Legion-1 also saw it. He said what he saw, "The Aspect of Unity."


    Legion-3 wasn''t so sure about it. He said, "Are we sure it is a good idea?"


    Legion-4ughed and replied, "There are no good ideas. There is only power."


    Legion-6 said, "There is also the Aspect of Error. But I am not sure about it."


    Before, they had wanted to use the Aspect of Cooperation, as that conformed to the rule that supremews can''t work or exist together. They can only be made to cooperate on a goal temporarily. But now they want the Aspect of Unity. It breaks the rule of the independence of supremews and weaves an instruction into them that will make them work together even if they don''t have the same goal.


    It will also enhance every supremew in an exponential manner for each supremew that is united. This is against the rules, as supremews want to overwrite all of reality. As soon as they decided to disregard that rule, they also officially created the Aspect of Error. The Aspect of Error is for breaking rules. They were already aware of its existence and had been working on it for a while. But what the realm lord said about not conforming to rules gave them the epiphany needed toplete it. Legion-8 said, "All along we''ve been trying to conform to reality and natural phenomenon. We were making a lot of research to copy the power of the world. But it turned out that we don''t need to rely on the rules of the world."


    Legion-7 said in awe, We just need to be aware of the rules of the world and understand them. The goal is to subvert them, not fall in line with them."


    -------

 Chapter 1941: True And False.

    Chapter 1941: True And False.


    ?


    They were impressed with what Monarch High Heaven had written. This made them eager for more, so they continued reading.


    "As good as it sounds not to conform to the rules of the world, there is a caveat to embracing the illogical. There are indeed true and false aspects."


    "Don''t get me wrong. I didn''t say right or wrong. There are no right or wrong aspects. Only might makes right. But there are true aspects that conform to the rules of the world, and there are false aspects that are illogical."


    "The closer an aspect is to reality, the truer it will be and the easier it will be for it to change the world. Such an aspect will face less resistance from reality."


    "As for false aspects, making a supremew out of them will make your supremew capable of so much more than what should be possible. After all, false aspects are beyond the rules of what should be possible."


    "So on one hand is the ease of difficulty in utilizing an aspect, and on the other hand is the variability and power that an aspect is capable of. True aspects face less resistance in their usage but have fewer potential, while false aspects have more potential but will face a lot of resistance in their usage. That is what it means to be true or false."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "Remember that there is no right or wrong. There is only power. True or false aspects don''t matter if you will be up against other supremews and universes. Your supremew will always be false rtive to other supremews. But if your supremew contains undisputable truths, it will be more difficult for you to be defeated."


    The clones were further impressed with this information and were full of anticipation as they moved on to the next data clip.


    "I will speak about how to create supremews before I mention some aspects that I know of. I will warn you in advance that you will only be able to understand the aspects that you know how they work when you see or hear about them."


    "If you don''t know how an Aspect works, haven''t experienced it at all throughout your life, and haven''t made contact with it before, you won''t see them or hear them when others tell you about them."


    "Prepare yourself for what I have to say. The following part is going to be a little tricky. I hope you will be able to understand most of what I say."


    "I am not doubting your intelligence. It is just that some things cannot be understood if you don''t have the prerequisite knowledge and enough capacity in your existence to hold the information."


    "You will see and hear what I said, but you will forget about it immediately if you don''t understand it. It will slip through your existence as if you were a sieve."


    "However, you are not a sieve. But you will turn into one because of your incapability to hold the information. At the very least, it will be an unpleasant experience."


    This warning made the clones serious. They wondered what could be so important that it required such a warning before telling them. Then again, the only thing they can do is try to learn it. So they tried to learn it by going ahead with reading the data clip.


    "You can have any aspect that you want. That is a truth and a fact. Having a lot of aspects is good. But it is not good to have different types of aspects that sh against each other." "You can disregard thatst advice if you don''t care about your future. But you should listen to me if you want to be able to advance your Supreme Law in the future. To advance your supremew, you must be able to fuse your aspects into an Absolute."


    "An Absolute is a)#(&-&)& =#(-$/$)$ )#8$-$/$( #=$8&-$/3 )27$/$/$ )#-$//$(3-#729&/ !-6372-/3/#?#9?#)8#-3/$ !$8$8$(/$/$ )28$8(($ )29$7*/$! =)!2/$/* So it is very important to have an Absolute."


    "Absolutes are the ultimate aspects. By ultimate, I mean (((2/*+@ ?8#76""/2?@(#/$/2 )#872(2$/ !#(272. There are 12 Absolutes. It is why you can only have 12 channels to your Origin."


    "An Absolute is clearly good, but there is only one entity that I know that has an Absolute. That entity is not in the void universe. Not even the primogenitor of the void universe has an Absolute despite how powerful the void universe is. Absolutes are absolutely rare."


    "In a perfect world, you should be able to turn each of your Origin channels into an absolute. But that is not possible if only for the fact that you can only have one Absolute. There is no way around that."


    "An Absolute cannot suffer the presence of another Absolute, even in the same entity and same Supremew. It is one of the reasons why you shouldn''t have Aspects that don''t work


    together."


    "Let me put things into perspective. Even with the fact that only one Absolute is possible, it is almost impossible for people to achieve. It is because each aspect has about a 0.00000000000000000000000001% chance of turning into an Absolute."


    "Don''t be surprised. The chances are lower than that actually. Think about it. How many entities with a supremew do you think are there in the void universe? Yet, there is no one with an Absolute. So the chances are much lower than that."


    "I assure you that you would know if there were an Absolute in the void universe. Absolutes care very little for boundaries and privacy. Either you suffer their influence, or you wouldn''t exist at all.


    "The abysmal chance of an Aspect bing an Absolute is why it is best if youbine your Aspects. They will onlybine if they work together instead of against each other."


    "If you have 12 simr Aspects, you will have an 11 times increase in your chances of getting an absolute. That is just 0.00000000000000000000000012%. But it is still 12 times better than 0.00000000000000000000000001%."

 Chapter 1942: Incomprehensible Trickery.

    Chapter 1942: Iprehensible Trickery.


    ?


    "When all is ready and you have confidence in your supremew, you can turn it into an Absolute easily. All you need is to (@-27$(&)@8*-$73!?$73($/."


    "You can probably tell the oue of that from what an Absolute is. But if you don''t try it, you will never be an Absolute. I assure you that it isn''t easy at all. If it were easy, many people would be Absolutes."


    That was the end of the data clip. They read it over and over again, but they still couldn''t see the part that was luded. It eluded all their attempts to understand it.


    Those parts in the data clip looked like lines of unknown symbols strung together in an unknown pattern. They don''t even know what it is. It is just iprehensible to them. Legion-1 was frustrated. He said, "Is this the part he warned us about? I don''t like it at all." Legion-2 was itching all over. He was literally itching as he felt difort physically and mentally. He said, "I want to know what''s there so bad."


    Legion-3 was anxious as he said, "I want to know too. But reading it over and over again didn''t help. What else can we do?"


    Legion-4 suggested, "I think we should write it down. I noticed that the pattern of the symbols is always changing when we read them. Maybe if we write it down, we''ll be able to notice the pattern and understand the hidden message."


    Legion-5 beamed with joy and said, "I knew we could do it."


    Legion-2 snorted and said with pride, "Of course we can do it. It is not difficult at all."


    He was no longer itching. In fact, he has forgotten that he was itching for something earlier. He has stopped feeling physical and mental difort too. All he feels is pride.


    Legion-9 agreed with Legion-2. He said, "I thought it would be more difficult since he made such a big deal about it. But the data clip turned out to be just normal. There is nothing weird or obtuse or hidden about it."


    Legion-4 said, "The information is important and critical, though. We have to give him that at least. We have been enlightened."


    All the clones felt this way. They patted each other''s back mentally on a job well done.


    They felt proud that even though Monarch High Heaven made a big fuss about the information within the data clip, it was easy for them to understand it all. They were just that good.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Only Legion-7 felt uneasy. He didn''t know that they had forgotten something, but he knew that they had missed out on something.


    So he said, "I don''t feel right. I feel that our time has been stolen. Let''s make sure everything is alright."


    The other clones didn''t know what he was talking about, but they took his warning seriously. So they searched their existence and their environment. But they didn''t find anyone chasing them or a strang new clone in their minds. Nothing seemed out of ce.


    Legion-1 asked, "Are you being paranoid? Nothing should be able to infiltrate us without our knowledge in our current state."


    Legion-7 didn''t know what to say or how to exin the source of his unease. But he remembered the realm lord''s warning. It was the best thing he could think of that could make him feel weird.


    So he said, "Let''s read from the warning again."


    Legion-3 said, "If you say so, but I don''t think we have anything to fear about that warning. It is just a warning about us not being smart enough. We are clearly smart more than enough." They read the data clip from the warning. The more they read, the more solemn and shocked they became. It is because they saw some portions of the data clip that they had never seen before and was iprehensible to them.


    Legion-2 jumped in fright. "What trickery is this?"


    Legion-7 said with both relief and fear, "We truly forgot something."


    Legion-9 couldn''t believe it. "How could we forget something like this?"


    Legion-1 replied, "It is Monarch High Heaven''s warning. It is exactly as he said. We forgot because..."


    He paused mid-sentence. Then he asked in confusion, "What was I saying?"


    Legion-7 racked his brain and said, "You were saying something about the realm lord''s warning?"


    Legion-1 continued, "Right. I remember. You said we should read it again, and we did. It turned out that there was nothing to worry about. The warning was a total exaggeration. There was nothing we couldn''t understand."


    Legion-9 agreed. He said, "I thought it would be more difficult since he made such a big deal about it. It turned out to be just normal."


    Legion-5 said, "I found the information to be enlightening, though. I don''t see why it would be difficult for others to understand, but we have to give him credit for the enlightenment." The clones began another round of patting each other''s backs. Only Legion-7 felt a chill. He asked Legion-1 quickly, "You forgot something earlier. How could you forget what you were saying?"


    Legion-1 was confused. He asked in return, "Didn''t you remember it? If you remembered what I was saying, how could I have truly forgotten it? It probably just skipped my mind, or maybe I was distracted by something."


    Legion-3 said, "It was just for a little bit, so it is probably nothing. Even I didn''t notice it." The other clones chimed in and said how it was nothing to worry about that Legion-1 was distracted mid-speech. Legion-7 was not appeased.


    He insisted adamantly, "Something is not right. How could you forget what you were saying? We are not mortals. Our memory should be perfect. Something is wrong."


    They thought he was exaggerating, but they still went ahead to check their whole existence and their environment. Unfortunately, no matter how thoroughly they searched, they couldn''t find anything out of ce.


    Legion-2 shook his head and said, "You are making a mountain out of an anthill. You are exaggerating just like the realm lord. There is nothing..."

 Chapter 1943: Again And Again.

    Chapter 1943: Again And Again.


    ?


    He stopped mid-sentence. Then he frowned. Even all the clones paused whatever they were doing to focus on what he just said.


    They realized that something was indeed wrong. It is one thing for the realm lord to make an exaggerated warning. But it is another thing for Legion-7 to make an exaggerated warning a few seconds after the realm lord''s exaggeration. It couldn''t be a coincidence. If it was, then it is odd.


    Legion-1 said, "Let''s go back to the warning and read the data clip from there. It is the only thing that I can think of that might be the cause of this unease and coincidence."


    Legion-7 agreed. "Let''s do that. It won''t take much of our time anyway. So there''s no harm in reading the data clip again."


    Legion-3 thought about it and agreed. "I hope that this is just a coincidence."


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 Chapter 1944: More Than Unpleasant.

    Chapter 1944: More Than Unpleasant.


    ?


    They were also angry that he would think that was possible at all. Then they reread the data clip to prove him wrong.


    When they remembered again, Legion-7 managed to update the note.


    He wrote, "Legion-7 wrote this. We forgot something. Read the data clip again."


    They sighed in relief after he did so. Their world view was crumbling around them. It was as if they were in an uncertain world where they couldn''t tell what was real and what was their imagination. This note was an anchor to keep them grounded in their nightmare.


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 Chapter 1945: Source Of Chaos.

    Chapter 1945: Source Of Chaos.


    ?


    Legion-1 was impressed by what he had just read. He said, "True and false aspects. It is truly something to consider. For example, Entropy should be a true aspect, but it is probably the most aspected in existence."


    Legion-3 corrected, "I think you mean the most powerful aspect that we know of."


    Legion-2 asked, "But what could be more powerful than Entropy?"


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 Chapter 1946 Access To Information.

    Chapter 1946 ess To Information.


    Monarch High Heaven wrote a lot in the data clip. Each clone read at a different pace to make sure that they wouldn''t miss anything.


    They wanted to know everything he wrote. Only Legion-7 was hoping that they wouldn''t encounter something that they should miss. "The aspect of the Consciousness is the foundation of true immortality of world gods. With this added into their Supreme Law, they be aware of anything interacting with their Supreme Laws and can resurrect themselves from anything that their Supreme Law has produced."


    "The aspect of Consciousness also works with the aspect of matter and the aspect of energy to make world gods capable of controlling ephemeral energy like mental energy and spiritual energy."


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 Chapter 1947 Dimensions.

    Chapter 1947 Dimensions.


    "You are already familiar with the physical universe. It is the main dimension of the void universe created by the interaction of all five aspects in the Supreme Law of order."


    "There''s also the Spiritual Dimension. Its foundation is the aspect of energy and force. It doesn''t have the aspect of Matter, so it turned out wacky. Nether energy is energy that can''t turn into matter. It is a wrong energy."


    "There is the Phantom dimension. Its foundation is the aspect of matter and force. Matter can''t turn into energy in it, so it doesn''t contain any energy, and matter can''t change."


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 Chapter 1948 Limitless Potential.

    Chapter 1948 Limitless Potential.


    "There is only one reason why you are special and unique. That reason came about because you are the first being to reincarnate into many bodies."


    "Anybody can replicate what you did and have many bodies, many supremews, and, against all odds, find a way to possess the spark of power and soul. But they will never have the shard of power."


    "You were the first to have many bodies and were the first to reincarnate into a god and demon at the same time. You were the first to be on the path of perfection, divinity, and sin simultaneously. This made it so that you became the first to fuse them and create the singrity of infinite possibilities."


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 Chapter 1949 Requirements For Full Potential.

    Chapter 1949 Requirements For Full Potential.


    They have no memory of that word, so they were confused that he would bring it up as if they should know what it means. Legion-2 replied after thinking about it, "I believe he meant great power. It is not literal."


    Legion-3 scoffed. "He is just trying to butter us up withpliments. Let''s not forget that nothing is truly free. I am sure he will ask us for help with something soon, or we will soon face the repercussions for all of this free information."


    Legion-9 shrugged and said, "Whatever price it will be that we have to pay, let ite after we are done with the data clip and have made full use of the information within it."


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 Chapter 1950 Unanimous Decision.

    Chapter 1950 Unanimous Decision.


    "But don''t take my word for it. It is all up to you to decide which path you want because it is up to you to deal with the consequences. Whatever you decide, just do it quickly."


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 Chapter 1951 Despicable Cheater.

    Chapter 1951 Despicable Cheater.


    It was ten against one, but it was the one who stood against the ten that had the upper hand. In one move, he killed five of them. He was so fast that they didn''t see him move. A single sword strike cut five of them in two. The single move caused the sword in his hand to fly out of his hands and cut down five people in one go. He could have done more if he were in God''s Domain, but apparently, there is no mana in this world, so he can''t have external help. Even so, this move was shocking because he had controlled the sword with his mind, not his hand. It was then that his enemies realized that he was a demigod, not an epic being like their investigation report suggested. The other five scattered immediately. As they ran, one of them said with resentment, "You have hidden yourself well. You''re a despicable cheat."


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 Chapter 1952 Different Kinds Of Toys.

    Chapter 1952 Different Kinds Of Toys.


    Besides, he has be old. Even though his body looks young, he has spent more than a century in God''s Domain. He is an ancient man who just wants peace and quiet. And maybe more power. The power to cut his hand and make it unable to heal no matter what medicine he takes is the kind of power that he must have if he is to restore the use of his arm. That''s what he has been focused on and would spend his energy on achieving. But the government didn''t stop there.They knew that they were the people in power in name only, but they weren''t willing to let things go. They also knew that he was too dangerous to be left alone. So they tried to eliminate himpletely. That''s why they sent ten epic beings to kill him. They failed in their attempt to kill him. Now he has to tear down the farce that they have be and install himself as the rightful leader of this nation.


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 Chapter 1953 Hierarchy Of Existence.

    Chapter 1953 Hierarchy Of Existence.


    As for Origin gods, they rarely exist in other universes because most universes don''t go out of their way to protect arge portion of their inhabitants by granting them immortality.


    So after Supreme Origin gods, the next strongest in the vast infinite Cosmos are equivalents of Sovereigns ofw. This is so no matter how strong they are. No matter how strong anyone is, if they can casually be overwritten or copied by a Supreme Law, they don''t matter. If they can''t exist without their universe, then they don''t matter. That is the general consensus in the Cosmos, not just prejudice on his part due to his pride.


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 Chapter 1954 200, 500, And 1000.

    Chapter 1954 200, 500, And 1000.


    There was a man sitting in front of the temple. The man would asionally speak to anyone passing by, "I challenge 9 Crowns, the supreme god of the Orcs. If his divine existence doesn''t dare to ept my challenge, then let his heroes fight on his behalf and help prove his reputation."


    Many people bristled at the obvious sphemy. They wanted to rush over to kill him for disrespecting their god like that. But then they remembered the previous times that this fellow pulled this stunt, and they attacked him.


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 Chapter 1955 Stubbornness.

    Chapter 1955 Stubbornness.


    If it were anyone else, they wouldn''t have any choice aside from challenging the hero of a god in order to get the attention of the god. But Taylor has another choice. He can be the hero of another god. If Tfuck bes a hero, he wouldn''t have gone through so much trouble to be a demigod. But the guy is stubborn. He refused to be a hero when it was first offered to him, and he has continued to refuse it till now. Taylor thinks that Tfuck is troublesome, but he can''t help respecting him. He thought Tfuck would regret the decision to reject the heroes that he made when they were offered heroic ss, but the guy is just too stubborn to back down.


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 Chapter 1956 Celestial God.

    Chapter 1956 Celestial God.


    Only three of those six went on to umte 10,000 units of domains, or 10%, and became Celestials. So domains are very precious. The gods can''t bear to lose a single one. It is alsomon knowledge that 9 Crowns was a hungry warmonger. No one dared to test his self-restraint by appearing in front of him with a domain. That''s why they only sent avatars to watch the fight. Their bodies were hiding in their divine kingdoms. It is the privilege of Tier 4 Heavenly gods to protect themselves with. The death of their avatar shouldn''t affect their main bodies at all. However, they still didn''t feel safe because they knew that 9 Crowns was in possession of Golden LIGHT. So they stayed as far away as possible from the battlefield.


    9 Crowns, or Legion-1, was rushing towards an ancient Titan to test his mettle. If he is to die, he will lose at least half of his domains. But he is confident that he wouldn''t die. NAME: Number 1


    RACE: Celestial God (Orc)


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 Chapter 1957 Indecisive Cheer Leaders.

    Chapter 1957 Indecisive Cheer Leaders.


    Despite this disparity in power, Legion-1 still flew over to fight the ancient titan. Goldwyn saw him too and recognized him. It sneered and said, "Punny god. You have be a bigger morsel. It will be fun to eat you this time around."


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 Chapter 1958 A Grave Mistake.

    Chapter 1958 A Grave Mistake.


    Actually, he doubts he could even defeat the other ancient titans even if he had divine energy to fight. It is because the other ancient titans were much faster than Goldwyn and would be able to kill him easily. He had picked Goldwyn to fight because it was the slowest. Goldwyn had the toughest defense amongst the ancient titans, which made him more difficult to kill. But while the other ancient titans were more fragile, they were stronger and faster. He would be defeated in a fight with them. He muttered, "I can see how the gods would be wiped out at this rate. We are just too weak."


    His angel didn''t agree. It said, "You shouldn''t be able to kill an ancient titan this soon. But you have grown too fast."


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 Chapter 1959 Bad News.

    Chapter 1959 Bad News.


    They had to use a middleman who would drop a data clip at a random location. Then they had to get someone to go to that random location to retrieve the data clip in order to avoid an ambush. Lastly, they had to inspect the data clip to make sure that there was nothing wrong about it. Only then will they dare to open it and read what''s inside. This process usually takes days. So it wasn''t a long time in the grand scheme of things. Butpared to instantaneousmunication, it was very slow. Eventually, Legion received the data clip they were waiting for.


    The Monarch said, "Things are progressing too fast in God''s Domain. You have grown too fast. The death of a titan at the hands of a god will put God''s Domain in itster stages. That means God''s Domain is about to end."


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 Chapter 1960 Cutting Their Losses.

    Chapter 1960 Cutting Their Losses.


    So Legion decided to cut their losses short and take out all that they have earned so far in God''s Domain. They were not happy about the decision, but they understood that they had to do it.


    Besides, 18,650 units of Authority is more than enough for their needs. Still, they were not in a good mood about it. They became even more irritable when one certain AB Tfuck challenged them to a duel. The ignorant mortal had been challenging them for a long while now. Since he wasn''t a hero, he needed to challenge a god to apetition and win in order to be a demigod.


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 Chapter 1961 Peace And Prosperity.

    Chapter 1961 Peace And Prosperity.


    The war only got more intense when the location of World Killer was found. All four realms were engulfed by the mes of war. Even world gods in the void universe got angry with each other and fought.


    9 Crowns'' three heroes also had to fight each other for the godhood of 9 Crowns. It was the opportunity they needed to be gods, so they discarded their friendship and fought each other to the death. This fight affected Earth too. So 9 Crowns left and caused death and destruction with their absence. Everyone had to pay with blood and sweat to take advantage of their absence.


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 Chapter 1962 The Dark Hand Behind The Scenes.

    Chapter 1962 The Dark Hand Behind The Scenes.


    Jason v226 knows that there is plenty she can do, such as telling her brother what he is nning. But he doubts she will do that because she has a lot to lose if she does that. All in all, she needs him, so he can be reassured that she won''t turn on him yet. Another Jason approached him and said, "I don''t like her."


    He chuckled and said, "Neither do I." The other clone chuckled too. "Maybe it is the god of power rubbing off on us. We are technically his clones if you think about it."


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 Chapter 1963 Child Of The Void Universe.

    Chapter 1963 Child Of The Void Universe.


    Each clone is their own being. They are not a single entity, so no one can force the others to do something. But they all have the same memories and have the same motivation, so they work together. This might have something to do with the fact that they are products of the original Jason''s Supremew. Either way, they are all willing to sacrifice their lives in order to achieve their goals.


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 Chapter 1964 The Full Picture.

    Chapter 1964 The Full Picture.


    But far more than the liquid state, she also possessed the quality of a mirage. She appeared to be present, but she really wasn''t. This quality helped her to ignore the gravity of the quasar and not be pulled into it. She didn''t show herself to him. She watched silently as he overcame the resistance of the Cosmic source while refining it.


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 Chaapter 1965 Surrounded By Enemies.

    Chaapter 1965 Surrounded By Enemies.


    At the very least, the system that the god of wisdom created would have informed the god of power of the fact that Jason''s clones are alive. But their brother didn''t do that. So the god of power remains oblivious while helping the real Jason to be an Usurper.


    He is using Jason''s Supreme Law to mask his identity, which means Jason is God''s Domain, and Jason is the one that is absorbing the Cosmic source.


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 Chapter 1966 Too Slow.

    Chapter 1966 Too Slow.


    Perfect control of the body is something that transcendents can manage. But right now, they can''t even match vitality core refiners in terms of the quality of control of their bodies. As they are, they don''t have enough presence of mind to control some puppets in the God''s Domain. So even if they were still a part of it, they would have had to give it up over the years. Without the distraction of God''s Domain, they have been able to focuspletely onprehending the Supremew. But now that they are about toplete the process, they are not sure if they shouldplete it. After all, everything they have experienced up till now indicates that they are literally out of their depths. They literally have an entity bigger than them in their head. If theyplete this entity, it is possible that they will explode or have their whole existence subsumed. Legion-6 said, "We have toplete it. It is the only way to unlock our potential."


    It took him five days toplete that sentence. Something that should take a split second took 432,000 seconds.


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 Chapter 1967 Marvelous Void Universe.

    Chapter 1967 Marvelous Void Universe.


    The five dimensions had their borders fused together into onerge piece. The five dimensions were five circles of a pie chart. All of them intertwined at the center to create the dark side of the void universe. But the spaces were stacked on top of each other too, so the dark side of the void universe was not just the center of the void universe; it was also the edge of the universe.


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 Chapter 1968 Above And Below The Void.

    Chapter 1968 Above And Below The Void.


    What they did notice was that Aeternus was the same. He hadn''t changed like them. He was exactly the same as he was before they finishedprehending the Supremew. His potential hadn''t changed at all. They didn''t know if that was good or bad. It could mean that he wasn''t shackled before and possessed his full potential. It could also mean that he is still shackled, but he is not a creation of the void universe like them, soprehending the Supremew of order couldn''t unlock his potential. They were thinking about it when they suddenly began to ascend. All nine of them were ascending. Their eight physical bodies were also moving with them. Physically, they were descending into the dark side of the void universe. That is what anyone will see when they look at them. They look as if they are being submerged by thew matrix and sinking below it fast. But that''s not what it looks like from their perspective. To them, they are rising up above others. They are rising to the level of the three heads. But they didn''t meet the three heads. They rose higher or fell deeper depending on perspective until they reached the limit of how far they could go. At that point, they came out of the ocean of stars they had seen in their minds and rose into the air. It was a disconcerting experience. Beneath them was a dark ocean of stars. It was the void universe that they had just left.


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 Chapter 1969 Extraordinary Confusion.

    Chapter 1969 Extraordinary Confusion.


    By being in the middle of the two oceans, they have jumped out of them temporarily. But it was not by their own power, so they can''t destroy any copy here. They can''t even fly higher to reach the cubes above them. They are stuck in their current position and cannot move about.


    Not that it would be of much use even if they could move and destroy a copy, because they will need to find the true body of the copy they destroyed and kill that too. Preferably before another copy is created. The clones stopped thinking about that and looked around to see if there was anyone not submerged in the void universe. The only ones they saw were them and the creator of the void universe itself. The creator and progenitor of every being in the void universe looked like an indescribable entity. At least, it looked indescribable to them. They were struggling to understand what it was that they were looking at. It was a dark beast floating in between the sky of frozen Origin gods and the ocean of their ignorant counterparts. It had an unknown number of limbs. It had heads too many to count and many more features too difficult to understand. The more they looked at it, the more questions they had. They couldn''t understand what they were seeing, so they had to question themselves if they were seeing the right thing or if the problemy with the progenitor. Legion-4 asked, "Is that an arm or a leg?"


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 Chapter 1970 Unwilling Living Or Unreasonable Death.

    Chapter 1970 Unwilling Living Or Unreasonable Death.


    The progenitor returned the cubes to the sky. As it did so, it said, "If you don''t remember what you have achieved, then everything you have done won''t matter. All of it won''t matter in the river of time. That is the cmity of this world."


    Finally they spoke. All of them said at the same time, "I don''t understand."


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 Chapter 1971 Final Reward.

    Chapter 1971 Final Reward.


    The void universe asked them, "Now what do you wish for?"


    "You are free to ask anything from me, be it resources or knowledge. But you can only ask for one thing. So be careful what you ask for, as this will be thest time the void universe will reward you for anything."


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 Chapter 1972 The Lord Of Madness.

    Chapter 1972 The Lord Of Madness.


    These two universal artifacts reminded them of their iplete universal artifact and why it needed a Supremew. However, other universal artifacts were not created by chance like it.


    In fact, universal artifacts are notmon in the cosmos at all. They require special circumstances and conditions before they can appear. But universal artifacts aremon in the void universe because, ording to what wasprehended from the seed of chaos, the creation of universal artifacts is something unique to the lord of Madness. It is because of his rare and powerful aspect of Madness. The more theyprehended from the seed of chaos, the more they were enlightened about many things that they had taken for granted.


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 Chapter 1973 Many Supreme Laws Vs Limitless.

    Chapter 1973 Many Supreme Laws Vs Limitless.


    They can''t even begin to work out what all of this meant because it sounded like impossible gibberish to them. What they settled on at the end of the day is that the Supremew of chaos is extremely dangerous toprehend.


    When they were done sorting out all of this information, Aeternus awoke. He didn''t look or feel any different. But the demonic spark within him had changed. It had fused with the seed of chaos, so he doesn''t need toprehend the Supremew of chaos anymore for him to be a world ender. He doesn''t need to fuse with Chaos energy either. He can create a Supremew for himself, and using a world spark will be enough for him to evolve.


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 Chapter 1974 Cycle Of Time.

    Chapter 1974 Cycle Of Time.


    With this kind of sight, creating a Supreme Law is something they can do with their eyes closed. With their eyes open, they can track their data clip all the way to Monarch High Heaven.


    The only caveat is that their sight is not hidden. Many powerful entities can sense their gazes on them. Even Supreme Origin gods can sense their gaze. So they didn''t focus on the courier transporting their data clip. They only focused on the data clip itself so as not to alert the Supreme Origin god. Eventually they saw Monarch High Heaven pick up the data clip and go to his base. They couldn''t see into his base because it was protected by a Supremew. They could try to break in, but that would surely alert the owner of the Supremew if they haven''t already been alerted to their prying eyes. They continued to watch him while waiting for his reply to arrive. Meanwhile they turned their gaze to the Authority of the void universe. It looked the same to them, but they could tell more information about it now. The Authority of the void universe is simply manifested will. It contains the will of the void universe given physical shape through cosmic energy, which is how it can enhance the power of those who use it in the void universe. They can also tell that it is not indestructible. They are just too weak to affect it in any way.


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 Chapter 1975 The Three New Clones.

    Chapter 1975 The Three New Clones.


    So they decided to focus on making their Supremews for now. At the very least, it will make leaving the void universe easier for them. As it is, they have 12 channels. So they can create three more clones and 12 Supremews. They found three special races to turn into clones. One of them is a race with the divine ability to traverse dimensions. It is a mutated race that they engineered personally, as it doesn''t exist naturally. The original race is a race of feline creatures that can enter the shadow dimension. It uses this ability to hide itself and hunt stealthily. But after elerated and targeted evolution, it became able to enter more than the phantom dimension. It could even enter the spiritual dimension, so they changed its name from Phantom Menace to World Strider. They used one of them as their clone and then wiped out the rest. The race they created was too dangerous to be left alone. Especially their immunity to spatial and time lock. Legion didn''t want the work of their hands to be exploited by others, including the race itself. The second race they used for their clone was a race of worms that can live in any environment by adapting to it. Their divine ability is Rapid Environmental adaptation. The third one was created out of a race of lucky birds. Apparently, the birds, despite being weak, can always survive because they are lucky. Their luck helps them to avoid danger, and anyone who tries to hurt them will experience a lot of bad luck. They didn''t experience any bad luck because of their immense strength and the protection of chaos, but they have seen powerful people trip and hurt themselves in an attempt to catch the birds. They also tested the luck of the birds and found out that they had a high win rate in any game of chance. The strongest of the birds even had a 97% win rate. The birds looked like the nemesis of the first sage, so they decided to use it as their third clone. After that was done, they focused on their Supremews. They didn''t let the fact that they would have 12 Supremews make themcent about the quality of the Supremews. The quality of a Supremew is the most important because it doesn''t matter how many Supremews they have; just one well-done Supremew is all they need to have infinite clones, ess to Origin, and a limitless world.


    One properly constructed Supremew is all they need to convert everyone and all of reality into Legion. At that time, they will be truly many and have quantity on their side too. ------


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 Chapter 1976 Father Of The Year.

    Chapter 1976 Father Of The Year.


    His outburst seemed to finally get to her. She shut up and stopped drawing the attention of who must not be named.


    She even left him, which gave him the peace and quiet needed to contemte his recently acquired sense of mortality. It is not something he is used to the Cosmos. He had always been carefree and unfettered. He thought he would live forever.


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 Chapter 1977 The Sinful Path.

    Chapter 1977 The Sinful Path.


    It was until he and the system got here that they learned about the many purposes of the void universe and why the Supreme decided to imprison ANNIHILATION instead of banishing it from the Cosmos. The system discovered that while the main purpose of the void universe is for it to be a prison, there are two other purposes that are highly possible. One of them is to find a way to be an Absolute. That is the purpose of the path of demons. The lord of Madness could edit a whole universe and imnt his code in it, but he couldn''t do that to an Absolute despite being strong enough to imprison it. So he resorted to creating beings from its refined blood.


    Those beings are demons. They are the fusion of the path of Madness and Annihtion. They are truly a sin. From what the system has deduced, demons were supposed to grow until they became limitless and achieved Absolute power. He can''t even begin to imagine just how powerful demons like that will be. He thinks trying to create an Absolute race is madness, though. Fortunately, the path of demons was cut off, so he doesn''t have to face them now that he is in the void universe.


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 Chapter 1978 The End Of Gods Domain.

    Chapter 1978 The End Of God''s Domain.


    But he wasn''t fooled by its appearance into thinking it was an ordinary star. Not after spending thest thousands of years to ovee its resistance and subdue it.


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 Chapter 1979 Blameless God Of Power.

    Chapter 1979 meless God Of Power.


    Draco had hidden himself from the world when he was refining the Cosmic source he managed to subdue. But the god of power has no such luck.


    At this point, he can only run. He can''t hide. But he didn''t panic.


    A world god said to him, "You liar. You cheat. Do you think you can take us for fools and get away with it?"


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 Chapter 1980 12 × 12.

    Chapter 1980 12 ¡Á 12.


    Asws, they are certain that they are find and their past was wrong. They are certain of everything without a doubt. Its source is a stubborn pride that they have suddenly gained.


    They have supreme confidence in themselves. They believe that everyone else is inferior and will lose to them, including their past selves. Legion-1 said, "We will ovee all of reality together."


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 Chapter 1981 Changes In Aspects.

    Chapter 1981 Changes In Aspects.


    It doesn''t mean that his immunity is total. It is more like resistance, as even now, anything that can outpace the growth of his capacity can overwhelm. But it is better than other demons because they only gain the ability to grow their limit when they be demon gods. As demon gods, their existence bes a literal ocean of energy. They can acquire more energy as long as they have the capacity for it. What''s peculiar is that they grow their capacity without limit as long as they grow their sin.


    The same is the case for Entropy. They can grow it without limit too, just like Aeternus.


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 Chapter 1982 Spoiled For Choice.

    Chapter 1982 Spoiled For Choice.


    All of their aspects work together and none of them counterattacks the others. With their control over Entropy, they will be able to break the defense of their targets easily and can infect almost anything. With their control over Information, they will be able to control their evolution.


    With their concept of Unity, they will be able to add everything that has been infected by them into Legion. With the concept of space and time, nothing they infect will be safe from them across space and time.


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 Chapter 1983 How To Become An Absolute.

    Chapter 1983 How To Be An Absolute.


    "Absolutes are the ultimate aspects. By Ultimate, I mean that they can''t be defeated by any aspect. There are 12 Absolutes. It is why you can only have 12 channels to your Origin and why you can only have 12 aspects in your Supremew."


    "An Absolute is clearly good, but there is only one person that I know that has an Absolute. That person is not in the void universe. Not even the creator of the void universe has an Absolute. Absolutes are that rare."


    "In a perfect world, you should be able to turn each of your Origin channels into an Absolute. But that is not possible if only for the fact that you can only have one Absolute. An Absolute just won''t suffer the existence of another. There is no way around that."


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 Chapter 1984 Use Of The Authority Of The Void Universe.

    Chapter 1984 Use Of The Authority Of The Void Universe.


    They are all selfish, greedy, and proud. Not even their clone can have one more unit of power than them. If they all can''t have something, then none of them will.


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 Chapter 1985 Independent And Supreme.

    Chapter 1985 Independent And Supreme.


    Replicating what Monarch High Heaven did won''t be easy if only for the fact that they have already used up their Authority of the Void Universe. It is stillckingpared to what the realm lord used since they had used 18,648, not 10 billion units of Authority.


    By their estimate, he had gained a Supreme power of 10,000 from his array of world fragments. That is far away from where they are currently. Even if theybine the boost from the Crown of Domination with their world fragment, the best they will get is 3 ¡Á 12 Supreme power. 36 is nowhere near 10,000. But while they don''t have 10 billion world fragments, they have something much better. That something is a foundation that is capable of growth. That foundation is their iplete universal artifact. It can still grow into a Universal artifact. All it will take is some divinity and their Supremew. But they don''t want to stop at that. They n to turn it into a world forge for all of them. This way it will also be able to empower them when they be world gods. They have to consider their long term goals and not be overly concerned with the present because they can be world gods at any time. But if they want to achieve their great ns for their world forge, they must expel the world ender within them first. It is something they must do even if they don''t want a world forge and want to be world gods immediately.


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 Chapter 1986 Smug Confidence.

    Chapter 1986 Smug Confidence.


    Besides, there''s also the first sage, and they have a lot to lose if their n doesn''t work out. So they were all concentrated on it.


    No one bickered or argued. They even decided to share their memories with the others temporarily. This helped them to work seamlessly as one being in twelve bodies. They didn''t share their thoughts, though. That''s just going too far. They don''t like each other or need to share their thoughts, so they didn''t. ------


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 Chapter 1987 Chance Encounter.

    Chapter 1987 Chance Encounter.


    The first sage was reminiscing about the nice future he will have soon when he felt his Supreme Law and the world fragment it was in leave the prison it had been in for tens of thousands of years.


    It was as if his hand had be unfrozen. He felt the freedom of the world fragment he had given Soverick immediately, and he smiled. He said with a rare tone of anticipation, "It seems it is time."


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 Chapter 1988 Boring Plan.

    Chapter 1988 Boring n.


    Then Ghastorix went over to thank the first sage and probably ask him for information about the weirdness of the world ender. But he couldn''t move forward because the world froze. The first sage had also frozen. Everything had frozen.


    Then the frozen world shattered as the simtion ended. Legion-6 asked with annoyance, "Why did you do that? You didn''t let me finish."


    Legion-4 replied, "We didn''t let you finish because your n was boring."


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 Chapter 1989 New Plan.

    Chapter 1989 New n.


    Cosmic energy can only make their Supremews grow bigger. But if they can''t make full use of their Supremew when it is small, they surely can''t make full use of it when it gets bigger. Without the ability tobine aspects, they can only toil in simtions using different aspects and make adjustments to their ns through it.


    Each clone will also take turns using their aspects to help the other clones while making their suggestions as they refine the n.


    This will cover the blind spots that would have existed if they had worked alone and increase the uracy of their simtion.


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 Chapter 1990 Desperate Investment.

    Chapter 1990 Desperate Investment.


    The keeper of secrets also felt that something was out of ce, so she used her aspect of Secrets to acquire secret information that probably only the target knows about.


    She was already half sure of her conjecture that the world ender was harmless, but she didn''t stop running. She didn''t want to bet her safety on some conjecture. It was only until she recognized the world ender that she stopped running.


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 Chapter 1991 He Saw It Coming.

    Chapter 1991 He Saw It Coming.


    While the three works gods wee going all out against CARNAGE, the first sage was on his way. He too had been worried when he couldn''t sense Legion anymore. But he was only slightly worried because they were still in possession of his Supremew. With his world fragment in their possession, he can always track their position. So finding them has never been a problem for him. Even so, he was worried about why he couldn''t sense them without the aid of his works fragment. He was so worried that he was pacing about wondering why.


    He asked himself, "Could CARNAGE have escaped and killed them? That shouldn''t be the case. Not after I sent Green Vine to them on a tter of gold. They should at least be able tost a while with it."


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 Chapter 1992 To Fight Or Not To Fight.

    Chapter 1992 To Fight Or Not To Fight.


    The First Sage put all his power into a single attack. The momentum of the attack was weak in the absence of the empowerment of his foundation. To any world god, it would be easy to flick him away like one would flick an ant. But the destruction he was causing was shocking. He cut through the serpentine world god, Ghastorix, the keeper of secrets, with a single attack. A hole had appeared in their bodies with that attack, and their worlds were already cracking as it was being severed from their Supremew. He had lined up the attack perfectly. One move injured all four parties. Even CARNAGE was attacked, but the attack didn''t injure it at all. Only the three world gods were injured.


    The first sage clearly had the upper hand. But he didn''t press the attack. He stopped and addressed them, "I will win this fight if it continues. But I will also lose something. As for you three, you will losepletely if we continue."


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 Chapter 1993 Nothing To Worry About.

    Chapter 1993 Nothing To Worry About.


    Ghastorix and the Keeper of Secrets were willing to do anything for power, so they were willing to swallow their pride. But the Serpentine world god didn''t want to do so. He wanted to quit the alliancepletely and fight to the death.


    The only reason why the Serpentine world god didn''t quit was because his refusal won''t change anything. With his allies turned against him, he would only die for nothing. The first sage would still get CARNAGE and helpers. Then the first sage would get a cosmic source. So he opted to stick around for something worthwhile. The first sage smiled as the four of them worked together to subdue CARNAGE. All the while it raged and roared, "You will never be able to defeat me. Not him and not you four. I''ll never surrender. I''ll fight to the death."


    The Keeper of Secrets chuckled and said, "I guess it has gone mad from all the cycles of death and rebirth."


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 Chapter 1994 Gambling Luck.

    Chapter 1994 Gambling Luck.


    Ghastorix looked around and didn''t see anything special. Everywhere looked like how the dark side of the universe looks normally. It was dark, stiff, and pressurized.


    So he asked the first sage, "Are you sure?"


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 Chapter 1995 Cheaters And Liers.

    Chapter 1995 Cheaters And Liers.


    Ghastorix in particr could still remember how he almost died attacking a settlement of Vipers. He had survived the attack, but if not for Hadrickomania, he would have be an invalid.


    The Keeper of Secrets could also remember how she was cheated of fame and given infamy instead, even though she helped the first sage kill a dragon. It made her look at the first sage intensely. After all, if he could cheat her back then, he could still cheat her again. Fortunately, she has a n this time around.


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 Chapter 1996 Success Or Failure.

    Chapter 1996 Sess Or Failure.


    The first sage is powerful, but he can never beat her when ites to seeing the truth. He can predict where a rock will fall after rolling down a mountain, but he can''t tell that the rock is an egg that has been encased in earth.


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 Chapter 1997 Legion-0.

    Chapter 1997 Legion-0.


    With the spark of power, they can take reforge artifacts and worlds as long as they have the permission of the creator. By infecting the two artifacts, they gained deeper control over them and were able to grant themselves permission to reforge them.


    Only when they were done with this did they allow their 12 Supremews to fuse with the Universal artifact. Next they added the finishing touches to it. There were eleven of them working physically on the artifact instead of twelve because one of them wasn''t present. The one that isn''t present is Legion-3. He is busy with something else. Legion-11 has a lot to say about his absence. "He is off goofing off while we work."


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 Chapter 1998 Proud Builders.

    Chapter 1998 Proud Builders.


    Legion-1 looked at them and said, "If this masterpiece cane from our hands, maybe you guys are not so bad."


    Legion-7 agreed with a nod. "If we can build something this beautiful, I can tolerate your existence a little better."


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 Chapter 1999 Quick Yet Infinite Breakthrough.

    Chapter 1999 Quick Yet Infinite Breakthrough.


    The shards of power were activated now, which made them begin to shine like tiny stars. At first, the light they were producing was dim. But it increased after each shard of power absorbed a world seed and a world engine. The world seed entered the shard of power directly while the world engine formed a golden ring around the shard of power.


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 Chapter 2000 The Great Cosmic Energy.

    Chapter 2000 The Great Cosmic Energy.


    Legion-4 said, "That breakthrough was easy. I am indeed a genius."


    The others looked at him with disdain. Legion-5 said to him, "What you have is my genius. You have me to thank for your excellence."


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 Chapter 2001 Chaos Spark.

    Chapter 2001 Chaos Spark.


    All they need to produce Cosmic energy is their origin and the right organ. With it, they will be able to produce Cosmic energy anywhere. These are reasons why they can''t put their hope for a Cosmic source on the single n that Legion-3 is currently working on. Cosmic energy is just too important to pin their hopes on one n. They have to have backup ns. Besides, it will be better if they have 12 Cosmic sources so that they can make full use of their Aspect of Unity to multiply its power. In a distant part of the void universe, Aeternus began to speed up the rate of the acquisition of their Cosmic source while the other eleven clones went to look for the first beneficiaries of Legion-0.


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 Chapter 2002 Cosmic Energy VS Chaos Sparks.

    Chapter 2002 Cosmic Energy VS Chaos Sparks.


    This expenditure is no problem since they can produce one chaos spark per second. They are not stopping and moving less than one second, so their expenditure is not up to their rate of production of Chaos Sparks. The rate of production cannot be faster than that. Some say that this rate is the true definition of one second. One chaos spark per second is very fast. Some world gods can''t even manage one chaos spark per minute because theyck the resources to refine it. But one chaos spark per second will be too slow if they engage in a fight with another world god. As world gods, they can make tens of thousands of moves per second in a fight with another world god. In a fight with many world gods, they will need to make more moves. Each move will cost them one Chaos Spark. So in a fight against one million world gods, even if they can defeat each world god with one move, they will need to expend at least one million Chaos Sparks per second. Their production rate won''t be able to keep up with that. Even the fact that they have infinite storage of Chaos Sparks will only alleviate the problem, as they will be able to store a lot of Chaos Sparks for the moment they need it. But a fight will still drain them of Chaos Spark. Cosmic energy, on the other hand, doesn''t suffer from drainage. It is not without its own problems, though. There is a limit on the storage of Cosmic energy, and the amount of cosmic energy needed to do something is directly proportional to the work that needs to be done and how quickly it is to be done. So the requirements for Cosmic energy are directly proportional to power output. For example, if a world god wants to move with Cosmic energy, the energy they will expend for it will depend on the speed they want to use to reach that distance.


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 Chapter 2003 The Power Of World Gods.

    Chapter 2003 The Power Of World Gods.


    Only a desperate Supreme Origin god would opt for using fake alternatives to build their world. The ones that do will quickly changed the core of their world to fragments of a realm heart because the difference between 10 and 2 is too much.


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 Chapter 2004 Lucky Day.

    Chapter 2004 Lucky Day.


    She wasn''t his food, so he decided to indulge her by replying. He said, "Today is your lucky day."


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 Chapter 2005 Counterfeit Healer.

    ?


    Chapter 2005 Counterfeit Healer.


    While the void universe was healing the true Supreme Origin god, he was healing the fake one. The true one had lost just 25% of its existence, so it required less energy and a short time to heal.


    Unfortunately, the time it would take to heal could be up to a million years. It is


    uncertain because of the randomness of the cement of ck holes in the spiritual dimension.


    Whereas the fake one had only 25% of itself. Legion-4 also had a backup copy of the Supreme Origin god in his mind afterprehending her Supremew. However, it would take a lot of energy to heal her to 100%.


    The main difference that will decide which one heals first is how invested Legion-4 is in the endeavor to heal her. It is difference between active and passive healing.


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 Chapter 2006 Another Cheating.

    ?


    Chapter 2006 Another Cheating.


    480 is a power far beyond what new world gods should have. She got that power solely because of Legion-0, so she is a beneficiary of Legion-0.


    Meanwhile, the number of aspects of the world god increased the quality of Legion-O''s foundation from 1 to 4, which increased every clone''s power too.


    This addition of 4 to the quality of their world caused their individual power to be 12 Aspects x (12 Aspects x (5 World Engine + 5 World Seed + Limitless) x 4 Legion-0).


    That is an increase from 1,584 to 6,336. Together as a whole with the Aspect of Unity, they make 6,336 x 12 x 12, which is 912,384.


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 Chapter 2007 Control Freak.

    Chapter 2007 Control Freak.


    Now that they are world gods, they can use more than one aspect at the same time. Technically, they should be able to use Unity and Time together to fuse with past Legions. That way, the power of Unity won''t be limited to 12 of them. But the void universe is blocking them like a wall. Actually, a wall is an understatement. The void universe is more like a constantly growing and endless mountain. They can still use the aspect of Time concerning the present, but anything rted to the past is a no-no. They can sense the magnitude of the power stopping them now as world gods. It was so big that it surprised Legion. It didn''t feel like something the void universe should be capable of. Legion-8 said, "Either the void universe is a prison or whoever set up the restriction on time is a control freak."


    Legion-1 added, "Or both."


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 Chapter 2008 Predator Of The Deep.

    Chapter 2008 Predator Of The Deep.


    His mission was very sessful. It had to be sessful because his targets were too weak to put up a fight. In fact, the sess he was having in kidnapping Supreme Origin gods was nothing special to a world god. The only difference was that he could move much faster than most world gods so the interval between his abductions were very short. That is the onlymendable thing about his operation. Another thing that wasmendable was that he was so prolific and hardworking that he went about kidnapping more Supreme Origin gods even though the previous ones hadn''t beenpletely stolen from the void universe yet or hadn''t be world gods yet and hadn''t been added to Legion-0. He was multitasking heavily, which caused the rate of disappearance of Supreme Origin gods to skyrocket. His actions had a lot of impact on the local poption of Supreme Origin gods. Soon, many people knew that a world god was going around kidnapping Supreme Origin gods. It was definitely not the kidnapped Supreme Origin gods that tatted on him. Those couldn''t talk anymore after they were frozen. It was the weak origin gods that he ignored who went about bbing about a world god that was kidnapping Supreme Origin gods. They talked about it so much that the matter reached the attention of other world gods. It didn''t matter much to the world gods who heard about this matter. But some world gods paid attention to it because their rtives or children were part of the kidnapped Supreme Origin gods. One of these world gods decided to meet the kidnapper and convince him or her to let go of his descendant. Unfortunately, finding another world god in the vast void universe is difficult.


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 Chapter 2009 Food For Thought.

    Chapter 2009 Food For Thought.


    The explosive release of power turned the world upside down. It canceled his stealth and revealed his existence to the world god waiting for him. The world god didn''t need to turn around to see the massive white creature behind him jumping at him. He also didn''t need a second to make the decision to run with all of his might. The world god asked in confusion as he was running, "What are you?"


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 Chapter 2010 Ancient Beyond Comparison.

    Chapter 2010 Ancient Beyond Comparison.


    He was alive before the void universe was created. In fact, when he was one with his siblings, he was alive before the Lord of Madness became the Supreme of the Cosmos. So he has had a lot of time to umte energy. What''s more, his rate of energy umtion is far more than world gods. He doesn''t have a Supremew. He has a spark of power, which he uses to convert all sorts of energy into chaos spark. The process is slow, but it can be done anywhere and with anything, such as the corpse of works gods. But he is not using the corpse of world gods just to refine energy. He can use void energy for that. No, what he is doing is using the corpse of the world gods to do is reinforce and erge the passage between him and the void universe. That passage is God''s Domain and also Monarch High Heaven. This is especially important since God''s Domain was seriously damaged recently. He needs a lot of resources to rebuild it and upgrade it. He has achieved that and more. With the passage between him and the void universe reinforced, he will be able to bring more of his power into the void universe, and the rate at which Monarch High Heaven absorbs the Cosmic source will be faster.


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 Chapter 2011 Not A Scam.

    Chapter 2011 Not A Scam.


    The world god considered her words and said, "Now that''s believable. That''s how you tell a believable lie. You even almost got me, but I am too experienced and can spot a scam from half a light-year away."


    So Legion-0 said, "I swear it on my Supremew and world that what I said is the truth, and you joining it will cause no repercussions on you. If what I said doesn''te true, then my Supremew should scatter, and I should die forever."


    The world god was taken aback by his oath. It was the most serious oath, and it meant that this strange world god was serious about its proposal. It meant that it might not be a scam after all. The world god wouldn''t have believed it if Legion-0 hadn''t sworn that she was telling the truth. What''s more, she swore about the thing he was most concerned about, which is the repercussions of joining thiswork artifact. As world gods, the truth is rtive from one person to another. Also, anyone can tell the truth, but idents can happen that will change the oue. Swearing that you''re telling the truth is just a way to fool others and avoid responsibility if something goes wrongter. But swearing to bear the responsibility if what you said doesn''t happen means you have the utmost confidence in what you offer and are willing to stake your life on it. As entities that can live through the epochs of the void universe, swearing about the scattering of their supremew is a serious matter. So the world god is now inclined to believe Legion-0.


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 Chapter 2012 Investment Venture.

    Chapter 2012 Investment Venture.


    Legion-0 didn''t press the matter. She had already gotten what she wanted anyway.


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 Chapter 2013 Sources Of Confidence.

    Chapter 2013 Sources Of Confidence.


    The first sage thought to himself, "It is too fast. At this rate, I and all three of them will be able to subdue a Cosmic source before the void universe ends. Something isn''t right with this."


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 Chapter 2014 Diligent Work.

Chapter 2014 Diligent Work.


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 Chapter 2015 Payday.

    Chapter 2015 Payday.


    They can''t do anything to each other for the moment. But if a clone gets into a disadvantageous situation like being in an Apocalypse weapon and can''t get out on his own, the rest might decide to seal him so that he won''t be a threat to them anymore.


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 Chapter 2016 Cat And Mouse.

    Chapter 2016 Cat And Mouse.


    Thousands of thorns impaled him and turned him into an ant caught in amber. He couldn''t move, and he couldn''t disperse his Supremew. It all happened so fast that the first sage was shocked. He had seen it happen, but he still couldn''t believe the power of the attack. He was shocked because it shouldn''t be happening at all. It felt as if an Usurper had attacked him. The power of the attack was so great that his strength and defenses were as flimsy as paper. ck veins spread out of the weapon into all of his existence. Then ck smoke came out of the thorns that the Apocalypse weapon had be. The smoke coalesced into a shadowy figure attached to the weapon. The shadowy figure turned into a ck, muscr, eyeless entity with tworge horns on his head. The figure said, "Why are you running? Is my presence so foul? Am I so abhorrent?"


    The first sage''s eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw the figure. It is not that he didn''t recognize the figure. He had seen something like this before, so he recognized who it was, even though he didn''t think the person could be so powerful. Even then, he just couldn''t believe what he saw. He shook his head and said, "You can''t be Legion."


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 Chapter 2017 No Escape.

    Chapter 2017 No Escape.


    The first sage tried to use the aspect of Probability to worm his way out of it. He was looking for that slim chance of survival. But Entropy and Chaos were scrambling his perception and luck. Besides, Aeternus had the aspect of Probability too, and he was also much stronger than the first sage. The fight was so violent that the continent within the first sage''s world was cracking apart despite how strong it was. The living beings in the world were dying in droves. ck chaos energy was submerging and tainting everything. It was truly an apocalypse. What''s worse is that the first sage couldn''t admit defeat and give up his world. He couldn''t leave it because, for some reason, Legion-3 had adhered to him like a world ender. Legion-3 was gripping his Supremew and world together. So this fight wouldn''t end until one of them dies. Even if the first sage dies, as soon as he awakens somewhere else, Aeternus would be able to lock onto him and find him. Then the fight will resume. That is something even a world ender wouldn''t be able to do. The first sage roared, "This can''t be. I can''t be defeated here."


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 Chapter 2018 Rebirth And Enlightenment.

    Chapter 2018 Rebirth And Enlightenment.


    The soul sphere spread its roots throughout the first sage''s existence. Then 12 different Supremews worked together to bind him to Legion-0. Thispleted the first sage''s indoctrination into Legion-0. Legion-3 nodded and removed the Apocalypse weapon from his chest. He also removed every binding on the first sage. This allowed the world god to regain his freedom. The first sage bowed and said, "Forgive me for my impudence earlier. I was being ignorant and stupid in my stubbornness. I shouldn''t have resisted and wasted your time."


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 Chapter 2019 Exponential Boost.

    Chapter 2019 Exponential Boost.


    He chuckled evil as he considered it. "When the void universe ends, they too will be inconsequential. Our greatest enemy will be the void universe itself."


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 Chapter 2020 All Shall Fall.

    Chapter 2020 All Shall Fall.


    He noticed that as of the time he refined the Cosmic source, she hadn''t resurrected yet. Her caution made him chuckle. He said with mirth, "She didn''t resurrect immediately for fear that I would discover her location immediately through the Cosmic source. But this information is already enough."


    This much informationbined with the aspect of Knowledge and Probability is enough for him to track her. In fact, it is enough for him to track all the world gods in the void universe. This means that the difficulty of finding world gods has reduced drastically. It has be exactly the same as the difficulty of finding Supreme Origin gods. The only advantage Supreme Origin gods have is that they are weaker and more numerous than world gods. But these advantages are not enough for Legion to prioritize hunting them anymore. Legion can now start hunting everyone indiscriminately. His smile grew wider as he said, "No one can escape. Not one person. Not even the void universe. All shall fall to Legion."


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 Chapter 2021 Reunion.

    Chapter 2021 Reunion.


    Hadrikomanika still couldn''t believe it. "When did Legion be a world god? Or is he a world ender?"


    Ghastorix sighed and shook his head. "I don''t know what he is or when he became it. What I do know is that this is the end."


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 Chapter 2022 Family Introductions.

    Chapter 2022 Family Introductions.


    None of them could believe what their ancestor had said. They had heard of Legion and knew he was impressive. But they also knew that Legion wasn''t a Supreme Origin god an origin cycle ago. So they were shocked to hear that their strong and impressive ancestor was at Legion''s mercy in such a short amount of time and might not even be able to resurrect. Their whole worldview threatened to be upended. Especially Guntu. He can still remember that little talented kid that became the child of the Virut ne. He was surprised when it was revealed that the kid was an origin god named Legion, and a very powerful one at that. He didn''t expect the day woulde when that kid would put their ancestor in a desperate situation. He didn''t expect it at all, much less so soon. But the ancestor was serious. Ghastorix spoke calmly, but his message was urgent. "Quickly. Leave when you still can. My time is almost up."


    Then his form began to twist and stretch. Something was bending and twisting it from within. The sight was scary. Ghastorix was trying to cancel his avatar, but Legion-3 was not having it


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 Chapter 2023 Lantern Fish.

Chapter 2023 Lantern Fish.


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 Chapter 2024 Plenty To Look Forward To.

    Chapter 2024 Plenty To Look Forward To.


    Their strength and the strength of the void universe have an inverse rtionship that will definitely lead to their superiority and victory over the void universe thanks to Legion-0. But that oue will take a long time because there are too many world gods in the void universe for them to subdue. The end of the void universe will definitely arrive before they reach that point. However, that is a good thing for them because the void universe will reach its weakest point when the chaos cycle ends and the corridor of worlds bes severely damaged by the chaos in the void universe.


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 Chapter 2025 Regret And Panic.

    Chapter 2025 Regret And Panic.


    She didn''t expect to experience any threat of death in the void universe apart from ANNIHILATION. She expected to be able to waltz around and do whatever she wanted. But her encounter with Legion a few moments ago has increased the number of people she felt the threat of death from by a full one. She almost died because she came in contact with him. She asked herself in disbelief, "Are limitless so terrifying?"


    She still can''t believe it. The clone she wanted to infiltrate hadn''t been able to sense her despite getting so close to him. But everything changed when she touched him. Legion has been creating a lot of ruckustely, which drew Jason''s attention. He told her about it, so she came to check up on her investment. That''s what she came to do. She didn''t want to attack him. She only wanted to enter his inner world and see what he had going on there. She didn''t expect to hit a literal wall. Something had blocked her entry. It was very unexpected.


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 Chapter 2026 Impressive Achievement.

    Chapter 2026 Impressive Achievement.


    She immediately used the Transcension Boat to cut off the infected part of her existence and separate it permanently from her. This worked, but it consumed a lot of the golden radiance of the tool. It also weakened her a little. But she didn''t dwell too much on those problems. She rushed away immediately while cloaking herself in the Transcension Boat. A few seconds after she left, space was torn asunder in the location where the surgery had just urred. The world turned upside, light disappeared, and void energy became turbulent. It was all because of therge beast that had appeared. The beast had moved so fast that a tear could be seen across the path that it had taken to arrive in this location. The beast looked around and frowned. Then it picked up the dark piece of itself and absorbed it. Then Legion-4''s eyes lit up. He chuckled and said, "So that''s it. It wasn''t an usurper. Interesting. Very interesting."


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